Iraqi President Barham Salih named intelligence chief Mustafa Al-Kadhimi as the new Prime Minister-designate in another bid to contain the political crisis. The announcement came soon after predecessor Adnan Al-Zurfi handed over his resignation citing internal and external reasons that prevented him from carrying out his duties.

After the announcement, Kadhimi pledged to work to form a government that puts the aspirations and demands of Iraqis as the top priority. Taking to Twitter, the PM-designate said that he will work to safeguard the sovereignty of the country, preserving rights, working to resolve crises, and pushing the economy forward.

I am honored and privileged to be tasked with forming Iraqs next government. I will work tirelessly to present Iraqis with a program and cabinet that will work to serve them, protect their rights and take Iraq towards a prosperous future.  Mustafa Al -kadhimi   (@dn7OcRfJJ94ptJP) April 9, 2020

Read: France Pulls Out Military Forces In Iraq Amid Coronavirus Demands

Read: Rockets Hit Iraq Base Housing Foreign Troops, Third Attack In A Week

Close links with the US

According to media reports, Kadhimi enjoys widespread support unlike the former PM-designates and has close links with the US. The 53-year-old intel chief is the third PM-designate in just over a month as the earlier ones failed to mobilise the support from political parties. Former Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi faced opposition from protesters as they questioned his credibility, calling him a stooge of the political elite.

Read: US State Secretary Warns Iraq That Attacks On Americans Will Not Be Tolerated

Read: US Officials Say US Troops Killed, Injured In Iraq Attack
SANTIAGO, April 8 (Reuters) - Chile state copper miner Codelco, the worlds largest, said on Wednesday its production continued in line with its plans despite the measures it has implemented to stave off the spread of coronavirus at its operations.

The company told Reuters in an email that it had also met 100% of its sales targets, even as many of its top customers, including China, have seen industry shuttered by the virus.

Elsewhere in Chile, some private copper miners have considered cutting production, Reuters reported last week, though for now most have opted to reduce staff and maintain operations. Codelco earlier on Wednesday said in a statement it would temporarily suspend some contract work at its projects and mines amid increasing restrictions on movement prompted by the coronavirus crisis. The company said the measure would apply to approximately 30% of its total third-party contracts and would last for 30 days. The suspension would be renewed as necessary as the pandemic evolves, the company added.

The state miner said increasing limitations related to the outbreak had made it "impossible" for some contractors to complete their work, but said it would nonetheless maintain operational continuity.

Codelco in March suspended construction on some projects in a bid to halt the spread of the virus. The companys unions have for several weeks pressured for additional safety measures. Chile, the worlds top copper producer, is home to large global miners like BHP , Anglo American , Glencore , Freeport and Antofagasta.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, writing by Dave Sherwood Editing by Alistair Bell)
On April 9, 2020, "S43" as the third of four HDW Class 209/1400mod submarines was officially handed over by German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to the Navy of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Following the very strict corona prevention measures at the shipyard, the handover took place in Kiel without a ceremony, amongst only the inner circle of project managers.

On April 9, 2020, "S43" as the third of four HDW Class 209/1400mod submarines was officially handed over by German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to the Navy of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Following the very strict corona prevention measures at the shipyard, the handover took place in Kiel without a ceremony, amongst only the inner circle of project managers.

On April 9, 2020, "S43" as the third of four HDW Class 209/1400mod submarines was officially handed over by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to the Navy of the Arab Republic of Egypt. (Picture source TKMS)

Dr. Rolf Wirtz, CEO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, stated: "Given the global corona pandemic, this handover marks a very special milestone for us. We are extremely proud of our employees, who completed the boat on time and in line with our comprehensive health protection measures. A big thank you for this. With tremendous care and discipline, something very special has been achieved! Our thanks also go to our customer, who has always put great trust in our capabilities!"

In a personal letter prior to the handover, Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled Hassan Said, Chief of the Egyptian Navy, praised the high quality of the boat and the outstanding performance of the employees of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. He expressed his gratitude to all of them for ensuring the delivery on schedule. He added that this proves how strong and trustful both sides cooperate even in challenging times.

About "S43": The submarines of the HDW Class 209/1400 mod series are extremely reliable, can stay submerged for a long time, are fast, and are hard to locate thanks to their low signatures. The HDW Class 209/1400mod is the latest version of the HDW Type 209 "family" with over 60 boats built or under contract.

The launch and naming of "S43" took place in May 2019. The first submarine, "S41", was delivered in December 2016 and the second, "S42", in August 2017. It is planned that the program will end with the handover of the fourth boat in 2021.

Like all its predecessors, HDW Class 209/1400mod is a compact and reliable submarine featuring the most recent technology, high combat strength, an extraordinary battery payload and low signatures. Its extensive mission profiles include maritime defense, conflict prevention, surveillance and intelligence-gathering tasks as well as special forces operations.
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Secretary-General of the Tunisian party "Movement of the People", Zouhair Maghzaoui, Wednesday reported he had been informed by the Tunisian ministry of Interior of the existence of serious terrorist threats against his physical integrity"
HOLYOKE  Two more residents from the Holyoke Soldiers Home who were believed to have been infected with COVID-19 have died and an additional employee has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Officials for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that a total of 24 residents are believed to have now died of COVID-19 since the first veteran tested positive for the disease on March 21. Tests have confirmed 20 people who have died suffered from COVID-19 while three tests are pending and one is unknown. Three more residents died in the same time frame from other causes.

There are currently 62 residents who have tested positive and are being treated at the Holyoke Soldiers Home or at hospitals, state officials said.

About 210 veterans lived at the state-operated home when the virus hit.

A total of 134 residents have tested negative, 91 remain living at the Soldiers Home and another 46 have been transferred to a unit at the Holyoke Medical Center to keep them safe from the spreading virus, officials said.

All veterans who have tested negative are being continuously evaluated by clinicians and tests are reordered based on medical status, officials said. The team has ordered retesting for 18 veterans as of today and will continue to reorder additional tests.

All veterans at the Soldiers Home were tested by March 31 but statistics show at least six of the people who tested negative have since contracted COVID-19.

By Wednesday, 68 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 and 210 have tested negative. Testing was expected to be completed on Wednesday for all on-site employees and those who are on medical leave or are working offsite also have the option of being tested, officials said.

After learning that multiple residents had died of COVID-19 and more were infected with the virus, a team from Health and Human Services visited the Soldiers Home on March 30 to examine the situation.

By the end of the day officials had placed Superintendent Bennett Walsh on paid administrative leave and Val Liptak, a registered nurse and CEO of Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield, was tapped to take over the administrative role. Chief Operating Officer Anthony DiStefano is overseeing day-to-day operations of Western Massachusetts Hospital in her absence.

The state also formed an onsite clinical command team made up of medical, epidemiological, and operational experts to respond to the outbreak. The National Guard is also assisting and augmenting the depleted staff.

Walsh has denied any wrong-doing in the management of the facility and said he welcomes the results of the Governors office investigation. In a written statement, he offered his sympathy to the families of the veterans and thanked staff for their dedication.

Three separate investigations into what happened at the home have now been ordered by Gov. Charlie Baker, area legislators and Attorney General Maura Healey.

Officials at the state also continue to improve communications with families who have complained they were left in the dark for days and weeks about the spreading virus and the health conditions of their relatives in the home.

Social workers were brought to the Soldiers Home on Monday to assist nurse case managers with helping families connect with residents since visiting has been prohibited starting on March 14. Several families have said they have been able to communicate with veterans using Facetime set up by staff.

By Tuesday all relatives who have written permission to receive information about a veteran have been contacted and received a clinical update on the resident. The team will also be reaching out to families to establish regular contact, officials said.

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Darwin, Australia  Lajamanu is on the edge of the Tanami Desert in Australias Northern Territory. Located 11 hours drive south of the regions capital, Darwin, it is home to the indigenous Warlpiri people and is one of the countrys most remote communities.

Now COVID-19 is adding to its isolation: the only road into the town has been closed, effectively sealing the community of 600 people off from the rest of the world.

The government sent health workers to Lajamanu to explain about the virus, and we have a good doctor in the community who has been here for a couple of years now, said Steve Jampijinpa Patrick, a Warlpiri elder. But people are still quite scared of it, and entry to the community is now closed so no one can come in or out.

Like elsewhere across Australia and the world, essential services continue in Lajamanu. However, social life has temporarily shut down. The arts centre, a major community hub, has been closed, as has the local youth programme.

Many people, especially the older ladies, are sad about the arts centre closing, because thats where they come each day, Patrick said. But we know that we need to stay safe from this virus. We are thinking of moving out to camps and outstations near town to try and stay away, but it will be lonely if our friends and family cant come and visit us.

With just over 6,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 51 deaths, Australia has so far avoided a catastrophic spread of the virus that causes the respiratory illness. The federal government has put the country on a war footing to contain the virus, banning international arrivals and imposing tough curbs on movement across the continent.

The remote Lajamaru community on the edge of the Tanami Desert in Australias Northern Territory [Supplied/Al Jazeera]

However, concerns about the diseases potential impact on Australias Indigenous communities remain high.

Indigenous people, who make up 3 percent of the countrys 24.6 million population, remain below the national average in terms of life expectancy. Those living in remote or very remote communities have shorter life spans than people living in urban areas  partly because social determinants of health, including employment and housing, are far more limited in such places, according to a recent government report .

Isolated communities

These figures are significant, as the most recent census statistics detailed that almost 20 percent of Aboriginal people in Australia live in remote areas, some of which are extremely isolated and have limited access to medical services.

For some, the nearest hospital may be hundreds of kilometres away, according to Dr Jason Agostino, medical adviser to the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Lecturer in General Practice at the Australian National University.

While some residents of remote communities have good access to primary healthcare, the issue with COVID-19 is that many community members will require hospitalisation and ventilation, he said. Community members at high risk of complications from COVID-19 will need to be evacuated to regional centres immediately.





Agostino also pointed out that many communities do not have appropriate accommodation in which to quarantine those who have the virus. Without this, the highly infectious illness could spread rapidly through the local population.

Many communities have come up with plans to either evacuate cases early, or to house suspected cases of COVID-19 in alternate housing, he said. However, there is no consistent national plan to support communities to put these actions into place.

Chronic diseases high

Another issue yet to be adequately addressed is the need for a funded plan for surge staffing in communities.

Many remote clinics run off a small team of clinical staff, often just a handful of Aboriginal health workers, nurses and general practitioners, he said. There is a real risk there will be inadequate staff to support healthcare in the community if COVID-19 enters.

These concerns were echoed by Dr Mark Wenitong, Public Health Medical Advisor for Apunipima Cape York Health Council, which represents 17 remote communities in the state of Queensland, which borders the Northern Territory.

Given that we have higher rates of chronic disease in young people, we have overcrowding (of houses) and small, discrete communities where people interact often, it will be a nightmare if we cant manage (COVID-19) properly, he said.

At the moment, our communities are really ramping up for the first cases. That said, theres not a lot of capacity for community assets for isolation or quarantine, but communities are working through this and they have to do this themselves through local disaster management plans.

Travel restrictions are a key part of the containment strategy.





As a response to the pandemic in late March, the Northern Territory, and the states of Queensland and South Australian restricted travel to Indigenous communities.

The state government of Western Australia (WA) has taken things a step further, with a hard border closure to all residents of other states from April 5. In addition, WA authorities are regulating travel across the state itself, with the entire Kimberley region  along with the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku and parts of the Shire of East Pilbara  now closed to all outsiders.

These extraordinary measures mean that a third of the geographical area of Western Australia, a state the covers 2.6 million square kilometres, is now effectively under quarantine. It also means that almost 90 percent of its remote communities are sealed off.

We cannot take any chances here. Kimberley residents living in remote Aboriginal communities are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, and they need to be protected, state Premier Mark McGowan said in a press statement on April 2.

Despite such wide-ranging precautions, concerns remain about the continued presence of outside workers near Aboriginal communities across Australia.

Outsiders banned

Much of the regional economy is built on the resources sector, and, in some cases, this involves Fly In, Fly Out (FIFO) workers. Such workers travel from more populated parts of the country to work at sites which are often in or near the lands of Indigenous people.





Japanese energy giant Inpex recently confirmed that one of its employees who had been working on an offshore rig in WA tested positive for COVID-19, prompting a quarantine of associated workers in the Kimberley regions largest township, Broome. The state government has now banned workers coming from other states, although flights continue in the region for essential workers.

In Australias east, Queensland announced a similar ban on interstate FIFO workers on April 4.

Queensland has no known cases in our remote regional communities, and restricting these workers from entering the state will remove a possible transmission route, said Anthony Lynham, Queenslands minister for mines.

Back in the Northern Territory, resources company Origin Energy announced a hiatus to its mining operations in central Australia, citing health authority requirements for social distancing and a need to separate territory and interstate team members on site.

However, with Australias coronavirus pandemic yet to reach its peak, it remains to be seen if the preventative measures taken by both private companies and government will be enough to ensure the safety of Indigenous communities.
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WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE:WNS), which is in the it business, and is based in India, saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. With many analysts covering the mid-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stocks share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Lets take a look at WNS (Holdings)s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

See our latest analysis for WNS (Holdings)

What is WNS (Holdings) worth?

According to my valuation model, WNS (Holdings) seems to be fairly priced at around 3.92% above my intrinsic value, which means if you buy WNS (Holdings) today, youd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe the companys true value is $41.34, theres only an insignificant downside when the price falls to its real value. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that WNS (Holdings)s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

What kind of growth will WNS (Holdings) generate?

NYSE:WNS Past and Future Earnings April 9th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 15% over the next couple of years, the outlook is positive for WNS (Holdings). It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? WNSs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value?

Story continues

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on WNS, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for the company, which means its worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on WNS (Holdings). You can find everything you need to know about WNS (Holdings) in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in WNS (Holdings), you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Bacardi launches #RaiseYourSpirits campaign to support UK bars

Drinks giant Bacardi has announced a new 1.5 million plan to support bars and bartenders in western Europe through the coronavirus lockdown, which has dealt a critical blow to the on-trade sector.

A key tenet of Bacardi's #RaiseYourSpirits campaign is the launch of a virtual bar with Deliveroo Editions, which will give more than 120 bars a platform to sell their cocktails to local customers.

The #RaiseYourSpirits campaign is focusing on smaller independent bars with less corporate clout to fall back on in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, which has seen lockdowns put in force in many European countries including Italy, France and the UK.

As well as the Deliveroo Editions virtual bar, which opens for customers in London and Manchester on 16 April, the help being offered through the #RaiseYourSpirits initiative in the UK and Ireland also includes bartender support (with bartenders being asked to host training events or make cocktails for virtual events) and enabling the sale of cocktail vouchers.

Amanda Almond, managing director for Bacardi UK & Ireland, said: "Our strong relationships with bars and bartenders are incredibly important to us and as we face the current challenges together, we're doing all we can to provide the support they need."

Steve Young, on-trade sales director for Bacardi UK & Ireland, added: "We're proud to be taking positive action to help, but this is just day one. Our support for bars and our bartender community will continue right until the day they can reopen their doors, and then beyond."

9 April 2020 - Bethany Whymark
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Bihar was rattled by a spurt of COVID-19 cases on Thursday after 19 people tested positive for the infection, taking the total number to 58, even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged citizens not to "hide" their travel history.

Siwan district emerged as a hotspot, accounting for 17 of the fresh cases, all but one of them members of the same family in Raghunathpur block, which has been sealed by the local administration and from where close to 100 samples were collected and rushed to the state capital for testing.

The 16 COVID-19 patients from Raghunathpur include a 10-year-old boy, three girls aged between 11 and 12, nine women in the age group of 19 and 50 and two men, aged 19 and 60.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, all of them had caught the contagion from a coronavirus patient who had travelled to Oman.

Besides, another 36-year-old male from of the district, with a travel history to Dubai, tested positive for the virus.

The total number of cases from Siwan has now reached 27 - close to half of the statewide aggregate of 58.

The remaining two cases, both boys in their teens, have been reported from Begusarai.

They are residents of a village in the Teghra block and are believed to have got infected by two youths of the same age group, who had tested positive on Tuesday.

According to Begusarai District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Verma, none of the four boys was known to have any recent travel history, but they were said to have been interacting with clerics at a local mosque and samples were collected after the village head informed the police a few days ago that the two had developed symptoms.

Verma did not rule out the possibility of a connection with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which has been blamed for a large number of COVID-19 cases across the country and the Delhi headquarter of which has emerged as a hotspot.

In Nawada, where a man with a travel history to Delhi had tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, District Magistrate Yashpal Meena said information has been sought from the national capital as to whether the 38-year-old had taken part in the religious congregation last month.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar issued a fervent appeal to the people of the state -- "Do not hide your travel history, whether outside Bihar or abroad".

At a meeting where he reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state, Kumar called for intensive screening of the places coronavirus patients might have come in contact with, and following of "full medical protocol in the areas that have been identified as hotspots".

The chief minister also instructed officials to speed up the process of tracing and testing contacts of COVID-19 patients.

He reiterated the need for maintaining social distancing under all circumstances and hoped that people would stay at their homes as far as possible and take necessary precautions.

According to the state health department, of the cases confirmed in Bihar so far, 17 have recovered while one patient has died.

The recovered patients include six from Munger and five from Patna, leaving the two districts with zero active cases as of now.

All cases from Munger were traced to the sole deceased patient of the state who passed away on March 21, suffering from renal failure, a day before test results showed he was also COVID-19 positive.

Three hospitals in the state, one each at Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya, have been dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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It's 2 a.m. on a Saturday night and Kyliah's eyes are exhausted from her endless rotation from Instagram to Twitter to Snapchat and back. She's been self-isolating in her apartment for two weeks. A month ago at this time, she was meeting her regular hookup for a late-night rendezvous. Now, with her sexual frustration at an all-time high, she finds herself texting her ex, not expecting anything to come of it but hoping it will make her feel any type of sensation that will replace boredom.

In early March, a majority of the US was ordered to self-isolate and stay at home due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus. For many college students who are now back home with their parents after campuses across the country shut down, there's a huge adjustment happening. In addition to the loss of their own space and schedules, it also means many people's sex lives have come to a halt. And while there's a lot of funny Twitter content about sexual frustrations during this time, offline, many young people are actually kind of reeling.

I spoke with a handful of students about how they're doing, and while they're all so grateful for their health and safety during such an uncertain time, they're also focusing on what they're missing: intimacy.

For many college students who are now back home with their parents, there's a huge adjustment happening. In addition to the loss of their own space and schedules, it also means many people's sex lives have come to a halt.

When 19-year-old Caleb moved back home after his university canceled in-person classes, he didn't anticipate how this would send his sexual energy into overdrive. Back home with his parents, Caleb's sexuality as a gay man is the elephant in the room that everyone just ignores. At school, he was free to express his sexuality to its fullest, which included frequent hookups with guys he met at parties or bars. "A whole part of my freedom has just been ripped away," he told POPSUGAR. "It's not even just about sleeping around, but just no longer having the ability to do that or have the option for intimate physical touch has impacted my overall happiness level." Since being at home for three weeks, Caleb's pent-up sexual energy has been building and he now finds him self releasing some of it through Tinder conversations: "I never really used to be on dating apps like that, but now it's the only sexual outlet I have so I've been on it pretty heavily. Mostly just talking and meeting new people." He's now talking to people he may not have interacted with before.

Story continues

While some people are turning to dating apps, others are returning to old habits. Twenty-year-old Kyliah found herself texting an ex in search of some form of connection. Prior to the pandemic, Kyliah was mostly having casual sex. Now she finds herself masturbating more than usual. "My sex drive is heightened because I'm bored," Kyliah told POPSUGAR. The thing Kyliah misses the most about sex is intimacy, which prompts her to now seek it out in conversations, specifically with her guy friends. "I've always had somewhat flirtatious relationships with my guy friends, but now I'm like let me push this a little bit further," she said.

For 21-year-old Shantal, this isolation has been especially hard on her sexual frustration. When her campus shut down due to the virus, she had to move back home with her parents and be separated from her boyfriend of two years. She's used to having sex once a day, so now that it's been almost a month without seeing her boyfriend, she feels like she's spiraling. "It's honestly been rough, just being at home and not being with him has been hard to adjust to," Shantal told POPSUGAR, adding that she and her boyfriend talk every day over the phone and have upped their frequency of sexting. She plans on reuniting with him soon and resuming self-isolation together after they have each isolated separately for at least two weeks to ensure each other's safety.

Related: Um, These 11 Animal-Shaped Sex Toys Are So Freakin' Cute

From sexting to phone sex, technology seems to be the key to navigating this necessary dry spell. Twenty-one-year-old Sara had never had phone sex before, but given the circumstances, this seemed like the perfect time to try it. Sara and her consistent hookup have been talking over text since they began self-isolating in their respective off-campus apartments. One night during a flirty FaceTime session, the two girls decided to try individually masturbating while talking to each other. "If all this stuff with the virus weren't happening, I don't think I would have encountered phone sex," Sara told POPSUGAR.

For 21-year-old Jo, she didn't pack accordingly before heading home. "What really sucks is that I left my vibrator in my apartment at school," she said. "I'm a very sexual person, it's just how I operate, so being in isolation has been super frustrating." What's really getting to her is how progressive the dating scene in her town has become now that she can't even leave the house. Jo, who identifies as queer, lives in Knoxville, TN. Back at school, her Tinder preference was set to women, but there weren't many queer women on Tinder in that area. To her pleasant surprise, there are a lot more queer women in her hometown now. "My city is getting more queer which is really cool. Because we're all bored, I'm talking to like seven girls on Tinder right now," she said. "But the fact that I'm getting more matches and people who want to connect but can't actually go and do that in person is ridiculously frustrating."

Lindsay, 21, was having the time of her life studying abroad in Australia when she suddenly got an email a few weeks ago telling her to pack up and return to the states. While in Australia, she was in a casual relationship and was having sex frequently. Now being back at home with her parents, Lindsay feels the impacts of sexual withdrawal more than ever. "My parents are older so there's definitely a generational disconnect, too", Lindsay told POPSUGAR. "It's not the most supportive environment to be sexually frustrated."

Social distancing and self-isolation are purposeful and highly necessary to combat COVID-19, but staying in for a good cause does come with sacrifices. It can affect our mental health in ways we weren't expecting or can't control, and sexual frustration can be one of those ways for a lot of people. But not being able to engage in sexual activity in person creates an opportunity to get creative and explore other ways to get sexual pleasure, like phone sex, sexting, trying out a new sex toy, or reading an erotic novel. This is a great time to be sexually introspective, get in tune with yourself, try new things, and remember that this will pass. Until then, you just might discover something you like enough to do post-isolation.
TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an all-party meeting on Wednesday, dropped enough hints of extending the lockdown as experts and several states are in favour of it in order to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bandopadhyay, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the Lok Sabha, spoke to the prime minister during a video-conference Modi held with the floor leaders of different parties in Parliament to discuss the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's efforts to contain the fast-spreading virus in the country.

"TMC and many other parties asked the prime minister whether the lockdown would be extended, as people are keen to know about it. In his reply, the prime minister said lifting the lockdown at one go is not advisable as several experts and states have suggested extending it. He said he will discuss the issue with the chief ministers before a decision is taken," Bandopadhyay told PTI.

A 21-day lockdown was imposed in the country on March 25 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bandopadhyay urged Modi not to suspend the MPLAD funds scheme as it would impact development works at the grassroots level and demanded a financial aid for West Bengal to tackle the outbreak.

"I have requested the prime minister for financial aid for West Bengal and to sanction the package of Rs 25,000 crore as demanded by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. I have also urged him to release Bengal's share of GST till March 2020. I have requested him not to suspend the MPLAD funds and told him that we are ready to give away our full salary," he said.

The MPLAD funds help public representatives to take development to the grassroots level and it should not be stopped, the TMC leader added.

The Union cabinet approved an ordinance on Monday to reduce the salaries of the Members of Parliament (MPs) by 30 per cent for a year and utilise the amount in the fight against coronavirus.

The cabinet also approved a temporary suspension of the MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) funds scheme during 2020-21 and 2021-22 and said it will be used for managing health services and the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The TMC had earlier said it would not attend Wednesday's meeting with the prime minister, but subsequently, changed its decision.

On the export of hydroxychloroquine, Bandopadhyay said the TMC has conveyed its opinion that the medicine should be shipped to other countries only after it is ensured that India has an adequate supply to serve its own needs.

He said he has urged the prime minister to ensure that there are no layoffs in the public and private sectors and that daily wage earners get a financial package.
Debenhams has confirmed its intention to reopen stores across the UK and for furloughed employees in Derry to return to work when the government grants permission.

It comes after today's news that the popular department store plans to place its Irish operations into liquidation.

A Debenhams spokesperson said: "The intention is to reopen the Debenhams estate and for the furloughed staff to return to work once the government allows it."

Debenhams has 11 stores in Ireland, including in Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Waterford.

Following the Notice of Intent published on April 6 2020, and subsequent to filings at the High Court today, department store group Debenhams has announced that Geoff Rowley and Alastair Massey of FRP Advisory have been appointed Administrators in the UK.

The group has entered administration to protect Debenhams in the UK from the threat of legal action that could have the effect of pushing the business into liquidation while its 142 UK stores remain closed in line with the governments current advice regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

The administrators will adopt a 'light touch' while the stores remain closed, working with the existing management team to get the business into a position to re-open and trade as many stores as possible again when restrictions are lifted.

Meanwhile, Debenhams continues to trade online across the UK, Ireland and Denmark, in line with government guidelines, while the lockdown continues. Customer orders, gift cards and returns are being accepted and processed normally.

In the UK, Debenhams has entered into administration in order to protect the business.

A spokesperson said that regrettably, due to the challenges facing Debenhams Retail (Ireland) Ltd. (DRIL), the directors of DRIL anticipate that the UK administrators will appoint a liquidator to the Irish operations.

Debenhams has already suspended trading in its 11 Republic of Ireland stores, the majority of which are now not expected to reopen.

"The affected colleagues have been placed on temporary lay-off under the Irish Governments payment support schemes for employers and we will be working with them to support them through this process," a spokesperson said.

Stefaan Vansteenkiste, CEO of Debenhams, added: In these unprecedented circumstances the appointment of the administrators will protect our business, our employees, and other important stakeholders, so that we are in a position to resume trading from our stores when Government restrictions are lifted.

We anticipate that our highly supportive owners and lenders will make additional funding available to fund the administration period. We are desperately sorry not to be able to keep the Irish business operating but are faced with no alternative option in the current environment. This decision has not been taken lightly and is no way a reflection on our Irish colleagues, whose professionalism and commitment to serving our customers has never been in question.
There are moments when it feels like a nail is being driven through Trish Kemps knees.

At 38, the Massachusetts teacher and wedding photographer has been able to manage the symptoms and pain of her rheumatoid arthritis through a cocktail of treatments.

One of those happens to be the drug President Donald Trump has touted regularly as a possible game-changer to treat people with coronavirus.

That drug is hydroxychloroquine.

In a telephone interview from her Chicopee home this week, Kemp echoed the concerns shared by other people with rheumatoid arthritis. She is worried about the shortfall of hydroxychloroquine because of the rush to use the drug for coronavirus.

My biggest fear is that they wont be able to fill my prescription and that the live virus treatment that Im on is not enough, Kemp said. When it runs out, what does that mean? Do I go back to having daily issues? It would impair my entire life.

CNBC has reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, worried that Trumps statements and news surrounding the drug will lead to shortages that could hurt patients who need it for a proven indication.

The FDA has listed the drug as being in shortage. There are reports across the country of pharmacists receiving prescriptions from doctors. There are concerns about the hoarding of the drug.

It was six years ago, at age 32, when Kemp began seeing signs of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that runs in her family.

She couldnt hold a pen or get out of bed. Her legs felt broken.

The disease causes someones immune system to attack healthy cells in their bodies and mainly attacks the joints. The pain is mirrored on both sides of the body.

The reason I got diagnosed is because I couldnt walk, Kemp said. It was taking me an hour every day to effectively walk straight up and not in pain.

Her sister, 43-year-old Melissa Hudak, lives in Rhode Island and also uses the same 400 mg dosage daily of hydroxychloroquine for rheumatoid arthritis.

Trish Kemp of Chicopee and her sister Melissa Hudak. (Courtesy of Tiffany Chapman Photography)

Kemp, a design and visual communications instructor at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, wedding photographer and teacher at Elms College, said hydroxychloroquine, meloxicam and a monthly IV infusion are the cocktail used to regulate her symptoms.

She has tried other prescription drugs but had severe allergic reactions.

Three weeks ago, Kemp headed to the Arthritis Treatment Center in Springfield for her IV infusion. She was given a prescription for a three-month supply of hydroxychloroquine, an increase from the normal month-long supply.

A week later Kemp tried to have the order filled at a CVS, but the pharmacy wouldnt fill the order since she wasnt due yet. She was told another location may have the supply but is still waiting to hear.

No one can seem to fill it because there is a national shortage, Kemp said. Ive never had a problem ever and now I cant seem to get it filled anywhere.

Currently, Kemp has a two-to-three-week supply left.

Kemp believes the supply needs to be available for both groups, those receiving the potential treatment for COVID-19 and those already using it for proven conditions. She understands the need to find help for battling coronavirus but wants availability to be equal.

I should have access to my medication the same way I have been for six years," Kemp said. "Theres no reason why they shouldnt be taking care of patients who already have been using it as well.

The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations has been tracking states across the United States where regulations have been passed to limit hydroxychloroquine prescriptions. Massachusetts wasnt on the organizations list of states that have taken action, but Massachusetts has the same policy in place as Ohio, which is listed. More than 20 states listed as having taken some action.

In a press conference Wednesday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker acknowledged the states Board of Pharmacy adopted the same policy in Ohio.

A fact sheet from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy dated April 7 says:

New prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 conditions should be limited to a 14-day supply and must be within the providers scope of practice.

At this time, new and refill prescriptions for treatment of non-Covid-19 health conditions do not need to be reduced in quantity.

In a joint statement, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reminded physicians, pharmacists and health systems about being good stewards of health care resources during times of emergency and national disaster.

We are aware that some physicians and others are prophylactically prescribing medications currently identified as potential treatments for COVID-19 (e.g., chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin) for themselves, their families, or their colleagues; and that some pharmacies and hospitals have been purchasing excessive amounts of these medications in anticipation of potentially using them for COVID-19 prevention and treatment. We strongly oppose these actions, the statement reads.

The organizations also warn hospitals, health systems and individual practitioners that no medication has been FDA-approved for use in COVID-19 patients.

Stockpiling these medications  or depleting supplies with excessive, anticipatory orders  can have grave consequences for patients with conditions such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis if the drugs are not available in the community, the statement said.

There are also patients groups that reached out to Vice President Mike Pence voicing concern about the increasing demand for the drugs during the pandemic. Two of the groups who signed the letter are The Lupus Foundation of America and the Arthritis Foundation.

CVS Caremark issued a statement on the matter as well noting the company is working with clients to implement new measures to balance the burgeoning interest in off-label use of certain medicines to treat COVID-19 pneumonia with the ongoing needs of members who use these drugs for chronic conditions.

The medicines included hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, one protease inhibitor and albuterol inhalers, which are approved for treatment of lupus, bacterial infections, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

Pharmacy benefit managers play an important role at the center of the pharmaceutical supply chain, said CVS Caremark President Alan Lotvin. Our advanced analytics allowed us to quickly identify changes in prescribing patterns and enabled us to take proactive steps to help ensure the integrity of the supply chain. We are taking additional steps today to limit stockpiling that could result in future shortages and gaps in care. We will continue to anticipate and support the needs of our clients, who collectively provide prescription drug coverage for more than 90 million members.

Trish Kemp of Chicopee. (Courtesy of Tiffany Chapman Photography)

Kemp hasnt left the house since the schools closed. She fears to have to go to the hospital if her condition flares up considering her immune system is already susceptible due to the IV infusion she receives.

With her husband, Eric, on furlough from work, and her two little children at home, 8-year-old Avery and 9-year-old Peyton, Kemp is worried how the shortfall will impact her at home.

As a teacher conducting mobile learning, Kemp is concerned that her high school and college students will also be affected.

The medications and treatment therapies I am on do help management so I can function day to day, Kemp said. But if my body is fighting off something bigger, maybe like a flu, it will feel like someone is driving giant rail spikes into your knees and joints on both sides of your body.

On Wednesday, Kemp sent a text message to her sister who said she was hopeful her prescription in Rhode Island would be filled sometime this week.

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The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this March 25, 2020, file photo, American and United Airlines jets are temporarily stored west of the terminals at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus. The Transportation Security Administration screened fewer than 100,000 people on Tuesday, April 7, a drop of 95% from a year ago. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 94,931 people on Wednesday, a drop of 96% from a year ago and the second straight day under 100,000.

The official tally of people who passed through TSA checkpoints exaggerates the number of travellers  if that is possible  because it includes some airline crew members and people still working at shops inside airport security perimeters.

Historical daily numbers only go back so far, but the nation last averaged fewer than 100,000 passengers a day in 1954, according to figures from trade group Airlines for America. It was the dawn of the jet age. The de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jetliner, was just a few years old, and Boeing was running test flights with the jet that would become the iconic 707.

As air travel became safer and more affordable, the passenger numbers grew nearly every year until 2001. There was no commercial air travel in the U.S. for several days after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and people were slow to get back on planes  U.S. passenger traffic didn't grow again until 2003.

It could be longer this time. Polling firm Public Opinion Strategies said that fewer than half the Americans it surveyed about 10 days ago say they will get on a plane within six months of the spread of the virus flattening. A Stifel Nicolaus analyst estimated that air travel demand won't return to pre-outbreak levels until the middle of next year under the best outcome, and it's likely to be later.

TSA, which was created after the 9-11 attacks, has been chronicling the plunge in air traffic, posting numbers on how many people its officers screen each day. On March 1, it was nearly 2.3 million  almost the same as a year earlier. The one-way roller coaster ride  a sheer downward scream  began in the second week of March and slowed only in the last several days, when there wasnt much more room to drop.

The falloff is amazing to see, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst. The good news is that it shows people are taking shelter-in-place orders seriously."

Some of the people still travelling are health care professionals on their way to pandemic hot spots such as New York, where they will help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. A few are travelling to be with family.

The nations largest flight attendant union, which is worried about the safety of its members who are still flying, is demanding that the government ban all leisure travel. Representatives at several airlines said they dont know how many leisure travellers are left, since they dont routinely ask people why they are flying.

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Airlines have drastically cut the number of flights to match demand and save cash, but even with far fewer flights, most seats are empty.

United Airlines says it is losing $100 million a day. Delta Air Lines says it is burning through $60 million a day. All the leading U.S. carriers have applied for federal grants to cover payroll costs through September and some are likely to seek federal loans or loan guarantees.

Even if they get taxpayer help, the airlines warn, they will be smaller on the other side of the pandemic.

The recovery in air travel  whenever it occurs  could depend on many factors including social-distancing rules and the state of the economy, which is staggering as 16.8 million people  one in every 10 workers  have filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks.

Air travel is much more affordable and accessible to the masses than it was in the 1960s. Still, both leisure and business travellers have above-average incomes.

Theoretically, these consumers should be better-positioned financially to be able to travel again," Harteveldt said, but we are seeing people at all income levels and all ages affected by job loss or reduction in hours or working for companies that have closed.
Marks and Spencer have revealed they are donating thousands of branded T-shirts, 4,000 pyjamas to be used as scrubs and will start a free food delivery service for NHS workers at the Nightingale Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

On Thursday the high street retailer announced its plans to support the NHS in its response to COVID-19, and admitted they were 'proud' to be able to help identify the 'amazing people saving lives'.

The retailer is also donating clothing care packs for NHS Nightingale patients to help provide some comfort and normality when they get discharged.

Marks and Spencer have revealed they are donating thousands of branded T-shirts, 4,000 pyjamas to be used as scrubs and will start a free food delivery service for NHS workers at the Nightingale Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington and Great Ormond Street Hospital

A spokesperson revealed they are sourcing, packing and delivering the individual care packs for male and female patients, which each contain a t-shirt, jumper, joggers, knickers or boxers and socks, and will be available in a range of sizes.

Specially branded 'We are the NHS' t-shirts will form part of the uniform pack for NHS Nightingale London's team  making it easier for everyone to identify the doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers.

They will also be starting a new, twice-weekly free food delivery programme to help feed the teams at their charity partners Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, with deliveries of nearly 5,000 prepared meals, sandwiches and treats every week for the next two months.

On Thursday the high street retailer announced its plans to support the NHS in its response to COVID-19, and admitted they were 'proud' to be able to help identify the 'amazing people saving lives'. The T-shirts will form part of the hospital uniform and help identify workers

Some of the T-shirts say 'we are Londoners' and some say 'we are NHS' as they help create a uniform for hospital workers

Meanwhile the team at their Castle Donington distribution centre will donate over 4,000 pyjama sets required for doctors and nurses at NHS Royal Derby Hospital to wear as scrubs as they care for patients.

Steve Rowe, CEO of M&S, said: 'We're doing our bit to help the NHS by focussing on what we do best - providing great food and clothes - in the hope we can make it just a little easier for our NHS heroes to do what they do best, as well as the patients in their care.

'We get through these challenging times by pulling together and it's been truly humbling to read the suggestions that have been pouring in from colleagues and customers alike with ideas for how we can help those on the NHS frontline.

A spokesperson revealed they are sourcing, packing and delivering the individual care packs for male and female patients, which each contain a t-shirt, jumper, joggers, knickers or boxers and socks, and will be available in a range of sizes

'At a time when everyone is facing into personal challenges and our own frontline colleagues are working round the clock - it's heartening to see the whole nation is getting behind the fantastic NHS teams we're relying on right now.

'We really are all in this together and I'm delighted we have been able to turn some of those ideas into action.'

Natalie Forrest, Chief Operating Officer at NHS Nightingale London said: 'These packs will ensure real dignity for our patients and make the nurses very proud to be able to provide such an amazing level of care.'

It follows the introduction of special shopping hours for NHS, emergency service and health and social care workers every Tuesday and Friday during the first hour of trade and dedicated M&S Bank telephone banking hours from 6pm to 7pm every day.

M&S has also increased the size and product range of daily deliveries to its 46 hospital stores across the UK to help NHS workers access essential family products, including more meat, fish, produce and personal care items.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday



extended till April 30 the furlough of a prisoner considering the possibility of spread of coronavirus in jail.

The prisoner, Akshay Chavriya, a resident of Nashik, was on furlough since February 2020. His leave was to end on April 12.

He sought another extension from the court citing the spread of coronavirus.

The prisoner submitted through his lawyer that it was not possible for him to surrender before jail authorities due to the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 outbreak.

The public prosecutor opposed his plea saying that other prisoners who were on furlough have already surrendered themselves.

However, Justice A M Badar accepted Chavriya's plea.

"Considering the menace of COVID-19 and the possibility of spreading the infection in the prison, the jail authorities are directed to extend the furlough leave of the applicant," the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An empty tent is a circus group's worst nightmare but the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus has compounded the problems of an already struggling business, says Sujit Dilip, the proprietor of Rambo Circus, who had to put out an appeal for help.

Dilip said he was initially "embarrassed" to ask for help but decided to reach out to public as they were grounded in Airoli, Navi Mumbai from March 13, when the state and later the nation announced the lockdown due to the pandemic.

With no shows possible and the responsibility of around 80 artistes and 20 animals, Dilip said they were staring at an uncertain future as the pandemic has taken away their chance to earn money during the peak summer season.

"We were about to start our circus when the CM announced the lockdown from March 13 and we had to close. It'll take at least three-four months for the situation to settle down but by then monsoon will start and it'll be a bad time for us again," Dilip told PTI in an interview.

Circuses in the country, Dilip said, have two primary seasons: the summers and Diwali.

Last year, Rambo Circus braved the Aurangabad floodswhich damaged their tents and lightsfaced heavy rainfall in Pune and finally arrived in the suburban Malad here during Diwali to make up for the losses.

"I had to sell off my flat to bail out the circus. But even the festive period earning was hit. So we finally decided to focus on the summer of 2020. Who would've thought this would happen?" he wondered.

The staff of 80, residing in a gated wall compound venue, includes two families with small childrenwho don't perform25 women and as many men. There are 17 dogs, including seven who are under retirement and one pony.

Then there is the support staff: animal keepers, cooks, electricians, designers and tent makers.

In the initial phase of the lockdown, those hailing from nearby towns in the state headed home. Others, who had to risk crossing state borders amid the pandemic, chose to stay back, Dilip said.

"Indian circus is like a moving village. We are like vagabonds. Every 45 days, we change our location. But where can we go today? There are no trucks available, everything's shut. It's wise to stay here and wait for the permission. It's the safest to stay inside," he said.

As soon as the word spread on WhatsApp that the Rambo Circus was feeling the heat of the lockdown, many admirers and longtime well wishers of these artistes offered help, Dilip said.

"For the staff, circus is the home. 'Jeena yahan marna yahan.' They can't go anywhere else... But right now, we all are so happy. The artistes always felt they're the neglected part of the society. But today for the first time we are feeling proud that so many people are thinking about us."



In a day, Rambo Circus requires at least 55 kg rice for its staff and animals, and a ration of such magnitude was impossible for them to procure.

Dilip, who has been looking after the circus for over 25 years now, was stunned by the offers of help via social media.

A cancer trust contributed Rs 50,000, while a government servant donated her pension of Rs 30,000 to the circus, he said.

Politicians too stepped in, Dilip said, with Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal providing them with ration, Shiv Sena leader Vijay Chougule pitching in to help and even the Thane deputy collector reaching out, asking if they needed animal food.

The local municipality is providing the artistes with food packets and drinking water every day.

"The circus would have just died had people not helped, if the NGOs, government wouldn't have come forward."



With no possibility of any shows for at least four months, the challenge now is to raise funds to pay the staff their salaries.

A fan from Bengaluru suggested Rambo Circus should set up a donation fund on crowdfunding platform Ketto, co-founded by actor Kunal Kapoor.

"We then drew a budget of Rs 8.5 lakh for the salary and food of our staff for two months.

"Once the target is achieved, we will get the money and then distribute it among them. Some have their families in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. I need to give them money so that they can help their families back home."



So far, Rambo Circus has raised over Rs 5 lakh, with even actor-filmmaker Renuka Shahane donating for them.

"I've never seen an entire community taking care of us. This can only happen in India. We have spread happiness to so many people over the years. I think now they are giving us back. In cash, kind and smiles," Dilip said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As Christopher Garcia drove down South Flores St. Thursday afternoon, he saw smoke rising into the sky.

Garcia initially thought the smoke was coming from the Tamale Boy restaurant. He realized as he drew closer that it was billowing from the home next door.

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Within an hour, Garcia and other bystanders were listening to a San Antonio firefighter thank them for pulling a person who uses a wheelchair out of the burning building.

Garcia and his wife Alondra pulled over and called 911 when they saw the source of the smoke, a single-story residence on the 5300 block of South Flores.

While waiting for firefighters to arrive, they banged on windows and listened for a response inside.

No one answered their screams, Garcia said, but the pair found a white poodle chained to a pole at the back of the house.

Garcia set the dog  barking at the orange flames leaping from the building  free.

Neighbors heard the couple yelling, came outside, and informed them that a young man in a wheelchair was home alone inside the building.

Garcia, along with one of the neighbors and another bystander, kicked in one door then another in search of the man.

They found him lying on his bed inside a room black with smoke.

The room was so full of smoke that all you could see was his toes, Garcia said. It was bad. It was real bad.

The bystanders lifted the man and carried him out of the home. Amanda Mascorro, a medical assistant who had pulled over behind the Garcias, treated him until EMS arrived.

Fire Chief Charles Hood lauded the three men for charging into the home.

The heroic efforts of the bystanders going in and removing this young man potentially saved his life, because we dont see a way that he was going to be able to extricate himself from this fire, Hood said.

The man, in his early 20s, was outside the home when firefighters arrived and was treated on the scene.

Four engines and two ladders were dispatched at 3:45 p.m. to fight the heavy flames, a number usually reserved for commercial buildings.

No firefighters were injured as they knocked down the fire. The residence suffered significant damage and the family will be displaced.

Arson investigators were examining the scene Thursday in search of the cause of the fire.

The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he did not think about his asthma when he kicked down the door. He was focused on saving the young man inside.

Garcia agreed.

I didnt care about the smoke, he said. Lets get this kid. Lets get him out.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy
ISTANBUL  As Turkey grapples with the fastest rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, two initiatives linked to Ankaras coronavirus response are raising concern among privacy and free speech advocates.

On Wednesday, the Turkish Health Ministry, in cooperation with local cell service providers, launched an application to monitor the movement of patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus through their smartphones. The Turkish presidencys director of communications, Fahrettin Altun, said the app, known as the Pandemic Isolation Tracking Project, would seek to ensure COVID-19 patients were following quarantine measures.

Downloading the app is mandatory for all confirmed coronavirus patients, and those found to be leaving their homes will now receive automated text messages and calls asking them to return to predetermined quarantine areas.

Though a growing number of countries have introduced similar phone-tracking measures amid the pandemic and Turkish officials claim data used by the new app will be destroyed following the COVID-19 crisis, privacy advocates warn such digit monitoring tools could be easily abused for unrelated purposes.

You need to firewall these apps from other uses so you dont have these apps used by the police for other kinds of investigations, Nate Schenkkan, director of special research at Freedom House, told Al-Monitor.

He added, What kind of access will this software have on peoples phones to their data and their communications? It raises a huge number of questions.

According to the presidency, road control security teams will be able to check citizens data to determine whether they are abiding by quarantine measures, and those who repeatedly fail to comply will face necessary administrative measures.

Similar issues have surfaced elsewhere. European Union nations are calling for a single COVID-19 tracking app to be used across the bloc that would safeguard privacy rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, and the European Data Protection Board adopted a statement in March to ensure the protection of personal data even in exceptional times.

Meanwhile, the Polish government introduced its own smartphone app using facial recognition technology. It requires COVID-19 patients to send a geolocated selfie from their quarantine areas within 20 minutes of receiving a text message.

In a separate measure introduced Thursday under a 66-article coronavirus economic aid package, international social media companies will need to appoint a representative and open an office in Turkey to handle complaints from Ankara.

The law would require social media companies with more than one million daily users in Turkey such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to comply with Ankara's media content policies or face significant bandwidth restrictions rendering the platforms unusable in the country.

Yaman Akdeniz, associate professor of law at Istanbul Bilgi University and a founder of the Ifade Ozgurlugu Dernegi (the Freedom of Expression Association), said Turkish authorities have tried to compel social media platforms to open bureaus in Turkey since at least 2008.

If they comply, then this will result in massive censorship and removal of content as well as the investigation and prosecution of a lot of users, as the authorities will have access to personal details of the social media users, Akdeniz told Al-Monitor.

The Turkish Parliament is expected to review the bill next week and if passed, Akdeniz said it could lead to increased requests for social media account closures and access denials.

This will have a massive chilling effect on social media usage in Turkey and self-censorship will increase while the authorities clamp down on critical voices and speech, Akdeniz told Al-Monitor.

Both the mobile tracking app and social media bill come as Turkish officials work to contain the coronavirus and misleading information regarding the pandemic. On Tuesday, Turkeys Interior Ministry announced 229 of 616 identified suspects had been detained for sharing unfounded and provocative social media messages about the coronavirus.

A letter from Turkeys Foundations General Directorate was publicized Thursday indicating authorities were seeking to ban civil society organizations from holding digital meetings and other activities.

Since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Turkey on March 11, health officials have recorded 42,282 cases of infection and 908 virus-linked deaths in the country.
New Delhi, April 9 : The Union Health Ministry has suspended the rules governing a law which imposes a blanket ban on prenatal sex determination for over two months, a move which is being widely criticised for its future consequences and possibility of spike in sex-selective abortions in the country.

In a notification issued on April 4, the Health Ministry had pressed hold on rules under the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Rules, 1996, until June 30 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The rules, which have now been relaxed, envisage ultrasound clinics to maintain and submit detailed records of pregnant women who undergo foetal scans to the local health authorities.

In the absence of the rules, many fear that it could lead to undocumented misuse by clinic owners as well as parents.

According to Anjana Singh, who's employed with the Fortis Hospital in Noida, "Those who were conducting sex-selective abortions will do it fearlessly no matter what the instructions are. As far as other doctors are concerned, we all are still going to maintain the record even if the government doesn't want it." The medical fraternity has asserted that the move will not result in increase in unprecedented number of abortions or female feticide, but politicians and social activists are still fearful.

Kavita Krishnan, who is the secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, condemned the relaxation of regulations and said, "The relaxation will give licence to sex-selective abortions due to which sex ratio will suffer immensely." CPI (M) politbureau member Brinda Karat also raised concerns over the suspension of the provisions under the act and asserted that it could be misused by unscrupulous sections to conduct illegal sex determination tests freely.

As per the data provided by the government in 2018, sex-selective abortion led to skewed sex ratios at birth and beyond, leading to estimates of 63 million "missing" women.

The data added that more than 2 million women go missing across age groups every year.
Burma Myanmar Authorities Drop Illegal Travel Charges Against Hundreds of Rohingya

Recently freed Rohingya people are seen at the Pathein Township Court on April 8 after charges against them of violating the Immigration Act were dropped. / Salai Thant Zin

YANGONMyanmar authorities have dropped charges against more than 200 Rohingya people accused of leaving Rakhine State illegally, a lawyer for the detainees said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population did not respond to The Irrawaddys request for comment on why the charges were withdrawn.

In 2001, Myanmar introduced restrictions that prohibit Rohingya people from leaving Rakhine State and requiring them to get permission from township authorities before they travel.

However, since last year, hundreds of Rohingya have been charged under the Immigration Act after being arrested in Ayeyarwaddy, Yangon, Bago and Magwe regions for traveling without permission.

Lawyer Daw Thazin Myat Myat Win, who represents the detained Rohingya people, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the Ayeyarwaddy Region Immigration Department recently dropped charges against more than 100 people who were arrested in Pathein Township in two incidents in November 2019 and February 2020.

I am very happy they have their freedom. It needed to be done. Its also good for the government, the lawyer said.

She said authorities had also dropped cases against another 95 Muslims from Rakhine State who were charged in three other townships.

Of those 95, 70 were charged in Yangon Regions Hlegu Township, four in Bago Region, and 21 in Magwe Regions Minbu Township.

U Saw Naing, the director of the Yangon Region Immigration Department, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday the department withdrew all charges against 78 Muslims from Rakhine who were arrested for entering Yangon without permission, on the orders of the Union Immigration Ministry.

All of the detainees would be released and returned to their places of origin in Rakhine State, he said.

They have to sign a pledge [not to travel illegally again] before being sent back. This is in line with legal procedures, said U Saw Naing.

Most of those detained were charged under sections 6(2), and 6(3) of Immigration Act for traveling without proper permission.

If convicted, they would have faced up to two years in prison.

The Irrawaddy reached out to the Union Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population several times for details on the identity of the detainees and what arrangements officials had made to ensure their safety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but had yet to receive a response by press time.

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Leo (C), aged 6, and Espen, aged 3, are assisted by their mother Moira as they homeschool and navigate online learning resources provided by their infant school in the village of Marsden, near Huddersfield, northern England, on March 23, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Homeschooling Revolution Gets Coronavirus Boost

Commentary

This article is part 14 in a series examining the origins of public education in the United States.

Were all homeschoolers now! At least for the foreseeable future.

Government schools all across the United States have shut because of fears about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, liberating tens of millions of children from government classrooms. That means millions of parents are being involuntarily forced to try out education at home, often for the first time.

In a matter of weeks, the homeschooling movement has ballooned to over 55 million children from around 3 million, just in the United States. Its unprecedented.

Have no fear, though: Homeschooling has a long and amazing history in the United States and around the world. And the data is in: Home education works. Typically, it works amazingly well. Home-educated students on average perform far better than their government-schooled peers on every single metric, data show. It also has a well-established history of success.

Experts and activists told The Epoch Times this was a historic opportunity. Once the dust settles, critics of the government school systemwith its escalating indoctrination, sexualization, and dumbing down of childrenhope that the educational landscape in the United States and beyond will be forever changed.

Understandably, some parents are expressing frustration at this new reality. Establishment pundits claim to be worried, too. But talk of a silver lining involving a mass exodus from government schools has now moved from the fringes to the mainstreama process that is accelerating amid the CCP virus (commonly known as the novel coronavirus) pandemic.

President Donald Trump recently declared that children should never be trapped in failing government schools. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh last year urged listeners to try out homeschooling. And evangelist Franklin Graham, responding to a New Jersey statute mandating LGBT ideology in public schools, called on parents to remove their children from public schools.

And that was before COVID-19.

But this wont be uncharted territory. Indeed, long before the government usurped control over education at the urging of collectivistsa process recounted in detail in this series on public educationparents and families worldwide were the primary educators of children. Even when kids were sent away for some formal schooling, the basics such as reading and writing were generally taught by parents, grandparents, and older siblings.

Many of Americas most prominent heroes were primarily educated at home. The Father of America, George Washington, was mostly educated at home, receiving just a few years of formal education. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, was also primarily home-schooled. A century later, President Abraham Lincoln was a homeschooler, too. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This has been the norm worldwide throughout most of human history.

Homeschooling today is simply a revival of a millennia-old practice of parent-led, home-based education, explained Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal Home School Researcher.

Long before government certification and approval of teachers, human beingsin places as far and wide as Germany, Kenya, Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japanwere inventing amazing processes and gadgets, creating great art, running complex businesses, building bridges and castles, writing incredible literature, battling wars, and curing diseases without a preponderance of children and citizens being taught, trained, and indoctrinated in state-run institutions called schools, added Ray, one of the worlds top academic experts on homeschooling.

Parent-led education at home was the norm in colonial America, and throughout the United Statesboth in rural areas and the citiesuntil around 1900, Ray told The Epoch Times.

Government-run schools did not come with the American flag, apple pie, and God, he explained, contradicting the prevailing myths about government education.

One of the areas Ray has been researching for decades in home-education is what the data show. Like other academic researchers, hes found that home-educated students typically perform significantly better than children subjected to government educationusually 15 to 30 percentile points higher on standardized academic tests, and much better in socialization, too.

The largest study comparing homeschool students to others amazingly revealed that homeschool 8th-grade students score the same as 12th-grade public school students, he said, referring to a study by Dr. Lawrence Rudner at the University of Maryland that administered academic tests to more than 20,000 home-educated students.

There is no empirical evidence that a nation or society needs most or any of its children to attend state or government-run institutions called schools in order to be a civil and educated society, Ray said, adding that the modern homeschool movement is proof-positive that the current government-education machine isnt necessary for children to do well.

The renascence of parent-led home-based educationhomeschoolingis simply a re-affirmation of the natural abilities of parents and children and of the value to any society of a family-centeredrather than a government-run institution-centeredlife, he said.

Opportunity in Crisis

While establishment voices and the government-education system scramble to warn parents about the supposed dangers of home education, experts and critics of the public-school system told The Epoch Times that this crisis offers an incredible opportunity for parents.

Former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, for instance, said that the ongoing shutdown of public schools offers parents the greatest opportunity of their lives to retake control over what their children learn.

This is such a great time for parents to try homeschooling and really give their children a true education, she told The Epoch Times.

Warning that public education was harming children morally, academically, and spiritually, Douglas suggested that the future of America is on the line.

The goal of American public-education architects like John Dewey was to under-educate and indoctrinate our children with secular humanism and socialism, said Douglas, who now serves on the educational advisory board of organization Public School Exit.

Homeschooling expert Dr. Izzy Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution, called on those already in the movement to help out the expected influx of newcomers.

Its an unprecedented opportunity for veteran home educators to offer encouragement and advice to parents who are now unexpectedly part of the mass homeschooling revolution, she told The Epoch Times.

During this exceptionally challenging time for our nation, one hopes that more families discover a silver liningthe joy and fun of learning together, said Lyman, who serves as a county commissioner in Michigan and whose work has been published in The Wall Street Journal and many other leading publications.

More than two decades ago, Lt. Col. E. Ray Moore, an early pioneer in the homeschooling renaissance that began to flower about 50 years ago, decided that only a massive escape from the public education system into the safe sanctuary of homeschools and Christian schools could prevent the moral collapse of the United States. To bring that about, he created the Exodus Mandate, with a mission of sparking a mass exodus of Christians from public schools.

This current crisis, he said, may be just what the doctor ordered to help break the public schools virtual monopoly.

If this COVID-19 virus had come to our culture in 1980, we would not have had the infrastructure with families, 6 million alumni, magazines, books, homeschool conventions, organizations and associations to assimilate the many new children [into home schooling], Moore, who now leads a coalition of dozens of organizations called the Christian Education Initiative, told The Epoch Times.

It is happening now. The biggest decision has been made for families, that is, to go home and educate your children.

Global Phenomenon

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), perhaps the most powerful and prominent home-education organization in the world, has even released a guide giving parents an easy-to-follow guidebook to begin homeschooling amid the crisis. These include connecting with homeschoolers, knowing the law, finding the right curriculum, and making decisions on how to do it.

HSLDA attorney Mike Donnelly, who also oversees the organizations international operations, expects that many people will look back at the CCP virus pandemic as the time they decided to take the plunge and take charge of their childrens education. And this wont be just an American phenomenon, but rather a global one.

Indeed, according to UNESCO, the United Nations education agency, more than 1.5 billion students are currently home from school around the world. And while the U.N. outfit hopes to lead global cooperation schemes on how to deal with it, the reality is that many parents will almost certainly choose to home-school, experts say.

Home education is a global movement of parents seeking the best life opportunities for their children in response to a variety of factors, Donnelly told The Epoch Times, adding that throughout the world, the homeschooling movement was gaining steam. Home education is the fastest growing and most popular education innovation in the world today with the capacity to unlock limitless learning opportunities for millions of children.

However, certain governments are less than happy about the trend.

The harsh persecution of homeschooling parents in Cuba is a travesty that should not be tolerated, said Donnelly, adding that ruling elites even in nations such as Germany and Sweden are persecuting home-schoolers and using their control over school systems to control citizens.

The way a country treats parents who homeschool is a litmus testit demonstrates how a nations leaders view their fellow citizens.

Do they trust them? Free societies must respect and protect the rights of parents to choose what kind of education their children shall receiveand this includes home education.

Its not just the CCP virus that is causing massive growth for the homeschooling movement, however. Parents are increasingly frustrated and frightened about public schools, Donnelly said. Bullying, controversial curriculum choices, and special learning needs are just a few of the reasons more and more people worldwide are turning to home education.

By contrast, research continues to show that home education delivers good results across all measured areas of academic achievement and socialization.

The History

While its currently being rediscovered by millions of parents amid this pandemic, its important to remember that home education was the norm for millennia across virtually the entire globe.

Outside of fascist Sparta and its military schools, the first known proponent of compulsory education was Plato. In his infamous treatise The Republic, the Greek philosopher called for a regime led by a Philosopher King that would require everyone to receive an ideal education. Platos elitist thinking was, in key respects, very much in line with that of 19th-century reformers such as Horace Mann.

Despite Platos ramblings, though, the idea of a government-mandated, government-provided education didnt catch on until thousands of years later. Instead, throughout virtually the whole world, parents, religious institutions, and sometimes local communities were the primary educators of childrenwith parents retaining ultimate control.

The process and the motivations of those who created the government-school system have been extensively documented in this series. Basically, collectivists who wanted to undermine individual liberty and Christianity in the United States realized that the most effective way to do that was a takeover of the education system by government.

By the early 1900s, the foundations of that takeover were complete in America. From there, the schools became increasingly radical and dangerousand increasingly less rigorous academically, focusing instead on socializing children and instilling government-approved attitudes.

By the 1960s and 1970s, following Supreme Court rulings purporting to ban the Bible and prayer from schools, more and more parents were looking for an escape route. Many chose private schools, a topic that will be addressed in a future part of this series. But millions would eventually choose to leave formal school altogether, giving birth to the modern homeschooling revolution.

Perhaps the most important single player in this was Dr. Raymond Moore, a former missionary who discovered that government schools were harming childrenespecially young children. In a series of interviews between 1979 and 1983 on Dr. James Dobsons nationally syndicated program, Moore introduced home-education to millions of Americans. It was a spark that caught on and started a wildfire. The rest is history.

The official beginning of the contemporary homeschooling revolution is usually dated to around 1980 by leaders in the movement. Prominent home school advocate Israel Wayne, an author of many books on education and a leader in the home-education community, lived through much of that history in a family that pioneered the rebirth of home-education in America. He had a front-row seat.

In the early 1980s, parents began to realize that they could educate their children better than the State, Wayne, a home-schooling father of 10 children, told The Epoch Times. Because of compulsory attendance laws, many parents were faced with fines and imprisonment for merely desiring to teach their own children in their own homes.

Waynes family even developed escape plans to hide from social services if and when they came to the door. Thankfully, through the work of the Home School Legal Defense Association and state homeschooling associations, homeschooling is now legal in some form in every state in the U.S., and is growing internationally, said Wayne, author of Answers for Homeschooling: Top 25 Questions Critics Ask.

Wayne offered over a dozen reasons for parents to choose homeschooling. These include passing on values to ones children, building closer relationships, customized academics, a great student-to-teacher ratio, real-life learning opportunities, ability to compensate for gifts or special needs, the fact that parents care more about their children than anyone else, costing a fraction of what tax-funded schools cost, higher scores on academic achievement tests, better social skills, teaching children how to think rather than merely test-taking, and much more.

The Future

Anti-homeschooling forces have existed since the rebirth of the movement decades ago. The National Education Association, for instance, regularly attacks home education, arguing that only state-certified teachers should be allowed to educate children. Those attacks have been intensifying as the education establishment frantically seeks to stop the growing exodus.

The Washington Post recently ran the headline Homeschooling During the Coronavirus Will Set Back a Generation of Children. And anti-homeschooling extremists at Harvard Law School are planning a summit aimed at accelerating the war on home educators, with one of the organizers calling for a presumptive ban on the practice and another claiming there is no such thing as parental rights.

By contrast, The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, among countless others, have run featured pieces touting home education amid the crisis. In an opinion piece by Wall Street Journal deputy editorial features editor Matthew Hennessey, himself a home school father, he argued that an increase in homeschooling numbers would be a silver lining in a very dark cloud.

Without question, the ongoing resurgence of homeschooling has been among the most important developments on the educational horizon in the United States and beyond. While this lost tradition was almost wiped out by the government takeover of education over the last century, its now coming back in a major way. And CCP virus may turbocharge the movement.

When the dust finally clears after the devastation wrought by the CCP virus, there may be one very bright spot: millions of new homeschooling families dedicated to ensuring the best possible education for their children. The opportunity is there. Now, its up to Americans to seize it.

Alex Newman is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, and consultant who co-wrote the book Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy Americas Children. He also serves as the CEO of Liberty Sentinel Media and writes for diverse publications in the United States and abroad.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Then, Congress put in place contingencies against the possibility that the Capitol might be demolished or uninhabitable. Now, the threat that lawmakers face comes not from an outside enemy but from being exposed to each other. With the average age of a House member nearly 58 and that of a senator nearly 63, the chambers may be among the countrys most vulnerable workplaces.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) - Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones confirmed on Thursday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Briones is the second Cabinet member to get infected with COVID-19, after Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano.

In a statement, Briones said the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine confirmed to her the test results on late Wednesday afternoon.

The education secretary said that it was her second test after Ano tested positive with the highly-infectious virus on March 31.

Her first test was conducted last March 13 after a number of executive committee members were exposed to a patient who tested positive for COVID-19.

Briones noted that she is asymptomatic as her body temperature remains normal.

I am going on isolation. However, like my fellow Cabinet member, I will continue working -- virtually attend IATF meetings, preside over the DepEd Execom and Mancom, and make all decisions necessary to keep DepEd in full operation, she said.

She also asked those who had physical contact with her to go on self-quarantine at home. Briones added that DepEd has already coordinated with the Department of Health for the contact tracing and other necessary protocols regarding her case.
In a bid to dispel fears that one may contract COVID-19 by attending the last rites of an infected person, two Punjab ministers took part in the cremation of a 55-year-old man in Rupnagar district on Thursday.

State Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi went to a Rupnagar village to attend the last rites of the man, officials said.

The coronavirus patient, who was undergoing treatment at the Chandigarh's PGIMER, had died on Wednesday.

He was also suffering from diabetes and hypertension when he tested positive for COVID-19.

The initiative by the two ministers came amid reports that people were refusing to cremate such patients fearing the spread of the disease.

In a Facebook message and a video posted on the social media platform, the health minister said there was no danger in performing the last rites of coronavirus positive persons.

Moreover, ashes also do not pose any danger, Sidhu said, adding that the cremation is carried out in line with the guidelines and protocols of the Health Department.

In the past a few days, some incidents surfaced when people refused to accept bodies of their kin.

In Ludhiana on Monday, members of a 69-year-old woman's family had refused to accept her body and cremate it, forcing the district administration to perform her last rites.

Similarly, the administration had to perform the last rites of a 65-year-old man in Amritsar on Tuesday when his relatives did not come forward for his cremation.

A group of villagers in Amritsar's Verka village had too refused to allow the cremation of Padma Shri recipient and former Golden Temple Hazuri Raagi Nirmal Singh Khalsa, fearing the spread of the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man has been escorted away from outside the hospital where Boris Johnson is being treated after allegedly touting an unorthodox coronavirus remedy.

The man, pictured outside St Thomas's in central London, claimed gargling Lucozade may be a partial solution to preventing the virus, onlookers reported.

Officers spoke to him for several minutes before leading him away in handcuffs.

The Standard has contacted Met Police for comment.

The Prime Minister is now into his fifth day of treatment at the hospital, after he was admitted on Sunday night owing to "persistent" Covid-19 symptoms.

Mr Sunak said the PM has been engaging positively with the medics treating him in St Thomass intensive care unit, where he was moved on Monday.

Boris Johnson spends a third night in ICU

On Thursday morning, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood told Sky New that Mr Johnson was now "mentally able to make decisions" and "accessible" to his Government team.

Speaking on Kay Burley's breakfast programme he said: "The prime minister is mentally able to make decisions.

"He's accessible as well.

"What we're going through is unorthodox, we've not been here before, but I have been given assurances that the decision-making process can work in this difficult scenario."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will stand in for the PM at a Cobra emergency committee this afternoon, ahead of the Easter weekend.

Mr Raab, who is deputising for the PM, will address the state of current lockdown measures with leaders of the devolved nations.

No decision is expected to be made in the leader's absence, with key figures instead discussing whether to ease or strengthen restrictions ahead of an announcement next week.
As the Bay Area continues to shelter in place to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, many restaurants, cafes and catering companies, providing services classified as essential, remain open to provide food to the public. Michelin-starred kitchens and neighborhood sandwich shops alike have transitioned to this new reality and the photographs of the line cook and delivery driver in semi-surgical gear have become iconic images of the outbreak.

In response, weve lauded their resilience and called them heroic, rallying behind their efforts by ordering takeout, buying gift cards and sharing links to GoFundMe campaigns for laid-off staff. Indeed, many of these businesses are doing commendable work, including pivoting to provide wholesome meals to medical professionals and people facing food insecurity.

But, ultimately, if were serious about flattening the curve of infections, we need to allow restaurants, cafes and other food businesses to do what governments have asked so many other industries to do: close to the public.

The fact that many havent been able to do so is an indictment of an economic system that gives them no financial incentive to keep their employees home.

Food businesses shouldnt have to balance the fates of their employees with public safety. Thats an inhuman moral dilemma and a completely capitalist fabrication. A choice you make because, if you choose otherwise, people in your employ will lose life-saving health coverage or stable housing. What is the point of preserving someones life while also ruining it?

To close temporarily, even for a week, is incredibly punishing to the vast majority of food businesses. They are still on the hook for rent, utilities, sales taxes, benefits and payroll taxes.

Closing would be even more punishing for those who work at those businesses: members of the working class who still need to pay for rent, health care and various debts. Unemployment benefits can help allay some of those costs. But many food industry workers make the majority of their income from tips, and these are not counted when determining benefits. And according to a 2008 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, 20% of restaurant workers are undocumented but, despite paying into that system, they are ineligible for those payments.

The coronavirus outbreak is revealing the seams of the system that we have for so long pretended was normal. Does it make sense that restaurants are a cash industry, making barely enough to pay workers and their purveyors even in good times? Does it make sense that so many of these restaurants have had to lay off their employees in order to comply with public health orders, severing them from health insurance?

In a series of Instagram essays, chef Tunde Wey writes: Without additional intervention it seems many restaurants will die. But what exactly will die? He lists the many fractures of the food service model: its de facto racial and gender segregation and its propensity to solidify class differences.

What weve seen so far from the federal government has not made the decision to close easier. According to the Small Business Administrations guidelines for the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), issued April 2, what was pitched as a forgiveable business loan with a 10-year repayment plan has morphed into one that must be repaid in 2 years with 1% interest.

If a business doesnt rehire all of its staff by June 30, a large chunk of that loan will qualify as non-forgiveable. Its unimaginable that restaurants will recover enough to rehire their entire pre-coronavirus staffs even by the end of 2020.

Another restriction requires recipients to use 75% of the forgiveable portion of the loan on payroll, while the remaining 25% can go to utilities, rent and other overhead costs. In San Francisco, where the skyrocketing costs of commercial rent have already chased many businesses out of the city, that proportion makes no sense.

And while we think of the restaurant business as one that is a welcome home to people who have had interactions with the criminal justice system, many of them racial and economic minorities, PPP excludes such people from qualifying for those loans at all.

Not that anyone is having an easy time even applying for the PPP, which is handled by banks, credit unions and other lending instutitions. Restaurant owners like Stevie Stacionis, co-owner of Bay Grape and Mama in Oakland, have reported that applications were inaccessible at banking websites at the programs launch.

And even though evictions have been put on hold by San Francisco, commercial and residential landlords still have the right to demand rent be paid in full in the future. The result is a ticking time bomb: We might see restaurants come back from this in May, only to shutter en masse when they have to start paying back their loans and deferred rent.

Thankfully, were seeing groups like the Bay Area Hospitality Coalition, which came together quickly after the Bay Areas shelter-in-place orders were first announced on March 16, channel frustration into political action. The group has already linked up with coalitions around the country to provide a unified voice for independent food businesses, now and post-coronavirus.

And what is post-coronavirus? Will we be prepared for the next time, if and when the virus comes back around? If the food industry only barely makes it through this round, the next will surely be its death knell.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Decisive policy action now will help not only stanch the bleeding but improve the industrys future ability to take care of its 1.56 million workers. Heres what needs to happen.

Free and easy-to-access coronavirus testing for food workers. The city of Oakland has already put this measure into place, which will go a long way toward giving food workers peace of mind.

Rent forgiveness, not just deferment. Pushing rent payments a month or two down the line is asking too much of businesses that wont see pre-coronavirus levels of businesses for much longer than that. A residential rent freeze would also help workers immensely.

Better PPP terms with more realistic terms of forgiveness. PPP should also reward businesses that are operated or staffed primarily by racial and/or sexual minorities and allow owners who have had brushes with the criminal justice system to participate.

Unemployment benefits or grants for undocumented workers and entrepreneurs, who make up 20% of restaurant labor. And for those who seek help, protection from detention by ICE.

Insurance coverage for losses due to coronavirus. Across the food industry, claims are being rejected by insurance companies because theyre not due to physical damage.

Health care for all. Finally, employers face a particular moral crisis: Laying off workers would mean severing their connection to health care during this crisis. By disentangling health insurance from employment, that dilemma dissipates.

With all of this in place, restaurants and other food business could freely close, protecting workers and staying out of debilitating debt. And then, in the future, actually reopen.

Soleil Ho is The San Francisco Chronicles restaurant critic. Email: soleil@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hooleil
The world, and now more recently our nation, is faced with difficult times as the recent Covid-19 pandemic turns life as we know it upside down. A team at the Faculty of Engineering from the North-West University (NWU), in collaboration with other experts involved in this unsettling battle, is rising to the challenge to support our government in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

An existing mechanical respirator being reverse-engineered to be used as an emergency ventilator.

NWU engineers are manufacturing these face shields by making use of 3D printing technology.

These behind-the-scenes heroes are the medical device development team in the Faculty of Engineering. The team recently joined forces with the Central University of Technology (CUT) and the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in this endeavour. They also interface with the Covid Agile Manufacturing Solution Response Team  a number of well-placed stakeholders in the rapid manufacturing space who meet online on a daily basis and aim to develop urgent products that can be utilised by our healthcare system. The team includes individuals from academic institutions, the rapid manufacturing industry, and a number of doctors.Prof Leenta Grobler, one of our own experts at the NWU, also forms part of the steering committee of the team. According to the South African Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, South Africa has an already strained healthcare system, and if we do not take the Covid-19 pandemic seriously, the system will be overburdened. He also explained his concerns regarding the upcoming winter season. Clinics and hospitals will be flooded once this virus spreads to our already fragile nation during winter. South Africa does not have enough medical supplies and personal protection equipment (PPE) to protect the nation and the healthcare workers. Products that are in high demand include masks, test kits, hand sanitisers, invasive ventilators, non-invasive ventilators, hospital beds and linen, he says.With these concerns in mind, the NWU team and its collaborators have already developed products to relieve the healthcare system and the healthcare workers who are in the front line, risking infection as they strive to deal with this pandemic. Various officials in the Potchefstroom healthcare system have requested face shields, as there is a shortage already. The NWU team, led by Mr CP Kloppers, is therefore currently manufacturing and distributing face shields free of charge to health workers in the area around Potchefstroom. These face shields are provided as an additional layer of protection to be worn over existing masks and goggles, since they cover the whole face of the healthcare professional with a transparent material, Prof Grobler says.Beds for temporary hospitals or quarantine sites are being conceptualised with the help of NWU engineering students who reported for voluntary duty.The national Department of Health has officially rung the alarm bells on the dramatic shortage of ventilators in the international and national health systems and our team has investigated this field with significant vigour. There are not enough ventilators available in hospitals or from any supplier for all the potential patients who will be struck by the virus. Our group, in active collaboration with CUT, is working tirelessly to manufacture and distribute these supplies to clinics and hospitals, Prof Grobler explains.She adds that the main project of the team is to reverse-engineer the BIRD Mark 7 or 8 mechanical respirator to allow it to be used as an emergency ventilator. The team chose this particular device due to its ability to work without electricity, since it is powered by air, a characteristic that is crucial in South Africa. The aim is to produce an open-source 3D-printable version of the BIRD mechanical ventilator. The team will also need to update some parts to conform to the current minimum specifications listed by the World Health Organisation.It is encouraging to witness the collaboration and camaraderie developing among peers from different institutions and disciplines in this crisis. Relationships of this nature between various university teams, clinicians and the industry normally would have taken years to foster, but now  united against a common enemy, working towards to a common good  these timelines have been accelerated, as extreme measures are called for, Prof Grobler concludes.Enquiries: Prof Leenta Grobler018 299 4058
'We will need more than 21 days of lockdown for sure.'

IMAGE: Medical personnel take a swab from a woman, who is under home quarantine, in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Dr Ronojoy Adhikari and Dr Rajesh Singh are both applied mathematicians.

Dr Adhikari, professor and scientist from The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, is currently affiliated to the Department of Mathematics, Cambridge University, where he is doing research.

Dr Singh is a postdoc in the group of Professor Michael E Cates at the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics, University of Cambridge.

Both mathematicians are part of the UK's RAMP taskforce, lead by Cambridge mathematicians, Professor Julia Gog and Professor Cates.

RAMP stands for Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic and is a group of experts in epidemiology and pandemic modelling who have been urgently called in to use scientific modelling to assist in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives, by providing mathematical and scientific evidence to inform Britain's government policy.

IMAGE: Dr Adhikari, left, and Dr Singh. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Adhikari and Dr Singh

Dr Adhikari and Dr Singh have just co-authored a paper in which they studied the advance of COVID-19 in India.

According to their paper: 'The impact of social distancing measures -- workplace non-attendance, school closure, lockdown -- and their efficacy with durations' were investigated.

'A three-week lockdown is found insufficient to prevent a resurgence and, instead, protocols of sustained lockdown with periodic relaxation are suggested.'

'Forecasts are provided for the reduction in age-structured morbidity and mortality as a result of these measures.'

'Our study underlines the importance of age and social contact structures in assessing the country-specific impact of mitigatory social distancing.'

Dr Adhikari and Dr Singh speak to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com about the suggestions in their study, offering answers, they say, based only on their area of competence:

IMAGE: Medical staff are briefed before they start collecting swabs from people in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

As per statistics available, India is testing way less than even Pakistan per million.

But health experts mention that testing is going on to the full capacity.

Since testing seems to be progressing slowly, the logic, as per the results of your studies, is to extend the lockdown, so spread is contained while testing gets to as many people as possible and up to speed?

Testing is critically important.

Unless we test, we cannot estimate the fraction of the population that has been infected, but is not showing symptoms.

Without this information, mathematical models can only provide bounds, not predictions with quantifiable uncertainties.

Our model operates with the very conservative estimate that the number of actual cases is equal to the number confirmed by the Government of India.

This, of course, is an underestimate.

Even with that assumption, we find that a 21-day lockdown is insufficient.

But, unless we know how many cases there actually are, it is impossible to say with any quantifiable confidence, how many days of lockdown or other social distancing measures will bring the situation under control.

Therefore, yes, extensive testing is the need of the hour.

IMAGE: Policemen stand guard in a neighbourhood after dozens of men were taken to a quarantine facility in Ahmedabad amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

What kind of lockdown is preferable for India?

Your study mentions either a flat 49-day lockdown or a two-month lockdown with periods of relaxation.

Given the equally important economic issues, the central and state governments would probably prefer the latter.

But a 49-day longer continuous lockdown is far preferable in your view?

Our estimate for the number of lockdowns is a best-case scenario.

We will need more than 21 days of lockdown for sure, but this will have to be adapted to local conditions, and each state will have to decide on a policy that is responsive to the number of cases in that state, the economic implications, and multiple other considerations.

As we have repeatedly insisted, mathematical prediction is but one component of a policy decision framework.

We try to provide the best estimate we can on numbers, but human lives go beyond numbers, and much thought needs to go into how to manage the extended period of social distancing we will need for mitigation.

Forecast of the COVID-19 epidemic in India with mitigatory social distancing.

Each of the four panels shows the variation in the number of infectives with lockdowns of various durations.

The three-week lockdown starting March 25 does not prevent resurgence after its suspension as shown in panel

(a). Neither does a further lockdown of 28 days spaced by a 5 day suspension, shown in panel

(b). The protocols in panels (c) and (d), comprising of three lockdowns with 5 day relaxations and a single 49 day lockdown reduce case numbers below 10.

This forecast is based on all cases being symptomatic.

Are there any other issues with the kind of case data coming out of India?

Is it just low testing?

Or low publication of results?

>Or anything else that is skewing the figures too, do you feel?

This is a very dynamic situation, as new cases, and unforeseen situations like the religious congregation in Delhi are skewing expectations.

We need more data to be publicly available and in real time, so modellers can provide real-time updates of this highly evolving situation.

From whatever information is available to you, do you feel the government, while watching the way the pandemic is evolving in the country, values the importance of consulting experts in epidemiology and pandemic modelling to provide evidence to inform government COVID-19 policy?

Several very senior members of the Indian scientific community have been in touch with us and communicated both their appreciation and the need for further modelling.

We have been told that our work has been brought to the notice of the advisory body to the prime minister.

We are doing further modelling work, with input from RAMP and will be updating the results of our first paper continuously.

Beyond this, we are unable to comment.

IMAGE: Workers disinfect the exterior of a passenger train after it was converted into an isolation facility on the outskirts of Kolkata. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

You must have studied several situations, the world over, while working on pandemic modelling and what are generally the reasons in parallel situations for low testing?

At present, social distancing is the only tool.

There are two broad exit strategies.

One. is to phase the transition to herd immunity so that the medical system is not overwhelmed by the resulting morbidities and mortalities.

The other is to enforce strict lockdowns to suppress transmission, reducing both morbidity and mortality, and hope that a vaccine becomes available in the time scale of a year, and then mass vaccinate.

I do not want to comment on the implementation, and the comparison with China, as this is outside our expertise.

In absence of a vaccine, social distancing is the only tool a government has to fight this epidemic.

So that means even after this present lockdown in India, which should hopefully be extended considerably beyond 21 days, there might be later a need for another stringent, lengthy lockdown, some months down the line, if re-infection occurs?

That is absolutely correct.

We will need an extended protocol of social distancing till we either have herd immunity (that is most of the population has been infected) or a vaccine has been found.

The time scale for a vaccine to become available is going to be at least a year, so we are really looking at some measure of social distancing (not necessary lockdown, though) that has to be planned for that length of time.

IMAGE: Women show their Aadhaar cards as they wait to receive free rations being distributed by the Delhi government. Photograph: PTI Photo ]

But right now, the most important message you want to get out to India, based on your studies, is that India must not relax the 21-day lockdown and it must extend it?

This is our key message: 21 days of lockdown will not be sufficient to control the epidemic.

We will need to practice social distancing for an extended period of time, informed by mathematical modelling, but taking into account economic, medical, social and ethical constraints, till we have a vaccine or herd immunity is attained.
A 107-year old Dutch woman has recovered from the coronavirus, probably becoming the oldest survivor of the pandemic in the world.

Cornelia Ras fell ill on March 17, the day after her 107th birthday, Dutch newspaper AD reported, after attending a church service with other residents of her nursing home on Goeree-Overflakkee, an island in the southwest of the country.

She and 40 others at the service were subsequently diagnosed as carrying the virus.

Cornelia Ras pictured celebrating her 107th birthday, one day before she fell ill with coronavirus on March 17

Twelve of that group have since died, but Ras was told by her doctors on Monday that she had beaten the infection.

'We did not expect her to survive this', her niece Maaike de Groot told the newspaper.

'She takes no medicines, still walks well and gets down on her knees every night to thank the Lord. From the looks of it, she will be able to continue to do so.'

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 1,213 on Thursday to 21,762, health authorities said, with 148 new deaths.

The country's death toll stands at 2,396, the Netherlands' Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.

Ras was told by her doctors on Monday that she had beaten the infection

Prior to Ras, the oldest widely documented coronavirus survivor was Bill Lapschies, a 104-year-old American who also survived World War II and the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Lapschies, who was born in Salem in 1916, first displayed symptoms commonly associated with the deadly virus, on March 5.

He was quickly put into isolation at the Edward C Allworth Veterans' Home in Lebanon, Oregon, where he currently resides.

In China, Zhang Guangfen, a 103-year-old grandmother, recovered from Covid-19 following a six-day treatment in Wuhan.

Bill Lapschies, 104, seen here wearing a protective mask outside the home on his birthday

A 103-year-old unnamed woman in Iran also recovered after being hospitalized in the central city of Semnan for about a week.

Italica Grondona, a 102-year-old woman, recovered in the San Martino hospital in Genoa, Italy. She was nicknamed 'Highlander'  the immortal, after spending more than 20 days in hospital.

And a 96-year-old woman in South Korea became the oldest patient in the country to fully recover from coronavirus. The woman, from Cheongdo County close to the southern city of Daegu, made a full recovery after being treated at the Pohang public clinic.
Spanish gov't in crisis as death toll surpasses 15,000

New government data showed 683 deaths since Wednesday, down from 757 the previous day, but raising Spains total death toll to 15,283.

As new figures on Thursday took coronavirus deaths in Spain past the 15,000 mark, parliamentary debate over the crisis took a turn towards the more hostile and accusatory.

The number of new confirmed cases rose by around 5,700, with the total number of active cases slightly above 100,000.

SPAIN HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DEATHS IN THE WORLD

Debating extending a state of emergency to April 26, a motion widely expected to pass, parliaments tone was still markedly hostile compared to debate over two previous extensions.

In the first vote to extend the state of alarm I said youre not alone, in the second, I said things werent going well, and today I have to say that this is not the way, said Pablo Casado, leader of the Popular Party.

Casado tore into the governments handling of the crisis, accusing the government of lying and demanding the release of the real number of COVID-19 deaths.

"YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN"

You have absolutely no moral authority to ask for loyalty, but even so, well support the measures to contain the pandemic, Casado told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The leader of the far-right Vox party accused the government of spreading misinformation and bribing the media. You dont have a plan to take Spain out of this tragedy or avoid the misery thats to come, or that you have brought, Santiago Abascal told coalition leaders.

Nor did the political strife stop at Spains borders. Sanchez also warned that one of the biggest challenges in this pandemic has to do with Europe, saying a lack of solidarity could put the entire European Union at risk, perhaps referring to the north-south divide over aid to fight the outbreak.
Washington: Linda Tripp, the former U.S. civil servant whose secretly taped telephone conversations with a former White House intern documented the sex scandal that led to then-President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment, died on Wednesday at age 70.

Her death was confirmed to the Washington Post by her son, Ryan Tripp, and to the New York Post by her son-in-law, Thomas Foley, who said Tripp's unspecified illness was unrelated to the coronavirus.

The Daily Mail in Britain cited a longtime close friend, Diane Spreadbury, as saying Tripp succumbed to a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Tripp became forever linked with the sex scandal that nearly brought down Clinton's presidency by way of her whistleblower role in exposing the extramarital affair he had with Tripp's acquaintance, Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern.

Tripp was a secretary in the White House counsels office in the early years of Clinton's presidency before she was transferred to the Pentagon's public affairs office and befriended Lewinsky, 24 years her junior.

As the two became close and Lewinsky revealed her past sexual relationship with Clinton, Tripp began clandestinely recording their private telephone conversations in which Lewinsky documented her affair with the president in graphic detail.

Tripp ultimately turned over hours of those tapes to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who was investigating potential wrongdoing by Clinton, the former Arkansas governor, stemming from the failed Whitewater real estate venture in the Ozarks. Tripp was granted immunity from illegal wiretapping charges in exchange for the recordings.

On the basis of the tapes, Starr obtained permission to expand his probe into the Clinton-Lewinsky affair.

Tripp also brought to light one of the most notorious pieces of evidence in the scandal, the semen-stained blue dress that Lewinsky had told Tripp she had worn during a sexual encounter in the White House with Clinton. Tripp recounted that Lewinsky had once shown her the dress, and that Tripp persuaded the former intern to keep the garment without having it dry-cleaned.

Starr's office seized the dress, and DNA analysis of it forced Clinton to recant his infamous, finger-wagging public denial of his affair with Lewinsky - "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

The revelations also led the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to impeach Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice over statements he made denying the affair under oath as part of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate.

In the end, Tripp was vilified by Clinton's supporters as having betrayed a friend for partisan political motives. But she insisted she had done the right thing in exposing the president's misconduct.

Tripp was fired from her Pentagon job on Clinton's final day in office in January 2001, and later settled with her husband in Middleburg, Virginia, outside Washington.
A makeover for modern dating landscape has been long overdue.

The instant gratification from apps has changed the mise-en-scene in which single people have found themselves, at times dulling the ability to forge genuine connections.

While Ireland remains under Government-directed quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical dating scene has ground to a halt  and so has the conveyor belt culture of courtship.

With these self-isolating times, there is no option to Netflix and chill and so people seeking interpersonal connections have had to become creative.

Thomas Crosse (32), a radio broadcaster with FM104, said hes enjoying the long-term conversations that have emerged as a result of social distancing directives.

Since the quarantine, youre stuck in your house with nothing else to do but talk. When someone has run out of conversation with their friends, you strike up conversations on dating apps like you wouldnt before, he told the Irish Independent. Its like being pen pals!

Youre matching with people who you would have previously swiped left on. During the first couple of conversations, you know if theres a connection and whether to continue or not. I havent met anyone in person yet obviously, but Ive had wine dates over WhatsApp video calls.

You might be in genuine conversation with three or four people and ask questions about their day, finding out things you never would have found out previously. Everybody is so bored at this stage that theyre happy to talk about anything, he added.

Mr Crosse said the self-isolation means thinking outside the box and building the foundations of a friendship first; a return to old-fashioned ideals.

This is a challenging time for everyone. In dating, you must put effort in a conversation and make it last. You can have more craic with someone over voice notes and on FaceTime. Youre chatting to them as a person; as a friend.

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If, and when, you meet by the time this is all over, youve skipped four steps in the dating process and will already know them quite well, he says.

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Similarly, Nadia El Ferdaoussi (33), a travel writer from Tallaght, Dublin, said shes enjoying the forced alone time that she can guiltlessly revel reacquainting herself withherself.

Its not like I was actively dating before this, so I wasnt meeting up with anybody before quarantine that suddenly I cant see. Some guys on Tinder have changed their bios to say, Lets meet in 2022 and make a joke of it, she explained.

I think its better now though because you can speak to someone without the pressure of meeting up. You can get to know someone a bit better now that we have this time. But really, my feeling is that Im very happy to be single right now.

I cant imagine being stuck 24/7 with anyone in my past relationships. Its the ultimate time to be selfish: I can be as quiet or as loud as Id like, cook what I like, watch what I want on TV; all the best things about being single are amplified.

A spokesperson for Bumble, the female-led dating app, told the Irish Independent that while their usage is on par with typical user behaviour, but that the virus has become a talking point.

We have seen users begin to mention COVID-19 and Coronavirus more and more in their profile, the spokesperson said. Now more than ever, it is about staying connected in the virtual world.

Hayley Quinn, the relationship expert with Match Group (the parent company of Match.com, Tinder, PlentyOfFish and Hinge) said quarantine has sparked a return to more traditional values which places compatibility above all else.

Usually in times of crises, we feel more of a need to connect with another; but we need to find another way to access that while observing social distancing in this particular case, she explains.

Its removing that ability to expedite the dating process whether thats an in-person or hook up scenario. People who are looking for committed relationships stand a better chance going through the process of getting to know someone first.

Without being able to meet someone in real life, it forces you to focus on communication, which can actually be a positive. Maybe well change our value system over how were choosing to move forward with relationships. Similar rules apply when youre not dating during coronavirus!

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Ms Quinn recommends measured communications between parties and not 24/7 messages over WhatsApp throughout the increasingly long days.

Schedule a video call for a more memorable connection. Ive heard of people making the same meal, drinking the same drinks and playing charades; so, its almost like theyre together, she says.

When this ends, were in for a big social change all around and dating will be one area of our lives thats reflected as part of that. We will have developed new habits and behaviours and place new value on things we undervalued in the past, like spending time with close friends and immediate family.

We will also find people becoming more self-sufficient and humbler. Were not going to forget this period of our lives and immediately revert.

Traditional values could be making a comeback.

Her departing words of wisdom? No matter how bored you are, dont text your ex."
Healthcare workers from three of Newarks hospitals that have been battling the coronavirus were given a tremendous show of support on Wednesday morning from a group of the citys police and firefighters.

Nearly 30 Newark Police officers accompanied Police Chief Darnell Henry, and between 45 and 50 firefighters accompanied Fire Chief Rufus Jackson outside Newark Beth Israel Medical Center at 10 a.m. to honor the hospitals doctors, nurses and other medical professionals and give them a round of applause.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Dozens of employees came out to greet and thank the officers whose cars lined the entire street, including 30 police vehicles and 6 fire trucks from firehouses located in Newarks South and Central wards, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Following that visit, the police and firefighters moved on to University Hospital before ending the morning at at St. Michaels Medical Center to say thank you to the staffs of those hospitals.

Essex County has the second most positive coronavirus cases in New Jersey with 5,598 and also the second most deaths with 276, according to numbers released Wednesday by state officials.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
Will COVID-19 impact subrogation? Like so much else, the answer is yes.

The global effect of COVID-19 is unlike any event in human history. More than 4 billion peopleover half of the worlds populationare currently under confinement measures. In just a few short weeks, COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of life across the globe. In the United States, stay-at-home orders started in mid-March. We can only speculate how long this will be the new norm. On March 29th, President Trump suggested the spread of the coronavirus will not peak for at least another two weeks and he extended the national social distancing guidelines through April 30th.

There is little doubt stay-at-home orders will remain in effect into May and some predictions have the lockdown lasting well into the summer. Whatever the timeframe, the ripple effects will last even longer. The impacts will be far-reaching and there will be effects on losses, subrogation claims, and litigation. It is foreseeable that there will be influences on the nature, frequency, and extent of property losses.

Larger Commercial Water Losses

At the time of this writing, 39 states (and counting), Washington DC and Puerto Rico have active executive orders closing non-essential businesses and instructing their residents to stay at home. More than 300 million Americans, which is over 90% of the country, currently live under a stay-at-home order. With millions of businesses closed, commercial properties are sitting vacant.

A water loss that lasts for just an hour can easily result in damages in the six figures. Water losses occurring at commercial properties over the weekend, when no one is there to detect it, often result in hundreds of thousandsif not millionsof dollars in damages by the time the loss is discovered 48 hours later on Monday morning. The risk of loss presented by vacant properties where no one is there to discover losses is so great that insurance policies generally contain a Vacancy Exclusion, which precludes coverage for losses at properties that are unoccupied for a certain number of consecutive days.

Water losses occurring at vacant commercial properties in the coming weeks will, on average, be larger than they would have been had they occurred at any other time. Commercial properties that are not normally vacant for more than a weekend may now go weeks without anyone entering the building. And on the rare occasion when someone enters the building, it is only to quickly grab an item or pick up the mail. Normally small water losses that go undetected during closures will become big losses; normally big losses will become even bigger. A water loss that lasts even an extra hour can spell magnitudes more in damages. Multiply that by hours or days, and the damages could increase exponentially.

Longer Time Element Damages

Executive orders nationwide have shutdown contractors. COVID-19 closures will cause substantial delays in property repairs and, in turn, increase time element losses. Delays in repairing properties for an extra two months or more means extended periods during which insureds cannot live in their homes and insured businesses must remain closed. These repair delays will increase Additional Living Expenses (ALE) and Business Interruption losses. Additionally, the inability to place insureds in closed hotels may further drive up ALE damages.

Even after closure restrictions are lifted and repairs can commence, contractors will face backlogs that will delay repairs further still. A two month closure due to the coronavirus could lead to property repair delays of many more months.

Effects on Manufacturing and Product Liability Claims

The Peoples Republic of China has been the worlds factory. The United States, in particular, imported over $500 billion in goods from China in 2018. In America, a substantial percentage of products (or their component parts) that cause water and fire lossesappliances, plumbing fixtures and components, and electronicscome from China. COVID-19 brought Chinese factories and supply chains to a screeching halt. Lockdowns in China are starting to lift but the disruption on Chinese manufacturing continues and will continue for some time to come.

In addition to the shorter-term consequences to Chinese manufacturing, the coronavirus may have farther reaching and longer lasting effects on global manufacturing. Some predict that COVID-19 will cause manufacturing to move away from China and into other countries. For example, in the recent article Coronavirus Could Be The End Of China As A Global Manufacturing Hub, Forbes predicted that [t]he new coronavirus Covid-19 will end up being the final curtain on Chinas nearly 30 year role as the worlds leading manufacturer.

This movement away from China was already occurring, albeit slowly, as Chinese manufacturing costs steadily rose due to climbing wages and increased regulations. Then, in 2019, the shift picked up momentum when President Trump announced tariffs of up to 25% on over $300 billion of Chinese imports. More companies began exploring manufacturing opportunities outside of China, including in Vietnam, India and Mexico. It is possibleif not probablethat the coronavirus pandemic will accelerate this trend.

For months to come, closures, labor shortages, financial issues and other uncertainties will disrupt Chinese manufacturing. After that, we could see manufacturers relocate from China to other countries in Asia and elsewhere at even faster rates. These disruptions and changes to the manufacturing of so many products will breed quality control issues and, in turn, lead to an increase in the number of product failures.

Effects on the Construction Industry and Construction Claims

Construction is similar to manufacturing in that disruptions to the construction process bring about risks of failures. COVID-19 brought construction to a standstill. Many cities and states issued orders giving contractors days to bring construction projects to an abrupt stop. Those sites are now sitting in whatever conditions contractors placed them into before they were forced to suspend the project. If issues were not properly addressed, the project is vulnerable to experiencing losses.

When projects finally resume, will contractors seamlessly pick up where they left off or will steps be missed? Furthermore, contractors will be substantially behind schedule; and, because so many construction materials come from Chinafrom steel to plumbing components and fixtures, contractors may confront additional delays on account of supply chain disruptions.

Large construction projects almost always make time of the essence in the contract and establish a time for completion. While contractors may try to enforce force majeure provisions, contending that COVID-19 was an event outside their control and necessitates extensions, contractors will still look to finish projects as quickly as possible. This, too, can be problematic because it may result in contractors taking shortcuts that can lead to losses.

Like with product manufacturing, disruptions in the construction process cause quality control issues and mistakes. Incomplete projects sitting idle, substantial delays in work, financial issues and contractual time pressures for completing projects will have significant consequences on construction and these effects may result in losses.

Increases in Carelessly Caused Residential Fires

We dont realize how much of our time is spent outside of our home until we are forced to stay inside it 24/7. With people in their homes all day, every day, activities at home are on the riseincluding those activities that cause fires, such as cooking and smoking. In the aggregate, therefore, we might see an uptick in these types of fire losses at residential properties.

Effects on Courts and Claims Departments

Once courts reopen, judges will face months of backlogged motions, conferences and trials. In addition to the backlogged dockets, judges will face an influx of filings that were tabled while the court was closed. Some courts plan to also put a moratorium on trials because the jurors would need to convene in close quarters. In Maryland, for example, trials are being postponed until September. Litigation across the country will be delayed substantially.

These delays may make early mediation more beneficial than ever. Subrogation claims, with fixed property damages, expert-driven issues and sophisticated insurers on both sides, are especially ripe for early mediation. Counsel should explore opportunities to mediate subrogation cases earlyboth pre-suit and post-paper discovery. Doing so will help claims departments economically move claims that will otherwise stagnate due to COVID-19-related burdens on the judicial system.

These are just some of the many ways COVID-19 may affect property losses, insurers, and subrogation claims. Moving forward, insurers should work closely with their subrogation professionals, outside counsel and experts to develop effective ways to identify cases having recovery potential. Although property insurers are facing an influx of first-party business interruption claims associated with COVID-19 and, consequently, may shift some resources to adjust these claims, it is important that insurers remain focused on recovering their losses. If insurers delay reviewing cases for subrogation potential, valuable information related to the cause of a loss may be lost, resulting in decreases in the insurers subrogation recoveries. Thus, insurers should promptly involve subrogation counsel to assist in identifying and prosecuting property losses that have recovery potential.
Authorities in Peru sprayed down a group of American tourists and other foreigners trying to leave the country with an unknown chemical after imposing a mandatory coronavirus quarantine on their hostel, according to video footage and accounts from several of the evacuees.

The substance discoloured the Americans' clothing and smelled like bleach, but authorities would not tell them what it was, said the evacuees, who shared photos of their stained garments.

We were shocked, said Daniel Voznyarskiy, a student at the University of Washington who returned to the United States last week after an involuntary two-week quarantine in southern Peru. We had no warning whatsoever. They made us do a 360, sprayed us with bleach and sprayed our bags. I closed my eyes and plugged my nose.

The Peruvian government did not respond to a request for comment.

The use of bleach to disinfect suspected carriers of the rapidly spreading virus has prompted outrage in other parts of the world. In India, where authorities recently sprayed scores of migrants in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh with bleach, officials halted the practice and vowed to discipline those who carried it out.

Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Show all 25 1 /25 Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A view of empty Bourbon street in the French Quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic in New Orleans, Louisiana Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Nyla Clark, 3, accompanied by her mother, Chavonne Clark, sits in a baby stroller at a corner in New Orleans, hoping to get a few dollars from an occasional passerby. Clark was a phlebotomist with a local company until she lost her job because of the coronavirus pandemic. She is waiting for unemployment The Advocate via AP Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A man boards a streetcar Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Jackson Square, normally bustling with tourists, is seen deserted AP Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Words from Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" are painted onto plywood covering the window of a closed business AFP via Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Street performer Eddie Webb looks around the nearly deserted French Quarter looking to make money AP Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Boarded up businesses Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans The normally bustling tourist mecca of Bourbon Street lies deserted in the early afternoon Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A sign along I-10 informing persons who travel from Louisiana to quarantine AP Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A man cycles along Jackson Square AFP via Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans Elena Likaj, prevention department manager at Odyssey House Louisiana (OHL) which runs a drive-through testing site, takes the temperature of New Orleans resident Peyton Gill Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A man walks his dog past a boarded up business on Frenchmen Street Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans An empty Bourbon street Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A meal is distributed at the Lantern Light Ministry at the Rebuild Center Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A woman walks in the French Quarter Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans People practice social distancing as they queue up for a meal at the Lantern Light Ministry at the Rebuild Center Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans French Quarter Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A sign is pictured in the French Quarter amid the outbreak Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A view of Bourbon Street Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans National Guard members walk down Rampart Street AFP via Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A man rides his bicycle in front of a boarded up French Quarter restaurant Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A shuttered business is pictured on Decatur Street AFP via Getty Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans The normally bustling tourist mecca of Bourbon Street lies deserted Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A view of Canal Street Reuters Impact coronavirus is having on Louisiana and New Orleans A New Orleans firefighter works to contain an early morning fire Reuters

The World Health Organisation has warned that spraying people with chlorine and other powerful disinfectants can harm their eyes and mouths and will not kill viruses that have already entered the body. Bleach and alcohol can disinfect hard surfaces

A State Department representative said: We have been in touch with local authorities in Cusco on this incident and will continue discussions with our Peruvian counterparts to ensure that health care practices comply with international standards.

The department has been under pressure to return tens of thousands of Americans to the United States who, like Mr Voznyarskiy, were stranded when foreign governments closed borders and cancelled flights in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic.

The department faced early criticism on its response time and coordination with embassies but has received praise in recent days for streamlining the evacuation process. As of Tuesday, the department had repatriated more than 45,000 citizens from 75 countries.

The dousing marked a low point for Mr Voznyarskiy and dozens of other tourists who were quarantined at the Pariwana hostel in Cusco for two weeks after the government identified two hostel guests as carriers of the coronavirus and prevented anyone from leaving.

Instead of removing the guests who tested positive for the virus, local authorities ordered a mandatory quarantine of at least 28 days for all of the guests, telling some they may have to stay several months.

The more than 120 hostel guests, including several Americans, struggled to practice social distancing in cramped quarters with bunk beds. Many of the guests kept in communication through a group-messaging service, which lit up on the night of 29 March when guests began alerting one another that they were being lined up outside and sprayed with a mystery chemical.

We were all pretty scared in the group chat, said Patrick Beach, an Orlando resident who travelled to Cusco on vacation with his girlfriend. You hear chlorine or bleach, and you know you're not supposed to touch it. So the idea of being sprayed with it is very scary.

The Americans trapped in the hostel enlisted their representatives in Congress for help, drawing in concerned politicians.

This alarming situation required urgent attention, and I repeatedly brought it to the attention of the highest levels of the US and Peruvian governments, said senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat whose constituent Kacie Brandenburg was quarantined at the hostel.

Hostel guests complained of confusing and insufficient information from the Peruvian government and meagre food offerings in the hostel during their quarantine. Being whisked out of their rooms with no warning about a chemical treatment exacerbated the situation.

Ultimately it just ruined peoples' clothes and everyone was pretty much OK, but the surprise of it all was the worst thing, Ms Beach said.

The Americans were told by authorities that they could be shot on sight if they left the hostel, even if they had documentation showing that they had a repatriation flight arranged by the US government, Ms Beach said.

Eventually, the Peruvian government, which had suspended international flights last month with 24 hours notice, approved chartered flights by the US government and allowed the Americans to leave the hostel.

I went to Peru to see Machu Picchu, Mr Voznyarskiy said. I didn't expect to be bleached.

The Washington Post
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 21:00:38|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Health officials and experts from the Chinese military shared their experience in COVID-19 response with their Singaporean peers via a videoconference Wednesday.

Altogether 17 health officials and experts in Beijing, Wuhan and Singapore attended the videoconference and introduced the general situation and experience of the military participating in each country's control and prevention of the epidemic.

Experts exchanged views on the response, testing, clinical treatment and trend of the epidemic.

They also analyzed and discussed the treatment of severe cases, nosocomial infection control, psychological intervention and imported infection response with detailed cases.

Speaking highly of the Chinese military's efforts and China's achievement in the fight against the disease, the Singaporean side praised China for sharing the epidemic situation and its experience in a timely way.

The Singaporean military said it was willing to continue sharing anti-epidemic experience and work together with its Chinese counterpart to fight against the pandemic.
President Donald Trump is coming under bipartisan scrutiny in Congress after he ousted two inspectors general and publicly criticized a third - actions that have left lawmakers wrestling yet again with an administration that has repeatedly flouted efforts at independent oversight since Trump took office.

His resistance to the watchdog system established after the Watergate scandal come on two fronts that have largely defined the Trump presidency: His impeachment, which was triggered by his attempts to pressure Ukraine into conducting a political investigation of one of his domestic rivals; and his administration's management of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, in which trillions of taxpayer dollars are being disbursed.

Trump's dismissal of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community's inspector general, has in particular troubled influential Senate Republicans who are pushing the president for a more detailed explanation of why Atkinson was suddenly booted from his position late last week. Atkinson was the official who notified Congress last September of an anonymous whistleblower complaint about Trump's Ukraine dealings - a notification that set off a chain of events that led to the president's impeachment by the House and eventual acquittal in a Senate trial.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who for decades has championed congressional oversight, is drafting a letter to the president seeking that explanation about Atkinson. Grassley's effort has been endorsed by Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Democrats in the chamber.

But lawmakers also are aware that they are, again, confronting a president who has repeatedly defied oversight by the legislative branch, raising questions about whether new safeguards established amid the pandemic will be effective against Trump. The president has shown little hesitation in dismissing independent watchdogs, ignoring congressional subpoenas and barring current and former administration officials from cooperating with investigations.

After firing Atkinson last week, Trump this week removed Glenn Fine, who had been the acting inspector general for the Pentagon and was to chair a federal panel overseeing the Trump administration's management of the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package passed by Congress last month.

The president also was critical of Christi Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services because her office released a report this week that found a "severe" and "widespread" shortage of testing supplies and protective gear at hospitals dealing with the pandemic.

Despite some pockets of concern among Republicans, GOP lawmakers have long been deferential to Trump's presidential prerogative on matters of personnel and policy, reluctant to challenge a party leader with overwhelming support from the GOP base.

"Oversight is important, and we tend to do our part from the congressional side when it comes to implementation of all this," Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said in an interview Wednesday. "But I guess what I would tell you is what we've always said: Whether we agree with some of those decisions or not, the president does get to make those picks and those choices."

Many Democrats worry that oversight of the coronavirus stimulus will become the latest instance where the legislative and executive branches become bogged down in warfare over their respective powers, with the judiciary failing to resolve those disputes in a timely manner.

"We have discovered with this president how much our Democratic system and separation of branches actually operates on respect of norms," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee on government operations. "This president has just blown through all of that and doesn't care, so we're going to have to think about statutory restraints on the president."

In one sense, Trump's ouster of Atkinson as the intelligence community's watchdog was months in the making.

White House officials said Trump was furious with the inspector general for his role in the Ukraine matter and wanted to fire him even late last year - amid the impeachment proceedings in Congress - but was talked out of it.

Johnny McEntee, the president's new head of presidential personnel, has spoken to Trump in recent weeks about inspectors general as he reviews employees across the government whom he considers disloyal to the president, according to two White House officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private deliberations.

In addition to McEntee, Trump has talked to new White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about what the president views as problems with the inspectors general in recent weeks, said a senior administration official, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment freely.

In 2017, Trump and his senior advisers discussed replacing inspectors general with ones who were more politically aligned with the president and would be more likely to investigate previous Democratic administrations, according to a former senior administration official.

But they were concerned there would be significant pushback in Congress if they replaced inspectors general en masse.

Yet Trump has recently lamented to aides that the administration did not appoint more inspectors general earlier in Trump's tenure, and an effort was made late last week to rush a flurry of appointments, one administration official said.

Late Friday evening, the White House announced a slate of five inspector general nominees, including Brian Miller, a senior associate White House counsel who has been tapped to oversee a $500 billion rescue fund for distressed industries created as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law.

"My worry is he's trying to make it as easy as possible to steer relief funds to his political allies and away from his political opponents," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of the president Wednesday. "It's part of his campaign to undermine these IGs and make them appear political. These are all career government employees."

During negotiations on the massive rescue bill, Trump told reporters, "I'll be the oversight." He further unnerved Democrats when he coupled signing the bill into law with a signing statement disputing the authority of the new inspector general to notify Congress if the executive branch was not providing information requested by the legislature.

The president's actions prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to announce last week the creation of a select committee with subpoena powers to scrutinize the administration's response to the pandemic and its management of the rescue law.

On Atkinson, the letter from Grassley addressed to Trump has yet to be finalized and made public. But a draft version reviewed by The Washington Post notes that a president is required by law to inform the House and Senate Intelligence committees of his reasons for dismissing an intelligence community inspector general at least 30 days before that person is removed - which didn't appear to happen with Atkinson.

The reason that Trump has given publicly - that he has lost confidence in Atkinson - is not satisfactory without additional explanation, the letter also says. The senators plan to tell Trump in the letter that "it is our responsibility to confirm that there are clear, substantial reasons for removal," according to the draft.

"I think it's a legitimate line of inquiry to ask some questions about that," Thune said of the Atkinson letter led by Grassley. "It's a fairly big move."

The effort to seek answers about Atkinson's ouster mirrors a letter drafted by Grassley in 2009 after then-President Barack Obama dismissed Gerald Walpin, the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps program. That move was criticized by Democratic and Republican senators at the time because the White House did not follow proper procedures in removing Walpin.

The Obama White House had said it had lost confidence in Walpin - essentially the same reason that Trump is giving for Atkinson's removal.

The White House press office did not immediately respond to questions about the congressional objections to the administration's treatment of the inspectors general - or about the proposed legislative response.

The new coronavirus law creates several layers of oversight of the administration's pandemic management efforts.

In addition to the post to be held by Miller, it establishes the five-member commission that is to scrutinize the $500 billion fund, with each of the four congressional leaders choosing a member, with a fifth member to be selected jointly by Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is the only one of the four to have announced a selection - Bharat Ramamurti, a former top aide to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Fine, a career official who had served under Republican and Democratic presidents, had been selected by the leader of a council of inspectors general to head the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee - which would conduct and coordinate audits, with investigators looking for waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money in the disbursement of loans, loan guarantees and financial payments to households and businesses.

Senior congressional officials believe it was premature to know whether Congress will establish more oversight provisions in future virus bills. But on Wednesday, a coalition of good-government groups pressed lawmakers to include legislative protection for inspectors general in the next package.

The reform groups are circulating proposed legislative language that would prohibit the removal of an inspector general except under a tightly limited list of circumstances. The proposal they are recommending is similar to one passed by the House in 2008 when Congress amended the Inspectors General Act. The House language was dropped from the bill in the Senate before final passage.

"I believe the bill they are working on for additional emergency funding must include protections for the IGs," said Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight, which is part of the lobbying coalition. "This is the only way we can assure that the people who need the emergency funding are going to get it."

Connolly, in concert with Oversight Committee Chairman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., introduced legislation Wednesday that would modify the oversight provisions of the coronavirus law to allow a broader range of inspectors general, including Fine, to participate. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is also drafting a bill that would bar the president from dismissing any inspectors general without "evidence-based good cause" - and allow anyone affected by the firing the right to stop it in court.

"If anything deserves careful oversight and accountability and auditing, it's this," Connolly said.
For the millions of Americans who have found themselves on the unemployment roles within the past month, the short-term financial scenario is scary enough. Even worse: the fear that failure to pay ones bills will haunt them well into the future, even after the coronavirus is just an ugly memory. The key to making sure that doesnt happen, of course, is keeping a cautious eye on the credit score that lenders use when deciding to offer you credit and when determining the rate you pay. So how do you protect it when times are tough? Here are some steps you can take to make sure youre score stays healthy, even when there doesnt seem to be enough money to cover your bills.

Keep on Top of Your Credit Report

If youre used to paying all your bills on time and your credit score looked good, perhaps checking your credit reports didnt seem all that important. But with COVID-19 decimating swaths of the American economy, it may be time for a more hands-on approach.

Borrowers can get a free copy of their reportsits likely that Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each have a file on you  once a year through the website AnnualCreditReport.com. Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian, says reviewing them carefully will let you know how lenders are reporting your account to these three agencies and tip you off to any errors that you can then dispute.

You get a complete picture of where you are, says Griffin. Its a basis for beginning to take action.

Allocate Your Money Wisely

A lot of households are finding that, even with forthcoming stimulus checks and a slightly beefed-up unemployment benefit, there simply arent enough funds to cover all their monthly payments. More than ever, its crucial to know how much money you have coming in and devise a plan for how youll spend every dollar.

Maybe paying down your full credit card bill is no longer a viable optionif so, dont lose sleep over it. Griffin says if you at least make your minimum payment  typically not more than 4-percent of your outstanding balance  youll at least keep your account current. Because on-time payments are a key factor in credit scores, that will ultimately help your keep your three-digit score from taking a nosedive.

Story continues

Due to the recently passed CARES Act, the U.S. Education Department wont mark missed payments on some student loans as delinquent (nor will they charge interest during that window). So, if youre having trouble putting food on the table or paying the mortgage, thats one you might consider putting lower on your list for the time being. Bear in mind that this only applies to student debt actually owned by the federal government, so borrowers with older Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and Perkins loans may not get this break.

Talk to Your Lenders

When folks run into financial trouble, theres an instinct to put your head down and hope for the best. But experts say thats the last thing you should be doing if youve just experienced a major cutback in your income.

Many lenders are offering flexibility to customers whose jobs have been impacted by the pandemic, according to Greg Jawski, a spokesman for FICO, provider of the nations most widely used credit-scoring system. That may include putting borrowers on a temporary deferred payment plan or placing the loan in forbearance, says Jawski.

It doesnt hurt that the federal government is twisting their arm a bit. Under the CARES Act, banks have to mark accounts as current, as opposed to delinquent, if youve been affected by the coronavirus and reach out for help. It will permanently ensure that a borrowers FICO Score wont be impacted by late payments related to the effects of the pandemic, says Jawski.

The key is that you have to take the initiative and contact your lender. Of course, thats easier said than done these days; hold times for many customer service calls and online chats have been agonizing. Given the long-term repercussions, though, its worth your wait. One of the biggest misses in 2008 was consumers froze and didnt get in touch directly with lenders, says Jawski.

Beware of Scammers

While many companies are giving borrowers some relief right now, others are trying to take advantage. That includes dubious credit-repair offers that may end up doing you more harm than good.

In this environment, its even more important to do your homework before working with someone to fix your credit scores. If you find one that seeks an upfront payment for its services, Griffin recommends steering clear. By law, companies have to offer you a written contract and inform you of your legal rights.

Its important for people to recognize things that are too good to be true, says Griffin.

Get Credit for Your Good Habits

Credit reports are great at catching borrowers when they make a late payment or overextend their credit lines. But you can also make sure they catch the things youre doing right, thereby boosting your score.

Enrolling in a free program called Experian Boost, for example, allows you report your on-time phone and utility bills to the credit bureau (though not Equifax or TransUnion). There are also a number of third-party providers like Rent Reporters and Rock the Score, which report rent payments to one or more of the credit agencies, usually for a fee.

If youre paying these bills anyway, it might be worth getting rewarded for it on your credit reports. In times like, we all need a little boost.

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A 62-year-old doctor, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died in Indore on Thursday, as authorities in many parts of the country put medical professionals under quarantine after they tested positive for the virus and in some cases as a preventive measure given their vulnerability to catch the fast-spreading infection.

Though there is no separate figures to show how many medical professionals have been afflicted or quarantined in India so far, these isolation measures by state authorities were taken for the frontline warriors as the nationwide tally of conformed cases of COVID-19 neared 6,500 and the death toll inched towards 200 mark.

Working in dire conditions, the medical professionals, who have also been subjected to sporadic assaults in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, came for a huge praise from several leaders for their contribution with Union minister Jitendra Singh lauding them as "corona warriors" for putting all efforts to ensure the safety of people.

Concerned over incidents of assaults against doctors, Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded a law to deal with such crimes while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of strict action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel, a day after two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were assaulted following rumours that they are "spreading COVID-19".

"It's a feeling of disgust. Nothing can justify the attacks on medical professionals who are battling the deadly disease as frontline warrirors. The IMA has a policy of zero tolerance to violence, and especially at this time it makes me wonder who am I fighting as a doctor -- the tiny lot of people who are attacking and beating with the majority being silent or the formidable COVID-19, IMA president Ranjan Sharma told PTI.

"It is high time for an ordinance to clear a Central law to check assaults on doctors and other medical professionals. I again appeal with folded hands that please don't shatter our morale with such incidents, Sharma said.

National Commission for Women has also sought a detailed action taken report from the Delhi Police in the alleged assault of the two doctors.

According to Safdarjung Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) president Dr Manish, two women resident doctors of the hospital were allegedly assaulted on Wednesday by a 42-year-old man who accused them of "spreading" the novel coronavirus in the area when they had stepped out of their house to buy fruits.

On the death of the Indore doctor, city chief medical and health officer Praveen Jadia, said the victim, who was a general physician, died at a private hospital.

"It appears that he had come in contact with a coronavirus patient during treatment. We are trying to trace the source of the infection," he said.

This is the first case of a doctor succumbing to the novel coronavirus in the country. However, it was not immediately clear that whether the doctor got the infection while treating patients or from some other source.

Meawhile, a top official and a health worker at a state-run hospital in Howrah district West Bengal tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, officials at the state health department said.

Both of them have been shifted to MR Bangur Hospital in south Kolkata, one of the four facilities earmarked in the city for treatment of COVID-19 patients, they said.

"The medical superintendent-cum-vice principal (MSVP) of the Howrah district hospital was under home quarantine since Monday, as he had developed symptoms of coronavirus infection.

After his swab tested positive this morning he was taken to MR Bangur Hospital," an official said.

Some doctors at the Howrah hospital have been placed under quarantine, and the process of identifying all those who came in contact with the MSVP and the medical staff member was underway, he said.

According to the official, the MSVP had come in contact with a COVID-19 patient from Salkia in the district, who died due to the disease on March 30.

Authorities in many other parts, including Jaipur and Agartala, have also put doctors and other medical professionals under quarantine.

The government hospital in Jaipur switches isolation ward staff, placing those who have put in some time there into quarantine as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government has roped in more than 6,000 AYUSH doctors and compounders to assist the medical staff engaged in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

Announcing the decision, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the state medical department has acquired the services of 6,624 AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) doctors and compounders to assist the medical teams working in the field, quarantine and isolation centers and other work.

"This will strengthen efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New US Bill Calls for Suspension of Federal Funding to WHO

U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) has introduced a new bill to withhold federal funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) until its current Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus resigns.

The WHO helped the Chinese Communist Party hide the threat of COVID-19 from the world and now more than 10,000 Americans are dead, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks, said Reschenthaler in a press release from his office.

The bill, introduced on April 7, called for Ghebreyesus resignation and the establishment of an international commission to investigate the WHObefore any congressional funding should resume.

The U.S. lawmaker said that Chinese authorities covered up evidence of human-to-human transmission, which appeared as early as December 2019.

The WHO initially repeated Beijings claim that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission for the virus.

Reschenthaler added that the WHO delayed declaring a public health emergency of international concern until Jan. 30, when the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, was already spreading to several countries for more than a week.

The escalating pandemic began in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. The virus has since spread to more than 200 countries and territories, and killed more than 85,600 outside of mainland China.

Reschenthaler said WHO was complicit in Beijings coverup. Instead of working to save lives around the world, WHO stood by and downplayed the severity of the virus so as not to offend Chinese officials.

The lawmaker also explained that the United States is the largest contributor to the WHO, making up 22 percent of the WHOs assessed funds from member nations, according to WHO data. The United States also provides voluntary funds to WHO through congressionally appropriated global health programs and humanitarian accounts.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump pointed out the difference in the United States and Chinas contributions to the WHO. According to State Department statistics, U.S. contributions exceeded $400 million, while China provided $44 million, in 2019.

Reschenthaler said he believed the money should no longer go to WHO, as it is not right that Americans hard-earned tax dollars are being used to propagate Chinas lies and hide information that could have saved lives.

The bill has more than 20 co-sponsors, including Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla).

I hope my colleagues join me to hold WHO responsible for playing politics rather than focusing on its mission to coordinate global efforts on public health crises like the one we are currently experiencing, Reschenthaler concluded.

Trump said at a Tuesday evening briefing that the United States would halt funding to the WHO.

Earlier that day, Trump tweeted: The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.

The President added: Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?

The United States banned travelers from China on Jan. 31.

That same day, the WHO said that countries should keep their borders open to China.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, Ghebreyesus senior advisor, defended WHO recommendations to keep borders open in February, saying China had worked very hard to identify and detect early cases and their contacts and ensure they did not travel.

David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters that any U.S. funding cut would be a huge blow to the organization.

If the WHO loses its funding it cannot continue to do its work. It works on a shoe-string budget already, Heymann said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
British supermarket Marks & Spencer boosted pay for its frontline workers, such as shop assistants, by 15% from April 5 to May 31.

While many companies globally have been forced to cut pay due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, some businesses are rewarding their frontline workers with salary increases.

The United Nations' International Labour Organisation estimated that nearly two out of five workers around the world are in sectors that are at risk of seeing a "drastic and devastating" reduction in working hours, wage cuts and layoffs. These include retail, manufacturing, transport and storage.

The coronavirus has now infected close to 1.5 million people worldwide, according to latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, forcing many countries to impose lockdown measures to slow its spread, including the temporary closure of non-essential businesses.

However, certain businesses within the affected sectors, such as grocery stores, are now considered essential to helping countries function during lockdown. Indeed, many are looking to hire more workers, given the need to restock shelves quickly, particularly in response to the panic buying seen in recent weeks.

As millions of others stay at home to protect themselves and others, these workers are putting themselves at a greater risk of exposure to the coronavirus by continuing to go to work.

And to recognize their efforts, some businesses are giving their affected staff pay raises.

In the U.K., British supermarket Marks & Spencer boosted pay for its frontline workers, such as shop assistants, by 15% from April 5 to May 31. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's supermarket is giving workers an additional payment worth 10% of the hours they have worked between March 8 until April 5.

It came as some British businesses, like retailers, have benefited from a suspension of business rates  a tax paid on commercial property. This holiday from the property tax was introduced last month by U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak as part of a relief package, worth nearly $400 billion, to help businesses get through the coronavirus crisis.

In the telecoms sector, BT is bumping annual pay by 1.5% from July 1 for its front-line staff, such as engineers, as well as other non-managerial employees. This is lower than around the 3% salary increase employees received last year, but the company is still thought to be one of the few British businesses offering a raise at all.

Similarly, broadband provider Virgin Media raised staff salaries by an average 2.2% from April 1.

In Italy  the worst-hit country in Europe by the coronavirus, with over 17,500 deaths  pasta manufacturer Pastificio Rana is giving its 700 employees a 25% increase in pay for each day they work across five production sites in the country.

It is also giving staff an additional monthly allowance of 400 euros ($435) for childcare expenses.

In Spain, which has also been badly hit by the pandemic with the highest number of confirmed cases in Europe, supermarket Consum gave its workers a bonus totaling 3.8 million euros ($4.2 million)  an average of 283 euros per person  in March.

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The global hyaluronic acid market size is expected to reach USD 16.6 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 8.1%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Factors such as increasing concern of population regarding chemicals, desire to get quick and evident results, and shorter recovery time are high impact rendering drivers of this market.

The market is evolving rapidly due to the increasing adoption of aesthetic procedures in developed and developing regions. Increasing use of hyaluronic acid surfaces in cardiovascular implants, such as stents and vascular grafts, for improving the compatibility coupled with growing awareness about anti-aging products is fueling the growth. The efficacy and evident results of hyaluronic acid based dermal fillers are attracting this population base.

The global increase in population also results in an increased demand for antiaging cosmetic and aesthetic treatments. Owing to its distinctive viscoelastic and moisturizing properties coupled with lower toxicity levels, hyaluronic acid products are directly affected by growing demand for minimally invasive antiaging solutions. The minimal adverse effects, lower pain, shorter recovery time, and lesser postsurgical complications make minimally invasive surgeries significantly attractive.

Further key findings from the study suggest :

The osteoarthritis segment held the largest share in 2019. In 2013, more than 27 million people were suffering from osteoarthritis. Viscosupplements are gaining popularity as a cure in pain management. Use of hyaluronan as a treatment for osteoarthritis has been approved by the US FDA in 1997 and has gained substantial market share

The rising obesity resulting in osteoarthritis and joint pain has increased the demand for hyaluronic acid injections as treatment. With the prevailing consumer trend, which favors convenience over higher costs, companies such as Genzyme (Sanofi-Aventis) and Zimmer have launched single-injection products. The 2014 FDA approval for single-injection treatment "MONOVISC" is expected to further fuel the growth of the single-injection product segment

Cosmetic surgeries are booming with approximately 14 million minimally invasive procedures performed every year. In 2013, hyaluronan-based facial fillers received FDA approval, which is used in corrective measures, anti-aging procedure, and filling fine lines. These dermal fillers constitute a large share in these procedures and witnessed 8% growth in the year 2014

Growing preference for short-treatment regimens, even though high priced, and growing prevalence of target diseases, such as osteoarthritis, are high impact rendering factors that can be attributed for the large share of this region. In 2019, the most lucrative applications of hyaluronic acid in the North American region were in the form of dermal fillers and viscosupplements for management of osteoarthritis

Hyaluronic acid market in Asia Pacific region is anticipated to emerge as the fastest growing region during the forecast period. The growing geriatric population in China and Japan provides a large customer base for anti-aging products and services. Increasing awareness about applications of hyaluronan and its efficacy fuels the demand. In addition, stabilizing economies leaves the middle-class population with surplus money to spend on these procedures

The industry is presently dominated by key participants such as F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd .; Seikagaku Corporation; Galderma SA; Sanofi (Genzyme); Anika Therapeutics Inc .; Salix Pharmaceuticals; Zimmer Holdings Inc .; Allergan Inc .; Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc .; and Smith & Nephew Plc.

Request a Sample Copy of the Global Hyaluronic Acid Market Research Report @ www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/hyaluronic-acid-market/request/rs1

Grand View Research has segmented the global hyaluronic acid market by application and region:

Hyaluronic Acid Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

Dermal fillers

Osteoarthritis Single injection Three injection Five injection

Ophthalmic

Vesicoureteral reflux

Hyaluronic Acid Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

North America US Canada

europe UK germany france italy spain

Asia Pacific japan china India

Latin America brazil mexico

MEA South Africa



Access full research report on global hyaluronic acid market: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/hyaluronic-acid-market
The ability to trace the process from the field all the way to the cup of coffee people are drinking, ensuring quality and authenticity, is a valuable asset to coffee production that builds trust in the industry," said ECropOrigin founder, Jean Orlowski.

ECropOrigin announces its new application, The Coffee Connection Application (TCCA), which provides traceability and increases transparency to help verify authenticity throughout the coffee supply chain. Available for mobile devices and desktop computers, TCCA tracks the entire cycle of coffee operations and production from farming to processing to purchasing. By improving coffee farm production at the source, it increases efficiency and provides insight into the entire process as a complete resource for capturing data to ensure quality product.

TCCA is customized for all partners involved in coffee production and sales: Farmers, brokers and buyers, and roasters. The new tool provides transparency by connecting farmers to buyers across the coffee supply chain, tracking available inventory and streamlining the process by providing improved communication tools for managing transactions. In addition, TCCA helps track the authenticity of the origin of the coffee source, including verifying organic certification and the region it was produced.

TCCA is the most comprehensive application for farmers, as a key data resource while also creating essential connections in the process of moving coffee from point to point, Jean Orlowski, ECropOrigin founder, said. The ability to trace the process from the field all the way to the cup of coffee people are drinking, ensuring quality and authenticity, is a valuable asset to coffee production that builds trust in the industry.

TCCAs interface provides inventory management, reporting and accounting tools, and increases transparency and interaction to all involved in coffee production, including:

 Farmers can utilize real-time dashboards to create logs and records to track all parts of farm procedures, processing, inventory and accounting, providing valuable information that can improve a farms bottom line; convenience of mobile application in the field. The app is free for farmers.

 Brokers or Buyers can see logs created by farmers including details on picking dates, types and regions; able to purchase directly or create purchase requests through TCCA. The application automatically updates inventory availability.

 Roasters can track company inventory to see availability of coffee beans by region, including type - whether cherry, parchment, or green - as well as grade and origin.

 Consumers view QR codes on coffee packaging that trace the farm origin and provide historical data including picking date or organic certification.

For more information, please visit ecroporigin.com.

About ECropOrigin

ECropOrigin is the creator of The Coffee Connection Application (TCCA), a mobile and desktop application to track, monitor and connect specialty coffee production and processing for farmers, roasters, and buyers through an easy to use interface that traces the coffee supply chain from the farmer to the consumer. Started in the Kona region of Hawaii, ECropOrigin is a data-driven technology resource in the coffee industry. For more information, visit: ecroporigin.com/
By PTI

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday asserted that a decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after getting expert advice and taking into account the increase in the number of coronavirus positive cases.

Palaniswami, after a consultative meeting with a dozen government panels set up to tackle COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu cautioned that there is a chance for the infection to progress to community transmission stage and appealed to people to cooperate for effective implementation of curbs considering the gravity of the contagion.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, he said a decision on extension of lockdown depended on a couple of factors.

"A decision will be taken considering the status of the disease. It is contagious and the number of cases are on the rise and as of now 738 people are infected and these aspects will be factored in," he said answering a question.

The Chief Minister's pointer towards the steady rise in the number of cases is seen as a hint that the government might considering prolonging lockdown.

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"A 19-member committee of medical experts has been set up and their advice will be solicited and also the government 12 panels on tackling COVID-19 scenario will be consulted and then a decision will be taken," he said.

To a question, he said: "We are now in stage two, there is a chance for progression into stage three and the government is taking all steps to confine the infection to stage two."

On testing more people, he said: "We have bought four lakh rapid test kits for swift testing," adding in the first phase, family members of positive people will be tested and then their contacts and further it shall cover the localities of those affected.

Days ago, Palaniswami had said that one lakh test kits have been ordered from China and it will arrive on Thursday.
Information Officers and Commentators of Information Services Department in the Savannah Region including some journalists have attended a day's training on the COVID-19.



The training, organised at Damongo by the Ministry of Information with support from the Ghana Health Service, was to equip the participants with the requisite knowledge and skills for disseminating information on the COVID-19 pandemic to the public.



Participants were trained on how to sensitise the public on the mode of transmission, symptoms, preventive measures and risk communications on the disease.



They were also advised to encourage people to call or report any suspected case to the appropriate health authorities.



Mr Ziblim Mumuni, Savannah Regional Information Officer, urged the participants to discharge their duties professionally in the fight against the spread of the virus.



Mr Mumuni urged them to use all the available channels to educate the public on the need to adhere to the preventive measures and directives put in place to combat COVID-19 in the country.



He further urged them to rely on official sources for information to ensure that they shared the right information to the public to avoid fear and panic.

Source: GNA









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There has been another regulatory shift in India as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has adjusted its stance on infrastructure installation in response to industry requests. The DoT is also being asked to intervene in the ongoing debt issues facing two state-owned operators.

Specifically, the government has relaxed radiation norms for the installation of new mobile towers and upgrading of existing cell sites. The DoT will now give service providers 30 days to self-certify compliance after commissioning of new mobile towers or upgrading of existing units.

This comes in the wake of a request by industry body the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to relax the rules given the ongoing lockdown that makes site visits difficult. The DoT has agreed but pointed out that the relaxation will be temporary.

Meanwhile DoT intervention has been requested in another case as network suppliers, including Nokia, ZTE and Bharti Infratel, have asked it to get involved in clearing outstanding debts owed by the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

The COAI recently wrote to telecommunications secretary Anshu Prakash, highlighting the delays and breach of contract commitments by the public sector companies and seeking DoT intervention to get them to release their outstanding dues towards a number of equipment manufacturers and infrastructure providers.

While BSNL and MSNL have made some progress towards cleared their outstanding debts, notably to their own employees, the COAI estimated total outstanding dues from these state-controlled companies at around $2.6 billion.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

Trend:

Elman Rustamov has been appointed Member of the board of Azerbaijans Central Bank (CBA), Trend reports on Apr. 9.

Discussions in this regard have taken place at plenary meeting of Azerbaijans Parliament. After discussions, the issue was put to the vote and adopted.

Elman Rustamov has expressed gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for his confidence.

I feel proud of participating in large-scale creative work carried out in the country over the past 17 years. I express gratitude to the head of state and every one of you for the confidence that you have placed in me, said Rustamov.
Several weeks ago, small pops of color began to dot the drab early spring landscape. Like stubborn weeds, the bright blue latex gloves kept appearing on busy sidewalks, in supermarket parking lots, or along roadsides with damp leaves and human debris.

The problem has only worsened as more and more people turn to disposable masks and gloves to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. On Saturday, one Connecticut woman posted a picture of a grassy hill littered with what at first looked like Easter eggs, but on further inspection proved to be dozens of discarded rubber gloves in colorful teal and buttercup-yellow hues. Similar scenes are playing out everywhere from Sacramento to Southampton, New York, potentially threatening wildlife and putting essential workers at risk.

"I have plenty of trash cans," Steve Melton, a groundskeeper in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told WZZM. "But, they throw their gloves, their masks, everything that they are done with, down in my parking lot."

As suiting up in protective gear for a rare trip outdoors becomes mainstream or even mandatory, jettisoned masks and gloves have become a common sight in hospital parking garages, abandoned grocery carts and even on scenic nature trails. The problem, of course, is that underpaid and overworked sanitation and grocery workers are inevitably the ones to pick them up.

"These stores are already taxed with being busy, and now they have to have staff diverted to cleaning the parking lots to make sure they're clean and sanitary," Patrick Cheetham, the police captain in Londonderry, New Hampshire, told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "It's creating more work and potentially putting them at risk."

While the coronavirus is believed to primarily spread through human-to-human contact, a growing body of evidence suggests that contaminated particles can linger on surfaces for hours or even days. That means that there's a small but not inconsiderable chance that someone who picks up a discarded mask could get infected. Begging people not to toss their used protective gear onto the sidewalk, the Boston Public Works Department recently posted pictures of masked and gloved workers stooping over to gingerly scrape the detritus off the street.

In addition to potentially being a biohazard, used masks and gloves are neither recyclable nor biodegradable. Officials warn that they can easily be swept into storm drains, then end up in oceans and waterways. That in turn raises the risk that they're mistaken for food and eaten by turtles, marine mammals or seabirds like wandering albatrosses, which have been known to ingest plastic gloves.

Conservationists worry about the long-term implications of the new influx of trash. In mid-March, Gary Stokes, founder of the environmental group Oceans Asia, told Reuters that alarming numbers of single-use masks were piling up on nature trails and beaches in Hong Kong. On one trip to an uninhabited island south of Hong Kong's airport, he found 70 discarded masks that had washed up on a small stretch of sand, he said.

Health and environmental concerns aside, there's also something deeply unsettling about stumbling across used rubber gloves and surgical masks. "It's like when somebody drops a dirty needle or something," one woman told CBS Miami. "It bothers me because they took off their gloves that think may be contaminated and threw it right by my car."

In some communities, police and health officials are actively monitoring store parking lots and ticketing people who drop used masks and gloves on the ground. On Monday, Yorktown, New York, doubled the fine for littering, warning that violators will now be charged $1,000 for a first offense.

"It's not like they're throwing out candy wrappers," Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater said in a statement. "They're throwing out medical waste - used rubber gloves and face masks that could potentially be contaminated with coronavirus."

Others are hoping that public shaming gets the message across. New York State Assemblyman Michael Reilly, R, recently tweeted that he was "disgusted" to find gloves and masks scattered across the parking lot during a grocery run. "Those pigs think it is ok to leave it for workers to pick up after them," he wrote.

In Attleboro, Massachusetts, Mayor Paul Heroux, D, has started posting photos of discarded masks and gloves on his Facebook page, urging residents to be more considerate. "I work in produce at Stop & Shop . . . not only am I finding used gloves on the ground, people are leaving them inside or on produce displays," one woman recently responded. "I've found at least a dozen this last weekend. It's disgusting."

Meanwhile, some private citizens are taking matters into their own hands. Last weekend, Ben Johnson of Alberta, Canada, got a long stick and filled a shopping bag with used gloves. "They're bright-colored blue, and bright colors attract children," he told Globalnews.ca, complaining that people "only wear these things to protect themselves and they don't give a damn about anybody else."

The gloves and masks aren't the only garbage piling up. Coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin' were quick to ban reusable cups as the virus spread. A growing number of cities and states have outlawed reusable grocery bags, even though they're easy to wash and there's no evidence that they've contributed to spreading the coronavirus. Meanwhile, bans on plastic bags have been rolled back in many parts of the country, due in no small part to lobbying by the plastics industry.

With streets deserted and storefronts shuttered, finding abandoned gloves or masks in otherwise-empty spaces can be an eerie reminder that contagion lurks everywhere. The ghostly, forgotten gloves of the pandemic have inspired at least one Instagram account, and the British photographer Dan Giannopoulos has started documenting each piece of discarded protective gear that he finds on his daily walks.

"As a photographer, during the beginning of the lockdown, I had thought about ways to document these surreal times from home," Giannopoulos wrote in a photo essay for the BBC, explaining that the litter revealed the intensity of the crisis and the level of public anxiety. "These discarded gloves also represented, to me, our own virulent impact on the environment."
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Implications of the Tasaday FiascoThe Tasaday Hoax runescape gold led many anthropologists to reconsider how they deal with indigenous tribes. It is a situation full of dilemmas. Anthropologists are often faced with situations where members of the tribe they are studying die on a regular basis from easily curable diseases. But administering medicine may be the first step toward the loss of a culture. Many tribes actually express desire to become more technological. Anthropologists usually pressure them not to do so. One Brazilian indigenous tribal chief, after hearing such a recommendation, is quoted saying, 'Do they think we like not having any clothes? It may be the way of our ancestors, but the bugs bother us.' Should tribes like these be exposed to the modern world? There are no easy answers.

This content culture established around the creation and selling of products through the IMVU catalog. On the social side of things there is no shortage of options with users able to create their own public and private rooms, connect through user groups or participate in active community forums. The security around these features are fairly good and ensure private information is never given out through automatic chat filters to keep children safe while online.

Are taught by certified instructors, he said. is a definite structure in each and every class and progression. Anybody can go anywhere and learn how to effectively kick and punch, but if someone wants to be a leader, that our strength. his family and many of his students also have gone on to claim world champion titles.

If you are considering going for a 120 yourself, I would encourage you greatly to do so. It takes commitment, but in the long run, its fun. Its fun to see the progress you make over time and not to mention the bragging rights. Also, if you are pushing for a 120, I highly suggest finding someone to do it with, it keep you going and give you a new friend.

Substances in flea saliva can trigger an immune response in your pet's skin. This can cause intense irritation and itchiness beyond the bite itself you may see or feel small scab like bumps on your pet's skin. Cats contract this disease through close contact with fleas and their feces. Dogs can be infected with Bartonella potentially linked to fleas as well.

A year or two back there was an online video (Boingboing tv?) showing an interview with a young artist (British?) who had mounted a camera behind and above his back, which fed the live video to goggles he wore. He'd also dressed in a getup that would make him look like a game character, spiky hair and such. "Live 3rd person perspective" in other words.

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: Students of Public Health of



city-based University of Hyderabad (UoH) have been drafted in by the Telangana government to carry out epidemiological field work in various districts across the state as part of its containment strategy against the spread of COVID-19.

About 15 students of the second-semester Master of Public Health (MPH) course of the university who have volunteered for the work have been issued orders by district authorities to participate in active and passive surveillance teams, a release from UoH said.

In addition, four research scholars and another 30 students, including current MPH seniors and alumni, have submitted their credentials to the government and offered to work for the humanitarian cause, it said.

UoH Vice-Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile lauded the students' motivation to serve voluntarily in this hour of crisis and characterised it as part of the Universitys social responsibility mandate.

"For students of public health of our University, this is indeed a valuable opportunity for gaining hands-on experience in a field in which they are getting trained,"he said.

It may be recalled that the Telangana government has undertaken a state-wide surveillance and containment strategy against COVID-19, which is in line with the recommendation of WHO for Global Surveillance strategy for human infection with coronavirus, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
ROME  The coronavirus has forced Pope Francis to scrap his public appearances and postpone his first overseas trip of the year, to Malta. He now recites his Sunday Angelus not from a window overlooking St. Peters Square, but from a Vatican library. This week, hell conduct the ceremonies leading up to Easter largely via live stream.

But as Francis guides the global Catholic Church through the pandemic, he has made it clear he has no interest in full-on papal social distancing.

He continues to hold in-person meetings, sometimes sitting almost knee-to-knee with guests. He eschews wearing a mask, according to photographs and people who have met with him. He has tried to maintain a near-normal daily schedule even as the virus has reached closer  with one positive case discovered in late March in Santa Marta, the residence hall where Francis lives.

Among world leaders during the pandemic era, Francis  83 years old and missing part of a lung  has faced one of the most delicate calculations about how much to pull back. He has groused in recent weeks about feeling "caged," and his sociable, off-the-cuff personal style runs counter to the best guidance about how to contain the virus.

Vatican insiders say the pope has indeed reduced his interactions but is also trying to appear present  and not self-concerned  during a dark period of global grief and mounting social tensions. They also suggest he is seeking to set an example to priests around the world of how to find creative ways to stay involved even as their churches are shuttered.

Still, some worry the pontiff is taking too many chances with the virus.

"Let's hope he doesn't catch it," said one Vatican official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to be publicly critical of the pope. "Can you imagine a conclave in a time of epidemic? It would look like a sci-fi Vatican novel."

"Quod Deus avertat," he added, switching to Latin. God forbid.

The Vatican did not respond to questions about how Francis is safeguarding himself. According to Italian media outlets, he has been tested twice for the virus, both times with negative results.

Another official who spoke anonymously said the pope now eats alone. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who has met twice in person with Francis in recent weeks, said that during his visits the two maintained a "a certain distance, but it's not as if there were particular measures." He said he washed his hands before the meetings.

"There is a sort of ordinary quality, which is surprising," Paglia said.

Paglia said Francis had no interest in discussing his own health and was instead preoccupied with planning for the aftermath of the crisis.

"Huge social problems will emerge," Paglia said, summarizing the pope's remarks to him. "He believes that the world will entirely change and that the church will have to change, too."

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

According to his publicly released schedule, Francis has met with more than 80 people since the beginning of March, when the virus was already spreading across Italy and other places in Europe. On March 9, he hosted a group of French bishops, including one who tested positive for the virus soon after. Francis appears to have since stopped large-scale meetings but has kept up more intimate gatherings: one-on-one sit-downs at a desk, as well as audiences with a dozen or so priests and prelates, each seated roughly six feet apart from one another in a circle, none wearing masks.

At the most recent such event, on Wednesday, one attendee stood at Francis' side during a concluding blessing.

Fabrizio Pregliasco, a virologist at the University of Milan who examined video and photos of the pope's recent meetings, said the protocols in place were "terrible."

"It is crowded, too close," he said. "They should find stricter ways, also so as to set an example."

Francis offered some insight into his approach during an interview with the British papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, alluding to a cardinal portrayed in a famed Alessandro Manzoni novel who rode through a plague-stricken village "with the window of his carriage closed to protect himself."

"This did not go down well with the people," Francis said in the interview, which was conducted with written questions and recorded audio answers and released Wednesday. "The people of God need their pastor to be close to them, not to overprotect himself. The people of God need their pastors to be self-sacrificing."

Despite the pope's refusal to go into a bunker, the virus has nevertheless upended life inside the Vatican, where eight employees have tested positive. The city-state lagged behind Italy in enforcing a stringent lockdown but said on March 24 that it was encouraging remote work "as much as possible." Critical offices are operating with drastically reduced staffing.

That has led, now, to a subdued Holy Week, one of the most important annual periods in Catholicism. For Francis, the week usually means appearances before enormous crowds in St. Peter's Square, as well as a Good Friday procession at the Colosseum. Last year, he celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper at a medium-security prison and washed the feet of 12 inmates.

But this year, in a move unprecedented in the modern church, the ceremonies have been closed to the public. Francis will preside over Easter Mass  but pilgrims will see him only via WiFi.

In recent weeks, the pope has already been streaming his daily Masses, which he celebrates in his private chapel in the company of a nun and a priest. Morning after morning, Francis has talked about the virus, praying for health-care workers, for detainees in overcrowded prisons and for the elderly, who he said are "suffering now in a particular way, with greater interior solitude and sometimes great fear."

Amid the crisis, Francis has also ventured outdoors, in areas where he would normally be pressed by crowds, in moments likely to stand as among the most iconic of his papacy. In mid-March, he walked down Rome's normally packed Via del Corso, flanked only by a small security team, with a biker coming in the opposite direction, en route to a church housing a crucifix used during the plague era.

On March 27, under an eerie blue light, with ambulance sirens blaring in the background, Francis stood almost alone in St. Peter's Square to deliver a special blessing. With the coming of the pandemic, he said, a "thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities."

In parts of the world that have banned large-scale gatherings, Catholics have especially struggled this week with the suspension of public Masses and other liturgical events.

"To go through [Holy Week] without darkening the door of a church, without reciting with a congregation the prayers that we always do, it's strange," said John Garvey, president of Catholic University, who was diagnosed in mid-March with COVID-19.

The ban on church gatherings has drawn pushback in the United States, with some raising concerns about a violation of religious liberty. Others have said churches have a duty to keep their doors open during a time of severe need.

But Francis, on several occasions, has described a different vision for a church beset by crisis  one in which it transcends strictures with creativity and flexibility. In his latest interview, Francis referenced a phone call from an Italian bishop who had been told by canon lawyers that he couldnt offer absolution, or forgiveness of sins, to people in COVID-19 hospital wards, because he was in the hospital hallway  not in direct contact with those patients.

"What do you think, Father?" the bishop had asked Francis.

"Bishop, fulfill your priestly duty," Francis recalled saying.

That doesnt mean that canon law is not important, Francis went on to say in the interview. But the final canon says that the whole of canon law is for the salvation of souls, and thats what opens the door for us to go out in times of difficulty to bring the consolation of God.
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08/04/2020 Gardai conduct a COVID-19 checkpoint in Phoenix Park, Dublin this afternoon after they received new powers in the wake of a slippage in the no travel rules...Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Keep informed of these unprecedented times with the latest coronavirus updates on Independent.ie's live blog.





20:10 09/04/2020

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved out of intensive care, Downing Street confirms

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved from intensive care back to the ward at St Thomas' Hospital, Downing Street has said.

Speaking earlier, Dominic Raab said he had not spoken to Boris Johnson since taking over his responsibilities, insisting the Prime Minister should focus on his recovery.

The Foreign Secretary, who is deputising for the PM, added he has "got all the authority I need" to take decisions along with his Cabinet colleagues.

Read More





19:30 08/04/2020

Pope hails priests and health workers as 'saints next door'

Pope Francis on Holy Thursday hailed priests and medical staff who tend to the needs of Covid-19 patients as "the saints next door."

Francis celebrated the Holy Week evening Mass in St Peters Basilica, which was kept off limits to the public because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus.

The same precautions forced the pope to forego a symbolic ritual traditionally observed on the Thursday before Easter  washing the feet of others in a sign of humility.





19:10 09/04/2020

Italian survivor (103) prescribes courage and faith as antidotes to Covid-19

Expand Close Ada Zanusso, 103, poses with a nurse at the old peoples home Maria Grazia in Lessona, northern Italy (Giampiero Brisotto/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ada Zanusso, 103, poses with a nurse at the old peoples home Maria Grazia in Lessona, northern Italy (Giampiero Brisotto/AP)

Covid-19 survivor Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith to vanquish the illness, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighbouring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the "super old"  people who are at least 100.

As the nation with the worlds highest number of Covid-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Expand Close A medic at the Elmhurst Hospital Centre in Queens, New York, reacts after stepping outside the emergency room on Saturday. Health workers worldwide have come under intense pressure through the coronavirus outbreak (Mary Altaffer/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A medic at the Elmhurst Hospital Centre in Queens, New York, reacts after stepping outside the emergency room on Saturday. Health workers worldwide have come under intense pressure through the coronavirus outbreak (Mary Altaffer/AP)

"Im well, Im well," Ms Zanusso said from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont.

"I watch TV, read the newspapers."

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18:40 09/04/2020

Social distancing needed for 'prolonged period of time' to beat Covid-19

Philip Nolan of Maynooth university who is heading a team modelling the potential spread of the virus here said despite huge improvement the country will have to have social distancing in place for a prolonged period of time in order to keep the virus suppressed.

The number of new cases per day is growing at below 9pc in the last five days but that needs to be at zero.





18:05 09/04/2020

RNLI and Irish Coast Guard urges people not to use the sea for exercise or recreation

The Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) and RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) are asking the public not to take part in any water-based activity on or in the sea, while the current national emergency restrictions are in place. Both organisations are highlighting the importance of minimising the risk to Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteer crews, Helicopter crew and other front line emergency services, through being unintentionally exposed to COVID-19.

RNLI and Coast Guard are confirming that their Search and Rescue services are fully operational.

Under normal circumstances, many people would be heading to the coast this weekend to enjoy the Easter bank holiday. Given the current COVID-19 outbreak, both organisations are urging everyone to follow Government instructions, which are clear: stay home, protect frontline services and save lives.





17:50 09/04/2020

28 further deaths in Republic of Ireland and 500 new Covid-19 cases

A further 28 patients in Ireland have died after contracting the coronavirus.

Expand Close Farewell: Funeral director Robert Maguire at Mount Jerome, Dublin, where Covid-19 victim John Gallagher was laid to rest on Thursday. Photo: David Conachy / Facebook

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Whatsapp Farewell: Funeral director Robert Maguire at Mount Jerome, Dublin, where Covid-19 victim John Gallagher was laid to rest on Thursday. Photo: David Conachy

It brings the total number of deaths associated with Covid-19 here to 345.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, confirmed another 500 cases of the virus in Ireland.

So far 6,574 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19.

Of the 28 deaths, 13 male were male and 15 female. 19 had underlying medical conditions.

It brings the total on the island of Ireland to 8,051 cases and 345 related deaths.





17:40 09/04/2020

Astronauts leave virus-plagued Earth for International Space Station

Expand Close In this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service the Soyuz-2.1A rocket booster with Soyuz MS-16 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 9, 2020. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. (Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service via AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp In this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service the Soyuz-2.1A rocket booster with Soyuz MS-16 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 9, 2020. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. (Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service via AP)

Three astronauts have arrived at the International Space Station after departing the virus-plagued Earth with little fanfare and no family members at the launch site to bid them farewell.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

Nasas Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the orbiting lab in a Soyuz capsule six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan. They joined two Americans and one Russian who will return to Earth in a week.

They have arrived! The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Chris Cassidy of @NASA_Astronauts and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin & Ivan Vagner docked to the @Space_Station at 10:13am ET. Hatch opening will be two hours from now: https://t.co/EBWB5iruWr pic.twitter.com/q8Vgb8IiVQ  NASA (@NASA) April 9, 2020

The space stations newest crew members will remain on board until October, keeping the outpost running until SpaceX launches a pair of Nasa astronauts from Floridas Kennedy Space Centre as early as next month. It will be the first orbital launch of astronauts from the US since Nasas space shuttle programme ended in 2011.

Thursdays lift-off was low-key even by Russian standards, given the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. Nasa televised the lift-off live as usual, but only a few Russia-based American space agency employees were at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

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16:55 09/04/2020

Irish public invited to join celebrities and leaders on Saturday in shining a light in solidarity during Covid-19

The Irish public are invited to join celebrities and leaders and shine a light on Saturday at 9pm to create a moment of solidarity in our battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina are set to shine their light from the Aras. Government buildings will light up with a host of national and local public buildings across the island shining their beacon lights, along with Irish embassies and missions around the world.

People of all ages, are asked to be as creative as they wish - powering their phone torches, flashlights, candles or even Christmas lights, to participate in the initiative from wherever they are.

The RTE Shine a Light campaign has already secured widespread support from the creative and cultural community with Gabriel Byrne, Sinead OConnor, Glen Hansard, Saoirse Ronan, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Paula Meehan and Marie Mullen all joining in the call for this public moment of solidarity.

Expand Close Sinead O'Connor performed new material on RTE's Late Late Show / Facebook

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16:47 09/04/2020

President Higgins appeals to public to stay at home this Easter to protect the vulnerable

President Michael D Higgins has appealed to the public to stay at home this Easter to protect the most vulnerable in society.

In a statement addressed to the people of Ireland, Mr Higgins said that while it is tough at a time of celebration, it is imperative that the Irish public continue to follow social distancing regulations.

His full statement is as follows:

"Easter, for us Irish, is a time of remembrance, reflection, hope for the future and, for so many, a coming together with those we hold dear.

"This Easter will be unlike any we can remember. This weekend, we must do things differently.

"We must show our love for each other, our solidarity with the most vulnerable among us and our support for the thousands of women and men who have been working so hard to provide us with essential services and to keep us safe by staying at home, keeping our distance and supporting each other in ways that do not put anyone at risk.

"I believe that this is a most fitting tribute to all those who have given so much to Ireland and to the Irish people.

"This weekend we remember, with appreciation, those who laid the foundations of our republic and all those who are giving witness to the generous ideals of a true republic in their words and deeds during these most challenging times."





16:20 09/04/2020

Wexford and Wicklow County Councils close car parks and beaches to combat surge of people visiting holiday homes

Following consultations between Wexford County Council and An Garda Siochana, it has been necessary to close the following beach car parks in order to comply with physical distancing and the 2km exercising requirements under Covid-19 Regulations

Wicklow County Council wishes to advise members of the public that facilities will be closed to the public over the Easter weekend and until further notice. The Council urges people to adhere to national restrictions on public movement and to the advice of the HSE in relation to physical distancing and to stay safe.

The County Wicklow Community Call helpline service continues to operate over the Easter weekend, during the hours of 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Telephone: 1800 868 399 or email covidsupport@wicklowcoco.ie. Trained staff are available to co-ordinate assistance to elderly and vulnerable persons.

An Garda Siochana will be carrying out strict enforcement in relation to parking and non-compliance in this regard. Wexford and Wicklow County Council both said they very much regrets the necessity of these measures but must act in the interest of public health due to gathering crowds and infringements of physical distancing requirements. The situation will be kept under review.

Full lists of facilities, car parks and beaches closed can be found on the Councils' respective websites.





13:50 09/04/2020

Four further deaths in Northern Ireland and 138 new Covid-19 cases

A further four patients in Northern Ireland have died after contracting the coronavirus.

It brings the total number of deaths associated with Covid-19 here to 82.

The Public Health Agency has confirmed another 138 cases of the virus, the biggest increase in cases per day since the crisis began in Northern Ireland. That coincides with an increase in testing.

So far 1,477 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19, with 10,203 people tested.





14:42 09/04/2020

Debenhams heading into liquidation

The Irish arm of Debenhams is set to be placed into liquidation, with staff told on Thursday that their jobs are gone.

The business employs more the 1,500 direct and indirect staff at 11 large department stores across the country.

The Irish business will shut following the UK parent being placed into administration, a form of insolvency protection.

It is by far the most high profile company collapse since the onset of Covid-19 which has wiped out the non-food retail trade.

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12:30 09/04/2020

Health Minister Simon Harris says restrictions will not be lifted tomorrow

Health Minster Simon Harris has said restrictions put in place to curtail the Covid-19 outbreak will not be lifted tomorrow.

Dr Tony Holohan and the National Public Health and Emergency team (NPHET) are due to meet tomorrow to discuss when the restrictions could potentially be lifted, Mr Harris said.

"This kind of decides on the restrictions and how long they want us to continue them for. So let me just to be blunt and honest with people, the restrictions that are in place are not going to be lifted tomorrow.

"We're going to have to keep at it. What we're hoping to be able to do tomorrow is show people what the journey looks like. We're going to keep at this for another couple of weeks, where does it bring us, what does success look like," Mr Harris told PJ and Jim on Classic Hits this morning.

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11:30 09/04/2020

Wexford beach car parks shut ahead of Easter weekend

Wexford County Council has announced the closure of several beach car parks ahead of the Easter weekend.

The council said the closures are being implemented in order to comply with physical distancing and the 2km exercising requirements outlined by the HSE guidelines.

Full list of beach car parks closed as follows:

Ballymoney Beach Car Park

Courtown Leisure Centre Car Park

Cahore Beach Car Park

Morriscastle Beach Car Park

Ballinesker Beach Car Park

Curracloe (White Gap) Beach Car Park

Culletons Gap Beach Car Park

St Helens Beach Car Park

Kilmore Quay Car Parks

Ferrybank swimming pool car park and the road to Ferrybank quay car park are also closed.

In a statement issued by Wexford County Council, a spokesperson said: An Garda Siochana will be carrying out strict enforcement in relation to parking and non-compliances in this regard.

Wexford County Council very much regrets the necessity of these measures but the Council must act in the interest of public health due to gathering crowds and infringements of physical distancing requirements. The situation will be kept under review."





11:20 09/04/2020

Government Briefing: More than 40,000 employers register with subsidiary scheme

40,300 employers have registered with the temporary wage subsidiary scheme.

The cumulative value of payments made under the scheme is 155 million euro.

Subsidy payments for Good Friday and Easter Monday will not be processed until Tuesday, 14 due to the Easter weekend.

The scheme will be managed with income tax assessment as normal revenue for all employees. The preliminary end of year statement will show if a person has paid the correct amount of tax and universal social charge for the year.

Additional tax credits can be claimed by submitting them on the income tax return.

10:42 09/04/2020

Number of private nusing homes hit with Covid-19 rises to 100

The number of private nursing homes hit by the coronavirus has risen to 100.

Clusters have also been found in 48 hospitals and 37 residential institutions.

08:35 09/04/2020

Spikes and hot spots in Japan and India as world looks to flatten Covid-19 curve

Coronavirus infections are spiking in Japan and creating hot spots in Indias congested cities just as the US and some of the hardest-hit European countries are considering when to start easing restrictions that have helped curb their outbreaks of the disease.

Japan reported more than 500 new cases for the first time Thursday, a worrisome rise since it has the worlds oldest population and Covid-19 can be especially serious in the elderly.

Japans prime minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency, but not a lockdown, in Tokyo and six other prefectures earlier this week.

Companies in the worlds third-largest economy have been slow to embrace working from home, and many commuters were on Tokyos streets as usual.

Read More





07:48 09/04/2020

Johnnie Walker and Diageo report 50 pc fall in sales

Johnnie Walker and Guinness owner Diageo has warned that the speed of the shutdown of large parts of its markets across the world is hitting the business even harder.

Bosses highlighted several areas, including a 50 pc fall in sales across Europe due to pub, bar and restaurant closures, and have scrapped future targets and predictions.





07:24 09/04/2020

U2 donates 10 million euro to coronavirus fight in Ireland

Rock band U2 has donated 10 million euro to support health care workers battling coronavirus in Ireland.

The money will be used to source and buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff.

A spokeswoman for the band confirmed the move to the PA news agency.

RTE has reported the donation is part of an initiative involving Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon, which is working with public and private companies to raise funds to buy tonnes of PPE equipment from China.

The first consignment arrived at Dublin Airport earlier in the week.

Read More





07:23 09/04/03

Covid-19 leaves low level of antibodies in patients - research

Recovered coronavirus patients can have very low levels of antibodies in their system, researchers have found, in a discovery that could hamper the development of immunity tests.

A team from Fudan University in China analysed blood from 175 patients discharged from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre and found nearly a third had surprisingly few antibodies.

In 10 patients, antibodies could not be detected at all, which could also place them at greater risk of a secondary infection.

"Whether these patients were at high risk of rebound or reinfection should be explored in further studies," the authors wrote in an article on the website Medrxiv.org, an online platform for early research which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

All of the patients had recently recovered from mild symptoms of the disease and most of those who had low antibody levels were young.

Levels rose with age, with people aged 60-85 displaying more than three times the number of antibodies as people in the 15-39 age group.
Nokia has announced that its 2019 budget 4.2 handset can now be updated to Android 10, bringing improvements such as Digital Wellbeing and a dark mode to the phone. However, many users now face a long wait for this major software upgrade.

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Juho Sarvikas, the Chief Product Officer at HMD Global's main smartphone brand Nokia, has announced an upgrade to Android 10 for the 4.2. This budget device was launched during MWC 2019 during February of that year; therefore, it could be argued that it is more than time for such an update.

Nokia has also notified 4.2 users of their impending OTA through its official community forum. However, it has not provided a changelog via this medium. Nevertheless, owners of this Snapdragon 439-powered device can expect features such as a system-wide dark mode, smart replies for messages and the March 2020 security patch level as a result of this download.

However, Nokia has also stated that the current roll-out of Android 10 for the 4.2 only applies to a list of "approved markets" that are included in a "first wave" for the upgrade. The full list of the countries in question can be found here, and include some notable exceptions such as Germany, Nigeria and all Latin American nations in which the phone is sold.

Furthermore, only 10% of all users in the "first wave" have been granted access to the update thus far. This, according to HMD, should increase to 50% of the same by April 12, 2020, followed by a complete 100% by April 14. This distribution method has resulted in some dissatisfaction and scant reports of successful updates on the 4.2 user-forum.
It has been thirty years since the hit show Mahabharat was on air. Now, this show is back on Doordarshan and has got a massive audience that is watching the show during the nationwide lockdown. After the re-run of the show, actor and former parliamentarian Nitish Bharadwaj, who played the role of Lord Krishna, talked about how the show is timeless and how it will be relevant even after 300 years. He also spoke about how he wants to change the education system of India. Here is what Nitish Bharadwaj had to say.

Read Also| Nitish Bharadwaj Claims New Mythology Shows Won't Work, Calls Them 'plastic & Artificial'

Nitish Bharadwaj says India needs an education reform

Recently, Nitish Bharadwaj came out and expressed that since 1947, India's education system has no religious studies in the syllabus. He said that studying Hindu religion in schools is considered to be a sign of fanaticism and learning about other religions is fine in school. He then added that Ramayan and Mahabharat will play a crucial role in educating the children of our county.

The actor said that the teachers are not doing their jobs right and added that children could have spent on religious studies is spent on their syllabus subjects. He then took a dig at Sonakshi Sinha and said that we do not need more Sonakshis in the future. This is in reference to how the Dabangg actor had made a mistake when asked a question about Ramayan.

Read Also| Nitish Bharadwaj Explains Relevance Of Mahabharat In Present Times; Read

Nitish Bharadwaj also expressed with an example that what the education system needs a change. He expressed that India should have followed the British system of education. He then added that he has lived in the United Kingdom and two of his children from his first marriage were educated in Britain.

The former parliamentarian expressed that the Government there closely monitors their education and healthcare of the citizens. He said that India had a golden opportunity in 1947 to build a healthy infrastructure. Adding to his statement, Nitish said that we all pay taxes, but where does the money go? He used to be an MLA in Jamshedpur and the rural schools there had no roofs and no teachers. He also talked about the quality of food grains served to children at daytime meals. He lamented that politics, of all things, have made children fail.

Read Also|Nitish Bharadwaj Questions Mukesh Khanna For His Statement Regarding Sonakshi Sinha

Read Also|Nitish Bharadwaj Talks About Craze For 'Mahabharat' During 80s, Recalls Old Days

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
On Wednesday, 15 April, 12 refugees from Greece will set foot on Luxembourgish soil.

The Greek minister for Migration Koumoutsakos confirmed the agreement in Athens. Nine children will travel from the notorious refugee camp Moria on the island Lesbos, two others from the island Chios and another one from the island Samos.

The children will first be brought to Athens and then travel on to Luxembourg. They will be accompanied by members of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as members of the international organisation for migration.

Fifty refugees will be heading to Germany on Friday. Members of the EU have agreed to take in a combined number of 1,600 refugees.
A irbnb, the worlds biggest home-sharing platform, has announced the launch of its Online Experiences.

A virtual version of its regular in-person experiences, Airbnb dubs the initiative as a new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income during the COVID-19 crisis.

Hosts from over 30 countries will partake in the new platform, including Olympic medallists Alistair Brownlee and Lauren Gibbs - who can take you on a virtual bike tour or through their nutrition routine.

Catherine Powell, Head of Airbnb Experiences, says: Human connection is at the core of what we do. With so many people needing to stay indoors to protect their health, we want to provide an opportunity for our hosts to connect with our global community of guests in the only way possible right now, online.

Airbnb has also partnered with local elderly organisations around the world to help create specific experiences to help them learn a new skill and combat loneliness. The organisations they have partnered with are currently in the US, Spain and Italy and these experiences will be offered free of charge.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast for more Easter ideas:

Bookings open today, just in time for the Easter Weekend, and all experiences will be hosted on Zoom.
On April 5, 2020, His Excellency the President announced that there will be tax waivers for the next three (3) months (i.e April, May and June) for health workers as they help combat this virus.

He further announced in his address to the nation that frontline health staff will be given back 50% of their basic salary as allowance for 4 months (i.e March, April, May and June) of which March's allowance will be paid in April.

He continued that he has instructed the Controller and Accountant's General (CAGD) to effect that payment.

This sparked the argument of who a frontline health staff is.

Several definitions have evolved as to who a frontliner is. From the Minister of Information to that of Health and also a supposed letter from the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health on behalf of the sector minister have various definitions of who a frontline health staff is.

The Global Health Workforce Alliance on the occasion of World Health Day 2009 defined frontliners to be all health workers thanking them for the role they play during disasters and emergencies.

But the definition of frontline in Ghana have been defined by several groups and cadre of staff in the health sector to include themselves only.

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) in their meeting with the President at the Jubilee House defined frontline workers to mean all doctors.

Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) also defined frontline workers to mean all nurses and midwives as said by their President after meeting with His Excellency.

This clearly shows that each cadre of health group have their own definition of who a frontline health worker is.

But we are of the view that authorities must take due care in defining who a frontline health worker is and how they implement the directive by the President of the Republic.

In a healthcare setting, the chain of health treatment starts from the security point where a patient enters the four walls of the facility. The patient will then move to the Medical records for his/her records to be taken and issued with a folder (if manually) or entered electronically if the facility is going paperless.

It is after that, the patient can see the nurse at the Out Patient Department (OPD) for vital signs to be taken and heads to the consulting room to be seen and diagnosed.

After diagnosis and drugs prescribed by the prescriber or physician, he or she will proceed to the Pharmacy for drugs to be dispensed to him or her.

In case the patient needs to be admitted, he or she will proceed to the ward for admission.

This clearly shows that anyone in the health settings stands a risk of contracting this virus. It is not only a group of staff that are at risk or will be at risk.

These summaries the fact that all health workers are frontliners and not a group of staff.

This is why we ask that authorities relook at their definition of who a frontline health worker is to avoid agitations among all cadre of health staff.

If for example, frontline workers are only nurses and doctors, then all cadre of health staff other than nurses and doctors are to stay home to avoid contracting the virus. That will mean a clear break in the treatment chain.

Before a nurse or doctor can work, a medical record staff is involved; support staff including Hospital Administrators, Accountants and Accounting staff, Supply Officers, Procurement Officers among others are involved; Pharmacist and Pharmacy staff are also involved. It goes on and on.

We envisage that if this isn't carefully looked through, can lead to apathy, low morals and subsequently low performance during this pandemic despite we needing all hands to be on deck to help fight this virus.

We call on the President and his cabinet, the Minister and the Ministry of Health and the Ministries concerned in this directive to come out clear and redefine who a frontline health worker is to ensure that all health staff put out their maximum best to ensure we all combat this virus in the shortest time to avoid excessive loss in the economy.

Authors:

Evans Akwasi Appiah

Health Service Administrator

Jawula Yehuza

Human Resource Manager
Two logging projects proposed by the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest have been given a green light from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On April 7 the justices issued a ruling in favor of the Forest Service regarding the 13,500-acre Johnny Crow Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project and 2,700-acre Moose Creek Vegetation Project. The projects had been challenged by environmental groups.

The Johnny Crow project was designed to maintain and improve wildlife habitat for a variety of wildlife species in the Elkhorn Mountains, according to an agency press release. The Moose Creek project was approved following a collaborative process under the Farm Bill authority for insect and disease vegetation treatments in the Moose Creek area of the Little Belt Mountains.
Thousands of Defence Forces veterans, many wearing special high-vis vests to identify themselves, are currently working with communities all over the country to bolster the fight against the spread of Covid-19.

A number of veterans organisations have combined under the umbrella group, Irish Veterans Working Together which is emblazoned on their vests, to provide a wide range of supports to the vulnerable.

One of their most prominent members, retired Regimental Sergeant Major Noel OCallaghan, said initially they started working to help locked-down veterans and their widows, but this had quickly mushroomed into helping the wider community.

Veterans are now helping meals and wheels organisations all over the country. Some are now helping at Covid-19 testing centres in Dublin and Newbridge, Co Kildare. In Galway they are helping to deliver Covid-19 tests to laboratories, Mr OCallaghan said.

He pointed out that the voluntary effort is huge as there is an ethos amongst those who have served to be there in times of emergency.

We have 12,000 Defence Forces veterans on pension, and probably four times that did not make the pension and many of them are helping as well, Mr OCallaghan said.

Irish Veterans Working Together, was established earlier this month during a meeting at McKee Barracks, Dublin approved by the Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett.

"The aim of our meeting was to explore how we as DF Veterans, with a huge wealth of experience and expertise, could assist in our countries response to this pandemic," Mr OCallaghan said.

A former soldier, who served 23 years in Collins Barrack, Cork is doing her bit in the North Cork village of Killavullen, near Mallow.

Tracy Connolly, 46, who did tours in Lebanon and Kosovo, said shes helping to take prescriptions to vulnerable people in her area and helping out with meals on wheels.

She believes that she will become far busier if the virus begins to have an even larger impact in the coming days.

Meanwhile, more and more veterans are seeking to re-enlist in the Permanent Defence Forces since the government asked people to help bolster their strength during this time of crisis. As of today, the Defence Forces press office said 530 former enlisted personnel and 26 former officers had applied to rejoin.
A student nurse who stepped forward to help the NHS in its time of need has said her hospital felt like a ghost town.

Alicia McCracken, 21, from North Belfast described almost empty wards and people walking around in masks as healthcare workers braced for the coronavirus surge.

She is a final year student at the Ulster University in Londonderry who has been drafted into a ward at Antrim Area Hospital supporting women in the early stages of pregnancy.

People are walking around in masks and there is no buzz about the place, it is completely different Alicia McCracken

The hospital itself is like a ghost town.

People are walking around in masks and there is no buzz about the place, it is completely different.

When we were there we were wearing masks and goggles to go into each patient.

Each ward is now amber, which means you have to wear personal protective equipment going in to see each patient even if there is not a confirmed case.

She began her new job recently working nights.

The ward was very empty, there were only two patients who had come through accident and emergency.

Antrim Area had over 200 empty beds that night due to Covid-19 and people not coming to the ward itself.

The staff were really helpful and friendly and they came down and introduced themselves and made me feel very welcome.

They were very understanding.

Expand Close Ms McCracken said she felt well-protected (Michael Cooper/PA). PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ms McCracken said she felt well-protected (Michael Cooper/PA).

She felt well-protected.

It was a bit scary going out.

When you imagine a hospital you think beds are full and with the Covid cases you think every ward is full but it is not quite like that.

There was a lot of anxiety going out but the support of staff has made it a lot easier.

There is personal protective equipment available on our ward and there has been good guidance from Antrim Area Hospital in what order staff are to receive PPE.

At the same time, we are in unprecedented times and we dont really know what is going to happen in terms of whether staff will be redeployed or where will we go and it is really unknown times.

Even as a child I was taking care of bears and baby dolls Alicia McCracken

She said managers are trying to keep students away from patients with confirmed Covid-19.

They are not working in intensive care units or Covid-only wards.

The newly-drafted nurses are being paid a basic salary.

Ms McCracken said it was a job she had always wanted to do.

Even as a child I was taking care of bears and baby dolls.
Did multiple senators engage in insider trading when they sold stocks after being briefed on the threat of the coronavirus, but before the full extent of the threat was publicly known? The answer is not the same for every senator. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue appear to have been unfairly targeted by national and Atlanta media. Dianne Feinstein and Jim Inhofe likewise have reasonable explanations for their reported stock sales, as does Vermont representative Peter Welch. Senator Richard Burr, however, has some serious questions to answer, and has yet to offer a particularly persuasive defense.

Congress and Insider Trading

Congressional insider trading is both a legal and political question. Congress in 2012 passed the STOCK Act, clarifying that when members of Congress receive confidential nonpublic information that could affect the price of a stock, they are treated as if they were company insiders. Thats important, because insider-trading laws generally only ban people from trading on company secrets if they work for the company or have a relationship that causes them to owe a legal duty to it. While the SEC is typically hesitant to admit it, a random bystander on the street who accidentally overhears a CEO spilling inside information and buys or sells stock as a result is probably not breaking the law. Those in Congress, however, frequently learn market-moving information because they work in government, rather than the companies that information pertains to. The STOCK Act aimed to close that perceived loophole by declaring that members of Congress have their own duty not to trade on what they learn. It requires regular disclosure of stock transactions to let outside watchdogs police potential violations.

Some critics inside and outside of Congress argue that this doesnt go far enough, and senators and representatives shouldnt hold individual stocks at all. They are probably right. Loeffler, the wealthiest member of the Senate, has announced in the aftermath of this controversy that she will be liquidating her entire stock portfolio and switching to mutual funds. Inhofe insists that his sale was part of an ongoing plan to do just that.

Story continues

Divesting of stocks can, however, be complicated and sometimes painful: selling them is a taxable event, and top executives at large businesses may have compensation packages full of future grants of stocks and options. Loefflers husband is the chairman and CEO of the Intercontinental Stock Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, and some of her controversial sales involved ICE stocks and options from his compensation package. The debate over whether to require more extensive divestment of stocks is thus tied up in the broader debate over having business leaders such as Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg in high political office, as well as the debate over how to handle conflicts tied to a politicians spouse.

Three sets of questions matter to the insider-trading charge here. First, did the senators learn something confidential about American exposure to the coronavirus? Second, did they use that information to trade stocks? And third, were their stock sales inconsistent with what they were telling the public?

What Did They Know, When Did They Know It?

The present controversy has its origins in a Senate Health Committee briefing led by the head of the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci on January 24. Two senators (Perdue and Inhofe) say that they didnt even attend the briefing. Loeffler, in a carefully worded op-ed in todays Wall Street Journal, contends that the information in the briefing was consistent with what the CDC and other public-health experts were saying publicly at the time:

Based on contemporaneous reporting and public statements by the officials who provided the briefing, there was no material or nonpublic information discussed. All we did was meet public-health leaders and ask them questions about the emerging virus.

Loeffler cites a January 24 article on the briefing in The Hill, which quoted the committees top Democrat, Patty Murray, as saying of the federal response to the virus, I think they have responded very well at this point. In the same article, Murrays fellow Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, expressed deeper alarm but remarked, What I heard in response to many questions [in the briefing] is a tentative answer: Heres what we know, but we need to know more. Notably, the briefers told senators they do not need more funding at the moment to fight the virus. Speaking to reporters the same day, Dr. Fauci was  in retrospect  unduly optimistic:

I think the risk is very low right now for the United States. The thing that you need to be watching out for is sustained person-to-person transmission, Fauci said. . . . Senators and Fauci also offered praise for Chinas cooperation with U.S. officials. Im impressed, Fauci said. I was involved very deeply with the SARS response. And with SARS, the Chinese were not particularly transparent. . . . It was an embarrassment for them. I think they regretted that. Right now, from what I can see, theyre being quite transparent.

There is no indication that Dr. Fauci gave a different message in the closed-door briefing from the one he delivered at the press briefing. Likewise, one of the major pieces of evidence against Burr is that he gave a talk on February 27 to the North Carolina State Society in which he painted a much more dire picture. But by that point, a month had passed; it is unsurprising that his assessment of the situation would have changed in the interim.

In legal terms, what is material, nonpublic information under the federal securities laws is not necessarily the same as what is widely known to the general public. Under the theory of efficient stock markets, the law typically assumes that if news is reported, the markets know it. Clearly, however, most of the American public and most of the stock market were not alarmed enough to dump most of their investment portfolios, as Burr did. That alone could create problems for Burr, since the law also looks at how people behaved when they learned news in order to determine whether it was new, material information.

Burr has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review his trades. The FBI is reportedly investigating him, while thus far, the other senators say they have not heard from the FBI or the Justice Department. Burr has also been sued civilly in the federal district court in D.C. by an investor in Wyndham Resorts, one of the stocks he sold. The Ethics Committee and the FBI will presumably have access to what was actually said in the classified briefing. The rest of us, possibly including the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit, will not. The civil suit is a publicity stunt in any event.

Who Decided to Sell?

A key question in insider-trading cases is proving that the person who bought or sold stock actually knew about the inside information, and traded on that basis. Where the insider-trading charge breaks down here is that all of the senators other than Burr say that their stock trades were made by their financial advisers without their input. Feinstein, for example, has her investments in a blind trust. Loeffler says that her familys investments are managed by third-party advisers at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Sepio Capital, and Wells Fargo, all blue-chip Wall Street firms or major investment advisers. Inhofe and Perdue also have outside advisers handle their investments. Congressman Welch says his investment in a German company that makes coronavirus tests was made by an adviser, and that he will donate the proceeds. Only Burr handles his own investments. He may regret that.

It is possible, of course, that one or more of these senators actually tipped off their advisers. There is as yet no evidence of that, only pure speculation, but the Senate Ethics Committee can and should review each senators investment-advisory agreements and any other evidence of communications with advisers to confirm that no such heads-ups were given. Some of the sales may have resulted from pre-arranged investment directions, which in some cases can be a defense to an insider-trading charge. Loeffler seems to have been generally selling to raise cash to self-finance her 2020 campaign, and taking advantage of her husbands executive stock options:

Loefflers campaign said the ICE stock sales were prearranged and part of her and her husbands compensation package. Records provided by the campaign show Loeffler and her husband exercised their employee options to buy ICE stock at a discounted rate, then sold much of it within a few weeks. The campaign said the sales were to pay taxes, cover transaction costs and produce liquidity.

Inhofe says his adviser has been instructed to sell off all his individual stocks since a controversy erupted over his investment in defense contractor Raytheon. Senator Ron Johnson, also questioned about a private-equity investment in his brothers business in this period, noted that the deal had been in the works since 2018.

Circumstantial evidence of insider trading is most of what the media reports have focused on. Of course, savvy professionals were thinking about coronavirus risks to particular industries before many others were, so the fact that a well-heeled, professionally advised investor such as Loeffler was selling off some risk-exposed stocks in a fairly small portion of her portfolio is not surprising. A review by the Washington Post concluded that Loeffler sold about $1.8 million in stocks (a big number to most of us, but not to a couple worth half a billion dollars), while her husband was making bullish moves at the same time, betting that the market would go up a few months later, including buying $1.679 million in puts that would benefit him if the stocks rose and risked big losses if the market crashed. That hardly seems like a pattern of profiteering that would be worth risking for someone as wealthy as Loeffler, who intends to spend many multiples of $1.8 million campaigning for re-election. Perdues pattern of purchases and sales is, as Erick Erickson has explained, not consistent with being tipped off to the coming coronavirus crisis: He was buying stock in Starbucks, Delta, Disney, and concert promoter LiveNation while selling Kroger, Clorox, and Proctor & Gamble.

This, again, is where Burr has issues. He sold off 33 stocks worth between $628,000 and $1.7 million (the required disclosures are reported in frustratingly wide ranges), amounts that appear to be a significant share of his holdings. The defense he offers is that he was following CNBCs reporting on the growing coronavirus hazards. That may be true, but it is not especially convincing. If he received non-public information in this period that would significantly add to or change the picture painted on CNBC, he could be in serious legal jeopardy.

On the other hand, the critics have gone awry in their efforts to smear Burr as assuring the public that the coronavirus threat was minimal. Attacks on Burr have cited a February 7 Fox News op-ed he co-wrote with Senator Lamar Alexander as evidence that he was downplaying the virus, but that op-ed opened with a stern warning:

Americans are rightfully concerned about the coronavirus  there are 12 confirmed cases of this new infectious disease in the United States, and the ability of the virus to rapidly spread in China, where it has infected more than 24,300 people and left 491 dead, is alarming.

True, Burr and Alexander were unduly optimistic at the time about the nations readiness to handle the coming plague, but so were Dr. Fauci and other government experts at the time of the January 24 briefing. Burr started selling stocks a week after the Fox op-ed.

Attention has focused most heavily on Loeffler and Burr in good part due to how they are politically situated. Both are targets that Democrats would love to take down, and both have enemies on the populist right. Loeffler, as an appointed senator, must run in Georgias jungle primary in November, with the top-two vote-getters facing off in a later runoff if nobody clears 50 percent of the vote. She faces both Democratic and Republican opponents, including Representative Doug Collins. Collins and Georgia House speaker David Ralston, a Collins ally, have been pounding her on this issue, and Collins has put out an internal poll showing him at 36 percent, Loeffler at 13 percent, and another Republican between them at 16 percent. Perdue will also be on the Georgia ballot the same day.

Burr is disliked by many on the right over what some see as disloyalty to Donald Trump in his chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee. His term runs through 2022 and he does not plan to seek reelection. If he was forced to resign before November, his replacement would be appointed by Democratic governor Roy Cooper, but North Carolina law requires Cooper to choose from a three-name list provided by the same party that Burr belongs to.

We have likely not heard the last of this story. Unless there is significant new evidence, however, none of the participants other than Burr should have much to worry about legally.

More from National Review
THE Ministry of State in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), yesterday requested Parliament to approve 7.01tri/- budget, of which 33 per cent will be channeled towards bankrolling over 20 major projects in the coming 2020/21 fiscal year.

State Minister in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Selemani Jafo highlighted various crucial projects in the health, education, infrastructure and administration sectors on which more than 2.3trl/- has been allocated for the purpose.

Mr Jafo requested the August House to approve the budget, noting 4.7tri/- is for recurrent expenditure on which 3.7trl/- is for paying salaries and 851.14bn/- is for other charges (OC).

He said 2.3trl/- will finance development projects and that out of the amount 1.29trl/- would be obtained from local sources while the remaining 992bn/- will be collected from external sources.

The budget has increased by 9bn/- from 6.2tri/- of 2019/20 fiscal year to 7.01tri/- in the coming 2020/21 fiscal year.

Mr Jafo said the government was planning to implement various projects in different sectors with the intention to speed up development and improve wananchi's welfare.

The government intends to implement major five health projects, according to Mr Jafo, saying it has allocated 32.50bn/- for the construction of three wards to each of 67 district council's hospitals across the country.

He said the new wards will help to decongest hospitals and improve health services.

He added that 27bn/- has been allocated for the construction of 27 councils' hospitals in various parts of the country.

The hospitals are constructed in Karatu, Chalinze and Kondoa districts. Others are in Kongwa, Mbogwe, Biharamulo, Nsimbo, Kigoma, Kakonko, Liwale, Serengeti, Sengerema, Mbeya, Kilombero, Kaliua, Babati, Mvomero, Newala, Madaba, Kwimba, Msalala, Ikungi, Handeni and Mkinga districts.

He added that other hospitals are constructed on Tunduma town council as well as in Sumbawanga and Tabora municipal councils.

Moreover, the minister said another 27.75bn/- has been allocated for finalizing the construction of 3 dispensaries to each district council across the country.

A total of 32.50bn/- has been allocated for the purchase of medical appliances in all 67 district hospitals, said Mr Jafo.

The purpose is to enable all district hospitals to offer quality and reliable health services by using modern equipment, he said.

Seeking to strengthen primary health care for results, the government has allocated 129bn/- for finalizing health centres, capacity building among health officers and supervision of various projects.

Financing education

The minister said the government has highlighted five main areas to focus on in the 2020/21 fiscal year.

He said 298.13bn/- has been allocated to ensure provision of free education for all in the country. According to Mr Jafo the budget for free education is up by 9.6bn/- compared to 288.48bn/- of the 2019/20 financial year.

He said 137.63bn/- has been allocated for secondary free education and 160.49bn/- is budgeted for free primary education.

The government has also allocated 26.10bn/- for the construction of classrooms at 184 primary schools across the country.

Mr Jafo added that in promoting science subjects, a total of 42.33bn/- has been allocated for the construction of 1,411 laboratories in various secondary schools that are found in 184 councils.

Moreover, 73.6bn/- has been allocated for boosting the Education Programme for Results (EP4R) in both primary and secondary schools in 184 councils.

On the Literacy and Numeracy Education Support (LANES), the minister said 9.34bn/- has been allocated for the construction of 150 classrooms for basic education and building capacity for teachers as well as for purchasing Information Technology equipment.

Developing infrastructure

Five crucial areas of concentration have been earmarked in the 2020/21 fiscal year budget as part of strategic infrastructure development for the country's envisaged economic growth.

He said a total of 275.03bn/- has been allocated for the construction and renovation of 23,531 km roads, 80 bridges, 2,052 culverts and water drainage systems with 79.9km length. He said the budget will be released under the Road Fund.

On Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP), the Minister said 186.8bn/- has been placed for the construction of 70km of roads in Dar es Salaam City at tarmac level.

Moreover, in the next financial year, the government will continue with the implementation of the agric-connect programme, on which 35.5bn/- has been allocated for the purpose. He added that 28bn/- has been allocated for starting the construction of Road to Inclusion and Social-Economic Opportunities (RISE).

The minister informed the parliament that the government also intends to start the implementation of the project for the Tanzania Cities Transforming Infrastructure and Competitiveness Project (TACTIC) in 45 councils in various cities, municipal councils and town councils.

On administration

The minister said 49.29bn/- has been allocated for the renovation and construction of administration buildings across the country. He said another 80.42bn/- has been allocated for the construction of buildings in 100 councils.

He added that 1.35bn/- has been set aside for the construction of district directors and heads of departments offices in nine district councils.

New vehicles

According to Mr Jafo, a total of 54 vehicles will be purchased in the 2020/21 fiscal year. He said 16 vehicles will be purchased for Regional Commissioners (RCs), Regional Administrative Secretaries (RAS) and District Administrative Secretaries (DAS).

He said 4.48bn/- has been set aside for the purpose. Moreover, another 8.36bn/- has been set aside for purchasing 38 brand new vehicles.

Empowerment

The minister said 50bn/- has been set aside for 16 councils. He added that another 64.46bn/- has been allocated for supporting women, youth and people with disabilities across the country. He said 25.78bn/- is for women loans, 12.89bn/- for people with disabilities while the remaining is for youth.

Teachers Service Commission

The minister said 500m/- has been set aside for teachers' service commission (TSC). TSC is an independent government commission established to manage human resources within the education sector.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

Trend:

The International Visegrad Fund (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) will allocate up to 250,000 euro to support practical strengthening of the health, social, economic resilience of vulnerable groups of citizens in the Eastern Partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia) affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemics, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

The decision was announced via a videoconference regarding V4 and Eastern Partnership held on April 8, 2020. The main topic was the future of the Eastern Partnership ahead of the planned June summit that is expected to approve a new vision for the EU Neighbourhood Policy.

The ministers adopted a joint statement confirming their vision of the Eastern Partnership as a strong and ambitious policy and declaring their readiness to actively support it.

The ministers agreed on their support for the aspirations of the partner countries interested in integration to the EU and its single market.

Czech Republics Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek proposed to launch an extraordinary V4EastSolidarity Program to assist the Eastern Partnership countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new V4EastSolidarity Program should provide up to 250,000 euro under the International Visegrad Fund and will be dedicated to the practical strengthening of the health, social, economic resilience of vulnerable groups of citizens in the Eastern Partnership countries affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will be tailored to the needs of the partners, the ministry said.

The ministers supported the proposal. Petricek noted that the Eastern Partnership is of strategic importance to the EU and therefore one of the priority topics in the context of the EU's external relations.
But one change Wisconsin school districts should avoid is dropping the state civics test. Basic knowledge about our American system of government is profoundly important for young people and the future of our country.

So far, at least 20 of Wisconsins more than 400 school districts have expressed interest in a waiver from DPI to skip the test, including Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Lake Geneva, Eau Claire, Stoughton and Platteville. A school district seeking a waiver must explain why it plans to drop the test for this years graduating seniors. Reasons the DPI will accept include a lack of access to technology or an inability to administer the test online or in writing.

To its credit, Madison is ramping up online learning this week so all students can connect with teachers from home. So technology shouldnt be an issue.

Madison School District proposes reducing credits seniors need to graduate, waiving civics exam With the school year disrupted by COVID-19, the School Board is considering reducing the number of credits for seniors in the class of 2020 to graduate from a district threshold of 22 to the state minimum of 15.

Gov. Tony Evers wasnt a fan of the civics test back when he led DPI, viewing it as a sign of distrust in schools. We view it as encouragement for districts to make sure basic civics knowledge gets the attention it deserves.
The four Vietnamese billionaires (Photo: VNA)

They are Chairman of private conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong, ranked 286th; CEO of budget carrier Vietjet Air Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, 1,001st; Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) Tran Ba Duong, 1,415th; and Chairman of Techcombank Ho Hung Anh, 1,990th.

Fish sauce magnet Nguyen Dang Quang, who entered the Forbes billionaire list last year for the first time, did not appear this time.

Centi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos maintains the top spot in this years ranking, for the third consecutive year, despite his net worth hitting 113 billion USD, down 8 billion USD from last year.

This is the 34th year Forbes magazine has compiled its list of the world's billionaires. This year's list sees a total of 2,095 billionaires with a combined wealth of 8 trillion USD, down from 8.7 trillion USD in 2019.

In addition, three Vietnamese businesspeople have been also honoured in the magazines annual 30 Under 30 Asia list.

They are among six entrepreneurs receiving support from the Ministry of Science and Technology via a start-up support scheme called Project 844 till 2025.

The Vietnamese honourees include Nghiem Xuan Huy, co-founder and CEO of Finhay, one of the top 10 potential start-ups in the national start-ups and innovation competition Techfest 2017.

The second is Han Ngoc Tuan Linh, co-founder and CEO of Vietnam Silicon Valley Capital, a 7-million-USD accelerator that invests in world-class early-stage start-ups in Vietnam.

The last honouree is Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen, founder of the medical technology start-up Medlink Asia, which connects producers, distributors and consumers together in the eco-system of pharmaceuticals sector.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:14:39|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Egypt on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to resolving the dispute over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The two sides made the remarks in a joint statement after Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok received the water ministers and intelligence heads from Egypt and Sudan.

The two sides also reiterated adherence to the Declaration of Principles signed by Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia in 2015.

They discussed the arrangements for an expected visit for Hamdok to both Cairo and Addis Ababa soon.

In March 2015, leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed a declaration of principles committed to reaching an agreement regarding the GERD through cooperation. But differences are still standing despite the deal.

Ethiopia started building the GERD in 2011, while Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources of the river.

The GERD, extending on an area of 1,800 square km, is scheduled to be completed in three years at a cost of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars.

U.S. President Donald Trump tried to mediate a deal among the three countries over the Nile dam dispute, by holding a meeting with the foreign ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Washington on Nov. 6, 2019.

But Ethiopia refused to attend a scheduled ministerial meeting in Washington on Feb. 27-28 to crystalize a final deal on the rules of filling and operation of the GERD.
Christians in Kerala observed a low-



key Holy Thursday by baking breads at their homes to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles and the washing of the feet.

There was no gathering at churches due to lockdown declared by the government to prevent spread of novel coronavirus.

But the visuals of priests holding rituals at their respective churches were live streamed enabling followers to join prayers sitting at their homes.

Several important rituals including washing of feet were skipped during the ceremonies held at the churches, attended by priests in limited numbers.

The breaking of bread was limited to within individual families.

There was no common breaking of the bread either in groups or as a community, an official of the Syro-Malabar Church said.

Earlier, the churches in Kerala had decided to hold the celebrations of the Holy Week from April 5 at a low-key. "We are in the 21-day lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The celebrations of the Holy Week should be limited in respect of the restrictions imposed by the state government and the civil authorities," the Syro- Malabar Church had said last week.

On Good Friday, no public veneration of the Cross or Way of the Cross would be held, the Church has said.

Directing the Bishops to celebrate the liturgies in the Cathedral and the priests in their respective parishes, the Church has insisted that care should be taken that there are not more than five people at any time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I'm very relieved and pleased that Boris Johnson is responding to intensive care treatment in hospital.

Whatever your political persuasion, it's been extremely concerning to see the British Prime Minister fighting for his life, and we should all wish him a full and speedy recovery.

But the health of one man, however important he is, shouldn't turn attention away from the horrifying new coronavirus death figures for the UK.

Nearly 1000 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, a massive spike in fatalities that now puts us on a trajectory to potentially having the worst death rate in Europe.

This shocking revelation came on the same day that the highly respected Reuters news agency published a deeply worrying in-depth investigation into Britain's handling of this crisis which exposed a litany of appalling complacency and catastrophic mistakes.

Its headline was damning: 'Johnson listened to his scientists about coronavirus  but they were slow to sound the alarm.'

This confirmed a nagging feeling I have had for weeks  that the British government's repeated mantra of 'we're following the science' is horribly flawed, because our science has been horribly flawed.

Pictured left to right: Public Health England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, de facto Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Downing Street chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance at the daily government press conference on Tuesday

And worse than that, this mantra exposes a chronic failure of leadership.

It's such an easy thing for government ministers to hide behind 'experts' during a war. That way, it's never their fault and they never have to be accountable for anything that goes wrong.

But the greatest leaders don't blindly follow expert advice, especially when it conflicts with other expert advice not just in the UK but around the world.

Instead, they listen to all of it and then reach their own conclusions.

Churchill frequently argued with his generals and sometimes over-ruled them. He knew that ultimately the buck stopped with him.

In fact that is the way our constitution is arranged. Experts, be they military or medical advise on and execute policy but it's the politicians who make the hard final calls. That's what they signed up for. That's what we elected them for.

Frankly, to constantly hide behind advisory experts is buck-passing cowardice.

Downing Street chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance is pictured at No10 on Tuesday

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is pictured alongside his colleagues at the daily Downing Street press conference on Tuesday

Yesterday, I got into a blazing argument on Good Morning Britain with London mayor Sadiq Khan when he tried to defend not providing the city's bus drivers with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) despite nine of them dying from coronavirus.

He protested that he was 'following the advice of experts' who said the drivers don't need full PPE.

To which I retorted it was high time he followed common bloody sense, because self-evidently they do need it urgently  and more will die if they don't get it.

I suspect Khan knows this and agrees with me.

But the shameful truth he doesn't want to admit publicly is that we simply don't have enough PPE for front line NHS health workers let alone others in the coronavirus war support system like bus drivers, shop assistants, pharmacists, teachers, police officers, binmen and mail workers.

We're sending all these brave warriors out to war with their hands tied behind their back.

And they're dying as a result, including eight health workers.

The Reuters investigation will, I'm certain, form part of a major inquest into all this once it's over.

And it will doubtless establish what everyone already knows: Britain was woefully ill-prepared for this pandemic.

But it's what is going on right now that we should be laser focused on  because it seems to me like we're pouring fuel onto the already raging bonfire with more chronic ineptitude.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (left) was asked to deputise for the Prime Minister (right) after he went into intensive care on Sunday

Boris Johnson, whether you like him or not, is a forceful personality who has led the government in the bullish lead-from-the-front style that won him a thumping election win last December.

He relished the buck stopping with him, even if I believe many of his decisions  like allowing the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead - have been dangerously wrong.

But now he's lying in an intensive care unit, and unable to lead the war effort, there is a power vacuum at the heart of our government that causes me deep concern.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been made temporary 'de facto' Prime Minister, but not been given full Prime Ministerial powers.

We're told the cabinet will be making collective decisions while Boris is absent, but as anyone who's run any business will tell you, that never works.

Someone needs to be the boss.

I've been berated for repeatedly asking whose finger is now on our nuclear trigger, yet what could be a more important question?

I didn't ask it because I expect there to be an imminent need to deploy our nuclear defences (though we should always be prepared for the unpredictable, as current events show).

I asked it because the answer would clearly establish who is actually running the country, and the fact nobody in government will tell us is very troubling.

Is it still Boris Johnson from his ICU bed?

Is it Dominic Raab?

Or is it someone else?

Before Boris went to hospital, we all knew it was him.

So, the public is entitled to know who it is today, and the government needs to know who is leading them.

On a wider point, ministers are still hiding behind 'experts'.

Paramedics are pictured rushing a coronavirus patient into an ambulance

They appear at the daily press briefings flanked by the likes of Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, or Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick Vallance, and defer all tough questions about our virus-combating strategy to them.

Yet they're not supposed to be running the country.

They're just supposed to offer advice, and it is the elected politicians who are supposed to then make decisions.

Our medical and scientific experts haven't exactly covered themselves in glory through this crisis.

As the Reuters investigation shows, they were disastrously slow to act on the health crisis, and that shamefully complacent response cost us hugely valuable time to properly prepare for enough tests, PPE, and ventilators.

Then they advised an even more disastrous policy of 'herd immunity' that would have deliberately infected as many people as possible, and, they only belatedly realised, would have cost up to 500,000 lives.

(This is why Cheltenham went ahead, and many who attended caught the virus)

They also advised we should stop all testing on non-hospitalised coronavirus cases, in direct contradiction of World Health Organisation guidance based on how countries like China and South Korea had successfully combated the virus  only to then humiliatingly reverse that policy a few days later.

Now, they've advised we should be in lockdown, yet we're not really in lockdown at all.

Our airports remain inexplicably open to 1000s of people flying in unchecked from all round the world including corona-ravaged places like China, Italy and New York.

And millions of Britain's non-essential workers are still being urged to go out to work, despite the endless 'STAY AT HOME!' mantra.

In doing so, they are cramming like sardines onto public transport and exposing themselves and many essential workers like NHS staff to risk of infection.

None of this makes any sense, and it certainly isn't a lockdown of the kind we've seen in so many other countries.

Yet still our ministers hide behind 'following the science' when following common bloody sense would clearly seem a much smarter option.

The UK's death toll in this war is escalating dramatically, and I fear that is entirely down to our lack of proper preparation and our ongoing failure of leadership.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday declared her country is winning the battle against coronavirus with just 29 new daily cases reported, taking the total to 992 cases and just one death.

She cited firm action she took early as the reason.

Ardern closed New Zealand's borders on March 19  and imposed lockdown on March 26.

She also ordered testing to begin from January 22, when the virus first made global headlines; as a result, one in 97 New Zealanders has been tested compared to just one in 235 people in Britain.

Australia has seen similar success with early draconian lockdown, enforced self-isolation for people flying in (including bans on flights from countries like China and Iran) and impressive testing (one in 80 people)  and has suffered only 51 coronavirus deaths so far.

It's looking more and more evident that Britain has got this horribly wrong from start to finish, and I suspect that's one of the reasons why some people continue to defy government advice on vital things like social distancing  they just don't believe what they're being told.

If ministers want to regain the confidence of the people they need to start treating them like adults with proper transparency on what we can expect now.

How long will this lock down go on and what is the plan to get us out of it?

What exactly are they doing to achieve the treatments, mass testing and long-term international travel restrictions we will need to get people safely back to work without risking new flare-ups.?

It's way past time our parrot-like ministers got a grip, stopped passing decision-making accountability to increasingly discredited 'experts', and did what they're paid to do: LEAD.
Workers countywide struggling with unemployment, withheld payments and mounting expenses as Santa Clara County nears one month under a shelter-in-place order can access support through a new hotline for the coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 Assistance Navigation hotline, or "CAN," is a free resource from the Fair Workplace Collaborative and connects residents to lawyers, information about unemployment applications, housing, food banks, and financial aid during the crisis.

The county has been under a shelter-in-place order since March 16, and local leaders have extended the closure of all non-essential businesses until May 3.

An eviction moratorium is in place to protect residents who are unable to pay rent, but many have exhausted their bank accounts to pay off remaining expenses from April, San Jose City Councilwoman Maya Esparza said Thursday. With no income or reduced hours, many are nearing desperate financial situations.

Supervisor Dave Cortese said the hotline is designed to support people in "oppressive" and "untenable" employment situations. He gave the example of a young woman who did not receive a paycheck because her employer was only paying senior employees and laying off workers until the crisis passed.

"These are exactly the kind of calls that we want to receive through this hotline, and people should rest assured that they can make that call without fear of repercussion or retaliation," Cortese said in a virtual news conference Thursday.

The Fair Workplace Collaborative is partnering with the Legal Advice Hotline to provide individualized advice. Lawyer Ruth Silver Taube said the hotline has received calls about essential workers being denied personal protective equipment and employers threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if an employee skips work.

The legal aid hotline also handles daily requests about navigating online systems to request resources and services.

"We are here for you, Santa Clara County CAN is here to connect you to the resources you and your family may need." said Jessica Vollmer, director of the Fair Workplace Collaborative through Working Partnerships USA.

Residents can reach the CAN hotline at (408) 809-2124. Services are currently available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese with more languages being added.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Continuing U.S. Leadership in the Global COVID-19 Response Through Additional U.S. Foreign Assistance

Press Statement

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

April 8, 2020



Thanks to the unmatched generosity of the American people and the efforts of the U.S. Government, the United States has continued to lead the world's public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are building on that leadership, with another $225 million in health, humanitarian, and economic assistance to further boost response efforts worldwide.

This new assistance follows the nearly $274 million in aid already deployed by the U.S. government against COVID-19. It also builds upon the more than $140 billion in total U.S. health assistance alone provided globally over the last 20 years. The United States is the undisputed leader in the provision of health and humanitarian aid, around the world.

Our COVID-19 aid is focused on helping to reduce transmission of the virus through diagnosis, the prevention and control of infections in health facilities, preparing and bolstering emergency health systems, improving laboratories, training healthcare workers and more  all in an effort to respond to additional outbreaks to mitigate further impact to Americans overseas and better protect Americans at home from further transmission across our borders.

Pandemics do not respect national borders. Through decades of U.S. global leadership in health and humanitarian assistance, we know that smart and strategic investments have proven critical to protecting the homeland. As history proves, we can fight pandemics at home and help other nations contain their spread abroad.

Most importantly of all, the United States is able to provide impactful assistance to our partners overseas without diverting critical supplies away from the American people. We will keep all critical medical items in the United States until the demand at home is met.

Teams across the U.S. government  including not only the Department of State, but also the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, and more  are working together and with our partners in the G7 and other multilateral institutions to prioritize programs and countries where assistance is most needed, and will have the greatest impact.

Americans don't just provide aid through government means. Together, Americans have generously donated more than $1.5 billion to populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world through private businesses, nonprofit groups, and faith-based organizations. And I know we will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead, as the world's greatest humanitarians.

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Hairstylist "Ah Ping" is back in business now that Wuhan's coronavirus lockdown has been lifted, but his salon has no customers, only empty chairs and lingering fears over a contagion that continues to haunt the city.

Wuhan is waking from its coronavirus nightmare, loosening tight restrictions on movement and business as the global pandemic's launchpad tries to move on. But full recovery remains hampered by fear of a potential new wave of infections. Many businesses and all schools are still closed, restaurants aren't allowed dine-in customers, and some neighbourhoods remain sealed off behind barriers.

Residents need to show they have a "healthy" rating on a mandatory phone app to leave their homes, use public transport, or enter most public spaces. "When people come out, infections will probably rise. I'm really afraid of this," said "Ah Ping", a nickname.

The 43-year-old, who declined to give his full name, also worries about getting his life restarted.

He paid his salon's quarterly rent of 15,000 yuan ($2,100) in full just before Wuhan was locked down on January 23. Now another rental payment is due. "Isn't that terrible? I paid 15,000 in rent and did no business," he said.

While many other Chinese cities are getting back to near-normal, Wuhan's government has made clear that easing controls poses new perils and that a return to usual life will have to wait.

In some areas, it's been two steps forward, one step back.

Wuhan authorities said 70 residential neighbourhoods -- out of nearly 7,000 recently declared "epidemic-free" -- lost that status this week, prolonging lockdown measures there.

The government has suggested the status revocation was due to the discovery of asymptomatic cases.

China initially withheld numbers of asymptomatic cases -- people who test positive but show no symptoms of COVID-19, the pneumonia-like illness caused by the virus.

It said on Thursday that the country now has over a thousand such patients under medical observation -- with 674 of those in Hubei, where Wuhan is the provincial capital.

Chinese officials have said the virus emerged from wildlife sold for food at a local wet market.

Many Wuhan residents expressed to AFP journalists a continued fear about resuming normal activities.

A 59-year-old shopkeeper who gave only her surname, Zhou, has reopened her little store, but says people are too scared to come out and shop. Dancing outside the shop to get the blood flowing, Zhou said she also fears moving around the city, rarely going out and only for essentials while wearing protective clothing, mask and gloves.

"It's really hard now. I know



some people who have been infected. It's really scary," she said.

Traffic has picked up after a ban on leaving the city was lifted on Wednesday, but vast numbers of businesses remain closed and plastic barriers in streets hamper movement.

"The ban is not lifted, not in residential compounds. There's not much change," Zhou said.

Daily new infections in Wuhan are now down to zero on most days, but suspicions linger over the data publicised by the secretive ruling Communist Party that stands accused of a slow response to the outbreak, cover-up attempts, and moves to silence domestic critics.

Many residents are still unable to leave their homes due to the mobile phone health code system which tracks if where they live or have visited remain high-risk. This hinders movement back to prosperous coastal regions where many Wuhan citizens work, a major income source for their families. The welcome in those industrial zones is fraying.

Wuhan travellers face mandatory 14-day quarantines upon returning to some areas, and web-users in places such as Shanghai have expressed fear and outrage at the prospect of people returning from Wuhan.

A delayed recovery will add to the suffering of people like Hao Mei. When the lockdown came the 39-year-old was in Wuhan working odd jobs, so was forced to leave her son and daughter -- aged 14 and 10 -- at home in Enshi, around 550 kilometres (340 miles) away.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The so-called Moscow Patriarchate is known to have opposed social distancing.

The coronavirus has infected 26 people at the thousand-year-old headquarters of Ukraines Russian-backed Orthodox Christian denomination, which had urged worshippers to defy lockdown orders, according to figures released by the mayor of Kyiv.

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is the headquarters for the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often referred to as the Moscow Patriarchate. Its gold-domed towers and labyrinthine caves housing the mummified bodies of monks since the 11th century are among the capital's cultural treasures, Reuters reports.

The Moscow Patriarchate last month said the coronavirus had been caused by human sin and could be fought with hugs, prayers and fasting. It has since fallen in line with the government's lockdown measures, moving church services online, disinfecting buildings and offering to house patients in monasteries.

Read alsoZelensky, Metropolitan Epifaniy discuss Easter services amid quarantine in Ukraine

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko told a briefing on Thursday that 26 members of the monastery had been infected and said it was hard to predict how the virus would spread further.

"That's why I am anxiously waiting for Easter this year," he said. "I met with representatives of all faiths several times. I said ... that they too must realize their responsibility for the safety of believers."

Pechersk Lavra has not commented on how many of its members have been infected. Ukrainian media reported last weekend that the monastery's head, Metropolitan Pavel, had coronavirus. The monastery said Pavel had "no complaints" about his health.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's government has tightened lockdown measures, including making it compulsory for citizens to wear masks in public and allowing people to move around only alone or in pairs.
Attorneys must move through city without restrictions - Moscow business ombudsman

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

13:02 09/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI)  Moscow business ombudsman Tatiana Mineyeva has asked the economic issues crisis center to take steps ensuring businessmen with the unhindered access to legal assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic, her press service reports. In particular, she seeks for free movement of attorneys through the city.

According to Mineyeva, it is necessary to grant the lawyers a right to free movement in the city under a special authorization if special passes are introduced and take into account the need for ensuring unrestricted attorneys work when giving the restricition supervising bodies explanations on their duties.

Moreover, the office of Moscows business ombudsman proposes postponement of taxes in installments for lawyers, who had not yet paid taxes for 2019 (deadline is April 30), until the end of 2020.

Earlier, Russian Justice Ministry proposed that attorneys and notaries across Russia be given a right to free movement when providing their legal practising certificates in order to grant legal aid during the coronavirus restrictions.

Granting of free movement rights to Russian lawyers will help ensure constitutional guarantees for getting professional legal assistance, the ministry believes.
FILE PHOTO: An uncollected Wall Street Journal newspaper on nearly deserted Wall Street during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York

By Sheila Dang, Kate Holton and Helen Coster

(Reuters) - From Rupert Murdoch's News UK to McClatchy's chain of local newspapers across the United States, news publishers are attracting record numbers of readers as people in lockdown seek information about the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet advertising revenue has plummeted for many publishers as companies slash marketing budgets and prove reluctant to buy ads against coronavirus coverage for fear of tarnishing their brand.

Forecasts for global advertising growth this year have been revised down by $20 billion since March 12, according to market research firm eMarketer. It estimates ad spending growth of just 8.4% in China, where the outbreak began, the slowest since 2011.

Total local advertising in the United States could decline by up to 30% this year, or $38 billion, according to media research firm Borrell Associates.

Publishers, advertising agencies and tech firms that help place ads have been trying to persuade brands to rethink, arguing that by eschewing coronavirus coverage, advertisers are losing access to engaged readers.

So far, they appear to have had limited success.

"I can't say we've yet noticed a change," said Ben Walmsley, commercial director for publishing at News UK, a division of News Corp. "I think change will be relatively slow."

ViacomCBS-owned <VIACA.O> CBS News Digital has made some headway with marketers and agencies, said Christy Tanner, its executive vice president and general manager. "But its been more slow-going than most of us would like."

The Washington Post and the Atlantic said they also had not seen a shift in behaviour from advertisers who are avoiding pandemic content.

The industry was already suffering from declining advertising revenue. Gannett <GCI.N>, BuzzFeed, Britain's MailOnline and News Corp Australia have all announced furloughs, pay cuts or other cost-cutting measures.

Damon Reeve, CEO of the Ozone Project, which sells the online ad inventory of a majority of British national titles, said he had heard that advertising was being kept away from up to 60% of editorial content.

Story continues

A representative for Reuters news organization said the company has also experienced an impact and cited an Internet Advertising Bureau study that showed 70% of advertisers have scaled back ad spending across the industry during this period.

"Factual news coverage on the global pandemic is essential and must be supported," Reuters CEO Michael Friedenberg said on Twitter https://twitter.com/mfriedenberg/status/1245797237977948163 on April 2. "It is incumbent upon the ad tech and verification industry to ensure that trusted news from reputable sources about Covid-19 is not blocked by safety filters."

Five of the top U.S. advertising spenders last year - Comcast <CMCSA.O>, AT&T <T.N>, Amazon <AMZN.O>, P&G <PG.N> and General Motors <GM.N> - either declined to comment or did not respond to questions about their advertising policies.

"BLACKLIST" BACKLASH

For years, ad tech firms such as DoubleVerify have offered tools for brands to stop ads from appearing on web pages or URLs that include keywords like "shooting" or "murder." These advertising "blacklists" exploded in usage after the 2016 U.S. election, when brands sought to avoid polarizing news coverage.

"Trump" was the most popular blacklist keyword until "coronavirus" overtook it earlier this year, with more than 3,100 advertisers blocking it as of March, according to ad tech firm Integral Ad Science.

Ad agencies GroupM and Universal McCann have advised clients against blacklisting all coronavirus articles.

"There are stories about death tolls in Italy or the UK which would not be very appropriate to be monetised, but there are stories about communities coming together and we wouldn't want to block that kind of content," said Stevan Randjelovic, GroupM's director of brand safety and digital risk.

Some ad tech companies have urged brands to use tools that help stop ads from appearing on some but not all articles pertaining to coronavirus. Trade groups representing news publishers have also called on the ad community to stop using keyword blocking practices.

"The leaders that need to be speaking out are the advertising brands and the CMOs and I'm starting to see some of that," said Jason Kint, CEO of trade group Digital Content Next.

The Washington Post sales team is working directly with some advertisers who were previously purchasing ads through automated tools, which might avoid the Post if keyword blocking were applied, said Joy Robins, the newspaper's chief revenue officer.

"If we're not able to hand-hold and work directly with brands, there are a lot of unintended consequences with a blanket block," Robins said.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang and Helen Coster in New York and Kate Holton in London; editing by Kenneth Li and David Gregorio)
Judge orders ICE to release some detainees because of coronavirus risk (John Moore / Getty Images)

A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the release of four immigrants held in federal detention centers in California because their age and medical conditions make them vulnerable to the potentially deadly coronavirus, lawyers for the detainees said Thursday.

U.S. Senior District Judge Maxine M. Chesney took the action Wednesday in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other lawyers groups.

This decision is an important step, said William Freeman, senior counsel at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. The stakes for the release of detained persons are at an all-time high as the threat of the COVID-19 outbreak places them at an elevated risk of serious ailments or death.

The four people ordered released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers suffer from a variety of conditions, including diabetes, asthma hypertension and kidney disease.

Our brave clients have shown that while the rest of world takes unprecedented safety measures in the face of a global pandemic, ICE has endangered their lives by continuing business as usual, said Bree Bernwanger, senior staff lawyer at the Bay Areas Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

But in this decision, he said, the court recognized that no immigration policy is more important than protecting human life.
GREENWICH  Temple Sholom celebrated the start of Passover by hosting Seder on an online Zoom meeting attended by many of its congregants.

Led by Rabbi Chaya Bender, the Seder dinner featured interactive questions, singalongs, and Seder-themed hats on on the first night of Passover.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:30:38|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's council of ministers announced on Thursday the extension of lockdown measures in the country for two more weeks until April 26 in an attempt to restrict the spread of COVID-19, the National News Agency reported.

The decision was announced by Lebanese Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun.

On March 15, the council of ministers decided to declare general mobilization during the day and curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. where all sea, land and air borders were closed in addition to public institutions, educational institutions, private companies and commercial stores except for food shops, bakeries and pharmacies.

Abdel Samad said that the council of ministers decided to take additional measures to control the movement throughout the country with some necessary exceptions.

"Prime Minister Hassan Diab confirmed that this is the fourth week of general mobilization and we must adhere more to the procedures since we cannot say that we have completely contained the virus," she said.

Abdel Samad quoted Diab as saying that the cabinet will distribute social assistance through the Lebanese army, while expanding the circle of beneficiaries amid serious control of prices.

Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Thursday by 7 cases to 582 while death toll remained 19.
Johannesburg: The World Bank on Thursday warned sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter of century because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We project that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4 per cent in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1 per cent in 2020, the first recession in the region in 25 years," the Bank said in an assessment.
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Sherrod Brown has always defied easy categorization. A Yale graduate from a well-off family, he became a state representative in Ohio at the age of 21 and spent his free time in local union halls, absorbing the stories of auto and steelworkers. In the 1990s and 2000s, when Bill Clinton and the New Democrats preached the gospel of globalization, Brown, then a congressman, warned about the ugly consequences of free-trade deals like NAFTA  jobs shipped overseas, factories abandoned, towns and cities hollowed out. During the Obama years, Brown, now in the U.S. Senate, pleaded with his party brethren not to abandon their working-class roots, only to watch Donald Trump win in 2016 with the help of the white working class on Browns home turf.

Brown, 67, is one of the last true progressive populists. He insists that Democrats should campaign through the eyes of workers and honor the dignity of work  a message he used to win a decisive re-election victory in Ohio two years after Trump won the state. The pleas for him to run for president flooded in. It came on me so sudden, he recalls. I looked at who the cast of characters were, and I came from the right place with the right message and the right politics and the right history, perhaps.

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But his heart wasnt in it.

I didnt have the ambition, he tells Rolling Stone during one of several long conversations this past winter and spring. One of the things about Ted Kennedy was his joy of life, his joy of service. I bring that to my campaigns; I bring that to this job. I dont think I couldve brought it to a presidential race, and fundamentally, that more than anything kept me out.

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You could argue that Browns candor and modesty  two qualities you dont often find in United States senators  might be precisely what the country needs in a president right now. But Brown has found other ways to make himself heard. Last November, he published his third book, Desk 88, a hybrid of memoir and history that traces the lineage of progressive senators (Hugo Black, Bill Proxmire, Bobby Kennedy, and others) who sat at the same desk on the Senate floor now used by Brown. In February, he wrote a scathing op-ed for The New York Times about the power of fear and how it stopped Republicans from holding Trump accountable during his impeachment trial. (The piece also featured a sly reference to Lizzo. More on that later.)

And as the novel coronavirus pandemic swept the country, Brown blasted Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the Senates sluggish response and foot-dragging in taking up the first of several major relief bills. A video of Brown tearing into McConnell received more than 1.5 million views and earned him comparisons to Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Who can say anything but this is a national crisis? Brown bellowed on the Senate floor. Were going to make our unwillingness to do anything contingent on some parliamentary trick? No.

Brown has a message for his fellow Democrats, too. If they want to win back not only the working-class voters they lost in 2016 but also mobilize the multiracial coalition they need to beat Trump, theyll need to rethink the American electorate altogether. Its a message that Brown will soon be sharing on behalf of former Vice President Joe Biden; this week, Brown voted (early) for Biden in Ohios primary and plans to help Bidens campaign later this year. Voters dont see politics as left or right, he says. This whole idea that independent voters are in the middle  that theyre less liberal than Democrats and less conservative than Republicans  is crap. People dont see themselves as conservative/liberal; people see themselves. And people see politicians as Whose side are you on? 

What happened in that moment on the Senate floor during the coronavirus debate?

[Democratic Sen. Dick] Durbin was impatiently, for all the right reasons, saying we needed to do this tonight. A Republican stood up and gave some parliamentary sleight-of-hand reason for the delay. And so I just took off on that. Why arent we doing this? Three, four, five days of delay when people are scared, when people are angry, when people are anxious about their future? They know theyre about to lose their job or theyve already lost it. They dont know if theyre going to be able to pay their rent. They dont know whats going to happen to their sister whos not feeling well but has to choose between going to work or taking a day without pay, or even worse, cant get a test for what she thinks might be the coronavirus.

More than 600 days ago, you raised the issue of Trump and John Bolton disbanding the pandemic team inside the National Security Council.

I wrote the letter, I think, about a week after he disbanded it. The admiral in charge of this office had worked for [George W.] Bush, managing the international combating of malaria. Then he worked for Obama on a global-health-security office, where the function of the office was to surveil countries around the world for epidemics that might evolve into a pandemic.

One of the greatest things we do in our country, we send health care people around the world to help them with problems. We partly do it for our own interest, to keep it out of the country, but we do it for humanitarian reasons. The White House had nobody doing that. This guys job was to do that. If he had been there in November, he maybe sees this before the Chinese acknowledge it. Maybe it wouldve been the 10th of December, he wouldve had the wherewithal and gravitas and position to go to the president and say, Weve got to start preparing for this.

But for the rest of December, all of January, all of February, [Trump] didnt declare a health care emergency. Until March. All that time lost, more people get sick and more people die.

Should we listen to what the president says in the middle of this pandemic if hes going to say things that are wrong?

We should listen to the public-health professionals. What Pence and Trump say moves some people, but theyre not reliable spokespeople to combat this pandemic, so I listen to the public-health professionals who have done this before. Theyve never seen something quite like this, but they are the best equipped to do it. What the president says is either misleading or wrong or outright lies or always for his political benefit. I just dont think any of us have time for that.

Tell me about the New York Times op-ed you published right after impeachment, where you said Republicans acquitted Trump out of fear. Theres a line in it I want to ask you about.

If its the Lizzo line, it wasnt mine. The article was absolutely mine. Lizzo displaced the line Thou doth protest too much. When my wife [journalist Connie Schultz] read it, she thought that was too cliche. Katie Mulhall Quintela in our office came up with Lizzo. [Ed. note: The line in question is, In the words of Lizzo: Truth hurts.]

Several people, unprompted, noted it in my circles: Sherrod Brown listens to Lizzo?

Well, I do now. The article really started when I was just watching Republicans and listening to their fear. I remember going up to [Sen.] Patty Murray and saying, Im really struck by the fear on the other side. I just thought it was a story that needed to be told, because people ask all the time, How could Republicans not vote, for Gods sakes, for witnesses [to be called in the impeachment trial]? What are they thinking? And I said its really two things. They like what Trump gives them, and theyre scared to death. And fear does the business. And when fear does the business in a legislative body, the decision is almost always wrong for the country long term.

There was a line in the op-ed: For the stay-in-office-at-all-costs representatives and senators, fear is the motivator. When did staying in office at all costs become the be-all and end-all of ones existence here?

Im not sure the assumption is right, When did it become? I mean, look  I dont have much empathy for that attitude, but we all have it to a point. Everyone has some fear of losing their job. Its just much more unseemly if its a U.S. senator, because we can find something. The SEIU member in Cincinnati, if she gets some supervisor harassing her? She doesnt have a lot of options. I think politicians have always had that illness. Weve always voted in ways to keep our jobs that we probably shouldnt have. Ive never wanted to let fear do the business. I think I am even stronger in that view today than I was my first term. Partly that its OK if I lose, partly its the voters want authenticity, and partly because Ill sleep better.

There is now a trendy observation among the politically savvy that Ohio is a red state. It cannot be won by a Democrat  apart from you, apparently. How do you respond to those who say Democrats should write off Ohio and campaign elsewhere?

You dont write off a state thats voted for the winning candidate for president more times in the last 100 years than any state except maybe New Mexico. The state hasnt dramatically changed in the last 10 years; its just the politics of the country has changed.

We knew in my [2018] race we had to get one out of seven Trump voters. We knew it was mostly female Trump voters, and we did. And we did it with progressive populism, not the phony divide populism of Trump. Real populism is never anti-Semitic and never racist and never divisive. It brings people together. You campaign through the eyes of workers, and you govern through the eyes of workers. You do it in an inclusive way.

Ive had an F from the NRA my whole career. I was for marriage equality for 20, 25 years. I dont compromise on economic justice or civil-rights issues or womens issues ever.

Theres a multiracial coalition that your campaigns put together that I feel like is a model for someone running for president. A Democrat probably isnt going to beat Trump without building that kind of coalition. What are the lessons from your elections that you think have some broader applicability?

I think you can do it  and this isnt meant at any candidate  you can do it by vilifying, demonizing, and attacking less. And I do plenty of that. I understand that, because you need to make contrasts. But [it should be] more about talking about workers and talking about peoples lives.

Whether you punch a clock or swipe a badge or work for tips or are raising kids or taking care of sick parents  [Martin Luther] King said that no job is menial if it pays an adequate wage. And you illustrate that in part by stories.

I was at an AFL-CIO dinner in Cincinnati some years ago, and there was a table of middle-aged women, probably half white, the other half Latino and black. They were janitors. They had just signed their first union contract, SEIU, with downtown Cincinnati business owners. I sat down at that table next to a woman and said, Whats it like to have a union? She said, For the first time in 51 years, Ill have a paid, one-week vacation. You tell stories like that and you show what a union can mean and what issues of justice are all about. People respond to that. Thats a story Donald Trump could never match. For one thing, hes probably got all kinds of workers that hes contracted with that hes stiffed. I guess you do have to make the contrast and demonize from time to time.

Is there a misconception of what the working and middle classes look like? After the 2016 election there was a lot of hand-wringing about how Democrats failed to appeal to the white working class in the Midwest.

Generally, when people say workers, maybe theyre thinking construction; theyre thinking maybe more of men than women. Theyre thinking not necessarily more white than people of color; I dont know if thats the case or not. But weve got to always speak expansively.

My wifes mother was a home-care worker. She died at 62. Her dad died at 69. Connie has said that they wore out their bodies so we didnt have to wear out ours.

I was at my high school reunion, I think my 40th. They had an easel with the pictures of kids who we know have died of the 400 in the class. And it was a pretty consequential number, and they were mostly low-income white and black kids. The other thing I remember: I sat across from a woman in my class. She worked at JP Morgan Chase as a bank teller for 30 years. She was making $30,000 a year. We ought to be thinking about them as workers.

Its a broad group of people that do most of the work in the day. Its the people that youre allowed to ignore. Its the food-service -worker; its the custodian in this building [the Hart Senate Office Building]. This building is way too white during the day, and its a whole lot of Latina and mostly women, not entirely, and black people that come in and clean up. Theres too much of that in society.

Your mom grew up in the segregated South, but ended up being a civil-rights activist, a progressive.

In every way.

Your dad was from Ohio, a doctor, but a conservative, at least for a time.

Till his kids changed him.

You and your two brothers all went to Ivy League schools. You went to Yale. But you go back to Ohio and become the defender of the worker and the dignity of the working class in Congress. How do I connect all those dots in your life?

My dad always took care of people whether they could pay or not. I remember he had a thing of arrowheads in his office, a display of them. A patient had given them to him because they couldnt pay.

People would say to me in high school, Your dad spends time with us, he talks to us, he always finds a way to give us a bunch of pills that we dont have to pay for. He takes care of us. He had the reputation, and I didnt really know this growing up, as being the best diagnostician in town. I dont think it was science-based as much as it was listening-based. If you listen to somebody you can often tell whats wrong with them if youre a good doctor, without blood tests. Not that he didnt do those too.

My dad was a conservative, but only because he really didnt think about it. His dad was a conservative. Thats probably why. But then he changed. Nixon changed him, Agnew changed him. He changed in the Sixties, because he voted for Goldwater. How many people voted for Goldwater, then McGovern, right? Not very many. It was a small group.

You first got elected to the Ohio Legislature when you were 22?

I was 21 when I got elected, turned 22 right after the election. Because I was young, I didnt need a lot of money to live on. The Legislature paid $17,500 in 1975; that was a living wage for sure. That was plenty of money to live on in Mansfield, and I didnt have another job; so when the Legislature wasnt in session, I would go and just hang out at the steelworkers hall and the UAW hall, and Id listen to workers talk.

That really did have a socializing effect on me. I heard what theyd say about scabs. I walked picket lines. It was a Republican county overall, but with a strong union presence. I guess thats where I learned politics more than anything.

How have the conversations in that steelworkers hall or that UAW hall changed in the years that youve been going there?

I think there was a certainty in 1978 that My kidll have it better than I will. There was a certainty among the parents that their kids would have it better off, partly because they carried a union card, partly because there were economic opportunities abounding. They just all thought there was more opportunity than they think now. And thats because of bad trade agreements. Its because of terrible tax policy. Its because of elected officials that have not looked out for them, frankly.

Whose fault is that? Is it Democrats as much as Republicans?

Of course not. But Democrats arent blameless. Democrats passing bad trade agreements, Democrats giving in to Republicans on tax issues. Most of us dont most of the time, but enough of us do enough of the time to get to a bad place.

One of my favorite Lincoln lines is when he was in the White House, his staff said, Stay in the White House and win the war and free the slaves and preserve the Union. Lincoln said, No, Ive got to go out and get my public-opinion bath.

Pope Francis said  and my wife hates it when I use this one, but shes not here, so what the heck?  but Pope Francis exhorted his parish priests to go out and smell like the flock, which has a different connotation, but it really is go out and be among the flock. I think that none of us does that enough. I think I do it more than most, but I dont do it nearly enough.

Speaking of history, where do you look in history to make sense of the moment were in now? [Note: This question was asked in mid-February, before the full-blown coronavirus crisis emerged.]

Well, I start with this isnt the worst time in our countrys history, not even close. This is not the divisions of 1968, when a large swath of people couldnt vote because of their skin color. This isnt McCarthy, where people couldnt stand on street corners and criticize the government, or at least that part of the government. This isnt the Depression. Its not the Civil War. Its not Jim Crow. Its not those days, so thats good.

But Trump is the worst president in our history, and I also think if he has a second term, it could become one of the worst times  it could reach the level of those periods or worse. That to me is whats at stake in 2020.

Did it surprise you to see Biden have such a good night [on Super Tuesday]? Or were those Biden is done narratives wrong?

A little of both. Hes so well known. Hes very well-liked among voters and among party activists. Not necessarily their first choice, maybe. But personally, hes very well-liked. People all have seen his empathy, borne in part  Im making too much of this, perhaps  the same way Franklin Roosevelt had such empathy, because of his personal life. Few people have suffered as much as Joe Biden. People know that about him: that you either turn bitter from that tragedy or you grow and have great empathy. Thats the Joe Biden that people like. They know what theyre getting.

Was this the quote-unquote Democratic establishment lining up behind Joe Biden? Or is it Democratic voters finally saying, OK, we think Joe Biden is going to be our guy?

I dont know what the Democratic establishment is. Its not a bunch of people in a back room that made all those people in South Carolina and made all those people in Texas and Minnesota and Massachusetts and Tennessee and North Carolina and Arkansas and Oklahoma vote for Biden. I know that some are going to characterize the Democratic establishment as pushing him over, but this was huge numbers of voters that made their decision.

What did you think seeing these stories that said you were going to be a white-knight savior of a divided Democratic Party?

Im flattered, I guess, but the voters will work their will, and well have a nominee, and our nominee is going to beat Trump. Im confident of that, increasingly confident of that.

What is your theory for how this president won in 2016? And how does that inform the Democratic Party nominee defeating the president in 2020?

First of all, he lied to people about protecting Social Security and Medicare. He sold people a phony populism to make them feel like he was on their side, and then he betrayed them. He uses racism and bigotry to divide people to distract from the fact that hes used the White House to enrich himself and his family. Populisms never racist. It doesnt push some people down to lift others up. We fight his phony populism with real populism that fights for all people. Thats what the whole dignity-of-work message is about. Thats where Trump has just missed it. It may have paid off for him in 16, but its not going to pay off for him again.

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By Online Desk

The Centre on Thursday approved Rs 15000 crore COVID-19 emergency package for states as the number of cases across the country neared 5,900-mark.

An increase of 591 new cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours has taken India's total number of coronavirus positive cases to 5865. This includes 5218 active cases, 478 recovered cases and 169 deaths, reported Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Earlier in the day, Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown till April 30. It was decided that all educational institutions in the state including schools and colleges will remain closed till June 17.
Our fear is that if we dont die of the virus, said Ms. Garcia, 68, we will die of hunger.

The global spread of the new coronavirus has put millions of Indigenous people on high alert, aware that just a few cases could spell disaster in places far from hospitals or with little access to soap and water.

But along with concern about future infections are concerns about tonights dinner, or tomorrows lunch. Many Native communities are unprepared for months of economic paralysis. And in the worst cases, isolation measures are already causing emergencies.

The little food we had left is gone, said Adolfo Jusayu, 55, a father of four young boys.

Last week, with his income as a taxi driver halted by Colombias countrywide quarantine, all he could give his boys for the day was a drink made of cornmeal called chicha and a single arepa each.

Across the Americas, diseases brought in by outsiders once erased or devastated many Native nations, and this legacy remains strong in collective memories. In recent decades, diseases like measles and swine flu have wreaked havoc on some communities.

Already, more than a dozen Indigenous groups have reported cases of Covid-19, including the Yukpa in northern Colombia, the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in southeastern Canada and the Navajo in the southwestern United States.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 14:12:16|Editor: huaxia

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TEGUCIGALPA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The curfew in Honduras will be extended until April 19 as the country ramps up efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus, police said Thursday.

To ensure more effective control of the coronavirus, "it was decided to extend the absolute curfew until 15:00 Sunday, April 19, 2020," police tweeted.

The number of coronavirus cases in Honduras currently stands at 343 with 23 deaths, official figures show.

On March 26, a 60-year-old Honduran became the country's first fatality due to the disease.
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday (April 7) reported for the first time the number of healthcare workers infected with the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health, Dr. Beverly Ho revealed that a total of 252 healthcare workers are now infected with COVID-19.

Of this number, 152 are doctors and 63 are nurses.

So far, a total of 12 healthcare workers have died from COVID-19.

This is why the Department has again reminded all hospitals of their responsibilities to their workforce especially in adjusting their schedule of duty so that they can also look after their health.

Para naman po sa mga hospital, may flexibility ang kanilang pamunuan upang ipatupad ang duty schedule na angkop sa kanilang sitwasyon, (Hospital management may apply flexible duty schedules that fit their situation), Ho said.

Based on the latest report of DOH, the Philippines has recorded an additional 106 confirmed cases of COVID-19 bringing the total to 3,870, including the 252 healthcare workers.  MNP (with details from Aiko Miguel)

The post DOH: 152 doctors, 63 nurses now battling COVID-19 appeared first on UNTV News.
As Australians self-isolate at home during the coronavirus pandemic, clever amateur cooks are replicating their favourite fast food meals at home.

And now one home cook has made her own version of a McDonald's Big Mac burger meal and shared the recipe on social media for others to make themselves.

The woman named the burger the 'quarantine Big Mac' and made the entire dish herself  including the sesame seed buns - for her family.

The homemade meal impressed other food enthusiasts across the country, with many saying the burger looked better than 'the real thing'.

As Australians are stuck at home in isolation and many restaurants are now closed due to the COVID-19 crisis, amateur cooks are replicating their favourite fast food meals at home

Posting to the Homemade McDonald's Facebook group, the woman said 'everyone [in the family] seemed happy' with the meal.

To make the burgers, she first made the patties using 500 grams of mince beef and a pinch of salt and formed the flat patty shapes with a rolling pin.

'Big mac burgers are large, flat and shrink when fried so always go a bit bigger than the bun,' the home cook said.

She also made the big mac sauce by combining mayonnaise, gherkin relish, garlic powder, onion powder, white wine vinegar, salt, yellow mustard and smoked paprika.

Posting to the Homemade McDonald's Facebook group, the woman said 'everyone [in the family] seemed happy' with the meal

The homemade meal impressed other food enthusiasts across the country, with many saying the burger looked better than 'the real thing'

'Are you kidding me? These are amazing! And isn't that what this is all about? Learning to make do with what we have,' one woman said online.

'I would much rather eat yours than the one's from [McDonald's],' another added.

The woman said she's going to attempt to make lockdown McDonald's chicken nuggets next.

This isn't the first McDonald's-inspired creation that has been shared on social media - earlier this week a savvy dad made personalised fast food burger boxes (pictured) for his children to entertain them while in isolation

The man included his name on top of the box and wrote 'Ben Mac' instead of 'Big Mac' and said the creative project only took an hour or so one Friday afternoon (pictured)

This isn't the first McDonald's-inspired creation that has been shared on social media - earlier this week a savvy dad made personalised fast food burger boxes for his children to entertain them while in isolation.

The dad shared the impressive results to the same Facebook group and also revealed how others can makes the boxes too.

The man included his name on top of the box and wrote 'Ben Mac' instead of 'Big Mac' and said the creative project only took an hour or so one Friday afternoon.

Amazed social media users praised the parent online, with many calling him the 'world's best dad'.
Oswego, N.Y.  The ongoing coronavirus pandemic will cause a reduction in staff at Oswego Hospital.

Oswego Health, a company that includes the 164-bed hospital, has announced that it will furlough a quarter of its workforce starting Monday.

Citing daily loses of $180,000 since the beginning of March and a $5.4 million for the just-completed month  about a 50% hit  Oswego Health officials said the furloughs should last from 10-12 weeks at most.

The company employs more than 1,200 at facilities throughout Oswego County. Company spokesperson Jamie Leszczynski said more than 300 workers were impacted throughout the organization, adding some employees will receive partial furloughs and others will be fully furloughed.

In addition to the hospital, Oswego Health operates a 28-bed psychiatric acute-care facility with multiple outpatient behavioral health service locations; The Manor at Seneca Hill, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility; and Springside at Seneca Hill, a retirement community; and medical centers in Fulton and Central Square.

Although this is a significant impact to our employees, Oswego Health stands prepared and has maintained the essential skilled workforce to manage a surge in COVID-19 patients," Oswego Health President & CEO Michael Harlovic said in the companys release.

Hospitals throughout the Syracuse area are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Upstate, St. Josephs and Crouse hospitals in Syracuse said they had experienced a 41% decline in patients after the state directed them to cancel scheduled elective surgeries and take other steps to make room for an anticipated wave of coronavirus patients.

St. Josephs revealed plans to furlough workers, and Crouse officials said the facility was losing $300,000 per day.

Oswego Health officials attributed the furloughs mainly to a suspension of elective procedures and fewer visits to its physician offices. The company did not specify whether the furloughs would be spread throughout its facilities or mostly at its hospital and medical centers.

Marquand Brown, Oswego Health vice president of human resources, said the company hopes that some workers will be able to return to their jobs earlier if conditions improve.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Potential coronavirus exposure at Syracuse store, laundromat in Liverpool

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Hospitalized, critical patients at record highs; 422 total cases

Mixed emotions as new NY coronavirus deaths surge to 779, but hope remains, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Nolan Weidner is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached by call or text at 315.247.7419 or via email at nweidner@syracuse.com.
(Natural News) The true agenda of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the current White House health advisor offering guidance on the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, couldnt be clearer. And lets just say that this agenda isnt exactly a good one.

The Obama regime leftover, who bragged a few years back that hes worked in five different White House administrations, doesnt want people to use hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus. Instead, he wants them to wait for a new blockbuster coronavirus vaccine, because thats what will generate the biggest profits for the pharmaceutical industry.

Fauci didnt actually say this last part, of course, but he didnt have to. By telling Americans not to look at hydroxychloroquine as a knockout drug, but to instead view some theoretical vaccine that doesnt even exist yet as the ultimate game changer, Fauci has exposed himself as the deep state swamp creature that he truly is.

We still need to do the definitive studies to determine whether any intervention, not just this one, is truly safe and effective, Fauci, who also directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), stated to Fox News. But when you dont have that information, its understandable why people might want to take something anyway even with the slightest hint of being effective.

This sounds like the same nonsense spewed by political hacks in prohibition states who are always calling for more research into the safety and effectiveness of cannabis, for instance, in order to permit their residents to use it. And the worst part is that there is solid evidence to show that hydroxychloroquine does, in fact, work for coronavirus patients.

An international survey of some 6,227 doctors in 30 different countries determined that hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine is currently rated as the most effective therapy overall when it comes to treating the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), at least when it comes to pharmaceutical interventions.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how zinc is another effective natural remedy for coronaviruses:

Fauci knew Trump would face this coronavirus crisis because it was planned in advance

How we know without a doubt that Fauci is a lying scumbag whos shilling for Big Pharma is the fact that he spoke about this coronavirus crisis back in 2017, openly admitting that President Trump would be facing a surprise outbreak during his presidential term.

Somehow, Fauci knew in advance that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) would become a major global pandemic, and is now trying to stop people from using something that works, and instead wait for Bill Gates or whatever other vaccine interests are busily working on them to release vaccines that will supposedly provide a cure against this novel virus.

Keep in mind that chloroquine tablets currently run about $.04 a dose, or about $1 per course. This is insanely inexpensive, and could easily provide blanket coverage for every person in the world. Meanwhile, a course of remdesivir, a drug that Fauci has personally invested his own money to support trials for, costs upwards of $1,000 per course.

In other words, Fauci isnt concerned with helping others. Hes concerned with helping himself and other shareholders who are obviously hoping to profit heavily from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis due to all of the new therapeutics theyre expecting to be unveiled in the coming months.

I think we see who Dr. Fauci is in bed with and its not the American people, wrote one Infowars commenter.

Fauci is nothing more than a modern-day Joseph Mengele, wrote another. Experimenting on humans, touting and collaborating with eugenics fanatics, denying empirically effective and inexpensive treatments, Fauci is the 21st century Angel of Death.

To keep up with the latest news about COVID-19, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Infowars.com

YouTu.be
Japanese governors urged the state on Wednesday to compensate businesses so they can comply with requests to halt operations and cancel events in order to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, but the central government rejected the call.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six prefectures including Osaka. Under the declaration effective through May 6, the governors can request businesses to halt operations.

The governors held an online meeting and compiled proposals for state compensation for businesses.

But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the top spokesman for the central government, said at a press conference it does not plan to introduce such a measure.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, economic and fiscal policy minister who oversees special measures to respond to the epidemic, held a videoconference call with the governors later in the day and asked them to refrain from asking businesses to close over the next two weeks, sources close to the mater said.

Nishimura told the governors that the government wants to spend the period determining if Abe's emergency declaration, which strongly urged people to stay indoors, is effective in curbing infections, the sources said.

Roughly 56 million people, or about 45 percent of the country's population, in Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka are subject to the emergency declaration, which calls for people to refrain from nonessential outings and some businesses to shut. There are no legal penalties for noncompliance.
This Executive Order directs the Secretary of State to lead a U.S. Government effort to develop joint statements, bilateral agreements, and multilateral instruments with like-minded foreign states to enable safe and sustainable operations for the commercial recovery and use of space resources, and to object to any attempt to treat the 1979 Moon Agreement as expressing customary international law.

Nevertheless, in seeking international support, the United States may draw on legal precedents and examples from other domains to promote the recovery and use of space resources.

American industry and the industries of like-minded countries will benefit from the establishment of stable international practices by which private citizens, companies and the economy will benefit from expanding the economic sphere of human activity beyond the Earth.

"Artemis aims to land two astronauts on the moon in 2024 and to establish a sustainable human presence on and around Earth's nearest neighbor by 2028. Lunar resources, especially the water ice thought to be plentiful on the permanently shadowed floors of polar craters, are key to Artemis' grand ambitions, NASA officials have said."

President Trump has signed an executive order establishing U.S. policy on the use of off-Earth resources, including mining of the moon's water ice and other natural resources, as well as tapping asteroids passing by.On Monday, the president signed the executive order, titled Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources. The order cites the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as allowing the U.S. to tap resources on the moon, Mars and elsewhere.the order states. The orderTrump said in the order.The order says:The United States has long kept open its options in space. No president has ever signed on to the 1979 Moon Treaty, which says non-scientific use of space resources are governed by an international regulatory framework. In 2015, Congress passed a law allowing American companies and the country's citizens to use moon and asteroid resources.the official added. Space.com reported.Said Scott Pace, deputy assistant to the president and executive secretary of the U.S. National Space Council: "As America prepares to return humans to the moon and journey on to Mars, this executive order establishes U.S. policy toward the recovery and use of space resources, such as water and certain minerals, in order to encourage the commercial development of space."
BEIJINGThe world is opening its wallet to fight the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The United States unveiled a $2-trillion (U.S.) rescue package. European countries have announced their own spending blitz, and Japan approved a nearly $1-trillion economic stimulus plan.

Then theres China.

The country that famously helped kick-start the world economy after the 2008 global financial crisis with a half-a-trillion-dollar spending splurge has been relatively restrained this time around. While it is helping companies keep workers and pushing its state-run banks to lend more, China has held back from spending on big packages or flooding its financial system with money.

In an odd juxtaposition, the communist country has also mostly refrained from giving money directly to its people. By contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump  who once denounced the prospect of growing socialism in the United States  signed into law a package that includes $1,200 cheques for all but the most affluent American adults.

A growing number of people say China should do more. Prominent economists are calling on Beijing to get the countrys consumers spending again. At least seven provinces and cities are already distributing vouchers to empower spenders.

Justin Lin Yifu, an influential government adviser, called at a conference last week for China to rekindle economic growth by introducing vouchers countrywide that must be spent quickly or become worthless.

Consumption vouchers are more effective than distributing cash, he said. People may not consume cash when they get it, so it will not be directly converted into demand.

The aim is to help Chinas growing ranks of college-educated employees like Huang Yihan, as well as the factory workers who largely powered the economy in the past. Huang, 24, lost her job at an eight-employee ad agency in Shanghai in early February and received only two months pay as severance because she had been a recent hire.

Like many in her generation who grew up in a rapidly expanding economy, Huang did not expect to find herself unemployed. She studied hard in high school and attended a top-notch university in Guangzhou in southern China. But now she surveys a hiring landscape that has suddenly turned bleak for millions of young Chinese.

The quarterly rent payment for her share of an apartment is due in mid-April. She faces a choice of paying the rent or paying for food as she looks for her next job, though she expressed confidence that one could be found.

If I take out the rent, I wont be left with much money, she said.

The extent of the damage that China must reverse still is not clear. Its huge economy, a major engine of global growth, was effectively idled in February after the coronavirus spread from an initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan. A glimpse of the full effect on the country may come April 17, when China reports economic statistics for the first three months of the year. But economists widely believe the shutdown has doomed untold numbers of jobs and small businesses.

Restarting the economy will be a lot tougher than it was after 2008, when China unveiled a $586-billion spending package. That package funded highways, bridges and high-speed rail lines across the country. It enabled big construction projects. Steel, glass and cement factories revved up to meet the new demand.

Chinas economy has tripled in size since then and become more diverse and more complex. China now has a much more highly educated labour force with less enthusiasm for manual labour. The service sector has become more important.

Negative impacts of the coronavirus disease are mainly borne by people working specific industries, such as restaurants, hotels, transportation companies, movie theatres and tourism, said Zhi George Yu, an economist at Renmin University of China. Infrastructure investment will not directly absorb many workers who worked in the industries mostly impacted by the disease.

China is still recovering from its last binge. In addition to the spending, Beijing unleashed $2 trillion in new lending and made other moves that dumped still more credit into the financial system. As a result, China became one of the worlds most indebted economies in less than a decade. Economists inside and outside the country have warned that the debt  much of it hidden away on the books of local governments and state-run companies  could disrupt the financial system and hold back long-term growth.

Even if China strengthens its economy internally, it must cope with a lack of demand for its goods from abroad.

From brick-and-mortar stores overseas, in the last few days, the amount of orders that have been cancelled at the factory is staggering, said Sabrina Finlay, chief executive of Otabo, a footwear company in Minneapolis that does its manufacturing in China. Online sales in China have improved as the country bounces back, she added, but traffic at stores there has not fully returned.

Like France, China has focused on helping companies keep paying their workers. The newest moves, unveiled last week, will support the state-owned banking sector to lend another $200 billion to businesses, particularly smaller ones. Local governments have also issued $150 billion in bonds so far this year to pay contractors for the construction of roads, bridges and other projects.

When Xibei, a chain of 386 restaurants specializing in roasted lamb and other northwestern Chinese cuisine, warned publicly that it was running low on money to pay its 22,000 employees, Chinas government and banking system jumped into action.

Within two days, the government was discussing financial assistance, said Jia Guolong, the companys chairman. Three days later, loan documents were signed for a $200 million, three-year, low-interest line of credit from a state-owned bank. Four days after that, Xibei was paying its workers.

It was a requirement from the bank that we use the money to pay only salaries and food suppliers, Jia said in a telephone interview.

But Beijing is providing almost no financial assistance directly to the general public. As factory orders have dried up for exports and abroad, many manufacturing employees no longer work overtime, which previously accounted for up to a third of their compensation. While the last large-scale lockdown in China ended in Wuhan on Wednesday morning, many social-distancing rules remain in effect countrywide and have discouraged people from going out to eat or paying for other services.

Yu, of Renmin University, and other economists are increasingly recommending an approach pioneered this spring by affluent areas in east-central China: handing out vouchers to stimulate consumption.

Hangzhou, the hometown of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has been particularly active in issuing electronic vouchers. Each of the past two Friday mornings, residents jumped online to obtain a packet of five discount vouchers that could be used at restaurants and shops through Alibabas electronic payments system, Alipay.

Because the vouchers are valid for only a week, they provide an incentive for recipients to use them quickly instead of saving the money, as some may do with the $1,200 cheques being distributed in the United States.

The packets of vouchers or coupons are financed by the municipal government, which reimburses local businesses that accept them. But the value of each voucher in a packet is modest: $1.41 to $6.35, and only one voucher may be used per purchase. Beijing economists say the national government is considering rolling them out.

Read more about:
New Jersey now has at least 51,027 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,700 deaths, as state officials Thursday reported another 3,748 positive tests and 198 deaths in the last 24 hours.

We know that this number is the worst of all to report to you, Gov. Phil Murphy said in reference to the death toll as he held his daily coronavirus press briefing at the Trenton War Memorial. These arent numbers, by the way, these are people.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million residents, continues to have more COVID-19 cases than any U.S. state but New York.

The state has still not released numbers for how many New Jerseyans have recovered from the illness. But they provided information for the first time saying 471 people across New Jersey have been discharged in the last 24 hours after being hospitalized for COVID-19.

In all, there are 7,363 people hospitalized with the virus as of Thursday, including 1,523 in critical care and 1,551 on ventilators.

Officials said the peak number of hospitalizations could come in two to three days  with about 14,400 people with the virus hospitalized and 2,880 in critical care.

Separately, officials say the peak number of cases in the state is predicted to come between April 19 and May 11, and it could be between 86,000 and 509,000 cases.

Murphy continued to urge residents to stay home and practice social distancing.

Its a fight for literally the heart and soul and future of our state," the governor said. "We need you to stay home, period.

Murphy added that New Jersey is starting to see signs the rate of infection is slowing, but he stressed that cases and deaths are still going up.

Were not in the end zone, he said.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said there have been 58 COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths at the states three veteran homes. Two of the homes  in Paramus and Edson  have received support from combat medics from the National Guard to manage the cases.

New Jersey has received reports on 100,478 total coronavirus tests. About 44% have come back positive.

The state says the numbers represent 95% of the results from testing done at major laboratories.

Its difficult to know exactly how many residents are currently infected with the illness because testing is backed up and the state is testing only people showing symptoms, even though asymptomatic people can carry the virus.

About 85% of people will see mild symptoms, but 15% face more severe cases  especially older residents and those with underlying conditions, officials say.

Of the states 1,700 deaths, health officials provided the racial breakdown as:

White 61%

Black 22%

Asian 6%

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander less than 1%

Still under investigation 11%

The partial county-by-county breakdown of cases includes:

Bergen County: 8,343 with 345 deaths

Essex County: 6,069 with 312 deaths

Hudson County: 5,879 with 132 deaths

Union County: 5,203 with 145 deaths

Passaic County: 4,690 with 82 deaths

Middlesex County: 4,628 with 152 deaths

Monmouth County: 3,248 with 98 deaths

Ocean County: 3,093 with 119 deaths

Morris County: 2,645 with 117 deaths

Somerset County: 1,335 with 59 deaths

Mercer County: 1,161 with 36 deaths

Camden County: 990 with 23 deaths

Burlington County: 883 with 21 deaths

Gloucester County: 413 with 8 deaths

Sussex County: 392 with 21 deaths

Warren County: 319 with 1 deaths

Hunterdon County: 286 with 4 deaths

Atlantic County: 191 with 4 deaths

Cumberland County: 111 with 3 deaths

Cape May County: 109 with 3 deaths

Salem County: 43 with 3 deaths

Another 1,362 cases and four deaths remain under investigation to determine the location where the person resides.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

To help reduce the virus spread and protect hospital capacity, Murphy has put the state into near-lockdown, ordering residents to stay at home, banning social gatherings, closing schools, and mandating non-essential retail businesses close until further notice. He has also limited the number of people can be in businesses allowed to remain open and required employees and shoppers to wear face coverings.

On Tuesday, Murphy also indefinitely closed all of New Jerseys state and county parks.

He also ordered that all retail shops and supermarkets that are permitted to be open during pandemic must limit the number of customers inside at one time by half, and said customers and workers need to wear masks or face coverings.

As of Thursday, the virus has infected more than 1.5 million people across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, nearly 90,000 have died and nearly 340,000 have recovered.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero/The Daily Beast

Suspected Russian government trolls are trying to pin the COVID-19 pandemic on the Pentagon; hyping Rudy Giulianis conspiracy theories about collusion between Democrats and Ukraine; and trying to meddle in European elections, an investigation by The Daily Beast reveals.

Working with researchers from the disinformation-tracking firm Graphika, The Daily Beast found at least 20 fake news articles pushed by over 40 suspected Kremlin-backed personas across dozens of social media networks like Facebook, Reddit, Medium, and smaller web forums.

This looks like a Russian disinformation operation we call Secondary Infektion that's been running for years, said Ben Nimmo, director of investigations at Graphika, who has been investigating the operation since Facebook exposed a first set of accounts in May 2019. It uses blogging platforms as the soft underbelly of the internet, planting false stories based on forged documents or leaks that never happened. The fakes mostly appear designed to trigger tensions between European countries, or between Europe and the United States, but they were generally too clumsy to be believed.

Nimmo and other disinformation researchers first identified the Secondary Infektion campaign in 2019, which uses forgeries and fake articles to push Moscow-friendly propaganda through fictional personas. The troll personas and articles identified by The Daily Beast followed the same Secondary Infektion pattern identified by Graphika and others. Trolls would set up one-time-use accounts at a handful of outlets in specific placesfrom obscure forums like the DebatePolitics and DefendingTheTruth to larger platforms like Medium and Redditand post articles and forgeries in broken English just minutes after creating their accounts.

The cluster of personas and articles identified by The Daily Beast date back through 2016. They add to a growing body of evidence that shows Russian information operations didnt stop after Moscows interference in the last presidential campaign, but rather continued on, spreading to other countries. The trolls in this campaign forged letters and screenshots in an attempt to meddle in elections in Sweden and Latvia, touted Trump attorney Rudy Giulianis Ukraine conspiracy theories, and tried to sow confusion about a former suspect in the leak of NSA hacking tools.

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Pinning COVID-19 on the Pentagon

As COVID-19 ravaged China and began to spread around the globe, the State Department issued cryptic warnings in February and March that Russia was trying to pin the virus on the U.S. both through its overt and covert propaganda organs. In one February briefing, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker called out the propaganda campaign in vague terms and claimed that Moscow was "once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response" with a COVID-19 disinformation campaign.

American diplomats offered no specifics, but just a few days before Reekers briefing, a fake story bearing the hallmarks of Secondary Infektion trolls surfaced in Russian-language blogging platforms.

The story, posted to Russian-language blogs and Reddit by multiple fake personas, tries to pin the blame on the COVID-19 outbreak on the U.S. and Kazakhstan by casting the virus as the byproduct of a U.S. nonproliferation program in the country. The trolls pointed to social media posts by a group of hackers calling themselves Anonymous Kazakhstan.

Its a well-documented tactic among Secondary Infektion posts, which often use fictitious Anonymous-style hacker groups from a range of different countries as the source of forged documents, according to Graphika.

In this case, the authors of the story claim that, in the course of hacking employees of the U.S.-funded Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty, Kazakhstan, they discovered that the lab was responsible for the release of COVID-19 into the public.

Rather than a nefarious factory for new bioweapons, the Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty is part of a U.S.-funded nonproliferation effort aimed at giving steady employment to biologists in Kazakhstan, once home to Soviet biological weapons programs, and keep them from seeking employment in rogue state or terrorist bioweapons efforts. The authors of the fake story appeared to aim at ginning up fear and opposition to the U.S. funding and warned that the fake viral leak could prompt sanctions from China, an important ally and source of investment in Kazakhstan.

This story only circulated in Russian, unlike other Secondary Infektion claims, but it was posted on exactly the same mix of blogging platforms by exactly the same sort of fake persona. If this wasn't Secondary Infektion, it was someone trying really hard to look like them," said Nimmo.

Others may have reached the same conclusion as The Daily Beast. In a recent update, cybersecurity firm FireEye vaguely referenced a disinformation campaign it attributed to Secondary Infektion which included a false hacktivist persona to spread the conspiracy theory that the U.S. developed the coronavirus in a weapons laboratory in Central Asia.

Election Meddling and Spy Games

The trolls behind the COVID-19 article and others identified by The Daily Beast are most likely part of a well-documented group of Russia-linked disinformation actors known as Secondary Infektion. The group, labeled after the Soviet Unions Operation Infektion disinformation campaign, which sought to blame the HIV/AIDS outbreak in the '80s on the U.S. militarys former biological weapons research lab, was first labeled by the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab in June 2019 after Facebook suspended a number of accounts operated by the campaign a month prior.

The group typically works in three stages, according to Nimmo. Propagandists first forge documents to further their narratives and plant them on small, obscure blogging platforms with single-use accounts created on the day of posting and never used again. Next, the authors translate the articles accompanying forgeries into as many as half a dozen languages like Russian, Spanish, and German and further spread the fake stories. Finally, trolls take the articles to larger social media platforms like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter, often creating still more single-use accounts to do it.

Secondary Infektion is notable for the sweeping breadth of forums it employs in order to spread its articles. Pretty well all serious influence operations these days are cross-platform, but Secondary Infektion took it to extremes. They worked across literally scores of sites and platforms in different languages," Nimmo explained. Researchers have tracked the campaigns articles across scores of often niche and obscure platforms, from British college forum TheStudentRoom to an Austrian local news platform, Mein Bezirk.

The network of Russian-linked trolls identified by The Daily Beast goes beyond just a single post on COVID-19 conspiracies. From at least 2016 through this year, trolls sought to spread disinformation on elections in the U.S. and Europe, pit Western countries against each other, and ruin Ukraines international reputation.

In December 2019, as impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump took place, Russian-linked trolls spread an article that falsely claimed Democrats colluded with a former KGB officer during the 2016 elections. The article, Former KGB agent sponsored Democrats in the 2016 election, falsely accuses Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk of having worked for Soviet intelligence during the Cold War and financing Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign.

The theme of Democratic collusion with Ukraine to undermine Trumps candidacy, often touted by President Trump and his allies, is a theme Russian intelligence operatives have pushed for years, according to The New York Times.

Relying on Rudy

Many of the Secondary Infektion stories used phony screengrabs or forged documents to further their narrative. By contrast, the authors of the fake KGB support story relied on the conspiracy theorizing of Rudy Giuliani and the Trump-cheering cable news channel OANN to push their story.

Rudy Giuliani's recent visit to Ukraine exposed many secrets of the Democratic Party, which is trying to distract the public from its crimes through the impeachment of the incumbent US president, the trolls wrote alongside links to OANNs coverage of the impeachment scandal.

The Secondary Infektion crew also ventured beyond the relitigation of Americas 2016 presidential election to meddle in elections in Europe.

In advance of Swedens 2018 elections, the trolls used a series of fake conspiracies focused on the right wing nationalist Sweden Democrats party to interfere in Swedens 2018 election. Secondary Infektion propagandists forged a fake letter in stilted English purporting to show Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning Polands foreign minister that Russian special services are going to provide technical and material support to the Swedish Democrats and help them in the election campaign as part of a hacking campaign.

It bears the digital hallmarks of forgery, said Sam Meyer, a research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Meyer ran the Pompeo letter image through the Tungstene imagery analysis software and found that the image was based on a digital template bearing the State Department letterhead and Secretary Pompeos signature with the text digitally added separately.

Many of the the Secondary Infektion articles identified by The Daily Beast appeared aimed at dividing the U.S. from its allies in Europe.

Since its forces began occupying eastern Ukraine, Russia has tried to oppose the U.S. sale of lethal aid to Ukrainian forces, particularly the Javelin anti-tank missiles which could be useful in fending off Russian armor. As the Trump administration mulled the prospect of a sale in the fall of 2017, Russian trolls published a forged screenshot pretending to come from the Twitter account of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. Javelins from Ukraine will help #YPG/#YPJ fighters defeat #IS in Deir al-Zour. #JazeeraStorm #defeatDaesh.

Except the tweet was never sent and neither American nor Ukrainian forces ever transferred Javelins to partner forces in Syria. The apparent goal of the forgery and accompanying article was an attempt to paint the Trump administrations arms sale to Ukraine as reckless and to create tensions between the U.S., Ukraine, and Turkey, which has strongly objected to transfers of less sophisticated arms to Kurdish forces in Syria.

But not all of the articles fit into such neat thematic categories. At least one appeared aimed at diverting attention from or at least provoking confusion about a criminal case involving the theft of classified information from the National Security Agency.

Federal prosecutors charged former NSA contractor Hal Martin in 2016 with unlawfully taking home vast amounts of classified NSA data. Martin had initially come under suspicion as a result of an investigation into the publication of classified NSA hacking tools released by a group calling itself The Shadow Brokers, which some believe may be a front for Russian intelligence.

Martin was never charged with involvement in the Shadow Brokers leak. But in November 2016, a month after prosecutors arrested him, personas bearing the hallmarks of the Secondary Infektion campaign began posting articles falsely claiming that Martin had betrayed the identities of undercover CIA officers associated with the Bush-era torture program.

Another Secondary Infektion article took aim at what would seem an unlikely target for the Kremlin: former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. In 2018, while Medvedev was still serving as prime minister of Russia, the trolls used a fake screenshot of a nonexistent article from The Guardian to cast doubt on his political future, writing that Medvedev was facing a whole bunch of problems, from lack of financing to health issues and even alcohol.

Bang for the buck?

For all the effort put into the troll campaign, the impact appears to have been small to nonexistent. In 2016, IRA trolls operating Twitter and Facebook accounts racked up millions of views throughout the U.S. presidential election, but the greater scrutiny of Russian disinformation and more cautious operational security practices used by the Secondary Infektion have come at a steep cost in terms of reach.

None of the articles or forgeries identified by The Daily Beast appear to have been picked up and amplified by news outlets or social media users outside of Secondary Infektion.

"One of the biggest mysteries about Secondary Infektion is what the operators thought they were doing, said Nimmo. I've never seen so little bang to the buck."

In the history of documented Secondary Infektion articles, only one appears to have gained any tractionthe leak of authentic U.K.-U.S. trade documents shortly before the British general election in 2019.

Leaked: Secret Documents From Russias Election Trolls

Trumps New Favorite Channel Employs Kremlin-Paid Journalist

The reach of articles identified by The Daily Beast is much shorter. The posts, published to obscure and niche web forums like WorthyChristianForums and DefendingTheTruth, garnered just a few dozen views according to view counters available on some of the sites. Some generated agreement or at least debate among a handful of forumgoers and social media users where they were posed, but they also generated derision and skepticism as well.

Arthur, one Reddit commenter wrote under a Secondary Infektion personas piece about Brexit, you've done something that I couldn't imagine was possible. You've written a piece so poor that brexiteers and remainers can unite around how dreadful your opinions are. There's something in here to make everyone scoff.

Others social media users noticed the pattern of single-use accounts posting articles on known Russian themes and found them appropriately suspicious. New Reddit User. 1 post. Article about the east. a Redditor commented on a post trying to stir up tensions between Hungary and Ukraine. You almost got me Putin.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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GUELPH, Ontario, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI) and its members applaud the federal and provincial governments for their ongoing recognition of the essential role that veterinary medicines and veterinary care play in safeguarding a safe and secure food supply, as well as the health of communities in Canada.



On April 2, 2020, Public Safety Canada released its Guidance on Essential Services and Functions in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic , which was developed in consultation with provinces, territories and national unions. This list recognizes services required to ensure the health and welfare of animals as essential to preserving life, health and basic societal functioning. Specific animal health services and functions on this list include:

Workers including those employed in animal food (pet and animal feed processing facilities), feed, by-product and ingredient production, processing, packaging, and distribution; manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of veterinary drugs; truck delivery and transport; farm and fishery labor needed to harvest and produce our food supply domestically;

Animal agriculture workers to include those employed in veterinary health; manufacturing and distribution of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal drugs, feed ingredients, feed, and bedding, etc.; and

Veterinarians, veterinary technicians and necessary support staff.

The federal guidance on the importance of the support of animal health and welfare essential services is consistent with provincial lists of essential workplaces already issued to date by the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island, as well as the Yukon territory.

On April 3, 2020, the Ontario government released its epidemiological modelling projections for the pandemic and revised its original list of essential workplaces by narrowing the scope of services to remain exempt from the provincial order for closure of all non-essential businesses. Urgent veterinary care and other businesses that provide for the health and welfare of animals, as well as the businesses that supply them, remain essential workplaces under the revised Ontario list, said Dr. Catherine Filejski, President & CEO of the CAHI. Many in the veterinary profession are already operating on an urgent care only model of practice in order to align with social distancing requirements and CAHIs members are committed to ensuring that they continue to have the tools they need to practice effectively.

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CAHI 2020 Annual Convention Update

The health and safety of CAHI members, their staff, association staff and all industry stakeholders are of primary importance to us, and we support social distancing measures that have been put in place by Canadian governments to limit the spread of COVID-19, said Dr. Jair Garcia, Chair of the CAHI Board of Directors, and Senior Vice President Canada & Latin America at Zoetis Inc. With this in mind, the Board has made the decision to begin contingency planning for CAHIs 2020 Annual Convention, as hosting an in-person event may not be possible this year. In that case, alternative delivery of Convention content through a web-based seminar series in June would preserve broader industry access to the valuable continuing education content offered by CAHI, while still following public health recommendations around social distancing. Elections for CAHIs 2020-2021 Board of Directors and approval of the 2020 budget would also be held in a separate virtual Annual General Meeting format. Further details on both the Convention and the Annual General Meeting will be provided in coming weeks.

To ensure continued service delivery to our membership, CAHI staff remain fully accessible by telephone and email. CAHI members are encouraged to check its website regularly and to continually monitor email for important messages from the regulatory authorities. CAHI is working with its members and global affiliates to monitor any shortages, disruptions or delays in production for animal health products in relation to COVID-19 and reminds all members to notify the office as soon as possible should a disruption be identified and/or anticipated. The Government of Canada continues to limit international travel into Canada; however, these restrictions do not apply to cross-border trade or commerce.

About CAHI

As the not-for-profit trade association representing the developers, manufacturers and distributors of animal pharmaceuticals, biologics, feed additives, veterinary health products and animal pesticides in Canada, CAHI is the unified voice and information source for the animal health industry in Canada. CAHI is a national association, whose members are responsible for the sales of approximately 95% of the animal health product market in Canada. Sales by CAHI member companies in 2018 were approximately $860 million.

Contact: Colleen McElwain, Programs Director

Canadian Animal Health Institute

(519) 763-7777
Calif. court dismisses sex crime charges against La Luz del Mundo leader because he didnt get speedy trial

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The Court of Appeals of the State of California dismissed multiple sex crime charges against Naason Joaquin Garcia, who leads La Luz del Mundo, a megachurch headquartered in Mexico that boasts five million followers around the world, because his right to a speedy trial was violated.

Garcias attorney, Alan Jackson, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post: The Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of justice today, as it has ordered the dismissal of a case that should not have been processed. This is a recognition of the constitutional rights of Mr. Naason Joaquin Garcia, to have a speedy trial, and a reasonable bail; In their zeal to secure a conviction at any cost, the [authorities] have sought to strip Mr. Garcia of his freedom without due process by locking him up without bail on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations by unnamed accusers and by denying him his day in court.

I am excited because the Court of Appeals saw and corrected this injustice, which is why this is a good day for justice.

Garcia, 50, who is considered by his church to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, was arrested last summer at Los Angeles International Airport, the California Attorney General Xavier Becerras office said. In a release which also highlighted the criminal complaint against Garcia, other individuals associated with the church were also named as co-defendants. They were noted as: Alondra Ocampo, 36, Azalea Rangel Melendez, and Susana Medina Oaxaca, both 24.

Garcia and his co-defendants were charged with human trafficking, production of child pornography, forcible rape of a minor, and other felonies committed between 2015 and 2018.

Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and had been facing a $50 million bail, believed to be the highest ever imposed in L.A. County, last July when Superior Court Judge David Fields denied him after hearing a witness describe video evidence that allegedly showed the pastor in a sexual threesome involving a minor.

This is a man who preyed on young girls, Fields declared at the time. Religion was used against these girls. They were told that if they didnt comply [sexually], they were sinning.

According to the criminal complaint against Garcia, children were allegedly told to perform flirty dances for the megachurch leader while wearing as little clothing as possible.

The appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the Los Angeles County Superior Court must dismiss the 29 counts of felony charges against Garcia, the Associated Press reported, because his preliminary hearing was not held in a timely manner.

As the megachurch leader did not waive his right to a speedy trial, the appeals court said the case against him would have to be dismissed.

His hearing was reportedly postponed several times  in some instances because prosecutors had not turned over evidence to the defense  while he was held without bail. The situation forced Garcias attorneys to file an appeal.

The ruling only mentioned the dismissal of Garcias case and not those of his co-defendants, Oaxaca and Ocampo.

Alma M. Schutt, a member of the church who lives in San Antonio, praised the ruling, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Thats wonderful news. It just seemed so unfair for him to be there. He was being punished  it was a great injustice. Im so happy. It makes me want to cry.

A federal lawsuit filed against Garcia and his church by a Southern California woman in February still remains in play.

In that case, the woman claims Garcia and his father sexually abused her for 18 years starting when she was 12, all the while justifying the abuse with Bible passages as a gift from God.
President Donald Trump is looking at reopening the economy on May 1 and preparing to announce the formation of a task force designed to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed the date in an appearance on CNBC Thursday morning.

'I do,' he said when host Jim Cramer asked him if he thinks if 'the doctors let us, that we could be open for business in the month of May.'

Trump originally named Easter Sunday as his goal for getting back to business, a date he had to walk back.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said it's possible the economy could reopen in May

President Donald Trump is looking at reopening the economy on May 1

May 1 would mark the end of the administration's '30 Days to Slow the Spread'

And the president declined to name a specific day when asked about it at the daily White House press briefing on Thursday.

'I don't want to do that,' he said when inquired if he was looking to reopen things on April 30th or May 1.

But a senior White House official told Axios there's a big internal push for May 1, because that's the end of the administration's '30 Days to Slow the Spread.'

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has made a similar prediction, saying on Monday the economy can 'snapback' from the damage done by the coronavirus in the next four to eight weeks.

'I still believe, given our assistance package and hope and maybe prayer that we're at a four-to-eight week period, we can get a pretty good snapback, a good snapback. That's my hope,' he told reporters at the White House.

He said the sooner the better.

'The sooner we begin to reopen, the faster that snapback's going to be. That's the rule of thumb that I think most economists would agree with,' he said.

President Trump will also announce as soon as this week a second, smaller coronavirus task force that will examine ways to combat the economic ramifications of the virus and focus on reopening the nation's economy, The Washington Post reported.

The task force will consist of a mix of private-sector and top administration officials, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, Mnuchin and Kudlow.

President Trump is looking at creating a second coronavirus task force focused on the economy featuring Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and economic adviser Larry Kudlow

People wearing face masks nail wood planks to cover windows and door of a store at Flushing's Chinatown in New York

But their plans could be countered by health care officials, who managed to rein in the president from his original Easter target date.

Medical experts have argued that social distancing programs need to remain in place to avoid a second wave of coronavirus cases.

'What we need to do is to make sure we don't let up on those mitigation, those physical separation programs, because if we do that can just bounce back again,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday morning on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'

And when asked about a May 1 deadline, Fauci refused to commit to a date.

'The virus itself will determine the guideline. We hope that by the time we get to this extended 30-day period, you know, we went from the 15 days of mitigation to the additional 30 days, which gets us to the end of April. I do hope by the time we get there that we will well see that curve, that bending in the curve which we've been talking about now for several weeks,' he said.

'You never want to claim victory prematurely,' he added. 'You hope that we'll see that curve go down and then can start to think about gradually getting back to some sort of steps towards normality.'

The administration's push to get back to business comes as a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounded the country to a halt.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned the coronavirus will determine when the country reopens for business

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields who are exposed to the deadly coronavirus back to work faster. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pictured announcing those new guidelines at a White House press conference

The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Additionally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields back to work faster - which some saw as a sign the administration will slowly start to reopen the economy.

Under prior guidelines workers were told to stay home for 14 days if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Under new guidelines critical workers, in fields such as health care or food supply, can go back to work as long as they are asymptomatic.

They will have to follow certain conditions including taking their temperature before going to work, wearing a face mask at all times, and practicing social distancing.

'One of the most important things we can do is keep our critical workforce working,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said while unveiling the new guidelines during a White House news briefing on Wednesday.

The president has been anxious to get things up and running amid the terrible jobless numbers and the tanking stock market. He has based his re-election campaign on a strong U.S. economy.

Trump noted on Twitter Wednesday that the economy will be reopened 'sooner rather than later.'

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy's output in the current quarter.

About 95 percent, or 48 states, are now under some form of lockdown with non-essential businesses shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.

The president said on Saturday he was thinking of forming the economic-focused group.

'Thinking about it,' he said. 'Getting a group of people. And we have to open our country. You know, I had an expression: 'The cure can't be worse than the problem itself.' Right? I started by saying that, and I continue to say it: The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself.'

'We've got to get our country open,' he added.
By Tomas Mrva

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia has closed off several Roma settlements in the eastern part of the country after reports of a cluster of coronavirus cases in five of them, highlighting difficulties faced by Europe's largest ethnic minority during the pandemic.

Roma communities across eastern Europe are impoverished, plagued by high unemployment and historically the target of discrimination, and the coronavirus outbreak has many feeling more vulnerable.

In Bulgaria, some Roma have complained of being locked in ghettos because of strict curbs on movement. In Hungary, Roma leaders said this week the pandemic threatened their already precarious living conditions.

Slovakian Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced on Wednesday that at least 31 people had tested positive for the coronavirus. The Slovak authorities said they would ensure food deliveries and access to healthcare in the enclaves, despite restrictions on movement.

"The measure came into force at midnight. It applies to five locations in two villages and one town," said Renata Hudakova from the regional public health authority in Spisska Nova Ves.

Slovakia started widespread testing in Roma settlements on April 3 amid concerns crowded living conditions and inadequate hygiene could accelerate infections.

"It is not a hostile act. We want to protect people who are in quarantine as well as those who were in contact with them," Matovic told the media in the town of Krompachy, where three of the closed settlements are located.

Andrea Najvirtova, head of the rights group People in Need, expressed concern over deepening poverty in the Roma areas as a result of the quarantine as well as nationwide curbs on public life.

"They live in poverty and many have lost their sources of income, such as seasonal work, and their children had free meals in schools, which are now closed. The measures should take this into account," she said.

Slovakia has identified more than 1,000 locations with 260,000 inhabitants it considered at high risk because of high density of population and poor living conditions.

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Officials say that hundreds of Roma returning from western Europe in recent weeks may have arrived infected with the novel coronavirus.

"(It) will spread much faster in the Roma communities," said Peter Pollak, member of the European Parliament from Matovic's Ordinary People (OLANO) party and of Roma origin.

Slovakia has reported 682 cases of the coronavirus and two deaths, with 101 new cases reported on Tuesday.

Slovakia has already banned international passenger transport, closed schools and most shops and banned all public events. The government also restricted free movement of people as of Wednesday until next Monday, to curb internal travel during Easter holidays in the majority-Catholic country.

(Reporting by Tomas Mrva, editing by Larry Kin)
MIAMI Realtors Chief Legal Counsel Evian White De Leon "After collaborating with MIAMI the past two years on affordable housing issues, I am thrilled to join as Chief Legal Counsel where I will be able to support the mission, members, and our community"

The MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) has named Evian White De Leon Chief Legal Counsel. With more than 52,000 total members, MIAMI is the largest local Realtor Association in the nation, has the fourth largest MLS nationally, the fifth largest commercial association and over 220 global partners worldwide.

In addition to serving as in-house counsel for MIAMI, White De Leon will oversee professional standards and grievances, human resources and legal education for members. She will also support the government affairs and public policy team.

"After collaborating with MIAMI the past two years on affordable housing issues, I am thrilled to join as Chief Legal Counsel where I will be able to support the mission, members, and our community, White De Leon said. Working at MIAMI also allows me the opportunity to continue to advance my passion, which has always been making my vibrant hometown of Miami a place where all residents have the opportunity to thrive.

White De Leon graduated from the University of Miami School of Law after studying International Relations, Spanish and Literature at Florida International University, both in Miami and in Spain. Most recently, White De Leon served as Deputy Director of Miami Homes for All, Inc., a nonprofit with a vision that everyone in Miami has a safe and stable place to call home through affordable housing and youth homelessness policy advocacy, research, and coalition building.

We are very excited to have Evian with us to further enhance our leading-edge organization, and to provide additional resources to benefit our organization, our members and the communities we serve, MIAMI CEO Teresa King Kinney said. Evian brings vast knowledge, skills and expertise on a variety of subject areas relevant to our organization, the housing industry and association management, making her a valuable addition to our executive team.

After graduating from law school, she worked as a litigator at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. for almost seven years. She subsequently joined Miami Beach Community Health Center, Inc. (MBCHC) as their Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Programs. At MBCHC she represented the interests of the organization to improve operations, quality of patient care, and to mitigate risk. She also developed relationships with government and community partners to expand access to quality, affordable health care.

Outside of the office, White De Leon just finished her term as the President of the Dade County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and a three-year term as an investigative member of The Florida Bar Grievance Committee 11P. Evian also participated in Class III of The Florida Bar Leadership Academy and Class IX of the Miami Fellows with The Miami Foundation.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors

The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 100 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 52,000 total real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with over 220 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:39:24|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The third China International Import Expo (CIIE) plans to double the size of its medicine and medical equipment section from that of last year's event, and nearly 60 Fortune 500 companies and industry giants have signed up for the section, an official said Thursday.

Over 80 percent of the planned area for this section has been booked, Gao Feng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, told a press briefing.

The section will display items such as drugs, medical equipment, elderly care, health food and medical services. A few companies will present epidemic control products including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines, invasive and non-invasive ventilators, thermometers and protective face masks, said Gao.

More than 1,000 exhibitors worldwide have signed up for the third CIIE scheduled to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, occupying 60 percent of the exhibit space.
Chandigarh, April 9 : An 81-year-old woman, who defeated coronavirus in Punjab, here on Thursday urged people to stay indoor to protect themselves from the infection.

According to a video shared by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Twitter, Kulwant Nirmal of Mohali, a diabetes and hypertension patient, tested positive for coronavirus.

But her will to fight overshadowed everything, and now she is healthy and at home.

She is among the patients in the state who have recovered from the infection. In her video message, she said with folded hands: "Doctors took care of me. Never be afraid of the disease. Follow whatever the government and the doctors are saying." "Keep your will power strong. Have courage and do prayers. Waheguru will save you," the octogenarian said.

Her son Gurminder Singh said he was quarantined in the home along with the other family members when her mother was admitted to a private hospital.

Her mother, a diabetes and hypertension patient for 30 years, was the only coronavirus case in the family, he said.

Harpal Singh, sarpanch of Pathlawa village, as well as seven others from S.B.S. Nagar, tested negative multiple times for Covid-19 and were declared fully cured. Fourteen patients in Punjab have been cured.
Gandhinagar, April 9 : Continued intensified surveillance and testing for the coronavirus in the hotspots declared in Gujarat's major cities yielded 21 more positive cases on Thursday evening.

Thursday alone had a total of 76 positive cases registered in the state, following the intense testing. Gujarat now has a total of 262 positive cases and 17 deaths.

Ahmedabad, the financial capital of Gujarat had the major chunk of cases spread in the state, with more than half of Gujarat's total positive cases.

On Thursday evening, health authorities detected 21 new positive cases, in addition to the morning's 55. Out of the 21, Ahmedabad had 8, Patan had 7, Vadodara had 4 and in Rajkot, 2 more positive cases were found.

Now Gujarat has a total of 262 positive cases where Ahmedabad has the maximum number of cases at 142, followed by Surat 24, Vadodara 22, Bhavnagar 18, Rajkot and Gandhinagar 13 each, Patan 12, Porbandar 3, Kutch, Mehsana and Gir-Somnath 2 each and Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha, Dahod and Anand one each.

"Just like the case in Gandhinagar, the total number of positive cases in Patan's Siddhpur turned out to be a single contact infection, where all the positive cases belong to one family. Due to the cooperation of sarpanches of adjoining villages of Siddhpur town, the entire place has been locked tightly and strictly, so that the spread of virus doesn't go beyond the limited area in Siddhpur," said Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary, Health and family welfare Department, Gujarat.

"Seeing the increasing numbers of positive cases in the hotspots and clusters of Gujarat, we are hopeful of curbing the virus spread. It can be said that the virus is in control," added Ravi.

"But we are fully prepared for the worst scenario also. As far as exclusive COVID-19 hospitals are concerned, ICU care with 6,000 beds, PPE kits, N95 masks, triple layered masks, hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin drugs, we have adequate stock, quantity, facilities. We also have a bank of 9,000 ventilatory care technicians if the need arises," added Ravi.

"We have mapped out the worst scenario in every detail. The Indian Medical Association's (IMA) response towards the government has been very good. They have assured the Gujarat government to standby if the need arises," added Ravi.

"We have also started 23 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals, covering 26 districts of the state in private facilities," said Ravi.

"The government has also taken an important decision. If an asymptomatic elderly person, over the age of 85 is assured by the family members, to provide him/her of isolation facilities in the house itself, the permission will be granted. Shortly we will be framing the guidelines for this," added Ravi.

"Out of the total 215 active cases, the condition of 212 is stable, are on normal air or simple oxygen, whereas the condition of 3 is critical and they are on ventilator," added Ravi.

"In the last 24 hours, we have taken 1,975 samples for testing, where 76 have been found positive, 1,541 negative and 358 are pending," added Ravi.

"The total number of persons quarantined in the state is 12,352, where 11,015 are home quarantined, 1,170 in government facilities and 167 in private facilities," she said.
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Rolls-Royce sales rise to record high in 2021

Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis directed gun at Armenia residents car in which his wife, 3-year-old child were

ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes

Serbia's Orthodox Patriarch tests positive for COVID-19

Brothers, sisters of 2020 Artsakh war military casualties to get compensation in lieu of their deceased parents

Turkish authorities sanction arrest of 33 suspected FETO ties

Copper rises in price

Erdogan's spokesman, Biden's adviser discuss Armenian-Turkish relations

Armenia deputy defense minister: No one can rule out border tension at any moment

New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia official: Those 100 soldiers absence will not assume any change in terms of border tension

Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78

Reuters: Over 1.13 million cases of COVID-19 detected in US per day

Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies

2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Deputy PM Matevosyan: About 1,190 subvention programs implemented in Armenia from 2018 to 2021

243 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia MP: It would be right to put pressure on Azerbaijanis to remove their firing positions

Oil is getting more expensive

Nearly 10,000 people detained in Kazakhstan in connection with riots

Tokayev: CSTO peacekeepers will pull out from Kazakhstan within 10 days

Newspaper: Armenia businessmen pay customs duties to Azerbaijanis to go to Iran

European Parliament speaker David Sassoli dies

Alikhan Smailov appointed Kazakhstan Prime Minister

Newspaper: Health minister makes decision full of contradictions in terms of Covid-related restrictions in Armenia

Newspaper: Armenia authorities once again showed their being unprincipled, worthless, opposition MP says

Germany teacher who had cannibalism fantasies is sentenced to life in prison

Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years

Spain PM calls for a debate to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights

Pope condemns "baseless" ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road

Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

Macron travels to French Riviera to discuss internal security issues

Artsakh Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan's aggressive behavior aims to disrupt Russian peacekeepers' activities

US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction

Washington and Ankara discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey

WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor

Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19

US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights

Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan

Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations

Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations

Dollar continues going up in Armenia

New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border

Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights

New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia

Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS)

Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions

Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation

Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief

Australia to buy US $ 2.5 billion of armored vehicles

Artsakh emergency service: Search for soldiers remains continued during holidays

Kazakh Colonel Nazanov dies after heart attack

Australia begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 with COVID-19 vaccine

Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period

Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed

Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises

Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake

Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up

Copper prices decline

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes

Gold is getting cheaper

EU is ready to support in addressing Karabakh crisis

126 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Fire in residential building in New York leaves 19 people killed

National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center

Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan

Oil is getting more expensive

Mars helicopter Ingenuity preparing for difficult 19th flight

Interior ministry: About 8,000 people detained in Kazakhstan

Earthquake hits Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone

Researchers create substitute for egg whites from fungus

Kazakhstan official information channel removes message about 164 casualties

EC says construction of new nuclear power plants in Europe will require  500 billion in investment

Ghost ship that sank 343 years ago discovered in US

Post-COVID-19 antibodies may attack healthy cells, scientists say

Pope says he was praying for Kazakhstan

Media: 164 people die in Kazakhstan during riots

Peskov: CSTO session does not plan to sign documents yet

Criminal cases launched after bomb threat in Armenian, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Norwegian military surrender panties before demobilization

Iranian MFA says Tehran is ready for talks on downed plane of UIA Ukraine

Russian defense minister says information war is on all fronts

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TV host Waleed Aly has delivered a powerful speech on why Australians should be 'thankful' to live in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic.

During a segment on Wednesday night, The Project host said Australia is a 'lucky country' and residents should feel fortunate to live here during the pandemic as he compared it to other countries around the world.

Australia went into a near-total lockdown on March 21 with residents only able to leave their homes for essential reasons, including work, education for food and exercise.

The strict rules are to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 51 people and infected 6,073 in Australia.

Waleed said Australians should be thankful for being able to isolate in the comfort of their homes instead of complaining.

He said Australians should feel lucky because they are in lockdown in their homes, in West Bengal in India, villagers are forced to quarantine in trees (pictured)

'The next time you start feeling sorry for yourselves, being all cooped up at home I want you to think of these guys. This is self-isolation in West Bengal India, with no rooms of their own, these villagers are forced to quarantine in trees to keep their loved ones safe,' Waleed said.

'All of us that are practicing social distancing and have imposed a lockdown on ourselves must appreciate how privileged we are.'

The broadcaster highlighted Australia's healthcare system as he compared it to Ecuador where hospitals are struggling to cope and dead bodies are being dumped in the street.

He also mentioned Australia's population density, which is tiny when compared places like the United States, allowing Australians to keep a safe distance from one another.

The Project host said Australia is a 'lucky country' and residents should feel fortunate to live here during the pandemic while comparing it to other countries around the globe

He also mentioned Australia's population density, which is tiny when compared places like the United States, allowing Australians to keep a safe distance from one another

'Australia's most densely populated city, Sydney, has 407 people per square kilometre. America's ground-zero, New York City has 38,000 people per square kilometre.'

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

He praised Scott Morrison's leadership during the crisis while comparing it to US President Donald Trump who has called it 'the new hoax'.

And while some agreed with him, others slammed the lockdown as 'home detention'.

'What an absolute load of self-serving drivel. This is exactly why Australia operates in a totally closed environment with the belief its the only safe place on Earth and the most advanced, educated, fortunate and wealthy,' one person wrote.

'Lockdown is home detention. Military state is here. Wake up Australia,' wrote another.

However, a number of others said they felt lucky to live here.

'Absolutely 100% agree! We are the lucky ones,' one person wrote.

'I agree. Stop the whining and appreciate what we have here and hope to hell one of those wonderful scientists come up with a vaccine,' another wrote.

Waleed also read out a viral Tweet from Dr Jagadish J Hiremath, chief medical officer at ACE Health Care in Mumbai, which said social distancing is a privilege.

'It means you live in a house large enough to practise it, the tweet said.

'Hand washing is a privilege too. It means you have access to running water.

'Hand sanitisers are a privilege. It means you have money to buy them.

'Social Distancing is a Privilege of the rich, it is not a choice to exercise for the poor Indians or the world. Coronavirus will soon be poor man's burden.'
France's competition authority has ordered Google to negotiate with publishers to pay for reuse of snippets of their content -- such as can be displayed in its News aggregation service or surfaced via Google Search.

The country was the first of the European Union Member States to transpose the neighbouring right for news into national law, following the passing of a pan-EU copyright reform last year.

Among various controversial measures the reform included a provision to extend copyright to cover content such as the ledes of news stories which aggregators such as Google News scrape and display. The copyright reform as a whole was voted through the EU parliament in March 2019, while France's national law for extended press publishers rights came into force in October 2019.

A handful of individual EU Member States, including Germany and Spain, had previously passed similar laws covering the use of news snippets -- without successfully managing to extract payments from Google, as lawmakers had hoped.

In Spain, for example, which made payments to publishers mandatory, Google instead chose to pull the plug on its Google News service entirely. But publishers who lobbied for a pan-EU reform hoped a wider push could turn the screw on the tech giant.

Nonetheless, Google has continued to talk tough over paying for this type of content.

In a September 2019 blog post the tech giant dug in, writing -- without apparent irony -- that: "We sell ads, not search results, and every ad on Google is clearly marked. Thats also why we dont pay publishers when people click on their links in a search result."

It has also since changed how Google News displays content in France, as Euractiv reported last year -- switching to showing headlines and URLs only, editing out the text snippets it shows in most other markets.

Screengrab showing how Google News displays content in France

However France's competition authority has slapped down the tactic -- taking the view that Google's unilateral withdrawal of snippets to deny payment is likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant market position, which it writes "seriously and immediately damaged the press sector."

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The company has a dominant position in Europe's search market with more than 90% marketshare.

The authority cites Google's unilateral withdrawal of "longer display article extracts, photographs, infographics and videos within its various services (Google Search, Google News and Discover), unless the publishers give it free authorization" as unfair behavior.

"In practice, the vast majority of press publishers have granted Google licenses for the use and display of their protected content, and this without possible negotiation and without receiving any remuneration from Google. In addition, as part of Google's new display policy, the licenses which have been granted to it by publishers and press agencies offer it the possibility of taking up more content than before," it writes in French (which we've translated via Google Translate).

"In these conditions, in addition to their referral to the merits, the seizors requested the order of provisional measures aimed at enjoining Google to enter in good faith into negotiations for the remuneration of the resumption of their content."

Hence issuing an emergency order -- which gives Google three months to negotiate "in good faith" with press agencies and publishers to pay for reusing bits of their content.

Abusive practices the agency says it suspects Google of at this stage of its investigation are:

The imposition of unfair trading conditions;

circumvention of the law;

and discrimination (i.e. because of its unilateral policy of zero renumeration for all publishers)

The order requires Google to display news snippets during the negotiation period, in accordance with publishers wishes, while terms agreed via the negotiation process will apply retrospectively -- from the date the law came into force (i.e. last October).

Google is also required to send in monthly reports on how it's implementing the decision.

"This injunction requires that the negotiations actually result in a proposal for remuneration from Google," it adds.

We reached out to Google for comment on the Autorite de la Concurrence's action. In a statement attributed to Richard Gingras, its VP of News, the company told us:

Since the European Copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news. We will comply with the FCA's order while we review it and continue those negotiations.

A Google spokeswoman also pointed back to its blog post from last year, highlighting what she described as "the ways we already work with news publishers for context."

In the blog post the company discusses directing traffic to news sites; providing ad tech used by many publishers; and a funding vehicle via which it says it's investing $300M "to help news publishers around the world develop new products and business models that fit the different publishing marketplace the Internet has enabled".

Interim measures are an antitrust tool that Europe's competition authorities have pulled from the back of the cupboard and started dusting off lately.

Last October EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager used an interim order against chipmaker Broadcom to stop applying exclusivity clauses in agreements with six of its major customers  while an investigation into its practices continues.

The commission EVP, who also heads up the bloc's digital strategy, has suggested she will seek to make greater use of interim orders as an enforcement tool to keep up with the fast pace of developments in the digital economy, responding to concern that regulators are not able to respond effectively to curtail market abuse in the modern Internet era.

In the case of France's competition authority's probe of Google's treatment of publishers content the authority writes that the interim protective measures it's ordered will remain in force until it adopts its decision "on the merits".
OTTAWA, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the conversation in Canada shifts from immediate relief to economic recovery, new questions will arise: what does recovery look like, and how do we design stimulus that delivers secure jobs in a cleaner, innovative and diverse economy?



Done right, the federal governments stimulus and recovery efforts can create jobs, spur cleantech innovation, encourage economic diversification, cut both carbon pollution and illness-causing air pollution, and ultimately make Canada a more resilient country.

On Friday, April 3, industry and non-profit leaders representing Canadas clean energy sectorincluding renewable power, energy efficiency, cleantech, advanced biofuels and electric transportationsubmitted an open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on the need for clean-energy-focused stimulus in order to build a better, more resilient economy.

You can read the letter here . It emphasizes three overarching recommendations:

To signal climate policy continuity and enhancement. To invest in sufficient, sustained and sustainable stimulus. And to move quickly to support clean energy solutions, Canadian cleantech innovation and businesses by expanding existing initiatives and programs.

In particular, the letter says, investment in economic diversification must place special attention on the regions that need it most and that have seen record layoffs.

The clean energy sector employs 298,000 Canadians in a wide range of jobs: insulating homes, developing clean technologies, manufacturing electric vehicles, building and maintaining wind, solar and hydro projects, producing renewable fuelsthese are just a few examples. Independent modelling has found that, by 2030, Canadas clean energy sector will employ 559,400 Canadians, thanks in part to climate policies and programs spurring a clean energy growth rate four times the Canadian average.

The energy transition is also enhancing competitiveness and creating new opportunities in other sectors of the economy. These include jobs in low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminum, sustainably produced mass timber, and mining the metals and minerals used in many clean technologies.

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In short, a clean recovery creates winners across the country and across the economy. Organizations that support the letter are listed below. Read the letter here .

See contact information below for media interview requests.

SIGNATORIES

Merran Smith, Executive Director, Clean Energy Canada, Simon Fraser University

Anne-Raphaelle Audouin, President & CEO, WaterPower Canada

Robert Hornung, President, Canadian Wind Energy Association

Wesley Johnston, President and CEO, Canadian Solar Industries Association

Daniel Breton, President and CEO, Electric Mobility Canada

Corey Diamond, Executive Director, Efficiency Canada

Ian Thomson, President, Advanced Biofuels Canada

Julia Langer, CEO, The Atmospheric Fund

Jacob Malthouse, Canada Cleantech Alliance

Jeanette Jackson, CEO, Foresight Cleantech Accelerator

Denis Leclerc, President and CEO, Ecotech Quebec

Maike Althaus, Executive Director, Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association
NEW YORKNew hospitalizations are the lowest theyve been since the coronavirus crisis hit New York. The volume of 911 calls has fallen. Ventilators remain in supply.

Even as the state reeled Thursday from its deadliest day of the pandemic, health professionals and public officials saw signs they are averting the abyss they feared, of too many patients, too few beds and doctors forced to choose who lives and dies.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the volume of patients and how sick people are, said Dr. Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospitals emergency department.

Its getting better, but its not like its going to just drop off overnight. I think its going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced another 799 deaths from the virus, the third consecutive day of a record-breaking increase. The states death toll now stands at more than 7,000.

But hospital admissions across the state ticked up by a net of just 200 patients, down sharply from the crisis-high increase of 1,427 new patients on April 2. New intensive-care admissions were also down. In all, about 18,000 people were hospitalized with the virus.

The tide of 911 calls overwhelming the citys emergency-response system has started to ease. Requests for ambulance service fell from a record 6,527 calls on March 30 to 5,017 on Wednesday  still far above normal, but the lowest total in two weeks.

Today, we can say that we have lost many of our brothers and sisters, but we havent lost anyone because they couldnt get the right and best health care that they could, Cuomo said.

In New York City, the once-desperate need for ventilators has eased a bit as new supplies pour in from around the globe.

China this week sent 1,000 ventilators to New York. California, Oregon and Washington lent extra ventilators to the state and a Florida company shipped in 2,400 respiratory therapy machines that can be converted into ventilators.

I can say with assurance that we will get through this week in terms of ventilators, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. We actually have enough to get through this week, free and clear.

Patient releases are now exceeding new admissions at New York-Presbyterians hospitals in the New York City area, CEO Dr. Steven J. Corwin said Thursday.

At Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, a chime is sounded each time a patient is discharged. More than 450 have gone home so far.

We are starting to see a slowing, Corwin said. But, he warned, now is not the time to take our foot off the gas on social-distancing measures.

Cuomo and de Blasio both stressed Thursday that New York was not out of the woods, urging people to keep isolating themselves indoors.

It is good news. Well, now I can relax. No, you cant relax, Cuomo cautioned.

He noted that in other places, measures taken to control the spread of the virus have appeared to be working, only to have illnesses come roaring back.

Health-care workers continue to protest what they say are inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment.

De Blasio said some restrictions could be lifted in May or June, but only if testing capacity expands and people follow the rules.

Reinforcing the need for precautions, state health officials said they now support all New Yorkers wearing cloth face coverings when they go out in public, especially in areas of significant community transmission.

But with the pace of hospitalizations declining, plans for even more emergency treatment centres have been scaled back. Cuomo said the state isnt planning to create any more temporary hospitals beyond those completed or nearly finished.

A navy hospital ship and a temporary hospital set up inside Manhattans Javits Convention Center that were initially expected to care for as many as 3,000 patients have had fewer than 200 so far, Pentagon officials said.

Plans for a field hospital at Manhattans Cathedral of St. John the Divine were shelved by Mount Sinai Health System and the evangelical Christian organization Samaritans Purse.

Between the slowing flow of patients and a wartime-like effort to build up ventilator stocks and hospital beds, doctors have been spared from making life-and-death decisions on rationing care.

That seemed like an inevitability just a few weeks ago, when hospital operator NYU Langone Health provided internal guidance to emergency-room doctors about how to allocate ventilators if there werent enough to go around.

The good news is we never got to that really, truly crisis mode where were out of ventilators, Dr. Robert Femia, the chairman of the emergency-medicine department, told The Associated Press. Technically, we didnt get close  but we were concerned about it.
NEW YORK - As New York City deals with a mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried in the citys public cemetery.

Under the new policy, the medical examiners office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before theyre buried in the citys potters field on Hart Island.

Normally, about 25 bodies a week are interred on the island, mostly for people whose families cant afford a funeral, or who go unclaimed by relatives.

In recent days, though, burial operations have increased from one day a week to five days a week, with around 24 burials each day, said Department of Correction spokesman Jason Kersten.

Aerial images taken Thursday by the Associated Press captured workers digging graves on the island, a one-mile, limited-access strip off the Bronx thats the final resting place for more than a million mostly indigent New Yorkers.

About 40 caskets were lined up for burial on the island on Thursday, and two fresh trenches have been dug in recent days.

Interments are typically done by inmates from the citys Rikers Island jail complex, but during the coronavirus pandemic the job has been taken over by contractors.

City officials havent explained whether the increase in burials is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly. The virus has been killing hundreds of New York City residents each day this week.

Overwhelmed hospitals have been placing bodies in refrigerated trucks parked outside their doors.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week officials were looking into temporarily burying coronavirus victims on Hart Island if morgues and temporary storage units fill up.

The Democratic mayor told TV station NY1 that under such a contingency plan bodies of COVID-19 victims would be buried individually  not in mass graves  so families could later reclaim them.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiners office said Thursday that it does not currently anticipate reaching morgue capacity.

However, as the mayor has said, the city may explore the option of temporary burials in Hart Island if necessary, said the spokeswoman, Aja Worthy-Davis.

De Blasio has said no inmate labour will be used for the temporary burial of coronavirus victims.

The citys 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and other storage is full.

Brooklyn undertaker Thomas Cheeseman said funeral homes are so backed up, some people will inevitably end up being temporarily interred.

Cheeseman said the new deadlines are putting a strain on funeral homes as more and more families seek arrangements for loved ones fallen by coronavirus.

We, the funeral directors, are overwhelmed, Cheeseman said. Were inundated. The crematory cant even take bodies for two weeks. The funeral homes dont have refrigerated trucks parked out front.

___

AP video journalist Robert Bumsted contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 21:06:34|Editor: xuxin

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LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The world economy could take a long time to recover from impacts of the novel coronavirus, a leading British economist has said.

"It is likely that recovery could take a long time, first because the pandemic looks unlikely to disappear quickly and secondly because the collateral damage to many businesses and to governments' borrowing positions mean that we will have to start from a badly damaged base," Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman of Centre for Economics and Business Research, an economics consultancy, told Xinhua in a written interview.

"There will need to be government intervention and even then it is unlikely that the recovery will be strong initially," he predicted, calling on the Group of 20 (G20) to coordinate their macroeconomic policies while fighting the pandemic.

"If one country fixes its problems but other countries do not, most of its efforts are wasted. I think the best way would be to coordinate through G20," McWilliams said.

He said clearly the exact detail of policy needs a degree of flexibility but it would be worthwhile the G20 economies sharing what they think they have done right and also what they have got wrong.

Countries should avoid the mistakes of the 1930s where countries failed to support jobs and household incomes and became protectionist, he added.

China on Wednesday lifted outbound travel restrictions on Wuhan, the city hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, ending a lockdown that sealed off around 10 million people from the rest of the world for 76 days.

The easing of travel restrictions came after new infections have been drastically reduced across China, marking a milestone in the country's fight against the epidemic while giving confidence to a world grappling to contain the virus's ferocious spread.

On the basis of reinforcing the results of COVID-19 prevention and control, Chinese leaders said the country will speed up the resumption of work and production throughout the country, vowing to provide as many resources as it can for the global fight against the disease.

As to the future of globalization, McWilliams believes that it will change but won't stop.

"Though the coronavirus crisis means long and inflexible supply chains snaking halfway round the world impose serious risks for companies and this may encourage onshoring, it seems unlikely that the globalization baby will be thrown out with the coronavirus bathwater," he said.

The economist said he expects "a new form of globalization" to emerge, based on the traditional theory of specialization and comparative advantage.

"For the UK we will look to the Flat White Economy, the mix of the tech and creative sectors that has done so much to drive the UK forward in recent years and is arguably already the largest economic sector," McWilliams said.

China, meanwhile, has already been adjusting away from competing on cheap labour and moved much more to competing on specialization with companies like Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Geely and many others becoming world leaders in their fields, he said.

McWilliams noted that over the past half century globalization has often reflected arbitrage of labour costs and regulatory environments, but this was already starting to change.

Labour costs have been rising across the globe and regulatory differences have become smaller, and increasing automation through AI, robotics and 3D printing has reduced the labour content of production and made labour cost differences less important, he said.
[April 09, 2020] Anixter Stockholders Approve Merger with WESCO

Anixter (News - Alert) International Inc. (NYSE: AXE) ("Anixter" or the "Company") today announced that, at a special meeting of stockholders held on April 9, 2020, Anixter's stockholders approved the adoption of the previously announced merger agreement relating to the proposed transaction between Anixter and WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC) ("WESCO"), whereby Anixter will become a wholly owned subsidiary of WESCO. Approximately 99.42% of the votes cast at the special meeting voted in favor of the merger, which represented approximately 82.26% of the total outstanding shares of Anixter common stock as of February 28, 2020, the record date for the special meeting. After certification by the Company's inspector of elections, the final voting results for the Company's special meeting will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)") in a Form 8-K, which will also be available at https://investors.anixter.com. The merger remains subject to various customary closing conditions, including receipt of approvals or clearances, or the expiration, termination or waiver of the waiting periods, under the antitrust laws of Canada and Mexico, and is expected to close during the second or third quarter of 2020. Advisors Centerview Partners LLC is serving as lead financial advisor and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Securities, LLC is also serving as financial advisor to Anixter. Sidley Austin LLP is serving as legal advisor. Barclays is serving as financial advisor to WESCO, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor. About Anixter Anixter International is a leading global distributor of Network & Security Solutions, Electrical & Electronic Solutions and Utility Power Solutions. We help build, connect, protect, and power valuable assets and critical infrastructures. From enterprise networks to industrial MRO supply to video surveillance applications to electric power distribution, we offer full-line solutions, and intelligence, that create reliable, resilient systems that sustain businesses and communities. Through our unmatched global distribution network along with our supply chain and technical expertise, we help lower the cost, risk and complexity of our customers' supply chains. Anixter adds value to the distribution process by providing more than 100,000 customers access to 1) innovative supply chain solutions, 2) nearly 600,000 products and over $1.0 billion in inventory, 3) over 300 warehouses/branch locations with over 9 million square feet of space and 4) locations in over 300 cities in approximately 50 countries. Founded in 1957 and headquartered near Chicago, Anixter trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXE. Additional information about Anixter is available at www.anixter.com. About WESCO WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC), a publicly traded FORTUNE 500 holding company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a leading provider of electrical, industrial, and communications maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products, construction materials, and advanced supply chain management and logistic services. 2019 annual sales were approximately $8.4 billion. The company employs approximately 9,500 people, maintains relationships with approximately 30,000 suppliers, and serves approximately 70,000 active customers worldwide. Customers include commercial and industrial businesses,contractors, government agencies, institutions, telecommunications providers, and utilities. WESCO operates 11 fully automated distribution centers and approximately 500 branches in North America and international markets, providing a local presence for customers and a global network to serve multi-location businesses and multi-national corporations.



Forward-Looking Statements All statements made herein that are not historical facts should be considered as forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected completion and timing of the proposed transaction between WESCO and Anixter. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs of Anixter's management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, Anixter's management, current market trends and market conditions and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of Anixter's and Anixter's management's control, and which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Certain of these risks are set forth in Anixter's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2020, which was amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on March 9, 2020, the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and Anixter's other reports filed with the SEC.

These risks, uncertainties and assumptions also include the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any required governmental and regulatory approvals of the proposed transaction between WESCO and Anixter that could reduce anticipated benefits or cause the parties to abandon the proposed transaction, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, the risk that the parties may not be able to satisfy the conditions to the proposed transaction in a timely manner or at all, risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction, the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of WESCO's common stock or Anixter's common stock, the risk of any unexpected costs or expenses resulting from the proposed transaction, the risk of any litigation relating to the proposed transaction, the risk that the proposed transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of WESCO or Anixter to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers, customers and other business relationships and on their operating results and businesses generally, the risk that the pending proposed transaction could distract management of both entities and they will incur substantial costs, the risk that problems may arise in successfully integrating the businesses of the companies, which may result in the combined company not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected, the risk that the combined company may be unable to achieve synergies or other anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction or it may take longer than expected to achieve those synergies or benefits and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. All such factors are difficult to predict and are beyond Anixter's control. Additional Information and Where to Find It This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In connection with the proposed transaction, on each of March 4, 2020 and March 9, 2020, WESCO filed with the SEC an amendment to the registration statement originally filed on February 7, 2020, which includes a prospectus of WESCO and a proxy statement of Anixter, and each party will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. The Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on March 11, 2020 and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus has been mailed to Anixter's stockholders. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF WESCO AND ANIXTER ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC (WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE) CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WESCO, ANIXTER AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement, Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by WESCO or Anixter through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by WESCO will be available free of charge on WESCO's website at wesco.investorroom.com/sec-filings and copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Anixter will be available free of charge on Anixter's website at investors.anixter.com/financials/sec-filings. Participants in the Solicitation WESCO and Anixter and certain of their respective directors, certain of their respective executive officers and other members of management and employees may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies from Anixter shareholders with respect to the potential transaction under the rules of the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of WESCO is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on February 24, 2020, and amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on March 9, 2020. Information about the directors and executive officers of Anixter is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2020, which was filed with the SEC on February 20, 2020, and amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on March 9, 2020. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the potential transaction is included in the Registration Statement and Proxy Statement/Prospectus and will be included in other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005579/en/

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The coronavirus pandemic has had a deep economic impact on families across the state.

With businesses closed, many residents are out of work and without a source of income. Some are unable to pay for basic necessities such as food, rent, utilities and rent during this pandemic  with no end in sight.

Help-A-Neighbor is a new emergency fund created to help meet some of those needs efficiently and quickly. The Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time are working together with nonprofit agencies Family Centers, Person-to-Person, Domus and Building One Community, which collectively serve many of the most vulnerable members of the local community.

In the weeks to come, we will publish stories about neighbors in crisis. Included with each story will be an estimated dollar amount to meet their identified needs. The agencies will channel 100 percent of donations to the clients.

Family Centers provides human service programs to more than 20,000 residents in Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan and Darien.

Person-to-Person serves those communities as well as Norwalk, Wilton, Weston and Westport. Among other things, it provides food and clothing to families in need.

Domus provides services for at-risk youth, and Building One Community delivers assistance to immigrants. Both are based in Stamford.

To donate, go to helpaneighbor. isecuresites.com.

Here are the stories of neighbors in need:

Case No. 40  Nineteen-year-old Samuel has had symptoms of depression since leaving his mother and siblings behind in Guatemala. Samuel came to the U.S. to help provide for his family. He has been working at a pizzeria for up to 35 hours a week while attending high school. But Samuel recently lost his job after restaurants closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A monetary gift of $500 would help Samuel with his obligations this month.

Case No. 41  Ruth, an 18-year-old from Chile, has struggled with anxiety and stress because her father has cancer and requires daily dialysis. Ruth attends high school with passing grades and enjoys good peer support. Her father provides food and shelter, but her older brother pays for other expenses. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, her brother has lost half of his income, leaving the cellphone and internet bill unpaid.. A monetary gift of $500 would help Ruth and h,er family pay for these services and allow her access to her education during the school closures.

Case No. 42  Aldo, a 15-year-old from Guatemala, resides with his mother in Stamford. She has been a single mother since Aldo was born and works hard, over 50 hours a week, at a local restaurant. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aldos mother is struggling financially. The restaurant cut personnel, so she has almost no income at the moment. A monetary gift of $500 would help Aldos mother greatly to stay afloat during this difficult time.

Case No. 43  Andres, a 12-year-old boy, lives in Stamford with his parents and 5-year-old sister but misses his 18-year-old brother, who recently moved. Andres father works in construction and his mother is a babysitter. This hard-working family is under a lot of emotional distress due to this separation, and COVID-19 has put another layer of stress on top of that. Both of Andres parents have had their work hours cut. A monetary gift of $500 would help Andres to not worry about food while still missing his brother.

Case No. 44  Nine-year-old John is in third grade, and lives with his father, who recently brought him to the U.S., to escape physical and emotional abuse from his mother. John is slowly recovering from the trauma he has endured, but he is still quiet and timid. His father is trying to work hard, but his employer has reduced his hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. A monetary gift of $500 woud ensure that John has enough food for the upcoming weeks.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Thu, April 9, 2020 10:03 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c058e 2 Destinations Palace,travel,destination,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

If after weeks of isolation, your home is beginning to feel a little cooped up, it might be fun to explore some more generously proportioned interiors. And this is indeed possible.

In the blink of an eye, the magic of the modern world allows you to make a virtual escape to visit the most majestic, and, even more importantly, some of the largest palaces in Europe.

The Palace of Sintra in Portugal

How about a spring jaunt to Portugal? in the current context, the real deal is probably not an option, but you can come close with a few clicks.

A jewel in the crown of Portuguese heritage, the Palace of Sintra is renowned for its Moorish decor and its singular silhouette with its two distinctive conical chimneys.

With a little help from Google, you can take a tour of the centuries-old royal residence of the kings of Portugal, which was classed a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995.

The Palace of Versailles

It is hard to refuse a stroll through the hall of mirrors. Even in the current lockdown, you can still wander through one of the most beautiful palaces in France without giving up the cozy comfort of your living-room couch.

Thanks to the miracle of virtual reality, you can saunter through the corridors of the former residence of Louis XIV, prance through the State Apartments and examine numerous works of art and furniture from all angles.

Read also: How Jakartas art spaces are bringing culture to the comfort of your couch

Skokloster Castle in Sweden

Google has also made it possible to take a tour of Sweden's Skokloster Castle, a magnificent example of Scandinavian baroque architecture, which was built on the shores of Lake Malar in the 17th century.

Sanssouci in Germany

Renowned as the favorite residence of Frederick the Great, who would take refuge there with his dogs when he fled the pomp and circumstance of the Berlin court.

The Prussian king loved this palace so much, he even left instructions that he should be buried there on the terrace next to his vineyard house. These instructions were finally implemented in 1991, a year after the palace was declared a UNESCO world heritage site.
Join Moneycontrol Pro for a new virtual summit on April 10, from 5 pm-6 pm IST to find out everything you need to know about Tablighi Jamaat and its activities.

Pro Masters Virtual are online summits designed to give our readers larger perspectives on important events and subjects that have a bearing on their lives and consequently their investments through insightful conversations with leaders and experts. The coronavirus is one such event.

Register here.

For all the heat generated by news that a congregation of Tablighi Jamaat served as an explosive focal point for the propagation of COVID-19 in India, theres been precious little light cast on what the organisation is, and its activities. The story is much more complex than media accounts might lead us to believeand raises questions not just about the Tablighi Jamaat, but also the behavioural science that explains why extremist religious have played such a key role in propagating the pandemic from South Korea to Israel and the United States.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The online summit, Tablighi Jamaat and the Coronavirus, will answer questions on:

- Is the Tablighi Jamaat a jihadist organisation?

- What were so many people from around the world gathered in Delhis Nizamuddin in the first place?

- What could have led to the organisations alleged irresponsible behaviour?

Register here.

Answering these questions will be Praveen Swami, Group Consulting Editor, Network18. Described by the BBC as one of India's foremost experts of Islamist terrorism, Praveen is the author of India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: the Covert War in Jammu and Kashmir, 1947-2002, (London: Routledge) and The Kargil War (New Delhi: LeftWord). He has also written several scholarly papers and book chapters. Praveen has been a Jennings Randolph senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., and lectures frequently at police and intelligence training institutions across India.

Pro Masters Virtual is free to attend for MC Pro subscribers. If you arent one, take advantage of the limited period discount offer.
Google has officially rebranded Hangouts Meet, its video conferencing app for businesses, to Google Meet which is how it will be referred to going forward.

The rebranding is already starting to take place but it wont be an immediate change over. Meaning the entire user base wont see the rebrand take place overnight.

Instead, Google says the rebrand will take place on a rolling basis. So over the next few days and more likely weeks, users will begin to see the new name across all versions, such as the app and website.

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The Google Meet rebrand might be the beginning of phasing out Hangouts chat

First things first, Google has not said anything about Hangouts chat being phased out by the rebrand of Hangouts Meet.

It would seem like a logical progression, but until Google says otherwise theres nothing but speculation to go off of. That being said that does seem to be the general speculation.

Some have been under the impression that Google would be moving away from Hangouts (at least in name) for some time now. And with Hangouts Meet now being labeled as something else, that scenario seems more plausible.

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If Google does ever decide to change the official name of the Hangouts chat app on Android, users may not immediately know. The change to Google Meet was done rather quietly with Google foregoing any announcement that the name was changing.

It simply put out a blog post talking about Google Meet with the new name being the reference throughout. Never once though did it come out and say, this is the new name of Hangouts Meet. The same thing could happen with the chat app.

Its all about Google

Hangouts is recognizable to anyone that may have used it enough or that still use it currently. But Google is a much more recognizable name.

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It makes a whole lot of sense that Google would want to take a product like Hangouts Meet and shift the name to something that more people will be familiar with. Especially now. At a time when more people are working from home and students across the country are now being schooled at home as well.

Now that more people are using video conferencing tools on a daily basis, it seems like just as good of a time as any for Google to change the name of its own to something that people may not only recognize more, but trust more.

Googles blog post even focuses heavily on how secure Google Meet is. Google may not have said anything about the reasoning for the rebrand, but keep an eye out for a name change for the Hangouts chat too.
Boris Johnson has been moved out of the intensive care unit where he has been undergoing treatment for coronavirus, Downing Street has said.

A No 10 spokesman said that the Prime Minister had been returned to the ward at St Thomas Hospital as his condition continued to improve.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono and Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Surabaya, East Java  Thu, April 9, 2020 17:23 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e326b 1 Business Pertamina-EP,fire,East-Java,Central-Java,PLN,pgn,power-plant,household-gas-distribution Free

State-owned oil and gas company Pertaminas Gundih central processing plant (CPP) in Blora, Central Java, was deactivated on Thursday afternoon, cutting the gas supply to a nearby power plant and thousands of households, after a fire broke out earlier in the day.

The fire began at about 9:30 a.m. when a disruption in the facilitys thermal oxidizer, which is used to control gas emissions, created sparks that ignited the fuel.

Pertamina subsidiary PT Pertamina EP, which operates the Gundih plant, said in a statement that the fire was put out at about 10:45 a.m. and that no deaths had occurred.

Read also: To your doorstep: Pertamina launches gas, fuel delivery service amid pandemic

The gas well has been shut down for stabilization. All employees within Gundih CCP have been evacuated. Two fire trucks, an ambulance and paramedics are on standby at the location, said Pertamina EPs general manager for the facility, Agus Amperianto.

The shutdown of the Gundih facility, which has an output of 50 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), has cut the fuel supply to the 1,000 megawatt Tambak Lorok combined-cycle power plant as well as 5,800 homes in East and Central Java.

Despite the cut-off supply, a representative from the power plants operator, state-owned electricity company PLN, said the regions electricity supply was very safe because regional peak electricity consumption had fallen 11.2 percent over the past two weeks due to COVID-19 restrictions.

So even if Tambak Lorok is non-operational, the system is safe because our supplies are very safe, said PLN Java, Madura and Bali business director Haryanto.

The electricity company has a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) reserve supply on standby that will only be used, if needed, until Pertaminas supply returns, he added.

Read also: Pertamina secures fuel and household gas supply as more people stay home

State-owned gas distributor PGN, which operates household gas pipe networks in Central and East Java, said the company would mobilize its CNG supply from the latter province to aid affected households.

PGN said in a statement that it channeled gas from the Gundih plant to 4,000 homes in Blora and 1,800 homes in Semarang, Central Java. Each customer in the former category consumed, on average, 1,300 cubic meters of gas per day, while those in the latter category used an average of 300 cubic meters daily. The gas is mostly used for cooking.

PGNs Blora and Semarang household customers have not been affected yet. Stoves are still on as there is still piped gas supply, said PGN corporate secretary Rachmat Hutama.
: The Association of Surgeons of



India (ASI) on Thursday said it has raised Rs one crore towards purchase of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and the PM CARES fund.

ASI president P Raghu Ram said various state chapters of the Associationandsome its Sections, including Association of Breast Surgeons of India, Association of Colon and Rectal Surgeons of India and Indian Association of Endocrine Surgeons (which are part of the parent body - ASI) have togethercontributedRs 77 lakh to the Central ASI fund.

The fund is being utilised solely towards bulk purchase of PPEs.

The ASI has placed the order to procure the PPEs from a Central government-approved, Bengaluru-based manufacturer with an established track record, he said in a release.

Within 10 days, the PPE sets would be delivered to the representatives of ASI in every state, which in turn will be"hand delivered" to those healthcare workers in the frontline, that need them the most, Raghu Ram said.

The Delhi Chapter of ASIhas in the past three days spentRs 20 lakh -Rs18.5 lakh towardsprocuring PPE and Rs 1.5 lakh towards the much-needed N 95 masks which are desperately needed for clinicians and healthcare workers working in ICUs treating COVID-19 positive patients.

The Rs 20 lakh expenditure is part of the Rs 93 lakh raised, the release said.

Further, the Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India (AMASI), which is a Section of Association of Surgeons of India, has contributed a generous sum ofRs 20 lakh to PM CARES fund, it said.

In addition tohis personal contribution of Rs two lakhand a few other members, the total contribution to PM CARES fund from Surgeons in ASI is Rs 23 lakhs, he added.

Raghu Ram also said he has been featured in three social media clipsmade byUNICEF in partnership with the Central Government to createawareness and spread hope in the fight against COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 08:14 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bc0bf 1 Editorial #Editorial,Jakarta-COVID-19,#COVID19,#coronavirus,COVID-19,coronavirus,COVID-19-Jakarta,coronavirus-prevention,PSBB,social-restriction,COVID-19-in-Indonesia Free

It has taken more than a month and 200 deaths, but Jakarta finally received permission to implement largescale social restrictions (PSBB) starting Friday, April 10, following the Health Ministrys approval of the measure on Tuesday to curb the contagions spread in the capital, the epicenter of Indonesias COVID-19 outbreak.

His hands previously tied by the central government, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan had been preparing penalties aimed to enforce social distancing on public transportation and in public spaces, and to ban large gatherings of more than five people, including religious events and weddings.

The PSBB, however, still leaves private vehicles largely unregulated, and private vehicles can still travel in and out of Jakarta. Public buses and minivans may only operate vehicles that are half full, but no restrictions have been placed on intercity trips.

Still, this is a good start to flattening the curve of COVID-19 infection. And because Jakarta is the capital, the central government can directly observe the PSBB in action over the next 14 days to see how effective it is in the war on COVID-19. If the number of cases and deaths continues to climb after the first period of the PSBB, the government and Jakarta should take bolder measures.

Concerns over the economy should not obstruct this effort. In an improvement from previous weeks, the government and Jakarta have now put together financial relief programs to protect the poor.

In addition to expanding the existing safety net programs like the Family Hope Program (PKH) and the noncash food assistance (BPNT) program, the government has announced direct cash assistance (BLT) to 4.1 million poor people in Greater Jakarta who are not on any of the existing schemes. The cash assistance is intended to help cover their income loss as a result of the social restrictions. The government also plans to provide food assistance over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta administration has prepared a similar cash assistance scheme for distributing to another 1.2 million unregistered poor people in the city.

These financial relief programs, however, may still not be enough to fulfill the states obligations under the 2018 Health Quarantine Law.

In the first two weeks of Jakartas social distancing policy, the Jakarta Manpower and Transmigration Agency reported that more than 130,000 workers had been furloughed while over 30,000 were laid off. In the event of continuing transmissions, an extension to the PSBB period will inevitably put more people out of work.

But there is no less painful measure in the fight against the virus. It is thus the responsibility of authorities and all Jakartans to ensure that neither public resources nor individual sacrifices are in vain.

Let us commit to physical distancing, let us test more people, and let us provide the sick with the best possible treatment. Let us protect our health professionals to save them, ourselves and the nation. If the PSBB succeeds in Jakarta, it can certainly amplify the efforts that we, the people, are making in the rest of the country.

Let us beat the virus together.
DENVER, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee developed Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) after collaboration with experts and communities. Governor Polis has authorized the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to enact the standards when or if necessary.

The Colorado Cross Disability Coalition (CCDC), The Arc of Colorado, and over 140 organizations thank Gov. Jared Polis for ensuring that people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations receive equitable care under the CSC during the COVID-19 epidemic and other crisis situations.

Specifically, the revised CSC Plan provides standards that hospitals and other health care practitioners should implement once activated by the Chief Medical Officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE): (1) disallow medical "rationing" based on disability alone, (2) prevent other discrimination by establishing a blinded triage process, (3) specify that all hospitals in Colorado have a plan for providing effective communication accommodations with/for people who are disabled, and (4) clarify that no person who uses a ventilator as part of their regular care will have their ventilator taken away or receive less than equitable care.

"We are grateful to Gov. Polis and his team for their leadership in waging the war against COVID-19 and for ensuring that American civil rights and ethical values are upheld  even, and especially, when it comes to emergencies where medical care resources may become scarce and hard decisions must be made," says Julie Reiskin, Executive Director of the CCDC.

"Every resident in this state deserves and should receive equitable care, even during the most uncertain of times," says Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. "Our Crisis Standards of Care guidelines are informed by ethicists, physicians, and experts, including those in the Colorado disability community who have been intimately involved with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When a crisis like this hits, we must protect everyone's rights, civil liberties and health."

"My family and I were appalled when we learned some states are creating policies that discriminate against people with disabilities and would absolutely jeopardize the life of my daughter," says Dominic Capuano, father of a 12-year-old with Down syndrome from Littleton, Colorado. "We are just so grateful that our Governor, the CCDC, the Arc of Colorado, and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation are getting this out right before the peak of COVID-19 so there is no doubt that our Clarissa can get the care she needs if she needs it."

While Reiskin acknowledges that some further revisions may be needed to the guidelines around care allocation on the basis of resource-utilization requirements/duration of mechanical ventilation, Colorado's CSC Plan is authorized through executive order of the Governor for implementation by CDPHE's Chief Medical Officer. Activation of crisis standards in the Plan provides the legal authorization for its implementation and use in health care settings, in addition to liability protections for those providers that follow its terms.

The Colorado CSC Plan provisions are also in stark contrast to those in other states, which in two cases specifically state that people with disabilities or medical conditions using a ventilator could have their ventilator taken away so that a more able-bodied person can be treated for COVID-19.

The Arc and the Center for Public Representation (CPR) have taken the lead with other disability organizations to file complaints to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against the states of Alabama, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington for publishing or having COVID-19 related guidelines that would blatantly and illegally discriminate against people with disabilities.

Under the Alabama Department of Public Health's Emergency Operations Plan, for children and adults, hospitals are ordered to "not offer mechanical ventilator support for patients" with "severe or profound mental retardation," "moderate to severe dementia," and "severe traumatic brain injury."

In Kansas, the state recently developed a protocol called the "Toolkit for COVID-19." The protocol specifically withholds life-saving treatment from patients based on their disability diagnosis  without an individualized assessment of their prospects for recovery  including people with "advanced untreatable neuromuscular disease," people with "advanced or irreversible immunocompromise," and people with some forms of cancer. In addition, hospitals could take away ventilators from individuals with disabilities or medical conditions who regularly use their own ventilators.

The Interim Pennsylvania Crisis Standards of Care for Pandemic Guidelines were just published on March 22, 2020 and discriminate against and jeopardize the lives of people with disabilities. For children and adults, the "scoring" of who gets care and who doesn't takes into account long-term survival. The guidelines also discriminate against people with preexisting conditions that are disabilities and those with "severely life-limiting" co-morbid diagnoses, which can be left to interpretation.

The standing Guidelines for the Ethical Allocation of Scarce Resources in Tennessee exclude many people with disabilities from critical care, including ventilators. They further exclude people with metastatic cancer, some people with dementia, and some people with traumatic brain injury.

In Washington state, the Department of Health published descriptions of the goals and flow charts associated with emergency COVID-19 treatment that mirror the existing policy of the state-run University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). Under this policy, the priority would be to uniformly treat people who are younger and healthier and to leave those who are older and sickerincluding people with disabilitiesto die.

According to The Arc and the CPR, all five states have protocols or guidelines in place that discriminate against people with disabilities and violate federal disability rights laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and places the numerous lives at serious risk.

"Our civil rights laws protect the equal dignity of every human life from ruthless utilitarianism," says Roger Severino, OCR Director. "HHS is committed to leaving no one behind during an emergency and helping health care providers meet that goal. Persons with disabilities, with limited English skills, and older persons should not be put at the end of the line for health care during emergencies."

OCR has issued guidelines and statements underscoring that the policies associated with these states are aberrations in humanity and ethics, violate federal law, and that legal action can be taken if these policies are carried out.

The 140+ disability organizations that helped result in an ethical CSC guideline in Colorado includes the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, The Arc of Colorado, arc Thrift Stores, Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Atlantis Community, Inc., The Denver Foundation, Special Olympics Colorado, El Grupo Vida, One Colorado, Atlantis ADAPT, Disability Law Colorado, and Alliance Colorado.

Learn more about how you can help and where you can file a complaint if you believe you are facing discrimination in COVID-19 or other care.

The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC)

The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition is the largest disability rights organization in Colorado that is run by and for people with all types of disabilities with a mission to advocate for social justice.

The Arc of Colorado

The Arc of Colorado promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.

Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL)

The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) is the largest non-profit in the U.S. working to save lives and dramatically improve health outcomes for people with Down syndrome. GLOBAL has donated more than $32 million to establish the first Down syndrome research institute supporting over 400 scientists and over 2,000 patients with Down syndrome from 28 states and 10 countries. Working closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health, GLOBAL is the lead advocacy organization in the U.S. for Down syndrome research and care. GLOBAL has a membership of over 100 Down syndrome organizations worldwide, and is part of a network of Affiliates  the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the Sie Center for Down Syndrome, and the University of Colorado Alzheimer's and Cognition Center  all on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

SOURCE Global Down Syndrome Foundation

Related Links

www.globaldownsyndrome.org


Two more people who work at local law enforcement agencies tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total to eight.

One  a facilities maintenance employee at the Bexar County Sheriffs Office  prompted a temporary shutdown of some Bexar County Detention facilities on Wednesday afternoon. The shutdown was expected to last late into the evening.

The closure, to conduct a thorough decontamination, was necessary because the employee had access to all jail facilities, including the Adult Detention Center, Jail Annex and the Justice Intake Center.

All public entrances to the facilities remain open for business, including bond adjustments, attorney visits and property pick up.

Also Wednesday, officials announced that a San Antonio police sergeant who has been on the force for 24 years tested positive for COVID-19.

It appears as if the sergeant, who is recovering at home, came into contact with only one other department employee while he was experiencing symptoms. That employee has been notified and placed on a 14-day self-quarantine, officials said.

Two other officers who tested positive last week  both of whom work in applicant processing and live outside of Bexar County  likely contracted the virus through community spread.

Officials say those two officers, who are also recovering at home, came in contact with two people while at work, neither of whom are employed by the department. Both have been notified.

On ExpressNews.com: Law enforcement personnel in S.A. tweak procedures amid coronavirus outbreak

As of Monday, 23 San Antonio police employees  including 17 officers and six civilians  were self-isolating because they were exposed to an employee who later tested positive, have flu-like symptoms or traveled to a part of the country where there was an outbreak.

Fifteen of those employees were awaiting coronavirus test results.

At the Sheriffs Office, four employees have now tested positive for the coronavirus, including the facilities maintenance worker and a detention officer who recently graduated from the training academy.

Initially, officials said that deputy had not yet reported to work. But on Wednesday, officials acknowledged said that deputy did, in fact, report to work on April 4, where he was assigned to a living unit at the Detention Center.

That assignment, officials said, requires deputies to wear personnel protective equipment and keep a distance from each other. As a result, health officials believe that the deputies and inmates who came into contact with that particular deputy are at low-risk of contracting COVID-19.

Moreover, officials said, the deputy did not display any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 at that time.

Later that day, the deputy reported developing flu-like symptoms and sought medical treatment, officials said. After the deputy tested negative for the flu, a COVID-19 test was administered and the deputy was ordered to stay home.

As a precaution, administrators placed everyone from that cadet class, about 20 employees, on temporary administrative leave.

Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Emilie, become a subscriber. eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton
As soon as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to the U.S., questions if Prince Harry will revoke his British citizenship arise.

Becoming an American will require the 35-year-old prince to renounce his titles and would also expose him to U.S. taxation on his earnings worldwide.

However, in a report by The Times, The Duke of Sussex has no plans to apply for a green card until the "foreseeable future." The publication further stated that the couple's move to the States might not even be a permanent thing.

An insider close to the couple told the Times: "The Duke has not made an application for dual citizenship, and I don't think he will apply for a green card at any point."

It is not known whether Prince Harry entered the U.S. under the 90-day visa waiver program available to most British tourists or whether he has a diplomatic or special visa.

While the father-of-one's immigration status is still not clear, being a husband of an American citizen like Meghan Markle can help him become a permanent resident of the country without breaking a sweat.

Prince Harry holding off his U.S. citizenship application for the time being only means that he is and will always be a member of the British royal family.

And though he may not be a senior working royal, he has retained his role, title and his place in line to the throne. If he ever does want to return to the U.K. and The Firm, he would be warmly welcomed with open arms.

A royal photographer told The Sun that the love the Brits have for the Duke of Sussex has never stopped. "As far as the nation is concerned, he is still their number one member of the royal family," the source said.

As a matter of fact, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and Prince Charles' positive infection to the virus, Prince Harry did consider returning to the U.K.

However, it did not push through because it would have been irresponsible since the royals are in isolation and there is not much Prince Harry can do.

"They wouldn't want to take any risks by travelling, and their priority is to keep Archie settled in a routine. I think they will come to the UK when it is safer to do so," royal expert Katie Nicholl said.

While Prince Harry will always be welcome to come back, the same cannot be said for Meghan Markle. Though she did try her best, it was clear from the get-go that the royal life is not for the Duchess of Sussex.

The royal family embraced her, but the British public -- especially the British tabloids -- is expected to be even more intense and unforgiving to her if ever they return.

"The media would be without mercy. I would expect comments about tails between their legs," royal expert Marlene Koenig shared.

It is worth noting that while it is highly unlikely for both Prince Harry and Meghan to return to royal life, anything can still happen, especially with the tensions that are arising in the U.K. right now because of the pandemic.
Even as Bridgeport, Connecticuts largest city, moved to institute an 8 p.m. curfew Wednesday night aimed at further reducing the coronavirus spread, other municipalities from Greenwich to New Haven to Middletown were not preparing to follow.

And if they were to, any such limitations on peoples ability to be out, and on businesses to remain open after a specified time, would not be legally enforceable without state approval.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganims initial messaging on the well-intentioned but controversial curfew was muddled when he outlined the measure during Facebook addresses Monday and Tuesday. He offered some confusing statements about: Who would be affected before settling on everyone, including all businesses; when the curfew would begin  at one point suggesting Tuesday; and whether his health and police departments would crack down on violators.

In terms of the last question, Gov. Ned Lamonts March 20 executive order  one of several he has issued to similarly reduce public interaction during the pandemic  made it clear that no municipal chief executive officer or designee may ... issue any shelter-in-place order or order prohibiting travel without written permission from the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

A spokesman for that agency said Wednesday that Bridgeport had not requested authorization for an enforceable curfew.

David McGuire, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Connecticut, on Wednesday said, It is absolutely the case when an emergency has been declared, like it has in Connecticut, that onerous restrictions like this (a curfew) must be authorized by the governor.

Lamonts executive orders have included measures such as ordering nonessential workers to stay home, limiting restaurants to providing take-out/delivery meals, and capping gatherings at five people. Lamont so far has not embraced a statewide curfew.

And we do not believe weve reached that place, McGuire said.

McGuire, who has clashed with Bridgeport leaders before over public safety matters, said he was also troubled with any suggestion from Ganim that the police would be involved in implementing the curfew, which McGuire feared could lead to unlawful intimidation.

Ganim, when discussing his curfew Wednesday, emphasized it was voluntary.

Its a recommended curfew that will save lives, he said. Help us with it.

Some Bridgeport businesses have pushed back against Ganims effort, arguing many customers do not have time to purchase a meal until later at night, such as health care and emergency response personnel. A local pharmacy also raised a concern.

Councilwoman Eneida Martinez, who runs a soul food restaurant, said Wednesday that she is doing everything possible to ensure her customers and staff stay healthy. But, Martinez said, Im not going to close at 8 p.m.

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, whose city has been a virus hotspot, has implemented several measures aimed at reducing crowding and public interaction, but on Wednesday raised questions about the practicality of a local curfew.

We cannot pick and choose which essential stores would stay open and which would have to close, Rilling said. And, he said, since supermarkets and other stores statewide are trying to limit their capacity  a move that was spurred by Norwalk  the lines of customers waiting outside could potentially get longer because of a curfew.

That would reduce the likelihood of people physical distancing and increase the risk of spreading coronavirus, Rilling said.

Similarly in Stamford, which currently has the highest number of diagnosed coronavirus cases in the state, Mayor David Martin said that a too-early curfew could impact anyone picking up food from restaurants and traveling home from work if they are essential employees.

I dont see the need, Martin said, adding: To me they (curfews) make more sense when you have civil insurrection or something like a hurricane and you have to stop people from getting into areas they should not be in.

Several other mayors in Hearst Connecticut Medias coverage area, which includes New Haven and parts of Middlesex and Litchfield counties, also said curfews were not imminent in their municipalities.

Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim said he had discussed the concept but ultimately concluded it would not be enforceable under state law. Middlesex County has yet to experience the surge in virus cases Fairfield and New Haven counties have.

The most important thing were trying to do is reiterate the guidance weve been sharing over the past few weeks that, at any time of day, you are not leaving your home unless its a really pressing, urgent need, Florsheim said.

During the next two weeks, when coronavirus cases are expected to spike throughout Connecticut, Florsheim said he will be looking to the governor when making decisions that affect the city.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker also said Wednesday that a curfew is not needed for his city but he would continue to monitor the situation as the weather gets warmer.

We have found that in general people are cooperating with the orders and recommendations to do social distancing and not convene in groups, Elicker said. And after 8 p.m. the streets are much quieter.

Even without curfews in place, cities and towns have been utilizing police or other staffers to break up groups of individuals in public given Lamonts 5-person limit.

Weve found that people have cooperated with the request, Elicker said.

Further south, Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo closed town parks and beaches and authorized police officers ticket violators for trespassing.

People are rising to the occasion, Camillo said. There are a few that dont listen and a few that complain about rights being taken away but they are, in my opinion, in the extreme minority.

Between Lamonts orders and local closures of public properties, Connecticut residents have fewer and fewer reasons to go out.

I would rather shut down things as we see them than impose a curfew, said Martin.

The mayors of Danbury and Torrington, Mark Boughton and Elinor Carbone, respectively, also had no plans to follow Ganim.

We are fortunate enough to be a bit more rural than the larger cities and dont experience the same type of late evening activity, Carbone said.

Danbury residents have been very cooperative, Boughton said. Were very thankful for that.

Staff members Randall Beach, Cassandra Day, Emily Olson, Ken Borsuk, Angela Carella, Justin Papp, Julia Perkins contributed to this report
PSNI officers search a house in the Ardoyne area of Belfast where a drug dealer was arrested on suspicion of murdering Robbie Lawlor

A dangerous "blame game" over the seizure of 50,000 has broken out between members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang, who gardai believe were hired to set up the murder of Robbie Lawlor, and the Maguire mob suspected of ordering the hit.

Sources said last night that both sides are "blaming each other" for the seizure by gardai of the cash on Monday from two women who have links to the McCarthy-Dundon mob from Limerick.

The women were released without charge from Portlaoise Garda Station on Tuesday after being questioned in relation to money-laundering offences over the seized 50,000, which was paid to the Limerick mob by the Maguire faction for its involvement in hitman Lawlor's murder.

"The McCarthy-Dundons will want their cash and they're saying they've been set up for the big seizure," a source told the Herald.

"If the situation between the two gangs, who previously had close links to each other, isn't resolved quickly, it could lead to a feud within a feud.

"A blame game has already broken out between the two organisations over the money that was seized by gardai."

Infiltrating

It can also be revealed that specialist gardai have made great progress in infiltrating the Maguire mob.

Its leader, Owen Maguire, was left paralysed after being shot multiple times in July 2018 outside his Drogheda home in an attempted murder believed to have been carried out by Lawlor.

"The Maguire gang have been subject to every kind of surveillance for a long time now and there are informants in that camp as well," the source said.

"Gardai have a very good handle on their activities, and this may well be why that money was seized on Monday.

"They are, of course, very nasty criminals, but they've also been shown to be pretty indiscreet and careless as well."

The Herald can also reveal that, apart from the 50,000 in cash, gardai are investigating reports that a kilogram of cocaine with a street value of 70,000 was given to the Limerick mob by the Maguire faction for its involvement in Lawlor's murder.

It is understood the cocaine is now in the Limerick gang's possession.

The revelations come as the PSNI continues to question a 36-year-old Belfast drug dealer suspected of being the gunman who shot Lawlor, who was blasted multiple times in the head.

Sources said this criminal owed 30,000 to associates of the Maguire gang and the money was "wiped out" for his involvement in the murder.

He was arrested on Tuesday night at a house in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, close to where Lawlor was gunned down.

Our images show a large amount of evidence, including cleaning paraphernalia, being taken from the property by police officers wearing forensic gear.

There was a heavy police presence in the area as the house was searched and examined.

Weapon

The property raided in Strathroy Park is the third house to be searched as part of the investigation.

However, the murder weapon has not yet been recovered.

Tuesday night's arrest is the fifth made during the murder investigation.

Three other men, aged 33, 30, 27, and a boy aged 17 were previously questioned, but all have since been released without charge.

The 33-year-old and his teenage nephew are key members of the McCarthy-Dundon mob who travelled to Belfast with Lawlor.

They were arrested in the aftermath of the murder when PSNI officers raided a house in west Belfast on Saturday afternoon.

The main line in the murder investigation is whether members of the McCarthy- Dundon mob double-crossed Lawlor.

The older mob associate was only recently released from prison after serving a lengthy jail term for firearms offences, while his teenage relative is also well-known to gardai.

Sources said gardai are hopeful of securing money-laundering charges against the two women who were arrested in Co Laois on Monday.

The younger woman, aged in her 20s, is well-known for offences linked to intimidation.

The older woman, aged in her 30s, is also known to gardai for her involvement with serious criminals.

The two criminals linked to the Maguire gang who travelled to Co Louth to meet them with the 50,000 have still not been arrested and there are fears for their safety.

"They could be in some very serious trouble with their own associates and the Limerick crew if they're blamed for the handover at the service station on the M7 that went so horribly wrong," a source told the Herald last night.

It is understood that the body of Lawlor, who was linked to a series of gangland murders, including the butchering of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods in January, is due to be returned to his family this week as PSNI investigations continue.
Sammy Flex has narrated the 'stressful' ordeal he went through while under mandatory quarantine.



The media personality who was among travellers that were placed under compulsory quarantine after arriving in Ghana following the President's directive tested negative after his second test.



Listen to his interview with Halifax on Okay FM in the video below





It will be recalled that Ghana's Ministry of Information on March 15, 2020, announced that there will be a 14-day mandatory quarantine for persons who are allowed to enter Ghana following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
[April 09, 2020] Life360 Recognized by Financial Times as One of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies in 2020

Life360, Inc. (ASX:360), the leading safety and coordination service for families across the globe, today announced that it has been recognized in Financial Times' (News - Alert) (FT's) inaugural list of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies 2020. The company ranked 36th in the technology category and 125th overall on the list of the 500 fastest-growing companies. "Being recognized by Financial Times is an honor and it reflects the tireless work our team has put into becoming an invaluable part of daily life for families," said Chris Hulls, CEO of Life360. "We will maintain our momentum and continue to strive for achieving our larger vision of redefining how safety is delivered to families around the world." The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies list comprises the enterprises that contribute most heavily to economic growth in North America, Central America, and South America; 500 firms were selected for this first annual ranking. The 500 companies received this recogntion based on their Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), which was calculated using revenue information the companies shared with Statista's research team.



"The inaugural FT Americas ranking comes at a perilous and uncertain time for many companies, as the coronavirus severely curtails economies, workforces and ultimately growth," said Maxine Kelly, Commissioning Editor at Financial Times. "Yet the ranking also highlights 500 businesses across the continent for whom innovation and creativity have paid off - attributes that will underpin resilience and enable many of them to thrive once the worst effects of the pandemic are behind them." The full report featuring case studies and analysis from this year's ranking will be published in Financial Times print and online on May 12.

About Life360 Life360 operates a platform for today's busy families, bringing them closer together by helping them better know, communicate with and protect the people they care about most. The company's core offering, the Life360 mobile app, is a market leading app for families, with features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. Life360 is based in San Francisco and has more than 27 million MAU located in more than 140 countries. Life360's CDIs are issued in reliance on the exemption from registration contained in Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) for offers of securities which are made outside the US. Accordingly, the CDIs, have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the laws of any state or other jurisdiction in the US. As a result of relying on the Regulation S exemption, the CDIs are 'restricted securities' under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. This means that you are unable to sell the CDIs into the US or to a US person who is not a QIB for the foreseeable future except in very limited circumstances until after the end of the restricted period, unless the re-sale of the CDIs is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption is available. To enforce the above transfer restrictions, all CDIs issued bear a FOR Financial Product designation on the ASX. This designation restricts any CDIs from being sold on ASX to US persons excluding QIBs. However, you are still able to freely transfer your CDIs on ASX to any person other than a US person who is not a QIB. In addition, hedging transactions with regard to the CDIs may only be conducted in accordance with the Securities Act. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005844/en/

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Wilkes is the highest ranked institution in Luzerne County and within the top 25 percent of independent institutions in the nation. Wilkes University is once again being recognized for its commitment to social mobility. In
Coronavirus: The latest updates from Spain and around the world Coronavirus Thursday's updates on the global pandemic

That is all for today everyone, make sure and join us tomorrow for all the latest coronavirus news. Stay safe!

23:50. The UK has reported another 881 deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, with the number of positive cases now at 65,000.

23:40. Cuba have confirmed 58 new cases of the coronavirus with another three dead, taking their total to 500 positive tests and 15 deaths.

23:25. New York has surpassed Spain in terms of coronavirus infections with a total of 159,937 and the US state is now the epicentre of the pandemic.

23:05. A 107-year-old Dutch woman has recovered from the coronavirus and is likely the oldest person to have survived the disease. She fell ill on March 17 after attending church with several residents of a nursing home, with 12 in that group having since passed.

22:00. The EU has approved a package of measures which will make more than 500 billion euros available with further funds to follow. "The meeting ended with the applause of ministers," spokesman Bruno le Maire said.

21:48. The Scottish Football Association has extended the postponement of its competitions until at least June 10.

20:36. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has left intensive care, but he will continue to be monitored outside the ICU.

20:12. A 61-year-old man has been arrested after having broadcast a video on social media in which he boasted about travelling from Madrid to Torrevieja during the quarantine period in order to spread the disease to local residents. He did assure the viewers of the video it was just a joke.

19:47. New Jersey has become the second most affected state in the US after they exceeded 1,700 deaths and 51,00 confirmed infections.

19:32. Brussels have announced that Taiwan have donated one million face masks, and with they will be divided between Italy and Spain.

19:21. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told unions that it will be impossible to restart work in factories due to the coronavirus crisis. And the Italian government are considering an extension to quarantine measures until May 3.

19:05. More than 90,000 people have died worldwide because of coronavirus, with 1,534,426 infected.

18:51. More than 10,000 people have died in Lombardy due to the coronavirus. In total, Italy have had 18,279 deaths across the country.

18:02. The French government have projected how this health crisis will affect the country economically. They forecasts that their GDP will fall by 6 per cent.

17:38. The death rate of coronavirus is 10 times higher than that of the common flu, the World Health Organization's data has confirmed.

17:26. The Catalan government have bought 14 million masks, of which 100,000 will be available in pharmacies on Tuesday. The autonomous government wants every citizen to be able to get one, if necessary. For that reason, the first one that each citizen acquires will be free.

17:13. Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, is still in an ICU but is improving after having contracted coronavirus. He can now sit up in bed and is able to interact with the paramedics in his care.

16:57. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still in opposition to the 'corona bonds' idea put forward by the likes of Spain, with this finance aimed at helping the European Union bloc's recovery.

14:53. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that, towards the end of April, the government will relax the social containment measures imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

14:02. Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, expects to have to ask for a further extension of the state of emergency, which is due to end on April 26. If this happens, it would mean that the current measures would remain in place until almost mid-May.

13:40. Alberto Contador has decided to auction off the bike he competed with in the 2011 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France to raise funds that will be devoted entirely to the Red Cross' campaign against coronavirus.

12:41. The Community of Madrid remains the autonomous region that has been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, with 43,877 confirmed cases and 5,800 deaths. The positive news is that 21,121 patients have been cured. Catalonia has consolidated its position as the second autonomous region with the most cases, with a total of 31,043, of which 3,148 people have died and 13,063 have overcome the disease.

11:35. The number of coronavirus deaths in Spain has decreased after two days of increases. The Spanish Ministry of Health have reported 683 new deaths in Spain in the last 24 hours, which represents a decrease in the number of deaths compared to Wednesday's figure, when 757 deaths were recorded. In total, 15,238 have died of coronavirus in Spain, while 152,446 have been infected and 52,165 have recovered.

11:13. In Madrid, over 20,000 people have been discharged from hospital after having beaten coronavirus, the Community of Madrid's president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, confirmed on Twitter.

10:10. The European Region of the World Health Organization has asked European countries to learn from Spain's "terrible experience" with COVID-19 due to the "dizzying speed" with which it has spread, the lethality and the "devastating" impact it has had on the population.

9:59. Cardi B has announced that herself and the fashion label Fashion Nova will donate a total of one million dollars to people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In a post on Instagram, the New York rapper said she will give 1,000 dollars every hour for the next 42 days to those who apply for aid, who must submit their request to a website explaining their personal situation and the difficulties they are facing.

9:40. Germany has recorded 246 deaths and 4,974 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,107 deaths and 108,202 infections, according to data collected by the Robert Koch Institute.

9:24. Oxfam estimate that half a billion people around the world could fall into poverty if aid plans are not adopted for the poorest countries in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. In the 'The Price of Dignity' report, Oxfam point out that between 6 and 8 per cent of the world's population could fall into poverty as governments cripple the economy to control the spread of COVID-19. "This could be a global 10-year setback in the fight against poverty, and a 30-year setback in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa," the NGO has warned.

9:12. Global infections from coronavirus reached 1.5 million worldwide on Wednesday, and the number of deaths has already surpassed 87,000, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. These figures represent an increase of 70 per cent of deaths and 50 per cent of those infected by COVID-19 in less than a week.

8:15. The number of deaths in Brazil due to COVID-19 reached 800 on Wednesday after 133 were recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of confirmed cases reached 15,927, which represents an increase of 2,210 infections compared to the previous day.

8:05. The Argentina government reported on Wednesday that there have been five deaths due to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, of which two were women and three were men, all of whom between the ages of 64 and 82. There have been 80 new cases of coronavirus discovered in the South American country, too.

7:50. South Korea registered 39 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the lowest number since the end of February. Four more deaths have been recorded in the country, which brings the total number to 204.

7:32. Wuhan, the birthplace of the coronavirus pandemic, has recorded two deaths caused by COVID-19 that, according to China's National Health Commission, were the only ones in the country on Wednesday.

7:16. New York City has set a new daily record for the second day in a row. The state governor, Andrew Cuomo, reported that the number of deaths in the last 24 hours had risen to 779, a new high that exceeded that of the previous day, when 731 deaths were recorded.

7:13. On Wednesday, the United States overtook Spain as the second country to have had the most deaths from coronavirus with 14,817, just behind Italy's 17,669, according to the latest data from John Hopkins University. Spain has had 14,555 deaths.

7:00. El Mundo have reported that the Spanish Ministry of Health have prohibited wholesalers from selling coronavirus-related material on a region by region or hospital by hospital basis. Instead, the Spanish government want to buy it and then distribute accordingly.
The state government will spend tens of millions of dollars to ensure council-run childcare centres continue to operate for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, as the increase in new cases hit its lowest levels since March 16.

On Thursday morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the government will spend $82 million to support the 260 council childcare centres not eligible for the federal government's JobKeeper payments.

"[T]hat means childcare centres run by local governments don't have to worry about the additional cost of keeping staff on and providing the vital services," she said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian providing an update on COVID-19 on Thursday morning. Credit:AAP

The state government will also make preschool free for parents over the next six months - costing $50 million. It will apply to 700 state-funded community preschools and 38 mobile services that provide care to 45,000 three-to five-year-olds.
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In a bid to salvage Americas reputation amid the pneumonia outbreak, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boasted at a news conference that America remains the worlds leading light of humanitarian goodness on April 8.

His remarks were met with strong opposition from netizens. How do you sleep at night when you spread such lies? refuted Twitter user Judy Voting Blue, commenting "What do you call a person that withholds equipment to anyone but "friends" in his own country! Not human."

In celebration of World Health Day that falls on April 7, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), tweeted a picture with dozens of applause emojis to thank the heroes working in the health care sector during the epidemic.

On April 7, however, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the WHO as being slow to respond to the crisis, accused it of being China-centric and threatened to freeze funding for the UN agency.

In fact, the WHO issued a warning over the novel coronavirus at the beginning of the crisis, declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30. Although the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in the country one day later, it would be several weeks before Trump declared a national emergency.

Obviously, the U.S. is now making the WHO a scapegoat for its own incompetence in handling the pneumonia outbreak. As the deadly virus continues to rage all over the world, it has threatened to withdraw financial support for the WHO, an important health institution, on World Health Day, a day when people are supposed to express their respect to medical workers who are doing their best to save lives. Isnt this ironic coming from the country that claims to be the worlds leading light of humanitarian goodness?

The U.S. will bully anyone who refuses to follow the path it sets, and the WHO is a classic deflection of attention over how badly America is handling the crisis, some netizens said.

The epidemic is actually a humanitarian crisis, but the U.S. is holding back the global fight against it. Firstly, it refuses to end sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Venezuela, which could weaken their medical systems and undermine their attempts to defeat the epidemic. On top of that, it has not provided any aid to its allies in Europe and even imposed a unilateral ban on European travelers.

Some American politicians should realize that real humanitarianism is about putting peoples lives first, empathizing with other countries without ideological prejudice, and working with each other in times of need.
Another week of social distancing, another week of gigging from the couch.

This week, a cacophony of sound will be beamed from lounge rooms, home studios and, in one case, a church, to soothe your soul through these trying times. From a camp cabaret to Easter hymns, we've got you covered.

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Make your Good Friday a great one and go for a digital trip to a famous New York venue for some cabaret and show tunes. Marie's Crisis is one of Greenwich Village's most beloved bars, renowned for hosting the biggest stars on Broadway who wander in and have a sing by the piano. With the venue closed and Broadway shuttered the pianists from the bar are doing regular live streams to keep them and us entertained through the crisis. Some do themed sets (the Andrew Lloyd Webber one was particularly memorable), some take requests, but it is always a rollicking good time and super camp. Find Marie's Crisis on Facebook and don't forget to leave a tip for the pianist.

At the same time the Sydney Opera House will release the latest in their From Our House To Yours contemporary music shows. This week it is Animal Collective co-founder Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) in his intimate Australian debut in the studio at the Opera House. Filmed live in 2018, the show will be available for a while.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has placed a 9pm curfew on liquor sales in the city following a spike in gun violence on Tuesday that left seven people dead,

Lightfoot gave the order on Wednesday, the same day a 15-year-old boy was killed and seven others injured within an hour.

She said the directive will go into effect beginning Thursday night and remain in place during Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's stay-at-home order.

According to a statement from the Office of the Mayor, the new directive 'will help prevent congregate activity that has been observed across the city near stores that sell alcohol, particularly during evening hours'.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (pictured) has placed a 9pm curfew on liquor sales in the city following a spike in gun violence on Tuesday that left seven people dead

Any store owners violating the curfew could be penalized with a $500 fine, arrest and revocation of liquor and other licenses

Any store owners violating the curfew could be penalized with a $500 fine, arrest and revocation of liquor and other licenses.

Lightfoot said that the gun violence in the city has been affecting efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

'These actions place additional and unnecessary burden on our hospitals and ICU units,' she said.

'Violence of any kind is never acceptable but the fact that this is especially urgent now as our ability to protect all Chicagoans is being stretched to the breaking point. We cannot allow that to happen and we will not allow that to happen,' Lightfoot added.

The order comes amid a spate of gun violence that has hit the city within the last 48 hours.

On Tuesday, seven people were killed and 14 others were injured. One man was killed Tuesday evening in a shooting that left a five-year-old girl and two other people wounded in Gresham.

The order comes amid a spate of gun violence (file image) that has hit the city within the last 48 hours

In another incident, a woman was shot and killed in Logan Square on the Northwest Side.

On Wednesday afternoon, eight people were shot and two of those individuals died from their wounds.

According to WGN-TV, the first shooting took place around 2.37pm when a 20-year-old woman was accidentally shot in a home by a male. She was rushed to a local hospital and is in good condition.

Three minutes later, a 23-year-old man and 22-year-old man were both shot while sitting in a vehicle.

At 3.22pm, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the calf and taken to the hospital in good condition, according to the station.

Just two minutes later, the first of two deaths occurred when a 26-year-old man was killed and a 26-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot inside a vehicle.

At 3.31pm an 18-year-old was shot in the hand and rushed to the hospital.

And at 3.35pm, the 15-year-old boy became the ninth fatality within 48 hours after he was shot in the abdomen and right leg.
After reading about New York Citys mayor begging for ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients, Bryan Martel in California saw a solution beside his bed: a device to help him deal with sleep apnea.

Martel doesnt use the gadget that helps him breathe better while sleeping. Theyre really uncomfortable, the engineer said. But it dawned on him: If technicians added oxygen to it, they could use it like a ventilator to help COVID-19 patients breathe while their bodies fight the coronavirus infection.

Hospitals in New York City, where more people have died of COVID-19 than in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, are critically low on ventilators, which help patients breathe through a tube in their throat. California is amassing thousands of ventilators to meet an expected demand in May, but doesnt need them all yet. In fact, the state lent hundreds of them to harder-hit areas this week.

Martel also wanted to help places most in need now. So he called a dean at his alma mater, UC Berkeley, recently to propose a collaboration to repurpose sleep apnea machines to ventilate coronavirus patients. That conversation prompted the formation of a coalition of Bay Area doctors and engineers called the COVID-19 Ventilator Rapid Response Team.

Support is coming from good people trying to make a difference right now, Martel said.

Across the Bay Area, scientists, engineers, and doctors are tackling equipment shortages during the COVID-19 outbreak. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration changed its guidelines last month to allow doctors to use other breathing devices as ventilators, which Bay Area entrepreneurs said has fueled innovation.

 A biotech company in San Francisco is increasing mask protection by adding a battery-powered air filtration system, worn on the users back, shoulder, or hip, connected with a tube to provide clean air for health care workers. Instead of their usual role making feeding tubes and other medical equipment, about a quarter of Theranovas team has worked on the coronavirus-inspired project since January. The companys mask device will be tested and evaluated for approval by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CEO Daniel Burnett said.

 UCSF is 3-D printing more than 300 reusable plastic face shields used daily by its health care workers. And while the Exploratorium is closed because of the coronavirus, a group of exhibit developers repurposed the museums lab to build more face shields for the hospital.

 Seton Medical Center in Daly City, which had five floors taken over recently by the state for COVID-19 patients, is converting 16 anesthesia machines into ventilators to avoid a shortage. This week, the hospital had 19 coronavirus patients. Five were on ventilators.

Stanford Professor Stuart Coulson, who specializes in affordable design in the developing world, said hes been impressed and encouraged by new projects. But he also cautioned eager entrepreneurs to take into account current supply shortages and shipping challenges in their designs and consider where they can get materials to scale up production.

On the bright side, the Bay Area is rich with resources, he said.

One of the biggest advantages and resources is the can-do attitude of the ecosystem of innovation and willingness to try stuff that is available around here, Coulson said.

One of those local innovation hubs is the Ventilator Rapid Response Team at UC Berkeley, which saw promise in sleep apnea machines. National research shows that as few as 1 in 3 people who had been prescribed a sleep apnea machine actually used it, a 2016 study reported. That means millions of machines may be sitting unused, Martel said.

Now, hes helping redesign machines to help COVID-19 patients breathe. He works with Grace OConnell, a UC Berkeley mechanical engineering professor and co-director of the Berkeley Biomechanics Laboratory, and her team of volunteer students.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

A couple days a week, OConnell suits up in a lab coat, gloves and a mask to enter her lab  which the university authorized to keep operating during the health crisis, but only for preapproved COVID-19 research projects. She supervises six undergraduate volunteers working remotely to draw designs and find supplies for the makeshift ventilators, which they expect to ship around the country in the form of kits that hospitals can easily put together.

But, in a quiet and almost empty lab, she also works in-person with two or three volunteer graduate students at a time to limit potential exposure to the coronavirus. They connect oxygen tanks to sleep apnea machines to test the flow of air through a breathing tube that would be inserted into a patients throat. Then she calls UCSF doctors for feedback on her tests and to find out how much oxygen theyre giving COVID-19 patients who need ventilation.

OConnells team also added an air filter to keep a patients breath from leaking out and exposing health care workers  as happened in a Kirkland, Wash., nursing home before first responders knew they were in a COVID-19 hot spot, she said.

UC Berkeleys Ventilator Rapid Response Team has set up a national registry to accept donated sleep apnea machines from the public. So far, it has received pledges of about 700 of the lightweight devices from across the country, but is finalizing the ventilator design before accepting shipments. They also have a full-time member devoted to getting other parts from manufacturers because supplies are hard to find.

The team hopes to send the first kits  with a sleep apnea machine, tubing and filtration  by the end of the week to New York. OConnell has been in touch with the citys public health department and two hospitals  Lincoln Medical Center and Elmhurst Hospital Center  hit hardest with ventilator shortages. Some New York City hospitals are already using the same concept: Mount Sinai Hospital also retrofitted sleep apnea machines donated by Teslas Elon Musk to ventilate patients and issued guidance for others to do the same.

Back in the Bay Area, entrepreneurs are proving that necessity is the mother of invention, Theranovas Burnett said.

You see everybody putting their energy into volunteering for COVID efforts or coming up with clever hardware shortages for (personal protective equipment) and ventilators, he said. Its actually quite heartening.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
Residents wait at a rest area after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mobile station in Hong Kong on Sunday. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Few of the citys older residents have been fully inoculated, leaving them highly vulnerable as the city battles an outbreak of the new variant.
A Toronto councillor is demanding the province suspend residential construction in Ontario for the safety of workers and their communities  or provide the public health rationale for allowing it to continue.

On Wednesday, the province extended the hours work is allowed at residential construction sites from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days week, after earlier keeping residential construction on the shortened list of essential workplaces.

Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents one of the fastest-growing residential communities in Ward 12 (Toronto-St. Pauls) wrote an open letter to Premier Doug Ford on Thursday saying that additional change could put further stress on workers and communities.

The guidelines for construction safety issued by your government do not require employers to take the steps that public health officials suggest are necessary for keeping workers, or anyone, safe, Matlow wrote.

While some construction companies may have good intentions toward their workers, on many job sites it is almost impossible to maintain two metres of physical space due to group lifts or other tasks that involve support.

A spokesperson for Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton, responding to questions from the Star, said residential projects are critical to the thousands of families who need a roof over their heads.

Matlow said he recognized the need for continuing critical infrastructure like hospitals, but having residential construction continue appears to run counter to safe and sensible policy during this crisis.

The provinces current list of essential workplaces includes residential construction where a footing permit or above-grade structural permit have been issued or renovations started before April 4.

There are at least 11,000 active building permits associated with residential construction in Toronto alone, according to data the city provided to the Star. That represents approximately 18,500 residential units in projects that would be allowed to proceed under current provincial rules.

Matlow said the risk doesnt stop with the workers themselves, noting their families, friends and neighbours could also be impacted and that renovations of existing buildings also put those communities at risk of virus spread.

Allowing construction from early in the morning until 10 p.m., while people are being asked to stay home, has the potential to put residents at risk of infection, while greatly impacting their quality of life and mental health by subjecting them to constant noise, he said.

Matlow asked the premier to provide the rationale for allowing residential construction to continue. If the provinces decision was not made on the advice of Ontarios chief medical officer of health, Matlow said the residential work sites should be removed from the essential workplaces list.

McNaughtons spokesperson Bradley Metlin did not provide a public health rationale for keeping those sites operating, but said that the extended hours are to keep work sites safer and that they continue to do the right thing for people while following the advice of the chief medical officer of Ontario...

This will allow for smaller work crews, more distance between workers, staggered break times, etc., he said in a statement.

Asked about the changes Thursday, Mayor John Tory said he understood the province would be sending inspectors to individual sites to ensure those where people are working too close together or those that lack proper hygiene on-site would be identified and closed as needed.

Our imperative here is to increase physical distancing as much as possible, to reduce the spread of the virus, said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, saying she recognized there are important critical infrastructure-type projects that perhaps warrant continuation.

Residential construction is being allowed by the province in addition to what it calls critical industrial construction, such as petro-mechanical projects, as well as hospitals and other facilities.

Read more about:
A U.S. Border Patrol agent wouldnt let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter fled Honduras and needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus. It was just days after the Trump administration essentially shut down the nations asylum system.

The agent told us about the virus and that we couldnt go further, but she didnt let us speak or anything, said Reyes, 35, who was shuttled on March 24 to Reynosa, Mexico, a violent border city.

President Donald Trumps administration is relying on a seldom-used public health law to set aside decades-old national and international immigration laws. People seeking refuge in the U.S. are whisked to the nearest border crossing and returned to Mexico without a chance to apply for asylum. It may be the most aggressive clampdown on immigration by a president whos made reducing asylum claims a top priority.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday that nearly 10,000 Mexicans and Central Americans have been expelled to Mexico since the rules took effect March 21. Mark Morgan, the agencys acting commissioner, said the changes were not about immigration.

Whats happening right now is a public health crisis driven by a global pandemic, which has resulted in a national emergency declared by this president to protect the health and safety of every American in this country, he told reporters.

Mexico is providing critical support, agreeing to take migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, who accounted for well over half of all U.S. border arrests last year.

The Trump administration has offered little detail on the rules, which havent been challenged in court. The lack of specifics means the change got little attention when it went public March 20, the same day Trump announced at a news conference that the southern border was closed to nonessential travel.

The administration tapped a law allowing the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ban foreigners if their entry would create a serious danger to the spread of communicable disease. The U.S. has the most confirmed cases in the world by far. CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield issued a 30-day order and said he may extend it.

The administration is able to do what they always wanted to do, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel for the American Immigration Council, which has criticized the administration. I dont see this slowing down.

Mexico said it wont take unaccompanied children and other vulnerable people. Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mexicos consul general in San Diego, said that includes people who are over 65, pregnant or sick.

The U.S. also is returning Central American children who travel with grandparents, siblings and other relatives, said a congressional aide who was briefed by Customs and Border Protection officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not intended for public release. Previously, children who werent with parents or guardians were considered unaccompanied and automatically put into the asylum pipeline.

The health risks of holding migrants in crowded spaces like Border Patrol stations is the touchstone of this order, Redfield wrote. He said exceptions to immediately expelling someone can be considered but didnt elaborate.

If someone is deemed to have the appropriate level of fear, those will be processed on a case-by-case basis, Morgan, the CBP acting chief, said Thursday.

An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica offers some detail on exemptions: An agent who determines that a migrant claims a reasonably believable fear of being tortured can be referred for additional screening under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, a lesser form of asylum thats harder to qualify for.

Matthew Dyman, a CBP spokesman, declined to comment on the memo this week.

Obtaining and posting leaked information is a great way to degrade trust and communication between CBP and the media, he said.

Under the rules, agents take migrants to the nearest border crossing in specially designated vehicles and avoid stations, minimizing the risk of exposure to the virus. Those not sent to Mexico are flown to their home countries.

CBP said it has less than 100 people in custody, down from a peak of more than 19,000 during last years surge of border crossers. During the first 11 days of the new rules, 6,375 people were expelled on the Mexican border and 20 on the Canadian border.

Ten Senate Democrats sent a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who oversees border agencies, saying the Trump administration appeared to have granted itself sweeping powers to summarily expel large, unknown numbers of individuals arriving at our border.

A public health crisis does not give the Executive Branch a free pass to violate constitutional rights, nor does it give the Executive Branch permission to operate outside of the law, they wrote Tuesday.

For Reyes and others sent to Mexico, they dont know whats next. She tried getting home to Honduras despite learning her brother had been killed there and her mother and 7-year-old daughter had fled to the Nicaraguan border, but shes stuck in Mexico as the virus closed borders in Central America.

Reyes said she joined dozens who entered the Guatemalan mountains illegally in a bid to reach Honduras but was stopped by soldiers and returned to Mexico, where she was quarantined in a migrant shelter.

Four adults and seven children expelled from Texas also crossed into the mountains and are now hiding at a house in Guatemala because of a curfew tied to the virus.

We want to leave already, but I dont know who can help us, said Fanny Jaqueline Ortiz of Honduras, who was with her 12- and 3-year-old daughters. There is no transportation, no bus, nothing.

Many Mexican shelters have closed, leaving many stranded in violent cities or reliant on relatives in the U.S. to send money.

Trumps previous policies have targeted asylum but stopped short of suspending it altogether, acknowledging the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention to provide haven to displaced people and a 1980 U.S. law that established the asylum system.

___

Verza reported from Mexico City and Fox from Washington. Associated Press reporters Astrid Galvan, Nomaan Merchant and Elliot Spagat contributed to this report.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 South African businesses could be shut down permanently due to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

This is according to Efficient Group economist Dawie Roodt, who told MyBroadband the crisis will damage an economy that was already crippled before the virus hit.

In recent days, several large South African companies have announced measures such as salary cuts and 4-day work weeks in an effort to prevent job losses due to effects of the ongoing national lockdown.

The SA Reserve Bank added that its current estimates suggest South Africa could lose about 370,000 jobs in 2020, on a net basis.

It said that roughly 1,600 firms would become insolvent as the economy contracts.

A crippled economy

Roodt explained that the South African economy was already in dire straits before the virus came into play.

The South African economy was in a recession before the virus, so it was contracting in any event, Roodt said.

The countrys GDP shrank by 1.4% in the final quarter of 2019, following an adjusted 0.8% contraction in the third quarter.

We actually were in crisis and now we have a crisis on top of a crisis, and we were losing jobs in any event, Roodt noted.

The average South African has been getting poorer every year for the past six years and our unemployment rate just keeps on going up every year, Roodt added.

Thousands of businesses could close

Roodt acknowledged that it would be very difficult to make an estimate of what can be expected for the country after the economic situation has normalised.

Using previous crises, such as the 2008/2009 recession, he superimposed this on his current economic model to make rough estimations on what could be expected in terms of job losses.

Given the information at hand, Roodt expects South Africas economy to contract significantly this year.

He estimated that 1 million jobs could be lost in South Africa in 2020, with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak taken into consideration.

My expectations at the moment is that the economy will contract by approximately 5% in 2020, so the recession will be extended and will run very deep, Roodt said.

That inevitably means many people will lose their jobs and based on previous crises, I expect that more than a million people will lose their jobs.

Based on a figure of 1 million, and assuming the affected businesses employ an average of 10 people, that would equate to 100,000 businesses closing down in 2020.

If your assumption is that small businesses employ five people, then 200,000 businesses will close down in 2020, Roodt said.

I believe these are conservative numbers that Ive given you and I think theres a good possibility that these may actually be worse than what we expect at the moment, he added.

COVID-19 is not the biggest killer

Roodt said that he supports the governments implementation of the lockdown, particularly when it came to decisions by the President and Health Minister.

He noted, however, that South Africa would have to start asking serious questions about economic growth and the relationship between poverty and mortality rates.

The single biggest killer on this planet is not COVID-19, or measles or cancer. The single biggest killer on this planet is poverty, Roodt stated.

If you look at countries that are poor, life expectancies in those countries are all low.

Wealthier countries with better-performing economies showed higher life expectancies, Roodt explained.

If that is your approach, then without a doubt we have to put emphasis on economic growth, because in time, that is going to be the answer to just about all our problems in South Africa, Roodt stated.

He said that South Africa could consider alternatives to a total lockdown, such as isolating the vulnerable, elderly, and people with certain underlying conditions to protect them from the spread of the virus.

This is because according to COVID-19 mortality figures from across the world, these individuals are much more likely to die from the virus, than younger and healthier people.

Roodt said that the less-vulnerable population could then continue to work to help the economy grow.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen. The UN chief said that the ceasefire can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guterres called upon the Government of Yemen and Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediate cessation of hostilities. He also urged both parties to engage with each other in good faith and without preconditions in the negotiations facilitated by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths.

Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict, said the UN chief in a statement.

Read: War-battered Yemen Imposes Curfew Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Releases Low-risk Prisoners

Call for a global ceasefire

On April 8, Saudi officials said that the decision for a ceasefire was taken in response to UN call for a global ceasefire amid coronavirus pandemic. According to the officials, the ceasefire will be for two weeks starting Thursday, April 9, during which Saudi Arabia will help the UN bring rival parties together for peace talks.

Last month, Guterres made an appeal for an immediate global ceasefire fearing a collapse of health systems in war-ravaged countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the world is facing a common enemy in COVID-19 and urged everyone to put the armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.

Read: UN Chief Condemns Continued Attack On Libyan Hospital Amid Pandemic

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened in the conflict on request of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and the continued fighting has caused disproportionate suffering for the civilians. An Amnesty International report said that more than 4.5 million people with disabilities in Yemen have been the worst hit due to the ongoing armed conflict between Houthi rebels and a coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Read: UN Chief Antonio Guterres Lauds Nurses, Midwives On World Health Day 2020

Read: Saudi-UAE Coalition Declares Two-week Unilateral Ceasefire In Yemen Amid Pandemic

(Image Credit: AP)
The novel coronavirus pandemic has left college students from low-income families facing further financial insecurity, threatening not just their educations but also their ability to meet basic needs. They are among the millions of Americans who have been laid off or furloughed. Turning to Mom and Dad is not an option. And the federal governments $2 trillion aid package offers little hope for direct help, because students whose parents claim them as dependents on their taxes dont qualify for relief checks.
Though Kishore Biyani is selling stakes in group companies to pay off debt, a significant share price crash since January this year is making his task difficult.

A combination of high cost funds from private equities (PE), promoters pledging stakes and falling share prices of listed entities have put the Future group in a crisis.

Though promoter Kishore Biyani is selling stakes in group companies to pay off debt, a significant share price crash since January this year is making his task difficult.

While it is good news that 80 per cent of the borrowings of holding companies are from PE firms, for which the collateral cover is much lower than funds from banks or mutual funds, the cost of funding can be very high, said an analyst of Redd Intelligence.

A filing with the ministry of corporate affairs for a Rs 1,300-crore loan for these (promoter entities) has put pricing at an eye watering 26.5 per cent per annum over a four-year term, said the report.

Promoter entities had a total debt of Rs 11,970 crore with total pledge estimated at over 90 per cent by value across group companies.

Rating firm ICRA said it has received a communication from IDBI Trusteeship Services on April 3 that corporate guarantees on non-convertible debentures (NCDs) amounting to Rs 670 crore of Rural Fairprice Wholesale (RFWL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Future Corporate Resources Private Limited (FCRPL), were invoked on March 27.

Also, FCRPL has not made the payment.

The matter is now sub-judice after the Future group objected to invocation of the pledge.

The ongoing shutdown of retail outlets due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic will further put pressure on the group as sales of operating companies fall, said analysts.

As the group tries to sell off its insurance arm to ease pressure on promoter entities, an insurance sector chief executive officer (CEO) said there are no takers in the current market.

Retail King of India

The present crisis faced by Biyani - known for making Big Bazaar a household brand name since early the 2000s - is the most serious.

This is the not the first time Biyanis group is facing a debt crisis.

Biyani is to India what the Walton family of Walmart is to the US.

"Biyanis realised the potential of organised retail far before cash rich promoters like the Ambanis or the Birlas.

"No wonder, he is well known as Retail King of India, said a Mumbai-based rival.

But with debt out of control, this is perhaps his biggest test, he added.

After tasting success with Big Bazaar, Biyani diversified into other businesses such as financial services, formal clothes retailing and insurance.

In 2012, Biyani sold his Pantaloon brand to Aditya Birla group for Rs 1,600 crore.

Pantaloon was the first brand started by Biyani way back in 1987.

The deal was to help Biyani reduce the groups debt of Rs 7,850 crore.

Post-Pantaloon deal, Biyani sold several other businesses, including financial services, to Warburg Pincus, in 2012.

In 2013, the group decided to sell 51 per cent stake in its general insurance business to L&T for Rs 560 crore but the deal was called off a year later.

Subsequently, promoter companies started raising funds across various entities - leading to the present crisis.

Maze of companies

Biyanis interest in holding companies are held through four major trusts.

The trusts own four holding companies, which include Future Capital Investment Private Limited (FCIPL), Central Departmental Stores Private Limited (CDSPL), FCRPL and Ryka Commercial Ventures Private Limited (RCVPL).

Future Corporate Resources was downgraded by rating agencies in March due to its high debt and falling financial metrics.

Among the holdcos, FCIPL, CDSPL and FCRPL are purely holding companies while RCVPL has an operating subsidiary Future Lifestyle Fashions.

According to Redd, the total founder group debt continued to rise from Rs 11,790 crore in March 2018 to Rs 11,970 crore in March 2019 despite monetisation efforts in the year ended March 2019.

An email sent to the Future group did not elicit any response.

In financial year 2020, the promoters raised Rs 4,600 crore.

Of this, Rs 1,750 crore was invested by Blackstone after it bought six per cent stake in Future Lifestyle Fashion.

Another Rs 1,430 crore was invested by US online retail giant Amazon in Future Coupon.

Of the proceeds, the group spent Rs 1,440 crore on Future Retail.

Photograph: PTI Photo
In December 2019 the news of the COVID -19 broke out in China and has since become a pandemic affecting economies at all developmental stages (from developing to developed) causing leadership of all nations to constantly explore options to eliminate or minimize the impact of the virus on their people.

In line with this, the President of the Republic of Ghana (Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo) swiftly announced measures to curtail the spread of the Virus. As a business-friendly government, the government has introduced several interventions aimed at mitigating the impact of the Virus on the business community.

The leadership and members of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs wish to commend the president for instituting these interventions. Evidently, the Governments foresight in dealing with this pandemic has earned it the admiration of Ghanaians and the world at large.

We at the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs see this as an opportunity in disguise that will refocus the lens of government on promoting domestic production of made in Ghana goods (substitutes). Announcing stimulus packages for the enhancement of sectoral production of pharmaceutical, agriculture, textile, printing, fabrication and agro-processed goods is a step in the right direction.

Being the Chamber representing young entrepreneurs in Ghana, we have noted with great interest the stimulus packages and interventions put in place by his Excellency through the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the National Board for Small Scale Industries to enable SMEs overcome the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on their businesses.

Our members who form a critical mass of the population and the business community in Ghana are are greatly affected by this Virus. Our members have started evaluating various outcomes including total collapse of their respective businesses due to the fact that they have lost revenue, cannot keep with various wage bills and other obligations to their suppliers and partners.

It is therefore very essential that their businesses are salvage as soon as possible so as to prevent a possible spike in the unemployment levels in our country.

As an immediate next step, we will engage the Minister of Trade and Industry and his technical team as well as the leadership of National Board for Small Scale Industries on how we can work together to ensure businesses of our members bounce back to enhance the smooth recovery of the economic gains achieved by the government.

We anticipate that the measures introduced by the President and the collective prayers of the people of Ghana will ensure the eradication of the Virus as soon as possible so normal business will resume.

Long live GCYE! Long live Ghana!!

God bless and safeguard us all
SCHENECTADY  Regina Gina Dix-Parsons always had an encouraging word for people and could sing like nobodys business, according to family and friends.

A few days after being admitted to Ellis Hospital last month, Regina Dix-Parsons, who comes from a deeply religious family in Schenectady, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and needed a ventilator to help her breathe, according to her daughter WaKena Parsons-Jackson.

Her condition never improved.

Parsons-Jackson said at 5 p.m. Saturday, the doctor sent up a FaceTime call for the dying womans family to say goodbye.

Dix-Parsons, who would have turned 76 on April 18, passed away at 6:48 p.m. Saturday, her daughter said.

Parsons-Jackson said her mother worked in the infant room of the family day care center affiliated with Refreshing Spring Church, which was started by Dix-Parsons parents, the late Rev. Eugene and Georgetta Dix.

The church, which is pastored by Dix-Parsons sister, Arnetta Dix, is located on Georgetta Dix Plaza in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood in honor of the family matriarch.

Dix-Parsons loved children and to sing, and was a spiritual woman, said Parsons-Jackson. Dix-Parsons sang in several choirs and was a member of the Gospel Notes.

She said her mother was also a fabulous cook and that people to this day still ask about the recipe for her signature sweet potato pie dish.

Parsons-Jacksons father, the Rev. Richard Parsons, recalled his ex-wife as a great mother and a woman of God.

She was extremely friendly, she knew everybody, and was very pleasant and not argumentative at all, said Parsons of Parsons Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ in Schenectady.

Married 36 years, the couple had three biological daughters and many more foster children they cared for, said Parsons.

Parsons-Jackson lamented that she and other relatives couldnt be with her mother in her final moments.

Its disheartening that we live in the U.S. and we responded to this as if we were a third world country, said Parsons-Jackson, 45. Theres a lot of people losing their lives and theyre dying alone in there because family members cant be by their bedside.

She said the family cant figure out how her mother, who lived with her, may have contracted the killer virus.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

She recounted that in the days before she was hospitalized that they had attended a few church functions, a funeral, and ran some errands.

No one else in the family came down with COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus.

Wayne Jackson, who serve as the Sergeant at Arms in the State Assembly, said he has known Dix-Parsons and her family since he was about 10 years old.

He recalled with fondness how she always encouraged you to live the life of Christ and to sing. Weve sung in so many choirs together, said Jackson, 73.She was just a great woman of God and were going to miss her.

Schenectady City Councilwoman Marion Porterfield, who grew up in Refreshing Springs church, said Dix-Parsons always had a kind word to say and always had a beautiful smile and was always made us feel welcome.

A private graveside ceremony for family is scheduled for Friday. The family is hoping to hold a public celebration in honor of Dix-Parsons in the future.

Dix-Parsons is one of eight Schenectady County residents who had died of COVID-19. Statewide, blacks have been disproportionately impacted by the disease.

Its a devastating trend that is playing out in many major American cities, including Chicago, New Orleans and Milwaukee.
An unnamed oil company active in the offshore segment of the industry has asked the Department of the Interior for royalty payment relief because of the oil price collapse, Reuters reported, citing the department spokesman, Nicholas Goodwin.

The report follows a call from legislators from the Gulf Coast states on the Department of the Interior to reduce the royalty rates offshore oil companies have to pay to the government amid the crisis.

Such an action in the short term will help mitigate a price war that is sinking prices and decreasing production, the legislators said in a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

The offshore royalty rate for water depths of less than 200 meters stands at 12.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. For all depths above 200 meters, the royalty rate is 18.75 percent. The shallow water rate was reduced in 2017 as part of the Trump administrations energy industry support agenda.

The Department is ready to provide royalty relief to companies that need it, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy told Reuters.

He promised to quickly process targeted royalty relief on the outer continental shelf using existing law, Cassidy said.

The U.S. oil industry has been among the harder-hit by the oil price collapse, and the royalty relief application suggests it is not just shale players that are affected by the low oil prices.

Crude oil prices have fallen by more than 50 percent since the start of the year, with some U.S. grades in single-digit territory. As a result, production has begun falling, too. Last week, production fell by 600,000 bpd to 12.4 million bpd, according to the latest weekly petroleum status report released by the Energy Information Administration.

Production is expected to fall further, with the EIA estimating over this year and next, the daily average of the U.S. could shed 2 million bpd, with the figure for this year seen at 11.8 million bpd.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
U.S. Navy chief who fired captain of coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier resigns: report

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:21, April 08, 2020

Acting Secretary of U.S. Navy Thomas Modly has been under mounting pressure from Democrats to step down, after he made profanity-laced comments on Brett Crozier, captain of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who was recently dismissed.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Acting Secretary of the U.S. Navy Thomas Modly reportedly resigned Tuesday after being forced to do so over his firing an aircraft carrier captain, who alarmed high-ranking officials about a novel coronavirus outbreak on board and pleaded for help.

Multiple U.S. media reported about Modly's resignation, which was accepted by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and which took effect immediately.

Modly has been under mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers -- including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- to step down, after he made profanity-laced comments on Brett Crozier, captain of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who was recently dismissed.

Addressing the crew of the Roosevelt in Guam, where the ship now docks, Modly called Crozier either "too naive or too stupid" to command the nuclear-powered warship, remarks he apologized for late Monday at Esper's request.

"I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused," he wrote in a written apology. "I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused."

Crozier sent a five-page internal letter last week to higher-ranking officials in the chain of command, pleading for help from the Pentagon to contain a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Roosevelt by transferring 90 percent of the crew onto Guam for quarantine. The letter led to his removal announced last Thursday by Modly.

"I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship," Modly wrote Monday, backtracking from his previous assertions.

"Sadly, Acting Secretary Modly's actions and words demonstrate his failure to prioritize the force protection of our troops," Pelosi said in a written statement Tuesday. "He showed a serious lack of the sound judgment and strong leadership needed during this time. Acting Secretary Modly must be removed from his position or resign."

Some 173 sailors on board the Roosevelt tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Monday, including Crozier himself, according to media reports. Approximately 2,000 of the roughly 5,000 crew members have disembarked the ship, nearing the 2,700 tally planned for evacuation due to the virus outbreak.

Acting Undersecretary of the Army James McPherson has been tapped to succeed Modly in an acting capacity, several media outlets reported.

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Unfortunately, it is our understanding now that the federal government redirected most of these early tests to private systems without our state input about where the tests would make the most impact, Pritzker said. That said, we believe this new test capacity will begin to show up in our numbers as soon as these labs start to utilize their full capacity.
Charles and Camilla on their wedding day with their families. (Getty Images)

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall are celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary on 9 April.

They have now spent two anniversaries in lockdown, marking their 15th in Scotland, where they stayed when the first UK wide coronavirus restrictions were introduced.

But their story goes back much further than their 2005 wedding day.

It has recently been dramatised, as season four of The Crown featured Emerald Fennell as Camilla, a listening ear, and more, to a frustrated Prince Charles during his marriage to Diana (Emma Corrin).

In real life, both Charles and Camilla were married to other people before they married one another, having been separated by circumstance as young adults.

Their first meeting and early years

Prince Charles first met Camilla Shand at a polo match in 1970.

Another version of their first meeting suggests they met at a party where Camilla told Charles: My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common.

Prince Charles chats to Camilla at a polo match. (Getty Images)

Charles, already the Prince of Wales and of course the heir to the throne, entered the Royal Navy in 1971, a decision which put the brakes on their blossoming romance.

They dated for about six months, but Charles did not propose.

There are differing accounts of why the couple never made it down the aisle the first time. One is that their short relationship came in the middle of Camillas longer-term on and off relationship with Andrew Parker-Bowles, who became her first husband.

Other accounts suggest that Camilla was seen as unsuitable by some people in the Royal Family.

Read more: How the royals tackle parenting

According to historian Bedall Smith, Camillas dating history was a strike against her, because the future king needed to marry someone who at least appeared virginal.

Their first marriages

Camilla Shand was the first to marry, tying the knot with Andrew Parker-Bowles in 1973.

Camilla Shand and Captain Andrew Parker Bowles outside the Guards' Chapel on their wedding day. (Getty Images)

According to some reports, pressure was mounting on them to get engaged, so Camillas father published the announcement in The Times to give them the hint.

Story continues

It was a society event - the Queen Mother, Princess Anne, who once dated Andrew Parker-Bowles, and Princess Margaret all attended.

The couple stayed friends with Prince Charles, who they had both known before they married.

A few years on, and Charles met Lady Diana Spencer. She was just 16 when they met, and Charles was dating Dianas older sister at the time. She later claimed credit for getting together.

Charles and Diana started dating in 1980 and announced their engagement the next year.

Lady Diana Spencer (later to become Princess of Wales) reveals her sapphire and diamond engagement ring while she and Prince Charles, announced their engagement (Getty Images)

Charles, then 32, comes under fire for his response during their engagement interview to the question are you in love? He said: Whatever love is.

Read more: Relaxed Queen smiles by the pool in rare home footage shown for first time

In July 1981 the young couple married in the royal wedding of the century at St Pauls Cathedral.

Camilla attended their wedding, though its thought Diana didnt want her to be there.

Charles and Diana had two children - William and Harry, and so did Camilla and Andrew - Tom, and Laura.

Charles and Diana married in July 1981. (Getty Images)

The affair begins

The Prince of Wales remained close to his former flame, and its reported that in 1986, they began an affair.

Diana is reported to have confronted Camilla in 1989, telling her: "Camilla, I would just like you to know that I know exactly what is going on between you and Charles. I wasn't born yesterday."

She told of the confrontation in an interview with Andrew Morton.

Lady Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker-Bowles at Ludlow Races where Prince Charles was competing in 1980. (Getty Images)

In 1992, the affair emerged, as a recording of an intimate conversation between Charles and Camilla came out. The tapes were dubbed "Camillagate".

John Major, then prime minister, confirmed the royal couple had separated in 1992.

In Mortons book Diana: Her True Story, Diana referred to Camilla as "the Rottweiler" and Camilla called the princess "that ridiculous creature".

Mortons book also claimed Camilla accompanied Charles on a trip to Zimbabwe in 1980, in which she did research for him including "climbed onto the back of a buffalo to test its mettle before Charless scheduled ride. Thrown and badly gored, Parker Bowles was taken to the hospitalbut not before canceling the Princes jaunt".

Divorce and confession

Two years after then Prime Minister John Major confirms the royal separation, Charles admits adultery.

The prince did a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby in which he admitted that he had been having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles for some time.

Prince Charles admitted to an affair in 1994. (Getty Images)

As he makes the confession, Diana steps out to the Vanity Fair party in what became known as the "revenge dress".

Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in January 1995, and he remarried soon afterward.

Later in 1995, Diana did her own televised interview, in which she also admits she was unfaithful in her marriage to Charles.

Watch: The wonderful life of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Read more: Prince William shouts 'the king is in the house' when he DJs, says Kate's uncle

Its then she utters the famous line: "There were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

Charles and Diana finalised their divorce in 1996.

Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris in 1997.

Diana attending the Vanity Fair party in 1994 in what was dubbed the revenge dress. (Getty Images)

A public relationship

A year after Dianas death, Charles introduces William and Harry to Camilla. They kept the relationship out of the public eye for a while, but made appearances together on rare occasion.

One of those was Camillas sisters birthday party at the Ritz Hotel in 1999. They arrived separately but left together.

Charles and Camilla leave her sister's birthday party together in 1999. (Getty Images)

According to Good Housekeeping, the progress Camilla makes by getting to know Charless sons is not matched with getting to know the Queen. The Monarch even reportedly turns down an invitation to Charles birthday because Camilla will be attending.

Read more: The Queen is opening up her Buckingham Palace garden for summer picnics

However they make it to the same event later in 2000, showing some improvement.

In 2001, the couple kiss in public for the first time - an important milestone in their relationship according to the BBC.

Charles and Camilla kiss as he supports her at an event in 2001. (Getty Images)

It was also the first time the prince played a supporting role to his girlfriend.

In 2003, Camilla officially moved into Charless London home, Clarence House.

Engagement and wedding

In 2005, Charles and Camilla announced their intention to marry. While the news may have shown Camilla had gained royal acceptance, there was a tough political decision ahead, particularly around the venue where they can marry.

Charles and Camilla leaving their civil ceremony in 2005. (Getty Images)

William and Harry at their father's wedding. (Getty Images)

A change in the law in 2002 meant they could remarry, though the Church of England is not supportive of second marriages where the spouse is still living. Wanting to avoid any more controversy, they opted for a civil ceremony in Windsor Guildhall.

The Queen and Prince Philip did not attend, but did go to the couples blessing in St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle after the legal ceremony.

Life since then

Camilla has settled into royal life and quietly carved out a role for herself which has seen her win public approval after years of abuse.

She has known when to step forward and when to step back. In 2007, she opted not to attend the memorial for Diana, though saying she had been invited by Charles and the young princes.

Camilla has been by Charles's side on dozens of royal tours, including Turkey in 2007. (Getty Images)

Releasing a statement she said: "I accepted and wanted to support them, however, on reflection I believe my attendance could divert attention from the purpose of the occasion which is to focus on the life and service of Diana. I'm grateful to my husband, William, and Harry for supporting my decision."

There have been questions over the years of what Camilla will be called when the Queen dies and Prince Charles accedes to the throne. Officially, she may be Queen or Princess consort, though its reported she is not keen to use the title, out of respect for Diana.

Read more: Prince Charles 'took the mick out of Prince William' in speech at royal wedding

Charles and Camilla share a similar dry wit. (Getty Images)

Charles and Camilla released this image to celebrate 15 years of marriage. (Clarence House)

As the years have gone on, Camilla has been at Charless side for hundreds of royal engagements and family events, including the weddings of William to Kate and Harry to Meghan.

She has taken on her own patronages and roles too, particularly focussing on supporting victims of domestic abuse.

With their matching dry wit and humour and passion for the outdoors, Charles and Camilla have established themselves important and loved senior members of the Royal Family.

Watch: Duchess of Cornwall visits London Islamic Cultural Society
Popular Nigerian actress and lawyer, Funke Akindele has hit the streets, picking refuse as she begins her community service sentence.



The actress was slapped on with the sentence in additions with a N100,000 fine together with her husband after the two fragrantly disobeyed social distancing rule to throw a birthday party.



The actress was seen with nose mask on and packing rubbish in a yet to be disclosed street in Lagos.



As many are against the idea of making a mother of young twins go through this, others also believe that the authorities need the use her as a scapegoat to serve as a deterrent to anyone who thinks he or she is big enough to flout the law.









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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There were growing reports this week from health workers and undertakers that the number of deaths reported as due to coronavirus was significantly less than reality. Opposition parties called on the government to explain the inconsistencies.

Health minister, Salvador Illa said, "We are guided by systems laid out that have to be followed so that everyone has standard data. All European countries have to communicate cases confirmed by laboratory and that is what the Government of Spain is doing." Journalists took the minister's comments to mean that if a test was not carried out, the death was not counted.

The government has ordered burial registries to carry out an urgent recheck of their data, but many staff are not working and death certificates are lacking cause-of-death information.

Much criticism revolved around the failure to record the cause of death in old people's homes. Reports on Wednesday said that 4,750 deaths had been recorded in Madrid's homes since the crisis but only 781 definitely attributed to Covid-19.

In Malaga, doctors have been certifying at least ten deaths a day suspected of being due to the virus but not confirmed.
New Jersey could get slammed with wind gusts up to 50 mph Thursday afternoon and evening along with severe thunderstorms that might include small hail, according to the latest weather forecast.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the entire state, except for Sussex and Warren counties, effective from noon to 4 p.m. In addition, nearly all of the state will be under a wind advisory starting this afternoon.

Winds speeds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts as high as 50 could snap tree limbs and toss around unsecured objects. Power outages are possible as well, the weather service said.

Accuweather.com noted the strong winds could cause problems for medical tents set up outside hospitals or at testing centers due to the coronavirus outbreak.

UPDATE (1:20 p.m. Thursday): A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris and Somerset counties, effective until 2:15 p.m. Thursday. Some of the storm cells moving through these areas of the state are packing winds as strong as 60 mph and penny-size hail, the weather service said.

Live N.J. power outage tracker: Thousands in the dark as strong thunderstorms sweep state

A round of severe weather due to a fast moving squall line is expected later this morning into early this afternoon, followed by very strong, potential damaging winds this afternoon. A Wind Advisory is in effect for today after the severe weather. #PAwx #NJwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/sPGR49TVs3  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 9, 2020

UPDATE (2:15 p.m. Thursday): A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for northern Atlantic County, all of Ocean County, southeastern Burlington County and southeastern Monmouth County, effective until 3 p.m. Thursday.

UPDATE: (3:10 p.m. Thursday): The National Weather Service received a report of a wind gust as strong as 71 mph about 3 miles north of Barnegat Light in Ocean County, during a thunderstorm at about 2:30 p.m. The weather service also has reports of many downed trees and power lines, including some in South Brunswick in Middlesex County and Watchung in Somerset County.

In the Martinsville section of Bridgewater in Somerset County, theres a report of trees uprooted or snapped, and the weather service also received word of a large tree on top of a house in Neptune in Monmouth County.

Rain thats likely to fall this afternoon could be heavy at times and accompany powerful thunderstorms across the state as temperatures climb into the 60s. The storm should move through quickly as precipitation tapers off by early evening before overnight lows dip into the 30s.

The wind advisory lasts from noon until 5 p.m. for Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, northwestern Burlington, Salem, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties.

In Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean and southeastern Burlington counties the advisory will run from 1 to 7 p.m.

In Bergen and Passaic, the wind advisory runs from 2 to 8 p.m. with top winds of 45 mph possible.

Most of New Jersey has a slight risk of severe thunderstorms on Thursday, April 9, according to the national Storm Prediction Center.Storm Prediction Center

Even after the advisories expire, forecasters say we can still expect strong winds overnight, with gusts of 30 to 40 mph possible.

On Friday, conditions will remain breezy with periods of sun and highs in the 50s. The weekend is shaping up to be dry. Saturdays forecast calls for sunny skies and temps again in the 50s. Sunday will be milder with highs in the 60s, but it will feature a mix of sun and clouds.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this report. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
(From Left): Trinity were Administrative Assistants Nyasha Lewis (left) and Nasha Neverson-Pitt (right) with House Mother Dannette Dowers at the handing over.

On Tuesday, 7th April, Trinity Medical Science University handed over a quantity of personal items to Ms. Dannette Dowers - House Mother of the Lady of Guadeloupe Home for Girls.





This donation came as a result of the devastation suffered when the Home was completely gutted by fire on the evening of Monday 30th March.





The Board of Directors of the facility issued a call to the general public for donations of supplies that would begin to restore some form of normalcy to the lives of the devastated young ladies.





Trinitys Provost and Dean, Francis Purcell PhD., immediately began enquiries to ascertain what was required in the short term and, based on that, a drive commenced among the student population.





Dr. Frances Jack, Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs followed through on that drive.





Students were more than willing to donate, especially given that Trinity Medical Science University maintains a relation with the institution, established through organized interactions with its student members of the Trinity Chapter of the Christian Medical Students Association. The Trinity student worked with the young ladies through scheduled visits, teaching various skills.





Handing over the items on behalf of Trinity were Administrative Assistants Nasha Neverson-Pitt and Nyasha Lewis. They both expressed satisfaction in being able to assist, and the hope that the donation would bring some form of relief to the girls.





House Mother Dannette thanked Trinity and its students for their kind gesture.





She noted that the readjustment of the girls is taking some time. "They are trying, she said, "they are trying to make merry. Once they are happy, I am grateful.





The House Mother also reported that counsellors were still holding sessions with her charges.





Trinity Medical Science University pledges to be right there as the process towards rebuilding the Home and reinstating its programmes continues.




As the Easter holiday approaches, world leaders and health officials are fervently warning that the hard-won gains in the fight against the coronavirus must not be jeopardized by relaxing social distancing.

A spike in deaths in Britain and New York and surges of reported new infections in Japan and in India's congested cities make it clear that the battle is far from over.

We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. But it's not a time to be complacent. It's not a time to do anything different than we've been doing.

The U.S. has by far the most confirmed cases, with over 430,000 people infected three times the number of the next three countries combined. New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, for an overall death toll of almost 6,300. New York has more than 40% of the U.S. death total of around 15,000.

In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn cautioned that the positive trend in reduced new infections must be cemented. So it is right to remain consistent over Easter, he told the Handelsblatt newspaper Thursday.

Even if it is difficult in this weather, we should stay home and refrain from family visits so that the infection curve does not rise again.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also emphasized that people shouldn't travel as usual, saying even short trips inside Germany, to the seaside or the mountains or relatives, can't happen over Easter this year. In New Zealand, police warned people not to drive to their holiday homes over Easter or they would be risking arrest.

It's simple - travelling to and from different towns and cities risks spreading COVID-19, and puts lives at risk, police said.

Lithuania is restricting public movement and imposing a lockdown on major cities during Easter to prevent the further spread of infection in the predominantly Catholic nation.

Greece also tightened restrictions ahead of next week's Orthodox Easter celebrations, increasing police roadblocks along highways and secondary roads, doubling fines for lockdown violations and banning travel between islands.

Swiss police were seeking to dissuade drivers from heading to the Italian-speaking Ticino region, the only part of Switzerland south of the Alps and one of the worst-hit by the pandemic. Roadblocks were being set up near the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel to separate out would-be visitors.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious-diseases expert, said the Trump administration has been working on plans to eventually reopen the country amid evidence that social distancing is working. But he said it's not time to scale back such measures.

Keep your foot on the accelerator because this is what is going to get us through this, he said.

Fauci said the coronavirus pandemic will demand permanent changes in people's behavior until a vaccine is found and developed. He said everyone now should be constantly washing their hands and sick children and adults should not go to school or work.

Don't anybody ever shake hands again, he said, smiling.

I mean, it sounds crazy, but that's the way it's really got to be until we get to a point where we know the population is protected (with a vaccine)."



In a potentially worrying development in South Korea, at least 74 people diagnosed as having recovered from the new coronavirus tested positive for a second time after they were released from the hospital.

Health authorities were testing their virus and serum samples to determine whether those patients could again be infectious to others.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johonson spent a third night in intensive care due to COVID-19 infection. On Wednesday night, authorities said he was improving and sitting up in bed. The country posted its highest death toll in a single day Wednesday, with 938 virus-related deaths, and feared it could break that record again Thursday.

Japan reported more than 500 new cases for the first time Thursday, a worrisome rise since it has the world's oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious in the elderly.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency but not a lockdown in Tokyo and six other prefectures earlier this week. Companies in the world's third-largest economy have been slow to embrace working from home and Abe appears to be concerned about keeping the economy going.

Many commuters jammed Tokyo's streets as usual on Thursday.

But Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who has outlined business closure plans that are tougher than the Abe's, said the city is in a dire situation with new cases surging and cannot delay non-essential business shutdowns for two more weeks.

The spread of the infections are so fast in Tokyo that we cannot wait that long, she said.

India, whose 1.3 billion people are under a lockdown until next week, has sealed off dozens of hot spots in and around New Delhi, the capital. It will supply residents with food and medicine but allow them to leave. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 5,000, with 166 deaths.

Worldwide, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has climbed to nearly 1.5 million, with nearly 90,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The true numbers are almost certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and the efforts of some governments to conceal the extent of outbreaks in their nations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Student nurses are applying pressure on post-secondary institutes to resume practicum placements as soon as possible  a move that would be welcomed by the province  so they can support the novel coronavirus response efforts.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Student nurses are applying pressure on post-secondary institutes to resume practicum placements as soon as possible  a move that would be welcomed by the province  so they can support the novel coronavirus response efforts.

As demand for health-care services mounts, alongside an increasing count of COVID-19 cases, students are anxious to start working as registered nurses to alleviate pandemic pressures on the Manitoba health-care system  but schools have delayed practicums.

"Placing nursing practicums on hold is not in the best interest of the public; it contributes to further nursing shortages," said Mitch Podworny, a final-year student at Red River College who was two weeks into his placement when it was called off indefinitely March 19.

It has since been announced Podwornys cohorts will resume practicums in September, which means there will be a six-month delay before the class can graduate.

Red River has suspended all work-integrated learning, citing student safety and government guidelines to reduce the exposure and transmission of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the University of Manitoba has pushed senior practicum start dates back one month for 116 students in order to figure out logistics due to COVID-19 disruptions and swap positions so students are in lower-risk placements.

Lanette Siragusa, Manitoba's chief nursing officer, says delayed graduations have a longer-term impact on health care, but will respect institutions decisions on the matter. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)

At the same time, Shared Health has made clear it will continue to welcome students into "clinically appropriate settings with mentorship and supervision to support their learning." In recent weeks, the province has sent notices to educational institutes about its stance on the matter.

Podworny, 23, said a number of his approximately two dozen classmates want the option to continue with their practicum in order to lessen the load on health-care workers. If liability is a concern, Podworny said, he would be more than willing to sign a waiver.

Red River spokesman Conor Lloyd said in a statement Wednesday the decision to postpone practicums wasnt taken lightly.

Senior nursing students require more than 450 hours of training and oversight from experienced nurses in the health-care system, which is "currently under a lot of pressure," Lloyd said. He also cited the fact nursing students arent supervised by clinical instructors, meaning there is a greater level of responsibility placed on nurse supervisors.

"We, as students, would like the opportunity to help our fellow Manitobans, and provide safe, compassionate and quality care," said Jason Juell, a final-year Red River nursing student who had expected to graduate in the coming months.

Juell said the college has prepared his class with clinical and theory courses for an event such as COVID-19.

Katherine Stansfield of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba is working with educators to figure out if there is any flexibility in how standards are met, but noted practicums are important and can't be shortened. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files)

For the time being, the 33-year-old has returned to the workforce as a licensed practical nurse so he can work on the front lines. Hes hopeful the Winnipeg-based college will reverse its decision and allow students to obtain registered nurse status as soon as possible.

"We wouldn't force them to work with COVID-19 patients, unless they were willing and wanting to, but there's lots of other work that can be done," said Lanette Siragusa, Manitoba chief nursing officer, during a virtual news conference Wednesday.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

While Siragusa said delayed graduations have a longer-term impact on health care, she said she respects institutions decisions on the matter.

Hundreds of students have already volunteered in the pandemic response, assuming roles ranging from data collection in the province's epidemiology and surveillance unit to screening patients for COVID-19 outside hospitals.

Katherine Stansfield of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, the body that approves nursing programs, is currently working with educators to figure out if there is any flexibility in how standards are met. While there are considerations about additional virtual labs, she said practicum is a "very important'' part of a nurses education that cannot be shortened.

There are approximately 13,000 registered nurses, graduate nurses and nurse practitioners in Manitoba.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
.- President Yoweri Museveni in the latest measures to enforce physical distance banned all outdoor activities

- This followed a public outcry after an increase in number of people engaging in physical exercise in groups

- Museveni commented on concerns raised over the disruption of business and education saying they were not a priority at the moment

- According to the head of state, it was safe to be indoors and bored than be outside and end in the grave

Uganda registered one new case of COVID-19 to take its national tally to 53 on Wednesday, April 8.

While addressing the nation, President Yoweri Museveni said 214 people had been tested and one result was positive at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.

READ ALSO: WHO chief Tedros says he has been receiving death threats, insults for being black

President Yoweri Museveni said 214 people had been tested and one result was positive. Photo: Daily Monitor

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: COVID-19 information at their mercies: CAS Mwangangi, journalist Korir studied together

Museveni thanked Ugandans for adhering to the cumulative preventive guidelines, saying the low numbers of confirmed cases with no deaths were a sign of the effectiveness of the measures.

The head of state, however, said some of his countrymen had complained about being inconvenienced by the lockdown, claiming that it was affecting education and business.

He sarcastically warned them saying it was not about convenience, businesses or education but the measures in place were to prevent mass deaths.

READ ALSO: Wearing masks religiously will help many Kenyans survive COVID-19 crisis unscathed

There are some characters who play with fire because this disease is very dangerous. Therefore, those playing with this should stop," he said.

"They should stop saying nonsense; this is not about inconvenience; that you are bored; that is good, you could be in the grave where there is no boredom, Museveni added.

As such, he banned outdoor exercising saying those who wanted to exercise should do so from their rooms or compounds.

READ ALSO: Wellwishers come to the rescue of Kayole woman, seven children evicted by landlady over KSh 6k arrears

According to Museveni, COVID-19 was easy to control if people took personal responsibility of constant hand washing and avoid touching their faces.

He said more deaths were being registered in Europe, and particularly Italy, due to liberalism.

The president further noted China was able to control the coronavirus outbreak because when the government asked everyone to keep indoors, they adhered.

READ ALSO: God is great: Disabled Kenyan woman in wheelchair overjoyed after finding love, giving birth

In Europe, however, Museveni said, everybody considers themselves as too big to listen to the government.

He said Africa was not battling the COVID-19 pandemic but rather a social discipline because the lifestyles were different.

In the last 24 hours, except the USA with 1,528 deaths, Europe once again recorded the day's highest COVID-19 deaths in the world.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Lockdown in Wuhan, China lifted after 76 days

The UK registered 938 deaths, Spain 628, Italy 542, France 541, Belgium 205, Germany 176, and Netherlands 147 deaths.

In Africa, Algeria once again topped the continent with the highest deaths at 12 followed by Egypt with nine, South Africa (5), Burkina Faso (4), Morocco (3) and Mali (2).

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
MBABANE - The coronavirus pandemic has really hit home. This follows the confirmation of two new positive cases; this time around being a health practitioner and a local woman who gave birth just on Tuesday.



This essentially means that Eswatini now has 12 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus although six of them, according to the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, have been discharged.



Nkosi announced the two new cases yesterday afternoon during a press conference held at the Cabinet Offices. Case number 11 is a man of 44 years from the Hhohho Region, a medical practitioner who tested positive, but we are yet to confirm the source of transmission, said Nkosi.

Nkosi said this clinician presented with a fever, but no other symptom and was currently being monitored at home.



Sensitivity



Even though the minister did not state, the clinician, it was reliably gathered, is a doctor in one of the private clinics. However, they will not be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.



She said the ministry was already conducting contact tracing for all those who had been working with him and those he was working with (his clients) including colleagues, family and friends.



Nkosi said case number 12 was that of a 36-year-old woman of Manzini Region, who had no travel history outside the country, but had regular contact with a frequent traveller to South Africa.

The minister said the woman had mild symptoms with a cough, but no fever and had been tested on Saturday April 4, 2020.

Nkosi said the results were confirmed yesterday, a day after she had given birth.



The ministry is taking all steps to ensure that all those who were in contact with her in the ward, all the health workers and mothers who were there and all the other workers in the hospital including her family and her other contacts are actively traced, said Nkosi.



The minister said she and her baby were being moved to the Lubombo Referral Hospital where they would have a private room of their own. However, it was later gathered that the woman had given birth to twins. Nkosi further announced that six of the 12 had been discharged and they had tested negative.

She said out of the six, one person had been discharged from the Lubombo Referral Hospital to be monitored at home.



Nkosi, in her remarks, stated that the ministry would like to reemphasise the importance of cooperating with it. All patients that have been confirmed and are positive have a duty to comply with the expectations to be registered for care with the COVID-19 Treatment Management team within the Ministry of Health, said Nkosi.



She said any person who had tested positive outside the country had a duty to then report to the ministry that they had a certificate that showed that they were positive and call 977 to make sure that they were properly managed and could not infect others.



Nkosi requested the public to cooperate and work with the Rapid Response teams as they went out to actively find cases of COVID-19. She said thus far they would like to pass their gratitude to those who had been cooperating with them and that the work would continue throughout the week, including the following one.



Masks



The minister further said all suspected cases of COVID-19 should wear masks both at home or while going out in public.

Nkosi said people who had colds should also wear masks to protect others from catching that cold. The minister said there were a variety of masks which were in the market that could be considered, in particular homemade ones.



She said homemade masks had the advantage in the fact that they could be washed in soap and water, be disinfected and be reused.

Please wear a mask if you have a cold or if you are not feeling well and you are going out into the public, she said. She again reminded the public to please stay at home, if they did not have anywhere to go as this was the only way they could contain the virus.



She urged the public to wash their hands with soap and water regularly to make sure that they not only protected themselves, but those around them. Nkosi also reminded the public of the importance of covering ones mouth whenever they sneezed or coughed to make sure that others were not infected.

Remember to keep a distance from the people you are working and living with to make sure that you provide space so that you do not infect one another, she said.
A 40-year-old man has been charged after he allegedly stole a twin-cab ute with a sleeping five-year-old boy in the back seat, as police appeal for details of a similar but unrelated incident earlier this week.

The Bucasia man was charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle, serious assault and possession of dangerous drugs after the incident in north Mackay on Wednesday.

He was due to face Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday.

It followed an incident in the Lockyer Valley in which a car was stolen from a shop car park with a three-year-old boy still inside.
This visualization not only mirrors the spread of the disease itself, but our data shows exactly how the coronavirus story was presented in national and regional media outlets as the pandemic grew

Czech-based data analytics and risk assessment firm Semantic Visions (SV) has released to YouTube a dramatic geospatial visualization of the spread of the novel Coronavirus in the worlds online media.

This visualization not only mirrors the spread of the disease itself, but our data shows exactly how the coronavirus story was presented in national and regional media outlets as the pandemic grew, explains CEO Frantisek Vrabel.

The video, which was based on the semantic analysis of 82,283,207 articles in the worlds 10 major languages, shows how global awareness of the disease grew from a few almost imperceptible news stories in early January to global coverage of the pandemic by the end of March.

Our data and analysis have uncovered a trove of information related to the spread of the virus, said Vrabel. Not only can we see how the disease was presented in Chinese media at the outset of the pandemic, but also how disinformation about Covid-19 was propagated by bad actors, namely out of Russia.

In addition to delivering a report to the U.S. Department of State detailing the spread of Covid19-related disinformation, SV is using its data in the global effort to mitigate the effects of the virus on the worlds economy. The firm recently partnered with SAP Ariba, the worlds leading procurement and supply chain company, to build a portal detailing global supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic.

SV has over 15 years of experience in OSINT data collection and is one of the very few organizations capable of delivering an overarching view of the global online media landscape. SV has long-term practical experience in detecting hostile propaganda and disinformation and in March 2019 took first place in the US-UK Tech Challenge for its development of proprietary technology that can identify and track disinformation and propaganda around the globe.

For more information about Semantic Visions, contact media@semantic-visions.com.
NEW YORK

April 8, 2020

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www.BreakthruBev.com

/PRNewswire/ -- Breakthru Beverage Group, a leading North American beverage distributor with operations acrossand, today announced acommitment to partner with local nonprofit organizations, restaurants, and restaurant groups to purchase meals for front-line responders battling the COVID-19 outbreak and vulnerable populations affected by it, such as children and the elderly. This includes a contribution to the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation (RWCF) in addition to supporting Breakthru's 13 U.S. markets and Canadian operations by partnering with non-profits, local restaurants and restaurant groups.Breakthru is proud to partner with the RWCF, a 501c3 nonprofit created by and for restaurant workers whose mission includes advocacy and support of those in the industry. Funds directed to RWCF during the COVID-19 crisis will offer relief to individual out-of-work restaurant workers through non-profit organizations serving restaurant workers in crisis."During these uncertain times, we have been inspired and motivated by the camaraderie of our industry. Together, we are resilient, and I am confident that we will overcome the challenges we're currently navigating through partnership," said, President and CEO of Breakthru Beverage Group. "We want to thank the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation for the support they offer to this critical industry and employees during this crisis and year-round. Their commitment to those who help our industry thrive is inspiring and we are honored to support their efforts.""With thousands of restaurants closed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, we've seen the devastating impact it has had on restaurant workers and their families across the country," said, RWCF Co-Founder and Board President. "Breakthru Beverage has truly stepped up to support struggling restaurant workers and we're grateful for their partnership and generosity."Across its local U.S. markets and, Breakthru Beverage Group is also providing financial support to local nonprofit organizations, restaurants or restaurant groups that provide meals for front line responders including healthcare workers and vulnerable populations such as children or the elderly during these challenging times."Across our footprint, our support for local communities has been a defining characteristic of Breakthru for generations," added. "We recognize that we are in a unique position to leverage our scale and resources to offer relief and feel honored to help support those who have put their lives on the line and those who are particularly vulnerable today."As the impacts from the COVID-19 public health crisis continues to unfold, Breakthru Beverage Group remains committed to serving as a responsible and attentive partner across its North American footprint. Breakthru will continue to evaluate opportunities to make a positive impact in the communities in which its associates live and work while keeping the health and wellness of its associates and partners at the center of its decisions. Additional information regarding Breakthru's market efforts will be shared locally concurrent with related activities.Breakthru Beverage Group is one of the leading alcohol wholesalers inand the largest broker inrepresenting a full total beverage alcohol portfolio of spirits, wine and beer. Across all markets and and, Breakthru aligns a nimble and insightful approach to sales, marketing and operations. Family ownership is active in the business and committed to being stewards of heritage and champions of innovation. For more information, visitRestaurant Workers' Community Foundation (RWCF) is an advocacy and action 501c3 nonprofit created by and for restaurant workers. RWCF was founded in 2018 to advocate for gender equality, racial justice, fair wages, and healthy work environments in the restaurant industry. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, RWCF's full focus is on supporting workers, small business owners, and an industry in crisis through its Restaurant Workers COVID19 Crisis Relief Fund. The fund is structured to address three needs: the majority of funds will go to Southern Smoke Foundation to support restaurant industry workers who are in immediate financial crisis; remaining funds will support organizations working to provide crisis relief (in areas such as mental health support, childcare, and food pantries), and to establish a no-interest, no-collateral loan program to help small businesses get back up and running after this crisis has passed. For more information, please visit www.RestaurantWorkersCF.org.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breakthru-beverage-pledges-500-000-to-covid-19-relief-efforts-301037523.html



SOURCE Breakthru Beverage Group




GARDAI are appealing to motorists who are staying at home during the current public health restrictions, ensure their cars are locked and that nothing valuable is left inside.

A number of cars have been broken into across Limerick in recent weeks as opportunistic thieves take advantage of the reduced levels of movement.

Because everyone is observing the Governments restrictions on staying indoors, our cars are going to be parked up outside our homes and in our driveways and these are the most common places for thefts from cars to happen, said divisional crime prevention officer, Sergeant Ber Leetch.

The main reason for this is because people think their cars are safe and dont lock them or check properly that they are locked, she added.

In one recent incident which is under investigation, a lady in the Castletroy area woke at around 5am on Monday and looked out to see a male in her car.

She had the good sense not to go out to him but she did bang on her front door and he ran off. She had left her car unlocked and the male ran off with some cash and her bank card, said Sgt Leetch.

In another incident, also in Castletroy on the same night, a lady reported to gardai that cash and her bank card were taken from her unlocked car.

Gardai say they are aware that criminals are out and about checking to see if cars are locked and then helping themselves to anything of value if they can.

Dont give the criminals the chance to steal from you, lock your car every time you walk away from it and dont leave anything of value in it, said Sgt Leetch.
In these hard for all of us times, NARGIS Publishing house, caring for the compatriots and supporting an action #EvdQal, provides free access to the digital-version of the magazine. The April issue, under the topic "Dream" is available for download on the official website of the publication www.nargismagazine.com. Inside the magazine you will find an exclusive interview with actress, model, "Bond girl"  Olga Kurilenko, get acquainted with fashion trends of this spring, read horoscope for April from astrologer and useful advice of psychologist, find out where and when to watch the best world productions and other cultural programs online, as well as go on a mental trip with the heading Travel Blog Love, Nargis. Everything interesting from the world of fashion, art and culture is waiting for you!

An archive is also available on the site: you can read any digitized issue of NARGIS magazine. As many as 70 issues are available! During forced self-isolation and quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic, upcoming issues of the magazine will also be in the public domain for everyone!

NARGIS is a magazine about life, culture, art, fashion. The magazine has been published since 2012 in print format and has an electronic version in three languages: Azerbaijani, Russian and English. The editor-in-chief is Ulviyya Mahmudova.

Active download link  https://www.nargismagazine.az/#issue_70

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said 12 new coronavirus positive cases were reported, taking the total number presently under treatment to 258.

The number of cumulative cases, including those treated and cured, now stands at 357.

Two deaths had been reported previously, but those patients had other serious underlying ailments.

"Today there are 1,36,195 people under observation at homes and 723 at various hospitals in the state," said Vijayan.

He also said that eight foreign tourists have completely recovered and have been discharged.

Meanwhile, the police registered 2,206 cases, recorded the arrest of 2,166 people and seized 1,450 vehicles for violating curfew norms.
The cost of pollution is headed for its biggest weekly gain in more than two years in Europe on optimism that the economy is preparing to snap back from coronavirus-imposed lockdowns.

After falling 25 per cent in March, the price of permits to emit carbon dioxide is still well below where it started the year. The gains are a sign that investors are making bets on industrial production recovering and governments looking for ways to loosen restrictions on activity.

It looks like carbon is currently in the hands of speculative positions, taking the momentum from the wider uptick in financial markets, said Marcus Ferdinand, head of EU power and carbon analytics at ICIS.

Higher carbon costs add to the cost of electricity and have helped pare declines in German and French power contracts, most of which have registered strong gains in the past five days.

Carbon for delivery in December is up almost 20 per cent to 21.16 euros a ton. That compares with a low this year of 14.34 in March and as much as 29.95 a ton last year.

The options market has been signalling carbon prices will move higher, with more investors making bets that the market will rise than those who are betting on a fall. The call with the most open interest is the option to buy at 65 euros a ton, more than triple the futures price. Open interest is a measure of market bets that have not closed.

Bidding in the almost-daily auctions of carbon allowances has been mixed. The average cover ratio so far this month is 1.7, down from two last month, according to data from the European Energy Exchange AG.

Buying activity has been boosted in April because factories, power stations and airlines in the system need to hand in allowances by the end of this month to cover 2019. Next month, the compliance purchases will wane.

As economies remain shuttered, the impact could reverse some of carbons gains.

The sudden shutdown of the European economy with a strong decline in the use of coal-fired power generation justifies a price reduction in the short term, Barbara Lambrecht, an energy analyst at Commerzbank AG, wrote in a note.
Attorney General William Barr hasn't been terribly subtle about where he stands on the appropriateness of the Russia investigation. He wrote an unsolicited, extensive memo deriding it 2017, suggesting a conspiracy theory involving the Clintons had was more worthy of investigation. When an inspector general issued a report in December saying the investigation was properly founded, Barr put out an extraordinary statement disagreeing with that.

And now, Barr has gone quite a bit further. He's explicitly leaning into President Donald Trump's long-standing allegation that this was a witch hunt intended to bring down a president. Before we even get the report from U.S. attorney John Durham, who is examining the origins of the Russia probe, Barr has declared this to be a historic scandal.

"What happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history," Barr said in a clip played Fox News on Wednesday night. "Without any basis, they started this investigation of his campaign, and even more concerning actually is what happened after the campaign - a whole pattern of events while he was president . . . to sabotage the presidency - or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency."

Barr's comments go further than what he said in December. After Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz found that the investigation had an "authorized purpose" and that he found no evidence of political animus, Barr issued a statement.

"The inspector general's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Barr said at the time. He added that Horowitz's report amounted to "malfeasance and misfeasance" and "a clear abuse of the FISA process."

Barr added in an interview with ABC News at the time that it was a "travesty" and said that "the greatest danger" to our government is using government assets "to spy on political opponents, but also to use them in a way that could affect the outcome of the election." He was careful to say, though, that he would await the investigation before determining if that's what happened.

"I think that leaves open the possibility for bad faith," Barr said. "I think it's premature now to reach a judgment on that, but I think further work has to be done and that's what Durham is doing."

Barr has now apparently reached a judgment on that, even without Durham's report. While he called it a "travesty" before, he's now calling it "one of the greatest travesties in American history." While he said that the evidence was "insufficient" before, he's now saying the probe was "without any basis" whatsoever. While he said that he couldn't yet say if it was done in "bad faith" before, he now says it was done "to sabotage the presidency - or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency."

That last phrase is conspicuous. Barr alleges that this was indeed a political effort to take Trump down - letting that linger - and then pulls it back a bit by allowing for the possibility that it wasn't necessarily intended as such. Barr is a very smart lawyer who knows how to choose his words carefully. The idea that he would carelessly toss out such a firm, final judgment about this being an effort to "sabotage" Trump without believing it or wanting to plant that seed seems extremely unlikely.

It's not difficult to see where this is going. But then again, it wasn't too difficult to see where it was going when Barr was confirmed as attorney general. At the time, it was noted that he said in 2017 that the Russia investigation was less substantiated than various investigations of the Clintons, including one debunked theory involving Uranium One.

"I have long believed that the predicate for investigating the uranium deal, as well as the [Clinton] Foundation, is far stronger than any basis for investigating so-called 'collusion,' " Barr told the New York Times's Peter Baker at the time. "Likewise the basis for investigating various 'national security' activities carried out during the election . . ."

Barr was pressed on that first one during his confirmation, and he said, "I have no knowledge of Uranium One. I didn't particularly think that was necessarily something that should be pursued aggressively." So if you combine those two statements, he "long believed" that Uranium One investigation would be more substantiated than the Russia probe, despite knowing nothing about it and not thinking it was particularly important.

You could sure be forgiven for thinking he actually reached the determination he expressed Wednesday more than three years ago.
A man has been shot after he allegedly crashed a stolen car and tried to steal another car at knifepoint before threatening police in a nearby park.

Emergency services were called to the scene on Oxley Station Road about 2pm on Thursday after reports of a traffic crash.

People were urged to avoid part of the southern suburb of Oxley as emergency services responded to the incident  the second police shooting this week.

Multiple vehicles were reported to be involved, with footage from the scene showing one car crumpled into the rear of another and a person being carried into an ambulance.
Secret sections of a landmark report into child sex abuse may soon be made public, revealing details about the conduct of Cardinal George Pell.

During the Royal Commission set up to investigate historic child sex abuse, parts of the report containing information about Cardinal Pell's handling of allegations were unpublished.

This is due to fears it could prejudice his trial, but proceedings are no longer active after his conviction was quashed on Tuesday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has now personally asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to release the secret sections of the report.

Scroll down for video

Cardinal George Pell (pictured) is seen on Tuesday after being released from Barwon Prison after the High Court overturned his conviction

It is said to discuss Cardinal Pell's handling of allegations of sexual abuse by priests early in his career.

Prosecutors have confirmed there are no current of future court cases that could be prejudiced by the report being published in full.

But Attorney-General Christian Porter said it could still be weeks before it is made public.

A former adviser to the Pope, and Australia's most prominent figure in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Pell was released from prison on Tuesday after 405 days.

Commissioners Justice Peter McClellan (pictured, left) and Justice Jennifer Coates (right) at the final sitting of the commission on December 14 2017

Cardinal George Pell was spotted buying a phone charger at a service station in Victoria on his first day of freedom on Wednesday (pictured)

He was jailed for six years in 2018 for sexually abusing two choirboys in Saint Patrick's Cathedral in 1996, but his convictions have been quashed.

Two of three Court of Appeals justices at the upheld the jury's verdict last year, but a full bench of the High Court unanimously quashed the convictions.

After his successful appeal, acquitting Cardinal Pell of all charges, the Victorian government said there was no reason to not release the report, full and un-redacted.

The hidden section concerns the period in the early 1980s when Cardinal Pell was working as a 'consultor' to Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns.

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which was set up in 2013, found Mulkearns moved priest Gerald Ridsdale - who was a serial paedophile - between parishes, despite knowing about the abuse.

A child's tricycle is seen on the gate of the Carmelite Monastery (pictured) where Cardinal George Pell is staying in Kew, Melbourne on Wednesday

Pell leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on June 6 2019 after his initial conviction (pictured)

The report said Mulkearns either 'knew or strong suspected' that priests were sexually abusing children.

'There is no doubt from the many documents which are in evidence that, at various times, Bishop Mulkearns, the bishop of Ballarat, knew or strongly suspected that these priests had sexually abused children in the diocese,' the report said.

It concluded that children were abused over decades by serial paedophile priests, largely because Mulkearns allowed it to happen and cared only about protecting the church's reputation.

The report also found that Mulkearns had little concern for the victims and deliberately left them in danger - failing to report any incidents to police.

George Pell is seen on Tuesday (pictured) after being released from prison, having spent 405 days behind bars

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) has called for the report to be released in full

'His concern was overwhelmingly about protecting the reputation of the church and avoiding scandal,' the report read.

'There was little evidence that he was concerned to protect children from these priests.'

Mulkearns managed the diocese from 1971, during a time when several paedophiles - including Gerald Ridsdale, Robert Best and Edward Dowlan - were abusing children.

One of Ridsdale's victims - his own nephew David - alleged that he told Pell about the abuse he endured, but was encouraged to keep quiet.

Cardinal Pell has denied this allegation.

The freed cardinal spent his first night out of prison at the Carmelite Monastery in Melbourne, with protesters leaving a lone child's tricycle outside.

Haunting pictures show the small red bike tied to the monastery's front gates, surrounded by colourful ribbons.

While not mentioning Cardinal Pell by name, Pope Francis offered his Tuesday morning mass for those who suffer from unjust sentences.

'I would like to pray today for all those people who suffer unjust sentences resulting from intransigence (against them),' the Pope said.
NEW HAVEN  The owners of 50s Lounge in Westville have sued Mayor Justin Elicker and Gov. Ned Lamont, alleging, among other claims, that restrictions implemented during the coronavirus pandemic violate their constitutional rights.

Attorney Kevin Smith of Pattis & Smith LLC, representing owners Michael Amato and Joy Monsanto, filed the suit in U.S. District Court Friday.

It raises two sets of allegations: that Elicker defamed the business by claiming it was still holding parties after it had closed, and that Elicker and Lamont violated a series of Amatos and Monsantos constitutional rights by limiting the size of gatherings.

Lamonts office declined to comment Wednesday, as did Gage Frank, spokesman for Elicker.

According to the complaint, Amato and Monsanto closed 50s Lounge on March 15. This story was first reported by the Connecticut Law Journal.

But on March 20, Smith alleges, Elicker erroneously claimed that 50s Lounge was endangering the health and welfare of its community and customers by breaking the new law regarding crowd sizes being limited to no more than ten people, which was instituted after the business already had been shuttered.

Smith also alleges that a representative of the mayors office shared with WTNH News8 a photo of a past party, inaccurately describing it as having taken place after the 10-peroson limit on gatherings.

Rather than rising to the opportunity to lead during a legitimate health crisis, Mayor Elicker instead weaponized growing fears about the pandemic to brutally attack the Plaintiffs and their business in a vulnerable time, hoping to curry favor with certain sectors of the electorate who had opposed the Plaintiffs establishment, while simultaneously seeking retribution for the Plaintiffs support of his political rivals, Smith said in the complaint.

The Defendants knew that the Plaintiffs had closed proactively on March 15, and yet they accused the Plaintiffs of criminal conduct in an outrageous effort to not only directly interfere with the Plaintiffs business, but to cripple it entirely, he said in the complaint.

Amato and Monsanto are seeking compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages for the first set of allegations, arguing that Elickers conduct was either intentional or undertaken with deliberate and reckless indifference to the truth constituting actual malice.

In the second set of allegations, Amato and Monsanto argue that Elicker and Lamont violated the First and 14th Amendments to the Constitution by unduly abridging their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

The suit also alleges Elicker denied Monsanto and Amato equal protection under the law, thus violating the 14th Amendment, as he allegedly publicly slandered and defamed the Plaintiffs because, at least in part, of Plaintiff Monsantos race and the Plaintiffs actions in restoring minority communities and supporting political opponents of Defendant Elicker.

Lamont is also alleged to have effectively taken the value of business without compensation, as his order limiting the activities of businesses and deciding which businesses can remain open based on their purposes regulates the use of private property to such a degree that it effectively deprives the Plaintiffs of the economically reasonable use of their property to the point where it deprives them of the value of their property.

The suit seeks to have Elickers order limiting gatherings to no more than 10 people and Lamonts restrictions on businesses and gatherings declared unconstitutional, and an injunction preventing them from being enforced, as well as compensatory and economic damages.

The legal action, Smith wrote in the complaint, demonstrates the vital need, even in these unprecedented times, to scrutinize the motives and rationales given by leaders who ask for public sacrifices of civil liberties.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Suspend rites of Holy Week in time of COVID-19

Joseph Prathan Sridarunsil, Bishop of Suratthani Diocese, has issued a notice regarding Easter services. The notice is as follows:

Thursday 9 April 2020, 11:38AM

St Josephs Church in Cherng Talay. Photo: Supplied / file

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments given the Decree No. 153/2020 dated on 19 March 2020 let the individual dioceses see to it that resources are provided to support the soon coming celebrations, Holy Week and Easter. The Thai PM announced that Thailand is under emergency decree from March 26, until the end of April, 2020 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

As local ordinary, I therefore announce that Sunday and weekday masses remain suspended until the end of April, 2020 and give a guidance for Holy Week as following:

1. Palm Sunday. The public Commemoration be suspended.

2. The Chrism Mass. Be transferred until further notice for all priests.

3. Holy Thursday.

- The faculty to celebrate Mass in a suitable place, without the presence of the people, is exceptionally granted to all priests.

- The washing of feet, which is already optional, is to be omitted.

- At the end of the Mass of the Lords Supper the procession is also omitted and the Blessed Sacrament is to be kept in the tabernacle.

4. Good Friday. The adoration of the Cross be suspended.

5. The Easter Vigil. The public celebration be suspended.

6. Easter Sunday. The public Mass be suspended.

All faithful are invited to follow the celebrations through online service of the diocese at https://www.facebook.com/MSCatholicSRT

Through the intercession of Virgin Mary, May God bless all of us and keep us safe.

Msgr. Joseph Prathan Sridarunsil

Bishop of Suratthani Diocese
The World Bank on Thursday warned sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter of century because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We project that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4 per cent in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1 per cent in 2020, the first recession in the region in 25 years," the Bank said in an assessment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A doctor has said that difficult decisions will have to be made as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses in Northern Ireland.

The GPs comments come after a Derry woman whose father contracted coronavirus in a care home claimed that patients with the illness in homes werent being taken to hospital for intensive care.

Alan Stout, chair of BMAs Northern Ireland general practitioners committee, cautioned that difficult decisions lie ahead for doctors but added that it would be wrong to prioritise patients on the basis of age or disability.

He explained: Our members will continue to provide the safest and best care they can to their patients. There will no doubt be difficult decisions to be made in all areas of health and social care as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses and pressure on services increases.

This is why it is vitally important that there is advanced care planning for patients in care homes should they become unwell.

Dr Stout continued: Care for all patients during this pandemic will be prioritised on the principle of who is most likely to benefit from treatment, the severity of the COVID infection and relevant clinical facts. It would be wrong to prioritise on the basis of age or disability.

We would continue to call on the public to support our doctors, nurses and all frontline healthcare workers, who are all working under extremely pressurised conditions to treat and care for COVID-19 patients, by staying at home as much as you possibly can. Lives depend on it.

The Department of Health was asked if there is any difference in policy approach for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in care homes.

A spokesperson for the Department refuted that suggestion saying: The assessment for admission to hospital will be identical for the resident of a care home as for an individual in their own home.

Similarly, admission to an ICU will be based on the same assessment for all patients and their residential status is not a consideration.
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Mayor Bill de Blasio says he is trying to get Staten Islands two private hospitals additional medical staff, like he has for the rest of the citys public hospitals and insisted Thursday he has sent a constant flow of supplies to the boroughs hospitals.

But to this day, Borough President James Oddo said he does not know how many supplies have gone to the Islands two private hospitals and vowed to keep pressuring the mayor to get them more medical staff.

Oddo said he is upset with the city for leaving Richmond University Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital out of its planning for the coronavirus crisis compared to the way it has planned for its public hospitals within the Health+ Hospitals network.

We got punished by not having a public hospital, dont punish us a second time for not having a public hospital or for being part of the Northwell system and having this irrational belief that Northwell will take care of Staten Island, Oddo said of one of the Islands private hospitals --SIUH -- which is part of the Northwell Health hospital system.

Northwell is not the mayor, and Northwell is not a level of government, this is the responsibility of the mayor and city government to step up and treat Staten Islanders fairly and get us our fair share of supplies and medical staffing period. Exclamation point. Expletive, Oddo continued.

Oddos frustration with the city came on the heels of he and 10 other Island elected officials penning a letter to de Blasio for leaving the Island out of two rounds of surge plans for its public hospitals.

Staten Island recently did not receive a cut of the 291 military medical personnel the city deployed to its public hospitals. And the borough was also not included in the citys plan to add 3,000 more ICU beds by May 1 at public hospitals, equip them with more than 2,500 doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians and provide free COVID-19 testing for its staff at their request.

Oddo said he has been pressing the mayor for weeks for more supplies and staffing, but so far, he has only received one breakdown two weeks ago on how many supplies the city sent to the Islands two private hospitals.

He said he has also yet to receive a commitment from the city for additional medical staff and questioned the citys ability to accurately track where its supplies are going.

They have given RUMC and SIUH supplies, to what degree, cant tell you, Oddo said. The one crystal clear data point we have gotten: no staffing. I would give [the city] due credit on supplies if I knew exactly the supplies we got.

Their logistics has been a mess, and Im not sure if theyve had the technological capacity, shockingly enough, to know where their N95s have gone, I think thats why Jimmy ONeill was brought in, Oddo said of the mayor recently appointing the former NYPD police commissioner to oversee the supply and distribution supplies to hospitals citywide.

The mayor said during a press conference with reporters Thursday he had sent constant shipments of needed supplies and equipment to the Islands hospitals.

However, the Department of Health told the Advance last week it does not provide a breakdown of the supplies the city distributes to local hospitals when the paper sought a breakdown of the supplies it had sent to the Island.

Pressed again Thursday, neither City Hall nor the Department of Health could provide a breakdown on the number of supplies it has sent Staten Island to date.

RUMC and SIUH have not been able to provide that breakdown either.

RUMC told the Advance March 30 it received a shipment of N95 masks, gloves, face shields and surgical masks, but has been unable to say exactly how much of each it received.

Meanwhile, all of the supplies SIUH receives from the city go through Northwell Hospitals distribution hub first, which decides where supplies are needed the most within its hospital system. And SIUH has been unable to say which supplies it has received from the city.

The mayor said Thursday the Islands hospitals did not receive any of the 291 military medical staff because his administration sent them to hospitals bearing the brunt of the crisis in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

I am continuing to push the White House and the Defense the Department for many more military personnel and if we get more ... we should be applying them beyond the public hospitals into places like RUMC for example, but we dont have that yet, Ill keep fighting for that, he said.

RUMC and SIUH have said that in order to expand their hospital capacity, they would need more medical staff.

RUMC said Thursday it has requested from the city 60 registered nurses, eight respiratory technicians and four laboratory technicians. SIUH has not provided the Advance with a breakdown of the additional staff it needs.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

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A 71-year-old Alabama law prohibiting people from wearing masks in public will not be enforced against those who wear medical masks covering only the nose and mouth, Attorney General Steve Marshalls Office said Wednesday.

But at least one civil rights group is concerned. The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, in an email to AL.com, said the existence of an anti-masking law puts people of color in Alabama at further risk of interacting with law enforcement.

Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said that people of color will have to weigh whether to wear masks given the continued use of excessive and often lethal force against minorities. He referred to an incident that occurred last month at a St. Louis area Walmart in which two black men were told by police to remove their medical masks while inside the store.

We encourage police agencies to resist using this law  or any other  in a way that continues the use of unnecessary citations and arrests during this public health crisis, said Marshall of the ACLU.

Common sense

The attorney generals office said that common sense enforcement would be applied while people were medical masks and cloth face coverings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of last week, is encouraging people to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are sometimes difficult to maintain such as a grocery store or pharmacy.

As numerous Attorney Generals Opinions have noted, words used in a statute must be given their natural, plain, ordinary and commonly understood meaning, according to the statement from the attorney generals office. In this context, the commonly understood use of the term being masked read in context with the rest of this law, would not include wearing medical masks that covers the nose and mouth. Just as statutory interpretation requires common sense, so does the enforcement of said statues.

The Alabama Department of Public Health referred questions to the Attorney Generals Office.

The states largest county health department, however, is urging local police to disregard the state law during the coronavirus crisis.

The Jefferson County Health Department, in a statement, said they are aware of the state law and are in regular contact with state and local officials including law enforcement.

The departments statement reads that there have been no suggestions by any official or law enforcement agency indicating that there is any interest in enforcing this prohibition. In fact, no one has raised the issue, as far as we are aware. The Health Department, of course, strongly encourage all law enforcement officers and agencies to disregard the prohibition during the current crisis.

Rooted in racist past

The CDCs pro-mask position has placed Alabamas anti-masking law in the spotlight.

The law was approved in 1949, at a time when states were looking to separate themselves from the cross-burning and violence of the sheeted Ku Klux Klan. By an 84-4 vote, the Legislature that year made it a misdemeanor (punishable today by a $500 fine, or a year in jail) to appear in public wearing a mask. Gov. Jim Folsom Sr., who held progressive views toward race relations during the era of his political career, signed it into law. Alabama became a trend setter as other Southern states  Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, among others  followed up with similar bans out of concern over the racial violence by the masked Klan.

Wayne Flynt, a political historian and professor emeritus at Auburn University said the anti-masking law is another example of the virulent strain of racism that affects virtually everything that has happened in Alabamas history.

The most violent of white Alabama terrorists from Reconstruction to the 1920s often disguised themselves with masks, said Wayne Flynt, a political historian and professor emeritus at Auburn University. Hence, reformers assumed that if they could not kill, maim, flog and torture with impunity, they were cowardly and afraid of punishment and would desist. Thus, the unmasking laws.

Mardi Gras exception

The Order of Inca parade on Valentine's Day during Mardi Gras festivities Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in downtown Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell)/AL.com)

In Mobile, the city has an anti-mask ordinance specifically carved out to make sure Mardi Gras is an exception. The annual pre-Lenten celebration is organized by masked mystic societies that parade along the city streets.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, during a news conference Tuesday, was asked specifically about whether the citys ordinance ran afoul of the CDCs recommendations.

I think there is a way to overcome that, Stimpson said, adding that he was in discussions with Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bernard Eichold to further discuss mask wearing. But Stimpson also said he wants to make sure that residents are not walking around grocery stores wearing vital personal protection equipment utilized by doctors and nurses on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CDC recommendations, for instance, urge people to wear cloth masks and not hoard N-95 masks.

Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie said he hopes the public abides by the CDCs recommendations.

We are in unusual times that call for an unusual response, he said. I would definitely hope there is some deference paid to those who choose to have a mask on as they go about their daily routines.

Outdated law

At least one scholar on mask laws believes Alabamas law is outdated.

Rob Kahn, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis who has studied the issue of restoring First Amendment protections to mask wearers, said Southern laws crafted to outlaw masks were never intended to reach the ordinary mask wearer.

Anti-masking laws have been centered on free speech debates in recent years, as protestors have been arrested for wearing them. Two examples of recent significance in Alabama: In 2017, campus police at Auburn University forced protestors to remove masks and bandana during a protest against an on-campus speech by white supremacist Richard Spencer; and in 2018, following an officer-involved shooting of a black man at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, the organizer of a protest was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and loitering for wearing a mask.

Flynt, the historian, said an outdated Alabama law conflicting with the CDCs recommendations during the pandemic represents an irony of history.

Said Flynt, What was in Alabama history a painful episode in racism (wearing masks to cloak violence) is now urged by the state as a way of preserving and protecting life.
(Bloomberg) -- Global cases of the coronavirus topped 1.5 million, less than a week after surpassing the 1-million mark. New York, the U.K. and Belgium reported their deadliest days so far. Singapore announced its largest daily increase.

The crisis will escalate if countries dont start showing more solidarity, the head of the World Health Organization said, urging the U.S. and China to show honest leadership and stop bickering.

U.S. Democrats are seeking at least $500 billion in the next stimulus bill, and Hong Kong announced a fresh package valued at about $18 billion. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is stable and responding to treatment at a London hospital.

Key Developments:

Global cases top 1.5 million; deaths pass 88,000: Johns HopkinsSingapore reported its largest daily increaseFederal medical aid to states falls short, House report saysGenome researchers find most NYC cases came from EuropeU.S. recession model at 100% confirms downturn is already hereSmoking helps open gateway to coronavirus infection, study shows

Jack Ma Helps Repair Chinas Image (8:15 a.m. HK)

Chinas richest person is now playing a prominent role in philanthropic efforts that are effectively helping President Xi Jinping improve the countrys image overseas after Covid-19 spread around the world, unleashing a devastating human and economic toll. Thats a stark turn from just 18 months earlier, when Ma had to publicly dispute speculation that the government had prompted him to step down from the e-commerce giant he founded.

Half a Billion People at Risk of Poverty (8:00 a.m. HK)

The economic hit from coronavirus threatens to put more than half a billion people into poverty unless countries take action to cushion the blow, according to a report from the charity group, Oxfam. Under the most serious scenario of a 20% contraction in income, the number of people living in poverty could increase by between 434 million and 611 million, said the report, which is based on an analysis by researchers at Kings College London and the Australian National University.

Story continues

China Has 63 Cases (7:56 a.m. HK)

China had 63 additional confirmed coronavirus cases on April 8, with 61 of them from abroad, according to statement from the countrys National Health Commission. There were 56 asymptomatic cases, half of them from overseas.

Singapore Numbers Surge (7:30 a.m. HK)

The city-state reported its largest daily increase in coronaviruscases on Wednesday, just as the country started a partial lockdown. Authorities said there were 142 new cases, bringing Singapores total to 1,623. An Indian national who died while awaiting his test result was subsequently confirmed to have the infection, according to the Ministry of Health. Investigations are going on to establish the cause of death, it said. If confirmed, that would be the seventh fatality linked to the disease.

Starbucks Sees Six Months of Pain (7:27 a.m. HK)

Starbucks Corp. said a sharp slowdown from the coronavirus pandemic will worsen before getting better, with the financial impact extending as far as September. The company based its assessment on the tentative recovery in the Chinese market, its most important along with the U.S. The coffee chain went through social distancing and mandatory closures in the Asian nation earlier in the year, giving it an early glimpse at how the situation would play out in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Airlines Squeezed By Delays in U.S. Rescue Package (7:13 a.m. HK)

U.S. airlines desperate bid for $29 billion in government rescue cash is being frustrated by a lengthening process and demands that companies provide more detailed financial information, people familiar with the situation said.

Carriers that filed April 3 for the grants intended to help meet payroll costs expected the checks to begin arriving days ago, said people familiar with the aid discussions. Instead, U.S. Treasury officials have asked for another round of data that appears to be more related to a separate loan process instead of the cash grants, further delaying the relief, the people said.

California Has $1.4 Billion Plan to Buy Medical Equipment (5:17 p.m. NY)

California Governor Gavin Newsom secured a deal to import 200 million masks on a monthly basis for health care workers, grocery store employees and others on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic, part of a $1.4 billion planned investment in personal protective equipment.

Some of that equipment could be shared with other states facing shortages, Newsom said at a press briefing Wednesday,

California is just uniquely resourced, Newsom said. It can use the kind of scale that few other states, few other countries can even resource, so were pleased to do that and its our responsibility to do more.

Read more here

U.S. Cases Climb 9.6%, Deaths Top 14,000 (4:20 p.m. NY)

The growth in U.S. coronavirus cases showed signs of slowing Wednesday, even as deaths accelerated in some of the hardest-hit states.

U.S. cases rose 9.6% from the day before to 419,975 as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Cases nationally had been climbing an average of 11% a day over the past week. Deaths rose 19% to 14,262.

New York had another day of record fatalities, reporting 779 more deaths. The state has lost more than 1,500 to the virus over the past two days, for a total of almost 6,300. Still, Governor Andrew Cuomo said hospitalizations are falling, showing social distancing is working.

Nobody is saying we peaked, Cuomo said. Weve flattened the curve for this point of time.

New Jersey reported a record 275 deaths. California also had one of its deadliest days, with 68 fatalities. Illinois had 82.

Michigan, which has the most infections after New York and New Jersey, saw cases increase 7% to surpass 20,000, according to the state health department. Deaths rose by 114 to 959

N.J. Has Record New Deaths (1:36 p.m. NY)

New Jersey reported a second day of record new deaths from Covid-19 and a tapering of infections. Cases rose by 7% to 47,437, the fourth straight day of increases of 10% or less. In the last two weeks of March, New Jersey saw daily increases from 20% to 82%. Governor Phil Murphy reported 275 new fatalities since yesterday, the biggest one-day increase since the crisis began.

N.Y. Reports Record 779 Daily Deaths (1:36 p.m. NY)

New York suffered another day of record fatalities from the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 779 additional deaths even as hospitalizations declined.

The number of deaths will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a period of time pass away, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday at his daily virus briefing. The state has lost more than 1,500 people to the virus in the last two days, for a total of almost 6,300.

WHO Says World Must Pull Together (1 p.m. NY)

The coronavirus crisis will escalate if countries dont start showing more solidarity, the head of the World Health Organization said, urging the U.S. and China to show honest leadership and stop bickering.

If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing in Geneva Wednesday. No using Covid-19 to score political points.

When asked about President Donald Trumps threat to cut funding and claim that the WHO favors China, Tedros said the WHO tries to treat everyone equally, and the WHO will do an assessment of its successes and failures. He urged the U.S., China, Group of 20 countries and the rest of the world to come together and fight.

For Gods sake, we have lost more than 60,000 citizens of the world, he said. Even one person is precious.

Too Early for Europe to Start Easing Restrictions, Agency Says (12:47 p.m. NY)

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warned Europe not to rush into lifting restrictions that are helping slow the spread of the pandemic.

Based on the available evidence, it is currently too early to start lifting all community and physical distancing measures in Europe, the agency said in its latest risk assessment. Sustained transmission of the virus is to be expected if current interventions are lifted too quickly.

U.K. Announces New High for Fatalities (12:02 p.m. NY)

The U.K. reported a further 938 deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, up from yesterdays record daily total of 786.

In total 60,733 people have tested positive for the illness, up from 55,242 reported on Tuesday, according to the latest figures from the Department of Heath and Social Care. The days figures indicate a slight increase in the rate of growth.

Some 14,682 tests were conducted in the country on April 7, more than the 14,006 conducted the day before. The U.K. aims to conduct 100,000 tests a day by the end of April, seeking to replicate the mass screening seen in countries such as South Korea and Germany.

EU Plans to Prolong External-Border Closure Until May 15 (11:45 a.m. NY)

The European Commission proposed prolonging until May 15 a ban on most travel into the European Union. Maintaining the restriction on non-essential travel into the bloc for another 30 days is necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the commission said in a recommendation that needs the approval of member-country governments.

EU Braces for Arrival of 8,000 Cruise-Ship Passengers (11:00 a.m. NY)

Eleven cruise ships carrying around 8,000 passengers in total will arrive at European Unions ports between April 8 and 11, the European Commission said. The EU laid out guidelines for member nations on handling the travelers, saying ships with passengers known to be infected with the coronavirus should be directed to ports close to hospitals with adequate capacity.

De Blasio Says Distancing Eases Ventilator Demand (10:55 a.m. NY)

New York Citys social-distancing strategy appears to be working, and one result is less demand for ventilators than had been projected, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The city had estimated that it would need as many as 300 more of the life-saving machines this week to treat coronavirus patients but has needed to add only 100, de Blasio said Wednesday at his daily virus briefing. It has 5,500 in all.

Statewide, the infection rate has begun flattening, even as the death count rises.

EU Working for Coordinated Ends to Members Lockdowns (10:40 a.m. NY)

The European Commission is trying to coordinate how member states end lockdowns following criticism that the blocs initial response to the pandemic was chaotic. An internal draft of a memo seen by Bloomberg sets out conditions for easing to begin as well as other steps that be needed, such as expanding testing capacities and using apps to gather data. The adoption of the plan has been pushed back, according to commission spokesman Eric Mamer, who told journalists in Brussels that timing is a tricky issue since countries are at different stages of the outbreak.

Oktoberfest in Doubt as Germany Sees Lasting Impact (8:59 a.m. NY)

Bavarias state premier cast doubt over the annual Oktoberfest, offering an idea of how long German authorities expect the pandemic to upend social life. Markus Soeder, a political ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the Bild newspaper that a decision will be taken in June, but that widespread travel and border openings by then are very unlikely. The traditional beer festival, which draws millions to the Bavarian capital of Munich, is scheduled to start Sept. 19 and last two weeks. If it takes place at all, it will be under completely different conditions, Soeder told Bild.

Indias Most Populous State Seals 15 Districts (8:23 a.m. NY)

Indias most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has sealed off 15 of its districts worst affected by infections. The state has so far recorded 326 infections and three deaths. India has had total infections of 5,360 and 164 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. A 21-day national lockdown ends April 14.

Boris Johnson is Stable, Responding to Treatment (7:54 a.m. NY)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a stable condition in intensive care and is responding to treatment for a severe coronavirus infection, his spokesman said. Johnson was taken into St Thomas hospital in London on Sunday and moved to the critical care unit on Monday after struggling to shake off the symptoms, including a cough and a fever.

Democrats Seek At Least $500 Billion in Next Stimulus Bill (7:36 a.m. NY)

Democrats want $250 billion in small business aid, with $125 billion channeled through community-based financial institutions that serve farmers, family, women, minority and veteran-owned cos, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

Hong Kong Unveils Virus Relief Package (6:33 a.m. NY)

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced a fresh government stimulus package worth about HK$137.5 billion ($17.7 billion) to support the citys deteriorating economy. The spending package will include an HK$80 billion job security program to subsidize 50% of wages for affected workers for six months.

WHO Says Lifting Lockdowns May Be Premature (6 a.m. NY)

To think were close to an endpoint would be dangerous, Hans Kluge, the World Health Organizations regional director for Europe, said at a briefing. Sweden is showing a fresh surge in cases, while the WHO is concerned about a dramatic increase in Turkey, he said. Countries should not lower their guard, he said.

We have got to ensure that the public understands were moving to a new phase, said Bruce Aylward, one of the WHOs top officials who recently led a mission to Spain. Countries need to make sure theyre hunting the disease down, because the key to eradication is testing patients, isolating them and tracing their close contacts. Some restrictions may need to continue for some time while others are gradually loosened, he said. Its not lifting lockdowns and going back to normal. Its a new normal.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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The Houston Zoo has welcomed a new addition to its animal family.

Olive, an 11-year-old giant anteater, gave birth to a yet-to-be-named pup on March 31, 2020, according to a Thursday release. The baby anteater weighed 3.4 pounds.

ANIMAL COWORKERS: These very good pets are helping out during the coronavirus lockdown

After allowing the pair time to bond, keepers and zoo veterinarians will determine if the baby is male or female.

Giant anteaters spend the first few weeks of life clinging to their mother and typically hitch a ride on her back for 12 months.

HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Meet the oldest animals at the Houston Zoo

Although the zoo has temporarily closed its gates to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, the staff continues to care for the animals.

To help support the Houston Zoo during this unprecedented time, an emergency fund has been launched. You can donate via the zoo's website.

@marcydeluna
Past ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bernie Fuller, N3EFN - SK

Past ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bernard E. "Bernie" Fuller, N3EFN, of Saegertown, Pennsylvania, died on April 2. He was 86.

Fuller moved into the Atlantic Division Director's position in 2000, after the ARRL Board elected then-Atlantic Division Director Kay Craigie, WT3P (now N3KN), as a Vice President. He served as an ARRL Director until 2006.

A US Army veteran, Fuller retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after 22 years. He was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Following his retirement, he taught languages at the former Alliance College.

Fuller was a member of the QRP Amateur Radio Club International and the Eastern Pennsylvania QRP Club. He belonged to the Military Officers Association and was a certified National Rifle Association instructor. A member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Fuller authored e-books on RVing and hunting and was the publisher of the Outdoors32New newsletter.
By Laman Ismayilova

The Azerbaijani National Carpet Museum has released a new catalogue dedicated to the "The Future of Traditions" by Aydin Rajabov.

The publication was presented to mark the 75th anniversary of the artist. His personal exhibition was held at the museum last year.

The illustrated catalog prepared by the museum contains interesting materials about the art works included in the exhibition.

For more information, please visit the museum`s official website.

Founded in 1967, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum displays some of the best examples of the carpet weaving art.

The museum, initiated by Latif Karimov, an outstanding scientist and carpet weaver is beautiful inside and out. The new building of the Carpet Museum, designed in the form of a rolled carpet, opened in the Baku Seaside Park in 2014 and all carpets were transferred to this museum.

Today the museum hosts many events, such as exhibitions, international symposiums, and conferences.

In 2019, the museum received the national status for its significant contribution in popularization and promotion of the Azerbaijani Carpet Weaving Art.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Around half a billion people could be pushed into poverty as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic unless richer countries take urgent action to help developing nations, a leading aid organization warned Thursday.

In the run-up to three key international economic meetings next week, Oxfam has urged richer countries to step up their efforts to help the developing world. Failing to do so, it added, could set back the fight against poverty by a decade and by as much as 30 years in some areas, including Africa and the Middle East.

The devastating economic fallout of the pandemic is being felt across the globe," said Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director.

But for poor people in poor countries who are already struggling to survive there are almost no safety nets to stop them falling into poverty.

The report, which is based on research at King's College London and the Australian National University, warns that between 6% and 8% of the global population could be forced into poverty as governments shut down entire sectors of their economies to manage the spread of the virus.

As an example of the repercussions of the lockdowns in many Western countries, the report notes that more than a million Bangladeshi garment workers 80% of whom are women have already been laid off or sent home without pay after orders were cancelled or suspended.

Oxfam is calling on world leaders to agree on an economic rescue package to keep poor countries and poor communities afloat. Finance ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies are set to meet next week, as are the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Among the measures Oxfam is recommending is the immediate cancellation of $1 trillion worth of developing countries' debt payments due in 2020.

It said cancelling Ghana's external debt payments this year, for example, would enable the government there to give a cash grant of $20 a month to each of the country's 16 million children, disabled and elderly people for a period of six months.

Oxfam is also recommending a $500 million increase in overseas aid and the creation of $1 trillion of special drawing rights at the IMF, a move that effectively increases the liquidity available for developing countries in the crucial months ahead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A doctor who warned Boris Johnson about the need for more personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers has died from coronavirus.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, passed away in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus.

Just three weeks ago, he wrote to the Prime Minister, asking him to 'urgently' ensure PPE was available for 'each and every NHS worker in the UK'.

The doctor, known to friends and family as Faisal, worked as a consultant urologist in east London and leaves behind a wife, with whom he only recently celebrated a 25th wedding anniversary, and two children.

He died at 1am this morning at Queens Hospital in Romford, according to his brother, who wrote: 'I ask you humbly my dear brothers and sisters to please keep my brother in your prayers.'

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, pictured left, passed away in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus

Dr Chowdhury wrote a message addressed to Boris Johnson asking for PPE equipment for every NHS health worker in the UK

The doctor, pictured with his wife, worked as a Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London

The Muslim Doctors Association paid tribute to him in a statement, which reads: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital, after fighting for his life from Covid-19.

'He leaves behind his wife and two children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

'Two weeks before his admission to hospital he wrote a message to the Prime Minister urging for better PPE. May he rest in peace.'

In his letter to the PM, Dr Chowdhury wrote: 'Please ensure urgently PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK.

'Remember we may be doctors/nurses/HCAs/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients, but we are also human beings to practice human rights like others, to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

The Muslim Doctors Association said it was deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, pictured right

Dr Chowdhury, pictured left, warned Boris Johnson children are at risk of being put off wanting to go to medical school in future

'People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say, we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.

'I hope we are by default entitled to get this minimal support for our safe medical practice.

'Otherwise in future our children will lose interest to go to medical school.

'We also should get first track facilities for coronavirus testing to help our patients to prevent the disease spreading.'

Dr Chowdhury's death is the latest in a list of NHS staff who have died fighting the pandemic.

Tributes flooded in for Barbara Moore, 54, who worked as a patient discharge planner at Aintree University Hospital.

NHS worker Barbara Moore, 54, who 'dedicated her life to caring for others', died on April 6 at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus

She died on April 6 at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

Described as an 'unsung hero', the mother-of-two and grandmother, who 'loved nothing more than spending precious time with her family', is now the second member of staff to die from coronavirus at Aintree Hospital.

In a statement, Mrs Moore's family said: 'Barbara was a much loved wife, mum, nan, sister, aunty, friend and beautiful person.

'Barbara dedicated her life to caring for others and doted on her two beautiful children and grandchildren.

'She loved nothing more than spending precious time with her family. Barbara will be sadly missed by so many.'

Yesterday it was that Rebecca Mack, who once worked at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, died aged 29 and friends have taken to social media to pay tribute to her.

Rebecca Mack (pictured) died aged 29 after contracting coronavirus, her friends said today

Her heartbroken best friend, Sarah Bredin-Kemp, revealed her sorrow in a touching Facebook post about the medic, who most recently worked as a 111 operator

She wrote: 'Becca was one of the best friends I've ever had. She was a devoted friend, an incredible nurse and a unapologetically imperfect person: She was the most accident-prone, stubborn, chatterbox with a bizarre catchphrase and inappropriate joke for every occasion.

'Her iconic love of leopard print and statement earrings was rivaled only by Pat Butcher herself.

'She would never take 'I'm busy, I'm not coming to the pub' as an answer. She was useless at hiding her emotions: she would just describe things she didn't like as as 'interesting' or 'alternative', with an expression of pure loathing.

'She was a high maintenance, foot-in-mouth oversharer with a love of cheesy music, crappy tv and an inexplicable hatred of small animals.

'But she would be the first in line to tell you off when you were doubting yourself.

'She was honest, warm and charismatic. She worked hard and made her family proud every single day.'
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Governments in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and Rajasthan issued orders making the use of masks mandatory for citizens while stepping out of their houses in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, a day after Delhi, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh governments had issued similar orders.

Violation of this will attract legal action, the order by Madhya Pradesh state Public Health Department said.

'The department has made it mandatory to wear face-masks while stepping out. Action will be taken against the violators under various laws, including the Madhya Pradesh Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulation-2020,' it said.

The order said that in the absence of masks, people can use towel or dupattas to cover their faces.

Home-made masks or towels can be used again after washing, the order said.

In Rajasthan too, the state government made masks compulsory in urban areas and agricultural mandis.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also directed officials to install more CCTV cameras, beginning with Jaipur's walled city, to monitor the movement of people in coronavirus-hit areas.

At a video conference with officials, Gehlot also urged them to apply the 'Bhilwara model' of aggressive containment of the disease in other parts of the state.

Gehlot asked officials to ensure compliance of the decision in all 196 urban local bodies, and in mandis where procurement of foodgrain is scheduled to begin on April 15.

'The decision was taken to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the state,' a press release quoting him said.

The Punjab government also made wearing face masks for people mandatory in public on Thursday.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh made this announcement on his Facebook page.

'Masks are compulsory in Punjab now. Health Secretary is issuing a detailed advisory for the people. Just remember to wear mask when you step out of home for any emergency/essentials. A piece of clean cloth is all you need. Let's all stay safe and fight #Covid_19 together,' Singh posted in the evening.

In the past few days, the state has witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

The total count of confirmed cases in Punjab stood at 130.

Odisha has also come out with an order to make wearing face masks mandatory from Thursday morning, a violation of which will invite a fine.

Those found moving without face masks will have to cough up Rs 200 each for the first three occasions, which will increase to Rs 500 for every violation after that, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said.

The order exempts children below two years of age and asthma patients.

The stringent measures came as the state witnessed a big jump in the number of COVID-19 cases to 44 from just five reported on April 1.

The state has seen one death due to the disease.

Though there is a shortage of N-95 masks in the markets, people may use a clean handkerchief or a piece of cloth with multiple folds to cover the nose and mouth while going outside, Odisha government's spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi said.

Another official said the experience of Japan containing the spread of the virus by using masks was taken into consideration while issuing the order.

'Wear simple face mask whenever you go outside to slow spread of #COVID-19. Use any cotton material like handkerchief or piece of cloth and prepare it as a face mask to cover your nose, mouth and chin,' the state Health and Family Welfare department said in a tweet.
Huawei has been finding new ways to make its devices more appealing and usable since the company is not allowed to use Google Services. The company has been partnering with the French search engine Qwant for the past few months, and they can finally offer a solution for some users in Europe.

All Huawei P40, Huawei P40 Pro, and Huawei P40 Pro+ devices in France, Italy, and Germany, will have the Qwant search pre-installed, while everyone else can download the app from the Huawei AppGallery.

The partnership is born out of shared commitment to protect users data privacy and security. According to the press release Huawei and Qwant engineering teams worked together to provide customized mobile search services, intelligent context awareness, and scenario-based recommendations. It is tailored to provide more efficient app searches to European users too.



Qwant features

Qwant complies with GPDR privacy standards and the search engine does not track nor analyze users personal data. It is also working in the name of content copyright and will always boost original articles and materials higher in its results.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:45:52|Editor: huaxia

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XIAMEN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Two hundred and thirteen luxury buses were shipped from a port in east China's Xiamen city for Saudi Arabia Wednesday evening.

The buses, manufactured by China's leading bus maker Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Company, were the first batch to be delivered to the Saudi Arabian market this year, according to Chen Zhixiang, the company's overseas sales manager of West Asia.

Chen said 100 of the buses are premium models tailor-designed for the Saudi Arabian market. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the company has kept in close contact with customers through various video conferences to determine bus details, and overcome diverse difficulties to ensure timely delivery.

Besides Saudi Arabia, the company has also fulfilled orders from Malta, Morocco, Chile and Costa Rica since it resumed manufacturing in February.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cleveland police are investigating an officer-involved shooting in the citys Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

The shooting happened about 2 p.m. Thursday on West 25th Street near the Interstate 71 and Interstate 90 ramps.

UPDATED: Man fatally shot by off-duty Cleveland police officer

Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said she could not confirm the shooting and no other information has been released. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams declined to comment at the scene.

Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association president Jeff Follmer said the officer involved in the shooting is okay.

Cleveland EMS said two people were transported from the scene to MetroHealth. A 22-year-old man is in critical condition and a 16-year-old is in stable condition.

More than a three dozen police cars are in the area around the Riverside Cemetery. Homicide detectives trained their eyes on a red car that appeared to have crashed through the cemeterys fence.

Traffic is restricted in the area around the interstate ramps.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Cleveland pharmacy closes for cleaning after shoplifting suspect said he had coronavirus

Man charged in deadly random shooting of 81-year-old man at Cleveland gas station

Man fatally shot outside his Akron-area home

Man killed 81-year-old man at random at Cleveland gas station, police say

81-year-old man shot to death at Cleveland gas station

Man charged in deadly random shooting of 81-year-old man at Cleveland gas station

Man fatally shot outside his Akron-area home

Man killed 81-year-old man at random at Cleveland gas station, police say

81-year-old man shot to death at Cleveland gas station
Kentuckys Ark Encounter attraction has been lit up green as a way of honoring victims of coronavirus. The life-sized replica of Noahs Ark  which is operated by creationist ministry Answers in Genesis  took part in the gesture to show compassion as the Bible instructs us, according to a post by the group.

In a video, co-founder Mike Zovath said the idea for lighting up the massive ark green was born following a conversation with Williamstown Mayor Rick Skinner.

[It is] to show solidarity and compassion for Kentuckians, really, Zovath explained. Other states might have other symbols of solidarity, but its really to show we care about people in Kentucky and were with everyone in the state. Were going to beat this together.

Gov. Andy Beshear has been the driving force behind the colorful tribute, even lighting up the Governors Mansion and State Capitol building. "Green is the color of compassion, its the color of empathy ... it lets people know that we are thinking about them, that we care about them, that we love every single Kentuckian around us," the governor said, according to Kentucky Today.

With the coronavirus spreading widely throughout the state, at the end of March, Beshear ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses  that includes the Ark Encounter, which welcomes around a million visitors per annum.

There are now over 1,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Kentucky, with at least 73 deaths recorded.

It is going to get tougher before it gets better, Beshear said on Twitter Wednesday, as he encouraged citizens to keep following the social distancing guidelines. We know that there is an end. We just have to be strong enough to get there, he added.

New #COVID19 orders limit shopping to one adult per household, ban door-to-door solicitation https://t.co/nHQ1Pfhh9n pic.twitter.com/ZVSEvI7TVi  Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) April 8, 2020

With Easter Sunday fast-approaching, Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer warned that any in-person religious gatherings could cause the infection rate to blow up. As such, the advice from the officials is clear: stay at home and celebrate this wonderful Christian holiday with your immediate loved ones.

People have celebrated Easter together as a tradition for generations, but the coronavirus doesnt care about traditions.  It just wants to infect as many people as possible, Fischer said at his Wednesday presser, according to the Courier Journal. And gatherings  whether its a Saturday night house party or Easter Sunday worship service  give the virus more opportunities to spread."

Photo courtesy: Answers in Genesis

Will Maule is a British journalist who has spent the past several years working as a digital news editor. Since earning a degree in international relations and politics, Will has developed a particular interest in covering ethical issues, human rights and global religious persecution. Will's work has been featured in various outlets including The Spectator, Faithwire, CBN News, Spiked, The Federalist and Christian Headlines. Follow him on Twitter at @WillAMaule.
London Court Dismisses Attempt To Seize Properties Linked To Nazarbaev Family

By RFE/RL April 08, 2020

A British court has dismissed an attempt by the country's National Crime Agency (NCA) to seize a luxurious London mansion and two other properties linked to the family of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

The properties, owned by companies based in tax havens, have been subject to unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) since May 2019.

Under a UWO, the agency can ask a court to seize property when a suspected corrupt foreign official, or their family, cannot identify the legitimate source of the funds used to buy it.

But the London High Court on April 8 discharged the orders against the companies that own the properties.

The NCA said it would appeal the ruling, with the head of the agency's National Economic Crime Center saying it "always expected there would be significant legal challenge" over the use of UWOs, which were introduced in 2018.

The case involves a vast property -- with an underground pool and a cinema -- located on one of London's most exclusive roads, commonly known as "Billionaires' Row."

Nazarbaev's grandson, Nurali Aliev, his wife, and children lived in the mansion, worth over $100 million.

Lawyers for offshore companies that own the properties said the funding had come from Aliev's mother, Darigha Nazarbaeva, who was economically independent.

Aliev, who presents himself as a businessman and investor, said that the judgement "demonstrates the NCA obtained the orders on an inaccurate basis as part of a flawed investigation."

A spokesman for Nazarbaeva, the former president's daughter and current speaker of the parliament's upper chamber, the Senate, said the judgement "entirely vindicated" her.

"It is frustrating and disappointing that she has had to take this action to fight these draconian proceedings and clear her name," the spokesman said.

The NCA had argued the money used to buy the three properties was linked to Aliev's father, Rakhat, a senior government member who became an opponent of Nazarbaev, according to Reuters.

Rakhat Aliev was found dead in an Austrian prison in 2015 while awaiting trial for the alleged murder of two bankers in Kazakhstan.

Nazarbaev, who was president of oil- and gas-rich Kazakhstan for three decades until he suddenly resigned a year ago, continues to play a crucial role in the country's political life as the leader of the ruling Nur-Otan party and as lifetime chairman of the powerful Security Council.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/london-court- dismisses-attempt-to-seize-properties-linked-to- nazarbaev-family/30542230.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 48-year-old man was killed Wednesday night after a shooting in Meiers Corners, authorities said.

Police responded to the shooting, which occurred in front of a home on the 400 block of Bradley Ave. at approximately 10:26 p.m., according to a written statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

When officers arrived, they found a 48-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, police said.

The victim was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, authorities said, where he was later pronounced to be dead.

The shooting drew a large police response, and a portion of Bradley Avenue was closed to traffic late Wednesday night.

There have been no arrests as of Thursday at 12:10 a.m., police said, and the investigation is ongoing.
The first of $349 billion in forgivable loans began pumping up the depleted bank accounts of small businesses Thursday, as lenders got the OK from the Small Business Administration to make payments as part of the coronavirus economic relief package enacted last month.

Today was the first day," Vernon Hill, executive chairman of Philadelphia-based Republic Bank, said in confirming that, after a slow start, money was now flowing under the Paycheck Protection Program. "We checked the applications, we sent them to SBA to get case numbers, and as soon as they gave us the numbers we signed the checks.

Republic Bank had so far approved 1,500 applications from past customers and new ones, including very small to midsized businesses, nonprofits, medical practices, restaurants, all types, Hill said.

Only a minority of the approved borrowers had received their checks, but Hill said that number should rise fast, now that SBA has streamlined the process and the Federal Reserve has set up a cheap source of funding.

The checks could mark a turning point in efforts to rescue small businesses from the economic carnage wrought by the coronavirus.

So far, the results have been bizarre, hopeful, and uneven, with some successes and more horror stories. Larger companies appear to be getting loans approved first, based on interviews with local entrepreneurs.

There are at least two ways businesses can get emergency funds through the SBA. Congress told the agency to give grants of up to $10,000 to businesses within days of their application through the SBAs Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL). The grants are administered directly by the SBA.

The other way is through the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is given through banks and is designed to be forgiven if the borrower keeps its staff employed.

Businesses and nonprofits are applying for PPP loans of up to $10 million. Wells Fargo, which has the most local accounts of any bank in Philadelphia, wasnt taking more PPP applications until the bank and the Federal Reserve agreed to ease those restrictions temporarily this week.

Some in the Philadelphia area like Julie Foster, owner of Tired Hands Brewery in Ardmore, applied for and received confirmation of an EIDL grant.

But after applying in late March, she still didnt have the cash in hand.

We have not heard a response from the SBA," she said Thursday. "We submitted the SBA $10,000 advance application on April 1, and have not received any updates at all. Our understanding is that it was supposed to be a 3-day turnaround, but it has been over a week without any information.

Foster credited her bankers for also applying for the much larger PPP.

We are very lucky to be a customer of Citizens Bank," she said. While they waited until Monday [April 6] to roll out the PPP loan applications, they did not limit applications.

PPP loans will be forgiven if used for payroll, rents, utilities, and debt service.

Heres a sample of other business owners and their experiences applying for SBA loans.

Patricia Wellenbach, Please Touch Museum president & CEO

The board of the popular kids museum in Fairmount Park has been meeting remotely every two weeks since early March to make what president Wellenbach calls gut-wrenching decisions about our beloved museum and our employees.

On Wednesday, as directors  including several Philadelphia bank officers  popped up on her Zoom screen, Wellenbach had some good news: New York-based Emigrant Bank had agreed to a forgivable PPP loan of $718,000 as she seeks to keep key staff working through the museums closure

As of Thursday, the money still hadnt arrived, but Wellenbach had her approval in hand, and was confident.

She credited a group of lawyers specializing in PPP loans at Dilworth Paxson LP, convened by firm chairman Ajay Raju, who said he expected clients would need lots of help navigating government programs if they were to raise the cash approved by Congress. In a note to Raju, Wellenbach was deeply grateful: Not all heroes wear capes, she wrote.

Raju said his team pored over details of the new stimulus law and worked closely with Emigrant to assure the bank of what payroll records and other requirements it would need to approve loans like the one to Please Touch. It is confusing to many people," he said. "Professional assurance really seems to help get these done in a timely way.

Lance Bachmann, 1SEO cofounder

As of Wednesday, 1SEOs Lance Bachmann was successfully approved for a PPP loan through Centric Bank, headquartered in Harrisburg.

I worked day and night with my CFO and my accounting firm Zinman & Co. and we heard that we were approved after applying about a week earlier, he said.

I got approved and its possible that its because my company has been around for years, he said, adding that bankers are telling me theres a lot of fraud out there, which may account for the foot-dragging.

This made my relationship with my bank better," Bachmann said. "I have a better opinion of bankers now than before. Im bringing back the 10 people we laid off.

Why havent more companies gotten approved?

The bank is getting 5% in fees," he said. "So theyre starting with the largest amounts and working their way down.

Banks do receive a 5% fee but only on loans below $350,000; for loans up to $2 million the fee totals 3%, and above $2 million its a 1% fee.

Janice Leone, Corporate Interiors

The SBA approved Corporate Interiors loan application through Oceans First Bank.

They approved our loan and provided our financial institution with the [PPP] loan number on Wednesday, after a week, Leone said.

According to Corporate Interiors CFO Patricia Rauch, the company worked with its accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen and the bank to get a loan for its 179 employees paychecks and other expenses.

There were shifting definitions of what was the right amount, because the stimulus package initially wasnt clear on who counted as full time employees, Rauch said.

Leone leads Corporate Interiors, a $75 million-in-revenue company in Wayne, and has been busy supplying local hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities with retrofitted beds, exam tables, and office furniture and equipment. The company is busier than ever, Leone said.

Micah Bertin, Micahs Printing

While I believe the basic intentions and dedication of many of the people trying to make this work is admirable, they are in over their heads and the weeks of denial, and the lack of preparation is showing, said Berwyn print shop owner Micah Bertin.

Bertin has completed the updated streamlined application for the PPP loan. It was very easy, user-friendly and took less than 10 minutes, and once completed it took me to a screen with my application number, he said.

But still no money.

Another very confusing statement is that funds will be made available within three days of a successful application, Bertin said. Today is day 4 for me, so I was getting very concerned. I called their help line ... 800-659-2955, actually got through to a live person within about five minutes. She ... explained to me that it takes two to three weeks to review and process the application. If and when its approved, the money is then disbursed within three days.

He was confused by the timeline. I and perhaps many others would interpret successful application as meaning the application went through, was successfully submitted and I have an application number," he said. "They should make it crystal clear that the review process takes weeks.

Dave Evasew, Upper Merion Dance & Gymnastics

Dave Evasaw is hoping for a cash advance on his EIDL application. But he got a different story on the phone with the SBA.

An agency supervisor told me that the SBA gets to choose the amount of the advance," Evasaw said. "I pointed out that Page 68 of the law. He said that the SBA is choosing the amount. I said regardless of the fact that the new procedures rate $1,000 per employee, I would be eligible for the full $10,000 because I have 15 full-time employees and 50 part-time employees. He said that the SBA would determine what I get for an advance, if we get one, which again is also contrary to the law as the law says even denied loan applications are eligible for the advance.

He is resorting to paying for expenses on credit cards.

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We lost over $200,000 since we were one of the first companies to have to close, being a gym in Montgomery County, Pa.," he said. "We are down to just gift cards to eat with as weve put every penny of cash and personal credit cards into our business payroll, health insurance, and other essential bills.

As for the $10,000 advance as part of the loan application?

We can expect it in 3-to-4 weeks, if they find my application," he said. The SBA has changed the laws at their own discretion to the detriment of small businesses everywhere. Many banks cant access it because they have to manually enter a full years worth of payroll data into the system and the government hasnt given out enough portal accounts to the banks to accomplish it at any scale.

Heather Consalvi, AmRes Lending, Oaklyn, N.J.

I am doing this for my husbands small business in Oaklyn and the basics of even getting information is completely blocked, Heather Consalvi said.

People will start to get crazy if you cannot even give them the courtesy of an update, some way of seeing, yes, I have the application and yes, it will come eventually, she said.

Trisha Stewart, salon owner, Barbarella Beauty

Ive called the SBA almost every day and they now just say they are unable to give any information on the status of the loan, Stewart said Wednesday.

They were taking [loan applicants] in order of when you applied but not sure anyone there knows what is actually going on," she said. "They are reaching out in 7-10 business days. Tomorrow will be 10 business days for me after filling out the streamlined application. Its the great American hoax.

How long can businesses hold out?

In a weekend snap survey of the Business for Responsible Tax Reforms small business network, 21% of the more than 500 respondents said they can wait only a week or less for a loan to arrive before their business fails. A full 75% said they can wait for a month or less before their business fails.

In response to the delays, Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury on Wednesday to relay these concerns and ask how the Treasury Department and SBA will resolve them.

Pennsylvania lenders have experienced repeated difficulties with SBA technology platforms," Toomey wrote. "Existing SBA lenders have struggled to reactivate their SBA lender accounts and add new users.

New lenders report that registering under PPP seems to be unworkable. Lenders have also not been able to access the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform for processing non-SBA lender PPP loans. Finally, lenders lack clarity about how long the SBA PPP funding will last, which is creating unnecessary uncertainty for borrowers and lenders.
: Expressing concern



about the safety and well-being of Indians in Dubai following the outbreak of COVID-19, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to urge the UAE government to ensure adequate food, medicines and emergency service facilities.

In the letter, Vijayan said out of the 2.8 million Indian migrants in UAE, nearly one million were from the southern state.

"It is learnt that the situation in Dubai is worsening. We are receiving number of complaints regarding inadequate isolation and quarantine facilities in the country and apprehensions are raised about the imminent community spread of the disease.

"Most of the requests convey that preventive measures and quarantine methods being implemented in Dubai are neither effective nor adequate", the April 9 letter, a copy of which was released to the media, here said.

The majority of Keralites are blue collar workers and living in crowded facilities in Dubai and hence there was a "very high" possibility of the disease spreading, he said.

Pointing out that the Kerala government was very much concerned about their safety and well-being, Vijayan urged Modi to urgently take up the matter with the UAE government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yes. As long you have an active life insurance policy in good standing, your beneficiary or beneficiaries will get a death benefit should you die of coronavirus-related complications.

In addition, your insurer cannot change your premiums or your health classification because you have or had COVID-19 or are at higher risk of exposure due to your job or recent travel to a virus hot spot.

Claims on social media that life insurance companies will not pay off on a policy if the customer received a COVID-19 vaccine are "entirely false," according to the American Council of Life Insurers.

"Life insurers do not consider whether or not a policyholder has received a COVID vaccine when deciding whether to pay a claim," the trade group said in a statement on its website. "Nothing has changed in the claims-paying process as a result of COVID-19 vaccinations."

What if I don't have life insurance? Can I get it during the pandemic?

Yes. Insurers continue to offer new whole life and term life policies. We have seen an increase in life insurance applications, perhaps as a result of the pandemic, says Gina Morss-Fischer, a public affairs specialist at State Farm.



However, getting covered could take longer, particularly if you are in a high-risk group, have recently traveled to a hot zone or had COVID-19 yourself.

It has become relatively common for survivors of COVID-19 to have their life insurance application be postponed for 30 days and provide medical records or other valid evidence that they are fully recovered, says Eloise Spinello, a life insurance expert with online insurance marketplace Policygenius.

Nationwide, for example, will consider a policy for someone who tested positive for COVID-19, but did not need hospitalization, once theyve been symptom-free for 30 days. If the applicant was hospitalized, the waiting period is six months, a company spokesperson says.

Age is a risk factor for COVID-19  are life insurers taking that into account?

Some are. Several large insurers restricted sales of new life policies for older adults. For example, Prudential, Lincoln National, Protective Life and Securian have suspended or postponed policy applications for people age 80 and over.

Spinello says some companies have loosened age restrictions put in place early in the pandemic as theyve gained more information and data about what constitutes a higher COVID-19 risk. Mutual of Omaha, for example, initially suspended sales of fully underwritten life policies (which require a medical exam) for those age 70 and over but has since raised the cut-off age to 80.

Insurers will continue to evaluate the situation as more data becomes available, and they are watching the vaccine rollout closely, Spinello says.

Could the outbreak affect my long-term care (LTC) insurance?

According to Genworth, which issues LTC policies, premiums for existing policies cant be raised for specific customers due to individual circumstances. However, rates can be subject to periodic group increases based on an insurers claims history, or actuarial projections for future claims.

For example, using claims or actuarial data, insurers can ask state regulators to let them increase LTC premiums for groups of similar policyholders in that state.

Any changes arising from the outbreak wouldnt happen immediately, as the insurers need time to do the proper research and analysis to verify necessary rate changes, Policygenius CEO Jennifer Fitzgerald says. As of now, we have not seen any impact on [existing] long-term care policies because of coronavirus.

The outbreak could have an effect if you are looking to purchase a new LTC policy. As with life insurance, age and health status can affect whether you qualify for long-term care insurance and what you pay. LTC insurers may take into account whether you are at elevated risk or have tested positive for COVID-19 in assessing a policy application.

Are auto and home insurers offering policyholders any financial relief?

Many did in the earlier stages of the pandemic. With most Americans sheltering in place and staying off the roads, major auto insurers provided partial refunds on premiums to customers in the spring and summer of 2020.

While those companies have resumed normal billing, many offer help on a case-by-case basis to auto and home policyholders facing coronavirus-related financial hardship  for example, you may be able to request a flexible payment plan or other relief. In addition, some states have issued guidelines on billing leniency for insurance customers during the pandemic. Check your insurance companys coronavirus web page or contact your states insurance department to learn about your options, and talk to your insurer before skipping any payments.

Will it take longer for auto and home claims to get processed?

Possibly. Many insurance claims involve person-to-person contacts that may be restricted or affected during the pandemic. For example, insurers may not be able to send an adjuster to investigate a home or auto claim. Wait times to get an agent on the phone may be longer. Third parties that play a role in damage claims, such as contractors and car repair shops, may be closed or keeping limited hours.

Because of this, one of the big things were seeing changing is how consumers file claims, both for home and auto insurance, Fitzgerald says. Some insurers are transitioning to allowing their policyholders to file virtual claims.

My small business was shut down by the pandemic. Will insurance cover my losses?

It depends on the terms of your policy. Talk to your insurance company or broker, but be prepared for bad news: Even if your insurance includes business interruption coverage, it might not cover losses from the outbreak.

Business interruption coverage is typically tied to physical damage from a cause you are insured for, such as a fire or hurricane. Absent such damage, it can be difficult to press a claim, says Shannon OMalley, a partner in the Dallas office of the national law firm Zelle LLP, who wrote in-depth analysis of the issue early in the pandemic.

In addition, many business policies explicitly exclude claims arising from a virus or communicable disease, or dont address those causes, which can effectively mean the same thing.

A flurry of lawsuits filed by businesses ranging from restaurants and hair salons to Major League Baseball teams have challenged insurance companies denial of COVID-related claims, but state and federal courts are largely finding for the insurers, according to tracking by the University of Pennsylvanias Carey Law School.

Even if a policy includes civil authority provisions related to a government order to close, these typically require that the order arise from physical damage caused by a covered event, OMalley says. Claims on this basis are complex and contingent on individual circumstances; consider consulting an attorney well versed in insurance law to discuss your situation.

Will my health insurer make me pay anything if I need coronavirus treatment?

It depends on your health plan. Most large insurers waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for most of 2020 and into 2021, but more than 4 in 5 were applying copays, coinsurance and deductibles for some of these services by the end of October, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.

Regardless of your insurer, you should not have to pay anything out of pocket for federally approved COVID-19 vaccines.

More information is available from insurers websites. If your provider is not listed, call your health plans customer service number to find out about its coronavirus response.

Aetna: No cost-sharing for diagnostic testing to determine whether treatment is needed, or for antibody tests ordered by a physician or medical professional. The waiver does not apply to tests for the purpose of returning to work or school, except as required by law. Cost-sharing is in effect for treatment for COVID-19.

No cost-sharing for diagnostic testing to determine whether treatment is needed, or for antibody tests ordered by a physician or medical professional. The waiver does not apply to tests for the purpose of returning to work or school, except as required by law. Cost-sharing is in effect for treatment for COVID-19. Anthem : No out-of-pocket costs for doctor-ordered COVID-19 testing and test-related visits. Copays, coinsurance and deductibles apply for COVID-19 medical care, according to the terms of your health plan.

No out-of-pocket costs for doctor-ordered COVID-19 testing and test-related visits. Copays, coinsurance and deductibles apply for COVID-19 medical care, according to the terms of your health plan. Blue Cross/Blue Shield : Blue Cross/Blue Shield is an association of member companies that operate independently, and COVID-19 cost-sharing policies may differ from state to state. Use the map at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield coronavirus web page to check on procedures in your state.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield is an association of member companies that operate independently, and COVID-19 cost-sharing policies may differ from state to state. Use the map at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield coronavirus web page to check on procedures in your state. Cigna : No out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, or for diagnostic office visits with an in-network provider, through the end of the federally declared public health emergency, which currently runs until Jan. 16, 2022. There is cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment.

No out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, or for diagnostic office visits with an in-network provider, through the end of the federally declared public health emergency, which currently runs until Jan. 16, 2022. There is cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment. Health Care Services Corporation (HCSC) : No cost-sharing for FDA-approved COVID-19 diagnostic tests or for testing-related visits with in-network providers until the end of the public health emergency. Out-of-pockets costs apply for COVID-19 treatment.

(HCSC) No cost-sharing for FDA-approved COVID-19 diagnostic tests or for testing-related visits with in-network providers until the end of the public health emergency. Out-of-pockets costs apply for COVID-19 treatment. Humana : COVID-19 diagnostic tests are 100 percent covered for Medicare Advantage plan holders in all circumstances and for members insured through employer plans if the test is ordered by a health care professional. Out-of-pockets costs for COVID-19 treatment are waived for the 2021 plan year for Medicare Advantage members, but standard copays, coinsurance and deductibles apply for people with employer plans.

COVID-19 diagnostic tests are 100 percent covered for Medicare Advantage plan holders in all circumstances and for members insured through employer plans if the test is ordered by a health care professional. Out-of-pockets costs for COVID-19 treatment are waived for the 2021 plan year for Medicare Advantage members, but standard copays, coinsurance and deductibles apply for people with employer plans. Kaiser Permanente: No-cost testing is available to members. COVID-19 treatment is subject to your policy's cost-sharing provisions.

No-cost testing is available to members. COVID-19 treatment is subject to your policy's cost-sharing provisions. United Healthcare: No out-of-pocket costs for FDA-approved diagnostic tests ordered by a health care professional, or for testing-related visits, during the federal public health emergency. Standard cost-sharing applies for COVID-19 treatment with one exception: Medicare Advantage clients with a positive diagnosis can receive monoclonal antibody treatment at no cost through 2021.

Is Medicare covering COVID-19 vaccines, testing and treatment?

Medicare will pay all costs for any federally authorized COVID-19 vaccine and for testing ordered by a doctor or other health care provider. There will be no out-of-pocket costs, whether you have Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.

People with original Medicare who are hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment will still have deductibles and copays. If you have a supplemental Medigap plan, it may cover these costs. If you have Medicare Advantage, out-of-pocket costs for hospital and outpatient treatment vary by plan. Contact your Advantage plan provider.

You'll find more information in our AARP Answers on Medicare and the coronavirus.

What about Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans?

Plans purchased through the ACA marketplace are required to cover emergency services and hospitalization, and that would apply to such treatment for COVID-19. You may incur out-of-pocket costs, depending on your plan.

Some major providers of ACA plans, such as Centene and Molina Healthcare, have waived cost-sharing on coronavirus treatment for marketplace customers. Ask your plan provider about its coverage.

For more information, see the AARP Answers on ACA insurance and the coronavirus.

I don't have health insurance. Can I get covered?

You may be able to get Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for low-income people, or an ACA plan.

Medicaid enrollment is open all year. More than 4 million people have signed up since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Eligibility is based primarily on income and differs by state  contact your state's Medicaid program for information.

ACA plans in most states are sold through the federal marketplace, which operates this year from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Several states also plan to maintain open enrollment beyond the federal period, in some cases into late January. Check with your state's exchange for information.

Outside of your state's open enrollment window, you can sign up for an ACA plan if you qualify for a special enrollment period due to a life-changing event, such as a loss of previous health coverage.

Some health insurers sell short-term policies with low premiums, but these offer limited benefits and, unlike with Medicaid and ACA plans, you can be turned down for a preexisting condition. Closely read and carefully consider a short-term plan's provisions before signing up.
The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) says the two COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at its facilities are fast recuperating.

UBTH Head of Rapid Response Team on COVID-19, Benson Okwara, disclosed this while speaking with journalists on Thursday in Benin.

He was reacting to a report alleging that there was panic at the hospital over the COVID-19 patients receiving care at the isolation centre.

 One of the patients is almost asymptomatic. Our healthcare workers in medical emergency unit have always put on their medical face masks and hand gloves while treating them.

They have also maintained other standard precautions which have been enshrined in UBTHs care processes, Mr Okwara said.

The Chairman of the Medical Advisory committee (CMAC) of the hospital, Casimir Omuemu, said global best practice was being maintained in handling the COVID-19 patients.

He stressed that members of the Rapid Response team have so far activated 12 doctors, 33 paramedics and 30 nurses, who were on ground to receive any case and provide guidance.

Mr Omuemu said areas receiving suspected and confirmed cases were already activated with drugs and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

He said that all out-patient clinics remained functional, although activities have been scaled downwards to focus on COVID-19.

Screening of all patients using infra-red thermometer and relevant history taking to determine the level of risk for covid-19 infection is being done. Cough officers have been deployed to identify and interview patients coughing and move them to designed places for appropriate care.

There is a need to scale down on non-urgent procedures and surgeries, while allowing all emergency and urgent procedures accessible to patients.

Our health care workers have been urged to use scrubs and long ward coats appropriately on arrival in the hospital.

This is essentially to prevent transmission of the virus to persons outside the hospital. Work clothes including shoes are not allowed to be taken home in view of the changing face of the impact of the pandemic even as new interventions are made available on a daily basis by the hospital management, Mr Omuemu said.

(NAN)
Apollo 13s astronauts never gave a thought to their mission number as they took off for the moon 50 years ago. (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 11, 1970 photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the crew of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image: NASA via AP)

This April 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the Earth as the Apollo 13 mission heads towards the moon. (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 10, 1970 photo made available by NASA, Apollo 13 astronauts, from left, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell, gather for a photo on the day before launch. (Image: NASA via AP)

This April 1970 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut Jim Lovell during the Apollo 13 mission. (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 1970 photo provided by NASA, Apollo 13 command module pilot John Swigert helps to hook up a lithium hydroxide canister in the lunar module, in an effort to get rid of carbon dioxide in the cabin as the spacecraft attempts to return to Earth. The explosion of an oxygen tank in the service module forced the three-man crew to rely on the lunar module as a "lifeboat." (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 15, 1970 photo made available by NASA, a group of flight controllers gather around the console of Glenn S. Lunney, foreground seated, Shift 4 flight director, in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Their attention is drawn to a weather map of the proposed landing site in the Pacific Ocean. At this point, the Apollo 13 lunar landing mission had been canceled, and the problem-plagued Apollo 13 crew members were in trans-Earth trajectory attempting to bring their crippled spacecraft back home. (Image: NASA via AP)

This April 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the moon through a window on the lunar module as the Apollo 13 crew heads back towards the Earth. (Image: NASA via AP)

FILE - In this April 17, 1970 file photo, crowds watch a television screen in New York's Grand Central Station waiting for the safe arrival of the Apollo 13 astronauts in the Pacific Ocean. (Image: AP)

In this April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Jim Lovell, inside the Apollo 13 lunar module, prepares it for jettison before returning to the command module for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. (Image: NASA via AP)

This April 17, 1970 photo provided by NASA shows the Apollo 13 lunar module photographed from the command module just after the lunar module was jettisoned, about an hour before splashdown of the command module in the Pacific Ocean. The explosion of an oxygen tank in the service module forced the Apollo 13 crew members to rely on the lunar module as a "lifeboat." (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA, the command module carrying the Apollo 13 crew parachutes to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. (Image: NASA via AP)

In this April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Jim Lovell, commander, is hoisted aboard a helicopter from the USS Iwo Jima, after splashdown of the Apollo 13 command module in the Pacific Ocean. (Image: NASA via AP)
Before he came to Winnipeg in the late summer of 2018 to shoot the horror-comedy We Summon the Darkness, director Marc Meyers had skirted along the periphery of horror with his 2017 film My Friend Dahmer. Based on the graphic novel/memoir by Derf Backderf, the movie told the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in his high school years, immediately before he would embark on a secret murder spree of 17 men and boys from the late 70s into the 90s.

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Before he came to Winnipeg in the late summer of 2018 to shoot the horror-comedy We Summon the Darkness, director Marc Meyers had skirted along the periphery of horror with his 2017 film My Friend Dahmer. Based on the graphic novel/memoir by Derf Backderf, the movie told the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in his high school years, immediately before he would embark on a secret murder spree of 17 men and boys from the late 70s into the 90s.

We Summon the Darkness, by contrast, is an entirely fictional horror-comedy, set in the 80s, about a trio of young women smack dab in the middle of murder and mayhem after attending a rock concert and hooking up with a trio of apparently innocuous male metalheads. The film is set amid the "satanic panic" of the 80s that saw media-fuelled hysteria concerning satanic rituals, false accusations and the ominous rise of a certain kind of evangelical zealot who sees fear as a tool to gain power.

The film stars Alexandra Daddario, Maddie Hasson and Amy Forsyth as three young women, with an appearance by Johnny Knoxville as hellfire preacher Pastor John Henry Butler. Scripted by Alan Trezza (who also wrote the Daddario horror-comedy Burying the Ex), it took director Meyers even deeper into the realm of the horror genre, and he was happy to go on the gore-splattered road trip.

"My Friend Dahmer was my first foray into what would be identified as a film that appeals to that genre community. And I really fell in love with that community," he says on the phone from his home in Brooklyn, where he is in a jubilant-sounding isolation with his wife and young daughter. ("Theyre having a dance party in the next room," he explains as he moves his phone to a quieter location.)

Mongrel Media Maddie Hasson in We Summon the Darkness

"I thought of (Dahmer) as a character-driven film that I knew to be provocative ... that edged up against horror-thriller tropes," he says. "It fortunately appealed to that community and appeared a lot of genre film festivals. It was my first experience in that world and in that space and I really fell in love with it.

"So when I was given the script for We Summon the Darkness, I immediately saw that as an opportunity to go further with my filmmaking and also return to that audience with another wilder, bloodier, crazier film."

"It involves pyrotechnics and blood and violence and humour and three beautiful women as leads," he says. "The whole thing just felt fun to me. It was fun to make. It was fun to share."

Fun as it may have been, the film also has some interesting things to say about using fear as a tool. As one character says of the rampant occult paranoia afflicting the culture: "It doesnt matter if its true. It only matters if people believe it."

"The satanic panic was about the creation of fear  to have lots of people afraid of the same thing and motivated to believe in the same things," Meyers says. "And its haunting to me that certain themes echo sentiments today.

Supplied Director Marc Meyers: bloodier, crazier film

"But otherwise, why tell the story?" he says. "Im not interested in doing a film just for its own sake. I do want to feel that it has some sort of relevance to where we are as people now."

We Summon the Darkness was mostly shot around Selkirk in August and September of 2018 at a time when a few different film and TV projects converged on southern Manitoba, including A Dogs Journey, the Christopher Walken movie Percy, and the final season of Channel Zero.

"Even though there was a bunch of larger movies, we were able to assemble a really passionate, diligent, skilled crew that we could work with up there," Meyers says.

"There was a great stunt team that came out of Winnipeg (Rick and Sean Skene were stunt co-ordinators) and a great crew of grips and electrics, and we had the support of the camera department and the (production assistants) that allowed me and my (director of photography Tarin Anderson) and my actors to just keep working really really fast in the limited amount of time and resources that we had," Meyers says. "So the production value of this film is right there in a way that we had hoped.

Mongrel Media Johnny Knoxville plays Pastor John Henry Butler

"The movie is better because of the crew that gathered in Canada to make it."

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It didnt hurt that the star of the film had recently shot the thriller Night Hunter in the city and was familiar with the turf.

"Alexandra Daddario is a leading lady and shes a natural leader, both on set and as someone who a lot of people follow," Meyers says. "So it was natural that she also became a producer on this project, since she was the first actor to sign on.

"She really helped put a jet pack to the project so that we could make this movie."

Read Randall Kings review of We Summon the Darkness in Saturdays Weekend Review.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing

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Former Spokesperson at the Presidency under the erstwhile late President Atta-Mills administration, Koku Anyidoho, has hit back at his critics for praising President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his social intervention programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Koku Anyidoho claimed to have heard all the insults rained on him for praising President Nana Akufo-Addo for the social intervention measures he has put in place to ease the burden on Ghanaians, especially the vulnerable in the society.



He, however, counted the insults with joy as some of the NDC Executives joined hands with the ruling NPP government officials to distribute food stuffs to vulnerable groups in Accra, claiming that the interview he granted to praise President Akufo-Addo has yielded positive results.



So, there are a lot of things that can unite us? But to be frank I even heard Ex-President Mahama on Tuesday congratulating President Akufo-Addo for the decision to give food, both cooked and uncooked to the vulnerable in the society, the now Chief Executive Officer of the Atta-Mills Institute stated.



He reminded his critics that the only enemy at this point in time is the COVID-19 and not either the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC); reiterating that it is not the time for partisan parochial politics.



"COVID-19 is the enemy and not NPP or the NDC; . . . When I saw the pictures of the NDC Executives and NPP Government officials together giving food to the vulnerable, I thanked God that the interview I granted on Monday is yielding results, because this is not the time for partisan parochial politics, he insisted.



He stressed that, if those small boys who sit under the tree to play cards and draughts will want to play politics with the COVID-19, we can grant them that, but God forbid that I Koku Anyidoho in a crisis moment like this, having worked with a President of the Republic before, having gone through crisis moment, decides to do politics with COVID-19. I wont do it . . . if that is the reason why you will crucify me then crucify me, after all Christ died and went to Heaven.



He alluded to the fact that the philosophy of the NDC is rather to show compassion to the needy and the vulnerable in a difficult moment like this than to do politicis.





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An arrest warrant has been issued for a man suspected of drawing anti-Semitic graffiti on the property of a Jewish institution in Brookline, authorities announced Wednesday.

The Brookline Police Department alerted the public Monday that a person had graffitied the Chabad Center on Harvard Street over the weekend. A symbol resembling a swastika was drawn over Russian writing. The offense was being investigated as a hate crime.

Video of the incident was captured. A man, clad in sunglasses and a hat, can be seen approaching the front door of the building with a cigarette in his mouth. He is believed to have left the property headed toward Commonwealth Avenue.

While the investigation is ongoing, at this time we believe that we know the identity of the subject captured on film, and a warrant for his arrest was issued, the Brookline Police Department said in a statement.

The Anti-Defamation League of New England offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identification and prosecution of the suspect.

We appreciate your patience as we move forward with this investigation, and wish you all a healthy and peaceful Passover and Easter season, police said.

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French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is seen speaking on the phone in his office, next to his cabinet deputy director Thomas Revial (L), during a break of a Eurogroup videoconference meeting of the eurozone finance ministers to discuss coronavirus response on April 7, 2020 at the French Economy ministry in Paris.

The euro zone is making another attempt at agreeing on new fiscal stimulus to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, after 16 hours of talks earlier this week failed to produce any outcome.

Europe is one of the hardest hit regions by COVID-19, with Italy and Spain seeing some of the highest numbers of infections and deaths worldwide. European economies are struggling to cope with the pandemic amid business closures and a lack of tourism.

The region  19 countries which share the euro  has failed to come up with a joint stimulus plan to finance some of the costs of the pandemic. Euro zone finance ministers have been at loggerheads over whether to issue combined European securities, as well as the disbursement of new loans.

"A failure is inconceivable," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday after no meaningful result during a meeting with his counterparts.

There's pressure on the finance ministers to come up with a deal soon. Italian borrowing costs rose on Wednesday, after the failed discussions, and there are concerns that their division will fuel anti-EU sentiment across the region.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

No dearth of anti-malaria drug, say states amid local concerns

A day after India said it will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine, officials across several states insisted there is no shortage of the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has emerged as the most sought-after medicine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease. Read more.

Thank you India: Trump showers praise on Modi for hydroxychloroquine

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday showered praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian people on Twitter, his response to the Indian government easing restrictions on export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine that he has said would be a game-changer in the battle against Covid-19 pandemic. Read more.

Covid-19: Govt working on bailout package of up to Rs 75,000 crore to revive growth

The government may set up a fund with a corpus of about 50,000 crore to 75,000 crore to revive industries, particularly labour-intensive small and medium units, as part of an economic stimulus package currently under consideration to revive growth in the post-covid-19 era, two officials aware of the plan said. Read more.

Shab-e-Baraat 2020: Date, history and significance of Shab-e-Baraat

Shab-E-Baraat or Laylat al-Baraat is an Islamic festival that is celebrated by Muslims all around the world. Translating to the The Night of Fortune and Forgiveness, Shab-e-Barat means night of forgiveness or atonement and commemorates the day Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) entered the city of Makkah. Read more.

AR Rahman takes a dig at Masakali 2.0, recalls creating original with 365 days of creative brainstorming, no short cuts

As soon as Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutarias recreated number Masakali 2.0 released on Wednesday, fans of the original wondered how AR Rahman would react to the new version. And the Oscar-winning music maestro isnt pleased. Read more.

Android 11: Google makes A/B partition mandatory for seamless OS updates

Looks like Google is planning to make seamless OS updates mandatory for all the future smartphones that will run Android 11 or Android R. And it is planning to do that by making A/B Partition setup compulsory, as per a report by XDA Developers. Read more.

Bihar to promote class 1 to 11 students without exam, Rs 802 cr released for salary to teachers

The Bihar government on Wednesday issued a notification for promoting all students of the 2019-20 academic session from class 1 to 11, except class 10, to the next class without annual examination. For class 10 and 12 students, board examinations are held. Read more.

Watch| Coronavirus lockdown turns into hard lockdown, Rs 75,000 crore fund for MSMEs: Top 5 stories from HT

Hindustan Times National Political Editor, Sunetra Choudhury brings you the top 5 stories you need to know. Watch here.

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Bernie Sanders waved goodbye at the camera Tuesday night as he concluded an online discussion about the coronavirus. "Thank you very much, and we will see you all soon," he said.

That casual farewell did not reflect the candidate's intense deliberations off camera. By Wednesday morning, he would jump on a conference call with his staff to share words far more blunt: His five-year campaign to win the White House was over.

In a later video address, he explained the conclusion he was not able to escape in the weeks he had spent grappling about his political future.

"As I see the crisis gripping the nation," a slightly hoarse Sanders told supporters in a live stream from his home in Burlington, Vermont, "I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour."

By midday, he had spoken privately to Joe Biden, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Sanders in his video pledged to support the former vice president, although he said he will remain on primary ballots in an effort to collect enough delegates to influence the party's platform in negotiations this summer.

The departure of the senator from Vermont, a Democratic socialist who rose from relative obscurity to build a movement and become a two-time runner-up for the nomination, marked the close of a roller-coaster primary race that started more than a year ago. What began as the most diverse presidential field in history, featuring more than two dozen candidates, finished as one white man in his 70s handed off the nomination to another. Biden's own prospects had been written off not long ago, before a bracing and dramatic surge in the March primaries driven in part by the establishment closing in to embrace him.

Wednesday's moves opened a new chapter that will test the Democratic Party's ability to bridge lingering divisions between fervent liberal activists and more moderate party leaders that were evident in the wake of Sanders' announcement. The immediate challenge: Can the party unify as it failed to do in 2016, when a feud between supporters of Sanders and Hillary Clinton damaged her efforts to win the presidency?

The decision also created uncertainty about the future of the Sanders movement, which is made up of legions of young, loyal supporters who packed rallies and stuffed his campaign coffers with record sums of cash. After his 2016 loss, many felt he would run again. Few believe that now, and some are contemplating who will lead them in the future.

One factor giving Democrats hope for healing is the expected reemergence of Barack Obama, who kept a low public profile during the primary. Obama had conversations with Sanders and Biden over the past few weeks focused on defeating President Donald Trump, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations. Obama is said to be determined to play a role in unifying and energizing the party for the general election.

Biden released a lengthy statement Wednesday lauding his rival's accomplishments and saying that he would attempt to champion many of the same issues that animated his campaign.

"He hasn't just run a political campaign; he's created a movement," Biden said, echoing a refrain from Sanders. "And make no mistake about it, I believe it's a movement that is as powerful today as it was yesterday."

But not everyone on Sanders' side was ready to fall in line.

"While you are now the presumptive Democratic nominee, it is clear that you were unable to win the votes of the vast majority of voters under 45 years old during the primary," said an open letter to Biden signed by eight liberal groups that encouraged him to adopt their ideas on climate change, health care and other topics. "Messaging around a 'return to normalcy' does not and has not earned the support and trust of voters from our generation."

RoseAnn DeMoro, a close Sanders friend and former nurses union head, predicted Biden would have a "very, very heavy lift to get Bernie's people on board" because, in her view, "he's not inspirational."

Some allies, however, were hopeful that a good personal rapport between the two men, who served together in the Senate, would help build cohesion among their backers.

"I believe a lot of progressives will rally around former vice president Biden as a bridge to a progressive future, understanding full well that if the Democrats do not unite to defeat Donald Trump and allow him to shape the courts and agencies for a generation, it hurts the progressive movement," said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a national co-chair for Sanders.

Biden's campaign expects to make some policy concessions to Sanders and give his supporters a voice within his campaign. "There's work to do. We have to affirmatively reach out to them and let them know there's home for them over here - and to court them," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., co-chairman of the Biden campaign.

Biden and his campaign for weeks have attempted to delicately pave the way for Sanders to exit the race, putting little public pressure on him while at the same time sending signals that they viewed the contest as all but over. Aides to the two men quietly conducted back-channel conversations.

Sanders on Wednesday congratulated Biden and called him a "very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward."

Sanders' decision to end his campaign closes one of the most remarkable chapters in modern political history. His advocacy for sweeping liberal ideas, such as Medicare-for-all and tuition-free public college, shifted the national debate over the role of government and found broad support among members of a party that he never formally joined.

"Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become," Sanders said Wednesday. "Few would deny that over the course of the past five years, our movement has won the ideological struggle."

His unexpected success in the first three primary contests of 2020, coming after he suffered a heart attack in October, made him the best-performing socialist contender in U.S. history, as well the strongest Jewish presidential candidate. Sanders, 78, was also the oldest candidate to go so far in the process.

But his failure to capture the support of a majority of Democrats or win significant support in the African American community was on sharp display once the field narrowed to Sanders and Biden at the beginning of March, underlining the limits of his left-leaning politics.

He was never able to regain his footing and, as time went on, he faced internal pressure to think about stepping aside. In the run-up to Wednesday's announcement, even some of his closest aides and allies had urged him to consider bowing out.

Yet he left the race having created a movement that could outlive his candidacy and be an influential force for years to come, given the passion of his supporters and their enthusiasm for his positions. "We have never been just a campaign," Sanders said Wednesday, and his team promoted a new slogan, "The Campaign Ends, The Struggle Continues."

Among some activists, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a rising star who helped rescue Sanders' candidacy with an endorsement after his heart attack, is seen as a potential successor. But some hard-liners are less sold on Ocasio-Cortez and view her as too conciliatory.

"Thank you for your leadership, mentorship, and example. We love you," she tweeted of Sanders on Wednesday, along with a photo of them hugging.

The backdrop against which Sanders called it quits amounts to one more twist in a stretch of political history that has featured the most unorthodox president in memory, his impeachment due to an effort to politically wound a rival and investigations into Russian interference in U.S. elections.

Sanders vaulted onto the national scene in 2015 as a little-known challenger to Clinton, the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic presidential nod. While the senator from Vermont had spent decades in office, he had remained on the fringes of the political discourse, espousing ideas at the left end of the spectrum that often gained little traction.

He signaled his second candidacy with a bang, releasing a video in February 2019 that went viral and raising $6 million in his first 24 hours. That silenced critics who predicted he would struggle to generate excitement in a crowded field with a different dynamic than he faced four years before.

As fall arrived, Sanders struggled, falling behind as Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ascended. His campaign screeched to a halt on Oct. 1, when Sanders was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital after suffering chest pains during a grass-roots fundraising event. Doctors later placed two stents to open a blocked artery, and it was not immediately clear whether Sanders would be able to continue his campaign.

Boosted back into contention by Ocasio-Cortez and other marquee endorsers, Sanders maintained a steady presence in the race as other candidates went up and down. His loyal backers gave him a floor of support. But as he later found, his polarizing politics also kept him from growing his base beyond a plurality of the party.

Sanders' decision came after restrictions caused by the novel coronavirus halted all traditional forms of campaigning, denying him the giant rallies he had used to create a sense of momentum and cementing the former vice president's growing advantage in delegates.

Biden's campaign, like Sanders', has been separated as staffers and the former vice president have worked from their homes. Biden held several events online Wednesday in which he thanked Sanders and tried to raise money as the presumptive nominee.

"Thank goodness we can finally get to work," Jill Biden told a group of donors, answering questions that included what focus she would have as first lady. "We could never presume that before. This has all been all brand new and happened so, so quickly."

- - -

The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes, Michael Scherer and Amy B Wang contributed to this report.
Seven persons who had come in contact with Tablighi Jamaat members tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Thursday, taking the number of cases in the state to 18, an official said.

All seven had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in Purani Basti area of Katghora town in the district, he said.

The local police had claimed earlier that one of the Jamaat members had attended the organiation's congregation in Delhi last month.

A 16-year-old boy among these Jamaat members tested tested positive for COVID-19 on April 4, said Korba Collector Kiran Kaushal.

Samples of all those who came in contact with Jamaat members had been sent for testing, she said.

"All seven patients are being shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Raipur. Another patient, a 52-year-old man who tested positive last night has already been admitted to AIIMS," the collector added.

The Katghora town, located around 200 km from capital Raipur, has been sealed, she said.

Family members of the infected persons along with over 200 families living in the area have been quarantined, Kaushal informed.

With this, total of 10 COVID-19 cases have been detected in Korba district so far.

Nine out of 18 patients in the state have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease, a health official said.

A religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country.

According to Korba police, one of the 16 members of Jamaat who arrived in Katghora from Maharashtra had attended the congregation.

An FIR has been registered against all 16 for hiding their travel history and not cooperating with health staff for medical screening.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Estonia hopes to give example on how government, citizens and businesses can unite for a joint effort to reduce the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis

TALLINN, Estonia, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the day the state of emergency was declared in Estonia, a public-private e-hackathon was held as one of the first crisis responses to offer quick and feasible solutions to combat the impacts of COVID-19 outbreak. Estonia has a number of digital and globally successful startups which include four unicorn digital startups Skype, TransferWise, Bolt and Playtech valued at over 1 billion dollars.

Named "the most advanced digital society in the world" by Wired, Estonians have experienced first-hand how digital society is a true necessity in emergency situations such as the current COVID-19 outbreak. While doctors are working hard in hospitals to take care of the sick, the public and private sector have worked on e-solutions to tackle the crisis with innovative answers.

The hackathon has produced projects that have already started operating. With the state chatbot Suve now up and running on many public sites, answering pandemic-related questions. Additionally, a platform named Zelos that matches volunteers with people needing assistance in the crisis, and platform Share The Force helping companies share the workforce that would otherwise remain idle, are also successfully working.

According to Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, organizing an online hackathon demonstrates the attitude of Estonians, who at difficult times do their best to start working on solutions. "In difficult times we have always two options: remain seated when the ground is burning or start searching for solutions. We chose the second option," said President Kaljulaid. "Startup-government collaboration is in the DNA of the Estonian digital society. With around 1,000 examples, Estonia is among the top countries by startup per capita. In terms of startup regulation, Estonia is the best in the world according to a study by Index Ventures from late 2018. This asset is now being used rapidly to turn the crisis into economic opportunities," President Kaljulaid added.

Estonia's country-wide COVID-19-hacking initiative has already gone international and is expected to be adopted by other countries such as The Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, etc.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 17:43:30|Editor: Yurou

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PHNOM PENH, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's cancellation of the traditional New Year celebrations is crucial to help stem the spread of COVID-19, said officials, experts and employees.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen announced on Tuesday that the Khmer New Year, which is the annual biggest holiday scheduled for April 13-16, was called off to curb the spread of the virus from mass public gatherings and mass traveling.

He said state institution officials and private sector employees are required to work normally on the occasion, and the government will compensate them with a five-day holiday when the COVID-19 is over.

"The government's decision is to ensure people's safety and lives, and to prevent them from infecting with the COVID-19," Hun Sen said.

Supreme Patriarch Nun Nget, the leader of Mohanikaya sect of Buddhism in Cambodia, welcomed the move, saying that it was vital to contain the virus spread.

In a letter to the heads of Buddhist pagodas across the kingdom, he said all pagodas must cancel the celebrations of the New Year to help fight the virus.

Buddhism is the state religion in the Southeast Asian country, where about 90 percent of the country's population, 16 million people are Buddhists. According to the Ministry of Cults and Religion, the kingdom has more than 4,800 pagodas with nearly 70,000 Buddhist monks.

During the New Year celebrations, usually, Buddhists visit pagodas to make offerings of food and some cash to Buddhist monks in memory of their ancestors, and then, some participate in traditional Khmer New Year games organized by pagodas or local authorities.

Nget said this year, people don't need come to pagodas for avoiding mass gatherings, and they can celebrate the New Year with family members.

"Buddhists still can prepare praying stuff: candles, incense sticks and flowers for the Buddha, and food and fruit for their parents and older family members, as well as praying stuff to greet the New Year angel at their respective houses," he said.

Sombo Manara, a history professor at the Pannasastra University of Cambodia, said the government's decision to cancel the New Year is the first time in the kingdom's modern history.

"In my view, this is the most effective way to curb the virus spread," he told Xinhua. "The decision is very important to prevent people from holding mass gatherings and mass traveling, which can contribute to the spread of COVID-19," he said.

"I believe that the cancellation affects people's feelings because they used to celebrate it every year, but they should understand the current situation and join the government in fighting against the virus," he added.

Ek Tha, a spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, said on Thursday that the cancellation was one of the key preventive measures.

"As the whole world knows that any gatherings could be a potential health risk since no one can tell if a person contracts the virus until his/her sample is confirmed by a laboratory test, so prevention is better than cure," he told Xinhua. "The government believes that such move will be one of the most effective preventive measures."

Chheang Vannarith, president of the Asian Vision Institute, said the cancellation will help prevent the spread as well as raise public awareness about the risk of infection.

"The most effective way is to educate the public and change social behavior with regards to hygiene and social distancing," he said.

Far Saly, president of the National Trade Union Confederation, which represents about 50,000 garment and footwear workers, also supported the government's decision.

"We have told workers to work as usual on that occasion because this time for us to support the government's move to contain the virus," he said.

"The cancellation is to ensure their health safety," he added.

Some workers express regret that they cannot visit their hometowns on the occasion; however, they voice support for the government's move.

"It's sad that I cannot go to my hometown on the occasion; however, safety is the most important thing," Chhim Sreynet, a 33-year-old garment factory worker in Phnom Penh's Pursenchey district said.

"My hometown is in (southern) Takeo province, and if I go home, I need to go by mini-bus, but traveling by mini-bus with many passengers at this time is not good," she said. "Thus, the best choice is working as usual and staying at my rented room."

Labor Minister Ith Samheng said on Thursday that the workers who take leave during the cancelled Khmer New Year will have to undergo mandatory 14-day self-quarantine before being allowed to return to work.

"Workers who go on leave on the occasion without permission will be placed under self-quarantine for 14 days without pay before being allowed to return to work," he said in a statement.

"And those who take leave on the occasion with permission, will be self-quarantined for 14 days with pay before being allowed to return to work," he added.

The minister advised the employers of factories and enterprises to take note of the personal particulars of the employees who may be absent from work during the Khmer New Year and to give these details to quarantine officials who will then prepare to put them into a 14-day self-quarantine at their rented rooms before letting them to resume work.

Cambodia has so far recorded a total of 118 confirmed cases of the COVID-19, with 68 patients cured, according to a Ministry of Health statement on Thursday.
Several rockets have been fired at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

Five rockets were fired at the Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, early on April 9, causing "no casualties or injuries," the mission said on Twitter.

An Afghan security official in Parwan Province, where Bagram, the largest U.S. military base in the war-torn country is located, told RFE/RL that the rockets were fired from a vehicle.

The IS group said in a statement that their militants had targeted a helicopter landing pad at the base.

A Taliban spokesman said his group was not behind the attack.

Earlier this month, Taliban militants and the United States reached a deal on the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees, but IS militants are not included in the agreement.

The Afghan affiliate of the IS group appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, and has since made inroads into other areas, particularly the north.

IS fighters, whose number is estimated at 2,000 by the U.S. military, battle foreign and Afghan government forces as well as the Taliban.

They have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.

With reporting by Reuters
A 16-year-old boy has suffered serious injuries after he was stabbed in a "senseless" attack in north-east London.

Police and paramedics were called at about 6.40pm on Monday to reports of a group of youths fighting in Green Lanes Walk, Manor House.

They found the injured boy who was rushed to hospital where he remains. His condition is described as serious but stable, police said.

Three 17-year-old boys and a 19-year-old man, all from Hackney, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

They were taken to north London police stations and have been released on bail until mid-May.

Officers are appealing for people with information about the attack to come forward.

Detective Constable Luke Martinez from the Met Police's Central East Command Unit said: I am shocked by the level of violence shown in this nasty assault.

"We have a number of urgent enquiries underway to understand exactly who is responsible. I urge anyone with information, or who witnessed what happened, to get in touch.

"You might hold vital information that could help us to clarify the events leading up to, during, or following this assault.

Police were on scene within minutes of the incident. I hope the four arrests that we have made offer some reassurance to the local community.

"Senseless violence will never be tolerated and we never stop working hard to reduce violence and apprehend those committing it.
(Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday placed Hammerson PLC under review for a ratings downgrade from Baa1, following a sharp deterioration in the shopping centre operator's environment.

The credit agency said that the real estate sector has been one of the sectors most badly hit by the shock of the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, reflected by the majority of Hammerson's properties and stores being closed in line with government requirements since mid-March.

During the review process, Moody's will focus on the extent of business interruptions on Hammerson's operations, the expected impact on the retail industry in general, and the company's actions to protect its balance sheet.

Hammerson was already facing a weak operating performance due to a difficult retail property market in the UK before the outbreak, which will only increase the downward pressure on rents and asset values.

Although governments in the UK, France and other countries have announced measures to support businesses, Moody's still expects Hammerson to be compelled to provide concessions, particularly to smaller, more vulnerable brands.

The credit agency has assumed more widespread store closures in April and May, then a steady recovery in the third quarter of 2020.

"However, there are high risks of more challenging downside scenarios and the severity and duration of the pandemic and social distancing measures is uncertain. Moody's therefore expects an increasing number of tenant insolvencies and subdued leasing activity that will result in declining rental income throughout 2020 and 2021," Moody's stated.

Another concern is Hammerson's debt, which the property investor has attempted to reduce through GBP1.1 billion in disposals in the last 12 months.

"Given the changed market environment, Moody's sees little chance of substantial property sales for the duration of the pandemic. This could make it more difficult for Hammerson to maintain its target leverage ratio below 40% loan-to-value, especially if property values continue to fall," the credit agency continued.

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
As India intensifies its fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the focus has shifted to about 1,200 containment zones, mostly in states which have reported more than 100 Covid-19 cases. These zones are now under a more strict form of lockdown, with a complete prohibition in the movement of residents, with states adopting specific measures to implement restrictions.

The zones  varied in size and scale, ranging from apartment blocks to entire neighbourhoods, even parts of an entire district  are the frontlines of the battle against the pandemic now, where no one, other than except authorised government officials and health workers, are allowed to enter or exit.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

The declaration of these zones has happened a little over two weeks into a national lockdown. In the past few days, on directions of the health ministry, state governments have declared a large number of containment zones. Maharashtra alone has 401 containment zones, with Mumbai having 381 and Pune 20. Uttar Pradesh has 105 containment zones, Rajasthan 38, Madhya Pradesh 180, Tamil Nadu 220, Delhi 23, Telangana 125, including 36 in Hyderabad, and 121 in Andhra Pradesh.

Containment zones are more localised (up to a kilometer in radium) than the hotspots (spreading to several kilometers) and are aimed to prevent spread of Covid-19 from a locality or a village to nearby areas. In simple terms, it is a barrier erected around the focus of infection, said a health ministry document on containment zones.

The logic is that the authorities can focus on containing the infections to a limited cluster, screening residents so that those with symptoms can be identified, testing necessary and eligible cases, and ensuring that those infected and those with a contact history of those infected have no interface with the outside world. Expert quote here on efficacy of the model.

Also read| Covid-19: What you need to know today

In these zones, the police, including special response team of armed commandoes, maintain a round-the-clock watch, assisted with CCTV cameras and drones. Essentials are being delivered by Covid volunteers.

Teams of sanitary workers spray disinfectants at regular intervals; health care and local officials do door-to-door surveys; no outlet is allowed to remain open; and people are not being allowed even in the common areas of their localities. Aggressive contact tracing of Covid-19 patients is being done and movement of people, including non-Covid positive persons, is being monitored through mobile apps.

State governments, across the country, have adopted different strategies to manage these zones. States such as Odisha, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have released maps on social media notifying the boundary and the buffer of the containment zones.

Chennai has two-layered containtment zones. Within nine large zones, there are 70 smaller containment clusters, in the immediate vicinity of those who have tested positive for Covid-19. Each containment zone has a protective radius of five kilometers where movement of people is restricted and disinfectant spraying carried out regularly.

Mumbai, which has the highest number of Covid-19 patients for a city, has more than doubled the number of containment zones in the city in the past two days to 381 zones. A locality having even a single Covid-19 patient is being declared a containment zone. The health of every person in the zone is monitored around the clock, said a BMC official.

Also read: Coronavirus may not go away in warmer weather, says US report

In Delhi, no one is being allowed within two kilometers of containment zone. The police have put barricades and special local control rooms have been set up to monitor movement of people there through CCTV cameras, officials said.

Officials in Jaipur said that every home in the 20 containment areas were being sanitised twice a day.

On Thursday, most of the containment zones bore a deserted look as police pushed people back into their homes and municipal workers started massive sanitisation drives, spraying disinfections, cleaning door of individual homes, followed by health workers screening all individuals.

In Lucknows Sadars Kasaibada locality, where Tablighi Jamaat attendees were staying in 12 mosques, Yogendra Kumar, a resident, said, I peeped out of my window at around 11 am and found cops using a baton to push back three people who had come out in the street despite the strict orders to remain indoors. In the morning, every nook and corner of the locality was cleaned.

In Bhopal, around 3,00,000 people are confined in 70 containment zones. Health status of every person is with authorities, said a Bhopal district administration official. In Indore, about half-a-million people are confined in their homes in the around 90 containment zones. A constant health survey is being done, said Dr RR Patel, joint director in the directorate of information at Indore.

Also read: 10 lakh crore stimulus need of the hour, experts estimate

In Punjabs Mohali, where 15 people tested positive in a Jawaharpur village, 24*7 police barricades have been put up. Any area, where positive cases are reported, is contained by us. We have allowed essential supplies to the village. Entry and exit in these villagers is banned, said Mohali deputy commissioner (DC) Girish Dayalan said, adding quick response teams comprising of Punjab police commandoes have been deployed in these places.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced a containment zone, of 1.5 km length and 800 metre width containment zone around a housing complex, the epicenter of the local outbreak with 18 Coronavirus cases. On Twitter, the BMC released a map showing a black dotted line along the busy Cuttack-Puri road indicating the contours of the zone saying no one can enter or exit as long as the containment orders were on.

However, locals, including some who went out to buy medicines, said that despite a helpline to order essentials, the supply has been erratic. Similar complaints were also reported from Ghaziabad, Noida and Jaipur.

Also read: Food prices surge 3 times as supply chain takes a hit

More than shortage of supplies, there is palpable fear of catching the deadly virus. Suketh Chinchela, who lives in Bhubaneshwars Surya Nagar area with his family, said there is a certain eerie feeling of living in a containment zone. But the fear is more that the dreaded disease has come to our doors. Surya Nagar is an area full of retired bureaucrats and old people, thereby heightening the fear, said Chinchela.

The place looks like a graveyard even in the daytime, said Samar Khadas, a resident of containment zone in Mumbais Worli. Many residents urgently need physiological counseling as they are feeling depressed, he said. A resident of Rambanj in Jaipur, Uday Narayan Singh, whose area is under curfew for the past 15 days, said that patience and cooperating with the authorities is the only way to come out of it. I have seen even most people getting disturbed. We need more reassurance from the government that we are safe, he said.

Kasaragod in Kerala, has been a model in fighting Covid-19 through a containment zone. The small district in northern Kerala, from where 156 of the states 345 coronavirus cases were reported, was the first to be declared a containment zone in the country and had been so since March 24.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

Initially, it was difficult for the people to go by stricter norms but the police implemented them ruthlessly. Strict action forced many to remain indoors. We have made the turnaround. We did it ruthlessly and told people it is life and death situation. Results are there to see, said Vijay Sakhare, Inspector General of Police (Kochi range) who was specially assigned in north Kerala when situation turned alarming.

Usman Koya, a native of Kananhad, said it was worse than a curfew. Though we faced many difficulties we realised it is for our good. But I am happy these restrictions helped contain the virus otherwise Kasaragod would have been another Dharavi, she said.

Declaring Kasaragod a containment zone prevented community spread. Among 156 cases, 101 are people returned from the West Asian countries. The rest are their immediate contacts. There is no community spread in the district but we are keeping a strict vigil, said district collector D Sajith Babu.

The model was also replicated in Rajasthans Bhilwara, where the health workers in a private hospital first got infected. The state adopted a model of ruthless containment, which succeeded in stopping infections and its spread.

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During a one-day rump sitting of Australias parliament yesterday, the Labor Party joined hands with the Liberal-National Coalition government to push through an unprecedented rescue package for the capitalist class, at the direct expense of millions of workers.

Within just over 12 hours, four far-reaching bills were rubberstamped by a bare quorum in both houses. The main thrust of these provisions is to allow employers to cut wages, working hours and other working conditions under the $130 billion wage subsidy scheme unveiled by the government last week.

Employers can now change workers hours to whatever amount would bring their pro-rata pay down to $1,500 per fortnight, the amount provided by the government, on the basis that COVID-19 means there is less work for them.

In the words of the bills official explanatory memorandum, a new Part 6-4C into the Fair Work Act now allows employers to issue JobKeeper enabling directions. These can impose increased flexibility around employees hours of work via a new JobKeeper enabling stand down direction, performance of duties and location of work.

These measures demonstrate that the so-called Jobseeker package has nothing to do with saving jobs. Its primary purpose is to slash wages and eliminate basic protections for workers, while artificially lowering the official unemployment rate.

Over the next six months, the government will pay much of the wages bills of big business, without any guarantee that any of the millions of jobs already wiped out will be restored.

At the same time, the scheme enables employers to push some workers back into workplaces under unsafe conditions, even as the global pandemic worsens and the number of officially-reported cases in Australia climbs past 6,000, with more than 50 deaths.

As a supposed safeguard for workers, the federal governments Fair Work Commission, an industrial court, will be able to resolve disputes, including by arbitration.

The passage of the bills highlights the governments dependence on the trade unions and Labor Party to suppress working-class opposition to this assault.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus struck a deal to support the bills with Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter after backroom talks on Monday night.

McManus, whom Porter describes as his BFF (best friend forever) readily abandoned her earlier posturing of concern over allowing the cuts to wages and conditions to be imposed, across-the-board, via the Fair Work Act.

McManus claimed the resulting package was an historic win for working people and thanked Porter for his engagement with the unions.

In reality, McManuss deal with Porter delivered on her pledge on national television last Sunday, when she assured the employers that you can get everything you want through co-operation with the unions.

This co-operation will now take the form of the unions diverting workers opposition into individual appeals to the industrial court, as they have done for decades.

Following McManuss deal with Porter, Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese confirmed his partys commitment to vote for the bill, reiterating Labors pledge of constructive support for the government throughout the coronavirus crisis.

Like McManus, Albanese agreed to help rush the bills through, even though they exclude about 1.1 million casual workers who worked for an employer for less than 12 months, 1.1 million overseas workers on temporary visas and hundreds of thousands of international students who worked part-time. The bills also exclude workers laid off by universities and local councils.

These workers will be left to try to subsist on poverty-level unemployment benefits, while the overseas workers and students have been denied any welfare support at all. Government ministers declared that these international workers and students should go home if they cannot support themselves financially. However, travel restrictions make that virtually impossible.

To make a show of opposition, Labor moved amendments in the lower house to include some of those workers, along with support packages for universities, disability support services and the arts. It did so cynically, knowing the government had the numbers to defeat the amendments.

Labor then expedited the legislation through the Senate where the government does not have the numbers. As it had promised the government, Labor did not move or support any amendments in the upper house and blocked with the government to bulldoze the bills though last night as swiftly as possible.

This is by far the biggest corporate bailout in Australian history. The $130 billion allocated for the wage subsidy is more than the annual federal budgets for education and health combined. The bills also hand more than $1 billion to private child care operators.

During the past month, the federal, state and territory governments, and the Reserve Bank of Australia, have now provided the financial elite with more than $325 billion in tax concessions, subsidies, grants and loans. This dwarfs the totally inadequate sums allocated for the chronically-underfunded public health facilities and the mass testing urgently needed to combat the coronavirus.

Nurses, doctors, paramedics and other frontline workers are being left to confront the rising numbers of infections and deaths without sufficient masks, gowns and other personal protection equipment. Similar dangers face teachers, childcare workers, supermarket staff, construction workers, miners and postal and warehouse workers.

While the bills have six-month end-dates, the cuts to wages and conditions will not be temporary. As soon as Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government moves to snap back the governments coronavirus measures, as it has vowed to do, Labor and the unions will just as quickly agree that the pay and conditions benchmarks set during the pandemic must continue in order to facilitate a recovery from the depression into which Australian and global capitalism is now descending.

Governments, both federal and state, Labor and Coalition alike, also will demand that the billions of dollars laid out for big business must be clawed back from the working class by way of deeper cuts to social spending, reduced pay and conditions and new waves of privatisations and asset sales.

Fearful of social unrest, Morrisons government has formed a de facto power-sharing coalition regime with the Labor Party and the unions. Labor holds a majority in his national cabinet of state and territory government leaders who effectively rule the country by issuing decrees, with the federal and state parliaments mostly shut down. Albanese and his key shadow ministers also meet weekly with their Coalition counterparts, behind closed doors, to help devise and impose the governments measures.

This united front shows the need for workers to take matters into their own hands, independent of the unions. This means demanding urgently-needed measures, such as full income support for all the working people, including casuals and temporary visa holders, who have lost their jobs or refuse to work in unprotected workplaces, and safe conditions for all essential workers.

These demands raise the need to reorganise economic and social life along socialist lines, on the basis of human need, not private profit. Instead of big business and the banks being propped up, they should be placed under public ownership and democratic workers control in order to produce and marshal the resources needed to protect the populations health.
D emand for flour has greatly increased during the coronavirus lockdown as more people take up baking at home.

Grocery sales of flour increased by 92 per cent in the four weeks up to March 22 from the same period last year, consumer analysts Kantar have said.

The National Association of British and Irish Millers (Nabim) says the industry has doubled production but is still struggling to meet demand.

Wessex Mill in Oxfordshire has introduced night shifts so the operation can run 24 hours for the first time in the 125 years since it opened.

The mills online shop is now only open for ten minutes a day due to record traffic.

Weve found the demand mostly to be of small bags sold direct to the public, said Emily Munsey, who runs the mill with her father.

Emily Munsey runs the Wessex Mill with her father / Emily Munsey

Weve increased production four times, and were aiming to increase it to six times what wed normally do in the next two weeks.

Weve got a night shift on small bags which weve never done before.

Weve added ore staff, more running time, and we are going to try and increase that further after Easters over.

The mill has recruited local people who have lost their work due to the Covid-19 lockdown. It has closed to the public and added cleaning and safety measures to prevent the virus spreading during flour production.

Priya Nicholas, communications manager for Nabim, told the Standard the industry had doubled its output of prepacked flour.

Previously we were making the equivalent of two million 1.5 kg bags of flour each week, now we are making four million, she said.

But were still struggling to meet the demand, and four million is full capacity. Not many industries would have more than double capacity in their back pocket.

Only four per cent of flour produced goes to individual shoppers, with the remaining 96 per cent being bought by commercial customers.

Its not a shortage of flour, weve got plenty, Ms Nicholas said. But its not really possibly to produce more of the little bags.

So now were looking at other ways of trying to get flour to people that want to bake at home.

The flour industry is trying to make larger bags available to bakers and other businesses who could sell the bigger bags to customers.

Ms Nicholas said she does not think the number of people baking at home will lessen any time soon.
With a record 76 new cases, the highest so far in a single day, the total number of coronavirus infections in Gujarat shot up to 262 on Thursday, while the death toll rose to 17 with the addition of one more fatality, said officials.

All the new cases were recorded during the last 24 hours, they said.

One person also died during this period, taking the death toll 17, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.

Of the total 1,975 samples tested during the last 24 hours, 76 came positive for the virus, she added.

Out of these 76 new cases, as many as 58 were from Ahmedabad alone, followed by Patan (7), Vadodara (4),Surat (2), Rajkot (2) and one case each from Dahod, Anand and Chhotaudepur districts.

She asked common citizens not to panic over the spike in confirmed cases, saying the numbers are increasing due to a policy of aggressive testing undertaken by the government.

The sudden spike in new cases, particularly in Ahmedabad, was due to an intensive surveillance being carried out in areas which have been declared as coronavirus 'hotspots' in Ahmedabad and other major cities of Gujarat, said Ravi.

She opined that cases will rise in the days to come as more cases related to the Nizamuddin gathering would emerge in the surveillance and testing exercise being carried out in the walled city area and other hotspots in Ahmedabad.

"We had a fair idea from the beginning that cases would rise due to the Tablighi Jamaat-related cases which were detected earlier.

"We knew that once we start intensive surveillance and testing in the Nizamuddin incident related hotspots, more cases would emerge.

"We want cases to come up, so that we can eliminate the infection completely" Ravi told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Till now, 12 cases related to the Nizamuddin event held last month, a key source of the COVID-19 spread, have been reported in Gujarat, all in Ahmedabad, officials had said earlier.

The major hotspots in Ahmedabad, from where most of the cases were detected on Thursday, are Danilimada, Astodia and Ghodasar.

Surat city has to hotspots - Rander and Adajan Patiya.

Out of the 262 cases reported so far, the highest, - 142 - were in Ahmedabad, followed by Surat (24), Vadodara (22), Bhavnagar (18), Gandhinagar (13), Rajkot (13), Patan (12), Porbandar (3), two each in Kutch, Mehsana, Gir Somnath, Chhotaudepur and Anand.

One case each has been recorded in Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod.

A 48-year-old man succumbed to coronavirus in Ahmedabad during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in Gujarat to 17, she said.

Till now, 26 persons have also recovered from the deadly infection and discharged from hosptials. This included a 27-year-old man who was discharged from Ahmedabad civil hospital on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A federal judge has refused to put his stamp of approval on a letter to Northern California wildfire victims from attorneys who allege that Pacific Gas & Electric may be breaking its promises as it tries to preserve a plan for getting out of bankruptcy in an unraveling economy.

The decision issued late Tuesday by Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali bolsters PG&Es efforts to hold together its plan.

Montali rejected the request from the committee representing wildfire victims after listening to nearly two hours of sometimes acrimonious arguments during a hearing held earlier in the day.

The four-page ruling left the door open for the wildfire victims committee to send out a letter outlining its concerns as the voting continues on PG&Es plan for dealing with the death and destruction caused by its electrical grid. A request for comment from the victims committee after Montalis rebuff wasnt immediately answered.

PG&Es lawyers had scoffed at the allegations as a desperate bid to renegotiate a $13.5 billion settlement reached with wildfire victims four months ago.

Tuesdays courtroom wrangling focused on the real value of the $13.5 billion deal, and when the money will be available to help more than 81,000 people who lost family members, homes and businesses during 2017 and 2018 a series of wildfires that killed nearly 130 people and destroyed thousands of homes. PG&E plans to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2018 fires.

The wildfire victims committee wanted Montali to take the unusual step of approving a letter raising red flags about the settlement in the midst of the voting on PG&Es complex plan for emerging from bankruptcy. The plan envisions paying out more than $25.5 billion in settlements, including the one with wildfire victims.

But Montali concluded the committee squandered its opportunity to express its misgivings while a disclosure statement for PG&Es plan was being hashed out during hearings held in February and March.

PG&E had fiercely opposed the attempt to send out a court-approved letter attacking its plan because it feared the missive would torpedo its frantic effort to get out of bankruptcy by June 30. The San Francisco company needs to meet that deadline to qualify for coverage from a wildfire insurance fund created by California to help utilities deal with future risks.

The wildfire victims biggest concerns center on the rapidly declining value of PG&Es stock amid the recent market turmoil as well as the possibility that the company might not raise all the money it needs to start paying people for its misconduct until late this year or early next year, said Robert Julian, a lawyer for the victims committee.

Half of the $13.5 billion settlement is supposed to be funded with PG&E stock, but the market turmoil has caused the companys shares to lose half their value since Feb. 11. A veteran investment banker submitted a declaration last week in another court proceeding that the stock earmarked for the settlement is now worth $4.85 billion, a 28% reduction from the original target of $6.75 billion.

PG&E attorney Stephen Karotkin told Montali that it was always known the stock portion of the settlement could end up being worth more or less than $6.75 billion. He also pointed out that PG&Es stock is currently worth more than its average price of $7.80 during the two months leading up to the Dec. 6 settlement. The companys shares closed Tuesday at $8.57.

Another attorney for wildfire victims, Gerald Singleton, told Montali that he still thinks the current settlement is the best deal available. There are risks here, but we believe the benefits outweigh the risks, said Singleton, who represents more than 7,000 victims.

Robert Julian, an attorney for the victims committee, said worries about PG&Es stock price are being compounded by uncertainty about when the victims will be allowed to sell their shares to get the money they need to rebuilt their lives. The victims will own a nearly 21% stake in the company, a chunk so large that it will have to be sold in periodic phases to prevent a collapse in the stock price.

The wildfire victims committee also had entered into the settlement believing PG&E would have lined up the financing for the cash portion by Aug. 29, according to Julian. He told the judge he now believes PG&E plans to hold off on securing some loans until late December or early January. Karotkin didnt address that allegation in the hearing, but insisted the Aug. 29 date was never a concrete commitment.

The doubts about PG&Es plan have reached the point where a growing number of victims dont believe anything PG&E has to say in these confirmation hearings, Julian said.

Karotkin blasted Julian for trying to win court approval of a letter thats totally inappropriate and misleading.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Legislation Wildfire
Foxconn has implemented an unprecedented number of safeguards at their Zhengzhou factory where the highest number of iPhones are made

China continues to show signs of recovery from the Coronavirus as Foxconn restarts iPhone production in its China factory. Reopening the Zhengzhou plant where the highest number of iPhones are produced, the Taiwanese company is going to great lengths to ensure there is no second wave of the Coronavirus outbreak.

According to multiple reports, Foxconn and other manufacturers are taking great measures to ensure there is no second wave of the Coronavirus outbreak. The company is breaking its employees into groups of 20, and they must eat, sleep, work and travel together. The cafeteria now has barriers between tables in order to prevent employees from seeing or talking to each other. The company has also put QR code on all the seats, and employees are required to scan the QR code so that the company can track who sat where. Additionally, the company says that workers temperatures are being recorded every day and the company is also using an infrared video camera to monitor the body temperature of employees across the facility. Foxconn has also said that they are producing 2 million face masks daily for use by its 1 million-strong work-force.

All of the above measures have Foxconn feeling confident about ramping up production, and consequently meeting the deadline for the iPhone 12 launch in September. There had been growing concerns that due to the Coronavirus ravaging through China, Apple may have to delay the launch of the iPhone 12. Turns out, that may not be the case after all. While bigger factories have started coming back online in China, the smaller outfits in the supply chain are yet to catch up.

Indias manufacturing facilities all remain shut as the government-mandated lockdown of the country continues. The lockdown is currently mandated until the 14th of April, but the government is expected to asses the situation and decide on whether to extend the lockdown or lift it.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh announced on Wednesday a hard lockdown in 12 hotspots where most number of Covid-19 cases have been registered.

Twenty five such clusters - 13 in Ghaziabad and 12 in Gautam Budh Nagar - will be under intensive lockdown measures for a week, with residents confined indoors, all shops and banks shut, and all vehicular movement completely curtailed.

So, what is a hard lockdown? And how is it different from the current restrictions placed across the country to check the spread of Covid-19?

Heres a look:

--Residents living in hot spots wont be allowed to step out of their houses.

--All houses in hotspots will be searched and sanitised.

--Drones will monitor activities in the sealed areas.

--Health department staff will make house-to-house visit to identify infected people and quarantine them.

--Essential commodities, including edible items and medicines, will be delivered at doorsteps after order is placed online.

--Entry of media in hot spots will be banned. Only government photographer will be permitted and government will release pictures to the media.

--People can contact control rooms and helplines established by the districts administration for emergency services.

--People will have to cover their face with mask or scarf while moving in the lockdown areas.

--Administration and police will make public announcements through loudspeakers in the sealed and lockdown areas.

--Police will barricade the sealed area and organize intensive patrolling on roads and in lanes.

--Vegetable and fruit markets, banks and ration outlets will remain closed.

--Lockdown passes issued to civilians after March 25 will be ineffective

--Any person trying to enter or exit the hot spots till April 15 will be booked

--Vegetable and fruit markets, banks and ration outlets will remain closed.
Evictions Frozen for 6 Months in Queensland

For the next six months Queensland residents cannot be evicted from a rental property due to economic hardship imposed by COVID-19. To qualify for this protection, renters will need to demonstrate that they have lost all or part of their income and are unable to pay all or some of their rent as a result of the CCP virus pandemic.

In a joint statement on April 9, Deputy Minister Jackie Trad and Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni unveiled the Queensland governments package of measures.

We will not allow anyone to be evicted because they cant pay their rent as a result of this crisis, said Trad.

The Queensland government wants to ensure all partiesrenters, landlords, agentsdo the right thing, said de Brenni. No one could have expected or predicted the scenario that tenants, property agents, and landlords find themselves in today, he said at the press conference.

To help this process, the Queensland government announced a $400 million incentive for landlords to support residential tenants who are financially impacted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus pandemiccommonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Speaking at the press conference, de Brenni said that when residential tenants and landlords cant come to an agreement they will be compelled to participate in conciliation. The principles of that process will be set out by the minister for housing and public works.

The new measures also include prohibitions. Renters cannot be made to sell assets, draw down on their superannuation, and are not required to provide personal financial data to landlords or agents. However, they may be required to provide personal financial data to the Residential Tenancy Authority.

De Brenni said he will also set out principles for working out a new payable rent that is fair and reasonable and in proportion to what the tenant can afford. Rent arrears or debt cannot be amassed during this time either.

The ban on evictions related to COVID-19 does not extend to cases where a tenant causes damage to property. In such cases, property owners can still legally seek to evict.

Tenants will still be required to demonstrate respect for their property and neighbours by maintaining their home in accordance with their tenancy agreement, said de Brenni in a press release.

Other states and territories are introducing their versions of these measures as well. Adrian Kelley, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia told The Epoch Times, The real estate industry is very supportive of these measures as all Australians need a roof over their heads during these challenging times.

National Cabinet

The new measures are a response to the National Cabinets decision to implement a six-month freeze on evictions. The National Cabinet meets regularly to discuss ways to protect the national public health and economy of Australia.

The National Cabinet only introduced measures to assist the commercial rental market; residential tenancy matters come under the jurisdiction of states and territories.

At a press conference on April 7, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, The issues that weve worked on as a National Cabinet have been to deal with the commercial issues, because they have that broader national economic impact.

Hibernation Strategy

The National Cabinet said it is taking a hibernation strategy to preserve as much of the structures of the Australian economy as possible as the country goes through and comes out the other side of the CCP virus pandemic.

That means keeping the jobs, it means keeping the businesses, it means keeping the tenancies in place; it means keeping the loans in place, keeping the credit lines open, to ensure that the liabilities that are established, or protecting against insolvencies and bankruptcies, so on the other side of these crises the economy will be able to rebuild and rebound again.

To that end, on April 7, National Cabinet met to discuss further efforts to slow the spread of the CCP virus in Australia. Among the outcomes is a set of codes of conduct (pdf) for commercial leasing. The purpose of the code is to share the burden between commercial renters and landlords in a fair manner proportionate to the level of commercial impact as a result of the CCP virus pandemic.

Landlords who do not engage with their tenants under this process would forfeit their rights under the lease.
Neuro Event Labs Oy closes EUR 3.9m Series A investment round from Hadean Ventures, SHS Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement and Maki.vc (news with additional features)

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Proceeds to support commercial expansion in Europe as well as US market entry

Investment round led by Hadean Ventures, joined by SHS Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement and existing investor Maki.vc

Neuro Event Labs Oy today announced it has raised a EUR 3.9m Series A financing round led by Hadean Ventures, joined by SHS?Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement?and existing investor Maki.vc. The proceeds will support commercial expansion in Europe as well as entry into the US market for its lead product Nelli(TM).

Lack of objective diagnostics is big burden in neurology limiting access to proper diagnosis. Neuro Event Labs Oy, a healthtech company based in Tampere, is developing products that improve diagnosis, and thereby treatment, of neurological conditions in a cost-effective manner. Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent chronic neurologic conditions having impact for 65 million people globally. 1/3 of the patients continue to have seizures despite treatment. The lead product, Nelli(TM), is an AI-powered diagnostic for epilepsy based on video and audio recordings. Nelli(TM)?provides an interactive report which can be reviewed by the clinical team via a web-based application. Nelli(TM)?is CE-marked and has been launched on the Nordic market. Nelli(TM)?is in regular clinical use at several leading Nordic hospitals.

The Series A funding will support commercial expansion in Europe, as well as FDA-approval and US market entry. Neuro Event Labs already has collaboration agreements in place with renowned US hospital systems such as Jefferson Health, as well as with epilepsy focused pharmaceutical companies.

\Neuro Event Labs is developing solutions that has the potential to substantially improve care for a large variety of patients suffering from neurological conditions. The initial application of Nelli(TM)?gives unique insights into epileptic symptoms and enables the treating physician to provide a new level of care for difficult to treat epilepsy patients. We are looking forward to working with the Neuro Event Labs team and support them bringing these novel solutions to the market,\ commented Dr Ingrid Teigland Akay, Managing Partner, Hadean Ventures.

\Being an active investor in the neurology space, SHS is convinced that Neuro Event Labs, SHS\-\-s first investments in the Nordics, will greatly enhance diagnostics of refractory epileptic patients today with the opportunity to add other neurological indications in the future. We have been impressed by the feedback from key opinion leaders on the efficacy of Neuro Event Lab\-\-s solutions and how quickly it became the tool of choice for neurologists,\ continued Sascha Alilovic, Partner, SHS Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement.

\Our vision is to provide AI powered objective diagnostics in neurology for all patients instantly. We are excited to join forces with reputable health technology focused venture capitalists Hadean Ventures and SHS Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement in addition to the existing partner Maki.vc. With this investment and deep co-operation, we can expand our market activities in Europe as well as US market entry. With healthcare systems around the world currently under stress, it\-\-s all the more important that we develop more solutions for at-home care and diagnosis\ said Kaapo Annala, CEO, Neuro Event Labs.

\The investment of experienced healthcare focused investors like Hadean and SHS underscores the high quality of healthtech companies in Finland. Neuro Event Labs is a perfect example of helping patients and society by improving the standards of care while decreasing costs for the healthcare system as a whole,\ commented Ville Skinnari, minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland.

About Neuro Event Labs Oy

Neuro Event Labs is a Finnish medical technology growth company. The company\-\-s main product monitors epilepsy patients at home and in hospital. Accurate epilepsy seizure data is collected, analyzed and relayed to the patient\-\-s physician, who makes individual treatment decisions based on the reports. The solution has been developed on close cooperation with leading Finnish hospitals.?https://neuroeventlabs.com

About Hadean Ventures

Hadean Ventures is a European life science fund manager that invests in life science companies across Europe with a particular focus on the Nordic region. Hadean Ventures is managing funds backed by leading European and US-based, private and institutional investors. Hadean Ventures has offices in Oslo and Stockholm and collaborates with world-class academic institutions and start-up hubs across the region. www.hadeanventures.com

About Maki.vc

Maki.vc is an early-stage venture capital firm in Helsinki, Finland that champions the entrepreneurs who rewrite the future. The fund invests in deep tech and brand-driven companies across consumer and enterprise spaces. Maki.vc team and global network shares in the vision of entrepreneurs as champions and challengers, drawing on the experience of scaling some of the strongest technology companies. www.maki.vc

SHS Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungsmanagement is based in Tuebingen, Germany, and invests in medical technology and life science companies with a focus on expansion financing, changes in shareholder structures, and successor situations. SHS holds minority as well as majority interests. The company was founded in 1993 and has since gained extensive experience as an industry investor which supports the growth of its portfolio companies through a network of partnerships regarding the introduction of new products, regulatory issues or entering new markets. The SHS fund\-\-s European based investors include pension funds, strategic investors, funds of funds, family offices, entrepreneurs, and the SHS management team. The AIFM-registered company invests up to ?20 million in equity capital and volumes exceeding this amount are implemented with a network of co-investors. SHS is currently investing from its fifth fund which has received capital commitments of more than ?130 million. Further information: http://www.shs-capital.eu
Syria has made an official request for Russian assistance to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. On April 8, Syrias ambassador to Moscow, Riyad Haddad, told Russian reporters that he had approached the Russian Health Ministry to request aid to clamp down on the spread of COVID-19 in his country.

According to Haddad, Damascus has asked Moscow for testing kits and detection equipment, personal protection gear, and medical devices.

Why it matters: On April 7, Syria's government-run news agency, SANA, reported Health Ministry claims of a total of 19 coronavirus cases in the country. Among those infected, three people had recovered and two had died. Unofficial reports point to potentially much higher figures.

The spread of the virus in Syria has been on Moscows radar for more than a month. On March 24, Al-Monitor reported that Russia providing assistance to Syria to deal with the pandemic had been on the agenda of a meeting that day in Damascus between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On March 26, Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua and North Korea appealed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to facilitate putting the brakes on sanctions hampering the fight against COVID-19. The effort has not produced the desired result.

New opportunities? Over the last few days, Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have discussed the COVID-19 pandemic with a number of Middle Eastern leaders. On April 1, Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about joint activities by their countries to combat the virus. On April 6, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Russian president, and the two expressed a mutual stance in favor of enhancing coordination in countering the spread of the coronavirus infection, a Kremlin press release noted. On April 7, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov spoke by phone with Ismail Haniyeh, political bureau chief of Hamas. The conversation reportedly focused on potential efforts to counter the worsening economic and humanitarian crises in the Palestinians territories.

Earlier, on Feb. 29, Iranian Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani had called Putin to get Russian reassurances to render help in curbing the spread of the infection. On March 12, Russia sent Iran testing systems able to identify the coronavirus relatively quickly, and on March 17 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow had sent additional humanitarian aid to Iran, but he did not elaborate.

Moscow's engagement appears to be aimed at strengthening Russia's standing in the region by providing humanitarian assistance and cultivating the image of a caring power.

Whats next? Russia has received additional requests from a number of friendly countries that like Syria want help dealing with the coronavirus. Armenia, Kazakhstan and Serbia are among the most recent to reach out. Over the last 48 hours, the Russian military deployed chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense units to Belgrade and a number of other Serbian cities to help with decontamination and disinfection efforts. In Syria, this same response can be expected, but in addition, Moscow might as well include some medications that the Russian Health Ministry deems effective in suppressing the virus.

The long-shot effort to loosen sanctions against Russia, Syria, Iran and other countries is likely to remain unsuccessful.

Know more: Check out Khaled al-Khatebs article in Al-Monitor on how Syrian students are turning to e-learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Kadri Gursels observations on how the Erdogan government has prioritized the economy over containing the coronavirus.
Chiranjeevi was the first person in Tollywood industry to cancel shootings in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

I read about this virus and how it was spreading very fast in other countries. I realised that gatherings of people should be avoided. I discussed the issue with my director Siva, and he agreed, so I called off the shooting of Acharya. That same evening, the government announced that multiplexes and theatres should be closed, said the actor.

The megastar said he had advised other filmmakers to cancel their schedules, but some important combination scenes were to be shot, so they didnt shut down immediately. After two days, all shootings were called off.

A compassionate move

Chiranjeevi then turned his attention to the daily wage employees who depend solely on the film industry. I discussed with a few people from the industry and they were ready to help. When I announced the Corona Crisis Charity, many actors, producers and others responded immediately and donated. Since we couldnt go out, we took the help of people in the software industry to track the workers through their Aadhaar cards.

Rice, oil and dal were bought, and packaged to last a family of four for 10 days. About 25 volunteers deliver the supplies to the doorsteps of beneficiaries.

If the lockdown is extended, the actor plans to ask industrialists to donate to the cause. According to him, the industry employs between 10,000 and 12,000 people. Each day we serve nearly 600 people and I am confident everyone will get the help they need, he said.

Suffering huge losses

The Telugu film industry, along with others, is suffering huge losses. We cant estimate the losses right now. But I feel that it will run into hundreds of crores. I dont know when the theatres will reopen, and when we can start shooting again. But I am confident that the cinema industry will bounce back once normality is restored, said the actor.

Looking ahead, he said, After the lockdown, we will discuss how to go forward. We have to talk to the financers too and request them to reduce the interest and help the producers. Not just the film industry, but all other industries are incurring losses, he pointed out. We have to stand united and overcome this situation once everything gets back to normal.

Enjoys being on Twitter

Referring to his recent entry into social media, Chiranjeevi said, Actually, I wanted to join in January, but then someone advised me to join on Ugadi day. It was a good suggestion, as it is an auspicious day. I feel this is the perfect time for me to get into social media. I can create some awareness on this crisis through my messages and videos. He dismissed the trolls he has attracted, saying his concentration at the moment was on more positive things.

Praises PM Modi

Chiranjeevi is very happy that his song on the Coronavirus won a mention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Explaining the sequence of events, he said music director Kotihad called him, asking him to film an awareness-creating song.

He told me to shoot it on mobile phones. I called a few actors to participate in the song, but they didnt want to do so as they were in quarantine. Then I called Nagarjuna, and he responded immediately. But I didnt expect that Prime Minister Modi would tweet about this song I am very happy that he liked it. Its a great gesture from him.

Chiranjeevi has also acted in another awareness video that involved superstars from other film industries like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Mammootty, Mohan Lal, Ranbir Kapoor and others. Did they take inspiration from your Telugu song?, we asked. I dont know. But Amitabh Bachchan called me and told me that he liked our Telugu song. He said they were planning something similar, and asked me to act in it. I felt it was a great privilege and and sent my video. Chiranjeevi hopes to create more such videos in the coming days to spread awareness about COVID-19.

About Acharya

Talking about his upcoming film Acharya, Chiranjeevi dismissed reports that Mahesh Babu had been roped in for a part in it. I dont know where this news comes from. Right from the start, my director Koratala Siva wanted to cast Ram Charan in the film. We never thought of Mahesh Babu. We spoke to Rajamouli and requested him to release Charan for a month for our film shoot and he agreed.

He clarified though that he likes Mahesh and the feeling is mutual. If an opportunity comes for both of us to act together its going to be a fantastic one, he said. On the subject of the film, he said it isnt a Naxal-based story, rather, its about a former Naxalite and the good he does to society. Me and Charan dont play father and son in the film, he says. Its more like a guru-sishya role.

On Trishas exit

Trisha had been signed on opposite Chiranjeevi in Acharya, but a short while ago, the actress tweeted that she was exiting the project because of some creative differences. Chiranjeevi denied this, saying his daughter Sushmita had even sent Trisha her outfits for the film.

I dont know why she said that. I asked all my team members if anyone had said anything to upset her. Later, I got to know that she is doing Mani Ratnam film and he needs longer schedules from her, so she couldnt accommodate our Telugu film, he said.

After Trishas exit, Kajal Agarwal was roped in. But the Coronavirus has halted the schedule.

Bond with the Allu Aravind family

The megastar was irked by questions regarding his reported rivalry with the Allu Aravind family. Where did you get this news? We are all one family, and that includes the Allu Aravind family too. I regularly visit his house and they too come to mine. In January we celebrated Sankranti festival together. Whenever he needs advice, he comes to me, and I do the same with him. Today (April 8) I wanted to tweet about Allu Arjuns birthday, so I called him and asked him to send me an old photo since I couldnt locate the photos I had with me. He sent one immediately, said the actor.

He added that earlier too, the media had created differences between him and his brothers. Whenever Pawan Kalyan returns from his Andhra tour, my wife Surekha and my mother make the dishes he likes and send them over to his house. Nagababu also regularly talks to us, he insisted.

Planning an autobiography

Chiranjeevi is using the quarantine time for many things. Im busy with social media and also watching many movies. Also, I am taking this time to write about some incidents in my life. I want to come up with an autobiography in both audio and written form, he said.

Chiranjeevi recently moved into his extensively renovated house His mother and sisters are currently with him in the house. On his self-isolation regime, the actor said he is meticulously following social distancing norms. His staff, including drivers, who report for duty every day, have been asked not to come. Others, like his cook, who have been staying on the premises of his home, continue to go about their duties while taking due precautions.
Until recently, we could all laugh at California's mind-boggling array of bans. Years ago, they prohibited single-use plastic bags. Gig work was banned this year, but firms like Uber fought back in court and firms like Vox Media blacklisted Californians. They talk about outlawing the internal combustion engine in ten years. Its even illegal to own a hamster there! Bottled water -- but not bottled Coke -- is verboten at the San Francisco airport.



But recent events have made me feel much less smug. Many of the products and services that California despises might save those of us hunkering down in our homes to avoid infection.



Since reusable bags harbor pathogens, chains like Target asked shoppers who won't avail themselves of single-use bags to bag their own purchases. (Last week, many municipalities wisely reversed or suspended these bans.) And then gig workers for companies like Uber Eats are essential to make life bearable for many people stuck in quarantine.



It should go without saying that we should be grateful for the rapid and reliable transportation provided by the internal combustion engine. At least we needn't feel "range anxiety" when dealing with shortages at the stores -- or a trip to the hospital. And with cars and trucks we can avoid crowded public transit altogether.



Until a few weeks ago, whenever I heard about Californias many restrictions, I thought I'm so glad I live in Florida! (In fact, a 2016 Cato Institute survey ranked Florida and California the first and forty-eighth freest states, respectively.) But as I sit at home, with my kids in the house and most businesses closed, I dont feel so smug about California anymore.



Like many other places, local officials here are clamping down on the normal operation of our economy -- indefinitely, without an exit plan, and with no rhyme or reason beyond a single slogan: flatten the curve.



Set aside for a moment the propriety and practicality of barring a large number of people from productive activity and trade. Let's just consider what has brought us to the point that an illness -- about as dangerous as a very bad flu --- has brought our highly regulated medical sector to its knees.



Here are just a few that have come to light, and been waived: A initial CDC ban on effective, existing coronavirus tests other than its own (ineffective) test; laws preventing physicians from practicing across state lines; FDA regulations that keep patients from choosing treatment with drugs it does not approve; so-called "certificate of need" laws that prevent the expansion of hospital facilities.



I am no public health expert, but I haven't exactly had to dig hard for these examples:. Theyre just regulations that have come up in the daily news stream as this crisis has unfolded, and that have clearly impeded our efforts to fight the pandemic. We are fighting blind due to an entirely needless months-long lag in deploying a test.



And, as if giving the virus a head start wasnt enough, we're playing catch-up while hobbled by manpower and capacity shortages. Patients who want to try existing drugs have to rely on a compassionate use loophole because the FDA would otherwise stop them from making that decision even with their own lives at stake.



No one disputes that flattening the curve will also flatten our economy, and many commentators worry that our government's reaction to this pandemic could be worse than the virus. But that's not the half of it: Government bans have stymied Americans for decades, leaving us in the situation we are in now, where millions are holing up in fear of a virus that is harmless to the vast majority.



But, hey! Since California and Senate Democrats (including three former presidential candidates) hadn't quite killed off Uber before the pandemic hit, at least we can still order dinner and booze while under house arrest.



This crisis has ripped away any semblance that we were free. California may have the most obviously ridiculous regulations, but our lives, our wealth and our liberty are all in peril. Blame decades of complacence in the face of regulations we failed to examine closely, even as they slowly sapped the strength of the very industry that we need to face down this pandemic.



We are all Californians now. Indeed, weve been Californians for some time.

Gus Van Horn frequently writes for Pajamas Media and Capitalism Magazine, plus he has his own eponmyous blog
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 07:44 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ba446 1 World Indonesia,Vietnam,illegal-fishing,law-enforcement,fisheries,sovereignty,border-security Free

As various government agencies scramble to contain the spread of COVID-19, illegal fishing in Indonesias outermost islands of the North Natuna Sea remains rife, a senior official at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has said.

Indonesias vast and porous borders have been subject to years  even decades  of poaching by countries as far away as China, but the coronavirus pandemic has dominated much of the headlines since it spread throughout Southeast Asia over the past couple of months.

But while most governments in the region have looked inward to curb the spread of the deadly disease within their respective borders, the disease has not stopped foreign fishermen from trying to fish illegally in Indonesian waters.

Most recently, the ministry detained two Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessels on Friday for illicit activities within the waters of Indonesias exclusive economic zone in Riau Islands province.

The vessels, identified as KG 93811 TS and KG 93012 TS, were seized by the Orca 03 fisheries supervisory vessel, along with 22 Vietnamese crew members and illegal trawling equipment.

The ministrys director general of marine resources and fisheries supervision, TB Haeru Rahayu, said the boats were caught in the 711 Fisheries Management Area (WPP), which encompasses the Karimata Strait, the Natuna Sea and the North Natuna Sea.

Looking at the data in the field, it seems there is an increasingly concerning trend of more illegal fishing activities in North Natuna, he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Since the 115 anti-illegal fishing task force led by former minister Susi Pudjiastuti was disbanded in December, the ministry has arrested just 19 foreign fishing vessels, comprising Vietnam-, Malaysia- and Philippine-flagged fishing boats  a far cry from previous endeavors.

Susi shot to fame during President Joko Jokowi Widodos first term for her insistence to sink the ships of other countries, but her strong personality was increasingly seen as a liability to the President, especially when it came to dealing with countries whose ships she had downed.

She was replaced in Jokowis second term by Edhy Prabowo, an erstwhile lawmaker in the House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing marine resources.

Observers have long bemoaned the continued practice of illegal fishing by other countries, which is partly exacerbated by a lack of surveillance ships and regulations.

Read also: Minister Prabowo to deploy more ships to protect Natuna

While Indonesia and Vietnam reached an agreement on a continental shelf boundary in 2003 after 30 years of negotiations, the two sides are still delimiting exclusive economic zones (EEZ) that some experts say will take many more years to settle.

An EEZ grants exclusive rights to the country that controls it to exploit the resources within the water column, but both sides have overlapping claims.

The claims have been a source of constant tension between the Southeast Asian neighbors, resulting in them agreeing to negotiate a provisional arrangement to prevent skirmishes at sea.

Read also: Natuna tuna: Indonesia invites Vietnamese company to buy areas fish

Vietnamese authorities have protested that their vessels were often caught in waters that both countries claimed as their own, but Haeru said he was highly confident that the latest boats to be seized were fishing well within Indonesias economic borders.

Even if they protested, there is an avenue for the Foreign Ministry to resolve the issue, he said, adding that the crewmen have been sent to Batam to undergo further legal processes.

The Vietnamese mission in Jakarta said it had not been informed of the arrest.

Vietnam itself has been preoccupied with its own maritime skirmishes with China, after one of its own fishing boats was sunk by a Chinese white hull near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea last week, according to local reports.

Hanoi lodged an official protest on Saturday, while the United States on Monday said it was seriously concerned about Chinas actions and urged Beijing to instead focus on global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read also: Jakarta asserts sovereign rights on Natuna

Indonesia was also caught in a diplomatic spat with China as early as December after it emerged that Chinese vessels had been illegally poaching in Indonesias EEZ for weeks.

This sparked the Indonesian governments order for hundreds of fishermen from the Javanese coastline to populate the North Natuna Sea, although only a few dozen have heeded the call.
The United States announced it has killed a founding member of the militant Islamist group al-Shabab, Yusuf Jiis, in an airstrike in Somalia carried out on April 2.

The US Africa Command said in a press release Tuesday that its post-strike assessments confirm that one of the three terrorists killed in the commands Apr. 2 precision airstrike was a long-standing, high-ranking leader in the al-Shabaab terrorist organization.

The terrorist, Yusuf Jiis, was one of the foundational members of the terrorist group and held many significant positions that facilitated al-Shabaabs violent and harmful activities throughout East Africa, AFRICOM commander Gen Stephen Townsend said.

This individual was a key leader in the al-Shabaab organizationHe was violent, ruthless, and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives, Townsend said.

Al-Shabab, which controls parts of central and southern Somalia, frequently carries out attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.

A number of powerful Somali militants have been killed in US air attacks. However, every time a jihadist is killed, another one seems to be waiting in the wings.

Al-Shabab maintains an ability to strike targets and control territory.

Gen Townsend said that the US considered pausing its operations in Somalia because of coronavirus, however, as the leaders of al-Qaida, al-Shabaab and ISIS have announced that they see this crisis as an opportunity to further their terrorist agenda, AFRICOM will continue the fight against terrorists and support African partners

Rights groups say they have evidence that several civilians have been killed in the US attacks in Somlaia.
Private doctors and practitioners who fall outside of provincial jurisdiction say their safety is falling through the cracks as shortages of personal protective equipment continue to put pressure on Manitobas health-care system.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Private doctors and practitioners who fall outside of provincial jurisdiction say their safety is falling through the cracks as shortages of personal protective equipment continue to put pressure on Manitobas health-care system.

In a news release Tuesday, public health officials recommended Manitobans not forego care for regular and chronic medical conditions, noting primary care providers and community health offices would continue to be open to the public through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theres just one problem: a local health-care product distributor  whose main clients are private physicians  says PPE supplies have come to a halt, meaning private doctors offices have had to shut their doors to in-patient visits.

"We're having major struggles at our company trying to get any of the product in," a salesperson for a local distributor, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an interview Wednesday.

"What's happening now is clinics are locking their doors and they're saying if you phone us and you need to see us, then we'll let you in."

On March 15, Manitoba approved virtual care visits for doctors, who are now able to assess patients over the phone or via video link to reduce face-to-face interactions.

A local health-care product distributor says PPE supplies have come to a halt, meaning private doctors offices have had to shut their doors to in-patient visits. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press files)

Some clinics, such as the Assiniboine Medical Clinic in Winnipeg, have alerted patients it will be taking all visits over the phone unless an in-person exam is required.

"We have heard from an increasing number of doctors who simply do not have the necessary protective equipment," Dr. Fourie Smith, president of Doctors Manitoba, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Hearing today that 10 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Manitoba are health-care workers is concerning, to say the least. These are health professionals who are no longer available to care for patients."

Protective equipment such as N-95 face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and gowns are provided to health-care practitioners through a few different avenues. The province can negotiate contracts directly with manufacturers, such as American company 3M, but private clinics get their supply from either a retailer (who sells to the public) or a distributor.

The nationwide shortages of PPE start at the top, with manufacturers struggling to meet global demand.

"We have nothing. Every day, we spend probably 25 per cent or more of our day explaining to customers that we can't supply stuff," the distribution salesperson said.

"We're stranded, other companies similar to us are stranded, and the worst part is the clinics don't have access to this product to be able to see their patients."

Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Fourie Smith says his organization is hearing from an increasing number of doctors who do not have the necessary protective equipment. (Taylor Allen / Winnipeg Free Press files)

In the middle of a national PPE shortage, provincial tenders come first, said Karen Veldkamp-Perry, who runs local health-care retailer Canadian Health Care Products.

"There is definitely a shortage, but the shortage is direct from manufacturers, and what I can say 100 per cent is that the government gets first dibs," she said in an interview Wednesday.

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"It's frustrating all around but we understand that the frontlines, those guys need it."

Shared Health Manitoba has mandated all health-care providers, including those in private practices, use appropriate PPE when working in-person with clients. In a statement released Sunday, the province noted Manitobas COVID-19 supply chain is preparing to meet supply and distribution needs for all practitioners the week of April 13.

"Doctors continue to provide care for patients, even as they hear stories from other jurisdictions about doctors who have died after contracting COVID-19 while caring for their patients," said Smith.

"We urge provincial officials in the strongest possible terms to provide the protective equipment that they themselves recommend to physicians without delay."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
HOLDREGE  One staff person and three male residents at Kearney's Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center have tested positive for COVID-19.

They are among seven new cases reported by the Two Rivers Public Health Department Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the seven-county district to 34.

The YRTC staff member is self-isolated at home and doing well, according to a release from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, which operates YRTC. The three young men are asymptomatic and are self-isolating in individual rooms at the facility.

Another YRTC staff member was found to have COVID-19 last week. That person has been isolated at home.

Staff identified as positive for COVID-19 will not be allowed to work until they are appropriately quarantined and are asymptomatic for at least 72 hours, DHHS said. Should additional cases arise, YRTC pandemic plan outlines a process for residents to be rotated in and out based on medical assessments.
YPSILANTI, MI  More than 900 people have signed a petition calling on Eastern Michigan University to waive a $240 fee charged for online summer semester classes.

EMU is administering the rest of its winter semester classes online due to the coronavirus outbreak, and its summer classes are also moving to an online format. The petition says many students are already struggling with their studies, and the $240 fee puts even more strain on students budgets, since a lot of us are not getting paid during Michigans stay-at-home rules.

Eastern Michigan University extends online classes, plans financial adjustments for students who have moved out

The petition says the fee is unfair, especially for classes that were not designed to be online. Students in those classes, the petition says, were expecting better face-to-face responses and help from lecturers or more hands-on experiences in the field.

Many students are struggling income, with many businesses temporarily or partially shut down, the petition argues.

For undergraduate students, a lot of us are making our living in the service industry part-time, the petition says. The coronavirus lockdown is hitting these businesses hard and a lot of us are not able to work or just given very limited hours.

Some students also pay for their own rent, food and utilities, and the $240 fee per course is a heavy cost for self-dependent students, the petition says.

The student who started the petition could not be reached for comment.

EMU does not require its students to take summer classes, but the petition says many do so to fill prerequisites for advanced classes. The extra fee could cause problems for a students academic plan, the petition says.

Geoff Larcom, executive director of media relations at EMU, said the online fee is an existing one that has been in place to support the additional technology, software and design support required to offer online classes on an ongoing basis.

Eastern Michigan University is working hard to support our students academically, emotionally and financially during this unprecedented and challenging period, Larcom said in an email. This includes providing housing and meal plan refunds or credits to those students forced to leave campus under directives from public health officials stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larcom said the university is currently discussing plans for online class delivery this summer, which will involve special forms of support as the university helps students with their academic progress.

An instructor and a student at EMU have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. EMU, citing the Washtenaw County Health Department, said the student has not attended classes since March 5, lived off-campus and is from Wayne County.

EMU said the instructors last day on campus was March 16 and they did not develop symptoms until March 19. No personal details about the instructor were released.

Eastern Michigan University instructor tests positive for coronavirus

To read more on MLive:

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Eastern Michigan University graduate nursing students put in work at coronavirus drive-through test sites

Eastern Michigan University closing residence halls, reimbursing students for housing, meals plans

Eastern Michigan University postpones commencement, encourages students to go home
Institutional investment platform Asset Management Exchange (AMX) has boosted its services in Cork, Dublin and London with the key appointments of Edel Coughlan and Nicola Gerety to the business.

Established by Willis Towers Watson in 2017, the AMX is a trading platform that brings together investors and asset managers.

Eoin Motherway, Ireland country head of AMX, said: I am delighted to welcome both Edel Coughlan and Nicola Gerety to the AMX team. Nicolas appointment further strengthens our Business Development team.

Edel, joining our global Legal team, is a further addition to the multiple disciplines in our Cork office which first opened in 2016 and now employs almost 40 people.

Edel Coughlan joins from Penhurst Legal Consultants Limited and will be based in AMXs Cork

office. Her focus will be advising on the establishment, maintenance and governance of investment funds under the AIFMD and UCITS regimes.

As a senior investment funds lawyer, Edel has gained a wealth of experience at BNYM, AQR, Fidelity and Dillon Eustace. Edel is a member of the Law Societies of Ireland, England and Wales.

Nicola Gerety joins the business development team and will be responsible for leading and developing management company offering and business development in Ireland. She will split her time between Dublin and London.

Nicola has gained significant experience in offshore funds at JP Morgan and Wellington Management International with a focus on business development and client relationship management of Irish pension funds at AllianceBernstein.
United Nations, April 9 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the necessity of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 crisis in the face of a threat by US President Donald Trump to withhold funds for the UN agency.

"The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the front lines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus," Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news agency.

"It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," he said.

Trump on Tuesday criticised the WHO's response to COVID-19 and threatened to freeze US funding for it.

Guterres said that once the current health crisis is over, there will be time to study how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly and to evaluate the performance of all involved.

But now is not that time. Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences, he said.

The situation on the ground seems to support Guterres' appeal for support for the WHO.

The confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 with more than 500 recorded deaths, according to the WHO.

While the virus was slow to reach the continent compared with other parts of the world, infections have grown exponentially in recent weeks and are continuing to spread, it warned.

Africa's first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on February 14 and since then the number of African countries reporting cases has risen to 52 out of a total of 54.

The WHO said communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to the outbreaks locally.

The UN agency is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, isolation, case management and contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement.

The chief spokesman for the secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said the United Nations is supporting the Nigerian government in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Three ambulances were donated Wednesday to Lagos State, home to some 21 million people. Other essential preventive, testing and treatment equipment procured by the United Nations is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days.

In Zimbabwe, he said a severe climate- and recession-induced hunger is deepening the COVID-19 crisis. The World Food Programme said it is urgently calling for US $130 million through August to help millions of the most vulnerable people in the country.

A recent nationwide assessment found that the number of acutely food insecure Zimbabweans has risen to 4.3 million from 3.8 million at the end of last year, the spokesman said. More than half, 7.7 million people, of the country's population are regarded as food insecure.

In Venezuela, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Peter Grohmann, said the first shipment of 90 tons of UN life-saving supplies was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday to support the COVID-19 response.

The shipment includes 28,000 personal protective equipment kits for health workers on the front line as well as oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits.

The supplies have been financed by the international donor community, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and UN agencies, Dujarric said.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Spain has delivered the first batch of medical supplies to health authorities to support the fight against the pandemic, he said.

The shipment includes hand sanitizer and gloves and more supplies are expected in the coming days, including face masks, gloves, detection kits, and personal protective equipment.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said COVID-19 is generating an unprecedented global economic crisis, with the economic destruction cruelly and unequally distributed.

For the world's poorest countries, the financial fallout caused by the pandemic, combined with debilitating debt-service obligations, are hampering their ability to prevent further transmission and protect citizens, she said in a statement on Tuesday. "The situation is already dire, and it is only going to get worse." A report of the International Labour Organization said the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific reports in a study that COVID-19 is having far-reaching economic and social consequences for the region, with strong cross-border spillover effects through trade, tourism and financial linkages.

It highlights the immediate risk to the region's economic outlook posed by the pandemic, already deepening an economic slowdown.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The vicious choice advanced by Brazils fascist President Jair Bolsonaro at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis  that workers keep working, exposing themselves to the coronavirus, or starve  is becoming more and more concrete for millions.

As Bolsonaro conducts a virulent agitation for a premature return to work, in tune with US President Donald Trump and the interests of Brazilian and international capitalists, layoffs and wage cuts are spreading throughout the country at the same pace as the new and deadly coronavirus.

A new provisional measure approved by Bolsonaro on April 1 allows companies to suspend contracts, reducing working hours and cutting wages by up to 70 percent. With only partial compensation from the government, workers are facing drastic shortfalls in their incomes. The government has cynically named its measure the "Emergency Program for Maintenance of Employment and Income."

Bus company workers hold independent protest demanding unpaid wages in Bahia.

The unions that claim to represent the workers, are running to approve agreements with these measures as their foundation. But this criminal movement did not start only last week.

Ten days earlier, Bolsonaro had failed to implement another even more radical provisional measure, which allowed the suspension of employment contracts without any financial compensation to workers. In the few hours that the measure lasted, before being revoked on the afternoon of the same day it was announced, unions were quick enough to negotiate deals on its basis.

The Union of Workers in Hotels, Bars, Restaurants in Sao Paulo and Region (Sinthoresp) signed a deal authorizing, for four months, the suspension of contracts without payment of wages for workers in 32 municipalities, in addition to Sao Paulo, the largest city in the country.

This agreement was sharply criticized. One worker said: "This corrupted union has signed a criminal deal that will destroy the lives of millions of workers." Another added: "The intention of the unions is clear, either the worker dies of hunger or with the pandemic, so the boss does not pay anything in both cases; this is a clear example of why unions should be EXTINCT!"

Over the last few weeks, strikes, work stoppages and protests have been carried out almost daily by bus drivers and ticket collectors in several Brazilian states. The bus companies are proposing mass layoffs and pay cuts that could affect more than 70,000 workers in April, according to the companies' own assessment. Just this Monday, April 6, two industrial actions by bus drivers and collectors have shut down bus terminals in Campinas, Sao Paulo, and Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.

The unions have been calling for these strikes and stoppages to alleviate pressure from the workers, and are quickly suspending them by reaching partial agreements in the interest of the companies, reducing workers' wages and benefits. Every effort is made to isolate the workers locally, preventing the unification of the movement.

An agreement made behind the backs of the workers in Rio de Janeiro, in the southeast of the country, was denounced on Twitter. The wife of one of the workers wrote: "Here in Rio de Janeiro, the bus company workers' union made an agreement that harms the workers. Unpaid vacation, 15 days of unpaid leave, you either sign or are fired".

The pro-corporate policy adopted by the unions in the midst of the coronavirus crisis is hardly surprising; it is merely a continuation of their previous policy. Wagner Santana, the president of the Metalworkers Union of ABC (SMABC), a historic base of the Workers Party (PT), made this clear in an interview with the business newspaper Valor Economico on the eve of the approval of Bolsonaro's provisional measure.

Santana defended, in the name of maintaining jobs, the resumption of layoffs and other policies along the lines of the Employment Protection Program (PPE), a milder version of the current Bolsonaro program, proposed by the Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), run by the PT, and implemented by the PT administration of President Dilma Rousseff.

Santana's argument that these measures "saved a lot of jobs" is completely undermined by data from his own union: since 2011 the number of metalworkers in the ABC region has fallen from 119,000 to 68,000. The only result of these policies has been the safeguarding of corporate profits, especially of the transnational corporations operating in the country.

At General Motors, the workers have gone through bitter experiences with several of these agreements. Over the past week, the unions have coordinated the implementation of yet another hated layoff program.

The metalworkers' union run by the Morenoites of the PSTU at the GM plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, which initially claimed to be against the agreement signed by the other unions, is now leading a campaign for its approval. After its second meeting with the company, union leaders announced that they were willing to accept a layoff program if it were implemented in the same way as those signed in previous years, which involved minor losses to workers. This position was widely rejected by the rank-and-file, which said it was not willing to accept any form of layoffs.

The union, after meeting with GM for the third time, reported that the negotiations had ended and that the company would not make any concessions. The workers were told they would have to assess whether the proposal was "feasible" and vote. In response, the workers' opposition was even more overwhelming. Hundreds of comments on Facebook denounced the union.

"They keep us waiting and waiting to bring us the same thing in the end. They make it seem like they're fighting and later they come back passive, one of them commented. Others said, "GM doesn't want to give in? Just don't accept its proposals."

"This union is completely without direction. 3 meetings with the company to present this... No more trust in our representatives, lets refuse this shameful agreement..."

The experiences of Brazilian workers point to the urgent need to overcome the reactionary structure of the unions, which has serves only as a blockade against the working class movement.

This was radically demonstrated by the uprising of call center operators throughout Brazil, who organized strikes and militant protests against the unsafe conditions imposed by large corporations in the name of their profit interests. State and municipal companies and governments responded to the workers by giving extremely limited concessions with one hand and, with the other, redoubling the attacks.

An AlmaViva worker in Sao Paulo reported to the WSWS that most operators maintained the strike for more than a week. However, the company is now trying to force a return to work. "I didn't get the home office, they would have to give me both the computer and the internet. They're not giving it to me and they want me to keep going to work normally. They've threatened that after 14 days of uninterrupted absences, they'll let you go for just cause... I have friends who are coming back to work for fear of starvation."

The WSWS also talked to call center operators in Salvador, Bahia, who organized a page on Instagram, called senzala80. They reported that although the local city hall has ordered the release of 30 percent of workers from the companies, "there is a lack of oversight by the competent agencies".

At the company ATMA, the workers of senzala80 said, "It is still very crowded and now they are not respecting the 30 percent since they brought the majority of the people who were sent off back today ... They are all apprehensive about being fired. The company 'established a constitution', where they dictate the rules".

A similar situation is happening in Sergipe, also in the northeast of the country, where AlmaViva managed to reverse a judicial decision and forced the return of 30 percent of the workforce.

Fighting the workers' movement opposing AlmaViva, the union that officially represents this sector, Sinttel-SE, published a note repudiating the protests: "The greatest enemy that the Sinttel-SE has faced is the virus of misinformation spread daily by unscrupulous people who, ignoring the risks of contagion from COVID-19 and the possibility of employer reprisals, try to induce workers to participate in actions at the company's gates."

Against this union blockade, the workers of Salvador affirmed that they continue to work within the companies to organize new protests and strikes. They say that the creation of the web page was very important: "It is where we can talk without reprisals about our dissatisfactions and even fear. Here we receive complaints, we publish it. Here we have a voice".

They also see their struggle in the context of the strikes carried out worldwide by the working class against the conditions of insecurity imposed by capitalism. "We've been going through a lot of problems for a while now... so this [the risk of contamination by COVID-19] was a kind of spark, one of them said. "It would be important to have this international unification, all united to achieve a single purpose. It would be good because we have no unions, they usually pull to the company's side and ours is no different."
A couple have renewed their wedding vows in isolation at home after 10 years of marriage - as their six-year-old daughter acted as the celebrant while their eight-year-old 'cameraman' son captured the intimate moment.

Kelly Taylor, 36, and her husband Joel, 35, from Melbourne, had booked a weekend away to celebrate their wedding anniversary on April 4 but decided to postpone to a later date due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the weekend, little Hannah and Coby wanted to throw their doting parents an anniversary day to remember after they saw their mother's old wedding dress.

'As soon as our daughter saw my wedding dress her beautiful mind kicked into action. Next thing we knew we were all getting dressed up and planning for a wedding,' Mrs Taylor told Daily Mail Australia.

The kids turned their family living room into a wedding ceremony and the parents were told they had just five minutes to write their new vows.

Kelly Taylor, 36, and her husband Joel, 35, renewed their wedding vows after 10 years of marriage as their six-year-old daughter Hannah (centre) acted as the celebrant

The couple had booked a weekend away to celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary on April 4 but decided to postpone to a later date due to the coronavirus pandemic (left: pictured on their wedding day in 2010 and right: Now)

'Our daughter informed us that she was going to be the celebrant and our son told us to leave the video to him,' the mother said.

'They handed us both a piece of paper and a pen each and asked us to write our new vowels. They gave us five minutes to write and then the fun begun.'

During the ceremony, celebrant Hannah said as she giggled: 'We gather here today for Joel and Kelly's anniversary for their wedding. They want to be married because they love each other.'

Hannah handed the vows to her parents as they restated their eternal devotion to one another as Coby filmed the vows.

'It was so incredibly beautiful,' Mrs Taylor said.

'They made the whole day so incredibly special for us. We are very lucky and proud parents to have such kind, loving, caring kids.

'Team Taylor is our everything and to celebrate our Anniversary that way, with our children taking the lead, will be a memory we cherish as a family and as parents together for the rest of our lives.'

During the ceremony, celebrant Hannah said as she giggled: 'We gather here today for Joel and Kelly's anniversary for their wedding. They want to be married because they love each other'

They eight-year-old son Coby (pictured) was the cameraman who captured the moment

On the morning of their anniversary, the parents were 'showered with love and cuddles' from their adoring children.

'Our daughter had filled our lounge room with balloons and we had toasts together throughout the day. She started asking questions about weddings and vowels and what it means to redo our vowels,' Mrs Taylor said.

'Joel was explaining to her what happens in a wedding when he suggested getting out our wedding video to show her so she could see. Both our kids loved the idea.

'While we were watching I remembered seeing my wedding dress box the day before, so I asked Joel to help me get it down so we could show them.'

Mrs Taylor shared her story in The Kindness Pandemic Facebook group on April 7, which has since been 'liked' more than 16,000 times.

The couple have been married for 10 years after 'so many incredible adventures together, both positives and negatives'.

'We are very proud of our journey together but also understand that marriage is two souls sharing their time together as one, as best friends and lovers,' Mrs Taylor said.

'We acknowledge that compared to many, our time travelled together is just the beginning and to others enough time has past that 10 years of knowledge is valuable.'

Happy anniversary! The parents posing with their two adorable children after they showered their parents with 'love and cuddles'

They believe the secret to their long, lasting marriage is communication.

'A few things that we work on and continue to develop as a couple is communication, we never put each other down - if we are having a disagreement we discuss the issue, not have personal digs,' Mrs Taylor said.

'We always apologise after an argument and "agree to disagree" if we have to but we always apologise for the other person's feelings being hurt and acknowledge emotions and try to explain triggers to each other.

'We have loved each other through thick and thin and it grows each day with each new experience, both as a couple and as parents.

'I think in 10 years time we will look back to this moment as we do now our wedding day and think "if only we knew then what we know now".'
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India's sponge iron industry, the largest in the world, is going through an acute shortage of labour that threatens to bring it to a halt.

Apart from the labour issue, a slump in demand for the product and squeeze in the supply of a key raw material has added to the woes.

Sponge iron is produced from iron ore and used in steelmaking through what is called the 'secondary route' in industry parlance.

The crisis, because of the lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak, has already shaved off up to 6 percent of the industry's production in FY20. This is despite the fact that the steel sector has been kept under the essential services list.

"Though the governments at the centre and the states, and district officials, had made it clear that sponge iron sector is also an essential service, labour has been in short supply," Deependra Kashiva, Executive Director, SIMA, told Moneycontrol.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

SIMA is the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association.

Kashiva said the industry was expected to produce 33 million tons of sponge iron in FY20. But this will now fall by up to six percent.

The fall has now tempered the estimates for the new financial year. The initial target was 36 million tons for the FY21.

"I'm very worried as 70 percent of the manufacturers are small. They are also going through liquidity issues," said the senior SIMA official.

Demand slump

Much of the demand for sponge iron comes from the steelmakers. But nearly all of them, including JSW Steel, Tata Steel and AM/NS have cut production after the lockdown.

"If there is no demand from the steelmakers then the sponge iron manufacturers will be impacted. Almost all the manufacturers, in states like Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, are closed," said Kashiva.

On the issue of labour, he pointed out that the shortage is a concern both at the plants, and also in the transportation sector. "Movement of material has been impacted. Like everyone, the labourers also fear the virus. It has created a panic," said the industry official.

It hasn't helped that supply of coal, a key raw material, has suffered because South Africa - one of the biggest sources, is itself going through a lockdown.

Help needed





In the letter sent on April 8, Kashiva has asked for the ministry's help to advise state governments that there should be no restriction on the movement of workers. "Salary without work to be restricted only up to the initial lockdown period of 21 days which will expire by April 14, 2020. Afterwards, it will be paid to those workers who resume duty. Any absenteeism will be treated as without salary," listed out the letter of the industry needs. The industry has also called upon the governments to allow steel warehouses to function, bringing electricity duty under GST, and asked for compensation cess of Rs 400 per ton on coal, to be abolished.



The woes have prompted SIMA to reach out to the government. In a letter to Binoy Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, SIMA has asked for help to ensure supply of labour.
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Colombo, April 9 : Police in Sri Lanka were using music to help people in coronavirus-hit areas to stay calm and beat the health scare amid the rising number of cases in the island-nation.

On Wednesday evening, the eerie silence in Maradana, a densely-populated neighbourhood in Colombo, was broken by the sound of music.

The area has been under lockdown since April 1 when a resident was found to have contracted the infection.

The police band mounted on an open flatbed truck for a makeshift stage sang two songs to cheer up the Maradana residents who came out on their balconies to watch the live performance.

One of the songs the police band played is popular ballad "Hela Jathika Abhimane..." describing the strength and resilience of Sri Lanka as a nation. The other was a popular Tamil song.

Hundreds of people from the area were taken to quarantine and hundreds of other families were asked to self-isolate.

Military spokesperson Brigadier Chandana Wickramasinghe told Efe news that street musical programs were among several other measures taken by the government to tackle the COVID-19 situation in the country.

"Sri Lankan army has enough manpower and they are very talented too. They can play classical and western music, and depending on the area we deploy the bands," he said.

He said live music programs were organized in two areas in Colombo where most of the coronaviruscases have been reported.

"This program was initiated to help people relax during this stressful time," Wickremasinghe said.

He said people living in the areas with high-rise buildings have had very limited movements in last few days.

"People in these areas are living inside small rooms for weeks now. We wanted to help them get away from the stress." The island-nation has so far recorded nearly 190 coronavirus cases and seven deaths.
Im sorry, but you have no constitutional right to vote by mail. You have no constitutional right to vote six days after an election is over. Nor do you have any right to censor information related to an election. Not even during a pandemic.

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal court was not empowered to overwrite Wisconsins election laws and force the state to accept ballots without any postmark deadline nearly a week after the election. Likewise, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Governor Tony Evers did not have the authority to arbitrarily suspend in-person voting.

And as Timothy Sandefur, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, points out, the Supreme Court decision notes that the district court created a subsequent order enjoining the public release of any election results for six days after election day.

By forcing Wisconsin to keep voting alive for nearly a week after they were meant to close, the district court realized that late voters would have information regarding election results, so it tried to shut down legally mandated reporting requirements. Sandefur tells me that enjoining the truthful communication of legal information is a violation of the First Amendment. A prior restraint, even! About election results! Which is one of the most insane violations of the Constitution Ive ever heard of.

If these dictates had been allowed to stand, they would have created insanely destructive precedents, taking elections out of the hands of local legislatures. If we discard legal norms every time theres a crisis, we no longer have a nation of laws, but a country at the mercy of arbitrary decrees, emotional appeals, and pliable courts.

Not that any of this concerned the usual suspects, who began lamenting the alleged anti-democratic nature of Roberts Court. When will the conservative wing abandon their partisanship and begin compromising wondered a news piece in the Washington Post.

Story continues

Liberal pundits, apparently unable differentiate between partisan policy preferences and the rule of law, launched into their customary hysterics, denouncing the Supreme Court for disenfranchised minorities and putting peoples lives at risk.

The Supreme Court did nothing of the sort, as it notes:

The Courts decision on the narrow question before the Court should not be viewed as expressing an opinion on the broader question of whether to hold the election, or whether other reforms or modifications in election procedures in light of COVID19 are appropriate. That point cannot be stressed enough.

The Court doesnt exist to fix your local governments incompetence or make life safer. It exists to uphold the Constitution.

None of this is to say that the situation in Wisconsin is fair to voters, who had to risk standing in lines during a dangerous pandemic. Many states have contingencies in place for emergencies. Wisconsin  while it had plenty of time to pass new guidelines  does not. Thats a Wisconsin problem, not a Supreme Court problem, not a democracy problem, and definitely not a federal problem.

If Wisconsinites dont like their laws, if theyre disappointed in legislators, if theyre furious at the states high court, and theyre bothered by the governors ineptitude, there will be plenty of future elections to right those wrongs. In no version of a healthy democracy, however, do we override existing laws, passed by previous elected officials, through fiat.

But make no mistake, the Wisconsin case will be used in the broader effort to federalize and centralize elections to create a more direct democracy  even though such effort are antithetical to American governance.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has already proposed mandating automatic and same-day voter registration, ending ID requirements, compelling states to have 15 days of early voting, and forcing states to adopt voting by mail, among other liberal pet projects. She wants the federal government to bribe states with billions to adopt these standards. And she wants those changes implemented by November.

Shes not alone. In Phase 4 of the coronavirus rescue package, Democratic leaders are reportedly including provisions that would compel all states to offer voting by mail. Presidential hopeful Joe Biden also supports such a mandate, because, he claims, all the experts say we should do it.

Now, I dont know what experts Biden is referencing, but Publius, something of an authority on these matter, once wrote that it was a no-brainer to condemn the suggestion that federal government should regulate state elections as both an unwarrantable transposition of power, and as a premeditated engine for the destruction of the State Governments.

As a practical matter, requiring states, all of which have varied systems, technologies and infrastructures, to figure out how to handle mail-in ballot systems in the midst of a pandemic is absurd. And not merely because the obvious feasibility problems, but because there is no proper time to debate the issue. Democrats have spent years weakening the integrity of elections, but voting by mail opens up the process to real-world voter intimidation, disenfranchisement, fraud  and a host of other problems.

Then again, people of goodwill can disagree over the particulars of election policy. Its far more critical to note that neither the Senate, nor the House, nor the White House, nor federal courts have any business compelling states to adopt uniform standards regarding mail in ballots or IDs or voting machines, or much of anything else. A national mail vote is meant to federalize the election, leaving smaller states to vagaries of a national majority. Its exactly the kind of situation the Constitution wanted us to avoid.

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Calls to the UKs national domestic abuse helpline have soared during the country's coronavirus lockdown, and police report there has been a rise in domestic violence incidents directly linked to the Covid-19 crisis.

The surge of violence raises questions about the best way to help domestic abuse victims trapped at home with their abusive partners whose behaviour may be worsened by the upheaval of the pandemic.

The Independent spoke to frontline service providers and experts about what can be done to help women cooped up with their abusers.

Karen Ingala Smith, who has been tracking the numbers of women killed by men for an annual census on femicide in the UK, said: Coercive control is entrapment and lockdown gives controlling men another excuse, in some cases an excuse to do what they have been trying to do for months or even years.

Coronavirus and lockdown do not cause or create violent men, but they can give violent, abusive and controlling men new tools and new excuses. Being locked in with an abuser can make it harder for a woman to reach out and access support because it can be easier for men to block them from action or convince them that if they do there will be no one there.

Ms Ingala Smith, who is head of Nia, the charity behind the census that provides services for women, children and young people who have experienced male violence, urged people to keep in touch with friends and family who have partners who are controlling and put them down.

You might not have seen something that you would easily identify as abuse but you might have noticed behaviour and attitudes that make you uncomfortable, she added. Ask how things are going at home. If someone disclosed abuse, encourage them to either contact the police or a specialist womens organisation.

Ms Ingala Smith called for the government to recognise additional forms of support need to be brought in for domestic abuse victims amid the coronavirus crisis.

We have identified hotels that are willing to offer accommodation, she said. We need to be able to provide staff to support the women and children who need support where they are based.

She called for restraining orders which are expiring to be automatically extended and for the police to actively monitor known dangerous men and women and children known to be at risk of harm from them  as well as demanding staff in shelters for domestic abuse victims are given personal protective equipment.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

The National Centre for Domestic Violence has urged victims to set up court-protected safe zones in their own homes  explaining injunctions called Non-Molestation Orders (NMOs) can be used to mark out an area that abusive partners are not allowed to enter. Infringing an NMO, a court order which often restricts where abusers can go or who they can approach, can be punished by up to five years in jail.

Mark Groves, the centres chief executive, said: The only sensible option for some victims will be to set up an official safe zone within their own home via a Non-Molestation Order where it would become a criminal offence for their partner to enter. We have helped victims to do this in the past.

But Suzanne Jacob, chief executive of lead domestic abuse charity Safe Lives, fiercely criticised the advice and argued it places far too much onus on the victim.

She said: If it is that unsafe, you want the abuser to be removed from home. The victim, whether adults or children, should be able to inhabit that space securely. There is no reason for them to have to limit themselves to one room or another.

We need to focus on the person causing harm rather than limiting further and further what victims and survivors can do and constantly trying to push them into situations of fleeing. They need to be able to stay safely in their own home with their things around them.

Ms Jacob argued the chancellors recent 750m pledge in emergency funding for charities across the UK was not sufficient. Charity sector bodies previously estimated charities will lose out on a minimum of 4.3bn of income over the 12 weeks  with some arguing the figure could be radically higher.

She called for clarification about how the money would be used to help the domestic abuse sector, which has already been ravaged by government cuts.

Ms Jacob said: The worry is a very tiny amount will be going to lots of different places and there will be nowhere near enough to provide for life-saving domestic abuse services.

Cuts have meant there is already a chronic shortage of bed spaces in refuges, with local authority spending on refuges cut from 31.2m in 2010 to 23.9m in 2017, forcing several to close their doors in recent years.

In England and Wales, two women every week are killed by a current or former partner.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Charlotte Kneer, chief executive of Reigate and Banstead Womens Aid refuge in Surrey, urged people to listen out for signs of domestic abuse during the pandemic.

Ms Kneer, a domestic abuse survivor whose violent partner was jailed for seven years in 2011, said: If you hear a neighbour screaming, its tempting to want to stay out of their private business. However I would tell anyone that it is their responsibility to call the police.

We have moved past the days where what happens behind closed doors is no-one elses business. Also, if you have a loved one that you think may be going through it try and set up a code phrase that they can say in a normal telephone conversation or via text that lets you know you need to alert the police that they are in danger. This needs to be something really bland that isnt going to alert the abuser.

What we need is funding to keep services that were already stripped to the bone in operation but also a plan for increasing support for victims through outreach and refuge services.

 Inside the Coronavirus wards of Lebanon

Mandu Reid, leader of Womens Equality Party, is calling for Domestic Violence Protection Orders to be extended to cover the full length of the governments lockdown and court fees to be waived to ensure police forces do not bear the costs, while Sadiq Khan has asked the home secretary to urgently launch a national working group that brings together police, service providers, funders and other government departments, to urgently introduce additional support for domestic abuse victims.

Writing in The Independent, the mayor of London said: Ministers must put in place a coordinated response to ensure domestic abuse organisations receive the support they need to maintain services throughout this crisis, and that victims are reassured that fleeing abuse is an acceptable reason to be out of the home.

The Labour politician also raised concerns about survivors of domestic abuse who have no recourse to public funds.

 Women's aid launches the lockdown campaign to highlight domestic abuse risks during coronavirus lockdown

This comes campaigners recently told The Independent women who have insecure immigration status are at grave risk due to being barred from safety and support. Domestic abuse survivors who do not have access to public funds are refused help by the authorities, which means they are denied support to leave their partners and refused refuge space.

A government spokesperson said the announcement of funding by Rishi Sunak was "an important step" to supporting charities' vital work, adding: If someone is in danger they should call the police and can disregard orders to stay at home if they need to seek immediate refuge.

Anyone who requires help or support can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline which is open 24/7 365 days per year on 0808 2000 247 or via their website https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/
[April 09, 2020] AllCloud Offers Configure-Price-Quote Assessment to Salesforce Users

SAN FRANCISCO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AllCloud , a global cloud services provider, announces a new offering for Salesforce customers. The Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) Assessment from AllCloud takes the guesswork out of Salesforce CPQ deployments by thoroughly evaluating a clients products and sales policies before deployment begins. As a result, AllCloud can head-off potential issues and expedite clients time-to-value.

Configure-Price-Quote software from Salesforce takes the pain out of complicated pricing, helping sales reps rapidly and accurately create estimates, proposals, quotes and orders. The solution dramatically speeds proposal and quote generation, allowing image-based product selection constrained by an organizations configuration rules. Managers appreciate control over discounts and processes. The CPQ software connects to users product catalogs and populates quotes and orders in their CRM. AllClouds Salesforce CPQ Assessment includes a review of a clients products, bundles and pricing as well as its quote templates, contracts, subscriptions, amendments and renewal processes. AllCloud can also evaluate the steps needed for a client to integrate its Salesforce CPQ software with its ERP or accounting system. Following the assessment, AllCloud will provide a processflow diagram, project plan and roadmap, risk and issue logs, executive summary and training strategy.



AllCloud is a Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partner with a dedicated CPQ practice. Its consultants provide a range of CPQ services to customers, including planning and designing implementations, performing custom configurations and training staff. AllClouds CPQ experts have additional certifications, enabling them to offer deeper CPQ-related services to customers around the new Salesforce Billing product. AllCloud has completed Salesforce CPQ implementations for numerous global clients. For example, the firm recently helped BrandSafway, a construction and civil engineering company with annual sales of $5 billion, adopt Salesforce CPQ. None of this would have been possible without AllClouds expertise, says Andrew Bombassaro, Vice President at BrandSafway. The quality of their resources, flexibility in structuring processes to meet our needs and overall responsiveness have gotten us to where we are today. AllCloud is a trusted partner, and we plan to do even more with them as we continue to grow our Salesforce ecosystem.

Weve performed Salesforce CPQ assessments for clients many times, but now were offering it as a standalone service in order to help clients better understand their sales environment and the steps necessary to making a smooth transition to Salesforce CPQ, says Doug Shepard, President, AllCloud North America. Clients like BrandSafway are benefiting significantly from the use of Salesforce CPQ, but the migration process can be complicated. Thats where AllClouds skills and experienced team helps organizations fully realize the value of CPQ. About AllCloud AllCloud is a global professional and managed services company providing organizations with the tools for cloud enablement and transformation. Through a unique combination of expertise and agility, AllCloud accelerates cloud innovation and helps organizations fully unlock the value received from cloud technology. As an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and a Salesforce Platinum Partner, AllCloud helps clients connect their front office and back office by building a new operating model that allows them to harness the benefits of both Salesforce and AWS. AllCloud is supported by a robust ecosystem of technology partners, proven methodologies, and well-documented best practices, elevating customers by achieving operational excellence on the cloud, within a secure environment, at every milestone of the journey to becoming cloud-first. With over 12 years of experience and a portfolio with thousands of successful cloud deployments, AllCloud serves clients across the globe. AllCloud has offices in Israel, Europe and North America. Media contact:

Kevin Wolf

TGPR

(650) 483-1552

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Oil pumping jacks operate in an oilfield near Almetyevsk, Tatarstan, Russia, on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

Oil prices rose on Thursday on expectations the world's largest oil producers would agree to cut production at a meeting later in the day as the industry grapples with a coronavirus-driven collapse in global oil demand.

Brent crude futures rose 1.2%, or 41 cents, to $33.25 a barrel as of 0529 GMT. The contract rose to an intra-day high of $33.90, climbing for a second day.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 3.3%, or 82 cents, at $25.91 a barrel, after earlier climbing by as much as 6.1%.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia  a group known as OPEC+  are set to convene a video conference meeting on Thursday.

The meeting is expected to be more successful than their gathering in March, where they failed to agree to extend supply cuts and triggered a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Hopes of an agreement to cut between 10 million and 15 million barrels per day (bpd) rose after media reports suggested Russia was ready to reduce its output by 1.6 million bpd and Algeria's energy minister said he expected a "fruitful" meeting.

Such a sizable reduction would be far bigger than any production cut OPEC has ever agreed on before.

"We're waiting with bated breath," said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.

"I think there'll be a deal, which will bring a bit of cheer in the short run. Then everyone's attention will refocus on the fundamentals. The fundamentals are appalling," he said.

Following the OPEC+ meeting, energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies are set to meet to find ways to help ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global energy markets.

"If the G20 came out and talked about adding to strategic reserves, that would be taken positively," Shaw said.

However with oil prices having lost half their value since the start of the year and oil demand forecast to slide as much as 30%, analysts are skeptical about how effective an OPEC+ cut would be in shoring up prices.

"Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Moreover, given the rapidly rising oil inventories, the market is likely to be still awash with cheap oil even when demand recovers.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed crude stocks rose by 15.2 million barrels, their biggest ever one-week rise.
THE Land Transportation Office (LTO)-Central Visayas has offered sleeping quarters for frontlline healthworkers of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) amid the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Cebu due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The LTO-Central Visayas turned over its Malasakit Lounge and the Duterte People's Hall located on N. Bacalso Ave., Cebu City.

LTO-Central Visayas Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec and CCMC Hospital Administrator Ma. Yvonne Feliciano signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Wednesday, April 8, to formalize the arrangement.

The LTO-Central Visayas has allowed the use of the two areas due to the suspension of mass transportation in view of the ECQ.

Under the MOA, the access to the Malasakit Lounge and the Duterte People's Hall will be limited only to CCMC doctors and nurses, who will be listed in the registry of personnel with corresponding IDs submitted by CCMC.

The hospital is also tasked to maintain a record or log of personnel who are allowed to use the LTO facility. The CCMC doctors are also required to wear their IDs while inside the facility.

Moreover, the LTO-Central Visayas will provide furnishing for the fully-airconditioned Duterte People's Hall on the second floor, which would function as the sleeping quarters.

It has 12 beds with bed covers and pillows. The quarters also provide other amenities such as a shower room and a dressing room. The Malasakit Lounge located on the ground floor will serve as a waiting area.

It will also implement strict sanitation protocol before CCMC medical personnel enter the LTO facility, such as foot bath and body disinfection upon entry, body misting, alcohol on hands and wearing face masks outside the Duterte People's Hall. LTO-Central Visayas will operate the CCMC temporary quarters 24/7.

This move signifies the support of the Department of Transportation and LTO for the Presidential Proclamation 922, series of 2020, issued by President Rodrigo Duterte, declaring a State of Public Health Emergency through the Philippines due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This proclamation requires a whole-of-government response with the concerted effort of all government agencies and local government units. (WBS/With PR)
America is experiencing a moment of crisis, but it need not be a period of decline. From our great cities to our rural towns, Americans everywhere are making enormous sacrifices for the sake of their fellow citizens. It is clear from these selfless acts  nurses and physicians working long into the night; delivery workers bringing essential goods to their neighbors doors; church groups assembling care packages for the ill  that Americans love of country is undimmed and American courage is unshaken. In fact, Americans are ready for a comeback. And Congress must help to unleash it.
BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday reviewed the relief work being carried out by party workers across the country and asked them to expand their area of operation and speed of delivery of essential items.

Nadda has been holding meetings with party leaders via video conferencing to motivate the BJP cadre to help people in this hour of crisis, the party said.

On Thursday, he interacted with party's office bearers from 22 states in five different meetings. He was joined by the party's general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh.

Reviewing the relief work, Nadda said the BJP workers should be concerned about each and every citizen and corona warrior and take all necessary steps to help them while cooperating with the local administration.

He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's five requests to the BJP workers --- feed the needy, distribute masks, motivate 40 people to donate to PM-CARES fund, downloading Aarogya Setu app.

The BJP chief again exhorted the party workers to get signatures of people to express gratitude to emergency staff, from health professionals to sanitation workers and police besides bank and postal employees among others, working during the lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dubai: The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis says it is halting military operations in the country in support of UN efforts to end a five-year war that has killed over 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease.

The move aims to facilitate talks sponsored by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths for a permanent ceasefire, and was decided in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus, though no cases have been reported so far, military coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said.

Medical staff set up a coronavirus quarantine ward at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. Credit:AP

The ceasefire will go into effect at midday on Thursday, Yemen time, for two weeks and is open to extension, he said in a statement.

The adversaries are expected to convene via video conference to discuss the proposal, which calls for halting all air, ground and naval hostilities.
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has bought stakes worth a combined $1 billion in four European oil majors: Shell, Total, Eni, and Equinor, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed people in the know.

The Saudi fund, the sources said, was taking advantage of the oil price collapse that drove down oil companies stocks, making them a bargain for those with the money to buy. The fund may well continue to build stakes in large industry players, too.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund manages more than $300 billion in assets, and the primary vehicle of the Kingdoms economic diversification push spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed. Amassing large stakes in oil majors is hardly the diversification one imagines for an oil-dependent economy. Still, European oil players have demonstrated greater resilience to market shocks than most American companies, which makes PIFs move understandable.

The stock market rout that made the shares of European supermajors a bargain was, in large part, caused by Saudi Arabia, after it threatened to flood the world with oil when Russia refused to deepen production cuts agreed last year. It made good on the threat, according to Bloomberg shipping data, with at least seven supertankers en route to the U.S. Gulf Coast carrying some 14 million barrels since the start of the month. Thats up from just 2 million barrels for the first third of March.

Yet the bargain window for oil stocks may be about to close, again not least because of Saudi Arabias efforts, this time in the production control department. The Kingdom is meeting virtually today with its fellow OPEC members and partners led by Russia to discuss oil production cuts, although most note that discussions are already underway, and what we are likely to hear later today is the official announcement of whether there will or wont be cuts.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
By Julia Cheever

Bay City News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release four immigrants with serious medical problems from administrative detention because of the danger of COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney wrote in a temporary restraining order that the four people being held in facilities in Marysville and Bakersfield are "at high risk of severe illness or death if infected with COVID-19."

Two are currently held at the Yuba County Jail in Marysville. They are Salvador Medina Calderon, 56, of Mexico, who has diabetes and has lost most of his vision, and Russian citizen Gennady Lavrus, 43, who has diabetes.

The other two are at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield. They are Charles Joseph, 34, of Fiji, who has severe asthma, and J. Elias Solario Lopez, 82, a Mexican citizen who has hypertension and kidney disease.

The four are being held in civil administrative detention while awaiting immigration hearings. Chesney said undisputed evidence in the case showed they did not have access to protective social distancing or masks. She said the risks they face amount to unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

The immigrants who are to be released are among 13 who sued ICE in a habeas corpus lawsuit last month, seeking their immediate release. Chesney ruled that four others had not shown they were at high risk for serious illness.

Two others were released by ICE after the lawsuit was filed, another withdrew from the case because he has a separate habeas corpus petition pending, and no decision has been made thus far about the remaining two plaintiffs.

Judah Lakin, a lawyer for the immigrants, stated, "ICE's refusal to change its policies and practices during this pandemic is not only disheartening, but clearly unconstitutional. We will continue to fight not only for the remaining plaintiffs in our lawsuit, but the greater incarcerated population at large."

San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju, who also represented the plaintiffs, said, "The judge recognized that releasing vulnerable immigrants because of the COVID pandemic is urgent, constitutionally mandated and in the interest of public health."

An ICE spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Chesney ordered the two sides to file a plan by Friday for conditions of release, which must include a specific residence for sheltering in place. All the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit that they have citizen or legal-resident family members with whom they can reside.

The judge will decide at a later date whether to convert the temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction, after receiving further briefs.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:30:42|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) recognizes and appreciates the good work that has been undertaken by the World Health Organization (WHO) in combatting COVID-19, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his capacity as AU Chairperson.

The AU also commends the management of Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in leading the global response to the pandemic, Ramaphosa said in a statement distributed by his office on Wednesday night.

As the world grapples with the challenge of the coronavirus, there is a need for solidarity, unity of purpose and better coordination to ensure that the world be able to overcome this common enemy, Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said that it is within this context that he, as AU Chairperson and President of South Africa, reaffirms his appreciation for the exceptional leadership of Tedros as the Director-General of the WHO from the very earliest stages of this unprecedented global health crisis.

The AU "notes with a sense of satisfaction" the various initiatives and measures that are continuously undertaken by the WHO to mitigate the spread of the pandemic such as mobilizing resources, sharing the real-time information and providing the technical and material support, Ramaphosa said.

"On a daily basis, the WHO has been an essential technical and scientific partner to the African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), as we work to mitigate the pandemic which has now reached nearly every member state," said Ramaphosa.

The AU has seen Dr Tedros in action before when he and the world-class WHO health experts led global efforts to fight against Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in appreciation of these efforts, the AU extends its unwavering support to the WHO and its Director-General, Ramaphosa said.

The AU calls upon international community to join hands to support the efforts of Dr Tedros and the entire WHO family as they lead global efforts to fight this pandemic, said Ramaphosa.

While all the countries are facing daunting and frustrating tasks to contain the spread of the pandemic, they should avoid temptation to apportion blame to any individual, institution or any country at a time when they should all be working together, he said.

"We should work together to confront our common enemy in the form of COVID-19; and we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by anything else. Our success against this pandemic will only be realized through collaboration, cooperation and most importantly through global solidarity," Ramaphosa noted.

Other African leaders also expressed their support to the WHO and its leadership.

On Wednesday, the Rwandan President Paul Kagame said in a twitter post that Dr Tedros, as leader of the WHO, has the full confidence and support of Africa.

The AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also stressed that the AU fully supports WHO and Tedros.

The chairperson also emphasized that "the focus should remain on collectively fighting COVID-19 as a united global community."
Syracuse, N.Y.  The coronavirus has turned Syracuse Hancock International Airport into a very lonely place.

The photos above show how the pandemics impact on travel has left Central New Yorks primary airport looking like a ghost town.

Last year, the airport was bustling more than it had in nearly 30 years. Passenger traffic rose 11.5% compared to 2018. The 2.58 million people who traveled through the airport in 2019 was the most since 2.64 million passed through its terminal in 1990.

Then the coronavirus hit the U.S. last month. It brought the nations economy to a near standstill and prompted many people to cancel travel plans. Airlines, in turn, have canceled flights left and right.

At Syracuse Hancock, airlines have canceled nearly 80% of all flights. On Wednesday, just 11 planes departed the airport. Jennifer Sweetland, a spokesperson for the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, said there are normally 48 flights from the airport on Wednesdays.

Airlines began canceling flights at the airport on March 20 after the number of people in New York sickened by the coronavirus rose exponentially.

It started when there was that jump from, you know, a hundred to 4,000 (cases)," said Sweetland. Thats really when people were like, OK, maybe we dont need to go on that trip.

The photo on the left shows the parking lot at Syracuse Hancock International Airport full on Feb. 20, 2020. On the right, the same parking lot on April 9, 2020, is nearly empty. The coronavirus outbreak's impact on travel has left the airport a virtual ghost town. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)

The flight cancellations have been across the board as both leisure and business travelers are staying home.

Airlines wont report their passenger traffic data for March until next week, but the numbers are certain to be way down, at least for the last half of the month. Even those flights that continue to operate have far fewer passengers on them than normal.

With fewer customers to serve, the airports retail and food concessions have scaled back their hours considerably. All the airports restaurants, when they are open at all, are take-out only because of state-ordered restrictions designed to minimize community spread of the contagion.

The airports parking garage and lots, normally full, were nearly empty on Thursday.

With airlines continuing to modify their schedules, the airport authority is advising anyone who has travel scheduled in the coming weeks to contact their airline directly to make sure their flight is not canceled.

If theyve got two people trying to go out on a flight, theyre probably going to cancel it, said Sweetland.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Chads army says it lost 52 troops during the operation against Boko Haram.

The Chadian army says it has killed 1,000 fighters during an operation against the Boko Haram armed group in the Lake Chad border region.

Army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa Agouna told the AFP news agency that 52 troops died during the operation, which was launched on March 31.

A thousand terrorists have been killed, 50 motorised canoes have been destroyed, the colonel said, referring to a large boat also called a pirogue.

Agouna said the operation, which was launched after nearly 100 soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack last month, ended on Wednesday after the armed fighters were forced out of the country.

It is the first official snapshot of the outcome of Operation Bohoma Anger, launched after at least 92 soldiers were killed on March 23 in the deadliest-ever attack by Boko Haram on the countrys military forces. The armed group had mounted a seven-hour assault on a Chadian army base at Bohoma.

Reporting from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris said: The country is trying to help other regional powers and regional forces under a group called the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to finally defeat the Boko Haram.

A similar operation was conducted five years ago, in 2015, that decimated the Boko Haram population. They have regrouped since then, and attacked and killed several thousands in the process and regional armies in the Lake Chad area have been struggling to deal with the problem, Idris added.

Lake Chad is a vast, marshy body of water where the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon meet.

The western shores of the lake have been hit by armed fighters crossing from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram launched a bloody campaign of violence in 2009.

Shouldering all the burden

Chad declared departments near the lake a war zone in order to give the military free rein for the offensive.

The four countries bordering the lake in 2015 set up the MNJTF, also including Benin, to fight Boko Haram.

But Chad, whose forces have a relatively high standing in the Sahel region, has shown frustration with the MNJTF following the Bohoma losses.

Chad is alone in shouldering all the burden of the war against Boko Haram, President Idriss Deby said last weekend.

It is not clear if this will be the end or the beginning of the end of Boko Haram in the region. Many experts believe it is going to be very very difficult to say that Boko Haram is defeated or will be defeated anytime soon because this is an idealogy that has taken foothold for more than a decade in Nigeria which is spilling into its neighbours, Al Jazeeras Idris added.

Separately, in Niger, the defence ministry in Niamey said its armed forces, in a joint operation with Chad, had inflicted heavy losses on Boko Haram in the lake region.

Arms caches, logistical points and several boats were destroyed and islands used as rear bases in the lakes marshland were bombarded from the air, it said.

Landlocked Niger is facing attacks by armed group on opposite ends of the country  fighting that has spilled over from neighbouring Mali, and raids in the Lake Chad region by Boko Haram fighters.

Boko Harams 11-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives in northeast Nigeria and driven nearly two million people from their homes.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:57:45|Editor: huaxia

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Medical team members gather at Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, April 9, 2020. The Chinese government has sent a team of medical experts to Kazakhstan at the invitation of its government to help the country battle the COVID-19 outbreak. The team left Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Thursday for Kazakhstan. Organized by the National Health Commission, the team consists of 10 experts selected by Xinjiang. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

URUMQI, April 9 (Xinhua) --The Chinese government has sent a team of medical experts to Kazakhstan at the invitation of its government to help the country battle the COVID-19 outbreak.

The team left Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Thursday for Kazakhstan. Organized by the National Health Commission, the team consists of 10 experts selected by Xinjiang.

The experts specializing in various areas including respiratory disease, intensive care, infectious disease and traditional Chinese medicine are from several hospitals and a local center for disease prevention and control in Xinjiang.

The Chinese experts will share China's experience in COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis and treatment with their Kazakh counterparts, and provide training for Kazakh medical staff, public health officials and community workers.

The medical team took with them medical supplies donated by Xinjiang, including 49,600 disposable medical masks, 4,800 N95 masks, 2,000 protective suits and two non-invasive ventilators.
Kim Kardashian's kids seemed to be getting under her skin while she shared a tutorial for her 'Quarantine glam' makeup routine on Thursday.

The KKW Beauty mogul, 39, was in the middle of showing fans how to recreate her at-home look when daughter North, six, wandered in and interrupted.

After shooing her out of the room, the reality star wife of Kanye west made an admission, telling the camera: 'I'm hiding in the guest room because my kids will not leave me alone.'

Wits' end: Kim Kardashian seemed frustrated by her kids while trying to record a makeup 'Quarantine glam' makeup tutorial for her fans

Kim started the video bare-faced so she could start the process from the very beginning. Her extension-free hair was twisted back into two short French braids.

Things were uneventful until North poked her head in while mom was blending her concealer.

After chatting about the budding fashionista's homeschool PE plans, Kim went back to her tutorial.

But just minutes later, North came to visit mom again.

Kim was able to deflect her kid's nagging, nudging her little girl back outside while still in the middle of baking her undereyes with powder.

Cameo: The KKW Beauty mogul, 39, was in the middle of showing fans how to recreate her at-home look when daughter North, six, wandered in and interrupted

Hiding: Once alone, the frustrated mother-of-four admitted she was hiding away in the guest room 'because my kids will not leave me alone'

Busy: North wanted to chat with her mom but Kim didn't have time

Called out: Like clockwork, North chimed in to tell Kim: 'Hey, that's mean!' prompting mom to roll her eyes

Once alone, the frustrated mother-of-four admitted she was hiding away in the guest room 'because my kids will not leave me alone.'

Like clockwork, North chimed in to tell Kim: 'Hey, that's mean!' prompting mom to roll her eyes.

It was about then when the wife of Kanye West lost her patience, snapping: 'North, can I please just do my little tutorial? It's all I want to do, just one little fun thing for myself.'

Finally listening to her mom, North headed off while Kim let go an irritated sigh of relief.

The middle Kardashian sister finished up her look, dusting contour on the hollows of her cheeks, blushing her cheeks, sprinkling on some highlight and coloring her lips a rich nude.

Me time: It was about then when the wife of Kanye West lost her patience, snapping: 'North, can I please just do my little tutorial? It's all I want to do, just one little fun thing for myself'

Finishing touches: North headed off while Kim let go an irritated sigh of relief and finished her routine

The great indoors! Once her masterpiece was complete, she threw her hands up and said: 'Quarantine glam, just to go to the kitchen and get harassed by my kids do their homework'

After a flick of mascara finished the job, Kim blew a kiss at the camera.

Once her masterpiece was complete, she threw her hands up and said: 'Quarantine glam, just to go to the kitchen and get harassed by my kids do their homework.'

Still, she encouraged everyone to take a second to make themselves feel nice while stuck at home during the current crisis, saying: 'I at least feel honestly good about myself.'

'...That I haven't stayed in my pajamas all day and that I actually got up and got dressed and put on some normal clothes and put on some makeup.

'It really does make yourself feel good about yourself every once in a while.'

Self care: Still, she encouraged everyone to take a second to make themselves feel nice while stuck at home during the current crisis, saying: 'I at least feel honestly good about myself'

Company: Kim is isolating at her multi-million-dollar Hidden Hills mansion with her husband Kanye West and children North, six, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 10 months. She talked about the experience while on The View late last month

Kim is isolating at her multi-million-dollar Hidden Hills mansion with her husband Kanye West and children North, six, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 10 months.

'It's been tough juggling it all, and you know, you really have to put yourself on the back burner and just focus on the kids,' she said.

Otherwise she shared that 'I actually love that time because we do travel so much in our regular world' and she is now able to be home with her family more.

'I think the family bonding part of it all, going on walks outside, we've watched every single movie you could possibly imagine,' shared the aspiring lawyer.

But surprisingly, Kim said there were practical matters she still needed to tend to.

'I love all the family bonding stuff but I mean I've been doing laundry and cooking and we're now - I mean, the kids just got on spring break, thank God - being their teacher too.'

Prioritizing: 'It's been tough juggling it all, and you know, you really have to put yourself on the back burner and just focus on the kids,' she said
The Strategic National Stockpile is nearly out of the N95 respirators, surgical masks, face, shields, gowns and other medical supplies desperately needed to protect front-line medical workers treating coronavirus patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services told The Associated Press Wednesday that the federal stockpile was in the process of deploying all remaining personal protective equipment in its inventory.

The HHS statement confirms federal documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee showing that about 90% of the personal protective equipment in the stockpile has been distributed to state and local governments.

HHS spokeswoman Katie McKeogh said the remaining 10% will be kept in reserve to support federal response efforts.

We're out: The federal stockpile of equipment like the masks and gowns worn by frontline workers dealing with coronavirus is effectively empty, HHS admits

Emergency help: At the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, the founder of Alibaba, Joe Tsai, has donated masks

House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the Trump administration is leaving states to scour the open market for scarce supplies, often competing with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic bidding war that drives up prices.

'The President failed to bring in FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) early on, failed to name a national commander for this crisis, and failed to fully utilize the authorities Congress gave him under the Defense Production Act to procure and manage the distribution of critical supplies,' Maloney said.

'He must take action now to address these deficiencies.'

For the last month, health care workers across the nation have taken to social media to illustrate the shortages by taking selfies wearing home-sewn masks on their faces and trash bags over their scrubs.

President Donald Trump has faulted the states for not better preparing for the pandemic and has said they should only being relying on the federal stockpile as a last resort.

The AP reported Sunday that the Trump administration squandered nearly two months after the early January warnings that COVID-19 might ignite a global pandemic, waiting until mid-March to place bulk orders of N95 masks and other medical supplies needed to build up the stockpile.

By then, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for help.

Trump spent the first two months of the outbreak playing down the threat from the new virus.

He derided warnings of a pandemic as a hoax perpetrated by Democrats and the media, predicting as late as Feb. 26 that the number of U.S. cases would soon drop to zero.

The stockpile was created in 1999 to prevent supply-chain disruptions for the predicted Y2K computer problems.

It expanded after 9/11 to prepare for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks.

Congress provided money in 2006 to prepare for a potential influenza pandemic, though much of that stock was used during the H1N1 flu outbreak three years later.

Supplies:200 ventilators from the federal stockpile are delivered by the California Air national Guard to New York

At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the federal stockpile had about 13 million N95 respirators, masks which filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles and are critical to prevent health care workers from becoming infected.

That's just a small fraction of what hospitals need to protect their workers, who normally would wear a new mask for each patient, but who now are often issued only one to last for days.

Federal contracting records show HHS made an initial bulk order of N95 masks on March 12, followed by larger orders on March 21.

But those contracts won't yield big deliveries to the national stockpile until the end of April, after the White House has projected the pandemic will reach its peak.

For nearly a month, Trump rebuffed calls to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order companies to increase production of respirators and ventilators, before he relented last week.

Asked about the AP report, the president suggested Sunday the states should be thankful for the shipments of supplies they have gotten.

'FEMA, the military, what theyve done is a miracle,' Trump said. 'What they've done is a miracle in getting all of this stuff. What they have done for states is incredible.'
Gwyneth Paltrow got fired from her first job.

The 47-year-old star - who is the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and late director-and-producer Bruce Paltrow - landed a position at a toy store on New York's Madison Avenue when she was just 12 years old, but she was dismissed after failing to turn up for work while on school holidays.

'I got fired because I went on spring break, but I didn't tell my boss. I just didn't show up for duty. I thought the world stops when you go on spring break,' said the Oscar-winning actress.

Fired! Gwyneth Paltrow got fired from her first job. The 47-year-old star landed a position at a toy store on New York's Madison Avenue when she was just 12 years old, but she was dismissed she told Town & Country magazine

Uh-oh: 'I got fired because I went on spring break, but I didn't tell my boss. I just didn't show up for duty. I thought the world stops when you go on spring break,' said the Oscar-winning actress

'I was devastated, but it was a good lesson.'

When she was still at school, Gwyneth - who is married to Brad Falchuk and his kids Apple, 15, and Moses, 14, with ex-husband Chris Martin - and her friends used to go to 'upscale' nightclubs, where they all felt very 'sophisticated'.

She told the new issue of Town & Country magazine: 'What we figured out was that the more upscale places would let you in, but if you were trying to get into the Irish bar on Second Avenue, they wouldn't.

She still look like a 10: The siren was plugging GOOP in Town & Country

'We thought we were so sophisticated, talking about Dostoyevsky and cutting school to go to the Met. Margot Tenenbaum, but maybe with less eyeliner.'

The GOOP CEO befriended writer Jill Kargman during her school days and the author remembered her friend as being ahead of the curve back then.

She said: 'She would eat french fries and drink champagne, but when yoga was still a weird thing that superspiritual people were doing, Gwyneth was doing it.'

At home with her kids: Gwynnie with her daughter Apple and son Moses

Her second husband: The Iron Man actress seen with Brad Falcuk in NYC in September

Jill also recalled how 'in awe' she felt when she visited her friend at home and saw some of her parents' famous pals.

She told the publication: 'She auditioned me to be in Triple Trio, her nine-person singing group. I got in and she took me under her wing - we were both sopranos - and I was always at her house rehearsing.

'I remember going to one of her Christmas parties, and Christopher Reeve and Michael Douglas were there, and I was so in awe and she didn't give a s**t.'
The U.K. government, like a number of other countries around the world such as the U.S., has stepped up its pace in providing relief in the form of loans for businesses being impacted by the coronavirus health crisis and the related shutdown that we've seen across the economy and life as we knew it. But startups in the U.K. are increasingly getting worried that they are being left behind.

An open letter to the Chancellor published today and signed by the U.K.'s biggest "scale-ups" -- later-stage, highly valued, but still venture-backed (and often loss-making) startups such as Deliveroo, Benevolent AI, Citymapper, Graphcore and Bulb -- urged the U.K. government to make room to provide lending options to companies like theirs and other startups.

They are specifically calling for a special task force to be created to consider how to build lending schemes for companies like theirs, as well as to alter the rules on the three big schemes that have already been announced to accommodate them, and give them the same access as other businesses.

The letter, which we're publishing in full below, is not the first cry for help. Earlier this week, another initiative called SOS (Save Our Startups), also published an open letter asking for access to the same lending schemes that other businesses are getting. SOS includes dozens of smaller startups and a number of the VCs that back them.

The crux of the matter has been that startups backed with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from VCs to scale their growth have not been built or planned with profitability as a short-term or even medium-term goal. Many of them have so far eschewed public listings (and subsequent credit ratings, for starters) for longer in part because of the large amount of money available to them these days through the private markets -- venture capital, family offices, private equity and so on -- to grow.

All of that is predicated, however, on the continued health of the wider economy and consumer demand that helped nurture their businesses in the first place.

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The current public health crisis has thrown that model into disarray, and has meant that the growth these companies had expected will simply not be coming in the form that they expected, if it comes at all. VCs might pick up some of the slack -- the biggest of these are still raising, and have in their hands already, huge funds and will step up to support their most promising portfolio companies.

But we don't know how long the effects of the coronavirus will linger, and most likely these startups, like other businesses, will need more. That may not mean that the most highly-capitalised businesses will need money, especially if they're seeing business boom right now, but at a time like this, it's important for solidarity of purpose, since you never know when you might need a loan to supplement what you already have or may raise from your usual channels.

Countries like France and Germany have accounted for this business disparity. They have created special provisions for lending to startups in response to the COVID-19 economic and social upheaval, and respectively there have been programs backed with $4.3 billion and $2.2 billion in government money put into place.

But the three main U.K. initiatives that have been announced -- Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme -- have basic requirements that effectively rule out scaled-up and smaller startups from applying.

These include provisions around having established credit ratings for public companies (as in the case of the bigger loan schemes), or financing that is too small (as in the case of the smaller loan schemes), or the scaled-up companies have annual revenues that are too high (both the CBILS and CLBILS schemes have respective turnover thresholds of 45 million and 500 million).

In the meantime, the U.K. government has made small moves to encourage startups to continue building in a more focused way -- for example, last week it announced 20 million in grants to businesses that are building better "resiliency" products to help companies better weather crises like this in the future. But for companies that regularly see revenues (and corresponding expenses and losses) in the tens and hundreds of millions, grants in the tens of thousands of dollars are like putting drops of water into the ocean.

But with startups accounting for some 30,000 businesses and some 300,000 workers in the U.K., and significant sums toward the country's GDP and operations, it seems like a big problem to ignore for too long.

[letter follows below]
As of April 6, Ghana had recorded 214 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and five deaths, out of a global count of1.34m infections and 74,600 fatalities.



The government has responded comparatively quickly to the global pandemic: on March 17 it barred entry for all travellers  excluding Ghanaian nationals  who had visited a country with more than 200 confirmed Covid-19 infections.



A mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travellers was instituted at the same time, with 1030 people isolated andtested regularly, 10% of whom tested positive during this period.



On March 22 the country closed its land borders, while on March 30, when the number of confirmed casesstood at fewer than 200, Ghana imposed a two-week partial lockdown in the two major metropolitan areas ofAccra and Kumasi.



These lockdowns allow residents of the affected areas to go to food markets, petrol stations and banks, butnotably provide no exemption for religious services and include a ban on mass gatherings for funerals.



The country has been exposed to epidemics in the recent past, including several cholera outbreaks and asuccessful effort to prevent the spread of Ebola between 2013-16.



This is widely thought to have contributed to Ghanas ability to conduct enhanced testing and screening at pointsof entry, and has likely sensitised the population to the severity of the current outbreak.



Economic impact and response



Keenly aware of the economic risk the crisis poses to the country, the administration of President NanaAkufo-Addo and the Bank of Ghana have quickly responded with a host of monetary and fiscal measures.



On March 18 the central bank was the first in sub-Saharan Africa to cut the monetary policy rate, which itreduced from 16% to 14.5%. This was accompanied by other measures to boost liquidity, including a lowering of the reserve requirement and the reduction of capital adequacy rates.



The country has also requested support from the IMF and the World Bank, as officials attempt to close a loomingfinancing gap in the 2020 budget.



Given that Ghanas economy is exposed to current demand fluctuations in the oil and tourism sectors, and thatexports such as gold and cocoa have also been negatively affected by the pandemic, the government is likely toauthorise withdrawals from the statees oil-funded Ghana Stabilisation Fund.



Healthtech tackles Covid-19



As the fight against the virus continues, a number of domestic and Pan-African health care start-ups have builton recent innovations to help tackle new challenges posed by Covid-19.





In the pharmaceutical retail space, Ghanaian start-up mPharma, which last year acquired Kenyas second- largestpharmaceutical chain, Haltons, has been using technology to address inefficiencies in supply chains, with the aimof lowering drug prices.



As Covid-19 began to cause global disruptions in drug supply chains, subsequently threatening the supply ofimportant medicine in Ghana, in mid-March mPharma launched a price control programme called Mutti KeepMy Price.



The initiative allows patients in need of chronic disease medication to continue paying the same price for theirprescriptions for up to six months, regardless of market prices.



Elsewhere, the nascent telemedicine space  which allows for the distribution of health-related services viaelectronic and telecommunication methods  is also expected to see increased demand as a result of Covid- 19.



In 2016 the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service, in conjunction with the Swiss Novartis Foundation,began setting up a series of tele-consultation centres as part of its e-health strategy.



Since then, other private players have entered the space.



Talamus Health, active in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa since 2018, provides a platform for patients to connect with health care providers. The company is currently offering video appointment services for free as the majorcities remain in lockdown, and has experienced a spike in activity as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.



We have had a lot of new facilities sign up with us to leverage our telemedicine feature and deliver healthcareto the general public. This includes those under the government-imposed partial lockdown, as well as those inself isolation  all of whom need access to health care, Joshua Owusu-Ansah, country lead of Talamus HealthGhana, told OBG.



Another e-health player, Redbird, a start-up with a focus on rapid testing, has also been able to use its technologyto help minimise patient interactions.



In late March it launched the COVID-19 Daily Check-in App and Symptom Tracker, which allows patients to self-report potential virus symptoms to health care professionals. The app is expected to alleviate pressure onhospitals and provide remote triage.



Meanwhile, medical drone delivery company Zipline has also been able to adjust its model to suit the immediateneeds of communities and health care specialists during the pandemic.



The drone delivery service was initially tailored to emergency blood and anti-venom deliveries in remote areas,but the company has been able to work with local authorities to provide supportive treatments includingantibiotics, hydration, and fever and pain relief to reduce Covid-19 related mortality, with plans to delivervaccines and test kits as they become available.



As a result, the service has helped to prevent overcrowding at hospitals and has bolstered attempts to enforceeffective social distancing.



Post-pandemic prospects



Established industry players in Ghana have also become aware of the potential for disruption caused bytechnology, and have already adjusted their plans accordingly by investing more in digital infrastructure.



In January a merger of three of the countrys pharmaceutical companies  Dannex, Ayrton Drug Manufacturing and Starwin Products  resulted in the establishment of DAS Pharma, now the largest drug company in Ghana.



Talking to local media at the time of the merger, CEO Daniel Apeagyei Kissi emphasised the importance of taking advantage of new technological trends in the industry.



Consumer and customer needs are changing, industry players are integrating vertically, dealer-owned brands are appearing on the market and technology is manifesting in online pharmacies, electronic payment, online health care systems [and] online doctors, he said.



Agreeing with the sentiment, Owusu-Ansah believes that e-health solutions should experience significant growth moving forward.



Covid-19 highlights the inefficiencies in the health care sector, largely run by the government, and for a long time seen by technology enthusiasts as an unattractive sector to venture into, he told OBG. Given the scale of this pandemic  and its direct and indirect impact on the global economy and daily life  I expect it will encourage more to venture into healthtech.

Source: Oxford Business Group (OBG)









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With some help from Apple, Stanford Medicine has built an iPhone app that connects first responders in California to COVID-19 testing. The university developed the software using Apple's ResearchKit and CareKit frameworks.

First Responder COVID-19 Guide has some similarities to the coronavirus screening service Alphabet's Verily healthcare brand launched last month. Like with Verily's website, there's a questionnaire in which the person is asked to answer questions about their symptoms, exposure to the coronavirus and medical history. If the app recommends they get tested, the first responder then talks to their department's "infection control officer," who will work with Stanford to schedule an appointment. As a plus, first responders don't need to be past Stanford Health Care patients to access testing.

The app highlights the critical need for additional testing capacity throughout the US, but particularly so in California, which has screened fewer people per capita than states like New York and Washington. According to CNBC, Stanford can currently test approximately 2,500 people per day after researchers at the university developed their own COVID-19 test in March.

"If we have a first responder who has symptoms, it's really important for them to get screened and potentially test it because they're going to be very patient-facing and very community-facing. That's what their jobs are," Dr. Bob Harrington, chairman of the Stanford Department of Medicine, said in an interview with CNBC.

The app is currently only available in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties -- Verily's screening service was initially only available in those areas as well. However, Stanford wants to expand its availability to additional counties. Similarly, it wants to open it up to other frontline workers, such as grocery store clerks and public service employees.

Stanfords app follows Apples own COVID-19 app, which the iPhone maker released last month. While it won't direct you to testing facilities, it does screen for the diseases symptoms. It also includes up to date advice from the CDC and other resources.
[April 09, 2020] Austin-based Expense Software Offers Aid to Local Governments Across Texas

AUSTIN, Texas, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Austin-based SaaS company, Webexpenses, is donating its expense management software to Texas state and local governments. The comped system is being provided to assist the state and its municipalities in recouping costs incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This provision is a direct response to Texas Governor, Greg Abbott's, announcement during his April 8 press conference regarding COVID-19. Abbott advised, "The federal government has provided an unprecedented amount of financial resources for governments at all levels to be able to fully and robustly respond to COVID-19. It is essential that, as you encounter expenses, that you retain receipts for those expenses to ensure that your jurisdiction is going to able to be reimbursed as fully as possible." Webexpenses provides paperless receipt capture and automated expense reporting; users can take a picture of their receipts to upload, then submit expense reports from their phones. Policies are built-in to the system and can be customized to meet the standards set by the Federal government for COVID19 reimbursements. The system also eliminates the need for in-person communications while counties remain on lockdown.



"As we now know, what we do in the present can deeply affect our future. And while we're still in the middle of this pandemic, there is a brighter future ahead of us. We want to do what we can to help our home state prepare for that future," said Ryan Corlett, Webexpenses Regional Director of North America. "Our software will enable state and local governments to establish a foundation for a quick economic recovery - without incurring any additional costs for a system. While easing the strain on our government employees, so they can focus on more pressing tasks." This offer includes 24-hour support and no implementation fee. Interested parties can email [email protected] or call 1-888-927-2657 with questions or to get started.

Webexpenses is a leading global provider of cloud-based travel and expense management software to businesses of all sizes. The company expense system automates financial processes and employee workflows. The configurable solution includes OCR receipt scanner, credit card integration, mileage tracking, real-time reporting, and automatic policy compliance. Webexpenses was founded in 2000 and has offices in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.webexpenses.com. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Hayley Parks, Webexpenses

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/austin-based-expense-software-offers-aid-to-local-governments-across-texas-301038505.html SOURCE Webexpenses Inc.

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SALISBURY, Md.  Thousands of people are recruited to Maryland each year to become the crab pickers, landscapers, caregivers and others whose work is essential for maintenance of the state's seasonal economy.

While some H-2B visa holders will be out of work due to not being designated essential in the fight against COVID-19, others are part of essential supply chains that must continue to function. But at a time when the U.S. government is warning against all international travel, these frontline workers are risking their health and finances without the same protections Americans are afforded, migrant workers rights experts say.

Its an illness attacking everyone and anyone, said Sulma Guzman, policy director for Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Inc., a Maryland migrant rights advocacy organization. To be a migrant worker that is leaving their home communities, their family, and coming to the U.S. to work, medical catastrophe would be very, very bad.

About 450 visa-holding workers are needed by Maryland seafood processors this year, but employers have worried federal visa caps would keep them from getting enough workers. Those who still chose to come to the U.S. started their six-month work contracts April 1.

Sheila Ames makes quick work of a crab during the crab picking contest at the 72nd National Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield, Maryland on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.

Even in normal times, temporary foreign workers face challenges and lack protections against fraud, abuse and exploitation. For starters, minimum wage and overtime protections dont apply, and their visas tie them to a single employer (meaning, if they don't like something, they can't go to a new job). Many start work indebted by recruitment and travel fees.

Several factors in combination make migrant workers particularly vulnerable in a pandemic, said Mari Perales Sanchez, CDMs policy and campaigns communications coordinator. But for many, the opportunity to work for U.S. wages, often sent back to families abroad, is too important to pass up.

Though they do qualify to purchase subsidized insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the vast majority of migrant workers don't have health insurance, she said. Many lack paid sick days, which increases the likelihood that a symptomatic person would still show up to work.

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Workers who travel to the crab houses of the Eastern Shore from Mexico do so largely by bus because it is inexpensive, Sanchez said. But the buses can be crowded, and the virus is thought to spread easily between people who are in close contact with one another, according to the CDC.

When the workers arrive, they will usually share a room rented from their employer with several other people. As many as a dozen workers could be sleeping in bunk beds, barracks-style, unable to distance themselves by the recommended 6 feet, Sanchez said.

On the job, federal law may promise agricultural workers access to handwashing facilities, but those can be located far away from where a person is working, she said. Some workers may also be unaware of CDC guidelines and unversed in the American health care system, with language barriers complicating communication, she said.

Another problem: Foreign workers could likely be among the millions of American workers whose hours are cut due to the coronavirus' crippling effect on the economy.

Under Maryland's state of emergency, commercial fishing operations, including oyster aquaculturists and crabbers, are designated "essential," because of their role in producing food for the supply chain. But restaurants and other small businesses who normally buy up the seafood could be forced to close. Many are struggling to change their business model to carryout and delivery.

Restaurant sales, the backbone of our industry, basically went to zero in a matter of mere days, said Scott Budden, co-owner of Orchard Point Oyster Co. in Stevensville, Maryland. Some operations, like ours, are pivoting to 100 percent direct-to-consumer retail sales to generate revenue. Others may not have this capability or are waiting for the coronavirus to pass before resuming sales."

Rural work locations are generally far away from hospitals; lacking personal vehicles, many migrants must depend on their employers for transportation, Sanchez said. If getting to the hospital or a doctors office means asking their boss for a ride, migrant workers may be even less likely to seek treatment, she said.

Though the rural locations where many low-wage workers work may have less COVID-19 spread, many factors about rural life (including hospital access) make the virus particularly dangerous if it does take hold.

Something we cant stress enough is to encourage and promote giving prompt medical attention to any symptoms that are related to COVID-19 and any illness in general, because if one worker goes to work sick for fear that their boss will not give them the attention needed, (they could transmit it to others), Guzman said

Coronavirus solutions for migrant workers

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has published a guide for seafood industry members who employ H-2B visa holders about how to combat coronavirus, emphasizing minimizing exposure risk, early detection and treatment. Maryland hasn't yet issued similar guidance.

North Carolina's plan recommends that employers create a COVID-19 prevention plan for their facilities. The document includes recommendations, such as that people who have tested positive should be housed only with other confirmed COVID-19 cases, should have separate bathroom, cooking and eating facilities from all others, and should have access to face masks.

Centro de los Derechos del Migrante wants to see migrant workers nationwide guaranteed access to similar measures to those outlined in North Carolina's plan  they're advocating for isolated living quarters, COVID-19 testing and treatment as necessary, Guzman said.

Though this year's Maryland legislative session was ended early, CDM is using other methods to advocate, including looking to the federal government's Families First Coronavirus Response Act and other packages to help fill the gaps.

In a letter to the federal departments of Labor, Health, Homeland Security and State, CDM and a coalition of 32 other organizations concerned with the rights of H-2B visa holders call for added protections. They argue the Trump administration should ensure migrant worker group housing and transit complies with CDC social distancing recommendations, and protect workers who may be laid off due to COVID-19 and are unable to return to their home countries due to border closures, among other protections.

We all benefit when people are healthy and theyre showing up to work and theyre not getting other workers sick, Guzman said. That goes back to the rationale for a paid sick days law that covers everyone. If your operation is dependent on these workers and one is sick and comes to work and gets everyone else sick  how do you keep your business going?

Some emergency legislation already in effect helps cover some gaps in the protections for migrant workers, but it's not enough, the CDM representatives said.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (effective April 1 through Dec. 31) delivers direct payments to most taxpayers, greatly expands federal unemployment benefits and covers the cost of COVID-19 testing, among other benefits. Similarly, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act designates aid for small businesses affected by the coronavirus.

Both acts apply to private employers with fewer than 500 employees  but, companies with fewer than 50 employees may receive certain exemptions if it's determined the requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business. This could omit some employers of H-2B workers.

"We see exemptions of low-wage work, of agricultural work, of certain domestic work  we see those exemptions in so many localities and also in numerous laws that are supposed to set minimum standards of work," Guzman said. "Thats why advocates throughout the country, thats what we work for: to fight against those exemptions, because everybody should have access to (the country's) safety net."

H-2B Letter to Federal Agencies by dtlaurabsileo on Scribd

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Coronavirus leaves migrant workers with limited protection
Shenzhen-based DJI, the world's biggest drone maker, denied online speculation that it planned to lay off 50 per cent of its employees, saying it is very busy with a number of new projects as countries around the world battle the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.

DJI is busy with new projects and will bring huge surprises to global consumers soon, said DJI spokesman Xie Tiandi in a statement on Chinas Twitter-like social media platform Weibo on Thursday. We dont have time to deal with absurd and false speculation.

Rumours about DJI firing staff had circulated online and were picked up by several local media.

The global economy is being hit by the knock-on effects of the coronavirus, which has kept many people at home, disrupted global supply chains and depressed offline consumption. Chinas tech industry was already under pressure due to the US-China tech war before the coronavirus outbreak began.

However, amid the health crisis, drones have been used by authorities to enter badly affected areas and automatically spray disinfectant, reducing the risks for emergency personnel.

DJI posted a recruitment ad on its website last month, looking for researchers, designers, product managers as well as data analysts. DJIs Xie said fighting the pandemic remains a priority and DJI is providing drone technical support for countries and regions across five continents.

Previously, DJI had been caught in the crossfire of deteriorating relations between the US and China, with the US raising questions about data security. DJIs drones  which account for 75 per cent of the global market  have been banned by the US military since 2017 and the US Interior Department recently grounded its fleet of about 800 Chinese-made drones for all but emergency purposes.

In Spain, one of the countries most badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, the military has deployed agricultural drones  including a model made by DJI  to spray disinfectant. DJI drones have also been used to combat the virus in Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates.

Story continues

DJIs China rival XAG, was also identified in a university research study recently as one of the most suitable drone suppliers to carry out community disinfection operations in the UK.

Additional reporting by Che Pan.

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This article Drone-maker DJI rubbishes reports of mass layoffs, says it is busy meeting demand amid pandemic first appeared on South China Morning Post

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Coronavirus in India live updates: A 70-year-old woman in Dharavi's Kalyanwadi has reportedly passed away after contracting novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, Maharashtra has reported 25 coronavirus deaths today, taking its total tally to 97. Of the 25 deaths today, 14 were reported in Pune, followed by nine in Mumbai and one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri.

Also Read: India Coronavirus live updates Friday (April 10): 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

The state administration said 229 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking total injected cases to 1,364, highest number of coronavirus cases among all states. Overall in India, 5,734 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 166 deaths have been reported so far, until 7:30 PM today. Of this, 473 persons have been discharged after recovery, data by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deputed high level multi-disciplinary Central teams to assist the States and State Health Department in activities pertaining to cluster containment plan and hospital preparedness (ICU & Ventilator management for COVID-19 patients).

Earlier today, the government announced significant investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crores for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. The funds will be utilised for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (amount of Rs 7774 crores) and rest for medium-term support (1-4 years) to be provided under mission mode approach.

Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

Follow BusinessToday.In for all the COVID-19 live updates:

10:30 PM: Govt exempts customs duty, health cess on essential medical goods

The central government on Thursday granted exemptions from basic customs duty and health cess on the import of ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, personal protection equipment (PPE), COVID-19 test kits. Basic customs duty exemption shall be available upto September 30, 2020.

10:25 PM: Residents scramble for basics as 22 hotspots in Noida, Greater Noida sealed till April 15

As Uttar Pradesh sealed off hotspots in 15 districts of the state, Guatam Buddh Nagar ramped up efforts to fight the contagious virus. Gautam Buddh Nagar authorities identified and sealed 22 hotspots in the district till April 15. Supertech Capetown in Noida's Sector 74, with over 2000 families, is one of the housing societies that has been completely locked down by the authorities.

Police were deployed outside identified societies, premises were sanitised, areas were completely sealed off as residents queues up outside their society gates to receive the delivery of essential commodities.

10:20 PM: UP reports 51 new cases of coronavirus, state tally rises to 410

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday reported 51 new positive cases of Novel Corona Virus in various districts of the state, which includes 30 Tablighi Jamaat attendees. Meanwhile, 31 patients (8 Agra, 3 Ghaziabad, 12 Noida, 5 Lucknow, 1 Kanpur, 1 Shamli, 1 Pilibhit) have been declared recovered and discharged till date. According to the state government, out of 410 total COVID-19 cases, 225 are linked to Tablighi Jamaat.

10:10 PM: UK reports 881 death in last 24 hours, toll rises to 7,978

As many as 243,421 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK on Thursday. Of this, 65,077 have tested positive and the number of people admitted to hospital with symptoms stands at 16,784. Of those, virus has killed 7,978 people.

10:00 PM: 23 Wadhavan family members of DHFL group violated lockdown

As many as 23 members of Wadhavan family of DHFL group have been placed under institutional quarantine by local police in Mahabaleshwar after they visited the town, violating the lockdown. The process to file a complaint has been initiated at the local police station, news agency ANI reported.

"It will be inquired that how 23 people of Wadhavan family got permission to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar," said Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

"Wadhawan Brothers who are on bail in DHFL, Yes Bank fraud case are given VVIP treatment by Maharashtra government to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in Convoy. I have urged Governor of Maharashtra to order Investigation," BJP leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted.

9:50 PM: Canada estimates coronavirus could kill 11,000 to 22,000

The coronavirus pandemic could kill between 11,000 and 22,000 people in Canada, the government projected Thursday. The government estimated that the country could see 0.93 million-1.9 million COVID-19 cases by the time the pandemic ends, assuming Canadians observe strict social distancing and other safety measures over the next few months, news agency AFP reported. These are the federal government's first projections on the pandemic's possible toll in Canada.

The virus has killed 476 people in Canada as of Thursday morning., according to figures provided by provincial authorities.

9:40 PM: Punjab makes face masks compulsory at public places

After Delhi, Punjab has made wearing face mask compulsory at public places. "Health Secretary is issuing a detailed advisory for the people. Just remember to wear mask when you step out of home for any emergency/essentials. A piece of clean cloth is all you need," says Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh.

9:30 PM: Ola gets nod for non-COVID medical emergencies services in AP

Andhra Pradesh on Thursday gave permission to OLA cabs for operation of Emergency Medical Transport services in state, ANI reported. Serviceswill be for urgent medical care (non-COVID related) like dialysis, cancer, heart ailment. Primarily decided to launch pilot project at Visakhapatnam, says the state government official.

9:20 PM: 15 new coronavirus positive cases reported in Andhra Pradesh today

Andhra Pradesh on Thursday reported 15 new positive cases today. Of this, 11 reported in Prakasam, 2 in Guntur, 1 each in East Godavari and Kadapa. The virus has taken life of 2 people today. Total positive cases in the state now stand at 363 (including 10 discharged people & 6 deaths), says Arja Srikanth, Andhra Pradesh COVID-19 nodal officer.

9:10 PM: Rajasthan reports 33 new COVID-19 cases, total tally reaches 463

Rajasthan has reported 33 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, taking the state's tally to 463, according to state official. As many as 28 cases have been reported in Jaipur, 11 each in Neelgarh and Purani Basti, followed by 7 in Ptang bazar and 4 in Ramganj. Subash chauk, Manak chauk thana, Suharo ka mohalla and Thora nalas each reported one case.

9:00 PM: 229 new coronavirus cases, 25 deaths reported in Maharashtra today

Maharashtra has reported 25 coronavirus deaths today, taking its total tally to 97. Of the 25 deaths today, 14 were reported in Pune, followed by nine in Mumbai and one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri. The state administration said 229 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking total injected cases to 1,364.

8:45 PM: Need to keep warships free of Covid-19, says Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh has said that it is important to ensure that operational assets such as warships and submarines remain free of COVID-19 and to keep guard up to be ready for combat.

"We all have soon come around to realising that the danger is real, imminent& unprecedented. For the Navy, we have taken certain measures in consonance with Government of India," says Navy chief.

Including stoppage of recruitment and training; freeze on movements and transfers; stoppage of work, except those related to national security, Health, and essential Services: Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh to Navy personnel on #COVID19 2/2 https://t.co/JVzPkIO07j ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 8:35 PM: Out of 114, 2 quarantined staff of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital test positive for COVID-19 Two patients, out of 114 quarantined healthcare workers, of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier on April 4, two patients, who were admitted at the hosital, had tested positive for COVID-19 following which 114 medical staffers were quarantined.All 114 staffers, including doctors, nurses and ward boys, who were incidentally exposed to these patients were quarantined. 8:25 PM: Delhi Police use drone cameras to monitor situation in Daryaganj area In wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Delhi Police is using drone cameras to monitor the situation in Daryaganj area. Delhi Police use drone cameras in Daryaganj area to monitor the situation amid lockdown, in wake of #COVID19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/AecR7S1ISf ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 8:15 PM: Gujarat reports 21 new coronavirus positive cases Gujarat has reported 21 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking total positive cases in the state to 262 which include 26 discharged and 18 deaths. As of now, 212 are stable and 3 are on ventilator, while, 4 are quarantined for surveillance, according to Health Department, Gujarat. 8:05 PM: Karnataka to cut legislators salaries by 30% for one year In a bid to support the fight against coronavirus in the state, ministers and members of legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year. "we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said. 7.49 PM: ICMR updates testing strategy for coronavirus 7.41 PM: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has instructed Principal Secretary and Collector of Health Department to seal the areas in Korba district's Katghora area, where seven coronavirus cases were found. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) updates its testing strategy for #COVID19. The revised strategy also states 'asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between days 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact'. pic.twitter.com/5UW6xq7x49 ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 7.36 PM: First COVID-19 case in Aligarh First case of coronavirus has been found in Aligarh today. The patient is a 22-year-old man, who hails from Firozabad and had come to Aligarh on March 12 to attend a religious event. He and 9 others had been placed under home quarantine on 30th March. Others with him have tested negative but he tested positive, informed Aligarh District Magistrate CB Singh. 8:00 PM: Karnataka to cut legislators salaries by 30% for one year In a bid to support the fight against coronavirus in the state, ministers and members of legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year. "we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said. 7.33 PM: Coronavirus pandemic: Madhya Pradesh to lock down hotspots in 15 district Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed senior government officers to seal coronavirus hotspots in 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh, informed state's Information and Public Relations Department. 7.10 PM: Maharashtra Police stops contacts of latest COVID-19 death in Dharavi Maharashtra Police said that it stopped 4 close contacts of a coronavirus-positive woman who lost her life, in Tokawade. It was found that doctors had advised them to get tested but they were trying to flee out of Mumbai. All four have been detained and sent for medical examination, police sources said. 7.07 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: BMC confirms 3 new cases in Dharavi Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has confirmed that 3 new cases of coronavirus have been identified in Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia. Earlier today, an elderly woman living in Kalyanwadi area of Dharavi passed away, supposedly due to coronavirus, taking the death toll in the area to three. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has instructed Principal Secretary & Collector of Health Department to seal the areas in Korba's Katghora where seven cases of #COVID19 have been reported: State Information & Public Relations Department pic.twitter.com/qTpSgRhRxC ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 6.56 PM: Coronavirus outbreak: 18 new cases in Telangana today Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajendra informed that 18 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Telangana today. This is expected to increase the number of cases from 442 which has been confirmed by Union Health Ministry. 6.53 PM: Coronavirus update: Masks made mandatory in Rajasthan's urban areas Wearing of masks has been made mandatory in urban areas of Rajasthan, informed state government's Department of Infomation and Public Relations. 6.51 PM: IN PICTURES: National Sports Club of India in Worli (NSCI) converted into a quarantine facility by Mumbai Civic Administration 3 new #COVID19 positive cases have been reported in Dharavi of Mumbai today. The total number of positive cases here rises to 17 (including 3 deaths): Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/EHY99qEKVu ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 6.48 PM: Double salary for those involved in fight against coronavirus: Haryana CM Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that individuals involved in care, treatment or testing of coronavirus patients will be paid twice the amount of their salary as long as the COVID-19 pandemic lasts. 6.42 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: 9 dead; 79 new cases in Mumbai today Maharashtra: Mumbai Civic Administration has converted National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Worli into a quarantine facility. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/xVlDuvDE4O ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 6.34 pm: Coronavirus crisis: DRDO, ITI to jointly produce portable ventilators Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) are planning to join forces to produce portable ventilators. State-run telecom technology company ITI will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DRDO this week to begin work on the ventilators, according to a statement by ITI. 6.24 PM: Ministers' panel reviews current status, management of coronavirus in India A Group of Ministers (GoM), had detailed deliberation on containment and management of COVID-19. The GoM also discussed the actions taken so far, current status of social distancing measures as a preventive strategy and the stringent actions taken by the Centre as well as the States to contain the spread of COVID-19. The panel also reviewed the testing strategy and availability of testing kits across the country along with the strategy for hotspots and cluster management. 6.11 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: Third COVID-19 death in Dharavi A 70-year-old woman from Kalyanwadi in Dharavi has reportedly died due to coronavirus, making it the third death in Asia's biggest slum. 6.06 PM: Centre sanctions Rs 15,000 crore for India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package Centre has announced investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. The funds sanctioned will be utilised for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (Rs 7,774 crore) and rest will be used for medium-term support (1-4 years) under mission mode approach, the government said in a statement. 5.33 PM: Coronavirus in India: Death toll touches 169; confirmed cases at 5,865 As on 5:00 PM today, total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India stand at 5,865, whereas death toll of the country is at 169, data by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. There are 5,218 active COVID-19 cases in the country, whereas 477 patients have been cured or discharged. 79 more #COVID19 positive cases reported in Mumbai today, taking the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the city to 775: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) #Maharashtra https://t.co/IDTuf0vYFg ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 5.24 pm: Uttarakhand coronavirus news 4 areas in Dehradun have been sealed after fresh coronavirus positive cases were found in the area, said Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police (Law and Order). He added that 2 areas in Haridwar and 1 in Nainital have also been sealed in the state. 5.17 pm: Jammu and Kashmir coronavirus news Around 34 new COVID-19 cases have been reported from Kashmir, in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. With this, the total tally has risen to 152 in the union territory. Jammu has 32 confirmed cases now. J&K Principal Secretary (Planning) Rohit Kansal revealed that new figures in a tweet saying that the totally number of COVID-19 cases in J&K now stand at 184. #COVID19 #JammuAndKashmir 24 more positive in Kashmir. Total 184. 32 in Jammu, 152 in Kashmir. All are contacts. A result of aggressive testing. @diprjk @HealthMedicalE1 @MoHFW_INDIA - Rohit Kansal (@kansalrohit69) April 9, 2020 5.10 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus news The Maharashtra government has taken the decision to cut the salary of state legislators by 30% amid novel coronavirus lockdown situation in the country. The cabinet also proposed that Governor to appoint Uddhav Thackeray as MLC from governor quota as the elections have been deferred. 5.04 pm: Coronavirus live: PM Modi tweets about benefits of Aarogya Setu app Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took to Twitter to inform people about the benefits of the Aarogya Setu app. "Feeling scared of COVID-19 will not help. We have to take the right precautions and fight this pandemic. Aarogya Setu is an important step in that direction. Have you all downloaded it?" tweeted PM Modi. Only feeling scared of COVID-19 will not help. We have to take the right precautions and fight this pandemic. Aarogya Setu is an important step in that direction. Have you all downloaded it? https://t.co/fDGF5Ur0mj - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020 Tracks the spread of COVID-19 and notifies you if someone around you is suffering from it. Also lists help-desk numbers of various states. Fantastic usage of technology to combat Coronavirus. https://t.co/6fmXForMx5 - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020 This is very important to do. Remember, Aarogya Setu is more effective when more people around you download it. I hope all of you urge your family members and friends to download this App. https://t.co/MZgGJ6R37r - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020 4.50 pm: Chhattisgarh coronavirus news 7 COVID-19 positive patients from Katghora city of Korba district have been tested positive, according to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur. With this, the total number novel coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh stand at 18 including 9 people being discharged, reported ANI. 4.44 pm: Coronavirus live: Govt issues advisory regarding voluntary blood donation during COVID-19 The National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC), under the Union Health Ministry, on Thursday issued an advisory regarding voluntary blood donation during novel coronavirus pandemic. Click on the link below to see the advisory. https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/NBTCGUIDANCEFORCOVID19.pdf 4.38 pm: Mumbai hotspot: Woman from Dharavi dies on Thursday A 70-year-old woman from Dharavi in Mumbai passed away on Thursday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told ANI. 4.27 pm: Jaipur coronavirus news The authorities have imposed stricter curfew rules in Jaipur's Kho Nagoriyan region after a COVID-19 positive case was reported in the capital city of Rajasthan. 4.17 pm: Coronavirus cases India: 13,400 samples tested in last 24 hours, says ICMR 4.15 pm: Coronavirus cases live updates: 1,30,000 samples have been tested so far, says Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 4.14 pm: Coronavirus cases live: Govt offering relief measures to stranded persons, says Ministry of Home Affairs 4.13 pm: Coronavirus cases: Govt regulating use of hydroxychloroquine, says Health Ministry 4.12 pm: Coronavirus news: No need to panic over availability of PPEs: Health Ministry 4.10 pm: Coronavirus in India live updates: Coronavirus 10 corona specialists teams sent to 9 states, says Health Ministry 4.08 pm: Coronavirus India live updates: Supplies of PPEs and ventilators underway: Health Ministry 4.07 pm: Coronavirus in India: 5,000 train coaches turned into isolation wards, says Health Ministry in its daily briefing press briefing 4.04 pm: Coronavirus India: 549 new cases reported in last 24 hours: Health Ministry 4.02 pm: Coronavirus live: 5,734 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India country, says Health Ministry 4.02 pm: Coronavirus updates: 17 deaths reported in past 24 hours, says Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry 4.00 pm: Coronavirus live updates: Health Ministry begins COVID-19 briefing 3.59 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news Karnataka's ministers and members of legislature will take a 30% cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year to fund the fight against COVID-19 in the state. 3.51 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: GB Pant Hospital no longer a COVID-19 facility Delhi's GB Pant Hospital, which was a novel coronavirus facility, is no more a COVID-19 facility in the wake of problems faced by other patients, as per a Delhi government order issued on Thursday. 3.40PM: Six people including a doctor and his wife have been tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh. The patients are in quarantine while their contacts have been placed under home quarantine. 3.30PM: Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a proposal for 30% salary cut for all state legislators for a year starting from this month (April). 3.19 PM: RBI clarification on borrowing by states There are certain media reports that the government of India (GoI) has allowed states to avail up to 50% of their borrowing requirement for the Fiscal Year 2020-21, in April 2020 itself. Government of India's consent for the said borrowing by state government is applicable for the first nine months of the current financial year 2020-21, and as per the state govt advance indicative calendar submitted to the RBI. 3.05 PM: Coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has informed that the total tally of coronavirus cases in the state stands at 11. Nine out of them have recovered & were discharged, while more person will be discharged soon. 76,000 people in Chhattisgarh are currently under home quarantine: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel #COVID19 https://t.co/qcLrVWPxWQ ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020 3.00 PM: Nizamuddin-like event was planned in Maharashtra: Anil Deshmukh Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says a programme like the one at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz was scheduled to be held near Mumbai in Vasai on March 15-16 but the state didn't give permission. "Why didn't Delhi Police stop this programme like us? Because of this, COVID-19 cases have increased," he said. 2.55 PM: Coronavirus cases in Rajashtan A total of 43 new positive cases were found in Rajasthan today, including 4 evacuees. The district-wise tally include -- Banswara 2, Jaipur 11, Jaisalmer 5, Jhunjhunu 7, Jodhpur 3, Tonk 7, Jhalawar 7, Barmer 1. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 430. 43 new positive cases were found in Rajasthan today (including 4 evacuees) - Banswara 2, Jaipur 11, Jaisalmer 5, Jhunjhunu 7, Jodhpur 3, Tonk 7, Jhalawar 7, Barmer 1. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 430: Rajasthan Health Department #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/zWg7s6MTon ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

2.44 pm: Coronavirus news: UNSC to hold first virtual meet on COVID-19 on Thursday

The UN Security Council will hold a closed video-conferencing meet on Thursday to discuss the novel coronavirus situation. This is the first time the world body's top organ is conducting a meeting on COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed over 88,000 lives globally and infected around 1.5 million people.

2.34 pm: Coronavirus in India: Delhi High Court, subordinate courts to remain open during summer vacation in June

The Delhi High Court (HC) and all subordinate courts will remain open during the scheduled summer vacation in June to make up for closure due to novel coronavirus. The decision was taken after a meeting between Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) and the HC judges to make up for the loss of the court working hours and to mitigate difficulties being faced by the litigating public.

2.28 pm: Jharkhand coronavirus news

Jharkhand government has confirmed one death in the statistics it released on Thursday. Meanwhile, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stand at 12, taking the confirmed cases to 13. The cases have been reported from the 3 districts in Jharkhand.

2.23 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus news: BMC orders ban on vegetable/fruit markets, hawkers and sellers in Dharavi

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday ordered a ban on all vegetable/fruit markets, hawkers and sellers in the containment area/buffer zone in Dharavi, during the lockdown period. This is being done as a precautionary step to stem the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the pharmacies in the area will be allowed to remain open.

2.17 pm: Mumbai hotspot: Containment zones increased to 341; NSCI stadium turned into quarantine facility

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday increased the number of containment zones to 341 in Mumbai. The civic authority also make a quarantine facility for high-risk COVID-19 patients at NSCI indoor stadium in Worli. The facility can accommodate nearly 400-500 patients.

2.09pm: Coronavirus updates: EU launches "Team Europe" package to support partner countries

The European Union has launched its "Team Europe" package to support the partner countries with more than 20 billion euros to fight novel coronavirus pandemic, according to European Union External Action, which is EU's diplomatic service. The team's objective is to combine resources from the EU, its member states, and financial institutions. The European Commission and the European Investment Bank have already pledged a support of more than 15.6 billion euros from existing programmes.

2.00 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news: 10 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in the state

Karnataka reported 10 fresh novel coronavirus cases on Thursday. Meanwhile, an 80-year-old woman from Gadag district in the state died, taking the death toll to 6 in Karnataka.

1.55 pm: Coronavirus news: British PM Boris Johnson stable now

According to Downing Street spokesperson, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is making steady progress now. He is admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital. Boris Johnson was shifted to the ICU on Monday night as his condition worsened.

1.45 pm: Coronavirus India: App to help people stay away from COVID-19 patients

An IT professional has developed an app which will help people stay away from novel coronavirus patients. The app uses the Google Maps feature to give the exact whereabouts of the patients.

1.35 pm: Uttar Pradesh hotspot: Noida administration urges people to stay at home, not panic

Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari has urged people to stay at home and not panic amid the lockdown in novel coronavirus hotspots.

Noida Authority is conducting sanitisation drive across Noida, especially in the sealed areas. Also, drones are being used for spraying disinfectant. I want to appeal to all to stay at home & do not panic: Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of Noida Authority https://t.co/bamHkwQl7h - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 9, 2020

1.22 pm: Coronavirus updates: Modi govt draws 3 phase plan to fight COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has drawn a three-phase plan to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre has released an Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package to the states to fight novel coronavirus. The package is 100% centrally funded. According to the communication sent to the states and UTs, the project will be implemented in three phases, phase 1- from January 202 to June 2020, Phase 2- from July 2020 to March 2021 and phase 3- from April 2021 to March 2024. The issue had also come up during PM Modi's interaction with chief ministers of the states.

1.15 pm: Delhi, Noida hotspot: Check full list of sealed novel coronavirus hotspots

Delhi and Noida authorities have completely sealed off a total of 42 COVID-19 hotspots in several areas of these cities. Check the complete list, click on the link below.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida

1.08 pm: Coronavirus live: Total COVID-19 cases cross 1.5 million worldwide

Over 1.5 million novel coronavirus cases have been reported from world over, according to tally compiled by AFT (0530 GMT) on Thursday from official sources. Out of these 1.5 million infections, around 87,000 people have died across 192 countries and territories.

12.59 pm: Coronavirus live updates: US Indian diaspora stands in solidarity with India on fight against COVID-19

The US Indian Diaspora has expressed solidarity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against COVID-19. Around 200 Indian American organisations have expressed faith and solidarity in the government's initiatives to curb the spread of novel coronavirus in India.

12.50 pm: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news: Check cases, deaths, helpline numbers and more

Madhya Pradesh reported the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 13 and 229 active cases on Thursday. Check details regarding the state's cases, deaths, helpline numbers and more here.

Read more here: Coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh: Cases, Deaths, Helpline Numbers and More

12.43 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has issued orders for providing ration to the displaced Pakistani families in the state. There are around 6,000 displaced Pakistani families living in Rajasthan and several of them are facing acute shortage of ration due to nationwide lockdown.

12.37 pm: Odisha lockdown news: State govt extends lockdown till April 30

Odisha government announced the extension of the lockdown till April 30. It is the first state to formally extend the lockdown. The government said that all curbs will be in place till April 30 to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Odisha becomes 1st state to extend lockdown till April 30

12.29 pm: Coronavirus live updates: Americans should never shake hands again, says Top US expert

United States' top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci ha said that Americans should never shake hands again with each other. He added that the gesture would not only stem the spread of COVID-19 but also decrease instances of influenza considerably in the country.

12.23 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: Rapid testing to be done first in hotspots

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Thursday that rapid testing for novel coronavirus will be started as soon as the rapid testing kits arrive. He added that the testing will be first done in the COVID-19 hotspots in the national capital.

Also Read: Delhi coronavirus cases count: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, helpline, updates

12.16 pm: Mumbai hotspot: 143 fresh novel coronavirus cases reported

152 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday. Out of these 152, 143 cases are from Mumbai alone. Meanwhile, according to Health Ministry, the total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra now stand at 1,135, whereas the death tally is at 72, the highest in the country.

12.10 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news: State govt to discuss alcohol sale in Thursday's cabinet meet

Karnataka excise minister H Nagesh said on Thursday that the sale of alcohol in the state will be discussed in Thursday's cabinet meeting adding that the people will have to tolerate the ban. He also stated that " we are losing Rs 1,800 crore per month for not selling alcohol."

12.04 pm: Andhra Pradesh coronavirus news

Andhra Pradesh reported no new COVID-19 cases in the past 12 hours. The total number of novel coronavirus cases stands at 348 now, whereas the death tally is at 4, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website.

11.57 am: Gujarat hotspot: 55 new cases reported in the state

55 new cases of novel coronavirus were reported in Gujarat. Out of these, 50 cases were recorded in Ahmedabad, two in Surat and one in Dahod, Anand and Chhota Udepur. According to Health Ministry, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state stand at 179, while the death toll is at 16. Gujarat has the second-highest number of novel coronavirus casualties in India after Maharashtra which is the worst-affected state in the country in terms of number of confirmed cases as well as death tally.

11.48 am: Delhi hotspot: 669 novel coronavirus cases reported till Thursday

Around 669 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Delhi till Thursday. Out of these cases, 426 cases are from the Tablighi Jamaat event meet held in Delhi's Nizamuddin in March.

#WATCH "Till now, there are 669 COVID19 positive cases including 426 cases from Markaz, in Delhi," Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain pic.twitter.com/n7FYwXTx1a - ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

11.42 am: Coronavirus live updates: Why Hydroxychloroquine matters for COVID-19 patients' treatment

The efficacy of anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine has been a topic of discussion of late in the medical world and world over alike. It is mooted by many that the drug could restrict the novel coronavirus from replicating further but the large scale studies in this context are underway.

Read more here: Coronavirus treatment needs a rethink; and why Hydroxychloroquine matters

11.33 am: Hotspot area: IndiGo announces suspension of international flights till April 30

Budget carrier IndiGo announced on Wednesday that it suspending all its international flights till April 30 in the wake of nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of novel coronavirus in India.

Coronavirus: IndiGo suspends international flights till April 30

11.25 am: Corona hotspot: Do you live in a COVID-19 hotspot? Here are the do's and don'ts for you

If you are residing in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh's hotspot areas identified by the state governments on Wednesday and wondering what you can do and cant amid restrictions. Read the story link below to get all the details.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Do you live in a pandemic hotspot? Here's wat you can and can't do

11.17 am: Delhi hotspot, Noida hotspot: Authorities seal 42 novel coronavirus hotspots in several areas

The authorities in Delhi and Noida have identified and sealed a total of 42 COVID-19 hotspots in several areas of these cities. This is done to stem the further spread of novel coronavirus and break the chain subsequently.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida

11.07 am: Mumbai hotspot: BMC to acquire 1 lakh test kits from South Korea

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said on Thursday that the civic body will procure 1 lakh rapid testing kits from South Korea.

10.59 am: Corona hotspot: State-wise COVID-19 cases in India, see here

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is teh state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic

10.53 am: Hotspot area: Global death toll past 88,000

The death tally due to COVID-19 pandemic has crossed 88,000 globally. The maximum death cases have been reported from Italy. Around 17,000 people have died in Italy so far, followed by the US and Spain, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

10.45 am: Corona hotspot: PM Modi tweets after Trump thanks him for hydroxychloroquine supply

After US President Donald Trump thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the hydroxychloroquine supply to the United States, PM Modi took to Twitter to say that the India-US partnership is stronger than ever. "Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever." PM Modi tweeted.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

10.37 am: Punjab coronavirus news: Jalandhar resident passes away

A 59-year-old novel coronavirus patient in Jalandhar, Punjab died on Wednesday night. He was on ventilator support for the last 2 days. Meanwhile, KBS Sidhu, Special Chief Secretary, Punjab Disaster Management (COVID-19) said that the district administration is working out modalities for the man's cremation as per the standard protocol.

10.27 am: Coronavirus live updates: Dubai companies slash jobs as COVID-19 hits business

Dubai's non-oil private sector was hit hard in March as key sectors of the Middle East's trade and tourism hub, Dubai were affected by steps aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19, according to a survey released on Thursday. The IHS Markit Dubai Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to the lowest reading ever recorded in the decade-long survey, to 45.5 in March from 50.1 in February, reports Reuters.

10.18 am Coronavirus updates: Maharashtra reports highest death toll in India

Maharashtra apart from having the highest of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India, also has the highest death toll in the country. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state has 1,135 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, and 72 deaths so far. Gujarat has the second-highest death rate at 16 and confirmed cases at 179. Madhya Pradesh has the third highest death cases at 13.

10.07 am: Coronavirus live: Centre to hold high-level GoM meet on COVID-19 on Thursday

The central government will hold a high-level meeting of the Group of Minister (GoM) to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting will be held at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

10.03 am: China coronavirus news: COVID-19 positive rise to 1,100 with 63 new infections

China on Thursday reported 63 new confirmed novel coronavirus cases, taking the total rise in the number of cases to 1,100 including 61 imported ones. This has raised concern of a second wave of infections as China lifted the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan on Wednesday. Wuhan was the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials said on Thursday. The Chinese Health authority said that two deaths were also reported, taking the total death tally in the country to 3,335. Meanwhile, the overall novel coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in China.

9.56 am: Coronavirus latest news: After US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi

After US President Donald Trump thanked India for supplying anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine, Brazilian President Bolsonaro said that his country will be able to treat COVID-19 patients as well as patients of Lupus, Malaria and Arthritis. "We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of Lupus, Malaria, and Arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," Bolsonaro said.

9.47 am: Jammu and Kashmir coronavirus news

A 61-year-old novel coronavirus patient died in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Thursday. This is the 4th death due to COVID-19 in the union territory. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases stand at 158 in J&K.

9.40 am: Jharkhand coronavirus news

9 more people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus infection in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to 13 in the state. Out of these, 3 new cases are from Ranchi's Hindipiri area and 4 from Bokaro. They are the family members of earlier positive cases from Ranchi and Bokaro. Ranchi District Collector Rai Mahimapat Ray has said that all the cases found to be positive have been sent to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) where they will be kept in isolation.

9.28 am: Coronavirus news: White House working on plan to cut aid to WHO

US President Donald Trump has said that the country is planning on cutting aid to World Health Organisation (WHO) after accusing it of favouring China. "We're holding back. We want to say very unfair. So the United States -- $452 million compared to $42 million. That's to the World Health Organization. That's not good. That's not good. Not fair. Not fair at all," Trump said.

President Trump: "We're holding back. We want to say very unfair. So the United States -- $452 million compared to $42 million. That's to the World Health Organization. That's not good. That's not good. Not fair. Not fair at all." pic.twitter.com/kkEqKdS03n - The Hill (@thehill) April 9, 2020

9.19 am: Punjab coronavirus news

Punjab reported 16 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with 10 out of these 16 cases being reported from Jawaharpur village which has 21 cases now. Mohali district has the highest number of cases in the state at 36.

9.14 am: Andhra Pradesh coronavirus news

Andhra Pradesh government has decided to take over 58 private hospitals across 13 districts in the state. The decision was taken in the wake of 329 COVID-19 positive cases and 4 deaths in the state. The state government has taken over a total of 19,114 beds in these private institutions. 17,111 are non-ICU beds, while 1,286 are ICU beds and 717 isolation beds these hospitals will help the government with.

9.00 am: Coronavirus live updates: India reports 540 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours and 17 deaths

India has recorded 540 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and 17 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website. The total number of active novel coronavirus cases in the country now stand at 5,095, meanwhile the death toll is at 166. Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 1,135 confirmed cases including 72 deaths. Tamil Nadu is the second state with 738 confirmed cases including 8 deaths so far.

8.54 am: Coronavirus global news: New York doctors shocked at the speed of death in the city

Doctors and nurses in New York, US, say the COVID-19 infection is not only affecting thte elderly or patients with underlying health conditions, the young and healthy too are getting infected by the deadly virus. Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has said that the patients appear fine one minute but become unresponsive knocking the death's door the next. She added that the doctors and nurses have been left shocked the speed of the deaths in the city. New York is the epicentre of novel coronavirus pandemic in the US. The virus has infected over 4,15,000 people in the city.

Read more here: Coronavirus in USA: Speed of deaths surprise doctors as New York toll reaches 150,000

8.44 am: Coronavirus updates: Man assaults 2 women doctors of Safdarjung Hospital; accuses them of spreading COVID-19

A 42-year-old man assaulted two women resident doctors of the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi when they stepped out of their homes in their neighbourhood to buy groceries. The man attacked the women, blaming them of spreading coronavirus in the Gautam Nagar area although the doctors are not COVID-19 duty. The Hauz Khas police arrested the accused and registered a case against the man on the complaint of a 29-year-old resident doctor, who is a Gautam Nagar resident.

8.30 am: Jharkhand coronavirus news

Jharkhand has reported its first COVID-19 death in Bokaro. A 65-year-old man from Sadam Bokaro died of the respiratory infection on Wednesday. A total of five people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus from Bokaro. The first case was that of a woman with travel history to Bangladesh, with three others from the same family testing positive later. Ranchi has a total of seven positive cases.

8.15 am: Coronavirus live: US reports over 2,000 deaths in a day

Over 2,000 people have died in the United States for the second day in a row, as per the Johns Hopkins University tally on Wednesday. Nearly, 14,000 people already passed away in the US crossing the numbers in Spain which has so far reported 14,555 deaths. Meanwhile, the US is yet to cross Italy's figures, which is the worst-affected country in Europe recording around 17,000 deaths.

8.00 am: Delhi coronavirus news

30 healthcare workers including doctors, nurses and technicians at the Cardio-Neuro Centre in AIIMS, Delhi have been asked to isolate themselves after a 72-year-old man who visited the Hospital with neurological problem tested positive for COVID-19. The patient has been transported to AIIMS Trauma Centre, which has been converted into a dedicated novel coronavirus hospital. Meanwhile, contact tracing of these health workers has been initiated.

7.45 am: Coronavirus live updates: Donald Trump thanks PM Modi for supplying hydroxychloroquine to United States

Donald Trump on Wednesday praised PM Modi for allowing the supply of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. Thanking the prime minister, Trump said that US will remember this favour.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

7.30 am: INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is teh state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic
I certainly put some things in place that I hope will address that," Beck said as he reflected on his time here. "And I think the city is doing some really good things about that. But they take time. And youre dealing with something that is generational, that is, to a certain point, cultural. ... Its not going to be overnight.
Dolan is a trusted leader on city council

This is a critical time in the history of Lynchburg, as it is in the world. At times like this, it is important we elect experienced leaders who are dedicated to the City of Lynchburg. That is why I am writing to voice my support for MaryJane Dolans re-election to Lynchburg City Council.

For the past four decades, MaryJane Dolan has been a leader in the Lynchburg business community. This experience gives her a distinct ability to make informed and savvy business decisions for the benefit of the entire Lynchburg community. During her four years on City Council, she has supported initiatives that are directed at business development and retention.

Since coming to Lynchburg in 1978, MaryJane Dolan has been dedicated to the needs of our community, and she is extensively engaged in our community. She currently serves on the steering committee for Bridges to Progress initiative, the Faith-Based Task Force and is a liaison to the Pre-K Development and Education Task Force focused on school readiness and equity in the educational system. She also serves on the Beacon of Hope Board, Centra Health Foundation and the LynCag Board. All of these roles require her to work intimately to address health and education issues and the challenges facing the underserved in our region. In addition, she has served on many other nonprofit boards in the Lynchburg region and has generously contributed her own resources to these causes.

In my capacity as President of the University of Lynchburg, I have had the pleasure of working closely with MaryJane Dolan since she has been a member of the Universitys Board of Trustees for the past 25 years. She is a highly respected member of our community who listens intently to the thoughts of others, investigates to determine the facts, thinks long and hard, and then comes to logical conclusions. She is a trustworthy leader with the courage to make difficult decisions. Through her actions she has earned the trust and respect of all those with whom she has worked.

I support MaryJane Dolan for re-election to Lynchburg City Council and hope you will do likewise. I encourage you to re-elect Ms. MaryJane Dolan from Ward 1 so she can continue to serve this great city.

Kenneth R. Garren

President, University of Lynchburg

Time to put down labels and unite

Our wonderful country is now facing a crisis that's not been seen in modern times.

People are sick, people are dying. Does it really matter on your deathbed if you are a Republican or Democrat? I think not. We are all humans. We all laugh, cry, feel pain and suffering and grieve when we lose a loved one or friend.

Division and hatred has never accomplished any good thing in America.

I, for one, work everyday with people who may or may not agree with me politically. So what? Why should that keep us from being good friends and good colleagues?

We all have dreams, goals, desires and ambitions and when we combine them from the left, the right and the middle of the political spectrum we pretty much come up with a better solution.

Now is not the time to play the blame game. It is a time for unity among all Americans. This is not President Trump's virus, it is not a Republican or Democrat virus.

It is a menace attacking our great nation and the world. In responding to it, many heads are better then one. Sadly, we have lost all sense of respect, civility and decency and are treating one another as enemies. This is unacceptable for success.

At least for the time being, lets lay aside our Republican and Democrat labels and work together to love our neighbor without regard to politics, race, religion or anything else that currently divides us and become humanitarians who serve one another.

May God, whomever that is to you, bless America.

Yes, I'm still "always on the right? but for now, I'm just like you, an American.

Wes Gillespie

Forest
Grocery store clerk Leilani Jordan, 27, passed away last Wednesday, two weeks after her final shift at the Giant Food store in Largo, Maryland

A young grocery store clerk who died of COVID-19 kept going into work despite the danger of catching the contagious virus because she wanted to help elderly shoppers.

Leilani Jordan, 27, passed away last Wednesday, two weeks after her final shift at the Giant Food store in Largo, Maryland.

Jordan's distraught mom, Zenobia Shepherd, told CNN Wednesday that she recalled a conversation she had with her daughter shortly before she fell ill.

'She said: 'It's just crazy here at work ... but somebody's got to do it. I've got to help the older people,'' Shepherd recalled.

'She was doing everything for them. Helping them put their groceries in their walkers, to helping them get into lifts'

Shepherd told The Washington Post that her daughter suffered from cerebral palsy and had 'cognitive delays', which meant she may not have 'fully understood the potential danger of the coronavirus'.

Jordan worked at this Giant Food supermarket in Largo, Maryland

Jordan's heartbroken parents Charles and Zenobia Shepherd spoke with CNN Wednesday

Jordan worked her last shift at Giant Food on March 16, before she started to have difficulty breathing.

A few days later, she was tested for COVID-19 and returned a positive result. Last Wednesday, when her symptoms worsened, Jordan was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator.

She died just a few hours later.

Despite her cognitive delay, it appears Jordan may have realized that she was going to pass away, as she recorded a video message in her phone for her family.

Last Wednesday, when her symptoms worsened, Jordan was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator. However, she died just hours later

Jordan continued going into work as she wanted to help elderly shoppers who were panic buying at the onset of the crisis

Her stepfather, Charles Shepherd, told CNN: 'She had taken her password off of her phone so it's wasn't locked.'

'She made a video saying goodbye to all us, and wished everybody the best,' he emotionally stated.

'She told us bye; her sisters,[and her service dog] Angel, bye; and all her friends.'

'She told them, you know, 'See you on the other side''.

It was a particularly gut-wrenching moment as Jordan had been unable to say goodbye in person, as she was intubated and hooked up to a ventilator.

Meanwhile, her employer Giant Food released a statement, saying: 'We can only imagine the heartache they are experiencing and have offered our support during this difficult time'.

Shepherd is one of six grocery store employees to die from COVID-19.

While there is no confirmation that she contracted the disease while working with Giant Food, the fact that supermarket clerks are in close proximity with the general public increases their chances of becoming infected.

Earlier this week, a family of a Walmart employee in Illinois who died after contracting coronavirus filed a lawsuit accusing the retail giant of failing to adequately screen and protect workers.

Grocery store workers are putting themselves on the front lines amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has spread across the country. As of Wednesday evening, more than 435,000 Americans had tested positive to the virus

The estate of Wando Evans filed the suit in Illinois on Monday, saying the Walmart store south of Chicago was not properly cleaned and employees were not given masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes or other protective equipment.

Evans, 51 died on March 25, and another employee at the same store died four days later from complications due to coronavirus, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit filed by Evans' estate accuses Walmart of negligence and wrongful death in violation of Illinois law.

According to the complaint, Walmart did not follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Labor for maintaining safe workplaces, such as implementing social distancing.

Grocery store workers have been calling for better pay and protections amid the COVID-19 outbreak, saying they are risking their lives in order to continue their essential roles.

On Tuesday, workers at Stop & Shop , Whole Foods , and Trader Joe's in Boston united to protest against working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The grocery store employees joined forces with customers to demand 'adequate protections', NBC Boston reports. The group met in a Whole Foods parking lot where they stood apart to protest.

One worker at Shaw's grocery story, Lisa Wilson, told the network: 'I think grocery stores like to look like they're doing things...but as far as actually enforcing it...that's not really happening.'

Around 30 protester met on Tuesday morning after several of their colleagues from across the state tested positive for the virus.


What Americans need most right now, is news about their towns, cities and states. But as coronavirus spreads throughout the country, local newspapers are having a difficult time.

Readers want local information. They want to know about cases in their neighborhoods, how to get tested if necessary, and which businesses are open and which are closed. Newspaper companies say online readers and subscriptions have increased. Many newspapers have removed their paywall for coronavirus stories.

But newspapers and other publications are under financial pressure as money from advertising falls sharply. They are cutting jobs, hours and pay. Some have shut down.

Readers are increasing at the Sun Chronicle, a daily newspaper in Attleboro, Massachusetts. It is working hard to cover the spread of the coronavirus. Its all we do, said Craig Borges, who runs the paper. But, he has been forced to let go of several workers because so many local businesses are closed. The paper has about 12 people still working.

Hopefully we can work this out and make it through, Borges said.

Small newspapers are hurting

More than 2,100 cities and towns have lost a local newspaper in the past 15 years. The Pew Research Center says that jobs in the industry have decreased by 50 percent since 2004. Many failed as readers turned to the internet for news. Then came the Great Recession of 2007-2009. In the online market, they cannot compete with Google and Facebook for advertising money.

More recently, big national newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have made money by asking readers to pay to read their online stories. But smaller newspapers still need money from advertising.

Twenty worldwide news publishers recently told International News Media Association (INMA) they expect a decrease of about 23 percent in advertising sales. The INMA says money from advertisements has fallen 20 to 30 percent in the last few weeks.



On Monday, the largest U.S. newspaper group, Gannett, announced 15-day furloughs and pay cuts for many employees. On Tuesday, Lee Enterprises, did the same. The Tampa Bay Times cut five days of its print newspaper and announced furloughs for non-newsroom staff.

It is even more difficult for smaller newspapers.

In Nevada, Battle Born Media has six weekly newspapers that serve rural areas. It is decreasing or ending publication of them all. The weekly Reno News & Review has stopped operations. All the employees lost their jobs.

Report for America is a group that gives money to reporters in local newsrooms and also to The Associated Press. It says some local newspapers have lost so much money that they may not be able to pay their reporters.

The $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid and relief act signed last month by President Donald Trump could give money to smaller local publishers who keep their employees.

A newspaper industry group recently sent a letter to President Trump and congressional leaders. The News Media Alliance said it is discussing future government bailout requests to ensure that news organizations remain independent.

Im Jill Robbins.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

subscription n.an agreement to pay a company to get a publication or service regularly

paywall n.having to pay to see an online article

furlough n.a period when an employee is told not to come to work and is not paid

relief n.help or aid

bailout n.the act of saving or rescuing a business from financial problems
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By ELLEN KNICKMEYER

Associated Press

WASHINGTON  Despite mocking the idea of climate change, President Donald Trump will preside over one of the country's sharpest drops in climate-damaging emissions on record, as the economic paralysis from the coronavirus tamps down energy use, according to an Energy Department projection on Tuesday.

The agency's Energy Information Administration projects a 7.5% drop in fossil fuel emissions for 2020. That would be the biggest cut in U.S. energy emissions since at least 1990, EIA records show. The year after the start of the 2008 recession saw a 7.3% decline.





. . .
By AFP

BRAZIL: Located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, a week's trip upriver by boat, Carauari is not a place that's easy to reach.

But the spreading global panic over the coronavirus pandemic has arrived.

A colorful collection of stilt houses scattered along the massive, brown meanders of the Jurua River in western Brazil, Carauari is technically a "municipality."

However, its 29,000 residents are spread out over 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles), mostly on the western bank of the river, a tributary of the Amazon.

It is one of the most remote towns on Earth, with no roads connecting it to the outside world.

The only way to get here is a three-hour flight from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, or a boat trip that takes seven days, first up the Amazon River and then the Jurua.

For weeks, the new coronavirus was a far-away thing people in Carauari heard about on the news.

But then the first case was confirmed in Manaus last Friday, and the panic that has swept from Wuhan, China to Europe and now the Americas arrived in the heart of the jungle, waking old traumas in a place that has a devastating history with diseases brought in from the outside world.

"Now they're saying they don't want to let anyone leave here for Manaus, or let anyone from Manaus come here, so they won't bring in the disease," said resident Raimunda da Silva dos Santos, speaking from the door of her house near the river port.

"I was born here in Carauari, I've lived here all my life. I turned 80 in January, and I can tell you, I've never seen anything like this."

Like the rest of the world, Carauari residents are now obsessed with protecting their community from COVID-19, said Jose Barbosa das Gracas, 52.

"We're doing everything we can. Washing our hands to prevent it, like they say on TV," he said.

"We're just praying to God not to bring this epidemic here."

- World apart -

The local government is keen to keep the virus away, since it is as hard to get out of Carauari -- including for emergency medical care -- as it is to get in.

The town hospital only has 50 beds.

"The logistical difficulty of accessing the town is an advantage for us for now, in that it minimizes the risk of an infected person arriving. But it also means we'll have more difficulty transporting patients out if we need to," said Manoel Brito, the hospital's director.

On Tuesday, Carauari launched health checkpoints to screen passengers arriving by plane and boat, on orders of Mayor Bruno Luiz Litaif Ramalho.

But the new restrictions have raised fears that Carauari will be even more cut off from the outside world than before.

Residents' lives depend on the goods that arrive by boat from Manaus -- medicine, food, industrial products... anything they don't produce themselves.

"It's going to be hard to survive" if boat traffic is affected, said Luciano da Silva, 32, a fisherman, as he unloaded equipment from his wooden canoe along the banks of the Jurua.

"We depend on those boats."

- Indigenous groups vulnerable -

The new virus is especially worrying for indigenous communities in the Amazon.

For them, contact with the outside world has often meant decimation by foreign diseases.

It is a long, painful history that goes back to the first European colonizers, who wiped out an estimated 95 percent of the indigenous population of the Americas, mostly through diseases such as smallpox.

Amazonas state has declared an emergency that includes a temporary ban on outsiders visiting indigenous reserves, and the national indigenous association, APIB, has cancelled meetings and assemblies to avoid gathering groups of people.

Many indigenous communities are worried about the potential impact of the new disease, which they have only limited information about, said Maria Cordeiro Bare, a leader of the Bare people, who live along the Rio Negro, another Amazon tributary.

"The situation is very delicate for indigenous peoples," said Bare, 40, in Manaus.

"Whether it's COVID-19 or other diseases that we hadn't been exposed to, they threaten our health and our lives."
BEIJING  The world is opening its wallet to fight the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The United States unveiled a $2 trillion rescue package. European countries have announced their own spending blitz, and Japan approved a nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus plan.

Then theres China.

The country that famously helped kick-start the world economy after the 2008 global financial crisis with a half-a-trillion-dollar spending splurge has been relatively restrained this time around. While it is helping companies keep workers and pushing its state-run banks to lend more, China has held back from spending on big packages or flooding its financial system with money.

In an odd juxtaposition, the communist country has also mostly refrained from giving money directly to its people. By contrast, President Trump  who once denounced the prospect of growing socialism in the United States  signed into law a package that includes $1,200 checks for all but the most affluent American adults.

A growing number of people say China should do more. Prominent economists are calling on Beijing to get the countrys consumers spending again. At least seven provinces and cities are already distributing vouchers to empower spenders.
Ministers and Members of



Legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances to fund the fight against coronavirus in the state, for a year.

An ordinance to reduce the salaries of Ministers and legislators by 30 per cent for one year to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic was approved by the state cabinet headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday.

"... we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, he said, we have the consent from all the political parties for this, so we have passed the ordinance today.

The Union Cabinet on Monday had approved a 30 per cent cut in salaries of all Members of Parliament and a two-year suspension of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, April 9 : The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said that the telecom service providers have taken adequate measures to ensure that the under-privileged subscribers get the required benefits and are well connected during the lockdown period.

It also said that if more subscribers need to be covered under their offers, then the government will have to subsidise the telecom operators.

In a letter, the telecom industry body said that it would unviable for the operators to extend the benefit to all subscribers, including those who can afford such benefits on their own.

It said that, if the regulator and the government feels the need for further benefits for all the prepaid phone subscribers, then this should be provided in the form of a subsidy to the telcos, like in the case of other essential services.

"This could be adequately compensated from the USO Fund where more than Rs 51,500 crore is being lying unutilised as on 31.03.2020", it said.

The strong reaction came from the telcos after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on April 7 said in a letter to the telcos that they were selectively increasing validity of prepaid users during the lockdown. TRAI had said that many 2G prepaid users across the country remained without connectivity and are unable to recharge.

It noted that adequate measures have been taken by the TSPs to ensure that those who genuinely require support from the service providers due to unavailability of options to recharge their services have been extended this support.

"While operators have been careful to adopt a calibrated approach, which not only caters to the truly needy and their predicament butgoing well beyond this immediate class, in the interest of abundant caution, we cannot believe it is the intention of TRAI that such benefits should be indiscriminately provided to even those privileged ones who are well able to afford such services and need no incentives or provisions to avail of continued mobile services," said the letter written by COAI DG, Rajan Mathews.

Such a move would amount to an "unjustified subsidy to this larger class of customers at a steep loss to the industry", Rajan said in the letter, adding that it would also dissuade other customers from recharging, who at present are recharging dutifully using various digital and non-digital means.

Citing the deep financial stress in the sector, the letter said that at present, the sector finds itself in a very unstable situation reeling under huge debts.

It said that the value of the benefits extended would be over Rs 600 crore, even on a conservative basis.

"To ensure continuity of service to the citizens, who are at the bottom of the pyramid and are not in a position to recharge their prepaid services, our member operators have provided extended validity for continuation of their services and talk time benefits to enable them to make essential calls.

"These efforts are in line with the efforts and decisions of the government to ensure that such citizens can remain connected for essential needs. Even on conservative basis, the value of such benefits is more than Rs 600 crore".

The letter addressed to S.K. Gupta, Secretary, TRAI, said the customers who actually required support from the telecom service providers for continuation of their services in the initial period of lockdown are in the range of 80-100 million and the operators have collectively extended the benefits for continuation of services to around 280-300 million subscribers.

"The authority and the government would appreciate that the industry has not only provided this benefit to the needy subscribers but also gone well beyond as an abundant provision. We are therefore taken aback to see the letter issued by the authority to our members," said the COAI letter.
In a shocking development, a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus COVID19 few days ago died on Thursday in Madhya Pradesh's Indore. This is the first case of the death of a doctor due to the deadly virus in India. The death toll in Indore stands at 22 and the total number of positive cases in the city are 213.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has expressed deep sorrow over the demise of Dr Shaturghan Punjwani and said that it will be impossible to forget this 'superhuman'.

       #COVID19                                       ! pic.twitter.com/VqTzT2MZVI  Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) April 9, 2020

It is to be noted that Indore is one among three places in Madhya Pradesh which have been sealed to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state. Indore is the worst affected city in Madhya Pradesh and it is feared that the number of positive cases in the city will increase in the coming days.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India jumped to 5,734, including 5,095 active cases, 473 cured and 166 deaths, as per Heath Ministry data at 8 am on April 9
(Bloomberg) --

U.S. airlines desperate bid for $29 billion in government rescue cash is being frustrated by a lengthening process and demands that companies provide more detailed financial information, people familiar with the situation said.

Carriers that filed April 3 for the grants intended to help meet payroll costs expected the checks to begin arriving days ago, said people familiar with the aid discussions who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Instead, U.S. Treasury officials have asked for another round of data that appears to be more related to a separate loan process instead of the cash grants, further delaying the relief, the people said.

The federal stimulus bill provided for carriers to receive payments within 10 days after the law was signed March 27. That would have been Monday, though the legislation gives Treasury discretion on the timing.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said the agency would provide preliminary details to airlines on how to access the grants and an additional pool of government loans within days.

Thats the next big thing well be rolling out, Mnuchin said on CNBC. We hope to get to a lot of the airlines starting tomorrow and over the weekend with preliminary information.

The additional demand for information was so detailed it would take more than a week to review all the submissions, and in some cases it isnt relevant to the applicants operations, according to the Regional Airline Association.

Faye Malarkey Black, president of the trade group representing smaller carriers flying under contract for the larger airlines, said she welcomed Mnuchins promise to get more clarity to the industry, but time is running short for her members.

Information is vitally needed, but we need the payroll assistance, Black said. The liquidity crisis is real. Every day that we wait for the grants, were burning cash.

Regional carriers, which supply about 40% of flights, were asked questions by Treasury including the value of their route systems and customer loyalty programs. Since they dont sell tickets, neither apply to them, she said.

A Standard & Poors index of the five largest U.S. airlines had tumbled 37% this year through 2 p.m. in New York trading, compared with a 5.5% decline in the S&P 500.

Two U.S. senators from Illinois, where United Airlines Holdings Inc. is based, wrote to Mnuchin in a letter Wednesday demanding swift action.

Treasurys preliminary guidance did not provide applicants with clear direction on a number of critical items, Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, both Democrats, said. They called on the agency to make sure the confusing application process doesnt hamper the ability of applicants to receive the funds intended for them.

Vanishing Demand

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has been speaking to Mnuchin and she believes progress is being made. To your question, I think we are in good shape in terms of the airlines, Pelosi said during a telephone press conference on Thursday.

The U.S. airline industry has been pummeled by a collapse in demand as the new coronavirus spread worldwide. Air travelers passing through U.S. security tumbled to 97,130 Tuesday, a 95% drop from the same day last year. Airlines have grounded planes, cut flying capacity as much as 80%, placed workers on voluntary leaves and frozen hiring to help cut costs until passengers begin to return.

In addition to the $29 billion in airline payroll grants, the $2 trillion federal stimulus package includes $3 billion in payroll assistance for airline contractors, another $29 billion for cargo and passenger airlines in loans and $10 billion in grants to airports.

But the delays in the assistance has put companies in a very difficult position, the people said. If they accept the payroll grants, they cant lay off any employees. But each day they have to wait is costing them more money. Some smaller airlines may not have the finances to survive if the process stretches out weeks.

Airline aid isnt the only part of the giant government rescue package to get hung up by the details. The Trump administrations $349 billion small-business rescue has hit similar snags as a flood of applications overwhelmed banks and more questions than answers piled up about loan terms.

While the stimulus bill was meant to provide a quick infusion of cash into struggling businesses, getting that much public funding efficiently and responsibly into private hands was always going to be a challenge. The legislation also calls for airlines to give equity, options or warrants to the government in exchange for the aid, a requirement that some lawmakers and unions worry could complicate the process and slow down the payments if airlines balk at the terms Mnuchin seeks.

Late Payments

Mnuchin on Thursday said the government will not bail out airlines. He said the government wants to make sure airlines have the liquidity to keep their workers in place.

The preliminary data that Treasury will provide will be for passenger and cargo carriers and will focus on the payroll support grants, according to a person familiar with the matter.

One carrier, Ravn Air Group Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska, already has filed for bankruptcy protection and some smaller airlines and cargo companies could follow if aid is delayed.

Senators Duckworth and Durbin asked Treasury in their letter for assurance that there would be no delay in applications that had to be refiled because of unclear instructions. They also asked that details of aid distributed be made public, along with the metrics used to allocate it.

The aid package already had been criticized by some members of Congress and airline labor unions for requiring carriers to offer some form of equity, warrants or options to compensate the government for the cash. The concern is that airlines would be hesitant to agree to such deals, potentially putting jobs at greater risk.

Spurred by unions and airlines, numerous lawmakers have been urging Treasury to act more quickly. Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer sent Mnuchin a letter Sunday asking him not to impose unreasonable conditions on carriers seeking payroll assistance.

They and other lawmakers said that Congress didnt intend to require that airlines give up equity in exchange for the payroll grants. If Treasury makes that a condition for the assistance, it could prevent some companies from getting the aid and lead to mass layoffs, they said.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
(GETTY)

In a time of utter uncertainty for Canadian oil and gas, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savages presence on Thursdays video call with OPEC, its allies, and non-OPEC nations, is a source of comfort for leaders in the industry.

Savage is representing the interests of the Canadian energy patch in the historic talks hosted by the Saudi-led cartel that will also include the United States, the worlds largest oil producer.

Jeff Tonken, chief executive officer of Calgary-based Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), is convinced Canada sent in its strongest player to the unprecedented meeting of energy producing nations. He said that was the consensus among his peers at this week's Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), where Savage spoke on Wednesday.

Shes the person that we want at the table, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. She understands more about pipelines and the issues of oil and gas production, and has forgotten more than most people know.

Savage has deep roots in Canadian energy. Her resume prior to politics includes a senior role at the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and a nine-year stint at Enbridge (ENB.TO)(ENB) where she was responsible for government affairs and regulatory policy. She published a thesis on the National Energy Board while pursuing her Masters of Law in Environment and Energy at the University of Calgary.

Oil prices (CL=F) climbed on Thursday on reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed on the outline of a deal to cut oil production. Key details have yet to be confirmed, such as a baseline to measure the cuts against. Russia is also reportedly insisting that a deal hinges on reduced U.S. production.

Canadian and U.S. participation in the new production cuts being discussed has not been confirmed. On Wednesday, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO)(CNQ) president supported the idea of Canada taking part in an international agreement to reduce production to support global oil prices.

We supported curtailments here in Alberta to help balance the market when you have these issues, Tim McKay told the web-based CAPP conference. To me, as long as its a broad-based approach, we could support it.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
PRESCOTT, Ariz.  The Prescott Daily Courier is cutting back on its print editions due to a lack of resources brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Prescott Newspapers, Inc. announced this week it will temporarily halt publishing of The Daily Courier on Saturdays and Mondays, the newspaper reported.

Publisher Kit Atwell says the newspaper is dealing with a drastic shortfall thanks to a drop in advertising from local businesses, which are also struggling.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued a stay at home order on March 30 to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The order calls for only essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies to remain open.

The change in publishing will take effect Saturday and April 13 until further notice.

Prescott Newspapers also publishes the Prescott Valley Tribune and Chino Valley Review.

The newspaper reported, however, that is online traffic has gone up substantially in recent weeks. Print subscribers also have an all-access digital subscription.

The Daily Courier was established in 1958 as part of Western News&Info.
The Lagos State Government has deployed 60 medical personnel and support staff to the newly commissioned 110 bed space isolation centre built at Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan where seven patients have been placed on admission.

The states Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this on his Twitter handle @ProfAkinAbayomi on Wednesday said that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu commissioned the centre alongside the Chief Executive Officer of GTBank, Segun Agbaje, among other dignitaries.

The isolation centre donated by GTBank and Africa_Finance begins operations today, April 8, 2020 with seven patients on admission. No fewer than 60 med

ical personnel and support staff with expertise have been deployed to the facility, he stated.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, while speaking at the commissioning, said the facility would help put an end to the pandemic ravaging the state very quickly.

He also assured that the state government and health ministry remain committed to containing the spread of the virus.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
(TNS)  The Knox County, Ill., Health Department will receive $592,520 in federal grant money, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) announced Tuesday.The money is part of $4.5 million awarded to the district through the Department of Health and Human Services to combat COVID-19.The money is aimed at preparation, prevention and responding to the coronavirus disease, according to Michele Gabriel, public health administrator/CEO of the health department."The health center would like to increase the amount of education about COVID-19 that is in the community, as well as build upon the Knox Community Health Center services that are available via telehealth," Gabriel said in an email to The Register-Mail."During this critical time, it is essential that health centers have access to the resources they need to combat the coronavirus and serve our communities," Bustos said in announcing the grants. Sens. Durbin and Duckworth sent a release on the grants as well."Our health care professionals are on the front lines of this battle," Bustos said. "They show up to work every day and selflessly put the wellbeing of patients first. We owe it to them to provide as much support as possible and I am so pleased to see this funding get back to them quickly."Other area health agencies receiving money are Heartland Community Health Clinic in Peoria: $890,420; and Henderson County Rural Health Center in Oquawka: $580,820.Bustos is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees HHS.
Noomi Rapace was kitted out in designer gear to stock up on groceries on Thursday.

The actress, 40, was hard to miss when she visited Planet Organic in London, sporting head-to-toe luxury loungewear.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star paired a brown Gucci hoodie with a pair of Burberry checked trousers.

Designer chic: Noomi Rapace was kitted out in designer gear to stock up on groceries on Thursday, paying a visit to Planet Organic in London with a friend

The brown velour sweater, featuring the fashion house's logo embroidered on the front, retails at 980.

Noomi completed her dressed down look with 450 canvas pants in Burberry's iconic check print.

She topped off her look with the British label's signature men's cap (250) and sported a pair of shades.

Mix and match: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star paired a 980 Gucci hoodie with a pair of 450 Burberry checked trousers and a 250 cap

The star was joined by a friend as she picked up essentials during lockdown.

The mother of one is know for her quirky sense of style and always delivers on the red carpet.

Noomi was last spotted enjoying Paris Fashion Week at the start of March before the COVID-19 crisis kicked off in Europe, attending Givenchy's presentation.

Stylish: Noomi was last spotted enjoying Paris Fashion Week at the start of March before the COVID-19 crisis kicked off in Europe, attending Givenchy's presentation

She showcased her passion for fashion in a striking grey plaid jumpsuit as she attended the show.

The star paired the stylish one-piece with a pair of white platform heels and showed off her slender waist with a monochrome leather belt.

Noomi achieved international fame for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 06:41:42|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance on Wednesday for health care providers and investigators on the administration and study of investigational convalescent plasma collected from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 during the public health emergency.

Convalescent plasma that contains antibodies to the novel coronavirus is possibly effective against the infection, according to the FDA.

Since COVID-19 convalescent plasma has not yet been approved for use by the FDA, it is regulated as an investigational product, said the agency in a release.

A health care provider must participate in one of the three pathways for use of investigational convalescent plasma, which are clinical trials, expanded access and single patient emergency IND, according to the FDA.

The FDA does not collect COVID-19 convalescent plasma or provide COVID-19 convalescent plasma. Health care providers or acute care facilities would instead obtain COVID-19 convalescent plasma from an FDA-registered blood establishment, said the agency.

Health care providers are required to maintain records for the COVID-19 convalescent plasma unit(s) administered to the COVID-19 patient, said the FDA.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/09/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Jorge Nava says his dramatic 128-pound weight loss definitely contributed to his breakup with Anfisa Arkhipchenko , whom he plans to divorce following his prison release in May.Jorge, who confirmed he and his wife are "not together," revealed in an interview conducted by his lawyer Brad Rideout that his physical transformation essentially ruined his marriage, according to In Touch Weekly."I think she was just jealous of the attention that I was getting," Jorge, 31, told the magazine. "The news about my weight loss didn't sit with her very well."Jorge began serving a 22-month prison sentence in September 2018 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of marijuana transportation, and photos of Jorge with a slimmer physique surfaced online in November 2019."I believe [that led to our breakup] because at that very moment in time, that's when she blocked my phone calls and I kind of was starting to lose contact with her," Jorge explained."She did tell me like right off the bat, like the day after, that she didn't want anything to do with me and that it was over."Jorge -- who weighed 318 pounds at his heaviest, TMZ reported -- was admitted into prison weighing 275 pounds and standing 6'3" tall, according to his prison record. He reportedly now weighs 190 pounds On March 21, Jorge posed for a full-body photo in an orange jumpsuit showing off his staggering weight loss, and he recently created an Instagram account to share updates and progress with fans."It was actually intentional. It sorta just happened naturally," Jorge recently told In Touch of his weight-loss journey."After I started dropping the weight, it almost became like an addiction, losing [weight] and feeling healthy."Anfisa apparently entered a new relationship with a man named Leo Assaf while Jorge was behind bars, and the pair recently went Instagram official when Anfisa posted a photo of Leo embracing her."Quarantine and chill?" Anfisa captioned the March 18 photo.Jorge claimed Anfisa had abandoned him and ran off with another guy while he was serving his time, TMZ reported, which appears to be true based on Anfisa's recent social-media activity.Not only did Anfisa post an intimate photo with Leo, but the couple have gushed about each other in the comments section of several of her posts.Leo, for instance, wrote last month that he's Anfisa's "biggest fan" and she's his "queen," and Anfisa responded to one of his messages by writing, "[Love] you," along with a heart-eyes emoticon.Jorge therefore said he has every intention of legally ending his marriage to Anfisa once he gets his freedom back.Jorge told In Touch that he wishes "[Leo] the best with his new relationship.""I know about him," Jorge added, "[but] I don't know what he looks like, and I don't really care what he looks like."Jorge told TMZ that he and Anfisa tried to maintain a relationship and keep their marriage intact for a while.In December 2018, Anfisa opened up about how she and her husband were reportedly having "a lot of phone sex" during Jorge's daily phone calls from prison.And Anfisa clapped back at haters who questioned whether her marriage was surviving."So done," Anfisa reportedly snapped at a follower who noticed she wasn't wearing a wedding ring in one of her photos. "Whoever asks it again is getting their car keyed."And in November 2019, Jorge told E! News his marriage to Anfisa was doing "really well" and he had transformed into a better man physically, mentally and emotionally.But Anfisa previously told In Touch her relationship was struggling even before Jorge began his sentence."Jorge and I were on the verge of divorce before he went to prison but once it happened, I wanted to put our issues aside and stay by his side and support him in this difficult situation," Anfisa said."However, the whole time I felt like I had a weight on my shoulders that wouldn't let me be happy. I knew I had to end it and it would be better for the both of us, so Jorge and I talked about it and mutually decided to part ways a few months ago and agreed to divorce once he's released."Jorge was a 27-year-old from Riverside, CA and Anfisa was a 20-year-old from Moscow, Russia when Anfisa arrived in America on a K-1 visa to be with her love.Anfisa didn't exactly deny she was in the relationship for Jorge's money, but she believed he, in turn, was dating her primarily for her looks. Regardless, the pair got married in a simple courthouse ceremony.Jorge was arrested at age 28 in February 2018 with nearly 300 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his car.Jorge previously said he believes his prior criminal record -- which includes two previous convictions for cultivation of marijuana -- is why he didn't receive a lighter sentence to begin with."With the charges against me, I was looking at around 24 years or something like that. [It was] some ridiculous number," he told TMZ in 2018."But luckily, my lawyer was able to work out a plea agreement and I got the charges dropped and I ended up pleading to a class 4 felony in Arizona."Recreational marijuana (especially 300 pounds of it) is still not legal in Arizona.After originally appearing on Season 4 of , Jorge and Anfisa -- who met on Facebook -- were also part of the cast of Seasons 2 and 3 of : Happily Ever After?.Jorge and Anfisa, however, confirmed in October 2018 they wouldn't be returning to .Anfisa dedicated her time to fitness while Jorge spent his time in prison, and she has since become a competitive bodybuilder."To fill the void that I felt after Jorge was sentenced and I was left on my own I decided to try to stay busy and do what I enjoy the most and it was working out," Anfisa previously said on Instagram.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our webpage!
ALBANY  The COVID-19 pandemic is adding more urgency to efforts by supporters of Albany pizza maker Mohammed Hossain to be released early from his 15-year federal prison sentence on money laundering charges related to a federal 2004 anti-terrorism case in Albany.

Hossain, 65, has been pleading with federal prison authorities and prosecutors to allow for his early release after completing most of his 15-year sentence. He is scheduled for early release in July but has petitioned to be released immediately due to chronic health conditions, including kidney failure.

Now add fears over COVID-19 infection to his reasons for wanting to get out of a federal prison in Springfield, Mo. immediately and coming home to his family in Albany where he intends to use private health insurance to pay for his medical care.

"The attempts to address Mr. Hossain's health conditions have been unsuccessful, risk further deterioration, and present life-threatening susceptibilities if exposed to COVID-19," Hossain's public defender Molly Corbett wrote in a March 26 filing in U.S. District Court in Albany.

State and federal prisons have increasingly become COVID-19 hotspots across the country, with some seeking early prisoner release as a solution to stop the spread.

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Hossain's attorney and supporters have argued that Hossain is no danger to the public upon his release. He was convicted of being part of a fake money-laundering scheme orchestrated by FBI informant Shahed Hussain, who posed as a wealthy businessman and enlisted the help of Hossain and the leader of an Albany mosque in a fake plot to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat in New York City. The mosque leader, Yassin Aref, has since been released from prison and was deported to his native Iraq. The trial took place in Albany in 2006 with FBI informant Hussain the star witness.

Hussain, a motel and limo operator who is now living in Pakistan, was the owner of the stretch Ford Excursion involved in the 2018 limo crash in Schoharie that killed 20 people. He also worked as an undercover informant for the FBI, participating in anti-terrorism stings in Albany and Newburgh in which Hussain convinced defendants into participating in fake terrorism plots with promises of money and gifts.

No decision has been made on Hossain's immediate release, which is opposed by federal prosecutors.
Pakistan on Thursday pledged to contribute USD 3 million to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

The Foreign Office in a statement said Pakistan's perspective on the utilisation of fund was conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and SAARC Secretary General Esala Ruwan Weerakoon.

"While communicating Pakistan's decision to the SAARC Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the SAARC Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the SAARC Charter," it said.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million and Sri Lanka pledged USD 5 million to the fund.

Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Apart from Modi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, had participated in the video conference.

The Foreign Office in the statement said being a founding member, Pakistan considers SAARC an important platform for regional cooperation.

"Pakistan remains committed to the SAARC process and will continue working with the Member States to strengthen regional cooperation," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
But perhaps the most shocking to Washington insiders were Tripps secret recordings. Its hard enough to know whom to trust in this most transactional of cities, but taping was next-level betrayal. The fact that, as a woman, Tripp had broken the confidence of a friend who had trusted her with the most intimate details of her life was beyond the pale. And it was against the law: Maryland, where Tripp lived, doesnt allow recordings without both parties consent. She was investigated, but the case was eventually dropped.
More than 130,000 people in Connecticut have received payments for unemployment compensation since the start of April, but roughly 170,000 more were still waiting as of this week, with the Department of Labor having asked some to refile claims as it works to improve systems and speed up processing.

Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby acknowledged the frustration among benefits claimants, asking this week for patience on the part of those waiting as DOL chips away at a still-rising flood of initial claims for jobless benefits.

Under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, several restrictions have been removed from rules governing unemployment compensation, allowing more people to file claims in the wake of executive orders by Gov. Ned Lamont that seek to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but which also have curtailed business.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Labor processed 6.6 million claims for the week ending April 4, a slight reduction from the week before.

Payments that first week of April totaled $35 million in Connecticut, with the state having entered March with more than 40,000 people already receiving unemployment compensation as the result of layoffs that occurred before the coronavirus outbreak. Between March 13 and Wednesday, Connecticut received 302,000 initial claims for coverage from state residents, amounting to 17.7 percent of the working population as of mid-February.

Some of the folks who are saying, where the heck are my checks, youve got to have a sense that were doing everything we can, in the face of this unprecedented crisis, to stay ahead, Lamont said Wednesday.

Both existing and new claimants will get $600 plus-ups, in Westbys words, as a result of the CARES Act, with unemployment compensation typically maxing out at $650 a week.

DOL is attempting to process claims with a staff of more than 80 people, with more being added, but Westby indicated this week that the wait for initial payment remains a month or more for many claimants. Those initial checks will include compensation retroactive to the date of any layoff. DOL has processed 133,000 new claims to date, with about 170,000 still outstanding.

We already doubled, in one week, the number of claims going out, Westby said Wednesday. Were working overtime, were working weekends  as a result of that, weve processed 10 times the normal weekly load.

Thats still not enough, he added. Were working on another technical fix  Plan B well call it  which basically (forces) claims into the automated process, and were testing that right now.

Westby said if successful, the fix would allow DOL to process a huge amount of those claims over two or three days.

Employers fund the pool of unemployment compensation insurance through a 6 percent federal tax on their payrolls, with Westby suggesting businesses can expect additional assessments in future years to help the state pay back money it will have to borrow to make claims payments in 2020. Westby said Connecticut intends to ask the U.S. government to grant it any additional funds needed for jobless benefits this year rather than structuring assistance as a loan, which would reduce any assessments on businesses going forward.

They have not replied in the affirmative yet  they have not replied at all, Westby said. At this point its too hard to say exactly what the increases might be, because we still dont know where the (claims) trajectory is going to end.

An economist in the New York City office of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group indicated that while some remain hopeful that businesses will hire back workers when emergency orders are lifted, the recovery from the 1980 recession that ranks as the fastest in history took a full year.

It looks like the unemployment rate is headed to 15 percent in next months report based on the last three weeks of jobless filings, stated MUFG economist Chris Rupkey in a Thursday note to clients. This would put the economy ... midway between a very bad recession, with 10 percent unemployment like ... in the 2007-09 recession, and a Great Depression like the 1930s with 25 percent unemployment.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Dr. Wiafe-Akenten, a Social Psychologist and Senior Lecturer Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, has admonished Ghanaians to stop stigmatizing victims of Coronavirus (COVID-19).



Persons who have tested positive for the virus have reportedly had their families and themselves maligned by some Ghanaians. Likewise, people who traveled abroad and returned to the country in the wake of COVID-19 have become a target of stigmatization with a section of the citizenry treating them like they are contagious carriers of the virus.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' program, Dr. Wiafe-Akenten bemoaned the attitude of some Ghanaians who think it's pleasurable to be pointing fingers at people infected by the virus and travelers who arrived in Ghana, particularly those placed under mandatory quarantine.



He noted that Coronavirus has nothing to do with living a moral or immoral life and so one cannot be said to have contracted the disease because he or she did something bad.



Dr. Wiafe-Akenten stated emphatically that every individual is at risk of the virus infection, therefore it is absolutely inappropriate to single any person out.



"This is not a disease about someone living an immoral life for you to be pointing your fingers at the person. It's a disease that can infect anybody. You can protect yourself. If you're not lucky, somebody can even infect you. So, we shouldn't point fingers at the infected people because you can also contract the disease," he advised.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A Chinese company is charging American medical suppliers more than four times the normal price for medical masks, while US hospitals resort to begging locals to donate theirs.

A sales document from Wehere Medical in Hangzou, China, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the company has been quoting suppliers $744 for a pack of 200 medical-grade masks.

Los Angeles-based medical distributors told DailyMail.com that the normal price for the vital items would be just $164  meaning Wehere had hiked prices by 353%.

The distributors said the company has also switched to only selling packs of 200 top-grade medical masks, rather than their usual packs of 20.

Due to the surge of coronavirus patients, shortages of protective equipment for medical staff are so severe that some hospitals have resorted to taking donated masks, gowns and other equipment from locals.

A sales document from Wehere Medical in Hangzou, China, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the company has been quoting suppliers $744 for a pack of 200 medical-grade masks, four times the typical price

Los Angeles-based medical distributors told DailyMail.com that the normal price for the vital items would be just $164

Saint Johns Health Center Foundation in Los Angeles set up a 'drive-thru drop off service' in their parking lot to collect protective equipment from nearby donors.

The document from Hangzhou Wehere Medical Technology Co., Ltd is dated March 13.

It shows a list of quotes for four kinds of masks including an N95 respirator which is one of the standard masks used in US hospitals, FFP2 and FFP3 respirators used in Europe, and a 'medical non-woven mask, 99% filtration rate', used by surgeons to prevent coughing on sneezing on patients.

The highest grade mask, FFP3, is listed at $3.72 per mask with a minimum order of 200  making a total of $744.

A Los Angeles-based medical distributor, who asked not to be named, said he usually pays 82 cents per mask, or a total of just $164 for 200 masks.

The distributor said the minimum order had also been hiked, and was usually just 20.

A spokesman for Wehere told DailyMail.com that their price increases were due to a '10 times' increase in the cost of raw materials, and increasing labor costs.

The news follows a crackdown on price gouging in states hit hard by the virus.

Earlier this month California Attorney General Xavier Bercerra vowed to prosecute sellers caught breaking the law which prohibits businesses hiking prices by more than 10% during an emergency.

A spokesman for Wehere told DailyMail.com that their price increases were due to a '10 times' increase in the cost of raw materials, and increasing labor costs, pictured is Wehere Medical in China

'These price-gouging restrictions make it illegal for businesses to raise the prices of most goods and services by more than 10%,' the California AG said. 'Those goods and services include but are not limited to emergency supplies, medicine and medical supplies, food and drink.'

Earlier this month a DailyMail.com investigation found price gougers in Los Angeles selling products at massively inflated prices, including one tube of clorox wipes for $50, one can of Lysol spray for $25 and one roll of toilet paper for $8.

Sellers on second hand app LetGo who have been buying up household cleaning products, baby supplies and toilet paper around Los Angeles then reselling them with price hikes of up to 1,400%.

LA City Attorney Mike Feuer told DailyMail.com his office has had over 200 reports of price gouging last week.

Feuer's staff found two one liter bottles of hand sanitizer for sale for an extortionate $140, and eight half-gallons of bleach for $100.

Under California law, price gougers can face up to a year in jail, a $10,000 fine and restitution to consumers.

'Price gouging of course rips off consumers and wrongfully costs them money,' Feuer said. 'But more than that, the mere listing of a product in an emergency at inflated prices spurs panic, and we all suffer when stores are needlessly in short supply.

'Thanks to dozens of tips from Angelenos on price gouging this past week, we have new investigations open.'

Feuer encouraged city residents to report gougers at LACityAttorney.org or by calling at 213 978 8340.
Hosts Gibbs Dube and Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Zimbabwe Service discuss the ongoing challenges Zimbabweans around the world are facing due to Covid 19. Many have tested positive for the virus, and while some have recovered from its symptoms, some are struggling to recover. Others have died.
Disinfection robots boost high-tech enterprises

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-04-09 10:19

During the epidemic, some technology-based SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) are looking for opportunities in emerging markets, to usher in new growth points. Disinfection robots have been a hit as their orders have seen a surge in demand.

Since February, technology enterprises in Shanghai have successively resumed their work and production. 96% of high-tech enterprises across the city have resumed work. Among them, the rate of work resumption of enterprises in the three major fieldsbiomedicine, integrated circuits and artificial intelligencehas reached nearly 100%.

(A production line of a high-tech enterprise in Shanghai)

TMiRob, a robot maker based in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, has seen a ten times increase of its orders since it restarted production in late February. Over the past two months, TMiRobs robots have joined the frontline in over 200 designated hospitals for COVID-19 across the country. The robots have been deployed for sanitation, isolation ward services and medical resources management.

With a height of over one meter, TMiRobs disinfection robot features autonomous navigation and its work efficiency is six times that of manual sanitation. With multiple options of disinfection, like UV, plasma air filtration and ultra-dry atomized hydrogen peroxide, it will annihilate 99.9999 percent of germs in 30 square meters in just five minutes.

Established in 2017, intelligent robotic equipment maker SAGE has also seen a surge in demand for its medical service robots for epidemic prevention and control. In the six months before the epidemic the orders for its self-developed disinfection robots were in double digits, but during the epidemic, in one single month, the number of orders soared to three digits, according to Zhang Jianzheng, founder of SAGE. As he said, in the future, his company should pay more attention to commercial application scenarios such as in hospitals, libraries and residential communities.

Pan Jing, founder of TMiRob, agrees. Forward-looking companies can define and tap future market demands. For instance, big screen phones were unimaginable many years ago, but now they have grabbed a large market share. Now his company is speeding up the manufacturing of its sanitation robots, with a production capacity of 450 pieces per month. Established in 2015, the company is now planning to expand its robot production base. However, as Pan pointed out, the governments recognition and promotion of new technologies are also necessary to achieve wider application and localization of medical robots, though the latter has a bright market prospect.
DARK, SALT, CLEAR

by Lamorna Ash (Bloomsbury 16.99, 336pp)

In my mothers decision to name me Lamorna, writes the author of this evocative, immersive account of the months she spent living alongside Cornish fishermen, she unwittingly bound me to Cornwall.

Feeling a huge urge to get to the essence of the county she was named after, she took a break from her London life as a playwright to live in the fishing village of Newlyn, three miles from Lamorna Cove.

She lodged with a lovely couple called Denise and Lofty, hung out in local pubs with the fishing crowd, and was taken out as a guest/helper on an eight-day-long trawler expedition, 27 miles off the coast.

London-based playwright Lamorna Ash, recounts the months she spent living with Cornish fishermen in a new book. Pictured: The harbor at Newlyn fishing village

Her account of that week on the trawler forms the backbone of this beautifully written book. She didnt know what she was letting herself in for.

From day one, she was totally immersed: cut off from civilisation, globs of fish blood in her hair, stomach churning from the waves, tiny bunk, a Radio 1 presenter saying Shout out to all those stuck in rush-hour traffic while shes in the middle of the sea; TV on downstairs, everyone shouting answers at the The Chase as they scoff huge hot meals followed by Twister ice-creams. (The trawler is junk-food heaven. No alcohol though. All drinking happens on land, and all the men have beer-guts.)

The fishings all remarkably simple: spread the nets, haul the catch onto the deck 50 times in seven days, sort the great squirming heap, gut the fish while listening to loud heavy metal and pack the fish in ice.

85 Percentage of British shellfish exported to the Mediterranean Advertisement

An empathetic writer who sees poetry in the everyday, Lamorna gives us a real sense of these men who never feel quite at home at sea or on the land.

Its the salt in your veins, they tell her, when she asks them about their compulsion to be fishermen. They cant cope if they dont go to sea, but they experience sailing-day blues on the day of leaving their families.

Their livelihoods are fraught with anxiety. Vast quantities of fish have to be thrown back if their quota is exceeded.

DARK, SALT, CLEAR by Lamorna Ash (Bloomsbury 16.99, 336pp)

And When the prices drop suddenly, as they do after holidays such as the New Year and Christmas, there is nothing the fishermen can do but accept that their week of precarious, exhausting work has earned them almost nothing at all. Almost everyone she meets in Newlyn has lost someone to the sea, either through drowning or through depression. A young fisherman in the village takes his own life while Lamorna is there.

This is the reality behind the picture-postcard Cornwall so many of us love and think we know.

On the final day, as the boat makes its way home, five miles from the coast everyones phones beep back into life: a sweet moment of reunion with loved ones combined with reminders of the anxieties of land life.

If you read this thoughtful and observant chronicle, youll never look at Cornwall in the same way again.
Tyler Perry has displayed his immense generosity by paying for elderly shoppers groceries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 50-year-old actor paid for the groceries at 44 Kroger stores across Georgia and 29 Winn Dixie stores in New Orleans on Wednesday morning.

He wanted to do something special to provide immediate relief for some of the most vulnerable in the two cities he considers home, a source told People.

Many store across the United States are opening early exclusively for elderly shoppers, whose ages make them particularly susceptible to the COVID-19 virus.



It isnt even Perrys first sweeping act of generosity this week.

On Sunday, the movie/TV mogul left a $500 tip for each of the 42 out-of-work servers employed at the West Paces location of Houstons while picking up a to-go order.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Australia is showing the world how to fight coronarvirus with a rapidly falling infection rate and minimal deaths - but some of that success can be attributed to good luck.

While major western countries are measuring deaths in their thousands - and total cases in the tens of thousands - Australia has only just passed 50 fatalities.

That comes from a population of more than 25million and almost three months after the first COVID-19 case was reported in the country on January 25.

While no one is declaring a victory yet, Australia has managed to flatten the infamous curve, with daily infections peaking at 460 on March 28 and decreasing most days since.

As of Thursday it had 6,089 cases of COVID-19, with a death toll of just 51 - and 15 of those can be traced to an outbreak on the cruise ship Ruby Princess.

Nations including the United States (435,128 cases with 14,795 deaths) and United Kingdom (60,733 and 7,097) are struggling to contain the virus but Australia might have already found some of the keys to success.

Germany, which has been hailed for its low COVID-19 mortality rate, now has 113,296 cases and has recorded 2,349 deaths.

Australia is showing the world how to fight coronarvirus with minimal deaths, a slowing infection rate and some luck. While no one is declaring a victory, the country's highest daily number of infections was 460 on March 28 and it has been decreasing most days since

The army has been deployed to help enforce Australia's quarantine rules. All travellers have been required to go into self-isolation for 14 days. Soldiers are pictured waiting for overseas passengers to arrive at Sydney Airport on March 30.

Australia has conducted 319,784 COVID-19 tests, compared with 282,074 in the United Kingdom (population about 67million) and 2.2million in the United States (population about 328million). A cyclist is pictured at the Bondi drive-through testing clinic on April 7

Australian health experts say the infection rate has been steadied due to widespread testing, the tracing of carriers, self-isolation of those at risk and strictly-enforced social distancing rules.

Of course, the number of infected patients recorded in any country is limited to how many of its carriers have actually been checked for the disease.

With a strong existing public health system, Australia has one of the most comprehensive COVID-19 testing regimes in the world.

So far Australia has conducted 319,784 tests, compared with 282,074 in the United Kingdom (population about 67million) and 2.2million in the United States (population about 328million).

Border closures and Australia's decision to ignore the World Health Organisation's early insistence there was no need to restrict travel to and from China also seemed to have protected the country from a worst-case scenario of 150,000 deaths.

How Australia is faring in the coronavirus war Australia Infections: 6,089 Deaths: 51 Tests: 319,784 United States Infections: 435,128 Deaths: 14,795 Tests: 2,209,041 United Kingdom Infections: 60,733 Deaths: 7,097 Tests: 282,074 Advertisement

There have been failures, including letting cruise ships dock and disgorge infected passengers, but those losses have been surpassed by the wins.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes COVID-19 restrictions have prevented perhaps tens of thousands of infections that would otherwise have occurred.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says: 'We know that the tools we are using do work, and we can scale them up and down as necessary, and the data we have now suggests they are working.'

While the crisis is a long way from over, there are signs it is detecting COVID-19 better than many other nations and slowing its spread.

Professor Tony Blakely, epidemiologist and public health medicine specialist at the University of Melbourne, said Australia had done better than he expected.

'I think we've done remarkably well and some of the headline numbers look really good,' Professor Blakely said.

'We've actually managed to get to the case load down enormously. Very impressive. Well done.'

Health experts say the key to the steadying of infections in Australia has been widespread testing, the tracing of carriers, self-isolation of those at risk and tough social distancing rules. Two police officers are pictured on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House on April 6

New York hospitals were forced to use bed sheets to wrap bodies because they ran out of body bags. Corpses are pictured being loaded onto a truck outside Brooklyn Hospital Center on March 31

A temporary hospital with 4,000 beds has been set up in London's ExCel centre to treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Medical staff are pictured unloading a stretcher on April 8

As an island continent which can only be reached by long sea or air travel from most of the world Australia should have some natural advantages in fighting pandemics.

Professor Blakely said Australia's lower infections rates compared with countries such as the US and the UK could in part be put down to the country's geographic isolation.

Australians 'happy' with handling of COVID-19 Almost two thirds of Australians (65 per cent) say the federal government is handling COVID-19 well, according to Roy Morgan research. Of Australians who agree the government is handling the crisis well, 21 per cent 'strongly agree' while 44 per cent at least 'agree'. Just 6 per cent 'strongly disagree'. Fewer Australians - 59 per cent - still believe the worst is yet to come for the pandemic over the next month than did so a week earlier. The figures come from a nation-wide web survey of 987 Australians aged over 18 conducted last weekend. The number of Australians who are afraid they or someone they know will catch the virus has fallen slightly to 73 per cent. Four out of five Australians were willing to sacrifice some of their human rights if it helped prevent the spread of the disease. Advertisement

'We had another 10-day window to actually respond and stop it getting that way,' he said.

'We worked hard to stop it getting that way but we also were lucky being down the bottom of the world we had a little bit more time to respond.'

Asian neighbours which acted quickly against coronavirus including Taiwan (379 cases, five deaths) and Singapore (1,623 and six) have fared even better.

'You could also argue that our geographic proximity to Asia and seeing how Singapore, South Korea - China to some extent - really did respond very well and perhaps emulating them a little bit more than some of the western countries might be a small reason,' Professor Blakely said.

'But I think mainly that we had a little bit more time to respond.'

The first case of COVID-19 infection in Australia - a Chinese citizen who had arrived from Guangzhou on January 19 - was reported in Melbourne on January 25.

Six days later Australia banned the entry of foreign nationals from China and ordered citizens returning from that country to self-isolate for 14 days.

On February 3 World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was still saying there was no need for measures that 'unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade.'

Australia's self-isolation restrictions were extended to those returning from Iran on February 29, South Korea on March 5 and Italy on March 11.

That rule was further extended to anyone entering the country on March 15 and the nation's borders were closed to all but citizens and residents from March 20.

This graph shows COVID-19 infections in the days since 100 cases were confirmed in (from top to bottom) the USA, Spain, the UK, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore

Australia is enforcing strict border controls with heavy penalties. Motorists are pictured passing through a crossing between New South Wales and Queensland on April 2

A policeman is pictured talking to a driver at a checkpoint on the New South Wales and Queensland border. Australians have been asked to stay at home during the pandemic

Social distancing rules began with the banning of gatherings of more than 500 people on March 13. Premises including pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes and places of worship were closed to the public from March 23.

A week later public gatherings were limited to two people. Australians could no longer leave home except for work, education, essential shopping, exercise, and medical or compassionate needs.

Breaking the draconian rules attracts harsh penalties. Last week, a 21-year-old man in Newcastle, north of Sydney, was fined $1,000 for eating a kebab on a park bench after exercising.

While there have been some objections to state police forces' interpretations of what is a valid reason to be away from home there has been no serious civil unrest.

Almost two thirds of Australians (65 per cent) say the federal government is handling COVID-19 well, according to Roy Morgan research released this week.

Australia's worst breach of its borders came on March 19 when the cruise ship Ruby Princess was allowed to dock in Sydney Harbour and spill almost 2,700 passengers onto the streets.

About 600 coronavirus cases have since been linked to that vessel but authorities have been diligent in tracking down those who could have been infected by its passengers.

Australia has one of the most comprehensive COVID-19 testing regimes in the world. Motorists are pictured at the Bondi drive-through clinic

Health experts have attributed the steadying of infections to measures including tight border restrictions, self-isolation rules and social distancing. Manly beach in Sydney is pictured

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Tuesday the country was flattening the curve that appears on graphs representing daily recorded infections of COVID-19.

From the country's highest daily number of infections of 460 on March 28, there were 105 new cases on April 8.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

One of the scientists who worked on new modelling released on Tuesday suggested Australia could have passed its infection rate peak.

Professor James McCaw of Melbourne University's Doherty Institute said the government had acted early and could now make considered decisions.

Researchers expected to see a further decline in cases but if the country went back to normal now 'we would see a rapid and explosive resurgence in epidemic activity,' Professor McCaw said.

'We're in a very lucky position where we can think about the next steps and the very challenging questions ahead from a position of relative calm as opposed to crisis.'

'We don't have an overwhelmed hospital system yet, and we may well never have one if we continue to base our responses on the best available data.'

The Doherty Institute's modelling, based on international data, suggested it was government-imposed restrictions which were reducing the spread of the virus.

The modelling suggested if no action at all were taken 89 per cent of Australians might catch the virus and only 15 per cent of people requiring ICU beds would get one, causing mass deaths.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy (pictured) says: 'We know that the tools we are using do work, and we can scale them up and down as necessary, and the data we have now suggests they are working'

Australian Federal Police are pictured talking to travellers arriving at Brisbane Airport on April 3. Only residents or those with a permit are allowed to enter the state as it battles COVID-19

With social distancing measures and strict quarantine of the sick, the proportion of people infected would be 12 per cent and only five per cent would need medical care, meaning the health system could cope.

Professor Murphy said Australia had reduced its rate of infection even faster than the modelling suggested it would.

'We're not, in any way, out of trouble at the moment, but we're in a relatively strong position to keep the pressure on and plan our next approach,' Professor Murphy said.

'We cannot relax what we've been doing. Complacency is our biggest risk.'

Professor Blakely said it was unclear which measures to reduce coronavirus infection were working best.

'We dont know,' he said. 'Because countries have put all these interventions on at the same time it's not as though we've got randomised trials of what's happened.

'However I think we can make some careful expert deductions here and it's basically simply reducing the number of contacts each person has with each other person which has dramatically lowered the ability of the virus to transmit.'

Professor Tony Blakely said there needed to be further research to weigh the relative merits of reducing human contacts in the workplace, at schools, on public transport and other places

Kiwi PM declares a coronavirus win New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has thanked the nation for joining in the fight against COVID-19. 'You are breaking the chain of transmission,' she said By Alisha Rouse For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has declared her country's lockdown a success after a stunning drop in daily cases to just 29 on Thursday. 'We are turning a corner, and your commitment means our plan is working,' Ms Ardern said. The number of infections has declined for the fourth straight day, giving the best evidence yet that New Zealand has squashed the spread of the deadly disease. The country has suffered just one death from the respiratory illness, with just 992 confirmed cases. Only one New Zealand has died. A fortnight ago the New Zealand government implemented a near society-wide lockdown with particularly strong restrictions on business to combat the spread of COVID-19. On the evidence of the first half of the lockdown, Ms Ardern believed her country was winning the fight. 'At the halfway mark I have no hesitation in saying that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge,' she said. 'In the face of the greatest threat to human health we have seen in over a century, Kiwis have quietly and collectively implemented a nationwide wall of defence. 'You are breaking the chain of transmission. And you did it for each other.' From Friday, every new arrival to New Zealand will be required to quarantine for a fortnight - similar to a measure in Australia. There will also be roadblocks around the country to stop Easter holiday travel. 'As we head in to Easter I say thank you to you and your bubble,' Ms Ardern said. 'We have what we need to win this marathon. 'You have stayed calm, you've been strong, you've saved lives, and now we need to keep going.' Advertisement

Professor Blakely said there needed to be further research to weigh the relative merits of reducing human contacts in the workplace, at schools, on public transport and other places.

'We need some idea of the relative impact of each of those even if its not perfect because thats going to determine who we get out of this situation.'

Professor Blakely was still concerned Australia had a higher rate of intensive care unit admissions with 87 cases compared with two in New Zealand, which has a population of just under 5million.

'That means to me New Zealand must be finding those asymptomatic and mild cases with much greater success than we are and we must have quite a bit of undiagnosed disease out there,' he said.

Mr Morrison warned the country must 'hold the course' because it was too early to tell if the restrictions were causing the number of cases to drop fast enough.

'We have so far avoided the many thousands, if not tens of thousands of cases, that might otherwise have occurred at this point,' Mr Morrison said.

Beaches around Australia have been closed due to the coronavirus crisis. A woman is pictured walking at Surfers Paradise on April 7 before the beach is shut for the Easter long weekend

Australia has so far recorded more than 6,000 cases of coronavirus and just 51 deaths

'And indeed the many more fatalities that could have also occurred by this point.

'It has occurred well beyond our expectations in the way that we've been able to bring that daily growth rate down together, and certainly ahead of what all the theoretical models would have expected.

'We have so far avoided the horror scenarios that we have seen overseas, whether it be initially in Wuhan, China, or in New York in the United States, or Italy, or Spain, or even the United Kingdom.

'They do not have the opportunity in all of these places that we have right here and right now.

'The combination of our health and economic responses is giving us the opportunity to plan our way through and out of these crises.'

Mr Morrison said the modelling and coranvirus's relatively slow rate of growth in Australia 'proves the theory of flattening the curve'.

'It confirms, based on that data, that by taking the measures we are taking, you can make a difference,' he said. 'And indeed, that is what we are experiencing in Australia. We are on the right track.'

'We have bought valuable time, but we cannot be complacent.'
Cultural beliefs and norms are making the adoption of vasectomy in Tanzania challenging.

Engaging rural couples in family planning awareness sessions could help demystify deep-rooted cultural barriers that prevent men from undergoing vasectomy, a study says.

Vasectomy, a surgical procedure designed to make a man sterile by blocking his sperm ducts, is an underused method of contraception in East Africa despite being part of sexual and reproductive healthcare services, according to the study.

Results of the study published in PLOS One in March, which was conducted among rural women in Pwani, Tanzania's coastal region, indicate that rural men shun vasectomy because of poor knowledge, misinformation, certain religious beliefs and social stigma attached to the procedure.

"Myths and socio-cultural factors which have been identified in the study limit vasectomy use and they are similar across Africa," says Eunice Pallangyo, the study's lead author and a senior instructor at Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery in Tanzania.

Men who opt for vasectomy lose their standing in the community and are treated with contempt. For instance, they are hardly allowed to contribute to discussions with other males.

There is also the notion that vasectomy is a sin that negates God's original plan for man to procreate, says the study.

"That's why on the continent, it is taken to be like a taboo. Creating awareness about the cost-effectiveness and that it is reliable would help clear the myths associated with this method," Pallangyo adds.

Tanzania's fertility rate, estimated at 4.9 births per woman, makes it one of the countries with the fastest-growing rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, says a World Bank Group report Africa's Pulse 2019, indicating the need for increased access to family planning methods.

From September 2017 to February 2018, researchers interviewed 20 rural women who were either married or were cohabiting. They were traced at health centers and hospitals in Bagamoyo and Kisarawe districts of Pwani region.

Through the interviews, the researchers found that men with a higher level of education and from well-educated communities were more likely to accept vasectomy than men with low or no education.

Factors including religion and the tendency for some men to have more than one wife were cited as barriers to adopting vasectomy.

"Why are you correcting God who planned for the birth? You are contrary to His wish, you are against good values of the religion," one of the women was quoted in the study.

Another woman added: "There might be a problem between a man and his wives because one wife or two wives may have children whereas others don't haveThis may cause the marriage to break up because of conflict[s] and misunderstandings in the family."

Pallangyo tells SciDev.Net that the study provides insight that could facilitate the promotion of family planning use in the country.

"Low family planning utilization is among the key reasons why women and newborns deaths are extremely high,'' she explains.

"The community in general would expect only women to go to clinic for issues related to family planning.

According to the study, African women's tendency to lack primary decision-making power because of gender roles limits their ability to lead their partners in deciding to implement family planning methods.

Pallangyo says that women have an essential role to play in encouraging their partners' vasectomy uptake, but add that some women themselves were found to be barriers for men who had opted for vasectomy.

Salim Jaribu Sultan, a family planning and reproductive health program officer at EngenderHealth in Tanzania, says the study proves what was already known from practice about the barriers to family planning uptake in regions across the country and in Africa, particularly on vasectomy.

Although the barriers mentioned in the study may vary from region to region, in Kigoma region where I have worked, I have seen many clients for vasectomy. But we should also consider training of health service providers on how to carry out the procedure [vasectomy] as well as improve their attitudes towards it." Salim Jaribu Sultan, a family planning and reproductive health program officer at EngenderHealth
Owen Baptiste, adorned in a Red Cross shirt, similar to the one he donned before he plunged into his rescue heroics.

Owen Baptiste, a Security Supervisor at the Argyle International Airport (AIA) has landed himself in hot water with his superior, even as he performed life-saving duties.





Minibus HQ 851 had just gone over an embankment in Overland, during the afternoon hours of Friday 3rd March, when Baptiste, a trained emergency responder, arrived on the scene. Ironically, he was returning (home) after attending a SVG Red Cross Society Meeting, as a volunteer with that Society.





The vehicle plunged over an embankment and settled on its roof some 50 or so feet below in a heavily grassed area.

Baptiste stopped his car and noticed the extent of the mishap. He was caught in a moment of uncertainty: Should he continue on his way home (Sandy Bay) to get prepared for his 9pm shift at the airport? Or should he, as he is trained to do, offer assistance to the injured? He chose the latter.





"I got on the scene 5 minutes after the accident. Persons called out to me while approaching the vicinity. I noticed others were standing around looking on but none of them wanted to go and help, Baptiste recalled.





Then someone shouted, "We need help here; people gone over in a van yah. That spurred him into action.





"I parked my car, took out my overall shirt with the crescent of Red Cross, my gloves and PPE, including a makeshift board from my car, said the Security Supervisor about his preparation before venturing into the rescue.





He rushed down the embankment and he could hear people in the wreckage screaming for help. Residents of the area stood around taking photographs and some even complained aloud about contracting the coronavirus, Baptiste noted.





"I was not scared. I have trained for this in Jamaica and have done other trauma and pandemic courses regionally and locally, including with the Red Cross, a confident Baptiste said.





He wrote in a Facebook posting after the dust had settled, that he: helped persons out of the mangled vehicle, taking some up fifty feet to the embankment; applied dressing from his first aid kit to cuts and bruises on the injured; and helped with making a makeshift stretcher.

All this, he said, he did amidst injured adults screaming, a baby crying and others standing idly by taking photographs.





To add to this, Baptiste said he used his private vehicle to transport the injured to the Owia Health Clinic and the Georgetown Modern Medical Complex.





It was during a period at the Owia Health Clinic that Baptiste said he contacted his supervisor to say that he was occupied going back and forth with injured persons, from the scene of the accident and the Owia Health Clinic and the GMMC, and would be late for work.





To his surprise, the supervisor responded sharply telling him that "if you aint show up for duty tonight.. dont expect a job on Monday.





This prompted Baptiste to take to Facebook.





"I am just putting this out there that I have performed my duty as a First Responder, and am being treated as a Hypocrite from my Superior .... all those who came to the scene saw what I was doing to the best of my ability... note I had on my PPE.. taking every measure, said Baptiste in his Facebook post.





He told THE VINCENTIAN that he loves to help people - a trait he got from his grandmother. "I am always happy to assist  I was feeling happy that I can help, he admitted.





Up to press time Wednesday, Baptiste was effectively still employed. He was summoned to a meeting scheduled for that day and has since reported that he is awaiting action arising out of those discussions.





The accident





According to a police release, several persons onboard the minibus sustained injuries. The majority was taken to the Georgetown Modern Medical Complex (GMMC) where they were treated and discharged.





The driver and a one-month-old infant, however, were referred to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) where they were admitted.





The driver is said to be nursing a broken right leg, and the infant injuries to her face and hands.
Disinfect hands and shoes at the factory gate. Bring your own towel. No sunny-side-up eggs.

Chinese companies are going to extreme lengths to stave off new coronavirus outbreaks as they reopen for business. It will be a crucial test of whether a country can keep the infection curve flat after lifting social distancing.

The stakes are high for China, economically and politically. After Beijing's leaders declared victory over the virus, a relapse would be humiliating. Worse, it could tip China - and the world - into economic recession.

Since businesses began reopening in February, China's State Council has required companies to supply employees with face masks and check everyone's temperature daily. Employers must submit daily reports on workers' health statuses, a system dubbed "One Person, One File."

In the United States, the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also issued suggestions for businesses, which are less stringent than the Chinese rules. OSHA is suggesting work-from-home when possible and says companies can consider installing sneeze guards or providing employees with face masks.

China's experience suggests that restarting the global economy will be no easy task. Chinese industry is only creaking in motion with heavy overhead costs for infection prevention. Some municipalities have reopened sectors only to shutter them again as infections ticked up.

Beijing's priority is to restart manufacturing, with service sectors a secondary concern. But even for factories lucky enough to have the early green light, many had to begin production in semi-lockdown, with workers forbidden from leaving campus without permission.

"This has brought extreme inconvenience to workers who live off-campus," said Fuyao Group, the Chinese industrial glass manufacturer made famous by the documentary "American Factory," in a statement in late February about its lockdown in southern metropolis Guangzhou.

Fuyao said it set up 50 makeshift dorm rooms to house workers who usually lived off-campus, as it rushed to make up for lost time and fulfill orders for European clients.

David Levine, a professor of business administration at University of California, Berkeley, said that companies worldwide will need effective protocols to avoid new outbreaks, but also to market their products to wary consumers.

"Manufacturers are going to have to convince consumers of the safety of their products," he said. "You need procedures in place."

In China, some of these measures are government-mandated, such as opening office windows three times a day for 30-minute stretches. Beijing has suspended the use of fingerprint-entry keypads and forbidden workers from sitting face-to-face while eating lunch.

Companies have added their own rules. Some of the strictest are at manufacturers like iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group - China's largest private employer, with more than 1 million workers - which is anxious to keep on schedule for a fall iPhone launch.

At Foxconn's iPhone-making complex in Zhengzhou, workers have been put into teams of 20 that stick together night and day to facilitate health tracking, according to a notice by the Zhengzhou government.

"The same group of employees work, travel, live, and eat together to ensure that employees' personal trajectories are fully traced," the notice said.

One 36-year-old Foxconn worker who only would give his surname, Yang, said that each morning, workers are issued a face mask and have their temperature checked. At lunchtime, they eat at cafeteria tables separated by tall dividers.

"There are boards on the tables between people so we don't see each other or talk," he said.

Foxconn cafeteria seats have been labeled with QR codes for workers to scan so the company has a record of who sat where and when for meals, according to company notices. At their dorms, workers are told to leave their coats and bags in a designated place for disinfection.

The company has even set up an infrared video camera that tracks employees' body temperatures as they walk by.

Foxconn said in a statement that it was implementing "all recommended health and hygiene practices ... including the use of nucleic acid tests and chest X-rays when required." It said it has produced 10 million surgical masks to date, with a goal of making 2 million a day for internal use.

At a TCL air-conditioner factory in coastal Jiujiang, workers were told to bring their own towels to dry their hands post-handwashing, according to an online notice. The number of people allowed in a bathroom simultaneously is two.

TCL's morning clock-in routine for workers: "Step one, temperature check. Step two, disinfect your entire body. Step three, take a face mask. Step four, scan the QR code to log your entry into the factory."

Chinese telecom giant Huawei issued a 73-page manual with detailed protocols, such as a requirement for all employees to submit a daily health report before noon. All food in Huawei cafeterias must be thoroughly cooked, with sunny-side-up eggs and soft-boiled eggs off limits for now.

The guidebook also says managers should randomly select two employees morning, midday and evening for spot checking if they have washed their hands.

"We continue to require all staff to log on to the health app each day and to confirm their health as a prerequisite to entering a Huawei building," Huawei spokesman Joe Kelly said. "Temperature checks are still in place."

On hand-washing spot checks, Kelly said: "I cannot find any confirmation that this ever took place at Huawei."

In the United States and China alike, standard workplace risk management is based on the "hierarchy of controls," a system developed in the United States in the 1950s. Under this framework, companies should first look for ways to eliminate a risk altogether - by ordering all employees to stay at home during a pandemic, for example - before turning to risk mitigation methods, like safety training and protective gear in the office.

With the large number of coronavirus "silent carriers" who show no symptoms, it will be difficult for employers to eliminate transmission risk between employees once offices open up again. This makes hygiene protocols and technical safeguards - lower rungs of the "hierarchy" - more critical.

In Wuhan, the epicenter of China's outbreak, a months-long lockdown was lifted Wednesday. But officials have warned residents that a return to regular life and work is still a long way off.

Wuhan residents wearing goggles and face masks were lined up at a hospital on Tuesday for health testing as a requirement for returning to work, according to images circulated on official newswire Xinhua.

Wuhan virus control official Luo Ping said on state television over the weekend that residents will need this health clearance and employment proof to leave their housing complexes, which will remain under soft lockdown.

"We are going through an orderly opening up," she said. "With an emphasis on the 'orderly.' This isn't blind optimism."

- - -

The Washington Post's Yuan Wang in Beijing contributed to this article.
WINSTED  Winsted Elks Lodge 844 member Deb Angell and other members recently spent their Sunday making hospital gowns, using a pattern from Thermaxx, a West Haven-based company that manufactures insulation jackets and covers.

The project began when members of Litchfield Ambulance  Angell is the groups treasurer  were looking for extra supplies including gloves, masks and gowns.

I was working with Sen. Craig Miner to find supplies (for ambulance volunteers), and one night he dropped off a supply of masks that he had, Angell said. Thats when he told me about Thermaxx and how they had turned their facility to manufacturing hospital gowns (for health-care workers and volunteers).

Miner told Angell that Thermaxx was unable to keep up with the demand for gowns, and was making the pattern available to anyone who wanted to use it.

We ordered the pattern and got supplies from Home Depot to make (the gowns), Angell said. We got a supply of Tivek (a material used in home construction).

But when she took the pattern home and tried to measure the fabric, she found that the pattern was too big for any surface in her home  even the kitchen floor. I said, this is not going to work, Angell said.

She then contacted newly elected Elks Club President Dan Matthews and asked whether she and other members could use the club lodge to cut gowns using the 54-inch-by-70-inch pattern.

He called the other officers and they said yes, and so on Sunday (April 5), four of us were able to cut out 100 gowns, Angell said. Well be cutting them all week, depending on how many are needed.

Since then, she has shared the pattern with Torrington Fire Department members and New Hartford ambulance volunteers.

Anyone interested in getting the pattern can email dlangell@snet.net. The pattern is also avaialble online at www.thermaxxjackets.com/products/thermaxx-gear/diy-thermaxx-gown-how-to-guide.
Nearly 150 members of the Saudi royal family have been infected by the coronavirus and an elite hospital that treats members of the ruling clan has set aside 500 beds in anticipation of a surge in their numbers, the New York Times reported Thursday.

King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin-Salman, the de facto ruler of the country, did not appear to be among those infected. The monarch has isolated himself in a palace on an island on the Red Sea, and the crown prince is sheltering with senior member of his government at a remote site where he has planned to build a futuristic city, the publication said.

It cited an internal memo issued by the hospital on the beds being set aside. We dont know how many cases we will get but high alert, the message said, instructing that all chronic patients to be moved out ASAP.

A senior royal who is governor of Riyadh is among those infected and is in intensive care, the report said.

The coronavirus does not discriminate, as it has demonstrated. US Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in ICU in London for the third day Thursday, and many members of the Iranian government are reported to have been infected.

Saudi Arabia has nearly 3,300 reported cases confirmed infection and 44 deaths. But the kingdom began its mitigation effort even fore the first case was reported , air travel was suspended on March 2 and so was pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

There are indications the kingdom may cancel this years Haj pilgrimage, which has been held annually without interruption since 1798.
Around 3.5 lakh trucks are stranded due to coronavirus lockdown as estimated by transporters. These trucks, carrying goods of Rs 35,000 crore are stranded on roads, outside factories and godowns. Right from cars and SUVs to appliances such as ACs, washing machines as well as electrical items and raw material including chemicals, steel and cement are stuck at various points.

According to a report in Times of India, transporters are fearful that the goods are at the risk of damage and pilferage. Absence of food and proper sanitation have driven away many truck drivers who were stranded along with their vehicles. Additionally, there are no helpers to unload the goods at their destinations.

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Odisha govt extends lockdown till April 30; state's COVID-19 tally at 42

All India Motor Transport Corporation (AIMTC) President Kultaran Singh Atwal told the daily that something needs to be done urgently to help out the transporters. He said that while the government has allowed movement of essential goods, they must also gradually open the route for other goods so that the system can be unclogged.

He added that truck drivers are also braving a lot of difficulties. At places there are no food, medicine, sanitation areas, masks or sanitisers, that has prompted the drivers to abandon the trucks and head back home.

Also read: 'Times like these bring friends closer, we shall win together': PM Modi to Trump on hydroxychloroquine supply

President of Car Carriers' Association Vipul Nanda has said that 1,500 customised container trucks, carrying around 10,000 cars and SUVs are stranded outside various factories and godowns.

Transporters are seeking EMI break for around six months along with an extension of their national movement permits. They are also looking at half-year relief in payment of statutory road tax and goods tax payments.

Also read: Free coronavirus tests impractical to implement, says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic.
Im gonna have to send six-packs in Ubers to my friends houses to keep em hydrated in these quarantine times.

Miles Teller is following the same stay-at-home orders we all are. But the actor (Whiplash, Top Gun: Maverick) is using his downtime wisely: hes ramping up hype for the The Finnish Long Drink, a new canned cocktail with a decades-old backstory. Theres also a good chance hes doing it with no pants on: turns out pantsdrunk  drinking in your underpants, more or less  is both a very real Finnish tradition and the new marketing strategy for the Long Drink.

Last year, Teller became co-owner of the new ready-to-drink cocktail, which is now available in four varieties. Its a fruity, gin-based beverage thats sessionable while being fairly high in ABV. My impression? Theyre all good, with the original flavor resembling something akin to a gin paloma or a carbonated greyhound. We were especially fond of the Zero version, a rare low-cal take on a drink that actually replicates the original without cloying.

The backstory on the Long Drink is that Teller happened upon the drink while hanging out with friends in New York. Smitten, he eventually met up with the founders (Ere Partanen, Sakari Manninen, Mikael Taipale and Evan Burns) and soon took an interest  and a financial interest  in the fledgling brand.

I dont always drink in my underwear, but when I do, I tell everyone its a Finnish tradition. https://t.co/mQu1MiacGy  Miles Teller (@Miles_Teller) March 19, 2020

As for the recipe itself, long drink originated when the Finnish government needed to create something refreshing, quick and easy to distribute for visitors to the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Long drink, which is made with grapefruit, gin and juniper berries, is what they came up with.

We called up Teller during the quarantine to get a better idea of what hes drinking  and how that #pantsdrunk buzz is going.

InsideHook: Did you want to get into the spirits industry?

Miles Teller: I constantly turn down endorsements. And when this came along, I wasnt looking for anything. When I tried it for the first time, the founders were just getting the ball rolling. I actually came to them and said, How can I be a part of this? It was all serendipitous.

And now youre a co-owner.

Which is great! I dont really get paid, but I do enjoy it.

What made you like the founders so much?

It was a gut feeling. I like them. They left everything behind in Finland, their friends, girlfriends and family, to go do this and make a seven-day-a-week job and go around the country and introduce this to bar owners. I really appreciate that.

The original, grapefruit-flavored variation (Photo: The Long Drink)

Were you a fan of canned cocktails?

Well, the hard seltzer thing, it has a time and place for me. But Ill drink to whatever the situation is; Ive got a wide palate. I also love beer, but I have to stay in shape.

But the canned cocktail wasnt anything I was really curious about. Its hard to replicate drinks you like in a can. But theyre convenient and millennials want instant gratification, so you gotta give em what they want!

Ive also never been a big gin guy, but I was a fan of greyhounds [a grapefruit-based cocktail with either vodka or gin]. This drink, though, it gave me a premium buzz when I tried it (laughs). The first one I ever tried went down pretty good. A few more, and I actually felt like it was a refreshing drink. I kind of see these as thirst quenchers.

Describe that buzz.

Its a frickin Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, mother of invention type of buzz! Its a feel good thing, and it also feels hydrating. My buddy whos an ex-bartender thinks a gin kick is supposed to be the best buzz.

Miles Teller enjoying a Long Drink in its intended setting (Long Drink)

You went to Finland for the first time last year. What did you do while you were there?

I had a bunch of long drinks. We also did karaoke and we went to the sauna. Did you know they have saunas in some of the nicer restaurants? But it was like 30 degrees out, so wed get in these really hot saunas then go outside and jump in the Baltic Sea. I did that for hours.

What I really liked about Finland is that everyone seemed to be in the same socioeconomic middle class. Everyone was working from the same means, and there was no rich or poor way of living. And everyone seems to have a small cottage where they can get away. I really appreciate that. It was beautiful.

How do you usually drink when youre back home?

I used to hit up a lot more bars, but I got a house recently. Im slowly turning a dining area into a bar, much to my wifes chagrin. And I just like to hang with a couple of buddies Ive had since I was a teenager.

Do you have a favorite in the Long Drink line?

Love the cranberry one. The light one doesnt lose any taste and the strong version is  well, that black can should come with a cautionary tale about what somebody did when they had too many. So Id maybe start with the original.

A lot of celebrities have been getting into the booze business. How do you think youll separate your product from theirs?

I think people are tired of being advertised to or sold to, especially on social media. I dont even have Instagram! And, again, Im not getting paid to do this. I hope to build a certain trust with fans and have a reliability and dependability associated with my name. Im very involved with this. I care about this as much as any movie or anything else I put my name to. So Im very comfortable being in front of this.

My friends, who would be the first to say, This is shit, Miles, they like it and ask me to send them some. So for me, this is personal.

The post Miles Teller Explains the Appeal of a Decades-Old Finnish Cocktail appeared first on InsideHook.
Messages of hope and support can be seen around neighborhoods written in chalk on fences and sidewalks, in windows and on yard signs  even on balloons. Children and adults decorated with hearts, rainbows and messages like stay strong, stay safe, spread joy, not germs and this too shall pass."
Videos from the Slovak Academy of Sciences are expected to be shared via social networks.

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Our paywall policy The Slovak Spectator has decided to leave all the articles about the coronavirus available for everyone. If you appreciate our work and would like to support good journalism, please buy our subscription. We believe this is an issue where accurate and fact-based information is important for people to cope.

Scientists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) will now help teach pupils more about biology and history.

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They have launched the SAV Educates Pupils project, and plan to place respective videos on the Ucimenadialku.sk website. They will also share them via social networks, the SITA newswire reported.

Were still thinking about the ways we can be useful to the public, said SAV chair Pavol Sajgalik, as quoted by SITA. Facts and truth  these are our basic working tools, so we decided to bring them online to the households of our schoolchildren.

In the first phase, the SAV plans to prepare videos on biology, chemistry, physics, geography, literature, and history. The topics will correspond with the curricula for the second stage of primary school and all grades of secondary schools except for the final one.

Related article
She's the aspiring lawyer who shot to fame as the breakout villain on this season of Married At First Sight.

And with a law degree under her belt, Stacey Hampton has also explained she excelled in high school.

In a YouTube Q&A this week, the 26-year-old bragged about being so good at English in school that she advanced a grade and won an award.

'I finished Year 12 English in Year 11!' In a YouTube Q&A this week, Stacey Hampton bragged about being so good at English in school that she advanced a grade and won an award

'I did Year 12 English in Year 11 and won an award for it,' she boasted.

'And all the Year 12 [students] were like, "what the hell?" I wasn't even meant to be in that. So, I finished Year 12 English in Year 11.'

The reality star then explained her love for the English language.

'I love English and I love writing and I love words and I love the impact that words have on life and people and everything and the way they perceive and deceive you,' she explained

'I love English and I love writing and I love words and I love the impact that words have on life and people and everything and the way they perceive and deceive you,' she added.

Despite her passion for law and the English language, the blonde pursued a very different career after finishing high school.

In 2016, Stacey and her mother Tracey bought a takeaway chicken shop in Adelaide called Chicken Castle.

Brains and beauty! The 26-year-old often poses with books or her laptop on Instagram

They bought into the business with money inherited after the death of her father, who committed suicide, and her brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

When they took it over, Chicken Castle was a thriving business with a strong local reputation built up over 28 years of operation but its doors were closed for good in December 2017 - only 20 months after Stacey and her mother took it over.

Stacey said that the failure of the business was due to her split with Rebels bikie boss Shane Michael Smith and postnatal depression following the birth of their first child.

Smart cookie! The Married At First Sight star poses in front of her law degree and some books on Chanel and Louis Vuitton

After Chicken Castle went under, Stacey shifted all her focus onto completing her legal studies.

She was first awarded a Bachelor of Laws from the University of South Australia in August 2017, after five years of studying while raising two children.

She went on to receive a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practise from The College of Law in April 2019.
Oman Air, the national carrier of the sultanate, has launched a repatriation flight to bring 166 Omani citizens from Saudi Arabia to the nations capital Muscat.

The flight, operated, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, included stops in Madinah, Riyadh and Dammam to collect passengers. The aircraft departed from Muscat international airport on April 8 with same-day return.

The crew members took extra safety measures to ensure the safety of all travelling on board the flight.

Oman Air will continue to support the national efforts to counter the coronavirus pandemic by operating repatriation flights and cargo-only flights on an as-needed basis.

The national carrier recently operated a number of flights to India and China to transport food and medical equipment, along with other repatriation flights to bring Omanis back home from Jordan and India. - TradeArabia News Service
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants to regulate the stories of hoarding during the coronavirus of cleaning supplies and household necessities, including toilet paper.

Thats one of the topics we tackle in cleveland.coms daily half-hour podcast, This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Youve made clear that you want as much information as you can get about the pandemic, so we started a half-hour conversation each day about the trending topics. Editor Chris Quinn hosts, with help from me and editors Jane Kahoun and Kris Wernowsky. We answer many of the questions youve sent through our text message platform.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares once or twice a day what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

And youve been offering all sorts of great perspective in our coronavirus alert account, which has 12,000-plus subscribers. You can sign up for free by texting 216-279-7784.

We start with Ohios new, official coronavirus prediction. Jane explains that the states estimates dropped dramatically on Wednesday, with officials now predicting a peak of about 1,600 cases per day in late April, instead of 10,000 -- all because Ohioans have been so good at staying home. Thats more in keeping with MetroHealth and University of Washington projections. But to keep the curve low, we have to keep up the social distancing.

Cleveland has at least one disadvantage, though: air pollution. Kris details a Harvard University study, which found that people who live in areas of the country with higher soot pollution are more likely to die from the coronavirus than people who live in areas with cleaner air.

I chime in on research that air pollution, smoking and vaping all damage your lungs, and therefore make you an easier target for the coronavirus. The good news is there are simple steps you can take in your own home to make the air cleaner and the virus harder to catch.

One of the most unexpected stories this week was Attorney General Dave Yost wanting to regulate what Ohioans can buy -- including toilet paper. Jane says the proposed legislation would also ban price-gouging. And we all try to figure out why toilet paper has been the hoarding item of choice during the pandemic.

Maybe itll be easier to find when Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home order is lifted. Weve talked about this a lot, but we still dont know how Ohio will ease out of its social distancing restrictions. I repeat what Acton and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said Wednesday, that businesses will open back up first, albeit with lots of hand-washing and mask-wearing in place.

Wednesday marked the announcement of the first death of a prison guard from the coronavirus, which has hit nearly every Ohio County. Mahoning County remains among the hardest hit. And we dont know if there are any cases in Clevelands homeless shelter because officials wont say. But I still dont think you can get the coronavirus from your pets.

This week is among the holiest for the Jewish and Christian faith traditions, with Passover and Easter. Jane shares DeWines feelings on religious services during the pandemic. I mention a video Cleveland rabbis put together, urging people to stay home and celebrate remotely and ask how are you making the holidays feel festive.

Check back in Friday for more coronavirus news.

Meanwhile, find all our past episodes here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify. Find us here.

If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday appealed for Iranians to pray at home during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Iran has reported more than 4,100 deaths and 66,000 infections from the novel coronavirus, making the country's COVID-19 outbreak one of the worst in the world.

Khamenei called on Iranians to avoid mass gatherings, such as collective prayers, during Ramadan, which starts later this month.

"In the absence of public gatherings during Ramadan, such as prayers, speeches... which we are deprived of this year, we should not neglect worship, invocation and humility in our loneliness," he said in a televised speech.

"We need to create humility and supplication in our families and in our rooms." Iran, which announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19, is by far the worst hit by the pandemic in the Middle East, according to official tolls. But there has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections in the country could be higher.

Ramadan is set to start in the last week of April this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Afghan government said it would release another 100 Taliban inmates Thursday, even though the insurgents have walked out of talks over a comprehensive prisoner swap and dismissed Kabul's piecemeal freeing of captives as "unacceptable". The administration of President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday released 100 low-risk Taliban prisoners who had vowed never to return to the battlefield, and officials said the same number of insurgents with similar profiles would be set free Thursday. The releases come as Ghani faces an ongoing political crisis, US fury over a floundering peace process and a growing coronavirus epidemic in Afghanistan, where officials fear the disease could run riot through the country's prisons. Kabul "will release 100 Taliban prisoners today based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence as part of our efforts for peace and containment of COVID-19," Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Office of the National Security Council (NSC), said on Twitter. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP the step was inadequate. A small Taliban team came to Kabul last week to meet the government to discuss a comprehensive prisoner swap that was initially supposed to see 5,000 Taliban released in return for 1,000 Afghan security forces. But they abandoned the "fruitless" meetings on Tuesday and returned to the southern province of Kandahar. "Our stance has been very clear on prisoners swap," Mujahid said. "Now, hundreds hundreds prisoners are released on a daily basis. This is not part of our process and it is unacceptable to us." When asked why the government was still releasing Taliban inmates even though the prisoner swap appeared to have collapsed, Faisal said: "We need to push the peace process forward." The United States signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban in late February that required the Afghan government -- which was not a signatory to the accord -- to participate in the prisoner exchange. That step was supposed to have led to "intra-Afghan" peace talks starting on March 10. No one knows when, or if, they may now start. In the agreement, the US and other foreign forces will withdraw from Afghanistan in 13 months, and the Taliban must talk to Kabul and stick to several security guarantees.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager has launched a bizarre tirade at Conor McGregor, calling him 'a jealous prostitute' and 'fake'.

Ali Abdelaziz, who previously clashed with the Irishman prior to his defeat by Khabib in 2018, hit back after McGregor labelled his former foe a 'chicken' for not fighting at UFC 249.

Khabib was forced to pull out of the controversial event due to the coronavirus lockdown in Russia preventing him from travelling abroad.

Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz (right) launched a tirade at Conor McGregor

The Irishman is not even in the top three lightweight contenders, maintains Abdelaziz

And Abdelaziz defended his man with a furious outburst. He told TMZ Sports: 'It's crazy because this guy has been telling people to stay home, don't come outside, he's donating millions of dollars, which now we know this s*** is all fake.

'You're telling everybody to stay home, now Khabib  the government of Russia says he can't travel, you're going to call him a chicken?'

Tony Ferguson is now fighting another of Abdelaziz's clients, Justin Gaethje in next Saturday's main event.

The winner will secure the interim lightweight title and secure the next shot at Khabib.

Khabib had to withdraw from UFC 249 as he is stuck in coronavirus lockdown in Russia

McGregor has also been promised a rematch by UFC president Dana White, but Abdelaziz dismissed the Dubliner's claim.

He said: 'He's not No 1, he's not No 2, he's not N0 3. It's Khabib, Justin, Tony. He's No 4. He's not even in the conversation right now.

'He's just like a jealous prostitute, she's got too old for her to make money. He's like Khabib said, he's a prostitute, he knows it's over, his time is done.

'As a fighter he's done, he's not even in the top three. Why even talk? Why don't you even jump on a plane and come fight Tony Ferguson?

'I bet he understands that Tony Ferguson would beat his ass too. All those three guys would beat his ass. Justin, Tony and Khabib.'
Psychic Pandemic II: This Means War!

Commentary

Find here Part 1 and Part 3.

Its official. Medical authorities, global bureaucracies, and national governments around the world (including the otherwise sensible Trump administration) have declared war on COVID-19. If youre still wondering whether you should enlist, lend an ear to the March 13 summons of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres:

COVID-19 is our common enemy. We must declare war on this virus. That means countries have a responsibility to gear up, step up, and scale up.  The United Nationsincluding the World Health Organizationis fully mobilized.

Would this be the WHO whose Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was an executive member of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, a revolutionary militia listed by the United States in the 1990s as a terrorist organization? Who, as a high official in the Ethiopian communist government, presided over the brutal repression and massacre of his own people? Who, having allegedly covered up a cholera epidemic in Ethiopia during his tenure as health minister, was then promoted by the Chinese as their candidate for the leadership of WHO? And who, once elevated to that position, promptly installed as WHOs goodwill ambassador (move over, Gandhi) Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwes Prince of Peace, but then rescinded the appointment due to an outcry?

Would this be the WHO that on Jan. 14 repeated Chinas claim that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan virus, lavished servile praise on the Chinese Communist Partys handling of and early success in containing the contagion, and in three separate statements, from January to early March, advised against (xenophobic) restrictions on travel from China?

Oh well. Or as Emily Litella used to say, never mind! Its time to gear up, step up, and scale up; Uncle Tedros wants YOU!

In his address to the French people, Emmanuel Macron used the war-word six times. Channeling his inner Churchill, Boris Johnson assured the British that they would win this fight and beat the enemy. Angela Merkel barely demurred, knowing that neighbouring European nations might be somewhat nervous about another German declaration of war. But Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts damned the torpedoes and went full speed ahead, pleading in an op-ed in the Boston Globe: We need a Manhattan Project to fight the coronavirus epidemic. And the American Medical Association was so fetched by the atomic analogy that it repeated it. In another op-ed call to arms, CNBC urged NATOyes, NATOto declare war against this deadly pathogen, presumably on the principle that a viral aggression against one member nation is an aggression against all.

I have no idea whether declaring war on COVID-19 will eradicate the virus, but it surely wont help with the cliche epidemic.

During my relatively brief lifetime, there have been at least three similar declarations of war: the war on poverty, the war on drugs, and the war on terror. This is the first war declared against a microscopic parasite. Presumably, our rulers previous campaigns against SARS, MERS, H1N1, the Spanish flu, and the Black Death were merely skirmishes, as befitting their relative insignificance.

As in all such portentous state mobilizations, the current one is pure political bombast, worthy of the Miles Gloriosus from Roman comedy. Poverty, drug addiction, and terror are impersonal abstractions, and COVID-19 is an insensate molecule. As such, none of them can be deterred by rhetorical bellicosity.

What we are seeing, as usual, are governments play-acting at war, in the way that children make-believe with their battalions of tin soldiers. The hyperbolic military metaphor merely invites us to ponder the profound un-seriousness of the statist response whenever there is a threat to our safety or economic well-being, and brings to mind the perennial truth of Ronald Reagans maxim that government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

If governments were waging even a metaphorical war on the virus, they would intern all infected residents, all travellers returning from infected countries (i.e., all travellers), and hermetically seal the borders against foreigners. They would not, as for instance in Canada, leave the Roxham Road unauthorized border crossing officially closed but effectively unguarded, or continue to allow direct flights from China to land at major airports, sending passengers on their way with the hopeful exhortation to self-isolate on the honour systemthe equivalent in war of releasing captured enemy soldiers on their word to return to civilian life upon reaching homeand directing others to connecting flights, without a thought for their unsuspecting seat-mates.

If thats war, then its war waged nicely, in the kind and gentle mode of the modern Canadian army, which has long been reduced to a branch of the International Peace Corps.

Meanwhile, based on 12,000 active cases on April 6, 37,577,474 uninfected Canadians (99.97 percent of a population of 37.59 million) are under virtual house arrest, forbidden to go to work, to school, to the mall, to church, to see their doctors or visit their aging relatives, and compelled to wait in long lines outside grocery stores and other essential services (as determined by our omniscient public caregivers, including, until just a few days ago, marijuana dispensaries).

When our prime minister belatedly remonstrated, with his usual avuncular condescension, Enough is enough. Go home and stay home! I assumed his decree was directed at foreign visitors still arriving from the incubation centres of the virus. But it was his own citizens he was confining to their homes, and without the least apology or awareness that in doing so he was behaving like a tyrant and trampling on centuries-old civil liberties. Not even Le Roi Soleil could have imagined that he possessed the legal authority to so transgress against the ancient and natural rights of his subjects.

In the states egalitarian penchant for winking at the palpable threats to public safety while abolishing the freedoms of everyone else, the war against COVID-19 follows the paradigm of the war on terror, in which octogenarian grandmothers pushing walkers are subject to the same onerous security measures at airports as young unmarried males from Saudi Arabia flying solo (lest our protectors be guilty of racial stereotyping). In obeisance to the same progressive sensibilities, every major city in Europe and North America now has its own crime-ridden (and growing) Middle Eastern ghetto. Some war, in which potential enemies are cordially invited to immigrate.

Like the war on poverty (and all such modern welfare state programs), the apodictic consequence of this one will be that an already tumescent bureaucracy will swell like Edmund Spensers monster Orgoglio, spending and the debt will balloon, taxes will rise, individual freedoms will contract, and the problem will remain either unsolved or exacerbated. It is already taken for granted that the states war-footing control over private production will never be completely relaxed; that the extraordinary temporary unemployment benefits governments are dispensing will, as always, incentivize unemployment and be renewed and increased at the next crisis; that the world economy will collapse through the administration of the COVID-19 cure and, of course, millions will be pauperized and tens of thousands will die needlessly as a result.

As we have seen too often in the past, one of the boons to our rulers of conjuring up war fever is to induce among the populace a mood of patriotic credulitywhat in literary fiction Coleridge called the willing suspension of disbeliefin which citizens are even more inclined to accept that their public guardians have their best interests at heart. Even in normal times, Big Government liberals are willing to vest their trusta trust purchased by the governments gift of the wealth it has stolen from othersin the states inherent altruism. The assumption among liberals is that individuals and private businesses are motivated by self-interest and greed; but somehow, once they aggregate in trade unions, bureaucracies, or governments, the channels and sluice gates of original sin become magically stopped up.

The founders of both the United States and Canada understood that government is by instinct despotic, and that the state poses a greater threat to its own citizens than any foreign invader. As Joe Sobran has put it, [T]rust in government is truly crazy. Your own government is your natural enemy. That is why the Framers built all the safeguards we have torn down.

Harley Price has taught courses in religion, philosophy, literature, and history at the University of Toronto, U of Ts School of Continuing Studies, and Tyndale University College. He blogs at Priceton.org.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
(Alliance News) - FTSE 250-listed Energean Oil & Gas PLC on Thursday hailed the findings from a competent persons report at its Karish North offshore asset in Israel.

The report lifted the project's best estimate by 32% to 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 39 million barrels of liquids.

Chief Executive Mathios Rigas said: "I am delighted that 2C resources at Karish North are some 32% ahead of where we had initially expected."

The report was compiled by petroleum consultants DeGolyer & MacNaughton.

Energean added: "D&M's estimates are based on the results of the Karish North exploration and appraisal campaigns that were completed in 2019, coupled with an analysis of the recently re-processed and re-calibrated 3D seismic. The uplift in resource volumes largely results from the new conclusion that the Karish East structure is a part of the Karish North and Karish North-East structures, which were included in Energean's original resource estimates."

Shares in the company were 2.8% higher at 770.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
An NHS doctor volunteering to treat coronavirus patients was left homeless after he was evicted by his landlord and told to live in a tent.

Consultant geriatrician Vincent Okafor, 57, said his landlord thought he might be infected and bring the killer bug into the property.

He was given five days' notice to vacate his rented accommodation on March 23.

Dr Okafor had moved to Hereford from Birmingham last month after offering to work on the NHS frontline to try to save lives in the coronavirus outbreak.

One potential landlady suggested that he bought a tent to live in after she asked the doctor whether he had offered to help fight coronavirus.

Vincent Okafor, 57, was evicted from his rented accommodation and said his landlord feared he would bring coronavirus into the property

He said: 'I thought to myself, even if I were to do that. Where would I pitch up? At the KFC car park?'

He emailed 15 people who the hospital suggested but Dr Okafor could still not find accommodation.

He said: 'My landlord served me a verbal eviction order to pack out of his property.

'His reason was that since I work at the hospital and treat the elderly, I was likely to bring the virus to his house.

'I didnt have anywhere to stay to help the people I was recruited to come and help.'

He added: 'I was emailing people without knowing where their properties in Hereford were. I was desperate at the time.'

Dr Okafor parked up in the hospital car park on the day he was due to be evicted on March 27 with his luggage and nowhere to sleep.

Luckily, he was offered a place to stay at the last minute by a former neighbour which he says 'restored his faith in humanity'.

Dr Okafor, who usually works at Warwick Hospital, says he bears no animosity towards his former landlord.

He added: 'I got talking to someone I met in Folly Lane and he offered me a place to stay for a short while.

Dr Okafor had been living with Dr Adil El Tayar, 64, who became the first working NHS surgeon to die from coronavirus on March 25

'The guy has been very good. Ive been in contact with him since and he has offered me more short-stay accommodation if needed.

'That was very nice of him.

'I suppose in every community there are always going to be very good people and not-so-good people.'

Dr Okafor had been living with Dr Adil El Tayar, 64, on Folly Lane who became the first working NHS surgeon to die from the killer bug on March 25.

Dr El Tayar had left for London two weeks before Dr Okafor was evicted and died at West Middlesex University Hospital.

Orthopaedic surgeon Joseph Alsousou set up rooms4nhs.com after he was asked to leave his accommodation over coronavirus fears

Dr Okafor self-isolated for a week in Hereford to see if he developed symptoms before returning to his family in Birmingham last Friday.

He said: 'I wanted to make sure I had no coronavirus symptoms before returning home.

'I dont know when I will go back to work.

'I want to take some time to recover and see how the pandemic plays out. There are promising signs but its still too early to see.'

Paying tribute to his colleague Dr El Tayar, he added: 'It came as a shock. Only a couple of weeks ago we had been living together and sharing meals.

'He was a very nice guy. He used to cook and invite us all to eat with him.

'He was well travelled. Oman, Saudia Arabia and Qatar: he told us about all these places and explained the situation in Sudan and South Sudan.

'We would just sit down and talk about many things.

'He was a really nice person. He was going to retire in two years time and his plan was to go back to Sudan. He wanted to set up a foundation to help the people there.'

Orthopaedic surgeon Joseph Alsousou, who works for Oxford University Hospitals NHS foundation trust, was also asked to leave his accommodation over coronavirus fears.

He set up rooms4nhs.com aimed at matching NHS staff who need accommodation and members of the public or businesses who offer rooms for free or discounted rates.

Paramedic Joseph Hoar, who works for the South Western Ambulance Service, was evicted by his landlady by text.

She told him to move out and get an 'Airbnb'. She had said she was 'nervous' about having a tenant who works for the NHS.
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Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force (TNDRF) personnel stop a bike rider to spread awareness on the importance of staying home in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (PTI)

Chennai: Amid first reports of four doctors infected by the Covid-19 coronavirus in Tamil Nadu, the total number of positive cases shot up to 738, with 48 patients testing positive on Wednesday alone.

Health secretary Beela Rajesh confirmed that four doctors have been affected by the virus so far, besides a few lab technicians. Their details are still being collected.

Of the 48 coronavirus positive cases reported on Wednesday, Dr Rajesh said 42 of them are "from one single source" (a reference to returnee from the Tablighi Jamaat meet in New Delhi).

Of them, eight persons had travelled together, 33 are their contacts and one is a foreigner (a Malaysian).

Six others who tested positive include two who have a travel history and four whose details are still being sought, the health secretary pointed out.

To a question whether there were more than 1,500 persons from Tamil Nadu who reportedly visited the Tablighi meet in Delhi in March, Dr Beela Rajesh said so far as per police, intelligence and health department inputs, they have a "reconciled" figure of 1,480 persons. If there are more people they should self-declare, she urged.

Giving the break-up of the 679 positive cases "from a single source (returnees from the Tablighi meet), out of the total of 738 positive cases till date, Dr Rajesh said of the former seven are foreigners, 14 their contacts, 553 persons who traveled in a group and 105 their contacts.

Apart from the above, there are 59 others who have tested positive, of whom 26 have a 'travel history' and 33 "are contacts of those who traveled."

The positive cases for coronavirus from a single source as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, account for 91.50 per cent of the total positives.

Stating that the "aggressively implemented" Containment Plan (CP) to curb the virus spiral was going on in full swing and now covered 34 districts in the State, she said the total number of houses surveyed so far was 15,66,448 and the population screened was 53,67,238.

As many as 30,668 field workers are doing this job, she said.

While there was no rise in the deaths till Wednesday evening, since it touched eight on Tuesday night after a patient dying in Vellore, Dr Beela Rajesh said in the Vellore case, that patient was already in the hospital and the first test for the virus was "inconclusive".

It was during the second test, that the Vellore patient tested positive, she said, adding, despite best treatment, it was the "sudden deterioration" of such patients which is a "huge challenge to the whole world."

"This has been the nature of the disease, the sudden deterioration that happens. It is a new disease and we do the RNA test of the virus and in many cases it is inconclusive," the officer explained.

There were also cases of successful treatment, she pointed out, adverting to 21 patients discharged so far, including a 72-year-old man successfully treated at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai.

To another query, she said there were enough N-95 masks on hand for field level staff and there were manufacturers in Tirupur who could make these masks and the new ones were under quality certification now.

To a related question, the health secretary said there was no shortage of chlorophyll tablets, adding, "we have procured well in advance."

Patient escapes in Villupuram

Late on Wednesday evening, a report from Villupuram said, a 30-year-old patient from Delhi, Nitin Sharma, admitted to the coronavirus ward at the Government medical college hospital there, had "escaped" from the ward.
(Bloomberg) -- New York state reported the fewest hospitalizations since the outbreak began even as it recorded the most deaths in a 24-hour period. The top U.S. infectious-disease expert said the final death toll may be lower than earlier estimated.

Spain is poised to extend a nationwide lockdown, a step also being considered by Italy. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken out of intensive care and moved back to the main hospital ward.

Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve acted to provide as much as $2.3 trillion in aid, even as huge numbers of Americans again applied for jobless benefits.

Key Developments:

Global cases top 1.5 million; deaths pass 93,000: Johns HopkinsSpain, Italy to extend lockdowns amid persistent rise in casesCostly CT scans filling virus testing void for U.S. doctorsUBS, Credit Suisse will split payouts for 2019 into two installmentsSouth Koreas CDC says virus may reactivate in cured patients

Rhode Island Surge; Michigan Deaths Top 1,000 (4:21 p.m. NY)

A surge in Rhode Island helped push U.S. coronavirus cases higher Thursday, with infections growing by double-digit percentages in a dozen states.

U.S. cases rose 7.5% to 451,491, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Thats below the average 10% daily increase over the week.

In New York -- the hardest-hit state -- deaths reached a new high while hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since the crisis started. It reported 799 dead and 200 hospitalizations in the past 24 hours. New cases in the state rose 7.1% to 159,937, eclipsing the numbers in Italy and Spain.

New Jersey cases rose 7.6% to 51,027, the fifth-straight day of increases of 10% or less. The state, which has the second-highest number of infections, expects to reach the peak of the outbreak in two to three days.

Elsewhere:

Rhode Island had the biggest daily increase, with cases rising 41%, to 1,727California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state had a decrease in the number of people with the virus in intensive care units -- 1,132, a 1.9% drop from Wednesday. Newsom asked residents not to interpret the positive news as a trend.Michigan, the state with the third-highest number of cases, hit a grim milestone, with deaths jumping more than 100 to surpass 1,000 in total. Cases increased 5.7% to 21,504.

Story continues

French President Meets Malaria Drug Backer (4:21 p.m. NY)

French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Marseille to meet with Didier Raoult, the doctor and researcher who put hydroxychloroquine on the map as a Covid-19 treatment. He stayed at the hospital Raoult heads for more than three hours and was shown the teams latest research.

South Africa Extends Lockdown (3 p.m. NY)

South Africa extended a nationwide lockdown by two weeks to April 30, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised speech. While the nation is at very beginning of a monumental struggle against coronavirus, Ramaphosa said evidence shows the lockdown is working. South Africa has 1,934 cases up from 1,845 on Wednesday.

N.J. Expects Peak in 2 to 3 Days (2:30 p.m. NY)

New Jersey expects to reach the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in two to three days, the states health commissioner said.

At its high point, the state expects 14,400 residents to be hospitalized from Covid-19 and as many as 1,880 patients in intensive care, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Thursday at a press briefing.

New Jersey has about 7,363 residents hospitalized, and 1,523 in ICU, Governor Phil Murphy reported. He also pointed to signs that social distancing is helping to slow the rate of infection across the state.

Last week, cases in numerous counties were doubling every three days. Murphy on Thursday pointed to a current map showing no counties with that high rate.

Raab Says Too Soon to End U.K. Limits (1:20 p.m. NY)

Its too soon for the U.K. to relax the lockdown imposed almost three weeks ago that was set to end Monday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a televised briefing.

Deaths are still rising, and we still havent seen the peak of the virus, he said.

U.K. deaths rose by 881 to bring the total to 7,978. Patrick Vallance, the governments chief scientific adviser, warned he expects the number of deaths to increase for a few weeks.

Raab, in charge of the government while Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in critical care with the virus, said the premier is still in intensive care and is making progress: Hes in good spirits.

Italys Deaths, Cases Rise (12:15 p.m. NY)

Italy reported a higher number of new coronavirus cases and deaths as the government considers extending a national lockdown.

Civil protection authorities reported 4,204 new cases, up from 3,836 a day earlier. Italy registered 610 deaths in the past 24 hours, compared with 542 the day before. Total fatalities reached 18,279.

The countrys decision to ramp up testing is probably behind the recent pickup, as more previously unreported cases are discovered. Italy conducted almost 100,000 in the past two days.Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is preparing to extend the national lockdown that ends April 13 for another two weeks, said officials who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential issue.

N.Y. Hospitalizations Drop (12:10 p.m. NY)

New York City reported a record 824 deaths in 24 hours, a grim sign that despite flattening infection curves and lower hospital admissions, the crisis in the largest U.S. city is far from over.

Statewide, the rate worsened with 799 new deaths on Thursday, 779 the previous day and 731 the day before that. The city and state take snapshots at different times during the day, which may account for the discrepancy in reporting.

At his daily briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo reported only 200 net new hospitalizations over 24 hours, the lowest number since the crisis broke out. That number had been as high as 1,400. But Cuomo is urging people to keep social distancing practices in place and keep the progress going.

Turkey Aids Israel With Medical Gear (11:30 a.m. NY)

Turkey approved the sale of medical equipment on humanitarian grounds to Israel, including face masks, protective overalls and sterile gloves. Israel is expected to allow a similar shipment of Turkish aid to reach Palestinian authorities without delay, according to a senior Turkish official in Ankara.

Three planes from Israel are expected Thursday at an air base near Incirlik to pick the cargo, said the official, who asked not to be named discussing the sensitive issue. Turkey will donate medical aid for the Palestinians within the next few days, the official said.

Israeli authorities werent immediately available for comment on Thursday, which is a public holiday in the country.

Africa Has Chance to Contain Outbreak: WHO (10:40 a.m. NY)

Much of the African continent still has a chance to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said at its weekly Africa briefing. While a few African countries are experiencing a rapid increase in local transmissions, more than 30 nations can still prevent a larger outbreak by testing, contact tracing and isolating patients, the WHO said.

Merkel Says Tighter Measures Likely Unnecessary (9:56 a.m. NY)

Tighter measures to contain the coronavirus in Germany probably wont be necessary as the slowing spread of the disease gives grounds for cautious hope, Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.

GE Sees Cash Flow Keeping Pace Despite Hit to Earnings (9:28 a.m. NY)

General Electric Co. said its first-quarter cash flow will be in line with expectations even as the outbreak brings profit materially below its prior projection. GE withdrew its forecast for the full year.

Canadas Curve May Be Flattening (9:17 a.m. NY)

Three weeks after the governments of Canadas three most populous provinces told their 28.4 million residents to stay home, the measures appear to be working. The provinces, which have three-quarters of Canadas people, have recorded just 1.2 deaths from Covid-19 per 100,000 residents. That compares with 32 for New York, 10 for Michigan and 6 for Washington.

Canadas coronavirus case count has been increasing slower than most countries, said Theresa Tam, the nations chief public health officer. The number doubles every three to five days. The government expects between 22,580 to 31,850 cases by April 16, which could mean 500 to 700 total deaths, Tam said.

Morgan Stanleys CEO Says He Had Virus, Now Recovered (9:10 a.m. NY)

Gorman told staff he contracted coronavirus and has since recovered. He had flu-like symptoms last month and tested positive, he said in a message to the banks employees. Gorman was never hospitalized, self-isolated in his home and has been cleared by his doctor.

Fed Announces Plan for Muni, Business Aid; Jobless Claims (8:43 a.m. NY)

The steps announced include starting programs to aid small and mid-sized businesses, as well as state and local governments.

A total of 6.61 million Americans filed jobless claims in the week ended April 4, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday. That exceeded a median forecast of 5.5 million.

Deaths in Sweden Increase Amid Relatively Relaxed Stance (8:41 a.m. NY)

Sweden reported 106 more virus-related deaths on Thursday, taking the total to 793, on par with the daily gains reported in the past week. The Nordic country is under scrutiny as it continues to experiment with a laxer policy response compared with the rest of Europe. Restaurants, shopping centers and primary schools all remain open in Scandinavias biggest economy. Deaths in Sweden continue to outpace its Nordic neighbors, which implemented stricter measures to curb the spread early on, and are now discussing how to lift them.

U.S. Virus Fatalities Looking More Like 60,000, Fauci Says (8:10 a.m. NY)

I believe we are going to see a downturn and projections look more like the 60,000 than the 100,000 to 200,000, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci said in response to an NBC interview question about virus fatality models. Fauci said he thinks the U.S. is starting to see a flattening of the curve in New York. I dont want to jump the gun on that but I think that is the case, he said.

Pfizer to Develop Vaccine by Year-End (8 a.m. NY)

Pfizer and BioNTech said they will jointly develop a vaccine for Covid-19, potentially supplying millions of doses by the end of 2020. The two companies plan to jointly conduct the first clinical trials as early as the end of April, assuming regulatory clearance. Clinical trials for the vaccine candidates will initially be in the U.S. and Europe across multiple sites.

Earlier, IBio jumped 25% in pre-market trading after reaching an agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute to support development of a vaccine for Covid-19. And Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding got an FDA may proceed letter to begin a Phase 2 trial of intranasal vazegepant to treat lung inflammation after COVID-19 infection.

U.K. PM Johnson Continues to Improve (7:58 a.m. NY)

The prime minister had a good night and continues to improve in intensive care in St Thomas Hospital, Boris Johnsons spokesman James Slack told reporters. Johnson is receiving standard oxygen treatment, Slack said. U.K. officials are drawing up plans to extend the lockdown and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will chair a meeting of the governments emergency committee at 3:30 p.m.

World Hunger Could Double (7:56 a.m. NY)

The number of people going hungry around the world could double in just a few months as the pandemic wreaks havoc on food supplies and hurts incomes, according to a group of major food companies, industry bodies and academics. The number of those suffering from chronic hunger may surge from about 800 million.

Charity group Oxfam had earlier warned the economic hit from coronavirus threatens to put more than half a billion people into poverty unless countries take action to cushion the blow.

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Warning issued after elderly and vulnerable residents in Rhos and Borras are targeted by doorstep scammers

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 9th, 2020

Households across Wrexham are being warned of cruel doorstep scammers using the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to target elderly and vulnerable residents.

Wrexham Trading Standards has been informed by North Wales Police of a number of recent scams that have took place in the local area.

In Rhos, an attempt was made to scam cash from an elderly gentleman by men who were claiming to be chartered surveyors.

A vulnerable lady with no family was targeted in the Borras area was scammed after she contacted an aerial company.

The men took her bank card and withdrew 200 from her account without permission.

Elsewhere there has been a number of scam calls supposedly from Flintshire Council, with the scammers asking people for their bank details for a payment to continue to empty your black bin.

Nationally, the BBC have also reported that an 83 year-old lady with dementia was barged in upon at her home by a conman, who demanded a 220 payment from her.

These are all examples of how the current situation is being used to pressure vulnerable people into making ill-informed decisions that leave them out of pocket.

Wrexham Trading Standards advise that if youre not expecting anyone, DONT open the door. If you do open the door, say youre not interested and close the door behind you. NEVER engage with these people on the doorstepthat way they dont take your money, they dont come into your home, and youre kept safe.

Never disclose your personal details and never give bank or payment card details if youre uncertain. And please remember, particularly during these difficult times, that were all targets for scammers in one form or another so please take extra care and ask yourself is this a scam?

The Citizens Advice Consumer Service has updated their scam awareness pages with COVID-19 scam advice. You can check if something might be a scam or what to do if you, or someone you know, has been scammed.

If youd like advice about scams or if you need to report a scam, please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133. Theyll also be happy to provide general consumer advice.
A few weeks back (but what seems like a different world now) we told you about the Playing for Change project, which features covers of well loved pop songs played by a group of international musiciansthe gimmick being that each musician is recorded in their own country and only come together in the mix.

Suddenly, it seems that Playing for Change was ahead of the curve, because this is the way the entire world is living right now. People are making art in quarantine, joining together only through the magic of 21st century technology.

But in honor of the passing of Bill Withers, who left us last week at 81 (not, we should mention, because of COVID-19), heres Playing for Change with their version of Lean on Me. Withers message of love and community is exactly what we need right now.

In a 2015 Rolling Stone profile Questlove called him the last African-American EverymanJordans vertical jump has to be higher than everyone. Michael Jackson has to defy gravity. On the other side of the coin, were often viewed as primitive animals. We rarely land in the middle. Bill Withers is the closest thing black people have to a Bruce Springsteen.

That article adds that Withers was so long out of the spotlight that many already thought he was dead. And now hes passed during a grim time, it seemed like there was one full day to mourn him before the next round of mortal coil shufflings. (Were here to celebrate him for a little bit longer).

This cover features Renard Poche (New Orleans) on guitar, Roberto Luvi (Livorno, Italy) on slide, Grandpa Eliot (New Orleans), Clarence Bekker (Amsterdam), Saritah (Melbourne, Australia), and Titi Tsira (Gugulethu, South Africa) on vocals, aided by Keiko Komaki (Kagoshima, Japan) on keyboards, Toby Williams (Chicago) on drums, One eat One (Livorno, Italy) on electronics, Mariachi group Las Rosas Angelinas (Los Angeles) on strings, Alanna Vicente (Los Angeles) on trombone, and the children of Tintale Village in Nepal on harmonium.

The track was originally commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for The Art of Saving a Life, which aims to tell the story of vaccines and their importance to children over the world. (I would hope that we understand the urgency of vaccines right about now.)

Bill Withers was an accidental hitmaker, a natural tunesmith, who didnt enter the business until his 30s and then dropped out of it less than ten years later. No comeback tour, no duets with an up-and-coming star. (Though Questlove was determined to produce one final album). What he has left is timeless, and his music is still there to get us through these troubling times.

Related Content:

Remembering American Songwriting Legend John Prine (RIP): A True Folk Singer in the Best Folk Tradition

Deconstructing Stevie Wonders Ode to Jazz and His Hero Duke Ellington: A Great Breakdown of Sir Duke

Musicians Around the World Play The Bands Classic Song, The Weight, with Help from Robbie Robertson and Ringo Starr

Ted Mills is a freelance writer on the arts who currently hosts the Notes from the Shed podcast and is the producer of KCRWs Curious Coast. You can also follow him on Twitter at @tedmills, and/or watch his films here.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --Several manufacturers are now ready to ship millions of FDA-certified nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, which are used in testing for SARS-CoV-2, causative agent of Covid-19. Until now, there has been an acute shortage of the swabs, contributing to a bottleneck in coronavirus testing. The rapidly deployed manufacturing capacity, which came online following an intensive, consortium-led design and testing program, is enough to meet the nation's needs and produce supplies for export.

Hospital procurement officers and state emergency agencies can find a list of the manufactures now taking orders for these swabs at a newly launched website.

Responding to the dramatic national shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs, which continues to be a limiting step in test capacity, a consortium of industry, academia and government was formed to rapidly solve the problem. Over the past three weeks, more than one hundred people worked non-stop at major industrial companies, university medical centers and engineering schools, entrepreneurial businesses, and military labs.

As a result of their efforts, the 3D-printed diagnostic test swabs of five qualified manufacturers were certified in bench tests and clinical trials. These new products showed equal or superior performance compared to flocked swabs, the previous-generation technology which was considered the gold standard before this crisis began. Collectively, the companies can dramatically increase coronavirus test capacity by producing more than 4 million NP swabs per week, manufactured in FDA-registered ISO13485 facilities.

The ad hoc consortium was organized and led by Kit Parker, professor of bioengineering and applied physics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and Ric Fulop, CEO of 3D printing company Desktop Metals. Ramy Arnaout, assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, coordinated the clinical laboratory testing of the swabs.

###

Consortium members included Harvard University, Desktop Metals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center, USF Health, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Formlabs, Resolution Medical, Origin, Envisiontec, HP, Neurophotometrics, and Opt Industries.
Two planes carrying Eastern European farm workers arrived Thursday in Berlin and Duesseldorf amid strict precautions to protect the country from the new coronavirus as an ambitious German program to import seasonal workers to help work the fields got underway.

Seasonal workers had been caught up in the country's ban on travel after the outbreak of the coronavirus, leaving a massive deficit in personnel available in German fields, which employed some 300,000 such workers last year.

Most of those workers came from Eastern European countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Hungary, where wages are much lower than Germany, Europe's largest economy.

Under the new program, workers need to fly into the country in controlled groups to prevent the possible infection of others en route, and are subject to medical checks upon arrival.

They then have to live and work separately from other farmhands for two weeks and wear protective gear.

The German Agriculture Minister Julia Kloecker said it was a "pragmatic and goal-oriented solution" that would allow up to 40,000 seasonal workers into the country in April, and another 40,000 in May.

Workers need have their information checked by the German federal police, then registered with Eurowings, the airline contracted to bring the workers in.

So far, 9,900 people had registered for April and another 4,300 for May.

The first 530 people are a group of workers from Romania that arrived on Thursday in Duesseldorf and Berlin.

Further flights were already planned to Duesseldorf, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Frankfurt.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
(Natural News) The independent media has been afflicted with a dangerous new contagion that Im calling Stupid-19. Its characterized by people who believe viruses arent real and that, in their view, all the covid-19 deaths around the globe have been faked in order to trick the public.

Conspiracy analyst David Icke has now emerged as the poster child for Stupid-19. In a popular new interview, David Icke claims all the following bizarre things:

That there is no covid-19 virus.

That PCR gene analysis technology doesnt work.

That all the deaths would have happened anyway, but are being re-categorized as covid-19 through some grand conspiracy involving tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and coroners.

That all healthy cells in healthy people excrete covid-19-like virus material when stressed, which is why covid-19 tests keep finding covid-19.

That ANYONE can test positive for covid-19 since the test only spots routine genetic material thats found in the body of every living person.

That doctors can ramp up or ramp down the number of infections they want to find by simply altering the PCR replication of genetic material in test samples.

According to Icke, all the 100+ nations around the world have faked their own economic collapse scenarios, faked all the cremations of dead bodies and rigged lockdowns for no reason in order to pull off some sort of global prank.

Icke claims covid-19 is actually being caused by 5G cell towers alone. This is unfortunate since 5G exposure may be a co-factor in the loss of structure and function of hemoglobin molecules in red blood cells, but thats only a co-factor. 5G alone cannot explain the exponential spread of the coronavirus which almost perfectly follows the spread pattern of a transmissible infectious pathogen.

Watch my video below, explaining the rise of #Stupid-19 across the independent media.

David Icke is now infecting the independent media with horribly wrong disinformation that defies logic and reason

Sadly, David Icke not only embarrasses himself with Stupid-19 theories that defy rationality, by extension he mocks those across the independent media who have now embraced his views. Its almost as if the pro-Trump indy media has lost two hundred years of scientific knowledge and now no longer believes in the germ theory. It is no coincidence that many of these same people also quite literally believe the Earth is flat. (Not a joke, they really do.)

As much as I am criticized by mainstream media for questioning the safety of vaccine ingredients (which really can be dangerous), it turns out that Im actually among the most science-educated persons in independent media, and I find myself now arguing with others in the industry who cant solve basic math problems and dont understand the difference between atomic elements, molecules, proteins and chromosomes. To them, its all one giant mish-mash of foreign concepts, which is why David Icke manages to gather an audience of similarly science-illiterate people who think that what hes saying makes sense.

I dont think David Icke should be censored, mind you. Everybody should have the right to speak (including myself, and Im the most censored pro-science voice in the world), but the only reason Icke has an audience on this subject is because the masses of illiterate people also suffer from Stupid-19. If basic science education were more widespread in America, Icke would be largely ignored, and the guy who interviewed him  Brian Rose of LondonReal.tv  wouldnt have allowed his platform to be used to spread horribly wrong disinformation that will quite literally lead to people being killed by complacency.

Interestingly, Brian Rose has also interviewed Neil Degrasse-Tyson, who no doubt would vehemently disagree with David Ickes claim that viruses arent real and that covid-19 isnt caused by an infectious disease at all. Yet during the interview with David Icke, Brian Rose didnt challenge Ickes bizarro worldview. He let Icke roll out extremely bad misinformation grounded in science illiteracy without halting him with basic questions like, If the virus isnt real, then why did China enforce draconian quarantine measures that nearly destroyed its domestic economy in order to stop the spread of the virus?

Apparently, David Icke believes that China, Iran, Italy, Spain, France, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, the UK, the United States and nearly a hundred other countries all got together and simultaneously agreed to run a global lockdown hoax and destroy their own domestic economies as part of a worldwide hoax. Thats literally what he believes. Such a belief is insane. There is no scenario under which all those countries would shake hands and agree to destroy their own domestic economies for a hoax.

No choice but to denounce such views as insane and dangerous

Today, I must denounce David Icke and anyone else who claims the coronavirus is a hoax. Anyone spouting such nonsense deserves to be ignored (not censored, but rationally rejected by the rest of us).

The latest theory of Stupid-19 claims that none of the covid-19 deaths are real because the people who died had underlying health conditions. Therefore, the narrative goes, nobody really died from covid-19. Thats insane. Nearly everybody who dies from any cause has underlying health conditions. People who die from cancer also typically have cardiovascular issues or blood sugar problems. People who die of pneumonia often have hypertension or early stage cancer. Almost nobody just dies in perfect health except by accidents. Yet according to the Stupid-19 promoters, anyone who had an underlying health condition at all must not be counted as dying from covid-19.

Thats not an argument. Its just a demonstration of Stupid-19.

A similar argument is that, Those people would have died anyway. But thats true for everyone, all the time. Everybody is going to die anyway. The real question is what killed them today? And right now covid-19 is the No. 1 cause of death in America on a day-to-day basis. Yet because of people like David Icke, a very large number of independent media followers are convinced its all fake. That encourages them to avoid wearing masks or washing hands, thereby encouraging the further spread of the infections that are getting people killed by the thousands each day in America alone.

David Icke and other pandemic denialists are complicit in the deaths of these people. They share the responsibility for those deaths.

LondonReal (Brian Rose) is also complicit in these deaths, in my opinion. If Brian Rose had any ethics at all, he would not allow his platform to be used to spread the kind of dangerous disinformation that literally gets people killed. He should have stopped David Icke at the statement, There is no virus and challenged him on that point. (Rose is no idiot. Hes highly educated and he knows David Icke is spewing nonsense. But Rose is enjoying the sudden spike in popularity, which means hes interviewing David Icke basically as a form of video click bait.)

I also find it highly disturbing that InfoWars is lending a platform to both David Icke and Brian Rose, furthering their spread of dangerous disinformation that threatens public health. Im a fill-in host on InfoWars, and each time I appear, I use the time to attempt to educate InfoWars listeners about the scientific principles that are clearly at work with this pandemic, yet I find that nearly all the other guests (and many hosts) are pandemic denialists with no scientific education whatsoever. Im fighting against a tidal wave of ignorance, and it is increasingly obvious that the effort is pointless.

Stupid-19 is very real and very dangerous. Stupid-19 isnt caused by a virus, but it is caused by stupid people opening their mouths and spouting brain-damaged theories rooted in a stunning lack of basic science education. Its time that someone from independent media spoke out against the Stupid-19 phenomenon and stated the obvious. That person, it appears, is me.

Let the attacks against me commence. Im used to it. But Ive got logic, reason and the facts on my side, and Im not bending my beliefs just to conform to a group of incredible ill-informed individuals whose dangerous disinformation is truly a clear and present danger to public health.

Im not in favor of censorship, but I do think we should exercise discernment. And David Ickes bizarre, wrongheaded theory about covid-19 should be rejected by all free-thinking individuals. Any who follow David Ickes wrongheaded beliefs may not only risk their own safety, they may also place others at risk as well.

But the self-reinforcing delusions of David Icke allow him to say none of those deaths are his fault, since he believes all the deaths are being faked in the first place. As people are dying by the thousands, Icke excuses his own role in furthering those deaths by claiming its all a grand global conspiracy to silence people like him.

This is a sad day for the independent media and a sad day for humanity. Its a sad day for me personally, too, because I had no choice but to publish this denouncement, even knowing it would result in me being widely criticized by those who follow Icke. David Icke has had many fine moments of analysis throughout his career, and he was brilliant on 9/11. But hes insane when it comes to covid-19 and infectious disease.

David Icke and Brian Rose owe the world an apology.
Hindi News

International

People In Britain Are Blaming 5G Technology For Corona, Cabinet Minister Calls It Silly

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Exactly a month after Maharashtra registered its first of coronavirus disease Covid-19, Indias worst-affected state has 1,297 infected patients and recorded 72 deaths. From Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, the state reported 162 more cases. Of this, 143 have been reported in Mumbai, three each in Pune and Aurangabad, two in Pimpri-Chinchwad and one each in Vasai-Virar, Yavatmal and Sindhudurg.

On Thursday morning, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also released an updated list of the containment zones in the city. Mumbai has 381 containment or no-go zones in total.

Mumbai continues to be the hardest hit with 714 cases and 45 deaths. Mumbais Dharavi, with one of the largest slums in Asia, recorded its second death on Wednesday and 13 Covid-19 positive cases. The state crossed the 1000-mark in 30 days, with a mortality rate double than that of the entire country.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that numbers are increasing as the government has launched door-to-door surveys. We do not wait for patients to come. We have increases tests in Mumbai and Pune, Thackeray said in his address to the state.

On March 9, Maharashtra reported its first case of Covid-19 when a couple in Pune were tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 virus. The couple had returned from Dubai. The next day, three more people in the city, who has come in contact with the couple, tested positive.

The state government maintains that Maharashtra is still on stage 2, where disease transmission is limited to those with travel history and those who come in contact with the infected person. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the state is yet to enter stage three. He also said that although the numbers are increasing, its not multiplying. 117 patients, of the 1,135, have been cured and discharged till date, he said.

Amidst this speculation of community transmission, Mumbai civic body on Wednesday made it mandatory for citizens to wear masks in public places. Failing to wear masks may result in offenders getting arrested under section 188 of the Indian penal code.
The French cookware maker Le Creuset is well-known for making high-quality products, particularly its colorful dutch ovens, but it isnt known for its sales.

But now the French brands website says that customers can get 20 percent off for the first time ever.

If youre taking up cooking and baking in quarantine, it might be worth taking a look at what Le Creuset has to offer. We rounded up a selection of items on sale below.

Price: $124 (reg. $155)

One of Le Creusets most popular products, the Round Dutch Oven, has a 1-quart capacity. The Dutch Oven is perfect for braising, slow-cooking and roasting. Its known for cooking food evenly. Le Creuset pioneered enameled cast-iron nearly a century ago.

Price: $96 (reg. $120)

This cast-iron skillet has a special matte black enamel coating, unlike traditional skillets. Its made for frying, sauteing and searing food. This skillet doesnt need seasoning or much maintenance.

Price: $525 (reg. $700)

If youre looking to overhaul your cookware, you might want to consider investing in this Signature Set. The set comes in nine different colors and comes with 5  qt. round Dutch oven, 1  qt. signature saucepan and 9-inch signature skillet.

Price: $210 (reg. $252)

Le Creuset doesnt only make cookware, they make elegant dining sets as well. This set comes with Four 10 -inch dinner plates, four salad plates, four soup bowls and four mugs.

Price: $88 (reg. $110)

Le Creuset claims that this non-stick frying pan will never chip or flake. Plus, you wont have to use so much oil when you cook due to the way the frying pans surface was made. The pans aluminum core will ensure that the pan will adjust quickly to changes in heat for better control while cooking.

Price: $25.50 (reg. $32)

All across the country, people have decided to bake bread in quarantine. If you want to start baking, think about investing in this loaf pan. Made out of heavy-gauge carbon, the pan heats evenly. Its also equipped with a wide rim made out of silicone, which makes the pan easier to grab.

Price: $28.80 (reg. $36)

Make pizza from scratch, make your frozen pizza or simply reheat your leftover pizza with the help of this pizza pan. The small holes will ensure that the dough cooks evenly. This pan also has heat-resistant silicon tabs, so it makes it easier to take pizza out of the oven.
Regulatory News:

IMPLANET (Paris:ALIMP) (Euronext Growth: ALIMP, FR0013470168, eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plans), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral and knee-surgery implants, informs its shareholders that its Annual shreaholder meeting behind closed doors was held on Tuesday 7 April 2020 at 2:00 pm at the company's registered office in Martillac.

The number of shares held by the shareholders present or represented was 570,104, representing a quorum of 26.29%.

All the resolutions of this Annual shreaholder meeting were adopted.

The minutes of the shareholders' meeting will be available within the legal deadlines on the Company's website: https://www.implanet-invest.com/general-meeting

Upcoming financial events:

Q1 2020 revenue, April 21st, 2020 after market close

About Implanet

Founded in 2007, Implanet is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its activity revolves around two product ranges, the latest generation JAZZ implant, designed to improve the treatment of spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery, and the MADISON implant designed for first-line prosthetic knee surgery. Implanet's tried-and-tested orthopedic platform is based on product traceability. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ and MADISON have obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, the CE mark as well as the ANVISA authorization in Brazil. Implanet employs 36 staff and recorded 2019 sales of 7.4 million. For further information, please visit www.implanet.com. Based near Bordeaux in France, Implanet established a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013. Implanet is listed on Euronext Growth market in Paris. The Company would like to remind that the table for monitoring the equity line (OCA, OCAPI, BSA) and the number of shares outstanding, is available on its website: http://www.implanet-invest.com/suivi-des-actions-80

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005446/en/

Contacts:

Implanet

Ludovic Lastennet, CEO

David Dieumegard, CFO

Tel.: +33(0)5 57 99 55 55

investors@Implanet.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Sandrine Boussard-Gallien

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

implanet@newcap.eu

NewCap

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

implanet@newcap.eu
Taiwan hit back Thursday after the chief of the World Health Organization accused the island's government of participating in a racist campaign to smear and intimidate him, deepening the political furor surrounding an agency in the crosshairs of the Trump administration for its alleged pro-China bias.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said the allegations by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were groundless and demanded an apology from the United Nations official a day after he told reporters in Geneva that Taiwan has been abetting a campaign of racist slurs and death threats against him for the past three months.

Tedros, a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, has faced growing criticism of his handling of the covid-19 outbreak since January, when the U.N. body repeatedly backed positions espoused by the Chinese government and praised Beijing's epidemic response.

In the weeks since, Chinese dissidents, anti-Beijing activists and people in Hong Kong and Taiwan have flooded social media with posts that accuse Tedros of lying on behalf of China's government, as well as cartoons that show the director general blinded by the Chinese Communist Party - a stew of intensely politicized content that at times has veered into abuse.

"Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care," Tedros said Wednesday in an uncharacteristic outburst.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said Thursday it "in no way encouraged" any personal attacks and condemned "any form of discrimination."

But the WHO has faced legitimate criticism and anger over its conduct in the past three months, the ministry countered.

"There have been questions about its handling of the situation," the Foreign Ministry said. "In democratic societies, people should be able to express these opinions freely."

Taiwanese officials last month accused the WHO of ignoring warnings submitted by the island as early as December about a potential coronavirus outbreak - information that was never publicized to the WHO's member nations because the island is locked out of the organization under a policy that does not recognize Taiwanese statehood.

China considers the self-governed island of 23 million people to be its territory and does not permit countries, international organizations and multinational corporations to formally recognize Taiwan if they wish to enjoy diplomatic or commercial ties with mainland China.

Still, in a Facebook post on Thursday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen invited Tedros to visit.

"For years, we have been excluded from international organizations, and we know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated," Tsai wrote. "I want to take this opportunity to invite Director General Tedros to visit Taiwan and experience for himself how committed the Taiwanese people are to engaging with and contributing to the world, even in the face of discrimination and isolation."

The recriminations between Taiwan, a U.S. ally, and the WHO, which has been criticized as being increasingly China-friendly, are playing out against the backdrop of U.S.-China tensions.

American officials have homed in on the question of China's influence at the WHO. The issue took center stage this week after President Trump threatened to "put a very powerful hold" on U.S. contributions to the U.N. agency's $6 billion biennial budget because he believed the agency to be too "China-centric."

In a radio interview this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the WHO "hasn't lived up to its billing," but he dismissed the suggestion that Washington should seek a change in the organization's leadership.

Beyond the Trump administration, some international experts, including current WHO advisers, have publicly questioned whether the agency hewed too closely to the Chinese government's positions, particularly as the outbreak came into view during the crucial month of January.

In the middle of that month, the WHO reiterated the Chinese position that there was a low possibility of human-to-human transmission and discouraged countries from banning visitors from China - positions it later overturned. The organization also echoed the Chinese statement that the outbreak was "preventable and controllable."

Tedros declared covid-19 a global pandemic on March 12 - two days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Wuhan to declare a domestic victory over the coronavirus in the city where the outbreak emerged.

Weeks later, the WHO came under further criticism when Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist who led a WHO team to inspect China in February, declined to answer a Hong Kong reporter's question about how Taiwan performed during the pandemic - and at one point hung up the video interview.

Despite its lack of WHO membership, Taiwan has carried out some of the most effective epidemic responses in the world, recording fewer than 400 confirmed cases and deaths in the single digits after taking steps early on to ban travel from China and ramp up testing and the production of protective equipment.
LOWER MERION  First responders from Radnor and Lower Merion turned out to give the staff of Bryn Mawr Hospital a round of thanks and support Wednesday evening.

During the evening shift change more than 75 police firefighters and medics stood at the entrance along Bryn Mawr Avenue and applauded as employees arrived for work and the early shift headed home from work.

Medical workers in scrubs, some carrying spare work apparel or shoes, ors cups of coffee, smiled as they headed in for their evening of work. One staffer held up a small sign saying, Thank you all too!

It was a joint effort. We wanted to do something special for our health care workers on the front line, said Radnor Police Superintendent Chris Flanagan. They have a long road head of them and we want them to feel supported by their community. They are the front line heroes right now.

Its great. The police and fire department from Radnor and Lower Merion reached out to us today they wanted to show their appreciation to all the staff at Bryn Mawr Hospital, said Main Line Health President and CEO Jack Lynch. Quite frankly were thankful for the work theyre doing as first responders. It shows the community is in this all together. We really have to underscore the importance of social distancing and shelter in place, thats whats going to flatten this curve.

Lynch said the Main Line Health hospitals  Riddle, Lankenau, Bryan Mawr and Paoli  are presently properly outfitted with protective equipment and are prepared for the potential surge. He said they have spent the past weeks searching across the world for supplies. They are conserving and reprocessing some of their masks. They have enough beds for what they think will be needed.

We have an amazing staff as do other health care providers in this region, said Lynch. Morale is good on one hand, on the other had there is a lot fear. A lot of our staff go home to family members, some who may be immunocompromised or some who may have younger kids who are at risk, so they are concerned. Were doing everything we can to make them feel like they are safe in the environment they are in and give them a kind of relief.

Lynch said they talk to staff about self-care and to make sure they are caring for themselves so they can care for others.

We really appreciate it, thank you, said Johanna McNally as she headed home.Were just trying to keep safe, keeping our family safe.

Its really inspiring. After a hard day, its nice to come out to this, said staff member Linda Hinsdale as she headed home. Weve had a lot of support both inside and out.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2020 -- A new market study is released on Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Market with data Tables for historical and forecast years represented with Chats & Graphs spread through 118 Pages with easy to understand detailed analysis. The study highlights detailed assessment of the Market and display market sizing trend by revenue & volume (if applicable), current growth factors, expert opinions, facts, and industry validated market development data. The research study provides estimates for Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Forecast till 2025*. Some are the players that are considered in the coverage of this study are Dropcam, Amcrest, YI, Lorex Technology, Logitech, Zmodo, Funlux, ZOSI & NETGEAR.



Industries and markets are ever-evolving; navigate these changes with ongoing research conducted by HTF MI; Address the latest insights released on Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Market. Browse now for Full Report Index or a Sample Copy @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1956315-global-united-states-european-union-and-china-wireless-security-camera-market



Relevant features of the study that are being offered with major highlights from the report :



1) Which companies are profiled in current version of the report? Can list of players be customize based on regional geographies we are targeting

Considering heat map analysis and based on market buzz or voice the profiled list of companies in the the report are "Dropcam, Amcrest, YI, Lorex Technology, Logitech, Zmodo, Funlux, ZOSI & NETGEAR". Yes, further list of players can also be customized as per your requirement keeping in mind your areas of interest and adding local emerging players and leaders from targeted geography.



** List of companies covered may vary in the final report subject to Name Change / Merger & Acquisition Activity etc. based on the difficulty of survey since data availability needs to be confirmed by research team specially in case of privately held company. Up to 2 players can be added at no additional cost.



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Currently, research report gives special attention and focus on following regions: United States, China, European Union & Rest of World (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)



3) Can Market be broken down by different set of application and types?

Additional segmentation / Market breakdown is possible subject to data availability, feasibility and depending upon timeline and toughness of survey. However a detailed requirement needs to be prepared before making any final confirmation.



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To comprehend Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera market dynamics in the global market, the worldwide Wireless Security Camera market is analyzed across major geographical regions. HTF Market Intelligence also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports, see below break-ups.



- North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.

- South & Central America: Argentina, ,Chile, LATAM, and Brazil.

- Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.

- Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, BeNeLux, and Russia.

- Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Australia.



2-Page company profiles for 10+ leading players is included with 3 years financial history to illustrate the recent performance of the market. Latest and updated discussion for 2019 major macro and micro elements influencing market and impacting the sector are also provided with a thought-provoking qualitative remarks on future opportunities and likely threats. The study is a mix of both statistically relevant quantitative data from the industry, coupled with insightful qualitative comment and analysis from Industry experts and consultants.



Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Product Types In-Depth: , 60 Viewing Angle, 72 Viewing Angle, 90 Viewing Angle, 100 Viewing Angle & Other Type



Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Major Applications/End users: Long-Distance Outdoor Monitoring, Detached Buildings & Other Application



Market Sizing by Geographical Break-down: United States, China, European Union & Rest of World (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)



To ascertain a deeper view of Market Size, competitive landscape is provided i.e. Comparative Market Share Revenue Analysis (Million USD) by Players (2018-2019) & Segment Market Share (%) by Players (2018-2019) and further a qualitative analysis of all players is made to understand market concentration rate.



Competitive Landscape & Analysis:

Major players of Wireless Security Camera Market are focusing highly on innovation in new technologies to improve production efficiency and re-arrange product lifecycle. Long-term growth opportunities for this sector are captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements of related players following NAICS standard by understanding their financial flexibility to invest in the optimal strategies. Company profile section of players such as Dropcam, Amcrest, YI, Lorex Technology, Logitech, Zmodo, Funlux, ZOSI & NETGEAR includes vital information like legal name, website, headquarter, its market position, distribution and marketing channels, historical background and top 4 closest competitors by Market capitalization / turnover along with sales contact information. Each company / manufacturers revenue figures, growth rate, net profit and gross profit margin is provided in easy to understand tabular format for past 3 years and a separate section on market entropy covering recent development activities like mergers &acquisition, new product/service launch, funding activity etc.



Buy Full Copy Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera Report 2020 @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1956315



In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Global (United States, European Union and China) Wireless Security Camera are as follows:

History Year: 2014-2018, Base Year: 2019, Forecast Year 2019 to 2025



Key Stakeholders / Target Audience Covered:

In order to better analyze value chain/ supply chain of the Industry, a lot of attention given to backward & forward Integration

- Wireless Security Camera Manufacturers

- Wireless Security Camera Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers

- Wireless Security Camera Sub-component Manufacturers

- Industry Association

- Downstream Vendors



Actual Numbers & In-Depth Analysis of Wireless Security Camera Market Size Estimation, Business opportunities, Available in Full Report.



Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, LATAM, West Europe, MENA Countries, Southeast Asia or Asia Pacific.



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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Buffalo Coal Corp. (TSXV: BUF) (JSE: BUC) ("Buffalo Coal" or "the Company").

Buffalo Coal is a South African based company, with its head office based in Centurion, Gauteng, and its mining operations based in Dundee, KwaZulu Natal.

Further to Buffalo Coal's announcement titled "21-day national lockdown to be implemented in the Republic of South Africa ("South Africa")", published on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the Company hereby informs all stakeholders that Buffalo Coal has been granted permission by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to recommence mining activities at 30% of operating capacity.

Buffalo Coal intends to recommence mining activities on a limited scale on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, following the Easter long-weekend. The Company and its operations will continue to effectively manage and proactively respond to COVID-19 within the framework of the Company's policies, and local and national health authority requirements and recommendations in order to minimise the risk of infection to our employees.

Further updates regarding changes to the COVID-19 restrictions currently promulgated in South Africa will be communicated to the Company's various stakeholders as new information becomes available. Buffalo Coal continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 and is proactively engaging its financiers, major suppliers and other stakeholders in this regard.

About Buffalo Coal

Buffalo Coal is a coal producer in southern Africa. It holds a majority interest in two operating mines through its 100% interest in Buffalo Coal Dundee, a South African company which has a 70% interest in Zinoju. Zinoju holds a 100% interest in the Magdalena bituminous mine and the Aviemore anthracite mine in South Africa. Buffalo Coal has an experienced coal-focused management team.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Ms Emma Oosthuizen

Chief Executive Officer

Email: Emma.Oosthuizen@buffalocoal.co.za

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54322
Saudi Arabia will contribute 500 million U.S. dollars to the United Nations humanitarian response plan for Yemen in 2020 and 25 million dollars to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus, the kingdom's vice defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said on Thursday.

The statement came a day after the Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, said on Wednesday it was halting military operations nationwide in support of UN efforts to end a five-year war that has killed over 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease.

The move aims to facilitate talks sponsored by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths for a permanent ceasefire, and was decided in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus, though no cases have been reported so far, military coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said.

The ceasefire will go into effect at midday on Thursday for two weeks and is open to extension, he said in a statement.

The announcement is the first major breakthrough since the United Nations convened the warring parties in late 2018 in Sweden, where they signed a ceasefire in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

But it is unclear if the armed Houthi movement will follow suit. Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said they had sent the United Nations a comprehensive vision that includes an end to the war and to "the blockade" imposed on Yemen.

"(Our proposal) will lay the foundations for a political dialogue and a transitional period," he tweeted on Wednesday.

Hours after the coalition announcement, Yemen's information minister said the Houthis had targeted Hodeidah and the central city of Marib with missiles, while Houthi media said coalition strikes hit Hajja and Saada provinces.

People stand at the site of a Houthi rebels' ballistic missile attack over the populated district of Rawda in Marib, Yemen, February 6, 2020. /Reuters

Last week, UN envoy Griffiths sent a proposal to the internationally-recognized government, the Saudi-led coalition that supports it, and the Houthis rebels - who control the capital Sanaa and most of northern Yemen. Griffiths welcomed the ceasefire and called on warring parties to "utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency, and make progress towards comprehensive and sustainable peace. Coronavirus threat The adversaries are expected to convene via video conference to discuss the proposal, which calls for halting all air, ground and naval hostilities. A senior Saudi official, speaking to reporters in Washington, said Riyadh hoped during the next two weeks that the UN Security Council would help pressure the Houthis "to stop the hostilities," join the ceasefire "and also to be serious in such engagement with the Yemeni government." The UN and Western allies have pointed to the threat of the coronavirus to push Yemen's combatants to agree to fresh talks to end a war that has left millions vulnerable to disease. The United States and Britain have provided the coalition with arms, intelligence and logistics support.

Houthi police troopers ride on the back of a patrol truck in Sanaa, Yemen, November 5, 2019. /Reuters

Yemen had witnessed a lull in military action after Saudi Arabia and the Houthis began back-channel talks late last year. But a recent spike in violence, including ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh last month and retaliatory coalition air strikes, threatens fragile peace deals in vital port cities.

Yemen, already the Arab world's poorest country, has been mired in violence since the Houthis ousted the government from power in Sanaa in late 2014.

The conflict, largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and its regional arch-foe Iran, has unleashed an urgent humanitarian crisis that has pushed millions to the verge of famine, forced millions more to seek shelter in displacement camps and sparked outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.

Saudi vice defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted that the kingdom would contribute with 500 million U.S. dollars to the UN humanitarian response plan for Yemen in 2020 and another 25 million U.S. dollars to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The United Nations appealed for more than four billion U.S. dollars in 2019 for the humanitarian crisis and is expected to ask again for several billion dollars in 2020.
Mumbai: Even as India is under a 21-day lockdown from March 24 midnight to April 14 midnight to combat the scourge of the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the promoters of DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd) and their family and friends have been allegedly flouting all the norms and availed of VVIP treatment under the current dispensation of Maharashtra.

Dheeraj Wadhavan and Kapil Wadhavan, the brothers who promoted the company and are on bail in DHFL and Yes Bank fraud case, were given VVIP treatment by the state government to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in a convoy on Thursday (April 9).

According to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya, who urged Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to order a probe into the matter, stated through social media that Dheeraj Wadhavan and Kapil Wadhavan got the VVIP facility on the recommendation of Maharashtra Principal Secretary Amitabh Gupta, who allowed their family and friends to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar in a cavalcade of five vehicles on a special pass.

Somaiya further alleged that the letter released by Amitabh Gupta described Wadhawan as his "family friend". The BJP leader tweeted, "Wadhawan Brothers who are on Bail in DHFL/Yes Bank Fraud case are given VVIP treatment/passes by Maharashtra Govt to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in Convoy. I have urged Governor of Maharashtra to order Investigation."

Wadhawan Brothers who are on Bail in DHFL/Yes Bank Fraud Case are given VVIP treatment/passes by Maharashtra Govt to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in Convoy. I have urged Governor of Maharashtra to order Investigation @BJP4Maharashtra @BJP4Maharashtra @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/MoVMQ31FuF  Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) April 9, 2020

In another tweet, Somaiya said, "Wadhawan Brothers who r accused in Yes Bank/DHFL fraud, CBI had issued Non-Bailable Warrants against them, instead arresting them & handover to CBI, Maharashtra Govt gives them VVIP treatment Home Minister Anil Deshmukh owes explanation to the Country."

Wadhawan Brothers who r accused in Yes Bank/DHFL fraud, CBI had issued Non Bailable Warrants against them, instead arresting them & handover to CBI, Maharashtra Govt gives them VVIP treatment Home Minister Anil Deshmukh owes explanation to the Country @BJP4India @BJP4Maharashtra  Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) April 9, 2020

He also released the letter that allowed the Wadhawan Brothers to enjoy the VVIP treatment by the state government official.

Home Ministry Government of Maharashtra letter for VVIP treatment to Wadhwan Brothers @BJP4Maharashtra @BJP4India @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/X3Qki2ItVO  Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) April 9, 2020

As the issue came to fore, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh ordered an inquiry into VVIP pass issued to the Wadhawan family.

The Wadhawan family, which is being probed by investigative agencies like Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was seen at the Mahabaleshwar Hill Station in Satara district of Maharashtra.

As soon as the local police got the information, all the 23 members of the group were sent to the quarantine facility.

The five vehicles and the 23 members reached Mahabaleshwar flouting the lockdown rules passing through at least four to five toll plazas.

The ED and CBI, are probing the role of Wadhawan brothers in the Yes Bank fraud case as they are allegedly involved in the transactions of Rs 3700 crore. The investigative agencies have alleged that DHFL gave a bribe of Rs 600 crore to companies of Rana Kapoor, the founder and former managing director and CEO of Yes Bank, to take loans from the scam-tainted bank.

The ED had recently summoned the DHFL promoters for questioning in the Yes Bank case but they refused to appear citing the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. In a written reply to the agency, they pleaded that health is a priority in the current situation in the country.
[April 09, 2020] Free Autopsy Digital Forensics Training Available for U.S. Law Enforcement

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans rely on technology more than ever before, creating new opportunities for theft, fraud, and abuse. Law enforcement needs tools and training in digital forensics that fit their limited budgets. To address this need, Basis Technology ( https://www.basistech.com/ ) is working with the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) to provide free online software training for Autopsy, a free tool for digital forensics. Over 500 members of U.S. law enforcement have already registered for the training. Agents can register at www.autopsy.com/training . "We are trying to break down the education barrier that prevents investigators from tackling their rapidly increasing load of cybercrime cases," said Brian Carrier, CTO of Basis Technology. "The tools are available to analyze the increasing number and diversity of digital devices, butlaw enforcement needs more investigators trained to take on these cases."



The online course was created with funding from DHS S&T as part of their efforts to provide advanced forensics capabilities to law enforcement via open source tools. The eight-hour online training program enables law enforcement agents to get hands-on training for Autopsy, the world's most popular open source digital forensics platform. The course shows investigators how to install, configure, and use Autopsy to conduct a digital forensics investigation. Students learn about finding known bad files, searching for keywords, timelines, and more.

"The capabilities of Autopsy are rapidly expanding to include support for drones, mobile devices, cloud computing, and large numbers of devices," continued Carrier. "It's vital that agencies can take advantage of these free advanced capabilities, and that's exactly why we've decided to provide this free resource." About Basis Technology

Verifying identity, understanding customers, anticipating world events, and uncovering crime. For over 20 years, Basis Technology has provided the analytics enabling businesses and governments to tackle some of their toughest problems. Autopsy , our digital forensics platform, and Cyber Triage , our cyber incident response tool, serve the needs of law enforcement, national security, and legal technologists with over 5,000 downloads every week. For more information, visit www.basistech.com .

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/free-autopsy-digital-forensics-training-available-for-us-law-enforcement-301038313.html SOURCE Basis Technology

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New research has revealed businesses overwhelming lack of confidence the new government-backed loans will be delivered in a timeframe that will guarantee their survival through the economic hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four in five business owners (79%) believe banks will not be able to approve and settle loans under the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme as quickly as is necessary.

The survey of 207 business owners, commissioned by lending platform lend.com.au, looked to gauge the level of confidence businesses have in lenders approved to participate in the scheme and who are receiving the RBAs facility of low-rate loans during the pandemic.

The research found that 70% of businesses feel they need the loans to survive. Of these, 12% said it was already too late for their business, and 32% would need a loan by the first week of May.

The Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme was announced over two weeks ago on 22 March, but ANZ, Bankwest, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and Suncorp are still in the process of finalising their loan details.

Interestingly, the survey also found that confidence in non-banks to deliver the loans is equally low with just 34% of respondents believing they could approve and settle loans faster than the banks.

There is currently the very real and ongoing issue of bottlenecks in loan approvals among the banks, said Bill Baker, CEO of Lend Capital.

However, the biggest problem for borrowers is beyond that. Without knowing which lenders criteria matches their credit profile, a business will go through the time-consuming process of making an application with one lender, waiting weeks in the queue for the result, and approach another if they are not approved. They will be forced to continue shopping around between lenders in an effort to secure much-needed funding.

Ultimately, there is a lot of confusion among borrowers. Finding the right lender with the right product is the longest part of the approval process. Once a lender matches the customer profile to its lending criteria, the process is very straightforward.

Small-to-medium businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and they need the money now. For businesses in certain sectors, delays in these loans may render the Governments JobKeeper wage subsidies ineffective for holding onto employees, as a large proportion need to cover other significant costs to remain operable over the coming weeks.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  When Gov. Mike DeWine issued stay-at-home orders last month, many Greater Clevelanders raced to grocery stories and emptied shelves of perceived necessities.

Today, many of those items remain in short supply.

Cleveland.com conducted a spot check Thursday at retailers such as Heinens, Marcs and Giant Eagle, Walmart locations and a couple of pharmacy chains in eastern Cuyahoga County suburbs. Here is what we found:

Whats missing from the shelves?

Very limited supplies of toilet paper could be found. What was available was generally bargain brands. Major brands such as Charmin or Northern were not to be seen.

Other products that also remain missing include sanitizing wipes, such as Lysol or Clorox, hand sanitizer such as Purell and masks.

Limited supplies of Tylenol and other forms of acetaminophen were found on the shelves, although some extra-strength version and PM versions were more available.

We found that several retailers have posted signs telling customers they would be limited to just one or two of certain items. In Heinens, those limits were extended to products that were on the shelves, too, such as dish soap, dishwasher detergent and hand soaps.

What caused the shortages?

Consumers had been stocking up on products for weeks, but as positive cases of coronavirus began popping up across the country, shoppers surged to the stores in March to prepare for possible quarantines.

Those surges overwhelmed supply chains that still are trying to catch up.

First it was disinfectant wipes. Then it was toilet paper.

Consumers, driven by fear and uncertainty, began preparing for a long shelter in place. And the more the items disappeared off the shelves, the more panic buying set in.

People knew something bad was coming, but then got conflicting messages about the risk the virus poses and how seriously they should prepare for it, Steven Taylor, a professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, told CNN. That drove some of the buying.

"When people are told something dangerous is coming, but all you need to do is wash your hands, the action doesn't seem proportionate to the threat," he said. "Special danger needs special precautions."

What do the retailers say?

Not that much.

Giant Eagle, Walmart and Heinens have messages posted on their answering systems warning customers of shortages.

We are seeing a significant increase in demand on key products that you need, the message at a Giant Eagle said. We are working very hard to secure additional quantities of these items. We appreciate your patience as we do our best to keep our shelves stocked for you and your families."

The message at a Cleveland Walmart store was a little more to the point, including a request that customers not bother asking about shortages.

Due to a large demand in products, our associates are unable to confirm what products are available at this time, the recorded Walmart message said.

Heinens message was similar.

Calls by cleveland.com were often referred to corporate offices, which yield little information.

Are other products affected?

Yes.

As stay-at-home orders swept across the country, the rush for products drove up prices. One that spiked was the cost of eggs, especially in California, and prices likely will remain high for some time.

Urner Barrys wholesale price for a dozen, conventional California eggs was $1.55 early in March. By the end of the month, it had climbed to $3.66, where it remained for several days before decreasing slightly to $3.26, The Los Angeles Times reported.

That wholesale price increase pushed up costs for retailers, and ultimately consumers by 57%, the California Grocers Association said.

Agricultural experts told The Times the price increase as is a lesson in supply and demand. Theres only a fixed number of eggs available on any given day and it can take months to buy more hens and build more coops.

Sporadic shortages have been observed for other products, including milk, rice and bean mixes, some meats and ground turkey.

When will things get back to normal?

That could take some time.

Toilet paper supplies illustrate the point. Major manufacturers -- Georgia-Pacific LLC, Proctor & Gamble Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp.  were already running their toilet paper plants 24 hours a day before the coronavirus surge in buying.

Online and in-store toilet paper sales rose 51% between Feb. 24 and March 10, as buyers started getting uneasy about the growing number of virus cases, according to The Associated Press. Sales rocketed a whopping 845% on March 11 and 12 as states announced lockdowns.

Demand has declined some, but its not like the manufacturers can just make more, since their plants already were running at capacity.

And theres a question of when life  and old buying habits -- will return to normal. The demand on toilet paper, for instance, will depend on whether people work from home or head to the office.

Will the workforce go back to work like they did before? If people work from home, this could be much more prolonged, Linda Dupr, the CEO for the data and consulting firm NCSolutions, told the AP.

Projections show COVID-19 coronavirus will be one of Americas deadliest events -- Heres the numbers

Greater Clevelands air pollution could push up regions coronavirus death toll, Harvard research suggests

Why are Ohios gun shops still open? State says its a nod to constitutional rights

Will wearing a mask protect me from coronavirus? The answers arent that simple
New Delhi, April 9 : Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Chief Sadatullah Hussaini said on Thursday that the organization has written to Union Home Minister about alleged police action against several of its activists providing relief to the needy during the lockdown.

The letter signed by 26 people said during the lockdown, there has been a series of detentions and arrests of social activists and student leaders carried out by Delhi Police.

The letter alleged that the police action appears to be directed against those involved in the peaceful anti-CAA-NRC movement.

"We have observed that highly respected social activists are being implicated in false cases related to the North East Delhi riots of 2020," said the letter.

These activists are being asked to come to the police stations for interrogation during the lockdown. "At this time, when the courts are partially working and communication is limited due to the lockdown, these steps amount to unnecessary harassment by the Delhi Police," the letter said.

"The police action is causing immense anxiety and difficulty to the law-abiding citizens who are currently engaged in social work and helping the poor and needy," said the letter.
Patna, April 9 : Patna Medical College and Hospitals Microbiology Department head Dr Satyendra Narayan Singh has been suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty in the testing of coronavirus samples, a health official said on Thursday.

Dr Singh also did not allegedly cooperate in the testing of the samples from suspected cases, the senior officer of the Health Department said.

PMCH is one of the four hospitals in Bihar authorised to conduct tests for coronavirus suspect cases.

As many as 51 corona positive cases have so far been reported from the state.
A Westminster journalist affectionately branded 'gobby' by his peers has died at the age of 61.

Paul Lambert was revered by journalists and politicians alike who knew him for his booming voice and cries of 'Are you going to resign?.

His daughter Danni revealed yesterday he took his own life and said the family were 'devastated'.

Former BBC political journalist Paul Lambert (pictured outside 10 Downing Street) has died at the age of 61

Tributes have flooded in since news of his death, with BBC political editor Laura Kuennsberg describing him as a 'fixture of politics'

He started out working as an electrician before moving into journalism. He was based on Downing Street for the BBC where he was often heard 'shouting' at ministers as they went about their daily business.

Mr Lambert left his job in broadcasting in 2014 to become communications director for UKIP.

Tributes have flooded in since news of his death, with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg describing him as a 'fixture of politics'.

She tweeted: 'A fixture of politics and a friend of everyone for so long - such sad, sad news tonight.'

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage wrote: 'Very sad that Gobby has died. A unique man and great fun to work with.'

Mr Lambert is pictured with his two daughters and his wife in a family photo

His daughter Danni (pictured with her mother, father and sister) revealed yesterday he took his own life and said the family were 'devastated'

The Lambert family are pictured with Paul on the right

Jeremy Vine posted: 'I've only just heard this news and I'm gutted. Paul was an amazing guy, wonderful to work with at Westminster, famous for shouting 'Will you resign' and many other things at ministers. RIP mate.'

Sky's Sophy Ridge tweeted: 'I remember being warned when I was doorstepping for Sky that if I wasn't in the same place as Paul Lambert (Gobby) then I was probably in the wrong place... what a legend.'

Among his memorable moments was in 2005 when he asked Cherie Blair when her husband planned to resign as Prime Minister, which led to the response: 'Darling, that's a long way in the future.'

During the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition he famously asked leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg if they were 'off to renew their vows'.

He also dared to break Westminster rules by filming the arrest of the protester who attacked Rupert Murdoch with a foam pie as he gave evidence about phone hacking.

The BBC's head of Westminster, Katy Searle said in a statement: 'Paul, known to us all fondly as 'Gobby', was an institution at Westminster.

'His fearless approach to political doorsteps made politicians cower and journalist colleagues cheer. We are all deeply saddened by the news and send our very best wishes to his family.'

For confidential support 24/7 in the UK, you can call Samaritans on 116 123 or email Jo@Samaritans.org
08.04.2020 LISTEN

Hiplife Grandpapa Reggie Rockstone has asked Ghanaians to regard the Hiplife music genre as a national treasure.

Speaking in an interview on Neat FM, monitored by attractivemustapha.com he stressed that the music genre has done a lot for Ghanaian youth.

Majority of the musicians ruling today are beneficiaries of Hiplife.

"We should never downplay our own, It's very embarrassing if the Nigerians are watching because we all take inspiration from Hiplife and we should note that its not just about me and Hiplife but it's about entire Africa "

He mentioned to the presenter ola Michael captured by attractivemustapha.com that no one can ever disrespect or make mockery of him because he sacrificed for the industry which does not necessarily mean he should amass wealth.

Attractivemustapha.com
Ireland could be facing months of "stop-start" emergency measures until a coronavirus vaccine is available.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said there could be a point reached where the current phase of the crisis was contained to an extent where restrictions can be lifted and we have a real-time testing regime in place.

However, if there was evidence of a worrying spread of the virus after measures were relaxed, the restrictions would have to be tightened again.

Deaths

A virus vaccine is unlikely before the end of the year and may take longer.

It was "not an unlikely scenario", he said, adding it was impossible at this point to put a timeline on ending the measures, as suggested by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

He was speaking as the number of deaths from the virus rose to 235 after another 25 people - with a mean age of 80 - lost their lives.

The total consisted of 10 women and 15 men and 18 of the victims had underlying health issues.

Another 365 people tested positive for the virus, bringing the total confirmed cases to 6,074.

Dr Holohan said 147 patients were in intensive care and 27 patients had died in those units to date.

However, the number discharged had risen to 53. Most of those admitted to ICU had an underlying condition.

Senior HSE official Liam Woods confirmed that a number of the larger hospitals in Dublin now have all, or most, of their existing intensive care beds full, with patients suffering from the virus or other serious illnesses.

Earlier yesterday, the Mater Hospital confirmed all its critical care beds were occupied, but it still had capacity in its high dependency care beds.

Mr Woods said the big hospitals in the east were seeing evidence of surge, but added that there were still around 138 beds free and that did not take into account additional spaces that can be provided following the scaling up of critical care by hospitals.

Four in every five deaths from the virus occur in hospitals, and around one in seven people who are hospitalised are admitted to intensive care.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control yesterday said it was not the time to start reducing distancing measures within the EU.

The assessment is likely to influence Ireland's expert group, the National Public Health Emergency Team, which meets tomorrow and is due to extend the current emergency measures for another two weeks.

The report said that "before considering the lifting of any measures, member states should ensure enhanced population and hospital-based testing and surveillance systems are in place".

These are needed to inform and monitor escalation or de-escalation strategies.

The watchdog also cautioned that the risk of hospitals not being able to cope with demand, even with restrictions, was high. It would be "very high" if insufficient mitigation measures were in place.

Meanwhile, GPs are concerned at the drop in patients seeking care for health issues unrelated to the coronavirus.

Roscommon GP Dr Madeleine Ni Dhalaigh, of the Irish Medical Organisation's GP committee, said family doctors were worried about the decline in "routine" presentations.

"People have not got simply healthier," she said.

"The reality is that many are simply ignoring warning signs and risking larger health problems down the line because Covid-19 has become our only focus of discussion or debate.

"We are now appealing to people to make contact with us. You can talk to your GP over the phone who can then assess your situation."

Leading ophthalmologist Prof Michael O'Keeffe, of the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, feared some of his patients risked blindness if not treated and has now been given permission to see them free of charge.

He was caught up in the wrangle which followed the State takeover of private hospitals. Paediatric patients with glaucoma and other serious eye ailments needed treatment.
HSBC Holdings plc HSBC has owned up to the financial regulator in Australia for potential anti-money laundering law breaches by its Australian subsidiary. Notably, in its 2019 annual report, the subsidiary had highlighted the possible breaches to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).



AUSTRAC is a government agency, handling money laundering and financial crimes. It works with reporting entities to help them improve compliance.



Reporting itself, HSBC said that there were small amounts of cross-border foreign currency transactions, which involved non-banking financial institutions, which the bank failed to report properly for technical reasons.



The bank stated, regulators and other bodies may make findings that the bank has engaged in misconduct, including breaches of law or conduct that falls below community standards and expectations.



While HSBC did not reveal the number of potential breaches, banks that breach anti-money laundering rules in Australia have to face fines of up to $21 million for individual offense.



Notably, in 2012, the bank paid out a fine of $1.9 billion and entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement with the authorities in the United States because it had failed to prevent Mexican drug cartels from laundering hundreds of millions of dollars.



Thus, since then, HSBC has been engaged in improving its systems to prevent more breaches. The bank has been investing billions of dollars into its internal controls and has also hired thousands of compliance staff.



While the companys initiatives to strengthen digital capabilities globally and improve operating efficiency through restructuring efforts are expected to support profitability in the long run, its continued involvement in legal issues is expected to lead to a rise in litigation expenses. Thus, an increase in the cost base will likely hurt its bottom line to an extent.



Over the past year, shares of HSBC have lost 38.9% compared with a 39.4% decline of the industry.

Story continues













Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Like HSBC, other companies have been engaged in wrongdoings over the past several years. To name a few, UBS Group AGs UBS European subsidiary was recently accused of money laundering and helping Sofia Sgr, an asset-management firm, to deceive clients by charging higher fees.



Also, Deutsche Bank DB had been investigated for its involvement in the 200-billion ($220 billion) Danske Bank money-laundering scandal.



In 2018, ING Groep NV ING was fined $900 million by the Dutch authorities for violating laws related to preventing money laundering and financing terrorism. While admitting the allegations, the company stated, The shortcomings identified resulted in clients having been able to use their bank accounts for money laundering practices for years.



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China sends medical supplies to Central and West Africa

People's Daily Online

(People's Daily Online) 09:02, April 08, 2020

On April 6, a Chinese airplane landed at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, carrying anti-epidemic supplies from China to 18 countries in Central and West Africa, the CAAC News reported.

The plane took off from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport about one day earlier, carrying a total of 37.6 tons of medical supplies collected by China International Development Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Health Commission of China.

As of April 5, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) had sent planes overseas 302 times to provide humanitarian aid for other countries amid the pneumonia outbreak, carrying a total of 112 medical experts and workers and 4,715 tons of medical supplies to 48 countries, including the U.S., Britain, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

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L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby Hosts Coronavirus Q&A on Instagram Live

Recently, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) hosted its very first COVID-19 question and answer session on Facebook and Instagram Live to address the impact of the wide-spread pandemic on the Department and Los Angeles County residents.

During the Chiefs Chat, Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby, along with Public Information Officer and Battalion Chief Roland Sprewell (moderator) provided key information about the proactive steps being taken to ensure the safety of residents and its first responders.

Chief Osby started the chat by reemphasizing the importance of keeping an open line of communication with residents and them for participating in the Safer-at-Home public health order. As news on the virus continues to develop rapidly, Chief Osby says the Fire Department is working directly with the Los Angeles County Public Health Director, along with the CDC and various community, state, national and federal officials to ensure that real-time action is being taken to employ public safety.

Firstly, the chief says LACoFD is already introducing a new COVID-19 Response and Training Criteria for first responders, where training includes active response tips and the use of enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) to mitigate exposure. In addition, Chief Osby says that 911 dispatchers are also being trained to ask additional questions to provide key information to first responders traveling in route to prospective COVID-19 patients.

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Osby explained that if first responders or medical staff are exposed to the virus, those members will receive priority testing and will subsequently be assigned to a health programs coordinator for optimal recovery and eventual return to work to assist those in need. Departments include daily screenings and other proactive measures. The Chief says LACoFD has been taking the vitals, temperatures and performing testing on public safety responders upon their arrival to work and throughout the day, with follow-ups to ensure sustainability.

We, just like you, practice the same things at our fire stations and our facilities. We practice social distancing, we clean our equipment after each call, we clean our services throughout the day to ensure that our fighter fighters and our staff are safe, and that also applies to you, Chief Osby stated.

During that chat, he also formally announced the launch of a new program that will allow first responders in L.A. County to virtually correspond with healthcare providers and receive real-time advice on how a patient with mild symptoms of COVID-19 can treat at home. Referred to as the Telemedicine Program, the video-conferencing tool is being used to minimize exposure and alleviate the volume of responses to those with mild symptoms while providing at-home solutions for care and recovery.

It is vitally important that we keep our precious hospital beds available for the most critically impacted people that are exhibiting signs and symptoms of COVID-19, Chief Osby said.

The Fire Department is also working on an initiative for its citizens and first responders alike to provide up-to-date information of what to do and where to get tested for the virus.

In response to a public question about how COVID-19 has affected LACoFDs hiring process, Chief Osby indicated that while the County of Los Angeles has implemented a hard hiring freeze, public safety entities are exempt, he said. He went on to say that there are vacancies that need to be filled by new fire fighters, and that social distancing, along with a condensed training academy will be at the forefront of curriculum changes.

The public also posed a question about the safety of first responders with pre-existing health conditions. Chief Osby stated that for injured workers or workers with underlying medical conditions, they are first evaluated and/or treated by their medical physician. If released to return-to-work at full-capacity, they are monitored to ensure they can work in an arduous assignment. If the responder is released to return on a limited basis, Osby indicated that limited duty assignments are being made available so they can still assist the public with life safety services.

The final question addressed included a patients ability to designate which hospital they are transported to avoid potential out-of-pocket costs for being taken to a medical facility not within their medical network.

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The chief stated that the Fire Departments protocol is to follow the criteria established by the Los Angeles Emergency Medical Services Agency, which does allow requests for patient destinations under limited circumstances. Factors to consider in this instance include patient volume, room availability, and the severity of any given medical condition. If severe, the protocol is to take the patient to the nearest facility.

The chief emphasized that when you dial 911, it has to be a critical emergency, adding that bills incurred in severe cases are generally absorbed by the patients primary treating physician.

Overall, Chief Osby put the pandemic in perspective for citizens and first responders alike. We must understand that were in dire times right now, he said. As tough as we are, our firefighters, our lifeguards, our paramedics, were human, Osby concluded.

For information on LACoFDs COVID-19 initiatives please visit fire.lacouty.gov or send your questions to [email protected]. [email protected].
Debenhams' 11 Irish stores, including its large branch in Newbridge, are set to be placed into liquidation, it has been reported this lunchtime.

The shops have been closed temporarily during the Covid-19 lockdown, but it is understood that staff have been told today by letter that they will not reopen after restrictions are lifted. The department store retailer employs more than 1,500 people across the country.

The store's UK parent company, whose shops are also closed, is entering into administration.

The Irish arm previously exited an examinership process back in 2016. Debenhams has Irish stores in Dublin, Kildare, Waterford, Galway, Limerick, Tralee and Cork.

Trade Union Mandate said that the workers in the stores must be prioritised during the liquidation process.

Despite knowledge that the company was in administration and that it wasnt trading well, this news has come as a massive shock to our members who will be devastated by this announcement," said John Douglas, general secretary. "Our sympathy is with each and every worker and their families who will today be wondering how theyre going to pay their rent, mortgage or their bills.

He added that retail sector is in a very precarious state and will need government intervention due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mandy Kane, Mandate divisional organiser for the Midlands, said that between 50-55 employees would be affected at the Newbridge store, which has been open in the Whitewater Shopping Centre for 14 years.

She said that the sudden closure of the entire Irish operation had been 'unexpected' and the Kildare staff were upset and shocked upon receiving letters from the company this morning. Many have been dealing with the financial fallout of the Covid-19 layoffs, and have partners who have also lost work.

It is expected that staff will be able to claim only statutory redundancy if a deal cannot be worked out with the liquidators.
NILIN, West Bank  Jalal Zuhair Mansour supports his wife and four children on the $2,800 a month he is paid as a maintenance man for a Tel Aviv housing complex. But on Tuesday, after a few weeks in an apartment his boss lent him because of an Israeli ban on commuting from the West Bank, he called it quits and journeyed home to Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah.

The coronavirus was simply too widespread where he worked to take any chances, he said, adding: I am not ready to lose myself and my family.

Mr. Mansour, and thousands of others like him, have suddenly become the Palestinian Authoritys worst nightmare.

Outbreaks at two kosher chicken slaughterhouses on the Israeli side sickened dozens of Palestinian workers, who brought the virus back to their hometowns. Palestinian officials now say that returning workers are responsible for at least a third of the known cases on the West Bank, including its only death.
Hyderabad Police on Thursday registered a case against the manager of a supermarket and two private security guards for allegedly denying entry to Manipuri students into the supermarket amid the lockdown.

According to Vanasthalipuram police, the incident took place on Wednesday evening and the case was registered on Thursday.

"Yesterday, in the evening two students who belong to Manipur and staying in Vanasthalipuram area, came out from their residence to purchase few daily essential goods from a supermarket located in the area, meanwhile on the instructions of supermarket manager the security guards of the supermarket didn't allow them to enter," Vanasthalipuram police official told ANI.

Today in the morning we have received a complaint from those two persons and a case under relevant sections of IPC has been registered and further probe is on, the Police said.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Telangana has so far reported 427 cases, out of which 35 people have recovered.

With 591 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's total count of coronavirus positive cases on Thursday climbed to 5,865, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Among the total cases include 5,218 active cases, 478 cured, discharged, and migrated cases and 169 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nunnallys unassuming steadfastness has served her well, guiding her through unimaginably difficult times and perhaps serving as heartening inspiration to the rest of us at this remarkable moment in history that this too shall pass.

***

Growing up in Vienna, she was Franziska Huppert, a child who liked to read history and play with her cousins in the citys public parks. She also could play violin  to some extent.

My parents thought that each well-brought-up young woman should be able to play an instrument, she said. So, I took lessons for seven years as a child, but I had no talent.

She also loved school and thought she might want to become a teacher, but that never came to be as life changed forever when Hitlers troops marched into Austria in March 1938. The next month, Jews were required to register their property, making it easier for them to be targeted  which they were in November 1938 during what has become known as Kristallnacht. She remembers it well.
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On Wednesday, Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, argued in a Times Op-Ed that too much attention is being paid to how the president is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, people should be focusing on their governors: Some are showing their competence and leadership, while others are revealing their shortcomings, she wrote.

Ms. Haley was not so impolitic as to name names, but plenty of other people have. Which governors are leading the response to the coronavirus, and which ones are trailing the pack? Heres what journalists, public-health experts and others are saying.

Who took the lead

Gavin Newsom (Democrat, California)

Mr. Newsom was the first governor in the nation to issue a stay-at-home order, which may have helped California avoid a New York-level outbreak, according to The Los Angeles Times. His bold, early pushes for social distancing appear to have paid off immensely, Farhad Manjoo, a New York Times columnist, writes. The Bay Area, where I live, reported some of the first community spread coronavirus cases in the country. Now the region is leading the nation in flattening the curve. Most recently, Mr. Newsom has earned praise for reportedly securing a monthly supply of 200 million N95 respiratory and surgical masks, some of which California may export to other hard-hit states.
Hong Kong pro-democracy veteran Leung Kwok-hung speaks to members of the media before the Court of Appeal's ruling on the anti-mask law in Hong Kong, China, on April 9, 2020. (Jessie Pang/Reuters)

Hong Kong Court Rules That Blanket Ban on Masks Is Unconstitutional

HONG KONGHong Kongs Court of Appeal on April 9 ruled that a blanket government ban on face masks was unconstitutional, at a time when most Hongkongers are wearing them in the hope of warding off the CCP virus.

Partially overturning a lower courts ruling, a three-judge panel said that while the government had the right to ban the wearing of masks at unlawful assemblies, a ban on masks at legal public gatherings was unconstitutional.

In October, during the height of pro-democracy protests, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers for the first time in more than 50 years that allowed her to enact a new regulation banning face masks.

At the time, many protesters wore masks to hide their identities from the authorities and also from their employers, particularly if they had close connections to Beijing.

ImpactHK founder and CEO Jeff Rotmeyer (C) crosses a street after handing out supplies of face masks, hand sanitizers, food and drinks to the homeless and people in need in Hong Kong, China, on March 28, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Protesters also wore masks to protect themselves from tear gas.

The contentious ban on masks was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court in November, a decision that riled Beijing and led to an appeal.

If the meeting and procession remain peaceful and orderly, it is difficult to see the justification for imposing a restriction on the freedom of demonstration by way of prohibition of wearing facial coverings, the Court of Appeal said.

Some democracy activists said the Thursday ruling created confusion and called on the government to repeal the law.

It creates lots of fear and confusion, so theres only one solution, I call upon Chief Executive Carrie Lam to repeal this law, said pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok, adding that the priority now should be to focus on battling the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Hong Kong has had 974 cases of the CCP virus and four people have died of it in the city.

Protesters react as riot police disperse them with pepper spray after a clash, at Mong Kok, in Hong Kong, China, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Thursdays ruling also found that providing the police with powers to remove facial coverings was also unconstitutional.

But in a partial victory for the city government, the court said its overall right to invoke the Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO) was constitutional in time of public danger, overruling critics who said the ERO was itself unconstitutional.

The citys Department of Justice has five days to appeal against the ruling.

Masks have long been common in Hong Kong for when people are sick, or fear getting sick in public. That has become even more pronounced this year with most of the citys 7.4 million people putting on surgical mask in the hope of protecting themselves from the CCP virus.

Under the anti-mask law, it was illegal to wear a mask at both lawful and unlawful assemblies and offenders could be sentenced to one year in jail and a fine of HK$25,000.

People who need to wear face masks for health, religious or job-related reasons were exempt from the law, although critics of the ban said it was confusing.

Police were also given the power to order people to remove masks for identity verification. Those who refused to do so could be sentenced to six months in prison or a HK$10,000 fine.

By Jessie Pang

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
A former Congressman running for Georgia's 9th district has offered to give away an AR-15 to protect against the 'looting hordes of Atlanta' or 'tyrannical government'.

Broun, who previously served in the House of Representatives for Georgia's 10th district from 2007 to 2015, promises that anyone who signs up to his mailing list will be in with a shot at winning the gun.

In the one minute promotional video, Republican Broun implies that Americans will need to protect themselves against 'looting hordes' or 'tyrannical government' during the coronavirus pandemic.

Paul Broun, 73, (left and right) who previously served in the House of Representatives for Georgia's 10th district from 2007 to 2015, promises that anyone who signs up to his mailing list will be in with a shot at winning the gun

It comes as demand for guns has risen in US states in light of the Covid-19 health crisis. The FBI conducted 3.7m background checks in March 2020, the highest total since the instant background check programme began 22 years ago.

Gun shops across the country have reported a spike in sales which has left them unable to restock shelves fast enough.

Broun's video stirred controversy, particularly among those who accused him of racism for the line 'looting hordes of Atlanta', a city which has a large African American population.

Broun's video stirred controversy, particularly among those who accused him of racism for the line 'looting hordes of Atlanta', a city which has a large African American population

In a phone interview with The Guardian, Mr Broun insisted that the phrase was 'not racial', saying 'Only the liberal press would take that kind of position' and 'There are a lot of white people in Atlanta as well.'

The ex-Congressman tells his viewers in the controversial video: 'There are few better liberty machines than an AR-15.'

The video cuts to shots of Mr Broun wielding his gun in woodland.

He says: 'In uncertain times like these, the right to defend yourself, your property and your family could not be more important.'

Republican Paul Broun pictured participating in a debate for Georgia's open US Senate seat in April 2014. Broun is running for Goergia's 9th district against incumbent candidate Doug Collins, who was held the seat since 2012

He continues: 'You see, Marxists know that America will never submit to socialism and place government on the throne of our hearts without a big fight.

'Well, I'm just not feeling like giving up my guns to the government.

'I've decided to give away an AR-15 to one lucky person who signs up for email updates from Paulbroun.com.'

He then fires the weapon before turning to the camera and saying: 'God bless America'.

Broun is running for Goergia's 9th district against incumbent candidate Doug Collins, who was held the seat since 2012.
A South Carolina businessman was in custody Thursday, accused of threatening the Pinopolis Dam in Berkeley County.

Timothy Edward Newman was booked into the Berkeley County jail on Tuesday with bond set at $45,000.

Santee Cooper spokeswoman Molly Gore said a passerby overheard Newman make threatening comments about the dam at a convenience store and reported them to the state-run utility.

Newman had threatened the Pinopolis Dam, which was built in 1941 of concrete and towers 138 feet over Lake Moultrie.

Santee Cooper police identified Newman from security footage and arrested him in Georgetown County, Gore said.

Richland County court records show Newman was charged with second-degree harassment in March. It wasn't clear to what incident that charge is related and The Post and Courier awaits records requested in that case.

Newman, of Rock Hill, was instrumental in bringing the NASCAR Hall of Fame to Charlotte and had served as general manager of the Charleston Knights before becoming chief executive of the Charlotte Regional Visitor's Authority. On LinkedIn, he lists himself as executive director of Adult Spectrum Transitions, a housing and job placement program for young adults with autism.
Imagine you've been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive. Health officials begin contact tracing to contain infections, asking you to identify people with whom you've been in close contact. The obvious people come to mind -- your family, your coworkers. But what about the woman ahead of you in line last week at the pharmacy, or the man bagging your groceries? Or any of the other strangers you may have come close to in the past 14 days?

A team led by MIT researchers and including experts from many institutions is developing a system that augments "manual" contact tracing by public health officials, while preserving the privacy of all individuals. The system relies on short-range Bluetooth signals emitted from people's smartphones. These signals represent random strings of numbers, likened to "chirps" that other nearby smartphones can remember hearing.

If a person tests positive, they can upload the list of chirps their phone has put out in the past 14 days to a database. Other people can then scan the database to see if any of those chirps match the ones picked up by their phones. If there's a match, a notification will inform that person that they may have been exposed to the virus, and will include information from public health authorities on next steps to take. Vitally, this entire process is done while maintaining the privacy of those who are COVID-19 positive and those wishing to check if they have been in contact with an infected person.

"I keep track of what I've broadcasted, and you keep track of what you've heard, and this will allow us to tell if someone was in close proximity to an infected person," says Ron Rivest, MIT Institute Professor and principal investigator of the project. "But for these broadcasts, we're using cryptographic techniques to generate random, rotating numbers that are not just anonymous, but pseudonymous, constantly changing their 'ID,' and that can't be traced back to an individual."

This approach to private, automated contact tracing will be available in a number of ways, including through the privacy-first effort launched at MIT in response to COVID-19 called SafePaths. This broad set of mobile apps is under development by a team led by Ramesh Raskar of the Media Lab. The design of the new Bluetooth-based system has benefited from SafePaths' early work in this area.

Bluetooth exchanges

Smartphones already have the ability to advertise their presence to other devices via Bluetooth. Apple's "Find My" feature, for example, uses chirps from a lost iPhone or MacBook to catch the attention of other Apple devices, helping the owner of the lost device to eventually find it.

"Find My inspired this system. If my phone is lost, it can start broadcasting a Bluetooth signal that's just a random number; it's like being in the middle of the ocean and waving a light. If someone walks by with Bluetooth enabled, their phone doesn't know anything about me; it will just tell Apple, 'Hey, I saw this light,'" says Marc Zissman, the associate head of MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Cyber Security and Information Science Division and co-principal investigator of the project.

With their system, the team is essentially asking a phone to send out this kind of random signal all the time and to keep a log of these signals. At the same time, the phone detects chirps it has picked up from other phones, and only logs chirps that would be medically significant for contact tracing -- those emitted from within an approximate 6-foot radius and picked up for a certain duration of time, say 10 minutes.

Phone owners would get involved by downloading an app that enables this system. After a positive diagnosis, a person would receive a QR code from a health official. By scanning the code through that app, that person can upload their log to the cloud. Anyone with the app could then initiate their phones to scan these logs. A notification, if there's a match, could tell a user how long they were near an infected person and the approximate distance.

Privacy-preserving technology

Some countries most successful at containing the spread of COVID-19 have been using smartphone-based approaches to conduct contact tracing, yet the researchers note these approaches have not always protected individual's privacy. South Korea, for example, has implemented apps that notify officials if a diagnosed person has left their home, and can tap into people's GPS data to pinpoint exactly where they've been.

"We're not tracking location, not using GPS, not attaching your personal ID or phone number to any of these random numbers your phone is emitting," says Daniel Weitzner, a principal research scientist in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and co-principal investigator of this effort. "What we want is to enable everyone to participate in a shared process of seeing if you might have been in contact, without revealing, or forcing anyone to reveal, anything."

Choice is key. Weitzner sees the system as a virtual knock on the door that preserves people's right to not answer it. The hope, though, is that everyone who can opt in would do so to help contain the spread of COVID-19. "We need a large percentage of the population to opt in for this system to really work. We care about every single Bluetooth device out there; it's really critical to make this a whole ecosystem," he says.

Public health impact

Throughout the development process, the researchers have worked closely with a medical advisory team to ensure that this system would contribute effectively to contact tracing efforts. This team is led by Louise Ivers, who is an infectious disease expert, associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and executive director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health.

"In order for the U.S. to really contain this epidemic, we need to have a much more proactive approach that allows us to trace more widely contacts for confirmed cases. This automated and privacy-protecting approach could really transform our ability to get the epidemic under control here and could be adapted to have use in other global settings," Ivers says. "What's also great is that the technology can be flexible to how public health officials want to manage contacts with exposed cases in their specific region, which may change over time."

For example, the system could notify someone that they should self-isolate, or it could request that they check in through the app to connect with specialists regarding daily symptoms and well-being. In other circumstances, public health officials could request that this person get tested if they were noticing a cluster of cases.

The ability to conduct contact tracing quickly and at a large scale can be effective not only in flattening the curve of the outbreak, but also for enabling people to safely enter public life once a community is on the downward side of the curve. "We want to be able to let people carefully get back to normal life while also having this ability to carefully quarantine and identify certain vectors of an outbreak," Rivest says.

Toward implementation

Lincoln Laboratory engineers have led the prototyping of the system. One of the hardest technical challenges has been achieving interoperability, that is, making it possible for a chirp from an iPhone to be picked up by an Android device and vice versa. A test at the laboratory late last week proved that they achieved this capability, and that chirps could be picked up by other phones of various makes and models.

A vital next step toward implementation is engaging with the smartphone manufacturers and software developers -- Apple, Google, and Microsoft. "They have a critical role here. The aim of the prototype is to prove to these developers that this is feasible for them to implement," Rivest says. As those collaborations are forming, the team is also demonstrating its prototype system to state and federal government agencies.

Rivest emphasizes that collaboration has made this project possible. These collaborators include the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, CSAIL, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Boston University, Brown University, MIT Media Lab, The Weizmann Institute of Science, and SRI International.

The team also aims to play a central, coordinating role with other efforts around the country and in Europe to develop similar, privacy-preserving contact-tracing systems.

"This project is being done in true academic style. It's not a contest; it's a collective effort on the part of many, many people to get a system working," Rivest says.

###
It's fair to say most of us aren't used to spending quite so much time at home.

But whether it's working from the spare room, helping our children with schoolwork or socialising with our friends and family remotely, we're finding ways to feel as normal as we can under the circumstances.

And one area where the internet has really come into its own is the world of online fitness.

We may be in our houses, but we've still got access to an incredible variety of classes, workouts and brilliant instructors, ensuring we can keep our exercise routines on track.

And, of course, we can still use our hour a day of fresh air to go for a run or cycle.

So now is a great time to invest in some quality activewear that'll make your workouts look as good as they feel.

With a stylish range of leggings, tops, accessories and outerwear, the Goodmove collection at Marks & Spencer has all the essential kit you'll need to stay in shape, now and in the future.

Here are some of the pieces on our wishlist...

The bottoms

Whatever your favourite way to work up a sweat, you'll need to get your base layers right. Yoga, HiiT, Barre, strength training, cardio; they all require bottoms that are functional and work with you, not against you.

Crop it

Goodmove Go Move Printed Cropped Leggings (19.50) at Marks & Spencer

With the weather warming up a little why not consider a pair of cropped leggings for your workouts?

Goodmove has a great selection of styles, to suit any taste and we love this version with its lovely abstract print (above) and very handy back pocket, ideal for keeping your phone or keys safe and sound.

Goodmove Go Move Side Stripe Cropped Gym Leggings (19.50) at Marks & Spencer

Whether you want to perfect your downward dog or achieve a new personal best on a 5KM run, these navy capri cut leggings will help you do it in style.

The contrasting side stripes and flattering high waist help to elongate the legs and you'll stay comfortable no matter how fast you go, thanks to the moisture-wicking fabric.

Goodmove Go Train Mesh Cropped Gym Leggings (25) at Marks & Spencer

Take things up a level with Goodmove's Go Train cropped leggings (above). Crafted from smoothing and sculpting lightweight fabric, they're breathable and have added ventilation thanks to on-trend mesh panels.

With reflective details and a phone pocket on the outside leg, they're as practical and easy to wear as they are stylish.

The full Monty

Prefer a full length look for your at-home classes? No problem.

Goodmove Go Move Gym Leggings (25) at Marks & Spencer

These super versatile leggings (above) are your go-to for any kind of workout.

They're supportive, ergonomically designed to flatter and feature a hidden inner drawcord for the perfect fit. Plus, the fabric is quick drying so will keep you cool and fresh no matter how hardcore your fitness regime.

Go shorty!

Goodmove Layered Running Shorts (19.50) at Marks & Spencer

Runners will love these double layered shorts from Goodmove (above).

They come in four colours but we particularly love them in this bright cobalt blue. The bottom layer has a close fit, while the top layer is slightly looser, but both include elastane for comfortable and easy movement.

And with zip fastening pockets, your belongings will be secure even when you're running at top speed!

The tops

What you wear on the top is just as important as what you rock on the bottom, so mix and match with our picks below.

Cold comfort

If you're heading outside for a walk, jog or run, layers are the way forward.

Goodmove Zipped Through Run Top in Blue Mix and Pink Mix (29.50) at Marks & Spencer

You might start off feeling a chill but soon enough you'll warm up, so you'll want to strip off one layer for the second leg of your route.

This long sleeve top is perfect for just that. Wear it over a T-shirt or tank as you set off and its cute thumbholes will keep the sleeves in place as well as keeping out the chill, but as soon as you start to heat up, simply unzip it and tie it around your waist.

Or layer up with this sleeveless gilet (below).

Goodmove Lightweight Gilet Jacket (25) at Marks & Spencer

It's lightweight and wind resistant but also features a mesh back panel for extra ventilation. Plus, in a breathable fabric you'll stay cool even when you pick up speed.

Indoor essentials

L-R: Goodmove Performance Short Sleeve Top (15) and Goodmove Textured Double Layer Vest (17.50) at Marks & Spencer

If you're a yoga, barre or Pilates lover then you'll know that when it comes to tops, you need something that won't slip or ride up when you're upside down...

So these form fitting options from Goodmove (above) are just the thing for headstands, standing splits and bridges.

The double layer vest top can be worn together or as two separate tanks, while the short sleeve top has a fitted design which provides a second-skin feel.

So however you're getting fit or staying fit, Goodmove has got you covered. Just don't be surprised if you want to wear it, even when you're taking it easy...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India will do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19, responding to US President Donald Trump thanking him for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

HCQ is deemed as a possible cure for the deadly coronavirus.

"We shall win this together," Modi said, responding to a tweet by President Trump.

"Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer," he said, adding that the India-US partnership is "stronger than ever".

"India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19," the prime minster said.

Earlier, in a tweet, President Trump had thanked India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ, saying it would not be forgotten.

"Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight," he had said.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Trump had requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is a major producer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settlements with David Kwon and Igor Sabodakha, two traders who allegedly profited from trading on nonpublic corporate earnings information hacked from the SEC's EDGAR system. The settlement agreements are subject to court approval.

According to the SEC's complaint, Kwon, of California, Sabodakha, of Ukraine, and seven other defendants participated in a scheme to hack into EDGAR and extract material, nonpublic information to use for illegal trading. The complaint alleged that a Ukrainian hacker extracted EDGAR files containing nonpublic earnings results. Kwon and Sabodakha allegedly traded on the basis of this hacked information in the narrow window of time between when the files were extracted from EDGAR and when the information was released to the public. Sabodakha also allegedly previously traded based on material nonpublic information obtained through the hack of at least two newswire services.

"As alleged in our complaint, the defendants engaged in an international scheme to obtain and use hacked information to enrich themselves," said Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the SEC's Market Abuse Unit. "Today's result reflects the SEC's ability to investigate complex schemes conducted both here and abroad and to hold their perpetrators accountable."

Kwon and Sabodakha consented to the entry of final judgments that would permanently enjoin them from violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws. Kwon agreed to pay $165,474 in disgorgement, representing the profits from his illegal trades, and $16,254 in prejudgment interest. The settlement reserves the issue of a civil penalty for Kwon for further determination by the court upon a motion of the SEC. Sabodakha agreed to disgorge $148,804 in profits from his illegal trades, including trades he conducted in the account of his wife, Victoria Vorochek, with prejudgment interest of $20,945. Sabodakha also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $148,804. The SEC will move to dismiss the charges it had filed against Vorochek.

The SEC's continuing litigation is led by Christopher Bruckmann and Olivia Choe and supervised by Stephan Schlegelmilch. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Market Abuse and Cyber Unit staff David Bennett, Arsen Ablaev, Michael Baker, Jason Burt, Laura D'Allaird, Adam Gottlieb, James Scoggins, David Snyder, Jonathan Warner, Darren Boerner, John Marino, and John Rymas, and IT Forensics staff Ken Zavos, Douglas Bond, Stephen Haupt, Gi Nguyen, and Jennifer Ross. The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis and the Office of Information Technology provided substantial assistance. The investigation was supervised by Mr. Sansone and Carolyn Welshhans. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Secret Service.
President Donald Trump has extended the powers of the U.S. Border Patrol in the implementation of the immediate return of immigrants under an emergency coronavirus policy, according to U.S. officials. This order has since increased deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security reported Monday that illegal immigration has plummeted by 60 percent at the U.S.-Mexico border during the pandemic.

Illegal Immigration Decreases by 60%

Unauthorized border crossings have gone down due to the emergency measures. Before these measurements were implemented, 10,000 migrants tried to enter illegally. A little over a week ago, it was less than half of that number.

According to Border Patrol records, about 60 percent of those arrested for illegal immigration were Mexican nationals. Migrants from the Northern Triangle regions comprised 26 percent.

In an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the government's mandate is to turn back all migrants trying to cross the border.

Director for Defense Oversight of WOLA Adam Isacson criticized this expulsion of migrants. He claims that they must be given a chance to apply for asylum.

He wrote a lengthy article regarding the Trump administration's policies that functioned against the needs of the immigrants.

"Turning back threatened people, a basic human rights violation known as 'refoulement,' is a direct violation of the Refugee Act of 1980," Isacson says.

In response to this, U.S. officials assert that returning the immigrants to their countries was crucial to curbing illegal immigration, adding that preventing their entry is for their safety amidst this pandemic. The CBP holding facilities were simply not ideal for keeping immunocompromised people.

Apart from the refoulement of the immigrants, Isacson also criticized the construction of the wall at the borders.

Check these out!

Building a Secure Border

Fortunately, for this administration, the wall at the U.S. - Mexico border remains a priority at this time. Not to mention the importance of keeping as many Americans employed as possible.

Isacson wrote about the government's decision to continue building the wall. "Wall construction is a robust potential disease vector, and the administration refuses to cut it off."

The danger lies in the contractors going to work from home every day for the duration of the construction.

Meanwhile, similar concerns were raised by residents in New Mexico about the workers at the construction site of the U.S. - Mexico border wall. In New Mexico, public health orders are to treat infrastructure operations as exemptions from the stay-at-home restrictions.

Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales argues that the health system must remain a priority during the coronavirus crisis. "The national emergency right now is not building the border wall."

Between March 20 and April 3, nine miles of the wall was completed, according to Customs and Border Protection. A Newsweek spokesperson says that 197 miles are currently under construction. The Trump administration is determined to finish the 450-mile wall by 2021.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders greet each other before the final Democratic debate of the 2020 primary in Washington last month. (Associated Press)

In a peace offering to progressives a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders quit the presidential race, Joe Biden announced support Thursday for an expansion of Medicare and education policies that move closer to his former rivals agenda.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, proposed expanding government health insurance coverage by lowering the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60.

The former vice president also called for forgiving college debt for low- and middle-income borrowers at public colleges and universities as well as at minority-focused private institutions.

Both proposals are less expansive than Sanders campaign proposals, which would provide Medicare for citizens of all ages and cancel student debt for all borrowers regardless of income. But they go further than Biden's previous plans, and he gave Sanders credit for inspiring his new policies.

Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and Im proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis, Biden said in a Medium post.

It is not clear how much the proposals will help Biden win over Sanders supporters. The senators campaign press secretary, Briahna Joy Gray, said on Twitter that Joe Bidens plan is inadequate and should be changed to win the trust of young voters.

The proposals are the latest of several steps Biden's campaign has taken to reach out to the partys progressive wing over the last month as he has come closer to clinching the nomination.

The effort has taken on urgency now as Biden seeks to unify the party after a long primary battle. Many of the Vermont senator's followers view Biden as too centrist and tied to a discredited establishment.

In previous policy overtures, Biden embraced bankruptcy reform policies backed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another progressive former rival for the 2020 nomination. He proposed a Sanders-inspired plan to provide free tuition at public and community colleges, but to a more limited population.

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And he embraced Warrens proposal to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for every borrower to provide relief amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Going further in his debt relief plan Thursday, Biden is calling for forgiving tuition-related debt for borrowers earning up to $125,000 income if they attended public colleges or universities, private historically black colleges and other institutions serving minority students.

Noting the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the public health system and the economy, Biden said the proposals will not only help people right now when they may need the help most, but will also help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged from this crisis.

The Medicare proposal marks movement by Biden in a policy area that has been a central battleground of the Democratic primary.

"Medicare for all" was a marquee issue for Sanders and backed by Warren. But Biden opposed it, saying it was too expensive and unlikely to pass Congress. He instead called for expanding the Affordable Care Act by offering a public health insurance option that anyone could purchase if they are unhappy with their commercial health plan option.

In his new proposal, Biden wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare in addition to the public option. He said it would help people who want to retire before 65 or want to leave their employer plans, as well as provide an insurance backstop for older workers in the post-coronavirus economy.

It reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs, Biden said.




Study published in the Science journal also found cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets.

Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a new study in the journal Science, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to say it will take a closer look at the transmission of the virus between humans and pets.

The study, published on Wednesday, found that ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the virus that causes the disease COVID-19.

The Science journal findings support an earlier study by Hong Kongs Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department that pet cats, and even some dogs, can host the disease.

The Hong Kong study, however, said cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus to humans, even if they can test positive for low levels if they catch it from their owners.

The study, published in Science was aimed at identifying which animals are vulnerable to the virus so they can be used to test experimental vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed more than 88,000 people around the world since it emerged in China late last year.





The disease is believed to have spread from bats to humans. There have been a handful of reported infections in cats and dogs, but no strong evidence that pets can be carriers.

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City that developed a dry cough and loss of appetite after contact with an infected zookeeper who tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

The study, based on research conducted in China in January and February, found cats and ferrets highly susceptible to the virus when researchers attempted to infect the animals by introducing viral particles via the nose.

Kittens infected

They also found cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets. Infected cats had virus in the mouth, nose and small intestine. Kittens exposed to the virus showed significant lesions in their lungs, nose and throat.

Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in cats should be considered as an adjunct to elimination of COVID-19 in humans, the authors wrote.

In ferrets, the virus was found in the upper respiratory tract but did not cause severe disease.





Antibody tests showed dogs were less likely to catch the virus, while inoculated pigs, chickens, and ducks were not found to have any strain of the virus.

Its both interesting and not terribly surprising in the sense that with the original SARS epidemic, civet cats were implicated as one of the vectors that may have transmitted virus to humans, said Daniel Kuritzkes, head of infectious diseases at Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital.

What these data do provide is support for the recommendation that people who are with COVID-19 should be distancing themselves, not only from other household members but also from their household pets, so as not to transmit the virus to their pets, particularly to cats or other felines, he said.

The WHO said on Wednesday it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis.

The WHO said on April 8 it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis [Andreea Alexandru/AP]

Based on the evidence so far, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference: We dont believe that they are playing a role in transmission but we think that they may be able to be infected from an infected person.

The WHOs top emergencies expert Mike Ryan asked people not to retaliate against animals over the outbreak.

Theyre beings in their own right and they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. They are victims like the rest of us, he said.
Just days before churches celebrate Easter, Gov. Tony Evers said small gatherings and drive-in worship services are allowed under his safer at home order.

The clarification comes after days of confusion for several Dane County churches that reported receiving conflicting information from state and local officials about whether such services comply with the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Our intention was always to ensure that people could still practice their faith while also following the public health and safety measures necessary to flatten the curve and keep folks safe, Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said. We are not asking law enforcement to supervise or take enforcement steps against religious gatherings. Rather, law enforcement has been working hard to help congregations understand the order and take precautions to keep themselves and their members safe.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 14:17:30|Editor: zyl

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WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The body of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's great-grandson Gideon McKean was recovered Wednesday in an estuary after he went missing with his mother in a canoe last week, media reported.

The eight-year-old boy's body was found about 610 meters from where his mother Maeve Kennedy McKean, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, was recovered on Monday in the Chesapeake Bay between Maryland and Virginia states, The New York Times quoted the Maryland Natural Resources Police as reporting.

The two lost contact on April 2 after they had got into the canoe to retrieve a ball thrown into the cove and were somehow pushed by wind or tide into the open bay, according to a Facebook post by Gideon's father David McKean.

Their deaths added to the series of Kennedy family tragedies.

The former attorney general was shot dead in 1969 in his campaign for Democratic presidential nomination, while his older brother, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963. The late president's son John F. Kennedy Jr., together with his wife and sister-in-law, died in an air crash in 1999.

In August 2019, Saorise Kennedy Hill, a 22-year-old granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, was found dead due to accidental drug overdose at the family's compound in Massachusetts State.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Viktor Orbans latest power grab in Hungary speaks to his sheer ruthlessness and canny opportunism as a politician.

As nations around the world hunker down for the all-consuming fight against Covid-19, the Central European countrys prime minister has seized the opportunity to amass emergency powers to support his ambitions for illiberal democracy. In keeping with his past attacks on civil liberties, the media and the judiciary, they give Orban the right to rule by decree indefinitely, do away with elections, and threaten journalists who distort facts with a five-year jail sentence.

Sadly, it also speaks to the ineffectiveness of the European Union  founded on the values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law  in reining in abuses in its patch. The blocs response to Orbans new powers has been meek. Without naming Hungary, 13 of 27 member states have expressed concern about the risk of rule-of-law violations, while the Commission, the EUs executive body, has said it will evaluate the emergency law.

After a decade of strongman tactics from Orban and foot-dragging from the EU, this will likely have the same impact as anti-Vietnam War art, which Kurt Vonnegut once equated to that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six-feet high.

For one of Orbans most experienced European sparring partners, former Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, it is a disappointing yet predictable turn of events. She calls it business as usual. Her career has given her a front-row seat from which to watch Orbans Fidesz party turn Hungary from a bright liberal hope for post-Soviet democracy into an authoritarian and xenophobic state run by a small circle of insiders. Despite Redings efforts to hold Orban to account as the Commissions top justice official in the early 2010s  the Commission took Hungary to court over several rule-of-law abuses, including Fideszs attempt to force out hundreds of judges  he has won the long game.

Story continues

By cajoling EU critics with concessions while sticking to his overall plan  something journalist Paul Lendvai has called the peacock dance  Orban has avoided serious censure and consolidated his power. Its the same scenario, again and again, Reding, currently a member of Luxembourgs parliament, tells me.

Orbans ability to retain his grip on Hungary is one thing  the countrys historical scars, a fragmented opposition with its own share of scandals and extremism, and the relentless undermining of civil society all play their part. But how is such a tiny state, accounting for less than 1% of the EUs GDP, able to run rings around its larger European neighbors that preach the rule of law? There are a few reasons. For one, member states like Poland arent going to enforce ongoing sanctions procedures against Hungary  launched in 2018 over persistent breaches of EU values  when they themselves face the same sanctions.

Significantly, Orbans years of networking across Europe have brought him the endorsement of its biggest parliamentary bloc, the European Peoples Party (EPP), which includes parties such as Angela Merkels CDU. When the EPP suspended Fidesz in 2019 over a nasty political campaign attacking billionaire philanthropist George Soros and Jean-Claude Juncker (an EPP member who was then-head of the Commission), it stopped short of expulsion. Fidesz has votes, and Orbans self-styled defense of a Christian Europe and skill at exploiting popular fears about immigration still have their admirers in the ranks of his political family  such as Frances Republicains, historically the party of Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac.

Its high time Orbans EU friends take a more proactive stance. Redings Christian Social Peoples Party in Luxembourg, along with 12 other EPP members, last week called for a full expulsion of Fidesz from the parliamentary bloc. Theres no unanimity for this yet, and booting out Fidesz wouldnt stop it turning up elsewhere in parliament. But its the right call: The longer the EPP walks this tightrope, the more likely it is to fall off. Not only are its own pro-European values being undermined, but politically Orbans tactics and rhetoric are helping the far-right more than his EPP colleagues  which include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The next action to take, according to Reding, is to crack down on Orbans financial support. Hungary received more than 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) of EU funding in 2018, equivalent to 5% of the countrys GDP, while contributing only 1 billion euros. A majority of state contracts are funded by the EU, feathering the bed of business elites allied with Fidesz. The EUs anti-fraud arm has investigated some cases of misuse of the money, but more needs to be done. Funding should be tied to respect for the rule of law, enforced by existing EU tools as well as new ones in the blocs forthcoming multiyear budget, Rutgers Universitys R. Daniel Kelemen and Princeton Universitys Kim Lane Scheppele have argued.

Obviously, a pandemic is hardly the ideal time to start a new EU bust-up when several crises are raging already. But long-term, rule-of-law abuses can corrode the bloc from within; this is a union bound by laws and not by force, as Reding puts it. Left unchecked, a multispeed Europe in terms of democratic values would wreck havoc on a lot of things: Trust between member states, confidence in the ability of national legal systems to fairly implement EU law, and consistency in the common market. As long as Orban keeps profiting from EU friends, and EU funds, that scenario draws nearer.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
As the government is already spending hundreds of billions to blunt the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on welfare, financial experts suggest vast spending programmes to rescue Hungarys human capital.

Portfolio hosts a debate stretching over two weeks to assess what the government should do to help households whose resources are drying out amid wage cuts and rising unemployment.



In a long opening essay, former National Bank President Gyorgy Suranyi suggests the government pay targeted subsidies to those who lose their jobs. He cautions against helicopter spending both for reasons of social justice and in order to contain the inevitable increase in public spending.



As a technical means he calls for the National Bank to monetise such welfare spending by financing the programme from its reserves  to avoid an increase in public debt.



Peter Bihari, a lecturer at Corvinus University argues in favour of helicopter spending, namely, paying a sum equivalent to the minimum wage to the entire workforce, whether employed or unemployed (half of the total population, altogether).



He believes that by only subsidizing the unemployed, people at the low end of the wage ladder might be encouraged to stop working. Bihari would also favour a special monthly payment for children. Such expenses would amount to 5 per cent of the annual GDP if continued for four months, he calculates.



He admits, however, that albeit necessary, such a project would only be a modest contribution to fighting the economic impact of the epidemic.



Kristof Lehmann and Balazs Vonnak, who both teach banking at Corvinus University, provide a detailed technical analysis of the various instruments the government could resort to in order to finance such a vast spending programme.



They conclude that there is no magic wand to solve this situation. In the last resort, they explain, all potential variants would increase the amount of Hungarys sovereign debt.



The National Bank would certainly not charge interest on the amount it would devote to helicopter welfare spending but its reserves are part and parcel of public finances and thus it would be an act of self-deception to believe that the money it would produce is free of charge.
The police chief of a small borough in Salem County says he will arrest anyone who gathers for a planned prayer vigil outside the local hospital where staff members have been tending to coronavirus patients.

Residents in Elmer and surrounding areas had planned to gather at 6 p.m. on Monday in front of the Inspira Medical Center on Front Street to show their appreciation for hospital workers.

But Elmer Police Chief Patrick Byran has nixed the idea. The hospital doesnt want the public gathering outside, either.

Im sympathetic to their cause and I wholeheartedly respect what they want to do, said Bryan, 55, whose daughter works in the hospitals emergency room. But this is not the time.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

In a Facebook post, Inspira Health asked residents to stay away from the hospital until the pandemic is over.

It is so heartening to know that so many community members want to express a show of appreciation by visiting our medical center campuses, the hospital said.

But until this pandemic is behind us, we ask that you dont gather on our behalf. Please follow our governors rules regarding social distancing to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Bryan said his normally six-officer department is now down to four officers who work two shifts. The borough is patrolled by the New Jersey State Police after 11 p.m., he said.

In a letter to residents, Bryan said any gatherings of 10 or more people outside Inspira hospital will result in arrests until after Gov. Phil Murphys executive orders are lifted.

Murphy issued the orders shortly after announcing extensive social distancing measures across the state on March 16.

Despite Murphys orders, other municipalities in recent days have allowed public gatherings both for appreciation of hospital workers and for other events, such as Easter parades.

In Paterson on Sunday, officials encouraged the public to meet in the street and show their appreciation for workers at St. Josephs Regional Medical Center.

There were people from the public who were out there (and) I have to tell you, theres a lot that goes into something like this, said Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale. We blocked off roads, we kept things moving. But we were done in 45 minutes.

Speziale said there are 418 police officers in the Paterson department and he surmised that smaller towns dont have the manpower to do what we did.

We planned for it, we got together and we did it. He (Byran) has to come up with whats best for his town based on manpower, Speziale said.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Amid fears that the coronavirus could be running rampant throughout Irans jails, another UK resident has been released temporarily from the countrys most notorious prison.

Aras Amiri who has been unjustly imprisoned in Iran's Evin Prison since 2018 ... has been temporarily released on furlough," Amnesty International UK board director Daren Nair tweeted today. "The Iranian authorities must let her come home to London to be with her fiance."

Before Amiris arrest, the 33-year-old had been working for Britains cultural outreach agency fostering artistic exchanges between the UK and Iran. In March 2018, the London-based Iranian citizen traveled to her home country to visit with her ailing grandmother and was arrested seven days later for alleged spying.

Iran's judiciary claimed Amiri had confessed to working with British intelligence. But in an appeal letter to Irans chief justice, Amiri said she had been jailed for refusing to go along with Iranian intelligence forces who asked her to spy for them.

I directly rejected their offer for cooperation and told them that I can only work in my own field and nothing else, she wrote from prison in June 2019.

In August, Iran's Supreme Court upheld Amiris 10-year prison sentence for cultural infiltration in society through arts and her widespread activities.

Her temporary release comes as human rights organizations warn of the potential for COVID-19 to quickly spread through Irans crowded, disease-ridden jails. The Islamic Republic has released tens of thousands of prisoners on furlough in the past month, including British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and US Navy veteran Michael White.

But a number of dual nationals and foreigners  held mainly on trumped-up espionage charges  remain in prison, including British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Iranian-American businessman Siamek Namazi.

Reports suggest that the coronavirus has already spread widely inside Irans prisons, including at Evin, where many high-profile foreign prisoners are held. Last month, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, wrote that he was concerned about overcrowding, poor nutrition and a lack of hygiene in Irans jails, noting that many detainees already suffered from malnutrition and disease.

Iran remains one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus. Irans Health Ministry reported today that the number of confirmed cases has risen to 66,220 with a death toll of 4,110.

Thousands of prisoners across Iran have staged protests over concerns they may contract COVID-19 if not released. According to Amnesty International, security forces responded with live ammunition and tear gas, killing more than 30 inmates at several prisons this week.
danchooalex/iStock(NEW YORK) -- Chris Trotman, a social worker in Maryland, lives with sickle cell anemia. But he also struggles with a habit that is affecting his health: vaping.



"I want a stronger vape and I know that's bad because I know I'm supposed to be quitting," the 25-year-old told Good Morning America. "I'll probably hit this thing about, like, 250 times in this hour break."



Trotman and others like him may have new inspiration to quit. The National Institutes of Health recently issued an alert, warning that "people recovering from addiction now face new challenges" when it comes to getting access to medication and social support due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Whats more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 78% of COVID-19 patients being treated in the intensive care unit were living with at least one underlying condition, such as chronic lung disease and cardiovascular disease, which can be affected by smoking tobacco.



Given this added threat, author Brad Lamm believes that his moment could be the wake-up call many smokers and vapers need to break the habit.



"I think a lot of people that have struggled with addiction and recovery are finding it difficult to connect with the very things that have helped them stay stopped," Lamm told GMA, noting such things as in-person support groups that likely came to a halt amid social distancing.



Lamm, a former smoker of 20 years, is the author of a new book, titled Quit Vaping, which offers a plan to help smokers and vapers stop, and transition to a healthier lifestyle. Here, he offers steps you or a loved one can start taking to overcome a smoking or vaping addiction, even amid coronavirus.



1. Set and share your quit date



"This is crucial to build up and adopt the winning mindset for the actual day you will stop," Lamm says, noting that his method doesnt have you actually stopping until day 7.



He adds that during this step, you focus on the detox and nicotine-tapering process, as well as other activities, such as writing, and, importantly, choosing a nicotine replacement and solidifying social support.



Lamm notes that each of these is a major decision and that what works for one person may not be the same for someone else.



"Like any meaningful event in life or work, your quit date should have the same calendar importance," Lamm says. "That gives you some mental and emotional leverage over feelings of hesitation and avoidance, as well as personal accountability."



2. Know that cravings come and cravings pass



Lamm says its important to "practice moving through cravings, with the support of medical nicotine, to get through them. Thats a key to your quit."



He notes that his method of quitting also includes a replacement therapy, and he recommends talking with your primary care physician or another source of prescription advice for information about products that help curb cravings.



"There are many replacement products and tools available over the counter in pharmacies," Lamm says. "When we compare how easily we would take medicine for a cold or allergies, it's really no different. Dont be afraid to try more than one and compare until you find the one that is right for you."



3. Live your quit



"Everything worthwhile takes work," Lamm says. "Practice the new rituals helping you stay stopped," pointing to medical nicotine, breathing exercises and other tools in his book.



Especially important is your support network.



"Think of a support network like a cavalry that can be called in when things get tough," he said. "Social support eliminates feelings of discouragement, isolation or being overwhelmed."



4. Maintain a healthy lifestyle



"It is essential that you get weight, diabetes and hypertension under control, and participate in your own self-care in active and meaningful ways," Lamm says.



He recommends looking at how you eat, how you move and exercise, and how you breathe -- paying special attention to your lung activity -- as basic measures of your wellness.



"Quitting is not just possible, it's medically necessary," Lamm says. "The pandemic is a real-time example of how fragile our lungs are."



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
President Donald Trump may be the only person in America who hasnt binged Tiger King.

The president was asked during his Wednesday afternoon coronavirus briefing if he had any plans to pardon Joe Exotic, the star of the smash Netflix docuseries, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for plotting to have a fellow tiger zoo operator killed.

I know nothing about it, Trump said, appearing amused at being asked a question that wasnt about the coronavirus crisis.

When he was informed that Exotic, whose legal name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, claimed he was wrongfully jailed and wants out, the president took interest.

He has 22 years? Trump asked. What did he do?

Trump asked reporters if they were advocating on Exotics behalf and jocularly warned them that would be improper. The president was game, but his level of sincerity was unclear.

Ill take a look, Trump said before moving onto more serious business.

A plea to the president appeared on Exotics Facebook page on March 19.

The Trump Administration must be made aware of the Overreach, perjury, abuse of power and the failure to uphold the Oath of their position which is truth and Justice for all, the pardon request reads, complete with Trump-style oddly capitalized words.

Donald Trump Jr. joked on a Monday interview on SiriusXMs Jim Norton and Sam Roberts that a pardon might be fun, if only because of the reaction it would get in the media.

Just for frankly watching the media reaction to this thing. It would be pretty amazing to ultimately see that, he said.

By Brian Niemietz New York Daily News

2020 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester will stream a concert featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Last month the venue was forced to cancel the UK theatrical premiere of Rodgers Hammerstein's Cinderella, while the ongoing coronavirus crisis kept theatres closed.

However, West End stars and cast members from Cinderella will unite for a special online concert which will be streamed on 26 April. The concert will feature highlights from the likes of Oklahoma!, Carousel and South Pacific.

Update  watch a performance from the concert here

The venue, a registered charity, is asking for donations here.

Appearing in the concert will be Maria Friedman, Louise Dearman and Sophie-Louise Dann, alongside performers that had been cast in Cinderella  Matthew Blaker, Julie Yammanee and Georgie Buckland. Buckland was due to make her stage debut in the titular role after being found through an open call.

Also joining are Joel-Harper Jackson (Little Women), Laura Harrison (Parade) and Simbi Akande (Putting It Together), as well as Any Dream Will Do's Keith Jack.

The venue's artistic director, Joseph Houston, said: "It has been important for us as a venue to stay engaged with our wonderful and loyal audiences and supporters. Since closing we have had so much love and support from individuals and it has been the catalyst for us to continue to do what we know best and produce theatre, just in a very different way.

"We were so upset that we had to cancel our production of Cinderella as we had lined up the most incredible cast but we are thrilled that finally some of these talented performers will have the chance to be seen."

The cast will perform the songs at home, with the videos then being edited into a full concert.

The concert will be free to watch but the venue is asking for donations. The Hope Mill Theatre will be launching a crowdfunder to coincide with the event to help raise money for the venue.
Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canadas public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, Canadians seem to be increasingly concerned about their health and safety

Currently, there are more than 18,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada more than 400 deaths.

Check back for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

For a full archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.

Canadas projections for COVID-19 predict up to 22,000 deaths

The federal government has released the modelling data forecasting the impact of COVID-19 across Canada.

Public Health Agency of Canada

For the short-term epidemic track of the virus, its predicted that Canada will see 27,215 cases Apr. 16. The lower prediction limit would see 22,580 cases and the upper prediction limit is 31,850. This could result in between 500 and 700 deaths by Apr. 16.

Experts have made their predictions using two models, one with stronger epidemic control, with a high degree of physical distancing, contract tracing and cases isolated. The weaker control has a lower degree of these public health measures.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Stronger epidemic control:

There will be a 1 to 10 per cent infected rate peaking and the end of spring, beginning of summer and ending in the fall.

Between 11,000 and 22,000 deaths in Canada are predicted.

There will be between 73,000 and 146,00 hospitalizations, and between 23,000 and 46,000 in intensive care.

Weaker epidemic control:

There will be a 25 to 50 per cent infected rate peaking between summer and fall, ending in spring 2021.

More than 200,000 deaths are expected to occur in Canada.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Theresa Tam was, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, said Canada is fairly early on in the epidemic and a high and sustained degree of physical distancing is essential to maintain the stronger epidemic control scenario.

Story continues

Its a matter of life and death, she said, adding that she believes the country has a very good chance of staying in the stronger epidemic control model.

We must do everything that we can now to remain in that best care scenario, Dr. Tam said.

Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said the first wave of the outbreak could end by summer but anticipates multiple smaller waves will follow. He added that predicting the lifespan of the virus for Canada is difficult because all province and territories have their own epidemic curve and timeframe.

Dr. Tam said even when Canada has hit the peak of the curve and the outbreak is on its way down, the country will need to have highly sensitive testing for any possible new infections, and continue to practice strong social distancing measures.

Were looking for...the slowing down of that growth rate, Dr. Tam said. These models are very sensitive to our actions.

Province reveal projections for COVID-19

Ontario

Ontario has released its modelling data with possible forecasts for the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province.

The main message from experts is that each person in Ontario needs to do their part to stop the spread of the virus, highlighting that the public will impact the eventual outcome.

The outcome is in the publics hands, Peter Donnelly, president and CEO of Public Health Ontario said on Friday. Its about breaking the chain of infection and its very important that we all realize...we have a personal opportunity to do that.

This isnt about flattening the curve, its about chopping the head off the top.

Projected Ontario Cases by April 30, 2020

Donnelly said that we are some way off from lifting any measures currently in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

He added that bearing down hard now will result in the virus coming to an end and the economy bouncing back more quickly.

Donnelly also highlighted that modelling is a very inexact science, particularly for a new virus. As a reference, Ontario loses 1,350 people to normal seasonal flu per year.

Deaths without public health measures (without any intervention at all) are expected to be 100,000 in Ontario, lowered to between 3,000 and 15,000 with the current public health measures in place.

The data shows that the measures put in place, including physical distancing, self-isolation following travel, prohibiting large gatherings and work from home arrangements, have been effective to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Projected cases in the province, without any intervention, is 300,000 cases by Apr. 30 but the forecast with the current measures is 80,000 cases.

Projected deaths with no intervention is 6,000 by Apr. 30, with the current measures the modelling has predicted 1,600 deaths.

The lifespan of COVID-19 in the province could be between 18-months and two years.

Projected Ontario Deaths by April 30, 2020

Matthew Anderson, president and CEO of Ontario Health said that currently, hospitals have the capacity to mange COVID-19 patients but if there is a spike in hospitalizations, it would be very difficult to project.

There are currently 410 ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients with 900 additional beds can be added.

The worst case forecast for Ontario ICU capacity predicts more than 3,400 beds will be needed by the end of the month. The best case would see the need top out just over 1,200 around Apr. 18, getting lower as the month progresses.

Ontario ICU Capacity for COVID-19

For a full look at Ontarios COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Ontarios site.

Alberta

There are three different scenarios for Alberta: probable, elevated and extreme.

Government of Alberta

Probable scenario:

Expected to be the most likely situation for Alberta

For every case, one to two more people are infected

Infections will peak in mid-May

800,000 infections by the end of summer

There will between 400 and 3,100 deaths

Hospitalizations will peak in late May at around 818 and individuals needing critical care will peak in late May, early June with around 232 people

Elevated scenario:

For every case, two more people are infected

Infections will peak in early May

1,060,000 infections across the province

There will between 500 and 6,600 deaths

Hospitalizations will peak at the beginning of May at around 1,570 and individuals needing critical care will peak in early May with around 392 people

Extreme scenario:

Shows what would have happened if Alberta did not undertake the interventions in place

For every case, three people are infected

Infections will peak in mid-April

1,600,000 infections across the province

There will between 16,000 and 32,000 deaths

For a full look at Albertas COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Alberta site.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has released its modelling data detailing the forecast for the COVID-19 outbreak in the province.

Saskatchewan Health Authority

Saskatchewans high range scenario, predicting one person with the virus will infect four people, would see 408,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases and 8,370 total deaths.

The mid range estimate, predicting one person with the virus will infect 2.76 people, has cumulative cases at 262,000 in Saskatchewan and 5,260 deaths.

The low range scenario, predicting one person with the virus will infect 2.4 people, estimates that there will be 153,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the province and 3,075 deaths.

While we understand Canadian data is starting to show some hopeful signs about flattening the curve on COVID-19, it is critical to remember not to be complacent, Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone said in a statement. We need to continue to escalate our response to ensure we are prepared for the worst case scenarios and we need the public to help us avoid those scenarios.

For a full look at Saskatchewans COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Saskatchewan site.

Quebec

Quebec officials released modelling data forecasting the impact of COVID-19 in the province by the end of April.

Estimated deaths in Quebec (Gouvernement du Quebec)

The optimistic projections, comparing provincial data to Portugal, show:

29,212 confirmed cases of the virus by Apr. 30

A peak of 1,404 people in hospital around Apr. 21 and 468 people in intensive care

1,263 deaths in the province by Apr. 30.

The worst-case projections, comparing provincial data to Italy, show:

59,845 confirmed cases of the virus by Apr. 30

A peak of 3,028 people in hospital around Apr. 15 and 1,009 people in intensive care

8,860 deaths in the province by Apr. 30

Earlier on Tuesday, Quebecs total number of deaths increased to 150. There were also 760 more confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, 9,340 in total.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault was pleased to announce that the number of people in intensive care has not increased since Monday, 164, and highlighted that no one in the province should relax any of the physical distancing or other public health measures in place.

For a full look at Quebecs COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Quebec site.

For the latest updates on COVID-19 in Canada, follow our live blog. For an archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.
There will be huge political and economic pressure to avoid end-2020 UK-EU trade disruption with demands for a compromise arrangement. Any deal would provide important Sterling relief.

The coronavirus crisis will inevitably dominate the governments agenda, but the UK and EU cannot ignore the need to reach a future trade relationship this year.

When asked In Wednesdays coronavirus briefing whether now is a good time to leave the EU, Chancellor Sunak replied pointedly that the UK had already left the EU. The current transition period will finish at the end of 2020 and action will need to be taken to prevent a move to WTO rules.

According to the UKs chief negotiator David Frost, post-Brexit trade talks are continuing with the EU in these difficult times.

He wanted to reassure everyone that contacts were between continuing between the UK and EU during the coronavirus outbreak. We have remained in touch throughout, both sides have exchanged legal texts, and last week we had a series of conference calls to explore and clarify technicalities.

He added that the UK would share further legal texts with the European Commission shortly and that he and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, would decide a timetable for further discussions in April and May.

In a comment on Wednesday, Barnier confirmed that he would speak with Frost next week to organise upcoming negotiation rounds.

During Tuesday, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove wrote to the Commons Select Committee on the future relationship with the EU, saying the structure of negotiations was likely to change to reflect the current situation and they were exploring flexibility.

He added that We remain in contact with the European Commission to explore alternative ways to continue discussions, and will be guided by scientific advice.

A government spokesman also stated that talks between Frost and Barniers deputy Clara Martinez-Alberola had been successful.

The UK government is also still committed to reaching a deal before the end of 2020 with an outline agreement before the end of June.

It is, however, increasingly difficult to see how this timetable can possibly be realistic given the coronavirus situation.

National governments have an extremely difficult task in manging the current situation with crucial decisions on an exit strategy from current lockdowns and the need to support businesses in the interim. It will be extremely difficult to allocate sufficient time and resources to tackle trade issues.

Negotiations will also inevitably be hampered by the lack of face-to-face meetings.

UK Prime Minister Johnson is also still hospitalised. Even if he is able to leave intensive care quickly, there is liable to be an extended recuperation period.

The UK and EU countries all face a very steep economic downturn in the short term. Although there is the potential for a recovery later this year, neither side can afford any further damage caused by trade disruption at the end of 2020.

There will, therefore, be very strong pressure to reach a compromise position, especially as it would be politically extremely damaging to allow trade disruption.

The UK will strongly oppose extending the transition period, but this will have to be under discussion over the next few weeks. Alternatively, there will be the possibility of some limited form of interim agreement to ensure no significant disruption.

Fear over the trade outlook has been a key factor in banks such as Nordea, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank forecasting Sterling weakness over the next few months with Nordea considering that Euro/Sterling could easily hit parity. Any compromise deal would provide important relief and potentially trigger revised forecasts.

Pound Sterling has held steady on Thursday with Sterling/dollar close to 1.2400 and Euro/Sterling close to 4-week lows around 0.8760.
The three frontline staff were pictured wearing clinical waste bags on their heads and feet at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow last month

Three NHS nurses who were forced to wear bin bags due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) have all tested positive for coronavirus, The Telegraph has been told.

The three frontline staff were pictured wearing clinical waste bags on their heads and feet at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow last month. The hospital was the first in the country to declare a critical incident after being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients.

Frontline staff told how they were contracting the virus from patients because bosses had failed to provide them with proper masks, caps and aprons.

It came as nursing leaders warned that a lack of protective equipment continued to "fundamentally compromise" the care they can give patients, despite repeated assurances from the Government.

According to a senior source at Northwick Park, the three nurses pictured wearing the bin bags were all diagnosed with coronavirus at a North London testing centre last week.

On one ward, more than 50 per cent of staff, including the matron and ward manager, were found to have contracted the virus, it is understood.

Staff at the hospital have been warned not to speak to the press about continuing shortages of PPE, the source said.

Last month, one of the nurses in the picture told the Telegraph: We had to use our initiative. We had no other choice or we could catch the virus ourselves.

We need proper PPE kit now, or nurses and doctors are going to die. Its as simple as that.

Were treating our own colleagues on the ward after they caught the virus from patients. How can that be right?

There are so many younger people here on ventilation - many with asthma, or diabetes. They cant stop coughing, they just cough and cough and cough and they cant help it.

But theres little we can do apart from try to help them breathe. Sometimes the body just gives up, and they die. We cant save them.

And the worst part is that we cant allow their relatives in to say goodbye.

Story continues

Even our own families dont want us to come home in case we bring back the disease. What can we do?

Theres too many Covid patients coming in to cope with. We put on our brave smiles but inside were terrified. I dont know what will happen next.

It comes after the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) suggested that the Government could be significantly underestimating the number of medics going off work due to coronavirus.

On Sunday, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, claimed that only 5.7 per cent of hospital doctors were off sick because of Covid-19, but an RCP survey of more than 2,500 frontline workers found the rate was actually 14.6 per cent.

Officials have said millions of pieces of kit have been distributed and a hotline has been established to help frontline staff get PPE where it is needed most.

A nurse wears bin bags on her feet because of a lack of PPE equipment

According to the Royal College of Nursing's chief executive and general secretary, Dame Donna Kinnair, however, nurses are still being forced to share equipment, buy their own or reuse kit.

In a letter to the parliamentary health committee chairman and former Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, Dame Donna said nurses are being forced to choose between their sense of duty and the safety of themselves and their families.

"Nursing staff are at the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic," she wrote in the letter, dated April 6. "Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment and the slow and small-scale roll-out of Covid-19 testing.

"Our members are facing impossible decisions between their own or their family's health and their sense of duty."

A spokesman for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park Hospital, said: "We can confirm that a number of staff members working in our Covid-19 positive areas have tested positive for the coronavirus.

"This is unfortunate but not unexpected, as it corresponds with the experience of healthcare workers across the world. We are providing full support to those of our staff members who become unwell, and wish them a swift recovery."

Responding to suggestions that staff had been prevented from speaking out about shortages of PPE, the spokesman said: "We are actively working to support staff to raise concerns through the appropriate trust channels."
The coronavirus outbreak is wreaking havoc on Americas elections, as evidenced by the fight over Wisconsins primary this week.

One proposed solution is moving everyone to voting by mail, but President Donald Trump isnt a fan. A lot of people cheat with mail-in voting, he said last week.

Hes got a point. Ive done it myself.

In 2011, when I was living in Palm Beach County, Florida, I decided to test the system, and so I asked for three voter registration applications.

I filled them out, listing three different names  two that I pulled out of my head Rebecca Bugle and Hannah Arendt  and my own name, Margaret Menge.

I listed my real date of birth, and made up dates of birth for the other two. On the lines where the application asked for a drivers license number or last four of social security number, I wrote none as the instructions said to do if a person has neither of these.

A few weeks later I got two notices back, saying applications for Rebecca Bugle and Margaret Menge could not be processed because a drivers license number or Social Security number was not provided.

But I also received in my mailbox a new voter information card for Hannah Arendt.

On the outside of the card, my mailman had circled the name and address and written a question mark in pencil. But he still put it in my mailbox.

A few days later, I checked the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website and sure enough, there was Hannah Arendt, listed as an eligible voter  a person who existed in history, the celebrated author of Eichmann in Jerusalem  but not a person who was in existence in 2011 in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Not long after, with an election approaching, I called the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, said I was Hannah Arendt, and asked for an absentee ballot. The employee on the phone asked for a date of birth, and when I gave her information on my initial application  July 20, 1991  she said shed send one out.

The absentee ballot for Hannah Arendt appeared in my mailbox a week or two later.

I called a former Florida secretary of state in 2012 and asked him how was it possible that I was able to do this.

Well, he said, the fact is that they check names of people applying to register to vote against several different databases, but they have no way to check to see whether someone exists.

Thats just one way people can cheat with absentee ballots. There are many more.

Last year, a political operative working for North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris was charged with fraud for directing a group of people to fill out as many as one thousand absentee ballot requests on behalf of voters  most of whom were unaware the ballots were being requested.

These people then collected the ballots and filled them out themselves. Harris defeated Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes and, though it was never shown that the number of tainted ballots was enough to account for Harriss win, the election results were thrown out and a new election was held. (Republican Dan Bishop beat McCready in a special election by 2,400 votes.)

Also in 2019, a Democratic city clerk in Southfield, Michigan, was arrested and charged with six felonies for falsifying absentee ballot records to say that 193 of the ballots in one election were missing signatures or a return date, when in fact they had both. The correct records were found in the trash can in her office.

In the new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, Congress awarded $400 million to states to support elections  specifically, to help pay for changes that need to be made to elections, including a shift to more voting by mail.

But J. Christian Adams of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) says if states arent careful, theyll be issuing an open invitation to fraud.

There are two big problems with vote by mail, Adams told InsideSources. Number one are the sort of things we discovered in the Justice Department when I was there  of people voting the ballot for other people through undue influence. Thats the first one. The second one  the voter rolls are a mess.

Adams organization has sued several states and counties for refusing to maintain accurate voter rolls, allowing the names of thousands of dead voters, felons and non-citizens to remain in the system. Messy voter rolls make election fraud much easier, Adams says.

PILF is currently suing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for allowing the same person to register to vote seven times.

Its the exact same name, the exact same date of birth, Adams said, as well as the same address. But the city and state wont remove the extra registrations.

In a vote-by-mail scheme, theyll mail seven ballots, he said.

States, Ive since discovered, have no access to any master list of American citizens. So they can check to see if Hannah Arendt is a felon, or if she passed away as they can access death records.

But they have no way of checking to see whether an American citizen with that birth date exists. Its an enormous hole in the ballot security system.

Eight years have passed, and I assumed that someone had taken "Hannah Arendt" off the rolls by now.

But sure enough, when I checked the county website a few days ago, she was still there  with a message that read: We have been unable to verify that this is your correct address. Please confirm or update your address with our office or use this websites Change of Address feature before voting in the next election.

I wont be casting that fraudulent ballot. But I have to wonder: Will my vote in the next election be canceled out by somebody who did?

Margaret Menge is a freelance journalist who's written for the Columbia Journalism Review, New York Observer, Miami Herald, The American Conservative, among other publications. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
A Phnom Penh court charged online journalist Sovann Rithy, of the TV FB news outlet, on Thursday with incitement to commit a felony for the rudimentary act of reporting Prime Minister Hun Sens comments during a press conference on Tuesday.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged Sovann Rithy, founder and reporter at online publication TV FB, under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code for incitement to commit a felony, which includes a prison sentence of six months to two years.

Phnom Penh court spokesperson Kuch Kimlong confirmed the charges against Sovann Rithy, whereas a court document revealed that the journalist had been sent to pre-trial detention at Police Judiciare (PJ) prison.

Sovann Rithys arrest Tuesday night is another example of the governments ongoing crackdown against journalists and media organizations in Cambodia, which includes the arrest of two former Radio Free Asia journalists in 2017, shuttering of the Cambodia Daily in 2017 and sale of the Phnom Penh Post in 2018 to an owner with links to the prime minister.

The charges against Sovann Rithy seem to stem from a Facebook post on his personal page, which boasts more than 600,000 likes, where he quoted a statement made by Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday.

The post reads, If the moto taxi driver is bankrupt, they can sell their moto because the government is unable to help. This was posted along with the photo of a motorcycle taxi driver.

On Tuesday, Hun Sen was responding to a journalists question about helping informal workers during the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown, when he said the government was unable to help informal workers.

Frankly speaking, government is unable [to help]. The government almost has no money for people in the informal sectors, he said.

The government will die if we help motorcycle and taxi drivers. If you are bankrupt, sell the moto first. Why [you] keep the moto for your good looks, he said, chuckling.

He then returned to the subject a few minutes later to further explain his comments, this time without the laughing.

As you asked me about moto drivers complaining whether the state can support them, [they] can sell the motors and buy rice to eat first. The state doesnt have money to support.

Sovann Rithys reportage about the press conference and Hun Sens comments have been used by the police to justify his arrest and filing of charges against him, according to posts on the National Polices website.

Following the arrest, Sovann Sokha, Sovann Rithys father, apologized on Facebook for his sons alleged crime, asking for leniency in the case.

My son, Sovann Rithy has made a very serious mistake because I as his father havent advised him well, he said, in a video on the social networking site. I am so regretful. I am [joining my] hands and would like to ask our leaders to forgive him.

Additionally, the Ministry of Information was quick to revoke TV FBs media license on Wednesday, despite no official charges being filed against Sovann Rithy and the media organization.

The license owner published information which contains incitement, affected social security, order and safety, read an Information Ministry statement from Wednesday, even though charges had not been filed.

Information Ministry spokesperson Phos Sovann, in a press conference on Thursday, defended the ministrys hurried decision, saying the action was completely justified.

It has not been rushed. The Law on the Press gives the government rights to [revoke licenses] if it affects social security, order and injures the whole society, Phos Sovann said.

Given the nature of the alleged crime, Article 497 of the Criminal Code makes a distinction for incitement cases in the media, directing any punishments to the provisions of the Press Law.

The offences defined in this Section when committed through the print media are subject to the provisions of the Press Law, the article reads, with print media being the primary medium of news distribution when the law was passed in 1995.

Additionally, Article 4 of the 1995 Law on the Press says publication of official statements, meetings, minutes or reports of the executive branch cannot be penalized.

The publication of official information such as statements, meetings, meeting minutes or reports, etc., may not be penalized if such publication is fully true or an accurate summary of the truth, the article reads.

Nop Vy, media director of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, said the arrest would work as threat to other journalists and people expressing their opinions.

I think the government is very worried, he said, referring to concerns over the governments handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The arrest can be the implementation of restrictions and a threat to other journalists in Cambodia, Nop Vy said.

Journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) labelled the arrest as Kafkaesque, adding that imprisoning a reporter for quoting the prime minister was absurd.

We call on the Cambodian justice system to put an end to this utterly Kafkaesque case by releasing Sovann Rithy at once, and we call on the government to reinstate TVFBs media license, said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSFs Asia-Pacific desk.

On March 24, Human Rights Watch said it had documented 17 detentions where the Cambodian government had arrested someone for expression their opinion on the COVID-19 pandemic, but claimed the people had spread fake news.

The Cambodian government is misusing the COVID-19 outbreak to lock up opposition activists and others expressing concern about the virus and the governments response, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director, in the statement.
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Linkedin Asip Hasani (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya  Thu, April 9, 2020 13:46 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d52d2 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-korona-indonesia,virus-corona,East-Java,mass-prayer,religious-gathering,online,Nahdlatul-ulama,live-streaming,khofifah-indar-parawansa Free

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims across East Java attended a Nisfu Syaban mass prayer on Wednesday through their smartphones and televisions, making the event one of the largest online religious gatherings to be held amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Nisfu Syaban refers to the 15th day of the Syaban month, the eighth month on the Islamic calendar, which falls before the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Most Muslims, especially followers of the countrys largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), believe that God will answer peoples prayers on that day.

The one-hour mass prayer was led by 19 clerics from the East Java branch of NU in Surabaya as well as Lirboyo Islamic boarding school in Kediri. The number 19 was chosen to symbolize the outbreak of COVID-19.

They prayed to God for the outbreak to end soon.

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesian churches alter Good Friday services to avoid spreading virus

According to the event organizer, more than 100,000 people across the province joined the live streaming of the event, which was dubbed the first-ever online mass prayer to be held by the NU, on the organizations official YouTube and Instagram accounts.

The figure does not include thousands of others watching the event via the social media accounts of the East Java administration as well as Lirboyo boarding school.

The mass prayer, sponsored by the East Java administration, was also aired by 14 local television channels.

This is how we try to hold religious activities during the outbreak. We have told our followers across the province to attend the event from their respective homes, the head of NU's East Java branch, Marzuki Mustamar, said.

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who attended the mass prayer from her office at Grahadi Building in Surabaya, called on Muslims in East Java to pray together for the country amid the outbreak.

"May God lift the pandemic from this country. When a prayer is chanted by thousands or even millions, we hope God will soon answer our prayer," she said.

Read also: Religion and COVID-19 mitigation

NU advisory body had Miftahul Akhyar said Muslims could obey the governments instruction on physical distancing without abandoning religious activities thanks to the live streaming of mass prayer.

He also urged the government to reveal a more detailed map of the diseases spread and announce confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases more transparently.

The way the government handled the outbreak, Mifathul said, had created confusion and uncertainty among Muslims, as health authorities classified a regency with at least one confirmed case as a COVID-19 red zone.

Therefore, people in a village can decide whether its safe for them to hold mass prayer at mosques. We believe its haram [forbidden] for us to hold mass prayer if it can harm other lives, he went on to say. (kuk)
Abhishek, Shweta Wish Mother Jaya Bachchan With A Heartfelt Post On Her Birthday, Reveal She Is Away From Them
Sri Lankan police have arrested more than seven individuals, including several university students, on allegations of publishing false information on their Facebook accounts and maliciously criticising public officials involved in COVID-19 prevention programs. Authorities claim that such news impedes the work of officials attempting to contain the pandemic.

The crackdown follows an April 1 directive by the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordering the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and all police stations to arrest accused individuals. Deputy Inspector General of Police Ajith Rohana later told the media that anyone sharing false information would also be charged.

It is yet another sign that President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government is preparing even more repressive attacks on freedom of expression in response to rising social discontent.

Peradeniya University student Tharindu Avishka was arrested for allegedly making false claims on his Facebook account that the hospital affiliated to the Kotalawala Defense University had been reserved as a coronavirus quarantine centre for VIPs.

It is no secret that while the general public is being held in quarantine centres with minimal facilities, wealthy layers returning from overseas are allowed to quarantine themselves in their homes or other comfortable places of their own choice.

By contrast, thousands of workers and poor people confront immense hardship because the governments lockdown and curfew measures fail to provide any real plan for ordinary people to obtain daily food essentials and medicines or safe conditions for health workers.

Police also raided the home of another university student in Maharagama, near Colombo, following allegations that he criticised the appointment of Basil Rajapaksethe Sri Lankan presidents youngest brotherto head the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on his Facebook account.

According to media reports, a dance teacher was arrested on Sunday for reportedly claiming on Facebook that President Gotabaya Rajapakse was infected with the coronavirus. A youth has also been arrested by Uppuweli police in Trincomalee on claims that he criticised on his Facebook the areas divisional secretariat for injustices that occurred during the coronavirus eradication and quarantine program.

Police Media Spokesman Superintendent of Police Jaliya Seneviratne said that the accused were arrested under Section 6 of the Computer Crimes Act and the Penal Code, but gave no specific details. According to media accounts, many of those arrested have not received any legal assistance. Anyone arrested under this law must be tried by a High Court.

The new directive can be used, not just against social media activists but any internet publishers and to witch-hunt journalists. The clear message is, Do not criticise the government!

The IGPs directive and these latest arrests are illegal and undemocratic. The publication of so-called false news and defamation, however, are not criminal offences in Sri Lanka and, according to records, no one has previously been arrested for allegedly publishing such information.

Last year, the Sirisena-Wickremesinge government attempted to introduce legislation criminalising fake news with fines of up to one million rupees and a maximum prison sentence of five years. The bill was not passed in the face of widespread opposition by civil rights groups.

In Sri Lanka, successive governments and extreme-right formations have launched anti-democratic attacks on the media and individual journalists. Under former President Mahinda RajapakseGotabhaya Rajapakses oldest brothermany journalists were singled out and targeted, including Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was shot and killed, and Prageeth Eknaligoda, who disappeared.

These assaults continued under the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration. One year ago, on April 1, police arrested and remanded well-known writer Shakthika Sathkumara, falsely accusing him of insulting Buddha in a short story published on his Facebook account.

The latest anti-democratic attacks on social media are occurring amid rising criticism of the governments refusal to introduce mass testing to trace and contain the highly-contagious coronavirus or provide sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical workers and basic healthcare and daily necessities to the masses.

Public health inspectors, nurses, officials providing Samurdhi welfare assistance, and village officers have threatened to withdraw their services unless authorities provide them with enough PPEs and other facilities.

Hundreds of thousands of workers and the self-employed in urban areas have been pushed back to their home villages, many without any means of financial support while the rural poor confront major difficulties cultivating and selling their crops.

After Colombos three-decade war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and years of successive government attacks on jobs and social conditions, the current Rajapakse regime is sitting on a social and political tinderbox.

Currently there are almost six million social media users among the islands 21 million-strong population, many of them young people who recognise that mainstream capitalist media function as mouthpieces of the government.

Sensitive to this fact, and the rising anti-government denunciations, Rajapakse issued a tweet last weekend warning the public to beware of fake news & messages being circulated under his name on social media platforms. All of his announcements, he declared, will be published only through official channels of the Presidents Media Division.

The Sri Lankan governments actions against social media users coincide with the increasing attacks on the media internationally. Last week, the Indian government secured a legal mandate from the countrys Supreme Court to crack down on the media over false news. The court ruled that media outlets could only report what it termed the official version of developments. This was coupled with a threat that media outlets that failed to do so could be prosecuted for spreading fake news.

The Rajapakse governments increasing censorship is in line with the expanding militarisation of its administration and the appointment of retired military generals to key positions, including Army Commander Lt. General Shavendra Silva to head the National Task Force on prevention of COVID-19.

None of the parliamentary parties of Sri Lankas ruling elite, including the United National Party (UNP), Tamil National Alliance and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has raised any objection to the recent arrest of social media users and, notwithstanding various tactical differences, all have backed Rajapakses militarisation of his administration.
On Saturday, the state of New Jersey was mocked on Twitter after Gov. Phil Murphy announced during a press conference that the state had a desperate need for COBOL programmers. The states unemployment insurance application website had broken under the weight of the more than 200,000 applications it received in a single week, and volunteers were needed to get the system back up and running reliably. The website is not completely down, but its been glitchy, and laid-off workers report that they havent been able to submit applications. In response, the state has implemented a schedule for using the website based on peoples Social Security numbers. Murphy confessed that the unemployment systems themselves are 40-plus years oldand that they were still written in COBOL, a programming language initially developed in 1959.

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For some, hearing COBOLs name was a big blast from the past. The programming language hasnt been taught at most universities in decades, and its used only on giant mainframe computers, as opposed to the server farms that became popular in the 1980s, or the cloud, where companies like Netflix and Facebook cheaply buy computing power hosted by providers like Amazon or Google. Even in the 1980s, most people thought COBOL was uncool and outdated. But its still in widespread use across state governments, for two big reasons. First, states have been starved of the money they need to upgrade their safety net programs. Second, and just as importantly, COBOL still works pretty well, assuming you can find any engineers who know the language.

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New Jersey is hardly the only state stuck with technology from the last millennium. The New York Times reported that New Yorks and Connecticuts unemployment systems are also both more than 40 years old and havent been able to keep up with the flood of new applications. Connecticuts backlog in processing applications is reportedly five weeks long. Washington, D.C., asks unemployed workers to file their applications using Internet Explorer, a browser that Microsoft officially retired five years ago. Explorer isnt even available for the smartphones that are the only form of internet access available for 1 in every 4 low-income adults.

COBOL might be deeply uncool, but its hardly a dead language.

Part of the problem? States have been starved of funding they need for running their unemployment insurance systems, money that under the 1935 Social Security Act is supposed to come from the federal government. According to a 2017 presentation by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, the federal funding available for state unemployment insurance agencies to upgrade their technology, pay workers, and cover other administrative expenses has been falling steadily for the past 25 years, dipping roughly 30 percent below mid-1990s levels. In a survey NASWA conducted of 40 states workforce agencies, more than half of respondents said their administrative budget shortfalls were either serious or critical. And things havent gotten better in the years that followed, with Congress making further budget cuts in 2018 and 2019. Even compared with other social safety net programs, the technology used for unemployment insurance is in particularly bad shape. They have some of the most antiquated and least versatile computer systems among public agencies, said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. While states that upgrade their Medicaid websites and tech systems have their spending matched 9 to 1 by the federal government, he said, states that want to fix their unemployment insurance get no such help.*

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That decrepit technology created by years of disinvestment came back to bite Congress when it decided to boost unemployment insurance payouts in the wake of the pandemic. The CARES Act decreed that unemployed workers get an extra $600 per week in their unemployment insurance payouts. According to Dutta-Gupta, Congress would have preferred to raise the percentage of lost wages that insurance would replace, instead of giving everyone the same boost, but the states said it would take five months or longer to change the reimbursement percentage. Clearly, the incredibly old enterprise systems and software just dont align with the needs of our country, especially amidst a crisis.

But while New Jerseys unemployment system is undoubtedly buckling under the weight of the COVID-19 jobs crisis, the COBOL programming language, or the mainframes it runs on, are probably not to blame. After all, COBOL systems process trillions of dollars of transactions daily for the worlds largest banks, which are clearly not strapped for the cash theyd need to make upgrades. COBOL might be deeply uncool, but its hardly a dead language.

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COBOL remains one of the fastest programming languages, said John Zeanchock, associate professor of computer and information systems at Robert Morris University. We get calls from big companies in Pittsburgh, like Bank of New York Mellon and PNC Bank, looking for COBOL programmers. The limitations of COBOL itself are probably not the problem with New Jerseys system, Zeanchock said, adding that a single mainframe computer could probably handle the processing needed for an individual states UI unemployment insurance system, even if the number of applications increased tenfold.

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RMU is one of only 37 universities in the world that still has at least one dedicated mainframe computing course as a part of their curriculums. But it stopped for more than a decade, says Zeanchock, until it was approached by IBM for a partnership in 2012. RMU students are able to connect to IBMs mainframe computers in Dallas, and roughly 20 students per year complete RMUs program. According to Zeanchock, those who do tend to make $15,000 to $30,000 more after graduation than other RMU computer science graduates. Demand for COBOL engineers is outstripping supply. As Michael Wirth, professor of computer science at University of Guelph, wrote in 2015, The problem lies not with the legacy code [per-se], but with the lack of people qualified to maintain it.

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Its a great language to use for mainframe computers that need to handle a very high volume of transactions, said Zeanchock, in explaining why it continues to be broadly used by federal agencies like the IRS and Social Security Administration, along with banks, ATM networks, and credit card companies. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Micro Focus, 70 percent of companies using COBOL wanted to continue to update and modernize their COBOL code bases, instead of planning to abandon their mainframe systems altogether. But even if the job prospects are good, and the technology is still powerful, Zeanchock says its hard to recruit students to learn a programming language many perceive as antiquated. Something that might take 2 or 3 lines of code in a more modern programming language [like Python] might take 50 to 100 lines of code in COBOL.

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When it comes to our broken social safety net, COBOL isnt really the bad guy: blame Congress for underfunding the programs, and states for failing to make up the gaps.

Weve known for a long time that even a much smaller crisis would lead to daunting challenges, said Dutta-Gupta. He points out that during the Great Recession, state unemployment agencies were so understaffed that their agency heads spent shifts answering applicant phone calls. Even if states werent getting federal funding, they still could have paid for better technology with their own tax revenue. According to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times, former Florida Gov. Rick Scott and current Gov. Ron DeSantis ignored repeated warnings that the states website barely functioned.

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And when states have tried to make upgrades, it hasnt always gone well. In 2013, Florida under Scott, paid Deloitte $77 million to build a new unemployment insurance website ($14 million more than it originally budgeted for) and still ended up with a system so riddled with glitches that a 2019 audit found more than 600 separate problems. Floridas website has crashed repeatedly since March. On Tuesday, in the Miami suburb of Hialeah, hundreds of laid-off workers risked exposure to the coronavirus by lining up to pick up paper applications. (While New Jersey plans to send laid-off workers retroactive benefits if they were laid off in March but couldnt submit their applications until April, according to Florida state law, theres no such forgiveness for all the workers locked out by the states technical incompetence).

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#HIALEAH: @cityofhialeah decided to hand out #unemployment forms today at 11am. Now hundreds have shown up to get a document you can get online or print from home. No social distance. Everyone is on top of each other. This is crazy! @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/oiF14lCdqC  Hatzel Vela (@HatzelVelaWPLG) April 7, 2020

By contrast, Massachusetts spent the time and money to make sure it built a system that would actually workand now its reaping the benefits. In 2017, Massachusetts migrated its unemployment technology to the cloud, predicting it would save about $800,000 annually in ongoing maintenance expenses. More importantly, though, Massachusetts online system has mostly kept up with demand, state officials told WBUR, a Boston-area NPR news station.

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I thought it was very smooth, said Elias, a 26-year-old dental hygienist in Central Massachusetts, speaking about the states unemployment website. (When we spoke by phone, he asked that his last name not be used.) When Elias found out on March 17 that the dental office where he works would be closed until May, he submitted an unemployment insurance application online. It was approved two days later, and his family has started receiving benefits. It appears that a functional website sometimes goes hand in hand with a state government that prioritizes the safety net: Before Congress expanded UI, Florida provided only 12 weeks of unemployment insurance, while Massachusetts provided 30 weeks, and Massachusetts weekly benefit amounts were roughly 40 percent higher for middle-income workers than Floridas.

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Under the CARES Act that Congress passed in March, states are supposed to get the extra money they need to implement the newly created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which extends benefits to people who were ineligible for traditional unemployment insurance. That cash should make it easier to make sure websites and processing systems are up and runningbut our failure to keep our safety net crisis-ready may cause millions of people to struggle financially in the meantime.

Correction, April 10, 2020: This article originally misstated the funding structure for Medicaid technology spending. The federal government offers a 9-to-1 match, not a match of 90 percent of the funds states spend.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks episode of What Next: TBD.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
After a man from Gopalganj district found positive for coronavirus, the District Magisterate of East Champaran wrote a letter to Gopalganj SP asking him to seal the borders at Dumariya Ghat and Sattar Ghat, to contain the spread of the virus.

"In the above mentioned subject, I want to say that in the nearby Gopalganj district, a positive case of coronavirus has been found. In view of the security measures,there is a need to seal the borders at Dumariya Ghat and Sattar Ghat. I request you to carry out investigation in this regard," the letter read from DM East Champaran read.

According to the Health Ministry, Bihar so far has recorded 38 cases of coronavirus. So far,one person has lost his life in the state.

With an increase of 540 positive COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,734, said Ministry of Health on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Quantum Genomics recently announced a financing agreement with Negma Group, a London-based specialist financing institution that has provided 500m in capital to companies since inception. As part of the agreement, Negma will provide an 8m interest-free loan, which will be repaid with warrants by Quantum Genomics. The agreement can be renewed two times so Quantum Genomics has access to 24m in total.

We have adjusted our valuation from 909m or 51.80 per share to 963m or 51.74 per share. The total value increased due to rolling forward our NPVs, while the per share value falls due to a higher number of shares. Additionally, 5m warrants will be issued to Negma Group to cover the initial 8m loan, which would lead to 27% more shares if fully exercised.

Click here to view the full report.

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About Edison: Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world-renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise. At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisers and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.

Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities.

For more information please contact Edison:

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SOURCE: Edison Investment Research Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/584534/Edison-Issues-Update-on-Quantum-Genomics-ALQGC
BATON ROUGE, La.  New Orleans native Tyler Perry paid the grocery bills for all shoppers during the designated senior hour at multiple Kroger supermarket stores in Louisiana and Georgia on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.



Felix Turner, the Atlanta spokesman for Kroger, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Perry paid for groceries at 44 stores in Atlanta and 29 in his hometown of New Orleans.



Senior and higher-risk Kroger shoppers in metro Atlanta did receive a nice surprise at the register this morning when they learned Tyler Perry had paid their grocery tab in full, Turner told the newspaper. We would like to join our customers in thanking Mr. Perry for his kindness and generosity during this unprecedented pandemic.



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A new report claims that Google has tapped Samsung to produce a custom chipset, after exploring alternative vendors (and considering even building its own). While the reputation of Exynos chips has taken a hit lately, this new design will use standard ARM CPU and GPU designs as well as custom Google solutions.

This Exynos chip will feature two Cortex-A78, two A76 and four A55 cores. The GPU will be a Mali MP20 based on a new architecture from ARM, code named Borr. The A78 and Borr cores are yet to be officially announced.

Still, considering that the Cortex-A77 is about 20% faster than an A76 and that the A78 will be even faster, this sounds like very powerful hardware  perhaps too powerful for a smartphone.

The chip will reportedly be built on Samsungs 5nm EUV node, which will help with the power requirements and heat generation somewhat, but its hard to say if it will be enough to fit inside a phone form factor.

Google Chrome laptops are another possibility, of course, those arent tied to x86 like the full Windows version or Mac OS . That said, the latest Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and the Google Pixelbook both use Intel CPUs.

Interestingly, this custom chip is said to feature Googles Visual Core ISP and NPU on board (replacing Samsungs designs). This might open up possibilities for usage in servers  Google has plenty of uses for an ISP and NPU, just think of all the Google Photos that need processing, YouTube videos that need transcribing, language translation from phones and the Chrome browser and so on.

Its not just Google thats looking at Samsung  long term partner Facebook might tap the Exynos division to produce chips for upcoming Oculus AR and VR products.

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With a tree-inventory in hand, a new arborist on hand and some grant money to work with, Butte-Silver Bow has bigger plans for trees this year and getting more folks involved in their care.

The plans include a community Arbor Day celebration at some point and a tree revitalization project at Father Sheehan Park that will include new trees being planted and some sorely needed attention to old cottonwoods there.

Most have done well over the past 80 years or so, says county Arborist Trevor Peterson, but four along a walking trail are dead or dying and need to be removed because theyre dangerous. Others need trimming and pruning to stay healthy.

Only about 40 species of trees do well in Butte, mostly because they can withstand the long, harsh winters here, Peterson said. Cottonwoods are one of them.

Trees have to be hardy here or they dont survive, said Peterson, a certified arborist the county hired in January.

With a $9,000 Montana Urban Forestry Program grant last year, the county conducted an inventory by recording all boulevard and park trees within Butte-Silver Bow County into an online GPS program.

They recorded the diameter at breast height, species, maintenance tasks, health defects, if there were wires above the tree, condition of wood and condition of leaves. They also recorded future planting site locations.

Kathleen Humpa, the countys previous arborist who moved away last fall, oversaw much of that effort. Now its Petersons turn to put the inventory to use.

I use all this information to develop maintenance schedules, insect and disease treatment plans, and also to see where we should plant trees in the future, he said. Any new trees planted or any trees that are removed will be recorded.

Also, after any maintenance is done on a tree, that will also get recorded in the tree inventory, he said. Doing the tree inventory was how we decided that Father Sheehan cottonwoods needed removed and some of them needed pruning.

The county recently received a $7,600 state natural resources grant that will help pay for 20 new trees, a contractor to grind and remove stumps from the dead cottonwoods and promotional and educational materials.

Parks Director J.P. Gallagher said the county will match the amount with labor and equipment costs it incurs for cutting down the dead cottonwoods, pruning and trimming the others and additional work.

Arbor Day is Friday, April 24, and the department planned a celebration outside the Uptown fire station. The event has been postponed because of coronavirus concerns, but hopefully it can be held sometime this year, likely at the fire station or Father Sheehan Park.

When it is held, volunteers from Buttes Urban Forestry Board will take part and new trees will be planted. School kids will be invited to take part and information will be provided on Buttes urban forestry efforts.

The hope is those and other efforts will make more residents aware of tree care, the dangers of neglecting maintenance and planting techniques.

Work at Father Sheehan Park will be an ongoing project that extends into the fall.

Some parts of the project are better to do at different times of the year and time constraints will also dictate when certain things get done, Peterson said.

Peterson has studied horticulture and forestry at Oregon State University and Washington State University, and among other things, was the foreman arborist for a private company and the arborist at Washington State in Pullman, Washington.

Before he was hired here, the arborist position was moved from Community Enrichment to Parks and Recreation. It made more sense there, Gallagher said, since parks crews maintain trees on county property.

Gallagher said Peterson is a certified arborist and a young guy with a lot of energy. Its also a plus, he said, that Peterson wanted to come here for the position and the hunting, fishing and outdoors that Montana offers.

Peterson said he enjoyed being the arborist at Washington State, but this is what he has been aiming for.

There is a lot bigger responsibility here and more people, he said. Theres just a lot more to it. My work affects a lot more here than a university. Its not just a campus that gets affected but the whole town.

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The number of businesses which stopped operation in Vietnam hit a record number of nearly 35,000 in the first quarter of this year, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

If wages are fully paid, most garment businesses would run out of capital within the next three months

According to a VCCI survey, the COVID-19 pandemic was the main reason for the closures, marking the first time companies that halted operation outnumbered newly-established ones since the VCCI began keeping such records.

Vu Tien Loc, the VCCIs chairman said 85 per cent of surveyed firms said the pandemic narrowed their consumption market. Meanwhile, 65 per cent of the companies said COVID-19 has left them short of capital.

More than 40 per cent of the firms said the pandemic caused a lack of materials, 43 per cent laid-off labourers and 82 per cent predicted a sharp decline in revenue this year compared to 2019. About 30 per cent forecast their revenue could be reduced by 30 to 50 per cent this year while 22 per cent said they would have revenue decreased by more than half.

The survey also revealed that if the pandemic continues with complex changes, nearly 30 per cent of businesses will be able to maintain their operations for less than three months and 50 per cent for about six months.

More than 75 per cent of the companies said they would have to reduce their workforce in size. About 10 per cent of the surveyed firms would have to fire half of their labourers. Only 1 per cent planned to employ more people, meaning millions of people could lose their jobs in the upcoming months.

Loc said the business community was in need of help from both labourers and consumers nationwide.

VCCI asked labourers that were willing to accept only a portion of their salary, with the rest made in late payments to help businesses overcome difficulties.

Earlier, the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association said if wages were paid in full, most garment businesses would run out of capital within the next three months.

The VCCI, therefore, asked some agencies to apply some new articles in the Law on Labour 2019 sooner than the scheduled time at the beginning of 2021, allowing them to reduce their spending on salaries during an epidemic.  VNS
The closed Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 11, 2020. (Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images)

To the editor: It seems so easy but it is so hard for most people to do  stop eating animals to reduce the risk of losing your life. ("Why China's wildlife ban is not enough to stop another virus outbreak," April 2)

I'm not just talking about eating wildlife, but also cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. I'm also not just talking about eating them, but also making medicine out of them for us.

The coronavirus now causing a pandemic, according to the article, probably originated in a horseshoe bat and was passed to a pangolin before it jumped to humans.

The message is clear: No more eating animals, no matter what they are. It might save your life.

Marjorie Hirsch Loeb, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Over the course of my life I've come to believe that our relationship with the natural world is dysfunctional, at best.

We kill wolves to artificially increase the number of elk and deer to hunt. We burn down our rainforests, the Earth's lungs, so we can raise more cattle to slaughter. We engage globally in the ongoing obscenity of factory farming.

Now we are in a pandemic that was probably caused by our exploitation of wildlife.

I no longer think our relationship is dysfunctional. It's demented. The Earth came first, then after billions of years, Homo sapiens evolved along with all the other life forms that are inseparable from the evolutionary process. We are of the Earth.

Until we stop acting as if we are a separate and superior entity, we will continue to unleash these kinds of pandemics that are the result of this delusion.

Tim Viselli, La Canada Flintridge

..

To the editor: I guess what the coronavirus will teach us all is that what happens thousands of miles away in vastly different societies and cultures does indeed have a huge impact on our day-to-day life in the United States, no matter how many borders we draw on the map or walls we attempt to erect.

We are one humanity, for better or worse, whether we like it or not.

Story continues

Andrew Tilles, Studio City

..

To the editor: Thank you for shining a bright light on the cruel practice of wildlife farming and drawing a direct line between this practice and our past and current pandemics.

Perhaps the rural farmers and corporate interests in China could study the riches of non-animal meat and pivot to plant-based foods for their income and for the sake of the entire planet.

Emily Loughran, Los Angeles
As India aims to step up the number of people being screened for COVID-19, the Supreme Court has suggested that all tests to identify coronavirus positive patients should be conducted free of cost.

While hearing a PIL, an SC bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan suggested that the test should be conducted free of cost in the identified private laboratories and said that the court will pass appropriate order on the matter.

REUTERS

The SC also asked the central government to look into creating a mechanism for providing reimbursement for the same.



The PIL was filed by lawyer and petitioner Shashank Deo Sudhi seeking direction to the Centre and other respective authorities to provide free of cost the testing facility for COVID-19 to all citizens in the country.

REUTERS

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that 118 laboratories were doing 15,000 test capacity per day and added that 47 private laboratory chains have also been involved for the same.

The court asked the Centre to ensure private labs don't charge a high amount for the test and suggested that the government can create an effective mechanism for reimbursement from the government for tests.

Mehta said that they will look into the suggestion and will try to devise what can be done best.

I&PRD ERNAKULAM

Sudhi, on the other hand, submitted that testing of coronavirus is very expensive and therefore the Central government should take all necessary steps to provide free of cost the testing facility for COVID-19 kits and others to all citizens in the country.

Doctors, nurses are 'warriors', need protection

The Supreme Court on Wednesday termed doctors, nurses and healthcare workers as warriors in the fight against coronavirus and said they need to be protected.

The observation from the apex court came while hearing petitions concerning protective gear for doctors and healthcare workers on the frontline amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat that adequate steps and measures have been taken by the authorities to protect the doctors and healthcare staff. The petition's primary focus was on providing protective gear, including hazmat suits, personal protective equipment (PPE), masks and other essentials for medical and healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of the coronavirus patients.

REUTERS

Representing the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the government is taking every measure to protect the medical professionals and healthcare workers, terming them "corona warriors", from the deadly infection.

The court observed that the government is already getting inputs from everywhere, and it could explore creating a mechanism at the district level where nodal officers can be appointed to get suggestions.

"Why don't you create a mechanism at the district level where the district magistrate can arrange things as the service sector is working from home. Their well being and mental health are also important", observed the court.
Mesoblast chief Dr Silviu Itescu has warned Australians must not become complacent about the coronavirus threat even if a successful vaccine is discovered.

"I expect there will be a vaccine that works and is safe and comes online, and the numbers will come down dramatically. But this is a viral infection that will stay with us. It's not going away," he said.

Mesoblast major shareholder and CEO, Professor Silviu Itescu. Credit:Josh Robenstone

The chief of the regenerative medicine company also warned against relaxing any social distancing rules in the coming months, observing Australia's relatively low rate of infections was a result of the national shutdown.

"I would be very concerned about relaxing it, especially with the winter months coming," he said.
Consultant- ART Initiative Project Support, Brussels, Belgium

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Country: Belgium

City: Brussels, Belgium

Office: UNDP Brussels

Closing date: Monday, 20 April 2020

Consultant- ART initiative project support (must be eligible to work in EU)

Location : Brussels, BELGIUM

Application Deadline : 20-Apr-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Additional Category : Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required : English Spanish

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 04-May-2020

Duration of Initial Contract : Six (6) months

Expected Duration of Assignment : Six (6) months with possibility for extension

Background

The ART Initiative - Hub for Territorial Partnerships is a UNDPs global project that is geared at harnessing the potential of territorial partnerships through a variety of modalities, such as Decentralized Cooperation, South-South and triangular cooperation. ART is therefore an entry point for international cooperation actors interested in harmonizing their respective actions in support of national and sub-national policies for sustainable and local human development. ART aims at strengthening and expanding the existing alliance between UNDP and Decentralized Cooperation partners in support of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local level. ART also seeks to strengthen the potential and role of Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) as development partners and to promote the principles of development cooperation effectiveness and in support of the localization of the SDGs.

In this global panorama marked by common challenges that require partnerships and innovative and complex solutions to achieve sustainable development without leaving no one behind, UNDP ART has partnered with many decentralized cooperation partners to jointly promote innovative initiatives that contribute to the localization of the 2030 Agenda. Therefore, over the years, the initiative has contributed to demonstrate that regional, municipal and local authorities, together with other local governance stakeholders, have a key role to play in promoting sustainable development and making the SDGs part of national and local development strategies and policies.

In this context, recently launched initiative supported by the Government of Extremadura, through its International Development Cooperation Agency (AEXCID), aims to implement the SDGs in its own territory as well as others connecting knowledge and experiences for SDG localization. The AEXCID-UNDP alliance will contribute to jointly promote a global multi-stakeholder and multi-level dialogue, encouraging the development of territories of peace and coexistence within the framework of the localization of the SDGs.

In this context, the initiative would like to hire a consultant that shall support the implementation of this project. With a first-hand knowledge of the context of the Extremadura region and its institutions, he/she must have a good sense of self-organization and flexibility. The individual must be self-motivated, with the capacity to take initiatives. With good communications skills, he/she should be able to work effectively under pressure and meet tight deadlines. The incumbent is expected to work in close collaboration with all members of the ART team.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the direct supervision and in close collaboration with the UNDP ART Territorial Partnership Advisor . In particular, he/she will undertake the following duties: Duties and Responsibilities:

Strengthen partnerships with the AEXCID and other Extremaduras actors:

Provide overall support on building and strengthening partnerships with Spanish decentralized cooperation actors, especially with Extremadura cooperation partners;

Map, identify and contact Extremadura local actors that can contribute to DC activities;

Provide support to promote the participation and involvement of Extremadura decentralized cooperation actors in technical exchanges and global dialogues;

Support the organization of dialogues, seminars and events aimed at expanding and sharing knowledge on relevant thematic areas and extending partnership networks.

Deliverables:

Supported the mapping of Extremadura development cooperation actors and action plan to foster their engagement supported;

Support provided to design a strategy for engaging Extremadura Cooperation and related partnerships strengthened;

Contributed to the celebration of events, seminars and/or workshops to bring together interested partners to advance knowledge on SDG localization.

2. Assist with the provision of programmatic and technical support to UNDP local governance/local development programmes and support the ART Team with day-to-day work:

Support the ART Team in its daily activities, including assistance to country programmes and related initiatives;

Support the ART Team in elaborating and implementing innovative initiatives in view of advancing SDGs implementation at the local level;

Contribute to knowledge sharing efforts;

Assist in the coordination, organization, facilitation and follow up of meetings, events and/or field visits and other forms of technical cooperation;

Attend and elaborate summaries of conferences/workshops relevant to the subject area,;

Perform other tasks as may be requested.

Deliverables:

Assistance to ART initiative global coordination provided;

Supported the organization and coordination of meetings, exchanges and learning activities;

Minutes on meetings and conferences

Supported the elaboration and drafting of relevant UNDP ART documentation;

Overall support to UNDP ART Team in developing, organizing and delivering trainings on Localizing the SDGs provided;

3. Provide overall support to the coordination, implementation and monitoring of UNDP ART-AEXCID joint project related to SDG localization:

Facilitate the communication and ensure the liaison among the partners involved in the project

Support the definition, implementation and follow-up of activities related to the project.

Facilitate and organize the exchange between AEXCID, Extremadura region and partners countries.

Support the development of communication materials and facilitate the dissemination of project activities and results.

Deliverables:

Technical and operational support provided throughout the project development and related assignments completed.

Tags country programmes development strategies human development international cooperation knowledge sharing local development local governance poverty reduction procurement sdgs social sciences south south sustainable development sustainable development goals technical cooperation trainings

Activities adapted and organized in the selected territories, as foreseen in the project document;

UNDP ART- AEXCID Project promoted, and a number of partners further engaged with the project;

Supported the coordination with technical and professional services to produce specific materials, organization of events and systematization of experiences established in the project.

Competencies

Corporate competences:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UNs values and ethical standards;

Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Functional competences:

Ability to proactively assist on issues related to international cooperation and local governance

Demonstrates ability work flexibly in a multicultural team;

Good communication and interpersonal skills, ability to foster networks and partnerships;

It is very important that the candidate can demonstrate knowledge about the Extremadura context, its different actors of international development cooperation, Extremadura civil society, etc.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University Degree (MA) in a relevant discipline, such as Social Sciences, Law or others;

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish.

Experience:

At least 1 year of relevant professional experience in the field of development;

Demonstrated understanding of local development and SDG localization concepts;

Professional experience supporting the formulation and management of international development cooperation projects;

Demonstrated understanding of Spanish decentralized cooperation context;

Work experience with Extremadura International Development Cooperation Agency and with their associations is a distinct advantage;

Work experience with the United Nations is a distinct advantage;

Proficiency in the use of computers and office software packages such as MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and web-based management systems;

Important notice

Application Submission Process: Interested consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one(1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

CV and a Personal History Form (that can be downloaded at http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc or http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc).

Letter of interest outlining why you think would be best suitable for the assignment.

Short proposal on the methodological approach.

Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price. The proposal shall be provided in curreny Euro as per the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780 and needs to be sent to: procurement.be@undp.org by 20th April 2020. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: Financial Proposal/ ART initiative- Project Support. Proposals received after the deadline will be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a breakdown. The term all-inclusive implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal.

Criteria for Evaluation of Proposal: Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method - where the educational background, experience on similar assignments and letter of interest will be weighted at 70% and the price proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring. The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score that has also accepted UNDPs General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract. Only Consultants obtaining a minimum of 70% on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 100 points:

Criteria A - Relevant experience through CV, P11 and letter of motivation- max points: 10;

Criteria B - Knowledge of sustainable development, local development and SDG localization - max points: 20;

Criteria C - Understanding and experience in decentralized cooperation - max points: 25;

Criteria D - Knowledge of Extremadura context - max points: 20.

Criteria E - Interview - max point: 25.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation - max. 30 points

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal: p = y (/z), where;

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;

 = price of the lowest priced proposal;

z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 02:05:46|Editor: zyl

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The advertising board at Piccadilly Circus displays a message showing gratitude towards London's key workers, in London, Britain, on April 8, 2020. The death toll of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 7,097 as of Tuesday afternoon, a record daily increase of 938 since the outbreak began, the Department of Health and Social Care said Wednesday. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 7,097 as of Tuesday afternoon, a record daily increase of 938 since the outbreak began, the Department of Health and Social Care said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday morning, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain hit 60,733, up 5,492 in the past 24 hours, said the department.

During Wednesday's Downing Street daily press briefing, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition is improving and remains in intensive care.

"He has been sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the clinical team," said Sunak.

Johnson was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in London with "persistent symptoms" on Sunday night, 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19. He was moved into intensive care on Monday night after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.

The prime minister is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without assistance, a Downing Street spokesperson said earlier Wednesday.

During the press briefing, Professor Angela McLean, deputy chief scientific adviser, said that the number of new COVID-19 cases is not accelerating out of control in Britain.

Only a slight increase in patients in critical care was witnessed over the past 24 hours, according to McLean.

Meanwhile, Sunak acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic could have a "significant impact" on the British economy, revealing that there would be an emergency COBRA meeting on Thursday to discuss "the approach" to reviewing lockdown measures.

"I have been very honest that this will have a significant impact on our economy," he said, adding that the government had put in place "an enormous amount of support to help as many people as possible to get through this."

In a bid to curb the pandemic, the British government has ordered a ban on public gatherings of more than two people and the closure of shops selling non-essential goods during the lockdown.

Among other measures, the government has launched schemes with more than 330 billion pounds (409.3 billion dollars) of loans and guarantees to help firms keep operating amid the pandemic, promising to cover 80 percent of wages -- up to 2,500 pounds (3101 dollars) a month -- for employees who are unable to work during the pandemic.
A few weeks ago, I was walking in Midtown toward Montrose near Spur 527 when I saw a woman on a ladder hanging a sign on a fence.

Her names Gwyneth Williams. She lives there on Westheimer. The sign warns that the city wants to close parts of the spur forever and advertises a link to a website.

Tell the city no, the sign commands.

Have you ever tried to get around here? Even when the beg buttons work, its a bad experience, whether youre in a car or not. Jonathan Brooks, the director of policy and planning for LINK Houston, shared data from the Texas Department of Transportation showing there have been almost 60 crashes here since 2010.

Doreen Stoller, who bikes from Hawthorne to Holman beneath the spur to work as executive director of the Hermann Park Conservancy, told me a few years ago that she sometimes hides behind the signal poles, just in case.

Conducting safety audits at Mayor Sylvester Turners request, Brooks organization, with BikeHouston, included Spur 527, Hawthorne and Holman on a list of the most dangerous intersections in what is already the deadliest city in the country for drivers, passengers and people in their path, according to the Houston Chronicle.

After the audits, in 2018, Mayor Turner made this intersection a priority through his Safer Streets Initiative. He asked a team to look for corrective measures, including infrastructure repairs or improvements.

It seemed urgent. So, last summer, when Public Works needed to close part of the spur because the infrastructure was literally crumbling, some residents started to hope that those corrective measures were coming. As crews cracked away the concrete of the Brazos Street bridge into Midtown, exposing the steel structure, Bill Fulton, the director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, just tweeted it out: What if we never reopened it?

Here was an opportunity for urbanism, the city started to see. At a public meeting a few months later in February in Montrose, Jeff Weatherford, who oversees transportation and drainage infrastructure as the deputy director of Houston Public Works, presented a preliminary concept for a neighborhood greenway with a shared path and improved intersections.

The city came up with three alternatives. One would knock the rest of the bridge down and close Bagby Street. Another would keep the bridge up as a kind of infrastructural sculpture and placemaking opportunity. Another would keep Bagby open to Stuart. Drawn by Ian Hlavacek in Public Works, all would help people on foot and on wheels make connections from all directions between Montrose and Midtown, from Smith to Bagby and Elgin to Holman. Crucially, all include the construction of three raised crosswalks  an urban design feature recommended by the National Association of City Transportation Officials  which slow drivers down and increase visibility and safety.

At the meeting, most residents who spoke up said they supported the greenway. A few were worried, but Weatherford made it clear, at least twice, that Smith Street has excess capacity for more than 3,000 cars an hour. The president of a civic association in Montrose said, "It would be a marvelous idea.

So why did Williams want me to tell the city no? She told me that she had been frustrated by a lack of transparency in the process of engagement. She says that she didnt even know about the meeting I attended and learned about the greenway concept on Nextdoor. Wanting more information, she wrote to the chief of staff of her city council representative, Abbie Kamin, met privately with a representative from Public Works who presented the same slides to her and her neighbors that Weatherford did and talked with business owners. The city, she says, was unable to answer the in-depth questions that we asked.

Im wildly in favor of density and infill development, she says. That is precisely what makes a city a city and makes it a walkable, vibrant, livable place.

But its a no from her. Why? I wont use it, she says. Its not big enough for me to use. Its right there beside me, but I wont use it.

Abruptly, last week, Public Works sent an email that it was now, all of a sudden, even though it was their idea, a no from them. On Tuesday at City Council, Mayor Turner said that there is no consensus, and I have decided to move forward with the work.

It appears the work will cost more than $4 million.

Its isnt clear why the city needed the community to reach consensus before it could complete a project that came out of the citys process designed to meet the citys repeatedly stated goals. Maybe the city will change its mind back again, but the process, here, anyway, has been about as confusing and frustrating as the intersections themselves. Its a good example  one I hope we learn from going forward  of how the tools of the internet give the voices that tend to be predisposed to opposition even more power, now, to determine how, and even whether, the city changes.

The bridge

Speaking of a lack of transparency: Have you clicked over to Williams website, StopBagbyClosure.com? The website is registered with GoDaddy, which obscures the names of registrants. So, the basic accountability of identity is gone.

More concerning, though, is that none of the claims made on either the website or the downloadable petition link, say, to road safety audits or crash data. Heres one: Taking away two major arteries into and out of downtown will NOT help the flow of traffic and will make already stressful commutes worse.

Is that true? The bridge has been closed since last summer. Has it made traffic worse? If it has, how much worse? Weatherford said at least twice at the public meeting in February that Smith has more than enough capacity. Louisiana still exists into and out of downtown, too. The claim that commuters need two ways in and out of Midtown has not been demonstrated to be true. It hasnt been a problem so far, according to Weatherford, whose job it is to know, but Williams website claims that it will be.

When I asked Brown, the citys planning director, about many of the websites other claims, including that future development would be stymied by the greenway, she told me, I dont know any data sources for [them].

But the website went and made them anyway. J. Allen Douglas chairs the Midtown Management Districts Urban Planning Committee and lives in Midtown. He says, We should have conducted traffic studies on the major thoroughfares. Does closing Brazos have any effect? Could it have any effect? We should have asked businesses to substantiate their logic that they are suffering as a direct result of the flow of traffic. But the assumptions were made, and they were never challenged.

One member of the Midtown business community, Douglas says, simply told him, You have to trust us.

One business that has claimed it was suffering is Specs on Smith Street, about half a mile away. John Rydman, the president and owner of Specs, wrote in an email, Sales changed a lot during the last year. Our customer count declined soon after the spur was torn down.

No one wants that. But how much have sales changed? Can Rydman show that the loss of a bridge half a mile away has caused any of this? Can he show that it had nothing to do, say, with the opening of other liquor or grocery stores in other neighborhoods?

Douglas says, The most appropriate rule of engagement is to gather data. But that hasnt happened here. Now, he says, theres a kind of mobilization. That doesnt stand in for data. Thats simply preference.

He means that theres a website and a petition and a Nextdoor thread and hushed private correspondence and at least eight other signs that I have counted, one of which is located on the property of one of Morgan Groups apartment buildings, the Pearl Midtown, which advertises online that it has a WalkScore of 87!

Apparently, walkability is good, even marketable, right up to the moment the city wants to build some.

Lack of evidence

All this, this process of mobilization and the emphatic expression of preference without evidence, sounds very familiar to Katherine Levine Einstein, an assistant professor of political science at Boston University.

She wrote a book, Neighborhood Defenders, about which voices are heard during the process of community engagement.

First, she says, theres a fundamental psychological issue cities need to reckon with. We are averse to rapid changes. We are incredibly reactive. So, out of this reactivity, she and her colleagues have found, is that the people who tend to speak up  who, maybe, tend to develop websites and hang up signs  are not representative of the broader community.

Not only do they tend to be homeowners nearby, who are older, white and male, her research shows, they tend to be overwhelmingly opposed. They dont come with an open mind, that is. They come to say no.

She has also found that they tend to position themselves as pseudoexperts, a tendency that is exacerbated by the proliferation of free digital tools  websites, Nextdoor, Facebook and Change.org.

The petition on Williams website claims that eliminating the Brazos Street and/or Bagby Street connections ... will likely cause real estate properties to lose significant value, will damage area merchants and will negatively impact future development. So, its worth asking: Does the introduction of greenspace where people can walk or bike safely in densifying urban neighborhoods actually cause property values to decrease and turn away other developers? Because the exact opposite has been shown to be true.

Community engagement

The problem, here, as I am trying to express, goes way beyond this project in Midtown and this process in Houston.

Its not that all residents voices shouldnt be heard. Its that all residents voices should be heard.

As Brown, the citys planning director, says, Changes that [people have] not participated in are scary. So, you want people to participate in the changes. We seek out [their] comments, Brown says. Thats one of the things planners do well.

So, acknowledging, at the start, how we are reactive and averse to changes, as Einstein has found, might make the process through which changes happen less combative, more collaborative. As well as acknowledging that our privileges, or our fears, or our biases, might lead us to make claims and fall back on conclusions that arent productive of the changes that would lead to a city that starts to work better for everyone.

Whats clear, with this project, Douglas says, is that the process has failed. He says that he and others in Midtown had signed a letter asking Public Works to stop to gather data. Lets find out what the issue is, he says.

The city had identified a problem and came up with three solutions that could have solved it. Is it that none of those solutions is a good idea? If so, lets demonstrate that. Otherwise, Im starting to think that the issue might be something else. After all, this process started when the city reacted to the death of a man and a woman who were trying to cross the street were struck and killed by a driver in Houston Heights in April 2019. At the time, Mayor Turner said, at a press conference near the crash, Everyone must invest in safer, more accessible and more complete streets for all.

I am not an expert. Living next door to where the city wants to build a greenway, epistemologically speaking, philosophically speaking, does not make you one, either, and it does not make you more or less knowledgeable about any of these issues. Your claims are not supported by the virtue of your mortgage.

So why does the process of community engagement seem impossibly, almost inevitably biased toward that, toward not here, not now, not in my backyard, toward no? Einstein says that planners, for a start, could be more careful about when it is reasonable to solicit input. Lets empower them, and then hold them accountable.

Governments at all levels should have to present and defend their projects, explain how and why they are spending taxpayers money, demonstrate good arguments with evidence, share data, strive for transparency and remain open to reasonable objections, suggestions for improvement  and even being told no sometimes. But Einstein says that the process of community engagement we have now isnt conducive of that. She has found, over and over and over, a few people have total veto power.

So, its a question. Williams says she wont use it. I say I will. A business owner says he lost customers, and I say I am afraid of crossing the street with my 4 -year-old daughter. Whos the city going to listen to?

West is a writer, editor and teacher in Houston. You can find him on Twitter @allynwest.
A decision by the Supreme Court of India to make testing for coronavirus free places an unfair financial burden on medical firms and could see a reduction in testing, already among the world's lowest, said business leaders and health experts. The concern is that private medical firms, like many businesses in India are struggling financially, and could go under if they tested for free without financial assistance. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, one of India's biggest biotech firms, said private institutions could not be expected to operate on ...
At the end of the day, this is really about public safety. Theres no two ways about it. We have to make sure we flatten the curve of COVID-19, Hoye said, referring to slowing the virus spread so hospitals arent burdened beyond what they can handle at any one time.

We have to maintain the safest environment for our visitors and our staff, and so we just cannot support these unprecedented crowds, people who are littering, people who are not maintaining social distance, you know, people who are traveling in small groups that arent necessarily part of the same household, she said. So weve seen quite a bit.

Starting Friday morning, barricades will block entry to the affected properties and law enforcement will be monitoring the closures, Hoye said.

Sauk County properties ordered to close are:

Devils Lake State Park

Mirror Lake State Park

Sauk Prairie State Recreational Area

Pewits Nest State Natural Area

Parfreys Glen State Natural Area

Dells of The Wisconsin River State Natural Area

Natural Bridge State Park

Lower Wisconsin Riverway
McLaren Northern Michigan expects increase in COVID patients during the upcoming weeks

As of Jan. 3, McLaren Northern Michigan had 20 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized, as well as three in the intensive care unit.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Thursday informed that there are 134 active cases of COVID-19 in the state out of which 106 patients are linked to Tablighi Jamaat.

Nearly 80 per cent of the coronavirus cases in Haryana belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat.

The Tablighi Jamaat event, held in Delhi's Nizamuddin area has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 in India with several positive cases linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,865, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. 5,218 are active COVID-19 cases and 477 cases have been recovered/discharged and one case migrated.

More than 1,000 cases are related to Tablighi Jamaat out of a total of 5,865 COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

The death toll has also risen to 169 after 20 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Public, private and denominational schools (nursery, basic 1 and 2, secondary and higher), including medersas (Arabic schools), will remain closed from 9 April to 9 May, 2020, the Malian government announced in a statement forwarded to PANA
Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh has cautioned his men that the "danger" from COVID-19 is "real, imminent and unprecedented" but the Force has risen to this occasion.

In a video address to his men, Singh apprised them of the measures taken by the organization to fight off the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We all have soon come around to realizing that the danger is real, imminent and unprecedented. For the Navy, we have taken certain measures in consonance with the Government of India, including stoppage of recruitment and changes in training; freeze on movements and transfers; stoppage of work, except those related to security, health, and essential services," he said.

The Navy Chief said he was aware of difficulties being faced by people, due to separation from family and other difficulties, but added that the organization had risen up to the occasion.

"Our community has risen to the occasion and has come forward with a sense of commitment, courage, imagination and ingenuity. Special reference must be given to the medical team, yard personnel, NAVAC, and the other operations, security, and administrative staff who stayed at the forefront," the Navy Chief said.

"Our medical teams have set up COVID-19 care centres, quarantine facilities, isolation wards in a very short period of time. 24-hour helpline, COVID control centers that monitor the situation, requisitioning medical supplies and equipments and many wings have also taken initiative and manufactured equipment. Our commands have started battlefield nursing assistance course for our personnel," he added.

Singh said the Indian Navy is ready to provide support to the civil administration and government, "our ships and aircraft are on standby. We are ready to extend support not only to our country but to Indian Ocean Region nations, island territories of our country. We have also done support activities like airlifting of doctors for training, blood samples for testing, among others."

Singh then recounted the various works done by the Indian Navy in areas such as Visakhapatnam, Andaman and Nicobar, apart from setting up community kitchens and distributing ration kits for the underprivileged in areas.

The Indian Navy is also reaching out to senior veterans to look after their well-being during the time of this crisis.

The Navy Chief further said that the personnel need to be prepared for the days ahead and urged them to "redouble the efforts to ensure that the personnel and their families are safe, the second priority is to look at ways in which the overall effort can be supported, and the final priority is to keep our guard up and be combat-ready. Operational awareness must remain an important priority."

With an increase of 591 cases on Thursday, the count of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India reached 5,865 on the 16th day of 21-day long lockdown, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The COVID-19 figure includes 5,218 active cases, while 478 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated as of Thursday. The total deaths due to the infection stood at 169.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Omaha man who turned himself over to authorities Thursday was booked into Douglas County Corrections for second-degree murder

, according to the Omaha Police Department.

Lamar Mitchell, 21, is also accused of the use of a weapon to commit a felony. He turned himself in at OPD headquarters.

According to police, officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation near 28th and Spencer Streets on April 4 at 7:53 p.m.

Police found Michael Wilson, 38, with a gunshot wound at the scene. He was taken to Nebraska Medical Center where he died.

Mitchells first appearance in court has not been scheduled according to records as of Thursday afternoon.
A video going viral on social media this week, showing a man in Grab uniform preventing a woman from attempting suicide by jumping off a bridge in Ho Chi Minh City.

Grab Vietnam confirmed that the man in the video is Pham Thanh Phong, one of its GrabBike partners, on Wednesday.

The hero in green

'The hero in green' is how netizens have been referring to Phong since the video of him saving the young woman circulated on Facebook.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper got in touch with Phong on Wednesday afternoon. He struck the impression of a clear-cut guy with a meek and affable accent.

Phong said he still had the thrills as he recalled what happened on Saigon 2 Bridge, where he had to tread a tightrope to save a life.

At around 5:30 pm on Tuesday, a young woman booked a ride from Do Xuan Hop Street in District 9 to Saigon 2 Bridge  a new bridge built parallel to the old Saigon Bridge, acting as its expansion  in Binh Thanh District.

Phong accepted the gig and picked up the customer as usual.

The moment she insisted on being dropped off in the middle of the bridge, Phong felt something was off.

He continued to drive past the bridge and tell the woman that her requested drop-off point was not allowed by Grabs system.

As the ride came to an end on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in Binh Thanh District, the woman gave Phong a VND100,000 (US$4.25) bill  three times as much as the rides fare  and told him to keep the change as she walked toward Saigon Bridge.

Phong got nervous when the woman did not respond to him and ran even faster toward the bridge.

Fearing she could attempt to jump off the bridge, he took a U-turn to catch up with her while simultaneously calling her to buy time.

I had to say Miss, you left some stuff behind. Please go back to take it or else I will be penalized by the company, Phong recounted.

While holding the conversation, Phong approached the woman right when she was about to jump off the bridge. He managed to grab hold of the young woman in the nick of time.

Passers-by and competent authorities nearby were promptly involved to help me talk her down," Phong recalled.

The thrills are still there

When I held her back, she was crying and writhing, asking why I did not let her go. I faltered and shouted, are you crazy, ending the life your parents gave you? Phong talked about the goosebumps-inducing moment he had while trying to save a life.

I dont wish her to thank me. Id rather see her come to her senses and learn to love herself more, Phong said.

Phong was born in 1990 in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang and is currently residing in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

He has gone through various trades to make ends meet in the southern metropolis of Vietnam: a musician, a small trader, and now a ride-hail service provider.

In over one year working gig after gig on the motorbike, Phong said he has encountered many bizarre cases of customers going through ups and downs in their lives.

In each of the encounters, he always tried to console and inspire people to stick up for themselves through adversities and think positively for their family and the people around them.

Phong said life does have its own hardships, but the one thing we must treasure is the life we have, stay resilient, and have faith in the future.

Even the ants have a will to live. I myself am in a struggle, but I believe that hard work will help me overcome all, Phong said.

Talking about his future, Phong envisioned himself enrolling in advanced keyboard classes to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a professional musician once he gains financial stability.

He used to play the keyboard at wedding ceremonies for a living, but unexpected circumstances forced him to sell off his beloved instrument and switch jobs.

For now, Phong said he will strive in his work for Grab to support his wife and little daughter.

Grab customers are few and far between during this epidemic time. I only make some hundred thousand [Vietnamese] dong each day, but Ive just got to grind on, Phong said with a smile.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Three Brothers Bakery has faced three calamities since August 2017. Armed with lots and lots of pies, the 70-year-old bakery is still fighting and helping other small businesses do the same.

Co-owner Janice Jucker understands that enduring Hurricane Harvey, losing her Kosher license and stay-at-home mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic doesnt just take work: it takes money. So she and her husband and co-owner, Bobby, have a goal to sell 25,000 to 50,000 pies to stay afloat and keep a village of others employed in the process.

Sweet in more ways than one

Jucker said to cover payroll and rent alone for 12 weeks at its three locations in Southwest Houston, Memorial and Rice Military, Three Brothers would need $400,000. The figure does not include other necessary expenses like insurance and utilities. She said a purchase of $22.95 for a pecan pie or $28 for chocolate fudge pecan pie would impact a lot of people.

If you do that, youre going to touch all of these vendors that support us. And you also obviously are going to keep our team employed and working, said Jucker.

Each time a pie is purchased, Jucker said around 20 people or businesses benefit (aside from her own employees), such as the seal maker, shrink wrap maker, pie tin maker, pecan growers and the bakery supplier that sells the ingredients.

Backing employees

She said she has not had to lay off any of her employees because of COVID-19 and that she hopes she doesnt have to. The bakeries are in survival mode, she said.

We are going to survive because we support these families. Thats like the most important thing we do, Jucker said, adding she wants to keep all her employees because if they do have to close, it is much easier to get started again when they have all them lined up.

She said things were looking pretty abysmal in terms of sales when the COVID-19 pandemic started coming down, but ABC-13 Localish aired a piece about what was going on. Since then, things have picked up a bit, Jucker said.

Some businesses are encouraging their customers to buy gift cards. However, Jucker would rather take an order, make the pie (or other products) and deliver on that purchase now because she said at some point, people are probably going to cash in on those cards and she worries what happens if everyone does it during the holidays and there are still expenses to be paid when the cash has already been spent.

Helping others overcome

Jucker calls Bobby and herself The King and Queen of Disasters. Before Harvey, there were the Memorial Day floods, Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Allison. Bobby comes from nearly 200 years of bakers that started in Poland, according to the bakerys website. Three Brothers Bakery began after brothers Sigmund, Sol and Max Jucker survived the Holocaust with their older sister, who then moved to Houston and convinced the brothers to join her because of the great opportunities available there. The original Three Brothers Bakery opened on Holman Street in May 1949.

Today, the bakery is a part of the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) and the National Restaurant Association that advocate for small businesses in Washington, as well as the Texas Retail Association. On March 30, Jucker said she was on a teleconference call with U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin as a part the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Rubio serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Cardin serves as ranking member.

It was actually probably one of the best calls Ive been on because they really explained all the different programs and kind of how they interact together, Jucker said. And so that understanding all the laws that have come into play and what you can take advantage of is really important for the small business.

Jucker also sang the praises of the Small Business Administration, who she says has saved her business three times. She said she is not just trying to get through the pandemic but trying to helping other small businesses succeed too.

Im pushing pies, Im looking for money and Im trying to affect policy, Jucker said.

Visit the three bakeries at 4036 S. Braeswood Blvd., 12393 Kingsride Lane and 4606 Washington Ave. They have a variety of goods from pastries to cakes to breads. For more information or to order online, visit https://3brothersbakery.com/.
Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: - Australian police raid virus-hit cruise ship - Australian police raided the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seized its black box, as part of a criminal investigation after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney and 15 later died of the illness. Police wearing protective suits and masks boarded the vessel in Port Kembla, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Sydney, on Wednesday night, New South Wales Police said. - Taiwan demands apology from WHO chief - Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization chief after he accused the island's government of leading personal attacks against him and his agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Relations between the WHO and Taiwan have worsened considerably since the pandemic began, even as health experts have lauded Taiwan for its response to the virus. Taiwan used to be able to obtain observer status at the WHO's annual assembly, but diplomatic pressure from Beijing in recent years has pushed the island out of major international bodies. - Rohingya camps in Bangladesh locked down - Bangladesh has imposed a "complete lockdown" in Cox's Bazar district -- home to over a million Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar -- to halt the spread of coronavirus, officials said. Experts have warned that the disease could spread quickly through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys where the persecuted Muslim minority are housed in canvas and bamboo shacks. No cases have been confirmed in the camps but one infection has been recorded nearby. - Markets, oil rise - Asian markets were mostly in positive territory Thursday following another strong day for Wall Street as traders bought into optimism that the coronavirus crisis could be nearing its apex, while crude extended gains on hopes top producers will agree to a massive output cut. - Tokyo Disney parks extend closures - Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea said they will extend their closures after the Japanese government this week declared a month-long state of emergency to halt the spread of the virus. The parks, which usually attract more than 30 million visitors each year, had originally hoped to reopen this month. - Locked-down Chinese city builds temporary hospital - The Chinese city of Suifenhe in northeastern Heilongjiang province, which has seen an influx of imported coronavirus cases from Russia in recent days, is building a temporary hospital to treat those who have been infected. The hospital will provide more than 600 beds and is expected to be completed by April 11. The city, on the Russian border, has already placed residents under lockdown and closed the land border. - Bangkok booze ban - Shops in the Thai capital are not allowed to sell alcohol for 10 days from Friday, city authorities said, seeking to put a dampener on a raucous festival as the country's virus cases rise. The Songkran water festival, taking place next week, is a once reverent Buddhist festival which has morphed into a three-day party usually marked by heavy drinking and water fights. - Australia, New Zealand police halt Easter getaways - Hundreds of police officers in Australia and New Zealand have been deployed to stop holidaymakers from reaching beaches, campsites and vacation homes over the long Easter weekend, usually one of the most popular travel periods of the year. "You can't rent a holiday house, you can't rent an Airbnb, you can't camp, you can't caravan, you can't boat, you can't fish," said Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville. "This needs to be a very different Easter," she added. - Indonesian ferry passengers abandon ship - Several passengers flung themselves off an Indonesian ferry over fears some of the crew had contracted coronavirus. The ferry, which was carrying more than 250 mostly migrant workers on their way home, was travelling from the island of Borneo to Sulawesi island when officials blocked it from docking over health concerns. In response, five passengers grabbed life jackets, jumped overboard and swam to shore. burs-sr/rma ANZ - AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Grocery shopping in the age of the coronavirus isnt pleasant. Its tough to find what you need, youre are nervous about potentially being exposed to COVID-19, and social distancing is difficult as you weave in and out of the aisles.

Thats why Leticia White at the ShopRite in Paramus is such a bright light.

A 21-year employee of the supermarket chain, White is known for brightening customers days, by donning an East Bunny costume or St. Patricks Day getup. But it was her rendition of Dont Stand So Close To Me  a Police song with some new social distancing lyrics  that really put shoppers at ease.

Shes like sunshine. She never stops. She has so much energy, said Serap Tuncer, a Maywood resident who actually looks forward to shopping trips, pandemic or not, because of White.

Especially now, it just makes it a lot easier for everybody," she said. "I heard people say thank you to her leaving the store. We need more people like that.'

People like White are why NJ.com launched #TogetherNJ, an initiative to share the stories that remind us about all of the good, strong, inspiring people in New Jersey who are selflessly giving to others and who will help us get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are some of the highlights from the past week of #TogetherNJ stories:

The reality of losing his job indefinitely weighed on New Jersey bartender Mike Margagliottis mind. That is, until a small act of kindness from a family of regulars made all the difference.

While some may consider the milkman a relic of yesteryear, New Jersey milk delivery services are experiencing a surge in orders as supermarket-wary residents stay home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The uptick in new customers for home delivery is unbelievable, says Ed Seabridge, owner of Suncrest Farms, a milk delivery service in Totowa.

Were probably averaging somewhere around 90 to 100 calls a day, Seabridge, 67, tells NJ Advance Media. Its just nonstop.

Principal Charity Haygood hit the streets last week in her yellow Jeep to deliver the last batch of laptops to her 561 students in the K-8 school, making house calls with the help of teachers, substitutes, paraprofessionals and her husband. They had already dropped off or had parents pick up 377 devices from the schools computer lab when Mike Rowe, the star of Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel, heard about Haygood teams effort -- and that Haygood and the school didnt have enough laptops for all of their students.

Just weeks after Titos Handmade Vodka told customers to stop using its liquor to make hand sanitizer, the company started producing its own and will donate gallons the germ-fighting liquid to New Jersey.

The emergency department of University Hospital suddenly had an influx of fresh staffers. Alongside the hospitals staff, the EMS workers set up monitors, helped intubate patients, assisted nurses, got the critically ill to ventilators and started IVs. Some even helped clean areas of the highly trafficked ward.

There was no job they were not willing to do that night.

Two women from Jersey started a concept to help the heroes fighting COVID-19 thats being replicated across the nation.

A former competitive weightlifter who used to bench-press 415 pounds is finding a novel way to promote fitness amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Khloe Sudol was diagnosed with a rare blood diseasecalled atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, or aHUSfour days after Thanksgiving last year. The disease affects about two individuals for every one million people in the general population.

The photo series is a look at socially distanced suburban family life during the spread of the coronavirus. But isolation isnt a concept that comes to mind when looking at the photos.

A food bank that recently lost its leader to complications from COVID-19 will be getting a major helping hand from a local religious group.

He is traveling around South Jersey these days, stopping in as many as 30 driveways a day, saving the day for parents who have run out of ways to get their kids off the couch.

Coordinator of the MCCC Fashion Merchandising and Design program Katina Lindsay created a 'Sew-a-Thon where people can meet virtually and sew medical masks to donate to first responders and anyone in need due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been parades of cars up and down the state during this pandemic  for missed birthdays, other celebrations, classroom trips and, to say thank you. First responders showed their appreciation to the staff at Clara Maass Medical Center during the Salute to Health Care Heroes.

A group of Rowan University students and a professor are making 32 boxes that will help shield health care workers intubating patients suffering from the coronavirus.

Subscribe to the #TogetherNJ newsletter to get a weekly dose of these uplifting stories right to your inbox.

Have you seen an inspiring story in your community during this troubling time? Tell us about it. See more uplifting stories in #TogetherNJ.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
[April 09, 2020] Klick Health Donates Over 300K Masks to Toronto Hospitals

Klick Health today confirmed it is donating over 300K masks to hospitals and healthcare systems across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA (News - Alert)) in response to the growing need for respiratory masks for the city's frontline healthcare professionals combating COVID-19. The Klick donation is being allocated to a number of healthcare providers, including Mount Sinai Hospital, Baycrest, Humber River Hospital, Michael Garron Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Trillium Health Partners, and Women's College Hospital to help protect as many local medical teams as possible during the rapidly evolving pandemic. Caroline Riseboro, President and CEO, Trillium Health Partners Foundation said, "To continue to provide urgent patient care in the face of COVID-19, there is nothing more important for frontline healthcare workers at Trillium Health Partners than to have the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to keep them safe. We couldn't be more grateful to Klick Health for their generous donation of masks to the hospital during this critical time of need." Klick's co-founders started their mask mission a few weeks ago. Through their network, they were approached by Toronto CEO of Wa-Lin Trading Robert Schwartz and his partner Mr. Liu Jun, CEO of Fuxin Xiangrui Automotive, who quickly leveraged their on-the-ground contacts in China to source and secure the large allocation of masks. Klick Co-Founder and Chairman Leerom Segal said, "Protecting our healthcare professionals is essential; they're out there on the front lines and they need our support. We've been contributing to a broad range of pandemic missions. Then, when we heard about hospital mask shortages, we immediately knew that we needed to do something to help protect the people who protect all of us. We feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position to donate these masks and are grateful to Rob and his business partner, Liu Jun, for all the heavy lifting they did taking the initiative, contributing their time, and using their connections to make Klick's donation possible. We also want to thank Deacon Environmental Remediation for helping us by delivering hundreds of thousands of masks to local hospitals, as well as their hard work delivering our intubation boxes." Stephn Goldsmith, Vice-President, Business Innovation & Development of Sinai Health said, "On behalf of everyone at Sinai Health, we want to thank Klick Health for their incredibly generous donation of masks. We are grateful to business and community groups, like Klick, who make the safety of hospital staff and patients a priority during this exceptional and difficult time."



Caring for the community

"Helping our hospitals is the right thing to do," said Schwartz. "I'm glad we were able to connect the dots and use my existing supply chain to get these much-needed masks to Toronto as quickly as possible. Our healthcare and all frontline workers need to be protected as they continue to keep us all safe. We need to take care of our people, time is of the essence, this will save lives." The donation will significantly increase the number of new respiratory face masks being obtained for frontline healthcare professionals in Toronto. Klick is calling on other companies to step up and help ensure the city's healthcare community and first responders are covered during this quickly escalating public health crisis.

Aaron Goldstein, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Klick said, "We are inspired by the creativity and solidarity that this crisis is driving in communities across the country. We are seeing private citizens and enterprises come together in unprecedented ways to support health systems and government at this critical time and cannot thank our frontline healthcare heroes enough for the tireless and selfless work they do. We hope that this is our first of many waves of support and encourage other companies to help, too." Funding more PPE contributions

In related news, Klick announced earlier this week that it is also donating 300 of the intubation boxes it created with Humber River Hospital to give hospitals added protection against COVID-19. Hospitals can request the boxes at covid19.klick.com/box. Based on the overwhelming number of requests from hospitals, Klick has established the Frontlines.Health Foundation to fund the materials and production of additional intubation boxes, masks, and other forms of PPE. Klick will continue to cover all project design, project management, and partner coordination costs. The foundation is a donor-advised fund housed within Toronto Foundation, a registered charity. Official donation receipts will be issued for donations of $25 or more. About Klick Health

Klick Health is the world's largest independent commercialization partner for life sciences. For over two decades, Klick has been laser focused on developing, launching, and supporting life sciences brands to maximize their full market potential. Klick has been named Agency of the Year six times over the last eight years by the industry's leading publications. The Klick group of companies-Klick Health and Sensei Labs- is an ecosystem of brilliant minds working to maximize the full potential of their people and clients. Established in 1997, Klick has teams in New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, and across North America. Klick has consistently been named a Best Managed Company and Great Place to Work. In the last year alone, the company has been recognized with 11 Best Workplace awards, including Best Workplaces for Women, Employee-Recommended Workplaces, Most Admired Corporate Cultures, and Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators. For more information, go to covid19.klick.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005695/en/

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Businessman Steve Collins, whose son Roy was murdered by the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang, was left sickened when he heard their name this week.

The gang has been linked to the killing of serial hitman Robbie Lawlor - and Mr Collins fears the incident may mark its return to serious crime.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Collins told the Irish Independent: "It brings it all back when we hear that name mentioned, we thought the name Dundon had been buried for good and that they were gone."

The worrying re-emergence of the Dundons as part of the Drogheda feud could not have come at a more poignant time for the Collins family.

Today marks the 11th anniversary of Roy's murder which took place in his amusement arcade in Limerick on Holy Thursday April 9, 2009.

As the PSNI continues to investigate Lawlor's murder in Belfast, gardai believe the Dundons agreed to set him up for the Maguire/Price faction in Drogheda.

This faction in turn wanted revenge on Lawlor for leaving one of the gang leaders paralysed after an assassination attempt, and the shocking murder and dismemberment of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods.

Mr Collins said he will be seeking a meeting with senior gardai in Limerick to review the security situation for his family in light of the recent revelations.

He said: "When I read about the involvement of the Dundons in a high-profile murder, with Wayne [Dundon] openly celebrating in prison and some of his associates being arrested... and then gardai lifting the money they had supposedly been paid, I was sickened.

"I was disappointed and shocked that the new generation seems to be on the way back and that they are trying to ingratiate themselves with other gangs; the State must make sure they are stopped in their tracks and are never again allowed to cause the chaos and misery they brought to Limerick.

"Wayne Dundon and his brothers are still organising murders from behind bars and then celebrating them just like they did with our Roy, Shane Geoghegan and many others.

"They are obviously as treacherous now as they ever were. It reminds us of the pond life that they are, that they are happy to take credit for double-crossing thugs like themselves."

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Roy Collins's death. Less than two weeks afterwards his mother Carmel, who never recovered from the loss of her eldest child, passed away on Easter Sunday.

"It is very stressful that the Dundons are back in the news just as we mark the anniversaries of Roy and Carmel, who died from cancer which I believe was caused by the stress we endured over the years.

"We buried her beside Roy and just before she passed away I think she was happy that at least the people who caused all this heartache had gone off the stage and we could be left to live in peace," added Mr Collins.

Wayne Dundon (41) is serving a life sentence for the murder of the innocent businessman.

His younger brother Dessie (35) is also serving a life sentence after he was convicted of involvement in the murder of Kieran Keane in 2003.

The connections between the Louth gang and the remnants of the McCarthy/Dundons are thought to have been made through the Dundon brothers in prison.

Three males from Limerick, including a 17-year-old, accompanied Lawlor to Belfast on a mission to collect a drug debt last weekend before he was murdered. Then, on Monday, there was further evidence of the involvement of the McCarthy/Dundons when gardai seized 50,000.

It is believed it was delivered by associates of the Maguire/Price gang to two women with close links to the Limerick mob who were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and later released.

And yesterday the Irish Independent revealed Wayne and Dessie Dundon were openly celebrating Lawlor's demise in Mountjoy Prison.

The development has come as a source of serious and understandable concern for the Collins family, who returned to live in Limerick after being forced to leave the country as part of a witness relocation programme eight years ago.

"Our kids have been rebuilding our lives and Steve junior now owns a very successful business in Limerick and that was of some comfort to Carmel before we lost her," said Mr Collins.

"Limerick is a safe, peaceful and prosperous city again and that was only achieved when we all worked together and told these scum that we would not tolerate them any longer.

"We got new laws introduced to take on the big gangs and I think those same laws have made a huge difference for the gardai taking on the likes of the Kinahan and Hutch feud.

"That is why everyone in Limerick will be worried that the younger generations of the McCarthy-Dundons are coming of age and starting to create trouble on the orders of the likes of Wayne, John and Dessie Dundon.

"I would say to the Government and the gardai that they cannot allow them to bring the fear factor back.

"The gardai need to put the boot on their necks the same way they did before."

Mr Collins said the people of Drogheda "should be very worried" that the remnants of the McCarthy-Dundons have been making alliances with one of the feuding gangs.

And he said the likes of Wayne Dundon would admire the horrific dismemberment of Keane Mulready-Woods.

"There is a very serious situation in Drogheda but the people there should be very worried at the prospect of the Dundons adding to the mix because that is like pouring petrol on the fire.

"Wayne and John Dundon would actually admire what was done to that poor 17-year-old kid because they have mutilated people themselves in the past to create total fear.

"For them the dirtier and crueller the methods used then the better," he added.
As the coronavirus death toll rises in New Jersey and hospital morgues fill up, the state is preparing to use refrigerated trailer trucks to temporarily store more than 1,700 bodies.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that the state had ordered 20 trucks. Alexandra Altman, a spokeswoman for the governor, said five were expected to be in place by Friday.

The trucks will be split among sites in the northern, central and southern regions of the state, but Altman did not further specify the locations. Each could hold up to 84 bodies. Thats a total capacity of 1,680, more than the number of people who had died of COVID-19 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Those trailers are in addition to the trucks purchased by Hudson Countys Office of Emergency Management and another 53-foot truck donated by Wawa.

As the outbreak continues, the state has announced 47,437 cases and at least 1,504 deaths. In New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, mobile morgues have been in place for a week to deal with the hospital overflow.

In Hudson County, the trailers have been placed at Christ Hospital in Jersey City, Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, Hoboken University Medical Center and Bayonne Medical Center.

Theres a lot of people not being buried, Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said earlier this week.

The increase in bodies there comes not just from COVID-19-related deaths, but also because families have had to postpone funerals due to social distancing requirements.

Theres been this backlog of deaths that have yet to reach burial for this range of reasons, Kennelly said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

During Wednesdays media briefing, Murphy announced the donation of a 53-foot refrigerated truck from Wawa to Bergen County.

Lori Bruce, a spokeswoman for Wawa, confirmed the donation and said the company does not expect to receive it back. She deferred further comment to the governors office.

They had heard about our need, with a heavy heart, for refrigerated trucks to help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes, in protecting the bodies of those loved ones we have lost, Murphy said. The fact that we even have to prepare for the unthinkable is on one level extraordinary, but having a corporate citizen like Wawa ready to step in to help is invaluable.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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"X-Men" alum James Marsden says while he always knew the team was creating something special, no one anticipated the franchise to exceed expectations of the comic book fans.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, X-Men are a team of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books, first published in 1963 by Marvel Comics.

Marsden, who played Scott Summers/ Cyclops in four "X-Men" films, believes the books gave a solid base to the filmmakers to start the series in the year 2000.

"I think we all hoped it would become what it's become, and we knew it had the power to with the legacy of the X-Men universe. They've been around since 1962, 1963? And so when we first started, it was 40 years of backstory and superfans.

"So we knew if we do this right, this could be something forever, for a long, long time. I'd hoped, but I did not anticipate that they'd still be making them. I mean, I thought maybe they'd make four or five of them in its success, but how many have they made now, 10? So it's kinda crazy and really cool," the actor told CinemaBlend.

The 46-year-old actor, whose last appearance was a cameo in 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past", is proud to be associated with the franchise.

"Obviously I'm not a part of all of them, but you exist in that universe and it's always something I've been really proud of. It was definitely the first time in my career I was like, 'Now I'm part of something really special right now, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity'," he said.

"It's rare to know you're part of something special while you're shooting. Often you shoot it and it becomes some sort of surprise success, like The Notebook or something like that, where no one knew when you were filming it. But during the 'X-Men' movies, it was like, 'Okay, this is something unique. This is something special'," he added.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the "X-Men" films.

The latest film under the franchise was last year's "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", fronted by Sophie Turner. Another in the works is the spin-off "The New Mutants", starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
J ake Quickenden welled up on Good Morning Britain today as he discussed his new charity single in aid of the NHS.

The 31-year-old explained how he wrote Quarantine Song, a comedic look at how people are coping during the coronavirus crisis, in around five minutes  before realising he wanted to release the song to raise money for the NHS.

It all came about really quickly, he told Lorraine Kelly. I decided to try and use what platform I [have] got to donate it to the NHS.

"I just think what theyre doing, and what all key workers are doing, is so incredible, that I just wanted to try and help.

I felt a bit helpless at home doing nothing, so I thought Id write a song and release it.

Celebrities make a show of thanks for frontline NHS key workers 1 /9 Celebrities make a show of thanks for frontline NHS key workers Daniel Craig and Phoebe Waller-Bridge were among stars featuring in celebrity show of thanks to the NHS NHS/Twitter PA PA PA PA PA Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge was among stars who join in a show of thanks for NHS workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 crisis NHS/Twitter

When opening up about what the NHS had done for him, the former X Factor contestant found himself welling up, apologising to Kelly and saying he felt a little choked.

Fans watching Good Morning Britain at home praised Quickenden for doing his bit during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quickenden is currently second on the iTunes charts with his jokey tune, with the star adding: As long as I can come out of his and hand a cheque to the NHS, Im happy.

He is not the only celebrity who has debuted music during the coronavirus crisis. U2s Bono released Let Your Love Be Known after being inspired when he saw footage of Italians singing from their balconies.

Jack Savoretti has released his first-ever Italian language song, co-written with his fans, to raise money for his fans in quarantine in Europe.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

Other celebrities are looking to their Instagram Live accounts to entertain and provide a distraction for their fans during these turbulent times  read a full list here.
OPEC and Russia will discuss record oil output cuts on Thursday to support prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis but talks are complicated by internal disagreements and the reluctance of the United States to join in any action.

Global fuel demand has plunged as much as 30 percent as measures to fight the virus have grounded aircraft, reduced vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

Benchmark Brent crude oil prices hit an 18-year low last month and are trading around $34 a barrel, half their level at the end of 2019, dealing a severe blow to budgets of oil producing nations and high-cost US shale oil industry.

US President Donald Trump said last week a deal he had brokered with OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and Russia could lead to cuts of 10 million to 15 million barrels per day (bpd), or 10 percent to 15 percent of global supplies, an unprecedented reduction.

But Washington has yet to show it is ready to take part.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a new deal on output cuts was "hardly possible" without others participating.

Ministers from OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other oil producers, as well as additional participants, will discuss the issue in a video conference at 1400 GMT. The United States was invited.

Riyadh and Moscow, who fell out when a previous pact on curbing supplies collapsed in March, have signalled that a deal on cuts would depend on the United States reducing output too.

Trump has been reluctant to mandate cuts in domestic supply so far, saying production had been falling naturally because of low prices anyway. Russia said on Wednesday that such declines would not count as a proper cut.

Moscow and Riyadh are also struggling between themselves to agree on the levels from which output should be cut with the kingdom insisting on April, the first month of a large hike in its output, while Moscow insists on the first quarter.

NOT ENOUGH

"I'm not sure how Russia and Saudi Arabia would be able to iron out their differences today, it all could be stretched out," one Russian source told Reuters, a sentiment echoed by two OPEC sources.

Two Russian sources said the maximum Russian cut would be 2 million bpd or around 17 percent of its output. Saudi Arabia has yet to indicate how much it is prepared to cut.

Goldman Sachs and UBS both said on Thursday the suggested cuts, however deep, would not be enough to address a massive decline in global demand and predicted that oil prices could fall back to $20 per barrel or even lower.

"Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut," Goldman said in a note.

Trump said on Wednesday he had many options if Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach a deal on Thursday.

US senators have previously called on the White House to impose sanctions on Riyadh, pull out US troops from the kingdom and impose import tariffs on Saudi oil.

Thursday's OPEC+ talks will be followed by a meeting of energy ministers from the Group of 20 nations (G20) on Friday.

To figure out how a cut would be shared among producers, Moscow, Riyadh and others would need to agree on what output levels to use as a baseline for calculating cuts.

That issue has been muddied by a battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia for market share that erupted after an acrimonious OPEC+ meeting in Vienna in March.

At that meeting, Russia refused to participate in cuts proposed by Saudi Arabia in response to the coronavirus crisis. In response, Riyadh said it would pump at maximum capacity and flooded an already oversupplied market with extra crude.

Saudi Arabia ramped up output to a record 12.3. million bpd in April, up from below 10 million bpd in March. The kingdom's Gulf allies, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, also raised production.

Russian TASS news agency said any cuts could last three months starting from May.

The largest one-off cut OPEC has ever agreed till now was 2.2 million bpd in 2008.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital with coronavirus and is making steady progress, Downing Street has said.

The 55-year-old was shifted to the ICU of St. Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday night as his condition worsened over 10 days after he had tested positive for coronavirus and went into self-isolation. He has since received "standard oxygen treatment" but has not been diagnosed with pneumonia or required a ventilator to aid his breathing.

The prime minister continues to make steady progress. He remains in intensive care, a Downing Street spokesperson said in the latest health update on Wednesday night.

"He's stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff. I've known the Prime Minister for a long time and I wish him well in this difficult time and I think things are getting better for him," added UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden on Thursday morning.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the UK prime minister while he continues treatment for Covid-19, will chair a virtual Cobra emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss a review of the UK's coronavirus lockdown to consider whether the strict social distancing measures should be extended beyond the 21-day period initially announced by Johnson on March 23. The measures are set to end next Monday but indications are that they would have to be extended.

Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething who will take part in the Cobra meeting said there was "virtually zero prospect" of government experts advising that it was safe to lift the lockdown, adding the measures would continue for "a number of weeks".

"I think rather than speculate about the future, I think we should focus very seriously on the here and now and the present," said Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer who led the daily Downing Street briefing on Wednesday evening.

The senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who announced a new 750-million pound fund to support frontline charities across the UK through the pandemic, stressed the importance of the British public continuing to follow the government's stay-at-home guidance especially during what is a usual holiday travel period over a long Easter weekend.

Sunak, who is the next in line in the government's chain of command after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, also gave his own update on the UK PM's health to confirm that he was sitting up in bed and engaging with his clinical team.

"The latest from the hospital is the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving," he said.

The prime minister is not only my colleague and my boss but also my friend, and my thoughts are with him and his family," he said, adding that the UK PM's illness is a reminder how indiscriminate this disease is.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK registered another record daily jump of 938 fatalities on Wednesday to hit 7,097. Deputy chief scientific adviser, Dame Angela McLean, said the number of new cases was not "accelerating out of control" in the country and warned against complacency and breaking the lockdown norms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For years, we have been excluded from international organizations, and we know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated, Tsai wrote. I want to take this opportunity to invite Director General Tedros to visit Taiwan and experience for himself how committed the Taiwanese people are to engaging with and contributing to the world, even in the face of discrimination and isolation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India will do everything possible to help the humanity's fight against COVID-19, responding to US President Donald Trump who thanked India for the decision to allow the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

"Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer," Modi tweeted.

The India-US partnership is stronger than ever, he said.

"India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19," the prime minister said.

Trump described Modi as "terrific" for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, agreed to lift the ban on the export of the medicine to the US after Trump spoke to Modi on phone last week.

"Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!," Trump said in a tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MPs will be able to claim an extra 10,000 in expenses to help their offices adjust to working from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

The additional funds have been made available to support staff needing to buy equipment to work remotely  such as paper, printers and computers  while people have been told to work remotely where possible in order to limit the spread of Covid-19.

There will be an immediate increase of 10,000 to your office costs budget, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said in a bulletin announcing the changes.

This is to cover any additional costs you may incur to set up working remotely as a result of coronavirus.

The expanded budget will remain in place until next March.

Most MPs staff moved at very short notice from being based in Westminster, or in a constituency office, to working from home, an IPSA spokesperson told The Independent.

Many staff were not set up for home working, nor for supporting constituents remotely, they said.

This additional funding is to help them make that transition, while they deal with a huge increase in workload from distressed constituents as a result of coronavirus issues.

Speaking on LBC radio station on Thursday, the culture secretary was asked by host Nick Ferrari how wise it was that extra funds had been made available to MPs offices while a lot of people are in dire financial straits during the pandemic.

Oliver Dowden said MPs had a huge amount of case work at the moment, adding: Ive certainly got vast increases in the number of people who are contacting me with concerns over coronavirus.

I believe this money is being used to help ramp up the capacity of MPs to deal with it, he said.

Its not benefiting MPs personally. Its ensuring they have the capacity to deal with these challenges.

The chancellor has announced a host of measures  such as grants, loans and tax cuts  in a bid to help individuals and businesses deal with the financial blow of the pandemic.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said on Wednesday he could not save every job, business or charity with his emergency schemes, adding: Thats just simply not possible.

He said: Ive been very clear and very honest that this will take a significant impact on our economy.

Asked recently about whether nurses should get a pay rise, Matt Hancock, the health secretary said: Now is not the moment to enter into a pay negotiation.

The UK has been in lockdown for several weeks as it battles the Covid-19 outbreak, with people told to stay at home unless it is essential and all non-essential stores ordered to close.

The number of infections passed 60,000 on Wednesday, while the death toll stood at around 7,000.

Additional reporting by Press Association
In this series called Member Showcase, we publish interviews with members of The Oracles. This interview is with Dressbarn co-owners, Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, who co-founded the online dating company Zoosk during the 2008 recession. It was condensed by The Oracles.

Who are you?

Alex Mehr: We met at Sharif University, Iran, before starting our Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. Shayan studied computer science before dropping out to work for Microsoft. I went on to become a NASA aerospace scientist.

We co-founded the online dating company Zoosk during the 2008 economic collapse, running it for 10 years before selling for over $300 million. We now lead Dressbarn with our business partner, Tai Lopez, and invest in or advise other ventures.

What are you more skilled at than most people in the world?

Shayan Zadeh: Starting Zoosk during the 2008 economic collapse taught us many lessons for the current COVID-19 crisis. Most people are shell-shocked during a crisis and dont take action. They wait and see to see how things work out.

As internet-first entrepreneurs with 20 years of experience, we utilize data to make quick decisions and optimize businesses. With this mentality, you can quickly spot opportunities, test ideas, experiment and pivot while keeping a lean team. When you fail fast, you learn, grow and improve quickly.

Were bringing that DNA to retail, where many companies have done business the same way for 30 years, and juggernaut brands often cobble together ecommerce platforms without truly understanding how the internet ecosystem works. The current crisis has taught us that brands need to take ecommerce seriously.

How did your business get started?

Alex Mehr: We questioned why many retailers struggle and realized that its a structural problem, which the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated. They rent massive stores, but foot traffic has significantly dropped with the rise of online shopping and rent remains unchanged.

When acquiring Dressbarn, we kept what worked (the beloved brand and merchandising) and removed what didnt (massive stores). We might revisit brick-and-mortar stores as the world moves back to normality, but we currently focus on ecommerce at Dressbarn.com. Three months in, weve already got thank-you notes from customers for keeping the doors open.

What book changed your mindset or life?

Shayan Zadeh: I love biographies about people who accomplished great things. Most recently, Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts was eye-opening, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Its interesting how many smart people dont see reality or choose not to.

Leading up to World War II, many of Englands leaders didnt think Germany was a problem. Churchill didnt just listen to the news; he spoke with people on the ground to understand what was unfolding. Then he dared to speak out and act on it. The lesson learned is to be discerning with your information sources as you navigate the challenges ahead.

What was your biggest, most painful failure?

Alex Mehr: We started Zoosk as a market research tool. We struggled to gain traction until we stumbled upon the idea of doing online dating differently. So we pivoted, but it wasnt easy.

We invested time and effort into our dream and sold it to others, including investors and employees. We had to sell them a new compelling dream and take their focus off the red flags, hoping they would continue to believe in us. Maybe youre in that situation right now: Its scary to go back on your promise, but if youre on a path to nowhere, its the right thing to do.

Remove your ego, acknowledge your mistakes and identify a solution. Be honest with others and they'll respond well. Refocus your time, energy and resources into a winning plan.

Whats the biggest common leadership mistake?

Shayan Zadeh: Overplanning. As General Colin Powell said, No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. Very few people predicted the ramification of COVID-19. Its easy to get analysis paralysis, especially now. Get out of overthinking, make a move, get feedback and adjust as needed.

For example, many retailers are currently closing down and canceling their purchases from suppliers. We could follow that trend, but instead, were taking a different viewpoint: Suppliers have these orders that they don't know what to do with  how can we turn that into a competitive advantage for our company?

How do you evaluate a good business deal?

Alex Mehr: The hallmark of a good deal is potential, a vision of what to do with it, and the unique skills to transform the asset into value. The best deals are undervalued by the seller or other buyers because they dont see the potential or have the skills to leverage it. If you get an asset for a low cost, the upside potential is significant, while the downside is minimal.

For example, we knew Dressbarns potential  the brand was strong, while the digital strategy wasnt  and were uniquely qualified to do something about it.

How do you prevent burnout?

Shayan Zadeh: A solid support network is critical, especially now. I lean on my family often, and my wife, Anousheh, is a huge source of positive energy. Carve out time for yourself and your family. You need boundaries in our 24/7 world, where its hard to see where work stops and life starts. Several hours a night, I dont respond to messages unless its an emergency.

Working out also helps me clear my mind, recharge and regroup. When this pandemic passes, I recommend a minimum bi-annual 10-day vacation. Traveling, meeting new people and seeing new cultures is energizing; youll always return with new ideas.

What are you working on right now?

Alex Mehr: Laying the foundation for Dressbarns growth, from building the infrastructure and navigating COVID-19 to hiring and establishing the right leadership. Traditionally, retailers rely on intuition to predict trends. Were focused on coupling that intuition with data and plan to leverage artificial intelligence for predictive modeling that informs quick decision making.

Were also focused on our team. We have three offices across the country and contractors overseas. Decentralization with virtual working has its challenges, but its working and becoming the standard out of necessity due to current events. You can tap into different talent pools and have a continuous business across time zones while maintaining that personal connection.

What do you want to be known for?

Shayan Zadeh: When you help the right people grow with your company, you dont just deliver amazing results; you build friendships for life. Ive seen this at each of my companies. Give a small group permission to do amazing things fast, and that vote of confidence will grow your company and their careers exponentially.

We have close bonds with high school and college friends because you experience a great deal of growth together in a short period. Early-stage companies are the adult version of that. I love the camaraderie and mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs. Its exciting to think that they will take what they learn here and go on to do great things.

Connect with Alex Mehr and Shayan Zadeh on LinkedIn, or visit Dressbarn.com.

The words and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee alone. What worked for them may not work for everyone. Any claims in this article have not been independently verified.

Related:

How Zoosk's Co-Founders, Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, Are Using Data and AI to Power Online Retail During Unprecedented Times of Uncertainty

Long Beach Beer Lab Could Have Closed; Instead, They Became Essential

Coronavirus: Consumer Food Product Companies Facing Production Disruption



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
An Italian archbishop who has represented the Vatican in the US and Europe has called for a global exorcism prayer on Saturday to defeat coronavirus.

Carlo Maria Vigano told followers to recite an exorcism prayer on Saturday to expel 'Satan' as the pandemic has sent millions into lockdown.

Archbishop Vigano sent the message to the faithful to say the 'Exorcism against Satan and the apostate angels' psalm at home as mass gatherings including church services have been banned in much of Europe and the US.

First published by Pope Leo XIII in 1890, the prayer was written 'to curb the power of the devil and prevent him doing harm'.

Vigano said that over Easter, while many are unable to visit traditional church sermons, people should join together in the same prayer.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano listening to remarks at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall meeting in Baltimore in 2015 when he was Apostolic Nuncio to the US

In an article written for Catholic new outlet, Life Site, today Vigano wrote that as Christians cannot visit confession, they should still continue 'praying to our Lord' against 'the Evil One'.

The 79-year-old wrote: 'In these modern times of terrible tribulation, when the pandemic has deprived Catholics of Holy Mass and the Sacraments, the Evil One has gone into a frenzy and multiplied his attacks to tempt souls into sin.

'These blessed days of Holy Week, which used to be the ideal time to go to Confession to prepare ourselves for our Easter Communion, now see us locked inside our houses, but they cannot stop us praying to Our Lord.'

Vigano added that 'there is no need to go out, or to breach any of the laws currently in force' when praying against the devil.

The archbishop also asked his fellow priests to join the prayer and to wear a stole - a band of colored cloth used by priests around the world.

Carlo Maria Vigano (right) and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (left) at a 'National March for Life' against abortion and euthanasia in Rome in 2018

He wrote: 'I should like to ask all my brother bishops and priests to join me as I recite this exorcism, knowing the power of this sacramental - especially when it is recited together with all other priests - to help the Church in her fight against Satan.

'I should also like to recommend that all of you wear a stole, the sign of your priestly power, and holy water.'

Archbishop Vigano was born in Varese, Italy, and was ordained as a priest in March 1968, before working as a Vatican diplomat in Iraq and Britain in the 1970s.

In 1989 Vigano was appointed as the Vatican representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

He was later the General of the Governatorate, looking after the Vatican finances, from 2009, before serving as apostolic nuncio in Washington DC from 2011 to his retirement in 2016.

Dressing operations for doctors and nurses in the Covid-19 ward of Humanitas Hospital in Rozzano, near Milan, today. Italy is under lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus

Vigano previously called on Pope Francis to resign, claiming the pontiff knew of sex abuse allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick but covered them up.

In a letter he personally told Pope Francis that McCarrick was accused of inappropriate behavior and Pope Benedict XVI imposed sanctions ordering him to a life of penance.

According to Vigano, during a June 2013 meeting Francis asked him what kind of man McCarrick was like.

Vigano said he replied: 'He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.'

He alleged that the pontiff was trying to find out if he was an ally of McCarrick or not.

Vigana also accused three consecutive Vatican secretaries of state of knowing about McCarrick's behavior but doing nothing about it.
[April 09, 2020] SIRC Named Prime Contractor for NASA SEWP V Contract NNG15SD74B as a HubZone and Women-Owned Small Business

WASHINGTON, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Software Information Resource Corp. (SIRC), a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) and trusted IT services provider, is proud to announce it has been named a NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V contract holder. The SEWP Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) offers a wide range of capabilities to all federal agencies, providing hardware, software, and professional services.

The SEWP Offices core goal is to excel in customer support and service to the federal agencies they serve, said Ajay Gandhi, SIRC COO. We are very excited to now offer our government customers this procurement vehicle for acquiring solutions from our cutting-edge technology partners and to enable them to meet their HubZone and WOSB goals. SIRCs award currently covers Products and Professional services in Group C and has an effective ordering period through April 30, 2025. The company has partnered with leading solutions providers including Adobe, Blackberry Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, HID, IBM, Micro Focus, Nutanix, RSA, Salesforce, SAP, Snowflake, Symantec, Tableau, UiPath, and Veritas. Plus, SIRCs combined decades of partnership with distributors such as Carahsoft Technology Corp. help the company offer a best-of-breed solution for addressing key government initiatives. These strong relationships pave the way for faster and smoother transactions resulting in quality solutions.



Despite recent environmental conditions, SIRCs team is dedicated to delivering upon our mission and is available to answer any questions from our partners and customers. Our people and our customer-oriented values are the cornerstones of our business in this fast paced technology arena, and the SIRC team is ready and available to assist you with your software and services requirements on time and within budget. To learn more about our products and services, visit https://sirc.net/sewp or send us an email at [email protected] .

About SIRC For more than 25 years, SIRC has focused on exceeding the expectations of our customers with IT software and professional services. Our vision and mission is to ensure we bring the latest information in technology and innovation, provide options for the best solutions based on environmental factors, and assist with the dedication and expertise of our staff. Contact: Ajay Gandhi

202-536-2800

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
From an acute shortage of regional staple couscous to a surge of confidence tricks and counterfeiting, authorities in North Africa have been busy tackling coronavirus challenges that go beyond healthcare.

For the past two weeks, Algeria's more than 40 million people have been facing a severe shortage of couscous semolina after rumours spread on social media sparked panic buying.

"I have never in my life bought a 25-kilo bag of semolina but I was afraid the situation would get worse and bakeries would close", said Fawzi, a young entrepreneur in the capital Algiers.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune tried to allay fears, declaring that semolina stocks were enough "for four or five months", but it has had little visible effect.

"I had to pay 1,700 dinars (more than $13) for the bag instead of 1,200 dinars but I had no choice", said Fawzi, who has a young daughter.

Karim Khelouiati, a cyber-security expert, told AFP that individuals stockpiling was "a human reaction". But, he added, "some people try to take advantage of it" too.

From March 22 to April 1, more than 2,500 people were arrested for speculatively hoarding basic foodstuffs and over-the-counter drugs, police said, with more than 5,000 tonnes of food supplies and some 219,000 pharmaceutical items seized.

Tebboune has urged "patriotic" Algerians to publicly denounce hoarders, while police have stepped up checks and encouraged people to report "all acts of speculation, monopoly and fraud".

Tunisian authorities have been facing similar problems. After flour and semolina ran out in some areas of the country, Tunisian President Kais Saied called for speculators, whom he described as "war criminals", to be punished.

On Tuesday, authorities arrested a state official in Kef, near the border with Algeria, after Tunisia's national anti-graft body INLUCC accused elected representatives and civil servants of directing flour and semolina supplies toward certain businesses.

And at the end of March, customs officers seized expired personal protection equipment including gloves and masks worth 500,000 dinars (more than $170,000) in the port of Rades, near the capital Tunis.

Speculation began in Morocco even before it announced its first case of COVID-19 in early March, with a rush on masks and the price of disinfectant soaring, leading the government to lay down fixed prices.

In the historic city of Fez, police apprehended four people suspected of operating a "clandestine workshop" from a garage that produced and sold counterfeit disinfectant.

In Sale, near the capital Rabat, two "ex-convicts" posed as public employees taking part in an awareness-raising campaign in order to commit thefts, local media reported.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Rabat warned on March 30 of individuals fraudulently posing as members of its staff.

Authorities have their eyes on what's happening online too.

Dozens of people have been questioned in Morocco over accusations of spreading "false rumours" linked to the coronavirus pandemic on social media.

In Algeria, police colonel Abdelkader Zighed warned that the internet had become a vehicle for false information that helps "sow confusion".

Algeria is the worst-hit of the three North African countries, with 205 officially declared deaths and 1,572 cases of infection.

One online rumour about the imminent closure of service stations caused traffic jams in many Algerian cities last week. But the measure only applied to Blida -- the main virus hot spot, near the capital Algiers.

Police have formed cyber-investigation teams to track peddlers of fake news, and Zighed said this had allowed them to "neutralise many opportunists" publishing false information.

A young woman from the western city of Oran found herself in trouble after posting a video on Facebook accusing Algerians who had returned from abroad of leaving quarantine early.

She retracted the claim but is accused of disseminating material "for propaganda purposes" to "harm the national interest", police said. Some Algerian media outlets have warned of the risks to freedom of press and expression.

On April 1, a journalist and two managers from the Sawt Al-Akher newspaper were taken in for questioning for reporting on alleged errors in coronavirus testing.

They have been released under judicial supervision.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WSU Zoology Student Earns National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

April 8, 2020

OGDEN, Utah  A Weber State University zoology student has received a major science award to research a small rodent impacted by drought in Central Chile.

Chyanne Smith was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) to conduct her research on the degu (Octodon degus) in Santiago, Chile, as part of her masters program in environmental science at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Smith said the award is for research that focuses on how physiological mechanisms, which help control an organisms chemistry and biology, underlie variation in the social behavior of degus. Degus are social rodents that live in large groups.

Specifically, we will investigate maternal effects on the water-balance physiology of degu pups, Smith said. In other words, we are looking at the conditions a mother degu faces and how the conditions may be internally communicated to her young to better prepare the pups for survival.

Zoology professor and mentor John Mull said this species of rodent is considered an important research model for understanding human biology, especially certain aspects of physiology and aging.

Central Chile is currently in the throes of a megadrought that has been linked to climate change, and degu colonies are declining during the drought, Mull said. Chyannes research will have implications for understanding how social animals respond to severe climate change.

The prestigious NSF grants, which include tuition and a stipend, often are awarded to students at Research I institutions, such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Purdue.

Smith, who graduates in April, said Weber State offered her significant research experience, including a semester-long project as part of Mulls animal behavior course, and a summer in Mongolia studying small mammal communities in the Darhad, Valley.

She presented her findings from Mongolia at the 2020 Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. At the 2019 conference, Smith had presented her findings on the caching behavior of woodrats through maturity with zoology professor Michele Skopec.

Since she was a child, Smith said shes always loved animals, particularly rodents, and wanted to know what they were thinking, doing and why.

This research gives me the ability to explore some of those why questions, she said. Often, when I tell people I work with rodents, they are put off, and they dont see the value, but rodents play an important role in an ecosystem. Understanding their behaviors can also give insight into human behavior and evolution.

Smith returned to school while working in a highly paid position at a multinational computer technology corporation. She left the tech industry behind when her studies and research confirmed that she had made the right decision to pursue her passion for animal research.

Dean of the College of Science Andrea Easter-Pilcher described Chyanne as a stellar student. Chyanne has a solid vision of who she wants to be as a professional, Easter-Pilcher said. She has pursued her vision with tenacity and enthusiasm.

With a long history of successful recipients, the GRFP is the oldest graduate fellowship program that provides direct support to graduate students in various fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The award citation notes that the program assists fellows to become lifelong leaders in scientific innovation and teaching. Smith will share in the prestige and opportunities that become available to those selected. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners.

My core goal has always been to obtain a position that helps animals in some way, Smith said. The Weber State University College of Science and the Department of Zoology have provided me all the opportunities I needed to be successful.

For photos, visit the following links:

photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/April-2020/i-Qg9Jbnz/0/a554110b/X2/Presenting-X2.jpg

photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/April-2020/i-GLC3VRB/0/717f8d61/X2/trapping-X2.jpg

photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/April-2020/i-w3pLt4z/0/a16bd5b2/X2/Yellowstone-X2.jpg

photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/April-2020/i-DT7qjS6/0/8e8f586c/X2/Bat-X2.jpg

Visit, weber.edu/cos for more news about the College of Science.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
The majority of Brits support the idea of opposition parties such as Sir Keir Starmer's Labour joining forces with Boris Johnson's Conservatives during the COVID-19 crisis. (PA)

Almost two-thirds of Brits support a national unity government forming during the coronavirus crisis, new research has suggested.

A YouGov poll found 63% of people supported the idea of the main political parties coming together for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Just 17% were opposed to the prospect, with 20% unsure.

Even a majority of Conservative voters from the 2019 election  54%  supported the idea. Some 76% of Labour voters backed it, with 84% of Liberal Democrat voters in support.

Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour leader, did not give a clear answer when asked about the matter on ITVs Peston show.

He only said the Labour Party under my leadership will be constructive and pull together in the national interest, having the courage to support the government when right to do so, but also having the courage to challenge them where they are getting it wrong or going too slowly.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

Sir Keir said he has agreed arrangements with Boris Johnson about Labours position and added there is a proper role for scrutiny here.

Yahoo News UK has sought an official stance from the SNP, the third biggest party in Parliament, but has not yet received a response.

The Liberal Democrats are Westminsters fourth biggest party, with a party source rejecting the idea despite the strong support among its voters.

They told Yahoo News UK: We think its really important we scrutinise as an opposition. The government has in the past listened to the opposition and changed policy.

What we do think is really important is there should be a new coronavirus select committee which is chaired by the leader of the opposition [Sir Keir].

This will create more scrutiny which we think should be done in a constructive way.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Story continues

The difference between coronavirus and hay fever symptoms
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Fort Bend now leads Houston COVID-19 cases

Staff members are also being asked to self-quarantine.

HISD released this statement about the employee with COVID-19:

"We have been notified that a staff member at Madison High School who helped distribute laptops has tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is currently recovering at home.



All school staff members are being notified and those who worked in close proximity to the individual are being asked to self-quarantine.



Parents and students who came to the school to pick up laptops any time beginning Monday, March 23 through Monday, April 6 should self-quarantine 14 days from the last day they were inside Madison High School. Anyone experiencing symptoms should contact a physician.



We assure you we are working closely with the Houston Health Department to identify students, parents or staff who should be tested for COVID-19.



We urge everyone to follow national, state and local government and health directives to stay home if you are not feeling well. For those experiencing no symptoms, please wear masks and gloves and remain at least six feet from others when out in public at essential locations.



We remain vigilant and committed to taking every precaution we can to protect the health and safety of our HISD students, parents and staff during this global health emergency, while also meeting the educational and nutritional needs of families."






A missouri father has been charged with accidentally shooting and wounding his eight-year-old son after giving his children a lesson on gun safety as he put a pistol away.

Phillip Lumas Sr, 45, of Jefferson City, was charged Tuesday with felony second-degree domestic assault and misdemeanor second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Police wrote in a probable cause statement that officers were called Lumas' home in the 600 block of Linn Street just before 2.30am on Tuesday for a report of a shooting.

Phillip Lumas, 45, from Missouri, has been charged with accidentally shooting his 8-year-old child after giving a lesson on gun safety as he put a pistol away

Two days before the shooting, Lumas shared this image of his guns, seemingly including the Ruger 9mm pistol (right) that fired early Tuesday, hitting his son in the chest

Lumas told police he gave the brief gun safety lesson after the eight-year-old and a six-year-old asked about his pistols, reported Jefferson City News Tribune.

The father, who works as a kitchen supervisor at a local hotel, said he then had turned his attention to the TV and believed both children had left the bedroom before he began his nightly routine of removing the magazine from the pistol, racking the round from the chamber and dry firing the gun.

As he was doing day, Lumas said his eight-year-old startled him as he turned and the pistol fired, striking the boy in the chest.

Lumas' wife said her husband ran into the living room with their wounded son in his arms, saying he had accidentally shot him.

The boy was initially rushed to Capital Region Medical Center and was later transferred to University Hospital in Columbia. His condition was listed as stable as of Wednesday.

Lumas, a kitchen supervisor at a hotel, was upset and apologetic during his police interview

A search of Lumas' home turned up a loaded Ruger 9mm pistol and a spent 9mm shell casing.

During his interview with the police, Lumas reportedly admitted to accidentally shooting his son. He explained that he had given his children a brief lesson on gun safety because they were asking questions about his firearms.

Police noted in the probable cause statement that the 45-year-old dad was visibly upset and repeatedly apologized for the incident.

Lumas did not have a prior criminal history and legally owned the gun.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:35:40|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) on Thursday asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to process Iran's request for an emergency anti-coronavirus loan.

"We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the Fund," Abdolnaser Hemmati, the CBI chief, wrote on his Instagram page.

Hemmati has said that the IMF's response will be a litmus test for claims about relief aid for containing the disease.

According to Press TV, Hemmati sent a letter to IMF president on Wednesday to emphasize Iran's need for the loan to finance a current fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On March 12, it was announced here that the CBI had asked the IMF for a 5-billion-dollar loan to combat the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

However, reports said that the United States had blocked Iran's request for the emergency loan.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the recent rejection of Iran's application for the loan from the IMF amid the novel coronavirus fight is "unacceptable" and "unfair."
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

He emphasised that this is an important political mission for Dong Nai authorities and will contribute to building a large-scale national construction work.

The goal is to wrap up site clearance by 2025 or earlier, as set by the National Assembly, he said.

He said the implementation of the task has been slow, and requested local authorities focus on this task.

According to Dong Nai province's report, only 1.7 trillion VND out of a total of 17 trillion VND (723.6 million USD) allocated for the task has been disbursed so far.

He said that the National Assembly and the Government pay particular attention to progress at the airport, so Dong Nai needs to fully implement resettlement activities.

The PM asked the province to quickly complete the construction of resettlement areas.

He also requested ministries and departments to coordinate with Dong Nai to speed up site clearance, particularly the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Finance.

Dong Nai has so far completed 99 percent of site clearance at resettlement sites.
Tanaiste Simon Coveney announces funding of 6 million to UN Agency for Palestine Refugees

Press release

Tanaiste Simon Coveney announces funding of 6 million to UN Agency for Palestine Refugees

The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney T.D. today announced a contribution of 6 million to the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).



This funding will assist UNRWA in addressing the humanitarian and development needs of 5.6 million Palestine Refugees, providing emergency assistance across UNRWAs five fields of operation in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A key aspect of UNRWAs work will be to address the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to the intensified humanitarian needs Palestinian communities are now facing.

Announcing the contribution, Tanaiste Simon Coveney T.D. said:

Even under normal circumstances, the situation of 5.6 million Palestine refugees is extremely challenging. The Covid-19 pandemic will significantly increase their needs, with overcrowded living conditions, physical and mental stress and years of protracted occupation and conflict making the vulnerable population particularly susceptible to the pandemic. Ireland has brought forward its contribution to UNRWA this year in order to support the Agencys continued provision of critical services such as healthcare, education and humanitarian relief and social services in these difficult circumstances.

The Minister of State for International Development, Ciaran Cannon T.D., added:

Ireland has been a longstanding supporter of the critical work undertaken by UNRWA with and on behalf of Palestine refugees. This funding will support UNRWA in continuing its critical work as it faces increased pressures in combating and mitigating the potentially devastating impact of the virus on an already vulnerable community. Only by all of us working together can we address the challenging needs faced by these most disadvantaged communities.

ENDS

Press Office

8 April 2020

Note to editors

Spanning more than two decades, Irelands support to the Palestine reflects the Governments longstanding commitment to justice for the Palestinian people and to the development of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel. It is estimated that there are some 5.6 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

5 million of this allocation is core funding to support UNWRAs 2020 Programme Budget, of which 1 million is to be earmarked for use in Lebanon; and a further 1 million is allocated towards UNRWAs Syria Regional Crisis Emergency Appeal.

UNRWAs Programme Budget is used to provide essential services for 5.6 million Palestinian refugees in the fields of health, education, microfinance, infrastructure and camp improvement, protection, relief and social services across its five areas of operation.

UNRWAs Syria Regional Crisis Emergency Appeal addresses the basic humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict in Syria. Palestinian refugees have been disproportionately affected by this conflict, with an estimated 438,000 UNRWA-registered refugees remaining inside the country, 40% of whom are now internally displaced. Of the refugees, 91% of those registered are in need of sustained humanitarian assistance.

This funding addresses both humanitarian and development needs, providing emergency assistance to the most vulnerable whilst also supporting the Palestinian Authority in public service delivery and civil society organisations in their advocacy of human rights.

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Coronavirus or COVID-19 as the experts call it has disrupted global activities and brought to a halt economic activity across the world. As Virologists, Epidemiologists and Public Health Practitioners continue to work tirelessly in search of possible containment strategy and development of vaccines, many conspiracy theories have been propounded. Key among the conspiracy theories is the linkage of 5G to the spread of COVID-19.

Some have even categorically stated, without any scientific proof or empirical evidence that, the majority of the people who died in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus in China died from 5G technology rather than the virus as reported. Although this commentary is not to address such myths and fake news which have the tendency to derail the progress being made by various governments to flatten the curve on the disease, it is important to state that, such claims are frivolous and has no scientific basis and must be treated with the contempt it deserves. Lets continue to adhere to WHO protocols as well as advise from our various governments to save our own lives and that of our dear frontline healthcare providers.

Over the week, I have interacted with many friends on various social media platforms who have sought my opinion on this whole 5G brouhaha. This subject is very technical but will try my best for us all to understand the basic concepts and understanding of 5G.

What is 5G

5G is the 5th Generation of wireless communication technologies that support cellular networks. In nutshell, the technology that enables us to communicate seamlessly using communication devices such as mobile phones. At present, many countries in the world including Ghana is on 4G. But like many technologies and applications, developed countries continue to dictate the path of technological advancement even when we have not fully embraced the exiting technologies. In Ghana for instance, MTN is still rolling adverts for people to purchase their 4G SIM cards. While we are lagging behind, others are far ahead. In fact, China has inaugurated a team to begin research on 6G whilst the world is yet to fully embrace 5G. Technology is not waiting for anyone.

The Emergence of 5G has been an effort of many. The US NASA in 2008 developed 5G communications technology. The same year South Koreas IT R&D program formed the 5G mobile communication systems for research purposes. The New York University, University of Surrey, the EUs METIS project, Samsung electronics all contributed into research leading to emergence of 5G. Currently, many 5G devices are at the productization stage including the development of 5G Internet of Things (IoT) chipset arena. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, is the first smart phone able to connect to 5G networks. Later versions Samsung Galaxy S20 and Nokia 8.3 are currently the worlds most advanced 5G mobile devices. 5G is expected to connect about 50 billion connected IoT devices.

Like new versions of technology, 5G brings to consumers better usage experience, convenience and much improved connectivity. The speed performance of 5G is enormous as compared to the current 4G. 5G speeds is in the less common millimeter wave spectrum, with its much more abundant bandwidth and shorter range, and hence greater frequency reusability, can be substantially higher. 5G speed will range from 50Mbits/s to over 2Gbits/s. What this means is that, it has the speed capacity to transmit 2gigabits of data within a second. 4G offers maximum real-world download speeds up to around 100Mbit/s, making it over 20 times faster than 3G. Consider the delivery speed of 5G and 4G to be two people travelling from Kumasi to Accra, one using VIP bus (4G) and other using Africa World Airline (5G).

At present, the following countries are either using 5G or have tested for the use of 5G; Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Uruguay, Vietnam, and Qatar. Many of these countries are using 5G networks or have been granted the licence to test 5G.

Technology Acceptance

Since time immemorial, acceptance and use of technology have faced opposition and strict resistance. The Hullabaloo surrounding 5G implementation is therefore not surprising. Many technology acceptance theories including technology acceptance model (TAM), Innovation diffusion theory (IDT), Theory of reasoned action (TRA), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), theory of perceived risk (TPR), the PC utilisation Model , expectance confirmatory theory , Hofstede cultural theory among many others have explained to us how acceptance and use of new technology are expected to prevail among consumers. The agitations and the much-publicised conspiracy theories lend credence to these theories and models.

Health and Safety Concerns

Scientifically, the consensus among the technology experts, as evidenced by the many scientific papers is that, 5G is safe. There is presently no scientific study that has proven the health hazards of 5G. However, speculation about possible hazards has given rise to concern being expressed in the media. These speculations are based on anecdotal utterances rather than scientific and empirical facts. Misunderstanding of 5G technology has given rise to a number of conspiracy theories that claim it has an adverse effect on human health. Suffice it to say that, all electronic communication equipments produce some degree of effects on the environment and the human race. Like the emergence of 4G, many telecommunication masts were built and 3G masts were replaced. It is a well-known fact that the citing of telecommunication mast poses some degree of health concerns due to the radiation emission. Our mobile phones also are made of substances that potentially can harm our health as well. However, no specific and peculiar hazard has been found to be associated with 5G aside these general issues that are often time considered in the citing and deployment of telecommunication infrastructures.

In 2017, 180 scientists from about 35 countries were the first to petition the EU to conduct investigation into the health hazards of 5G before its roll-out. Their petition however, stated no scientific fact to substantiate their opposition. Subsequently, Belgium stopped the trial of 5G over radiation laws. Similarly, Switzerlands Environmental Protection Agency advised for the blockage of 5G roll-out, although the Swiss Telecommunications Association (ASUT) has said that studies have been unable to show that 5G frequencies have any health impact. There have been a number of concerns over the spread of disinformation in the media and online regarding the potential health effects of 5G technology. Claims of 5G causing brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors, and Alzheimer's disease have been intensified in recent times with no scientific basis or proofs. In the past week, several conspiracy theories circulating online posited a link between COVID-19 and 5G. This led to several phone masts in Birmingham and Liverpool being subject to arson attacks.

Cyber Security Threats

It will not be far-fetched for anyone to believe that vulnerabilities in 5G technologies could be exploited by cybercriminals for malicious gains. Like many technologies and applications, there are always loopholes that easily be exploited thereby exposing organisations network infrastructure to cyber-attacks. 5G technology could open ground for a new era of security threats. These threats could emerge due to immature and insufficiently testing processes of the technology, the one that enables the movement and access of vastly higher quantities of data, and thus broadens attack surfaces. Countries and organisations intending to deploy 5G may have to engage in personalized and mixed security deployments against massive distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) attacks foreseen after 5G deployment. As already mentioned, 5G is expected to connect about 50billion connected IoT devices, this can raise the attack surface for these devices to a substantial scale, and the capacity for DDoS attacks, cryptojacking, and other cyber-attacks could boost proportionally.

Politics and the Opposition

Various agencies of the US have led the political opposition against 5G network. The spectrum used 5G is closer to remote sensing such as those used by weather and earth observation satellites. According to the US NASA, this spectrum could interfere with numerical weather prediction without controls. This will potentially affect weather forecast and reduce the accuracy by 30%. The United States Navy has similar written to express concerns. The World Radiocommunication, World Meteorological Organisation, American Meteorological Society and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts have all warn against possible interference of 5G with weather forecast. Subsequently, the International Telecommunication Union set -39 decibel watts (dBW) buffer for all 5G deployed telecommunication network to avert the possible interference with weather forecast.

Allegations of surveillance have been levelled against Chinese companies manufacturing 5G networks. Due to fears of potential espionage of users of Chinese equipment vendors, several countries (including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom as of early 2019) have taken actions to restrict or eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in their respective 5G networks. Chinese vendors and the Chinese government have denied these claims. Globally, Chinese manufacturer, Huawei is the biggest manufacturer of 5G equipments. Nokia and Ericsson are the only European manufacturers of 5G equipment. This presupposes that, Huawei will potentially be producing 5G equipment to most parts of the world. Perhaps, these fears of industrial espionage and alleged gathering of intelligence by Chinse companies and the Chinese government through 5G technologies might have heightened the strict opposition and the request to delay the implementation of 5G networks.

What More Could We Do?

In the days ahead, each of us should choose to trust scientific data and technology experts over unfounded conspiracy theories and self-serving politicians. These conspiracy theories do nothing but project a situation of global disunity which affects many efforts towards implementing policies that have the tendencies to benefit the global world. We should choose facts over speculations, and we should embrace scientific data rather than conspiracy theories.
Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:36:10|Editor: huaxia

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XI'AN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and two others injured after a wall they were painting collapsed at a construction site in the city of Xianyang, north China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at a construction site in the city's Qindu District at 5:00 p.m. when the wall was pushed down by a landslide outside.

Four people died on the spot and another one died on the way to the hospital. The two injured have been admitted to the hospital and are in stable condition.

Further investigation is underway.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

Trend:

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov gave instructions to prevent the COVID-19 infection from entering the country, during a working meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Purli Agamyradov and Minister of Education Mammadmurad Geldiniyazov, Trend reports citing the "Zolotoy Vek" (Golden Age) newspaper.

He ordered to analyze the health status of all citizens of Turkmenistan and to take care of necessary preventive measures.

Turkmenistan will strengthen work on revealing possible coronavirus cases in the country.

To this effect, special groups of medical workers will be created, the check-ups should be started from kindergartens, secondary and higher educational institutions, said the president.

Berdimuhamedov also said that the younger generation has to be explained the need to comply with sanitary and hygienic standards. He also noted that in order to be healthy they have to be engaged in sports.

As of yet, there are no cases of coronavirus in Turkmenistan.

The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 88,000. Over 1.4 million people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 329,000 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
South Africa: AU backs WHO, calls for solidarity against COVID-19

African Union (AU) Chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has backed the efforts of the World Health Organisation and called for international solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In appreciation of these efforts, the African Union extends its unwavering support to the WHO and its Director-General. The AU calls upon the international community to join hands to support the efforts of the DG and the entire WHO family as they lead global efforts to fight this pandemic. If there was a time for global unity, solidarity and cooperation, this is that time. Working together, we will be able to overcome this challenge, said President Ramaphosa.

The call comes after WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, in a press conference on Wednesday, said he has received death threats and racist insults while spearheading the global effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

With countries faced with daunting and frustrating tasks to contain the spread of the pandemic, the AU Chair called on countries to avoid the temptation to apportion blame to any individual, institution or any country.

We should work together to confront our common enemy in the form of COVID-19; and we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by anything else. Our success against this pandemic will only be realised through collaboration, cooperation and most importantly through global solidarity, said President Ramaphosa.

The AU reaffirmed its appreciation for the leadership of Ghebreyesus and commended his management in leading the global response to the pandemic.

The African Union has seen Dr Tedros in action before when he and the world class WHO health experts led global efforts to fight against Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Overall the AU recognises and appreciates the good work that has been undertaken by the WHO and notes with a sense of satisfaction the various initiatives and measures that are continuously undertaken by the organisation to mitigate the spread of the pandemic such as mobilising resources, sharing the real-time information and providing the technical and material support, said the AU Chair.

Punting the importance of international solidarity, President Ramaphosa said the African Union has seen first-hand the groundswell of international cooperation since the onset of this pandemic.

President Ramaphosa commended all who supported and pledged to support Africas response to COVID-19 by reinforcing the continents health systems and helping to mitigate the social and economic impact. These partners include the G20, China, the United States, the European Union, the Jack Ma Foundation, among others.

On a daily basis, the WHO has been an essential technical and scientific partner to the African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), as countries try to mitigate the pandemic which has now reached nearly every member state.

The African Union thanked all medical personnel who are in the forefront of the battlefield for their selflessness and diligence.

President Ramaphosa further called on all African Union members and international partners to maintain and reinforce this international cooperation and collaboration in the difficult weeks and months ahead.

May we all continue, as a collective, to play our part to combat this pandemic with vigour and determination in order to return our lives to normalcy, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
In Roscoe Village one early March morning, Matt Roben started his livestock rounds by counting eggs. The San Francisco native and self-proclaimed Dr. Dolittle said he never had exotic animals or livestock while he was growing up. Now, after 17 years in Chicago, he and his wife have two goats, six chickens and a duck in their backyard, in addition to their two rats and a lovebird who freely flies around their home.




Nearly 8 in 10 South Koreans agree to the use of electronic wristbands to monitor people under self-quarantine as recently proposed by the government to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, a poll showed Thursday.







The poll of 500 adults nationwide, conducted Wednesday by Seoul-based pollster Realmeter, found 77.8 percent supported the proposal of requiring all people subject to two-week self-isolation, including new entrants from abroad, to wear electronic wristbands.







Only 16.5 percent opposed the use of such wristbands due to potential human rights violations. The remaining 5.7 percent refused to answer or said they did not have an opinion. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.







Support for the use of electronic wristbands was particularly strong among people in their 20s, women, liberals and supporters of the ruling Democratic Party, Realmeter said.







Earlier this week, a senior quarantine official said the government is considering the measure to prevent people in self-isolation from going outside, sparking a heated human rights debate.







The wristbands, if introduced, would track self-isolators' movements via their mobile phones. The government currently runs a mobile app to monitor people in self-quarantine, but some of them have been caught illegally leaving their self-isolation venues.







About 46,600 people, including more than 36,000 international arrivals, are now in self-isolation. South Korea announced 39 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing the country's total infections to 10,423. (Yonhap)


Geauga Public Health has confirmed the countys first novel coronavirus-related death.

An 83-year-old Geauga County resident died April 7 from COVID-19 complications, according to a news release from the health department.

Geauga Public Health said it is not releasing any more information at this time.

Even though we can look at the increasing number of new cases and can predict that we will eventually join the other counties who are also reporting on the numbers of lives lost, it still is a tragedy, Geauga County Health Commissioner Tom Quade said in a statement. This is not how a life should end.

Quade said across Ohio, the number of deaths represents about 3 percent of the total number of reported COVID-19 cases.

These are not numbers, they are lives and they are a loss to us all, he said

As of 2 p.m., April 8, Geauga has 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 13 total hospitalizations, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

In an April 7 post on Geauga Public Healths Facebook page, Quade said he appeared in a tele-town hall with Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, D-Akron. During that event, Quade said he was asked how public health has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quade said it struck him that this is the best example of why the word public is so important in public health.

This is the first time of this magnitude where the fate of the publics health is almost entirely in the publics hands, he said. It is up to you. No vaccine. No specific treatment. The only real exit strategy depends entirely on you. You know what to do.
A doctor and his wife bravely overcame coronavirus together by monitoring each other's breathing patterns - and now he's back on the NHS frontline treating patients.

Last month, Dr Harmandeep Singh, a cardiologist at Ealing Hospital in west London, was suffering from extreme tiredness, fever, and struggled to walk up just one flight of stairs.

Dr Singh, 36, ensured the couple were monitoring each other's breathing as a priority, which they did through concentrating on their speech.

He and his wife shut themselves out of all social media to stop themselves becoming more stressed and anxious about their condition.

Dr Harmandeep Singh, a cardiologist at Ealing Hospital in west London, was suffering from extreme tiredness, fever, and struggled to walk up just one flight of stairs

Now he is back on the NHS frontline fighting the 'war' against Covid-19.

Explaining how they monitored each other's breathing, Dr Singh said: 'Can she talk in full sentences? Can I talk in full sentences or not?

'That was the only thing we monitored at home. Because that's a sign.

'If you can't talk in full sentences that's when your lungs are being affected, that's the time you need to seek medical help.'

Dr Singh and his wife suffered symptoms including a high heart rate, lack of energy, and breathing difficulties for 10 to 12 days.

The father-of-two tracked his illness and found that after the first four days of body aches, persistent temperature and breathing difficulties, day five felt as if 'nothing had happened' for a couple of days.

But then day eight was a 'sudden deterioration again'.

On day 12, Dr Singh said: 'I was perfectly fine, back to normal.

'That does reflect with patients that we are seeing, sudden deterioration or sudden improvement in 24 hours.'

Dr Harmandeep Singh, a cardiologist at Ealing Hospital in west London, and his colleagues

Ealing Hospital has been divided into two sections of coronavirus and non-coronavirus centres, with little movement of staff between them.

NHS staff call families of loved ones on the wards each day to update them on their progress, but the volatile nature of the disease means things can change rapidly.

Dr Singh's breathing test If you can't talk in full sentences that's when your lungs are being affected, that's the time you need to seek medical help at hospital. Advertisement

Dr Singh said: 'As a healthcare professional, and I think most of my colleagues will agree with me, that it has been emotionally challenging for us.

'We are seeing what the general public is not seeing, the other side of coronavirus, the worst side of coronavirus.

'People really do not understand the severity of the disease. I know most people will get a mild disease and get over it.

'But for those who are getting severe disease it can be life changing for the families and it is extremely hard for us to see that suffering in those patients as well.'

To keep morale up, the staff discuss positive progress each morning and look at the number of patients they have been able to discharge.

Dr Singh said he felt very proud of how the hospital staff on all levels have responded to the challenge.

Thank you flags put up near the hospital, cards from children and the general public as well as 'enormous' amounts of food from local businesses, have also brightened the spirits of hospital staff, making them feel valued.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Ealing Hospital, has registered one of the highest number of coronavirus deaths in England.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

However Dr Singh revealed there was more positivity behind the headline figures.

For example, a 99-year-old patient, who he had previously believed was about to die, recovered completely and was discharged,

Dr Singh said: 'We've had people in their 90s who we thought were at the end of their lives and will not make it, we made the phone calls, explained to the families, and three days later they were at home.

'So it's not all bad, we've had good success in sending people home.

'I came back from not being able to climb one flight of stairs to being able to doing perfectly normal work within three days.

'If someone does contract the virus, it's not the end of the road.'

Dr Singh said social distancing was the most important action to take in this 'wartime' effort to ensure the best possible defence against the disease.

Dr Singh said: 'What we are fighting is a virus, something that we don't know about, something that we can't even see, something we don't know how it's going to react when it gets into your body.

'There is no cure, no vaccination. So the only way to contain this virus is to stay away from each other and not pass it on.

'This essentially is a war, it's what we are in, so people need to understand and take it seriously.

'The NHS is up for the fight, but what the NHS really needs from the general public is they need to stay indoors.

'Not going out for a month is not going to do any harm to your health, but it will make a massive difference in terms of this Covid crisis.

'Social distancing, seriously, stay at home. That is the key.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 04:20:46|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Bob Iger, Disney chairman and former CEO, said the company is "very carefully" studying China's actions in terms of the country's return to normalcy and hinted that Disney World and other parks could screen for illnesses when they are reopened.

In an interview with Barron's published Tuesday, Iger explained that in order to keep customers safe from the fatal novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, some necessary prevention measures such as taking people's temperatures would be applied before an ultimate vaccine was developed.

He argued that safety could basically come from more scrutiny or more restrictions, saying "just as we now do bag checks for everybody that goes into our parks."

He disclosed the team at Disney is studying China's experience. The megacity of Wuhan was finally reconnected to the rest of the world on Tuesday after a 76-day coronavirus lockdown.

"One of the things that's obvious is they've conscripted a large segment of their population to monitor others in terms of their health," Iger said. "You can't get on a bus or a subway or a train or enter a high-rise building there - and I'm sure this will be the case when their schools reopen - without having your temperature taken."

Disney parks are preparing for a world where customers demand scrutinizing everybody, he said, predicting that even if the prevention measures create a little bit of hardship, like taking a little bit longer for people to get in, but people will accept them.

Meanwhile, Iger admitted that the pandemic is the "biggest business interruption" Disney has faced, but he remains optimistic about the long-term prospects of business.

"We know when it ends that we will have things for the public to enjoy and to escape to, maybe in ways they will appreciate more than they ever have," he said.
The world is currently facing the worst ever crisis known to mankind and there is constant risk looming over our lives as the scientists are yet to come up with a cure to the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, India has partially lifted a ban on export of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug which is being experimentally used in many countries for treating Covid-19. Our country will now supply it to the US and several other countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Owing to this huge gesture by India, at the time of crisis, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Trump, in his tweet, said, "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!"

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Reacting to Trumps tweet, messages of people praising PM Modi outpoured on Twitter and #ModiLeadingTheWorld started trending high on the micro-blogging site.

No caption required for this powerful pic. #ModiLeadingTheWorld pic.twitter.com/OfHXnm0nyH  Shiv Bhakt (@Real_ShivBhakt) April 8, 2020

Thank you, President Trump, for the acknowledgment. Our dearest PM @narendramodi ji is helping the world to overcome Covid19 pandemic. #ModiLeadingTheWorld  https://t.co/JqUFTtRiIh  Apurva Singh (StayHome StaySafe) (@iSinghApurva) April 8, 2020

Sickening that people are criticizing @narendramodi on his #coronavirus actions. He took early actions just like @realDonaldTrump but Fake News & Liberal Journalist want to attack & sell lies. News Media & Liberals HATE them both thats why they are doing this #ModiLeadingTheWorld  Renee Lynn (@Voice_For_India) April 9, 2020

Being leader of 130 crore people and taking responsibility for the well being of every family of our country can be expected and envisaged from no other leader in the world but from our beloved @narendramodi ji. You overwhelm us Prime Miniser!!#ModiLeadingTheWorld  Pratyush Kanth (@PratyushKanth) April 8, 2020

Brazil thanks India.

America thanks India.

Sri Lanka thanks India.

The world thanks India.

And the leadership it offers to the world



This is the New India created by a vision of our PM Shri @narendramodi



Arent we all proud to be an Indian? #ModiLeadingTheWorld  Shiv Sharma (@shivsharmaIND) April 9, 2020

This tweet of MR. Trump has made every indian proud again on @narendramodi ji and proved that my PM #ModiLeadingTheWorld



I just say one thing proudly and loudly again friends



We shouldn't have any fear,

When modiji is here. pic.twitter.com/5GbJK5TlSm  NishantS (@nishants79) April 8, 2020

Although, Trump had earlier warned India that the US may retaliate if it did not export the anti-malarial drug despite his personal request, saying he would be surprised in case of a negative outcome as New Delhi has good relations with Washington. PM Modi also acknowledged his tweet today morning mentioning that the two countries had to fight this together as COVID-19 is a threat to the entire planet.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever.



India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19.



We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

The outbreak of the deadly virus has so far infected over 3.6 lakh people and the death toll has reached over 10,000, and Trump sees HCQ as a viable therapeutic solution to COVID-19. The government is already taking extreme measures to prevent the virus from spreading. Everyone needs to continue practicing social distancing and adhere to the guidelines laid down by the government.
The state confirmed this week that the new coronavirus has spread to at least 34 senior care homes throughout Oregon and nearly 90 homes are under investigation for possible cases.

But the Oregon Department of Human Services still has not provided basic information that could alert the public about the extent of the exposure so families and others who need to know can protect residents and themselves.

The department has not revealed individual counts of residents and caregivers reported to be infected at each home despite multiple requests from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Agency officials have cited confidentiality concerns, but many private nursing homes release the information on their own. Without the disclosures, major outbreaks at homes such as Laurelhurst Village in Portland -- with at least 29 sick staff and residents -- would remain unknown.

Spokeswoman Elisa Williams said the department wants to make sure whatever data it releases is accurate and does not violate patient privacy. The agency does not get copies of the documentation showing a positive test result, Williams said, and the agency does not know if each facility is diligent in reporting each new case.

In the meantime, DHS is monitoring senior care homes that have rapidly increasing caseloads to determine their staffing and infection control supplies are adequate.

The newsroom contacted more than two dozen of the facilities directly to compile its own list last week that found 66 residents and 44 workers had tested positive for coronavirus at 29 nursing homes, assisted living centers or adult care homes.

The state decision to so far withhold the information flies in the face of U.S. Sen. Ron Wydens demand last week for similar information from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for all nursing homes in the country.

Even though health care workers are taking steps to safeguard nursing home residents, Wyden said, Timely information about how and where this virus is spreading is critical to successful mitigation of the viruss spread, direction of resources and access to support.

Wyden and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., gave the federal agency an April 16 deadline to provide a list of all nursing homes with at least one coronavirus case, the number of cases at each place and a list of people who have had access to the nursing homes.

Williams, the DHS spokeswoman, said that all facilities with one or more cases face equally strict policies to limit the spread of infection.

You should take a single instance of the disease as seriously as you would multiple cases, she said.

Criticism of Oregons lack of transparency may have gotten the states long-term care ombudsman, Fred Steele, in trouble. A state official cut off Steeles easy access to internal coronavirus figures after he shared them with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Steele no longer gets the twice-a-day updates.

Mike McCormick, interim director of the Department of Human Services branch that regulates senior care homes, referred to Steeles sharing of the data as a breach of trust.

We will not be sending any more at this point, McCormick wrote. My suggestion is to begin your own list or ask the Governors Office to reverse my decision. The Ombudsmans Office gave the newsroom McCormicks email in response to a public records request.

Williams said the department works closely with Steeles office and continues to share with him the executive orders it sends the facilities that have a positive or suspected case.

Steeles office oversees a network of volunteers who monitor senior care homes for quality of care. Steeles agency also answers questions from families and residents and fields some complaints about abuse and neglect at senior care homes.

While Steele said coronavirus case counts would help him direct his volunteers to facilities with bigger outbreaks, he endorsed the latest release Tuesday by the state.

It shows 12 senior care homes reported one or more employee infected with COVID-19, seven reported one or more infected residents and eight reported at least one infected resident and at least one infected employee. The numbers were current as of last Friday, and are scheduled for updates twice a week.

For one of the facilities, the state didnt know if it was a resident or employee who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The state noted that six of the facilities are adult foster homes. It would confirm only that a coronavirus case had reported detected at the homes but not whether it was a resident or employee.

Another 87 senior care homes await results of coronavirus tests, the department said.

The state has about 2,000 homes  700 of them nursing and assisted living centers  with about 45,000 residents.

A separate state agency, the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, has released more comprehensive information about a breakout of coronavirus at its veterans home in Lebanon  now up to 19, with 13 recoveries and three deaths. But the VA has declined to disclose how many of its caregivers have tested positive.

An example of the people who need to know the extent of coronavirus illnesses at senior care homes is Bruce McKee, a driver for Willamette Valley Transport. The company drives people from care homes to their medical appointments and back.

McKee has volunteered to handle patients who have COVID-19.

While the entire company is taking many extra precautions for all patients, it would make a big difference, he said, if he knew that a nursing home where he was going had a significant outbreak.

It would mean a more stringent disinfection of the van, for instance, he said.

I would consider anybody I got out of there to be a potential carrier, McKee said. I would assume that would help slow the spread.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Jan Hammer of Index Ventures speaks in Berlin in 2017. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

Index Ventures, an investment firm known for backing iZettle, Skype, Slack, and Revolut, said on Thursday that it had raised $2bn (1.6bn) across two funds to invest in ambitious entrepreneurs, even as the coronavirus pandemic roils the startup world.

Innovation is often born out of adversity, said Index partner Jan Hammer, noting that the firm remained committed to investing in ambitious entrepreneurs at this unprecedented time.

Index, considered one of the biggest names in venture capital, raised $800m for its tenth early stage fund to invest in fledgling startups. It raised $1.2bn for its fifth growth-stage fund, which will focus on later-stage companies.

The VC firm, which has joint headquarters in New York and London, did not disclose how much it had intended to raise.

Index said that it will focus on investments in companies that are transforming the way we live and work, as well as those working on enterprise infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

Read more: Bank of England to finance additional UK government spending during crisis

Indexs current investments span 24 countries and also include Deliveroo, Glossier, and Robinhood.

The firm noted that the launch of its new funds follows an especially active period during which nine of its portfolio companies  including payments giant Adyen and workplace messaging platform Slack  filed for initial public offerings (IPOs).

The path to building a great company is not a straight line, with many obstacles and forks along the way, said Hammer, reflecting optimism about the technology industrys future after a particularly brutal few weeks for investors.

Read more: UK economy shrank before full force of coronavirus crisis hit

Venture capital firms around the world have pulled back from investments in startups, citing volatile market conditions and plummeting valuations due to the pandemic.

The economic climate has been particularly tough for early stage startups, many of which have yet to generate revenue and have little runway to survive a severe downturn.

Index on Thursday thanked its own backers  the limited partners known as LPs  for their investments.

Many of them have been with us for two decades, and were especially thankful for their continued commitment in times like these, said Index partner Mike Volpi.
The IFJ joined its affiliate in Yemen, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS), in calling for the release of all 20 journalists currently imprisoned in Yemen.

Credit: MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP Members of the Yemeni Iran-backed Huthi rebels military police parade in the streets of the capital Sanaa on January 8, 2020 during the "martyrs' week.

The YJS last week condemned Sanaa authorities refusal to release journalists Salah Al-Qadi and Abd al-Hafiz al-Samadi, a decision in violation of two recent judicial decisions.

A reporter with Suhail TV, Salah Al-Qadi was kidnapped in August 2015 by the Houthi group. He has been illegally detained for four years and a half, tortured and denied family visits, according to local reports. A court decision to release him was made on 9 March.

Abd al-Hafiz al-Samadi was abducted in July 2019 from his home in Sanaa by Houthi militia in plainclothes. The Prosecution accused him of communicating with and publishing news in the interest of the enemy, an unsubstantiated accusation which the journalist denied. Having several underlying health issues, his condition significantly deteriorated in the beginning of the year prompting calls to release him amidst reports of physical and psychological torture. On 25 March the court decided to free him on bail for lack of evidence.

The journalists, however, were not released. The IFJ and the YJS say it is unconceivable that the Houthi group would not respect the decisions issued by its own judiciary and hold the authority responsible for the fate of the journalists.

On Monday 6 March the YJS issued its quarterly press freedom report in which it documents attacks against journalists and on media freedom in the country. The report lists the names of 20 journalists currently in jail, 16 abducted and detained by the Houthi group, three arrested by the government and one kidnapped by Al-Qaeda.

Detaining journalists whose only crime was to do their job is appalling, said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger. Refusing to release them despite clear court decisions and exposing them to mortal disease in prison would be criminal. I demand, on behalf of the IFJ, the immediate release of all journalists in jail.
The Ebonyi State Government has granted a partial restoration of religious activities in the state.

The government also relaxed the ban on burials by giving those in the state between April 9 and 20 to burial their dead loved ones.

The commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Uchenna Orji, disclosed this on Tuesday night, after the executive council meeting in Abakaliki.

He said worshippers are expected to attend their normal service only on Sunday for Christians and Friday for Muslims with effect from April 12, 2020.

The service is also expected to start from 8 a.m. and end by 12 noon. Every worshipper is expected to wear a face mask and observe social distancing.

With effect from Sunday 12th April, 2020, all religious worshippers shall be allowed to have their normal service every Sunday for Christians and Friday for Muslims, from 8am to 12 noon only, provided that:

Every worshipper must wear a face mask, including handkerchief or head tie.

The service centre must be provided with hand sanitisers and running water for washing of hands.

There shall be no religious gatherings other than on Sundays.

The state government warned that pastors or officiating ministers that fail to enforce these precautionary measures or violates these regulations will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with Ebonyi State Coronavirus and Other Dangerous (Infectious) Diseases and Related Matters Law No 06, 2020.

Churches are also encouraged to provide palliatives to their worshippers, the government said

Mr Orji said that before any burial takes place, the government should be notified through his office.

He, however, noted that only the family members of the deceased, who shall not not exceed the stipulated 20 persons, shall attend.

Burial of loved ones shall be allowed to hold between 9th April, and 20th April, 2020 provided that:

The State Government, through the office of the Honourable Commissioner for Information and State Orientation must be notified in writing.

Organisers must ensure the provision of hand sanitizers, face masks, and running water for washing of hands and other precautionary measures.

Government shall send representatives to such burials to ensure that the precautionary measures are complied with, he said.

Palliatives

The commissioner also disclosed that during the executive council meeting, palliatives to cushion the effect of the hardship occasioned by the scourge of coronavirus pandemic, were deliberated on.

He said the governor approved the release of N1 billion for the procurement of 400,000 bags of 5kg rice and other foodstuff, and the production of 400,000 face masks as a take-off palliative measure for vulnerable groups.

The Governor during the meeting also directed the immediate disbursement of the sum of Two Billion Naira (N2, 000,000,000.00) to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) facility for the empowerment of the youths and women in Entrepreneurship and vocational programmes, he added.

Outbreak

According to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Nigeria has 276 confirmed cases as at April 8.

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About 44 of the patients have been discharged while six deaths have been recorded.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) exporters will be impacted more by the current lockdown on account of COVID-19 pandemic as the sector accounts for over 45 per cent of the country's total outbound shipments, according to trade experts.

They said the magnitude of the impact on MSME exporters can be gauged from the statement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which has projected that global trade in goods is set to decline steeply between 13 per cent and 32 per cent in 2020 as countries across the world are battling the pandemic.

The sector also contributes about 25 per cent to the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from service activities and over 33 per cent to the manufacturing output of India.

Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the government should immediately come out with an incentive package for exporters as the current crisis will 'severely' hit the MSME sector.

"India will suffer very badly and the biggest impact will be on the MSME exporters. They will also face issues in calling back their workers as several of them have migrated to their villages and towns," he said.

He said several countries, including the US, Japan and Germany, have announced incentive packages, but India is yet to roll out support measures for exporters.

"Incentives will help exporters to resume the work immediately after things start getting normal, otherwise they will not be able to restore their global buyers," Dhar added.

Rakesh Mohan Joshi, professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), said the outbreak of COVID-19 has put economies across the world on a virtual standstill.

"India's major export items such as petrochemicals, gems and jewellery, automobiles and auto components, cotton yarns and textiles, apparels, marine products, bovine meat among others are likely to receive a jolt primarily due to slump in demand in its major markets and disruption of supply chains which are integrated across countries," he said.

When asked about numbers, he said estimating any drop seems unrealistic as it would largely depend upon the virus rather than government incentives "as to how long -- a quarter, six months, a year or still longer -- it takes to emerge out of the virus and the damage it inflicts on human health and lives".

However, he added that the pandemic has opened up enormous opportunities in sectors such as pharmaceuticals wherein India had been the largest supplier of generic medicines which are highly competitive in European and American markets.

Besides, Joshi said the coronavirus, that emanated from China, has transformed the outlook of multinationals manufacturing in China and they are actively scouting for alternative destinations for investment to either shift their manufacturing or make new investments.

"This is the time India should transform this calamity into an unprecedented opportunity to make India the manufacturing hub and realize its 'Make in India' objective in real sense," he added.

Assistant professor and expert on agriculture economics Chirala Shankar Rao said there is a need to give special focus to MSME exporters engaged in agri products as there is a surge in demand for food products in global markets due to coronavirus outbreak.

Sharing similar views, Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) Chairman Mohit Singla said more than 100 per cent spike has been registered in demand for essential commodities such as rice, wheat and pulses during the current crisis.

Global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the WTO said on Wednesday while warning that the numbers would be 'ugly'.

"World trade is expected to fall by between 13 per cent and 32 per cent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world," the WTO said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Facebook on Tuesday announced a US$100M commitment to offer cash grants and ad credits to help as many as 30,000 eligible small businesses in 30 countries where the company operates.

The program can help SMBs maintain their workforces, meet rent costs, connect with more customers, and cover operational costs.

In addition, Facebooks Journalism Project is partnering with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Local Media Association to offer $1 million in grants to local news organizations covering COVID-19 in the U.S. and Canada. That action will help to prop up local communities and keep relevant news and updates flowing.

Small businesses, the heartbeat of U.S. communities, are affected heavily by the health crisis, as more and more people sensibly stay home, noted Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. The longer the crisis persists, the greater becomes the risk to small businesses and the livelihoods of their owners and workers.

Weve listened to small businesses to understand how we can best help them. Weve heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them to keep the lights on and pay people who cant come to work, she said.

Start but No Finish

In light of Facebooks $71 billion in revenue last year, its announcement of financial help might be viewed as disingenuous.

This could be very helpful for SMBs. Sadly, It is not enough to save anyone teetering in bankruptcy, said Paul Bromen, CEO of Helpful Habitat.

A grant of $3,000 is not enough to make a difference. Facebooks announcement is more about Facebook wanting positive public relations, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Facebook has made a valuable commitment to the SMB community during this time of need remarked Chad Sterbenz, chief investment officer at Kiva. However, these grants will represent only a first step in recovery for a small portion of the small business community.

Almost all small businesses will need fast-acting and affordable sources of financing so they can pay their staff today and fund their operations until life returns to normal and the business is fully up and running again, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Few Details Available

Eligibility for funding is not yet clear. Facebook promised to provide more details about who is eligible and how to apply in the coming days.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Facebook created a dedicated website for the new program, but as of Thursday morning, the page has no definitive information. It says the company will have details soon and will begin taking applications in the coming weeks.

SMB owners can sign up to receive more information when it becomes available.

Solutions Beyond Cash

Facebook is planning a range of other options to help businesses survive the COVID-19 outbreak and related challenges, according to Sandberg. These include a new Business Resource Hub to provide support for all businesses affected. The hub will connect them to relevant tools and advice.

Facebook is working on a new virtual training program to support businesses operating in altered conditions because of the COVID-19 lockdowns. The company is mapping a new strategy on how it can host dedicated virtual training sessions with businesses all over the world.

Another program under development is a new set of Facebook Blueprint materials focusing on remote work and managing remote teams.Ad Credits HelpfulOne of the best things Facebook could do for small businesses is to give free ad credits, according to Calloway Cook, president of Illuminate Labs.

Profitability is way down for most non-essential goods during this economic downturn. People are understandably hesitant to spend their money, which makes the ROI on digital advertising drop significantly, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Facebook can offer ad credits for free. That would make a huge difference for small businesses like his, which otherwise will have to stop advertising on Facebook until economic pressures lift, said Calloway.

It does not cost Facebook anything to run ads on its platform outside of the negligible computational resources. So it very easily could allow small businesses to run ads for free or at a significantly reduced cost. That would be much more cost-effective on its end than issuing cash grants, he explained.

It is like if I had a personal website and you wanted to run a banner ad. It does not actually cost me anything to input that banner ad advertising your services. My profit margin is 100 percent, noted Calloway.

Positive Views

Facebook could provide other options to assist SMBs, suggested Helpful Habitats Bromen, who suggested three main approaches.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

First, Facebook could Improve struggling SMBs long-term business prospects by teaching them to use Facebook Ads. Many older business owners are afraid of using FB ads, he said.

They are actually quite simple, but to figure them out you need to be able to experiment, which costs money, Bromen noted. Facebook giving ad credits will allow a whole generation of business owners who have missed out learn social media advertising.

Second, small business owners can use cash grants to build their online presence now so they can come back strong once the coronavirus dies down. SMB owners who have this goal should focus on buying likes and connecting with influencers in their local communities now to get the word out when they are back in business, he recommended.

Third, SMB owners should use Facebooks fiancial grant money to experiment with online models. One thing Bromen has been recommending to all restaurants is that they try to sell the bulk items in their freezer while everyone is in stock-up mode.

The best way to do this is to use Facebook marketplace or Craigslist, he said.

Other Ways to Help

Accessing and growing the community that backs your business is crucial to every SMB, noted Kivas Sterbenz. Aside from financial relief and customer support, small business owners would benefit from the emotional support of people who believe in them, instilling confidence during a time of immense uncertainty and stress.

Toward that end, Kiva offers access to 0 percent no-fee loans funded by its companys users and partners. This opportunity will allow businesses to continue paying their staff and bills during the crunch, said Sterbenz.

Kiva loans are sourced from a community of supporters who believe in the value of small businesses, he said. The Kiva application is available now for U.S. small businesses to submit their applications today.
Mumbai accounts for 800 of the 1,297 coronavirus cases in Maharashtra with the maximum 184 patients found in G-South ward spread between Haji Ali and Worli, followed by E, D and K-West wards with 64, 53 and 46 cases, respectivey

Mumbai: Despite lockdown in Mumbai, the number of containment zones  where one or more coronavirus patients or suspected cases are found  increased from 146 last week to 381 on Thursday.

This shows a rapid rise in containment zones by 235 in just eight days.

Out of the total 1,297 COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, over 800 have been reported from Mumbai. The metropolis has also reported 45 deaths.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the number of containment zones in 24 administrative wards went up to 381 on Thursday from 146 till 31 March.

These containment zones include various buildings, housing societies, slum pockets and hospitals.

Till 31 March, the BMC had identified 146 containment zones and sealed those areas with the help of Mumbai Police, restricting entry and exit of people staying there, to contain the spread of the disease.

The maximum 184 COVID-19 patients have been found in G-South ward spread between Haji Ali and Worli, followed by E, D and K-West wards with 64, 53 and 46 cases, respectively, the civic body said.

It also demarcated some medical facilities  like Wockhardt Hospital at Mumbai Central, Jaslok Hospital on Pedder Road, and Bhatia Hospital on Charni Road - as containment zones after several nurses and paramedical staffers tested positive for coronavirus.

The various areas demarcated as containment zones include Worli's Koliwada, a fisherfolk village, and some pockets of Dharavi, which is one of the largest slums in Asia.

The BMC has said no person will be allowed to go out from the containment zone and no outsider will be permitted in, to check the spread of the deadly viral infection.

The civic body also said it will provide all the necessary items like food and vegetables to people inside the containment zones.
Austria Will Start to Reopen Next Week After Pandemic Lockdown

Austria announced plans toward reopening the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar to many nations, when authorities ordered a lockdown in the country on March 16, businesses designated as nonessential were forced to close and the general public was told to stay at home unless they were leaving for groceries, medicine, or health care.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurzs plan to loosen the lockdown has small businesses opening on April 14, larger businesses opening on May 1, and all other stores, including restaurants and hotels, opening in the middle of May.

Businesses are required to implement social distancing measures such as having only one customer per 20 square meters (about 215 square feet) and regularly disinfecting the store.

People were required last week to wear masks in grocery stores. Theyll need to don coverings such as masks or scarves while on public transport starting April 13 and in all stores starting the next day. Employers are being told to decide whether to require workers to wear masks.

Other measures will stay in place. Schools will remain closed until mid-May and no public events can be held until June. Austrians also were told to stay home for Easter. Travel within the country will still be severely curtailed and a health certificate might be required.

No vaccine or proven treatment exists for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. Researchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine, which is expected sometime next year. Others are focusing on testing existing drugs against COVID-19, which has symptoms similar to the flu and can be deadly in a small percentage of patients, particularly the elderly and infirm.

Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer arrive for a news conference as the spread of the CCP virus continues, in Vienna on April 6, 2020. (Helmut Fohringer/Pool via Reuters)

Blueprint?

Leaders around the world are grappling with how to ease harsh restrictions on work and movement and Kurzs plan could provide a blueprint, along with plans announced in Norway, Denmark, and the Czech Republic.

New infections have dropped dramatically in Austria in recent days, doubling every 16.5 days, spurring authorities to announce the plan for reopening, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said at the press conference. Random testing suggests about 1 percent of the Austrian population has contracted COVID-19.

Along with the opening up, authorities plan on rolling out or boosting containment measures. Random testing, forecasting, and antibody tests are three measures, along with isolating confirmed infections and testing people who came into contact with them.

Antibody tests can determine whether a person has had the CCP virus. A significant percentage of people who are infected show few or no symptoms, according to studies from multiple countries. American officials have pegged the number of asymptomatic cases as up to 25 percent.

The plan was a reversal of Kurzs comments late last month, when he warned that the country was a long way off easing the measures. He told reporters on April 6 that Austrias early action on the pandemic helped stave off more serious consequences and that Austria could be a pioneer in opening up with a goal of leaving the crisis faster than others, EURACTIV reported.

Measures imposed by the government, including the March 16 lockdown, saved tens of thousands of lives, Kurz asserted.

Austrias confirmed cases, meanwhile, climbed to 13,237 on April 9. The death toll from the virus rose to 295.

Another 5,240 people have recovered from the illness, Austrias Ministry of Health reported.

Supermarket employees distribute masks to customers in Vienna on April 1, 2020. (Ronald Zak/AP Photo)

Release Young People

One way to start opening up countries from lockdowns could include first releasing people between the ages of 20 and 30 who no longer live with their parents, British researchers said in a new paper (pdf).

Young people who still live with their parents or other older adults could contract the illness and pass it on even if they suffer few or no symptoms, while those who dont are free of such concerns.

Data from the United Kingdom government indicates such a plan could let 4.2 million young adults resume their daily lives, the University of Warwick researchers said. Of those, 2.6 million work in the private sector and are in danger of losing their jobs if the lockdown goes on for too long.

The rationale for lockdown is to save lives in the short to medium term. However, severe damage is being done to the economy, future incomes, unemployment rates, levels of national debt, and the freedoms we enjoy as a modern society. Before long, some balance will have to be struck, Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioral science at the university, said in a statement.

We support the existing lockdown strategy, but in the future it will be necessary to allow citizens to go back to some kind of normal life. Unless a vaccine is suddenly discovered, there are no risk-free or painless ways forward, added Nick Powdthavee, a professor of behavioral economics.

If the youth arent released soon, they could become restless enough to flout lockdown restrictions, researchers said.

U.S. policy advisors said in a recent report that phase one of their plan involved slowing the spread of the virus, while a state-by-state reopening could take place in phase two.

During this phase, schools and businesses can reopen, and much of normal life can begin to resume in a phased approach. However, some physical distancing measures and limitations on gatherings will still need to be in place to prevent transmission from accelerating again, they wrote.
WASHINGTON  As the number of COVID-19 cases among the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt surged, a senior military officer warned on Thursday that the outbreak on the carrier may eventually be seen on other naval ships.

The Navy said that 416 Theodore Roosevelt sailors have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Those sailors constitute almost 22 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the military, and almost 70 percent of those in the Navy, according to the latest figures released by the Pentagon.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten during his confirmation hearing to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, July 30, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

The outbreak has sidelined the carrier in Guam, captured the attention of the American public and cost two officials their jobs: Capt. Brett Crozier, the ships commanding officer, who was relieved by former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly for circulating too widely a memo to his chain of command expressing concern with how the Navy was responding to the outbreak; and Modly himself, who resigned Tuesday amid intense criticism of a speech he gave to the Theodore Roosevelt crew on Monday after flying 8,000 miles to Guam.

Its not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue, said Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Thursday press conference. Theres 5,000 sailors on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan.

Also known as the TR or the Big Stick, the Theodore Roosevelt is one of the Navys 11 aircraft carriers. Nuclear powered and each capable of carrying more than 75 aircraft, the carriers are the largest warships in the world and together constitute a key part of the United States ability to strike targets around the globe. There are usually fewer than five deployed at any time, so even though senior Navy and Pentagon officials have said the TR could still go to war if required, the pause in the carriers deployment has raised questions about the threat that COVID-19 poses to military readiness generally, and to the Navys carrier force in particular.

Story continues

Seabees coordinate transportation of sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who have tested negative for COVID-19. (U.S. Navy)

Hyten said the military is closely examining what he called an interesting set of data regarding the Theodore Roosevelt outbreak to glean information that could help prevent or mitigate future outbreaks that might threaten critical military capabilities. How do we quarantine a ship before it goes out? he said. How do we consolidate the ship so we can operate? How do we do that on a nuclear-powered carrier? On a nuclear-powered submarine? How do we do that with our bomber force?

The military needs to figure out how to protect the capabilities inherent across its force, including combat aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to Hyten. This will be a new way of doing business, he said. Were adjusting to that new world as we speak today.

At least one other Navy carrier preparing to get underway, the Nimitz in Bremerton, Wash., has reported COVID-19 cases among its crew. The Navy said Wednesday that two of the Nimitz crew had tested positive: one sailor whod contracted the virus while visiting his family on leave and who remained with his family out of state at the Navys direction, and another who had been immediately removed from the carrier and isolated after experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms, but whose test results were inconclusive.

On Thursday, Hyten said that there were a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz. Were watching that very closely before the Nimitz goes out, he added. But when asked directly, Cmdr. Ron Flanders, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Air Forces, which oversees carriers while they are in port, told Yahoo News that as of Thursday morning there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 physically on the ship.

The vice chairman said that almost all of the Theodore Roosevelts crew of about 4,800 sailors had been tested for COVID-19. (The Navy later said 97 percent of the crew had been tested.) Of those tested, 3,170 had tested negative, 416 had tested positive and 1,164 were awaiting their results, according to Hyten. The 416 positive cases included 229 sailors who displayed no symptoms, he said.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Shayne Johnson/U.S. Navy)

About 2,700 of the Big Sticks sailors have come off the ship, according to Hyten. Because of the ships cramped living quarters, the goal was to get them off that ship as fast as we can, he said. Those that have tested positive are placed in isolation on Naval Base Guam, those who are awaiting results are in quarantine on the base, while those who have tested negative are being placed in quarantine-like status in hotels on the island, according to Lt. j.g. Rachel McMarr, a spokesperson for the Navys Pacific Fleet.

Hyten praised Lourdes Aflague Leon Guerrero, the governor of Guam, for her cooperation as the military tried to find lodging for several thousand sailors on short notice (Guam has a total population of about 168,000). We were working that before the ship even got back to port, Hyten said.

But for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Theodore Roosevelt, a sailor who had tested positive required hospitalization Thursday. The sailor, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of Naval Hospital Guam, had tested positive on March 30 and was in a 14-day isolation period on Naval Base Guam, according to a Navy statement.

A medical team that checks on the sailors status regularly found the sailor unresponsive in his room Thursday morning, according to McMarr. We are hoping that that sailor recovers, Hyten said. Were praying for him and his family and his shipmates.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

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WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts arrived Thursday for their mission aboard the International Space Station, temporarily restoring the orbiting laboratory's population to six people.

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying Cassidy, along with Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, docked to the station's Poisk service module at 10:13 a.m. after a four-orbit, six-hour flight. Their Soyuz spacecraft launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (1:05 p.m. Kazakhstan time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The trio is scheduled to open the hatches between their spacecraft and the space station and be welcomed aboard by NASA flight engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos. NASA Television and the agency's website will provide live coverage of the hatch opening beginning at noon.

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will be part of the Expedition 62 crew for eight days. Cassidy, Morgan, and Meir will participate in a live media teleconference on NASA TV and the agency's website at 10:45 a.m. Friday, April 10.

Cassidy will become Expedition 63 commander upon the departure of Skripochka, Morgan and Meir, who will return to Earth on Friday, April 17, on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, which will land in Kazakhstan.

A change of command ceremony with all six crew members is planned for 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

It is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin and the first for Vagner, who are scheduled to return to Earth in October after a mission of more than six months during which they will conduct about 160 science investigations in fields such as, biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. Work on the unique microgravity laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies, making research breakthroughs that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The crew members of Expedition 63 are scheduled to be aboard the station to welcome the first commercial crew spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will arrive on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 flight test, currently targeted to launch in mid-to-late May.

For almost 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 239 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,800 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries.

Follow Cassidy on his space mission on Instagram.

Keep up with research conducting in the unique laboratory on the International Space Station, at:

http://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

http://www.twitter.com/ISS_Research

Get the latest space station crew news, images and features on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:12:21|Editor: huaxia

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BAMAKO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Malian ministry of Health and Social Affairs reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 in the country Thursday, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 74 cases.

In a press release, the Malian health ministry also announced six more patients testing negative after treatments.

The European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) announced Thursday the suspension of its activities after a staff member tested positive with COVID-19.

The EU mission assured it would continue to "apply all possible security measures" in accordance with the advices of the World Health Organization.

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared a state of health emergency in Mali on March 25 evening and instituted a curfew from March 26.

In his message to the Nation, President Keita also said that "Mali's land borders will be closed, except for freight and the transport of goods, in particular basic necessities".

So far, Mali has reported 74 cases of COVID-19, including 7 deaths and 22 cured patients.
Three persons were booked on Thursday in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand for allegedly hiding their travel histories from administration despite repeated warnings, police said.

People with history of travel abroad have been advised to remain under mandatory quarantine due to possible exposure to coronavirus, irrespective of whether they show any symptoms of the infection.

They were booked under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to murder) for hiding their travel histories to avoid coronavirus test and thus risking their own lives and those of others around them, Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said.

With this, the number of people booked for hiding their travel histories from the administration in Uttarakhand has risen to five, Kumar said.

Two others, both of them who are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event, were booked on April 7 under the same section for ignoring appeals by the administration to voluntarily report to authorities.

A tab is being kept with the help of drones on people secretly making their entry into the state from outside through forests, he said.

Sixty-nine cases were registered on Thursday and 257 people arrested for violating the COVID-19 lockdown. A total of 4,962 people accused in 1,155 cases of lockdown violation have been arrested in the state so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 09, 2020]

Enjoy The Magic Of Airbnb Experiences From The Comfort Of Your Home

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Airbnb today announces the launch of Online Experiences, a new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income during the COVID-19 crisis. With communities around the world staying home to protect their own health and the health of others, people can't pursue routine activities like going to work, exercising or pursuing a passion. Now, Online Experiences will change that by allowing hosts to earn an income in these uncertain times, and bring their transformative virtual Experience to millions of guests.

Airbnb Experiences offers an array of options like meditation with Buddhist monks , virtual visits with the dogs of Chernobyl , cooking with a Moroccan family , and more. With so many people sheltering in place, Online Experiences provides:

New activities for families to explore like learning the secrets of magic

Options for work colleagues who want to reconnect and bond with team activities like making coffee with a professional coffee taster

Features for groups looking to celebrate birthdays or get togethers privately and the option to request specific dates for Experiences like bartending with experts

Online Experiences unlocks unprecedented access to inspiring hosts from more than 30 different countries, including Olympic medalists Alistair Brownlee and Lauren Gibbs. Whether a HIIT workout , learning about nutrition with a Bobsledder or a virtual bike tour , guests can now connect with some of the most celebrated athletes in the world from the comforts of their own living room.

"Human connection is at the core of what we do," says Catherine Powell, Head of Airbnb Experiences. "With so many people needing to stay indoors to protect their health, we want to provide an opportunity for our hosts to connect with our global community of guests in the only way possible right now, online."

To help those who are most isolated, like older adults, Airbnb has partnered with local organizations around the world to curate Experiences for their communities to be able to learn a new skill while protecting their health. Airbnb will work alongside the following to offer Experiences free of charge:

SAGE, The world's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people

The world's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people National Council on Aging (NCOA ), a respected national leader and trusted partner in the US helping people aged 60+ meet the challenges of aging

), a respected national leader and trusted partner in the US helping people aged 60+ meet the challenges of aging Associazione Nazionale Alpini - Sezione di Milan , veterans of the most respected and trustworthy military corp in Italy

, veterans of the most respected and trustworthy military corp in Amigos de los Mayores , an organization combating unwanted loneliness and social isolation amongst the elderly in Spain







Michael Adams

SAGE CEO

Booking opens immediately with more than 50 virtual Airbnb Experiences available at airbnb.com/online-experiences , with thousands more coming online in the coming months. Online Experiences will be hosted on Zoom, and Airbnb is providing Hosts access to Zoom free of charge along with personalized support services for curating and sharing their Online Experience. For more information, if you are interested in hosting please visit airbnb.com/onlinehost .

Launched in 2016, Airbnb Experiences are unique, memorable activities designed and hosted by locals that go beyond typical tours or workshops. They provide deep insights and immersion into the hosts' passions and interests, and a different way to experience a destination.

With Airbnb's 'in-person' Experiences suspended through the end of April to protect the safety and wellbeing of hosts and guests, Airbnb is leveraging its technology platform to help its hosts continue to earn, while also allowing our guests to learn a new skill, safely connect with others, or pursue an interest.

Highlights of Online Experiences include:

Meditation with a Japanese Buddhist Monk (Osaka, Japan)

Secrets of Magic (London, United Kingdom)

Mystical Coffee and Fortune Reading (New York, New York)

Quarantinis, GINspiration at Home (Bath, United Kingdom)

Learn to Cook Mexican Salsas (Mexico City, Mexico)

Irish Dance Masterclass (Galway, Ireland)

Remote Rescue Goats (Catskills, New York)

Virtual Bike Tour with 2x Gold Medalist Triathlete - Alistair Brownlee (Yorkshire, United Kingdom)

Sonoma Ricotta Cheese Making and More (Sonoma, California)

Guided Meditation with Sleepy Sheep (Loch Lomond, United Kingdom)

Grandma's Pasta (Rome, Italy)

Coffee Lessons with National Judge (Mexico City, Mexico)

Family Baking Experience (San Francisco, California)

K-BEAUTY 101 with a TV Host (Seoul, South Korea)

Dogs of Chernobyl (Chernobyl, Ukraine)

Join a Rollerskating Dance Party (Brooklyn, New York)

Cooking Class with Moroccan Family (Marrakech, Morocco)

Make the Perfect Chinese Steamed Bun (Singapore)

Interior Design Workshop (San Francisco, California)

Sketch with a NYC Artist (New York, New York)

Swedish Pastries with a Professional Baker (Stockholm, Sweden)

Day in the Life of an Olympic Bobsledder (Los Angeles, California)

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enjoy-the-magic-of-airbnb-experiences-from-the-comfort-of-your-home-301037974.html

SOURCE Airbnb, Inc.
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- As COVID-19 testing becomes more widely available, it's vital that health care providers and public health officials understand its limits and the impact false results can have on efforts to curb the pandemic.

A special article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings calls attention to the risk posed by overreliance on COVID-19 testing to make clinical and public health decisions. The sensitivity of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and overall test performance characteristics have not been reported clearly or consistently in medical literature, the article says.

As a result, health care officials should expect a "less visible second wave of infection from people with false-negative test results," says Priya Sampathkumar, M.D., an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic and a study co-author.

"RT-PCR testing is most useful when it is positive," says Dr. Sampathkumar. "It is less useful in ruling out COVID-19. A negative test often does not mean the person does not have the disease, and test results need to be considered in the context of patient characteristics and exposure."

Even with test sensitivity values as high as 90%, the magnitude of risk from false test results will be substantial as the number of people tested grows. "In California, estimates say the rate of COVID-19 infection may exceed 50% by mid-May 2020," she says. "With a population of 40 million people, 2 million false-negative results would be expected in California with comprehensive testing. Even if only 1% of the population was tested, 20,000 false-negative results would be expected."

The authors also cite the effects on health care personnel. If the COVID-19 infection rate among the more than 4 million people providing direct patient care in the U.S. were 10% -- far below most predictions -- more than 40,000 false-negative results would be expected if every provider were tested.

This poses risks for the health care system at a critical time. "Currently, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for asymptomatic health care workers with negative testing could lead to their immediate return to work in routine clinical care, which risks spreading disease," says Colin West, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic physician and the study's first author. Victor Montori, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, also is a co-author.

While dealing with the enormity of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, it's important for public health officials to stick to principles of evidence-based reasoning regarding diagnostic test results and false-negatives. Four recommendations are outlined in the Mayo Clinic article:

Continued strict adherence to physical distancing, hand-washing, surface disinfection and other preventive measures, regardless of risk level, symptoms or COVID-19 test results. Universal masking of both health care workers and patients may be necessary.

Development of highly sensitive tests or combinations of tests is needed urgently to minimize the risk of false-negative results. Improved RT-PCR testing and serological assays -- blood tests that identify antibodies or proteins present when the body is responding to infections such as COVID-19 -- are needed.

Risk levels must be carefully assessed prior to testing, and negative test results should be viewed cautiously, especially for people in higher-risk groups and in areas where widespread COVID-19 infection has been confirmed.

Risk-stratified protocols to manage negative COVID-19 test results are needed, and they must evolve as more statistics become available.

"For truly low-risk individuals, negative test results may be sufficiently reassuring," says Dr. West. "For higher-risk individuals, even those without symptoms, the risk of false-negative test results requires additional measures to protect against the spread of disease, such as extended self-isolation."

At Mayo Clinic, RT-PCR testing is "one of many factors we take into account in deciding whether the patient meets criteria for COVID-19," Dr. Sampathkumar says. If the RT-PCR test is negative but chest X-ray or CT scan results are abnormal, or there has been close contact with a person who has confirmed COVID-19, the recommendation is to continue caring for the patient as if he or she has COVID-19.

"We need to continue to refine protocols for asymptomatic patients and exposed health care workers," says Dr. Sampathkumar.

###

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news and An Inside Look at Mayo Clinic for more information about Mayo. About Mayo Clinic Proceedings

Mayo Clinic Proceedings is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes original articles and reviews dealing with clinical and laboratory medicine, clinical research, basic science research, and clinical epidemiology. Mayo Clinic Proceedings is sponsored by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research as part of its commitment to physician education. It publishes submissions from authors worldwide. The journal has been published for more than 90 years and has a circulation of 127,000.
NEW DELHI: Amid the surging number of coronavirus cases across the state, Odisha on Thursday decided to extend the lockdown till April 30. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik issued an order extending the lockdown till April 30. With this, Odisha has become the first state in the country to extend the lockdown.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the Centre not to start train and air services till April 30. "Odisha cabinet decides for extension and also recommends to Union government to do the same," the state government said in a statement.

"Coronavirus is the biggest threat that the human race has faced in more than a century. Life will not be the same ever. All of us must understand this and face it boldly together. With our sacrifice and with the blessing of Lord Jagannath, this too shall pass," CM Naveen Patnaik said in the statement.

"Educational institutions will remain closed till June 17. The food security of people is of the utmost importance. Agriculture, animal husbandry, MGNREGS related activities to be facilitated following social distancing norms," the state government said. "As earlier, free movement of goods transport will be allowed," it said.

As of Thursday, Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases as well as a single fatality.

Meanwhile, India's total number of COVID-19 infections jumped to 5,734 which includes 5095 active cases of infections, 473 cured and 166 deaths, as per Heath Ministry data at 8 am on April 9.

The number of coronavirus COVID-19 infections saw a sharp rise on Wednesday (April 8, 2020) with 5,734 active cases, 473 recovered and 166 deaths, as per the data by Union Health Ministry at 8 am on Thursday (April 9).

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, at his meeting with other parliamentarians, hinted that the ongoing 21-day lockdown may be extended further and that a complete exit is not possible. PM Modi pointed out that the country was facing a "social emergency-like situation" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also cited serious economic challenges in containing the spread of the deadly virus, according to an official statement.

PM Modi asserted that his government's priority is to "save each and every life", adding "The present situation is an epoch changing event in mankind's history and we must evolve to counter its impact." The Prime Minister is scheduled to interact with all chief ministers on April 11.
Honor guards perform Taiwan national flag lowering ceremony at Liberty Square, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 1, 2020. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

Taiwan Condemns Groundless Accusations It Attacked WHO Chief

TAIPEITaiwans Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned groundless accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that racist slurs against him had come from the island, as Taipei escalated its feud with the United Nations body.

Taiwans lack of membership of the WHO, due to pressure from China which claims the island as its own, has infuriated the Taipei government during the coronavirus outbreak, which says it has been unable to get timely information and that Taiwanese lives have become political pawns. The WHO denies the criticisms.

On Wednesday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus rejected racist slurs against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan.

.@DrTedros of @WHO just accused #Taiwan for months-long racist attacks against him. He further claimed that @MOFA_Taiwan was well aware of such campaign and did not disassociate themselves from it. See video (starts at 27:30. Taiwan mentioned at 29:34)https://t.co/7lDsQp7qn1  Formosan Association (@FAPA_HQ) April 8, 2020

Taiwans Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemned and protested the groundless accusations which it labeled imaginary.

We are a mature and highly-accomplished advanced democratic country, and have absolutely not instigated our people to personally attack the WHOs Director General, and have absolutely not made any racist comments, it said.

Taiwan condemns any form of discrimination, and any attacks on the internet against the WHOs boss have nothing to do with Taiwans Foreign Ministry nor have been instigated by it, the ministry added.

But the government of #Taiwan has in no way condoned nor encouraged any personal attacks on @DrTedros. Its always believed in #HealthForAll & continues seeking full cooperation with the @WHO to share Taiwans response to #Coronavirus with the international community. 3/3   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) April 9, 2020

Tedros comments were irresponsible and he should clarify them and apologize to Taiwan, it said.

Taiwan has been proud of its early and so far effective measures against the coronavirus, logging just 379 cases and five deaths to date, far lower than many of its neighbors, even as it has been excluded from the WHO.

The WHO, in a rare statement about Taiwan last month, said it was closely following the development of the coronavirus there, is learning lessons from how they are fighting it, and detailing how the WHO has been working with Taiwanese health experts.

Taiwan says the WHO ignored its questions at the start of the coronavirus outbreak and has not shared with member states information Taiwan has provided on the coronavirus including details on its cases and prevention methods.

This is part of what it has long described as a pattern that puts it at risk because of Chinese pressure to exclude it from international bodies.
No positive coronavirus (Covid-19) case has surfaced in the eight northeastern states so far, Tripura Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar said on Monday referring to various government reports. Image Source: PK

Kolkata, April 10 : The superintendent of Howrah district Hospital and a senior health official of North Bengal Medical College hospital have tested positive for the coronavirus infection, sending the authorities scurrying to quarantine a large number of doctors, nurses and health workers who came in contact with them recently.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday that the Howrah district hospital superintendent and a health worker had been detected with the COVID-19 disease.

According to sources, on March 30 a woman had died at the hospital. Later, her coronavirus test results came positive. After her death, the nursing staff and other health workers staged a demonstration outside the room of the superintendent accusing him of not arranging any protective gear for them for treating the woman despite repeated requests.

The hospital was then closed for fumigation and all doctors, nurses and health workers who were involved in the woman's treatment were sent on quarantine as a precautionary measure.

On Tuesday, the superintendent became ill, and on Thursday his corona report came positive. He is now admitted in the isolation ward of M R Bangur Hosptial.

A health worker of the hospital has also been detected with covid-19.

Source said close to 200 people who came in contact with the two of them have been sent on home quarantine.

Meanwhile, the high official of the North Bengal Medical College Hospital also tested positive for the viral infection and was admitted to the isolation ward of the health facility.

The official, who had fever, cough and respiratory distress since Tuesday, is said to be stable.

A number of those who came in contact with him have been sent on quarantine.

Earlier, a nurse of the hospital also tested positive for the disease, On March 30, a corona positive woman from Kalimpong passed away at the hospital. The nurse was involved in her treatment.

A railway worker, adjudged positive for the viral disease, was also under treatment at the hospital till his death.

Meanwhile, two doctors of Howrah municipal Corporation have also been sent on home quarantine for coming in contact with a coronavirus positive patient. A primary health centre of the corporation has been shut for fumigation.
A sailor assigned to an aircraft carrier that has been sidelined in Guam due to the spread of the novel coronavirus was found unresponsive Thursday and is now in an intensive care unit.

The sailor is a member of the crew of the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which reported its first cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, on March 24. According to a Navy official, the sailor had been in isolation in Guam, where thousands of sailors have been moved off the ship and into hotel rooms and other facilities.

He or she had tested positive for the disease 10 days ago, NBC News first reported. There are now 416 COVID-19 cases among the crew, the Navy official said, a sharp increase from the 286 reported Wednesday.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed Thursday that one of the Roosevelt's crew members is being treated in ICU. The situation on that ship can't be seen as a "one-of-a-kind issue," he warned.

Related: More Than Half of the Navy's Coronavirus Cases Are on the Carrier Theodore Roosevelt

"To think it will never happen again is not a good way to plan," Hyten told reporters from the Pentagon. "But what we have to do is plan for operations in these COVID environments."

The situation onboard the Roosevelt led Thomas Modly, who was serving as acting Navy secretary, to resign this week. Modly had removed the carrier's commanding officer from his job last week after Capt. Brett Crozier sent a four-page letter pleading with the Navy to evacuate his ship as coronavirus cases spread among the crew; the letter was printed by a newspaper.

In his letter, Crozier warned that it was impossible to follow health guidelines for social distancing onboard the carrier, where space is tight and sailors share restrooms and dining facilities.

"Sailors do not need to die," he wrote. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset -- our Sailors."

Crozier's crew members applauded him for breaking protocol for their health and safety. Modly said Crozier's actions caused unnecessary panic on and off the ship.

Modly resigned Tuesday after flying to Guam to give a speech to the Roosevelt's crew. Media outlets, including Military.com, obtained recordings of that speech, in which he can be heard disparaging Crozier. Crozier himself has tested positive for COVID-19.

USA Today and The Washington Post reported that Modly's 35-hour round trip on a Gulfstream 550 cost taxpayers more than $243,000.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday issued a message to the force Wednesday addressing the recent leadership shake-ups and chaos following Crozier's letter and relief and Modly's resignation.

"Everyone must pull together," he said. "In this new environment of coronavirus, we're all learning, adapting and improving by the hour. There is no better example of this than USS Theodore Roosevelt -- staring down an invisible enemy -- dedicated in their efforts -- making phenomenal progress, and providing lessons for the Navy and beyond."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Modly's Final Message to the Fleet: 'I Lost Situational Awareness'
Peter J. Katzenstein , Cornell University, USA, has been named the 26th recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. He is awarded the prize for "furthering the understanding of how history, culture, and norms shape economies, as well as national and global security policy".

Katzenstein, born in Hamburg, Germany, has made pioneering contributions in research on the international system and international relations in which he has shown how national culture and history shape national perspectives on security and relations with other countries. By the 1980s, his work had laid the foundations of the field of political economy, in which relations between government, the market, and labor institutions are central. In his empirical research, Peter Katzenstein has specialized in Europe, especially Germany, Asia, especially Japan, and the United States. Katzenstein argues that, rather than moving towards greater congruence, the distinctiveness of national societies is being constantly reproduced, even in a globalized and digitalized world.

The prize ceremony will take place in Uppsala, Sweden, on 3 October 2020.

###

About the Johan Skytte Prize

In 1622, Johan Skytte, then Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, established the Johan Skytte chair in Eloquence and Government, which is probably the world's oldest active professorship in political science. The lands included in the original donation continue to finance research and the Johan Skytte Prize. The prize money of SEK 500,000 is awarded every year by the Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University to the person who has made the "most valuable contribution to political science".

Read more about the prize on the Skytte Foundation's website. http://www.skytteprize.com/
The Australian government has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing its top diplomatic envoy to Jakarta because of the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Gary Quinlan, has been evacuated over coronavirus fears.

Gary Quinlan, 69, has served as Ambassador to Indonesia for a little more than two years and has enjoyed a more than 40-year career in the diplomatic service, including stints as ambassador to Singapore and to the United Nations.

He will leave Jakarta on Saturday after being ordered home as a precautionary measure and will remain ambassador, working remotely.

The decision comes more than six weeks after the embassy imposed strict working from home measures to protect against the spread of the disease and began sending staff back to Australia.
HOUSTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys has recognized the exceptional performance of Texas personal injury attorney Stewart Guss as 2020 10 Best Personal Injury Attorneys for Client Satisfaction.

Top Texas Personal Injury Lawyer Stewart Guss

The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys is a third-party attorney rating organization that publishes an annual list of the Top 10 Personal Injury attorneys in each state. Attorneys who are selected to the "10 Best" list must pass AIOPIA's rigorous selection process, which is based on client and/or peer nominations, thorough research, and AIOPIA's independent evaluation. AIOPIA's annual list was created to be used as a resource for clients during the attorney selection process.

One of the most significant aspects of the selection process involves attorneys' relationships and reputation among his or her clients. As clients should be an attorney's top priority, AIOPIA places the utmost emphasis on selecting lawyers who have achieved significant success in the field of personal injury law without sacrificing the service and support they provide. Selection criteria, therefore, focuses on attorneys who demonstrate the highest standards of client satisfaction. The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys congratulates Stewart Guss on this achievement and is honored to have him as a 2020 AIOPIA member.

Contact Stewart Guss directly at 281-664-6500.

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For nearly 80 years, the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia maintained one of the strongest economic, diplomatic, and mutual defense relationships in the world. However, as our nation battles the global COVID-19 pandemic and a potentially disastrous economic recession, the Saudis deliberately turned their backs on their most important international ally.

On March 6, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued a directive to dump more than 10 million barrels of crude oil onto the world market in a destructive attempt to engage the Russian Federation in a global price war. This unprecedented action severely depressed the price of oil at a time when demand was already falling, and though it may have been aimed at Russia, Texas oil and gas producers are the ones feeling the pinch.

This week, Saudi leaders began taking initial steps to correct the flooded oil market, but their leadership is still urgently needed to broker additional production cuts and demonstrate a tangible commitment to their most important western ally.

Several months ago, Diamondback Energy CEO Travis Stice delivered an inspirational keynote address at the annual State of Oil and Gas luncheon in Midland wherein he discussed the importance of the Permian Basins production, not just for our local and state economies, but also for the U.S. economy as a whole. Today, the United States stands as the undisputed leader of global oil and gas production, generating more than 12.2 million barrels per day  40 percent of which comes from the Texas Permian Basin.

If Texas were its own country, we would actually be the worlds fourth largest producer of oil and gas. That remarkable level of production not only supplies revenue to our state universities and our states fiscally-responsible rainy day fund, it also provides an irreplaceable sense of stability to American foreign policy and the entire U.S. economy. Thats because oil and gas is more than a source of energyits a source of power, security, and influence on the world stage.

Abundant supplies of domestic oil during World War II enabled the U.S. military to stand on its own and deliver knockout blows in two separate theaters of engagement, saving millions from the tyranny of Germany and Japan. Just a few months ago, U.S. supply enabled President Trump to strike Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, one of the most evil terrorist masterminds on the planet. U.S energy capacity represents a unique instrument of power that must be protected in order to propel our economy and preserve our national security.

Since 1945, the United States has sacrificed immeasurable blood and treasure to serve as a stabilizing influence in the Middle East and no single country has benefited more from that sacrifice than Saudi Arabia. For decades, the U.S. has supplied the Saudi Government with billions of dollars in arms and equipment in support of its national defense. We have deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the region and worked tirelessly to deter Iran, the Kingdoms most dangerous enemy.

A quarter-century after watching the Gulf War on television, I found myself engaged in battle over those same skies, fighting against the de-stabilizing forces of ISIS, a violent extremist group that had the potential to severely damage the global energy market and threaten Saudi Arabias domestic and regional security. From deterring communism, to leading the Gulf War against Iraq, to combatting violent extremism, the U.S. has done more than our fair share to bring peace and stability to the region.

Thats why this ill-conceived price war deserves to be called out for what it is: a direct assault on U.S. oil and gas producers, the U.S. economy, and the American people.

The economic disruption caused by COVID-19 alone is immense but combined with Saudi Arabias war on domestic oil and gas production, the long-term effects could be devastating. According to economist Ray Perryman, the Permian Basin stands to lose more than 41,000 jobs and $7.5 billion in GDP unless something changes, and changes quickly. The effects will resonate throughout the state with pressure on local counties to make difficult funding decisions.

As the Republican nominee to represent the Permian Basin in Congress, I plan to work with the president to secure our domestic energy independence and ensure that our nation is no longer held hostage to the whims of other oil-producing nations. I urge the Trump Administration to continue to use any and all forms of leverage at our disposal to return Saudi production back to normal levels during this time of extreme crisis. The United States should be prepared to consider any and all diplomatic and economic options available to deter any future price manipulation of the global oil market.

True allies dont engage one another in this kind of unprovoked economic warfare. If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hopes to remain our ally in the future, now is the time to act like it.

Editor's Note: The nominee made significant edits to the article since it was originally published.

August Pfluger was elected as the GOP candidate in the March primary for Texas 11th Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Michael Conaway. He is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve and previously served as a combat aviator and national security advisor in the White House under President Donald Trump.
[April 09, 2020] Australian Company, A2K Technologies, leads the tech world in helping manage social and safe distancing.

BRISBANE, Australia, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- There is no doubt that the construction industry will have to adopt different management practices to not only manage the current requirements of social spacing but in the future for further breakouts or spikes in COVID-19. If people cannot continue to work on-site for construction, we are going to see a major effect on the economy and the unemployment rates. iTWOsafe is a solution designed to enable the safety of workers and for the employer to understand what breaches happen and why. Simply changing work processes, supplying PPE or training people can remove clashes, therefore, reducing the likelihood of spreading the virus. The other added benefit is that it suits factories, processing plants, retail and warehousing and many more industries. For more information visit www.clouda2k.com/itwosafe For media enquiries and for any further information please contact Paul Laycock at [email protected]



About A2K Technologies A2K Technologies fosters innovation through delivering software and hardware solutions, consulting, training, development and managed services.

Our highly knowledgeable and industry-experienced staff from the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Infrastructure and Manufacturing sectors enhances our customers organisational capabilities, to deliver on project outcomes and differentiate from the competition. With a great footprint throughout the ANZ region, A2K has strategic partnerships with many major software and hardware vendors including Autodesk, Microsoft, Adobe, HP, Bluebeam, Ultimaker, Symantec and Citrix. We have become a trusted technology advisor to our customers through the breadth and depth of our service offering and technical expertise, our commercial flexibility and high levels of customer service and understanding. Think technology. Think A2K. About RIB Group RIB Software SE is an innovator in building and construction industry. The company creates, develops and offers cutting-edge digital technologies for construction enterprises and projects across various industries worldwide. iTWO 4.0, RIB's flagship cloud-based platform, provides the world's first enterprise cloud technology based on 5D BIM with AI integration for construction companies, industrial companies, developers and project owners, etc. With over 50 years of experiences in construction industry. RIB Software SE focuses on IT and engineering and becomes the pioneer in construction innovation, exploring and bringing in new thinking, new working methods and new technologies to enhance construction productivity. RIB is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany and Hong Kong, China, and listed on the prime standard Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2011. With over 1,200 talents in more than 30 locations worldwide, RIB is targeting to transform the construction industry into the most advanced and digitalized industry in the 21st century. SOURCE A2K Technologies Pty Ltd

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The total number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra touched 1,364 on Thursday with the state reporting 229 new cases, health minister Rajesh Tope said.

Maharashtra, which has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country so far and the most number of deaths, reported 25 more deaths on Thursday, taking the death toll to 97.

In the morning, a health official had said that the number had risen to 1,297 with most of the new cases being detected in the capital city of Mumbai.

This is the highest increase in the number of cases recorded in a single day in the state so far. At the same time, 125 people have recovered and have been discharged from various hospitals in the state, a health ministry official said.

In a new development, the State Reserve Police Force will be deployed in containment zones in Mumbai for strict implementation of the lockdown, the health minister said.

Twenty-one hotspots of Covid-19 have been identified in Mumbai and curfew-like restrictions imposed in all these places to contain the fast-spreading infection, a Maharashtra minister said a day after Uttar Pradesh and Delhi adopted a similar approach.

The stringent restrictions will come into effect immediately and continue till further orders. No one will be allowed to venture out of their houses in these hotspots and essentials will be home-delivered, the state cabinet has decided. Only medicine shops will remain open.
Masks earmarked for New York were sent to a state collection center that will distribute to front-line workers, and Nevada masks are also being distributed through a state-run entity responsible for the distribution of incoming donations, along with supplies provided directly by the state and federal government.

"This pandemic has called on each of us to use every ability we have to help those most impacted by the crisis," Mr. Adelson said. "Getting personal protection equipment to our health-care professionals and first responders in Nevada and New York, the epicenter of this crisis, is critical to keeping those brave folks safe, while making sure they can do their jobs to aid our most vulnerable citizens. I am grateful we can leverage our resources to get these donations to the front lines, and we send them with the best wishes of our company and team members."

In total, Sands has donated more than 2.5 million pieces of personal protection equipment to Nevada, New York, California and Massachusetts. The company also donated 1,900 coronavirus test kits and is in the process of donating 20,000 protective suits to the state of Nevada.

Sands also has made financial contributions to several hunger-relief organizations and donated 60 pallets of food and more than 55,000 bottles of water to local organizations. The company is currently paying each of its nearly 10,000 Las Vegas Team Members, along with providing full health-care benefits, while its properties remain closed.

About Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS)

Las Vegas Sands is the world's pre-eminent developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts. We deliver unrivaled economic benefits to the communities in which we operate.

Sands created the meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition (MICE)-based Integrated Resort. Our industry-leading Integrated Resorts provide substantial contributions to our host communities including growth in leisure and business tourism, sustained job creation and ongoing financial opportunities for local small and medium-sized businesses.

Our properties include The Venetian Resort and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., we have developed the largest portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

Sands is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of serving people, planet and communities. We deliver a great working environment for 50,000 team members worldwide, drive social impact through the Sands Cares charitable giving and community engagement program and lead in environmental performance through the award-winning Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com.

Contacts:

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These are loans for the following projects: "Modernization of the social support system of Ukraine's population" (150 million dollars) and "Improvement of health care at the service of people" (135 million dollars)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has formed a delegation to negotiate with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and authorized Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Health Minister Maksym Stepanov to sign loan agreements for Ukraine. This is stated in the decrees 243/2020-rp and 244/2020-rp of April 8, published on the website of the Office of the President.

The delegation is supposed to participate in negotiations with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on concluding loan agreements for additional financing of the project "Modernization of the social support system of Ukraine's population" (150 million dollars), as well as the project "Improvement of health care at the service of people" (135 million dollars).

The President authorized the Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko to sign the agreement for the first project, the Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov - for the second one.

As we reported earlier, the European Union is expected to provide the assistance package to Ukraine in the sum of 80 million euros to facilitate the influence of crisis with coronavirus on the healthcare system, lives of people and economy.
Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) on Thursday announced a financial contribution of Rs 5 crore towards PM CARES Fund to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition to the aid, JSL has taken several steps like offering medical facilities, safety equipment, among others, to contain the spread of the virus, the company said in a statement.

"Jindal Stainless announces a contribution of Rs 5 crore towards PM-CARES Fund in support of the on-going efforts of the government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in India," it said.

The company had earlier pledged a sum of Rs 15 lakh to Haryana Chief Minister's Relief Fund, it said.

The company's 580-bedded multi super-specialty hospital Jindal Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS) at Hisar (Haryana) has dedicated 125 beds for isolation ward and two negative pressure isolation rooms for COVID-19 patients.

The facility is also producing and supplying industrial and medical oxygen to JIMS and Agroha Medical College for medical emergencies.

Apart from this, JSL is supporting over 500 families through food packets and food grain distribution in areas around its plants at Hisar and Jajpur (Odisha).

The company is also distributing ration and food supplies to migrants and daily wage workers in Delhi-NCR post the imposition of lockdown, it said.

JSL Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said, "In the midst of this global health crisis, we understand the need to support the government and put up joint efforts towards the goal of saving lives. The COVID-19 pandemic is by far the worst global crisis that has hit humanity at large.

"In these pressing times, we extend gratitude to the Indian government and the medical fraternity who are managing the crisis. From food requirements to medical and sanitation supplies, we will ensure all our support to the country in this hour of need," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three men were nabbed for



allegedly attacking policemen near the District Collector's Office in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city during the COVID-19 lockdown on Thursday, an official said.

The incident took place at around 11.45 am, when a team of policemen intercepted the motorcycle on which the three accused were travelling despite the curfew, an official with the City Chowk police station said.

The trio managed to escape, but later returned with some more people and picked a quarrel with the officials, he said.

A policeman sustained a injuries in the ensuing brawl, the official said, adding that the three accused were nabbed and a case is being registered against them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The global isopropyl alcohol market size is expected to grow by 521.75 thousand tons during 2020-2024. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per Technavio, the impact can be expected to be significant in the first quarter but gradually lessen in subsequent quarters with a limited impact on the full-year economic growth according to the latest market research report by Technavio.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005380/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Isopropyl Alcohol Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Request challenges and opportunities that influence COVID-19 pandemic Request a free sample report of isopropyl market.

Isopropyl alcohol is among one of the most widely used solvents owing to its superior solvency properties. In 2019, the solvents segment accounted for 48.17% of the total global consumption of isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol can be directly used in applications, including surface coatings, inks, pesticides and herbicides formulations, resins production, and disinfectants and cleaning products. Isopropyl alcohol is used in acrylic emulsions and resins to create various textures. It can also be used in formulating polyvinyl butyral (PVB), alkaloids, and oils. In addition, due to its low toxicity, less density, and low boiling point, isopropyl alcohol can be used to dilute essential oils. Isopropyl alcohol is also extensively used in hand sanitizers. In hand sanitizers used by hospitals, alcohol such as isopropanol and ethanol are combined with quaternary ammonium cations such as benzalkonium chloride. Such wide application of isopropyl alcohol is contributing to the growing consumption of isopropyl alcohol as a solvent, which in turn, is expected to impact the global isopropyl alcohol market positively during the forecast period.

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43205

In the pharmaceuticals sector, isopropyl alcohol is used to produce a wide range of products, including alcohol wipes, swabs, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, oral mouthwash, and various other products. Isopropyl alcohol is also used as an antiseptic before administering injections to kill the surface bacteria. The global outbreak of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is further stimulating the demand for hand sanitizers and other hygiene products, thereby driving the growth of the isopropyl alcohol market.

As per Technavio, the capacity expansions and installation of new plants will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.

Isopropyl Alcohol Market: Capacity Expansions and Installation of New Plants

The global isopropyl alcohol market has been witnessing expansions in production capacities over the past few years. The growing demand for isopropyl alcohol-based consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and household cleaning products has compelled the producers to expand their production capacities. For instance, in October 2018, Covestro announced its plans to invest USD 1.7 billion in a chemical plant in Texas. Similarly, DFPCL, a manufacturer of isopropyl alcohol in India, announced its plans to invest USD 66.89 million to expand the production capacity of isopropyl alcohol at its Taloja plant near Mumbai. With this expansion, the company will increase its isopropyl alcohol capacity by 0.1 million tons per annum. The installation of new production facilities and capacity expansions of the existing production facilities are expected to boost market growth during the forecast period.

"Factors such as the increasing demand from the cosmetics and personal care sector, and the rising demand for disinfectants and cleaners in the medical sector will have a major impact on the growth of the isopropyl alcohol market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio.

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Isopropyl Alcohol Market: Segmentation Analysis

This market research report segments the isopropyl alcohol market by application (solvents, chemical intermediates, pharmaceuticals, and others) and geographic landscape (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America).

The APAC region led the isopropyl alcohol market in 2019, followed by North America, Europe, South America, and MEA respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the rapidly growing in pharmaceutical and sector, food and beverages industry, cosmetics and personal care sector, and chemicals industry in the region.

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

Some of the key topics covered in the report include:

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario

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Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a speech on Thursday said the coronavirus situation should not cause distraction from "enemy plots".

"The [world] arrogance is an enemy of the principle of the Islamic Republic. What some people think  that they will not be hostile if we do not show hostility  is not a sound judgement," the Iranian Supreme Leader said in his speech.

"World arrogance" in Islamic Republic jargon is the United States and Western Europe.

In his annual speech on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the 12th Shiite Imam which was broadcast live, Khamenei also said the coronavirus pandemic was "a small problem" compared with the other misfortunes that Iran and the world have experienced before. Khamenei's previous speeches on this occasion were always delivered in the presence of a massive crowd.

"In the history of mankind there has rarely been an era when humanity needed a savior as much as today, whether consciously or subconsciously," he said. "Coronavirus has caused a pandemic and is a test for the whole world, both governments and nations," he added.

In his speech Khamenei also praised the country's healthcare workers as well as seminary students, Basij militia members and the armed forces for doing "all in their power" since late February when a coronavirus was officially acknowledged by Iranian authorities.

"Everyone should observe the guidelines of the National Committee for Combating coronavirus. Even religious gatherings are canceled in Iran, which is unprecedented in our history. But it's unavoidable," Khamenei said.

The Iranian religious establishment strongly protested to the closure of shrines and mosques in the earlier days of the outbreak. For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, the famous mosque of Jamkaran near Qom is closed to pilgrims this year. According to some Shiite sources Jamkaran is where the promised Imam manifested himself to a man more than a thousand years ago and ordered him to build the mosque.
Fr Richard Frechette, a 67-year-old American doctor and priest is performing both of these duties with all his heart as the poor, quarantined, nation of Haiti celebrates Holy Week.

By Francesca Merlo

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Over 6million people live below the poverty line and over 2.5 people live below the extreme poverty line. The coronavirus pandemic has led to economic downfall even in the richest of countries. Where does that leave one of the worlds poorest nations?

The fears

The news reaching Haiti from abroad is terrible, says Fr Rick. Speaking to Vatican Radios Marie Duhamel, he says that the focus is not on the fact that 80% of the people get better. The focus is on those who are ending up in hospital in critical conditions, the deaths and the solitary funerals, he says.

Fr Rick also expresses the fear people face of being targeted and of what might happen to you if you are sick noting that There has already been hostility towards centres offering a place to those affected by Covid-19, as well as towards people who have actually been sick.

The first confirmed case of Coronavirus in Haiti dates back to 19 March. Since then, 21 cases of Covid-19 have been officially confirmed throughout the country.

The Haitian reality

The Haitian government has applied similar measures to those that are being seen in other countries: borders are closed, the airport has been closed and a lot of businesses and factories are also closed. But the application of all these is very difficult in an economy that was already disastrous, says Fr Rick. In an economy which has such a high cost of living for people who have literally almost no income, quarantine is making life extremely difficult.

Just to give an example, my sister in the United States, sheltering in her place, is enjoying swordfish and salmon every night and playing scrabble. But for here, somebody having to shelter in a place with no chance to go on the streets and hustle to make enough money to live for today, means that tonight they are going to be sitting on their own, hungry with their children and worried about tomorrow.

Living in total panic, hand to mouth every day. Thats what makes the measures difficult to apply, he reiterates.

A hospital's help

Hospital activity has been reduced. Fr Rick explains that they have stopped bringing people together for lesser problems and have reduced their staff. A 40-bed unit has opened up and they have managed to equip it with some ventilators. Its not huge in face of the need, says Fr Rick, and there arent a lot of other hospitals stepping up. They do what they can, making the area very tightly controlled with whatever protective gear they can find in the midst of a global scarcity.

No mass for the children

The 600 children living in our childrens homes are all in quarantine, says Fr Rick. They cant come out and nobody goes in. Holy Week is difficult. In Haiti as in many other countries, all the churches are closed to public ceremonies. He says he will be not going to the childrens homes because as a priest and physician he is in direct contact with Covid-19 patients and there is no way he will break their quarantine to say Mass for them.

Enough to ask God for the strength

However, there are still some Masses taking place in the front of our chapel, says Fr Rick. There, it is nice and airy and everybody can be separated by 2-3 metres. Although very few people gather to hear the basic liturgies and to keep the tradition, it is enough, he says. It is enough to invoke from God the grace of these prayers and these sacraments in these high holy days. We need His protection, concludes Fr Rick, so we can find the internal strength that we all need, to face this pandemic.
A high-level meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 will be held at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

With an increase of 540 positive COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases rose to 5,734, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Out of the 5,734 cases, 5,095 are active COVID-19 cases and 472 patients have been recovered/discharged and one migrated. The death toll has also risen to 166 after 17 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALBANY  To deal with billions of dollars in revenue loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York is deferring pay raises for about 80,000 state workers for at least for 90 days.

State officials Thursday confirmed that the 2 percent raises negotiated for thousands of employees set for mid-April would be postponed and reevaluated in 90 days, a move criticized by state union leaders who say many of those workers are putting their lives at risk on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.

Its inexcusable to require our workers to literally face death to ensure the state keeps running and then turn around and deny those very workers their much-deserved raise in this time of crisis, said Mary E. Sullivan, president of the state Civil Service Employees Association.

Michael B. Powers, who heads the New York Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, also criticized the administration.

Todays news is yet another slap in the face to the brave men and women in law enforcement and those on the front lines of keeping order in our states prison system and our mental health facilities," Powers said. "Our members are working day and night and are subject to some of the most dangerous conditions in the state. With hundreds of our members testing positive for COVID-19 and hundreds more quarantined, the risks are real."

New Yorks fiscal leaders have estimated the state could lose up to $15 billion in annual revenue as a result of the pandemic, which has shuttered businesses and left millions out of work.

The postponement of raises is expected to save the state $50 million during the 90-day period and will impact about 80,000 employees, said Robert Mujica, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's budget director.

State Division of the Budget spokesman Freeman Klopott said the anticipated revenue loss and the lack of federal government assistance have left New York in financial uncertainty.

The New York state workforce is dedicated, hardworking, and puts the public first everyday  no more so than in the midst of the ongoing public health crisis," Klopott said. "Given this uncertainty, we are delaying pay raises for state workers scheduled to go into effect this month by 90 days, at which point we will reassess the status of state finances and whether they can be implemented.

Mujica asserted there is language in the labor contracts approved by the Legislature that allows the state to withhold the payments. Union leaders say the state has an obligation to honor the contract.

Its really disturbing to see the state not honor their commitments when our members are honoring their commitment to public service, CSEA communications director Mark Kotzin said.

The labor unions represent many workers who are in health care or working in facilities such as mental health centers and prisons where the virus has reached.

"People are failing to recognize the value of our state workers during this crisis and what they are going through to keep providing public services throughout the state," Sullivan said. "We literally have workers sleeping in their workplaces to make sure essential services are delivered around the clock. Theyre at the front lines keeping this epidemic from spreading further, caring for our most vulnerable and ill residents, helping people in our communities suffering from job losses, and keeping our state from wholesale economic and social collapse."

Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Plattsburgh, pledged to work with the Cuomo administration to ensure employees receive the negotiated raises and noted how many of the workers have been on the front lines battling the pandemic.

There is never a good time to stop pay raises, but especially now in this time, when we are depending on these employees, who have been working tirelessly and knowingly in harms way, Jones said in a statement. I will actively work to take steps to retroactively see these pay raises instituted and I call on the governor to give these workers the raise that they deserve.

Sullivan also called on New York's congressional delegation and the White House "to act now to help New York survive the economic crisis this pandemic caused and make sure we have the ability to continue the vital public services New Yorkers rely on."

Union leaders say they recognize the fiscal stress the state is under and have encouraged members to reach out to federal delegation to urge for financial assistance, but employees deserve the raises negotiated. The deferment does not impact step increases, officials said.

"We understand the economic realities and hardships the state faces," said Kotzin, the CSEA spokesman. "At the same time, we recognize that people are putting their lives on the line to keep the state functioning shouldnt be asked to sacrifice" promised wages as well.

E.J. McMahon, research director for the Empire Center for Public Policy, said freezing state employees wages can help avoid furloughs and layoffs.

The fiscally conservative think tank based in Albany had urged the state to do a wage freeze in mid-March as the economic picture for the Empire State continued to become more bleak.

Weve advocated for this for years in times of crises, McMahon said. If you dont give pay hikes, then you can save more jobs because they are going to have to cut payroll.

McMahon said the fiscal impact of the public health crisis to the state will be felt for years, and job cuts are likely. He noted the measure does not postpone any contract raises for public employees in local government, public authorities or school districts, which the center estimates could cost $1.5 billion.

The way (Cuomo) is doing it, moves him into uncharted territory and it seems pretty clear, whatever basis he thinks hes using here only applies to state workers, McMahon said. The bigger, broader issue is going to be local government and schools.

Budget officials said other avenues, including a freeze on new hires, are being considered to reduce costs.

Mujica said it's still unclear what New York's fiscal picture will look like in the coming weeks and months due to the pandemic's impact on the economy.

"We're trying to prioritize those resources right now to fund the health care crisis," Mujica said. "Between now and then, let's see if the federal government is going to step up and provide the state with more resources to deal with the revenue shortfall, and then we can deal with those commitments."






She split with her Rebels bikie boss ex, Shane Michael Smith, back in 2017.

And on Wednesday, Married At First Sight star Stacey Hampton opened up about their breakup.

Speaking in a YouTube clip, she explained that while the pair are on good terms and happily co-parent their two children together, she and her ex-fiance 'just weren't right for each other.'

'We just weren't right for each other': MAFS star Stacey Hampton revealed details of her split with her Rebels bikie boss ex, Shane Michael Smith (pictured) in a YouTube video on Wednesday

'Nothing happened to him, I live down the road from him,' Stacey began, after reading out questions sent in by MAFS fans.

'We're co-parenting at the moment, he's good, a good dad, he loves his boys. Very supportive.'

She added: 'Nothing happened to him, we just didn't work, I was very young when I met him.'

On good terms: 'Whoever ends up with him is very lucky. He's very giving, a very supportive partner, we just weren't right for each other,' Stacey said in a YouTube clip

Stacey went on to claim that his new partner will be 'very lucky' to have him.

'Whoever ends up with him is very lucky. He's very giving, a very supportive partner, we just weren't right for each other,' she said.

The former couple - who are both based in Adelaide - share two sons together, Kruz, two, and Kosta, four.

In February, Stacey publicly defended her ex, 37, and urged society not to judge him on his criminal past.

Family: The former couple - who are both based in Adelaide - share two sons together, Kruz, two, and Kosta, four

Speaking to WHO magazine, she said: 'He's honestly the greatest person and I think he's ashamed of his past.'

'I met him when I was really young, 19, through mutual friends and I wasn't aware of his lifestyle but I fell for him so quickly,' she continued.

'At the time, I didn't realise he actually had charges from ages ago that had come up - assault charges.'

Shane - who is the Rebels' Adelaide president - was convicted of bashing two nightclub bouncers back in 2017.

Stacey previously told Daily Mail Australia that she has 'no regrets' about their relationship.

'We met when I was very young, fell in love quickly and then tried to make it work for the kids,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It was a civil break-up. He's an amazing dad and I have no regrets.'
(@FahadShabbir)

The Estonian authorities are planning to test the entire country for the coronavirus disease, starting with people living in the worst-hit island of Saaremaa, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on Thursday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2020) The Estonian authorities are planning to test the entire country for the coronavirus disease, starting with people living in the worst-hit island of Saaremaa, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on Thursday.

"We, in the government, decided to organize mass testing for ... the virus. The first mass testing along with scientific research will be conducted in Saaremaa. Based on its results, mass testing will begin with studies across the country," Reinsalu wrote on Facebook.

Currently, people over 80 and patients with severe chronic diseases are prioritized for testing. Doctors, police officers, rescuers, social workers and those who show symptoms of the disease are also directed for examination.

Since January 31, more than 26,000 tests have been carried out in Estonia.

According to the nation's Health Ministry, the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 has reached 1,207, of which 37 percent  or 446 people  are on island of Saaremaa alone, whose population is 30,000.

On March 12, the Estonian government declared a state of emergency until May 1. All cultural and recreation sites, and educational institutions have been closed. The government has also temporarily suspended visits to social welfare institutions, hospitals and prisons.
More than 70 million people are preparing for a weather system that could bring 'very strong' wind gusts across Northeast states where emergency field hospitals have been set up in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, damaging wind gusts between 40-50mph may occur around midday along the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, DC, to New York City.

Meteorologist Janice Dean said on Fox & Friends that 'we could actually have power outages in big cities like New York City, Philadelphia and DC'.

That could pose a huge threat to the Big Apple where a field hospital full of tents has been set up in Central Park as confirmed cases of the coronavirus increased rapidly in the city.

More than 70 million people are preparing for a weather system that could bring 'very strong' wind gusts across Northeast states where emergency field hospitals (pictured in New York City) have been set up in response to the coronavirus pandemic

Thousands of utility customers in Pennsylvania were already without power Thursday, a day after severe thunderstorms spawned two small tornadoes. Those storms, which came through Wednesday morning, tore the roofs off of a church (pictured) in New Kensington

Weather forecasts showed severe thunderstorm watches from DC to New York on Thursday

Gusty thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of northern Virginia, DC, Pennsylvania and New York throughout the day on Thursday

New York City has become the epicenter for the virus in the US with more than 80,000 coronavirus case and more than 4,200 deaths.

Thousands of utility customers in Pennsylvania were already without power Thursday, a day after severe thunderstorms spawned two small tornadoes.

Those storms, which came through Wednesday morning, tore the roofs off of a church and a brewery in New Kensington and blew away a hangar at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

In states further north, a late season storm is bringing the possibility of snow  some of it heavy  to parts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

The storm will intensify Thursday afternoon, bringing rain along the coast and snow in western and northern Maine, said Derek Schroeter from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Gray.

As much as a foot or more of snow could fall on higher elevations of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Severe weather is also expected to hit Houston, Texas, on Thursday (depicted above)

Severe weather will continue through the weekend in the South, particularly in coronavirus hotspots like New Orleans

New Orleans will see some severe storms on Sunday through Sunday night as well as parts of Alabama and Mississippi

Tornadoes, hurricanes or virus? Pandemic means tough sheltering decisions While millions are practicing social distancing in their respective states, some will likely have to choose between sheltering in place against the coronavirus and sheltering at actual shelters from storms. April through June is peak tornado season in the US, which averaged about 1,250 tornadoes annually in the decade ending in 2010, according to statistics from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. The Plains, the Midwest and the Southeast are particularly vulnerable, with a six-state region including Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas most likely to get hit by strong twisters, the records show. Emergency planners, health officials and forecasters are generally advising people to take their chances with the virus when a tornado is headed their way. 'We should not let fear of the coronavirus blind us to the danger of an imminent tornado,' Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said in a statement. 'If you have to seek refuge in a community shelter, try to practice social distancing and other precautions as much as possible to minimize your risk.' The National Weather Service and the Alabama Department of Public Health put it more bluntly in a joint statement as severe weather approached last month while virus worries were growing. 'If a warning is issued for your area, you are more likely to be affected by the tornado than the virus,' it said. Tornado season eventually gives way to hurricane season, which begins June 1, and officials along the coast already are considering what to do should a tropical storm system draw near while the region is still under lockdown because of COVID-19. In Panama City, Florida, which was devastated by Hurricane Michael in October 2018, emergency services director Frankie Lumm said he plans to open more shelters than usual and have more rooms in each than he typically does, to allow for social distancing. But even that won't be simple: The area is still low on shelters because schools are still being rebuilt after Michael, he said, and providing staffing for additional shelters could be a challenge during a pandemic. 'The rock meets a hard place if I begin to have a hurricane while this is still in full mode,' Lumm said. Advertisement

'Once the storm begins, travel will be hazardous,' said Jennifer Harper, New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management director.

Meanwhile, the midcoast and eastern Maine will be lashed by winds gusting to upward of 50mph, Schroeter said.

Central Maine Power (CMP) is urging customers to be prepared for power outages. The company has about 80 CMP line crews, 85 contract crews and 100 tree crews ready to respond, officials said.

Another concern is coastal flooding, Schroeter said. The storm should be winding down by mid-morning on Friday, he said.

In the south, severe thunderstorms with very large hail and damaging wind gusts are expected from the Hill Country into south and southeast Texas this afternoon into early tonight.

Forecasters also warned of a severe weather outbreak with the possibility of strong, long-track tornadoes on Easter Sunday in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In the Midwest, severe storms with high winds, hail and possible tornadoes caused damage to dozens of homes and businesses in parts of Indiana and Arkansas, authorities said.

A few injuries were reported following Wednesday night's storms.

In the central Indiana community of Mooresville, about 15 miles southwest of Indianapolis, bricks were scattered along the town's main downtown thoroughfare and traffic was blocked by debris.

Police Officer Brock A. Chipman said the storm knocked the second story off a two-story vacant building, and one woman was slightly injured after power lines fell on her car.

Indiana's stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic likely kept people out of danger as the storms moved through, tearing roofs off some buildings and damaging downtown storefronts, said Division Chief John Robinson of the Mooresville Fire Department.

'We have some small restaurants downtown here and folks would be in those under normal circumstances. Luckily, because of the virus everyone was gone. Honestly, thats sort of a blessing,' Robinson said.

More than 100,000 utility customers in Indiana lost power following the storms across central and southern Indiana.

About 62,000 remained without power as of 7.30am Thursday, with Duke Energy reporting 47,000 lingering outages and Indianapolis Power & Light with more than 14,000.

The NWS in Indianapolis said it planned to work with emergency managers on Thursday to determine the need for any storm surveys.

Storm damage also was reported in the central Indiana community of Whiteland, as well as elsewhere in the state.

In the Arkansas town of Harrisburg, about 105 miles northeast of Little Rock, more than 30 homes were damaged in Poinsett County and two people were injured.

Officials were working to confirm whether a tornado caused the damage.

The area hit by the storms is about 20 miles south of Jonesboro, which was struck last month by an EF3 tornado.
Tom Brady and wife Gisele Bundchen donated funds to provide 750,000 meals to those in need in their new community of Tampa, Florida.

Feeding Tampa Bay announced the donation via Twitter on Tuesday.



"We welcome @TomBrady, @giseleofficial and their family to our community and thank them as they #StandwithFTB by providing 750,000 meals to support our children, families and seniors throughout the 10-county region that we serve," the organization wrote.
'Scientists around the world are focused on very quickly doing work to help us better understand what we are facing.'

'I am inspired by what scientists have found in such a short amount of time since the virus emerged.'

IMAGE: A doctor examines a policeman at a medical camp in the Sewri slums, south central Mumbai, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Photograph: Shashank Parade/PTI Photo

"It is irresponsible to make promises about timelines to a COVID-19 cure, but irresistible to speculate about them. So in the spirit of speculation rather than a promise, I believe that we will have much improved knowledge about effective therapeutics for COVID-19 infection within months, rather than years," says Dr Jayanta Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford University.

Dr Bhattacharya, a doctor, medical researcher and economist, has argued that the fatality rate projected by WHO may be too high.

'That estimate is deeply flawed. The true fatality rate is the portion of those infected who die, not the deaths from identified positive cases. The latter rate is misleading because of selection bias in testing,' Dr Bhattacharya, below, wrote in a much discussed column in The Wall Street Journal last week.

In recent days, Dr Bhattacharya has been involved in a project to find out how many people may actually have the virus without any symptoms.

"Our current understanding of the spread of disease comes from the number of patients identified with active viral infection. This misses the set of people who had the infection -- including mild forms of the disease -- but were never tested or identified," Dr Bhattacharya tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in an e-mail interview.

You have argued that the fatality rate projected by WHO of 2% to 4% may be too high. Could you explain to our readers the reason behind this view?

My basic argument is that the case fatality numbers reported by the WHO and other organisations have the denominator wrong.

Those calculations rely on a guess about how many cases of COVID-19 there are in the population per identified case, but this guess is not based on any reliable scientific studies.

My review of the available evidence suggests to me that the WHO's estimate of the number of COVID-19 is cases much too low, and their estimate of the infection fatality rate much too high.

We will know the answer very soon once we have final numbers from the population antibody seroprevalence studies.

Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Centre for Disease, Dynamics, Economics and Policy, warned in an interview mid-March that India would be dealing with a 'tsunami of infections' if the same mathematical models of the US and UK were applied to India.

There are 5,360 COVID-19 cases in India and 164 deaths so far (April 8, 2020).

India's count is roughly double of what it was four days ago and it is being said that this is a make or break week for India.

In your assessment, what kind of a trajectory is India on?

It is impossible to tell from the case reports alone how far along India is in the COVID-19 epidemic trajectory.

India needs population seroprevalence studies done immediately so that we can have a reliable answer to that question to guide policy.

Without such studies, all decisions are being made in the dark.

India is in the 17th day of a 21-day national lockdown and many state chief ministers have conveyed to the federal government the need to extend it further.

Without downplaying the COVID-19 crisis, is such a long lockdown counterproductive in the long term?

The lockdown of the sort implemented in India and around the world are certainly effective is slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the population.

At the same time, these lockdowns will have long lasting health and mortality costs that are less immediately visible than patients dying from COVID-19 infections, but no less real.

For India, I worry for the poor who cannot afford much time away from their work and livelihood without facing very severe deprivation.

The lockdown will have a catastrophic effect on the wealth of the world, and we know for a fact that a poorer world will be a home to less healthy, less long-lived people.

The cure in this case may be worse than the disease.

Could you briefly tell me about the antibody test that you and your colleagues have been busy with? How will this help in our understanding of the virus and its cure?

The goal of our work is to understand how widespread COVID-19 infection is in the population. To this end, my group is working on surveillance of specific anti-COVID-19 antibody prevalence in broad populations.

Our current understanding of the spread of disease comes from the number of patients identified with active viral infection.

This misses the set of people who had the infection -- including mild forms of the disease -- but were never tested or identified. (This is distinct from work to develop a test that can detect specific anti-COVID-19 antibodies).

This work is important because without accurately measuring the set of people who have been infected, we cannot know infection fatality rate nor how far along we are in the epidemic -- that is how close we are to the end of the epidemic.

What have been the some of the findings of these tests? Do they bear any encouraging news for a world anxious and fearful of the coronavirus?

This past week, we collected blood samples from about 3,000 people representative of the population of Santa Clara county, California, in the United States.

We are analysing these samples and soon we will know how many people have actually have had the infection, and what the risk of death from contracting COVID-19 actually is.

Our hypothesis is that there are many people who have had the infection per person identified, and hence the infection fatality rate is lower than the initial reports.

We are making plans to expand these sorts of population prevalence surveillance studies throughout the US as rapidly as we can. We will see soon if our hypothesis is correct.

Is there a silent COVID-19 infected population especially in a country like India where there is low testing?

Is there a possibility of large swathes of people, especially among the poor, being infected, not knowing that they have the virus and recovering from it?

Yes, this seems very likely to be true. India (and the rest of the world) should conduct population seroprevalence studies immediately.

Scientists and researchers around the world have been hard at work in the past few months battling COVID-19. What is the mood in the scientific world about this?

Scientists around the world are focused on very quickly doing work to help us better understand what we are facing.

I am inspired by what scientists have found in such a short amount of time since the virus emerged.

I am certain that there will be significant discoveries to come.

The scientific community is motivated to make these discoveries, including advances in treatment and safe vaccines to prevent COVID-19, as rapidly as possible.

What are the prominent countries and labs where work is going on to counter this virus?

I think this work is happening around the world. The scientific response has truly been global.

The discovery that solves the COVID-19 problem for the world could come from anywhere, and I am not in a position to speculate about exactly where the key ideas will arise.

Which brings me to the most vital question: How far do you think we are from finding a cure?

It is irresponsible to make promises about timelines to a cure, but irresistible to speculate about them.

So in the spirit of speculation rather than a promise, I believe that we will have much improved knowledge about effective therapeutics for COVID-19 infection within months, rather than years.

But my friends always accuse me of being overly optimistic, so please take that speculation for what it is worth.
One of the many benefits of our international work is the relationships weve built. Weve had first-hand insight into the remarkable work of local advocates, often in the most difficult of circumstances.

So while borders have been closed and travel restricted, weve been reaching out to these trusted international colleagues to get assessments of how animals are being impacted in their countries  and how we can help.

Its clear that COVID-19 has added another huge layer of challenges for animal protection and rescue groups. They are desperately trying to find ways to continue to provide for animals in their care while also helping animals impacted by the virus.

Determined to help these groups and support the dedicated animal advocates that have continued to work for animals despite the most challenging circumstances, we developed our rapid-response Emergency Grants program.

These Emergency Grants were introduced at a critical time  when income sources for animal rescue and protection groups had been significantly reduced, or stopped altogether.

The support of Animals Australia donors has been helping some of these brave and compassionate animal advocates in the following ways:

Assisting our veterinary team on the ground in Indonesia, who provided much-needed care to homeless animals and have worked with groups on the ground to run feeding programs to ensure that animals on the streets are fed.

our veterinary team on the ground in Indonesia, who provided much-needed care to homeless animals and have worked with groups on the ground to run feeding programs to ensure that animals on the streets are fed. Supporting working donkeys, horses and bulls in Indonesia and North Africa, to ensure that local projects have funding to continue to care for them at a time when their owners may be without income.

working donkeys, horses and bulls in Indonesia and North Africa, to ensure that local projects have funding to continue to care for them at a time when their owners may be without income. Helping ensure that the hundreds of elephants within riding camps in Thailand are being fed, and positive education programs encouraging more ethical models of tourism can continue.

ensure that the hundreds of elephants within riding camps in Thailand are being fed, and positive education programs encouraging more ethical models of tourism can continue. Contributing to help feed the millions of street animals who rely solely on the kindness of strangers for their meals, as groups on the ground ensure that they are still fed during lockdowns in Lebanon, Palestine and India.

to help feed the millions of street animals who rely solely on the kindness of strangers for their meals, as groups on the ground ensure that they are still fed during lockdowns in Lebanon, Palestine and India. Establishing an emergency fund for animal rescue groups in Australia affected by COVID-19.

Our Emergency Grants program has seen funds channeled directly to organisations across the world  in Indonesia (Villa Kitty, Horses of Gili, Gili Eco Trust, Jakarta Animal Aid Network, Bali Street Dog Support), India (Wildlife SOS, Help in Suffering, Animal Aid Unlimited, Friendicoes), Nepal (Voice of Animals Nepal), Philippines (Compassion and Responsibility for animals Philippines), Palestine (Palestinian Animal League), Australia (Animals Aid Abroad and a range of rescue organisations through our Pet Rescue grants), Cambodia (Save Elephant Foundation / Elephant Nature Park, Wildlife Alliance, Free the Bears), Lebanon (Animals Lebanon) , Uruguay (Animales Sin Hogar), Colombia (Fundacion Bioparque La Reserva, Fundacion Caridad Animal) Egypt (Egypt Equine Aid) and Tanzania (Tanzania Animal Welfare Society).

Despite the uncertainty and the fear associated with a global pandemic, the courage and compassion of brave and dedicated advocates across the world continues to ensure that animals are not forgotten. Thank you to all those who have helped us to ensure that their vital work for animals can continue during this time.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu believes Ghana will struggle to keep its economy in shape if the novel Coronavirus pandemic is not kicked out within the next four months.

He said it may take Ghana close to two years for its economy to bounce back if the situation persists beyond the four-month period.

Already, the government is paying the water bills of all Ghanaians for April, May and June, as part of efforts to lessen the hardships in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.

On the back of this, there have been numerous calls for the government to also reduce or scrap electricity tariffs for Ghanaians.

But in an interview with Citi News, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs indicated that all these actions are already having a toll on the country.

The President has since last week been talking about this, that he is considering whether or not the nation will have money. This matter has come before Cabinet. Cabinet is discussing it and Cabinet will make a decision. Of course, you have to look at the inflows. Don't forget that revenues have cascaded downwards, petroleum revenue, tax revenue too, and now there is a slowdown. God forbid, if this thing should continue for the next three to four months, the nation will be in big big trouble. Even with this, if were really going bounce back, [with] the repercussions on the economy, it will take us about two years to recover, he said. Electricity cost can be reduced if there is money

The Majority Leader also said that electricity tariffs could only be reduced or scrapped if the country has enough funds to cater for that request.

Speaking in a separate interview on Eyewitness News, Kyei Mensah Bonsu noted that these calls can only be possible if the countrys wallet has enough money.

It depends on the size of the wallet of the country and what could be practically achieved by government within this span of time. Water charges are going to be born for three months. We want to know what government is going to do in respect of this. Dont forget that for now, we are talking about Accra, Tema and Kumasi. If this thing should happen in Tamale and Wa, given the statistics that are coming out, government will necessarily have to extend the assistance to the citizens of Tamale and Wa. That thought should perish. But if it should happen, what is being done for Accra and Kumasi will have to be extended to them as well and we should look at the purse of the country in all this, he stated.

He however continued by saying that the topic is one of the many issues being discussed by the government.

Government is considering a whole gamut of matters that they could apply to alleviate the hardships on Ghanaians emanating from the lockdown. One of them includes the electricity tariffs that they are talking about. In all this, we must also know that when we come out of this experience, the nation should be positioned to have a rebound which is the best way for us, he noted.

He continued, As for somebody just saying that pay electricity bills for everybody, the government could decide to do that but what will be the repercussions on the economy? What will be the effects of the efforts of government to try to resuscitate and revive the economy once this pandemic ends? So I was saying that Cabinet is considering all things among which is electricity tariffs. As to how its going to be done, Im not in the position to say now but I know thats one of the matters thats come before Cabinet. IES opinion on electricity tariffs reduction

The Institute for Energy Security also says a reduction in electricity tariffs can only be considered by the government if there are enough funds to cushion the revenue shortfall.

Speaking to Citi News, the Executive Director of the Institute, Paa Kwesi Anamuah Sakyi said a thorough analysis of the request is important before a decision is made.

As such a time, you only seek for relief for your citizens. Given that we are getting money from the private sector as well as the Stabilization Fund, if it is enough, then we can consider reducing the price of electricity as well to ensure that the citizens have some form of relief. We need to have this money available to fill the gap, either than that, the power sector will suffer in future. So it is a good call but we should be mindful of how to fill the gap. For us at IES, the reliable consistent power supply is more key than to have a reduced price of a commodity and not making it available and so we should consider that in the equation, he said.

Calls for a reduction in cost of electricity

Apart from the Minority in Parliament, Former President John Dramani Mahama is also asking for subsidization of electricity tariffs amid the Coronavirus outbreak in Ghana.

Mr. Mahama in a statement suggested that a subsidy payment from the Stabilization Fund to the ECG and other generating companies can provide some temporary relief, however small, to consumers in this difficult period.

The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has also asked the President to consider a waiver on electricity bills as part of social interventions put in place to cushion Ghanaians against the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bengaluru, April 9 : Karnataka registered death of its sixth coronavirus patient even as total positive cases rose by 10 to 191, an official said on Thursday.

"Till date, 191 positive cases have been confirmed, including six who died and 28 discharged," said a health official.

The official details on the sixth victim will be shared in the evening, the official told IANS.

In two days, it is the second such death in the southern state. A 65-year-old man died on Tuesday, who hailed from Kalaburagi.

Between 5 pm on Wednesday and Thursday noon, 10 new cases surfaced, including eight contacts of earlier infected people.

Among the new positive case is a 50-year-old man from Belagavi, father of another patient who had tested positive earlier, a 55-year-old man from Mysuru, also father of another corona patient; a contact of earlier reported patient.

A 68-year-old man from the same place and a contact of corona patient is the 184th case.

A 32-year-old man from Mandya, who is a contact of the state's 78th corona patient, a fellow passenger of the Mysuru-based Jubilant Life Sciences pharmaceutical company employee is the 185th case.

A new case is of four-year-old boy from Bagalkot, son of corona patient. Similarly, a 13-year-old boy from the same place, relative of another positive patient.

A 9-year-old girl from the same place, another relative of a corona patient. Three children from the same family have thus been infected.

Other new cases include a 19-year-old woman from Bengaluru with travel history to Delhi, a 27-year-old man from state capital with similar travel history, and a 48-year-old woman from Chikkaballapura, a contact of two corona infected sisters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India will do everything possible to help humanitys fight against COVID-19, responding to US President Donald Trump thanking him for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

HCQ is deemed as a possible cure for the deadly coronavirus. We shall win this together, Modi said, responding to a tweet by President Trump.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer, he said, adding that the India-US partnership is stronger than ever.

India shall do everything possible to help humanitys fight against COVID-19, the prime minster said.

Earlier, in a tweet, President Trump had thanked India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ, saying it would not be forgotten.

Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight, he had said.

India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, agreed to lift the ban on the export of the medicine to the US after Trump spoke to Modi on phone last week.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Trump had requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is a major producer.

Trump described Modi as terrific for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US, saying Indias help in the extraordinary times will not be forgotten.

(With inputs from Agencies)
Susanna Reid insisted she did not have coronavirus during Thursday's Good Morning Britain, after sparking concerns with a persistent cough.

The presenter, 49, had to clear her throat several times during an interview with some of the nation's key workers, but explained that the cough simply stemmed from an apple she had earlier that morning.

It comes after her GMB co-host Piers Morgan also denied he was suffering from COVID-19 by responding to a concerned fan on Twitter.

I'm fine! Susanna Reid insisted she did not have coronavirus during Thursday's Good Morning Britain, after sparking concerns with a persistent cough

During the show, Susanna and Ben Shephard were chatting to key workers who were keeping the country running during the coronavirus lockdown.

But as Susanna introduced her guests she appeared to trip over her words and started to cough and splutter.

Apologising to viewers, she said: 'Sorry, I feel like I have to explain my rogue cough.'

Is she OK? The presenter had to clear her throat several times during an interview with some of the nation's key workers

All is well: Susanna clarified that she was clearing her throat as she'd eaten an apple earlier in the morning

Susanna then clarified she'd had an apple earlier that morning and some of it had been stuck in her throat, and she continued the rest of the show with ease.

On Tuesday Piers also sparked concerns when he coughed through the first 10 minutes of the show, but later took to Twitter to clarify the issue.

A fan tweeted: 'I'm watching you from Paris this morning. Are you feeling well, youve been coughing a bit this morning! Stay safe and keep yourself protected. Love GMB.'

Is he ok? It comes after Susanna's co-host Piers Morgan denied he was suffering from COVID-19 earlier this week as he coughed persistently at the start of the show

All is well! Piers responded to a fans' worries on Twitter, insisting he was fit and well

Piers then responded to comments by saying: 'All good thanks Elizabeth, just clearing my throat after a fairly sleepless night.'

Both Piers and Susanna have continued to host GMB during the coronavirus pandemic, and have been adhering to social distancing measures.

The country has been placed in lockdown during the pandemic, but the presenters have been classed as 'key workers' as they continue to provide key information about the outbreak.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
Health chiefs have been urged to be more transparent about how many coronavirus deaths have occurred in care homes across Northern Ireland.

The Commissioner for Older People, Eddie Lynch, was speaking after the Public Health Agency (PHA) revealed it has not recorded how many of the 78 deaths linked to the virus here have taken place within a care home setting.

Yesterday it was warned that up to 16,000 nursing home residents are at risk unless immediate coronavirus testing begins. Patricia McKeown from the Unison union said care homes could become "Petri dishes" for coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Robin Swann said there are cases of Covid-19 in 20 care homes across Northern Ireland. He said cases in care homes were being managed by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and PHA, but did not detail which homes were affected or how many residents.

Earlier this week a nursing home resident at Harold McCauley House in Omagh passed away after being diagnosed with the virus.

Six residents of Owen Mor Care Centre in Londonderry also tested positive for the virus last month. One of them later died.

The most recent figures show there are 484 care homes in Northern Ireland, with a total of 16,000 beds.

Last night the chair of Stormont's health committee called for dedicated teams to be set up to help identify and deal with Covid-19 clusters in care homes.

Asked how many deaths have occurred within care homes here, a PHA spokesperson said yesterday: "Currently this information is not collated in the current surveillance report, but as this is an emerging pandemic the systems used will constantly evolve and the complexity of the analysis will increase."

The PHA said the Covid-19 Daily Surveillance Bulletin records deaths reported by Health and Social Care Trusts.

The spokesperson added: "The deaths may have taken place in a hospital setting, or in the community or a care home, but must have been reported to PHA by the Health and Social Care Trust to be included in the report."

Mr Lynch said the Government needs to be "as transparent as possible" when it comes to reporting Covid-19 related deaths within care homes.

He added: "There is a lot of concern and worry out there but it's also important that even if people in care homes aren't being tested, if the likelihood is that they have sadly passed away through Covid-19 that needs to be recorded and reported on.

"We can't treat coronavirus victims in a care home any differently than those living at home. Their deaths are as big a blow to their families and friends as anyone else's. We need to be recording these cases as accurately as possible.

"It's important that all deaths are reported in terms of identifying where there might be outbreaks in homes so that all action possible is taken by the authorities to try and protect the remaining carers and residents.

"We have had confirmation from Minister Swann that 20 homes have confirmed cases but no record of how many deaths.

"The authorities do need to work on this and provide transparent information.

"I understand that they are under a lot of pressure but it's important that we get a true picture about what is happening - not just to report on those who have sadly lost their lives, but also to use that information to protect others within care home settings."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, who sits on Stormont's Health Committee, also called on the Health Minister to state how bad the situation really is within care homes.

He said: "The situation with Covid-19 and our care homes is deeply disturbing and there must be swift action taken to support those who are vulnerable and at risk. Not only do we need urgent testing, isolation and tracking to protect both care home residents and staff, but we desperately need personal protective equipment (PPE) to stop the spread in these facilities."

Mr Swann said extra protective equipment is arriving and there is no reason why homes should not have access to it.

Ms McKeown from Unison said they have the least PPE and the most exposure. She added: "The homes have the potential to become Petri dishes for the virus unless immediate testing, isolation and tracking commences."

Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew, who chairs the health committee, has written to the Health Minister asking that dedicated teams tackle potential Covid-19 clusters in care homes.

He said: "In the South they have established dedicated teams to help identify clusters and take action to carry out contact tracing and isolation to prevent the further spread.

"This is something we should be looking at here in the north in order to keep these vulnerable residents safe and to save lives."
Medical workers putting on equipment at the beginning of their shift at the emergency field hospital run by Samaritan's Purse and Mount Sinai Health System in Central Park in New York City on April 8, 2020. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 Drop Sharply in New York

New York saw a net increase of just 200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, officials announced April 9, as another day of figures suggests the state has reached its peak in the pandemic.

The hospitalization rate does suggest thats its coming down, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters in Albany.

Only 84 patients were admitted to intensive care units in the last 24 hours, the lowest number seen since the middle of March.

If New York has reached the peak of hospitalizations and new cases, the plateau is significantly lower than nearly every model predicted. One projection officials were aware of, from Columbia University, said New York City alone could need 136,000 hospital beds on the most serious day, while other models estimated as many as 110,000 beds would be required across the state.

Instead, New York has about 18,000 patients in hospital beds, and it saw the lowest daily increase of hospitalizations since March 18. The number of ventilators neededonce projected to be as high as 40,000has also reached nowhere near the upper estimate. Cuomos office has yet to answer queries about how many ventilators the state now needs.

New York did see 799 new deaths on April 8, the largest single day increase. Deaths are a lagging indicator, with many patients succumbing after spending weeks on ventilators.

Most patients who have died have been 70 or older. Many had at least one underlying health condition, including hypertension, diabetes, or cancer.

Chairs stacked on empty tables at a closed restaurant in New York City on March 16, 2020. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

Social Distancing, Tests

The drop in hospitalizations doesnt mean social distancing measures can be loosened, Cuomo said, warning of a possible second wave. The state has been on lockdown since last month, with increasingly harsh measures, including fines being raised for violating the governors executive order and playgrounds being shut down.

Businesses deemed nonessential were forced to close, and people are largely at home, with rare trips only for essential purposes such as getting groceries.

Antibody tests currently being developed, which will be able to detect past infections, will enable people who have already had the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, or who are immune, to return to work, the governor said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference on April 9 that some of the citys restrictions could be lifted in May.

I think its going to be a long, tough April.  May might be easier than what I originally feared it would be, he said at Gracie Mansion.

Still, the mayor also said loosening restrictions could lead to the virus spreading rapidly again.

New York is the most affected state in the nation. It has the most cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Officials waited weeks to implement measures, such as stay-at-home orders, and encouraged New Yorkers to attend a Chinese New Year celebration in March.
Dr. Oliver Massmann, general director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC

With a focus on remuneration payments to employees during this pandemic season, the following advice is provided based on current laws and, where relevant and available, government ad-hoc policy and guidance.

As ever, employers are of course free to implement policies that are more favourable than the statutory minimum. Also, this is an area subject to change, potentially very suddenly.

Once an employee is showing symptoms of illness or is feeling unwell and then stays at home, there are various options which should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Sick leave in Vietnam

If an employee is sick and obtains a valid medical certificate evidencing the same, the employer can file this medical certificate with social insurance (SI) and that will pay sick leave entitlements to the employee. Such entitlement is equal to the lower of 75 per cent of the employees regular salary or 75 per cent of the SI cap.

The SI will pay up to 30 days a year for those who have contributed to the SI fund for less than 15 years; 40 days per year for those who have contributed to the SI fund for more than 15 and less than 30 years; and 60 days annually for those who have contributed to the SI fund for more than 30 years.

In short, assuming the employer has contributed in full as required to the SI scheme, then such employer is not required by law to pay salaries for employees on sick leave.

Some employers voluntarily offer extra fully-paid sick leave to employees and, if such an arrangement is in place at your company, employees would be entitled to use up any additional paid sick leave entitlement before filing statutory SI claims.

Strictly speaking, the SI regime will only provide salary cover for employees with certified sickness. Thus, an employee who is isolated to be assessed as to whether they are sick or not would not be covered by the SI regime as it stands now. In such circumstances, it would be recommended that the employer seeks to reach an agreement with the employee to pause work on a reduced salary.

Under all circumstances, an affected employee would be entitled to apply to take their accrued paid annual leave entitlement first.

Childcare salaries

Regarding people who have to work from home with children while schools are closed, this reason for being home is not considered as sick leave or leave to take care of a sick child under the age of seven, both of which are permitted reasons for absence from work covered under Vietnams SI regime.

In addition, as addressed above, unproven sickness would also fall under this category.

Strictly speaking, unless the employee is able to work from home due to his/her job description and the employer was to agree with that, absence from work for this reason is considered either absence without permission or leave pursuant and subject to the employers specific leave regime.

As such, the options for salary payments would be the below, in order of priority:

Option 1: The employee applies for paid annual leave until they use up their accrued annual leave entitlement.

Option 2: The employee formally pauses work as a direct result of the pandemic and following negotiation and agreement with their employer on reduction of contractual salary during such period (Article 98.3 of the Labour Code 2012).

Option 3: The employee and their employer discuss and reach an agreement on unpaid leave (Article 116.3 of the Labour Code 2012). Agreement on this in principle, and length of any unpaid leave, is essentially at the discretion of the parties to agree.

Workers would be advised to research their rights as companies strategise their next moves, Photo: Le Toan

Employment arrangements

Pursuant to Official Letter No.1064 issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on March 25, employers are recommended to follow the lawful options below to arrange their employment.

Option 1: Temporary transfer. If the employer faces difficulties regarding the material supply and market, causing redundancy, the employer may temporarily transfer the employee to other work rather than the contractual agreement, according to Article 31 of the Labour Code.

The salary should remain the same for the first 30 days of temporary transfer; after that, the salary for the new position can be 85 per cent of the contractual salary. We further note that if the transfer is longer than 60 days per year, the employees consent would be required.

Option 2: Work pause. By this approach, the employer can maintain employment relationships but negotiate reduced salaries with affected employees (such amount not to be lower than the applicable regional minimum wage) for a specific period, pursuant to Article 98.3 of the Labour Code 2012.

Option 3: Temporary delay of labour contract implementation. If the work pause period under Option 2 lasts too long, which may affect the employers capability on salary payment, the employer and employee may agree to temporarily delay the implementation of the labour contract, according to Article 32 of the Labour Code. As far as our understanding, this is one kind of unpaid leave scheme where the employment is still maintained but the employee does neither work nor get paid.

Option 4: Employment termination. If an enterprise must scale down its production, causing employment redundancy, the employer may conduct the labour arrangement according to Article 38 of the Labour Code (unilaterally termination by employer) or Article 44 (redundancy retrenchment due to economic reasons).

Negotiating reduced salary

At present, there is no real difference in practice between a temporary closure made at the decision of the employer as a result of a pandemic and one ordered by a competent authority.

In both cases, the initial starting point is that it would need to continue to pay contractually agreed amounts.

However, as noted below, the employer should consider discussing with employees about receiving a reduced salary, not to be lower than the applicable regional minimum wage (with no work duties to be performed). If the alternative is the (lawful) right to unilaterally terminate employment or redundancy retrenchment under Option 4 above, this may be an attractive option for affected employees.

In other words, employees may be motivated to agree on the reduction because, if they do not, the employer would have legal grounds to unilaterally terminate employment or implement the labour usage plan on redundancy as a result of the pandemic.

Ad-hoc directives

The bottom line is that, despite the current laws, there might be a strong possibility that further ad-hoc regulation or policy may be issued by the government that will affect the current status quo in law.

Right to disclose employees COVID-19 status to other colleagues

Strictly speaking, this information is deemed by law to be confidential medical information of the employee, meaning that an employer is NOT permitted to disclose the fact of an employees sickness to others in the absence of the relevant employees express consent.

An employer could disclose generally that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19 without identifying the specific individual affected.

On the other hand, taking into account the wider public health imperative and the positive obligation of all infected individuals to isolate and identify individual contacts for checks, plus the positive obligation on employers to disclose the positive case (noting that failure to disclose the positive case of disease is strictly prohibited under Article 8.3 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) it can reasonably be concluded that, even without express consent, employers must provide other employees and the authorities with identifying information of affected employees that they have knowledge of in order to meet wider obligations.

In other words, this is one area where it seems likely that wider public health concerns and obligations trump individual personal privacy regulations. Having said that, employers are advised to proceed in a way so as to limit, to the extent possible, the scope of privacy breaches.

Right to require employees to work from home

Theoretically speaking, any change to an employees workplace as recorded in their labour contract must comply with the terms of the relevant contract or be subject to express prior consent of the employee concerned.

Despite this, in the current situation, we are of the view that employers are able to require employees to work from home regardless of the foregoing, should the employer determine that such change of location is necessary to protect health and/or to comply with orders or requests of competent authorities.

In doing so, the employer would be entitled to expect the employee to continue to discharge regular duties and working hours. Reality does, however, dictate that this may be difficult in practice for the employer to control and/or the employee to achieve. The employee would have a reasonable expectation of being provided necessary means to discharge duties (such as a computer).

It remains arguable what rights employees may have to insist on working from home where the employer reasonably considers it unnecessary for public health purposes and in the absence of any positive requirement from authorities to order work-from-home arrangements where possible.

Right to screen employee and visitor temperatures

The Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007 generally recognises enterprises rights to prepare and implement plans to prevent and control infectious diseases on a case-to-case basis.

In our view, this would provide a basis for employers to insist on temperature screening for employees and visitors entering the workplace. In fact, this is widely accepted practice by most, if not all, state authorities and state-owned enterprises in Vietnam and many private businesses as well.

It would, however, always be preferable to have an actual written policy that outlines the reason by reference to the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and procedures to implement including how to act in the case of temperatures considered to be high.

Right to report on employees abnormal symptoms

In principle, an employee is obliged to comply with their employers internal policies on labour safety and hygiene at the workplace. Specifically, one of these obligations is to report any potential risk where a dangerous and hazardous factor might appear at the workplace (Article 18 of the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene 2015).

Concurrently, employers are entitled to be aware of all health-related risks at the workplace and have a responsibility to keep employees and relevant authorities updated on the same (Article 23.4 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007).

Therefore, it is allowable for employers to report to competent authorities and/or to update its internal management personnel in case an employee has abnormal symptoms, including without limitation to the employees temperature.
Washington, DC  United States President Donald Trump, adopting the mantle of war-time president in his struggle to contain the coronavirus outbreak, has  wittingly or not  opened an entirely new front in that war, one that critics of the president believe could hamper the USs wider efforts to mitigate the pandemic.

Trumps deep distrust of the US intelligence community, stretching as far back as the 2016 campaign and through to his impeachment earlier this year, has led him to purge officials he views as disloyal and shut down the contacts with Congress of those that remain.

Even as the president attempts to deflect criticism about his early response to the outbreak, reports are surfacing that those same intelligence officials warned him and his administration about the potential for widespread economic and social disruption from the coronavirus.

This fiction that Trump has created about: We did everything perfectly and I knew it was a pandemic when I was saying it was no problem, is just ludicrous, said Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

President Trumps comments and competing leaks of intelligence reports coming out of the White House and Congress signal there is just a deep undercurrent of distrust, Roach told Al Jazeera.

As a practical matter, that distrust has resulted in a breakdown in the relationship between the intelligence agencies and oversight committees in Congress. Worse, there are increasing reports of a disconnect between the information and analysis intelligence agencies produced about the virus and what reached the presidents desk.

The politicisation of intelligence is sensitive within the professional ranks of agencies like the CIA, particularly following the skewed intelligence reporting that supported President George W Bushs decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Indeed, distortion of analysis and facts to fit presidential preferences is a problem that has plagued US intelligence agents since the 1950s.

This week, tensions between the current administration and Democrats in Congress, who are eager to pin blame on the president for the outbreak, spilled into the open when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff accused Richard Grenell, the acting Director of National Intelligence, in a four-page letter of political interference in the production and dissemination of intelligence.

Grenell, borrowing a tactic frequently used by his boss, did not address the substance of Schiffs complaint, but instead attacked the congressman for leaking the letter to a news outlet before he even received it.

These press leaks politicising the intelligence community must stop, Grenell tweeted.

His letter was sent to the press before it was sent to me. These press leaks politicizing the intelligence community must stop. https://t.co/hdWIzGWvZr  Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 7, 2020

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is a czar-like position created by Congress to remedy the intelligence failures that led to the September 11 attacks. It oversees all US espionage and intelligence agencies and funnels their reports directly to the president.

Trump named Grenell to replace the acting DNI Michael Maguire, a retired Navy admiral, whose acting role was set to expire at the end of the month. Maguire had been a short-term replacement for former DNI Dan Coats, a statesmanlike figure who had been forced out after feuding with Trump over Russia, North Korea and ISIL (ISIS).

Trump said at the time Coats was sacked that his next pick for the top intelligence post would rein in US spy agencies that had run amok.

Newcomer Grenells lack of intelligence experience and political connections to Trump raised alarms among Democrats in Congress and outside observers.

With Grenell in charge, Trump has forced out every Senate-confirmed official within the DNI office and recently removed two senior career intelligence officials who were seen as insufficiently loyal.

Now, US intelligence agencies are being harnessed to support Trumps narrative  namely that China is to blame for the global outbreak. A US intelligence community report provided to the White House but not Congress in late March concluded that China concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and under-reported its number of cases.

The still-secret White House document was first reported by Bloomberg which cited three unnamed US officials. Beijing responded by saying it had been open and transparent about the outbreak and accused the Trump administration of trying to shift blame from its own handling of the crisis.

While Grenells appointment is starting to bear fruit for Trump, a troubling timeline of intelligence community warnings about the deadly pathogen is starting to emerge through a series of leaks to US media. It suggests the Trump administration knew early on about the possibility of a pandemic. Worse, it appears Grenell did not tell Congress what US spy agencies knew until it was too late.

US intelligence officials began warning the Trump administration as early as late November and December that contagion was sweeping through Chinas Wuhan region, according to a report by ABC News on Wednesday.

The concerns were detailed by the US militarys National Center for Medical Intelligence, one of the agencies Trump placed under Grenells purview, according to ABCs sources. The NCMI on Wednesday denied the ABC report, issuing a statement that no such NCMI product exists.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday he first learned of the seriousness of the threat the coronavirus posed to the US shortly before he placed travel limits on Chinese nationals on January 31.

By February, however, when alarming public reports were coming out of China about the outbreak, Trump was still downplaying the threat and asserting his newly cemented control over the Office of the DNI by delaying warnings to Congress about the virus. An annual public presentation to Congress of the top security threats facing the US was cancelled.





The first clear warning to Congress did not come until February 25 and even then, only in a classified briefing to senators from the acting Secretary of Homeland Security.

Trumps disdain for the intelligence community was apparent in his decision on April 4 to fire the independent watchdog for the US intelligence agencies, Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the only official who could provide inside oversight of the DNIs function.

While the move was seen as payback for Atkinsons role in the Ukraine impeachment imbroglio  Atkinson took a fake report and gave it to Congress, Trump complained  it set off alarm bells in both the wider intelligence community and the halls of Congress.

A bipartisan group of eight senators warned Trump in a letter on Wednesday against the removal of Atkinson without clear substantial reasons and said the presidents action circumvented Congresss role.

Schiff was more blunt. At a time when our country is dealing with a national emergency and needs people in the Intelligence Community to speak truth to power, the presidents dead-of-night decision puts our country and national security at even greater risk, he said.
Fintech is white hot these days, with major acquisitions and funding rounds galore. Its also a relatively new space, with startups only really breaching the thicket of regulations that defines the modern banking and finance world in the past few years.

So it is fascinating to watch how Shamir Karkal, one of the original fintech entrepreneurs, is coming back for a second round in this still-nascent industry.

Karkal co-founded Portland-based Simple back in 2009, a company that was among the first of a wave of startups now generally known as neobanks. Karkal and his co-founder Josh Reich grew the online banking startup for a while before eventually selling the company to BBVA for $117 million in 2014. He then spent several years integrating Simples systems into BBVAs as well as building out the companys API products like BBVA Open Platform.

Karkal became frustrated though at handling the incredible bureaucracy that comes with working within a large, 150-year-old-plus banking institution, saying that you could integrate into the sandbox in a couple of weeks, [and] it would only take you a couple of years to get through risk compliance, legal, and everything else internal. So he finally headed back out on his own in late 2017 to explore where fintech was headed next.

He eventually connected with three co-founders, Angela Angelovska, Isaac Hines and Alex Lipton and began thinking about how to rebuild finance from the ground up, starting with the venerable but creaky payments system known as ACH. ACH continues to power much of U.S.-based financial payments, but it is slow  taking days to process  and is still built on ideas first fleshed out decades ago.

Together, their thinking eventually turned into Sila, which is a payments and banking API infrastructure company designed to eventually supplant ACH as the payments choice for companies who need to move money. Sila follows the ERC-20 token protocol and is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain.

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The startup announced today a $7.7 million seed funding round led by Hope Cochran of Madrona Venture Group and Rick Holt of Oregon Venture Fund, who will both be joining Silas board as part of the investment.

Silas key product is an API for identity verification, which empowers developers to identify their users and then use that info in the companys banking API, which allows users to debit their accounts and move funds from one account to another. On top of that foundational infrastructure, Silas Ethereum basis allows for automatic creation of smart contracts, which should allow for more rapid deployment of financial applications.

Karkal sees greater movement to online banking services, particularly given the outbreak of novel coronavirus underway across the world right now. I think this whole crisis, if anything, will accelerate that change, because people weren't really going into bank branches that much last year, and they're definitely not doing it now and I don't think they'll just start doing it again next year. Without the physical branch infrastructure in place, financial services have to solve for problems like individual and business identity verification.

Cochran of Madrona sees a huge opportunity for better payments solutions, given her former experience as a CFO of King Digital, the producer behind popular mobile game Candy Crush, and Clearwire, a telecom operator. Payments seems like it should be easy but it is not, she said. I think people who havent lived in payments think that they just happen [but] the amount of time it takes to move money always frustrated me as CFO.

In terms of customers, Sila is in production with several, and the team is focused on reliability and scalability. That was ultimately why the team decided to start with Ethereum as a base, rather than rolling their own solution. Speed is always a relative thing  you get transactions on Ethereum in like one or two minutes, which is not two seconds, but it's still way better than two days for an ACH transaction, Karkal said. Ultimately, he sees a future where customers can pick and choose whatever ledger technology they might wish to use.

One key aspect of Silas pricing model that might be attractive to certain customers is that the company has fixed, flat-rate pricing for all transactions. Its pricing  like many fintech startups these days  is a combination of SaaS subscriptions and fixed transaction fees, providing companies with better options around transaction volume than incumbent payment solutions.

The company intends to use the venture funds to focus on filling out more of its API offerings, as well as expanding its customer base. You cant underestimate how many businesses trip into needing payments, Cochran said.

In addition to Madrona and Oregon, Mucker Capital and 99 Tartans joined the round along with Transferwise co-founder and CEO Taavet Hinrikus and Jerry Neumann.
The Wisconsin Law Foundation is the charitable arm of the State Bar of Wisconsin, and through its mission has a rich history of promoting:

public understanding of the law,

improvement of the administration of justice, and

law-related public service through funding of innovative and creative programs that improve the vision of the American justice system.

WLF is a nonprofit, non-stock organization and is open to all State Bar of Wisconsin members. Founded by five visionary attorneys, it was incorporated in 1951 as the Wisconsin Bar Foundation, and through the charitable contributions of our members, has grown into the vital philanthropic law-related foundation it is today.
Congress assured America that its frenzied rush to deliver $2 trillion in coronavirus relief wouldn't lead to waste, fraud or abuse because they packed the sprawling law with powerful safeguards.

Yet, as the Trump administration begins pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into the economy, none of the built-in oversight mechanisms are even close to functional. And their absence will soon be glaringly obvious as the gusher of cash and extraordinary new power granted to the administration fuels massive logjams, headaches and fear across overburdened hospitals, overcrowded unemployment offices and many sectors of the ailing economy.

Congressional leaders have appointed just one of five members to a commission to serve as lawmakers' eyes on Trump administration decisions for a $500 billion fund for distressed industries. An inspector general nominated by President Donald Trump intended to provide a second check has already generated controversy among Democrats and is unlikely to see swift Senate confirmation. And a panel of federal watchdogs meant to be a third independent overseer was upended Tuesday when Trump sidelined its chairman, setting back the one mechanism that appeared on track to begin oversight.

Trump has also indicated he might ignore additional protections built into the law meant to keep Congress apprised of any concerns about mismanagement, issuing a signing statement that said it would be unconstitutional to require Executive Branch watchdogs to report any obstruction in their investigations, unless Trump himself approves.

Democratic lawmakers have pointed to Trump's actions as justification for their demands that the law include a series of powerful layers of oversight. Yet they haven't acknowledged that those mechanisms are not keeping pace with the rollout of the enormous law  even as members of both parties clamor to layer hundreds of billions of dollars more in emergency aid onto the original package.

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In addition, every pillar of the $2 trillion package  from its portal to steer $350 billion to struggling small businesses to its desperately needed relief for airlines  has already run into significant roadblocks and unintended consequences that would be tailored for independent review.

Here's a look at where the CARES Act has begun to unfurl  or unravel  without the investigators ready to enforce protections or catch flaws in implementation.

Hospitals in crisis

Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Department of Health and Human Services is slated to dole out $30 billion this week, with the bulk going to large hospitals that care for major shares of the country's Medicare patients  although details on this plan havent been released yet. An additional $70 billion is expected to flow in two additional tranches in the coming weeks.

But its not clear that the money is going to go where its needed most.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma said on Tuesday night that there would be no strings attached to the $30 billion in checks going out within days, raising the prospect that the funds might not all be used as envisioned. Federal officials have acknowledged that speed was the most important factor in delivering the first batch of money  an effort to shore up shaky hospital finances as they became overrun with coronavirus-stricken patients.

In addition, the rapidly shifting coronavirus hot spots around the country could complicate HHS' overall efforts to target funds for hospitals. California, for example, was once expected to be an area of dire need for supplies, but the state has since seen improvements in its outlook. The sprawling HHS bureaucracy might not be nimble enough to shift gears when the geographic epicenter of the outbreak shifts as well, and theres no one to hold them to account before the money gets disbursed.



Banks overwhelmed

Another key feature of the CARES Act is a $350 billion fund to shore up buckling small businesses with loans. Though the program was expected to be live already, it's unclear how much funding  if any  has gone out the door.

Yet, even without oversight of the program, and a growing crisis in its execution as businesses struggle to get loans from banks, Congress seems poised to send another $250 billion to the program in the coming days.

The challenge of implementing the small business loan program surfaced vividly last week, when the Small Business Administration delivered guidelines to banks just hours before they were due to turn on the spigot. As of Wednesday, banks said they still lacked critical information needed to close out loans and that SBA's loan authorization system continued to malfunction.

The flood of companies seeking assistance seems sure to compound the challenges facing banks, and the Treasury Department and SBA have done little to ease concerns that theyre getting on track.



Tax refunds and stimulus checks hit snags

The CARES Act included a provision meant to provide relief to companies by allowing them to get tax refunds by redoing their previous years taxes to include their current losses. There's one glaring problem: The companies are required to file for those refunds on paper and mail them in  and most IRS employees are working from home. There's virtually no one there to pick up the mail.

There's also plenty of other guidance pending from the IRS, a typical problem in typical times but one sure to slow the impact of the CARES Act as companies struggle to survive.

Meanwhile, the IRS is still figuring out how to quickly parcel out the cash payments the new law promised to individuals and families across the country. The agency intends to deliver as many as possible via direct deposit, which would expedite those payments. But for many low-income Americans who don't file tax returns, the IRS would likely not have direct deposit info. So the agency is setting up a website to collect banking information in order to more quickly process the checks, but theres no timeline on when that will be up and running.



Airline relief still stalled

Planes are parked at Pinal Airpark on Wednesday in Red Rock, Ariz., as many passenger planes are being kept at the facility as airlines cut back on service due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act included $29 billion in an immediate infusion for passenger and cargo airlines, funding meant to quickly shore up the industry's cratering finances by paying workers' salaries and preventing layoffs. But even though the money was due to begin flowing earlier this week, it hasn't happened yet, and airlines are still in talks with the Trump administration over the terms.

Treasury released guidance for applying for the grants and loans last week, with the initial application deadline for grants last Friday. Airlines that missed that deadline won't get their applications considered as quickly. And perhaps most urgently, unions are concerned that some airlines could refuse the grants if the U.S. government insists on taking a stake in the airline as part of the tradeoff.

The law also includes another $29 billion in loans for airlines, part of the Treasury's $500 billion economic rescue fund. There's no deadline or timeframe for those funds to begin flowing, but there's no indication that any have moved yet. As of Monday, Treasury wasn't accepting applications for the loans.

So at a critical moment for the airline industry, the rescue law has done little in the way of providing relief.



No education funds flowing yet

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pauses as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a hearing of the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the fiscal year 2021 budget. The federal government has decided to delay changing the way it determines funding for rural education after a bipartisan group of lawmakers said the move would hurt hundreds of schools. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The law included $31 billion in emergency education assistance, much of it earmarked for states, K-12 schools, universities and direct aid for college students. But so far, there's been no funding distributed by the Education Department and there's been no guidance about how or when that money might arrive.

Higher education groups and state officials have been urging the Trump administration to move more quickly to immediately disburse the funding amid unprecedented school and college closures across the country. Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Jay Inslee of Washington over the weekend wrote a letter on behalf of governors, urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to provide the funding within the next two weeks. But DeVos hasnt given any indication shes on board, meaning the relief money is still just sitting there.

Meanwhile, there's also a push among some Senate Democrats to exclude for-profit colleges from eligibility  or to impose stringent restrictions on how those companies can use the money  but a whole new layer of such oversight seems unlikely to be accepted by Republicans.



Broadband concerns

The FCC appears to be one of the few agencies moving quickly  adopting an order last month to tap $200 million in CARES Act funding for a "Covid-19 Telehealth Program," an effort to speed grants to health care providers to expand telehealth capabilities. At the same time, the FCC is skipping its normal competitive bidding requirements to ensure the money gets to where its needed speedily  a decision that could mean a worse deal for taxpayers.

Meanwhile, there are plans for a separate pot of $100 million in broadband funding flowing through the Department of Agriculture to help build out internet infrastructure in rural areas, plus another $25 million for USDA's Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Broadband program. But this infusion has already stirred some concerns about exacerbating already existing problems with duplication and waste.

A Republican FCC commissioner has repeatedly raised concerns about the departments effort, worrying that the program has the potential to undermine and wastefully duplicate other broadband efforts, some of which may already receive financial help from the FCC.

Susannah Luthi, Brian Faler, Brianna Gurciullo, John Hendel, Michael Stratford and Zach Warmbrodt contributed to this report.


New Delhi, April 10 : The government on Thursday slammed China at the United Nations for raking up India's internal matters and its failure to recognize Pakistan's cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

A spokesman for the Chinese mission to the UN had earlier said that the "question of Kashmir remains high on the Security Council's agenda".

Beijing's position on Indian Kashmir remains unchanged, he said adding that it is a "dispute left from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the charter of the United Nations, Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation".

On China's part, the spokesman said Ambassador Zhang as the Security Council president, had raised the issue at Pakistan's behest in March.

In response to queries, the ministry of external affairs, Anurag Srivastava said that India rejects the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations.

"China is well aware of India's consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J&K are internal matter to India," he said.

The spokesperson said that the government's expectation is that other countries, including "China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also expect China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affect the lives of the people of India, including in J&K".
CHEYENNE  A lot has changed since Gov. Mark Gordon announced earlier this year that the state was exploring a deal to buy roughly a million acres of land in southern Wyoming from Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Yet while the coronavirus has brought rapid changes to daily life in Wyoming  and put its main revenue streams in jeopardy  state leaders are still seriously considering the potential land purchase, which would also include about four million acres of mineral rights.

Discussions of the deal were forced to take a back seat for a while in the initial weeks of the coron...
Airlines are seeking to change the rules of a global system thats set to limit their pollution starting next year.

The adjustment would make 2019 the only baseline year against which the airlines carbon emissions are measured, an adjustment the industry says is necessary to reflect the grounding of many flights during the coronavirus pandemic this year. Currently, baseline emissions are set to be measured over 2019 and 2020.

By including this year in the baseline, airlines would need to buy extra emission credits to cover their greenhouse gas output starting in 2021.

Industry group the International Air Transport Association has requested a rule change to limit costs of the program. It said that 2019 emissions alone should form the baseline, easing the impact of the program on the industry.

Yet that could completely wipe out the need to buy any offset credits in the planned market if airline emissions remain below 2019 levels through 2023, said Louis Redshaw, founder of Redshaw Advisors Ltd. in London, a carbon trading outfit.

That would hit a small trickle of investments into renewables. Developers of emissions-cutting projects like wind and solar farms had planned to make facilities that generate carbon credits that they could sell to the airlines to cover compliance in the system. Without demand for those credits, the market wont generate funds for projects or put pressure on airlines to rein in the greenhouse gases they produce.

There would be no demand, said Redshaw. It puts business plans at risk in the offsetting market.

One program deemed eligible for the market is the Clean Development Mechanism, where demand is already scarce and prices are near zero. That was an early form of a global carbon market that came out of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, a predecessor to the 2015 Paris Agreement. CDM credits fell out of favour in the last decade after the European Union limited those securities for compliance in its own cap-and-trade system.

Yet prices of these credits, only a portion of which will probably be suitable for the airline program, have picked up slightly this year.

The planned airline emissions market is known as Corsia, or the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. It has attracted countries hosting three quarters of the worlds flights.

IATA said the baseline rule change is needed to relieve financial pressure on the airlines at a time its been strained like never before. Without a change, many nations may decide not to participate in whats a voluntary system.

Because of the pandemic, airlines will cancel more than two million flights through June and face a revenue plunge for 2020 of 44 per cent, or $252 billion (U.S.), IATA estimates.

It is very clear that 2020 is a completely abnormal situation and that the impact of COVID-19 on the worlds aviation sector is unprecedented in its severity, said Andrew Stevens, environment spokesperson at IATA, in an emailed reply to questions.

The International Civil Aviation Organization said it would consider the baseline question at a meeting of its governing council in June.

Should IATA win the argument, then Corsia might be deemed so weak the European Union could seek to bring international flights into alternative carbon pricing systems, such as fuel taxes, said Redshaw, who has traded carbon for almost two decades. The EU carbon market currently covers only flights within the bloc.

The European Commission is likely to seek to contain airline emissions in another way, Redshaw said.

Should existing rules remain, demand in 2021 alone could be for about 150 million tons, he said. That would cost airlines $750 million at five dollars a ton.

Specific carbon offset prices have already increased, since ICAO published eligible programs last month, according to Viridios Capital Pty Ltd.

The price of a 2016-2020 vintage voluntary carbon unit, known as a VCU, has jumped to $1.10 a ton from about $0.70 in early March, Eddie Listorti, chief executive of Viridios, a carbon trading company and emissions-cutting project developer in Sydney, said in an interview.

Prices gapped higher, he said. And this is while airlines are grounded.

If demand isnt wiped out, some credits could triple in value, or even jump more than 10 times, based on EU carbon market values above 21 euros a ton, Listorti said. Other industries such as technology, palm oil, utilities and oil companies are also boosting demand for offsets, even if airlines dont want many of them, he said.

The long-term trend is higher because the private sector is behind this, Listorti said. When industries reopen as they are in China, demand will come back strongly  I am not concerned by an interim emissions glut.

Theres further evidence of some demand for EU airline carbon allowances in a small auction held Wednesday. The cover ratio in that sale was four times, the highest since May 2018, according to data from the European Energy Exchange AG.

Ultimately, ICAO will probably adjust the baseline in some way, because 2020 is turning out to be so unusual, said Trevor Sikorski, an analyst at research company Energy Aspects Ltd. in London.

This year is going to be a very distorted level for setting an average-year baseline, Sikorski said. It would be very weird not to see them make that baseline adjustment.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:41:37|Editor: huaxia

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VALLETTA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Maltese government launched a voluntary repatriation scheme on Thursday, offering subsidized flights to all foreign nationals wishing to return to their home country.

The assistance scheme is available to all European Union citizens and third-country nationals who have been staying in Malta for different purposes, including employment, education and family reasons.

Foreign nationals who are not in possession of a residence card are also entitled to assistance, said the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs.

Foreign nationals who wish to return to their home country should register their interest in repatriation flights by Sunday, April 19. The flights will be heavily subsidized by the Maltese government. A nominal fee shall apply to all bookings.

Malta has helped 4,206 residents and tourists return to their home country over the past weeks.

Malta was the first country in Europe to stop flights from Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Report of the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team Regarding Incidents in Ltamenah, the Syrian Arab Republic on 24, 25, and 30 March 2017

Press Statement

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

April 8, 2020



On April 8, 2020, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report attributing 3 instances of chemical weapons use to the Assad regime. The OPCW's Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian Arab Air Force dropped aerial bombs containing sarin in Ltamenah on 24 and 30 March 2017, and dropped a cylinder containing chlorine on the Ltamenah hospital on 25 March 2017, further confirming the regime's continued use of chemical weapons and utter disregard for human life.

For more than nine years, the Assad regime has waged a bloody war against the Syrian people. The regime is responsible for innumerable atrocities, some of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Since the conflict began, more than half a million Syrians have died and eleven million people  half of Syria's pre-war population  have been displaced. The regime has arbitrarily detained more than 100,000 people, many of whom it has tortured and killed.

Despite Syria's accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, the Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons attacks every year since then to retain its grip on power. The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism previously confirmed that the Assad regime used chemical weapons on multiple occasions, and now, the IIT report is the latest in a large and growing body of evidence that the Assad regime uses chemical weapons attacks in Syria as part of a deliberate campaign of violence against the Syrian people.

The United States shares the OPCW's conclusions and assesses that the Syrian regime retains sufficient chemicals  specifically sarin and chlorine  and expertise from its traditional chemical weapons (CW) program to use sarin, to produce and deploy chlorine munitions, and to develop new CW. The Syrian military also has a variety of chemical-capable munitions  including grenades, aerial bombs, and improvised munitions  that it can use with little to no warning. The United States condemns the use of chemical weapons as reported by the OPCW IIT and demands that the Syrian Arab Republic immediately cease all development, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons.

The United States commends the thorough investigations and expert work of the OPCW, which has again demonstrated that its efforts in Syria are unbiased and professional. No amount of disinformation from Assad's enablers in Russia and Iran can hide the fact that the Assad regime is responsible for numerous chemical weapons attacks. We urge other nations to join our efforts to promote accountability for the Syrian regime and uphold the international norm against chemical weapons use. The unchecked use of chemical weapons by any state presents an unacceptable security threat to all states and cannot occur with impunity.

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A dire need exists for the development and use of blood substitutes, such as the oxygen-carrying solution Hemopure, manufactured by Hemoglobin Oxygen Therapeutics.

PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 8, 2020 / The medical and scientific communities worldwide have been long advocating for the development and use of blood substitutes, such as the oxygen-carrying solution Hemopure, manufactured by Hemoglobin Oxygen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company headquartered in Souderton, PA. In the US, according to data from the American Red Cross, a mere 3% of citizens normally donate blood even though 38% of the population are eligible to donate; Every two seconds, someone requires a transfusion; And a single donation could save as many as three lives. The current US blood supplies can barely meet the needs of patients, many of whom rely on transfusions to survive, either because of severe trauma, life-threatening medical conditions, or surgical complications. In times of national emergencies, such as pandemics or major natural disasters, the lack of sufficient supplies can lead to unnecessary loss of life, exacerbating already tragic situations.

While clinicians have been able to use evidence-based medical and surgical concepts to optimize hemostasis and minimize blood loss in an effort to improve patient outcomes, the number of donors over the past few years has dropped significantly, more than negating any savings. An additional risk, this time to the safety of US blood supply, is that despite what officials describe as near-Herculean efforts to screen donated blood for the emerging viruses, the nation's blood supply is not immune from contaminations as was the case a few years ago when the CDC announced that several cases of West Nile illness were attributed to blood transfusions that contained tainted blood.

The push to develop alternatives to traditional blood transfusions has intensified in the 21st century amidst the global population growth and aging, the emergence of new infectious agents, and the seemingly rising number of natural disasters due to climate change. Not only is the number of donors insufficient to meet demand, but the nature of blood is such that it cannot be readily stockpiled, as refrigerated blood has a shelf-life of only 42 days. With multiple positive medical journal articles already published on Hemopure, its characteristics - including no blood typing or cross matching as well as three-year stability without the need for refrigeration - are ideal for out-of-hospital applications and stockpiling for national emergencies. It is no surprise then that the US Department of Defense is funding a large prehospital clinical trial to evaluate use of Hemopure as a resuscitation fluid in conjunction with freeze-dried plasma.

Currently, Hemopure is stocked and used at several hospitals as an investigational product, under FDA's authorized expanded access protocols, for the treatment of severe anemia when blood transfusions are not an option. Interestingly, regulatory authorities in South Africa and Russia have already granted market approval for Hemopure for the treatment of perioperative anemia. "While blood transfusion will always be the gold standard of treatment, there is also an obvious need for alternative products, such as Hemopure, in our healthcare system and emergency preparedness," experts at BloodSupplySolution.com assert. "Stakeholders in government, academic medicine and industry should find a way to work together to make this happen proactively rather than reactively."

Hemopure - and its Life-Saving Potential Featured in Men's Health Magazine: https://www.delcotimes.com/hemopure---and-its-life-saving-potential-featured-in-mens-health-magazine/article_e8d286d8-8b66-5c13-9bd3-a6f832d26986.html



Contact Information:

Gail Weiss

BloodSupplySolution.com

267-871-9577

gweiss@bloodsupplysolution.com

http://bloodsupplysolution.com

SOURCE: Hemopure

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/584504/Hemopure--As-an-Alternative-Oxygen-Therapeutic-Solution-to-the-Blood-Shortage-Problem
New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries

What to expect from the Indo-China military commander level talks

COVID-19: India sends planes with consignments of medicine to friendly neighbouring nations

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: India has started sending outline saving drugs to neighbouring countries to fight COVID-19.

Sources tell OneIndia that India has been sending drugs to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Seychelles and Mauritius. On Tuesday, a consignment with 10 tonnes of medicine was sent to Sri Lanka.

These countries are being gifted with consignments of paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine. It may be recalled that the government had also cleared the export of the drugs to countries such as US, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Bahrain and UK. This was in line with the commercial contracts signed with the Indian pharmaceutical companies.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is also keeping in touch with his counterparts in the Gulf.

India is keeping a watch on the requirements in these countries. Later on Foreign Secretary, Harsh Shringla will speak with his Russian counterpart to discuss the situation.

Fake News Buster

He would also offer to supply any life saving drug to Russia.
Harry Harris, a 40-year US Navy veteran, has reportedly expressed frustration with the tensions and drama of his tenure.

US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris has said privately that he does not plan to stay beyond the November US presidential election, regardless of whether President Donald Trump wins another term, five sources told Reuters news agency.

Harris, a 40-year veteran of the US Navy and Trump appointee who started in Seoul in 2018, has expressed increasing frustration with the tensions and drama of his tenure, the sources said, all speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.

Hes been wanting to stay only until November rather than serving in the second term even if Trump wins it, one source with direct knowledge of the issue said.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Seoul did not directly address Harriss plans, but said the ambassador remains energised to continue to serve the United States.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.





Harriss predecessors each served about three years and generally enjoyed a good personal rapport with South Koreans. But his time in Seoul has been marked by increasing acrimony between the two longtime allies.

The US ambassador has become the public face of what many South Koreans see as overbearing policies embraced by the Trump administration in the name of America First.

Although polls show wide South Korean support for the alliance in general, people there have baulked at Trumps demands that Seoul pay billions of dollars more to support the US troop presence.

Tensions in US-South Korea ties

The military cost-sharing agreement lapsed in December, and the failure to strike a new deal has led to more than 4,000 South Korean workers being put on unpaid leave.

In October a group of South Korean students climbed over a wall into the grounds of the ambassadors residence in Seoul to protest against US troops being stationed in the country, sparking complaints from the State Department over lax security by South Korean police.

In December protesters destroyed portraits of Harris during a demonstration outside the US Embassy as they chanted, Harris out! We are not a US colony! We are not an ATM machine!





Friction also developed over the US insistence that South Korea limit its engagement with North Korea until Trump had made progress in denuclearisation talks.

And Seouls foreign ministry summoned Harris in August after US officials expressed disappointment over its decision to end an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.

Before being named ambassador, Harris was an admiral leading the US Navys Pacific Command.

It is unclear whether Harris has already tendered his resignation, but as part of his retirement plans he has built a house in Colorado, three sources said.

Besides the politics, Harris was also the target of racially charged acrimony over his Japanese heritage.

Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an American father, Harris faced increasingly personal attacks  even from high-level South Korean officials  as a simmering historic dispute between Seoul and Tokyo erupted again last year.

Some South Koreans mocked Harriss moustache by likening it to those worn by the Japanese colonial leaders who ruled Korea from 1910-45.

Harris said in January that he was aware that his moustache had become a point of some fascination here but he was the American ambassador to Korea, not the Japanese-American ambassador to Korea.

The first source said that Harris never complained about the pressures of the job, but that it had become clear some of the personal attention was weighing on him.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio residents have been better at social distancing than coronavirus modelers anticipated, resulting in a more positive outlook for the state, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday.

The latest projections from a model developed by the Ohio State Universitys Infectious Disease Institute say the state could see roughly 1,600 new COVID-19 cases per day at the peak of the outbreak later this month. The outlook represents a dramatic improvement over previous models that suggested the state could see a peak near 10,000 new cases per day, even with social-distancing measures like Ohios stay-at-home order.

DeWine credited Ohio residents for the improved outlook, saying theyve reduced person-to-person contact more than modelers predicted. He said its difficult for modelers to anticipate human behavior.

Quite candidly, the modelers didnt think we were going to do as good a job as we did," DeWine said during Thursdays daily coronavirus briefing.

The states latest outlook is closer to models developed by MetroHealth and the University of Washingtons Center for Health Metrics and Evaluation. MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros and IHME Director Christopher Murray have each said social distancing measures led to the improved projections, with Boutros estimating Ohio residents have reduced person-to-person contact by as much as 95 percent.

All of the models are operating under the assumption that social-distancing measures will remain in effect in the near future; Ohios stay-at-home order is currently set to expire May 1.

DeWine cautioned that Ohio cannot relax its social-distancing measures too soon. He used the movie Back to the Future to illustrate that decisions made in the present could change the outlook moving forward.

Were in the middle of the ballgame, DeWine said. Its not over. Were doing well. We have to continue to push on.

State officials are working on a plan to ease social-distancing measures so residents can return to their routines and businesses can reopen. DeWine did not offer any details of that plan, but called it fairly sophisticated and said it could be made public sometime in the next week.

Ohio is still seeing an increase in hospital admissions, and the state reported 213 coronavirus-related deaths as of Wednesday. But DeWine called the latest outlook for Ohio good news."

By and large, Ohioans have done a bang-up job, he said. Were Ohioans. We get the job done.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Ohios latest projections for coronavirus outbreak shift dramatically to peak near 1,600 cases per day in April

MetroHealth projects coronavirus social-distancing measures have significantly lowered Ohios peak

University of Washington: Latest projection says Ohio will reach coronavirus peak this week without overwhelming hospitals

Ohio State researchers say state coronavirus modeling will likely be public next week

Why are different coronavirus models predicting a wide range of outcomes in Ohio?






By Andrew Hammond




Coronavirus Outbreak: Hours after US President Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supplying hydroxychloroquine to the United States, the PM has appreciated the gesture, saying "times like these bring friends closer".

The Prime Minister said India would do everything possible to help humanity against the coronavirus pandemic, which has already claimed over 88,000 lives across the world. "We shall win together," Modi added.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever.



India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19.



We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

PM Modi's response came after Trump, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said "extraordinary times" required even closer cooperation between friends. He thanked India and Indians for releasing hydroxychloroquine to the US. "Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump tweeted.

The Indian government said on Tuesday it would allow some exports of hydroxychloroquine after Trump urged New Delhi to release supplies of the drug seen as a possible treatment for COVID-19.

US deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,600 on Wednesday, the second highest in the world behind Italy.

Meanwhile, the death toll due to the novel coronavirus in India rose to 166 and the number of cases to 5,734 in the country on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry. While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,095, as many as 472 people were cured and discharged and one had migrated, it said.

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Maharashtra tops the chart with 72 deaths; country's toll at 166
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed with South Korean President Moon Jae-in ways to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic through cooperation and leveraging the power of technology.

Had a telephone conversation with President @moonriver365 on the prevailing COVID-19 situation and how we can fight this pandemic through cooperation and leveraging the power of technology, the prime minister tweeted.

Modi expressed appreciation to the Republic of Korea government for facilitating supplies and transport of medical equipment being sourced by Indian companies, an official statement said. The prime minister also expressed appreciation for the technology-based response deployed by the Republic of Korea for managing the crisis.

President Moon Jae-in appreciated the way Indian authorities have motivated the vast Indian population for fighting the pandemic with unity of purpose, the statement said.

The two leaders agreed that their experts would continue to consult each other and share experiences, as they research solutions for COVID-19.

Prime Minister Modi warmly recalled his visit to the Republic of Korea last year, and expressed satisfaction at the increasingly close ties between both countries.

The Korean president thanked the prime minister for the support being provided by Indian authorities to Korean citizens in India.

Modi conveyed his best wishes to President Moon for the forthcoming National Assembly Elections in the Republic of Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
They circulated a $500 billion plan that would include the Trump request and add $100 billion for hospitals and other health care providers and $150 billion to state and local governments, as well as a 15% boost in food stamp benefits. They hope this serves as a basis for talks with McConnell going forward.
The head of the Canadian Police Association says he is worried about the increasing number of COVID-19 threats officers face while responding to calls.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police cars line the side of Morningside Ave in Toronto on Tuesday July 17, 2012 on Monday July 16, 2012. The head of the Canadian Police Association says he is worried about the increasing trend of officers being threatened with COVID-19 while responding to calls. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

The head of the Canadian Police Association says he is worried about the increasing number of COVID-19 threats officers face while responding to calls.

"During this particular pandemic there is a very much heightened sense of anxiety," said Tom Stamatakis in Vancouver. "That just goes through the roof."

There have been reports across the country of people claiming they have the novel coronavirus and intentionally coughing on officers. Police forces are warning such behaviour can be considered an assault on a peace officer.

A 24-year-old man from Coquitlam, B.C., was charged after allegedly coughing towards three officers during an arrest on Monday.

A 59-year-old man allegedly coughed into the faces of two Mounties in Wetaskiwin, Alta., on the weekend when they responded to a disturbance call. He was also charged.

Two days earlier, RCMP in Flin Flon, Man., said a 16-year-old boy coughed into an officer's face while making references to COVID-19. It's not believed the teenager had the virus, but the officer was forced to self-monitor as a precaution.

Ottawa police charged a 33-year-old man last month after someone spit on officers telling them he was COVID-19 positive.

A number of Mounties in Nova Scotia have also reported that they have faced threats of being coughed on by people claiming to have the virus.

Police are already facing unique pressure on the front lines of the pandemic, Stamatakis said.

While the general population is told to self-isolate, officers are heading out each day to interact with people in uncontrolled situations.

"There have been a number of events where people have acted out and threatened, if you will, that they are contagious or they have COVID," said Danny Smyth, Winnipeg's police chief.

Smyth said police there are dealing with each case differently, but such threats can result in a charge of public mischief.

Officers being spat at is not unique to the pandemic, said Catherine Fortin, an RCMP spokeswoman. But it now represents an even greater safety concern.

"The threat to transmit the COVID-19 virus is a threat to the well-being and health of RCMP officers," Fortin said in an email.

"This is a criminal offence."

Precautions are being taken. Operators with 911 are asking callers if there's any threat of COVID-19 before officers are dispatched. However, Stamatakis said, in many cases there isn't the time in emergency situations to determine if officers are truly safe from the virus.

"We often don't know anything about the people we are interacting with," Stamatakis said. "And we are typically interacting with them in an uncontrolled environment."

Police services are enacting more stringent protocols around personal protective equipment. Not every police service has access to a lot of supplies, Stamatakis said, and individual officers don't always have time to put the gear on.

"You don't have the luxury of making sure you are properly equipped because things can unfold in a dynamic way."

Edmonton police officers were called to a transit bus this week after there was an altercation between passengers. Police said one of the passengers repeatedly coughed on the bus driver and on transit peace officers before saying he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Intentional threats of COVID-19 against individual officers put pressure on the whole police force, Stamatakis added.

Police need to investigate whether the person is actually infected. Officers must self-isolate in the meantime.

Vehicles, tools and supplies have to be decontaminated  all of which takes significant time and resources.

There's also a mental toll on officers who are already concerned they could be bringing the coronavirus home to their families, Stamatakis said.

He stressed that concern for officers is just as real as that for other front-line workers required to interact with the public. The number of police officers who have contracted the virus continues to rise each day, he added.

As of Monday, nine Toronto Police Service members had tested positive for COVID-19. Police forces in Windsor, Ont., Ottawa and Vancouver, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, have also had cases of infected members.

The Edmonton Police Service said last week that a second employee had tested positive. The civilian member acquired the virus through exposure, not travel, the police force said.

"It is a difficult job often and in this environment, it is particularly stressful," Stamatakis said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020
Executive Summary

The survey was conducted between Monday, April 6, 2020 to Wednesday, April 8, 2020 via google form and circulated across WhatsApp platforms within Greater Accra, Eastern, Savanah, Western, Ashanti and Central regions.

Clearly, 95% of Ghanaians believe the proposal by John Dramani Mahama for the absorption /reduction of electricity and mobile data costs is very essential and must be considered and implemented by government now.

About 52% of Ghanaians believe government is handling livelihood measures poorly while 48% think government is handling it well.

Also, 67% of Ghanaians believe that the package to health workers is discriminatory among health workers and 89% of this respondents want government to give higher allowance to frontline workers and give less to other health workers with the underlying principle that all health workers should be motivated as all of them are exposed to risk but in graduated manner.

Background

After our earlier publication which focused on the activities of political parties in the fight against the novel Covid-19, it has become necessary to assess the opinion of the public on the performance of the government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our continuous monitoring of the reactions by the public in the mainstream media and on various social media platforms revealed some mixed feelings about the government`s response, especially after the president of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo announced in his 5th address to the nation on the novel pandemic and measures put in place to curtail it. In response to this, we conducted this poll (COVID-19 Response Poll) to assess the opinion of the public on the government`s response to the novel Covid-19 so far.

This is the second work of Alliance for Continuous Democratic Governance (ACDG), a pressure group dedicated to projecting the voice of the unheard, as far as this pandemic is concerned. The survey was conducted between Monday, April 6, 2020 to Wednesday, April 8, 2020 via google form and circulated across WhatsApp platforms within Greater Accra, Eastern, Savanah, Western, Ashanti and Central regions. The survey recorded a total participation of 2,669 with a valid response of 2,665, representing 99.85%.

Results

The following sections present the results from the survey. It is organized based on the questions as presented in the data collection instrument.

Government`s Overall Response to the Novel Covid-19

This section assessed the opinion of the public on the overall response of the Government to the novel pandemic. From the result, majority of the respondents (51.63%) indicated that the government`s response to the Covis-19 is poor. This result falls in line with the outcome of the similar poll conducted by CNN International on the response of the United State Government to the Covid-19 pandemic in which 57% of Americans indicated that the government performed poorly. This result is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Overall Response of the Government to the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana

Response Frequency Percentage (%) Good 1289 48.37 Poor 1376 51.63 Total 2665 100

The result reveals people actually assess the measures and it is not enough when measures are announced getting feedback from the public is crucial.

Government`s Incentive Package to Frontline Health Workers

The survey examined the opinion of the citizens on the decision to give incentives to health workers especially the 50% pay increment for the frontline workers. Participants were asked to indicate if the decision is fair and just. Results in Figure 1 indicated that the decision to give 50% pay increase to only the frontline workers is unfair and discriminatory and can reduce the degree of commitment and zeal among the workers. Majority of the respondents (1776, representing 67%) indicated that the decision is discriminatory as against 889 (33%) who said it is fair and just.

The results show government did not do comprehensive consultations with health workers associations before the announcement. It is clear that the public agreed that the risk levels are different and that there should be graduated recognition of all health and allied health workers. The current form is considered by the public as discriminatory.

Figure 1: Incentive of 50% Pay Increment for Frontline Health Workers in Ghana

Ratio of Incentive if Government should Consider all Health Workers in Ghana

The survey further examined the opinion of those who feel the decision to reward only the frontline health workers was discriminatory on the rate that government should use in giving this pay increment as an incentive package to all the health workers in Ghana to ensure fair and just treatment for all. The survey presented paired-options to the respondents to select from in the manner as frontline and other health workers in that order. 11% of the 1776 respondents who indicated that the decision is not fair were of the view that government give flat 50% pay increment to all health workers, 21% indicated 30% for frontline health workers and 20% for others, 27% proposed 50% and 30% for frontline and others respectively, whole majority (41%) of the respondents indicated that 50% for frontline workers and 20% for the other workers will let peace prevail.

This shows that about 89% of the public believe that frontline health workers ahould receive more than other health workers. The result also reveals that 21% of the believes that the 50% announced should be shared between frontline health workers and other health workers. Also 68% of those who consider the announcement as discriminatory want the government to maintain the 50% to frontline health workers and consider between 20% and 30% allowance to other health workers.

Figure 2: Rate of Pay Increment as Incentive for Health Workers

Electricity and Telecommunication Tariff for the Citizens

The survey thought it necessary to look at the proposals placed before the president by the Former President and the Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, H.E. John Dramani Maham to absorb the cost of electricity and internet data of the citizens during the period that the state fight to eliminate this pandemic. Citizens were asked to indicate whether the proposal is necessary and needs government`s attention or not. From Figure 3, the result indicates that an overwhelming 95% of respondents believed the proposal of the NDC flagbearer is most relevant for the government to look at now as far as the fight against the novel pandemic and the citizens` wellbeing are concerned while an insignificant five percent feels it is not necessary. This is shown in Figure 3. This is self-explanatory and straight forward, that this, Mr. Mahama`s proposal is very necessary and must be considered.

Figure 3: The need for Government to consider absorbing Electricity and Mobile Data cost of Citizens.

Conclusion

So far, the citizens have rated the performance of the government poor as far as the fight against the novel Covid-19 in respect of livelihood measures. and advised that the government look critically at the proposals submitted by the opposition National Democratic Congress, especially the one requesting government to take up the cost of electricity and mobile data of the citizens. We wish to extend our token of appreciation to the government and pray it double up efforts in the coming days as we continue to monitor the views of the citizens.

As we indicated in our previous study, we wish to reiterate that indeed the good people of Ghana are monitoring every activity in this trying time.

BY

ALLIANCE FOR CONTINUOUS DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE(ACDG)

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

ACCRA

LEAD RESEARCHER: MERCY AFUMWAA M. BOATENG

Mobile: 0209402820

WhatsApp: 0209402820

Email: [email protected]
A mother is mourning the loss of her 27-year-old daughter  her "butterfly"  who died of coronavirus after refusing to miss a day working at her Maryland grocery store job.

Leilani Jordan "wanted to help anyone that she came in contact with" at her job as a clerk at a Giant Food in Largo, her mother Zenobia Shepherd told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle in a tearful interview Thursday.

But Jordan was concerned about her safety at work. "She said to me 'Mom ... I have to take my own hand sanitizer because there's none available, theres no gloves available,'" Shepherd said.

Image: Leilani Jordan. (Family Handout)

Still, Jordan, who had disabilities, was especially sympathetic toward senior customers. The 27-year-old started feeling sick in the middle of March, her mother said. She was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on March 26 and died on April 1, according to a memorial page.

"I'm a mother, and I have a hole in my heart for the rest of my life. My baby is gone," Shepherd said. "She was my butterfly."

Shepherd said she received a paycheck for just over $20 for her daughter, a delayed five-year pin and a certificate after her daughter died.

"My babys gone for $20.64," Shepherd said.

"She did this from her heart, not for the money," she added. "Customers have been finding me and calling me and telling me 'thank you, you dont know what your baby did for us every day.'"

Shepherd is concerned for other workers deemed essential during the pandemic  other grocery store workers, mail delivery people, sanitation people and everyone else who cannot do their jobs from home.

"For $20.64, they could have bought a box of gloves to give to them; they could have kept that paycheck," Shepherd said of Giant. "You know what using the proper PPE could have done for my baby?"

Representatives for Giant Food Stores did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment.

Story continues

What Shepherd most needs now is help covering costs related to Jordan's funeral.

A service will be held on April 20, according to an online obituary. Visitation is limited to 10 people, and a burial will be held at a "later date."

Shepherd said she's been told her daughter won't be laid to rest for at least five months.

"You can't handle a COVID funeral the way you can handle a regular funeral," she said.
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Outside of big cities like New York and Los Angeles, many moviegoers dont have access to great independent films until they reach home video, and even those who can see them in theaters dont always take advantage. Hulu has become a steady destination for films from quality distributors like Neon, Magnolia and Bleecker Street; these are 12 titles the streamer is currently carrying that deserve to find an audience.

The Art of Self-Defense (2019)

After getting assaulted in his neighborhood, an ineffectual accountant (Jesse Eisenberg) starts taking karate classes at a strip-mall dojo in this dark comedy, which gets darker by the minute as the dojos violent, alpha-male culture starts to reveal itself. The most obvious point of comparison for The Art of Self-Defense is Fight Club, another film about a rogue visionary who builds a philosophy around brutal masculinity. The Brad Pitt role here belongs to an inspired Alessandro Nivola, a sensei who teaches his students to listen to death metal music, kick with their fists and commit the occasional crime after hours.

Beach Rats (2017)

Before wowing Sundance earlier this year with the drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the writer and director Eliza Hittman explored the secret desires of a young man in a hypermasculine environment in this insightful and dreamily realized character piece. Harris Dickinson stars as a Brooklyn teenager who has a girlfriend (Madeline Weinstein) but trolls for older male sexual partners online, carefully keeping this information from his friends while telling himself hes neither gay nor bisexual. Beach Rats sounds adjacent to Moonlight, but it has more in common with the specific New York cultural dynamics of Saturday Night Fever, another film about thrill-seekers who run in packs, always looking for an escape from their dead-end lives.
Resurrection Sunday  It Will Be All Over in the Morning

Scripture: Daniel 6:16-24

On this Resurrection Sunday, refuse to allow any daunting, haunting or taunting situation to threaten you because the same God that rose up Daniel, is the same God that rose up Jesus, and is the same God that wants to get you up.

Psalmist Darwin Hobbs sings: God is able to do just what He said He would do. Hes gonna fulfill every promise to you. Dont give up on God cause He wont give up on you. Hes able.

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Darwin was suggesting that no matter how daunting, haunting or taunting the situation that threatens you and no matter what fiery furnace or lion den you may find yourself in this Resurrection Season, please remember God has the power to raise you up.

In Daniel 1, we find Daniel in the midst of some unfavorable times, yet the favor of God is on his life. This favor and blessing propelled him to the position of secretary of state and for Daniel, that is when his problems really emerged.

In Daniel 6:4, those whom realized that Daniels anointing was getting ready to elevate him, they started plotting to get him impeached from office. But Daniel was a man of character, integrity, accountability, and trustworthiness, hence, they could not charge him with corruption or negligence

In Daniel 6:5, because they could not get him in the physical, they went after him in the spiritual. If you are to rise this Resurrection Season, you must realize that the battle you are fighting is not physical, but spiritual. Daniel, who was unashamedly and unapologetically a devout follower of God, does not cease to pray or give thanks unto God.

Daniel 6:11-13 informs us that the devious men who were plotting against Daniel reminded the king of his decree that everyone was to bow down and worship him or be tossed into the lions den. The king, realizing he had been placed in a trick-bag, tried all day to save Daniel but to no avail. There are some situations that God will not allow anyone but Him to save, rescue, or deliver you.

As Daniel was tossed into the lions den, the king declared, May your God whom you serve continually, rescue you. In typical devil fashion, a stone was rolled in front of Daniels tomb (sounds familiar?), sealed with the king and nobles signature, a sign that what was on the inside was not to come outside.

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Verse 18 states all that night the king could not rest. God is about to cause a restless spirit to fall on every intended and unintended enemy that would dare to rise up against you and your God.

Verse 19, pointing to Calvary, declares that early in the morning (it will be all over in the morning) the king made it down to the lions den and cried out, Daniel, O Daniel, did the God you serve continually rescue you? Daniel cried out, My God that I serve continually dispatched an angel ahead of me. You will never be aware of the danger headed your way because God has dispatched an angel to go ahead of you!

Eventually, the same king that ordered Daniel into the lions den, now ordered Daniel up out of the lions den. Another reason it will be all over in the morning is because the thing that is threatening to destroy you, God is going to elevate you above it.

In the beginning epilogue of verse 24, the men who falsely accused Daniel were tossed into the lions den and before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them, crushed them and broke all their bones. Yet, verse 28 shouts that Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and Cyrus

The lions should have broke Daniel, but God simply positioned Daniel to prosper and bounce back from it. It will be all over in the morning because the thing that is threatening to break you, God is going to position you to prosper and bounce back from it.

Bishop Sherman A. Gordon is the founding pastor of Family of Faith Christian Center in Long Beach. This sermon originally appeared in the March 26, 2010 issue of the L.A. Sentinel Religion section.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 16:48:24|Editor: huaxia

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Firefighters prepare to conduct disinfection at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

China's anti-virus efforts have not only made significant contributions to protecting the health of the Chinese people and other people in the world, but also offered important experience for other countries fighting the pandemic, which demonstrated China's sense of responsibility as a major country in the world, said Oppah Muchinguri, national chairperson of Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front.

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of foreign political party leaders have highly appraised the role of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as a responsible major political party in the global fight against COVID-19.

The CPC has taken decisive and strong measures to contain the spread of the outbreak, upheld the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, shared with the world its experience of preventing and controlling COVID-19 and fully supported the global fight against the contagious disease, demonstrating how much it has shouldered as a responsible major political party, they said in messages addressed to the International Department of the CPC Central Committee recently.

Airport workers unload cargos of Chinese medical supplies at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, April 8, 2020. (Xinhua/U Aung)

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, the CPC united the general public and successfully contained the domestic spread of the epidemic by tapping into its advanced medical technology and strong mobilization capacity.

She congratulated the CPC and the Chinese people for the success and expressed deep appreciation of the CPC's commitment to providing further support to the Myanmar government to fight the epidemic.

General Chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said that during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the CPC and other world political parties issued a joint appeal to promote and strengthen international anti-pandemic cooperation, which fully demonstrated the CPC's humanitarian sentiment.

Leader of the United National Party and former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said the pandemic has seriously disrupted the lives of people all over the world.

China has taken the lead in the prevention and control of COVID-19 and adopted a variety of measures, which set an example for the rest of the world to follow, Wickremasinghe said.

He also expressed firm opposition to any words or deeds that stigmatize China.

A medical expert from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University communicates with Kenyan counterparts via a video call in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 22, 2020. (Photo by Gao Xiang/Xinhua)

Oppah Muchinguri, national chairperson of Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front, said that under the strong leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC, China has achieved significant results in its COVID-19 prevention and control work at the current stage.

He said that China's anti-virus efforts have not only made significant contributions to protecting the health of the Chinese people and other people in the world, but also offered important experience for other countries fighting the pandemic, which demonstrated China's sense of responsibility as a major country in the world.

While saying the pandemic is a common enemy and challenge for all mankind, he stressed that only by standing hand in hand and working together can the world win this fight against the major infectious disease.

Vojtech Filip, deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic and leader of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), said the pandemic poses a huge challenge to all countries. China shares its experience with other countries and provides medical supplies, which illustrates through its action the old saying "a friend in need is a friend indeed."

Filip stressed that, the joint appeal issued by the CPC and political parties from other countries provides a way out of the current plight. The KSCM, together with other political parties, will actively support this appeal.

Members of medical assistance team from Zhejiang are busy at the ICU (intensive care unit) of Wuhan pulmonary hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Doug Bandow, special assistant to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, said China is gradually getting rid of COVID-19.

China's achievement in its combat against the novel coronavirus has prompted the U.S. government to attach great significance to cooperating with China and other countries in the fight against COVID-19.

Bandow noted that at a time when the novel coronavirus is spreading widely in Western countries, politicizing the pandemic serves no one's interests.

Those who have also sent messages include Secretary of the All India Forward Bloc G. Devarajan, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, President of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association Ananda Goonatilleke, the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, leader of the Pheu Thai Party of Thailand Nalinee Taveseen, President of the Christian Democratic Party of Chile Fuad Chahin, and President of Albania's Socialist Movement for Integration Ilir Meta also sent messages, mentioning that political parties in each country should play a leading role in politics, pool global strength and resources, strengthen international cooperation against COVID-19 and bring the world back to the track of peace and development at an early date. 
Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5 and bifurcating it into two Union territories.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday termed as "reprehensible' India's decision to change the domicile law for Jammu and Kashmir when the international community's focus is on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

It also expressed concern over what it said was a lack of medical supplies in Kashmir to help the local people fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that six international human rights organisations in a joint statement recently underscored that measures to combat Covid-19 must respect human rights of every individual and urgently release all political prisoners, human rights defenders and all those arrested in Kashmir after 5 August, 2019.

The spokesperson also condemned the new domicile law introduced in the region.

Under the new law, anyone who has resided for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10 and Class 12 examinations in an educational institution located in the Union Territory is a domicile.

"The [law] is another illegal step by India, she said.

Farooqui said that the changes made in the laws at the time of global health crisis was a reprehensible act as it seeks to take advantage of the international community's focus on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic."

Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August and bifurcating it into two Union territories.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.
ROME, N.Y. -- The Oneida County Sheriff's Office says a truck driver intended no-harm after they say he was driving on the railroad tracks in the city of Rome.

As a precaution, sheriff's deputies contacted CSX to temporarily close the tracks. They have since re-opened.

The incident happened around 12:13 a.m. Thursday morning in the area of Reber Road, in the city of Rome.

Sheriff's deputies say a truck was going eastbound on the tracks towards the village of oriskany. Shortly after, the vehicle was found and stopped by the Whitestown Police Department.

Deputies say the individuals involved posed no threat to public safety or the operation of the railroad tracks. Those involved were escorted off the tracks.

No injuries are being reported. There is no word of any names being released, or charges being filed.

New York State Police and Whitestown Police assisted on-scene.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) today announced a collaboration with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) to undertake a mass communication campaign and to inform and empower the general public against COVID-19. The campaign brings together the marketing expertise and scale of HUL and the technical knowledge of UNICEF to create engaging communication tools that can help people change behaviours and stay safe during this time of the pandemic.

HUL had also recently committed INR 100 crore towards helping India fight the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the campaign it is rolling out many initiatives to ensure citizens across the country have access to essential products such as soaps, sanitizers and toilet cleaners.

The mass media campaign, titled #BreakTheChain / #VirusKiKadiTodo will have simple yet powerful 5 and 15 second informative assets to empower general public with prevention strategies to protect themselves against COVID-19. Based on three key themes - Social Distancing, Handwashing and Generosity, the campaign will generate these short informative assets across India through television, news portals and prominent social media channels.

Talking about the campaign, Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and MD, Hindustan Unilever Limited said, The need of the hour is simple and effective communication across both urban and rural India to help fight COVID-19 and our partnership with UNICEF aims to do just that. Furthermore, we need to come together as a nation and be supportive of each other during this crisis. Our campaign will help address these challenges and at scale. Along with UNICEF, we are also committed to working with the government and making essentials like Lifebuoy soaps, hand sanitizers and Domex cleaners available across a wide geography which is the most critical need today.

The campaign will also seek support from media organizations, macro and micro social media influencers, thought leaders and celebrities in spreading the message. The campaign communication assets will be disseminated through the extensive rural reach of both the organisations to reach the most vulnerable populations.

Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, India Representative, UNICEF, India said, COVID-19 disease has thrown up many challenges and among them is getting the right information to everyone, no matter where they live and whatever their situation, in the shortest time possible. Our partnership with Hindustan Unilever Limited is important as it leverages HULs communications strength as well as rural marketing outreach with UNICEFs technical expertise and messaging. We hope that through this effort we are able to bridge the communication gaps by sharing information to contain the spread of the disease

During the engagement, HUL and UNICEF will also continue to explore other critical areas of collaboration that will help the country to combat the virus.
A team of scientists may have discovered the oldest human plague from the 5,000-year-old remains of a young woman in Sweden. It is possible that this plague may have wiped out the Neolithic farmers of Europe, a discovery that could change our understanding of European history.

The study suggests that a plague was spread by traders among Neolithic European settlements and wiped them out, allowing for the massive human migration from Russia and Ukraine in Europe that came afterward, overturning the European gene pool. It has previously been debated how these migrants were able to displace the Neolithic farming culture.

A plague could be the answer.

These events had major consequences for the history of humanity, said study lead Nicholas Rascovan, a bioinformaticist at Aix Marseille University in France.

This is actually when the genetic makeup of the modern European is created, added Simon Rasmussen, an evolutionary and systems biologist at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, who also played a lead role in the study.

Both scientists looked into why large Neolithic mega-settlements of 10,000 to 20,000 people suddenly collapsed and were buried.

These mega-settlements were the largest settlements in Europe at that time, 10 times bigger than anything else. They had people, animals, and stored food close together, and, likely, very poor sanitation. Thats the textbook example of what you need to evolve new pathogens, Rasmussen said.

The data fits this theory, Rasmussen says: the plague evolved in these mega-settlements, and when people started dying from it, the settlements were abandoned and destroyed, which is what was observed in settlements after 5,500 years ago. The plague would have started migrating along trade routes, made possible with the advent of wheeled transport, and spread rapidly throughout Europe at that time.

DNA extracted from the womans teeth provides further evidence for this theory, as it shows that she isnt genetically related to the people who later migrated to Europe from the Eurasian steppe, which supports the idea that they were wiped out before the mass migration began.

Archeology further supports this hypothesis, as there were no signs of migrants at the time when she died.

The bubonic plague during the 14th century (The National Library of Medicine)

This particular strain is believed to be the oldest to be discovered. In comparison with other strains, it is the closest to its genetic origin, Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, which means that it likely diverged from that strain around 5,700 years ago, and suggests that there were multiple strains of plague by the end of the Neolithic period.

The scientists also compared DNA sequences of this newfound strain to other known strains today. It was found not to be related to the bubonic plague, an epidemic that killed 30 to 60 percent of Europes population in the mid-1300s, but was found to be related to the even more deadly pneumonic plague, which spread through flea-carrying rodents. This plague infects the lungs and can spread from person to person through saliva droplets.

However, the teams findings are still confirmed, as other remains from the mega settlements have yet to be studied.

We havent really found the smoking gun, but its partly because we havent looked yet. And wed really like to do that, because if we could find plague in those settlements, that would be strong support for this theory, Rasmussen said.

If this theory is correct, Rascovan adds, it will have a huge impact, as it will show how a single bacteria can have a great effect on historys unfolding.

We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
Now that we know animals can get coronavirus, its no surprise that theyre trying to practice social distancing, too.

New York State Police helped rescue a goat that got stuck in a Central New York overpass on Wednesday afternoon.

Troopers and members of the Maynard Fire Dept rescued a ......goat that was found stuck underneath an overpass on Route 49 in Marcy this afternoon. #youhavegoattobekiddingme, NYS Polices official Twitter account said.

WETM reports a woman said she was driving when she saw the farm animal standing in the grass by the Route 49 West exit toward the Marcy-SUNY Parkway in Marcy, N.Y. She got out of her car and approached the goat, but it ran away under the bridge, apparently trying to isolate itself and keep a distance of at least six feet.

This photo provided by New York State Police shows troopers with a goat they rescued after it was stuck under an overpass in Marcy, N.Y., on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.

According to WKTV, the driver flagged down a Maynard Fire Department firefighter who helped stop the goat.

I got flagged down to chase a goat up the road, crossed the guardrail a couple of times, then he started going down by the bridge," firefighter Chris Reid told the Utica TV station. And when he started going down there (by the bridge), I jumped on him and stopped him in his tracks so he wouldnt go no farther.

State police were called to the scene to help rescue the animal. Route 49 West was briefly shut down as the Whitesboro Fire Department brought in a ladder truck to try and get it down.

The goat then escaped and ran off, but has since been safely returned to its owner.

There have been no U.S. reports of COVID-19, the disease that causes coronavirus, in goats but veterinary scientists say there have been reports of human-to-animal transmission in some pets, such as cats. A Malayan tiger tested positive for the virus at the Bronx Zoo this past week after a zoo employee got infected.

Troopers and members of the Maynard Fire Dept rescued a ......goat  that was found stuck underneath an overpass on Route 49 in Marcy this afternoon. #youhavegoattobekiddingme Posted by New York State Police on Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Cape Town: In South Africa, the bride and groom have been arrested for marrying in violation of a lockdown caused by the coronavirus. The 50 guests involved in the wedding with them have also been arrested by the police. According to media reports, 48-year-old Jabulani Zulu and 39-year-old Nomthandjo were getting married in a ceremony on Sunday when the police arrived.

Woman tried to commit suicide for son

The police stopped this wedding by firing air, the video of which is also going viral on social media. In the video and photo, the couple can be seen sitting in a police van after being arrested. A lockdown has been put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection in South Africa. According to media reports, the police received a notification that the wedding is being held despite ban on public ceremonies in KwaZulu-Natal.

Woman catches fire while cooking, investigation underway

After this, the police reached the spot immediately. After this, the bride, groom, clergy and 50 guests who attended the wedding were arrested. However, all were later released on bail. 1,845 cases of Coronavirus have been registered in South Africa and 18 people have died. In view of the increasing cases of Corona, the government is being very strict.

12-year-old child was missing since morning, corpse found in this condition
The Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) Global Value Fund disclosed earlier this week that it established 10 new holdings during the first quarter.

Part of New York-based Tweedy, Browne Co. LLC, the fund's management team invests in a diverse number of undervalued companies from developed countries around the world in order to achieve long-term capital growth.





Based on these criteria, the fund's top five new buys for the quarter were Basf SE (XTER:BAS), Autoliv Inc. (OSTO:ALIV SDB), Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. (TSE:7272), Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503) and Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry Co. Ltd. (SHSE:600835) during the quarter.

Basf

The fund invested in 1.3 million shares of Basf, allocating 1.18% of the equity portfolio to the stake. The stock traded for an average price of 57.19 euros ($62.49) per share during the quarter.

The German chemical company has a market cap of 42.31 billion euros; its shares closed at 45.67 euros on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 5.03, a price-book ratio of 1.03 and a price-sales ratio of 0.72.

The Peter Lynch chart shows the stock is trading above its fair value, suggesting it is overpriced. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 8 out of 10, however, leans more toward undervaluation since the share price and price ratios are near multiyear lows.

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GuruFocus rated Basf's financial strength 5 out of 10. Although the company has issued approximately 2.9 billion euros in new long-term debt over the past three years, it is still at a manageable level as a result of sufficient interest coverage. The Altman Z-Score of 2.22, however, indicates the company is under some financial pressure since the forward price-earnings ratio implies its earnings are in decline.

Despite the operating margin being in decline, the company's profitability scored a 7 out of 10 rating. Basf is being supported by strong returns that outperform a majority of competitors and a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 6 that implies operations are stable. The business predictability rank of one out of five stars is on watch as a result of the company's revenue declining over the last five years. According to GuruFocus, companies with this rank typically see their stocks return an average of 1.1% per annum over a 10-year period.

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Of the gurus invested in Basf, the Causeway International Value (Trades, Portfolio) Fund has the largest stake with 0.37% of outstanding shares. Bernard Horn (Trades, Portfolio) and the Signature Select Canadian Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also have positions in the stock.

Autoliv

The Global Value Fund picked up 661,300 shares of Autoliv, dedicating 0.59% of the equity portfolio to the holding. During the quarter, the stock traded for an average price of 669.61 Swedish krona ($67.18) per share.

The Swedish company, which is the world's largest automotive safety supplier, has a market cap of 46.12 billion krona; its shares closed at 528.2 krona on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 10.31, a price-book ratio of 2.25 and a price-sales ratio of 0.56.

According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rating of 5 out of 10, however, leans more toward overvaluation.

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Autoliv's financial strength was rated 5 out of 10 by GuruFocus. Although the company has a level of comfortable interest coverage, the Altman Z-Score of 2.8 suggests it is under some financial stress.

The company's profitability fared a bit better, scoring a 7 out of 10 rating on the back of an expanding operating margin, strong returns that outperform a majority of industry peers and a moderate Piotroski F-score of 6. Autoliv's one-star business predictability rank is on watch, however.

With 0.76% of its outstanding shares, Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest guru shareholder. The Oakmark Intl Small Cap (Trades, Portfolio) Fund is also invested in the stock.

Yamaha Motor

The fund opened a 2.39 million-share stake in Yamaha Motor, giving it 0.56% space in the equity portfolio. Shares traded for an average price of 1,833.29 yen ($16.88) each during the quarter.

The Japanese manufacturer of motorcycles and other off-road vehicles has a market cap of 452.03 billion yen; its shares closed at 1,294 yen on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 5.97, a price-book ratio of 0.65 and a price-sales ratio of 0.26.

Based on the Peter Lynch chart, the stock appears to be undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 9 out of 10 also supports this assessment.

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GuruFocus rated Yamaha's financial strength 6 out of 10. Although the company has issued 11.4 billion yen in new long-term debt over the past three years, it is at a manageable level due to a comfortable level of interest coverage. The Altman Z-Score of 2.57, however, suggests it is under some financial pressure.

The company's profitability scored a 7 out of 10 rating, driven by operating margin expansion, strong returns that outperform a majority of competitors and a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 4. Yamaha also has a one-star business predictability rank, which is on watch as a result of a slowdown in revenue per share growth over the past 12 months.

The Global Value Fund is now Yamaha's largest guru shareholder with 0.69% of its outstanding shares. The Matthews Japan Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also owns the stock.

Astellas Pharma

Tweedy, Browne purchased 1.78 million shares of Astellas Pharma, expanding the equity portfolio by 0.53%. During the quarter, the stock traded for an average per-share price of 1,788.77 yen.

The Japanese pharmaceutical company has a market cap of 3.16 trillion yen; its shares closed at 1,699.5 yen on Wednesday with a price-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-book ratio of 2.43 and a price-sales ratio of 2.5.

The Peter Lynch chart shows the stock is trading near its fair value. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 3 out of 10, however, indicates the company is overvalued.

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Boosted by no long-term debt and high interest coverage, Astellas' financial strength was rated 9 out of 20 by GuruFocus. The Altman Z-Score of 4.86 also indicates the company is in good financial standing.

The company's profitability scored an 8 out of 10 rating, driven by an expanding operating margin, strong returns that outperform a majority of industry peers and a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 6. Despite having recorded a slowdown in revenue per share growth over the past year, Astellas also has a one-star business predictability rank.

With a 1.45% stake, the Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest guru shareholder. Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio) and the IVA International Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also have positions in the stock.

Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry

The fund bought 7.8 million Class A shares of Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical. The trade had an impact of 0.29% on the equity portfolio. During the quarter, shares traded for an average price of 15.4 yuan ($2.19) each.

The Chinese company, which manufactures elevators, printing and packaging machinery, artificial boards and air conditioners, has a market cap of 12.96 billion yuan; its shares were trading around 14.02 yuan on Thursday with a price-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-book ratio of 1.24 and a price-sales ratio of 0.64.

According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is undervalued. The GuruFocus valuation rank of 6 out of 10 also supports this assessment since the price-book and price-sales ratios are near multiyear lows.

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GuruFocus rated Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry's profitability 8 out of 10 on the back of a high cash-debt ratio of 168.39. The Altman Z-Score of 1.79 warns the company is in financial distress and could be at risk of going bankrupt.

The company's profitability scored an 8 out of 10 rating, driven by an expanding operating margin, returns that outperform at least half of its competitors and a moderate Piotroski F-Score of 5. Its one-star business predictability rank is also on watch.

The Global Value Fund holds 0.48% of the company's outstanding shares.

Additional trades and portfolio performance

During the quarter, the portfolio managers also established positions in CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. (HKSE:00001), Kuraray Co. Ltd. (TSE:3405), the Class B stock of Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry (SHSE:900925), Dongsuh Companies Inc. (XKRX:026960) and Adeka Corp. (TSE:4401).

Nearly half of the Global Value Fund's $5.15 billion equity portfolio, which is composed of 87 stocks, is invested in the consumer defensive and financial services sectors.

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According to Tweedy, Browne's website, the fund returned 14.63% in 2019, underperforming the MSCI EAFE Index's 22.01% return.

Disclosure: No positions.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






Illustrative image (Photo: straitstimes.com)

The city-state currently produces only about 10 percent of its food needs but has plans to increase that as climate change and population growth threaten global food supplies.

Restrictions on population movement because of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world are wreaking havoc on farming and food supply chains and raising concern of widespread shortages and price increases.

Authorities said in a statement that the current COVID-19 situation underscores the importance of local food production, as part of Singapore's strategies to ensure food security. Local food production mitigates Singapores reliance on imports, and provides buffer in the event of food supply disruptions.

Farmers and the government have been seeking ways to overcome the shortage of land in Singapore, where only 1 percent of its 724 sq km is devoted to agriculture and production costs are higher than the rest of Southeast Asia.

In response to the outbreak, authorities aim to speed up local production over the next six months to two years.

This includes providing a 30 million SGD (21 million USD) grant to support production of eggs, leafy vegetables, and fish in the shortest time possible, and identifying alternative farming spaces, such as industrial areas and vacant sites.

As part of the project, Singapore's food agency will launch a tender for rooftop farms on public housing car parks for urban farming starting next month.
Pollution in the Great Lakes tells the story of the regions industrial past, but cleanup efforts are bringing hope for a lucrative and environmentally sustainable future.

Great Lakes scientist John Hartig presented a report entitled Great Lakes Revival: How Restoring Polluted Waters Leads to Rebirth of Great Lakes Communities compiled by the International Association for Great Lakes Research.

The report includes a listing of the 43 most polluted areas identified in the Great Lakes region, including locations in Canada, Indiana and Ohio. The Michigan spots included the River Raisin, the Detroit River and the Rouge River, among others.

We were part of the Industrial Revolution and the legacy of that can be pretty much seen and measured in the sediments of the river, Hartig said. Weve had lots of unintended consequences as a result of our human development, natural resource use and exploitation, and our industrial expansion.

Hartig focused on 10 of the 43 highly-polluted areas identified in the report and how communities were revitalized through environmental restoration of their waterfronts. For example, a 2013 economic impact study by CSL International found that environmental improvements and construction of the Detroit RiverWalk area had at that time already returned approximately $1 billion in public and private sector investments.

Its important to frame it that way, Hartig said. Its not just a nice environmental project. Its really about helping revitalize communities too and show the connection between those.

Were trying to make a different argument. Instead of an environmental or ecological argument, its an economic one.

Another 2018 study conducted by the Great Lakes Commission and Council of Great Lakes Industries showed that every $1 in federal funding spent on Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects between 2010-2016 will produce an additional $3.35 of economic activity through 2035.

According to Hartig, much of the work undertaken to clean up the Great Lakes stems from decades of activism. After bodies of water in the Great Lakes region caught fire in the 1950s due to the amount of pollution they were carrying, people began to speak out over the next several years.

Hartig said he believes such public outcry led to landmark environmental legislation such as the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, the 1972 Clean Water Act and Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Those people from the late 60s  were sort of standing on their shoulders now, Hartig said. They did a lot for us and we have a big responsibility not to go backwards and not to let people weaken these laws. We have to keep moving forward on this because were trying to pass it on to the next generation.

According to Hartig, one-fifth of all standing freshwater on the Earths surface is in the Great Lakes.

We need to stop the input of these contaminants, Hartig said. We need to do everything humanly possible to prevent pollution and control contaminants at their source. If we dont do that, well be back here in 20 years having the same discussion.

So its a one-two punch. The top priority for action is pollution prevention and control of contaminants at the source and then dealing with these contaminated sediment hot spots.

For those interested in conservation efforts in the Downriver area, Hartig recommends getting involved with environmental groups like Friends of the Detroit River, Detroit Audubon or Friends of the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance.
Halfway through the first week of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), many Canadians are confused about the payments theyre receiving  and frustrated at being unable to ask their questions over the phone.

Raj Yadav is one of them. He applied for Employment Insurance near the end of March, and so his application was automatically switched to CERB this week. On Wednesday morning, he got three payments.

Two of the payments were listed as EI: one for $2,000 and another for $1,000. The other was called federal payment, and was for another $2,000, he said.

Its just confusing, said Yadav, who isnt spending the money until he knows how much of it he may have to return to the government. Which one do I return?

To make matters worse, Yadav has been calling and calling every number he can think of, especially the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada, but hasnt been able to get anyone on the line. One day he dialed over and over from 8:30 a.m. until mid-afternoon.

There are a lot of questions to be answered, he said.

Twitter is full of people asking similar questions, often tagging Justin Trudeau in their queries. Some say theyve received two or three payments and dont know whether theyll have to repay them to the government.

Tory Blewett applied for EI on March 15, the day she was temporarily laid off. Her application was approved, and she received a total of three EI payments, the last one landing Monday. But on Wednesday, she received $2,000.

Blewett logged onto her Service Canada account and saw she had been switched to CERB without warning. She was a little surprised, she said.

I assumed I was just going to stay on EI, she said. I had no idea that I was being moved over.

She also has no idea what happens when her CERB payments end.

Blewett is concerned that the details surrounding CERB and EI arent clear. Many people dont seem to know they will have to pay taxes on CERB next year, she said.

While Blewett is pleased the government has rolled out income support so quickly, she thinks there isnt enough communication about details like these.

Katie Weiser is also confused. She was looking forward to CERB, because she works in the restaurant industry and would receive much less from EI since her tip income doesnt count toward it. She applied for EI on March 19, and on Tuesday received $1,000 as a retroactive payment. But her peers got $2,000 the same day, she said  a retroactive payment as well.

The only difference between them is that she applied and was switched over, while her peers applied for CERB, she said.

Then Wednesday, Weiser received another $2,000. Meanwhile, she said others in her industry are posting in Facebook groups saying they received up to $4,000.

Like Yadav, shes been unable to get through on the phone lines. She said shes also having trouble accessing the website to see her application. She feels that people whose EI applications were transferred to CERB are experiencing a lot of confusion with few answers.

We cant speak to anybody, we cant get through to the portals ... So no one really knows whats going on.

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It came from an archaeological site in the Rhone River valley of southeastern France, and it's about 40,000 to 50,000 years old. Researchers don't know how Neanderthals used the string or even whether it had been originally attached to the stone cutting tool.
Boris Johnson spent Monday night in the intensive care unit (ICU) at a London hospital in a move Downing Street said was a "precaution" should the British Prime Minister require ventilation to aid his recovery from the COVID-19.

Follow latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

Johnson, 55, was taken to St. Thomas' Hospital in London, a specialist infectious diseases National Health Service (NHS) facility, on Sunday night for "routine tests" after persistent coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature and a cough. His condition "worsened" during the course of Monday when his doctors decided to shift him to the ICU.

"The Prime Minister is not on a ventilator. He has received oxygen support and one of the reasons of being in intensive care is to ensure that whatever support the medical team consider to be appropriate can be provided," said UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove on Tuesday morning.

Johnson had tested positive for coronavirus 12 days ago and had continued to lead the governments response to the coronavirus pandemic via video conferencing from his Downing Street home.

On Monday night, he asked his First Secretary of State, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, to step in for him and the minister will be chairing his second daily COVID-19 meeting in place of the UK PM on Tuesday.

The government's business will continue. The Prime Minister is in safe hands with that brilliant team at St. Thomas' hospital, and the focus of the government will continue to be on making sure that the Prime Minister's direction, all the plans for making sure that we can defeat coronavirus and can pull the country through this challenge, will be taken forward, said Raab.

Raab said he would be deputising for Johnson where necessary while he is in hospital.

"There's an incredibly strong team spirit behind the Prime Minister, and making sure that we get all of the plans the Prime Minister's instructed us to deliver, to get them implemented as soon as possible. And that's the way it will bring the whole country through the coronavirus challenge that we face right now, said the senior Cabinet minister.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

The team spirit was on display as ministers of Johnson's top team took to social media to wish him a speedy recovery and support to his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds.

My love and thoughts are with Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds and the Prime Ministers family. Praying for you and thinking of you," said UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in her Twitter message, alongside an image of her alongside Johnson at a temple in London on the campaign trail from the past year.

Fellow Indian-origin senior Cabinet colleague, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, echoed the message: My thoughts tonight are with Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds. I know hell be getting the best care possible and will come out of this even stronger.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the world leaders who sent out their messages of support to the UK PM.

Hang in there, Prime Minister Boris Johnson! Hope to see you out of hospital and in perfect health very soon, said Modi in his Twitter message.

US President Donald Trump said Americans "are all praying for his recovery" as he described Johnson as "a very good friend of mine and a friend to our nation" who is "strong" and "doesn't give up".

French President Emmanuel Macron said he sends "all my support to Boris Johnson, to his family and to the British people at this difficult moment".

UK's newly-elected Opposition Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described it as "terribly sad news".

"All the country's thoughts are with the prime minister and his family during this incredibly difficult time," he said.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that St. Thomas' Hospital in London had "some of the finest medical staff in the world" and that the Prime Minister "couldn't be in safer hands".

Buckingham Palace said that Queen Elizabeth II, who has been holding her customary weekly audiences with the Prime Minister over the telephone at Windsor Castle during the current coronavirus lockdown, is being kept informed about Johnsons health.

On Monday night, Downing Street said Johnson was conscious and receiving excellent care, for which he thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

In some COVID-19 cases, patients experience breathing difficulties as the bodys immune system struggles to cope and pneumonia is among the signs of the most serious cases.

Earlier in the day on Monday, Johnson had messaged from his hospital bed to say that he was in good spirits and staying in contact with his ministers to oversee the UK's coronavirus fightback despite his hospitalisation.

He was last seen in public applauding the NHS and other key workers just outside his flat in Downing Street last Thursday and posted his last Twitter video message on Friday in which he looked quite unwell as he said he was still displaying minor symptoms.

His hospitalisation comes as the number of coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK reached 5,373 and the UK's Department of Health said there were now 51,608 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Ardalan Esmaili, left, and Hermione Corfield in the movie "Sea Fever." (DUST/Gunpowder & Sky)

The major movie studios created a lot of hubbub last month by releasing some of their bigger spring films early on video-on-demand, in response to the nationwide COVID-19 shutdowns. Lately though, the home video market is starting to settle down, falling back into its usual mix of recent theatrical hits and smaller independent films.

Sometimes its those indies that are the real gems in any given week of the VOD release calendar. And sometimes  well, not. Heres a quick rundown of five of this weeks lower-profile titles, ranked from surprisingly good to easily ignorable. Movies are available at most major digital retailers: Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube and Apples iTunes (or Apple TV).

Sea Fever

Sea Fever debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and in the months since, this moody Irish monster movie has taken on a new relevance. Set aboard a fishing boat, the film stars Dougray Scott as a desperate captain who leads his crew into forbidden waters. When the vessel gets snagged by a strange leviathan, its up to visiting marine biology student Siobhan (Hermione Corfield) to figure out what this beast actually is, and why its ejecta is poisoning the ships water supply and infecting the men and women aboard.

Writer-director Neasa Hardiman mostly keeps her debut feature at the level of a claustrophobic psychological thriller, saving her special effects budget for a few breathtaking undersea views of the glowing, multi-tentacled beastie. But after a fairly sedate start, the movie gets increasingly grim and violent.

Throughout, Hardiman takes the time to consider how these people got into this mess largely through a combination of arrogance, ignorance and ill-preparedness. Then she focuses, step by step, on the extreme measures theyre going to have to take to get out.

Back at TIFF, many viewers read Sea Fever as a metaphor for climate change, with Hardiman critiquing humanitys unwillingness to make the necessary sacrifices for survival. Nowadays, the lessons in this imaginative and gripping film seem to have multiple applications. Available April 10. Not rated. (1:29)

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Stray Dolls

Early in the quiet crime drama Stray Dolls, an Indian immigrant named Riz (Geetanjali Thapa) arrives at a run-down motel managed by Una (Cynthia Nixon), a shady Russian who both hires her to work as a maid and rooms her with Dallas (Olivia DeJonge), a runaway who does odd jobs with Unas thug son Jimmy (Robert Aramayo). At first, these characters conform to types; but as Riz and Dallas get to know each other, director Sonejuhi Sinha reveals that these women are capable of the unexpected.

Sinha and her co-screenwriter Charlotte Rabate eschew sensationalism to perhaps too great of a degree. Stray Dolls lacks some narrative momentum, as the characters drift from petty crime to petty crime and party to party. But the film has a remarkable sense of place, bringing to life the seedy motels and sketchy nightclubs where people live and work outside the scrutiny of the law  and deal with the dangers that come with that kind of freedom. Available April 10. Not rated. (1:37)

We Summon the Darkness

Maddie Hasson, left, and Alexandra Daddario in the movie "We Summon the Darkness." (Allen Fraser/Saban Films)

References to 1980s pop culture abound in We Summon the Darkness, a well-acted horror-comedy that works better as a retro slice-of-life than as a genre film. Alexandrio Daddario, Maddie Hasson and Amy Forsyth are all terrific as a trio of best buds, who meet up with three hard-partying metalheads in the parking lot outside a rock show. The movies opening half hour is a funny and tense character study, about six boozy youngsters flirting with each other in a remote rural community rocked by reports of ritual satanic murders.

Inevitably, the evening takes a dark and bloody turn; and eventually, the original sextet are joined by new arrivals, including Johnny Knoxville as a fiery televangelist. But director Marc Meyers (working from an Alan Trezza screenplay) never seems as committed to the kids getting butchered out in the sticks part of this story as he is in the Metallica fans hanging out and swapping stories part. We Summon the Darkness is fine throughout; but it peaks in its first third, when nothing much is happening beyond some very good actors recreating the small-town rock n roll lifestyle of the recent past. Available April 10. Rated: R for bloody violence, pervasive language, some drug use and sexual references. (1:23)





The Lost Husband

It wouldnt take much adjusting to convert the romantic drama The Lost Husband into a Hallmark Channel Original. Based on a Katherine Center novel  adapted to the screen by writer-director Vicky Wight  the film hits all the usual boy meets girl in a quaint little community marks. Leslie Bibb plays a recent widow trying to restart her life with her kids on her aunts goat farm, where she has an alternately antagonistic and intimate relationship with a rugged rancher played by Josh Duhamel. All these characters have secrets and hang-ups they have to work through before they can live (and love) happily ever after.

Yet while nearly everything about The Lost Husband is pat and predictable, the movies easy to watch. Credit the charisma and polished professionalism of Bibb and Duhamel  along with the strong supporting performances of Nora Dunn and Sharon Lawrence, who play the heroines feisty aunt and estranged mother, respectively. The pace here is more leisurely than a TV movie, but the actors add a touch more depth. Romance fans should appreciate the effort. Available April 10. Rated: PG-13, for some suggestive references. (1:49)

Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind

There are probably two ideal audiences for writer-director Michael Mazzola's docu-essay Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind. One is people whove fallen down internet rabbit holes, looking for proof that the governments of the world are hiding both the existence of extraterrestrials and their ultimate mission. The other group will be all those who just think UFOlogists are crackpots, and may be amused by how dryly academic the film is, as its interview subjects soberly connect wildly disparate incidents from recent world history.

Both factions though ought to agree that this Close Encounters is overlong and rambling  more concerned with disconnected anecdotes than making a compelling case or telling an interesting story. Not rated. (2:00)

For the record:

10:01 AM, Apr. 09, 2020: An earlier version of this article misspelled the last name of The Lost Husbands director Vicky Wight as Wright.


SPRINGFIELD  Holyoke Medical Center has donated hundreds of masks and face shields to Springfield police and firefighters for protection against the coronavirus after learning of an urgent appeal from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

The donation was announced just hours after Sarno conducted a press conference at City Hall, urging federal and state officials and agencies to provide masks to Springfield police and firefighters. He made the appeal after learning his request for the personal protective equipment had been denied.

Holyoke Medical Center donated 400 KN95 masks and 540 face shields and surgical masks, Sarno said.. Sarno praised Holyoke Medical Center for the donation.

"As the federal and state agencies get bogged down with bureaucratic red tape issues, our community heard my clarion call loud and clear and delivered immediately! Sarno said in a news release.

The donation follows the delivery of 100 N95 masks donated by MassMutual of Springfield.

The hospital also donated personal protective equipment to Action Ambulance and the South Hadley Fire Departments.

Holyoke Medical Center is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support and donations received through this COVID-19 pandemic by many community businesses, Novanta, and the efforts made by the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, said in a statement. Today we became aware that first responders in some of our surrounding communities, who work with our patients, were in desperate need of PPE. In a time of mutual aid, we felt it was our obligation to share some of our PPE with those first responders.

Sarno said he, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi picked up the personal protective equipment.

Sanro said he thanks Hatiras and his team for their continued support of Springfield.

"They truly are a devoted and compassionate corporate citizen who are with us in this fight against the coronavirus., Sarno said.

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Egypts construction sector resumed operations earlier this week after a two-week stoppage meant to help curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.



Workers have returned to the countrys construction sites provided that sanitation measures are fully implemented to preserve their health, according to an agreement between the minister of housing and the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC) under the supervision of the prime minister.



Work at the countrys mega-projects came to a halt after President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi urged people to adopt social distancing on 22 March. A host of measures followed, including the temporary suspension of classes in schools and universities and of prayers at mosques and churches.



A two-week partial curfew was imposed restricting movement from 7pm to 6am, and a Stay at Home campaign was launched to raise awareness about the Covid-19 threat. The measures have resulted in a reduction of the workforce at construction sites, with some operating with 25 per cent of their usual number of workers and others functioning with as little as 10 per cent of their workforce.



Halting operations at construction sites was due to a confusion among construction companies about the best means to implement social distancing after the rise in the number of cases of coronavirus in Egypt over the past three weeks, said Hisham Yousri, secretary-general of the EFCBC.



One source of confusion was the decision by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to limit daily cash withdrawals and deposits to LE5,000 for individuals and LE50,000 for companies.



Although the CBE raised cash withdrawal limits for companies to 10 times those of individuals to keep salaries flowing, its decision negatively affected the construction sector whose workers typically receive daily or weekly payments, unlike employees in other sectors who receive their wages on a monthly basis.



The decision to stop the construction work was also not only taken by the companies concerned. Construction workers, most of whom are not covered by insurance, were also concerned at the news of the rising number of cases of coronavirus and the sanitation measures being taken by the Armed Forces at sites across Egypt.



Calls to impose a partial curfew across all sectors were heard by the government, which ordered a partial curfew. This was an additional concern for irregular and seasonal workers, who number between eight and 10 million and do not have a fixed monthly income, since it could mean they would be out of their jobs.



It placed the government in the difficult situation of needing to contain the spread of the virus by introducing mitigation measures, while at the same time aiming to ensure that workers in the construction and other sectors do not suffer severe economic consequences.



In the private construction sector, reactions to the coronavirus crisis have been divided, with some companies giving employees in administrative and engineering departments fully paid leave or leave with 50 per cent of salary and others reducing working hours and laying off a percentage of employees. However, these options have not been available to site workers.



The private-sector construction companies will likely be unable to continue paying their administrative and engineering employees half or all their wages, said Mohamed Loqma, a member of the EFCBC board. The companies have regular financial commitments including insurance, taxes, utility bills, and the rent of buildings and equipment. They will also be under pressure to keep to deadlines for finishing their projects, Loqma said.



Negotiations have been taking place between the minister of housing, utilities, and new urban communities. Assem Al-Gazzar, who is supervising the work of the EFCBC, and the construction companies working on the national mega-projects, particularly the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein.



The talks ended with Al-Gazzar requesting the construction companies to resume work at the project sites under the observation of the Health Ministry and the ministrys health and safety division to follow up on developments and preserve the health of workers.



Loqma said the decision to resume work at the sites had not been taken to advance the construction work but had been in response to the need to continue to pay the wages of the 10 million workers in the sector and secure their livelihoods.



The message the government had received over the past two weeks was that the countrys irregular workforce was facing the blunt choice of risking contracting the disease if they continued to work or suffering economically if they did not, Loqma said. It was for this reason that the government had ordered work on the construction sites to resume under appropriate medical supervision, he added.



Yousri said that it was vital for construction to resume because it is a labour-intensive sector on which some 90 other industries depend, including the steel and cement industries and those providing other construction materials and equipment. Utilities and infrastructure would also be affected by a prolonged shutdown, he said, as would the transport sector, which would no longer be delivering people to work sites or transporting construction materials.



He also noted the importance of supporting the incomes of workers in the sector, adding that President Al-Sisi has postponed the inauguration of the mega-projects and the transfer of government offices to the New Administrative Capital from mid-2020 to 2021, with the government shouldering the financial costs of the delay.



He said that if the decision to resume work in the construction sector had been based on a desire to complete the projects, the contractors and construction companies would have imposed the same deadlines as before the crisis, which was not the case.



The EFCBC is looking into measures to ensure the safety of workers on construction sites, such as making the sites isolated areas and keeping the workers at the sites before placing them in two-week quarantine. They would then be able to return to the work sites after undergoing similar medical measures to those adopted at airports.



It suggests isolating areas on sites where construction materials are delivered and avoiding contacts between transport workers and workers on site.



If such measures are applied, the EFCBC estimates that 70 per cent of the workforce will be able to resume operations, achieving the governments target of containing increases in unemployment and protecting families from sinking below the poverty line as a result of work stoppages.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Fr Michael Murtagh - Dunleer PP

Dunleer Parish is benefitting from having a big footprint digitally despite Covid-19s pandemic preventing mass goers from practising at the local church.

Parish Priest Fr Michael Murtagh is saying mass for people via social media, ensuring he keeps in touch with his parishioners, but he admits the future is very much unknown.

We have quite a digital outreach and people are still logging in every morning and weekend, keeping in contact with us on Facebook, Fr Murtagh told The Democrat.

Its new ground and we still dont know quite what the reaction will be from people.

The diocese is not quite as strict as other dioceses, some parishes in the north of the parish have had to close the church building completely and some of them have no funeral liturgy at all, apart from a committal at the graveside.

Were still doing minimal ceremonies for the deceased.

Weve just had one funeral since the lockdown and people adapted to it generally, but it will be a test alright. We had two quite big funerals just before the lockdown which went off in the normal fashion.

Its unprecedented. Theres nothing that people can remember or compare it with. Its new ground and how it will impact on the short-, medium- or long-term remains to be seen.

Fr Murtagh says his thoughts are with the less fortunate.

Theres a lot of people, people in my own family, whove had their income cut to zero.

Theres an awful lot of people out there with families and children and colossal anxiety over whats going to happen. My focus will be on how people are coping out there.

Fr Malachy Conlon - Cooley Pastoral Area

Fr Malachy Conlon is heartened by peoples generosity and thoughtfulness during the present health emergency.

The Parish Priest of the Peninsula Pastoral Area has said Covid-19 has altered the publics perception of life and believes his parishioners are grateful for the religious services which he and his colleagues are providing via digital platforms.

Its changed the way we think about life, about living, and theres no doubt its difficult, especially for those who are vulnerable, Fr Conlon told The Democrat.

Were trying to reach out through our Pastoral Council. We have mass daily on the webcam and I do say the rosary every evening at 9 oclock from the churches.

Were currently thinking about holy week and the way were going to celebrate holy week this year - I will do the ceremonies from the church in Grange and it will go out on the webcam.

Its very difficult to be celebrating mass on ones own, but Im very heartened that many people have contacted me to tell me that I wasnt on my own, that they are tuning in. It does mean a lot to people.

Indeed, Im really heartened by the reaction of people to the mass on webcam and the rosary every night. People do appreciate it.

There are those, he admits, that are unable to avail of the ceremonies due to their lack of technological facilities. However, Fr

Conlon says the Pastoral Council have been really helpful in this sense.

It was one of the topics we discussed with the Pastoral Council, he added.

Theyre reaching out to the older people who may not have the technology and were learning that the mass can be recorded now and downloaded for people who are not into technology.

Its challenging, even for myself. I wouldnt be very well into technology, but Im having to learn and learn fast.

I would like to think that our effort to reach out has been well received, to reach out to the isolated who may have other difficulties like food.

We would have quite a number of older people who live in very isolated areas and people have really been very good in terms of reaching out.

There is also the issue of parish upkeep finance, but while Fr Conlon acknowledges this, hes adamant that there are more pressing matters.

Our parish and the neighbouring parish for whom Im also responsible, the income has just dried up. I did write out to parishioners offering them the facility of supporting the parish online.

But while its going to be an issue that were going to have to deal with down the road, our priority is the people at the moment and supporting them in whatever way we can.

Fr Vinod Kurian - Kilcurry PP

Several weddings and baptism ceremonies have been postponed in the Faughart Parish as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fr Vinod Kurian, the Parish Priest, has also been busy presiding over funeral masses and burials with a greatly reduced congregation as a result of the catholic church having to close its doors to mass gatherings.

Most of the weddings have been postponed or cancelled and a good number of baptisms have been postponed - we do an average of 100 baptisms in the parish every year so theyve been postponed for the time being, Fr Vinod told The Democrat.

Ive done three funerals in the last two weeks, but only the immediate family were present for them, only about eight or 10 people at the funeral masses.

Wakes arent able to happen at the moment either and theyre big things for Irish people, so its a very difficult situation.

However, mass continues to be said via Facebook and the numbers watching are high. Nonetheless, the priests inability to carry out their habitual duties is hard to adjust to.

Weve got a very good response online, he added.

We have something like 1,800 people watching every Sunday and its very nice to see people watching live mass.

I would normally go to visit people in the hospital and nursing homes, but I cant do it and we dont really have contact with anybody at the moment, apart from some sick people on the phone.

The Faughart Parish has been active in its fundraising in recent years, with each of the four churches benefiting. Yet, Fr Vinod admits, Covid-19 will dent their efforts considerably.

I was talking to our parish accountant the other day and its very difficult. We have some money in the account, but we still have to pay the parish insurance, the electricity bills, etc. The finance is going down and this will have a big impact on the parish.

Fr Patrick McEnroe - Dromiskin/Darver

For the first time since he was ordained, Dromiskin and Darver Parish Priest Fr Patrick McEnroe was applauded after presiding over a burial last Thursday morning.

Fr McEnroe was touched by the gesture and says the ceremony was appreciated generally despite there being a limited congregation.

I had a funeral burial on Thursday and there were maybe a dozen or so people there and they were hanging around the graveyard, Fr McEnroe told The Democrat. But there was a serious airing of intention and prayer.

It never happened before to me in 48 years of priesthood, when I was finished the service, I was applauded; at a graveside, I never experienced that before.

The person loved hymns and her favourite hymn was the Bells of the Angelus, so we tried to sing a verse or two of it as best we could. It was so appreciated. I do feel very strongly emotionally for people at the moment.

Fr McEnroe added: Its a strange, different, demanding and uncertain time. There is so much uncertainty now for everybody. Were thanking God that were alive today and our health is good and were breathing okay.

I find it difficult not being in touch with the people of the parish because I think they deserve service. Thats not possible, so I have got webcam in and I put out evening mass on a Monday and morning mass every day bar Saturday. I would do an hour of prayer on a Tuesday evening too.

As well as that I would spend an hour or two most days calling people by phone and having a wee chat with them, especially people who live on their own and people who would be on my housebound list, those who receive First Friday calls.

They appreciate that a lot and its actually good for oneself to do it as well.
>>> NA Standing Committee discusses support to those hurt by COVID-19

>>> More support to repel COVID-19

Among the four patients, three were treated at the Can Gio hospital for COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City. Two of them are South African nationals (patients No. 125 and 126), and one Vietnamese (patient No. 152).

The trio had their second negative test results for SARS-CoV-2 on April 6, thus becoming eligible for the all-clear.

The fourth patient, a 60-year-old Vietnamese (patient No. 153), was treated at the Cu Chi acute respiratory disease hospital, also in Ho Chi Minh City. The patient was declared recovered after three negative tests for SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The newly-cured patients will continue to stay in quarantine and have their health monitored for the next 14 days.

Vietnam has had 251 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning, including 156 people returning from abroad (accounting for 62.6% of the total). Among them, 126 have recovered, bringing the recovery rate in the country to over 50%.

More good news is that there are eight cases having registered one negative test result, while 17 others have tested negative twice.

Stay alert with infection cases in the community

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chairs a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on April 8, 2020. (Photo: VGP)

During an online meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked for vigilance regarding some COVID-19 infections that have been discovered in the community in recent days.

The committee members agreed that in addition to outbreaks in Buddha bar (Ho Chi Minh City), Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) or at concentrated isolation camps, caution should be shown toward every new infection case discovered in the community, along with continuous review of each object and attempts at perfecting the mechanism for monitoring and tracing the risks of disease infection.

Delegates at the meeting suggested to maintain the consistent principle that has been implemented thoroughly since the beginning of the outbreak: preventing, detecting, isolating, localising and stamping out any outbreak, stressing that this is a constant strategy.

Vietnam Airlines repatriates EU citizens, carries medical support to Europe

Vietnam Airlines operated two special flights carrying EU citizens and Vietnams medical support for five European nations to Germany on April 6 and 8.

The national flag carrier said on April 8 that the flights were sponsored by the German Government and conducted by the German Federal Foreign Office in coordination with the airline.

The flights, using Boeing 787-10s, departed from Vietnam for Frankfurt on the mornings of April 6 and 8. They carried a total nearly 600 passengers, all EU citizens.

The flight on April 8 also carried medical supplies from Vietnam for the governments and people of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in the fight against COVID-19, the airlines said.

Vietnam Airlines noted the flights were important to European nationals stranded in Vietnam since all regular flights from the Southeast Asian nation to international destinations have been suspended.

By repatriating the passengers and carrying medical supplies, they also helped strengthen diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the European countries, and enhanced coordination in the COVID-19 fight, the firm added.

Earlier, Vietnam Airlines also carried donations of medical supplies to Laos and Cambodia.
Three more Jamaatis were booked for attempt to murder in two different cases after they failed to present themselves before the authorities for a health check-up and quarantine, a top Uttarakhand police office said Thursday.

Two of them were booked in a single case and one in another. Two others were booked earlier on Tuesday.

Haridwar police booked the two Jamaatis for attempt to murder in two separate cases in the district after finding them hiding post 24 hour ultimatum given by police to all jamaatis in the state on Sunday evening to present themselves before administration for medical examination and quarantine, said Ashok Kumar, director general (law & order) Uttarakhand police.

Follow coronavirus live updates here.

After the 24-hour ultimatum ended on Monday evening Uttarakhand police on Tuesday started booking Jamaatis who were still hiding, for attempt to murder.

Uttarakhand so far has reported 35 Covid-19 cases. Out of the 35 cases, 26 had attended Jamaat functions in Delhi and elsewhere. The two arrested in Haridwar had come in contact with them.

Following the significant number of positive cases among Jamaat members, the administration has also put restrictions on public movement in certain areas of the state where Jamaatis have tested positive.

On Tuesday police had booked two jamaatis for attempt to murder in two separate cases in Roorkee and Haridwar.

In a video message on Sunday evening, Uttarakhands director general of police (DGP), Anil Kumar Raturi had asked the Jamaatis to come out by Monday evening and present themselves before administration for required medical examination and quarantine for checking the spread of Covid-19. He had warned them that they would be booked for attempt to murder or murder if they dont come forward for tests.

Uttarakhand police have so far identified 708 members of the Jamaat including 383 hailing from the state who had gone to other states to attend congregations and 325 from other states who had come to Uttarakhand to attend congregations after March 1.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand police registered 69 new cases and arrested 257 people for alleged violation of the lockdown, said Ashok Kumar.

The new cases and arrests have taken the total to 1155 cases with 4,692 arrests in them so far since March 23 when the lockdown was implemented in Uttarakhand.

Kumar said police have also challaned 13,768 vehicles and seized 3,637 vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act during the lockdown. A total of Rs 64.06 lakhs fine was also imposed on the vehicle owners, he said.

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- The Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) made a sad announcement on April 9

- She revealed that she has contracted the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19

- She also mentioned that she is asymptomatic and will undergo self-quarantine

- Despite her condition, the government official said that she will continue to work

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Leonor Briones, the current secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease.

KAMI learned that the said government official announced the sad news on Thursday, April 9.

She revealed that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) informed her about the result of her COVID-19 test yesterday.

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The Secretary also mentioned that she is asymptomatic and her body temperature, which she checks three times a day, is normal.

She further stated that although she will be in strict quarantine, she will still continue to work and make sure that the education department is in full operation.

As a government official and Cabinet member and as a Filipino, it is my duty to announce that yesterday late afternoon, April 8, 2020, I was informed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine that I am positive for SARS-COV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19, she quipped.

It is my hope and my fervent prayer that we will recover as a nation and that our spirit of bayanihan will pull us through. With Gods grace, we will all heal as one, she added.

It is in the protocol of the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct contract tracing so that those who were with the official in the past few days will be monitored.

In a previous article by , the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

As of April 8, there are already 3,870 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. 96 of them have recovered while a total of 182 patients passed away.

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TikTok dance challenges are taking over social media. We are always on point in asking passers-by to dance to famous songs together with our host Andre!  Dont forget to subscribe to HumanMeter!

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Canada lost more than one million jobs in March during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Canada reported Thursday, with economists warning that the worst is yet to come.

We knew it was going to be grim and I think were going to be seeing even worse numbers in the next couple of weeks, said Ted Mallett, vice-president and chief economist at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The economy lost 1,011,000 jobs in March, the worst recorded single-month drop. Ontario alone lost more than 400,000 jobs.

It is expected that the sudden employment decline observed in March will have a significant effect on the performance of the Canadian economy over the coming months, says StatsCans March labour force survey. The employment decline in March was larger than in any of three significant recessions experienced since 1980.

Some economists were suggesting Thursday that not all lost jobs will make a return once the pandemic subsides, which could dash hopes of a V-shaped economic recovery.

As shocking as these numbers are, the big issue is how long do the shutdowns last, and thus how persistent is this spike in joblessness; that is still very much open for debate, said BMO chief economist Doug Porter in a note Thursday. We continue to assert that as distancing measures lighten, many jobs will return quickly ... many, but clearly not all.

The StatsCan results were released the same day as a separate report from the parliamentary budget officer showing that the federal budget deficit for the just-closed fiscal year will go up by $27.4 billion due to a massive increase in spending by government to respond to COVID-19 and a decrease in economic activity.

The deficit for the fiscal year that began April 1 is forecasted to top $184.2 billion, budget officer Yves Giroux reported Thursday, while suggesting that even more spending may be needed to support workers and businesses.

StatsCan surveyed labour conditions for the week of March 15 to 21, by which time many provincial governments had declared states of emergency and shut down or severely limited the operations of non-essential businesses to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The number of people considered unemployed rose by 413,000 between February and March, almost all the result of temporary layoffs. The unemployment rate rose by 2.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent.

The number of people who didnt work any hours during the week of the survey increased by 1.3 million, while the number who worked less than half of their usual hours increased by 800,000  also attributed to COVID-19, StatsCan said.

In total, 3.1 million Canadians were affected by either job losses or reduced hours. Most of the job losses were in the private sector.

Were seeing an impact on younger, female, low-wage workers in particular, David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told the Star.

He pointed out that one in five women, one in four youth (aged 15 to 24) and one in three low-wage workers making $14/hour or less either lost their jobs or saw a majority of their hours cut.

Macdonald said the March numbers are a prelude to the full impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.

In a blog post Thursday, Macdonald wrote that while the unemployment rate is not yet at historic levels, the number of people who have seen their hours slashed is a harbinger of things to come.

He also highlighted that the unemployment rate doesnt tell the full story in terms of joblessness in Canada. A person who lost their job due to COVID-19 and stopped looking for work because you (reasonably) predicted you wouldnt find any in the worst labour market since the Depression would not be considered unemployed, but rather outside the labour force, Macdonald wrote in his blog post.

The number of people outside the labour force rose by 644,000 in March, StatsCan said.

Of those, 219,000 had worked earlier in March and wanted a job but didnt search for one, an increase of 193,000, or 743 per cent.

Because they had not looked for work and they were not temporarily laid off, these people are not counted as unemployed, StatsCan said. Since historically the number of people in this group is generally very small and stable, the full monthly increase can be reasonably attributed to COVID-19.

The agency said if the 219,000 people had been counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate would actually rise to 8.9 per cent.

Governments have announced a series of policies in response to the massive job losses. Out-of-work Canadians began applying this week for the $2,000 a month Canadian Emergency Response Benefit established by the federal government.

The feds have also announced a 75 per cent wage subsidy in a bid to encourage employers to keep their staff on the payroll.
[April 09, 2020] SixFifty's Free Hello Landlord Tool Helps People Avoid Eviction Under New Federal Stimulus

SALT LAKE CITY, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SixFifty, the technology subsidiary of the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, today announced that its free Hello Landlord tool (www.hellolandlord.org) can help renters who cannot pay their rent because of the COVID-19 Emergency to avoid eviction. SixFifty launched Hello Landlord in June 2019 to help renters communicate with their landlords about problems with rental properties and missed rent payments. The tool has been updated to generate a letter that renters can use to inform their landlord (1) that they have missed or will miss a rent payment because of the COVID-19 Emergency and (2) that the new federal stimulus likely bars an eviction. The letter also asks their landlord to work with them on a constructive way forward. The Hello Landlord letter explains that, for many landlords, evicting renters who miss rent payments is currently not an option. Under the recently passed federal stimulus bill, called the CARES Act, there is a temporary moratorium on evictions from rental properties that have a federally backed mortgage. Because the moratorium applies to properties with mortgages that are owned or secured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it applies to a significant number of the rental properties in the United States. The eviction moratorium took effect on the date the CARES Act was enacted, March 27, 2020, and runs for 120 days. Several state and local governments have also enacted laws pausing evictions. "Many renters struggling financially because of the COVID-19 Emergency do not know where to begin in having a constructive conversation with their landlord when they can't make their rent payments," said Kimball Dean Parker, CEO of SixFifty. "The Hello Landlord Tool helps people to recognize the protections that are currently in place for renters and begin important conversations with their landlords so they can avoid being evicted once the protections expire." Hello Landlord is the second tool that SixFifty has built in the last week to try and keep people in their homes during this COVID-19 pandemic. On Aril 2, SixFifty launched Hello Lender (www.hellolender.org), a free tool that helps homeowners who are struggling financially due to the COVID-19 Emergency to avoid foreclosure by requesting to delay their mortgage payments for up to six months, without penalties or fees, under the CARES Act. Hundreds of homeowners have already used Hello Lender in the first few days after launch.



Like Hello Lender, the updated Hello Landlord tool asks renters a series of basic questions, such as their names and the address of the property they are renting. The questions appear in either English or Spanish, depending on the renter's preference. SixFifty's automation software takes the renter's answers and uses them to generate a customized letter that the renter can give to his or her landlord. In addition to Hello Landlord and Hello Lender, SixFifty also launched a free COVID-19 Policy Toolset and Employee Questionnaire that allows businesses to customize COVID-19-specific telework, reimbursement, sick and family leave, and travel policies and gather information from their workforce. Hundreds of businesses have already used the free tool.

Wilson Sonsini formed SixFifty in February 2019 to develop automated tools designed to make legal processes more efficient and affordable. SixFifty combines the expertise of one of the world's leading technology law firms with technology such as automation to make the law more accessible to people and companies. SixFifty recently released a privacy suite that automates compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. Hello Landlord was originally created by SixFifty in collaboration with LawX, the legal design lab at BYU Law School, and the Innovation for Justice (i4J) Program at University of Arizona College of Law. About SixFifty

Headquartered in the Silicon Slopes area of Utah, SixFifty is a subsidiary of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and combines the expertise of the world's leading technology law firm, made accessible through thoughtful technology. Led by a group of lawyers and software engineers that believe the law should be easier to navigate, SixFifty streamlines complex areas of the law by providing actionable, efficient and affordable solutions for individuals and businesses. For more information, please visit www.sixfifty.com. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sixfiftys-free-hello-landlord-tool-helps-people-avoid-eviction-under-new-federal-stimulus-301037927.html SOURCE SixFifty

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You'll have seen the emails: New lines 25pc off! 40pc off! 70pc off! Brands big and small are grappling with the coronavirus shutdown, attempting to offload their spring-summer collections online at increasingly urgent, unseasonal discounts. And tempting as such 'deals' may sound, consumers are hesitant about pulling the trigger on a purchase, grappling with the moral question of whether or not to shop.

The high street lockdown has hit hard: Debenhams, Laura Ashley and Cath Kidston are set to file for administration, and major retailers including Next and River Island have closed their online operations, while Brown Thomas and Arnotts have resumed trading with a limited offering. Yet people are still spending - online sales jumped by 110pc in March compared to the previous four weeks, according to data from Irish marketing agency Wolfgang Digital.

At the same time, stories continue to emerge about the lack of protections for delivery drivers and warehouse workers. Asos has been criticised by staff who say they feel unsafe working in its Barnsley distribution centre, describing it as a "cradle of disease". The online retailer has denied these claims are true. Workers for Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo told the Guardian it is "practically impossible" to follow social distancing guidelines in their depots. Unite the Union has called for greater support for drivers after being inundated with complaints about non-essential deliveries.

With people dying, a recession looming and workers at risk of infection, shopping for non-essential items seems selfish, reckless, even shameful. But it is also what fuels our economy, and small businesses are under threat, too, many of them struggling to cover staff salaries and rent on bricks-and-mortar stores. Plus, retail therapy can bring some much-needed relief in the gloom of isolation.

"There is a balance to be struck here," says Eddie Shanahan, retail consultant and chair of the Council of Irish Fashion Designers. "We're in a situation where several big players have stopped taking online orders. Others, like Brown Thomas and Arnotts, have gone back online with a smaller, more targeted offer. And in addition, you have a third level of very small makers. These are people first, with families to support.

"I would think that very, very aggressive selling online would be a mistake. I think the consumer is smart enough to understand that. But I also think consumers, and I've seen many of them on social media, are encouraging us to maybe buy a voucher from a small maker and support them. But there are dozens, hundreds, thousands of small makers right across this island that would really appreciate the encouragement, the stimulation, the motivation right now through a few small orders."

Carol McHugh launched her online-only womenswear brand Joe Noe in January, and says she has wrestled with whether to close up shop until the pandemic passes.

"I am definitely locked in the moral dilemma of do I deliver, do I not deliver?" she says. "It is a difficult one, because if we don't ship, then our business won't exist.

"As a new brand, it's hard to know the rights and wrongs. My partner actually works in construction and they're reopening sites. If construction is going on and they're working side to side, then is it wrong to say I can't post a parcel to a customer who will receive it on their doorstep?"

E-commerce can provide a lifeline for many small businesses. Margaret O'Rourke, owner of MoMuse Jewellery, closed her shop in Powerscourt Townhouse last month, and is hoping to generate enough revenue from her online sales to meet the rent on her physical location. Unlike many brands, she hasn't reduced prices on her stock.

"I thought about doing that, but to be honest, this is key for me, I'm a small business and we still have to pay rent. We need to survive and we don't know how long this is going to go on."

As the quarantine stretches on, our attitudes towards consumption appear to be shifting. More of us are realising that where we spend our money matters. While some shoppers may be stocking up on 7 boob tubes from fast fashion brands, many are reevaluating their idea of a 'meaningful purchase', by buying local to support small brands, sending gifts, or investing in high-quality loungewear and home accessories to make time indoors more comfortable. Data from MatchesFashion.com shows sales of candles have increased 100pc compared to last year, while throws are up nearly 300pc and cardigans more than 200pc.

Margaret notes that candles have been a big seller for her, but the majority of orders are gifts.

"There are big birthdays, anniversaries, surprising people - for example, one customer has a friend who has coronavirus, he sent her a gift with a note. There are so many stories. It's quite heart-wrenching, because people can't see people, they have no contact with each other from one end of the country to the other. It's kind of nice really."

Shopping for ourselves, meanwhile, can be optimistic: we hope to wear those earrings or that blouse on some future occasion, when this pandemic is behind us. And it can be a little pick-me-up for the present moment, too.

"People have said to us that buying this dress has given them hope: 'I've got something to look forward to', or 'I've got something to brighten my day'. Bright colours can lift people's moods as well, so people are coming back to us with comments that 'This is giving me a bit of joy, I can't wait to wear it when this all blows over'," says Carol. "It's giving people a bit of a mental lift."

Of course, there are many people who don't have the luxury of treating themselves or a loved one, as coronavirus continues to put people out of work. Others may be more focused on conserving funds in the case of a post-pandemic recession. And still others may not be comfortable ordering any non-essential deliveries.

There are still ways to support Irish designers: buy a gift voucher, if you can afford it. Follow them on social media, like their posts or tag your friends in the comments to spread the word and help build their consumer base. And, Eddie emphasises, encourage your family, friends and neighbours to shop Irish.

"Particularly when the recovery comes, that is going to be really, really vital, right across the spectrum of small retailers, large retailers and also Irish makers," he says. "If that brings the consumer, the retailer and the maker together in supporting the Irish economy and in supporting the recovery, I think we will achieve a lot."
Ethnic Chin villagers carry food supplies in baskets to their homes in a village in western Myanmar's Chin state in an undated photo.

Seven villagers were killed and eight others injured by mortar fire from Myanmar military aircraft following fighting Tuesday between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army in Chin state abutting war-riven Rakhine state, local residents said.

Amid the latest escalation in a 15-month-old conflict that has not paused even as Myanmar grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, government forces launched airstrikes in the evening following the clash that occurred near Nanchaungwa village in Paletwa township, they said.

The dead include a three-year old, three females, and four males. The others were injured by both artillery fire and in house fires caused by the attack, they said.

Eight villagers have been injured, and they are receiving treatment at the hospital, said a villager who requested anonymity out of fear for his safety.

At least eight homes have been burned down, he added. Seven people have died so far. Most of the injured dont have fatal injuries, but one of them is in serious condition.

Another villager who declined to provide a name for the same reason said the residents heard gunfire from an area about a mile from Nanchaungwa village between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Later that day, two military aircraft began firing the area near the village around 4:30 p.m., he said.

The aerial attack burned many houses and killed a few people, he said, speaking to RFA from the hospital. It was the fighter jets. Many villagers were hiding under houses hit by artillery fire from the planes. Thats why many villagers were burned and injured and others killed.

At least four mortar shells fired from the aircraft fell into the village, while one house under which people took shelter was burned, residents said.

The online journal The Irrawaddy reported that an additional villager had been injured, and that nine homes and a rice mill had burned down.

More than 180 villagers fled to Nay La Village following the air assault and took up shelter in religious buildings, the report said.

Battle confirmation

The Arakan Army (AA) said Wednesday that its troops engaged in a 40-minute clash with Myanmar soldiers in an area about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) south of Paletwa at 7:40 a.m. Tuesday.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha told RFAs Myanmar Service on Tuesday that the Myanmar Army lost some soldiers who were guarding the Paletwa Bridge over the Kalatan River during the battle, and that the government air force conducted airstrikes in both the area where the fighting had occurred and in non-conflict areas around 11 a.m.

Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the battle and the military airstrikes in the area, but said he did not have information about civilian deaths and injuries. The government military only rarely confirms casualties.

The villagers said they cannot report the latest situation because of a mobile internet service shutdown in Paletwa township that prevents them from sending messages, photos, and videos to humanitarian organizations and their lawmakers.

The Myanmar government ordered mobile network operators to suspend service in Paletwa and eight townships in neighboring Rakhine state as a security measure amid the hostilities.

Fighting since the beginning of 2019 has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced about 157,000 others in northern Rakhine state, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress, a local humanitarian relief group.

At least 70 civilians have died, and more than 170 have been injured in northern Rakhine sate and in Chins Paletwa township since February 26, according to a tally by RFA.

Rice shortages continue

The number of displaced persons in Paletwa town has now reached more than 2,000, with residents facing severe rice shortages because of road closures due to the fighting, said Salai Isaac Khen, former Chin state minister for municipality, electricity and industry.

We are out of rice, he said, adding that 80 bags recently transferred from the town of Samee are almost gone.

There are rice bags in Samee, he added. If military troops take care of the security, and AA troops agree not to carry out any ambushes, then we would be able to transport the rice bags from Samee to Paletwa.

Local leaders already have transported 4,000 bags of rice  a staple food in Myanmar  from Samee to Paletwa, which lies two hours away. They also have purchased 6,000 rice bags in Rakhine states capital Sittwe, but they cannot ship them to Paletwa due to the armed fighting, said Soe Htet, Chin states minister of municipal affairs, electricity, and industry.

We are working to transport these rice bags as soon as possible, he told RFA. The military is trying to secure the route for transport.

We hope we will be able to send these rice bags by vehicle once the military has secured the road, he added.

Fighting between the AA and the Myanmar military along Kaladan River in Paletwa and in Rakhines Kyauktaw township has damaged local transportation networks, causing rice shortages in Paletwa since February.

About 8,000 people live in Paletwa town, while more than 100,000 people resident in the entire township.

The World Food Programme, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, announced April 3 that it would provide food supplies for displaced civilians in Samee.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
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Linkedin Alwyn Scott, Ross Kerber, Jessica DiNapoli and Rebecca Spalding (Reuters) New York/Boston, United States  Thu, April 9, 2020 10:50 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c3e22 2 Business COVID-19,coronavirus,lay-off,dividend,share-buyback,united-states,employees Free

US companies laying off workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic but still paying dividends and buying back shares are drawing criticism from labor unions, pension fund advisers, lawmakers and corporate governance experts.

While most US companies are scaling back payouts after a decade in which the amount of money paid to investors through buybacks and dividends more than tripled, some are maintaining their policies despite the economic pain.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Halliburton Co, General Motors Co and McDonalds Corp have all laid off staff, cut their hours, or slashed salaries while maintaining payouts, according to a Reuters review of regulatory filings, company announcements and company officials.

This is the time for large companies to try to help, for systemic reasons, to keep things flowing, said Ken Bertsch, executive director of the Council of Institutional Investors. The councils members include public pension funds and endowments that manage assets worth about US$4 trillion.

Read also: Five more months to business as usual: Business players

Royal Caribbean, which has halted its cruises in response to the pandemic and borrowed to boost its liquidity to more than $3.6 billion, said it began laying off contract workers in mid-March, though the moves did not affect its full-time employees.

The company has not suspended its remaining $600 million share buyback program, which expires in May, or its dividend, which totaled $602 million last year and is set quarterly.

We continue to take decisive actions to protect (our) financial and liquidity positions, Royal Caribbean spokesman Jonathon Fishman said. He declined to comment specifically on the layoffs or shareholder payouts.

While Royal Caribbeans rival Carnival Corp has also laid off contract workers, it has suspended dividends and buybacks as it raised more than $6 billion in capital markets to weather the coronavirus storm.

Unemployment surge

Goldman Sachs analysts forecast this week that S&P 500 companies would cut dividends in 2020 by an average of 50 percent because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

While there has been criticism of companies maintaining investor payouts, only those receiving financial support from the US government under a $2.3 trillion stimulus package are obliged to suspend share buybacks.

US companies hare buybacks and dividends payouts. (Reuters/-)

Layoffs contributed to US unemployment skyrocketing last month. Jobless claims topped 6.6 million in the week ended March 28 - double the record set the prior week and far above the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982.

Companies say job cuts are necessary to offset a plunge in revenue but their critics say they should consider turning off the spigots to shareholders before letting employees go.

If companies are paying dividends and doing buybacks, they do not have to lay off workers, said William Lazonick, a corporate governance expert at the University of Massachusetts.

Workers at franchised McDonalds restaurants say they are getting fewer shifts since dining areas were closed in March, leaving only carry-out and drive-through services open.

Alma Ceballos, 31, who has worked at a franchised McDonalds near San Francisco for 14 years, said she could not pay her rent after her schedule was cut to 16 hours from 40 and her husband, a janitor at Apple Incs Cupertino, California, campus was laid off.

McDonalds, which has suspended buybacks but maintained its annual dividend, worth $3.6 billion in 2019, told Reuters its staffing and opening hours were not related to making a choice between employees and dividends.

About 95 percent of its US restaurants are run by franchisees who decide staffing. McDonalds said it was offering rent deferrals and other help to keep franchises open and employing workers.

Read also: Tens of thousands of workers across Indonesia laid off because of COVID-19 outbreak

McDonalds could commit to 30 days of income for all workers, Mary Kay Henry, president of the labor union SEIU which has 2 million members, said in an interview with Reuters. Corporations need to pay their fair share here.

Its just wrong

General Motors has halted normal production in North America and temporarily reduced cash pay for salaried workers by 20 percent. It paid its first-quarter dividend on March 20 and has a month before declaring its next dividend, a spokeswoman said, adding that GM would assess economic conditions before deciding.

Our focus in the near term is to protect the health of our employees and customers, ensure we have ample liquidity for a very wide range of scenarios, and implement austerity measures to preserve cash, spokeswoman Lauren Langille said.

Oilfield services firm Halliburton furloughed about 3,500 workers in its Houston office starting on March 23, according to a letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission obtained by Reuters. It has also cut 350 positions in Oklahoma.

Halliburton cited disruption from the coronavirus as well as plunging oil prices as the reason for the furlough. In March, it paid its first-quarter dividend to shareholders as planned.

A Halliburton spokeswoman declined to comment on the furlough and the companys dividend policy.

Read also: Coronavirus drives record US job losses amid economic shutdown

Some of the companies laying off workers while still paying out shareholders, such as General Motors, signed an initiative last year from the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives, pledging to make business decisions in the interest of employees and other stakeholders, not just shareholders.

Large asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard have cited managing human capital as a priority for companies in which they invest. Yet they have been reluctant to publicly press companies to avoid layoffs during the crisis.

Vanguard told Reuters it recognizes the need for companies to exercise judgment and flexibility as they balance short- and long-term business considerations.

BlackRock did not respond with a statement when contacted for comment.

Profits should be shared with the workers who actually create them, US Senator Tammy Baldwin, a long-standing critic of share buybacks, told Reuters in an email.

Its just wrong for big corporations to reward the wealthy or top executives with more stock buybacks, while closing facilities and laying off workers.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Taguig City on Thursday warned its residents, particularly those living in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), against doing outdoor fitness and leisure activities while the Luzon-wide lockdown is in place.

Mayor Lino Cayetano said photos, videos, and reports indicate that residents are still jogging in public at a time when outdoor activities are strictly limited to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"Mayor Lino cautioned violators that this will be their last and final warning. Authorities will not hesitate to arrest violators next time around," the local government said in a statement.

Police officers in Taguig have started arresting violators in BGC and have charged 15 individuals, including foreigners. Over 500 people have already been apprehended in Taguig.

The city has recorded 132 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 33 coming from Barangay Fort Bonifacio, as of April 5.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- We are seeing glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel that is the Covid-19 crisis. China, where the pandemic first struck, had its first day with no new deaths to report. Europes worst hit countries, Italy and Spain, are recording a slowing of their respective death tolls. And governments are now talking openly about lifting draconian lockdowns that have restricted movement for half of the worlds population, torpedoed economic activity and imposed a global recession. This is a big moment.

The tunnel is a long one, though. The coronavirus outbreak hasnt spread uniformly, and, in Europe, country-by-country lockdowns have been applied in haphazard ways. For now, only a handful of states are outlining plans to lift restrictions within days.

The most confident public signals arent coming from countries with the most heavy-handed measures, such as Italy or Spain, or those taking a more lax stance, like Sweden (which is belatedly getting tougher). Theyre coming from Austria and Denmark, which acted early relative to their coronavirus outbreaks and saw their infection rates come under control. Data compiled by Oxford Universitys Blavatnik School of Government shows these two countries introduced lockdowns when they had fewer than 1,000 cases and almost no deaths. When France and Spain began theirs, their case count was closer to 10,000 and their death tolls in the hundreds.

If theres a lesson to heed from the likes of Austria and Denmark  which were themselves following in China, Italy and Israels footsteps  its twofold. First, as Bank of Americas Ethan Harris put it last week, the least expensive shutdown for ones economy is a quick, air-tight one, rather than one thats slow and indecisive. And second, ending such a shutdown should be done very, very carefully.

Its already clear that 9 million Austrians will not suddenly swarm the streets of Vienna or the mountains of Tyrol to toast and sing their liberation, Sound-of-Music style. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has laid out his plan for a step-by-step re-opening on April 14, which is as cautious as it sounds. Everyone will have to wear a mask on public transport, in supermarkets, and in the stores that are due to re-open. The resuscitation of the economy will happen in two-week phases, starting with small stores and parks, then bigger stores and malls, then restaurants and bars. Schools are going to remain closed for the time being. Its a broadly similar story in Denmark.

Story continues

This speaks to the underlying fear that stalks life after lockdown: A potential flare-up in infections and deaths as the virus becomes free to mingle once again, overloading critical-care facilities. It would be a nightmare if a country opened the flood-gates only to shut them again a few days or weeks later. How long would Europeans support for being confined to their homes last if lockdowns ran through spring and summer, making partial unemployment potentially something more permanent? Enforcing a shutdown would be doubly hard the second time around. A phased recovery is calculated to avoid the possibility of that happening.

Yet it also suggests that hopes for a sharp bounce-back in the economy  the longed-for V-shaped recovery  are looking distant. More movement, more spending and more activity are clearly good for private consumption in Austria, which according to Raiffeisen Bank International analyst Gunter Deuber accounts for just over 50% of GDP. But how much pent-up demand will be unleashed in a country of masked consumers, respecting social-distancing measures and grappling with the highest unemployment rate since World War II?

Google location data for Austria points to a drop-off in shopping trips and recreation of around 87% from the pre-virus baseline, and 64% fewer trips to the grocery store and pharmacy. Thats not all going to be clawed back immediately. Research by RBC Capital Markets found that in China, where restrictions first began to be eased last month, there had been no return to normalcy on a countrywide basis.

And if no man is an island, so it goes for Austria, a small land-locked European Union country deeply integrated into the blocs single market. Some 70% of Austrias foreign trade is with other EU members. There wont be much victory in leap-frogging ones closest partners given the trade disruptions that will remain; Austrias border closures and travel bans will probably be the last measures lifted. That suggests energy still needs to be expended in backing more cooperation and resource pooling to fend off the coronavirus at the European level.

So while the overall direction is positive, it could be months before post-lockdown life looks anything like normality for Austria or its neighbors. A vaccine is likely a year away, and Europe hasnt ramped up its testing capacity enough to start sending people back to work without heavy-handed safety measures.

Until then, though, Austrians can at least start planning their next trip to the park  to model the latest mask fashions.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterling Volunteers , the dedicated nonprofit and service sector unit of Sterling a leading provider of background and identity servicesis proud to be collaborating with valued partner, Visionlink, a provider of technologies that facilitate community disaster response, nationwide. Amid these unprecedented times of coronavirus pandemic, Sterling Volunteers and Visionlink are joining forces by providing direct support for volunteer organization COVID-19 responders to ensure that resources are available where and when they are needed most.

"This is an extraordinary partnership to meet such challenging times," said Doug Zimmerman, CEO, Visionlink. "We are pleased to collaborate with Sterling Volunteers. Their contribution of free basic background checks along with our contributed software solutions for volunteer management and donations of goods and services, with system involvement of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), are needed right now to organize support efforts locally and nationwide."

Offer details for COVID-19 responders:

Sterling Volunteers is offering free Basic Background Checks for COVID-19 responders, including Nationwide Criminal Searches and the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Sex Offender Public Website Searches, with monthly updates for one year.

For a limited time, volunteers can share their background checks with other qualified organizations to reduce time and costs of repeat screening.

Visionlink will provide system access for volunteer management and donations of goods and services, free of charge, to all 50 states and six U.S. Territories.

Visionlink will provide free of charge system access of up to twenty registered users per statefifteen user licenses available for nonprofit agencies and five registered users for state government. The National VOAD determines the actual distribution, given state levels of activity will vary.

Visionlink's technology systems are highly secure and will provide analytical reports on critical information points to state participants and can provide national level analysis.

"As exemplified in our work with Colorado Responds, we are here to help state governments and the community of disaster relief organizations in safely mobilizing trusted volunteers around urgent needs," said Katie Zwetzig, Executive Director, Sterling Volunteers. "Our collaboration with Visionlink and VOAD offers a coordinated experience that will safeguard vulnerable citizens receiving services and instill confidence in responders that will work alongside these volunteers."



About Sterling Volunteers

Sterling Volunteers is dedicated to the nonprofit and service sector, helping organizations fulfill their service missions and positively impact communities. We represent the largest network of vetted volunteers, millions of people ready to mobilize when opportunities arise, helping simplify the volunteer recruitment process. Sterling Volunteers is a division of Sterling, which has pioneered innovation in the background screening industry for more than 40 years. Visit Sterling Volunteers online at sterlingvolunteers.com .

About Sterling

Sterlinga leading provider of background and identity servicesoffers a foundation of trust and safety that spans across industries, professions, and borders. Our technology-powered services help organizations create great environments for their workers, partners, and customers. With office locations around the world, Sterling conducts more than 100 million searches annually. Visit Sterling online at sterlingcheck.com .

About Visionlink Disaster Technologies

Visionlink Disaster Technology is a leading provider of technology solutions to support responding agencies and government. Visionlink Disaster Technologies are created by disaster practitioners for disaster practitioners. Visit Visionlink at visionlink.org.

About National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster

National VOAD is an association of organizations that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters; provides a forum promoting cooperation, communication, coordination, and collaboration; and fosters more effective delivery of services to communities affected by disaster. The National VOAD coalition includes over 60 of the country's most reputable national organizations (faith-based, community-based, and other non-governmental organizations) and 56 State/Territory VOADs, which represent Local/Regional VOADs and hundreds of other member organizations throughout the country. Visit NVOAD at nvoad.org .

Media Contact: Jamie Serino

[email protected]

SOURCE Sterling Volunteers

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TDT | Manama

Well-meaning groups and individuals in Bahrains expatriate communities are stepping up to assist their countrymen who are struggling to make ends meet in light of the current situation caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Hundreds of foreign nationals are out of work and are unable to generate any income. The Bahrain government has quickly responded and put forward many initiatives to assist the Kingdoms residents in this plight. Many in the various expatriate communities have followed suit and are lending a helping hand in their own way.

Indian Community

The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) has started their distribution of support kits amongst its community members most in need. These kits include basic commodities such as rice, dal lentils, green mung lentils, chilli powder, coriander powder, wheat atta, salt, tea powder, cooking oil, black chena lentil, sugar, eggs, milk powder, and much more.

One kit is sufficient for up to four people for approximately two weeks. At the forefront of this initiative is a special ICRF team, headed by Adv. V K Thomas as Convenor, and with Pankaj Malik, Zulfikar Ali, Nasser Manjeri, J S Gill, Satyendra Kumar, Clifford Correa and Shivakumar D V as members.

Apart from providing basic commodities, the fund also includes other amenities. ICRF has already distributed more than 4,000 antibacterial soaps and flyers with disease-exposure prevention instructions.

Meanwhile, Indian Ladies Association (ILA) members have contributed to a fundraising initiative by the ILAs Workers Welfare Subcommittee. The amount collected was transferred online to the Migrant Workers Protection Society COVID-19 Relief Fund and has been used by them to distribute dry rations to daily-wage expatriate workers.

Workers Welfare coordinators mentioned that this was done to avoid any gatherings at campsites, as per the rules laid down by the government. ILA has also been assisting in the national campaign to combat COVID-19 by launching various initiatives online for members.

A campaign #WashyourhandsILA was launched to spread awareness on the importance of hygiene. Over 25 ladies participated. Various other ongoing ILA activities include Ek Saath...Virtual Fun, a talent series where the members post two-minute videos of their skill or talent; and Ek Saath...Virtual Yoga, online yoga sessions for members; while an online Zumba session Ek Saath...Virtual Zumba is also being planned.

Also in the Indian community, Bahrain Kerala Social Forum (BKSF), which is a popular WhatsApp self-help group among Keralites in the Kingdom, was one of the first associations to take an initiative with BKSF Helpline, through which they have collected and distributed food kits to the needy the last two weeks.

The group is headed by Kerala Pravasi Commission member Subair Kannur and Bahrain Malayalee Business Forum general secretary Basheer Ambalayi.

More than 100 food kits have been distributed among the community through volunteers. Following this initiative, many other Kerala expatriate associations like Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS), Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, Overseas Indian Cultural Congress, Navakerala Kalavedi, Samsa Bahrain, Friends Association, Bahrain Prathibha, Samskruthi, Kollam Pravasi Association, and MM Team also started similar programmes, which has been a boon to the community during this stressful period.

BKS, which is known as the mother club for Kerala associations in Bahrain, have distributed hundreds of food kits. Capital Governorate Social Affairs head Ahmed Al Rabea and Strategic Planning and Project Management head Yousif Lori visited BKS and praised the steps taken during this difficult period.

The Capital Governorate also contributed 200 packets of dry ration, which included rice, oil, onions and other essentials to BKS in support of the distribution process.

Filipino Community

The drive to provide relief to Philippine nationals affected by the measures to curb the coronavirus spread is being spearheaded by the Philippine Embassy through the launch of the project Bayanihan para kay Kabayan.

The word Bayanihan loosely translates to working together; it is a common value of Filipinos who always come together to help each other through difficult times.

Embassy personnel, led by Ambassador Alfonso A. Ver, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Office in Bahrain (OWWA-Bahrain) were able to assemble almost 1,000 packs for distribution.

The Embassys beneficiaries were contacted for their individual schedules to receive the goods in observance of social distancing protocols, while OWWA-Bahrain delivered the packs to the accommodation of workers who sought assistance.

Members of the Filipino community, as well as other private groups and individuals, answered the call and rallied behind the cause, donating food items through the Embassy for distribution to those in need, particularly those who are working under a no-work, no-pay scheme, those who have been asked to go on unpaid leaves, and those who have totally lost employment during this difficult time.

Donations have included sacks of rice, canned goods, instant meals, fruits and vegetables, bottles of water, and much more. These have been collected at the embassy premises in Zinj and distributed to Overseas Filipino Workers most in need of assistance.

Among the groups who have donated through the Embassy are Filipino Club Bahrain, Prince Hall Masons, Pinay Ikaw, Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Centre, Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc. Bahrain, Bravo Manpower, Filipino Teachers of Multinational School, Travellers Tribe, Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers Bahrain and PhilBahMoms, to name just a few.

As of yesterday, the Philippine Embassy, through the help of these donors, have already distributed packs to around 1,500 individual.

Bangladesh community

In the Bangladeshi community, members of Bangladesh Youth Club (BYC) have taken an initiative to make a contribution of essential food items to their countrymen in need. A team delivered the essentials to more than 100 people all over Bahrain.

All donations were exclusively contributed by the members of BYC. The club has assured that the activity has been executed while abiding by strict guidelines enforced by the government to help control the virus spread. Members were divided into several small groups of two people each.

They applied the appropriate precautions when delivering the donations. BYC president Al Amin Muhammed has requested that the Bangladeshi community to come forward and help the poor and needy. BYC is ready to extend a volunteering hand should anyone like to make a contribution and needs assistance.
As humans move to cities to settle, there is a sharp decline in biodiversity leading to several disturbances in the balance and relationship between humans and wild animals. A new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis' One Health Institute, shows that this has led to the spread of zoonotic viruses from animals to humans, such as COVID-19, which has caused a global pandemic involving over 184 countries and territories. The study was published in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

This study was funded by the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threat PREDICT program and the National Institute of Health.

Small animals, rabbit, kitten, puppy, sharing a cage. Image Credit: Epov Dmitry / Shutterstock

What was the study about?

Human contact with wildlife has increased, say scientists. For this study, American and Australian researchers looked at all the pathogens that humans and animals share over time. They noted that there were 142 viruses that are shared between animals and humans over hundreds of years. These viruses have been connected between humans and several species of animals that are on the IUCN threatened list. The IUCN threatened list contains animals that are endangered.

Bird market in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Image Credit: Christian Mueller / Shutterstock

Domestic animals and animals living close to humans

The researchers explained that viruses are shared between humans and domestic animals such as sheep, pigs, goats, dogs, and cattle as well as domesticated birds. The number of viruses shared by humans and domestic animals was eight times higher than those with wild animals.

They write that several wild animals have become used to living in environments close to humans. With urbanization, animals such as rodents, primates such as monkeys, and other animals such as bats live closer to humans than before. These animals are responsible for causing around 75 percent of all the zoonotic viral infections in man. Bats are responsible for several zoonotic viral infections in humans, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Nipah, Marburg, and Ebola.

GUANGZHOU, CHINA - Chinese snake and reptiles market. Image Credit: tostphoto / Shutterstock

Why are viruses from wild animals spilling over to humans?

The new study reveals that threatened and endangered wild animal populations have declined. This has happened largely due to the loss of wildlife habitats, hunting, poaching and trading of parts of wild animals. This decline and contact with humans have also led to the spread of zoonotic infections, which were earlier restricted to wild habitats.

The study authors said, "Human encroachment into biodiverse areas increases the risk of spillover of novel infectious diseases by enabling new contacts between humans and wildlife  We found that species in the primate and bat orders were significantly more likely to harbor zoonotic viruses compared to all other orders."

Lead author Christine Kreuder Johnson, director of the EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics at the One Health Institute, a program of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, added, "Spillover of viruses from animals is a direct result of our actions involving wildlife and their habitat. The consequence is they're sharing their viruses with us. These actions simultaneously threaten species survival and increase the risk of spillover. In an unfortunate convergence of many factors, this brings about the kind of mess we're in now."

Roasted bats at Tomohon market, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Image Credit: Sony Herdiana / Shutterstock

What do we do now?

Johnson said, "We need to be really attentive to how we interact with wildlife and the activities that bring humans and wildlife together. We obviously don't want pandemics of this scale. We need to find ways to co-exist safely with wildlife, as they have no shortages of viruses to give us."

Open letter to WHO

Nearly 200 wildlife welfare organizations (including the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Zoological Society of London, World Animal Protection, and Humane Society International and Peta) have written an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO). They recommend that nations enforce stricter control on wildlife markets across the world and also ban the use of animals and their body parts in traditional medicine. The letter added that the COVID-19 pandemic has its origins in wildlife markets, and that is a warning that this needs to stop.

The letter says that this ban on wildlife markets can help stop the spread of zoonotic diseases and also prevent species extinction, which is primarily attributed to this form of trade. The letter reads, "This decisive action, well within the WHO's mandate, would be an impactful first step in adopting a highly precautionary approach to wildlife trade that poses a risk to human health." The letter added that over 2 billion cases of human diseases and over 2 million cases of deaths are a direct result of animal-to-human disease transmission. The diseases include Ebola, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), HIV, rabies, bovine tuberculosis, and leptospirosis.

UN biodiversity chief Elizabeth Maruma Mrema has also called for a ban on wildlife markets given the global condition. Mrema is also the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and she explains that a large population, especially in Africa, is dependent on wildlife markets for food, and they need alternatives.

The letter to WHO added, "Matters regarding zoonotic diseases are outside of Cites's mandate, and the Secretariat does not have the competence to make comments on the recent news on the possible links between human consumption of wild animals and COVID-19."

Teresa Telecky, vice president of wildlife at Humane Society International, said in a statement, "The current COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated just how deadly the wildlife trade can be, not just for the wild animals involved, but also for people throughout the world. COVID-19 has killed thousands of people and will likely have lasting negative impacts on local and global economies." She added, "It is a tipping point that governments globally must not ignore. Wildlife markets worldwide are a petri dish for the next global pandemic, so governments across the globe must act to permanently ban the wildlife trade, including for food, medicine, fur, pets, and other reasons. Governments must also help those traders involved to find new livelihoods as quickly as possible."
At sundown Wednesday, Jewish families celebrated the first night of Passover by retelling the story of the exodus from serfdom, the promise of redemption and the decades of the Israelites' desert wandering.

Although Passover will be occurring in a much different world this year, Jewish people do have a history of one long narrative of resilience. Whether you are interfaith, just Jewish, Jewish adjacent, celebrating solo, or with a bare minimum of family seated far apart, we all need grounding. And so we move on, recasting a holiday that has been upended by COVID-19.

The first of the four questions  Why is this night different from all other nights?  will probably induce an entire night of discussion.

Passover is the Festival of Freedom. It is also called the Festival of Matzoh. Even with Passover in pandemic, there'll be stacks of matzoh, unleavened and square, the Jews' original ancient cracker made with wheat and water. As a child, I think I remember holding my head in my hands, over-awed by the amount of bread I could not have for a week. That faded as a front-of-mind thought quite a while ago.

Passover desserts were equally sad. Remember when pastries based on potato flour, matzoh meal, and the more finely ground matzoh cake meal, showcased the ingenuity of home cooks and bakeries?

Today we have choices. We can lean on the gluten-free community for chametz-free baking.

Here are recipes for two comfort foods, both crowd-pleasers that suit the two schools of Passover dessertdom: what's new, and what follows the strict food rules.

At the grocery store, head to the aisle of the alternate flours, the gluten-free flours. Our recipes call for almond, coconut and banana flour, all gluten-free.

Almond flour is ground from whole almonds with the skin intact or not.

"Coconut flour is made from fresh mature coconuts," emailed Tim Malec, quality assurance manager for Clearly Organic Coconut Flour. The flour is a by-product of extracting the coconut milk from the meat.

"The remaining fresh coconut meat," or the leftover meat, "is pulverized and dried to a fine powder."

And banana flour?

"I never heard of banana flour," said the guy on the ladder stocking the designated Passover shelves at a big grocery. Nor had I, until five years ago when I toured Ritual Chocolate, a small Park City, Utah, factory that, at the end of the chocolate tour, encouraged us to step into a cafe. After watching cacao beans turn into chocolate, don't you just want a rich, fudgy brownie? And there they were, on the counter by the register. Gluten-free, the sign said. The sight of those deep, intensely dark chocolate brownies with crackly tops unadorned by any dusting of powdered sugar did reliably raise my pulse.

They were made with banana flour and baked with Ritual's small batch, bean-to-bar ethically sourced foodstuff du jour  bittersweet chocolate  but also studded with cacao nibs, which are lightly roasted and crushed cacao beans that have a wonderful nutlike crunch.

Wow! Wouldn't Roald Dahl, author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," be proud to know that really great chocolate can still make your troubles go away.

David Wintzer's nearby Park City banana flour business, first called WEDO (Women Entrepreneurs Development Organization) then re-named Zuvii, was packing banana flour.

On a phone call, Wintzer said that he was the first in America to import banana flour more than 10 years ago, and from Kenya, where he made microloans to women who had been producing flour from their crop.

More Information Sources Look for almond flour, coconut flour and bittersweet chocolate bars without soy lecithin at Hungarian Kosher in Skokie, Ill. Visit them at hungariankosher.com. For green banana flour, check www.nunaturals.com and amazon.com. See More Collapse

"The paleo community told us about the benefits of green bananas," he said. And though his first supplier didn't work out, other countries had suppliers that met FDA standards. Unripe green bananas that have not yet turned to sugar are harvested, then peeled, sliced, dehydrated and pulverized into flour. Fifty-five pound boxes arrived at his packaging plant in Park City, where small containers were filled and shipped to "1,000 stores nationwide."

What about cooking with banana flour?

"Because of the high starch there is a denseness to the batter. It absorbs moisture. It binds like crazy. The starch properties are what do that," he said. "The surprise is that it (a brownie) comes out like a whole-wheat-looking thing. Dark, almost like a bran color."

If you are hosting a seder  even a small one  there probably won't be family together cooking for a day in your kitchen. But you will have desserts that will be talked about until your usual spirited discussions and singing next year.

Cacao Nib and Bittersweet Chocolate Banana Flour Brownies

Makes: 24 brownies

This recipe is adapted from one by Robbie Stout and Anna Davies, co-owners of Ritual Chocolate. Underneath the crackly, firm top, you won't necessarily taste banana, but you will get the crunch from cacao nibs. Those are a key component. Freeze brownies for at least 45 minutes before cutting into small squares. To store, cover tightly with plastic wrap for up to three days.

8 ounces chocolate 70 percent cacao bars, chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup cacao nibs

1/3 cup banana flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) the bottom and sides of a 9-by-12-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Melt the broken chocolate pieces with the butter in a microwave on medium-high or in a double boiler; set aside.

Using a whisk or mixer, beat the brown sugar, eggs and water in a medium bowl. Add the melted chocolate and butter; stir until fully incorporated but do not overmix.

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Stir together the nibs, banana flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add to the batter, stirring until fully incorporated, but do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan; smooth the top evenly with a spatula. Bake until the top is crackly, sides pull away from the edges and a toothpick comes out clean, 23-25 minutes.

Let the pan cool on a rack, about 25 minutes. Cover with foil and freeze for 45 minutes. The brownies will be much easier to cut into square

Brown Butter Chocolate Almond Flour Cookies

Makes: 28 cookies, (about 2-inch diameter)

This recipe from kosher chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Laura Frankel combines two gluten-free flours that, she emailed, "actually add flavor to a recipe while still providing structure. Also, if the butter is too soft, it will not cream and the cookies will be dense." Use a light-colored pan to brown the butter so that you can see the brown specks develop.

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (5 ounces)

1 cup almond flour, packed (4 ounces)

3 tablespoons coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed (about 4 ounces)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons flaky sea salt or coarse salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small pan, heat the butter over low to medium-low; allow the butter to bubble away until the foam subsides and the color is a light nutty brown, 8-10 minutes. As you see a lot of foam rising, do not turn your back on the pan because the difference between deep golden brown and black can be seconds. Let butter sit off the heat for a few minutes, then transfer to a heat-proof container and freeze until solid, 30-35 minutes. The browned bits and flecks will sink to the bottom. When you invert the container, gently scrape off the burnt bits or the flavor will overwhelm the cookies. You can also use a fine mesh strainer to remove the burnt bits.

Whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or with electric beaters) on medium-low, cream the butter and sugar together until light and the sugar is no longer gritty, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and flour mixture. Stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate, pecans and salt.

Scoop walnut-size pieces of dough; arrange on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans after 4 minutes.

Allow to cool before moving to a cooling rack as the cookies will be very soft.
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Can your employer ask if you are sick? And can you be fired if you are?

Those questions, fraught in normal times, are coming to the fore as workers and businesses navigate a new environment where a sick colleague isnt just an inconvenience, but a potential threat to the company and the workforce.

Federal law prohibits discrimination based on disabilities, and companies have to walk a fine line between protecting worker health and complying with labor laws. But a number of workers in California have already filed complaints with the state alleging discrimination related to the coronavirus, highlighting a new legal battlefield.

During an epidemic or pandemic, employers do have more leeway to seek medical information if it is done to protect other employees from infection.

Before it shut down operations at its Fremont plant last month, electric carmaker Tesla took employees temperatures as they entered the factory, to guard against sick employees potentially spreading the coronavirus.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated existing guidance for employers in March, saying the coronavirus is similar to past influenza pandemics and employers can request information from employees about symptoms, take their temperatures at work and require that they stay home.

The commission specified that employers cannot ask an employee who is not displaying symptoms of illness whether they have other medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to an infectious disease.

Not all employers seem to have stuck to these rules. San Francisco mobile gaming company Skillz recently sent a document to employees asking if they have certain afflictions, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis or the coronavirus, to avoid infecting others. In the document obtained by The Chronicle, the company promised to keep sensitive medical information confidential.

The policy did not specify why the company needed detailed information on employees health. Skillz did not respond to an email asking questions about its policy.

In the document, Skillz said employees exhibiting symptoms of a range of ailments or those at higher risk from exposure could be encouraged to leave work and seek medical attention.

In assigning dangerous work  and these days, being a cashier in a grocery store or a delivery courier can qualify  managers might want to consider whether an employee is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Those with weakened immune systems or other conditions can face more of a threat from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. But its not clear if employers can ask about those conditions, even with a pandemic raging.

Ordinarily, asking if someones immune system is compromised might be problematic because it might be a disability, under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, said Catherine Albiston, a law professor at UC Berkeley.

Employers can make medical inquiries after offering employment as long as they do so to all workers in a particular job classification, although they are required to keep information confidential under state and federal law, Albiston said. Employee-related disability inquiries have to be job-related and consistent with business necessities, she said.

Pandemic or no, employers also have a duty to maintain a safe workplace. Determining if someone is ill with the coronavirus or another condition can be part of doing that  but that does not mean employers have to ask about a particular condition, Albiston said.

Employers are prohibited from firing workers simply because they are ill, but sick workers can be laid off alongside the well as the economy continues to sputter.

The line between a discriminatory firing and an economically necessary layoff is not always clear.

Kevin Kish, the director of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, said his office had received three coronavirus-related complaints in recent weeks and that one case had involved a health care worker who lost a job.

What were seeing in some of these cases is an overlap between health and safety protections and antidiscrimination protections, administered at the state and federal level by different agencies, Kish said.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The agency is encouraging the cases to go to mediation to avoid lawsuits, but Im sure that in some of these cases, well see litigation out of this crisis, Kish added.

Paul Buckowski / Albany Times Union 2018

Attorney Lisa Bloom said she is working with a former front desk worker at a Bay Area medical facility who lost his job after being exposed to a patient with the coronavirus. He was not given protective equipment, she said. The worker was sent home after a patient with the virus came to the desk where he worked. He lost his job the next day, despite subsequently testing negative for the virus, Bloom said.

Bloom said her client, who has not yet filed a complaint or lawsuit, wanted to remain anonymous for fear of further retaliation. She did not disclose the name of the employer.

State law prohibits discrimination based on a medical condition, but Bloom said the law applies to only a few specific illnesses, like cancer. This case, she said, appeared to fall into the states disability law, which is broader than federal law, and defines disability as a physical or mental condition that affects a major life function.

What is permitted under state and federal law is highly dependent on the facts of a particular case, said Karla Kraft, an attorney at the Stradling law firm.

An employer also does not necessarily need to make specific inquiries to protect other workers, said Jason Geller, an attorney who manages the San Francisco office of law firm Fisher Phillips.

I would not encourage employers to start inquiring on their own about whether an employee is vulnerable or not, Geller said. He added that a company can inform workers about risks of or from infection and encourage them to come forward: That would be incumbent on the employee.

Chase DiFeliciantonio and Bob Egelko are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com, begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice, @egelko
A Perth Magistrate had stern words for the man accused of sneaking out of hotel quarantine on multiple occasions to visit his girlfriend in Armadale, as prosecutors indicated they would seek immediate jail time.

Jonathan David is accused of failing to comply with a self-isolation directive issued under the Emergency Management Act in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic after flying into Perth from Victoria on March 27.

Jonathan David is accused of sneaking out of his room at the Travelodge Hotel Perth to see his girlfriend while in 14-day quarantine. Credit:Facebook

After unsuccessfully applying for bail in the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, the 35-year-old tried for a second time on Thursday, with his request again denied.

Defence lawyer Gregory Chin claimed his clients circumstances had changed during the week and bail should have been granted as his 14-day isolation period had now finished.
This situation can be overwhelming and when you look at our community as a whole it starts to eat you up, Kring said. It helps when you know you can do a little bit to help. Were doing this not for recognition, but because we want to make a difference.

Kalamazoo Valley Faculty Manufacturing Protective Face Masks and Shields for Area Medical Professionals

Ever since COVID-19 struck our country and state, the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) has continued to grow more urgent every day. As a result, Kalamazoo Valley Community College faculty members Dave Brock and Bill Kring began exploring ways to create masks and face shields using the colleges CNC machines and 3D printers.

Brock and Kring have been working diligently in the Engineering Design and Manufacturing Technology (EDMT) lab to design, manufacture, and assemble face masks and shields based on a design they received from a major 3D manufacturer, Stratasys. Both men are EDMT faculty members and serve as co-chairs of the EDMT department.

The duo has successfully created a prototype of a mask with a commonly available filter material that has tested similar to the level of a N95 mask. Corresponding filter elements can be replaced, and the shell sanitized for re-use. It is estimated they will be able to produce 160 masks each day and 350 shields per week.

The materials and processes we used are what we have on hand and can be sourced locally, Brock said. Several companies have stepped up and donated tools, shared knowledge, etc., specifically Burchett Tool, Axsys CAD/CAM Solutions, Stratasys, and Bronson Hospital. Local business Eimo Technologies is ramping up to produce three face shield frames per minute and six face mask per minute. Jim Williams and Gary Hallam of Eimo have agreed to take on this production at their facility located in Vicksburg.

The college is working with the Kalamazoo County Health Department to prioritize the local distribution of these items. Michael Collins, Executive Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Operations, is working out the logistics of getting the finished goods to local medical agencies and first responders who are dealing firsthand with the pandemic.

Bill and I started talking about this on the first day the college stopped holding in-person classes, Brock said. We thought we could do this - working together we could make it happen.

Brocks wife is a nurse who often cares for patients with respiratory problems so his awareness of the severity of the nationwide PPE shortage was heightened early on. This is pretty personal for me, he said.

Kring was eager to get involved in something positive. This situation can be overwhelming and when you look at our community as a whole it starts to eat you up, Kring said. It helps when you know you can do a little bit to help. Were doing this not for recognition, but because we want to make a difference. Brock and Kring said, To us, the two most important words on the sign out front are community and Kalamazoo.

Kring and Brock spent about 50 hours over a weekend in the lab perfecting a mask. Its awesome what weve been able to do in a small amount of time with resources from all over the college, Kring said. He noted that support has come from local companies, from college administration and staff from multiple departments. The Groves campus and instructor Ian Salo have helped by bringing their equipment online to assist with production.

We arent just throwing stuff together. We are using techniques and Fit Test equipment to show it works, Brock said, noting that hes seen numerous YouTube videos by do-it-yourselfers who are making their own PPE. While those efforts are impressive, the homegrown PPEs may not protect wearers adequately. The mask crafted by Brock and Kring has gone through testing by local health care officials and has proven to be a more effective alternative to cotton or surgical masks. We were absolutely ecstatic with the test results, Brock said.

Its heartwarming to witness Bill and Dave's devotion to supporting the needs of our health care community, said Tracy Labadie, Ed.D., Dean of Instruction - Business, Industrial Trades and Public Service, Not only are they both continuing to teach their full course load, in a virtual environment, but they are volunteering their expertise, personal time, and resources to produce as many of these face masks and face shields as they can feasibly manage. Their efforts are impressive and an inspiration to the rest of us.

Provost and Vice President for Instruction and Student Service, Peter J. Linden, agreed. Our instructors are working tirelessly to step up, serving our community at a heightened level during this time of crisis and offer an innovative yet practical solution to assist health care professionals provide needed care, he said.

As efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) continue, online and remote learning for all Winter Semester 2020 instruction will continue through the end of the semester, April 27. Kalamazoo Valley will begin Summer Semester 2020 on Monday, May 11. Virtual, tele-learning, online and alternate methods of instruction will be provided. Face-to-face instruction may be added as the semester progresses. For more information about the Colleges response to COVID-19, go to http://www.kvcc.edu/coronavirus.

For More Information

Linda Depta

Executive Director of the KVCC Foundation and

Director of College Development and Marketing

269.488.4821 or ldepta@kvcc.edu
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:13:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China pledged continued support to aid its foreign trade firms and minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector as the virus hit the global economy and international trade, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

The country's imports and exports improved in March, and work and production resumption of foreign trade firms has also been advancing in an orderly manner, said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng at an online press conference, noting that more than 76 percent of key firms in the sector recovered over 70 percent of their production capacity so far.

However, part of China's foreign trade enterprises, especially those in the textile industry, had to postpone or cancel orders as the virus spread around the world and weighed on the global economy and international trade, Gao noted.

Gao highlighted collaboration among governments, companies and business organizations to cope with the lack of production materials faced by foreign trade firms due to disrupted global industrial and supply chains.

China will strengthen macro-economic policy coordination with relevant countries and regions to facilitate customs clearance and logistics of important raw materials while encouraging foreign trade firms to avert risks by exploring new business opportunities and increasing spending on innovation.

Gao also said that the MOC will join hands with other related parties to ensure an open, stable and safe global supply chain.
Former first lady of Oyo state, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi in a live Instagram chat has explained how her husband, former Oyo state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi cheated on her a couple of times and how she handled the situation and forgave him.

The interview was held by her daughter, Abisola Kola Daisi. Enjoy!

She said: Even on one or two occasions that Ive caught him cheating, he will apologize. And once he apologizes and it ends, I never go back to them again, I never Bisola, I never ever discussed it.

Because, what Im saying is, to err is human, to forgive is divine. We are friends.



Even as a wife, sometimes I fall below his expectations. Sometimes we do things that is even worse than cheating.

Bisola: Like what? What is worse? What can I do that is worse than cheating? Her first child Abisola Kola Daisi asked.

Mrs Ajimobi: I know some women that build houses without their husband knowing. Its as bad. Its as bad. Why would you do such a thing without telling him. Why?

So, there are different things we do. It is not just cheating that is bad in a relationship. There are some people that you know, they keep dirty secrets and they dont tell their husbands.

So, if you say somebody is your friend. Why are you keeping things?

Sometimes, when I do something, sometimes, I cant even face my husband. I send him messages when I know Ive done something because I dont want to see the hurt on his face, I just write it down. I send him a text and he replies me that its OK, Flory, we can talk about it.

She added that for a man, having sex with his wife is different from sex with a side chic. She said having sex with the wife is making love while sex with the other woman is just sex.

But I think most men, when they cheat, they just have sex with the woman. And the women are smart enough. They know what they want. They have sex with them and they

When a man is having a relationship with a woman he loves, hes making love, hes not having sex.

So if youre cheap enough, give yourself to my husband. Hes mine. Whatever is mine will not go away. He will use you and come back to me.

I tell people, its my leftover youre eating. Hes my leftover. Ive eaten the better part of him. I get the chunky meat, eat the bone, its none of my business. And youre doing it hush hush hush hush. Youre not enjoying it because youre stealing. Youre looking, is somebody there? Am I going to be caught?

So, hes my husband, he cant go anywhere else

She added that cheating hurts a woman when she loves her husband, but a woman who doesnt love her husband wouldnt care what he does.

If you dont love your husband, you wont be jealous. A woman that doesnt love her husband will not care what he does out there. She doesnt care. Even when you see him, you dont care.

When I see my husband, you know, ahn ahn, I feel like dying. When I love him so much and I dont want to be seen as a failure to lose him to somebody else, so I fight for him. Im always fighting for him, always fighting to get him back And he knows.

She went on to reveal how she reacts when her husband cheats on her.

She said: Sometimes, I see my husband I can Google the girls name and then I just print out the picture and put it on the bed. When he comes back from work, he sees the girls picture on his bed and he knows the girl.

I put her name, I put her telephone number and I dont say a word. I dont say a word. Ive done it before, ask him. I print it out.

Because, when I see the phone, I use Truecaller, it will give me the name of the person. Ill Google the name of the person. Even, one was living in America. I Googled her, printed her picture, put it on the bed. What do you have to say? And I left.

So, when he went into the room, he saw it on the bed. I dont know what happened. I wasnt there. I dont know what he did.

But, you know, he now came to me later that, can we discuss? I said, about what? Nothing to discuss. Do you want me to send her away? I said, pay her off.

She added: No, I want to keep my home. So, where would I go? Ill go and be staying alone? When Ive laboured all these while then somebody will come and enjoy? Never. Its not going to happen. Never. Never. Never never never.

Abisola: Youre known to be an advocate of no divorce. At what point can divorce make sense?

Mrs Ajimobi: The point where Ill opt for divorce is when he becomes violent.

But I dont buy divorce because i look at my background and especially where Im coming from. Im a love child, my mother never married my father. I was born out of wedlock. I grew up with my mum and my stepfather and I knew what it takes . It is not the best for any child.

So, when I got married, I had made up my mind that when I get to the union called marriage, its going to be forever. And i had also made up my mind that theres nothing the man can do, its from his house to my grave.

Her daughter pointed out that she mentioned she would make an exception if violence is involved, and Ms Ajimobi stated that for a man to get violent, the woman must have played a part.

She said: But, for it to get violent, I tell a lot of ladies that sometimes, you prompt it. Im not going to let a man beat me because Id rather lock myself up and tell him Im not going to ever come out because I know hell beat me.

Maybe I know Ive said some horrible things. You know women, we can talk, we can get aggressive. Sometimes I know Ive said horrible things to my husband and I see the look on his face. Before it gets further, I just lock myself in the toilet. And hell call me to come, Ill say never, your going to beat me. Hell say, Florence, Im not. Ill say, promise me on your mothers something, you cant beat me.

And hes not a bastard. You tell a man some horrible things, he gets angry, he gets worked up. So, I want us to learn from that. We should mind what we say. Because an angry man cannot control himself. Neither can an angry woman control her words too.

So, we sometimes provoke the men to that level. But when you know youve done it, dont let any man beat you for crying out loud, dont allow it.

Watch a short part of the interview below.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
As coronavirus continues to go on a rampage, infecting people and taking lives across the globe, a warrior drug hydroxychloroquine  which is being used to cure symptoms, has garnered global interest.

Earlier this week, US President Donal Trump warned of retaliation if India did not heed to his request for the drug. On the other hand, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supplying raw materials so that the Latin American country can continue to manufacture the drug.

Heres all you need to know about the emerging antidote:

What is hydroxychloroquine?

Hydroxychloroquine is a drug which is used in the treatment of malaria. Doctors also prescribe hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (inflammation of joints) and lupus (an inflammatory disease when the immune system attacks its own tissues).

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Where is hydroxychloroquine manufactured in India?

82 percent of India's hydroxychloroquine is manufactured by Ipca Laboratories in Mumbai; 8 percent by Zydus Cadila Healthcare in Ahmedabad; and the remaining by Wallace Pharmaceuticals, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Oversees Healthcare Pvt Ltd.

Several countries source the drug from India. About 80 percent of the volume manufactured by Ipca Laboratories is exported.

How did hydroxychloroquine come into the picture?

A study published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (IJAA) pointed out, Azithromycin (an antibiotic) added to hydroxychloroquine was significantly more efficient in virus elimination.

However, the study was flagged for lack of explanation on the scope and inclusion criteria to draw a definite conclusion. Last week, the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, which owns IJAA, said the study did not meet the societys expected standard, especially relating to the lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria and the triage of patients to ensure patient safety.

But, by March 21, Trump had started rooting for the drug, even calling it a game changer. This had led to panic buying in the US, and consequent shortage of the drug, affecting patients of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

What is Indias stance on the drug?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for health care workers treating COVID-19 patients, and has allowed doctors to prescribe it for household contacts of people who have tested positive for coronavirus.

However, the Union Health Ministry has reiterated that the drug should be used for the treatment of COVID-19 only on the prescription of a doctor. It is not an over-the-counter drug and cannot be sold without prescription. Health Ministry Joint Secetary Lav Agarwal had strongly advised against use of the drug for prevention purposes, and had even warned of side effects as it is still under trial.

How much HCQ does India manufacture?

According to a report in The Indian Express, hydroxychloroquine had a market size of Rs 152.80 crore in the 12 months ended February 2020.

According to Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, India exported $36.41 million worth of HCQS in April-February 2019-20.

According to government data, India is capable of producing 40 metric tonnes of HCQ every month, which is approximately 20 crore 200 mg tablets. The government has said that current stocks are adequate to service domestic demand and export commitments, but it is monitoring the sale of the drug, CNBC-TV18 reported.

The government has also placed an initial order of 10 crore tablets with Ipca Laboratories and Zydus Cadila. Drug Pricing Authority NPPA chairman has said that manufacturers have started meeting government orders. If clinical trials of HCQ prove that it can treat patients successfully, production of the drug can be scaled up.

Does India have enough hydroxychloroquine for it to export?

On April 4, India had decided to ban the export of the drug. But, four days later, the Centre decided to ease the ban.

The US, which has reported one of the maximum number of cases, has been looking to procure the drug from India for emergency use.

Besides, the Union Health Ministry, in a press conference on April 9, told media persons that India has sufficient volume of the drug and that it is being exported only after keeping future projections in mind.

Domestic manufacturers have reportedly ramped up production to meet the demand.

Is hydroxychloroquine actually effective?

The jury is still not out on the effectiveness of the drug, as it is still under clinical trial. The WHO is conducting a trial, of which India too is a part, where doctors are to follow a common protocol to treat COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine.

Another trial the chloroquine accelerator trial  is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.
India has made the wearing of face masks mandatory when people leave their homes across several of the countrys largest states and cities, despite the World Health Organisation still advising that such measures are not necessary to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

The orders that came into effect on Thursday apply to Delhi and Mumbai, Indias two largest cities, as well as some of its most populous states, including Uttar Pradesh.

Combined, they make face masks compulsory for more than 300 million people at a time when the countrys health workers say there is panic in some hospitals over a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for those who need it most.

Announcing the decision after a meeting of Delhis most senior officials, the citys chief minister Arvind Kejriwal insisted that the wearing of facial masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus substantially.

In Mumbai, those who are caught flouting the new rules face arrest and up to six months in prison. Punishments in other jurisdictions remained unclear, but all the measures were passed under the same colonial-era Epidemic Diseases Act (1897).

On its website, the WHO states that if you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected [Covid-19] infection, or if you are exhibiting symptoms of the disease yourself, such as coughing and sneezing.

Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies programme, said last week that the organisation stood by this policy on the basis that there is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit, adding that there also is the issue that we have a massive global shortage.

Acknowledging the latter point, most Indian authorities have recommended that non-essential or high-risk workers make their own masks at home  some state governments have even produced their own guides for how to craft them. Facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house  cloth mask shall be eligible too, Mr Kejriwal said.

Yet this also begs the question of how effective the measure will be from a public health perspective. If an N95 filter mask is the gold standard  a 10/10  then a simple cloth covering rates about 3/10 for effectiveness said, Dr Giridhar R Babu, a professor of epidemiology at the Indian Institute of Public Health who has been advising the government.

Dr Babu nonetheless told The Independent that while social distancing might be sufficient in more developed countries, masks were an effective low-cost tool in the Indian setting, given that we have urban slums and other completely overcrowded areas where physical distancing might be a problem.

Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters

Other countries have set a precedent in compelling citizens to wear masks. Turkey has done so nationwide, and Spain has said it will once it has the supplies to meet demand. Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the outbreak, made masks compulsory weeks ago, and recently the US government shifted its stance to say face coverings were recommended for healthy people too  although Donald Trump suggested he would not wear one.

In a news conference on Thursday evening, a senior Indian government official suggested that the optics of everyone wearing a mask together was also important. Their wide usage, five days after the Modi administration said it recommended people do so, was evidence of the fact that Indians at every level of society are doing their best to follow instructions, said Indian foreign ministry additional secretary Vikas Swarup.

Asked if India was disregarding the WHOs guidance, Mr Swarup told The Independent that India has factored in the various elements of WHO advice on these and other matters, alongside best practices in other countries, and specialist advice.

I dont think that we are going in a very extreme direction [on masks], he said. Each state will take whatever steps they deem to be in their best interest, and I think what is important, is that the public has responded quite well to this.

With Indias coronavirus caseload rising fast to nearly 6,000 on Thursday, and more than 170 deaths, the country has moved quickly to start building its own PPE to meet the demands of the crisis. Mr Swarup said the number of firms producing PPE domestically had gone up from zero to 32 since January, and that the aim was to produce 17 million sets of PPE and N95 face masks combined, although the time frame for this was unclear.

Amid popular newspaper campaigns like the Times of Indias call to mask up and save India, even before the latest orders for the adoption of masks was widespread on Delhis otherwise deserted streets  the country is under a national lockdown, the largest of its kind, until at least midnight on 14 April.

But Dr Babu warned that such messaging risked overlooking the other practices, such as regular hand washing and social distancing, needed to prevent infection. I would say it is physical distancing, masks, plus personal hygiene [that is needed], he said. If we try to oversimplify and promote one thing out of proportion, by not understanding the science behind it, then we are at the risk of actually contributing to more infections.

And he said that the decision to make masks mandatory  and compliance enforced by the police  was not recommended, at least in public health.

Anything that is coercive in nature might actually be counterproductive, he said. I worked in polio eradication for a long time, and whenever you use police to force people to be immunised, you create a lot of fear and stigma around it.

If people dont understand the importance of wearing a mask, and they just do it because the police tell them, it is not going to be much use. Because people will forget about physical distancing, focus only on wearing masks, but then only do it when police are around. The rest of the time, youre freely spreading the infection.
The federal court system and all but a handful of states allow for insanity defenses. In D.C. Superior Court, a defendant is required to be found not guilty if a judge or jury determines that, during the offense, the accused person lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law as a result of mental illness.
With a nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the rising cases of the Novel Coronavirus in the country, people have been urged to stay at home and practice social-distancing. However, there are many people who work for essential services and have been working tirelessly round the clock during this crisis.

Recently, Ajay Devgn took to his Twitter page to laud the Mumbai police for their work during the lockdown caused by COVID-19. The actor shared a video by the Mumbai Police which urged people to stay at home as the same is a luxury for the police officials who are currently at the frontline to combat COVID-19. He captioned it as, " #TakingOnCorona @mumbaipolice" (sic)

Soon, Ajay received a filmy response from the Mumbai Police with a tweet that read, "Dear 'Singham', just doing what 'Khakee' is supposed to do to ensure that things return to how they were - 'Once upon a time in Mumbai'! #TakingOnCorona." (sic)

Dear Singham,

Just doing what Khakee is supposed to do to ensure that things return to how they were - Once upon a time in Mumbai! #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/iZzJNK6mPs  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 8, 2020

The netizens were all praise for this hilarious reply by the officials. "In this situation also your humour is still alive. You guys rock. Thank you for being with us....to protect and guide us," (sic) wrote a user. Another netizen commented, "Whoever Handles This Account Should Be Awarded Bharat Ratna Immediately..."(sic) A comment read, "Whoever handles this handle should get a double raise! Sharp like Mumbai... Always.." "Mumbai police is the best.. on ground and on Twitter too," (sic) posted a Twitter user.

Meanwhile, recently, reports stated that Ajay Devgn pledged to contribute Rs 51 lakh for the well-being of cine workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Ajay Devgn On Rumours About Nysa Testing Positive For COVID-19: 'Unfounded, Untrue & Baseless'

Exclusive: Ajay Devgn And Aditya Chopra To Help Industry Workers Amid Coronavirus Lockdown
A 71-year-old woman with a travel history to Saudi Arabia recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged from hospital here, officials said.

She is the first patient from Rohilkhand, a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh that includes Pilibhit district, to have returned from hospital without any further complications, they said.

The woman was discharged on Wednesday evening after her reports came negative, Pilibhit District Magistrate Vaibhav Shrivastava said.

The doctors and staff of the hospital showed a victory sign while the patient was leaving the hospital, he said.

According to the DM, the woman had returned from Saudi Arabia and was admitted in the hospital's isolation ward on March 19. She was tested coronavirus positive on March 21.

Additional Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) Vijay Bahadur Ram said the woman's son, who is also infected with the virus, will most likely recover soon as well.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Seema Agarwal said the elderly woman will be kept in self-isolation for 14 days at her home.

"Necessary instructions have been given to family members of the patient and the health department will remain in touch with them over the phone," Dr Agarwal said.

A total of 361 positive cases have been reported in the state so far and four people have died of the disease, according to official data.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Biocon's chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has called the Supreme Court's judgment to make coronavirus test free "impractical to implement". The chairperson of the country's largest biopharmaceutical company has appealed to the apex court to reconsider the judgment.

Shaw, in a tweet, called free coronavirus testing, "Humanitarian in intent but impractical to implement - I fear testing will plummet".

According to Shaw, the court's decision will severely affect testing. Besides, "private labs cannot be expected to run their businesses on credit", Shaw added.

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Maharashtra tops the chart with 72 deaths; country's toll at 166

The Supreme Court on April 9 directed that private labs should conduct coronavirus tests free of cost. At present, private labs charge Rs 4,500 for screening and confirmation tests for COVID-19.

Sandeep Parekh, managing partner Finsec Law Partners, also said that "The SC's order will be that hubris ridden decision - which will strike at the heart of a healthy future of India. Forcing the private sector to offer a Rs 4,500 per person service for free will mean they will simply stop service".

Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at ICMR Raman R Gangakhedkar said a total of 1,21,271 tests for COVID-19 have been done in the country so far. Out of this, 2,267 tests were done in private labs.

As many as 65 private labs have been approved by the government to conduct COVID-19 tests, Gangakhedkar added.

Also read: Coronavirus: Do you live in a pandemic hotspot? Here's what you can and can't do

Also read:Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida
60-year-old widow from Uttarakhands Chamoli district on Thursday donated her lifes savings of Rs 10 lakhs to the PM Cares Fund which was set up last month to combat, containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.

Devaki Bhandari, a resident from Gauchar in Chamoli who is also a social worker told the local media that she decided to donate the money for the fight against coronavirus as she does not have children and lives a simple life.

I had saved up around Rs 10 lakhs as fixed deposits and pension. I live in a small rented apartment and do not have many expenses. The money would be better used to fight the coronavirus pandemic, said Bhandari.

Follow coronavirus live updates here.

Her husband who died about eight years ago was a government employee.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat praised her for her donation and called it selfless sacrifice.

In this land of India, we had only read the stories of great kings and their charity, but today we have seen it in person. Despite being alone Mrs. Bhandari has selflessly sacrificed everything, donating all her savings to India which she considers as her family and presented a great example before us, said Rawat.

Rawat further said that the woman is a huge inspiration for all and every such effort will help the country fight against the deadly virus.

This cooperation of Devaki ji will definitely work for our country and will help us get out of this difficult period, the chief minister said.

Uttarakhand so far has reported 35 Covid-19 cases with the maximum cases being reported from Dehradun (18). Five have been discharged from hospitals.
Buenos Aires, Argentina--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Centaurus Energy Inc. (TSXV: CTA) (OTCQX: CTARF) ("Centaurus" or the "Company") announces that it has extended the binding term sheet respecting debt financing agreements with Maglan Distressed Master Fund LP ("Maglan"), as previously announced on March 25, 2020 (the "Agreement"). Under the amended terms of the Agreement, the parties will have until June 30, 2020 to enter into definitive agreements respecting the convertible and non-convertible loan facilities (the "Maglan Facilities"). Once completed, the Maglan Facilities will give the Company access of up to US$23 million, accruing interest on draws at the rate of 7%. Proceeds from the convertible loan facility shall be used by the Company to fund capital expenditures while proceeds under the non-convertible loan facility shall be used for the ongoing working capital requirements of the Company.

In addition, the Company announces that, effective April 8, 2020, Ralph Gillcrist, Barry Larson, Nossonol (Nate) Kleinfeldt, Gus Halas and James K. Wilson have resigned from the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"), for the purpose of reducing costs, and reflecting the Company's renewed focus on streamlining operational efficiencies. The Company thanks these former directors and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavors.

The Company also announces that effective April 8, 2020, Steven Balsam has been appointed to the Board. Steven is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Ber Tov Capital Corporation, an exempt market dealer based in Toronto that advises high net worth clients regarding tax-efficient structured flow-through investments in resource companies. At Ber Tov, Steven oversees the firm's compliance with securities laws and regulatory requirements and leads due diligence efforts for the firm's investments. Before joining Ber Tov, Steven served as a portfolio manager at Manitou Investment Management where he co-managed Manitou's North American equities portfolio. Prior thereto, Steven worked as an attorney in New York for four years, specializing in taxation and litigation. Steven received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1998 and his bachelor's degree from Yeshiva University in 1995. He attained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2006.

Related Party Transaction

As Maglan (together with its affiliates) has beneficial ownership of, or control or direction over, securities of the Company carrying more than 10% of the voting rights attached to all of the Company's outstanding voting securities, it is considered a "related party" for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Accordingly, the Maglan Facilities will be deemed to be "related party transactions" and may be subject to the formal valuation and minority shareholder requirements under MI 61-101, unless exemptions are available.

About Centaurus Energy

Centaurus is an independent upstream oil and gas company with both conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations in Argentina. The Company's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol CTA and on the OTCQX under the symbol CTARF.

For further information please contact:

David Tawil

Interim Chief Executive Officer

email: info@ctaurus.com

phone: (403) 262-1901

Reader Advisories

Forward Looking Information Disclaimer

The information in this news release contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, in particular, but not limited to, expectations that the Company will be able to complete the terms of the Agreement and enter into the Maglan Facilities, or that the Company will receive applicable regulatory and TSX Venture Exchange approvals for the Maglan Facilities or the appointment of the new director. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. These statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. The forward-looking statements in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review and consider the additional risk factors set forth in the Company's Annual Information Form, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54305
KYODO NEWS - Apr 8, 2020 - 15:09 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Tokyo and some other major cities in Japan appeared unusually quiet Wednesday with many stores shut and fewer people in the streets, a day after a state of emergency was declared over the new coronavirus outbreak.

Aside from supermarkets, drugstores and others providing critical services, many businesses in Tokyo, Osaka and the five other prefectures for which the emergency was declared have decided to stay closed through May 6 in line with the government's request for people to stay at home and limit social contact.

(Tokyo's Marunouchi business district on April 8, 2020.)

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. closed all of its six Mitsukoshi and Isetan department stores in the metropolitan area, while Matsuya Co.'s store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping area was also closed. At some other department stores, however, sections selling food continued to operate.

Other closed businesses include movie theaters, bowling alleys and shops inside station buildings.

McDonald's Co. has also continued to operate most of its locations aside from those inside closed commercial facilities, while some outlets have stopped providing around-the-clock service.

Starbucks Coffee Co. said that from Thursday it will shut about 850 shops located in the seven prefectures targeted by the declaration, while shortening the opening hours of shops elsewhere, having them close at 7 p.m.

Trains and buses were running, although the number of people taking them was less than usual in parts of Tokyo.

"On a usual morning, traffic is very busy here, but I feel there are significantly fewer commuters (today)," said a 59-year-old company executive in front of JR Yurakucho Station in central Tokyo.

"We have employees working from home, but there are tasks that force me to come to the office, such as dealing with documents that need to be signed with a seal," he said.

(The flagship store of major department store chain operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. in Tokyo's Shinjuku area is closed on April 8, 2020.)

Many stores in a major shopping arcade in Tokyo's Sugamo area, which is popular among elderly people, posted closure notices on their doors.

"A popular shop where people usually line up is also closed. I know it can't be helped, but it's sad," said 79-year-old Yoshiko Takahashi, who lives nearby. "I hope this comes to an end quickly so we can go out happily."

Nobuo Toku, who decided to keep his bar open in Osaka, commuted to the western Japan city from nearby Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. "The number of commuters was limited for the past week, but it's even fewer today," the 74-year-old said.

Toku said part of him wants to stay home for fear of infection but he "can't make a living" unless he goes to the bar.

Abe on Tuesday declared a monthlong state of emergency for Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama as well as Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka to curb the spread of the new coronavirus after an alarming growth in cases in urban areas.

The declaration, covering roughly 56 million people, or about 45 percent of the country's total population, enables prefectural governors to take measures such as instructing people to stay at home and restricting the operation of schools and other facilities, although there are no legal penalties for noncompliance.

Grocery shopping, visits to hospitals and commuting are still allowed under the declaration.

(A Daimaru department store in Osaka is closed on April 8, 2020.)

Related coverage:

Japan PM Abe declares state of emergency amid widespread virus infections
Mr Samuel Benedict Nugblega, Director of Human Resource, Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), has reiterated the need to adjust to good personal hygiene practices as the country worked towards containing the Coronavirus disease.



"The best way of living healthy is to prevent diseases and the fundamental thing to do to remain healthy is to practice good personal hygiene.



Mr. Nugblega, a former Member of Parliament, hopeful on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Akatsi South Constituency, said this when he donated some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and communication gadgets worth GH150,000 to the Akatsi South District Health Directorate.



He also donated seven megaphones, face masks, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and other electronic equipment to the Akatsi South National Democratic Congress (NDC), to enhance the dissemination of relevant information for the Coronavirus fight.



Dr. George Nyarko, the Akatsi South District Director of Health Services, extolled Mr. Nugblega for supporting government's efforts at containing the virus.



He said the Directorate with the Akatsi South District had mounted checks at entry points to the District to check individuals coming from other locations.



So far, two suspected cases have been recorded in the District with one said to be negative and the other pending laboratory test.



Ghanas COVID-19 positive cases are 287 as of Tuesday April 07 with five deaths.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he is working with the Legislature on an economic stimulus package for immigrants in the country illegally and others not covered by the federal stimulus package approved by Congress.

The federal government is dividing up about $30 billion to roughly 14 million California households this month, part of the federal CARES Act. But the checks  $1,200 per adult earning less than $75,000 and $2,400 per couple under $150,000  only go to those who file their taxes using a Social Security number.

Those who use an individual Taxpayer Identification Number, including most living in the country illegally, are excluded.

The $2.2 trillion federal aid package also includes money to boost unemployment benefits by an extra $600 per week, money also unavailable to people living in the country illegally who have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

About 2 million people in California are suspected of living in the country illegally, according to the California Latino Legislative Caucus. The group has asked Newsom to create a Disaster Relief Fund for cash payments to those immigrants until the states emergency proclamation is lifted or they are able to return to work.

Newsom said all of that is being considered, adding it is part of a broader package he plans to unveil in May that will include some economic stimulus strategies at a state level, not just waiting for the federal government to do that for us.

Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state, he said.

California has been aggressive in expanding government-funded benefits for immigrants living in the country illegally. Last year, lawmakers made California the first state in the country to offer government-funded health benefits to low-income adults 25 and younger living in the country illegally.

But some Republicans questioned the plan. The state has delayed the tax filing deadline to July 15, one month after lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a state spending plan. On Monday, a memo from the Assembly Budget Committee said lawmakers will likely have to revise the budget in August, saying sizable spending cuts are possible.

I see the state of California and its budget as a house of cards and with this coronavirus-induced recession, Im just trying to figure out where the money would come from, said state Sen. John Moorlach, a Republican from Costa Mesa. I would say helping undocumented would be a luxury item.

The state has more than 17,000 coronavirus cases and some 450 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, infections are growing at a slower pace than officials had feared.

The number of COVID-19 related intensive care hospitalizations increased only 2.1% in the last 24 hours  down from the double-digit increases the state was seeing last week. Newsom said there is a sense of optimism about the curve of cases bending lower.

We are seeing a slow and steady increase, but its moderate, he said. And its moderate, again, because of the actions all of you have taken in terms of the physical distancing.

While physical distancing has helped slow the spread of the virus, it has also hobbled the states economy. Non-essential businesses have closed and 2.3 million Californians have filed for unemployment benefits in the last four weeks.

The state Legislature has recessed until May 4, but the idea of a state stimulus appears to have support among Democrats, who have super majorities in both chambers. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon confirmed lawmakers are considering a proposal that would help immigrants living in the country illegally, while state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins said she supports any efforts to bring much needed resources to all of our communities.

The state is going to have to step in to support a segment of our community that the federal government will ignore, said state Sen. Holly Mitchell, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee.
Strainprint provides a rare glimpse into data shared by patients who report which types of medical cannabis products produce the best results

AltMed Florida is offering medical cannabis patients access to the HIPAA compliant Strainprint App for free download at https://strainprint.ca/altmedmuv/. Strainprint is the leading customized tracking, monitoring and reporting app, designed to anonymously share patient experiences to improve outcomes for the Florida medical cannabis community.

Deemed an essential service under the Florida Stay-at-Home directive, MUV Dispensaries across the state have experienced high demand during the COVID-19 crisis. While at home, patients are embracing the Strainprint technology that allows them to examine what works best and share feedback with the broader community so patients can learn from each other.

With limited access to clinical trials, Strainprint provides a rare glimpse into data shared by patients who report which types of medical cannabis products produce the best results, said AltMed Director of Corporate Affairs Todd Beckwith. For example - a patient could try a 1:1 THC/CBD tincture to treat a specific symptom and using the app they receive an alert prompting them to rate from 1-to-10 how they feel after a certain amount of time. This data is then pooled together with other anonymous users feedback so patients can learn what has worked well for others treating the same symptom.

Patients input and track personal usage information including:



Symptoms (e.g. pain, anxiety, headache, etc.)

The severity of the symptoms

The ingestion methods (e.g. flower, tinctures, topicals, etc.)

Dosages

Outcomes: on a scale of 1-to-10, patients rate how they feel after periods of time

Patients can then review and adjust based on which strains, THC + CBD levels, methods and dosages work well for their symptoms. They can also compare which strains are ranked highest in efficacy by other anonymous patients in Strainprints extensive database, which includes over two million data points from patients in legal jurisdictions across the U.S. and Canada.

In our tireless efforts to serve Floridians, were excited to offer our patients access to this intuitive app, Beckwith said.

As a science-driven company, AltMed will also monitor patient data from the app to learn which products and terpene levels are working best for certain conditions and adapt by developing new products.

To access the Strainprint MUV by AltMed Florida Edition visit https://strainprint.ca/altmedmuv/. To populate MUV products for ease of tracking, use activation code MUVFL.

To order online for express pickup or delivery and for more information including hours and available MUV products, visit muvfl.com.

With 18 dispensaries open to date, AltMed Florida is on pace to open 40 MUV Medical Cannabis dispensaries across the state, all supplied by its 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art cultivation facility. Visit this link for images of AltMed Floridas cultivation operations and watch this brief video to see what makes AltMed Florida and its MUV Medical Cannabis Dispensaries stand out.

About Plants of Ruskin, LLC - d.b.a. AltMed Florida, LLC - With a focus on quality and attention to detail, Plants of Ruskin has more than 35 years of experience in providing seedlings to farmers for vegetable and medical product production. Plants of Ruskin founders, the Dickman Family, are 4th generation farmers with a long history of working in conjunction with the University of Florida, including an endowed chair specifically dedicated to plant improvement.

About AltMed Enterprises - Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC, headquartered in Sarasota, FL and doing business as AltMed Enterprises, is a fully integrated medical cannabis company that brings compassion, community engagement and pharmaceutical industry precision to the development, production and dispensing of medical cannabinoids.

About MUV - The MUV brand of cannabis infused products was launched in Arizona in 2016 and quickly gained international attention and recognition. In its first six months alone, MUV received four best of Arizona medical cannabis awards, including two first prizes for its proprietary Ethanol extractions that are the basis of all MUV products.

Forward-Looking Statements - To the extent any statements made in this press release contain information that is not historical, these statements are forward-looking in nature and merely express our beliefs, expectations or opinions. For example, words such as may, should, estimates, predicts, continues, believes, anticipates, plans, expects, intends, potential, strategy and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations or estimates and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) our ability to implement our business strategy of distributing high quality cannabis products where permissible under applicable law; (ii) availability and cost of additional capital; (iii) our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees and management; (iv) the impact of federal, state or local government regulations; (v) competition in the cannabis industry; (vi) our ability to generate revenues; and (vii) litigation in connection with our business. All forward-looking statements included in this press release and attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, regardless of whether new information becomes available, future developments occur or otherwise.
Because physical distancing works, it is critical that we take every action needed to restrict the spread of COVID-19. This applies to British Columbians and out-of-province visitors who were planning to visit or stay at our provincial parks. The message is clear: stay home, avoid travel, do not put yourself or others at risk.



I understand and share the love people in British Columbia have for the outdoors and the connection between health and proximity to nature. We tried to provide safe space for people to get some exercise and fresh air in our beautiful parks. But it has proven too challenging to maintain safe distance between visitors. This action is difficult but necessary. We look forward to the day we can welcome people back to our wonderful parks.  George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked India for allowing export of raw materials to increase the production of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug used to treat the novel coronavirus.

While addressing the nation on Wednesday, the President said that the country was scheduled to receive a shipment of raw material from India to increase chloroquine production, which is being discussed in the international scientific community about its use and effectiveness, reports Efe news.

With 210 million inhabitants, Brazil has registered 800 deaths from coronavirus, 133 in the last 24 hours, and nearly 16,000 confirmed cases, according to the health ministry's report.

In his address, Bolsonaro thanked "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil", adding that as a result of a direct conversation between the two leaders, Brazil will receive "by Saturday, raw materials to continue production of hydroxychloroquine so we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis".

Also on Wednesday and for a second time, US President Donald Trump also thanked Modi for allowing the export of pre-ordered hydroxychloroquine to help his country fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested from before the problem arose and he was terrific," Trump said at his nationally televised news briefing on Wednesday.

"We will remember it," he added.

This was his second expression of gratitude. Earlier he had tweeted: "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight."

The Modi government had imposed a ban on export of the drug since the coronavirus outbreak hit India.

But on Monday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade notified lifting restrictions on 14 drugs, including hydroxychloroquine.

Paracetamol and HCQ, have been kept in a licensed category and their demand status was to be continuously monitored. HCQ is being used to treat COVID-19 patients and as prophylactic by the frontline health care workers deployed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB) announced a financial support for the private sector in Morocco worth 440 million, notably through its credit lines with Moroccan financial institutions.

The loan is intended to assist Morocco in addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.

These credit lines dedicated to financing the private sector would be able to provide working capital and liquidity necessary for businesses to continue their activity, the EIB said in a press release.

In addition to the immediate cash assistance, the EIB has decided to accelerate the disbursement of loans already signed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The EIB said it is ready to further strengthen its support and expertise for the health sector for the acquisition of the necessary medical equipment and the strengthening of health infrastructure.

The EIB is strongly mobilized on this funding and we are already in talks with the ministry and our partners to give them all the necessary support.

The European financial institution explained that the objective is to support the implementation of projects that can help Moroccans concretely and quickly fight on a daily basis the COVID-19 both economically and at the health level.

The financial assistance to Morocco is part of the Team Europe network, an initiative of the European Commission that aims to help countries outside the EU face the COVID-19 pandemic. The EIB announced a contribution of 5.2 billion to the network.

The EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro said the bank is more than ever mobilized to help Morocco face this pandemic.

The EIB has financed the construction and modernization of many hospitals in Morocco and vowed to support the kingdom in the face of significant need for medical equipment.
Some people could not wait to leave the town. Others just wanted to get outside and feel free again. All of them wore face masks against the virus that had forced them to stay in their homes for more than two months. (AP)

Chinese authorities ended the lockdown of Wuhan on April 8, allowing people to move about and leave the city for the first time in 76 days. (AP)

The outbreak started in Wuhan, an industrial city of 11 million people on the Yangtze River. (AP)

Thousands boarded trains, planes and long-distance buses, finally able to return to their homes and jobs.(AP)

Many had come to visit relatives during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January and were trapped when the coronavirus lockdown was announced with no advance warning. (AP)

Authorities cut off and shut down the city in a desperate bid to stop the disease from spreading. It still killed more than 2,500 people in Wuhan, by far the highest death toll in China, and grew into a pandemic. (AP)

A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, April 8, 2020. (AP)

A medical worker from China's Jilin Province reacts as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, April 8, 2020 (AP)

Workers assemble cars at the Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd factory in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, April 8, 2020. (AP)

11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP)

Residents walk along the Yangtze River on a ferry in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, April 8, 2020. (AP)
Tri-State COVID cases surge, but number falls in Washington County

While the number of new COVID-19 cases in the Tri-State area skyrocketed in the past week, the number cooled slightly for Washington County.
The number of fatalities due to coronavirus reached 12 in the national capital on Thursday while the number of people infected with the virus crossed the 700 mark even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced 'Operation SHIELD' in 21 containment areas to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal also directed officials to strictly implement the containment strategy in high risk zones.

The chief minister also warned of strict action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel in the city, a day after a 42-year-old man allegedly assaulted two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital, accusing them of "spreading" COVID-19.

The national capital reported 51 fresh cases including a Delhi Police constable and two paramedic staff of the Sir Gangaram Hospital -- taking the number of COVID-19 positive cases to 720.

Three more deaths were reported during the day, taking the toll to 12, according to the Delhi government authorities.

Of the total cases, 430 are related to the religious congregation that took place in Tabighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin markaz (centre) in March, they said.

Taking an objection to naming Nizamuddin Markaz in the health bulletins, the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) has asked the city's health department to stop mentioning the centre in its daily briefs on coronavirus cases.

The development comes after a 22-year-old man, who had attended Tablighi Jamaat's congregation in Bhopal, was thrashed in northwest Delhi's Bawana earlier this week after being accused of spreading coronavirus in the village.

The chief minister appealed to people living in containment areas to cooperate in implementing 'Operation SHIELD' and said these are strict measures but are necessary to protect them and others from COVID-19.

Elaborating on 'Operation SHIELD' during an online briefing, Kejriwal said under the first 'S' of the operation, the government seals the area immediately and its surroundings after geographical marking following positive cases there.

"In the next stage, we put people of sealed areas under home quarantine and then in the third stage, the process begins to isolate those who have symptoms of COVID-19 and trace their contacts," he said.

About 'E' character of 'Operation SHIELD', Kejriwal explained that the government ensures home-delivery of essential items. "After this stage, the government sanitises such areas where one or two positive cases have been found.

"Under 'D', checking of door-to-door houses is conducted to ascertain whether anybody in containment has cough or any other symptoms of COVID-19," the chief minister said.

Throwing light on the economic impact of the lockdown on the state exchequer, he said the government has also cut expenses as tax collection is almost stopped. He added that everyone will also have to cut expenses at their level in view of the current situation.

During a meeting with officials of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, health department, police and others, LG Baijal said capacity building of medical professionals along with all protective measures for clinical management should continue.

According to a statement issued by the LG office, Baijal stressed "on containment action plan, sharing best practices and continued focus on contact tracing and tracking".

"Strict geographical quarantine with preventive control, rigorous contact tracing and enhanced surveillance should be the priority at the moment," the statement quoting Baijal said.

In Bengali Market in central Delhi, one of the COVID-19 hotspots declared by the government, an FIR was lodged against a pastry shop owner after 35 workers were found living in "unhygienic conditions" and not adhering to social distancing norms to contain the spread of coronavirus.

In Mayur Vihar extension in east Delhi, which has large number of gated apartments, panic gripped residents where Vardhman apartment was sealed.

A resident of Parwana apartments, a few blocks away from Vardhman apartments, said there is a sense of apprehension among people of the area.

A resident of Samachar Apartments which is very close to Vardhman Apartments said a tent has been erected outside the building and there is heavy deployment of police personnel in the area.

People in some localities started panicking over rumours of sealing being extended to their areas where suspected cases of coronavirus were reported.

After a few suspected cases of coronavirus were reported near H Block of Lajpat Nagar-1 in south Delhi, all the shops near Krishna Market were asked to shut and the entire area was disinfected.

An umbrella body of resident welfare associations in the city also urged authorities to interact with community leaders through video conferencing every day to share information, and note down grievances and anomalies, if any, in the implementation of the lockdown.

Atul Goyal, the president of United Residents Joint Action (URJA), said it will only be proper and suitable if the district authorities disseminate or share information related to coronavirus and lockdown with community leaders and RWAs in each ward at the colony and block level every day.

Meanwhile, as many as 190 cases were registered and 3,954 people detained in the national capital for violating government orders during the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Huawei has its own mobile payments platform (Huawei Pay), and the company has now announced its own Huawei Card to complement mobile payments.

Huawei Card to complement Huawei Pay mobile payments

The Chinese OEM is hoping Huawei Pay users will use its new card solution instead of others when making mobile payments. To this end, the new card, announced during the companys P40 phone announcement, is extremely simple to the Apple Card. First, it is physical and virtual, allowing users to either use a physical swipe card or as a card to be scanned on a smartphone.

First-year Card users wont have to pay an annual fee, often required for credit cards. Those who spend so much money through Huawei Pay can get a second year fee-free. Travel benefits, promotions in apps, cashback rebates, and lounge access (for heavy spenders) are some of the sweet treats for Card users.

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Theres no particular date for the launch of the new mobile card, so interested parties will have to wait until further details surface.

Why now?

Why is Huawei launching a physical/virtual plastic accessory now? Thats the question. Well, no one knows what is on the company agenda. What is true, however, is that Huawei wants to capitalize (pun intended) on the mobile payments sector. In the United States, for example, mobile payments are taking off, for bill payments and even online delivery. With mobile trends growing as a result of the current global pandemic, Huawei realizes it could make a profit in one significant area. And with phone sales declining in China and elsewhere as a result of the pandemic, Huawei can make up some of its losses in another area.

Huawei is like other OEMs when it comes to profit. Samsung has Samsung Pay. Google has Google Pay. Apple has Apple Pay. OnePlus even has OnePlus Pay. All these companies want their own payment platforms because they make so much profit per financial transaction. Huawei is all about marketing its perception as on par with the giants (Apple and Samsung, in particular). Mobile payments is as top-of-the-line as it gets.

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The Card may not prove profitable

Huawei finds itself in a bit of a global conflict at the moment. The company is currently under a US ban, and is likely to continue under it this year. Then theres the fact that Huawei is under suspicion worldwide as a tool of Chinese espionage. Huawei and Beijing are too closely intertwined, so much so that, whenever Huawei conducts its business, Beijing government officials appear. Some countries such as Britain are willing to give Huawei some share in its 5G network, but others dont trust the company in their networks at all.

The Card would arrive in the midst of all this suspicion. A number of European citizens may not be willing to entrust their financial information to Huawei. When it comes to mobile payments, OEM platforms must cooperate with banks to make them possible. Those who believe Huawei to be a tool of Chinese espionage wouldnt want to entrust Huawei with their payment details and transaction information. And in the US, the new Card is as banned as every other Huawei product.

In the end, the Card solution could prove successful in China. It may prove successful in a few other countries. The question comes down to whether or not Huawei can be trusted. And that question has an array of answers currently.
Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country have agreed to another prisoner swap ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations.

The Russian and Ukrainian sides in the so-called Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) made the announcement late on April 8 following a video conference.

The talks led to "fundamental agreements on the lists for the mutual release of detained persons" no later than Orthodox Easter on April 19, according to a statement on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website.

Russia's envoy to the TCG, Boris Gryzlov, said Kyiv and separatists in the Donbas region had "principally coordinated the lists of detained persons for exchange."

It was not immediately clear how many prisoners the two sides would exchange.

The last prisoner swap in December 2019 involved 200 people.

During the video conference, held in keeping with recommendations against in-person gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, the sides also discussed demining and negotiations on the disengagement of troops in the Donbas region.

Negotiations for a new cease-fire between Kyiv and the separatists have so far failed to halt fighting.

The conflict has claimed around 13,200 lives since April 2014, according to the UN.

The prisoner swap comes as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March called on the warring parties in conflicts around the world to halt fighting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With reporting by dpa and TASS
Australias highest court will deliver its ruling next week on whether to overturn the convictions of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse.

The 78-year-old Pell is one year into a six-year sentence for molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbournes St Patricks Cathedral while he was the citys archbishop in the late 1990s.

The High Court said on Thursday that its seven judges will give their verdict on Tuesday at 10am in the east coast city of Brisbane.

It had heard his appeal on March 11 and 12 before hearings were cancelled due to the coronavirus risk.

The courts decision could be the last chance for Pope Francis former finance minister to clear his name.

The ruling on Pells case is due to be heard on Tuesday at 10am in Brisbane (Jane Barlow/PA)

A Victoria state County Court jury convicted Pell on all charges in December 2018.

The Victoria Court of Appeal in August last year rejected his appeal against the jury verdicts in a 2-1 majority decision.

Pells lawyer, Bret Walker, told the High Court last month that if it found the Victorian appeals court had made a mistake in upholding the convictions, Pell should be acquitted.

Prosecutor Kerri Judd told the seven judges that if there were a mistake, they should send the case back to the appeals court to hear it again.

Otherwise, the High Court should hear more evidence and decide itself whether the convictions should stand.

Pell was largely convicted on the testimony of one of the choirboys, now in his 30s with a young family.

He first went to police in 2015 after the second victim died of a heroin overdose at the age of 31. Neither can be identified under state law.

Much of the High Court hearing focused on whether the jury should have had a reasonable doubt about Pells guilt and whether he could have had time to molest the boys in five or six minutes immediately after a Mass.
A 52-year-old man has allegedly spat on a nurse at a fever clinic in Brisbane after he was denied COVID-19 treatment because he was not showing the required symptoms.

Police were called to the incident at the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital on Wednesday.

The man was charged with serious assault and was issued a notice to appear at Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 30.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said he was "disgusted" by the act and concerned for the wellbeing of the nurse.

"Nobody should treat our health workers like that," he said.
Hyderabad, April 9 : The usual hustle bustle of passengers and screaming noise of landing and taking-off aircrafts is missing for more than 15 days at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country which has now turned into a virtual parking lot for the flying machines.

About 50 aircraft belonging to various airlines can be seen parked at parking bays near the main runway, which remains operational to handle evacuation and cargo flights.

Aircraft of Air India, IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir and a couple of international airlines are seen parked in several rows.

The swanky airport, located at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city, was handling 550 air traffic movements and about 60,000 passengers daily before COVID-19 induced lockdown came into effect last month.

Billed as the world's third fastest growing airport in the category of 15 million passengers in the world, it is also the best-connected airport in south and central India, connecting 55 non-stop domestic destinations.

Airport sources told IANS that ever since the lockdown came into effect, all activity related to passenger operations came to a halt. However, skeletal workforce continued to report for duties every day for essential services like maintenance of ACs, data server, security and sanitation.

"We can't shut the airport. We have to maintain certain systems so that they don't collapse and remain ready whenever the flight operations resume," they said.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Air Navigation staff are also attending the duties as the airport continues to handle evacuation and cargo flights. "Employees are passing through thermal screening and all safety measures are being taken," they said.

The lockdown has provided an opportunity to airport authorities to take up large-scale sanitation works in the entire airport. During normal operations, some of the areas are not properly covered due to continuous movement of passengers.

The airport, operated by GMR, continues to handle relief flights during lockdown. A special Air India flight on April 7 airlifted 99 US citizens stuck in Hyderabad. It carried the US citizens to Mumbai, from where they were connected with Delta Airlines to their final destination in the US.

The passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized main passenger terminal building, which was kept ready for evacuation operations.

On March 31, the airport handled a group of 38 German nationals who flew by a special flight of Air India which ferried the passengers from Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Frankfurt.

Earlier, on March 28 serviced a special medical evacuation flight of IndiGo, which dropped its eight crew members bound for Hyderabad and departed to Chennai with five stranded IndiGo crew members.

RGIA's cargo terminal is also fully operational to keep the vital link of essential supplies completely alive. The cargo is working round the clock in close coordination with various agencies to keep rolling the critical chain of essential supplies like medicines, vaccines, medical equipment, pharma raw material and defence goods.
DHFL promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan have been detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district for breaking the nationwide lockdown imposed in view of coronavirus outbreak. A case under Section 188 of Indian Penal (disobedience of lawful order of public servant) has been lodged against the Wadhawans and 21 others.

Civic authorities reportedly spotted the DHFL promoters at their Diwan farmhouse along with family members. They travelled in their cars from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar during the lockdown, police officials told news agency PTI. Notably, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country at more than 1,100.

When apprehended, the presented a letter from state Principal Secretary (Home) Amitabh Gupta. The letter, Gupta said that he knows the Wadhawans well as family friends who were travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for a 'family emergency'. The letter, signed on April 8, 2020, also listed five cars that the Wadhawans and their friends were travelling in.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawans are accused in the YES Bank-DHFL fraud cases. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in YES Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17. The duo reportedly cited the pandemic and skipped the appea
The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, sent a message to the Queen after her televised message on Sunday evening, saying her speech had been gratefully received "as we too rally together and brave this storm to protect our loved ones".

He has now also sent a message of support to UK prime minister Boris Johnson who is in hospital with coronavirus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed dosage guidance from its website for a pair of antimalarial drugs President Donald Trump has been pushing as effective treatments for coronavirus.

The move comes three days after Reuters reported the CDC added the dosing information to its website after Mr Trump had pressed for the drugs  hydroxychloroquine and chrloroquine  to be more widely offered for use in treating the virus.

Prior to its removal, the CDC page included anecdotal evidence of the drugs effectiveness rather than citing clinical trial data, using the line some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally, before making dosage suggestions.

Dr Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told Reuters she was surprised the CDC would include that information.

Why would CDC be publishing anecdotes? she asked. That doesnt make sense. This is very unusual.

Ms Goldman was one of several medical professionals perplexed and disappointed that the CDC would push drug recommendations without citing or relying on clinical data.

The updated language removes any reference to anecdotal results, instead stating that there are no known treatments for the virus.

There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.

One of the doctors who initially criticised the CDC, Jeffrey Flier, formerly the dean of Harvard Medical School, called the new language substantially improved.

It states the facts without in effect recommending that physicians prescribe the drugs despite a lack of adequate evidence, he said.

Mr Trump  as well as his lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and his trade adviser Peter Navarro  have pushed the drug, even recommending its use despite trial results.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious disease doctor  has cautioned against rushing in to use the drug without proper testing.

I think weve got to be careful that we dont make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug, he told Fox News. We still need to do the kinds of studies that definitively prove whether any intervention, not just this one, any intervention is truly safe and effective.

Despite this, Mr Giuliani has pushed for the drug based on the advice of a self-described simple country doctor named Vladimir Zelenko, and Fox News anchor and Trump sycophant Laura Ingraham travelled to the White House with a pair of doctors who vouched for the drug.

Mr Navarro questioned Mr Faucis reservations, saying on CNN that doctors disagree about things all the time and claiming he was qualified to interpret data about clinical drugs based on his background as a social scientist.

Mr Trump was likewise unwilling to wait for proper testing.

We dont have time, he said. We dont have two hours because there are people dying right now.
Jaipur, April 10 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said it should be ensured that people compulsorily wear mask in 196 urban areas (municipal corporations, municipalities and municipal councils) and agriculture markets (mandis) of the state to prevent spread of corona pandemic.

He asked the officials to continue working for success in controlling corona in Rajasthan. He directed them to implement the 'Bhilwara Model' in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Tonk, Jhunjhunu, Banswara and other districts to control the situation.

Gehlot was reviewing the situation of corona infection the state including Jaipur through video conference from his official residence on Thursday. He said that curfew should be strictly imposed in 38 areas and no person, including the government employees, should be allowed to either enter or exit the curfew areas.

He said that screening, testing and other arrangements should be made in Ramganj and other densely populated areas of Jaipur including Bhatta Basti, Amritpuri, Kho-Nagorian or Moti Dungari.

Chief Minister said that apart from the walled city, wherever corona positive cases have been found, the residents of nearby houses should be kept in home quarantine. Buildings of big educational institutions, hotels, hospitals and other institutes in the outer areas of Jaipur should be identified and utilised for quarantine.

He said that all necessary amenities should be extended to the people living in quarantine and protocol should be strictly followed. Jaipur Development Commissioner T Ravikanth would be the in-charge of all quarantine facilities in the city.

Gehlot asked for installing cameras for effective online monitoring of corona infection in hotspot regions. This would help in strict monitoring of the movement of people.

He said that if this experiment resulted success in the walled city, the same would be replicated at other places as well. He stated that drone cameras should be used for effective monitoring and action should be initiated against those violating the protocol of social distancing.

CM instructed for cluster sampling in corona infected areas in the walled city. Proper arrangements should be made for this by dividing the entire area into 30 clusters and 30 samples should be collected from each cluster.

Doing this, most of the infection in the area could be detected and then it would be easy to take effective steps in checking spread of the disease. He further asked to keep five mobile medical units ready all the time in the affected areas.
Amid the medical fraternity racing against time for a panacea for COVID-19, which has infected a whopping 4.3 lakh Americans and claimed over 14,600 lives, United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing export of Hydroxychloroquine, deemed a possible cure against the disease.

"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it," Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus.

In a tweet, hours earlier, Trump praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten!" he said.

"Thank you, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in a tweet that son went viral.

It was retweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakhs Twitterati.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans had lost their lives due to coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease.

Scientists and the medical fraternity are racing against time to find a vaccine and a therapeutic solution to it.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 30 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Trump, in a phone call last week, had requested Prime Minister Modi to release the hold on American order of the malaria drug, of which India is the major producer. India lifted the hold on Tuesday.

India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US.

Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, chief minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of Hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of Hydroxychloroquine every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

Indian Americans have welcomed the decision.

"President Trump is a Graceful and Grateful Man. He is honest when he says that he will not forget India's gesture. He is a True Friend of India, said Al Mason, a Trump supporter.

Thank you President Trump. I think you are well orchestrating the compulsion of history and demand of destiny that we and India be the best of friends, joined at the hip and yet as family, free hearts and minds to love across a spectrum of emotions, but always together, tweeted Indian American attorney Ravi Batra.
At the event (Photo: VNA)



Attending the handover ceremony in Hanoi on April 7th were the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and the ambassador, head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam.

Speaking at the event, Dung said amid the current global medical crisis, no single country could effectively contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

International cooperation and enhancing solidarity are important factors to protect the health and safety of people, helping to mitigate the great impacts of the epidemic, he said.

Vietnam always stays ready to work closely, share experience and join hands with countries and the international community to take necessary measures, within bilateral and material frameworks such as the ASEAN-EU, G20 and the United Nations, with the determination to contain and soon push back the epidemic, Dung added.

The participating ambassadors highly appreciated and thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for their valuable assistance to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in this difficult moment.

Though Vietnam has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the country has been willing to share resources, provide medical services and create favorable conditions for foreign citizens in Vietnam over the past time, including the treatment of infected persons, they said.

The ambassadors also pledged to closely coordinate and step up cooperation with Vietnam in protecting the health and safety of people, maintain cooperative relations and trade, share information and offer mutual support to overcome the current difficulties./.
The Senate on April 9 failed to pass an additional $250 billion of aid intended to help small businesses cope with the economic toll of the CCP virus pandemic as Democrats and Republicans blocked each others proposals.

Democrats objected to a Republican measure for $250 billion to beef up emergency loans to small businesses, saying they would back the bill only if it had strings attached and was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals, local governments and food assistance.

Republicans, for their part, objected to the Democratic initiative, saying only the money in a small business loan program was at risk of running out now and needed to be replenished.

To my Democratic colleagues, pleasepleasedo not block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

But Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen called McConnells move a complete political stunt here on the floor of the United States Senate. He and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin called for immediate renewal instead of an emergency loan and grant program for small businesses that they said already has run out of money.

The Republican measure brought by McConnell was sought by the Trump administration. It wanted to replenish a $349 billion loan program for restaurants, hotels and an array of other small businesses struggling in an economy hobbled by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, which has shuttered schools and businesses, left most of the nations population sheltering at home and thrown millions out of work.

Before the Senate action, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC that officials wanted to get the small business loans program beefed up as soon as possible.

We need more money for small business. The president has been very clear. Hed be happy to talk about other issues such as hospitals and states in the next bill. But we wanted to go and get money for the small business program, which again has enormous bipartisan support, Mnuchin said.

With most of Congress out on a recess, each side tried to ram its respective bill through the Senate on a fast track, meaning it took only an objection from any one of the 100 senators to shelve either plan.

Congress has already allocated more than $2.3 trillion in three waves of legislation aimed at cushioning the economic hit of the pandemic, which has killed more than 14,700 people in the United States.

By Susan Cornwell and David Morgan

NTD staff contributed to this report.
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday said the country needed to put a large amount of effort into the fight agaist the coronavirus epidemic.

Tsai spoke after inspecting a tank drill in Tainan where she also praised the country's armed forces for "not lacking vigilance".

Shortly after Tsai inspected the drill she posted strong comments on her Facebook page in response accusations made by the World Health Organisation's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.

Tedros accused Taiwan's foreign ministry of being linked to a months-long campaign against him and said that since the emergence of the new coronavirus he has been personally attacked, including receiving at times, death threats and racist abuse.

Tsai said in her Facebook comments that Taiwan had been excluded from international organisations, and Taiwanese people know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated.

Tsai added she wanted Terdros to visit Taiwan to see its efforts on fighting COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death
By Alwyn Scott, Ross Kerber, Jessica DiNapoli and Rebecca Spalding NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies laying off workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic but still paying dividends and buying back shares are drawing criticism from labor unions, pension fund advisers, lawmakers and corporate governance experts

By Alwyn Scott, Ross Kerber, Jessica DiNapoli and Rebecca Spalding

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies laying off workers in response to the coronavirus pandemic but still paying dividends and buying back shares are drawing criticism from labor unions, pension fund advisers, lawmakers and corporate governance experts.

While most U.S. companies are scaling back payouts after a decade in which the amount of money paid to investors through buybacks and dividends more than tripled, some are maintaining their policies despite the economic pain.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Halliburton Co, General Motors Co and McDonald's Corp have all laid off staff, cut their hours, or slashed salaries while maintaining payouts, according to a Reuters review of regulatory filings, company announcements and company officials.

"This is the time for large companies to try to help, for systemic reasons, to keep things flowing," said Ken Bertsch, executive director of the Council of Institutional Investors. The council's members include public pension funds and endowments that manage assets worth about $4 trillion.

Royal Caribbean, which has halted its cruises in response to the pandemic and borrowed to boost its liquidity to more than $3.6 billion, said it began laying off contract workers in mid-March, though the moves did not affect its full-time employees.

The company has not suspended its remaining $600 million share buyback program, which expires in May, or its dividend, which totaled $602 million last year and is set quarterly.

"We continue to take decisive actions to protect (our) financial and liquidity positions," Royal Caribbean spokesman Jonathon Fishman said. He declined to comment specifically on the layoffs or shareholder payouts.

While Royal Caribbean's rival Carnival Corp has also laid off contract workers, it has suspended dividends and buybacks as it raised more than $6 billion in capital markets to weather the coronavirus storm.

UNEMPLOYMENT SURGE

Goldman Sachs analysts forecast this week that S&P 500 companies would cut dividends in 2020 by an average of 50% because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

For a graphic on S&P 500 shareholder payouts from 2009 to 2018, please click on: https://reut.rs/349G2JV

While there has been criticism of companies maintaining investor payouts, only those receiving financial support from the U.S. government under a $2.3 trillion stimulus package are obliged to suspend share buybacks.

Layoffs contributed to U.S. unemployment skyrocketing last month. Jobless claims topped 6.6 million in the week ended March 28 - double the record set the prior week and far above the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982.

Companies say job cuts are necessary to offset a plunge in revenue but their critics say they should consider turning off the spigots to shareholders before letting employees go.

"If companies are paying dividends and doing buybacks, they do not have to lay off workers," said William Lazonick, a corporate governance expert at the University of Massachusetts.

Workers at franchised McDonald's restaurants say they are getting fewer shifts since dining areas were closed in March, leaving only carry-out and drive-through services open.

Alma Ceballos, 31, who has worked at a franchised McDonald's near San Francisco for 14 years, said she could not pay her rent after her schedule was cut to 16 hours from 40 and her husband, a janitor at Apple Inc's Cupertino, California, campus was laid off.

McDonald's, which has suspended buybacks but maintained its annual dividend, worth $3.6 billion in 2019, told Reuters its staffing and opening hours were not related to "making a choice between employees and dividends".

About 95% of its U.S. restaurants are run by franchisees who decide staffing. McDonald's said it was offering rent deferrals and other help to keep franchises open and employing workers.

"McDonald's could commit to 30 days of income for all workers," Mary Kay Henry, president of the labor union SEIU which has 2 million members, said in an interview with Reuters. "Corporations need to pay their fair share here."

'IT'S JUST WRONG'

General Motors has halted normal production in North America and temporarily reduced cash pay for salaried workers by 20%. It paid its first-quarter dividend on March 20 and has a month before declaring its next dividend, a spokeswoman said, adding that GM would assess economic conditions before deciding.

"Our focus in the near term is to protect the health of our employees and customers, ensure we have ample liquidity for a very wide range of scenarios, and implement austerity measures to preserve cash," spokeswoman Lauren Langille said.

Oilfield services firm Halliburton furloughed about 3,500 workers in its Houston office starting on March 23, according to a letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission obtained by Reuters. It has also cut 350 positions in Oklahoma.

Halliburton cited disruption from the coronavirus as well as plunging oil prices as the reason for the furlough. In March, it paid its first-quarter dividend to shareholders as planned.

A Halliburton spokeswoman declined to comment on the furlough and the company's dividend policy.

Some of the companies laying off workers while still paying out shareholders, such as General Motors, signed an initiative last year from the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives, pledging to make business decisions in the interest of employees and other stakeholders, not just shareholders.

Large asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard have cited managing "human capital" as a priority for companies in which they invest. Yet they have been reluctant to publicly press companies to avoid layoffs during the crisis.

Vanguard told Reuters it "recognizes the need for companies to exercise judgment and flexibility as they balance short- and long-term business considerations".

BlackRock did not respond with a statement when contacted for comment.

"Profits should be shared with the workers who actually create them," U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a long-standing critic of share buybacks, told Reuters in an email.

"It's just wrong for big corporations to reward the wealthy or top executives with more stock buybacks, while closing facilities and laying off workers."

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott, Jessica DiNapoli and Rebecca Spalding in New York and Ross Kerber in Boston; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and David Clarke)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Rose Parade rejuvenates Stary's love of music, teaching

Ronald Stary of Watertown Middle School has returned from the Rose Parade. This year, the parade honored 300 music directors.
Reports of Dubliners flocking to beaches in Mayo and Wexford led to the Government introducing radical emergency policing powers for this weekend, it has emerged.

Concerns expressed by Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring and Defence Minister Paul Kehoe, about large numbers of Dubliners heading to holiday homes, was a key consideration when ministers approved the move during Tuesdays Cabinet meeting.

Ringer said that locals were on to him, going bananas about the Dubs flooding the areas like Westport and Louisburg, while Kehoe was the same about the beaches in Wexford, said one minister.

That night, Health Minister Simon Harris signed into law strong regulations to increase Garda powers to restrict mass gatherings and limit peoples movements this weekend.

At Cabinet, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister Finian McGrath expressed great discomfort at the emergency police powers introduced during this weeks Cabinet meeting, sources told the Irish Examiner.

While there was a very good debate on Tuesday about the scope and need for the measures, several ministers raised concerns about the extent of the new powers and the impact they will have on peoples liberty.

Mr Varadkar and Mr McGrath took a strong line that the likely penalty of 2,500, or a six-month jail term was on the excessive side, but Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the measures were necessary.

It is also understood Mr McGrath raised concern about the 2,000 adults with intellectual disabilities in care homes being at high risk of contracting Covid-19.

Mr McGrath, who has reduced the numbers in such institutions from 4,500 to 2,000, said these people have weakened immune systems, as well as respiratory difficulties, and should be moved to more appropriate settings.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Harris said that it would not be a wise thing to expect public health restrictions to lift after this weekend.If we take the foot off the pedal, the progress weve made would be reversed, he said.

Mr Harris said he did not want to see what had happened in other countries happen here.

He said: If we dont make more progress were going to find ourselves in a difficult situation. We need to reduce the rate of growth. The country cannot be normal this bank holiday weekend."

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From Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County

During this unfamiliar and challenging time, healthcare agencies and their providers admire the way our community has stepped up with support.

Anticipating an increase in local COVID-19 cases, the communitys efforts are greatly appreciated. The Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County staff is grateful to all of the individuals, businesses and industry who have donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), homemade masks and gowns, and other thoughtful gifts.

The outpouring of support has been truly amazing, said MHSC CEO Irene Richardson....
Sam Amadi, a former chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, has endorsed the action of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, against Caverton Helicopters.

Two pilots working with Caverton, a logistic company which provides services for oil and gas companies in Nigeria, were remanded on Tuesday in Port Harcourt prisons, alongside 10 others, after they were charged with disobeying an order given by Mr Wike.

The Rivers state government accused the pilot and their passengers of flying into Port Harcourt illegally after the state governor, Mr Wike, had signed an executive order barring vehicles and flights from entering the state as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus.

The Caverton flight was approved by federal authorities.

The Rivers state government on Thursday sealed Caverton Helicopters facilities in Port Harcourt, less than 24 hours after the governor gave the company a quit order.

Mr Amadi, in a Facebook post, argued that state governors in Nigeria are chief executives and are not subject to ministerial direction even when the Minister is acting as aide of the President.

Nigeria operates a federal system of government.

Mr Amadi said Federalism means that the central government cannot operate to undermine the effectiveness of state power and state government cant nullify the exercise of federal power once each is acting within its statutory and constitutional powers.

He said presidents, though powerful, must act within the law.

Rivers State is right on this fight with the federal government. You cannot override a governors order in respect of a state where he is Chief Executive without formal procedures and in consultation with the Governor.

READ ALSO:

Wike says he was not notified about the special dispensation granted Caverton Helicopters. Wike has first and direct responsibility to protect Rivers residents from the pandemic. He has to be taken along any decision that can impact on the health of the people at this time. It is a dangerous display of hubris or oversight to keep him in the dark especially as he has publicly prohibited movement into and out of Rivers like some other states and in line with federal government directives.

Wike does not control the airport but he can determine what happens in his state as long as he keep to the constitution and the law. Thats why he is the Chief Executive of the State.

The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, faulted the arrest of the Cavertons pilots and said the federal government would do everything legally possible to secure their release.

All of these flights are for the purposes of improving the national revenue to which Rivers State is the greatest beneficiary, the minister said.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- From the hospitals in Bergamo to the Popes prayers in Rome, Italy has become the symbol of the Covid-19 epidemic in Europe. But as the contagion in Italy slows and the daily death toll starts to fall, the eyes of the world have moved to Spain, which is suffering from an equal  if not worse  outbreak.

Spain has more than 130,000 registered cases now and 12,000 recorded deaths. The death toll is lower than Italy in absolute terms, but slightly higher if one takes into account Spains smaller population. Whats worse is prime minister Pedro Sanchez, much like his counterparts in France and the U.K., ignored the health crisis unfolding in Italy and dithered before imposing the kind of draconian lockdown measures that could have saved thousands of lives.

The most reckless decision was allowing a demonstration to take place in Madrid on international womens day (March 8). More than 120,000 people took to the streets even though Spain already had over 500 confirmed cases. The government only enforced a national lockdown in mid-March, which has since been tightened to include all non-essential economic activities and extended to April 26. These measures have started to show their effects, as growth of registered cases and deaths begins to slow, but they cannot help those who have already been infected.

The Spanish government should have been especially cautious given the fragility of its healthcare system. Fernando Simon, the head of the health ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies, said at the start of the crisis that Spain had roughly 4,400 intensive care beds, for a population of nearly 47 million. Compare that to Germany, which has a population of nearly 84 million but started the crisis with 28,000 critical care beds. The Spanish government is rushing to open up new hospitals, but doctors are already facing supply shortage problems, as they did in Italy, and are having to make devastating decisions over how to prioritize their scarce resources.

Story continues

The rest of the political class has not helped. Spain is a federalist country, where autonomous regions hold power over a range of policy areas including healthcare. Prime Minister Sanchez eventually claimed emergency powers for his government, but only after a string of regional politicians had resisted. The opposing right-wing Popular Party behaved opportunistically. It attacked Sanchez after his decision to close down all non-essential activities, seemingly changing course from earlier calls for a tougher lockdown  only to change tack and support the stricter measures. Meanwhile, Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the left-wing Podemos party, which runs the country in a fragile minority coalition with the Socialists, has sought to exploit the emergency to push his agenda of sweeping nationalizations.

Much like Italy, Spain faces an enormous economic crisis on top of its healthcare emergency. The country had emerged strongly from the sovereign debt crisis, outperforming much of the rest of the euro zone for years. But Madrid failed to sufficiently shrink its public debt, which stands at more than 95% of gross domestic product. The European Central Bank has launched an emergency 750 billion euro ($812 billion) asset-purchase scheme that is helping Madrid keep a lid on its borrowing costs. However, the crisis will inevitably add to the countrys debt, which will become harder to sustain in the future.

Spain is now calling on the rest of the euro zone to show solidarity, through the issuance of joint and several liabilities (Euro bonds). There is a strong case for mutualizing at least some debts of the crisis, but it is very unlikely that this will happen any time soon. For now, Spain will have to rely largely on the ECB and on itself. After a tragically shaky start, Sanchez must show his resolve.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Ferdinando Giugliano writes columns on European economics for Bloomberg Opinion. He is also an economics columnist for La Repubblica and was a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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The bearer of this letter, the document says, is providing life-sustaining and essential services.

That depends, of course, on how you define essential, a word some businesses are trying to stretch as far as they can.

Copies of the travel authorization letter were distributed to employees of Leslies Poolmart Inc. to display if theyre pulled over for violating shelter-in-place orders when theyre on the way to their shifts. They are vital workers in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Leslies, because the chain sells chemicals that can be used as alternatives to hand sanitizers and because swimming pools that arent properly cared for can be health hazards. Many of Leslies more than 900 locations remain open.

Craft-supply chains Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and Jo-Ann Stores Holdings Inc. have maintained theyre essential, too, because they sell materials for makeshift face masks. GameStop Corp. was criticized after it resisted closure orders by contending some of its products, including keyboards, are necessary for people working from home.

It has been up to state and local authorities to set concrete operate-as-usual limits. And lawyers have found loopholes and companies have lobbied, fighting to keep at least some revenue coming in while much of the U.S. economy has ground to a halt.

There is wide variety in how aggressively the rules are issued and applied. Law-enforcement authorities are overwhelmed, grappling with new pandemic-response roles and increasingly short-staffed as officers fall ill. And businesses often dont know which way to turn.

We are trying to do whats right based on a situation that nobody has been in before, Zach Toth and Chris Brown said in an email. They own Bennys, which has pizza restaurants in Pennsylvania and four other states.

Some businesses simply have declared themselves essential on their own say-so. Their workers are both grateful to have jobs and worried about being exposed to the deadly virus and then passing it on to family members at home. There are no easy answers.

It is a constant balancing act between protecting their employees and keeping their business running so their employees  and the owners  have jobs, said Kabrina Chang, a clinical associate professor of business law and ethics at Boston University. We just have to keep trying our best to do the right thing, which gets harder and harder the more precarious and desperate people and businesses feel.

Retailers and service providers

These are at the centre of the whats-essential debate and the patchwork of rules and levels of enforcement.

At H&R Block Inc., company lawyers determined its branches can stay open because of its tax-preparation work and because it sometimes extends lines of credit, both of which authorities in many jurisdictions have deemed crucial. One employee in Washington state said many seasonal workers, including colleagues with weakened immune systems, are worried given the number of customers they come in contact with each day. They have not been offered additional pay to compensate for the added risk, said the person, who asked not to be named for fear of being fired.

Angela Davied, an H&R spokeswoman, said the company has changed its approach entirely to protect everyone. Clients are encouraged to use its virtual or drop-off services. Chairs have been removed from lobbies to discourage crowding, she said, and meetings with tax professionals happen with the customer and the preparer in different cubicles.

As for GameStop, it ultimately decided to offer curbside pickup only. Last week, it closed all outlets in Massachusetts after authorities ordered one of them, in Boston, to be shut down, according to the Boston Globe. Hobby Lobby on April 3 furloughed most of its 43,000 workers after officials in four states moved to shut stores down for defying stay-at-home orders, while Jo-Ann keeps some outlets open with limited capacity, also offering curbside pickup.

Other companies also have raced to emphasize that they carry essential items. Ollies Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc., a discount and overstock goods retailer with more than 300 stores but no online sales, recently stocked a few dozen Lysol wipe containers and added a snack-food aisle at an Ohio location, according to an employee who also asked not to be cited by name for fear of being fired. Full-time staff have been offered an extra $1.50 per hour, while part-timers get an extra $1, the person said.

In New Jersey, about a half dozen Leslies pool-supply stores were shuttered after visits from police, according to an employee. A Leslies spokesperson didnt respond to a request for comment on this but said in an email that they remain open in states where we fit under the description of an essential business. In-store traffic is limited, she said, and curbside pickup encouraged.

Ollies said last month that more than 20 per cent of its inventory qualified as essential. Stores have been boosting offerings of these items, according to spokesman Tom Kuypers, who added that officials in several communities have concluded the chain meets the local criteria.

When it comes to lobbying, car dealerships have been aggressive, saying the suspension in many places of public transportation and their emergency-maintenance services make them critical.

Theyve largely been successful. AutoNation Inc., the biggest dealership chain in the U.S. with more than 300 franchises in 231 stores, provides gloves and Clorox Total 360 System equipment to disinfect cars that come in for service or trade-ins. Still, employees are anxious, said a Florida manager who asked not to be identified because he isnt authorized to speak to the media.

The Clorox equipment doesnt work on porous surfaces like a cars interior, he said, and its hard to keep the six feet of social distancing space when customers come in. Two employees have quit over the concerns, he said.

The company is doing everything in our power to protect staff, providing masks and gloves as quickly as it can obtain them, said Marc Cannon, an AutoNation spokesman. He said the stores are important during the pandemic, selling cars to those who no longer feel safe using rise-sharing and repairing and sanitizing vehicles, including for first responders. Weve got people coming in who need these services.

Food

Its an obvious essential, but even feeding Americans has become a contentious and confusing regulatory space in the COVID-19 era. Few restaurants offer dine-in services, so business has turned to delivery, pick up and creating makeshift grocery aisles. In Los Angeles, some eateries put pantry items up for sale to make extra money. The public-health department ordered them to stop. Then, just days later, restaurants were allowed to sell these items as the city realized how difficult it would be for many to survive without more income.

The owners of Bennys, the pizza chain, said it allows employees who dont feel safe coming to work to put their positions on hold and return to paid jobs at a later point. In the meantime, it has stocked toilet paper and paper towels in some of its restaurants for patrons who cant find any in stores.

The sole purpose of each day is to keep our 250-plus employees safe and getting a paycheck, the owners said in the email. The goal is everybody getting through this as quickly and safely as possible.

In Cassville, Missouri, meat-processor Georges Inc. has stayed open as a justifiable food company, though an employee who asked not to be cited by name said it hasnt provided personal protective equipment. This is a common concern among workers still on the job in the pandemic. In a press release it issued after being contacted by Bloomberg News, Georges said it is actively working to secure adequate supplies of face covers for team members. On its website, it thanks workers and says theyll each be receiving a $2-an-hour appreciation bonus through April 25.

Manufacturing

Some manufacturers maintain that essential products made or stored and shipped at one site mean other sites they own also can continue operating as usual.

Ductmate Industries Inc.s primary customers make climate-control equipment, but it has kept factories in Pennsylvania running because some of its products also are used in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, which are considered essential.

In DeSoto, Texas, warehouse workers at NFI Industries Inc. also are required to work, though some said they question the need for the high-end washers, dryers, microwaves and stoves theyre shipping out. T.J. Lynch, an NFI spokesman, said the branch is exempt from local shelter-in-place rules and managers follow federal recommendations for workplace safety.

Even so, according to an employee who asked not to be identified, its almost impossible to remain at the recommended distance from colleagues during clock-in, breaks and shift meetings. Gloves arent given out, and on-site hand-sanitizer dispensers often run empty these days, the person said.

Construction

Developers all over the country have kept construction crews busy. WSP Global Inc. proceeded with inspection work its contracted to do for the School Construction Authority of New York City, a government entity, until March 31. WSP told staff to proceed with business as usual, according to a person familiar with the matter, though the city closed its public schools on March 16. WSP stopped work after the governor issued an executive order.

In Fort Scott, Kansas, Peerless Products Inc., which makes windows and doors, told employees that it is essential because it provides construction materials to the government, hospitals and affordable-housing projects. Employees are not allowed to work from home at all, according to a memo sent by company president Coby Jones on March 26. A spokesperson declined to comment on its essential status or worker safety.

Gary Freed, a partner at Freed Grant LLC, a Georgia-based law firm specializing in business and labour law, said anyone required to be on the job has the right to demand, and should be given, protective gear.

I would think an employer could not make an employee work within six feet of another employee, Freed said. OSHA requires all employers to maintain a safe workplace  how thats going to play out legislatively and judicially remains to be seen.

The pandemic could well spur complaints to the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration and litigation in state and federal courts, he said.

We are in an evolving time with an unknown enemy. We dont really know where this is going.
A cruel fact of the coronavirus pandemic is that while the virus itself doesnt discriminate, the crisis does.

Weve all seen reports showing greater concentrations of positive test results in poorer communities and less ability in those communities to shelter at home.

Another area where poorer people are lagging behind is distance learning.

According to the Jersey City public school district, about 600 of its 30,000 students arent able to access online programs because they dont have laptops and/or internet access. While some might see that as a small number and percentage, we see it as unacceptable.

Were now a month and more into distance learning, and while these students have paper and pencil assignments, not having online access to their teachers and some of the lighter social media aspects of education in the pandemic era is surely putting them at a disadvantage.

According to district spokeswoman Norma Fernandez, principals are gathering additional information from their students to identify who needs a device.

We are trying to find a way to distribute some devices currently stored at the schools or hopefully some partnerships we are exploring will produce additional devices for the families, she said.

The district also plans to set up a platform to match donors to specific families, Fernandez said.

We know everyone at the school district is in uncharted waters and trying their best, but these efforts should have already been checked off. Students who need laptops and personal hotspots should have been identified. Devices collecting dust in closets should have been deployed. The call to donors for more should have gone out.

Todays April 9.

Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker has said he hopes technology will be distributed during spring break next week. We certainly hope thats the case or the district deserves an F for failing hundreds of students.

Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com.
The Rivers state government on Thursday executed its quit order against Caverton Helicopters.

The chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Solomon Eke, accompanied by some police officers, executed the order on behalf of the Rivers state government.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Eke and his entourage went to Caverton premises at the Nigeria Air Force base where he addressed a handful of the companys workers before handing over a letter requesting them to vacate the place. He then sealed up the premises.

Caverton workers were not harassed, an official of the company told PREMIUM TIMES. We have shut our operations down completely, he said. Our concern now is how to get the pilots out of detention.

Caverton also has an office within Shell facilities in Port Harcourt. It is unclear if that too has been sealed up by the Rivers state government.

I am just carrying out the order of my principal, the chairman of Obio-Akpor, Mr Eke, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Caverton, a logistics company, provides support services for oil and gas companies in Nigeria, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Total, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron.

Apart from Rivers state, Caverton has facilities in Lagos and in Warri, Delta state.

Trouble began for Caverton on Tuesday when the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, stormed the company premises and ordered the arrest of its two pilots whom he accused of flying illegally into Rivers.

The flight was authorised by the federal government.

The two pilots and 10 passengers have been remanded in the Port Harcourt prison after they were charged with disobedience to lawful order  order of the governor on the restriction of movement or flight because of the coronavirus.

Governor Wike has been insisting that people flying into Rivers must subject themselves to health checks to ascertain if they are positive or not to the coronavirus.

Caverton Helicopters have clearly shown that Rivers lives do not matter to it, the governor said in a Wednesday broadcast. It is an enemy of Rivers people and is hereby declared persona non grata in Rivers State.

With this declaration, Caverton Helicopters can only choose to operate in any part of Rivers State at its own risk as Local Government Chairmen have been directed to close their offices and prevent their operations.

The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, faulted the arrest of the Cavertons pilots and said the federal government would do everything legally possible to secure their release.

All of these flights are for the purposes of improving the national revenue to which Rivers State is the greatest beneficiary, the minister said.

A spokesperson for Caverton, Ayodele Omueti, told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday morning, that the company was dialoguing with the Rivers state government over the dispute.
WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2020 file photo, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, attends a session on the first day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. Georgieva said Friday, March 27, it is clear that the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad or worse than the 2009 downturn. She said the 189-nation lending agency was forecasting a recovery in 2021, saying it could be a Ausizable rebound.Au But she said this would only occur if nations succeed in containing the coronavirus and limiting the economic damage(AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)

WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday in remarks previewing next weeks virtual meetings of the 189-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

She said that the IMF will release an updated world economic forecast on Tuesday that will show just how quickly the coronavirus outbreak has turned what had been expected to be a solid year of growth into a deep downturn.

Just three months ago, the IMF was forecasting that 160 nations would enjoy positive income growth on a per capita basis. Now the expectation is that over 170 nations will have negative per capita income growth this yea.

Emerging markets and low-income nations across Africa, Latin America and much of Asia are at high risk, she said.

"With weak health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option," Georgieva said.

Investors have grown fearful of leaving their money in emerging economies that could be hit hard by a global recession. As a result, capital outflows from emerging-market countries have totalled more than $100 billion over the last two months, more than three times larger than the same period at the start of the global financial crisis, Georgieva noted.

In addition, countries that depend on exporting commodities have taken a double blow because of the steep fall in commodity prices.

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Georgieva said there was no question that 2020 will be an "exceptionally difficult" year. She said if the pandemic fades in the second half of the year, allowing the gradual lifting of containment measures and the reopening of the global economy, the IMF is forecasting a partial recovery in 2021.

"I stress there is tremendous uncertainty around the outlook," she said. "It could get worse depending on many variable factors, including the duration of the pandemic."

She said that she and World Bank President David Malpass will pursue at next weeks virtual meetings an agreement to adopt a standstill on debt payments over the next year by the worlds poorest nations, freeing up money they can use for critical health needs.

She also said that the IMF is prepared to commit its $1 trillion in lending capacity to providing support to nations that need help dealing with the pandemic.

"We are responding to an unprecedented number of calls for emergency financing from over 90 countries so far," she said.

The IMFs executive board has agreed to double the loan levels it will provide from its emergency facilities that she said should allow the IMF to provide around $100 billion in financing to low-income countries.
Shanghai reports 5 new imported COVID-19 cases

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:13, April 08, 2020

SHANGHAI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported five newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from overseas Tuesday, the local health authority said Wednesday.

The municipal health commission said a total of 204 imported cases had been reported in Shanghai by the end of Tuesday, while 16 suspected imported cases are under quarantine for further confirmation.

The new imported cases were all Chinese citizens, including two back from Russia, two from Britain and one from Japan. They were quarantined and tested positive for the virus upon arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

A total of 52 people in close contact with the confirmed patients on flights have been screened and put under quarantine.

On Tuesday, 17 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital in Shanghai after recovery, including one severely ill patient who was cured after treatment by a multidisciplinary team of experts.

Shanghai saw no new indigenous COVID-19 infections on Tuesday. It reported one new death from the disease on Tuesday. In total, the municipality has reported 339 locally-transmitted confirmed cases.

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A teenager has suffered injuries after an alleged stabbing in Co Kerry this afternoon.

Gardai are investigating after the alleged incident in Tralee town centre this afternoon where a 19-year-old man received injuries.
Every personal decision we make counts now. What an unsettling thought.

Many of us have never before lived with such daunting self-awareness, through a time in which almost every daily choice we make as individuals, from the trivial  Did I wash my hands before and after unpacking groceries?  to the profound  Yes, please resuscitate me makes a difference to someone elses life or death.

If you dont become infected with COVID-19 than you wont need help. If you dont require help then the medical first responders and front line workers have more resources to help save others in need. Then they will have less exposure to grave danger. Its how decent societies and not just those under severe crisis should always act, as a whole, to benefit all instead of one.

Wasnt Loose lips sink ships a famous idiom during World War II, meaning every citizen should shut the hell up in casual conversation in case they inadvertently revealed their countrys war plan or troop location to the enemy?

Its why I find the whole sanitizing thing so nerve wracking. I could never have been a brain surgeon. That line alone is ridiculous and reminiscent of a hilarious comedy sketch from the 1960s British comedy troupe Beyond the Fringe, in which Peter Cook as a loquacious coal miner bemoans his fate:Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging.

Well I did have the Latin for the judging but, mea culpa, I certainly dont have the antiseptic bandwidth to be a successful neurosurgeon or even a COVID-19-aware citizen beyond reproach.

There I am, carefully, so precisely, so obsessively, step-by-well-thought-out-step making myself and my surroundings hygienically beyond reproach. Then I remember with the shock of the doomed, Oh God, no, I left my germ-tainted outside gloves on the same kitchen counter while I unpacked raw vegetables and ate a piece of cheese. It is equivalent to a neurosurgery screw up of leaving an unsanitary cotton ball inside the patients brain.

Sometimes my brain feels like a gigantic hand sanitizer-soaked cotton ball  not the dreaded COVID-19 induced fogginess, but the flipping of a daily routine of just good enough sanitary procedures to survive in normal life to not nearly meticulous enough sanitary procedures that will protect others during a pandemic.

I made a mask  a cheerful white and black cotton bandana and two pony tail holders that had been lying around in my long-moved-out daughters bedroom drawer  downsizers take note, theres an advantage to never having gotten around to throwing out your stuff. Plus a #4 coffee filter from an open box hanging around in the pantry after we switched to a new system.

The mask works  at least psychologically  as I continue to do with alacrity and resolve almost everything Drs. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public officer of health, and her Toronto counterpart Eileen de Villa, in their calm measured tones, tell me to do. However its the physical distancing thats more effective at keeping droplets  yours and others  at bay.

Quiet measured tones are good but so is brute urgency. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, before this public health crisis, was someone you might not under any circumstances have imagined putting on a list of people youd want to be marooned with on a desert island. Now, though, you would not be unhappy to have him along with others in the command centre of the rescue boat operation, ordering others to find you and make it snappy. Ive long maintained Ford is one of the more emotional politicians Ive seen. Mostly to undisciplined bad effect.

Yet now during his daily briefings, Fords emotionally infused tenacity, his can-do attitude toward rustling up supplies in a brusquely transparent Youve got to be kidding we cant make or buy this? way is reassuring. As is his so far ideologically filter-free calling out of businesses, or even a certain President who is trying to make a buck from or even screw neighbours and friends in a global pandemic.

To admire Fords and, for that matter, PM Justin Trudeaus disparate but effective approaches  hes personal, direct with difficult news and stays primarily with the empathic reassurance that economic help will be provided  doesnt mean there wont be many post pandemic reckonings. There should be. It does mean each leader made a good decision about how he would comport himself during this crisis. Behaving well, fighting for all of us, and thanking others is a decision that benefits all citizens. They make it easier for us to settle on the best possible way to behave. And because there is a science based, self-disciplined range of leadership behaviour, it makes it easier to think of our personal decisions as the right thing to do. Lucky Canada.

How we greet each other is another decision. If I go for a short physical distancing walk in our neighbourhood, the standard greeting most of us who encounter each other  from a safe distance  seem to have settled on has faint echoes of The Handmaids Tale. There red-cloaked, young, fertile women held hostage by the male commanders softly say Under His Eye passing each other on the street  both as a warning and an acknowledgement of being in this together.

We citizens, held hostage by a so far unstoppable virus, wave and intone: Stay safe to both those weve known for years and those we dont know. We are in this together.

You can make these thoughts and actions seem trite but theyre not. How could they be?

I hate and dread this time as a whole, but I feel good about each of us  stranger and friend  methodically making decisions that matter to us all.
Hialeah in South Florida is fast emerging as a coronavirus hotspot with more confirmed cases than Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The city, the state's most Hispanic metropolis with a large senior citizen population, falls under Miami Dade - the county with the highest number of confirmed cases, 5,461, and highest death toll, 49.

It is also the place where hundreds of desperate Floridians lined up dangerously close to each other on Tuesday and Wednesday to get paper unemployment applications

Hialeah Councilman Jesus Tundidor told The Daily Beast: 'I think it is going to get a lot worse.'

The city has seen cases skyrocket; on March 22 there were nine confirmed cases. By March 31, 243; April 5, 507 and by Wednesday, 597.

Public health law professor Lawrence Gostin said the city 'is a very high risk area' and called the situation there a 'recipe for disaster'.

He said 'you have a poor elderly community with a lot of preexisting conditions', adding: 'So when they become infected, they will more than likely require hospitalization and intensive care.'

People queue to receive the printed Unemployment Benefits application in the parking lot of Kennedy Library in Hialeah, Florida on Tuesday

Hialeah's city worker delivers printed Unemployment Benefits applications in the parking lot of Kennedy Library in Hialeah on Tuesday

Former Florida ombudsman for elder affairs, Brian Lee, said: 'The potential for terrible things to happen is unimaginable.'

On Tuesday and Wednesday hundreds of desperate Floridians were filmed lining up and risking COVID-19 exposure to get paper unemployment applications.

Footage obtained by Local10 shows people dangerously close to each other outside the John F. Kennedy Library in Hialeah as the state tries to fix online filing problems.

'I have a printer, but I dont have the cartridge', one woman said Tuesday.

Another, Jessica Tellez, said she waited in line for three hours. She told the network: 'My dad is old. He cant come out. Everybody out here is risking their lives to get these applications.'

There are more than 15,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, 323 people have died as of Thursday.

The Sunshine State is expected to hit its peak in 14 days with an estimated 149 COVID-19 deaths in a 24 hour period.

Hundreds of residents lined up hours before locations were scheduled to open Tuesday across Hialeah, to submit paper applications for unemployment benefits as the state attempts to address problems with its website amid the increased number of applicants

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that their heavily criticized unemployment system should now be able to handle the crush of applicants it is receiving as workers lose their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that their heavily criticized unemployment system should now be able to handle the crush of applicants it is receiving as workers lose their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak.

He said the computer system's capacity has been increased to handle 120,000 simultaneous connections, about double the peak usage in recent weeks, and by Tuesday 750 additional state employees will be trained to handle and process phone calls.

But footage from Tuesday in Hialeah shows as one police officer is surrounded by those in desperate need for the forms.

Private call centers are also being contracted to provide additional service. Last week, 3.8 million calls were made to the department, 50 per cent more than all of last year.

More than 520,000 Floridians have applied for unemployment since March 15, compared to 326,000 in all of last year.

Florida is expected to hit its peak in 14 days with an estimated 149 COVID-19 deaths

Hialeah in South Florida is fast emerging as a coronavirus hotspot with more confirmed cases than Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg. The city, the state's most Hispanic metropolis with a large senior citizen population, falls under Miami Dade - the county with the highest number of confirmed cases, 5,461, and highest death toll, 49

'We are in a position where people have lost their jobs, they are looking for relief and they were having a lot of difficulty,' DeSantis said.

'People were on this site and it was timing out. People would go hours and hours upon end and it was totally unacceptable', he added, 'You have a single mother who no longer has a job, who has to worry about how the rent is going to be paid, how food is going to be put on the table. We want this system to be accessible.'

But despite assurances that help was on its way, some confirmed they still weren't getting it.

'Nothing is fixed, but they can now put you on hold,' said Jay Mendez in a text message he typed while on holding Monday afternoon  for nearly four hours, and counting.

He was laid off from his Miami accounting firm three weeks ago.

The Department of Economic Opportunity said it is working to expand online capacity with additional servers, even as it began accepting paper applications to accommodate more claims while getting staffing help from other state agencies.
At the 2019 Ha Long Carnival (Photo: VNA)

The provincial Department of Tourism has been asked to work with the Peoples Committee of Ha Long city, the Department of Health, FLC Group and other relevant agencies to make preparations, and continue keeping a close watch on the COVID-19 situation and provide advice for the Quang Ninh Peoples Committee on the organisation of the event at the designated time.

The annual carnival, first organised in 2007, features the typical cultural and tourism attractions of the northeastern province.

Over the years, it has been held on the National Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labour Day (May 1) holiday. However, this years event has been rescheduled due to the impacts of the global pandemic.

Quang Ninh province is home to Ha Long Bay, which was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000.

Over the past 20 years, Ha Long Bay has welcomed nearly 20 million domestic and international tourists, making it one of the top tourist destinations in Vietnam and the region, while elevating Quang Ninh to an important strategic position and contributing to the formation of a key economic triangle in the northern region.
EU finance ministers have reached a compromise which can free up some 500bn in coronavirus aid  but they remain deadlocked over future debt-sharing proposals aimed at staving off a recession.

On their third attempt, after more than 20 hours of haggling, the ministers agreed multi-tiered rescue plans for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic.

But they side-lined a demand by Italy and Spain, supported by France and other member states including Ireland, for pooled EU borrowing to mitigate a huge expected recession in the virus aftermath.

While this vexed issue  commonly referred to as coronabonds - remains unresolved, the ministers still stressed other elements of the package deal. "Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said soon after the marathon talks via videolink ended last night.

Irish Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe also welcomed the result as a very significant agreement which was reached by the finance ministers who make up the Eurogroup of 19 countries using the single currency.

It means support will be available for governments, employers and citizens. It took a few hours to agree, but only because this really matters. It is a very important step forward, said Mr Donohoe, who participated in talks from Dublin.

Earlier this week a 16-hour haggling session, spread over two days, ended without a deal, and tensions between several countries ran high. EU heavyweights France and Germany helped broker a solution to fight economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, as the finance ministers resumed negotiations.

The ministers will now report back to EU leaders expected to have another videolink summit in the coming weeks. Ireland has already made common cause with a total of nine other member states which are urging an EU-wide coronavirus debt-support scheme, and the others included Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece.

These talks focused on overcoming two major stumbling blocks to freeing up a huge multi-faceted EU-driven support package. One was opposition by the richer states to the idea of the EU underwriting member government debt incurred in fighting the coronavirus economic fallout  sometimes called coronabonds.

This fundamental row remains to be broached again. It is clear that Germany, Netherlands, Austria and the Nordic countries are implacably opposed and insist the move breaches EU law as it stands.

But compromise was found on the second point which was an insistence by Netherlands  and allied states  that strict economic reform conditions be attached to low-interest loans to countries like Italy and Spain. These loans would come from a fund set up in the wake of the 2008 banking and economic collapse and is called the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

The progress made opens the way for an EU scheme to help Ireland and other member states underwrite the huge extra welfare payments caused by the coronavirus. The scheme called sure would allow the EU underwrite member states welfare debts and release up to 100bn in longer-term low-interest loans.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had rejected the coronabonds initiative, arguing there was no "political consensus" for it. But more importantly, she revealed she had been in contact with France's Emmanuel Macron, the Netherlands' Rutte and Italy's Giuseppe Conte, saying that a compromise solution was "very close."

Chancellor Merkel's finance minster, Olaf Scholz, said in Berlin ahead of the latest conference that "it looks like an agreement is possible." But Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that EU leaders needed to seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project.

"It's a big challenge to the existence of Europe and to the history of Europe," Mr Conte told the BBC.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 15:28 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d9aec 1 National COVID-19,crime,National-Police,law-enforcement Free

The National Police say that crime rates across the country have dropped as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

There has been a significant decrease in the levels of felonies, misdemeanors and public disturbances, National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Asep Adi Saputra said by video link from the Jakarta headquarters of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) during a press conference on Thursday.

The police recorded 3,743 felonies nationwide last week from 4,197 felonies the previous week.

Misdemeanors had also decreased 53.82 percent from 301 to 139 cases, while public disturbances had dropped 34.78 percent from 69 to 45 cases.

Asep said that during the ongoing health emergency, the National Police would focus on crimes related to personal protective equipment (PPE) that were sorely needed by medical workers.

The National Police, together with health agencies and [PPE] distributors, will be running close surveillance to ensure an adequate supply of PPE [...] especially for health workers, he said.

The police have uncovered 18 cases of price gouging, stockpiling, and obstructing the distribution and production of PPE. The police have named 33 suspects, of which two have been detained.

Several reports on the theft of PPE have emerged in past weeks.

In March, police arrested three employees of a hospital in Cianjur, West Java, for stealing hundreds of boxes of masks that the trio allegedly planned to resell. In Pekanbaru, Riau, an ambulance driver was arrested for allegedly stealing a box containing 1,000 masks intended for a puskesmas (community health center).
Indian fire personnel spray disinfectant on a road during lockdown to prevent the spread of new coronavirus. (AP)

Mysuru: Kuvempunagar police in Mysuru have registered a case on fake news perpetrators on social media, who spread word that the owner of Loyal World supermarket at Kuvempunagar had visited the infamous Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi and that he tested positive for coronavirus two days ago.

According to police, the fake news along with a photo of Muhammed, the owner of Loyal World chain of supermarkets in Mysuru went viral on social media and Whatsapp. This message was even sent to Mohammed himself.

Following this, Mohammed lodged a complaint at Kuvempunagar police station, clarifying that the message was fake.

He had not been to the Tablighi Jamaat convention in Delhi and none of his group members had been there. None of his staff including him have been tested positive for Covid-19.

Mohammed alleges that the fake message has created fear among his staff, and even customers from buying essential commodities from his store.

He urged the police to initiate legal action against those who created and circulated the fake news and made it viral on social media, police said.

Kuvempunagar police have registered a case and are investigating. They are yet to trace the person who created this message.
Tens of thousands of South Korean middle school and high school seniors on Thursday returned to school via remote learning, as classrooms remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic that has infected 10,424 people in the country.

Students across the country greeted their classmates and teachers from their living rooms or bedrooms as they logged onto digital platforms, such as Zoom or Google Classroom, to begin the new school year, reports the Yonhap News Agency.

The government had postponed the new school year, which usually starts in March, by five weeks to Monday.

But the plan changed as unexpected cluster infections broke out in various parts of the country.

Last week, the government announced plans to first resume online classes for seniors at middle and high schools before expanding the remote learning program to other grades.

Grades one and two at middle schools and high schools, as well as grades four to six at elementary schools, will begin the new semester on April 16.

Grades one to three at elementary schools will start taking online classes from April 20, while the national college entrance exam has been pushed back by two weeks to December 3.

Classes at kindergartens and child care centres have been indefinitely postponed, said the Yonhap News Agency report.

Schools have been advised to carry out remote learning through various approaches, such as classes involving real-time interaction, using online lectures prerecorded by the national educational TV channel, and giving projects and homework to students.

The coronavirus has killed a total of 204 people in South Korea since it was first reported in January.
As a boy, I spent a lot of time in the woods hiking around with my buddies in Boy Scouts. Ive never forgotten the experience of hiking through the Daniel Boone National Forest or some other patch of wilderness, backpack heavy on the shoulders and feet 10 steps from sore, listening to a troop leader named Mike singing. He was in his 20s, babyfaced but built like a fireplug. Mike was a storyteller, a BS-er in the best sense, and he exuded a handymans competence with everything he touched. He also knew all the old Boy Scout campfire songs, from the Bear Song  Best I can remember, it was a year ago November  to the one about Granny cooking up biscuits in the basement with snot dripping into the batter.

But the song I really remember was about our shared home state of Kentucky: And daddy wont you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where Paradise lay.

I dont think Id ever heard of the Green River, or Muhlenberg County, but Mikes singing created a picture in my mind of a boy and his family and big bad coal companies. It felt like the songwriter was on the right side of whatever fight might come. Kind of like I felt about Mike, more or less.

These memories came back Tuesday night as news spread that John Prine had died, another victim of the coronavirus. The news made me angry: Were losing so many people who arent ready to go and whom were not ready to let go of, either. Prine, 73, had survived two bouts of cancer, years of heavy drinking, and the vicissitudes of the music business, only to be killed by this damned disease just as he was once again back on top with his music. Then a stream of memories made me both sad and grateful. Ive been listening to his music for most of my life, beginning with those hikes in the woods long before I even knew his name.

But isnt that the power of songwriting? To use a few words and paint a picture that lasts forever?

Early last year, as Prine was enjoying newfound buzz and a Grammy nomination, CBS Sunday Morning News John Dickerson spent a couple hours on camera with him at his Nashville home. Prine told him when writing a song hell come to a place that he cant find a word that makes sense and still sounds right. The word has to hit your ear right. I can have the right word for what the line in a song is supposed to mean, but if it doesnt sound right to me I will pick a really goofy word They can figure out what it means later on.

That explained a lot to me. Havent you sometimes wondered how even some of your favorite songs have lyrics that lapse into nonsense in places? Well, very few John Prine lyrics are nonsense, even when they are silly. Some are the stuff of literature: If dreams were lightning thunder was desire this old house would burned down a long time ago  How the hell can a person go to work in the morning and come home in the evening and have nothing to say?

It wasnt just his golden touch with lyrics. Prine, right from the start as a twentysomething mailman sketching songs in his head on his routes, told stories through the eyes of people at the margins in a way that made everyone pay attention. On his first album, there was Sam Stone, the Vietnam veteran turned heroin addict whod bought his house on the G.I. bill and ended up buried on some local heroes hill. There was the middle-aged women dreaming of a different life in Angel from Montgomery, the painfully lonely, elderly couple in Hello in There, and the coal miners family  his own  in Paradise.

People you never met rarely become part of your lifelong interior dialogue, but John Prine did for me. First, as a boy listening to my Scout leader singing Paradise, and much later as a writer who discovered him anew and was left gob-smacked by his lyrics.

Its hard to know what kind of songs Prine would have written had he survived this pandemic. You can bet they would have highlighted people struggling far from the limelight, and made their stories universal. As for is own fate, perhaps hed take it in stride, as he sang in one of my favorites: Youre up one day, and the next youre down. Half an inch of water and you think youre gonna drown.

Only this time he really did drown. I am feeling more rage than acceptance at the moment. He knew what to do with that, too, as he wrote in one of his first hits, Sam Stone: Theres a hole in daddys arm where all the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.

I lost touch with Mike, who went on to earn his union electricians card, get married and put all those weekends spent in the woods behind him. I bet hed be surprised how permanent an impression his baritone verses left on a young teenager hiking through Red River Gorge in the Eastern Kentucky mountains. But for most of the past 25 years at least, Prines words have echoed in my head and heart. Now that hes dead, theres a hole there. But something new, too: Profound gratitude for a life lived in capital letters and for all these beautiful songs.

Lindenberger is deputy opinion editor.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has steadily scaled up his governments response to the coronavirus disease pandemic, starting with the screening of international passengers on January 17; following up with a three-week nationwide lockdown on March 25; and forming 11 high-level empowered groups to reinforce health care facilities, bring the economy back on track, and mitigate problems faced by citizens.

On April 4, Modi underlined the need for more hospitals, isolation and quarantine facilities, training of personnel for testing and critical care, medical equipment and personal protective gear for health care workers, and on April 6, sought suggestions from the council of ministers on a calibrated exit from the lockdown.

In this context, outlined below an innovative strategy for lifting the lockdown.

Indias health management system is ready to begin antibody testing. Biomedical companies can upscale the manufacturing of kits under the supervision of, and quality certification by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). People with IgG antibodies, found in the blood and lymph fluid, whether or not they had suffered Covid-19, are immune, and, they can safely return to normal activities. They will not get infected, and cannot transmit infection to others. Antibodies are of two kinds, IgM and IgG. In simple terms, IgM antibody signals current infection and IgG antibody records past infection and immunity.

The experience everywhere is that a large proportion of people with infection have no illness or only very mild symptoms, not fulfilling the clinical criteria of Covid-19 diagnoses. Unless tested with a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test or IgM antibody test, they will remain undetected and not be counted as infected.

The mainstay of my strategy is systematic, well-designed, and widespread antibody testing of individuals, and certifying those who are antibody positive as exempted from lockdown. This is one form of calibration.

Testing can be initiated in foci of selected geography, and centrifugally expanded. The field methodology can be designed by the responsible empowered group. This exercise can be continuous and ongoing. In communities already tested, it must be repeated periodically, say at intervals of 2-3 weeks, targeting those who were previously antibody-negative. Antibody-positive persons are the newly recruited workforce in rebuilding economic activities. All data must be captured, stored, and made available to the concerned authorities of local and state governments.

A registry of antibody-positive healthy adults who are willing to be plasma donors must also be established along with antibody testing. Their plasma is an additional therapeutic item in the health care armamentarium for treating those at risk of severe illness with Covid-19. Medical experts can develop the criteria for selecting such patients. The empowered group concerned with health care can design the modus operandi from A to Z, without delay.

Let me add that universal mask-wearing ought to be a necessary condition for lifting of lockdown. Ideally it should have preceded the lockdown. There are still a few days left under lockdown, and the policy of universal mask-use must be mandated as soon as possible. If the Union government delays action, state governments must take leadership. As families stay confined in their own homes, they can stitch masks using old clothes. You do not need sewing machine; hand stitching is good enough.

The antibody testing survey has another major benefit. If designed well, it will inform us of the magnitude of the prevalence of Sars-CoV-2 infection. That is an invaluable piece of information that will guide future war tactics.

(Dr T Jacob John is a former Professor of Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu)

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Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) has released statistics that show that there were 101 accidental fires in the home from 2 March 2020 until 5 April 2020. During the same period in 2019 there were 68 accidental fires in the home, meaning there has been a 49% increase this year.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the community has spent the majority of the month of March in their homes, and cooking; electrical incidents; and candles or matches have been the main causes of fire during this time.

There has been an increase of 33% in the number of cooking appliance related fires in March 2020, compared to March 2019, and electricity supply related and smoking related fires have also more than doubled during this time period.

The number of casualties at accidental fires in the home has also increased by 48% during this time.

Assistant Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Alan Walmsley, NIFRS, said: We fully support the Northern Ireland Executives advice to stay at home in order to beat COVID-19. As the community is spending most of their time indoors, there has been a sharp increase in the number of accidental fires in the home.

Last week we warned that the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to significant pressures on us, including a reduction in the number of frontline Firefighters available for emergency response. We have made changes to how we deliver our service to help ease the impact of the pandemic on Firefighter availability and our ability to respond to emergencies, including redeploying personnel; reverting certain Stations to On-Call; and amalgamating some other Stations, to ensure reliable cover.

The stark rise in accidental house fires last month, coupled with the pressures NIFRS is currently under due to the pandemic, means that we are calling on the community to make themselves aware of the potential causes of fire in the home  if youre cooking more, make sure youre not leaving it unattended; when using electrical devices, make sure to not overload your plug sockets; if using candles, make sure they are out fully before going to bed; never smoke in bed; and always make sure when youre putting a cigarette out, that it is fully out.

Also, if you know someone who is older, or could be more at risk from fire at this time, please consider their fire safety too- check in with them and talk about the potential fire risks in their home. Ensure they have a working smoke alarm. If youre concerned, please pass their details on to us, and we can check in with them to make sure they are keeping themselves safe from fire.

We have changed the way we are carrying out Home Fire Safety Checks  we have replaced our regular face to face Home Fire Safety checks with an over the phone service. By phoning 02892664221, and providing the relevant details, you will be contacted by a member of our Prevention and Protection Team who will discuss your queries and circumstances, and provide fire safety advice.

Last year 3 people tragically lost their lives due to an accidental fire in the home. This is the lowest ever achieved within NIFRS, due to the hard work of our personnel and our partner agencies, who have worked collaboratively to drive down community risk across Northern Ireland.

One life lost is still one to many, and our goal is for there to be no deaths caused by accidental fires in the home, especially at this difficult time.

We need to work together we can get through this- Support us, Save Lives, Fight Back.
TORONTO, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tanzanian Gold Corporations (TSX:TNX) (NYSE American:TRX) (the Companys) Board of Directors is pleased to provide an update on its Buckreef Project following the press release of March 17, 2020 that announced the results of the 2019 drilling campaign which more than doubled the estimated Mineral Resource in the Measured + Indicated categories for the Buckreef Shear Zone to 2.3 million contained ounces of gold.



Drilling continues in the Companys Phase III (Ultra-deep) program that was announced on February 26, 2020.

The Company is today announcing the following additional updates on the Buckreef Project:

First Bucket; On April 6 2020 the first bucket was excavated from the Buckreef Open pit, signaling the beginning of mining for ores to be processed by the Companys new Oxide Plant. Initially topsoil will be removed from the oxide open pit and stored on a sperate topsoil pad. Following removal of the topsoil, oxide ore will be placed in several stockpiles on a separate Run-Of-Mine pad for blending as feed to the Oxide Plant.

Cold Commissioning; The Companys contractor has announced that before the end of the month they plan to initiate cold commissioning of the Oxide Plant. In a cold commissioning test, all the parts of the plant will run but there will not be any ore processed.

Conceptual Underground Stope: The Companys Advisor, SGS Canada Inc., has completed a geotechnical assessment of the Buckreef Deposit at depths below the proposed open pit. The report provides recommendations to guide stope, underground infrastructure, and crown pillar designs. Key recommendations are:

A crown pillar with a minimum thickness of 15 m between the open pit and underground workings

Unsupported long hole longitudinal stopes have been assessed for widths of 7.5, 10, and 12.5 m for both single and double, 25 m sub-level intervals heights, using Q median values. These conceptual or Level 1 underground stope designs will now be advanced to the next level of mine design as the basis for a possible underground operation below the planned Buckreef open pit. This open pit is the basis for the June 26, 2018 43-101 Pre-Feasibility Report.

Metallurgical Testing Started on Primary Ore: The Companys Advisor, SGS Canada Inc, has started testing several large samples at its Lakefield, Ontario, Canada facilities. These samples were collected from holes recently drilled in the area of the Pre-Feasibility Study open pit to collect critical flow sheet and design information for a large plant that will process the primary ore that lies below the oxide ore currently being mined. This large plant will be the basis for the Companys Final Feasibility 43-101 Report.

States Mr. James E. Sinclair, Executive Chairman of the Company, Following the announcement of a doubling of our highest quality resources we are now well placed to complete our oxide ore project and then proceed to Final Feasibility study as evidenced by todays updates. Mr. Sinclair goes on to state that we still have several drills on the property as our testing of the ultra-deep potential and the possible extension of the Buckreef Shear Zone continues.

Qualified Person

The Companys Qualified Person, Mr. Peter Zizhou, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Zizhou has a Master of Science (Exploration Geology) degree from the University of Zimbabwe (2000) and is a registered professional natural scientist with SACNASP (Reg. No. 400028/08).

Respectfully Submitted,

James E. Sinclair

James E. Sinclair

Executive Chairman

For further information, please contact Michael Martin, Investor Relations, via email at m.martin@tangoldcorp.com , direct line 860-248-0999, or visit the Company website at www.tangoldcorp.com .

The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE MKT LLC have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission limits disclosure for U.S. reporting purposes to mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this news release, such as reserves, resources, geologic resources, proven, probable, "measured", "indicated", or "inferred" which may not be consistent with the reserve definitions established by the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our SEC filings. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time-to-time with the British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario provincial securities regulatory authorities.

Certain information presented in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are referred to our description of the risk factors affecting the Company, as contained in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 20-F and Registration Statement on Form F-10, as amended, for more information concerning these risks, uncertainties, and other factors.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2380c4ba-c12e-48d3-bf9a-ae92124b6d50
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Buy KCMO Clunkers Online

KCMO.gov - City of Kansas City, MO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2020 To keep pace with the city's stay-at-home order and social distancing recommendations, our Tow Services Division is offering its first online-only auction on April 22 to sell surplus cars, trucks and motorcycles. No one will be allowed on the lot due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Dotte Burns Down

KCKFD responds to overnight apartment fire KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department is investigating the cause of an overnight fire at an apartment building. The call went out around 1:15 a.m. Thursday in the 1100 block of County Line Road. When fire crews arrived, they saw smoke and fire showing from the building.

Coffee Shop Serves Community

Cafe Corazon makes meals for service industry workers KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas Citians are joining forces to provide free meals to unemployed service industry workers. Miel Castagna Herrera, of Cafe Corazon in Midtown, created a GoFundMe for the project , which had raised nearly $2,000 by Wednesday night. Open Belly Podcast, Cafe Corazon and The Tamale Kitchen are working together to make those meals possible.

Classic #TBT Hottie Reveals Her No Photoshop Pix

Jane Seymour, 69, says she doesn't retouch her swimsuit photos on Instagram: 'It's just me out there' At age 69, Jane Seymour is feeling more confident than ever. The British actress, who enjoys showcasing her sizzling swimsuit snaps on Instagram, insisted she doesn't edit them for her followers. "I don't retouch any of those pictures, it's just me out there," the former Bond girl told People magazine on Tuesday.

Uemployment Ramps Up

US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6 million, bringing three-week total to more than 16 million Jobless rolls continued to swell due to the coronavirus shutdown, with 6.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims in the week ended April 4, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That brings the total over the past three weeks to more than 16 million.

Blue Dress Stays Winning

Woman who revealed Clinton-Lewinsky scandal dies An American civil servant whose disclosure of an affair between Bill Clinton and a White House intern nearly brought down his presidency has died. Linda Tripp, 70, passed away after suffering from pancreatic cancer, her family told US media on Wednesday.

Uncle Sam Check Coming Soon

Americans could start receiving stimulus checks starting on April 9 Much-awaited stimulus cash will begin flooding into millions of bank accounts next week in the first wave of payouts to shore up the nation's wallets. Millions of taxpayers will begin receiving the extra money to pay rent, groceries and other bills next week, or possibly as early as Thursday or Friday, some say.

El Papa Seyz Sky Falling

Pope Francis says coronavirus could be 'nature's response' to climate change Pope Francis likened the coronavirus pandemic to recent fires and floods as one of "nature's responses" to the world's ambivalence to climate change. "There is an expression in Spanish: 'God always forgives, we forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives,'" the pope said in an interview published Wednesday in The Tablet, a United Kingdom-based Catholic weekly.

Sharing Lockdown Inspiration

Metro church known for its witty signs shares Easter message during time of social distancing Prairie Village, Kan. - Asbury United Methodist Church is known for fun and witty signs, and now the church is sharing a message about Easter in the time of social distancing. The sign outside the Prairie Village church reads, "Easter joy won't come from worship in a crowded room."

Redux: KC Selling Season Kaput

Spring Parade of Homes postponed because of COVID-19 The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City has decided to postpone the spring Parade of Homes.It was scheduled for April 25 through May 10.The KCHBA said it is looking at possibly hosting the spring parade in late spring or early to mid-summer.

Help Bridge Local Digital Divide

Connecting for Good in need of computers to provide for families KANSAS CITY, Mo - Staff at Connecting For Good have been working around the clock for the past few weeks, ensuring families and schools have the computers they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit works to provide internet access and technology equipment for the metro's most at risk families.

Hard Freeze Tonight?!?!

Colder temperatures return Thursday, hard freeze possible overnight Easter beginning to look like a washout

Yes, things are getting weird around here as we recently realized thatand shares the digital Insta- love. Accordingly, we're offering this collection of community news, pop culture and info from across the nation and around the world . . .is the #TBT song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-08 23:51:50

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 8, 2020 / International Montoro Resources Inc. (TSXV:IMT)(Frankfurt:O4T1), (the "Company"). Further to the news releases dated January 9th, 2020, February 5, 2020 and March 13, 2020, the Company announces that it will close its final tranche of its private placement and issue 1,615,000 units at a price of $0.035 for gross proceeds of $56,525. Each unit will be comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company and one warrant. Each whole warrant will permit the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.05 for two years from closing.The pricing of the Private Placement was made in reliance on the temporary relief measures established by the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated April 7, 2014. The price per common share was set at the last trading price on the TSX Venture Exchange before the issuance of the initial press release.The use of proceeds will be for continued exploration on existing properties $30,000; $20,000 in property payments and working capital of $6,525. While the Company intends to use the proceeds as stated above, there may be circumstances where, for sound business reasons, funds may be reallocated at discretion of the Board.Insider's of the Company participated in this private placement offering (1st tranche as to 300,000 units and 2nd tranche as to 150,000 units) constituting a related party transaction pursuant to TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions {"Ml 61-101"). The Company relied on Section 5.S{a) of Ml 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and Section 5.7{l){a) of Ml 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement of Ml 61-101 as the fair market value of the transaction insofar as the transaction involved interested parties did not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.All securities issued under this private placement, and the shares that may be issuable on the exercise of the warrants, are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four-months and one day from issuance. The closing of the private placement and the issuance of the securities are subject to final TSX Venture Exchange approval.The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities for sale, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities.About International Montoro Resources Inc.Int. Montoro Resources Inc. listed on the TSX Venture Exchange for over 25 years, is a Canadian based emerging resource company. The Company is systematically exploring its extensive property positions in:Red Lake, Ontario ( Camping Lake - Au prospect)Elliot Lake, Ontario (Serpent River/Pecors -Ni-Cu-PGE discovery) & (Uranium- REE's)Quebec (Duhamel -Ni-Cu-Co prospect & Titanium, Vanadium, and Chromium prospect)Prince George, British Columbia (Wicheeda North - Rare Earth Elements prospect)ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD"Gary Musil"Gary Musil,President/CEO and DirectorDisclaimer for Forward-Looking Information:Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements which reflect the expectations of management. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: International Montoro Resources Inc.
Linda Tripp, a Pentagon civil servant who in the late 1990s played a central role in the scandal that led to President Bill Clintons impeachment, died on Wednesday at the age of 70.

The New York Post reported earlier Wednesday that Tripp had been seriously ill, with her daughter-in-law, Allison Tripp Foley, posting on Facebook asking for prayers for a painless process for the strongest woman I will ever know in my entire lifetime.

Tripps son-in-law, Thomas Foley, said Tripp died later in the afternoon of an illness not connected to COVID-19, The Post reported.

She fought on as hard as she could," Thomas Foley said. I know all the press will focus on the other stuff but she was a special person and a fantastic grandparent who was devoted to her family. People forget this part.

Upon hearing of Tripps illness, Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern whom Tripp secretly recorded discussing an inappropriate relationship with the president, wished Tripp well.

No matter the past ... I hope for her recovery, Lewinsky tweeted. I cant imagine how difficult this is for her family.

no matter the past, upon hearing that linda tripp is very seriously ill, i hope for her recovery. i cant imagine how difficult this is for her family.  Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) April 8, 2020

Tripps recordings were shared with independent counsel Kenneth Starr, whose investigation eventually turned Clinton into the second impeached president in U.S. history.

In 2018, Tripp said on National Whistleblower Day on Capitol Hill that her only regret was not having the guts to do it sooner, The Washington Post reported.
Multinational exercises with the participation of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in Ukraine and abroad have been postponed due to the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has reported on Facebook.

"Events of multinational collective training in Ukraine with the participation of Ukrainian Armed Forces units, envisaged by a decree of the President of Ukraine of February 4, 2020 'On the plan of conducting multinational exercises with the participation of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in Ukraine and their participation in multinational exercises outside Ukraine for 2020 and on the admission of units of the armed forces of other states to the territory of Ukraine in 2020 for participation in multinational exercises,' have been postponed due to the introduction of restrictive measures to prevent the spread of acute respiratory disease Covid-19 caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2," the report reads.

The rotation of national personnel carrying out tasks within international peacekeeping and security operations has also been postponed.

At the same time, preparations for the rotation of the national contingent in Kosovo, the Republic of Serbia and the 18th separate helicopter detachment of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remain unchanged.

According to the General Staff, the issue of returning to Ukraine eight servicemen and one mine detection dog of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fulfilling the tasks of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is being worked out.

A total of 1,892 Covid-19 cases were laboratory-confirmed in Ukraine as of April 9. Fifty-seven people died, and 45 patients recovered. Some 224 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours.

op
In all situations Christians are commanded to love God with heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 24:37-39). That applies to individual Christians as well as church congregations. Other religious groups believe in the same rules as well.

Gov. Greg Abbott addressed our state with updated COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, specifically deeming religious services an essential service as we approach Easter Sunday. Sadly, many have misinterpreted this information, disregarding Abbotts further clarification that such services must be conducted virtually or under the current guidelines set by President Donald Trump, which still prohibit gatherings of more than 10.

While some may feel Abbotts remarks give permission to physically reconvene during special holy times such as Passover and Easter, we strongly advise against this.

We believe that churches and other religious groups have an obligation not to hold services until the COVID-19 crisis is over. Now is the time to do the right thing for our communities and our state out of obedience to Gods will.

Methodisms founder John Wesley outlined Three Simple Rules that summarize what God is calling people of faith to do.

Do no harm

Medical professionals have taught us that persons who do not have any symptoms can nevertheless be contagious. Maintaining social distance is crucial. Houstons medical community has been united in teaching us that we must flatten the curve to save lives. Out of respect for our neighbors, friends and family, we need to follow appropriate stay-at-home mandates.

The most recent medical data suggest we still have a responsibility in flattening the curve here in Texas. Although we do not presently have the numbers of other states such as New York or California, we need to remain vigilant and do our part in maintaining our social distancing.

Do good

We must support our medical professionals, our grocery store workers, our police and firefighters and others who are on the front lines battling this disease. Those of us who are able must generously support the organizations that are caring for the poor and distributing food to the needy. We need to take care of our neighbors and stay connected to those who are lonely and isolated. We are witnessing so many creative ways of maintaining relationships and support during this unprecedented time, from individuals offering no-touch food pantries for needy families to sewing masks for medical professionals. The good being demonstrated under the social distancing guidelines should and must continue.

Stay in love with God

Technology offers us many ways of worshiping God each week. Many religious leaders, including Bishop Scott Jones, are holding live worship via Facebook and other streaming services each week. Churches and other religious groups have introduced online worship and encouraged Sunday school classes and small groups to meet virtually through video or audio conferences. Families are praying together across appropriate social distances. We can continue to pray, read scripture and support each other as expressions of Gods saving grace.

Our prayer for Houston, our great state of Texas, our nation and our world is that the church will lead the way in acting out Wesleys three vital, yet simple, rules so that we can very soon gather together  in-person  again, perhaps even stronger and more spiritually and emotionally connected than ever before.

Boom, MD, is president and CEO of Houston Methodist; Jones is with the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church; and Millikan is vice president for Spiritual Care and Values Integration at Houston Methodist.
Check out the companies making headlines after the bell.

United Airlines  Shares of the airline rose 3% after the market closed. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that airlines should start hearing back Friday about their applications for government assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic. "We hope to get to a lot of the airlines starting tomorrow and over the weekend with preliminary information," Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC. Other major airlines that said they applied for the bailout including Delta, JetBlue, American and Spirit, saw their stocks rise in extended trading as well.

Pfizer  The pharmaceutical company's stock was up 1% after the closing bell. Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer, told CNBC Thursday that the company had identified a lead drug to treat the coronavirus. Dolsten said the potential treatment has shown positive signs in preclinical work and that the antiviral would be administered "early in the disease process." Pfizer initially aimed to enter clinical trials for a coronavirus drug by the end of 2020, but now hopes to start the trial "just a few months from today," according to Dolsten.

KB Home  Shares of the home construction company were up 3% in extended trading after the company declared a second-quarter 2020 dividend. The cash dividend is equivalent to 9 cents per share.

Oil States International  The energy services company was up 10% after the market closed. OPEC+ agreed to historic production cuts on Thursday that will take 10 million barrels per day offline as the COVID-19 pandemic causes demand for crude oil to plunge. Other companies in the oil and energy sector  such as Noble Energy, Devon Energy, Apache, Schlumberger, Occidental, EOG Resources and Phillips 66  also saw an after-hours climb on the news.

Abbott Laboratories  Shares of the health products company, which offers a coronavirus test kit, were up 1% in extended trading. The company is set to report earnings next week, and investors will be on the lookout for new business and research developments related to the coronavirus.
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has been fined $1000 by police for allegedly breaching social distancing laws after visiting his Central Coast holiday home last month.

Police say they issued the fine after they were alerted to the fact the 55-year-old had relocated to a holiday home at Pearl Beach "in contravention of current Ministerial Direction under the Public Health Act".

But it seems Harwin did not breach the direction, according to official advice he obtained beforehand and comments from the Premier today.
M artin Luen

The COVID crisis is tearing through communities and businesses, upending our way of life as Governments around the world force their economies into an induced coma to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

No facet of society is immune, and that includes education.

In recent weeks, over 180 countries have shuttered their schools, affecting 1.5 billion students and over 60 million teachers. Exams have been cancelled, including GCSEs and A-Levels here in the UK, SATs in America and the dreaded Gao Kao university entrance exam in China.

Inevitably, this has caused enormous anxiety for students who are worried about their short-term college prospects and longer-term careers. There is a real concern amongst experts about a mental health crisis that this could trigger across Britain, Europe and other affected regions.

Many schools are stepping up to the plate, launching e-learning programmes with virtual classrooms and structured lessons. That cannot come too soon for parents stuck at home, trying to juggle their own remote working obligations.

However not all students are created equal in terms of opportunity. Poorer families are disproportionately affected in this crisis as often they dont have laptops, while rural communities can suffer from poor broadband provision.

Legal activist group the Good Law Project has warned that local authorities in the UK may face legal action if pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot properly engage in remote learning during the lockdown.

Poor connectivity infrastructure will also hamper e-learning: a survey recently found that only 40% of governmentfunded schools in the UK would actually be able to broadcast a video lesson.

Britain also scores lowly in terms of bringyourowndevice (BYOD) initiatives, where pupils can use their own laptops and other devices on the school network. BYOD has been rolled out across the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, but only in around 30% of UK secondary schools.

Meanwhile, we score more highly in other areas: around three quarters of students here have access to home educational software, compared to just 20% in Japan. But Denmark is streets ahead of us at 90%.

The pandemic may offer the opportunity to level up the provision of education.

Governments might just consider using their fiscal stimulus packages to create targeted funding policies for students and improve their connectivity infrastructure.

Industry experts believe the crisis may force governments around the world to accelerate the focus on device availability for all students, a policy commonly referred to as 1:1 computing.

Some nations are already one step ahead.

In 2007 Uruguay became the first country in the world to promote a successful 1:1 programme, promising every child the right to internet connectivity both at home and at school as well as the right to have a computer.

How to pay for it is always a tricky question, with so many demands for Government support at the best of times, and even more so during the current crisis. Still, the fiscal programmes unveiled around the world in recent days are truly unprecedented, including $2 trillion in the US, 330 billion (and counting) in the UK, and now $1 trillion in Japan.

Politicians may now debate whether some of that money could be invested in levelling up education opportunities across society.

Martin Luen is a banker specialising in education mergers and acquisitions at investment bank Baird
9 April 2020 LSE: PDL

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra", "the Company" or "the Group")

Market Update

Further to the announcement on 27 March 2020, Petra Diamonds Limited announces a further market update with regards to the impact on the Company of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Diamond Sales

As noted in the previous announcement, Petra experienced depressed and opportunistic bidding for its diamonds at its fifth sales cycle of FY 2020, particularly in the larger size and higher quality, greater value categories. The Company therefore chose to only sell a portion of its South African goods, representing ca. 75% by volume and ca. 50% by value. The remaining goods were exported to Antwerp and of these, ca. 75% were subsequently sold at the Company's Antwerp marketing office.

Rough diamond prices achieved at Petra's fifth sales cycle were down ca. 27% overall on a like-for-like basis in comparison to those achieved at the fourth sales cycle in February 2020.

A total of 24,254 carats, comprising higher value +10.8 carat single stones as well as parcels across the size and quality (gem and clivage) ranges, were withdrawn and will be sold privately or at a subsequent sales cycle, when market conditions allow.

As previously noted, Petra was due to hold two further sales in May and June before the end of its financial year. The Company will continue to monitor marketing conditions before taking any decision on the continuation of the planned May tender while the outlook for the June sale remains uncertain and will depend on travel and export conditions at the time, as well as activity levels in the key diamond buying centres of India, Israel, China and the US.

Operations

Petra remains focused on taking all actions necessary to support the measures to limit the outbreak of COVID-19 in the countries in which the Company operates and to decrease the threat to our employees, contractors and other local stakeholders.

South Africa

The Company's operations in South Africa remain operating at significantly scaled down levels in order to comply with the requirements of the 21-day lockdown period in South Africa. The lockdown period is due to end at midnight Thursday 16 April 2020, but the operational outlook is uncertain and will depend upon the Governmental approach with regards to managing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Tanzania

In light of the unprecedented depressed market environment, the Company has declared force majeure at the Williamson mine in Tanzania and will be placing the operation on care and maintenance from the middle of April, with only essential services to be carried out in order to protect the mine's assets and resources.

This decision is necessary to preserve the Williamson mine's cash position in order to protect the long-term sustainability of the operation. The Company will look to resume operations once diamond prices are at a level that make it operationally sustainable.

Discussions with the Government in relation to various issues, including the overdue VAT receivables and the blocked diamond parcel, are ongoing but have been interrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Liquidity and Capital Structure

In the light of the above, Petra continues closely to monitor and manage its liquidity risk, modelling the potential impact on its cashflows of a protracted period of operational shutdown and depressed international diamond prices. Based on this further downside modelling, the Board expects that it may be necessary for the Company to draw on its bank debt facilities in the near-term. The Company has taken a strategic decision to fully draw down its ZAR500 million working capital facility and is in discussions with its South African lender group to access the ZAR1 billion revolving credit facility.

Deferral of Q3 FY 2020 Trading Update

The Company has decided to delay the release of its Q3 FY 2020 Trading Update to late May in order to be in a position to provide a fuller update to the market, particularly around its liquidity and capital structure further to the developments outlined above.

Richard Duffy, CEO of Petra Diamonds, commented:

"Given the unprecedented trading conditions, we are taking all steps necessary to preserve the Company's liquidity position in order to withstand this very difficult period until market conditions improve. W]e remaincommitted to protecting the ongoing viability of our operations, to the benefit of all our stakeholders."

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds, London Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203 Cathy Malins investorrelations@petradiamonds.com

Marianna Bowes

Des Kilalea

Rothschild & Co

Giles Douglas giles.douglas@rothschildandco.com Glen Cronin glen.cronin@rothschildandco.com Mahir Quraishi mahir.quraishi@rothschildandco.com

About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and a consistent supplier of gem quality rough diamonds to the international market. The Company has a diversified portfolio incorporating interests in three underground producing mines in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan and Koffiefontein) and one open pit producing mine in Tanzania (Williamson). Petra also conducts a limited exploration programme in Botswana and South Africa.

Petra's strategy is to focus on value rather than volume production by optimising recoveries from its high-quality asset base in order to maximise their efficiency and profitability. The Group has a significant resource base of ca. 250 million carats, which supports the potential for long-life operations.

Petra conducts all operations according to the highest ethical standards and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process. The Company aims to generate tangible value for each of its stakeholders, thereby contributing to the socio-economic development of its host countries and supporting long-term sustainable operations to the benefit of its employees, partners and communities.
On the fortieth anniversary of the release of the cult film "Cannibal Holocaust", director Ruggero Deodato announces the fourth, highly awaited chapter of his cannibals cycle, with great news: the new episode will not be a movie, but a videogame created in collaboration with Fantastico Studio On February 7, 1980, Cannibal Holocaust, the second film in Ruggero Deodato's trilogy dedicated to his cannibals saga, was released in Italy. The film immediately 
Anand Mahindra is one industrialist who seems to be making the best use of Twitter. From making announcements to appreciating initiatives and innovations, chairman of the Mahindra Groups is at it.

This time, it is about the initiative to use banana leaves to serve food for the workers in the canteens. This, he said, was done on the suggestion of senior journalist Padma Ramnath who told him that this would help the farmers struggling in times of crisis.

A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you!, he said in the tweet.

A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you! pic.twitter.com/ouUx7xfMdK anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 9, 2020

Earlier, Mahindra announced that he would contribute 100% of his salary to set up a fund to help small-scale business units and self-employed people affected by the Coronavirus lockdown. He also said Mahindra factories would manufacture ventilators to aid in fighting the pandemic.
- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) recently unveiled six technologies that are being developed to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

- The DOST also commended the researchers behind the inventions they currently working on

- The said agency hopes to see the inventions soonest in the hands of the frontliners and the general public

- The inventions are mobile AI-enabled thermal scanners, nanotechnology-enhanced sanitizers, 3D-printed face shields, reusable face masks, big data analytics for quarantine policies, and animations

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The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) lauded Filipino scientists as they unveil on April 7 six technologies that are currently being developed to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to a report by GMA News, DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara commended the researchers behind the inventions they working on.

We thank our Filipino researchers for making change happen through these technologies that we are working on," Guevara said.

"We hope to see them soonest in the hands of our frontliners and the general public who is greatly affected by COVID19, the undersecretary added.

Here are the six technologies publicized by the DOST- Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development:

1. Mobile AI-enabled thermal scanners

These AI-powered thermal scanners attached to drones can identify individuals with high body temperatures. The drones can reportedly provide real-time data transmission, equipped with GPS, and have a two-kilometer range for communication.

These scanners are being developed in partnership with DWARM Technologies, Far Eastern University Institute of Technology Innovation Center, UPSCALE Innovation Hub, Orbital Exploration Technologies, and PLDT innohub.

2. Nanotechnology-enhanced sanitizers

Developed by the Central Luzon State University Nanotech Laboratory, the nanotechnology-enhanced ethyl alcohol and hand sanitizers contain zinc oxide nanoparticles infused with turmeric extract. This mixture is "proven effective against H1N1 influenza and SARS viruses"  which are both coronaviruses.

According NewsBytes.ph, an ICT news website, applying such to surfaces could be effective in deterring the spread of COVID-19. The said laboratory is also developing washable masks using nanofiber as a "filter."

3. 3D-printed face shields

According to Business World, the Bataan Peninsula State University-Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory (BPSU-AMREL) has created a process that combines 3D printing and injection molding in creating face shields at a faster pace but in a more customizable manner.

4. Reusable face masks

Reusable face masks via DOST

Source: UGC

Reusable face masks via DOST

Source: UGC

The DOST said the Philippine Textile Research Institute is working on the production of 500,000 washable face masks that can be reused up to 50 times to help with the shortage of surgical masks during the public health emergency.

5. Big data analytics for quarantine policies

The De La Salle University (DLSU) is currently pursuing big data analytics and transportation network analysis to help authorities manage checkpoints during the enhanced community quarantine period.

According to the statement, the simulation results of this innovation showed the relative intensities of incoming traffic to Metro Manila at various entry points.

6. 'Pinoy Animation Laban sa COVID-19'

Pinoy Animation Laban sa COVID-19 via DOST

Source: UGC

These include infomercials about the virus for public health awareness in coordination with the Toon City Academy (TCA). These will tackle proper hygiene, community quarantine, social distancing, and proper verification of information. TCA has ongoing Project on Original Content Development and will tap the graduates of the animation training from Dagupan City to produce the animations.

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In a previous report by KAMI, an inspiring video of united Filipinos amid COVID-19 touched the hearts of netizens.

At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease outbreak.

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Kapuso star Kris Bernal participated in the new episode of our Tricky Questions feature! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Greece must take "decisive action" to tackle chronic overcrowding and staff shortages at its prisons, Europe's top human rights group said on Thursday.

The Council of Europe accused Greek officials of failing to investigate or prosecute ill-treatment of inmates and failing to provide proper medical care, access to hygiene products or hot water in some prisons.

The country had taken "some positive measures" following a 2015 investigation, the Council said, but a delegation that visited last year found that degrading treatment of prisoners by police remained a "frequent practice throughout Greece".

In an official response published alongside the report, Greece cited a string of measures it had taken, including increasing the use of non-custodial penalties such as community service.

Despite this, the Council's delegation found that overcrowding remained a severe issue.

In the country's main maximum security facility at Korydallos on the outskirts of Athens, up to seven people were crammed into a mould-infested cell measuring just 9.5 square metres (100 square feet), the report said.

Each inmate should have at least four square metres of living space, according to the Council.

The delegation also said buildings at Korydallos holding betwee 230 to 430 people each were often overseen by just one prison officer "who clearly was not in a position to exert any authority or control".

As a result, violent gangs had been able to obtain drugs or mobile phones and even communicate with outside groups to threaten prison staff.

The Council's delegation, from its anti-torture committee, said Greek officials must make improving conditions and staffing "urgent priorities" over the next four years, saying "no prisoner should have to sleep on a mattress on the floor".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Homeless people have moved into more than a dozen L.A. recreation centers, including one in Westwood, above. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

One of the homeless people living inside a recreation center in the San Fernando Valley has tested positive for the coronavirus, an aide to Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday.

The test results became known two days ago and resulted in a "deep clean" of the Granada Hills Recreation Center, where the person had been staying, said Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar.

"The person was very promptly isolated," he added.

The development comes three weeks after Garcetti announced plans for moving thousands of homeless Angelenos into shuttered recreation centers in an attempt to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus. It appears to have been the first case of a person living inside one of those facilities testing positive, Comisar said.

Shelter staffers announced on Monday evening in front of about 50 people that the resident had tested positive, according to a man who identified himself as Victor, who said he had been staying inside the facility.

Victor told The Times that "chaos" broke out in the gymnasium after residents were told about the test result. Some people began yelling, and at least six people moved out of the building entirely, he said.

"I left everything I had there. I left with the clothes on my back. I said I'm not staying another night in there," said Victor, who estimated that he has been homeless about eight years.

Ahmad Chapman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, referred The Times to the County Joint Information Center, which has been set up to coordinate the response to the pandemic.

Victor said that before he left the gymnasium, shelter workers had hauled away the belongings of the man who tested positive, putting up yellow caution tape and cleaning the area. "This guy had been there a couple days and he was coughing the whole time," he said.

Twelve homeless people have tested positive for COVID-19, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday. Ferrer said there were also four cases in shelters  two staffers and two clients  but she did not provide a location.

Story continues

The Times reported last week that an employee of the Union Rescue Mission had tested positive for the virus and been brought to the hospital. It was the first known case of the virus on skid row.

On Wednesday, Union Rescue Mission Chief Executive Rev. Andy Bales told The Times that the man had died in the ICU at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. He also said that no one else in the shelter has tested positive for the virus.

Garcetti announced last month that he planned to convert 42 recreation centers into homeless facilities with 6,000 beds. That number was later reduced to 2,000 to ensure that each facility complies with public health directives requiring that people be spaced apart to slow the spread of the virus.

So far, city crews have converted around 20 recreation centers into shelters, in neighborhoods stretching from Northridge to Watts. When the shelter opened in Granada Hills last month, it was expected to offer 41 cots, according to Grace Yao, spokeswoman for Councilman John Lee, who represents the northwest Valley.

The city has received relatively little opposition to the shelter program. But in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, one resident has filed a lawsuit seeking to block city officials from moving homeless people into the Palisades Recreation Center.

Susie Forte Gilman, who lives near the facility and is a plaintiff in the case, said in her lawsuit that a shelter would create a public nuisance and put homeless people  as well as the surrounding neighborhood  at greater risk of contracting coronavirus.

Gilman also said the creation of a temporary shelter could violate laws regulating the disclosure of information about the movements of sex offenders, according to the filing.

A spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer said his office would review the lawsuit. Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents the neighborhood, said through a spokesman that he supports using the Palisades Recreation Center as a temporary shelter.

"My preferred method of housing people in this crisis is in non-congregate settings like vacant hotel rooms," the councilman said in a statement. "But in the middle of a deadly public health crisis, I support moving unhoused people indoors in any way and in every place we can."
Bengaluru, April 10 : Karnataka Police on Thursday launched a dedicated fake news busting website, the state police chief announced.

"Launching now: Karnataka State Police FactCheck - Don't fall for fake news, factcheck.ksp.gov.in," tweeted Director General of Police Praveen Sood.

The verifying platform has listed a bunch of fake news which recently gained currency and refuted them with detailed explanations.

Calling out a fake video circulating on social media which claimed that Muslims were purposefully sneezing in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area in Delhi to spread coronavirus, Karnataka police said the video is a malicious message.

"Below post has been found as circulating on social media. It's a ritual in Sufism and the mosque is not Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah," explained the police about the video in which more than a 100 Muslims on knees were seen forcefully thrusting themselves downwards as they sneeze.

The platform presented the video as suspicious message/content and followed it up with the verification.

Police flagged the fake video for its false captions and suspicious nature.

Vishwanath, a social media user thanked police for bringing out the truth and busting fake news.

"Thank you very much because we are blindly believing what we receive on social media," he said in the comment box on Thursday evening.

Farhana Banu, another user said: "Dear Sir/Madam, thank you so much for clarifying that these videos are fake. Being Muslims we are mentally disturbed by seeing the blacklash by our friends online." Tazim Rawat, another social media enthusiast said the clarifications are a big relief as it is becoming very difficult to answer people.

Similarly, other fake news making tall claims and misleading the masses which police busted included 'Global Corona patient zero had sex with bats', 'Muslims licking utensils to spread Coronavirus', 'PM announced all India lockdown increased till May 4th' and 'Hanta virus is a new virus that spreads human to human'.

Karnataka Police shared at least nine fake news items to show they were false.

Police invited public spirited individuals to submit fake news for verification, asking details such as where he or she saw the fake news, website or app, and gave an option to submit audios, videos and images up to 2 mega bytes size.

"Karnataka State Police has taken this initiative in collaboration with Check4Spam to counter rumours amid the Coronavirus outbreak. The citizens can utilize this portal to verify any suspected news and also upload the content for its verification and clarification," said the platform.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will bring back nearly 6,400 laid-off employees to the payroll using Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to crater the airline sector.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WestJet head office after the company laid off nearly 7000 employees, in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, March 25, 2020, amid a worldwide COVID-19 flu pandemic. WestJet says it plans to bring back nearly 6,400 employees on to its payroll with the help of Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will bring back nearly 6,400 laid-off employees to the payroll using Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to crater the airline sector.

The Calgary-based company plans to apply to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and rehire workers at three-quarters of their previous wage once the federal government has approved it.

"This does not automatically mean that they will be coming back to work as there may not be work there for them," CEO Ed Sims said in a video posted to Twitter Wednesday night.

The majority will likely stay home, as the airline has slashed domestic capacity and cancelled all transatlantic and U.S. routes until May 4.

The 12-week program covers 75 per cent of a worker's salary or up to $847 per week at companies that have seen revenues drop off by at least 15 per cent in March.

Air Canada made a similar announcement on Wednesday, stating it would use the federal program to bring back about 16,500 employees.

Edmonton-based Flair Airlines said Wednesday it will rehire all 130 laid-off workers and return all 332 employees to full wage thanks largely to the federal subsidy, CEO Jim Scott said.

Last month, WestJet announced that 6,900 workers would leave the company  some temporarily and a smaller percentage via early retirements and resignations  with many of the remaining 7,100 employees taking reduced hours.

The pandemic has devastated the travel industry, with airlines such as Porter Airlines and Air Transat halting all flights. International passenger arrivals at Canadian airports decreased by 96 per cent year over year for the week starting March 30, despite thousands of travellers returning home on repatriation flights, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.

At some airlines, union members making minimum wage or close to it might opt to stay off the payroll, which would allow them to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) for people who've lost their jobs.

"Some may elect to take the CERB since it would offer them a greater benefit," Hugh Pouliot, a spokesman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said in an email Wednesday.

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Under the wage subsidy program, workers are paid 75 per cent of normal hourly wages or up to $847 per week. The emergency response program offers $500 per week to unemployed Canadians.

A furloughed worker returning to a 40-hour-per-week post at minimum wage  $14 per hour in Ontario, the second-highest in the country  would make $420 per week under the wage subsidy. That's 16 per cent less than the cheque they would receive under the CERB program for newly laid-off Canadians.

A worker earning $17 per hour would take home $10 more per week than their unemployed counterparts.

"We realize the program is not a one size fits all and we are in the process of evaluating these scenarios and how they would affect WestJetters who are currently on leave and receiving other employment benefits or subsidies," WestJet spokeswoman Morgan Bell said in an email Thursday.

This story by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:AC, TSX:TRZ)
By Nichola Saminather

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian economy will suffer a bigger hit from the coronavirus pandemic than the 2008-09 financial crisis, with a recovery likely to take longer than expected, but "significant" fiscal stimulus will help ease the impact, Royal Bank of Canada's <RY.TO> chief executive said on Wednesday.

"This is much more severe than the financial crisis... which was really mild for Canada," Dave McKay said on a media call following the lender's annual shareholder meeting.

"Were facing an economic shock and contagion like weve never seen," he added.

McKay said RBC's earnings did not fall off much during the financial crisis.

Stimulus measures put in place by governments, including the C$100 billion ($71.2 billion) so far in Canada, would offer support, he said.

"We've never seen that type of support outside of a world war," he said, adding that it is a bit difficult to asses the mitigating impact on the economy for this magnitude of fiscal stimulus.

The bank also has sufficient capital and liquidity to weather the crisis, he said.

RBC had a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, the measure of a bank's capital strength, of 12% of risk-weighted assets in the first quarter, when the pandemic's impact was still limited.

The current minimum CET1 requirement for major Canadian banks is 9%, reduced by the banking regulator last month to increase lending capacity as the coronavirus outbreak's toll grew.

While the bank saw significant drawdowns in credit lines in the first three weeks of the crisis, these have slowed as access to markets has improved, the CEO said.

McKay said he expects the recovery to take longer than expected, as consumers and businesses make more permanent changes to the ways they operate and wariness about spikes in COVID-19 cases lingers.

"Were going to have to support businesses and consumers a little bit longer than we might have planned, even a month ago," McKay said. "Most people were talking about a sharp V (-shaped recovery) or a U at a minimum, with a sharp upside. I dont think we can expect that."

Story continues

The bank has so far processed about 250,000 payment deferrals on mortgages and other loans for customers struggling due to the health crisis, McKay said at its annual shareholder meeting earlier in the day.

RBC shares were up nearly 2% at midday in Toronto, broadly in line with the Toronto stock benchmark <.GSPTSE>.

($1 = 1.4045 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting By Nichola Saminather; Editing by Denny Thomas, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
The Geneva Airport International on Wednesday marked the 82nd birthday of Mr Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, with dedication and renaming of its protocol lounge as "Espace Kofi Annan."



The Kofi Annan Foundation and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, through its mission to international organisations, have partnered with the Geneva Airport International to pay tribute to Kofi Annan, a man who worked to make the multilateral system stronger, more effective and open to collaboration with the various sectors of society.



This gesture honours a man who unceasingly fought for international cooperation to tackle global challenges, something which has never been more relevant than today, given the global crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, a statement by Geneva Airport International and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said on Wednesday.



The statement said at a time when the world was facing unprecedented threats and disruptions due to the COVID-19, we recall Kofi Annan's ever-important words that it makes sense that we all come together to seek solutions that no one country, no matter how powerful, can hope to achieve alone. Global solidarity is both necessary and achievable.



The statement said it was in working side by side with governments, the academic and research worlds, the private sector and civil society that the world would discover ways out of crises and develop solutions that can avert further ones.



"This working together, for the good of all, corresponds with the vision that Mr Annan was able to infuse into multilateral action," Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, the Head of the Swiss Mission to the United Nations, was quoted as saying.



"The Airport is the gateway to International Geneva and an important asset for the centre of global governance, which needs air links to the whole world. It is no coincidence that the Airport's 100th anniversary coincides with the 100th anniversary of multilateralism in Geneva," says Corine Moinat, Chair of the Board of Directors of Geneva Airport.



Nane Annan, member of the Board of Kofi Annan Foundation, said; "I am deeply moved that my late husband, Kofi Annan, is honoured in this way. Kofi believed that with goodwill and working together, nations can solve seemingly insurmountable problems.



Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, established the Foundation in Switzerland in 2007.



It is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.



The Foundation continues to monitor developments related to the unprecedented spread of the COVID-19.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has started distributing specially procured'dignity kits', each containing basic toiletries, a pair of clothes and hygiene items for both men and women, to the needy and those displaced by the lockdown enforced in the country to contain the spread of coronavirus.

NDRF Director General (DG) S N Pradhan told PTI the force has distributed over 8,800 such kits through its battalions based in Noida,Gorakhpur and Chandauli in UttarPradesh, Gaya in Bihar, Guntur, Nellore and Krishna districts in AndhraPradesh, and Vadodara and Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

It is for the first time that the disaster response body has distributed such kits.

"These kits were procured by us about six months back. The kit contains basic survival essentials for people who have been displaced or who are not able to purchase these items due to lack of money," the NDRF chief said.

A standard 'dignity kit' for women, packed in a plastic bucket, contains a small toothpaste, brush, bathing and washing soaps, two pairs of undergarments, towel, oil, comb, two pairs of salwar suits in different sizes, a nail cutter, mirror, a packet with 10 sanitary pads, an anti-septic cream and a mug.

The men's kitalso contains similar items and has two pairs of 'pyjama-kurta' instead of the women's attire, and a shaving pack instead of feminine hygiene products.

The force has distributed over 8,800 such kits to both males and females till now and has a total reserve of 15,000 'dignity kits' for men and 25,000 for women, the official said.

The kits have been distributed among the 12 NDRF battalions in the country and they are distributing them to the needy as per requirement, Pradhan said.

The federal disaster contingency force had made this first-time procurement of 'dignity kits' under the national disaster response reserve (NDRR) that is meant to provide primary survival kit to victims.

Global disaster response procedures mandate that the victims are provided basic sanitation and surviving items so that they can sustain themselves for some time in the aftermath of a calamity.

A senior official said during the ongoing lockdown many migrant workers and daily wagers started moving from metro cities to their homes in far off states, leading to a situation where they had no means to carry out their daily activities and ablutions in a hygienic manner.

The dignity kits were procured by the NDRF with the sole reason that during disasters like floods, earthquakes and other calamities, the victims are displaced from their homes and their essential items are either damaged or left behind, he said.

NDRF chief Pradhan also said the force has divided the about 13,000 personnel-strong force into 84 small teams across the country and they can be deployed for any contingency in any state in the wake of the COVID-19 spread.

"We have also equipped our teams with personal protectiveequipments (PPEs). At present 60 per cent of our manpower has them and it will be hundred per cent availability in the coming days," the DG said.

Our teams are on standby and can assist any state or respond to any emergency as and when required, he said.

The force recently helped the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration for contact tracing of Tablighi Jamaat members and about 15 such people were found.

"Our teams are also assisting some otherstates in theCOVID-19 combat," he said.

About 89 NDRF personnel are also assisting the COVID-19 control room response teams in various states and the Union home ministry.

The force has also conducted training programmes for understanding and responding to basic symptoms for the viral infection and about 38,000 front line workers in the security and health services have been trained,the senior official quoted above said.

Those trained include CISF personnel at airports, officials at various land and sea ports and staffers at the Supreme Court and the Parliament.

The NDRF was raised in 2006.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Annamrita Foundation, an initiative of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) has been serving Mid Day meals to more than 40,000 school children daily in Pimpri Chinchwad. Led by its Sanjay Bhosale, director of the foundation, food is being served to the poor in the city in these difficult times.

What is your role in this crisis?

I oversee the entire operations of our centralised, mega kitchen in Pimpri which serves 400 gms to 500gms meals containing approx 400 calories to over 40,000 people daily in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune areas. We are also operating a temporary kitchen from Salisbury Park, for which we thank Bindras Kitchen for their support. Our team has been working hard to ensure we supply healthy and nutritious food to the needy in these tough times, while maintaining high standards of cleanliness and systems.

How does your day begin and roll out?

Since I am a follower of Iskcon Mandir, my day begins at 4 am by chanting the names of Shri Krishna for one-and-half hours and Shri Radha Krishna deity worship followed by 45 minutes of walking. Alongside, I am in contact with my kitchen team since their operations begin at 4.30am. I begin contacting vegetable suppliers by 6.30 am to ensure timely availability of vegetables for my kitchen team.

Later during the day, a visit to the kitchen in Pimpri and to various areas in which we are distributing meals follows. I try and meet all our volunteers to inspire and thank them for serving in these tough circumstances and to ensure they are following precautions.

Also, I spend some time reading Ramayan, Bhagwad Gita and Bhagwat Puran in order to retain some positivity and calm after being involved in this tense situation the whole day.
Nominate a hero

Even as we face uncertainty and a new reality, many of our friends, family and neighbors are rising to the occasion, making our communities a better place to live even in crisis. Read more here.

Clinics awarded $1.8 million for coronavirus response

The funds can be used to help communities detect coronavirus; prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19; and maintain or increase health capacity and staffing levels to address the public health emergency. Read more here.

Nederland High School putting a stop to packet pick-ups

Nederland High School will later this month begin to mail paper packets of distance-learning materials to students instead of providing them for pick-up in an effort to adhere to state, local and federal social distancing guidelines. Read more here.

Lamar State College Orange pushes back return date

Students at Lamar State College Orange will not return to campus next week, as originally planned. Read more here.

What we're missing this week in Southeast Texas

Even though events were canceled leading up to Easter Sunday, here are some cute photos to remind you of what this week could have looked like. Read more here.
Professor Mauro Ferrari had been in the role since January 1

The head of the European Union's top science organisation has resigned in frustration at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

Professor Mauro Ferrari resigned on Tuesday as president of the European Research Council, a position he held only since January 1.

Prof Ferrari's departure, announced via email, took immediate effect, a spokesman for the EU's executive commission said.

"The commission regrets the resignation of Professor Ferrari at this early stage in his mandate and at these times of unprecedented crisis in which the role of EU research is key," a European Commission spokesman said.

The news was announced by the 'Financial Times', based on a statement released to the paper by Prof Ferrari, who said he had "been extremely disappointed by the European response" to the pandemic.

He complained about running into institutional and political obstacles as he sought to set up a scientific programme to combat the virus.

"I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union," he wrote.

"I have lost faith in the system itself."

Prof Ferrari's resignation came in the wake of a March 27 vote in which "the other 19 active members of the scientific council requested the resignation of the president", the commission stated.

The European Commission yesterday defended its record in combating the crisis and said 18 research and development projects had already been picked at short notice to fight the coronavirus crisis.

It said another 50 European Research Council projects were contributing in the EU-wide effort.

"The EU has the most comprehensive package of measures combating the coronavirus and it is deploying different instruments in order to have the biggest impact for solving the crisis," the EU's executive commission said.

There has been criticism of the EU for not acting forcefully to set up a co-ordinated response, even though health issues are still primarily the responsibility of the bloc's 27 individual nations.
CHICAGO - As this city braces for April 20, the anticipated peak of coronavirus infections here, doctors and nurses at Rush University Medical Center say they are prepared, not just because of their training, but because of where they work: A 14-story, 830,000-square-foot facility built specifically for a deadly pandemic.

The butterfly-shaped building, known as "The Tower," opened in January 2012 as the first of its kind in the United States. Built at a cost of $654 million in the shadow of 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, the facility was designed to be able to quickly handle waves of patients, expand its bed capacity to 133 percent and control airflow to entire sections of the structure to prevent cross-contamination.

The coronavirus is the first major test of the facility's strengths and also its agility in the face of a rapidly increasing death toll in Illinois. As of Wednesday night, there were 15,078 confirmed coronavirus cases in Illinois - and 462 deaths. Rush has 20 percent of the ventilated cases in the entire state.

"In the wake of 9/11, they began to rethink this idea of how to deal with mass casualties," said Jerry Johnson of Perkins & Will, the principal architect behind the medical center. "Other hospitals tried to address some of these issues, but it was the first to deal with all of these issues at once with one facility. They were really visionary."

The first coronavirus patient showed up at Rush on March 4. Eleven days later, the hospital switched to "surge mode" for the first time in its history to accommodate what could be a flood of patients based on modeling.

At Rush, that means an ambulance bay was refashioned into a triage area where up to 100 patients with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, can be screened each day. Patients sit in chairs spaced six feet apart on the concrete floor and wait to be examined in one of two blue tents designed to isolate them from others in the ambulance bay.

"By setting up there, it allows for patients to be kept out of the remaining emergency hospital where they could infect other people. That makes a big difference" in isolating the spread, said Marvina Williams, a senior medical planner at Perkins & Will who led planning for the emergency room.

The bay is also a mass decontamination area where patients and even ambulances can be washed if needed. Under the floor are 10,000-gallon holding tanks to prevent the water used to clean contaminated patients from entering the city's wastewater system.

Patients with severe covid-19 symptoms are escorted to the emergency room. Those in less severe condition are sent home with a strict 14-day quarantine order.

The permanent emergency room at Rush is unlike most: Instead of curtains, each bed unit has its own set of thick glass doors to seal it off, with a negative-pressure air system to prevent infection from escaping into common areas. Before sliding the doors open, nurses suit up: a yellow smock, a mask, gloves and a pair of goggles. The ER has 60 beds, but during a surge each unit can be doubled to increase capacity to 120 beds. "We have not doubled up yet, but that is our apocalypse plan, knock on wood," said Yanina Purim-Shem-Tov, medical director of the Rush Outpatient Chest Pain Center who operates out of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Under the surge, routine ER patients - someone with a broken ankle, for example - are handled in the building's main atrium, which has been outfitted as "a MASH unit," completely cut off from the covid-19 patients in the emergency section, said Purim-Shem-Tov. The atrium's design made the transformation easy: Disguised inside every support column are panels giving access to oxygen and other necessary medical gases, as well as electricity. Non-emergency physicians, such as pediatricians, are staffing the MASH unit.

Using the atrium as an extra medical bay is an idea that originated at Rush, said Williams. The scene is quite different at older hospitals in coronavirus hot spots around the country, such as New York City. "Nowadays you are seeing overloaded hallways and you have to bring in oxygen by portable tanks," Williams said. "Having the foresight to do something like that really made a difference."

Located along the Interstate 290 expressway and just west of Chicago's downtown lakefront, Rush is an academic health system that includes the main medical center, plus four other locations in the city and nearby suburbs. Funding for the Tower came from private grants, contributions and federal agencies, including the Energy Department and the Defense Department.

On a recent morning, the atrium is empty. Non-coronavirus patients are staying at home, despite their injuries, afraid they'll become infected at the hospital, Purim-Shem-Tov said. A typical Monday at Rush might bring 240 people to the emergency room. Now that number is about 155, she said.

But the ER is sending an increasing number of patients to intensive care. Typically, 2 percent of ER patients are transferred to the intensive care unit. Last week, that rose to 10 percent, Purim-Shem-Tov said. The most patients admitted to the ICU in a single day so far has been 21, said ICU Medical Director Mark Yoder.

Capacity in the ICU is becoming a challenge as patients are not recovering quickly and staying longer. Rush has already filled its ICU floor, plus another floor outfitted for ICU patients. On Saturday, it started sending ICU patients to a third floor. The Tower's total critical-care bed capacity on the top five floors is 304.

The volume has stressed nurses who have had to forgo frequently turning patients, checking blood sugar levels and examining chart notes, Yoder said. They "can't operate at [the] high level" they are used to, he said. Monitors and supplies are kept in the hallways so nurses don't have to go in and out of the rooms as frequently. "Precautions" needed to interact with coronavirus patients, Yoder said, "take a longer time."

- - -

If Rush and Chicago's other five major hospital systems reach capacity, they can send overflow patients to a 3,000-bed field hospital just built by the Army Corps of Engineers inside Chicago's McCormick Place convention center. Staffing will come from qualified personnel pulled from the suburbs and the surrounding area. Five hundred beds became available last week; the rest will open by the end of April. At that point, the makeshift facility will be one of the largest of its kind in the United States, the state says. The city also signed agreements with downtown hotels to house nurses and doctors working with covid-19 patients if they fear infecting their families.

So far, officials consider this the calm before the surge. Not one Illinois hospital has reached capacity, which makes the state's greatest struggle so far with the federal government. Chicago and the state are pulling supplies from the state's stockpile while Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D, has been sharply critical of the Trump administration, charging that it has denied needed supplies to his state. He said he asked for N95 masks but received surgical masks, and he requested 4,000 ventilators but got just 450. Pritzker told CNN that Vice President Mike Pence told him Illinois only needed 1,400 ventilators.

Pritzker said Illinois is particularly vulnerable because it borders Iowa, which has no stay-at-home order, and Missouri, which only recently imposed one - a situation Pritzker attributed to a rise of cases in southern Illinois near St. Louis.

President Donald Trump has attacked Pritzker, saying "he's always complaining."

In an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, Allison Arwady, Chicago's public health commissioner, said the local stockpile was designed "to serve Chicago and then be supplemented" by the federal stockpile.

According to state data, 1,198 ventilators from the city's stockpile are in use, and 57 percent are still available. But with about 25 percent of coronavirus patients on ventilators, the need for more is becoming urgent, she said. To date, her office has already pulled ventilators from local zoos, veterinary hospitals and surgical outpatient centers. "We are using everything that we have," she said. "But when we look at our models, we need more."

"We anticipate we are going to need more even in the best-case scenario than we have right now. I spend a lot of time trying to convey that sense of urgency to the federal government," she said.

"We took our part really seriously locally. We really need this, and we need it soon."

- - -

In a glass-walled boardroom in Rush's professional building, the system's top doctors and department heads gather at 9 a.m. on a recent morning to comb through the daily numbers on giant overhead screens. The data tracks covid-19's journey as it moves through the city, the state, the United States and the world.

They discuss how medical staff members can protect themselves, profiles of certain patients, how Illinois compares with other hot spots around the United States, particularly New York and California. The internal briefings, which take place twice a day, are intended to expedite decision-making, but they are also helping Rush prepare for the inevitable surge in Illinois, which Pritzker said is likely to happen later this month.

If Chicago's shelter-in-place order is lifted in May, many worry that residents - eager to get outside in the warm weather - will congregate too fast and too closely, triggering a second outbreak.

Meanwhile, the hallways of the ICU buzz as medical staff, most working five-day, 12-hour shifts, show no visible signs of fatigue, although Betty Tran, a critical-care physician, admits the pace is difficult to sustain.

"I have a 3-year-old, so a 12-hour shift means it's tough to see her before or after bedtime," Tran said.

Omar Lateef, Rush's chief executive, acknowledges the advantage his hospital has over many others due to its design. But he said the greatest resources at Rush are the men and women in the building.

"What really defines your response isn't so much a building or number of beds you have or supplies you have, it is the staff and the culture of institution," he said. "What we found is our staff is not only willing to work, they are volunteering. We have a tremendous list of people trying to get in and help. From the security to the front-door staff to the ICU, there's not a member of our team not willing to stand up."
The Government has announced its preparedness to position water tanks at vantage points in urban and rural areas to serve communities facing difficulties in accessing water.



It is also engaging tanker services to supply water across the country to such communities.



Madam Cecilia Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources announced this, on Tuesday, at a media briefing, in Accra, while explaining the Government's measures to make water available to the citizenry to maintain proper hygiene in the wake of COVID-19.



President Akufo-Addo, in his national broadcast on Sunday, April 5, announced that the Government would absorb the water bills of all Ghanaians for the next three months, effective April.



He also directed the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to ensure a stable supply of water for the period.



Giving details of the water relief services, the Minister said both public and private-owned water tankers would be mobilised for the service.



The Community Water Sanitation Agency and all community-based water systems were also encouraged to provide water to the communities for free.



Madam Dapaah assured hospitals, clinics and other health facilities of enjoying priority supply of water to improve efficient health care delivery.



Responding to a question on people who were disconnected due to arrears, the Minister said the payment would be suspended for them to access free water for the next three months.



However, those who had been disconnected because of illegal connections and acts would be provided for through the tanker services.



She asked landlords not to charge tenants for the water they used.



The Minister warned the public not to tamper with the pipelines of the GWCL and the CWSA, stressing that, anybody offender caught would face the full rigours of the law.



She also advised citizens to use the water judiciously and not waste it on unnecessary activities, such as the watering of lawns and ornamental plants, as the rains would take care of these soon.



Each person, she said, was estimated to use 160 litres of water per day.



Madam Dapaah encouraged all to adhere to the preventive measures announced by the Ghana Health Service, especially, regular handwashing with soap under running water and maintaining social distance, especially when sneezing and coughing, to prevent the spread of the respiratory virus.



The novel coronavirus has since December 2019, infected more than 1.3 million people globally and killed more than 76,000.



Ghanas total confirmed cases stand at 287 on Tuesday, April 7, with five deaths.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Property management software provider, Rentec Direct, implements accessibility enhancements to improve the user experience for tenants who depend on assistive technology for accessing web content. Our latest enhancements put our clients ahead of the curve, exceeding accessibility standards, and serving all tenants in the marketplace," said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct.

Rentec Direct, the highest-rated property management software solution, is excited to announce new enhancements to its property management software to better serve users who are visually impaired. The updates improve accessibility standards and enhance the user experience for tenants and prospective tenants who depend on assistive technology to access digital content.

Our goal at Rentec is to support landlords and property managers - and their tenants - in every way we possibly can, said Nathan Miller, President of Rentec Direct. There are currently few legal requirements that specifically require non-government affiliated landlords and property managers to ensure their business websites adhere to accessibility standards. For us, however, this is an important goal. Our latest enhancements put our clients ahead of the curve, exceeding accessibility standards, and serving all tenants in the marketplace.

The recent accessibility updates to Rentec Directs property management software include:



Full compliance with Job Access With Speech (JAWS) standards and a 100% score on accessibility audits from web browsers like Chrome and Firefox.

Customizable property management websites for landlords and property managers that now include accessibility features.

A new skip to main content link feature useful for screen readers to move past the header and navigation links on a website and go directly to the main content of the page.

Online rental application compatibility with JAWS and most other computer screen reader programs.

Tenant portals that are fully accessible and work well with assistive technology.

Developers follow the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to implement accessibility standards when building websites. Rentec Direct followed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provided by WAI to meet the objectives of the American Disability Act Title III for Rentec-hosted client websites, online rental applications and tenant portals.

To learn more about Rentec Directs latest accessibility enhancements, visit: https://www.rentecdirect.com/blog/accessibility-enhancements/.

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About Rentec Direct

Rentec Direct offers industry-leading property management software and tenant screening solutions for real estate professionals. Features include online rent payments, tenant and owner portals, the industrys largest vacancy listing syndication network, full property, tenant, and owner accounting, 1099-MISC reporting and more. Rentec Direct received the Real Estate Company of the Year Award in the 2019 American Business Awards, has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies for three years in a row (as of 2019), and was also included on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Entreprenuer360 list for Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America. http://www.rentecdirect.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte is calling on those who survived from the coronavirus disease to donate their blood to help other patients recover from the viral illness.

"Mag mabuting-loob kayo. And I think kung ako (Please be kind-hearted. And I think if I were you), I should volunteer. That is the way of thanking God that you have survived," Duterte said in an online briefing aired in the wee hours of Thursday.

"Magpakuha kayo kasi yun ang dugo ninyo -- yung plasma ninyo yun ang i-inject doon sa mga tinamaan," he added.

[Translation: Donate blood because your blood, your plasma will be injected to those infected.]

The Philippine General Hospital has been making the same appeal since last week.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert and a COVID-19 frontliner from PGH explained that the recovered patients blood is rich in antibodies which could fight COVID-19. He added that this is an old method of treating patients, which works in a lot of diseases.

As of Wednesday afternoon, at least 96 people have recovered from the coronavirus disease in the country. The Department of Health clarified that its report covers only the patients confined in the hospitals. This means more people with mild or no symptoms may have recovered while under home quarantine, the DOH said.

The Philippines has 3,870 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 182 deaths. Among those infected are more than 200 health workers -- 152 doctors and 63 nurses.

Duterte praised the doctors and experts from the University of the Philippines for their contribution in the fight against COVID-19.

"Ang pag-asa natin is  including UP, itong atin ipagmalaki rin natin ang mga doktor natin. Iyang mga bright," he said.

[Translation: Our hope is -- including UP, we are proud of our doctors, too. They are bright.]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is in intensive care battling the Covid-19 disease, seems to be doing better, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after saying he had spoken with unnamed representatives of the United Kingdom.

I just spoke with the representatives of the UK and I think that their great prime minister is doing much better today, or at least better, Trump told reporters at a briefing on the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease.

But certainly he has had a tough bout and he is still going through a tough time, but he seems to be doing better, and thats good, Trump added.
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. Global cases: More than 1,511,104

Global deaths: At least 88,338

Most cases reported: United States (429,052), Spain (148,220), Italy (139,422), France (113,959), and Germany (113,296). The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:10 a.m. Beijing time. All times below are in Beijing time.

7:28 pm: OPEC and allies to decide on historic oil production cut as coronavirus ravages demand

Some of the world's largest oil producers will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to try to agree on historic output cuts, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to crush worldwide demand for crude. OPEC and non-OPEC partners, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, are scheduled to hold talks via video-link from 4 p.m. Vienna time to discuss the next phase of oil production policy. President Donald Trump has fueled hopes of a cut far larger than any deal OPEC+ has ever agreed on before, suggesting the energy alliance could take between 10 to 15 million barrels of crude off the market.  Sam Meredith

6:15 pm: Iran's coronavirus death toll rises by 117 to 4,110

Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said the country's death toll had risen by 117 to 4,110, according to Reuters. The total number of infections has reached 66,220, he said.  Holly Ellyatt

5:40 pm: Spain's daily coronavirus deaths decrease; death toll surpasses 15,000

Spain's number of daily coronavirus deaths slowed on Thursday after two days of increases. Spain's health ministry said 683 people died from the virus in 24 hours, taking the death toll to 15,238. The total number of confirmed cases has now risen to 152,446 from 146,690 on Wednesday.  Holly Ellyatt

4:50 pm: UK leader Boris Johnson said to be 'getting better' as he spends third night in intensive care

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care in a London hospital having been admitted for persistent coronavirus symptoms, although his condition is said to be improving. Culture Minister Oliver Dowden is the latest U.K. lawmaker to comment on Johnson's condition, telling the BBC Thursday morning that the prime minister is "stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff," adding, "I think things are getting better for him." Johnson is receiving "excellent care" at St. Thomas' Hospital in London where he is being treated, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said at the government's daily press briefing Wednesday afternoon.  Holly Ellyatt

4:20 pm: Russia's coronavirus cases rise above 10,000

Russia has reported a record one-day rise of 1,459 new cases of coronavirus Thursday, making the total number of confirmed cases to 10,131. The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose by 13 to 76, the national coronavirus crisis response center said, adding that it had conducted 1 million tests.  Holly Ellyatt

A police officer patrols a deserted Red Square during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Valery Sharifulin

4:02 pm: Italy could relax lockdown measures within weeks

Italy could look to ease some of its stringent lockdown restrictions at the end of April, the country's prime minister has said, once again calling on Europe to help the country at the epicenter of the continent's outbreak. It comes as Italy looks to have overcome the worst in terms of daily infections and deaths from the coronavirus, but recent hopes of a peak elsewhere in Europe have been dashed in recent days. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday that the national lockdown in Italy, in place since March 9, could only be eased gradually. "We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," he told the BBC.  Holly Ellyatt

3:40 pm: US needs more 'helicopter money' to cushion coronavirus impact, says Anthony Scaramucci

The U.S. needs more "helicopter money" to help its economy recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, said Anthony Scaramucci, a hedge fund investor who briefly served as President Donald Trump's White House communications chief. Helicopter money refers to a last resort type of monetary stimulus, which involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public to encourage people to spend more and thus, boost the economy. He added that his firm's calculations showed that each adult should get $3,000 and each child $1,500. That would be more than the $1,200 and $500, respectively, already announced as part of a $2 trillion fiscal stimulus package.  Yen Nee Lee

2:35 pm: This chart shows which European countries are expected to have the highest coronavirus death tolls

Britain will be hit harder by the coronavirus crisis than any other European country, researchers have predicted, with the U.K. expected to see more than 60,000 deaths from COVID-19. New research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), published Monday with a correction issued on Tuesday, forecast a total of 151,000 deaths across Europe during the "first wave" of the pandemic, which scientists predict will end on August 4. According to the analysis, Britain was expected to reach its peak daily death rate on April 17, when researchers predicted there would be a total of 2,932 deaths in one day. The country was on a trajectory that would result in a total of 66,314 deaths by August 4, scientists concluded.  Chloe Taylor

2:10 pm: Safety concerns over vaccine for coronavirus still remain, says expert

While efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine have accelerated, there are still safety concerns, according to the director-general of the International Vaccine Institute. "We don't know that a vaccine that's developed in four months  or I guess 12 to 18 months, which is the current estimate  is really safe," Jerome Kim, director-general of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday. Typically, the process of developing vaccines takes five to 10 years, but Kim said there's been "unprecedented speed" in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine as a result of global efforts to stem the pandemic and a "significant amount of funding" given to companies to get vaccines ready for testing. As a result, vaccines can now begin human trials in 4 months  instead of the typical five to 10 years  and that's "really a remarkable thing," he said.  Audrey Cher

1:45 pm: New cases in Germany jump

The number of new confirmed cases in Germany jumped by 4,974 in the past 24 hours to a total of 108,202, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The number of additional fatalities rose by 246 to a total of 2,107.  Weizhen Tan

12:50 pm: Coronavirus could spark a financial crisis for struggling countries, Singapore's trade minister warns

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic could cascade from a health catastrophe into a financial crisis in countries struggling to cope, Singapore's trade minister warned on Thursday. Many countries are now "fiscally challenged," with few having the headroom to deploy monetary policy as rates are currently so low, Chan Chun Sing, Singapore's minister for trade and industry, told CNBC. "That is a dangerous situation," he said. "What we are concerned is that, if we are not careful, some of the countries might get into a financial crisis beyond a health crisis, beyond a economic crisis," Chan said.  Weizhen Tan

12:07 pm: Thailand needs more cooperation from its citizens to curb virus spread, says deputy prime minister

Despite cooperation from the Thai people, more work is needed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday. Charnvirakul, who's also Thailand's minister for public health, alluded to a study that suggested a need for at least 80% of people in Thailand to practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.  Audrey Cher

11:40 am: South Korea's central bank keeps rates unchanged

The Bank of Korea left its base rate unchanged at 0.75% but warned that the country's growth this year could fall "considerably below" its earlier forecast of 2.1%. The central bank didn't give an updated growth forecast in its latest monetary policy statement. But Reuters reported BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol saying that it'll be difficult for the country to grow by more than 1% this year. South Korea is one of the hardest-hit Asian countries in the pandemic, and has reported 10,423 cases in total and 204 fatalities. (See 9:15 am update)  Yen Nee Lee

10:38 am: Australia's households and businesses can handle economic shock, says central bank

Australian households and businesses will face increasing financial stress due to the coronavirus pandemic, but many of them are well placed to weather the economic shock, the country's central bank said. "Most businesses and households entered this difficult period in good financial health, with large cash and/or equity buffers to help withstand a temporary fall in income," the Reserve Bank of Australia said in its Financial Stability Review. Australia has confirmed 6,052 cases and 50 deaths since the outbreak, according to the Department of Health. The government and the central bank have announced several measures to tide the economy through the pandemic, including cutting interest rates and subsidizing wages.  Yen Nee Lee

9:15 am: South Korea reports 39 new cases  the lowest since late February

South Korea on Thursday reported 39 new cases of infection  the lowest number since late February. There were four deaths. The country has been reporting fewer than or around 50 new cases since Monday this week.

Altogether, South Korea has reported 10,423 cases of infection and 204 people have succumbed to the illness caused by the virus, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Korea is generally praised for its efforts to reduce the spread of infection by mass testing its people and adopting strict measures to quarantine and track those who affected.  Huileng Tan

8:15 am: China reports 63 new cases, 2 deaths

China's National Health Commission (NHC) reported 63 new cases and two deaths as of April 8. Of the new cases, the NHC attributed 61 to travelers from overseas. That brings the country's total to 81,865 confirmed cases and 3,335 deaths, according to the NHC.

Passengers of the G4802 high-speed train wait to exit the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2020. G4802, the first high-speed train departing from Wuhan since the city resumed outbound travel, arrived at Beijing West Railway Station on Wednesday. Ju Huanzong | Xinhua | Getty Images

Separately, the NHC said there were 56 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms. China started including asymptomatic cases in its daily reports on April 1.  Huileng Tan All times below are in Eastern time.

7:07 pm: Trump escalates tension with WHO over coronavirus pandemic, repeats threat to withhold funding

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tension with the World Health Organization, once again criticizing the agency's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to withhold funding. "So we're going to do a study, an investigation, and we're going to make a determination as to what we're doing. In the meantime, we're holding back," Trump said at a White House press conference. It was not immediately clear from the president's comment if he was "holding back" on the funding or probe of the WHO. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration is reevaluating the WHO's funding, adding that the United Nation's health organization hasn't "achieved what it intended to do," particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic. "Organizations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended," Pompeo said. "We need to make sure that, not only the World Health Organization but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America, we need to make sure it's delivering on those taxpayer dollars." Noah Higgins-Dunn, Kevin Breuninger

6:51 pm: While parents Zoom, their kids are flocking to an app called Roblox to hang out and play 3D games

Millions of parents across the country are suddenly being forced to juggle full-time work, parenting and homeschooling, all while keeping their kids inside, away from their friends and hopefully sane. Extensive screen time is inevitable in many households, but Roblox has emerged as an alternative to the undesirable experience of letting kids watch endless YouTube videos and cartoons. Roblox Chief Business Officer Craig Donato said usage surged 40% in March from February, and the app trails only YouTube in terms of the biggest money makers on iOS, according to AppAnnie. It's the opposite story from what's facing most of corporate America, including once high-flying start-ups like Airbnb, Toast, ClassPass and Bird, which are slashing costs and, in many cases, cutting jobs. Donato said Roblox now expects $1 billion in billings this year, largely from in-app purchases. The company, based in San Mateo, California, sends 25% of that money to developers, who use software called Roblox Studio to make games for the app. Roblox doesn't disclose revenue, but data site SensorTower estimated in November that sales in 2019, up to that point, had climbed 30% from all of 2018 to $435 million. Ari Levy

6:37 pm: Etsy CEO says 20,000 of its shops are now selling face masks following CDC recommendation
All the Bollywood stars who have 'pledged' in money and posted about the same on social media, have they actually donated? While this remains a big question and the credibility of their donation is a big question mark, there is an actor who is setting an example by actually doing it.

BCCL

According to reports, Salman Khan has started the process of transferring funds into the accounts of daily wage workers of the film industry, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) said on Wednesday.

The actor had recently pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers who have been badly hit by the 21-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread in the country.

According to BN Tiwari, FWICE, President, Salman has made an initial payment of Rs 3,000 each to the daily wage workers of the film industry, starting Tuesday.

Agencies

We had given him the final list of 23,000 workers so far, who were in dire need of financial help. He is going to transfer money in installments as he doesnt want people to misuse it. He has transferred about Rs 3,000 to every worker yesterday and he will transfer money again after some time. We are thankful to him for helping our workers, Tiwari told PTI.

A source close to Salman said the superstar will continue to support the workers until the situation improves in the country.

agencies

We have started the process on Tuesday. We will be giving sufficient money to workers monthly, we will also give money next month and if the situation is still the same, we will continue to financially help the workers till it doesnt return to normalcy, the source said.

FWICE said Yash Raj Films have also provided financial help of Rs 5,000 to around 3,000 workers.

Besides Salman, a lot of people from Bollywood have come forward to help the workers, including Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty, who have given Rs 51 lakh each. Boney Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor too have given money and there are few more who have offered financial assistance to the federation. We also received Rs 1.5 crore from the Producers Guild of India on Tuesday.

Netflix Logo (Representative Image: Reuters)

The federation has received a total amount of Rs 3 crore from film industry people. We are yet to receive money from Netflix, which they had announced for daily wage earners and also from Amitabh Bachchan, who is going to provide ration to one lakh workers. He is going to provide coupons which we should receive in a day or two, Tiwari said.

He further said Bachchans ration coupon for workers will also be given to other associations across the country, such as in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Karnataka.

Agencies

Tiwari said FWICE is in the process of making another list of needy workers and then they will begin the process of transferring money.

The Rs 3 crore that the federation has received will be distributed among our five lakh workers in Maharashtra. We will start sending money from April 14 in phases. Those who havent received any financial aid will be helped first. We are in the process of making a list of such workers for the same, Tiwari said.

FWICE has also begun distributing ration to workers in suburban Andheri and Jogeshwari. So far we have distributed 5,000 packets of ration and we will give more, he added.

Well, we hope people who have pledged in money stand true to their claims and show up for people in need.




Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Sunny skies. Becoming windy late. High 36F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 29F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
New Delhi/Hyderabad, April 9 : Several journalists' bodies in the country have reacted with dismay to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's suggestion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban governmental advertisement spending in mass media, as part of austerity measures, and that these funds be diverted for fighting COVID-19 instead.

The prospect of such a easure further affecting the revenues of the media, particularly the print media, has sparked alarm in the media fraternity.

In a statement issued by Indian Journalists Union (IJU) on Thursday, several media professionals' associations termed the suggestion as "completely myopic and lacking in reason".

Speaking to IANS, IJU President K. Sreenivas Reddy contended that apart from destroying small newspapers, such a move will affect the information flow in times of crisis. "Don't they want credible news to be circulated among the people? Should the people rely on social media? Such a move will impact the flow of news to the people," he said.

Signatories to the statement, which include the Press Association (PA), Indian Journalists Union (IJU), National Union of Journalists (NUJ-I) and Working News Cameramen's Association (WNCA), opine that such a move will undermine the role of the media at this crucial juncture when the Covid-19 crisis is already dealing a body blow to the print media in the country.

"The effects of the ravaging pandemic has put the media industry, particularly print media, under severe financial stress and several newspapers have already suspended printing. Many journalists across the country have lost jobs due to this crisis. Stopping advertisements to the media at this juncture would blow death knell to the industry, the role of which is very crucial in the fight against the deadly infection", they said.

The suggestion to halt government ads to media was one fo the five suggestions put forth by Sonia Gandhi during the Prime Minister's outreach initiative to opposition party leaders on measures to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
A procedure room at the Whole Womans Health abortion clinic in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Matthew Busch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Coronavirus-related abortion restrictions have lifted in Texas, now that the governors order suspending non-essential medical procedures has eased.

According to Reuters, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a court filing Wednesday night that, because the abortion providers challenging the states temporary ban are complying with a less-stringent executive order, there is no case or controversy remaining. This concludes a whiplash-inducing court battle between abortion providers  Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Lawyering Project  and Texas leaders seeking to block access under the guise of safeguarding public health.

How did Texas suspend abortion access?

On March 22, amid a slew of stay-at-home orders meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order postponing all nonessential surgeries and medical procedures until April 22. The next day, the states attorney general, Ken Paxton, clarified that the order included abortion, unless a pregnancy threatened the life of the mother. Texas prohibits abortion starting 22 weeks after a patients last menstrual period.

Crucially, with respect to the ensuing legal battle, Abbotts order made an exception for any procedure that, if performed in accordance with the commonly accepted standard of clinical practice, would not deplete the hospital capacity or the personal protective equipment needed to cope with the Covid-19 disaster.

Paxtons office justified the temporary ban  the violation of which could have come with as much as a $1,000 fine or 180 days in jail  by saying it will help free up medical supplies and hospital beds for coronavirus patients.

At first, abortion providers challenged the temporary ban outright.

On March 30, U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel blocked the states attempt at clinic closures on the grounds that patients denied the ability to terminate unwanted pregnancies would suffer serious and irreparable harm. Suspending abortion services, Yeakel wrote, amounts to a pre-viability ban, violating the terms laid out in Roe v. Wade.

The next day, however, the Fifth Circuit intervened. Issuing its own temporary stay on Yeakels decision, the Fifth Circuit allowed Paxtons policy to remain in place until they had reviewed arguments in the case. On April 7, the court confirmed in a 2-1 decision that it would allow the de facto ban to stand, Judge Kyle Duncan  a Donald Trump appointee  writing that Supreme Court precedent instructs that all constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency.

Then, they asked for specific exemptions.

Abortion providers then asked Yeakel to exempt medication abortions, pointing out in a brief that this method requires no PPE, while the patients only alternative to medication abortion  continuing the pregnancy  does. In Texas, medication abortion is available through the tenth week of pregnancy, and in general, is extremely safe, requiring hospitalization in about 0.4 percent of patients.

On April 9, Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order blocking parts of the interim abortion ban. Per Yeakels decision, medication abortion became  fleetingly  available again, while patients who risked running up against gestational limits before April 22 were also allowed to move ahead with termination.

The Fifth Circuit immediately turned around and blocked the medication exemption, though, prompting providers to file their case with the Supreme Court on April 11. But the complainants ultimately withdrew their filing on April 14, after the Fifth Circuit judges ruled the night before that medication abortion  which involves handing a patient pills  did not qualify as a procedure that would deplete the states supply of masks and medical equipment.

On April 20, however, the Fifth Circuit backtracked in a 2-1 opinion, arguing that Texas has a right to ban medication termination because the constitutional right to abortion does not include the right to the abortion method of the womans (or the physicians) choice.

What does Abbotts new order say?

The Fifth Circuit delivered its latest decision one day before Abbotts order on non-essential procedures was set to expire. While the moratorium on surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary still stands, two exceptions went into effect on April 22: for facilities that reserve at least 25 percent of their beds for coronavirus patients, and vow not to request any PPE from public sources during the public health emergency.

Asked whether or not abortion services would be able to resume under these revised guidelines, Abbott previously said that will be a decision for courts to make, according to the Texas Tribune. Texas clinics have reportedly certified to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that they will comply the governors updated order, and both medication and procedural abortions have resumed.

Ruling on similar policies in late March, federal judges suspended temporary abortion bans in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ohio.

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The European Commission has responded to the regional scramble for apps and data to help tackle the coronavirus crisis by calling for a common EU approach to boost the effectiveness of digital interventions and ensure key rights and freedoms are respected.

The European Union's executive body wants to ensure Member States' individual efforts to use data and tech tools to combat COVID-19 are aligned and can interoperate across borders -- and therefore be more effective, given the virus does not respect national borders.

Current efforts by governments across the EU to combat the virus are being hampered by the fragmentation of approaches, it warns.

At the same time its recommendation puts a strong focus on the need to ensure that fundamental EU rights do not get overridden in the rush to mitigate the spread of the virus -- with the Commission urging public health authorities and research institutions to observe a key EU legal principle of data minimization when processing personal data for a coronavirus purpose.

Specifically it writes that these bodies should apply what it calls "appropriate safeguards" -- listing pseudonymization, aggregation, encryption and decentralization as examples of best practice.

The Commission's thinking is that getting EU citizens to trust digital efforts -- such as the myriad of COVID-19 contacts tracing apps now in development -- will be key to their success by helping to drive uptake and usage, which means core rights like privacy take on additional significance at a moment of public health crisis.

Commenting in a statement, commissioner for the EU's internal market, Thierry Breton said: Digital technologies, mobile applications and mobility data have enormous potential to help understand how the virus spreads and to respond effectively. With this Recommendation, we put in motion a European coordinated approach for the use of such apps and data, without compromising on our EU privacy and data protection rules, and avoiding the fragmentation of the internal market. Europe is stronger when it acts united.

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"Europe's data protection rules are the strongest in the world and they are fit also for this crisis, providing for exceptions and flexibility. We work closely with data protection authorities and will come forward with guidance on the privacy implications soon," added Didier Reynders, the commissioner for justice, in another supporting statement. We all must work together now to get through this unprecedented crisis. The Commission is supporting the Member States in their efforts to fight the virus and we will continue to do so when it comes to an exit strategy and to recovery. In all this, we will continue to ensure full respect of Europeans' fundamental rights."

Since Europe has fast-followed China to become a secondary epicenter for the SARS-CoV-2 virus there has been a rush by governments, institutions and the private sector to grab data and technologies to try to map the spread of the virus and inform policy responses. The Commission itself has leant on telcos to provide anonymized and aggregated user location data for COVID-19 tracking purposes.

Some individual Member States have gone further -- calling in tech companies to ask directly for resources and/or data, with little public clarity on what exactly is being provided. Some governments have even rushed out apps that apply individual-level location tracking to enforce quarantine measures.

Multiple EU countries also have contacts tracing apps in the works -- taking inspiration from Singapore's TraceTogether app which users Bluetooth proximity as a proxy for infection risk.

With so much digital activity going on -- and huge economic and social pressure for a 'coronavirus fix' -- there are clear risks to privacy and civil liberties. Governments, research institutions and the private sector are all mobilizing to capture health-related data and track people's location like never before, all set against the pressing backdrop of a public health emergency.

The Commission warned today that some of the measures being taken by certain (unnamed) countries -- such as location-tracking of individuals; the use of technology to rate an individual's level of health risk; and the centralization of sensitive data -- risk putting pressure on fundamental EU rights and freedoms.

Its recommendation emphasizes that any restrictions on rights must be justified, proportionate and temporary.

Any such restrictions should remain "strictly limited" to what is necessary to combat the crisis and should not continue to exist "without an adequate justification" after the COVID-19 emergency has passed, it adds.

It's not alone in expressing such concerns.

In recent days bottom-up efforts have emerged out of EU research institutions with the aim of standardizing a 'privacy-preserving' approach to coronavirus contacts tracing.

One coalition of EU technologists and scientists led by institutions in Germany, Switzerland and France, is pushing a common approach that they're hoping will get baked into such apps to limit risks. They've called the effort: PEPP-PT (Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing).

However a different group of privacy experts is simultaneously pushing for a decentralized method for doing the same thing (DP-3T) -- arguing it's a better fit with the EU's data protection model as it doesn't require pseudonymized IDs to be centralized on a server. Instead storage of contacts and individual infection risk processing would be decentralized -- performed locally, on the user's device -- thereby shrinking the risk of such a system being repurposed to carry out state-level surveillance of citizens.

Although the backers of this protocol accept it does not erase all risk; with the potential for tech savvy hackers to intercept the pseudonymized IDs of infected people at the point they're being broadcast to devices for local processing, for instance. (While health authorities may be more accustomed to the concept of centralizing data to secure it, rather than radically distributing it.)

Earlier this week, one of the technologists involved in the PEPP-PT project told us it intends to support both approaches -- centralized and decentralized -- in order to try to maximize international uptake, allowing developers to make their own choice of preferred infrastructure.

Though questions remain over achieving interoperability between different models.

Per its recommendation, the Commission looks to be favoring a decentralized model -- as the closest fit with the EU's rights framework.

The European Commission Recommendation on Bluetooth COVID-19 proximity tracing apps specifically notes that they should apply decentralisation as a key data minimisation safeguard, in line with #DP3T. https://t.co/ksL1Obc8My pic.twitter.com/Vb3jTLbeo9  Michael Veale (@mikarv) April 8, 2020

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In a section of its recommendation paper on privacy and data protection for "COVID-19 mobile warning and prevention applications" it also states a preference for "safeguards ensuring respect for fundamental rights and prevention of stigmatization" -- and for "the least intrusive yet effective measures".

The EU will support privacy-respecting #COVID19 application for contact tracing "least intrusive yet effective measures" pic.twitter.com/nNdQEGNatd  Lukasz Olejnik (@lukOlejnik) April 8, 2020

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The Commission's recommendation also stresses the importance of keeping the public informed.

"Transparency and clear and regular communication, and allowing for the input of persons and communities most affected, will be paramount to ensuring public trust when combating the COVID-19 crisis," it warns.

The Commission is proposing a joint toolbox to be developed with EU Member States to encourage a rights-respecting, coordinated and common approach to smartphone apps for tracing COVID-19 infections -- which will consist of [emphasis its]:

specifications to ensure the effectiveness of mobile information , warning and tracing applications from a medical and technical point of view;

measures to avoid proliferation of incompatible applications , support requirements for interoperability and promotion of common solutions;

governance mechanisms to be applied by public health authorities and in cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Control;

the identification of good practices and mechanisms for exchange of information on the functioning of the applications; and

sharing data with relevant epidemiological public bodies, including aggregated data to ECDC.

It also says it will be providing guidance for Member States that will specifically cover off data protection and privacy implications -- another clear signal of concerns.

"The Commission is in close contact with the European Data Protection Board [EDPB] for an overview of the processing of personal data at national level in the context of the coronavirus crisis," it adds.

Yesterday, following a plenary meeting of the EU data watchdogs body, the EDPB announced that it's assigned expert subgroups to work on developing guidance on key aspects of data processing in the fight against COVID-19 -- including for geolocation and other tracing tools in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, with its technology expert subgroup leading the work.

While a compliance, e-government and health expert subgroup is also now working on guidance for the processing of health data for research purposes in the coronavirus context.

These are the two areas the EDPB said it's prioritizing at this time, putting planned guidance for teleworking tools and practices during the current crisis on ice for now.

"I strongly believe data protection and public health go hand in hand," said EDPB chair, Andrea Jelinek, in a statement: The EDPB will move swiftly to issue guidance on these topics within the shortest possible notice to help make sure that technology is used in a responsible way to support and hopefully win the battle against the corona pandemic."

The Commission also wants a common approach for modelling and predicting the spread of COVID-19 too -- and says the toolbox will focus on developing this via the use of "anonymous and aggregated mobile location data" (such as it has been asking EU operators to provide).

"The aim is to analyse mobility patterns including the impact of confinement measures on the intensity of contacts, and hence the risks of contamination," it writes. "This will be an important and proportionate input for tools modelling the spread of the virus, and provide insights for the development of strategies for opening up societies again."

"The Commission already started the discussion with mobile phone operators on 23 March 2020 with the aim to cover all Member States. The data will be fully anonymised and transmitted to the Joint Research Centre for processing and modelling. It will not be shared with third parties and only be stored as long as the crisis is ongoing," it adds.

The Commission's push to coordinate coronavirus tech efforts across the EU has been welcomed by privacy and security experts.

Michael Veale, a backer of the decentralized protocol for COVID-19 contacts tracing, told us: "It's great to see the Commission recommend decentralisation as a core principle for information systems tackling COVID-19. As our DP-3T protocol shows, creating a centralised database is a wholly unnecessary and removable part of bluetooth contact tracing."

"We hope to be able to place code online for scrutiny and feedback next week -- fully open source, of course," Veale added. "We have already had great public feedback on the protocol which we are revising in light of that to make it even more private and secure. Centralised systems being developed in Europe, such as in Germany, have not published their protocols, let along code -- perhaps they are afraid of what people will find?"

While Lukasz Olejnik, an EU-based cybersecurity advisor and privacy researcher, also welcomed the Commission's intervention, telling us: "A coordinated approach can certainly be easier to build trust. We should favor privacy-respecting approaches, and make it clear that we are in a crisis situation. After the crisis, such a crisis system should be dismantled, and it looks like the recommendations recognize it. This is good."

The Commission intends the toolbox for moving towards a pan-European approach for COVID-19 mobile applications to be developed by April 15.

It also wants Member States to report on the actions they have taken in this area by May 31 -- making their measures accessible to other Member States and the Commission for peer review.

It adds that it will assess the progress made and publish periodic reports starting in June 2020 and throughout the crisis, recommending action and/or the phasing out of measures that are no longer necessary.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, April 9, for his decision to approve the supply of chloroquine to Israel. This comes after US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took to their official handle on Twitter to thank PM Modi for lifting the ban on the export of the anti-malaria drug that is proving to be effective in treating of COVID-19 infection.

Netanyahu, in a tweet said Thank you, my dear friend, @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!.

Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel.



All the citizens of Israel thank you!  pic.twitter.com/HdASKYzcK4  PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 9, 2020

Read: France Reports First Decrease In Coronavirus Intensive Care Patients

An Israel health ministry official reportedly informed the state broadcasters, that India has made an exception and permitted the export of the drug to Israel. The official added that another request regarding the export of N95 face masks was yet to be confirmed. India, the worlds premier supplier of generic drugs, has been kind enough despite the latest restrictions on the export of 26 pharmaceutical ingredients, the official was quoted saying.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had thanked PM Modi for relieving the restrictions on the supply of pre-ordered hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the US. Trump had praised PM Modi's leadership, saying that he was not only helping India but the entire humanity in the fight against coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus Shutdown Presents Challenges For Teams, Sponsors

'Emergency use authorization'

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an 'emergency use authorization' for the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. As per reports, the Trump administration had said that it was planning to distribute a million-dose quantity of the anti-malarial drug to hospitals across the US.

Although there hasnt been any scientific evidence over the benefit of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in relieving acute respiratory symptoms caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19, the test results of usage on patients have sparked hopes. The US health authorities have said in a statement that the anecdotal reports suggest that these antidotes may offer benefits in the treatment of coronavirus patients on lines of FDAs approved indications.

Read: UK Records 881 Coronavirus Deaths

Read: A Funeral Director Fights For New Yorks Coronavirus Dead
The U.S. economy continues to shed jobs at a jaw-dropping pace, and theres little sign the payroll losses will ease significantly anytime soon amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

About 6.6 million Americans filed unemployment benefit claims for the first time last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, reflecting another surge in layoffs and an economy that has shut down in stomach-churning waves the past few weeks to minimize further contagion.

The previous weeks record 6.65 million jobless claims total was revised up by 219,000 to an all-time high of 6.86 million.

"Hideous," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics, said starkly of the new figures.

Economists had estimated that 5.5 million workers filed initial claims last week, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Forty-three states accounting for about 95% of the U.S. population are under stay-at-home orders, and nonessential businesses such as restaurants, stores, movie theaters and other outlets closed or sharply scaled back. Airlines and hotels have been deserted as Americans shun air and other travel.

A staggering 17 million or so Americans have sought unemployment benefits the past three weeks. The weekly figures dwarf the previous record of 695,000 weekly unemployment applications during a deep recession in October 1982.

Yet some laid-off workers dont even qualify for unemployment benefits or receive only meager payments. Martha Rodriguez, 35, of Renton, Washington, lost her part-time job as a preschool instructor March 15 as businesses and schools shut down across the state. The same day, her husband, Rafael, was laid off from his part-time restaurant server job.

Martha, who typically worked 20 to 25 hours a week, said she was denied jobless benefits because she didn't log enough hours, and Rafael receives just $126 a week in unemployment. Hes still working as a full-time food preparer, but his income isnt enough to pay the $1,500 mortgage on their three-bedroom condo.

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The couple, who have two children, have cut out the family breakfast and rely on a food bank for some meals. The bank agreed to defer their mortgage payments for three months, but Martha worries theyll then owe a hefty sum. The family seeks state aid to pay their utility bills.

Martha said she plans to try to get a job at Costco or Target, among the few employers hiring, but shell have to juggle any position with home-schooling her kids.

Its really hard right now, she said. I dont believe in the government anymore. Its really frustrating to see what we can lose.

A sign advertising for jobs sits along the roadside outside a FedEx location in Zionsville, Ind., on April 2, 2020.

Last week, 925,000 workers filed claims in California, just below the prior weeks 1 million. There were 388,000 claims in Georgia, three times the previous weeks total; 385,000 in Michigan; 345,000 in New York; and 314,000 in Texas.

There are reasons to think this is only the beginning, said economist Jesse Edgerton of JPMorgan Chase. In February, he said, there were nearly 50 million workers in industries directly affected by coronavirus-related shutdowns.

A better way to keep economy afloat? Should Congress follow Europe's lead on stimulus to help US workers and businesses?

Its effects are also likely to spread well beyond these sectors, he said.

Michelle Meyer, chief U.S. economist of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said the national jobless claim numbers are likely to hover in the millions each of the next several weeks and could hit new records. Thats partly because more businesses are closing, at least temporarily, as they run short of cash or lose customers.

The $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress, known as the CARES Act, extends unemployment benefits up to 39 weeks and provides an additional $600 weekly federal supplement to state payouts averaging $300 to $400 a week, Meyer noted. Self-employed and contract workers are eligible to apply for the first time.

As a result, she said, a growing number of businesses may let workers go, knowing theyll be covered financially, at least for a few months.

Meyer forecasts a total 15 million to 20 million job losses by May, pushing unemployment to 15% from the current 4.4%. Oxford Economics projects 26 million layoffs and a 16% jobless rate over the next two months.

Restaurants expand menus  big time: Need toilet paper or eggs? You might be able to find these in-demand items at restaurants amid COVID-19

One consolation is that the claims totals dont represent permanent layoffs only. Americans temporarily laid off, or furloughed  such as many restaurant workers  as well as many of those whose hours have been reduced are eligible for benefits. About half the 4 million people who reported in March that they had lost their jobs said they were temporarily laid off, Labor said last week.

Even some of the more traditional layoffs may not be permanent, said Gus Faucher, chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group. The stimulus package provides loans to small businesses of up to $10 million to cover payroll and other expenses. The portion of the loans funding eight weeks of costs is forgivable as long as the firms retain their workers or rehire those laid off. Many are likely to do so.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Another 6.6M workers filed jobless claims as layoffs surge
One weekend in March, Javier Soltero, a Google vice president, got an email from his team in Europe. Italys Minister of Education needed to move the countrys entire school system online, right away, and wanted to know if Googles software could handle it.

Soltero, who leads G Suite, Googles set of productivity tools, called his technical staff. Is this even something we can do? he recalled thinking. Several sleepless days and nights later, millions of Italian kids were learning from home through Google services.

As the month wore on, Solteros division faced similar surges in country after country. Schools and universities across the globe have rushed online as the coronavirus shut down public life. Many turned to the worlds largest internet company.

We have seen incredible growth, Soltero said in a recent interview. It actually mirrors, unfortunately, the ramp up and spread of the disease.

Alphabet Inc.s Google has jumped ahead of its big technology peers in the education market in recent years by giving away software and aggressively courting teachers. The pandemic is entrenching the tech giant even further. Google Classroom, a free service teachers use to send out assignments and communicate with students, has doubled daily users to 100 million since the beginning of March. Thats boosting other products, including Meet, a video conferencing app thats being used 25 times as much as it was in January.

Google doesnt charge most schools to use Classroom. The real prize is the millions of young people learning how to use its software. When those students enter the workforce, theyre likely to keep using paid versions, and encourage colleagues to adopt the tools, too.

Google Classroom was already popular in the U.S., but demand is now coming from places with few customers before the virus, such as Italy and Indonesia, according to Avni Shah, Googles vice president for education. All these places were really lighting up in the last month, she said.

The companys foothold in schools began around 2014. In the U.S., a new educational standard, called Common Core, was gaining steam and required online assessments. Google flooded schools with Chromebooks, laptops that run on the companys Chrome operating system. They were cheaper than rival products from Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and came with pre-installed Google apps including Gmail, Docs, Slides and Drive. Last year, Google commanded 60% of the market for education computers in the U.S., according to consultant Futuresource.

Chromebooks were among the first in schools to connect to the cloud, making it easier for teachers and students to work and keep in touch from anywhere. That helped spread adoption, according to Mike Fisher, a Futuresource associate director.

Google Classroom, similarly, is taking off because its relatively simple to use and flexible. It competes with dozens of other learning-management systems including Canvas and Edmodo, which let schools upload and track coursework. Classroom syncs with those systems and integrates with other school apps, which, like Googles, are now booming. And crucially, Googles product is free, while most competitors charge money for premium features.

Makers of e-learning tools rely on portals like Classroom to get inside schools. Quizlet Inc., maker of software for educational quizzes, saw new sign-ups jump as much as 400% in China and Italy as the coronavirus spread, said chief executive officer Matthew Glotzbach. About 150 million of Quizlets study sessions last year came from Google Classroom, he noted.

Googles offering is also intuitive. Teachers new to remote learning are usually able to upload assignments quickly and launch video calls with little fuss, according to Fisher. That solution, for the situation were in, is perfect, he said.

As schools around the world started closing over the first two weeks of March, Luke Craig, a teacher at Britannia Village Primary School in East London, saw what was coming. Craig and his colleagues used Google Sites, a web page-building tool, to set up a hub for their school and started practicing running classes through Google Classroom. A few days later, schools across the U.K. shut down.

Now, Craigs first-grade students open their Chromebooks and log into Google accounts for lessons. The Google Sites page lays out the plan for the day, and, depending on the subject, they use a variety of apps made by different companies, including Microsoft. Google Classroom is the central hub, allowing students to submit assignments and teachers to track progress. Another Google product, Jamboard, lets teachers create interactive lessons. Some of the kids, as young as 6 years old, have become so proficient theyre making their own videos detailing their assignments, Craig said.

Google has experienced some problems bringing millions of students online so quickly. When schools first jumped on its Meet video-conferencing service, some kids figured out they could boot other participants from a call.Students were kicking the teachers out and carrying on, Craig said. Google heard the complaints, and fixed the issue quickly. The company has been rapidly building new features, thanks to hundreds of employees who volunteered to switch to the education team when the coronavirus started spreading widely, Shah said.

Craig also warned that students who dont have as much support from parents, or access to computers and the internet, could fall behind. Without the face-to-face contact, its likely some kids will slip through the cracks, he said.

Google recently pledged to provide internet connections to as many as 100,000 households in California and distribute 4,000 Chromebooks to kids in need. Thats nowhere near enough resources to fill a growing digital divide in education, and doesnt help Craigs students in East London.

Read more: U.S. Schools Trying to Teach Online Highlight a Digital Divide

In Italy, Google partnered with telecommunications companies so students can use a regular phone line to at least listen in to video conference calls with their teachers. The company designs its apps to work on cheap smartphones and to be used without a wireless connection, Shah said.There are also privacy concerns with so many more children getting online. In February, New Mexicos attorney general sued Google, claiming the company was breaking child privacy laws by collecting data on students. When kids merge their school Google accounts with their personal ones, data could be synced and logged by Google for commercial purposes, the lawsuit argued. Google disputed the claims. A spokesperson for the company said it never uses student data to target ads, even after kids graduate and become adults.

But its unlikely privacy concerns will hobble Googles success during this crisis. Most school districts are desperate to get any online system up and running, ignoring some standard protocols for vetting services, said Douglas Levin, president of EdTech Strategies, a consulting company. Those have been thrown out the window for expediencys sake, he said.

Google may even benefit from the privacy failures of other companies. Zoom Video Communications Inc., maker of a suddenly popular video chat service, is now seeing some schools drop it after internet trolls started interrupting online meetings and broadcasting offensive content to participants.

Craig has been spending the hours in between classes helping other schools get online. Hes one of thousands of teachers certified by Google to train others how to use the companys software. The certification program has been a keystone of Googles expansion, netting the company a group of people who use its products and encourage others to do the same.

When schools finally reopen, the education world will be very different. Tech holdouts who resisted internet-based products like Google Classroom will have been forced to use them and adapt. Many schools without a home-learning system will have one. Students lucky enough to have internet at home will have months of experience learning online.

All those technology-phobic people will be no more. They will not go back to their pencil and paper, said Melissa Matthews, a technology program specialist for the school district of Palm Beach County in Florida. I dont foresee Google Classroom getting any fewer users come August when everyone goes back to school.

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The wholesale vegetable, fruits and onion-potato APMC markets will shut down from Saturday. The APMC administration has taken the decision following demand by traders. The administration, however, said supplies will directly go to Mumbai, thus ensuring theres no shortage. However, the grains and spices markets will continue to function.

APMC secretary, Anil Chavan said, The markets will remain shut till April 14, the lockdown period. We will review the decision again then based on the circumstances and the decision taken by the state government.

Wholesale traders at the market that supplies essential agriculture produce to Mumbai and its nearby areas held meetings on Thursday after a spices trader tested positive for Covid-19 positive a day earlier. The trader, a resident of Sion, had not come to the market since March 21.

Despite measures taken by the administration to avoid gatherings, the market continued to be crowded.

The traders at the wholesale onion-potato market in Vashi were the first to declare that they will shut the market from Monday. They were followed by the traders of vegetable and fruits market who approached the administration to shut the market.

Citing that the traders have been working even after the imposition of lockdown to ensure there is a regular supply of commodities to Mumbai markets, APMC director and wholesale trader Ashok Walunj said, Cases of coronavirus are increasing by the day. And most of the people coming to our market including workers, drivers and retailers are mostly from slum areas. After we learnt of a spices trader testing positive yesterday, we are scared.

He added, There is enough stock in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to last a month. There is also provision for direct supplies to Mumbai, which is already happening.

Walunj added that the traders will work to supply all the stock they have to Mumbai, and then they will stop working. He assured that In future if the lockdown is extended or there is shortage of commodities, we will again hold a meeting and review our position.

Following the representations, the APMC administration decided to shut the three markets. Chavan, said, We received requests by traders associations that they wanted the markets to be shut. Hence, we have decided to shut the market from Saturday. Friday will be the last working day.

He explained, It is difficult to contain the spread of the virus. With reports of rising cases, traders and mathadis are worried.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:43:52|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- One hundred more Taliban prisoners, out of 5,000 Taliban inmates to be freed on parole, were released from Afghan government's prisons on Thursday, reported local media.

"Another 100 Taliban prisoners were released on Thursday and about 1,300 more Taliban inmates will be released within the next 20 days in consideration of age, medical condition, and the remaining time of sentenced imprisonment," reported Tolo News TV on its news bulletin.

The process of the releasing of Taliban prisoners started on Wednesday, after 100 Taliban were freed from Bagram prison. Several thousands of Taliban prisoners are jailed in Bagram prison in eastern Parwan province and Pul-e-Charkhi main prison in Kabul.

The process is part of a peace deal inked between the Taliban and the United States signed in Qatar capital Doha on Feb. 29, however, the Afghan government was not a signatory of the deal.

On March 11, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release 5,000 Taliban inmates on parole and the release of the first 1,500 prisoners was planned to start on March 14, by freeing 100 prisoners every day, but the process repeatedly delayed.

The Taliban also agreed to launch direct peace talks with the government and accepted to free 1,000 Afghan government security force members.

The freed prisoners had passed through a biometric registration process and made written commitments, guaranteeing they would not return to the battlefield, according to the report.

Under the agreement, all of about 16,000 U.S. and NATO -led coalition forces would leave Afghanistan by July next year depending on Taliban's meeting the conditions envisaged in the agreement, including severing ties with foreign terrorist groups.
Some employees at the Philadelphia Sheriffs Office are questioning a decision to require them to report to work this week despite previously being deemed nonessential workers.

Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said some employees who were not required to work when the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of city government two weeks ago were being called in to the office at 100 S. Broad St.

When you have nonessential personnel when there is no work, they become essential when work comes in for them to do, Bilal said. And so, theyre being called in to do their jobs.

One employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the workers do not have permission to speak to reporters, said none of the work being done in the office this week needed to be done immediately.

Its all nonessential.... Some employees are literally doing nothing, the employee said. There are people crying in HR. They were very upset, and now that SEPTA is shutting down Regional Rail, its tough to get here."

 READ MORE: Can I hang out with my friends if we stay six feet apart for social distancing?

Office management has been aloof about concerns about contracting the coronavirus at work, the employee said.

They were just all walking around today like everything was fine," the employee said Wednesday.

Bilal said many employees were happy to get the call to come back to work.

Most of them are happy to get out of the house instead of sitting home doing nothing. Bilal said. You just have those few that feel as though they can get paid for doing nothing. And thats what they want to continue to do.

The office has provided gloves and hand sanitizer, but no masks, the employee said.

Eric Hill, business agent for AFSCME Local 159, which represents more than 30 workers in the offices real estate division, said he had heard complaints from members and was seeking a meeting with Bilal.

There is a very high safety concern among employees in that division, said Hill. They too have families that they go home to, and theres uncertainty about who youre coming into contact with once you leave your home. There may be individuals who are asymptomatic and may be infectious to another human being.

 HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you.

Bilal, an elected official sworn into office three months ago, oversees an office with limited duties that is a relic of the consolidation of the City and County of Philadelphia in 1854. Unlike other city departments, such as Streets or Public Health, the Sheriffs Office does not report to Mayor Jim Kenney.

 READ MORE: An aide to Phillys new sheriff says he questioned slush fund spending  and she fired him

The offices functions have been further limited by the pandemic. Fewer deputies are needed for courthouse security and inmate transfers because the court system is almost entirely shut down, and sheriffs sales of tax-delinquent properties seized by the city have been postponed through May.

Bilals office has about 430 employees. More than 300 are deputies, and as law enforcement officers were already deemed essential employees, she said.

The rest  including people who process paperwork sent to the real estate division by attorneys, and handle human resources issues, payroll, and other tasks  had been home. Some are working remotely. But others are being called in to work staggered shifts about two days per week, Bilal said.

On April 1, Undersheriff Sommer Miller sent the staff a memo noting that the city government on March 30 determined that all city employees can be reassigned to necessary posts and required to work on-site if their position does not allow them to work from home.

The memo also said employees who refuse on-site assignments are subject to be disciplined. Employees are allowed to use sick or vacation time if they do not want to report to their posts.
By Akbar Mammadov

Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev has condemned holding elections in breakaway Nagorno-Karabkah region that is under Armenian occupation.

Addressing a press conference on April 8, Hajiyev said: "120 states unanimously supported the position of Azerbaijan, its territorial integrity, sovereignty. The insidious essence of the illegal regime created by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is manifested in the fact that while the whole world is suffering from coronavirus, they continue their dirty political games".

Earlier, a number of countries, including France, Germany, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia as well as major international organizations such as the EU, NATO, OIC, GUAM condemned the illegal elections in Karabakh and voiced support for Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan's breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Whats happening

Wisconsins primary election  thrown into chaos by partisan clashes, late-night court decisions and long lines of masked voters  offers a nightmare vision of what the whole country could see in November if the coronavirus hasnt been contained, the states Democratic Party chairman said.

Election experts and lawmakers have suggested a variety of contingencies to make sure people are able to vote in this years presidential election even if the virus makes lining up at polling places unsafe. A popular solution among Democrats is expanded access to mail-in ballots. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the partys presumptive presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have come out in favor of the idea. President Trump said Republicans should fight very hard to block it and suggested it would make it harder for GOP candidates to get elected.

Every state currently allows some form of mail-in voting, but the level of access varies dramatically. Five states currently use vote-by-mail, in which a ballot is sent to every registered voter and only limited in-person voting options are available. California, North Dakota and Nebraska allow individual counties to opt for this system. The rest of the country requires voters to request an absentee ballot if they cannot or prefer not to vote in person. In 19 states, voters must provide a valid excuse  such as physical disability or travel  to receive an absentee ballot.

Why theres debate

Advocates say vote-by-mail is an ideal solution for protecting the integrity of the election if coronavirus concerns make in-person voting untenable. No one should have to risk catching a potentially deadly virus in order to exercise their right to vote, they argue.

Vote-by-mail had significant support before the pandemic. Proponents say it increases access to voting, especially for vulnerable people who may struggle to make it to a polling place on Election Day. Recent evidence suggests vote-by-mail can provide a significant boost in voter turnout.

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Opponents of vote-by-mail, including prominent Republican lawmakers, say it would open the door for rampant voter fraud, though theres little evidence of that from current vote-by-mail states. Others say a national mandate requiring mail-in ballots would undermine the principle that states should control their own election procedures.

The debate frequently splits along party lines, with Democrats accusing the GOP of trying to suppress the votes of likely Democratic voters and Republicans accusing Democrats of attempting an electoral power grab.

Even among those who support vote-by-mail in general, theres concern about the logistics of having a nationwide system up and running by November. There are also fears that fights over mail-in balloting could lead to a flood of lawsuits that create even more confusion for voters.

Whats next

Some political analysts believe the only hope for Democrats to overcome staunch Republican opposition to vote-by-mail is to insist that it be included in any upcoming stimulus bills intended to stave off the economic impacts of the pandemic. Another relief package will likely be the subject of debate when Congress returns from recess later this month.

Perspectives

Supporters

Voting shouldnt mean putting your life at risk

If implemented nationwide, it would free voters from having to choose between their well-being and their ability to participate in democracy.  Charlotte Swasey, Crooked

Voting access must be defended during the pandemic

Many public-health experts predict that Americans may need to take drastic measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus well past the general election. If that happens, robust access to voting-by-mail will be an essential way to ensure that every eligible American can participate in the 2020 election.  Ian Millhiser, Vox

Without vote-by-mail, the virus could lead to an illegitimate election

The United States is already at high levels of polarization and historically low levels of trust in government and fellow citizens. We cannot afford an election our people dont believe in.  A solution is available: expanding absentee voting and drive-through voting.  Rachel Kleinfeld and Joshua Kleinfeld, National Review

GOP opposition is purely partisan

So why are Republicans afraid of making it easier to vote? Its simple: the Republican Party base is white voters of middle to upper income voters, with strength among older voters. These have been traditionally the most reliable voters in low-turnout elections, and Republicans are simply terrified by the idea of anything that might encourage increased non-white turnout.  Stuart Stevens, Daily Beast

Vote-by-mail should be used as a backup in extraordinary circumstances

Universal voting by mail may not be a panacea in normal times. But every state should have a system in place for fair and orderly absentee balloting in emergencies like this one. No voter in America should ever again have to endure the breakdown of democracy that we are witnessing in Wisconsin.  Walter Shapiro, Brennan Center for Justice

Turnout in the 2020 election could crater without vote-by-mail

The 2020 presidential election looked like it was going to feature record turnout. Voters in 2018 turned out in historic numbers, and polling indicated that voter excitement was high heading into 2020. Voter enthusiasm remains high, but limited evidence  suggests that the coronavirus pandemic may cause a drop in turnout in November if voting by mail is not made an option for voters.  Harry Enten, CNN

Vote-by-mail does not lead to more fraud

Despite fearmongering about voter fraud, vote by mail is routine in most states and universal in several, with essentially no fraud.  Jonathan Chait, New York

Detractors

Vote-by-mail could get mired in legal challenges

While absentee ballots can help keep people safe and expand voting access, they come with a drawback: a greater chance of litigation. Simply put, there are more things that can go wrong with vote-by-mail compared with in-precinct voting. And history shows that a major fight over an elections outcome is more likely to come in the form of challenges to absentee ballots.  Edward B. Foley, Politico

It may be too late to have vote-by-mail in place by November

Only five states have the ability to hold a statewide by-mail election, and it took them years to set it up and work out the kinks. The states considering it now have months, if that.  Amber Phillips, Washington Post

Vote-by-mail would undermine the integrity of the election

Vote by mail will likely open up the electoral process to voter intimidation and vote harvesting. The idea behind a physical polling booth is that you alone in privacy can register your vote without fear of reprisal. Vote by mail will deny you that right.  Adam Brandon, RealClearPolitics

The logistical load could overwhelm election infrastructure

A dramatic rise in absentee ballot requests could swamp smaller elections boards that have traditionally used a handful of workers to handle mail-in ballots.  It also could mean that the outcome of the presidential race wont be known for weeks.  Ryan Teague Beckwith, Bloomberg

The partisan divide on the issue is too much to overcome

Any illusion of some sort of bipartisan coming-together around elections and voting has been completely shattered. ... despite the health risks of gathering in person  this is really still a partisan-sensitive subject.  Miles Parks, NPR

States should be in control of their election rules

Each state should figure out how best to handle its elections. There shouldnt be a national directive. We as Americans thrive on choices, and elections are something left to the states based on the Constitution. Federalism is based on choices  it lets states make certain choices independent of other states.  Shawnna Bolick, Washington Examiner

Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: Jason Redmond
German airline, Lufthansa, has announced plans it will retire some of its aircraft.

They include its A340, A380 and Boeing 747.

The move is due to the challenges being posed to the airline industry globally by the deadly coronavirus.

The airline has also announced some changes to its future operations, according to a report monitored on aviation website, aerotime.com.

Lufthansa has about 700 aircraft.

Reports say the medium term outlook for the aviation industry does not seem good.

The aircraft being retired are some of Lufthansas biggest gas-guzzlers.

They include six Airbus A380 double-deckers, seven Airbus A340-600 and five Boeing 747-400 aircraft which would not return to the airline's fleet.

An additional three Airbus A340-300, once operated by Lufthansa Cityline, are expected to be retired permanently.

---Daily Guide
U.N. Security Council holds its first meeting on the pandemic, after months of inaction.

For the first time since the deadly coronavirus began spreading around the world more than three months ago, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the pandemic, amid rising alarm that the scourge could lead to social unrest and political instability.

The meeting of the 15-member council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, was held via videoconference link and was not publicly shown on the organizations website. But diplomats who participated said just the convening of the meeting represented progress compared with a week ago, when disputes among its five permanent members  mainly between the United States and China  prevented the council from even discussing the pandemic.

Inaction by the council to combat Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has led to criticism that it has become increasingly irrelevant in dealing with threats to peace and security.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has called the pandemic the greatest threat in the 75-year history of the United Nations, warned the council that it could lead to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to find the disease, according to his office. This is the fight of a generation, he said.

Diplomats said the meeting, which lasted three hours, was less tense than some had feared and that the representatives from China and the United States did not confront each other with arguments over the origins of the virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. The worst outbreaks have since shifted to Europe and the United States.

The council issued a statement after the meeting expressing support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected. But it did not specifically call for a cease-fire in all armed conflicts, as Mr. Guterres has sought.
SALEM, Ore.  Over a period of just three weeks, initial unemployment claims have reached almost 270,000 in Oregon, according to the latest numbers from the Oregon Employment Department (OED). Yet numbers from across the nation demonstrate that it is one of the least affected states in the U.S.

By comparison, Oregon saw 147,800 net job losses over the period of the 'Great Recession' that began with 2008's housing crash, OED said.

During the week of March 29 alone, Oregon received 100,700 initial claims, breaking the records set by the preceding two weeks. OED says that it's still "rapidly adding" staff to take on the influx of new claims, and has been processing them at a "record pace." Still, there have been numerous reports from laid-off Oregonians unable to get through on jammed phone lines or running into other snags with their claims.

According to OED, the additional CARES Act unemployment payments of $600 will start going through Oregon's system "by the end of this week."

RELATED: Southern Oregon continued to create jobs through February, then the coronavirus happened

The state paid $28 million in benefits to Oregonians during the week of March 29, and officials expect that to rise dramatically as the CARES Act benefit starts to kick in.

OED also said that it is working to implement the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which would allow the self-employed, contract workers, and gig workers to become eligible for benefits.

The agency is still asking anyone who can file a claim online to do so. Although OED has extended its phone hours on weekdays and added more staff, it says that wait times have averaged 106 minutes on claims phone lines.

Yes, it's bad . . . but it could be worse

According to an updated study by the financial site WalletHub, Oregon actually has had the second smallest overall increase in unemployment due to coronavirus in the U.S.

Though Oregon saw a 1167.82 percent increase in initial unemployment claims year over year, WalletHub found this to be the lowest state-level increase in the U.S.

Oregon had a 743.7 percent increase from the first week of the year to the week of March 30, and this was the fifth lowest increase in the nation.

WalletHub found that New York, one of the states hardest hit by coronavirus, saw a 670 percent increase in initial claims from the beginning of the year to the 14th week  far better than the national average of 2,193 percent.

The states hammered hardest by unemployment, according to WalletHub's report, were Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virgina, Georgia, and Mississippi.

States should aggressively focus on helping the companies in the most need," said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. "The federal response will include sending checks to most citizens, even those whose income has not been affected by the coronavirus. States can use a more targeted approach to divert resources to the companies affected the most, thus having maximum impact for the money."
Gaza City  An outbreak of COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip would be catastrophic. Critical shortages of drugs, protective equipment, testing materials and ventilators in Gazas hospitals mean people would be quickly overwhelmed by an outbreak.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the healthcare system in Gaza would likely not be able to cope with more than 100 to 150 serious cases at any one time.

So far, only 13 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Gaza, and all either remain in isolation or have recovered. But authorities and residents in Gaza are not taking any chances; even though the virus is not believed to be spreading in the community yet, much of the population is acting as if it is already a threat.

Prevention is better than cure, and I try to be careful while I interact with customers, says Mohammed al-Masri, a 23-year-old fruit vendor wearing a mask and gloves at his stall in Gaza City.

Strawberries are seasonal, and if I dont sell them these days, I will lose my income, especially since fewer people are keen to purchase fruit nowadays during the closure.

Protective clothing is still relatively rare among street vendors, who usually subsist on low incomes and are not looking to add to their costs by buying masks and gloves. But it is already common in storefronts such as restaurants and bakeries, which are also offering squirts of hand sanitiser to clients.

Street hawkers hauling carts selling sanitising products were already a common sight in Gaza, but now they are doing a roaring trade as people stock up on chemicals such as chlorine. Groups of volunteers can sometimes be seen spraying disinfectant in the streets.





Although the authorities have not imposed a lockdown of the kind seen in many countries, including over the fence in Israel, they have closed places where people gather in large numbers, including mosques, markets and schools.

As everywhere, many Palestinians have to learn to go about their everyday business online.

Nidaa Abu Sabha, 30, is a teacher who lives in Abassan in Khan Younis. She is teaching her students using her phone, sending recorded lessons to her pupils via WhatsApp.

My husband is the backbone of my success, she says. He takes care of our children while I am working, and he helps me with setting up the phone, so the image is good while Im teaching online.

While many are finding social distancing tough, some are working to make it easier for others, such as Fayez Abu Muhareb, 25. Together with four friends, he dresses as a clown to entertain the kids of Khan Younis refugee camp.

We roam the neighbourhood in clown costumes and try to spread hope and smiles. We want to bring this effort to reach the whole Gaza Strip, he says.
Amid the unprecedented outbreak of coronavirus, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa put the communications minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on a two-month special leave for breaking lockdown rules and going for lunch at a friends house. According to the official statement of Ramaphosas spokesperson, the South African President not only condemned the ministers actions but said, no one is above the law. While announcing the partial unpaid leave for Ndabeni-Abrahams, Ramaphosa also demanded a public apology from her.

President @CyrilRamaphosa has placed Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave for two months  one month of which will be unpaid. https://t.co/qmyZIN75Ky  Presidency | South Africa  (@PresidencyZA) April 8, 2020

"The president strongly believes that no one, including the minister, is above the law," Ramaphosa's spokeswoman Khusela Diko said. "He says none of us should undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation."

Ms Khusela Diko, Spokesperson of President Ramaphosa on Minister Stella Ndabeni's censuring by the President pic.twitter.com/gT2ZEuBqoM  Presidency | South Africa  (@PresidencyZA) April 8, 2020

Read - 66 At South African Hospital Have Coronavirus, Mostly Staff

As of April 9, when South Africas confirmed cases of coronavirus are 1,845 with at least 18 fatalities, the countrys government had announced a 21-day lockdown which started on March 27 in a bid to stem the further spread of coronavirus. Therefore, as per adhering to lockdown rules, people are only allowed to leave their homes for essential tasks like buying groceries or seeking medical assistance. While the South African police had reportedly arrested over 17,000 people in just initial days of the lockdown, but later countrys communication ministers photo having lunch surfaced on social media, triggering an unprecedented response. But, Ndabeni-Abrahams apologised on national news broadcaster, saying she is deeply sorry and that she regrets it.

"I would like to convey an apology to ... society at large for breaching lockdown rules put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19," she said. "I regret the incident and am deeply sorry."

Read - South Africa: Bride, Groom, Pastor & All 50 Guests Arrested For Violating Covid Lockdown

Coronavirus outbreak

After originating from Chinas wet markets, the coronavirus has now claimed over 88,516 lives worldwide as of April 9. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 209 countries and has infected at least 1,518,970 people. Out of the total infections, 330,697 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

Read - South African Test Bowler Negotiating English County Deal

Read - South Africa's TB, HIV History Prepares It For Virus Testing
Its hard to keep track of all the changes in our daily lives  much less adapt to them easily  as the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 imposes a new normal on everybody.

Think about the changes of the past month. First the Houston rodeo was abruptly cut short on March 11. Then bars and restaurants were shut down, followed by gyms, movie theaters, malls and hair salons. Experts stress the importance of social distancing at the grocery store, though its of course an essential business, as well as parks and outdoor areas. We were told by federal officials at one point that facial covering wasnt needed in most cases. Now it is.

Against this backdrop, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended that all Americans wear cloth face coverings when they go out in public  homemade masks, rather than the surgical masks that are in short supply and needed by medical professionals. Surgeon General Jerome Adams released a video showing how to make one out of materials you might have around the house, like a bandana or an old t-shirt.

Its good advice, says Dr. Alison Haddock, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

We know that the illness is spread by droplets, so anything we can do to prevent droplet transmission is good, she explained Wednesday.

Most Americans would agree with that, especally with the nationwide death toll from COVID19 surging past 14,000 this week. There have been some highly-publicized cases of people simply ignoring the advice that public health experts have been begging us to heed for several weeks about hand-washing and social distancing. But 90 percent of us, according to Adams, have embraced these practices, and officials are cautiously optimistic that our collective efforts have helped us make progress towards flattening the curve so hospitals arent overwhelmed.

Still, we need to do more given the risks being undertaken by community members who cant work from home, including health care workers, first responders and grocery-store employees. The latter, in particular, are protected by little more than plastic shields, if that, while providing us with essential needs.

Whether well embrace the convention of cloth masks remains to be seen. Some Houstonians are understandably reluctant to adopt the DIY version that Adams recommended.

Yall arent gonna catch me wearing a bandana as a face mask, that doesnt work for all of us, tweeted Charles Blain, the founder of Urban Reform, who is black.

When I called Blain, he explained that he had been startled to see Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of The Dr. Oz Show, nonchalantly tie a red bandana over his face a few days previously.

It took me back to an interesting place, Blain explained. When I was younger, my dad, who grew up in segregated South Carolina, told me and my brother never to wear our hoods up when we were driving  Dont give them a reason to stop you. Dont give them a reason to think youre doing something wrong. Its something that Ive been kind of ingrained to think about.

He said he hasnt left the house, except to walk his dog, since the CDCs new announcement.

I feel much more comfortable being in a medical grade or visibly medical mask than something else, Blain said.

Thats a good point, and a good reminder that although the virus itself doesnt discriminate, the society its wreaking havoc on does.

Those of us who are insulated from such discrimination, however, should do our best to follow the new guidance concerning masks, which protect others as well as the wearer. Ive been using a bandana, tied over my nose and mouth.

If youre going to wear a mask, says Haddock, you should make sure to do it right.

If theyre used improperly we run the risk of having worse outcomes, she warned.

You should use a freshly laundered mask, Haddock continued, and it should cover your nose as well as your mouth. Once you put it on, you should avoid fiddling with it, and you should remove it by the straps after you return home, and put it in the wash straight away. And you should remember that the mask doesnt make you invincible, nor is it a substitute for hand washing and social distancing.

Put differently, Haddock said, imagine that the mask is a piece of raw chicken, and handle it accordingly.

If you had raw chicken on your face, would you move that around and then go about your activities? No, she explained.

And if you dont have a few bandanas handy, its time to stock up.

I think until we have a better treatment or vaccine for Covid its really hard to prognosticate, Haddock said. But were not going to measure this in days.

erica.grieder@chron.com
Armenias government is evacuating at least 70 Armenian citizens from coronavirus-hit Turkey in coordination with Turkish and Georgian authorities, the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan said on Thursday.

Three buses carrying them left Istanbul on Wednesday morning and were due to reach Armenia via Georgia early on Friday.

The transportation was agreed with relevant Turkish and Georgian authorities whose assistance is appreciated, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, said in written comments to the Armenpress news agency.

Naghdalian said that just like Armenians returning from other countries, all of the evacuees will be placed in a two-week quarantine on their arrival in Armenia.

One of them, Gagik Musheghian, confirmed that the Armenian government paid for the bus service.

The Armenian authorities have helped us a lot, Musheghian told RFE/RLs Armenian service by phone. Theyve paid our bus fares, theyve covered all our expenses.

The buses will pass through a transit corridor in Georgia and enter Armenia through the Bagratashen crossing, he said.

It was not clear whether more Armenians living and working in Turkey will be repatriated in the coming days. According to Naghdalian, about 100 of them have so far contacted Armenias Foreign Ministry for the purpose of their possible evacuation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip reportedly expressed readiness to assist in the repatriation of Armenian citizens when he spoke to the spiritual leader of Turkeys ethnic Armenian community, Patriarch Sahak Mashalian, on Wednesday.

According to the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Erdogan also said that Ankara is ready to provide Yerevan with medicines that could be used for treating coronavirus.

Commenting on the reported offer, Naghdalian said: As a third party, we will refrain from commenting on unofficial information. In any case, such information is not on our agenda.

The Turkish authorities have reported more than 38,000 coronavirus cases and 812 deaths resulting from them so far.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations. Successive Turkish governments have kept the border between the two neighboring states closed because of the unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
A woman who claimed her ex-wife, a NASA astronaut working at the international space station, illegally accessed her bank account, has been charged with making false statements.

In what was thought to be the first criminal allegation against someone in space, Summer Worden accused her ex-wife NASA astronaut Anne McClain of improperly accessing her bank account on two occasions in January 2019, The New York Times reported.

However, prosecutors now allege that Ms Worden lied to authorities.

She has been charged with two counts of making false statements, according to a statement from the US Attorneys office.

In 2019, the New York Times reported how Ms Worden accused Ms McClain of identity theft and improper access to Ms Wordens private financial records amidst their tumultuous divorce.

The couple married in 2014, and Ms Worden filed for divorce in October 2018 when Ms McClain accused Ms Worden of assault, according to the report.

Ms Worden claimed that the accusation was a strategy to vilify her as part of a custody battle for Ms Wordens son. Ms Worden denied committing assault and the assault case was later dismissed, according to The New York Times.

Ms McClain left for the international space station months later, when Ms Worden then discovered the bank account access and later filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission in March 2019, the report said.

The release from the attorneys office said that the charges allege Ms Worden claimed she had opened a new account in September 2018 and reset her login credentials in order to prevent the individual from accessing her accounts.

The indictment alleges she actually opened the account in April 2018 and did not change her login credentials until January 2019, according to the report from the attorneys office.

Theyre trying to send me to prison for five years, which is the penalty, because I mistakenly recalled when I filed this FTC report that I had opened the account in September 2018, Ms Worden told CNN on Wednesday. But in fact, it was April. Then I went back and I made them aware of that.

I brought that to the attention of NASA IG investigators, she added.

Ms McClains attorney, Rusty Hardin, was unable to provide a comment from Ms McClain when contacted by CNN.

The indictment was unsealed on Monday, according to the attorneys release, and if convicted, Ms Worden faces up to five years in prison on each count and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Married At First Sight's Mark Scrivens has praised the Australian Government for their support of small business owners amid the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The 42-year-old is operating his livelihood, Freelancer cafe in St Kilda, Melbourne, on reduced hours and as a takeaway only, but says the situation could be worse.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, he insisted that although takings are down, the stimulus package offered will help to keep him up and running.

'I cannot fault them': Former MAFS star Mark Scrivens (pictured) has praised the Australian Government for their support of small business owners amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Mark began: 'It's definitely quieter because most people are doing the right thing and staying inside, but the steady flow of people out walking their dogs or getting exercise keeps custom generally constant during the mornings.'

He added: 'The city cafes are mostly shut because most people are now working from home but suburban cafes are going well. I'm still operating, however on reduced hours because the afternoons are pretty quiet.'

The former reality star, who appeared on MAFS in 2019 and briefly 'married' Ning Surasiang, went on to throw his support behind the Australian Government.

Still open: Mark, 42, is operating his livelihood, Freelancer cafe in Melbourne, on reduced hours and as a takeaway only, but says the situation isn't all bad. Pictured: September 2019

'It assists me greatly': Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, he insisted that although takings are down, the stimulus package offered will help to keep him up and running

Mark continued: 'I cannot fault the government in their response. I'm sure some will disagree but as a small business owner, their stimulus package for JobKeeper and future offers for tax withholding and superannuation packages will assist me greatly and keep me open during this.

'That's just me, I'm not speaking broadly for all cafes or small businesses. I feel for the businesses that have been forced to close and I hope that someday they can re-open and things go back to normal.'

As part of the Australian Government's JopKeeper Payment plan, businesses can claim $1,500 fortnightly per eligible employee to cover their wages.

No Instagram career for him! Mark is best known for his brief 'marriage' to Ning Surasiang (pictured) on MAFS in early 2019. He later took over Freelancer cafe after the show wrapped

Former personal trainer Mark took over Freelancer Cafe on Wellington Street in St Kilda in 2019, which had been a dream of his for a long time.

He previously revealed his stint on Married At First Sight in 2019 and 92,000 Instagram followers had helped boost business and bring in customers.

After splitting with his 'wife' Ning on the show, Mark is now in a relationship with The Block 2018 contestant, Bianca Chatfield.
(CNN)  Pope Francis has said the coronavirus pandemic is one of "nature's responses" to humans ignoring the current ecological crisis.

In an email interview published Wednesday in The Tablet and Commonwealth magazines, the pontiff said the outbreak offered an opportunity to slow down the rate of production and consumption and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world.

"We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods?" the Pope said.

"I don't know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature's responses," he added.

The pandemic has radically changed the way the Vatican operates, with the Pope celebrating Palm Sunday mass in an empty church and the sites normally packed with tourists empty.

The 83-year-old Pope, who has a damaged lung from an infection in his 20s, has twice tested negative for the novel coronavirus. He is being distanced from anyone who might be carrying the virus, takes his meals in his private quarters, and uses hand sanitizer before and after meeting any guests, the Vatican press office said.

Pope Francis also said in the interview he was recovering from his bronchitis and praying even more from his residence in the Vatican during this "time of great uncertainty."

Francis also revealed he goes to confession every Tuesday to ask forgiveness for his own selfishness. "I take care of things there," he said.

He also criticized the response to the outbreak, saying the homeless should be quarantined in hotels and not in parking lots.

"A photo appeared the other day of a parking lot in Las Vegas where they [the homeless] had been put in quarantine. And the hotels were empty. But the homeless cannot go to a hotel," the Pope said.

"This is the moment to see the poor," he said, adding that society often treats those in need as "rescued animals."

The Pope also warned against the rise of populist politicians -- who he said are giving speeches reminiscent of Hitler in 1933 -- and others who are focusing solely on the economy. He said he was worried by the "hypocrisy of certain political personalities who speak of facing up to the crisis, of the problem of hunger in the world, but who in the meantime manufacture weapons."

The Pope encouraged those in a lockdown to find creative ways of being at home. "Take care of yourselves for a future that will come," Francis said.
Mustafa al-Khadhimis nomination comes moments after predecessor Adnan al-Zurfi ended his bid to form a government.

President Barham Salih has nominated head of intelligence Mustafa al-Kadhimi as Iraqs new prime minister-designate, the politically fragmented nations third choice this year.

The nomination on Thursday came moments after predecessor Adnan al-Zurfi ended his bid to form a government. The upheaval threatened a leadership vacuum amid a severe economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

With my mandate to lead the Iraqi government, I pledge to my honourable people to work to form a government that puts the aspirations and demands of Iraqis as the top priority, al-Kadhimi tweeted shortly after his appointment was announced.

A ceremony was attended by the countrys top political figures, indicating widespread support for al-Kadhimi, 53, that neither of the previous prime minister-designates had enjoyed.





That backing was the result of a flurry of political meetings over the past week aimed at a reaching consensus on al-Kadhimi, the head of Iraqs National Intelligence Service.

Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Esmail Qaani, who has headed Irans elite Quds Force foreign operations unit after the US assassinated his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in an air strike in Baghdad in January.

Tehran holds vast political and military influence in Iraq, and its approval is seen as necessary for any prime ministerial candidate.

Pro-Iran factions staunchly opposed the nomination of al-Zurfi to the premiership, which ultimately forced the politician to withdraw his candidacy.

Foreign issues

In a statement on his Facebook page, al-Zurfi said: The failure to form a new government was the cause of domestic and foreign issues. But that will not prevent me from continuing to serve the people through my current parliamentary position.

I will continue to work and prepare for early elections in order to complete our national project.

Before al-Zurfi, former minister Mohammad Allawi was also unable to pull together a cabinet.

In the interim, Iraqs caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi  who resigned in December following months of anti-government protests  continued to lead the cabinet.

Al-Kadhimi, meanwhile, has long had close links with the United States, but political sources said he has also improved ties with Iran in recent months.





He now has 30 days to submit his cabinet lineup to the 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence.

Al-Kadhimi ascended to the role at a challenging time for Iraq, now facing a budget crisis brought on by the collapse of world oil prices and the spread of coronavirus.

Ordinary Iraqis have expressed anger at the failure of authorities to tackle the twin crises.

If they keep going with their conflicts  We want this, we want that  there will never be a government. because all parties want to fill the post with one of their own, said Baghdad resident Iman Khodr.

Al Jazeeras Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said it remains to be seen if the new prime minister-designate will be able to get a government approved in 30 days.

Although he seems to have secured widespread support at the moment, that could quickly change. Many in Iraq question whether hes really the one who can put an end to months of political uncertainty, said Foltyn.
Furloughs and cuts at South Carolina's largest health care system have affected 3,900 employees, Prisma Health's leader told lawmakers Thursday, as the nonprofit faces financial turbulence during the coronavirus pandemic.

Of those staffers, roughly 2,500 have been furloughed and sent home, CEO Mark O'Halla told legislators during an update Thursday afternoon.

The remainder are seeing their hours cut by anywhere from 10 to 60 hours per pay period.

Furloughs include clinical staff in areas of the system where the number of patients has dropped off, as well as corporate and back office personnel. Like all hospitals, Prisma Health has cut back on surgeries and elective procedures to save protective supplies and curb avoidable infections.

Help The Post and Courier cover the health care workforce If you work in health care, we want to hear from you. Take our anonymous survey that asks key questions about protective gear, pay and care for COVID-19 patients. https://forms.gle/tsR3k7FjtaFiCSAe7

The hospital system has seen an 80 percent drop in surgical procedures and a 40 percent drop in patient volume, even in its emergency departments.

Prisma Health is not alone: About 1,800 people working in hospitals filed for unemployment benefits in South Carolina last week. They join the rolls of the more than 181,000 people who submitted an application for jobless benefits during the past three weeks, according to figures from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce released Thursday morning.

The Medical University of South Carolina announced Monday it would need to lay off 900 people and cut salaries or hours for the rest of its employees.

Yet Prisma Health's furloughs affect more than double MUSC's layoffs. Though Prisma Health announced its cutbacks in late March, the health system did not specify how many people would be affected.

Later on Thursday, Tidelands Health, another nonprofit system serving the Grand Strand, announced it would also have to furlough employees. It did not specify how many. The system employs 2,500 people in total.

It is not sustainable to continue operating our health system today in the same way we did when we had twice as many patients," said Bruce Bailey, Tidelands Health CEO.

Tidelands is also suspending its contributions to retirement plans for the time being, administrators are taking a 20 percent pay cut and salaried employees are taking a 10 percent pay cut. The cuts are effective through Aug. 9.

Tenet Healthcare, which owns several hospitals in South Carolina, said it would postpone its matching contributions to employees' 401(k) accounts.

Charleston-based Roper St. Francis' co-owner, Mercy Health, is doing temporary furloughs, too. But the hospital group's other co-owner, the physician-owned Medical Society of South Carolina, stepped in to cover the wages of employees who are not working because of the virus. Anyone who makes less than $100,000 is eligible.

"Were in the midst of great uncertainty because of the evolving nature of this pandemic, so were making labor decisions one pay period at a time," leadership wrote to Roper St. Francis employees Thursday. The system has experienced a "significant reduction in revenue."

Prisma Health says it employs 32,000 people across the state; it operates nearly a dozen general hospitals and many more facilities. Its workforce makes up 54 percent of its expenses, according to annual financial reports.

Since the consolidation of Columbia-based Palmetto Health and the Greenville Health System in 2017, Prisma Health has reported two annual losses.

Should a surge occur, all clinical staff will be called back to work immediately.
Before the novel coronavirus struck, 300,000 evictions were filed in the United States in a typical month. With nearly 10 million people filing unemployment claims last month, evictions would clearly skyrocket, absent intervention from the government. In one hint of the trouble to come, researchers at the City University of New York found at the end of March that 44 percent of New Yorkers expected to have trouble making their April rent.

REAL ESTATE: Redfin furloughs 41 percent of realtors amid pandemic

Fortunately, Congress, states, municipalities and the Department of Housing and Urban Development all have stepped up to issue temporary bans on eviction. That's good news, but there are significant limits to many of these bans - and even the best of them are temporary. In many places, for instance, landlords are still filing eviction papers, even when there is a freeze on ejecting people from their homes - and not every state has imposed such a freeze. Without a stronger state and federal response, the United States appears headed toward an unprecedented housing crisis.

We at the Eviction Lab, based at Princeton University, in partnership with Columbia visiting law professor Emily Benfer, have been tracking when and how state and federal eviction policies are changing. We've found clear fault lines in current policies to prevent people from becoming homeless during this crisis.

The coronavirus-relief bill passed last month by Congress prohibits foreclosure on federally backed mortgage loans for 60 days, covering some 30 million homeowners. The bill also prohibits rental evictions for 120 days for properties secured by a government-backed mortgage. That covers about half of all multifamily homes. Beyond that, however, protections for renters tends to be haphazard, varying widely by state. As of this past weekend (policies are changing quickly), only 14 states have barred landlords from formally beginning the process of eviction, according to our data; 36 - plus the District of Columbia - still permit evictions to be filed.

STILL LIFE: Drone photos show an empty Houston from the sky during stay-at-home order

Many of these states are in effect simply delaying hearings, typically for 60 or 90 days or until the state's emergency declaration lifts. What's more, only 21 states and D.C. have halted the execution of an eviction order issued before the coronavirus outbreak turned into a major health crisis.

In the remaining states, a family legally evicted in February could be physically evicted today.

Thirteen states - including Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming - allow cities and towns to set their own eviction policies. Some cities (Miami is a notable example) have responded by issuing moratoriums, but suburban and rural communities have been much slower to act. The problem is that housing insecurity affects communities large and small across the country. In fact, some rural towns have eviction rates that rival the highest-evicting cities.

In some cases, states have placed bureaucratic hurdles between renters and the protections that have been passed. Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, New Mexico, Nebraska and Utah all require tenants to demonstrate they've been affected by virus outbreak - either the disease itself or the mandatory business closures - before they are shielded from eviction. While there is little guidance on how to prove you've been affected by the outbreak, states could require tenants to contest an eviction order in court by demonstrating job termination or presenting unemployment filings (which are backlogged as is). But since most courts are closed to in-person hearings the path forward is murky.

PARKS CLOSING: Fearing crowds, Harris County to close parks for Easter weekend while Houston leaves them open

This crisis has struck the United States at a moment when millions of people were already living perilously close to eviction. Because of stagnant wages and rising rents, one out of four renters spent over half of their income on housing. Among rent burdened households - defined as those that spend more than one third of their income on housing - half have less than $10 in savings.

Nearly a third of the American workforce - some 41.7 million people - earns less than $12 per hour and has limited access to health care, paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. The mandatory stay-at-home orders and forced closing of business will force much of this population, even with the help of unemployment insurance, to choose between paying rent or buying groceries.

Some landlords have delayed eviction and even canceled rent for their tenants. Others, however, have been less sympathetic. The Daily Beast recently reported on the case of a Las Vegas nurse who was evicted because her landlord worried she might potentially spread covid-19.

The problem is simply too consequential to be left up to landlord discretion. And if evictions are merely delayed, not permanently stopped, that could lead to a resurgence of the virus, after stay-at-home measures "bend the curve" of infection. Evicted families end up in homeless shelters, where people eat and sleep next to each other - the opposite of social distancing.

People experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable to upper respiratory illness including to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Well before the pandemic, sprawling tent encampments had experienced outbreaks of medieval diseases like typhus and trench fever.

Evictions harm families in ways that will last long after the coronavirus emergency has passed. Being forced from your home has been linked to a range of negative consequences, from job loss to depression and suicide. Some harms will persist even in cases where eviction papers have been filed but eviction does not occur. An eviction record - the "scarlet E" - limits your housing options, sullies your credit and can prevent you from accessing federal housing assistance.

Governors, state legislators and state supreme courts have a number of tools to prevent mass evictions and homelessness: They can freeze all evictions during the state of emergency, including orders already given by the court; eliminate late fees for renters; and create a time frame to pay back rent and mortgage arrears, as California has done, so families aren't immediately evicted once the state of emergency is lifted. More sweepingly, they could also issue a rent and mortgage freeze until the pandemic is over.

Congress has less leverage over landlords than it does over banks that sell mortgages, but there are several things it could do to ameliorate the present and future housing crisis. Only one in four families who are eligible for rental assistance currently receives it. Congress could fully fund that strapped program and ensure that every family that qualifies for housing aid gets the help they desperately need. The federal government should massively bolster rental assistance, since a $1,200 check will hardly cover rent, food and other needs for the duration of the pandemic.

If federal and state leaders do not act swiftly to patch all the holes in their eviction policies, the nation's biggest public health crisis in a century could easily cause a full-blown outbreak of homelessness. In these trying times, eviction will not help landlords get paid. It will only spread yet more poverty, sickness and death.

- - -

Durana is a journalist and writer for Princeton's Eviction Lab. Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome won't be lit in black and gold or Mardi Gras colors Thursday night, but the wraparound tint of blue light will still be sending a powerful message.

The Dome, as well as other notable New Orleans area landmarks like the Smoothie King Center and Jackson Square, will light up in blue at 8 p.m. as part of the nationwide #LightItBlue initiative aimed at saluting essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

+6 To support healthcare workers on the job, new program sends care packages for home Many local restaurants are now helping feed healthcare workers on the job, sending food the hospitals in the thick of the coronavirus fight. T

During a Thursday press conference, Gov. John Bel Edwards said the campaign would also include Baton Rouge landmarks like LSU's Tiger Stadium, the Louisiana State Capitol and the Governor's Mansion. The Advocate building, which is visible from I-10 in Baton Rouge, will also be illuminated in blue.

Though several Louisiana parishes continue to have some of the highest per-capita fatality rates from COVID-19, the state is experiencing a slowdown in patients who require hospitalization and who need ventilators.

The number of cases in the state jumped to 18,283, and the coronavirus death toll increased to 702 victims on Thursday, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
A worker has suffered serious injuries after being sucked into an extractor fan down a mine.

The 39-year-old miner suffered neck injuries during the accident at Metropolitan Mine in Helensburg, south of Sydney, about 3pm on Thursday.

Emergency services arrived at the scene and the man was taken via helicopter to St George Hospital in Sydney.

The 39-year-old miner suffered neck injuries during the accident at Metropolitan Mine in Helensburg, south of Sydney, about 3pm on Thursday
International Consultant for Development of National Service Directory of Services for Women Migrant Workers in Malaysia, Home Based

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Country: Home-based

Closing date: Sunday, 19 April 2020

International Consultant for Development of National Service Directory of Services for Women Migrant Workers in Malaysia

Advertised on behalf of : Location : Home-based

Application Deadline : 19-Apr-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Additional Category : Crisis Response

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required : English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-May-2020

Duration of Initial Contract : 3 months

Expected Duration of Assignment : 3 months

Background

Background

The Safe and Fair: Realizing Women Migrant Workers Rights and Opportunities in the ASEAN Region (2018-2022) is part of the European Union-United Nations (EU-UN) Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls. Safe and Fair (the Programme) is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women (in collaboration with UNODC) with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.

The Programme delivers technical assistance and support with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. The Programme engages with ASEAN Member States government authorities, ASEAN institutions, workers organisations, employers and recruitment agencies, civil society organisations, community-based organisations, families and communities, research institutions and academia, media networks, youth and the general public and supports programming in ten countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam).

The Programme aims to address women workers vulnerabilities to violence and trafficking, strengthen rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to violence against women and labour migration governance and support access to essential services by:

Improving the frameworks that govern labour migration and ending violence against women;

Improving access to information and services for women migrant workers and opportunities for them to network and organise;

Producing data and evidence on the experiences of women migrant workers; and

Campaigning to generate a better understanding of the contribution of women migrants.

Statistics by the Government of Malaysia states that there are over two million migrant workers in Malaysia, of which 18.7 per cent are women. The World Bank (2019) estimates that the total number of migrant workers in Malaysia in 2017 ranges from

96 million to

26 million, of which

23 million to

46 million are undocumented migrant workers. Reproducing patterns of gender-based division of labour and gender inequality, women migrant workers in Malaysia are mostly employed domestic work, light manufacturing and services sectors.

Women migrant workers often experience intersecting forms of discrimination, suffering not only from sex-based or gender-based discrimination but also discrimination on the basis of their race and nationality. Women migrant workers are also confronted with additional vulnerabilities to various forms of violence, harassment, exploitation and trafficking in persons. Domestic workers, a sector where women are disproportionately represented, are vulnerable to sexual abuse, sexual harassment and physical violence and poor work conditions such as food and sleep deprivation. As a result, access to essential support services by women migrant workers in destination countries like Malaysia is critical to securing the rights of women migrant workers.

However, there are multiple formal and practical barriers in accessing services by women migrant workers. Research has shown that women migrant workers access to credible information about their rights and their entitlement to support services, legal support services and health services, including reproductive health services and psycho-social support services continue to be limited. Challenges to accessing services for women migrant workers include not speaking the local language, not knowing their rights, not knowing about available services, lack of job mobility, lack of freedom of movement and access to communication and poor work conditions. Women migrant workers, particularly those who work in isolated work environments such as domestic workers, are also dependent on employers for access to services and are vulnerable to violence and harassment.

A varied number of service providers in Malaysia serve to meet the needs of women migrant workers, including public service providers, embassies or consular offices, employers, trade unions, migrant worker resource centres, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations and community based networks of women migrant workers. Service providers and stakeholders can benefit from a more coordinated response and strengthened referral processes to ensure that service delivery to women migrant workers in a way that is gender-responsive and sensitive to their unique needs and circumstances.

Purpose of the consultancy

To strengthen coordination among various stakeholders providing services to and ensure access to quality services for women migrant workers, the Safe and Fair programme is seeking a consultant to develop a comprehensive service directory of available services for women migrant workers subject to violence in Malaysia. The service directory will include services for women migrant workers who experience violence, harassment, exploitation and trafficking in persons. The directory will include areas addressed in the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and any other potential resources for women migrant workers such as labour actors, consular officers or other service providers. The developed service directory will be part of Safe and Fairs compilation of service directories from ASEAN member states and will be used for wider dissemination through embassies, consular officers, civil society organisations and networks and other partners across the region.

The service directory developed will map out services (shelter, health, social, legal, justice, policing and labour) available to women migrant workers in Malaysia. The mapping should be conducted in Malaysia, with particular attention on locations with high population of women migrant workers. Extensive communications with potential organizations to be included in the service directory is expected to verify quality, types, and conditions of the services they provide to women migrant workers.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The consultant is expected to complete the following key tasks:

Review relevant documents and identify relevant stakeholders, service providers that deliver services to women migrant workers (in normal times and during the COVID-19 Pandemic);

Communicate with relevant stakeholders, service providers that deliver services to women migrant workers (in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic);

Conduct interviews, as needed, with experts working in the related fields and other relevant stakeholders;

Prepare a draft report or database of the services mapping containing all the relevant information about the identified organizations, including their names, where they are located, their coverage of the country, services offered, target group and contact details (in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic);

Finalize the report or database based on the comments and inputs. The Final report or database should be in an editable format to keep the service directory updated afterwords.

Final products and deliverables

The consultancy is expected to be completed within a period of three (3) months from the date of the contract signing with close communications with Ending Violence against Women Programme Specialist of UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and National Programme Coordinator of the ILO Malaysia Office.

The consultancy will result in the following output: -

Deliverables

Description

Deliverable date

Deliverable 1

1. Final and agreed inception note stating explaining the methodology of the mapping exercise and a detailed list of stakeholders for interviews.

15 May 2020

Deliverable 2

2. Draft report or database on services for women migrant workers, in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic

15 June 2020

Deliverable 3

3. Final report or database on service for women migrant workers to the satisfaction of the hiring office, in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic

31 July 2020

Competencies

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]

Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individuals is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria: Technical Evaluation Criteria

Obtainable Score

A. Education

Masters Degree or equivalent in social science, gender studies, labour migration or other related fields.

20%

Tags access to information access to services division of labour domestic workers freedom of movement gender inequality health services inequality manufacturing migrant workers reproductive health rights based support services trade unions trafficking trafficking in persons viet nam violence against women women and girls women migrant workers women migrants women workers

Substantive experience and skills

Has at least 7 years of experience working on gender and labour migration, gender equality, violence against women or other issues related to women migrant workers

Demonstrated experience in doing research in areas of labour migration and trafficking, gender and development, preferably in the ASEAN region;

Strong understanding of issues related to gender equality in the context of labour migration, violence against women, preferably in the ASEAN region;

Previous working experience with Malaysian organizations is desirable.

70%

B. Reporting writing, editing and language skills

Strong written and communication skills in English and in Malay;

10%

Total Obtainable Score

100%

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.

The total number of points allocated for the financial component is 100.

The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount breaking down the professional fee for each deliverable and travel related cost (i.e. round-trip airfare from consultant original country to the field locations, and visa fees).

Required Skills and Experience

Key Qualifications

Masters degree or equivalent in social science, gender studies, labour migration or other related fields.

Has at least 7 years of experience working on gender and labour migration, gender equality, violence against women or other issues related to women migrant workers

Demonstrated experience in doing research in areas of labour migration and trafficking, gender and development, preferably in the ASEAN region;

Strong understanding of issues related to gender equality in the context of labour migration, violence against women, preferably in the ASEAN region;

Previous working experience with Malaysian organizations is desirable.

Strong written and communication skills in English and in Malay;

Submission of application

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org with -cc to younghwa.choi@unwomen.org with the email subject International consultant for development of national service directory of services for women migrant workers in Malaysia no later than 19 April 2020, COB.

Submission package includes:

Curriculum vitae

Cover letter

Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify deliverable fees breaking down into the professional fee per day and travel related cost (i.e. round-trip airfare from consultant original country to the field locations, and visa fees).

**Please note, you can only submit 1 file in the UNDP application system. If you submit your application through the UNDP application system, please create one file with all the required documents mentioned above. Applicants with incomplete submission will not be considered.**

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
By Trend

In Azerbaijan, 2019 has been marked by profound reforms under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Siyavush Novruzov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Affairs Siyavush Novruzov, said at a meeting of the Parliament held on April 9.

Novruzov said that the reason that 2019 has become successful for Azerbaijan is the important reforms carried out in the country, mainly, structural and personnel reforms initiated by President Ilham Aliyev.

These reforms gave a powerful impetus to the development of the economy, as a result of which the GDP of Azerbaijan grew. The fact that the country is attractive from the point of view of investments, ensuring transparency in this area was also reflected in the reports of international organizations, said the chairman.

Azerbaijan achieved significant success in the international arena in 2019, he added.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev in the Valdai Club, Ashgabat, Davos, Munich, exposing Armenia from such high tribunes, as well as the fact that the head of state once again proved that Nagorno-Karabakh is the historical land of Azerbaijan, and the transition of the chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement to Azerbaijan, is important successes of the country, said Novruzov.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A JAILED man with a "significant history of violent offences" assaulted a prison guard while he was being held at Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice.

Celyn Eadon (28) lashed out while in custody, swung punches and inflicted scrapes on the prison officer's arms.

Judge Colin Daly jailed him for four months.

Eadon, from Derrycrieve, Islandeady, Castlebar, Co Mayo pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the prison guard on May 18, 2018.

Dublin District Court heard the accused was in the custody area when he began swinging his fists in the direction of the victim. He had to be restrained and lashed out as he struggled on the ground, the court was told.

The victim suffered superficial scrapes and scratches to him arms. The prison officer did not wish to make a victim impact statement.

The court heard Eadon had 12 previous convictions for offences including multiple counts of assault. He was from the west of Ireland and was leading an "entirely isolated existence" in custody, his solicitor Damien Coffey said.

Eadon began dabbling in drugs at a young age and drug use "rapidly took over his life," Mr Coffey said. He had experienced a lot of difficulties in Wheatfield prison and some of his prior convictions were for assault while in custody.

Eadon was now in a protection unit in the Midlands prison and was "much improved", Mr Coffey said.

He had "difficulties in dealing with prison officers" and accepted his responsibility for the assault.

Judge Daly said the offence was at the mid point on the scale and he would give the accused credit for his guilty plea, which meant the victim had not had to be put through the distress of giving evidence in a trial.

However, he noted Eadon had a "significant history of violent offences" and imposed a four-month sentence.
[April 09, 2020] Technology Enabled Care in the Home: Virtual Video Calling Helps Nurses Deliver Vital Patient Care With 8x8

8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT), a leading integrated cloud communications platform provider, today announced Bionical Solutions, a healthcare specialist, is using 8x8 technology to ensure nurses in the United Kingdom can continue to provide virtual one-to-one care for patients at this critical time. Bionical Solutions has quickly established itself as a provider of innovative digital, clinical and commercial services to the healthcare sector. Its Clinical Business Unit continues to support patients in the home on behalf of the National Health Services (NHS), however, the current environment means that face-to-face interactions are becoming more challenging whilst patient safety, as always, is at the forefront of all that Bionical does. Using the 8x8 X Series cloud communications and contact centre solution, Bionical has opened up virtual and video nursing capabilities for all of their staff and patients, allowing them to continue providing highly personalised care across multiple disease areas virtually. This helps support the transition of patients from hospital to home and reduces the potential of readmissions back into hospital. This in turn minimises bed occupancy to support the influx of COVID-19 patients. Nurses and patients can now safely communicate through text, call, video meetings and messaging apps. Bionical also uses 8x8 (News - Alert) technology to enable all clinical contact centre staff to work remotely from home. "Being able to quickly adapt the way we provide support to the NHS and renal patients has been critical during this challenging time," said Damian Byrne, Group IT Director, Bionical. "The NHS are doing an amazing job in dealing with the huge demands they face during this pandemic, anything we can do to support them is vital. 8x8 have gone out of their way to help our staff and customers. Its a great partnership we hope to continue growing."



"8x8 is committed to delivering the highest levels of service and support for organisations, particularly during the difficult times we are facing currently," said Samuel Wilson, Chief Customer Officer and Managing Director of EMEA, 8x8, Inc. "The service Bionical is providing for patients who require continued care is invaluable, while ensuring nurses stay safe. We are proud of our team's effort and the 8x8 cloud communications platform enabling high quality healthcare to continue at a distance." Furthermore, the 8x8 Virtual Office desktop and mobile app are enabling pharmaceutical reps to engage in multi-channel conversations about products with doctors and health professionals across the UK-with the platform hosting hundreds of thousands of calls in the past year alone. In addition, team managers can now remotely monitor quality assurance as well as:

Schedule and host team video meetings

Track call volumes

Monitor live calls and listen to call recordings

Create team chat rooms to collaborate on programs

Supervise overall sales representative performance and productivity Nearly 10 Million Video Meetings Monthly Active Users Worldwide 8x8 X Series meets the needs of businesses with a mobile and remote workforce by providing a highly reliable and resilient solution across desktop and mobile devices for voice, video conferencing, chat, contact centre, APIs and advanced analytics. This allows companies to rapidly unify a distributed workforce and enable flexible workstyles. 8x8 X Series includes 8x8 Video Meetings, which is also available as a free, unlimited standalone version at https://8x8.vc, and provides international dial-in numbers in more than 55 countries. 8x8 Video Meetings offers private and secure video collaboration, and is optimized for use with the WebRTC standard which enables attendees to instantly join meetings without any downloads or plugins. 8x8 has experienced a significant increase in usage across its video meetings solutions, including the meet.jit.si and 8x8 video meeting services, with monthly active users growing globally to now nearly 10 million. For the latest 8x8 video meetings usage statistics, user stories and social posts updated daily, visit https://www.8x8.com/live. About 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT) is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact center, and enterprise-class API solutions powered by one global cloud communications platform. 8x8 empowers workforces worldwide to connect individuals and teams so they can collaborate faster and work smarter. Real-time business analytics and intelligence provide businesses unique insights across all interactions and channels so they can delight end-customers and accelerate their business. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or follow 8x8 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. 8x8 and 8x8 X Series are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005256/en/

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Heidi Klum showed her support for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals charity on Thursday.

The America's Got Talent star, 46, wore a bandage on her hand and wrote in her caption, 'Hospitals are more crucial at this moment than ever before. I support @cmnhospitals during #ChildrensHospitalsWeek because kids need care now.'

Kim Kardashian did the same the day before and Katy Perry has also shown her love for the campaign. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is a non-profit organization which raises funds for children's hospitals, medical research, and community awareness of children's health issues.

For the kids: Heidi Klum showed her support for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals charity on Thursday. The America's Got Talent star, 46, wore a Band-Aid on her hand to show her solidarity

Heidi looked as if she had just been to the hair salon with her long blonde locks looking lush while they flowed down her chest.

The Elle cover girl wore a yellow sweatshirt with a long necklace.

That same day, she cuddled with her husband of one year, musician Tom Kaulitz, while speaking German. They looked very close as he kissed her head.

She had on a fluffy white bathrobe and was at home.

Loved up: That same day, she cuddled with her husband of one year, musician Tom Kaulitz, while speaking German

Still in the honeymoon phase: They looked very close as he kissed her head. She had on a fluffy white bathrobe and was at home

Kim shared her image with the same Band-Aid. She was promoting Children's Hospital Week.

'Join me in supporting @cmnhospitals during #ChildrensHospitalWeek because kids need care now. They need childrens hospitals now more than ever!' she wrote.

The wife of Kanye West held up her hand to show that she was decoratively wearing a bandage from the charity with the hashtag #childrenshospitalweek on it.

The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals revealed on Instagram late last month they are giving out the bandages for free so people can wear them to promote the cause.

Katy Perry, who like Kim once carried on a feud with Taylor Swift, has also thrown her support behind this particular charity.

'Kids need care now': Kim Kardashian continued her coronavirus relief efforts with a new selfie she posted to Instagram

Doing her bit: Katy Perry, who like Kim once carried on a feud with Taylor Swift, has also thrown her support behind this particular charity

Premise: The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals revealed on Instagram late last month they are giving out the bandages for free so people can wear them to promote the cause.

She starred in a selfie on the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Instagram page, wearing her own themed bandage with the name 'Carly' written on it.

The organization's caption encouraged readers to 'post a selfie wearing a bandage with the name of who you're pledging to be a changemaker for.'

Kim announced on Monday that she and her mother Kris Jenner were launching their 'first ever' joint fragrance, which they have called KKW x KRIS.

'In support of families and children affected by the COVID-19 crisis, we will be donating 20% of profits from ALL sales of KKW FRAGRANCE from April 15th - May 5th to @blessingsinabackpack, an organization that provides food on the weekends for children across America who might otherwise go hungry,' wrote Kim.

Family business: Kim announced on Monday that she and her mother Kris Jenner were launching their 'first ever' joint fragrance, with 20% of profits going to charity

Kim revealed last week her shapewear line SKIMS is looking into helping produce face masks to help make up for the widely reported shortages.

The mother of four explained that 'we have five factories all in different countries' while appearing on The View from home last Tuesday.

'And we have been exploring that, of how to make like medical-grade masks, how to make things that would be helpful in the hospitals,' she said.

'Exploring that': Kim announced on Monday that she and her mother Kris Jenner were launching their 'first ever' joint fragrance, which they have called KKW x KRIS

'I've been working with our partners in other companies that have donated masks and we're working with our fragrance company to get sanitizer made.'

Last month Kim announced on Instagram that her shapewear line would be giving $1 million to 'families affected by COVID-19.'

She said on The View that the money will go to Baby2Baby which is 'helping moms and babies and you know, for the longest time I worked with them donating, you know, diapers and strollers and tons of baby stuff that I've had throughout the years.'
The father of slain teen cowgirl Gabrielle 'Britney' Ujlaky has testified against his daughter's accused killer in a preliminary hearing in Nevada.

James Ujlaky took to the stand at Elko Justice Court Tuesday recalling the final time he saw his 16-year-old daughter before she was allegedly raped and murdered by Bryce Dickey on March 8.

James told the court that he and Britney had attended a band rehearsal together, before she left with Dickey, a longtime family friend who had offered to drive her home.

Britney told her father that she would 'beat him home', but James became anxious when he returned to the house several hours later and discovered that she was not there.

'I was repeatedly calling her and I sent a text, Why arent you answering my calls? James stated, according to Elko Daily.

Police allege that, at the time, Britney was being raped, suffocated and stabbed to death by Hickey - whom she had known for many years.

Britney's partially clothed body was discovered on a remote desert road on March 11, three days after she disappeared.

A used condom was found at the scene, which eventually tied Hickey to the crime.

Prosecutors have charged him with open murder with use of a deadly weapon, or in the alternative, felony murder during sexual assault or attempted sexual assault with use of a deadly weapon. He now faces the death penalty.

Nevada cowgirl Gabrielle 'Britney' Ujlaky, 16, was sexually assaulted and murdered on March 8. Her longtime friend Bryce Dickey, 18, has been charged with murder and is now facing the death penalty

Ujlaky (pictured) was last seen by her father driving off with Dickey on the afternoon of March 8. Her father testified at a preliminary hearing against Dickey on Tuesday

Britney Ujlaky was last seen with Dickey on the afternoon of March 8, who had offered to give her a ride home.

However, Dickey told police he instead dropped off her at Spring Creek High School and saw her get into a green F-150 Ford pickup truck with a 'pretty tall' white male wearing a cowboy hat.

'Britney was this smart girl that everyone liked. She had high morals as far as I knew, she was still a virgin to the best of my knowledge,' a friend told DailyMail.com

Elko police then filed a missing person/runaway report on March 9th requesting information about a green F-150 truck, even setting up a tip line.

The green truck later turned out to be a fabrication,that Dickey used as an attempt to mislead investigators.

In subsequent interviews Dickey told police that he had driven around with Ujlaky for about three and a half hours before taking he to Spring Creek High School. He also showed them Snapchat text messages he had to sent to Ujlaky asking if she was OK and where she was at.

According to the probable cause statement, police say, on March 11 a deceased female was found that was partially covered by a tarp and was partially clothed. 'Blood was found near the edge of the roadway with a trail of disturbed earth leading to the body.'

After Ujlaky's body was positively identified on March 13, Dickey was again interviewed at the police station, where detectives notated that some of his statements contradicted earlier statements.

During this interview Dickey described the clothing that Ujlaky was wearing at the time he was with her which matched the clothing she was wearing on her body and confirmed she was in possession of a cell phone and lanyard of keys.

Dickey agreed to voluntarily sign a consent form and provided a DNA sample.

Police went back out to the crime scene again on March 14 where a set of earbuds and a used condom were found. DNA on the condom later tested positive for both Dickey and Ujlaky.

A condom wrapper was found at the crime scene, as well as keys on a lanyard with the name 'Britney' on it and they were used to track down Dickey

According to a probable cause statement obtained by DailyMail.com, a used condom found at the crime scene was used to track down Dickey

On March 17, the police received the lab results back and found Ujlaky's DNA profile on the exterior of the condom and Dickey's DNA profile was located on the interior of the condom.

Days earlier Dickey denied to police of ever having a sexual relationship with Britney but in a police interview on March 19 when confronted with evidence, he confessed to having sex with her on March 8 with a condom.

Dickey was arrested and search warrants were served on residencies associated with him. Blood was found on a pair of boots and a sweatshirt.

Travis Johnston, 17, of Spring Creek, Nevada and a childhood friend of Dickey's, exclusively told Dailymail.com, 'I'm still in shock over this, I can't believe it.'

Johnston said they all knew each other, 'We come from a small town, everyone knows everyone, Bryce was the type of friend that would give you the shirt off his back. He was as mellow as anyone I've ever met. I just can't believe he killed Britney; he was like her big brother. He never said anything sexual in nature about Britney.

'Britney was this smart girl that everyone liked. She had high morals as far as I knew, she was still a virgin to the best of my knowledge.'

The night Ujlaky went missing on March 8, Johnston said that Dickey called him around 9pm and told him that Ujlaky had been reported missing and wanted to know if he wanted to go out looking for her in the Burner Basin area.

'I told Bryce I couldn't go with him that night because I already had plans,' but now wonders why Bryce wanted to specifically look in the area where her body was found just days later.

Over the course of the next few days Johnston said Dickey didn't have a lot to say about Britney. 'I asked him if he spoke with the police since he was one of the last people to see her the day she disappeared and he told me, 'Yeah I've spoken to the police on several occasions and they are all up in my a**.'

Johnston added the day Dickey was arrested the police pulled a rouse on him, 'The police told Bryce to come down to the station so they can discuss some new information with him about the green truck, so as Bryce drove into the Elko County Sheriff's office he was arrested.'

Johnston said he's still not convinced of his friend who he has known since kindergarten's guilt, 'I want to see more evidence linking him to the murder.'

But then added, 'I guess you really never know someone and what they are capable of.'

Dickey is charged with open murder with use of a deadly weapon, or in the alternative, felony murder during sexual assault or attempted sexual assault with use of a deadly weapon

Britney's body was found partially covered by a tarp and was partially clothed. 'Blood was found near the edge of the roadway with a trail of disturbed earth leading to the body,' the probably cause statement read

Johnston says he still hasn't spoken to the police about his interaction with Dickey.

Another friend of both Britney and Bryce's, Cameron Rand, 19, Elko, Nevada told Dailymail.com,

'The Bryce I knew would have never done this to anyone let alone Britney. But if he did it, the law is the law and he'll need to pay for what he did.'

Ujalky's mother, Alisha Ujlaky told Oxygen.com, 'I'm really, really numb, we are hanging in there by the fingernails.'

'I trusted him impeccably,' she added. 'The betrayal in this is unreal.'

She said she bought Dickey's story about the green Ford pickup, 'hook, line, and sinker.'

She even consoled Dickey at a balloon launch memorial for her daughter just days before his arrest.

'I grabbed his cheeks and I tilted him towards me so he was looking in my eyes, for somebody who can sit there and betray a best friend like that, take her life, then go and celebrate her life with her family, go out looking for her  he is a psychopath.'

Ujlaky's father, James Ujlaky, said he trusted Dickey, and that the two had been friends for years through the rodeo community.

'There's no worse betrayal than this,' James told The Daily Beast. 'Because she really thought he was a good friend.'

'She did trust everybody. She always saw the good. If someone did wrong, she would call you out in front of everybody. She was going to expose you for who you were, come hell or high water.'

A ribbon reads: 'Justice for Britney Ujlaky' after her body was found

Ujalky's mother, Alisha Ujlaky told Oxygen.com, 'I'm really, really numb, we are hanging in there by the fingernails'

On the day Ujlaky's body was found, March 11 Dickey posted a link to a Go Fund Me page on his Facebook in honor of Britney Ujlaky then again on March 13 he posted again about Britney

'Yesterday, we all received news that made us hit the floor. Around 8 in the morning we all started meeting up at my house to grieve an to mourn Britney's life. Which was taken far too soon. That day I had tears of pain and joy. I wish she could have seen the amount of us that came together to honor you sis. We love you so much. Just know you won't ever be forgotten.'

Friends of Ujlaky's have started to speak out against Dickey without mentioning his now on social media. Britney's good friend Cheyenne Fry wrote,

'I misss you sooooo freaking much brit. You didn't deserve any of the things that happened to you. I miss your laugh and your voice so much I think about you all the time and how I wanna send you all the funny TikToks that we used to laugh at the most I miss seeing you everyday I want you back I want my best friend back!!

'The coward that took you away from me is going to pay and I will make sure that i do all the things we had planned on doing together. You were more than my best friend you were my little sister and I love you so much I really could use one of your hugs right now'.

Dickey is currently being held at the Elko County Jail without bail.
Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced on Wednesday that the state of emergency will be extended until April 26.

Vizcarra explained the decision has been taken after analyzing various reports submitted by the Ministry of Health and by his professional team of advisors.

3,614 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country out of a total of 23,255 tests. The number of deaths from COVID-19 is now 107.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, President Alberto Fernandez visited a makeshift hospital and some of the country's frontline medical care workers on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

The building, situated in Lanus, was initially built as a school, but it has been turned into a hospital to treat people with COVID-19 presenting mild symptoms.

In Argentina, there are 1,715 infected and 63 deaths.

President Alberto Fernandez indicated that the general quarantine will be extended beyond April 12, when it was scheduled to end, without providing a specific date.

Fernandez made the remarks in an interview with local television, stressing that thanks to the mandatory isolation in force since March 19 Argentina had managed to spread the contagion more slowly than in other countries considered high risk.

Fernandez also estimated that the peak of the pandemic is likely to occur in late May.
Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank has said it's been 'comforting' having the support of his co-stars after the coronavirus lockdown halted filming.

The actor, 40, told Lorraine Kelly he's set up a 'digital bar' to keep in touch with his co-stars as he lives alone during the pandemic.

It comes after news that Corrie's stars will still receive full pay for the next three months, 16 days after production for the soap was halted.

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Important: Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank, 44, has said it's been 'comforting' having the support of his co-stars after the coronavirus lockdown halted filming

Daniel - who plays Billy Mayhew on the soap - told Lorraine that he wanted to set up the bar for some company to preserve some sanity while he isolates alone and shared a glimpse of the space which he'd decorated with family snaps.

He explained: 'I'm in solitary isolation. It started off as a few of us getting together for dinner.

'It started with Sue Cleaver [plays Eileen Grimshaw], Julia Goulding [Shona Ramsey], who get together with me and just have a chat. It was to keep myself sane. We tried to theme it every night and dress up in costumes.'

Soap star: The actor (pictured in character as Billy Mayhew) explained he's set up a digital bar to keep in touch with his co-stars during the pandemic

Daniel did say he's had some company from his pet pooches, and has been enjoying the countryside that surrounds his home.

He added: 'I've got Colin and Jean [his dogs] here with me, they've been a Godsend during this weird time. I'm surrounded by fields and woodlands so it's lovely taking them for a walk. I've been laying some slabs very badly.'

When asked whether he misses seeing his co-stars, Daniel said he takes comfort from knowing everyone else is in lockdown with him.

Candid: Daniel told Lorraine Kelly he's spending the lockdown along with his pet pooches, but he's been enjoying the countryside around his home and the support of his co-stars

He added: 'We're a social cast, I'm missing my friends and family, we'd go for drinks after work.

'It's comforting knowing we are all in this position. If you are on your own, it's important to keep yourself busy and staying in touch with people.

'I hope after all of this is over, we'll realise how important the little things in life are. I miss hugs!'

The soap star also touched on the community spirit he's seen since the lockdown was introduced, saying he values key workers more than ever.

Open: The soap star added he's using digital chats with his co-stars to 'keep him sane' after the prospect of spending the lockdown alone left him in tears

He told Lorraine: 'People are having a community spirit from a distance, we're saying hi to our neighbours.

'The first week I came back in here [during lockdown] and just cried. The NHS, people working in shops, are so important.'

On Wednesday it was confirmed hat the Corrie cast would still be paid in full for the next three months after have reached an agreement with Equity to provide financial security for regular cast members for the next three months.

On a break: Filming for Coronation Street was halted on March 23, just hours before the UK was placed in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Filming for Corrie was halted on March 23, and to ration its filmed episodes, the soap has cut to just airing three shows a week.

A Coronation Street spokesman told MailOnline : 'Coronation Street and Emmerdale have reached an agreement with Equity to provide financial security for regular cast members for the next three months.

'The specific details of this agreement will remain private as this is a contractual matter.'

A source added: 'This is a very fair and consistent deal which treats everyone equally, and is in recognition of the fact we'll need to hit the ground running once filming safely recommences.'
Every year at the Passover seder, Jews around the world ask themselves a question: How is this night different from all other nights? Typically, part of the answer lays in the unleavened bread that they eat, known as matza. This year, in the wake of COVID-19, the answer is much more complicated.

Usually, I have family and friends over, and we do the seder at my house, says Toronto resident, Vicky Sher, of the traditional Passover ritual. She typically hosts up to 30 people. It usually takes me about two days to prepare the meal, she explains. Shers spread includes a turkey, salmon, and vegetarian options. I do some of the traditional things like matza ball soup and the whole seder plate, which includes a boiled egg, matza, horseradish and celery, too.

For this years seder, Shers family and friends are going virtual. My nephew has a subscription to GoToMeeting for his business, she explains. Shes invited family and friends to invite their family and friends to participate, too. In total, theyre expecting 20-25 people to log in from Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie, Montreal, Victoria, and Copenhagen.

While shes now only cooking dinner for herself, Sher and her family are finding ways to keep their traditions alive. Im going to do the seder plate and Ill drop it off my sons house, who will be conducting the seder, she says. He will have it on camera and will be pointing to different parts of the plate as we go through the night.

Generally during the seder at Shers house, everyone takes a turn reading from the Jewish text known as the haggadah. We do it in English because not everybody reads Hebrew, says Sher. Every now and then, someone will read in Hebrew, but many times, we have people who arent Jewish participate just because they are interested, she continues. To maintain the tradition, Shers nephew has sent everyone a virtual book theyll follow and take turns reading on camera. Its not the way theyre used to doing it, but Sher is still grateful to be able to do it at all.

Typically, in my family, we do two separate Easter celebrations, says local art director, Amber Hickson. Its just because none of us live in the same city. With one sister in London, UK, another in Waterloo, and her parents and sister in Ottawa, its always been a fine balancing act for the Hicksons.

And while it might look a little different every year, certain aspects have stayed consistent. Hicksons family always starts the morning off with an Easter Egg Hunt before church. At church, its very common to have a passion play, whether its a full play or a 10-minute snippet with a message. The rest of the day would be spent together with family before a big dinner. My brother-in-laws mother would bring a turkey and my brother-in-law would make a ham, says Hickson. We always had homemade cupcakes or something that me, my nieces and sister would decorate that afternoon, she says.

Easter this year is quite interesting because Im the only one in Toronto, says Hickson. Ill still go to church, she says of the livestream she will watch from home. My church is doing online services right now and they have a play that theyve filmed.

Even though her family cant be together physically, Hickson has a few ideas to bridge the gap. Last year, I was in London, UK, with my sister for Easter, and we walked over to a local bakery and bought hot cross buns and sat and ate outside. There were church bells ringing and it was quite nice, says Hickson. This year, I ordered hot cross buns to be delivered to all my sisters houses. We always had them growing up, she says. My one sister doesnt like raisins, so shell have to pick them out, she laughs.

Ultimately, its the chaos mostly that Hickson says she will miss most. Ill miss the vibrancy of all that and just sitting in the backyard having a glass of beer or wine together and spending time talking about everything under the sun, she says. Well, that and my dads apple pie.

When it came to celebrating the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, Sahar Nooraei, the editor-in-chief of a Canadian luxury magazine, says she did the most with what she had. Growing up, Nooraeis mother went all out for the holiday celebrated on the first day of spring. My mom would really go above and beyond to set up a Haft-sin table filled with different items that start with an F in the Farsi language, she says. According to Nooraei, the table would be decorated with apples, garlic and vinegar for cleansing. My mom would source everything. We would even get a goldfish, she continues. Depending on how religious you are, you would put the Quran on the table or a book of poetry to symbolize the spirituality, love and care.

Originally, Nooraei had planned to celebrate this year with her sister and a friend. At first, we planned on celebrating together, but we made the conscious decision to do it separately because we were social distancing. Instead, Nooraei focused on the traditions she could adapt. Theres a fire ceremony before New Years called Chaharshanbe Suri. Typically, you jump over a fire pit, and you recite these two lines to ward off old energy and purify the soul for the year ahead, she explains. Because I didnt have access to a fire pit, I lit my favourite fancy candle, and I jumped over it on my balcony and I recited those two lines.

Celebrating during a pandemic has given Nooraei a new perspective going forward. I think because of whats been happening, its made me appreciate the celebration in a whole different way, where I will make more of an effort next year to really celebrate it in a way inspired by my mother even though life is hectic, she says. Shes optimistic too. Were a very spiritual culture and we do believe in renewal, says Nooraei. Its like a circle of life and spring really represents that, she continues. There are good times ahead. Eventually things bloom even though there are dark days, she says. There is greenery and flowers on the way.

Ramadan spans a full month, says Toronto publicist, Zoya Shaban. The date changes with the lunar year according to the Muslim calendar, so typically ever since Ive moved to Toronto, I try to spend as much time with my family because it includes fasting from sunrise to sunset, she explains. Since she began fasting at 7 or 8-years-old, Shaban has been sitting down with her family nightly for a meal to break the fast called iftar. Well do the traditional samosas and kebab rolls, but then well also have rice, chicken or soup.

During Ramadan, Shaban and her family usually eat at home three nights a week and spend the rest at the homes of friends and family. We usually go to the mosque on Thursday night because its a religious evening, she says. We have prayers and then we all break our fasts together with everyone at the mosque. Its probably more than 1,000 people, she continues. The mosque provides food, but we all bring dishes from home and share so its a really nice custom and tradition for us.

This year already looks much different. Considering that its starting on the 24th of April and it doesnt seem like things are getting much better too quickly, I think its going to be really tough honestly, says Shaban. She considers her grandmother, aunts and uncles like immediate family, and cant imagine celebrating without them. Weve all been talking about it with my family, whether theyre in Dubai, London Pakistan or here, she says. This year will be very quiet.

Despite it all, Shaban says she has a lot to be thankful for. A lot of my friends ask what is Ramadan? Is it just not eating? she says. The purpose of it is to really be reflective and grateful for what you have. Many people dont realize that a big element of Ramadan is about charity, explains Shaban. I think that now more than ever, the world needs all the help we can give them, she says. In that way, theres more we can do to come together as a community to support the people around us.
An irate woman screamed racist abuse at Telstra workers and told them to 'go back to China' after they asked her questions to ensure coronavirus safety.

Video footage showed the shopper scream at the floor manager inside the store at Miranda, in Sydney's south, at about 11am on Thursday.

Customers who enter Telstra stores are required to apply hand sanister and answer a series of questions, including whether they have recently been overseas or have flu-like symptoms.

The woman - who declared herself 'Queen of Australia' - told the worker he would 'be deported' during her bizarre rant.

Video footage showed a woman scream at a Telstra floor manager inside the store at Miranda, in Sydney's south, about 11am on Thursday

'No, you'll be leaving and I'll be making sure that your whole family will be deported,' she said when asked to remove herself from the store.

'It doesn't matter that you were born here because I am the queen of this country... Do you understand that?'

The woman ignored 1.5metre social distancing guidelines by holding a camera close to the Telstra worker's face.

The man - who was wearing a face mask - repeatedly said 'good on you' as he was racially abused.

She responded: 'Good on me. You have been served your eviction notice with your whole family.'

The manager told the customer to 'leave now' but the woman didn't budge and demanded to know his name.

'Turn your badge around so I can see that,' she said as the Telstra worker also asked after her name.

The video abruptly cut off.

Additional footage showed the altercation moved to the front of the store where the woman screamed 'go home to China' in the man's face.

'No, no, no, you'll be leaving and I'll be making sure that your whole family will be deported,' she said

The Telstra employee was supported by two other men as the woman aggressively pointed at the trio.

'My family is going to make sure this shop is shut down immediately,' she said.

The woman walked off before she turned around and added: 'And you are too, India.'

A Telstra employee told Daily Mail Australia it was the floor manager's birthday and retailer workers shouldn't cop verbal abuse.

'We are here to help you, we are not here to be scolded,' he said.

'I just feel for the Asian Chinese community. It's not fair on us during these times.

'We are being mocked and treated like second-class citizens.'

The woman appeared to ignore 1.5 social distancing guidelines by holding a camera close to the Telstra worker's face

It's understood the woman refused to be served by Asian workers and left the store before police arrived.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said they were aware of the video.

'The matter is now under investigation by officers attached to Sutherland Shire Police Area Command,' the spokeswoman said.

'No further information is available at this stage.'

Sadly, it's not the first racist attack to be caught on camera during the coronavirus pandemic.

'I really wanted to hit back': Sisters 'who were called Asian dogs with coronavirus' relive their terrifying ordeal - as girl, 17, is accused of SPITTING at them during racist tirade

A teenage girl has been charged after she allegedly spat at and racially abused two women in Sydney's inner west.

Shocking footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia on Monday afternoon and shot in Marrickville showed two women copping a torrent of racist abuse before one of them was spat at.

Sophie Do, 23, and her sister Rosa, 19, were allegedly called 'Asian dogs' and a 'dumb wh***' as they crossed the street.

In a reference to the coronavirus outbreak and its origin in a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the siblings were told they 'brought corona here'.

The argument broke out in the streets of Marrickville, in Sydney's inner west, at around 3pm on Monday, with a woman in grey (pictured) racially abusing two sisters

A woman in grey was captured on footage screaming: 'I've got a knife in my bag... you little Asian dog.'

'Asian b**ch. You brought corona here. Eat a bat again you dumb wh***.'

Police will allege that the two women were approached by a 17-year-old girl and verbally abused with racial slurs while crossing Petersham Road at Illawarra Road at around 3pm on Monday.

Officers said the teenager allegedly attempted to kick one of the young women, before a bystander intervened and told her to leave.

As she walked away, the teenager allegedly spat towards the younger woman  hitting her in the eye  before leaving the scene, police said.

Sophie (pictured, left, with sister Rosa) said no one should be able to get away with racial attacks, which have ramped up in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic

'She had pretty good aim, it hit my eye,' Rosa told Nine News.

'Straight in my left eye. It got in my hair, my cheek, everything. I was flabbergasted.'

Her sister added: 'It was horrifying. I really, really wanted to retaliate.

'I really wanted to hit back, it took everything in me not to.'

The 19-year-old was helped by witnesses to flush her eye out and seek medical assistance.

Police arrested a 17-year-old woman on Tuesday afternoon and charged her with three counts of common assault, use offensive language in/near public place, and two counts of attempt stalk/intimidate intend fear of harm.

The teenager was granted conditional bail to appear before a Childrens Court on May 1.

Video captured by the sisters and shocked onlookers shows the woman (pictured, in grey) allegedly scream at the young women

The woman in grey (pictured, centre) was captured on the footage screaming: 'I've got a knife in my bag you little Asian dog'

Police spoke with a second teenage girl who was released without charge.

Speaking on Tuesday, NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller said the incident was a 'disgrace'.

'We're arresting and charging people for spitting and coughing on people every day,' he told reporters.

'It's a disgrace, putting aside the racial slur. We will take action.

'Maybe it's a $5,000 fine that'll sharpen people up on this.'

The sisters said the ordeal was terrifying.

Sophie (pictured, left with her sister Rosa) said hate crimes against Asian people had increased since the coronavirus pandemic began

Sophie (pictured, left) and Rosa (right) said they were not going to tolerate racist attacks

'Two girls walked passed us yelling racist things like ''stay away from them, they've got coronavirus'',' Rosa told Daily Mail Australia.

'I simply could not tolerate it so I yelled back and said ''Excuse me? What did you just say? Say it again'',' Rosa said.

The 19-year-old university student said the two women continued to taunt her and her sister.

'Get out of here now, who do you think you're talking to,' the woman allegedly screamed while shaping up to the sisters.

Rosa said the young women started walking away before coming back to abuse them again.

'You brought corona here. Eat a bat again you dumb wh***,' a woman (pictured) was heard screaming while walking away

Sophie Do (left) and her sister Rosa (right) were crossing the road in Marrickville when they were targeted by a racist woman who accused them of bringing coronavirus to Australia

'She was untying her jumper from her waist and putting her bag on the ground, ready to fight me,' Rosa said.

A woman was then seen trying to kick Rosa's back, but Sophie quickly managed to pull her away.

Sophie said no one should be able to get away with racial attacks, which have ramped up in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Hate crimes against Asians have increased and I've seen disgusting videos from all around the world. I never thought I'd be in one,' Sophie said.

'It made me feel afraid for my sisters' safety. I knew that if I retaliated, it would've ended badly for us both.

Sophie Do (pictured, left) and her sister Rosa (right) had condemned the alleged attack, saying it is an example of the racist abuse Asian people are suffering amid the coronavirus outbreak

'So I kept my cool. I knew I took the best approach to ensure we got out of the situation safely.

'It made angry but mostly disappointed that we even had to hear some of the things she was saying and then be physically assaulted.'

Videos of the incident have since gone viral, with thousands of Australians condemning the the racist act.

'All the racists have something to do with failure in life,' one person wrote.

'That girl in grey ought to be ashamed of herself and her actions,' said another.

'I am so so sorry that you and your sister had to deal with this kind of disgusting inexcusable behaviour,' another person commented.
A US Border Patrol agent wouldn't let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus.

That confrontation in Texas came just days after the Trump administration quietly shut down the nation's asylum system for the first time in decades in the name of public health.

"The agent told us about the virus and that we couldn't go further, but she didn't let us speak or anything," said Reyes, 35, who was shuttled to a crossing March 24 in Reynosa, Mexico, a violent border city.

She tried to get home to crime-ridden Honduras despite learning her brother had been killed there and her mother and 7-year-old daughter had fled to the Nicaraguan border. But she was stuck in Mexico as the virus closed borders in Central America.

The US government used an obscure public health law to justify one of its most aggressive border crackdowns ever.

People fleeing violence and poverty to seek refuge in the US are whisked to the nearest border crossing and returned to Mexico without a chance to apply for asylum.

It eclipses President Donald Trump's other policies to curtail immigration -- which often rely on help from Mexico -- by setting aside decades-old national and international laws.

Mexico is again providing critical support. It's accepting not only Mexicans, but people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras who accounted for well over half of all US border arrests last year.

The Trump administration has offered little detail on the rules that, unlike its other immigration policies, have yet to be challenged in court. The secrecy means the rules got little attention as they took effect March 20, the same day Trump announced the southern border was closed to nonessential travel.

"The administration is able to do what they always wanted to do," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel for the American Immigration Council, which has criticized the administration.

The administration tapped a law allowing the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to ban foreigners if their entry would create "a serious danger" to the spread of communicable disease.

The US has the most cases in the world by far.

Mexico won't take unaccompanied children and other "vulnerable people", including people over 65 and those who are pregnant or sick, said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mexico's consul general in San Diego.

The US also is returning Central American children who travel with grandparents, siblings and other relatives, said a congressional aide who was briefed by US Customs and Border Protection officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Previously, children who weren't with parents or guardians were considered unaccompanied and automatically put into the asylum pipeline.

The health risks of holding migrants in crowded spaces like Border Patrol stations is "the touchstone of this order", Redfield wrote.

He said exceptions to immediately expelling someone can be considered but didn't elaborate.

An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica said an agent who determines that a migrant claims a "reasonably believable" fear of being tortured can be referred for additional screening under the UN Convention Against Torture, a lesser form of asylum that's harder to qualify for.

Under the rules, agents take migrants to the nearest border crossing in specially designated vehicles and avoid stations, minimizing the risk of exposure to the virus.

Matthew Dyman, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, declined to comment on the internal memo or provide guidance about the new rules.

In less than two weeks, the US has expelled more than 7,000 people, according to the congressional aide who was briefed last week. Those not sent to Mexico are flown to their home countries. CBP had about 300 people in custody last week, down from a peak of more than 19,000 during last year's surge of border crossers.

March's border enforcement numbers were expected to be released on Thursday and may offer a closer look at the impact of the virus.

Ten Senate Democrats sent a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who oversees border agencies, saying the Trump administration appeared to have "granted itself sweeping powers to summarily expel large, unknown numbers of individuals arriving at our border".

For Reyes and others sent to Mexico, they don't know what's next.

Reyes said she joined dozens who entered the Guatemalan mountains illegally in a bid to reach Honduras but was stopped by soldiers and returned to Mexico, where she was quarantined in a migrant shelter.

She said Mexican authorities questioned her about her health, but US authorities didn't.

Four adults and seven children expelled from Texas also crossed into the mountains and are now hiding at a house in Guatemala because of a curfew tied to the virus.

Many Mexican shelters have closed over virus concerns, leaving many stranded in violent cities or reliant on relatives in the U.S. to send money for rent.

Trump's previous policies have targeted asylum but stopped short of ending it, acknowledging the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention to provide haven to displaced people and a 1980 U.S. law that established the asylum system.

Under his "Remain in Mexico" policy, more than 60,000 asylum-seekers have been forced to wait across the border for US court hearings. Hearings are temporarily suspended because of the virus.
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An Outperformer



Newmont has significantly outperformed the industry in the past year. The companys shares have rallied 36.5% against a 27.4% decline recorded by the industry. The company also outpaced the S&P 500s fall of 7.6% for the same period.





Key Growth Projects



Newmont is pursuing a number of projects, including Tanami Expansion in Australia and Subika Underground and Ahafo mill expansion in Africa. Notably, the Africa operations witnessed 1.1 million ounces of attributable gold production in 2019 at an all-in sustaining cost of less than $800 per ounce. This was driven by the successful completion of Ahafos expansion projects. It is also expected to add annual gold production of 75,000-100,000 ounces per year from 2020 to 2024.



Higher Gold Prices



The coronavirus pandemic led to a surge in gold prices, driven by the demand for safe-haven investments. Further, declining oil prices and geopolitical tensions are triggering demand for gold.



Notably, the companys average realized price of gold rose 20% year over year in fourth-quarter 2019 and boosted margins. Higher gold prices are expected to continue driving earnings in the near future amid market volatility and economic uncertainties.



Disciplined Capital Allocation Strategy



In March, Newmont successfully completed the sale of its Ontario, Canada-based Red Lake complex to Evolution Mining Limited for cash proceeds of $375 million. The transaction provided Newmont with an exposure to future exploration opportunities while focusing on its globally diversified portfolio of 12 managed operations and two joint ventures, including 8 world-class assets.



Considering the divestment of its interests in Continental and KCGM, Newmont generated total cash proceeds of more than $1.4 billion. The company attained its divestiture target of $1-$1.5 billion in less than a year.



Newmont expects the divestment of assets to support the continuation of its capital allocation priorities. This is also expected to strengthen the companys investment-grade balance sheet and enable investment in highest-return projects along with returning excess cash to shareholders.



Estimates Going Up



Earnings estimate revisions have the greatest impact on stock prices. Annual earnings estimates for Newmont have moved up in the past month. Over this period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 8.5%. The consensus mark for 2020 earnings is currently pegged at $2.43 per share, which suggests year-over-year growth of 84.1%.

Story continues

Newmont Corporation Price and Consensus

Newmont Goldcorp Corporation Price and Consensus

Newmont Corporation price-consensus-chart | Newmont Corporation Quote

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks



Newmont currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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Franco-Nevada has an expected earnings growth rate of 22% for 2020. Its shares have returned 43.9% in the past year.



Novagold has an expected earnings growth rate of 11.1% for fiscal 2020. The companys shares have surged 98.5% in the past year.



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UK PM remains in hospital as countrys death toll rises by 881 to 7,978 and confirmed cases worldwide top 1.5 million.

The United Kingdoms coronavirus death toll rose by 881 in 24 hours, officials said on Thursday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care but remained in hospital to receive treatment for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Spain reported 683 additional deaths, a lower number compared to the previous two days, while the overall number of fatalities in the United States linked to the coronavirus topped 15,000.

There are now more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world. More than 90,000 people have died and some 339,000 have recovered.

Here are the latest updates.

Click here for Friday, April 10 updates

Thursday, April 9

23:08 GMT  Trump encouraged that British PM Johnson is out of ICU

President Donald Trump says Americans are encouraged to learn that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is no longer in intensive care as he battles the coronavirus.

Trump said thats a tremendous statement, and we continue to pray for him and his fast recovery. Thats a very, very positive development.

Trump spoke about Johnson during a daily press briefing at the White House.

20:26 GMT  Egypt reports 139 new cases, 15 deaths

Egypt reported 139 new cases, bringing its total since the start of the outbreak to 1,699, according to a health ministry statement.

The Arab worlds most populous country also recorded 15 new deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 118.

19:29 GMT  Uganda president encourages people to exercise at home

In a Twitter post, Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni discouraged people from jogging in groups.

You do not have to go outdoors to exercise. Here is my demonstration of how you can exercise indoors and stay safe, he wrote in a post, above a video demonstration.

Read more here.

Yesterday, I discouraged people who have been jogging in groups, exposing themselves to risk amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. You do not have to go outdoors to exercise. Here is my demonstration of how you can exercise indoors and stay safe. pic.twitter.com/Ulbj6vGOYQ  Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) April 9, 2020

18:35 GMT  South Africa extends nationwide lockdown

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa said he will extend a nationwide lockdown by two weeks.

The lockdown, which started on March 27 and was due to last for 21 days, is one of the toughest measures imposed by an African government.

A man carries home groceries during a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Umlazi township near Durban, South Africa [Rogan Ward/Reuters]

18:25 GMT  British PM Boris Johnson out of ICU

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has moved out of intensive care, a spokesman said.

The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery, the spokesman said.

18:20 GMT  Italy to extend lockdown until May 3

The Italian government is planning to extend its lockdown to contain the countrys COVID-19 outbreak until May 3, two trade union sources told Reuters News Agency after meeting ministers.

The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people leaving their homes for all but essential needs, has been in place since March 9 and was due to end on April 13.

After a marked reduction from previous peaks, new infections have picked up in the past two days, frustrating hopes that the illness was in clear retreat.

18:16 GMT  Uber to give drivers millions of face masks

Uber Technologies Inc said it plans to ship millions of face masks to its active drivers and food delivery people around the world to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The ride-hailing companys vice president of safety and insurance, Gus Fuldner, in a company blog post also said Uber plans to ship nearly half a million face masks to US drivers located in the cities hardest hit by the outbreak.

Uber said it had shipped its first order of masks to drivers in New York City, the US city with the highest number of infections of COVID-19.

A video showing a US police officer escorting two African American men out of Walmart, who were wearing face masks to protect against #COVID19, has sparked outrage online. pic.twitter.com/AbPb3S8xGn  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 9, 2020

17:45 GMT  Africa CDC slams French doctors racist, disgusting vaccine comments

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has strongly condemed the very disgusting comments made by two French scientists who suggested last week that a potential vaccine for coronavirus should first be tested on people in Africa.

These racist and condescending comments must be condemned by all decent human beings. Indeed, COVID-19 is a global humanitarian crisis that requires global actions and global solidarity, John Nkengasong, director of Africa CDC, said in a statement.

Read more about the racism row sparked by the doctors comments here.

17:17 GMT  Number of cases in Ireland surge

Confirmed cases in Ireland rose by 500 to 6,574, the highest daily total so far, although health officials said a stabilisation in the numbers admitted to intensive care units was encouraging.

There was also a day-on-day reduction in the growth rate, averaged out over the preceding five days, to 9 percent from 15 percent a week ago, said Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group.

The growth in cases is slowing down but frankly that number needs to be zero in order to have controlled or suppressed this epidemic, Nolan told a news conference, as the death toll from the virus rose to 263 from 235 a day earlier.

16:55 GMT  More than 16 million people filed US jobless claims

The number of people in the United States filing for unemployment benefits in the three weeks ending April 4 has blown past 16 million, as tough measures to control the outbreak grind entire sectors of the economy to a halt.

Read more here.

A video showing a US police officer escorting two African American men out of Walmart, who were wearing face masks to protect against #COVID19, has sparked outrage online. pic.twitter.com/AbPb3S8xGn  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 9, 2020

16:49 GMT  UK PM Boris Johnson remains in ICU

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to make progress, four days after being admitted to hospital with COVID-19, but he remains in intensive care.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas Hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough and was rushed to intensive care on Monday where he has since spent three nights receiving treatment.

Hes still in intensive care but he continues to make positive steps forward and hes in good spirits, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said at a news conference in Downing Street.

Meanwhile, UK officials signalled there was no end in sight yet for lockdown measures.

16:38 GMT  Death toll in Turkey rises to 908

Turkeys health ministry said the countrys death toll rose to 908, after 96 more people lost their lives in the past 24 hours due to the virus.

The ministry added that 4,056 new cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 42,282.

16:23 GMT  UK death toll rises to 7,978

Britains coronavirus death toll rose by 881 to 7,978 people as of 16:00 GMT on April 8, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said.

As of 08:00 GMT on April 9, a total of 243,421 had been tested, of which 65,077 tested positive, Raab said, speaking at the governments daily news conference.

Raab warned that the country hadnt yet reached the peak of the virus.

An elderly woman wears a medical mask at Piccadilly Circus after UK government ordered bars, cafes and leisure centres, etc. to close as a measure against the coronavirus.

16:14 GMT  New York sees highest single-day toll with 799 deaths

The US coronavirus epicenter of New York recorded a new single-day high of 799 COVID-19 deaths, but Governor Andrew Cuomo said the rate of hospitalisations continued to fall.

Cuomo said 799 people died in the last 24 hours, outdoing the previous high of 779 announced on Wednesday, but added that the curve was flattening because of social confinement measures.

We had a 200-net increase in hospitalizations, which you can see is the lowest number weve had since this nightmare started, Cuomo told reporters, adding that intensive care admissions were also at the lowest yet.

16:08 GMT  Italy reports new cases, deaths

The total number of confrimed cases in Italy rises to 143,626, while the death toll rises by 610 to a total of 18,279.

15:52 GMT  Turkey to track patients via smartphone app

Turkey will introduce a smartphone application to track coronavirus patients and those they have been in contact with to ensure they remain at home in self-isolation, the presidency said.

The app, named the Pandemic Isolation Tracking Project, is being developed by the health ministry to stem the spread of the virus.

If an individual goes outside, they will receive a text warning and will be contacted with an automatic call asking them to return home. If the individual repeatedly violates the rule, police will be notified and they will face the necessary administrative measures and sanctions but the presidency did not give details of what these might be.

A shop owner waits for customers amid closed shops on an empty street in the usually busy Eminonu district in Istanbul, Turkey [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]

15:41 GMT  Germanys Merkel pleads for patience

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for patience in the coronavirus crisis, saying that society will have to live with the virus until a vaccine becomes available.

It will need patience a lot will depend on whether people continue to keep their distance from one another and wash their hands, said Merkel at a news conference.

Though the rate of infection has slowed in Germany in recent days, Merkel warned that COVID-19 will not disappear before we have a vaccine to immunise the population: and that means living with this virus.

The veteran leader said recent figures were cause for cautious optimism, but insisted that restrictions on public life would only be able to be rolled back on a step-by-step basis.

15:36 GMT  Number of cases in Canada rises to 19,774

The number of cases in Canada increased to 19,774, up from 18,447 the day before, according to data provided by the public health agency.

The number of deaths increased to 461.

15:20 GMT  Irans Supreme Leader says create sense of Ramadan at home

Irans Supreme Leader called on Iranians to create the sense of Ramadan  due to begin later this month  in their homes, since public gatherings are banned as the country tries to contain the outbreak.

Schools and universities remain closed in the Islamic Republic and a ban on cultural, religious and sports gatherings has been imposed.

Because of being deprived of public prayings, speeches and so on during Ramadan, we should create the same senses in our homes, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech.

15:00 GMT  Hungary prolongs lockdown indefinitely

Hungary has prolonged a nationwide lockdown indefinitely to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on his Facebook page, asking citizens to observe the order despite the Easter holiday.

Hungary has officially recorded 980 confirmed cases and 66 deaths in the pandemic.

14:47 GMT  US gig workers confused by financial relief aid

Amid record-high unemployment numbers, many gig workers in the United States wonder which benefits apply to them.

Read more here.

An MTA worker wears personal protective equipment at the Grand Army Plaza station in the Brooklyn borough of New York [Frank Franklin II/AP Photo]

14:11 GMT  Global number of cases surpass 1.5 million

The total number of positive cases around the world now stands at 1,502,618, according to data collected by John Hopkins University in the United States.

The total number of deaths is 89,915, while 339,775 people have recovered.

14:05  Botswanas entire parliament quarantined

All Botswanas parliamentarians including President Mokgweetsi Masisi will be quarantined for 14 days and tested for the coronavirus, after a health worker screening lawmakers for the virus herself tested positive overnight.

The health worker had checked the temperatures of some of the lawmakers a day earlier during a special sitting of parliament, which was called to debate a proposal by Masisi to extend a state of emergency to six months.

Go ahead and wear your gloves, but you need to wash your hands all the time. This nurse demonstrates how fast germs can spread, even with gloves. pic.twitter.com/0Bu0ehlWJj  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 9, 2020

13:57 GMT  Englands hospital death toll rises

The coronavirus death toll in English hospitals rose 765 to 7,248, the health service said.

Of the 765 patients, 43 (aged between 33 and 99) had no known underlying health condition.

13:55 GMT  Lebanon extends lockdown

Lebanons government has extended its almost month-long coronavirus shutdown by another two weeks until April 26 to combat the spread of the disease, the information minister said.

Since Lebanon declared a state of medical emergency last month, people are allowed to leave their homes only to buy food or medicine, and most businesses have closed. The only airport is also shut, except for a few flights returning expatriots stranded abroad.

An overnight curfew largely bans people from going outside between 7pm and 5am, with security forces enforcing curbs.

Gloves and face masks are hanged to dry during a countrywide lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Sidon, Lebanon [Ali Hashisho/Reuters]

13:45 GMT  Canada says death toll could hit 22,000

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak could hit 22,000 by the end of the pandemic, health officials in Canada said.

Officials outlined the two most likely scenarios, showing that between 11,000 and 22,000 people would die.

The officials told a briefing that they expected between 500 and 700 people to die by April 16. The death toll so far is 436, with 19,290 positive diagnoses.

Hello, this is Farah Najjar taking over from my colleague Usaid Siddiqui.

13:05 GMT  China tackles coronavirus cluster brought from Russia

The Chinese city of Suifenhe entered a lockdown fuelled by an influx of infected travellers crossing the border from Russia in recent days.

The northeast regions health commission reported 40 new cases on Wednesday, all returning Chinese nationals who crossed the border, according to local media reports.

Read more here.

The government also announced the building of a 600-bed isolation hospital to treat those infected [Getty Images]

12:59 GMT  Some govts eye easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings

While the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage regions in Europe and the United States, some governments have started to contemplate a calibrated easing of the restrictions put in place in recent weeks.

Deaths, hospitalisations, and new infections are levelling off in places such as Italy and Spain. The state of New York, the current epicentre in the US, has seen encouraging signs that the infection rate there, which has been on the rise, could soon do the same.

Read more here.

12:50 GMT  Canada loses 1million jobs in March

Canada lost a record-breaking one million jobs in March while the unemployment rate soared to 7.8%, official data showed, as the coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of non-essential businesses.

Statistics Canada said the data did not fully capture the extent of the job losses since the agency polled respondents before the crisis began to take its full toll. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a loss of 350,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.2%, up from the 5.6% seen in February.

12:40 GMT  6.6 million more Americans file unemployment claims

US weekly data shows 6.6 million new jobless claims were filed in the first week of April, nearly as high as the previous weeks record-breaking figure, as the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the economy





12:13 GMT  Dutch coronavirus cases rise by 1,213 to 21,762 -authorities

The Netherlands reported 1,213 coronavirus cases, taking the total to 21,762, health authorities said, with 148 new deaths.

The countrys death toll stands at 2,396, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.

The RIVM repeated that the real numbers are higher, as not all cases or deaths in the country are confirmed by testing.

12:12 GMT  Vietnam says 15,000 people linked to COVID-19 hotspot tested negative

More than 1,000 healthcare workers and 14,400 others linked to a coronavirus outbreak at a hospital in Hanoi have tested negative for the coronavirus, the Vietnamese capitals ruling body said.

Bach Mai hospital, one of the countrys biggest medical centres, has been under lockdown since March 28 after authorities became concerned that cases there would spiral out of control.

All 15,461 people tested negative for the virus. The outbreak in Bach Mai has been well controlled after the lockdown, Hanoi Peoples Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung said at a meeting, according to a statement on the ruling bodys website.

11:56 GMT  Pakistani taxi drivers give free rides to Spanish health workers

Pakistani taxi drivers in Barcelona has started an intitiative providing free rides for medical workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The initiative started at the beginning of Spains lockdown, in mid-March, as six Pakistani taxi drivers led by Shahbaz Ahmed discussed how medical workers would be able to return at night to their homes.

Since then, their effort has expanded to about 200 volunteers, including some drivers from other nationalities.

Read more here.

About 43,000 Pakistanis live in Barcelona, and almost 89,000 in Spain overall, according to the Spanish Statistical Office [Sheraz Syed/Al Jazeera]

11:45 GMT  107-year old Dutch woman recovers from coronavirus

A 107-year old Dutch woman has recovered from the coronavirus, probably becoming the oldest survivor of the pandemic in the world.

Cornelia Ras fell ill on March 17, the day after her 107th birthday, Dutch newspaper AD reported, after attending a church service with other residents of her nursing home on Goeree-Overflakkee, an island in the southwest of the country.

She and 40 others at the service were subsequently diagnosed as carrying the virus.

11:43 GMT  EU is in danger  Spanish PM

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has issued an urgent warning that the European Union is in danger of disintegrating in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity, Sanchez told parliament

Spain is among the countries calling for common debt insurance, widely referred to as coronabonds, to tackle the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic. Germany and other countries have so

far rejected the proposal.

11:31 GMT  Coronavirus reaches Amazons isolated Yanomami tribe

Brazil has announced the first coronavirus case among the Yanomami people, an Amazon indigenous group known for its remoteness and vulnerability to foreign diseases.

The patient, a 15-year-old boy, was being treated in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of the northern state of Roraima, officials said.

Read more here.

11:20 GMT  Russia cases surge past 10,000 after record daily rise

Russia reported a record one-day rise in cases of novel coronavirus, pushing the official tally to more than 10,000, a day after President Vladimir Putin said the coming weeks would prove decisive in the fight against the virus.

The number of cases jumped by 1,459 and 13 more people died, the national coronavirus crisis response centre said on its website. That brings the overall death toll to 76.

Moscow and many other regions are in their second week of a partial lockdown [Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency/Reuters]

11:12 GMT  Nicaragua excludes political prisoners from mass release

Political prisoners were excluded from almost 2,000 inmates released early by Nicaragua because of the coronavirus pandemic, activists said.

The Interior Ministry said 1,700 people held in prisons across the country were let out and placed under house arrest supervised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In this way we fulfill our Christian commitment to promote family union, especially to also promote the social reintegration of people who have made mistakes in society, Vice President Rosario Murillo told reporters on Wednesday.





11:00 GMT  Four infected newborns among new cases in China  study

New evidence from China suggests it is possible for expectant mothers to pass coronavirus on to their unborn babies in the womb, according to a new report.

Research published by scientists from the University of Wuhan in the European Respiratory Journal suggests that four infected new borns were among the 81,000 coronavirus cases confirmed in China by mid

March.

In all four cases the mothers were also infected with coronavirus and in three cases showed symptoms immediately before giving birth. The babies only showed mild symptoms and were not in need of ventilation

or treatment in intensive care.

09:45 GMT  Spains death toll surpasses 15,000

Spains number of daily coronavirus deaths slowed after two days of increase as 683 people succumbed in 24 hours, taking the countrys total to 15,238, the health ministry said.

Overall detected cases rose to 152,446 from 146,690 on Wednesday, it added.

09:21 GMT  Malaysia reports 109 new cases, 2 deaths

Malaysia reported 109 new coronavirus infections, raising its cumulative total to 4,228 cases as Southeast Asias third-largest economy grapples with the highest number of infections in the region.

The health ministry also reported two new deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 67.

The death toll in Malaysia rose to 67 [File: Fazry/EPA]

09:10 GMT  Lockdown drives jump in vodka and whisky sales in Russia

Russian retailers have seen a sharp spike in alcohol sales in recent weeks with consumers rushing to buy vodka, whisky and beer at a time when Moscow and other regions have imposed partial lockdowns.

In the last week of March, vodka sales across Russias largest retail chains jumped 31 percent in year-on-year terms, while whisky and beer purchases increased 47 percent and 25 percent respectively, Nielsen, a market research firm, found.

Sultan Khamzaev, head of Sober Russia which campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption, said the spike in sales was driven by long holidays, stress, fears that alcohol would run out, and a belief among many Russians that alcohol offers some protection against the new coronavirus.

08:53 GMT  China tackles coronavirus cluster brought from Russia

The Chinese city of Suifenhe in northeastern Heilongjiang province, which has seen an influx of imported coronavirus cases from Russia in recent days, is building a temporary hospital to treat those who have been infected.

The hospital will provide more than 600 beds and is expected to be completed by April 11. The city, on the Russian border, has already placed residents under lockdown and closed the land border.





08:45 GMT  South Africas Ramaphosa defends WHO

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has thrown his support behind the WHO after it came under stinging attack from US leader Donald Trump over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement from Ramaphosas office late Wednesday said he reaffirms his appreciation for the exceptional leadership of World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, from the very earliest stages of this unprecedented global health crisis.

Ramaphosa was speaking in his capacity as the current leader of the African Union (AU).

08:20 GMT  UN delivers 90 tons of COVID-19 aid to Venezuela

A plane carrying 90 tons of UN health, water and sanitation aid arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to help the cash-strapped country fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The shipment includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits, the UN said.

This is the first United Nations humanitarian shipment in support of the Venezuela COVID-19 outbreak, said Peter Grohmann, the UNs humanitarian coordinator for Venezuela.

Venezuela, suffering from a crippling economic crisis that has led to shortages of basic food and medicine and forced some five million people to flee the country, has 167 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nine deaths.

07:40 GMT  Vietnam approves $7.6bn tax holiday to help virus-hit businesses

Vietnam has approved a plan to delay the collection of 180 trillion dong ($7.6bn) in taxes and land rent to help businesses hit by the new coronavirus, which has infected 251 people in the country, the government said.

The government will delay the collection of value-added tax, corporate income tax, personal income tax and land rent for five months for various businesses and households, it said in a statement.





07:15 GMT  Taiwan protests against accusations from WHO

Taiwans foreign ministry on strongly protested accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that it condoned racist personal attacks on him that he alleged were coming from the self-governing island democracy.

On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Taiwans foreign ministry of being linked to a months-long campaign against him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a press briefing, he said he has been personally attacked, including receiving death threats and racist abuse.

06:45 GMT  UKs Johnson remains stable  minister

The UK Culture Minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was stable, and his condition was improving as he engaged with the medical staff tending to him.

Read more here.

06:36 GMT  103-year-old Italian says courage, faith helped beat virus

To recover from the coronavirus, as she did, Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighbouring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the super old  people who are at least 100. As the nation with the worlds highest number of COVID-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Im well, Im well, Zanusso said Tuesday during a video call with The Associated Press from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont. I watch TV, read the newspapers.

Ada Zanusso, right, poses with a nurse at the Maria Grazia care home in Lessona, northern Italy, after recovering [Maria Grazia Lessona/AP]

06:20 GMT  India identifies, seals coronavirus hot spots

Indian authorities have identified and sealed dozens of hot spots in the Indian capital and the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state comprising residential districts to check the rising trajectory of new coronavirus infections.

Government statements late Wednesday said people will be supplied food, medicines and other supplies at their doorsteps and they will not be allowed to leave these areas.

Hello, this is Usaid Siddiqui in Doha taking over from my colleague Kate Mayberry.

05:45 GMT 

I will be handing over the blog to my colleagues in Doha shortly.

A brief summary of this mornings developments:

The US and UK both suffered their highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in a single day as global confirmed cases rose to 1.5 million. Flags were being flown at half-mast in New York, the worst-affected US state.

There are glimmers of hope in countries including South Korea and New Zealand where confirmed infections appear to be slowing.

In a deepening spat with the World Health Organization, Taiwan has rejected claims by WHO chief Tedros Adhanon Ghebreysus that it used racial slurs against him.

The first case of coronavirus has also been found among Amazons isolated Yanomami people. Brazil says a 15-year-old boy was diagnosed with the disease and is in hospital.

05:40 GMT  Fujifilm starts phase II clinical trial for Avigan in US COVID-19 patients

Japans Fujifilm is moving to the second phase of its clinical trial in the United States for its Avigan anti-flu drug.

The trial will involve about 50 patients at three hospitals in Massachusetts.

Fujifilm announced the third phase of the clinical trials in Japan on March 31. Favipiravir, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Avigan, has a mechanism of action that prevents the propagation of viruses, the company says.

05:30 GMT  Pakistan starts giving cash grants to low-income families

Pakistan will start distributing cash grants worth Rs12,000 ($70) to low-income families on Thursday, reports Al Jazeera correspondent Asad Hashim.

About 35 million people registered for the payment, according to Sania Nishtar, a senior government official. After verification, about 12 million people (one person for each household) were found to be eligible for the one-time grant.

Pakistan currently has 3,713 confirmed cases of coronavirus. At least 62 people have died.

05:10 GMT  UN calls on Southeast Asian nations to protect health of migrants

The UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia is calling on countries around the region to do everything they can to protect the health of migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Migrants in detention facilities should be released, forced returns suspended and firewalls erected between healthcare and immigration, the Bangkok-based office said.

Migrants are an integral part of our communities, and only by including them fully will we be successful in overcoming COVID-19, Regional Representative Cynthia Veliko said in a statement.

Migrant construction workers in Bangkok before a month-long state of emergency was imposed. [Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Photo]

04:40 GMT  Keep out: Remote Indigenous communities sealed off in Australia

Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are more likely than other Australians to suffer from chronic diseases, which puts them at greater risk from COVID-19.

As part of the countrys shutdown, remote communities in Australias vast interior have also been shut down to protect those who live there. Nick Rodway wrote this story for Al Jazeera.

04:30 GMT  First case found among Yanomami people in Brazil

Brazils health minister Luiz Henrique Mendetta says the first case of coronavirus has been diagnosed among the Yanomami people in the Amazon.

The patient, a 15-year-old boy, is in intensive care in hospital.

Mendetta said the discovery was very worrying.

04:10 GMT  Positive signs in New Zealand after two weeks of lockdown

New Zealand has recorded its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in nearly three weeks, reporting just 29 new cases in the past day, the fourth successive daily drop.

The country is halfway through a month-long national lockdown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also announced stricter border measures requiring all returning nationals to go into a managed quarantine facility for two weeks. Previously, returning nationals with no symptoms of COVID-19 were allowed to isolate themselves at home.

04:00 GMT  South Korea sees continued slowdown in coronavirus

South Koreas latest coronavirus update shows the outbreak there continues to slow.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement on Thursday there were 39 more cases, bringing the total to 10,423. The number of deaths rose by four to 204.

Testing, combined with isolation and monitoring, have helped South Korea get control of the virus. The government has also deployed technology to help in the fight including alerts to peoples smartphones to advise them of cases nearby and potential hotspots.

Al Jazeeras Kelly Kasulis has written about the potential privacy issues  not to mention fatigue  created by the alerts. You can read more here.

03:20 GMT  China tackling coronavirus cluster in northeastern province

Cases of coronavirus brought into China from overseas have reached their highest level in two weeks, with the northeastern province of Heilongjiang rushing to build a new hospital as more cases are brought in from Russia.

The National Health Commission reported 63 new cases on Wednesday, with 61 of those coming from overseas. That is the highest since March 25.

The country has imposed strict quarantine rules on anyone arriving in China from overseas.

All the isolation hotels in Suifenhe, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province are fully occupied, a source told the Global Times. The border county is in a full-throttle, building a makeshift hospital, as the imported cases from Russia continue to soar. pic.twitter.com/Zbg3lqI0D9  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 9, 2020

02:30 GMT  ICRC steps up support in the Philippines crowded prisons

The International Committee for the Red Cross is stepping up efforts to help inmates in the Philippines overcrowded prison system, establishing four isolation centres for those confirmed with mild to moderate coronavirus or suspected of having the disease.

A four tent, 48-bed isolation facility in the new Quezon City Jail site started operations with 17 detainees on Wednesday and will serve the entire Metro Manila region. The facility has electricity, water and sanitation.

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology with the support of the ICRC built a temporary isolation unit at the new Quezon City Jail site in less than three days. It opened on Wednesday to serve COVID-19-positive detainees and those with mild-to-moderate systems of the disease. [Supplied/ICRC]

Three other sites are under development.

Physical distancing is a privilege simply not available to people behind bars, Boris Michel, ICRC head of delegation in the Philippines, said in a statement. Overcrowding and limited health services mean infectious diseases like COVID-19 can spread fast and wide inside detention facilities.

The staff of the isolation facility prepare for the first arrivals on Wednesday. [Supplied/ICRC]

01:30 GMT  Taiwan condemns groundless accusations it attacked WHO chief

Taiwans Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that it had used racist slurs against him, as groundless.

On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said racist slurs had been made against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan.

The islands Foreign Ministry labelled the accusations imaginary.

We are a mature and highly-accomplished advanced democratic country, and have absolutely not instigated our people to personally attack the WHOs director-general, and have absolutely not made any racist comments, it said.

Tedross comments were irresponsible and he should clarify them and apologise to Taiwan, it said.

Taiwan is not a member of the WHO. You can read more about why here.

00:10 GMT  Australian police take black box from Ruby Princess

Australian police have interviewed the captain of a cruise ship that became the countrys biggest single source of coronavirus infections after hundreds of passengers  some with the virus  got off the ship in Sydney.

About 400 passengers from the Ruby Princess later tested positive for the virus and 15 have died.

The police are conducting a homicide investigation into the incident. The ship remains at a port south of Sydney with about 1,000 crew on board.

00:00 GMT  New York flags at half-mast to honour coronavirus dead

New York, the hardest-hit state in the US, on Wednesday flew flags at half-mast as the number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day reached a record.

Every number is a face, said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. This virus attacked the vulnerable and attacked the weak and its our job as a society to protect the vulnerable.

I am directing flags be flown at half-mast in honor of those we have lost to this vicious virus. They are in our hearts. pic.twitter.com/OT3KCEQkll  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 8, 2020

The number of confirmed cases in New York state is now approaching 150,000.

23:55 GMT  US CDC advises precautions for essential workers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has released new guidance for people working in essentials areas such as healthcare and food suppliers who have been within 1.8 metres (six feet) of someone with a confirmed or suspected case of the coronavirus.

CDC Director Robert Redfield says the employee can return to work as long as they take their temperature before they go to work, wear a face mask at all times and practise social distancing.

Redfield said the employees should continue to stay home if they are sick. He also said employers should take the workers temperature before allowing them to come back to work.

23:40 GMT  Brazil president says country to buy materials for hydroxychloroquine

Brazils president Jair Bolsonaro says hydroxychloroquine, which is usually used for malaria, is saving the lives of people with COVID-19 and that Brazil will import raw materials from India to manufacture the drug.

Scientists say there is no conclusive evidence on the drugs efficacy in treating COVID-19.

Twitter has previously deleted posts by Bolsonaro touting hydroxychloroquine.

-

Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read all the updates from yesterday (April 8) here.
T oday on his return to No.10 after being hospitalised for coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said lifting lockdown now would "throw away the sacrifice of the British people", adding that "this is the moment of maximum risk".

In the dramatic statement he asked families and businesses to be patient, and said it was too soon to "go easy" and relax social distancing measures.

Mr Johnson said difficult judgments still had to be made about phase two, when the country will start one by one to fire up the engines of this vast UK economy.

Imperial College epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson warned the UK death toll could jump past 100,000 by the end of the year if lockdown is lifted too early.

Health experts had previously warned that rushing to ease UK lockdown restrictions could lead to a resurgence of coronavirus, after it was revealed that the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in England and Wales could be more than 40 per cent higher than previously reported, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State Dominic Raab announced the UK's lockdown has been officially extended by three weeks until Thursday May 7, but the Cabinet remains split over how to ease lockdown measures in the UK.

It comes after Mr Raab chaired an emergency Cobra meeting last Thursday to review the social distancing measures. He said: "We've come too far, we've lost too many loved ones to ease up now, especially when we're beginning to see that our efforts are starting to pay off."

But the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments have already announced plans to loosen restrictions, as Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said on Friday that he hoped to lift some restrictions gradually in early May.

Here, we take a closer look at what the Government has said about lockdown measures.

The UK's lockdown measures will be reviewed after April 13 / PA

How long will lockdown last?

Lockdown measures were announced in the Prime Minister's emergency address to the nation on March 23, and the UK is now in its' fifth week of lockdown.

Today Prime Minister Boris Johnson made it clear restrictions will still need to remain in place, as he remains cautious about relaxing existing lockdown restrictions due to fears such a move could unleash a second wave of the virus.

Last Thursday there was a formal review of the strict social distancing measures that have been in place since March 23, as the UK's death toll exceeds 13,000 - and the lockdown has now been extended for another three weeks until Thursday May 7.

Previously, Dominic Raab said Brits should brace for an extension of UK's coronavirus lockdown.

Ministers have said they want to be sure the UK is past the peak of the outbreak before easing the restrictions, but 10 members of the Cabinet are reportedly urging lockdown conditions to be eased amid concerns about the impact on the economy.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said the capital is "nowhere near" being able to ease social distancing measures / PA

Mr Raab said: Weve still got a long way to go, and as those grisly figures that Ive just read out show, weve still not passed the peak of this virus."

Health minister Nadine Dorries suggested the "full lockdown" to tackle coronavirus could only be lifted once a vaccine is developed which could take up to 18 months, but insisted there could still be relaxation of the social-distancing measures.

The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the BBC: "We're just beginning to see this strategy start to work, we're not seeing cases accelerating. People really need to stick the course."

Ministers sat in an emergency COBRA meeting on April 9 to review the UK's lockdown measures based on evidence of their success.

On Tuesday April 7, Dominic Raab, whilst deputising for Boris Johnson, said the worst thing the UK could do was "take its foot off the peddle" regarding social distancing measures.



He said, "In terms of the review, we are not at that stage yet. We will take any decision when the time is right, based on the facts and the scientific and medical advice.

"Our number one and overriding focus right now is on conveying the key message which is that everyone needs to keep adhering to this guidance."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan echoed ministers in saying the capital is "nowhere near" being able to ease measures, as the World Health Organisation warned leaders to be "very careful".

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast:

In a virtual international press conference, the WHO said it was too soon to scale back measures aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus, in spite of "positive" signs from some countries, and cautioned against "complacency".

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned that some restrictions could be "a fact of life for a long time to come", with several lockdowns in place until 2021 with "little notice" given to the public in future - in what she called the "horrendous reality" of coronavirus.

Announcing the Scottish Government's plan for easing coronavirus restrictions, Ms Sturgeon said that steps will be "gradual, incremental and probably quite small to start with."

The plan has been read by around 250,000 people already, Ms Sturgeon said on Friday.

The First Minister's warning came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock vowed to continue the "hard work" of containing the spread of the virus.

Speaking at Downing Street on Wednesday, Mr Hancock said there could be no "let up" in the efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

He said: "We cannot let go of the hard work that has been done so far.
Gov. Ned Lamont clearly has no interest, none at all, in hearing from concerned citizens about the urgent need for immediate release of several categories of people currently incarcerated in Connecticut prisons, for example: older and medically at risk individuals, those within 30 days of their already-scheduled release, those being held for minor offenses because they cant afford bond and presentencing detainees.

Prisons are a petri dish for the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing is impossible. And prolonged isolation is not a solution; it is torture. The only viable, humane and sane solution is to reduce the current population.

According to Yale Law Schools Lowenstein Clinic calculations (based on Department of Correction data as of March 28) 376 individuals are within 30 days of the end of their maximum sentence. Why not release them now? Another 3,137 are currently being held presentencing. Surely, many of those individuals can be released on a promise to appear. And the estimate of those eligible for parole is over 5,000.

But Gov. Lamont will have none of this. He disparaged the car caravan protest at the governors mansion this past Monday, April 6. His only response to advocates desperate for the release of loved ones and others was this: If you want to talk about it, youve got my number. Shame on him for such a disingenuous and dismissive response. Try to call him at 860-566-4840. I did. All one gets is an automated recording directing the caller to dial 2-1-1. No opportunity to leave the governor even a recorded message. The governor is clearly saying, I dont want to hear from you.

In his briefing later in the day after Mondays protest, the governor said, We have a public health emergency. Yes, we do. So why then is he is ignoring the public health emergency unfolding in Connecticuts prisons?

The headline of a Commentary piece in last weeks Register (April 1) screamed this warning: Outbreak in prison would affect health of entire state. The writers urged immediate action. As jails and prisons become flashpoints for infection, the outbreak will overwhelm already-limited state health care resources. Not might overwhelm, but WILL overwhelm. Why is Gov. Lamont not listening? Why has he not acted on this already? In a pandemic such as this, reducing the states prison population is the only responsible thing to do.

Gov. Lamont, we have your number. The time for you to listen and act is now.

The Rev. Allie Perry is on the steering committee for Stop Solitary CT, based in New Haven.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus outbreak: Why are children more susceptible to COVID-19

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Apr 09: With several numbers of COVID-19 positive cases and fatalities are grabbing the headlines, it can be seen that most of the affected people turn out to be elder than younger.

While everyone is vulnerable to the deadly virus, people above 60 years of age and children are particularly seen susceptible to the coronavirus.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

According to a study, that was published on March 31, 2020 by the Birth Defects Clinical Research Center of Sichuan Province and Southwest Medical University, describes the clinical features of the COVID-19 pandemic among children.

In the early stages of the outbreak, it was reported that COVID-19 would severely spread among adults over the age of 15 years, as the number of confirmed cases among children remained lesser.

Also, it is reportedly said that the researchers found it difficult to track the virus among children as they did not "clearly describe their health status or contact history".

To compare COVID-19 to other coronavirus outbreaks, during SARS in 2002-2003, the global number of children infected (between age groups of 4 months to 17 years) was less than 0.02 per cent of the total cases and number of deaths reported.

Also, during the MERS outbreak, out of over 1,600 cases, those children who were less than 19 years of age, accounted for less than 2.2 per cent of all cases.

Fake News Buster

Citing these data, researchers have claimed that 56 per cent of children demonstrated evidence of transmission through family gatherings and 43 per cent had a history of exposure to the epidemic site in China.

Also, the first infant that was diagnosed with coronavirus in China, was 17-days-old. It is also said that the newborn was confirmed to have been infected just 36 hours after the cesarean delivery.
Fears are mounting that the coronavirus pandemic could disrupt the American food supply chain, after outbreaks interrupted work at meat processing plants and truckers expressed fears of traveling to hotspots.

The U.S. food supply chain is generally considered robust and well protected, with America producing enough domestically to feed its entire population. But disruptions in processing and distribution could cause temporary shortages of some items, or higher prices on grocery store shelves.

Tyson Foods was forced to suspend operations at a pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa this week, after more than 24 employees there tested positive for coronavirus.

'In an effort to minimize the impact on our overall production, we're diverting the livestock supply originally scheduled for delivery to Columbus Junction to some of our other pork plants in the region,' Tyson CEO Noel White said in a statement on Monday.

Employees work at a Smithfield Foods pork processing facility in Milan, Missouri in a 2017 file photo. Food processors are trying to maintain production during the pandemic

Tyson Foods was forced to suspend operations at this pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa this week, after more than 24 employees there tested positive for coronavirus

On Thursday, Smithfield Foods announced that it will close its processing plant near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after state officials said more than 80 employees there had tested positive for coronavirus.

The company will suspend operations in a large section of the plant on Saturday and completely shutter on Easter Sunday and Monday, the company said. During the shutdown, the plant will be thoroughly sanitized, and more physical barriers will be erected around workstations to isolate employees.

The plant employs some 3,700 workers, who will be paid for any scheduled shifts during the shutdown, and supplies Americans with nearly 130 million servings of food per week, or about 18 million servings per day.

'Smithfield Foods is taking the utmost precautions and actions to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees  with an even increased emphasis on our critical role in the ongoing supply of food to American families,' said Smithfield CEO Kenneth M. Sullivan in a statement.

'As an industry and as a nation, it is imperative that we continue to operate our feed mills, farms, plants and distribution centers,' he continued. 'Not operating is not an option. People need to eat.'

At this Smithfield Foods plant near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, more than 80 employees have tested positive for coronavirus, and the plant will shut down for three days

Meanwhile, JBS USA, another major meat processor, has stopped operations at its beef plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania due to sick employees there. The plant plans to reopen April 16, after two weeks.

Cargill has also paused operations at its protein plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where 900 people typically work.

Both Tyson and Smithfield say they are taking extra precautions with their workforce, and both companies are paying workers bonuses of $500 for their efforts during the crisis.

'We have instituted a series of stringent and detailed protocols that follow the strict guidance of the CDC to effectively manage any potential COVID-19 cases in our operations,' Smithfield said in a statement on their website.

Tyson's CEO said: 'We're working hard to protect our team members during this ever-changing situation, while also ensuring we continue fulfilling our critical role of helping feed people across the country.'

Workers are seen at a Smithfield pork processing facility in Milan, Missouri in 2017. The company is stepping up precautions after an outbreak at a plant in South Dakota

Both companies have implemented temperature scanning for workers entering their facilities, and they have stepped up sanitizing and physical distancing of workers at their plants.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of coronavirus.

Scientists also say that temperatures above 135 Fahrenheit quickly kill coronavirus, meaning any meat cooked according to instructions should be free of the pathogen.

As farmers and food processors work to keep food available, the pandemic is also raising concerns about the distribution system, which relies heavily on truckers.

Truck driver Josh Rickards, who owns a fleet of three tractor-trailers, told Yahoo Finance that the drivers who lease under his authority can't be convinced to take a job that requires them to travel to New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak.

'I mean, no one really wants to go there. Everyone's afraid of going there and being in a position where they actually contract the virus themselves,' Rickards said.

FDR Drive is nearly empty during morning rush hour on March 24. Truckers say they are afraid to travel to the outbreak epicenter of New York City

Shelves are seen empty late last month at the Hannaford supermarket in Scarborough, Maine. Fears are mounting that the food supply chain could buckle during the pandemic

In addition to the trucking problems, a sharp decline in air traffic has cut deeply into capacity to move fresh produce long distances.

Andres Ocampo, chief executive of HLB Specialties LLC, a fruit importer based in Miami, Florida, relied on commercial flights to shift papayas and other produce from Brazil. Now he is buying more from Mexico and Guatemala, where goods can still be shipped by trucks.

Ocampo says volumes of the company's imports from Brazil have dropped by 80 percent.

'In Europe, it's even worse, because they don't have a Mexico-like source for papayas,' he told Reuters.

U.S. and Canadian exporters are also grappling with a shortage of refrigerated containers to supply goods, as voyages of container ships from China to the West Coast are down by a quarter due to reduced demand because of lockdowns.

'The containers are tough to get right now,' said Michael Dykes, president of the International Dairy Foods Association, a U.S.-based trade group. 'If a company needs five containers, they'll find they can get one.'
Viennas horse-drawn carriages, a staple of street life in the Austrian capital and a popular tourist attraction, have been sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic -- so they are now helping deliver food to the elderly.

The carriages, or Fiaker as they are called in Vienna, are taking part in a food delivery scheme in one of the citys central districts set up by the InterContinental Hotel, itself severely hit by lockdown measures taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Instead of catering to guests, the hotels kitchens have been turning out 200-300 meals a day for senior citizens in the area.

Deliveries are made by volunteers using all manner of vehicles -- including by part-time Fiaker driver Christian Gerzabek.

A Fiaker horse carriage waits for food packages for delivery. (REUTERS)

Despite business coming to a standstill, the horses still have to be moved, they want to get out after the winter, he says.

I thought that we should combine that.. with doing something good for people who need it, he told AFP.

The scheme has been a lifeline for its elderly beneficiaries.

One of them, Anneliese Nebenfuehr, said she thought the deliveries were wonderful.

I told the gentleman on the phone to give a kiss to the whole team, she said.

A coachwoman hands over a mask on a Fiaker horse carriage transporting food packages in front of the InterContinental Hotel. (REUTERS)

InterContinental general director Brigitte Trattner said carriage drivers were the first to respond to a call for delivery volunteers, with car drivers and cyclists also signing up.

Describing the InterContinental Vienna as an intrinsic part of Viennas third district, Trattner said that when the coronavirus crisis broke we naturally thought: Is there anyway we can help?

The hotel plans to run the project until Monday, and after that Trattner says meals would be distributed to staff at the Rudolfstiftung hospital, which is also nearby.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday prolonged by a further 14 days a three-week national lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, as infections notched up to 1,934.

"After careful consideration of the available evidence, the national coronavirus command council has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days," Ramaphosa announced in a televised address to the nation.

The president added that while it was too early to make a "definitive analysis" of the outbreak in South Africa, there was evidence to suggest the measures had been effective.

"In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42 per cent," Ramaphosa said.

"Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around four percent."



South Africa is the worst-affected country on the continent, followed by Algeria with 1,666 cases confirmed so far.

The number of deaths remains relatively low, with 18 fatalities recorded to date.

Ramaphosa said he recognised the "great sacrifices" made by citizens and vowed to adjust lockdown measures so as to enable "a phased recovery of the economy".

The president and his ministers will all take a one-third salary cut for three months and donate the money to the country's virus solidarity fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bernie Sanders ended his campaign for president Wednesday, but he still wants Connecticut and a handful of other states to hold Democratic primaries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic  a bid to amass more delegates and influence at the Democratic National Convention.

The decision Sanders announced during a live stream puts officials in Connecticut and other states with upcoming primaries in an awkward position: With the refusal of Sanders to formally withdraw, must they still open their polls at a time when the public is being urged to stay home for reasons of personal and public health?

Under state law, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill cannot cancel a primary without the written permission of candidates who have qualified for the ballot. After Sanders made clear he was quitting the race, Merrill set to work on a statement about the status of the primary, then the 78-year-old Vermont senator threw his curveball.

As you can imagine, what ensued was a great gnashing of teeth and all sorts of conversations about now what? Merrill said.

Merrill has yet to receive withdrawal letters from Elizabeth Warren or Tulsi Gabbard, two other Democrats who qualified for the Connecticut ballot and then quit the race. But Sanders was the pivotal player in the question of whether Connecticut must go forward with its primary.

Sanders decision Wednesday effectively cedes the nomination to Joe Biden.

That for me effectively ends the justification for holding a primary in Connecticut. Now, the results are predetermined, Merrill said. Then comes the announcement he will remain on the ballot, which hopefully he will reconsider.

If Sanders does not reconsider, Gov. Ned Lamont will have to decide whether to use his powers during the public-health emergency to grant Merrill discretion over ballot access. That would leave Lamont, a Democrat who was an early backer of Biden, open to accusations of undermining Bidens rival at the convention.

A primary in Connecticut would require congressional caucuses to choose delegates, an expense to the party and another public gathering at odds with public-health recommendations. A Sanders strategist who left the campaign earlier this year said forcing a primary could cost Sanders goodwill he otherwise is engendering.

Its tone deaf, said the person, who declined to be quoted by name, because he is working in another race for federal office.

Lamont had no immediate statement Wednesday. A Sanders spokesperson could not be reached to address the rationale for going forward, but Sanders indicated last week during an interview with Seth Myers that a platform to discuss issues remained important, even as the potential path to the nomination narrowed after Super Tuesday.

Campaigns are an important way to maintain that fight and raise public consciousness on those issues, so thats, I think, one of the arguments for going forward, Sanders said.

Nancy Wyman, the Democratic state chair, said she hoped a primary could be averted.

Bernies a very smart man. Even with his language today I believe Bernie will be supporting Joe Biden and hopefully his supporters will do the same thing. I just hope today was his day to talk about his issues and what he feels are really important for the country and to his positions, Wyman said.

Connecticut has already postponed its primary from April 28 to June 2, buying time in hopes that one of two things would happen: The pandemic would break, or the contest for the presidential nomination would be settled, sparing the state from trying to conduct an election.

A minor candidate named Rocky De La Fuente remains on the ballot for the Republican nomination for president in Connecticut.
Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has disclosed that persons and companies who receive water from Ghana Water Company Limited for commercial purposes will pay their monthly bills as usual, since President Akufo-Addo's free water usage directive applies to residential purposes only.



According to him in an interview on UTV's 'Adekye Nsroma' programme, Patrick Yaw Boamah indicated that water tankers must transact free businesses with persons who need their services, because every necessary bill has been paid for including their daily sales and petrol usage.



The Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikwei Central constituency in the Greater Accra Region urged citizens to be responsible and not be mischievous in their dealings as their water bills for April, May and June are being paid for by government.



He added that citizens who have any questions or problems with the directive given should visit any of their district offices for their problems to be addressed.



He reitirated that persons who have had their pipelines disconnected will have them reconnected for free during the three month period given, but bills owed will still have to be settled after the grace period..

Source: Elizabeth Semiheva/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavys administration has launched a new virtual school for Alaska students in partnership with a Florida program, garnering some criticism from educators adjusting their lessons to online teaching amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The state of Alaska signed a $525,000 contract through February 2021 with the Florida Virtual School, which had enrolled about 80 Alaska students by Friday, Alaskas Energy Desk reported.

The fourth-quarter solution that is suggested through the purchase of this Florida version of distance delivery is...
Maria del Carmen Diaz outside her home in Philadelphia. A house cleaner and nanny, all of her clients told her not to come to their homes. Some said they were scared she'd bring the coronavirus into their homes because she takes public transportation. Read more

They were supposed to be like family. But they broke up  for now at least  by text.

Ping. Ping. Ping. The messages popped up on Maria del Carmen Diazs phone, one after the other. All worded similarly: Dont come to work because of the coronavirus. Stay home.  Were home and cant go to work.  When this passes, well see what happens.

Within the span of just a few days last month, del Carmen Diaz, 54, lost all 25 of her cleaning and nanny jobs. Shed worked for most of the families for more than 20 years, one generation after the other, ever since she came to Philadelphia from Veracruz in Mexico.

For 60 to 70 hours a week, she scrubbed their toilets, tubs, and floors. Laundered and ironed clothes. Cooked meals. Took care of their children, and their frail, elderly relatives. Even made pinatas for kids parties. To travel from house to house, mostly throughout West Philadelphia, she took trolleys, trains, and buses.

Some employers told me because I take public transportation, I could bring the virus to their home, she said through a translator.

I felt humiliated, like Im not worth anything, she said.

There are about 16,000 domestic workers in Philadelphia, many of whom, like del Carmen Diaz, are undocumented immigrants. She earned about $1,000 a week. She pays taxes, but because of her immigration status, she doesnt qualify for unemployment benefits, even under the new $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue package.

Her husband works as a cook, a few blocks from their home near the Philadelphia Zoo. But his hours were stripped from 15 a day to six.

 READ MORE: I feel like Ive been benched: For 9 people in the Philadelphia region, this is what it means to be jobless during the pandemic

Five of her 25 employers paid her for the month of March. "I don't know how long that will last," she said.

It hurts, she said. Supposedly I was part of the family, but obviously Im not.

Del Carmen Diaz has two grown children and a 19-year-old son who is attending Drexel University.

Im trying not to be stressed, but its very difficult, she said. I hadnt anticipated this happening. I have to keep a close eye on the budget. I have to pay for my sons college. Its just very hard."

To save money, she's buying cheaper, canned and processed foods.

"I wake up later so I eat less," she said.

Betania Shephard, 33, of Northeast Philadelphia, lost the majority of her cleaning jobs, too. She has only kept one or two jobs cleaning Airbnbs. She anticipates those jobs will disappear fast. Its all because of corona," she said through a translator. "They need to be safe and be in their homes.

One client paid her in full for the month of March. He insisted on doing it, she said, recalling that he told her: The money is yours. I was the one who canceled your job.

Shephard has been a domestic worker for five years. She came alone to the United States from the Dominican Republic 12 years ago when she was 21. She is now a married mother of two children, ages 11 and 8. Her husband, who does construction, has been without work for almost a month.

Both are undocumented. Im doing what Im supposed to do," she said. "Im working. I follow the law. I pay taxes like everyone else. I keep my neighborhood clean. It doesnt make sense that we dont qualify [for help]. We do everything that every other citizen does.

 READ MORE: A Philly day-care owner laid off 100 people because of the coronavirus: It was the worst day of my life

Now, she worries more each day. The bills dont stop just because Im not working, she said. She opened her utility bill and felt sick. Then theres the car payment and the $950 rent. She has asked for extensions.

We dont leave our house," she said. "All Im spending money on is food and water.

Nicole Kligerman, director of the Pennsylvania Domestic Workers Alliance (PDWA), said she was saddened by how abruptly so many employers of housekeepers and nannies said goodbye without any thought of how their longtime employees would survive.

They discarded them so quickly, she said. Its really egregious.

The average annual income for domestic workers in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in 2016 was $10,000, according to an analysis by Pilar Gonalons-Pons, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The PDWA organized in 2018 with a goal of expanding labor protections and improving working conditions.

The biggest issues are around the arbitrary and unprotected nature of the job, Kligerman said. Theyre given more work without more pay. There is no clear job responsibility. They can be canceled on a whim after taking three buses, carrying all their cleaning materials. And theyre told, I dont need you today, through the door. Theres such disrespect for the work.

Kligerman, Shephard, and del Carmen Diaz, along with other group organizers, wrote what has been dubbed the Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. After a tireless yearlong effort, the groundbreaking legislation was passed in late 2019, with unanimous support from the Philadelphia City Council and from Mayor Jim Kenney.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

The measure requires that employers have a written agreement outlining employment terms, pay rates, schedules, and benefits, including mandatory rest and meal breaks. Workers would accrue paid leave and sick days, even if they have multiple employers who would contribute into a benefits system. Employers must also provide two weeks notice before terminating an employment contract  and four weeks if the worker lives inside the home  except in cases of significant misconduct.

The law wont take effect until May 1.

We won this amazing law, but its coming too late, Kligerman said. It would have helped these workers brave this crisis.

Even if people get their rent payment delayed, its not rent forgiveness," Kligerman said. "They will not be able to work, but may owe thousands in rent. People have to choose between food and saving for rent. There are lots of single mothers who are domestic workers. And they dont know when they will be rehired.

Its desperate out there, she added. Every day is a fresh hell.
Huntsville Hospital this week will begin administering COVID-19 tests to symptomatic members of the citys homeless community.

"It's another step we're adding to the process to continue to take care of the community," Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers said Wednesday.

Assessing the health, from a coronavirus perspective, of the homeless community is the latest in a series of steps that Huntsville leaders are taking to help stem the spread of the deadly disease. The week-long testing process will begin Friday. The hospital is partnering with Thrive Alabama and the city of Huntsville as well as organizations that help care for the homeless such as the North Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (NACH), First Stop and the Downtown Rescue Mission.

Related: An 'epidemic waiting to happen: Homeless community vulnerable to coronavirus

A count of Huntsvilles homeless earlier this year put the population at 561 people  the highest count in the Rocket City since 2013, according to the NACH. That includes 155 unsheltered in the homeless population, 38 in transitional housing and 368 in emergency shelters.

The homeless population among veterans is also climbing, rising for the past three years to about 45 men and women who served in the armed forces.

The homeless population is a population thats particularly vulnerable, said John Hamilton, city administrator for the city of Huntsville. There is a higher occurrence of health issues. We find a lot of them dont do a great job of taking care of themselves, dont do a great job of going to the doctor and availing themselves of the medical care thats available to them. We want to make it easier for them to do that.

That begins on Friday at First Stop, a homeless shelter near downtown Huntsville. Healthcare workers will be on site to evaluate members of the homeless population to determine  like others around the state  if they have symptoms of COVID-19 that would make a test necessary.

Spillers said Huntsville Hospital is covering the costs of the tests for the homeless.

Hamilton said that a healthcare team will return to First Stop on Monday for more testing, then likely fan out through the homeless community the rest of the week.

Anybody who potentially has been exposed, has potentially contracted the disease, we want to know that, Hamilton said.

Thrive and the city of Huntsville worked with the hospital on the COVID-19 drive-thru testing site that met initial demand in John Hunt Park.

In Birmingham, homeless advocates provided hand washing stations to help stave off spread of the disease.

Sharing information with the homeless community is another objective of the tests in Huntsville, Hamilton said. Some in the homeless community have isolated themselves from society to the point that they are not aware of the serious nature of the disease.

While being urged to follow social distancing guidelines and keeping hands sanitized may seem inescapable amid the pandemic, Hamilton said there may be corners of the homeless world where such protocols have not yet been shared.

From where we sit in our lives, thats hard to believe, Hamilton said. The reality is, there are folks who have just really isolated themselves. What Huntsville Hospital and Thrive also want to do as part of this process when they go to the site is use it as an educational opportunity.
90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days star Usman is not expecting things to go well when his fiancee Lisa and his mother finally meet.

In PEOPLEs exclusive sneak peek at Sundays episode of the TLC reality series, Usman, who is from Nigeria, packs with Lisa, a Pennsylvania native, for a trip to meet his mother.

We are preparing to go and meet my mom, Usman, 30, says in a confessional. I got Lisa the Hausa traditional attire in order to impress my mom so that she will give us her blessing.

But Usman fears that no matter how prepared Lisa, 52, is, his mother wont be pleased.

In my entire life Ive never brought any women to my mom that is the lady I want to get married to, Usman says. And the first time I brought a woman, she is American, shes older than me, shes white. These are three things that the tradition and culture may likely go against with.

TLC Useman

RELATED: 90 Day Fiances Ed Troubled by Roses Living Conditions in the Philippines: This Is Really Bad

As Lisa puts on traditional attire Usman got her, he excitedly tells her, My mom is going to be impressed.

Are you sure? Lisa asks, leading Usman to get nervous while staring at her and simply saying, Mmhmm.

TLC Lisa

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance Star Fernanda Flores Finalizes Divorce from Jonathan Rivera: Officially Single!

In a confessional, Usman shares that his relationship with Lisa has already caused issues between him and his mom.

When I tell my family about Lisa and I after I met her online, everybody was not happy with me, he explains. My mom was not talking to me for a good three months. And in our belief that is the sign of failure, for your mom to be angry with you.

So I am scared of what is going to happen when I bring her home today, he adds.

Usman and Lisa are one of eight couples featured on season 4 of the hit show, which follows international couples who have an existing relationship online and travel to the others foreign country to meet for the first time.

90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days airs Sundays (8 p.m. ET) on TLC.
Asia WHO Chief Appears to Take Dig at Trump's Threat to Freeze Funding

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus / KYODO

GENEVAThe head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday appeared to hit back at US President Donald Trumps suggestion that the United States may suspend its funding of the UN agency due partly to what the US leader has called its China-centric response.

Please dont politicize this virus No need to use COVID to score political points, WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus told a press conference, without naming the United States.

The WHO chief also rejected criticism that his comments on Chinas handling of the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, were too favorable to Beijing.

Read more.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:57:24|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese political advisors on Thursday attended a voluntary tree-planting activity in Beijing, as part of their efforts to contribute to building a Beautiful China.

The event was held at the Xishan National Forest Park in Beijing's Haidian District, during which over 400 saplings of different types of trees were planted.

It was attended by vice chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and more than 100 staff members of the working organs of the CPPCC National Committee.

The CPPCC National Committee working organs have consistently organized voluntary tree-planting activities in spring for years.
Councils around the country have closed car parks at their beaches as they try to stop crowds from congregating over the bank holiday weekend.

It comes after reports of Dubliners flocking to beaches in Mayo and Wexford ahead of the weekend which led the Government to introduce radical emergency policing powers.

Following consultation with An Garda Siochana, Mayo County Council have today taken the decision to close access to public car parks at all beaches across the county and also at Croagh Patrick & Westport Skate Park for the foreseeable future.



More: https://t.co/flqdKZOPCl pic.twitter.com/MW4OH8ohOF  Mayo County Council (@MayoCoCo) April 9, 2020

The penalty for breaching coronavirus restrictions is a 2,500 fine or a six-month jail term after the Health Minister Simon Harris signed the emergency powers into law on Tuesday night.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

Donegal County Council has limited access to 12 beaches because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To support public health guidance, DCC is restricting vehicular access to a number of beach carparks & beaches following consultation with relevant authorities. Beaches will remain available to those within a 2km distance of them. @GardaTraffic https://t.co/Jqz8kcpURl pic.twitter.com/wjDGC2KP31  Donegal County Council (@donegalcouncil) April 9, 2020

Vehicular access to the beaches and their car parks has been restricted, but the strands will remain open to residents who live within 2 kilometres of them.

Wexford has followed suit by closing 14 beach car parks in the county.

Car Parks at the following locations now closed;

Ballymoney Beach, Courtown Leisure Centre, Carne Beach, Cahore Beach, Morriscastle Beach, Ballinesker Beach,

Curracloe (White Gap) Beach, Culletons Gap Beach, St Helens Beach, Kilmore Quay, Rosslare Strand Burrough. #2km!  Wexford County Council (@wexfordcoco) April 9, 2020

The head of communications with Wexford County Council, David Minogue, said "that will continue throughout the weekend.

Mr Minogue is imploring people not to visit beaches in the county this weekend.

He said: "We may have a number of other car parks that we may also need to close at our beaches if we continue to experience some of the little problems we have had in the last number of days.

Patricia is speaking to the @mayor_co_cork Cllr Ian Doyle @Corkcoco on car parks at beaches closed this weekend and that the council support services for #Covid19 remain in place over the #Easter weekend #CorkToday pic.twitter.com/e78Mchekkj  C103 (@C103Cork) April 9, 2020

Wed love you to visit our county, just not now, he told RTE radios News at One.

When asked if the cars arriving at the beaches had Dublin registration plates, Mr Minogue said he wouldn't like to single out one county above another.

Let's just say Wexford is a popular destination, and while we love to see visitors - it is the life blood of our tourism industry here - this is not the time to do it.

We are imploring, indeed encouraging people - we'd love you to visit our county, just not now, not at the moment.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
Ithaca, N.Y.  Cayuga Medical Center sent 51 of its doctors, nurses and other staff to New York City today to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The 212-bed hospitals employees will work for one month at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. David Evelyn, a Cayuga vice president, said the hospital asked employees last week to consider volunteering in New York City after Gov. Andrew Cuomo put out a call for help. More than 100 employees expressed interest, he said.

Cayuga will pay the staffers going to New York City their regular salaries, bonus payments and cover the cost of their hotels and living expenses. Evelyn said the hospital hopes to eventually get federal or state funding to help recoup some of the medical missions cost.

Our first mission is to help patients out and we feel obligated to do this, Evelyn said.

Like many Upstate hospitals, Cayuga has seen a significant decline in business since the state ordered hospitals to cancel money-making elective surgeries to free up beds for an anticipated surge of coronavirus patients. That surge has not arrived yet in Ithaca. The hospital told employees in a recent letter its business has dropped 40% to 50%.

To cut costs, the hospital has asked employees to consider volunteering for job furloughs or working part-time. Some employees are interested in volunteering to be furloughed because they have kids at home while schools are closed, said John Turner, a Cayuga vice president.

The medical center employs 2,200 people.

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James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com
Pakistan says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir region as troops engage in worst cross-border clashes in two years.

Indian and Pakistani troops in disputed Kashmir are engaged in their most frequent cross-border fighting for at least two years, official data shows, even as the nuclear-armed rivals battle surging coronavirus outbreaks.

Indian Army data reviewed by Reuters news agency shows 411 ceasefire violations by Pakistans military in March, the highest number in a single month since at least 2018. That compares with 267 violations in March last year recorded by the Indian Army.

Meanwhile, Pakistans army said on Thursday it had shot down a small Indian surveillance drone in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region, according to a report by the AFP news agency.

According to a statement from the army media wing, the Indian quadcopter  about the same size as a commercially available hobby drone  had crossed 600 metres (650 yards) over the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC), an informal border in Kashmir.

This blatant act was aggressively responded to by Pakistan Army troops shooting down Indian quadcopter, the statement read.

An Indian army spokesman said the drone is not ours.

Tensions amid coronavirus lockdown

The incident came as Pakistan and India accuse each other of violating ceasefire terms at the LoC, with sporadic shelling reported from both sides.

[The] Pakistan Army never initiates ceasefire violations along LoC, but it has always responded befittingly to Indian Armys unprovoked firing, said Major-General Babar Iftikhar, of the public relations wing of the Pakistan Army.

Iftikhar said Pakistans military had recorded 705 ceasefire violations by the Indian Army since the beginning of the year. The Indian Army data showed 1,197 Pakistani violations during the same period.

Reuters said it is not in a position to independently verify the competing claims.

Four Indian army officials said the heightened border activity was a cover to help militants from Pakistan-backed groups infiltrate into Indian-administered Kashmir, as some troops help to run health camps and hand out food in the battle on the covonavirus.

The increase in ceasefire violations is an indication that Pakistan is trying to push militants into the Kashmir valley, said one of the officials, who all sought anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.

India has 5,734 infections, including 166 deaths, while Pakistan has reported 4,072 cases and 58 deaths, with the military of each helping its governments efforts against the virus.

Indias Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers patrol near the fence at the India-Pakistan border at the outpost of Samba sector [EPA]

As summer approaches, infiltration into Kashmir typically picks up. An Indian security official said between 250 and 300 fighters were estimated to be ready to cross over from Pakistan, citing intelligence reports.

This is the time when our [border] fence is the weakest, with damage caused by winter snow, said the official, who sought anonymity.

On Monday, the Indian Army said in a statement it killed five Pakistan-backed rebels at the LoC during a firefight in heavy snow, with five of its special forces soldiers also killed.

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between the neighbours but tension was renewed after New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of the Himalayan region last August and split it into federally-administered territories.

Both countries claim the region in full, but rule only parts, and often accuse each other of breaching a 2003 ceasefire pact by shelling and firing across the LoC and killing dozens every year.

Pakistan denies giving material support to rebels in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people.
Technavio has been monitoring the truck transmission system market and it is poised to grow by USD 16.37 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005596/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Truck Transmission System Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. AISIN SEIKI CO., LTD., Allison Transmission Inc., American Axle Manufacturing, Inc., Eaton, Magna International Inc., and ZF Friedrichshafen AG are some of the major market participants. The use of aluminum in truck transmission will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Use of aluminum in truck transmission has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Truck Transmission System Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Truck Transmission System Market is segmented as below:

Application Light-duty Trucks Medium and Heavy-duty Trucks

Geographic Landscape North America APAC Europe South America MEA



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30834

Truck Transmission System Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our truck transmission system market report covers the following areas:

Truck Transmission System Market Size

Truck Transmission System Market Trends

Truck Transmission System Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies increased use of high-speed transmission in trucks as one of the prime reasons driving the truck transmission system market growth during the next few years.

Truck Transmission System Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the truck transmission system market, including some of the vendors such as AISIN SEIKI CO., LTD., Allison Transmission Inc., American Axle Manufacturing, Inc., Eaton, Magna International Inc., and ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the truck transmission system market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

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Truck Transmission System Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist truck transmission system market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the truck transmission system market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the truck transmission system market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of truck transmission system market vendors

Table Of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Light-duty trucks Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Medium and heavy-duty trucks Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

Increased use of high-speed transmission in trucks

Rising adoption of all-electric powertrains

Emergence of triple-clutch transmission system

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

AISIN SEIKI CO., LTD.

Allison Transmission Inc.

American Axle Manufacturing, Inc.

Eaton

Magna International Inc.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005596/en/

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Technavio Research

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Patna, April 9 : At least 12 fresh coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Bihar and 9 of them are members of the same family in Siwan. With this, the total number of infected persons in the state has gone up to 51, health officials said.

Health ministry chief secretary Sanjay Kumar said, "Out of the 12 new cases, 10 are from Siwan and 9 are members of the same family." He said the samples of four women were tested first which were found coronavirus positive. They females range from 12 to 29 years in age. Then five more samples were tested out of which three are females and two are males. They were also found positive on Thursday.

Kumar said they all came in contact with a person who had a travel history to Oman, who was coronavirus positive.

A 36-year-old person, a resident of Siwan, who came from Dubai on March 16, has been found to be coronavirus positive.

The chief secretary said that two more persons in Begusarai tested positive on Thursday. They are 15 and 18 years of age. Their travel history is being ascertained.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 36-year-old person in Nawada was confirmed coronavirus positive. He had travelled from Delhi to Bihar before the lockdown was imposed.

The maximum number of positive cases in the state have been reported from Siwan district. A large number of migrants from the district go to the Gulf countries every year.

So far 11 districts of Bihar have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with the maximum number of cases being from Siwan (20), Patna (5), Monghyr (7), Nalanda (2), Gaya (5), Gopalganj (3), Begusarai (5) and Lakhisarai, Saran, Nawada and Bhagalpur with one case each, the chief secretary said.

One person, who had a travel history to Qatar, has died in Monghyr.
LEI: 213800T2PJTPVF1UGW53

From: Capital Gearing Trust P.l.c.

Date:9 April 2020

Capital Gearing Trust P.l.c.

Publication of Circular and General Meeting

Since its approval at the annual general meeting in 2015, Capital Gearing Trust P.l.c. (the "Company") has successfully operated a discount and premium control policy (the "DCP"). The Board considers its ability to continue to operate the DCP to be extremely important particularly in these extraordinary market conditions. To ensure that the Company can continue to issue ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") and, when market conditions so require, honour the commitment to buy back Ordinary Shares in accordance with the DCP, the Board is seeking to refresh its shareholder authorities both in respect of share issuance and buy back with the aim of ensuring such authorities are not exhausted before the Company's annual general meeting to be held later in the year.

Accordingly, the Company has today published a circular convening a general meeting to be held at 11.00 a.m. on 1 May 2020 at the offices of Dickson Minto W.S., 17 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DF (the "General Meeting").

At the General Meeting, three resolutions will be put to shareholders. An ordinary resolution will be proposed to give the Board authority to allot up to 20 per cent. of the aggregate nominal value of the issued share capital of the Company as at the date of the General Meeting and a special resolution to give the Board authority to disapply rights of pre-emption in respect of the issue of such shares. A third resolution will be proposed to give the Board authority to buy back up to a maximum of 1,727,487 Ordinary Shares which represents approximately 14.99 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the imposition of Stay at Home measures by the UK Government, attendance at the General Meeting may not be possible. In line with the Stay at Home measures, shareholders are strongly discouraged from attending the meeting. Shareholders should submit their proxy appointment as soon as possible to ensure that their vote is counted.

The Board always welcomes any questions shareholders may have in relation to a general meeting. However, in respect of the upcoming General Meeting shareholders are invited to submit any questions by email at the following address company.secretary@capitalgearingtrust.com.

The circular will shortly be available for inspection on the National Storage Mechanism which is located at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

All enquiries:

PATAC Limited

Company Secretary

Tel: 0131 538 1400

Email: company.secretary@capitalgearingtrust.com
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AXON Neuroscience ("Axon"), a clinical-stage biotech company and an industry leader in treating and preventing neurodegenerative diseases, is developing a promising vaccine candidate against COVID-19.

Axon has over 20 years' experience in development of safe and immunogenic peptide vaccines. Its well-established scalable technology allowed the company to move quickly in recent weeks to create a novel peptide vaccine in support of the global fight against COVID-19.

Norbert Zilka, Chief Scientific Officer of Axon, said: "We have over sixty scientists with expertise in key disciplines - immunology, pharmacology, structural biology, proteomics, genomics - making Axon ideally placed to deliver a rapid solution for combatting the new coronavirus."

Axon's peptide vaccine candidate against COVID-19

Axon used its established peptide-based vaccine platform to produce a novel prophylactic COVID-19 vaccine, intended to treat infected patients and protect healthy individuals from infection. Axon's vaccine contains only selected epitopes capable of inducing desirable T cell and B cell mediated immune responses to prevent interaction of the virus Spike (S) glycoprotein with its target human cells, thus preventing the virus from entering the cells and spreading. This approach is designed to prevent the unwanted serious side effects observed in previous studies of conventional vaccines against SARS-CoV.

The elderly patients most at risk for COVID-19 are prone to develop serious respiratory complications and pneumonia, which might result in permanent lung damage or even death. In general, elderly individuals typically do not respond as well to vaccination, resulting in ordinary vaccinations having a limited effect. Axon has developed innovative proprietary technologies to stimulate the immune systems of elderly people and people with immunodeficiencies in order to produce a high antibody response in these vulnerable populations.

"The human immune system slowly deteriorates with age. This immunosenescence, combined with other comorbidities, makes elderly people highly sensitive to SARS-CoV-2 infections and prone to severe respiratory complications. We believe we have a safe and effective vaccine concept to prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19 and at the same time protect the most vulnerable groups," said Professor Eva Kontsekova, Immunologist and the Head of Immunotherapy at Axon.

The recent workshop co-chaired by both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that an expedited regulatory pathway could be available for well-tested vaccine platforms, such as Axon's. Data from Axon's previous Alzheimer's Disease clinical trials could facilitate a quick move to first-in-human clinical trials with the new COVID-19 vaccine.

Peptide vaccines represent a promising alternative to conventional vaccine approaches, particularly given their speed of development and ease of production. Axon's longstanding strategic collaboration with the European-based global leader in peptide vaccine manufacturing means that the transfer to GMP production is quick, inexpensive and highly scalable due to the established analytical and manufacturing methods used in Axon's other development programmes.

"The emerging global health threat of COVID-19 requires a rapid response. More potent and versatile vaccine platforms are urgently needed. Given the expedited regulatory procedures for COVID-19, the first-in-human administration with our vaccine could take place as early as September 2020, much quicker than standard vaccine timelines," said Michal Fresser, Chief Executive Officer of Axon Neuroscience.

About Coronavirus COVID-19

Coronaviruses, which are large, enveloped RNA viruses, can cause potentially fatal disease in humans such as MERS-Cov, SARS-Cov and newly discovered SARS-Cov2. As the new coronavirus outbreak has spread with thousands of infected cases globally, WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic. As of 9 April 2020 COVID-19 is responsible for more than 88,000 deaths. Further, more than 1,500,000 patients have been positively diagnosed with the disease and the estimates of actual cases are several times higher. A vast majority of the fatalities are elderly people above 65 years of age.

About Axon's Peptide Vaccine Platform

Axon has developed its lead vaccine AADvac1, which is the most clinically-advanced tau therapy in development for treating and preventing Alzheimer's Disease. At the end of 2019 Axon has successfully completed a phase 2 clinical trial in almost 200 Alzheimer's patients, which revealed excellent safety, immunogenicity and efficacy. The evidence from its clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease proved its peptide-based vaccine platform very safe and well-tolerated. Over 80% of the treated Alzheimer's patients demonstrated an exceptional immune response and generated a robust quantity of antibodies.

COVID-19 belongs to a family of coronaviruses that can cause respiratory disease and pneumonia, which is particularly dangerous and lethal for elderly patients. The knowledge and experience acquired in treating elderly population such as Alzheimer's Disease patients, is highly relevant with respect to COVID-19.

About Axon Neuroscience

Axon Neuroscience is an industry leading, clinical stage biotech company at the forefront of the peptide-based vaccines against fatal human diseases. The company was founded in 1999 and now has the single biggest team in the world dedicated exclusively to peptide vaccine development in relation to treating Alzheimer's Disease. The extensive knowledge in producing safe and immunogenic vaccine and well-established scalable technology allowed the company to move very quickly to creation of novel peptide vaccine against the COVID-19.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/485567/AXON_Neuroscience_Logo.jpg

Media enquiries

Juraj Kutak

AXON Neuroscience

+421-903-437-020

media@axon-neuroscience.eu
Officials on Wednesday announced charges in separate cases of New Jersey residents allegedly violating state orders put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly told people to stay home, keep social distancing and follow his ban on gatherings as cases of the contagious virus continue to grow in the state. The governor recently dubbed violators members of the knucklehead hall of shame.

Among those facing charges was a 21-year-old Woodbine woman, Zharia N. Young, who was involved in a DWI crash in Maurice River Township Tuesday, authorities said. As she was being arrested by state police, Young allegedly became belligerent and uncooperative and coughed on the troopers while claiming she had COVID-19.

She said she was happy that she was infecting them with the virus, the Attorney Generals Office said in a statement.

Young was charged with terroristic threats, aggravated assault on an officer and DWI.

In another case Tuesday, 26-year-old Christopher Williams, of Paterson, was charged with offenses including resisting arrest, contempt and obstruction, according to authorities. Police were trying to arrest Williams after a reported domestic dispute when he told officers he was infected with the virus as a way to avoid being taken into custody.

Police in Jersey City charged 49-year-old Bernadette Bisogno with simple assault, harassment and violating emergency orders for an April 3 incident at a Target store in the city, officials said. During an argument with a woman she knew, Bisogno purposely sneezed on the victim, leaving saliva on her clothing and skin.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Were on a mission to save lives. And well hold accountable anyone who gets in the way of that, as illustrated by our recent enforcement actions: https://t.co/KsRtPGuTW4



Do your fellow New Jerseyans, your friends, your family, and yourself a favor and STAY HOME!  AG Gurbir Grewal (@NewJerseyOAG) April 8, 2020

As part of the enforcement activity, authorities said they also found non-essential businesses operating. Newark police issued 34 summonses for violations of the emergency orders and closed three non-essential businesses Tuesday. Paterson authorities on Monday issued 40 summonses for similar violations and closed two non-essential businesses.

Paterson police on Monday found Deluxe Bubbles Car Wash open, in violation of the shut down order, and went to speak with the owner, according to officials. The owners son, Juan Ortiz, became aggressive with officers and refused to provide his information. Ortiz, 36, of Paterson, was charged with violating the emergency orders and resisting arrest.

Another non-essential business in Paterson, Buy and Save Furniture on Market Street, was found open on Sunday, authorities said. Feras Abudaya, 33, of Kinnelon, was charged twice with opening his store and ordered to close.

Police have also brought charges related to violating the governors emergency order in addition to other criminal offenses.

Shakir Scott, 20, of Newark, was charged with burglary and violating emergency orders after police said they found him entering three parked, unoccupied vehicles in Union.

In New Brunswick, authorities said Nathaniel Brown, 44, was charged with misusing the 911 system and violating the emergency orders on Monday. He allegedly called in a false report of a shooting on Quentin Avenue. Police said they found Brown outside and arrested the city resident.

Despite a ban on gatherings, authorities around the state continue to find people allegedly flouting the order. Kobe A. Kemp, 20, of Browns Mills was charged Monday with violating emergency orders for ignoring a prior warning from police to stay home. However, police said they found Kemp outside causing a disturbance with a group.

The state Attorney Generals Office began releasing daily reports with the names of people who were accused of breaking the emergency regulations around the state.

Our police officers are working bravely and tirelessly every day to protect us during this health crisis. Regrettably, they are being called upon far too often to deal with people violating the emergency orders or what is more egregious, people using the virus to spread fear or impede officers in their vital work, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. Staying home and maintaining social distance isnt just the best advice to stay healthy, its the law.

New Jersey has the second highest total of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country behind New York. There were at least 47,437 people infected as of Wednesday, according to the health department. At least 1,504 have died in the state.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Reuters

Amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the country, Mumbai and Delhi have become the latest cities in the country to make the wearing of face masks mandatory for people stepping out of their homes. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) Where Are Coronavirus Containment & Hotspot Zones In India? Check If You Are Residing In One

BCCL

Intensifying its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the government has identified hotspots across the country. These hotspots will have stricter restrictions than those in a lockdown. Strict measures translate to more control over the transmission of the fatal virus and limiting the number of cases in an area. Read more

2) What Is 'Bhilwara Model' And How It Can Be A Template For COVID-19 Hotspots Across India

Twitter

The 'Bhilwara Model' of COVID-19 containment was put in place on March 20, a day after a doctor in a private hospital in the city tested positive, following which the district emerged as a hotspot for coronavirus positive cases in the state. Read more

3) How Did Indore, India's Cleanest City End Up Being A COVID-19 Hotspot?

BCCL

Indore has more COVID-19 cases than some of the biggest cities in the country. On Thursday morning, Indore had 151 COVID-19 positive cases, neatly half of the 347 infections reported in the whole of Madhya Pradesh. The city has also seen 16 deaths due to the virus. Read more

4) Wondering If You Can Go Out To Buy Groceries In Containment Zones? Here's The Dos & Don'ts

BCCL

To tackle the coronavirus outbreak, and prevent it from moving to Stage 3 of community transmission, India has sealed off containment zones identified in coronavirus hotspots in Delhi, Mumbai and parts of the south. Read more

5) Coronavirus Lockdown: Petrol, Diesel Demand Slumps 66% In April As Vehicles Lie Idle At Home

BCCL

Petrol and diesel has gone down by 66 per cent this month. On the other hand aviation turbine fuel (ATF) consumption has collapsed by 90 per cent as most airlines have stopped flying, according to industry officials. Read more
"We are committed to helping customers during this unprecedented time. Building on our Farmers  Cares initiative to assist customers, all Farmers auto customers will receive a 25% premium reduction for the month of April," said Jeff Dailey, chief executive officer of Farmers Insurance. "As we continue receiving updated information in the coming weeks, we'll assess additional ways to take care of our customers."

Farmers and 21st Century customers will not need to take any action; however, should they have questions they can call Farmers at 888-327-6335 or 21st Century at 877-401-8181. Additionally, for new business and existing customers, Farmers is making their usage based insurance tool, Signal, available to immediately save 5% to 15% more on their auto insurance premiums. Signing up for Signal will also allow customers to long term move their rates toward the risk they represent.*

Under its Farmers Cares initiative, Farmers has already introduced several customer-focused initiatives to help customers during this time, including:

With many small businesses struggling as a result of customers staying home, Farmers is providing additional relief to more than 115,000 of its business insurance customers under its Farmers Cares initiative. Business customers in the restaurant, office, retail and service sectors across the country will receive a 20% monthly credit on their Business Owners Policy (BOP) for the next two months on their upcoming premium notices.

Mindful of the pandemic's impact on customers, Farmers made adjustments to allow extra time for insureds to pay their policies. The organization temporarily paused cancellations, allowing customers more time to pay their premiums until May 1, 2020 .

. Farmers temporarily modified its Farmers branded auto policies to extend a customer's existing personal auto and motorcycle insurance coverages when delivery drivers use their personal automobile or motorcycle for the delivery of food, groceries, pharmacy and medical supplies.

Farmers is providing continuing support to local non-profit organizations that are responding with community-based COVID-19 initiatives.

Customers seeking additional information on other ways to save are encouraged to contact their local Farmers Insurance agent.

Farmers is working with the various Departments of Insurance to implement this premium credit program quickly on behalf of its customers.

*Signal is not available in California, New York and South Carolina.

About Farmers Insurance

"Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 5 million households with over 15 million individual policies nationally, through the efforts of more than 45,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 19,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2019 Fortune 500 list.

For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

About 21st Century Insurance

For more than 60 years, 21st Century Insurance has taken pride in providing customers superior coverage and service while helping them save money on car insurance along the way. The insurer offers customers 24/7 customer service, detailed policy coverage options, quality claims service powered by Farmers and helpful ways to save on auto insurance.

Contact: External Communications

Farmers Insurance

[email protected]

SOURCE Farmers Insurance

Related Links

http://www.farmers.com


Ageless Innovation Joy for All Companion Pet Joy for All Companion Pets allow socially isolated older adults to receive similar gratification and comfort that they would from live pets by calming anxiety, decreasing loneliness, and providing a better quality of lifewithout needing to worry about food or vet bills.

To help combat social isolation and depression among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the Association on Aging in New York (AgingNY), in partnership with award-winning robotic pet manufacturer Ageless Innovation, is distributing up to 1,100 robotic Joy for All Companion Pets to those most at-risk for social isolation.

Social isolation was already a serious public health problem for older individuals who have limited social connections, and the COVID-19 virus has made this problem exponentially worse, said Executive Director Becky Preve. Social isolation also puts older adults at greater risk for a number of physiological issues such as decline in mobility, heart disease including heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure, cognitive decline, infectious illness, and chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes. We are so grateful for this partnership with Ageless Innovation and are excited to work alongside their team to deliver pets to those who will benefit from their companionship.

It is well known that social isolation disproportionately affects older adults, many of whom often only have social contact out of the home at community venues or places of worship. Those who do not have close family or friends and rely on the support of community services are at additional risk, along with those who are already lonely or isolated.

While social distancing and Matildas Law were put in place to slow the physical effects of COVID-19, they also have the unintended effect of heightening the risk of social isolation and loneliness even more, ultimately leaving older adults and caregivers looking for solutions to provide comfort, companionship, and joy in this time of physical absence.

Joy for All Companion Pets allow socially isolated older adults to receive similar gratification and comfort that they would from live pets by calming anxiety, decreasing loneliness, and providing a better quality of lifewithout needing to worry about food or vet bills.

In 2019, New York State became the first state in the nation to test these pets with isolated community-based older adults. New York piloted 60 Joy for All Companion Pets (30 cats and 30 pups) with socially isolated older adults living at home in 12 counties across the state. Pilot participants were identified using a 6-item loneliness scale. Robotic cats and pups are usually given to people with Alzheimers disease and other dementias as a form of calming pet therapy, but data has shown that using pets to decrease social isolation is highly successful70% of pilot participants reported a decrease or significant decrease in isolation after one year.

Ted Fischer, Co-Founder and CEO, Ageless Innovation said, The unfortunate reality is that the necessary protective measures put in place to protect older adults from the spread of COVID-19 also serve to further isolate them from friends and family. We are overjoyed to work alongside AgingNY and the New York State Office for the Aging to ensure that hundreds of our aging loved ones can continue to find comfort, companionship, and joy with our Joy for All pets during this critical time.

Greg Olsen, Acting Director of the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) said, This pandemic has impacted the entire aging network and we are working tirelessly to address ongoing concerns, including social isolation. We are utilizing innovative ways to combat the public health emergency of social isolation and loneliness, and the robotic pet project has extensive evidence showing the overwhelming value to the older population. Expanding the access to these pets will help thousands of older New Yorkers by offering companionship.

Allison Nickerson, Executive Director, LIveOn NY said "LiveOn NY knows that the risk for isolation among older adults can be particularly devastating. This point is especially clear today as COVID-19 forces more individuals to stay home, limit outside contact, and alter daily routines. For this reason, we are incredibly pleased to support the expanded use of robotic pets throughout the state and we look forward to more older adults having access to this tool to both fight isolation and improve overall health."

Lisa Schuhle, Director of the Broome County Office for the Aging said, Many older adults who love pets can no longer take care of them, and robotic pets are a wonderful substitute. They meow or bark, move, and can be loved and snuggled. During this incredibly difficult time, these robotic companion pets are even more comforting and appreciated by isolated older adults.

Krissy Leerkes, Director of the Essex County Office for the Aging said, The Essex County Office for the Aging has been part of the robotic pet pilot project and has experienced an overwhelming decrease in social isolation and loneliness in participants. The additional investment in the program during this very difficult time is visionary and will absolutely assist in alleviating social isolation and loneliness.

Andrea Montgomery, Director of the St. Lawrence County Office for the Aging said, St. Lawrence County has been pleased to partner in the robotic pet program with NYSOFA. Our participants fell in love with the pets from the moment they adopted them into their lives. They gave the pets names, daily affection, and even sleep with them for comfort. This program has significantly reduced the levels of reported loneliness and isolation among our older adults. I wish we could give one to every client.

AgingNY, NYSOFA, and Ageless Innovation recognize that the benefits of companionship extend to many who aren't directly impacted by this program. It is with this in mind that we would like to offer a 20% discount to all families facing the challenges of social isolation during this time. Those interested in learning more about these pets can visit http://www.Joyforall.com and use code NYS20 at checkout between now and June 30, 2020.

Tips and Resources to Stay Connected and Combat Social Isolation



Use technology to stay in touch. If you have a smartphone, use the video capabilities (seeing someones facial expressions can help increase connection).

Check in via phone with family, friends, and neighbors regularly.

If you live with others, spend time connecting with them. Use this time to improve your existing relationships.

Manage your stress levels. Exercise, meditate, and keep to a daily routine as much as you can.

The Institute on Agings 24-hour toll-free Friendship Line is the only accredited crisis line in the country for people aged 60 years and older, and adults living with disabilities. Trained volunteers specialize in offering a caring ear and having a friendly conversation with older adults experiencing loneliness and social isolation: 1-800-971-0016.

AARPs Connect2Affect.org website offers an assessment and resources to connect to help in your area.

AARP Community Connections connects neighbors to neighbors through online mutual aid groups.

USA Today has compiled a list of 100 things to do while stuck inside due to a pandemic.

For the latest news and information on COVID-19, visit https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home.

About the Association on Aging in New York

The Association on Aging in New York (AgingNY) supports and advocates for New Yorks 59 mostly county-based Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and works collaboratively with a network of organizations that exist to promote independence, preserve dignity, and provide support for residents of New York State as they age. For more information, visit http://www.agingny.org or call 518-449-7080.

New York is nationally recognized for being the first age-friendly state in the nation. Using the states Prevention Agenda as the overarching framework, in 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo launched a Health Across All Policies approach, where public and private partners work together to positively impact population health by marrying health care, preventive health, and community design, in concert with addressing social determinants of health, to improve the lives of all New Yorkers, young and old.

About Ageless Innovation

Ageless Innovation is a global company devoted to developing fun and engaging products for older adults. Beginning with the award-winning line of Joy for All Companion Pets, Ageless Innovation is focused on creating products that promote fun, joy and play while reducing the cost of care and creating meaningful connections for older adults, their families, and caregivers. http://www.joyforall.com.

###

CONTACT:

Association on Aging in New York: Becky Preve, becky@agingny.org; 518-570-6023

Ageless/Joy for All: Christie Damato; cdamato@litzkypr.com; 631-278-4109
Chinese authorities have begun celebrating the so-called victory against the CCP virus epidemic. But residents inside Wuhan tell a different story.

A Chinese ambassador calls for cooperation with the United States while a U.S. spokesperson challenges Beijing to follow throughoutlining 3 steps for the regime to take.

A rush to produce face masks in China, where are they being made, and how is the quality of these masks?

Video conferencing software, Zoom, is facing a lawsuit for misleading shareholders on its privacy and encryption standards.

President Trump questions whether the United States should continue funding the World Health Organization after the way it handled the virus pandemic.

NTD refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel for more first-hand news from China

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday updated its testing strategy for Covid-19 that now affected almost 6,000 people in the country.

According to the revised strategy, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between days 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact.

It also brought under the testing protocol all symptomatic individuals who have undertaken international travel in the last 14 days.

All symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases will also have to be tested.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

The new strategy will also cover all symptomatic health care workers and all patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (fever and cough and/or shortness of breath), the ICMR said.

In hotspots/cluster (as designated by the Union ministry of health and family welfare) in large migration gatherings/evacuees centres, all symptomatic ILI (fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose) will have to be tested within 7 days of illness (Real-time polymerase chain reaction or rRT-PCR)

After 7 days of illness, the ICMR suggested an antibody test (If negative, confirmed by rRT-PCR).

There are 139 government laboratories and 65 private ones that are currently authorised to carry out tests for Covid-19. Private labs have started testing only recently.

Earlier Thursday, the ICMR that it wont recommend hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) medicine for Covid-19 patients unless tests show satisfactory results.

ICMRs top scientist Raman Gangakhedkar once again reiterated his statement that India has still not entered the third stage (or community transmission) of Covid-19 outbreak.

There has been a huge demand for Hydroxychloroquine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease.
Pakistan has extended partial lockdown till April 14 and constantly asking people to stay indoors and follow social distancing.

As the total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan crossed 4,000 on Tuesday with 340 fresh infections reported in less than 24 hours, the country struggled to ramp up efforts to beat the pandemic.

According to latest reports, the total number of infections has gone up to 4,414, while 63 have died due to COVID-19. As many as 572 have recovered while 31 were in critical condition.

The increase in the number of new cases was reported despite hectic efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.

The government has extended the partial lockdown until 14 April and asked people to stay indoors and follow social distancing measures.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has also announced Rs 1,200 billion financial package to help vulnerable people and businesses.

But despite the efforts, medical staff across Pakistan have complained for weeks over the severe shortages of safety equipment in hospitals as they treat patients suffering from the coronavirus.

Police on Monday arrested doctors and medical staff in Balochistan's capital Quetta for protesting over the lack of protective gears.

According to Yasir Khan, president of the Young Doctors Association, more than 150 doctors and paramedics have been arrested.

The doctors and medical staff wanted to protest outside the Balochistan chief minister's house when the police baton-charged them. Video footage from Monday's protest showed dozens of doctors raising slogans and criticising the provincial government.

The protest came after more than a dozen doctors contracted the virus reportedly while discharging their duties.

The authorities say they are racing to procure more supplies of protective gear and setting up more quarantine facilities as the number of cases surge.

Doctors complain that those directly deployed in the COVID-19 wards only have access to protective gear leaving millions other doctors who are deployed in normal wards and clinics exposed.

"We do not have personal protective equipment (PPE), or goggles, and even [face] masks we are buying from our own funds,"Al Jazeera quoted Dr Ahmed Zeb, a spokesman for a doctor's union in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as saying.

The shortage of equipment was highlighted after Pakistan president Arif Alvi was seen wearing a N-95 mask at a meeting, prompting Pakistan Medical Association to issue a statement urging general public and politicians to not misuse N-95 masks, which are needed by medical professionals and COVID-19 patients.

Alvi later issued a clarification that he was merely reusing an old mask.

As a Dr I am strongly aware of misuse & wastage. I was re-using the N-95 mask that was given to me in China. Finally its strap broke y/day so in next mtng @ WingCmdr Noman Akram Shaheed's house you see me wearing regular public mask. I hope my clarification finds equal billing  pic.twitter.com/bXDLHnwe4d  Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) April 9, 2020

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Supreme Court Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Monday criticised the government for lack of efforts to combat the coronavirus, saying "nothing is being done on ground".

Prime Minister Khan has warned that the situation due to coronavirus pandemic "can further deteriorate" and "hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients, even as he justified his decision of not enforcing a total lockdown in Pakistan, saying over 50 million people were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such a step is taken.

The government has extended a partial lockdown till 14 April and is constantly asking people to stay indoors and follow social distancing.

Khan said that a decision on easing the countrywide lockdown will be taken after seeking inputs from all the provinces on 14 April.

Addressing the to members of Balochistan's Provincial Cabinet and Parliaments in Quetta on Thursday afternoon, Khan said federal and provincial governments are working jointly to cope with the situation arising out of the coronavirus crisis.

He said that the National Command and Control Centre is minutely observing the situation across the country.

With inputs from PTI
The occupants used weapons that are prohibited by the Minsk agreements

Yesterday, on April 18, militants violated the ceasefire in Donbas eight times, wounding of one Ukrainian soldier. This was reported by the press service of Ukraines Defense Ministry.

Thus, the invaders attacked Ukrainian positions with 120-mm and 82-mm mortars, which are banned by the Minsk agreements, grenade and rocket launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

One Ukrainian serviceman was injured due to the enemy shellings.

As we reported earlier, the Russia-backed militants attacked a car with journalists, which was in the area of Joint Forces Operation in the Donetsk region.

"According to the investigation, on April 7, 2020, at about 11:00 in the area of the village of Krasnogorivka, Donetsk Region, an unmanned aerial object was dropped on a civilian car. As a result of the enemy attack, the car was destroyed, passengers were not injured," the report reads.

The procedural guidance of the pre-trial investigation is carried out by the Volnovakha local prosecutor's office.
Trial of historian accused of student murder postponed due to quarantine

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

12:14 09/04/2020

ST. PETERSBURG, April 9 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  The hearing of a case against history professor Oleg Sokolov charged with killing his postgraduate student Anastasia Yeshchenko and ammunition trafficking scheduled for Thursday was postoponed because of the quarantine in his detention center, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts reports.

Accused persons are not transferred from detention to courts. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, the trial cannot be held through videoconference, the statement reads.

A new date for the beginning of the trial is not set yet.

In late March, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg extended detention of Sokolov until September 23.

According to investigators, rescuers pulled the 63-year reader out of a local river early on November 9 and hospitalized. Womans severed hands and a nonlethal pistol were found in his backpack. Other parts of her body were found in his flat. The man was arrested when left the hospital the next day. He voluntary surrendered.

The victim was identified as the 24-year postgraduate student of the St. Petersburg State University and Sokolovs partner.

The professor pleaded guilty. He said that he gunned the woman and broke up her body.

Sokolov is a historian and ideologist of reconstruction of Napoleonic period battles. He has been conferred the Legion of Honor, the French national award instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Crucial programs  including ones that provide vaccinations, test for sexually transmitted infections and monitor local food and water supplies  have been trimmed or eliminated. As a result, several old public health foes have returned: Measles and syphilis are both resurgent, as is nicotine consumption among teenagers and the contamination of food and water with bacteria and lead.

Each of these crises has received its own flurry of outrage, but none of them have been enough to break what experts say is the nations default public health strategy: neglect, panic, repeat.

We ignore the public health sector unless theres a major catastrophe, said Scott Becker, the head of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Then we throw a pile of money at the problem. Then we rescind that money as soon as the crisis abates.

There is a better way.

Imagine a public health system in which all public health entities used the same cutting-edge technology in their laboratories and on their computers. This would include equipment that enables rapid diagnostic tests to be developed and deployed quickly in a crisis; web portals where data on disease spread, hospital capacity and high-risk communities can be logged and shared across the country; and user-friendly apps that enable private citizens to facilitate the efforts of epidemiologists.

The technology to create such a system already exists  it only has to be adapted and implemented.

That, of course, requires investment. In 2019, a consortium of public health organizations lobbied the federal government for $1 billion to help the nations public health system modernize its data infrastructure. They were granted $50 million. In the wake of Covid-19, that sum has been increased to $500 million. But much more is needed. There is a $5.4 billion gap between current public health spending and the cost of modernizing public health infrastructure, according to the Trust for Americas Health report.

However much money is ultimately allotted for this work, it will have to be deployed equitably, in high-income and low-income communities alike. Health departments everywhere are struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, but that struggle is particularly acute in marginalized communities, where health is already fragile, public health departments are sometimes nonexistent and mistrust of officials tends to run high.

Early data from several states indicates that Hispanics and African-Americans already account for a disproportionately high number of coronavirus-related deaths, a finding that is both unsurprising and unacceptable. A better system would direct federal aid to where its needed most  and would work to eradicate legacies of injustice and abuse that mar the history of public health victories.
The CRPF is all geared to "fight the invisibleand invasive enemy" in the form of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the chief of the force said on Thursday.

In a communication to his troops on the occasion of the 'Valour day' of the force, CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari asked them to be strongand fit for serving the country during these tough times.

"Dear friends, when going gets tough, the tough gets going. Toughness is our trademark..."



"Today, the entire nation is facing a tough time due to COVID-19. I am happy that being tough yourself, you all have geared up to help people fight the invisible and invasive enemy," he said.

The DG said "all programmes related to the day are for the time being suspended" in view of the viral outbreak.

"However, we in our thoughts and ethos uphold the dignity of the day," he said.

It was on April9,1965 at Sardar Post in Gujarat that only two companies of CRPF heroes proved tough enough for a full brigade of Pakistani army, making them bite the dust, Maheshwari said.

"We are and will always be proud of their valour and sacrifice for the motherland," he said.

President Ram Nath Kovind said the Central Reserve Police Force men, who were killed in action, wrote a "golden history" on this day with their extraordinary bravery, patriotism and sacrifice.

He also paid his tributes to the martyrs in a message issued over Twitter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded the bravery of the force.

"The courage of @crpfindia is widely known. On CRPF Valour Day today, I salute this brave force and remember the bravery of our CRPF personnel in Gujarat's Sardar Patel Post in 1965. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten," the PM tweeted.

Union home minister Amit Shah wished the force, saying a small contingent of the force created history by defeating the invading enemy army that was several times larger than them.

"Congratulations to everyone and salute to our brave martyrs of CRPF. 'Shaurya divas' is a symbol of indomitable courage, valour and sacrifice," Shah said on Twitter.

The fight-back by the force, which was posted for border guarding duties that time, is mentioned as one of the glorious chapters in military history of the nation when only two companies (about 150 personnel) of the force stood their ground and repulsed the Pakistani attack.

The force was tasked to secure Sardar post seeing the aggressive posturing of the other side and the location was at a flat area which was tactically disadvantageous.

On the intervening night of 8-9 April (1965), 3,500 men of 51st Infantry Brigade of Pakistan and comprising 18 Punjab battalion, 8 Frontier Rifles and 6 Baluch battalion stealthily launched simultaneous assault on the Sardar and Tak Posts under an operation codenamed "Desert Hawk".

The fight lasted 12 hours during which the enemy made three attempts to overrun the post but was repulsed with heavy casualties by some dare-devil action by the paramilitary men.

The retaliation by the CRPF men saw the numerically and armament superior Pakistan retreating the areas and leaving behind 34 bodies of their soldiers including two officers. Four Pakistani soldiers were taken as hostages while six CRPF men made the supreme sacrifice and the post was saved.

The about 3.25 lakh personnel strong force remembers its martyrs by observing 'Valour day; on April 9 every year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 21:33:43|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China plans to ease restrictions for rural residents applying for urban household registration status and allow more people to enjoy public services, according to a document released Thursday.

Cities with a resident population of less than 3 million should remove all barriers for rural residents to apply for urban household registration status, or hukou, according to the document released by the National Development and Reform Commission.

For bigger cities, those with a resident population of more than 3 million, restrictions should be loosened for certain groups of people such as migrant workers with stable jobs in cities and college students from rural areas, according to the document.

The document also directed local governments to promote basic public services, such as healthcare, education and housing, for people already living in cities without an urban hukou and their family members.

Under a national plan for a new type of urbanization, China has set a goal to help 100 million rural residents and people living in cities without an urban hukou settle down in cities and towns from 2014 to 2020.
I taly's Prime Minister has warned the EU could collapse if it fails in its response to the coronavirus crisis as he signalled his countrys lockdown might be eased later this month.

Giuseppe Conte said that Europes leaders were facing an appointment with history that they must not miss as he hit out over the failure so far to agree a financial rescue package for his and other badly affected EU countries.

His warning, in an interview with the BBC, came as Mr Conte indicated that he could be ready to lift some restrictions in his country by the end of April because the infection rate in Italy, the European country worst hit by Covid-19, was beginning to fall.

He said: Its likely that if scientists confirm it, we might be able to relax some measures already by the end of this month.

Experts are confirming that the curve is starting to decline and stabilise. The number of infections is falling. Were confident that if we continue this way we will overcome the worst phase. But we cannot lower our guard.

Empty Europe during Coronavirus - In pictures 1 /45 Empty Europe during Coronavirus - In pictures The Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate is almost empty in Berlin AP The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is deserted Getty Images Barcelona's cathedral, Spain AP Duomo Square in Milan, Italy, AP Colosseum in central Rome AFP via Getty Images The Autobahn 12 is completely empty shortly before the German-Polish border crossing near Frankfurt AP Closed shops following an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Brussels, Belgium Reuters The Malagueta beach is cordoned off in Malaga, Spain AFP via Getty Images Vienna, Austria AP Deserted Hotel de Ville in Paris, France Getty Images The highway leading to Barcelona is seen empty of cars AP City of Gdansk in Poland is virtually deserted Reuters Ratusz Arsenal metro station visually deserted, amid coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, in Warsaw, Poland via Reuters St. Peter's Square, Vatican in Rome, Italy Reuters The Royal palace in downtown Madrid, Spain AP The usually busy Larios street remains empty in Malaga AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty square in Naples, Italy during a lockdown across all of the country, imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus, in Naples, Italy Reuters Galleria Umberto in Naples, Italy Reuters A street is almost empty in downtown Naples AP An empty beach in Barcelona, Spain AP Homes and an empty street are seen under partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the coronavirus outbreak in downtown Ronda, southern Spain Reuters Restaurants remain closed on a seaside promenade in Valencia in Spain AFP via Getty Images A deserted Westland shopping center in Brussels BELGA/AFP via Getty Images A view of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping arcade in Milan, Italy AP An empty street in the Porta Nuova district in Milan, Itlay Reuters An almost empty Roemerberg square, the main tourist spot in Frankfurt, Germany AP An empty Via Condotti street in Rome, Italy Reuters Piazza Trilussa in Rome, Italy Reuters The Louvre Museum Getty Images Musee du Louvre in Paris is closed to the public AFP via Getty Images The Eiffel Tower is seen next to a board that reads: "In the context of the COVID-19 the Eiffel Tower closes Reuters An empty Disneyland Paris PA Old Town area visually deserted, amid coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, in Warsaw, Poland via Reuters Old Town area is visually deserted, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) concerns, in Warsaw, Poland via Reuters

Statistics published yesterday showed only a one per cent rise in new infections over the previous 24 hours.

The death toll is also down, with 542 fatalities in the latest daily statistics  not far off half the peak of 919 recorded a fortnight ago.

The signs of progress in Italy came as Spains Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said today that his country might also be turning the corner in its fight against the virus. The fire finally starts to come under control, he told the Spanish parliament.

READ MORE

Germanys health minister, Jens Spahn, also suggested today that restrictions there could start to be eased gradually after Easter if figures continued to show the current positive trend, while schools are reopening in Denmark next week.

Small shops in Austria are also returning to business, although France extended its lockdown yesterday by banning outdoor exercise.

But the glimmers of optimism were clouded by Mr Contes warning about the danger to the future of the EU.

It follows deadlock over a plan to issue so-called corona bonds funded by wealthier European nations to prop up the economies of Italy and others.

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A key sticking point has been wrangling over whether conditions stipulating economic reforms should be attached, but Mr Conte used his BBC interview to warn that the entire EU project could be called into question if a solution was not found.

A further teleconference meeting on the issue is due today, but Mr Conte warned: If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real. His comments follow rising hostility to the EU within Italy over the lack of support in the wake of an earlier inconclusive meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
Sustainability content presented in ESG framework focuses on culture of stewardship

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announces the launch of Sustainability on Celanese.com, an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) focus on the Celanese culture of stewardship, inspired by the company's vision of improving the world and everyday life through its people, chemistry and innovation.

Celanese began this new decade looking ahead with increased attention on a sustainable future while continuing to take great pride in its successful past 100 years. Leading Celanese into the new decade, CEO Lori Ryerkerk is building on the company's reputation as a good steward of our environmental resources and a valued community partner.

Recently, Celanese was awarded the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award for 2020. Also of late, Celanese acquired Elotex, a portfolio of redispersible polymer powders that helps to improve the sustainability of building materials. Celanese also formed an ESG Council made up of senior leaders from key ESG-related functional and business areas with special representation from its regional leadership.

"How we demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future plays such an important role in our success that we've raised up Sustainability as one of our four strategic pillars," said Ryerkerk. "Even during these challenging times, it is important to help stakeholders stay informed of the actions Celanese is taking to address sustainability and ESG topics. We are dedicated to operating responsibly and strive to remain at the forefront of sustainable practices."

"The Council serves to align ESG efforts with Celanese's strategic sustainability goals and industry best practices," said Lynne Puckett, ESG Council executive sponsor, Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "In years past, we have shared our sustainability story through a variety of mediums including the Stewardship report. Today, companies communicate their sustainability efforts in the ESG framework. One way the Council has aligned Celanese's work in sustainability with ESG best practices is by updating, re-organizing and enhancing this content."

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our businesses use the full breadth of Celanese's global chemistry, technology and commercial expertise to create value for our customers, employees, shareholders and the corporation. As we partner with our customers to solve their most critical business needs, we strive to make a positive impact on our communities and the world through The Celanese Foundation. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of $6.3 billion. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com

Forward-Looking Statements: This release may contain "forward-looking statements," which include information concerning the company's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future revenues or performance, capital expenditures and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words "outlook," "forecast," "estimates," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "plans," "intends," "believes," and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the company or its customers will realize these benefits or that these expectations will prove correct. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Numerous factors, many of which are beyond the company's control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed as forward-looking statements. Other risk factors include those that are discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005660/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Abe Paul

+1 972 443 4432

abraham.paul@celanese.com

Media Relations Global

W. Travis Jacobsen

+1 972 443 3750

william.jacobsen@celanese.com

Media Relations Europe (Germany)

Jens Kurth

+49(0)69 45009 1574

j.kurth@celanese.com
I cant mask the world or even Winnipeg with my home sewing machine, but in the last day, Ive stitched up some other solutions for you.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I cant mask the world or even Winnipeg with my home sewing machine, but in the last day, Ive stitched up some other solutions for you.

Sew simple solution The Free Press is launching a new service to connect those looking for homemade face masks with those who are able to stitch together the non-medical face coverings. The free listing will enable those who are making masks to showcase what they have available, along with any pictures of the protecting covering. We will also welcome those who have the skills and a sewing machine to let others know they are available to help, too. click to read more The Free Press is launching a new service to connect those looking for homemade face masks with those who are able to stitch together the non-medical face coverings. The free listing will enable those who are making masks to showcase what they have available, along with any pictures of the protecting covering. We will also welcome those who have the skills and a sewing machine to let others know they are available to help, too. Please include such details as price, whether you are looking for donations, and contact information in a message to covidmasks@freepress.mb.ca. The Free Press will run this new mask listing service on its website, so those needing masks can find those who are making them in a bid to make our community safer and healthier. Close

Since Paul Samyn, editor of Winnipeg Free Press, posted a picture wearing the face mask I made for him out of newspaper print fabric, Ive been overwhelmed by the demand for handmade cotton coverings. Ive received requests for about 500 masks by email, social media and telephone from acquaintances, business owners and strangers.

The requests were already filtering in last weekend, after government officials recommended non-medical fabric masks might slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On Saturday, I turned out three dozen for friends and family, and then offered some to my colleagues. I gave them away without strings attached, but did suggest they donate to Home Street Mennonite Church (which I attend) if they really wanted to compensate me.

(Like other churches, it is currently closed, but its expenses continue.)

SUPPLIED Editor Paul Samyn posted a picture of himself wearing a face mask made out of newspaper print fabric by Brenda Suderman.

Im happy to sew for family, friends and newspaper colleagues, but Im just one sewer, stitching as fast as I can on my semi-industrial home machine. Even at 1,500 stitches per minute on my 10-year-old Juki, its impossible to fill the demand.

But Im not the only one out there with a sewing machine, a little extra fabric, and the skills to fashion a pleated face mask. Others have reached out to me over the last day to offer advice and even their services.

"Im happy to do anything for anybody, if it is purposeful and helps out someone else. Thats what sewing can do," said Jan Bones, a sewing teacher with 50 years experience who has extra time since Red River College closed its doors last month due to the global pandemic.

The instructor in the apparel design program has already stitched up 80 or so cotton masks in various colours for family, friends and neighbours, inviting them to choose one from a box on her front porch during a pre-arranged, no-contact meeting.

"Theyve been fun to make and people are happy to have them," Bones said of the pleated masks made from high-quality cotton fabric.

SUPPLIED On Saturday, Suderman turned out three dozen for friends and family, and then offered some to colleagues, including photographer Ruth Bonneville.

Winnipeg resident Andrea Wilson has produced more than 120 masks on her own Juki sewing machine this week, after she offered the items for $5 each through word-of-mouth and social media accounts. Shes using up quilting cottons from her fabric cupboard but keeps running out of elastic.

"Because they have to be washed so often, I make them as sturdy as possible," she says of her technique of double-stitched seams.

Home sewers with a little experience and a sewing machine in good working order can produce these masks on their own with the help of the many good tutorials on the internet. Pick one that suits your sewing skills and the requirements of the wearer and make it attractive, suggested Bones.

"It still needs to be done well," said the Fort Garry resident.

Those who dont sew or know anyone who does have some other options. Beginning April 15, they can purchase a non-medical cotton mask produced by the Cutting Edge, affiliated with the Canadian Muslim Womens Institute. The masks will be available for $10 through Local Initiatives Toward Employments shopping website (shop.lite.mb.ca) to be picked up at Pollocks Hardware Co-op (1407 Main St.).

SUPPLIED Home sewers with a little experience and a sewing machine in good working order can produce these masks on their own with the help of the many good tutorials on the internet.

These purchases help employ industrial sewing machine operators working from home for the Cutting Edges social enterprise division, and also offer Winnipeggers a chance to donate a face mask or hygiene kit to the citys vulnerable population, said Tyler Pearce, executive director of LITE.

"Were going to sell them to individuals because we know people want them," she said of the three-way partnership developed in only 72 hours. "Were asking the public to purchase some we can donate."

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Hygiene kits containing body wash, toothpaste and toothbrush, deodorant and shampoo cost $15.

"Nobody is making any money on this," Pearce said of the mask and kit initiative. "Its just about getting the community what it needs."

Candice Desjardins is ramping up her local sewing company, which usually produces boat tarps and gazebos, to produce masks from breathable fabric with a high vapour barrier, which retail for $10.

"I have three sewers sewing individually at their houses and Im sewing at the company, as well," Desjardins said of the work produced by Custom Repair & Stitchery.

Sewers are generous people willing to share their skills during these unprecedented times, but please be prepared to compensate mask makers fairly for their materials and labour. (Please note I am not accepting any more requests for masks, but I welcome story ideas on how Winnipeggers are building community during the pandemic.)

brenda@suderman.com
Two employees at a Massachusetts veterans home, where at least 18 residents have died after contracting the coronavirus, are still working out of fear for their job despite testing for positive for the virus.

According to ABC News, two other employees, Carmen Rivera and Joe Ramirez, who fell ill with the virus and have been out since last month, said at least two of their coworkers at the Soldiers' Home have still been going into work.

Ramirez, who is a certified nursing assistant, said his colleagues are 'afraid of losing their job' and 'of retaliation'.

Two employees at the Soldiers' Home (pictured) in Massachusetts, where at least 18 residents have died after contracting the coronavirus, are still working out of fear for their job despite testing for positive for the virus

Two other employees, Carmen Rivera and Joe Ramirez, who fell ill with the virus and have been out since last month, said their coworkers are fearful of losing their jobs. The National Guard was sent to the veterans home amid the outbreak

Ramirez told ABC that while his coworkers are asymptomatic, they are still scared that they are 'passing it on to somebody' else.

Cory Bombredi, the Local 888 union organizer for the home, told the network that there is a written policy in place for workers to continue coming into work.

The policy says that 'if you're COVID-19 positive and asymptomatic, you still have to show'.

Bennett Walsh, the superintendent of the home, has been placed on administrative leave and a new clinical command structure is in place.

Medically trained National Guard personnel were brought in to test all residents and staff.

Employers have accused management of not keeping them or the residents safe during the pandemic.

'They already failed us from the beginning, not being protected,' Rivera, a certified nursing assistant, told ABC. Rivera also tested positive for the virus and spent a week in the hospital.

At least 25 residents at the home have died since the outbreak hit the area.

Cory Bombredi, the Local 888 union organizer for the home, said there is a written policy that says that 'if you're COVID-19 positive and asymptomatic, you still have to show'. A refrigeration truck sits outside the Holyoke Soldiers' home

At least 25 residents at the home have died since the outbreak hit the area. However, 18 tested positive for the virus and three have pending test results. Three others tested negative and one was unknown. Cleaners enter the Soldiers' Home on March 31

However, 18 tested positive for the virus and three have pending test results. Three others tested negative and one was unknown.

A DailyMail.com request for comment to Soldiers' Home was not immediately returned.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said that the first deaths occurred last March 25, but officials at the home failed to disclose the deaths until March 29.

Morse said he'd called Walsh directly after receiving an anonymous complaint.

'I was incredibly disappointed,' Morse said. 'There was a clear lack of urgency and we were repeatedly told that these were folks with underlying health conditions.

'That's certainly not an excuse for not isolating the folks that did test positive.'

Massachusetts Gov Charlie Baker also announced that an investigation is ongoing.

'Public health experts are at the @HolyokeSOHO conducting a thorough review of the health status of staff and residents to plan appropriate next steps,' he tweeted.
MORRIS PLAINS, NJ - Michael Koroski removed 'acting' from his title last week when he ascended to Chief of Police in Morris Plains.

New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about novel coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.



Since the retirement of Jason Kohn on Jan. 13 Lt. Michael Koroski, commander of the Patrol Division, was serving as acting chief.

On April 2, at a council meeting, which was held by video conference, the Borough of Morris Plains swore in their new Police Chief with proper social distancing and elbow bumping.

Chief Koroski has been a member of the police department for nearly 20 years rising from ranks of Patrolman, Officer Mike for all his former D.A.R.E. students, Detective, Sergeant, and Lieutenant.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.

This article originally appeared on the Morris Township-Morris Plains Patch
What should tech companies like Amazon do to protect their workers?

Tech companies have lived off other peoples cheap labor for a long time  whether its an Uber driver, a delivery person or Amazon warehouse workers. Its just coming into sharp relief.

These workers deserve much stronger pay and more benefits. Thats costly to the people who want to stay enormously wealthy, and to consumers who like a low price.

What is keeping you happy right now?

I just had a baby with my girlfriend, and staring at a baby who has no idea that any of this is happening is really quite something. Watch a baby eat bananas for the first time. You will feel just fine.

Thats it for this briefing. See you next time.  Chris

Thank you

Melissa Clark provided the recipe, and Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh provided the rest of the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

 Were listening to The Daily. Todays episode is about how New Orleans became a petri dish for the coronavirus.

 Heres todays Mini Crossword, and a clue: Old saying (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.

 The Timess DealBook team will discuss the pandemics impact on media and advertising with our media columnist Ben Smith and our media industry reporter Edmund Lee at 11 a.m. Eastern today. R.S.V.P. here.
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Linkedin Andy Bruce and Elizabeth Howcroft (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Thu, April 9, 2020 06:05 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0b6fd6 2 World UK,Boris-Johnson,Prime-Minister,coronavirus,infection,COVID-19,pandemic,health Free

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition is improving and he is able to sit up in bed and engage with clinical staff, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday as Johnson remained in intensive care battling COVID-19.

Johnson was admitted to St Thomas' hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough and was transferred to intensive care on Monday.

The 55-year-old British leader, who tested positive for the new coronavirus nearly two weeks ago, has received oxygen support but has not been put on a ventilator.

"The latest from the hospital is that the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving," Sunak said at a daily government coronavirus news conference.

"I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and been engaging positively with the clinical team."

Johnson's designated deputy, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said earlier the prime minister would soon be back at the helm.

The United Kingdom's total hospital deaths from COVID-19 has risen by a daily record of 938 to 7,097 as of 1600 GMT on April 7.

But the number of new infections and hospital admissions in Britain was beginning to show signs of flattening, Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service, told the news conference.

While Johnson was out of action, the country was entering what scientists said was the deadliest phase of the outbreak and the government was grappling with the question of when to lift the lockdown.

"We are beginning to see the benefits I believe but the really critical thing is that we have to continue following instructions - we have to continue following social distancing, because if we don't the virus will start to spread again," said Powis.

In the latest of a raft of measures to rescue the economy and society from the worst effects of the crisis, Sunak announced an extra 750 million pounds ($930 million) of funding for charities so that they could continue their work.

He also said Raab would chair a government emergency response meeting, known as Cobra, on Thursday to discuss how to deal with a review of lockdown measures in Johnson's absence.

"We committed that there would be a review in and around three weeks [from the start of the lockdown]. That review will be based on the evidence and the data provided by SAGE," said Sunak, referring to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has appealed to India to provide for ventilators for his country. Akhtar said that if India offered a helping hand during these desperate times, Pakistan would never forget the gesture as it would be rising above differences and offering a service.

If India can make 10,000 ventilators for us, Pakistan will remember this gesture forever. But we can only propose the matches. The rest is up to the authorities (to decide), Akhtar told PTI.

Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh faced a lot of flak for donating to Shahid Afridis charity foundation which is doing its bit in Pakistans fight against the deadly virus. Both the players were trolled on social media and as per Akhtar, this was inhuman.

Also Watch: Pune startup developing low-cost, portable ventilators amid pandemic

ALSO READ: Players do not know anatomy of their body: Shoaib Akhtar reveals which Pakistan player is looking very weak

It was inhuman to criticise them. It is not about countries or religion at the moment, it is about humanity, Akhtar said.

Akhtar has spent a lot of time in India as a commentator. He spoke about his days in Mumbai during the World T20 in 2016, the last time he came to India for work.I am forever grateful about the love I have received from the people of India. For the first time I am revealing this, whatever I used to earn from India, I made a significant amount there, thirty percent of it, I used to distribute among the low income staff who used to work with me in the TV, he remembered.

From drivers, runners to my security guys. I took care of a lot of people. I was like if am earning from this country, I have to help my colleagues also.

I also remember visiting slums of Dharavi and Sion in the wee hours to meet people I worked with, added Akhtar
A mandatory quarantine at the border will be imposed to stop coronavirus spreading from new arrivals.

The strict two-week quarantine of all Kiwis returning to New Zealand will take effect from 11.59pm on Thursday and will see Kiwis housed in 18 hotels while quarantined.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the measures at her daily briefing today.

She signalled the move earlier this week and says the Government is considering advice but the Government has come under pressure for not moving faster on the issue.

It's understood that sorting out hotel capacity is one of the reasons for the delay.

A network of up to 18 hotels would be used to implement this approach, of which one to two will be specifically set aside for those under strict quarantine conditions.

In order to get the measure up and running immediately, the Government would be paying for the rooms.

It would be based on the quarantine model used at Whangaparaoa military base.

It comes as Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced 29 new cases - 23 are new confirmed cases and six are probable.

This brings New Zealand's COVID-19 total to 1239.

While 317 people have recovered, there are 14 people in the hospital and four are in ICU.

There were still 12 significant clusters, with Marist, Bluff and Matamata remaining the largest.

No matter what level New Zealand was at in the future, there were three areas that needed to become water tight and the first was to tightly manage the border, she says.

"That's why from midnight tonight every New Zealander boarding a flight to return home will be required to undergo quarantine or managed isolation in an approved facility for a minimum of 14 days."

The requirement for 14 days of quarantine or managed self-isolation in a government-approved facility, would be a prerequisite for anyone entering the country in order to keep the virus out.

As an island nation New Zealand had a distinct advantage in its ability to eliminate the virus, but the borders were the biggest risk, she says.

The Government had gone harder earlier with border measures compared to other countries, she says.

But even one person slipping through the cracks and bringing the virus in could see an explosion in cases as was observed with some of the big clusters.

The quarantining of returning New Zealanders will be a mammoth undertaking, she says.

About 40,000 New Zealanders had returned home since March 20, when the border was closed to foreign nationals.

"That is more than the all of the hotel rooms across the country that we could have properly housed people in."

There had always been urgency around the matter but it could not have been done from the beginning, he says.

Now there is a major reduction in New Zealanders returning.

Since the beginning of Level 4 about 6500 have returned, reducing to 40 on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the prime minister's former chief science advisor told Stuff a tightening of New Zealand's border was needed to "turn the tap off" on coronavirus.

Sir Peter Gluckman, a leading scientist, says there needs to be mandatory quarantine of everyone coming through the border, to gain the maximum benefit from New Zealand's current four-week lockdown.

Peter told Stuff it is scientifically simple to keep the virus out of New Zealand  eliminate it at the border.

"You know where the tap is, letting it drip in. Turn the tap off. It is as simple as that, there is no more science to it than that."

He says most new cases were coming from offshore and not community spread, so it was logical to suppress new incursions.

-Stuff/Collette Devlin
Actor Sonu Sood has offered help to medical staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai. He has reportedly opened the doors of his hotel in Mumbai as a residential facility to doctors and other healthcare workers who are treating Covid-19 patients.

Talking to The Times of India, Sonu said, Its my honour to be able to do my bit for the doctors, nurses and para-medical staff of our country, who have been working day and night to save peoples lives. They hail from different parts of Mumbai and need a place to rest. We have already approached municipal and private hospitals and informed them about the facility.

The same hotel had got Sonu into trouble last year when the BMC found out that he was operating a residential hotel despite not receiving clearances from the civic body. According to a Mid-Day report, a BMC official had said, We have still not received an amended proposal for the property following our remarks on the initial proposal.

Also read: On Jaya Bachchans birthday, Abhishek Bachchan says she is in Delhi due to lockdown: Know that we are thinking of you 

Earlier last week, actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan also offered their four-storeyed office space in Mumbai to BMC as a quarantine facility. We thank @iamsrk & @gaurikhan for offering their 4-storey personal office space to help expand our Quarantine capacity equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women & elderly. Indeed a thoughtful & timely gesture, BMCs official Twitter handle post read.

Sharing the civic bodys tweet, Shah Rukh and Gauri said they are glad to get the opportunity of contributing in BMCs efforts towards taking care of the people of Mumbai. When we say mybmc, then its with a sense of ownership and pride in all the efforts your teams are putting up to fight COVID-19. We both are thankful that we could be a part of your attempts to help and care for Mumbaikars, the couple wrote on their respective Twitter handles.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
How this ISIS operative from Mangaluru lured her victims and converted them to Islam

NIA arrests two naxals in case relating to killing of Chhattisgarh MLA

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two persons in connection with the kill of an MLA from Chhattisgarh and four police personnel.

Fake News Buster

The accused have been identified as Bhima Tati and Madka Ram Tati. The case is related an IED blast followed by indiscriminate firing on April 9, 2019, near Shyamgiri village in Kuakonda Police Station of Dantewada district of Chattisgarh. Bhima Mandvi, the then sitting MLA of Dantewada was killed by the CPI (Maoist) cadres along with four police personnel.

The arms of the martyred security personnel was looted by the naxalites.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Initial investigation has revealed that aforesaid two accused are CPI(Maoist) workers and they were instrumental in providing logistic support and shelter to the naxals and were part of the larger conspiracy to plant and execute the IED blast.
The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.
Australia's crippled intensive care wards will soon breathe easier with access to more than 2,000 ventilators in the nation's desperate fight to beat the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government has struck a $31million deal with a group of manufacturing companies and engineering firms to fast-track the development of life-saving equipment for critically ill patients.

Supply of the new ventilators will start in June with the production roll-out completed by the end of July, the middle of the deadly flu season.

Australian intensive care wards will soon get more invasive ventilators designed to help critically ill patients under a new federal government deal announced on Thursday. Pictured is a ICU patient being assisted by a ventilator in Hungary

The $31million agreement announced on Thursday will almost double the current number of ventilators attached to ICU beds in hospitals across Australia.

'This is another great example of Australian industry and the private sector working with our Government to ensure critical supply of medical equipment during the outbreak of this virus,' industry minister Karen Andrews said.

'This deal demonstrates the power of bringing Aussie manufacturers and clinicians together and is also a reflection of the highly advanced manufacturing capability that exists in our country.

'It also shows the incredible collaborative spirit that's been on display as we respond to this unprecedented pandemic.'

Supply of the new ventilators will start in June with the roll-out to be completed in July. Pictured are ventilators at a new coronavirus hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia

Victoria-based company Grey Innovation will lead the consortium.

'Victoria's high concentration of engineering and manufacturing companies means we're well placed to develop the ventilators quickly and Grey Innovation is proud to be leading the effort,' executive chair Jefferson Harcourt said.

'We are overwhelmed by the willingness of our colleagues to respond in this critical hour.'

The agreement is on top of a $500,000 Victorian Government grant for the project's feasibility stage to secure a licensing deal for production of the ventilators.

Pictured are St Vincent's Hospital staff at a pop up testing clinic in Bondi

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth stressed the critical importance of moving to onshore production.

'This is a major change in our manufacturing capacity within Australia to assist the ventilators that are already being procured,' he told the ABC.

'We have set ourselves a national target of 7,500, building on the over 4,400 existing ventilators.'
Responding to questions, Vice President Mike Pence said the US was having four separate clinical trials on the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Washington: As many as 10 drugs are currently under clinical trial in the US as part of the administration''s "unprecedented" effort to find a therapeutic solution to the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has said.

In the absence of either a vaccine or a drug, the novel coronavirus has claimed more than 88,500 lives and has infected nearly 1.5 million people globally. The United States alone accounts for 4.3 lakh infections and 14,700 fatalities.

"As American industry steps up to help, so are America''s doctors and scientists. Ten drugs are now in clinical trials and my administration is taking unprecedented actions to make new therapies and treatments available without delay," Trump told reporters during his daily coronavirus news conference on Wednesday.

"The doctors, the lab technicians, the companies are coming up with things that I hope in the very near future are going to be very, very special, very important," he said.

Responding to questions, Vice President Mike Pence said the US was having four separate clinical trials on the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19.

"I believe we will have roughly four separate clinical trials underway studying hydroxychloroquine," Pence said with a note of caution.

"But it is important to remember that, as the president has made the point many times, the FDA has approved what is called off-label use and so in consulting with your physician, if your physician determines it is appropriate to write a prescription for hydroxychloroquine we are working today to make that available across the country," he said.

India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, agreed to lift the ban on the export of the medicine to the US after Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on phone last week.

"It is broadly available today as an anti-malarial medication but we are working around the country and internationally to increase that supply but we are studying it in at least four different clinical trials," the Vice President said.

The Henry Ford Hospital is conducting a clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine. The hospital has had a rather overwhelming response to the initial trial, which is beginning this week with 3000 people taking the hydroxychloroquine or a placebo, Pence said.

Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from the National Institute of Health, said a number of different clinical trials were going on.

Some of which are randomised controlled trials which is the optimal way to determine ultimately if something is safe and effective and works. But there are a lot of different ways that that is being looked at, he added.

"It is being looked at against the placebo, it is being part of a multi-arm trial comparing it with others. There is a trial that was recently started actually in prophylactics among healthcare workers so there are several of these," Fauci said.

"In addition to that, there is what was just mentioned now that any physician in consultation with their patient and back and forth can make the decision to use the drug on an off-label. So we have two things that are simultaneously going on. We are having actual formal clinical trials and the off-label use," he said.
Global warming will cause "catastrophic" biodiversity loss across the world if greenhouse gas emissions aren't curbed, with some ecosystems liable to collapse as soon as 2030, according to new research into where and when die-offs may occur. Earth has never in human history warmed so quickly or uniformly as currently, but a variety of factors affect temperatures in individual regions, with significant seasonal and geographic variation. Scientists predict that at the current level of manmade carbon emissions, Earth is on course to heat up to four degrees Celsius by 2100. Instead of looking at global trends, researchers in Britain, the United States and South Africa looked at more than 150 years of climate data and cross-referenced that with the spread of more than 30,000 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. They then divided the globe into 100 square kilometre (39 square mile) segments, and modelled the temperature trends and effects this would have on wildlife in a given area. Writing in the journal Nature, they concluded that under emissions as usual -- known as the RCP8.5 scenario -- up to 73 percent of species will experience unprecedented warming with potentially disastrous effects for populations. Alex Pigot, from University College London's Centre for Biodiversity and Environment, said that the models showed that animal populations were liable to collapse once they cross a temperature "horizon" -- being exposed to heat they're not evolved to handle. "As we pass this threshold we expect the risk of local extinction to increase substantially," Pigot told AFP. "It's not a slippery slope, but a series of cliff edges, hitting different areas at different times," he said. The models change dramatically according to each emissions pathway. For example, at 4C of warming 15 percent of all animals could see extreme heat that could cause "irreversible damage" to regional ecosystems. But at 2C of warming -- the cap aimed for in the Paris climate agreement -- that figure dropped to two percent, according to the models. The researchers predicted that such unprecedented temperature events will begin before 2030 in tropical oceans. Recent phenomena such as the mass bleaching of the Great Barrier reef suggest this is already occurring in places, the team said, adding that higher latitudes would see similar events by 2050. Coral reefs occupy a tiny percentage of the oceans but support as much as a quarter of all marine life. Earth has already heated more than 1C since the Industrial Revolution and planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are climbing annually. The United Nations says humanity needs to slash emissions 7.6 percent annually by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C -- the more ambitious aim of the Paris accord. "As we approach 2C of global warming, there is an alarming escalation in the risks of these abrupt biodiversity losses, providing strong evidence for the need to hold warming below 2C," said Pigot.
SAPA!

San Antonio Pets Alive!, or SAPA!, received some much-needed help this week from Food Network celebrity and chef Rachael Ray.

The local shelter was awarded a $50,000 grant from The Rachael Ray Foundation, SAPA! announced in a news release on Wednesday. The donation is to provide support and relief during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sixty-seven travellers who arrived Nigeria from Ivory Coast have been put in isolation at a facility in Badagry, Lagos state. Ther...





Sixty-seven travellers who arrived Nigeria from Ivory Coast have been put in isolation at a facility in Badagry, Lagos state.





There was panic in Osun over fears that the travellers would head to the state.





In March, the state had received 127 returnees from Ivory Coast among whom 17 tested positive for COVID-19.





A top government official who spoke off the record had said that the state could not afford to host more returnees, given that not all those who claimed they were from Osun in the last batch are truly from the state.

NAN said the 67 Nigerians resident in Ivory Coast arrived at Seme border in Lagos on Wednesday, disclosing that most of the passengers in a luxurious bus with registration number Osun XA 240 EJG which conveyed them were women, children and few men.





Officials from the Lagos state ministry of health arrived at the Seme border post around 4pm and took the returnees to isolation centres in Badagry for tests and quarantine.





The Nigerians, who left Ivory Coast on Sunday, were delayed on their way because of the border closures in Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic due to the COVID-19 pandemic.





Am official of Nigeria Immigration Service in Seme who did not want his name mentioned, said they had earlier informed the Lagos state government of their arrival.





He said that most of the returnees were from Ejigbo in Osun, resident in Ivory Coast but decided to come back to Nigeria when the COVID-19 broke out in the country.




Responding to the impact of COVID-19, Audiense, the leading audience intelligence and consumer insights platform, are supporting Not-for-profit organisations including NGOs, charities and the academic/scientific community by offering their Twitter Marketing Package at no cost for a year.

The package comprises advanced community analytics, Tweet analytics, monitoring tools, audience management facilities and search functions for community and third-party sources. Users also benefit from chatbots, direct message broadcast campaigns, advertising integration and automatic rules builder, as well as receiving one Audience Insights Intelligence report per month, over the course of a year.

As of 1st April 2020, over a six-month period, eligible organisations may apply for the package to help them understand and engage with the audiences that matter most to them, while Audiense will also offer a 30% discount on its other products and services.

Announcing the new initiative, Audiense CEO Javier Buron said; "We wanted to do something to help in the global response to the COVID-19 crisis by supporting organisations that are working hard to directly fight the coronavirus and give back more generally. By offering our Twitter Marketing Package free of charge we are giving these vital organisations one less thing to worry about, ensuring they get their message out and assisting them in raising future funds."

Founded in 2011, Audiense has a strong track record in assisting not-for-profit organisations. Last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature successfully used Audiense to engage with select audiences. The World Economic Forum also used Audiense's product suite to help understand the key influencers leading the discussions most important to them and other recent work includes projects with Save the Children and Greenpeace.

"Now, more than ever, organisations are needing accurate and perceptive insights to influence their editorial and strategic focus," commented Audiense CEO Javier Buron. "By offering our services to those who need it the most for no cost, we hope to assist these organisations to inform, define and manage their outputs, and in turn generate authentic value."

To apply for this program, organisations need to send an email to help@audiense.com.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

NGO Case Study: Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)

In September 2019, WWF wanted to encourage world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly to publicly address the emergency around nature loss and acknowledge that bold action is needed to tackle nature loss, thus promoting greater awareness on securing a NewDealForNature People.

The main challenge the organisation had was to target the relevant key messages to the right audiences while making this high-level policy meeting relevant to a mass audience and decision-makers.

"Working with Audiense on our NewDealForNature activity, we have been able to quickly and easily identify and reach influential audiences during key moments throughout the campaign. The campaigns we have run with Audiense through WWF's @NatureDeal account, have improved our impressions and engagement rate, and directly contributed to a 12x increase in followers." Joe Dix, Head of Digital, WWF International.

WWF used Audiense Connect to create tailored audiences on Twitter to target relevant key messages and call to actions for different audience sets through Twitter Ads. The organisation monitored social conversations around UNGA74 and NewDealForNature People, as well as what content performed well.

"Audiense Insights played a crucial role in identifying key audiences in these events. This enabled us to target creative assets such as videos and different key messages to relevant profiles and influencers, and effectively raise awareness of the goal of creating a NewDealForNature and people." Joe Dix, Head of Digital, WWF International.

About Audiense

Located in London, UK and Cordoba, Spain, Audiense helps organisations understand more from their social media data. Its platform and products enable companies to identify any audience and provide valuable insights to create more relevant and engaging campaigns.

Through strategic partnerships with Twitter and IBM, clients benefit from expert data cognitive analysis, including personality, image and sentiment intelligence. Audiense ensures its clients can gather deep insights and utilise advanced micro-targeting to maximise their tactical and strategic investments, gaining competitive edge over their peers.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005086/en/

Contacts:

For further information please contact:

Callum Laidlaw

Callum.laidlaw@kekstcnc.com

+44 772 548 5778
You wake up with a scratchy throat and a tight chest, but otherwise you feel OK.

Its most likely not COVID-19, but you know you should stay home, just in case.

But what if you cant stay home and still pay the bills?

Ive been that way for the past week  with just a cough. And maybe its just a cold or allergies. It could be, but the fact is that Im out there, Im shopping for peoples items, said one San Antonio Instacart shopper who asked to remain anonymous. I need to make money, and Im going to put that aside.

With many San Antonians hunkered down, complying the citys restrictive stay-at-home orders, gig workers are on overdrive trying to meet the flood of restaurant deliveries and grocery store shopping orders.

Those grocery shoppers and delivery drivers receive virtually no benefits, and each day face an elevated risk of contracting the virus.

The more one works to meet the demand, the greater the risk of getting sick. And with no sick leave, workers said theyve had to choose between their livelihood and the publics health and their own.

Im trying to decide if I want to continue to work as hard because I know that every time I set foot in a grocery store, Im increasing the likelihood that I will get sick, said one Shipt shopper who also requested anonymity so her Shipt account would not be deactivated. If I get sick, Im not going to be covered, and nobody is paying my bills.

The pandemic has shown the absence of a safety net for gig workers and has brought renewed public scrutiny to the technology-enabled gig economy, in which companies such as Uber, Shipt, Instacart, Lyft and others classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

That classification gives gig workers a greater degree of flexibility than most other workers, who can set their own work schedules. But it also means companies are largely able to avoid offering unemployment, health care or sick pay to workers.

Corporations have long made the case that the nature of work is changing  people want flexibility in the 21st century economy, said Brian Chen, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project and an advocate for gig workers. But then you see these very low-paid individuals working through a pandemic just to pay the bills, and that shows you the reality of how much flexibility these workers have.

This COVID pandemic has shown we have an entire group of workers who have no rights under our labor laws, he said.

Over the last month, companies such as Instacart and Shipt have touted the protections and benefits theyre providing to workers during the crisis. The companies agreed to ease rules around grocery delivery time frames, made it easier for shoppers to pay and are waiving poor customer reviews.

The companies also said theyll be providing workers with hand sanitizer and cleaning products in coming weeks.

Our teams are working around the clock to safely serve all members of our community, and were incredibly grateful for Instacart shoppers like you who have stepped up as household heroes during this time, Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta said in a note to workers late last month.

Along with Uber and Lyft, the companies also offered 14 days of paid sick time off for workers who test positive for COVID-19, though testing capacity is still limited in San Antonio and across the nation.

It still seems like a joke, said the Instacart shopper. Its already really difficult to get a test. Just because you have coronavirus doesnt mean youre going to get a test. It seems like it was a fake thing for Instacart to put up and say, Oh, were doing this. But heres all the fine print. It made a lot of people who didnt read into it feel better.

In separate interviews, four San Antonio gig workers all said they willingly take on the day-to-day risks of their work  that is, frequent contact with strangers. They said theyre committed to helping vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Many gig grocery shoppers work exclusively with clients wuth whom theyve built a rapport. The majority of customers on Instacart and Shipt are elderly or people with weakened immune systems particularly at threat from the virus, shoppers said.

When we all initially got into gig work, we got into it for a financial reason, said a second Instacart shopper, who is also a health care worker and a nighttime Uber driver. You need to close a gap in income. You need to pay for an extra class for college. You have unforeseen medical expenses. But when coronavirus hit, that reason changed for a lot of people.

There is a bit of fear involved with me going out and going shopping, being in public when were told we shouldnt be, she said. However, what would these people do if I didnt do it?

Several gig workers also said they enjoy the benefits of the flexible, informal nature of the work they do.

Its easy to pick up on, and you dont have to register or fill out a lot of documentation, the first Instacart shopper said. You just open the app and get started. With the way were independent contractors, it would absolutely be nice if we have some benefit of health insurance. But the price you pay is you have such flexibility. Ive got an hour to kill? Maybe I can pick something up.

These days, the average gig grocery shopper in San Antonio starts their day at about 7 a.m. waiting in line outside of an H-E-B. After the hour-long wait for the store to open, shoppers dash inside  first to the cleaning supplies aisle, then a race to find any leftover perishable goods, such as ground beef.

Rideshare drivers have complained of a sharp drop in ridership recently, but shoppers said demand has skyrocketed for them in recent weeks. Before the pandemic, the first Instacart shopper may have completed 5 or 6 grocery orders in a full day; he now fulfills about 12 to 13 orders.

Two months ago, there may have been 20 to 30 grocery orders on the Shipt app at the start of each day, one shopper said. Now, there are between 600 and 700 orders at the start of every day, and around 250 orders go unfulfilled daily.

The way I think of it is every offer is one family that needs groceries or cleaning supplies, so its kind of overwhelming because at the end of our days, its like 250 families we still havent helped, the Shipt shopper said. San Antonio has probably 2,500 (Shipt) shoppers. Theres a lot of shoppers, but a good portion of regular shoppers have stopped shopping because theyre scared of getting sick.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently asked President Donald Trump to provide relief for gig workers in the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress last week.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provision included in the package provides $600 per week in unemployment benefits for gig workers in Texas affected by the viral outbreak.

But while the benefits may help some gig workers in the short term, experts note the federal government funding unemployment insurance for them isnt sustainable.

Under normal circumstances, gig workers dont qualify for unemployment. Employers pay a payroll tax for each employee, which contributes to the pot of money in each state thats available for workers seeking unemployment.

Because gig-economy platforms dont classify workers as employees  oftentimes labeling them entrepreneurs  they dont offer benefits or pay into the unemployment insurance fund for workers.

Thats left the general taxpayer to foot the bill for gig workers unemployment insurance.

In a system working correctly, gig workers in Texas would by any measure be classified as full-time employees and would qualify for regular state unemployment insurance, Chen said. And it would be corporations like Uber and Lyft paying their fair share in the unemployment system, rather than have the government cover it during an emergency.

Khosrowshahi and other tech executives have argued workers on the different platforms prefer flexibility, and categorizing drivers or shoppers as full-time employees would mean theyd lose the freedom to work when and where they want.

A Barclays analysis last summer found it would cost Uber and Lyft hundreds of millions just to reclassify drivers in California as employees, and could potentially bankrupt both companies.

In the meantime, the gig workers interviewed for this story, lacking health care benefits, said theyre doing what they can to keep themselves and their customers virus-free.

Each worker detailed their hygiene routines, which include sanitizing and spraying Lysol several times per day, and also sanitizing grocery bags before theyre left at a customers door, among other precautions.

The day ends with the shoppers immediately throwing their outfit in the washer and taking a shower.

So many of the customers that I have right now, theyre elderly, and theyre like my family at this point, said a second Shipt shopper. I know Im doing what I can for my family at home to reduce their risk of getting something from whatever I may have come in contact with potentially. But other people dont have that option. Theres that feeling of a call to duty.

Several gig workers said they have considered filing for unemployment, but said they would rather continue working if theyre able to.

They also said they hope the pandemic makes consumers reconsider the value of gig work.

People are seeing the inequality at work when you have a certain set of people that are doing such essential work, but are so left behind by our existing labor laws and by employers, Chen said. What is the value of this work? Why dont these workers have the most basic and fundamental protections at work?

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
In the two-page letter written on April 6, the senators have pointed to "wilful deceit and gross negligence of COVID-19 outbreak" by China and said it is guilty of "widespread and well-documented cases of human rights abuse targeting the Uyghur Muslim community in Xinjiang province".

The letter, signed by US Senators - John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, James M Inhofe, Martha McSally, Kevin Cramer, Marco Rubio, Marsha Blackburn - calls upon the UN Secretary-General to intervene by suspending Jiang's appointment to the UN Human Rights Consultative Group.

It also implores all member states to condemn in strongest terms "the human rights violations" committed by the Chinese Communist Party.

"We write to express our profound disappointment and opposition to the appointment of Jiang Duan, Minister of Chinese Mission in Geneva to the UN Human Rights Council Consultative Group. As you know in this position, Jiang will provide China with the opportunity to play a central role in picking at least 17 human rights investigators, including those who look at freedom of speech, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention, rights abuses which the Chinese regime routinely perpetrates, the letter said.

It said that the Chinese government's decision to "deceive the international community about the grave dangers of initial 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan" violates any credibility on human rights and "should disqualify them from a position on human rights council consultative group".

"Through intimidation of its medical first-responders, censorship of online forums and threats of severe punishment for anyone who dared to speak out with the truth, the Chinese Communist Party engaged in its most egregious human rights abuse: the unchecked spread of a new and dangerous virus on an unwitting global population. Chinese government actions in the early days of the outbreak are not commensurate to influencing a council responsible for upholding human rights throughout the Even now, China withholds critical information about the spread and the death toll of the virus and continues to silence and intimidate its critics," the letter said.

"In addition to its wilful deceit and gross negligence of COVID-19 outbreak, China is guilty of widespread and well-documented cases of human rights abuse targeting the Uyghur Muslim community in Xinjiang province," it added.

The senators said that over one million Chinese Uyghurs sit in so-called re-education camps against their will, "in what can only be described as ethnic cleansing on an industrial scale and millions more are treated as second-class citizens in their own country at the hands of the regime in Beijing".

"It is tragic such terrible crime against humanity can be committed by a power wanting to be seen as a responsible international actor, even more egregious such behaviour can be rewarded," the senators said.

They said the UN was created following the most devastating conflict humanity had ever endured and to safeguard against repeating the most awful crimes ever perpetrated.

AWe must expect more from its leadership and from its member states. China should not occupy a position of prestige or influence on the UN Human Rights Council while it engages in human rights violations of the worst kind both at home and abroad. We implore you to intervene on behalf of our shared values of freedom and dignity by suspending Jiang's appointment to the UN Human Rights Consultative Group, and to implore all member states to condemn in strongest terms the human rights violations committed by the Chinese Communist Party," they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Syrian man living in Lebanon, who set himself on fire, has highlighted the extremely difficult conditions that refugees are facing in coronavirus hit Lebanon writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

A Syrian refugee in his fifties set himself on fire in Lebanons Bekaa region on Sunday, later dying of third degree burns, after reportedly struggling to pay rent due to being without work for several months.

Unsettling footage, filmed by a nearby resident, emerged, showing the man  who was identified in reports as Bassam al-Hallak  on fire as he walked across wasteland, while another person attempted to extinguish the flames with a bucket of water.

Hallak was transferred to a hospital in the Bekaa, where he was in critical condition and suffering third degree burns. He later succumbed to his wounds, the National News Agency reported on Sunday.

Hallak, a carpenter, had reportedly been without a steady income for two years and could no longer afford to pay his rent of 400,000 Lebanese liras a month.

Lebanons economic situation has deteriorated since Hallak first became unemployed. The novel coronavirus outbreak could plunge the countrys economy more, pushing refugees further down the poverty line, activists have warned.

While thousands of Lebanese are also facing unemployment, the lockdown has been particularly hard for a refugees  both Syrian and Palestinian  who rely on informal daily labour work to survive.

Lebanons Syrian refugees mainly work in the construction, agriculture and cleaning sectors. With additional movement restrictions on refugees, work has almost completely dried up.

According to a 2018 UNHCR report, over three quarters of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live on less than $4 a day.

Refugees are especially at risk now, due to discriminatory measures  introduced as coronavirus response plans  that are being taken against refugees, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

In addition to a general lockdown and a dusk-to-dawn curfew that applies to all of Lebanons population, HRW said at least 21 municipalities have introduced discriminatory restrictions applying only to Syrian refugees.

In the Bekaa, where Hallak lived, HRW reported that at least 18 municipalities have restricted the movements of Syrian refugees there, who comprise nearly a third of Lebanons Syrian population.

Several locations accross the country have also entirely banned exit and entry to the refugee camps.

As of Monday, just three Syrians and just one Palestinian in Lebanon, who lives outside a camp, have tested positive for Covid-19 among a total of 541 infections in the country.

The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) will hold a conference call on Friday, May 1, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss its first quarter 2020 financial results, which will be released at approximately 6:00 a.m. ET that day.

Webcast link:

https://78449.themediaframe.com/dataconf/productusers/hun/mediaframe/37217/indexl.html

Participant dial-in numbers: Domestic callers: (877) 402-8037 International callers: (201) 378-4913

The conference call will be accompanied by presentation slides that will be accessible via the webcast link and Huntsman's investor relations website, ir.huntsman.com. Upon conclusion of the call, the webcast replay will be accessible via Huntsman's website.

About Huntsman:

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2019 revenues of approximately $7 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 70 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 9,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com.

Social Media:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Huntsman_Corp

Facebook: www.facebook.com/huntsmancorp

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/huntsman

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain information in this release constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations. The forward-looking statements in this release are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Huntsman companies' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Significant risks and uncertainties may relate to, but are not limited to, volatile global economic conditions, cyclical and volatile product markets, disruptions in production at manufacturing facilities, reorganization or restructuring of Huntsman's operations, including any delay of, or other negative developments affecting the ability to implement cost reductions, timing of proposed transactions, and manufacturing optimization improvements in Huntsman businesses and realize anticipated cost savings, and other financial, economic, competitive, environmental, political, legal, regulatory and technological factors. The company assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Huntsman Corporation

Related Links

http://www.huntsman.com


Cognizant has withdrawn its full year guidance for FY20 on account of the coronavirus outbreak.

It is the second IT services firm to withdraw full-year guidance after Accenture.

The company had projected 2-4 percent growth in constant currency for FY2020. The company follows the calendar year for its fiscal.

While the company expects the first quarter to be in the guided range, the company expects second quarter be have an impact, the company said in a statement. The company will announce its second quarter results on May 7.

Cognizants first quarter revenue is expected to be $4.22-$4.23 billion, up 2.7-2.9 percent from the comparable quarter last year. This includes negative 50 basis point impact from the exit of certain content services.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"Financial performance in the first two months of the quarter was on track to exceed previous guidance, driven by strong performance across our North America market," it said in a statement.

However, in March, the COVID-19 outbreak affected the companys business due to reduced client demand, especially in the travel and hospitality industry and delay in project delivery in India and Philippines.

"Entering the second quarter, Cognizant expects the pandemic to further reduce client demand as its societal and economic impact causes broader disruptions across industries," the statement added.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact | IT firms stare at tepid Q4 numbers

To strengthen financial flexibility, the company will draw down $1.74 billion on its revolving credit facility on March 23, 2020. This will take the companys total cash and investment balance as of March 31, 2020 to $4.7 billion. Net cash stands at $2.2 billion.

Free cash flow at the end of December 2019 is $2.1 billion, according to the company's financial reports.

The company has also standardised 14 days sick leave coverage globally for COVID-19 cases or self-quarantine without impacting other sick leave or vacation programmes.

The company employs close to 3 lakh people, majority of them based in India. Recently, the company announced 25 percent additional base pay for its employees in India and Philippines for working during coronavirus pandemic.
Russian aid sent to Italy is, in fact, useless, while among troops deployed there are not just military doctors, but also intelligence operatives, spec-ops officers, and military chemists, the report says.

While Russia is threatening an Italian newspaper over the report revealing the true objective of the Russian military team deployed in Italy, the analysis of documentary material confirms the conclusions made by La Stampa on the intelligence-driven nature of the Russian mission, which is being concealed under the pretext of "assistance" in fighting the novel coronavirus, a U.S.-based think tank reports.

The threats voiced by Russian defense ministry spox Igor Konashenkov against La Stampa journalist Jacopo Iacoboni were related to his report, which, among other things, claimed the Kremlin had deployed intelligence agents, along with bacteriological warfare experts, as part of the Russian "assistance" mission to Italy, according to the IGDTS think tank.

Russian troops deployed in Italy, as their defense officials claim, have been studying the language of the host country, which isn't among responsibilities of military medics, at the same time suggesting that those troops are with Russia's military intelligence or special operations forces.

La Stampa's pieces saw no refutation either by the Italian prime minister, or the ministry of foreign affairs, or the defense ministry, which seems to have fallen victim to pro-Russian efforts by PM Giuseppe Conte, the report adds.

Currently, there is a sufficient amount of open source information allowing to analyze Russian military presence in Italy and confirm suggestions put forward by La Stampa reporters, IGDTS states.

Read alsoRussian COVID-19 numbers as dangerous propaganda  think tank

Chief of Italy's Defense Staff, Enzo Vecciarelli, noted that the Italian side needed anesthetists, resuscitators, and lung ventilators. At the same time, it's military chemists who form the core of Russia's military contingent in Italy. Russia has supplied equipment that is traditionally used in combat to disinfect heavy military hardware against chemical contamination.

Also, experts note that, while the core of the Russian team is supposed to consist of troops that are part of these Chemical Defense Forces, videos of the Russian group landing at the Pratica di Mare airbase clearly shows troops sporting chevrons unrelated to the Chemical Forces. Meanwhile, Russia has inherited Soviet practices where military uniform of KGB operatives would have insignia of the Air Force or Signal Corps. Thus, SpecOps troops and military intel officers have obviously been deployed with insignia of other military units.

Earlier, IGTDS analysts pointed out that at least one of the Russian troops deployed to Italy, who was listed as a member of the Kirov-based Military Medical Academy, was, in fact, part of the 48th Central Research Institute specializing in biological weapons.

Besides, experts say, videos of the Russian group in action prove that the personnel deployed fail to follow the basic personal protection protocol, violating safety regulations, which may in fact testify to those troops belonging to other types of military forces.

The team deployed in Italy includes two staffers of the Zvezda TV channel, which is part of the Russian Ministry of Defense: Konstantin Khudoleev and Vyacheslav Amelyutin, whose previous deployments, including in Syria, leads to an assumption that they are part of Russian military intelligence taking part in psy-ops.

In addition to the propagandist and symbolic aspects of the Russian mission in Italy, their troops are also set to fulfill technical and military tasks. The Russian convoy drove 600 kilometers from the Pratica di Mare airbase near Rome toward Lombardy despite the fact that there are at least four airfields within 100 km around Bergamo, capable of receiving Candid-type cargo aircraft (Il-76).

Read alsoWar amid virus spread: Russia attempting to exploit global quarantine issue to have sanctions lifted

The number of aircraft that landed in Pratica di Mare and their landing interval resembles an operation Russia conducted in Crimea in 2014, when a group was deployed on the peninsula, having been brought there within several hours by Russian military cargo aircraft before capturing key strategic targets in the area, blocking Ukrainian military units, and ultimately annexing the peninsula. Thus, the operation in Italy can be seen as a drill working out an aerial component of the deployment of a military group in the territory of one of the NATO Allies.

According to sources in the Russian defense ministry, as the Russian convoy was moving across Italy, troops worked out their actions in the conditions of a gas (chemical) attack.

Therefore, there is documentary confirmation of suggestions put forward by La Stampa proving that 80% of Russian aid sent to Italy is, in fact, useless, while troops deployed are not just military doctors, but also intelligence operatives, spec-ops officers, and military chemists.
The Director of International Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Emmanuel Attafuah-Danso, has asked the partys overseas executives to ensure that they submit to the directives and safety protocols outlined by their respective host countries to contain the coronavirus pandemic.



In a statement, Mr Attafuah-Danso said " The party urges all to take good care of themselves, families and friends. Also, everyone should ensure that they submit to the directives and safety protocols outlined by their respective countries to contain the pandemic.



Explaining how President Akufo-Addo is fighting the pandemic in Ghana, Mr Attafuah-Danso said: The bold steps by the President with the support of his appointees and the good people of Ghana are yielding positive results, reflecting in lower imported cases and community spread of the virus."



Read full statement below;



UPDATE ON GOVERNMENT/PARTY ACTIONS ON COVID-19 PANDEMIC



The International Directorate of the New Patriotic Party as a follow up to our earlier statement following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, extends warm greetings to the leadership and the entire membership of our external branches and partners around the globe. The directorate conveys the partys good wishes to you all, in this moment of the COVID-19 pestilence under which the global community is currently reeling and to update you on plans and programmes of the government and the party.



As you may be aware, the President, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo has received plaudits for demonstrating leadership with far-reaching plans and actions to halt the spread of the coronavirus. The bold steps by the President with the support of his appointees and the good people of Ghana are yielding positive results, reflecting in lower imported cases and community spread of the virus.



The President has commended our gallant health professionals for their dedication and commitment to always serve the country in times like this. In order to protect them while serving the country, adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) has been provided to all front line health workers. The President, as a show of appreciation and to motivate them to continue to fight the pandemic, provided incentives including a Ghc. 350, 000 insurance package to all front line health workers, a 50% of their basic salary as allowance and a waiver of taxes on all their emoluments for the next three months.



Further, notwithstanding the challenges posed by the pandemic to the economy, the President has outlined comprehensive social mitigation measures to cushion the vulnerable in the Ghanaian society which includes; the provision of hot meals to head potters (Kayaye), the homeless and some selected under privileged communities in Accra and Kumasi. Also, no Ghanaian will pay water bills for the next three months. Markets and lorry parks across the country have been fumigated while social distancing is being enforced. The President has also announced a flexible stimulus package for small and medium scale enterprises to ramp up production and consumption of local goods to stay the economy on track.



Currently, all activities and programmes of the party are on hold in line with the directives of the President to the nation. National leadership, led by the Chairman and General Secretary of the party has made donations on behalf of the party and are supporting efforts of the government to fight the COVID-19 scourge.



External branches will be brought up to speed with any decision of the party regarding programmes and activities soon as the pandemic is brought under control.



The Party commends the leadership of the external branches for your commitment and sacrifices. The party also wishes our missions abroad, the diplomatic community, our partner foundations and sister parties across the globe well. The party urges all to take good care of themselves, families and friends. Also, everyone should ensure that they submit to the directives and safety protocols outlined by their respective countries to contain the pandemic.



The party is opened to suggestions and best practices that will benefit the Ghanaian people at home and abroad. As soon as possible, let the directorate know any situation that will require the support or intervention of the party.



The party wishes everyone the blessings and protection of God. Please, as much as possible, stay safe.



May God shower your homes with love and peace. Have a blessed Easter!



Internaional Affairs Directorate



New Patriotic Party













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When the novel coronavirus began wrecking havoc across the globe, I fished out my grandfather Tawfik Fakhourys medal for an outstanding role in the campaign to eradicate the malaria-bearing Gambia mosquito from the Kingdom of Egypt and the Sudan in 1945. An irrigation engineer, he had done his profession and family proud. But there had been thousands like him through the history of Egypt.

The Justinian plague that ravaged Byzantium in AD 452-541  the first epidemic on record, which killed around 50 million or some 26 percent of the worlds population  is said to have originated in flea-bearing rats first infected here, although most cases of cholera, malaria and bubonic plague came to Egypt from outside. In AD 1348 under the the Mamelukes the European Black Death reached Cairo, killing 10-20 thousand per day, destroying harvests and livestock, and setting the healthcare system instituted by Sultan Qalawun (1279-1290) back. The Black Death was of course a true pandemic that recurred for centuries, and was still evident in North Africa well into the 19th century. With the dawn of the modern era it had taught humanity about prevention, isolation, and quarantine.

By the time the Black Death reached Cairo, the heyday of Islamic medicine had long been over, hygienic and health practices as well as urban planning had deteriorated, and people tended to regard illness as a test from God, taking no precautions to isolate those infected with a contagious disease. As a result the 1348 plague, therefore, Cairo was practically emptied. The ruling class sought safety elsewhere in the country or abroad, while the Mameluke emirs and soldiers, together with the indigenous peasantry, died by the thousands  so much so that feudal privileges normally reserved for emirs were given to ordinary peasants. Agricultural and urban infrastructure collapsed. This was compounded by the fact that it hadnt been ten years since the plague receded when it struck again, this time generating truly apocalyptic scenes with Cairo dwellers bearing their shrouds and congregating on Fridays.

The plague continued to spread following the Ottoman conquest of 1517, mitigated through Ottoman-instigated importation of European medicine. When the plague hit Istanbul in the mid-18th century, the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III commissioned a translation of two of the Dutch reformer and physician Hermann Boerhaaves books, but medical knowledge proved ineffective in the face of cultural parctices and the geographical position of the empire between Europe, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It was ironically at the same time that the Andalusian physician Ibn Khatima put together guidelines for avoiding infection: clarifying and perfuming the air, avoiding southerly and seeking northerly winds during sleep, staying put and shallow breathing, staying calm and reading the Quran, avoiding meat that isnt fresh and consuming full-grain bread, avoiding alcohol, maintaining a healthy bowel routine and avoiding constipation.

As far back as ancient times, Egyptians are believed to have maintained hygienic routines for children and adults alike, considering the cleanliness of their bodies, clothes and living quarters clean an essential condition of life. According to Herodotus, indeed, cleanliness was to the ancient Egyptian a creed before it was a health precaution, and a precondition for stepping into consecrated spaces. The average ancient Egyptian practised hand washing before and after meals, shaving head as well as facial hair regularly to avoid vermin, and using ointments and aromatic oils to purify the skin. Even the simplest houses had to have adequate ventilation and were regularly swept. Such habits seem to have been lost under the Mamelukes and until the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805-1848), however. When the French campaign arrived in 1798, it was common for rubbish to accumulate, driving air pollution.

There was no medical profession to speak of, and the people in charge lacked any means of preventing disease. Barbers, fortune-tellers and other quacks took advantage of the ignorance and helplessness of the peasantry. And so when the plague hit again in January 1799  coming from Izmir via Istanbul and Alexandria  it killed up to 12 thousand people daily in Cairo alone. Dockers from Upper Egypt would contract the illness in Alexandria, then they would set off to their villages in the south for fear of dying away from home, spreading it all along the Nile Valley. The French immediately lost 99 troops, mostly from among their medical team, while Egyptians, as it seems, had developed some immunity.

The plague hit again following Muhammad Alis rise to power in 1813, and as part of his modernising efforts the Pasha instituted a new medical system, largely for the benefit of the army, bringing over, among many others, the French doctor Antoine Barthelemy Clot, better known as Clot Bey (1793-1868) to establish the first school of modern medicine in Abu Zaabal in 1827. The Pashas efforts to counter the plague are beautifully fictionalised in Naguib Mahfouzs The Harafish (1977).

Under King Fouad (1917-1922), it was malaria that spread in Upper Egypt, prompting the establishment of malaria-fighting units in Qena and Aswan where the future King Farouk visited patients at their houses. Under King Farouk wealthy Upper Egyptians donated LE 100 thousand towards the building of a hospital for treating fevers and filling up infested groundwater wells. According to Ministry of Health Qena deputy Mamdouh Abul-Qasem, today, even though malaria was eradicated in the 1960s, these units continue to fumigate the swamps and monitor the spread of diseases.

The history of this particular contagion in Upper Egypt dates back to AD 1500 at least, when an anonymous Italian traveller reported catching the disease there, describing the blinding of crocodiles as a way to hunt them. Malaria did not resurface in Upper Egypt until 1998, according to Abul-Qasem, when a number of Sudanese visitors to Aswan turned out to have the disease. The Aswan High Dam played an important role in keeping malaria out, what is more. As for cholera, which in popular culture remains the most widely celebrated infectious disease, its vaccine marks the bodies of older Egyptians like tattoos.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As ridership continues to fall and more and more transit workers call out sick, the MTA is implementing major service reductions on the boroughs buses, with express bus riders bearing the brunt of the cuts.

As our employees and customers continue to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 and New Yorkers follow the widespread general guidance to stay home, we are making service changes to the MTA Essential Plan to accommodate crew availability and declining ridership numbers. We are doing everything possible to continue providing safe public transportation for first responders and essential workers, according to the MTA.

Starting Sunday, the MTA is suspending weekday peak period express bus service until further notice, instead electing to run the agencys off-peak reduced express bus service seven days a week for the foreseeable future. This drastic decrease in service means Staten Island express bus riders will go from having 23 lines to choose from during their daily commute to just four -- the SIM1c, SIM3c, SIM4c and SIM33c.

Additionally, all off-peak bus lines service both Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, lengthening the commute for many riders compared to the peak period buses that exclusively serve one or the other.

The MTA has not specified whether or not the four lines will run their respective weekday, Saturday or Sunday service schedules, though numerous riders say that their bus drivers have informed them it will be Sunday service, which operates less frequently and during shorter time spans.

Those who need to travel are advised to use the MyMTA app for real-time bus information and service updates.

Some riders have voiced concerns that the changes eliminate direct service to many hospitals located on the East Side of Manhattan, typically provided by the SIM6, SIM10 and SIM11, making it more difficult for healthcare workers to get to work.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Totally negligent! Healthcare workers traveling to east side hospitals are not accommodated, said rider Frieda DAngelo. They are doing nothing to make life less stressful for essential workers! Two-hour commutes each way on top of 10-12 hour shifts? People are putting other lives first and the MTA wont budge. MTA really wants to see healthcare workers drop!

Our healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers cannot be forced to take routes they dont need and figure out how to get to and from their work locations. They cannot be forced to extend their commute times by hours a day... this is a repeat of the redesign nightmare, said rider and express bus advocate Filippa Grisafi.

Theres also concern that the reduction in available express bus lines could lead to overcrowding, which would make social distancing difficult, if not impossible, endangering both riders and drivers.

And what about social distancing? The 'c' buses will have too many riders endangering the passengers and drivers! This is such a slap in the face to all the essential personnel who are exposing themselves to this horrific plague in an effort to help others, said DAngelo.

Yes, there is a major decrease in ridership, but people are still using the express bus system. It is very distressing that this limitation of service will make social distancing impossible. Please remember that 12 seats of the 52-seat bus capacity are cordoned off already to reduce exposure for the driver, another rider said.

LOCAL BUSES

Local bus riders will also be affected, with multiple lines taken completely out of service and others no longer operating on weekends.

The following local buses will continue operating seven days a week: S40, S44, S46, S48, S51, S52, S53, S57, S59, S61, S62, S74, S76, S78, S79SBS.

The S54, S55, S56 and S89 will only operate from Monday to Friday and service on the S42, S66, S81LTD, S84LTD, S86LTD, S90LTD, S91LTD, S92LTD, S93LTD, S94LTD, S96LTD and S98LTD has been suspended until further notice.

The MTA did not specify which schedule Staten Islands local buses will be operating on.

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Nearly 60,000 years ago, as prehistoric humans just started venturing out of Africa, a forest of cypress trees grew on the banks of a river near the Gulf of Mexico. As the trees grew old, they fell and were buried under sediment. When the sea level rose, the remains of the forest were covered once again.

Now, scientists have uncovered that same forest and believe it may hold the secrets to creating new medicines and saving lives.

For millennia, the ancient forest remained undisturbed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which published an article about the forest last week.

But in 2004, Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf Coast, sweeping up the seabed and sediment that kept the forest entombed.

Since then, the site, which now lies 60 feet underwater off Alabamas coast in Mobile Bay, has been visited by a few scientists and filmmakers. But it wasnt until December that a team of scientists from Northeastern University and the University of Utah set out on an expedition funded by NOAA to dive into the waters and bring back pieces of wood to study.

Brian Helmuth, a professor of marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University, was one of the scientists who dived in.

It was a really nice day. Pretty calm on the surface, and we were expecting it be equally nice on the bottom, Helmuth told CNN. But we got to the bottom, and it was like diving in chocolate milk. We literally could not see our hands in front of our faces.

The conditions were less than ideal, and the fact that previous dive teams saw a lot of sharks in the area made the expedition somewhat risky, but when the scientists finally reached the forest, they were in awe.

It was really amazing. We dove around the edge of this ancient river bed. On our left were these remains of giant stumps and pristine wood coming out of the bank embankment, Helmuth recalled. Even though the visibility wasnt great, you could pretty easily imagine it being the edge of a cypress forest, and it was almost an eerie feeling of stepping back in time.

Despite the wood being 60,000 years old, it was remarkably well-preserved because it had been buried under layers of sediment that prevented oxygen from decomposing it.

It really looked like something that you could have picked up from today. It still had bark on it. It still had all the coloration on the inside. It was just locked away for 60,000 years, Helmuth said.

But the real excitement for the scientists started when they took the wood back to the lab.

We were able to take a look at what kind of organisms had taken advantage of this exposed, ancient wood. The different kind of animals buried in there and what kind of animals are living on top of it as well, Francis Choi, a senior lab manager at Northeastern Universitys Marine Science Center, said.

Out of the more than 300 animals that were removed from the wood, scientists particularly focused on just oneshipworms, a type of clam that converts wood into animal tissue, according to NOAA.

Shipworms arent new to science. Theyre common and can be found in most oceans wherever theres wood. But the bacteria recovered from the shipworms that had been living inside the 60,000-year-old wood had never been discovered before.

We were able to isolate bacteria from them and get some bacteria that we havent worked with before, so were really excited about that, Margo Haygood, a research professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Utah, told CNN.

The shipworms from the ancient wood produced 100 strains of bacteria, many of them novel, and 12 are undergoing DNA sequencing to evaluate their potential to make new drug treatments.

Previous research on shipworm bacteria has already resulted in at least one antibiotic being studied as a drug to treat parasitic infections, according to NOAA. So scientists, including Haygood, are feeling optimistic about these new strains of shipworm bacteria.

We screened for antimicrobials and for neurological activity, which is in the direction of pain drugs as well as anti-cancer drugs, Haygood said. We have not been (working on antivirals) in the past, but right now, my department at University of Utah is spinning up to start including viral assays in the program.

In addition to lifesaving medicines, scientists will study the new samples to see whether they can be applied in the production of paper, textiles, food, animal feeds, fine chemicals, and renewable fuels, according to NOAA.

While the coronavirus pandemic has put any future dives to the ancient forest on hold, Haygood said she and the team of scientists would continue to study the samples and hope to publish the results within a year.

Choi said theyre also working on getting AUVs, which are unmanned underwater robots, to capture images and make 3D visualizations to share the wonder of this 60,000-year-old forest with the rest of the world.

The-CNN-Wire

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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Nigerias former finance minister of Nigeria, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has apologised after she was caught Wednesday spreading fake news.

It happened on Wednesday while she was making a point on about observing social distancing in food aid distribution in the COVID-19 era.

She cited a purported example from Rwanda and attached a photo to underscore her point.

Responsible food distribution with social distancing to assist lower income households in the #COVID19 era! A great example from #Rwanda where community workers also distribute food and other necessities door-to-door @PaulKagame, she tweeted.

But as it turned out, the photo was not on point.

The reference to Rwanda was also false.

The event and photo she cited happened in The Gambia in 2019 during the Ramadan.

But unfortunately, the picture attached to your tweet is fake, didnt happen in Rwanda, but Gambia, it happened in May, last year, during Ramadan, wrote Bashir Ahmad, President Muhammadu Buharis aide.

Caught out and with eggs plastered on her face, Ngozi later apologised.

She blamed a friend for making her commit the error.

Thanks to those who have drawn my attention to the food distribution picture I tweeted earlier today. A friend sent it to me that its from Rwanda. Whether Gambia or Rwanda, the point I want us to focus on is that it is a safe way of handling food distribution, she wrote.

Responsible food distribution with social distancing to assist lower income households in the #COVID19 era! A great example from #Rwanda where community workers also distribute food and other necessities door-to-door @PaulKagame pic.twitter.com/EnukL4fTl3  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) April 8, 2020

Good afternoon Maam @NOIweala, it is very true that Rwanda, Nigeria and other African countries are really trying. But unfortunately, the picture attached to your tweet is fake, didnt happen in Rwanda, but Gambia, it happened in May, last year, during Ramadan. #StaySafe! ?? https://t.co/lXFSIhx3eE pic.twitter.com/nOhJm5phgn  Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) April 8, 2020
Brussels, April 09, 2020 (SPS) - The Representation of Frente POLISARIO to Europe has called upon the NGO amnesty international office in Brussels to urge the council and commission of the European Union to intervene to protect the safety of all Saharawi political prisoners held illegally in Moroccan jails, outlining that Beyond the immediate release of them, these prisoners need urgent protection from the COVID-19 virus.

In a letter addressed to the human rights NGOs director in Brussels Eve Geddie, the frente POLISARIO writes "While the challenge in securing a just political settlement in Western Sahara remains difficult, there are steps that can be taken now to deter retribution against those most vulnerable to COVID-19. Moroccan authorities should be sent a clear and strong message that they cannot use the current health emergency to retaliate against political detainees and further curtail the rights and dignity of the Sahrawi people".

The statement mentions the urgent letter sent by the Saharawi President, Mr Brahim Gali last March 2020 to the UNSG on appalling situation afflicting the Sahrawi political prisoners held illegally in Morocco jails. Where the President warned that the outbreak of this dangerous virus and the urgent measures required, in particular relating to avoiding large gatherings and overcrowding, totally contradicts the situation in which these civilian prisoners are held in overpopulated Moroccan prisons.

Several days later, on 27 March 2020, over 400 signatories wrote a letter addressed to UN Members States warning of the threat COVID-19 poses for the people of Western Sahara and calling for a UN Human Rights mechanism to urgently visit the detention facilities in which Sahrawis are being held and to call on Moroccan authorities to respect and protect their physical integrity.

The statement concludes "In response to the growing COVID-19 crisis in Morocco, the EU announced a 450mn aid package to help Morocco counter coronavirus. The Frente POLISARIO would never stand in the way of assistance to ease the suffering of civilian populations. However, this support from the EU must also be accompanied by clear demands to ensure that Moroccan authorities address the crisis comprehensively, and do not use it as an excuse to target political prisoners".SPS

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KAMPALA  Wednesdays testing for coronavirus at the Uganda Virus Research Institute was with 240 people and only one person returned positive.

One case of COVID-19 confirmed out of the 214 samples tested today at @UVRIug. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 53 in Uganda, the Ministry of Health twitted.

President Museveni in a live address said most of these were from the quarantine group while others were from the districts that had been suspected of having come in contact with the returnees.

According to the health ministry, a cumulative total of 3,524 samples have been tested for COVID-19.

The number of individuals under institutional quarantine has reduced from the original 1,040 to 613 as of Tuesday.

A total of 427 individuals have been discharged from institutional quarantine. In addition, 855 contacts of the confirmed cases are under follow-up.

All the 53 people confirmed to have coronavirus are said to be in stable condition at Mulago National Specialized Hospital (21), Entebbe Grade B Hospital (30), Adjumani (1) and Hoima (1) hospital

The President said the fight against the new coronavirus is easy as a collaborative effort involving the adherance to the general countrywide measures as well as individual initiative.

The President also outlined with emphasis, the gravity of the coronavirus situation that has killed over 80,000 people across the globe, with nearly 1.5 million people infected.

We are talking about life and death, he repeated adding that the lockdown is not a matter of convenience.

He vowed to become harsh on actors who do not understand how serious this situation is.

Related
By ANI

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday said that the government has more than enough stock of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for meeting the current requirement. It said that the Centre has done proper preparation and planning with respect to current and future requirements of HCQ.

It further reiterated that the medicine should be used only by specified categories of people.

"The Government of India has done proper preparation and planning regarding the current and future requirements of hydroxychloroquine. The current stock is more than enough. The government is 100 per cent prepared to meet emergent needs," said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said in a press conference here.

"Hydroxychloroquine should be used as per norms.It is to be given only to contacts and doctors dealing with COVID-19 patients. This medicine can be harmful to people suffering from cardiac problems. Hence, HCQ should be used only by the specified categories of people," he said.

READ| Stop hoarding hydroxychloroquine. These side effects could be fatal for you

India has temporarily licensed the export of paracetamol and anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in appropriate quantities to some countries, which have been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Aggarwal said that twenty domestic manufacturers in India have been developed for production of Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) and orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have been placed.

"Supplies of PPEs, masks, and ventilators have now begun. 20 domestic manufacturers in India have been developed for PPEs, orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have been placed and the supplies have begun. 49,000 ventilators have been ordered," he said.

"There is a fear among people that everyone needs PPEs. Everyone does not need PPEs. We have issued guidelines earlier. PPEs are not the only coverall. It is a mix of different components like boots, N95 masks, coverall, and headgear. All components are used by people who are at high risk. In case of moderate risk, N95 masks and gloves are sufficient. Sufficient quantity of PPEs is being provided to state governments," he said.

"There was a problem about PPEs in the beginning. In a span of two months, we have matured domestic manufactures. They have started giving supplies," he further said.

The joint secretary also said that high-level teams have been constituted to coordinate with states on "containment plan, hospital preparedness and ventilator management" in the wake of coronavirus crisis.

"The Health Ministry has constituted high-level teams which will coordinate with states on containment plan, hospital preparedness and ventilator management. 10 teams have been sent to Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh," Aggarwal said.
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Amidst all the doom and gloom of the current Covid-19 pandemic, its always nice to get a good news story and, as the community bands together during a time of crisis, theres certainly no shortage of those.

This week, five members of the Chinese community got some money together to donate to the Longford Acorn Project, which itself is doing fantastic work for those who are experiencing poverty and exclusion during these difficult times.

Accepting the donation on Monday morning, Project Coordinator at Acorn Project Ltd Pozy Green said that the money comes at the perfect time.

This money will go towards our phone text line that weve set up for people that use the service that are alone so that our house counsellor can ring them on weekends and make sure theyre alright and give them coping skills, she said.

And I was actually wondering where we would come up with the money to pay for it because we cant take it out of our counselling service. Then this came, so the universe is good.

There are between 30 and 40 people who avail of the Acorn Projects counselling service and, due to the current lockdown, they are no longer able to do that, which is why Ms Green wanted to set up a phone service. Without the 400 donation, that service would not be available to those who need it.

It was with the help of Longford councillor Uruemu Adejinmi and Sgt Lionel Mullally of Longfords Community Policing Unit that the funding found its way to the Acorn Project.

Cllr Adejinmi was contacted by Anna Heagney, an Ethnic Minority Development worker, based with Offaly Domestic Violence Support Service.

The Ethnic Minority Development Project is a Tusla-funded project, which covers the midlands counties and aims to identify the barriers that may face ethnic minority women and men with a domestic violence support service, spreading awareness of domestic abuse and the existing supports within communities.

Anna got in touch with me to say Yan Ping and members of the Chinese community came together and made contributions of 400 and wanted to donate it to the community, Cllr Adejinmi explained.

So she got in touch with me to see if I know a community group to receive the donation. I got in touch with the Community Policing Officer, Sgt Lionel Mullally, to see what community group would be in need of this cash assistance.

The Community Policing Unit in Longford is part of the committee at the Acorn Project and is aware of the importance of the service in the local community.

So he (Sgt Mullally) suggested Acorn, who are helping the disadvantaged in the community, especially during this period, with much needed support services, said Cllr Adejinmi.

So he gave me Pozys number and I got in touch with Pozy to see would they accept this and she said its come at a very opportune time. They are in dire need of support.

Arrangements were made and Yan Ping Lang made herself available on behalf of the group who made the contribution.

Editorial | Unity of people can control Covid-19

A total of 400 was gathered and donated by five members of the local Chinese community: Yan Ping Lang, Chun Li Zhang, Yaling Pan, Soun Lee Chang and Yu Chen.

Thank you so much for thinking of the community, said Cllr Adejinmi to Ms Lang on Monday morning.

Its great to see that when its needed most, we come together to support each other. On behalf of the Longford community, thank you so much for thinking about it.

Cllr Adejinmi was also quick to sing the praises of the local Community Policing Unit, who have been working around the clock to ensure the safety of the community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thanks to the Community Policing Officer and the Community Policing Group, who do great work - especially during this period, supporting the vulnerable and making sure theres still some semblance of law and order and make sure people arent just left to fend for themselves during this Covid-19 pandemic.

And thank you so much for the good work youre doing as well for the community, Cllr Adejinmi added to Ms Green.

Its great to know that this is here and hopefully by the end of this, people will make contact with yourself.

The Longford Acorn Projects aim is to enable people who are socially excluded to become involved in the issues and decisions that affect them.

Based in Lanna Aoibhinn, Longford town, the project promotes the participation of people experiencing poverty and exclusion at all levels of the project.

To get in touch, call 085 133 4595, drop an email to longfordacornprojectltd@ gmail.com, or visit the Facebook page at Longford Acorn Project Ltd.

WATCH | Isolation doesn't get the best of these Longford grandparents as they show off their moves
Doctors must weigh risks of not doing surgeries, treatment with what coronavirus threat may mean if they do.

Randy Leese spent six hours in surgery this week to remove a liver tumour. While COVID-19 was at the back of the 64-year-old cancer patients mind, he said the procedure could not wait.

Its in the back of my mind, but I had to do something with this cancer, Leese told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview from his hospital bed at Penn State Health Milton S Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It wasnt a good idea putting it off, lets put it that way.

Leese is among the thousands of cancer patients in the United States who are having to balance their need for treatment with the risk that they could contract the novel coronavirus, the highly contagious respiratory virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

He said his surgery, which was related to colorectal cancer, had been scheduled for weeks.

It is still unclear when he will be able to go home, Leese said, but he is trying to regain his strength in the hospital. He speaks to his wife over the phone because she cannot come into the building to see him due to restrictions meant to stem the potential spread of COVID-19.

Its dangerous, Im telling you. Some of these people are taking it very lightly. They shouldnt be taking it lightly, he said, about the coronavirus. Its a fear factor, I dont care how you look at it  Ive got to be double protective, I guess you could say.

Risk factor

A joint mission led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and China in February found that people at highest risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 were those over age 60 and people with underlying conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

After reviewing more than 55,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in China, the mission reported that people with no other health conditions died at a rate of 1.4 percent while the death rate for people who had cancer was 7.6 percent  more than five times higher.

Dr Lecia Sequist, a medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the data is still sparse about just how much the risk of contracting COVID-19 increases in cancer patients. But certainly, its clear that COVID-19 poses more risk for people with chronic diseases, she told Al Jazeera.

A student who suffers from cancer wearing a mask at the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

Another study of 1,572 confirmed COVID-19 cases in China found that patients with cancer had a higher risk of severe events  defined as admittance to intensive care, need for invasive ventilation or death  than those without cancer.

More than 1.8 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2020, according to the American Cancer Society. Each year, an estimated 650,000 cancer patients in the US undergo chemotherapy.

The US Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) advises physicians to reduce unnecessary healthcare visits to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reschedule elective surgeries, while oncology associations also recommend delaying cancer treatments and procedures wherever possible.

Some state governors have also signed executive orders urging medical providers to delay non-urgent surgeries, leaving difficult decisions for doctors who must weigh the risks with delaying or doing a treatment or procedure, as well as which cases take priority and need urgent care.

Sequist said she has delayed some cancer treatments by a month, at which point she will reassess her patients needs and the local COVID-19 risk. Patients long-term stability factors into the decision to delay treatment, among other things, she said.

Patients whose treatments cannot be delayed and need to come into the hospital must abide by new rules around social distancing. That can be an added stressor as cancer patients typically have support from friends and family during their treatments, such as chemotherapy sessions at the hospital.

Patients cant bring anybody with them to the clinic, so theyre by themselves and its much more difficult for friends and neighbours to come visit them at home, said Sequist.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also raised ethical questions around the allocation of scarce resources, as physicians in other hard-hit countries have been forced to make literal life-and-death decisions around who will get treatment.

Sequist said some cancer patients are worried about whether resources will be fairly allocated to them because of their diagnosis of cancer  but she stressed that there would never be a blanket decision that [they] are somehow less worthy or less important or less deserving of treatment.

Telemedicine

Dr Niraj Gusani, a surgical oncologist and professor of surgery at Penn State College of Medicine, as well as Leeses doctor, said: The whole concept of social distancing goes to another level when youre talking about a cancer patient [for whom] any exposure can be potentially deadly.

Cancer patients undergoing treatment often have a reduced capacity to fight off viruses, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, which causes shortness of breath, coughing, and other respiratory issues. That means physicians need to determine which treatments cannot wait because the risk of the disease is worse than the risk of getting COVID-19, said Gusani.

He told Al Jazeera that about 80 percent of his patients outpatient services are being done remotely via telemedicine, from routine screenings and physicals to consultations and follow-ups after surgery. If patients can still get the information and advice they need without having to come into busy healthcare centres, they will.

Patients with lower-grade illnesses or less aggressive tumours can get chemotherapy in pill form, he added, and some can be treated in their local communities instead of travelling into larger cities where the risk of transmission for COVID-19 may be higher.





To date, most of Gusanis cancer-related surgeries are going ahead as planned, but the doctor said he could see a day when all non-emergency operations will be postponed in order to preserve equipment and supplies needed for the COVID-19 response.

Any time you do an operation, you use up a bunch of gloves and gowns and masks. You use a ventilator for the period of the operation and potentially for longer, he said. The minute you get into short supply  we have to stop, and we have to conserve.

Protective cocoon

Dr Amelia Langston is the director of the bone marrow and stem cell transplant programme at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

She said most cancer patients were very good at social isolation even before COVID-19 arrived, but their family members are not necessarily as adept  and that is the biggest risk for spreading the highly contagious virus.

Most of our patients, if they acquire COVID, they acquire it at home. My patients arent going to the grocery store; theyre not going to a restaurant or meeting people on the street and shaking hands. Theyre getting it from a sick family member, she told Al Jazeera.

Physicians in Atlanta are already seeing the second wave of the pandemic, Langston said, the family members of people who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 are now coming into emergency rooms.

I had a patient come in the other day and he said: Do you think its a problem that my son works at Safeway [grocery store]?  I said, Yes, theres a problem, Langston said.

While she conceded that it can be difficult to stay away from a sick spouse or parent, abiding by strict social distancing rules is critical. We want to create this cocoon, she said. I cant use that word enough. We want to make this protective cocoon around our patients to help them to be safe.
The Government's target of 100,000 coronavirus tests per day could be hit by a single company which will make tests in the UK, the firm claims.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, a company based in the US state of Massachusetts, said it has the capacity to supply all of the 700,000 tests per week.

It will work 24/7 alongside authorities in the UK to supply the chemicals and instruments needed to test people for COVID-19, the chief operating officer said.

The UK only currently tests hospital patients and frontline NHS staff for the virus, meaning the true scale of the outbreak is unknown.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week pledged to make sure 100,000 tests were being carried out in the UK every day by the end of April. On Tuesday there were just shy of 15,000 tests done on a total of 12,959 people, 5,492 of whom tested positive.

Government has been forced to abandon its approach of doing all the tests in its own Public Health England laboratories and is now enlisting scientists in universities and private research institutes around the country.

The University of Cambridge and the Francis Crick Institute in London are among the high profile facilities which will help to test NHS staff.

Other laboratories, described as the 'small ships of Dunkirk' say they, too, will be vital in the fight against coronavirus and, for many of them, the types of tests required will just be another day in the office.

But NHS bosses say the testing targets are unrealistic, describing them as 'jam tomorrow' - a promise that never comes good.

Director of the Francis Crick Institute, a London laboratory which has started testing NHS staff, said it would be 'a stretch' to hit 100,000 per day.

NHS staff are now being routinely tested for the coronavirus at drive-through swab centres around the UK. Pictured, a medical workers takes a swab at a centre in Wolverhampton

Mark Stevenson, chief operating officer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that the company could definitely supply enough testing kits to feed the Government's ambition of 100,000 per day.

'We agreed with the UK that we would supply to meet their demand of more than 100,000 tests per day,' he said.

'We manufacture the whole sophisticated supply chain so the tests, the reagents, the instruments  this is actually our expertise...

'The challenge has really been making sure we have the lab capacity built up so thats what the UK Government has been building out, these three new centres and hubs. But we have the capacity to supply those labs with the necessary reagents and tests for those kits.'

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF CORONAVIRUS TEST? SWAB TEST/PCR TEST Swab test, known as a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, are the ones currently being done in the UK on hospital patients and NHS staff. The tests pick up on active viruses currently in the bloodstream. A PCR test works by a sample of someone's genetic material - their RNA - being taken to lab and worked up in a full map of their DNA at the time of the test. This DNA can then be scanned to find evidence of the virus's DNA, which will be embroiled with the patient's own if they are infected at the time. The PCR test is more reliable but takes longer, while the antibody test is faster but more likely to produce an inaccurate result. It does not look for evidence of past infection. ANTIGEN TEST Antigens are parts of a virus that trigger the immune system's response to fight the infection, and can show up in blood before antibodies are made. The key advantage of antigen tests is that it can take several days for the immune system to develop enough antibodies to be picked up by a test, whereas antigens can be seen almost immediately after infection. Antigen tests are used to diagnose patients with flu, as well as malaria, strep A and HIV. ANTIBODY TEST An antibody test is one which tests whether someone's immune system is equipped to fight a specific disease or infection. When someone gets infected with a virus their immune system must work out how to fight it off and produce substances called antibodies. These are extremely specific and are usually only able to tackle one strain of one virus. They are produced in a way which makes them able to latch onto that specific virus and destroy it. For example, if someone catches COVID-19, they will develop COVID-19 antibodies for their body to use to fight it off. The body then stores versions of these antibodies in the immune system so that if it comes into contact with that same virus again it will be able to fight it off straight away and probably avoid someone feeling any symptoms at all. To test for these antibodies, medics or scientists can take a fluid sample from someone - usually blood - and mix it with part of the virus to see if there is a reaction between the two. If there is a reaction, it means someone has the antibodies and their body knows how to fight off the infection - they are immune. If there is no reaction it means they have not had it yet. Advertisement

Mr Stevenson said Thermo Fisher has 26 labs in the UK and 5,000 staff who would now work round the clock on the project.

The company has agreed to manufacture as much as it can in its British facilities, as part of its deal with the Government, and will use Amazon's network to transport supplies.

One of the labs being used by Thermo Fisher is the major testing 'hub' recently opened by the Government in Milton Keynes.

Despite Mr Stevenson's ambition, NHS bosses are sceptical that the 100,000 tests target is achievable in the time that Matt Hancock wants it.

In a conference call with the Health Secretary, senior health service figures said NHS labs were struggling to hit targets because they couldn't get enough of the chemicals and instruments they needed.

They would need 'significant' help from private labs if the target is to be met, The Telegraph reported.

A slide from a leaked internal document showed the NHS was up against 'global competition' for supplies and that politicians were promising 'jam tomorrow' - a reference to Alice in Wonderland which means a promise that never materialises.

The slideshow seen by the newspaper also said NHS staff 'have pulled out all the stops to deliver the service', adding 'we have the people... but not the specific consumables'.

Sir Paul Nurse, director at the privately-run Francis Crick Institute, which is testing local NHS staff in London, has also expressed concerns about the 100,00-per-day target.

He said his team is already working 'against the clock' and told Parliament's Science and Technology Committee yesterday: 'Obviously we all have to work together to try and achieve what has to be achieved. One hundred thousand is a stretch though.

He said the strategy of relying on large laboratories to deal with tests might have worked if it had been planned two or three years previously.

But he added: 'We are a bit late now really, because in London we are getting up to the peak and we need all the facilities we can.'

The small private labs the NHS says it needs from appear to be keen to step forward.

Mike Fischer, who runs Systems Biology Laboratory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is already testing local NHS staff and said his company 'just got on with it'.

After buying the swab testing kits online from a supplier in the US, Mr Fischer's firm has scaled up to test 300 staff from 18 GP practices in its local area.

Mr Fischer told Good Morning Britain today: 'There are about a thousand labs, we think, in the country with the right containment facilities and the right equipment that could be doing this.'

He said small laboratories could be easier and quicker to operate than the huge testing hubs run by the Government because they can cut out bureaucracy.

'Decision making in government is a complex process,' he said. '[Here] it really just takes my decision and we can get on with it.

'Our labs have been doing this sort of testing for years in a much more demanding scientific environment.

'For them it's a little bit like being an airline pilot, being told to fly to Paris instead of to Edinburgh, what the Government's trying to do is commission large, central laboratories and what the large commercial suppliers are doing is to programme their equipment and buy consumables for machines that are very sophisticated.

A woman is pictured swabbing a member of NHS staff at a testing centre in Manchester Airport for a coronavirus test

SWEDEN WILL START ANTIBODY TESTING Sweden has become the latest nation to announce plans to roll out antibody tests to try and work out how much of its population have been infected. Up to 1,000 residents in Stockholm will get the self-testing kits over the Easter weekend for the KTH Royal Institute of Technology study. The blood tests will be sent to random addresses and then posted back to the university to have the results analysed by scientists. It is thought the test is made by the company Capitainer AB. It is not clear how accurate it is - but the results will be processed in a lab and not instantly. British scientists have already started sampling around 500 patients a day for antibodies at a military laboratory in Porton Down, Wiltshire. But Number 10 has not rolled out mass antibody tests because it has yet to find a kit that is accurate enough, health chiefs claim. Yesterday it was announced antibody testing had started in the two Italian provinces where the epidemic started - Veneto and Emilia Romagna. Tests had been trialled on up to 3,000 medical staff and will now be rolled out more widely with the aim of issuing 'licences' for people to return to work. These would serve as a doctor's note to certify someone was immune to the coronavirus and could not catch it and become ill themselves. The Italians are not certain the blood tests will work. It is not clear who has manufactured the tests that are being used in the two provinces. The US has already authorized the use of an antibody kit made by Cellex on an emergency basis, saying it is 'reasonable' to believe the test works. China had approved eight antibody tests in its fight against the virus - including one that Britain bought three weeks ago. Germany is also planning on starting a mass antibody testing regime in the next fortnight as part of a trial to get millions of workers out of lockdown. Advertisement

'Our labs are like the small boats in Dunkirk - we don't carry as many passengers but we can navigate in much shallower waters, we can turn much more quickly and we have not only 1,000 labs but hopefully 1,000 independent decision makers.'

Adding to tests to to see which patients and staff are infected with the coronavirus, NHS labs will also soon start carrying out thousands of antibody tests to see who has already recovered from it.

No standalone testing kits have been deemed good enough by the Government so the Royal College of Pathologists said it has been asked to work with the NHS to do antibody tests in labs, The Times reports.

The RCPs president, Jo Martin, said she hoped the operation could be scaled up to 90,000 tests per day in the coming months.

She told the newspaper: In labs around the country there is capacity to do tens of thousands a day Weve got the staff and weve got the equipment.

Professor Martin said the programme could offer reassurance to staff who had a cough or a fever weeks or months ago but still werent sure if they had been exposed to the virus.

She added that, at the moment, its not being done very widely at all we know staff will find that reassuring.

As Britain ramps up its testing policy the next targets after NHS workers are expected to be people working in care homes and prisons.

Number 10's testing tsar revealed the 'real priority' was to get staff in other core services, where vulnerable people live in close proximity, swabbed for the life-threatening infection.

Professor John Newton told MPs yesterday that Britain was 'now at the point where capacity is about to increase very substantially'.

Department of Health figures last night showed 14,682 tests had been done in the last 24 hours, up from 14,006 on Monday.

That meant it is only about a sixth of the way to the target, with three weeks to go. Germany is testing around 70,000 people a day.

Professor Newton, who is a director at Public Health England, was tasked with overseeing the acceleration of Britain's testing programme by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

At yesterday's Science and Technology Select Committee, he revealed: 'Were not far off offering tests to all NHS staff that need them.'

He said tests were needed for care workers - who come into contact with vulnerable elderly people every day - and police and prison officers.

Ministers say 129 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 in 47 prisons. Twenty-nine members of staff have also been infected.

Leading scientists warn the risk of the virus spreading is 'far greater' in jail than it is in the wider community due to how confined the cells are.

At least nine prisoners are believed to have died in the outbreak, with the high-security HMP Belmarsh in London recording its first fatality yesterday.

The Ministry of Justice has already announced up to 4,000 prisoners will be temporarily released from jail and given tags to control the outbreak.


The Tennessee Aquarium has created Weekday Wonders, a series of free, science-at-home activities.

Officials said, "Under normal circumstances, the home is a cherished refuge from the cares of the world. These days are anything but normal, however, and for many parents, overseeing school lessons for homebound children is an unexpected source of stress and uncertainty. In the interest of helping parents by getting kids outside, away from screens and engaged in easy-to-understand, hands-on lessons, we created the Weekday Wonders series."



"Developed by the Aquariums award-winning education department, Weekday Wonders offers curated science content that has more structure than some other kinds of activities without the formality of an actual school lesson," says Dr. Brooke Gorman, the Aquariums director of science education.

"This series is specially designed for pre-K through fifth-grade children whose parents are suddenly finding themselves homeschooling unexpectedly, Dr. Gorman says. A lot of people arent really comfortable with science, so we want to help support those parents to help their kids learn without feeling the pressure of feeling nervous about what they know or dont know.



"Weekday Wonders activities are crafted to reflect and augment the lessons students would be tackling in the classroom; to make things easier on impromptu homeschool educators, though they are written so that parents can easily set their kids on a path to meaningful scientific discussions and revelations," officials said.



The series is constructed around five-day weeks, each of which explores an overarching topic, such as living things and the environment or ecosystem diversity. New lessons are released daily, focusing on questions such as What do animals need to live? and Where do animals live in rivers and streams?



"Easy-to-read daily activity guides walk parents and their kids through a variety of engaging activities, discussions and physical challenges, including daily nature journaling topics, hands-on art or crafting projects, backyard scientific investigations and even animal-themed yoga poses," officials said.



The guides are general enough that all ages can do something with them, Dr. Gorman says. We really wanted to think of ways that kids can do things that dont involve devices and get them outside near their homes.



"And just as importantly, Weekday Wonders should take some of the strain off parents who feel overwhelmed with the need to micromanage their childrens education.



Even though these daily guides include interactive activities, we have tried to make them things that parents can get kids started on and then let the kids continue on their own. That way, parents have time to tackle their own work or prepare other activities.



"Weekday Wonders is the latest resource the Aquarium is offering to help de-stress parents and others who feel increasingly disconnected  from each other as well as the natural world  during the ongoing health crisis," officials said.



Each weekday at 1 p.m. Eastern, the Aquarium is producing live streams that include moment of Zen calming views of various exhibits and expert-led discussions of various animals or behaviors. These #AquariumAtHome Facebook Lives frequently offer behind-the-scenes views and are opportunities for digital visitors (and their children) to interact directly with Aquarium staff. The topic and timing of the daily stream is announced each morning on the Aquariums Facebook page.



To help provide mental stimulation, distraction and stress relief to viewers of all ages, the Aquarium also has assembled a wealth of free content at tnaqua.org/aquarium-at-home. This site serves as a convening point for a variety of fun resources, including:



 Access to always-on webcams in the Secret Reef, River Otter Falls and Penguins Rock;

 Printable activity sheets;

 Educational video series;

 Naturalist Notebook blog written by Tennessee Aquarium Education Outreach Coordinator Bill Haley;

 Streamable IMAX films and accompanying educational guides; and

 A guide to backyard birdwatching.



In the interest of public safety and in accordance with Tennessees statewide shelter-in-place order, the Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX 3D Theater remain closed to the public until further notice.
A 60-year-old woman from Uttaakhands Chamoli district has donated her entire life savings of Rs 10 lakh to the newly launched Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM- CARES) Fund.to advance the governments fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Devaki Bhandari, a resident of Gauchar in Chamoli, who is also a social worker, told reporters that she doesnt have children and lives a simple life so she wanted her savings go towards providing relief to people hurt by the pandemic.

I had saved up around Rs 10 lakhs as fixed deposits and pension. I live in a small rented apartment and do not have many expenses, the money would be better used to fight the coronavirus pandemic, said Bhandari.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat praised Bhandaris gesture.

In this land of India, we had only read the stories of great kings and their charity, but today we have seen it in person. Despite being alone, Mrs. Bhandari has selflessly sacrificed everything, donating all her savings to India, which she considers as family and presented an example before us, said Rawat.

Uttarakhand so far has reported 35 Covid-19 positive cases with the maximum being reported from Dehradun (18). Out of the 35 cases, 26 are followers of the Tablighi Jamaat who attended the Islamic missionary groups mid-March congregation in Delhis Nizamuddin Basti, which has since emerged as the biggest Covid-19 hot spot in the country.

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The obvious question is whether customers will continue to want virtual dinner parties. Reed is betting they will, at least to some degree. He envisions a slow return to social form, and people becoming comfortable with gatherings at their own speeds. As technology becomes a more common means to interact  and currently as the means to interact  socializing may never quite go back to the way it was. That may create a long-term place for virtual dinner parties.
The Vietnamese side has presented medical supplies including face masks, protective gear and hand sanitiser, worth over VND3 billion (US$128,800) in total, to the Lao side.

Following a handing-over ceremony at Cau Treo Border Gate in Vietnams central province of Ha Tinh on April 7, Vietnamese experts travelled to the Lao capital, Vientiane, and held working sessions with the countrys national and government steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Under the instruction of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Defense Minster Ngo Xuan Lich, military zones and units of the Ministry of National Defense stand ready to dispatch experts to Laos as necessary.
Using this process, a single mask may be sterilized up to five times through the UV machine and full utilization of the machine's capacity could yield up to 1.4 million clean masks per week. The sterilization machine also lessens the need for new masks and could potentially result in cost savings of $2 million per week.

Lanny Viegut, the company's CEO and owner, acted quickly after hearing President Trump's March 21 press briefing where he challenged Americans to figure out how to get equipment sanitized to protect healthcare workers. "I immediately thought of the brand-new UV sterilization chamber we had available, and that the machine could surely be used to sterilize masks," stated Viegut. "I contacted the CEO of a local health care provider and offered the use our equipment for as long as needed."

The machine was transferred to a designated site for set-up, training and testing in preparations to become a fully operational PPE sterilization facility. "All this was accomplished in less than a week! It was quite an effort and the end results are amazing," Viegut says. "The UV machine did its job, resulting in masks that are sanitized and ready for use by healthcare and first responders."

On March 29, the facility became the first-known fully operational, in-line UV PPE sterilizing operation in the United States. "Carnivore Meat Company's UV machine is an efficient, continuous conveyor driven machine that is designed to run 24/7," Viegut stated.

"I urge all companies to review their asset list and check their warehouses for sterilization and sanitation equipment that could potentially be used to aid America in its fight against the coronavirus," Viegut says. "There are likely other UV machines in the US that could be repurposed to sterilize PPE for public safety and healthcare workers during the pandemic."

This service donation follows the recent announcement of the Vital Relief Challenge as part of the company's COVID-19 community response plan, which kicked off with a $100,000 donation to Green Bay food banks and shelters.

More information about this initiative is available in this interview with Lanny Viegut.

About Carnivore Meat Company

Carnivore Meat Company is an award-winning manufacturer of premium raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food and treats. The Green Bay, Wisconsin company's rapidly growing brands include Vital Essentials, VE RAW BAR and Vital Cat, which are distributed to over 6,000 retailers nationwide, in 14 international markets and online to Chewy.com, Amazon, PetFlow.com and others. Long considered a raw pet food pioneer, the company's freeze-dried products division supplies private label, co-packing and ingredients to customers globally. Carnivore Meat Company is family owned and has been recognized for its growth accomplishments and manufacturing excellence with a number of awards in recent years, including Greater Green Bay Chamber Growth Award, Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award, Governor's Export Achievement Award, Greater Green Bay Chamber Manufacturing Award of Distinction and Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies. www.carnivoremeat.com

CONTACT:

Melissa Olson

[email protected]

920-615-2460

SOURCE Carnivore Meat Company
"Anecdotal" has suddenly transmogrified into a magic word with power to shut down any further inquiry, discussion, or debate of hydroxychloroquine's (HYQ) application as a Wuhan virus antidote. This one simple word has reached ultimate status in the world of TDS-sufferers everywhere as the definitive slayer of arguments for the drug's use to impede the deadly path of the virus.

This sad fact is representative of a pernicious chasm in our society. The deeply felt antipathy and revulsion of anything Trump by TDS-sufferers are so intense, raw, and vituperative that the one, and so far, only readily available treatment modality demonstrating high efficacy in stopping COVID-19  when used in combination with zinc sulfate and azithromycin and administered early in the progression of the disease  is being withheld from widespread implementation as the ubiquitous solution to save lives and help end the plague.

The president's daily coronavirus press briefings immediately degenerate into full-blown verbal assaults from a shrill, mostly hateful press once questions begin. Reporters vie with one another to see who can win the daily prize for the best "gotcha" question rather than focus on how best to help the American public.

Under normal circumstances (whatever meaning normal has in the age of Trump), the majority of the nation unafflicted with TDS generally goes about its business with a "what can you do?" attitude toward these sufferers, carefully monitoring political weathervanes of friends, co-workers, and family to avoid triggering spite-filled outbursts and diatribes. However, with the pandemic upon us, the TDS-afflicted have devolved into reflexive resistance to HYQ as a promising solution to help stem the tide of ever-increasing deaths and suffering from the virus simply because Trump supports its use.

Dr. Fauci's constant rejoinder to the HYQ treatment solution is to dismiss it as anecdotal. But what is anecdotal? The ever-growing number of HYQ studies conducted by medical researchers, the case histories of practicing physicians such as Dr. Vladimir Zelenko of upstate New York, Dr. William Grace of New York City, and Dr. Anthony Cardillo of Los Angeles, as well as a growing number of doctors and hospitals around the country, are not "anecdotes," and it is outrageous for Fauci and the media to characterize them as such in the face of a thousand deaths a day from COVID-19. These are not personal accounts or stories, but rather in-the-field medical cases entered in patient records that can be verified by medical investigators. Enlightened, dedicated doctors in this desperate time are frantically searching for solutions to save their patients' lives. These practicing physicians are applying abductive reasoning, forming a conclusion drawn from known facts to arrive at the best possible outcome. They cannot wait, in a life-and-death crisis, for the absolute, definitive remedy when their patients' lives are hanging in the balance.

Dr. Fauci as well as all those opposing or dismissing the HYQ option as anecdotal are morally and ethically bound to tell us what is their alternative treatment to HYQ (with zinc sulfate and azithromycin given as early as possible to vulnerable covid sufferers) that demonstrates comparable results and is available in quantities sufficient to meet national demands. If they cannot identify a viable alternative they must either get fully onboard with this treatment modality until a better one appears or step aside and let others lead the effort to end this scourge, with full support from the CDC and the COVID-19 response team.

To do otherwise is to be knowingly complicit in preventable deaths and destroyed lives resulting from this nightmare.
Paris, April 9 : The coronavirus pandemic continued its rampage in France with 541 additional deaths in hospitals in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll in sanitary establishments to 7,632, Director General of Health Jerome Salomon said.

Due to technical problems, health authorities were unable to update human losses registered in care establishments for the elderly on Wednesday, maintaining the count at 3,237, he added, Xinhua news agency reported.

It means that the total official toll from the coronavirus now stands at 10,869, and it is likely incomplete. France reported its first COVID-19 death, an 80-year-old tourist from China, on February 14.

Salomon also said at the daily conference that there were now 7,148 people in intensive care, an increase of 17 from the day earlier, the lowest daily increase recorded in weeks, which offered the French health system a much-needed relief.

Since the start of the epidemic, the number of people who have recovered is increasing every day, the official noted. In total, 21,254 patients in France have recovered.

"Tension is barely easing in some regions, but remains very strong in others, such as (the north-central French region of) Ile-de-France," Salomon said, warning that "COVID-19 pandemic is still very active." "Staying at home is acting against the virus," he added, calling confinement as "the most efficient weapon against the spread of the virus." "You are the major actors in this fight. All together we have slowed down this deadly pandemic, and we will curb it further," he stressed.

France decided on March 17 to put its 67 million residents into lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. The measures have been extended until April 15.

On Wednesday evening, the French presidency announced that the confinement will be extended again and President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation next Monday to declare further measures to fight the coronavirus.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Swiss International Air Lines is operating a special repatriation flight, LX154, from Zurich to Delhi via Mumbai and back to Zurich on behalf of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to fly back Swiss and other European nationals to their homes.

This comes at a time when no international flights are operating to and from India due to the global air traffic lockdown.

The Airlines operated a wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft that took off at 4:00 PM CET on April 8 from Zurich and arrived at 5:15 AM local time in Mumbai. The aircraft was scheduled to take off for Delhi at 9:45 pm on April 9.

The Press Release from the airline said, "we are tasked with the duty and privilege to bring people back to their homes in this time of unprecedented global crisis. We are thankful to be able to help the government officials in India and Switzerland with this special flight,"

The Press release added, '"Since March 14, Lufthansa Group airlines -SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and Eurowings - have flown around 220 special flights back to the home countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium, involving more than 40,000-holidaymakers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There is a 'record demand' for agricultural jobs in the UK with one recruitment website witnessing a huge 83 percent spike in applications.

With the jobs market undergoing a dramatic shift due to Covid-19, thousands of displaced workers are looking for jobs such as crop pickers.

The farming industry has been struggling to recruit the 80,000 seasonal workers it needs during harvest.

But it could be set to benefit from new interest amongst UK workers with an 83% increase in applications for farming roles in the last month on Totaljobs.

Candidates across all demographics are actively searching for farming roles on the jobs site, with the last week of March seeing significant increases in searches compared to the last week of February.

This increase includes fruit picker (338 percent increase) and farm worker (107 percent increase).

Candidates are also looking more generally, with searches for farm (130% increase) and agriculture (66% increase) both on the up.

Steve Warnham, of Totaljobs said British workers displaced due to the coronavirus are turning to agricultural roles.

"Under these extraordinary circumstances, we are seeing a trend of workers who have been temporarily displaced who are now looking for roles they can take on in other sectors to keep Britain moving.

The increased interest in farming reflects a wider trend that we are seeing across other essential industries including logistics, healthcare and security.

A 'Feed the Nation' labour campaign has already successfully signed up 10,000 British people to help pick fruit and vegetables on farms across the UK.

But this number isn't nearly enough, and the industry is still looking for more people to sign up, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said.

Mark Bridgeman, president of the rural organisation, said the government must recognise that farmers' supply of labour is in 'jeopardy'.

We all know this is a deeply concerning period and we are all determined to do all we can to help the country through it," he said.

"A shortage of 80,000 workers is something we have never seen before. This is why we are calling for a Land Army of workers to support farmers in feeding the country.
The Sandoval County Detention Center is adding precautionary procedures to prevent COVID-19 from entering the jail.

Jail Director Gilbert Armendariz said the detention center is not allowing outside visitors to enter the secure part of the facility. This includes attorneys, religious groups and support groups.

However, video visits are still available to inmates.

The facility is undergoing renovations requiring contractors to enter. Before coming in, they participate in a health screening and have their temperatures taken.

All staff entering the detention center must do the same, Armendariz said.

Personal protective equipment like gloves and masks is accessible to all staff and contractors, he said.

If anyone displays signs of any COVID-19 symptoms, they will be sent home and advised to seek medical attention. No one would be allowed back into the facility until they provided a medical clearance confirming they do not have COVID-19, Armendariz said.

Jail staff is also screening inmates daily for symptoms of COVID-19 and testing is made available to them, he said.

All detainees are now and have always been given a medical screening before they are accepted into the detention center, Armendariz said. If the detainee is suspected of having any medical issue, which would compromise the detainee or staff, the medical staff requires that the detainee be taken to a local medical provider, typically, a local hospital, for further evaluation and screening.

The medical intake includes questions about COVID-19, he said.

If an inmate were to show symptoms of the coronavirus, Armendariz said staff would utilize the negative pressure cell.

A negative pressure cell controls the airflow in a room. A positive pressure room has air flowing away from it, while negative pressure rooms have air flowing into them to prevent airborne microorganisms inside getting out, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

In addition, the detention center would follow certain procedures if COVID-19 were to break out there, Armendariz said. Procedures are:

 keep the detainees separated from each other;

 transport ill detainees to hospitals for medical care;

 lock down the facility,

 monitor everyone in the detention center; and

 continue to monitor the situation to take any necessary actions.

Staff members have put up educational posters about COVID-19 and how to properly wash hands, Armendariz said.

The detainees are counseled on the importance of and monitored to practice social distancing when outside their individual cells, he said. The detention center continues to evaluate situations and take any appropriate actions.

Daily routines like how food is served and medical and dental accessibility have not changed. The staff has canceled all in-house group meetings such as life skills classes, group treatment sessions and parenting skills education until further notice, Armendariz said.

Two inmates have been tested for COVID-19 and both tested negative, he said.
Millions of Americans are under the Stay-at-home order, but theyre also probably wondering right now whether they will be able to keep the home in which they are forced to stay once the pandemic is over.

Nearly 10 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in March, with estimates that up to one-third of the U.S. workers may be unemployed by the coronavirus crisis.

Even those who still have jobs are prioritizing expenses, and housing payments seem to be at the bottom of that list.

According to new data by the National Multifamily Housing Council, nearly one-third of a total of 43 million Americans who rent failed to pay their rent in April.

Renters across the country have organized rent strikes in recent days, calling on elected officials to provide immediate financial relief to tenants and threatening to withhold payments to landlords.

As the first of the month loomed, the term rent strike began trending, with activists urging renters facing hardship to prioritize basic needs. According to information at Rent Strike 2020, at least 1.5 million renters have signed on to withhold rent.

The problem with this strategy is that the vast majority of providers of rental housing are small businesses that rely on rent payments. If rent money stops flowing, nearly 18 million workers employed by property management companies could lose their jobs, leading to an even bigger rent crisis.

There is no official data on how many homeowners missed their mortgage payments, but terms missing payment and foreclosure are dominating the internet search engines.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed in March, allows for a 3-6-month delay in mortgage payments.

Borrowers arent being forgiven. Instead, the measures call for forbearance  the postponement or reduction of the loan payment due. Some states have partnered with lenders to offer similar programs on mortgages, waiving up to 90 days of payments.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, requests to delay mortgage payments have skyrocketed in the last few weeks. At the end of March, there were more than 200,000 requests while in the first week of this month, that number jumped to more than 700,000.

As for real estate at large, it was holding strong in the first three months but with late March, the number of newly-listed properties fell by 13.1% and 34%, respectively, when compared with the same period a year ago, according to Realtor.

The only silver lining for home buyers is this: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought travel to a standstill, which means its also bringing vacation rental platforms to a standstill.

Vacation rental platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway have seen the majority of their bookings canceled. The trend is already being referred to as the AirBnB Apocalypse, as the vacation booking giant bleeds money. And that may get worse as several cities in the U.S. and Canada have even banned short-term rentals.

While this leaves some homeowners without planned income, which for many serves as a mortgage payment they couldnt otherwise afford, for others, its a boon of cheap rentals.

However, owners of vacation rentals are scrambling to find long-term tenants for their properties, flooding rental websites with cut-price, furnished properties.

By Josh Owens for Safehaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Wednesday initiated cluster containment in 12 areas of the city as a proactive measure to reduce the spread of Covid-19 among the community. In the last two weeks, GHMC has studied the areas in the city to figure out the geographic distribution of COVID-19 positive cases. According to their study, 89 of the total 150 positive cases in the city were registered from 12 areas.

According to officials of the GHMC, bars will be raised and a heavy police force will be deployed in the suburbs of Ramgopalpet, Shaikpet, Redhills, Malakpet, Santoshnagar, Chandrayangutta, Alwal, Moosapet, Kukatpally, Quthbullapur, Mayuri Nagar of Miyapur, Yousufguda and Chandanagar. Only health officials will be allowed to enter these areas, conduct door-to-door health checkups, GHMC Commissioner, DS Lokesh Kumar informed.

People will not be allowed to leave these containment clusters, and outsiders will not be allowed to enter them. Police officials will ensure that there is a strict prohibition on unnecessary movement. Also, the roads will remain barricaded.

In these areas, special attention will be given to sanitation and spraying of disinfectants. Containment clusters will help contain the disease within a defined geographic area. According to officials, the municipal corporation will work along with healthcare officials to help them identify positive cases, if any.

This cluster containment strategy can also help us prevent the transmission of diseases to the other parts of the city, GHMC commissioner said. Police will monitor and ensure social distancing measures.
Ending lockdowns in Wuhan? The CCP makes profits from the coronavirus pandemic

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced it would end the lockdown of Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus, the CCP virus, on April 8. Now that the date has arrived, however, the regime is now slowing its initial plans. Transportation is still restricted, and strict controls on residential compounds are still in place.

Various reports from China also show that locals in other provinces are worried about what the opening of Wuhan means for their own safety. This brings into question the legitimacy of the CCPs claims that the virus has been ending in China.

And in other news, Brazilian Minister of Education Abraham Weintraub has openly criticized the Chinese regime for using medical equipment makers to profit from the pandemic, and called out the regime for its alleged global ambitions to capitalize on the outbreak. He joins other prominent international voices now calling out the CCP for its actions during the outbreak, including members of the Iranian government.

These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads.

Crossroads is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube.
A CAHERDAVIN couple who are in isolation have now seen two landmark wedding anniversaries impacted by world events.

Jack and Rita Fitzgibbon are set to mark their diamond wedding anniversary next weekend.

But due to the lockdown, the loving couple, who are both in their 80s, will not be able to see anyone they love on their special day. Bad luck has struck twice for the pair, who originally hail from Kileely.

For their golden wedding anniversary 10 years ago was also hit by the Icelandic ash cloud crisis, which saw scores of flights across Europe axed, and meant that many of their relatives from Britain did not attend their party.

"You'd say something bad happens every century, but it appears that it's every 10 years, said Jack, who appeared with his loving wife on RTE Radio One with Ryan Tubridy this Wednesday.

While Jack and Rita wont go to the party next week, the party will come to them, with Masterchefs Hospitality delivering a special cooked meal to the couple at their home in Limerick.

While not all Jack and Ritas family came a decade ago, some came to Limerick to celebrate with a party held in the Shannon Rowing Club.

"I'm having a great time with my wedding anniversaries, laughed Rita, The way some people had to travel to get over was unreal. They had to go by boat. They had a terrible time.

Before the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Limerick, forcing the majority of people into self-isolation, Jack and Rita were weighing up a number of options for their big day, including perhaps going on holiday, or travelling across to see family in Britain.

But with all thats going on around us, we are just going to have a cup of tea now, I think, said Jack.

Rita wanted to have a quiet anniversary. I wanted to have a bit of a party. But with so much trouble, we thought we'd keep it quiet this year, he added.

Since the pair are over 70, they are following government advice to cocoon. They have been spending time watching John Wayne movies, while Rita admits she is trying to write her life story. She met Jack with a group of friends in September 1958 at the old City Theatre.

Rita recalled how hers and Jacks friends went their separate ways to allow the couple-to-be time together.
But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider.




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Cross-Tasman travel has always been easy. No visas, no passports, very much "open door" since 1920. The phrase was repeated again by the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand. Mr Whitlam and Mr Kirk, in 1973 when the arrangement was reaffirmed.

New Zealand's population is small. In 1973 it was 2,974,659. not much bigger than Greater Sydney's 2,582,150 population in the same year. Yet New Zealand's output of talent has been great. How many New Zealanders live in Australia now? The 1971 census of New Zealand born totalled 80,466. The figure could be much higher, well over 100,000 some say.

If you took the names of the New Zealanders out of Who's Who in Australia, the 1,088-page volume would be thinner. Listed within it are Now Zealanders who have contributed so much to this country. Australia regards them as Australians. Because pakehas, the Maori name for white New Zealanders, look like us and talk like us (though they might disagree on the latter), they have been a hidden influence here. Few can pick them out. As Australians once went to Britain to further their careers, so New Zealanders came here. Many who did well stayed.

But the door is closing, if not slamming now. A joint statement put out last month by the New Zealand Minister of Immigration, Mr Colman, and the Australian Minister for Labour and Immigration, Mr Cameron, said that the two Governments will be asked to "consider a recommendation that all travellers across the Tasman should carry identification. Initially this would comprise passports and appropriate evidence of permanent residence in the case of other Commonwealth residents." The Ministers agreed to a joint feasibility study which would consider the introduction of a "simplified" travel document along the lines of the "passport card."

The statement said that the present arrangements "make it possible for drug traffickers and other criminals "to move freely from one country to the other, and that illegal migrants can "now defeat New Zealand and Australian migrant control." About 800,000 travellers cross the Tasman each year, said the statement. Four out of every five are Australian or New Zealand citizens. If the Governments decide to bring in a passport system, this will cause some rethinking for New Zealanders living here.

Harry Maurice Miller, the entrepreneur, will be all right. He took up Australian citizenship in 1969. Douglas Stewart, the poet, who came here from New Zealand in 1939, has dual citizenship. When the Australian Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1948 was passed it granted Australian citizenship to British subjects who had lived in Australia for five of the previous eight years. So Mr Stewart, like many others, is a citizen of two countries. The idea of having a passport to travel across the Tasman does not worry him. "In general," he says. "I don't like it. I would rather travel was passport free."

Both Mr Miller and Mr Stewart are in Who's Who in Australia. Other New Zealanders in the pages include Ruth Park, the writer; Mrs Nancy Forward, the former Nancy Wake, a heroine of the wartime Resistance in France, who holds the George Medal, as well as many other decorations for bravery; Sir William Hudson, the Commissioner for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority from 1949 to 1967: Sir William Walkley, the founder of Ampol Petroleum Ltd; Tessa Birnie, concert pianist; Sidney Baker, the author of Dictionary of Australian Slang and the Australian Language.

New Zealand-born professors abound. They include Professor Charles Watson-Munro, formerly chief scientist of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, now Professor of Plasma Physics, University of Sydney and Professor William Geddes, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Sydney.
Afghan Government Frees 100 Taliban Prisoners

By Ayaz Gul April 08, 2020

The Afghan government freed 100 Taliban prisoners Wednesday, a day after the insurgent group accused Kabul of foot-dragging and recalled its team from week-long meetings on a much-awaited prisoner swap between the two foes.

The spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council said the inmates were released under a presidential decree, maintaining that the move was part of government efforts aimed at promoting peace and containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Javid Faisal noted the Afghan intelligence agency and relevant legal authorities "thoroughly vetted" the prisoners "based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence" before setting them free. He emphasized that all the prisoners took an oath not to rejoin the Taliban and return to the battlefield.

The Taliban swiftly rejected Kabul's announcement, saying it has nothing to do with the provisions outlined in their agreement with the United States.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said their team had already been recalled from Kabul after pulling out of "fruitless" meetings over coordinating the prisoner swap.

"A prisoner release process which is not in line with the terms of our agreement with America is not acceptable to us," Mujahid told VOA.

The Taliban-Kabul talks broke down on Tuesday after Afghan officials refused to release 15 senior insurgent commanders, saying the men had been involved in major attacks and were believed to be a serious security threat.

Qatar-based Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen denied that the 15 were senior commanders. "These 15 were selected from the list of 5,000 prisoners because they can help in identification and verification of other Taliban prisoners," Shaheen told VOA while defending his group's decision to pull out of the talks.

The landmark February 29 U.S.-Taliban deal aimed at ending the war requires the Afghan government to free up to 5,000 insurgent prisoners in exchange for 1,000 government detainees in Taliban custody.

The prisoner swap, seen as a confidence-building measure, was supposed to take place by March 10, when Afghan warring sides were scheduled to come to the table and negotiate a sustainable peace as well as power-sharing in post-war Afghanistan.

The Taliban says all 5,000 prisoners would have to be freed before it engages in intra-Afghan peace talks. But the Afghan government maintains it would gradually release the prisoners, subject to a reduction in insurgent violence and progress in talks once they begin.

The Taliban threatened last week to step up attacks on Afghan military targets if the prisoners are not freed.

The prolonged delay in starting intra-Afghan peace talks has concerned the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday challenges in moving the peace process forward were not unexpected. He underlined, however, the need for all parties to implement the agreement to help build a "peaceful, reconciled" Afghanistan.

"I don't think there's any ambiguity with respect to how all of the parties understand what America's continued role will be if they execute this peace and reconciliation process properly, appropriately, efficiently," Pompeo told reporters in Washington.

The United States is committed to withdrawing all American and coalition forces from Afghanistan in the next 14 months under the deal with the Taliban, and a "conditions-based" U.S. military drawdown has already started.

The February 29 agreement commits the insurgents to ensure the security of U.S. and its allies. But it does not bind the Taliban not to attack Afghan security forces. For its part, the U.S. military has committed to defend Afghan partners if they are attacked.

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All eyes in the liquefied natural gas industry are on four tankers carrying what could become the first U.S. LNG shipments to China in more than a year.

Three of the tankers left from two facilities owned by Houston liquefied natural gas company Cheniere Energy while one of them left from a facility owned by San Diego utility company Sempra Energy. All four of them are headed to LNG import terminals in Tianjin, China, marine shipping records show.

Currently passing by the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the SK Resolute left Sempra's Cameron LNG terminal on March 22 and is expected to arrive in China on April 30.

World Standing Still: Oil industry faces unprecedented crisis

Departing from Cheniere's Corpus Christi LNG terminal on March 25, the Palu LNG already passed through the Panama Canal and is expected to arrive in Tianjin on April 22.

The Hoegh Giant and Cool Explorer left Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana in late March but took different routes, marine traffic records show. Working with a May 5 delivery date, Hoegh Giant is going around the Cape of Good Hope while Cool Explorer already went through the Panama Canal and is expected to arrive in China on April 22.

A trade war with China and related tariffs made U.S. LNG exports too expensive but the four shipments left after the Chinese government granted tax waivers to some importers, Reuters reported. The last U.S. LNG export to China left Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG terminal in February 2019, U.S. Department of Energy records show.

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

Traveling around Africa adds 13 days to the shipments but S&P Global Platts reported that taking more time appears to be a deliberate choice. Delaying the arrival time, Platts reported, may allow shippers to take advantage of a contango where the futures price of LNG is expected to be higher than the spot price.

It essentially becomes floating storage, LNG industry expert Michael Webber told Platts. If the spot pricing is weak and there is contango in the curve, depending on how the pricing is structured, maybe you want to take the time getting there.

Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com
RICHMOND, Va. - A bus agency connecting Virginia cities to Washington, D.C., announced plans to suspend service, since not enough customers are taking rides during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Virginia Breeze will suspend all long-distance services starting Friday, the states Department of Rail and Public Transportation said in a news release Wednesday. This follows a decision that came just a few days ago to suspend Monday to Thursday services.

The agencys director, Jennifer Mitchell, said its no longer feasible to maintain service with the lack of demand under the states current stay-at-home order. Virginia Breeze will restart when it is safe to travel and the demand returns, Mitchell added.
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Grim totals come as NY, other states see drop in hospitalisations, a sign social distancing, other measures are working.

The number of deaths in the United States linked to the novel coronavirus topped 15,000 on Thursday, but officials said that despite the grim tallies, there are signs the pandemic might be nearing its peak in the cities hardest hit early on in the crisis.

More than 451,000 people across the US have been infected with the coronavirus, with more than 15,900 dead, according to Johns Hopkins University.

US officials had warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected US pandemic death toll by 26 percent to 60,000.

We are in the midst of a week of heartache, Vice President Mike Pence said during a White House briefing on Wednesday, but added, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope.

Healthcare workers prepare to transfer the body of a deceased person at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US [Brendan McDermid/Reuters]

US deaths set new daily records on Tuesday and Wednesday with over 1,900 new deaths reported each day.

Only Italy has more deaths with 18,279. Spain reported 15,238 deaths as of Thursday.

In the US, New York state has been hardest hit with more than 799 reported on Wednesday, up from 779 a day earlier. The state has recorded 7,067 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, so far.

Hospitalisations down in NY, but guidelines cant relax

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that despite the high death totals, there has been a sharp drop in the number of people newly admitted to a hospital in the past 24 hours to the lowest level in the coronavirus crisis.

The drop in hospitalisations was a sign that social distancing steps were working, Cuomo said on Thursday, but he warned that now was not the time to relax on the guidelines set by the state and federal government.

It is good news. Well, now I can relax, No, you cant relax, he cautioned. The flattening of the curve last night happened because of what we did yesterday and the day before and the day before that.

New York state health officials now say they support people wearing cloth face coverings when they go out in public, especially in areas of significant community transmission.

Protective glove and a mask are seen discarded on a city sidewalk during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York [Stefan Jeremiah/Reuters]

Cuomos administration had previously said it wasnt clear on whether face masks are effective.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) already recommends cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, as do New York City officials.

The states guidance released on Wednesday cites recent studies about the significant number of asymptomatic individuals with COVID-19 who are spreading the virus by even just speaking near others.

Cuomo said he planned to bring in additional funeral directors to deal with the fallout of what he characterised as a silent explosion that has sent ripples through society and represented the same evil that terrorised New York in 2001.

Redouble efforts

The USs top expert on infectious diseases echoed Cuomos call to not relax on mitigation efforts, despite the signs of improvement.

Dr Anthony Fauci warned on Thursday against reopening the economy too soon in the face of improving data on the coronavirus outbreak, but a third week of massive jobless claims underscored the huge economic cost to social distancing measures aimed at curbing the virus spread.

Several officials have hailed the apparent success of mitigation efforts, but Fauci said it was important that people continue to stay home.

Weve got to continue to redouble our efforts at the mitigation of physical separation in order to keep those numbers down and hopefully even get them lower than what youve heard recently, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CBSs This Morning programme.

Stay-at-home orders that have closed non-essential workplaces in 42 states have drastically slowed the once-humming US economy and thrown millions of people out of work.

Unemployment

With several state unemployment insurance offices deluged in recent weeks, 6.6 million workers applied for jobless benefits in the week ended April 4, the US Department of Labor said on Thursday. That followed 6.9 million jobless applications the week before, the most since the Great Recession of 2008.

In all, some 16.8 million American workers have applied for jobless benefits in the past three weeks.

At the White House briefing on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the US economy with a big bang, but not before the death toll is headed downward.

Small businesses and workers, particularly in the service industries, were bearing the brunt of the lockdown measures.

People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment benefits, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at A [Nick Oxford/Reuters]

The Senate on Thursday failed to push through an additional $250bn of aid intended to help small businesses cope with the economic toll of the new coronavirus pandemic as Democrats and Republicans blocked each others proposals.

Democrats objected to a Republican measure for $250bn to beef up emergency loans to small businesses, saying they would back the bill only if it had strings attached and was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals, local governments and food assistance.

Republicans objected to the Democratic initiative, saying only the money in a small business loan programme was at risk of running out now and needed to be replenished.
A Second World War hero pilot who saved his family's life and vowed 'never to waste a moment' after he survived being shot down by the Nazis has died from coronavirus aged 96.

RAF hero John Moore spent the Second World War saving lives, including his sister's during the Liverpool Blitz, before he had turned 18 he had already signed up to serve as a pilot.

His crew of six men flew 27 missions over Europe before their Lancaster was shot by enemy fire and came down over Lincolnshire. Two crew members died in the crash and three were left seriously injured.

But John managed to survive the crash and spent a month in hospital recovering.

Keen rambler John Moore walked up to 800 miles a year, despite his age, right up until his death from coronavirus, aged 96

Neighbours and friends of hero John have now paid tribute to the 'lovely man' who had a 'wonderful wit'.

He died at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, South Wales, on March 28 after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

Villagers in his home of Aberthin near Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, lit candles in their windows to mark his passing.

Friend Lindsey Alford said: Ever humble, John joked that he only joined the RAF to escape the Blitz.

In more reflective moments he spoke of how the experiences of war profoundly changed him - he vowed to never waste a moment and live life to the full.

John kept his promise and became an inspiration to all who knew him.

John moved to the village 30 years ago with his late wife Mary. He had two children, two step-children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He was born in Liverpool on June 14, 1923, to a Welsh mother and Irish father.

Throughout the Liverpool Blitz from 1940 to 1941 he worked in the civil defence unit - extinguishing mercury incendiary bombs and pulling residents from toppled buildings.

More than 70 years after he survived being shot down by Nazis, John Moore has passed away after catching coronavirus aged 96

He was just 17 when he rescued his sister Nell and her two-year-old son Alan who had sheltered in a reinforced cupboard under the stairs.

John signed up for the RAF before he was legally old enough to train - to make sure that when he turned 18 he would be drafted in.

Keen rambler John often walked up to an impressive 800 miles a year despite being 96.

One tribute said: I have just learnt the very sad news that John Moore has passed away at the age of 96 after contracting the Coronavirus.

I know that some people in the village knew John from playing bridge with him, from The Hare and Hounds, where he was a regular, and from the Ramblers.

The tribute added: A lovely man, great to walk with and a wonderful wit.

The village now hopes to hold a memorial event in June if lockdown is lifted.
About 400 million people working in the informal economy in India are at risk of falling deeper into poverty due to the coronavirus crisis which is having "catastrophic consequences", and is expected to wipe out 195 million full-time jobs or 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of this year, the UN's labour body has warned.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its report titled 'ILO Monitor 2nd edition: COVID-19 and the world of work', describes coronavirus pandemic as "the worst global crisis since World War II".

"Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies. We have to move fast, decisively, and together. The right, urgent, measures, could make the difference between survival and collapse," ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said on Tuesday.

Worldwide, two billion people work in the informal sector (mostly in emerging and developing economies) and are particularly at risk, the report said, adding that the COVID-19 crisis is already affecting tens of millions of informal workers.

"In India, Nigeria and Brazil, the number of workers in the informal economy affected by the lockdown and other containment measures is substantial," ILO said.

"In India, with a share of almost 90% of people working in the informal economy, about 400 million workers in the informal economy are at risk of falling deeper into poverty during the crisis. Current lockdown measures in India, which are at the high end of the University of Oxford's COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, have impacted these workers significantly, forcing many of them to return to rural areas," it said.

The report said the disruption to the world's economies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of this year - the equivalent of 195 million jobs worldwide.

"This is the greatest test for international cooperation in more than 75 years. If one country fails, then we all fail. We must find solutions that help all segments of our global society, particularly those that are most vulnerable or least able to help themselves," said Ryder.

"The choices we make today will directly affect the way this crisis unfolds and so the lives of billions of people. With the right measures we can limit its impact and the scars it leaves. We must aim to build back better so that our new systems are safer, fairer and more sustainable than those that allowed this crisis to happen," he said.

Large reductions are foreseen in the Arab States (8.1%, equivalent to 5 million full-time workers), Europe (7.8%, or 12 million full-time workers) and Asia and the Pacific (7.2%, 125 million full-time workers), it said.

Huge losses are expected across different income groups but especially in upper-middle income countries (7.0%, 100 million full-time workers), far exceeding the effects of the 2008-9 financial crisis, the report warned.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is having a catastrophic effect on working hours and earnings, globally," it said. The agency said sectors most at risk include accommodation and food services, manufacturing, retail, and business and administrative activities.

The eventual increase in global unemployment during 2020 will depend substantially on future developments and policy measures. There is a high risk that the end-of-year figure will be significantly higher than the initial ILO projection of 25 million, it said. More than four out of five people (81%) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures, it said.

According to the report, 1.25 billion workers are employed in the sectors identified as being at high risk of "drastic and devastating" increases in layoffs and reductions in wages and working hours. Many are in low-paid, low-skilled jobs, where a sudden loss of income is devastating. Looked at regionally, the proportion of workers in these "at risk" sectors varies from 43% in the Americas to 26% in Africa.

Some regions, particularly Africa, have higher levels of informality, which combined with a lack of social protection, high population density and weak capacity, pose severe health and economic challenges for governments, the report cautions.

Large-scale, integrated, policy measures were needed, focusing on four pillars: supporting enterprises, employment and incomes; stimulating the economy and jobs; protecting workers in the workplace; and, using social dialogue between government, workers and employers to find solutions, the study says.

Also read: Coronavirus fallout: India's GDP growth may fall to 1.6% in FY21, says Goldman Sachs

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: UP, Delhi govts seal COVID-19 hotpots; Country's active cases near 5,000-mark
Photo credit: Alamy

From ELLE Decor

At ELLE Decor, it takes more than a tearful soliloquy to sate our appetite for drama. When it comes to movies, the interior design can often give a more memorable performance than the actors. We couldnt tell you what The Favourite (2018) was about, but boy were the rooms in that palace worth the price of admission. Remember Barry Lyndon (1975), Stanley Kubricks three-hour period piece (pictured above) starring the fabulous Marisa Berenson and the fabulously wooden Ryan ONeal? If you do, its because of the impossibly beautiful Rococo evening scenes lit only by candlelight. Sometimes for a movie to be great, all it takes is good looks.

Its with that in mind that we asked eight decorators from the ELLE Decor A-List for their picks of the best-designed movies of all time. Read on for some inspiration on what to watch next.

Photo credit: Alamy

A NEW LEAF (1971)

Its a forgotten treasure directed by Mike Nichols, with sets coordinated by the late D.D. Ryan. She was Diana Vreelands photo editor at Harpers Bazaar and a great influence and mentor to me. When I first watched this film, I became aware that traditional furniture could be fully updated and stylishly invigorated. It was the advent of modernism, in which there was suddenly a blur between traditional and contemporary motifs. Youll see, for example, a Georgian sideboard next to an antique Chinese chair next to a Morris Louis painting. This movie was a great barometer of change and hugely influential on my work as a designer. Im begging to watch it tonight, though, for the humor of it all. Jeffrey Bilhuber





Photo credit: Alamy

MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006)

I recently had the opportunity to revisit this modern classic directed by Sofia Coppola, when she and Anna Sui hosted a viewing at the Museum of Arts and Design in January. I was reminded then just how absolutely beautiful Versailles is. The film, with production design by K.K. Barrett, takes place in the private apartments, offering a glimpse of the human scale that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI lived within, versus what we know as the enormous formal public rooms in the main part of the palace. The costumes and sets are beyond sumptuous, but it is Coppolas interpretation of 21st-century fashion and music that make the whole movie so incredibly modern. Brian J. McCarthy

Story continues





Photo credit: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE (2003)

This classic directed by Nancy Meyers, starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, remains one of my all-time favorite movies, for its backdrop designed by Jon Hutman. Keatons home in the Hamptons, with the double-height ceiling in the great room and that huge all-white kitchen with the big island, looks so realistic. It is exactly what I would expect an extremely successful divorced womana New York City playwright in her late 50swould have as a beach house. The house is elegant but a little bit formal and austere, which seems pretty reflective of her personality. Sheila Bridges

Photo credit: Alamy

I AM LOVE (2009)

Luca Guadagninos beautiful movie was shot in Milan against the backdrop of the exquisite interiors of the Villa Necchi Campiglio. How could you possibly go wrong? But the film isnt just buoyed by the resplendent visuals, its a proper drama of restrained complexity, with the magnificent Tilda Swinton in the lead role. If youre looking for a perfect escape from the worlds stressesone that is rich on every levelthis is the ticket. Beth Martin







Photo credit: Alamy

AUNTIE MAME (1958)

Everyone should have an Auntie Mame, the most flamboyantly over-the-top caregiver in Hollywood history. Come for Rosalind Russells performance, but stay for the ever-changing interiors of her Beekman Place Manhattan duplex. I love watching the passing of time as Mames interiors evolve, reflecting her own evolution. They are fantastic and bold and a constant source of inspiration. Leyden Lewis





Photo credit: Alamy

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (2016)



For the most beautifully designed movie, this film by Tom Ford takes the cake. While the story has many varied locations, I was especially attracted to the scenes at Amy Adamss spectacularly chic modern house in the Hollywood Hills, as well as her ultra-cool minimalist art gallery. What really resonated is how Adams, typically a preppy good girl, took on the persona of Fords tortured heroine, transformed by the clothing and makeup he devised for her. Ellie Cullman





Photo credit: Alamy

FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1982)

The drama of Ingmar Bergmans epic takes place in three wonderful houses in Uppsala, Sweden, at the turn of the 20th century. Im drawn to the glorious period colors and antique Victorian furniture in the Ekdahl family abode, as well as to the Jugend-style modernity of the Jacobi house. Every environment is stunning, created with great attention to detail, which led to an unsurprising Academy Award win for art director Anna Asp. I find myself returning to Fanny and Alexander over and over again for inspiration, and to be transported into the past! Juan Montoya

Photo credit: Alamy

SKYFALL (2012)

One of the most action-packed James Bond movies also happens to be a design inspiration for me. Where do I begin? I enjoyed the look of the MI6 office, its austere limestone setting with graphic horizontal and vertical bands reminiscent of a Piet Mondrian painting. The only curved lines are in the Interstuhl Silver high-backed chair. Ms residence is filled with warm light, traditional British furnishings, and raised-panel millwork details. I can imagine snuggling on her sofa. The scenes in Macao are also eye-popping. And can we please talk about that wild Shanghai casino with the entrance through the dragons mouth? Brilliant! Joy Moyler

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Freight planes filled with Australian seafood are expected to land in China this week and return with vital medical supplies.

Tonnes of rock lobster left Perth for Shanghai in recent days as part of a deal with mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and the Western Australian government to import the medical equipment.

It comes as the first aircraft carrying medical supplies from Wuhan, the original epicentre of COVID-19, landed in Sydney on Wednesday night.

A worker in a mask pictured at Sydney Fish Market on April 8. Australian seafood is being flown twice a week to Taiwan to help Australian fishers during the pandemic

Customers shop at the Sydney Fish Market on Wednesday in front of a sign warning about social distancing

Seafood will be also flown twice a week to Taiwan from Australia in a move that will help local fishers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The first flight left on Friday in the deal struck with seafood producer Tassal.

It's part of a $110million plan where the government will also consider exports of produce to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

Federal agriculture minister David Littleproud says it's important for the outgoing flights to be locked in because the reduction in passenger planes has resulted in less produce leaving Australian shores.

'So it's important we've kept those markets open,' he told Sky News.

'This just showcases Australian agriculture is not just producing the best food and fibre in the world, but being one of the most reliable suppliers in the world.

A worker is pictured at the Sydney Fish Market on Wednesday. High-quality exports like seafood have taken massive hits as the global pandemic shuts down commercial air travel

'And it will mean we recover a lot quicker. Agriculture is a bedrock of this nation's economy at the moment.'

High-quality exports like lobster and abalone have taken massive hits as the global pandemic shuts down commercial air travel.

About 90 per cent of Australian air freight usually goes out in the bellies of passenger planes.

The first aircraft carrying medical supplies from Wuhan, the original epicentre of COVID-19, landed in Sydney on Wednesday night. Flight is pictured preparing for take-off in Wuhan

Assistant fisheries minister Jonathan Duniam said the flight would be a lifeline for Tasmania's seafood industry.

'The fact that Tasmanian seafood is the first to take off is a major coup for the Tasmanian seafood industry,' he said.

'I know that many other products from across Australia will soon follow this lead.'
By Brenda Goh

WUHAN, China, April 8 (Reuters) - Temperature checkpoints and posters telling workers to keep more than a metre apart at Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co's reopened plant in the Chinese city of Wuhan show how the coronavirus has created a new normal on the factory floor.

The plant, a Honda joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group was shut in late January when authorities ordered a lockdown in Wuhan in a bid to snuff out the coronavirus, which emerged there late last year.

It reopened on March 11 to resume operations in stages and is now back to pre-virus production levels, Li Shiquan, assistant director of the joint venture's No. 2 final assembly plant, told reporters on Wednesday.

Returning workers were asked to report where they had been since the epidemic started and temperature checkpoints were set up, Li said.

About 98% of its 12,000 workers were now back and were putting in over-time to make up for lost production, he said.

The joint venture produced 800,000 cars last year.

"We have many customers who are waiting for cars so this week we have arranged for each worker to work 1.5 hours more," he said, adding that a typical shift was eight hours.

A sign hanging from the ceiling in the factory said the goal was 1,237 cars that day, 17% higher than the 1,060 it usually produced.

Plants at Honda's Guangzhou-based joint venture with GAC are also running extra shifts, GAC's chairman Zeng Qinghong told analysts on its earnings call last week.

The central industrial hub of Wuhan started allowing people to leave the city on Wednesday in what is seen as a turning point for China's fight against the coronavirus.

RUBBER GLOVES, QR CODES

China's factories begun to reopen weeks ago as infection rates in their localities began to drop off.

Now other countries such as Italy and United States are trying to curb the spread of the virus by asking workplaces to shut and the public to stay home.

Honda has suspended operations in the United States and Canada, its biggest manufacturing hub, until May 1. It has also stopped output at plants in countries ranging from Britain to Thailand, and has announced intermittent stoppages at some of its Japanese plants.

Story continues

The Wuhan plant reopened after the government approved its plan to curb infection risks, Li said. The plant's smoking and rest areas have been shut to stop people from gathering while meetings have to be held on video links.

Workers needing a rest from the assembly line are encouraged to sit on red stools spaced out on the factory floor, Li said.

Reuters reporters on a visit to the factory saw workers dressed in white overalls, rubber gloves and masks. Posters told them to keep a metre apart at all times, though that was not always adhered to.

Pasted on pillars were QR codes, which workers use their mobile phones to scan in order to fill in - once a day - forms asking about any coughing or contacts with unwell people.

Li said no coronavirus cases had been found since the plant resumed operations.

The plant's more than 500 suppliers in Wuhan had also been allowed to resume operations on March 11, Li said, adding that Dongfeng Honda had provided them with some help but he did not go into details. (Additional Reporting by Yilei Sun in Beijing and Naomi Tajitsu in Tokyo Editing by Robert Birsel)
Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Charlie Graddick said today the bureau is planning to resume parole hearings after advocates and public officials spoke out over the impact on the states overcrowded prisons of shutting down the process during the coronavirus pandemic.

The bureau had suspended hearings until May 28, but Graddick released a statement today indicating it will be sooner. He did not announce a date.

We are in continuing discussions with the Governors Office in an effort to restart pardon and parole hearings as safely and efficiently as possible during this very difficult time for the people of Alabama, Graddick said. The Bureau hopes to announce a plan and timetable soon. The resumption of hearings is a complex issue given the national health emergency, stringent laws governing the Boards hearing process, including a thirty-day notice requirement to crime victims and officials, and the legal requirements providing crime victims and other stakeholders the opportunity for meaningful in person participation.

The ACLU of Alabama raised the issue on Wednesday, releasing a report that said the number of inmates eligible for parole hearings has almost tripled since August, to about 4,400. Alabamas prisons are overfilled to 170% of their designed capacity and the number has been rising because of a decline in paroles granted that started last year.

Alabama prisons were in crisis long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the dangerous virus brings the unconstitutional overcrowding into a new, potentially deadly light, the report said.

Read the report.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said earlier today that the decision to suspend hearings until May 28 was unacceptable.

Considering that there are medically fragile, very vulnerable people in our prison population, and also others that are less than seven months away from being released anyway, I think its incumbent upon the bureau to find ways to help us all out in this dangerous situation, England said.

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, had also called on the bureau to find a way to resume hearings earlier than the May 28 date, saying the governor has made it clear agencies should find a way to keep operating if possible.

When the governor issued the order, I think the order directed agencies to find appropriate ways to conduct business in an electronic means, Albritton said today.

Ivey Press Secretary Gina Maiola had said that on Wednesday when asked about the ACLU report.

She has included within her State of Emergency proclamations for government entities to utilize virtual meetings to ensure efficiency and allow for the continuity of critical government services, Maiola said.

This story will be updated.
Chinese Regime Bigger Threat to US Elections Than Russia, Barr Says

The Chinese regime is a bigger threat to the U.S. election process than Russia, Attorney General William Barr said April 8.

The statement comes as the regime is under intense scrutiny from the United States for its economic espionage efforts, intellectual property theft, and more recently, its lack of transparency, leading to the worldwide spread of the CCP virus.

Barr made the comments during an interview with Fox News, while discussing a range of topics, such as the effect of the pandemic on American society and civil liberties, and the threat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to U.S. politics, academia, and businesses.

When asked whether he thought China or Russia was a greater threat to U.S. election security, Barr answered that it was the former.

And not just to the election process, but I think across the board. Theres simply no comparison. China is a very serious threat to the United States geopolitically, economically, militarily, and a threat to the integrity of our institutions, given their ability to influence things, Barr said during the interview.

Attorney General William Barr speaks at the National Sheriffs Association conference in Washingon on Feb. 10, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

In recent years, the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI have ramped up efforts to crack down on Chinese infiltration through attempts by state-backed companies to steal trade secrets from U.S. companies. The FBI said it was conducting roughly 1,000 investigations into Chinese intellectual property theft as of February.

The DOJ also is heavily engaged in confronting Beijings campaign to aggressively steal information. The department launched the China Initiative in 2018 to combat such threats, which has resulted in at least 39 China-related espionage prosecutions, including cases involving Chinese intelligence officers, former U.S. intelligence officials, Chinese nationals, and naturalized U.S. citizens from China.

Around 80 percent of all economic espionage prosecutions allege activity that would benefit the Chinese regime, the DOJ stated in a report (pdf). In a recent example, a Chinese national who worked as an associate scientist at a U.S. petroleum company was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing proprietary information worth more than $1 billion from his employer.

In another notable example, a Harvard professor was arrested in January for allegedly lying about his involvement in Chinas Thousand Talents Program, while hiding tens of thousands of dollars of funding he received from the program.

The Thousand Talents Program is the regimes recruitment initiative, designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent, to further the regimes ambitions in science, economy, and national security. The program also tries to bring in Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to share their knowledge and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information, the DOJ said.

The statue of John Harvard sits in Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Aug. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Chinese are engaged in a full-court blitzkrieg of stealing American technology, influence our political system, trying to steal secrets at our research universities, and so forth, Barr said.

He noted that the United States is trying to tighten up programs that allow Chinese researchers to work in the country, while adding that a number of universities are working with the DOJ to understand the nature of the threat.

But its not just universities; universities are just part of the problem, he said. But a lot of American businesses just for short-term profit [are doing work in China or with the Chinese].  They know over the long run, its not going to be a long-term benefit to their business, but just for short-term gain, they are perhaps not doing what is necessary in the long-term interest of the United States.

The attorney generals comments come as the United States battles the burgeoning CCP virus pandemic, which has already caused widespread human and economic devastation. Several U.S. lawmakers have criticized the CCP for its mismanagement and suppression of information in the early stages that resulted in the spread of the virus, which causes the potentially deadly disease called COVID-19.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) penned an op-ed, published on Fox News, that argues the CCP is responsible for misrepresenting information to the World Health Organization in the initial stages of the outbreak.

Other lawmakers have also raised similar concerns and have called for international investigations against the regime. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who previously called on Beijing to pay reparations to the United States for mishandling the pandemic, has urged the federal government to bring a case against China for COVID-19 damages to the United Nations International Court of Justice.

Cathy He contributed to this report.
Somali Officials Confirm US Airstrike Killed Senior Al-Shabab Leader

By Harun Maruf April 08, 2020

A Somali intelligence official has confirmed that a U.S. airstrike in southern Somalia killed a senior leader of militant group al-Shabab.

The official in Somalia's southwest region told VOA that the airstrike on April 2 killed Yusuf Jiis, a long-standing, high-ranking leader in the al-Qaida-affiliated group.

The airstrike took place near Bush Madina, about 55 kilometers east of the town of Dinsor, in a Shabab-controlled area.

"This individual was a key leader in the al-Shabab organization," said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command. "He was violent, ruthless and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives. His removal makes Somalia and neighboring countries safer."

Jiis, whose real name was Yusuf Nur Sheikh Hassan, was the al-Shabab official in charge of dealing with humanitarian agencies. He was accused of leading militants who raided and looted the offices of aid agencies in 2009.

Al-Shabab has been accused of blocking aid to Somali civilians in need, particularly during a 2011 drought that killed an estimated 260,000 people.

Somali officials believe more recently, Jiis worked in the Hisba, or police department, of al-Shabab and was recently added to the group's consultative council, or Shura.

Yusuf Jiis used different aliases including Bashar, Yusuf Jeeri and Moallim Sahal, according to Somali security officials.

AFRICOM reported that the April 2 strike killed three militants.

Somali security officials identified a second militant killed in the strike as Yonis Sheikh Dahir, a counterintelligence operative. The third person was also a member of al-Shabab's Amniyat wing, but his identity has not been confirmed.

A regional intelligence official told VOA he is surprised that these top officials traveled in the same vehicle amid relentless U.S. airstrikes.

Separate airstrikes

Separately, the U.S. military Tuesday said airstrikes also killed five al-Shabab militants this past Monday in the vicinity of Jilib town in Lower Jubba region.

AFRICOM said its current assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed, adding that Africa Command is aware of reports alleging civilian casualties resulting from Monday's airstrikes.

The U.S. military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Somalia since the early 2010s as part of efforts to defeat al-Shabab. The group has tried to overthrow the Somali government in order to impose its version of strict Islamic law on the Horn of Africa nation.

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The total number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Taiwan has increased by three to 379, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Wednesday.

Two of the new patients, both women, were believed to have contracted the virus during their visits to Spain and Indonesia. The third woman was believed to be infected locally, the agency said in a press release.

The infection source of the local case remained unclear, the statement added.

Among the island's confirmed COVID-19 cases, 326 were imported. A total of 67 confirmed patients have recovered, and five died.

To close loopholes of quarantine rules, the agency announced a new fine of 300,000 new Taiwan dollars (about 9,964 U.S. dollars) on those who are under home quarantine but refuse to follow social distancing such like inviting friends to visit or throwing parties.

According to the agency, the number of people taking COVID-19 tests has surged after the four-day tomb-sweeping holiday that saw an increasing flow of travelers across the island.

On April 6 alone, about 1,800 people took tests due to suspected symptoms, up from 800 to 900 in previous days, the agency said.
One thing that we can do from the comfort of our homes is to hop online or pick up a phone and complete our census.
The support will help a dedicated staff of 500 healthcare professionals working with COVID-19 patients at the hospital

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) has joined hands with apex industry body, ASSOCHAM, in supporting the food requirements of 500 healthcare professionals/workers at the new facility specially set up at Safdarjung Hospital in the city to care for Covid-19 patients.

In conjunction with ASSOCHAM Foundation For Corporate Social Responsibility, AESL will support lunch and dinner for 500 healthcare personnel (1,000 food packets) every day for the next one week. Safdarjung Hospital has set up a new 500 bed facility for the care of patients affected by Covid for which it will be using a dedicated staff of over 1500 healthcare professionals.

Aakash Chaudhry, Director and CEO, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) said, We feel it is an honour for us if we can in anyway support our Covid Heroes in this time of crisis when they are doing a great service to mankind for being at the forefront of this war that we are fighting against an unknown virus. It is our responsibility to support our COVID-19 frontline workers  doctors, nurses and healthcare personnel  who are working around the clock to save precious lives. I urge people and organizations to contribute and help our country in whatever way possible. At this moment, the need to help the world is greater than at any other time.

Sharing his views on the joint effort by ASSOCHAM and AESL, the Chamber's Secretary General, Deepak Sood said, "We are very pleased to collaborate with our esteemed member organizations to support India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic thereby extending the spectrum of initiatives being undertaken as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in these testing times. In our endeavor to advance CSR initiatives aimed at supporting our communities we have joined hands with Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) to provide packed meals (twice a day) for 'corona-warriors' including the healthcare professionals, cleaning staff and others for the current week at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital's new 500 bed facility for COVID-19 patients."

He further said that ASSOCHAM will continue supporting such initiatives as community service is firmly rooted in the chambers' core values.

AESL had made a contribution of Rs 1 crore out of which Rs 50 lakhs have been donated to the PM Cares Fund.

Apart from the PM Cares Fund, AESL has also donated another Rs 50 Lakhs to the Delhi Police Welfare Society.
As the is struggling with coronavirus pandemic, China, which has emerged from it strongly, is now back on its old tactic of exploiting the situation by using the crisis to its own advantage and further strengthening its economy.

Considering that the Chinese economy is back on track while the United States, Britain and other Western democracies are battling to hold back the tide of illness, death and economic destruction plunging them into a recession 'worse than the global financial crisis', according to the International Monetary Fund.

"What is becoming clear is that by ramping up production and driving recovery, China could be the big winner from the global downturn - and that is an alarming prospect,"Alex Brummer writes in the Daily Mail.

"The ability of its leader, Xi Jinping, to invoke the ruthless powers of the state to combat coronavirus and to make sure dissenting voices were silenced gave the Chinese a huge advantage,"Alex Brummer said.

There could be no doubt that China after battling its own coronavirus outbreak could exploit the worse conditions in the Western economies in terms of finance and greater global power, says Brummer.

He has also alleged that China had failed to alert the when it first came to know that the new strain of the virus has been found that could kill more than 88,000 people so far and affect more than 1,.5 million people globally.

He says China let the virus "evolve in its unsanitary live animal markets; allowed the virus to incubate and spread for vital weeks before conceding it was a major public health issue; and which has by common consent been less than honest about infection and death rates."

Certain top government officials in the UK's have demanded a 'reckoning' and Brummer argues that "the international community must unite on this when the time is right. But it will be a challenge - for which we only have ourselves to blames,"

The broader, more depressing truth is that the acquiescence of the West to China's drive for manufacturing, economic and diplomatic domination leaves us handicapped.

Brummer says that currently, "China is responsible for 16 per cent of the world's output. It is the biggest exporter of goods, with a 12.8 per cent market share, against 8.5 per cent for the US and 8 per cent for Germany,"

Brummer feels that there have been missteps from the UK to anticipate China's further goals when China launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the UK was the first Western democracy to become a shareholder, despite US' disapproval.

China unveiled its global ambitious plan with 'Belt and Road initiative' that many have dubbed as 'new Silk Road', which is the biggest infrastructure and development project that has so far received investments from 70 plus countries and international organisation as China claims, write Brummer.

Brummer writes that under 'Maritime Silk Road' which traces the old maritime trade link has got China the crown 'port champion', which was once held by the UK. China is building ports in West Africa and Sri Lanka and taking over the port of Piraeus in Athens from Greece's government.

Meanwhile, he also pointed out that the US National Security Council has been successful in identifying China and its companies as the biggest thieves of intellectual property and patents in the world, responsible for up to 80 per cent of such behaviour.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, US was angry at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who fights coronavirus in an intensive care of London hospital to give away contracts of UK's 5G communication network to the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Brummer says, "China already has a foothold in the British tech industry having managed to wrest control of the Chinese operations of Cambridge-based Arm Holdings from its Japanese owners,"

He adds, "the UK cannot afford to indulge its complacency about the ruthless ambition of a totalitarian state that will stop at nothing in its efforts to dominate the economy. A British and global fightback will be needed - and fast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on March 27, 2020. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

New Yorkers Can Cast Absentee Ballots, Cuomo Says, As States Delay Elections

Cuomo announces all New Yorkers can vote absentee in June primaries, as other states delay elections

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on April 8 that New Yorkers would be allowed to cast absentee ballots in the June primaries. Other states said they would delay elections in response to the CCP virus pandemic.

An executive order to allow home votes would be issued imminently, said Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to Cuomo. It would allow absentee ballots to be cast for the states primary on June 23.

#BREAKING: All New Yorkers will be able to vote absentee on the June 23rd primaries. New Yorkers shouldnt have to choose between their health and their civic duty.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 8, 2020

All New Yorkers will be able to vote absentee on the June 23rd primaries. Cuomo wrote on Twitter Wednesday. New Yorkers shouldnt have to choose between their health and their civic duty.

DeRosa said the decision to allow New Yorkers to cast absentee ballots was made as the risk of contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, qualifies for the measure under the New York State Constitution.

We are saying absentee voting is an option. There is a temporary illness provision, it will include the risk of contracting COVID-19, Cuomo told reporters at a briefing in Albany on Wednesday. And I think we will take a wait and see approach as we get closer, on whether or not polls should be open.

Cuomo said he was concerned about the risk to public health if people were to queue up to vote in-person at polling stations.

On voting, Ive seen lines of people on television voting in other states. This is totally nonsensical, Cuomo said. God bless them for having such diligence for their civil duty that they would go stand on a line to vote. But people shouldnt have to make that choice.

The states primary was previously scheduled for April 28 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

At least a dozen other states across the United States have postponed their primaries because of the CCP virus, including New Jersey state, which announced the rescheduling of its contest this week.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday the state is postponing its primary to July 7 from June 2, citing concerns over the CCP virus outbreak. The state is one of the most severely impacted, with more than 1,500 deaths.

First, we want to preserve the possibility that improvements in the public health situation will allow for in-person voting, and delaying the primary by five weeks increases the likelihood of that, Murphy said. If, failing that, we eventually have to make the move to a statewide all vote-by-mail election  we have to make sure our systems are able to handle that.

Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

President Donald Trump has publicly criticized voting by mail, saying it paves the way for potential voter fraud.

Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it, Trump tweeted Wednesday.Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans.

He said mail-in voting usually does not work out well for Republicans.

Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day, he added. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed!

During the 2016 presidential elections, roughly 57.2 million Americans cast absentee ballotsrepresenting 40 percent of the total ballots cast.
WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia on Thursday reported 53 additional coronavirus fatalities combined, another single-day record, as the region's leaders braced for the death toll to continue rising and confronted the disproportionate impact the pandemic was having on the area's black residents.

Officials again raised alarms that the worst has yet to come across the greater Washington region, making it more important for residents to practice social distancing to stave off a surge in infections that could overwhelm hospitals.

The region also saw jobless claims surge as the federal government reported that 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4.

The number of claims filed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia reached 272,559 during that time. Nonessential businesses have been closed in all three jurisdictions for three weeks as leaders scrambled to contain the spread of the virus.

Maryland, Virginia and D.C. now have 11,766 confirmed cases if covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and 280 deaths.

Experts say official tallies do not show a current snapshot of the virus's toll on communities. People infected today may not show symptoms for days and may take weeks to receive positive test results. Many will not be tested at all as health authorities and doctors prioritize tests for high-risk groups and first responders.

Authorities are monitoring the death counts to see if the region will turn into a hot spot like New York City or succeed in slowing the spread of the disease.

Virginia reported 34 fatalities Thursday morning - more than the previous six days combined. Officials said the single-day jump is partially because of delays in adding deaths at a Richmond-area long-term care facility.

Officials on Thursday reported the deaths of six more residents at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, the site of one of the deadliest outbreaks in the country, with 39 dead. Those victims are make up a large share of Virginia's 109 fatalities.

D.C. reported five new deaths, and Maryland reported 14. Neither marked a significant increase.

In a court filling Thursday, D.C. health officials announced a covid-19-related death of a 69-year-old patient at St. Elizabeths public psychiatric hospital. It is the first known death of a person at a city facility for the vulnerable.

Kenneth Ellison, who was admitted to the hospital in 1975 after being found not guilty by reason of insanity on rape and burglary charges, was found dead Thursday morning, a letter signed by a clinical administrator at the hospital said.

Ellison had been admitted to George Washington University Hospital on April 2 and tested positive for coronavirus, according to the letter. He was discharged to St. Elizabeths on April 3.

As of Wednesday, 29 St. Elizatbeths employees had tested positive and 73 were under quarantine, while 14 patients had tested positive and 142 were in isolation, according to city statistics.

District officials also reported that 22 residents of homeless shelters had tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday. City officials said they were using three hotels as remote quarantine sites for nearly 150 people who lived at shelters.

Maryland on Thursday for the first time released racial demographics of its covid-19 cases and fatalities, confirming that black residents are disproportionately affected in all three jurisdictions.

Maryland is about 30% black, but African Americans made up half of the deaths and cases where race is known. That includes 55 of 103 fatalities where officials have demographic information.

Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said the "data shows troubling disparities and points to a persistent public health challenge that we must address."

He did not directly answer a question during a virtual town hall on WJLA about how he would use the data to help African Americans.

States and localities across the country have seen similar racial disparities. Experts say it is a reflection of how generations of discrimination and income inequality have left African Americans more likely to have chronic medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to covid-19 and less likely to have access to health care.

Prince George's County, Maryland, Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, said she was not surprised to learn that the novel coronavirus was disproportionately affecting African Americans, saying that health disparities are a reality that residents in the majority-black county experience every day.

"When we heard that the aggravating factors for the coronavirus included those with diabetes and high blood pressure and lung disease and kidney disease, I can tell you that our first reaction was, 'Oh my God, that is us,' " Alsobrooks, who is black, said at a Thursday news conference.

Prince George's leads Maryland in reported cases and fatalities, with the state Health Department reporting 1,476 cases and 35 deaths in the county as of Thursday morning.

In the cases where the race of the victim is known, 13 have been black and five white.

Rep. Anthony Brow, D-Md., whose district includes parts of Prince George's, said the data shows the need to steer more resources into black communities.

"Marginalized and vulnerable populations need more testing and doctors in these communities need more resources," Brown said in a statement. "We need to act now to ensure these disparities don't become worse during this public health crisis, and work to close these gaps moving forward."

In D.C., all five of the new victims disclosed Thursday are black. In a city that is less than 50% black, more than 60% of the 33 fatalities are African American.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said the disparities exposed by the pandemic show the urgent need to address inequality embedded in all aspects of American society.

"This is a question not just for the coronavirus, but this is a question that has plagued African Americans for decades if not centuries," Bowser said at a Thursday morning news conference.

"I think the larger question and the most important question is how do we look at the spotlight that this virus has put on these poor conditions and change our systems - our health-care systems, our food access systems, our housing systems, our education systems - to change the trajectory of African American health in our country," Bowser said.

In Virginia, officials know the race of about half of coronavirus cases and fatalities. In a state where about one-fifth of residents are black, African Americans make up 31% of coronavirus infections for which demographic data is available. Officials have not seen a similar disparity in deaths.

Fairfax County - Virginia's largest jurisdiction, with more than 1 million residents - has not reported covid-19 data by race.

Fairfax also reported 120 new infections Thursday, the highest single-day increase - which officials attributed to increased testing capacity. Virginia also disclosed the deaths of seven Fairfax residents, mostly elderly.

Officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia said they are taking steps to gather more complete demographic data, including by requiring commercial labs and doctors to collect the information.

Some have invoked racial equity in calls to free inmates from incarceration.

Maryland Del. Jazz Lewis, D-Prince George's, said the coronavirus racial data provides further evidence for Hogan to release inmates from the state's prisons, where the inmate population is 70% black and at least 57 have tested positive for the virus.

"We cannot afford to overlook how densely populated our prisons are and how overwhelmingly black they are, to put it bluntly," Lewis said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and more than 40 other groups called Thursday for the swift release of any nonviolent inmates in the state's prisons and jails, and greater transparency from officials as the coronavirus spreads among incarcerated populations.

To date, 42 inmates and staff have tested positive for the coronavirus at Virginia prisons, according to the state Department of Corrections. Five inmates have been hospitalized.

Racial disparities are also apparent in unemployment claims.

A breakdown of census data and claims filed by county shows that at least 7% of Maryland's African American and 5% of its white workforce have filed for unemployment insurance.

In the Washington suburbs, at least 5% of the workforces in Prince George's and Montgomery counties filed for unemployment. Additional data obtained and analyzed by The Washington Post shows that while African Americans make up about 26% of Maryland's workforce, they filed 32% of unemployment claims.

In Montgomery, black residents make up at least 16% of the workforce and a quarter of unemployment claims.

- - -

The Washington Post's Gregory S. Schneider, Erin Cox, Rebecca Tan, Rachel Chason, Justin Moyer and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.
Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Berkeley.

Zoom bomber exposed himself to Berkeley High students, school official says

Berkeley High School students were in the middle of a video conference on Tuesday when a man joined the Zoom meeting, exposed himself and shouted obscenities, the districts superintendent told parents Wednesday.

Read the full story on The Mercury News.

Social distancing gives rise to community sourdough starter project in Berkeley



Missing the communal aspect of sharing food, amateur baker Michael Kellman shares his wild yeast starter as a way to connect in this contact-less age.

Read the full story on Berkeleyside.

Berkeley's shelter-in-place violations show recent uptick; no arrests yet



There have been nearly 200 shelter-in-place violations reported in the city of Berkeley since March 18.

Read the full story on Berkeleyside.

Police watchdog group concerned about less-lethal Berkeley officer-involved shooting

A Berkeley police watchdog group says it's concerned about an incident last month in which it says a police officer used a less-lethal weapon to shoot a black man on his knees with his empty hands outstretched while four other officers surrounded the man.

Read the full story on KTVU Fox 2.

Coronavirus: Berkeley opens COVID-19 testing site for vulnerable population

Those without health care and essential city employees in Berkeley now have one more option to get tested for COVID-19.

Read the full story on The Mercury News.

This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has accumulated stakes worth about $1 billion in four major European oil companies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.



The four companies are Norway's Equinor ASA, Anglo-Dutch energy company Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total SA and Italy's Eni SPA, according to the newspaper.



The fund built a stake of about $200 million in Equinor in the days around a sharp rally in oil prices last week, the WSJ reported, adding it could not learn the size of the stakes bought in the other three companies, but that the combined stakes were worth about $1 billion.



The purchase of the stakes comes during a downturn in the global oil and gas industry, as energy demand has slumped during the coronavirus outbreak.
Federal Office for Spatial Development

Bern, 09.04.2020 - Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein are now staging the fifth edition of the international Constructive Alps architecture competition. At its first meeting, the international jury selected 28 projects from over 300 entries. Those selected best exemplify climate-friendly renovation and construction in the Alps.

Constructive Alps prizes are being awarded for the fifth time in 2020 for renovations and new builds in the Alps that represent the best blend of climate-friendly construction and Baukultur. Through the international architecture prize, the Alpine countries brought together under the Alpine Convention (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia and Switzerland) are contributing to the accomplishment of their climate-related targets.

In four videoconferences held over three days, the eight-person jury shortlisted 28 out of 328 constructions. In addition to residential houses and commercial buildings, they also include mountain inns, a chapel, kindergartens and cultural centres  11 renovations, one new construction to replace an old structure, as well as 16 new buildings. Jury President Kobi Gantenbein remarks with satisfaction: The jury is delighted with the 28 pearls of architecture, which translate confidence in the economic and social fabric of rural Alpine regions into purposeful and climate-smart architecture.

Almost a third of the projects are in Switzerland

Nine projects in Switzerland made it to the shortlist, including the agricultural centre in Salez in the Rhine Valley, the Casa Mosogno in the municipality of Onsernone in Ticino, the Ortstockhaus mountain inn in Glarus and the St Ursula communal residence in Brig. The jury will now conduct on-site inspections of the 28 shortlisted buildings at locations reaching from Slovenia to France, and will also talk with the builders, architectural offices and users.

In addition to the climate friendliness of buildings as measured by key energy indicators and the grey energy consumed in their construction, the jurys decision also takes account of their contribution to future-oriented living and economic activities in the Alps.

On 6 November the prize money will be handed to three awardees and the catalogue and exhibition inaugurated at the Swiss Alpine Museum in Berne. As is customary, the exhibition will then become a travelling exhibition showcasing sustainable construction in the Alps. It will tour from Ljubljana to Nice.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:36:59|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua held a phone conversation on Thursday with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on advancing bilateral cooperation on epidemic prevention and economic development.

Hu, who leads the Chinese delegation to the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently held two phone conversations and reached important consensus on jointly dealing with the pandemic and developing China-UK relations.

The Chinese side stands ready to work with the British side to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders, deepen practical cooperation in such fields as epidemic prevention and finance, and provide Britian with support and assistance within its capabilities in medical supplies and other fields, Hu said.

The vice premier expressed hope that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation under the framework of the United Nations and the Group of 20, promote macroeconomic policy coordination, cut tariff, remove barriers, and facilitate the flow of trade, so as to maintain the stability of the global industrial supply chain and promote sustainable growth of the world economy.

For his part, Sunak thanked China for its support and assistance, adding that Britian stands ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation in epidemic prevention, economy and finance through channels like the China-UK EFD, so as to continuously advance bilateral relations.
A Colorado representative has claimed President Donald Trump sent much-needed ventilators to her state as a political favour for a Republican senator.

It was announced on Wednesday the federal government would be sending 100 ventilators to Colorado from the federal stockpile after a phone call the president had with Senator Cory Gardner the previous night.

"Will be immediately sending 100 Ventilators to Colorado at the request of Senator Gardner," the president wrote in a tweet.

Mr Trump added that the equipment will "be there shortly" during the White House's press briefing on Wednesday.

But Congresswoman Diana DeGette, a Democrat in Colorado, told CNN she thought the favour was to help aid Mr Gardner. The Republican is one of the most vulnerable in the upcoming November election.

"I think this thing that happened with Senator Gardner and President Trump is very disturbing," she said. "What is the process here?"

Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, and the state delegation previously requested 10,000 ventilators from the federal government to help the anticipated Covid-19 patients. But this request was met with no immediate action from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The state then decided to purchase 500 ventilators from a private company so it could respond to any future needs of patients before Mr Trump decided to send more.

When asked if she thought the ventilators were sent as political persuasion, Ms DeGette said: "It seems that way to me."

Mr Gardner appeared on Fox News to discuss the gift of 100 ventilators from the president, saying he was "thankful" to the Trump administration for providing what was needed.

"The governor has been searching for ventilators and FEMA has also been searching for ventilators. I talked to the president last night about the Colorado need for ventilators, and of course, I'm very thankful that he provided that last night," Mr Gardner said. "We're going to continue to work with the president for more and continue to meet Colorado's needs, but I think it's just a sign that we are fighting for Colorado."

Vice President Mike Pence and Dr Deborah Birx, who are both on the White House's coronavirus task force, were asked on Wednesday about the gift of 100 ventilators, specifically if a personal relationship with the administration was required in order to secure necessary medical supplies.

"We've been watching Denver very closely, and like many of the other key areas that I touched on, we're beginning to see some encouraging news in our interactions with the governor and with local officials and with the senator," Mr Pence said.

"We've made an effort not only in Colorado, but around the country, to be particularly responsive to states where we've seen a growth in cases."

Dr Birx added: "I can tell you that within that decision complex is not just the absolute number of cases, it's the hospital capacity and what each of those hospitals have."

Colorado has 5,655 confirmed infections and 193 deaths from the novel virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
IT industry body Nasscom has sought a relief package from the government, including allowing bench employees to be paid only minimum wages, to prevent job losses in business process management (BPM) and global capability centres (GCC) sectors.

Nasscom said BPM, GCC and parts of IT industry are operating at maximum 70 per cent capacity utilisation in wake of the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus infection in the country.

Assuming that 20 per cent of the industry is idle, salary costs would be huge for companies that employ lakhs of workers, it added.

Nasscom urged that they should be allowed to pay bench employees only minimum wages along with statutorily entitlements.

"In the absence of work, it will be difficult for companies to pay regular incomes to the employees on bench. This will ensure such employees are paid as per the statutory requirements along with other entitlements," it added.

Employees on bench are those who aren't working on any project for the time being but remain on the rolls and receive regular salary from the company.

Nasscom suggested introduction of a furlough scheme, like one in the UK where for the period of lockdown, employee stay on the rolls of the companies without salaries.

During this period, the government pays 50 per cent of the employees' salary (no further contribution from company) and during that period, the accruals of the employee also cease.

This is required immediately to prevent job losses which will be the case after April 15, Nasscom argued.

It has also asked the government to expand its scheme for bearing employer and employee contribution towards Provident Fund for the next three months.

"This (present scheme) is for those establishments which have up to 100 employees and 90 per cent of them earn less than Rs 15,000. Suggest that this be extended to all establishments without the cap of 100 employees and 90 per cent of them earning less than Rs 15,000.

"Government may, however, cap the contribution of 24 per cent up-to a wage amount not exceeding Rs 15,000," it said.

This will provide a significant benefit particularly to BPM/IT-enabled services/GCCs companies, it added.

The industry body suggested that an option be provided to employers for a one-time PF/ESI opt-out option to reduce the costs, without affecting take home salary presently.

This, it said, will enable greater take home salary for employees as pay hikes are difficult.

The coronavirus outbtreak across the globe has had a disruptive impact on businesses, demand and supply of products, services as also cash flow of firms due to slowing economic activity.

There are widespread concerns that this could result in companies slashing jobs and resorting to salary cuts to tide over the crisis.

In an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days to try halt the spread of coronavirus, shortly after which the Centre said road, rail and air services will remain suspended during this period.

As on Thursday, the pandemic has claimed 166 lives in the country and the number of COVID-19 cases stand at 5,734 in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The names of the nurses have been changed to protect their identities. If you are a medical worker and want to speak out about the crisis of the health care system amid the COVID-pandemic, please contact the WSWS.

Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, part of the New York City public hospital system, has been described as the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the city. Elmhurst Hospital has a total of 545 beds, all of which are now being turned over to treat COVID patients only.

In late March, Colleen Smith, an emergency doctor, sounded the alarm in a video which exposed the conditions in the hospital. The facility is running low on personal protective equipment (PPE) for its staff, and running low on nurses, on doctors, on ventilators, and even on medication.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to two nurses at the hospital, Elizabeth and Leyla, who have both been working for weeks with COVID patients.

Elmhurst Hospital, source: Facebook, Sean Callaghan

Elizabeth is a critical care nurse in the surgical intensive care unit. We have about 50-60 patients on ventilators, and roughly 300 COVID patients overall in the hospital. Most of them have pneumonia, they need oxygen but theyre not at the point where they need to be intubated, but that can happen any time. Thats how easily people deteriorate. Yesterday, two people died. Today at work, another two people died.

The stress of the staff is through the roof. They moved all the chemo patients, and we are not taking in cancer patients or level 1 trauma patients anymore. People are still driving, people are still breaking their legs and hips, but theyre not going to come to my hospital anymore.

Its very depressing, you take care of these patients all day long, and the next day you come in and theyre gone. Most of them are young, our age and younger. Its very, very emotionally exhausting. Ive never seen something like this, Ive never seen so many young people die. Its terrible. Were totally unprepared for this. People are going to die, lots of people are going to die and its going to be like Italy.

Leyla, a nurse in another unit, said, Once you enter the hospital, everything changes. It feels like a dangerous, frightening movie. Its fear, once were in the hospital we feel scared. So many of the nurses have kids, the kids are small and are looking for answers. They have the same look. And the cleaning people too, in everyones faces you can see fear.

No one wants to work, but we feel that we have to. Not that many people call out sick, and thats the thing that I like. Everyone has that feeling that theyre needed. I spoke to PCA [Personal Care] nurses, theyre nurses that clean the patients, and they told me that yes they feel scared, and that they could die, but when they come to work at least they get the joy of knowing that theyre helping someone.

Elizabeth added, Out of 12 patients [in my unit] 11 were men. A lot of them seem very obese and a lot of them have uncontrolled diabetes. Many are immigrants but at Elmhurst Hospital its always like that. Were a public hospital so we treat everybody, and Elmhurst is the most diverse neighborhood in New York City.

Elizabeth said that in her unit, the nurse-patient ratio was still 1:2 but it could change to 1:3 to any time. We have 12 patients and six nurses, but I dont know whats going to happen next week. Out of the 32 nurses we have in the unit, six are out sick [from COVID].

In Leylas unit, the nurse-patient ratio is much worse. Nurses usually have a patient ratio of 1:6, every nurse has 6 patients. But now, we are taking 11-12. A single nurse is doing the work of two nurses. I get so tired; I dont want to do anything. One of my friends tested positive, and now shes in isolation. Two of my other friends have been exposed, and there is not enough PPE.

Every day its like a battlefield, do you understand? [You are] five minutes in and youre already taking care of a patient in critical condition. You have to resuscitate the patient. Many survive but many are dying and dying. Before our own eyes were seeing people dying. Its hard. We can save one patient, but then anothers condition worsens. The manpower is low, so we often cant go help.

After resuscitating so many people, I sometimes feel like I might collapse and need help. Resuscitating patients requires a lot of people, you need groups.

The stress on nurses like Leyla who are not critical care nurses is particularly high, because they were not adequately trained to treat such conditions. In the past, Leyla used to treat patients who had had strokes or neurological disorders. The adjustment to treating COVID patients, she said, was very difficult.

Elizabeth explained: They take all these nurses who are not doing anything else because elective surgeries have been canceled, and now they are taking care of COVID-19 patients. The stress is phenomenal. Theyre taking care of patients that theyre usually not taking care of, its really not safe.

Due to shortages, nurses and doctors are being forced to reuse protective equipment, in contravention of CDC and World Health Organization guidelines. We were told that we could wear only one N95 mask for 5 days. Unless its visibly soiled, you cannot get a replacement for it. Every day we come in we dont know whether well have proper PPE for ourselves.

The exposure of the medical workers to infection is also heightened by the lack of negative pressure rooms. Im sure a lot more of us are positive because we dont have negative pressure rooms, Elizabeth said. You need negative pressure rooms for COVID-19 patients because this is an airborne disease. Negative pressure rooms make it a lot less likely that you get infected.

Leyla added: Last month we went almost without any protection. We had very limited supplies. Its only just recently that we started getting masks. Look at [South] Korea or Japan, they had full body protection. We dont even have face-shields.

She said she and her colleagues had all written to the union for help. My friends in quarantine, theyve written to them as well. I dont think theyre [union] doing anything about it. They [only] take dues out of your paycheck.

In addition to shortages of PPE, there are also shortages of staff, ventilators and medication.

A sign up put for the workers at Elmhurst Hospital by local residents, source: Facebook, Sean Callaghan

I know we need ventilators desperately, Elizabeth said. They were looking for 10 ventilators today in the ER, I dont know whether they found them. They keep saying we need ventilators, but we also need nurses and respiratory therapists. The respiratory therapist is the one who hooks up the patient to the ventilator. You cant take care of anybody unless you have the people to do it.

These patients are all on heavy medication. They are in such bad condition that they cannot even be touched, or turned, because as soon as you do anything, their oxygen goes down and they start crashing.

Its not just the ventilators keeping them alive, its also medication, which we are running out of. There is a shortage of fentanyl, propofol (a sedative) and other drugs. The patients are on the maximum amount of these medications to keep them sedated. Every day the pharmacies are saying: were running out of this and were running out of that. They never had this amount of patients on all these medications before and I dont think they can make it fast enough.

The drug shortages are a nationwide phenomenon which threaten a further rise in death and suffering. Between March 1 and March 24, there was a 51 percent increase in the demand for half a dozen different sedatives and anesthetics that are used to intubate COVID patients. The fill rate (the rate that filed prescriptions are actually filled and shipped to the hospitals) declined from 100 percent at the beginning of March to just 63 percent by March 24.

The demand for three analgesics, including fentanyl and morphine, rose 67 percent, while the fill rate dropped from 82 to 73 percent. The demand for four neuromuscular blockers rose by 39 percent, with a fill rate of just 70 percent. Given the explosive spread of COVID-19 in recent weeks, it is all but certain that the fill rate has since declined even further.

On top of all the pressures of their work, many healthcare workers are still struggling to get tested. Moreover, they are facing serious emotional stress because they fear exposing their families.

Elizabeth said, Im taking care of COVID-19 patients every day. Why can I not get tested? I think they dont want us to get tested because they dont want nurses out for 10 days. I have a co-worker out for more two weeks already, he has a serious fever and it hasnt been going down. I check my temperature every day, I have had a headache, but everyone says if you were wearing the N95 [mask] all the time you can get a headache. Ive had a lot of body aches.

Were all trying to get appointments to get tested, but they put you on hold and never get back. I sent my two sons away who are in college because Im taking care of COVID-19 patients and my daughter is also a nurse taking care of COVID-19 patients. Shes quarantining herself in the basement and I stay in the family room by myself.

Leyla concluded: We hear in other countries that [medical workers] are given certain facilities. We need those too. We should have a place to quarantine ourselves to prepare.  The lack of preparedness shocks me. We had two and a half months. In late January we started to see a lot of cases in China, but wheres the preparation? And this is supposed to be a powerful country? It cant even prepare for a pandemic.
Trump says African Americans having higher rates of COVID-19 infection in U.S.

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 11:25, April 08, 2020

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday evidence shows that African Americans have higher rates of COVID-19 infection in the United States.

Trump said his administration is actively engaging on the increased impacts on the African American community, and doing everything to address this challenge.

"It's been disproportional," Trump told a White House press briefing, adding he is very concerned about the terrible numbers of infected African Americans.

Higher rates of pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and asthma, within black and minority communities may contribute to the phenomenon, as well as their higher use of public transportation, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"We are very concerned about that. It is very sad. There is nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care to avoid complications," Fauci said.

Trump said the White House would release data on coronavirus cases by race in the near future.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the "risk of tragedy" is "very real." "It is a reminder that we have to be very careful with people with underlying health conditions."

Los Angeles County released a partial racial breakdown of coronavirus fatalities for the first time on Tuesday, showing African Americans are more likely to die from COVID-19.

"When we look at these numbers by the total population of each group, African Americans have a slightly higher rate of death than other races," said L.A. County Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 396,223 as of 20:00 on Tuesday (2400GMT on Wednesday), with 12,722 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

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Every year, millions of Jews gather together at Passover in memory of the exodus of their Hebrew forbears from Egypt. In this place, they escaped through, according to past accounts, ten plaques believed to be exquisitely sent.

As the COVID-19 pandemic affects the world, some of the equivalents are quite difficult to miss. According to the Jewish Life chaplain at Duke University, Rabbi Elana Friedman, plaques are the core part of the experience of the seders. And this year, the rabbi added, "it feels like" they have what they consider as the "11th plaque circling" them.

Many Jews consider the Passover as a celebratory event with family and friends who gather in homes, crowding around tables and feasting on sumptuous food over good conversation.

Also known as 'Seder' is considered as "the most celebrated holiday of the American Jewish Life" from which, around 70 percent of the Jews say, they take part in the Passover celebration year after year.

However, this year, the holiday kicks off the evening on Wednesday. It lasts for eight days and is likely to be celebrated differently this year after Jews are asked to commemorate the affair from a big circle of friends and extended families to just one household.

Virtual Seders, Instead

Gatherings for pre-Passover at synagogues this year have been canceled. Relatively, travel restrictions, as well as social distancing, have been put in place to prevent the virus from spreading.

More so, large and frequent home gatherings have also been prohibited, and the multiple trips for grocery shopping are out, as well.

Most fundamentally, a lot of Jews are now feeling melancholic about the loss of one of the greatest pleasures of Passover, which is the gathering of generations of family in one shelter and on just one table.

Friedman said, being unable "to spend Passover with their grandparents" has indeed been quite difficult for many students, "and they are mourning that loss.

Because of the limitation in celebrating Passover this year due to the pandemic, a lot of Jews are having "virtual Seders."

To date, as young couples are preparing to host their first-ever 'Seders,' rabbis generously send tips and encouragement via text. Some of the elderly Jews shared they are spending the Passover on their own-their first time to celebrate it without their family in decades.

Meanwhile, Jews who are more liberated are already preparing to host the so-called "virtual Seders on websites such as OneTable." This will bring them together for shared get-togethers like the Passover.

Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs said this would be the first time his family is being separated for Passover.

More so, one of his three kids is staying in Washington, DC, where he currently lives, instead of traveling to New York City.

Jacobs said they had had all kinds of Passover celebrations over the years. However, they've never had an affair celebrated without their kids.

Check these out!
SAWS

A boil water notice has been lifted for a neighborhood on the city's far North Side, San Antonio Water System said in a news release on Thursday.

SAWS issued the boil water notice for the area Tuesday evening after a water main break at 24935 Toutant Beauregard caused a loss of pressure to customers nearby. Residents were urged to follow proper boil water procedures for all cooking and drinking.
Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has cut its lending rate by 0.20 percent, amidst a gradual decline in the cost of borrowing across the system

Mumbai: Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has cut its lending rate by 0.20 percent, amidst a gradual decline in the cost of borrowing across the system.

The marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) has been reviewed across tenors since Tuesday, according to its website.

Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets

The revised overnight MCLR stands at 7.60 percent, while the one-year MCLR, to which a host of loans are linked, has been reviewed to 7.95 percent.

The three-year MCLR stands at 8.15 percent from 7 April onwards, it said.

Rates across the banking system have been headed south for the last few months, as the RBI and the government work in tandem to push the sagging economic growth. The RBI last month cut the policy rate by 0.75 percent to spur growth amid the COVID-19 crisis.
By Lee Gyu-leeNetflix has suspended the domestic and international release of crime film "Time to Hunt," set for April 10, after the Seoul Central District Court accepted a request for an injunction to stop it on Wednesday.The streaming giant made the announcement on its social media Thursday. It also said it would put a brake on all promotional events for the film, "in respect of the decision of the court.""We express our sincere regret to viewers all over the world, including Korea," Netflix said.The movie's distributor Little Big Pictures signed an exclusive premiere deal with Netflix in March. But the film's former overseas sales agency Contents Panda claimed that the deal violated the contract between it and the distributor.Contents Panda then filed an injunction to stop the film's overseas release, saying it would invalidate sales contracts it had already signed in several countries.The court accepted the request, citing that the termination of the overseas sales contract between the two parties was invalid."If Little Big Pictures were to stream the film abroad, it has to pay Contents Panda 10 million won ($16,000) per day as compensation," the court said.The movie was scheduled for theatrical release in February but this was canceled due to rising concerns over the coronavirus.Little Big Pictures claimed that the contracts with the overseas distributors and the agency were terminated through legal procedures before it signed the Netflix deal.
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has said it is participating in the construction of two COVID-19 response facilities in the Federal Capital Territory.

The company, in a statement signed by its Managing Director, Micheal Jiang, said this is to support Nigeria in its fight against the pandemic that is adversely affecting livelihoods across the world.

In keeping with its corporate value, Stride with Nigeria, CCECC is participating in the construction of two COVID-19 response facilities in the FCT for free as part of its Corporate Social Responsibilities.

The facilities are a 196-bed at ThisDay Dome Treatment Centre, in collaboration with Sahara Group and Arise News; and the 150-bed Idu Depot Treatment Centre, the company said.

This is not the only support the Chinese group is rendering to Nigeria in its fight against the disease.

PREMIUM TIMES, yesterday reported the arrival of some Chinese medical equipment and personnel into the country.

According to the Chinese group, the equipment which arrived through a chartered flight operated by Air Peace includes  16-tons of test kits, ventilators, disinfection machine, disposable medical masks, N95 masks, medicines, rubber gloves, protective gowns, goggles, face shields, infra-red thermometers and other critical care items.

It also said 12 out of the 15-member personnel are experienced medical professionals with expertise in infectious disease, respiratory illness, intensive care, cardiology, neurology, general surgery and anesthesiology.

Nigeria currently has 276 cases of COVID-19 of which 44 have been discharged and six deaths recorded.

Equipment and consumables

In a separate statement issued on Thursday, the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, said about $1,300,000 worth of medical equipment and consumables were delivered by the Chinese company.

He said the delegation of 15 Chinese medical experts who arrived alongside the equipment will help strengthen testing and management of COVID-19 cases, especially those needing critical care in Nigeria.

Mr Ehanire also said the medical experts have gone into isolation for 14 days and will be tested for COVID-19.

In addition to providing their expertise, the donation provides medical supplies to augment the efforts of the government towards containing the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria.

The donation includes medical equipment and consumables, personal protective equipment (PPE) with over 1 million medical masks for health workers, and ventilators, amongst other items valued at over $1,300,000, he said.

Mr Ehanire said the Chinese medical team will provide first-hand experience and insights on how they were able to bring the spread of the disease under control.

He explained that the resources will support the ongoing efforts of health workers across the country, including doctors and nurses, who have been at the forefront of fighting the coronavirus disease.

The PPE will also serve to protect these frontline workers and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the line of duty.

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), on behalf of the Federal Government, appreciates this gesture from the Chinese community in Nigeria, recognising that collaboration, knowledge sharing, and expert insight are critical in the fight against coronavirus, he said.

Early controversy

Many Nigerians have expressed their disapproval of the governments decision to bring the Chinese medical experts into the country.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) amongst other health groups said the move is unnecessary as the country has enough hands to handle the outbreak.

NMA, which covers all medical doctors in Nigeria, described the move as a thing of embarrassment to the membership of the Association and other health workers who are giving their best in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic under deplorable working conditions.

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) also advised the federal government against the plan, saying it was unnecessary to invite Chinese doctors as Nigeria was already handling the crisis effectively.

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Thursday, April 9, 2020

Kevin Jae, a member of our Emerging Fellows program inspects the effect of migration on international relations in his fourth blog post. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the APF or its other members.

International migration has the potential to affect international relationships almost by definition. When the citizen of one state travels into the borders of another, they are foreigners and outside the safety of the home country. International embassies and consulates developed to protect citizens who are abroad, and infringements to the rights of a citizen of one state by the host state can lead to a souring of relations. This has happened recently with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. The Chinese government arrested two Canadian citizens and put sanctions on Canadian canola exports in retaliation. However, it is important to note, as is stressed previously, that migration rarely exists without an institutional context. Migration may affect international relationships, but this presupposes an existing agreement that facilitates the movement of people between two or more states.

The influence of individual migrants on international relationships between states is often negligible in comparison to the actions taken on the state level. Migrants present an opportunity  nation-states can use migrants within their borders to advance their interests. Migrants are instrumentalized for economic gain, as in the case of South Korea. The migrant population in South Korea has grown from roughly 40,000 in the early 1990s to about 2 million today through various labour movement programs and marriage migration programs. These migrants have created of a class of multi-lingual and culturally fluid Kosians (a portmanteau of Korean and Asian) and naturalized non-ethnic Koreans. The Korean state has used these migrants to bridge economic relationships between Korea and other states.

Instrumentalization happens in other ways as well. Migrants can be used as pawns for international power plays, demonstrated by the E.U.-Turkey deal in 2016. The deal presented a way to put a stop to flows of migration for European states under duress. Turkey agreed to control the refugees going from Turkey to the Greek Islands. In response, the European Union pledged an initial 3 billion to Turkey. Additionally, there was a political component that reconfigured international relationships, such as visa-free travel into E.U. states for citizens of Turkey and new talks for Turkeys membership into the European Union.

Top-down state policy can instrumentalize migrants to change international relationships, but contemporary events have shown that migrants change international relationships from the bottom-up as well. The response to migrations have led to nationalist movements across the European continent and in the United States by political movements largely categorized as the New Right or the Alt Right. These political movements have gained traction, partially motivated by an anxiety of the international migrant. Contemporary political events like Brexit and the election of President Trump, who campaigned against international free trade deals like NAFTA, are signals of an emerging and contentious vision of the world order. This new vision of the world challenges the normative liberal world order, the latter with its large trade blocs like the European Union that facilitate free movement of capital and labour.

Migrants and migration are able to influence international relationships between state actors, both from the top-down and from the bottom-up. States can actively utilize migrants to advance their interests; however, they are at the same time beholden to their citizens. Migration has proven to be a contentious issue in recent times, and recent political movements have reconfigured international relationships from the bottom up.

 Kevin Jae
WEAVERVILLE, N.C., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A critical petition could save countless jobs across America. There is an urgent need to make the government aware the Small Business Administration is failing to fund American businesses, announces Integris Design. Join the petition now to help save countless jobs and preserve a vital part of the American infrastructure.

http://chng.it/gLQSWwKnqx

SBA Red Tape Closing Small Businesses

Integris Design, a small business nestled in the mountains of North Carolina, specializes in business growth across the United. Since the pandemic, Integris Design's client base is struggling to get the emergency funds they need from the SBA.

"Most small businesses will hit a point of no return within weeks," John Carroll, co-founder of Integris Design, explains. "At least parts of the government seem out of touch with the delicate nature of small businesses with gross revenue of 10MM or less. I have talked to numerous businesses over the last month that warned us they would close permanently if financial relief isn't on the immediate horizon. This collapse, of course, will ripple to our organization and all the vendors that are supported by small businesses."

A few weeks ago, the SBA's website was crashing for small businesses applying for COVID-19 assistance. With dwindling business and no means to pay contractors or employees, most owners spent a day or more fighting through the website errors and confusing questions in an attempt to get help. But the struggle didn't end with poor infrastructure and a lengthy online battle.

Within a week or two, the SBA changed its site. The form was now simplified, and it had an option to release an emergency $10,000 in three days upon approval. Integris Design received notice the previous submissions were invalid, and the new form must be complete to qualify for relief. However, this was just the beginning of the struggle.

"We have become a hub of confusing and conflicting information for our client base. Some clients stayed on the phone for hours eventually talking to a representative at the SBA. According to our clients, some calls get routed outside the United States to an unqualified answering service. Other clients told us the online form was just the beginning, and they had to fill out a secondary form and fax it back to the SBA. The bottom line is these businesses are struggling through all the options and wrestling with what they feel are dead-end PDF documents designed to complicate an already tense situation. However, the most concerning part is beyond these reports. Our clients claim the funding is still three or more weeks away, which would be catastrophic if true."

Integris Design explains their clients are typically politically weak. They don't have lobbying strength or the prowess to leverage their needs in a meaningful way. The owners of traditionally successful businesses have expressed if they are unable to get help, they will likely seek work as an employee and jettison their small business. This reaction will eliminate countless 1099 and W2 jobs across the US.

"In the end, the best we can do is sound the alarm, try to bring awareness to this issue, and pray that SBA's actions become more in aligning with the media's depiction of their efforts," explains John Carroll.

John Carroll reported at the time of this article; not one client reported being a successful recipient of funding from the SBA.

John Carroll is an accomplished and award-winning marketing expert supporting businesses across the United States. His grass-roots, practical approach helps countless businesses reach their potential. He is co-founder of Integris Design in Western North Carolina.

Media Contact:

John Carroll

336.880.9281

[email protected]

SOURCE Integris Design
A community volunteer who helped build Shop With a Cop into a major holiday-giving haven for low-income kids died on Tuesday.

Rod Harris, of Bismarck, who retired in 2014 as St. Francois County Jails nurse, had recently been battling an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. He was 66 years old, had been a nurse for decades, and also owned many properties and small businesses in the area.

A complete obituary will be published in the Daily Journal.

Every holiday season, Shop With a Cop pairs law enforcement members and first responders with low-income kids from the area who have been referred to the giving program by East Missouri Action Agency and school counselors.

The late St. Francois County Deputy George Cobb started the local branch of the holiday-giving program in 1992, serving 77 kids the first year.

Harris coordinated the program for several years before retiring in 2014 from St. Francois County Jail as its first-ever nurse, having clocked 18 years on the job. In 2013, the number of kids served reached 526 and has continued to grow to this day, with 537 shopping in December.

Even though, upon his retirement, he officially turned the reins over to jail employees Lora Henson, Tammy Romine and Amy Brenneke, he still kept a hand in the program every year, raising money, helping shoppers, and even arranging for Santas appearances.

He believed in Shop With a Cop with all his heart, said Sheriff Dan Bullock, who hired Harris in 1996. He was a good man, and he was a good friend of mine. Im going to miss him terribly.

For the first few months after Harris started, the jail was located in downtown Farmington and the jail population was 35. The jail moved to its modern location on Doubet Road in October 1996 and it didnt take much time to surpass the new jails 180-bed capacity. Harris was there to help it along.

Funny thing, Bullock remembered. When inmates would first come in, it wouldnt be long before they claimed they needed to see the nurse, they had a headache, they needed something for the pain. Of course, we were pretty sure they were expecting to see some pretty young woman. But when Rod would show up  and hes a big guy  they recovered pretty quickly.

The former Air Force medic had grown up in the military alongside his two siblings, Mike Harris and Patty Mosier. Moving around a lot as they were growing up, Mike said they all learned to make friends quickly and deeply, because you never knew how long you had with them."

You know, when youre a military kid and people ask where youre from, you learn to just say the last place you lived instead of explaining to them you dont really have a hometown, Mike said. I was just so glad that Rod was able to put down roots here in Missouri, make it his home state, build his family and make so many friends.

"That meant a lot to him  his family and friends.

Mike pointed out that Harris home church, First Baptist Church of Bismarck, was of great comfort to him toward the end of his life.

Rods son Josh said he could attest to his fathers dedication to family, friends and church.

This is all so very unexpected and heartbreaking, he said. But he didn't suffer and he went out graciously. Hes left us with a lot of good memories. We all spent a lot of time together, and were just a very close family. Were pretty tight, we were with him all the time.

Bullock said the loss of his friend and former colleague will be felt deeply.

Im going to miss hunting with him, he was an avid hunter and fisher, whether it was bow hunting or for squirrel, deer, and he was just a great guy to be around, he said. Im going to miss him, he was there any time I needed him, he was a great friend.

Bullock pointed out, even in death, Harris was doing his part for the kids who benefit from Shop With a Cop. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be given to any First State Community Bank, dedicated to Shop With a Cop in honor of Rodney L. Harris. All arrangements have been made with the family by DeClue Funeral Home.

Born on March 2, 1954 in Spokane, Washington, to the late Earl Thomas Harris and the late Doris Jean (Key) Harris, Harris left the world surrounded by the family and friends he loved. Survivors include his longtime companion, Janet Phegley; four children: Josh Harris & Sarah Bishop, Katie Harris, Kacie Harris and Carrie Harris; two brothers: Michael (Sonja) Harris and Patricia (Eddie) Mosier; six grandchildren: Gage Harris, Logan Harris, David Harris, Samuel Harris, Cash Baldwin and Keaton Sadler; nieces & nephews: Todd & Matt Harris, Mindi Cole and Ben Mosier; also surviving are many dear extended family and friends.

Viewing hours are private for immediate family only.

Funeral services to honor him will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Bismarck with Pastor Matt Sheckles and Pastor Mike Harris officiating. This will be a drive-in, parking lot service only. Attendees must stay in their vehicles and follow government and health officials' guidelines. The church will not be open to the public.

Interment and final prayers will be held at IOOF Cemetery concluding the service. He will receive full military honors presented by the United States Air Force and VFW Post 6947.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com.

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An economically illiterate leadership has decided to spray HK$80bn at HK's economy, benefitting employers who had no intention of making lay-offs, by paying the firms up to HK$54k per job. Some firms have even prospered during COVID-19. It's a wasteful way to return hoarded reserves to the economy, but all companies now have a legal duty to shareholders to eat this free lunch. They should resist any Government pressure to not collect it.

HK employers must eat this free lunch



One of the greatest ironies in what until last year was ranked the "World's freest economy" is that its Government is led by economically illiterate people. The COVID-19 global pandemic and consequent near-shutdown of international and cross-boundary passenger traffic has undoubtedly impacted a lot of sectors in HK, including tourism and business travel, and it is arguable that even in a free market, businesses and people should be compensated for their consequential losses, particularly when the calamity has led to government-ordered shutdowns of some businesses such as bars and gyms, now extended to a 4-week period.

However, the major, HK$80bn component of what the HK Government announced yesterday goes far further than compensation - it sprays money indiscriminately over the entire economy, doing more for the needless and less for the needy.

Under the Employment Support Scheme (ESS), the HK Government will pay employers 50% of their wage costs up to a subsidy of HK$9k per job per month for 6 months, on condition that the employees are not made redundant. That is, they are paying employers to keep people in work even if the employer had no intention of laying people off. By contrast, the UK under its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is only paying compensation (80% of salary, up to GBP2,500 per month, for 3 months) in respect of employees have been "furloughed", that is, kept on the payroll but not working - for example, waiters or factory workers because the restaurants and factories are closed. It is a specific condition of CJRS that the employee cannot undertake work for the employer while on furlough, so it is automatically targeted at sectors which have suffered the most disruption.

HK's approach will result in windfalls for businesses that have been unaffected or even done rather well during the crisis. For example, the big supermarket chains employ thousands of low-wage workers. They've not only been busy restocking shelves after panic buying, but are also selling more food than usual as people are eating out less, and probably hiring more people for home deliveries. There is no real chance of redundancies there, but now the HK Government will pay the supermarkets a subsidy of up to HK$54m per 1,000 jobs (a bit less if they pay under $18,000 per month). The employees will get their usual wage, and the employer and its shareholders will benefit from the subsidy with a larger profit than they would otherwise have made.

Similarly, operators of neighbourhood convenience stores are probably doing rather well as more people are working from home and popping out for quick purchases of snacks and sanitizer. Other beneficiaries include retail banks which, along with insurance firms and stockbrokers, probably had no intention of mass layoffs and will now get the same windfall of up to HK$54k per employee. And note that HK, which is now only seeing around 5-10 local COVID-19 cases per day (the rest are imported and quarantined), is not in the same dire straits as the UK, but has chosen to make these subsidies last 6 months from the outset rather than 3 months, doubling their cost.

Given the Government's fiscally-insane policy, even if a company is not badly affected by COVID-19 or has benefitted like supermarkets have, the company must apply for its entitlement, because its directors have a legal duty to shareholders to maximise value. That includes legally minimizing their taxes and claiming every subsidy to which they are entitled, unless the cost is greater than the subsidy.

We were appalled to hear today that at least one company director has been called by a Government department and asked not to apply for its entitlement. Perhaps the Government is already beginning to regret the hasty policy-making, but such requests for collusion should be politely declined. We call on the Government to stop making such calls and make clear that it will not seek to intimidate companies into not taking the ESS. Asking companies not to take the money is no different to announcing a "voluntary" tax and then strong-arming companies into paying it in return for favours.

Webb-site founder David Webb has substantial shareholdings in a number of listed businesses which have thousands of HK employees. We hereby place the directors of these listed companies on notice that whatever sector they are in, they have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to apply for the ESS to maximise shareholder value - so do not even consider placing yourselves at risk of shareholder litigation and at a competitive disadvantage by not applying. Your competitors will apply.

There are far better ways to disgorge the over HK$1 trillion sucked out of the economy and into reserves over the last 22 years, but if the Government is going to do it this way, then we must all take what we can get. Look on the bright side - at least they are not building another bridge to Macau.

LegCo Approval

The package is of course subject to approval by the Legislative Council Finance Committee, but can you really imagine the legislators representing "Functional Constituencies", each of which has some candy in this cake, rejecting it? There were several other items in yesterday's package directly aimed at buying their support, such as a $50k handout for each small brokerage firm which elects the "Financial Services" legislator and a $30k per-licence handout for each owner of a licence for a taxi, non-franchised bus or private hire car in our road transport licence cartels. These licences should be uncapped and freely available to anyone who wishes to licence a vehicle for a token administrative fee, but they have become rent-seeking speculative investments and now the Government is supporting their value and pandering to the owners, because they elect the Transport legislator and 18 seats in the Chief Executive Election Committee.

 Webb-site.com, 2020

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GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MaxCyte, the global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, provides today a business update regarding the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company also confirms that MCY M11 dosing commenced in March 2020, in the fourth cohort (at the next higher cell dose) of MaxCyte's Phase I clinical trial.

"As the world continues to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, we wanted to share an update on our business and industry," stated MaxCyte CEO Doug Doerfler. "There is currently significant uncertainty regarding the depth and duration of the economic impacts of the pandemic, generally, and on the biopharmaceutical industry, in particular. Our top priorities as a business are to ensure the health and safety of our employees first and foremost, to preserve jobs, and to enable our customers to bring new therapies and vaccines to market for many unmet health needs, including COVID-19. We are actively working to understand and respond to the economic impact of this public health crisis specific to MaxCyte as we continue to maintain our support for all MaxCyte customers."

MaxCyte's key priority is to ensure the health and safety of its employees in light of COVID-19 and to continue supporting its customers and partners. MaxCyte has, since February, successfully implemented business continuity plans, by adapting working protocols and shifts at its labs and facilities and focusing on essential production and shipping activities to safeguard its employees and their dependents while maintaining service and support for customers.

Life Sciences Business Progress

Due to the unprecedented restrictions put in place around COVID-19, including global lock-downs, MaxCyte has noted the potential negative impact on its Life Sciences business through slowdowns in customer operations, limiting of some clinical sites to studies related only to COVID-19, extension of sales cycles because of visitor restrictions at the operational sites of potential customers, shrinkage in customer capital budgets or delays in customers' clinical trials. On the other hand, MaxCyte, its partners and its suppliers are generally considered "essential" businesses under shelter-in-place orders, and the Company continues to receive and fulfill orders from customers and interest from companies with new approaches related to COVID-19 that may be enabled by MaxCyte technology. The MaxCyte business remains resilient due to strong recurring revenues including from consumables and instruments in place under long-term leases with Cell Therapy partners and significant growth in this business segment is expected as compared to 2019. Importantly, MaxCyte announced its ninth cell therapy agreement in March 2020, with Allogene Therapeutics, bolstering the potential pre-commercial milestone payments potentially due to the Company.

CARMA Program Update

Maxcyte today announces that dosing has commenced, in March 2020 according to plan, in the fourth cohort of patients (at the next higher cell dose) for MCY-M11 in MaxCyte's Phase I clinical trial. MCY-M11 is the Company's wholly-owned, non-viral mRNA-based cell therapy candidate  a mesothelin-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy that is being tested in patients with relapsed/refractory ovarian cancer and peritoneal mesothelioma.

At the start of 2020, MaxCyte established CARMA Cell Therapies as a wholly owned subsidiary to facilitate independent investment and new partnerships to advance the CARMA platform. The Company expects CARMA to be self-funded by 2021.

CARMA Cell Therapies remains fully committed to the MCY-M11 clinical development program, however timelines may be impacted due to the current deprioritization of non-COVID-19 clinical trials and restrictions on patient recruitment at the two clinical trial sites.

Status of Business Operations

As early as February, the Company began to encourage all field and office-based employees to commence working from home. MaxCyte continues its restricted travel and work-from-home policy wherever possible and has implemented an evergreen business continuity and facilities control plan for its corporate headquarters facilities in Maryland. To ensure business continuity, the Company is actively using technology to allow employees to work remotely and to replace all in-person meetings and field applications support. MaxCyte is considered an "essential business" in Maryland under state shelter-in-place orders, as are the Company's customers and key suppliers. The Company is also maintaining constant vigilance in all countries where MaxCyte employees live and work. To protect the health and safety of employees, the Company has limited work at its labs and facilities to essential production and shipping activities to support customers. In addition, MaxCyte has taken measures such as splitting shifts and implementation of strict cleaning protocols and social distancing.

Mr. Doerfler added: "We are working diligently to keep our employees, their families, our partners and our vendors safe, while continuing to serve our customers and patients. With a resilient business model, we have every reason to remain highly optimistic for the future."

About MaxCyte

MaxCyte, the clinical-stage global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, uses its proprietary next-generation cell and gene therapies to revolutionize medical treatments and ultimately save lives. The Company's premier cell engineering enabling technology is currently being deployed by leading drug developers worldwide, including all of the top ten global biopharmaceutical companies. MaxCyte licenses have been granted to more than 100 cell therapy programmes, with more than 70 licensed for clinical use, and the Company has now entered into nine clinical/commercial license partnerships with leading cell therapy and gene editing developers. MaxCyte was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For more information, visit www.maxcyte.com.

About MaxCyte's Technology

MaxCyte's Flow Electroporation technology and next-generation ExPERT platform enable our partners to accelerate, streamline and improve the drug development process from the early stages of research to commercialization. MaxCyte is also developing novel CARMA therapies, with its first wholly-owned drug candidate in a Phase I clinical trial. CARMA is MaxCyte's mRNA-based proprietary therapeutic platform for autologous cell therapy for the treatment of solid cancers. In 2020, MaxCyte established CARMA Cell Therapies, a wholly owned subsidiary to facilitate independent investment and new partnerships to advance the CARMA platform.

SOURCE MaxCyte, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.maxcyte.com


A grocery store worker with cerebral palsy, who kept working to help the elderly, has died after contracting Covid-19.

Leilani Jordan, from Maryland, insisted on still going to work at a Giant Food store in Largo to help the elderly with their shopping, her mother, Zenobia Shepherd, told CNN.

Ms Shepherd told the outlet Ms Jordan said Its just crazy here at work ... but somebodys got to do it.

She added that despite her disability, the 27-year-old was doing everything for them. Helping them put their groceries in their walkers, to helping them get into lifts.

Ms Jordan became ill in March and died last week after a spell in hospital.

In an emotional interview, Ms Shepherd told MSNBC that more should be done to protect grocery workers during the pandemic.

The education that they should have been given in regards to the coronavirus and the distancing. How can you say youre not going to help somebody that can barely walk to put the grocery in the grocery cart, she said.

Recommended Anger as Americans caught dumping used gloves and masks outside

Nobody helped my baby. Nobodys helping the workers. Nobodys helping the workers to do their jobs to help them, but theyre making the money, Ms Shepherd added.

Ms Jordans last day at work was 16 March and a spokesperson for Giant Food told CNN that they were saddened when they heard the news.

We can only imagine the heartache they are experiencing and have offered our support during this difficult time, the company said.

In recent weeks, grocery store workers in the US have been forced to clean up dirty gloves and masks discarded by shoppers, amid the outbreak.

Linda St Denis, an employee at a Safeway in California told Business Insider that the parking lots are littered with gloves constantly, every day.

Ms Denis said that grocery store workers are being put at risk, as who knows how long the virus lasts on these gloves. Its maddening.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 454,304 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 16,267.
illustration photo, source: Le Toan

The man went to Quang Ba flower market in Hanoi on many mornings, including 3.55-6.30am on March 8, 2.30-5am from March 14, 1-5am on March 22 and 23, 3-6am on March 25, 2-6am on March 26 and 2.30-6am on March 27.

He visited the Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology of Bach Mai Hospital from 8.30-10.30am and 11-12pm on March 12.

He had lunch at a restaurant at number 31 on Lane 75, Giai Phong street, opposite Bach Mai Hospital, from 10.30-11am on March 12.

He went to Me Linh flower market on National Highway 23 in Hanoi from 3-5.41pm on March 12, 11am on March 15, 2.30-3pm on March 18, 10-10.30am and 3-4pm on March 22, 5-6pm on March 26, 11pm on March 27 and 11-12pm on March 30.

He visited Phuc Yen Obstetrics Hospital in Vinh Phuc provinces Phuc Yen district at 8am on April 4.

The man visited Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital at 929 La Thanh street in Ba Dinh district at 11am on April 4.

The Ministry of Health requested all people who were at these areas during the mentioned time frames immediately contact local centres for disease control and prevention for guidance on health monitoring.

The patient was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on April 6 and the source of his infection is still unclear.

He took his wife to the Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day. The couple had lunch at a restaurant opposite the hospital and did not return to the hospital.

On April 4, he took his wife to the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital in Hanoi for examination without declaring that he and his wife had visited the Bach Mai Hospital on March 12 as per the requirements of the Ministry of Health.

This failure to declare resulted in 63 doctors and nurses from the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital being put in quarantine at the hospital on April 6.

On April 7 morning, a neighbour of the 243rd patient in Ha Loi village was confirmed as the 250th patient after having tested positive for the disease.

The village was subsequently quarantined.
Santander's UK chief exec Nathan Bostock will donate 1m to a charity buying medical equipment for the coronavirus pandemic

Santander's UK chief executive Nathan Bostock has finally followed his colleagues in Spain and agreed to donate 1million to charity.

The British banker will give the money to the fund which Spanish group Banco Santander has launched to help buy medical equipment to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Bostocks agreement to give up a chunk of his wages comes weeks after Banco Santanders group chairman Ana Botin and chief executive Jose Antonio Alvarez volunteered 50 per cent of their entire years pay to the fund.

Last year Botin was awarded 3.8million, while Alvarez bagged 2.8million.

Bostock, 59, was eligible to earn up to 6.15million this year, but insiders said that the 1million donation will likely amount to around a quarter of his full salary given current performance.

Lenders came under pressure from the Bank of England last week to moderate pay, in order to preserve cash to help boost the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

Campaigners and MPs warned the banks that the public would not look kindly on the usual multi-million pound executive pay packages, at a time when many of their customers were struggling to get by.

And investors who lost out when the lenders cut more than 7.5billion in dividends last week in order to cut their costs were keen that banks shared the pain.
UK-based oil exploration firm Pantheon Resources believes it has a huge 1.8-billion-barrel oil discovery in Alaska after evaluating an old exploration well with modern technology, the companys top executives told the Alaska Journal of Commerce.

Despite the low oil prices, Pantheon Resources believes that the discovery could become commercial and viable at oil prices around $30 per barrel, Jay Cheatham, chief executive at Pantheon Resources, told the Alaska Journal of Commerce in an interview.

The discovery is south of Prudhoe Bay and along the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline System corridor. The proximity to Dalton Highway is very advantageous for the company to develop the resource, according to Cheatham.

The discovery, named Talitha, could be able to produce as much as 500 million barrels of oil, while peak oil production could be almost 90,000 barrels per day (bpd), Cheatham said.

The company has another prospect, Greater Alkaid, for which it believes peak production could be as high as 30,000 bpd, with recoverable oil resources at 76 million barrels.

The location and the proximity to the highway could allow Pantheon Resources to work all year round and save money for infrastructure such as roads to the oil discovery, the manager said

Pantheon Resources holds majority stakes in prospects in East Texas and the Alaskan North Slope (ANS) with a combined P50 Technically Recoverable Resource estimated to exceed 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the company says on its website.

An Independent Experts Report from January 2020 on Pantheon Resources 100-percent owned Greater Alkaid found a Contingent Recoverable Resource of 76.5 million barrels of oil.

While Pantheon Resources believes it can make its Alaska resources viable at $30 oil, Alaska, the U.S. state most dependent on taxes and other income from the oil and gas industry, could be in for a severe budgetary headache after the oil price crash.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
New Delhi, April 9 : Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said one of the biggest challenges he was facing apart from fighting coronavirus was fighting against misinformation.

Addressing a global online conference over coronavirus, Harsh Vardhan said "One of my biggest challenges these days, apart from fighting COVID-19, is fighting with misinformation. So many things keep floating on social media. No one even thinks before putting out a tweet or a news item without confirming and checking it with a reliable source." "I can say with utmost confidence and conviction that anyone who wants authentic information, should visit the website of the Health Ministry. The website of the Health Ministry has thoroughly comprehensive, complete and updated information. We are receiving 22 crore hits everyday. It is updated twice a day. Giving correct information is as important as taking care of the COVID patients." The Health Minister also said that he was very upset with people who misbehave and target the healthcare workers. He said that such people should be named and shamed and the society should take a stand for the medical professionals.

"I would like to thank all corona warriors leading from the front. They face risk of getting infected. They are putting their heart and soul into ensuring the success in the battle against coronavirus. But cases appear here and there where doctors and the other health professionals are being insulted or ostracised or humiliated in the society. We have to name and shame such people. As a society we should stand with the medical professionals and ensure that such incidents don't happen," he said.

Harsh Vardhan also said that there are 30 manufacturers in India who are going to provide PPEs. "By next week we shall be having 10 lakh PPEs we will be able to give ample numbers of PPEs to the people, especially medical professionals," he said, adding "We have ordered 30,000 more ventilators. Very few cases require ventilators. We are prepared for the worst case scenario which I personally feel, will not come. We have made enough arrangements for oxygen cylinders, beds, and ventilators and specific drugs also. Work on the scientific front is also going on like research on vaccine and drugs." The Health Minister said India is putting its best foot forward in fighting against coronavirus.

"We are in constant touch with the World Health Organisation. I have attended conferences with health ministers of the world and region and the WHO has on record appreciated the actions and initiatives taken by the Indian government. They are also confident that India should do well."
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has suggested that Americans should never shake hands again in light of the coronavirus crisis.

While discussing how and when coronavirus restrictions could start to be lifted across the country in on the The Wall Street Journals podcast, Dr Fauci said: When you gradually come back, you dont jump into it with both feet. You say, what are the things you could still do and still approach normal? One of them is absolute compulsive hand-washing. The other is you dont ever shake anybodys hands.

I dont think we should eves\hake hands ever again, to be honest with you. Not only would it be good to prevent coronavirus disease; it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country, the doctor added according to The Hill.

The key member of the White House task force said he hopes to see a light at the end of the tunnel in regards to the pandemic, by the end of April.

On Monday, Dr Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House response to the coronavirus, also expressed that officials has began investigating whether social distancing measures could be relaxed in some parts of the country by the end of the month.

Were doing a series of clear investigations of what happened in Washington and LA, and what does that mean and how you keep the number of cases down, Dr Birx said in an interview on Good Morning America.

New daily updated scientific data suggest that the coronavirus pandemic will peak in the US on 12 April, with 2,212 people predicted to die in one day at its height.

The data, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), projected that the first wave of the epidemic would likely end in early June, but only if social-distancing measures continue to be observed.

If social distancing measures are relaxed or not implemented, the US will see greater death tolls, the death peak will be later, the burden on hospitals will be much greater, and the economic costs will continue to grow, Dr Christopher Murray, Director of IHME at the University of Washingtons School of Medicine, said.
Unfortunately, all of this could have been accomplished without this unnecessary legal drama if the plaintiffs attorneys had accepted our invitation to work with us, rather than against us, the statement read. Instead, this headline-seeking lawsuit is an unnecessary and costly distraction in the middle of such a crisis for our frontline officers and medical staff, whose round-the-clock work is saving lives.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:07:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson Thursday strongly condemned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan for its "malicious" verbal attacks on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its director-general.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also slammed the DPP for conniving in the wanton spread of racist remarks by the internet mob from its camp.

Zhu said the DPP took whatever means to "bank on the epidemic to seek independence."

The spokesperson urged the DPP to immediately stop political manipulation.

"The DPP's attempt to take the opportunity of the epidemic to undermine the one-China principle and seek entry into the WHO is doomed to fail," she added.
At that time, our spring schedule was completely packed with the residency Match, graduation, conference travel related to my national leadership position, vacation and buying a new home across the country.

Like much of the world, though, our social calendar was wiped clean in a matter of days in March. That seems like an eternity ago, as my life -- and the lives of my fellow medical students -- have been uprooted and not yet replanted. As I write this, medical students are plagued with uncertainty about our daily lives, training, testing and -- maybe most deeply impacting -- our role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

My fellow fourth-year students and I lost the opportunity to celebrate with the typical fanfare related to Match Day and graduation. It has been hard on my family, knowing that even though we're here for a few more months, we won't get to enjoy our remaining time in Tennessee with them or with friends at places we've grown to love.

But others are affected even more, without a guaranteed job, income or health insurance. Although I have felt blessed with extra time at home with our 6-month-old and the certainty of knowing I'll start my family medicine residency this summer, I know many others are balancing caring for and teaching their children with attempting to do their own jobs from home -- at least those who have the option to work from home. Everyone is facing so many unknowns.

As a fourth-year, I have avoided most of the deep impacts to my own medical education that those in earlier years are now confronted with. With no clear path forward, second-years' national board exams have been canceled. (Can we please expedite pass/fail scoring of United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 to this year instead of 2022?)

Third-years have been pulled from core clerkship rotations, with timelines for their return up in the air and no idea if away rotations will be possible.

Preclinical students have had their entire coursework shifted online, further propagating isolation.

My fellow fourth-years and I are now hearing that we may be asked to graduate early and step into the workforce earlier than the infamous July 1 residency start date, but no one understands when or how or what they'll need to do to be ready, let alone be safe. The questions exponentially outweigh the answers.

For medical students and many others, this experience is nothing short of a generation-defining moment. We will forever be known as the COVID-19 trainees. For many students, this has been as an opportunity to display our true calling to the field of medicine. Despite initially being viewed as "nonessential" as hospitals prepare for the storm, we have collectively found the energy to do amazing things.

Trying to leverage what I do have control over, I'm working with my team of national student leaders to help family medicine interest groups across the country capture and spread these efforts. On March 23, our national Family Medicine Interest Group Network leadership team put out a statement of support to medical students across the country, encouraging them and also asking them to let us know how they have been filling needs in their communities. Here are a few of the amazing stories that have inspired us so far:

University of Southern California medical students in the school's primary care leadership group are making phone calls to older adults who are under lock down in nursing homes, keeping them company and sharing resources they might need.



University of Minnesota medical students are organizing child care for health care workers on the front lines.



East Tennessee State University students are helping run COVID-19 screening stations.



University of Pittsburgh students are volunteering to deliver medications to patients who are in high-risk categories.



Georgetown University students created personal protective equipment drives for health care facilities that are facing shortages.

Wherever there has been a need, medical students have been rallying to fill it, often using Slack, GroupMe, or social media hashtags like #MedSupplyDrive to organize. But none of this work is easy or without risk. In a time when PPE is at a minimum, some students have found themselves in difficult predicaments and have been coerced into working in high-risk situations with promises of "improved" Medical Student Performance Evaluation letters from deans. I've heard from a few students that haven't even been given a choice and are being told they won't graduate if they don't work in these high-risk situations. Some schools were quicker to pull students from clinical experiences than others (I was pulled from a clinical rotation, but it was only a two-week relaxed elective), leaving students in the latter group with intense anxiety about their presence in the clinical settings, an emotion I personally battled in my circumstances.

The message for me has been clear: Students are dealing with a range of emotions and experiences they never could have dreamed of when they started. As I adjust to the new reality of my relatively isolated life, I keep coming back to the word "unprecedented" as the most accurate descriptor for this time in our world. But even during this pandemic, I am filled with pride to be a medical student. We will remember this. Our patients will remember this. And I'm confident that our generation of future physicians will push our health care systems to a level that is, well  unprecedented.



Chase Mussard is a fourth-year medical student at East Tennessee State University's Quillen College of Medicine and the national coordinator of the AAFP's Family Medicine Interest Group network.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Associated Press)

For months, the White House has been sending an implicit but unmistakable message to state governors: When it comes to handling the coronavirus pandemic, you're pretty much on your own. Were not a shipping clerk, President Trump grumbled to reporters last month as an explanation of why he has ignored pleas from states for help obtaining ventilators, N95 masks and crucial medical equipment.

The administration's failure to take a leadership role on procuring medical supplies has created a bidding free-for-all that has set states against one another, other nations and even the federal government, driving up prices for medical supplies that healthcare workers need to effectively and safely care for COVID-19 patients. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo described it as like being on EBay with 50 other states, bidding on a ventilator. As a result, doctors and nurses have faced a dangerous shortage of face masks and other basic protective gear, and state leaders have resorted to begging for ventilators to save their sickest patients.

This week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said enough." He announced that the state was striking out on its own, leveraging its vast budget and its relationships with manufacturers to obtain the protective gear it needs  and possibly enough to supply other states. California will spend as much as $1.4 billion in coming weeks to buy medical supplies, including 200 million medical-grade face masks a month.

We decided to step back from all of that and say, look, as a nation-state with the capacity to write a check for hundreds of millions, no billions, of dollars, were in a position to do something bold and big that could be a catalyst to increase supply and ultimately increase the capacity, Newsom said Wednesday during his daily pandemic briefing.

In other words, who needs the help of federal government when you have the world's fifth largest economy?

It's outrageous that the state finds itself in this position; it's beyond obvious that the federal government is in the best position to procure the mass quantities of gear needed to respond to what is a global healthcare crisis. But this isnt the first time California has gone its own way when the federal government failed to provide forward-thinking leadership or adopted policies contrary to the Golden State's interests, such as those on fuel-emission standards, immigration and healthcare. In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown famously quipped that if the Trump administration stops gathering climate change data from its satellites, "California will launch its own damn satellite. He wasnt kidding.

Story continues

Now that California is stepping into the leadership vacuum to help itself and other states access medical supplies and protective equipment, it should do the same when it comes to COVID-19 testing.

Trumps coronavirus task force is reportedly mulling a national strategy for conducting widespread diagnostic testing and using a different type of screening to identify people who are immune from COVID-19, two steps that are absolutely essential for the country to be able to get back to work. But after months of the administration's dithering, backtracking and mixed messaging on its pandemic response, we dont have faith that it will be able to manage the next phase competently. This might be the time for states to band together to develop and deploy their own testing protocol and strategies.

In a way, perhaps its a good thing that the White House hasnt centralized the deployment of medical resources during the pandemic because, honestly, some of the decisions it has made so far have been terrible. Also, given Trump's track record, we fear the president would use the pandemic to reward states with Trump-friendly leaders and punish the rest. Given that California is so often at loggerheads with this administration, it can't afford to take that chance.
NEW HAVEN  They maintained social distance, but the sentiment remained clear.

Local firefighters came by Yale New Haven Hospital Thursday to offer their appreciation for the service of health-care workers  their comrades in arms in fighting the coronvirus pandemic.

Fire Chief John Alston said he, along with local chiefs Gary Merwede, Matt Marcarelli, Paul Januszewski, Stephen Scarfariello, James OBrien and Michael Esposito, wanted to recognize the service hospital staffers are providing, which occurs outside public view.

They do monumental work and we wanted them to know that we see them and know what they do, Alston said. We want them to know that we appreciate them. Thats the bottom line.

Alston also expressed his gratitude to American Medical Response paramedics and, along with his fellow chiefs, thanked firefighters, praising their vital role in the coronavirus response.

Mayor Justin Elicker said the emergency responders, in sharing well-wishes, echoed the thoughts of residents. He thanked them for expressing the deep appreciation of the community.

Frank Ricci, president of the New Haven firefighters union, further expressed the departments gratitude in a statement.

It is city firefighters who are thankful for the work of hospital workers, from the surgeon to the custodian they are all critical to our communitys safety, said Ricci. As firefighters, ours is a job with significant inherent risks, those risks now have migrated to everyday critical workers, gas station, pharmacy, grocery store and hospital workers. They are all (heroes) to New Haven Fire Fighters and we thank and salute them.

The New Haven Independent posted video of the greeting outside of the hospitals York Street campus.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
The Kyrgyz government has developed an anti-crisis plan to save its economy in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. However, there is no money in the budget for its implementation. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), of which Kyrgyzstan has become a member since 2015, did not offer assistance. The parliament argues whether the republic needs to remain in an integration association. Bishkek still has hope for international financial institutions.

The Kyrgyz business suffered not so much from the spread of coronavirus infection (there are 228 cases in the republic), but from the state of emergency (PE) introduced on March 25 for three weeks and curfew, which provides for restrictions on the movement of citizens and vehicles in Bishkek and the southern regions of the country.

The state of emergency allowed to restrain the pace of spread of coronavirus infection, but it provoked a lot of problems. In particular, freight transportation stopped, as a result of which a significant number of Kyrgyz residents employed in servicing re-export flows to the markets of the CIS countries were left without work. The republic is dependent on the state of the economy of its main partners: Russia, China, Kazakhstan and other neighbors. A sharp decline in small and medium-sized businesses is observed; import volumes are several times higher than export volumes. Therefore, local deputies at a recent parliamentary meeting called the anti-crisis plan a fiction and expressed dissatisfaction with the infantility of the EAEU.

In particular, Abdyvakhap Nurbaev called on the government to start negotiations with the Eurasian Economic Commission on the start of lowering customs duty rates applicable to imported goods. "Can we ask for this? Or to at least lower customs tariffs? If we do not, then we will simply destroy business and the economy. We must defend this proposal. But if they are against and in such a difficult time they refuse to help, then we need to ask ourselves: do we really need such an association? ", the deputy said.

Another problem was the restrictions imposed by partner countries in the Eurasian Economic Union. In particular, Kazakhstan introduced quotas for the sale of grain and grain products. For Kyrgyzstan, it is 22 thousand tons of flour per month. According to Deputy Altynbek Sulaymanov, the establishment by Kazakhstan of a ban on the export from the country of certain types of food products, including flour, contradicts the EAEU rules on the creation of common customs borders and the provision of economic freedoms for business. Is the Customs Union currently working? Actually, it doesnt work. In this case, it is necessary to agree on the suspension of the EAEU regimes until the situation with the coronavirus is completed, and then each member state of the union will solve its own problems. Now, the introduction of any restrictive measures is a violation of the norms EAEU, "said Sulaimanov.

This is not the first time that deputies have said that Kyrgyzstan is inexpedient in the EAEU. Earlier, MP Kenzhebek Bokoev was indignant that the EEAS does not benefit the country and proposed withdrawing from the integration association. According to him, the promises made to Kyrgyzstan before joining the association are not kept. He believes that Kyrgyzstan "lost on all fronts, and especially in agriculture."

As a result of the meeting, the deputies adopted the anti-crisis plan of the government, according to which enterprises importing grain and those who produce flour inside the country are exempted from VAT. Details of the anti-crisis plan were presented yesterday by the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the republican headquarters for protecting the economy from the effects of the coronavirus Erkin Asrandiev. Experts concluded that there would be no real help to the business. Those who dont have food (according to the authorities, 210 thousand of such families) will be given food packages. Erkin Asrandiev also said that the anti-crisis plan for the next 2-3 months includes several areas. The first is food security, the second is an indulgence for business. In particular, for taxes, social payments and utilities for three months. If these payments are overdue, there will be no fines and penalties. The deadlines for submitting a tax return have been postponed, he recalled.

The second area is raising resources to support the business. "We are considering two sources. Use the temporarily available funds of the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund. Negotiations have already begun. In addition, we are negotiating with our donor partners. In particular, with the EBRD to receive from 100-150 million dollars. that 50% can be provided on a grant basis. We are also negotiating with ADB, WB, and EBR, "Erkin Asrandiev said.

He added that Kyrgyzstan will not be able to completely free business from taxes or allocate funds from the budget. "Our budget will not allow this. We must soberly assess our capabilities, we will not be able to repeat the experience of other developed countries," Asrandiev emphasized.

For the republic, the current crisis has become a challenge that, in terms of its scope and consequences, can potentially surpass even those that the country experienced after the collapse of the USSR. Experts are waiting for a quick way out of the crisis. Unlike neighboring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan does not have a "safety cushion", so we have to wait for support from donors.

Kyrgyzstan was the first country to receive $ 121 million in emergency assistance from the IMF. But these funds will be directed, according to Asrandiyev, to support the budget and the costs associated with the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

At the same time, the official emphasized that a budgetary austerity policy is being pursued in terms of budgetary expenditures: first of all, expenses related to protected items are made - these are salaries to state employees, pensions and benefits, expenses related to emergency situations and the healthcare system. "All expenses associated with secondary values are suspended," said the deputy prime minister.

The World Bank will allocate $ 12 million to the fight against coronavirus. Kyrgyzstan can also count on UN support. The republic will allocate part of the funds 2 billion dollars. UN on the fight against coronavirus. This was announced the day before by UN Resident Coordinator Ozonnia Ogielo at a meeting with President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Ozhielo noted that eight priority sectors were identified together with the Kyrgyz government, within the framework of which joint work is being carried out to counter the further spread of COVID-19, as well as to overcome its negative consequences in the socio-economic sphere.

However, Asrandiev assured that not everything is so bad, the second package of anti-crisis measures, calculated before the end of the year, aimed at reviving and restoring the economy, is being developed. "I think that it is already necessary to develop a third package that will be designed for the long term - for the next three years," he said.
Having been within the royal fold for nearly 20 years, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge knows exactly how to navigate royal life. When she and Prince William first began dating in the early 2000s, the duchess got her first glimpse of what it would mean to be in a very public relationship within a very traditional institution.

Since the duke and the duchess dated for nearly 10-years prior to tying the knot, Kate had a deep understanding of what she was getting into. Royal commentator Rupert Bell explained, In a way, Kate is a traditional, English rose as it were. She understands the British stiff upper lip mentality as well as the poise and grace required for the role.

Since she has been so careful in constructing her image over the years, the duchess certainly has had to make some sacrifices. In fact, she really cant be spontaneous and carefree when shes in public.

Kate Middleton has a lovely personality

Authenticity cannot be faked. Its clear that the duchess is a doting mother who adores all children. After all, much of her work has been centered on children and early childhood development. Shes also seen as warm and kind by the British press and public.

In March 2019 while visiting Northern Ireland  a tiny royal fan asked Middleton how she felt about being a princess and the duchess response was epic. I love meeting special kiddies like you. I meet lots of different people, its really its really great, she said. I love working with young people. Everyones so brave and strong in some of the places we go meet. Its very nice to meet you.

Though shes always poised the duchess is always quick to laugh and smile.

Kate Middleton tried to change her image before marrying Prince William

Though she is beloved now, the duchess was concerned that she was not being taken seriously prior to her marriage to Prince William. In fact, in the months leading up to her 2011 wedding, Kate attempted to revamp her image.

With Prince Williams engagement now a surefire certainty (even Ladbrokes has stopped taking bets on whether it will happen after a flurry of well-placed wagers) there are intriguing signs that Kate Middleton is preparing for her future role, Helliker explained. It looks like shes taking it very seriously indeed too. I hear that in the past few weeks the former accessories buyer has quietly informed friends that she would like to drop the informal Kate and in future wishes to be known by her full name: Catherine.

Unfortunately, the duchess image revamp never quite worked. I think they thought it was more formal, more dignified, more royal, royal correspondent Rebecca English told Express. And to be fair, it is the name her family refers to her. Needless to say, though, they were pretty much ignored.

Kate Middleton can never be spontaneous in public

Though the Cambridges are a bit more modern than the generations before them, they certainly have a different approach to royal life than the Sussexes did.

[Kate] knows the importance of the institution and her role to play, an insider told People. She knows that being a member of the royal family is a bit like having a contract, you sign on the dotted line and you deliver Kate is in her element right now, shes really stuck at it and persevered with what she believes in.

As a result, the duchess is always very careful about how she expresses herself in public.

Shes in a difficult situation because I think shes not always able to be completely spontaneous in front of the cameras, royal expert Emily Nash says in the documentary, Kate: The Making of a Modern Queen. And you have to remember shes perhaps one of the most scrutinized royals ever, because of the rise of smartphones and social media  any tiny slip up or mistake she could make could go viral within seconds. And she must be really conscious of that and it must be a challenge. But when you see her interacting and engaging with people up close you really do get a feeling of warmth and genuine interest. Shes someone who does a lot of research, she reads up on everything to do with the charities shes visiting and I think, to the people shes engaging with, that must come off really well.
The UN Security Council has reiterated the parameters it had set out in its resolutions 2414, 2440, 2468, and 2494 to achieve a final solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.

The Security Council members made it clear at a briefing on the Moroccan Sahara issue, held Thursday, that there is no other alternative to achieve a political solution to the Sahara than the roundtable process, which brought together Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the Polisario, in Geneva in December 2018 and March 2019 Morocco, MAP news agency quoted diplomatic sources in the UN as saying.

This political solution can only be realistic, pragmatic, lasting, and based on compromise, which are the parameters already set out in the last resolutions and which unequivocally refer to the Moroccan autonomy initiative, deemed as serious and credible by the Security Council since 2007.

According to the diplomatic sources, contrary to the wishes of Algeria, which mobilized its lobbyists and its official and unofficial press, the Security Council has ignored its uproar over the opening of Consulates in the Saharan cities of Laayoune and Dakhla. The Security Council considers that these are acts of sovereignty in accordance with international law and fall strictly within the framework of bilateral relations between Morocco and its African partners.

The UN executive body has thus deflated Algerias shaky arguments, the sources said.

Besides, Algerias tumult over the opening of African countries Consulates proves once again that Algeria is the main party to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, and that the Polisario is a mere puppet.

The Thursday briefing was held in accordance with resolution 2494, adopted on October 30, 2019,
[April 09, 2020] Salesforce Partner, Accounting Seed, Donates Software to DevicesforStudents.org

COLUMBIA, Md., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accounting Seed has partnered with Devices for Students , a new Bay Area nonprofit born out of the drastic changes COVID-19 made to the education system in California and beyond. The community organization is on a mission to provide reliable internet and electronic devices to the one million students in California through tax deductible donations. "Supporting Devicesforstudents.org was a no-brainer," said Tony Zorc , Accounting Seed CEO. "Students need to be able to adapt to e-learning right now, and given Accounting Seed's deep connection to and support of technology, we, as a company, felt it was our duty and honor to serve these cmmunities in need."



First, the nonprofit is tackling California where more than 6 million students have had schools close due to COVID-19. They hope to grow their support to serve other locations such as Michigan and Maryland. "When schools shut down in preparation to switch to distance learning, my heart sank when I thought about how many students would struggle. This isn't a new problem, but it's one that can no longer be ignored given mandatory remote education. I connected with some friends who work for Google, Salesforce, and Box who were also passionate about equity in education, and we put Devices for Students in motion," said Brigitte Clark , Teacher at Cupertino Middle School and Co-founder of Devices for Students.

As part of this partnership, Accounting Seed donated its complete accounting solution to the cause to help Devices for Students manage donors, donations and their overall financial data. "Accounting Seed is a highly regarded accounting system." said Jay Pettigrew , Regional Vice President of Sales at Salesforce and Co-founder of Devices for Students. "The solution's ability to streamline finances and give us real-time visibility is key to helping us grow support for our mission. We are so grateful they were able to donate their app quickly." Other partners among Accounting Seed include Verizon, Best Buy, Port53, and more. "With the help of the community and top tier companies, like Accounting Seed, we can enable California students, regardless of socioeconomic status, to have access to the same online learning opportunities," said Clark. About Accounting Seed

Headquartered in Columbia, Md., Accounting Seed was founded in 2008 by Tony Zorc, a CPA and former CFO who believes in a better way to do accounting. The platform's innovative, flexible, and robust architecture allows customers to manage their financial data, their way. Powered by the Salesforce platform, Accounting Seed's secure and trusted technology enables a 360-degree view of a customer's business, putting the time back in their hands. For more information, visit accountingseed.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salesforce-partner-accounting-seed-donates-software-to-devicesforstudentsorg-301037953.html SOURCE Accounting Seed

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With planned cuts and retirements coming to the U.S. Air Force's bomber inventory, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command wants to make the remaining aircraft even more lethal in the future.

The Air Force plans to have a total of 165 to 175 bombers in its inventory once the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber comes online.

Gen. Timothy Ray has advocated for a larger fleet -- roughly 220 -- but until the B-21 Raider enters service in the latter part of the 2020s or early 2030s, he wants to make sure the current bomber fleets have the capability to carry a bigger variety of loads.

There are opportunities to keep some airframes, such as the B-1B Lancer, relevant by "increasing our long-range strike," Ray said during a phone call hosted by the Defense Writers Group.

In August, the Air Force showed that the B-1 fleet may have more options, after it proved it can transform the Lancer to hold more ordnance, a first step toward it carrying hypersonic weapons payloads.

A test by the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, California, demonstrated how crews could fasten new racks onto the B-1's external hardpoints and reconfigure its internal bomb bays to hold heavier weapons.

Related: America's Non-Nuclear Bomber Could Someday Carry Hypersonic Weapons

Earlier this week, Ray told Air Force Magazine what weapons would make sense for this role: the hypersonic Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW, pronounced "Arrow"), currently under rapid prototype development; and a conventional version of the Long-Range Stand-Off weapon, or LRSO (which is meant to be a nuclear cruise missile, replacing the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile for other aircraft that still carry nuclear weapons, such as the B-52 Stratofortress).

B-1 bomb bays are already snug for conventional weapons, and hypersonic weapons -- which would travel at speeds of Mach 5 or higher -- would take up more space due to the complexity of their propulsion design.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Ray said he thinks the non-nuclear B-1 fleet, which has been in recovery mode since 2018 after years of constant deployments, may be able to take ARRW on faster.

He separately told Air Force Magazine, "I think our carriage capability is good for that."

And while there's no requirement to create a conventional version of LRSO, Ray said it's the range he's interested in. "I think that's going to be a very, very good missile," he told the magazine.

To date, its range has not been specified; its predecessor AGM-86B can fly "1,500-plus miles," according to the Air Force.

Officials have already employed other missiles on the aircraft, such as the Joint Air to Surface Stand-Off Missiles-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), as well as the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM. A single B-1B can carry up to 24 LRASMs; the missile achieved early operational capability on the bomber in 2018.

"Basically, the configuration we're seeking is external hardpoints that can allow us to add six ARRWs, and then you still have the bomb bay where you can carry the LRASM or the JASSM-ER," Ray said Thursday. LRASM or JASSM-ER could also be carried externally, he added.

"Our investments will be to improve the external carriage, and make sure that we have a good sustainment gameplan," he said.

Does that mean AFGC is poised to one day reconfigure a bomber to be the "arsenal plane?"

In November, Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the service may select one of its bombers -- the B-52, B-1 or B-2 Spirit -- to be used as an arsenal plane, or a heavy, multifunctional, munitions-packed aircraft.

But Ray on Thursday said he thinks the arsenal plane will be born out of a "clean sheet design," not necessarily using a bomber airframe or a cargo plane, both ideas put forth in recent years.

The Air Force is slated to cut 17 Lancers in the latest fiscal 2021 budget proposal, reducing the fleet to just 44; the service plans to retire the fleet by 2036.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

Read more: Roosevelt Sailor with COVID-19 Found Unresponsive in Guam
The deployment of telecoms equipment by mobile network operators (MNOs) across Lagos and other states is entirely to expand their networks infrastructure across the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission has said.

In a statement signed by the agencys spokesperson, Henry Nkemmadu, it said the fibres would enable the provision of more efficient services to consumers.

In the statement, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta, said the clarification is in response to insinuations being spread by some individuals through viral videos, audio and textual contents on social media.

He said through these platforms, they wrongly claim that some ongoing digging/excavation activities and laying of fibre optic cables by MNOs in Lagos and in some other states are connected to 5G equipment deployments.

As we speak, any information suggesting or claiming that the equipment being deployed by the network operators are 5G equipment is purely misinformation deliberately orchestrated by individuals bent on creating ill-feelings in the industry, he was quoted as saying in the statement.

He advised Nigerians to disregard such unfounded and ill-motivated information in its entirety regardless of whoever, no matter how highly-placed or lowly-placed, is making the insinuation.

As the telecoms regulator, we enjoin Nigerians to get accurate information from us rather than relying on information emanating on social media by some individuals out of ignorance to misinform our people, the statement highlighted.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, and the management of the NCC, as well as the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) in January, held meetings and the action by some operators is in accordance with the agreement reached.

During the meeting, the Forum gave its commitment to allow the network operators to expand their networks by granting right of way (RoW) approvals for telecommunications infrastructure expansion, unhindered, across their states.

This will significantly reduce drop calls and improve networks performance of the operating companies.

That is exactly what was or is ongoing in Lagos and in other states. It is to improve their networks infrastructure, he said in the statement.

While emphasising that the earth-digging and cable laying activities by the operators has nothing to do with 5G deployment, he said continuous network expansion is a requirement from the operators for efficient service delivery on their networks, as this helps to expand their network capacity and robustness.

Mr Danbatta, however, re-emphasised that the Commission has not commenced any licensing process for 5G, saying what the Commission had carried out was a 5G trial for three months, during which it will be able to certify its safety to end-users and guarantee its desirability for deployment in the economy, the statement highlighted.

In line with our regulatory process with respect to technology-neutrality, type-approval and other regulations aimed at protecting the citizens and ensuring standards are complied with in the Nigerian telecoms industry, NCC ensures that adequate trial is conducted before a new technology is introduced,

This is essentially to ensure public safety. This is a priority for us at NCC. Similar trials were carried out by NCC on earlier technologies that we use today, ranging from 2G, 3G and 4G.
An Garda Siochana at the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau have warned the public about a new 'fraud' banking attempt.

Criminals are trying to obtain Irish people's personal banking details by email requests to update Netflix accounts.
When his mother died, nurse Ram Murti Meena was at work at SMS Hospital's coronavirus isolation ward. He saw the last rites being performed on a video call on his mobile phone.

Certainly, it was a painful thing for me to skip the funeral of my mother, who died at the age of 93 in our village in Karaul district, he says.

I was on duty as the nursing in-charge of the isolation ward on March 30 when she passed away. I saw my mother's face for the last time on video call, Meena remembers.

My father and three elder brothers performed the last rites and I attended through video call. At this time of pandemic, attending to patients is the most important thing, he says.

He remained busy with his work till April 3, when he was sent into quarantine. The government hospital in Jaipur switches isolation ward staff, placing those who have put in some time there into quarantine as a precautionary measure.

Meena says being in isolation is not easy and the staff has to take care of the patients' emotional well-being as well.

The patients have to be reassured that nothing will happen to them, that they will be cured. And we give the examples of those who have turned coronavirus negative from positive, he says.

They also have to make their own families believe this.

My wife, son and daughter keep on calling me on the mobile regularly to inquire if I am fine. I have to take care of their emotions as well. When that part is done, I have to battle with my own emotions, he says.

My wife insists that I come home. She asks why just you, is there no other staff, he says. Meena tells her what if everyone quits fearing exposure to the virus.

Before it became the isolation ward for suspected coronavirus patients, it was set apart for those brought in for swine flu. He has worked there then as well.

Meena has been on coronavirus duty since January 26.

I was at home when the first suspected case was reported. I was called to the hospital. The patient fortunately tested negative. Since then I am engaged with coronavirus cases. Many have tested negative but some tested positive. At present, there are 13 positive patients in the ward, he says.

It is not just the patients who are cut off from the rest of the world.

We too are exposed to infection and therefore we also live life in isolation. It is a challenging time for doctors, nursing staff and all others, Meena says.

He says his chest swells with pride when he and other hospital staff members are praised for fighting coronavirus.

This is certainly a tough time. It is also a time to prove our mettle and dedication. I feel that it is not just a job but also a big responsibility towards society.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Italy could look to ease some of its stringent lockdown restrictions at the end of April, the country's prime minister has said, once again calling on Europe to help the country at the epicenter of the continent's outbreak.

It comes as Italy looks to have overcome the worst in terms of daily infections and deaths from the coronavirus, but recent hopes of a peak elsewhere in Europe have been dashed in recent days.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday that the national lockdown in Italy, in place since March 9, could only be eased gradually.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," he told the BBC.

Italy has seen its daily death toll come down dramatically from a peak of 919 deaths on March 27; on Wednesday, it recorded 542 deaths, Italy's Civil Protection Agency noted.

But although the daily figures might be falling in Italy, the coronavirus continues to take its toll. To date, 17,699 people have died from the virus in the country, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and Prime Minister Conte noted that "behind the numbers are names and surnames, life stories and broken families. The Italian nation is suffering."

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy now stands at 139,422 (this includes those that have died and recovered) although the true number could be far higher. Nevertheless, Italy's testing regime, like Germany's, is seen as much more robust than other countries, for example the U.K.'s, which is still struggling to implement mass testing.

Conte, who has been pushing (along with other European nations, mainly in the south) for Europe to issue joint bonds as a way to help restart the region's economy, said once again that the European project risked failing if leaders didn't act.

"If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real," he said. There is resistance from Germany and the Netherlands over the issuing of joint debt, or "corona bonds," however.
The decision by the political establishment in Wisconsin to hold in-person voting during the worst pandemic in a century is a criminal act for which both parties and the courts are responsible, guaranteeing more COVID-19 infections and deaths in the state. The primary election Tuesday was not only a travesty of democracy, the likes of which has not been seen in recent American history, but a public health disaster.

After back-to-back decisions by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court, citizens of the state were forced to choose between forgoing their constitutional right to vote or risking their lives and the lives of their neighbors, families and friends in order to cast a ballot for their preferred candidates.

A local cultural news website, the Milwaukee Record, grimly dubbed it the vote and die election. Condemning the conditions under which they had to vote, one person held a sign while in line which read RIP Voters.

Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

In a now infamous video, Republican State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos assured voters Tuesday that it was incredibly safe to go out and vote, even as he was decked out in a full suite of personal protective equipment. Last week Vos had opened and closed a special session of the legislature in a matter of seconds in order to avoid taking up the issue of delaying the election.

The New York Times remarked that the election was almost certain to be tarred as illegitimate. And by every measure it was illegitimate.

Polling locations were reduced from 180 to just five in Milwaukee, the states largest city, due to the lack of volunteers. Green Bay, the third largest city, had only two polling places, down from 31. In Milwaukee, a nurse who tried to vote after her shift ended was turned away from the polls a few minutes after the official closure time, even though the line still streched out the door.

More than 10,000 voters reported that absentee ballots which they had requested had never arrived in the mail, making it impossible to have them postmarked by Tuesday. On Wednesday several boxes of undelivered absentee ballots were found in a Milwaukee mail processing center.

Jessica Mirkes, a Milwaukee resident, told Madison 365 that after voting in every election for the last two decades she had decided not to vote after failing to receive a requested mail-in ballot in order to protect her eight-month-old daughter. If it was just me and my husband, Id be fine, she said. But if anything happened to my daughter, I could never forgive myself. Thousands of others were forced to make a similar life and death decision.

Preliminary results indicate that in-person voting was down significantly from 2016, with turnout in the city of Milwaukee cut in half. Unofficial turnout in state capital Madison was just over 50 percent, compared to 66 percent in the 2016 spring elections. Official totals and winners will not be announced until Monday, April 13, when the last absentee ballots are due to be received.

Those voters who did turn out tried their best to protect themselves and others from coronavirus by donning medical face masks or cloth bandannas, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poll workers were outfitted with personal protective equipment, including medical gowns, gloves, masks and face shields. Voters were required to stand six feet apart in line, causing lines to snake around city blocks in Milwaukee.

Protective plastic barriers were erected in polling places, hand sanitizer was available, and each voter was given their own pen for filling out ballots. In some locations, poll workers were instructed to wipe down voting machines with sanitary wipes every 15 minutes. However, the protective measures taken were almost certainly not enough to stop the spread of the deadly virus as thousands broke a stay-at-home order issued by the governor to gather in the thousands in order to vote.

The inevitable result of compelling voters to line up for hours in order to cast their ballots in high school gymnasiums and community centers across the state will be an acceleration of the spread of coronavirus in Wisconsin, throughout the Midwest and beyond. The impact of the election on the pandemic is expected to be reflected in the number of confirmed cases over the next two weeks, the approximate incubation time before those who are carrying the virus become symptomatic.

Among the races on the ballot were the Democratic presidential primary contest between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as a closely contested race for a seat on the state Supreme Court between the incumbent Daniel Kelly, a Republican-appointed justice, and Jill Karofsky, the Democratic-backed candidate.

Even though Kelly recused himself from the courts decision Monday, his Republican colleagues still held a majority, allowing them to overturn an order by Democratic Governor Tony Evers to postpone in-person voting to June 9, forcing the election to go forward the next day.

While it was the Republican majority in the Wisconsin legislature and the state Supreme Court who maneuvered to ensure that the election went forward as scheduled, the blood of voters is just as surely on the hands of the Democratic Party.

Evers made a belated and halfhearted feint in trying to delay the election, unlike Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, who took executive action three weeks ago to shut down that states March 17 primary election, moving the voting first to April 28 and then to June 2.

During an online press briefing last week, former Vice President Biden gave the green light to holding the election as scheduled despite the rampaging pandemic, telling reporters, I think you could hold the election as well as dealing with mail-in ballots and same-day registration. I think it could be done

This travesty of an election makes clear that the ruling class has nothing but contempt for the vast majority of the population, including those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, the elderly and the immune-compromised. The decision to hold the election is of a piece with the push to get workers back on the job even as the number of coronavirus infections in the US surpasses 400,000 and tens of thousands are projected to die.

Furthermore, the decisions by the courts make clear they are political bodies, making their decisions with definite political conclusions in mind, and working backwards to concoct a pseudo-legal rationale. The justices at the state and federal level made the decision to go forward with the election and to limit absentee ballots because the Republicans wanted to suppress the vote and maintain the composition of the state Supreme Court, as well as conducting a trial run for the forthcoming back-to-work campaign.
Twelve more people



tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala on Thursday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 357, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cautioned that the state should continue to maintain vigil against the pandemic.

While the northern districts of Kannur and Kasaragod reported four cases each, two cases were reported from Malappuram district and one each from Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, Vijayan told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting here.

Vijayan also shot off a letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressing concern about the safety and well being of Indian diaspora in Dubai following the outbreak of coronavirus.

He wanted India to urge the UAE government to ensure adequate food, medicines and emergency service facilities to them in the gulf nation.

Out of the 2.8 million Indian migrants in UAE, nearly one million are from the southern state.

"It is learnt that the situation in Dubai is worsening. We are receiving number of complaints regarding inadequate isolation and quarantine facilities in the country and apprehensions are raised about the imminent community spread of the disease.

Most of the requests convey that preventive measures and quarantine methods being implemented in Dubai are neither effective nor adequate", he said in the April 9 letter, released to the media here.

Kerala is all set to become the first state in the country to commence convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients on a trial basis.

The ICMR has given its nod to the state government for the first of its kind project, initiated by the prestigious Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Dr Asha Kishore, DIrector of the Institute told 'PTI'.

The trials are expected to begin this month end once the required approvals from the Drugs Controller of India and the Ethics Committee are received, she said.

Meanwhile, test results of 13 coronavirus-19 cases have turned negative on Thursday taking the total number of cured persons in the state to 97.

Urging the people not to venture out as the cases had come down, he said the state should continue to maintain vigil.

"Six from Ernakulam, three from Kannur and two each from Idukki and Malappuram districts were cured. As of now, a total of 258 people are under treatment in the state," he said.

Presently, 1,36,195 people are under observation, out of which, 723 are in isolation wards across the state.

The state has also sent 12,710 samples for testing.

"Out of the total infected persons in Kerala, 7.5 per cent are above 60 years of age and 6.9 per cent are below 20. Four new labs will be ready for testing in the state within four days. The state aims to open one lab in each of the 14 districts," Vijayan said.

The state will, if needed, airlift any critical patients in Kasaragod who are not able to get emergency medical aid from Mangaluru due to the lockdown and will admit them in major hospitals in Kerala itself.

While urging the public to use cloth masks, the chief minister said the N-95 masks need to be worn only by the patients and those who take care of them.

The government was also contemplating to allow opening of bookshops once or twice a week, considering the fact that people, including children, are locked in their homes.

Steps will be taken to allow the libraries to home deliver books for children, Vijayan had said on Wednesday.

"Many people relatively feel safe because there is not much spread of the disease. But it should not result in violation of lockdown protocols. Those who visit the shops must observe strict social distancing during the Easter and Vishu celebrations. Traders, volunteers, police and the public must be vigilant. We must remain vigilant and not become careless", he said.

More rehabilitation homes would be arranged for the homeless in major towns and cities, he added.

Kasaragod, the hotspot of COVID-19 in the state has 136 patients followed by Kannur with 50 patients.

Police has registered 2,206 cases, arrested 2,166 people for lockdown violations and seized 1,450 vehices.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The export of steel from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by 27.85 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, amounting to $4.9 million, the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend on April 9.

"In March 2020, the export of steel from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by 62.68 percent compared to March 2019 and amounted to $2.4 million," the ministry said.

The export of steel from Turkey to the world markets decreased by 15.1 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of last year amounting to $3.1 billion.

The export of steel from Turkey amounted to 7.3 percent of the country's total export volume from January through March 2020.

In March 2020, Turkey exported steel worth $984.1 million to the world markets, which is 24.4 percent less than in the same month of 2019.

The export of steel from Turkey in March 2020 amounted to 7.3 percent of the country's total export volume.

Over the past 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkey exported steel worth $13.3 billion.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
France's competition regulator has ordered tech giant Google to enter negotiations with French news publishers in order to start paying for displaying extracts of articles in searches. The tech giant has refused to comply with Europe's new digital copyright law that came into effect in France in October.

France's Competition Authority on Thursday ruled that that Google will be required within three months, to conduct negotiations in good faith with publishers and news agencies on the remuneration for the re-use of their protected contents".

Payments to publishing companies and news agencies are to be applied retroactively, back to 24 October 2019, when France became the first country to ratify the EU digital copyright law, which guarantees so-called "neighbouring rights", designed to compensate media companies for their work that is shown on websites, search engines and social media platforms.

Unions representing media groups and the news agency Agence France-Presse filed a complaint with the competition regulator in November after Google refused to comply with the new rules.

How news is displayed

The search engine said last year that it would remove snippets of articles unless publishers allowed it to display them without cost. Those who insisted on payment would only have content displayed with a headline and a link, which would almost certainly result in a loss of visibility.

The regulator said, "Google's actions, when the neighbouring rights law came into force, are likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position". The vast majority of French media companies are allowing Google to display their content for free, because Google dominates the search market.

By not paying for displaying the content, Google has violated the law, and caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector, while the economic situation of publishers and news agencies is otherwise fragile".

While the law does allow the option of free licenses, the regulator said the choice of not paying seems difficult to reconcile with the purpose and scope of the law, which aimed to redefine the sharing of value in favour of press publishers vis-a-vis platforms.

Continuing negotiation

Google's news vice president, Richard Gingras, said in a statement: "Since the European copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news."

Google argues that European news publishers already get significant value from the eight billion visits they receive each month from users who search for their content on the platform.

Gingras said Google will comply with the order, while reviewing it and continuing negotiations.

Interim measures require Google to publish material the way publishers would like, and the regulator says that will help provide for balanced negotiations and ensure neutrality for how information is indexed.

French Culture minister Franck Riester welcomed the agency's decision as an important step towards putting in place the remuneration of news producers.

Those who use this news content must pay. Without that, there is no sustainable news production, and therefore no sustainable democracy, he said in a statement, adding that the current coronavirus epidemic has revealed the crucial role of the press and it's mission to inform".

"This mission has a cost, and therefore also a price, which is the fair compensation of those who produce it.
A Chinese-Australian group has raised more than $50,000 to source medical supplies to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese Australian League Against COVID-19 started its fundraising campaign last week as fears were raised about a looming shortage of protective equipment.

Frontline healthcare workers must wear gowns, gloves, eye protection and masks when treating patients to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

There are now 6,103 confirmed cases in Australia and 51 deaths.

After just a week the group had raised $52,070 - more than half of what they are hoping to raise.

Scroll down for video

Australia has been desperately trying to source much-needed medical supplies (Pictured: China Eastern flight touching down at Perth Airport, carrying tonnes of life-saving medical supplies and equipment that will be used to fight COVID-19)

A Chinese Australian group has raised more than $50,000 to source much needed medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic

'Through strict selection we are going to procure medical masks, protective gowns and other urgently needed medical supplies that meet Chinese export requirements and Australian import standards,' the GoFundMe page said.

One person had pledged $2,293 on Wednesday to help bring the much-needed equipment to Australia.

The group said the first shipment of life-saving materials was booked and expected to arrive this week.

Group members, which includes Chinese entrepreneurs, scientists and social workers, will review the shipment to ensure the materials meet Australian medical standards before working with authorities to distribute the gear to frontline staff.

Medical personnel administer tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Bondi Beach drive-through testing centre in Sydney on Tuesday

Face masks have been in high demand as the virus spreads. (Pictured: A young woman in Sydney wears a face mask during the coronavirus outbreak)

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

The group joined forces to show 'the dedication, love and social responsibility' they have for the country.

'We are working together to avoid prejudice, misunderstanding, and to create a multicultural environment of mutual respect and equality.

'We came to Australia because of its unique multicultural milieu and a dream we all share, and it is also our dream to continue to contribute and participate while building for ourselves, for Australia and for future generations.'

The group has been formed following a number of racist incidents targeting the Asian community.

It comes as the government took steps on Wednesday to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

Pretending to cough on someone causing them to fear they may have COVID-19 is now a criminal offence.
MOHAWK, N.Y. -- The 4PetSake Food Pantry in Mohawk says theyve seen an uptick in traffic after the coronavirus pandemic caused many to lose jobs or face other financial struggles.

The pantry helps people feed their pets when they are facing hard times. Their mission is to reduce the number of animals sent to shelters or abandoned because owners cant afford to keep them.

President Kris Wilson says the pantry is open Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., providing food via drive-thru at their location on 100 E. Main St. in Mohawk.

There is a need. I feel it's a big need. Hopefully with us helping that they won't feel the pinch with their food for the dogs and the cats and hopefully they won't surrender them to the shelters because they can't afford to feed them, she said.

For more information on the pantry, visit: 4petsakefoodpantry.org.
But it was difficult to know how seriously to take the reports of the virus sweeping through Wuhan, China, earlier this year. At first, most reports were sketchy; Chinese officials were not exactly candid about what they knew, or whether they were trying to get to the bottom of things. In the early days, even Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke cautiously about the likelihood that covid-19 was a threat to the United States, if only to avoid sparking a panic.
CCSA defends tests

THAILAND: Thailand has defended its coronavirus testing procedure, saying it is effective even if the country adopts selective screening rather than focuses on the quantity of tests.

CoronavirusCOVID-19health

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 9 April 2020, 11:28AM

Health officials check the temperature of 114 gamblers arrested in a raid on a gambling den in Nonthaburis Muang district. They were charged with gambling and defying a ban on mass gatherings. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill

The clarification was made yesterday (Apr 8) after critics cast doubts over the number of daily new cases which have remained low for two days, though the number increased to 111 yesterday due to a group of Thai-Muslim pilgrims returning from Indonesia in which 42 people were infected.

New cases dropped from over 100 to 51 on Monday and 38 on Tuesday. The test rate in Thailand currently stands at 1,079 cases per one million population while the infection rate is at 2.8% of people tested.

The rate of infection discovery is not different from South Korea despite the fact South Korea conducted many more tests, as high as 9,099 cases per one million population while its infection rate stood at 2.19%, said Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The point is weve conducted selective screening, not sampling in order to conduct as many tests as we can, Dr Taweesin said.

At present, the country is capable of testing up to 20,000 patients a day, he added. Some people questioned whether we hide the number of infections. That is impossible. All activities are closely monitored by people on social media, he noted.

Still, Thiravat Hemachudha, head of the Health Science Centre of Emerging Diseases at Chulalongkorn Hospital, urged the government to aim for widespread screening. The number of tests should be increased to match South Koreas, Dr Thiravat said, citing a report from China that says 30% of people catching the virus do not show symptoms.

Dr Taweesin said the government is aware of all concerns and has already begun active case-finding in Phuket in order to find more patients. Officials selected Bang Lan and Krathu areas on the island and tested more than 2,000 people a day. A result is they found 12 additional patients, Dr Taweesin said. The method will be applied in targeted areas in Bangkok to better search for new infections after the number of patients in the capital showed a decreasing tread, according to the Disease Control Department.

Department chief Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said Bangkok has a decreasing number of infections, but further aggressive action is needed to find new infections. What we are going to do is the same as we have done in Phuket. We will highlight the targeted areas that have a high number of infections, backed up by a surveillance system in which all people under the surveillance system whether they are healthy or sick must be tested for the deadly virus, he said, adding in Phuket over 1,500 people are under surveillance.

In the past three days, the number of new cases in Bangkok has decreased from 27 cases on Monday to 23 cases yesterday. There are 1,099 accumulated patients in the capital; however, its ratio of infections is second to Phuket province with 21.6 patients per 100,000 population. Phuket has 33.9 per 100,000.
ALBANY  Arrests in the Capital Region have plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic with one disturbing exception: a jump in domestic violence.

Domestic violence is increasing as people try to stay safe from the virus at home, where police say a different danger lurks. And once the outbreak wanes and victims can leave their homes, law enforcement and domestic violence advocates expect the number of reported incidents to climb even more.

"Victims of domestic violence are also a vulnerable population right now," said Ruth Glenn, president and CEO of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "If theyre with someone who abuses, and they no longer have the ability to distance themselves from somebody who abuses, then theyre even more vulnerable to that abuse than ever before."

But while abuse calls rose most every other crime dropped during the first weeks of the pandemic and government demands that people stay home to slow the spread of the virus.

Local police departments say they have mostly made minor changes in how they operate, encouraging officers to write citations rather than make arrests.

In Colonie, perhaps the busiest suburban police department in the region with one of the busiest town courts in the state, arrests were down roughly 70 percent since the outbreak began in March, Lt. Robert Winn, a police department spokesman, estimated. Colonie Center, the main commercial hub and a magnet for shoplifting, shuttered on March 19 and the town court is reduced to only essential matters.

State data shows that other departments are seeing a similar drop.

The measures designed to halt the spread of the virus, including the widespread shutdown of businesses and bans on mass gatherings, led to a 35 percent drop statewide in felony and misdemeanors arrests from Feb. 26 to March 24, compared to the same time period for 2019 in eight counties in the Capital Region, according to preliminary numbers provided by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The state data only records the top charge and total arrests that require fingerprinting. So if a person is charged with a felony and a misdemeanor during an arrest, the state only records the felony.

In Albany County, which typically sees the highest number of arrests in the region, felony and misdemeanor arrests fell during that period from 553 in 2019 to 305. The decline only accelerated as the region shut down. During that last week, March 18-24, the county had just 22 arrests compared to 123 arrests in the same period the previous year, the state data shows.

The same pattern played out in other counties. During the last week of data, total arrests dropped 68 percent in Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties from 415 in 2019 to 130 in 2020.

The decrease has likely only accelerated since then. The state saw its first confirmed case of coronavirus on March 1 and didn't begin shutting down mass gatherings until weeks later. As of March 15, some churches were still holding in-person services and many shopping centers hadn't closed.

Domestic violence incidents spike

While keeping people off the streets has kept arrest rates down in the Capital Region, holing them up in their homes may be leading to spike in domestic violence incidents.

Albany has seen a 40 percent increase in domestic-related incidents through the first three months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

In March, as the shutdown progressed, the city went from 156 domestic calls from March 5-17, to 168 calls from March 18-30, spokesman Officer Steve Smith said.

Domestic violence is always on our radar, its something we take very seriously, Smith said.

Smith said the police departments response to domestic violence is still at full capacity despite coronavirus, but that some operations have changed. For example, when people call the police to report an incident, they may be asked about their health  fever, a cough, etc.  by dispatchers so responding officers know what theyre walking into.

The Rensselaer, Albany and Schenectady county sheriffs all said their departments have seen an uptick in domestic violence reports, however they each said the increase was not statistically significant or a cause for alarm.

Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo said he expects domestic violence reports, as well as mental health calls, to increase within the next week or so.

Compared to last year, domestic-related incidents in Albany County have increased about 20 percent, Sheriff Craig Apple said  an increase his office expected.

Its not the end of the world, Apple said. Folks are confined to their house, tensions are high, people are bored out of their minds, theres been nothing violent  theyve been mostly verbal.

The state also expected to see a rise in domestic-violence cases, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

"This is a recipe for disaster," Hochul said. "If you feel that your life is threatened, you need to call 911. We have a domestic violence hotline that we want to have people calling."

Apple said he is ensuring victims are connected to the services and help the county provides.

But some experts warn that the calls represent just a fraction of the actual domestic violence incidents taking place.

One of the most important things to remember is that even though we are indeed seeing that increase, its not common for survivors to call the police, Glenn said. My concern is more for those who havent reported and what they might be enduring as a result of COVID.

Isolation is such a tactic

With orders to self-quarantine, opportunities for abuse are now essentially being delivered to abusers on a platter.

Isolation is such a tactic, Glenn said. Abusers now have better and more immediate access to survivors who arent allowed to leave their homes. That increases and intensifies the domestic violence.

As the social isolation and the financial impact of the pandemic take their toll, In addition, as difficult financial situations are exacerbated and self-quarantining takes a toll, they are adding to contributing factors of abuse.

The pandemic's infliction of financial hardship and isolation is adding factors abusers can use for self-justification, advocates say.

Abusers make the choice to abuse, Glenn said. I always look at mental health, substance use, loss of finances, loss of job  all those things as risk factors. Now they have more of an excuse than ever before.

Not only are abusers more likely to begin or intensify their abuse, victims are less likely to seek the help they need.

Its not just that abusers may scare their victims about contracting or spreading COVID-19 if they leave the home. Victims may need to rely financially on their abusers even more than usual due to the economic impacts the virus. Advocates say victims are hesitating to file for  or are not being granted  stay-away orders of protection to limit the spread of the disease. They may not have the privacy needed to make calls and they are concerned about contracting the disease if they leave their homes for shelters.

Victims are having to negotiate the lesser of two evils right now, said Christine Rodriguez, director of domestic violence services at Equinox.

However, domestic violence advocates stressed that their services are available despite the pandemic.

During his daily COVID-19 briefing Sunday, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy and Karen Ziegler, director of the Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center, urged county residents to take advantage of the services available around the clock to victims.

Were happy to talk with you, to do safety planning with you, to work on how to get you to safety and resources available to you, Ziegler saidg.

Equinox has been working closely with local shelter services to ensure heightened sanitary practices and social distancing are put in place to protect residents. Rodriguez encouraged victims to contact their 24-hour hotline number, and said their counseling services, housing program and other resources remain available.

But, like Russo, Rodriguez hypothesized that a large number of calls would start coming in once self-quarantine mandates are lifted.

The longer people are home, economically stressed and dont have those avenues to get out and away from each other, I think were going to see a really big increase for the need for all of our services, she said.

Cayla Harris contributed to this report.
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has helped 997 Americans return home to reunite with family and friends during this time of unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

From April 6-8, three U.S. Consulate-organized chartered flights operated by Delta Air Lines and Ethiopian Airlines repatriated 850 American citizens from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos to the United States. This is in addition to the 147 U.S. citizens who departed Abuja on April 4.

These repatriation flights were made possible by a tremendous effort by the U.S. Consulate team and great cooperation from Nigerian partners, including the Ministry of Aviation, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Lagos State Government.

The State Departments effort to bring Americans home during the COVID-19 pandemic has required a remarkable diplomatic and logistical effort. As of April 8, 2020, the Department of State has coordinated the repatriation of 50,339 Americans from 94 countries since January 29, 2020.

United States Consul General Claire Pierangelo noted that in times of emergency, the United States Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.

This has been three weeks in the making. We had more than 50 people working on this on a daily basis to make sure that we can find the Americans, get the planes, secure flight clearances for the planes to land here and also ensure safe passage of the Americans travelling to the airport since the city is on lockdown. It was an enormous effort and I am incredibly proud of my team. We appreciate all the help from our Nigerian partners. We couldnt have done this without them, Consul General Pierangelo said.

She noted that U.S. Mission remains committed to working closely with the Government of Nigeria and the various health authorities to keep everyone healthy and safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. government has pledged more than $7 million in health and humanitarian funding to Nigeria in response to the pandemic that will go toward risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination. This assistance joins more than $5.2 billion in health assistance and more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years.

The United States is providing nearly $274 million to help dozens of countries to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), furthering Americas commitment to humanitarian assistance and global health.

U.S. citizens who remain in Nigeria seeking COVID-19 information are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov and check the U.S. Mission Nigeria website and social media handles for messages and updates.

Source: U.S. Consulate
[April 09, 2020] HighByte Signs First Distribution Agreements with International Partners

PORTLAND, Maine, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HighByte, an industrial software company, today announced the company has signed distribution agreements with Novotek AB and ASP Dijital, headquartered in Sweden and Turkey, respectively. The agreements provide distributors with the rights to market, sell, and distribute HighByte Intelligence Hub in approved territories across Northern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East. Both distributors will also provide training, pre-sales, and post-sales support for HighByte Intelligence Hub on behalf of HighByte to sub-distributors and end users in their respective regions. "We are honored and excited to formalize our partnerships with Novotek AB and ASP Dijital. I trust their leadership and have a deep respect for their capabilities," said HighByte CEO Tony Paine. "These companies are an extension of our software and brand in the market for the territories they represent. They believe in our visionand we believe they will help us execute that vision, making an impact on manufacturing far beyond the United States. These agreements represent another major milestone for our company and HighByte Intelligence Hub." HighByte Intelligence Hub is the first DataOps solution purpose-built for industrial environments. DataOps is a new approach to data integration and security that aims to improve data quality, reduce time spent preparing data for analysis, and encourage cross-functional collaboration within data-driven organizatons. HighByte Intelligence Hub enables Operations Technology (OT) to securely connect, model, and flow valuable industrial data throughout the enterprise, providing the critical data infrastructure for Industrial Transformation.



Novotek AB and ASP Dijital are approved to distribute and support HighByte Intelligence Hub, effective immediately in the following regions: Novotek AB  Nordics, Benelux, United Kingdom , and Ireland

, and ASP Dijital  Turkey , Central Asia , Black Sea Region, Balkans, and Middle East Please visit HighByte online for more details on approved distribution territories or to learn more about available trial, introductory, and site licensing options for HighByte Intelligence Hub.

Additional Resources Learn more about HighByte Intelligence Hub

Read more about Industrial Transformation (IX)

View all company and product news About HighByte

HighByte is an industrial software development company in Portland, Maine building solutions that address the data architecture and security challenges created by Industry 4.0. We've developed the first DataOps solution purpose-built to meet the unique requirements of industrial assets, products, processes, and systems at the Edge. Learn more at https://highbyte.com. About Novotek AB

Novotek helps its customers to control and optimize their production processes. We deliver Industrial IT and Automation solutions based on standard products and components. We are publicly traded and represented in the Nordics, Benelux, United Kingdom and Ireland. We make it possible for more than 2500 companies to improve their performance through our solutions. It is our goal to improve your production performance. Learn more at https://www.novotek.com. About ASP Dijital

ASP Dijital is a dynamic, solution-oriented industrial IT engineering company established in early 2020 to offer digital transformation products and services to industrial processes in the developing and transforming automation market. Learn more at http://www.aspdijital.com/. HighByte is a registered trademark of HighByte, Inc. Media Contact

HighByte

Torey Penrod-Cambra

Chief Marketing Officer

+1 844.328.2677 x701

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/highbyte-signs-first-distribution-agreements-with-international-partners-301037836.html SOURCE HighByte

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Moscow woman fined for exercising far from her place of residence

 flickr.com/ Marco Verch

18:13 09/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI)  The Preobrazhensky District Court in Moscow fined 15,000 rubles (about $200) a woman, who had exercised at a sportsground situated at a significant distance from her place of residence in infringement on the self-isolation regime, Ulyana Solopova, the Moscow City Courts press-secretary, informed RAPSI on Thursday.

The court found the woman guilty of violating an order of the capitals Mayor prohibiting residents to wander more than 100 meters from their registered places of residence.

A similar decision was made by the Koptevsky District Court in Moscow with respect to a resident of the Moscow Region, who visited the city without a legitimate cause; the Shcherbinsky District Court ruled similarly in seven more such cases, the press-secretary added.

All defendants were found guilty of violating the Code of Administrative Offences provision regulating measures aimed to ensure sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing of the population.
Mumbai, April 9 : Chris Hemsworth's upcoming starrer "Extraction" has been shot largely in India and with a talented set of Indian actors in important roles. Among them is "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero" actor Priyanshu Painyuli.

Priyanshu recalls Hemsworth, globally popular for playing the superhero Thor, as someone who is a delight to be around. "When you work with someone like him, you realise the value of being grounded. He is warm and kind as a colleague. He has this incredible zest to learn more and do better, and the fact that the team made me so comfortable that I wanted to give my best," he said.

Talking of his experience of working in such a massive film, Priyanshu says his biggest takeaway from the international project was the sense of discipline about their work culture, adding that he has a "very special role, in a surprise package" in the film produced by the Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe, who directed the blockbusters "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame".

"My biggest takeaway from this was the discipline of it. Everyone was so well-prepared and so thorough with their scenes. The research is so well-rounded that there's zero scope for errors when the actor is in front of the camera. Everything is already on the storyboard, discussed and vetted, before the scene. I have been able to inculcate a more methodical approach to work," he said.

The Sam Hargrave directorial is a kidnap extraction drama that has Hemsworth playing a black market mercenary hired to rescue the son of an imprisoned international crime lord. The film also features Pankaj Tripathi and Randeep Hooda, besides French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and Hollywood actor David Harbour.

About the film, Priyanshu said: It's a very interesting story. I am playing a very special role, in a surprise package. I am eagerly waiting to see myself, I haven't done anything like this before. I can't wait for people to watch this film. It's an experience I will always cherish." The film is scheduled to be released on April 24, by Netflix.
The Pride of Mississippi Announces 2020 Drum Majors

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 10:43am | By: Mike Lopinto

The Pride of Mississippi is proud to announce its 2020 Drum Majors. Leading the band during its 100th anniversary celebration season will be Head Drum Major Chase Romans and Assistant Drum Major Jeremiah Parker.

Taking the reins as Head Drum Major for the 2020 season is Chase Romans, assuming the role of Head Drum Major after having served as Assistant Drum Major for the 2019 season. A sophomore music education major who grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he plans to complete a degree in saxophone performance and then a degree in music composition to eventually write scores for movies.

Being a drum major for the Pride of Mississippi is one of the biggest honors and challenges that I could have ever asked for said Romans. Not only do I get to work with amazing people on the staff and on the leadership team to improve this organization year by year, but I also learn so much more about who I am as a person and how to apply all the lessons I learn in band to real world experiences outside of marching band.

Parker is from Ocean Springs, Mississippi where he attended Ocean Springs High School and played under the direction of former Director of The Pride of Mississippi (and former Drum Major for The Pride of Mississippi), Dr. Mohamad Schuman. A saxophonist, he is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education and serves as a member of the 41st Army Band, the National Guard Band for the State of Mississippi.

I am extremely honored to be given the great opportunity to help lead such an incredible band said Parker. I am looking forward to a year full of hard work and growth with The Pride of Mississippi!

The Drum Majors for The Pride of Mississippi are the most visible facet of a student leadership team which numbers approximately 35. In addition to conducting the band during performances, they assist in facilitating the regular rehearsals and logistics of the 280-member Pride of Mississippi.

Chase and Jeremiah will be excellent leaders for our program and will not only meet the high standards which have been set for students who hold this position, but also will set the bar even higher for those who come after them said Dr. Colin McKenzie, Director of The Pride of Mississippi. I am excited for our community to see how these student leaders contribute to our organization and The University in the coming year.
The woman in a yellow biohazard suit stood just outside my car at the Motor Vehicle Commission inspection station in Edison and motioned for me to lower my window until it was just cracked about five inches.

This is going to hurt, she said, her voice muffled by several layers of personal protective equipment. An impossibly long swab was in her blue-gloved hand. I was anxious, but trying to remain calm.

This was why I had come to the coronavirus testing center on Wednesday, more than a week after developing all the tell-tale symptoms.

As she stuck the swab up my left nostril, an instantly sharp burning flooded the inside of my head, like it touched the bottom of my brain instead of my sinus. My eyes welled up and before I could stop myself I snorted in three sharp exhales. Id been trying to hold my breath to avoid spreading any virus, but it just wasnt possible.

It felt like forever, and it also felt like a momentary flash. The long cotton-swab had just been in my sinus cavity - way back, near my throat - and been given a twirl.

She pulled out the swab and said, Roll up your window and drive out, and turned her back. She had other people to test.

I knew this wouldnt be like any other medical test Id had before, so I turned to Google to try to find anything about the swab. Most of the information came from medical sources about the actual steps in the procedure and felt cold and clinical. I wanted to hear from someone like me, someone who was sick and scared. I didnt find that.

A small part of me considered not telling anyone I was sick, so I could keep myself out of the story. But as a reporter for NJ Advance Media writing dozens of stories about the outbreak for NJ.com in recent weeks, I felt like chronicling this experience could help someone else nervously sitting in a car alone, with the window down just a crack, staring at the long swab and about to hear this is going to hurt.

It did. And now I wait.

Swab test illustrated in the CDC Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, 2015.CDC

It sounds like you might have the coronavirus

I got sick more than a week ago. At first, it seemed like the stress of living through a global crisis taking its toll.

I got a splitting headache and a stomachache that wouldnt relent. It didnt seem like the coronavirus (I didnt have a fever), but I decided to be cautious and canceled my physical therapy appointments and made the decision to self-isolate until I felt better.

But then I didnt feel better. I developed a pain in my chest that just got worse every day, and I started getting winded just talking. My whole body ached and I felt shaky and way too hot even with the windows open. I just wanted to lay in bed.

It sounds like you might have the coronavirus, my mom said Saturday morning when I realized I couldnt catch my breath.

That same morning, an urgent care doctor told me over webcam that I had all the symptoms, except for a meaningful fever, but as an otherwise healthy 25-year-old, I should be just fine. He didnt think a test was necessary, and told me to isolate until I felt better.

Three days later, my primary care doctor wasnt happy that my chest pain was still persistently bad, and ordered the coronavirus test. Somehow, I secured the first appointment the Kilmer site offered the next morning, just 24 hours after she wrote my test prescription.

A 2004 Star-Ledger file photo of the Kilmer Inspection Station in Edison, N.J.SL

A surreal, lonely wait at the MVC

A perpetually early person, I got to the MVC inspection station Wednesday morning around 9:45 a.m., fifteen minutes before it opened. There was a line already forming down the road. I can only imagine how long it was for the later appointments.

As I waited on Kilmer Avenue, someone drove past slowly, video recording the line on his cell phone. What if someone sees that and recognizes me? I thought in a weird moment of panic.

It hit 9:58 a.m., and we started snaking into the MVC parking lot. My license, appointment confirmation slip and prescription were displayed on my dashboard. I started getting more and more anxious, thinking it was almost my turn.

I got to the front of the line and someone in a face mask and plastic shield confirmed my information and stuck a green card under my windshield wipers, before waving me on. It turns out this wasnt the testing line. This was the line to make sure you were allowed to get in line.

Once in the testing line, the entire experience shifted. What first felt like the wait to enter the parking lot at a concert turned into something out of a low-budget dystopian sci-fi movie.

A second set of people, a mix of health care workers and sheriffs officers, stood outside the station building dressed in thin fabric gowns, gloves, masks and face shields. They checked my dashboard paperwork against the green slip and filled something out on a clipboard. The green slip under my windshield wipers was replaced by a manila envelope, and I was waved up to the entrance of the inspection station.

I dont know what was on any of the paperwork. No one spoke to me, except to give directions or tell me to stop driving. Im not sure anyone made eye contact with me the entire time I was there. It all felt very detached.

Most of the other cars clustered outside the station had more than one person inside them. My mother had offered to drive me, but I couldnt see putting her at risk when she wasnt already sick, so I went alone.

Idling at the edge of the building, I first got a glimpse of the testers. It was a group of three or four people, all wearing bulky bright yellow biohazard suits, large hood-like helmets with plastic shields covering their faces, gloves and a second set of masks over their mouths and noses.

For the briefest moment, it reminded me of the scene in Monsters Inc. when a monster accidentally brings a childs sock back and must be decontaminated, and I laughed.

I laughed at that because the entire thing felt so surreal. Id been at this station every other year for the past decade to get my car checked. I knew what it was supposed to look like. Filled with masked workers and urgent signs reminding you to keep your windows up, it looked more like a movie set than an MVC.

The last paperwork check happened just inside the inspection station, where theyd normally ask for your license and registration. I saw the long swab used on the person in the car in front of me and realized one of those is going up my nose, too.

I was waived up to the front of the inspection station lane, the spot where they would replace your windshield sticker if they were inspecting my car and not my sinuses. It was my turn.

One of the testers had me open my window about two inches, and handed me a paper napkin folded inside a sheet of computer paper.

Close your window, blow your nose with the tissue and keep the tissue, the paper has your instructions, she said in a rhythm that showed shed said this same thing countless other times, her voice muffled by multiple layers of protective gear. She changed her gloves, and I noticed her yellow suit was taped to her wrists.

She was protecting herself from me. I felt like a bioweapon. I wanted to thank her, but her back was turned to me.

I blew my nose. My heart was in my throat. I wished I had my mom with me.

She stuck the swab inside my head, and as quickly as it started it was over.

Before I could even blink out the tears, I was fumbling my glasses back on, rolling out of the Kilmer Inspection Station drive-thru test center. The actual testing itself took less than 3 minutes, and I was out of my house for no more than 90 minutes. I was free to drive directly home and nowhere else. I kept the windows up, even though it was a beautiful day and all the trees were turning green.

I snuck a peek at the instruction form that held the napkin when I stopped at a red light on my way home. If Im positive, someone from the county health department will call me within three to five days.

If Im negative, no one will call me. But being negative doesnt mean I didnt have the coronavirus, just that it wasnt detected on that test, and I still need to isolate like I had it anyway.

After all that, and I still might not know for sure.

Patients tested for the coronavirus in Middlesex County are handed a sheet with information on how results will be distributed.

I am one of the lucky ones

The coronavirus will not ruin me. Im an active 25-year old, and my most serious health problem is some exercise-induced asthma (my allergist has assured me that doesnt put me at heightened risk).

I will probably be sick for a few weeks, and then I will get better. But so many other people will not. COVID-19 can cause organ damage in those who recover, and not everyone will recover. This isnt a virus to mess around with. Already more than 1,500 people have died in New Jersey. Ive continued to write their stories.

I know I am one of the lucky ones. I was pre-screened by my doctor from the comfort of my bedroom, and got a slot at an appointment-only test site about 15 minutes from my home. This entire experience will cost me about $20 in telehealth copays.

Ive also been able to keep working for NJ Advance Media from the isolation of my own bedroom, a privilege so many others who get sick dont have. When I started as a reporter for NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and its affiliated newspapers just before Christmas, I was excited to work in a newsroom every day and be out in the field reporting on stories. This was my dream job since I was in the fifth grade and exclusively reading the horoscopes and concert reviews in The Star-Ledger.

Its been weird to suddenly switch to working from home while probably sick from the same global pandemic we are tirelessly covering just four months into my tenure. But I never considered not continuing to work, even as I started living the story.

As a journalist, part of my job these past few weeks have been making sure readers have the latest information on how to keep themselves safe. I was keeping track of the changing guidance being given by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the New Jersey Department of Health, and speaking with experts about little details, like how to order take-out or clean off your groceries.

I thought I did all the right things, as I was being told to do them. I stayed at home, except to go to physical therapy and get groceries for my family, both of which are allowed essential services. I havent seen my friends or extended family in person in weeks, or gotten closer than six feet to anyone else when running in a park. I havent had any known contact with someone else who is sick.

But the coronavirus doesnt care that you tried your best. I found myself in that long line of cars anyway, waiting to be tested just like everyone else.

And now I wait. Three to five days.

Katie Kausch, a reporter on NJ.coms breaking news team, may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
The balcony has become a powerful domestic space symbolizing corona-solidarity in the south of Europe. Movie clips of Italians singing their national anthem from their balconies were broadcast worldwide in the evening news. Such a moving and spontaneous event united people quarantined. Italians, too, killed time making and hanging hand-crafted signs from their balconies with the phrase Andra tutto beneeverything will be alright.

A few days after the lockdown in Spain, neighbors began to take to their balconies every day at 8 pm in a collective applause. Screams of viva! and animo! chanted to health care professionals would inundate the otherwise still streets. Newspapers such as El Pais in Spain, The Guardian in UK, and Het Parool in the Netherlands, described such acts as the ultimate symbol of solidarity and brotherhood. The balcony had become a southern icon in the times of the pandemic, a bond of people in dire crisis.

During the past weeks, talking to family and friends in Madrid, however, I have come to see balconies as a space of friction, and I have become concerned about the tendency to take those domestic spaces as a homogeneous space of solidarity.

I was in Madrid during the week leading up to the state of emergency to take care of some family business. While news from northern Italy was tragic, in Madrid the feeling was of anxious waiting. I left the country, hastily, with my 2-year-old daughter and partner on Saturdays March 14 first available flight. That day the government declared the state of emergency quarantining citizens and mobilizing the military.

Back in Amsterdam, where I live, I stayed in touch with my sister in Madrid. I asked her about her balcony. At first, she said, she was not paying much attention to the call for applause in the balcony. Her partner, however, would do the ritual every day, and she would see him moved to tears. As days passed, she went from thinking it was nonsense, to joining her family in a little ritual she captured for me in a video. They would put street clothes on, her partner will prepare a drink, Dario, their kid, would get super excited and jump into the balcony and scream with all his might vamos!, animo!. It was really sweet to see the clip, a scape, a hopeful space, a moment to just vent. But my sister was right in describing it as a privileged space. Well, at least, we have a balcony, she wrote to me.

Indeed, many in Spain do not have balconies. Not only that, quarantining in a city like Madrid, or Barcelona, probably means staying locked in a dark, interior, tiny apartment with small windows to the street and interior patio. My friend Laura, living in Barcelona, attests to this. She is confined with her boyfriend and their 2-years-old in an interior apartment of less than 60 square meters. No balcony. On a call, she tells me: We go to the window every day for the collective clapping, but it also annoys me a bit. What about the cleaners, the supermarket cashiers, warehouse staff? What about them?

While interpretations of the joyous, inventive ways of Spanish people to pass confinement and continue community life by taking to the balconies may be well-intentioned, my friends teach me balconies are places of friction. Against the idea of balconies as novel iconic demonstrations of neighborhood solidarity, my friend Esther, like Laura, offers me a counter-narrative. She also lives in a small 2-bedroom apartment shared with a room-mate in Vallecas, a working-class neighborhood in the south of Madrid. She doesnt have a balcony, only small windows to the street. She is also unsure of the homogenous reading of the collective clapping at 8 pm. She, indeed, finds this hard to relate to.

You get people clapping, she says, and its moving. But you also see your next-door neighbor calling vivas to the military or the police and that is unsettling to me.

Indeed, what visibilizing the scene of the balcony actually does is to make invisible not only the differences in how people are able to respond to the collective clapping but the significant differences amongst peoples lives.

For instance, Esther has seen people in her neighborhood standing in balconies as eerie vigilantes. In a moment when the streets are taken by police and the movement of citizens is restricted, she sees neighbors on their balconies calling the police to report people who, in their belief, are breaking the rules. From their safe vantage above the city, they feel entitled to take the role of policing upon themselves.

I read in the Spanish online daily paper eldiario.es a report of a mother and her kid in Madrid. They were having a small walk and some neighbors standing in the balcony insulted them for breaking the confinement. It turns out the girl has autism and is allowed to go out every day to breathe fresh air. The mother became scared to go out, as the screaming greatly unsettled her kid.

During this crisis, new normativites emerge. Approaching to the balcony as the new symbol of solidarity is a compelling move. When we add the nuances and frictions that a closer look offers, we can begin to notice how new structures so quickly normalize, like the fact of the balcony as a site of solidarity, or that the army is in the street. The first is less scary than the latter, but they can go hand-in-hand.

Reading the balcony as an outburst of solidarity or brotherhood clashes with the nuances described here. These nuances do not deny the potential for solidarity, nor that there is something precious about cultivating a sense of togetherness in all the pain and uncertainty of the current situation. They do, however, ask that the balcony be situated amid the broader context of peoples lives.

For example, my friend Esther insists that the networks of solidarity and care were already there, they just didnt occur in the balcony. Her neighbors in Vallecas have, for years, developed a solidarity network to support other neighbors in need of care including women victims of domestic violence, elderly, and people who are sick. With the covid-19 crisis the networks responded as usual, taking extra measures. People were already practicing solidarity without balconies.

The worry: vigilantes at the balcony seem like temporary small things to deal with given the crisis, but often they also change what we take as acceptable. History shows that you know when the restrictions on freedoms begin but not when they end, writes the philosopher Josep Ramoneda.

We may celebrate the cheering at the balconies today, not realizing how this legitimizes the extension of the army in the street tomorrow.

Rebeca Ibanez Martin has degrees in the Philosophy of Science (PhD) and in Feminist Theory and Social Studies of Science (MA). She holds a faculty position in Anthropology and STS at the Meertens Institute (KNAW), Amsterdam where she leads the research line on Food, Body and Wellbeing. Shes wrapping up a project of an experimental nutrient recovery system from wastewater developed at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) and implemented in a small village in the south of the Netherlands. She is concerned with the shifting normativities and responsibilities involved in the system under development, and with mapping the shifting socio-ecological landscapes of waste water treatment. You can follow Rebeca on Twitter at @rebecaibanezm.

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COLUMBIA  South Carolina legislators could have $1.2 billion less to spend for the upcoming fiscal year, but even with a three-month shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state could still have a $750 million surplus, according to updated projections Thursday.

The $10 billion spending plan the House approved last month for 2020-21 relied on a surplus of about $1.9 billion. That plan became moot days later, as the pandemic forced a wave of business closures and reductions, both voluntary and by Gov. Henry McMaster's orders.

"If theres any bright spot," it's the timing, said Frank Rainwater, director of the state's Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs.

The state's economy was doing so well until March, no cuts will be necessary to the current budget that ends June 30, he said.

"The silver lining to the bad news" is that even with unprecedented  and still rising  unemployment, there will still be additional revenue for a reworked budget, said House Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith, R-Sumter. "That's a testament to how strong the economy was."

But deciding how to spend the much smaller surplus will be difficult, especially as legislators weigh new ideas for jump-starting the economy and helping businesses and residents recover. More than 180,000 South Carolinians filed for jobless benefits over the past three weeks.

Of the still-expected surplus, only $244 million would be available for recurring expenses, such as pay raises for state employees and teachers, which could evaporate. The $3,000-per-teacher pay hike alone, which McMaster pushed and the House approved, would cost $213 million.

The other estimated $510 million  what's left of higher-than-anticipated tax collections over the last two years  could be used for one-time expenses, such as maintenance at colleges and prison safety upgrades, which the House budget spent more than $200 million and $100 million on, respectively.

Rainwater cautioned his office is still months away from receiving tax data needed to make more reliable estimates.

"It may not be until June or July that well have a firm handle on revenues, so we're flying blind on whats going to happen," Rainwater said.

Other unknowns include whether the federal government approves additional stimulus money and  the biggest variable  how long businesses remain closed.

"If this drags on four to five months, results will get even worse," said economic researcher Robert Martin.

With all the uncertainty, legislators want to pass a continuing resolution to keep state government running at current levels past July 1, then write a budget later in the summer or fall after the economic outlook becomes clearer.

Legislators returned to Columbia on Wednesday to do that.

But a dispute in the Senate over South Carolina's only state-owned utility, Santee Cooper, prevented them from getting it through both chambers.

Legislators will need to return to Columbia by May 14, the scheduled end of the regular session, to prevent state government from shutting down July 1.

Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman said he's pleased the Board of Economic Advisers isn't expecting a budget shortfall, but the unknowns discussed during the meeting "underscores the need for the state to operate under a continuing resolution until we get a better understanding of the COVID-19 revenue impacts."

He said he's confident one will be passed before June 30 and is "committed to writing an informed budget that meets the needs of our citizens when we have better information."
Sunitha Natti By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Indian states are seeing their most unlucky moment in 2020. Finances are already under the weather thanks to lower GST and own tax collections.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, just like households, states appear ill-prepared for the new reality of falling income and rising expenses. And most irksome, perhaps, is the pressure to perform.

Analysts expect higher debt and strained balance sheets given that the only way out of the pandemic is for local governments to spend on free food, cash transfers and maybe even loan waivers if the pandemic worsens.

There could be a large supply of G-Sec bonds and state development loans this fiscal primarily because of subdued revenue collections. Though governments are reducing staff salaries including that of MPs, its unlikely to compensate for the entire revenue shortfall, Nikhil Gupta of Motilal Oswal told TNIE.

Low revenue leaves states with the only option to borrow more. In lockstep, the government on March 23 gave a free hand for states to raise up to Rs3.2 lakh crore from the open market, an unusually high amount compared to the states current quarter borrowing calendar of Rs1.4 lakh crore. RBI, too, raised limits for managing temporary cash flows by 30% for states besides increasing overdraft facility to 21 days from 14.

India already has the highest sub-national debt among BRICS nations and states borrowing limits have touched the brim owing to Uday bond issuances and high expenditure due to farm loan waivers and 7th Pay Commission payout. Though market borrowings have always been a critical component, their reliance has been dangerously rising. For instance, if states financed 53% of their gross fiscal deficit from borrowings between FY02 and FY17, it shot up to 88% in FY20.

If more states borrow, bond yields might come under pressure

As more states resort to market borrowings, Gupta said, demand may contract or/and pressure bond yields. On Tuesday, the market saw it in real-time. Nineteen states planned to raise Rs 37,500 crore on Tuesday but mopped up only Rs32,560 crore. In contrast, just a week ago, 16 states raised Rs 26,160 crore, higher than the notified Rs25,757 crore. RBI-monitored auction for state government bonds, or borrowing, happens every Tuesday.

The pressure on bond yields too was telling. Typically, interest spreads are 60-70 bps higher than Central government securities. But Tuesday saw it cross over 150-200 bps.

Citing bleak revenue outlook, ICRA estimates 25-30 per cent in net state borrowings to Rs 6.2-6.4 lakh crore in FY21 from about Rs 5 lakh crore in FY20.

The spike is largely due to COVID-19 squeezing government revenue. Until now, states were resorting to expenditure compression to maintain the headline fiscal deficit, but clearly that option is off-limits this fiscal.

The risk of fiscal slippage is expected to be higher for states, which have a larger number of COVID-19 patients, as they may have to significantly ramp up spending on health-related services. Moreover, states that have seen the return of a considerable number of migrant labourers, and those who have a sizeable number of daily wage earners, could see a sharp rise in their revenue expenditure in FY21, if they choose to extend food and/or income support to such people, said Jayanta Roy, group head (corporate sector rating), ICRA.

Hitting finances

Icra estimates that should FY21 gross tax revenue of Rs24.2 lakh crore is revised downwards later based on the lockdown impact, tax devolution to states will be appreciably lower than the estimated Rs7.8 lakh crore.
Medical professionals say people over 60 years old and those with health problems are the most vulnerable to dying from the coronavirus. They are especially vulnerable if they are in nursing homes where the virus can spread quickly, affecting not only patients but those who care for them.

Zach Shamberg, President/CEO, Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA), will join the Coronavirus Q & A at noon Thursday on PennLives Facebook Live to discuss how nursing homes in our state are coping with COVID-19.

PHCA is a network of long-term healthcare providers that include nursing homes and assisted care facilities. During the coronavirus pandemic, many of these facilities have been under lock-down, with residents unable to see relatives or friends, even if they become seriously ill and dying.

Nursing home staff has been under extraordinary stress, and there are reports throughout the nation of workers contracting the virus, and in some cases refusing to report to work.

Conditions were so dire at one nursing home in California that the majority of staff refused to come to work for two days after dozens of residents tested positive for the coronavirus .

The Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center In Pittsburgh released a statement on April 1 that 34 of its 458 current residents have tested positive, and seven tests are pending. Two female dementia patients recently died after contracting COVID-19, and fewer people are showing up for work.

Shamberg will discuss how the pandemic is impacting long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania and what more can be done to protect both patients and staff.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

And please subscribe to Battleground PA to stay abreast of the issues in the 2020 elections!
Canadian law enforcement has circulated a US intelligence report that terrorists could exploit the stress placed on the public safety system in countering the Covid-19 crisis, to attack establishments like supermarkets and even hospitals. The report also pointed to chatter on social media from some terrorist elements pushing for targeting stores owned by the people of Indian descent.

The alert was issued by the National Counterterrorism Centre in America, and formed part of a security advisory from the US rail industry. The existence of this document, which has been distributed in Canada by the First Responder Terrorism Awareness Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP, was first reported by the Canadian outlet Global News. Terrorists are being encouraged not just to use conventional means for attacks but also to infect large groups with the Covid-19 virus.

The report warned that extremists on the social media platform Telegram, considered popular among members and followers of the Islamic State, had advocated for infecting rabbis and store owners of Indian descent. However, the concern is not limited to jihadi groups but also over white supremacists.

The report stated: Pandemics and other natural crises create unprecedented challenges that terrorists could exploit to conduct attacks against and already stressed society, and strained government and public safety system, according to excerpts published by Global News.

While the majority of people remain at home due to fear of coronavirus infection, places where there are still larger gatherings like hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets could be potentially attractive targets for terrorists. It also noted that terrorists with Covid-19 were asked to spread the disease in places like mosques, synagogues and neighbourhoods with diverse populations.

The US intelligence report also said, A related concern is propaganda calling on believers, adherents, and supporters to exploit the prevailing duress on law enforcement and security professionals to attempt to execute attacks.

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The Rev. Adan A. Mairena of West Kensington Ministry sits for a portrait inside the church's largely unused sanctuary next to Philadelphia's Norris Square on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Mairena has invited local musicians to perform in the sanctuary while livestreaming it from a safe distance. Read more

The church doors are closed, the congregation sent home.

The voices once lifted in prayer and song and laughter inside the West Kensington Ministry, silenced.

These days, the Rev. Adan A. Mairena is more likely to see parishioners and neighbors standing in line outside the church waiting for food  an all-hands-on-deck effort by the city and area nonprofits to help some of Philadelphias most vulnerable residents during the pandemic.

 READ MORE: Tireless Kensington minister takes on coronavirus needs in his community.

Weve become a food distribution center, Mairena said, incredulous.

Overnight, the world was upended. How was he, or any of us for that matter, to know how quickly that would happen?

Between sorting hundreds of boxes of food that always go too fast, the Honduran-born pastor found himself upstairs in the old, mostly unused sanctuary.

The church holds most of its events and gatherings downstairs, where there is heat and air-conditioning and wheelchair accessibility. But even in its fading glory, the sanctuary, which dates back to the 1860s, maintains its grandeur.

Before getting back to work, he took it all in, snapped a photo, and posted it to Facebook: Any musicians want to play?

He had almost forgotten about the callout when he got a text from Nicholas Handahl.

Mairena had met Handahl about a month earlier, when the pastor and other members of the Friends of Norris Square Park were cleaning up outside.

Handahl was charmed by the sight of the community coming together and stopped to talk. Mairena, always eager to recruit more hands, introduced himself. Handahl was a flutist who among other gigs was a teaching artist for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

 READ MORE: In a community already in need, coronavirus adds another layer of stress.

He told Mairena that every time he passed by the old church, he wondered about its acoustics. Mairena told him he should come through.

But then came the virus, and everyone went into survival mode. Days turned into weeks turned into endless, draining uncertainty.

When Mairena got Handahls text, he briefly thought hed taken on too much. He had food to sort, boxes to break down, parishioners to check on. One elderly congregant was already fussing that he wasnt making time for her.

Handahl came with just his flute. Mairena, at a safe distance, pointed his camera at him, and livestreamed the impromptu concert.

Flanked by the old organs disconnected pipes, Handahl played some Bach and then, at the pastors request, How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace.

On Facebook, the heart emojis and comments substituted for applause.

Inspirational, one viewer wrote.

Fantastic, wrote another.

Mairena sat and listened as the music bounced off the walls and stained glass windows, lingering in the empty space around them.

It was the first time in however many weeks its been that I sat and thought about how abnormal all of this is, he recalled. To not be in community, to not see my kids from the neighborhood, to have people waiting on lines that wrap around the building waiting for food.

He thought of the pastors whod come before him, and how they had welcomed back their congregations after past catastrophes. How hed eventually have to do the same.

The music pierced his thoughts. Thats so soothing, he told Handahl. We need that right now.

What he didnt say is that he had been holding his breath for weeks, and he knew he wasnt alone. He saw it on peoples faces, in their eyes peering out over masks as they thanked him for the food.

He couldnt welcome them back to the church, not yet. But Handahls playing gave him an idea: What if he could offer his parishioners an opportunity to take a breath by replacing the fears and uncertainty with a little music?

Handahl was happy to help. Hopefully, when we get through this pandemic, everyone is a little more tuned into realizing what makes life a little more genuinely sweet, he said.

So, consider this an open call from the good pastor. You can find him on Facebook. Or, he says, you can reach him at 267-879-6310. Hes already got some other musicians lined up for Fridays at noon. Tune in. Nothing fancy. Just musicians who want to play to a city waiting to exhale.
Airbnb was expected to be the hottest tech IPO of the year. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has upended its business.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Airbnb's recent $US1 billion funding round came with stringent terms. The company is paying more than 10 per cent interest on the new funding. The terms "show the distress the home-sharing company is under due to the coronavirus pandemic," the Journal's Jean Eaglesham and Kirsten Grind write.

Airbnb chief Brian Chesky the company will evolve to address the ways travel may change in the virus's aftermath. Credit:Bloomberg

The infusion of capital comes as the company's planned IPO may be "in limbo because of stock market volatility and uncertainty caused by the virus," Erin Griffith reports in the New York Times.

Airbnb is one of several travel-related companies suffering especially deeply during the coronavirus pandemic, when many would-be American and international travellers have been told to stay at home. It's also under fire from expected guests who say its refund process is too complicated after they were forced to cancel their plans.
The financial proceeds that Wells Fargo makes from the two programs will not count against the cap.

However, those proceeds are required to be transferred to the U.S. Treasury or to nonprofit organizations approved by the Fed that support small businesses. The change will be in place as long as the facilities are active.

The (Federal Reserve) Board continues to hold the company accountable for successfully addressing the widespread breakdowns that resulted in harm to consumers identified as part of that action and for completing the requirements of the agreement, the Fed said.

Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargos chief executive, said in a statement that Wells Fargo appreciates the targeted action of the Federal Reserve to support the needs of small businesses through PPP.

In the first two days alone, we received more than 170,000 indications of interest from our customers, and know there is much more need.

Scharf stressed that the Feds decision does not  and should not  in any way relieve us of our obligations under the consent order.
Any needs BIG or small  just ask! Dont be shy or humble. Thats what this is all about and what we are here for! You can call/text 219-712-1365, or email your requests to crownpointstrong@gmail.com Be safe, be kind, stay healthy! she wrote.
The United States' biggest media trade groups, representing thousands of publishers and broadcasters, asked Congress on Thursday to provide extensive relief to local news outlets in its next stimulus bill.

Why it matters: While the $2 trillion rescue package that already passed covers small businesses, including some news companies, advocates argue it's not enough to cover the long-lasting damages coronavirus will have on the news business' models and products.

Details: The News Media Alliance, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Newspaper Association (NNA) and Americas Newspapers wrote a statement calling on Congress to provide a new relief bill for local news.

The bill would:

Ensure that local media can seek relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal backstop to help small businesses impacted by the coronavirus.

seek relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal backstop to help small businesses impacted by the coronavirus. Ask for federal funding of local media through advertising expenditures by directing government ad campaigns to local news and media outlets.

through advertising expenditures by directing government ad campaigns to local news and media outlets. Provide select government agencies that need to message to the public anyway, like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration and others, with an additional $5 billion to $10 billion in direct funding for local media ads.

Some TV and radio station groups have struggled to take advantage of the existing funding.

Gray Television, which operates stations in 93 markets  including some hit hard by the pandemic  doesn't qualify for the PPP because it has more than 500 employees across the company.

which operates stations in 93 markets  including some hit hard by the pandemic  doesn't qualify for the PPP because it has more than 500 employees across the company. "The problem with the last bill is that it does nothing for us," Kevin Latek, Gray's chief legal and development officer told Axios. "Our request is to modify the affiliation rules so each station ... would qualify for relief without looking at the fact that our station in Waco is owned by somebody that owns a TV station in Fargo."

Bustos Media , which operates radio stations broadcasting in Spanish and other languages, has 61 employees and lost more than half of its revenue in March.

, which operates radio stations broadcasting in Spanish and other languages, has 61 employees and lost more than half of its revenue in March. The company tried to apply for the program, but was hampered by Wells Fargo's asset cap, President Amador Bustos said. Regulators have since relaxed those limitations, but Bustos said he doesn't know when or if relief will come. "Weve already begun to close some broadcast stations," he said. "We would probably end up closing more or getting completely out of some markets."

Be smart: The call from the news industry isn't falling on deaf ears. Nearly two dozen senators, led by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, wrote a letter to Senate leadership Wednesday calling for funding to support local media in any future COVID-19 relief package.

Republicans were noticeably absent from the call. All of the letter's 19 signatories were either Democrats and Independents.

Yes, but: There is some hope that Republicans could join in the effort. Earlier this year, several Senate Republicans endorsed a newspaper antitrust relief bill designed to help local news better compete with big technology companies for ad dollars.

The bill was co-introduced by Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, along with his colleagues Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.

An aide to Kennedy said he's focused on the existing relief efforts passed in the CARES Act, and making sure small businesses including local media outlets get paycheck support.

The big picture: Local news was already facing dire strains in the U.S., but the coronavirus and a pending recession have pushed the industry into near collapse at a time when people need access to news and information more than ever.

Even though newsrooms are now officially considered by the federal government and many state governments to be "essential services," some argue they won't be able to survive without additional financial support.

Already, dozens of local and national newsrooms have begun instituting pay cuts, layoffs or have ceased publication altogether in response to the hit the advertising market has taken since the pandemic surged.

Go deeper:
While farmers markets are included under essential businesses in Ohio and life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania, market coordinators are still concerned about safety for vendors and customers, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its a real hard pill to swallow that we might not be back to what we know as normal for the summer, said Serena Jones, farmers market manager for Countryside Food and Farms, in Peninsula, Ohio.

Some markets dont open until the summer and have more time to figure things out. Countrysides biggest market, which brings in about 1,500 customers each Saturday, starts in May. But the Countryside Farmers Markets, and some others, also have indoor winter markets, which bring immediate concerns.

Drive-thru

Haymaker Farmers Market, in Kent, Ohio, is usually indoors at a church this time of year, said market manager, Andrew Rome. As the situation developed in mid-March, however, the board decided to close the market March 14.

The market is an essential process  but we want to do it safely, Rome said.

One week later, the board reopened the market with its first drive-thru market. Customers lined up in their cars in the parking lot, while vendors worked from their stands to the drivers side of the line. The market asked vendors to have one person handle money and a different person handle products.

Some vendors allowed customers to place orders online in advance. For customers who didnt order in advance, farmers market volunteers handed out menus with lists of vendors and products at the beginning of the line. At the March 28 market, 200 cars came through the line.

Theres still a community of people who get together at the farmers market, but just in this new way, Rome said.

Howland Farmers Market, in Warren, Ohio, tried a similar drive-thru model April 4. Alexandra DiVito, manager for market, said the market usually includes special events, like cooking demonstrations, and encourages customers to engage with vendors and each other. The April 4 market, however, had to cut out those things to avoid encouraging customers to linger.

Food assistance

Both markets are still accepting food assistance, like SNAP benefits, though DiVito noted that her market doesnt have as many SNAP users at their winter markets as at their summer ones.

Minimize risks for COVID-19 at your farmers market UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.  Operators of farmers markets should consider the possibility that the COVID-19 outbreak may continue to be a threat well into the summer and should develop a plan to safeguard their customers and employees, according to Penn State Extension experts. Each day brings new information and concern about COVID-19 and its impact on our lives, noted Luke LaBorde, extension produce safety specialist. If the threat lingers, social distancing and limitations on public gatherings could impact farmers markets. Farmers markets are mostly open-air venues that, by their nature, might be less risky than grocery stores for some transmission of the virus, agreed Brian Moyer, extension educator specializing in business and community vitality. Laborde and Moyer recommend the following methods for minimizing the transmission of COVID-19 at farmers markets: Prepare stands. Have fully stocked handwashing and sanitizing stations in place at multiple locations, and post signs that inform everyone where hand sanitizing materials are available and that show the correct way to wash hands. Put up signs and provide information on websites and social media to explain any changes, delivery options or extra precautions taken to limit exposure to the coronavirus. For example, instruct customers not to handle food. Prepackage bags of fruits, vegetables and other items. Consider alternate pick-up, drive-through, curb service or delivery options to keep crowd levels low. Encourage customers to avoid lining up too close to each other. Try to maintain a separation between stands of at least six feet. Consider limiting the number of customers in your market at one time. If possible, have different people handle products and money, and make sure they wash their hands or use a hand sanitizer between these tasks. Utilize card readers that allow customers to swipe their credit cards. Disable the signature function to limit contact from multiple customers. Use nonporous tablecloths, and clean and sanitize them regularly. Do not allow customers to sample products. Eliminate market events, childrens activities and gathering areas, and encourage customers not to linger in the market. Eliminate eating areas. Prepare your workforce. Train your staff to wash their hands regularly and frequently with soap and water, including scrubbing for 20 seconds. Train them to maintain at least a 6-foot distance between them and customers. Stagger your lunchtimes or provide additional space to help employees distance. Anyone who shows symptoms of a severe cold or flu, such as high fever, coughing and difficulty breathing, should be sent home. You may need a plan to hire temporary workers. Encourage your staff not to handle customers reusable bags. Train your staff to know that visitors over the age of 60 or who have pre-existing conditions are at a higher risk for becoming ill if they get the virus. Consider offering early-hour shopping for these higher-risk customers. Sanitize contact surfaces. Frequently disinfect tabletops, door handles, cash boxes, credit card machines, shopping baskets and other contact surfaces with EPA-registered sanitizer sprays or wipes labeled as effective against viruses. Do not purchase sanitizers from suppliers who claim their products kill viruses without showing proof of efficacy. Frequently clean and sanitize common gathering places such as restrooms, break rooms and meeting rooms. For more information from Penn State Extension about COVID-19, go to https://extension.psu.edu/coronavirus.

Rome said Haymaker Farmers Market has used wooden tokens for years  customers with SNAP benefits can swipe their card at the markets stand to get tokens and spend the tokens with vendors throughout the market, and, afterwards, vendors can redeem tokens with the market.

Rome said he is looking at partnering with Kent Community TimeBank, which has lists of volunteers willing to run errands for people who are self-isolating, to help make the market accessible for customers that dont have cars.They are continuing to use tokens, but sanitizing tokens before the market.

Summer

Both markets are planning to continue with the drive-thru model until the end of their winter seasons. After that, its hard to say.

Until we think its safe to move completely outdoors, were probably going to do the drive-thru markets, DiVito said.

Some markets dont open at all until May, or even later. The Beaver County Farmers Markets, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, are planning to open April 29.The Howland market is scheduled to start its outdoor season May 16. Haymaker Farmers Markets outdoor season also starts in May. Rome said he plans to keep smoothing out the drive-thru process in case the market needs to continue under that model into the summer season, which tends to be busier.

Chuck Malone, president of the farmers markets, said depending on how crowded the markets get, they may need to limit how many customers can enter at once. Beaver Countys six markets are outdoors. Malone noted that while the first market opens April 29, they dont get very crowded until June or July.

He plans to keep sanitizer at all market entrances, and to ask vendors to keep hand sanitizer at their stands and to have one person handle money and a different person handle products. In addition, he plans to try to keep people at least six feet apart.

Malone said Penn State Extension has been helping his market stay up to date with new information.

Challenges

Not all alternative farmers market models went well on the first attempt.

To be honest, our first attempt  was a complete bomb, Jones said.

She and the Countryside Food and Farms other staff and volunteers tried a curb-side pick-up system.

Vendors uploaded their products to the farmers markets website, customers ordered online, and then picked up their orders. Vendors could drop off their products the morning of the market, and the farmers market staff and volunteers would handle getting the products to customers from there.

It was a great idea in theory, Jones said. But in reality, the staff and volunteers were overwhelmed by the number of orders that came in. They expected about 50. They ended up with almost 400. The sales more than tripled what Jones expected farmers to make.

Add in a thunderstorm, which forced staff to sit in their cars for 15 minutes and wait every time they saw lightning, and Jones and others ended up working from 5 a.m. the day of the market until midnight. They were still making deliveries for several days after the market.

It was a really trying  experience, Jones said. But it was also really amazing in how our community came through and supported these farmers.

Jones said staff are already planning a new version of their curb-side market. They are considering setting limits on the number of orders, and having vendors stay on-site to help distribute their orders.

We may not get to have opening day on May 2 in our usual style, Jones said. We need to get good at this other style.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey  Has Turkeys Kurdish movement come to the end of the road after two decades as a major player in local administrations? It is a troubling question for many in Turkeys mainly Kurdish southeast, where, a year after local elections last spring, the Kurdish-dominated Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) is left with only 19 of the 59 mayoral offices it had won. The rest have been taken over by government-appointed trustees. Not even the coronavirus outbreak has slowed Ankaras crackdown, which, many now fear, will continue until the last HDP-run municipality is seized.

The Kurdish political movement made its first major foray into local administrations in 1999 by winning 37 municipalities in the conflict-torn southeast, where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has led an armed insurgency for nearly four decades. For ordinary Kurds, winning and running local administrations has been a source of pride. Kurdish mayors  often elected by a landslide  were the main political voice of the aggrieved minority in the many years the Kurdish movement was absent from the parliament in Ankara. Over the years, Kurdish mayors were often accused of links with the PKK and mismanagement, facing trials, inspections and vitriol. Yet, despite its heavy-handed policies on the Kurdish issue, Ankara never attempted an all-out purge.

Things changed in 2015, when settlement talks between Ankara and the Kurds collapsed, marking the end of a relatively moderate climate for the Kurds. The ensuing crackdown on armed PKK militants in urban areas was soon followed by massive purges amid a nationwide emergency rule in the wake of the 2016 coup attempt. The purges targeted all sorts of Kurdish entities, from political groups and civic associations to media outlets and cultural centers. Among the first in line was the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), which at the time represented the Kurdish movement on a local level. The government seized 95 of 101 DBP-run local administrations, appointing trustees instead of elected mayors, many of whom landed in jail for alleged links with the PKK, which Ankara lists as a terrorist group. The crackdown extended to parliament, where more than a dozen HDP lawmakers were stripped of their seats, with some of them still in jail.

While the Kurdish movement gasped, largely sidelined from the political scene, the trustees enjoyed broad financial means  courtesy of the government  to improve services and win the good graces of locals. Still, the HDP managed to win 59 local administrations in the March 31, 2019, municipal polls. The enthusiasm of the new mayors, however, lasted only four months. Diyarbakir, the largest city of the southeast, and two other major cities, Van and Mardin, lost their mayors in August in what became the first episode of a fresh ouster campaign by the government. In the latest round on March 23, Ankara dismissed eight HDP mayors, bringing the total to 40, astounding anyone who may have thought that it had its hands full with the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

According to Ahmet Demir, who lost his office as mayor of Batman in the latest wave and spent four days in police custody, the dismissals are devoid of legal ground and constitute an affront to the very concept of elections.

Arguing that no criminal evidence existed against him, Demir told Al-Monitor, If you are to remove arbitrarily a mayor, elected with 66% of the vote, just because he is not to your liking, youd better not hold elections at all.

He added, If we have committed any crime, they have to put forth what it is. We were detained for four days. They left no stone unturned, but found nothing. The court just issued an overseas travel ban. This hardly makes any sense.

Referring to the coronavirus pandemic, he said, Our response to the outbreak was deemed exemplary by everyone. They intervened as if to punish the whole city.

According to lawyer Sedat Yurtdas, who was among the first to represent the Kurdish movement in parliament in the early 1990s, Ankara has failed to learn a lesson from the futility of similar oppressive moves in the past and stands to gain little even in terms of winning favor with nationalist Turks.

He told Al-Monitor the campaign against Kurdish mayors has become even less credible now that even local administrations in big urban centers, run by the main opposition, have become the target of government interventions, going as far as the blocking of fundraisers for residents affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Yurtdas believes Ankara will leave the remaining HDP-run municipalities intact to keep up appearances and avoid further international criticism.

Others, however, disagree. According to Vahap Coskun, a scholar of law at Diyarbakirs Dicle University, Ankaras trustee policy will go on as much as it can, even though it has lacked legal credibility.

There is nothing legally convincing [in the claim] that mayors in the region break the law as soon as they take office and are being dismissed over the detection of such violations, Coskun told Al-Monitor. And indeed, various cases concerning the mayors have clearly shown they never committed the crimes they were accused of.

Coskun believes that not only the Kurdish mayors but all opposition-held local administrations are in serious danger because of a legal amendment, made after the 2016 coup attempt, that allows the government to appoint public servants instead of elected officials dismissed on terror-related charges. The provision, he explained, is a deviation from a long-established practice, under which mayors removed for wrongdoing have been succeeded by other elected officials from among municipal assembly members ever since 1930.

The penal codes definition of terrorism is extremely elastic and any expression of opinion could easily be placed into the scope of terrorism, Coskun said. One could easily initiate a terror probe into a mayor, so any mayor could be dismissed on allegations of links to terrorism. This is very troublesome.

By appointing trustees, the government might be hoping to sway voters, but the HDPs showing in last years local polls proved that such aspirations are futile, according to Coskun. Many trustees had been appointed before the March 31 elections, but voters in formerly HDP-held municipalities voted for the HDP again. Nothing changed, he added.

The scholar criticized opposition parties for failing to raise a powerful voice against the dismissal of HDP mayors. This is not a problem that concerns the HDP only  it concerns Turkey and local democracy as a whole, he said.

According to Coskun, fellow opposition parties might be wary of the terror label of dismissals, fearing that they, too, could face the same accusations should they speak out loudly against the purge. But this is unlawfulness and there is no guarantee it will be limited to one party, Coskun said. The rest of the opposition keeps quiet as the HDP is the target today, but tomorrow they, too, will be hit.
The U.S. Capitol is reflected in a standby ambulance in Washington, on March 27, 2020. (Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images)

More Aid for Small Businesses Fails in Partisan Fight in Senate

The Senate on April 9 failed to pass an additional $250 billion of aid intended to help small businesses cope with the economic toll of the CCP virus pandemic as Democrats and Republicans blocked each others proposals.

Democrats objected to a Republican measure for $250 billion to beef up emergency loans to small businesses, saying they would back the bill only if it had strings attached and was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals, local governments and food assistance.

Republicans, for their part, objected to the Democratic initiative, saying only the money in a small business loan program was at risk of running out now and needed to be replenished.

To my Democratic colleagues, pleasepleasedo not block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks on the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on March 21, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)

But Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen called McConnells move a complete political stunt here on the floor of the United States Senate. He and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin called for immediate renewal instead of an emergency loan and grant program for small businesses that they said already has run out of money.

The Republican measure brought by McConnell was sought by the Trump administration. It wanted to replenish a $349 billion loan program for restaurants, hotels and an array of other small businesses struggling in an economy hobbled by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, which has shuttered schools and businesses, left most of the nations population sheltering at home and thrown millions out of work.

Before the Senate action, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC that officials wanted to get the small business loans program beefed up as soon as possible.

A sign reading Support Small Business is displayed outside of GenuWine Arizona restaurant in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 26, 2020. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

We need more money for small business. The president has been very clear. Hed be happy to talk about other issues such as hospitals and states in the next bill. But we wanted to go and get money for the small business program, which again has enormous bipartisan support, Mnuchin said.

With most of Congress out on a recess, each side tried to ram its respective bill through the Senate on a fast track, meaning it took only an objection from any one of the 100 senators to shelve either plan.

Congress has already allocated more than $2.3 trillion in three waves of legislation aimed at cushioning the economic hit of the pandemic, which has killed more than 14,700 people in the United States.

By Susan Cornwell and David Morgan

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general initially tasked with overseeing the Congressional panel administering federal funds in response to COVID-19 as part of a larger set of moves that altered the complexion of the official oversight ranks at federal agencies.

All told, the Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, the Department of Education and the Tennessee Valley Authority have new nominees to serve in the inspector general role, charged with ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse.

CARES Act oversight

After Congress passed a $2 trillion economic relief bill due to coronavirus, the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)  the official body charged in the law that established the inspector general position -- named Glenn Fine, acting IG of the Defense Department, to serve as chairman of the Pandemic Response Accountability Panel to act as the official watchdog of the $500 billion bailout fund aimed at small business rescue.

However, Fine was removed from that acting IG role, and, a DOD IG official confirmed to FCW, relegated the post of principal deputy IG.

The removal automatically triggered Fine's additional removal as the panel Chairman on April 7, since the recently-passed CARES Act requires that the pandemic oversight panel be chaired by a current IG.

Trump nominated White House lawyer Brian D. Miller to serve in the new position of Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. Miller led the Office of Inspector General at the General Services Administration from 2005 to 2014. However, critics of the administration focused on Miller's role in rebuffing congressional inquiries into the Ukraine matter.

"The President is not bringing talent to the challenge. He's bringing suck ups to the challenge," Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a press conference April 7.

Leaders on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee introduced legislation April 8 that would empower the chair of CIGIE to select the IG for the pandemic recovery fund.

IG shakeups across government

On April 6, Trump announced the nomination of Jason Abend, currently a senior policy advisor at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to serve as DOD's permanent IG. While Abend awaits confirmation, DOD's IG office will be led by current Environmental Protection Agency IG Sean O'Donnell on an acting basis.

Rebecca Jones, an expert on the work of inspectors general at the Project for Government Oversight, raised concerns about O'Donnell's dual rule.

"It raises questions about the IG's ability to do both jobs. The DoD IG has extra duties they take on, such as supervising the IGs overseeing the service branches, where they investigate military whistleblower retaliation. It's not clear not clear how possible it would be to do both jobs and keep up the same level of oversight," Jones said.

The decision to shuffle the decks at DOD comes less than a week after Trump removed Michael Atkinson as IG of the Intelligence Community. Atkinson is the official who advanced a whistleblower report about the Trump's administrations actions with regard to the withholding of congressionally authorized funds to Ukraine  a report that set the ball rolling on a probe that led to Trump's impeachment in the House of Representatives.

"President Trump has been engaged in an assault against independent Inspectors General since last Friday in order to undermine oversight of his chaotic and deficient response to the coronavirus crisis," House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

Additionally, Trump cast aspersions at an April 6 press conference on a report from the Office of Inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services that identified medical supply chain problems based on interviews at more than 300 hospitals.

"Well, it still could be her opinion," Trump said. "But when was she appointed? When was she appointed?" In response to an earlier question about the report Trump said. "Could politics be entered into that?"

Trump also recently named new IGs to the Central Intelligence Agency and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

"The Trump Administration seems to be engaged in a mass-culling of government watchdogs, which is a real threat to independent oversight," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

This article first appeared on FCW, a partner site with Defense Systems.
The Syrian government on Thursday criticised as "misleading" a report by the global chemical weapons watchdog that for the first time blamed Damascus for toxic attacks in 2017.

"The report of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on the use of poisonous substances in the town of Latamneh in 2017 is misleading and contains falsified and fabricated conclusions aimed at falsifying truths and accusing the Syrian government," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The OPCW findings published Wednesday accused President Bashar al-Assad's air force of using the nerve gas sarin and chlorine three times in 2017 on that town in northwest Syria.

The Syrian government said it rejected the contents of the report.

Damascus "absolutely denies ever having used poisonous gases in the town of Latamneh or in any other Syrian city or village," the statement said.

Wednesday's report was the first from a new investigative team set up by the OPCW to identify the perpetrators of attacks in Syria's nine-year-old civil war.

It said two Syrian Arab Air Force Sukhoi SU-22 jet fighters dropped two bombs containing sarin on Latamneh on March 24 and 30, 2017.

A Syrian military helicopter dropped a cylinder containing chlorine on a hospital in the same town on March 25 that year, the report said.

Damascus insists it has handed over its weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack that killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two suspected cultists have been arrested by the police in Ogun for allegedly killing a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) identified as Kolawole Ajomale.

The suspects, Korede Pariosho and Jide Afolabi were arrested on Wednesday by detectives from the Ijebu-Igbo division following complaints against them.

It was gathered that the suspects allegedly shot the deceased on the head and stomach on Sunday, April 5, at his residence, where they attacked him.

The police said the suspects allegedly murdered the deceased in the presence of his pregnant wife and then went into hiding.

Upon receiving the report, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) led his men to the hideout where the suspects were apprehended.

READ ALSO  Vigilante Member Caught Pants Down With Colleagues Wife In Ogun State (Video)

The spokesperson of the State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the arrest, said that the suspects admitted to have killed the deceased to retaliate the murder of one of their members killed by OPC in 2017.

On interrogation, the two suspects confessed killing the deceased but they claimed to have done it in revenge of the death of one member of their cult group whom they alleged was killed by OPC men in 2017. They further confessed to have vowed since then that any member of OPC seen will be killed in vengeance of the death of their late colleague.

The Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for discreet investigation and prosecution, Oyeyemi added
Fare revenue has vanished across the country as transit riders have. Even those essential workers still taking the bus or train arent generating much money for agencies strained by the coronavirus pandemic. Many systems have moved to free service, or stopped policing fares. Its just too risky for bus drivers if anyone comes near the farebox a foot away.

As dire as this moment seems, however, something more worrisome lies ahead.

Across Illinois, transit agencies rely for the bulk of their budgets on sales taxes that will dwindle as household spending does. In Portland, Ore., the payroll taxes that fund transit will decline as unemployment rises. In San Francisco, the municipal transit system gets nearly twice as much revenue from parking fees and fines as from transit fares. Those have disappeared, too, and will lag in an economy where fewer people commute to work.

Uber and Lyft taxes, gas taxes, highway tolls, advertising dollars  all of these ways communities fund transit are shrinking. In Philadelphia, free rides for older passengers are paid for in part by revenue from the state lottery. During the last recession, even lottery proceeds plummeted.

The cumulative effect is that mass transit faces a future potentially uglier than the period after the Great Recession, when many agencies made deep service cuts that took a decade to rebound from. And nearly all of the ways they will have to adapt indefinitely  cleaning stations more frequently, running vehicles below capacity  will be costly.
Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) releases a report which examines the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it relates to potential rent disruptions among CMBS transactions in Continental Europe.

KBRA has rated six CMBS transactions with loans secured on commercial real estate (CRE) in Continental Europe. As the coronavirus pandemic has developed, European countries have seen a collapse in social and business activity, with governments taking unprecedented steps to protect individuals and businesses from the worst of the economic fallout. In some countries, this has included rules to protect commercial tenants from eviction for nonpayment of rent during the crisis. More generally, it is now likely that many tenants, particularly from the retail sector, will negotiate for outright rent holidays or rent reductions. The likelihood and severity of any shortfalls in rent receipts will largely depend on the underlying property type and the extent of the coronavirus-related shutdown, which will vary by country.

These developments pose the risk that some European CRE loans will experience a failure to pay. However, the willingness and ability of institutional sponsors to make debt service payments will reduce risks at loan level and even if there was a failure to pay, CMBS liquidity facilities should insulate senior classes from the direct effects of nonpayment, while junior classes can defer interest.

As events surrounding the crisis unfold, our thoughts are with the individuals and families who have been affected by the virus.

Click here to view the report.

Related Publications

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Kanaal CMBS Finance 2019 Retail Exposure

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Sponsor Support and Structural Features to Insulate UK CMBS From Rent Disruptions

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Taurus 2019-3 UK DAC and Potential Implications

About KBRA and KBRA Europe

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is located at 6-8 College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005487/en/

Contacts:

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John Hogan, Senior Director

+44 208 148 1040

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In March of 2018, an 11-year-old girl accidentally dropped an apple from the balcony of her familys 24th floor apartment in Dongguan, China. This simple act ended up costing a toddler its future and the girls parents a fortune in compensation

On March 9, 2018, the unnamed girl was reportedly trying to feed the family dog while holding an apple on the balcony of their apartment, when she accidentally dropped the fruit. At the same exact time, 3-month-old Tongtong was in the arms of her grandmother, taking a walk around that same apartment building in Dongguan. As fate would have it, the dropped apple plummeted down and landed straight on the toddlers head, rendering her unconscious. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors notified her family that she had suffered severe head trauma, skull fractures, ruptured blood vessels in the skull, and traumatic shock. Tongtong underwent surgery to stop the bleeding in her brain, but she remained in a coma.

Photo: Pixabay

The toddlers parents were told that even Tongtong were to ever wake up, the right part of her brain would most likely be clinically dead. Meanwhile, police started an investigation into the accident that put the toddler in a coma, and after doing DNA tests of the samples on the dropped apple and of the residents in the apartment building it fell from, it was determined that an 11-year-old girl was the culprit.

The girls father told reporters that she confessed to accidentally dropping the apple, adding that she was trying to feed the dog on the balcony at the time. She was alone in the 24th floor apartment. The parent took responsibility for his childs mistake, and reportedly paid Tongtongs family 30,000 yuan ($4,700). However, the toddlers medical bills alone amounted to 130,000 yuan ($20,500).

Two years after the freak accidents, the 11-year-old girls family was ordered to pay Tongtongs parents a massive compensation of 1.85 million yuan ($261,000). The news sparked a heated debate on Chinese social media, with some applauding the judges decision to hold the preeteens guardians accountable for her actions, and others asking if the girl was really to blame for what can only be described as a terrible accident.

The issue of killer litter, stuff, dropped out the window from great heights, is a very serious one in China, where it is treated as a crime of endangering public security. However, that generally only applies when things are intentionally dropped from windows, which wasnt the case in this story
In a bid to appreciate and motivate health workers in Machakos County, Governor Alfred Mutua on Wednesday announced a special allowance for all the medics and medical staff.

The allowance ranging from Ksh.5,000 to Ksh.20,000 takes effect from April 1, 2020, for an initial period of three months.

In recognition of the sacrifice our Machakos County health workers are making at this time of great stress and extra duties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Machakos Government has decided to pay them an extra allowance of Sh20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 per month based on their duties, the governor said in a statement.

Dr Mutua said health professionals in the Machakos Covid-19 Surveillance team doing door-to-door monitoring of quarantined patients will receive an allowance of Ksh.20,000.

Non-professional surveillance team members will get Ksh 10,000, same as oother professional health workers.

Other professional health workers  doctors, nurses, clinical officers etc  will receive Ksh.10,000 because they are the ones examining patients some of whom might be Covid-19 positive, said Mutua

The supportive health worker cadres will receive 5,000 shillings.

The allowances we are giving our health workers are just a token of appreciation based on what we can afford so as to show them that we care and we will continue supporting them and ensuring we have the right equipment, commodities and environment to keep them safe.

We have made this decision based on the doctrine of necessity, public interest and the fact that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, the governor stated.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 16:27:13|Editor: huaxia

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Students attend class at a high school in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, April 9, 2020. Students in the final year of senior high schools and vocational schools went back to school for the new semester on Thursday in Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Chen Bin)
Nearly 300 air strikes conducted by Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in seven days: Army

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 1:13 AM

The Yemeni army says the Saudi-led coalition has carried out nearly 300 air strikes across the country over the past week.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for Yemen's Armed Forces, made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that the air raids were conducted on a number of governorates  among them Bayda, Ma'rib and Sana'a  and resulted in the killing of civilians.

Saree also warned that the escalation would not go unanswered.

"The dangerous escalation of aggression will not pass without an appropriate response, and it is our duty to defend our people and our country," the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network quoted him as saying.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to crush the Ansarullah mvement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in their war on Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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The number COVID-19 cases in prisons is rising, prompting Canadas criminal lawyers and an inmate advocacy group to call on the federal and provincial governments to reduce the number of people in the institutions.

The number of cases jumped from 21 to 35 on Wednesday at four institutions in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

At a prison in Mission, B.C., the number of cases went from two to 11, while seven inmates have tested positive at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Ontario. Quebec has outbreaks at the Joliette Institution, where 10 prisoners have the virus, and at the Port-Cartier prison, where seven are sick.

The virus has also been diagnosed in 49 prison guards at Port-Cartier, Joliette and Donaconna institutions in Quebec and in Ontarios Grand Valley Institution.

The Criminal Lawyers Association has sent out an affidavit for its 1,600 members to use in court from Dr. Aaron Orkin, a physician, epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

John Hale, a vice-president with the association, said the virus is a new factor in sentencing and needs to be taken into account.

The whole concept has been flipped on its head now with COVID-19 because a person may be more of danger to the community in the sense of a health risk if theyre kept in a highly populated jail where the disease can spread.

Orkins affidavit, which was released by the association, says an outbreak in prisons or jails would be no different than the spread of the virus in other facilities.

Experience with cruise ships, hospitals and long-term care facilities show us that it is extremely difficult, near impossible, to limit a coronavirus outbreak in congregate living settings, especially those with close quarters, shared toileting and eating facilities, or service personnel moving between people confined to their rooms, the document says.

Its extremely likely that COVID-19 will arrive in nearly every correctional facility in Canada, which means almost all inmates will be exposed in one way or another, it says.

The only available method to substantially reduce the resulting infections and deaths is therefore to reduce the population in those settings.

Catherine Latimer, the executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, said epidemiologists around the world are saying prisons amplify the contagion.

At the very least, the federal and provincial governments should eliminate double-bunking and get the elderly who have chronic health conditions out of the institutions because physical distancing is virtually impossible, she said in an interview.

I think there needs to be an immediate removal of people who can be safely managed in the community and placed in the community to depopulate or reduce the numbers in prisons as quickly as possible.

Latimer said the Parole Board and the correctional service already know the prisoners who have been defined as low risk, such as those approved for parole, day parole or other unescorted temporary absences.

In fact, Ontario, B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories have diverted hundreds from jails or granted them temporary absences. Offenders who serve weekend sentences have also been released in many provinces.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blairs office said in a statement Tuesday the minister has asked the commissioner of the correctional service and the chair of the Parole Board to determine if certain offenders could be released early.

The Parole Board has said it is streamlining its processes to respond to the pandemic.

Canadian medical professionals released an open letter on Tuesday urging the federal, provincial and territorial governments to stop admitting people to jails and prisons and release as many people as possible.

Latimer said finding a place for those who are released to safely isolate themselves wouldnt be difficult with hotels, motels, university residences and other facilities empty. There are many agencies that would be able to help the transition, she said.

It would be better to get the vulnerable people out before the virus contaminates the prison that theyre in. Its a different set of issues if the virus is in the prison and youre taking people out.
Bengaluru, April 9 : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa praised a nurse on coronavirus duty for 15 days without break even as her daughter waited for her at home, said an official here on Thursday.

"Moved by a video clip on social media showing a 3-year-old girl crying for her mother on duty for 15 days continuously, Yediyurappa lauded nurse K. Sugandha for her spirit of service and sacrifice," an official in the Chief Minister's Office told IANS.

Sugandha has been on duty in a coronavirus ward at the state-run Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, about 500km northwest from here.

"Yediyurappa called up Sugandha on Wednesday and appreciated her dedication to work, putting duty above personal life, while her young daughter waited for her at home," the official said.

"'You are struggling and working hard without meeting your daughter for so long and crying for you at home. I am moved by her plight. Please cooperate. You will have better opportunities in future. God bless you,' Yediyurappa told the nurse on mobile phone," the official said.

Karnataka has registered 191 Covid-19 cases, including 28 discharges and 6 deaths, according to a health official.
By PTI

CHENNAI: As many as 96 people in Tamil Nadu tested positive for COVID-19, a majority of them returnees from Tablighi jamat event in Delhi, taking the total cases in the state to 834, a top government official said.

There were no deaths since Wednesday evening while 27 people had been discharged after recovery, state Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said.

"Today there were 96 positive cases of which 84 of them were from same source contact (Tablighi conference) while three people had made inter-state travelling and the remaining nine contracted the virus from other people including a private doctor," she told reporters here.

So far, Tamil Nadu had reported eight deaths due to coronavirus.

Rajesh said the government has been taking up containment activities across 34 districts and have screened 16 lakh households with a population of 58.76 lakh by deploying more then 32,000 field officers.

Briefing reporters, she said there was variance in the number of people who had visited Delhi for the jamat event as more people with symptoms have been coming forward to take up tests following the appeal made by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the state government.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 LIVE

According to her, as many as 1,480 people have attended the conference of which 763 tested positive for COVID19.

"Those who have travelled on their own is 554 (of the 763 positive cases) and the secondary contacts is 209", she said.

Replying to a question, she said rapid test kits for COVID-19 were expected to reach anytinme from China.

It was an antibody test and the results can be available within 30 minutes, she said adding these would be conducted free of charge by the government.

Reiterating the government's earlier appeal to people stay indoors, wash hands frequently and maintain social distancing, she said people were not aware of the disease's intensity as it was varying every day.

"There have been lot of deaths in many countries. Therefore, our humble request is to follow the guidance of the government, stay indoors, do hand wash regularly and maintain social distancing", she said.

Meanwhile, Municipal administration minister S P Velumani said in Udhagamandalam that the government would soon take a decision on using the lab at Pasteur Institute there for coronavirus testing.

The institute has written a letter to the government in this connection, he told reporters.
The provincial government is financing Manitobas scientific community to the tune of $5 million as it pursues a treatment for the novel coronavirus and ways to steady the health-care system during the outbreak.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is financing Manitobas scientific community to the tune of $5 million as it pursues a treatment for the novel coronavirus and ways to steady the health-care system during the outbreak.

Research Manitoba will administer a new COVID-19 research fund, which has already earmarked $3.5 million towards clinical and applied research into the contagion, Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living Cameron Friesen said Wednesday.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tracey Maconachie, board chair, Research Manitoba.

A homegrown study into whether the drug hydroxychloroquine could be used to prevent people from contracting COVID-19, and potentially treat the virus, has received $700,000 through the fund.

The clinical trial  which is in partnership with the University of Manitoba, the University of Alberta and McGill University  is currently underway and has 500 patients enrolled, with a few dozen from Manitoba, said Dr. Ryan Zarychanski, an assistant professor and clinician scientist at the U of M.

"This research fund thats been created today will fund shovel-ready teams, leverage our expertise locally to collaborate nationally and internationally to launch several clinical trials of several experimental medications, some of which we hope will reduce severity of disease and mortality in people affected by COVID-19," Zarychanski said.

Zarychanski, who is the U of Ms principal investigator on the drug trial, said his research team is preparing to begin five additional clinical studies to investigate the efficacy of other therapeutics, and early results of the hydroxychloroquine clinical trial can be expected within the next few weeks.

Several other drugs are also being tested to treat early, moderate and severe stages of the virus with the research being conducted locally and internationally.

"It is clinical science on fire right now," Zarychanski said. "We are bringing science to the bedside, as physicians we're incorporating patients into trials quickly to understand what works."

A number of research projects, with a focus on disease progression in Manitoba and how the health care system can prepare for new and emerging challenges brought on by COVID-19, have been identified as candidates for funding by provincial health officials.

Research Manitoba board chair Tracey Maconachie said the intent is to integrate researchers and their programs into the provinces emergency management system through a weekly or monthly reporting schedule.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"These are unprecedented times and through this fund we are taking the necessary steps to make sure that the researchers are connected to the provincial incident command structure, so that the results of these studies and any new tools that are developed can be applied quickly, benefiting a large number of citizens, both in Manitoba and around the world," Maconachie said.

The province has also set aside $1 million to support research within local companies to develop products (including diagnostic tools) and technology applicable to the COVID-19 response. A further $500,000 has been dedicated to support research projects based in Manitoba and conducted in partnership with industry or non-profit organizations.

Research Manitoba will post its application portal for new research projects on its website within the next seven days, Maconachie said.

"We will begin to review and evaluate those, and well be moving as quickly as possible, keeping in mind good science," she said.

Manitobans who meet the hydroxychloroquine trial criteria can sign up to participate by going to www.covid-19research.ca.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Beijing [China], April 9 (ANI): At the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Summit held last month in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the G20 leaders to come out with a plan putting the focus on human lives. He urged for a plan to reduce the hardships faced by economically weaker sections of the society, strengthening WHO and mitigating economic hardships.

The Prime Minister made the comments at a time when the was facing fear about the outbreak of COVID-19 and its implications to the global economy.

To avoid the risk of being infected with the virus, many countries across the world, including India, chose to enforce lockdown. The respective governments asked their people to stay at home, the approach firstly adopted by Chinese government which then incurred harsh and unfair criticism from the Western media that termed it as "cost to people's livelihoods and personal liberties."

Prime Minister Modi understood that the top priority is to save people's lives. Therefore, he took strict measures to fight COVID-19.

Under his leadership, the Indian government adopted rapid actions to control the spread of the virus. By reviewing the timeline and recognising the threat early, much before when China identified coronavirus as the causative agent on January 7, Indian Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan held its first joint monitoring mission.

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of External Affairs began preparing the evacuation of Indian students from Wuhan, days before the WHO declared coronavirus as "public health emergency of international concern".

Later, the Indian government deployed eight central teams to monitor the conduction of gram sabhas organised in 21 districts bordering Nepal and prohibited the export of N-95 masks and PPE. When 330 Indians finally arrived in India, a 50-bed critical care facility was set up at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for medical observation.

With such steps, Prime Minister Modi had successfully prevented the virus from spreading across Asia at a large scale. The number of infected people and the speed of the virus spread was at low level for some time. But soon after, some countries ignored the alert from WHO and reacted negatively over epidemic prevention and India became the victim of the countries' performance policy.

Prime Minister Modi decided to put people's lives ahead of the prevailing economic situation. Besides the lockdown, India's Group of Ministers (GoM) decided to suspend all existing visas and visa-free travel facility granted to OCI card holders. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs planned to evacuate Indian nationals from areas at high-risk such as Iran, set up a COVID-19 control room with dedicated 24x7 helplines, to take calls and respond to the concerns that were being raised among Indians all over the on a regular and timely basis.

Different from leaders of some Western democratic countries, the Indian leadership under Prime Minister Modi has taken a series of tough measures to curb the spread of coronavirus instead of lying to the people that the virus is a "flu" or has "no danger". Such measures may be disapproved by the so-called "democratic values" in stereotypical Western media and politicians.

All countries must uphold solidarity and cooperation to achieve the final victory and protect life and health of all the people across the globe. In this spirit, India held a video conference of SAARC leaders on combating COVID-19 pandemic. New Delhi announced 10 million dollars as an initial offer of COVID-19 Emergency Fund for South Asian countries. When the city of Wuhan was under lockdown, the Indian government also provided 15 tonnes of medical supplies, expressing solidarity between the two nations.

During a telephonic conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that India does not approve of any labeling of the virus and asserted that the international community needs to send a positive message of unity, resolve and strength in this challenging moment. Those words and actions showed the responsibility as a rising power.

In the same spirit, as situation is getting better in China, Beijing has now been helping other affected nations. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government and people have waged a nationwide war against the virus.

The Chinese governments at all levels, armed forces and all relevant organisations and institutions have undertaken many actions under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. At the sacrifice of thousands of people's life, China controlled the outbreak of disease.

An editorial in a leading Indian daily titled 'China's Zero: On China's Lead in Containing Coronavirus' said the drastic measures adopted by China sharply reduced the chances of a rapid spread of the virus within the country and onward to the rest of the It gave Europe and the US the much needed time to take measures in preventing the virus from gaining a foothold.

From March 1 to April 4, China has provided 3.86 billion protective masks, 37.52 million medical protective suits, 2.41 million infrared thermometers, 16,000 ventilators to the world, valued at 1.45 billion dollars.

After all, we should fight against the virus, not amongst ourselves living with a shared future. There is no doubt that the pandemic is reshaping this world. People, who keep ideological stereotypes and the Cold War mentality, did not believe that people irrespective of race, creed or colour, shared future which would be forsaken by time. By standing together, continuing to support each other and overcoming the difficulties, could we get rid of COVID-19.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are strictly those of the author, Wang Siyuan from China Institute for Internatuonal Studies, a think tank under China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Strategic National Stockpile is nearly out of the N95 respirators, surgical masks, face, shields, gowns and other medical supplies desperately needed to protect front-line medical workers treating coronavirus patients

Washington: The Strategic National Stockpile is nearly out of the N95 respirators, surgical masks, face, shields, gowns and other medical supplies desperately needed to protect front-line medical workers treating coronavirus patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services told the Associated Press Wednesday that the federal stockpile was in the process of deploying all remaining personal protective equipment in its inventory.

The HHS statement confirms federal documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee showing that about 90 percent of the personal protective equipment in the stockpile has been distributed to state and local governments.

HHS spokeswoman Katie McKeogh said the remaining 10 percent will be kept in reserve to support federal response efforts.

House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B Maloney, D-NY, said in a statement that the Trump administration is leaving states to scour the open market for scarce supplies, often competing with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic bidding war that drives up prices.

The President failed to bring in FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) early on, failed to name a national commander for this crisis, and failed to fully utilize the authorities Congress gave him under the Defense Production Act to procure and manage the distribution of critical supplies," Maloney said. He must take action now to address these deficiencies.

For the last month, health care workers across the nation have taken to social media to illustrate the shortages by taking selfies wearing home-sewn masks on their faces and trash bags over their scrubs.

President Donald Trump has faulted the states for not better preparing for the pandemic and has said they should only being relying on the federal stockpile as a last resort.

The AP reported Sunday that the Trump administration squandered nearly two months after the early January warnings that COVID-19 might ignite a global pandemic, waiting until mid-March to place bulk orders of N95 masks and other medical supplies needed to build up the stockpile. By then, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for help.

Trump spent the first two months of the outbreak playing down the threat from the new virus. He derided warnings of a pandemic as a hoax perpetrated by Democrats and the media, predicting as late as 26 February that the number of US cases would soon drop to zero.

The stockpile was created in 1999 to prevent supply-chain disruptions for the predicted Y2K computer problems. It expanded after 9/11 to prepare for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks. Congress provided money in 2006 to prepare for a potential influenza pandemic, though much of that stock was used during the H1N1 flu outbreak three years later.

At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the federal stockpile had about 13 million N95 respirators, masks which filter out about 95 percent of all liquid or airborne particles and are critical to prevent health care workers from becoming infected. Thats just a small fraction of what hospitals need to protect their workers, who normally would wear a new mask for each patient, but who now are often issued only one to last for days.

Federal contracting records show HHS made an initial bulk order of N95 masks on 12 March, followed by larger orders on 21 March. But those contracts won't yield big deliveries to the national stockpile until the end of April, after the White House has projected the pandemic will reach its peak.

For nearly a month, Trump rebuffed calls to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order companies to increase production of respirators and ventilators, before he relented last week.

Asked about the AP report, the president suggested Sunday the states should be thankful for the shipments of supplies they have gotten. FEMA, the military, what theyve done is a miracle, Trump said. What theyve done is a miracle in getting all of this stuff. What they have done for states is incredible.
GENEVA -- The head of the World Health Organization gave a strident defence of his agencys handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trumps criticism and suggestions that Washington could review its funding for the agency.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to politicization of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show honest leadership.

Tedros said he expected U.S. funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.

Trump and his administration repeated its criticism, on Wednesday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was re-evaluating U.S. funding to the body, saying international organizations utilizing U.S. taxpayer money needed to deliver on their goals. But he objected to a leadership change at the WHO at this time.

U.S. contributions to the WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the second-largest country donor, according to U.S. figures. The WHO website shows the United States as its top donor, contributing nearly 15% of the budget.

Trump told the daily White House briefing on the coronavirus that Beijings payment was a small fraction of Washingtons WHO contribution, and that was not fair at all.

So, were going to do study, investigation. And were going to make a determination as to what were doing. In the meantime, were holding back. We ... want to see.

Trump said the WHO issued a statement on Jan. 14 saying there was no human-to-human transmission and criticized him very strongly when he said he was going to shut down flights from China.

Tedros said the WHO had kept the world informed about the latest data, information and evidence and noted that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organization of cases of pneumonia with unknown cause on Dec. 31.

Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, rejected Trumps suggestion that the WHO was China-centric, saying: We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind.

Earlier, Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to Tedros, also defended the U.N. agencys relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak.

It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this, said Aylward, who led a WHO expert mission to China in February.

In an interview with KDKA Radio, Pompeo said: I think its pretty clear that the World Health Organization hasnt lived up to its billing, it hasnt been able to achieve what it was designed to achieve, and we just cant continue to permit that to go on. Weve got to find a way.

Pompeo was asked at the coronavirus briefing whether it was time to change the WHO leadership and replied: This is not the time to be doing that kind of change.

We make mistakes

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday now was not the time to assess the global response to the pandemic, calling instead for the international community to focus on working in solidarity to stop the virus.

Tedros said his U.N. agency would conduct its usual assessment of its performance after the emergency and draw lessons about its strengths and weaknesses, adding: We make mistakes like other human beings.

He summarised his advice as: Please, unity at national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the U.S. and China.

The most powerful should lead the way and please quarantine COVID politics, he added, referring to COVID-19, the highly contagious, sometimes deadly illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Tedros said Beijing and Washington should follow the example of what the former Soviet Union and the United States did in 1967 when they launched a 10-year global campaign that eradicated smallpox, a disease then killing 2 million people annually.

Tedros rejected racist slurs against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan, and disclosed that he had also received a death threat during the crisis.

We are losing people, why would I care about being attacked when people are dying? he said, noting there were already 60,000 body bags after more than 1.3 million infections.

We will have many body bags in front of us if we dont behave, he added.
Brussels: The president of the European Union's main science organisation has quit the post he took up only in January, the European Commission said, amid controversy over the bloc's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mauro Ferrari, who became head of the European Research Council for a four-year mandate on January 1, submitted his resignation on Tuesday, which the Commission said was effective immediately.

Professor Mauro Ferrari quit as president of the European Research Council. Credit:AP

"The Commission regrets the resignation of Professor Ferrari at this early stage in his mandate as ERC President," a spokesman said.

Ferrari made a statement to the Financial Times, which first reported the resignation, saying: "I have been extremely disappointed by the European response" to the pandemic.
Driver Maurice Robinson, accused in the deaths of 39 people from Vietnam found in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Essex, near London last October, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter on April 8.

Maurice Robinson, the 25-year-old driver of the lorry. (Source: New York Post)

Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughters at Central London Criminal Court.

On November 25, 2019, Robinson pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property. However, he did not enter a plea to 41 other charges, including 39 counts of manslaughter.

Another driver from North Ireland, Eamonn Harrison, 23, drove the container, which carried the victims, to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, where it was put on a ferry to England and picked up at the other end by Maurice Robinson on early morning of October 23./.VNA

UK police charge another over Essex lorry deaths British police on March 16 charged another man as part of their investigation into the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people found dead inside a refrigeration trailer in Essex, northeast of London, last October.
IT services major Cognizant on Thursday said it is withdrawing its growth forecast for 2020 given the uncertainty in environment amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The US-based company, which has over two lakh employees in India, said it expects its March quarter revenue to be within its previously guided range of 3.4-3.6 per cent growth (in constant currency) from the year-ago period.

"The long-term fundamentals of our business remain strong. However, given the unprecedented nature of this crisis, uncertainty around its duration and its impact on our ability to forecast performance, the company is withdrawing its 2020 guidance that was provided on February 5, 2020," Cognizant said in a statement.

Cognizant will announce its first quarter financial results on May 7.

For 2020, Cognizant had said it expects its revenue growth to be in the range of 2-4 per cent in constant currency.

The company said that entering the second quarter, it expects the pandemic to further reduce client demand as its societal and economic impact causes broader disruptions across industries.

"We acted decisively to limit COVID-19's impact on our business, including rapidly enabling work-from-home capabilities across our delivery teams. We will continue to take steps to protect our associates and support the evolving needs of clients in today's environment," Cognizant Chief Executive Officer Brian Humphries said.

Cognizant noted that its financial performance in the months of January and February was "on track to exceed previous guidance", driven by strong performance across the North America market.

During the latter part of March, COVID-19 increasingly affected Cognizant's business, it added.

This was largely due to delays in project fulfilment as delivery, particularly in India and the Philippines, shifted to work-from-home, and there was reduced client demand, primarily in the travel and hospitality industries, the company said.

Cognizant had previously said its employees in India and the Philippines, who are at associate level and below, will receive an additional payment of 25 per cent of their base pay for April. The move is expected to benefit over 1.30 lakh Cognizant employees in India.

Additionally, Cognizant has standardised 14 days sick-leave coverage globally for COVID-19 cases or self-quarantine without impacting other sick leave or vacation programs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bir Lahlou, 6 April 2020 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, sent a congratulatory message to Mr. Keir Starmer on his election as the leader of the British Labor Party.



"On behalf of the people of Western Sahara and the Polisario Front, I would like to extend to you my sincere congratulations on your well-deserved election as the leader of the Labor Party, which has been democratically expressed by the overwhelming majority of the party members," said the President of the Republic.



The Polisario Front is truly proud of its brotherly relationship with the Labour Party over the past decades and grateful for the strong and continued solidarity and unconditional support for the Sahrawi people in self-determination and freedom, he added.



The President of the Republic took the opportunity to confirm the Polisario Front's willingness to further develop and strengthen the "excellent relationship of cooperation, brotherhood and friendship that already exist between us as partners." (SPS)



062/SPS/T
By Gabriela Baczynska and Anthony Deutsch

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - As the European Union spars over an emergency economic package for countries reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch have revived their image of thriftiness by refusing to support a plea by southern members to take on collective debt.

EU powerhouse Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark had also expressed objections, but Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra was ultimately the sole holdout in 16-hour, overnight talks that failed to work out a deal on Wednesday.

The Hague refused to compromise on terms for accessing emergency financing from the euro zone's bailout fund as well as on possible future talks on whether to issue so-called euro bonds, EU diplomats and officials said, even after a last-ditch push from German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to pressure his Dutch colleague.

Leaders were optimistic that some kind of a deal would be worked out during fresh talks Thursday.

However, a senior EU diplomat saw the risk that finance ministers would just patch up divisions for the sake of announcing an agreement, while effectively leaving contentious issues to national leaders.

A French presidency official expressed frustration over the the Dutch holding up the deal so far, saying it "was blocked by a single country, the Netherlands."

"Blocking this was counterproductive, incomprehensible and cannot continue. We can't be splitting hairs over conditionalities," said the official.

GOING DUTCH

The Dutch minister's stance is no surprise, however.

Only days earlier a top TV satirist took Hoekstra's side in explaining why the Dutch should not pour money into Italy.

With a record two million viewers of his "Lubach on Sunday" show, Arjen Lubach said the Dutch wanted to help, but have legitimate concerns about the bloc's long-term finances and preserving their own hard-fought financial health. He compared the situation to putting out a neighbour's house fire.

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"I am willing to help you put out the fire, but I don't want to take over your mortgage," Lubach said, adding that while Hoekstra might be irritating, he had a "fair point".

The Netherlands, a wealthy nation of 17.2 million, emerged only recently from years of belt-tightening under an austerity program since the 2008 financial crisis that made deep cuts into social security, pensions, education and healthcare.

While the Dutch cut back their national debt to 50% of GDP, Italy's rose to nearly 135%, or 2.4 trillion euros, Lubach pointed out.

The Hague is now openly clashing with Rome over joint debt and conditions for access to the emergency European Stability Mechanism (ESM) credit lines.

Dutch thriftiness is deeply rooted in the culture and history of the trading nation that adopted the Calvinist branch of Protestantism more than four centuries ago. In the 17th century, the English coined the phrase "Going Dutch", which refers to the splitting of a bill so that one party does not end up indebted to the other.

The country's neighbours still like to poke fun at the Dutch splitting of dinner bills, taking groceries on holiday, and always looking for a bargain.

"Italy says 'we want the ESM money, but without conditions' and the Dutch are saying: 'yeah, right!'," Lubach said. "We want to help, but we don't want to go broke!"

'BAD COP'

The fact that the issue is prime TV fodder goes a long way to explaining how the Netherlands has become the bloc's "bad cop" opposing the kind of financial burden-sharing that its neighbours to the south say is needed to stave off an economic meltdown.

The latest round of EU finance ministers talks was resuming at 1700 GMT on Thursday.

A potential solution was unclear after the Dutch parliament passed a motion overnight rejecting any deal that would make the Netherlands responsible for the national debt of another country.

While The Hague's tough line has the backing of the Dutch parliament, Rome was also under pressure at home from eurosceptic challenger Matteo Salvini, who has denounced the bloc as failing to show enough solidarity.

"The European debate is embarrassing not to say sickening," said governor Luca Zaia, a member of Salvini's Northern League in the Veneto region, one of the hardest hit in Italy.

"It is as if, in the face of the coronavirus, we said it was a problem that only affected those who were in hospital," he said.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Anthony Deutsch; Additional reporting by Michel Rose in Paris, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and Riccardo Bastianello in Rome; Editing by Frances Kerry)
The World Health Organisation (WHO), on Wednesday, defended itself against criticisms levelled at it by the United States President, Donald Trump, concerning the coronavirus pandemic.

Its director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland advised Mr Trump not to politicise the virus.

Please dont politicise this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it, he said.

If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it. My short message is: Please quarantine politicising Covid. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus.

According to CNN, the organisations initial response to the outbreak has been increasingly scrutinised as global cases soar over 1 million.

Trumps threat

Mr Trump on Tuesday threatened to withhold the U.S. funding for the organisation only to later backtrack.

Were going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO, Mr Trump said. We will look at ending funding because you know what, they called it wrong.

Mr Trump said he is thinking about withholding funds to the WHO, saying the international agency pushed back on his travel ban on China early in the COVID-19 outbreak.

Timeline

Mr Ghebreyesus in the conference outlined a timeline of actions his organisation took in response to the crisis in the past 100 days.

He said on the January 1, just hours after WHO was notified of the first cases, it activated its Incident Management Support Team, to coordinate the response at headquarters, regional and country level.

On January 5, he said, WHO notified all member States about the new outbreak and posted news of the outbreak on its website. It followed up on January 10 by publishing a comprehensive package of guidance for countries on how to detect and test potential cases.

In late January, he said after the first cases of community spread were reported outside of China, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, our highest level of alarm.

The United Nations crisis management team was activated in early February to help with the response, he added.

We said we have been doing everything we can, but we will continue to do everything  day and night  like we have been doing to save lives. We dont want to waste time, he said.

He said the organisation performs an after-action assessment when confronted with a new and serious public health concern like coronavirus.

We will do our assessment identifying the strengths and weaknesses, he said, adding that the WHO wants to learn from the pandemic.

On January 30, the WHO said that it did not recommend any travel or trade restrictions, saying that such measures may have a public health rationale at the beginning of the containment phase of an outbreak but that they should only be short in duration if over 24 hours because they are not very effective.

The WHO has been criticised for relying on official Chinese government figures relating to the virus, numbers which many global officials doubt are accurate.

Also, it received criticism for a January 14 tweet noting that preliminary investigation by Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus.

The WHOs January 30 declaration of the virus as a public health emergency of international concern meant that the organisation recognised that the virus posed an international threat beyond China.

This was the day after the first cases of community spread were reported outside of China and a day before Mr Trump restricted travel from China to the US.

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On Tuesday, February 4, the organisation said while the virus had not yet reached pandemic levels, it was considered to be an epidemic with multiple locations; an epidemic being more than a normal number cases of an illness.
NCCN Best Practices Committee publishes peer-reviewed feature in JNCCN presenting latest insights on how to keep oncology patients and healthcare workers safe during COVID-19 pandemic. Visit NCCN.org/covid-19 for continually-updated resources for patients, providers, and care systems.

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)-an alliance of leading cancer centers-is continuing to share new resources for optimal cancer management amid new and changing challenges related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The nonprofit organization's Best Practices Committee has published a new article online-ahead-of-print in JNCCN-Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network detailing their recommendations for keeping cancer patients, caregivers and staff as safe as possible.

"The unprecedented challenges we are all facing from the COVID-19 pandemic heighten NCCN's commitment to sharing evidence-based consensus from leading medical experts as rapidly as possible, free-of-charge, to everyone around the world," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "We are doing everything we can to review and share reliable information that will help keep oncology patients, providers, and staff safe under the new reality of increased risk."

"We can continue to provide our patients with effective and compassionate care, without sacrificing the health and safety of our teams, colleagues, and families, by carefully evaluating any emerging research and modifying our treatment approaches accordingly," said lead author Pelin Cinar, MD, MS, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. "People with cancer and their loved ones already go through so much, and now they face new fears around catching COVID-19 or delaying necessary treatment. By sharing these recommendations, we want to reassure the oncology community that there are some aspects of care that we can and will control in order to improve outcomes for people with cancer."

The JNCCN article contains the most current information at the time of publication, but notes that recommendations regarding public safety and practice may change rapidly; individuals can also keep up with the most up-to-date information via the CDC website.

The NCCN Best Practices Committee recommendations can be summarized as follows:

Patient Safety

Prescreen and screen for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure history via telephone calls or digital platforms

Develop screening clinics to allow for patients with symptoms to be evaluated and tested in a dedicated unit with dedicated staff

Convert in-person visits to telemedicine visits when possible

Limited or no visitor policy

Limit surgeries and procedures to only essential, urgent, or emergent cases

Consideration of alternative dosing schedule to allow for fewer in-person visits to the cancer center and/or the infusion center

Switch from infusional therapy to oral oncolytics if equivalent formulation is available

Transition outpatient care to care-at-home whenever possible (e.g. pump disconnection, administration of growth factors, hormone therapy)

Increase interval between scans or use biochemical markers in lieu of scans

Provide resources for wellness and stress management for patients

Healthcare Worker Safety

Assure availability and use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) per guidelines

Create a centralized resource or website to communicate recommendations to the healthcare workers around PPE and workflows

Implement daily screening tools and/or temperature checks

Telecommute when possible, with limited onsite staff participating in rotations on a daily basis

Establish clear stay-at-home and return-to-work guidelines

Provide resources for wellness and stress management for healthcare workers

The full article can be found at: https://jnccn.org/page/May%20Special%20Feature%20on%20COVID-19%20/new-special-feature-on-covid19.

In addition to Dr. Cinar, the article includes authors from Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Duke Cancer Institute, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Moffitt Cancer Center, Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (including Fred Hutchinson Research Center and University of Washington), University of Colorado Cancer Center, and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital.

Meanwhile, NCCN continues to add to, and update, the growing list of free resources available at NCCN.org/covid-19. Recently-published items include:

General

Asymptomatic Testing Strategy (UAB Medicine)

Cancer Patients Factsheet (Huntsman Cancer Institute)

Communicating Changes in Delivery of Care ( University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center)

Rogel Cancer Center) N95 Respirator Decontamination and Re-Use Process ( University of Nebraska Medical Center )

) Patient Scheduling Recommendations (Huntsman Cancer Institute)

Providing Oncology Treatments in the Outpatient Setting

PPE Conservation Plan ( University of Colorado Cancer Center)

Cancer Center) Self Screen Signs All Translations (UCSF)

Universal Masking Guidelines (Huntsman Cancer Institute)

Utah Crisis of Standards 2010 Influenza Pandemic Algorithm

Visitor Policy Letter (Huntsman Cancer Institute)

Treatment of Cancer by Site

Breast Cancer

Colorectal Cancer

Melanoma

Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer

Prostate Cancer

T-Cell and Primary Cutaneous Lymphomas

Screening and Early Detection

Prostate Cancer

Supportive Care

Hematopoietic Growth Factors

Self-Care and Stress Management (Providers)

Self-Care and Stress Management (Patients/Caregivers)

NCCN remains committed to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives under any circumstances. The organization has continued posting new updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines)-which contain optimal recommendations for normal resource levels in the United States-while also sharing new shorter term guidance for adjusting cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. NCCN's Global Program also provides guidelines to account for differing regional resource levels and non-English languages, while the NCCN Foundation provides funding for versions in non-medical language for patients and caregivers. The NCCN Guidelines are always available free-of-charge for non-commercial use at NCCN.org (free registration required) or via the Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines App.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of 30 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCN, Facebook @NCCNorg, and Instagram @NCCNorg.

Media Contact:

Rachel Darwin

267-622-6624

darwin@nccn.org

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People queuing up outside Sainsbury's in Guildford as Britons were told to only shop for essential items. (PA)

A police chief has warned his force are just a few days away from searching shopping trolleys to make sure people are sticking to the strict coronavirus guidelines.

With the government meeting to discuss an extension to the lockdown, Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley has said the force will now ramp up the enforcement of coronavirus regulations as the three-week grace period is over.

Warning that people in the county could now face fines or a criminal record for breaking the rules, Adderley said measure may include roadblocks and marshalling supermarkets and checking the items in baskets and trolleys.

According to the police chief, a small number of people had been flouting the regulations  with some officers being "baited" by members of the public.

Chief Constable Nick Adderley warned that people in the county could now face fines or a criminal record for breaking lockdown rules. (PA)

He said: The role of the police is to preserve lives and protect property and we have to do that and we will do that.

If things dont improve, and we dont get the compliance we would expect, then the next stage will be road blocks and it will be stopping people to ask why they are going, where theyre going.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

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This is about reasonableness and if people are not reasonable in terms of the journeys and the trips they are taking, they are going to fall foul of the law.

We will not, at this stage, be setting up road blocks. We will not, at this stage, start to marshal supermarkets and checking the items in baskets and trolleys to see whether its a legitimate, necessary item.

But again, be under no illusion, if people do not heed the warnings and the pleas Im making today, we will start to do that.

Commenting on what people should be shopping for, Adderley went on: The issue about, what is a necessary item, only go out for necessities  what is a necessity?

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If were stopping somebody because theyve bought a barbecue set or theyve bought a childs toy, you could argue thats not necessary.

On the other hand, you could argue it absolutely is necessary  because in terms of the mental health and trying to keep people entertained over this period of lockdown, that is very necessary.

So the nuances and the interpretation is really ambiguous  thats why Im saying to officers, use your common sense, use your discretion.

I think the guidance could be even clearer, but its where do you draw the line?

Speaking about the new approach, Adderley said: "These are not guidelines anymore. This is the law.

Chief Constable Adderley said forces were damned if you do, damned if you dont when it comes to policing the new rules, and he added that government guidance on how to police the rules could be even clearer.

His comments come as Greater Manchester Police revealed they had broken up nearly 500 house parties during lockdown, despite strict instructions about social distancing from the government.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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Immigration agents in California are being investigated after an immigrant mother accused them of abusive treatment when she had to deliver her baby at a border patrol station.

The 27-year-old Guatemalan, according to a complaint filed with the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General, delivered her baby at Chula Vista Border Patrol Station near San Diego in February while standing over a trash can and while still wearing her pants.

The woman, who was not named, was in pain, coughing and asked agents for help repeatedly after a treacherous desert crossing, the complaint says.

But she was told to sit down and await processing, the woman says.

Immigration agents in California are being investigated after an immigrant mother accused them of abusive treatment when she had to deliver her baby at a border patrol station. Agents are pictured rounding up suspected illegal aliens in Chula Vista, California

A 27-year-old Guatemalan, according to a complaint filed with the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General, delivered her baby at Chula Vista Border Patrol Station (pictured)

Chula Vista Border Patrol Station is located in Chula Vista, California

About 30 minutes later, her husband could hear the baby crying through the mother's pants, which he lowered and saw the child's head.

The parents' two other daughters, ages 2 and 12 looked on, BuzzFeed reports.

The mother later at a family shelter run by Jewish Family Service of San Diego was interviewed about her alleged mistreatment.

The shelter contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and together, both agencies filed the complaint on the mother's behalf.

A few days after the incident, the border patrol put out a press release explaining that when the woman and her family were caught crossing the border illegally, 'the mother did not appear to be in distress and did not request any medical attention.'

The release also notes that medical staff at the station 'noticed she was in labor' and 'prepared an area for the mother to give birth.'

The incident also has prompted lawmakers to call for action.

A letter from Sen. Richard Blumenthal to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari also demanded an investigation, according to a copy obtained by BuzzFeed.

The letter is signed by 12 other members of Congress, including Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar, all former Democratic presidential candidates.

The woman and her family are are now with relatives in another part of the US, Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at Jewish Family Service of San Diego said earlier this week.

'We've been in contact with her and  letting her know what advocacy is happening on her behalf,' Clark said. 'It was such a horrific experience that, she's expressed to us, if shedding light on her case could make a difference in this happening to other people, that's all the more reason to continue to move forward with the complaint.'

It was not the first complaint filed about the treatment of pregnant women under President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security.

The woman's complaint was not the first filed about the treatment of pregnant women under President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security. Trump is pictured at a roundtable discussion on immigration and border security

In December 2017, the Trump administration overturned an Obama-era policy of only holding pregnant people in immigration custody under extreme circumstances.

Instead, Homeland Security has been allowed to hold anyone pregnant unless they were in their third trimester of pregnancy.

Since then, dozens of reports of abusive treatment of pregnant women have come to light and the department was even accused of flouting the new policy, report BuzzFeed.

Women in all stages of pregnancy told the news outlet they even shackled around the belly, as they were detained and denied medical care.
Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health Corp will be opening drive-thru coronavirus testing sites offering the new diagnostic that can provide a positive result in just five minutes.

Both drugstore chains will be using the test developed by Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories, which has been praised by President Donald Trump.

CVS said it was launching two locations that could handle 1,000 tests per day, while Walgreens says its 15 sites will perform 3,000 per day.

Testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, has been slow in the US due to a lack of test kits and other equipment.

While more than 436,000 people in America have tested positive for the virus, officials believe there are the undercounted cases because of a shortage of kits.

Walgreens is opening 15 coronavirus testing locations including in states such as Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas. Pictured: A queue outside of a Walgreens in Brooklyn, New York

CVS in launching two locations, in Georgia and Rhode Island, with potentially four more to follow. Pictured: People in line at a CVS in the Bronx, New York, April 3

Both chains will use Abbott Laboratories' new coronavirus test that can detect a positive result in just five minutes (above)

Testing, including at drive-thru sites like these, is also seen as key in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to sweeping shutdowns of many businesses and mass layoffs.

Abbott said one of the benefits of its test is that it can be used anywhere, including hospitals, urgent care clinics and even doctors' offices.

'This is a significant leap forward,' John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott, said in an interview with Reuters.

'You can get a positive result in five minutes and a negative result in 13 minutes. You can walk into a clinic and literally get results while you are there.'

President Trump presented the new machine at a press conference last week, even doing a little show-and-tell.

In the US, there are more than 436,000 confirmed of the virus and more than 15,000 deaths

'This is the first one on the line,' Trump said as he took the test out of the box, and called it 'highly accurate.'

He explained that the US Food and Drug Administration approved Abbott's new test in just four weeks as opposed to the usual months-long timeline.

Walgreens says it is currently setting up centers to run the Abbott test in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas.

The chain said it is working with the US Department of Health and Human Services to finalize the 15 locations in these states.

Meanwhile, CVS said its two testing sites will be in Georgia at Georgia Tech University and at a casino in Rhode Island, and that up to four more locations will also open.

Testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, has been slow in the US due to a lack of test kits and other equipment. Pictured: A man in a car gets tested for coronavirus with a nasal swab in Melbourne, Florida, April 8

'We want to get some experience under our belt with these sites and understand exactly sort of what the volume looks like,' CVS Chief Medical Officer Troy Brennan told Reuters.

CVS will supply personnel from its MinuteClinic unit to oversee the testing. The states will provide security and protective equipment.

The testing is currently available at no cost to patients and is being paid for by the federal government, CVS said.

Other major pharmacy chains including Target Corp and Walmart Inc pledged in the past to provide space for drive-through sites in their parking lots.
Cora Berniece (Holland) Irving, age 93, a long time Cathlamet resident passed on April 02, 2020, at the family home with her husband of 72 years by her side. She was born on September 06, 1926 to John and Elise (Jensen) Holland on the family farm on Puget Island. Her parents were early immigrants to the United States in the early 1900's. Her mother came from Norway to Ellis Island and then to Astoria, OR. Her father came from Norway through Canada and into the United States at Sumas, WA.

She received her early education at the grade school on Puget Island and then graduated from Wahkiakum High School. During WWII she worked at Paine Field in Everett. Cora married Tom Irving on September 21, 1947 after his return from his service duty in the Asiatic Pacific during WWII.

Irv-Acres was the dairy that they operated on Puget Island for many years. She was able to do anything and everything on that farm. Cora was very talented and excelled in all types of crafts that she undertook to do. Her hobbies were varied--sewing, quilting, baking, stained glass, needlework, painting and knitting. Her talented hands were never idle.

She was a long time 4-H leader and taught many "Island Girls" how to sew. She volunteered countless hours to the 4-H program, the Grange home economics program and the Wahkiakum County Fair. Cora was an active member of the Elochoman Grange #426, Wahkiakum Dairy Wives, Puget Island Orthopedic Guild and River City Strippers Quilting group.

After Tom and Cora sold the dairy they semi-retired and spent 17 summers living on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. They fished, dug clams and enjoyed it all, never slowing down. This "team" always had a new project. One was digging sapphires on the banks of the Missouri River near Helena, Montana. They even learned how to facet these beautiful stones.

She is survived by her husband Tom, daughters Sheryl McMahon and Kristie (Greg) Moore, Cathlamet and son Bill (Marilee) Irving, Sedro Woolley, WA. Grandsons Will Burnside, Trevor Irving, Ross Moore; granddaughters Kristyn Irving, Emilie Moore. Great Grandchildren Blake and Colin Irving and Vela and Aliza Burnside.

Cora was preceded in death by her parents John and Elise Holland, brother, Marvin Holland, sister, Neva Brown and grandson Thomas Burnside.

The family will be forever grateful to Hospice for the care and guidance at her home the last 2 weeks of her earthly journey. Those wishing may send memorials in Cora's name to Community Home Health & Hospice, P.O. Box 2067, Longview, WA 98632.

Services will be held at a later date when everyone is able to travel and join together to celebrate the life of this amazing lady.

- Paid Obituary -
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:22:50|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 9, 2020 shows signs on the ground to mark a safe social distance in a bakery in Paris, France. France had reported 8,044 deaths in hospital and 4,166 deaths in elderly nursing homes, taking the toll to 12,210 since the beginning of the epidemic in mid-February, a health official announced on Thursday. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

PARIS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- French hospitals registered a one-day loss of 424 COVID-19 patients, taking the total toll to 8,044, while some 4,166 elderly people living at nursing homes had died of the virus since the epidemic began, a health official said on Thursday.

In total, 12,210 patients succumbed to the COVID-19 compared with Wednesday's 10,869 which did not update human loss reported in retirement homes due to a technical problem, according to figures unveiled by Health General Director Jerome Salomon.

Some 86,334 people had tested positive for the virus, up by 4,334 in one day. Including infections reported in retirement homes, the figure rose to 117,749, Salomon told a daily conference on the epidemic.

He added that 30,767 patients are now hospitalized, up by 392 in the last 24 hours, while 23,200 others have recovered, a one-day rise of 2,000.

Admissions in intensive care units (ICU), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a decline for the first time since the epidemic began. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," Salomon said.

Salomon noted that even if some relief in emergency services was noteworthy "the epidemic will only drop when there are fewer patients in hospital."

The confinement imposed since March 17 "begins bearing fruit," he said. "So, it's absolutely essential to continue the lockdown. Stay at home. The first slowing seen is linked to your good respect of the confinement rules."

On April 7, France entered its fourth week of nationwide confinement. Tough restriction on people movement would likely be maintained for further two weeks to stem the virus spread.

President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation next Monday, his third televised appearance in less than one month, to unveil a new batch of measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic and cushion its severe economic fallout.

DARK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

In its report released on Wednesday, French central bank BdF estimated that every two-week confinement would lead to a 1.5 percent loss in the gross domestic product (GDP).

The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard local businesses in tourism and manufacturing, with the country's economic activity tumbled by 32 percent since the lockdown began.

Adding to that, strict instructions to limit people movement had negatively impacted local demand, one of the main growth engines in the domestic economy.

In a joint interview with Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday told business newspaper Le Echos that the government would double its financial aid to 100 billion euros (109.23 billion U.S. dollars) to help companies stay afloat through the virus outbreak, consisting in large part of tax and payroll charge deferrals.

"These figures could change as the economic situation and businesses' need of support change rapidly. We are doing everything to save our businesses," Le Maire said.

As almost all sectors are at halt and because of costly measures to help local firms to be back on the recovery track, Le Maire expected the French economy to shrink by 6 percent for the whole year of 2020.

"This is the biggest recession in France since 1945. Unknowns remain and this forecast may still change, particularly with regard to the duration of confinement and the terms to lift it. This is crucial: the longer the confinement is, the lower the growth will be," he added.

The government predicted the budget deficit would hit 7.6 percent of the GDP this year, in its second update to the 2020 budget it will present next Wednesday, according to Budget Minister Darmanin.

"We will be over 170 billion euros of budget deficit, while we had forecast 93 billion in the initial finance law. This is higher than that of post-financial crisis of 2010 ... This figure may still change," Darmanin said.

France's previous deficit record dated back to 2009 when the eurozone's second largest economy recorded a gap at 7.2 percent of the GDP during the global financial turmoil.

"The economic recovery will be long, difficult and costly. It will require efforts from all the French," Le Maire said. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar)
Two pregnant women diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Peru have given birth to babies who have tested negative for the disease, a hospital in the capital Lima said on Tuesday.

The first of the children was born on March 27 and the second on March 31, both through cesarean sections on the advice of doctors to avoid complications, the Rebagliati Hospital in Lima reported.

Fortunately, there has been no vertical transmission, that means that there has been no contagion from mothers to newborns, said Carlos Albretch, a doctor in the family unit of the hospital, which is run by state-owned Essalud.

He added that both mothers were in good health, although still receiving treatment for the coronavirus.

Medics in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak originated, raised concerns at the start of February about potential transmission of the virus by mothers to unborn children after at least one case of a baby born with symptoms.

However, a study of nine pregnant women in China who had tested positive for the virus, published in the Lancet in mid-February, reported that there was no reliable evidence as yet available to support the possibility of vertical transmission of COVID-19 infection from the mother to the baby.

The World Health Organization has said that new mothers who have tested positive for the virus should be encouraged to care for and breastfeed their newborns as normal, provided they maintain stringent hygiene.

Albretch said the women would be supported to stay with their babies.

This is a new pandemic, we have no experience, he said. China and Italy have some publications that give some breastfeeding recommendations. Transmission through breast milk has not been demonstrated.

He said for women with more severe COVID-19 symptoms, the guidance could be different. In this case the newborns would have to be separated from the mother, he said.

The Rebagliati Hospital added in a statement it had conducted a second swab test on the newborns and was awaiting the results.

Peru has so far had 2,954 confirmed cases of the virus and 107 deaths, while 1,301 people recovered.

(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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A political activist has demanded aggressive counter-terrorism measures in Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan-based terrorists are making attempts to infiltrate into the Valley with an aim to create mayhem amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Amjad Ayub Mirza, a political activist and author from Pakistan occupied Kashmir said, "The martyrdom of five 'jawans' of the Indian Army during an encounter with Pakistan-based terrorists in Kupwara in Noth Kashmir on March 5 should not go unnoticed."

Five army soldiers were killed during a gunfight with militants in Kupwara on Sunday. Five militants were also killed in the fight.

The encounter broke out on the intervening night of April 3 and 4 when a militant group infiltrated from across the Line of Control in Keran sector of north Kashmir.

The militants had entered the Indian territory from Shamsabari range and were hiding in 'Gujjar Dhok' (temporary shelter for nomads) in the Poswal area of the sector, a senior Army spokesperson earlier said.

He told ANI that for decades successive governments in J & K have failed to chalk out a comprehensive counter-terrorist insurgency strategy. Hence, they have lost credibility in the eyes of the Kashmiris.

He added, "This incompetence of successive governments in J & K has also created a psychological state of helplessness among the Kashmiri population. Secondly, the so-called liberal intelligentsia that fails to see the role of Pakistan-China involvement in the terrorist insurgency in Kashmir is another obstacle in the endeavour to create a national consensus for uprooting and pushing terrorism back into Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OSTERSUND, Sweden, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with Delaware River Port Authority to rehabilitate the Benjamin Franklin Bridge connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Camden, New Jersey, USA. The contract is worth approximately USD 195 M, about SEK 1.9 billion, which will be included in the US order bookings for the first quarter 2020.

The project includes the rehabilitation of an iconic suspension bridge encompassing over 1,100 meters (3,500 feet) from anchorage to anchorage, carrying seven lanes of traffic and two rail lines. It also includes the installation of a main cable dehumidification system and elastomeric wrapping, walkway widening, painting, miscellaneous steel repairs, rehabilitation of the anchorages, and decorative lighting.

Construction began in February 2020 and is scheduled for completion in December 2024.

Skanska is one of the leading construction and development companies in USA, specializing in building construction, civil infrastructure and developing commercial properties in select U.S. markets. Skanska USA had sales of SEK 74 billion and about 7,900 employees in its operations in 2019.

For further information please contact:

Brittany Felteau

Communications Manager

Skanska USA

Tel: +1-617-574-14-85

Andreas Joons

Press Officer

Skanska AB

Tel: +46(0)10-449-04-94

Direct line for media

Tel: +46(0)10-448-88-99

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-rehabilitates-benjamin-franklin-bridge--usa--for-usd-195-m--about-sek-1-9-billion,c3084887

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3084887/1227272.pdf 20200409 US bridge rehabilitation

SOURCE Skanska
A new study shows that people who start smoking younger are more likely to continue to smoke daily as adults and find it much harder to quit. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in April 2020, is remarkable for having the most prolonged follow-up period of any similar study.

Even though public health authorities have been fighting the use of tobacco for decades, the fact remains that 250 to 270 million people still smoke in developed countries, a number which has remained unchanged over 30 years. Tobacco use has been linked to nicotine addiction, asthma exacerbations, respiratory infections, chronic obstructive lung disease, lung cancer, and cancers of the throat, as well as cardiovascular complications, including heart attacks, strokes, and clots in the deep veins. About 6 million people die every year in the over-30 age group because of smoking-related complications.

Also, smoking causes absenteeism, reduces productivity, and causes loss of useful funds on the part of the smoker. Quitting attempts are notoriously ill-fated due to multiple causes, like the strength of addiction, the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms, weight gain after quitting.

Study: Childhood/Adolescent Smoking and Adult Smoking and Cessation: The International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium. Image Credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock

How was the study done?

The study used information on smoking onset obtained from children and adolescents back in the 1970s and 1980s, which was updated as recently as 2018  making for a follow-up period of over 40 years for some participants.

The researchers looked at smoking-related information obtained from over 6600 people, of whom 57% were female. The participants were taking part in the International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort Consortium. They were aged between 6 and 19 years during the first contact. The second round of data collection was carried out when they were in their 20s, with the third round being in their 40s. The study covered people from Finland, Australia, and the US.

What did the study find?

About 37% of people in their 20s smoked daily and the level of parental education was associated with lower levels of smoking in this age group.

The researchers found that the highest risk of developing a daily smoking habit by the age of 20 years was among those who smoked the most as teenagers and started at the earliest age. These individuals were also least likely to quit by the time they were in their 40s.

Children who only smoked a few cigarettes were still more likely to end up as daily smokers by the time they reached adulthood. Up to a third of those who tried smoking at 15-17 years continued to smoke in their 20s in contrast to 9% of those who tried it at 18-19 years.

However, those who did not smoke daily in late adolescence were much less likely to end up as smokers in their 20s.

While 8% of those who first smoked around 18-19 years continued to smoke daily in their 20s, this percentage rose to 33% for those who started at 15-17 years. About half of those who started at 6-14 years would continue to smoke daily into adult life.

Among those who did not smoke until their 20s, less than 3% smoked in their 40s.

The percentage of childhood and teenage smokers was comparable in the three countries  Australia, Finland, and the US. Although all these are developed countries, it is thought that the results could be more broadly generalizable.

What does the study show us?

Smoking cessation at later adolescence is more successful than when attempted earlier in the teenage period. Researcher David Jacobs says, "Even in low income and developing countries, the societal reinforcement of smoking, the basic addictive qualities of nicotine, and the maturation of children and children's judgment through adolescence are universal." As a result, the ability to resist the impulse to blindly copy one's peers or heroes and take up smoking is much stronger by the end of adolescence. This indicates the importance of preventing the targeting of immature minds by tobacco advertising and other social influences which promote smoking.

Says Jacobs, "These results strongly support Tobacco 21, a national movement to restrict all sales of tobacco products to people under age 21." The fact that smoking is a preventable risk to long-term health for both the smoker and for non-smokers, and that its origins are traceable to childhood, spurs the battle for prevention of cigarette advertising on media that children have access to.

The American Heart Association also strongly supports and promotes the Tobacco 21 movement.

Tobacco regulatory expert Rose Marie Robertson, of the American Heart Association, says the findings could well apply to vaping, or e-cigarette use, as well. Even though vaping was not around at the time when the current study was initiated, she says, "It is plausible that the findings may relate to vaping as well since both addiction to nicotine and the adverse effects of nicotine on the developing brain in youth are relevant to these nicotine delivery devices as well."

The study is a critical one in that the long period of follow up enabled the researchers to see what actually happens as young smokers age, across different populations. In order to prevent the development of chronic tobacco addiction, it is vital to prevent youngsters less than 21 years of age from getting tobacco products, even to experiment with. While experimentation with tobacco is unwise at any age, it is particularly unadvisable earlier in life because of the strong association with "unbreakable lifelong smoking patterns," according to the study.

Doctors and other medical professionals should invest time in explaining the health risks to children who smoke, as well as to their parents since these predispose to lifelong disabling health conditions.
Police community support officers patrol Brighton beach, south England, as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

The UK economy could contract by as much as a quarter if the current lockdown continues into the summer, a leading economic research institute has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said on Thursday 9 April that the UKs GDP could shrink by 15% to 25% in the second quarter of 2020 if the coronavirus lockdown persists until June, when the second quarter ends.

The lockdown is causing the largest slump in economic output since the depression of 1921, NIESR said. The government three weeks ago ordered all non-essential shops to shut and told people to stay at home as much as possible, bringing the economy to near standstill overnight.

The UK economy is now almost certain to experience a major contraction in the second quarter of the year, Dr Kemar Whyte, a senior economist of macroeconomic modelling and forecasting at NIESR, said in a statement.

The forceful impact of COVID-19 and the global lockdown has thrust the economy into unknown territory where we could see GDP declining at a record quarterly rate.

The stark warning came as official government statistics showed the UK economy grew by just 0.1% in the three months to February  before the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK. NIESR said it expects GDP to shrink by 5% in the first quarter of 2020.

Despite the downbeat assessment of short-term growth, Dr Whyte said instant and significant recovery remain a distinct possibility if the spread of the virus comes to halt quickly.

Read more: Bank of England to finance additional UK government spending

The UK government has sought to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic by announcing billions of pounds in support to prop up the economy. This includes loans to small businesses to stop them going bust and wage support for employees to prevent them being laid off.

The government hopes these measures will allow companies to quickly resume business once the crisis ends. It means that the annual decline in GDP is unlikely to be as stark as quarterly figures suggest.

NIESR is Britains oldest independent economic research institute and its work is widely read by top financial decision makers around the world.
A post-90s girl has been devoting herself to helping children in a village build confidence through education.

Born in 1993, Wei Jichen is a member of the poverty alleviation work team in Xiatao village of Shibeiping town in Liuzhou, south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

After obtaining her masters degree from Zhejiang University in east China in July 2018, she became a civil servant in the city, applying to work at the grassroots level.

Famous for Chinese redbud planting, the village was lifted out of poverty in 2017. However, Wei found children there are not enthusiastic about learning, especially those from households just out of poverty.

In early 2019, Wei conceived the idea of helping children in the village develop initiative for learning, building their confidence to change their fate through education. Over the past year, she recruited volunteers to give online and offline lessons to them, winning recognition from villagers.

During the novel coronavirus outbreak, Wei offered live-stream lessons on the weekend or in the evening to children of various ages, letting students with difficulty attending online courses come to class at the village committees meeting room.

Villagers are living a better life by planting Chinese redbud, Wei said, adding that she hopes children in the village can cherish the opportunity to learn in such a favorable condition and set ambitious goals.
Chen knows that what is happening in New York now wont last forever. She wants to tell her friends that they will get through the worst of it, that people will rally together, just as they did in Wuhan.
Things didn't add up

James went to another site at a gas station and saw a sign on the street with two red crosses mimicking the American Red Cross logo. There staffers wearing personal protective equipment wore neck lanyards that misspelled the health care law known as HIPAA, which is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

"Those raised my suspicions, he said, noting that the testing groups had offered pop-up, drive-through services at different sites over four days.

He followed them to Interstate 65, where they headed north toward Chicago. One of their tents fell out of their pickup truck and knocked off his mirror, but they didn't come back.

Emergency order

No one was arrested, but authorities have acted. Louisville passed an emergency order requiring testing-site approval from the Louisville Health Department.

"We are advising residents experiencing symptoms to seek COVID-19 testing from hospitals, health care providers or government resources, the department said.

Louisville is in Jefferson County, where County Attorney Mike O'Connell said: Attempts to scam Louisville seniors or other vulnerable citizens with fraudulent COVID-19 tests will be met with swift action. Don't try it here."

Kentucky Health Commissioner Steven Stack said people shouldn't be handing over their precious money to get testing."

Stack recommended that people with COVID-like symptoms consult their family physician to determine if testing is needed.

James Robert Brown, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Louisville office, said it has opened an investigation into the alleged testing site scam and has had agents surveilling sites.

"We're engaged, Brown said. This was the first time in my experience that we've seen a health care fraud in progress. Usually these cases take weeks and months and we have to wait for the false billings to come in."

What to look for

Brown advised consumers to use only approved testing sites affiliated with trusted hospitals and providers. Be wary, he said, of people wearing painter's clothing and uniforms resembling those worn by workers collecting hazardous material  instead of legitimate personal protective equipment. He also warned of exorbitant upfront cash fees for tests and cautioned Medicare recipients to stay away from testing advertised as free to Medicare beneficiaries.

"Because it usually isn't, he said.

Reports in other states

Cynthia Lucas, vice president of anti-fraud initiatives for the Washington-based National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, a nonprofit that represents private health insurers, government health plans and law enforcement agencies, said her members have reported testing-site fraud operations in Florida, Georgia and New York.

"Where there is fear, there are dollars to be made, Lucas said. Beware of testing sites that advertise on social media. Rely on reliable sources. Also, legitimate medical testing sites don't demand cash for tests and don't set up sites in gas station parking lots."

Thomas Brannon, the assistant special agent in charge of the Investigations Unit for the Health and Human Service Department's Inspector General's Office, said reports of COVID-19 testing site scams are coming from around the country, singling out Arizona, Florida and Washington.

"My speculation is this is going to be occurring everywhere now, he said. We advise that if the testing is not done at a hospital or clinic, be suspicious. But don't go to be tested at a pop-up tent outside of a gas station or Walmart parking lot. And don't give any personal information to anyone but your personal providers. All scammers need is your Medicare number and they can compromise your entire life.

He said scammers could be taking those Medicare numbers and billing for additional tests and durable medical equipment in the thousands of dollars.

AARP Helpline hearing from victims

Amy Nofziger, AARP's director of Fraud Victim Support, oversees its Fraud Watch Network Helpline.

The free helpline has taken an estimated 20 calls daily about a variety of scams and attempted scams tied to COVID-19.

"If you are interested in getting testing, consult your trusted physician, Nofziger says.

She adds: Never give your personal, financial or medical information to anyone who calls you over the phone. Criminals can take this information and steal your hard-earned money or even charge bogus tests to your Medicare number.
By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Oil prices swung wildly -- rising 12% in early trade, then settling 9% lower, before paring losses in post-settlement trade -- as the OPEC+ alliance reportedly agreed to a 10 million-barrel-per-day output cut by June that would still cover only a third of the demand estimated lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

West Texas Intermediate, the New York-traded benchmark for U.S. crude, was down $1.84, or 7.3%, at $23.25 by 4:45 PM ET (20:45 GMT). WTI had settled at $22.76 earlier, down $2.33, or 9%, on the day. The session high was $28.33.

Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for crude, was off 96 cents, or 2.9%, at $31.88. It finished the official trading session at $36.68, down $1.36, or 4.1%. Brents peak for the day was $36.38.

Oil pulled back some losses after The Wall Street Journal reported that the OPEC+ alliance will cut 10 million barrels per day of production by June, with Saudi Arabia and Russia contributing more than half of that.

Riyadh will cut 3.3 million bpd and Russia 2 million bpd, the Journal said.

Analysts said the demand loss from Covid-19 was between 20 million and 30 million bpd.

With the coronavirus pandemic reducing the big fanfare of the typical OPEC meeting in Vienna to a mere video hook-up, oil ministers from the Saudi-led cartel had to be content with a virtual meeting with their Russian and other allies.

That also complicated the job of reporters, who instead of hogging the stairwell of the OPEC building in the Austrian capital to gang-press delegates coming out of the meeting room, had to communicate electronically with them and other sources to know what was going on.

Without an official communique or news conference, the reporting that emerged was as mixed as one could imagine, sending traders in all directions.

As though things werent complicated enough, there were reports late in the day that Mexico, a smaller rival to the U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela but a significant oil producer, nevertheless, opposed any cuts to its already dwindling production.

Story continues

Mexicos state oil company Pemex was reported to be sticking to plans to boost production, and doubling the number of its newly-drilled wells this year to 423, amid consistent declines in its oil production over the years.

There are just so many conflicting versions coming out of todays meeting that its not surprising at all that were back in the negative after jumping 12% earlier, said Tariq Zahir at the oil-focused Tyche Capital Advisors in New York.

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Saudi, Russia closing in on record oil cut deal

Fed Bazooka Gives Gold New Firepower Beyond $1,700
: gc01 (gc01), : Military

 : CIA NOVEMBER 

: BBS  (Wed Apr 8 11:10:56 2020, )



White House was briefed by medical intelligence specialists about the

spreading contagion in China as early as NOVEMBER - and warning about

carnage in Wuhan was in Donald Trump's daily briefing in early January



U.S. intelligence picked up information on a spreading outbreak in China's

Wuhan province in November



It wasn't until December 31 that China informed global health officials of

the new coronavirus outbreak



Information gained through human intel, computers, and satellites, ABC News

reports



National Center for Medical Intelligence documented concerns



Information was included in President's Daily Brief in January after weeks

of vetting



This week it was revealed trade advisor Peter Navarro penned doomsday memos

about the coronavirus in January and February



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8200443/White-House-briefed-medical-intelligence-China-contagion-threat-early-NOVEMBER.html

--

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 47.]


Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam participated in a drive on Thursday to distribute sanitary napkins and rations to people in East Delhi amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown implemented to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

The minister was present at the distribution drive carried out by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an NGO founded by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, according to a statement.

A total of 350 dry ration packets and sanitary napkins were distributed among migrant labourers and victims of the February riots in East Delhi, it said.

The drive was conducted at an East Delhi Municipal Corporation primary school.

The families of slum dwellers were provided with essential food items, hygiene kits and sanitary napkins. Gautam handed over sanitary napkins to women, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:47:44|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, April 9 (Xinhua) -- An extension of the state of emergency (SOE) was announced in Solomon Islands on Wednesday over the COVID-19 concerns.

"The SOE was declared by the Governor General (Sir David Vunagi) on 25 March and Parliament has passed a motion to extend it for another four months, which means it will end on July 25," a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office told Xinhua.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said there would be three phases of SOE and the nation was currently in phase one which would involve a weekend curfew around the country's capital Honiara.

"This will allow the government to test its response capacity and help identify challenges faced during the actual lockdown," Sogavare said.

"During this period a curfew will be implemented for 24 hours and only selective essential services will be allowed to operate with permissions during this phase."

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau said the police would establish checkpoints throughout the city during the curfew hours which would start on Friday night and last till Sunday morning.

Anyone breaching the curfew orders will face a fine or imprisonment or both, he said.

As of Thursday, the Solomon Islands remained one of a few countries around the world with no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
ALTON  A drive-by funeral visitation is planned Thursday at Gent Funeral Home in Alton to accommodate the large number of people wanting to show their respects to a late employee of Sanders Waste Systems.

Between noon and 1 p.m. Thursday, people may drive up to the funeral homes new addition at 2409 State St. to pay their respects to the family of Randall Randy Garrett, 56, of Brighton, who died Sunday. His wife, Melody, died Feb. 8.

They had two daughters, Miranda and Malayna, who are under the care of their aunt. The misfortune of the girls losing both parents within weeks was part of the motivation for the drive-by service.

Funeral director Ralph Bowles said Garrett suffered from cancer and was aware ahead of his death that he had little time left. When he posed the drive-up funeral idea to Garretts sister, she thought it was a fine idea. Oh my gosh, thats amazing, she said.

Bowles said family and friends have reacted positively to the idea of the drive-by visitation after it was posted on the Gent Funeral Home website.

People are saying its a great idea, he said. The reaction has all been positive.

As of Wednesday, 679 people had recommended the post on Facebook.

The statewide stay-at-home guidelines limit gatherings to no more than 10 people, Bowles noted. He said some funerals and visitations have been held by allowing only 10 people at a time in a service, followed by a thorough cleaning after each group of 10 leaves.

Bowles said the funeral home has contacted Alton Police about possible traffic congestion and they have been very accommodating. He said he expects any traffic problems will likely be held to a minimum since people are being urged to stay at home during the Corona virus.

Please enter the funeral home parking lot via Rozier Street and proceed under the new carport, directs a post on the funeral homes website. The family will be inside our building, on your driver side, so you will be able to wave, throw a flower, or show a sign as you proceed past them and exit onto State Street.

Private graveside services for Garrett are planned in Upper Alton Cemetery, the Rev. Steve Rice will officiate. Memorials may be made to Miranda and Malayna Garrett. For an online guestbook and information, visit www.gentfuneralhome.com.
Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades.

We know a lot about how traffic jams form, how they spill from one road to another, and also how can we stop them happening and help cities recover.

Our research shows that traffic congestion spreads through a city like a disease. Using this insight we have created a simple model based on a contagion model often used to predict the spread of illness, which produces results quickly and can help traffic controllers respond in real time to traffic jams.

The study, carried out with colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University, is published in Nature Communications.

Traffic history

The first simple description of traffic flow based on observations was published in 1933 by the American researcher Bruce Greenshields. This was only 25 years after the production of the first Ford Model T in 1908.

Greenshields used a movie camera to take consecutive pictures with a constant time interval to measure traffic. Since then, numerous data collection and modelling techniques have been developed.

Today, the most advanced method to measure and monitor traffic in cities uses anonymous location data from mobile phones with sophisticated mathematical and computer simulation models. The most recent example of such powerful data sources and analysis techniques are the community mobility reports recently released by Google, which show changes in mobility in cities around the world due to the spread of COVID-19.

Many existing models describe traffic well but require so much computational power that it is difficult to use them in real time for traffic control. In a large metropolitan area, these models often take tens of minutes or hours to run, even using cloud-based and other high-performance computing technologies.

While this may not sound like a big deal for transport planning purposes, it is actually one of the biggest hurdles for their use in practice for traffic operations and control. To overcome this challenge, scientists have more recently started searching for simpler ways of describing and predicting urban traffic congestion.

Traffic jams are contagious

Scientists use contagion models to describe the spread of an infectious disease in a population, as well as things like the spread of a computer or mobile phone virus through the internet and the spread of news or misinformation on social media.

We have shown that a similar modelling framework can be used to describe how traffic jams spread in cities. We adopted what is called the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model, commonly used in epidemics, and applied it to traffic jams in Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Chicago, Montreal and Paris.

In the traditional model, epidemiologists divide a population into groups of people who are susceptible to a disease, people who are infected, and people who have recovered. In ours, we divide a road network into free-flowing roads, congested roads, and recovered roads.

Every road in the network belongs to one of these categories, and the state of traffic on each one can change over time. A free flow link might become congested and a congested link could become recovered as time passes.

Our new model shows that the spread of traffic congestion can be characterized with a universal measure similar to the basic reproduction number, known as R0 in the epidemic models. This number represents how quickly congestion spreads through a city, independent of the topology, urban form and network structure of the city.

We empirically verified our results with traffic data from Google and a computer simulation model of the Melbourne metropolitan area.



The model shows how congestion and recovery spread through a traffic network. University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)

How the contagion model can help

The new findings can be used for adaptive and predictive control of congestion in cities. While the model does not specify which streets are congested, it provides aggregate information on what percentage of links in the network are congested.

This information can be used to develop control strategies to cut down how long the congestion lasts or to keep the number of congested roads below an acceptable threshold.

Potential congestion mitigation strategies that could benefit from these findings include perimeter traffic control of city centers, improving signal timing and removal of bottlenecks.

This article was first posted on The Conversation.
Last Thursday, taking advantage of a world overwhelmed by the COVID19 pandemic, the high court in Pakistans Sindh province ordered the release of four men convicted of participating in the 2002 murder and kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Among them was Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-Pakistani national who orchestrated Pearls abduction.

While the four men will remain in custody for 90 days as state prosecutors appeal the decision to Pakistans Supreme Court, they could soon go free. That would be a devastating setback for justice that would also send a dangerous message to Jihadi militants in Pakistan and around the world, who have systematically targeted journalists in the 18 years since Pearl was killed. To understand whats at stake, one must look to the origins of the crime.

The day after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Pearl, who was the Journals South Asia bureau chief, traveled from his base in India to neighboring Pakistan, where he eventually got on to a story about Richard Reid, who would come to be known as the shoe bomber.

In December 2001 Reid tried to blow up an airplane with plastic explosives molded into his sneakers. Pearl believed that Reid had a relationship with a reclusive leader named Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani. As word spread that Pearl was looking to interview Gilani, Sheikh saw an opportunity.

Sheikh, 28 at the time, was a graduate of the London School of Economics, and had an air of ease and sophistication. He had deployed his wiles before. In 1994, Sheikh had organized the kidnapping of four Western tourists in India. He was convicted of that crime but freed after Islamic militants in Pakistan hijacked a plane and demanded his release.

On January 11, Pearl met Sheikh in Islamabad. Sheikh told the reporter he could arrange a meeting with Gilani in the port city of Karachi. Ten days later, Pearl flew there, accompanied by his pregnant wife Mariane. Sheikh, meanwhile, had used the time to assemble a kidnapping team made up of two dozen militants and criminals recruited from Karachis underworld.

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On January 23, Pearl asked his taxi driver to drop him at a popular restaurant in Karachi. He was later seen climbing into a red Suzuki that he believed would take him to Gilani. Instead, he was brought to a house, where he was chained to a car engine in a cinder block outbuilding. Sheikh himself had already left Karachi, so he could deny connection with the crime. He called the kidnappers and instructed them to send photos of Pearl to the media along with demands to release prisoners held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Al Qaeda operations chief who had masterminded the 9/11 attacks and who had fled to Karachi, read about the kidnapping in newspapers.

Exactly what happened next is not clear. But sometime in late January or early February 2002, Mohammed, known as KSM, showed up with two other men, a shopping bag of knives, and a video camera. They beheaded Pearl and used the macabre footage to create a 4-minute video entitled The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl that included a statement from Pearl made under duress and reiterated demands for the release of Muslim prisoners. The video of Pearls muder was actually a reenactment, since the camera jammed on the first take.

READ: Whats the point of the White House press secretary?

Prior to the Pearl murder, Al Qaeda had a very different relationship with the media. Like countless radical organizations throughout history, the group cultivated journalists. When Osama bin Laden declared Jihad against the United States, he did so in an CNN interview with Peter Bergen and Peter Arnett, who asked him about his future plans.

Youll see and hear about them in the media, God willing, Bin Laden responded. When I spoke with Bergen a few years back while researching a book on press freedom, he told me that as a journalist once you came into bin Ladens inner circle you never felt threatened. He did fairly active outreach with the media, and threatening journalists would have been counterproductive. As Lawrence Wright noted in The Looming Tower, his masterful history Al Qaeda, Publicity was the currency that bin Laden was spending, replacing his wealth with fame, and it repaid him with recruits and donations.

Bin Ladens approach to media relations may explain why he was upset with KSM following the Pearl murder, according to the findings of the Pearl Project, a masterful investigation into the crime carried out journalism students at Georgetown under the guidance of former Journal reporter (and Pearl friend) Asra Nomani. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay Military Commission, alleged in court documents that Osama bin Laden was angry that KSM had slaughtered Pearl so publicly and brutally, arguing that the murder brought unnecessary attention on the network.

The murder sent a chill through so many journalists, recalled Asra Nomani. It became open season on journalists in Pakistan and around the world. Hundreds of journalists were kidnapped and killed by Islamist extremists in the next two decades, mostly local reporters working in their own counties. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Mali and elsewhere, kidnapping generated hundreds of millions in dollars in ransoms as well as videos used to gain publicity and recruits.

ICYMI: The Ecofascists

Al Qaeda, which was largely cut off from the traditional media following the Pearl murder, developed its own communication infrastructure that evolved as new technologies came online. The group leaked video tapes to Al-Jazeera, and used a network of militant websites that published their press releases. The Pearl murder also created a new Jihadi iconography. The slickly produced snuff video as a media strategy reached its terrible apogee in Syria with the Islamic State. But the ISIS beheading videos, including those of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were the direct descendents of the Pearl murder tape, and the process set in motion by Omar Saeed Sheikh in Pakistan.

For his role in the Pearl murder, Sheikh was sentenced to death. The punishment was never carried out, despite 18 years in custody. Meanwhile, KSM remains at Guantanamo. He has never been brought to justice for any of his terrible crimes.

The Sindh High Court, in ordering Sheikhs release, determined that he was guilty only of kidnapping, which carries a sentence of seven years. We were shocked, we did not expect this, said Tamara Pearl, Dannys sister. The kidnapping clearly led to the murder. Judea Pearl, Dannys father, called the decision a mockery of justice.

Pakistans security services have long used their relationship with Islamic extremists to apply pressure on India and as leverage in the proxy war in Afghanistan. The question now is whether, in the throes of a global pandemic, the media and the fractured international community can apply enough pressure on Pakistan to ensure that justice is not subverted.

Whats at stake is not only justice for Pearl, but the hundreds of journalists killed around the world by Islamist militants in the last two decades.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Joel Simon is the outgoing executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, which he led for fifteen years. A regular contributor to the Columbia Journalism Review, he has also been published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, and the Wall Street Journal.
New South Wales Police investigators in protective gear prepare to board the Ruby Princess cruise ship on Wed. April 8, 2020, at Wollongong, Australia. (Nathan Patterson/NSW Police via AP)

Police Raid Ruby Princess, Remove Black Box

Locals send care packages to crew members confined to ship

Australian police in hazmat suits raided the Ruby Princess cruise ship on April 8, in an investigation into Australias worst COVID-19 cluster. Over 620 people have tested positive and 15 have died in cases linked to the shipmore than one-third of Australias 51 deaths from the virus.

New South Wales (NSW) Police Force organized a team of detectives and conducted a raid on the Ruby Princess at night, where the ship is docked at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.

The team consisted of 30 detectives from various departments including State Crime, Counter-Terrorism and Special Tactics, and Marine Area Commands. They questioned the captain and crew, and seized evidence for further inquiry into the homicide probe.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said that the team seized the black box which is very similar to that of planes. That and other evidence has been seized for further investigation, he told a reporter for Reuters. He said the captain and crew had been extremely helpful.

The raid is part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the docking and disembarking of the ship on March 19.

Local Communities Send Care Packages

Fuller also expressed a warm appreciation to the local community who have sent care packages to the crew members.

The Port Kembla Mission to Seafarers charity has been organizing care packages from the local community in the southern area to lift spirits of those onboard.

Local community have dropped off a number of care packages at the port for the crew members which I think speaks volumes, said Fuller.

NSW police are expected to remain at the port for 10 days, and the crew of over 1,000 from 50 countries remain onboard.
A group of Saudi citizens, who were in Bahrain and wished to return to Saudi Arabia, has arrived in the kingdom via King Fahd Causeway, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

As many as 790 Saudi citizens who are in Bahrain have expressed a wish to return to Saudi Arabia and a plan scheduling their arrival started last Tuesday.

The return is facilitated with the direct follow-up by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain, the report said.

Upon arrival, the group of Saudi citizens was taken to hotels for 14-day health quarantine.
Q. My IRA is in mutual funds, individual stocks and a money market fund. I usually take my required distribution in stock, but now that the market has fallen, I'm strategizing. I know I can take out stock without selling it. Is it more beneficial taxwise to take the stock or should I just take cash this year?

 Retired investor

A. First, know that because of the coronavirus pandemic and the recently passed CARES Act, you can skip your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) this year.

If you choose to take your RMD, the tax benefit of taking an RMD in-kind  taking out the stock without first selling the shares  is limited.

Any withdrawal from a retirement account is taxed at your ordinary income tax rate, said Deva Panambur, a fee-only planner with Sarsi, LLC in West New York and an adjunct professor of personal finance at Montclair State University.

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The treatment is the same, whether you take your RMD in cash or in-kind, he said. When an RMD is taken in-kind, you pay ordinary taxes on the value of the asset  stocks, mutual funds, etc. You dont pay capital gains taxes for the sale of the stock inside your IRA.

If you take your RMD in-kind, the basis is re-set to the new value of the stock when the RMD is taken, Panambur said. The holding period also re-sets to the time the RMD is taken.

So from a tax point of view, taking the RMD in-kind would be the same as selling the stock in your IRA, taking the RMD in cash and then buying back the stock in your regular taxable account, he said.

The advantage of taking the RMD in kind is that it keeps you invested in the market and you minimize the risk that the price of the stock moves against you by the time you transfer the stock out of your IRA account, he said. Another advantage is that you avoid transaction fees, although these days transaction fee for stocks is negligible if not zero, he said.

On the other hand, you also run the risk that if you take the RMD in-kind, the changing stock price could result in an insufficient RMD, he said. The IRS may levy a penalty of 50% on insufficient withdrawals.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
China on Thursday unveiled a new trial protocol warranting re-testing of the recovered coronavirus patients besides intensifying the screening of asymptomatic cases as concerns grew over the second wave of virus infections in the country.

The move comes a day after China lifted the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday reported 63 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 61 imported ones taking the total to 1,104 cases.

Two more persons were killed due to the disease, taking the death toll in the country to 3,335. The overall coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in the country.

After nearly three months of grim battle against the coronavirus, China is fast returning to normalcy with factories and business humming back to activity amid concerns over coronavirus rebound due to a steady rise of new infections, especially coming from thousands of Chinese returning from abroad.

As the 76-day lockdown of Wuhan was lifted on Wednesday, tens of thousands of people in the city, the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic, began travelling out by road, rail and air.

China on Thursday released a new trial protocol on recovered Covid-19 patients' quarantine which included return visits by doctors, re-testing and their health monitoring.

As of Wednesday, China has 77,370 people who had been discharged after recovery, most of them were from Wuhan and Hubei province which bore the brunt of the virus.

According to the protocol, recovered Covid-19 patients should stay in quarantine for 14 days either at home or in an isolation centre for medical observation, the state-run Xinhua agency reported.

During the isolation period, those having recovered from the disease should take their temperatures daily and be on the lookout for fever and respiratory symptoms including cough and breathing difficulties, the protocol said.

Designated hospitals should make plans for patients' return visits and re-testing for the next two to four weeks following their discharge, it said, adding that sputum samples are more reliable and should be the first choice for re-testing.

Those who have been discharged from hospitals will be categorised as confirmed cases if they test positive, show symptoms including fever and cough, and CT scan results show their lung conditions have worsened. In such cases, the patients should be hospitalised for further treatment, the protocol said.

A high-powered committee headed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang which was leading the efforts to contain the virus since January has also called for intensified detection and prompt response to asymptomatic case meaning people infected with coronavirus but showed no symptoms.

As of Wednesday, a total of 1,104 asymptomatic cases, including 364 imported from abroad, were under medical observation on the Chinese mainland, the NHC said.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat an official circular said noting that they are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

Screening of asymptomatic infections should be stepped up, targeting close contacts of confirmed patients, people involved in cluster outbreaks, those exposed to Covid-19 and travellers from areas with high risks of infections, it said. The regulation required nationwide hospitals and disease control departments to take prompt actions once asymptomatic carriers are detected.

Once verified, asymptomatic carriers will be put under concentrated medical observation for 14 days and can only be released from quarantine upon two consecutive negative nucleic acid test results, with a sampling interval of more than 24 hours, it added.

Close contacts of asymptomatic cases should also be put under concentrated medical observation for 14 days.

Since April 1, the NHC has started to incorporate information on asymptomatic cases in its daily report to timely respond to social concerns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced Thursday that the state will allow voters to cast mail-in ballots in the November general election if the coronavirus is still a factor this fall.

The decision is a significant departure from Sununu's past stance against widespread absentee voting and stands in contrast to the rhetoric coming from some Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

"Basically if you feel more comfortable voting absentee because of the outbreak or your inability or nervousness about just appearing in person to vote, you can vote absentee and obtain an absentee ballot," Sununu said at a news conference.

Sununu said the state is considering other voting alternatives, too, including "drive-up voting," in which a voter would not have to leave his or her vehicle.

Trump this week denounced mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that it allowed for widespread voter fraud. His comments came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling extending the deadline when voters could mail in ballots for Tuesday's state elections and presidential primaries in Wisconsin.

When pressed for examples of it happening, Trump responded, "Well, we're going to find out about the proof because you're going to see what's going on, and I'm not going to stand for it."

New Hampshire has been a battleground in recent years on voting access, with Republicans pushing ID restrictions and opposing Democratic efforts to expand absentee balloting.

On Thursday, voting rights advocates won a significant victory when a single state superior court judge struck down a Sununu-signed law restricting students attending college in the state from registering to vote there unless they have a permanent New Hampshire address or driver's license.

Although more than half the states, including almost all the so-called political battlegrounds, allow no-excuse-needed absentee voting, New Hampshire does not. To vote by mail in the state, a voter must provide a reason, such as illness or travel restraints.

The state legislature passed a bill last year to allow all residents to vote by mail regardless of reason, but Sununu vetoed it.
A consignment of medicines arrived in Sri Lanka from India on Wednesday, as South Asia battles with the coronavirus outbreak.

"Another gift consignment of medicines arrives from #India to #SriLanka. Cooperation in these difficult times is a mark of a strong friendship! And a big thank you to @airindiain for undertaking this amazing task," High Commission of India in Colombo said in a tweet.

More than 150 cases of coronavirus have been reported from Sri Lanka. Globally, the virus has infected more than a million people.

During a video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with leaders from SAARC countries last month had proposed the creation of COVID-19 Emergency Fund based on voluntary contributions from all the countries, with India making an initial offer of USD 10 million for the fund.

The fund can be used by any of the partner countries to meet the cost of immediate actions. The Prime Minister had informed that India is assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment, which will be on stand-by, to be placed at the disposal of the countries, if required.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The callers were in tears. One by one, women in homes across rural Zimbabwe had a pleading question: When would family planning services return?



Lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus' spread have put millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere out of reach of birth control and other sexual and reproductive health needs. Confined to their homes with their husbands and others, they face unwanted pregnancies and little idea of when they can reach the outside world again.

In these uncertain times, women have to lock down their uterus, Abebe Shibru, Zimbabwe country director for Marie Stopes International, told The Associated Press.

But there is no way in a rural area. Eighteen countries in Africa have imposed national lockdowns, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All but essential workers or those seeking food or health care must stay home for weeks, maybe longer. Rwanda, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to impose a lockdown, has extended it for two weeks, a possible sign of things to come.

Even where family planning remains available, providers say many women fear venturing out and being beaten by security forces and accused of defying the new restrictions. Meanwhile, outreach services, the key to reaching rural women, have largely stopped to avoid drawing crowds and the risk of workers spreading the virus from one community to another.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation, or IPPF, in a new report Thursday says more than one in five member clinics around the world have closed because of the pandemic and related restrictions. More than 5,000 mobile clinics across 64 countries have closed. Most are in South Asia and Africa, but Latin America and Europe have seen hundreds of closures as well.

From Pakistan to Germany to Colombia, IPPF members say they have scaled down HIV testing and gender-based violence response work and face shortages of contraceptives.

They have needs that cannot wait, IPPF director-general Alvaro Bermejo said of women in a statement, pleading for help from national governments to help provide personal protective equipment to allow for intimate care.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and death.

In Europe, 100 non-governmental groups on Wednesday called on governments to ensure reproductive health services during the pandemic, saying many facilities have sharply reduced them or shut down. The French government last month said pharmacies can deliver contraceptive pills to women unable to renew prescriptions under lockdown.

The predicted baby boom in Africa alone, even as birth rates have dropped in many countries as more girls are educated, will add to the growth that already is projected to see the continent of 1.3 billion people double in population by 2050.

In Zimbabwe, Marie Stopes provided more than 400,000 women last year with family planning services, Shibru said, including averting nearly 50,000 unsafe abortions. But now the organization's outreach services, which reach more than 60% of clients, are suspended. Even at clinics that remain open, the number of clients has dropped by 70%.

That leaves a country of men, no longer free to work in the fields or elsewhere, and without the distraction of sports, confined with their wives for weeks on end.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A body wrapped in plastic is loaded onto a refrigerated container truck used as a temporary morgue by medical workers wearing personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns.

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Wawa provided a 53-foot refrigerated truck to the state of New Jersey to store the bodies of people who have died of COVID-19.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that Wawa sent the truck to "help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes in protecting the bodies of those we have lost."

"Deathcare" workers in morgues and funeral homes have struggled to keep up with the rising death toll as more than 12,700 people have died from COVID-19 in the US.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As "deathcare" workers struggle to keep up with the coronavirus death toll, Wawa has donated a truck to New Jersey to store bodies of those who have died.

"Wawa sent a 53-foot refrigerated truck to Bergen County after hearing about our need for refrigerated trucks to help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes in protecting the bodies of those we have lost," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted on Wednesday.

"Their help is invaluable," Murphy continued. "We're so thankful."

As of Tuesday, there are more than 396,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US. More than 12,700 people have died.

According to the US government, 100,000 to 240,000 Americans may die from COVID-19, even if Americans observe strict social distancing guidelines. "Deathcare" workers in morgues and funeral homes have struggled to keep up as more people have died from COVID-19 in hotspots including parts of New York and New Jersey.

"I don't know how many more bodies I can take," Patrick Marmo, founder of International Funeral Service of New York, told Business Insider. "No one in the New York City area possibly has enough equipment to care for human remains of this magnitude."

Wawa has kept locations open as essential businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In late March, the premium gas station chain announced it was asking customers and employees to enforce social distancing in stores. Wawa did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for further comment on its donation to New Jersey.

The Wawa Foundation also announced last week it had approved $21,500 worth of donations to 16 food banks and non-profits. The company said it had earmarked additional funds for other groups seeking support during the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Amid spurt in COVID-19 cases,



the Odisha government has promulgated an ordinance with provision of imprisonment up to two years for those who violate the epidemic regulations, official sources said on Thursday.

The ordinance amends a section of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, they said.

As per the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order made under the principal Act is liable for imprisonment up to two years or with fine up to Rs 10,000 or with both.

"Every offence under this Act shall be cognisable and bailable," it said.

The ordinance was brought as the state assembly is not in session at present, sources said.

It replaces the section 3 of the main Act, which stated violating the law invites imprisonment for maximum six months and Rs 1,000 fine, an official said, adding that a clause has been inserted in another section of the principal Act.

Procurement of goods, services, and equipment for prevention and control of the epidemic disease have been brought under the purview of the amended provision which was not included in the 1897 Act, the official said.

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the state government had, last month, implemented the Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020, using the main Act.

With this ordinance, the enforcement agencies will now be able to book violators of orders made under the epidemic disease Act, he said.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has made wearing of mask mandatory from Thursday to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus as the number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 44 so far from just 5 reported till April 1.

Though there is shortage of N-95 masks in the markets, the people may use their clean handkerchiefs and a piece of cloth with multiple folds for covering their nose and mouth while going outside their houses, Odisha government's spokesman on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi said.

He said the children below two year and asthma patients should refrain from wearing masks as they might feel uneasy.

The experience of Japan is taken into consideration as the country could contain the spread of the dreaded virus by using masks, another official said.

Health and Family Welfare Department also tweeted, "Wear simple face mask whenever you go outside to slow spread of #COVID-19. Use any cotton material like handkerchief or piece of cloth and prepare it as a face mask to cover your nose, mouth and chin."



Mission Shakti director Sujata Karthikeyan said the women self-help groups in Odisha have so far distributed more than 12 lakh masks among policemen, health workers and others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Mike Pence's office reversed its decision to ban top health officials including Dr. Tony Fauci from appearing on CNN after a reporter at the network exposed the stand-off.

Pence's people were trying to get CNN to air the daily coronavirus taskforce briefings in full.

After the initial story was published, Pence's office allowed CNN to book Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the network's weekly Thursday night coronavirus town hall. Fauci will appear Friday morning on 'New Day.'

Pence's office took issue with CNN's decision to only broadcast the back-and-forth between President Trump and reporters and not the second half of the briefing when Pence commands the podium.

'When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air,' a Pence spokesperson told CNN, which had first reported the news of the ban.

Vice President Mike Pence's office has told CNN that medical experts from the coronavirus taskforce will not be made available to the network unless it airs the whole briefing

Pence (left ) generally takes over the podium after President Trump leaves and gives more time for medical experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci (right) to speak

Previously, Fauci (right) would appear on CNN Town Halls with Anderson Cooper (left) and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (center)

Previously, Fauci had appeared at least weekly on the network as part of a CNN Town Hall series with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

But since last Thursday, CNN's media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote, Fauci, nor any other member of the White House's coronavirus taskforce - which is being led by Pence - has been available to do the show.

Meanwhile, Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Surgeon General Jerome Adams have all made appearances on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox over the past week.

Like CNN, the broadcast networks have not carried the White House daily coronavirus taskforce briefings in full.

Of the cable networks, Fox News Channel stays on the briefing for the longest amount of time each day.

Two White House officials that are not members of the taskforce have been on CNN this week.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper did an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday show and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro appeared on Anderson Cooper's show Friday and the CNN morning show 'New Day' on Monday.

Trump has long battled with CNN, calling White House correspondent Jim Acosta 'fake news!'

Pence has generally stayed away from these battles.
For most Pennsylvanians, the COVID-19 pandemic became real on March 13 when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered Pennsylvanias schools to close. While there was resistance in many quarters, this action protected our children from illness, and protected their parents and grandparents from this rapidly spreading, lethal virus.

Soon after, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation to provide stability and clarity for Pennsylvanias 500 school districts. Schools remain funded at pre-pandemic levels; school employees remain on duty for teaching, counseling and food distribution activities; and the secretary of education has flexibility to respond quickly in the ever-changing environment.

With this certainty, school leaders and educators sprang into action to transform, within days, to a new system of remote learning. Consider the challenge  keeping fidgety first graders engaged, helping fourth and fifth graders, old enough to feel their parents anxiety, remain interested in science and social studies, and keeping high schoolers on track for graduation.

We should acknowledge the urgency and creativity of teachers and administrators responding to this challenge.

We must also acknowledge the tremendous inequities in school districts ability to provide remote learning to students in Pennsylvanias urban and rural school districts.

To address this problem we call on the governor to immediately convene a Remote Learning Task Force of school officials and experts to ensure all school districts have the capability to provide remote learning to all students, including students with disabilities and English learners.

Students face two significant barriers to remote learning.

In less wealthy communities, school districts struggle to provide even the most basic resources during the best of times and cant afford to give each student a personal computer. The laptop or iPad that is standard issue in some districts is a distant dream in others.

Many families cant afford high speed internet service in their homes. In rural communities, providers can charge $18,000 to connect a home, even when the next door neighbor has access. In Pennsylvanias broadband deserts, high speed internet is simply not available.

There are bright spots. The Pennsylvania Department of Education has made online curriculum available to students at no cost and has partnered with public television stations to connect families with thousands of hours of educational programming.

School districts and intermediate units are finding creative solutions to help students connect, experimenting with mobile hotspots and using school building parking lots as WiFi hubs.

Vulnerable students will fall further behind. The parents who put themselves in harms way working long shifts in hospitals and warehouses cant also be full-time teachers. Studies are clear  children who dont read on grade level by 3rd grade, or who are disengaged in 9th grade, are at great risk of academic failure.

The General Assembly should also swiftly enact Rep. Curtis Sonneys cyber education bill, requiring districts to offer three cyber options to students. Districts that are providing full-time cyber education for $5,000 per child should not be forced to pay three times that amount for cyber charter schools.

Online learning is no substitute for everything that our local public schools provide students. And parents throughout the commonwealth recognize more than ever the value of the trained professionals who teach our students every day.

Still, we must recognize the unpredictable nature of this pandemic. The Remote Learning Task Force can start immediately to identify gaps in technology and instruction.

COVID-19 has exposed tremendous gaps in our health care system and has laid bare the tremendous inequities in our education system. We urge the governor and lawmakers to take up this challenge now to protect our children from short-term illness and long-term injury from this pandemic.
[April 08, 2020] MSCI Will Postpone the Implementation Date of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes Reclassification

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of research-based indexes and analytics, announced today that it will postpone the implementation of the reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes to Emerging Markets until the November 2020 Semi-Annual Index Review (SAIR). While the Kuwaiti equity market remains functional the decision to postpone is related to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the ability of international institutional investors to fully perform all the preparation work required ahead of the implementation. MSCI would like to emphasize that the MSCI Kuwait Indexes continue to meet all the necessary criteria for a classification in Emerging Markets but temporary measures that have been introduced globally by different authorities, corporations and institutional investors which aim to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic may result in significant operational challenges around the required preparation to implement the index reclassification as part of the May 2020 SAIR. Market participants have recently highlighted that they were experiencing difficulties as a result of COVID-19 measures in the process of opening accounts required to trade Kuwaiti stocks. Hence, there is an increasing concern that these investors will not have their accounts open in time and will not be able to implement the reclassification during the May 2020 SAIR. Given these challenges and the ongoing uncertainty that has been created by the COVID-19 pandemic, MSCI decided to extend the lead time ahead of the implementation of the reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes from Frontier Markets to Emerging Markets. MSCI deems this postponement necessary to ensure a smooth reclassification implementation for both international institutional investors and local stakeholders. As a reminder, on January 31, 2020, MSCI announced the launch of the MSCI Provisional Kuwait Indexes and the details of the Special Treatment to the MSCI Kuwait Indexes. MSCI will also extend the calculation of the MSCI Provisional Kuwait Indexes and the application of the Special Treatment until the November 2020 SAIR. MSCI has updated the GIMI Methodology available at https://www.msci.com/index-methodology and the Q&A document available at https://www.msci.com/market-classification to reflect the postponement of the implementation of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes reclassification. About MSCI MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 45 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com. This document and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs, charts (collectively, the "Information") is the property of MSCI Inc. or its subsidiaries (collectively, "MSCI"), or MSCI's licensors, direct or indirect suppliers or any third party involved in making or compiling any Information (collectively, with MSCI, the "Information Providers") and is provided for informational purposes only. The Information may not be modified, reverse-engineered, reproduced or redisseminated in whole or in part without prior writen permission from MSCI.



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OPEC and its allies are moving closer toward a historic deal to take at least 10% of global crude supply off the market as they get set for the first of two critical meetings later Thursday, with key producers Saudi Arabia and Russia signalling their willingness to commit to significant production cuts, S&P Global reports.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia could bring its production down to about 8 million b/d, from its current level of about 12 million b/d, according to a source briefed by the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Russia's energy ministry has said that Russia, the largest non-OPEC producer cooperating with OPEC, was prepared to cut 1.6 million b/d if others followed suit and cut proportionally. Russian crude and condensate production was 11.29 million b/d in March, according to government figures, though the previous supply accords of the so-called OPEC+ alliance only covered crude.

The positions indicate the OPEC+ coalition's math is starting to line up for a total production cut of 10 million b/d or more, though delegates said many details  including exact quotas, length of the deal, and participation by countries outside the group  remain in flux and could drag out talks at the meeting.

"What we are looking for is more participation from other countries, not only OPEC+ but outside, including the US, Norway and some other influential countries," Kuwaiti oil minister Khaled al-Fadhel told S&P Global Platts in an interview Wednesday.

The OPEC+ meeting via webinar is scheduled to start at 1400 GMT. From outside the 23-country alliance, Norway, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to participate.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2020 - 16:45 | Feature, All, Japan, Coronavirus

As the new coronavirus continues to spread in Japan, recovered patients, their families, co-workers and neighbors are facing stigma and discriminatory treatment, a recurrent theme seen in society when people have been faced with new health threats, such as leprosy and the effects of nuclear accidents.

A man in his 60s who was aboard the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that was quarantined in February near Tokyo, heard rumors that he was "spreading the virus by walking around the neighborhood," upon returning to his home in Osaka Prefecture.

Although the man tested negative several times after disembarking in February, his family members were told to consult a healthcare center before visiting their family doctor.

"Nothing about me has really changed since before going on the cruise, but everyone around me has," the man said. "Nothing will change with the government simply telling people 'not to discriminate.' All of us need to try harder to inform and educate ourselves," he added.

While Japan so far has not seen an explosive rise in infections, the number of new cases has been growing at a steady pace. Tokyo logged a record daily increase of 144 new cases Wednesday, just a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus.

(Photo taken Feb. 22, 2020, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship.)

Osamu Sekiguchi, chairman of Koriyama Kaisei Gakuen, an operator of private school Koriyama Women's University and College in Fukushima Prefecture, and an affiliated high school, said in a recent press conference, some of his students and staff have been ridiculed after a female professor tested positive for the virus.

After one of its high school students, who was wearing a school uniform, was called disparaging names, all students were advised not to wear their uniform when coming to campus during the school closure for club activities.

According to the school, there have been about a dozen confirmed reports of such discriminatory treatment, including cases in which young children of school staff and younger siblings of its students were being denied entry in daycare centers even though they did not have any close contact with the infected professor.

Given the increasing number of reports of such social bias associated with the virus, the education ministry advised schools late last month, to take measures to prevent discrimination among their students and teaching staff when they reopen after the government-requested closures.

"Anxiety in the face of the new virus has led to attacks against the vulnerable," an education ministry official said. "If (the virus) continues to spread, the problem could escalate."

Reiko Saito, Niigata University professor and an expert in public health, said growing anxiety caused by refraining from going out might be fueling the discrimination.

"There was discrimination against leprosy and HIV, as people wanted to stay away from causes of infection," she said.

"It's similar to when people were frightened of radiation following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station disaster" in 2011.

"I want people to imagine how they would feel if they themselves were to be discriminated against," Saito added.

Related coverage:

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Baseball: Darvish speaks of fear felt by Asians in U.S. amid outbreak

Japan gov't to consider including sex workers for virus compensation
Medical workers put on PPEs at the beginning of their shift at the emergency field hospital run by Samaritan's Purse and Mount Sinai Health System in Central Park on April 8, 2020 in New York. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images
Now that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the presidential race, some Democrats are eager to see President Obama jump into the race and endorse his former vice president, Joe Biden.

'IT IS TIME - RELEASE THE SUPER SURROGATE,' Democrat Doug Landry, who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, tweeted on Wednesday, along with a cartoon of Obama as Superman, a sentiment expressed by many in the left-leaning Twitterverse.

President Trump is also already egging Obama on too, as he floated during a press conference Wednesday that the ex-president hadn't backed Biden in the primary because 'he knows something that you don't know.'

Some Democrats are clamoring for President Obama to jump into the presidential race on behalf of his former vice president, Joe Biden, who is now the party's presumptive nominee

Doug Landry, who formerly worked for Hillary Clinton's 2016 bid, tweeted Wedneday 'IT IS TIME - RELEASE THE SUPER SURROGATE' on the heels of Sanders' announcement that he was leaving the race

Thanks to the coronavirus crisis, Biden has had to campaign from his rec room and has been unable to interact with supporters. The deadly pandemic could likely delay a roll-out of Obama as a key surrogate

Democratic strategist Joel Payne suggested it would have been a bad look for Obama to endorse directly after Sanders (pictured) dropped out of the race

But President Trump is already egging Obama on, spreading conspiracy theories from the podium Wednesday about why the ex-Democratic president didn't abck Biden during the primary. 'He knows something that you don't know,' Trump said

Trump, for weeks, has tried to characterize Biden as addled, often suggesting that his campaign team does all the work for him.

In reality, Obama had long said he wouldn't interfere in the Democratic primary.

And is currently calculating the best moment to jump in.

A source close to the former Democratic president told NBC's Kristen Welker that Obama will join the fray 'when the moment is right and when he feels he can have the maximum impact, the country will be hearing more from him.'

Right now there are two main obstacles obstructing an Obama-as-surrogate roll-out.

First, normal campaigning has essentially stopped due to the coronavirus crisis.

The last time Biden addressed supporters - and it was a small group in Philadelphia - was on March 10.

Biden - and also Sanders before he announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign - have tried to keep their campaign messaging focused on the deadly pandemic.

Secondly, the Democratic Party hasn't been sewn back together again from the moderate-progressive rift that played out during the primaries.

Just when Sanders seemed to be gaining steam, the moderate wing of the party quickly got behind Biden after he won the South Carolina primary - helping him win on Super Tuesday and essentially crush Sanders' chances a week later with a win in Michigan.

And while Obama started his presidential run in 2007 as a hip, outsider taking on the establishment pick of Clinton, a former first lady and fellow U.S. senator, he now represents the mainstream of the party.

'Obama will be there for Joe Biden, obviously, but I think he also will give some time before stepping into the stage to allow for Bernie to get recognition for shaping the policy agenda of the party,' predicted Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked for Clinton's 2016 campaign.

'The worst thing that would've happened yesterday was an Obama endorsement immediately,' Payne told DailyMail.com. 'Along with stoking more conspiracy suspicions among Sanders supporters, it also would have undercut a day where the focus was on celebrating Sanders' impact.'

A spokesperson for Biden's campaign would not comment on when Obama might endorse his former veep.
Struggling to fill empty shifts for front-line workers, the Rekai Centres long-term care staff telephoned 1,000 former health-care interns asking for their help.

Fourteen agreed. Only eight appeared for work. And one didnt return the following day.

I think overall people are afraid of being in homes with COVID, said Rekai Centres CEO Sue Graham-Nutter. I can understand. Its not easy.

At the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, an executive emailed registered practical nurse Meghann Burley, asking if she would take temporary leave and help her former employer, Bobcaygeons Pinecrest Nursing Home, where at least 28 residents have died from COVID.

Burley thought about the request for a day, then said yes. It made sense, logically, she said, because unlike so many other health-care workers, she does not have children or older family members living in her home.

She returned to the home in late March, working afternoon and morning shifts, dressed in goggles, masks, a face shield and gloves.

Ive only been there for a week and it is emotionally exhausting, she said. I cant imagine how the girls who have been there since the start are feeling.

Pinecrest has moved residents with the virus to one part of the building and those residents who so far do not have symptoms to a different section, she said. Some of the residents Burley cared for before she left the home two years ago have died from the virus, she said. But about a dozen seniors with COVID are starting to show signs of improvement, as fevers are lessening and appetites improving.

Still, working in Pinecrest is traumatizing. Its not the natural way, to have so many deaths.

Its no secret that Ontario doesnt have enough front-line workers for long-term care homes and their 77,000 mostly elderly and medically compromised residents.

Staffing of front-line nurses and personal-support workers has long been in a crisis state. And now, in a pandemic, many homes are desperate.

Officials at the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Ontario, say workers are struggling to keep up with the care of residents, with the loss of staff who are infected or isolated due to exposure. Some workers are afraid to go into a home where the virus exists, fearing they will infect their children or parents at home, CUPE said.

Doris Grinspun, president and CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, said years of systemic underfunding along with a government that spent the last month chasing COVID outbreaks instead of acting swiftly to prevent them, has resulted in too many infections and deaths.

It is carnage, Grinspun said on Wednesday, after Toronto Public Health announced that roughly 100 residents at the City of Torontos Seven Oaks nursing home are either confirmed or presumed to have COVID. Thirteen staff have tested positive. At least 16 residents of the home have died.

Grinspuns association is working with Advantage Ontario to match nursing students to homes  as long as the operators provide enough protective gear, Grinspun said. The Rekai Centres said the RNAO emailed 1,400 health-care workers and 15 agreed to consider working in a home with COVID.

The call for help from the Rekai Centres began March 23 when academic director Barbara Michalik started emailing requests and, a day later, decided to make personal telephone calls.

Rekais two downtown homes, Wellesley Central Place and Sherbourne Place, were struggling. Long-time workers pulled double shifts, put up in nearby hotels so they didnt have to go home where they might infect their families.

Michalik said some of the workers she connected with during those 1,000 phone calls might have been willing but, at the same time, news broke that Sherbourne Place had an outbreak.

Amal Tahlil said yes.

Tahlil interned at Rekai homes during her registered practical nurse studies at George Brown College. She is not yet licensed as an RPN but can legally work as personal support staff.

When Michalik reached Tahlil, she told her that residents in both homes had the virus.

Are you willing to work in a COVID-positive home? Michalik asked. Is your family OK with this?

Michalik said Tahlil asked one question: do you have proper PPE?

I said, Yes, of course we do. And she said, Im coming in.

She arrived the next day. Tahlil is helping residents with their daily needs such as washing, toileting and eating meals. Both homes are in lockdown and residents are isolated in their rooms.

This is the time when we should agree to help, she said. We need all the help we can get. We need hope and empathy.

Rekais CEO, Graham-Nutter, said the staff are all doing our very best in a very difficult environment in a situation that nobody ever thought would exist.

Were all working together, she said. If I call the ministry the (assistant deputy minister) will call me back within 20 minutes. The industry is sharing information, telling each other about suppliers with new shipments of PPE. Rekai Centres lawyer delivered PPE supplies to the home when a supplier was willing to donate the materials, she said.

All staff are in surgical masks all day. The home has fully stocked pandemic rooms including N95 masks, she said.

Graham-Nutter has invited all of her staff, including new hires, to visit the pandemic room, where PPE supplies are stored.

They are on the front lines and I want them to know that we are protecting them.
Twenty-seven Hong Kong residents stranded in Morocco due to the COVID-19 epidemic will come back to Hong Kong by a flight arranged by the Chinese Embassy to Morocco.

The chartered flight, also carrying other Chinese citizens, is scheduled to depart Casablanca, Morocco, at 4 p.m. local time on Thursday and arrive in Guangzhou, provincial capital of China's Guangdong province before Friday noon, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Wednesday in a statement.

Before returning to Hong Kong, they will be required to undergo the 14-day isolation for medical surveillance when arriving in Guangzhou.

As there are other 18 Hong Kong residents who will not take the flight because of personal preference or other reasons, the HKSAR government will continue to work with the embassy to assist the return of the stranded Hong Kong residents via other possible means.
The Management of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has donated GH500,000 to the COVID-19 National Trust Fund to help in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

Board Chairman of SSNIT, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor who led the SSNIT delegation, in presenting the cheque to the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare at the Jubilee House, mentioned that the Trust was heeding the President's call for all to support the fight against the Coronavirus disease in Ghana.

Dr. Addo Kufuor indicated that notwithstanding the toll of the pandemic on businesses and organisations, including SSNIT, the Board and Management deemed it appropriate to step up to support the national effort.

SSNIT's work involves collection of contributions and payment of benefits to workers as and when they qualify. What that simply means is that, if workers die, there will be no SSNIT Scheme. We therefore commend the government for all the hard work, they are putting in to help fight this pandemic. We are here to present what others might call our widows mite, but we call it, the Pensioners' donation, he said.

Dr Addo Kufuor also called on all compatriots to give full support to the President and the Government in their efforts to combat the spread of the virus.

He also urged the public to play their roles and adhere to all the precautionary measures saying Please observe the protocols and stay at home, staying at home is your patriotic duty.

The Chief of Staff expressed appreciation to SSNIT for their contribution to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

On behalf of the government, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to SSNIT for this handsome donation. We are grateful for the overwhelming support and donations from institutions such as yours in these crucial times. The President is committed to taking timely steps to help fight the spread of the virus and we are grateful to you for stepping up and helping.
Sarah Hyland is ready for the next chapter of her life now. After playing Haley Dunphy on ABC's Modern Family for a total of 11 years, she's optimistic that life after the show will just be better and bigger!

Marriage is certainly on the cards for her she says, and if lucky, her own show too.

On April 8, the ABC sitcom "Modern Family" officially said goodbye to their fans after running for a total of 11 years. Hyland technically grew up on that set, since she started the show when she just 18.

Now at 29, she's still as optimistic and bright-eyed as she was when the show started. According to a source close to the actress, the show ending is not bothering her. In fact, she'd been ready for it for quite some time and thinks that everything from now will be peachy. She will just take some time off and treat herself before doing more things that can make her happy.

"Sarah thinks it is the sky's the limit for her career after Modern Family. She is enjoying her time off, she is certainly well off financially and doesn't have to work again, but she wants to star in her own shows and do movies that make her happy," the source revealed to Hollywood Life.

Her priority right now is her health and personal well-being. The source revealed that she wants to get married first before diving into another show.

Hyland reportedly did not expect "Modern Family" to become that big and successful, and she's thankful. She also believes that whatever happens now after the show has ended will be a blessing. The source added that the actress is looking to surprise people on what she will do next.

Another source admired the fact that the show ran for a total of 11 years, which gave the young actress a steady HUGE income. More than the money though, the source said that the whole cast of the show has truly become one family, which is what makes the whole experience all the more special for Hyland.

The fact that Hyland said she could not relate to her character at all and yet she pulled it off so well is a testimony of her acting abilities. Hours before the series finale, she shared in a Glamour essay that she could not relate to her hot-girl character and instead, resonated more with Haley Dunphy's mother, Claire.

She is also personally enamored with the actress who played Claire, Julie Bowen. Hyland wrote that for all these years, Bowen had been like a mother to her. She also said she's one of the most opinionated and strongest women she had ever met. She also revealed that Bowen taught her how to be opinionated with tact because she personally has no filter and cannot keep her mouth shut. Bowen's brain just fascinates her.

On her social media account these days, however, the actress said her only priority is keeping herself safe and healthy. Her immune system is not that great, so she's not taking chances at this time of covid-19. She wants to learn French and take some bike lessons after though.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle and Angelina Jolie Have THIS Unique Connection, Source Says
Having recovered after testing positive for the novel coronavirus last month, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond plans to board a World War II-era airplane Friday morning and bless the city from overhead as it continues grappling with the deadly virus.

Aymond, who leads roughly 400,000 Roman Catholics in eight parishes, is set to be joined by Rabbi Lexi Erdheim of Metairie's Gates of Prayer Synagogue, who also plans to confer an aerial blessing during one of two so-called "spirit flights."

The religious leaders will take to the skies in separate flights with different pilots, beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, weather permitting. The blessings will take place from the cockpit of a 1943 Boeing PT-17 Stearman that will be thoroughly disinfected between flights.

The flight comes as social distancing measures triggered by the coronavirus pandemic are forcing religious leaders across the region to find new ways to observe important dates on the spiritual calendars: In this case Good Friday and Passover.

Recovering from coronavirus, Archbishop Gregory Aymond eyes Easter for return to ministry New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond remains self-quarantined at home more than a week after announcing that he tested positive for the novel

The local chapter of the Commemorative Air Force, an international World War II flying museum, has arranged the two so-called spirit flights, said David Capo, commander of the group's Big Easy Wing.

Each flight will last about 30 minutes from takeoff at Lakefront Airport to landing, and involve the plane zigzagging at about 1,000 feet over the metropolitan New Orleans area on both sides of the Mississippi River, from Kenner to St. Bernard Parish.

In a statement issued Thursday, Aymond called it a privilege to fly over our city while asking for prayers for health care workers, community leaders, ill people and those who have died during the pandemic.

It is  a sign of our faith in Almighty God to ask for his blessing and protection, Aymonds statement said.

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Acknowledging that the coronavirus is highly contagious, crews clad in masks and gloves will perform deep cleaning scrubs on the plane  with its distinctively bright, yellow wings and open-air cockpit  before and after the flights, Capo said.

+3 New Orleans Archbishop Aymond says he has tested positive for coronavirus New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond has tested positive for the new coronavirus, he announced Monday.

Capo said the plane should be easily visible from the ground.

Aymond, 70, announced March 23 that he had developed a fever and tested positive for the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus, COVID-19. He was self-quarantined and isolated at home for the next two weeks as he recovered from the illness, which officials said had led to the deaths of more than 700 people statewide as of Thursday.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement last week that Aymond was feeling well enough that he was optimistic about celebrating televised Masses on Easter weekend. Aymond is scheduled to lead a televised Mass scheduled for Thursday.

Those Masses are not open to the public after the archdiocese indefinitely canceled all public gatherings at church beginning March 18 to help slow the spread of the disease.

Aymond, New Orleans archbishop since 2009, stayed in touch with the New Orleans areas Catholics with self-recorded videos that he posted on Facebook.

In a video posted Wednesday night, Aymond said he realized the pandemic was preventing parishioners from physically receiving communion this Easter weekend. But he said parishioners could get spiritual communion by telling the Lord Jesus that you would like to receive him and ask him to come into the depths of your heart.
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 169 and the number of cases climbed to 5,865 in the country on Thursday, registering an increase of 591 cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

IMAGE: A health worker checks the temperature of a policewoman during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Coimbatore, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,218, as many as 477 people have been cured and discharged and one has migrated, the ministry said.

Of the 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, eight were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, two from Jammu and Kashmir and one each from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 72, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with each recording 16 deaths and Delhi at nine. Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported eight fatalities each while Telangana has recorded seven deaths.

IMAGE: A flyover at Park Circus wears a deserted look in Kolkata, on Thursday. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo

West Bengal and Karnataka have registered five deaths each. Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have reported four deaths each, while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.

Two deaths have been reported from Kerala, while Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have recorded one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

The total number of cases (5,865) includes 71 foreign nationals.

The death toll in the country due to COVID-19 was 149 on Wednesday.

IMAGE: Medics prepare to cremate a COVID-19 patient in Jalandhar, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as on Thursday evening showed at least 196 deaths due to the deadly virus.

There is a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, as compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to the procedural delay in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 1,135, followed by Tamil Nadu at 738 and Delhi with 669 cases.

IMAGE: A firefighter sprays disinfectants on an SSB vehicle, in Jammu, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The number of cases has risen to 442 in Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases and Rajasthan 383. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 cases, while Kerala has 345 COVID-19 patients.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 181 in Karnataka, 179 in Gujarat and 169 in Haryana.

Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal 103 and Punjab has 101 COVID-19 patients.

Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases, 39 people have been infected with the virus in Bihar, while Uttarakhand has 35 COVID-19 patients and Assam 28.

IMAGE: A traffic policeman helps a physically challenged person wear a mask, in Chandigarh, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each, while Ladakh has 14 and Jharkhand 13.

11 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Chhattisgarh has registered 10 cases.

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 cases, Puducherry five, Manipur two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

From making masks mandatory to restricting movement of people in areas identified as COVID-19 hotspots, authorities across several states on Thursday beefed up surveillance and enforcement measures to contain the deadly virus outbreak.

IMAGE: A traffic policeman questions a commuter for stepping out of his house, during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Kolkata, on Thursday. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo

The Centre also announced a Rs 15,000 crore 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package', while Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown further till April 30 and also announced closure of schools till June 17.

Several other states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh said they will take a final decision in the coming days on whether to extend or not the 21-day nationwide lockdown, which entered its 16th day.

According to Indian Council of Medical Research, nearly 1.3 lakh samples have been tested for coronavirus so far in the country and the rate of those confirming positive has ranged between 3-5 per cent in the last one and half months without showing any substantial increase.

IMAGE: Attendees of patients in a hospital wait to receive food in Kolkata, on Thursday. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo

The Union Health Ministry also stressed on the rational use of personal protective equipment (PPEs) by healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients amid concerns over their dwindling numbers in the country.

Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said there is no need to panic as India has sufficient stocks of PPEs and the government is making all efforts to augment their supply further.

At his daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation, he said orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have already been placed with domestic manufacturers and supply has already begun. He also said PPEs should be used rationally on the basis of risk profile. Orders for 49,000 ventilators have been placed too, Agarwal said.

IMAGE: Workers prepare a railway coach to be used as an isolation ward for COVID-19 patients in Prayagraj, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Speaking about various initiatives taken by the government, Agarwal said the Health Ministry has formed 10 high-level multi-disciplinary central teams and they have been sent to nine states to support them with the containment plans, hospital management and ventilator management.

These are Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telengana and Uttar Pradesh.

According to ICMR, India is also in the final stages of finalising protocol for conducting clinical trial on convalescent plasma therapy -- a process in which blood plasma from a patient who has recovered from COVID-19 is infused into a critically ill patient so that the specific antibodies present in the blood of the recovered person can help fight the infection.

IMAGE: Labourers pass through a disinfectant tunnel at the entrance of APMC market in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

Amid rising numbers across states, authorities announced strict measures to enforce the lockdown and further restrictions including complete sealing of areas identified as hotspots of the virus spread.

After extending the lockdown for two more weeks, Odisha government also promulgated an ordinance with provision of imprisonment up to two years for those who violate the epidemic regulations.

Rajasthan also made it mandatory for people to wear masks in urban areas and mandis, while the same was made compulsory in various cities of Mahrashtra besides Mumbai. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh had announced similar measures on Wednesday.

Also, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh expanded the list of containment zones that would be sealed off completely, after similar steps taken by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh a day before.

IMAGE: Homeless children wait to receive food in Chennai, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Maharashtra government is also mulling complete shutdown in certain areas, including of markets.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said all his cabinet colleagues are of unanimous opinion to extend the lockdown for about 15 days after April 14, and a final decision in this regard will be taken after consulting the prime minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with all chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the way forward in the COVID-19 fight, including the lockdown.

IMAGE: A policeman stands guard outside a graveyard to stop the Shab-e-Barat gatherings of Muslims, in Prayagraj, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

A committee of health experts tasked with devising an exit strategy for coronavirus lockdown in Karnataka have recommended its continuation in 'hotspots' along with some relaxations.

It has advocated restrictions on public transport to continue for some more time, an odd-even formula for private vehicles and factories being allowed to function with 50 per cent staff, among other measures.

In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said lifting the lockdown is a 'big challenge' and must be given a considered thought.

In an interview to PTI, he said the spread of the coronavirus has been kept in check in his state, but things could change if a large number of people return to the state from other parts of the country.

IMAGE: Corporation workers sanitise the wholesale market road in Coimbatore, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said a decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after getting expert advice and taking into account the increase in the number of coronavirus positive cases.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said he would take a decision only after consulting the state cabinet on April 12.

In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of strict action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel in the city in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The came a day after two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were assaulted following rumours that they are "spreading COVID-19" in the Gautam Nagar area.

IMAGE: NGO members distribute food to needy people in Surat, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The pandemic has also seen a sharp rise in hate crimes.

A Maharashtra cyber police official said they have noted an increase in fake news, hate and communal content over coronavirus on social media in the last few days.

The state cyber police have registered 132 cases till Wednesday in connection with fake news, rumours and hate speeches on social media since the lockdown.

As the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown continued to weigh heavily on economic activities, the Reserve Bank expressed hope that recent monetary and fiscal measures will mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on domestic demand and spur growth once the normalcy is restored.

IMAGE: Health workers conduct door-to-door surveillance in a red zone area for COVID-19, in Srinagar, on Thursday. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo

In its Monetary Policy Report, the RBI said the lockdown following the outbreak of COVID-19 and expected contraction in global outlook would weigh heavily on the growth outlook.

Bank of America Securities said in a report that the Centre may soon announce another fiscal package which should be almost similar to the Rs 1.75 lakh crore stimulus announced last month.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s with over 170 countries expected to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic.

More than 15 lakh have tested positive worldwide since the deadly virus first emerged in China last December, while nearly 87,000 have lost lives.
Despite a need for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the top priority for people in the path of a tornado or severe weather should be to protect themselves, officials said Wednesday.

Now is the time to explore the best options to keep you safer from severe weather, as well as limit your exposure to the virus. Dont wait until a tornado warning is issued to make a plan, the state Department of Emergency Management said in a news release.

The need to practice social distancing and prevent the spread of COVID-19 brings added complications to taking shelter from severe weather, the agency said.

However, state and federal officials agree that your top priority should be to protect yourself from a potential tornado.

Officials recommend sheltering from tornadoes inside your home when possible. If you dont have a below-ground storm shelter, well-constructed homes and buildings provide life-saving protection from 98% of Oklahomas tornadoes. Take shelter in a closet, bathroom, interior hallway or other interior room with no windows on the lowest level of the house or building.
Truth Commissioner Carlos Beristain (left) is presented with paper doves, representing peace, by U.S. delegates Maria Giraldo Gallo, Cristina Espinel and Cristina Escobar at the Hotel Le Meridien on Feb. 21, 2020. Read more

During a brainstorming session in an executive conference room at the Hotel Le Meridien in Philadelphia, 30 people sat in groups of six, with white index cards, note pads, and markers.

They were the U.S. delegates volunteering for Colombias Truth, Reconciliation and Non-Repetition Commission, and they were going to learn to record testimonials from survivors of Colombias internal war known as the Armed Conflict.

Lets think about the time periods and the reasons why you or someone  fled from Colombia to the United States or any other country during the Armed Conflict, said Carlos Beristain, taking notes, divided by decade from 1950 to 2020, on an easel.

The workshop participants, tasked with summoning the stories of survivors, were survivors themselves of the complex dispute among the Colombian government, far-left guerrillas, far-right paramilitary, drug cartels, dissident-organized armed groups, and criminal gangs, which began 60 years ago and continues today. These factions confront one another over social, economic and political inequality, abuse of power, land theft, and drug trafficking.

The Colombian-based commission began its efforts in November 2018. Of its 11 commissioners, Beristain, a psychiatrist from Spain specializing in helping victims of war, oversees 170 delegates to collect testimonies of Colombian exiles in 24 countries, including the United States. So far, his delegates outside the United States have already collected 500 testimonies using an encrypted software to preserve the confidentiality of the survivors.

A 2018 report from Colombias National Center for the Historic Memory said the exact number of total Colombian exiles remains unknown as official reports do not include those who fled the conflict and did not request international protection.

The commissions goal is to publish a report by November 2021 using 15,000 testimonies.

"Its a part of history that is unknown, which includes a personal process of self-reconstruction and self-repair that is very valuable and needed to learn what happened, to understand why its such a complex conflict and to find how to avoid it from happening again, said Beristain, who has worked on similar projects in Paraguay, Ecuador, and Peru, and led the memoria historica report about the 1960-96 Guatemalan war.

To find volunteers outside Colombia, Beristain reached out to human-rights organizations and researched the list of survivors and victims family members in exile who had registered with the Colombian governments Unique List of Victims (RUV, for its acronym in Spanish).

Before the coronavirus became a worldwide crisis, Philadelphia served as the headquarters for the February three-day training in the United States. Although less than 3% of Latinos living in the Philadelphia area are Colombian, the city was deemed centrally located for the U.S. portion of the project. Participants came from Washington, California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, and the District of Columbia for the workshop, conducted in Spanish.

Maria Giraldo Gallo is one of three delegates assigned to the Philadelphia region. She moved to the city in 2014, after her husband was offered a scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Giraldo Gallo has experienced her own trauma but didnt want to share those details so that she could establish trust with interview subjects, who may have opposing views of the conflict.

The 29-year-old said her volunteer work and training with the commission has given her a better understanding of the perspectives of women, the LGBTQ community, and black and indigenous groups in the context of war. It has helped her navigate difficult conversations around sexual violence and displacement.

She said the report will help to explain, for those of Colombian descent born outside the country, why their family was displaced.

This project is a time of collective reflection, deep listening, and open dialogue, to talk about those things we never talk about, that we never learned but what our parents said it was, said Giraldo Gallo, who lives in West Philadelphia and is a multicultural specialist for the Philadelphia School District.

That access to detailed research-based information about our peoples memory is whats important for the younger ones.

Stopping the indifference

The woman from Cali traced the changes in Colombia that eventually brought her to the United States to the year 1996.

It was then that she and her husband were part of a group of 11 professionals who trained more than 800 teenagers over the course of nine years in technical careers that would allow the youth to open businesses, hoping it would keep them from being recruited by the guerrillas. It worked: The Chester County woman, who requested anonymity because she fears persecution, remembered students opened two bakeries and a shoe repair shop in Cali.

We wanted them to know that they didnt need political support or the validation of any group to make a living for themselves and their families, she said.

In 2003, things changed drastically: Students stopped attending the workshops and she started to receive threatening phone calls. Over the next two years, she was forced to move to a new home and the group disbanded, its members never speaking to one another again for security reasons.

In January 2005, she was six months pregnant with her first child, a boy, when members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia locked her with three other women in a camp, separated from her husband. She spent two months there and was tortured.

She recalled in detail her memories of those days: The sound of a nearby stream, the screams of those wounded, the wind caressing the trees at night, and the many times guerrilla members kicked her belly.

Eventually she and the others escaped. An emergency C-section resulted in the loss of her child.

Months later, she and her husband immigrated to the United States and requested asylum. Over the next 15 years, she started a new life working as a doula and a language interpreter. She is now the primary wage earner in her family and is the director of a nonprofit. She and her husband have a 13-year-old son.

Now 51, she still passionately loves Colombia but says its people, particularly survivors like herself, have lost trust in the government and its institutions. The commission, she said, is a worthy endeavor.

If this is whats needed to unify all Colombians, to stop our indifference, then Im in all favor of sharing my story, to declaim the truth.

Laying the groundwork

Critics say television series like Narcos or Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord have simplified the conflict, leaving out the complex mix of violent crimes fueled by the abuse of power, the battles between politically polarized groups and movements, and how this has affected the people of Colombia.

In fact, the survivors of the Armed Conflict have different perspectives on who is right, what went wrong, and how to end the conflict.

Cristina Escobar, a sociology professor at Temple University and a Philadelphia commission delegate, said the coronavirus pandemic has complicated some of the groundwork of the project, which is based on gaining trust.

The team of three had already spent five months searching for institutional support from local organizations such as libraries and churches, to guarantee neutral, safe spaces to talk comfortably with the survivors.

Now, Escobar said, they are looking forward to connecting with survivors virtually on social media, email, and video conferences.

These arent the best circumstances, knowing people are scared of the [health] crisis and also fear their past [in Colombia], but this collaboration is meant to build a better future for us.
Qantas is back at it again, navigating international lockdowns to ferry Australians home.

The airline has and will be chartering several flights to pick up stranded Aussies on other continents, Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed on Thursday, revealing an entire planeful are already in-bound from the Chilean capital Santiago.

"The flight is bringing Australians out of Lima, Cuzco and Quito," Payne said, revealed two different planes had been sweeping South America to round them up. "Then one flight from Latam [Airlines] will bring people to Melbourne."

That particular flight left Santiago on Thursday morning, carrying 280 Australians and four New Zealanders, with Payne saying the federal government had been "trying to assist New Zealanders as much we can". All will be quarantined for 14 days when they arrive in order to detect any signs of the virus among the cohort.

"There have been challenges with Australians being in quite remote locations around Peru. As best as we have been able in the lockdown context, the Australian Embassy in Lima has used local transport as a means to try to bring as many of those to a flight centre as we can," she said.

Those Australians who take up the government's offer have been asked to pay around $2,500 to get a seat.

"Where there is a real difficulty for Australians to afford those flights, we have of course encouraged them to engage with friends and family," Payne said. "We also do have provision for travel emergency loans and high commissioners and ambassadors are making that clear to Australians who are dealing with the challenge of returning."

Payne said South America had been a particular focus given the difficulty of transiting back to Australia from there amid the current travel restrictions in place around the world. A cursory search turns up regular flights from Santiago to Melbourne costing more than $6,000 and requiring stopovers in countries as diverse as Ireland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates in order to get back.

Story continues

Other chartered flights have already been planned. One Qantas flight is expected to depart Lima early next week, while another will transport Australians from South Africa.

While not specifying details, Payne also alluded to another flight to come from Argentina and revealed the government is in negotiations with governments from India, Cambodia, the Philippines and Lebanon to coordinate similar emergency flights from those regions in the coming weeks.

It comes after Qantas was charged with evacuating hundreds of Australians from Wuhan, the virus' epicentre in China, earlier this year, and dumping them on Christmas Island for quarantine.

The next set of passengers, it's imagined, will be far happier with their Melbourne boltholes.
Islamabad: more than 88000 deaths have occurred due to coronavirus, while millions of people have been infected with this virus. In such a situation, it is a bit difficult for scientists to say how long will be able to get rid of this disease.

According to the information received, where all the countries are trying to prove their participation in the war by removing their estrangement due to Coronavirus, Pakistan does not want to be part of any such war started by India. This is the reason why he did not participate in the virtual conference to be held between trade officials of SAARC member countries. By boycotting this forum, Pakistan has once again made it clear that the talks of PM Imran Khan till now were only hollow words.

Pakistan has made excuses for Pakistan to boycott this trade meeting, that is also very lousy. According to Pakistan's media reports, this meeting was to formulate a strategy on the Coronavirus and stop its spread in the SAARC countries. But India has boycotted this meeting after being told that such steps cannot be successful without it. Not only this, it has been said from Pakistan that Pakistan is making every effort to stop Corona, but India wants to keep its crown on its head, which is not acceptable to it. India wants it to remain at its center and loot the applause of the efforts made to stop the epidemic.

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The top departments of the US government have endorsed cutting off Beijing-controlled China Telecom from serving the US market because of legal and security risks, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The departments, including Defense, State, and Homeland Security, said after a broad review that the Federal Communications Commission should "revoke and terminate" all authorizations for the Chinese giant's US subsidiary, China Telecom (Americas), to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

"The Executive Branch agencies identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom's operations, which render the FCC authorizations inconsistent with the public interest," the Justice Department said in a statement.

The agencies -- which also included the Justice Department, the Commerce Department, the US Trade Representative and US counter-intelligence -- said China Telecom is vulnerable to "exploitation, influence and control" by the Chinese government.

They said it has inaccurately reported to US authorities where it stores its US records and how it manages cybersecurity.

The agencies also made the recommendation based on "the nature of China Telecom's US operations," which they said allow Chinese government actors "to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of US communications."



The recommendation has to be decided upon by the FCC, but will almost certainly involve the White House, where it could be weighed amid ongoing trade negotiations with Beijing.

It came just five days after President Donald Trump's administration formed an interdepartmental body to formally review national security concerns related to foreign telecommunications companies involved in the United States.

In September 2019 two senators, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Tom Cotton, asked the FCC to consider banning China Telecom and another company, China Unicom, from the US market over national security concerns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:33:22|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Five rockets were fired at Afghanistan's Bagram airfield on Thursday morning, the main U.S. military base in the country, but caused no casualties, confirmed the U.S.-led military alliance and the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission.

"Five rockets were fired at Bagram airfield early this morning. There were no casualties or injuries. Our ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) partners are investigating the incident," said the Resolute Support mission in its Twitter account hours after the incident.

However, the military alliance didn't provide more details.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian confirmed the incident and said in talks with Xinhua that five rockets were fired by unknown people from a car in Qalacha area, a suburban of Bagram district at 05:40 a.m. local time towards Bagram airfield but caused no loss of life and property damage.

Bagram airfield, 50 km north of Kabul, is the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan where countless militants and criminals including thousands of Taliban loyalists have been held in a jail controlled by the Afghan government.

The Afghan government set free 100 Taliban detainees on Wednesday and is expected to free 100 more on Thursday in line with the peace deal inked between the Taliban and the United States on Feb 29. As part of the agreement, the Afghan government exchanges 1,000 of its troopers with 5,000 Taliban detainees in government prisons.

The Taliban group has rejected its involvement in the attack on the U.S. military base in Bagram.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Majahid said in its Twitter account "Rocket attacks on Bagram airbase has no relations with the Majahidin (holy warriors) of Islamic Emirate (name of former Taliban regime) ousted in late 2001.

However, the Islamic State (IS) outfit, which is active in parts of the militancy-battered Afghanistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is the first time that the hardliner IS group has claimed responsibility for targeting a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
CHICAGOSmithfield Foods Inc, the worlds biggest pork processor, said on Thursday it is temporarily closing a plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, because of the CCP virus, the latest disruption to the U.S. food supply chain from the outbreak.

The company will suspend operations in a large section of the pork plant on April 11 and completely shutter it on April 12 and April 13, after employees tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, according to a statement.

The plant has a total of 3,700 workers, Smithfield said. It supplies nearly 130 million servings of food per week, or about 18 million servings per day, in the United States, according to the company, which is owned by Chinas WH Group Ltd.

Tyson Foods Inc said on Monday it closed a pork plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, after more than 24 cases of COVID-19 involving employees at the facility. U.S. beef plants run by JBS USA and National Beef Packing Company have also shut.

By Tom Polansek

NTD staff contributed to this report
Almost a third of Australians are either unemployed or are looking for more hours, a study found.

The forced closure of hospitality and retail businesses has devastated the economy, with the experts universally expecting a recession in 2020 - the first in 29 years.

Leading market researcher Roy Morgan said the measures to combat the spread of coronavirus were worse than feared and resembled the 1930s Great Depression as 1.4million people joined the Centrelink queue in just a fortnight.

It found 16.8 per cent of Australians were unemployed in late March, a level last seen in Australia 88 years ago, with 2.4million people out of work as of last week.

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Almost a third of Australians are either unemployed or are looking for more hours, a study found. The forced closure of hospitality and retail businesses has devastated the economy, with experts universally expecting a recession in 2020 - the first in 29 years. Pictured is a cafe across the road from a Centrelink office at Brunwick in Melbourne

This was also more than double their 7.3 per cent figure for the first fortnight of March, before Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered the closure of pubs, clubs, gyms, cinemas and dine-in restaurants.

COVID-19 jobless crisis Roy Morgan research found 1.4million Australians lost their jobs in the second half of March 2020 They calculated an unemployment level of 16.8 per cent - a level last suffered during the 1930s Great Depression Another 10.6 per cent of workers are getting too few shifts That means 27.4 per cent of Australians are either unemployed or under-employed Advertisement

Another 10.6 per cent of survey respondents in late March were under-employed, a situation where they were searching for more work hours so they could pay their bills.

Combined with the jobless, 27.4 per cent of Australians are either unemployed or under-employed, or a record-high 3.92million people.

Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said the COVID-19 shutdowns had delivered the biggest shock to the Australian workforce since World War II, when food and clothing were rationed.

'The rapid responses of governments around Australia to enforce tough new guidelines on social distancing and self-isolating has significantly reduced the spread of the virus through the community but at the same time delivered a hammer blow to the employment fortunes of many Australians,' she said.

Roy Morgan uses a different methodology to compile its labour force data to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which regards someone as employed if they work for at least an hour a week.

Leading market researcher Roy Morgan said the measures to combat the spread of coronavirus were worse than feared and resembled the 1930s Great Depression as 1.4million people joined the Centrelink queue (Heidelberg office in Melbourne pictured) in just a fortnight. It found 16.8 per cent of Australians were unemployed in late March, a level last seen in Australia 88 years ago, with 2.4million people out of work as of last week

It conducted 2,951 face-to-face interviews in the first half of March and followed this up with 2,999 online and telephone surveys after March 15.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

In February, it found 8.3 per cent of Australians were unemployed.

That was significantly higher than the ABS's official figure of 5.1 per cent, based on seasonally adjusting the data to account for a shorter month and summer.

That was the month the Australian government imposed a ban on direct passenger flights from China after the Communist Party regime had belatedly confirmed coronavirus cases in the city of Wuhan.

ABS labour force data for March is being released on Thursday next week.

Economists had expected unemployment to peak in the double digits but are now forecasting the jobless level staying in the single digits, following the passage through Parliament last night of the government's $130billion JobKeeper package.

Under the six-month program, six million workers will until September have their wages subsidised by $1,500 a fortnight.

Employers are eligible if they had stood down staff as a result of coronavirus.

Combined with the jobless, 27.4 per cent of Australians are either unemployed or under-employed, or a record-high 3.92million people. Pictured is a sign outside a cafe in a deserted Sydney street
When it first dawned on DLCs Fernando Zilli that COVID-19 was about to attach itself like an anchor to the Canadian economy, his first thought was for the welfare of his clients. His second concerned the tenants in his rental properties.

Now that the coronavirus pandemic has shocked the economy into virtual paralysis, mortgage brokers and other real estate professionals who own investment properties have been forced to confront the issue of income disruption from dual angles, their own and that of their renters. Its a difficult time, particularly for agents and brokers whose minds are already fully occupied with keeping their businesses afloat.

One of Zillis renters was working as the manager of a store in a mall in Victoria, BC, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, with zero income to rely on, she and Zilli have had to discuss their options while she waits, like millions of other Canadians, for her employment insurance to kick in.
Oil prices rose Thursday after Russia said it was ready to slash output. (Photo- AFP/PTI)

Singapore: Oil prices rose Thursday after Russia said it was ready to slash output, fuelling hopes that key producers are poised to seal a deal aimed at boosting coronavirus-hit energy markets.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up about three percent at $25.84 a barrel in afternoon Asian trade, having risen almost five percent at the open.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.7 percent to $33.08. It had jumped about three percent in earlier deals.

Exporting group OPEC and allies including Russia as well as other major producers will hold a teleconference later in the day with expectations growing that they will agree to reduce output to support the struggling market.

Prices are at near-two-decade lows with travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the virus throttling demand, and Riyadh and Moscow locked in a vicious price war.

But Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's top exporters, now look set to draw a line under their dispute to help provide some stability.

Moscow said Wednesday it is willing to cut output by 1.6 million barrels a day, or about 15 percent, Bloomberg News reported, smoothing the path towards a deal.

In a further sign that a deal was imminent, Kuwait's Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel reportedly said top producers intend to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day.

Fadhel said in an interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai published Thursday that the aim of the huge reduction is to "restore balance to the market and prevent further drops in the prices".

A key sticking point had been whether the US would join any deal, but analysts say a fall in America's crude output forecast released earlier this week is likely enough to satisfy Riyadh and Moscow for now.

Another key meeting takes place Friday, when G20 energy ministers hold talks remotely to discuss steps to steady the market.
The short film Family, starring leading actors from the Indian Film Industry, was released in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of social distancing during the Coronavirus outbreak. All the actors in the 4-minute long film stayed at home and shot their own videos which was then directed by Prasoon Pandey. During interaction with media, he revealed some BTS anecdotes and said it was Alia and Ranbir who suggested to go pan-India with the film.

Speaking to news agency PTI, director Prasoon Pandey revealed Alia and Ranbir shot each other's videos. Reports had already surfaced about the same, which the short film has somewhat confirmed. He also said that they came up with the idea that cast shouldn't be restricted to just B-town. "Ranbir and Alia went behind the camera for each other...I talked to Ranbir and Alia, who gave me another idea: Why stop at only Mumbai film industry? Why not make it pan-India? So everyone started contributing to the idea, it became even bigger."

Talking about the other actors and their cameramen, Pandey added, "Amit ji's portions were shot by Abhishek. Nick Jonas shot Priyanka's segment, Rajinikanth ji's was shot by his daughter Soundarya. Everyone was so gracious. They didn't come into the frame, but they were simply helping. They were so selfless, People were not just becoming a part as actors, they were becoming part of a project." (sic)

The director said he created a sample and sent it to actors. When everyone was on board he sent them simple templates on April 2 and asked them if they could begin filming the next day, "and they didn't bat an eyelid. They started shooting on April 3. Their families were shooting them as they were inside the house. I had made the template so simple, that even a 10-year-old kid could shoot it. So their own families started shooting and that's when I thought this film can be called Family," he added.

Prasoon Pandey's short film, Family was a huge hit on social media, it was also appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Family was headlined by Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Mohanlal, Mammootty and Chiranjeevi, alongside, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Diljit Dosanjh, Sonali Kulkarni, Shiv Rajkumar and Prosenjit Chatterjee.

Family: Karan Johar Is All Praise For Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, And Priyanka's Short Film

When Jaya Bachchan Invited Rekha For Dinner In Amitabh's Absence To Say: I Will Never Leave Amit
Laubach Way to Reading is a time-tested method that has taught millions of adults to read. It is based on Dr. Frank Laubachs years of research teaching adults. There are 760 million adults globally who cannot read and write, two-thirds of this population are women," says Kevin Morgan, president and CEO of ProLiteracy.

ProLiteracy, which has more than 1,000 member organizations in the U.S., and 30 partners in 25 countries worldwide, is excited to announce that it has translated and digitized Laubach Way to Reading into the Arabic language. Laubach Way to Reading is a time-tested method that has taught millions of adults to read. It is based on Dr. Frank Laubachs years of research teaching adults.

Updating and digitizing Laubach Way to Reading will help ProLiteracy meet its goal of reaching one million low-literate adults annually by providing quality content through todays technology. Creating digital versions of Laubach Way to Reading in Arabic will tackle two major problems: the lack of materials for many literacy providers, and the lack of teacher training.

Why Arabic? Arabic is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the world. Literacy rates, especially for women in the Arab region, are among the lowest in the world. The Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) states that the illiteracy rate in Arab countries exceeds 19%, or nearly 97 million people. Of the 22 Arabic-speaking countries, ProLiteracy will focus on the five with the lowest literacy rates for women, starting with Morocco and Egypt.

There are 760 million adults globally who cannot read and write, two-thirds of this population are women," says Kevin Morgan, president and CEO of ProLiteracy. "For example, in South Sudan, which has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, only 60% of teachers are trained. For over six decades, ProLiteracy has worked in partnership with educators and local NGOs in areas around the world where the majority of learners served are women. Literacy becomes a catalyst for learning, action, and problem solving that unites communities. We are excited to be able to provide systematic instructions in the Laubach Way to Reading teachers edition and the illustrated student book to equip teachers with the tools they need to educate adults.

###

About ProLiteracy

ProLiteracy Worldwide, recipient of the 2019 David M. Rubenstein Prize of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program, advances and supports programs to help adults acquire literacy skills needed to function more effectively in their daily lives. It has 1,000 member programs across 50 states and works with 30 partners in 25 countries to provide a wide range of adult literacy and basic education services to vulnerable populations. ProLiteracy builds capacity among frontline literacy providers by modeling proven instructional approaches, developing affordable, evidence-based learning resources, and providing professional development and technical assistance. ProLiteracy was formed by the 2002 merger of Laubach Literacy International (founded in 1955) and Literacy Volunteers of America (founded in 1962). For more than 60 years, ProLiteracy has scaled successful practices and driven advocacy efforts by activating its grassroots network, resulting in a broad and sustained effort to improve and advance adult literacy at the community level.


Technavio has been monitoring the digital educational publishing market and it is poised to grow by USD 5.51 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005632/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Digital Educational Publishing Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Cengage Learning Holdings, Holtzbrinck Publishing group, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson, and RELX group are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Rapid penetration of smartphones has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Digital Educational Publishing Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Digital Educational Publishing Market is segmented as below:

End-user K-12 Higher Education Corporate/skill-based

Geographic Landscape The Americas APAC EMEA



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30140

Digital Educational Publishing Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our digital educational publishing market report covers the following areas:

Digital Educational Publishing Market Size

Digital Educational Publishing Market Trends

Digital Educational Publishing Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies growing influence of data analytics in digital education as one of the prime reasons driving the digital educational publishing market growth during the next few years.

Digital Educational Publishing Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Digital Educational Publishing Market, including some of the vendors such as Cengage Learning Holdings, Holtzbrinck Publishing group, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson, and RELX group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Digital Educational Publishing Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Digital Educational Publishing Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist digital educational publishing market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the digital educational publishing market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the digital educational publishing market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of digital educational publishing market vendors

Table Of Contents :

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER

Market segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

K-12 Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Higher education Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Corporate/skill-based Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by end-user

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023

EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Cengage Learning Holdings

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group

McGraw-Hill Education

Pearson

RELX Group

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005632/en/

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By PTI

NEW DELHI: Urging people not to believe rumours, the finance ministry on Thursday said Rs 500 has been deposited in each PMJDY account held by women for April and Rs 1,000 more will be given over the next two months in equal instalments.

Meanwhile, state-owned SBI, which has the highest number of PMJDY accounts, asked the beneficiaries not to believe in rumours that the money will be taken away by the government if not withdrawn amid large numbers of people flocking banks.

As a result of this, there are rush at bank branches leading to violation of social distancing guidelines to check the spread of coronavirus.

The Department of Financial Services (DFS) in a tweet said the government has deposited Rs 500 in the PMJDY accounts held by women for April and beneficiaries could withdraw it "any time".

"This amount (Rs 500) has reached your bank account and you can withdraw it any time," it said, and added Rs 500 will also be deposited during May as well in June.

The DFS, in the finance ministry, also asked the beneficiaries not to believe in rumours and withdraw the amount from ATM, customer service point or banks as per their convenience.

Of the total 38.08 crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), as many as 20.60 crore were held by women.

As on April 1, the deposits in the PMJDY accounts stood at over Rs 1.19 lakh crore. State Bank of India (SBI) further said, "We would like to assure our customers that the funds in your account will not be blocked or returned to the government." The country's largest lender also asked the PMJDY account holders to withdraw money at their convenience anytime.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced this as part of the Rs 1.70-lakh crore relief package announced last month.

The minister had said as many as 20.5 crore women Jan Dhan account holders will get Rs 500 per month for next three months to run their households, a move aimed at mitigating the hardships caused by the lockdown.
Abdul Chowdhury, the latest doctor to die of coronavirus, warned PM Johnson to provide NHS workers with adequate PPE.

London, United Kingdom  A British doctor who warned United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson that health workers on the front line did not have enough personal protection equipment (PPE) has died of COVID-19.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, a 53-year-old consultant in the urology department at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Romford, worked for the NHS for more than 20 years after migrating from Bangladesh.

He died on Wednesday aged 53 after spending 15 days in hospital.

In a Facebook post on March 18 directly addressing Johnson, Chowdhury urged the prime minister to provide PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK, as he called for him to fast-track testing for medical staff.

Doctors, nurses and other workers who are in direct contact with patients were trying to help, he wrote, but we are also human beings [with] human rights like others [trying] to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

While he appreciated moral support being given to NHS workers, we have to protect ourselves and our families and kids in this global disaster crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies, he said.

I hope we are by default entitled to get this minimal support for our safe medical practice.

Adnan Pavel, Chowdhurys friend, described him as an enthusiastic mentor to young British Bangladeshi men in the UK and a selfless philanthropist to vulnerable people in Bangladesh.

He was such a good man. He was always very helpful to everyone. He was a man with life, Pavel told Al Jazeera.

Last year, Pavel and Chowdhury delivered a motivational speech to British Bangladeshi men who had just graduated or were about to apply to university.

He wanted to inspire them so that they could fulfil their calibre and become a successful doctor, engineer, journalist, academic, lawyer or accountant, he said.

Because Dr Chowdhury was a senior doctor, he always actively helped junior doctors so that they could fulfil their career aspirations as well.

He personally initiated many medical projects in remote villages in Bangladesh [providing] free medical treatment.

On February 8, Pavel interviewed Chowdhury for a TV programme on a Bangladeshi community channel, NTV Europe, about concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Chowdhury started talking about the [coronavirus] issue from the very beginning, asking why the British government and other European countries werent taking rigorous and strict measures to control it.

He was worried developing countries like Bangladesh will be the worst victim of this crisis because of economic issues and improvised healthcare issues, said Pavel.

Chowdhurys death came amid mounting concerns that medical workers are not receiving adequate PPE.

Some have claimed that they have had to share PPE, while reports in UK media suggest some nurses have resorted to using bin bags as aprons.

Asif Munaf, an acute medical registrar who works across the East Midlands, told Al Jazeera: Weve learned from the countries such as Taiwan and South Korea that full PPE for front line staff is absolutely crucial in circumventing the patient-staff spread as well as more general surface contact spread.

This has resulted in fewer healthcare staff deaths than would otherwise have transpired.

Despite the stark warnings from Italian doctors as well as our own NHS front line, most notably Dr Chowdhury who has passed away this week after his posting a Facebook status about his concerns, the government seem to be deploying an it will be ok attitude in the face of a growing crisis.

How many more front line deaths will we have to seen before adequate PPE is rolled out across the NHS?
India's top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said one of its key subsidiaries, Power Transmission & Distribution, has secured major orders for substations - in the range of Rs50 billion to Rs70 billion ($650 million to $922 million) from the Gulf region besides a contract for a 220 kV gas insulated unit from Egypt and some local orders.

The company has been awarded a major contract in Kuwait for upgradation of substations and related power facilities in Kuwait National Petroleum Company's (KNPC) Mina Al Ahmadi oil refinery.

The revamped network of distribution substations with latest technology will enhance the reliability of power supply and facilitate expansion, said the statement from the Indian construction giant.

L&T's Power Transmission & Distribution unit has also won a 400 kV grid station order in Oman which will be a crucial element in the sultanates major transmission initiative to interconnect the grids in the south and north with the PDO Area.

In Egypt, the group has been roped in to design, supply, construct and commission a 220 kV gas insulated substation.

L&T said its renewable arm too has won large engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orders on the domestic and international fronts to set up solar photovoltaic plants totalling more than 500 MW.

These grids connected to power plants also entail related power evacuation and interconnection systems, said the statement.

On the domestic front, L&T bagged the order in Chennai to strengthen the urban high tension (HT) distribution network in addition to ring main units and feeder remote terminal units on a total turnkey basis.

Also, fully automated, unmanned 33 kV gas insulated substations will be established at select locations.

Another order has been secured to supply and install medium-voltage capacitor banks with related accessories under different discoms in Uttar Pradesh, said the statement from L&T.

Additional orders have been received in ongoing substation, transmission line and renewable projects, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 09:15:34|Editor: zyl

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KAMPALA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday said the military has started manufacturing N95 face masks and surgical masks to address a current shortage as the country strives to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Museveni said in a televised address that the National Enterprise Corporation, the army's business arm, will supply 1 million surgical masks and 50,000 N95 masks.

The president said other factories in the country are also gearing up to start manufacturing masks, sanitizers and other personal protective gear.

Some of the health workers who are on the frontline of fighting the pandemic have said they do not have proper gear to enable them to do their work well.

Museveni said that once the local manufacturing of the products starts, the medical people will have enough protective gear.

Uganda currently has 53 confirmed cases of COVID-19, but the government fears the number may rise since some of the confirmed cases interacted with the public before they were quarantined.
Omjasvin M D By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The gig economy works perfectly well in good times, but situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak exposes the underlying callousness in the system.

Take for instance the case of the private security guards posted at every other mall, office, or residential apartment.

Employed through manpower contract companies, they continue to work in todays dangerous environment guarding luxury car showrooms and high-end jewellery stores  without any transport facility, health benefits, or even basic insurance.

So, what keeps them going in such tough times? The threat of being sacked from their jobs. Sasi Kumar works with a top car showroom in Teynampet area of Chennai.

He says whatever the case, he was asked to report to work by his bosses.

From Vyasarpadi, Sasi Kumar manages to reach his work locating mostly by hitching rides with others.

There are stretches where I find none, so I walk. My shift lasts for 12 hours. Sasi Kumar, who is partially blind, says he gets no medical support from his employers. I know nothing about this virus.

All I know is that if something were to happen to me, I will have to shell out money from my pocket. My employers will not take care of anything.

While security guards at apartments get some food from residents, theres no such luck for those of us guarding shops, malls, and ATMs, adds Sasi Kumar. Jeevanandam R*, a security guard with a jewellery shop near Thousand Lights, says the company did not consider making any arrangements for travel. Every day we get into trouble with the police. Its a difficult situation.

(* Names changed to protect identities)
KAMPALA  The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 and caused more than 500 deaths.

While the virus was slow to reach the continent compared to other parts of the world, infection has grown exponentially in recent weeks and continues to spread.

Reaching the continent through travellers returning from hotspots in Asia, Europe and the United States, Africas first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on 14 February.

Since then a total of 52 countries have reported cases. Initially, mainly confined to capital cities, a significant number of countries in Africa are now reporting cases in multiple provinces including those in the countryside.

COVID-19 has the potential not only to cause thousands of deaths, but to also unleash economic and social devastation. Its spread beyond major cities means the opening of a new front in our fight against this virus, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.

This requires a decentralised response, which is tailored to the local context. Communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to outbreaks locally.

WHO is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, testing, isolation, case management, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, and laboratory capacity.

Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco,Tunisia and Nigeria have expanded national testing to multiple labs, allowing for decentralized testing.

WHO says the combined measures will ensure the rapid identification of cases, the tracking down and quarantining of contacts and the isolation and treatment of patients.

It is also crucial that people are provided with accurate information which will promote healthy behaviours.

Protection of health workers is a vital component of the response and when governments implement physical distancing measures, the basic needs of people should be taken into account.

Africa still has an opportunity to reduce and slow down disease transmission. All countries must rapidly accelerate and scale up a comprehensive response to the pandemic, including an appropriate combination of proven public health and physical distancing measures. Within that process, Member States should target effective control of the outbreak, but plan for the worst, said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Early isolation of all cases, including mild cases, is one of the key control measures, along with early detection, early treatment and contact tracing. Timely and accurate epidemiological data is one of the most important tools to inform and drive the response. We must protect our health care workers and ensure that they are appropriately equipped  they are on the front lines and need our unwavering support. We owe them a great deal.

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Six years ago, Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon made their Bollywood debut together in Sabbir Khans Heropanti. Now, he feels that she is too big of a star to work with him.

During an interaction with Bollywood Hungama, Tiger was asked if he would reunite with Kriti in Heropanti 2, which was announced in February this year. Right now, we dont even have a script thats locked. Once the script is locked, we will definitely come to know and have a good idea of that. But right now, it is too early to say. She is also quite busy with her line-up at the moment so we will have to see, he said.

Tiger also said that while he looks forward to sharing screen space with Kriti again, she is out of his league. I would love to work with Kriti again, but she is too big of a star to work with somebody like me, he said.

Also read | Zoa Morani shares her coronavirus symptoms, treatment: Pranayam and hot water have been helping

Kriti was bowled over by Tigers humility and expressed her eagerness to walk with him. She wrote on Twitter, Says the superstar who rarely does less than 100cr on the boxoffice! Haha.. wat rubbish Tiger! You say when & which film, and Im ON! Anyways its been too long, so u better work with me soon! @iTIGERSHROFF.

Says the superstar who rarely does less than 100cr on the boxoffice! Haha.. wat rubbish Tiger! You say when & which film, and Im ON! 

Anyways its been too long, so u better work with me soon!  @iTIGERSHROFF https://t.co/7kvln2ApJS  Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) April 9, 2020

Earlier this year, Tiger announced that he will return in the sequel to his debut film. He also shared two posters of Heropanti 2, which promises to be high on action. This one is so special to me. Blessed and grateful to be carrying forward another franchise with my mentor sajid sir forward. #Heropanti2 #firstbaby, he wrote on Twitter.

While Sabbir Khan directed the first instalment of the franchise, which was a remake of the Telugu film Parugu, Ahmed Khan has been roped in to helm the sequel.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Ways to make an ever-popular New Year's resolution a reality

Getting started on a healthy program can be easy with some professional help.
Hong Kong: Voter register checks to resume

The Registration & Electoral Office (REO) today announced that it will resume public inspection of electoral registers from April 15 with special arrangements in place to prevent COVID-19 infection.

The Court of Appeal handed down an injunction order on October 22 last year restraining the office from making available the elector registers with linked information on electors names and principal residential addresses for public inspection, until the disposal of the judicial review application by the Junior Police Officers' Association.

The court yesterday handed down a judgment to dismiss the associations application.

The office will resume public inspection of the 2019 Final Register of Electors for the Geographical Constituencies, the Final Register of Electors for the Functional Constituencies and the Final Register of Voters for the Election Committee Subsectors (Registers of Electors).

The REO will make special arrangements for the public inspection of the Registers of Electors given that its offices and the Electoral Information Centre are temporarily closed to align with the limited service arrangements announced by the Government to reduce social contact.

Starting April 15, the REO office at 10/F, Harbour Centre, Wan Chai will provide the full set of registers for public inspection.

Its office at 13/F, Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, will provide the Final Register of Electors for the Functional Constituencies and the Final Register of Voters for the Election Committee Subsectors for public inspection.

Those who would like to inspect the registers may make appointments by calling 2891 4090 from April 14 during office hours.

The REO will provide six time slots for inspection with 30 minutes for each session on each working day for appointments on a first-come, first-served basis. Each person may reserve one inspection time slot per day.

People who have successfully made an appointment should inspect the registers at the designated office at the scheduled time, and follow all infection prevention measures and staff instructions, including wearing a mask, measuring temperature, and wearing disposable gloves provided on site throughout the inspection.

Call 2891 1001 or send an email for enquiries.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Mumbai, April 9 : Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan has started distributing 2000 packets of food daily to provide lunch and dinner to the needy across Mumbai amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This gesture in addition to providing monthly ration to one lakh households of daily wage workers associated with the All India Film Employees Confederation.

The actor took to his blog to talk of his social service. "Meanwhile on the personal front .. 2000 packets of food are being given each day for lunch and dinner at various locations over the city .. and the larger bags of a monthly provision about 3000 bags, which would take care of at 12,000 mouths is in process," he wrote.

He even revealed the locations where the needy were being fed.

"Most of the feeding is taking place at the Haji Ali dargah, the Mahim dargah, the Babulnath Temple, the slum in Bandra and a few other slums in the interior North of the city .. it is so difficult to cover as many as we may want to .. but..." The actor then highlighted the practical problems faced in transportation of supplies because of the nationwide lockdown.

"The process has its problems .. the lockdown has now made it illegal to step out of the house and living areas .. so even though I have been able to get the bags ready its transportation causes problems," he wrote.

"One cargo vehicle can carry 50-60 bags of the essential package .. so 3000 packages would involve so many more vehicles .. the vehicles is not the problem , its their movement that is restricted." The problem is not just in transportation but also during distribution of food, because slum-dwellers who have been starving over the past few days tend to get unruly and impatient during the distribution of food. This often creates a stampede-like situation.

"The authorities are saying that when the package arrives , people , specially those in the slums for whom the material is specially packed , have not eaten for 3-4 days and they rush for the vehicle to pick up their package, which almost causes a stampede and the Police cannot allow that to happen , with the conditions of 'social distancing',"Big B wrote.

The actor also revealed that he gives instructions to carry out the process the right way.

"Even where the daily food is being distributed I have insisted that proper lines are formed keeping distances from one another .. the volunteers, thank the Lord are working tirelessly in extreme conditions to make sure of its proper functioning .. it is a tough task .. but what can be done .. the cues are large and with each passing day are getting bigger and bigger," he said in his post.

Lauding the people associated with the process, he expressed: "We try to provide .. but getting the provision to reach the needy is an exercise! Something will work out I hope and pray .. I get a video and pictures of all the procedures happening each hour so I can give instructions .. which is a great help .. and of course the team that works day and night is incredibly diligent." Meanwhile, Big B also took to Twitter to express words of gratitude for supply warriors who are risking their lives to serve the nation in this hour of crisis.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
City Editor

Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has covered statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.
France's competition regulator said Thursday that Google must begin talks with media groups demanding payment when the search giant displays their content, the latest move in a long-running copyright battle in Europe.

The agency said it "requires Google, within three months, to conduct negotiations in good faith with publishers and agencies on the remuneration for the re-use of their protected contents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Bloomberg) -- The Justice Department is tracking disinformation campaigns worldwide by Russia and China aimed at sowing divisions over the coronavirus crisis, according to John Demers, head of the departments national security division.

The disinformation operations could fuel confusion and division in the U.S. and other Western countries, Demers said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg News.

The Russian governments objective appears to be aimed at weakening the European Union, NATO and Western democracies, in ways parallel to the Kremlins effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he said.

The disinformation is aimed at convincing nations hit hard by the pandemic that the EU isnt doing enough for them -- and that theyd be better off without it, Demers said.

Within the EU, the way this can play out is exacerbating divisions between some of the southern European countries that have been most strongly affected so far by coronavirus, like Italy and Spain, and the EU as an entity, Demers said.

The Chinese want to take advantage of the crisis to try to promote the benefits of their political and economic way of life over Western liberal democracy, Demers said.

Are we starting to see on social media some Chinese disinformation about the coronavirus? The answer is yes, Demers said. Who it is and where its emanating from, we will see how it plays out and how much of an organized effort this is.

Not all of the information in the campaigns may be false. Instead, the campaigns might combine legitimate information with fake or exaggerated portrayals, Demers said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry official saying the virus came from a U.S. military lab is disinformation, but its not something that we would go after criminally, Demers said. A bot spreading that and pretending to be not Chinese, pretending to be concerned citizens for coronavirus, is something that we do look at very seriously.

Hacking operations that are trying to exploit the coronavirus outbreak so far appear for the most part to be criminal in nature, Demers said.But he warned that biomedical research and intellectual property related to the coronavirus is probably of great value to hackers now, including China.

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Peter Dutton has warned Australians that the deadly coronavirus is a lot more 'serious than people realise' after coming out of isolation.

The Home Affairs Minister tested positive to the virus on March 13 and was admitted to hospital in Brisbane that night.

On Wednesday the 49-year-old was finally able to leave isolation after suffering symptoms on and off for nearly a month.

Speaking to Ray Hadley on 2GB on Thursday morning, Mr Dutton urged everyone to take the disease seriously and said it wouldn't be gone anytime soon.

'This is a much more serious disease than people realise,' he said.

'I had flu-like symptoms to start with, then felt on top of the world within four or five days, but it's the second week it sneaks back up on you.'

Scroll down for audio

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been released from isolation after testing positive to coronavirus

Mr Dutton said despite at times he felt better, there were days he feared he would be admitted back to hospital.

'It lingers and it comes back and it can come back in force,' he said.

'I went to bed one night thinking if it's any worse in the morning in terms of the labouring of my breathing I'd go back up to hospital.

'People shouldn't be complacent about it. A number of younger people have been in intensive care as well so just be very careful.'

Mr Dutton also said anyone who was planning on breaking social distancing or isolation rules should think twice.

'If you can get a backstreet path to the beach don't do it, if authorities think it's safe to lift restrictions they'll do that.

'This is not going away in the next month or two it's gonna be with us for a period of time.

'A lot of people are living in very difficult circumstances where they've lost everything financially, lost a loved one, they are scared witless because they're worried about a grandparent or sick child so we've got to think of those people as well.'

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Fears surrounded the entire cabinet after Mr Dutton tested positive to the disease as he had recently attended a string of events.

The politician had also earlier returned from a work trip to the United States.

He met with officials from the US, UK and Canada in Washington on March 6 as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing programme.

He posed for pictures with President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and American attorney general William Barr.

Mr Dutton also attended the opening of the new campus at the University of Sunshine Coast where he met with students and staff on March 9.

On March 10 he attended a cabinet meeting in Sydney before waking up three days later with a sore throat and testing positive.

Medical advice said Mr Dutton was only contagious 24 hours before showing symptoms.
Dave Bautista's spy comedy "My Spy" is the latest Hollywood project which has landed at a streaming service in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Variety, the Peter Segel-directed comedy has been acquired by Amazon Studios and it will be releasing the movie on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video.

The project, which hails from STX Films, has been plagued by many delays since the start. It was originally slotted for August 23, 2019 but was moved to March 13this year.

The studio then pushed the film to April 17 after the makers of Trolls World Tour decided to vacate the spot.

In the film, the action star plays a hardened CIA operative who finds himself at the mercy of a seemingly innocent nine-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to spy on her family.

The movie, which also features Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal and Ken Jeong, is yet to get a premiere date from Amazon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two 23-year-olds from Wanaka who were left stranded in Peru when the border closed three days before their flight home was due to depart have safely made it back to New Zealand and are staying in a government quarantine hotel in Auckland.

Caleb Nicol and Conor Hayes made national news last week after they found themselves unable to fly home from Peru. They and other Kiwis were told they had been cut from a repatriation flight because there were no ongoing flights to New Zealand on the same day the flight arrived in Sydney, as required by new Australian border controls.

When they later learned they could have boarded the flight after all, Nicol posted online that he felt the government had turned a blind eye to its citizens who are literally begging for their help. Other countries are getting their people back to where they belong.

Their story attracted a huge amount of attention in the press and the community, with over 6,000 signants petitioning the government to bring nationals home from South America.

Finally, after a stroke of pure luck, the boys managed to get on a flight to London on March 31, after a group of British tourists staying at the same hostel texted their roommate to say that there were twenty spare seats on their repatriation flight being given away on a first come, first served basis. The pair grabbed their bags and headed straight to the military airbase.

Once in London, they boarded a Qatar Airways flight to Auckland and are now staying at an Ibis Hotel under strict quarantine conditions - they are checked daily by nurses and allowed out of their rooms for food and a walk. Nicol told the Wanaka Sun they were being treated very well. The foods been really good, he said.

But whilst Nicol and Hayes secured a seat on the London flight, 80 fellow New Zealanders still in Peru were not so lucky. A week later on April 6, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that the government would be chartering a flight to bring Kiwis in Peru home, as it was increasingly difficult for them to "shelter safely in place." They would, however, need to pay for their own flight - at a cost of $5,330 each, and an additional $500 to fly from Cusco to Lima, where the flight departed from.

Nicol posted online that he was glad to see the government finally step up. It has been a lot of sleepless nights, literally hundreds of emails, and hours upon hours of phone calls and interviews to get to this point. Very excited to see that the Kiwis will be safe and out of the fast-changing, scary situation in Peru with hostels continuing to be raided and shut down.

Although he was unsure when and how he and Hayes would make it back to Wanaka, Nicol said they were very happy to be back on home soil and not too worried about what would happen next. They are both feeling well, and had a support network in Auckland. Were on a bit of an extended, extended holiday now, he added.

Everyone in Wanaka has been really, really supportive, he acknowledged, saying that offers of money, care packages and kind words gave them a push when they felt stuck. Wanaka has grown a lot, but it still has that small town sense of community.
Dhaka, April 9 : The mercy petition of a man who has been sentenced to death for the killing of Bangladesh's founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has been rejected by incumbent President President Md Abdul Hamid, a media report said.

Hamid rejected Abdul Mazed's plea after it reached the President's residence on Wednesday night, hours after the convict filed the petition, a source confirmed to bdnews24.

The jail authorities earlier said they sent the former army captain's petition for clemency to the Home Ministry.

Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court issued a death warrant against Mazed, paving the way for his execution.

He was arrested in Mirpur on Tuesday, four and a half decades after the murder.

The death sentence could be executed any day between April 21 and 28, according to Mosharraf Hossain Kazol, one of the lawyers for the state in the founding President's murder case.

Mazed was convicted and sentenced to death in 2009.

Five of the 12 military personnel sentenced to death for the 1975 murder were executed on January 27, 2010, a year after his daughter, current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, came to the power for her second term.

One of the accused had died in Zimbabwe in 2001 while six others were convicted in absentia and declared fugitives.

The execution of five killers - including the alleged chief conspirator Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruque Rahman - took place nearly 35 years after the crime against Mujib, who was assassinated along with several members of his family during an Army coup on August 15, 1975.

Mujib is widely regarded as the "father of the nation" for leading Bangladesh through its independent struggle from Pakistan.

At midnight on March 26, 1971, Mujibur issued a unilateral declaration of independence in a radio message, after years of political activism against alleged linguistic and regional discrimination of East Pakistan - as the region was known at the time - by governments based in Islamabad and rising atrocities by the military.

Following the declaration, a war broke out between pro-independence groups in East Pakistan, and the military of West Pakistan, which ended with the independence of Bangladesh.
By Akbar Mammadov

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and French company TOTAL have discussed development of the Aghseron gas field in the Azerbaijani part of the Caspian Sea.

During the meeting held between SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev and TOTAL Azerbaijans General Manager Regis Agut on April 8, it was noted that measures are being taken to maintain cooperation at the current level of efficiency within the successful Absheron project during the global pandemic. TOTAL representative spoke about the company's plans to start production and the next stage of development.

TOTAL reiterated its commitment to projects implemented in Azerbaijan.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest and discussed developments in the global energy market.

Regis Agut presented a letter from TOTAL Vice President for Exploration and Production Arnaud Breuilliac to SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the production of the first gas from the Absheron field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea could begin at the turn of 2020-2021. The volume of production at the first stage will be 1.5 billion cubic meters per year.

On November 21, 2016, SOCAR and Total signed an agreement on determining the main contractual and commercial conditions for the first stage of the development of the Absheron gas condensate field.

It should be mentioned that TOTAL is participating in the Absheron field development project in Azerbaijan together with SOCAR. The Absheron field is located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, southeast of Baku: 100 km from Baku at a depth of 500 meters. The fields reserves are estimated at 350 billion cubic meters of gas and 45 million tons of condensate.

The field is being developed by JOCAP, a joint venture between SOCAR and TOTAL. The drilling was carried out by SOCAR's CDC.

The Absheron field is one of the largest gas and condensate fields in Azerbaijan, as well as the largest discovery by TOTAL in the last 10 years. The development of the field will make an important contribution meet Azerbaijan's growing domestic demand for natural gas and increase export revenues.

Currently, the project participants are SOCAR (50%) and Total (50% - operator). The contract is signed for a period of 30 years. The contract area is 747 square meters. km

In 2019, SOCAR and Total completed drilling of the ABD-001 production and appraisal well with a depth of 7411 meters at the Absheron field. Drilling began in May 2018 using the Heydar Aliyev semi-submersible floating drilling rig.

At the peak of the project, about 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year can be produced. All gas produced in the framework of the first stage will be directed to the domestic market of Azerbaijan. Also, the field will produce about 10 thousand barrels of condensate daily.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
COVID-19 response plan implemented to protect the health of our people

March 2020 Q1 production of 17,159 gold equivalent ounces - up 34% from the prior year quarter

Production in line with 2020 Guidance of 55,000-60,000 gold equivalent ounces

Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Austral Gold Limited (ASX: AGD) (TSXV: AGLD) ("Austral" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the precautionary measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 virus and production for the March 2020 quarter.

COVID-19 Precautionary Measures

During Q1 2020, the Company's flagship mine complex in Chile (Guanaco/Amancaya) operated normally, except for several precautionary measures to address the risk of the COVID-19 virus as recommended by the Health Authorities and Governments around the world. In Argentina, exploration activities at the Casposo and Pinguino projects have been temporarily halted since the second half of March due to the mandatory isolation measures in effect in Argentina until 12 April 2020.

March (Q1 2020) Quarter Production

Q1 2020 production reached 17,159 gold equivalent ounces, which is in line with the annual production guidance of 55,000-60,000 gold equivalent. This represents a 34% increase from production of 12,851 gold equivalent ounces in Q1 2019 and a slight decrease of 4% from production of 17,953 gold equivalent ounces in Q4 2019, which generated record operating cash flow of US$13.9 million.

Further production and financial results including an update on our exploration and M&A activities will be announced in the Q1 2020 Quarterly Activity Report due by the end of this month.

The Company is currently unable to determine the potential impact of the measures taken to de-risk the impact of COVID-19 on the annual 2020 production guidance.

Austral Gold's Chief Executive Officer, Stabro Kasaneva said "We are closely monitoring the developments around COVID-19 and we have implemented several precautionary measures to protect the health of all our people which is our top priority. The Company is also working on contingency plans in the event we have supply-chain disruptions to gold or silver deliveries or the receipt of essential equipment and materials to operate. We are being conservative with the use of our cash in the event that our operations are temporarily curtailed. We have minimised capital expenditures, and exploration activity has been streamlined to brownfield areas within the Guanaco/Amancaya district. Starting April 2020, the Guanaco/Amancaya mines have been operating at 75% capacity due to changes in work shifts to minimise COVID-19 risks at the mine site."

About Austral Gold

Austral Gold Limited is a growing precious metals mining, development and exploration company building a portfolio of quality assets in Chile and in Argentina. Austral's flagship Guanaco/Amancaya project in Chile is a gold and silver producing mine with further exploration upside. Austral also holds the Casposo Mine (San Juan, Argentina), a ~23.62% interest in the Rawhide Mine (Nevada, USA) and an attractive portfolio of exploration projects including the Pinguino project in Santa Cruz, Argentina (100% interest) and the San Guillermo and Reprado projects near Amancaya, Chile (100% interest). With an experienced local technical team and highly regarded major shareholder, Austral's goal is to continue to strengthen its asset base through acquisition and discovery. Austral is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: AGD) and the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: AGLD). For more information, please consult Austral's website www.australgold.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Release approved by the Chief Executive Officer of Austral Gold, Stabro Kasaneva

For Further Information please contact:

Jose Bordogna

Chief Financial Officer

Austral Gold Limited

jose.bordogna@australgold.com

+54 (11) 4323-7558

David Hwang

Company Secretary

Austral Gold Limited

info@australgold.com

+61 (2) 9698-5414

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical and consist primarily of projections - statements regarding future plans, expectations and developments. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "potential", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import tend to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements about the disclosure of further production and financial results including an update on our exploration and M&A activities in our Q1 2020 Quarterly Activity Report due by the end of the month. All of these forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied, including, without limitation, business integration risks; uncertainty of production, development plans and cost estimates, commodity price fluctuations; political or economic instability and regulatory changes; currency fluctuations, the state of the capital markets especially in light of the effects of the novel coronavirus" uncertainty in the measurement of mineral reserves and resource estimates, Austral's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and management, potential labour unrest, reclamation and closure requirements for mineral properties; unpredictable risks and hazards related to the development and operation of a mine or mineral property that are beyond the Company's control, the availability of capital to fund all of the Company's projects and other risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed on the ASX and on SEDAR. You are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. Austral cannot assure you that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and management's assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Austral's forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof and Austral does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54303
Wang Qinnan, a teacher of Qianhuang International Middle School in east China's Jiangsu Province, told China.org.cn that after her school resumed classes on March 30 following the COVID-19 lockdown, strict anti-epidemic measures were adopted.

"According to the epidemic prevention arrangements, we are staggering the rate at which students enter the school and cafeteria to make sure they keep distance. Teachers and students must have their temperature checked when entering and leaving the campus. Anyone whose temperature exceeds 37.3C after being measured twice will be sent to an isolation area and reported immediately to principal."

Wang continued to describe how it works, "we measure students' body temperature three times a day. The security guards disinfect the classroom everyday after students finish the night self-learning at 10:30 pm."

As China has suppressed transmission of the virus to a very low level, students from primary school all the way up to college in more than 20 provinces and cities have gradually returned to their campuses or are scheduled to do so.

In Jiangsu province, high school seniors resumed classes on March 30 so that to better prepare for the college entrance exams later this year. Students in other grades were due to return to school after April 7, while colleges will reopen after April 13 with staggered starting times.

Though it has slashed the overall infection rate, China still maintains vigilance as it grapples with imported and asymptomatic cases.

According to the notice on education and teaching work for the spring semester after the opening of primary and secondary schools, published by China's Ministry of Education on March 31, schools are required to give top priority put epidemic prevention and control, thoroughly coordinating epidemic prevention and education and teaching work.

Since Qianhuang International Middle School reopened classes, aside from her teaching work, English teacher Wang Qinnan has additional tasks regarding epidemic prevention.

"We teachers take turns to join the security guard to help measure students' body temperature. I was on duty this Monday and I waited at the school gate at 6:05 am to check the temperature, and then made rounds at the cafeteria from 6:45-7:15 to make sure the students keep their distance and reduce verbal interaction. After finished the lessons in the morning, I went to the cafeteria again," Wang said.

In order to ensure that students are seated in a safe distance while eating, Wang Qinnan's school separated the tables with space for eight people and now allows only three students. The school staff cafeteria was also remodeled. The morning exercise or running routines outdoors are temporarily canceled.

"Wearing masks throughout the whole class is very uncomfortable. SometimesI feel breathlesswhile speaking and I get sore ears," Wang said. "I think the students are much more uncomfortable because they have to wear it all day long."

Although the workload seems to have increased after the school reopened, Wang Qinnan still believes that, under the premise of taking preventive measures, it is beneficial for students to come back to campus compared with taking online classes.

"For students who are not self-disciplined, after their parents return to work, it's hard for them to stay focused facing the computer all day without the supervision of parents. The seniors are about to take the make-or-break college entrance examination in just a couple of months," Wang stressed.

Chai Yilei, a high school senior said that the school is a place where people gather so there is indeed risk of cross-infection. "However, I am in my final year of high school and facing the gaokao (university entrance exam). I think it's better for me to return to school, as long as we take necessary precautions."

Over a thousand kilometers away, senior high school students from Shuangliu Middle School in Sichuan province, also started school earlier this month. On the first day back to school, teachers of all grades volunteered to help students carry luggage as parents are not allowed to enter the campus.

"We teachers are expected to provide psychological counseling for the seniors who were confined at home for a long time and I found most of them felt relieved to be back on campus, even after they heard the news that the gaokao had been postponed," Li Ying, a teacher of Shuangliu Middle School said. "They think they could study for an extra month to make up for the time lost due to the epidemic."

Liang Ziqi, a student from Nanjing Normal University Zhongbei College in Jiangsu province, has been taken online classes at home since March 1. At the beginning of this month, she received the notice to return to college on April 13.

According to the college notice, students will officially resume classes from April 16. But before returning to school, they need to fill out information forms including health status and travel history. Students who do not meet certain conditions are not allowed to return to school.

In addition, after the college reopened, students should check their temperature in the dormitory twice a day and report health information via an app "Campus Today."

"We may continue to take online courses in the first two weeks of quarantine, for the online-offline course transition as well. According to the school notice, we will have classes on Saturday later," Liang Ziqi said.

"Anyway, it's good to finally get back on campus. The online learning is less efficient for me and I started to worry about the exams if it continues."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new report by the global chemical weapons watchdog is the latest addition to a 'large and growing body of evidence' that the Syrian government uses chemical weapons against its people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. Pompeo also said in a statement that Washington assesses that the Syrian government 'retains sufficient chemicals - specifically sarin and chlorine - and expertise from its traditional chemical weapons (CW) program to use sarin, to produce and deploy chlorine munitions, and to develop new CW.' (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Chris Reese)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new report by the global chemical weapons watchdog is the latest addition to a "large and growing body of evidence" that the Syrian government uses chemical weapons against its people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

Pompeo also said in a statement that Washington assesses that the Syrian government "retains sufficient chemicals - specifically sarin and chlorine - and expertise from its traditional chemical weapons (CW) program to use sarin, to produce and deploy chlorine munitions, and to develop new CW."

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Chris Reese)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A group of powerful Republican senators wants to make sure the bailout program being administered by BlackRock Inc. on behalf of the federal government wont leave fossil-fuel companies behind.

The U.S. government tapped BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, to become the buyer of corporate bonds as part of a $454 billion effort to bail out companies hit by the coronavirus lockdown. That triggered a letter from Greenpeace, Sierra Club, 350.org and other environmental organizations on March 27 urging Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to weigh climate risk in its guidelines for BlackRock as it decides what sectors of the economy get financial support.

Now, in a letter sent Tuesday, a group of 17 Republican senators, including James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Ted Cruz of Texas, are asking Powell and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to ensure that fossil-fuel companies arent excluded from the bailout program being administered by BlackRock.

ALMOST DONE: Some of Americas refineries may be on the brink of shutting

The pandemic has created an unprecedented upheaval in the global economy. With governments around the world pouring huge sums of money into propping up struggling companies, climate advocates see an unprecedented opportunity to speed up the transition to clean energy and make entire industries as green as possible. Republican lawmakers have opposed this encroachment from environmental groups, pushing back and largely succeeding so far in separating stimulus spending from climate concerns.

Led by Kevin Cramer, Senator from North Dakota, the group of Republican lawmakers seeking to safeguard fossil-fuel companies in the bailout draws heavily from states with concentrations of coal, oil, and gas extraction. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, who also signed the letter, heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The letter calls for the Fed to ensure the relief program is broad and flexible and asserts that companies in the energy and transportation sectors deserve support. But the message appears particularly concerned with the possible exclusion of coal companies, noting that BlackRock decided in January to exclude any company from its actively managed holdings if it derives more than 25% of its revenue selling coal used in power plants. BlackRock has more than $7 trillion under management, although much of that is in passive holdings. A representative for the company declined to comment on the senators letter.

FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday

The flurry of exhortations are meant to influence the Feds planning, which has yet to be set in stone. Although the U.S. central bank is dedicated to buying newly issued corporate bonds, existing investment-grade bonds, and exchange-traded funds based on highly rated debt as part of its economic-relief efforts, it hasnt laid out which specific sectors or companies will get the programs attentions.

BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink shook the finance establishment in January when he called for a fundamental reshaping of finance in response to global warming. Last month he used his letter to shareholders to argue that the pandemic should be used by investors as an opportunity to accelerate into a more sustainable world. Within the environmental community, however, BlackRock isnt always seen as a steadfast ally. The move to exclude coal companies from some investments drew ire from those who didnt think the worlds asset manager was going far enough.

BlackRock was responsible for a similar, smaller bond-buying program on behalf of the Fed during the 2008 financial crisis. Even back then, some Republicans raised objections to selecting the asset manager. But it won out because Feds expertise is setting big-picture monetary policies, whereas firms like BlackRock are able to assess and manage different kinds of debts, such as corporate bonds.

On Tuesday, BlackRock also won a contract to develop strategies for including sustainability in the European Unions banking system. The asset manager beat out eight other bids, and over the next year will help incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures in the EU banks processes for managing risks and assessing investment policies.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
TORRINGTON  Blondin Law Offices, 379 Prospect Street, Torrington, is carrying on during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tracy Olmstead and his wife Jen had their closing recently at the law office, well-protected with masks and gloves; Jen is pictured with attorney Audrey Blondin.

The Olmsteads are first-time home buyers in Torrington; Tracy is the head CNA at Valerie Manor. The couple has two young children.

EdAdvance offers Skills 21 projects

LITCHFIELD  Across the country, state and local leaders have identified personally meaningful student projects as a best practice that can be used during this period of remote and distance learning, according to a statement from EdAdvance. To help students, teachers and families take advantage of this strategy, Skills21 at EdAdvance is sharing pip.skills21.org, a free curriculum and online platform that guides students through a process to explore an area of interest and create something of their own choosing. Students can learn to code, build something, create a series of paintings, sew, shoot a film, do an experiment. More than 200 students have already signed up and have started building their projects.

In early June, Skills21 will also host a PIP Online Expo in concert with the teams nationally recognized Expo Fest which will also take place online this year.

Because its so important that students remain connected to adults and peers during this time, each task provides an opportunity for students to collaborate digitally with family members, peers, teachers and the Skills21 team. Students will get feedback from existing Skills21 Expo Fest judges and there will be student awards in a range of categories.

Of special note to parents, while students can sign-up through their school, they are also able to work on a project independently from home with support from the Skills21 team. Anyone can get started immediately at pip.skills21.org.

The Skills21 Personal Interest Project curriculum, platform, and online support are free to all schools, students, and families. Skills21 PIP has been adapted from the organizations Capstone program which has been supported by the National Science Foundation. For more information visit skills21.org/pip or email info@skills21.org

EdAdvance is the Regional Educational Service Center in western Connecticut, providing diverse education, health, and human service programs to promote the success and well-being of schools and communities. To learn more about EdAdvances programs and services, visit www.edadvance.org .

For 18 years, Skills21 has worked with schools and organizations to promote inspired learning, creative designs, and student solutions to real world challenges in STEM and new media. For more information, visit skills21.org.

Harwinton Historical Society offers scholarship

HARWINTON  The Harwinton Historical Society will grant a $1,000 scholarship to a Harwinton resident or an individual active in the HHS. Applicants must show an interest in history and/or the social sciences through coursework and/or experiences. Graduating high school seniors and students currently pursuing post-secondary education are encouraged to apply. Applications are available from appropriate high school guidance departments or requested on line at harwhistsoc@gmail.com. Applications must be postmarked by June 1, an extended deadline.

Kent Library to host virtual quiz night

KENT  A Virtual Quiz Night on Zoom will be offered by the Kent Memorial Library on April 11. Players must register by noon April 10. The first 20 teams to register can compete; all other teams will play for fun. Teams can be 1 to 6 people, as long as you can communicate with each other by texting/messaging, etc.) Participants will need access to Google Docs and Zoom. To register, email smarshall@biblio.org

Participants will receive links once successfully registered. Participation is free but the Library is always happy to receive donations.

Mask Fabric For Free Campaign has begun

TORRINGTON/LITCHFIELD - Ocean State Job Lot recently launched its Mask Fabric For Free campaign to supply its customers with the fabric necessary to make cloth face masks. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that all Americans wear cloth face masks in public in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Customers are invited to visit the newly-created displays in each of the retailers 140 store locations to pick up free, high-quality cotton-polyester blended fabric to craft their DIY-masks. Customers interested in making one or two masks are invited to take cloth napkins, while customers who intend to make a larger amount of masks will be supplied with a tablecloth, free of charge. To ensure that as many people as possible are able to benefit from the program, customers are limited to five units of fabric. The company is also encouraging groups and organizations who can create masks at scale to speak with their local store leaders to coordinate large orders.

During this critically-important time, its our responsibility as community partners to think outside of the box and provide as much assistance as we can, said Paul Conforti, Chief Marketing Officer of Ocean State Job Lot, in a statement. While weve been focused on sourcing critical supplies and medical grade masks for healthcare professionals and first responders battling COVID-19, our Mask Fabric For Free campaign specifically focuses on the needs of everyday people who are looking for responsible ways to protect themselves and others.

OSJL also continues to utilize its global supply chain to source one million critically-needed surgical and N95 face masks, which are being donated to hospitals and other medical facilities in the region. Last week alone, the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation donated essential items, and also sold items below cost, to organizations including Rhode Island Hospital, Bradley Hospital, RI Free Clinic, Boston Medical Center, the State of Rhode Island, and multiple fire and police departments. These essential items included thousands of masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, hazmat suits, eye protection and more.
The Pakistani government has called on Afghanistan to hand over the captured leader of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS).

The Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed Pakistans views regarding the arrest of Aslam Farooqi, the ministry said in a statement on April 9.

During the meeting, the Afghan envoy was told that Farooqi should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigations because he was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, it said.

The statement said that the two countries should coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism.

Afghan officials say Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested in the Kandahar Province on April 4. He became the ISKP leader in July 2019.

The group has claimed responsibility for attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan that have killed scores of civilians.
By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve responded fast to the coronavirus crisis with open-ended programs to keep financial markets running and ensure major companies could raise cash as they usually do through large capital markets.

By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve responded fast to the coronavirus crisis with open-ended programs to keep financial markets running and ensure major companies could raise cash as they usually do through large capital markets.

By forcing major parts of the economy to simply stop operating, however, the current crisis poses a direct threat to the hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that don't raise money by issuing stocks or bonds, but rely on myriad combinations of bank loans, owner's capital and, in some cases, personal credit cards or home equity loans.

The Fed, in coordination with the Treasury Department, is planning a Main Street Lending Facility as one of its linchpin programs in the crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday he hoped to announce details of the program this week.

Ahead of that, the following summarizes what is known about the Main Street program and what analysts who watch the Fed closely think it might look like:

WHO WILL PAY FOR IT?

In the $2.3 trillion emergency response bill enacted on March 27, $454 billion is set aside for the U.S. Treasury to use for new programs at the Fed, including the one for "Main Street."

HOW BIG WILL IT BE?

This is the crisis where "trillions" have become the go-to denomination. Joseph Brusuelas, an economist with business consulting firm RSM who has followed the Fed's crisis response closely, expects the Fed to receive an $85 billion capital contribution from Treasury and turn that into $1 trillion of lending power for businesses.

HOW DOES THE FED DO THAT?

The Fed gets its punch through "leverage," or taking a given amount of money from Treasury and allowing financial institutions to create perhaps 10 times that amount in credit. The Fed is not supposed to take losses, since that would amount to laying out taxpayers' money that it is not authorized to spend. But most loans don't go bad: in effect every dollar provided by Treasury allows many more dollars of lending, because most of it will be repaid. The Treasury's funds are there to cover only the small portion expected to go bad.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

The Fed is restricted from lending directly to companies or individuals. But it can provide financing to a "special purpose vehicle" that then either lends to or buys assets from, say, a bank that does provide business and consumer loans. Because those lending institutions now know they can send the loans to the SPV, they are willing to make deals with companies and consumers even in a risky environment. Cornerstone Macro analyst Roberto Perli said the Fed's SPV could either buy loans directly, one at a time, from banks, or have banks bundle them into larger securities.

WHO WILL BE ELIGIBLE?

This may be the most difficult issue. Large companies get credit ratings from independent agencies such as Standard & Poor's or Moody's, and the Fed has used those credit ratings to draw a line around which companies are eligible for its programs. For "Main Street" lending, the Fed may have to lean on banks to assess the finances of midsize companies and sift those struggling only because of the coronavirus from those that were struggling anyway. The focus may be on firms with 500 to 10,000 employees, since those below the cutoff can get small business loans and those above it typically use the capital markets. As of early 2019 there were about 18,000 companies with more than 500 workers - including more than 2,000 midsize manufacturers that are an important piece of the U.S. industrial base.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Andrea Ricci)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The core pathology of the Republican party is that it views electoral participation and voter turnout as threats.

In a way, the GOP is not wrong: On Monday, President Trump affirmed that reforms designed to eliminate suppression would lead to levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again. Kudos for candor.

So the Republican campaign to protect the power of its shrinking minority of plutocrats against the democratic will rolls on, and if Tuesdays primary in Wisconsin is an example of where that campaign is heading, one must wonder how far Trump and his party are willing to go to retain that power in November.

Toward this end, the Badger State was turned into a civic punchline by its Republican legislature, which used the COVID crisis for a power grab. With the country in the grip of a deadly pandemic and the state already under a stay-at-home order, Wisconsins lawmakers refused to reschedule the primary, essentially smothering the turnout for the sole purpose of re-electing a single key judge to the state supreme court.

Not everyone thought this was prudent. Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, sought to convert the primary to a vote-by-mail format and extend balloting until May 19, which would keep people from breathing on each other at polling stations.

So the GOP legislature went to court. And after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a lower court opinion that had changed the date and extended the absentee ballot deadline  with Trumps appointments casting the deciding votes, mandating that the show go on  the State of Wisconsin put the lives of their voters at risk and held the primary as scheduled.

how awesome that the deciding Supreme Court vote forcing Wisconsin to go to the polls today was cast by the guy who was so blackout-drunk all the way through prep school and college that he can't remember how many women he assaulted. it really makes one proud to be an American  Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) April 7, 2020

You probably saw what happened next: Workers at hundreds of polling stations were no-shows, and lines became intolerable  and more dangerous  in the most urban venues. Milwaukee, which has 330,000 voters and the states largest minority population, opened just 5 of its 180 polling sites, with wait times averaging 2 hours. Green Bay had only 2 polling places, downsized from 31.

The urban voters who turned out  young and old, white and black, all masked up and spaced out on sidewalks  refused to surrender to their fear of COVID 19 or to the dystopian operation choreographed by their legislature.

They did their patriotic duty the same day that 1,970 Americans died of the virus.

In a way, it was an ineffably poignant tribute to their democratic process.

But a large cardboard sign held by a college kid outside the polling station in Milwaukee nailed the zeitgeist: This is ridiculous, the sign read.

This feels like an era-defining image pic.twitter.com/rgEwnhmk8O  Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) April 7, 2020

As weve noted before, the only way to ensure voter participation in the COVID era is a national vote-by-mail model, which five states (including progressive Utah) now use exclusively. But clearly, that is a heavy political lift: The first thing the new Democratic House majority did last year was to introduce HR1, which simplified registration, limited gerrymandering by turning districting over to an independent commission, and created a federal voting holiday.

On cue, Mitch McConnell responded with fake outrage: Just what America needs, the Senate leader kvetched. Another paid holiday and a bunch of government workers being paid to go out and work for, I assume, our colleagues on the other side."

Actually, it would be a day of patriotic expression, which is anathema to the Senator whom historian Christopher Browning described as the grave digger of American democracy.

For now, with November just 7 months away and COVID refusing to divulge its expiration date, we only know this: One party has proven that it will be comfortable forcing Americans to choose between their health and a sacred right of citizenship.

It might be the most chilling sign weve ever had that our democracy needs a fix.

And it is the most compelling evidence that the power must return to those in whom it should be rightly invested.

Trump might set a land speed record getting Fauci away from the mic if a reporter asks Fauci today if vote by mail is a smarter public health policy than having thousands of folks crowding into a polling place https://t.co/l9kHhyIEZy  Sam Stein (@samstein) April 8, 2020

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Egyptian hotels and resorts, which are feeling the pinch as tourist arrivals stopped with the suspension of flights, may target self-quarantining guests to make ends meet. Egypt suspended all flights as of March 19 as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19. On March 24, it extended the suspension for two more weeks.

Some hotels and resorts may also bank on Egyptians who choose to self-isolate as a result of the spread of the novel coronavirus across the country.

Something similar took place in Jordan, where hotels and resorts in the Dead Sea area were turned into places of quarantine for citizens during the lockdown.

The total registered cases of coronavirus in Egypt and Jordan stood at 1,560 and 358, respectively, as of April 9.

Le Meridien Cairo Airport and other hotels were selected to be places of quarantine for Egyptians coming home from all over the world. The government paid for their quarantine through Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund. In Alexandria, some hotels served as quarantine for foreigners on board stranded ships in the Mediterranean, Bassem Halaka, president of the Travel Agents Trade Union, told Al-Monitor.

Minister of Information Osama Heikal said April 1 that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had instructed the government to pay for forced quarantine at hotels from the Tahya Misr Fund.

Rami Fayez, owner of a resort in Marsa Alam, 660 kilometers (410 miles) south of Cairo, told the Sada Elbalad news portal April 4 that 275 passengers coming from the United States are now quarantined for 14 days in his hotel. He did not, however, reveal figures on Egyptians who are quarantined at his resort.

Fayez said residence would be free of charge for Egyptians wishing to quarantine in his hotel, but those who are only seeking self-isolation would have to pay. The Tahya Misr Fund would cover those who returned home and were forced to quarantine to protect fellow Egyptians from infection.

Foreigners who refused to fly home are also staying at some hotels and resorts in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada as a measure for self-isolation. However, for the man in the street, most people prefer staying at home. When their income is at stake, common Egyptians tend to save money and stockpile food commodities, Halaka said. He said Egyptians had withdrawn roughly 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.9 billion) from banks in March.

Central Bank governor Tarek Amer was quoted as saying by the Youm7 news portal March 29 that individuals had withdrawn 30 billion pounds over three weeks.

Halaka said some Egyptians would go to their own chalets or stay at resorts in Sinai and in Hurghada along the Red Sea. Hotels have very limited areas, while resorts are spacious by nature. Distances between housing units and open landscapes make resorts the perfect place for quarantine, he said.

So far, there are no official figures on the number of rooms in resorts that have been booked by Egyptians.

In Jordan, the authorities took similar measures. However, geography played a key role in view of the isolated location of the Dead Sea. Distances between hotel units and open landscapes made it advantageous to use Dead Sea hotels and resorts as quarantine facilities, said Khalaf Tahat, the dean of the Mass Communication Faculty at Yarmouk University in Jordan.

The Jordanian government paid all expenses, i.e., full-board residence, medical service, medications and transportation. The quarantined people did not pay a penny, Tahat told Al-Monitor.

These resorts and hotels are away from any residential districts and human gatherings, so it was easy to declare a military zone in order to control access to the area. The whole Dead Sea area was closed by the military. Jordan has carried out a kind of institutional quarantine to combat COVID-19, Tahat said.

The first step was to rein in the coronavirus infections by meticulously registering cases of infections, the media professor said, noting that a crisis management team was formed.

All necessary measures were taken to ensure that the quarantined people would get the best accommodation conditions at the Dead Sea resorts. The capacity of quarantine facilities in the Dead Sea area totals 5,000 people, Tahat said, adding that all of the quarantined people were released and sent home.

There are no quarantined people in Jordanian hotels at present.

From the very beginning, the authorities here took a pragmatic move favoring the health of the Jordanian people at the expense of political relations. All non-Jordanians coming from COVID-19 infected countries such as Iran, Italy, China, South Korea and Spain were denied entry. Only Jordanians returning from these countries were provided 14-day quarantine, Tahat said.

The authorities suspended all flights at Jordanian civil airports as of March 17 until April 13.

The crisis management team, supervised by King Abdullah, and the Ministry of Health increased the number of epidemiological investigation teams to 60 across the country. These teams were deployed to security squares  are areas that were isolated where infections were reported. Irbid, the second-largest city in Jordan after Amman, was isolated and run by the Jordanian army, he said, adding that infected people were transferred to the places of quarantine along the Dead Sea.

Tahat said any people living in a household where someone tested positive were quarantined as well. More than 15,000 tests have been conducted since the beginning of the crisis, he said.
Press Release

9 April 2020

Airbnb Online Experiences connects global community to handcrafted activities in cities around the world

Online Experiences enable Hosts to keep earning through COVID-19 disruptions

Local partnerships help curate Online Experiences for isolated seniors

Features Online Experiences with former Olympians like Alistair Brownlee and Lauren Gibbs

Advertisements

Airbnb today announces the launch of Online Experiences, a new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income during the COVID-19 crisis. With communities around the world staying home to protect their own health and the health of others, people can't pursue routine activities like going to work, exercising or pursuing a passion. Now, Online Experiences will change that by allowing hosts to earn an income in these uncertain times, and bring their transformative virtual Experience to millions of guests.

Airbnb Experiences offers an array of options like meditation with Buddhist monks, virtual visits with the dogs of Chernobyl, cooking with a Moroccan family, and more. With so many people sheltering in place, Online Experiences provides:

New activities for families to explore like learning the secrets of magic

Options for work colleagues who want to reconnect and bond with team activities like making coffee with a professional coffee taster

Features for groups looking to celebrate birthdays or get togethers privately and the option to request specific dates for Experiences like bartending with experts

Online Experiences unlocks unprecedented access to inspiring hosts from more than 30 different countries, including Olympic medalists Alistair Brownlee and Lauren Gibbs. Whether a HIIT workout, learning about nutrition with a Bobsledder or a virtual bike tour, guests can now connect with some of the most celebrated athletes in the world from the comforts of their own living room.

"Human connection is at the core of what we do," says Catherine Powell, Head of Airbnb Experiences. "With so many people needing to stay indoors to protect their health, we want to provide an opportunity for our hosts to connect with our global community of guests in the only way possible right now, online."

Airbnb, Inc.

To help those who are most isolated, like older adults, Airbnb has partnered with local organizations around the world to curate Experiences for their communities to be able to learn a new skill while protecting their health. Airbnb will work alongside the following to offer Experiences free of charge:

SAGE, the world's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people

National Council on Aging (NCOA), a respected national leader and trusted partner in the US helping people aged 60+ meet the challenges of aging

Associazione Nazionale Alpini - Sezione di Milan, veterans of the most respected and trustworthy military corp in Italy

Amigos de los Mayores, an organization combating unwanted loneliness and social isolation amongst the elderly in Spain

"Millions of elders aren't able to go outside and risk their health due to the current crisis, and need activities to help them stay connected to the world around them," says Michael Adams, SAGE CEO. "Through our partnership with Airbnb, SAGE is able to give older members of LGBT communities across the country an opportunity to not only meet other people, but also learn a new hobby and travel to nearly anywhere around the world, all from the safety of their home. This is what partnership and connection is all about."

Airbnb, Inc.

Booking opens immediately with more than 50 virtual Airbnb Experiences available at airbnb.com/online-experiences, with thousands more coming online in the coming months. Online Experiences will be hosted on Zoom, and Airbnb is providing Hosts access to Zoom free of charge along with personalized support services for curating, capturing and sharing their Online Experience. For more information, if you are interested in hosting please visit airbnb.com/onlinehost.

Launched in 2016, Airbnb Experiences are unique, memorable activities designed and hosted by locals that go beyond typical tours or workshops. They provide deep insights and immersion into the hosts' passions and interests, and a different way to experience a destination.

With Airbnb's 'in-person' Experiences suspended through the end of April to protect the safety and wellbeing of hosts and guests, Airbnb is leveraging its technology platform to help its hosts continue to earn, while also allowing our guests to learn a new skill, safely connect with others, or pursue an interest.

Highlights of Online Experiences include:

For more, visit airbnb.com/online-experiences
(Bloomberg) -- New York state reported the fewest hospitalizations since the outbreak began even as it recorded the most deaths in a 24-hour period. The top U.S. infectious-disease expert said the final death toll may be lower than earlier estimated.

Spain is poised to extend a nationwide lockdown, a step also being considered by Italy. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken out of intensive care and moved back to the main hospital ward.

Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve acted to provide as much as $2.3 trillion in aid, even as huge numbers of Americans again applied for jobless benefits.

Key Developments:

Global cases top 1.5 million; deaths pass 93,000: Johns Hopkins

Spain, Italy to extend lockdowns amid persistent rise in cases

Costly CT scans filling virus testing void for U.S. doctors

UBS, Credit Suisse will split payouts for 2019 into two installments

South Koreas CDC says virus may reactivate in cured patients

Rhode Island Surge; Michigan Deaths Top 1,000 (4:21 p.m. NY)

A surge in Rhode Island helped push U.S. coronavirus cases higher Thursday, with infections growing by double-digit percentages in a dozen states.

U.S. cases rose 7.5% to 451,491, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Thats below the average 10% daily increase over the week.

In New York -- the hardest-hit state -- deaths reached a new high while hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since the crisis started. It reported 799 dead and 200 hospitalizations in the past 24 hours. New cases in the state rose 7.1% to 159,937, eclipsing the numbers in Italy and Spain.

New Jersey cases rose 7.6% to 51,027, the fifth-straight day of increases of 10% or less. The state, which has the second-highest number of infections, expects to reach the peak of the outbreak in two to three days.

Elsewhere:

Rhode Island had the biggest daily increase, with cases rising 41%, to 1,727

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state had a decrease in the number of people with the virus in intensive care units -- 1,132, a 1.9% drop from Wednesday. Newsom asked residents not to interpret the positive news as a trend.

Michigan, the state with the third-highest number of cases, hit a grim milestone, with deaths jumping more than 100 to surpass 1,000 in total. Cases increased 5.7% to 21,504.

French President Meets Malaria Drug Backer (4:21 p.m. NY)

French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Marseille to meet with Didier Raoult, the doctor and researcher who put hydroxychloroquine on the map as a Covid-19 treatment. He stayed at the hospital Raoult heads for more than three hours and was shown the teams latest research.

South Africa Extends Lockdown (3 p.m. NY)

South Africa extended a nationwide lockdown by two weeks to April 30, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised speech. While the nation is at very beginning of a monumental struggle against coronavirus, Ramaphosa said evidence shows the lockdown is working. South Africa has 1,934 cases up from 1,845 on Wednesday.

N.J. Expects Peak in 2 to 3 Days (2:30 p.m. NY)

New Jersey expects to reach the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in two to three days, the states health commissioner said.

At its high point, the state expects 14,400 residents to be hospitalized from Covid-19 and as many as 1,880 patients in intensive care, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Thursday at a press briefing.

New Jersey has about 7,363 residents hospitalized, and 1,523 in ICU, Governor Phil Murphy reported. He also pointed to signs that social distancing is helping to slow the rate of infection across the state.

Last week, cases in numerous counties were doubling every three days. Murphy on Thursday pointed to a current map showing no counties with that high rate.

Raab Says Too Soon to End U.K. Limits (1:20 p.m. NY)

Its too soon for the U.K. to relax the lockdown imposed almost three weeks ago that was set to end Monday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a televised briefing.

Deaths are still rising, and we still havent seen the peak of the virus, he said.

U.K. deaths rose by 881 to bring the total to 7,978. Patrick Vallance, the governments chief scientific adviser, warned he expects the number of deaths to increase for a few weeks.

Raab, in charge of the government while Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in critical care with the virus, said the premier is still in intensive care and is making progress: Hes in good spirits.

Italys Deaths, Cases Rise (12:15 p.m. NY)

Italy reported a higher number of new coronavirus cases and deaths as the government considers extending a national lockdown.

Civil protection authorities reported 4,204 new cases, up from 3,836 a day earlier. Italy registered 610 deaths in the past 24 hours, compared with 542 the day before. Total fatalities reached 18,279.

The countrys decision to ramp up testing is probably behind the recent pickup, as more previously unreported cases are discovered. Italy conducted almost 100,000 in the past two days.Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is preparing to extend the national lockdown that ends April 13 for another two weeks, said officials who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential issue.

N.Y. Hospitalizations Drop (12:10 p.m. NY)

New York City reported a record 824 deaths in 24 hours, a grim sign that despite flattening infection curves and lower hospital admissions, the crisis in the largest U.S. city is far from over.

Statewide, the rate worsened with 799 new deaths on Thursday, 779 the previous day and 731 the day before that. The city and state take snapshots at different times during the day, which may account for the discrepancy in reporting.

At his daily briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo reported only 200 net new hospitalizations over 24 hours, the lowest number since the crisis broke out. That number had been as high as 1,400. But Cuomo is urging people to keep social distancing practices in place and keep the progress going.

Turkey Aids Israel With Medical Gear (11:30 a.m. NY)

Turkey approved the sale of medical equipment on humanitarian grounds to Israel, including face masks, protective overalls and sterile gloves. Israel is expected to allow a similar shipment of Turkish aid to reach Palestinian authorities without delay, according to a senior Turkish official in Ankara.

Three planes from Israel are expected Thursday at an air base near Incirlik to pick the cargo, said the official, who asked not to be named discussing the sensitive issue. Turkey will donate medical aid for the Palestinians within the next few days, the official said.

Israeli authorities werent immediately available for comment on Thursday, which is a public holiday in the country.

Africa Has Chance to Contain Outbreak: WHO (10:40 a.m. NY)

Much of the African continent still has a chance to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said at its weekly Africa briefing. While a few African countries are experiencing a rapid increase in local transmissions, more than 30 nations can still prevent a larger outbreak by testing, contact tracing and isolating patients, the WHO said.

Merkel Says Tighter Measures Likely Unnecessary (9:56 a.m. NY)

Tighter measures to contain the coronavirus in Germany probably wont be necessary as the slowing spread of the disease gives grounds for cautious hope, Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.

GE Sees Cash Flow Keeping Pace Despite Hit to Earnings (9:28 a.m. NY)

General Electric Co. said its first-quarter cash flow will be in line with expectations even as the outbreak brings profit materially below its prior projection. GE withdrew its forecast for the full year.

Canadas Curve May Be Flattening (9:17 a.m. NY)

Three weeks after the governments of Canadas three most populous provinces told their 28.4 million residents to stay home, the measures appear to be working. The provinces, which have three-quarters of Canadas people, have recorded just 1.2 deaths from Covid-19 per 100,000 residents. That compares with 32 for New York, 10 for Michigan and 6 for Washington.

Canadas coronavirus case count has been increasing slower than most countries, said Theresa Tam, the nations chief public health officer. The number doubles every three to five days. The government expects between 22,580 to 31,850 cases by April 16, which could mean 500 to 700 total deaths, Tam said.

Morgan Stanleys CEO Says He Had Virus, Now Recovered (9:10 a.m. NY)

Gorman told staff he contracted coronavirus and has since recovered. He had flu-like symptoms last month and tested positive, he said in a message to the banks employees. Gorman was never hospitalized, self-isolated in his home and has been cleared by his doctor.

Fed Announces Plan for Muni, Business Aid; Jobless Claims (8:43 a.m. NY)

The steps announced include starting programs to aid small and mid-sized businesses, as well as state and local governments.

A total of 6.61 million Americans filed jobless claims in the week ended April 4, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday. That exceeded a median forecast of 5.5 million.

Deaths in Sweden Increase Amid Relatively Relaxed Stance (8:41 a.m. NY)

Sweden reported 106 more virus-related deaths on Thursday, taking the total to 793, on par with the daily gains reported in the past week. The Nordic country is under scrutiny as it continues to experiment with a laxer policy response compared with the rest of Europe. Restaurants, shopping centers and primary schools all remain open in Scandinavias biggest economy. Deaths in Sweden continue to outpace its Nordic neighbors, which implemented stricter measures to curb the spread early on, and are now discussing how to lift them.

U.S. Virus Fatalities Looking More Like 60,000, Fauci Says (8:10 a.m. NY)

I believe we are going to see a downturn and projections look more like the 60,000 than the 100,000 to 200,000, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci said in response to an NBC interview question about virus fatality models. Fauci said he thinks the U.S. is starting to see a flattening of the curve in New York. I dont want to jump the gun on that but I think that is the case, he said.

Pfizer to Develop Vaccine by Year-End (8 a.m. NY)

Pfizer and BioNTech said they will jointly develop a vaccine for Covid-19, potentially supplying millions of doses by the end of 2020. The two companies plan to jointly conduct the first clinical trials as early as the end of April, assuming regulatory clearance. Clinical trials for the vaccine candidates will initially be in the U.S. and Europe across multiple sites.

Earlier, IBio jumped 25% in pre-market trading after reaching an agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute to support development of a vaccine for Covid-19. And Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding got an FDA may proceed letter to begin a Phase 2 trial of intranasal vazegepant to treat lung inflammation after COVID-19 infection.

U.K. PM Johnson Continues to Improve (7:58 a.m. NY)

The prime minister had a good night and continues to improve in intensive care in St Thomas Hospital, Boris Johnsons spokesman James Slack told reporters. Johnson is receiving standard oxygen treatment, Slack said. U.K. officials are drawing up plans to extend the lockdown and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will chair a meeting of the governments emergency committee at 3:30 p.m.

World Hunger Could Double (7:56 a.m. NY)

The number of people going hungry around the world could double in just a few months as the pandemic wreaks havoc on food supplies and hurts incomes, according to a group of major food companies, industry bodies and academics. The number of those suffering from chronic hunger may surge from about 800 million.

Charity group Oxfam had earlier warned the economic hit from coronavirus threatens to put more than half a billion people into poverty unless countries take action to cushion the blow.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
The video shows two women coming to blows over a packet of loo rolls; the manager intervenes, trying to calm them down. One of the women has a supermarket trolley full of toilet paper. The other yells in despair: I only want one, just give me one!, and the reply comes back, in the same tone: no, not even one, theyre all mine!

Were living through a global crisis of uncertainty and of fear of mortality. To know ourselves to be mortal is to embrace or to confront our own animality, our own finitude. And there are few things that remind us so vividly of our animal nature than our bodily fluids.

The only bodily fluid that we dont share with animals are tears, and we are rarely repulsed by other peoples tears. We are far more likely to be disgusted by saliva, sweat, or excrement. Our repugnance for these fluids has been explained from two standpoints. The first is evolutionary: we feel aversion towards anything that might make us ill. Secondly, seen from the humanities and social sciences, disgust is not understood as a survival instinct, but as a social practice that is deeply linked to a sense of immortality.

Hygiene makes us human, it separates us from our animal nature, it distinguishes us. To feel repugnance is to feel human, and thus to nurture a fantasy of immortality that is unique to humanity. This is why historically, those responsible for cleaning others dirt  such as slaves, or today, domestic workers (most of them women)  have generally been marked as not entirely human. Dirt, imagined or imposed, dehumanises: this is why preventing prisoners from washing is a so often torture device. As Nussbaum (2009) explains, we have always needed groups of human beings to define as Others, as those who render visible the line that separates the human from the animal. Racism feeds off this idea as does sexism. Traditional Western philosophy defines woman as almost human (Antony, 1997), this is perhaps why women have been considered a classical subject of repulsion for centuries. Childbirth embodies our animal nature, and thus our bodies mortality. The growing number of (invasive and risky) Caesarean births in the world is one more example of our attempts to render childbirth hygienic, to make it less animal.

People buy toilet paper because they are afraid of their animality: that is, the knowledge that we will ultimately die. In the midst of a pandemic such as this, to feel our own animality, and therefore our mortality, strikes us with fear. Mary Douglas (2003), in her book Purity and Danger, defines dirt as matter out of place, as something that challenges all our classifications, the order that we give to things and therefore the stability on which we so depend. What we are living through now is just that: an event in which everything seems out of place, and which feeds a social anxiety to classify, to order, to avoid dirt, contagion, and therefore uncertainty. We clean whatever is within our reach, whatever threatens to strip us of our humanity.

Disgust towards bodily fluids and fear of mortality vary across cultures and have changed throughout history. The histories of Europe and the Americas tell us that we used to live much closer to death and human waste; we didnt hide away to defecate. But from the Renaissance onwards, our institutions developed a repugnance for what our bodies produced, and they came up with all manner of rituals, laws, and regulations, as well as a whole industry built around disposing of them decorously.

This history has been described as a civilising process that involved casting off public displays of violence and aggression, asking people to concealing themselves while urinating or defecating, creating decorated toilets, inventing an industry of personal hygiene, and placing attention on refined manners (Elias, 1994). The shock of two women fighting over toilet paper may be explained by the contradiction that they embody: they want the paper to maintain their civility, but in their panic they forget its forms and neglect the civic spirit.

As Laporte (2000) suggests in his book History of Shit, the decree that prohibited from defecating in public in 16th-century France was part of an individualising process that would ultimately transform notions of intimacy and strengthen the imaginary separation between the public and private spheres. Sayings such as Dont wash your dirty linen in public show how the politics of waste stakes out boundaries: between home and state, between individual and communal life. The current crisis needs a form of collective, communal action  social distancing  that in turn depends on the intimacy represented by the home.

The contradictory separation between public and private life had never been as exposed as it is now; private life and action have always been public and vice versa. The state has always intervened into the domestic sphere in one way or another: this crisis is a perfect example. The desire to become civilised intensified during the 19th century with the discovery of microbes and that eras concern for hygiene. New life was breathed into the old association of cleanliness with morality when hygiene acquired a scientific justification and the mission to help save lives. States, under the aegis of science, created health and hygiene policies, strengthening the links between cleanliness, civic spirit and morality. The current virus reestablishes this bond once more but additionally confronts us with unexpected deaths.

The fear of dirt and mortality revealed by the current urge to hoard toilet paper, as well as the fear of coronavirus itself, also has a class dimension. Pandemics reinforce hierarchies and there are certainly some that have been disproportionally affected. However, there is a sense of shared vulnerability from which lessons must be learned. Coronavirus reminds us that we all need each other; that maybe it was an act of collective suicide to believe, after Margaret Thatcher, that there is no such thing as society; and that strengthening public health is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

Bibliography

Douglas, M. (2003). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London and New York: Routledge.

Elias, N. (1994). The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners and State Formation and civilization. (Trans. E. Jephcott). Oxford: Blackwell.

Laporte, D. (2002). History of Shit. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press.

Antony, L. M. (1997). Human Nature and Its Role in Feminist Theory in Kourany, J. A. (Ed.). Philosophy in a Feminist Voice: Critiques and Reconstructions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Nussbaum, M. C. (2009). Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Translation by David M.J. Wood

Abril Saldana-Tejeda is associate professor of sociology at the Department of Philosophy, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, class and gender and has an especial interest on reproduction. Her later projects look into the social determinants of health, genomics and postgenomics. She is currently the principal investigator of a project titled Global divisions of health; bioethical principles, practices and regulations on human genome editing and stem cell research in Latin America financed by the Wellcome Trust.

Ariadna Acevedo-Rodrigo is associate professor of history at Cinvestav, Mexico City. She works on the history of education and science, particularly as it intersects with issues of race, ethnicity and alterity. She co-edited with Paula Lopez Caballero, Beyond Alterity. Destabilizing the Indigenous Other in Mexico. University of Arizona Press. 2018.





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The Federal Government has said that conducting mass testing for Coronavirus in Nigeria would not be feasible now given the nations over 200 million population.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said this while fielding questions from journalists after the arrival of the Chinese experts and some equipment in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that government was rather continuing with its targeted testing for those who had been abroad or those who may have come in contact with any positive case.

We have 200 million citizens and mass testing is not something that I think is very feasible now, we are doing targeted testing.

We are targeting those who are likely to have been affected, so we are looking at areas and persons who meet certain criteria that we set.

Criteria of having been abroad, having been in contact with persons who have been abroad or having been in a cluster of places where we have a lot of positives.

Even though it is going into secondary we are doing what is called smart testing in order to identify the cases that are giving us concern, he said.

He said researches were ongoing in many countries and that government would rely on science and advice from WHO to overcome the pandemic.

(NAN)
Reserve Bank of India on Thursday urged bank customers to adopt digital modes of payment that are convenient and safe.

The usage of digital modes to make transactions has become all the more important as the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown, imposed to maintain social distancing to contain the spread of the coronavirus, has restricted the movement of people.

In a Twitter campaign launched in public interest, the RBI emphasised on transacting digitally as it gives the convenience of making payments anytime and anywhere.

The face of the campaign is Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

The RBI, through the campaign, reiterated the multiple digital payment options such as NEFT, IMPS, UPI and BBPS that are available 24*7.

Recently, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das in a video message appealed to the public to use every precautionary measure, including digital banking, to maintain social distance.

"One major way of protecting ourselves from coronavirus would be to use all kinds of digital payments including debit cards, credit cards, and various mobile apps. Pay digital, stay safe," the Governor had said in the video.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 169 and the number of cases climbed to 5,865 in the country on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:51:02|Editor: huaxia

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by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- As schools are closed due to the lockdown to combat the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey is making great efforts to keep education alive by offering classes for 18 million students via the Internet and TV channels.

As students worldwide were deprived of traditional face-to-face education due to the virus, Turkey became the second country after China that has introduced nationwide virtual education to help the students to continue their studies, Turkish Education Minister Ziya Selcuk told the Sabah daily newspaper.

Turkey has 18 million students who started online education three weeks ago when Turkey implemented strict anti-coronavirus restrictions.

Turkish students can access 1,600 lessons, as well as more than 20,000 interactive types of content, through the nation's Education Information Network (EBA) and public broadcaster TRT (Turkish Radio and Television) .

Selcuk insisted that online education is at the essence of public service guaranteeing "equality," as the students, whether from the developed cities or from the underdeveloped rural areas, can access the same education resources.

"They can receive the same education without socio-economic obstacles. We provide equal standards for students and teachers in all parts of Turkey," the minister said.

Despite some initial snags acknowledged by the authorities regarding the content, the remote education is going smoothly and is planned to continue at least until April 30.

Some private and public universities have also switched to e-education for their students, while exams have been postponed to June for higher education institutions.

Education specialists have generally lauded public and private institutions' efforts to make remote education possible.

"It was something very new for us, especially for the teachers who are not used to giving lessons in front of a camera, but we did our best and the reactions are positive from both parents and students," Zeynep Taskin Akinci, a staff from an Ankara-based private middle school, told Xinhua.

The school she works for also offers online classes, where lecturers and students can see each other via interactive classes such as mathematics, geography, history, Turkish, English and even dancing, she explained.

"It was hard for us at the start, but parents are quite happy to see that their children are actually having live contacts with teachers. It's something that is boosting the moral and motivation of both teachers and parents in confinement," Akinci said.

The EBA platform offers school books, interactive books, applications and tests, as well as videos with interactive content, researches, summaries and info graphics. At least 5,000 books and 240,000 questions are available for the teachers to use on the system, the ministry said.

Abbas Guclu, a journalist specialized in education, said that the coronavirus pandemic has showed Turkish education authorities that the largely criticized rat-race exam system adopted three decades ago in the country of 83 million people is flawed.

"We have to make less exams and teach more science to our students, this pandemic has demonstrated how much we need scientists and doctors and how a good education is vital," he wrote on his blog.

While millions of Turkish students benefit from the remote education, refugee activists have said that many refugee children still do not have proper technological devices to access the system.

Turkey is hosting the world's biggest refugee community of 3.6 million Syrians and around 400,000 Iraqis, Afghans and Iranians.
HOLYOKE  Lenders are scrambling to keep up with a flood of applications for government loans during the coronavirus pandemic, PeoplesBank president and CEO Tom Senecal said Wednesday.

Senecal outlined steps for businesses to apply for the federal Paycheck Protection Program, administered by the Small Business Administration, during the latest installment of a weekly conference call hosted by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Alex B. Morse. A bulk of Holyoke establishments remain closed.

Small-business owners in the state and nationwide are struggling to adapt to the bleak economic climate. Millions of workers continue to apply for unemployment benefits or eagerly await the promised $1,200 federal stimulus checks. Its unclear when businesses will be able to resume normal operations, and many need capital to survive the coming months.

PeoplesBank has partnered with financial technology firm Kabbage to handle the high volume of loan applications. Kabbage and other lenders face a daily onslaught of applications and questions about the program, Senecal said.

An hour before Wednesdays Conference Call call, the Small Business Administration released basic guidelines on how to process, close and fund the loans. Unfortunately, the SBA was not prepared for what the federal government dumped on them, Senecal said.

In 2019, the SBA processed $300 million in loans. Now the agency must process $350 billion in funds within a week, Senecal said, from approved and nonapproved lenders.

It takes about 20 minutes once the application is uploaded to Kabbage. They must manually enter that information into the SBAs E-Tran system, he said. I understand Kabbage has 27,000 loans in their queue.

Kabbage continues to work on an electronic solution to process the applications more quickly, he said.

One business owner had trouble connecting with Kabbage representatives about her loan application, Senecal said. She could not tell online if her application was submitted or not.

Around $38 billion in loans have been processed so far, according to Senecal. He hopes Congress quickly approves an additional $250 billion in stimulus funding. Its strictly a volume game, and were asking them (Kabbage) to reach out to those individuals, he said.

Senecal said the SBA requires banks to close on the loans within 10 days of approval. He added that some banks chose to process applications for only their customers. Kabbage partnership allows PeoplesBank to help customers and noncustomers.

He noted that 125 bank employees are working at home and that several branches and the corporate headquarters in West Holyoke closed out of caution during the coronavirus pandemic.

Senecal said PeoplesBank customers are experiencing a significant slowdown in services caused by the health crisis. Electronic banking, mortgage processing and other remote services are operating normally.

The bank beefed up its call center with new employees and outsourced workers. However, Senecal said some customers are waiting 30 to 40 minutes to speak with a service representative, mostly attributed to Paycheck Protection Program inquiries.

Bill Radnor, the owner of American Rug, said most businesses lack the means to survive until June. Every week is crucifying, he said. He added the Paycheck Protection Program loans might help some companies, but workers would remain inactive.

Morse said the goal is to understand the unique challenges facing Holyoke businesses during the crisis.

The mayor addressed concerns about the impact of lost or delayed revenues on the city. The due date for property tax payments was moved from May 1 to June 1.

The mayor expects sharp declines in sales and excise taxes in the state, which the Legislature must address. Obviously, our budget process is going to be different, he said.

The weekly calls are about helping businesses immediately and preparing for several more months of slowdown, the mayor told participants.

Morse said he spoke with landlords recently and rent payments remained steady for April. There was some tepid optimism that collected rents were at a much higher percentage than anticipated. Well see if that holds in May, he said.

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More than a year after smartphone giants Huawei and Samsung launched their first 5G phones, Apple is set to unveil its first 5G iPhone.

The predecessor of 5G proved to be an era-defining technology. Launched shortly after the first iPhone, 4G transformed Apples first smartphone into the industry leader and paved the way for a decade of new apps, services and innovation.

5G promises to be orders of magnitude faster than 4G, but exactly what this speed will be used for is still unclear.

UK networks began switching on 5G in 2019 but only on a very limited scale. Coverage maps show that large parts of the UK still dont even have 4G, and areas with 5G tend to be limited to densely-populated urban areas.

In comparison with previous generations of data connections, 5G signals project over a smaller range, and so more masts are required to cover the same area. That has slowed the rollout and meant that coverage spots are much smaller than may be expected.

Recommended UK has slowest 5G speed and worst connectivity of 12 countries tested

In the UK and elsewhere, delivering 5G has also been complicated by questions over the infrastructure required to make it work. Arguments over whether Chinese firm Huawei should be allowed to build the masts and other equipment required to broadcast 5G networks have slowed the rollout and led to widespread and sometimes confusing arguments in the media and among politicians.

Samsung launched a 5G version of its flagship Galaxy range of smartphones in March 2019 (Getty Images)

Most high-end smartphone makers have also already starting releasing 5G versions of their flagship phones  Apple was the notable exception  though it would be difficult to find one for less than 1,000. That means only those fortunate enough to be able to afford a 5G phone and live in a 5G-supported area currently have access to it.

Much like with 4G, the full potential of 5G will likely not be realised until several years after its launch. 4G-enabled smartphones have transformed the way we work, travel, eat and pay. The new speed of wireless data transmission made apps like AirBnb and Deliveroo possible, fuelling a gig economy now worth an estimated $4.5 trillion.

One of the biggest benefits of 5G is lower latency, meaning no more lag on video calls. More significantly, this could enable things like remote surgery, whereby surgeons perform operations on patients thousands of miles away in real-time via robotic arms.

5G enables remote surgery using VR (Osso)

This is already happening in China, where the first remote operation using 5G technology took place last year. A doctor in the southeastern province of Fujian removed the liver of a laboratory test animal 30 miles away by remotely controlling robotic arms over a 5G connection with a lag of just 0.1 seconds.

Other near-future applications promoted by 5G evangelists include self-driving cars capable of communicating their intentions to other self-driving cars, fully immersive virtual reality worlds that allow people to physically interact with other people in real-time, and even a new era of hypersonic weapons.

Unfortunately for UK users, recent analysis of 5G download speeds and connectivity revealed that it might be a bit of a wait before everyone experiences the benefits of the next-generation network.

(The Independent)

Benchmark tests carried out by mobile analytics firm Opensignal found that the UK had the slowest average 5G download speeds and worst connectivity of 12 countries tested.

Download speeds of just 32.6 Mbps were more than four-times slower than speeds in Saudi Arabia, which was the top performing country.
Since the introduction of the 2016 law, 1568 churches have been legalized out of 5540 requests. CSW activist: positive step by the authorities in the fight against the "historic injustices" that affect Christians. But more efforts are needed to tackle practices that limit freedom of worship.

Cairo (AsiaNews) - The Egyptian authorities have approved the legalization of 74 Christian churches and religious buildings.

Christian activists have welcomed the green light which leads to a total of 1568 ecclesiastical buildings, out of a total number of requests equal to 5540 since the introduction of the Law number 80 on the construction of places of worship on 30 August 2016.

In the past, permits were granted by intelligence and security agencies, while today the responsibility for the construction or renovation of buildings is the responsibility of the provincial governors.

According to experts from the activist movement for human rights and religious freedom Christian Solidarity Worldwide (Csw), the new legislation has made the process less complicated but the legislation remains discriminatory because it does not apply to Sunni Muslims.

Furthermore, the norm does not apply to religious groups such as Ahmandi, Baha'is and Shiite communities.

Among the main supporters of the norm on places of worship is President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. The head of state has made religious freedom and the defense of Christians one of the slogans of his own policy, while ending up in the target of activist groups for numerous cases of violations of human rights and a harsh repression of internal dissent. In the past, many churches and prayer houses were built spontaneously, without the necessary permits, given that they were difficult to obtain.

The lack of permits proved to be a source of controversy or confessional violence when exploited by the Sunni Muslim majority. And even in the event of obtaining one, Christians have had to compromise on several occasions including churches without bells or towers.

CSW's chief executive Mervyn Thomas appreciates "the legalization of other churches" and welcomes "the efforts of the Egyptian government" to put an end to "historic injustices affecting the Christian community". At the same time, he gives encouragement to the authorities to "continue on the path of reform" and make greater commitment "to contrast social injustices and practices that continue to limit freedom of worship".

Christians (mostly Orthodox Copts) are substantial minority (10 per cent) in Egypt, a Muslim majority country of almost 95 million people.

In 2016 and 2017, several violent attacks were carried out against the Christian community.

In connection with the attacks, a military court sentenced 17 people to death; however, the iron fist of the authorities did not serve to stop the violence.
(Newser)  A high-profile murderer known as the "Unicorn Killer" in the 1970s has died in a Pennsylvania state prison, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Ira Einhorn, 79, died of natural causes unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak. Einhorn killed his girlfriend, Holly Maddux, in 1977, but police didn't find her remains (in a trunk in his attic) until nearly two years later. Before trial, Einhorn fled to France, where he remained a fugitive for two decades until his extradition back to the US, where he was convicted of murder. Before fleeing the US, Einhorn "was the darling of Philadelphias counterculture in the 1960s and 70s," according to the New York Times. The story notes that the Village Voice once dubbed him "indisputably Philadelphias head hippie."

story continues below

In that era, Einhorn made a name for himself in the nationwide counterculture movement. It was the age of Aquarius and the Vietnam War and the generation gap, and he was articulate and dynamic and very approachable, Philly entrepreneur Sam Katz tells the Times. Einhorn and Maddux had broken up after five years, and she disappeared after returning to Philadelphia to get her belongings out of Einhorn's place. Einhorn claimed the CIA killed Maddux and then framed him because he knew military secrets about paranormal research. The jury didn't buy it. The "Unicorn Killer" nickname came about because Einhorn referred to himself as the Unicorn, a German translation of his last name. (Read more Philadelphia stories.)
For far too long, progressive educators have been winning the education war in Canadian public schools. (LStockStudio/Shutterstock)

The Marxists Are Winning the Education War

Commentary

For the last 60 years or so, a raging storm of controversy has hung over public education in Canada. It has also pitted some educators, often called traditionalists, against others, often called progressives, and it has been affecting the way children are educated in public schools.

The disagreement can be clearly seen in the way people answer the following questions:

Should the curriculum be standardized for all students?

Should schools implement standardized examinations?

Should parents have the final say in the schools their children attend?

If you answer yes to these questions, there is no doubt you are a traditionalist; if you answer no, you are a progressive.

Teacher education programs have been training teacher candidates in radical progressive methods, and teacher unions have been bargainingand even strikingto get benefits enshrined in the progressive ideology.

The progressive perspective is derived from the writings of Karl Marx and his followers. Today, this perspective is called critical theory, critical race theory, critical gender theory, or more broadly constructivism. This theory is based on Marxs idea that people in capitalist societies, like Canada and the United States, belonged to one of two classes: the Bourgeoisie or the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie oppress and exploit the Proletariat.

In education, the argument is a little more complex. Progressive educators see democracy as fundamental for teaching and learning, and to liberate students from servitude, classrooms need to become democratically organized. Progressives believe that students need to experience democracy so they can help transform Canada into a true democracy where all people are equal.

To get to this outcome, each teacher must be a guide-by-the-side rather than a sage-on-the-stage, as most teachers have been in the past. Students then have a much larger say in what goes on in classrooms. In fact, in some classrooms, teachers are relegated to the margins as students design their own education curriculum, teach themselves material that interests them, and determine the grades they receive on their transcripts. Curricula content is increasingly not being mandated by departments of education, but even if it is mandated, it is often not taught.

Public school students are increasingly learning that they are members of groups based on the amount of oppression they experience. This is an idea taken from the neo-Marxist playbook called intersectionality. In this conception, there is a hierarchy of oppressed groups depending on the number of characteristics students attach to their identities. Students who attach three characteristics are more oppressed than students who attach one or two characteristics.

In this hierarchy, females are more oppressed than males, blacks are more oppressed than whites, and black lesbians are more oppressed than most other students.

Students with more characteristics representing oppression attached to their identities are more deserving of attention, privilege, and the right to express their opinion. Consistent with each individuals tag value, members from oppressed groups become elevated while members from oppressor groups are devalued.

As well, students are assumed to have knowledge derived from their lived experiences as members of specific groups, and this knowledgepresumably reflecting truthis not shared by students belonging to other groups. Hence, truth becomes dependent on the persons group membership.

Simply put, students are believed to live in self-contained silos cut off from other students and therefore able to gain truthful insights into the world that remain inaccessible to other students. This is why we often hear high school students prefacing their verbal claims with As a Black female, or As an Indigenous two-spirited female

Such claims are a way for students to state their ideological position in the hierarchy of the oppressed, and, more importantly, for them to assert their superiority over others.

Obviously, advancing an argument with such a preface conflates the speakers identity with the substance of her argument. Such arguments become ad hominem statements of truth: This is my truth and it has special significance because I am a member of an oppressed group.

It is practically impossible for students (or teachers) to refute statements advanced in this wayincluding false statementsput forward by the students from highly oppressed groups. To question these students claims is to question their identities, which is now seen as being judgemental bordering on violence. No one wants to come across as being either violent or judgemental.

But even if someone dares to correct an obvious error in what an oppressed speaker says, more often than not, the speakers response is that she is being violently oppressed by people who do not share her racial, gender, or intersectional identity. Consequently, the speaker thinks that her identity, her truth, is being denigrated.

It becomes clear, therefore, that truth is no longer a universal concept in Canadian schools, something that everyone agrees is fundamental value to a civilized society. Increasingly, truth is seen as being specific to one group and not to all students.

In fact, Canadian public education has sacrificed a universal conception of truth for the ideological claim that groups have their own truths and the degree of truthfulness is dependent on the group membership of the students.

A few examples from a three-page March 21 Winnipeg Free Press article of interviews with students, teachers, and parents may help clarify this rather abstract claim.

The author of the article, Maggie Macintosh, reported that education is full of popular buzzwords and phrases include[ing] inquiry, project-based learning, student voice and choice, and math talk.

Kelly McLure, a grade 1 teacher at Dawson Trail School in Lorette, Manitoba, said, It [education] was more teacher-led, and now its more student-led. Thats what the inquiry does; kids are doing the wondering and were helping guide them to answers.

Bobbie-Jo Leclair, an Indigenous education consultant from the Louis Riel School Division, said, Its important to look at structures, practices, policies of school to see whos being heard and reflected. Macintosh reported that Leclair has seen divisions slowly adopt First Nations education ideologies during her 17 years as an educator.

Geret Coates, a grade 11 teacher at St. James Collegiate in Winnipeg, told Macintosh that rather than study Shakespeare this year, his students are flipping through pages of suspense novel Killing Mr. Griffin, first-person narrative The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Stepping Stones: A Refugee Familys Journey

These examples reveal that students are in control and teachers are responding to their specific interests. Teachers are no longer considered to be experts in the subjects they teach, the curriculum is not tightly mandated by the department of education, and teachers are no longer being monitored to ensure that they teach the proscribed curriculum.

This 60-year trend towards progressivism in public education raises at least three important questions:

How can this process be called education if there are fewif anystandard curricular expectations for students? Wouldnt it be better to call the process self-actualization?

How can schools honestly report that students are ready to take a place in the working world or in post-secondary institutions if they have not mastered a set of necessary prerequisites?

Why should taxpayers support this self-actualization process?

For far too long, progressive educators have been winning the education war in Canadian public schools. Traditionalists who think that education should be standardized, students should be formally assessed, and if students do not understand the curriculum they should not be promoted, have been losing battles.

For them, education has been debased and the authority of teachers has been undermined.

Traditional educators think that it is time to re-establish substance in the curriculum and bring back formal assessment of students, professional authority to teachers, and accountability to departments of education.

Rodney A. Clifton is a professor emeritus of sociology of education at the University of Manitoba and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. (rodney.clifton@umanitoba.ca)

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Thursday that China "unleashed a weapon on the world" by hiding the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and leaving other nations unprepared to handle it.

And they need to be held responsible for that, Cornyn said.

Cornyn said the new coronavirus isnt the first global pandemic and the world knows generally how to respond to these.

But the problem is China, where this virus came from, essentially failed to report to the rest of the world and share the information they knew so the rest of the world could get prepared, Cornyn said.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

Because China obviously is a very populous country, because of huge international travel from the Wuhan province to the rest of the world, thats how this pandemic got way out of control before we knew it was a problem, and that was because of a lack of transparency and candor from China, he said. Basically they have unleashed a weapon on the world, which has created a lot of fatalities and a lot of people ill and done untold damage to our economy.

Cornyns comments come as news reports have shown the Trump administration was warned as far back as last year about how serious the outbreak could be. ABC News reported this week that U.S. intelligence officials were warning in November of the contagion sweeping through the Wuhan province. The Washington Post previously reported that intelligence officials were warning in January and February of the threat the virus posed as President Donald Trump and others were downplaying it.

Republicans, however, have sought to keep the blame for the spread of the virus squarely on China. Trump and others repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the Chinese virus. While Trump stopped using that term in late march, GOP lawmakers continue to call for the Chinese government to be held accountable  including Cornyn, who has also blamed Chinese cultural practices for the outbreak.

One Houston-area congressional candidate says that, if elected, shell push to eliminate trade with China, which in 2018 amounted to $680 billion according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas Democrats earlier this week decried her statements as race-baiting and accused Cornyn of the same on Thursday.

Cornyn again takes to race-baiting, dog-whistling and racing as fast as he can to the bottom of the Trump Republican barrel, said Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party.

EATING DOGS AND BATS? Sen. Cornyn blames Chinese cultural practices for coronavirus

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz earlier this week said the Chinese Communist Party did everything they possibly could to cover it up.

Many of the deaths we have seen worldwide are a direct consequence of the Chinese coverup, he said Wednesday on the Michael Berry Show.

There needs to be real and serious inquiry, after we defeat this pandemic, after we stop the immediate public health crisis, as to how it started, where this virus came from, Cruz said, adding that within miles of the animal market, the wet market where this outbreak is believed to originate, within miles, there are not one, but two Chinese labs that are researching coronaviruses from bats and there is a natural inference, a natural question that needs to be asked, which is did this virus accidentally escape from one of those labs?

Researchers have yet to pinpoint when, where or how the coronavirus was transmitted from animals to humans, but there is evidence it is not tied to the Wuhan market  a so-called wet market where live animals are slaughtered onsite. The first publicly reported case of COVID-19 was found in a person with no connection to the market, according to a New England Journal of Medicine paper cited by the fact-checking group PolitiFact.

Still, there are growing calls, including from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to shut the markets down. Cornyn on Thursday said closing the markets would be a start.

Cornyn also said the U.S. needs to work on its dependency on China for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.

Just because somethings cheaper because its made in China, weve learned is not the only consideration, he said. That is something that should change on a permanent basis.

ben.wermund@chron.com
COVID-19 patients are dying in the hallways of a Detroit hospital before they can get help, overwhelmed medics in the city say.

At least two people left in corridors at Sinai-Grace Hospital have been found dead by overworked nurses, sources told CNN.

Staff at the hospital are so overwhelmed that the emergency room's Sunday nursing team all staged a sit in to ask for more help.

One healthcare worker told the network: 'We've had patients die in hallway beds because the nurse didn't find they didn't have a pulse until it was too late.'

The physician added: 'Each nurse has so many patients that by the time they come to check on their next one, there is a chance that patient may not have a pulse anymore.'

One worker described the hospital as looking like a 'third world country in a war zone'. Another said patients 'we know are going to pass' have been taken off monitors to free it up for 'someone else that needs it'.

Nurse Kenisa Barkai said she was fired after posting a video of her protective gear on Instagram.

Emergency room attending Sal Hadwan said he too was dismissed, telling The Detroit News: 'We need more help because weve been working under extreme conditions. We told them we need additional staff and went to check on patients.'

COVID-19 patients are dying in the hallways of a Detroit hospital before they can get help, overwhelmed medics in the city say. At least two people left in corridors at Sinai-Grace Hospital have been found dead by overworked nurses, sources told CNN

Nurse Kenisa Barkai , left, said she was fired after posting a video of her protective gear on Instagram. Emergency room attending Sal Hadwan, right, said he too was dismissed, telling The Detroit News: 'We need more help because weve been working under extreme conditions. We told them we need additional staff and went to check on patients'

Health officials, meanwhile, reported that Michigan has had 20,346 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 959 deaths from the disease caused by the coronavirus.

In Detroit the death toll stood at 247 as of Wednesday.

Medics say test results take days to come back and the hospital has been forced to keep even ventilated patients in hallways.

A spokesman for the hospital said: 'It's important to understand that everyday emergency rooms all over the country face dynamic situational challenges and even more so now in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.'

They said the 'ever-increasing number of patients' is putting a strain on resources and staff but added: 'Surge plans are in place at our hospital to handle the increase in patient volumes to ensure we provide the safest and most appropriate care for our patients.'

The mayor of Detroit said Wednesday that the coronavirus is 'starting to weaken' in Michigan's largest city, but he also pleaded with residents to keep the momentum going by wearing masks and avoiding large groups.

There were fewer new cases and deaths reported Wednesday than on Tuesday. 'We are starting to weaken it,' Duggan said. 'If we don't give it new energy by clustering we are going to be successful.'

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would announce plans Thursday to extend Michigan's stay-at-home order.

Detroit has 6 percent of Michigan's population but has had more than 25 percent of the state's virus cases and deaths.
A military officer on lockdown duties at a checkpoint at Tema Newtown has shot a police woman. The incident happened Thursday at about 8:30 am.



The policewoman, Lance Corporal Francisca Tenge, who was also on Operation Covid-Safety duties at the same checkpoint with the military man, was shot in the leg and knee.



Circumstances under which the military man shot the police officer is not immediately known as the police is yet to establish the motive for the action, our correspondent Josephine Antwi-Adjei reported.



The soldier has since been removed from his duty post and placed under military detention.



Snippets of information picked up from the police so far appears to suggest the policewoman may not have been shot on purpose.



The policewoman is quoted to have said the soldier was standing behind her at the checkpoint and suddenly, she heard gunshot and the bullet hit her leg and the knee.



She was rushed to the Tema General Hospital where she is receiving treatment.



Inspector General of Police James Boanuh is said to be leading a team to visit the policewoman who is with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Police at the Tema Regional Police Command.

Source: 3news.com









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A doctor diagnosed with coronavirus has died - three weeks after he warned the prime minister that health workers urgently needed more personal protective equipment (PPE).

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 52, passed away after 15 days in hospital with COVID-19.

On 18 March he wrote a message to Boris Johnson asking him to "urgently" ensure PPE for "each and every NHS worker in the UK".

He told the prime minister that healthcare workers "are in direct contact with patients" and have a "human right like others to live in this world disease-free with our family and children".

Dr Chowdhury was a locum urologist who worked at Homerton Hospital in east London and died on Wednesday at Queen's Hospital in Romford after testing positive for coronavirus.

His 18-year-old son, Intisar Chowdhury, said: "My father would not be afraid to point out what was wrong. Because he cared about people, he cared about his co-workers, his colleagues, his family, he cared about people he's never even met.

"He cared about everyone and that love and compassion he had for everyone extends in every aspect of his life. He is a hero.

"I do not wish this sort of pain on anyone. You really don't want to be feeling what I'm feeling. You shouldn't have to lose your father at this age."

Intisar spoke about the last moments he spent with his father in the intensive care unit.

"He looked peaceful," he said.

"I held his hand and prayed by his side. But he was peaceful. I just told him, 'I love you baba'."

His 11-year-old daughter Wareesh Chowdhury, said: "He was loved by so many, it just makes me heartbroken to see him go but it made me so happy that I got to know him.

"I love him so much, to the moon and back. I just miss him. He left so quickly, it's too early for him to go. He was a blessing and he didn't deserve to leave so early."

Both Wareesha and Intisar said they were inspired to become medics after the death of their father.

Story continues

His son said:"My father is a leading role model for all of us, I hope we can keep his memory alive by becoming the person he has taught us all to become. He is a legend."

In a statement, the Muslim Doctors Association paid tribute to him saying: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital, after fighting for his life from COVID-19.

"He leaves behind his wife and two children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

"Two weeks before his admission to hospital he wrote a message to the prime minister urging for better PPE.

"May he rest in peace."

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In his message to the prime minister, Dr Chowdhury wrote: "Please ensure urgently PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK.

"Remember we may be doctors/nurses/HCAs/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients, but we are also human beings to practice human rights like others, to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

"Otherwise in future our children will lose interest to go to medical school.

"We also should get first track facilities for coronavirus testing to help our patients to prevent the disease spreading."

Family friend doctor Golam Rahat Khan said Dr Chowdhury had been worried about coronavirus "long before" it reached the UK.

"He was telling me and other friends that coronavirus was very dangerous," he said.

Dr Khan, 45, who has known Dr Chowdhury for nearly 20 years, said he was a "life-loving person".

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

He added: "He liked singing and liked our own Bengali culture and loved English heritage.

"He was so caring, he would call us very often to come to his house. I last saw him on February 1 at my house for my son's eighth birthday."

Dr Chowdhury's death is the latest in a list of NHS staff who have died fighting the pandemic.
- Actress-director Bibeth Ortezas brother, Dr. Ephraim Neal C. Orteza, passed away due to COVID-19

- Dr. Orteza, 64, was the medical director and pediatrician of Ospital ng Paranaque

- His celebrity sister took to social media to share a heartwarming story about the doctor

- Bibeth said that it was evident from Dr. Neals childhood that he was going to grow up as a doctor

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Dr. Ephraim Neal C. Orteza, brother of veteran actress-director Bibeth Orteza, passed away on April 8, at the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa, due to COVID-19.

Aside from being a frontliner in the countrys battle with the pandemic, Dr. Orteza, 64, was also the medical director and pediatrician of Ospital ng Paranaque.

His celebrity sister took to social media to share a heartwarming story about the doctor.

According to the actress-director, it was evident from Dr. Neals childhood that he was going to grow up as a doctor.

Bimboy was my best friend and best enemy when we were growing up. The more studious one, who knew he wanted to be a doctor since Grade One, who earned regular praise for good grades from our Mama, until the day he put the frozen cat he was dissecting inside our refrigerator freezer.

He married Imelda Olivarez in NYC, but his church wedding he had here. He asked my mother-in-law to be one of his ninangs. And as you know, Armida didn't go to our wedding.

Before the reception ended, he whispered to me, Talo kita. Si Tita Armida nasa wedding album ko. Sa iyo, wala! Hahahahaha!

Among one of the last BS Pre-Med graduates of UP, he was an activist early on, who left BS Circle shortly before graduation. I asked why, and he said, Nahihiya ako to be there. Wala sa personality ko ang maging out in front.

He said this, not knowing that he would be one. A frontliner, to the very end.

Manang Bibeth is so very, very proud,

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KAMI previously reported that Dr. Sally Gatchalian, sister of actress-host Ruby Rodriguez, also died because of COVID-19.

Bibeth Orteza is a veteran actress, director, and writer in the Philippines. Some of her projects include Hari ng Tondo (2014), Inagaw mo ang lahat sa akin (1995) and Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After (The Ungasis and Escaleras Adventure) (2008).

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Our host Paula Coling gave some tips on how to wisely spend your time at home during the enhanced community quarantine! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Lockdown-like restrictions to return in Maharashtra? Here's what CM Uddhav Thackeray has to say

Polls postponed: Maha Cabinet asks Governor to appoint Thackeray as MLC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Apr 09: The Maharashtra Cabinet held a special meeting to recommend to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to appoint Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray to one of the posts in the state council.

Minority Affairs Minister, Nawab Malik said that no council election could be held for the other vacant MLC seats due to coronavirus. There are two vacant MLC posts which the Governor appoints and the Cabinet requested that Thackeray be appointed as MLC.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Thackeray is not a member of any House of State legislature. The Constitution says that he needs to be a member of either the Assembly or Council within 6 months of taking oath. He took oath on November 28.
Sadiq Khan was criticised again today for refusing to give London bus drivers protective masks despite nine dying from coronavirus, as he launched a two-week trial to test if passengers could use the middle door.

The approach is meant to reduce contact between drivers and their passengers, but critics - including the families of Transport for London workers - insisted a trial would 'waste time' and did not go far enough. Passengers will not have to touch in.

Tina Grace tweeted: 'Not good enough. All TfL staff must have protective masks and gloves, following Germany's example. Our drivers are dying.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'My partner is being forced back out there by you as head of TFL if anything should happen I will hold you personally responsible as apparently they don't need PPE!!!'

The Mayor of London has faced a barrage of criticism in recent days from transport workers who say they are working in dirty conditions while 90 per cent of the capital's buses and more than half of Tube services continue to run.

It came as the daily death toll in the UK yesterday surged to nearly 1,000 as government sources indicated the national lockdown is set to extend into May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains 'stable' in intensive care.

Closing the front door is meant to reduce contact between the driver and their passengers, but critics - including the families of Transport for London workers - insisted a trial would 'waste time' and did not go far enough

Critics of Mr Khan said the trial would take too long and drivers needed to be urgently given protective equipment

The trial of middle-door boarding only will begin this week on several routes that operate out of Walworth bus garage in south London, including two that serve hospitals.

TfL say the trial will assess if the measure has a negative impact on passengers and say they have already encouraged people to sit away from the driver and reinforced the plastic barrier protecting the cab.

But one critic today urged Mr Khan not to 'waste time' with a two-week trial as others insisted he immediately roll out protective equipment to all staff.

Sean McShane tweeted: 'Sadiq, please try to imagine back to when your dad was driving the bus and what you would have wanted in place as that my position now with my dad driving the bus at over 60.

'This should not be a trial - look at what Czech Republic is doing! 1 month could cost unnecessary lives.'

One Twitter user raged: 'You just lag behind other cities all the time. This just occurred to you now has it?. You are utterly useless. For heavens sake, step down.'

Another added: 'Why must workers have to die before we implement some protection? All key workers have and will remain in danger if the firms do not take covid-19 to serious.'

And Lyn Godfrey said: 'As Mayor you should have known buses were not cleaned and drivers were left unprotected in cabs with people breathing all over them.

'You hold a huge budget for London and could have commissioned PPE for these poor drivers. Shame on you - you have their blood on your hands.'

The Mayor of London has faced a barrage of criticism in recent days from transport workers who say they are working in dirty conditions while 90 per cent of the capital's buses and more than half of Tube services continue to run

Yesterday, Mr Khan insisted that bus drivers did not need to wear personal protective equipment, despite the number of bus, Tube and train workers who have died after testing positive for coronavirus rising 14.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he said TfL had sought advice from Public Health England, the Department for Transport and the World Health Organisation on whether drivers should have PPE.

He said: 'What they've told us is that PPE should only be used in care settings.

'You know the shortage there is of PPE for our NHS and care staff, as recently as yesterday we re-chased the government to get advice on this. Their advice is quite clear transport workers should not be wearing PPE.'

The Mayor's decision infuriated the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, who said transport staff should stop working if they are not provided with adequate safety equipment.

'That means that if they are not provided with PPE, including masks, eye defenders and gloves where necessary, they should not be working,' said General Secretary Mick Cash.

The Mayor on Good Morning Britain yesterday, when he confirmed drivers would not be given masks

Mr Khan has also faced criticism in recent weeks as key workers forced to continue taking the Tube were forced into busy carriages after a large number of services were cut.

The number of passengers using the Tube has plunged during the lockdown, with 94% fewer on some days last week compared with the time last year. This has meant most trains are largely empty.

However, because the number of services has been dramatically reduced, key workers who still need to travel have been forced to pack into a smaller number of carriages at some busy points in the day.

In response, Mr Khan has insisted he is unable to run any more services because a third of TfL staff are off sick or in coronavirus self-isolation.

Claire Mann, Director of Bus Operations at TfL, said: 'London's hard-working transport workers are making a heroic effort at the frontline of the fight against this pandemic, and it is only right we consider everything we can to protect them.

'We've already delivered many other enhanced safety measures and by trialling middle-door only boarding on buses we can gain the information we need to see if we can further improve safety on London's buses.

'Most Londoners can do their bit to protect our bus colleagues and other critical workers by remembering: stay home, don't travel, save lives.'
A Cape Town-based exhibition builder, together with an event organizer, offer to work with governments and private sectors across Africa to rapidly build hospital infrastructures and shelters in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afrika Umoja, an initiative initiated by Cape Town temporary architecture specialists, HOTT3D with pan-African energy event organizer Africa Oil & Power (AOP) (www.AfricaOilAndPower.com), is tackling the COVID-19 threat in its home city and across Africa. Afrika Umoja will aim to build temporary hospitals, clinics and homeless shelters to combat the coronavirus, in partnership with government, the private sector and local entrepreneurs.

The venture applies HOTT3Ds design, construction and project management expertise to building medical facilities within days, in potentially any location across Africa. AOP is supporting Afrika Umoja through marketing, communications and outreach to its network of partners.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on companies in the events industry globally, but these highly skilled people and organizations can be redeployed. Instead of designing and building complex exhibition and conference infrastructure, we are now able to very quickly design and build temporary emergency medical infrastructure says Liam Beattie, Managing Director of HOTT3D.

Afrika Umoja is in discussions with provincial authorities and is ready to build at short notice in South Africa and internationally.

Its exciting to be able to work with HOTT3D, as we have done for exhibitions & conferences in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan and South Africa for years, on providing national and provincial governments with solutions for the challenge of building high quality medical facilities and accommodation, wherever they are on the continent, notes James Chester, Acting CEO of AOP.

Afrika Umoja invites provincial and national governments and firms interested in building or funding temporary medical buildings and shelters to contact the team via Twitter via @AfricaOilPower or email. The organization is also keen to welcome more vendors and suppliers to join the project, whether they are based in Cape Town or further afield

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As many as 64 persons have been identified as having come into contact with the second individual who tested positive for COVID- 19.





According to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, as of April 3, 40 of those individuals had been contacted or traced. The process of tracing the remaining persons was ongoing.





"No one of the 40 odd has had any symptoms of COVID-19, so that is good news, the Prime Minister said.

Additionally, it has been determined that the individual who was deemed to have had the most contact with the infected person, had no symptoms. However, as a result of the close contact, the medical authorities advised that that person be put in quarantine, Gonsalves said.





Case Number Two, a woman, was said to have arrived here on March 25, on an American Airlines flight from the United States, and was placed under mandatory self-quarantine.





It was noted that the individual breached quarantine but has since been placed under lockdown and, because of her history, was under police guard.





The third case was an individual who came in from Barbados on March 18, the Prime Minister said.





"It was interesting to note that he had not come in from any country that required to be quarantined, but he appeared to have been somebody listening and had put himself in quarantine, Gonsalves said.





At that press briefing, the Prime Minister said that, based on intelligence, it had been determined that there were 15 persons who were not following quarantine.





This Gonsalves said meant that we needed to adopt a good neighbour initiative.





"Not to go snooping but to give information, he said.





Of those 15 individuals, Gonsalves said that it was hoped that they will be dealt with in the court.





"If there are any who have not had a court order yet, or those who breach the order, then the law will deal with them.





Under the Public Health Act of 1977, there is a provision that if someone willfully transmits a disease, they can be brought to court and fined EC$100 and sentenced to three months imprisonment.





But it would be up to the authorities to say to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that they want to prosecute someone and because it is a summary offence, they have up to a year to file a case against an offender.
Occidental Petroleum wants U.S. government financial aid for the oil industry even as the biggest producer of Permian Basin crude urges Texas regulators not to interfere with market forces.

In a sign of how important the appeal is to Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub, employees are being urged to send a pre-written wish list to Congress members. Among other things, the company wants the government to provide liquidity to the energy industry through this period of unprecedented demand destruction and unsustainable pricing until normal economic conditions return.

The letter, linked in an internal email dated April 7 and seen by Bloomberg News, also encourages the Trump administration to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and end the kingdoms price war with Russia. Lawmakers are asked to advocate for fair access for U.S. crude to Asian markets and to support buying oil for the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

A representative for Occidental declined to comment.

The email was sent the same day that Occidental appealed to the Texas Railroad Commission to reject mandated production cuts. Occidental said output caps, which have been strongly supported by some of the companys smaller Permian rivals, would be extremely short-sighted and would interfere with contractual obligations.

Resolve itself

It is Occidentals position that the surge in the supply of oil coupled with the decline in oil demand will resolve itself without state regulatory interference, the company told the Railroad Commission, the states primary oil regulator.

The commission is set to hold a meeting next week to consider what would be the first production curtailments in almost half a century.

Occidentals stock has been hit especially hard in the wake of crudes historic meltdown as the coronavirus outbreak crushes demand and Saudi Arabia floods crude markets as part of a market-share battle with Russia.

OSBORNE: With $39 billion in debt, can Houston-based Occidental Petroleum survive the oil crash?

Hollub has faced criticism over her decision last year to amass debt in order to beat Chevron Corp. in a bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Occidental has seen its bonds fall to junk and has recently replaced its chief financial officer.

She joined other oil executives in a meeting last week with President Donald Trump. Prior to the gathering, there had been some expectation that Trump could bolster the chances of a deal between OPEC and its allies by committing the U.S. to some sort of supply curtailments. But the meeting ended without any public declaration of a plan to cut domestic output, with Trump saying its a free market and up to Saudi Arabia and Russia to solve their dispute.

This letter lists the steps our government needs to take immediately, Hollub said in the email to employees. Now more than ever, we all need to inform our elected officials that inaction could result in long-lasting harm to the U.S. economy.
URUMQI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are planning to make its high-quality flour a famous brand of the region.

The efforts will help promote local food products in the markets outside the region, according to the regional department of food and strategic reserves.

The logo of "Xinjiang Flour" has received approval from the National Intellectual Property Administration, and will be put into use within a couple of months, said Ma Xueyuan, chief economist with the department.

The logo will be authorized for use by the Xinjiang grain industry association. For quality control, permission to use the logo will only be given to leading agricultural enterprises that process more than 80,000 tonnes of wheat and sell more than 60,000 tonnes of flour annually.

Xinjiang's wheat is of high quality thanks to sufficient sunshine, large temperature differences between day and night and little pollution in the region.

In recent years, Xinjiang has increased production of high-quality grain and oil, and promoted brand construction to help improve the efficiency of local companies and raise farmers' income.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) predicts a contraction of between 13% and 32% this year.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is predicting a severe decline in international commerce this year.

In a new report the WTO forecasts a contraction of between 13% and 32% this year.

The wide range of possibilities reflects the uncertainties about the health crisis.

It says the impact on trade is likely to exceed the slump caused by the financial crisis just over a decade ago.

The more pessimistic case would amount to a decline in global trade similar to what happened in the great depression 90 years ago but in shorter period of time.

The WTO's director general Roberto Azevedo described the figures as "ugly".

"There is no getting round that", he said. He said the situation was first and foremost a health crisis and he acknowledged that governments had to take steps to protect people's lives.

"The unavoidable declines in trade and output will have painful consequences for households and businesses, on top of the human suffering caused by the disease itself," he added.

A decline of 13% in trade in goods is described in the report as a relatively optimistic scenario. It reflects a steep drop in trade followed by a recovery starting in the second half of 2020.

That of course would need to be based on substantial progress over the next few months in getting on top of the health crisis.

That is obviously not guaranteed, so the report includes a much more pessimistic case which reflects a steeper initial decline and a more prolonged and incomplete recovery.

The report also warns that "the extent of uncertainty is very high, and it is well within the realm of possibilities that for both 2020 and 2021 the outcomes could be above or below these results".

The report says that the growth in global trade had already stalled towards the end of last year. By the final quarter of 2019 goods trade was 1% lower than a year earlier.

The WTO says this was the result of "persistent trade tensions", a reference that to a large extent reflects the confrontational approach to international commerce taken by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Mr Azevedo said trade would be an important ingredient in the economic recovery after the crisis. He said keeping markets open and predictable would be critical. BBC
Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, said on Thursday that the government would make a decision on tightening the state of emergency in Lentekhi in accordance with the results of the final tests, InterPressNews reports.

As Gakharia noted, the government is monitoring the situation and may decide to tighten measures not for individual regions but throughout the country.

"We are waiting for the results of the final tests from the Lentekhi cluster. However, it should be noted that the number of regional clusters in the country is growing. This should be taken into account. We should also take into consideration that we may make a decision on tightening the measures in the whole country and not in some regions because we have serious clusters in Kobuleti, Marneuli and Bolnisi, now Lentekhi has appeared, as well as there are several cases in Samegrelo, Batumi. Let's see what the results will be by the end of the day," Giorgi Gakharia said.
More insurers are coming forward every day with discounts, extended coverage and relaxed payment terms for insureds affected by shelter-in-place and other conditions required during the coronavirus crisis.

Progressive Insurance announced it is providing approximately $1 billion to its drivers as a result of fewer claims that come with less frequent driving. Subject to approval by state regulators, Progressive personal auto customers who have a policy in force as of April 30th will be credited 20% of their April premiums in May and customers with a policy in force as of May 31 will be credited 20% of their May premiums in June.

In addition, the insurer is:

Suspending cancellations and non-renewals on personal and commercial lines policies for non-payment through May 15.

Providing commercial lines customers with a business owner or general liability policy underwritten by Progressive a 20% credit on April and May monthly premiums

Expanding coverage for personal auto customers temporarily delivering food or medicine and allowing commercial customers additional coverage options for delivery

For communities, Progressive is donating $8 million to charities focused on hunger, health and homelessness and providing delivered meals for its for-hire trucking customers, first responders and health care providers.

Were grateful to be in a position to give back, said Progressive President and CEO Tricia Griffith. We will continue to do what we can to help based on the current data available to us and will continue to monitor how this unprecedented situation plays out.

Travelers

The Travelers Companies announced it is giving U.S. personal auto insurance customers a 15% credit on their April and May premiums. The company said it is working with regulators to obtain the necessary approvals.

Our customers are doing their part to stay at home and help stop the spread of COVID-19, said Alan Schnitzer, chairman and chief executive officer of Travelers. Our new program recognizes their contribution to the effort we all need to make to protect our health and safety and the resulting decrease in miles driven and auto claims.

Separately, Travelers is offering auto coverage for customers who are now using their personal vehicles to make food, grocery, pharmacy and medical supply deliveries.

In addition, Travelers is offering billing relief to customers, accelerating more than $100 million in commission payments to eligible agents and brokers and pledged $5 million to assist families and communities.

USAA

USAA will be returning $520 million to its members. The insurer said the payment is a result of data showing members are driving less due to stay-at-home guidance across the country. Every member with an auto insurance policy in effect as of March 31 will receive a 20% credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks.

We understand the impact this pandemic is having on our country, and especially our military community and their families, many of whom also are working on the front lines of the crisis. Returning premiums provides timely help for our members, said USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock.

This is just one of several steps USAA has taken to provide financial assistance to members, including special payment arrangements and expanded auto insurance coverage for members using their personal vehicles for deliveries.

Additionally, USAA has committed $4.4 million to help military-focused and other nonprofits respond to this pandemic.

Starr Aviation

In the commercial lines space, Starr Insurance Companies Aviation is making accommodations under its general aviation policies by extending certain training and medical-certification deadlines for insured pilots until June 30 or pandemic social-distancing mandates are lifted.

We quickly saw that Covid-19 mitigation efforts could affect pilots whose policies require an annual training event and pilots subject to regulatory aviation requirements, said Steve Blakey, president of Starr Insurance.

GEICO, Farmers, Liberty Mutual

These carrier announcements came a day after three other insurers revealed their offerings.

Auto insurer GEICO said it will give back $2.5 billion in the form of a 15 percent credit to its auto and motorcycle customers as their policy comes up for renewal between April 8 and Oct 7. The credit will also apply to any new policies purchased during this period.

Farmers Insurance said it is giving a 20% discount to more than 115,000 of its business insurance customers. Liberty Mutual is refunding 15% of premium for two months to personal auto insurance customers.

AmFam, Allstate, Next

Earlier this week, American Family Insurance said it will return approximately $200 million to its auto insurance customers. The premium relief will come in the form of a one-time full payment of $50 per vehicle.

Also this week, Allstate announced that Allstate, Esurance and Encompass personal auto insurance customers will receive a premium credit of 15% of their monthly premium in April and May, totaling more than $600 million. Allstate said its telematics data shows that people are driving between 35% and 50% fewer miles in most states.

Digital commercial lines insurer Next Insurance is cutting April premiums by 25 percent for its customers with general liability, professional liability and commercial auto policies.

Topics Carriers Auto Personal Auto Aviation
Six cruise ships continue on their path across the Great Australian Bight towards Western Australia, with one currently sitting off the South West coast.

Of the ships, at least one is known to have had coronavirus cases on board; the Ovation of the Seas had 84 confirmed cases, while the Celebrity Solstice was the ship Perth man Ray Daniels was a passenger on before he returned home and died from the disease in hospital.

The Ovation of the Seas, along with five other cruise ships, is rounding WA's southern coast. Credit:AAP

With an estimated total combined crew of 6000, the ships have been ordered by the Australian Border Force to return to their ports of origin.

WA Premier Mark McGowan was blunt in his message to the ships: "They should keep on going."
PHILADELPHIA, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Global Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE American: FCO) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, today announced that it will pay on April 30, 2020, a distribution of US $0.07 per share to all shareholders of record as of April 20, 2020 (ex-dividend date April 17, 2020).

Your Fund's distribution policy is to provide investors with a stable monthly distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital.

Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the source of certain distributions to shareholders.

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for the distribution to be paid on April 30, 2020 as well as the estimated cumulative distributions declared fiscal year to date (11/01/2019 - 03/31/2020),from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from month to month because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies.



Estimated

Amounts of

Current

Monthly

Distribution

per share ($) Estimated

Amounts of

Current Monthly

Distribution

per share (%) Estimated

Amounts of Fiscal

Year to Date

Cumulative

Distributions

per share ($) Estimated

Amounts of Fiscal

Year to Date

Cumulative

Distributions

per share (%) Net Investment Income $0.0273 39% $0.1638 39% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains* - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains - - - - Return of Capital $0.0427 61% $0.2562 61% Total (per common share) $0.0700 100% $0.4200 100%

*includes currency gains

The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy").

The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2020 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The following table provides the Fund's total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Fund's annualized and cumulative distribution rates.

Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 03/31/20201 (1.11%) Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 14.17% Fiscal Year to Date (11/01/2019 to 03/31/2020) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 (20.52%) Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 5.90%

1 Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan.

2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of March 31, 2020.

While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market.

Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the terms of the distribution policy. The final determination of the source of all distributions will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances.

Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenfco.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Global Income Fund, Inc.
Cryptocurrency, blockchain and decentralized data are all buzzwords we've seen floating around in recent years, but the technology is so new that it's hard to see direct applications to our lives, even in space exploration. But blockchain and space have more ties than you might expect.

What these concepts all describe is a different way of storing data, a way that is decentralized (meaning it uses a shared database), transparent (which allows users to see changes to the database) and secure. Within this type of system, users have copies of the data and, because data in a blockchain is stored with cryptographic algorithms, blockchain is hard to hack.

While the most popular use of cryptocurrency has been in the financial sector, other applications it's been used for could be applied for space. One of these possible applications is in supply chains, where could be used to track resources during space mining or to manage large space construction projects. Another such use could be with energy to store and control energy production and consumption by space systems, Helena Correia Mendonca, a principal consultant with Portuguese law firm Vieira de Almeida, which studies blockchain, said in an e-mail to Space.com.

Related: Packing for the Moon: New Software Aims to Track Supplies

"The space sector can also give an important contribution for the development and wider use of blockchain, notably through the use of satellites as nodes in the chain  either as participating nodes that store data, or validating nodes that validate and add data," Mendonca said in the email."In this case, you can use satellites to receive, store and broadcast blockchain data and apps. Hence, the satellite networks can be used as the infrastructure where you store data and through which you perform transactions."

While these possible uses are promising, blockchain is actually already used in space . The first satellite to use the technology was Blockstream, a company that launched in 2017 to distribute bitcoin (a cryptocurrency) around the world. On the security side, blockchain was first used in space by SpaceChain in 2018, Aravind Ravichandran, who studies blockchain and space applications for PricewaterhouseCoopers in France, said in an e-mail interview with Space.com. SpaceChain's satellite was designed for a satellite-based blockchain system that requires communication with a satellite to perform a transaction in the database.

"It was quite a successful mission, because this formed the basis for SpaceChain, which intends to launch a constellation of satellites to support a blockchain-based operating system," Ravichandran said.

More space-y blockchain activity could be coming shortly, too. Ravichandran pointed to the acquisition of Planetary Resources (an asteroid mining company) by ConsenSys (a major blockchain company) in 2018. That deal, he said, "prompted major predictions, including from me, that blockchain will support asteroid mining using a process called 'tokenization,' which is a way of digitizing physical assets to store on a blockchain database."

After the acquisition, ConsenSys launched a subsidiary called ConsenSys Space, headed by Chris Lewicki, the CEO of Planetary Resources. This subsidiary launched TruSat, a blockchain-based database that will monitor orbital positions of satellites  something that could be all the more crucial as large fleets of satellites launch under companies such as SpaceX and Amazon. More satellites will bring a higher risk of collision, which could create orbital debris, Ravichandran added.

"Currently, there is no public [satellite] database," Ravichandran said, "and the only one is owned by the US Air Force. Hence, this database is pretty crucial, and the fact that it is decentralized allows for a neutral, unbiased place for getting the positions of the satellites in-orbit."

The blockchain industry is still emerging and all of its possible uses cannot be predicted, but Mendonca pointed out that all space industries could benefit from it in applications such as financial technology, government satellite communications, broadcasting and Internet access, among others.

So far, Ravichandran foresees work in satellite communication and points to feasibility studies with launcher and satellite manufacturing companies for supply chain tracking and management. The European Space Agency also published a whitepaper in 2019 which discusses possible blockchain applications in Earth observation as users share data between each other.

As blockchain moves into outer space, Ravichandran pointed to its ability to tokenize spacecraft and payloads as key to its success, which could help in massive upcoming space projects such as the international, collaborative Gateway space station NASA wants to build in lunar orbit.

He further explained that, with blockchain, "you can commercialize space exploration faster and more efficiently. Tokenizing a spacecraft would allow different entities to build different components of the spacecraft, giving institutions like NASA and ESA [the European Space Agency] the ability to procure things efficiently, with much more transparency and traceability."

Mendonca, however, warned that blockchain has regulatory issues associated with it that will need to be figured out first, including the nature of cryptocurrency tokens and how to implement data protection. That said, the European Union is among the entities examining the legal issues of blockchain, so she said she anticipates more clarity in the near future.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
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Fairhill activist Asteria Vives (right) argues with the driver of an ice cream truck in the neighborhood. Vives recorded the encounter, as she does with other ice cream purveyors. Read more

Ice cream trucks roll down the streets in Asteria Vives agitated dreams, announcing themselves with treacly songs  Little Brown Jug" or Yankee Doodle.

Always, the lumbering behemoths stop near a tight knot of children waving dollar bills. And the ice cream man fills a cone with ungloved hands and passes it, corona-coated, to an unsuspecting innocent.

Horrible, said Vives, 47, a community activist in Fairhill. Every night, I dream of these trucks.

Vives is obsessed. She is founder and director of Home Quarters and Friends Inc., a nonprofit serving low-income residents of Fairhill, where 55% of the population lives in poverty, making it the poorest neighborhood in Americas poorest big city.

Lately, shes been waging a guerrilla-style campaign against the ice cream trucks that are showing up daily, despite a March 22 city order banning them because of the coronavirus scourge.

For her, the virus has hit home. She lost a friend, Philadelphia Police Lt. James Walker, 59, a 32-year veteran, who on Sunday became the first city employee to die of the disease. I cant talk about it, she said from behind her black mask.

Vives, who suffers from asthma, stalks the streets of Fairhill in the afternoons, taking videos of encounters with ice cream men, which she sends to city and state officials. In one snippet, she confronts the driver of a truck from New Jersey called the Chill. She asks, What are you doing, spreading the coronavirus? He angrily waves her away, then drives off.

He had no gloves, Vives said later. And he came right up to the kids. Even drug dealers are better at social distancing than ice cream guys.

 READ MORE: High-income Philadelphians getting tested for coronavirus at far higher rates than low-income residents

Masks and gloves

Show up in Fairhill on any day during this pandemic and youll notice something civically uplifting: Almost everyone is wearing a mask and gloves.

Resilient people living in deep poverty always figure things out, said City Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez, whose district includes parts of Fairhill. Shes received videos from Vives, and said some trucks are being issued warnings that could lead to monetary sanctions.

On Tuesday, the Department of Licenses and Inspections shuttered a garage in the area used by ice cream trucks that pretty clearly were in violation of the order to stop rolling, said Karen Guss, L&I communications director.

She added, The order is meant to limit situations where its clear that people who buy from a truck on the street will not distance themselves correctly.

One of the regions biggest mobile ice cream purveyors, Mr. Softee, pulled its trucks when the city order came down, said Jim Conway, vice president of the company, whose U.S. headquarters is in Runnemede, Camden County.

After five months with no income, drivers will be hurt financially, but selling ice cream is not essential, Conway said. Its not good citizenship to have trucks enticing children to come out, exchange money with them without proper distancing, then have the kids take money back into the house and infect everyone.

 HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you.

Conway said that the ice cream men Vives chases are essentially employees whove gone rogue.

A lot are former Mr. Softee franchisees no longer in our system, he said.

They didnt follow rules, they didnt pay bills. They went independent, using our trucks as templates to slap together ice cream trucks with used equipment.

The vehicles dispensing ice cream in Fairhill are shopworn and jerry-rigged, with loud exhausts and odd names. One truck carries signs announcing it as both Mister Frostee and Mr. Frosty. Several have warnings on the back to Watch Our Childrens.

And, Conway said, "Im suspicious of their cleaning and sanitizing.

Reached by a phone number displayed on a truck, an ice cream man named Ali said Vives once caught his truck on camera. He would not reveal his last name, adding that his colleagues are all aware of the angry woman who takes pictures.

She doesnt understand that someone else is driving around a truck which is not mine, but has my phone number on it. Ive stopped work because of the coronavirus. Im going to take my number off that truck. The other drivers tell customers they got a special license from the city to sell. Its BS.

What about the trucks?

Earlier this week in Fairhill, the sublime weather seemed incongruous with the health calamity, as the sun illuminated pink flowering trees and cars went by like rolling jukeboxes, windows rolled down to let in fresh air and pump out Latinx hip-hop.

It was almost too loud for Vives, straining to hear the jangly jingles signaling the proximity of soft ice cream being dispensed. For three hours one day, she walked the streets, past the Fairhill Grocery, past Julios Barbershop.

A man sitting outside on Lycoming Street asked Vives, Hey, block captain, what about the ice cream trucks?

Im working on it, she said.

Vives feeds the homeless, hosts breakfasts honoring first responders, and creates workshops for residents learning money management. A never-married transplanted New Yorker, she lives alone, works in real estate occasionally, and runs a party venue.

Aware of acute hunger in the area, Vives understands why low-income parents, who spend their lives telling their children they cant afford most things, have a soft spot for ice cream. Its a relatively affordable treat they can proffer, making them feel like heroes, if only momentarily. Thats one of the reasons the ice cream sellers infuriate her: Its as if they know this, and exploit it.

The ice cream guys avoid Asteria, said Vives neighbor Carmen Santiago, 59, a divorced mother of three grown children who lives on disability insurance. They make me uncomfortable, selling during the virus.

A lioness sensing prey

As Santiago spoke, Vives head shot up, a lioness sensing prey. That grating Little Brown Jug tune was playing not far away. She sprinted toward the sound, one, two, three blocks, until she reached a Mister Frostee/Mr. Frosty truck near the corner of Fairhill and Bristol Streets.

The ice cream guy was wearing a mask and gloves. That didnt assuage Vives, who pressed the video button on her phone and started interrogating, though out of breath:

Hi, you know youre not supposed to be selling ice cream in the street, right?

Listen to me," the man said. I got kids.

Guess what? Vives said. I cant work, but Im not spreading the virus.

You should see the other guy, the ice cream man said, rolling over on a competitor. Go after him. Why come to me? With that, he slammed his window shut and drove off, leaving behind a bewildered little girl who wanted a cone.

A man in a NASA sweatshirt who wouldnt give his name congratulated Vives: I know where youre coming from. Its quarantine time. You give kids coronavirus over a quick buck?

Vives was already sending the video to city officials. Then she offered a warning to any more renegade ice cream men:

That driver thought Id leave. They have to understand disease is in the air.

"And they cant mess with Asteria Vives.
The WSWS spoke to Jane, who works as a childrens social worker in a Local Authority in northern England, about the conditions she and her clients face amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS: How has the coronavirus outbreak changed the way you work?

Jane: We are used to stress change and having to be resilient, but many social workers are scared. However, it is an unspoken fear as it is frowned upon in child protection social work. We are reading about a social worker, council refuse worker, numerous NHS workers, bus drivers in London and Glasgow taxi drivers dying as a result of COVID-19 and ask ourselves when it will be in our team.

We now work alone in our homes most days, only going to the office when needed for emergencies. We must try to support our most vulnerable children and young people without putting them and ourselves at risk. We get little or no guidance of how we should do this, with managements mantra being Keep calm and wash your hands! Individual workers have come up with initiatives; ideas such as using video chats to see children. This has not been led by managers. It is almost as if they just want you to carry on visiting peoples homes, but are smart enough not to come out with those words.

WSWS: What measures has your employer taken to protect you, your colleagues and your clients?

Jane: In a nutshell, none! I kept checking the official guidance in February and it was just general advice, which said if you hadnt been to Wuhan or in contact with anyone from Wuhan it didnt really affect you. Finally, around two weeks into March, the Keep calm and wash your hands advice started to appear. In the weeks before lockdown we had no access to anything remotely protective. We had cleansing wipes, which we have always had, for wiping our desks if someone else needed to use it. However, by the week lockdown started there were no wipes left.

Frightened social workers started trying to purchase their own makeshift protection. Some managed, some didnt. A week after lockdown, senior managers announced children still had to be seen, but that we werent to go into houses. It was farcical. No concrete advice was given on how we could do this.

A minority of workers, under pressure from lower level managers, continue going into peoples homes after the lockdown and are being hailed as selfless by managers. Last week, a high-ranking manager praised staff who continued to go into the office. No senior manager that I know of has criticized this or spoken of the dangers to both worker and service user. It is criminal. Managers, directors and council leaders should be held to account if people become ill or die.

WSWS: What advice has your union given?

Jane: There are several unions covering the social work profession. During pay/conditions negotiations you can see its divisive. However, in this situation they are saying the same thingabsolutely nothing! Unison has reproduced government advice without comment. Then on March 31, they issued Coronavirus: your rights at work. It had advice for education, health care, local government workers and the police. It appeared social workers came under the heading of local government workers.

Social workers have a specific role in protecting vulnerable children and adults and this was not mentioned in the guidance. There was no guidance on safety equipment to use while being asked to make visits, no guidance on whether to go into homes, no guidance on what to do if asked to continue with home visits. In other words, a complete cop out!

WSWS: How do you think the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown will impact the families you work with?

Jane: We already deal with families who are either on low pay and in-work benefits or are on benefits because they are unemployed. We have seen an increase in the last few years of dependence by some families on food banks. Ironically, other low paid workers in the NHS and council workers regularly contribute to food banks. Now, with the coronavirus restrictions, job losses and food shortages, food bank donations have begun to dry up. This is under conditions where children who normally get free school meals are now at home all day. Although schools are providing packed lunches for children who qualified for free school meals, for some of those children the school meal would have been their only cooked meal of the day.

Since the lockdown, we have seen a rise in domestic abuse in families, and parents who are telling us they are at breaking point. Many with a low income had already been hanging on by a thread.

WSWS: Could you say something about how the years of austerity have impacted on social work provisions and on the families you serve?

Jane: To place our work into context, we now have almost a third of children in the UK living in povertythat is around nine children in every average classroom. Prior to COVID-19, this was predicted to rise to five million this year. Of those children, at least two-thirds have at least one parent in work and are said to be in poverty because the family income is below 60 percent of the UK average (about 195 a week for a lone parent with two children). Some of the main causes of these growing levels of inequality are years of austerity, which have caused stagnating wages, low pay, zero-hours jobs, benefit cuts. Pay and benefits have not kept pace with the cost of living.

Child protection social workers have seen increased caseloads year on year. In a national survey in February, 70 percent of social workers said their caseloads were unmanageable. We have seen services to support families reduced at a frightening rate, the growth in parents presenting with mental health problems, parents misusing drugs or alcohol and rising domestic abuse levels.

Children growing up in these families are at a higher risk of harm, and the damaging effects can be both physical and emotionalwith a devastating and lifelong effect. The sad reality is there is no real social work provision. More and more childrens social workers refer children to other services where they can, but often those services are bursting at the seams and have much higher thresholds than previously.

With heavy hearts we often fear the next Baby Peter casea 17-month-old boy who died in London in 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by the London Borough of Haringey Childrens Services and National Health Service health professionals. Often, we are forced to close a case with no further action. This is the unspoken admission that we have no real answers to the political and social catastrophe of austerity.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Codebase Ventures Inc. ("Codebase" or the "Company") (CSE:CODE)(FSE:C5B)(OTCQB:BKLLF), an investment company, is pleased to announce that it has issued a total of 17,100,000 options pursuant to its incentive stock option plan ("Plan") to management, employees and consultants. Each option entitles the holder to subscribe for one common share of Codebase for $0.05 for a period of 5 years, subject to the terms of the Plan. The options will vest immediately.

About Codebase Ventures Inc.

Codebase Ventures Inc. is an investment company, led by technology and business experts who invest early in great ideas in sectors that have significant upside, including the cannabis sector. We operate from the understanding that technology is always evolving, bringing early opportunities for strategic investments that can deliver the exponential returns to our shareholders. We seek out and empower the innovators who are building tomorrow's standards with platforms, protocols and innovations - not just products. We invest early, support those founders, take their ideas to market and work tirelessly to help them realize their vision.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Brian Keane, Director

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (778) 806-5150

E-mail: IR@codebase.ventures

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. 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 does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Codebase Ventures Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/584597/Code-Ventures-Inc-Issues-Options
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 22:15:44|Editor: huaxia

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Fei Maohua, a photographer of Xinhua News Agency, works in the Zhongfaxincheng campus of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Xinhua photographer Fei Maohua has been in Wuhan since March 1. Here's his story...

By Xinhua photographer Fei Maohua

WUHAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- It was Jan. 26, the third day of the Spring Festival holiday, and I was sat at my parents' home in Kunming in southwest China when I texted my boss, "I want to cancel my holiday and go to Wuhan."

The moment I pressed send, I recalled another moment way back in 1998. I had volunteered to cover the bombing of Iraq. With the benefit of age, I'm less restless. But, the passion for my work as a journalist remains strong.

On March 1, along with two colleagues, I boarded a train to Wuhan, the hardest-hit Chinese city in the COVID-19 outbreak. We were the only passengers heading to the city, which had declared unprecedented access restrictions on Jan. 23. When we got off, I could see the bewilderment in the eyes of my fellow passengers.

So, my days in Wuhan began.

Team member Yang Hui wears protective equipment in Wuhan, March 13, 2020. Exposed to the danger of infection, they shuttle between hospitals and medical treatment stations around the clock to make sure that patients are transported to designated places in time.



Nine members from Yunnan Province, namely Liu Jianyong, Huang Jie, Yang Hui, Yao Hongjun, Wu Hongkun, Liu Mengdi, He Xueping, Pang Qingli and Yue Dingkun, made up a transferring team and went to Wuhan, on Feb. 19 to contribute to the battle against the novel coronavirus there. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

BE BOLD, BE CAUTIOUS

Everyone I met in Wuhan underscored the very first piece of advice I was given by my colleagues -- "Protect yourself and stay safe."

We were quickly kitted out with protective suits and goggles, and we listened to people's advice with keen ears.

Cai Yang, a photographer who had arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 28, suggested undressing outside the hotel room. So, every time I came back from a hospital or a quarantined area, I would step into my room half-naked, leaving my clothes in the corridor.

The first thing I did every time I returned to my room was to disinfect my hands and face with alcohol. It might seem a little dramatic, but you can never be too careful, can you? This frequent cleansing did have its downside, though: One day, I awoke to a stye in my right eye. It made my eye water when I tried to focus through my camera viewfinder. What was more frustrating was that I couldn't rub it!

One morning I woke up and I couldn't see through my eye. As a photographer, this was a sobering moment, I couldn't help but jump to the conclusion that this could spell the end of my career. I rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror -- my eye was so bloodshot, and blood was running down my face. The stye had burst. I washed my eye with running water, and the pain began to subside. The next day, I was able to work again.

A transferring team transfers a patient in Wuhan, March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Be bold but cautious, said Xiao Yijiu, a photographer with Xinhua's Hubei Bureau.

"Of all of the medics dispatched here, none has been infected because they protect themselves well.

"But it's important to stay cautious," he said, adding that he regularly disinfected his hands and cameras.

Of course, I agreed with him wholeheartedly, except that I encountered two problems.

The first was my height. I'm a towering 1.9-meters tall, meaning few protective suits could cover my whole body. Trapped in a suit that didn't fit, I had to be extra mindful when I bent or crouched, or as I ran for shots. I was often short of breath, and I sweated a lot.

At one rehabilitation center for recovered patients, after working six hours, I felt like I was choking. "That's how drowning feels," I thought.

At a medical waste center, I was so hot that my trousers were dripping in sweat, my pants were sodden.

After Fei Maohua shot in a medical waste disposal center, his pants are soaked with sweat in Wuhan, March 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

I'm in awe of the doctors and nurses who had to work dressed like this every day.

The other problem came from my best friends -- my cameras. Every day when I sprayed alcohol on them after work, I prayed, "Hang in there, buddies! Don't fail me now."

Photo taken on March 25, 2020 shows the "quarantine area" for cameras in the room of Fei Maohua at a hotel in Wuhan. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

RECORDING HISTORY

As a photojournalist, I hope that the moments I have captured will become pieces of history. I hope my images will not only offer information but also record the touching stories and lives I saw.

Medical workers transport a COVID-19 patient to the CT room at the Zhongfaxincheng campus of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

When I arrived in Wuhan, the worst was already behind the city, and the epidemic was under control. As more and more patients recovered, one by one, the makeshift hospitals that had been converted from public venues closed.

On March 9, the last patient at Jianghan makeshift hospital, which had treated the most patients in Wuhan, walked out. I saw, through my lens, all the medics singing and dancing to celebrate this momentous occasion.

I took uncountable pictures that day, and my camera roll was full to bursting with shots of joyful medics celebrating and tearful patients waving goodbye to the people who had helped them. But my colleagues and I decided not to leave, so we waited at the exit.

At around 5:00 p.m., Lu Chong, the last doctor on duty at Jianghan, left. She stood at the gate for a long time, as if she was trying to process what had happened. At last, she turned around and waved to the building where she had battled for over a month.

Lu Chong (1st L), a doctor from Wuhan Union Hospital, waves goodbye as the last medical worker walking out of the temporary hospital of Jianghan, in Wuhan, March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

"The hospital is closed, and I feel excited. All the patients have left in good health. We did it!" Lu choked.

The next day, I went to Wuchang makeshift hospital, which was to shut that day. It was the last of all the city's 16 makeshift hospitals.

Inside the hospital, patients played chess or listened to music, one invited the medics to dance.

Despite all the merriment, two medics sat in a corner caught my eye. They weren't talking. They were just leaning on each other, as still as statues, with sunlight filtering through the window behind them. It was as if time stood still.

I held back asking them about the past month or if they were exhausted. I didn't want to disturb the peaceful moment. I just pressed the shutter and walked away.

Two medical staff members from northwest China's Qinghai Province take a rest before leaving the Wuchang temporary hospital in Wuhan, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

The two medics brought back memories of three other people in corners. At Jianghan, not far from the jubilant crowds, stood three silent women. When they noticed I had turned my camera on them, they gesticulated toward their vests, the characters read, "toilet janitor."

Three toilet janitors of the temporary hospital of Jianghan pose for a photo in front of the temporary hospital in Wuhan, March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Three toilet janitors of the temporary hospital of Jianghan gesticulate toward their vests in front of the temporary hospital in Wuhan, March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Later, a security guard at the hospital told me that apart from the medics, the toilet janitors were the most admirable people here.

"It's said that fecal-oral transmission is possible. So, the janitors wash the facilities after every patient uses it," he said. "Think about it, would your mother do this for you at home?"

I was moved by his words. I rushed back, hoping to take better photographs of them. But they had left.

People like those three women can be found all over Wuhan, throughout Hubei Province, and across the country. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They might not be as visible, but they are just as admirable.

Ma Zengchen sleeps in his van in Wuhan, March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Ma Zengchen, a food courier, started work at 2:00 a.m. every day to ensure around 80 housebound families were well-fed. He wouldn't rest until 9:00 p.m. or even midnight. He had been working like this for almost two months by the time I met him.

"It's not about making money. It's a risky job meeting so many people every day. But if we don't work, the people of Wuhan would starve," he told me.

Wang Peng (2nd R) chats with his colleagues at the Wuhan Hanshi Environmental Engineering Company in Wuhan, March 26, 2020. Wang, 35, has been working for the company for 9 years.

"I like what I'm doing," Wang said, "I'm not only making money for my family, but also making a contribution to the society."

Wang has not been home for over 2 months. The most relaxing moments for him is when he talks to his family through video chat. "I'll come home as soon as I defeat the disease," Wang said to his son. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Wang Peng's job was even more dangerous. Working in a medical waste disposal center, he was as much at risk of exposure to the virus as the medics, and he did this for 12 hours a day.

"It was my job to support my family. Now it's my job to help the country," Wang said. "I won't stop working until everyone is cured."

Janitors, couriers, waste collectors, and even housebound residents, my camera roll was stuffed with photos of them. They were just doing their part. They were all warriors in this battle against the virus.

A woman wearing a handmade protective suit walks to buy food in Wuhan, March 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

A man walks past blossoming cherry trees at Wuhan University, March 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

I never told my parents that I went to Wuhan. They are too old to worry about me.

I missed a call from my mom when I was taking photos in a hospital. I called back, my mom asked, "Why didn't you pick up the phone? Are you in Wuhan?"

I didn't know whether she believed my excuses. But when the situation improves and I finish my work here, I will make my way back to my parents' home and sit them down to explain everything to them.

(Editor's Note: This article was originally written in Chinese by Xinhua photographer Fei Maohua based on his personal experience in Wuhan, and was translated into English by Xinhua writer Xue Yanwen.)
But airport tenants have been crippled.

Many of the facilitys restaurants and shops are closed, and the three restaurants remaining open operate on staggered hours, Higgins said.

Parking, the airports largest revenue source, has shrunk, as well, with parking operator LAZ Parking furloughing all but a half-dozen employees, Higgins said.

Rental car companies have moved their stations out of the airport into the adjacent parking garage.

They have found every piece of pavement they can to park cars on, Higgins said.

American Airlines has parked 78 of its idled planes at the airport, with Southwest Airlines adding a couple of its own, she said.

How soon the industry can begin to heal remains a moving target.

So many factors are going to impact our ability to recover, Higgins said.

No. 1 is whats happening in the community. When will the shelter-at-home orders be lifted so people will have the permission to fly? Right now, any leisure travel is considered nonessential.
Following the arrival of the Chinese doctors who are supposed to aid in the combat against the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria, Nigerians have taken to social media to give a poor reception of the medical team.

In a new twitter trend, ChinaMustExplain, Nigerians express their minds on the arrival of the Chinese doctors.

READ ALSO  Dont Accept Any Help From China, Fani-Kayode Warns Buhari

Recall that the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA rejected the move by the federal government to invite Chinese doctor to Nigeria.

See Reactions Here:

https://twitter.com/YemieFash/status/1247902587367518216?s=20
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), one of the leading education consultancies in the world, had released the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020. The rankings display the best universities for 48 different academic subjects. With no surprise, the universities from the United States and the United Kingdom has dominated the rankings table.

Compared to last year, Indian institutes improved their performance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020. India continues to prove itself as the education hub for Computer Science and Information System with a presence of 20 universities. IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur achieved decent ranks in the Mineral and Mining Engineering subject. The University of Delhi occupied a decent position in Development Studies under Social Science & Management.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject cover a total of 48 disciplines, which are grouped into five broad subject areas. Explore the Indian Universities in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.
T ributes have been paid to two NHS nurses who died after suffering suspected coronavirus symptoms.

Rebecca Mack, 29, died on Sunday after going into self-isolation.

Her friend Sarah Bredin-Kemp said Ms Mack, of Morpeth, Northumberland, was a "devoted friend" and an "incredible nurse" who will be "so missed".

She said in a Facebook post: "We lost our beautiful Rebecca Mack on Sunday to Covid-19.

"She was a devoted friend, an incredible nurse and an unapologetically imperfect person.

"She was one of a kind. And she'll be missed wholeheartedly by so many."

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Ms Mack had worked as a children's nurse at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary before going on to a job with NHS 111.

Newcastle Hospitals posted a tribute of "heartfelt sympathies and condolences" to Ms Mack.

Meanwhile, tributes were also paid to Donald Suelto, who worked at Hammersmith Hospital in west London, who was remembered as a "spirited friend with a loving heart" who "loved his NHS job".

He died after going into self-isolation, friend and fellow NHS nurse Alejandro Fernandez said.

Last month, Mr Suelto had changed his Facebook profile picture to an image of him wearing a protective mask emblazoned with the words: "I can't stay at home, I'm a healthcare worker."

In a tribute to the nurse, originally from the Philippines, Mr Fernandez said: "I still can't believe it.

"You were never alone. As I said, you are a hero, everyone knows that. So proud of you.

"He was an enthusiastic nurse, full of life, loved his NHS job and a spirited friend with a loving heart. Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family. Rest in Peace Donds."

Sarah Bredin-Kemp of herself (left) with nurse Rebecca Mack, 29, who died on Sunday after going into self isolation with virus symptoms. / PA

Describing him as "friendly to everyone", Mr Fernandez shared a message written by Mr Suelto in his native language last Friday in which he said he had been in quarantine for eight days and suffering from symptoms including fever and a dry cough.

Family members also posted tributes online and changed their profile pictures to images of candles and pictures of Mr Suelto.

Mr Fernandez said Mr Suelto had not been tested for Covid-19 before his death as he went into self-isolation after experiencing symptoms.

A spokeswoman for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said: "We can confirm that, very sadly, a nurse based at Hammersmith Hospital has died. Cause of death is not yet clear.
A priest wearing a face masks to protect against coronavirus performs funeral rites at a Madrid cemetery in Madrid, Spain. (AP)

The death toll from coronavirus is rising in Europe, with many countries imposing nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease.

Nations such as Italy, Spain, France and the UK have recorded the highest number of deaths of any nation in the world, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University in the US.

Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.5 million this week, with over 90,000 deaths recorded in the 100 days since the outbreak began.

Below, we list the ten European countries with the highest death tolls and the measures they are taking to try and curb the spread of the disease.

Medical staff tend to a patient in the ICU unit of Rome's San Filippo Neri Hospital's Covid department, in Rome, Italy. (AP)

Italy

Italy has recorded the highest number of deaths in Europe, 17,699, with the country under a nationwide lockdown since 9 March.

The country looking at plans to ease lockdown restrictions. Shops and businesses could reopen on 13 April, and Italians could be allowed to go from 4 May.

But the World Health Organization warned lifting restrictions at this stage would be a dangerous thing to do.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

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Spain

On Thursday, deaths in Spain rose by 683 to a total of 15,328, while confirmed cases also rose to 152,446 from 146,690.

On Sunday, prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced he would extend the country's nationwide lockdown measures to 26 April.

It is the second time the lockdown has been extended since it originally came into force on 14 March.

The Paris city hall and the police prefecture have banned jogging in Paris between 10am and 7pm to stem the COVID-19 epidemic. (Getty Images)

France

France has become one of the worst affected countries in the bloc, confirming 1,417 deaths ion Tuesday - considered the biggest daily rise of any country in the world - bringing the total death toll to 10,869.

The nationwide lockdown has been extended for a second time, beyond the original date of 15 April, with the country announcing it had gone into recession on Wednesday.

Story continues

Paris, the worst affected region int e country, has also banned all outdoor exercise between 10am - 7pm.

Police officers talk to members of the public at a park in Northampton, UK, as the government urged people not to flout to lockdown measures over Easter. (Getty Images)

United Kingdom

The UK is the fourth worst affected nation in Europe, as the death toll rose by 898 on Thursday, to a total of 7,097 deaths.

Following a COBRA meeting, the government said it is too early to lift nationwide lockdown measures first imposed by Boris Johnson on 23 March, as the virus peak had still not been reached.

With the weather becoming warmer over Easter weekend, UK police forces will be taking further action to ensure social distancing measures remain in place and that people remain indoors except for essential trips.

The government insists it will not tighten up lockdown measures and urged the public to resist the temptation to congregate in public.

Belgium

The country has so far recorded 2,523 deaths since the outbreak began.

On Wednesday, the number of hospitalised patients dipped for the first time since the pandemic hit Belgium.

Belgiums National Security Council will meet next Wednesday to discuss the possibility of extending nationwide quarantine measures, originally set to 19 April, to 3 May.

A funeral through the canals of Amsterdam. (AP)

Netherlands

The Netherlands has seen More than 2,396 COVID-19 deaths, with 21,898 confirmed cases. The nation recorded its biggest daily increase of 234 deaths on 7 April.

Unlike Italy, Spain and the UK, instead of quarantining residents, the country has opted for a herd immunity approach to tackling the virus, in an attempt to soften the blow to the Dutch economy.

Businesses that require touching , such as hairdressers, beauticians and the sex industry have been forced to close, while schools, nurseries and universities have been shut until at least 28 April.

Germany

Germany reported 4,974 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total number to 108,202 since the start of the pandemic.

According to official data from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, the number of Covid-19 deaths rose by 246 to 2,107. Daily fatalities were slightly lower than the previous day, but still notably higher than in previous weeks.

Germany is considering easing restrictions on public life after imposing lockdown three weeks ago, with the first steps might be taken after Easter. Chancellor Angela Merkel and other state leaders are due to review restrictions on 15 April.

Medical worker treats a patient with COVID-19 at the HRC Hospital, Hopital Riviera-Chablais Vaud-Valais in Rennaz, Switzerland. (AP)

Workers prepare the food packages they have prepared for city's residents in need amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Istanbul, Turkey. (AP)

Turkey

Turkey has so recorded 812 deaths from COVID-19, with cases rising to 38,226 on Wednesday - the ninth consecutive day of rises.

This week, Turkey imposed stricter measures to control the spread of the virus. Masks are compulsory on public transport, in markets and other communal spaces, while 31 cities are now closed to all but essential traffic.

Health minister Fahrettin Koca urged people to abide by the rules of self-isolation and emphasised the importance of staying home amid the pandemic.

Swedish authorities have advised the public to practice social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic, but still allow a large amount of personal freedom. (AP)

Sweden

Prime minister Stefan Lofven has urged residents to behave like adults resisting calls to impose a nationwide quarantine in the country.

Only the most vulnerable in the country have been advised to self-isolate at home, while bars and restaurants are still open along with primary schools and shops.

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Hong Kong: More support for enterprises

The Government will enhance the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading & Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) and the SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) within April to strengthen support for enterprises facing difficulties amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Briefing Trade & Industry Advisory Board members during a video conference today, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said the COVID-19 outbreak, together with the US-China trade conflict since 2018 and the social incidents in the latter half of 2019, poses unprecedented challenges to the business environment.

Notwithstanding that the Government has since last year launched several rounds of relief measures and substantially raised funding support to help shore up affected enterprises, having regard to the rapidly deteriorating business environment, we consider it necessary to introduce further support measures to tide enterprises over this difficult time and get well prepared for long-term economic development.

For the BUD Fund, the cumulative funding ceilings of $2 million for each enterprise to undertake projects in the Mainland or projects in the economies with which Hong Kong has signed Free Trade Agreements will be removed so that enterprises can flexibly make use of the total funding of up to $4 million to expand to new markets.

With virtual exhibitions becoming a new avenue for business promotion in the face of the epidemic, enterprises participating in virtual exhibitions organised by Government-related organisations or reputable exhibition organisers with good track records will be eligible for funding support under the BUD Fund and the EMF.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (HKECIC) has launched a new round of measures for one year to support Hong Kongs export trade, including the provision of free pre-shipment cover on approved buyers for Small Business Policy (SBP) holders in all of the corporations insured markets.

The credit limits of all buyers for SBP holders in HKECIC-insured markets will also be increased by 20% with a maximum of $5 million, plus a provision of an extra 20% discount on premiums for SBP holders so that each holder can enjoy a total 50% discount on premiums.

Moreover, the payment period for each approved credit limit will be extended to 120 days across the board.

The HKECICs new measures will benefit about 2,600 policyholders, including approximately 1,250 SBP holders.

Click here for details.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
To restrict the movement of people during Shab-e-Barat on Wednesday and Thursday (April 8, 9), the West Bengal government urged members of the Muslim community not to take out processions and visit burial grounds to pay homage to their ancestors which is a normal practice on this occasion.

I urge people not to leave their homes for the sake of their own safety. Please pray from home. The Bengali new years day is also round the corner. Let us all follow the safety guidelines, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at the secretariat on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bengali new years day, or Poila Boisakh, will be observed on April 14, the last day of the ongoing 21-day lockdown unless it is extended.

The All Bengal Imams Association has also instructed the imams of all mosques to ask members of the community to pray from home during Shab-e-Barat.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has imposed restrictions as well. People may visit burial grounds only to bury the dead, said Kolkata mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim.
One day after Cayuga County announced its first coronavirus-related death, the county reported its highest number of new positive cases in a single day.

Eleven people, including a 3 1/2-month old girl, tested positive for the coronavirus. The new confirmed COVID-19 cases include four men in their 20s, three men in their 30s, a woman in her 20s and two teenage boys.

One of the teens lives in Auburn. The other new positive cases live outside the city, according to the Cayuga County Health Department. The department launched contact tracing investigations to determine if anyone had direct contact with any of the confirmed cases.

Some of the new confirmed cases are connected, but the health department did not specify how many or in what way. It also said there are links between some of the new cases and previously confirmed cases.

With the positive test results, the county has had 28 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

There has been an uptick in cases over the last week  an indication that the virus is spreading in the county and central New York.

On April 1, there were four confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cayuga County. The number of positive cases doubled by the end of the week. In a four-day span this week, the county announced 20 more positive cases of the virus.

In counties that surround Cayuga, Onondaga County has had the most cases with 442 as of Thursday afternoon, followed by Tompkins (107), Oswego (38), Wayne (37), Cortland (20) and Seneca (13).

Onondaga County also provides town- and city-level data. For towns that border Cayuga County, Lysander has 12 COVID-19 cases, Skaneateles has 10 and Spafford has one. Elbridge has not had any positive cases so far.

The Cayuga County Health Department is not disclosing town-level data, except for cases within the city of Auburn. It cites state Department of Health guidance for that policy, which aims to prevent people with the disease from being publicly identified.

The average age of the 28 confirmed cases in Cayuga County is 30 years old. Most of the cases are people in their 20s or 30s, but the ages range from the infant whose case was confirmed today to someone who is 60.

As of Thursday, there are 23 people in mandatory isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. An additional 35 people in mandatory quarantine due to contact with someone who has the virus.

While the number of confirmed cases has risen sharply in the past week, the mandatory quarantine number has come down. The county's mandatory quarantine number reached 48 on April 3, a date when there were just eight confirmed cases.

As of Thursday, one person with COVID-19 in Cayuga County is hospitalized. They are in stable condition, according to the health department.

There have been 528 Cayuga County residents tested for COVID-19. The health department has received 492 results  28 positives and 464 negatives for an infection rate of 5.7%. The results are pending for 36 tests. Positive rates for counties surrounding Cayuga have ranged from 2.5% to 8.2%.

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
On Wednesday, while interacting with the Parliament floor leaders via videoconferencing, the prime minister said he would take a decision on extending the after a meeting with chief ministers on Saturday.



According to a government statement, the PM said several state governments, district administrations, and experts had asked for an extension of the lockdown.



However, this is not the first time that PM has hinted at an extension. Last week, the prime minister suggested a graded lifting of the 21-day for areas other than the Covid-19 hotspots in the country.



Several state governments have also put forward their suggestions on graded lifting, including running special trains, and allowing some industrial activity.



However, there are concerns in several states, particularly those with bustling urban centres, like Maharashtra, that lifting the now could be counterproductive and any gains in controlling the spread might be lost.



After the four-hour meeting, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said nearly 80 per cent of political leaders, including himself, suggested to the PM that the lockdown be extended.



That apart, Deputy Chief Minister announced on Wednesday that authorities had sealed 20 Covid-19 hotspots, including the entire affected street near Gandhi Park, Malviya Nagar, the entire affected streets - Gali No 6 , L 1 Sangam Vihar, Shahajahanabad society, plot no 1, Sector 11, Dwarka, Dinpur Village among others, in the capital to combat the spread of the



The government has also sealed off Covid-19 hotspots in 15 identified districts of the state till the end of the 21-day nationwide lockdown on April 14.



The districts where orders will be implemented are Agra, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow, Varanasi, Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Kanpur, Basti, Ferozabad, Saharanpur, Maharajganj, and Sitapur.



Aaccording to the states Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi, a total of 104 hotspots spread across 81

police stations in these districts have been identified, wherein a complete lockdown, along with intensified patrolling to ensure compliance, would be enforced from midnight on...



To know more, listen to this podcast
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM) (OTC: HMTXF) ("Hemostemix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Loran Swanberg to its Board of Directors. Mr. Swanberg is a successful businessman who increased his ownership of the Company from 0.8% in 2019 to 7.8% in 2020. In combination with Mssrs. Lacey, Hershman and Smeenk, the board now owns 21% of the Company's shares.

Mr. Swanberg has been part owner and a director of a private company, Landsman Properties Ltd. ("Landsman") since 2005. Landsman owns and leases out shop and office space in North East British Columbia and Alberta. From 1992 to 2005, Mr. Swanberg was a director of the family owned oilfield transportation company, Swanberg Bros. Trucking Ltd. The company was purchased by Producers Oilfield Services Inc. in 2005. Mr. Swanberg was also director of privately held Swanberg Air Inc. from 2000 to 2012, and was a director of the Northern B.C. Truckers' Association for 10 years, 1992 to 2002. Most recently, Mr. Swanberg was a partner and director of Vieworx Geophoto Inc. from 2012 until Q1 2020.

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Christina Wu, CPA, CGA as its interim Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Wu is a Senior Financial Analyst employed by Marrelli Support Services Inc., a part of the Marrelli Group of Companies that includes DSA Corporate Services Inc., a leader in delivering corporate secretarial services. Marrelli is a highly respected leader in providing financial accounting and reporting services to companies active in Canadian capital markets.

Prior thereto, Ms. Wu was a Senior Associate with RSM Canada LLP, providing public accounting services through a Canadian member firm of RSM International, a global network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms with more than 41,000 people in over 120 countries. Ms. Wu graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelors of Commerce in Management Economics in 2007 and received her CPA, CGA designations in 2015.

The Company also announces the resignation of Mr. David L. Wood from the Board of Directors. The Company would like to thank Mr. Wood for his significant contributions over the many years he was a Director of the Company and wishes him continued success with his other business endeavors.

"We very much welcome Mr. Swanberg to the Board of Directors as an independent director, and Ms. Wu to our management team" said Thomas Smeenk, President & CEO. "I know I speak for the whole company when I say a heart felt thank you to David Wood for his many contributions over the years."

ABOUT HEMOSTEMIX INC.

Hemostemix is a publicly traded autologous stem cell therapy company. A winner of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Company developed and is commercializing its lead product ACP-01 for the treatment of CLI, PAD, Angina, Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Dilated Cardiomyopathy and other conditions of ischemia. ACP-01 has been used to treat over 300 patients, and it is the subject of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind trial of its safety and efficacy in patients with advanced critical limb ischemia who have exhausted all other options to save their limb from amputation.

On October 21, 2019, the Company announced the results from its Phase II CLI trial abstract presentation entitled "Autologous Stem Cell Treatment for CLI Patients with No Revascularization Options: An Update of the Hemostemix ACP-01 Trial With 4.5 Year Follow up" which noted healing of ulcers and resolution of ischemic rest pain occurred in 83% of patients, with outcomes maintained for up to 4.5 years.

The Company owns 91 patents across five patent families titled: Regulating Stem Cells, In Vitro Techniques for use with Stem Cells, Production from Blood of Cells of Neural Lineage, and Automated Cell Therapy.

For more information, please visit www.hemostemix.com.

Contact: Thomas Smeenk, President, CEO & Founder

TSmeenk@Hemostemix.com

905-580-4170

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements. 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. Although Hemostemix believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of Hemostemix management on the date such statements were made. By their nature forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to fund operations and access the capital required to continue operations, the Company's stage of development, the ability to complete its current CLI clinical trial, complete a futility analysis and the results of such, future clinical trials and results, long-term capital requirements and future developments in the Company's markets and the markets in which it expects to compete, risks associated with its strategic alliances and the impact of entering new markets on the Company's operations. Each factor should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Hemostemix expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties are contained in the Company's filing with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54314
Editors Note: Longtime readers of the Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Kevin Rollason will attempt to answer your coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Editors Note: Longtime readers of the Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Kevin Rollason will attempt to answer your coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca.

Question: Is it safe to bring mail into my home as well as my newspaper?

Answer: As someone whose job depends in large part on a physical newspaper getting to your door, I'm pleased to say that Manitoba Public Health officials are indicating it is safe to do this -- and they add that mail is okay too. But they say there are still some precautions you should take which people haven't had to do before the spread of COVID-19. The main one is to practice good handwashing after you are done reading and handling the mail and newspaper. They also say don't forget not to touch your face while you are reading the paper.

Q: Is there anything Canada Post has done to keep Canadians and their employees safe while handling mail?

A: A Canada Post official says the Crown corporation has "dramatically changed the way we work, the way we deliver, the way we operate our post offices, and how we clean our facilities across the country, to keep our employees and customers safe and healthy." Canada Post has told Canadians not to open doors when mail is being delivered and to stand two metres away from employees filling community mailboxes. But they have also made changes to staff, staff scheduling, work layouts and work practices so employees can be two metres apart, as well as giving them gloves, personal protective equipment, and disinfectant. And they've begun cleaning their facilities more often and, where needed, added sanitizing to workstations.

Q: I've always been able to order a three-month supply of prescription drugs, but now I'm being limited to a single month and that costs me more in prescription fees. Why is this being done and can the province have pharmacists waive or reduce this fee?

The entire country is limiting prescription drugs to a single month to help reduce the effects of a global drug shortage. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press files)

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say pharmacies have been told to restrict individuals to a single month supply of drugs in order to ensure a consistent supply of medications for everyone. And Manitobans are not alone in this: the entire country is limiting prescription drugs to a single month to help reduce the effects of a global drug shortage. People are being advised to speak to their pharmacist about options for dispensing fees.

Q: I'm wondering whether the travellers who came back and tested negative for COVID-19, did they still have to self-isolate for 14 days?

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say, yes, they still had to isolate. That's because the coronavirus is known to take up to 14 days to cause illness and, especially if they had symptoms, the test result could have been a false negative.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Q: I was in an elevator, the doors opened, and a person got on. Once the doors closed the person began coughing and looked sick. How do I know whether the person just had a cold or the coronavirus?

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say there's really no way you would know the difference, but there are things you can do to reduce your risk of getting in that situation. One way would be to take the stairs instead of an elevator. Another would be not to get into a crowded elevator, but to wait for another one. One of the best ways, though, would have been for that person to not go out. Manitobans should know by now that if you are experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms you need to be self-isolating for 14 days from when you first experienced the symptoms. Unfortunately, now you'll have to self-monitor yourself for symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and runny nose for 14 days and, if you do start getting those symptoms, you need to immediately self-isolate and call Health Links  Info Sante to find out what to do next.

Q: I heard through social media hospitals are looking for donations of baby monitors to help look after babies and children in hospital. Is that true?

A: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials say none of their hospitals is looking for baby monitors. But, hey, if you want to help out during these trying times there are things they are looking for, including industrial grade N-95 respirators or accelerated hydrogen peroxide cleaner disinfectant. You can also volunteer to help others. Check these two websites for more information: https://manitoba.ca/covid19/business/index.html#call and https://helpnextdoormb.ca.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Likewise, the COVID-19 Command met with Lambayeque authorities to make sure that the plan in this region is also executed and thus controls the pandemic since as she emphasized the disease does not wait, and there is only time to act.

"It is interesting to see how many authorities and Congress members from this region are joining efforts. We all have to work together because we have 15 very difficult days ahead of us ()," she expressed.

Visit to Arequipa

Yesterday, Pilar Mazzetti detailed the actions carried out by the COVID-19 Operations Command in the southern city of Arequipa.

After meeting with Arequipa Region Government officials, the Regional Operations Task Group was installed, with the aim of facing the epidemic in the White City.

Hoy, se establecio el Grupo Operativo #COVID19 de la region Lambayeque. Este acuerdo se realizo en reunion liderada por la doctora Mazzeti en coordinacion con el ministro de @minagriperu, el gobernador de Lambayeque y los viceministros de Salud y Defensa. Trabajamos, unidos! pic.twitter.com/SUEy3s7KHO
ROP Films

Everyone including AR Rahman and Prasoon Joshi are angry at the butchering of their classic song that deserved a 'better' treatment or wait, maybe no treatment at all. AR Rahman, like always had a dignified response but it reeks of anger as well.

Agencies

According to reports, Salman Khan has started the process of transferring funds into the accounts of daily wage workers of the film industry, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) said on Wednesday.



gulfnews.com

In a bid to do the same, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, after donating Rs 50 lakh to Kerala Chief Minter's Relief Fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic, interacted with health care workers for nearly an hour via video call.

Instagram/Nafisa Ali

In a long and elaborate post, she wrote that it was after she noticed white patches on her skin while she was undergoing chemotherapy a few months back that she realized the seriousness of it.



Twitter

He saw a couple who didn't even bargain, but tried to flee by paying fifteen rupees less than what they owed to him. Quite nonchalantly, they paid less and walked away.










STOCKHOLM, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The coronavirus epidemic in China has sharply reduced importation of forest products in early 2020. During January and February, the import value of logs, lumber, pulp and wood chips totaled 4.6 billion dollars, down 26% and 14%, from the same periods in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The coronavirus epidemic in China has resulted in sharply reduced importation of forest products in early 2020. During January and February, the import value of logs, lumber, pulp and wood chips totaled 4.6 billion dollars. This was down 26% and 14%, from the same periods in 2018 and 2019 respectively, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). From 2019 to 2020, the biggest percentage declines were seen in softwood lumber (-26% y-o-y) and softwood logs (-20% y-o-y). The import value for wood pulp fell the most (just over 300 million dollars y-o-y) followed by softwood lumber, which was down 190 million dollars.

Softwood Lumber

Softwood lumber imports to China were estimated to be 1.2 million m3 in February 2020, the lowest monthly volume in four years (see chart). The two largest lumber suppliers, Russia and Canada, continued to be the major sources for lumber. While Russian volumes were down 16% the first two months of 2020 as compared to the previous year. However, this decrease did not have an adverse effect on the market share, as Russia actually saw an increase in their percentage of the market - a small jump from 57% in early 2019 to 59% in early. Canada's share fell substantially, from 24% to 10% during the same period. Another noteworthy change in the past two years has been the expanded presence of lumber coming from Europe into the Chinese market, both in volumes and market share. European lumber accounted for about 18% of total imports in early 2020, up from 8% in 2018.

Softwood Logs

During January and February of 2020, China imported 5.1 million m3 of softwood logs, down from almost 5.7 million m3in the same period in 2019 and the total import value fell from 800 million dollars to 640 million dollars. Record high log inventories (over 7 million m3) at Chinese ports, reduced demand for forest products as a consequence of the coronavirus, and labor shortages at ports and wood processing facilities have resulted in sharp declines of log imports in 2020. All log-supplying countries reduced shipments dramatically with the exception of New Zealand (only down 1% y-o-y) and Central Europe (Germany and the Czech Republic were up 200% and 320 % y-o-y) where large volumes of beetle-killed timber were available. Total import volumes to China in February 2020 were the lowest since February 2016.

Hardwood Chips

The only major product that showed increases in import volume from early 2019 to early 2020 was hardwood chips, with a gain of 11% y-o-y. This was driven by higher production of predominantly hygiene paper products in January and February, and the expectation that this sector would continue to be strong into the second quarter, reports the WRQ. Shipments from Vietnam and Chile jumped about 20% y-o-y, while Australia shipped 3% less in the first two months of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019.

Wood Pulp

The import volume of wood pulp increased by almost 20% y-o-y during the first two months of 2020, with particular noteworthy rises in shipments from Indonesia, Canada, Finland and Sweden. However, the import value fell by 308 million dollars (-14% y-o-y) as a result of substantially lower prices for market pulp in early 2020.

Interested in wood products market information from around the world? The Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ) is a 56-page report, established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries. The report tracks prices for sawlog, pulpwood, lumber & pellets worldwide and reports on trade and wood market developments in most key regions around the world. For more insights on the latest international forest product market trends, please go towww.WoodPrices.com

Contact Information

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom, Seattle, USA

[email protected]

www.WoodPrices.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/wood-resources-international-llc/r/imported-forest-products-to-china-dropped-by-750-million-dollars-in-january-and-february--with-the-b,c3085619

The following files are available for download:

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A leading hospital consultant has revealed that 70 doctors and nurses have been infected with Covid-19 at Cavan General Hospital.

Four wards have also been closed as management attempts to curb the spread of the virus.

A memo was sent to staff at the hospital yesterday afternoon outlining the measures after the confirmed outbreak.

Laura Durcan, Vice President of the Irish Hospital Consultants, told RTE Radio 1's Today with Sean O'Rourke programme that dozens more medical staff are in isolation.

She said it includes more than half of senior medical staff, and almost half of the surgical team.

Dr Durcan, who is based in Beaumont Hospital, said medics there are being dispatched to work at Cavan General Hospital because of all the healthcare staff who have been infected.

It comes amid concerns that hospitals in Dublin could reach capacity in ICU, after the Mater Hospital said its intensive care unit is full and patients had been moved to the high dependency unit instead.

Dr Durcan said: "What we have been doing from our group is sending staff to Cavan to make sure that they can be safely staffed over the upcoming number of days.

"Some of our SHOs and Registrars have very heroically stepped up and will be heading up to Cavan I believe today."

She said up to eight members of the medical team are being sent to Cavan General, where a number of staff have been affected by an outbreak, to make sure the hospital is properly staffed over the coming weekend.

She added: "As it stands we're looking to cover the next four to five days. We're hoping to get them back to us."

Meanwhile, the closure of wards in the Cavan hospital has been described as not surprising by a local TD.

Local TD Pauline Tully told Shannonside Northern Sound News that proper protective equipment was not provided to staff and shower and changing facilities are not up to standard:

She claims staff have become infected with Covid-19 after they were treating patients without the appropriate PPE, with many other staff described as fearful for themselves and their families.

The situation in the hospital has been described as very scary by a member of staff who spoke off the record to Northern Sound, with concerns over the number of staff testing positive.

In a statement, the RCSI Hospitals group refused to confirm the number of doctors and nurses who have become infected, but said its staff absenteeism rate has increased by almost 7% since January.

The statement read: Cavan General Hospital has plans in place to manage additional demands due to Covid-19. The Hospital has areas designated for care of patients with Covid-19, patients who are awaiting diagnosis and patients who are not. There is capacity available for all of these patients.

In January 2020, prior to Covid-19, the absenteeism rate was 5.6%, presently it is 12.2%. The Hospital continues to have a number of staff off at present.

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WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's demand for $250 billion in new funding for small businesses provoked a high-stakes standoff Wednesday as congressional Democrats rejected the no-strings-attached request and made an expensive counter-offer.

As of late Wednesday, Senate Republicans and Democrats planned to bring competing measures to the floor on Thursday, virtually ensuring that neither measure would pass.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said any package that included $250 billion in new small-business funding would need to include more than $250 billion in extra money for hospitals, state and local governments and food stamp recipients.

President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are seeking the extra small-business money after banks fielded more than 400,000 loan requests in less than a week for firms trying to navigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Mnuchin told Democrats on Wednesday that already $100 billion in loans had been approved, and the program was authorized for $349 billion in funding as part of the $2 trillion law that passed last month.

The White House wanted the Senate to vote on the measure Thursday and the House to pass it by Friday, but as of late Wednesday it was unclear how Congress would proceed.

"We do not have time for the partisan games and we don't want that, the obstruction or the totally unrelated agendas," Trump said Wednesday.

To move on such a tight deadline, Congress would need unanimous consent, a dynamic that gives individual lawmakers extreme leverage to halt any bill.

"I have said very clearly: What they are proposing will not get unanimous consent in the House. There is no reason why they cannot come to the table and see the value of what we are offering," Pelosi told The Washington Post on Wednesday, referring to the Democrats' counter to Mnuchin. "You cannot expect us to ossify inequality in access to capital as we try to fight the coronavirus."

Republicans, meanwhile, didn't seem amenable to meeting Democrats' demands.

"I just don't think there's going to be support" among Republicans for what Democrats have asked for, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday in an interview with The Washington Post. On hospital and state and local government funding, there are "big concerns about doubling down on either of those areas without having any idea about what we've done so far," Thune said, whereas the small-business program has been deployed and it's clear the government needs to quickly replenish that fund.

"This is a fairly straightforward request, which I would hope Democrats and Republicans would recognize is really going to be necessary unless we want to have to have people run out of confidence in the program, thinking that it's not going to be fully funded," Thune said of the $250 billion request for the small-business Paycheck Protection Program.

After passing the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency spending law last month, the White House and congressional leaders are still trying to contain economic fallout caused by the pandemic. The 400,000 small-business loans approved in the past week would represent just a fraction of the 30 million small businesses in the United States, and Mnuchin suggested that more than one-quarter of the program's funding had already been committed.

Many firms are grasping for economic assistance because their revenue streams have dried up in the past month. Many Democrats have also supported the small-business initiative, called the Paycheck Protection Program at the Small Business Administration. But they have said more spending also must be devoted to helping cities, states, health care workers and others. Roughly 10 million Americans lost their jobs in the last two weeks of March.

Rushing legislation through Congress is extremely difficult, but congressional leaders appeared to hold out hope that a resolution was possible. On a conference call with House Democrats on Wednesday Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suggested a deal could be reached by Friday.

Meanwhile, though, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is moving forward to bring the $250 billion small-business increase up on the floor on Thursday without Democrats' priorities included, essentially daring Democrats to object. An objection from any individual senator would block passage of the legislation. Democrats plan to block McConnell's bill and propose one of their own on Thursday, which will likely result in an impasse.

"Small businesses are closing across the country. If any one senator feels that what they require isn't urgent then they're free to object, but if not then they should try to hold off and know that other priorities will be addressed in the coming days and weeks ahead," a Senate GOP aide said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to reveal internal thinking.

Schumer and Pelosi said Wednesday they would agree to the $250 billion for small businesses if half of it goes through community-based financial institutions serving farmers and family, women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits. They also sought "improvements to ensure all eligible small businesses can access this critical funding and are not turned away by banks."

Their list of demands also includes $100 billion for hospitals, community health centers and other health systems, to increase testing and needed protective gear and equipment; $150 billion more for state and local governments; and a 15 percent increase in food stamp benefits. The federal government spent $55.6 billion on these nutrition assistance benefits last year. The sums Democrats are seeking for hospitals and cities and states are similar to how much they got in the $2 trillion Cares Act, which would therefore double the overall funding commitment in those areas.

"The heartbreaking acceleration of the coronavirus crisis demands bold, urgent and ongoing action from Congress to protect Americans' lives and livelihoods," Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.

In an interview Wednesday morning on CNBC, Mnuchin did not address the Democrats' new demands but renewed his call for Congress to approve the small-business spending increase this week.

"I want to assure all small businesses out there we will not run out of money," Mnuchin said. "The president has asked us to go back to Congress, we hope they pass this tomorrow and Friday, and we want to assure everybody if you don't get a loan this week you'll get a loan next week or the following week. The money will be there."

Mnuchin said 3,500 lending institutions were already set up to issue loans. Some larger banks, however, still have not begun to do so. It's unclear exactly when the program's money would run out but some bigger banks have just begun issuing loans and some groups of workers are just becoming eligible to apply. A number of small businesses have complained that the application process is confusing and difficult to navigate. The Treasury Department has continued to try to update it, releasing new guidance on Wednesday.

Under the Paycheck Protection Program, companies with fewer than 500 employees are eligible for loans of up to $10 million. Business owners will not have to pay the loans back if they meet certain requirements, including using 75 percent of the money to retain or rehire employees. Businesses can receive a $10,000 loan advance that does not have to be repaid, the Small Business Administration has said.

The SBA is running the program, though Mnuchin is playing a central role in its operation. Through the program, banks collect a processing fee by making loans to small businesses, and the government guarantees the loans will be repaid. The banks can then offload the loans to a special program set up by the Federal Reserve to free up more money for lending.

A broad variety of entities can qualify for the loans, including nonprofits and faith-based organizations.

Pelosi and Schumer said the package of increased spending for small businesses, hospitals, cities and states and food stamp recipients should be followed by another major rescue bill building on the $2 trillion law. That law also included major increases for unemployment insurance - which some states are having trouble rolling out - as well as money to send cash payments of $1,200 to many Americans, and a $500 billion fund for companies, states, and cities.

"After we pass this interim emergency legislation, Congress will move to pass a CARES 2 Act that will extend and expand the bipartisan CARES Act to meet the needs of the American people," Pelosi and Schumer said in their statement. "CARES 2 must provide transformational relief as the American people weather this assault on their lives and livelihoods."

Even if Pelosi is able to get a deal with the administration, there's no guarantee she could obtain unanimous consent in the House, given the ability of just one lawmaker to block that from happening. When the House passed the CARES Act late last month, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., insisted on a quorum - or majority of the House - being present, something that is called for in the Constitution but rarely enforced.

Massie said in an interview on Fox Business on Wednesday that "once again they're recommending that just let Nancy Pelosi pass it on her own, that we could all stay home. And I'm saying that's not gonna fly, doesn't fly with the Constitution, doesn't fly with accountability to the taxpayers."

Massie said Pelosi should enable "remote voting" for lawmakers, something House leaders have said is impractical in the near term.

Mnuchin also said the Treasury Department was working with the Fed to ensure businesses with more than 500 employees - the cutoff for the small-business lending program - would be able to access capital even if they aren't large enough to qualify for the major industry loan program. Guidance on this program could come later this week, he said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Robert Costa, Renae Merle and Aaron Gregg contributed to this report.
Like the majority of the country, who're observing the nationwide lockdown, Kareena Kapoor Khan is also keeping her Instagram game strong by sharing some of her stunning 'throwback' pictures. The latest Instagram post of Kareena gives a sneak peek into her family vacation and we can't stop staring at the trio- Kareena, Saif Ali Khan and Taimur Ali Khan.

In the picture, Kareena can be seen chilling with her family by the beach and the picture perfectly captures Kareena's sweet family moment. In the picture, Kareena is looking smoking hot in a red bikini while posing for the camera. Saif can be seen leaning towards Kareena whereas; Taimur is busy playing with the straw of a tender coconut.

Kareena captioned the picture saying, "I am not dreaming of beaches... You are! #TakeMeBack ."

After coming across the picture, many netizens dropped heart emoticons on the post and urged Kareena to keep blessing them with such amazing pictures.

On a related note, Kareena recently announced on Instagram that she along with her hubby and son, has extended her support towards PM-CARES, Chief Minister's Relief Fund (Maharashtra), UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV).

Kareena Kapoor And Anushka Sharma Pull Karan Johar's Leg As He Gets Body Shamed By His Kids!

As far as Kareena's work is concerned, the actress was last seen in Good Newwz alongside Akshay Kumar, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani. She will next be seen in Laal Singh Chaddha opposite Aamir Khan and in Karan Johar's next directorial, Takht, which is a period drama. Takht will also cast Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Anil Kapoor and Janhvi Kapoor in key roles.
USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Following the Pentagons scattershot decision to remove Navy Capt. Brett E Crozier, hailed by his soldiers as the first whistleblower in the U.S. Army, from command of the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, confusion and mistrust have been sown among the American public, with many criticizing the governments incapability of protecting its own people from the lethal virus, as well as its unfair treatment towards whistleblowers.

Right or wrong, [Crozier] wasnt relieved for trying to save lives Hes never going to see a good duty station again  hes just screwed,quoted by Quartz, military law expert Gary Solid further noted that the captain broke no law in the code of military justice.

Inscribed over the chapel doors at the United States Naval Academy, the US Navys unofficial motto, Non sibi sed patriae (not for self, but for country) is dutifully fulfilled by Crozier, though ironically his removal sets yets another example of US missteps in curbing the lethal virus.

Whistleblowers like Crozier have also paid a high price for telling the truth, while caring for the lives of others. According to the Seattle Times, on March 27, an emergency room doctor in Washington state was fired after posting complaints about his hospitals lack of protective gear, despite the public health crisis and 17 years of service.

The real hero who has been helping the people is gone, and the government who has approved his removal has yet to save its people from the horrible pandemic, said a Twitter user.

Helpless outcry

Potrait of Brett Crozier, former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. (Credit: U.S. Navy)

Though Croziers whistleblowing has been praised by the public as a heroic undertaking, many believed such exposure is a helpless self-rescue attempt, as the US Navys limited testing capabilities and slow response to the virus could have led to even more severe consequences had Crozier taken the initiative.

The captain, who had pleaded for help against the coronavirus pandemic sweeping his crew, was fired by Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who short-circuited a preliminary military investigation days after the leakage of the captains letter.

According to Politicos report on March 31, Modly noted that the Roosevelt can test about 200 sailors per day, meaning it would take more than three weeks to test everyone aboard. The militarys limited ability to test the patients might be a trigger for Croziers action, as most of the sailors at that time were ordered to stay onboard, despite evidence showing the virus had already spread among the crew.

According to the National Post, the Army briefly stopped most training exercises only to restart them days later, while the service waited days to raise its health protection status to D, the highest level, for critical rapid-response force that would be deployed in a national security crisis, in order to keep those troops isolated and ready to fight.

Limited testing capabilities and slow response have endangered the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a 5,000-person aircraft carrier, as infections had already started cropping up after an early Mach port call in Vietnam, which Pentagon leaders say had about 16 known virus cases at the time.

Croziers action then proved to be necessary. As of March 7, 61 percent of the crew have been tested, though 173 members, including Crozier himself, were diagnosed with the lethal virus.

Whistleblower at bay

New York Times tweets Tweed Roosevelt's opinion on the sacking of Crozier on April 4, 2020.

Whistleblowers in American history have proved their attribution in correcting wrongdoings or even to save countless lives. Daniel Ellsberg, famous US military analyst, who blew the whistle on US government misconduct in the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers, was credited as a major factor in ending the war, while Samuel Provance, a former US Army military intelligence sergeant, for disobeying an order from his commanders in the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion by discussing with the media his experiences at the Abu Ghraib Prison, has contributed to the cease in abuse of detainees.

Facing a global pandemic like COVID-19, a whistleblowers information and exposure of wrongdoings are necessary to protect the public, yet Croziers actions have been criticized by both the army and the government for his extremely poor judgement.

During a speech with the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Modly said their former commander was either "too naive or too stupid" to be in command or that he intentionally leaked to the media a memo in which he warned about the coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors.

Such announcement was also shared by US President Trump, who noted, He shouldnt be talking that way in a letterI thought it was terrible what he did.

But the official criticism towards the captain doesnt sit well with civilians. Videos circulated showing hundreds of sailors aboard the Roosevelt, cheering for Crozier as he disembarked the ship. Memes depicting the Navy captain rescuing his sailors from a burning building over saving his own career sprouted up across social media. Media outlets have also blasted the governments incapability in tackling the virus, with the Washington Post publishing a piece entitled, The only official fired over the virus? A captain who tried to protect his crew.

The resignation of Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly on Tuesday, who called the ousted captain stupid for speaking out about the COVID-19 outbreak on the ship, has yet pacified the wrath of the public, while the news of Croziers diagnosis has fueled further skepticism of the US government and Armys handling of the outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier, receiving notable criticism from the rank and file.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. The Institute of Molecular Biology of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences is currently negotiating with manufacturers from a number of countries for acquiring the necessary materials for launching the production of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for the diagnostics of the novel coronavirus.

The institutes Director Arsen Arakelyan said at a news conference that they will launch the manufacturing process after they acquire the materials.

We have the required equipment but we are also looking into acquiring some other non-essential devices which will however accelerate the process, he said.

He said the quality of their production will be equal to the ones currently used by Armenian healthcare authorities.

The Armenian government has allocated 550,000 dollars to the institute to acquire the materials and launch the manufacturing.

Reporting and writing by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Widower Per Leif Rolid lives alone on his farm, a two-hour drive from Oslo. His sense of isolation has mounted with the COVID-19 pandemic, but a simple screen is helping him stay in touch -- without requiring any computer know-how. Aged 87, Rolid has never owned a computer, smartphone or tablet. But that has not stopped him from getting messages, photos and video calls from his grandchildren scattered around the world. The secret? A screen that looks like a mix between an old-fashioned television and radio, placed next to his TV. There is no keyboard, login or password. And there is just one button to turn the machine on and adjust the volume, like an old-fashioned radio. On the other end, relatives can take a few minutes out of their day to reach out to the family patriarch via an app. "I can see them while talking to them. I keep in touch with family at home and abroad, on travels. I feel like I can be with my family all the time," Rolid says with a smile. The tech revolution that has changed our daily lives in so many ways has left parts of the population behind. According to a study co-conducted by the British Red Cross, more than nine million adults in Britain feel lonely, including four million of those aged 55 and over. In Norway, 35 percent of people over the age of 67 live alone. That feeling of isolation risks being aggravated by confinement measures during the coronavirus outbreak, as older people are told to avoid physical contact with others since they are most at risk. According to psychologist and physiologist Christopher Lien, the added isolation is "particularly regrettable". "Lots of old people have quite a small social network and if you add weeks of social isolation to that, it's clear that for a lot of them this network becomes even smaller," he said. "In the worst cases, they can end up feeling disoriented in space and time. They lose their bearings when they can't get together in their nursing home or have visits from friends and family." - 'Window to the family' - The virus crisis could give a boost to tech companies developing products to bridge the gap between generations, with analogue people on one end and their digital-savvy counterparts on the other. The global market for such machines -- known as telepresence robots -- could rise by 20 to 35 percent this year because of COVID-19, and could hit $400 million, according to Lian Jye Su, tech analyst at ABI Research. The screen used by Per Leif Rolid on his farm in Redalen was made by Norwegian start-up No Isolation, which specialises in using technology to tackle loneliness among vulnerable groups. "We know that this is not something that exclusively happens during a pandemic, but it became painfully clear that this harms the most vulnerable first and the hardest," says No Isolation chief executive Karen Dolva. "All of a sudden the families realised that we have to take them online," noting that "granddad doesn't have to be digital to be online". The screen, called Komp, "becomes like their window to the family in the day-to-day life". After selling 650 devices last year, the company says it sold 1,500 screens in the last two weeks of March alone. In Oslo, Rolid's granddaughter Martine Rolid Leonardsen says she has made sure to use the technology even more lately to keep in touch with him and help fight his solitude during the pandemic. "I'm more mindful of sending him pictures every day," she says. "It doesn't matter if they're not from now, because we're not doing anything right now. It's important to send (some) from vacations years ago, and to remind him of how life used to be before corona." The screen becomes 'a window to the family' for isolated people, says Karen Dolva of Norwegian start-up No Isolation
Britain braces for lockdown extension as death toll continues to rise

Britain is braced for the extension of lockdown measures in place to stop the spread of coronavirus as the death toll continues to rise.

Ministers have urged the public to not put at risk the gains made in the fight against Covid-19 by not keeping to the restrictions.

But the measures face their toughest test so far over the Easter weekend, with temperatures set to reach 25C in some parts of the country.

A Cobra emergency committee to discuss the future of the measures will be held later today.

Australian police raid virus-hit cruise ship and seize 'black box'

Australian police have raided a coronavirus-hit cruise ship and seized its black box as part of an investigation after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney.

Some 15 later passengers later died after testing positive for the virus.

Officers wearing protective suits boarded the vessel in Port Kembla last night and evidence was seized, New South Wales Police said.

Patel accused of avoiding scrutiny amid coronavirus crisis

Home Secretary Priti Patel has been accused by a group of senior MPs of avoiding scrutiny during a time of national emergency.

Ms Patel had been due to give evidence in public on the Home Office's response to the coronavirus pandemic to the home affairs select committee since January, but a date for a hearing is yet to be set.

Since then, the Home Secretary has been accused of belittling officials at the Home Office, with Sir Philip Rutnam resigning as permanent secretary amid claims of constructive dismissal and bullying.

Home affairs select committee chair Yvette Cooper has written six letters to Ms Patel over the last three months in an effort to officially set a date for the home secretary to give evidence.

A Home Office spokesperson said the home secretary had accepted the invitation to appear in front of the home affairs select committee before the end of April.

Trump vows to 'take a look' at Tiger King's case

Donald Trump has said he will take a look at so-called Tiger King Joe Exotics conviction for plotting to have an animal rights activist murdered.

Exotic, a zoo owner at the centre of Netflixs breakout hit Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness, is currently serving 22 years in jail.

The US Presidents remarks come amid calls for a pardon for Exotic from fans of the popular documentary series.

Will and Kate speak to children of key workers in virtual school visit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have praised NHS staff and other key workers for doing an "amazing job" as they met some of their children during a virtual school visit.

William and Kate carried out their first royal tour via video call, speaking to pupils and teachers from a primary school in Burnley to learn how they are coping during the coronavirus pandemic.

With Easter days away, some of the children wore bunny ears for the visit, the duchess was given a virtual posey and William was left stumped by an inquisitive youngster's question.

On this day...

1483: The young Edward V acceded to the throne on the death of Edward IV. He was never crowned and disappeared, believed murdered, 75 days later.

1626: Francis Bacon, philosopher and statesman, died - apparently killed after stuffing a chicken with snow to test it as a method of preservation before catching a chill leading to bronchitis.

1806: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, railway and marine engineer whose works included the Clifton suspension bridge and steamship Great Western, was born in Portsmouth.

1838: The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, was opened.

1865: Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to General Grant in Virginia, bringing the American Civil War to an end.

1940: Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.

1945: The USS Liberty exploded in Bari harbour, Italy, killing 360 people.

1969: The first British-built Concorde 002 made its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.

1981: The US Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collided with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.

1983: Jenny Pitman became the first woman to train an English Grand National winner with Corbiere.

1991: Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union.

2003: Baghdad fell to American forces, Iraqis pulled down a statue of former leader Saddam Hussein.
Attorney General Bill Barr derided what he described as the White House press corps' "jihad" against the anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, Donald Trump has been pushing to help fight symptoms of the coronavirus.

"The politicisation of decisions like hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me," Mr Barr said in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham Wednesday. "Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug, and the fact that it had such a long track record, that the risks were pretty well known, and as soon as he said something positive about it, the medias been on a jihad to discredit the drug  its quite strange."

Only preliminary research supports the theory that hydroxychloroquine helps mitigate the heatlh risks of Covid-19, and multiple health experts, including the president's own pandemic guru Dr Anthony Fauci, have said there is only anecdotal evidence, so far, that the drug is effective.

The website for the Centers for Disease Control describes the hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as "oral prescription drugs that have been used for treatment of malaria and certain inflammatory conditions." The drugs are "under investigation in clinical trials for pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and treatment of patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19," according to the website.

Mr Trump has conducted daily press briefings on the federal government's response to the coronavirus for weeks now.

Mr Barr criticised the media for trying to corner the president with "snarky gotcha questions" instead of trying to glean substantive information from him.

"The stridency of the partisan attacks on [Trump have] gotten higher and higher," Mr Barr said. "The politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine, its been amazing to me," he said.

Mr Barr's Fox News interview covered a range of issues, including his view that China is the biggest security threat to the US, not Russia.

Mr Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have taken an aggressive line against China and the World Health Organization, which they accuse of providing cover for the Chinese government as it lied about its infection and death tallies during the initial coronavirus outbreak.

"In my opinion, it's China," Mr Barr told Ms Ingraham, when asked whether China or Russia posed a larger national security threat. "Not just to the election process, but, I think, across the board. ... There's simply no comparison. ... China is a very serious threat to the United States  geopolitically, economically, militarily  and a threat to the integrity of our institutions, given their ability to influence things," Mr Barr said.
JOHANNESBURG - The callers were in tears. One by one, women in homes across rural Zimbabwe had a pleading question: When would family planning services return?

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Monday, April 6, 2020 photo, a woman carries a her baby and a bucket of water in Harare. Lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus spread have put millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere out of reach of birth control and other sexual and reproductive health needs. Confined to their homes with husbands and others, they face unwanted pregnancies and little idea of when they can reach the outside world again. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

JOHANNESBURG - The callers were in tears. One by one, women in homes across rural Zimbabwe had a pleading question: When would family planning services return?

Lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus spread have put millions of women in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere out of reach of birth control and other sexual and reproductive health needs. Confined to their homes with their husbands and others, they face unwanted pregnancies and little idea of when they can reach the outside world again.

In these uncertain times, women "have to lock down their uterus," Abebe Shibru, Zimbabwe country director for Marie Stopes International, told The Associated Press. "But there is no way in a rural area."

Eighteen countries in Africa have imposed national lockdowns, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rwanda, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to impose one, has extended it in a possible sign of things to come.

Even where family planning remains available, providers say women fear venturing out and being beaten by security forces and accused of defying the restrictions. Meanwhile, outreach services, key to reaching rural women, have largely stopped to avoid drawing crowds and the risk of workers spreading the virus.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation, or IPPF, in a new report Thursday says more than one in five member clinics have closed because of the pandemic and related restrictions, including more than 5,000 mobile clinics across 64 countries. Most are in South Asia and Africa, but Latin America and Europe have seen hundreds of closures as well.

From Pakistan to Germany to Colombia, IPPF members say they have scaled down HIV testing and gender-based violence response work and face shortages of contraceptives.

"They have needs that cannot wait," IPPF director-general Alvaro Bermejo said of women in a statement, pleading for governments' help to provide protective equipment to allow for intimate care.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and death.

In this Tuesday, April 7, 2020 photo, Abebe Shibru, Zimbabwe's director of Marie Stopes International - a sexual and reproductive healthcare service, gestures, during an interview in Harare. Lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus spread have put millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere out of reach of birth control and other sexual and reproductive health needs. Confined to their homes with husbands and others, they face unwanted pregnancies and little idea of when they can reach the outside world again. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

In Europe, 100 non-governmental groups on Wednesday called on governments to ensure reproductive health services, saying many facilities have sharply reduced them or shut down.

The predicted baby boom in Africa alone, even as birth rates have dropped in many countries as more girls are educated, will add to the growth that already is projected to see the continent of 1.3 billion people double in population by 2050.

In Zimbabwe, Marie Stopes provided more than 400,000 women last year with family planning services, Shibru said, including averting nearly 50,000 unsafe abortions. But now outreach services, which reach more than 60% of clients, are suspended. Even at clinics that remain open, clients have dropped by 70%.

That leaves a country of men, no longer free to work in the fields or elsewhere, confined with their wives for weeks on end.

"Husband and wife, what else can they be doing in that house?" asked Future Gwena, a Marie Stopes outreach worker. "I think were going to have a lot of pregnancies and, unfortunately, unintended. And most will result in unsafe abortions, domestic violence. Our community is paternalistic. If something goes wrong in the home, its the mothers fault, even if the man initiated it."

In Venezuela, thousands of women who once turned to neighbouring Colombia for birth control or other reproductive health support are blocked after the border closed to help reduce the virus' spread.

Marianne Menjivar, Colombia country director for the International Rescue Committee, said her group anticipated the difficulties and gave some women a three-month supply of birth control pills.

"Devastating," she said of the disruption. "Women dont stop giving birth just because there is a pandemic."

Meanwhile, travel restrictions and manufacturing slowdowns in Asia mean that some family planning providers are waiting for shipments of emergency contraceptives and other items as stocks run short at home.

"Today I expected a shipment from Asia, but its suspended," Shibru said. "I dont know how to fill that gap. It was supposed to come today to serve us for the coming six months. So this is one of the tragedies. ... Were expecting a huge shortage of contraceptives in African countries. Absolutely, condoms also."

In Uganda, Marie Stopes country director Carole Sekimpi said they dont know when a shipment of emergency contraceptives will arrive because India, their source, has also locked down. Theyve been out of stock for a month and need oral contraceptive pills as well, she said.

"Yesterday when I heard (neighbouring) Kenya talking about a lockdown in Nairobi and (the port of) Mombasa I thought, My god, whats going to happen to all of our shipments?" she said. "Overall, theres definitely going to be a problem."

She worried about the girls and women confined in homes with potential assailants, even uncles or cousins. Her organization has suspended outreach, which provides about 40% of services, and clinics have seen a drop in client traffic of about 20%.

"We dont see you anymore," anxious callers say. "Whats happening?"

Even the capital, Kampala, has been affected. Sekimpi said she visited a large government-run hospital there on Monday, "but when I got there my heart was broken because the one service suspended was family planning. With good reason, because its usually crowded."

She expects not only a baby boom but a rise in unsafe abortions and post-abortion care, along with panicky women seeking to remove their IUD (intrauterine device) or birth control implant earlier than expected as they fear no family planning worker will be around to help them later.

Even the U.S. Embassy in Uganda has taken note of the challenges women face, tweeting that "Periods dont pause for pandemics" and sharing advice on how to make washable sanitary pads at home.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The range of issues is similar across Africa, Shibru in Zimbabwe said, citing a daily call with country directors in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar and elsewhere.

"Look, everything has been diverted to COVID," he said of the disease caused by the coronavirus. "But after COVID, another catastrophe will be womens health, unless something is done right now."

___

Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia contributed.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Top Italian figures have condemned an article in a German newspaper suggesting the mafia was waiting for an influx of European Union cash amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The opinion piece in Die Welt on how the EU could best support its countries financially through the pandemic has caused a stir in Italy, with politicians calling for the German government to condemn it.

Countries in the EU should definitely help each other amid the coronavirus crisis. But is there a limit? Are there any controls in place? the article opened.

In Italy, the mafia is just waiting on a new windfall from Brussels.

The comment has sparked outrage in Italy, with the countrys foreign minister saying it was shameful and unacceptable.

Die Welt, an important German newspaper, urged Europe this morning to not help Italy because ... the mafia is waiting for money from Brussels, Luigi Di Maio said.

Italy is mourning its coronavirus victims today, but has mourned and still mourns victims of the mafia, Luigi Di Maio said, adding he hoped to see the German government condemn the comments and distance itself from them.

Speaking about the comments, Fabiana Dadone, an Italian government minister, said: You should never paint everyone with the same brush.

She added: Having the humility to apologise is the foundation to a reciprocal and respectful relationship.

Mara Carfagna, the vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, said: We expect a clear condemnation and an apology.

Italians are not members of the mafia, and are battling Covid-19 with their heads held high.

The country has been one of the worst-affected in the world by the pandemic, with more than 143,600 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Thursday, according to the latest figures.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, rejected demands by Italy on Thursday for common eurozone bonds to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

I dont believe we should have common debt because of the situation of our political union and thats why we reject this, she said.

But there are so many ways to show solidarity and I believe we will find a good solution.

Die Welts owner Axel Springer SE has been approached for comment about the article.

Additional reporting by Reuters
The aged Puerto Rican rum is the oldest produced on the island. Pedro Fernandez started making it when he returned from a journey to France  with some side trips to observe cognac production. Inspired, Fernandez went home to his familys hacienda in Bayamon, near San Juan, and set his unique, small batch production in motion. And its been made there ever since. Prized by locals, until a few years ago it could be hard to find in the States. Though lately that is changing with some new influence. More on that in a bit.
From "GoCoronaGo" to "Sampark-o-Meter", the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have developed several mobile applications to aid the fight against coronavirus in the country.

The app "GoCoronaGo" has been developed by a team at IISc which can help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 suspects.

"The app will help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 positive individuals or suspects by tracking their interactions in the past using bluetooth and GPS. It uses temporal network analytics in the backend to understand the risk propensity even for distant contacts, understand disease spread and identify high-risk people who are likely to contract and spread the virus," Tarun Rambha, a faculty member at IISc, told PTI.

"It also provides alerts on isolation and proximity scores, and helps enhance social distancing. It also has a geo-fencing feature for those who are under quarantine, and has the ability to provide their symptoms which is used in the risk evaluation," Rambha added.

A B.Tech student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed a mobile-based app called "Sampark-o-Meter" which can indicate areas on maps with maximum coronavirus infection possibility.

"The app generates a 'risk score' after considering various factors and can alert people to take precautionary measures including self-isolate or consulting a doctor. The app would facilitate users to estimate corona sampark risk rating.

"The existing approaches put the onus of responsibility of contact tracing and alerting or isolating the potential suspects on the government only, and are subjected to delays because of which, in most cases, the suspect has further spread the virus to many before being caught. This app, if implemented successfully, can timely alert and more efficiently control the spread," the developer student Sahil Verma said.

Similarly, a team of students and alumni at IIT Bombay, have made a mobile app named "CORONTINE" that will help in tracking the potential or suspected asymptomatic carriers (AC) of coronavirus if they leave their quarantine zone.

"The app is meant to be installed on the mobile of asymptomatic carriers (AC) by an authorized agency (AA). The app will send GPS coordinates of the mobiles periodically to a server under the supervision of AA. If a user leaves a specified quarantined zone marked by a geo-fence, it will be auto-detected. The purpose of the app is to help authorities track the asymptomatic carriers and prevent the spread of the disease," a team member said.

Students at IIT Delhi have also come up with an application to help trace individuals who come in close contact with COVID-19 positive cases.

"Using bluetooth, the application will track and alert all individuals who have been in close vicinity of positive coronavirus cases in the past days. The date and region of interaction within the bluetooth radius will also be provided through the application.

"If and when an individual does come in close contact with a COVID-19 positive patient, the app will connect the user with the nearest healthcare facility. Additionally, it will provide guidelines for self-quarantine and supportive care guidelines," said Arshad Nassar, a PhD student at the institute's design department.

IIT Roorkee professor Kamal Jain has developed a tracking app which can strengthen the surveillance system needed to contain coronavirus.

"The app can track individuals and also can do geofencing around him or her. The system will get an alert, if geofencing is violated by the quarantined person. In case GPS data is not received, the location will be obtained automatically through the triangulation of mobile towers. If the Internet is not working in a certain area, the location will be received through SMS," Jain said.

"If the application gets off, an alert will be received immediately. The location of the person can be received by sending an SMS to the device. It allows the sharing of quarantined persons/places photographs on a google map, uploading geotag image to a server. Furthermore, administrators can view all reports on a map," he added.

According to Union Health Ministry, the death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 166 and the number of cases to 5,734 in the country on Thursday.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,095, as many as 472 people were cured and discharged and one had migrated, the Ministry said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol has a tough job these days  responding to an unprecedented crisis now without losing sight of an existential one that must be tackled over decades.

Driving the news: He spoke to Axios yesterday about his work to help stabilize oil markets and ensure coronavirus doesn't sap governments' and companies' work on global warming.

Climate change: Birol says major oil companies, which have recently been expanding their climate pledges and plans, will remain under the microscope.

People around the world will notice whether or not those commitments that the governments, companies [have made] are going to fade away or disappear when the market conditions change, he said.

I think this is a really important issue for the credibility of the companies and the governments, Birol added.

Oil markets: Birol has been pushing for G20 energy ministers to collaborate on how to handle the shocking collapse in oil demand. That might be bearing fruit. Those officials are now slated to meet remotely on Friday, a day after a meeting of the OPEC+ group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

This is a huge global challenge, he said, later adding: There is a need to provide a global answer beyond OPEC+. The production cuts reportedly contemplated by OPEC+, which are in the 10 million barrel-per-day range, pale in comparison to the demand collapse, he noted.

Birol and IEA analysts are keenly aware of the toll that the demand and price collapse will take on people who work in the industry, but he's hopeful about collaboration to manage the twin shocks.

I asked Birol about how the U.S., where top-down production decisions aren't a thing, and other market economies could take part in a wider cooperative effort. There are different countries who can contribute to the problem in different ways, he said.

He noted plans by companies to cut investment. As a result of that there will be a lot of decline, Birol said.

Stimulus plans: Birol has been pushing governments to use their economic response packages to boost investments in renewables, efficiency, batteries and more. He said it's going "very well."
The former director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says New York could have reduced the number of deaths from coronavirus by up to 80% if it acted sooner.

Tom Frieden, who also previously served as commissioner of the New York City Health Department, tells The New York Times that the Empire State should have closed schools and non-essential businesses two weeks earlier than it did and begun social distancing at the beginning of March.

Flu was coming down, and then you saw this new ominous spike. And it was COVID. And it was spreading widely in New York City before anyone knew it, Dr. Frieden told the newspaper. You have to move really fast. Hours and days. Not weeks. Once it gets a head of steam, there is no way to stop it.

California has had much fewer cases  19,063 infected with COVID-19 and 507 deaths  than New York, which has confirmed over 150,000 cases and more than 6,200 deaths. California was the first to issue a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19, three days before New York did the same.

Frieden told the Times that New York could have similarly kept its numbers down, by 50 to 80%, if it acted sooner. He did not elaborate on the basis for those figures.

2 days later & NYC deaths would have doubled. Days earlier & so many deaths could have been prevented. A warning to all: #COVID19 moves fast, we must move faster to increase physical distancing. https://t.co/GxsLrzPMXr pic.twitter.com/Pojy9V0a2J  Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) April 6, 2020

California had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Jan. 25, five days before the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency; the state began restricting large gatherings in early March and closed all schools by March 16; a statewide stay-at-home order took effect March 19.

New York, on the other hand, didnt have its first confirmed case of coronavirus until March 1. Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on March 7 and began issuing social distancing guidelines and closing non-essential businesses gradually; a statewide stay-at-home order took effect March 22.

Every action I took was criticized at the time as premature, Cuomo told the Times. The facts have proven my decisions correct.

Were dealing with a virus thats only months old and science that changes by the day ... hindsight is a luxury none of us have in the heat of battle, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told the newspaper.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reports two new studies have found that the novel coronavirus in New York originated in Europe, not China. President Donald Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they had been in China on Jan. 31, but allowed for exceptions. Trump has declined to issue a nationwide stay-at-home order, but shared social distancing guidelines in mid-March.

Research shows the virus spread may have been detected sooner if more testing was available in the U.S. earlier. Government labs only processed 352 COVID-19 tests in the month of February, CDC data shows.

You cannot fight a fire blindfolded, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said last month. We cannot stop this pandemic if we dont know who is infected.

New York has become the epicenter for coronavirus in America, with more than 150,000 cases and 6,268 deaths as of Wednesday morning. New Jersey has the second-most cases with 47,437, followed by Michigan with just over 20,000.

Frieden served as director of the CDC from 2009 to 2017, leading the U.S. response to Ebola and H1N1 swine flu.

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Hospitalized, critical patients at record highs; 422 total cases

Couple on medical staff at Crouse swaps homes with son to keep the kids safe from coronavirus
CLEVELAND -- Michigan is up to 20,346 confirmed coronavirus cases, compared to 5,148 in Ohio.

The state of 10 million people also has 959 deaths, more than five times the 193 deaths in Ohio, with 11.7 million people. Hospitals are overwhelmed in metro Detroit, where the state has had to set up field hospitals at two convention centers. One is in downtown Detroit and one is in Oakland county.

But despite the huge difference in totals, percentage increases now are similar. Ohios case numbers on Wednesday increased by 8 percent, and Michigans increased by 7 percent. Looking at the cases from that perspectives shows that the virus isnt currently growing significantly faster in Michigan.

And those percent increases have slowed down, below 20% since April 2.

In a New York Times analysis of cell phone data to see which states stayed at home as the coronavirus began to spread, both Michigan and Ohio showed low travel activity.

The neighboring states are separated by a day on most major social distancing measures. Michigan cases are largely in the metropolitan area of Detroit, home to more than 4 million people -- much larger than urban areas in Ohio.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Health Director Dr. Amy Acton locked down the state starting March 23 and extended the states stay-at-home order last week to May 1, keeping businesses and schools closed. The measures worked; the states expected peak is now 1,600 cases per day, instead of 10,000.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home measure runs through April 13. Michigan upped the cost for violating its stay-at home order from $500 to $1,000, the Detroit Metro Times reported. Whitmer has said she would likely extend the order.

Why the difference?

There are few theories:

Ohio did not have an in-person primary on March 17, but Michigan did on March 10. May elections are still scheduled in Michigan, according to MLive, though residents are encouraged to vote by mail.

Detroit has a major airport, which was one of 11 screening international airports where passengers from China were sent in February.

Detroits population is large, and poverty is rampant. In both states, black residents are disproportionally affected by the virus.

How have cases increased over the past week in both states?

The two states were within 10 cases of each other until March 19, when the gap grew to more than 200. Michigan case numbers went up 317% on March 19, and 64% on March 20.

March 19 is when state officials began including tests from hospitals and private labs, according to MLive.

The percent increases for Michigan and Ohio shows case numbers rapidly grew in Michigan in mid to late March, but growth has been closer over the past week.

April 2

Ohio: 2,902, increase of 355 (13.9%)

Michigan: 10,791, increase of 1,457 (15.6%)

April 3

Ohio: 3,312, increase of 410 (14.1%)

Michigan: 12,744, increase of 1,953 (18.09%)

April 4

Ohio: 3,739, increase of 427 (12.9%)

Michigan: 14,225, increase of 1,481 (11.6%)

April 5

Ohio: 4,403, increase of 664 (17%)

Michigan: 15,718, increase of 1,493 (10%)

April 6

Ohio: 4,450, increase of 407 (9%)

Michigan: 17,221, increase of 1503 (10%)

April 7

Ohio: 4,782, increase of 332 (7%)

Michigan: 18,970, increase of 1,749 (10%)

April 8

Ohio: 5,148, increase of 366 (8%)

Michigan: 20,346, increase of 1,376 (7%)
Based on the documents provided by the Audit Chamber of Armenia and the State Supervision Service of Armenia, as a result of studies conducted by the Department for Protection of State Interests of the Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia has instituted two criminal cases in regard to officers of the Civil Aviation Committee, as reported Head of the Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor Generals Office Arevik Khachatryan.

One of the criminal cases was instituted under the elements of use of official position by relevant officials of the General Department of Civil Aviation contrary to interests of the service, allocation of funds for leasing a plane, etc.

The second criminal case was instituted in relation to the entering of overtly false information or notes in documents regarding inspections of an inspectorate in the official documents released in the years between 2016 and 2019 and to the preparation of fake documents.

Investigative, as well as other procedural and operational intelligence actions are being taken to fully disclose the incidents under the two criminal cases.
China on April 8 imposed a lockdown in its northernmost Suifenhe city of Heilongjiang province after it experienced a surge in imported coronavirus cases. The Heilongjiang province shares its land border with Russia and the Chinese authorities shut it down to prevent coronavirus infected individuals from entering the former Soviet Union. As per reports, China announced the temporary closure of its roughly 2,672-mile land border with Russia.

Read: Thailand Hospital Designs Face Shields For Newborn Babies To Protect Them From Coronavirus

The Chinese embassy in Moscow announced informed about the closure of the border without indicating when the checkpoints would be reopened again. China has been successful in containing the disease in Wuhan city by imposing a strict lockdown and making it compulsory to wear masks in public, which many western countries failed to implement in time. The coronavirus curve in China has been flattened in the past few weeks with just a few new cases coming every day.

Read: 'Hero' Robots Helping Medical Staff Fight Coronavirus Pandemic Across The World

According to reports, China on April 7 for the first time in more than two months recorded zero deaths from COVID-19. China has also faced a lot of criticism for its handling of the pandemic as the global community accused the communist country of not disclosing information on time.

Read: Video Of Strange-looking Creature Breaks Internet, Netizens Link It With Marvel's Venom

Coronavirus outbreak

The deadly coronavirus infection has claimed nearly 89,400 lives across the world and has infected over 15,29,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Iran have also overtaken China in terms of the COVID-19 death toll. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

Read: Good News: 97-year-old World War II Navy Pilot Dances To Justin Timberlake's Track

(Image Credit: AP)


America emerged from the Cold War in 1990 as the sole remaining superpower. Its military was larger than that of the next 10 countries combined, and it was the only one with true global reach. Its economy accounted for more than a quarter of global GDP, even though Americans represented less than 5% of the worlds population. And politically, the United States was the indispensable nation  a guarantor of global stability and the leader that drove multilateral institutions and multinational actions.
Some of the workers who help produce Americas food are starting to die because of the coronavirus.

At least three people who worked at plants owned by top U.S. meat packer Tyson Foods Inc. and a local unit of Brazils JBS SA were reported to have died from the pandemic. Companies including Cargill Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Perdue Farms Inc. have also reported infections. Smithfield Foods Inc. has 80 cases at a facility in South Dakota.

While its unclear whether the deaths and other cases had anything to with the workplace, the news exposes the fragility of global supply chains that are needed to keep grocery stores stocked after panic buying left shelves empty. Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that these workers are vital, calling on them to show up and do your job to keep the nation fed.

Plants across the U.S. are starting to reduce output or idle as cases spread from the main cities to rural America. Outbreaks have occurred in factories across the country in recent weeks, with hundreds of workers being sent home.

Laborers have, in some cases, staged walk-outs to protest working conditions. In meat plants, stations on processing lines can be close together, creating challenges for social distancing. Workers share break rooms and locker rooms.

Going to work is putting them at great risk, said Angela Stuesse, an anthropology professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Who benefits? All of us who are buying food, and the corporations who are selling it.

On Tuesday, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union representing thousands of poultry workers said two of its members working at a Tyson plant in Camilla, Georgia, died from the virus. JBS USA confirmed a long-time employee at its Greeley, Colorado, died of Covid-19 complications.

Its unclear where they were infected. JBS said the employee in question had not been at work since March 20 and that he didnt present any symptoms while at work. Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson didnt comment on the deaths.

Plant disruptions are also hitting American farmers. Fears of closures first sent cattle futures traded in Chicago tumbling, but prices are now rebounding as traders wait to see just how long the problems will last.

This was a case of buying the rumor and selling the fact, said Steve Wagner, market analyst at CHS Hedging in Minnesota. The market went down on the fear that packers were going to close plants and, when they closed, we bounced back.

Meat companies have been upping safety procedures to keep the virus from spreading among its ranks. Tyson said it has been taking employee temperatures before they enter facilities, stepped up deep cleaning at its plants, implemented social distancing measures and given workers access to protective face coverings.

We continue working diligently to protect our team members at Camilla and elsewhere, according to a statement Tuesday. Since the U.S. government considers Tyson Foods a critical infrastructure company, we take our responsibility to continue feeding the nation very seriously.

JBS said it has implemented safety measures including increasing sanitation efforts, deep cleaning of facilities, promoting social distancing and checking temperatures before employees enter facilities. It has also implemented a policy removing high-risk populations, including those over 70, from its facilities.

The U.S. Chicken Council added its members are doing everything they can to keep their employees safe and product on the shelves.

The coronavirus, which has claimed more than 81,000 lives globally, is spreading into Americas food-making heartlands. At a press conference Tuesday, Pence said the government will work tirelessly to ensure workplaces for food-company employees are safe.

You are giving a great service to the people of the United States of America and we need you to continue, as a part of what we call critical infrastructure, to show up and do your job, he said.

Cargill said Tuesday it was idling a beef plant in Pennsylvania after employees tested positive for Covid-19. The announcement came a day after Tyson said it had halted pork processing at a plant in Iowa after more than two dozen workers tested positive. JBS suspended operations until April 16 at a beef plant in Pennsylvania after several managers showed symptoms.

Coronavirus cases arent limited to meat plants. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., one of the worlds largest agricultural commodity traders, said Monday that four employees at its corn processing complex in Clinton, Iowa, tested positive for the virus. The company says it has less than 20 cases globally. Walmart Inc. was also faced with employee deaths.

With assistance from Michael Hirtzer.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Helping Your Child Succeed

Do you have children who can read, but do not enjoy reading, and almost never pick up a book or anything else to read for pleasure? Would your Read more
April 8, 2020

Release

Readout of Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper's Phone Call With Ukrainian Minister of Defense Andrii Taran

Pentagon Press Secretary Alyssa Farah provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper spoke by phone today with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Andrii Taran to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine and exchange perspectives on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Secretary Esper congratulated Minister Taran on his recent appointment as Minister of Defense and reiterated U.S. support for building the capacity of Ukraine's forces to defend more effectively against Russian aggression. Secretary Esper also highlighted the need for European allies to enhance their support to the Ukraine security assistance mission.

Minister Taran reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to transforming Ukraine's defense sector in line with NATO principles and standards. Secretary Esper praised Ukraine's recent progress on defense reforms and encouraged Minister Taran to maintain Ukraine's momentum in support of a more secure and democratic Ukraine.

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2142151/

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Like many successful entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban started his road to victory when he didn't have many resources (specifically, Cuban was a broke college grad living with five other guys in a three bedroom apartment). Making something out of nothing builds your muscles. Cuban says we're now all tasked with making something out of nothing. This is an advantage.

In a recent interview with investor Arlan Hamilton, Cuban says this is the perfect time to start a business you love: "Five to 10 years from now, we'll look back and there will be 30 businesses that were created where we'll say 'Damn, why didn't I think of that? It makes so much sense now,"

He's right. Here's why.

First, forget capital.

Yes, it's an awful time to try to get capital, particularly since, in Cuban and Hamilton's words, investors don't know what the world will look like in five years, nevertheless in six months.

Cuban's philosophy has held steady, though, well before now. Your goal should be to create as much as you can on your own, with your own resources, networking and sweat equity, before even talking to investors.

Here's Cuban's beautiful take from a 2017 Chase Jarvis interview:

Sweat Equity is always the best equity. The next best version of equity is Customer Equity where you get customers coming in buying from you and that's how you're funding your growth. Third is using kickstarter/IndieGogo as a way to support you. The last thing on the list is venture capital money. They aren't giving it to you for charity and the minute you take that money, that's not the end, but when the obligation really starts. You thought you had an obligation to grow your business before you took the money? You have no idea.

As Cuban and Hamilton attest, I've seen founders walk away with next to nothing when their company was sold because they gave so much of it away to investors.

And sometimes investors don't see your vision for the future, which was the case when my founders and me sold our last company with 100 percent ownership. Bootstrapping often allows you to fulfill your ultimate plan in ways outside investment cannot.

Second, take a small step now.

There are two major camps now: Either you should use this time to work extra hard since you (theoretically) have extra time or you should rest, reflect and recharge to get ready for when things stabilize again.

Both philosophies are pretty extreme, as one will have you guilty for not being more productive, while the other may have you shameful about wanting to create.

Instead, as Cuban says during the interview, take a small step now. Prioritize your loved ones and your mental, physical and emotional health, and even do what you need to do to make ends meet. It is still possible to move forward, though, in small, incremental steps.
Technavio has been monitoring the whipping cream market and it is poised to grow by USD 670.8 mn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 4% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005625/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Whipping Cream Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Conagra Brands, DMK GROUP, Fonterra Co-operative Group, Land O'Lakes, Nestle, and The Kraft Heinz Company are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Increasing number of cafes has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Whipping Cream Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Whipping cream market is segmented as below:

Product Dairy-based Whipping Cream Non-dairy-based Whipping Cream

Geographic Landscape Americas APAC EMEA



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30423

Whipping Cream Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our whipping cream market report covers the following areas:

Whipping Cream Market Size

Whipping Cream Market Trends

Whipping Cream Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies demand for organic whipping cream as one of the prime reasons driving the whipping cream market growth during the next few years.

Whipping Cream Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Whipping Cream Market, including some of the vendors such as Conagra Brands, DMK GROUP, Fonterra Co-operative Group, Land O'Lakes, Nestle, and The Kraft Heinz Company. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Whipping Cream Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Whipping Cream Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist whipping cream market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the whipping cream market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the whipping cream market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of whipping cream market vendors

Table Of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Dairy-based Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Non-dairy-based Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

Rising demand for organic whipping cream

Emergence of private label brands

New innovative and flavored whipping creams

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Conagra Brands

DMK GROUP

Fonterra Co-operative Group

Land O'Lakes

Nestle

The Kraft Heinz Company

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

PART 14: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005625/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
EAGAN, Minn.

April 8, 2020

Joseph Leach

Minneapolis

Ken Paulus

St. Olaf College

Northfield, Minn.

University of Minnesota in Minneapolis

University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City

/PRNewswire/ -- Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime), a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) serving more than 30 million members nationally, has named, M.D., as senior vice president and chief medical officer (CMO). Dr. Leach brings over 20 years of experience as a clinician, researcher and health care leader to his role. He will lead the expansion of Prime's specialty management capabilities and help shape the company's total drug management strategy.Dr. Leach will partner with Blue Plan medical directors and pharmacy leaders to drive adoption of specialty and total drug management solutions. Dr. Leach brings deep experience as a medical oncologist and researcher to help the company's clients and members navigate an era when million-dollar curative therapies  many in the oncology space  are coming to market.He has held numerous leadership roles including medical director of Virginia Piper Cancer Institute in, past president of the Minnesota Society of Clinical Oncology and principal investigator for the Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium.Dr. Leach has also held national leadership positions in research including committee chair for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), which was one of the first publicly funded cooperative groups to perform multi-center clinical trials for cancer research. He was appointed to the NCI Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee, an organization that directs the national research priorities and approves clinical trial concepts for lung cancer research."I couldn't be more pleased to welcome Dr. Leach to Prime," said Prime's President and CEO,. "Dr. Leach's depth of experience in oncology therapy coupled with his devotion to patient-focused care will offer superb value to our clients and their members. He is highly respected in the medical world and I'm certain Dr. Leach is the best person to help us navigate the complex and important work associated with managing the cost and use of revolutionary new treatments for complex illnesses.""I'm delighted to join the team at Prime and to work with their Blue Plan clients to advance the company's total drug management vision," said Dr. Leach. "I hope that my perspective as a physician, working with patients fighting devastating illnesses like cancer, can help keep us focused on our most important mission."Dr. Leach holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology frominand earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the. He completed training in internal medicine and medical oncology at theinand is a board-certified medical oncologist.Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) makes health care work better by helping people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. Prime provides total drug management solutions for health plans, employers, and government programs including Medicare and Medicaid. The company processes claims and offers clinical services for people with complex medical conditions. Prime serves more than 30 million people. For more information, visit www.primetherapeutics.com or follow @Prime_PBM on Twitter.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/prime-therapeutics-welcomes-joseph-leach-md-as-chief-medical-officer-301037153.html



SOURCE Prime Therapeutics LLC




Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says 1,739 foreigners have been evacuated from the country by their embassies because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic
* Chinese health authority said Wednesday (April 8) it received reports of 62 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Tuesday, of which 59 were imported. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,802 by Tuesday, including 1,190 patients who were still being treated, 77,279 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,333 people who died of the disease.

* Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for close cooperation among all countries to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in a video message posted on Facebook on Wednesday. He said in the video message, which is for the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office for a virtual meeting of health ministers, all countries must cooperate closely with one another and learn from one another's experience.

* Thailand is not enforcing a 24-hour curfew to stem the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country as rumored on social media, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Thailand, which is currently under a six-hour curfew between 10.00 p.m. and 04.00 a.m., reported 111 new cases of COVID-19 infection on Wednesday, making a total of 2,369, including 30 fatalities.

* India's federal health ministry Tuesday evening said the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 124 and the total number of confirmed cases reached 4,789. According to health officials, so far 353 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

* The New Zealand government, industry and business are working together to develop a plan for how tourism will operate in a post-COVID-19 world, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said on Wednesday.

* The COVID-19 pandemic may cost the Asia-Pacific region 0.8 percent of the gross domestic product, an estimated US$172 billion due to a massive drop in global demand for their exports alone, said a report issued by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on Wednesday.

* Finland on Tuesday announced a further tightening of its international transit to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Maria Ohisalo, Finnish Minister of the Interior, said at a press conference that all passenger transport on ships in and out of Finland will stop from Friday night until May 13.

* Russia has registered a total of 7,497 cases of COVID-19 in 81 out of 85 regions of the country as of Tuesday, with the number of infected rising by a new daily record of 1,154, up from 954 a day before, official data showed. The death toll rose to 58, up from 47 a day before, while 494 people have recovered so far, including 88 in the last 24 hours, Russia's coronavirus response center said in a statement.

* Iran's Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said his country does not agree with holding any OPEC+ meeting in the absence of a clear proposal and expected outcome from such talks for the oil market, according to a letter sent to OPEC and seen by Reuters.

* Panama registered 149 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the country's total to 2,249 cases, authorities said on Tuesday. The death toll stands at 59.

* Mexico has registered 346 new cases of coronavirus infection, bringing the country's total to 2,785, as well as 141 deaths, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

* Australia's parliament will return on Wednesday in a slimmed down version to pass an emergency AUD130 billion (US$80 billion) stimulus package as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the country's economy.

* Severe tropical cyclone Harold has been striking most parts of Fiji since Tuesday night, causing extensive damage and flooding across the island nation. Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama urged on Wednesday all Fijians to stay indoors until the all clear is given by authorities.

* Brazil on Tuesday reported the total number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 13,717, with 667 deaths, for a mortality rate of 4.9 percent. According to the Health Ministry, 1,661 new cases of infection have been reported in the country in the past 24 hours, and 114 patients died.

* Chile's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported that 5,116 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 43 have died from the disease. In the past 24 hours, 301 new cases of infection were detected and six patients died.

* The death toll from COVID-19 in Ukraine rose to 45 on Tuesday, as the confirmed cases reached 1,462, the country's health ministry said. According to the ministry, 143 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Ukraine in the last 24 hours. According to Deputy Health Minister Viktor Liashko, COVID-19 infections in the country could peak on April 14.

* Israel reported six new death cases from the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 71, the state's Ministry of Health said Wednesday. The ministry added that a total of 9,404 people in Israel were tested positive for COVID-19 so far.

* The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed nearly 4,000 lives out of the over 60,000 infected cases in Iran, while more states in the Middle East started to require wearing face masks to curb the spread of the pandemic.

* In Turkey, its health minister on Tuesday reported 3,892 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 34,109.

* Palestine on Tuesday said it strongly rejects Israel's attempts to annex parts of the West Bank, reiterating its commitment to international law and United Nations resolutions, according to a statement by the Palestinian presidency.

* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced 283 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 2,359.

* Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday discussed the means of cooperation to control COVID-19 spread in both countries, official IRNA news agency reported.

* The Iraqi Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed one more death from COVID-19 and 91 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 1,122.

* Oman's Ministry of Health said in a statement on Tuesday that it recorded 40 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infections in the country to 371.

* The Higher Committee to Combat the Corona Epidemic of Libya's eastern-based government on Tuesday announced the first COVID-19 case in eastern Libya.

* Altogether 20 patients have died in Algeria from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, while 45 others have been infected with the virus, health officials said on Tuesday.

* Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 52 after eight more people were confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday.
T he UK death toll has risen by 881 in the last 24 hours, Dominic Raab has said.

This brings the total people who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK to 7,978 as of 5pm on Wednesday, up from 7,097 the day before.

It comes after figures were released separately by England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. 

NHS England announced that 765 more people had died after contracting coronavirus.

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The new hospital deaths were patients aged between 24 and 103-years old. Some 43 of the 765 patients (aged between 33 and 99 years old) had no known underlying health condition.

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The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England now stands at 7,248.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Northern Ireland hospitals has risen to 82, after four further deaths were reported on Thursday.

There were 138 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed, bringing the total across the region to 1,477.

A further 41 patients have also died after testing positive for coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of deaths there to 286, health officials said.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that a total of 447 patients have died in Scotland, up by 81 from 366 on Wednesday.

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Speaking ahead of a virtual question and answer session with party leaders, she said 4,957 people have now tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 392 from 4,565 the day before.

There are 212 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, an increase of 2 on Wednesday.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast
The popular Bengali Market has become the first Covid-19 containment zone in Lutyens Delhi. It is among 23 such places identified by the Delhi government across the city.

The upscale neighbourhood made its way to the list after a surveillance team of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) found 35 workers of a famous pastry shop living under unhygienic conditions violating social-distancing norms. Two workers who had fever-like symptoms (common in Covid-19 patients) will undergo tests.

The surveillance was conducted after three persons were found positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from the neighbourhood. The exact location is not immediately known. The team, which comprised officials of the district administration and the NDMC, screened 325 houses, two markets and about 2,000 people in the Bengali Market and Mandi House area.

Bengali Market, which was founded in 1930, has now been sealed by the police, who have blocked all entry and exit points. According to an order issued by New Delhi district magistrate Tanvi Garg, the adjoining areas of Todarmal Road, Babar Lane and School Lane have also been blocked for any kind of movement or congregation.

The order asked for action against the bakery shop where workers were living in highly unhygienic conditions and social distancing was not being followed.

Now, residents in the neighbourhood are not allowed to step outside even to buy essentials, which will be home-delivered to them.

Bengali Market area has been sealed. Strict legal action will be taken against people who violate guidelines issued for the hard lockdown. A list of phone numbers has been made public. You can order essential items on the phone. It will be delivered at your doorstep, a police official said.

DM Garg directed the NDMC to immediately sanitise the entire area under containment plan to prevent further spread of Covid-19.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Permex Petroleum Corporation (CSE: OIL) (OTCQB: OILCF) (the "Company") today announced that the Company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) originally scheduled for April 30, 2020 is being rescheduled due to the continuing COVID-19 epidemic.

"Under the current assembly restrictions and circumstances, the attendance from management and shareholders would not be possible. Therefore, we are rescheduling the annual general meeting in the hope that it can be held under more normal circumstances," says Mehran Ehsan, President of Permex Petroleum Corporation. A notice for a rescheduled meeting will be announced in due course for the holding of an AGM.

If you have any questions about the procedures required to qualify to vote at the Meeting or about obtaining and depositing the required form of proxy, you should contact TSX Trust Company by telephone at 1-866-600-5869 (toll free in North America), by fax at 416-361-0470 or by e-mail at tmxeinvestorservices@tmx.com.

About Permex Petroleum Corporation (CSE: OIL) (OTCQB: OILCF) - www.permexpetroleum.com

Permex Petroleum is a uniquely positioned junior Oil & Gas company with assets and operations across the Permian Basin of west Texas and the Delaware Sub-Basin of New Mexico. The company focuses on combining its low-cost development of Held by Production assets for sustainable growth with its current and future Blue-Sky projects for scale growth. The company through its wholly owned subsidiary Permex Petroleum US Corporation is a licensed operator in both states; and owns and operates on Private, State and Federal land.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Permex Petroleum Corporation

Mehran Ehsan

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director

(778) 373-5421

Scott Kelly

CFO, Corporate Secretary & Director

(778) 373-5421

Or for Investor Relations, please contact:

admin@permexpetroleum.com

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT:

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange, OTCMarkets nor their Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in their respective policies) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54292


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Read the latest Brexit news, headlines and analysis from the ongoing withdrawal negotiations between the UK and EU that may impact the Fire Industry

2021

2nd June

FIA releases Impact of Brexit on the Fire Industry Report

Read our latest report on the Impact of Brexit on the Fire Industry. This report focuses on the impacts on organisations, the preparation that was made, their thoughts on the future, government guidance and our industry's biggest concerns with Brexit and how the FIA has and will continue to help.

Read More>>

18th May

After months of research and analysis, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is launching our economic vision for the UK: Seize the Moment.

Join the meeting on the 24th of May for a unique keynote speech by our Director-General Tony Danker on how we can build a dynamic, competitive and future-focused economy; and hear from Joanna Swash (Group CEO, Moneypenny) and Keith Anderson (Chief Executive, ScottishPower) at our live panel discussion, chaired by Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL (President, CBI), to discover what the opportunities for our country are, and what business  and government  has to do to realise them.

Read More>>

13th April

FIA Survey - Impact of the Brexit on the Fire Industry

To ensure we are representing the views of you and the wider industry as best as we can it is important to ask you questions on how Brexit has impacted you and your business. We are keen to find out information on how general questions around Brexit, how helpful government guidance has been and how the UKCA mark is affecting you.

Please can you take a few minutes to complete the survey here - link below.

Read More>>

1st March

British Standards Institute and the UKCA Mark.

We have recently met with the relevant approval bodies to ask key questions on the UKCA to attempt to provide more clarity on this complex and divisive issue.

BSI is hosting a webinar on Thursday 4th March Northern Ireland and the UKCA mark.

Northern Ireland has had a unique place in the discussions surrounding the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union. But what does this mean for those placing goods on to the market in Northern Ireland? And what does the introduction of UKCA marking mean for organizations located in Northern Ireland?

Sign up here >

According to BSI what are the requirements for UKCA marking of fire equipment?

At the time of writing this document from a technical perspective, the requirements between UKCA and CE marking remain the same for the time being. This means you will need to meet the requirements of Statutory Instrument (SI) No 465 2019 the Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. (Which is the equivalent of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) (EU) 305/2011 which applies to CE marking.)

Learn more about BSI's stance on the UKCA here

1 February

Post-Brexit Trading Rules of Origin

There have been several cases recently where our exporting members have asked us to explain how the Rules of Origin apply to their export businesses.

Rules of Origin are essentially how customs authorities classify where an export has come from in international trade and can significantly affect the free movement of goods. This link usefully explains this www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/trade-rules-origin.

While the government website goes into the detail that exporters will need to understand and implement in order to meet the requirements of the Rules of Origin www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-of-origin-for-goods-moving-between-the-uk-and-eu

27th January

We, at the FIA, have been in constant communication with the government over the last year voicing the concerns of the fire safety industry on the impact of implementing the new UKCA mark. Thus far, we have sent several letters to Governmental departments and have voiced our concerns at many meetings with the Government.

After the Governments latest response, the FIA held our second Special Interest Group meeting to gauge the opinions and tap into the expertise from the fire and security industries. Through working with a variety of stakeholders we have identified areas where we can better represent our industrys concern on the implementation of the UKCA to those that need to hear it.

Rest assured this is a priority of the FIA. It is vitally important that the Government understands the impact that changing to the UKCA regime will have not only for businesses from the fire industry whose task it is to keep buildings safe; but also, for the thousands of business owners that rely on their buildings being compliant so that they can remain open.

Please click the link to see a recap of the work we have done so far:

18th January

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has produced the two documents supporting businesses representing specific sectors during the Brexit transition process.

5th January

What are your thoughts on UK-EU deal?

Let us know your thoughts/opinions/issues with the latest deal and we can raise it with the Government (UK Defence and Security Exports)

Full Name * (required) Organisation / Company * (required) Email * (required) What are your thoughts on the trade deal? * (required) Share your thoughts

4th January

On 24th November, we sent our second letter jointly with BSIA to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [BEIS] relaying our respective industrys concerns on the impact of the implementation of the new UKCA mark. In late December, we received a response from Paul Scully MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which can be seen at the bottom.

In our letter (click here to read), we requested that should a reciprocal agreement not be acceptable, the specified 12 months timeline be extended to a minimum of 36 months to allow sufficient time for manufacturers to prepare and apply the UKCA mark. Unfortunately, for our industry, the Government ignored this request on two separate occasions.

We believe exceptions should be made for fire and security products given that exceptions have been granted for medical devices  as all are focussed on life safety. The resulting impacts that the UKCA regime can and will have on life safety systems are worrying. For instance, lack of spare parts to maintain current fire safety systems correctly could affect thousands of hospitals, schools and care homes to name but a few.

Read more >>

1st January

The UK's post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union has passed into law after receiving royal assent on 31 December 2020. The European Union and UK Government published the full text of the Brexit trade deal on Boxing Day, with the document running to 1,255 pages.

The Brexit transition period has ended and new rules on declaring goods youve moved in or out of the UK using Intrastat now apply.

Read More>>

2020

16th December

Find out what changes will affect you and your business. You should:

If you have any questions about preparing for the end of the transition period and you cant find answers at GOV.UK/transition, fill out the enquiry form and one of our experts will point you in the right direction.



If you do not act now you will not be able to trade with the EU and other countries from 1 January 2021.

10 December

UKEF can offer insurance for up to 95% of the value of an export order. Its just one of the ways UKEF can help your export with confidence.

UKEF Export Finance Managers help businesses of all sizes across the UK to win contracts, fulfil orders and get paid. Tell UKEF more about your business, so they can help you get the Exporters Edge.

Read More>>

2 December

We encourage you to sign up to dedicated transition period webinars, designed to help UK businesses understand the new trading rules which will come into effect on 1 January 2021. All webinars are free to UK companies, with the next session taking place on Thursday 3 December 2020 (10:30am  11.30am). If you are unable to attend this webinar on Thursday, you may also view a pre-recorded version available here.

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We also encourage you to sign-up to transition period webinars hosted by BEIS, Defra and HMRC.

Read More>>

27 November

NEW RULES FROM 1 JANUARY 2021 will apply to businesses trading internationally. Please read the following guidance published by the government

Read The Guidance>>

27 November

Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said:

"Over the last few weeks, I have written to you about the changes coming from 1 January 2021 and I want to thank those of you who have already taken steps to prepare.

If you have not started preparing yet, you need to start now. You can find out what actions you may need to take by using the checker tool at gov.uk/transition and keep up to date with regular business readiness bulletins too.

Read More>>

25 November

Let us know your issues around the Transition Period and we can raise it with the Government (UK Defence and Security Exports)

25 November

UK Defence and Security Exports (UK DSE) are here to provide specialist export advice and practical assistance to help you succeed overseas.

UK Defence and Security Exports are keen to help start the economic recovery by thinking about what happens next and how we can stay one step ahead of our competitors.

They are currently looking for companies who provide products and services to First Responders up to join the UK Security Offer and help us showcase your capabilities to overseas buyers; this is a unique opportunity to contribute to the UKs national security and prosperity. If you would like your company to be involved in the First Responder Capability Campaign - (if you work in other sub-sectors be sure to register your details as well)

Learn More

16 November

Proposed Common Framework for ODS and F-gases

The following message has been published by Defra F gas ODS Team:

From 1 January 2021, the EU F-gas and ODS Regulations will no longer apply in and to Great Britain. The UK Government has laid legislation to amend a previous statutory instrument in order to implement the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland for restricting the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and fluorinated greenhouse gases (F gases). This legislation is required so that the UK can properly implement relevant EU law in Northern Ireland only (meaning Northern Ireland will remain in the EU F-gas and ODS systems) and makes other minor technical amendments as required.

Read More>>

16 November

A message from the Business Secretary: Intellectual Property rules are changing

Message from Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy:

As I have written over the past few weeks, it is important that your business is ready for the end of the transition period on December 31 which is 49 days away. In this weeks letter I want to focus on Intellectual Property rules.

In just 49 days there will be changes to how the Intellectual Property (IP) system and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will operate. These changes will affect:

Read More>>

9 November

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation at the end of the transition period

After the transition period ends the EU REACH Regulation will be brought into UK law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. REACH, and related legislation will be replicated in the UK with the necessary changes to make it operable in a domestic context. The key principles of the EU REACH Regulation will be retained. The domestic regime that will operate in the UK from 1 January 2021, will be known as UK REACH. The REACH Statutory Instrument can be found on legislation.gov.uk and will make its way through the parliamentary processes, with the intention that it will come into force at the end of the transition period.

In short, if you have registered under EU REACH you will have to register under UK REACH and if you imported from an EU source registered under REACH you may now have to register under UK REACH as the importer!

The relevant information can be found on the HSE website

Here>>

6 November

Are you ready to trade in goods with the EU after 31 December 2020?

The government urges you to prepare for the future trading relationship in two months' time. The transition period is ending on 31 December and there will be no extension. If you trade goods with the EU, the rules will change and there are actions to take now. Time is running out and getting ready can take longer than you think.

Regardless of whether we reach a trade agreement with the EU, from 1 January new rules will apply for any trade with Europe. You will need to:

make customs declarations for any goods moved between Great Britain and Europe;

pay the relevant tariffs on any goods moved between Great Britain and Europe; and,

follow new processes for moving any goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

If youre a VAT registered trader, you will also receive a letter in the next few days from HMRC explaining what you need to do to prepare. You can find all recent HMRC letters to VAT-registered traders on GOV.UK.

Help is available, and as Business Secretary, I urge you to:

decide how you are going to deal with customs declarations  most companies use a specialist for this;

check to see whether you might be able to delay your declarations and duty payments; you may be eligible for this if your goods are not on the controlled goods list and you do not have a poor compliance record and;

register for the free Trader Support Service if you plan to move goods into Northern Ireland.

You can find out what other actions you may need to take by visiting gov.uk/transition and using the checker tool.

13 October

Are you ready for our new relationship with the EU?

There will be guaranteed changes from 1 January for businesses as we start our new relationship with the EU, and there are many actions you can take today to prepare. Find out what you need to do by visiting gov.uk/transition and using the checker tool.

I know these are challenging times, however, it is vital that your business prepares now for our new relationship with the EU, outside of the single market and customs union.

There are 80 days until the end of the transition period and there will be no extension, so you need to act now.

Regardless of whether we reach a trade agreement with the EU, from 1 January there will be guaranteed changes to:

the way businesses import and export goods;

the process for hiring people from the EU; and

the way businesses provide services in EU markets.

Help is available, and as Business Secretary, I encourage you to:

Check what actions you need to take by visiting gov.uk/transition. Sign-up for updates. Attend government webinars for additional support, you can sign-up to attend BEIS webinars now.

Unless you take action, there is a risk business operations will be interrupted. You should also check with your suppliers and customers that they are taking action.

Businesses will play an essential role in ensuring a smooth end to the transition period, and the government and I will be there to support you as we embark on the UKs new start

06 October

The way you hire from the EU is changing

From 1 January 2021, freedom of movement between the UK and EU is ending and the UK will introduce a new points-based immigration system. The new system will introduce job, salary and language requirements, treating EU and non-EU citizens equally and transforming the way in which employers recruit from outside the UK. From 1 January 2021, you will need a sponsor license to hire most eligible people from outside the UK, excluding Irish citizens, who are exempt. The process usually takes around eight weeks and fees apply. You can find our more at www.gov.uk/hiringfromtheeu.

Download the employer guide for a detailed introduction to the points-based immigration system.

Sign up to receive email updates on the points-based immigration system

Read the full sponsorship guidance for employers

04 September

FIA and BSIA write a joint letter to the Government on the impact of the UKCA mark

Here is the FIA's and BSIA's letter (PDF version available here) to Rt Hon James Brokenshire, Minister of State for Security, who the FIA previously worked closely with to allow fire professionals to be considered as key workers. If this pressing issue impacts you and your business, then we have created a template for you to use to send to your Local Member of Parliament.

26 May 2020

In order to provide value for FIA members in navigating the uncertainty that Brexit brings, we have developed a 'BREXIT  International Trade Preparation Checklist' document.

The following checklist includes a series of questions that every member should ask themselves, based on a worst-case scenario. Each member needs to be able to answer each question to ensure they are properly prepared for trade with the EU from January 1st 2021 onwards. Are you ready, is your company ready for the end of the transition period with EU?

Check Now>>

2 March 2020

An important update that could change where you are allowed to work.

Post 31/12/2020 (unless there is an agreement to the contrary) the EU will not recognise engineers F Gas certificates issued through a UK agency such as the FIA (Fire) and other providers.

Read More >>

2019

14 October 2019

With Brexit looming or not looming depend on what news report you read, what does this mean for UK fire companies with F-Gas certification.



DEFRA the UK government department is taking steps to ensure there is a smooth transition whether there is or isnt a deal.

Read More >>

2018

13 December 2018

In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March 2019, HM Revenue & Customs have published a letter to help businesses that trade with the EU.

Two versions of the letter have been published: one for businesses in England, Scotland and Wales and a separate letter for companies based in Northern Ireland.

Read More >>

26 November 2018

The UK structure for CE marking and product certification operates within an EU-wide system, and the output from organisations that issue certificates is accepted throughout the EU, and wider.



But what will happen to these organisations when we are no longer in the EU?

Read More >>

24 September 2018

Trends within the industry point to uncertainty

BAFE, BREXIT, and Grenfell are three of the things that those in the fire industry are losing sleep over.

Respondents to the FIAs Market Conditions Survey have expressed their concerns over rising supplier costs and a component shortage, as well as uncertainty surrounding Brexit, initial analysis can reveal.

Read More >>

2017

30 October 2017

Nobody knows how Brexit will affect us, commented Ian Moore, CEO of the FIA in his introduction to the report. This may have caused a degree of reticence in investing in growth and instead focusing on consolidating businesses current position. The one exception to this is UK manufacturing who are seeing strong growth based on exchange rates working to their benefit, he added.

Read More >>

13 November 2017

FIA CEO Ian Moore gives his view on the situation

Read More >>

11 October 2017

The publication explains the global system of standards and BSIs role in representing the interests of UK stakeholders. It reflects the feedback we have received from stakeholders, who stressed the importance of retaining the UKs role and influence within the European standardization system through continued membership of CEN and CENELEC.

Read More >>

2016

5 September 2016 Institute of Export launches findings of the post-Brexit survey

The Institute of Export has published the results of a comprehensive survey on Brexit which features views from 600 participants across 180 sectors and it shows that while just over half of respondents expect their business to remain the same, almost half expect growth to shrink in the medium term. 42% expect the damage to be prevalent over the longer term and these findings are broadly similar to the brief survey carried out by the FIA in the direct aftermath of the exit vote.

Read More >>

31 October 2016 FIA Survey Highlights Some Surprising Market Trends

Within the last 6 months there have been a lot of changes in both the political and economic stratosphere: a new Prime Minister, a vote to leave the EU, and a drop in the value of the Pound Sterling. But how will this affect business?

Read More >>

2 March 2016 Would Brexit impact on the UK security and fire Industries?

The security and fire industries are deeply woven into the tapestry of the European construction sectors- Europe is the worlds second largest security market with 23% share worth approximately $6bn (Memoori report: The Physical Security Business 2014 to 2018). Therefore, the effect of the UKs decision to stay or leave the EU will reverberate around the industries for years to come. Major areas such as harmonised standards, testing, approvals and collaboration may be fundamentally affected by the outcomes of the voting and these areas will be directly addressed at IFSEC and FIREX on the actual day of the referendum itself.

Read More >>

If you have found this article helpful or you are proud to be an FIA member then please share this article with your network.
New Delhi, April 9 : As the country has been passing through an unprecedented crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, a section of civil servants have been tirelessly managing the country's system round-the-clock and sacrificing various things that are not known to everybody.

Yes, you guessed right. These officers are from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are fondly called as the country's brain. Notwithstanding that their work is being noted by people, they have been relentlessly taking measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and managing smooth functioning of key departments like administration, finance, health, diagnosis, prevention, research and cure.

From the top, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a Jharkhand-batch IAS officer of 1982 batch, who is the backbone behind the decisions being taken across the country in fight against the COVID-19 never came in the limelight but is the key of all instruments managing the crisis. Preeti Sudan, secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been working on aligning all departments to execute the Modi government's policies to prevent the spread of the disease.

A 1983-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sudan is usually seen leaving her office at Nirman Bhawan late at night. An MPhil. in Economics and postgraduate in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics, Sudan also served in the World Bank in Washington as a consultant.

Her ministry is the nodal agency for fighting the present coronavirus challenge. Sudan, along with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, coordinates with sister departments in the central and state government. The two conduct regular reviews of the evolving situation.

"She is also involved in the regular review of preparedness with the states and union territories. Also, she is the first point of contact for any query arising from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office or from the office of Union Ministers," said a senior official from her ministry who did not wish to be identified.

"She played a major role in the evacuation of the 645 students from Wuhan, China," the official added.

Among her cadre, Sudan has a distinguished track record of serving in finance, disaster management, tourism and agriculture. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, is leading the nation's fight against the pandemic in his capacity as Chairperson, National Executive Committee under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

He writes to states and coordinates with all the Chief Secretaries on a regular basis to ensure availability of essential goods, by invoking Essential Commodities Act 1955. Bhalla is handling the work of the Ministry of Home which is the nodal agency in managing law and order, internal security and other things amid the crisis and issues guidelines on intervals for the welfare of people during the lockdown.

These are among those top notch officers who are taking magnificent steps to maintain the situation inside the country without caring that their work will get publicity. Like them, many IAS officers are also contributing much more that needs recognition.

Cuttack Collector Bhabani Chainy displayed exemplary commitment to service by remaining on duty amid COVID-19 fight despite losing his father. District administration under S. Thavaseelan is becoming a bridge between farmers and citizens during the lockdown ensuring fresh local vegetable home delivery.

Rajasthan's Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh played a major role in the containment strategy in Bhilwara turning it into a model for other Covid-19 hotspots across India. Singh is being supported by young IAS topper and Bhilwara Sub-Divisional Magistrate Tina Dabi who said "What worked in our favour was that we were very aggressive and firm in ensuring that we want complete lockdown because we were facing the possibility of a community spread".

Bhilwara district administration led by Collector Rajendra Bhatt also played a major role in successfully containing the pandemic in the area with his innovative and dynamic ruthless containment strategy.

District Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Suhas L.Y. has also been leading from the front on area containment of hotspots and ensuring supply of essential items to residents of containment zones. Under his guidance Noida administration ensures that all the residents living in the hotspots get milk and essentials delivered at their doorstep.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary R.K Tiwari has been leading from the front in the fight against corona being Chairperson of State Executive Committee under Disaster Management Act.

There are many unsung IAS heroes who have been providing excellent service and supporting the government after the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defeat the deadly pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the globe.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)
Many little girls dream of the day they will put on a wedding gown and walk down the aisle on their daddys arm.

Maggie Alvis is no different. But the 10-year-old Pelham girls dream became a reality much sooner than anyone would have expected, or preferred.

Maggies father, longtime attorney Barry Alvis, is dying and Maggie couldnt bear the possibility that she and her father would miss that once-in-a-lifetime moment.

She broached the subject with her mother, Shelby County Circuit Judge Lara Alvis, and after weeks of planning, Maggie and Barry on Sunday took a walk shell never forget.

It was well worth every second, moment, Lara Alvis said. Maggie has thanked me every day since.

Barry, 64, was diagnosed in 2015 with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred. The thickened, stiff tissue makes it more difficult for the lungs to work properly. It was something discovered almost by accident as Barry was not feeling ill at all at the time.

His doctor called and said they found something on your X-ray, and we need to check it out. It was some scarring of his lungs, Lara said. Thats when our journey began.

There is no cure for pulmonary fibrosis. Theres nothing you can do about it, Lara said. Theres just not a drug that can stop that scar tissue.

He was initially given three months to four years, maybe five, to live, she said. He has outlived that prognosis and thats a good thing.

For a long time, Barry showed and felt no signs of being ill.

It goes into a remission state where it doesnt get worse or better, but when it starts to progress, its like a rapid wildfire, Lara said. In the past few weeks, its been immediate.

After lengthy evaluation and testing, Barry earlier this year learned he was a candidate for a lung transplant at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, which required him to temporarily relocate there.

It was the most glorious moment, Lara wrote in a Facebook post at the time, because for the first time in five- plus years, Barry had a chance to live instead of waiting for his moment to die.

His adult daughter, Ashley, moved with him to serve as his caretaker while Lara and the kids  Maggie and 8-year-old Barrett  stayed in Alabama for work and school.

We knew the lung transplant would only give him about five years at the absolute max but when your children are 10 and 8, five years is huge, Lara said. Theres a lot of things you miss if youre not there at that time.

A month later, their hopes were dashed.

The surgeon notified them that Barry had also been diagnosed with vascular dementia, which causes memory loss. Medications needed to accompany a transplant also cause confusion and disorientation, and doctors said they couldnt, and wouldnt risk, the transplant surgery.

The doctor told Lara, Im afraid were going to turn your husbands last weeks and months into being a monster, she recalled. I think Barry agreed with them. It was a mutual decision.

It was a devastating blow, to Barry of course, but maybe even more so this time to the children, Lara said.

Make sure you listen to your mom.

She broke the news to Maggie and Barrett. That was the hardest conversation Ive ever had, Lara said. Ive been very honest with them within their age and comprehension of the situation. I didnt want to give them false hope.

Lara recalls Maggie saying, Daddys going to die. Hes not getting lungs.

I said, Yes, shy of God performing a miracle, medical doctors have done everything, Lara said. At the same time, it was important for Barry to let them know hed done everything he could do.

We just talked to them both, and said, Well talk to Daddy every night in Heaven, she said. He said, Make sure you listen to your mom. She wont lead you astray.

Barrys rapid decline in health in recent weeks coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home order.

Theyre just watching their father pass away and they cant leave the house. For them, its hard enough living with a parent dying, but not ever being able to leave, its been challenging, Lara said.

Shortly after the conversation with the kids, Maggie approached her mother. She had been doing online research about pulmonary fibrosis, but also stumbled upon a Pinterest post where a father had given away his little girl before he died. Do you think we could do that? Maggie asked her mother.

For weeks, they each had the one particular thing that was bothering them, and this was her thing. She wanted her dad to give her away when she got married, Lara said. She would bring up graduation or starting college with her dad, but the wedding, in her mind, she couldnt seem to overcome it.

My son said, Ill get bullied at school if I dont have a daddy, she said. Dont ask me why, but thats what hes focused on.

Lara didnt know what to think when Maggie first brought up the idea.

I didnt say it out loud, but I thought, Oh my goodness this would be so unusual and so weird, and I cant even imagine how you would pull it off without it being so sad, she said. But, of course, she brought it up again and I talked to Barry. He was really on board with it. He wanted to give her away as much as she wanted it.

And so, the planning started. The one thing I didnt do is go on Pinterest to find ideas. I probably should have, but I wanted to try to make this something for our family, Lara said. This will turn into the wedding of the century if I start trying to copy Pinterest.

We had it ready to go for about three weeks then the coronavirus occurred, and it kept getting worse and then Barry was getting worse, so we just did it and Im so thankful we did, Lara said.

Theres been a significant mental decline even since we did it. It was almost like people know they have something to do so they hang on, she said. It was like mentally he was trying to be so sharp and there.

The Bridal March

A lot of memories and keepsakes were made in the family-only celebration held Sunday afternoon.

Canon in D and The Bridal March played over a bluetooth speaker as Barry and Maggie walked down a white-cloth runway. Once at their destination, Barry gave his daughter a ring with the inscription, I love you.

For Barrett, he was bestowed his fathers Montblanc pen, and a new one of his own. The children also were given memory boxes that included something that had belonged to their grandparents and great grandparents, as well as Barry and Lauras Bibles from their own childhoods.

They lit a unity candle, during which it was explained to Maggie and Barrett that the candle represented their light. We said we hope it will always shine and their dad will always be with them, Lara said.

They also gave Maggie and Barrett each an empty vase.

I said, This vase symbolizes you when you were born and you were empty in the sense that nothing had gone into you to make you the person you are today, Lara said.

Then each family member poured sand into the vases as a symbol of what each family member has contributed to the kids life and development. I summed it up by saying, This vase symbolizes you and all the love and support that you have, Lara said. When you find yourself in a dark place in life or youre sad, I hope youll look at the vase and remember how much love and support you do have and you can get through anything.

They also served cake and toasted, with goblets and servers that the kids can use when they get married one day. Maggie and her father danced to Heartlands I Loved Her First. Also, Maggie had a angel locket charm that she can attach to her own bridal bouquet when her real wedding day comes.

The saddest part was when they walked down the aisle, Lara said. But, after that, we tried to make it upbeat.

Lara said the kids were thrilled with the way the day turned out. Maggie said, This is the best thing youve ever done for us, and Barrett said, Mommy, it was the best day.

I know it seems like it will be sad, but I would encourage people to do this. We made it a celebration of the love everyone has for them instead of them losing someone, Lara said. I am no therapist, but Ive seen my children after we did it and it was so therapeutic for them.

It was like a closure to them in the sense of, My daddy loves me, we have these memories now, and we have these pictures. And for Barry too, it was like, Ive done what Ive needed to do and I dont feel like Ive left an open end to my life.

I think the children gained the understanding that theyre going to OK, that hes always going to be with them in spirit, she said. Although it will be sad and it will be hard, they will have their family and its going to be OK. I think they realize that now.
Pakistan has been angling to bring the coronavirus-related interactions under the formal SAARC umbrella by seeking to involve its secretariat in an attempt to get free hand to block India's initiatives, government sources said and noted that the activities were under extraordinary circumstances to deal with challenge in a result-oriented manner without being bound by any procedural formalities which could prove to be constraints.

The sources said Pakistan's efforts to bring COVID-19 related interactions under the formal South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) umbrella was an attempt to get free hand to block all initiatives and proposals by India by using the SAARC charter provisions, rules of procedure etc. including application of principle of consensus for the drafting of agenda, outcome document, concurrence of all member states for each and every thing every step of the way.

The sources said that keeping control of the activities that emerged from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video conference of March 15 has helped India move much faster and without any hindrances.

India had described these activities as being stand-alone and outside the "SAARC calendar of approved activities", they said.

"We regard the present activities as events under extraordinary Covid-19 circumstances focussed only to jointly dealing with the challenge in the SAARC region in a result-oriented way, without being bound by any procedural formalities that could prove to be constraints," a source said.

Pakistan on Wednesday did not take part in India-led South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) trade officials discussion saying such activities could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anelto Remote Care allowed us to deliver higher quality care to more patients. Our patients find it easy to set up and use; this ease of use gives patients confidence in the system, which increases their willingness to take their vital signs and engage with their healthcare provider. - Dr. Mackie

The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing it brought is changing the way the doctors at Excellence Medical Center interact with their Cape Coral, Florida, patients. Christine Mackie, MD, and other healthcare professionals at the medical center were well-positioned to for the impact with their continued use of telemedicine through Anelto Remote Care instead of face-to-face visits for routine care of their elder patients.

Virtual care through telemedicine, like that provided by Anelto, is quickly becoming an essential weapon against the spread of the pandemic. Telemedicine keeps patients and staff in close communication but at a safe distance. Physicians can monitor patients and track vital signs while the patient remains safely at home. The technology is particularly useful for older patients who need more healthcare but who are at a higher risk of developing complications associated with coronavirus disease.

The ability to interact with patients and monitor their vital signs remotely helps us continue managing their existing health problems, such as heart disease and COPD, but also monitor them for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. This brings peace of mind to our older patients who might otherwise put themselves and their families in danger by making a trip to the emergency department or crowded doctors office. Anelto helps us monitor our patients remotely, reassure them, and keep them safe at home.

CEO of Anelto, Mark Denissen, says, I believe we can make a difference in keeping patients safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. To reduce the infection rate through social distancing, healthcare professionals must work together using the latest tools and technologies available to bring medical care to patients in their own homes. Here at Anelto, we have created an innovative solution that transforms patient engagement. Remote Patient Monitoring is a key part of that solution.

While several new players are appearing on the telemedicine field, Anelto is an established company with a solution different from the competition in that it focuses on ease of use and access for seniors. Anelto can help medical institutions like Excellence Medical Center improve financial stability during a tumultuous time, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to expand CMS reimbursement options for remote patient monitoring.

Anelto Remote Care allowed us to deliver higher quality care to more patients. Our patients find it easy to set up and use; this ease of use gives patients confidence in the system, which increases their willingness to take their vital signs and engage with their healthcare provider. Anelto is also helping us grow our practice at a time when social distancing is shrinking other practices.


A nurse in Scotland has become the first National Health Care (NHS) worker to die from novel coronavirus. According to reports, 58-year-old Janice Graham died on April 7 at Inverclyde Royal Hospital after contracting the deadly virus while on duty at the front line with thousands of COVID-19 positive patients. Janice has been described by her colleagues as someone who had a 'razor-sharp wit' and 'engaging personality'. Health care workers around the globe are facing similar threats as they regularly come in contact with virus-infected patients.

Read: Coronavirus Deaths In US Projected To Come Down, People Fear Undercount

According to data by worldometer, coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom have crossed 60,000 and in Scotland alone there have been over 4,500 confirmed infections. As per reports, a total of 366 people have died in Scotland due to COVID-19, while in the whole of the United Kingdom, over 7,000 patients have lost their lives. Across the UK, the death toll of COVID-19 patients reportedly rose by 938 in a single day, while in Scotland 70 people died overnight. There are currently 53,501 active cases in the United Kingdom with 1,559 patients under critical condition. According to reports, the United Kingdom has successfully treated 135 people so far.

Read: 'Hero' Robots Helping Medical Staff Fight Coronavirus Pandemic Across The World

Coronavirus outbreak

The deadly coronavirus infection has claimed nearly 88,500 lives across the world and has infected over 15,19,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Iran have also overtaken China in terms of the COVID-19 death toll. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

Read: US Man's Surprise Proposal For Girlfriend amid COVID-19 Lockdown Melts The Internet

Read: Good News: Boy Leaves House Wearing 'baby Shark' Costume During Lockdown

(Image Credit: Janice Graham/Facebook)
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Nairobi, April 9, 2020 In response to a Tanzanian courts conviction yesterday of Maxence Melo, founder of the online discussion and whistleblowing platform Jamii Forums, on charges of obstructing police investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

Tanzanias courts should never have entertained this case, let alone convicted Maxence Melo on charges that were transparently intended to muzzle critical voices on one of East Africas most vibrant online platforms, said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. Authorities should not contest Melos appeal, and should allow Jamii Forums, which is a vital source of news and accountability, to operate without interference.

The Dar es Salaam court sentenced Melo, a recipient of CPJs 2019 International Press Freedom Award, to pay a fine of three million Tanzanian shillings ($1,300) or face one year in prison, according to media reports and a statement by Melo posted on Jamii Forums. Melo paid the fine, but filed a notice of intent to appeal the case, according to court documents seen by CPJ.

The charge stemmed from Melos alleged refusal to disclose the identities of whistleblowers on the Jamii Forums platform, according to the statement. This case, which has been characterized by repeated delays, is one of three obstruction allegations dating from 2016, when authorities raided Jamii Forums and arrested Melo, according to CPJ research. In June 2018, Melo was acquitted in one of the other two cases; the third case is pending in court, according to Jamii Forums.
Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro thanked India for the timely assistance in the form of nod to exporting ingredients for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a medicine which is widely used in treatment of coronavirus disease Covid-19.

As a result of my direct conversation with the Prime Minister of India, we will receive, until Saturday, raw material to continue producing hydroxychloroquine, so that we can treat COVID-19 patients, as well as malaria, lupus and arthritis, Bolsonaro said in his address to the nation on Wednesday.

I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian people for this very timely assistance to the Brazilian people, he further said in his address - his fifth since the coronavirus crisis began.

He had earlier thanked PM Modi for easing restrictions on export of the drug. In a letter to PM Modi, President Bolsonaro compared Indias move to Lord Hanuman and Sanjeevani booti (herb) in the epic Ramayana.

Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Ramas brother Laksmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight of Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis, President Bolronaro had said in his letter to Prime Minister Modi.

India is the largest manufacturer and exporter of hydroxychloroquine in the world.

But on Saturday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade notified a ban on exports of hydroxychloroquine and any formulation containing the miracle drug from special economic zones (SEZs) and export-oriented units too.

President Bolsonaro, who was in the country this January to be chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations, spoke with PM Modi the same day. He followed up the conversation with a letter on Tuesday that underscored the important role that he expected hydroxychloroquine to play in the fight against Covid-19.

In all, India received similar requests from 20 countries as countries explore any possible cure for the pandemic that has infected 1.4 million people and killed nearly 82,000 around the world.
Indigenous peoples are at risk of being wiped out by the coronavirus, community leaders have warned, as they battle the pandemic with meagre resources in the void of government support.

Community leaders, in the Amazon Basin and Indonesia, are being forced to employ ad-hoc strategies to protect people in remote regions with few medical facilities and staff, limited transport and a patchwork of communication.

The Indigenous Peoples of the nations of the Amazon are under siege, and with us, the territories we have protected for generations, said Dinamam Tuxa of the Tuxa people in Brazil.

The pandemic could have long-term implications for communities in some of the worlds most diverse ecosystems, already under threat from deforestation and climate change.

There are 1.4m cases of the coronavirus across the world and more than 85,000 deaths have been reported, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported.

The Congress of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), represents indigenous peoples from nine Amazonian nations  Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guyana and Guyana. Its members represent 505 indigenous ethnicities and more than 66 isolated communities, which remain without contact with the outside world.

Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, COICA coordinator, told The Independent that there were already many cases of coronavirus in the Amazon and some indigenous people were in serious conditions.

He said that COICA members had asked their national governments for assistance in fighting the coronavirus but there had been no response.

Michael McGarrell of COICA on a pontoon in Patamona Nation territory, Guyana (Cameron Ellis/Rainforest Foundation US)

The organisation has decreed a state of emergency in the Amazon basin due to the pandemic.

He said: There is no adequate assistance present in the communities. So our internal strategy of the Indigenous Peoples has been to close the communities, to close access to where the Indigenous Peoples are, without the sanitation or even military support of the governments.

Michael McGarrell, from the Patamona Nation in Guyana, is a COICA human rights coordinator and member of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA). He is from the remote village of Chenapou, a community of around 500 people located deep in the rainforest.

Mr McGarrell told The Independent that indigenous communities do not have the medical resources to fight a potential outbreak and local leaders are doing what they can to protect people.

Response to the outbreak has been slowed by national elections in Guyana last month which failed to form a government.

Guyana has 33 confirmed cases and five deaths, according to WHO.

Covid-19 tests are done at the main public hospital in the capital, Georgetown, which is a difficult and expensive trip for indigenous communities.

Mr McGarrell said: From my village to Georgetown, a direct flight takes about an hour and there are only four flights a week.

We need to move to point-of-care testing kits and the ability to access results. We dont want to have to wait a week to know someone is positive [for Covid-19] after that person has been interacting with other community members. That would totally devastate our communities.

Villages have community health workers but with only basic medical supplies available, they are woefully under-prepared to cope with the pandemic which has buckled healthcare systems even in major hubs like New York City.

Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, COICA coordinator (YouTube/Jesuitas Bolivia)

Our healthcare workers dont have personal protective equipment (PPE) or equipment like ventilators, Mr McGarrell said. Governments need to provide the medical resources. There is no cure for Covid-19 but there are drugs which can help.

With a lack of government action, indigenous leaders are taking matters into their own hands and coming up with creative solutions to keep people safe.

Around the country, we see villages putting up notices, closing our communities to outsiders, Mr McGarrell said. Residents who return [to the villages] go through a screening process at barricades manned by health workers. You can only enter at certain times and not after 6pm.

We want to ensure our people are protected because one person entering a community could wipe it out entirely. Thats the reality because we have a communal way of life and our communities are not large. One person coming in can expose the entire community.

He added: Governments should recognise our right to self-determination in locking down our communities and respect that no one should come in.

APA is focused on getting accurate information about how to stop the spread of coronavirus to as many villages as possible, Mr McGarrell said, adding that coordinators had decided not to enter communities where they didnt live.

We too may be the bringers of the virus, he said.

We are asking people to stay home to social distance and showing how to set up wash stations. A number of our communities now have Wi-fi access and can check whats happening online. We have been working with groups of village leaders, sending information to disseminate.

He added: Even though Guyana is an English-speaking country, indigenous peoples have their own languages. We will not take for granted that people understand everything in English. The ministry of health made videos in some local languages, which we are very appreciative of but we would like to see more awareness material in local languages.

Mr McGarrell said that the coronavirus could have long-term consequences for indigenous territories.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year noted that indigenous communities had a key role to play in understanding how to adapt to climate change with sustainable land management and increasing food security.

Brazils military, firefighters and civil defense members disinfect each other after cleaning in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on April 9, 2020, to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus (Photo by DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

We dont know definitively where the virus came from but with climate change, as the earth is getting warmer, we may be releasing different viruses, he said.

Its important to recognise that indigenous peoples are the best guardians of the forest and if were going to keep the world going, then we should protect them as well.

Since colonization, many indigenous nations have been wiped out as a result of chicken pox, smallpox, the simple flu. Our people were not immunised against these illnesses.

Governments need to put systems in place to protect our people from diseases such as Covid-19 and recognise that we have an important role to play in fighting climate change.

Dinamam Tuxa of the Tuxa people and Sonia Guajajara of the Guajajara people are leaders with the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), which advocates for 900,000 indigenous peoples.

Mr Tuxa said the existential threat posed by coronavirus to indigenous peoples puts more than their lives at risk.

Coronavirus is the newest threat, and we are particularly worried about its impact on our elders and the treasure chest of knowledge that they hold, he said.

But this disease is only the latest threat to our peoples.

The Brazilian government is seeking to reverse decades of progress on human rights and environmental protections. Our territories are being invaded, legally and illegally. And our people are being criminalized and murdered. And where Brazil goes, so will every forest nation.

Michael McGarrell of COICA in Patamona Nation territory, Guyana (Cameron Ellis/Rainforest Foundation US)

If the world continues to buy products produced on land stolen from us, there will be no forests left in Africa, Latin America and Indonesia.

Mr Mirabal, a member of the Curripaco tribe from Puerto Ayacucho, Venezuela, leads COICA from Quito, Ecuador.

He told The Independent that along with closing communities, indigenous groups were working together to try to provide food and gather what medicine they could to fight the coronavirus.

He said that coronavirus outbreak was the latest in a series of threats to the Amazons indigenous groups where the state has failed to take action, including illegal mining in their territories.

During an interview last week, he said: The increase in extractive activities has not stopped. The issue of land invasions has claimed another murder in the last 24 hours in Brazil and also in Colombia. The number of murders have not stopped in Colombia or Brazil of indigenous leaders due to the issue of territory.

There is a lot of land invasion and it is a consequence of the continued deforestation. The loggers keep cutting down trees and there is too much land invasion due to the drug problem, livestock and plant issues, that the state has not been able to stop.

People wearing face masks, amid the coronavirus outbreak, commute at Tanah Abang train station, Jakarta on April 7, 2020 (Photo by ADEK BERRY/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

The Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN) in Indonesia represents 2,332 indigenous communities, around 17 million people throughout the country.

The group called for support in transportation, food, PPE and disinfectants in a statement that highlighted the dire situation.

Indigenous peoples are the group most threatened by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic because they live in hard-to-reach locations and in those locations there is an extreme lack of health services, AMAN said.

The organisation said that indigenous peoples were battling the outbreak with talak bala rituals (rituals to prevent misfortune or bad luck) along with individual quarantines and locking down territories.

They were also ensuring food stocks, formulating traditional medicines and growing food crops that can be harvested quickly.

Indonesia risks a spike in Covid-19 cases during the annual returning to ones home village from the cities (known as mudik). Around 20m Indonesians are expected to take part during the Islamic religious holiday, Eid al-Fitr, known as Idul Fitri in the country, in late May.

President Joko Widodo has not banned people from leaving the capital Jakarta, the epicenter of coronavirus cases, the Jakarta Post reported. Indonesia has around 2,900 confirmed cases and 240 deaths from Covid-19.

The Independent has contacted government representatives for comment.
It was an easy decision to make for Briton Andrew Taylor, a retired oil rig worker and a solo traveller to Goa amid the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown enforced since March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. He has chosen to stay back in Goa and even though he had the option to fly back home on one of the three repatriation flights that the United Kingdom (UK) government is planning to operate this week for stranded British nationals because of the pandemic.

Im looking back at an alarming situation in London, as the city is reporting a growing number of Covid-19 positive cases daily. Truth be told, I feel safer in Goa, Taylor, who is staying at Agonda village in south Goa, told Hindustan Times.

Around 20,000 British nationals are stranded in India because of the lockdown, including some in Goa.

The British government has arranged three repatriation flights from Goa this week and four others from Mumbai and Delhi, but the journey back home is expected to be a long-drawn process for many stranded in other parts of the country, as the wait list has run into thousands of passengers and travelling within India is out of bounds because of the lockdown.

A few Britons have chosen to stay back in Goa, even though most of them are making frantic efforts to head back home for their family exigencies.

Id rather stay back in Goa than fly out. Ive got a place to stay here. Essential commodities arent in short supply. Many restaurants are open. The Goans are a caring and friendly lot. Besides, I dont have my own place to stay in England and Ill have to stay with my parents. I dont want to put them at risk in case I get infected by SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, during my return journey back home, Josh Baxter, another tourist to Goa, said.

Im hoping that the pandemic doesnt worsen in India. If I get infected here, the healthcare facilities arent as good as the UK. A decision will be taken soon by the Indian government whether to lift the lockdown on April 14 or extend it further. Perhaps, Ill wait until then and then take a call about my return trip, he added.

Usually, foreigners travelling to India visit other popular destinations such as Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Goa has reported seven Covid-19 positive cases to date, but none of them is a foreigner. Also, the state is yet to report a single Covid-19 related death yet. The low Covid-19 positive case count is also a comforting thought for the stranded foreign tourists in Goa.

Im living in Arambol, north Goa, with three people I befriended on my trip to Rajasthan. I came here with a girl I met in the hostel, where I was staying in Udaipur. My other two fellow travellers came from Jaipur. All of us met up at the airport in Jaipur on our way to Goa and now ended up staying together in Arambol. Were having a nice time here and still undecided whether wed like to return home soon. Im from the northeastern part of England, my friend is from Oxford and my other friends are from Mexico and Germany. The situation is quite fluid. Besides, the price of a ticket on one of these repatriation flights is prohibitively expensive, Charlotte Collins, another British tourist, said.

The British government is charging upwards of 600 for a ticket on a repatriation flight to London, and then the passenger will be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival there.

Initially, when the lockdown started on March 25, the foreign tourists to Goa were wary. But the state government made adequate arrangements to allay their concerns. Hotels and guest houses have slashed their tariffs by half and essential commodities are being provided to many who were caught unaware of the lockdown.

The foreign tourists, whore staying in Goa, have come some time ago. No one is targeting, as theyre not seen as a carrier of coronavirus, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said.

The Goa international airport at Dabolim has handled 19 relief flights, which flew back around 3,300 tourists back to their respective countries, including Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, etc.
A traveling pastor from South Carolina has been accused of sexual misconduct involving teenage boys, after he allegedly preached to them about masturbation, authorities say.

William G. Coats, 60, of Newberry who was pastor of Newberry Christian Ministries, a church that meets in people's homes, was arrested Wednesday, says the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators charged Coats with indecent exposure, disseminating obscene material and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after a victim came forward last month.

Traveling pastor William G. Coats, 60, of Newberry, South Carolina, was charged with sexual misconduct of teenage boys, after he allegedly preached to them about masturbation, authorities say

Coats was pastor of Newberry Christian Ministries (pictured), a church that meets in people's homes

The pastor was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual misconduct with teenage boys, says the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office

Jail records showed Coats was booked on $100,000 bond. It's unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Coats also was found to have multiple addresses across the U.S., which could mean there may be more victims, says the sheriff's office, which has appealed to the public for help as it continues its investigation.

The probe began March 23 after the victim came forward to the Childs Advocacy Center. 'Disclosures were made that Coats has been ministering to young teenage males on multiple occasions,' says the sheriff's office.

'During some of these occasions, the teenage victim disclosed at the Child's Advocacy Center that Coats has requested for him to take his clothes off and compare his genitals with another young male that occurred at a residence in Spartanburg County,' sheriff's investigators explained.

'The boy told officials at the agency there that Coats asked him to take off his clothes inside a home and that Coats had twice gotten in the shower with him. One of the shower incidents occurred in Spartanburg County,' the sheriff's office says. The other location was not disclosed.

Investigators said 'the main preaching topic for Coats is encouraging male masturbation,' and that he allegedly ran a members-only website for the church.

The site's content was not detailed. However, Coats allegedly was writing a sexually explicit book that others could only ready through a special login.

The Spartanburg Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information on the investigation to contact Investigator Tiffany Hill at (864) 503-4579 or email her at thill@spartanburgcounty.org

'Coats' book includes multiple graphic accounts of male masturbation with multiple characters,' the sheriff's office said. 'Coats' book also described a graphic account of one of the characters sexually assaulting a four year girl in great detail.'

'Coats has resided at multiple addresses throughout the United States,' so there's a potential that there could be more victims, the sheriff's office said.

Anyone with information was asked to contact Investigator Tiffany Hill at (864) 503-4579 or email her at thill@spartanburgcounty.org.
Naagin 4 actress Rashami Desai recently opened up about her bond with Sidharth Shukla after Bigg Boss, said things are cool between them after Salman Khan's show.

Television actor Rashami Desai, who is best for her phenomenal acting skills, made a lot of headlines when she was inside Bigg Boss. Further, one of the main highlight of Rashami Desais journey was her bittersweet equation with her costar Sidharth Shukla. Though things started at a great note when both of them were seen sharing the kitchen work with each other but things got worse and their bond started getting affecting.

From disrespecting each other to making personal comments, both of them left no chance of making each other feel bad. Further, their Esi Ladki controversy added to their bitter equation and both of them hated being under the same roof. But after Salman Khans suggestions and advice, their equation got better and Sidharth Shukla, from being an angry young shifted towards a soft person with Shehnaaz Gill. Recently, while interacting with a media portal, Rashami Desai revealed about the current scenario with Sidharth Shukla.

Dil Se Dil Tak actor said that things are now cool between them and they dont have any grudges for each other. She added that she had also called Sidharth Shukla wishing him the success of his first music video Bhula Dunga with Punjabi diva Shehnaaz Gill

Also Read: Parth Samthan to make Bollywood debut with Hina Khan?

Earlier, in an interview, even Sidharth Shukla revealed that his best memory inside the house was his finale act with Rashami Desai on the song Ang Laga De. He added that the concept of there act was so good that how professionally both of them were so well and as soon as the cameras went off, they again turned enemies.

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UNICEF representative office in Azerbaijan launched the #LearningAtHome, # OvladimlaEvd? (At home with my child) initiative on its personal website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which includes useful recommendations and tips for parents who remain at home with children during COVID-19 quarantine, UNICEF country office told Trend.

The materials, in particular, those prepared for Azerbaijani families, focus on stimulating the skills of children with a creative approach and using various games during the special quarantine regime, UNICEF representative office in Azerbaijan said.

We know that due to the closure of preschool and educational institutions because of the COVID-19, it is difficult for parents to keep their children active, Edward Carwardine, UNICEF representative to Azerbaijan, said. During such a difficult period, UNICEF wants to share a number of practical ideas and recommendations. The activities that have been introduced into new resources will help preserve the activity of children and will contribute to their self-development."

The representative office posted various methods and ways of handling children on the website https://www.unicef.org/azerbaijan/learning-home-join-challenge.

These methods include recommendations and ideas that will help parents continue the children's education, as well as organize useful leisure time for them at home, will reduce stress and tension during long quarantine and mitigate the consequences of social isolation by using digital solutions and joint experience.

These resources will create a healthy environment for children in which they can play and learn without risk.

At such a critical moment, by staying at home for the sake of our safety, we can still be strong together, Carwardine added. We hope that by using hashtags #LearningAtHome, # OvladimlaEvde (At home with my child), parents throughout the country will share video footage with exercises and new ideas to inspire others.

Moreover, new UNICEF solutions that will help parents organize useful leisure activities and educate children at home will be posted on the website of the Ministry of Education, as well as the website of the Azerbaijani Institute of Education.
The English news program, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) was criticised by the Hong Kong government after a reporter asked a World Health Organisation (WHO) official if the global organisation would reconsider Taiwans membership. The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) deeply regret this criticism and urge authorities to respect freedom of speech and expression.

On April 2, Hong Kongs secretary for commerce and economic development, Edward Yau alleged RTHKs program, The Pulse breached the one-China principle and the Charter of Radio Television Hong Kong in its interview with a WHO official earlier on March 28. During the interview, the Pulse reporter, RTHKs Yvonne Tong asked the assistant director general of the WHO, Bruce Aylward, if Taiwans WHO membership would be reconsidered, resulting in a disruption to RTHKs broadcast.

Taiwans observer status at WHOs annual World Health Assembly meetings was revoked in 2016. In 2018, the World Health Assembly denied two Taiwanese journalist's accreditation to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. Yesterday, on April 14, the United States president, Donald Trump announced he will suspend funding the WHO, accusing the global health organisation of being biased towards China.

In response to Edward Yaus complaint, HKJA said, The program did not explicitly point out or imply that Taiwan is a sovereign state, and did not violate the One China Principle as Yau pointed out. As mentioned in the press release of the Commerce and Industry Bureau, the Charter clearly stipulates the public purpose and mission of RTHK, including the provision of programmes to promote understanding of our community, our nation and the world.

HKJA deeply regrets Yaus remarks equate to putting pressure on the media and directly intervening in the editorial autonomy of news organizations. If merely asking about the membership of WHO in Taiwan is also prohibited, then obviously the functions of journalists are being castrated, and so what happens to the freedom of the press in Hong Kong?, HKJA added.

The IFJ said: It is incredibly disappointing to witness a senior government official attempt to limit the ability of journalists who enquire about health issues, on the basis that questions may contravene the one-China principle. The IFJ encourages authorities to reconsider their approach and respect the press freedom and editorial independence of journalists in Hong Kong.
WASHINGTON  Top Pentagon officials on Thursday defended the $243,000 trip acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly took to visit an aircraft carrier stricken with COVID-19, saying senior military leaders need to have "eyes on" crises as they happen.

Modly made the 35-hour trip to Guam, where the USS Theodore Roosevelt is docked, aboard a Gulfstream 550 outfitted for military use. Medical personnel are tending to more than 400 sailors sickened by the coronavirus.

Modly visited sailors on the ship and made a 15-minute speech, larded with profanity, that criticized Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander Modly fired for sending a letter to Navy officials seeking help for his crew. Modly ridiculed Crozier as too naive and stupid to lead. Modly at first stood by his remarks, then tried to walk them back with an apology.

Because of his possible exposure to coronavirus, he tendered his resignation remotely to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who accepted.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's trip to Guam cost more than $243,000.

At the Pentagon, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended Modly's decision to take the trip.

"If you want to know what's going on in Guam, where I'm standing right now is about the worst place to try to figure that out," Hyten said. "You actually need to talk to folks in the Pacific. And eyes on is always the best way to figure out what's going on."

Asked who authorized Modly's trip, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said, "As secretary of the Navy, Tom Modly does have the authority to travel, as needed, to see the mission."

The C-37B jet costs nearly $7,000 per hour to fly.

A policy enacted in 2018 under then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sought to curb costly trips, requiring senior officials, including service secretaries like Modly, to obtain waivers for travel that required the use of multiple aircraft or air crews.

Multiple crews are required on long trips because crews have mandated rest periods. Often, on trips to the Pacific, senior officials will stop in Hawaii or Alaska for events at bases, allowing needed rest for the air crew.

Story continues

It is unclear whether Modly used multiple crews for the trip to Guam. Norquist and Hyten did not address the question when asked Thursday. Navy and Defense officials, likewise, did not have answers about the details of Modly's trip or whether the 2018 policy is still in effect.

USA TODAY obtained waiver requests and justifications in 2019 from senior officials after requesting them from the services and the Pentagon.

In 2018, senior officials received seven waivers to use multiple air crews. Among them were the Army secretary and chief of staff, the commandant of the Marine Corps and the top two officers in the Navy. Most of the waivers allowed the senior officials to visit troops in combat zones.

The Army secretary required a waiver for travel to Sydney, where he led the presidential delegation to the Invictus Games from Oct. 17 to 22, 2018, according to the Army. The trip required an additional crew on the outbound trip and on the return. Esper was the Army secretary at the time.

In December 2018, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer flew home from Kuwait on a commercial airliner to avoid the need for multiple crews to fly the Gulfstream aircraft he used on the inbound portion of his trip to the Middle East, according to the Navy.

Esper forced Spencer to resign in November 2019 over his handling of a Navy SEAL whose demotion for a war crimes charge sparked objection from President Donald Trump. Esper lost "trust and confidence" in Spencer for failing to tell Esper of a "private proposal" he made to the White House that would have allowed Navy Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher to keep his rank and SEAL status, according to the Pentagon.

Modly succeeded Spencer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pentagon officials defend Navy secretary Modly's $240,000 trip to Guam
The Bernie Sanders campaign was built on big promises. There was the promise of affordable health care, the promise of free college, the promise of a higher minimum wage.

For voters who didnt need, or want, those promises, he offered something else: That he alone could expand the electorate and win back voters who had turned away from the Democratic Party and embraced Donald J. Trump in 2016.

The coronavirus crisis turned everything that Mr. Sanders promised he was best equipped to do  fix the health care system, call out the dangers of a Trump presidency  into an agenda that was more urgent than ever for the country.

It was the moment for his message, but he was not the right messenger for the moment.

His promise was inherently risky, one that required, in his words, nothing less than a political revolution. And that is where the Sanders campaign fell short: In a world that had seemed risky enough already, revolution was just too much.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 8) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said the country has made the right decision to implement a lockdown in the whole of Luzon as it prevented a large-scale community outbreak.

Philippines, because of the lockdown, we are not experiencing so-called large-scale community outbreak," said WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr. Takeshi Kasai in an interview with CNN Philippines Not Politics As Usual. "What's really important is to try to stay in this stage as much as possible, and if possible, to suppress.

Kasai said peoples full participation and public health interventions are necessary to make the lockdown halt the spread of the deadly virus.

Even it is lockdown, its important for everyone to stay home, protect yourselves, and your family," he said. "Second thing is even under the lockdown, infections might continue, so its very important to organize public health intervention such as tracing and identifying the contact."

When asked if the lockdown must be extended beyond the end of the month, Kasai suggested that new interventions must be considered to flatten the curve.

It is important to be vigilant and make cautious, thorough decision," he said. "When you extend the lockdown, its not continuing the same level of interventions, there are some options to peel one by one.

The enhanced community quarantine in Luzon was extended until April 30 to further contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The country now has 3,870 cases of COVID-19, with 182 deaths, and 96 recoveries.

Meanwhile, mass testing is ongoing for the target patients.

COVID-19 National Task Force spokesperson Restituto Padilla said Wednesday that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) is expected to process 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day in the next three months.

He added that the RITM is also preparing to distribute 900,000 test kits in all accredited test facilities in the country.
A set of rare pictures have shown how Chinese scientists carried out studies in spacesuit-like uniforms at a virus laboratory that has sparked startling theories amid coronavirus pandemic.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, which keeps more than 1,500 strains of deadly viruses, specialises in the research of 'the most dangerous pathogens', in particular the viruses carried by bats.

Since an outbreak of the novel coronavirus emerged in the city in December, the 34million institute has been at the centre of conspiracy theories, which suggest that the bug originated there.

Pictures captured in 2015 and 2017 give us a glimpse of the interiors of the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology after it was completed. The above picture, taken on January 31, 2015, shows researchers taking part in a drill at the newly-completed virus lab

The lab officially opened in January, 2018, after passing various safety inspections. The picture shows two researchers donning full-body protective suits and head shields working in 2018

The institute has China's only lab with the highest biosafety level of P4 and keeps over 1,500 strains of deadly viruses. A researcher is pictured working in the lab on February 23, 2017

While scientists believe that the virus jumped to humans from wild animals sold as food in a market in Wuhan, conspiracy theorists promote different assumptions.

Some of them claim that the virus, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, could be a biological warfare weapon engineered there. Others suspect that it escaped from the lab.

China has repeatedly denied the allegations. Shi Zhengli, a director of the institute, told the press in February that she 'guaranteed with her own life' that the outbreak was not related to the lab.

Many international experts have also dismissed such theories.

However, The MailOnline Sunday has revealed that the speculation of a virus leak is 'no longer being discounted' by the UK government.

The pandemic has killed more than 91,000 people and infected over 1.5 million worldwide.

Chinese officials decided to build the institute after the country was ravaged by an outbreak of the SARS coronavirus in 2002 and 2003. The picture shows a researcher putting on a protective suit before entering the newly-completed lab in Wuhan on January 30, 2015

It took the Chinese 15 years to fully complete the project at a cost of 34million. Workers are seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province on February 23, 2017

Describing the significance of the P4 lab, China Youth Online billed it as the 'aircraft carrier of China's virology'. The state-run newspaper said it 'is capable of researching the deadliest pathogens. The picture shows a worker inside the P4 lab in Wuhan on February 23, 2017

These photos, captured in 2015 and 2017, give us a glimpse of the interiors of the controversial institute after it was completed.

Researchers are seen donning puffy full-body protective suits as well as head shields while conducting experiments.

Chinese officials decided to build the institute after the country was ravaged by an outbreak of SARS in 2002 and 2003.

SARS, another kind of coronavirus, killed 775 people and infected more than 8,000 globally in an epidemic.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is situated about 10 miles from the Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market,believed to be the starting point of the pandemic. Pictures above show researchers putting on protective suits (left) and entering the lab (right) on January 30, 2015

One virologist told Xinhua in 2018: 'We are proud to say that we are already at the forefront in the fields of studying the immunity mechanism of bats, which carry viruses for a long time'

It took the Chinese 15 years to fully complete the project, which cost a total of 300million yuan (34million). The French helped design the building.

Its crown jewel is a four-storey lab with the highest biosafety level of P4.

It's the most advanced laboratory of its type in China.

Construction of the lab was finished in 2015 and it officially opened on January 5, 2018, after passing various safety inspections.

China has repeatedly denied the allegations. Shi Zhengli, a director of the institute, told the press that she 'guaranteed with her own life' that the outbreak was not related to the lab

Scientists have dismissed such conspiracy theories, stressing the virus is a natural occurrence

Describing the significance of the P4 lab, China Youth Online billed it as the 'aircraft carrier of China's virology'. The state-run newspaper said it 'is capable of researching the deadliest pathogens'.

One researcher, Zhou Peng, specialises in bat viruses.

The then 35-year-old virologist told state news agency Xinhua in 2018: 'We are proud to say that we are already at the forefront in the field of studying the immunity mechanism of bats, which carry viruses for a long time.

'Bats carry viruses but are not infected [by them]. [They] provide hope for mankind to study how to fight viruses.'

A team led by director Shi discovered in 2018 that humans might be able to catch the coronavirus directly from bats after conducting studies, according to Beijing News.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured) is one of the two major virus labs in Wuhan

There are two major virus labs in Wuhan.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is situated about 10 miles from the Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which is believed to be the starting point of the pandemic.

A second institute in the city, the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control, is barely three miles from the market.

American biosecurity expert Professor Richard Ebright, of Rutgers University's Waksman Institute of Microbiology, New Jersey, said that while evidence suggests the virus was not created in one of the Wuhan laboratories, it could easily have escaped from there while it was being analysed.

Prof Ebright said he has seen evidence that scientists at the Centre for Disease Control and the Institute of Virology studied the viruses with only 'level 2' security  rather than the recommended level 4  which 'provides only minimal protections against infection of lab workers'.

He added: 'Virus collection, culture, isolation, or animal infection would pose a substantial risk of infection of a lab worker, and from the lab worker then the public.'

He concluded that the evidence left 'a basis to rule out [that coronavirus is] a lab construct, but no basis to rule out a lab accident'.

A researcher is pictured taking part in a drill at the newly finished lab on January 30, 2015

Senior UK Government sources last week said that while 'the balance of scientific advice' is still that the deadly virus was first transmitted to humans from a live animal market in Wuhan, a leak from a laboratory in the Chinese city is 'no longer being discounted'

Another US experts, however, firmly rejected such allegations.

'Bat coronaviruses resembling SARS and the new SARS-CoV-2 have been isolated by many groups of legitimate scientists, including the Wuhan lab and plenty of US investigators. This is a far cry from making and releasing the new virus,' Dr Gerald Keusch, a Boston-based professor previously told MailOnline.

He said: 'A conspiracy theory never cares about the truth. It just cares about creating doubt and anxiety.

'Times of crisis are times of anxiety and it is easier to explain the appearance of an aberration like SARS-CoV-2 as the result of an act of deliberation or incompetence of a laboratory than it is to admit to the fact that nature and evolution, assisted by environmental factors and human intrusions into environmental ecosystems, results in viral evolution.'

The pandemic has killed around 90,000 people and infected more than 1.5 million worldwide

Dr Keusch, Professor of Medicine and International Health at Boston University's Schools of Medicine and Public Health, stressed that no release of viruses from a high-level lab, such as the one in Wuhan, 'has ever happened'.

He defended his peers in the Chinese city as he said: 'The Wuhan lab is designed to the highest standards with redundant safety systems and the highest level of training.

'Many of its research faculty trained at a similar laboratory in Galveston, Texas. So we know the Wuhan team is as qualified as the Texas group

'This means the assertion of a leak, rather than being highly likely, instead is highly unlikely.'

Senior UK Government sources last week said that while 'the balance of scientific advice' is still that the deadly virus was first transmitted to humans from a live animal market in Wuhan, a leak from a laboratory in the Chinese city is 'no longer being discounted'.

One member of Cobra, the emergency committee led by Boris Johnson, said that while the latest intelligence did not dispute the virus was 'zoonotic'  originating in animals  it did not rule out that the virus first spread to humans after leaking from a Wuhan laboratory, according to The Mail on Sunday.

The member of Cobra, which receives detailed classified briefings from the security services, said: 'There is a credible alternative view [to the zoonotic theory] based on the nature of the virus. Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is that laboratory in Wuhan. It is not discounted.'
Cities cautiously welcome Wuhan returnees

Global Times

By Liu Caiyu in Beijing and Zhao Yusha in Wuhan Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/8 19:58:41

Travelers must take COVID-19 tests before leaving amid concerns over silent carriers

As the lockdown in Wuhan ended on Wednesday, cities across China are taking a cautious attitude to welcome returnees from Wuhan, with many cities requiring them to take COVID-19 tests before leaving amid growing concerns over asymptomatic carriers.

People in Wuhan who want to go to Beijing have to apply online first and hand over a negative result from nucleic acid tests that took seven days ahead before being able to buy a ticket and get on a train to Beijing. Upon arrival, local community staff in Beijing will pick them up from train stations and take them directly to their home for a 14-day home quarantine.

Beijing also restricts the number of people from Wuhan to 1,000 a day, either by public transportation or driving. More than 11,000 people are waiting to get back to the capital from Wuhan, the Beijing government said on Wednesday at a press conference.

Amid the lifted lockdown, Shanghai government also said Wednesday it encourages enterprises to conduct COVID-19 tests to people who return to work and local medical institutes need to raise their alert to screen and test suspected patients.

For cities in South China's Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Zhanjiang, returnees from Wuhan have to show their recent nucleic acid tests upon arrival and to retest seven days later.

Moreover, returnees from Wuhan to Zhongshan, Guangdong need to hand over nucleic acid tests taken at Wuhan medical institutes within seven days and report their body temperatures three times a day on an online app for at least three days.

Zhou Zixiao, deputy director of Guangdong Health Commission, said at a Wednesday press conference that around 100,000 people from Wuhan are expected to return to Guangdong Province in the coming days.

Facing those precautionary measures, Wuhan people were seen in front of hospitals waiting to get COVID-19 tests and CT scans before leaving the city, the Global Times reporter saw on Wednesday in Wuhan.

Despite all the procedures, people are swarming to train stations and airports, which are only open to those with green QR health codes.

On the first day of the lifting of the lockdown, more than 55,000 passengers on 276 trains were expected to leave Wuhan, 40 percent of whom heading for the Pearl River Delta region, according to China Railway Wuhan Administration.

As one of the three train stations in Wuhan, Wuhan Railway Station alone sent over 24,000 passengers to other Chinese cities on the first day of the lifting, the railway station told the Global Times.

However, health experts warned on Wednesday that cities in China should remain cautious in epidemic control.

Despite the lifting of the lockdown, the battle against the epidemic is not over. Cities need to be vigilant over asymptomatic carriers, who are contagious despite their low infectivity, warned Zhou Zijun, a professor at the Peking University School of Public Health.

"The proportion of asymptomatic virus carriers in Wuhan should be higher than that of other regions in China. The outflow may pose risks to other cities," Zhou told the Global Times.

Hubei Province and Wuhan should ensure that the epidemic does not rebound as the city restarts. Local health authorities across China should strengthen their report on asymptomatic infections and ant-epidemic measures at important venues, officials from the NHC said late Tuesday.

Yang Jiong, an expert on respiratory studies at the Wuhan-based Zhongnan Hospital, said asymptomatic infections in Wuhan accounted for about 0.15 -0.3 percent of the city population, which means there are about 10,000 to 20,000 asymptomatic carriers in the city.

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With coronavirus lockdown imposed in almost all the countries around the globe, people are taking different approaches towards the preventive measure with some not hesitating to violate it. Recently, a couple from South Africa was arrested after they were caught celebrating their wedding ceremony with 53 other guests in attendance. According to reports, police stormed the wedding ceremony with guns and face masks and arrested the couple along with the priest and the guests who were present there. The couple had just finished taking their wedding vows when the police arrived and arrested them.

Read: Thailand Hospital Designs Face Shields For Newborn Babies To Protect Them From Coronavirus

Media reports suggest that the police were alerted by concerned citizens following which they arrived at the venue and stopped the ceremony. The footage of the couple's arrest is doing rounds on social media with people calling them 'COVIDIOTS' for not following the lockdown orders and putting the lives of others in danger, including their own. In the video, the groom and the bride can be seen getting into a police van in their full wedding dress. All the arrested people were taken to the Empangeni police station on April 5. As per reports, the couple was released under stringent bail conditions.

Read: Video Of Strange-looking Creature Breaks Internet, Netizens Link It With Marvel's Venom

Lockdown violations have become a common sight across the world. recently, a man from the United Kingdom drove 336 km to buy bread that according to him was Rs 93 cheaper than what he was getting near his home. The man was fined by the police for not adhering to the lockdown orders and also for overspeeding as he was caught driving at 177 km per hour with two young children in his car. The police handed him a challan and reported the case to the court.

Read: Good News: Boy Leaves House Wearing 'baby Shark' Costume During Lockdown

Coronavirus outbreak

The deadly coronavirus infection has claimed nearly 89,700 lives across the world and has infected over 15,33,500 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Iran have also overtaken China in terms of the COVID-19 death toll. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

Read: 'Hero' Robots Helping Medical Staff Fight Coronavirus Pandemic Across The World

(Image Credit: @Africanprobe/Twitter)
Some experts have expressed concern that the Internal Revenue Service's obsolete technology will be able to send stimulus checks via direct deposit by a week from today.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that citizens who have direct deposit set up with the IRS can expect their stimulus checks to come by April 15. According to USA Today , the deposits would be made for anywhere between 50 million and 70 million Americans. Mnuchin added that for those without direct deposit, checks would be sent within weeks.But multiple experts doubt the process will be that smooth. Nina Olson, former head of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, suggested some checks could be delivered within a matter of weeks.But I dont think everybody should expect their check in that time, Olson said. And it will take a period of time to get a bunch of those checks out.There are going to be a lot of people for whom this is going to take a while, and I think its going to be measured in terms of months, not weeks, Howard Gleckman, senior fellow with the Urban Institute's Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, toldThe skepticism exists for two reasons. First, some IRS IT systems are practically ancient. Two database systems have been around since the 1960s, as reported by. Second, the organization is considered understaffed. The IRS staff has decreased by 20 percent since 2010, and many existing employees could retire soon, as indicated in a Federal Computer Week report from last year.The IRS is aware of these limitations. Last year the organization shared a six-year plan to, among other actions, modernize its IT systems. The agency estimated that the plan would cost more than $2 billion to carry out. In 2018, the IRS system crashed on Tax Day due to a hardware problem.Tax Foundation economist Garrett Watson toldthat since more Americans file taxes electronically now, that should help with the stimulus check process. But he doesn't believe paper checks can go out in weeks."This is partly due to out-of-date technology," Watson explained, "but is also driven by the fact that the IRS doesnt have a smooth process to quickly send out tens of millions of rebates in only a handful of weeks."The IRS and TurboTax launched an online portal for citizens who don't have to file taxes. The portal will allow this segment of the population to receive stimulus checks.
MADISON  Gatorade, water, bottled coffee drinks, individual-size bags of chips, chewing gum and power bars are all being neatly bundled as a care package, tied with a bow and delivered to health-care workers on the frontlines of COVID-19.

My mom works at the hospital and shes telling me how everyones so stressed  so I just thought this is such an easy way to help the people I want to be like when I get older, the people who I look up to, said Hannah Ciampini, whose mother, Aimee Seiderer Ciampini, is a speech pathologist at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Hannah Ciampini, who aspires to enter the medical field, wanted to do something to support those on the frontlines.

The 17-year-old junior at Daniel Hand High School said. the doctors and nurses, especially, are working really and its just a nice thing to do for people who are under stress right now.

A table is set up outside the Ciampini household at 26 Allison Drive to collect donations. The items are are cleaned with sanitizing wipes before they are packed.

Classmate Sarabeth Gulcice is assisting Hannah Ciampini by spreading the word about the bags and contributing granola bars.

Since the 17-year-old Madison resident is following social distancing guidelines and remaining at home, she is seeking donations through social media.

Gulcice recalled a time when her friends assisted her with a project and is repaying that favor.

It was really nice when I reached out to some of my friends and asked if they could help, she said. I really appreciated it when they responded and helped me out with that, so I just wanted to do that same. Its really nice when people are willing to help you.

Hannah Ciampani started the project March 22, and has delivered almost 500 bags to various Greater New Haven-area businesses including The Guilford House, Stop & Shop and The Hearth at Tuxis Pond in Madison, Yale New Haven Health Shoreline Medical Center, as well as the New Haven campus Medical Intensive Care Unit, Adult Intensive Care Unit, Radiology and Security.

We recognize the vital role we play in the Madison community every day, said Jeff Micklus, manager of the Madison Stop & Shop.

Over the last few weeks, it has become more and more obvious that our associates here are truly heroes helping our community get through this difficult time, he added. Receiving this unexpected donation was so moving and we're extremely grateful that our neighbors took the time to recognize and thank us.

Seiderer Ciampini said the project started as a way for her daughter to kind of make her time useful during the quarantine and Ive really been impressed with her diligence and her attention to detail.

The only thing Im taking control of is delivering and shopping, she added. Shes doing everything on the homefront and I get to deliver them, which is a fun thing.

Hannah Ciampinis Facebook posts abound about how much the bags are appreciated by all who have received them.

It was so colorful and cheerful and very unexpected, said Ashley Balestriere, who works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Yale New Haven Hospital.

It was a rainbow design with all sorts of little pick-me-ups, she added. Little snacks, cookies, chips, a bottle of water. It was just a very unexpected, kind gesture.

More information can be found at Facebook Hannah Ciampini. Donations are being accepted at 26 Allison Drive, Madison
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes. Yesterday's sitting of the NA [National Assembly] committee on inquiry into the April [2016] war, where the issue of [third President and former ruling RPA leader] Serzh Sargsyan's participation in the April 16 sitting was discussed, did not last very long.

The chairman of the committee, Andranik Kocharyan, read the letter from the office of the RA third president, and then their reply to the letter, asking, "Do you agree to answer like this?" They said, "It's normal, but you the art can be put aside."

() the committee member suggested giving a shorter, specific answer, writing that they agree to take a coronavirus test before the session and provide the recording of the session to the third president.

By the way, the committee members were also told to Think about what questions you will ask Serzh Sargsyan, presentlets see.

And some members of the committee are considering whether or not to attend the session.

Meanwhile, after receiving the reply, the RPA has decided that the references made to various procedures and pseudo legal grounds are preparing the ground for the rejection of the providing of the recording in the future. They demand to clearly say yes or no.
The incident took place at around 11.45 am, when a team of policemen intercepted the motorcycle on which the three accused were travelling despite the curfew, an official with the City Chowk police station said

Aurangabad: Three men were nabbed for allegedly attacking policemen near the District Collector's Office in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city during the coronavirus lockdown on Thursday, an official said.

The incident took place at around 11.45 am, when a team of policemen intercepted the motorcycle on which the three accused were travelling despite the curfew, an official with the City Chowk police station said.

The trio managed to escape, but later returned with some more people and picked a quarrel with the officials, he said.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

A policeman sustained a injuries in the ensuing brawl, the official said, adding that the three accused were nabbed and a case is being registered against them.
Gayathri Mani By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old muslim man was brutally thrashed by a gang in Outer North Delhi's Bawana area on suspicion of spreading coronavirus among the people in the village.

Earlier, several news reports claimed that the man has been lynched to death. However, Delhi Police has clarified that the man is alive and has been kept in corona quarantine centre.

The 22-year-old has been identified as Dilshad Ali aka Mehboob, a resident of Harevli village under Bawana police station.

"He is admitted in LNJP Hospital, Delhi, as a corona suspect. He is fine and being kept in the isolation centre. As per information, there are no virus symptoms till date," said a senior police official.

He said there was a rumour in the village that he and a bunch of other boys are planning to return to the village to spread the virus. "It has been rumoured that all of them were planning to inject salaiva in fruits and vegetables ans sell them to people to spread virus," said source.

The police have arrested three accused namely Naveen, Prashant and Promod for wrongful restraint, beating and threatening a person. An FIR under section 341/323/506/34 IPC has been filed against them in Bawana police station.

"Investigation Officer (IO) of the case had a telephonic conversation with him on Thursday morning in which he stated that he is fine," added the police.

The video of the man being beaten up went viral in social media. In the video, Ali was seen bleeding from his leg and pleading that he had no plan to spread the virus. He was just returning to his village. However, the attackers abused him while asking him to tell them the truth.

"Please do not hit me. It was not my plan, wo dusre log the jinka plan tha ye bimari felane ka (They were others who were planning to spreas the virus)," the video shows Ali as saying.
[April 09, 2020] LegalShield Launches Coronavirus Resource Center for Small Business Owners

LegalShield, the world's leading provider of affordable legal and privacy protection plans, wants to assist small business owners as they undergo significant challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. With their mission of equal justice for all, LegalShield has launched the LegalShield Coronavirus Small Business Resource Center to provide free advice on the coronavirus' most frequently searched topics as owners stress about their families and their employees. "The coronavirus pandemic has challenged small business owners as the country continues to practice social distancing and shelter in place," said Jeff Bell, CEO of LegalShield. "Small business owners need general and specific legal advice on government support programs, employment and regulatory compliance, and contracting. Our job at LegalShield is to ease that stress as best we can with answers to their legal questions." The LegalShield Coronavirus Small Business Resource Center is being updated in real-time and touches upon a vast array of critical legal questions that small business owners are concerned about as the pandemic evolves. Below are some of the top small business concerns that are trending currently: Employment Law and Payroll Business owners are not only concerned about declining revenue, but also about cash flow and how they are going to pay their employees. Frequently asked questions include: What can I do if I'm having trouble paying employees due to a government mandated closure?

Do I have to keep paying people if they are not working, or working remotely?

How do I balance my rights and my employees' rights while keeping my business afloat?

How can I be sure to comply with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act? Employee Safety and Your Business While employee safety is always important, it's heightened during this difficult time. LegalShield's network of provider law firms can help business owners with their policies and procedures that not only enhance employee safety, but follow the law. Frequently asked questions include: Do I need a new or updated employee safety plan? What should be included?

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Are there best practices I should be following to maximize employee safety?

What if an employee thinks they got coronavirus at work?

Should I grant leave to an employee who is sick r who is caring for a family member that is sick?



Remote Work Policies Many employers are allowing employees to work from home for the first time. In some cases, it's mandated by the government. It's important to make sure businesses understand how to best navigate this unfamiliar situation in a way that not only maintains productivity, but also protects their business from a legal standpoint. Frequently asked questions include:

Does my business need a new or updated remote work policy? What should be included?

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Do OSHA's regulations and standards apply to the home office? Are there any other Federal laws employers need to worry about if employees work from home?

Am I required to cover any additional costs that employees may incur if they work from home (internet access, computer, increased use of electricity, etc.)? Financial and Cash Flow Concerns Many businesses are seeing decreased demand. Some are shut down altogether due to government mandate. LegalShield's provider network comprises experienced lawyers that can not only answer questions, but help review actionable legal strategies to meet business' financial obligations, protect employees and capital to support the organization. Frequently asked questions include: How can I fight the economic impact of coronavirus?

Are there government backed financing options I can take advantage of?

What will happen to my business if there is a run on the banks?

Are there any specific legal steps I can take to protect my business from sharp downturns in demand?

Should I shutter production or cut salaries?

How should I prepare my business for a recession? Work Related Travel While many social and business events have already been cancelled, questions remain. Also, conflicting state, federal and local government rules regarding the movement of people in and out of certain areas are confusing. Frequently asked questions include: What current travel restrictions are in place?

Who is exempt from travel restrictions?

If an event I was going to attend has been cancelled, can I get refunds on hotels, etc.?

Can I require employees to maintain travel schedules?

What new travel policies should I enact to follow the law and keep people safe?

Can I prohibit an employee from traveling on their personal time? The LegalShield Small Business Coronavirus Resource Center is available at https://covid19.legalshield.com/small-business-legal-help. As a LegalShield member, consumers and small businesses owners can speak with a lawyer about any legal issue in as little as 4 hours from moment of inquiry. LegalShield's legal plans provide access to qualified law firms and their lawyers with an average of 22 years of experience, with dedicated law firms in 50 states and all provinces and territories in Canada. Additionally, through the LegalShield mobile app (available on iOS and Android (News - Alert)) there are several free services to help aid consumers and small businesses. About LegalShield and IDShield A trailblazer in the democratization of affordable access to legal protection, LegalShield is one of North America's largest providers of online legal subscription plans covering more than 4.4 million people. Its IDShield identity theft solution for individuals and families has more than one million members. LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. In addition, over 40,000 companies offer LegalShield and IDShield plans to their employees as a voluntary benefit. Both legal and identity theft plans start for less than $25 per month. For more information about LegalShield, visit: https://www.legalshield.com/ or for more information about IDShield, visit: https://www.idshield.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005076/en/

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The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, has said if former Board member of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, insists that Mr John Mahama interfered in the central banks use of its operational resources by directing the banking regulator how to use that money, including for the construction of the Bank of Ghana Hospital, then such interference explains why nine local banks collapsed in the last couple of years.



Mr Forson had asserted in a statement that Mr Mahama, as President, provided the needed leadership that conceptualised and established the Bank of Ghana Hospital, and, thus, asked Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako to stop denying the former President credit for the health post, which has become one of the centres for managing COVID-19 patients.



Among other assertions, the Ranking member of Parliaments Finance Committee said: As a former Deputy Minister responsible for Finance and one who served on the board of the Bank of Ghana from 2013 to 2017, I confirm, without equivocation that the Bank Hospital is a President John Mahama legacy.



He continued: The Bank Hospital was built using public funds at the time H.E. John Mahama was President of the Republic. President Mahama provided the leadership and vision that was needed at the time to conceptualise and establish the hospital.



Mr Baako needs to understand that the central bank has functional autonomy and that autonomy does not apply when it comes to the use of public funds.



It must be made clear that the central bank makes profit through its operations. The profit of the Bank of Ghana are public funds, hence, the use of these funds are subject to the directives of the government of the day under the laws of Ghana thereof, the opposition MP said, adding: Having served on the Board of the Bank of Ghana, I can impeccably confirm that it was the vision and policy directive of President Mahama during that era which informed the construction of the Bank Hospital.



In his counter-statement, however, Mr Baako said: I was thinking that as a former Deputy Minister of Finance and a member of the previous Board/Authority of BoG, Mr Ato Forson, would have produced something of evidential value to back up his/their case.



According to him, Mr Forson produces no minutes of Board meetings which may illustrate either ministerial or presidential directives to the Management and Board of BoG relative to the conception and execution of TBH; he produces no Cabinet or ministerial records or documentation to underscore any governmental involvement or directives in the project under reference.



In a caveated remark, Mr Baako then pointed out that: It is very clear if (And thats a VERY BIG IF) Mr Forson insists the President directed the use of operational resources at BoG, then it shows the degree of interference the President had at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), which then shows why Ghana had so many bank failures and macro-economic instability during the times Mr Forson was a member of the Board/Authority of BoG and a Deputy Minister for Finance!



The poverty of Mr Forsons intrusion should be manifest to all discerning Ghanaians! the Editor-in-Chief added.A



Read Abdul-Malik Kweku Baakos full statement below:



I was thinking that as a former Deputy Minister of Finance and a member of the previous Board/Authority of BoG, Mr Ato Forson, would have produced something of evidential value to back up his/their case.



He produces no minutes of Board meetings which may illustrate either ministerial or presidential directives to the Management and Board of BoG relative to the conception and execution of TBH; he produces no Cabinet or ministerial records or documentation to underscore any governmental involvement or directives in the project under reference.



All Mr Forson sought to do was to recollect the fact that he was a member of the previous Board/Authority of BoG and a former Deputy Minister of Finance. How does that recollection sustain his/their case that TBH was inspired by the vision and leadership of President Mahama?



Mr Forson includes the construction of the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) as part of President Mahamas Health Infrastructural legacy.



The conception and construction history of IMaH does not support his assertion. The conception of IMaH crystallised in 2008.



The plot for a new medical facility for GPHA was purchased in 2008. And there are official GPHA records to support that fact.



Initial designs were done in 2009/10. Actual construction commenced in April 2012 and completed in October 2016. The project was fully-funded by the GPHA.



His reference to the upgrading and rehabilitation of the Ridge Hospital and the construction of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) were irrelevant in the context of my submissions relative to TBH and IMaH.



Indeed, I am on record as indicating that the conception and execution of those two projects can and should be credited to the Mills and Mahama Administrations! This is public record!



There is abundant official/public record to show that both Cabinet (including ministerial) and parliamentary approvals for the construction of the two medical facilities, transpired during the tenure of the two administrations.



In the case of the Upper West Regional Hospital (Wa), I want to believe Mr Forson knows that Cabinet and parliamentary approvals for the loan agreements were effected in April, August, October and November 2008, respectively.



Interestingly, when President Akufo-Addo was commissioning that hospital in November 2019, he underscored the fact that the construction trajectory and history of that hospital had travelled through the reigns of 4 Presidents; starting with Kufuor through to Mills, Mahama and himself (Akufo-Addo).



How that project becomes the exclusive achievement of President Mahama is rather puzzling! The records do not support his point.



Somebody should call the former Deputy Minister of Finances attention to the fact that the Bank of Ghana Act is clear on how BoG profits are distributed.



The retained profits after distribution to the Consolidated Funds, if any, are used for operational purposes, for which the Bank of Ghana has operational independence.



That said, it is very clear if (And thats a VERY BIG IF) Mr Forson insists the President directed the use of operational resources at BoG, then it shows the degree of interference the President had at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), which then shows why Ghana had so many bank failures and macro-economic instability during the times Mr Forson was a member of the Board/Authority of BoG and a Deputy Minister for Finance!



The poverty of Mr Forsons intrusion should be manifest to all discerning Ghanaians! Propaganda yaamutu!



Good morning Ghana!













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Japan will devote more than $2.2 billion of its coronavirus economic stimulus package to incentivize its manufacturers to move their production out of China as relations fray between the neighboring countries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The record stimulus plan provides $2 billion for manufacturers to transfer production to Japan and over $216 million to help companies move production to other countries. Imports from China, Japans biggest trading partner, were down by nearly 50 percent in February as facilities in China closed while the coronavirus ripped through the country.

A state visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month  the first such visit in about a decade  was postponed indefinitely last month amid the coronavirus pandemic.

We are doing our best to resume economic development, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Wednesday of Japans decision during a press conference in Beijing.In this process, we hope other countries will act like China and take proper measures to ensure the world economy will be impacted as little as possible and to ensure that supply chains are impacted as little as possible.

Politicians in Japan and the U.S., among other countries, have placed blame on China for failing to respond strongly during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak and concealing the scale of the threat from other nations. Despite recent developments, Japan has donated masks and personal protective equipment to China.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Japanese government and people have expressed sympathy, understanding and support to us, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said in early February.

As of Thursday, Japan had more than 4,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 85 deaths from the respiratory illness.

More from National Review
Despite the rising death toll from the newest virus, epidemiologists say the Dine may have advantages in the mitigation fight that other tribal nations do not.

They point to the nations relatively large number of diabetes specialists, who could help with outreach or trace the spread of the virus. Robust civil society groups within the reservation have also sprung into action, with volunteers replenishing water tanks for hundreds of families.

As one of the largest tribal nations in the United States, the Dine, who number more than 330,000 on the reservation and beyond, can also draw on resources unavailable to other tribes.

That includes the 200-strong police force now charged with enforcing the curfew every night in towns and along lonely stretches of road that connect far-flung homesteads and sheep ranches.

We have to get the situation under control, Officer Yazzie said, between chasing down curfew violators, writing citations and telling motorists over a loudspeaker to just go home where it was safe.

If we dont do this, he said, its our own families at risk.
One of the French nationals, who were stranded at various places in Kerala due to the coronavirus lockdown, being screened by medics on her arrival to board a special Air India flight for Paris at Kochi. (Image released by Kerala tourism department)

Thiruvananthapuram: Nine fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported in Kerala on Wednesday taking the total number of people infected in the state to 345, including 15 who had returned after attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi.

Of the new cases, four had come from abroad, two had attended the Tablighi meet in Delhi last month and the remaining three contracted the virus through contacts, chief minister told reporters.

He also said it had been decided to provide "online medical services" to non-resident Keralites (NRKs) stranded in various countries following receipt of 'frantic' calls from them for help and it would enable them connect with the doctors in the state.

"The NRKs can consult the doctors through video-audio calls and consult them after registering with the NORKA website. The service will be available from 2 PM to 6 PM Indian standard Time. Doctors from various streams including general medicine, surgery, gynecology, paediatrics, orthopedics, ENT, will be available," Vijayan said.

"We are receiving frantic phone calls for help from Keralites stranded abroad. We have requested the Indian embassies there to coordinate with the help desk to assist the people there," he said.

The government has opened five help desks at various countries at the aegis of NORKA (Non Resident Keralite Affairs department).

Of the fresh cases, four were from Kannur, two from Alappuzha and one each from Pathanamthitta, Thrissur and Kasaragod districts, the chief minister said adding 13 people were cured of COVID-19 disease.

"Among those cured today are three each from Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, two each from Idukki, Kozhikode and Wayanad and one case from Kannur district," he told reporters after the daily COVID-19 evaluation meet.

As of now, a total of 259 infected people are under treatment, with 84 being cured, Vijayan said.

"Till now, the government has identified 212 people in the state who had participated in the Tablighi congregation, of which 15, including two of today's cases, have tested positive," Vijayan said.

At least 1,40,474 people, including 749 in isolation wards of various hospitals, are under observation in the state.

The state has sent 11,986 samples for testing.

Vijayan said 20,000 testing kits will be made available by Thursday through the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The government will bring to the attention of its Karnataka counterpart incidents of certain patients being allegedly denied treatment at hospitals in the neighbouring state, he said.

Referring to lockdown violations, he said at least 2,584 cases were registered and 2,607 people arrested on Wednesday.

At least 1,919 vehicles were seized.

"The seized vehicles are posing a problem to the police department. From now on, instead of taking the custody of the vehicle, police will impose heavy fine on violators," Vijayan said.

Vijayan thanked Telugu cine artist Allu Arjun, who donated Rs 25 lakh to the chief minister's disaster relief fund.

As per the latest medical bulletin, Kasaragod, the hotspot for COVID-19 cases, has 132 positive cases, followed by Kannur with 49 cases. Ernakulam and Palakkad have 14 cases each.

Kozhikode has the highest number of people under observation in the state with at least 20,049 people under watch.

Two fatalities have been reported from the state so far.
MEBANE, NC, SHAWINIGAN, QC and TORONTO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Luxury bedding brand Kingsdown (producing also in Quebec under the brand Zedbed) is shifting its regular mattress production capabilities to manufacture beds for use in health care facilities, temporary health care outposts and treatment facilities to assist during the COVID-19 pandemic. The changeover has been completed to produce hospital beds in three of the company's factories located in Mebane, North Carolina, USA, Toronto, Ontario and Shawinigan, Quebec in Canada. We estimate that 40% of our workers at the plants would be able to keep their jobs as we launch this new production.

"In only 5 days, we managed to implement a secure local supply chain capable of supplying the American and Canadian governments with a new hospital bed concept," says David Gelinas, V.P. Zedbed, div. of Kingsdown. "Kingsdown has been manufacturing mattresses in North America for over 100 years and our products are sold around the world. We want to do our part to help with this global crisis and have set up our factories to manufacture hospital and emergency-care grade beds," said Frank Hood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kingsdown. "We're reaching out to the hospital systems throughout North America to assess their needs to ensure we can meet them during this public health crisis. We are able to deliver mattresses or beds anywhere they may be needed in North America and stand ready to do our part to help," says Mike James, Chairman of the Board of Kingsdown.

Kingsdown has expanded its capabilities to help meet current demand for treatment and recovery beds. Changes include expedited production of its Care Xpress program, which includes medical-grade mattresses and specialized motion bed frames. The new program includes the Medical Vinyl Xpress Mattress, which is available in three profile heights, and the Motion Care Xpress adjustable base. The mattress features a poly core covered in a medical vinyl that is flame resistant and features anti-fungal properties. The motorized adjustable bed base features side rails and is crafted of melamine and steel and accommodates a variety of positions for optimum comfort. In addition to the adjustability of the bed, the base features telescoping legs for three different height positions  9, 11 and 13 inches.

The Kingsdown Group is committed to providing mattresses and beds that will meet safety and healthcare standards and will function with the adjustable beds in medical centers. We are ready to work with our suppliers and partners to accommodate custom needs as they arise.

"For a company whose core values are comfort, support and well-being, it's a natural move for us to help out any way we can," Hood added.

Kingsdown Group, formed by the combination of Kingdown Inc. founded in 1904 in Mebane, North Carolina, Owen and Company (Kingsdown Canada) from Toronto and Zedbed inc. based in Shawinigan, is a manufacturer of premium mattress systems serving leading retailers globally. Each product is manufactured using handcrafted techniques combined with state-of-the-art materials and equipment, and constant reinvestments into our research and development department. Kingsdown's US headquarters are in Mebane, North Carolina, its Canadian Headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario and Zedbed operates out of Shawinigan, Quebec. --- Visit:

www.kingsdown.com

www.zedbed.ca

www.kingsdown.ca

SOURCE Kingsdown

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Amnesty International on Thursday said more than 30 prisoners are feared to have been killed by Iranian security forces during protests over novel coronavirus safety concerns.

The UK-based organisation said in a statement that thousands of inmates in at least eight prisons in the Islamic republic had held demonstrations in recent days.

Citing "credible sources", Amnesty said authorities at several facilities responded with live ammunition and tear gas, killing some 35 inmates and wounding hundreds of others.

It also alleged security forces beat protesters in at least one prison.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, called the Iranian authorities' response to the prison demonstrations "abhorrent".

"Instead of responding to prisoners' legitimate demands to be protected from COVID-19, Iranian authorities have yet again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns," she said.

Eltahawy called for "an independent investigation into the torture and deaths in custody" and urged security forces in Iran to "refrain from punishing prisoners calling for their right to health".

Iran, one of the countries worst-hit by the pandemic, on Thursday reported 117 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing its overall toll to 4,110 fatalities. It also declared 1,634 new infections, for a total of 66,220 cases.

There has been speculation abroad that the country's real numbers could be higher.

Reports have also surfaced of several prison riots and jail breaks in Iran in recent weeks.

Last month a judicial spokesman said that authorities had temporarily released 100,000 detainees in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

Amnesty cited reports of inmates testing positive for COVID-19, and said prisoners had been staging hunger strikes over a lack of measures, including testing and quarantine.

The rights group urged Iran to release prisoners of conscience, along with people in pre-trial detention and those most at-risk from the virus.

Last week the United Nations voiced outrage over the death of a juvenile offender after reported beatings by guards at an Iranian prison following a riot.

The UN rights office said inmates at the Mahabad prison in West Azerbaijan province were protesting against "prison conditions and the failure of the authorities to temporarily release them amid the COVID-19 pandemic".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In 2005, and not too long after taking over as CEO of J.P. Morgan, Jamie Dimon made plain that proprietary trading would be de-emphasized. Some were surprised given how much the prop desk boosted firm profits (one team of nine traders at one point produced 10% of the firms total), but Dimon was focused on shareholder returns, and investors dont pay up for gains made from trading.

They dont simply because trading profits are the living definition of ephemeral. What works one year can be wiped out the next, plus profits logically attract imitators. What generated so much revenue in 2005 couldnt always be counted on, and this uncertain truth about the future was priced into the companys shares.

Dimons decision came to mind while reading the innuendo-filled, front-page New York Times article pieced together by Peter Baker, Katie Rogers, David Enrich, and Maggie Haberman about Paris-based drugmaker Sanofis alleged ties to President Donald Trump. The shame is that their slant was so transparent, and per their own reporting that so thoroughly contradicted their own innuendo, so unnecessary.

For background, Sanofi produces the drug hydroxychloroquine which, according to many credible sources, may be an effective coronavirus deterrent. The source of the previous assertion? Baker, Rogers, Enrich, and Haberman. As they reported in an article meant to foster suspicion among readers about Sanofi, Trump, and some associates of Trump, they quote Dr. Joshua Rosenberg, medical director at Brooklyn Hospital Center, as saying that hydroxychloroquine may be the best, most available option for use" right now.

Rosenberg is not the only physician acknowledging that a drug used to fight malaria and lupus might be a Covid-19 solution. Though the Times reporters note that Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn is not providing the drug, they add that St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx is.

They quote New York governor Andrew Cuomo as saying that there has been anecdotal evidence that it [hydroxychloroquine] is promising. Cuomo is seemingly so convinced that hes asked Trump to boost federal delivery of the drug to New York pharmacies. Baker et al add that the FDA issued an emergency order late last month allowing doctors to administer it to coronavirus patients if they saw fit.

Rosenberg added that I certainly understand why the president is pushing it, but clearly the problem in the eyes of Baker et al is that President Trump is endorsing hydroxychloroquine. While they relay to readers in unbiased fashion the actions of the FDA, the views of credible doctors and hospitals, along with the efforts of a governor at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic (Cuomo) to acquire more of the malaria medicine, Trumps promotion of the drug is billed as the salesman turned president pushing hydroxychloroquine with the enthusiasm of a real estate developer.

More realistically, Trump is promoting common sense that hes long preached on the matter of protecting ones life. Left out by the Times is that on May 30, 2018, Trump signed into law the Right to Try Act, which created a uniform system for terminal patients seeking access to investigational treatments. Translated, those who face death should have more freedom to try that which hasnt been fully screened, but that is seen as a potential life-saving cure.

Trumps critics, and lets be clear that Baker et al are critics as opposed to objective reporters of the president, cant have it both ways. They cant claim Trump's indifference to the coronavirus, while also questioning his encouragement of the possibly terminal to try things meant to combat it. Dont worry, the story gets worse. And much more ridiculous.

To see why, consider a Tweet from MSNBCs Joe Scarborough about Trumps hydroxychloroquine encouragement, and that was a response to the editorializing of Baker and his colleagues:

Trumps supporters have financial interests in the issue. Sanofis largest shareholders include Ken Fishers firm, a major donor to Trump. Trumps three family trusts have each had investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding was in Sanofi.

Scarborough surely knows better. Needless to say, his Tweet was a reference to Baker et als innuendo-filled mention that Trump himself has a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. Oh dear.

On its own, the insinuation was and is absurd. Trumps small personal financial interest is, according to Forbes, worth $3,000. Out of a net worth of $2.1 billion, also according to Forbes. Dont worry, it gets even more ridiculous.

Baker et al mention that its not just Trump who has a "financial interest in Sanofi. So does Ken Fisher, billionaire founder of Fisher Asset Management. Fisher's firm is one of Sanofi's largest shareholders. Except that the insinuation that Trump was doing Fishers bidding may, if possible, be even more ridiculous than the laugh line that Trump was perhaps talking his own book.

To understand why, readers should understand that Fisher will forget more about stocks and what moves them in the time it takes to read this long sentence than Baker et al will collectively ever know. In that case, for the Times reporters to suggest that Trump's been shilling for a supporter doesn't just insult Fishers integrity (the latter vivified by the 100 billion+ worth of savings that investors have entrusted with him and his eponymous firm over the decades), it also insults his intelligence.

As Fisher routinely makes plain to his firms clients, stock prices are a snapshot of the future. That they are is all the evidence one would need that an investor as wise as Fisher wouldnt lean on Trump to talk up a single product of a major holding. No seasoned investor would presume that the rather ephemeral sales cycle of one product would boost the share price of a $55 billion company. Particularly a drug that's only allegedly effective against a virus that 25 to 50% of those afflicted never know they have (Anthony Fauci),

More important, and as Baker et al reported, Several generic drugmakers are gearing up to produce hydroxychloroquine pills. In short, even if Trumps assertion is proven correct, something Baker et al acknowledge (Mr. Trump may ultimately be right, and physicians report anecdotal evidence that has provided hope.) may come to pass, Sanofis gains will be minimal as generics come in to compete away its margins. What the Times reporters know readers can rest assured Fisher knew long ago, and well before coronavirus became a thing.

The shame about the Times report is that it didnt have to be. Peter Baker, Katie Rogers, David Enrich, and Maggie Haberman could have just responsibly penned an article revealing a debate about a drug's efficacy. But since President Trump talked hydroxychloroquine up, they had to lace in their own biases and weak revelations in a vain attempt to make Trump look bad. The end result is that they only succeeded insofar as they made themselves look bad, and wholly unschooled in how equity prices move.
The 1987 federal election campaign was defined by the TV add featuring whingeing Wendy, a suburban housewife questioning John Howard from her kitchen, with devastating effect, about the financing of his promised $8 billion tax cut: Wheres the money coming from?

Scott Morrison's challenge is to transform the economy, not to wait for it to snap back to its already weak position. Credit: Jim Pavlidis

Wendy listed an emotive range of possible cuts  home nursing, meals on wheels, pharmaceutical benefits, asthma and diabetes allowances, pensions, Medicare, child minding centres. The result was an historic third Labor win in a row, with an expanded margin of 24 seats (previously 16), despite a swing of 1 per cent against the government, and a small win by Howard in the popular vote. Howards case wasnt helped when the finally released funding of his tax cuts didnt add up, compounding the substance of Wendys question.

While oppositions have always been bedevilled to provide funding detail, governments have struggled with the reality, to deliver responsible, conservative, fiscal management  Fraser undoing Whitlams profligacy, Hawke/Keating coming out of global recession and post-Fraser, Keating again after the early-90s recession, and Rudd/Gillard/Abbott/ Turnbull/ Morrison post-global financial crisis.

Over the past five decades since 1970, the maximum budget deficit has been a little over 4 per cent of gross domestic product in the early 90s, and the biggest surplus was about 2 per cent in the early 2000s. The achievement of a budget surplus, a commitment to repay debt, and preservation of global credit rating have become increasing obsessions.
Florence Pugh hit back at trolls on Wednesday after receiving a barrage of abuse when she shared a birthday tribute to boyfriend Zach Braff.

The Little Women star, 24, has been in a low-key relationship with the actor, 45, for around a year, but was forced to defend the romance when commenters hit out at the couple's age gap on Instagram following her post on Monday.

Taking to Instagram to share a video, the actress said she did 'not need [fans] to tell me who [she] should and should not love' as it is 'not [their] place' to comment on her relationship.

'I do not need you tell me who I should and should not love': Florence Pugh, 24, hit out at online trolls criticising her relationship with Zach Braff, 45, on Wednesday, after birthday tribute

In the lengthy statement, Florence began by saying she hoped fans were 'still well and healthy, and safe', before admitting she had 'wrestling with the idea for the past few days about whether I should do this video.'

The Midsommar actress said she wanted to do so for her 'own peace of mind' as she said: 'On Monday I posted a photo in honour of Zach's birthday, and I wrote a birthday message for him.

'Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted I had about 70 people in the comments hurling abuse and being horrid, and basically bullying someone on my page.

'It is the first time in my entire Instagram life that I've had to turn off the comments on my page, I have never been an Instagram page that encourages that, I have never been an Instagram page that likes that toxic vibe.

It's your birthday: Florence celebrated boyfriend Zach's birthday on Monday by posting a snap on Instagram of the star snuggling his adorable pet pooch

'I have only been an Instagram page that tries to bring some light and tries to be positive, and tries to make people smile.'

Hitting out at the trolls, she went on: 'I will not allow that behaviour on my page, I'm not about that. It makes me upset, it makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another.

'We need to be loving one another, the world is aching and the world is dying and a few of you have decided to bully for no reason.'

Going on to refer to their 20-year age difference, Florence added: 'I'm 24 years old, I have been working since I was 17-years-old, I have been earning money since I was 17-years-old, I became an adult when I was 18-years-old and I started paying taxes when I was 18-years-old, I underline this fact, I am 24-years-old.

'I do not need you tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever tell anyone who they can and cannot love.

Shocked: Florence said of the post, 'Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted I had about 70 people in the comments hurling abuse and being horrid'

'It is not your place, and really it has nothing to do with you, so if those rules are something that you do not like then please unfollow me because the abuse you throw at him is abuse you're throwing at me and I don't want those followers, and I don't want to have to be protecting my comments every time I post a picture of him.

'I really hope that I can continue this relationship with a lot of you, and I can keep on cooking and I can keep on dancing, and I can keep on singing, but I don't want that on my page.'

Hitting out at cyber-bullying, Florence added: 'It's embarrassing, it's sad, and I don't know when cyber-bullying became trendy, I don't know when it became a point system, I don't know why it's a cool thing, and that's never been what my page has been about.

'So, here's to you guys, and I hope that we can keep on being postiive, and to those who do not agree with anything that I have just said I kindly ask that you unfollow me because that is not my page. Be safe, try and be positive during all of this, and I'll see you soon.'

Hitting out: Florence told those criticising her relationship, 'I do not need you tell me who I should and should not love... It is not your place, and really it has nothing to do with you'

On Monday, Florence made a very public gesture as she celebrated her beau's 45th birthday when she posted a snap of him on Instagram.

The British actress took to the image-sharing platform to post a heartwarming shot of the former Scrubs star snuggling his pet pooch as he relaxed on an outdoor chair  while she added a personal touch by donning socks bearing his face.

Donning spectacles and a green top, Zach was shown lying on a foliage-covered deck as his face rested against his puppy, who slept atop a slate grey blanket.

Captioning the image, Oxford native Florence wrote: 'Today we shall smile wider than the clouds are grey. April 6th and were celebrating hard! Happy Birthday wishes, boogies and cheers for this special person. Raise those bubbles and jiggle!'

Showing how dedicated she was to marking the day in style, the actress lifted her leg to show off her pink socks in a snap shared on Zach's Instagram Stories.

Let's face it: In her post shared on Monday, the British actress added a personal touch by donning pink socks bearing his face

Zach also uploaded an image of himself and his adorable dog as he wrote: 'All I wanted for my birthday was overalls and a puppy.'

Two days earlier, the couple  who have been isolating together amid the COVID-19 crisis  were seen stocking up on goods together at a Los Angeles supermarket.

Florence has been keeping herself busy while in quarantine during the ongoing pandemic by documenting her cooking sessions.

The actress shared a number of recipes to her Instagram and putting them onto her highlights section, delighting fans with her culinary exploits.

Four-legged friend: Zach also uploaded an image of himself and his adorable dog as he wrote, 'All I wanted for my birthday was overalls and a puppy'

Showing off her culinary skills with dishes such as a butternut squash soup, and a marmalade sandwich for dessert, Florence was sure to delight and amaze.

Of how she decides what to make, she said: 'Lots of my recipes are all to do with  well, they're not my recipes, I've copied them off someone, pretended they're mine.

'I'm always trying to use as much of the stuff I have in my fridge as possible. Or I'm trying to reuse an old vegetable.

'Or make sure that it gets the longest life possible. I think it's really important to use all the things that were originally going to be wasted.'

Special: He also posted a selfie of himself and his dog, adding the caption, 'Its my special day'

Florence shared a number of recipes and also showed off an Italian sausage and a tomato sauce pasta dish for her 1.3million followers.

Enjoying herself during the cooking session Florence talked with a wine in hand, and dressed to impress with a series of chic ensembles.

During one of her videos from the kitchen, the Little Women star also wore a stylish apron that had a honey-bee pattern across the front.

Back in December, Florence hit back at criticism of the 20-year age gap she has between her and boyfriend Zach Braff.

Sip: The day before, he appeared to be celebrating early, as he posed with a champagne flute

The actress met the actor when they worked on the short film In the Time It Takes to Get There together and they were first spotted out together in April.

After Zach commented with a princess emoji on one of Florence's Instagram pictures, one person wrote: 'You're 44 years old.'

Florence was not impressed with the person trying to shade their relationship and she wrote back 'And yet he got it'.

This marked the first time Florence or Zach had publicly acknowledged their romantic relationship.

Cooking up a storm: Florence has been delighting fans by sharing recipes on her Instagram
Eclipse Automation's partnership can rapidly scale N95 technology in-country

CAMBRIDGE, ON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Eclipse Automation Inc. is proud to announce an exclusive teaming agreement with Harmontronics Automation of Suzhou, China, to manufacture, sell, distribute, service, commission and modify the Harmontronics fully automated N95 Vertical Flat-Fold Respirator Mask Production Line system throughout North America.

The combination of Eclipse's extensive North American presence and medical device experience, coupled with Harmontronics' proven design and in process machine inventory for this application, provides a dynamic team to bring production online rapidly and address an urgent need. Eclipse and Harmontronics have initiated investment for an initial production line to be brought to North America. The system will be installed and put into operation at Eclipse in Cambridge, Ontario within 4 weeks.

This system will be used for the purpose of working with North American manufacturers to customize the system for their specific needs and support qualification efforts for various respirator designs. It is anticipated that this initial system will be a key enabler in getting locally produced respirators into the health care supply chain and into the hands of North American health care professionals as quickly as possible.

Steve Mai, President and CEO of Eclipse explains: "I am seeing a lot of companies, with the best of intentions, trying to get into this arena but without the experience in medical device automation, they may be chasing inferior systems that could be unsafe to run and produce faulty masks. Eclipse has the know-how to assess this system already producing N95 masks in China and see that any modifications required to meet North American specifications are done quickly and right. We can expedite this to provide a top-notch N95 mask automation system and lead the process to see that it can be scaled to all who need it. We can deliver a level of proactive control to the solution that is crucial for such an important product."

Albert Cai, President and CEO of Harmontronics commented: "When it comes to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has a role to play. Harmontronics has extensive experience in medical device automation and we are taking effort to provide more mask automation systems to Chinese and overseas markets. We are very excited to announce our partnership with Eclipse Automation to supply N95/KN95 respirator mask production lines to the North American market, in helping to fight the mask shortage crisis in North America. This partnership combines Harmontronics intelligent automated machine designing and building with Eclipse's automation expertise to localize the equipment and to help local customers for production ramp up."

By moving this automation implementation process to Canada, Eclipse Automation can facilitate mass production and make sure that our local needs can be met, to the standards North Americans would expect. The manufacturing will still scale from the Harmontronics facility in China and Eclipse will work closely with their customers and Harmontronics to assure high standards for safety, spare parts and usability.

About Eclipse Automation: Eclipse Automation is a leading supplier of custom automated manufacturing equipment for the life sciences, energy, transportation, consumer, electronics, and industrial industries. With locations in Canada, the United States and Hungary, Eclipse Automation delivers state-of-the-art solutions through automation technology and project experience. Eclipse has been consistently ranked as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies by Canadian Business magazine and for the sixth consecutive year was named as one of Canada's Best-Managed Companies for overall business performance by Deloitte's Canada's Best Managed Companies program.

About Harmontronics Automation: Harmontronics Automation is one of the most reliable factory automation solution providers for small and precise product manufacturing. We design, integrate and manufacture capital equipment throughout Automotive Electronics, Healthcare, New Energy and Industrial IoT industries. We have delivered thousands of smart manufacturing solutions to various world leading manufactures worldwide, our high-performance systems have been installed in over 14 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. With 11 facilities and support locations around the world, we ensure all of our customers have easy access to our service and product at any of their locations.

SOURCE Eclipse Automation Inc

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London, April 9 : The French anti-competition watchdog on Thursday asked tech giant Google to negotiate with publishers and news agencies on paying them proper remuneration for re-using their content on its platforms.

The French 'Autorite de la Concurrence' body in a ruling granted requests for urgent interim measures presented by press publishers and the news agency AFP.

"It requires Google to negotiate with publishers and news agencies the remuneration due to them under the law relating to neighbouring rights for the re-use of their protected contents,' the authority said in a statement.

The ruling came on a complaint lodged in November 2019 by several unions representing press publishers of practices implemented by Google.

The French authority found that "Google's practices on the occasion of the entry into force of the neighbouring rights law were likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position, and caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector".

"It thus requires Google, within three months, to conduct negotiations in good faith with publishers and news agencies on the remuneration for the re-use of their protected contents," the statement further said.

Google was yet to react to the ruling.

The French watchdog said the negotiation must retroactively covers the fees due as of the entry into force of the law on October 24, 2019.

France's competition watchdog in December last year slapped Google with a $166 million fine for abusing its position in the online search advertising market.

The French competition watchdog said it considers that the Google Ads operating rules imposed by Google on advertisers are established and applied under non-objective, non-transparent and discriminatory conditions.

In March, European Union's antitrust regulators fined Google 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for abusing its dominance in the online search market by blocking rivals.

Brussels in 2018 hit Google with a record 4.3 billion euros fine for abusing the dominant market position of its Android operating system for mobile phones.
Both the Pound and Australian Dollar have been benefitting from higher demand for riskier currencies this week, but the British Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate has seen notable losses overall.

The Australian Dollar has seen some of the strongest gains on the latest risk-on movement, and a fairly optimistic outlook for Australia has only further boosted the Australian Dollars appeal.

Despite fairly impressive gains last week, GBP/AUD has shed all of that ground and then some this week.

After opening this week at the level of 2.0463, GBP/AUD quickly tumbled and shed a whopping five cents.

Since the middle of the week, GBP/AUD exchange rate movement has steadied slightly. Still, GBP/AUD has been unable to recover too far from its weekly lows, and has only recovered to around the level of 1.9950 as of Thursday.

Against some other major currencies, the Pound has seen considerable gains in a week of rising risk-sentiment.

Investors have been more willing to take risks again as market sentiment finally shows more signs of relaxing from over a month of deep coronavirus panic. This is due to global fiscal stimulus policies, as well as signs that the coronavirus pandemic could be slowing.

Market risk-sentiment has benefitted the Pound, even amid concerns over the stability of the domestic government.

At the beginning of the week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital on worsening coronavirus symptoms. Mr Johnsons condition worsened further and he has been in intensive care since Monday evening.

While this did cause a brief period of panicked Pound selling though, Mr Johnsons condition has reportedly been stabilising since yesterday. This is helping the Pound to stabilise too.

Sterling may not be benefitting as strongly from market risk-on movement as the Australian Dollar this week, but risk-sentiment and some relief is helping Sterling to avoid falling lower.

This market optimism was even enough to help the Pound to hold its ground despite news that the Bank of England (BoE) would help with government financing. According to Analysts at ING:

On another occasion, todays news that the Bank of England would be directly financing the government would be taken as a GBP negative. However, one suspects that many countries will be pursuing the same path shortly

Australian Dollar (AUD) Exchange Rates Capitalising on Risk-Sentiment as Coronavirus Outlook Develops

Some of this weeks boosts in market demand for safe havens have been brief. This is perhaps suggesting that markets are becoming more optimistic by the day that there could be a light developing at the end of this coronavirus pandemic tunnel.

Fiscal stimulus from major economies around the world, as well as signs that the pandemic may finally be slowing, have left investors more willing to drop safe havens and keep buying assets correlated more with risk this week.

As a result, the Australian Dollar has been among the currencies to benefit most strongly from this weeks market mood. The Australian Dollar has a correlation to market risk and trade-sentiment, as well as correlation with Chinese economic sentiment.

Hopes for resilience in both Chinas and Australias economies are also helping to support AUD. Some more parts of Chinas economy are gradually leaving lockdown. On top of that, Australias finance minister has expressed confidence in Australias economy.

Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said:

Were quite confident on the other side, once were on the other side of this coronavirus-induced crisis, that well be able to bounce back strongly,

GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Forecast: Market Sentiment and Oil Prices in Focus

The Pound is still holding above the weeks worst levels, but depending on upcoming coronavirus developments the currency could fall even lower.

Global markets are currently hotly anticipating a key meeting between OPEC+ oil producers. There are hopes that oil producers could finally strike deals that could mark a de-escalation in the ongoing oil price war.

Stronger oil prices would boost risk and commodity-sentiment, and thus the Australian Dollar.

If upcoming US jobless claims data is disappointing though, this could dampen the markets appetited for risks.

On top of this, any fresh signs that the coronavirus pandemic is worsening could hit slowdown or peak hopes. This would make it much easier for GBP/AUD to mount a stronger recovery.

As for the Pound, the Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate could also find stronger support if Britains coronavirus outlook improves or steadies at all.
00:01 | Lima, Apr. 9.

Below is a list of the main announcements made on day 24 of the emergency response:

So far, Peru has 4,342 positive cases , based on results obtained from molecular (3,614) and rapid (728) tests. A total of 39,599 samples have been processed, which were obtained from 23,255 molecular and 16,344 rapid tests.
Since late December the major Western intelligence agencies have been hard at work trying to get an accurate idea of the covid19 virus epidemic impact. Some nations are difficult to collect data about and Russia is still one of them. Russia still tries to prevent foreigners from easily obtaining accurate data on sensitive matters like covid19. In early 2020 Russia claimed little or no virus impact. Russians censors were not as effective as the Chinese but virus impact data was already difficult to get out of Russia. There are Internet based reports of more virus activity than the Russian government will admit. North Korea is even more difficult than China to get accurate virus impact data. North Korea claims they have no virus infections but are also asking China, Russia and South Korea for medical assistance. Little can be had from China or Russia because both these neighbors are overwhelmed with covid19 infections that officially dont exist.

Despite the secrecy, the most immediate crises in Russia is mainly about the coronavirus (covid19). So far there have been 8,672 confirmed cases in Russia and 63 deaths. There are believed to be far more undetected cases and deaths. Russia has shut down most businesses to deal with the epidemic and that has reduced economic activity. That loss, plus much reduced oil income have created some problems. Given the current poor economic condition of Russia, that added expense hurts. Russia has $234 billion in reserves but by law, this reserve cannot be drawn on freely when the price of oil falls below $42 a barrel. Changing the law would be difficult and the government has to consider painful cuts to government spending. This will hurt because it will take more government spending to get the economy going again once the current one month (begun March 28) quarantine (shutdown of most businesses) is over. The population has responded by reducing their spending by about a third.

Ever since last year Russia and Saudi Arabia have been arguing about how to best deal with the inability of OPEC (the oil cartel Russia and Saudi Arabia dominates) to control the world oil price. Over the last decade, new oil production technologies (fracking) in the U.S. and Canada have greatly increased U.S. production. The U.S. is again an oil exporter and no longer the largest importer. America does not belong to OPEC and refuses to join because of U.S. laws against such cartels. By late 2019 Russia and Saudi Arabia stopped cooperating because they could not find a compromise solution on how to deal with low oil prices. Both nations began shipping all they could produce to determine which nation was the true leader of OPEC and whose strategies would dominate. The result of this feud is low (headed for $20 a barrel) oil prices not seen in decades. Currently, oil sells for $26 a barrel and that is half the price used to draw up this years government budget. It is unclear how long the Saudis and Russians will maintain the high production that creates low prices. The goal is to eliminate the North American fracking industry but the Saudis and Russians dont seem to understand that bankrupting current fracking firms wont eliminate them. If all else fails, so will economic myths.

Troublesome Turkey

The Russian alliance with Turkey is coming apart over differences in how to deal with the war in Syria. For Russia, it is a foreign affairs sort of problem. For Turkey, it is very much a domestic issue. The major issue is refugees from Syria. These refugees are not a problem for Russia, but for the Turks, it is very different. Turkish public opinion is hostile to the Syrian refugees they host, as well as the smaller number of Afghan, Iraqi and other Moslem refugees. Many of these are not refugees but economic migrants willing to do whatever it takes to get into a wealthier Western nation. Europe no longer tolerates these refugees and Turks are not happy about getting stuck with them. This problem gets worse, especially for the Islamic government Turkey has had for the last two decades. This government became allies with Russia and Iran, two traditional enemies. To no ones surprise, these alliances did not work out. In order to please these new friends, Turkey risked being expelled from NATO. Worst of all, expulsion from NATO means the West would regard Turkey as just another poorly managed, Islamic terrorist-tolerating and unreliable Middle Eastern nation. One thing most Turks can agree on is NOT wanting to turn away from the West. The policy of being closer to Arab nations and tolerant of some Islamic terrorist or radical groups has also lost any popularity it once held. Turks have long (since World War I) been hostile to getting involved in foreign wars, especially when it involved Turkish troops getting killed. So far in 2020, Turkey has sent a lot more Turkish troops to Syria and more of them are getting killed, often by Russian airstrikes. The Turkish voters have made it clear that the current government is likely to lose the next elections if the Syrian involvement continues. With Syria, Turkey cannot just walk away. Syria is a neighbor and over three million Syrian refugees are in Turkey and Syria itself is still a mess. Turkish and Russian forces have been shooting at each other and the Iranians are not much better. Russia does not have much they can afford to offer Turkey as a solution. That makes this a more difficult situation for Russian diplomats, who are under orders to maintain good relations with Syria and Israel first and everyone else after that.

Ukraine

The low-level war in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) continues despite the threat of a covid19 epidemic. So far Ukraine has had 1,892 confirmed cases and 57 deaths. There are more undetected infections and deaths out there and the country is imposing a quarantine period to deal with it. Meanwhile, eastern Ukraine still has a war going on. Ukraine fears that chronic disorder in Russian occupied Donbas will prevent elimination of the covid19 virus in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the primary health problem in eastern Ukraine is military, not medical. Pro-Russian forces suffered about 80 casualties in February and somewhat fewer in March. The rebels continue to be more aggressive and frequently violate the ceasefire using machine-guns and mortars against Ukrainian troops, who managed to suffer somewhat lower casualties. The new Ukrainian president made several attempts to negotiate a peace deal with his Russian counterpart but to no avail. As a result, there will be no more attempts unless Russia makes a convincing offer. The Ukrainians are paying more attention to their economy and the continuing corruption problems. Meanwhile, Donbas continues to fester, costing Russia billions a year to support. Ukraine spends less cash to maintain its defenses in Donbas and the Russian presence continues to be a major political issue in Ukraine.

April 3, 2020: While Russia claims it has had fewer than 5,000 covid19 cases and only 39 deaths, it announced that in a few days there would be a ban on all incoming commercial passenger flights, even those carrying Russian citizens. About 25,000 Russian citizens are outside Russia and trying to get back. The government has already imposed a stringent nationwide lockdown which shuts down many businesses and discourages gatherings of any sort. This lockdown will last at least until the end of April.

In the south (Caucasus) the provincial governor of Chechnya became the first region to order a nightly curfew to curb the spread of covid19. Other parts of the country soon followed.

April 2, 2020: Despite protests from medical experts, the Defense Ministry decided to delay the Spring Draft of conscripts one month (from April to May), rather than canceling it and taking these 130,000 conscripts in the Autumn Draft. Russia has long taken in new recruits twice a year rather than all year. Medical experts warned that the military was not equipped to screen all these conscripts for covid19 and estimated that over a hundred of these conscripts would enter training already infected and spread the virus again throughout the army. The army is currently quarantining all troops until late April so that infected soldiers could be identified and isolated for treatment. By going through with the April Draft in May there would be another covid19 outbreak. The senior generals considered it more important not to disrupt the infusion of fresh manpower. Since the 1990s the military has been chronically short of manpower and canceling the April Draft is seen as more destructive than the risk of another outbreak of covid19 in the military.

March 31, 2020: Russia revealed that it had moved several batteries of RS30 MRL (multiple rocket launchers) into Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordering Poland, and Lithuania. RS30 is a truck-mounted 300mm unguided rocket with a 90 kilometers range. Each truck carried 12 rockets that are fired from their storage containers. These MRLs were brought in because the 300mm rockets could not be intercepted by new Polish anti-missiles systems. The Polish missile defense systems are meant to block Russian ballistic missiles, including the several Iskander ballistic missile launchers moved to Kaliningrad in 2018. Russia has also moved more air defense batteries into Kaliningrad. Poland has purchased eight Patriot air defense batteries from the United States.

Russia opposes such missile defense systems in East Europe. In the past, Russia has threatened to start a nuclear war over the issue. In 2009 the U.S. dropped plans to install anti-missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic in part because of the Russian opposition. The Russians feared that the anti-missile system would interfere with Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Europe. This decision demoralized East European nations, who had been looking to the U.S. for help in keeping the Russians away. In response to the 2009 American decision, Russia said it would not station five brigades (60 launchers, each with two missiles) of Iskander ballistic missiles in Kaliningrad. Iskander (also known as SS-26 and 9M723K1) has a 500 kilometer range and was designed to destroy anti-missile missiles. It is not a traditional ballistic missile. That is, it does not fire straight up, leave the atmosphere, then come back down, following a ballistic trajectory. Instead, Iskander stays in the atmosphere and follows a rather flat trajectory. It is capable of evasive maneuvers and deploying decoys. This makes it more difficult for anti-missile systems to take it down. After 2016 the U.S. agreed to sell the anti-missile systems to East European NATO members. Russia continued making threats and moving additional weapons into Kaliningrad.

The RS30 was introduced in 1989, at the end of the Cold War and is an update of a World War II era system. Iskander began development near the end of the Cold War. The first successful launch took place in 1996. The 4.6 ton Iskander M has a solid-fuel rocket motor and a range of up to 700 kilometers normally carries a 710 kg (1,500 pound) warhead. The missile can be stored for up to ten years. Russia offered several different types of warheads, mainly for, including cluster munitions, thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) and electromagnetic pulse (anti-radar, and destructive to electronics in general.) There is also a nuclear warhead, which is not exported. Guidance is very accurate, using GPS, plus infrared homing for terminal guidance. The warhead will land within 10 meters (31 feet) of the aim point. Iskanders are carried in a 40 ton 8x8 truck, which also provides a launch platform. There is an optional reload truck that carries two missiles. Russia ended up only producing the Iskander-M for its own military because no one wanted the export mode. The M version has a longer range (at least 500 kilometers) and more countermeasures (to interception). Russia has admitted that it could use Iskander to destroy the U.S. anti-missile systems in a pre-emptive attack. Just in case Russia wanted to start World War 3 for some reason or another. Entering service in 2005, Russia found there were no export customers for the innovative and expensive Iskander. A few were used against Georgia in 2008 but that did not impress anyone. The 2009 threats to send Iskander to Kaliningrad turned out to be a publicity stunt but the 2018 deployment was real as Iskander missiles and launch vehicles have arrived at bases near the Polish border in 2018.

The Russian city of Kaliningrad itself is not a publicity stunt, especially for its neighbors. Kaliningrad and the area around it used to be part of the ancient German province of East Prussia, which disappeared after World War II. Most of East Prussia went to Poland, but Russia retained the city of Konigsberg and its environs (15,100 square kilometers, about the size of Northern Ireland.) Konigsberg became Kaliningrad and was turned into a major naval base. After 1991 Kaliningrad continued as the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet and was guarded by a large force of troops and warplanes. In 2012 Russia activated a new early warning radar in Kaliningrad. Most Russians see bolstering the defenses of Kaliningrad as quite reasonable. You never know when those Western Europeans will invade again. The population of Kaliningrad is 400,000, nearly all of them Russians as the Germans were expelled at the end of World War II. When the Soviet Union fell apart Russia kept Kaliningrad, in part because Kaliningrad is a special place, a reminder of the great (and costly) World War II victory over ancient foe Germany and decades of Russian domination of East Europe that followed. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 Kaliningrad found itself nestled between newly independent (and very anti-Russian) Poland and Lithuania and an ideal place to station a new missile like Iskander.

March 30, 2020: In eastern Syria (Hasaka province), a Russian convoy was stopped by an American checkpoint consisting of armored vehicles blocking the way. Instead of turning around, the Russians tried to move off the road and around the American roadblock. This did not work because the Russian vehicles got stuck in the mud and had to be towed free. The road led to a Kurdish controlled oilfield. This is the seventh time this year, and the second time this month, that American troops have blocked Russian efforts to drive past Kurdish oil facilities in Hasaka and Deir Ezzor provinces.

March 28, 2020: The government announced that Rosneft the Russian state-owned oil company was selling its $4 billion Venezuelan oil assets to a smaller Russian company. This was done in an effort to eliminate American sanctions imposed on Rosneft five weeks ago. These sanctions threatened to cripple major Rosneft oil operations worldwide. The February sanctions were because Rosneft was assisting Venezuela to export its oil despite sanctions on such exports. Rosneft used its distribution network to sell Venezuelan oil and the new sanctions on Rosneft and any companies doing business with them, made it more difficult, and expensive to move Venezuelan oil. These American sanctions are usually pretty effective because the U.S. has learned to specify sanctions that do maximum damage to those they are aimed at while causing minimal or no problems for anyone else. Russia depends on its sale of Venezuelan oil to get some repayments on loans to Venezuela as well as paying for current Venezuelan purchases of Russian goods.

March 23, 2020: The Russian Defense Minister visited Damascus to meet with the Syrian president Hafez Assad and work out the details of Russian-Syrian cooperation in Idlib province and future Russian economic projects in Syria. Assad wants to resume his offensive to clear the M4 highway between Aleppo and the Mediterranean coast. Assad also wants on understanding with Russia and what kind of peace terms Syrian will offer the Kurds.

March 20, 2020: In China, Sohu the largest web search and online news company published an article discussing how Russia was falling apart and that China would have to reclaim its lost (to Russia centuries ago) territories north of Manchuria and Korea. Since the Cold War ended a growing number of Russians became openly concerned about this because of Chinese claims on much of eastern Russia. China never renounced these claims, even after Russia helped the Chinese communists win the post-World War II civil war that put the current Chinese government in power. At the time Chinese leaders mentioned those claims and did not abandon them. Since the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 Chinese entrepreneurs have quietly taken control of the local economy in those parts of Russia that border China and North Korea. That explains why China has ignored North Korea using Russia and Chinese cargo ships to illegally export coal. North Korea moves the coal (illegally) into Russia via truck where it is exported on ships owned by Chinese companies. China is tolerating this because Chinese firms have been exploiting corruption in Russia, where it is worse than in China, to dominate the economy in the Russian Far East. This is the area between Mongolia and the Pacific coast. China has a historical claim on this area, claims which China revived after World War II and again in the late 1960s. Those revived claims led to border skirmishes during the 1970s that were halted when Russia made it clear it was prepared to risk nuclear war over the issue. That Russian policy still stands, although it is not publicized. At the moment Russian leaders are more concerned with the imaginary threat from the West rather than the very real one from the east.

March 14, 2020: President Putin signed a law that approved of a constitutional change that would allow a president who has served two consecutive terms to keep running for office. Putins current term ends in 2024. If this constitutional change is approved in a national referendum Putin could be elected president as often as he could get away with it. Putin has already bent some of these rules when he had his crony (current president Dmitry Medvedev) elected president in 2008 because the constitution limited presidents to two consecutive terms at a time. But now Putin says he will run for president again next year. Medvedev is currently the heir apparent. Putin and his cronies are taking advantage of the fact that Russians have never had a functioning democracy, except for a short period in the 1990s and are more interested in order and prosperity. Putin has provided more of that, and as long as he continues to do so, there won't be any massive opposition. To ensure this, Putin has rebuilt many aspects of the Soviet police state. Yet, there are still a lot of democrats among senior government officials. If Putin cannot work out deals with these democrats, he freezes them out of government service.

March 11, 2020: In eastern Ukraine, three soldiers died in on the Donbas ceasefire line. This was the largest number of Ukrainian military deaths on one day so far this year. The Russians forces used an ATGM (anti-tank guided missile) against a Ukrainian army vehicle moving near the front line.

March 9, 2020: In eastern Syria (Hasaka province) a Russian convoy was stopped by an American checkpoint and turned away. The road led to a Kurdish controlled oilfield. This is the sixth time this year that American troops have blocked Russian efforts to drive past Kurdish oil facilities in Hasaka and Deir Ezzor provinces. The last incident was a month ago.

March 6, 2020: Russia imposed border restrictions on people seeking to enter from Iran. This was done to keep people with covid19 out of the country.

March 5, 2020: In northwest Syria, the last concentration of Islamic terrorists is making a last stand in Idlib province. The Syrian Army, with Russian support, has been slowly clearing the province of Islamic terrorists, despite resistance by the Islamic terrorists and Turkish forces. Suddenly there are a lot more dead terrorists and efforts are made to identify them, or see if families or countries want the bodies back. So far about fifty of the dead Islamic terrorists have been identified as Pakistani. But Pakistan refuses to comment or take any action to deal with the situation.
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The Delhi High Court has asked banks to maintain the status quo on asset classification for the March 1-May 31 period, the three months for which the RBI has given a repayment moratorium to borrowers, a report in The Economic Times has said.

The court issued the instruction while hearing a case between Yes Bank and real estate firm Anant Raj, which has taken a loan from the private lender.

The high courts order provides some relief to companies whose loan repayments were due before March 1 but not classified as bad loans.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

To alleviate the economic pain brought by the coronavirus, the Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to put on hold repayment of term loans between March 1 and May 31.

A loan is classified as "bad" if the payment is not made within 90 days after the due date.

"The restriction on change in classification as mentioned in the regulatory package shows that RBI has stipulated that the account which has been classified as SMA-2 cannot further be classified as a non-performing asset in case the instalment is not paid during the moratorium period," the court said in its interim order.

Interest and penalty will continue to accrue, the Delhi HC clarified.

The court asked Anant Raj to clear an overdue payment to Yes Bank by April 25. This loan repayment was due on January 1.

The court added that Yes Bank cannot classify Anant Raj's loan as an NPA since it had not been done already.
The bold and decisive actions this President has taken throughout this pandemic are purely about protecting the public health, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement, adding, whether it be providing food to children impacted by school closures, closing our border to certain countries and regions where the virus is spreading, or pausing all interest on student loans, this President wants us to put politics aside and come together to make sure we emerge from this crisis healthy, safe, and strong.
A London Ambulance Service (LAS) contractor has been arrested on suspicion of stealing face masks as criminals continue to exploit the coronavirus crisis.

The man, who is in his 20s, is accused of stealing the protective equipment, along with other items, from stores in north London before selling them online.

He was held in Windmill Road, near Edmonton ambulance station, on Wednesday, but has since been bailed, while items recovered in searches have been returned to LAS.

A London Ambulance Service (LAS) contractor has been arrested on suspicion of stealing face masks (file image)

The Metropolitan Police said he had access to the sites because he was a contractor working with LAS.

Detective Inspector Jason Colby said: 'I am saddened that anyone would take advantage of the NHS for their financial gain at such a critical time.

'These masks are a vital piece of PPE for emergency service personnel and are used to keep both themselves and patients safe.

'We will continue to crack down on anyone attempting to take advantage of our emergency services for personal gain, especially at such an unprecedented time. We are grateful to those who are assisting our investigation.'

Kierran Stevenson, 32, decided to wander around his local hospital purely to witness the coronavirus pandemic on the frontline and make postings to Facebook

Steven Mackie (left) was arrested on Saturday after police caught him ignoring social distancing rules twice in the space of 15 minutes. The 53-year-old has been handed a fine at Stockport Magistrates Court. Pictured, right: Kierran Stevenson

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said some people are using the Covid-19 pandemic to commit criminal offences, including Ashaq Sattar, 40, who posed as an NHS volunteer.

He knocked on the doors of elderly and vulnerable victims in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, claiming he would collect their medicine for a small fee.

Sattar was jailed for a year at Leeds Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.

Others have been convicted of breaching restrictions on movement, including Kierran Stevenson, 32, who was jailed for 12 weeks after posting photos on Facebook of Aylesbury hospital corridors and commenting staff were not taking safety measures seriously.

Steven Mackie, 53, was fined 500 for breaching restrictions of movement after repeatedly approaching shoppers in a Tesco queue in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.

And Jason Harewood, 27, pleaded guilty to contravening restriction of movement rules after he was caught distributing drugs on his pedal bike in Islington, north London, last Friday.

Coronavirus continues to be used as a threat against police officers and other emergency workers, with Bevan Burke, 22, among those jailed this week.

Burke was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison for two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and assault by beating after coughing at police officers in Leicester and telling them he hoped they died from the virus.

Thomas Wilson (left), 19, was jailed for six months after being arrested last Tuesday and Bevan Burke (right), 22, was jailed for nine months after spitting at a shopkeeper on April 3

The director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC, said: 'Although this is only a small sample of the cases that we have prosecuted over the last week, it clearly demonstrates the number of people who are determined to break the law in the most critical of times.

'It is disappointing to see charges come in on a daily basis of hard-working police officers, NHS staff and other vital workers, being coughed or spat at, sometimes deliberately exposing them to the risk of infecting them with coronavirus.

'We take these offences immensely seriously and want to make it absolutely clear- that where there is evidence to do so, people will be prosecuted and can face up to one year in prison.'
US President Donald Trump has fired a fresh salvo at the World Health Organization, accusing its chief of siding with China and "politicising" the coronavirus pandemic while repeating his threat to freeze the UN agency's funding.

Trump's allegation comes a day after the US President threatened to put a "very powerful" hold on US' funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) and criticised it for having "missed the call" in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump slammed the Geneva-based global health agency for its early guidance aimed at countering the international spread of the coronavirus



The president's fresh allegation comes after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against politicisation of COVID-19 and said that such a move will only result in "many more body bags".

"If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus]. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it," Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Hours later at the White House conference, Trump agreed that the COVID-19 should not be politicised, but alleged that the WHO chief was doing exactly that and was siding with China.

"When he (Ghebreyesus) says politicizing, he's politicizing. That shouldn't be. We spend USD 450 million last year, hundreds of millions in previous years. And they got to do better than that. They got to do better. When you talk about politics, I can't believe he's talking about look at the relationship they have to China," Trump said in response to a question.

"China spends USD 42 million. We spend USD 450 million and everything seems to be China's way. That's not right. It's not fair to us. And honestly, it's not fair to the world," he said.

The United States is reevaluating its funding with respect to the WHO, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the White House.

"This is very consistent with what President Trump said since the beginning of his campaign. Organizations have to work," he added.

"They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended and we need to make sure that only the WHO but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America we need to make sure it is delivering on this taxpayer dollars. The WHO is no different in that respect," the top American diplomat said.

Trump asserted that the WHO had to get its priority right.

"I think they have to get their priorities right and their priorities are that everybody has to be treated properly, every country. And it doesn't seem that way, he said.

"It doesn't seem that way so we are going to do study investigation and we are going to make a determination as to what we are doing. In the meantime, we are holding back, we are going very unfair to the United States USD 452 million compared to USD 42 million that is to the World Health Organization. That is not good, that is not good, not fair," he said.

"Not fair at all and other countries as you know also gave very substantially less than the United States and the world WHO got it wrong. I mean they got it very wrong, in many ways they were wrong. They also minimised the threat very strongly and not good," Trump said.

In a statement, Senator Patrick Leahy said the WHO needed reform, just as it needs the strong support of the United States and other countries in order to do its job.

"But such complaints also apply to President Trump, who ignored numerous warnings, downplayed the threat, discounted medical science and squandered valuable time that could have saved countless lives," the Democratic Senator said.

"He continues to shamelessly and relentlessly try to shift responsibility for his disastrous response to the coronavirus to anyone and everyone except himself. It's the American people who desperately need new leadership," Leahy said.

Senator Ted Cruz, in an interview to Houston's Michael Berry Show, alleged that if China behaved like a responsible government, this crisis could have been averted.

It could have potentially been contained to the region where the outbreak occurred, but for months, they denied it, they suppressed it, he said.

"The World Health Organization acted as puppet and a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist government, insisting the coronavirus had no risk of a human to human transmission... the World Health Organization was helping China spread that propaganda. Many of the deaths we have seen worldwide are a direct consequence of the Chinese coverup," Cruz said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to ramp up its testing capacity amid rising cases of coronavirus in the country, the ICMR has invited applications from all government and private medical colleges for establishing COVID-19 testing facilities.

In its notice, the apex health research body said all medical colleges with infrastructure and expertise which includes availability of a BSL-2 level laboratory facility including a molecular biology setup for virological diagnosis and a functioning and calibrated biosafety cabinet type 2A/2B in the laboratory can apply.

Besides, they will have to have cold centrifuge/microfuge for RNA extraction, a functioning and calibrated real-time PCR machine and a minimum staff including a medical microbiologist and technicians among others.

The staff should have good understanding of laboratory biosafety and biosecurity, trained for handling respiratory samples for viral diagnosis, RNA extraction and real-time PCR, besides having experience of working in virology and handling clinical specimens, especially respiratory samples, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said.

Additionally, for all applicants from private medical colleges, it is essential to submit a copy of the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation certificate and scope of accreditation for real-time PCR for RNA viruses, the ICMR said.

The health research body also listed equipment and consumable requirements for setting up a real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing facility.

Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at ICMR Raman R Gangakhedkar on Wednesday said 1,21,271 tests for COVID-19 have been done in the country so far. Out of these, 13,345 tests were conducted on Tuesday and 2,267 tests out of those have been done in private labs.

He further informed that 139 labs under the ICMR network are currently functional in the country while 65 private laboratories have been given approval for conducting COVID-19 tests.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 149 and the number of cases climbed to 5,274 in the country on Wednesday, registering an increase of 485 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll on Tuesday evening was 124. However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Wednesday evening showed at least 5,521 cases and 172 deaths while 500 were discharged.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.
Police teams are carrying out patrolling in these localities to ensure that nobody ventures out of their homes, Police Commissioner, Lucknow, Sujit Pandey said

Lucknow: Police have stepped up vigil and barricades were erected in eight major and four minor COVID-19 hotspots in the Uttar Pradesh capital that have been completely sealed to check the spread of the deadly virus.

Police teams are carrying out patrolling in these localities to ensure that nobody ventures out of their homes, Police Commissioner, Lucknow, Sujit Pandey said.

"All the hotspots in the city are already barricaded and are being sealed completely till the morning of 15 April. All establishments will be closed in these localities and the media's entry too will be restricted," he said.

Only basic minimum supply of essential commodities will be maintained in these localities, Pandey said.

He said fire brigade vehicles will sanitise these areas and only select cleaning staff will be allowed to enter the hotspots.

The eight major hotspots in the state capital included localities near eight mosques where Tablighi Jamaat members were found staying.

The minor hotspots are in Vijay Khand and Gomti Nagar, where four members of a family including a two and a half years old child tested positive for COVID-19.

A locality near Alina Enclave in Khurramnagar, where a local tested positive, has also been marked as minor hotspot.

Another minor hotspot is in a locality in the Madiaon area after a man tested positive there. A locality near a clinic at Munshipulia, where a man infected with COVID-19 was treated for some time, has also been declared a hotspot.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

The Uttar Pradesh government had on Wednesday decided to completely seal off coronavirus hotspots in 15 districts to stop the spread of the infection, announcing curfew-like restrictions there.

Officials had said the administration will ensure doorstep delivery of items like vegetables and milk in these clusters.

Passes issued to allow essential movement are cancelled in these hotspots which will remain "sealed" up to 15 April morning, when the current three-week nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end, they had said.

Uttar Pradesh has so far reported over 360 coronavirus cases.
Samsung Display is leading the way in manufacturing OLED displays, and the company continues its leadership with a 90.2% market share in Q1 2020.

Samsung captures 90-percent OLED market share in Q1 2020

The latest numbers come from market research firm Stone Partners, whose numbers show that the Korean giant has no equal when it comes to OLED display production. Samsung Display is leaps and bounds ahead of its rivals.

The company holds 90.2% of the market share in Q1 2020. In contrast, its competitors hold 0.4% (Tianna), 4.9% (EDO), 4.5% (Visionox), and 0.1% (BOE) respectively. With Samsung rivals holding no more than 5% of the market share, Samsung has no rivals in the OLED space. Chinese display maker BOE certainly cant be happy with the results, since its 0.1% market share is so far beneath its own display growth prediction for 2020.

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What is interesting to note is that Samsungs OLED market share has increased by 2.1% from Q4 2019. The companys market share increased to as much as 93.7% in Q2 2019.

Its market share dipped by nearly 4% in Q4 2019. Samsung has held at least 87% of the OLED display market share since Q4 2018. Market research firm UBI Research says that Samsungs AMOLED market share will drop to 72 percent this year, though the chances of that decline look very slim (if impossible) at this point.

What the numbers show

The numbers in the OLED market share show what consumers already know. That is, Samsung Display is the number one OLED display producer worldwide. This isnt surprising when one considers just how much Samsung manufactures, sells, and markets OLED displays.

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The Korean giant has been using AMOLED panels in its flagship Galaxy S and Note series since their inceptions. The historically famous Galaxy S3 the company released in 2012 featured a 4.8-inch AMOLED panel. AMOLED panels are one type of OLED display.

Samsung manufactures OLED displays for a number of Android OEMs. Huawei, OnePlus, and Xiaomi are those who have received OLED panels from the company in the last few years. Samsung may very well supply foldable displays to Huawei and Xiaomi in the near future.

In addition to its Android sales, Samsung also sells OLED panels to top rival Apple. Apple used liquid crystal diode (LCD) panels in its iPhone lineup for years until the company simply couldnt compete without AMOLED panels anymore. Sources say that Samsung charges Apple at least $120-$130 per panel, though that price point could be higher in 2020 as OLED demand surges.

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OLED panels on the rise, Samsung exits LCD production

OLED production is where the mobile market is headed. Demand for OLED panels are rising, and with that, Samsungs efforts to market OLED displays are increasing.

LCD has been the more affordable preference for Android OEMs in the last few years. With the demand for OLED rising and the demand for LCD declining, Samsung is slowly but surely exiting the LCD market.

The company has already started reducing LCD screen production. Now Samsung says that it will stop making LCD panels by the end of 2020. LCDs are becoming unprofitable, Samsung says. While the company is still not on board with OLED TVs, it is ditching standard LCD in favor of QLED (Quantum LED LCDs) using Quantum Dot technology.
Bravo's new reality series Family Karma features the first all-Indian cast on American television.

Two of the show's stars, Bali Chainani, 44, and Amrit Kapai, 32, spoke exclusively with DailyMailTV while on coronavirus quarantine to talk about their history making series.

The first season of Family Karma kicked off at the beginning of March, just as the pandemic was ramping up in the U.S., and both Bali and Amrit agree that their show offers a needed distraction.

Family ties: Bali Chainani, 44, and Amrit Kapai, 32, from Bravo's new show Family Karma spoke exclusively with DailyMailTV while on coronavirus quarantine to talk about their history making series

'Now, it's just hugely important because of this global pandemic everyone's in and we're coming into your homes and your families, and bringing something light and something fun and there's laughter and drama and its not ugly,' Bali said.

Family Karma follows a group of friends in Miami, Florida as they navigate their social lives and family ties while the cameras roll.

The official logline from Bravo reads: 'With parents and grandparents instilling their cherished customs, and adult children who are drifting more towards the 'American Way,' the two worlds collide in the most unexpected ways.'

'Sometimes you think Miami and you're like "oh I wouldn't really expect a huge Indian community in Miami" but we're there and it's a nice distraction from all this serious going around,' Amrit said. 'It's giving viewers a chance to laugh and a chance to learn something new.'

'I think it's an opportunity to show people that the culture isn't as cookie-cutter as you think it is - and to dispel a lot of the stereotypes seen on TV with Indians,' Amrit said

Bravo's finest: Family Karma follows a group of Indian friends from traditional background in Miami, Florida as they navigate their social lives and family ties while the cameras roll

For both Amrit and Bali, the significance of being the first full Indian cast to be featured on American television is not lost on them.

They each see it as an opportunity to showcase their culture as well as a chance to challenge myths.

'It became super obvious it was important because we were the first full Indian cast on American television,' Bali explained. Amrit, made similar comments saying: 'It's such an opportunity to showcase what we're about, to showcase our culture.'

'I think it's an opportunity to show people that the culture isn't as cookie-cutter as you think it is - and to dispel a lot of the stereotypes seen on TV with Indians,' Amrit said.

Speaking up: For the single mom of one daughter, Bali finds the show an important place to get a glimpse of what real Indian women are like and show that they do have voices and opinions

Coming out: The series presented a unique opportunity for Amrit, who came out as gay to his parents at the age of 25, to shine a light on someone in the LGBTQ+ community who comes from a traditional Indian background

Amrit added that the network has given then cast a platform to portray themselves authentically, as they really are.

'I love being able to share and show that we're normal,' Bali quipped, echoing his sentiment.

For the single mom of one daughter, Bali finds the show an important place to get a glimpse of what real Indian women are like.

'People tend to think that Indian women don't have a voice or don't have an opinion that matters,' she said. 'We do, we really do.'

'The reaction has been very positive,' he said. 'Particular for me, I've had a lot of positive and supportive messages, about my story, about me, about my parents. Honestly, it's just been overwhelmingly nice.'

'Now, it's just hugely important because of this global pandemic everyone's in and we're coming into your homes and your families, and bringing something light and something fun and there's laughter and drama and its not ugly,' Bali said

The series presented a unique opportunity for Amrit, who came out as gay to his parents at the age of 25, to shine a light on someone in the LGBTQ+ community who comes from a traditional Indian background.

'The reaction has been very positive,' he said. 'Particular for me, I've had a lot of positive and supportive messages, about my story, about me, about my parents. Honestly, it's just been overwhelmingly nice.'

'When viewers see the episodes, they'll see how supportive my parents are and how much they've come around, but It took awhile to get there.

'It wasn't overnight. It took years and years of open communication, conversations, dialogue, exposure. All sorts of things for them to understand what it meant to be gay,' Amrit explained.

Bali and Amrit can be seen along with the rest of the cast, Anisha Ramakrishna, Brian Benni, Vishal Parvani, Monica Vaswani and Shaan Patel, Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
"So while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," Sanders said. "And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race Wednesday, paving the way for the party's only remaining candidate Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee.

In a speech live streamed to supporters in the morning, Sanders said his "path toward victory is virtually impossible," with some 300 fewer delegate votes than Biden's.

"So while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," he said. "And so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park of Chicago, the United States, on March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

Senator from the state of Vermont and a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders has been lagging behind former Vice President Biden in several past primaries, starting in South Carolina in late February and culminating in the crucial states of Michigan and Florida last month, before the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the election process.

While admitting he cannot continue a "campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," Sanders insisted that he and his supporters have won on the ideological front.

"Few would deny that over the course of the past five years our movement has won the ideological struggle," said the 78-year-old.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president, attends a caucus night rally with his wife Jill Biden at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 3, 2020. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)

Over the course of the nominating contest, Biden -- a moderate as opposed to Sanders' progressive stance -- has built up a lead in the decisive delegate votes, garnering over half of the 1,991 votes needed for nomination, thus continuously narrowing Sanders' path toward a one-on-one with incumbent President Donald Trump in the general election.

The veteran politician said he will remain on the ballot in states that still expect to have primaries despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and that he will continue to gather delegates in order to carry his message forward. "While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not."

Sanders has campaigned on a progressive policy agenda that includes Medicare for All through a government-led healthcare system, the Green New Deal to cope with the climate change, and College for All that guarantees tuition- and debt-free public college, among other proposals.

Now trailing presumptive nominee Biden in delegate votes 914 to 1,217, Sanders ran for president in the 2016 race but was defeated by Hillary Clinton in the Democratic nominating process.
Danny John Jules sent Good Morning Britain's hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard wild as he arrived fashionably late to appear on Thursday's live show, despite video calling from home.

The actor, 59, joined his Red Dwarf co-stars Craig Charles, Robert Lleweylln and Chris Barrie for the first time in two years to promote a 90-minute special of their sci-fi comedy series, set to air on Dave at 9PM.

When asked why he was delayed, the Strictly star joked: 'I had to make myself a cuppa, didn't I?'

Oh dear! Danny John Jules sent Good Morning Britain's hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard wild as he arrived late to appear on Thursday's live show, despite video calling from home

The media personality clarified his mishap as he explained: 'Mate, I tell you what, I was on the phone trying to get through while all the messages in London were asking me where I was.'

Moments before he appeared on the breakfast show, thespian and presenter Craig, 55, poked fun on his pal being held up, quipping: 'The Cat [Danny] is always late.

Most actors have a stunt double, but he has an on-time double! This is not a surprise at all.'

They're back! The actor, 59, joined his Red Dwarf co-stars Craig Charles, Robert Lleweylln and Chris Barrie for the first time in two years to promote a 90-minute special of their sci-fi series

Plot: Red Dwarf: The Promised Land will see Dave Lister (Craig), Arnold Rimmer (Chris), the Cat, and Kryten (Robert) go up against Rodon (Ray Fearon), the leader of a gang of feral cats

'I can't believe he's late and he only has to come down from his bedroom!' presenter Ben, 45, joked, before comedian Chris, 60, reassured: 'Danny will be here right at the end, he'll turn up!'

Red Dwarf: The Promised Land will see characters Dave Lister (Craig), Arnold Rimmer (Chris), the Cat, and Kryten (Robert) go up against Rodon (Ray Fearon), the leader of a gang of feral cats.

Gaining a cult following, the show first aired on BBC Two from 1988 until 1999, before returning to screens in 2009 on Dave.

'This is not a surprise at all': Before Danny appeared on the breakfast show, thespian and presenter Craig, 55, quipped: 'Most actors have a stunt double, but he has an on-time double!'

On the special film, DJ Craig enthused about starring in the hit franchise alongside his long-time friends: 'The audience has been great over the years.

'They have always stayed with us, we were the most watched programme on BBC 2 for a couple of years. I've known them longer than anyone else in my life - longer than my wife and children.'

The group also detailed their isolation routines amid the nation's lockdown, with Chris sharing: 'had a nice little birthday at home, but not the swinging party I expected to celebrate my 30th [laughs].'

'I've known them longer than I've known anyone else': On the special film, DJ Craig enthused about starring in the hit franchise alongside his long-time friends

Corrie star Craig admitted he and his wife of 21 years, Jackie Fleming, have been butting heads: 'We're starting to find things we don't like about each other!'

Elsewhere in the interview, former Scrapheap Challenge host Robert, 64, thanked the NHS as he spoke about recovering from sepsis late last year.

He said: 'I'm extremely grateful, I know I don't look it! I was so incredibly well looked after, the [nurses] were extraordinary.'
Scientists have warned that newborn babies may be at risk of catching COVID-19 from their mother during pregnancy. Chinese doctors studied four newborns who tested positive for the coronavirus just days after a Caesarean delivery. They were tested after they experienced mild coronavirus symptoms.

Pregnant at risk of coronavirus

Three babies had been isolated as soon as they were born because their mothers were tested positive for the virus before birth. The fourth mother and baby tested positive days later. Researchers said that they could not rule out that the babies had been infected with the virus while they were still in the womb through the placenta, although this theory has no direct evidence yet.

However, it is possible that the babies contracted the virus from the hospital, but the chances of this happening is low because of the special infection control measures in place at the time, according to the scientists. Pregnant mothers are included in the U.K. government's list of high-risk people who must be isolated and protected from the virus. It is a precautionary measure because scientists still does not know if the newborn babies are at risk of infection.

Also Read: Viral Video Shows Dead Bodies Disposed from Wuhan Hospital Late At Night, After Reporting Zero Cases

Can babies be infected with the virus?

Dr. Zhi-Jiang Zhang of Wuhan University and lead author of the study said that COVID-19 is highly contagious and their study suggests that intrauterine transmission can't be ruled out, but that the prognosis is good for both pregnant women and newborn babies. There are a lot of papers that are looking into the COVID-19 in babies, but more research is needed to distinguish the risks.

Pregnant women all over the world are now worried about their health and the health of their babies. There is very little data available that talks about how the virus affects those who are pregnant. According to health officials, pregnancy changes a woman's immune system, which puts her at higher risk for severe complications if she catches a dangerous virus like the flu.

According to Dr. Roxanna A. Irani, M.D., Ph.D., the medical director of outpatient obstetrics at the University of California, San Francisco, a pregnant woman's risk for complications also increases if she has any underlying health conditions like lupus and diabetes.

Dr. Denise J. Jamieson, M.D., M.P.H., chairwoman of gynecology and obstetrics at the Emory University School of Medicine, said that at this point in the outbreak, women should not change their delivery plans based on the coronavirus. Hospitals are taking precautions to make sure that pregnant women are not exposed to ill patients and visitors.

Health experts have warned against women deciding at the last minute to give birth at home, it is because home birth requires months of education, planning and preparation. Hospitals across the U.S are actively revising their policies in order to estimate how many people can visit during labor and delivery. This is to make sure that social distancing is still being practiced.

According to Dr. Vincenzo Berghella, the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, a lot of ob-gyns are changing the structure of prenatal care to limit patient, relative and staff exposure and to practice social distancing as much as possible. A lot of visits can be done by telehealth, which is through an app.

Health experts also suggest that pregnant women should have blood pressure monitors at home because it is helpful for visits. In this way, pregnant women can take a blood pressure measurement and report it to their provider.

Related Article: Coronavirus Pandemic: How It Changed Giving Birth and Funerals

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) stepped up attack on Health Organisation while referring to the January 14 tweet made by the UN Health Body which claimed that there was no human-to-human transmission.

" Health Organisation made a statement on January 14 that there was no human-to-human transmission, while there was. They criticised me very strongly when I said that we were going to shut down flights coming in from China. On many ways, they were wrong," he said.

The President said his administration is working to make new therapies and treatments available without delay.

The US President also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the decision on the export of hydroxychloroquine, in the wake of global coronavirus pandemic.

"Our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested before the problem arose. He was terrific. We will remember it," the US President said, addressing a press briefing here.

Earlier, the President had in a tweet thanked India and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "strong leadership."

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had tweeted.

The United States as of Wednesday was leading the in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 429,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death toll in the country has surpassed 14,500.

The death toll in Italy and Spain stand at 17,000 and 12,000 respectively.

According to a New York Times report, New York reported its highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day on Wednesday, announcing that another 779 people had died bringing the virus death toll to 6,268 in New York State.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Los Angeles, California--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Versus Systems Inc. (CSE: VS) (OTCQB: VRSSF) (FSE: BMVA) ("Versus") today announces an agreement with Animoca Brands to bring Versus' proprietary in-game rewards technology to games by Animoca Brands, makers of popular games The Sandbox, F1 Delta Time, and Power Rangers: Legacy Wars.

The two companies will work together to integrate real-world rewards into three of Animoca Brands' games in 2020. The companies have already negotiated a share swap and investment program, announced in August 2019, and will continue to expand upon that relationship in 2020.

Versus enables game publishers and developers like Animoca Brands to offer in-game prizing across mobile, console, PC games, and streamed media, helping to increase the value for end-users and boosting retention rates.

Animoca Brands, named by PocketGamer as one of the Top 50 Global Developers and ranked fifth in BlockchainGamer.biz's list of Top 50 blockchain companies of 2020, is a developer and publisher of various games including original games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Formula 1, Power Rangers, Garfield, Snoopy, Thomas & Friends, Ever After High, and Doraemon.

"Animoca Brands makes all kinds of amazing games with some of the world's most recognizable and beloved characters, shows, and properties. We are excited to bring our in-game reward technologies to Animoca Brands' players in Asia, in the US, and all over the globe," said Matthew Pierce, CEO of Versus.

Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: "Versus is developing solutions that are appealing and beneficial to game publishers and their users, and we are very excited about further collaboration opportunities as we commence the integration of Versus' innovative rewards systems into our products."

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands leverages gamification, blockchain, and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Formula 1, Garfield, Snoopy, Thomas & Friends, Ever After High and Doraemon. Animoca Brands' portfolio of blockchain investments and partnerships includes Lucid Sight, Dapper Labs (creators of CryptoKitties), WAX, Harmony, and Decentraland. The Company is based in Hong Kong, Canada, Finland, and Argentina. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or get updates by following Animoca Brands on Facebook or Twitter.

About Versus Systems

Versus Systems Inc. has developed a proprietary in-game prizing and promotions engine that allows game publishers and developers to offer in-game prizing across mobile, console, PC games, and streaming media. Brands pay to place products in-game and gamers compete for those prizes. For more information, please visit www.versussystems.com or visit Versus Systems official YouTube channel.

For Versus Systems, contact:

press@versussystems.com

(424) 242-4150

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the proposed use of proceeds from the Offering. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54311
Crude OIL 4h Elliott Wave Analysis: Trades Into Resistance Area EW-Forecast.com - 9 minutes ago Crude oil made nice and strong five waves down in November, which is a bearish structure so we assume that energy has turned into a higher degree correction CLG22 : 79.31 (+1.38%)

Markets Still Not Wowed Market Tea Leaves - 1 hour ago Yesterday the markets still didn't trade Higher. Can this change today?

Bulgaria's leaders self-isolate after speaker COVID-positive AP - Tue Jan 11, 5:17AM CST SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)  Bulgarias top leaders are self-isolating after being in contact with the parliamentary speaker who tested positive for the coronavirus, the countrys chief health inspector... $SPX : 4,670.29 (-0.14%) $DOWI : 36,068.87 (-0.45%) $IUXX : 15,614.43 (+0.14%)

Factory farming dispute vexes Spain's coalition government AP - Tue Jan 11, 4:26AM CST MADRID (AP)  A spat over factory farming is causing tension in Spains left-of-center coalition government, with the farm minister on Tuesday describing the consumer ministers criticism of the... $SPX : 4,670.29 (-0.14%) $DOWI : 36,068.87 (-0.45%) $IUXX : 15,614.43 (+0.14%)

Nasdaq100 (NQ) Trying to Bounce Off Weekly Chart Upchannel Support Tradable Patterns - Tue Jan 11, 2:18AM CST The Nasdaq100 (NQH22) is consolidating yesterdays reversal off downchannel support (on the 4hr and daily chart), but remains vulnerable in todays European morning. Significantly, although NQ is... NQH22 : 15,671.25 (+0.41%) QQQ : 380.11 (+0.07%)

Federal Reserve's Powell: High inflation 'exacts a toll' AP - Mon Jan 10, 11:01PM CST WASHINGTON (AP)  High inflation is taking a toll on American families, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged in remarks to be delivered at a Tuesday congressional hearing, where he is sure... $SPX : 4,670.29 (-0.14%) $DOWI : 36,068.87 (-0.45%) $IUXX : 15,614.43 (+0.14%)
Some pet owners have been abandoning their pets fearing that Coronavirus could spread from animals to them. Call it inhuman or misinformed cruelty, several well educated and influential persons in society have been abandoning their pets fearing spread of Coronavirus.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has received seven abandoning cases in the past two days. Pet owners have abandoned imported breed of dogs including cocker spaniel, Doberman, Alsatian, Labrador and Pomeranian, among others.

The municipal authorities said that there was no need to panic about stray animals, as the corporation has been giving Corona canine vaccine for over 30 years in the city.

Several complaints have been pouring in from several sections of society that residents living in prime residential areas like Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Gachibowli, Kukatp-ally, Madhapur and others have been inhumanly abandoning pet animals.

Two pets in Patancheru and Kukatpally have lost their lives fighting with stray dogs in the last few days.

Taking a serious note of the trend, GHMC officials said that abandoning pets is a criminal offence according to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). However, the GHMC, fearing influential persons who have lot of clout, have not booked any cases against the offenders.

A senior GHMC official, working in the veterinary wing, told Deccan Chronicle that the Humane Society International (HSI), one of the worlds largest animal protection organisations, in their report said that there has been no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted from pets to humans. He said that as per HSI report, that there is little evidence that dogs and cats contract Covid-19.

However, the official said that though Covid-19 can be transmitted from human to animals, there have been few cases reported only in China and Singapore.

The corporation official said that as of now, there is Covid-19 transmission among stray animals.

The civic body has vaccinated stray dogs. When asked if there is a Corona vaccine available for dogs and cats, he said, many animals carry coronaviruses but it is not Covid-19 strain.

He said coronavirus that dogs and cats commonly carry is not transferable to humans.

There has been vaccine for coronavirus which attacks gastrointestinal system but Covid-19 virus affects the respiratory system. The coronaviruses in dogs and cats are mild, the corona vaccines are considered non-essential and not routinely recommended. We have been giving such corona vaccines to stray animals and many private veterinary doctors have been practising the same for several years, he added.

What pets owners tested Corona positive should do:

When handling and caring for animals, basic hygiene measures should always be implemented. This includes hand washing before and after being around or handling animals, their food or supplies, as well as avoiding kissing, licking or sharing food.

When possible, people who are sick or under medical attention for Covid-19, should avoid close contact with their pets and have another member of their household care for their animals.

If they must look after their pet, they should maintain good hygiene practices and wear a face mask if possible.

Animals belonging to owners infected with Covid-19 should be kept indoors as much as possible and contact with those pets should be avoided as much as possible.

Currently, there is no evidence that companion animals are playing a significant epidemiological role in this human disease.

However, because animals and people can sometimes share diseases (known as zoonotic diseases), it is still recommended that people who are sick with Covid-19 limit contact with companion and other animals until more information is known about the virus.
VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta can no longer guarantee the rescue of migrants or allow their disembarkation during the coronavirus emergency, the Malta government said on Thursday.

It said the decision had been taken because its resources were stretched by the enforcement of measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus, as well as the risk that the migrants themselves may be carrying the virus.

The announcement came 24 hours after Italy closed its own harbors, saying its ports could not longer be considered safe because of the pandemic.

"It is in the interest and responsibility of such people not to endanger themselves on a risky voyage to a country which is not in a position to offer them a secure harbor," Malta's government said.

The decision by Italy and Malta came as the German Sea-Eye migrant aid group said its rescue vessel Alan Kurdi had picked up 150 people from two wooden boats off the coast of Libya on Monday. With the two closest European countries closed, it is unclear where they will be taken.

The Maltese government said that over the years Malta had been under immense pressure and had rescued thousands of migrants "with little tangible help".

The government also published a statement it is sending to the European Commission, explaining the situation.

"In the light of the magnitude of these pressures, it is considered that the Maltese authorities are not in a position to guarantee the rescue of prohibited immigrants on board of any boats, ships or other vessels, nor to ensure the availability of a safe place on the Maltese territory to any persons rescued at sea," the statement read.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Trend





Azerbaijanis who returned from abroad thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

Zaur Adilov, who is on quarantine in the Athletes Village, said that he was brought from Izmir after sending a letter, requesting help.

Adilov stressed that he is in Baku for the fifth day.

In response, head of the sector on work with Turkic-speaking states under the leadership of chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora Fuad Muradov called me and ensured that the Azerbaijani government would provide help, Adilov added.

"Then Chairman of the Izmir Association of the Azerbaijan Brotherhood and Business Community, Azerbaijani businessman Asif Gurbanov, known in Turkey as Asif Kurban, was informed about us, the letter said. Kurban paid for our accommodation in Turkeys hotel.

Adilov added that both the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with the Diaspora and the Izmir Association of the Azerbaijan Brotherhood and Business Community called every day.

"We really needed moral support, Adilov said in the letter. The Azerbaijani diaspora and related structures in Turkey are represented by Azerbaijanis with high organizational abilities. We are grateful to them."

"The Azerbaijani government, the Azerbaijani embassy and consulate in Turkey faced a difficult choice, Adilov added. The embassy in Ankara revealed that my son Jalal had very high level of insulin, insulin resistance and TSH hormones. He suffered from severe scoliosis and flatulence.

For this reason, our family was sent to Azerbaijan by a charter flight, the letter said. We also thank the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey. Once again, we thank President Aliyev and all those who participated in resolving the issue of our return."
BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday demanded strict action against a BJP MP who had allegedly beaten up a Dalit officer, saying such behaviour was "shameful".

Revenue officer Arvind Kumar was allegedly beaten by the BJP's Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak and his supporters on Tuesday.

"Manhandling and misbehavior with a dalit 'tehsildar, who was discharging his duty honestly, by the BJP MP in Kannauj recently is very shameful," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

In a separate tweet she said, "It's saddening that instead of going to jail, this MP is roaming outside due to which dalit employees are agitated. In such circumstances, the chief minister should initiate strict action against this MP so that he does not repeat such an incident in the future."



"BSP demands strict action against the MP so that such behaviour is not meted out to any other Dalit employee in the state," she said.

Kumar had alleged that Pathak was pressurising him to sanction some projects which flouted rules and when he refused, the leader verbally abused him on the phone and later arrived at his residence along with his supporters and beat him up.

Pathak, however, said the official had failed to properly distribute food among the poor and also misbehaved with his supporters.

"I was continuously getting complaints from the poor regarding distribution of food and when I took up the matter with him (Kumar) he reacted indecently," Pathak had said.

The MP had also alleged that the Kumar misbehaved with his supporters and beat them up.

A case has been registered against the MP under the SC/ST Act and other sections of the IPC and a probe is on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2020 -- The report "Farm Equipment Rental Market by Equipment Type (Tractors, Harvesters, Sprayers, Balers & Other Equipment Types), Power Output (<30HP, 31-70HP, 71-130HP, 131-250HP, >250HP), Drive (Two-wheel Drive and Four-wheel Drive), Region  Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, The global farm equipment rental market is estimated to be valued at USD 46.8 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach a value of USD 66.4 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period. Factors such as the increase in demand for food security by the growing population, shortage of skilled labor, and increase in mechanization in developing countries are projected to drive the growth of the farm equipment rental market.



Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=165100186



The two-wheel-drive segment is projected to be the largest segment in the Asia Pacific farm equipment rental market during the forecast period.



The two-wheel-drive tractors are primarily used for farming in dry soil conditions, and also for transporting the field produce. Two-wheel-drive tractors are efficient and easy to use without much energy consumption. They facilitate farmers with smaller turning cycles, to access corners or smaller areas, and easy usability. These are also cheaper than the robust 4WD tractors, which makes them perfect for the use of smallholding or family farmers. As they are used in smaller areas of land, their demand is higher in the developing regions such as Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, where majority cultivation practices are undertaken by small farmers.



Browse in-depth TOC on "Farm Equipment Rental Market"



111 - Tables

45 - Figures

181 - Pages



The tractors segment is estimated to account for the largest market share, in terms of value, in 2020.



Tractors are used in various farming activities such as plowing & cultivating, sowing & planting, threshing, and others. The demand for tractors for a rental basis by farmers is expected to boost further mechanization during the forecast period. As the population in the Asia Pacific region continues to increase at a rapid pace, countries such as India, Thailand, and Vietnam would observe a significant growth in the demand for food grains, which, in turn, will drive the farm equipment rental market in the region. The regional government authorities are making efforts to increase farm mechanization by providing additional support to the farmers.



The >250 HP segment, on the basis of power output, is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, in terms of value, in 2019.



Tractors beyond the 250 HP power range accounted for the least market share, by power output, globally. North America and Europe are the largest markets for > 250 HP farm tractors, where some global giants such as John Deere, CNH Industrial, CLAAS, and AGCO are the key suppliers. These are high-power machinery and are used for the cultivation of land extending up to thousands of hectares. Their demand only exists in the US and European regions; wherein there are large commercial farmers. They support farm processes such as harvesting and plowing.



Speak to Analyst: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=165100186



Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The market for farm equipment rental in the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025. The predominance of small-scale manufacturers and increasing focus on rice cultivation are also widely seen across various countries in the Asia Pacific region. Farmers in the Asia Pacific region are increasingly producing rice and crops such as palm and cotton. Further, a shift from the adoption of labor-intensive farming techniques to advanced technological equipment in the agricultural sector across the Asia Pacific countries has led to increasing demand for tractors and various farming equipment such as harvesters and spraying and threshing equipment for renting purposes.



This report includes a study on the marketing and development strategies, along with a study on the product portfolios of the leading companies operating in the farm equipment rental market. It includes the profiles of leading companies, such as John Deere (US), CNH Industrial (UK), Kubota Corporation (Japan), AGCO Corporation (US), Mahindra & Mahindra (India), JCB (UK), and Escorts Ltd (India), Tractors and farm equipment's ltd. (India), Pape Group, Inc. (US), Premier Equipment Rentals (US), Flaman Group of Companies (Canada), Pacific Ag Rentals (US), Pacific Tractors & Implements Ltd (US), Kwipped Inc. (US), Cedar street sales & rentals (US), Farmease (US), EM3 Agri Services (India), German Bliss Equipment Inc. (US), and Friesen Sales & Rentals (Canada).
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care on Thursday, after being admitted for coronavirus treatment.

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," a spokesman for No. 10 Downing Street said in a statement to NBC News.

"He is in extremely good spirits," the spokesman said.

The Conservative Party leader announced on March 27 that he had contracted COVID-19, making him the first major governmental leader known to have contracted the virus.

Johnson, 55, tweeted Monday morning that had been admitted to St. Thomas' Hospital in London the previous night for "some routine tests" because he was still experiencing coronavirus symptoms. He previously said that he had been tested for the virus after coming down with "mild symptoms," including "a temperature and a persistent cough."

On Monday afternoon, a government spokesman said Johnson was moved to the ICU after his symptoms "worsened."
HNLMS Karel Doorman will leave Den Helder on Monday 13 April, bound for the Caribbean. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence is deploying the ship to provide immediate support to the civil authorities in the COVID-19 pandemic if needed. The ship is initially being deployed for three months.

With the presence of this logistic support ship, the Caribbean islands will be able to rely on versatile and rapidly deployable capability in addition to that of the guard ship already present in the region, HNLMS Zeeland. HNLMS Karel Doorman can provide support in the form of transport capability in order to, for instance, guarantee food security. In addition, the RNLN ship is capable of assisting the coastguard in maritime border control, and can act as a base of operations from which to quickly provide man and materiel in support of public order on land. Lastly, the ship also houses medical resources that can support the local healthcare system by providing non-COVID-related emergency treatment.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence has received a number of requests for assistance in the fight against coronavirus from local authorities in the Dutch Caribbean. At present, Defence is already assisting with units stationed in the region, including support in maritime border control and in maintaining public order. By prepositioning HNLMS Karel Doorman in the region, Defence will ensure that additional support can be provided at very short notice whenever it is needed.

In addition to its own capabilities as a transport and supply ship, the Karel Doorman will be augmented by 2 Cougar helicopters from the Royal Netherlands Air Force for medical transport and medical evacuation, a medical team with surgical capability, a medical team for basic medical support on shore and drones from the army and navy to assist in picture compilation. Netherlands Marine Corps units will also take part in the deployment, with vehicles and landing craft for transport purposes. An additional marine unit can be flown in if necessary. The ship will also carry a hurricane disaster relief package.

France and the United Kingdom also each have a navy ship in the region, and a coordination cell has been established on Martinique with these countries to facilitate cooperation where necessary. The Karel Doorman could for example provide fuel for these ships.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Rome, Italy  Thu, April 9, 2020 15:40 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0da7a2 2 World Italy,Prime-Minister,Giuseppe-Conte,coronavirus-prevention,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-quarantine Free

Italy may start gradually lifting some restrictions in place to contain the new coronavirus by the end of April, provided the spread of the disease continues to slow, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC on Thursday.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told the British broadcaster.

Conte warned, however, that Italy could not lower its guard and restrictions would only be eased gradually.

There were 542 deaths from COVID-19 in Italy on Wednesday, lower than the 604 the day before, taking the total death toll to 17,669. There were 3,693 people in intensive care, down from 3,792 on Tuesday - the fifth daily decline in a row.

The decline has raised hopes the virus is on the retreat thanks to a nationwide lockdown, though the number of new cases rose 3,836, compared with 3,039 on Tuesday, to reach 139,422, the third highest globally behind the United States and Spain.

Italy imposed the nationwide lockdown on March 9. Two weeks later, Conte announced that non-essential businesses, including car, clothing and furniture manufacturing, would have to close.

Businesses in the country's northern industrial heartland have been urging the government to let them reopen factories to prevent an economic catastrophe, even though the north is the area worst hit by the coronavirus.

Branches of employers lobby group Confindustria representing the northern regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, which account for 45% of Italy's economic output, called on the government on Wednesday to set out a "roadmap" for a return to work.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is resisting pressure to sack Arts Minister Don Harwin but the frontbencher could still face a $1,000 fine for staying at his Central Coast holiday home amid coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Harwin was at his Pearl Beach house on Wednesday afternoon, more than an hour's drive from his apartment in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

It comes as the state government says all non-essential travel to regional NSW towns must be cancelled including Easter holiday trips.

But Ms Berejiklian said Mr Harwin hadn't broken the rules as he had relocated three weeks ago, before COVID-19 regulations came into effect.

PICTURED: Don Harwin, the NSW Arts Minister, fled his Sydney apartment in March and relocated to his $1.3million investment property at Pearl Beach on the NSW Central Coast

Pearl Beach (pictured) is a popular tourist spot on the New South Wales Central Coast

Mr Harwin made the premier aware of the change of his principal place of residence a few days ago, according to Ms Berejiklian.

She nevertheless ordered the MP to return to Sydney as the 'perception is horrible'.

'I regret and apologise to everybody that someone from my team undertook this activity,' the premier told reporters on Thursday.

'It's not just about sticking to the rules, it's about making sure there's a perception that everybody is sticking to the rules including members of parliament.'

Ms Berejiklian suggested 'personal health reasons' had prompted Mr Harwin's move to the Central Coast.

NSW Police have been tasked with determining if Mr Harwin's actions constituted a breach to public health orders.

Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said he couldn't force Mr Harwin to answer questions but would seek an explanation via Police Minister David Elliott.

'If his excuse doesn't cut the mustard he'll get a $1000 fine,' Mr Fuller said.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) is refusing to sack new South Wales Arts Minister Don Harwin- saying he hasn't broken any rules because he relocated before COVID-19 restrictions were imposed

Police checkpoints are set up at the New South Wales/Queensland border to prevent non esseential travel between the two states

Ms Berejiklian said she would wait for police to establish the facts before determining if further disciplinary action was necessary.

'If someone is shown to act in a way which is against the ministerial code or against the laws of this state, of course, I'll take action,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Officials across the world have been caught flouting self-isolation rules and reprimanded including Scotland's chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood and New Zealand Health Minister David Clark.

Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton described Mr Harwin's behaviour as frustrating and reminded Australians to not underestimate the virus.

'We've really been able to reduce the number of cases in a way in which has impacted the community,' Mr Dutton told 2GB Radio on Thursday.

'But if we have community transmission then ... it can get away very quickly.'

New South Wales police is urging residents to stay home this Easter Long Weekend
The Maharashtra unit of the



Congress party on Thursday set up a COVID-19 task force under the leadership of former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to assist the state government in tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

The task force comprises various sub-committees, which will study different aspects of the impact that the pandemic caused.

State Congress president and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the task force will work under former CM and MLA Prithviraj Chavan and will have 18 other members with former MP Bhalchandra Mungekar as the coordinator.

Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Satav, Mumbai Congress president Eknath Gaikwad, former state unit President Manikrao Thakre, MPCC working president Basavraj Patil, Muzzafar Hussain, former minister Naseem Khan, former union minister Vilas Muttemwar, former president of the state women's commission Sushiben Shah, former minister Chandrakant Handore, MLA Sangram Thopte and former minister Ranjeet Kamble, former MLA Kalyan Kale, MPCC general secretary Ganesh Patil and others are members of this task force.

The national co-ordinator of the AICC research wing, Amol Deshmukh, is the secretary of the task force.

Many sub-committees have been set up under this task force to study different aspects of the pandemic, like its the socio-economic impact. Another committee will study the public health system in the state and suggest ways to improve and strengthen it.

Another committee will keep a close watch on the government measures and whether they are being implemented properly.

A media, social media and helpline sub-committee has also been set up. This committee will work towards creating awareness and publicising the steps taken by the government and closely monitoring relief work. This panel will also look into the complaints and suggestions received by the helpdesk set up by the MPCC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leftist US Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign Wednesday, clearing the way for rival Joe Biden to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge Donald Trump in November. The feisty 78-year-old democratic socialist shook up the 2020 race with his relentless pursuit of "economic justice" for all Americans and a demand for universal health care. But he acknowledged his campaign had fallen short, as party voters determined Biden would be a stronger candidate to go up against Trump in the general election. "I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," Sanders told supporters in a livestream from his home, where he has remained for the bulk of the coronavirus pandemic that put all in-person campaigning on hold. "Vice president Biden will be the nominee," he said, adding that he congratulated his rival, a "very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward." Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in 2016, mounted a formidable 2020 bid. He raised astonishing amounts of money from record numbers of donors, becoming the frontrunner early this year and earning the most votes in the first three state-wide contests. But he was eclipsed by a surging Biden, who won the vast majority of remaining primaries and now holds a commanding lead in the all-important race for delegates who choose the nominee. Sanders brought his liberal ideological platform -- including a call for universal health care and a $15 hourly minimum wage -- into the mainstream. "Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice," Sanders said. Several lawmakers have come out in support of his policies, and Biden has shifted leftward to incorporate some Sanders positions, although he does not support Sanders's Medicare for All plan. - Biden seeks party unity - Biden immediately hailed Sanders as "a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country." He urged Sanders supporters to join his campaign, which already has the backing of nearly all other ex-rivals in the race including senators Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, and former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg. "I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country," Biden said in a statement to Sanders and his supporters. "I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You're needed." Trump made his own pitch for Sanders's supporters, though in a more abrasive tone. "Bernie Sanders is OUT!" the president posted on Twitter. "The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!" Trump said. Trump won the 2016 election with help from disaffected working-class voters who believed they were being left behind by politicians in Washington. Sanders also appeals to those voters. He said he would not remain in an unwinnable campaign that would "interfere" with important anti-coronavirus work while the country is gripped by crisis. Biden said his focus is on ending the pandemic, but promised to continue campaigning despite the logistical challenges. "First things first: how we're going to keep America safe and get this crisis under control and provide economic assistance," he said during a virtual fundraiser. - 'Strengths where I have weaknesses' - And he repeated a pledge to choose a woman as his running mate -- a topic on which he said he has asked former president Barack Obama for advice. At a second virtual fundraiser later in the day, he seemed to imply he had an eye on former rival Harris, who had hoped to become the first black woman president. The two had one particularly memorable clash on a debate stage before she dropped out of the primary in December and later endorsed his candidacy. "And I'm so lucky to have you as part of this, this partnership going forward," Biden said of 55-year-old Harris, who also made a virtual appearance Wednesday. "We can make a great deal of difference, and the biggest thing we can do is make Donald Trump a one-term president. So I'm coming for you, kid," Biden said. Trump injected his own comments into his rivals' contest during a coronavirus briefing, wondering why Obama had not yet endorsed his former vice president, who Trump regularly dismisses as "Sleepy Joe." "He knows something that you don't know," Trump warned voters of Obama's silence so far. But Obama did not endorse the previous Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state, until June 2016, after it became clear she would be the party's nominee. Sanders stressed he would remain on the ballot and seek to gain as many delegates as possible in order to "exert significant influence" over the direction of the party. And while Biden may be to the center of Sanders, former Obama team member Jon Favreau pointed out last month that Biden "will run on the most progressive platform of any Democratic nominee in history," crediting Sanders and his supporters for that change in the party's ideology. In this video still image from the Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaign, Sanders announces the suspension of his presidential campaign Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders greeted each other with a safe elbow bump before the start of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate on March 15, 2020 Biden, pictured, immediately hailed Sanders as "a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country" Bide seemed to imply he had an eye on former rival Kamala Harris, pictured, who had hoped to become the first black woman president Profile of Bernie Sanders who ended his campaign for Democratic party presidential nomination leaving rival Joe Biden as the sole candidate.
April 8, 2020, OTTAWA, ON  Government of Canada officials will hold a media technical briefing on data and modelling informing public health action on coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Ministers will also hold a news conference to provide an update on coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Date

April 9, 2020

Time



Media Technical Briefing:

9:00 AM (EDT)

Ministers News Conference :

12:00 PM (EDT)

Location

West Block, Room 225

Parliament Hill

Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario

The Media Technical Briefing will also be held by teleconference.

Toll-free (Canada/US) dial-in number: 1-866-805-7923

Local dial-in number: 613-960-7518

Passcode: 1683514#

NOTE: To obtain a copy of the briefing package, please RSVP by email at hc.media.sc@canada.ca

The Ministers news conference will also be held by teleconference.

Toll-free (Canada/US) dial-in number: 1-866-206-0153

Local dial-in number: 613-954-9003

Passcode: 1622050#

Twitter: @GovCanHealth

Facebook: Healthy Canadians
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spread nationwide, its safer if human-to-human contact is minimised.

Doctor Le Ngoc Lam from Sa Dec General Hospital in Dong Thap Province with his robot which is designed to deliver food and medicines to patients in the hospital's COVID-19 quarantine.

To help in this regard, Le Ngoc Lam, a doctor from Sa Dec General Hospital in the southern province of Dong Thap, has successfully created a robot to support care services for patients.

The robot is designed to deliver meals and medicines to quarantined individuals in the hospital, which is currently treating four positive cases.

Lam said it took him nearly a week to research and put the robot into use, helping ease workload and reduce cross-infection risks in the hospital.

It's like having a medical worker without problems related to infection, he said.

The robot is able to move in a 40m-radius and carry up to 10kg. It costs less than VND2 million (US$85).

The rechargeable battery can be used continuously for six hours.

It allows the hospital to limit the amount of direct contact clinical staff have with patients, thus reducing the risk of infection.

The robot includes a speaker to inform patients inside the room to go out to get food or medicine.

The small robot can easily move in narrow spaces.

In early designs, the start button was located on the body of the device, causing difficulties for the user, according to Lam.

This button is now on the remote control.

Robots are helping relieve the pressure on health workers treating coronavirus victims, said Nguyen Lam Thai Thuan, director of the provincial Health Department.

Medical staff can care for their patients in quarantine without direct contact, reducing any cross-infection risks in the hospital, he said.

Lam received a certificate of merit from the provincial Health Department for his outstanding achievements in research and successfully manufacturing this delivery robot.

During 17 years of working in the health sector, doctor Lam has contributed many useful initiatives in science and technology in Dong Thap Province and was honoured at the National Science and Technology Innovation Awards 2012-13.

Lam's robot is one machine among several created by employees in the health sector to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, a medical worker from the Central Hospital in Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue Province, also transformed a toy car into a special robot capable of bringing food and medicine to COVID-19 patients in quarantine.  VNS

HCM City develops 3D-printed robot to disinfect rooms A team of researchers from the Eastern People's Military Hospital have finished detailed designs for a robot to clean and disinfect rooms of those quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of thousands of UK workers stand to lose their jobs and livelihoods as the coronavirus spreads rapidly. In the last two weeks, a wave of companies have collapsed into administration and closure--meaning that tens of thousands of workers losing their jobs will not have one to go back to after the lockdown ends.

The large Debenhams department store chain began the week by announcing its intention to go into light touch administration to fend off legal action from creditors. It is unclear how many of its remaining 40 stores and 20,000 jobs will remain when stores reopen after the coronavirus lockdown. The company had already planned 28 closures in 2021.

As the virus takes its toll, unemployment mounts. Over the weekend, store chain Cath Kidston, which sells everything from furniture and clothing to pet accessories, announced it was going into administration, shedding 847 jobs.

Last week, restaurant chain Carluccios and retailer Brighthouse both collapsed into administration putting 4,400 jobs at risk.

The COVID-19 outbreak has precipitated an avalanche of job losses, described by the Financial Times as economic Armageddon. The unemployment rate for the quarter ending June is expected to soar to eight percent, up from 3.9 percent in January, to 2.5 million. By September, a figure of at least 8.5 percent is predicted.

On March 20, Boris Johnsons Conservative government announced the closure of all bars, pubs, restaurants, leisure facilities and high street stores in a belated attempt to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

Italian-owned Carluccios, with 71 outlets and 2,000 employees, was the first chain in the dining sector to announce its collapse since being forced to close its doors to the public. Administrator FRP Advisory said it was hoping to mothball the business under the government emergency job retention scheme, which provides 80 percent of employees wages.

Even before the outbreak, Carluccios was in trouble, due to fierce competition in the industry, rising costs and falling revenues. In 2018, it entered a company voluntary arrangement to renegotiate its debts.

Brighthouse, mainly located in rundown shopping centres, faced difficulties before the pandemic, closing 30 stores last year. The shuttering of its remaining 340 outlets means 3,000 job losses. Preying on the most financially vulnerable, Brighthouse was the UKs leading rent-to-own retailer, notorious for high interest loans for customers to purchase white goods, TVs and furniture.

The firm was recently hit by new regulations curbing high-cost lending, and compensation claims for failing to carry out credit-worthy checks.

The Mexican restaurant chain Chiquito also went into administration, threatening the closure of 61 restaurants and 1,500 jobs.

Marston's, proprietor of 1,400 pubs across the UK, and Mitchells & Butlers, the owner of Toby Carverybefore lockdown packed with working-class families enjoying traditional roast dinnersand All Bar One are struggling to avoid foreclosure.

On March 17, fashion house Laura Ashley became the first retail casualty of coronavirus, with 150 stores shutting and 2,700 redundancies. Founded in 1953, it became famous for its unique textile and wallpaper designs, furniture and womens clothing. The company was already struggling and on the verge of securing a 150 million loan to keep afloat, when main shareholder, Malaysian-based investment company MUI Asia Limited, pulled out.

The UKs retail industry has been particularly hard hit in the recent period, losing 140,000 jobs in 2019. The rise of online-based shopping and companies like Amazon with fewer overheads left department chains unable to compete.

The pandemic has greatly accelerated what was an already advanced decline. Last year, Debenhams shut stores while Mothercare folded completely.

On the same day as Laura Ashleys demise, Dixons Carphone announced the closure from April 3 of all its 531 stand-alone stores in the UK, with 2,900 posts going. The company plans to sell online or via its 305 shop-in-shops in Currys PC World stores when stores reopen. Dixons Carphone said the decision to shutter stores was unconnected to the pandemic.

British clothing chain Mountain Warehouse, an outdoor gear specialist, said it was considering 2,000 redundancies across stores in nine countries following a catastrophic drop in sales.

Halfords is another well-known brand cutting back on its High Street presence, announcing it would shut its 22 Cycle Republic stores, which serve mostly city commuters. Some 200 jobs will be lost.

The collapse of these firms and loss of thousands of jobs only confirms that the 370 billion emergency coronavirus bailout fund that the government made available to big business is doing next to nothing to protect the working class from the loss of their livelihoods.

A month ago, regional airline Flybe went into administration, with the loss of 2,300 jobs. The airline provided half the UKs domestic flights outside of London. Reduced bookings due to coronavirus was the final straw.

Airlines are teetering on the brink as travel is banned.

The UKs flagship airline British Airways (BA) cancelled all flights out of Londons Gatwick airport and suspended 30,000 staff, who will be paid 80 percent of their wages under a modified version of the governments furloughed workers scheme, in agreement with the trade unions. BA boss Mr Cruz explained the industry was faced with a crisis of global proportions, immeasurably worse than the fallout of the SARS virus or 9/11, warning that jobs would be lostperhaps for a short term, perhaps longer term.

Speaking like a CEO, Brian Strutton, head of the pilots union Balpa, said: The reality is, with such a loss in forward bookings for the summerthe time when airlines make all their profitthe airlines have had to look at ways to save money to keep the companies afloat.

BA rival Easyjet has grounded its entire fleet. The BBC reported seeing a memo to Ryanair staff saying that crew may be forced to take unpaid leave.

The Centre for Aviation, an Australian consultancy firm, said the impact on the industry means that [by] the end of May 2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UK Hospitality, warned that Our analysis suggests in excess of 1m jobs are now on the line.

Outgoing chief of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Robert Chote, warned the Treasury Select Committee that some businesses will inevitably fail.

While big corporations were handed a bailout, 800,000, or a fifth of small businesses, are weeks away from going bust. The Corporate Finance Network warned that the governments coronavirus interruption loans, ostensibly aimed at preventing companies collapsing, are either inaccessible due to bank closures, or businesses report that they are ineligible.

This means thousands more will be thrown into the draconian Universal Credit systemfrom which nearly a million workers who have already been made unemployed by the crisis are seeking to claim paltry benefit payments.

Two thirds of UK car production ground to a halt as BMW, Honda and Toyota joined Vauxhall and Nissan in shutting plants due to the pandemic. The day before, aerospace giant Airbus stopped production.

Car production, the biggest UK industrial employer with 1.7 million workers, has been haemorrhaging jobs in the past period due to fierce competition in a shrinking world market.

Looking to the future of UK auto production, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Mike Hawes, warned the industry stands on the precipice. Professor Karel Williams of the Manchester Business School said that lost sales will not be found again and there will be a massive hit in terms of lossmaking in the major carmakers.

Measured against the scale of the 2008 economic crash, the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis are predicted to be far more severe. According to the International Labour Organization, the coronavirus crisis will slash working hours by almost seven percent worldwide in the second quarter of 2020. It described a catastrophic effect that is equivalent to the loss of 195 million full-time workers. This is compared to the 22 million losses after the 2008 global financial crash.
There are more than 108,000 public, private, charter, and technical school students in Chester County, attending almost 110 schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

For the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, the number of them who will physically go to those schools is officially zero.

On Thursday, the state ordered that Pennsylvania schools will remain shuttered for the rest of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened thousands and caused hundreds of deaths statewide, under an order signed Thursday by the states education secretary.

The extended shutdown order affects more than 1.7 million students in public and private K-12 schools across the state. It means children will spend the rest of the year learning remotely, as a multitude of students in the county have been doing since last month, when the first such closings were ordered.

The order applies through the last day of the current academic year, a date that varies among districts because calendars are set by school boards.

Gov. Tom Wolf made the decision after consulting with Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Dr. Rachel Levine, the state health secretary, Wolfs spokeswoman said Thursday.

The news did not come as a surprise to James Scanlon, superintendent of the West Chester Area School District, the countys second largest.

It is not something that anyone really wanted to hear, he said in an interview Thursday after the governors announcement. But it is something that was not unexpected. He said there had always been some hope that schools could go back to the traditional way of interacting with students and continuing their educational routines, but reality had sunk in.

It is not the best way for kids to learn, he said of the remote lessons that the schools had been providing on the Zoom video platform. There is so much fall-out with all of these tools. Its just not the way our schools should operate. But it is what we have to do.

Scanlon said he felt sorry for all of the districts 12,000-plus students for the loss of educational time and face-to-face contact with their teachers, but had the most sympathy for the 960 seniors at the districts three high schools. This is not the way they want to end their high school careers. Details on possible commencement ceremonies are still being discussed, he said; many seniors still have to finalize college plans.

The same acceptance came from Downingtown Area School District Superintendent Emilie Lonardi.

I believe that Gov. Wolfs decision to close schools was made in the best interest of the health and safety of our school community and our state at large, and I appreciate the difficulty of making that decision, she said in a statement. The decision to close now does allow our district time to prepare alternatives to some of the wonderful celebratory activities that happen at the end of our school year.

She said the districts teachers and students had been making do since the schools closed last month and lessons began taking place over the internet.

Over the past four weeks, our district has been dedicated to recreating the classroom experience online and will continue to review and adjust to make the best out of this situation. Lombardi said. These are unprecedented times and I am so proud and grateful to see how our school community has come together to support our students.

But the switch from in-class routines to home-based learning has been difficult for some students, said sophomore Alex McVickar of West Vincent.

Its definitely harder than being at school physically, but thats just because its new, said the Westtown School student in an email. I know a lot of people thrive on a very scheduled day, myself included, and now that we are all on our own at home, it will take some serious getting used to.

There is also the frustration of not seeing friends and fellow students.

We all miss each other a lot, McVickar said. We only recently started classes again because we had been on spring break, but I think once we all get back into the swing of things, and the issues with the new online medium gets ironed out, I think it will all work out. Its really nice to see everyone in our classes because its like were together again.

Annette Stevenson with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association welcomed the decision.

I think itll bring great relief to the schools and the school leaders, because what itll do is allow them to formulate the long-term plan instead of having this interim plan in place, Stevenson said.

Rivera said in an interview that decisions about how to handle graduations, which are made by local school districts, will depend on the extent of social distancing and stay-at-home direction in place as the graduation season nears.

Some districts are making plans for virtual commencement exercises, Rivera said.

Schools might be able to provide summer programming that starts on the day after their academic years end, although reopening buildings will depend on further action by the governor, Rivera said.

Reopening will depend on the decision by the governor, based on the data and the research and the expectations set by the secretary of health, Rivera said.

His order also waived several other provisions of law and regulations, including one related to teacher evaluations.

Wolf first closed schools on March 13, initially for two weeks, as the virus continued its march across Pennsylvania. The Democratic governor tacked on another week before closing schools indefinitely, part of a series of progressively tougher measures meant to contain the outbreak and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

A state law passed last month mandates that schools provide an education during the pandemic, either by teaching new material or reviewing material that was already taught.

Rivera said about half of the school districts have sent his department plans that describe how they are continuing to educate children during the shutdown.

Wolf also has closed nonessential businesses and ordered all Pennsylvania residents to stay home.

Pennsylvania has seen more than 16,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 310 deaths. In Chester County, there have been 425 positive cases identified as of Thursday. That number is 56 more than Wednesdays count of 369, the largest single increase in COVID-19 cases since the county Health Department began keeping track of cases on March 13. There have been seven deaths.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
Tampa, Florida, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAMPA, FL (April 8, 2020)  Todays COVID-19 crisis is putting serious stress on our healthcare system as it relates to patient access to highly skilled and licensed physicians. Due to an antiquated system, hospitals across the nation are currently turning away highly skilled and licensed physicians, solely based on which organization they chose for physician board certification. Legacy hospital bylaws and credentialing rules do not meet the standards of care needed in the 21st century and are diminishing the capacity of care at a time of crisis.

As we face the COVID-19 healthcare crisis, we are learning that some of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) doctors are applying and volunteering to hospitals and are being denied for not meeting decades old rules in support of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)  the largest physician certifying body and monopoly that has too long controlled our hospital and physician staffing.

We were disturbed to learn that highly skilled and licensed physicians, that did not choose the Goliath organization to belong to, are being denied the right to care for our COVID-19 patients. This discrimination against experienced, licensed physicians, is taking place at a time where we are graduating medical students early, calling in retirees, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to meet this staffing crisis, stated Lewis Marshall, MD JD FACP FAADM FAAEP and past President of the American Association of Physician Specialists. This should be particularly disturbing to all in healthcare, especially as we have some of the most brilliant physicians, particularly in emergency and disaster medicine.

The American Board of Physician Specialties physicians have been denied throughout the country. In New York State, physicians were denied hospital job applications solely based on whom they chose to be certified by. Hospitals that denied them include, Mount Sinai in NYC, Jamaica Hospital among others. They were also told by hospital staffing agencies not to bother with NYU Langone, NYP or Northwell Systems.

Story continues

In Detroit hospital staffing organizations such as Alliance Recruiting Resources, Inc. have announced the urgent need of emergency medicine physicians to combat COVID-19. They are also requiring that they must be ABMS emergency medicine certified only  denying patients access to top notch licensed physicians. It has also been reported that Teledoc, the oldest and largest telemedicine platform is turning away non ABMS physicians telling them that insurance companies will not reimburse for their services.

Physician board certification must maintain high standards and is key to providing higher levels of patient care, stated Lewis Marshall, MD, JD. Certification should not be a monopoly that denies patient access to highly skilled and licensed physicians.

ABOUT US: Established in 1952, the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) is the official certifying body of the American Association of Physician Specialists Inc. (AAPS) a 501(c)6 organization headquartered in Tampa, FL. The ABPS certifies qualified physicians, both allopathic and osteopathic, in 20 specialties. ABPS sets rigorous standards of physician board certification and recertification, validating physicians skills, knowledge and commitment. To learn more about ABPS Member Boards visit www.abpsus.org

Monique Tapie

Shadwell Global Partners

917-757-4866

mtapie@shadwellgp.com


UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council on Thursday to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the "fight of a generation" -- the global coronavirus pandemic. "A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time," Guterres told the divided body holding its first meeting about the crisis. The meeting of the 15-member Security Council is being held behind closed doors by videoconference but the UN released a copy of the secretary general's remarks. "The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," Guterres said. "To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together," he said. "That means heightened solidarity. "This is the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'tre of the United Nations itself," he said, while acknowledging that "the threat of terrorism remains alive." Security Council members gathered after weeks of disagreement -- especially between the United States and China, where the coronavirus outbreak began in December. Led by Germany, the meeting was requested last week by nine of the council's 10 non-permanent members who were fed up with the body's inaction over the unprecedented global crisis. Though the council meeting was closed-door, several ambassadors taking part released extracts of their remarks on Twitter or to reporters. German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, whose remarks were published by his country, lamented the slow pace of international cooperation. "From the Security Council up until now, there was deafening silence," he said, acknowledging efforts by the five permanent members "to come to a conclusion or resolution between them or to have a summit." "But we have to admit, it was not possible so far," he said. While Germany described the pandemic as an "international peace and security issue," several other countries, notably Russia, China and South Africa, said health matters were not part of the Security Council's brief. France, meanwhile, confirmed that it would provide 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to fight the virus in Africa. Non-permanent member Estonia, for its part, said holding the Security Council meeting was "better late than never," a jab at those seen as delaying the talks. - 'Missing in action' - Ahead of the meeting, the United States and China had been arguing over the origins of the virus, which President Donald Trump has referred to as the "Chinese virus." US Ambassador Kelly Craft seemed to hint at that tension. "The most effective way to contain this pandemic is through accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics, and spread of the virus," she said. Her Chinese counterpart Zhang Jun pushed back: "Any acts of stigmatization and politicization must be rejected," he said. Meanwhile there were two competing draft resolutions up for debate. One, spearheaded by Tunisia on behalf of the 10 non-permanent members and obtained by AFP, calls for "an urgent, coordinated and united international action to curb the impact of COVID-19." It calls for the Security Council to "monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international peace and security and asks the Secretary General to brief the Council on such developments when appropriate." It also seeks an "immediate global ceasefire to allow for adequate humanitarian response" to the pandemic. That draft resolution has been in development since March 30 and has only been discussed by the 10 non-permanent members. The second text, proposed by France, focuses on Guterres's call last month to cease all hostilities around the world as part of a "humanitarian pause" to fight the pandemic. That one has only had input from the five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- which diplomats from non-permanent countries told AFP has been "very frustrating." France has argued that the so-called P5 need to smooth out their differences before any wider negotiations with the council. But efforts to convene a meeting of the five have been stymied by the hospitalization of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has the COVID-19 illness, and Chinese reticence to participate without first setting a clear agenda. While Guterres has been outspoken about the crisis and the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for "cooperation," an ambassador to the UN described the Security Council as "missing in action." France and Belgium described the meeting as "very positive and constructive," while Russia said it is "not the time for blaming and finger pointing," but rather "to work together." In the Security Council, at least nine votes out of 15 are necessary to adopt a resolution, without a veto by one of the five permanent members. Led by Germany, nine of the UN Security Council's 10 non-permanent members requested the closed-door meeting on COVID-19 UN chief Antonio Guterres said the coronavirus pandemic is the "fight of a generation"
* Vietnam snaps 5-session winning streak * Thailand falls on energy stocks By Arundhati Dutta April 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday after two sessions of sharp gains, as the death toll from the new coronavirus continued to climb across the globe even though infections showed signs of a slowdown. New York state suffered the highest daily loss of life from COVID-19 on Tuesday, even as the number of hospitalisations seemed to be levelling off. Italy, the country with the highest death toll at 17,127, reported a fourth consecutive daily decline in the number of people in intensive care. Denting sentiment further, the Financial Times reported https://www.ft.com/content/f94725c8-e038-4841-a5f6-2e046ae78e95 the European Union's top scientist resigned after his proposal to set up a programme to battle the pandemic was rejected. "This will probably give pause to markets' mounting optimism about "peak COVID" premised on new cases in Europe begin to show signs of trending lower," Mizuho Bank said in a note. Singaporean stocks slumped as much as 2.5%, with conglomerates Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd and Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd shedding 5.9% and 5.5%, respectively. Indonesian equities slipped up to 2.9%, dragged by financials. PT Bank Central Asia Tbk and PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk lost 1.7% and 4.8%, respectively. Thai stocks snapped three consecutive sessions of gains, with energy stocks slipping the most. PTT Pcl and PTT Exploration and Production Pcl gave up more than 3% each. Vietnamese shares fell after five straight sessions of gains, with financials leading the decline. Philippine shares dropped as much as 2.7%, hurt by losses in big-cap conglomerates such as SM Investments and Ayala Land . For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0322 GMT STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous Pct Move close Singapore 2513.68 2571.89 -2.26 Bangkok 1205.56 1214.95 -0.77 Manila 5504.98 5650.01 -2.57 Jakarta 4641.083 4778.639 -2.88 Kuala Lumpur 1362.71 1369.92 -0.53 Ho Chi Minh 736.8 746.69 -1.32 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 2513.68 3222.83 -22.00 Bangkok 1205.56 1579.84 -23.69 Manila 5504.98 7,815.26 -29.56 Jakarta 4641.083 6,299.54 -26.33 Kuala Lumpur 1362.71 1588.76 -14.23 Ho Chi Minh 736.8 960.99 -23.33 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Thursday asked the government to use the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund which has Rs 51,500 crore lying unutilised to provide benefit to pre-paid feature phone subscribers amid the coronavirus epidemic.

Telecom operators have been taking measures to ensure that the underprivileged and needy customers have uninterrupted services in case of a medical urgency.

"Despite the fact that the sector is going through a very challenging phase, telecom service providers are ensuring that the nation remains connected and functions while we continue our fight against the novel COVID-19 outbreak," said COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews.

Even on a conservative basis, the value of such benefits is more than Rs 600 crore, he said in a letter to S K Gupta, Secretary at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Alternate channels like bank ATMs, pharmacies as well as a wide network of grocery stores have also been activated for recharges, said Mathews.

"The viability of our member operators should be given balanced consideration appreciating the fact that millions of the Indian workforce relies directly on the functioning of the telecom operators," he said.

"If the TRAI and the government feel there is a need to provide further benefit, including providing benefit to all the prepaid feature phone subscribers, then this should be provided in the form of a subsidy to the telecom sector like many other essential services. This could be adequately compensated from the USO Fund where more than Rs 51,500 crore is being lying unutilised as on March 31," said Mathews.

"Expectation that the benefit (to customers in view of #COVID19) will be extended further, including to all the prepaid customers, who have the means to recharge, is not appropriate," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

A state program meant to provide some self-employed and gig workers a small financial boost during the coronavirus crisis has left many others angry and demoralized.

With only enough funding to help a fraction of the workers who might qualify, the Self-Employed Stimulus Payment program was quickly depleted this week  but not until after technical problems thwarted the first-come, first-served application process.

Many who unsuccessfully vied for the $750 state grants complained about the setup on social media. Critics called the system unfair and disgraceful. Some likened it to the Hunger Games.

By the time the webpage even loaded the program was closed. This was the equivalent of trying to score concert tickets, but with peoples lives on the line, Twitter user @NMBlueMenace wrote. I feel embarrassed and defeated.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham addressed the situation in a news conference Thursday afternoon, applauding the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions for rolling out a new program to benefit workers but acknowledging its shortcomings.

We shouldnt be offering some programs where some folks get in early enough and some folks are left behind, she said. We are all in this together.

Workforce Solutions had announced at 2 p.m. Wednesday that it would make one-time, $750 stimulus payments to help support self-employed citizens during the coronavirus pandemic. The department immediately opened applications but noted that available funding would only cover the first 2,000 qualified applicants.

Officials estimate there are about 62,000 self-employed and independent contract workers across the state.

The ensuing frenzy overwhelmed the agencys website, and less than five hours later, the department had temporarily suspended the application process with fewer than 1,000 applications successfully completed.

Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley said that state employees worked until 4 a.m. Thursday trying to fix the bugs in order to resume the process.

The department reopened applications Thursday afternoon.

Within minutes, would-be recipients reported on social media they were receiving messages that funding was exhausted and the program was closed.

Anthony Michaels-Moore, a Santa Fe-based opera singer whos had multiple international jobs canceled due to COVID-19, struck out in attempts to apply both Wednesday and Thursday. He said he and his wife spent 90 minutes Wednesday trying to complete an application, uploading documents in various file formats and even trying different web browsers to no avail.

When they resumed their efforts Thursday afternoon, they were met with error messages.

Its extremely frustrating and annoying, Michaels-Moore told the Journal in a text message. The timeframe was limited and the site was unable to cope.

A Workforce Solutions spokeswoman did not respond to questions late Thursday, but McCamley had told the Journal earlier in the day that his department is trying every possible approach to help New Mexicans during the pandemic. He said his department identified an extra $1.5 million sitting in an account that could be used to help people like artists, musicians, massage therapists and Uber drivers who are struggling during the coronavirus-related economic shutdown. While he knew there were not enough $750 grants to aid all those who could use them, he said his department wants to extend as much assistance as it can muster.

Were doing everything we can to get as much money out as we can, McCamley said. Theres such high need out there that theres not a way to do it thats going to make everybody happy.

While many have complained about the process, he said his department decided the fairest and most efficient way to distribute it would be through an immediate, first-come, first-served online application process.

There was no channel for applying via telephone.

Its not perfect; this whole situation is very hard, but were all doing the best we can to get as many tools out to folks as possible, McCamley said.
Google Maps

A man was hospitalized Thursday after a shootout with police officers and Kendall County Sheriff's deputies on Interstate 10 in Boerne, according to officials. A deputy was shot in the arm during the confrontation.

Boerne spokesperson Chris Shadrock said police officers responded at 9:32 a.m. to the 35000 block of Interstate 10 westbound for reports of a man chasing another man while holding a shotgun.
The United States of America announced that it will seize the export of key protective medical equipment like masks and gloves until it determines if the equipment is needed in the country or not. This move comes as America continues to battle against the coronavirus pandemic which has now infected over 435,160 and killed 14,797.

On April 9, the US Customs and Border Protection in a joint statement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that the country will hold the export of respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves following which FEMA will determine "if the equipment should be returned for use in the United States, purchased by the U.S. government or exported." According to reports, the move to stop exports will also include the much sought after N95 respiratory makes.

According to reports, the new regulation will go into effect from April 10 and remain in execution till August 10. A draft version of the regulation posted online stated that FEMA will seek to minimize disruptions to the supply chain. Meanwhile, in an exception, American manufacturer 3M Co revealed that it had reached a deal with the Trump administration and secured the permission to continue the export of masks to Latin America and Canada despite the regulations.

Read: Is Good Friday A Bank Holiday In The United States Of America? Read On To Find Out

Read: Donald Trump Says America's Economy Will 'boom Like Never Before' Once US Reopens

Israel asks India to allow exports

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to approve and allow the export of masks and pharmaceutical raw materials to Israel during his telephonic conversation with PM Modi this week, according to a media report. Israel's Channel 13 reported that Netanyahu made the request after India decided to stop the export of these items to meet its own domestic requirements in view of the rapid spread of coronavirus. The leading news channel also put out a promotional tweet ahead of its broadcast during its main evening bulletin.

Read: Outcry Over Racial Data Grows As Coronavirus Slams Black Americans

Read: Americans Should Never Shake Hands Again: Anthony Fauci
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:56:55|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Thursday urged efforts to beef up COVID-19 prevention and control in border regions and expand coronavirus infection testing in key areas with risks of COVID-19 outbreak.

The instructions were made at a meeting of the leading group of China's COVID-19 epidemic response, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Measures should be taken to strengthen the COVID-19 test and treatment capacity in border regions, according to the meeting.

The leading group decided to shift more resources from inland areas to secure the medical supply reserves in border regions and port cities and boost their testing capacity.

Noting the accelerating spread of the virus globally, the group urged timely and dynamic adjustments to work priorities and measures to prevent the importation of infections. The group asked for a reduction in non-essential cross-border trips while ensuring regular cargo transport.

It also pledged to promote the establishment of joint prevention and control mechanisms with neighboring countries.

The meeting stressed strengthened international cooperation, calling for continuous efforts to offer relevant countries assistance with epidemic prevention and control, facilitate their purchases of epidemic prevention supplies and improve quality supervision and management of exports.

The group demanded efforts to expand the nucleic acid and antibody testing in key regions, calling for raising the testing rate to timely find infected people and obtain the status of asymptomatic coronavirus cases to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

The meeting also required timely, open and transparent information release and efforts to improve detection technologies and speed up the research and development of anti-virus medicines and vaccines.

It also called for creating conditions proactively to fully advance work resumption while implementing regular epidemic prevention and control measures.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting.
By Joan Faus and Belen Carreno

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's prime minister warned on Thursday that nationwide confinement would likely last until May even though he said the worst should soon be over as the death toll slowed from one of the world's most devastating coronavirus' outbreaks.

Speaking to a near-empty parliament as more than 300 lawmakers participated remotely, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the latest data showed Spain was close to the start of a decline in the pandemic.

"The fire starts to come under control," he said.

Lawmakers approved a 15-day extension of a state of emergency - barring people from leaving homes except for work, food or medicines - until April 26, as well as three economic and labour decrees related to the outbreak.

Some of the few lawmakers present wore masks and gloves. At 8 p.m. those in the chamber clapped, as Spaniards have been doing in recent weeks from their homes to thank health workers.

Sanchez said he was certain he would have to ask parliament in about two weeks for another 15-day extension to the lockdown first declared on March 14.

After two days of increases, the daily coronavirus death toll decreased on Thursday to 683 people, taking the total to 15,238 - second only to Italy, though the ballooning U.S. toll was likely to overtake Spain.

Confirmed cases in Spain rose to 152,446 from 146,690.

"The velocity of the increase of the virus is decreasing throughout Spain," said Maria Jose Sierra, deputy head of the health emergency centre.

In parliament, Sanchez exhorted all sides in the politically-fractured nation to join an economic revival pact and to meet next week to discuss it.

The government's proposal is inspired by the 1977 "Pacts of Moncloa" - named for the presidential palace in Madrid - to transform the state-run economy along market lines for the post-Franco dictatorship democratic era.

It seeks to unite political parties, unions, companies and regions behind a common economic reconstruction policy and state welfare funding as Spain, like other Western nations, piles billions of euros into aid and stimulus.

Story continues

"I propose a great pact for the economic and social reconstruction of Spain," said Sanchez, a Socialist who leads a leftist coalition government after a series of inconclusive elections.

SOME EASING

The leader of the main opposition People's Party, Pablo Casado, said the pact appeal seemed insincere, but he backed extending the state of emergency until April 26.

Despite the extension of the overall lockdown, some restrictions on businesses will be lifted - effective on Monday - after shutting down all non-essential operations nearly two weeks ago. Future lifting measures would be gradual and dependent on health data, Sanchez said.

But the leader of Catalonia - the second worst-hit Spanish region - Quim Torra, asked on Thursday for the latter restrictions to be kept 15 more days, saying in a radio interview it would be a "temerity" to lift them.

Sanchez said measures to curb the COVID-19 disease - some of the toughest in Europe - have helped save many lives and slashed the proportional daily increase in new infections to 4% from 22%.

"All Europe arrived late but Spain acted earlier," he said.

But he warned of a dire aftermath for an economy the main business lobby thinks could slump up to 9% this year. "The immediate economic horizon that we have is dark and we will have to act with all of our available resources," Sanchez said.

Among potential measures is a "minimum vital income", Sanchez said, without giving specifics. A tax moratorium for small businesses is also possible, a budget ministry source said.

Spain is irked by European Union (EU) foot-dragging over how to unite efforts for financial recovery, with more fiscally-frugal northern nations like the Netherlands reluctant to inflate debt too much.

"I say it without nuances, our union is in danger," Sanchez said, before another meeting of EU finance ministers to debate the issue.

(Reporting by Joan Faus and Belen Carreno, additional reporting by Graham Keeley; Writing by Andrei Khalip and Joan Faus; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Jonathan Oatis)
ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbor must pay a $45,000 fine for repeated sewage overflows in recent years.

The penalty is included in terms of an administrative consent order with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy approved by City Council this week.

The 21-page document outlines several sewage overflows since 2016, including some discharging large amounts into the Huron River and Malletts Creek.

Some were the result of pipe blockages caused by tree roots, gravel, concrete, and flushable wipes that the city warns residents not to flush down the toilet.

Some spills have resulted in temporarily shutting down canoeing, kayaking and tubing on the Huron River.

While sewage overflows are never desirable, city workers rapidly respond to each one to address immediate cleanup concerns and evaluate long-term maintenance needs, Jennifer Lawson, the citys water quality manager, told council.

The city is being fined for violations of the states Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, which controls pollution.

The following sewage overflows are documented:

March 17, 2016  500 gallons discharged on Washtenaw Avenue due to a broken sewer line.

March 23-April 6, 2016  400,000 gallons discharged to Malletts Creek at 1979 Huron Parkway due to tree roots clogging a 10-inch-diameter line.

May 13-16, 2016  36,000 gallons (unknown amount to Huron River) discharged at 2180 Down Up Circle due to tree roots clogging an eight-inch-diameter line.

Sept. 17-19, 2016  600,000 gallons discharged to Huron River by Geddes Avenue and Devonshire Park due to a broken sewer line and contractor error.

June 22, 2017  13,500 gallons discharged to Malletts Creek off South State Street and Hidden Valley Club Drive due to failure and collapse of sewer liner.

Feb. 20, 2018  180 to 300 gallons discharged at the wastewater treatment plant from an overflow pipe.

Feb. 22, 2018  6,000 gallons discharged to the rear yard of a home on Fox Hunt Drive due to tree roots.

April 3, 2018  1,100 gallons discharged from a manhole at Warwick and Glenwood roads due to tree roots.

June 10, 2018  300,000 gallons discharged in the Dow Prairie area of Nichols Arboretum after a contractor left 300 feet of rope in the sewer and caused a blockage.

Oct. 31, 2018  150,000 gallons discharged at Concordia College due to a sewer line blocked with flushable wipes.

Jan. 5, 2019  675 gallons discharged to Malletts Creek due to tree roots

May 1, 2019  75,000 gallons discharged to the Huron River from a backwash well at the wastewater plant.

May 8, 2019  1,800 gallons discharged at Nichols Arboretum due to gravel blocking an eight-inch-diameter pipe.

July 5, 2019  3,000 gallons discharged into the Huron River via Allen Creek due to a sewer pipe break at First and Liberty streets.

Aug. 26, 2019  2,000 gallons discharged to the Huron River via Allen Creek due to concrete chunks in the sewer on Ashley Street.

Jan. 11, 2020  4,800 gallons discharged to Malletts Creek and Swift Run Creek due to heavy rains.

March 14, 2020  450 gallons discharged at the entrance to Nichols Arboretum due to a blockage caused by a large piece of concrete.

Another sign at Motte and Bailey Booksellers, 212 N. Fourth Ave. in Ann Arbor, offers a tip to those using flushable wipes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Remember  flushable wipes arent flushable. Really. Put them in the trash so sewers dont get clogged.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

The order requires the city to submit a new plan for managing high-volume wastewater plant flows, a report and map detailing the total number of miles of the sewer system cleaned and inspected since 2016, and a plan to evaluate the remainder of the sewer system not inspected in the last six years.

The city is required to identify impairments that have caused or are likely to cause blockages, breaks or overflows and submit a report on how to correct those and a timeline, with progress reports due to the state each year.

The city also must complete an asset management plan by June 30 and begin implementing it.

Council Member Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, said he considers this evidence the city needs to do a better job taking care of basic infrastructure.

As environmental stewards, I believe we need to do better than weve done in the past, he said. I think that this consent order actually moves us in that direction, and the fine is rather small, and we should be happy for that.

Craig Hupy, the citys public services administrator, said the work required is already budgeted and much has already started in recognition of the upgrades we need to make to the sewer system and its maintenance.

Lawson told council the asset management plan, including rehabilitation and repair recommendations for the entire system, is nearly complete and implementation has already started, as preventative maintenance recommendations are being integrated into daily work orders and assignments.

Council Member Anne Bannister, D-1st Ward, asked about plans to create a publicly accessible online dashboard showing details about all of the sewage spills.

Increased transparency will help hold the city accountable and we all win when residents can help us with our decision-making, Bannister said.

Thats in the works, Hupy said.

Mayor Christopher Taylor took offense to Eatons suggestion that the city isnt doing a good enough job paying attention to the sewer system. He called it an unfounded insult to the great work that staff does up and down the line.

Many blockages in the sewer lines arent city staffs fault, Taylor argued.

The plain and vast majority of the discharges here are the result of contractor error and resident error, he said. Staff focuses on these matters consistently, with diligence and foresight, and Im grateful for their work.

Council Member Jane Lumm, I-2nd Ward, said its not black and white, and there is some gray area.

Ive seen the evidence of this, she said, noting she serves on the citys insurance board and reviews claims for damage caused by sewer overflows.

When trying to figure out the cause, she said, one of the questions asked is if the sewer line is in a maintenance district, as not all sewer lines are regularly inspected.

The reality is that the entire city is not in a maintenance district where we go out and periodically TV and examine the infrastructure, she said. So, its just something weve not been able to do. And I do think that public works does a great job, but theyre limited, and so we get these surprises.

Council Member Kathy Griswold, D-2nd Ward, said someone has to be held accountable and the buck stops with council.

We have to be more proactive in the future, she said.

Council Member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward, asked if the city can recoup penalty fines for sewage spills caused by contractor error. City Attorney Stephen Postema said hed look into that and let council know.

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The appointment of Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour party will change the political landscape for the better.

One of the most unsettling aspects of the ongoing pandemic is the constant cognitive dissonance. Hospitals have become warzones where people die every other minute, yet here we all are, stuck at home, trying to keep ourselves busy.

Similarly, the election of Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the UKs Labour party on Saturday should have felt cataclysmic, but really, it just happened. Perhaps it was anticlimactic, because none of it could happen in person, and it is hard to feel history-changing in real-time when it happens online.

Or maybe it was because we always knew he was going to win. After all, he had been polling head and shoulders above his two competitors since the start, and ended up winning with more than half of all votes.

Still, this does not mean that we should underestimate just how much this will change the British political landscape. For a start, Starmers first act as leader was to apologise to the Jewish community on behalf of his party, promising in a video to tear out the poison of antisemitism in Labour by its roots.

This is significant, as the lingering stain of antisemitism on the UKs main opposition party has been something it has been unable to shake off under the previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

That the chair of the Jewish Labour Movement Mike Katz cautiously responded by insisting that restoring trust will take effort, time and political will says a lot about the state that relationship had been left in, but it is a start.

Then there is the fact that Starmer, as is tradition, has entirely reshaped his front bench. Gone are Richard Burgon, Diane Abbott, Ian Lavery and others once considered to be fringe in Labour, and in is a new generation of parliamentarians.

One particularly shrewd appointment is Anneliese Dodds. A former MEP and lecturer in public policy, the new shadow chancellor has already received praise from politicians and pundits from all sides of the Labour party, which is a rare feat in current times.

She may be little-known for now, but that is no bad thing, especially after five years of known but unpopular quantities dominating the party. Another eye-catching move in the reshuffle is Lisa Nandy, who has replaced Emily Thornberry as shadow foreign secretary.

As a fellow leadership contestant, it was never certain that Nandy would be offered a senior position, but the offer was a good one. Of the three candidates, she was the one who spoke about foreign policy the most during the challenge, and the fact that she is the chair of Labour Friends of Palestine should reassure the left of the party.

More broadly, Starmers team draws from most corners of Labour, which makes sense given his platform was one of unity, but may become tough to balance out in years to come.

This does not need to matter now, however. The team will have to hit the ground running. Given that Jeremy Corbyn had left Prime Minister Boris Johnson with the biggest majority in a generation following the December general election, his government has so far been able to steer the country through the pandemic as it wishes.

Learning how to run one of the countrys two main parties while getting to grips with the biggest crisis the world has seen in decades will be no mean feat, but on the bright side for the new team, the bar is currently low.

Not unlike in the US, the Labour leadership contest unfolding over the past few months has meant that the opposition could not speak on anything with a united voice.

It is good to see that one of Starmers first actions was to write a piece on the governments handling of the crisis in the Sunday Times. Though Corbyns supporters often argued that engaging with mainstream media that could not be trusted was not worth the effort, Labours voice needs to be heard right now, and by as many people as possible.

Echo chambers may be comforting, but reaching out to people beyond them is the only way the party can establish itself on the national stage once more. The road ahead is a tough one; to get into government again, the Labour party has to win more than 100 extra seats at the next election in four years time. With Johnsons approval ratings currently higher than ever, this may just not be possible.

There is also worry in certain quarters that Keir Starmer is, well, a bit dull. A former barrister, he speaks eloquently but rarely passionately. Looking at his record as shadow Brexit secretary, his scrutiny is forensic and rooted in fact, not emotion.

When going up against someone like Boris Johnson, this approach will be all-or-nothing. Will the public be turned off by a slightly dour figure compared with the flamboyant Johnson, or will it be relieved to turn to a serious, grown-up figure?

It would be impossible to predict right now, but perhaps it does not need to matter at this stage. What the UK has been in dire need of for the past few months is an effective opposition: Now it has one. The rest can come later.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's disastrous trip to address sailors aboard the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam reportedly cost taxpayers more than $243,000.

Modly flew to Guam over the weekend to speak to the crew of the aircraft carrier following the firing of its commander, Captain Brett Crozier, who was removed after a letter he wrote to Navy leaders criticizing their response to a COVID-19 outbreak on board leaked in the media.

The secretary stepped down hours after he returned to Washington, DC, on Tuesday amid outrage over his scathing speech to the sailors, during which he branded Crozier 'naive' and 'stupid' for allegedly sharing his letter outside the chain of command.

A Navy official has now revealed the steep cost of Modly's visit to the ship, which involved a 35-hour round trip flight aboard a Gulfstream 550 military jet.

Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's disastrous trip to address sailors aboard the coronavirus-stricken USS Roosevelt in Guam reportedly cost taxpayers more than $243,000

Modly traveled 35 hours round-trip from Washington, DC, to Guam on a Gulfstream 550 military jet (pictured) which costs nearly $7,000 per hour to fly

Modly flew on a C-37B plane which costs $6,946.19 per hour to fly, according to a Navy official who spoke to USA Today on condition of anonymity.

The flights to and from Guam took about 35 hours total, racking up a bill of $243,166.

In total, Modly's trip cost nearly $250,000, according to California Rep Jackie Speier, chair of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

Speier, a Democrat, slammed President Donald Trump and Pentagon leaders for allowing the trip in the first place.

Captain Brett Crozier (pictured) was fired as commander of the USS Roosevelt last week after a letter he wrote to Navy leaders criticizing their response to a COVID-19 outbreak on the vessel leaked in the media

'The president should turn his ire on the brain trust that allowed Modly to travel to Guam at the cost of nearly $250,000  a trip that only made the situation aboard the USS Roosevelt exponentially worse while still failing to address the needs of the crew, and the fleet, to protect itself amid the COVID-19 outbreak,' Speier told USA Today.

Critics have also accused Modly of endangering lives by taking the trip while the nation is under strict orders to limit travel to avoid spreading coronavirus.

Reuters reported that Modly's own aides had discouraged him from traveling to Guam, but he insisted on doing so to stand by his firing of Crozier.

The crew hailed Crozier a hero for writing the unprecedented letter and were filmed cheering for the captain as he departed the ship.

Unsettled by the rousing send-off, Modly sought to defend his decision in his address to the sailors.

In viral video of the speech, Modly accused Crozier of 'betrayal' and suggested that the sailors' love for him was misplaced.

Referencing the leaked letter, Modly said: 'If he didn't think, in my opinion, that this information wasn't going to get out into the public, in this day and information age we live in, then he was either A) too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose.'

The USS Roosevelt was forced to dock in Guam in late March due to a COVID-19 outbreak

Modly's remarks didn't go down well with the sailors or with lawmakers, many of whom called for his removal over his handling of the entire controversy.

The Navy secretary initially defended his statements but later issued an apology before ultimately submitting his resignation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday.

In a note to sailors, Modly said he took responsibility for events over the past few days.

'It is not just missiles that can take us down, words can do it too, if we aren't careful with how and when we use them,' Modly said. 'It's my fault. I own it.'

Modly was placed in quarantine after he returned from Guam but the Pentagon has declined to comment on his health status.

Current Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson was tapped to replace Modly as acting Navy secretary.

As of Tuesday, at least 286 sailors aboard the USS Roosevelt have tested positive for coronavirus.

The Navy said that 93 percent of the roughly 5,000-person crew has been tested and 2,329 sailors have been moved to shore and placed in isolation.

The remaining sailors are still on board to run nuclear reactors, guard weapons and disinfect the ship, which first docked in Guam on March 26 after 25 sailors tested positive for COVID-19.

In his letter dated March 30, Crozier called for the evacuation of 90 percent of the crew as he argued that it was impossible to protect sailors on board the ship.

'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset  our Sailors,' the captain wrote in the letter that was leaked in the media two days later.

Crozier's extraordinary plea put the Pentagon on the defensive about whether it was doing enough to keep the USS Roosevelt's crew safe as lawmakers and families of military members express concerns that other ships could be vulnerable to outbreaks.

The captain is believed to have sent the letter to several people knowing that it stood a good chance of being leaked to the press.

Navy leaders have insisted that the situation was under control prior to Crozier's letter, but many critics have noted that the evacuation efforts ramped up significantly in its wake.
Since my last piece, the world has turned on its head. The first time I heard about the novel (new) coronavirus, or COVID-19, I was watching a news report and it mentioned people had become infected in China. I didnt listen very carefully because China was literally half a world away. The problems there had no impact on me and my life, or so I thought. A few weeks later my daughter, Alea, placed an order for some items and received an update indicating delivery would be delayed due to a combination of new year celebrations and the coronavirus restrictions in China. Again, it didnt seem like anything would have a major impact on me or my daily life.

Fast forward to March 24 and the state of Indiana is on a stay-at-home order. Only essential businesses are allowed to remain open, such as grocery stores, gas stations, etc. Quarantine, social distancing and proper hand washing have become words that are used on an hourly basis. Most businesses have closed due to the quarantine. All schools in the state of Indiana are closed. Everything is subject to change. Right now, we are attempting to flatten the curve.

For the first time in U.S. history public libraries are closed to patrons for an extended amount of time. Many library systems have laid off workers, and some librarians and library assistants are working from home by conducting phone or online reference work. What does this impact have on the communities that are served by these institutions? If you havent visited your local library lately, you might not be familiar with all the services that are provided. The modern library has always been more than books. At its core, libraries are about information and education. In times past, the hard copy book was the main method of conveyance for information. In the present day, information is conveyed via digital platforms and websites, online catalogs and databases (which are still available). In addition to story times, musical performances, author discussions, book talks, book clubs, game nights, job fairs, classes and cooking demonstrations, etc., citizens also use the library for computers, web access, to apply for jobs and meetings. Many people who are experiencing homelessness visit libraries to have a safe, dry and warm place to stay during the day. Home-school students utilize the library for tours, programs and access to books. Currently all Indiana K-12 students are learning from home. Fortunately, Indianapolis Public Library is still providing services to the community. According to a press release by the library, Online services remain available at indypl.org for free to those with a library card. Marion County residents 18 and older can apply for a library card online. The library has enhanced its offerings of electronic materials and parents can find book suggestions and recommended activities for children, homework help and other tools for students.

Its important to understand how vital the work of libraries and library staff is to our communities.

When our doors were closed across the nation, library administrations have had to reevaluate online and digital service as well as design new ways to continue to serve our customers of all ages with online programs and services. Yet, no media coverage on how libraries continue to serve. I always remember that ALA slogan, Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries, said Andrew Sekou Jackson, past president of Black Caucus American Library Association (BCALA).

During these challenging times we can find opportunities for growth. Richard E. Ashby Jr., president of BCALA, remarked, This pandemic is the catalyst that will propel libraries into the virtual digital age, as they examine and explore new and exciting platforms to be utilized for the delivery of all library services.

When our society returns to a new normal, lets remember this critical work and fund libraries and library staff accordingly.

I would like to offer my thoughts and prayers to everyone who has been affected by the coronavirus. I am dedicating this column to my brother, Lucky H. Hall, who passed away recently. May he rest in power and peace.

Nichelle M. Hayes is a native of Indianapolis. She is an information professional, a genealogist, civic leader and a life longlearner.
9 Apr  Former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres recently announced that she is free from melanoma.

As reported on Rappler, in an Instagram Live conversation with Pops Fernandez she had over the weekend, Torres stated that she started treatment since finding out about the cancer in February last year and is finally recovered after more than a year.

"Last week, on Monday, I had my last test and everything was negative. I'm done with treatment, it took me a year and then now for the next two years, I'm going to be doing tests every three months just to be safe," she said.

The "Basta't Kasama Kita" actress also thanked everybody for their prayers, saying that she was amazed by the amount of love and support shown towards her.

As to whether she will be visiting the Philippines again, the Puerto Rican beauty said that she would love to do so, as it has been three years since her last visit.

"It's one of those things that's always at the back of my mind that I have to go back and this crisis happens, and it made me realise that if you want to do something, do it. As soon as this is over, I definitely need to go back. I miss everybody," she said.

(Photo Source: Dayana Torres Instagram)
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. People all over the world are quarantined in their homes, relying on journalists to bring them up-to-the-minute news about the novel coronavirus.

Along with the rest of the media world, the University of Miamis emerging journalists and reporters have adjusted to sheltering at home while simultaneously documenting the biggest story of their livesthe global COVID-19 pandemic.

Students Rebecca Goddard, editor-in-chief of The Miami Hurricane, and Ben Ezzy, station manager of UMTV, host weekly meetings over Zoom instead of their usual in-person meetings on the Coral Gables campus.

Both are leading the chargefrom their respective homeson two different projects to continue disseminating relevant and timely news to the student body.

After learning that spring break would be extended an additional week, Goddard, a junior at the University, and her peers quickly moved into action.

Before we even started using Zoom for classes, we immediately got on to talk about how we could provide content, said Goddard.

And so, the staff ceased print production and moved quickly to an online newsletter that's sent out every Sunday through Friday evening, and a special coverage blog, titled Canes Covering Coronavirus. Nearly 40 student media staff members have contributed to the project. Some shared detailed anecdotes of their personal implications with the virus and others provided observational reporting of how the virus is impacting their neighborhoods.

Its been an adjustment, said Goddard, who started out as a contributing writer for the paper during the second semester of her freshman year. We wanted to be sure we were appearing in peoples inboxes as soon as possible.

The Miami Hurricane's managing editor Anna Timmons virtually meets with staff and faculty advisor Tsitsi Wakhisi as she sits at her kitchen table. Photo: Anna Timmons/University of Miami

By Friday, April 3, the first edition of the blog landed in subscribers' inboxes. Anna Timmons, managing editor for the paper, said communication and collaboration allowed them to meet their deadline.

As a news source, we wanted to continue servicing our students, said Timmons, a sophomore double majoring in journalism and political science. Before this, we would produce a lot of feature stories, but now we are moving our focus toward informing the students in real time.

Tsitsi Wakhisi, The Miami Hurricanes faculty adviser and an associate professor for the School of Communication, said she is proud of the students for their dedication to keeping the paper up and running.

The staff should be applauded because they are trying to keep up with their families, as well as some of them dealing with stressors like sick family members or community issues related to the coronavirus, Wakhisi said. They are showing up for our weekly meetings and coming with fresh ideas. This is an enormous amount of work.

Miles away from the University campus, Ezzy, a broadcast journalism major, is hard at work at his childhood home in Caribou, Maine, overseeing a special presentation to depict how the novel coronavirus is affecting the UMTV community. About two dozen of UMTVs members are seniors including Ezzy, who was selected to be station manager last academic year by faculty adviser, Boriana Treadwell.

While students dont have access to their high-definition studio, useful tools like social media and online resources have made it possible for UMTV to endure the times. For the remainder of the semester, UMTV will host a series of eight, short IGTV newscasts that will air through the month of April, followed by a long presentation in May, on their official UMTV Instagram page.

We hope to provide updated information about the spread of the virus and to capture the local, national, and international response, said Ezzy. We are working to keep our content at the highest level possible.

Treadwell, an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience in broadcast, print, and online media, empathizes with her student staff as they grapple with the outbreak.

We are discovering new ways to gather news new ways to take interviews, new ways to shoot footage, new ways to be able to tell stories from our own living rooms, said Treadwell. We are learning new technology, keeping in touch, looking for relevant stories, adapting, and keeping each other sane in the process.

Unsure of when things will return to normal, both student-run outlets are viewing the pandemic as a challenge.

We saw this coronavirus as an extreme challenge because we were not all together or able to coordinate in person, said Timmons. I think weve developed a lot of grit, and Im really proud of us all. Hopefully we will be joined together in the fall.

Ezzy said this last major project is special, and hopefully it is helping to shape him for his future career in journalism.

The struggles have taught us how to adapt, he said. This is what journalists do, this is our time to shine.
The Maharashtra government late Thursday ordered a probe into the home department giving a free pass to the Wadhawan family caught in the multi-crore rupee Deewan Housing Finance scam to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday in violation of the lockdown in Maharashtra to check the spread of coronavirus.

The letter said to have been signed by principal secretary, home department Amitabh Gupta had left the government red-faced.

The safe passage was given to the Deewan Housing Finance Limited promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan along with 21 other members of their family, friends in five cars.

This is to just inform you that following are my family friends and travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for family emergency. Particulars of the cars are given below, the letter stated.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh late on Thursday announced a probe in the issue as the letter by Gupta was released to media

We will probe how permission was granted to allow 23 members of Wadhawan family to travel from Khandala to Satara, Deshmukh tweeted.

I had no idea about this letter. This was given by Gupta, thats true but I dont know the details over why this letter was given. So, we will conduct a probe and tomorrow a strict decision will be taken. This was not appropriate, I completely accept this, said Deshmukh.

The letter gave details of the five cars, their registration numbers and names of the persons travelling in every car. The Wadhawans were allowed to travel from Pune district to Satara district bypassing the state norms that district borders be sealed.

The issue came to light when residents protested after the Wadhawans and their friends reached Dewan bungalow in Mahabaleshwar.

A senior official in the state secretariat said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was furious because the incident has embarrassed his administration which has been strictly enforcing the lockdown.

The home department is empowered to give such leeway or travel pass only to those who have family emergencies including hospitalisation or death of a family member.

Wadhwan brothers, who are accused in Yes Bank/DHFL fraud, CBI had issued non-bailable warrants against them. Instead of handing them over to the police, Maharashtra government gives them a VVIP treatment. Home minister Anil Deshmukh owes the country an explanation, said former BJP MP Kirit Somaiaya.

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Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak at the start of an OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, December 6, 2019. Leonhard Foeger | Reuters

There are three big things to focus on from OPEC and the G-20 meetings over the next 48 hours: 1) total global output cut, 2) benchmark production levels for those cuts, and 3) the length of time of any formal deal.

The Cut Math

The world is expected to cut an unprecedented 12 million to 15 million barrels of oil per day from global production. Assuming talks don't break down, here's a very simplistic possible breakdown of how the cuts play out garnered from a variety of research: OPEC = 5 million to 6 million barrels per day

Russia = 1.5 million barrels per day

US = 1.5 barrels per day, within a few months

Brazil, Canada, Mexico = 1.2 million to 1.5 million barrels per day

Norway = 250,000 barrels per day

Others = 1 million barrels per day So by late Friday a variety of agreements could be made to remove nearly 12 million barrels of oil from the daily global market. But like everything with global energy politics, it's not that simple.

Benchmarks and quotas

One major sticking point of any OPEC+ Russia deal is from what level of production do any Saudi cuts originate. Saudi production has risen over the past two months as the market share and price war kicked off. The Saudis are willing to cut more than any single producer, but Russia and Iran have made it fairly clear that whatever cuts come from the Kingdom must come from pre-output surge levels, not current production. In other words, if the Saudis cut, say, 3 million barrels per day, that should come off of the 10 million output figure, not the newer 12.5 million level, because then was it really a big cut at all? This benchmark debate will likely be key inside the virtual room.

On the U.S. side, keep in mind that we have neither a national American producer nor an OPEC, so there is no way for us to assure OPEC or the G-20 that any cuts can be guaranteed. It's every company for itself in the Permian Basin right now. But there are two big things OPEC leaders will be watching here: first, the level of capital spending cuts by Exxon, Chevron, Occidental and other major players has been sizeable, so the group knows U.S. output will fall from natural attrition and lack of new well drilling. Also, the Texas Railroad Commission, the obscure three-person organization that regulates that state's oil production, could vote April 21st to impose production quotas or caps. It's a hot topic for another day, but if OPEC believes the commission will vote for quotas, it could take another million or so barrels from the global market.

For how long
A man from California recovered from COVID-19 and is now donating his blood plasma so that others may also recover from the deadly infection.

Jason Garcia, 36 years old, an aerospace engineer living in Escondido, California, found himself having some congestion and a mild cough last March 6. During a work trip, headache added to his cough, and within a single day, intermittent body aches and fever also started. Afterward, shortness of breath entered the picture. These are some of the symptoms that experts say should prompt people to get tested.

With his symptoms, Garcia was advised to go to a hospital and be tested for COVID-19. He was subsequently sent home, and on March 14, he was informed that he was positive. He was advised to stay isolated, so Garcia confined himself to the guest room or his office for almost 10 days. He stayed away from his wife and daughter 11 months of age.

On March 18, he considered himself free of symptoms. San Diego County said he is free to get himself out of isolation, and he did so on March 23. Before that, he isolated himself for five days, a period much longer than the 72 hours isolation recommended after symptoms have disappeared.

Garcia celebrated by posting about his ordeal on social media. At around this time, officials from St. Joseph's Hospital located in Orange County, California, were also looking for patients who have recovered, posting on social media about an experimental treatment that could save another patient's life. A friend of Garcia's who saw both posts informed the hospital, and they made a call to Garcia a few days after he ended quarantine.



The hospital requested a donation of plasma to a COVID-19 patient who was unresponsive to treatments and was in dire condition. Garcia agreed, knowing that it is an opportunity to save a life. St. Joseph's Hospital director of nursing for renal services Wendy Escobedo revealed that the recipient acquired antibodies from Garcia's plasma, which has antibodies against the virus, to help in fighting the disease.

In total, Garcia donated plasma for the experimental treatment to three patients. Last Sunday, Garcia was informed that his plasma has entirely been consumed and that the recipient with the worst condition already improved. A hospital spokesperson disclosed to CNN through email last Sunday how this patient now has better oxygenation has been taken off some medications and is gradually getting better each day.

Garcia said he experienced fear and dread after being diagnosed. However, he explained that his experience possibly saved someone else's life. Garcia is glad even though he does not know how he got the infection, he could still likely contribute to treatment before a vaccine can be available. If the experimental treatment works, he said, there is a good chance that other people can also be saved from heartache and will be able to fight for their life.

Since January of this year, the virus has spread to almost every US territory and state. Experts find it hard to tell how many have recovered from it.
New Delhi/Islamabad, April 9 : The Imran Khan government on Thursday asked Afghanistan to hand over the recently arrested Islamic State terrorist, responsible for the deadly terror attack on Sikhs in Kabul to Pakistan.

Sources said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, asking for Aslam Farooqi's custody.

Afghan security forces on April 5 had arrested Farooqi involved in the massacre of around 25 Sikhs in a terror attack on a gurudwara in Kabul on March 25.

As per an official statement, Islamabad sought Farooqi's custody for investigation because he is allegedly involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government "underlined that the two sides should coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism, including through established mechanisms." However, according to Indian intelligence sources, Farooqi is closely associated with Pakistan-sponsored terror network in Afghanistan. The Pakistani security agencies, sources said, persuaded Farooqi to surrender only to get him freed using diplomatic channels with Afghanistan.

Incidentally, Pakistan security forces allowed former spokesperson for Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, responsible for terror attacks on Malala Yousufzai and Peshawar Army Public, to escape from their custody recently.
Naveen Kumar Tallam By

Express News Service

KARIMNAGAR: Karimnagar appears to be showing the way to the nation in the containment of Coronavirus. When Coronavirus broke out, Karimnagar became a hotspot, after Hyderabad, for the deadly infection. Now that the transmission has been arrested, not many new cases are being reported from the city.

Learning about the success story, the Centre is understood to have asked the State to share the information on how the virus had been contained. Collector K Shashanka sent a PowerPoint report to the State government on measures he had initiated.

As on date, there are only seven active cases and with 11 more patients having been discharged, which meant that the total number of cases in the district is 18. It all started with the visit of 10 Indonesian religious preachers who arrived in the city after attending Tablighi Jamaat convention at Markaz Nizamuddin in Delhi.

As more and more cases surfaced, people began looking at the city with a growing sense of trepidation.

Special sanitation drive

The officials, who decided it was time for them to take the plunge, pulled up their socks and began steps for containing the infection to some pockets in the town itself. The officials, under the Collectors direction, declared the area where Indonesian preachers stayed as a red zone and implemented a total lockdown to prevent transmission of infection to local people.

The surrounding area were called buffer zones with active surveillance by officials who simultaneously took up health survey of the families living in these areas.

A special sanitation drive, disinfection campaign in the entire city, implementing social distance principle at vegetable markets by dividing the area into 15 parts and distributing the vendors among them to prevent crowding, introducing mobile vegetable markets and effective sealing of the borders with other districts were among the measures.

ALSO READ | Telangana bans spitting of paan, tobacco products, chewing gums

The Collector said that special focus was placed on red zones where health screenings were done extensively on all the residents of the locality.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields who are exposed to the deadly coronavirus back to work faster.

Under prior guidelines workers were told to stay home for 14 days if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Under new guidelines critical workers, in fields such as health care or food supply, can go back to work as long as they are asymptomatic.

They will have to follow certain conditions including taking their temperature before going to work, wearing a face mask at all times, and practicing social distancing.

The move to relax guidelines on essential workers in the workplace is the first step in the reopening the US, as President Donald Trump tweets the economy will 'open sooner than people think.'

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields who are exposed to the deadly coronavirus back to work faster. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pictured announcing those new guidelines at a White House press conference

The move to relax guidelines on essential workers in the workplace is the first step in the reopening the US, as President Donald Trump tweets the economy will 'open sooner than people think'

Trump has been adamant in his press briefings and tweets that the US will re-open soon, despite skepticism from top health officials

Exposed workers are also ordered to not share headsets or objects used near the face and to not congregate in the break room or other crowded places.

The new measures will allow critical workers to get back to work faster than before, as long as they don't exhibit symptoms.

The rules will also affect first responders, workers in critical manufacturing, and transportation employees.

'One of the most important things we can do is keep our critical workforce working,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said while unveiling the new guidelines during a White House news briefing on Wednesday.

Under the new guidelines, employers in critical industries are also given new rules to follow. They must send workers home immediately if they are sick and try to increase their working space and air exchange in buildings.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, looks at a chart as Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a briefing about the coronavirus Wednesday night

A chart was displayed at the White House press conference giving employers in essential industries a list of do's and don'ts in handling employees who have been exposed to COVID-19

In the US there are over 435,000 cases of coronavirus and there have been over 14,000 deaths as of Wednesday evening

The CDCs new guidelines for employers in essential industries include taking employees temperatures and assessing symptoms prior to work, increasing the frequency of cleaning commonly touched surfaces, increasing air exchange in the building, and testing the use of face masks to ensure they dont interfere with workflow.

However, allowing exposed people to continue working if they don't exhibit symptoms could backfire as some COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic and can still spread the virus. Many dont even know they have the virus because they dont exhibit any symptoms.

'Some of the best minds here at the White House are beginning to think about what recommendations will look like that we give to businesses, that we give to states, but it will all, I promise you, be informed on putting the health and well-being of the American people first,' Vice President Mike Pence said at the briefing.

Senate Democrats are now rallying behind these critical employees by calling for a 'Heroes Fund' to increase their pay by up to $25,000.

In the US there are over 422,000 cases of coronavirus and there have been over 14,000 deaths as of Wednesday evening.

While most of the country is on lockdown orders and citizens are urged to stay home at all costs, critical workers are risking their lives every day in the field.

Food suppliers, healthcare workers, bus and train drivers, and employees in grocery stores are the critical workers keeping the nation up and running, as the country barrels towards its projected virus peak day on April 16.

Getting essential workers back into the field is a pressing priority for the country as the coronavirus cases continue to climb and hospitals scramble to keep up with the pace.

Medical workers on the front lines of the outbreak face a high risk of exposure and some have already tragically passed away while treating COVID-19 patients.

On Wednesday New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered flags around the state to fly at half-mast in honor of those who have died from COVID-19 after recording the state's deadliest 24 hours which claimed 779 lives.

Still, many health officials including Dr Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, have voiced concern over reopening the nations economy too soon.

In a press briefing on Sunday Fauci said that between 25 and 50 percent of infected Americans are not exhibiting symptoms of the virus.

He added: 'That is an estimate. I dont have any scientific data yet to say that.'
The North-South Expressway will stretch over an impressive 2,100km, Photo: Le Toan

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has raised concerns over the limited state funding for the development of the vital national transport project after the proposal of the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to transform three of the eight public-private partnership (PPP) sections into public investment projects.

If approved, the number of totally state-funded sections will jump from three to six, thus increasing total investment and site clearance costs to VND54.36 trillion ($2.36 billion), the MoF said in a recent report to the government.

Meanwhile, the countrys mid-term public investment fund approved by the National Assembly (NA) is VND55 trillion ($2.39 billion). This means that there will be no funding left for the five remaining PPP sections in the 2016-2020 period. Moreover, up to now, VND16.59 trillion ($721.3 million) has been allocated for the project, with only VND6.8 trillion ($295.65 million) disbursed, which makes it unlikely that the remaining VND37.77 trillion ($1.64 billion) will be allocated and all the funds can be disbursed during this period.

The MoFs concern is reasonable amid the current state budget constraints, although the MoT made the proposal to speed up the three PPP sections. At a recent meeting, the government agreed to the proposal in principle, but it needs to secure the NAs approval before the projects can be kicked off in August.

This means that the MoTs proposal  the first of three scenarios  proves less effective in raising the bankability of the projects. Although the MoT has built second and third scenarios, they are also less feasible.

As per the second scenario, the MoT proposes to transform the eight PPP sections into public investment projects, and then transfer the operation rights under operation and maintenance contracts to investors to make returns on the investment. This plan is not bankable because, according to analysis by the MoF, it is already difficult for the state coffers to arrange funding for the proposed three PPPs.

If the first scenario is approved, the room for private investors will be narrowed, as fewer projects will be available to the same number of players. If the second scenario is selected, there will be no opportunities left at all, Le Net, lawyer at LNT & Partners, told VIR. Recently, the Ministry of Defence has proposed the prime minister to add its Truong Son Construction Corporation to the priority list of direct contracting to develop the three PPP sections, while the names of many other powerful construction firms under this ministry were also put forward.

This makes competition fiercer for construction giants such as Vinaconex, Deo Ca Group, and Tasco JSC.

If the third scenario gets the green light, both domestic private and foreign investors will have more opportunities and maybe international giants such as Daewoo, Lotte, and Hyundai can rejoin the race. However, this scenario comes with several risks as project development would depend heavily on the results of bidding to select capable investors. If investors cannot mobilise funding, the whole project could be thrown in jeopardy.

The North-South Expressway, which is set to cover 2,100 kilometres, costs VND118.71 trillion ($5.16 billion) and has 11 sub-projects (three of which will be state-funded), is tied down by limited funds allocated from the state budget and difficulties in mobilising private investment due to the lack of supporting legal framework. Both investors and lenders want a guarantee mechanism, minimum revenue commitments, and foreign exchange conversion guarantees  all of which are missing from current rules.

While the MoT had pinned high hopes on attracting private financiers to join the project by opening international bidding, it had to cancel this because of poor results in the international prequalification round and has been forced to cater to more capable domestic groups. Mobilisation of private investment has proved difficult, as lenders still hesitate to offer loans, making bankability an issue.

Build-operate-transfer (BOT) initiatives have been a controversial topic for years in Vietnam because of the high risk of losses and the lack of a completed legal framework and risking-sharing mechanisms. A series of BOT transport schemes with better financial plans than the eight PPP sections were stuck with credit, such as Huu Nghi-Chi Lang, Van Don-Mong Cai, and Trung Luong-My Thuan. Many of them even halted construction for up to two years due to difficulties in accessing loans.

To rouse investor and lender interest, all of these problems are required to be solved. Now most stakeholders are pinning high hopes on the draft law on PPP, which will likely be submitted to the NA for approval in May.
Six patients at a skilled nursing facility in Hayward have died from the coronavirus, Alameda County public health officials said on Wednesday.

An additional 29 residents and 24 staff members at the Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center at 26660 Patrick Ave. in Hayward have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to health officials.

"Our thoughts are with those individuals' families, friends and their fellow residents," county health officials said in a statement, referring to the six people who died.

In addition, nine residents and 17 staff members at the East Bay Post-Acute Healthcare Center at 20259 Lake Chabot Rd. in Castro Valley have tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said, adding that none of the residents or staff members have died.

The county said the numbers being reported now "should be considered a 'point-in-time' count" and will be updated as the county gets more information and facility operators agree to release new information.

A homicide investigation is underway in Fremont following a shooting Wednesday evening in a grocery store parking lot, police said.

A witness called police at 7:21 p.m. to say they heard gunshots and a person appeared wounded outside the Lucky Supermarket at 5000 Mowry Ave.

Officers arrived and found the man conscious with an injury that may have been a gunshot wound. As the man was being taken to a trauma center his condition deteriorated and he died when he arrived.

Police said it appears the victim was outside the store with associates or friends when an older, dark-colored SUV pulled up. The victim got out of the car he was in and an argument occurred between him and someone in the SUV.

A person in the SUV apparently shot the victim at least once and the SUV left the area, according to police. Police said it's too early to say what was the motive for the shooting.

Nine Northern Californians who were on the Grand Princess cruise to Hawaii sued Princess Cruise Lines and its parent company, Carnival Corp., in federal court in San Francisco Wednesday for alleged negligence in exposing them to the coronavirus.

One of the plaintiffs, Pamela Guisti of San Mateo County, became infected with the virus and was treated in an intensive care unit, according to the lawsuit.

The others, who live in San Francisco, San Mateo County and Stanislaus County, were "traumatized by the fear of developing COVID-19" while quarantined aboard the Grand Princess and then at Travis Air Force Base after they disembarked, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit is one of at least a dozen filed against the cruise companies by passengers on the ship, which sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii on Feb. 21, began returning on Feb. 29, and was stalled off the California coast for several days before being allowed to dock in Oakland on March 9.

The other lawsuits were filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

A second Santa Clara County inmate has tested positive for the coronavirus, sheriff's officials said Wednesday.

The inmate had been arrested Monday by San Jose police and as he was being booked into the county's main jail at 150 W. Hedding St. in San Jose, he said he had been exposed to the virus. He was tested and the results came back positive late Tuesday night, according to sheriff's officials.

The inmate is a 25-year-old man who was homeless.

Sheriff's officials said the man remains quarantined and is being monitored by medical personnel. Police were told that the officer who made the arrest may have been exposed.

The first inmate in the county to test positive for the coronavirus has recovered and has been released. Newly arrested suspects were and are being screened outside the jail. Health care workers are asking the suspects whether they have a dry cough, shortness of breath, fever or been exposed to someone with the virus.

Sheltering at home is helping to reduce the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations Sonoma County can expect over the next few months, Public Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said Wednesday afternoon.

"If we had not issued the shelter-in-place order, we would have five times more cases than we expect now. The sheltering is helping flatten the curve and allows us to plan for a surge of patients," Mase said.

Without the shelter order, the county could expect to need 10,000 hospital beds at the peak of the surge and overwhelm hospitals and health care workers, Mase said.

She said with the shelter order the county may need only 1,500 hospital beds over the next two months.

"We're in a better place because we put the shelter order in place early," Mase said.

Thursday will be mostly cloudy. Highs will be in the upper 50s to mid 60s. Southeast winds will be 10 to 15 mph, before becoming northeast winds at 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday night will be partly cloudy in the evening, then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows will be in the lower 50s. West winds will be 5 to 10 mph.

Friday will be partly cloudy. Highs will be in the upper 50s to mid 60s. West winds will be 5 to 10 mph, before increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A body is moved from a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue to a vehicle at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in the Borough of Brooklyn in New York on April 8, 2020. (Bryan R. SmithAFP via Getty Images)

NYC Funeral Homes Working at Maximum Capacity Amid Pandemic

Funeral home employees across New York City are working long hours to deal with an unprecedented death rate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also dont have, or will soon run out of, sufficient personal protection equipment.

As of April 9, the citys death toll from the CCP virus stands at 4,571; nationwide, there have been more than 15,900 deaths.

Gerald Joseph Neufeld, owner of Gerald J. Neufeld Inc. in Elmhurst, told The Epoch Times on April 7 that before the CCP virus pandemic, he dealt with about seven funerals per week. Because of the pandemic, he has conducted 50 funerals in the past 10 days.

For 50 years, I didnt see anything like this. I hope I dont see anything like this again, he said, adding that his team of four, including his son, are working 24/7 to deal with the surge.

When asked if he feels emotional or sad due to the overwhelming numbers, Neufeld said: I just have to do it. To be honest, we just try to keep going. Its very difficult. Ive just had no time to think.

Neufeld said the people he has cremated in the past 10 days came from a wide range of nationalities, as the citys borough of Queens is home to people from all over the world. He listed the dead from Nepal, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, China, India, Pakistan, South America, Bhutan, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Burma, and Vietnam.

The youngest was 23 and the oldest was 107.

The virus doesnt discriminate, he said, adding that hes saddened for families, as they arent able to perform death rites according to their religion because of the pandemic.

The Epoch Times reached out to 23 funeral homes in Elmhurst, Manhattan, and the Bronx over four days for comment; most said they were dealing with the dead and couldnt comment. The most-common statement was, This is not the time.

The Epoch Times contacted Steve Baxter from the Gannon Funeral Home in Manhattan on three different days. On the first call, Baxter said: I have just put two bodies into the morgue and I have three emails to check. I need to catch a breath.

Gannons facility cremated 30 bodies during the past 10 days; previously, they were getting only one body on average a week.

File image of Greenwich Village Funeral Home in New York City. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

John J. Sisto, director of the Sisto Funeral Home Inc. in the Bronx, also said his team was working 24/7 and are receiving bodies all the time, before quickly hanging up.

Heliot Lara, manager of the Williams Funeral Home, also in the Bronx, provided a grim picture on April 8the funeral home had cremated a record 20 bodies that day alone.

We were getting on an average 15 every month. We got more than that just in the last one week, Lara said. He said his team was working morning to evening, seven days a week.

Its a situation we have never seen before. We are trying to deal with it as best we can.

Mike Lanotte, executive director and CEO of the New York State Funeral Directors Association (NYSFDA), said that since New York City is the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, funeral homes are working at maximum capacity and are challenged by lack of storage and space. The NYSFDA was created in 1889 and represents 900 funeral homes in the state.

Other areas of NYS are seeing more cases than normal, but at this point, not to the extent as NYC and surrounding areas, Lanotte wrote in an email to The Epoch Times, adding that the funeral homes are continuing to work around the clock.

Funeral service professionals are among the most dedicated, hard-working folks, he said, when asked how the funeral homes are managing so much grief. Many of them are coping by finding alternative and unique ways to continue to serve families. They are working around the clock to support their local communities and one another.

Extreme Shortage of PPE

Almost all of the businesses contacted said they either dont have sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) or that they will soon run short because of the surge.

They are at maximum capacity and challenged by lack of storage/space, an extreme shortage of PPE, and a backlog of decedents needing care, said Lanotte.

Neufeld wasnt sure if he has a sufficient amount of equipment, saying: Probably not! Doing best with what we have. I feel unsafe. I always worry.

Baxter expressed similar concerns.

We dont have it. They havent given us anything, he said.

Lara and Sisto said their funeral home employees have the required PPE, but because of the increasing number of funerals, theyll soon run short.

The citys administration currently has to limit who it distributes the equipment to, with a priority on health care workers, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) told The Epoch Times in an email.

At this time, the Health Department is not distributing PPE to funeral homes. We must prioritize ensuring the availability of protective equipment for healthcare workers working with patients with severe COVID-19 illness at this time, the departments spokesperson stated, adding that its working aggressively to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers during this crisis.

In a media briefing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 6, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio asked DHMH Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot about the nature of what happens with bodies.

Protective N95 face masks lie on a table at an office in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images)

There are no special precautions that are needed to be taken with people who have died because of COVID-19. You know, weve made the comparison to other infectious illnesses in the past, Barbot replied.

Barbot said that while very specific precautionary measures needed to be taken to deal with those who died due to Ebola, the situation with COVID-19 is different.

People who die because of COVID-19 are treated the same way as someone who dies from, lets say, a heart attack or any other reason, she said.

The NYSFDA, however, told The Epoch Times that its important for funeral home workers to follow standard protective measures since they cant quarantine at home.

We have encouraged all funeral service professionals to follow OSHAs [Occupational Safety and Health Act] Standard Precautions and use proper PPE when handling decedents, an NYSFDA spokesperson said. Both the CDC and OSHA have provided guidance.

The CDC guidelines used by the association and shared with The Epoch Times are the same as those recommended for general health care workers and those conducting postmortems on COVID-19 victims. The OSHAs guidance includes recommendations for all workplaces.

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) said in a statement on March 29 that because of the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, it has observed some pitfalls and confusion in the communication between local, state and federal agencies and funeral homes making requests for PPE at the local or state level.

NFDA is continually petitioning federal officialsCDC, FEMA, Health and Human Services, the President, Congress, state governors, and othersabout ensuring funeral home[s] are on the priority list for receiving these critical supplies, the NFDA said.

We are also exploring private avenues from around the world for securing PPE for funeral professionals.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 12:36 PM | GRAVES COUNTY

There are three new cases of coronavirus in Graves County.

The Graves County Health Department on Thursday announced the sixth, seventh and eighth confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Graves County.

A man in his 60s tested positive and is in isolation at a local hospital. A woman in her 30's tested positive and is in isolation at home. A teenage girl also tested positive and is in isolation at home.



We appreciate all of the cooperation that we have received from those who have tested positive and their family members, said Kathy Gifford, Nurse Supervisor for the local health department. Without that level of openness and concern for others we could not do our job.

With the Easter weekend upon us, we need to be extremely vigilant to stay away from others, commented Noel Coplen, Director of the local health department. Even though it may seem selfish, you are really avoiding endangering the life of others. Now that is a gift!

Coplen urged residents to be mindful of those who are at greater risk for contracting this virus, including older adults and those with underlying health conditions. He said those more at risk should ask others to help with their life sustaining activities, i.e. food, medications or other necessities.
Tampa Commercial Real Estate It is an honor to be recognized by my peers, and I will continue to serve my clients to the best of my ability in these uncertain times, said Silverman. We will get through this together, and Tampa Bays commercial real estate market will continue to be a strong economic driver for the region.

Although the Florida Gulf Coast Commercial Association of Realtors (FGCAR) annual Pinnacle Awards gala was postponed due to the Coronavirus, winners were announced. Steven Silverman of Tampa Commercial Real Estate won five of the top awards, including Overall Deal of the Year and Member-to-Member Deal of the Year.

A panel of commercial real estate brokers analyzed brokerage deals in the Tampa Bay market during the past year to determine award winners. The panel evaluated deals by independent brokers as well as national brokers in every category of commercial real estate. Winning brokers are, in the opinion of the panel, the best of the best in each category.

It is an honor to be recognized by my peers, and I will continue to serve my clients to the best of my ability in these uncertain times, said Silverman. We will get through this together, and Tampa Bays commercial real estate market will continue to be a strong economic driver for the region.

The judges looked for transactions where the broker demonstrated superior brokerage skills and the highest level of client service. Silvermans five awards were:



Overall Deal of the Year

Member-to-Member Deal of the Year

Deal of the Year - Land

Regional - Top Producer General Brokerage #3

Regional - Top Producer Investment #3

Silverman also achieved a Pinnacle Award as a multi-million dollar sales producer. For more information on him and Tampa Commercial Real Estate, please visit https://tampacommercialrealestate.com/.

About Tampa Commercial Real Estate

Tampa Commercial Real Estate is an award-winning brokerage at the forefront of commercial real estate specialization, offering clients deep experience in the Southwest Florida and Tampa markets and a focused expertise tailored to each client's needs, desires, and investment portfolio. By being actively involved in local and national commercial real estate organizations, we offer sellers broad exposure to cover the market and buyers a wide selection of attractive properties. Learn more at https://tampacommercialrealestate.com/.
Details added (first version posted on 17:44)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8

Trend:

Azerbaijan continues to take measures to bring back its citizens who are abroad, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev made the remark in Baku at a meeting of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8, Trend reports.

So far, over 15,000 Azerbaijani citizens have been returned to the country at the state expense by special charter flights, said the official.

The assistant to the president said that Azerbaijani citizens evacuated from abroad are on special quarantine.

"We also thank our citizens who are abroad for understanding, Hajiyev added. Despite the closed borders, there are exceptional cases. For example, over the last two days, the deceased were transported from Russia on the basis of the principle of humanism and as a result of the considered appeals from the relatives."

Hajiyev added that the country's diplomatic missions abroad are in constant contact with the Azerbaijanis staying there.

Citizens who need help are supported by our diplomatic missions while students - by the Ministry of Education, Hajiyev stressed.
The first COVID-19 deaths last month in Niger, a landlocked country that ranks 189th on the Human Development Index, marked a new milestone in the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis. A pandemic that spread in a matter of weeks across some of the worlds major advanced and emerging economies, bringing untold human suffering, is now hitting some of the worlds poorest and most fragile, and it could hit them hard.

The 2007-08 global economic and financial crisis showed that no country is immune from the impact of a global shock. Todays crisis is unfolding against a backdrop of already-strained global trade, stagnating foreign aid budgets, tumbling commodity prices, protracted conflicts, and constrained fiscal space in developing countries. Large groups of people with precarious jobs will fall back into poverty in countries today classified as middle-income, reminding us once again how misleading it is to classify countries by income instead of resilience. Women will be among the hardest hit. Small island developing states whose economies depend largely on tourism risk freefalling into economic collapse. And just as this disease knows no borders, in war-torn countries, it wont pick sides. Last month saw the first reported COVID-19 death in Syria, whose health system is already ravaged by a decade of war.

Evaluating the impact

It will take time to evaluate the impact of the damage to our economies and societies,and to rebuild them to be more sustainable and resilient. But only five years into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, we cannot wait to take the collective action that could make a difference. As Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel laureate Abi Ahmed aptly reminds us, left undefeated in Africa, COVID-19 will bounce back elsewhere.

Here are six things that we urge governments and business leaders to act on now.



1. Governments need to boost foreign aid spending now, and sustain it

The US$2 billion COVID-19 humanitarian appeal sets out the immediate needs of the countries most vulnerable to a surge of disease that has already crippled advanced health systems. Aid efforts will need to be sustained over time. We cannot afford to see a repeat of the Ebola surges experienced by some countries, where an influx of humanitarian aid dried up quickly with little or no resources to support communities, or entire economies, to get back on track. We must not lose sight of the role of foreign aid in building global resilience, including pandemic threats.



2. Scarce medical supplies must be directed to where they will have the most impact, rather than to the highest bidder

Media coverage in recent days has cast light on how, even within some of the worlds advanced economies, governments are competing with one another for ventilators and protective equipment. Left unchecked, the same may happen for any vaccination or cure when it emerges. If this is happening in countries with good health systems and strong bargaining power, imagine how such competition will affect those that have neither.

3. Borders must be kept open to goods and services

Even where temporary restrictions on the movement of people become necessary to contain the spread of disease, we need to ensure that this does not hamper trade. In many regions, cross-border trade in agricultural goods is the lifeblood of entire economies. The Sahel and West Africa face a looming food emergency, with some 14.4 million people already expected to face crisis or worse in less than six months from now. Without immediate action, the COVID-19 crisis will fuel these and other emergencies.

4. Business leaders have a unique opportunity to slash the cost of remittances to developing countries

One billion people worldwide benefit from remittances--funds sent by migrant workers and family members abroad. In times of crisis, these can be a lifeline, especially in countries with limited social safety nets. Yet sending money home costs around seven percent of the amount being sent. This is too high. If ever there was a time for the financial sector to rise to the challenge and slash transfer fees for the worlds most vulnerable people, it is now.



5. Rising debt needs to be addressed urgently

Many countries are showing signs of debt distress that could be compounded by this crisis. Addressing it may be harder now than 15 or 20 years ago. A growing share lies with private debt and non-Paris club lenders, and declining commodity prices make the problem worse. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have called for a suspension of debt repayments for the poorest countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has gone further, urging leaders to consider a highly indebted poor countries initiative on steroids. Lenders need to address this together.



6. Tackling one crisis must not come at the expense of others

Our efforts to support countries ravaged by COVID-19 cannot be allowed to divert resources from existing crises, such addressing the needs of refugees, tackling the global climate emergency, ending violence against women and girls, and ending discrimination in all its forms. How stimulus plans are implemented today matters. In many countries, inequalities were already at record high levels. The global recovery needs to be fair, it needs to be green, and above all, it must be inclusive.

The nature of COVID-19 and its profound impact on livelihoods across the world may be new. Our approach to overcoming it, however, need not be. This year, the United Nations will celebrate its 75th anniversary. OECD will mark its 60th. We may not be young, but with age comes the benefit of accumulated experience. Our organizations were born from the ashes of two world wars and the recognition that international cooperation is the only way to overcome truly global challenges.



It is our hope that at this crucial moment, we can show that working together in international solidarity the service of the most vulnerable remains the only solution to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

This article was originally published here.




LOS ANGELESMen.com this Saturday will release the much-awaited first scene of Rise of the Sirens, the new all-male big budget feature from veteran filmmaker Marc MacNamara, on VOD. Subsequent scenes will be released on succeeding Saturdays through May 2.

To see the trailer, click here.

Ive been in industry for over a decade and this is the most physically demanding feature Ive ever worked on, MacNamara said Wednesday. One of the head guys at Men.com wanted to do story about mermaids for years and I thought it would be great to do it. But I wanted a little more meaning to the story, so I took the angle that climate change would bring these male mermaids to shore.

Shot on location in Hawaii with a sprawling tropical backdrop, Rise of the Sirens follows the story of three mermaids (Beaux Banks, Paul Canon and Angel Rivera) who due to climate change, must now find food closer to shore. So, when two snorkelers go out and explore the oceans at night, these predators attack.

Unaware of the danger, two local surfers and best friends (Matthew Camp and Colby Tucker) are being stalked by Beaux while out surfing. At sunset, when Matt lays on the sand relaxing as Beaux swims to shore and his fins turn to feet, Matt and Beaux meet and form a connectionwith Matt still not knowing he is a mermaid. But once the truth is revealed, two angry locals (JJ Knight and Collin Simpson) are now bent on killing the mermaids.

I knew I definitely wanted to have Beaux as the lead mermaid in the movie. I wanted it to be action-packed with a lot of crazy stunts because I knew he could pull them off, MacNamara said. Matt and Beaux were great together and Colby Tucker was the comic relief in the movie with his dry sense of humor. He was brilliant.

Shot over the course of 10 days in scenic, if not nearly inaccessible locations in Oahu, Rise of the Sirens tested all of the performers mettle as they hiked through jungles to get to locations and frequently trained in swimming pools for swimming or underwater sequences.

It was a grueling shoot and the cast have scars to remember this one by, MacNamara recalled. I even had to go to the hospital at the end of it!

With a passion for storytelling and filmmaking, MacNamara joined the adult industry in 2008 after working in mainstream television and films for years. His cinematic style and emphasis on characterization and real chemistry between performers helped him earn the first of many industry awards which include the 2019 GayVN Award for Best Porn Parody for Men.coms Pirates: A Gay XXX Parody.

His other awards include the 2010 Cybersocket award for Best Movie, the Hustlaball Award for Best Director and Best Movie as well as earning multiple Grabby Awards for Best Director, Best Movie, Best Screenplay and others.

With his Nasty Boy Productions imprint, MacNamara has continued to write, direct and produce a number of acclaimed films for the gay market, which include Tarzan: A Gay XXX Parody, Rental House 1, Original Sinners, Murdered Heart and others.

Im kind of a dork when it comes to writing a script, he said. I like to figure out who these characters are and what motivates them and I always like to write a real bio. My background is in writing first so thats a big part of it.

As for the future, MacNamara is already writing his next movie that he plans shoot later this year, but the plot remains under wraps.

For more information, MacNamara is on Twitter at @MarcMacNamara and Instagram at @MarcMacNamara.

Pictured: Beaux Banks


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At first glance it seems Bernie Sanders, who suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, and President Trump stand at opposite extremes of the American political landscape. Pundits often assume the polarization between these two candidates is so great that their voting bases must be ideologically incompatible or somehow anathema to each other.

In reality, however, a significant historical overlap exists between Sanders' democratic socialism and Trumpism - which explains why Trump is already trying to court Sanders' supporters. Americans today should imagine both Sanders and Trump as very different approaches to the same populist movement that has been lurking on the periphery of American politics for more than a century.

At its base, populism speaks to economically disaffected voters. The Populist party was launched in 1892 to address the "moral, political, and material ruin" that had befallen the American farmer. After decades of farming and deriving the gender specific pride of "providing" for a family, farmers saw themselves as a commodity in a continuously depressed labor market - underpaid, and no longer capable of providing for their families.

With farmers riddled with debt and facing predatory railroad freight fares, this political movement, which had grown out of the local Granger movement of the South, stood for making substantive changes to America's laissez-faire economic mentality. Populists wanted government to intervene with federal legislation that would protect farmers from corporate monopolies and political corruption.

In 1896, the Populist Party, made its most significant presidential run, nominating William Jennings Bryan, who was also the Democratic nominee. Despite a valiant showing, in which he captured most of the South, the Plains and the West, Bryan lost to William McKinley's well-funded campaign. Bryan represented the interest of farmers, while McKinley looked after major industries and special interests. The Populist Party advocated for taxing the rich, direct elections of senators, nationalization of the railroad industry and for workers' right to unionize.

After the 1896 defeat, the Populist party radically splintered, both politically and ideologically. Some veered toward local independent political groups, others merged with their state Democratic Parties in recognition of the Democrats' embrace of Bryan and his populist tinged platform. It was at this point that American populism shapeshifted into many different ideologies - from the white supremacist strain of Thomas E. Watson to the socialist policies of Eugene Debs.

Before 1896, the Populist party had an inclusive attitude toward race and gender. The movement underpinning it sought a biracial approach to sharecropping. It also looked to position women in politics. However, this all changed after the party's 1896 defeat.

Some Populists blamed Jews for mortgage defaults and farm repossessions - buying into larger, global anti-Semitic tropes. They turned to white supremacy, discriminated against Catholics and lashed out at urban immigrants for "selling" their votes for cheap labor. Their embrace of racism, gender essentialism, ethnicism and religious prejudice - many of which were stoked by those trying to destroy the populist movement to protect moneyed interests, especially in the South - fragmented the People's party. Watson - who had supported black enfranchisement in Georgia - embodied this transition, moving away from his earlier ideas of racial inclusion and embracing white-supremacy and anti-Semitism.

Debs, on the other hand, disappointed with the results of the election and by the grip corporations had on the political system, founded the first Socialist Party in America. In a manifesto published just months after the 1896 election, he declared the only viable solution to make substantial change in the country was to seek a radical ideological conversion to socialism. Debs's agenda stood for the working class, and he advocated for the support of unions and labor laws.

Yet, even as the two wings of populism diverged, figures as diverse as Debs and Watson shared a key position: both opposed the new economic order that left some Americans behind. Despite their myriad differences, Watson supported Debs when the socialist was in jail for opposing American involvement in World War I. He openly demanded "Debs in the White House and Wilson in prison." Reciprocally, Debs saw himself as sharing political origins with Watson. He often described himself as "an out and out People's party man." These two had significant overlap in ideas.

This economic dissatisfaction expanded from rural farmers to unskilled workers over the course of the 20th century, during which manufacturing plants initially became the heart of national growth and a symbol for the American Dream. Like farmers in the 19th century, the 20th century factory worker was lionized as epitomizing American freedom. Large manufacturing plants were the inspiration for popular songs like Bruce Springsteen's "Factory" and Alabama's "Forty Hour Week," and Hollywood movies like "Gung Ho."

However, in the 1970s, American policymakers began to strip energy and infrastructure regulation, gutted antitrust and oversight laws and revoked federal support for unions. This combined with the 1973 oil crisis and an increase in international trade, generated by the erosion of the Bretton Woods financial regime, to create a perfect storm that heightened incentives to shift millions of American manufacturing jobs to smaller and cheaper countries.

These policies continued during the Reagan administration. Deregulation in all sectors became the principal economic policy for both parties. The price stability once created by regulation turned into a race to produce the cheapest product. This philosophy underpinned an economy obsessed with efficiency, automation and low wages. Manufacturing was exported and with it, the American mythology of hard work and freedom.

Just like in 1896, this left an entire class of Americans behind. Deregulation and automation continued to gut manufacturing in America. By December 2009, the number of manufacturing jobs in the country had hit its lowest point since 1941. As it had in the late 19th century, when it first embraced industry over agrarian life, it was clear that capitalism had again found greener pastures.

Trump and Sanders have offered two different solutions to this problem.

When Trump rode down the escalator to announce his presidential campaign, he called for a "leader that can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing . . ." Trump's prescription for protecting the disaffected blue-collar worker (especially white ones) was to exclude undocumented immigrants from the workforce and pull the country out of international trade agreements that facilitate the exporting of jobs abroad.

Sanders, calling for full employment, Medicare-for-all, a higher minimum wage and student loan forgiveness, has a very different platform - one that speaks to blue collar Americans of all races and eschews the racism inherent in Trump's populism. His policies promise to reduce inequality between the American working class and the rich.

Trump is today's Thomas E. Watson; Sanders is a 21st century Eugene Debs. They could not be more different in policy, while being more similar in appealing to abandoned workers who have gone from epitomizing the American Dream to being completely discontented and struggling to make ends meet.

With Sanders suspending his presidential run, it is crucial that Joe Biden's campaign recognizes the reality that disaffected workers face today. Only with this understanding will Biden court Sanders's voters and embrace his ideas sufficiently to prevent Trump from luring some Sanders's supporters in by falsely painting himself as the true champion of the underdog in the race.

---

Blanco is a history Ph.D. student at Florida International University and an adjunct professor at Miami-Dade Community College.
Leading Turkish builder Limak said its Kuwaiti subsidiary Limak Insaat Kuwait is working on the new Terminal 2 of the Kuwait International Airport in complete compliance with the instructions of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Limak said it had held personal meetings with all of its Turkish employees in Kuwait regarding the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Only 255 persons or 6% of the total 7,300 employees said that they want to head home and they were evacuated as per precautionary measures via a private jet on the company's expenses, reported Mubasher, citing a statement from the Turkish builder.

Moreover, Limak emphasised that it did not and will not ask the Kuwaiti government to compensate the workers and refuted false rumours circulating on social media in this respect, it added.
Energy investors hope oil producers can agree to an output cut, but economic uncertainty continues to pressure markets.

Oil prices climbed on Thursday, hours before the worlds largest oil producers are scheduled to meet to discuss output cuts as the coronavirus pandemic ravages demand.

Brent crude futures rose 2.5 percent or 81 cents to $33.65 as of 00:34 GMT after touching a high of $33.90, adding to gains in the previous session.

United States crude futures were up 4.3 percent, or $1.08, at $26.17, having climbed as much as 6 percent the day before.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, are set to convene a video conference meeting on Thursday.

The meeting is expected to be more successful than their gathering in March, where they failed to agree to extend supply cuts and triggered a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Hopes of an agreement to cut between 10 million and 15 million barrels per day (bpd) rose after media reports suggested Russia was ready to reduce its output by 1.6 million bpd and Algerias energy minister said he expected a fruitful meeting.

I think therell be a deal, which will bring a bit of cheer in the short run. Then everyones attention will refocus on the fundamentals. The fundamentals are appalling, Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank told Reuters news agency.

Global demand for oil has shrunk significantly as the coronavirus outbreak triggered travel restrictions and temporary business closures. In India, the worlds third-biggest consumer, oil demand has collapsed as much as 70 percent, according to officials at the countrys refiners.

In contrast to oil prices, Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after a three-day rally, with investors mulling the spread of the coronavirus and when economies will be able to ramp up again.

Shares in Tokyo dipped with the Nikkei declining 0.23 percent in early trade, but were higher in Sydney and Seoul. Australias S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.51 percent and South Koreas Kospi gained 1.3 percent.

In China, blue chips declined 0.47 percent while the broader Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19 percent. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was also in the red, down 1.17 percent.

US S&P 500 Index futures edged up after the gauge jumped 3.4 percent on Wednesday as Joe Biden emerged as the Democratic frontrunner in the US presidential race, bringing its rise from the March low to more than 20 percent.

But investors are still looking at numbers of new coronavirus cases and deaths for clues on where the global economy is headed.

Its all a question of when the economy reopens and how quickly that happens, Nancy Davis, a chief investment officer with Quadratic Capital Management LLC told Bloomberg. We arent out of the woods.

While the White Houses top health advisers are developing medical criteria for safely reopening the US economy in coming weeks should these trends hold steady, the coronavirus killed a record number of victims in the United Kingdom and Belgium, as well as in the hard-hit states of New York and New Jersey. The number of new cases in Italy and Spain crept up after several days of declines.
[April 08, 2020] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, a Leading Securities Fraud Law Firm, Announces Investigation of CVR Refining, LP (CVRR) on Behalf of Investors

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM"), a leading national shareholder rights law firm, today announced that it has commenced an investigation on behalf of CVR Refining, LP ("CVRR" or the Company") (NYSE: CVRR) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of the federal securities laws. If you suffered a loss on your CVRR investments or would like to inquire about potentially pursuing claims to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, you can submit your contact information here or contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, via email [email protected] or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights. On July 30, 2018, CVRR announced that the General Partner, CVI, and other affiliates now owned 84.5 percent of the outstanding CVRR common units, and could exercise the buyout provision in CVRR's partnership agreement (the "Call Right"). Under the Call Right, the General Partner had the right to acqire all remaining CVRR units for a specified price. On August 1, 2018, the Company stated that there were "no current plans to exercise the call right."



On October 24, 2018, CVRR released its third quarter 2018 financial results, a significant increase over the prior year results. On November 29, 2018 it was now "considering" exercising the Call Right, and that neither it, nor any of its affiliates, had purchased CVRR units in the 90-day period predating the announcement, further driving down the CVRR unit price. Then, on January 17, 2019, CVRR issued a press release announcing the General Partner had assigned the Call Right to CVI, and that CVI would exercise the Call Right on January 29, 2019, "for a cash purchase price of $10.50 per Common Unit," which price was based on the 20-day trading average of CVRR units ending on January 14, 2019.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Whistleblower Notice: Persons with non-public information regarding CVRR should consider their options to aid the investigation or take advantage of the SEC (News - Alert) Whistleblower Program. Under the program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Charles H. Linehan at 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224 or email [email protected]. About GPM Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP is a premier law firm representing investors and consumers in securities litigation and other complex class action litigation. ISS Securities Class Action Services has consistently ranked GPM in its annual SCAS Top 50 Report. In 2018, GPM was ranked a top five law firm in number of securities class action settlements, and a top six law firm for total dollar size of settlements. With four offices across the country, GPM's nearly 40 attorneys have won groundbreaking rulings and recovered billions of dollars for investors and consumers in securities, antitrust, consumer, and employment class actions. GPM's lawyers have handled cases covering a wide spectrum of corporate misconduct including cases involving financial restatements, internal control weaknesses, earnings management, fraudulent earnings guidance and forward looking statements, auditor misconduct, insider trading, violations of FDA regulations, actions resulting in FDA and DOJ investigations, and many other forms of corporate misconduct. GPM's attorneys have worked on securities cases relating to nearly all industries and sectors in the financial markets, including, energy, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, real estate and REITs, financial, insurance, information technology, health care, biotech, cryptocurrency, medical devices, and many more. GPM's past successes have been widely covered by leading news and industry publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Reuters, the Associated Press (News - Alert), Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, and Money. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005805/en/

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To recover from the coronavirus, as she did, Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighboring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the super old  people who are at least 100. As the nation with the worlds highest number of COVID-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Im well, Im well, Zanusso said Tuesday during a video call with The Associated Press from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont. I watch TV, read the newspapers.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

Zanusso wore a protective mask, as did her family doctor of 35 years beside her, Carla Furno Marchese, who also donned eyewear and a gown that covered her head.

Asked about her illness, Zanusso is modest: I had some fever.

Her doctor said Zanusso was in bed for a week.

We hydrated her because she wasnt eating, and then we thought she wasnt going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting, Furno Marchese said.

Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak

One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before, Furno Marchese said. The doctor recalled when Zanusso was able to sit up, then managed to get out of bed.

What helped her get through the illness? Courage and strength, faith, Zanusso said. It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also give yourself courage, have faith.

COVID-19 can cause mild or moderate symptoms, and most of those who are infected recover. But the elderly and those with existing health problems can be at high risk for more serious illness.

The virus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and over 88,000 worldwide. The World Health Organization says 95% of those who have died in Europe were over 60 years old.

Under Italys five-week-long lockdown, which is aimed at containing the spread of infections that have overwhelmed hospitals, visitors arent allowed at homes for the elderly.

Her doctor asked Zanusso what she would like to do when they open the doors.

Id like to take a lovely walk, she replied. And your three great-grandchildren? Watch them play together.

Deaths, hospitalizations and new infections are leveling off in Italy, and Premier Giuseppe Conte is expected to announce in the coming days how long the lockdown will remain in place, with expectations that some restrictions could be eased.

For now, Zanusso is isolated from other residents as she awaits a follow-up swab test to confirm she is negative for the virus.

She grew up in Treviso, in the northeastern Veneto region, where she worked for many years in the textile industry. Zanusso, who turns 104 on Aug. 16, had four children  three of whom are living  and has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Shes old, but healthy, with no chronic illness, her doctor said.

This week, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera devoted an entire page to the stories of super-old survivors, called healing at 100 years old. The inspirational portraits are a counterpoint to news of large numbers of deaths among elderly people living in Italian nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities.

Of the victims, most elderly werent tested for COVID-19 if they died in nursing homes, so the numbers dont figure into Italys overall coronavirus death toll, which is the highest in the world.

Medical staff went through a very hard time, said Furno Marchese, the doctor. It was a great emergency with so many residents ill, so to see a positive outcome was very rewarding, not only for me, but for all the people who worked hard here nonstop.

Outside the nonprofit, 61-bed Maria Grazia Residence, the Italian flag flies at half-staff in tribute to those who died of the virus.

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Jharkhand Health



Minister Banna Gupta on Thursday urged the Centre to assist every state equally in the fight against COVID-19, highlighting the shortage of key medical equipment such as masks.

The state government has been seeking the Centre's assistance for supply of more medical kits in the last few days.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give equal relief to all states in equal measure to tackle COVID-19," Gupta said, adding, despite limited health resources, the Jharkhand government is providing maximum relief to the affected.

"There is shortage of ventilators, PPEs, life-saving drugs, masks and other equipment required to tackle COVID-19 cases," the minister told a press conference in Hazaribag.

At a separate press briefing in neighbouring Ramgarh district, Gupta said, "I have discussed with Union Health Minister Harshvardhan and requested him to provide medical equipment and necessary medical help to Jharkhand."



The state government will take the help of PSUs and other corporates, too, he said.

Meanwhile, former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das asked all BJP MLAs to donate 30 per cent of their salary to the PM-CARES Fund.

"As per the initiative taken by BJP Legislative Party leader Babulal Marandi, all party MLAs should contribute 30 per cent of their salary," Das said in a statement.

Marandi had on April 6 said he will donate 50 per cent of his one-year salary and suspend MLA funds for two years.

Jharkhand has seen a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases, with the total going up to 13. A 72-year-old man died due to the infection in Bokaro, becoming the first fatality in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 09:22:09|Editor: huaxia

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BRASILIA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Ministry of Health said Wednesday that a total of 15,927 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country with 800 deaths and the mortality stood at 5 percent.

The infections are concentrated in Sao Paulo with 6,708 cases and Rio de Janeiro with 1,938 cases, followed by Ceara, Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, and the Federal District.

Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a press conference that a task force made up of several Brazilian companies has been established to accelerate the production of respirators, with the delivery of 6,500 pieces of equipment expected in 90 days.

Mandetta expressed special concern for the area of Manaus in Amazonas state, which has a population made up in large part of low-income indigenous communities, and where there is an accelerated growth in the number of cases.

The government has adopted social isolation measures to help delay the spread of COVID-19 and started to use the public health network to better prepare for the peak of the epidemic, which is expected in the coming weeks.
NEW HAVEN  The percentage of hospitalizations for COVID-19 cases in New Haven is highest among African-Americans, followed by Hispanic and then by white residents.

Mayor Justin Elicker talked about that breakdown at his regular virtual press update on the virus Wednesday where the total number of positive cases for COVID-19 has now hit 409 up from 361 the day before, although the number of fatalities remained at 13.

A total of 43 percent of those hospitalized with the virus, or 49 people are African Americans; 28 percent, or 32 people, are Hispanic; 20 residents or 18 percent were white. The race of 13 residents or 11 percent was not known.

The percentage of deaths by race, according to Elicker is 5 African Americans, or 38 percent, and 4 whites, or 31 percent, with 3 deaths in the Hispanic community, or 23 percent. The race of one of the fatalities was unknown.

The breakdown by race for those residents who tested positive for COVID-19 was less definitive as the race of 141 individuals in the city out of 363 cases, or 39 percent, was not known.

The rest of the breakdown, however, for those who tested positive for the respiratory disease, showed 97 residents, or 27 percent, were African Americans; followed by 66 Hispanic residents, or 18 percent; and 54 residents, or 15 percent, who are white, with 5 individuals, or 1 percent, Asian.

A heat map created by the city showed concentrations of individuals testing positive in Fair Haven, the Hill, Dixwell, Newhallville, West River and Prospect Hill.

Elicker said they ran the calculations to be able to address the populations most impacted. He said the data, as far what they have at the moment, indicates that communities of colors are much more significantly impacted.

The mayor, when asked what explains the difference, pointed to such things as income inequality and underlying health conditions. Also, he said denser housing makes it more difficult to self-isolate in low-income neighborhoods.

He said individuals in these neighborhoods also may be employed in more service and industrial jobs that dont lend themselves to working virtually. Elicker said they also may have to rely on public transportation, which may be crowded and works against social distancing.

Maritza Bond, city director of public health, said they wanted to get the word out on a trend that has been noted across the country as far as the impact of COVID-19 on minorities.

In other news, Superintendent of Schools Ilene Tracey also updated the public on a new schedule for the distribution of portable breakfast and lunches prepared for school children and their families since the schools closed.

She said to lessen the exposure of staff distributing the food, it will now be available only on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays Enough food will be handed out on Monday and Wednesday to cover meals for two days; on Friday there will be enough to stretch through the weekend. The schools where the meals are located remains the same.

Elicker was also asked about his decision to sign a letter asking that the 30-day moratorium on evictions be extended for 30 days beyond when the state executive emergency orders expire.

It is important that people stay in their homes, the mayor said. He said evictions cause all kinds of complex issues for peoples mental and emotional health. Elicker said the safety rules around slowing the virus will likely be in place for some time and evicting residents just puts more residents at risk.

He expressed dismay at the decision by Wisconsin to hold a primary in the middle of a pandemic. Elicker said citizens should not have to decide between exercising their right to vote and putting their health in jeopardy.

The mayor also reported that with three hotels under contract to house the homeless, that is enough to temporarily house 194 individuals.

A small percentage of rooms are being leased by the city with the majority paid for by the state. Individuals were moved into the Best Western Hotel in West Haven on Wednesday. Elicker said he believes the state will contract for rooms in one more hotel to meet New Havens needs to move homeless residents out of crowded shelters where they are likely to spread the coronavirus. Some homeless not in shelters are also expected to housed.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission has set up a team charged with preventing the mismanagement of the COVID-19 special intervention funds.

It said this is in execution of its preventive mandate in Section 6 (b)-(d) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

According to a statement made available on the official website of the commission on Thursday, the team will monitor the disbursement and utilisation of the funds, donations and other receipts mobilised towards combating the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

The Team will deploy appropriate strategy to prevent incidences of corruption that may have negative impact on the efforts of government to deal effectively with the pandemic and its work will complement the efforts of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with regard to transparency and accountability in the management of the funds.

While the Commission salutes all those in the frontline of battling the outbreak and everyone facilitating the national effort behind the scene, it hereby reiterates its earlier advisory to all actors in the management chain of the COVID-19 response to steer clear of all unethical and corrupt acts that could result in criminal investigation and consequences, the agency said.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria currently has 276 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 44 persons discharged and six deaths.

Groups, business tycoons and political bigwigs like the NNPC, UBA, Globacom, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Folorunsho Alakija, Tony Elumelu, Abdusalmad Rabiu, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Femi Otedola, Atiku Abubakar and others have donated billions of naira and relief materials to the federal government to fight the pandemic.

Civil society organisations have asked the federal government to properly account for how the donated funds will be spent.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who has released some funds to battle the pandemic, has also said the national task force on coronavirus, headed by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, will coordinate the handling of the funds and all donations.
Australian Year 12s Given Path to Graduation

Federal and state leaders met on April 9 to create a unified approach to year 12 results across the country. In a message to Australias aspiring graduates, federal Education Minister Dan Tehan told students that their results would be as valuable as any previous year.

Tehan noted that a lot had been taken from Australia this year by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. He explained that each state and territory had agreed that all students would receive an end-of-year senior certificate and an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for their university applications.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government confirmed this by announcing on April 7 that assessments are being changed to reflect the situation.

It will be up to each state how assessments for years 11 and 12 will be managed, with the governments of Western Australia and Victoria already deciding that exams will be pushed back to December.

Another potential change will be how each state and territory calculates the ATAR results. The University Admissions Centre that calculates ATAR results in New South Wales and the ACT said that each students ATAR rank is based on a combination of marks from 10 units of senior high school courses, and how those marks compare to other students.

But the system is more complex than just those results. Addison Scott-Fleming CEO of Triumph Tutoring told The Epoch Times that the ATAR indicates how a student performed relative to other students who undertook the same classes. He said nothing changes using the normal ATAR system.

Each states educational authority could consider changes to account for these unprecedented times, he said.

But ultimately Scott-Fleming would like to remind students that their ATAR doesnt define them. The priority for students should be on adjusting to remote learning, staying focused during online classes, and avoiding distractions, he said.

[Students] should seek support in all areasphysical, emotional, and academicif they feel that they need help, he said.

Universities Australia is the peak body for the university sector. Its chief executive, Catriona Jackson said an ATAR is not the only way to get to university.

Every year, universities and Tertiary Admission Centres (TACs) use a wide range of methods to assess and admit studentsin addition to the ATAR, she said.

On April 7, Universities Australia said that they were working closely with state and territory governments, schools, and TACs to make sure all year 12 students can go to university.

Some universities have already announced different pathways for year 12 students affected by the CCP virus. Both the University of Western Australia and the Australian National University have announced that they will offer admission to year 12 students based on their year 11 results. The University of Tasmania has taken a different approach by introducing a schools recommendation policy for admission next year.

This article was updated to correct the spelling of Addison Scott-Flemings name. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
No matter how much joy owning a cat may have brought into your life, there's no denying that they're nothing more than cuddly little murder machines that like to watch you clean their shit from a box. While there's not a lot you can do about the latter, in this time of plague, you can put the brakes on the number of things your kitty kills, on purpose or (as cats might try to convince you), unintentionally.

From CNN:

Cat owners who are self-isolating or have Covid-19 symptoms should consider keeping their pets indoors to stop them carrying the virus on their fur, a veterinary body has advised.

The British Veterinary Association said animals "can act as fomites" (objects that can become contaminated with infectious organisms) and could hold the virus on their fur if they are petted by someone who has contracted it. "For pet owners who have Covid-19 or who are self-isolating we are recommending that you keep your cat indoors if possible, during that time," the BVA said in a statement. "The virus could be on their fur in the same way it is on other surfaces, such as tables and doorknobs." The body said, however, that its main advice to pet owners was to practice good hand hygiene.

So, you're sick and you pet your kitty, Mittens, before letting it outside. Covered in your COVID-19 cooties, Mittens roams your neighborhood where, multiple people might give him a scritch behind his ears. BOOM: in addition to any birds Mittens may have casually murdered while he was out for his stroll, he's also passed along a virus that has the potential to send any number of individuals reeling off this mortal coil. Thanks Mittens.

If you are forced to self quarantine, do everyone a favor and keep your cat indoors with you. Your neighbors and the local bird population will thank you.

Image via Seamus Bellamy
Not many may know about the National Day of Silence. It is a holiday in the US which is observed to protest against the harassment and bullying of the LGBTQ community. It is celebrated on the second Friday of in April. National Day of Silence 2020 thus, falls on April 10. Here's some more information about this national holiday.

What is the National Day of Silence?

National Day of Silence was first observed by a group of students belonging to the University of Virginia in 1996. It was a day originally for a class project based on non-violent protesting and saw an attendance of 100 students. It was started by the student, Maria Pulzetti who felt that the LGBTQ students were almost always ignored or silenced by their parents or the administration and their problems were not even heard. The next year, this group took up the project nationally and it spread to over 100 other universities.

Since then, National Day of Silence has also spread to schools, colleges, workspaces. In 2000, GLSEN, which is one of the largest LGBTQ education networks in the USA, had adopted and recognised this day as a national holiday. They officially sponsor the holiday and bring in volunteers and fund to help celebrate this day. In 2008, the National Day of Silence was observed in memory of Lawrence "Larry" King, a student of eight grade, who was shot by his classmate Brandon McInerney.

Also Read: WATCH: Priyanka Chopra Celebrates International Day Of The Girl Child

How it National Day of Silence celebrated?

The National Day of Silence is celebrated by people sticking tapes across their mouths. Some also draw X's on their hands to mark the day. At the end of the day, all the participants together break their vow by taking parts in rallies or attending speeches. The Day of Silence is also observed in countries like New Zeland and Singapore.

Also Read: PM Modi To Lead International Day Of Yoga 2020 Event In Leh; Preparations Begin

National Day of Silence wishes

Image credit: quotesyard

Also Read: UN Women Rallies On International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women

Image credit: Pinterest.com

Also Read: Strangest National Days In February You Can Gear Up For, Check List

Image credit: askideas.com

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Also Read: What Is National Vaccination Day And Why Is This Day Observed?

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In 18th- and 19th-century England, wealthy young men traveled to continental Europe to explore ancient sites, discover ancient relics and Renaissance art, and learn the languages and culture. Known as Grand Tours, these cultural explorations were rites of passage in which men became gentlemen.

Nothing can be compared to the new life that the discovery of another country provides for a thoughtful person. Although I am still the same I believe to have changed to the bones, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in the Italian Journey based on his time in Italy between 1786 and 1788.

At the time of Goethes Grand Tour, 18th-century artisans in Rome and then in Naples made cork architectural models to sell as souvenirs. The grand tourists who bought these models were said to be bearing Rome across the Alps as they took these miniatures of ancient Roman architecture home.

For English architect Sir John Soane, these cork miniatures were more than mementos: They were aide-memoire (memory aids) that influenced his neoclassical architecture, his working models to show concepts to his clients, and his teaching aids for his students and those attending his lectures at the Royal Academy Schools in London where he was professor of architecture. A selection of Soanes models is on display, arranged as he intended them to be, in his model room in the home that he left to the nation as the Sir John Soanes Museum, in London.

In 1776, 23-year-old Soane was an architecture student at the Royal Academy, and his design for a classical triumphal bridge won him the Royal Academy Gold Medal, allowing him to fund his Grand Tour. Soane sketched many ancient sites during his European tour, and when he returned to England, he collected models of the sites he had visited.

Sir John Soanes model room. Giovanni Altieris cork model of the Temple of Vesta is prominently on display on the center shelf. (Gareth Gardner/Sir John Soanes Museum)

Temple of Vesta

The circular Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, about 19 miles from Rome, was one of Soanes favorite Roman buildings. Leading model maker Giovanni Altieris cork model of the Temple of Vesta, made in the 1770s, is prominently on display in Soanes model room.

Built in the first century B.C., the circular Roman temple is believed to be dedicated to Hercules, or to Vesta, the Roman goddess of home, hearth, and family. (Romes Pantheon is another excellent example of a circular temple.)

Built in the first century B.C. the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, in Italy was thought to be dedicated to Hercules or to the goddess Vesta. (Volodymyr Nik/Shutterstock)

Set on top of a cliff edge opposite the Aniene Falls, the Temple of Vesta appears partly cocooned by elegant Corinthian columns in varying states of decay. Narrow vertical grooves on the columns seem to elongate the enormous columns, and ornamental capitals (architectural features that sit on the tops of columns) are decorated with leaves and scrolls that typify this classical style of architecture called the Corinthian order. The Corinthian order is the most ornate of the three styles of classical architecture, the Doric and Ionic being the others.

Soane had sketched the Temple of Vesta in his 20s during his Grand Tour, and many years later he praised the temple in his Royal Academy lectures, for the uncommon taste, lightness, and elegance of every part of this beautiful composition has never been surpassed, nor can be sufficiently admired.

The Temple of Vesta influenced Soane throughout his career. One of the most prestigious examples of its influence was the Bank of England building with its aptly named Tivoli Corner.

Tivoli Corner, Bank of England, London. (/ CC-BY-SA-4.0)

Sadly, Soanes original Bank of England building, built between 1788 and 1827, underwent numerous reconstructions between 1921 and 1939, and no longer captures Soanes intentions.

To find out more about the model room at Sir John Soanes Museum, visit Soane.org
New Delhi: The central government on Thursday (April 9) took a decision in favour of farmers to deal with the situation arising out of nationwide lockdown in view of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The government approved the enhancement, from 25 quintals to 40 quintals, of daily procurement limit per farmer per day under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), according to an official statement.

The government agencies like Nafed, SPAC and other state-owned agencies procure pulses and oilseeds at minimum support price (MSP) under the PSS. The procurement shall continue for 90 days from the date of commencement of procurement.

According to official communication, "This shall supersede the procurement period mentioned in the earlier orders for the Rabi season 2020. The other terms and conditions will remain the same as issued."

The Centre has reportedly invited proposals from the state governments and Union Territories for implementation of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for the procurement of perishable agriculture or horticulture crops, whose prices have gone down recently.

According to a circular issued by the Agriculture Ministry, the objective of the intervention is to protect the farmers involved in these commodities from making distress sales in the event of a bumper crop during the peak arrival period when the prices tend to fall below economic levels and cost of production.

The circular was quoted as saying, "Under the scheme, in accordance with MIS guidelines, a pre-determined quantity at the fixed MIP (market intervention price) is procured by the agencies designated by the state government for a fixed period or till the prices are stabilized above the MIP whichever is earlier."

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today chaired a meeting, via video conference, with the state agriculture ministers and appreciated their efforts and proactive role in agriculture activities even during this challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic.

Tomar told the states to sensitise field agencies about exemptions to farming-related activities and allow movement of farm produce, farming products, fertilisers, farm implements and machinery, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tomar spoke to state agriculture ministers, through video conferencing, to discuss the problems of farmers in the wake of the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Tomar had asserted that farmers will not face problems during the lockdown with relaxation given to them by the government.

Notably, the Haryana government has set up a 24x7 toll-free helpline for farmers during the upcoming Rabi procurement season, besides ensuring that social distancing norms are followed by farmers.

"A dedicated 24x7 toll-free helpline 1800-180-2060 has been set up in the head office of Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Panchkula, which would be fully operational by April 13," an official statement said today.

The procurement season will start on April 15. A layout plan for every mandi and procurement centre has been circulated to all districts to ensure social distancing norms are followed.
Activists protest China's reclamation works in the South China Sea. in front of the Chinese consulate in the Philippine capital Manila's financial district, July 3, 2015.

The Philippines expressed deep concern Wednesday over a Chinese coast guard ships alleged sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the disputed South China Sea last week, as Manila joined Hanoi and Washington in criticizing Beijing over the incident.

The Philippine foreign office issued what it called a statement of solidarity with Hanoi. The statement rebuked Beijing for the incident in waters near the Paracel Islands  which both China and Vietnam claim. It described the sinking as a provocation amid a global crisis around the COVID-19 outbreak.

Manila values the maintenance of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and violence in the maritime region effectively undermines the potential of a genuinely deep and trusting regional relationship between the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.

There is never a good time to indulge in provocations, the statement said. They usually end in defeat of aggression or a devastating price of victory.

But it is always a good time to rise in the defense and affirmation of our respective sovereignties and in the peace and stability of our region especially in a time of pandemic, the department added.

The statement also urged all claimants to the strategic sea region to maintain good behavior.

China claims most of the potentially mineral-rich South China Sea, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors and are part of their respective exclusive economic zones. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the sea.

Vietnams government accused the China Coast Guard (CCG) of sinking the fishing boat near the Paracels on April 2, and has lodged an official protest with Beijing.

The Chinese vessel committed an act that violated Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa, a spokeswoman for Hanois foreign ministry said on April 3, using the Vietnamese name for the Paracels, and threatened the lives and damaged the property and legitimate interest of Vietnamese fishermen.

The Chinese, for their part, claim that the Vietnamese boat sank itself after ramming a CCG ship.

In the early hours of April 2, the Vietnamese fishing vessel QNg 90617 illegally entered the waters of the Xisha islands to engage in fishing activities, a release from the coast guard said, using the Chinese name for the Paracel islands.

It sank after hitting China Coast Guard 4301. All eight crew members were rescued by our coast guard, the statement said, referring to the coast guard ship by its number.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department criticized China over the incident, issuing a statement saying this was the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.

Our own similar experience

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has tried not to antagonize China since taking office in 2016. He has said that his country could not defend itself properly against the Asian superpower in the case of aggression or war.

Last year, a Chinese trawler rammed into a Filipino fishing boat near Recto Bank in the disputed region, leaving 22 fishermen adrift at sea for hours before a passing Vietnamese boat rescued them.

At the time Duterte came under intense domestic pressure to protest the incident. But the president later said there was nothing he could do against China.

Wednesdays statement from the foreign office pointed to how the sinking of the Philippine boat had created cracks in Sino-Philippine relations.

Our own similar experience revealed how much trust in a friendship is lost by it, and how much trust was created by Vietnams humanitarian act of directly saving the lives of our Filipino fishermen, the department said.

We have not stopped and will not stop thanking Vietnam, its statement added, noting that this was the main reason why it was issuing the statement of solidarity.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
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A shutdown notice is posted at the door of a hagwon in Noryangjin, Seoul, Wednesday, where a new confirmed case was reported./ Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong



A busy district of Noryangjin, Seoul, filled with cram schools was empty Thursday after a case of COVID-19 was reported at one of them.



The Seoul Metropolitan Government ordered the closure of the affected school and the 65 people the patient came into contact with into self-quarantine. Among these 50 had tested negative as of Thursday morning.



The case involved a cram school student in his 20s who had symptoms Sunday and attended classes Monday before being confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus Tuesday.



The city shut down three other cram schools last month after cases of infection occurred at them.



It remains to be seen whether this will lead to a voluntary shutdown of cram schools in the city. Despite the city's recommendations, the schools, also known as hagwons, remain open.



According to the Seoul Education Office, as of Wednesday, only 3,763 cram schools in its jurisdiction had closed, or 14.9 percent. In the affluent districts of Gangnam and Seocho, the rate was lower at 8.2 percent.



Hagwons are seen as potential ground for infection clusters that the city government and infectious diseases experts are worried about. Seoul has a population of 10 million and a large number of such outbreaks would have devastating consequences.



The city has seen a steady growth in confirmed patient numbers  it reported 590 as of Thursday morning, up 12 from the previous day.



The city government can order the shutdown of all hagwons, as it did for all bars and room salons, in a time of national crisis, but hasn't chosen to do so yet. Instead, it said it will strengthen monitoring of the institutions to see if they follow disinfection and personal hygiene guidelines.



On Wednesday, the city ordered the temporary shutdown of all bars, discos and room salons in the capital after weeks of giving recommendations.


Matthew McConaughey has been acting since 1991, with his big breakout role in Dazed and Confused in 1993 at age 24, but during coronavirus isolation he is playing a different role  virtual Bingo caller.

The Magic Mike and Dallas Buyers Club star recently went online through Zoom, to join residents of The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living, Texas, for game night. He called out the numbers of several rounds of bingo, and was joined by his wife, Camila Alves, his mom, and two of his three children as they encouraged and celebrated with the senior players.

According to Fox News, the 50-year-old actor was heard yelling We got Charles... with the iPad up high....we got two winners," while many of the seniors were captured smiling in the background.

During a time when we are all working to make lemonade out of lemons, we are so humbled that Matthew took the time to play our favorite game with us. As Matthew would say, lets turn this red light into a green light, the living facility wrote on Facebook.

Thank you to Matthew, his wife Camila, and his mom Kay for hosting our residents for a few rounds of virtual bingo! Our residents had a great time playing, and they loved talking with Matthew about his family heritage and his favorite drink.

Reactions on Facebook included "Alright alright alright! Best Shelter In Place video guest ever!" and That's fantastic and hilarious! I love this idea! I know they enjoyed it, it's REALLY hard on the Seniors right now!"

What did the players get if they won a game? They got to ask the actor a question of their choosing. What is his favorite drink? While the answer to that wasnt listed, one can assume its bourbon. After all, he has his own signature bourbon Wild Turkey Longbranch, made in conjunction with Wild Turkey distillery.

Read more:
A San Antonio man has been arrested for allegedly claiming he paid someone to spread COVID-19 at local grocery stores, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Christopher Charles Perez, 39, faces up to five years in federal prison on a charge of hoaxes related to weapons of mass destruction, the complaint said.

READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio

FBI agents arrested Perez without incident Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. in New Braunfels, according to Special Agent Michelle Lee.

According to the complaint, Perez claimed in a Facebook post that he had paid someone to spread coronavirus at grocery stores in the San Antonio area.

Perez was allegedly trying to deter people from visiting the stores, in order to prevent the spread of the virus, the FBI said.

Officials said the threat was false. Investigators found no evidence that someone had spread coronavirus at grocery stores.

Authorities received an online tip  a screenshot of the Facebook post  on Sunday.

A law enforcement source said the FBI raid Tuesday afternoon in the 3400 block of Chateau Drive was connected to the investigation. No arrests were made at the East Side home.

The FBIs Weapons of Mass Destruction Squad and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating this case.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
When Rebeka McBride and her husband put their home in Washington state on the market in early March, the coronavirus outbreak was just taking hold in the United States.

They managed to hold two open houses and a smattering of private viewings before accepting an offer.

But with the US economy now collapsing, the family is less confident about their move to a Minneapolis suburb, where McBride sees brighter job prospects in her field of medical device research.

She worries that their buyer will pull out before closing.

And for her own new home, she's using virtual tours but isn't inclined to make an offer without seeing a home in person.

Worse, McBride is suddenly worried about job prospects amid mass layoffs, forcing a reassessment of what she and her husband can afford.

I'm nervous the layoffs and change in economy will cause the bottom to fall out, said McBride, the mother of a 4-year-old.

McBride is among many sellers and buyers, in the United States as well as in Europe, caught in the grip of a pandemic that has upended the housing market just as it was entering the busy spring season.

Shutdown orders have halted open houses and complicated property viewings. Sellers are delaying listings or yanking their properties off the market. Prospective buyers are dropping out, some of them after losing jobs.

Agents are turning to virtual tours, electronic signatures and drive-through closings, where paperwork is completed through car windows.

Where it's still allowed, buyers and agents are entering homes separately, armed with hand sanitizers and wipes.

Mortgage applications to buy a home fell 12 per cent in the week that ended April 3 compared with the previous week and were a stunning 33 per cent lower than in the same week last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Home buying applications are at their lowest level since 2015, the MBA said.

The mortgage industry itself is reeling as hundreds of thousands of Americans have temporarily stopped paying their mortgages under the federal coronavirus relief bill.

The MBA is among several housing industry groups that have called for federal aid for mortgage servicers, who handle paperwork for lenders.

A collapse of sales could trigger a series of reactions that would further damage the economy.

Further declines will mean fewer purchases at furniture and appliance stores. If construction stalls, 3 million homebuilding jobs are at risk.

So are many brokers: Redfin plans to furlough 41 per cent of its brokers. Zillow has suspended home buying in all 24 of it markets. Other brokerages have canceled open houses.

Listings of homes for sale were already near historic lows before the virus struck.

Further squeezing supply, at least five states, including hard-hit New York, Michigan and Washington, have banned most construction of new properties as part of stay-at-home orders, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

De-listings of homes for sale jumped 100 per cent year-over-year for the week that ended April 3, according to Redfin.

People are losing their jobs," said Taylor Marr, the company's chief economist.

"If they were looking for a home and they were working in a restaurant, that is probably no longer the case.

In Britain, the latest monthly data have yet to be released, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the market has come to a standstill.

People are holding off, obviously, waiting for everything to pass, said Simon Kyriacou, a London branch director for property agency EweMove.

Real estate consultants Knight Frank have forecast that sales across the UK this year will fall 38 per cent from 2019.

In the US, the long-term outlook is shrouded in uncertainty.

A staggering rise in unemployment and the stock market decline is diminishing buying power.

In Massachusetts, purchases had surged more than 25 per cent as recently as February compared with a year earlier, according to Kurt Thompson of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The biggest pullback is occurring among casual buyers and sellers, whose caution is exacerbating the predicament for people who feel compelled to move.

Consider Marc Okicich, who's been trying to move his wife and two daughters to San Diego, where he's lived since November after a job transfer.

The family put their Chicago-area house on the market in February. It finally fetched one offer last week. The two sides reached agreement Sunday for USD 8,000 below the asking price.

In New York City, where the virus has hit hardest, property visits have all but stopped. Michael J Franco, an agent with Compass, said one of the only transactions he's made the past two weeks occurred when the owners of an Manhattan apartment who'd been trying to sell it decided to rent it out instead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scott Cam has volunteered to forgo his remaining salary as National Careers Ambassador because the coronavirus has drastically curtailed the role.

Cam was due to travel Australia to promote apprenticeship opportunities to schools and TAFEs, but travel has been restricted.

The spread of COVID-19 has changed the way Australians work, train and study. The nature of the role of National Careers Ambassador has also changed, with face-to-face events being cancelled, Employment and Skills Minister Michaelia Cash said.

Mr Cam will continue to work with the Australian government and the National Careers Institute to amplify online training opportunities and engage with Australians through digital mediums.

As his role has fundamentally changed, Mr Cam has also volunteered to forgo his remaining salary payments over the coming months.

Cam recently indicated he had already received about $150,000 of the $350,000 total.

Source: news.com.au
The coronavirus outbreak has thrown at least 16.8 million Americans out of work in just three weeks as the coronavirus outbreak continues to tear through the country, bringing the economy to a near standstill.

A record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have now lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounds the country to a halt.

The real number is likely to be even higher because many states are still clearing out backlogs of unemployment claims after people reported lengthy delays trying to lodge applications online or via the phone.

More cuts are still expected with economists predicting that more than 20 million Americans may lose jobs this month. The unemployment rate could hit 15 percent when the April employment report is released in early May.

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The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 261,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.606 million for the week ending April 4, according to the report. Data for the prior week, ending March 28, was revised to show 219,000 more applications were received than previously reported, taking the tally for that period to 6.867 million.

The states with the largest increases in new claims last week were California (up 871,992), New York (up 286,596), Michigan (up 176,329), Florida (up 154,171), Georgia (up 121,680), Texas (up 120,759) and New Jersey (up 90,438).

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy's output in the current quarter.

About 95 percent, or 48 states, are now under some form of lockdown with non-essential businesses shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday rolled out a broad, $2.3 trillion effort to bolster local governments and small and mid-sized businesses in its latest move to keep the economy intact.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank would continue to use all the tools at its disposal until the economy started to fully rebound.

Weekly new claims topped 6 million for the second straight time last week as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly ground the country to halt. Authorities in Florida started handing out applications for jobless benefits this week

Dow rises 300 points and Wall Street rally continues despite jobless claims soaring to 16 million - as Fed announces $2.3 TRILLION loan program for Main Street Wall Street's rally continued for a second straight day on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced a massive $2.3 trillion lending program to support American households and businesses, as well as local governments, as they deal with the coronavirus. At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 300 points, or 1.3 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent. In its most groundbreaking step yet, the Fed said it would work through banks to offer four-year loans to companies of up to 10,000 employees and directly buy the bonds of states and more populous counties and cities. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed's role was to 'provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity.' 'The Federal Reserve and the U.S. government are willing to go to extreme lengths to support the economy and that has been far beyond my expectations,' said Dev Kantesaria, founder portfolio manager of hedge fund Valley Forge Capital Management, Wayne, Pennsylvania. Advertisement

The surge of jobless claims has overwhelmed state unemployment offices around the country.

It comes as hundreds of people in Miami spent hours on Wednesday waiting in line to fill out unemployment forms after the website they were posted on crashed.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which processes unemployment benefit applications, couldn't handle the surge on its website as panicked Floridians flocked to it amid the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

People have been reporting issues with the page for two weeks, while people calling the agency's phone line have faced hours on hold. Authorities began distributing paper forms this week in the Cuban neighborhood of Hialeah where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block.

Up to 50 million jobs are vulnerable to coronavirus-related layoffs, economists say - about one-third of all the jobs in the United States.

That figure is based on a calculation of positions that are deemed non-essential by state and federal governments and that cannot be done from home.

It's unlikely all those workers will be laid off or file a jobless claim but it suggests the extraordinary magnitude of unemployment that could result from the pandemic.

The government reported last Friday that the economy purged 701,000 jobs in March. That was the most job losses since the Great Recession and ended the longest employment boom in US history that started in late 2010.

A nation of normally free-spending shoppers and travelers is mainly hunkered down at home, bringing entire gears of the economy to a near-halt.

Non-grocery retail business plunged 97 percent in the last week of March compared with a year earlier, according to Morgan Stanley.

The number of airline passengers screened by the Transportation Security Administration has plunged 95 percent from with a year ago.

US hotel revenue has tumbled 80 percent.

The government-mandated business shutdowns that are meant to defeat the virus have never brought the US to such a sudden and violent standstill. For that reason, economists are struggling to assess the duration and severity of the likely damage.

Authorities began distributing paper forms this week in the Miami neighborhood of Hialeah where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block

Hundreds of people in Miami spent hours on Wednesday waiting in line to fill out unemployment forms after the website they were posted on crashed

The Penn Wharton Budget Model, created at the University of Pennsylvania's business school, projects that the US economy will shrink at an astonishing 30 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter - even including the government's new $2.2 trillion relief measure, the largest federal aid package in history by far.

An economic contraction of that scale would be the largest quarterly plunge since World War II.

A key aspect of the rescue package is a $350 billion small business loan program that is intended to forestall layoffs. Small companies can borrow enough to cover payroll and other costs for eight weeks. The loans will be forgiven if small businesses keep or rehire their staffs.

The Treasury Department has begun to roll out the loans to mixed results. Many small businesses have had trouble accessing loan applications and many economists say the $350 billion is insufficient.

The rescue package also added $600 a week in unemployment benefits in addition to what recipients receive from their states. The package also makes more people eligible for jobless aid, including the self-employed, contractors, and so-called 'gig economy' workers like Uber and Lyft drivers.

Many of these people, however, have been expressing frustration and bewilderment about the process for seeking benefits as a flood of applications has overwhelmed many state offices.

Few states have managed yet to distribute to recipients the extra $600 a week in unemployment aid that the federal package provided.

Even with non-essential businesses largely closed and health authorities imploring people to stay at home, some Americans who have lost jobs continue to look for work.

Normally, to qualify for unemployment benefits, people who are laid off must actively look for a new job. But unlike in previous recessions, that expectation has become nearly impossible and many states are waiving or loosening the requirement to look for work.

Dr Fauci warns that getting back to 'normal' life will be a gradual process as he says reopening the country could see an infection resurgence

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House coronavirus expert, appeared on CBS This Morning Thursday where he warned that getting back to 'normal' life will be a gradual process.

Speaking about what we can expect to see come the summer Dr Fauci said: 'You know, it looks like things are going to be improving.

'If you look at the curves that we talk about, we often talk about flattening the curve, and then getting around the corner and coming down. If, in fact, we see that - and it will be differential in different parts of the country.

'I mean, New York City, the terrible ordeal that they've gone through is very different from some of the places in the middle of the country or the mountain regions. So when you say get back to normal, it's not going to be a light switch that you turn on and off. It's going to be differential and gradual depending upon where you are and where the burden of infection is.'

Asked if people can expect to be taking vacation or attending functions come the summer he said: 'It can be in the cards, and I say that with caution because as I said, when we do that, when we pull back and try to open up the country as we often use that terminology, we have to be prepared that when the infection starts to rear their heads again, that we have in place a very aggressive and effective way to identify, isolate, contact, trace, and make sure we don't have those spikes that we've seen now. So the answer to your question is yes, if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence.'

He added: 'But the bottom line of it all is that we see looking forward, it is very likely that we will progress toward the steps toward normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days. And I think that's going to be a good time to see how quickly can we make that move to try and normalize. But hopefully by the time we get to the summer, we will have taken many steps in that direction.'

Retail industry furloughs more than ONE MILLION workers as T.J. Maxx, Dick's Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch are the latest to announce cuts

Retail industry furloughs passed the one million mark in the United States this week as T.J. Maxx, Dick's Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch became the latest industry giants to announce cuts.

Dick's Sporting Goods said an unspecified 'significant' number of employees would be furloughed from April 12. Off-price retailer TJX Companies Inc, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense, said on Tuesday it would furlough most of the employees at its stores and distribution centers.

TJX, which had about 286,000 employees as of February 1 according to its latest annual filing, will pay its staff until the week ending April 11.

The company said several executives, including Chief Executive Officer Ernie Herrman, would take a pay cut, a pattern seen across U.S. companies looking to strengthen their balance sheets amid the economic downturn triggered by the health crisis.

Ralph Lauren said he would be giving up his $11 million salary after his store employees also became victims of the ongoing lockdown. He joins Michael Kors and Donatella Versace, who will forgo their salary for fiscal 2021.

Abercrombie & Fitch said it would furlough all of its 'North America and EMEA region store associates'.

Hours and pay for around 15 per cent of corporate associates will be cut and pay cuts of 10 percent to 33 percent will go into effect for executives at the vice president level and higher.

Capri Holdings Ltd, the owner of Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo brands , said on Monday it will furlough all its 7,000 retail staff in North America due to the coronavirus outbreak and expects to reopen stores around June 1.

Capri, which had a total of about 17,800 employees at the end of fiscal 2019, said the furloughed employees were eligible for unemployment insurance and other government relief programs.

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra also furloughed staff without pay, including 73 fulltime musicians.

Tesla Inc told employees on Tuesday it would furlough all non-essential workers and implement salary cuts during a shut down of its U.S. production facilities because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Retailers, including Macy's and Nordstrom have already closed stores and announced staff would be furloughed.

Off-price retailer TJX Companies Inc, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense , said on Tuesday it would furlough most of the employees at its stores and distribution centers

Ralph Lauren said he would be giving up his $11 million salary after his store employees became the latest victims of the ongoing lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic

Retailers, including Macy's and Nordstrom have already closed stores and announced staff would be furloughed

Canada loses one million jobs in March amid coronavirus pandemic Canada lost a record-breaking 1 million jobs in March while the unemployment rate soared to 7.8 percent, official data showed on Thursday, as the new coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of non-essential businesses. Statistics Canada said the data did not fully capture the extent of the job losses since the agency polled respondents before the crisis began to take its full toll. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a loss of 350,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, up from the 5.6 percent seen in February. More than 5 million Canadians had applied for all forms of federal emergency unemployment help since March 15, government data showed on Thursday, suggesting the real jobless rate is closer to 25 percent. The Canadian dollar initially fell to 1.4070 to the U.S. dollar, or 71.07 U.S. cents, after the jobs plunge, but recovered some ground to touch 1.4020 to the greenback, or 71.33 U.S. cents. The job loss was the largest drop in a single month going all the way back to January 1976, when Statscan adopted the current model for gauging the health of the labor force. The previous record was the 125,000 jobs lost in January 2009. The highest unemployment rate in the same data period was the 13.1 percent seen in December 1982. Advertisement

Obsolete 1950s computer code is causing unemployment chaos amid huge lines: Appeal for retired programmers who know obscure code to fix outdated COBOL computer system in states across US

States have appealed for help reprogramming their outdated computer systems that are used to process surging unemployment applications.

Many local government computer programs use an obsolete code from the 1950s at a time when the social security process has been thrown into chaos with rising numbers of workers forced out of work due to coronavirus.

Officials in New Jersey, Kansas, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Mississippi and Oklahoma have all admitted struggling to proceeds growing applications.

Governors have put out pleas for retired programmers to help code the decades-old computer programming language called COBOL because many of the state's systems still run on old mainframes.

It comes as huge lines of people were seen yesterday queuing close together in order to make unemployment applications.

As applications surge due to the economic slowdown from the pandemic, states will have to reprogram their computer systems to provide the new jobless benefit agreed by Congress, which could be a daunting task.

More than half of states still rely on 40-year-old mainframe systems that run on outdated software.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has asked for volunteers who can work with the COBOL language, first introduced in 1959, to reprogram the state's computers.

Other states with newer systems have also been plagued by problems.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scrambled to shore up a system set up in 2013 that has been unable to keep up with jobless applications, sparking widespread outrage.

State officials have known for years about glitches that short-changed recipients but have failed to fix them, a review found last year.

The extra money will be a lifeline to those who get their applications approved, said Florida labor lawyer Cathleen Scott.

'For my clients, that's the difference between paying their mortgage and eating,' she said.
Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah. Ohio River at Cairo. Ohio River at Olmsted Lock and Dam. .Recent heavy rainfall and snow melt will continue to keep water levels on the lower Ohio River in or near minor flood this week. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 7:00 PM CST Monday the stage was 38.6 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 39.0 feet tomorrow morning. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
Panaji, April 9 : Citing the Centre's guidelines on quarantining of seafarers, the Goa government, here on Thursday, refused to allow a cruise liner with 600 crew -- 100 of them Goans -- to enter the Mormugao Port, Ports Minister Michael Lobo said.

He said the vessel, MS Karnika, operated by Jalesh Cruises, had arrived at the Goa port from Mauritius on Thursday and was carrying 100 Goan crew members on board "The ship will not be allowed to enter Goa port. We don't have the authority to bring the ship in. There are MHA guidelines to be followed. They have to follow protocol. Their disembarkment is in Mumbai. The crew have to de-board and stay in 14-day quarantine in Mumbai first," Lobo said.

If they received Covid-19 free certificate, a bus would be sent from Goa to pick them up. They would again be tested for coronavirus on arrival and would have to stay in 14-day home isolation, he said.

"This is the protocol to be followed," Lobo said.

The Minister said the 100 Goan crew members mostly work as accountants, food and beverage specialists and floor supervisors.

"The rest of the crew are from other parts of Maharashtra," Lobo said.
New Delhi, April 9 : Three more staff, including a doctor, at the Delhi State Cancer Institute here have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total such cases to 21, a senior officer said on Thursday.

B.L. Sherwal, DSCI's Medical Superintendent, said it is "unfortunate" and the hospital is investigating the source of infection.

"A doctor, a nursing staff and a sanitation staff have tested positive, even as reports of samples drawn from patients is awaited." He said that usually the report is available in two days, but it has now been three days since the samples were sent. The labs are under pressure too, Sherwal said.

He said the families of affected staff were also at risk. "Two of the staff have young children but luckily they tested negative for coronavirus." The hospital, he said, is worried for its staff and is "taking full care of their requirements".

Asked if lack of PPE kits could be the reason for new infections, the official said that there was no shortage of personal safety equipment.

A full-body suit is important while dealing with confirmed or suspected cases, he said, adding that bodysuits are meant for only hospitals dealing with designated cases.

"Otherwise, while dealing with general patients, gloves and surgical masks are sufficient. Those are available with the hospital. We were not supposed to deal with the coronavirus patients and did not need PPE kits till now," he added.

Sherwal said: "We never admitted any COVID-19 patient. We are investigating the source of the spread and trying to control it. The staff safety is a priority." Sherwal said OPD and admission of new patients have been stopped by the hospital.

The area is being sanitised and patients moved elsewhere after reports of samples come. As a preventive measure, stable patients were discharged, while those who with serious health issues will be shifted to Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital.

"Admitted patients have been tested for coronavirus. We are awaiting reports. If they are negative, we will shift them to the Dharamshila Hospital or will discharge them, depending on the situation. We cannot send a patient outside if he/she tests positive," he said.

Till now, three doctors, one sanitation worker and 17 nursing staff have tested positive at the cancer institute, which said most were asymptomatic.

Delhi has so far reported 669 coronavirus cases.
[April 09, 2020] AMPLY Power Saves Up to 40% on Energy Costs for Tri Delta Transit Electric Buses

ANTIOCH, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Supporting California's goal to transition all public transit agencies to 100 percent zero-emission bus fleets by 2040, AMPLY Power is managing the charging of electric buses for Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority, operating under the name Tri Delta Transit . AMPLY identified 40 percent of annual energy savings its managed charging software platform could realize, while guaranteeing vehicles were charged and ready to work each day. AMPLY expects savings to increase as Tri Delta Transit expands its electric bus fleet in the future. This service to Tri Delta Transit exemplifies AMPLY's leadership in supporting municipal transit customers to maximize the benefits of their electric bus fleets while remaining hardware agnostic. "For any transit authority, guaranteeing that all of our buses are ready for their morning roll-out is critical. Electric buses bring a new process to our operations and electricity use, and we knew we were better off, in the long run, leveraging the expertise of AMPLY's model," said Steve Ponte, Chief Operating Officer of Tri Delta Transit. "They helped us pinpoint the financial, operational, and equipment improvements we could make to realize 40 percent savings and ensure uptime for our riders who depend on our bus service to go about their daily lives. As we expand our EV fleet, we look forward to working with AMPLY to realize even greater savings." Tri Delta Transit launched its electric bus program in 2018. AMPLY was brought in during the fall of 2019 to simplify Tri Delta's charging operations and address challenges presented by previously installed hardware. Tri Delta Transit equipment includes buses from Proterra and BYD and associated charging infrastructure systems. This project illustrates how the AMPLY offering is agnostic to a variety of buses and chargers regardless of manufacturer. AMPLY's cloud-based smart charging system monitors the charging status and power levels in real-time, deploying algorithms to minimize utility demand and time-of-use rate charges. Using this real-time status allows AMPLY's system to forecast when the vehicles will be ready-to-go, and once the vehicles are out delivering passengers, AMPLY's system can track their return state-of-charge battery level and length of time to recharge. For Tri-Delta, this is realizing up to 40 percent savings on energy rates.



"We monitor the chargers and catch error codes to improve charger uptime, and its database collects all the information Tri Delta needs to confidently move down their electrification roadmap," said Rob Kelly, VP Business Development of AMPLY. Additionally, as a regulated fuel supply entity with CARB, AMPLY supported Tri Delta Transit in monetizing its low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) credits. Such savings and LCFS credits can be reinvested into operations to accelerate a transit authority's ability to adopt a zero-emissions future.

"Fleet operators work on a very rigorous timeline and must adhere to a strict operational dance to ensure their vehicles run on-schedule. This on-the-go structure makes finding the time to optimize an electric fleet more difficult than one might expect," said Vic Shao, CEO of AMPLY. "Municipal and commercial fleets are on the front lines of state-wide goals to decarbonize our transportation sector, and they deserve solutions that make the transition both simple and cost-effective. We're proud to work with Tri Delta Transit on their charging operations so they can put their focus on providing quality service to their riders." Beyond managing charging operations with a depot's existing hardware, AMPLY offers a comprehensive Charging-as-a-Service to fleet owners. The offering includes managing utility administration and interconnection, as well as establishing an optimal charging strategy based on drive and duty cycles. This service can also provide debt financing or secure grant funding to reduce capital expenditures and implement resiliency plans as needed. Additionally, AMPLY is available to perform onsite operations maintenance services, and invest in technology upgrades as the needs of a fleet evolve. Overall, AMPLY manages charging operations for a variety of customers, including an electric school bus fleet demonstration in New York City, and through preferred partnerships with electric bus manufacturer BYD , and the subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company, Pacific Current . CEO Vic Shao was newly named to the 2020 Grist 50 list as one of 50 "fixers," providing new solutions to the planet's biggest problems. AMPLY was also recently listed on the Cleantech Forum's Global Cleantech 100 as a company poised to solve some of society's biggest challenges over the next five to ten years. About AMPLY Power FLEET CHARGING, SIMPLIFIED. AMPLY Power provides Charging-as-a-Service to de-risk and accelerate the adoption of electric buses, trucks, and passenger vehicles by public and private fleets through its simple price-per-mile-driven model. AMPLY provides a fully managed charging solution that enables municipal and commercial fleets to deploy electric vehicles confidently and without hassles. AMPLY handles all aspects of charging operations on behalf of fleet owners, and AMPLY's charging systems are optimized for the lowest electricity costs. For more information, please visit www.amplypower.com and follow @AMPLYPower on Twitter and LinkedIn . About Tri Delta Transit Tri Delta Transit provides over 3,000,000 trips each year to a population of over 250,000 residents in the 225 square miles of Eastern Contra Costa County. They currently operate 15 local bus routes Monday Friday, four local bus routes on weekends, door-to-door bus service for senior citizens and people with disabilities, and shuttle services to community events. For additional information about Tri Delta Transit, please visit www.trideltatransit.com. Media Contact:

Technica Communications for AMPLY Power

Amanda Razani

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amply-power-saves-up-to-40-on-energy-costs-for-tri-delta-transit-electric-buses-301038132.html SOURCE AMPLY Power

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Andrea Bocelli will sing at the Duomo of Milan on Easter Sunday sending a message of love and hope to the world during the coronavirus pandemic, but the Italian tenor says its not a concert. Instead, he calls it a prayer.

I received this invitation by the mayor of Milan and by the authorities of the church and of course I answered yes. Im very happy to do this, he said. Also, its not a performance. Its not a concert. Its only a prayer.

I will go there to pray, and Id like to think that everyone listening to me sing can pray with me, he said.

Accompanied by organist Emanuele Vianelli, Bocelli will sing at the historic cathedral for an audience of none because the Duomo, like most public places, are closed because of the spreading coronavirus. The performance, though, will air live on Bocellis YouTube channel at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Hes crafted and arranged a special set for the event, which will include holy songs like Ave Maria and Sancta Maria.
An empty theater / Korea Times file



With the film industry struggling with the fallout from the monthslong coronavirus pandemic, South Korean movie distributors have made attempts to release films on multiple platforms.



The daily number of moviegoers plunged to a record low of 15,000 this week, as people have been asked to stay home amid the rapid spread of COVID-19.



More than 50 domestic and foreign films have put off or canceled their premieres this spring.



Korean action comedy "Justice High," about three high school students who learn karate and fight against school violence, was one of the films whose theatrical release had been postponed indefinitely.



Gnos, the film's distributor, turned to the internet protocol television (IPTV) platform and released it on March 5.



As the film gained popularity, it was given a rare chance to make a theatrical debut Thursday.



It became the first South Korean movie to premiere in multiplexes including industry leader CGV, after being released on IPTV channels first, according to Gnos.



"It's an experimental choice to pick a movie that is popular among at-home film buffs and screen it," said an official from CGV. "There haven't been new movies or blockbusters that attract people to cinemas. We're trying various ways to break the deadlock."



Universal Pictures International Korea announced plans to release the animated musical film "Trolls World Tour" in theaters and on video on demand (VOD) here on April 29.



It said the film, a sequel to the 2016 movie "Trolls," will provide an option to children who are scared of going to theaters.



But this twofold approach has drawn strong opposition from major theater chains.



CGV and Lotte Cinema have refused to screen the film by DreamWorks Animation. Only Megabox will offer it. Megabox had opened up to Netflix last year, showing movies financed by the streaming platform, including "The King," "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story."



Last month, South Korean action thriller "Time to Hunt" was sold to Netflix after its theatrical premiere had been put on hold for more than a month. It was the first South Korean movie to go directly to the U.S. streaming service without a theatrical run. (Yonhap)


A man directs vehicles as they arrive at a rapid COVID-19 testing site in Lowell, MA on April 07, 2020. On Tuesday, April 7, CVS Health will launch the operation of a rapid COVID-19 testing site in Lowell, the first of its kind in the state.

Thousands of people will soon be able to drive to a nearby parking lot, swab their noses and find out within minutes if they have the coronavirus.

CVS Health and Walgreens each opened one drive-thru testing location last month  but they're now expanding the number of sites and opening them to the general public. Their first drive-thrus were restricted to first responders.

Walgreens plans to open 15 more testing sites across seven states, starting this week. CVS opened up two new drive-thrus on Monday: one in Atlanta and one near Providence, Rhode Island. It also relocated its Massachusetts drive-thru to a site in Lowell that has capacity for five lanes.

Both are also using a new tool: Abbott Laboratories' ID Now, which can deliver test results in minutes.

The U.S. has lagged behind other countries in coronavirus testing. In mid-March, the pharmacy chains were among the retailers who pledged at the White House to help expand testing sites. This will help supplement the hospitals and government-run drive-thrus that are doing testing, too.

By opening additional drive-thru locations and expediting results, CVS Health and Walgreens are trying to increase the volume of tests  a tool that's become critical as business leaders and government officials try to determine when they can loosen lockdowns.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week that he's exploring how the hard-hit state could reduce risk as people eventually return to the workplace.

"This is not a light switch that we can just flick one day and everything goes back to normal," he said. "We're going to have to restart that economy. ... My personal opinion: It's going to come down to how good we are with testing."
By Catherine Gilon Even as modern science grapples with the rapidly declining bee population, we could look back and take a lesson on sustainability from the ancient culture of the adivasis (the first people) of the Nilgiris. Covering over three states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is home to over eighteen ethnic groups. Of them, Kattunaickens, Kurumbas, Sholigas and Irulas are known to be the primary honey hunter tribes. Traditionally, these tribes hunt for honey on the cliffs of the Nilgiris (translates as blue mountains), atop high trees, inside tree cavities and also in underground hives (puthu thaen or burrow honey). In recent times, with reduced forest cover, climate change and government restrictions, it has become increasingly difficult for these tribes to collect wild honey. Even as we begin the honey trail for our story, early rains play spoilsport and the locals were worried that it would drive off the bees. Such unpredictable rains are a recent phenomenon in the Nilgiris, which has had a direct impact on honey availability and hence the honey bees and the honey hunters. After months of follow up, we finally meet up with Masanan, an Irula tribal from Masinagudi in Nilgiris district, who belongs to a family of honey gatherers.

Above photo: Masanan, an Irula tribal member from Nilgiris. Image via Mongabay-India/ Balasubramaniam N He said, When I used to go with my father for gathering honey, there would be 15 combs in a cliff. Now there are hardly six. He tells us that their community treats the bees as sacred beings and they hold prayers before they leave for harvesting the honey. Even as we walked miles across the outskirts of the forest, Masanan knew the location of the bee hives, be it atop the trees, or in cavities or cliffs, like the back of his hand. He points to how the bees always prefer a place near a water source and also about how the flowering season impacts the quality of honey. We always wait till April to harvest honey, as it gives a better survival rate for the larvae and mature honey (with less water content) for us. Traditionally, we do not use destructive methods like crushing the hives or burning it. Our elders use the herbs in the forest to create smoke that drives away the bees. We then harvest only what is necessary for us, leaving enough for the bees to sustain. For instance, if there are few hives in the cliff, we leave 60 percent untouched for the bees come back to the same place every year, added Masanan. Sasi, a Kattunaicker tribal member from the neighbouring Coonoor agrees that this practice is common amongst their honey gatherers too. Masanan smiled, We live and let live.

Beehives on a cliff. Image via Mongabay-India/ Keystone Foundation Keeping the buzz alive We stood there watching in amazement as hundreds of bees buzzed around him and he did not swat even one, Normally, one or two bees will sting us, but if he hit them, hundreds will swarm us recognizing the smell of the dead bee. So, while you watch, make sure you do not kill even a single bee, he warns, taking out the honey, undeterred by the (literal) buzz around him. But not every tradition has survived time. Masanan, for instance, uses his beedi (native cigar) to smoke out the beehive we found. He was able to save the brood of the hive in the tree cavity, but in the tree branches, it sometimes becomes impossible to cut the honey without striking the brood. Unlike petti then (box honey) apiculture, we cannot always tap just the honey, he said.

In this image: Harvesting honey without cutting the brood. Image via Mongabay-India/ Keystone Foundation Justin Raj, a beekeeping expert with conservation NGO Keystone Foundation, tells us that most tribes in Nilgiris traditionally follow a sustainable method of honey harvesting. Our job is to ensure that they stick to these sustainable and clean practices through training workshops, he said. First, we request them not to touch or attack the queen cell. And as is their traditional practice, if there find seven combs, we ask them to harvest only three. We also request them to take out just the honey part (wherever possible) and leave the brood with the larvae intact. Lastly, we ask them to wait for over six months to gather mature honey with less water content and less damage to the bees. Be it apiculture or wild honey harvesting, Keystone Foundation insists that the honey gatherers they work with follow sustainable honey harvesting practices and their products are given a better market price for following sustainable methods.

Above photo: Justin Raj, a beekeeping expert with Keystone Foundation, training the community members to continue their sustainable methods of harvesting honey. Image via Mongabay-India/ Keystone Foundation Bharath Kumar Merugu, Project Lead, Just Change works with over 175 Kattunayakar honey gatherers through a tribal union called Thenkootam (then  honey, kootam  crowd) under the umbrella of Adivasi Munetra Sangam. We think it is important to support sustainable non-timber produce like honey and coffee. This will ensure that our tribal people turn protectors of the forest even while guaranteeing them a reliable livelihood option. The price of the honey is fixed by the tribal union themselves, we merely help them reach a better market. Ecologist Godwin Vasanth Bosco agrees that it is crucial to include the indigenous tribes instead of keeping them out of the forests and even perhaps use their traditional expertise to conserve the wild bees in the Nilgiris. He opines that it is equally important to educate farmers in the biosphere to stay off harmful pesticides that could directly impact the bee population. Several villagers of the Athakarai Village in Nilgiris district we spoke to also confirmed that swarms of bees die after visiting pesticide-ridden jasmine farms in the region. In India, conservation has primarily focused on introducing the European species Apis mellifera, renowned for easy domestication and high yield of honey. But studies show that this has had an adverse impact on the native rock (A. dorsata) and hive bees (A. cerana indica) as they compete for food. This loss of bee diversity could directly impact the plants dependent on it for pollination.

A honeycomb on a tree branch. Image via Mongabay-India/ Balasubramaniam N Hariprasad, Professor  Agri-entomology, Annamalai University informs us that the European bee, which is the most domesticated in the world is also easily disease-prone. He says, Of the five prominent bee species in India, the rock bees or A. dorsata species are the major honey yielders. But they cannot be domesticated. The Dammer bee (Melipona irridipennis) on the other hand is good for cross-pollination even though the honey yield is less. It is therefore important to find the middle ground between sustainability and utility. Hariprasad suggests that improving the local food source by making it pesticide-free could play a major role in conserving bees and biodiversity of the region. He also suggests that initiatives like providing mountaineering kits for personal safety and training on sustainable production of value-added products from beeswax and pollen could help the tribals gain more profit and enable them to become part of the solution. Mudhan, an Irula tribe member from Masinagudi suggests it will be good if traditional honey gatherers like them are given training in apiculture, where they could breed indigenous bees throughout the year. He added, Irrespective of the jobs we do, in the summer, we would always want to go back to the cliffs. Our lives and culture are always intertwined with these bees.

Above photo: (Left to Right) Mudhan, Maasi, Selvan, members of the Irula tribal community from Masinagudi. Image via Mongabay-India/ Balasubramaniam N *** Banner image: Members of the Irula tribe harvest honey from a cliff in Nilgiris. Image via Mongabay-India/ Keystone Foundation. This article was originally published on Mongabay.com. Mongabay-India is an environmental science and conservation news service. This article has been republished under the Creative Commons licence.
More people are adopting pets during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some say its due to increased need of a companion, while others have found that being able to work from home has taken down barriers for people.

Either way, if youre one of those people looking at welcoming a new furry family member into your home, youll be needing a few extra items.

BarkBox

Subscription services:

BarkBox allows for various toy subscription services that fit your dog, from small toys to super chewers.

Chewy allows pet owners to autoship favorite toy options, so you dont have to remember to replace your puppys favorite bone each month.

A pup returns to the dock after retrieving a toy in the water as a part of the dock jumping competition during the United Kennel Club Premier Dog Show at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Friday, June 14, 2019.Emil Lippe | MLive.com

Toys:

This is Elvis :) A staff member writes: Elvis is the king of rock and roll around the shelter. His fun loving personality and funny face are a pure delight to be around. He has shown a sweet and loving personality that is always ready for the stage of your attention. He may not be a hound dog but come to the Staten Island Animal Care Center to see if he can be a friend of yours. ACC adoptions include vaccinations, spay/neuter, a pre-registered microchip, a collar, an identification tag, and a certificate for a free initial exam at a participating veterinarian. ID# 85836 https://www.nycacc.org/adopt/elvis-85836 (Courtesy/Staten Island Animal Care Center)SI Advance

Leashes and collars:

A new bed for your dog is one of the many things you can get delivered to your home for your pets from PetCo. (Courtesy of PetCo.)

Beds:

Blake feeds Molly, one of three dogs in the house, as he dances with the bowl before patting her on the head on Nov. 21, 2019. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | MLive.com

Water and food bowls:

Goose, a 12-week-old golden doodle, was adopted by the Kehoe family as the family chooses to self isolate on March 20, 2020 at their home in Fenton. (Jake May | MLive.com)The Flint Journal, MLive.com

Crates:

Related Content:
California farm workers could get an extra $3 an hour and additional sick time during the coronavirus outbreak under emergency legislation announced on Wednesday by a Central Coast Democrat.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 2915, would expand paid sick leave from three days to two weeks and would authorize supplemental hazard pay so workers can cover increased health and childcare costs during the COVID-19 outbreak, said Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, who wrote the bill.

Rivas, who grew up in farm worker housing, said agricultural laborers are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19.

He said workers could easily get infected and then spread the illness on the crowded buses they take to the farm, or when theyre in the field working closely together or back at home living in deplorable and substandard conditions with several families to a unit.

Theyre unable to shelter in place, unable to quarantine, unable to follow the basic guidelines of social distancing, Rivas said.

The legislation would apply to all workers regardless of immigration status, Rivas said, and aims to ensure the farm workers are healthy enough to keep Californias grocery stores fully stocked.

Its unclear where the money to fund pay increases would come from, but Rivas said the bill will be tailored to the current COVID-19 crisis so the cost will be manageable.

The California Farm Bureau plans to watch the bill closely. It supports a tax credit Rivas is proposing in another bill to offset the costs of overtime.

Clearly, farmers and ranchers are rightfully concerned with their ability to keep their employees safe and keep food flowing to the marketplace, while hoping they can still afford to pay their employees and creditors, said Jim Houston, administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation. Any new costs, mandates or regulations could seriously harm farms and ranches that are simply struggling to survive right now.

Rivas said he represents an estimated 100,000 agricultural and farm workers. So far, there has not been news of a widespread outbreak, but only isolated anecdotes of farm workers experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

These undocumented immigrants work to the bone and these essential workers deserve a lot better, Rivas said. Its a very inclusive effort to do something for the farm workers and the agricultural community in general.

AB 2915 was already introduced this year to increase sexual harassment training for farm laborers. Rivas said he would use a process called gut and amend to revise the measure so it includes the hazard pay and sick leave extension.

The amendments would offer childcare subsidies to counties, employers and private providers and would mandate personal protective equipment for the workers and funding for an outreach campaign provided in both English and Spanish.

Rivas proposal would also provide temporary housing for agricultural workers to allow for appropriate social distancing, according to a press release for the measure, and would authorize a survey to be taken of the housing conditions farm worker experience.

Protecting our farm workers is especially important as they step up to the plate, placing themselves at risk, to feed our families and keep our food supply intact during this challenging time, said Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, who worked on the bill with Rivas.

Editors note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to all online readers. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
[April 08, 2020] Third Coast Bank Funds PPP Loans

Third Coast Bank SSB is proud to announce we are successfully funding Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through the Small Business Administration as authorized by the CARES Act. Our team has worked tirelessly to ready this process in preparation for funding these critical loans for our small business customers and prospects. Our bankers worked through the weekend to process hundreds of loan requests. As of today, we received in excess of $150 million in E-Tran (Electronic Transaction Origination) SBA loan approvals. "I have always believed what a company does, big and small, defines it. In stressful times, it is magnified. Nearly a quarter of our bank participated in an all weekend push to process hundreds of loans. These loans are critical to our small businesses and we are running 24/7 to help them. I am so proudof our team's dedication and ingenuity to help our community," said Bart Caraway, President and Chief Executive Officer of Third Coast Bank SSB.



Our small business owners can apply directly for the loan by filling out the PPP application located on our dedicated Third Coast Bank CARES page. Please visit us at www.tcbssb.com for more up to date information. Third Coast Bank was established in March of 2008 by a group of local organizers seeking to create a relationship oriented bank committed to personal service and community contribution. We are proud to be locally owned with grassroots values and an entrepreneurial spirit. We distinguish ourselves by anticipating and exceeding the expectations of our customers, building sustainable partnerships, maintaining the highest standards of ethical business conduct, being aware of and responsive to the needs of our community, and always being mindful of the fact that customers have a choice.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005799/en/

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Several chess players from across the country devised a unique way to promote their sport, as well as raise money for the PM-CARES fund simultaneously.

One International Grandmaster, seven International Masters, several National Chess Champions, Chess players and enthusiasts, came together to host an online chess tournament under the aegis of "The Chesster group" on April 7.

A sum of Rs 105,000 has been contributed to PM-CARES through this tournament to help the country in its fight against COVID-19.

There was no participation fee, however, the participants were requested to donate to the PM-CARES fund to help the country combat the COVID-19. The participants were to send a screenshot of it to the organizers.

Over 80 people participated in the tournament and IM Ravi Teja from Hyderabad, Telangana won the tournament.

The tournament got a good response from the Chess players across the country. It saw interest and donations come in from the Immortal Chess Forum (a Global Chess Forum) amongst others.

The tournament was hosted on www.Lichess.org, a global not-for-profit chess platform created to promote chess.

Speaking about the initiative, the organisers in a statement said: "We hoped to raise as much as possible and contribute in our small way to our prime minister's cause. It has been gratifying that well-wishers across the globe helped us in our endeavor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States supports Ukraine in its efforts to strengthen the security and defense system against the backdrop of Russian aggression and calls on European allies to strengthen their role in this process.

The Pentagon said this in an official statement following a phone call between U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran on Wednesday, April 8.

"Secretary Esper congratulated Minister Taran on his recent appointment as Minister of Defense and reiterated U.S. support for building the capacity of Ukraine's forces to defend more effectively against Russian aggression," the Pentagon said.

According to the report, the phone call was held "to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine and exchange perspectives on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis."

Secretary Esper also highlighted the need for European allies to enhance their support to the Ukraine security assistance mission.

Minister Taran, in turn, reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to transforming Ukraine's defense sector in line with NATO principles and standards.

"Secretary Esper praised Ukraine's recent progress on defense reforms and encouraged Minister Taran to maintain Ukraine's momentum in support of a more secure and democratic Ukraine," the statement reads.

op
Donald Trump

REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Donald Trump says the UK has asked the US for 200 medical ventilators which it "desperately" needs.

The President said his administration was"gonna work it out for them."

Boris Johnson's spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that the UK had ordered ventilators from the US.

The UK government has said Britain will need 30,000 to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

It had over 10,000 ventilators as of Monday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care after his condition deteriorated on Monday.

The UK on Tuesday rejected an offer from the president to help with Johnson's coronavirus treatment.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Donald Trump says the UK contacted his administration asking for 200 ventilators which it "desperately" needs to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Boris Johnson's government is struggling to secure the medical supplies it needs while the prime minister remains in intensive care for treatment for the coronavirus.

The President on Tuesday told reporters: "The UK called today and they wanted to know would it be possible to get 200 and we're going to work it out, we've got to work it out.

He said: 'They've been great partners. United Kingdom.

"And we're gonna work it out for them. So they wanted 200, they needed them desperately."

Trump said the US had "110,000 ventilators coming over a short period of time."

However, he said he hoped the US would not need to use every one and would be able to give some to other countries which need them.

"I don't think we'll need them. Hopefully, we won't need them. I don't think we'll need anywhere near them," he said.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Johnson on Wednesday, April 8 confirmed that the UK had ordered ventilators from the US.

They said: "We have been working rapidly to secure additional ventilator capacity through established UK suppliers and overseas. The NHS has ventilator orders in place with manufacturers around the world which includes those in the US."

Story continues

The UK government has said the UK will need 30,000 ventilators to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The prime minister's spokesperson on Tuesday, April 7 said the UK had 10,000 medical ventilators, with another 1,000 on order. The UK is trying to secure more from a variety of manufacturers both at home and abroad.

Boris Johnson

Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/Handout

Johnson spent a second night in intensive care at St Thomas' hospital, London, after his coronavirus symptoms worsened on Monday, April 6. He has not required ventilation, health minister Edward Argar said on Wednesday morning.

President Trump on Monday offered Johnson the services of two unnamed US pharmaceutical companies as the UK prime minister tries to recover from the virus, adding that they had "arrived in London already."

"I've asked two of the leading companies, these are brilliant companies  Ebola, AIDS, others, they've come with the solutions and just have done incredible jobs," Trump said. "And I've asked them to contact London immediately."

However, Johnson's spokesperson rejected the offer on Tuesday, telling reporters "any treatment he receives is a matter for his doctors."

Read the original article on Business Insider








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Is the coronavirus the result of 5G testing globally which is breaking down the cellular integrity of human bodies manifesting in the "coronavirus"?

Have the been previous pandemics on Earth which can be linked to tests associated with intense radiation?

Tom Cowan, M.D, recently sent out a newsletter in which he provided his readers with brief summaries of the history of flu pandemics sourced from the book, The Invisible Rainbow, by Arthur Firstenburg.

The day before I saw Dr. Cowans newsletter, I had been planning on summarizing the same information to help us all understand that what we are seeing with the coronavirus is not a new scenario  so Ill give you a summary of his longer letter.

- The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic started in the US at Naval bases and installations of the first high-intensity radar. The rapid growth of worldwide radar allowed the pandemic spread to be transmitted to remote places where it would have been impossible for people to have been infected by contact. It appeared on naval ships and ports all over the world, at identical times, proving the cause could not have been human-caused.

Victims of the flu were dying of internal hemorrhaging which eventually will cause death. As early as 1779, primitive testing devices had shown a known side effect of exposure of human blood to intense electrical exposure reduced the coagulation property of blood, allowing for continued bleeding. The conclusion is that the EMF from the radar was carrying the virus worldwide.

- 1956 flu pandemic coincided with the introduction of high-intensity radar installations of the coast of New York, Cape Cod and Alaska.

- 1968 Hong Kong flu followed about 8 months after satellites were launched in the Earths Van Allen radiation belt. Patients died of internal hemorrhages, not respiratory complications.

2019 Coronavirus  Present times.

We live in Oregon, which, as of March 9th, declared a state of emergency with Coronavirus cases exceeding 500 people. The Coronavirus is striking people worldwide- simultaneously  just like the other pandemics. ALL the pandemics listed above are tied to increased use of various frequencies  from radar to satellites  and now  5G.

5G appears to be the straw that broke the camels back when it comes to the spread of the Coronavirus.

An extremely intense rollout of 5G was launched initially in Wuhan City, China.

Is it a coincidence that this is also where the coronavirus outbreak started?

The 5G rollout on the ground was accompanied by thousands of radiation-emitting satellites launched in the ionosphere and stratosphere, producing large amounts of EMF radiation that can interact with the coronavirus once it is in the body.

So does this mean even if you dont have 5G yet in your city, that youre still being bombarded?

We are URGING you to get protection from EMF radiation because you do not want your immune system to be taxed by any form of EMF radiation, whether its from your Smart Meter, WiFi, or new 5G in your city. Radiation is radiation, be it from any source.

What Happens to your body when its exposed to radiation?  Martin Pall, PhD

Dr. Cowan also references a summary paper from Martin Pall, Ph.D., who has described the exact mechanism by which 5G affects our bodies through a mechanism called voltage-gated calcium channels.

The EMF interference allows a buildup of calcium in our cells, lowering free calcium levels in your blood.

Blood calcium is required for proper coagulation pathways and without it, cellular death occurs, allowing for internal bleeding.

As you read above, the cause of death in these pandemics was not related to respiratory failure, it was related to internal bleeding.

Over the past several years, Dr. Pall has published several papers detailing a number of studies in which EMF radiation is a co-factor in suppressing our immune system, particularly in response to viral infections, or, worse, it makes the viral infection more lethal.

Cowan postulates that we are not dealing with a flu virus, we are dealing with the consequences of EMF radiation partnering with a viral infection to create flu that can result in death.

Coronavirus Protection The Coronavirus has already created a mutation of itself in China that is more infectious and more deadly than the original virus. There are two main ways to protect yourself. - Lower your exposure to EMF radiation, which will . - Boost your own immune system. - Follow our Smart Body guidelines.Lower your exposure

Get full body EMF protection that is strong enough to deflect and block EMF radiation from your body.

For more information, read THIS ARTICLE.
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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday blamed the central government for the spread of coronavirus in the country, saying it failed to quarantine all those coming from abroad.

Addressing a press conference through video-conferencing, Baghel said he would take a decision on whether to extend the ongoing 21-day lockdown in Chhattisgarh only after consulting the state cabinet on April 12.

He said if the lockdown is suddenly lifted, the virus could spread further.

The Congress leader said he would assess the Centre's response to the question of extending the lockdown during the prime minister's meeting with chief ministers on the issue on April 11.

"We are looking forward to the Centre's response on the lockdown extension on April 11 during the PM's meeting with chief ministers. Thereafter, a meeting of the Chhattisgarh cabinet will be held on April 12 to decide the future course of action," Baghel said.

"There should be more discussions with states and the views of all states should be taken by the Centre before arriving at a decision on whether to extend the lockdown," he added.

Odisha became the first state on Thursday to extend the lockdown till April 30.

Asked about who should be held responsible for the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Baghel said the Centre should have conducted screenings of all those coming from abroad and kept them in quarantine.

"Had the government stopped the international flights and kept all those coming to the country in quarantine, this virus could not have spread across the country and a lot of problems people are facing today could have been averted," he said.

The Centre, he said, did not consult anyone before imposing the lockdown and it was done so suddenly that it led to confusion and chaos across the country.

Replying to a question on whether he holds last month's Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Delhi responsible for the spread of the virus, the Congress leader said no religious colour should be given to it, but did not give a clean chit to the organisers of the religious gathering.

"I am not saying they are innocent. But the government had the list of all those coming from abroad. It should have identified and quarantined them," he said.

The Chhattisgarh chief minister called for increasing the number of COVID-19 tests across the country while noting that people with no symptoms have been found to be carrying the virus.

Baghel called upon the prime minister to increase the amount given to Jan Dhan beneficiaries to Rs 750 from the current Rs 500.

He said he has written to the prime minister demanding that daily wagers should be paid Rs 1,000 per month for the next three months.

He said the state would soon start the process of random sampling, as so far only 3,000 people have been tested for the virus. There have been only 11 positive cases of coronavirus so far in Chhattisgarh, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
William and Kate have hired his brother's old social media star. (Getty Images)

Prince William has swooped in and hired his brothers former social media star as Harry and Meghan prepare to launch their new organisation in the USA.

William and Kate have hired David Watkins, who used to work for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they were senior royals, and worked on their hugely successful Instagram page.

According to his LinkedIn page, Watkins, was the couples digital communications lead, looking after their brand strategy as well as content creation and copywriting.

Having been let go by Prince Harry, 35, and his wife Meghan, 37, when they closed their London office, Watkins has confirmed he started working for the Cambridges at the beginning of April.

His job title is now digital communications and social media so he could have been hired to help the duke and duchess replicate the success of SussexRoyal on their own account.

Harry and Meghan set a Guinness World Record when they started their Instagram account, becoming the fastest ever to reach 1 million followers.

Read more: Did the Queen send Meghan Markle a message in her televised address?

And they had more than 11 million when they had to mothball the account on 31 March as they stepped back from their senior royal roles and agreed not to use the word royal in any branding.

Friends actor Jennifer Aniston set a new record when she joined Instagram - hitting 1 million followers half an hour quicker than the Sussexes.

Watkins says he asks himself a question from Martin Luther King Jr daily What are you doing for others? which could have been the ethos that landed him his first royal job, having been poached from fashion brand Burberry.

Harry and Meghan used their Instagram account to make announcements more directly to their fans and followers, and indicated they would prefer that method going forward when they decided they wanted to step back from royal duties.

Story continues

Read more: Meghan Markle's six most significant royal moments in 600 days

They cited the Royal Rota system as part of their reasons for wanting to leave their posts, saying it prevented them sharing news directly with their fans.

The Sussex Royal Instagram account often posts in a different way to Kensington Royal, the account managed by William and Kates team.

Williams position as second in line to the throne means he and his wife are more serious in their posts, whereas Harry was able to post in a more stylised way.

But the Cambridges have been more publicly affectionate recently, even sharing a picture of themselves cuddling at the top of a hill in Ireland while on tour.

Read more: Coronavirus: William and Kate tell NHS 'the whole country is proud of you'

And their video of their three children clapping for carers during the coronavirus pandemic went down very well with royal watchers, perhaps indicating a change of tone in their output.

Harry and Meghan are now living in Los Angeles with son Archie, who is 10-months-old.

They confirmed on Tuesday that they would be calling their new non-profit organisation Archewell, taken from the Greek word Arche meaning source of action.

The word was also the inspiration for their sons name, they confirmed.

The couple, who are understood to be house hunting in Malibu, said they had not wanted to share the information about the organisation yet, preferring attention to be on the coronavirus response, but paperwork had come to light which meant they had to make a statement.

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Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 12:37 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d0765 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,IS,IS-sympathizers,ISIS,IPAC,radical-group,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,terrorism Free

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to reducing the activity of the Islamic State (IS) group in the country, as highlighted by the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

However, there remains the possibility of IS supporters launching attacks against the Indonesian government as it battles to contain the outbreak nationwide.

The IPAC highlighted a decreasing level of IS supporters activity, reflected in the low number of arrests against terror suspects during the first months of 2020.

It also argued that the reduced activity might be caused by IS sympathizers reacting to the COVID-19 outbreak by staying at home to wait for the end of the world as foretold in Islamic prophecies, rather than carrying out jihad operations.

The supporters, it added, viewed the COVID-19 outbreak as a thaun (plague) mentioned in various hadiths. When the plague comes, Muslims are told by the hadiths to stay at home and be patient. If they eventually die of the disease, they will still be considered a martyr.

The IS supporters who take this view tend to choose to stay at home and not carry out jihad operations [amaliyah]  especially if they get the same heavenly reward by doing so, the report suggests.

Read also: What impact is COVID-19 having on Middle East conflicts?

Others have seen the outbreak as a sign of the end of time, which occurred before the dukhan, which refers to a hot cloud that will cover parts of the Earth for 40 days and nights. Its appearance is believed to precede the coming of Imam Mahdi, the Islamic messiah.

The IS supporters who take this view believe the pandemic is a dress rehearsal for the dukhan, the report read.

This second group will also take no action. They prefer to stay at home and train family members in preparation for the end of time, which they believe is imminent.

Despite the reduced activities, IPAC noted there was still a possibility for IS supporters to see the outbreak as an opportunity to launch attacks, as they see the Indonesian government as being in a state of weakness while trying to contain the disease.

The report suggested that a possible method of attack would be to use IS supporters who were already infected with the virus to try and deliberately infect those they considered their enemies, such as police officers.

In addition, the study predicted that IS supporters could also seek to join insurgent groups in the country that are currently active in recruiting members, as the governments attention has been diverted to containing the outbreak.

The same strategy was used after the Aceh tsunami in 2004, Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006 and Palu earthquake and tsunami in 2018.

Authorities were also urged to watch the extremist inmates in Indonesian detention centers and prisons, as the prison population is deemed vulnerable to the disease.

Violent unrest could be sparked off once the word on COVID-19 positive cases in prison spread, especially when prison healthcare systems are deemed inadequate to handle the disease, IPAC went on to say.

Read also: Overcrowded regional prisons release inmates early to limit contagion

The IPAC suggests that Indonesian authorities also monitor fundraising efforts through online charities or religious organizations in connection with the outbreak, including appeals for protective equipment for healthcare workers.

Most of the private fundraising efforts taking place in connection with the pandemic are going to be legitimate, but over the last two decades, what has happened in Indonesia is that whenever disasters occur, extremists seek to benefit.

Law enforcement agencies were urged to remain vigilant during the pandemic by, among other measures, developing guidelines on procedures for handling unrest in penitentiaries as well as anticipating attempted escapes.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) would also need to watch out for fundraising efforts for terror activities in the name of humanitarian assistance, the IPAC concluded.
Since the stay-at-home order went into effect last month, the city says police have given 2,033 dispersal orders for large gatherings and issued 11 citations for up to $5,500 in fines to people ignoring the order.
Hong Kongs government can only enforce its controversial ban on masks at unauthorized public gatherings, its court of appeal ruled, a judgment linked to protests that engulfed the city in 2019 rather than the current widespread use of facial coverings because of the coronavirus.

Banning masks at authorized assemblies violates Hong Kong citizens rights, the court ruled in a case that began late last year when the former British colony was still battered by regular anti-government protests.

The court handed its verdict down Thursday, saying that although the government was within its rights to use the colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance to ban the use of face masks during protests, parts of the order were unconstitutional. The judges also said the ERO could be used in other cases of public danger.

The mask ban directly interferes with these participants right of privacy or freedom of expression while taking part in perfectly lawful activities in the exercise of their right of peaceful assembly, the judges wrote.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam instituted the unprecedented mask ban in October by invoking the emergency law for the first time in decades, following months of violent demonstrations that saw thousands of people take to the streets in masks to conceal their identities. The sweeping ERO used to institute the mask ban was seen as a key tool for her to manage the protest movement.

But its unclear whether the ruling will have any practical effect in Hong Kong, where protests have become rare, gatherings of more than four people are now illegal in a bid to stem the coronavirus and the vast majority of residents are wearing masks to protect themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic.

December Appeal

In December, the Court of Appeal rejected the governments request to temporarily extend the mask ban, despite Chinas criticism of a lower court decision declaring the measure unconstitutional the month before.

A lower court voided the mask measure on Nov. 18, saying it exceeds what is reasonably necessary to achieve the aim of law enforcement, investigation and prosecution of violent protesters.

Countries Learn to Love Face Masks in Struggle to Contain Virus

The decision comes as Lam battles to contain a second wave of virus cases fuelled by residents returning to Hong Kong from abroad. On Wednesday, she announced a fresh stimulus package worth some HK$137.5 billion ($17.7 billion) to bolster the Asian financial hubs deteriorating economy, which has now been battered by both the virus and protest movement.

There is also a global debate over whether masks can help contain the spread of the disease, with more countries requiring citizens to cover their faces in public.

Read more about:
Engulfed by the health crisis, over 600 people died in Iran after consuming high-concentrated alcohol, which they misbelieved as a cure for Coronavirus. Iran on Thursday noon recorded 64,586 cases of COVID-19, including 3,993 deaths.

Apart from a monumental death toll, thousands of Iranians were left poisoned after guzzling methanol, state media reported. Iran's news agency Tasnim quoted an Iranian judiciary saying that over 3,000 people were affected. The ambigious nature of the novel Coronavirus sparked the wild rumour, which appended to the existing health crisis in the country. The incident occurred despite alcohol being banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

READ| Iran Minister coughs, wipes sweat amid Coronavirus briefing, hours prior to his diagnosis

As the sanction-stricken country continues to strike a balance between the pandemic, and its sinking economy, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani accused the foreign media of over-exaggerating situations and laid emphasis on the fact that resuming of certain industrial activities does not imply that citizens would not adhere to the rules of social distancing and advised others to remain at home.

The Iranian president earlier this week said that low-risk business activities in the country would resume from April 11, despite the threat of Coronavirus. Without specifying the 'low-risk economic activities', Rouhani said that two-thirds of Iranian would return to work on Saturday. Coronavirus cases in the country saw a sudden surged in February, affecting high-level government officials and parliamentarians among others.

Iran claims 'virus under control'

Despite a heavy death toll, Iran's health officials on Tuesday claimed that they are 'winning' the battle to contain Coronavirus. Health Minister Saeed Namaki said the country has managed to bring the outbreak under control. Iran's Parliament convened on Tuesday for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak forced its doors to close, as the country reported a drop in new infections for the seventh straight day. More than two-thirds of the legislature's 290 members gathered in the absence of speaker and veteran politician Ali Larijani, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

"Today we have reined this scary dragon in," he said. Namaki added that Iran is "getting closer to containing" it in some of its provinces. Iran is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

READ| Lockdown: Don't use tobacco, alcohol to cope with boredom, these affect immunity, says Health min

READ| Coronavirus: Hassan Rouhani warns of 'new way of life' as Iran death toll reaches 2,640
business US Fed launches $2.3 trillion financing to support economy The measures include changes and increases to existing programs, as well as new facilities.
The current pandemic is a forceful reminder of the need to treat global health as a system linking human, non-human animal and environmental health. By looking beyond the source and focusing on the drivers of infection at a systems level, we may stand a better chance of preventing or at least minimising the effects of future global health problems.

Pathogens do not know direction. If the host and environment situation for transmission is right, transmission will occur, regardless of host species. Although the origin of SARS CoV2 remains speculative, it is often reported that there is a wildlife reservoir for this disease. By utilising multidisciplinary skill sets to assess global health threats, we can help highlight the underlying drivers of disease threats like SARS CoV2 to attempt to prevent or at least moderate future outbreaks.

Some recent examples:

HIV-1 virus  evolved from Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIVcpz) transmitted from chimpanzees to humans by the slaughter and consumption of infected wild: Driver: human consumption of chimpanzee meat

Bat rabies re-emerged - Deforestation in the Amazon Basin: Driver: human deforestation

TB re-emerged in New Zealand - Farming of non-native deer and possums: Driver: human farming practise of non-native species

Monkeypox virus in the US - contact with pet prairie dogs exposed to a giant pouched rat recently imported from Ghana: Driver: the illegal and legal wild species pet trade

SARS emergence in SE Asia  wildlife trade for food, medicine (Holmes ED and A Rambaut, 2004, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences359.1447: 1059-1065). Driver: The illegal and legal bushmeat trade.

Often under reported is the effect of zoonotic infection in animals. Recent evidence indicates a variety of species could be at risk from infection with SARS CoV2 from human sources. Some are not yet verified such as the recent tiger case at the WCS Bronx Zoo. Others are confirmed but from other coronavirus types.

It is currently unknown whether the morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 in humans are similar in our closest relatives  the other apes. However, transmission of even mild human pathogens to apes can lead to severe outcomes, so the risks seem extremely high. We at the University of Birmingham are leading an international network of specialists working with apes in the wild and in captivity. The aim is to collate and disseminate recommended pandemic response protocols and research, both human and animal, combined with current response efforts of great ape conservation and welfare organisations to:

Improve response efficacy and facilitate rapid access to expertise for practitioners that would not otherwise be available. Provide canvas and web based teaching resources for ongoing capacity building on outbreak management and wildlife focused One Health to strength resilience against future outbreaks.

These resources, some fully public, some within sector only, will be rolled out from mid-April 2020. We can then start to identify key data gaps for co-ordinated evidence based research in multi species emerging disease threats.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 12:18:46|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Coordinated By the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh, Chinese health professionals have shared their experience in fighting the COVID-19 with Bangladeshi counterparts via video conference.

Also attended by Bangladeshi Health Minister Zahed Maleque and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming, the video conference began Wednesday with the Chinese side's discussions on the country's overall experience in dealing with the COVID-19.

Bangladeshi and Chinese health professionals exchanged views on emergency coordination, epidemic response, testing and clinical treatment, and discussed the treatment of severe cases.

Speaking highly of the Chinese's efforts in COVID-19 prevention response, the Bangladeshi side thanked the Chinese government and Chinese companies for providing medical supplies.

In his speech, Maleque hopes China to increase support as the COVID-19 situation escalates in the country. He said Bangladesh is now in dire need of more personal protective equipment and ventilators specifically.

Chinese Ambassador Li stressed the need for combined efforts to win against the enemy. "We all must work together," he said.

The ambassador added that a medical team will soon be arriving in Bangladesh and he expressed the confidence that Bangladesh will win this battle against the disease.

The key attraction of the conference Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Disease, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, in his speech shared in detail about the COVID-19 pandemic which already severely affected Bangladesh.

To help Bangladesh fight the COVID-19 impacts, the Chinese Embassy and Chinese companies in the country and beyond have already sent medical supplies including testing kits and personnel protective equipment.
Thus, learning of Exelons refusal to postpone a refueling project at the Limerick Generating Station is of deep concern.

The company brought between 950 and 1,400 workers from other localities to the tri-county area for its annual refueling project.

Montgomery County Commissioners asked the company to postpone the refueling before it began in March, and they refused, claiming it was necessary for power to the region through the summer and that it could be managed with proper precautions.

But in interviews with MediaNews Group reporter Carl Hessler Jr., workers say those precautions were not followed.

The workers interviewed claimed that social distancing measures of standing at least six-feet apart, which have repeatedly been recommended by health officials during the outbreak, were not in place at the plant as they initially reported for their jobs in March.

Refueling was scheduled to start March 30, according to officials, but workers arrived at the site for training before that date. By mid-March, cases of COVID-19 were already being reported in Montgomery County ahead of other areas in Pennsylvania. County officials were adamant in emphasizing the importance of social distancing. Schools were already closed.

From the first day I got there, there were no less than 100 people in the training room being processed. I have pictures from that day of people literally sitting on top of each other, no one enforcing social distancing, one worker told MediaNews Group.

Montgomery County Commissioners Chairman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh last week said county commissioners first learned about a long scheduled maintenance operation at the Limerick plant on March 16 and demanded to see Exelons pandemic response site plan. County officials concluded the plan was not adequate for the COVID-19 pandemic and asked Exelon to postpone the refuel until such time when the disease burden from the virus was lower in Montgomery and Chester counties. She said they refused.

Dave Marcheskie, communications manager Exelon at the Limerick plant, released a statement last week saying the company is doing everything possible to keep our workers and host communities safe. He said the company did not have the luxury of postponing the outage because the plants power is vital to the regions hospitals, emergency response centers and essential businesses.

Arkoosh said she was deeply concerned that contract workers were staying at AirBnBs, private homes, campsites, hotels and other rental units in the tri-county region.

 As we pointed out from the beginning, they were coming into an area of community spread here in Montgomery County. It puts at risk the people in our community, the workforce that is in Limerick every day, our critical workforce that keeps that very important plant running, Arkoosh said.

Im speaking about this publicly because not only do I believe that the people here in southeastern Pennsylvania have a right to know about this but I hope that this is a cautionary note to wherever they are going next, she added.

She also mentioned first responders who may get called to the plant. We have a lot of people who are sworn to run into the Limerick Generating Station if theres ever an accident. Many of those individuals are volunteer firefighters and I think our community deserves to be treated better than this.

We agree that this community, where homes, businesses and hospitals are both dependent on and host to the massive nuclear power plant operation, deserves better. The refueling project brought workers into our region amidst dire warnings about the spread of the coronavirus, and Exelon has not provided adequate assurances that they are following the protocols to slow that spread.

Our immediate concerns are for the safety of workers and everyone  from clerks at Wawa to other plant employees  who have been around them during a time of potential exposure to COVID-19.

Our larger concern is directed at Exelon for refusing to postpone the refueling and then failing to provide Montgomery County officials with accurate and timely information and enforce social distancing.

Were all in this together is not merely a slogan; its the means to survive  and together means Exelon working with county health department leaders to keep people safe.

To date, that hasnt happened. Our community, indeed, deserves to be treated better.
INDIANAPOLIS - State officials have closed trails at some of Indianas most popular state parks and campgrounds in response to large crowds gathering outdoors disregarding social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

As warmer weather draws more residents outside, the states Department of Natural Resources issued new restrictions on camping and some trail uses, closing all campgrounds through April 20.

Biking and horseback riding on all unpaved DNR properties are temporarily suspended as well, according to The Indianapolis Star.

This is not a vacation, said Commissioner Dana Biddle in a video posted to the Brown County emergency Facebook page.

Officials closed all but two trails at Turkey Run and nearby Shades State Park, noting on their Facebook page that the closed trails are either too narrow to allow social distancing or are closed for your safety at this time.

In recent weeks, county commissioners issued an orange-level travel restriction for the area, meaning all and any travel must be only for essential reasons and emergency situations.

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainerd has also ordered a portion of the popular Monon Trail to be closed due to overcrowding and congregation of large groups.

Officials in Brown County, a popular recreation and tourist spot south of Indianapolis, say the restrictions may slow the number of visitors to state parks but more action is needed.
WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday (April 9, 2020) warned of a more severe recession than the Great Depression in the 1930s and called for more fiscal stimulus to prevent economic 'scarring' from COVID-19 crisis.

Georgieva also called on governments to take coordinated fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to stop the coronavirus from causing long-term economic damage.

In a blog message posted on the IMF website, Georgieva said, The year 2020 could see worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

"The global coronavirus pandemic is causing an economic crisis unlike any in the past century and will require a massive response to help in the recovery, the IMF chief said on Thursday.

She warned that "global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020," with 170 of the International Monetary Fund's 180 members experiencing a decline in per capita income.

"In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," she warned.

Even in the best case, the IMF expects only a "partial recovery" next year, and she urged governments to provide "lifelines" for businesses and households to "avoid a scarring of the economy that would make the recovery so much more difficult, " she added.

But it could get worse, and there is tremendous uncertainty around the outlook and the duration of the pandemic.

Countries already have taken steps worth a combined USD 8 trillion, but Georgieva urged governments to do more to provide lifelines for businesses and households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She had earlier said that the global lender has received interest from about 20 additional countries for financing programs and will follow up with them in the coming days. She did not identify any of them. The IMF stands ready to mobilize its USD 1 trillion in lending capacity to aid its 189 member countries, she said.

The IMF chief suggested that coordinated fiscal action on the scale of the 2008-2009 financial crisis may be necessary. She said that in 2009 alone, Group of 20 countries deployed about 2% of their GDP in stimulus, or about $900 billion in today's money, so there is a lot more work to do."

She said that governments should continue to prioritize health spending and provide support to the most affected people and businesses with policies such as paid sick leave and targeted tax relief.

The IMF chiefs remarks coincide with the Oxfam report which claimed around half a billion people could be pushed into poverty as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic unless richer countries take urgent action to help developing nations.

In the run-up to three key international economic meetings next week, Oxfam has urged richer countries to step up their efforts to help the developing world. Failing to do so, it added, could set back the fight against poverty by a decade and by as much as 30 years in some areas, including Africa and the Middle East.

''The devastating economic fallout of the pandemic is being felt across the globe," said Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director. ''But for poor people in poor countries who are already struggling to survive, there are almost no safety nets to stop them falling into poverty.''

The report, which is based on research at King's College London and the Australian National University, warns that between 6% and 8% of the global population could be forced into poverty as governments shut down entire sectors of their economies to manage the spread of the virus.
Netflix's hit Spanish series La Casa de Papel, also known as "Money Heist," came back last week with a bang for the show's fourth season. Fans went into a total frenzy as the show came back 10 times more intense, action-packed, and unfortunately heartbreaking.

Fans tuned in to see what is next for the group of criminals who are now on their second and biggest heist, trying to melt and take the gold bars out of the Bank of Spain. Money Heist Season 4 has been a roller coaster of emotions for fans. It was filled with action-packed scenes, thanks to fierce Bank of Spain security detail, Gandia (played by Jose Manuel Poga), who broke free and caused chaos inside the bank.

Fans were also left heartbroken after one of the key members, Nairobi (Alba Flores), almost died, then survived, and eventually got killed in the middle of the heist.

But despite the well-written and heartbreaking turn of events, some fans are still disappointed with one major storyline that has something to do with the most-hated character named Arturo Roman (played by Enrique Arce).

Arturo's Character Development

The annoying Arturo is one of the hostages back in Seasons 1 and 2, and his self-centered and ego-maniac character also caused major plot twists during the first two seasons. His eagerness to fight, break free, and eventually be the hero among the hostages earned him the most-hated title of the series.

Arturo is back on the third and fourth season after forcing himself inside the Bank of Spain and becoming one of the hostages again. He did it on purpose to be able to talk to his former love interest and mistress, Monica Gaztambide (Esther Acebo), who is now part of the gang after falling in love with one of the robbers Denver (Jaime Lorente).

In Season 4, Arturo's character had yet another development from being annoying to the worst character of the show. While the rest of the gang rumbles to save Nairobi's life, Arturo was busy trying to take advantage of another innocent hostage.

At one point, Arturo drugged one of the vulnerable female hostages and tricked her by supposedly "calming her nerves," but as soon as Amanda drifted out of consciousness, Arturo made her way to get a pass at her and abuse her sexually.

Fans Disappointed

Fans are furious about Arturo's character development and beg the creators and streaming giant to kill off his character.

Others also questioned why the show keeps killing relevant characters (like Nairobi and Berlin) and waste the airtime highlighting Arturo's disgusting behavior.

"If Arturo isn't gone by season 5 imma scream, I cant take to look at his face again #CasaDePapel #MoneyHeistS4," one fan wrote on Twitter.

"Arturo, please just die on the episode 1 of Money Heist part 4. I'm tired of seeing your annoying sh*t face. Just diiie," another one added.

A fan rants: "La casa de Papel writers killing the best characters in the show while Arturo the rapist is still alive and well."

For now, let us just wait until the show's 5th installment and see if the creators listened to the fans' clamor to end Arturito.
An order has been issued to "lock



down" five central prisons in Mumbai, Pune and Thane districts to prevent the spread of coronavirus among inmates, a senior official said on Thursday.

As per the order, no new inmates would be admitted and no one would be let out. Even the staff will not leave the prisons.

The order would apply to Arthur Road jail and Byculla jail in Mumbai, jails in Thane and Kalyan, and Yerawada jail in Pune.

Additional Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) Sunil Ramanand said this preventive step was being taken as these jails are located in coronavirus-affected areas, and house a large number of inmates, much beyond their capacity.

"Medically examined prison staff will lock themselves up until further orders and administer the prisons without stepping out," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) announces the following event:

What: Domino's Q1 2020 Earnings Webcast



When: Thursday, April 23 at 10 a.m. EST



Where: biz.dominos.com



How: Live webcast (web address above)



Contact: Chris Brandon, director of investor relations

734-323-7932

This event will be archived on the Domino's website for replay.

About Domino's Pizza

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world based on retail sales, with a significant business in both delivery and carryout pizza. It ranks among the world's top public restaurant brands with a global enterprise of more than 17,000 stores in over 90 markets. Domino's had global retail sales of over $14.3 billion in 2019, with over $7.0 billion in the U.S. and nearly $7.3 billion internationally. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Domino's had global retail sales of over $4.5 billion, with over $2.2 billion in the U.S. and over $2.3 billion internationally. Its system is comprised of independent franchise owners who accounted for 98% of Domino's stores as of the fourth quarter of 2019. Emphasis on technology innovation helped Domino's achieve more than half of all global retail sales in 2019 from digital channels, primarily online ordering and mobile applications. In the U.S., Domino's generates over 65% of sales via digital channels and has developed several innovative ordering platforms, including those developed for Google Home, Facebook Messenger, Apple Watch, Amazon Echo and Twitter  as well as Domino's Hotspots, an ordering platform featuring over 200,000 unique, non-traditional delivery locations. In June 2019, through an announced partnership with Nuro, Domino's furthered its exploration and testing of autonomous pizza delivery. In late 2019, Domino's opened the Domino's Innovation Garage adjacent to its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to fuel continued technology and operational innovation  while also launching its GPS technology, allowing customers to follow the progress of the delivery driver from store to doorstep.

Order  dominos.com

AnyWare Ordering  anyware.dominos.com

Company Info  biz.dominos.com

Twitter  twitter.com/dominos

Facebook  facebook.com/dominos

Instagram  instagram.com/dominos

YouTube  youtube.com/dominos

Please visit our Investor Relations website at biz.dominos.com to view news, announcements, investor presentations, earnings releases and conference webcasts.

SOURCE Domino's Pizza, Inc.
April 9, 2020

 A former U.S. Navy SEAL, a Russian fighter pilot and a Russian engineer have taken social distancing to its extreme, launching off Earth for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.



NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft on Thursday (April 9). Riding atop the first Soyuz 2.1a rocket to fly with a crew from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the three crewmates launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT or 1:05 p.m. local Kazakh time) on a six-hour journey to reach the space station.



The launch was viewed by a fewer number of spectators than normal in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID- 19, both on Earth and into space. The crew, who followed the usual quarantine period before the flight, forewent the practice of inviting their family members and other guests to Baikonur to watch the launch.



"We are implementing the exact same precautions as the rest of the world is, with social distancing," Cassidy said in a NASA interview before the launch. "The whole group has been very strict about no interactions beside the control team."



"We have taken extra measures to make sure the crew arrives at the space station in good health," said Ivanishin at a pre-flight press conference. "We didn't have any guests, so we didn't have any family members or friends arrive. We have been completely isolated at this final stage."



The crew's families watched the liftoff from the cosmonaut training center in Star City, outside of Moscow, instead.







Soyuz MS-16 crew launches to space station. Click to enlarge in pop-up window. (NASA TV)

Reaching space about nine minutes after they left the ground, the Soyuz crew began a four-orbit rendezvous with the space station. They are expected to dock with the orbiting lab's Poisk module at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 GMT). Update: Docking occurred at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT) while the vehicles were more than 250 miles (400 km) over the north Atlantic Ocean.



For the next week, Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will serve aboard the station with Expedition 62 crew members Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Drew Morgan and Jessica Meir. Skripochka will turn over command of the station to Cassidy on Wednesday (April 15), before departing with Morgan and Meir on Soyuz MS-15 for a landing in Kazakhstan on Friday.



Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will then serve as the three-person Expedition 63 crew until their own scheduled departure in October.



"It will be an interesting period of time," said Cassidy. "We have a very short handover with our previous Soyuz crew, so that is just nine days for us to get our 'space legs' as a crew and then off we go with the plan. For me, my days will be full whether I am by myself or with other crewmates, so I don't think of this as any different than a typical mission with a different complement."



"The specialists on the ground will determine how to use the time and set priorities and we will just get it done," he said.



And they may not be alone.



SpaceX is preparing to launch the first crewed test flight of its Dragon spacecraft, possibly as soon as mid- to late-May. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will fly as the Demo-2 crew to the space station for what is expected to be a two- to three-month stay with the Expedition 63 crew.



Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner are also scheduled to oversee the arrival of several uncrewed resupply spacecraft, including Japan's ninth H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), a Russian Progress, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus and the first cargo-configured, second-generation SpaceX Dragon capsule.



Cassidy, 50, is on his third spaceflight. He previously helped build the station as a space shuttle mission specialist in 2009, before his first stay as a member of the Expedition 35/36 crew in 2013. His command of Expedition 63 bookends the start of a continuous human residency aboard the space station almost 20 years ago.



"Bill Shepherd was the commander of Expedition 1, a Navy SEAL, and 20 years later, I will be commander of the space station, also a Navy SEAL," said Cassidy.



Ivanishin and Vagner were originally assigned to the Soyuz MS-16 backup crew, until an injury temporarily grounded cosmonaut Nikolai Tikhonov and Roscosmos decided to replace both him and his crewmate, Andrei Babkin, in February.



Ivanishin, 51, is also on his third spaceflight, having served on Expeditions 29/30 in 2012 and 48/49 in 2016. This is the first mission for Vagner, 34, after becoming a cosmonaut in 2010.



"I've dreamed of doing this for many, many years," said Vagner. "It is hard to leave those who are staying behind in this challenging time, but I want to thank everyone for helping us take off."



Soyuz MS-16 is Russia's 62nd Soyuz spacecraft to launch for the International Space Station since 2000 and 145th to fly since the first Soyuz mission in 1967.
United Nations, April 9 : The UN Security Council (UNSC) is set to hold a secret meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday amid divisions on recognising its origin and international action.

The Dominican Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council, said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief the meeting on his call for a global ceasefire, the pandemic's impact on peacekeeping operations and the humanitarian response.

China and Russia were reported to be opposed to the meeting, while the US wanted China be named as the source of the pandemic.

The initiative for the meeting came from nine of the 10 non-permanent members of the Council led by Germany. South Africa did not join the effort.

The divisions in the UN on the Covid-19 pandemic were on stark display when the General Assembly took up the issue last week.

The 193 members adopted unanimously a resolution on the pandemic that was sponsored by Singapore and five other countries. It called for global solidarity to deal with the crisis and asked Guterres to lead the effort against the pandemic and its economic and social impacts.

It also opposed discrimination, xenophobia and racism in responding to the pandemic.

Under the pandemic rules adopted by the Assembly, which cannot meet at the UN headquarters because of the restrictions in the city, resolutions are adopted after the President, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, circulates them and there is no opposition from any country within 72 hours.

Russia proposed a rival resolution with the support of Cuba and three other countries that said actions should not be unilateral but have the approval of the Council and opposed trade wars and protectionism.

It was defeated under the new rules because the US and several European countries opposed it.

The Council meeting on Thursday is unlikely to adopt any resolution.

The Council had held meetings on the Ebola epidemic -- which did not seriously affect the permanent members, unlike the Covid-19 pandemic -- and passed several resolutions, mainly focusing on the international security issue of attacks on medical personnel in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Winter Tire Market is expected to grow from USD 16,236.12 Million in 2018 to USD 20,562.12 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.43%.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871715/?utm_source=PRN





The positioning of the Global Winter Tire Market vendors in FPNV Positioning Matrix are determined by Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) and placed into four quadrants (F: Forefront, P: Pathfinders, N: Niche, and V: Vital).



The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Winter Tire Market including are Bridgestone Corporation, Continental AG, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Michelin Group, Pirelli & C. S.p.A., Apollo Vredestein Belux SA, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., Ltd., Hankook Tire & Technology group, Nokian Tyres Oyj, and Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited.



On the basis of Type, the Global Winter Tire Market is studied across Studded and Studless.



On the basis of Vehicle Type, the Global Winter Tire Market is studied across Commercial Vehicle and Passenger Vehicle.



On the basis of Distribution Channel, the Global Winter Tire Market is studied across Aftermarket and OEM.



For the detailed coverage of the study, the market has been geographically divided into the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The report provides details of qualitative and quantitative insights about the major countries in the region and taps the major regional developments in detail.



In the report, we have covered two proprietary models, the FPNV Positioning Matrix and Competitive Strategic Window. The FPNV Positioning Matrix analyses the competitive market place for the players in terms of product satisfaction and business strategy they adopt to sustain in the market. The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisitions strategies, geography expansion, research & development, new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



Research Methodology:

Our market forecasting is based on a market model derived from market connectivity, dynamics, and identified influential factors around which assumptions about the market are made. These assumptions are enlightened by fact-bases, put by primary and secondary research instruments, regressive analysis and an extensive connect with industry people. Market forecasting derived from in-depth understanding attained from future market spending patterns provides quantified insight to support your decision-making process. The interview is recorded, and the information gathered in put on the drawing board with the information collected through secondary research.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players in the Global Winter Tire Market

2. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments in the Global Winter Tire Market

3. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets for the Global Winter Tire Market

4. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new products launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Global Winter Tire Market

5. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the Global Winter Tire Market



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size of Winter Tire market in the Global?

2. What are the factors that affect the growth in the Global Winter Tire Market over the forecast period?

3. What is the competitive position in the Global Winter Tire Market?

4. Which are the best product areas to be invested in over the forecast period in the Global Winter Tire Market?

5. What are the opportunities in the Global Winter Tire Market?

6. What are the modes of entering the Global Winter Tire Market?



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871715/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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India's current economic scenario is nothing like it was when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on February 1, 2020. The sector-specific allocations and the financial outlook is far from the present reality.

Just over two months ago, the economy was not staring at an unprecedented recession, the unemployment rate was not at an all-time high, labour participation was not crumbling and industries across sectors were not preparing, or rather yielding, to huge losses.

Some of India's top economists say it will be necessary for the Centre to come up with a second budget after the coronavirus crisis settles giving way to an economic storm.

India's first chief statistician Pronab Sen welcomed the idea.

"What is very likely to happen is that the priorities of the budget are most likely to change. And it will have to be reflected somewhere rather than waiting for next year. So you treat the February 1 budget essentially as an interim budget and then go ahead and have another one later," he said.

Asked which sectors he thinks should be given priority, Sen said, "I wouldn't want to do it in a sector-specific manner. The nature of the problem is fairly generic. One should concentrate the sectoral damage in the banking sector and have a massive package for the banking sector. The government at the moment certainly does not have the bandwidth to figure out how to reach large chunks of the system that are damaged. Better to let the banks do that."

Sen, who has served as the functional and technical head of the country's national statistical system, as well as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, recognised the need to get the jobs market back on track and for that scaling up demand is the only solution, he said.

"Everything is ultimately going to depend on how quickly the demand side picks up. Because what would happen by then is 2-3 months of income would have been lost. People would have by then completely drawn their savings particularly in the lower income category. Therefore, rebuilding core demand should be the focus," he added.

Ritu Dewan, vice-president of the Indian Society of Labour Economics and former president of the Indian Association for Women's Studies, agreed on the need for a revised budget and laid out the possible options to be explored.

"The second budget needs to be done in consultation with all political parties, stakeholders and NGOs. Even before coronavirus hit India, the demand side was a problem. The government needs to put people first. They need to take into account that it is the people of India who have suffered because of the pandemic. It has to take into account consumption, employment, health as the most important areas. If you want to keep the supply chain running, you have to announce in the budget that supply of raw materials will be free," she said.

Ritu, who was the first-ever woman director of the Department of Economics in University of Mumbai, added, "In order to get consumption back into the cycle, the government has to provide wages to all informal sector workers. Universal basic income is an option. There are so many camps that have been set up. They can easily be turned into production units. There is need for so many masks and gloves that can be home produced. These camps can be used to produce them and in turn can earn wages. It will take care of demand and consumption issues."

Abhijit Sen, former member of the Planning Commission of India and currently professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, considered September "a good time for a second budget.

"I think it will be a good idea because there is no way that you can rely on the assumptions which went into the budget. So you can stick with those numbers, but they have no substance. The budget exercise will also depend on whether or not the government needs to go to Parliament to get supplementary grants. Now, if the supplementary grants change the nature of the budget completely, then it is worth having a new budget otherwise you can go through supplementary grants route, he added.

The role of Parliament is essentially to approve expenditure. So they would have to come to Parliament because expenditure would have gone way above planned for in the budget. And numbers on the revenue side would fall hugely short. It should probably be left till things have settled down. Somewhere near September would be a good time," said Sen who was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his work in public affairs in 2010.

DK Srivastava, chief policy adviser at EY India, also agreed that India needs a second budget but only when complete normalcy returns.

"I think both on the expenditure side and the revenue side, there are going to be major changes. On the tax revenue side, performance has been significantly lower than the revised estimate for the financial year. So the base for the next financial year need to be changed. The growth and buoyancy assumption for the financial year also needs to be changed. Similarly, for expenditure side, priorities have completely changed and therefore a new strategy for allocation needs to be in place. Most importantly, fiscal deficit needs to be revised. Savings across sectors has gone down," he said.

R Nagaraj, professor of economics at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, also agreed with the proposition. He said that the details of the budget can be worked out based on the situation that prevails then.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in an interview last week had also said that the government will now have to completely rework the budget numbers to deal with the aftermath of the lockdown.
Actor and Bigg Boss 13 winner Sidharth Shukla gave in to the demands of his fans and obliged them with a new picture, after they trended the hashtag #SidKiSelfie.

A clearly embarrassed Sidharth wrote, while sharing the picture: You guys know exactly how much I hate doing this .... couldnt help had to give in .... but please dont make this a habit love you guys.. Your wish.. my command.. #SidKiSelfie. According to a report in Spotboye, fans of the star began using the hashtag SidKiSelfie to demand a fresh picture from the actor amid coronavirus lockdown.

You guys know exactly how much I hate doing this .... couldnt help had to give in .... but please dont make this a habit  love you guys.. Your wish.. my command.. #SidKiSelfie pic.twitter.com/25UhgbpdP4  Sidharth Shukla (@sidharth_shukla) April 8, 2020

After the star had obliged though some others teased him to beware of the demands of fans as they might begin trending the other embarrassing hashtags. A user wrote back: After this, SidFan Girls will be like #SidKiPuppi #SidKaSixPack #SidKeBiceps #SidKeLegs Soch lo Siddy boi Fan Girls ke demand badhne wale #SidKiSelfie.

Also read: Aishwarya Rai Bachchans video from unreleased 1997 film goes viral, fans call her most beautiful woman on the planet

On the work front, Sidharth saw the release of his first music video after winning Bigg Bosss latest season. Teaming up with Shehnaaz Gill, Bhula Dunga, did phenomenally well online after its release on March 24. So much so that there are now plans to have two more music videos with the same cast, as per another report in Spotboye.

Bhula Dunga turned out to be a major hit online, picking up as much as 45 million views in a weeks time. Shot in Mumbais Madh Island, days before the national lockdown began, it was unveiled by Indie Music Labels official YouTube channel.

Sidharth and Shehnaazs chemistry was all too visible in the music video. While Shehnaaz has never hidden her feelings for Sidharth, he has always maintained that she is a friend. Sidharth had told IANS: Shes a dear friend. Knowing someone when you are locked up inside the house versus outside is very different. The bond however is still the same as we still meet each other the same way we were inside the house.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
A vulnerable grandmother with dementia was found face-down and bleeding in the road after she managed to leave her care home through a fire door at 2.30am.

Catherine Marandola, known as Irene, was rushed to Raigmore Hospital on January 5 after she was discovered more than a mile from Kintyre House Care Home in Invergordon with injuries to her face and hands.

The Care Inspectorate, which ensures the quality of care in Scotland, has now found the 79-year-old was failed by her carers on more than one occasion in a shocking report into the case.

The watchdog said there was evidence the mother-of-four was 'not provided with appropriate support and supervision to keep her safe from harm.'

Catherine Marandola (pictured) was rushed to Raigmore Hospital on January 5 after she was discovered more than a mile from Kintyre House Care Home in Invergordon with injuries to her face and hands

The report, seen by the Daily Record, also recorded failings in communication with Ms Marandola's family, her personal care and her medication.

It also noted staff did not have 'sufficient training' to support dementia sufferers at the care home, which was acquired by the Sanctuary Care group after the incident in January.

The report was released after the Care Inspectorate made two visits to the care home following Ms Marandola's ordeal earlier this year.

Kintyre House Care Home, which was sold by Lorimer Care Homes shortly after Ms Marandola's fall, was told to maintain records of incidents and make risk assessments when people needed support.

Four areas of improvement were also identified; contact with families, medication and oral and personal care.

The Care Inspectorate, which ensures the quality of care in Scotland, has now found the 79-year-old was failed by her carers on more than one occasion in a shocking report into the case (Pictured: Kintyre House Care Home in Invergordon)

The 79-year-old (pictured with her daughter Denise), a retired canteen worker, had lived in the care home for two years when the incident took place but has now been moved elsewhere

Ms Marandola's daughter, Denise, called for Kintyre House to be closed after her mother's ordeal in January.

She described how her mother was 'cold, frightened and exhausted' when she was found face-down in the road after a search by 'six police cars'.

Ms Marandola, 51, added that a sniffer dog and the coastguard had been alerted by the time her mother was found around 40 minutes after she was found to be missing.

The 79-year-old, a retired canteen worker, had lived in the care home for two years when the incident took place but has now been moved elsewhere.

Sheila O'Connor, Director of Operations at Sanctuary Care, told the Daily Record: 'While this extremely upsetting incident occurred before we bought this care home and took responsibility for the care it provides, we have co-operated fully with the Care Inspectorate's work and will ensure that any recommendations made are acted upon.

'We are sorry that Mrs Marandola and her family had to suffer such a traumatic experience and can reassure the families of residents at the home that we are committed to providing their loved ones with the highest possible standards of care; care that is centred on the wellbeing and happiness of each individual.'
CAIRO  The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen announced Wednesday that its forces would begin a cease-fire starting Thursday, a step that could pave the way for the first direct peace talks between the two sides that have been at war for more than five years.

In a statement carried by Saudi Arabia's official state news agency, a Saudi military spokesman, Col. Turki al-Malki, said that the ceasefire would last two weeks and that it comes in response to U.N. calls to halt hostilities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He said the ceasefire could be extended to pave the way for all the parties to discuss proposals, steps, and mechanisms for sustainable ceasefire in Yemen ... for a comprehensive political solution in Yemen.

Image: Colonel Turki Al-Malki (AFP - Getty Images)

There was no immediate reaction from Houthi leaders or Yemen's internationally recognized government to the coalition's statement.

Within hours of the announcement, residents in the contested Yemeni province Marib said a suspected Houthi missile struck a security building in the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility or reports of casualties. A Yemeni presidential adviser, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, blamed the Houthis, saying on Twitter that the attack shows the rebels "are fueling war not peace.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for a cease-fire in all global conflicts on March 23 to tackle the virus and specifically called two days later for a cessation in Yemen, welcomed the announcement, saying: This can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He urged Yemens government, which is backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities and to engage with each other without preconditions in negotiations facilitated by the U.N.

Heavy fighting in Yemen between coalition-backed government forces and the Houthis killed more than 270 people the past 10 days, government officials and tribal leaders said Wednesday. The flare-up in fighting came at a time Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile targeted at their capital, Riyadh, late last month. The Houthis frequently launch missiles across Yemens border into Saudi Arabia, but it's rare that they reach the capital.

Story continues

The war has proved costly for Saudi Arabia and has damaged its image abroad. International rights groups criticized Saudi Arabia over the conflict and the humanitarian toll. The calls for peace come amid a trying time. The country is engaged in an international price war over the cost of oil and is also battling the coronavirus outbreak itself, with 2,932 confirmed cases and 41 deaths.

Iran, which backs the Houthis, is also facing challenges at home. As the worst-hit country in the Middle East, it has 67,286 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,993 deaths.

Al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, said the ceasefire was aimed at building confidence between the two warring parties.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest nation, has been convulsed by civil war since 2014. That is when the Iranian-backed Houthis took control of the countrys north, including the capital of Sanaa. The Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the Houthis the following year, conducting relentless airstrikes and a blockade of Yemen.

Past attempts at ending the conflict have stalled. A 2018 peace agreement, brokered by the U.N. in Sweden, led to a rough road map to end fighting in the key port city of Hodeida but brought little actual progress. The talks proposed by Al-Malki would be the first face-to-face peace negotiations among the Saudis, Houthis and government since the war started.

The conflict has killed over 100,000 people and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Authorities in Yemen have yet to announce a confirmed case of the coronavirus, but experts fear the virus could eventually prove deadly there after the years of devastation by the war.
Mary Sargsyan, resident of the Aragatsotn village of Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, says she is in an extremely bad situation and is asking for help to buy food and drugs until she finds a job to take care of her children.

Mary says her husband has gone to Russia and hasnt been helping the family for the past two years. She and her children receive benefits as a socially disadvantaged family and she had a job before the coronavirus situation, but now she doesnt know what to do to take care of her children.

According to her, she and her 12-year-old son have health problems, yet dont have the money for medicine.

Mary added that about two weeks ago, the principal of the local school called her and said somebody had sent help for the socially disadvantaged family. She said even though she is grateful for the food and vegetable oil that she received, its not enough for her to take care of her family.

Mary says if there are people who would like to help her and her family, they can call her at 098 32 85 84.
Rome, April 9 : The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Italy rose to 17,669 since the outbreak began in late February following a jump of 542 in the last 24 hours, a figure in line with several consecutive days of slowdown.

The number of new infections and hospitalizations also continued to drop, according to the figures published by the Civil Protection agency.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy is 139,422, an increase of 3,836 since Tuesday, reports Efe news.

On Wednesday, Civil Protection director Angelo Borrelli warned that the population should not let down its guard until the situation in the country was fully under control.

There were currently 95,262 active cases in Italy and a total of 26,491 people have recovered.

With figures improving, the government was now looking at how to execute so-called phase two of the lockdown, which would involve a gradual reopening of the country.

There was still no set date for such a move, according to the World Health Organization's deputy director Ranieri Guerra.

He said it was "difficult" to think of reopening the country at this stage, adding that Italy was not at a point of decreasing its coronavirus infections but was simply slowing them down.

Guerra said asymptomatic carriers in the population continued to spread the virus.

The government of Giuseppe Conte's mandated lockdown is in place until at least April 13, which in Italy marks the end of the Easter period.

Only essential services are allowed to operate in the country.

According to Italian media, however, the operation to gradually reopen the country will take place in two stages: first, the partial opening of some companies from April 14 but the wider public and other businesses will have to wait until May 4.

Even then, there will be restrictions, such as the possible mandatory use of masks and social distancing protocol.

Conte told the committee leading the response to coronavirus that "the public's health is the priority, but the motors of the country cannot be still for too much time".

The Italian government on Wednesday also said its ports were no longer safe for the disembarkation of migrants rescued by NGOs in the Mediterranean due to the coronavirus, a decision was taken after the boat Alan Kurdi operated by German NGO Sea requested permission to dock with 150 migrants on board.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

In Azerbaijan, 2019 has been marked by profound reforms under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Siyavush Novruzov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Affairs Siyavush Novruzov, said at a meeting of the Parliament held on April 9.

Novruzov said that the reason that 2019 has become successful for Azerbaijan is the important reforms carried out in the country, mainly, structural and personnel reforms initiated by President Ilham Aliyev.

These reforms gave a powerful impetus to the development of the economy, as a result of which the GDP of Azerbaijan grew. The fact that the country is attractive from the point of view of investments, ensuring transparency in this area was also reflected in the reports of international organizations, said the chairman.

Azerbaijan achieved significant success in the international arena in 2019, he added.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev in the Valdai Club, Ashgabat, Davos, Munich, exposing Armenia from such high tribunes, as well as the fact that the head of state once again proved that Nagorno-Karabakh is the historical land of Azerbaijan, and the transition of the chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement to Azerbaijan, is important successes of the country, said Novruzov.
'Modi forgot to ask Trump for anything that India may need -- and there is so much shortfall all around!', states Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

IMAGE: Prime Mkinister Narendra Damodardas Modi hugs United States President Donald J Trump at Ahmedabad airport, February 24, 2020.

It often puzzles me what transpires during high-level visits by world leaders.

The substantive content of such events laced with pomp and glory impacting inter-State relations is generally handled by sherpas, quietly and unobtrusively.

Of course, there are sherpas and sherpas.

Is it tourism that principally attracts the VIP?

Or, does he hope to make up for his own inadequacies at a personal level by seeing first-hand how his peers in faraway lands operate function more efficiently?

This question becomes intriguing in its application to PM Modi's extended 5-day State visit to Israel in 2017.

Modi was clearly on a learning curve in cementing the ideological bonds between Hindutva and Zionism.

But beyond that lies something else.

The one national characteristic that even critics of Israeli policies would acknowledge would be that country's work ethic, which is a national trait.

Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu always carries in his coat pocket a wish list during visits abroad to ask the right questions and elicit from his counterparts something, anything, that might be useful for 'the State of Israel' (to borrow his favourite expression).

Putin is another stellar example.

And, of course, Donald Trump.

IMAGE: United States President Donald J Trump declares the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The contrast couldn't be sharper in our case.

The moment it was brought to President Trump's notice that India was imposing an export ban on the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine which could be useful in treating COVID-19 patients, Trump was on the line, ringing up Modi and seeking that exports may still take place for the American market.

Modi agreed and lifted the ban for the US.

But, did it occur to the Indian side to seek a reciprocal gesture from Trump?

From the MEA's press release, the answer is 'No'.

Modi instead discussed the virtues of Ayurveda.

An opportunity is now at hand.

The BBC reported that Trump is contemplating transferring to 'desperate countries' such as the UK some of the surplus ventilators in US godowns.

He specifically mentioned the UK.

Perhaps, PM Modi could make up for the lost opportunity on Sunday by bringing to Trump's notice that India too has a 'desperate' need of ventilators.

Why not make the phone call tonight itself before the White House switchboard gets clogged?

Our government cannot claim to be fighting fit in its upcoming struggle against coronavirus.

Surely, there are lots of things that the Indian healthcare system is lacking.

When we speak of 'strong solidarity and cooperation' -- to quote from the MEA press release -- why does it have to be always a one-way street?

IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrives for a speech at his Jerusalem office, regarding the new measures that will be taken to fight coronavirus. Photograph: Gali Tibbon/Pool/Reuters

If Netanyahu were in Modi's shoes, he would have sized up that a wonderful window of opportunity was at hand to ask Trump for something that might make a big difference to Israel as it combats COVID-19.

Indeed, Israel is fighting with its back against the wall in combating the coronavirus.

As of today, the death toll stands at 71 and the number of infected cases at 9,404.

For a small country, these are staggering figures.

Israel is under a very strict lockdown.

Nonetheless, what is utterly fascinating is how Israel is coping with the situation.

Israel too is in a similar predicament as India, with a healthcare system that is grossly ill-equipped to handle such a big crisis.

But this is where work ethics comes in.

No clanging of plates, no 9-minute darkness, no videoconferences in the international circuit.

IMAGE: Yossi Cohen, head of the Mossad. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

Netanyahu's office made a comprehensive assessment of the likely chronic shortfall in equipments and medicines in the period ahead -- surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, ventilators and test kits, overalls for ambulance workers and so on.

It then passed on the list to Mossad, Israel's spy agency.

Overnight, Mossad turned into a Red Cross, it obtained huge supplies from abroad.

The operation was personally supervised by the agency's director, Yossi Cohen.

Interestingly, some of the procurements were from countries with which Israel doesn't even have diplomatic relations.

Last week alone, Mossad brought 4 lakhs coronavirus test kits to Israel from an undisclosed foreign location.

The Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday that Israel has signed a deal worth $25.2 million with Chinese biotech giant BGI Genomics in equipment and substance supply for performing coronavirus tests.

The deal will allow the operation of an additional at least 10,000 coronavirus tests a day in Israel.

Xinhua cryptically adds, 'The devices, which are purchased in collaboration with the defense ministry, are expected to reach six (Israeli) testing laboratories in two to three weeks.'

Netanyahu himself is in self-isolation.

But the Israeli parliament's Special Committee on Dealing With the Coronavirus is overseeing government efforts to curb the outbreak in Israel.

Now, both India and Israel are functioning democracies.

But isn't there a world of difference in their respective work ethics?

Indeed, what could be more important for an elected government than the security and welfare of the people who elect it to power, especially an emergency affecting public health?

Therefore, when the MEA puts out such a ghastly press release on the Trump-Modi phone call, it is apparent that there is something very rotten in the state of Denmark.

Modi forgot to ask Trump for anything that India may need -- and there is so much shortfall all around! Simply incomprehensible.

Aren't we just hoping to muddle through?

For argument's sake, if what the MEA press release says is true and our leaders have such bleeding hearts, why don't they join the world opinion -- including the UN and America's European allies and Russia and China (and Pakistan) -- to urge Trump to lift the sanctions against Iran?

It is rank hypocrisy to instead preach on the 'humanitarian aspects of the pandemic' and do nothing.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar served the Indian Foreign Service for more than 29 years. He has served as India's ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan and has been a contributor to Rediff.com for well over a decade.
We find the attitudes espoused in Kalispell lawmaker John Fullers guest column Sunday (April 5) both belligerent and disparaging. We think they undermine our country, state and community.

He denounces government growth at all levels, assuming government bigness is inherently bad.

He ignores history by refusing to acknowledge that the governments of America and Montana had to grow, again and again, to serve ever-expanding populations.

He fails to grasp the importance of public undertakings  such as fire protection, law enforcement, drinking-water inspections, street and highway maintenance, youth education and support for our most vulnerable people.

He claims our government is now acting upon incomplete and probably inaccurate information about the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19. Who told him that?

He warns that all Montanans are under house arrest because our governor wants to save the lives of a few. Who taught him to think that way?

Overall, we believe hes flat wrong to insist that government bigness is the central issue. Whether its bigger or smaller, government needs to be the right size to function efficiently and competently  while remaining accountable to the governed.

Finally, unlike him, we know good government can achieve what none of us self-reliant, rugged individuals can achieve alone.

Frank and Maggie Allen,

Missoula
Ukrposhta JSC and the Chinese international logistics operator Cainiao Network, part of the Alibaba Group, launch cargo flights to Ukraine.

Such cooperation will reduce the delivery time of orders from AliExpress under quarantine. Air routes started from the cities with the largest Cainiao distribution centers in Europe, the Ukrposhta press service said on Thursday.

According to the company, the partners in organizing flights are Eleron Airlines, AirBaltic and the national postal operator of Latvia. Regular flights (with a carrying capacity of five tonnes) are carried out by AN-26 aircraft to Lviv, where the parcels undergo customs clearance, sorting and will be delivered to recipients in Ukraine. At the first stages, the aircraft will arrive in Lviv twice a week, but the schedule will be revised later depending on the load.

Ukrposhta also reports that the delivery of parcels will be transferred to non-contact mode - all AliExpress orders worth up to $2 will be delivered to the mailbox (in good order). Home delivery options for more expensive items will be carried out either by a courier or a postman.

The Ukrainian postal operator added that in the first quarter of 2020, Ukrposhta delivered over 4 million items from AliExpress, an increase of 26% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Among the most popular categories of goods that Ukrainians ordered in March were: electronics, accessories, clothing and household goods.
Washington: Amid the medical fraternity racing against time for a panacea against Covid-19, which has infected a whopping 4.3 lakh Americans and claimed over 14,600 lives, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing export of Hydroxychloroquine, deemed a possible cure against the disease.

I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it, Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus.

Responding to the US President, Modi on Thursday said that India-US partnership is now stronger than ever.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

In a tweet, hours earlier, Trump had praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! he said.

Thank you, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! Trump said in a tweet that soon went viral. It was retweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakh people on Twitter.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans had lost their lives due to coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease. Scientists and the medical fraternity are racing against time to find a vaccine and a therapeutic solution to it.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for Covid-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 30 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of Covid-19 patients.

Trump, in a phone call last week, had requested Prime Minister Modi to release the hold on American order of the malaria drug, of which India is the major producer. India lifted the hold on Tuesday.

India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday. India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of Hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

Indian Americans have welcomed the decision.

President Trump is a Graceful and Grateful Man. He is honest when he says that he will not forget India's gesture. He is a True Friend of India, said Al Mason, a Trump supporter.

Thank you President Trump. ! I think you are well orchestrating the compulsion of history and demand of destiny that we and India be the best of friends, joined at the hip and yet as family, free hearts and minds to love across a spectrum of emotions, but always together, tweeted Indian American attorney Ravi Batra.
The Bombay high court (HC) has refused to interfere with the legal education rules, framed by the Bar Council of India (BCI) in September 2008, which requires law colleges to obtain fresh approval every five years.

The division bench of justice AS Chandurkar and justice Amit Borkar on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Law College of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University challenging clause 2(xxiv) of the rules which restricts validity of permanent approvals to five years.

The law college moved the HC in 2018 after the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa stopped enrolling students who graduated from the law college on the grounds that the colleges approval had lapsed.

The college then approached BCI seeking fresh approval but after BCI demanded 21.5 lakh for the same, the college decided to move the court.

The college argued the 2008 rules were ultra vires which means it was beyond the rule-making power conferred by the BCI Act. The college also said the rules could not be applied to the college as it was established much before the introduction of the 2008 rules and in view of the fact that the college had been granted permanent approval in 1995 under the Legal Education Rules prevailing at the time.

The bench, however, refused to accept the contention. It said BCI has been conferred necessary power to prescribe standards of legal education to be observed by universities for the purpose of discharging its function of promoting legal education and laying down standards of legal education.

This rule-making power would thus include power to modify existing rules with a view to maintain and improve standards of legal education in universities, said the bench.

The court added that the expression standards of legal education to be observed by the universities in Section 49(1)(d) of the BCI Act, 1961, does not envisage a one-time exercise to be undertaken by BCI or universities.

Maintaining standards of education cannot be confined to a time frame nor can legal education remain static, the bench said while dismissing the petition, adding, It has to evolve with the passage of time keeping pace with developments in legal fields across the world.
Police move a truck container where 39 bodies were discovered in Grays, Essex, Britain, on October 23, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Peter Nicholls.

Maurice Robinson has pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter related to the deaths of Vietnamese people found in a shipping container in southeast England last year, police said Wednesday.

The victims, 31 men and boys and eight women whose ages ranged from 15 to 44, were discovered in October in a container at the back of a truck driven by Robinson to an industrial estate in Grays in Essex, about 20 miles (32 km) east of London.

Most were from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces in north-central Vietnam, where poor job prospects, environmental disasters and the promise of financial reward fuel migration.

Robinson, 25, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in November to charges of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring cash which he knew or suspected came from criminal conduct.

At Wednesdays hearing at the Old Bailey, Londons Central Criminal Court, a second man who was also charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, British-Romanian dual national Gheorghe Nica, 43, pleaded not guilty.

Several others have been arrested and charged in both Vietnam and the United Kingdom, and other legal proceedings are ongoing.

Autopsies concluded that the provisional cause of death of the 39 Vietnamese people was a combination of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, and hyperthermia, or overheating, in an enclosed space.

The trial will begin on Monday, October 5.
Quan Ngo, on the far right, at Di an Di. Photo: dianddi.nyc/Instagram

Since mid-March, New Yorks unemployment system has been overwhelmed by the staggering amount of people filing for benefits. Across the country, a record 10 million people filed for unemployment in March, including 6.65 million in one week alone. Those people include the many who found themselves effectively laid-off after New Yorks restaurants were ordered to shut down, only allowing for takeout and delivery. (The industry reportedly employs 650,000 individuals in this state alone.)

It has not been an easy process for many people, especially those who have been unable to get through at all, despite weeks of trying. One such person is Quan Ngo, a sous chef at Greenpoints popular Vietnamese restaurant Di an Di. He spoke with Grub Street about what the unemployment application process has been like and the mounting frustration he feels.

I filed my claim the day after the restaurant shut down. I thought it went through. The day after, they told me to call the number and finish the claim. When I called them that first time, they were busy or they couldnt pick up. Thats when this started.

At first, I was like, Okay, thats fine. I put it to rest for a couple days, and then afterwards I was a bit annoyed. I kept on calling, calling, calling. No response. I kept on seeing people like me were having the same trouble, and the number of people filing was only rising. A lot of people trying, the web servers getting more and more strained, nobody really being able to get in. Now its been three weeks, and unfortunately Im still going through it.

I laugh when you ask me how many times Ive tried calling over the last few weeks. I called daily. I called right at 8 a.m and sometimes wouldnt even get through. Nothing. Not even a message like Hey, were busy, its a voicemail. But I would actually say that going onto the website was the biggest pain in the ass. You would go in and youd try to get to the section with the forms, and the servers are busy. Theres no direction on where to go, and when I try to find this form and find where to sign up, theres no real way to because everyone is trying to use this same website.

Eventually, they set up different days for people to apply, designating certain days for people with specific names. So each day Monday through Wednesday is designated for certain letters. My day is Tuesday, N through G. I had already filed my claim, but yesterday I filed again under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which is part of the CARES Act. I filed that and never got a response back. All I know is, I completed the form.

Yesterday, I think I called 75 times. I started right at 8 a.m. when they open. I thought it would be a little easier to get through. Still no. I just kept on having to call, and there was nothing.

Sometimes you get something, like a voicemail saying you should file online. But with lots of claims, you just get an email back saying you need to finish the claim by talking to a representative at a specific phone number, and its the same phone number everyone gets  so you never actually get to a representative.

Thats the thing that sucks about it. Youre constantly calling, and you dont know anything. I dont think Ive heard about anybody getting through. I know two people whove gotten their benefits: Di an Dis chef de cuisine and my brother.

Im okay with my finances for the moment. I have savings, so that kind of helps. But I know people who, if this lasts a couple weeks and theres no response, will be kind of left in the dust, not knowing whether they can actually get help from the government or not.

The one thing that has been helping is, Di an Di has a fund for its employees. Its been doing a pretty good job in the short term, even just in terms of morale. Were able to pay people at least right now, which is something the government isnt really doing.

Realistically, Ill probably have to file again next week. I hope I can get it done, but its getting to the point where Im three weeks in and still doing this and honestly dont even know if Ill get the funds. I dont know if I got in at the wrong time or what. I feel like Im never going to know when Ill get this finished. Even right now, I dont know if they got the forms, and I havent gotten any response from them. Its still up in the air.

Then, when you get approved, when do you actually see the assistance? I dont know. I wish that there was some transparency. I know they are always backed up and that the system wasnt meant for this kind of volume. I can see why were stuck with this worst-case scenario, but just tell me if Im not going to get the funds this week, or tell me if I am.

Going through this for so long, theres a sense of hope that always gets crushed.
A 6-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis, from Clarksville, Tennessee, is spreading hope and warming hearts after announcing that he has recovered from the CCP virus.

Im a cystic fibrosis warrior and I beat COVID-19, Joseph Bostain said in a video uploaded to Facebook on April 1, 2020. The little fighter then grinned and flexed his right bicep for dramatic effect.

The heartwarming clip quickly went viral, amassing 41,000 views to date.

Josephs mother, Sabrina Bostain, first posted about her sons sickness on March 19, 2020. Joseph was rushed to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt after exhibiting some of the telltale symptoms of the infamous COVID-19 disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Okay so I got the confirmed call from Vanderbilt today that Joseph is positive for COVID-19, Sabrina wrote. He has had fever and cough and is tired!

He is immune compromised from his cystic fibrosis, Sabrina wrote, asking her followers for prayers and informing them that the family had been instructed to quarantine.

We have wonderful care providers and most importantly we have a mighty God. Stay well and wash and sanitize, and please, she added, if u [sic] are sick, stay home and away from [the] elderly and those who you know are immune compromised!

Sabrina kept friends, family, and followers informed of her sons progress on social media. After being diagnosed, Joseph was quarantined for a total of 14 days at home, WVLT reported.

Josephs classmates at East Montgomery Elementary School in Clarksville paraded outside his house and left a collection of greetings cards and balloons for their friend to boost his morale.

Oh my gracious, Sabrina wrote on social media on March 23. Thank you East Montgomery Elementary friends and family for your beautiful parade by our home for Joseph!

Thank u for the cards and balloons and the outpouring of love, she added. [Joseph] is reading his cards out loud and having a heartfelt moment!

On March 23, Joseph experienced a surge in his symptoms but by the next day had beaten the fever and was feeling stronger.

Five days later, Sabrina posted online, Every day is a better day. Joseph had a wonderful nights sleep and [is] still fever free. Thank you God!

Finally, on April 1, Sabrina revealed the good news. She wrote, Today Joseph can tell you how he is doing himself! The little braveheart did just that, exclaiming in his now-viral video message that he beat COVID-19.

Video courtesy of Sabrina Bostain

Joseph was initially at higher risk of complications arising from the virus than the general population because of his underlying health condition.

According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs of the body. It causes the body to produce thick mucus that can result in persistent lung infections and impaired breathing. Given his underlying physical limitations, Josephs amazing recovery is offering hope to others.

Joseph, who beat the virus against the odds in just two weeks, received numerous handmade cards, prayers, gifts, and heartfelt support from his local community, wishing him well as he recovered and eventually congratulating him for beating the virus.

On April 7, Sabrina posted on social media that her son was doing wonderful!

He barely has a cough, Sabrina wrote, and is feeling good enough to do some homeschooling today [] Five more days of quarantine and we will be good as new!
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates:A 38-year-old man with a travel history to Delhi tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 39. State epidemiologist Ragini Mishra said the patient hailed from Nawada, becoming the first person from the central Bihar district to test positive.

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On Tuesday, several states also announced plans to ramp up their testing infrastructure and put in place strong 'cluster containment' plans in areas identified as hotspots of the outbreak.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday neared the 5,000 mark with India reporting 508 new cases and 13 deaths in 24 hours while many states advocated for a gradual approach to lifting the 21-day lockdown which ends on 14 April.

By Monday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 525, including seven deaths.

Earlier, in a tweet by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) the tally of cases were 550, however, in a bulletin released by the Delhi Health Department the number of cases was updated to 576.

With this, the death toll in Delhi due to COVID-19 has risen to nine.

The total number of cases includes 333 people who took part in Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin area last month, they said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Tuesday rose to 576, with 51 fresh cases and two deaths being reported in a day, according to the Delhi Health Department.

"We have to restrict this within that small place and draw a Lakshman Rekha around it so that it does not spread to other places," she told reporters at the state secretariat.

"We have identified seven COVID-19 hotspots in the state," Banerjee said without giving details about the names of the vulnerable areas.

Banerjee also said that the death toll in the state has risen to five, while the number of active cases stands at 69. On Tuesday, eight new coronavirus cases were reported.

The chief minister said flower growers and bidi workers, who were facing problems in doing business, can now start working.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the government has identified seven COVID-19 hotspots in the state and is chalking out a plan to restrict the virus within those areas.

The new case has been reported from Dhubri and the person attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, the minister had tweeted on Tuesday morning.

Among the 28 confirmed cases, 27, including five women, are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. The state had not reported any other case for the last two days.

This is the second confirmed case on Tuesday with the first being reported from Dhubri this morning, and both the cases are linked to the congregation.

The 65-year old man, who has a travel history to Saudi Arabia, tested positive, the minister tweeted on Tuesday night. The patient, from Hailakandi, is also linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin's Nizamuddin area, he tweeted.

A new COVID-19 case related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation was reported in Assam on Tuesday, taking the number to 28, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Nearly 13 areas have been declared as containment zones for all the purposes and objectives as prescribed in the protocol of COVID-19, to prevent its spread in the adjoining areas,Faridabad district administration, Haryana told ANI on Wednesday.

We pay for a majority or the biggest portion of their money. They actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. They were wrong. They've been wrong about a lot of things. They had a lot of information early and they didn't want to -- they're very -- they seem to be very China centric, Trump charged during his news conference.

We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see. It's a great thing if it works. But when they call every shot wrong, that's no good, Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of becoming China-centric during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"As they focus on this critical mission, this postponement will provide additional time to thoroughly evaluate the 2020 Pulitzer finalists, Canedy said. She added, More than ever, this moment highlights journalism's mission to provide a vital public service. It also demonstrates literature and the arts' ability to transport and uplift the human spirit during trying times. The Pulitzer Prizes will continue its more than century-long mandate to celebrate such excellence.

The announcement of Pulitzer winners in journalism and the arts will be postponed from 20 April to 4 May, the board said. Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy said the board includes many journalists who are on the front lines of reporting on the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pulitzer Prize Board will postpone the announcement of this year's winners because some board members have been busy covering the global coronavirus outbreak, the organization announced Tuesday.

New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

At least 3,202 people have died in New York City from COVID-19, the city reported. The deadliest terror attack on US soil killed 2,753 people in the city and 2,977 overall, when hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on 11 September 2001.

The twin developments came even as the crisis seemed to be easing or at least stabilizing, by some measures, in New York and parts of Europe, though health officials warned people at nearly every turn not to let their guard down.

New York City's toll from the coronavirus rose past 3,200 Tuesday, eclipsing the number killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson lay in intensive care, believed to be the first major world leader hospitalized with the virus.

The occasion was marked with a light show on either side of the broad Yangtze river, with skyscrapers and bridges radiating animated images of health workers aiding patients, along with one displaying the words heroic city," a title bestowed on Wuhan by president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

As of just after midnight Wednesday, the city's 11 million residents are now permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.

The lockdown that served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world has ended after 11 weeks: Chinese authorities are allowing residents of Wuhan once again to travel in and out of the sprawling city where the pandemic began.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction for the government to impose a complete ban on all activities of the Tablighi Jamaat with immediate effect.

"People who had attended Tablighi Jamaat event should come forward and disclose the information within 24 hours, otherwise, FIR will be registered against them under sections related to attempt to murder," Raturi said.

Raturi on Sunday warned people, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month, to come out and declare themselves within 24 hours or face prosecution for an attempt to murder.

"On 5 April, DGP had appealed to the people who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi to come forward. After the appeal, 180 people have come forward. But two persons are yet to surrender so we have registered case against them," Ashok Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) told ANI.

Police official on Tuesday said that 180 people, who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, have come forward after an appeal made by Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Raturi.

The meeting is expected to begin at 11.00 am.

According to a report by the Hindustan Times , the prime minister will seek suggestions from various parties on the road map to contain the outbreak. PM Modi will also appraise these party leaders of the steps being taken by the government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding an all-party meeting via video conference. However, only floor leaders of political parties that have more than five Members of Parliament, have been invited to participate in the meeting.

The number of deaths in the US due to coronavirus crossed 12,700, with a record 1,900 fatalities in a single day. While the global toll has surpassed 82,020 and the number of infections has risen to 1,428,428 according to John Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.

Of 217 people tested on the vessel, 128 were positive for the virus that causes the COVID-2019 disease and 89 tested negative, Aurora Expeditions said.

The Greg Mortimer departed 15 March on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia that was titled In Shackleton's Footsteps, a reference to the polar explorer who led British expeditions to the region and died there in 1922.

There are currently no fevers on board and all are asymptomatic, said Aurora Expeditions, the Australian operator of the Greg Mortimer ship that is working to disembark the crew and passengers and arrange flights to their home countries.

Nearly 60 percent of 217 people from Australia, Europe and the United States onboard a cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the ship's operator said Tuesday.

In coordination with the US consulate and the Telangana State government, a group of 98 adults and 1 infant US-bound passengers arrived at the airport at around 1 pm from various parts of the city. All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitised main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations.

The flight was a purely domestic one and operated from the main Passenger Terminal Building of Hyderabad International Airport. As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destination in the US.

As per the flight itinerary, the special flight - AI 1617(Arrival)/AI 1618 (Departure), an airbus A 320 landed at Hyderabad International Airport yesterday at 3.12 pm from Mumbai and departed with the US-bound passengers at 4.15 pm to Mumbai.

The GMR-led Hyderabad International Airport on Tuesday handled a special passenger charter flight of the national carrier - Air India to evacuate over 90 US nationals from Hyderabad city.

The top brass of NITI Aayog told CNBC TV18 sources on Wednesday that the nationwide lockdown that is expected to end on 14 April need to have a 'phased exit' to cusion the economic damage caused by COVID-19 outbreak. High level officials including secretaries of states have suggested lifting resrictions to areas that are not 'red' Covid-19 containment zones. The final decision on exit strategy will be undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With renewables and natural gas already cheaper than coal in many places, it said that 90 percent of global capacity was already only viable due to non-market financial support.

The bill for this is set to top 630 billion. A study by the Carbon Tracker financial think tank found that 46 percent of coal plants throughout the world would run at a loss in 2020, rising to 52 percent by 2030.

While extreme social distancing measures in the world's largest economies aimed at stopping the virus are likely to result in a short-term cut in global emissions, government subsidies are still driving plans to build nearly 500 GW of new coal-fired power plants.

China and other nations could be burdened with costly and environmentally damaging coal power for decades if they forge ahead with new capacity to boost their economics after the COVID-19 pandemic, research showed Wednesday.

As many as 100 more people tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai on Tuesday and five died due to the deadly virus. The number of cases in Mumbai has increased to 590.

After 150 more COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Maharashtra yesterday, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state surged to 1,018, according to Maharashtra's Health Department.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Cyber Department has registered a total of 113 FIRs against people spreading fake information on social media related to coronavirus and the lockdown.

The Maharashtra Excise Department on Tuesday registered 152 cases and arrested 55 people in the last 24 hours, amid the coronavirus lockdown. The excise department also seized liquor worth over Rs 38 lakhs.

The toll due to the coronavirus has risen to 124 while 353 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated. Maharashtra reported the highest number of 868 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu 621 and Delhi 576.

The country has witnessed a steep rise in coronavirus cases in the last few weeks owing to Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi in the month of March. The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India has climbed to 4,789, as per the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

As the country battles the COVID-19 crisis, National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has validated seven antibody-based rapid tests for COVID-19 and has found them to be satisfactory.

Notably, Chandigarh is the first Union Territory which has made wearing mask compulsory. On Tuesday Odisha had issued a similar directive to residents in the state.

"Use of mask or cloth on nose and mouth in public places is mandatory for people in Chandigarh," the Department of Public Relations, Chandigarh stated.

In a bid to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chandigarh Administration has made it mandatory for people to cover their nose and mouth either with a piece of cloth or with a mask while venturing outside their homes.

According to the health state department, the total count of positive cases in the state stands at 99

"On Monday, after a former employee of the civic body here died of coronavirus his family was informed but did not come forward for the last rites. The district administration performed his last rites today after his family refused to claim the body," said Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar.

Amritsar district administration on Tuesday performed the last rites of a COVID-19 positive victim after his family refused to claim the body.

The confirmed number of COVID-19 cases have risen to 38 in Bihar, with four more people testing positive on Tuesday in Siwan and Begusarai (two in each district). Their travel history is being ascertained. The state has reported one COVID-19-related death so far.

The other affected person, who stays in west Kolkata's Metiabruz area, was admitted in a local hospital on 1 April. After testing positive for the illness, the 60-year-old is now admitted in MR Bangur hospital.

Health officials on Tuesday said that two pavement dwellers in Kolkata tested positive for coronavirus. A 40-year-old man who lived on a pavement in Bowbazar area, was earlier admitted to NRS Medical College Hospital on 3 April and was shifted to ID Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.

A 44-year-old man dies of COVID-19 in Pune, Maharashtra. He was suffering from diabetes. With this, death toll due to the disease reaches 9 in the city, reported ANI quoting health officials in Pune

He was tested last week when he complained of fever and his reports came on 7 April. His family has been asked to be on home quarantine, said Delhi Police. The colony, where he lived, is under strict lockdown now. Police is trying to establish his contacts and how did he get infected with COVID-19.

An Assistant Sub Inspector of Delhi Police has tested positive for COVID-19 and he has been shifted to AIIMS, reports ANI. Last week he had complained of fever. The ASI was posted in traffic department and cops are ascertaining how he contracted the coronavirus. This is the first case of Delhi Police personnel testing positive for coronavirus.

Another patient succumbed to the viral disease at the state-run Sassoon Hospital, Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr Deepak Mhaisekar said.

He was admitted to the hospital on 4 April. On Tuesday night, he became breathless and was put on ventilator support. He died on Wednesday after renal failure, Gaikwad said.

A 44-year-old man, who was on ventilator support and suffering from uncontrolled diabetes, died at the civic-run Naidu Hospital early Wednesday morning, Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.

Two more people died of coronavirus infection in Pune, taking the toll in the Maharashtra district to 10, officials said on Wednesday.

According to News18, three cases were from Jaipur's Ghat Gate and Ramganj localities and one each from Bikaner and Banswara. The cases include a 4-year-old girl and two women. While the person found positive in Bikaner is a relative of a Tablighi Jamaat attendee, the 50-year-old woman found positive in Banswara is the relative of a patient.

Five people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bikaner, Jaipur and Banswara, taking the tally in Rajasthan to 348. The fresh cases are contacts are COVID-19 patients, the state health department said.

Over the last 24 hours, 773 new cases and 10 deaths were reported.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has risen to 5,194 , which includes 4,643 active cases and 401 cured/discharged people. The toll is now at 149.

According to a report by Mumbai Mirror , the collector has ordered that all shop, in Thane, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai and Mira Bhyanader, barring pharmacies to remain shut after 5 pm. Shops can open at 5 am said an official from collectors office told the leading daily.

After coronavirus cases in Thane rose to 114, Thane collector Rajesh Narvekar on Tuesday all shops in Thane to remain at 5 pm everyday.

Senior minister told FPJ, Several ministers, including Subhash Desai, Rajesh Tope, Varsha Gaikwad, Aslam Sheikh and Satej Patil, strongly argued in favour of extending the lockdown up to 30 April. However, the chief minister was quite categorical that ministers should stop making any statement in this regard.

Thackeray, on Tuesday, asked ministers not to make any statement on the relaxation or extension of the lockdown beyond April 14 in the state because of the coronavirus pandemic, reported Free Press Journal.

After Maharashtra health minister Rajest Tope told Reuters last week that the lockdown may be extended in the state due to the rise of coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today requested ministers to not issue any statement on the lockdown,

Earlier on Monday night, ANI UP had tweeted saying that those in sector 5 Harola, Noida, who came in contact with Tablighi Jamat members have been quarantined. The news agency deleted the after Noida DCP said that ANI UP misquoted an official and are spreading fake news.

On Tuesday, ANI Uttar Pradesh deleted a tweet after Noida DCP said that they misquoted an official and are spreading fake news on Tablighi Jamat members.

With 1,018 cases of COVID-19, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of infections, followed by Tamil Nadu (690) and Delhi (576).

With 74 cases, Kurnool topped the chart in the state followed by SPS Nellore with 49, Guntur with 41 and Krishna 35. In all, six patients had recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals while four have died so far.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the state now touched 329 while the active cases were 319, the latest bulletin said. Of the 15 cases, six each from SPS Nellore and Krishna districts while three were reported in Chittoor district.

Fifteen new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Andhra Pradesh since last night, taking the total number of infected to 329, health department officials said on Wednesday.

However, Trinamool Congress sources said their leaders Derek O' Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay are unlikely to attend the interaction, reported PTI.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress and floor leaders of TMC, BSP, DMK, BJD, TRS as well as various other parties have been invited for the meeting.

The strategy to fight COVID-19 pandemic including the lockdown is expected to dominate the discussion of leaders of various parties with Modi.

This will be the first interaction of the prime minister with leaders of opposition after announcing the countrywide lockdown for 21 days on 24 March.

Reaching out to the Opposition amid the ongoing country-wide lockdown due to coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with floor leaders of various parties via a video conference shortly.

Out of 138 active cases, two patients are on ventilator support and their condition is critical, she said.

Of the total 179 cases, 83 have been reported from Ahmedabad, she said. So far, 16 patients have died in the state and 25 discharged after recovery, the official said.

Two of the new cases were reported from Bhavnagar and one each was reported from Surat and Vadodara, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi told reporters.

Four new coronavirus cases were detected in Gujarat on Wednesday, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 179, a health official said.

The entire state is under lockdown from 22 March and massive survey and screening are underway to trace the contagion.

"Five new cases have come up today, including three in Jaipur and one each in Bikaner and Banswara district. In Jaipur, positive cases have come in Ghat Gate and Ramganj area" Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said.

The virus has so far claimed six lives in the state. However, officials maintain that deaths occurred due to co-morbidity, more than one illness or disease occurring in one person at the same time.

Rajasthan recorded five more cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total number of virus cases in the state to 348, an official said.

We received reports of 60 people testing positive for coronavirus today. The Maharashtra tally is now 1,078, said the official. The state has so far reported 64 deaths due to the viral disease.

Among the new cases, 44 have been found in Mumbai, nine in Pune, four in Nagpur, and one each in Ahmednagar, Akola and Buldhana, he said.

Sixty new coronavirus cases were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday, taking the toll number of such cases in the state to 1,078, a health official said.

The rupee had settled at 75.64 against the US dollar on Tuesday. According to Reliance Securities rising brent prices and firm US Dollar Index could limit gains for the rupee.

Forex traders said rising brent prices and firm US dollar index weighed on the local unit. The rupee opened weak at 75.83 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 75.85, down 21 paise over its last close.

The Indian rupee fell 21 paise to 75.85 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, as investors braced for a prolonged period of uncertainty as coronavirus cases rise.

51 new coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Delhi on Wednesday which includes 35 patients with a history international travel, 4 Markaz attendees and 2 deaths. The total number of positive cases in the union territory now stands at 576, reports ANI.

Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Jain told PTI that when the constable asked some people out on streets to go back home, they started arguing and threw stones at him.

A purported video of the incident also went viral on social media, in which the policeman was seen running to save himself from seven to eight people who were throwing stones and chasing him. One of the miscreants was seen picking up a stick while chasing the policeman.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident that took place in Chandan Nagar area here on Tuesday evening, he said.

A group of persons pelted stones at a police constable in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district when he asked them to stay indoors to contain the spread of coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.

Eight members of a family have tested positive in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh as they came in contact with an infected member who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month. The attendee and his mother have died due to the disease reported ANI quoting District Magistrate GC Dad.

A 49-year-old coronavirus patient died at the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, taking the total deaths in the district to 16.

Three of the deaths were reported from Sassoon General Hospital, and one each from Naidu Hospital and Nobel Hospital, a health official from the Pune Municipal Corporation said. All these patients had some co-morbid health conditions, he said.

Five people died of coronavirus in Pune in the last 12 hours, taking the COVID-19 toll in the Maharashtra district to 13, officials said on Wednesday.

"However, a large force will be needed to replace the first line and to tackle the exponential or geometric increase in positive COVID-19 cases in the subsequent stages of the pandemic," according to a Personnel Ministry order.

"...As all are aware, India faces a significantly higher threat from COVID-19 pandemic. It will be pertinent to take note of the fact that India's first line of workers is already engaged in COVID-19 relief and doing a commendable job.

Asserting that India faces a significantly higher threat from COVID-19, the central government has decided to create a "larger force" to replace frontline workers engaged in various works to tackle the pandemic and its exponential increase. It has decided to provide them with necessary training through online mode.

With six new cases reported at 5 pm on Tuesday till 12 noon on Wednesday, total cases in Karnataka have risen to 181, which includes 5 deaths and 28 cured cases, said health minister B Sriramulu.

Five people suffering from COVID-19 have been cured and discharged in the state so far, he said.

One more person tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, officials said. A Health Department spokesman said the latest case has been reported from Haridwar and it takes the number of coronavirus patients in the state to 32.

"The administration has quarantined all those from the state who attended the Nizamuddin Markaz and identified the people from abroad who have been hiding in mosques," Chouhan said in a tweet late Tuesday night.

The congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in the national capital last month emerged as a major coronavirus hotspot in the country.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked the state residents who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat's religious congregation in Delhi last month to report to the state authorities within 24 hours or face criminal charges.

Times of India reported that a 78-year-old Nerul resident on Tuesday tested negative for COVID-19 after a week of hospitalisation and was successfully discharged from Kasturba Hospital on Tuesday. Navi Mumbai civic officials said that they were very relieved to hear the news. The man was admitted on 30 March.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to states to take urgent steps to ensure the availability of essential goods, and invoke provisions of the Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955, if needed, against hoarders. These measures include fixing of stock limits, capping of prices, enhancing production, an inspection of accounts of dealers and other such actions, a notification from the MHA stated.

"On Sunday night, two policemen came to my house and said that they wanted to take me to the police station as their superior wanted to enquire about some case," he said.

Anant Karmuse, a resident of Ghodbunder, had posted a photo morphed with Mr Awhad's face and a lit-up match stick with a caption, "I protest against the person who has edited the photo."

The man, in a police complaint, also alleged that he was beaten with a bamboo stick and belt in front of the minister. The alleged incident took place on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked people to light diyas or torch to show a "collective resolve" against coronavirus.

A 40-year-old civil engineer in Mumbai has claimed that policemen took him to NCP minister Jitendra Awhad's bungalow instead of the police station, where the minister's men thrashed him for posting a morphed photo.

The situation in the village is now "fully under control", police said. An FIR has been lodged against 150 people, including 100 unnamed people. Among those booked for the violence is the pradhan of the village Chaman Khan.

"The incident took place in the village at the time of ration distribution in which two groups clashed. Twelve persons were injured in brickbatting between rival groups. They have been admitted at the district Malham Singh hospital," police said.

Six persons have been arrested in connection with the clash that took place on Tuesday, ADM City, Rakesh Kumar Maalpani told PTI.

Twelve people were injured as two groups belonging to separate communities clashed over the issue of distribution of ration in Kamalpur village here, police said on Wednesday.

Uddhav Thackeray begins briefing the state via social media on video on Wednesday. He said, "We held a Cabinet meeting yesterday via video conferencing. I am constantly in touch with all ministers. This is a teamwork. It has been a month since we reported the first cases in Maharashtra. There is still growth in the number of cases, but it is not as steep."

He further said, "We are aware of what is happening in the United States, Japan, and Singapore. But we are also hearing that Wuhan, where this outbreak began, has eased its lockdown. This is a positive development. This too shall pass for us. We will definitely overcome this crisis."

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the state government is currently arranging 15 lakh meals per day for all migrants stranded in the state.

Maharashtra chief minister Udhhav Thackeray addressed concerns regarding the shortage of masks. He said, "There are reports of a shortage of N-95 masks, PPE kits and ventilators here. We need to understand that there is a shortage of these things across the world. Even the United States is asking us for medicines."

The Maharashtra chief minister urged all citizens to use masks while stepping out of the house for buying essentials. "It is not necessary to buy masks from shops. You can make one at home with a clean cloth," he said during the state briefing on Wednesday.

Sudhi told the bench that there should be free testing of COVID-19 by labs in the country as it is expensive.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi seeking a direction to the Centre and authorities to provide free of cost testing facility for COVID-19 to all citizens in the country.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat was told by the Centre that earlier 15,000 tests were conducted per day by 118 labs and later to enhance the capacity, 47 private labs were allowed to conduct the COVID-19 tests.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday suggested that the Centre should create a mechanism wherein private laboratories conducting COVID-19 tests do not charge exorbitant fees from public and government should reimburse the fees charged by labs.

Among the total positive cases reported ten are foreign nationals including six from Sri Lanka, and one each from Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia and South Africa while 51 are from other states of India, as per the bulletin.

At present, there are 122 active cases in the state, 17 patients have been discharged while the state has recorded two COVID-related deaths. Reports of 558 samples were awaited.

Among the fresh cases, seven were reported from Faridabad, one from Nuh and two from Palwal while Fatehabad district reported its first case, according to state health Department's bulletin.

With 11 more people testing positive for coronavirus, the number of COVID-19 cases in Haryana rose to 141 on Wednesday.

Uddhav Thackeray urged retired healthcare workers to volunteer to help the government fight the global pandemic as cases in state crossed 1,000. "I am requesting retired nurses, ward boys, trained personnel and medical staff to help us. They can email us their names and contact information at Covidyoddha@gmail.com."

The video was recorded taken at Ponnani in the Malappuram district and shows a group of men running in all directions as soon as they spot the drone. The Kerala Police tweeted the video from their official handle Monday.

In an attempt to introduce some levity during Indias coronavirus lockdown, the Kerala Police has tweeted amusing footage from its recent drone surveillance efforts to keep people indoors.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said the lockdown "will be lifted once we are fully confident that the spread of the virus has been controlled and it poses no danger to fellow Indians."

Out of the total 91 patients, one died while two have so far been discharged after recovery, Bhopal's Chief Medical and Health Officer Sudhir Deharia said.

The six new patients include a journalist working with a news channel, a public relations department official said. He possibly contracted the infection from a police officer who earlier tested positive for coronavirus, the official said.

Six more people tested positive for coronavirus in Bhopal, taking the number of such cases in the Madhya Pradesh capital to 91, officials said on Wednesday.

According to Walia, the number of calls after the lockdown, which started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on March 24, has increased by 50 per cent.

Of the 3.07 lakh calls received by the 'CHILDLINE 1098' helpline for children in distress across the country between March 20-31, covering the first week of the lockdown, 30 per cent were about protection against abuse and violence on children, said Harleen Walia, deputy director of Childline India. This comes to 92,105 calls.

The Childline India helpline received more than 92,000 SOS calls asking for protection from abuse and violence in 11 days, a sombre indication that the lockdown has turned into extended captivity not just for many women but also for children trapped with their abusers at home.

RK Tiwari, Chief Secy of Uttar Pradesh said that in the sealed areas no delivery movement will be allowed.. Only stores with essentials and medicines will be open, he stated.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanatha told CNN-News18 that the state government would be 'completely sealing' 15 districts from 12 am today. Among these 15 districts are Agra, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Basti, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Shamli, Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Maharajganj, Meerut, Bareilly, Firozabad, Saharanpur.

So far, 327 persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh with 14 more cases being reported on Wednesday.

"In a bid to manage the COVID-19 outbreak in a better way and in the interest of the citizens, the government has implemented the Essential Services Management Act, called ESMA, with the immediate effect in Madhya Pradesh," Chouhan said in a tweet.

The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday invoked the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) with immediate effect to tackle the coronavirus spread, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been reported to be stable after he spent two nights in ICU. His condition is said to have improved after he was administered oxygen support.

He also added, "Movement will be affected as the lock down is still on. Only areas with high positive cases will be sealed off."

UP Chief Secretary RK Tiwari state that further restrictions in the 15 districts will only be applied for those hotspot areas that have reported high coronavirus positive cases. He also said that affected areas that have positive COVID-19 cases will be sealed.

The meeting came a day after Kejriwal announced a five-point action plan which includes one lakh rapid anti-body blood test in hotspots to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

"Discussed the issue of corona with Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs via video conferencing. Several MPs have given good suggestions which will soon be implemented by the government. We all will have to fight it together," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

In the meeting via video conferencing, Lok Sabha members belonging to the BJP and Rajya Sabha members of the Aam Aadmi Party interacted with the chief minister and discussed measures to contain the COVID-19 spread in the national capital.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday held a meeting with MPs from the national capital on the coronavirus outbreak and said "we all will have to fight it together".

Amid speculation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that lockdown will not be lifted in one go on 14 April, said BJD's Pinaki Misra to PTI after all-party meet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held an all-party meeting via video conference to discuss the fight against coronavirus as the number of cases in the country rose to 5,194. Citing government sources, multiple reports are saying that Narendra Modi has said that lifting the lockdown was 'not an option.'

Superintendent of Police (city) Prabal Pratap Singh said, "Cases were registered against 69 persons for moving in the city without masks, not maintaining social distancing and also not adhering to the lockdown orders." Notice have also been pasted on the houses of the 69 people.

The police have registered cases against 69 people here for violating the lockdown orders, officials said on Wednesday.

"These masks may be standard masks available with the chemist or even homemade washable masks and can be reused after proper washing and disinfecting them," the order said.

"All person will be moving for whatsoever purpose and under whatever reason authority in a public place, like street, hospital, office, markets must be wearing 3 ply mask or cloth mask compulsorily," an order issued by the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi stated.

Amid an increase in the number of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases in the city, Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has made wearing of masks compulsory in public places, hospitals, offices, markets and while travelling in vehicles.

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to all the state chief secretaries to ensure the availability of essential goods by invoking provisions of the Essential Commodities Act 1955, reported by news agency ANI. The Home Secretary also urged for steps to be taken to prevent hoarding and black marketing and ensure essential items are available at fair prices to the public,

Bollywood producer and Mumbai resident Karim Morani has tested positive for the coronavirus, media reports said. Morani, in all likelihood, may have contracted the virus from his daughter who was confirmed with COVID-19 earlier last week. The producer has been shifted to the Nanavati hospital for treatment.

The World Athletics has suspended the Tokyo Olympics qualification period until December 2020 due to the fast-spreading Covid-19 or coronavirus pandemic after consulting its athletes' commission, area presidents and council. The news comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deferred the Tokyo Summer Games to from 23 July to 8 August, 2021.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa told PTI on Wednesday that the state intended to relax liquor sales, stopped since the 21-day lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, after April 14 in a bid to increase state revenues.

Health secretary Lav Agarwal on Wednesday said that the government has ensured that not only today even in future there will not be any lack of HCQ (Hydroxychloroquine) as and when needed.

The US, however, plans to block Irans requested emergency loan it says it needs to fight its coronavirus crisis. US says Tehran already has Billion dollar accounts at its disposal, which the loan will free up to be used elsewhere, against USA's national interests.

Reeling under economic impact of UN sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, Iran had urged the International Monetary Fund to sanction a loan of $5 billion to help beat the pandemic which has claimed around 4,000 lives in the country.

"We find prima facie substance in the submission of petitioner that at this time of national calamity permitting private Labs to charge Rs.4500 for screening and confirmation test of COVID-19 may not be within means of a large part of population of this country and no person be deprived to undergo the COVID-19 test due to nonpayment of capped amount of Rs.4500. It is submitted before us that insofar as Government Laboratories are concerned the COVID-19 test is conducted free of cost," the SC said in its order.

The Supreme Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation challenging a recent government order capping the cost of COVID-19 at Rs 4,500.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to make coronavirus tests free of cost, irrespective of whether they are taken in government or private labs.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered all government departments to stop all expenditures except payment of salaries. The chief minister emphasised the need to cut expenses drastically considering current revenue status of Delhi and the need to boost up measures to fight spread of pandemic.

After 76 days in lockdown, the Chinese city at the heart of the global pandemic reopened Wednesday, and tens of thousands immediately hopped on trains and planes to leave, reports AP. Residents waved flags and the city staged a light show with skyscrapers and bridges radiating images of health workers helping patients.

"Impact of health issues such as COVID19 on regional trade and measures to mitigate it was seen as new focus area for discussion in larger framework of trade facilitation in SAARC region. Need to enhance quantum of intra SAARC trade was highlighted," ANI quotes the MEA spokesperosn as saying.

Kerala's grand temple festival Thrissur Pooram, scheduled to be heald on 3 May, was cancelled for the first time in 58 years in light of the coronavirus outbreak, said reports. The festival will be held only as ritaul, the Devaswom said.

With 93 fresh cases recorded on Wednesday, the number of coronavirus patients in Delhi rose to 669, said the state health department. Of these, 426 are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, it said. So far, nine deaths have been reported in the National Capital.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on 21 February rose to 17,669, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 542 on Wednesday, a lower tally than the 604 the day before, but the number of new cases pushed higher to 3,836 compared with a previous 3,039, reports Reuters.

With 93 fresh cases recorded on Wednesday, the number of coronavirus patients in Delhi rose to 669, said the state health department. Of these, 426 are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, it said. So far, nine deaths have been reported in the National Capital.

The death toll due to coronavirus in the state now stands at 29 of whom, 21 persons died in Indore. Five others died in Ujjain, one each in Bhopal, Khargone and Chhindwara, said health officials.

As 72 new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, the number of such patients in the state jumped to 385, PTI quotes health officials as saying. Of these 385, the highest number of 213 cases are from Indore, the commercial capital of the state. Forty of these cases were reported in the district on Wednesday alone, the officials said.Nine new cases were reported in Bhopal in 24-hours, which took the tally of COVID-19 patients in the state capital to 94, they said.

Media bulletin with district wise break up on status of positive cases of #COVID19 in Telangana (Dated: 08.04.2020) pic.twitter.com/658fIuVV99

Forty-nine fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Telangana on Wednesday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state cumulatively to 453. The number of active cases in the state was 397 as 45 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, state Health Minister E Rajender told reporters.No death occurred due to the virus on Wednesday andthe number of deceased remained at 11, he said.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Suhas LY assured home delivery of essential commodities and services at all places in Gautam Buddh Nagar, urging people not to venture out and avoid panic buying. "Dear residents, no need for panic buying. Identified hotspots shall be sealed and home delivery of essential commodities and services shall be available at all places in the district. We shall take strict action against rumour mongerers/spreaders, District Magistrate Suhas LY said in a brief statement.

According to an official list, the localities identified for sealing in Noida are Sector 22, Chauda village, sectors 27, 28, 37, 41, 44, Hyde Park in Sector 78 and Supertech Capetown in Sector 74, Logix Blossom County and Paras Tierra in sector 137 and Wazidpur village, Ace Golfshire in Sector 150, Jaypee Wishtown sector 128, GrandOmaxe in Sector 93B, Sector 5 and 8 JJ colony, Designer Park in Sector 62 and Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100. In Greater Noida, sector Alpha I, ATS Dolce in Zeta I, Omnicron III, Sector 3, Mehak Residency in Accheja village, Stellar MI Omnicron III, and Ghodi Baccheda village have been identified as the localities to be sealed, the list stated. Nirala Greenshire in Sector 2, Vishnoi village in Dadri, Palm Olympia in Sector 16 are the localities in Greater Noida (West) also known as Noida Extension, it added.

As many as 34 residential localities across Noida and Greater Noida will be sealed off till April 15 in order to contain coronavirus from spreading further, PTI quotes the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration as saying. These localities are part of hotspots, which means areas where COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in the past, the administration said in a statement.

"Goa has its first recovered COVID-19 patient, bringing the total number of positive cases to 6. The patient will be kept under monitored quarantine for 14 days as per protocol before final discharge," said state health minister Vishwajit Rane.

One of seven coronavirus patients undergoing treatment in Goa was declared as cured by health officials on Wednesday, reports PTI. He tested negative for infection in his last two tests, they said.

The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Vijay Rupani and held through video conference, said the release.

The Gujarat government said on Wednesday that 31 private hospitals across the state would be put to use as `designated' COVID-19 hospitals for coronavirus patients, reports PTI. Already, dedicated COVID-19 hospitals with combined capacity of 2,200 beds are operational in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat. The 31 new designated hospitals will add 4,064 beds, said an official release.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on 21 February rose to 17,669, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 542 on Wednesday, a lower tally than the 604 the day before, but the number of new cases pushed higher to 3,836 compared with a previous 3,039, reports Reuters.

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said the patient had "a travel history to Delhi" and more details were sought about which places he visited in the National Capital and the people whom he came in contact with.

A 38-year-old man with a travel history to Delhi tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 39, PTI quotes officials as saying. State epidemiologist Ragini Mishra said the patient hailed from Nawada, becoming the first person from the central Bihar district to test positive.

Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Shisve said action will be taken under the Epidemic Diseases Act if a person is seen on the streets without a mask.

Wednesday. Masks are necessary for preventing the spread of the virus, said district collector Naval Kishore Ram. "Therefore, we have ordered people and government employees to use masks in public places," he said.

With the number of coronavirus cases in Pune nearing 200, wearing a face mask has been made mandatory in public places, a senior official said on

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!

India had late on 8 April lifted the ban on the export of some drugs, invoking criticism from many.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked India and its people for for lifting the ban on hydroxychloroquine. "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" he tweeted.

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: A 38-year-old man with a travel history to Delhi tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 39. State epidemiologist Ragini Mishra said the patient hailed from Nawada, becoming the first person from the central Bihar district to test positive.

As many as 34 residential localities across Noida and Greater Noida will be sealed off till April 15 in order to contain coronavirus from spreading further, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said. These localities are part of hotspots, which means areas where COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in the past, the administration said in a statement.

With 93 fresh cases recorded on Wednesday, the number of coronavirus patients in Delhi rose to 669, said the state health department. Of these, 426 are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, it said. So far, nine deaths have been reported in the National Capital.

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 30 percent cut in salaries of ministers and state legislators in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak for one year.

Four medical staff have been tested positive with COVID-19 in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, said reports. The medical staff were treating a 58-year-old man from Hindupur town who had passed away due to the coronavirus recently, said District Collector Veera Pandyan.

The Delhi government on Wednesday made it compulsory for people to wear face masks when stepping outdoors to combat the coronavirus spread. The chief minister said that all government departments have been directed to stop all expenditures except salary, adding that they will have to cut expenses drastically considering the current revenue status.



Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed to seal the highly infected areas of 15 districts of the state from Wednesday midnight till morning of 15 April.

Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to make coronavirus tests free of cost, irrespective of whether they are taken in government or private labs.

Eleven people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 343 on Wednesday, officials were quoted as saying by PTI.



The health ministry has said that till date total 402 people have been discharged, total 5,194 positive confirmed case have been reported. In last one day, 773 positive cases were reported.

Amid an increase in the number of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases in the city, Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has made wearing of masks compulsory in public places, hospitals, offices, markets and while travelling in vehicles.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held an all-party meeting via video conference to discuss the fight against coronavirus as the number of cases in the country rose to 5,194. Citing government sources, multiple reports are saying that Narendra Modi has said that lifting the lockdown was 'not an option.'

Lucknow, Varanasi, and Agra among 15 districts in Uttar Pradesh that will be "sealed off completely" tonight to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, say multiple reports.

Uddhav Thackeray urged retired healthcare workers to volunteer to help the government fight the global pandemic as cases in state crossed 1,000. 'I am requesting retired nurses, ward boys, trained personnel and medical staff to help us. They can email us their names and contact information at Covidyoddha@gmail.com.'

Uddhav Thackeray begins briefing the state via social media on video on Wednesday. He said, 'We held a Cabinet meeting yesterday via video conferencing. I am constantly in touch with all ministers. This is teamwork.'

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to states to take urgent steps to ensure the availability of essential goods, and invoke provisions of the Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955, if needed, against hoarders.

Five people died of coronavirus in Pune in the last 12 hours, taking the COVID-19 toll in the Maharashtra district to 13, officials said on Wednesday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting via video-conferencing with all the MPs of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha from Delhi at 12 noon.

According to multiple reports the government is likely to take a final call on extending the lockdown for coronavirus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second meeting with Chief Ministers via video conference on 11 April (Saturday).

With 1,018 cases of COVID-19, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of infections, followed by Tamil Nadu (690) and Delhi (576).

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has risen to 5,194 , which includes 4,643 active cases and 401 cured/discharged people. The toll is now at 149. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a video meet with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi at 12 noon.

Two more people died of coronavirus infection in Pune, taking the toll in the Maharashtra district to 10, officials said on Wednesday. A 44-year-old man, who was on ventilator support and suffering from uncontrolled diabetes, died at the civic-run Naidu Hospital early Wednesday morning, Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.

Health officials on Tuesday said that two pavement dwellers in Kolkata tested positive for coronavirus. A 40-year-old man who lived on a pavement in Bowbazar area, was earlier admitted to NRS Medical College Hospital on 3 April and was shifted to ID Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.

The top brass of NITI Aayog told CNBC TV18 sources on Wednesday that the nationwide lockdown that is expected to end on 14 April need to have a 'phased exit' to cusion the economic damage caused by COVID-19 outbreak.

New York City's toll from the coronavirus rose past 3,200 Tuesday, eclipsing the number killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The number of deaths in the US due to coronavirus on crossed 12,700, with a record 1,900 fatalities in a single day.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday neared the 5,000 mark with India reporting 508 new cases and 13 deaths in 24 hours while many states advocated for a gradual approach to lifting the 21-day lockdown which ends on 14 April.

On Tuesday, several states also announced plans to ramp up their testing infrastructure and put in place strong 'cluster containment' plans in areas identified as hotspots of the outbreak.

There were also indications about possible relaxations from a complete lockdown for some sectors, including agriculture and unorganised labour sector, at least in some states, while there were also talks about even stronger area-specific restrictions in some places.

A Group of Ministers on COVID-19, recommended extension of closure of all educational institutions and restricting all religious activities having public participation till 15 May irrespective of whether the government extends the 21-day lockdown or not.

Confirmed cases climb to 4,789, toll reaches 124, says health ministry

Of the 4,789 cases confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), 352 patients have been discharged or cured, one has migrated and there are 4,312 active cases in India.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states at 9.45 pm showed 5,192 testing positive across the country and at least 162 deaths.

More than 400 have so far been cured and discharged, while nearly 1.1 lakh tests have been conducted so far in the country, as per official announcements, PTI said.

Also, while some states including Maharashtra reported a significant increase in the numbers, several states did not report a single additional positive case.

The number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra surged past 1,000, with 116 new cases being detected only in the city of Mumbai. The total number of coronavirus positive cases in Mumbai now stands at 642 with 40 deaths so far, including six new victims, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a release.

In Madhya Pradesh and Rajsthan the number crossed 300, while in Delhi the number of COVID-19 patients reached 576. Fresh cases were also reported from Punjab, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu among other states.

However, no fresh cases were reported from various states and union territories including Chattisgarh, Chandigarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Laddakh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand.

Lockdown, social distancing arrested spread of virus, claims health ministry

Officials said that the lockdown and social distancing measures have helped contain the pandemic in a big way in India.

Citing an ICMR study, the Health Ministry said just one COVID-19 patient can infect as many as 406 people in 30 days in the absence of preventive measures such as social distancing and the lockdown.

With the preventive measures, the possibility of the infection can be reduced to an average of just two-and-a-half persons per patient in the same period, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said in the central government's daily briefing on COVID-19.

He said social distancing works like a "social vaccine" in management of COVID-19, but refrained from commenting on whether the ongoing nationwide lockdown would be extended or lifted after 14 April.

"Whenever a decision is taken, it will be informed. Till a decision is officially communicated, please refrain from speculation," he said.

Government sources, however, said many state governments and experts are requesting the Centre to extend the lockdown and the Central Government is thinking in that direction.

There has been a nationwide lockdown since 25 March, though some states had initiated such measures a few days earlier, to check the pandemic that has claimed more than 75,000 lives worldwide since its emergence in China last December. Over 13 lakh people have tested positive for the virus across the world so far.

States likely to relax restrictions on some sectors

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said some relaxation on work front for unorganised sector workers was on the anvil. She, however, made it clear that all must practise social distancing. The state government has identified seven COVID-19 hotspots in West Bengal.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, however, said his government will extend the lockdown if needed, while his counterpart in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, said the state cannot withdraw the lockdown immediately and it has to be done in a phased manner.

A Karnataka government minister said it's too early to take a call now on lifting the nationwide lockdown but appeared favouring an extension by at least two weeks.

Uttar Pradesh chief secretary RK Tiwari said, "There is still time for the lockdown and we will review the situation and then decide" on lifting it.

A panel report by the Kerala govt has suggested phased withdrawal of restrictions subject to the areas under review meet certain conditions.

Addressing his ministers through video conferencing on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also indicated towards a graded approach to lift the lockdown.

The Prime Minister had also asked the ministers whether the restrictions should be lifted sector-wise or district-wise, a source said. Modi has also asked the ministers to lay out plans to contain the economic impact of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the GoM chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and participated by Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday concluded that religious centres, shopping malls and educational institutions must not be allowed to resume normal functioning at least for four weeks from 14 April when the current lockdown ends.

The GoM also briefly discussed possible scenarios after end of the current spell of the lockdown. It also recommended that the inputs of the states are crucial in taking specific decisions on measures to contain the pandemic.

Arvind Kejriwal announces 'five-T' action plan

Several states, including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, also announced plans to ramp up the tests, while numerous leaders across the country urged the people to strictly follow the lockdown and social distancing measures including for religious rituals.

Gehlot, the Rajasthan chief minister, said the state will start rapid testing within a week and that it has ordered 10 lakh testing kits from China.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a five-point action plan of "five Ts  testing, tracing, treatment, team-work and tracking  and monitoring" to contain the virus spread and said one lakh random rapid COVID-19 tests will be conducted in the city's hotspot areas. He said arrangements have been made to deal with as many as 30,000 cases.

Gujarat government has also decided to implement a cluster containment plan across 15 localities in four cities, which involves a complete lockdown of these areas.

Low GDP forecasts in view of lockdown

Rating agency ICRA on Tuesday forecast a GDP forecast of just 2 percent for the current fiscal and said the Indian economy is estimated to have contracted by 4.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY20 ended 31 March.

Industry body Retailers Association of India on the other hand warned that around 80,000 jobs were expected to be cut by various retailers due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It had conducted a survey of 768 retailers, which employ 3,92,963 people across India, to gauge their view on the impact of COVID-19 on their business and manpower.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) also said that the COVID-19 crisis has the potential to push around 40 crore informal sector workers in India deeper into poverty, with the lockdown and other containment measures affecting jobs and earnings.

The stock market, however, witnessed a sharp rebound on Tuesday with a 2,476-point rally in the benchmark Sensex, while the investors' wealth measured in terms of market value of all listed companies rose by nearly Rs 7.7 lakh crore.

Shares of pharma companies especially saw a lot of surge after India decided to partially lift a ban on export of paracetamol and anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

The decision came a week after a telephonic conversation between Modi and US President Donald Trump, who sought supply of hydroxychloroquine to the US to treat coronavirus infected people.

Trump on Monday said he would be surprised if New Delhi did not relent to the request as it has good relations with Washington and warned India of retaliation if it did not export the anti-malarial drug despite his personal request.

Indian pharma companies said there is enough stock of hydroxychloroquine in the country, and drug firms are ready to ramp up the production to meet domestic as well as export requirements.

Agarwal said cluster containment strategies are producing required results in some areas like Agra, Gautam Budh Nagar (UP), Pathanamthitta (Kerala), Bhilwara (Rajasthan), East Delhi and Mumbai and similar strategies are being adopted in other coronavirus-affected districts.

With inputs from PTI
With the pandemic gaining intensity, the organizations wrote, HHS should "collect, analyze and make available to the public explicit, comprehensive, standardized data on race, ethnicity and patients' preferred spoken and written language related to the testing status, hospitalization and mortality" associated with COVID-19.

It's a significant call to action, Academy President Gary LeRoy, M.D., of Dayton, Ohio, told AAFP News.

"This letter challenges HHS to fully illuminate each and every shadowed crevice of statistical inequity in our U.S. health care system," he said. "There, it will find unsettling answers about the lethality of social and racial disparities left unchecked in the U.S. health care system."

The letter, sent to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, was signed by the AAFP in conjunction with the AMA, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, Association of American Indian Physicians and National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians.

The Academy and its co-signatories, LeRoy added, have made a "commonsense demand that this nation no longer permit its most vulnerable members of society to be the first to perish during a public health crisis because they are the last to be considered when resources and credible solutions are in short supply."

Evidence is already emerging that racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 deaths can be linked to misinformation, the prevalence of preexisting conditions in minority populations and the high representation of minorities in occupations with an increased risk of exposure to the virus.

Danielle Jones, M.P.H., director of the Academy's Center for Diversity and Health Equity, told AAFP News that the pandemic "has exposed the deeply rooted social, economic and health inequities that create racial and ethnic disparities in the United States."

"Institutional racism embedded in the way our systems are designed and implemented creates the policies, processes and infrastructures that produce racial inequities that result in health disparities," she added.

HHS' release of detailed data, the organizations wrote in their letter, is "essential to understanding the unique challenges and inequities facing communities of color and individuals with limited English proficiency." Making this information known "will help to best prepare our physician members to coordinate medical resources to leverage the greatest and most equitable level of care possible for all patients in a timely manner."

Citing the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) outbreak, the letter reminded HHS that "low-income individuals, those living in impoverished neighborhoods, and people of color and diverse ethnic backgrounds" face higher rates of hospitalization during pandemics. Research on past events, the letter added, underscores "the urgency to adapt our country's COVID-19 response to monitor and act on these inequities via explicit data collection on race, ethnicity and language needs."

The co-signers urged HHS to coordinate its efforts with state and local public health offices and clinical data registries to minimize the burden of data collection for frontline clinicians "and to ensure that data collection efforts prioritize cultural sensitivity and patient privacy."



"I hope we emerge from this crisis with a sober understanding of how best to rid our society of these inequities of care," LeRoy told AAFP News.
Bhasha, who is at her home in the UK, will be self-isolating for one to two weeks before returning to work at the Pilgrim Hospital. (Image: Instagram)
Belarusian authorities have ruled against extraditing a Russian citizen who is a Jehovah's Witness back to Russia, where he is wanted for alleged extremism.

The Jehovah's Witnesses group in Russia said on April 8 that Nikolai Makhalichev was released the day before in the eastern Belarusian city of Vitsebsk immediately after the Prosecutor-General's Office announced its decision to deny the Russian extradition request.

Makhalichev, who is from Russia's northern Khanty-Mansi region, was arrested on February 21 in Vitsebsk on Russia's request.

Local and international human rights organizations had urged Minsk to release Makhalichev, saying the charges against him were launched because of his religious views.

According to the religious group, Makhalichev is one of 23 Jehovah's Witnesses being persecuted in the Khanty-Mansi region.

Russia has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses, branding the group as an "extremist organization" in April 2017.

Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized dozens of arrested or convicted Jehovahs Witnesses as political prisoners and demanded their immediate release.
Work assigned from April 14 through years end wont be graded, Daugherty said, in line with what the Virginia Department of Education has recommended. More information from students teachers is expected between April 14 and April 20.

Hanover County

The Hanover County school system is expecting students, depending on grade level, to do about five to 15 hours of school work each week through the end of May.

Superintendent Michael Gill told families that instruction for elementary students will emphasize supporting growth in reading and math as well as strengthening readiness skills for the next grade level. The work for middle and high school students will focus on completion of coursework.

All students will be required to complete three assignments before May 29 in order to qualify for grade advancement or class credits. The deadline for seniors is May 22. Teachers will evaluate performance by a simple pass or fail measure. The assessments will be used to certify completion of a credit-bearing course and to evaluate a students readiness for promotion.
Spanish Health Ministry on Thursday said that coronavirus related deaths in the country have exceeded 15,000, but the authorities have claimed the death rate has again slowed.

Despite the nation-wide toll reaching 15,238 Spanish authorities are optimistic that the death rate has again slowed after small increases in the previous two days, Al Jazeera reported.

There were 683 deaths in the past 24 hours, 74 fewer than Wednesday's total death count of 757.

The rate of increase was 4.7 per cent on the total number of deaths on Thursday, also lower than Wednesday's 5.5 per cent rise.

The number of active cases has gone up from 84,111 to 85,043, an increase of 929, one of the lowest in nearly a month.

The Spanish Health Ministry also reports that 52,165 people have now recovered from the virus.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has issued an urgent warning that the European Union is in danger of disintegration in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

"The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity," Sanchez told parliament

Spain is among the countries calling for common debt insurance, widely referred to as coronabonds to tackle the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic. Germany and other countries have sofar rejected the proposal.

There are now more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the More than 89,900 people have died and more than 339,000 have recovered, as per the data of Johns Hopkins University.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Manitoba 27 days ago, Dr. Brent Roussin has been consistent in his daily message to Manitobans: Wash your hands, keep your distance.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Manitoba 27 days ago, Dr. Brent Roussin has been consistent in his daily message to Manitobans: Wash your hands, keep your distance.

It seems his social distancing mantra in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic may be having an impact.

CELEBRATION OF 150TH BIRTHDAY POSTPONED To no ones surprise, Premier Brian Pallister has pressed the pause button on Manitobas 150th birthday celebrations. The premier, accompanied by the co-chair of the Manitoba 150 Host Committee, Monique LaCoste, announced Wednesday that all planned events would be postponed until next year due to the pandemic. click to read more To no ones surprise, Premier Brian Pallister has pressed the pause button on Manitobas 150th birthday celebrations. The premier, accompanied by the co-chair of the Manitoba 150 Host Committee, Monique LaCoste, announced Wednesday that all planned events would be postponed until next year due to the pandemic. This is not the time right now for celebration, Pallister said. This is a time to stay home. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Manitoba joining confederation, and many activities and events to commemorate the milestone were planned. Organizers had previously announced that the Unite 150 Concert, featuring Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman and other Manitoba artists, would be postponed. It was to have occurred on June 27, but will now be rescheduled for 2021. Currently, gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited in Manitoba, and its not known when physical distancing rules will be relaxed. LaCoste said funding will remain in place to support community projects and events. Questions about Manitoba150 programming may be emailed to aimee@manitoba150.com. For organizations cancelling events supported by the provinces Community Festivals and Events program, the province will cover 50 per cent of eligible funding. Pallister said there will be jubilation when the pandemic is over. And, boy, we will have something to celebrate at that time. Close

On Wednesday, Roussin announced just four new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total in Manitoba to 221. He also revealed that a total of 69 persons are now listed as recovered from the coronavirus, an increase of 48 from the previous day.

In each of the last five days, the number of new cases reported in Manitoba has been 12 or less. The picture elsewhere in Canada is grimmer. On Wednesday, Ontario experienced its biggest one-day jump with 550 new cases, while Quebec now has the most fatalities among the provinces with 175 deaths from its 10,000 cases.

Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, isn't prepared to read too much into the daily fluctuations, but there was a hint of optimism.

"These numbers may be a reflection of the benefit of our enhanced social distancing strategies and the hard work Manitobans put towards that," he said at his daily media briefing.

But Roussin said the positive signs could easily vanish if the public doesn't remain vigilant, and he warned that the next two weeks will be crucial in the pandemic fight.

"Manitobans should not interpret the current case numbers to mean our risk is reduced," he said. "I need to make this clear -- now is not the time to let our guards down."

That's particularly true during the looming long weekend. he said.

As of Wednesday, there were 149 active cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, compared with 185 on Sunday and 127 on April 1. Active cases are the total number of persons who have tested positive, minus the number who have recovered or died.

Roussin praised the efforts of the vast majority of people following Public Health Act orders and urged them not to stop now.

"We can't let up. We can't miss our opportunity," he said. "Our actions this weekend are critical to our numbers in the next week or two."

Three Manitobans have already succumbed to the virus -- two men and a woman, all from Winnipeg. As of Wednesday, 12 people were in hospital with six in intensive care.

The perils of Manitobans letting down their guard was evident this week when a respiratory outbreak at Health Sciences Centre turned out to be COVID-19.

Ten workers and four patients in a medicine unit at the HSC tested positive for the coronavirus, said Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer for Shared Health. The patients are in isolation and are being cared for, she said.

Health officials were able to trace contacts back to the initial case of COVID-19 in the unit, and none of the staff who tested positive has worked since April 1, Siragusa said.

Any staff who had close contact with any of the positive cases -- including those who spend the majority of their day working in the affected unit -- are self-isolating at home, she said.

Those who worked only intermittently on the unit, had indirect contact with the positive cases and are asymptomatic were able to return to work wearing universal PPE and monitoring their symptoms.

The infected unit has undergone a deep cleaning to prevent further spread of the virus and staff screening measures are still in effect, said Siragusa. Eight other health-care workers in Winnipeg and two in the Interlake-Eastern region have also tested positive for COVID-19.

"Manitobans should not interpret the current case numbers to mean our risk is reduced. I need to make this clear  now is not the time to let our guards down."  Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer

Premier Brian Pallister announced the government would recall the legislature on April 15 to approve measures  some already announced  to fight the pandemic, including the freeing up of "billions of dollars" to bolster the health system.

Pallister said the plan is to convene one-third of members from each party to adhere to social distancing rules within the chamber. While details are being worked out with the two Opposition parties, the premier said he expects legislators won't have to sit for more than a day.

MLAs will be asked to consider new rules allowing retired health care workers to rejoin the workforce. They will also consider legislative changes regarding enforcement of public health orders.

While the Public Health Act allows for fines against individuals and corporations that break the rules, Pallister said it wasn't written with a pandemic such as COVID-19 in mind. On Wednesday, he wouldn't detail the perceived shortcomings in the current legislation, but said the government would have more to say on the issue in the coming days.

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Pallister said he is proud that the majority of Manitobans are obeying physical distancing rules and avoiding gatherings, but further action is necessary "to discourage the profoundly small minority of people who aren't thinking properly."

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan government said anywhere from 3,075 to 8,370 could die in that province during the course of the pandemic. Several other provinces have also made grim projections in recent days.

Pallister said Manitoba health officials continue to work on projections for this province, and he hinted that the forecast might be coming soon. But he would not provide a precise date.

The premier repeated concerns that such projections are largely guesswork and that he does not want to add to Manitobans' stress. He said he hopes they would give the public confidence that the province is prepared for various scenarios.

Meanwhile, with the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations expected to rise in the coming months, there continues to be a pressing need for personal protective equipment, especially gowns, gloves and high-level N95 masks.

"We are continually being challenged by the supply-chain changes," Siragusa said.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Issues with 3M, the N95 mask maker in Minnesota, and federal decisions about how to make sure personal protective equipment gets to Canadians when they need it is having an impact on Manitoba. "It's affected our ability to access, order and receive supplies," she said.

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"Our supply stockpile has been significantly impacted by these pressures," she said.

The directive for all front-line health-care workers with close, prolonged patient contact to be outfitted with a full set of personal protective equipment will still be met during the week of April 13, she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders

Legislature reporter After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020. Read full biography
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) President Rodrigo Duterte paid tribute to healthcare workers and other frontliners battling the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country commemorates Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor.

In his official message on Thursday, Duterte lauded our "present-day heroes, including the military, police and law enforcement personnel, firefighters, security guards, as well as other essential workers in the food, transport, and waste disposal sectors.

The chief executive urged citizens to draw strength from the heroism not only of the countrys veterans, but also the "unnamed heroes" in the fight against the infectious disease.

"As we face this unprecedented public health emergency that threatens the very survival of our society, let us all draw strength from the heroism of the veterans of Bataan and the unnamed heroes in the fight against COVID-19," Duterte said in his message.

"May their example give us the courage and strength to endure this pandemic and rise as a stronger and more resilient nation," he added.

Earlier, several lawmakers had sought posthumous recognition including national hero honors and burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani  for COVID-19 frontliners who died in the performance of their duties.

Of the countrys 3,870 individuals who have contracted COVID-19, over 200 are doctors and nurses, according to the Health Department.
"We expect that the next few months will be chaos. In chaos, you can typically find opportunity if you look hard enough and stay disciplined." - Trevor Nelson

In the past two weeks, Trevor Nelson, President of Newmontis Real Estate Investment Banking, and Campus + Main, has been very busy. In late 2019, he sold the majority of his 50% stake in a $400,000,000 retail real estate advisory firm that he had co-founded nearly a decade earlier. He had left the day-to-day of that firm a few years prior to focus on campus-adjacent developments and traditional multifamily investing. For the past couple years his firms had been very cautious in their growth, as they feared values were unsustainable. Now, they feel the markets are starting to become attractive again - so they have scaled up their acquisitions.

With his partner, Gus Spoliansky, Newmontis has purchased two apartment properties since the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they are continuing their acquisitions for the benefit of their investors, many of whom are eager to secure long-term, stable yields in a market otherwise fraught with volatility. "We're achieving 8-10% returns, on phenomenal assets right now, you just have to be disciplined and patient to find the right opportunities" commented Nelson.

Newmontis provides transactional consultation to third-party investors and clients, and to the Campus + Main investment fund, as part of Newmontis's full-service asset-management platform. "Our investment side has been very busy" said Nelson. "We've offered nearly $300,000,000 on about 15 apartments in the past two weeks. We've started to get some exciting traction, as the market adjusts. We expect opportunities to continue to present themselves throughout the coming months." Newmontis has the good fortune of being aligned with some of the most well-capitalized high-net worth individuals in the country and beyond. Their client list includes several domestic and European billionaires, celebrities and international investment funds.

Newmontis continues to move forward with their development pipeline, which had commenced before COVID. "We were fortunate that our existing portfolio going into this was exclusively construction projects, and they are on track to deliver once this pandemic is behind us. Nelson remains optimistic about the long-term. Whats happening right now is devastating, and its important that we all do what we can to help the people who need it most. Its also important to remember our ability as a country and a species to bounce back and the adjust. I have a lot of faith in our well-being long term. In the meantime, were expanding our investor contacts and positioning our equity to best capitalize on the market.

Nelson believes that retail real estate requires a substantial evolution to remain relevant, and that new prop-tech opportunities will evolve out of this crisis. He believes that apartments will emerge as the best risk-adjusted returns for the foreseeable future.

About Newmontis:

Located in the Pacific Palisades, Newmontis Real Estate Investment Banking is a full-service commercial real estate investment advisory and management firm. Primarily servicing high-net-worth investors, family offices and private investment funds, Newmontis offers sponsored investment opportunities, transactional advisory and asset management. Newmontis invests across assets types in a data-driven selection of geographies nationally. Newmontis was awarded Deal of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2019.
All foreign nationals in China should follow rules of the coronavirus control and prevention work and cooperate with local authority, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Zhao Lijian, the ministry spokesperson made the appeal at a daily press briefing on Thursday in response to question of media report of Africans been discriminately treated during the coronavirus pandemic in China's Guangdong Province and other places.

"The Chinese government treats all foreign nationals in China equally. China opposes any differentiated practices and bears zero tolerance for discrimination," Zhao emphasized.

"China's most urgent task now is to prevent imported cases and domestic resurgence, it requires joint support, understanding and cooperation from both Chinese citizens and foreign nationals in China."

Zhao said China will urge relevant departments to improve its approaches in dealing with foreign nationals when it comes to epidemic control in order to reduce misunderstanding.

Earlier in the week, rumors have circulated on multiple Chines social media platforms claiming a major outbreak of COVID-19 has happened in African community in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong Province and led to lockdown of a local community.

Local authorities have soon quashed the rumors and people who initiated the gossips has been brought to justice.
Bahraich : April 9 (IANS) The junior resident doctors of Bahraich medical college allegedly beat up the Chief Pharmacist of the district hospital and his subordinates when they asked the doctors to maintain social distancing.

Virendra Singh, the Chief Pharmacist of the district hospital, said that he was in his office on Tuesday when Dr Hashmat Ali, Dr Vindhyavasini and Dr Amit Kumar Shukla entered the room.

The pharmacist asked them to maintain social distancing.

The doctors, apparently annoyed, left the room and later returned with a group of other resident doctors and assaulted him and his juniors.

Later, the pharmacists sat on a dharna, demanding action against the accused.

Police officials said that they had received a compliant and were investigating the matter.
T ributes were paid today to a nurse and a bus driver from London who have both lost their lives while suffering from coronavirus symptoms.

Donald Suelto, who worked at Hammersmith Hospital, died after going into self-isolation.

He was described as a spirited friend with a loving heart who loved his NHS job by his friend and fellow nurse Alejandro Fernandez.

Last month, Mr Suelto had changed his Facebook profile picture to an image of himself wearing a protective mask with the words: I cant stay at home, Im a healthcare worker.

Grant Kellman, 76, was one of Londons longest-serving bus drivers. He died with suspected Covid-19 on March 28, a week after falling ill.

A tribute to him was posted on the wall of the garage where he worked in Uxbridge by manager Stavros Heracleous.

Grant was our longest-serving driver with 53 years experience, he wrote.

A pleasant character, always willing to help and was very well respected. He will be fondly remembered and his passing is a huge loss to our team.

His daughter Donna Kellman told Sky News she wanted to be with her father in his final moments but was not allowed to visit him in hospital.

She said: He was alone and I didnt get to see him. I just hope he wasnt scared.

Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey called for drivers to be provided with masks and gloves.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out of the Democratic presidential race Wednesday, concluding a quest for the White House that began five years ago in relative obscurity but ultimately elevated him as a champion of the working class, a standard-bearer of American liberalism and the leader of a self-styled political revolution.

Sanders' exit establishes former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee to challenge President Donald Trump and leaves the progressive movement without a prominent voice in the 2020 race.

In a livestream Wednesday, Sanders was by turns gracious and resolute as he announced his decision. "I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," Sanders said.

Though he made it clear that he viewed Biden as the party's 2020 nominee, he said he would remain on the ballot in states that still have primaries and would continue to gather delegates.

"While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not," he added.

In a race reshaped, and eclipsed, by the coronavirus crisis, Sanders faced no realistic path to the nomination after a series of lopsided losses to Biden.

With the public health emergency preventing both candidates from holding in-person campaign events, Sanders spent the last several weeks on the sidelines, delivering addresses via livestream and making occasional television appearances, while facing calls from fellow Democrats to exit the race and help unify the party behind Biden. Though Biden had been careful not to pressure Sanders, he had begun to move ahead as if the race were over.

As Sanders pursued the White House for a second time, he promised that he could transform the electorate, bringing new voters under the Democratic tent, but that goal eluded him. Even Sanders has lamented that he was unable to produce a surge in young voters.

In early primaries this year, he also failed to show that he had remedied a crucial weakness from his 2016 run: a lack of support from black voters, a vital base of the Democratic Party. In state after state across the South, he was unable to chip away at Biden's strong support among African Americans.

In many ways, Sanders never overcame the widely held view that he was a political outlier, a self-described democratic socialist who proudly proclaimed himself to be an independent senator from Vermont rather than a member of the party establishment.

Sanders championed and popularized liberal policies like "Medicare for All" and free four-year public colleges aimed at lifting up America's working class, but he faced opposition from many party leaders, elected officials and major donors, as well as large numbers of moderate voters who saw him as too far left.

Sanders never accepted that argument. In recent weeks, he said repeatedly that he had won the ideological debate, asserting that a strong majority of Democrats supported his progressive agenda. But during a news conference in Burlington, Vt., last month, he also acknowledged that he was losing the electability battle to Biden, saying voters had made clear that they thought the former vice president was the best candidate to beat Trump.

His departure from the race is a striking turnaround for a candidate who less than two months ago was the clear front-runner, after finishing in a tie for first in Iowa and winning in New Hampshire and Nevada. And for a man who is loath to admit defeat, it is a concession that he saw no path to overcoming Biden and that he may have more leverage for his agenda if he ceded the race and joined forces with his rival.

Shortly after Sanders spoke, Biden issued a statement acknowledging his rival's contributions and thanking him for putting "the interest of the nation  and the need to defeat Donald Trump  above all else."

He also made gestures toward Sanders and his loyal base of liberal supporters, saying: "But we also want you to know: I'll be reaching out to you. You will be heard by me. As you say: Not me, us."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Sanders, 78, leaves the campaign having inspired the modern progressive movement with his expansive policy agenda and his impassioned message that "health care is a human right" and electrified a legion of loyal supporters who wholeheartedly embraced his promise to lift up those who need it most. He also transformed the way Democratic campaigns raised money, relying on an army of small-dollar donors.

But Sanders stirred deep unease among party leaders, convinced his proposals would alienate great swaths of the electorate and make him an easy target for Trump.

And while Sanders burst onto the political scene in 2015 as an insurgent populist, he no longer benefited from being the only alternative to an establishment he couldn't stand. He also faced a formidable rival in Biden, who was competing for white working-class voters, a critical slice of Sanders' constituency.

Even before Sanders announced in February 2019 that he was running again, there were indications his campaign would not be smooth. His media consulting team abruptly quit after clashing with him and his wife, Jane. Amid a slump in the polls in the fall, he suffered a heart attack in Las Vegas.

But in a remarkable turn of events, he received the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and it helped jump-start his candidacy.

The endorsement helped carry him through ate fall and early winter, infusing his campaign with momentum and lifting him in polls.

For several weeks, Sanders surged. Suddenly there was talk that Sanders would run away with the nomination. But his loss in South Carolina to Biden brought his momentum to an abrupt halt. Three days later, Sanders lost all of the Southern states voting on Super Tuesday as well as states like Massachusetts and Minnesota that he had expected to win.

The momentum had turned solidly to Biden.

By then, the coronavirus was disrupting the rest of the political calendar, forcing states to postpone their primaries until June.

But in the days leading up to his withdrawal from the race, some of Sanders' closest advisers began mapping out the financial and political considerations for him and what scenarios would give him the maximum amount of leverage for his policy proposals, and some concluded that it was more beneficial for him to suspend his campaign.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Listos California and Univision issued the following statements today upon releasing a series of ads across Univision platforms urging California's vast Spanish-speaking community to #StayHomeSaveLives.

The advertisements started Wednesday April 8, 2020 and will run for two weeks throughout Univision's statewide broadcast and digital properties. The campaign will encourage people to visit ListosCalifornia.org and the state's COVID19.ca.gov website for up-to-date information, and to use their time at home to actively give thought and take steps to prepare for other possible disasters like wildfire.

Listos California Co-Chairs Karen Baker and Justin Knighten :

"It is critical that every Californian hear the message that we all need to stay home to save lives, and these ads will help promote that message. Our collaboration with Univision builds on Listos California's mission to effectively reach all Californians, especially those who may be vulnerable or have language barriers, on the current COVID-19 crisis, and to encourage them to use their time at home to prepare for other emergencies like wildfire, earthquake and flood. We are in this together, and will get through this by reaching our communities with the information they need to stay safe and prepared."

President and General Manager, Univision Los Angeles Luis Patino :

"Univision's mission to inform and empower Hispanic America is even more crucial during times of crisis. Our company was proud to partner with Listos California from the inception of this campaign, from concept development to strategic ad placement. This ensures that Latinos across the state have easily accessible in-culture, in-language information they need to make the best decisions for themselves and their families during these uncertain times."

Listos California urges the public to Stay Home. Save Lives. and seek the latest information on COVID-19 from the California Department of Public Health. For up-to-date official information about Coronavirus, visit COVID19.ca.gov. For more information on other emergency preparedness steps, visit ListosCalifornia.org.

SOURCE Univision Communications Inc.
While Hale County offices have limited in-person services for guests and encouraged people to try to take care of business by phone, online or by mail, the Hale County Department of Motor Vehicles Office continues to get lots of foot traffic.

Roland Nash, Hale Countys Tax Assessor-Collector, said even though the state has put an order in place to waive penalties for vehicle registration compliance, many people continue showing up at the office to take care of business that could have waited or could have been handled through a different method.

Were still having quite a few people that are coming into the office, Nash said.

According to the txdmv.gov/covid-19 webpage, requirements for vehicle registration, titling and disabled parking placards are temporarily waived. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order setting those waivers in place on March 16. That order grants a 60-day extension from the date the Texas DMV announces resumption of regular operations.

This means that if your registration expired in March or April, you dont have to get it renewed yet, Nash said. If your 30-day temporary permit has expired, that can wait for renewal, too. There will be no penalty for those expirations right now.

If the expiration dates passed before March, those may not qualify for the exemption and should be renewed if they havent been already. Nash wants to remind people that these renewals can be made online, by mail and sometimes they can be settled by phone.

He also noted that vehicle inspections are currently being waived, too. This means those who do need to register a vehicle may not need to have proof of inspection.

The Plainview Police Department also confirmed that if a driver is stopped, they wont be cited for tags or placards that expired in March or April. There is a little leeway for those that expired earlier in 2020. If they expired in 2019, you may still face a citation.

The PD also noted that drivers licenses that expired on or after March 13 are also exempt from immediate renewal. A different order from Abbotts office provides the same grace period  60 days after the disaster declaration is lifted  for drivers to get those renewed.

Once its all passed, they still need to go get a safety inspection, Nash said. They are not forgiving this forever. This is a one-time forgiveness because for the disaster being declared.

The DMV Office has measures in place to limit how many people can be in the building at once to enforce social distancing and comply with orders to do so, Nash said. But despite those measures, the lines still form outside for business that can probably wait.

The DMV employees are always happy to help, Nash emphasized.

We really enjoy dealing with the public and interacting with them, he said.

But settling what you can by phone, by mail or online and limiting office visitors would help lower risk of spread of coronavirus and generally just be better right now for customers and for staff.

For additional questions, call (806)291-5276.
A nurse holds a sign during a demonstration in El Paso, Texas, on April 1, 2020. Gov. Abbott banned most abortions out of concern that all medical resources be used to fight COVID-19. (Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)

Abortion Advocates Skip Supreme Court to Undo Pandemic-Inspired Texas Ban

Abortion advocates have, at least for now, decided not to challenge in the Supreme Court a temporary emergency ban on abortions in Texas enacted while the state combats the CCP virus.

The move saves the high court from taking on a case fraught with controversy during a presidential election year.

On March 4, before preventive lockdowns had been ordered across the United States, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in June Medical Services LLC v. Russo. The litigation challenges a Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges close to where the procedure takes place. The high court has yet to render a decision.

The move comes after a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 7 lifted U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakels temporary injunction blocking the Texas ban on most abortions during the current public health crisis.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, unveiled the emergency measure March 22 that forbids elective medical procedures, in an effort to conserve hospital space and personal protective equipment for care for patients who have COVID-19.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, also a Republican, said the next day that the ban covers abortions, except where the womans life or health is at risk. He warned that abortionists who continued operating in defiance of the ban would face criminal charges.

The Texas ban is considered one of the strictest of the temporary state-level abortion curbs. Violators could be fined $1,000 or jailed for 180 days.

Molly Duane, a staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, an organization that represents several of the affected abortion providers in the lawsuit, declined to answer questions during a telephone call and instead referred The Epoch Times to Kelly Krause, its U.S. press officer. Krause didnt immediately respond to inquiries.

Several media outlets cited a statement by Duane.

We believe this is the fastest way to resume full access to abortion in Texas, which is our number one priority, she reportedly said. The Fifth Circuit suggested there are outstanding factual questions about the impact of this order. During the last two weeks, abortion has been largely unavailable in Texas, and we have seen that the impact on patients is devastating.

Attorney Julie Murray of Planned Parenthood Federation of America said she had emailed The Epoch Times request to her colleagues in communications, who didnt respond by press time.

Instead of facing an uncertain outcome at the Supreme Court, the plaintiff abortion providers are moving forward with a motion to replace Yeakels temporary restraining order that was invalidated by the Fifth Circuit. The case, now before the Austin division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, is known as Planned Parenthood Center for Choice v. Abbott.

In a motion filed with the district court April 8, the plaintiffs argue that a temporary injunction blocking Abbotts executive order should be granted because the burdens imposed by the Executive Order in those circumstances far outweigh any benefits of barring these patients from obtaining an abortion during the month-long Executive Order, and, because of clinic crowding, potentially for weeks thereafter even if the Executive Order itself is not extended.

This injunctive relief is urgently needed to prevent further irreparable harm to Plaintiffs patients health and rights. The providers have already been forced to turn away hundreds of patients in need of abortion care for more than two weeks already, resulting in severe and ongoing harm to patients.

Texas opposes the motion for a new temporary restraining order.
OTTAWA - Canada could see the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic before autumn, according to federal projections, but only if strong physical distancing measures are strictly maintained the whole time.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam responds to a question during a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday April 7, 2020. With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Canada could see the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic before autumn, according to federal projections, but only if strong physical distancing measures are strictly maintained the whole time.

Even in that best-case scenario, the federal public health agency projects that a total of 4,400 to 44,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.

In the middle of that range, if 2.5 to 5 per cent of Canadians are infected in the course of the pandemic, the country would see 11,000 to 22,000 deaths.

If the containment measures Canadians are living under now are relaxed or abandoned, the death toll could be much, much higher, the agency says.

"These stark numbers tell us that we must do everything that we can now to stay in that best-case scenario," said chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam, in releasing the national projections Thursday morning in Ottawa.

Canada can't prevent every death, but it must prevent every death that it can, she said.

The agency released modelling data with different scenarios, warning that what happens depends very much on how Canadians behave to keep the respiratory illness from spreading.

"Models are not a crystal ball and cannot predict what will happen," said Tam.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says short-term estimates are more reliable, and it anticipates 500 to 700 total deaths in Canada by the end of next week.

The model for the best-case scenario suggests between 1 and 10 per cent of the population will be infected, and the epidemic will peak nationally sometime between late spring and early summer.

If the infection rate reaches 2.5 per cent of Canada's population, leading to an estimated 73,000 hospitalizations, the health system will begin to have difficulty coping, Tam said.

Public health officials don't yet know if Canada is trending toward the best-case scenario, but Tam said the country stands a good chance of falling into that zone.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu acknowledged the news and uncertainty about Canada's future is distressing, though individual Canadians can help push the country toward a better outcome.

"That fear is real, but it will take the courage of all of us to maintain the practices that public health has prescribed us," Hajdu said.

Even after we've reached the peak number of infections, aggressive physical distancing measures would need to stay in place until the wave recedes completely.

"If we let up, new waves of transmission will take off in our high-risk susceptible population and the epidemic will re-ignite," Tam said.

The model is based on an aggregate of provincial figures and projections, and Tam said the pandemic will play out differently in different parts of the country.

As for what comes next, Tam suggested that will also vary from region to region. Canada will eventually begin to carefully lift the strict measures that are in place now, but they may have to be reinstated as new outbreaks flare.

Those flare-ups could continue for months, until a vaccine is distributed or the majority of the population is immune, Tam said.

"All I can say is that it will be a very cautious approach," Tam said.

The border between Canada and the United States is likely to remain closed to non-essential travel for some time to make sure Canada stays on the right trajectory, Tam said.

America's outbreak has been far more widespread, with 427,460 cases, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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"We can't adjust any of (the border controls) until weve seen not just what happens within the Canadian context but definitely whats happening on the other side of the border," Tam said.

Hajdu added that the pandemic is global, and won't end until all countries have taken the right measures to stop the spread and prevent future outbreaks.

To that end, Canada will have to make tests for the virus far more available to detect and stamp out new chains of transmission as they appear, Tam said.

Canada has the benefit of being at an earlier stage of the epidemic compared to other countries, and can learn from their experiences when it comes to lifting extreme isolation measures, she said.

Already, Canada's curve appears to be bending in the right direction, but Tam warned that could change at any time if any part of the country lets up.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.
E amonn Holmes has argued that bus drivers and other essential workers should be given protective clothing to wear during the coronavirus crisis.

Fourteen people who worked for public transport in London have so far died from Covid-19, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed on Wednesday, with nine of them bus drivers.

Khan has said that the protective measures on London buses are the most enhanced measures of any buses across the country, with anti-viral disinfectant used to make sure everything is clean and a perspex barrier between the driver and the passengers.

Transport for London is also piloting a scheme which will see passengers use the back door to board buses.

Celebrities supporting Clap for Carers to battle Coronavirus 1 /14 Celebrities supporting Clap for Carers to battle Coronavirus Naomie Harris @naomieharris The Beckham Family @davidbeckham Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz @rachelweisz1 Amanda Holden @noholdenback Ben Whishaw @benwhishaw Katie Price with her son Harvey @katieprice Stacey Solomon @staceysolomon Stacey Solomon @staceysolomon Frankie Bridge and her family @frankiebridge Gemma Collins @gemmacollins

Reflecting on the issue in a Twitter post shared on Wednesday night, This Morning star Holmes, 60, wrote: Been thinking about the 15 Bus Drivers who have died .... and thinking about any of you out there who have to do what you do to bring a wage home ....

This B*****d Corona Fecker is really making me angry now ...... How dare it ruin so many lives ? How dare it ! [sic]

Responding to a followers post, he then wrote: All the deaths are tragic, absolutely heartbreaking but either protect bus drivers, posties, cabbies, shop workers, refuse collectors etc etc or dont send them out at all.

Trade Unions need to be heeded on this surely.

Earlier this week Holmes, who is continuing to present This Morning with wife Ruth Langsford on Fridays, offered to listen to his social media followers struggles with the current crisis.

Anybody struggling out there? he wrote on Twitter. Physically or mentally? Cant get to sleep? Here for a few minutes if you want a word.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly briefs the press about the Navy's response to COVID-19, at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 1, 2020.

WASHINGTON  Former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's trip to Guam, during which he ridiculed a captain who sounded the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on a U.S. warship, may cost taxpayers $243,000, NBC News reported, citing a Navy official.

Modly's 35-hour trip on a Gulfstream 550 came on the heels of his decision to relieve USS Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier, whose letter pleading for help to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus aboard the aircraft carrier was leaked to the media.

The ship was forced to dock in Guam and at least 230 crewmembers tested positive for the disease. Audio of Modly's surprise address to the crew also was leaked, triggering calls for his resignation.

The Pentagon and the Office of the Navy did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

In the address, delivered via the ship's loudspeaker, Modly doubled down on his decision to relieve Crozier and called the former vessel's captain "naive" and "stupid." Hours later Modly issued an apology to the Navy.

"I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused," he said in a statement Monday.

A day later, Modly handed in his resignation to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Esper announced on Tuesday that he had tapped James McPherson, undersecretary of the Army, to be the new acting Navy secretary.

"He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward," Esper said. "I have the deepest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else. Secretary Modly did that today, and I wish him all the best."

When asked Thursday during a Pentagon press briefing who approved Modly's trip to Guam, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist explained that as a senior leader "Modly would have the authority to travel as needed to see the mission."

"I think we want to be very careful about signaling to people that senior leaders shouldn't be getting out in the field and seeing what's going on. I think that it is very difficult if you are all the time in the Pentagon," Norquist added.
Mumbai, April 9 : With all elections postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday passed a resolution requesting Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a Member of Legislative Council, official sources said.

The state cabinet, presided over by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar passed the unanimous resolution of the three Maha Vikas Aghadi allies -- Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress.

Thackeray, who took oath as the CM on Nov. 28 last year, is currently not a member of either House of the legislature.

As per the Constitution, he must get elected to either House of the legislature -- the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council -- within six months to continue in his post.

In the past few days, there was intense speculation that Thackeray may be compelled to resign from his post if he did not become a member of either House by May 28, possibly resulting in a huge Constitutional deadlock.

However, such a possibility may have receded with the state cabinet formally deciding to request the Governor to nominate the CM to the upper house from his quota of two seats currently lying vacant.

Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said the decision was taken to avert a constitutional crisis in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The CM was not present at today's cabinet meeting which was presided over by the Deputy CM for the resolution to this effect," Malik told mediapersons.

Political circles said it would be a major blow to the administration if Thackeray would have been compelled to go out of the picture as the state grapples with its biggest challenge -- the Covid-19 pandemic raging in Maharashtra with the highest number of casualties and positive cases in the country.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday drew the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the plight of migrant works from the state in the United Arab Emirates caught in the coronavirus pandemic, ANI reported.

He requested Modi to take up the matter with the UAE government to ensure that the workers are taken care of.

The United Arab Emirates has recorded more than 2,000 positive cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths, according to AFP.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

Out of the 2.8 million Indian migrants in UAE, 1 million are from Kerala. It is learned that the situation in Dubai is worsening. We are receiving number of complaints of inadequate isolation and quarantine facilities and apprehensions are raised about the imminent community spread of the disease, Vijayan wrote.

.majority of Keralites are blue collar workers and living in crowded facilities in Dubai and therefore the probability of spreading of the disease is very high. I would request that this matter be taken up with the UAE government urgently so as to ensure adequate food, medicines, quarantine and emergency service facilities to Indian diaspora in Dubai, the letter said.

Prime Minister Modi shares a great rapport with UAEs Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In August last year, he was conferred the Order of Zayed, UAEs highest civilian award, by the Crown Prince who also expressed gratitude to his brother for visiting his second home and for his efforts to boost bilateral ties India and the UAE.

The UAE is Indias third-largest trade partner with annual bilateral trade of about $60 billion. It is also the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil to India.
A touching letter from Princess Diana with the scrawled signatures from young Princes William and Harry has emerged for sale for 16,000.

The handwritten note from the Princess was sent to thank a police sergeant for putting on a motorbike display for William's birthday party.

The boys - then aged seven and four - added their names to the bottom in scrawled handwriting.

Sergeant George Plumb of the Metropolitan Police and the Special Escort Group put on the dazzling display for William, Harry and their friends in the grounds of Kensington Palace in 1989.

A touching letter from Princess Diana with the scrawled signatures from young Princes William and Harry has emerged for sale

The handwritten note from the Princess was sent to thank a police sergeant for putting on a motorbike display for William's birthday party

Diana's letter is dated June 21, 1989 and written on Kensington Palace headed paper.

It reads: 'Dear Sgt Plumb, It was so very kind of you and your team to have come here today on William's birthday - I cannot begin to tell you what pleasure the display gave to all those little people and their mothers!

'I know how particularly busy you all are at the moment, so it meant even more to us that you and the motorbike boys were able to take part in the birthday celebrations!

'This comes with our warmest possible thanks. Yours sincerely Diana, William, Harry.'

The comment about the team being 'busy' refers to the fact there was public transport workers' strikes taking place in London at the time, affecting rail, underground and bus services.

Sergeant George Plumb put on the dazzling display for William, Harry and their friends in the grounds of Kensington Palace in 1989. Pictured: Prince Harry's first day of school in 1989

William and Harry were both keen bikers from a young age and later each purchased powerful machines to ride at weekends.

William is said to have owned a Ducati 1198s and Harry a Ducati 848 - with top speeds of 180mph and 166mph, respectively - leading Prince Charles to express concern in 2010 at his sons' obsession with motorbikes.

In 2008 the heirs to the throne took part in an arduous motorcycle rally across Africa to raise money for a variety of charities including Sentebale, which was jointly founded by Prince Harry.

The Special Escort Group provides armed motorcycle escorts for members of the royal family, visiting royals, heads of state and other visiting dignitaries.

They are skilled riders who carry firearms and are trained to combat terrorists.

The letter is being sold by auctioneers William George Auctions of Peterborough.

Diana's letter is dated June 21, 1989 and written on Kensington Palace headed paper

The auctioneers said of the item: 'This letter comes personally signed by Diana Princes of Wales, H.R.H Prince William and H.R.H Prince Harry, dated 21st June 1989.

'It is on Kensington Palace headed paper, addressed to Sgt George Plumb Special Escort Group in Diana's hand writing.

'It thanks Sgt Plumb and his team who put on a superb display by the Precision Motorbike display team of the special escort group, for Prince William's 7th Birthday.

'She was particularly grateful to the team for being able to fit this on a day already full of official engagements, which was not helped by the rail, underground and bus strikes.'

The items are being sold by a private London-based collector who acquired them from Sgt Plumb three years ago.

They will be sold in an online auction that will end on April 23.
By Trend

The CLARA system can currently be applied to 50 species of plants and livestock, Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA), Trend reports with reference to the association.

The system, adapted to the local market, provides a flexible, standardized and quick assessment of credit risk for customers in the entire agricultural sector of Azerbaijan.

Leading non-bank lending organizations engaged in agricultural lending, such as Aqrarkredit CJSC, ?nki?af ucun Maliyy? LLC, Viator Mikrokredit Az?rbaycan LLC and Qafqaz Kredit LLC have already started using CLARA.

CLARA is an online software service designed for banks and non-bank credit organizations (NBCOs) lending farmers. CLARA simplifies, increases and accelerates risk assessment for agricultural loans, providing the user with a number of options, such as agricultural liquidity prediction, testing, formation of flexible assumptions and a set of tools for financial analysis, said AMFA.

According to the report, in accordance with the agreement signed by the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank Group, AMFAs credit organizations will increase agricultural lending.

In particular, AMFA members will be able to use CLARA IFC, a Cash Flow Assessment Tool that automates risk assessment and the lending process, to provide farmers with easier access to finance.

Despite the creating possibilities for using this tool, IFC organizes workshops for NBCOs that join CLARA to make better use of the tool. AMFA's subsidiary, Finance and Social Innovation Consulting LLC, provides technical support to NBCOs. Given that microfinance organizations in Azerbaijan need deeper knowledge in the field of agricultural lending, CLARA will help improve the access of micro and small agribusinesses to financing, the association said.
West Linn Police Chief Terry Kruger was placed on administrative leave Wednesday after the City Council voted to hire an outside firm to investigate how the city handled Portland resident Michael Fessers wrongful arrest and discrimination allegations against the police.

Kruger became embroiled in the scandal shortly after The Oregonian/OregonLive revealed in February that the city had paid $600,000 to Fesser to settle his lawsuit.

West Linn police arrested Fesser in February 2017 at the behest of the citys then-Chief Terry Timeus. Timeus ordered the theft investigation as a favor to a fishing buddy, Eric Benson, a West Linn resident and longtime owner of A&B Towing Co., based in Southeast Portland. Benson was Fessers boss at A&B Towing and targeted Fesser because he had complained about racist comments and harassment at work.

Documents obtained from a public records request showed Kruger also had a personal relationship with Fessers ex-boss, Benson.

Transcripts released last week of West Linn City Council executive sessions also revealed that Kruger had vigorously defended his departments arrest of Fesser in two closed-door sessions with the West Linn mayor and council.

Interim City Manager John Williams announced in a prepared statement that Kruger would remain on paid administrative leave during the course of the investigation "in order to further ensure a complete, fair and impartial investigation.'' Capt. Peter Mahuna has been named acting police chief.

Kruger did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday night.

The city is seeking to hire an outside investigator to examine how the city manager, mayor, city attorney and council handled Fessers case since the city received his initial notice to sue the city in June 2018. Fessers case already has prompted at least four federal, state and local criminal and civil rights investigations into the actions of the West Linn officers involved.

West Linns interim city manager said the scope of the outside investigation isnt intended to overlap the criminal or civil rights investigations underway.

"Administrative leave ensures that all parties have the opportunity to clearly and completely answer questions and explain their actions. It is not a determination of wrongdoing on the part of Chief Kruger or anyone else,'' Williams said in a statement. "Any such determination can only be made after the investigation is complete.''

City Council members said they were kept in the dark about the details of the litigation. Theyre calling for greater independent oversight of the West Linn Police Department, ongoing briefings about the activities of the city police and want to create a new diversity, equity and inclusion task force.

Historically, theres been a well-intended policy of keeping the amount of information the council has, limited,'' City Attorney Tim Ramis said during a council work session this week. "That needs to be changed.''

Council President Teri Cummings complained it was almost as if the council was "basically being sequestered, almost as if it was none of our business. We had no idea what the city attorney was doing on the Fesser case.''

Kruger was not chief of police at the time of Fessers arrest in 2017. Fessers notice of his intent to sue was delivered to Kruger on his first day as West Linns police chief, on June 4, 2018. Kruger, a longtime West Linn resident, had retired from Portland Police Bureau as a lieutenant in April 2016.

Fesser argued in his notice to sue the city and his subsequent lawsuit that he became the target of an unwarranted West Linn police investigation after he had complained of racial harassment on the job at A&B Towing Co.

The notice and ongoing litigation also uncovered that Benson had exchanged racist, derogatory and crude messages with Tony Reeves, the lead West Linn detective in the case, just hours before, during and after Fessers arrest.

Upon receiving Fessers notice of his plan to sue the city, Kruger asked then-Police Capt. Neil Hennelly to manage an internal investigation into Reeves.

As a result of the internal inquiry, Reeves received a written reprimand for using profane and derogatory language in text messages with Fessers boss and failing to document items he seized from Fesser after his arrest, according to newly released records.

But West Linns internal police investigation found no evidence that Reeves violated the departments policy prohibiting discrimination, oppression or favoritism.

Fessers lawyer, Paul Buchanan, has questioned why Kruger assigned Hennelly to manage the internal investigation of Reeves when Hennelly had been one of the police supervisors who oversaw Reeves determination that probable cause existed to arrest Fesser as he left work at A&B Towing on Feb. 25, 2017, according to West Linn documents.

Kruger repeatedly described the police investigation into Fesser as lawful and warranted in two executive sessions with the City Council.

His statements to council members behind closed doors seemed to contradict Krugers statement earlier this year to The Oregonian/OregonLive that he had recused himself from Fessers case as soon as the Fesser litigation was brought before me.

After West Linns settlement with Fesser became public in February, Kruger placed Reeves on paid administrative leave pending the federal and county criminal and civil rights investigations.

Fessers lawyer said he was pleased Kruger was placed on leave.

"Chief Kruger chose to take a circle-the-wagons approach to this case,'' Buchanan said. "He minimized the arresting officers misconduct, and only at a very late stage of the case - after presiding over the slap on the wrist disciplinary response - did he announce that, all the while, he had a personal relationship with a central figure.''

Former West Linn Lt. Mike Stradley, also a retired Portland cop who helped get Portlands gang enforcement officers to assist West Linn police in Fessers arrest in 2017, was also placed on paid leave from his job this year as a training supervisor for police recruits at the state Department of Public Safety Standards & Training as federal and state investigations were initiated into Fessers case.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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Although Barr has appeared twice at White House coronavirus briefings, his comments to Fox News were the most extensive yet that he has made on the public health crisis and the steps the government has taken to stem it. Repeatedly, Ingraham pressed the countrys top law enforcement official on how the governments actions comport with Americans constitutional rights to gather and worship freely. Churches, like other businesses, have been essentially closed in the crisis.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has confirmed 1,989 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the statewide total to 18,228.

At least 338 people have died due to the virus, including 29 new deaths reported today.

The number of new cases represents a one-day high. The health department released new numbers today.

At least 26 patients have died in the Harrisburg region, including three new deaths reported today by the health department. The new deaths were reported in Lancaster, York and Adams counties. This marks the first death in Adams County, according to state figures.

The state reported 87,374 have tested negative for the virus. Cases have been confirmed in all of Pennsylvanias 67 counties.

A closer look

In the Harrisburg region, Lancaster County leads the midstate with 596 cases and 17 deaths. York County is second with 250 cases and 3 deaths.

Heres a look at the cases in the other counties in the Harrisburg region: Lebanon (187 cases); Dauphin (180 cases and 2 deaths); Cumberland (88 cases and 2 deaths); Franklin (52 cases); Adams (38 cases and 1 death); and Perry (15 cases and 1 death).

The virus has spread throughout the commonwealth but some areas are being hit harder than others. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Wednesday areas of particular concern include the Philadelphia region, the Lehigh Valley and northeastern Pennsylvania.

The city of Philadelphia now has more than 5,000 patients diagnosed with the virus and 86 deaths. Neighboring Montgomery County has had nearly 1,700 patients diagnosed with 37 deaths.

Lehigh County has 1,466 cases and 13 deaths. In northeastern Pennsylvania, Luzerne County has 1,241 cases and 12 deaths.

In western Pennsylvania, Allegheny County has 759 cases and 12 deaths.

On the upside, Levine said Wednesday data shows there has been some flattening of the curve and the state is no longer seeing the exponential growth of the virus.

Gov. Tom Wolf has said the flattening is cause for optimism but the public should continue to practice social distancing.

We do not have this virus under control, Wolf said Wednesday. Now is not the time to get complacent.

Schools closed for the year

Earlier today, Wolf announced Pennsylvania schools wont reopen this spring. Pennsylvanias 1.7 million students will spend the rest of the academic year receiving remote instruction. The governors order covers public, private and charter schools.

Wolf has taken a host of other aggressive steps to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The governor has issued a statewide order directing Pennsylvanians to stay at home, except for essential trips. The order is in effect until April 30.

Wolf has also shut down businesses that are not deemed life sustaining. Businesses and trade groups have argued the order is too broad and is shuttering companies that provide critical goods and services. Thousands of companies have applied for waivers but critics contend the decisions have been inconsistent.

Some lawmakers are pushing legislation that would allow more businesses to reopen. Many Republican lawmakers argue its necessary to avert an economic catastrophe. Democratic lawmakers contend that easing up on social distancing now could be a public health disaster.

The virus and the response efforts have taken a toll on the states economy. More than 1.1 million unemployment claims have been filed since March 15. Nationwide, more than 16.6 million people - roughly 1 in 10 American workers - have lost jobs since the outbreak began.

Most people recover from the coronavirus but the health department does not offer statistics on how many recover. Most who contract the virus dont require hospital care but older residents are more susceptible for more serious complications. The state has said hospitals inform the health department when patients are diagnosed but dont say when they are discharged.

More from PennLive

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By Trend

There is no need to declare the state of emergency in Azerbaijan yet, Spokesperson for the Cabinet of Ministers Ibrahim Mammadov said.

Mammadov made the remark in Baku during the briefing at the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8.

The spokesman added that this issue is to be regulated by the Azerbaijani law about emergency state.

"The head of state will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of citizens, Mammadov said. If necessary, any decision is possible."

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Police have lodged an FIR against 11 Tablighi Jamaat foreign preachers on charges of violation of visa rules and 21-day nationwide lockdown, an official said here on Wednesday.

The three Jamaat preachers from China and eight from Kyrgyzstan are currently in institutional quarantine at Police Constable Training Centre (PCTC) at Swaspur under Jadugora police station area in East Singhbhum district. They were caught hiding in a mosque at Rargaon on Ranchi-Tata NH-33 under Tamar PS area on March 24 night and brought to PCTC where they have in quarantine since then. They had come to Ranchi from New Delhi on March 19.

We filed an FIR against the 11 foreign preachers on charges of violating visa rules and nationwide lockdown. The case has been filed under sections 188, 269 and 270 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 14(b) of Foreigners Act, 1946. Further action will be initiated as per the guidelines of the higher authorities, said Rajiv Ranjan, Jadugora PS officer incharge.

Jamshedpur senior superintendent of police Anoop Birthare confirmed the development and said passports of all the 11 foreign preachers have been seized and they would be kept under custody in PCTC quarantine centre for a 28-day period. After their quarantine period is over, we will produce them in court and send to judicial custody whereas they too can appeal for bail, said Birthare. Police have sent detailed report to the Union ministry of external affairs and home ministry in the matter and further action would be initiated as per their guidelines, he added.

East Singhbhum civil surgeon Dr Maheshwar Prasad said the second Covid-19 test reports of these 11 foreign preachers have also come negative.

As per official records, a total of 111 people linked to Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined in East Singhbhum district, while 18 have been quarantined in West Singhbhum and 10 in Seraikela-Kharsawan district. Teams of IB and CID had visited the PCTC quarantine facility and interrogated all the 11 preachers on March 27.

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THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Woodlands Insurance Company (TWICO) is pleased to announce that it has completed a renewal rights agreement with Gulfstream Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Gulfstream) to acquire Gulfstream's book of homeowner business in Texas.

The transaction will result in the transfer of approximately $4 million of in-force gross written premium to TWICO. TWICO will begin offering renewal terms for policies falling due for renewal on or after June 1, 2020.

Gordy Bunch, President of TWICO commented, "This renewal rights agreement further strengthens TWICO's market-leading position in homeowners' business in Texas. The book we are acquiring from Gulfstream complements our own portfolio and provides a unique opportunity to deepen and broaden our distribution network. We are looking forward to providing Gulfstream agents and producers with a seamless transition to TWICO, and to offer Texas insureds our comprehensive all-in-one homeowner coverage."

Ron "Nate" Natherson, President of Gulfstream, added, "We are very pleased that we can enter into this arrangement with TWICO as it provides our insureds and agency partners the ability to renew their business with a highly respected insurer who will deliver quality service to them. To maximize the benefits of this transaction to all parties, we are committed to working in partnership with TWICO and our clients over the next year to expediently transfer these accounts to TWICO."

About The Woodlands Insurance Company

The Woodlands Insurance Co. (TWICO), located in The Woodlands, Texas, is a preeminent "A" rated carrier that offers qualifying households an "all-in-one" homeowners policy, which includes flood insurance, home systems protection, service line protection, identity theft, and home cyber protection endorsements. Founded in 2014 by Richard F. "Gordy" Bunch III, TWICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of TWFG Holding Company, LLC, which includes TWFG Insurance Services LLC, TWFG General Agency LLC and TWFG Premium Finance LLC. For more information, visit www.twico.com.

About Gulfstream Insurance Company

Founded in 2004, Gulfstream, a Sarasota, Florida based insurance company, provides homeowners' insurance and related services to customers in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. The company has consistently earned a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) of "A Exceptional" by independent rating agency Demotech. For more information, please visit www.gspcic.com.

For more information, please contact:

Alex Bunch, TWICO Chief Marketing Officer, [email protected], 281-466-1661

Katherine Nolan, TWFG Chief Operating Officer, [email protected], 281-466-1117

SOURCE The Woodlands Financial Group

Related Links

http://www.gspcic.com


Frederictonian Faye Simmonds moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 2015 when the country was on the heels of dealing with an Ebola outbreak. Now she's watching first hand as the country prepares to deal with its next outbreak, the coronavirus.

As of Wednesday, there were just seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the West African country, but Simmonds said people are already taking it very seriously.

"When you go into any bank, or market, or grocery store here, there's always a hand-washing station up front," she said. "There's often somebody that takes your temperature before you enter the store, there's somebody that's spraying the handles of your shopping basket."

While there aren't as many restrictions in place as in Canada, she said, the Ebola outbreak, which killed almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone, is still fresh in the minds of people, so they are being extremely careful.

Counter-measures readily accepted

"These are measures that went into place basically overnight, and nobody really bats an eye at them because we remember it from Ebola  this is what happened not too long ago."

Simmonds completed her master's in global affairs and moved to West Africa to work with an international non-governmental organization to help deal with the Ebola crisis.

As much as people in Sierra Leone understand the severity of the situation, there is concern the country won't be able to handle an outbreak.

"We know that the health system is weak, we know that there's not enough resources or capacity in the country to handle a wide-scale outbreak the way that we see across the world," she said.

Sierra Leone was under a three-day lock down earlier this month when the first few confirmed cases were reported.

Simmonds said there was a quick response by the government to trace anyone who may have been in contact with those who tested positive for the virus.

Michael Duff/Associated Press

"[Government] really got a handle on any testing that they needed to do, and ensured that those people that needed to go into isolation, did go into isolation."

Story continues

Simmonds was travelling from Nigeria back to Sierra Leone as part of her work a couple of weeks ago as the borders were shutting down.

She said the window to decide whether she should go back to Canada was short, and she made the choice to stay in Freetown, despite family in Atlantic Canada urging her to return home.

Keeping to her apartment

"I really felt that the risks outweighed the rewards," Simmonds said, adding that she would have had to travel through Europe during the outbreak and that wasn't something she wanted to risk.

Ultimately, she decided to stay in her apartment with her boyfriend and their dog, and she's not too worried about her situation right now.

"I'm not stressed out," Simmonds said.

"I take it day by day. Like anyone else, I have periods of anxiety when I think about what it could be."

Simmonds said it's been interesting watching the country prepare for a coronavirus outbreak by repurposing some of the protocols in place a few years ago to handle the Ebola outbreak, and she believes things are in a better place now than they were then.
OTTAWA - Canadas energy minister will speak to his U.S. and Mexican counterparts Thursday in a bid to form a common front ahead of talks aimed at ending the global oil-price wars.

But Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland refused Wednesday to say whether Canada would consider slapping import duties on oil from Saudi Arabia or Russia if they dont agree to curb production to respond to the drastic drop in demand for oil.

U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening such tariffs from his end and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said last week he would like to pursue concepts like an import tariff on foreign oil thats been dumped into the North American market during the crash in demand.

Kenney also wants a continental energy policy to help North America fight what he says are predatory pricing practices of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.

Ive begun that discussion with American officials, Kenney told the Alberta legislature April 1.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus ORegan is set to talk with the energy secretaries in Washington and Mexico City by phone Thursday, a day before G20 energy ministers are to hold virtual talks about oil prices.

Freeland said working with the U.S. is a critical part of Canadas energy plans, because the fossil-fuel sectors in both countries are so intertwined. Freeland however would not support or disavow the idea of tariffs, even as she said the actions by Russia and Saudi Arabia have had unfortunate consequences on the global oil market.

I chose my words carefully, Freeland said, when a reporter noted she didnt answer the question about tariffs the first time.

We are very focused on this issue. Its an important issue for Canada and the world.

While the United States was the origin of almost three-quarters of Canadas oil imports in 2019, Statistics Canada trade data shows Saudi Arabia was No. 2, supplying 15 per cent of imports and Russia was third with three per cent. Canadian refineries brought in more than 37 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia, valued at more than $3 billion, and 6.5 million barrels from Russia, with a total value of almost $555 million.

Canadas political relationship with each country is fraught with tension even on good days.

World oil prices plummeted in recent weeks, as COVID-19 grounded airplanes, moored cruise ships, closed manufacturing plants and led billions of people to work from home. But instead of agreeing to curb production, Saudi Arabia and Russia increased their supplies. The ensuing glut of oil pushed prices lower than they have been in almost two decades.

In Canada, where Western Canadian Select oil always trades for less than most other oil products, the price of a barrel of oil dipped lower than the price of an expensive latte or beer last week. Its trading for about US$8 a barrel this week.

The current situation is a real problem for Canada and we are working to find ways to resolve it, said Freeland.

Canadas oil and gas sectors together contribute about seven per cent of Canadas economic activity, with more than 800,000 jobs. Albertas provincial budget for the year assumed the price of oil would be several times what it is now.

Saudi and Russian envoys were to have talked Monday about the situation, but that didnt happen. The talks, being held remotely because of COVID-19, were rescheduled for Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2020.
Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the largest real estate developers in Bahrain, has announced the launch of its new virtual property advisor service, enabling customers to remotely obtain online real estate advisory services, in line with the kingdoms precautionary measures to battle Covid-19.

Aimed at creating a long term and sustainable township, Diyar Al Muharraq is located on the northern shores of Muharraq and comprises 7 reclaimed islands of 10 sq km and a total area spanning 12 sq km.

Upon completion, it will encompass over 40 km of waterfront with sandy beaches, and all the elements of a vibrant community ranging extensively from fully equipped educational facilities and schools, medical centres, recreation facilities, shopping malls, expansive parklands, hotels and marinas.

Through this new service, customers can view any offers brought by Diyar Al Muharraq, in addition to finding the right plot or villa according to their needs, simply by choosing a date and time to book an online session with an advisor, where they can begin touring beautiful and luxurious Al Bareh and Al Naseem villas from the convenience of their homes, stated the Bahrain developer.

Commenting on the initiative, CEO Engineer Ahmed Alammadi said: "We have been closely monitoring the situation, since the global outbreak of Covid-19. The health of our customers, employees, and our society as a whole is our utmost priority."

"In line with that and following the directives of the esteemed government and the national team tirelessly working to contain the situation with minimal losses, we have decided to launch our very own Virtual Property Advisor service, contributing to the companys business continuity, and simultaneously supporting property seekers and providing them with easy and hassle-free online real estate advisory sessions," stated Alammadi.

With the launch of this new service, customers can now book an appointment to speak to a virtual advisor, in addition to taking a virtual tour of the Al Naseem project, which expands over an area of approximately 328,000 sqm, encompassing 5 km of stunning waterfront views, overlooking the interior and exterior water channels, he added.

The tax-free villas are a part of Diyar Al Muharraqs wide range freehold offerings for all nationalities, approximately ranging between 250 to 365 sqm. The projects commercial side includes a luxurious mixed-use seafront promenade, combined with the finest and most luxurious shops and facilities, in addition to the variety of restaurants and cafes for residents and visitors to fully experience the soul of the Al Naseem project.

Additionally, customers can now book an appointment to speak to a virtual advisor, in addition to taking a virtual tour of the Al Bareh project, which offers freehold villas and plots for all nationalities, overlooking the main water channel and beautiful seas. The project includes residential waterfront and non-waterfront plots approximately ranging from 300 sqm to 1811 sqm, in addition to residential investments plots. The project also its residents a community with a wide range of facilities and outdoor spaces for recreational purposes.
The Japanese government again called on the business community to cooperate in increasing the production of medical supplies, such as masks and respirators, which have been in short supply as the coronavirus continues to spread.

Although economic organizations are ready to cooperate, there are many issues that need to be tackled, including regulations and technological capabilities.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama held talks with Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi and Kengo Sakurada, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) on Tuesday.

"The shortage will continue. Countries are fighting [for medical supplies] around the world," Kajiyama said, explaining the reason for the current shortage of masks and protective clothing.

"We would like to ask companies who usually do not make medical supplies to cooperate as well," Kajiyama said, asking for cooperation in supplying manufacturing equipment and dispatching engineers.

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsu- nobu Kato, who was also present at the meeting, said, "We want other industries to help us."

"Medical devices aren't so easy, there are licensing issues and other matters," Nakanishi said. "I want to make an all-out effort because it is a national crisis."

Sharp Corp., a major consumer electronics maker, is set to enter the mask production market. Toyota Motor Corp. also said it will start producing "face shields" for medical professionals by using a 3D printer usually used to make prototype car parts. The company will also produce masks at the factories of group companies such as Denso Corp. and Toyota Boshoku Corp.

However, the production of protective clothing and other products has been slow because of a shortage of workers. In addition, there are only a few domestic manufacturers and experts with the capability to produce the ventilators that are necessary for patients with severe pneumonia, and there is no prospect of new entrants.
As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, China's response has been at the centre of most debates and discussions. Chinese Communist Party's opacity in dealing with this crisis in its initial weeks, its ham-handed manner of treating whistleblowers, its use of information as a tool of diplomatic leverage and then after its recovery, its attempts to portray itself as a saviour of the beleaguered nations has generated an intense global debate. After all, the very future of the global order is at stake and here is a country that is ostensibly aiming to emerge as the global hegemon.

Inept management

This deliberation is happening when America and its political leadership has shown itself as inept in managing its domestic crisis emerging out of the contagion as well as its global fallout. For a country viewed as the last port of call whenever global crises emerged in the past, it has now been found wanting in the most serious crisis since the end of the Second World War. The US is emerging out of this crisis as a power diminished in credibility if not in its capacity, to manage such a profound situation. It is now the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, surpassing China and Italy, though the peak of the outbreak in the US still possibly remains months away.

US President Donald Trump's leadership so far has been defined more by its absence. For weeks, he refused to treat the pandemic with the seriousness it deserved. In fact, till a few days back, he was suggesting that the early fatality numbers in the US were much less than those from the flu or even automobile accidents. "We lose thousands of people a year to the flu," Trump argued in order to convince the country that a lockdown was not needed. "We never turn the country off." In fact, he was hopeful that the US could begin to reopen businesses by the Easter holiday this week.

Trump administration's recklessness was on full display early on when, after the first few cases in the US, it did not show any sense of urgency but maintained that the situation was under control and would dissipate in the summer "like a miracle". Trump seemed more interested in picking petty fights on Twitter with Democratic state governors who called for more stringent measures. And then, as the situation deteriorated, America's domestic capacity problems got severely exposed with inadequate medical supplies and insufficient testing.

Glossing over facts

Now, American public health officials are projecting the number of deaths in the country to be between 1,00,000 and 2,00,000. This sobering reality dawned on Trump only last week, when he was forced to acknowledge the worst saying "I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead" and that "this is going to be a very, very painful two weeks."

The US Congress has passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which is the largest stimulus package in its history aimed at reviving a pandemic battered economy. This rare bipartisanship is also likely to result in another bill on infrastructure investment and additional healthcare benefits but political strains are quite visible. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, has announced a new House committee would examine "all aspects" of the federal response to the pandemic, not ruling out an investigation in the style of the commission on the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Trump has shot back by calling it a "witch hunt" and deriding it as partisan politics.

New reality

That American polity's response to the crisis would be shaped by the undercurrents of partisan politics is to be expected, given that this is an election year and stakes are high for Trump and the Democrats. Recent opinion polls reflect this, as well with 94 per cent of Republicans approving Trump's handling of the crisis, compared with 27 per cent of Democrats. Trump's approval stands at 49 per cent, quite high by his standards and in a time of highly polarised domestic political landscape. As the crisis unfolds further in the days and months ahead, Trump's handling of it will have profound bearing on the November elections.

For the world at large, questions about America's global leadership are becoming more serious. China, with all its faults, is presenting a model of global leadership, which may seem very attractive to a large part of the world even as America's claim to global pre-eminence is seemingly more dubious by the day. Trump is busy picking fights with close allies like Germany and France by diverting medical supplies meant for these countries by outbidding the original buyers as well as with Canada and Latin America by forcing American companies to stop exporting hospitalgrade N95 masks to them. The fact that few in the world are calling upon the US to lead and manage the global response to this pandemic should be worrying for American policymakers.

The expectations are so low from Washington that even America's closest allies are not coordinating their responses with it. The world knew that America was beginning to become more isolationist and during the Coronavirus crisis, that isolationism became visibly manifest. America's relationship with the global order is at a crossroads and the rest of the world is beginning to come to terms with it with profound consequences for us all.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: DailyOh! When Indira Gandhi choked media's ad revenue, to why Jwala Gutta was called 'half-Corona'
Two photos issued by the Met to trace William Trotter. (Met Police)

Police investigating the violent rape of a teenager in south-east London have issued an urgent appeal to speak to a man in connection with their enquiries.

Detectives want to find William Trotter, 39, who is believed to have links to Bromley, Lewisham and Lambeth in London, as well as strong links to Glasgow.

Officers were called to Turpington Lane in Bromley at 12.39am on Friday, 20 March, to reports of a man restraining and assaulting a woman.

They found a distressed woman, in her late teens, who said she had been dragged into the bushes by an unknown man and raped.

She was taken to hospital with a head injury and suffered two black eyes in the attack. She is being supported by officers.

William Trotter, who police urgently want to trace. (Met Police)

A photo of Trotter released by officers. (Met Police)

Trotter is described as 5ft 6in with a shaved head, green eyes and one of his upper teeth is said to be missing.

He has a tattoo of what police described as a devil gremlin on his right arm, with the name Rhys written above it and Daniel written below.

He was last seen wearing a dark blue jacket, dark trousers, a pink face mask and we was holding a blue carrier bag.

Detective Chief Inspector Dan OSullivan of the Met Police said anyone who sees Trotter should call 999 instead of approaching him.

An image of Trotter released as the police aim to trace him. (Met Police)

This is an inquiry into the violent rape of a young woman and I would ask anyone with any information to search their conscience and do the right thing by calling police, he added.

If you do not want to give your name you can call Crimestoppers, who will not ask for your details, but however you want to do it, call and tell us what you know.

In the meantime we are asking women who are walking alone to remain vigilant and to report anything suspicious to police  always call 999 in an emergency.

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or through Twitter by messaging the @MetCC account, quoting reference CAD 181/20MAR.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
From the time the first resident of the Soldiers Home in Holyoke tested positive on March 21 for the COVID-19 coronavirus, the homes leadership provided daily reports to multiple state agencies, says Bennett W. Walsh, the suspended superintendent.

Walsh, in a statement issued today on his behalf by former Hampden district attorney William M. Bennett, also says he requested National Guard assistance at the home on March 27 and was denied.

It is very disappointing to me that during this time of unspeakable horror the staffs at (the state Executive Office of Health & Human Services, Department of Veterans Services and Department of Public Health) have remained silent and have let the lie that they didnt know what was going on persist, said Walsh, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel appointed in 2016 by Gov. Charlie Baker to lead the home.

State officials knew that Holyoke needed as much help as possible. No one was kept in the dark, Walsh said. It is gut-wrenching to observe the devastation the virus has caused my fellow veterans. These are men I helped to care for with affection and respect. I again express my sincere sympathy to their families.

Bennett, who is Walshs uncle, said the superintendent wanted to share some of the background on his handling of the coronavirus outbreak in part to dispel suggestions he did not act swiftly as events unfolded. Walsh is the son of Springfield City Councilor Kateri Walsh, Bennetts sister, and the citys retired Springfield veterans director, Daniel Walsh.

There have been widespread reports in the media that state officials were kept in the dark about what was happening at the Soldiers Home during the COVID-19 crisis. These reports are false, reads Bennett Walshs statement.

Baker has said he did not learn about the outbreak until the evening of March 29  a week after the first case at the home was identified, and after a number of veterans had died. At a press conference last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said a "critical incident health and reporting chain of command at the Soldiers Home was not followed.

The statement comes in the midst of the independent investigation ordered by Baker into what transpired at the Soldiers Home and how it was managed. Walsh says he has twice been interviewed thus far and is committed to full participation in the process. The regions state legislators, led by state Rep. Aaron Vega, D-Holyoke, have also said they plan to investigate the Soldiers Homes response to the coronavirus, and on Wednesday, state attorney general Maura Healey announced her office would also conduct an investigation.

As of Thursday, state health officials announced that a total of 28 residents of the Soldiers Home have died of COVID-19 since the first diagnosis on March 21. Four other residents died in the same timeframe from other causes.

There are currently 69 residents who have tested positive and are being treated at the Holyoke Soldiers Home or at hospitals, state officials said. About 210 veterans lived at the state-operated home when the virus hit.

A total of 126 residents have tested negative and at least 46 have been transferred to a unit at the Holyoke Medical Center to keep them safe from the spreading virus, officials said.

By Thursday, 68 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 and 210 have tested negative. Testing was expected to be completed on Wednesday for all on-site employees and those who are on medical leave or are working offsite also have the option of being tested, officials said.

In his statement today, Walsh set out details of what happened in the week following the first diagnosis, culminating with the rejection of his request for National Guard clinical care assistance.

At mid-day Friday March 27 I requested that National Guard medical personnel be sent to the Soldiers Home to assist our staff. That request was denied, Walsh said. We also notified state officials that we were in a crisis mode regarding staff shortages. (Twenty-five percent) of the workforce was not reporting to work. These work shortages, and the knowledge that our veterans were extremely vulnerable to the virus, were taking a toll on the staff who had reported for duty. I requested trained grief support counselors to assist our staff who were dealing with the hardest hit units.

We provided updates on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day. These updates were by phone, text, email, conference calls and official report forms, the statement says. The updates went to the staffs of the Veterans Services secretary Francisco Urena, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the state Department of Public Health, according to Walsh.

Specifically, as of Friday afternoon March 27, we had notified state officials that: 28 veterans had exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus and samples had been collected and sent for testing; these 28 veterans were living in different locations; test results for 13 had been received (and) 10 veterans were positive and (three) were negative; test results for 15 veterans were pending; (two) veterans had died, (one) with a positive test result and (one) with test results pending, the statements sets out.

Events were happening rapidly, and these statistics were again updated in the early evening when the test result for the second veteran who had died was determined to be positive. There were now (two) confirmed coronavirus related deaths, states Walsh.

Walsh also detailed how the staff responded to the initial outbreak, trying to distance the confirmed cases from the others. The first veteran who showed symptoms resided in North 1. The first veteran who died with a confirmed positive resided in North 2. These veterans were on different floors and physically separated from each other, Walsh says. It was clear that the virus was not confined to one area but was infecting veterans throughout the facility and our medical resources were stretched to the limit.

As a result of the growing shortage of staff, Walsh said, the medical staff was forced to close some areas and place these men in the same unit. This action to cohort the veterans was reviewed with the Department of Public Health on Wednesday March 25 and accomplished on Friday March 27.

By that Sunday, six more veterans had died, according to Walshs recounting of what transpired. By Sunday afternoon we had determined that (four) deaths were positive for the coronavirus and (four) deaths had test results still pending. The delay in getting test results was frustrating to all. This information was reported to state officials on Sunday afternoon at about 4:30 p.m.

A day later, state officials placed Walsh on paid administrative leave and appointed Val Liptak, a registered nurse who oversees the state-run Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield, as interim superintendent.

Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse, who has said he spoke with Walsh that Sunday and then contacted Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, expressed his concerns and frustration about the cases at the Soldiers Home in a live Facebook video that Tuesday. Morse criticized a lack of transparency, lack of urgency and overall mismanagement.

An on-site clinical command team, made up of medical, epidemiological, and operational experts, was established to be responsible for the comprehensive and rapid response to the outbreak of COVID-19 at the home. A mobile testing lab, staffed by the National Guard, was brought in to assist in the testing of all residents and expedite the results.

But Cory Bombredi, a staff representative Service Employees International Union Local 888 which represents about 270 employees at the Holyoke Soldiers Home, said he reached out to Health and Human Services Secretary MaryLou Sudders on March 28 after staff said at least eight veterans had died at the home and more were suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus.

When we reached out to Secretary Sudders on Saturday, she was not aware of it, Bombredi said.

As the union representative, Bombredi would not have been informed of who Walsh did or did not notify. He said he only knew that Sudders was not aware of the problems.

Officials for the state Department of Veterans Services or the Health and Human Services did not answer specific questions about Walshs statement but released a statement with information about on-going efforts being made at the facility.

It is imperative that the Holyoke Soldiers Home provide a safe environment for the veteran residents, and the dedicated staff who serve them," a department spokesperson said. "The circumstances that led to the heartbreaking situation at Holyoke Soldiers Home are the subject of a full and impartial investigation ordered by the Governor, led by Attorney Mark Pearlstein.

Bombredi also questioned Walshs statement that he had informed the state of critical staffing shortages, saying when the union complained on March 24th about too few staff, they were rebuffed.

Bennett Walsh made a blanket statement that they had adequate staffing and they were following state standards (for containing the spread of COVID-19), he said.

Among them is employees said they were told they could not use sick time if they did not come to work, against all state and federal guidelines that told people to stay home if they felt at all ill. That was reflected in several employees paychecks, Bombredi said.

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(Alliance News) - Redmile Group LLC said on Thursday it has acquired 24.1 million more shares in takeover target Redx Pharma PLC.

Shares in Redx Pharma closed 0.3% lower at 14.95 pence each on Thursday in London.

The US healthcare investor said the acquisition takes its total shareholding in the drug discovery company to around 58%. It noted that it now holds more than 50% of Redx's issued share capital, thereby the mandatory takeover offer will become wholly unconditional when made.

In February, Redx ended takeover talks with Yesod Bio-Sciences and instead inked a GBP26.3 million funding deal with two investors, Redmile and Paris-based Sofinnova Partners.

Redmile subscribed for 11.5 million Redx shares, around 6% stake, at 11.2p, and also agreed to provide GBP5 million to Redx through a loan. In addition, Redmile and Sofinnova together committed to a further investment of about GBP20 million through a convertible loan.

In March, Redx said Redmile upped its stake in the company to around 46%, forcing Redmile to make a mandatory takeover offer under UK takeover rules. Redmile had bought the additional 75 million Redx shares, a 39.5% stake, from Moulton Goodies Ltd at 15.5p per Redx share. As a result, Redmile made a mandatory cash offer for Redx shares not already owned at 15.5p each.

The merger valued the entire Redx share capital at GBP29.5 million.

By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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Hood College is the lead on an $860,000 multi-institutional collaboration with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the University of New England, and the Maine Department of Marine Resources, funded by the National Science Foundation.

Eric Annis, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Hood and lead scientist on the project, will take two undergraduate summer interns to study lobsters in the Gulf of Maine in each year of the project. Hood will receive $290,000 to support this project, covering instrumentation for measuring the oxygen consumption by individual lobster larvae and temperature control for seawater tanks that will enhance their ability to conduct research related to climate change.

Lobsters start their life as larvae that are drifting in the water and then they settle on the ocean floor to grow into adults. Where lobster larvae settle and how many survive is determined in part by the temperature of the water. Water that is too cold or too hot can reduce survival or drive them away. Researchers dont know much about the temperature range that the larvae can tolerate. The research conducted by Annis and company will help define the thermal range and will link temperature sensitivity to where the larvae settle. The success of the larvae determines the number of harvestable adult lobsters, and this research will improve the understanding of how climate change will impact this economically and ecologically important species.

This lobster fishery is one of the most valuable in North America with an estimated value that typically exceeds $500 million per year, said Annis. Due to their large size and abundance in the Gulf of Maine, lobsters also play an important role in food web of the ecosystem.

This NSF grant is a direct result of the research Annis completed in spring 2019 through a grant from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which laid the groundwork for this new study. Annis developed the NSF grant proposal for the new research with support from a Hood College Board of Associates McCardell Professional Development Grant in 2019.

Im really excited about this project because we have a talented group of researchers from two undergraduate colleges, a leading marine research institution and a state agency collaborating to answer fundamental questions about how lobster larvae will respond to climate change, said Annis. This collaborative atmosphere, coupled with exciting travel and hands-on research, will generate truly transformative experiences for our students. This will provide fantastic opportunities to engage our undergraduate students in high-caliber scientific research in coastal Maine.

Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering more than 25 bachelors degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 masters degrees programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities.
Washington, April 9 : The US has recorded nearly 2,000 coronavirus deaths for a second consecutive day, taking the total toll to 14,817, the second highest in the world after Italy which has 17,669 fatalities, according to the latest update by the Washington-based Johns Hopkins University.

More than half of the deaths in the US -- about 8,100 were concentrated in the New York area, including the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, reports Efe news citing the update as saying.

New York state is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

In New York City alone, 4,571 people have died.

Michigan with 959 deaths, Louisiana with 652, California with 505, Illinois with 462, Massachusetts with 433 and Washington with 431 were the states with the largest number of deaths outside the New York area.

The US continued to be the country with the higest number of COVID-19 infections on Wednesday with 432,132 confirmed cases after adding almost 32,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.

This is almost three times that of Spain and Italy, who have the second and third largest number of COVID-19 infections in the world, with 148,220 and 139,422 respectively.

Once again the New York area had the majority of confirmed cases with more than 200,000, while Michigan went past 20,000, California had 18,000, Louisiana 17,000 and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania 16,000.

Of all those infected, only 22,900 have been released to date, while around 9,300 are in intensive care units.

More than 2.2 million coronavirus tests have already been carried out throughout the country, which has a population of 328 million, at a rate of more than 100,000 a day.

Almost 90 per cent of the inhabitants live in areas that have been placed under lockdown.

US President Donald Trump's administration has said that its shutdown guidelines will remain in place until April 30.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has asked the United States to stop the sanctions on Irans oil exports. As per reports, Mohammad Javad Zarif made the call on April 7. Zarif took to Twitter and claimed that Iran was rich in human and natural resources and did not need help from the United States.

Iran does not need 'charity'

Mohammad Javad Zarif further added that all Iran needed was the United States to stop preventing Iran from selling oil and other products. According to reports, on April 5 Irans envoy to Belgium asked the European Union to oppose the US sanctions on Iran during the coronavirus pandemic.

Take a look at the Foreign Ministers tweet below.

Iran is rich in human & natural resources. We don't need charity from @realDonaldTrumpwho's forced to buy ventilators from sources he's sanctioned.



What we want is for him to STOP preventing Iran from selling oil & other products, buying its needs & making & receiving payments. pic.twitter.com/6nF1mRj2ux  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 7, 2020

Crime against humanity

On April 5, Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani had reportedly said that the recent US block of Irans loan request amounts to crime against humanity. Meanwhile, Rouhani urged the International Monetary Fund to sanction the emergency loan that is required to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Read: Ranveer Singh Crashes Boman Irani's Instagram Live; Makes A Deepika Padukone Reference

Read: Kerala CM Slams Media Report About Irani Feeding Amethi Labourers Stuck In Wayanad

IMF has repeatedly shown promptness to help needy countries battling the pandemic. The economic organisation on its website had previously stated that a "Rapid Financial Instrument is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need". However, Iran has not been issued a loan due to a stand by credit issued between 1960-62, international media reported citing IMF figures.

Coronavirus outbreak

After originating from Chinas wet markets, the coronavirus has now claimed over 88,505 lives worldwide as of April 9. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 209 countries and has infected at least 1,518,783 people. Out of the total infections, 330,590 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

Read: Iran Urges IMF To Sanction Its $5 Billion Emergency Loan As Coronavirus Cases Increase

Read: Iranian Lawmakers Say US Can't Veto $5 Billion IMF Loan Request Amid COVID-19 Crisis
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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday credited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's alertness in playing a major role in combating coronavirus in the Congress-ruled states and said his government will soon start on the process of extensive testing as suggested by the former Congress president.

"Rahul Gandhi had instructed me to get prepared in the first week of March on the possibility of the coronavirus and due to this, Chhattisgarh is ahead of other states in taking precautionary measures and numbers are low," Baghel said in a video conference press briefing from Raipur.

He further said his government will decide whether or not to further extend the lockdown after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chief Ministers on April 11.

"The situation in Chhattisgarh is under control. The decision to continue or relax the lockdown will be decided with the Prime Minister on April 11 via video conference," Bhagel said.

The chief minister said that he was in New Delhi on March 12 and had met Rahul Gandhi before returning to Raipur on the same day. After that, he said the state government had put in place a series of measures beginning March 13 by shutting down all educational institutes including anganwadis, schools and colleges, shopping malls, cinema halls etc.

The first test was conducted on March 15 and Section 144 was imposed in the entire state from the day of receiving the first positive case on March 18. The state put in place a lock down on March 21. Wherever a patient was found, the area entire was sealed and examined, the chief minister said.

Baghel hit out at the Central government stating that if it had taken timely steps to quarantine all those who arrived on international flights and test them, the virus would not have spread.

"This disease did not originate from India. They have arrived in India through international flights. The central government should have kept the people coming from abroad in the quarantine on time," he added.

HE said his government had taken the decision to immediately put all the 2,100 people who had arrived in the state from abroad, in quarantine and began testing them.

The Chief Minister also said that a total of 3,000 tests have been done so far and his government is trying all possible ways to increase the number of tests.

Meanwhile, Baghel on Thursday gave instructions to seal the affected area in Katghora in the state's Korba district where seven cases of COVID-19 positive cases were reported. He also called for action on a war-footing in Katghora.

With this, the state's tally has gone up to 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FILE PHOTO: A Huawei company logo is pictured at the Shenzhen International Airport in Shenzhen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. envoy on Monday pressed Canada about Ottawa's forthcoming decision on whether to allow China's Huawei Technologies to take part in its 5G network, a move Washington opposes, officials said.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump last year warned Canada it could lose access to top secret intelligence unless it blocked Huawei 5G technology.

Robert Blair, Trump's special representative for international telecoms policy, discussed the "importance of a secure and reliable next-generation telecommunications infrastructure" and the defense partnership between the United States and Canada, the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, two U.S. sources said Blair planned to underscore that a decision by Canada to include Huawei could jeopardize its access to U.S. intelligence.

The White House has accused Huawei of being able to spy on customers and maintaining close ties to the Chinese government, allegations Huawei denies.

Washington's campaign to thwart the top producer of telecoms equipment was hit by Britain's plans to give Huawei a limited role in its next generation wireless network.

One of the cabinet members who will decide the fate of Huawei 5G equipment in Canada, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, on Monday told legislators that "there is a very robust and important discussion going on between ourselves and our allies" about Huawei.

Ottawa sources directly familiar with the government's deliberations say a decision is still many months away.

A spokesman for Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday's meeting was "a part of regular and ongoing conversations with the United States regarding national security and continental telecommunications".

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who will also have a say in Ottawa's decision, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp last Friday that Canada "won't get bullied by any other jurisdiction" over the decision.

Asked whether he was referring to the Trump administration, he said "maybe that was the wrong choice of words ... we won't be influenced by other jurisdictions".

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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Aichi Prefecture has asked the central government to add it to regions placed under a state of emergency amid the spread of the new coronavirus, Gov. Hideaki Omura said Thursday.

The prefecture, home to a number of major Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp., will also declare its own state of emergency Friday afternoon and request people to refrain from making nonessential outings following a rise in the number of people infected with the pneumonia-causing virus, he said.

The move came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures through May 6.

aLooking at the past week, there is no doubt we are in a very serious situation,a Omura said at a news conference at the prefectural government.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus has eclipsed 270 in the prefecture, with 20 newly reported Wednesday.

While the prefectural total was sharply lower than Tokyo at 1,338 and Osakaas 524, Aichi placed higher than Hyogo, Saitama and Fukuoka, all covered by Abeas state of emergency declaration.

Noting the prefecture contains Nagoya, its capital with a population of over 2.2 million, and is located between Tokyo and Osaka, Omura said it would be preferable to declare a state of emergency on both the prefecture and state levels.

While the prefectureas emergency situation does not have a legal basis, unlike the central governmentas declaration, Omura said he will request residents to avoid going out for nonessential reasons and for schools to shut until May 6.

Omura was initially reluctant to ask the state to put the prefecture under the state of emergency, but Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura urged him to do so, saying the situation was avery dangerous.a Similar voices from prefectural assembly members also seemed to have pushed Omura to make the request.

In response to Omuraas call, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday the government must seek the opinions of experts before making a decision.
Bass Holds a Telephone Town Hall To Inform Residents What They Can Do With Resources and Government Assistance

Congresswoman Karen Bass of the 37th District held a telephone town hall to discuss the passing of the $2 trillion stimulus package plan passed by congress. To help ease worries and concerns, the congresswoman addressed her neighbors and ways they can take advantage of the resources.

its fine to pass legislation, but now the real deal is what happens now, Congresswoman Bass stated. This call specifically addressed how the resources will and can be used by residents of Los Angeles. With help from local officials, the congresswoman successfully informed the people of her district and beyond.

Along with Congresswoman Bass, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, John Alverez of Director of the South Los Angeles WorkSource Center, Claudia Monterroso of the LA Housing + Community Investment Department. Louise McCarthy, president and CEO of Communication Clinic Association of LA County, as well as representatives from the Tax Board and California EDA.

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Councilmember Harris-Dawson began by detailing movements local government has taken so far, including utility shutoff bans and reduced parking enforcement. He shares the biggest concerns outside of health, are housing and small businesses. Reassuring residents that he and other councilmembers are working as close as possible with Congress to ensure they are getting resources necessary.

We want to make sure folks in an already insecure housing environment that we have in LA and Southern California wasnt set aflame by this emergency, he shared. To decrease the worry, We passed eviction protection, which basically puts a moratorium on evictions for the next few months and gives folks 12 months to pay back any back rent that they accrued during that time.

He welcomed Claudia Monterroso to speak next as she works closely with City Council and the mayor on issues regarding housing. Main interest has been understanding the impact of the COVID-19 on our most vulnerable tenants, she began. I do want to emphasize that we are going to be focusing on the eviction moratorium which was enacted by the Council unanimously on March 27 and made effective the following day by the mayor through an executive expanded executive order emergency order on the 31st.

Monterroso detailed the terms of the eviction moratorium, including rent stabilization on all units built before 1979. She addressed another aspect, the halt on any Ellis Act evictions up to 60 days after the emergency order is lifted. The changes also stated that no owner is allowed to visit a residential tenant for nonpayment if the resident isnt able to pay rent due to COVID-19 related issues.

I do want to emphasize that the tenants are still obligated to pay a lawfully charged rent. I will like to ensure that tenants make sure to communicate with your landlord about your inability to pay if your income is affected immediately. Do not ignore any notices issued by the landlord or the property manager, she urged.

Information on where to go for unemployment was shared by John Alvarez. There are now 16 WorkSource Centers residents can visit to get assistance with their filing, currently by appointment only.

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If filing online, We recommend that you go online and you file your claim [and] you will receive something in the mail 10 days later. Alvarez shared that through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Program there will be, Special funding made available for people affected by the COVID-19. If you go to your local WorkSource Center, let them know that youve been affected and that you are collecting unemployment, and they will enroll you into their program.

As far as taxes go, Congress has changed the filing deadline to July 15, 2020. The representatives gave further information on ways Californians can receive more money through the earned income tax credit. Theres a significant amount of money thats out there. A lot of people havent been taking advantage of this credit thats available, they stated. Now during this pandemic, the goal is to help every resident achieve the most help they can get.

Finally, Louise McCarthy spoke regarding the health crisis, testing and more. I think its really disheartening every time or alarming every time we open up the news and here the numbers are increasing. Whether thats in LA and California or nationally, she stated. But just because you see numbers increasing does not mean there are more new infections. That means that we are detecting infections that exist right now.

She reassures that testing has become more available, hence the peak in the number of infections. It shows that we are getting better at detection. As long as were doing well on all of those things we need to do to bend the curve, namely, shelter in place.

If however you have been exposed to the virus, her advice is to call the emergency room or a local clinic and they will inform you where testing can take place. Although testing is getting better, supplies are still limited and she urges people to allow the vulnerable to get priority testing.

Before taking questions, Congresswoman Bass shared a few updates to legislation. We are now preparing for the fourth bill that will probably be put together and voted on by the end of this month.

Now that things are soon to be in motion, her next steps are to ensure they are reaching the community and making an impact on those in need. For more information visit https://bass.house.gov/services/coronavirus-resources.
San Franciscos Department of Building Inspection has been inundated with complaints of nonessential construction being done in violation of the coronavirus health order, mostly driven by residents observing work illegally continuing in their neighborhoods as they shelter in place.

Between March 30 and April 8, the city received 730 complaints of unauthorized work, 180 of which came directly to the building department, and 550 lodged through the citys 311 customer service center.

The staggering influx of complaints is unusual for the department, which prior to the health order averaged 12 to 15 referrals daily. Inspectors are working through the heavy volume of complaints, contacting property owners and informing them of the need to shut down work, according to DBI Interim Director Patrick ORiordan.

While the pandemic and the Public Health Order are unprecedented, we are responding to complaints from the public as quickly as possible, said ORiordan.

On April 2, health officials from six Bay Area counties ruled that nonessential construction must stop through at least May 3 because of the coronavirus health emergency. The order shut down construction of hotels, commercial buildings and residential buildings that dont have at least 10% affordable units. It allows projects that provide services to vulnerable populations as well as those that are required to maintain safety, sanitation and habitability of residences and commercial buildings. The order exempts health care projects related to fighting the pandemic.

The orders cover Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

So far 300 of the complaints in San Francisco have been added to DBIs permit complaint tracking system and inspectors have called more than 150 property owners, informing them of the need to shut down. In addition inspectors are monitoring sites that are allowed to continue work to make sure social distancing and other health orders are being adhered to.

The department said that the majority of contractors have been cooperative. So far five properties have been handed correction notices, and three of those have since come into compliance. The remaining two asked for more time to secure their sites.

Almost all contractors are proactively complying with the Public Health Order guidance by shutting down nonessential job sites when asked, said ORiordan.

If an owner or contractor does not comply with the correction notice within 48 hours, a notice of violation and order to stop all work is issued. If they they continue to be noncompliant, the matter is referred to the Police Department.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin said he has forwarded about 40 or 50 complaints to the Department of Building Inspection, and all of them have been quickly resolved.

They have responded to 100% of what has come across my screen, he said. Id give DBI somewhere between an A and an A plus.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said last weeks revised order provided a lot more clarity about what is allowed and not allowed.

If people are abiding by it, that is great, he said. If you are sheltering in place and there are a whole bunch of workers coming to your apartment building, potentially exposing residents and other workers to the virus, thats obviously not what we want.

For contractors forced to stop work the order has been painful, and may take years to recover from, according to San Francisco builder Clayton Timbell. Timbell has been forced to shut down eight projects around San Francisco and has laid off about half of his 45-person staff. Many of those trades people are driving to Sonoma and Napa counties for work.

Tradespeople will leave the Bay Area, and families will leave San Francisco, he said. Rebuilding a business in June 2020 will not be a summer project. Rather, it will take years.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
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People gathering on the sidewalk along Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia's Kensington section on Thursday. For some along the avenue  such as those struggling with opioid addiction and homelessness  social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic is difficult or impractical. Read more

What happens if the coronavirus sweeps through Kensington Avenue?

Thats the fear on everyones mind in a neighborhood that has no equivalent elsewhere in America, a few square urban miles overwhelmed by a vast open-air drug market and its customers: the hundreds of young people with addiction, many of them homeless, who live and use opioids, huddled on the main thoroughfare.

Here, vulnerable people shoulder at once the effects of several devastating public health crises: The grip of addiction. The diseases that can follow  like last summers hepatitis A outbreak. The gun violence sparked by the drug trade, outmatched only by the staggering fatal overdose rate.

And now, as Philadelphia prepares for the peak of COVID-19 cases  and the waves that could come afterward  advocates and residents worry that Kensington is positioned for devastation from the pandemic. City officials are aiming to get more resources to people in addiction in the neighborhood to help them isolate better. As citywide cases spike to 5,000, theyve discussed the legalities of a forced quarantine, not necessarily just for Kensington but for people around the city who need to isolate and refuse to do so.

The worry about an outbreak in Kensington stems not just from the fact that the neighborhoods homeless population has almost nowhere else to go and cannot effectively socially distance  not to mention risking overdose if they use drugs alone.

Its because many residents with homes are unable to stay there. They are low-paid essential workers required to report for duty. They dont have enough money to shop in bulk, and must make daily forays for supplies. Many have precarious health care, or are dealing with underlying conditions worsened by poverty and potentially made deadly by the virus.

No one deserves whats brewing in Kensington, said Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who represents most of the neighborhood.

The rate of COVID-19 infection in 19134, Kensingtons zip code, is so far average compared with the rest of the city. But community leaders point out that there are scarce testing options in the area, and are calling for help to prevent the spread of the virus in the neighborhood.

It makes the situation more urgent when you have a community in deep poverty, a large number of seniors, a large number of people permanently disabled, Quinones-Sanchez said.

We knew that all of the different situations in Kensington created a potential hot spot. And I dont want to be four weeks from now, or two months from now, looking at the data sets and saying 19134 was severely impacted, and were not doing everything possible to meet that need in a more urgent way.

City officials say they are working quickly to address some of the unique challenges of battling COVID-19 in Kensington, such as looking to open a feeding site and increase testing.

They are searching for a location to house a 24-hour respite center in an effort to break up the crowds gathering outside the few outreach organizations that are still open in the neighborhood.

In the age of social distancing, thats even more challenging. City officials would need a 66,000-square-foot space to hold just 100 people  a fraction of the homeless who flow through the neighborhood.

People will be allowed to come and go from the respite center. But city officials have also discussed forced quarantine, said Eva Gladstein, deputy managing director of health and human services.

There might be a number of different instances in which someone who needs to quarantine or isolate really is not willing to do that, she said. So were not thinking that applies only to people in a particular part of the city or who are unsheltered. She said the city is examining a legal mechanism of forcing people to stay inside.

People do have civil liberties, and we have to balance that with a public health crisis, she said.

The situation has exacerbated longstanding tensions between how the city cares for residents in Kensington and the people in addiction on its streets. Forcing people inside is not a new idea here. Long before the pandemic, some neighbors were calling for legally compelling people into treatment.

Last year, running for reelection, Quinones-Sanchez said the city should explore the legal options around involuntary commitment for people with addiction. (Gladstein said the legal process for involuntarily committing someone to a mental health ward is not part of the citys discussions around forced quarantine.)

Its something neighbors have echoed amid the pandemic. Rosalind Lopez, a neighbor whose employer considers her an essential worker, said shes alarmed by the crowds she sees by the El station at Kensington and Allegheny Avenues. And its not just people in addiction outside; its some of her neighbors, too, she said. She says the city needs to better educate people on the dangers of going outside, and said that if they wont go inside, someone needs to make them.

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Carol Rostucher, who runs Angels in Motion, an outreach organization along the avenue, said the fear of contracting the virus is just as present for people living on the street in addiction.

They dont want to be sick, they dont want to die, they dont want to spread the virus, she said. But they are concerned about getting treated for addiction in an isolation scenario.

Brooke Feldman, who runs Clean Slate, a Port Richmond branch of a national chain of addiction treatment clinics, said that rather than forcing people into quarantine, the city should make it easier for people to quarantine voluntarily. We look at what other cities are doing, we see things like tons of hotel rooms made available, she said. If you want people to quarantine, you should give people the resources to do it.

The city has leased 150 rooms at a hotel in Center City for people with COVID-19 symptoms or who have tested positive and who have nowhere else to stay. So far, 12 people have opted to stay there; the city is finalizing plans to provide medication-assisted treatment for people with addiction living at the hotel.

Gladstein said the city is looking at opening more quarantine centers. Feldman added that people without symptoms and with no other housing options should also be given places to safely isolate themselves.

The Rev. Adan A. Mairena, a pastor whose West Kensington Ministry hands out food near Norris Square, said he understands the fears in the neighborhood, and the tension that can exist in a place where seemingly everyone is vulnerable to the virus.

But the only way forward is to accept that those with homes and those living on the streets are part of one neighborhood, and to advocate together for help, he said.

Its not about the I anymore, he said. Its about the we." People living on the street "are called transients  but transients are always on the move, and these people are part of the community. Now we have to embrace them and accept them, and offer them healing and restoration and rehabilitation.
Rush Transcript: Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Directs Flags to be Flown at Half-Mast in Honor of Those We Have Lost to COVID-19

April 8, 2020

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon to everyone. These are stressful, emotional times as we know. Today is a day in the State of New York with very mixed emotions based on two very different pieces of information we have. I'm trying to work through the mixed emotions for myself, so I'll just present the facts and then we'll go from there.

There is good news in what we're seeing that what we have done and what we are doing is actually working and it's making a difference. We took dramatic actions in this state. We did the New York PAUSE program to close down schools, businesses, social distancing and it's working. It is flattening the curve and we see that again today so far. Meaning what? Meaning that curve is flattening because we are flattening the curve by what we are doing. If we stop what we are doing, you will see that curve change. That curve is purely a function of what we do day-in and day-out.

Right now it's flattening. The number of patients hospitalized is down. Again, we don't just look at day-to-day data, you look at the three-day trend but that number is down. The three-day average trend is also down. Anecdotally there are individual hospitals, the larger systems are reporting that some of them are actually releasing more people than are coming in. They're net down. So we see the quote, unquote flattening of the curve.

We have more capacity in the hospital system than ever before. We've had more capacity in that system to absorb more people. The sharing of equipment, which has been really one of the beautiful cooperative, generous acts among different partners in the health care system has worked. If the hospitalization rate keeps the decreasing the way it is now, then the system should stabilize over these next couple of weeks, which will minimize the need for overflow on the system that we have built in at Javits and at the USNS Comfort.

That is all good news. There's a big caution sign, that's if we continue doing what we're doing. If we continue doing what we're doing. We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing, et cetera. So if we continue doing what we're doing then we believe the curve will continue to flatten. But, it's not a time to get complacent. It's not a time to do anything different than we've been doing. Remember what happened in Italy when the entire health care system became overrun. So we have to remain diligent, we have to remain disciplined going forward. There's no doubt that we are now bending the curve and there's no doubt that we can't stop doing what we're doing.

That's the good news. The bad news isn't just bad, the bad news is actually terrible. Highest single day death toll yet, 779 people. When you look at the numbers on the death toll, it has been going steadily up. It reached new height yesterday. The number of deaths, as a matter of fact, the number of deaths will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away. The longer you are on a ventilator, the less likely you will come off the ventilator. Dr. Fauci spoke to me about this and he was 100 percent right. The quote unquote lagging indicator between hospitalizations and deaths. The hospitalizations can start to drop, but the deaths actually increase because the people who have been in the hospital for 11 days, 14 days, 17 days pass away. That's what we're seeing. Hospitalizations drop and the death toll rises. I understand the science of it. I understand the facts and the logic of it. But it is still incredibly difficult to deal with. Every number is a face, right. And that's been painfully obvious to me every day.

But we have lost people, many of them front line workers, many of them health care workers, many of them people who were doing the essential functions that we all needed for society to go on, and they were putting themselves at risk. And they knew they were. Many of them vulnerable people who this vicious predator of a virus targeted from day one. This virus attacked the vulnerable and attacked the weak. And it's our job as a society to protect those vulnerable. And that's what this has always been about from day one, and it still is about.

Be responsible, not just for yourself, but to protect the vulnerable. Be responsible because the life you risk may not be your own. Those people who walk into an emergency room every day and put themselves at peril, don't make their situation worse. Don't infect yourself or infect someone else or their situation becomes more dangerous. Just to put a perspective on this, 9/11, which so many of us lived through in this state and in this nation, 2,753 lives lost. This crisis we've lost 6,268 New Yorkers. I'm going to direct all flags to be flown at half-mast in honor of those who we have lost to this virus.

Big question from everyone, from my daughters, I'm sure around most people's dinner table, when will things go back to the way they were? I don't think it's about going back. I don't think it's ever about going back. I think the question is always about going forward, and that's what we have to deal with here. It's about learning from what we've experienced and it's about growing and it's about moving forward. Well, when will we return to normal? I don't think we return to normal. I don't think we return to yesterday, where we were. I think if we're smart, we achieve a new normal. The way we are understanding a new normal when it comes to the economy and a new normal when it comes to the environment. Now we understand a new normal in terms of health and public health and we have to learn just the way we've been learning about the new normal in other aspects of society.

We have to learn what it means - global pandemic, how small the world has actually gotten. Someone sneezes in Asia today, you catch a cold tomorrow. Whatever happens in any country on this globe can get on an airplane and be here literally overnight and understanding this phenomenon and having a new appreciation for it, how our public health system has to be prepared and the scale to which we need a public health system. Look at the way we're scrambling right now to make this work. We have to learn from that.

I think we've also learned positive lessons. We found ways to use technology that we never explored before. You have a New York State court system that - thank you, Chief Judge - is basically developing a virtual online court system which has all sorts of positive benefits going forward. Using technology for health care, using technology to work from home, using technology for education. These are all positives that we can learn.

Testing capacity which we still have to develop - that is going to be the bridge from where we are today to the new economy in my opinion. It's going to be a testing informed transition to the new economy where people who have the antibodies, people who are negative, people who have been exposed and now are better, those are the people who can go to work and you know who they are because you can do testing. But that we've all developed a sense of scale over the past few weeks in dealing with this.

There's also lessons to be learned - why are more African-Americans and Latinos affected? We're seeing this around the country. Now the numbers in New York are not as bad as the disparities we see in other places across the country but there still are apparently disparities. Why? Comorbidity - I understand that. But I think there's something more to it. It always seems that the poorest people pay the highest price. Why is that? Why is that? Whatever the situation is, natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina, the people standing on those rooftops were not rich White people. Why? Why is it that the poorest people always pay the highest price? But let's figure it out. Let's do the work. Let's do the research. Let's learn from this moment and let's learn these lessons and let's do it now.

We're going to do more testing in minority communities but not just testing for the virus. Let's actually get research and data that can inform us as to why are we having more people in minority communities, more people in certain neighborhoods, why do they have higher rates of infection? I get the comorbidity. I get the underlying illness issue, but what else is at play? Are more public workers Latino and African-American who don't have a choice, frankly, but to go out there everyday and drive the bus and drive the train and show up for work and wind up subjecting themselves to, in this case, the virus whereas many other people who had the option just absented themselves. They live in more dense communities, more urban environments. But what is it? And let's learn from that and let's do it now.

I'm going to ask our SUNY Albany chief Dr. Havidan Rodriguez to head an effort to do it right now. We'll do more testing in minority communities now with more data research done now. So let's learn now. The Department of Health will be doing it along with Northwell. But let's learn these lessons now.

We're also going to make an additional $600 payment to all unemployed New Yorkers. The federal government says they will reimburse us for it, but people need money now in their pocket. New York will be doing that immediately. We're also extending the period coverage of unemployment benefits for an additional thirteen weeks. Goes from 26 weeks to 39 weeks. That should be a relief.

On voting, I've seen lines of people on television voting in other states. This is totally nonsensical. God bless them for having such diligence for their civic duty that they would go stand on a line to vote. People shouldn't have to make that choice and, by executive order, all New Yorkers can vote absentee on the June 23 primaries coming up.

I want to say thank you to all the places and people who are working with the State of New York. Mercury Medical dedicated 2,400 BiPAP machines. BiPAP machines are technically not ventilators, but they can be modified to effectively ventilate even though they are not ventilators and we are using them. They were brought up from Florida, thank you very much JetBlue for doing that. I also want to thank Oregon and Washington State and California for freeing up ventilators. I want to thank the direct care workers who are doing a fantastic job and they're doing it every day. I want to thank the state workers who are showing up and doing a great job every day. Every first responder. This has been a long battle and it's going to go on, but I want them to know how thankful we all are of them for what they're doing. I want people to remember that we're flattening that curve and if anything, we double down now on our diligence.

We're going to start a social media campaign. Who are you staying home for? It's not about staying home for yourself, stay home for others. Stay home for the vulnerable people who, if they get this virus, are in a really bad place in life. Stay home for the health care worker who's in the emergency room because you don't want to infect anybody else who then puts another greater load on our health care system. So who are you staying home for? I'm staying home for my mother. It's not about just you. It is about all of us. Who are you staying home for? We'll start a social media campaign that does that.

Thank you to all the New Yorkers for all they have done and we still have more to do. We are by no means out of the woods. Do not miss read what you have seen in that data and on those charts. That is a pure product of our actions and behavior. If we behave differently, you will see those numbers change. I just doubled the fine on disobeying the social distancing rules. Why? Because, if anything we have to get more diligent, not less diligent, and we have more to do. And that's New York tough, but tough is more than just tough. Tough is smart and disciplined and unified and tough loving. The toughest guys are tough enough to love, right?

Last point, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community celebrate Passover tonight. We wish them all a happy Passover. The Jewish community has had a long and difficult year, besides any of this. The number of incidents of anti-Semitism across this country, the violence that they have seen even in this state of New York that has such a large Jewish population. So, we wish them all well on Passover. The message of Passover I know helps me today, and I offer to others to consider. Passover says we remember the past. We learn from the past. We remember the lessons of the past. We teach a new generation those lessons. But, there is also a message of hope in Passover. Next year in Jerusalem. Next year the promised land. Next year will be better. And yes, this has been a difficult month. We'll learn a lot and we'll move forward, and we'll be better for it.

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Roughly half of the people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in California are African American, Latino or Asian, according to data released Wednesday by state public health officials who have come under pressure to provide more details about who is infected and dying in the pandemic.

The states demographic profile is based on only 37%  or about 6,300  of all of Californias confirmed cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday in his daily briefing. Thats because this was the only demographic information available as of Wednesday, thus Newsom said he was hesitant to draw conclusions from the partial information.

Nonetheless, California released the data as concerns arose nationally over the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on African Americans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys top infectious disease expert, urged citizens Wednesday to continue social-distancing efforts and directed a plea specifically to an African American population that has been hard hit by the coronavirus.

U.S. reports have shown that black people are more likely to be infected by and die from the coronavirus than others. The problem is especially acute in Louisiana, Illinois and Michigan; in Louisiana, 70% of people who died were black, but African Americans make up only a third of the population.

John Blanchard

Californias data do not show people of color having higher rates of illness or being more likely to die than white people, but public health experts noted that many parts of the state with large black and Latino communities have not not yet reported demographic information.

I would love to say we dont have the inequities, said Denise Herd, associate director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, which has been monitoring the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on East Bay communities. But from what we know of existing health disparities, I would be surprised if we didnt see some inequities in terms of whos getting sick and whos dying. We need more data on this.

Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

Newsom said he was wary of making the information public because it is so incomplete, and he doesnt want people to believe that there are no race and ethnic disparities in the California outbreak.

Based upon the 37% of the data thats in, we are not seeing that, he said. But I caution you, the data is limited. ... Nothing is more frustrating than the disparities that manifest in relationship to public heath. Those issues preceded this crisis and they persist in this crisis.

Of the 6,306 Californians with the coronavirus for whom demographic information was made available on Wednesday, 37% are white (whites make up 37% of the states population); 30% are Latino (Latinos make up 39% of the states population); 14% are Asian or Asian American (Asians/Asian Americans make up 15% of the states population) and 6% are black (African Americans make up 6% of states population). The demographic breakdowns were similar for 172 people who have died and for whom information was released.

Those percents roughly match the demographics of the state. But in Los Angeles County, which released some demographic information earlier in the week, black people have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19  they account for about 17% of deaths but only 9% of the population.

San Francisco provided demographic data on Tuesday for about two-thirds of 676 cases; the rates of infection closely matched the race and ethnic breakdowns in the city. San Francisco has not released demographic data on people who died, but with only 10 deaths reported in the city so far that information wouldnt be statistically useful anyway, infectious disease experts said.

Meanwhile, no other Bay Area counties  including Alameda County, which has a large African American population  have provided demographic data.

The Bay Area is doing much better than other parts of the country at slowing down the regional outbreak, or flattening the curve, in large part due to early orders for people to shelter in place, said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, vice dean for Population Health & Health Equity at UCSF.

But I think what lies beneath the curve is disproportionate impact, and we have to be able to understand that, Bibbins-Domingo said. We need data in order to act.

Like other epidemiologists studying local outbreaks of the coronavirus, Bibbins-Domingo wondered if testing shortfalls in California were disproportionately affecting communities of color. Testing has been extremely limited due to supply shortages and other issues, and people of color may have even less access than others, she said.

Bibbins-Domingo said she expected from the start of the U.S. outbreak that there would be uneven impacts from this virus. People of color already are known to have higher rates of certain chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart, lung and kidney disease. That puts them at greater risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In many communities, people of color may also be more likely to work in jobs that keep them out in public while others shelter at home, Bibbins-Domingo said. That would put them at greater risk of infection. They may be more likely to live in close quarters to others, such as large apartment buildings, also increasing their exposure to the virus, public health experts said.

There are lots of socioeconomic factors that may make African Americans and others maybe more susceptible to illness, said Steven Goodman, a Stanford epidemiologist. Its hard right now to tease out who is infected. But the first step is recognizing there is a difference.

Many California county health officers have said theyre eager to release more demographic data, but its been challenging to collect the information due to the chaotic nature of the outbreak, and especially with testing being in such short supply. In some areas where commercial laboratories are providing much of the testing, demographic data may not be collected for some patients.

But public health experts said its critical that the information be gathered and made available  and not just for better protecting communities that may be disproportionately affected. In order to end the coronavirus outbreak, the spread of disease needs to be slowed down and stopped in all communities, Bibbins-Domingo said.

More Information Who's getting sick in California? California public health officials have released demographic data based on 37% of all the state's confirmed cases (about 6,300) that show this information: White residents: 37% of cases and 43% of deaths (37% of the state's population) Latino residents: 30% of cases and 29% of deaths (39% of the state's population) African American/black: 6% of cases and 3% of deaths (6% of the state's population) Asian/Asian American residents: 14% of cases and 16% of deaths (15% of the state's population) Multiracial residents: 2.5% of cases and 2% of deaths (2% of the state's population) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander residents: 1.6% of cases and 1% of deaths (0.3% of the state's population) Native American or Alaska native residents: 0.2% of cases and 2% of deaths (0.5% of the state's population) See More Collapse

In a time of pandemic, we are all interrelated, she said. Well never get our pandemic under control unless we understand how to do it in our most marginalized communities.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Matt Kawahara contributed to this report.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- For the month of March, BYD recorded a 34.65% decrease from the year-ago period, while boasted a stupendous 456.24% increase from Feb. thanks to the rising demands following the effective prevention and control of COVID-19 spread.

Oil-fueled vehicle sales in March grew 9.51% over a year earlier to 18,343 units. Before the virus-hit February, BYD had been achieving year-on-year increase in fuel-powered vehicle sales for five consecutive months.



Nevertheless, NEV sales for the same period were more than halved over the previous year to 12,256 units, for the ninth month in a row showing downturn.

Among NEVs sold last month, 11,763 units were PVs, a year-over-year slump of 59.75%. Of those, sales volumes of BEVs and PHEVs reached 10,433 units (-51.04%) and 1,330 units (83.19%).

Since China has weathered the hardest period amid the fight against coronavirus, the pent-up consumer demands have been gradually unleased accordingly. Thus, both NEV and fuel-burning vehicle arms clocked over 300% surge from a month earlier.

Selling 61,273 vehicles for the first quarter, BYD posted a 47.89% plunge from the prior-year period, versus 56.65% decline in Jan.-Feb. sales. More of the blame should be laid on the 69.67% decrease in year-to-date NEV sales.



(Photo source: BYD)



Both central and local governments in China have rolled out a number of incentive policies to boost revival of auto industry substantially bruised by the coronavirus pandemic. China has determined to extend the validity period of the subsidies on new energy purchases and NEV purchase tax exemption for two years, state media reported on March 31, quoting an executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The policy might be a boost for BYD as one of leading NEV manufacturers in China.

It is noteworthy that BYD on April 2 announced the founding of a BEV R&D joint venture with Toyota after they signed an agreement in last November. The partnership with the Japanese giant is expected to help BYD speed up product R&D so as to enrich its model lineup, and go global.
Truck drivers stuck at Livingstone border post on 30 March 2020. Photo courtesy of FCFASA Members Forum

South Africa is the economic powerhouse in the region. Most countries rely on South Africa, in some way, for their imports. They import goods from South Africa and some import goods from global sources via South African seaports such as Durban. Other countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia are strategic transiting countries for goods transiting from Durban in South Africa and Beira in Mozambique. Unfortunately, South Africa has been hard hit by the pandemic and this has greatly affected the region.

COVID-19 has resulted in a number of countries putting in place measures to contain its spread. These measures include putting controls on ports of entry. For example movement of people across borders has been suspended to a great extent. In many countries only citizens and returning residents are allowed entry while foreigners are required to show cause why then cannot stay in their countries during this period. For example at seaports more stringent procedures have been introduced to screen people and vessels arriving at the ports. In Namibia, the following ports are closed to passengers: Oshikanjo, Katwitwi, Wenera, Buitepos, Ariamsvlei, Noordoewa, Ludentz and Walvis Bay. The same restriction was put in place in other seaports in South Africa and Mozambique.

There have also been adjustments in the clearance of commercial traffic with priority now given to clearance of essential commodities such as food stuffs and medicaments. At Beira Port in Mozambique, all vessels are required to send all information required by health authorities in advance of arrival. In Namibia, compliance with self-quarantine requirements was a pre-requisite prior to any vessels being given port clearance to come through to the port. The vessels are also medically screened and cleared by all relevant authorities. In most cases, ports operate with reduced staff and at times resulted in delays.[i]

From the seaports, goods are moved by road to landlocked countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and DRC. Just like seaports and airports, border posts also put systems in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus. This calls for coordinated border management between neighbouring countries. The customs administration in Zimbabwe has activated its risk management system. Most of the processes are done online to reduce direct contact and exposure to the virus. Most physical examination of goods is suspended. There is good collaboration between South African authorities and Zimbabwean authorities at Beitbridge border post. There is a smooth flow of trucks either way. As at 3 April 2020, there were no queues at Beitbridge border post.

At Machipanda / Forbes border post, initially there was a challenge when Mozambican customs officers panicked and briefly stopped countries entering their country. The issue was resolved within hours with the intervention of their higher offices. The incident highlighted the need to plan ahead and communicate effectively with all offices about the measures to be taken in times of pandemics such as this. The trucks have been moving to and from Mozambique, although slower than usual due to screening of drivers by truck authorities.

While there was good coordinated border management at borders with Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, the situation was not the same at Zambian border posts such as Chirundu One Stop border post and Vic Falls/Livingstone. Zambia also had issues at Kasumbalesa which she shares with DRC.

Truck drivers stuck at Livingstone border post on 30 March 2020. Photo courtesy: FCFASA Members Forum.

At Livingstone border post, Zambia has imposed a mandatory quarantine requirement for truck drivers. Truck drivers complain that to get to Livingstone border post, they would be screened at least twice in South Africa and Zimbabwe or Namibia, hence no need to detain them at Livingstone for so many days. The place has no ablution facilities. The trucks carrying highly inflammable substances were not parked separately and far away from others thereby posing a high risk of explosion. See this video LINK

At Chirundu One Stop Border Post the concern was Zambian procedures which created massive congestion at this border post resulting in trucks queuing on Zimbabwe side of the border (Northbound). On 2 April 2020, the queue was around 9km long. Its a bush on both sides of the road. Drivers sleep in their trucks (2 nights on average) with no toilets (except the bush). Our source at the border reported that when nature calls some used plastic bags and bottles that they throw into the bush.

The trucks being held in Zambia while in transit may be carrying goods to fight the pandemic or items for essential services and special projects. Zambia has been creating a bottleneck in the movement of transiting cargo. The situation at Chirundu, Livingstone and Kasumbalesa calls for aligning of processes and procedures in the SADC region. Global and regional pandemics call for regional approach in dealing with them.

Apart from border challenges, another challenge is communication. When COVID-19 started to wreak havoc in China leading the country to impose a lockdown, this created communication challenges between ports in China and those in SADC. For example one Zimbabwe based freight forwarder had a client whose container arrived at Beira Port on 2 February. It was on a port to port arrangement. Firstly there were challenges regarding confirmation of payments which had been done in China. For more than three weeks emails were not being replied to and phones were not being answered. After making direct payment (paying twice) to the shipping line, the container, due to prolonged stay at the port, was detained by Mozambican Customs. The client was required to pay a fine to customs, and demurrage charges. The total was about USD10.7k in addition to double payment for freight charges. The trader had two options either to surrender the container to customs or pay the fine and try to recover some costs. In such situations, there was need to be flexible on the part of authorities and take this commercial reality into consideration in deciding to levy a fine or not and the level of penalty.

[i] https://www.nepia.com/industry-news/coronavirus-outbreak-impact-on-shipping/
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are off to a fresh start as they live their post-royal life in the United States ... or so they thought.

For starters, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently unveiled their charity foundation, "Archewell."

However, despite having good objectives, the controversial couple faced a wave of backlash from social media for launching their new organization amid the U.K Prime Minister's battle from the dreaded virus and the massive pandemic that is sweeping across the globe.

This came after the Telegraph revealed a cache of documents that confirms "Archewell" had been registered in Los Angeles, California, where the couple has relocated after they officially stepped down from their British royal life.

On the other hand, Fox News cited that Meghan and Harry only announced their charity after the documents have been uncovered. This caused them to issue a statement to address the situation.

Meghan and Harry Attacked By Raging Netizens

The Sussexes did not escape the criticism from netizens who branded them for their "insensitivity" after they made the announcement.

One user called out the couple for being attention-seekers.

"PM Boris Johnson is in ICU. The UK has over 5k deaths and is in lockdown.

Meghan & Harry: Let's make this about us, again."

Another dubbed them as "hypocrites" and criticized them for using their son, Archie, for their endeavors.

"#archewell #archwell whatever!!! How utterly hypocritical using their son's name when they moan and groan about privacy,l. We the public are just fed up with these two. #PrinceHarry #MeghanMarkle. Go away you our fakes."

"Does she care? On the night, the #British #PM is in #ICU, #MeghanMarkle announces the name of her charity - '#Archwell'. Wow! #Megxit sufferers can go to sleep & look forward to #ArchieDay. Thank you very much, #Meghan! Where's the #getlost button?" another user wrote.

Not Lacking Support?

Although some voiced their resentment to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, loyal Meghan and Harry supporters could not hide their excitement for their new project.

"The foundation is a charitable endeavor! Archwell will help people! You don't have to support; but you can't tell them not to help those in need. Being hateful during a pandemic, why?" one user defended the couple.

Another netizen was "impressed" and wanted to participate in the foundation right away.

"So, apparently it's going to be the 'Archwell Foundation'! Whatever it's going to be called...it's going to be IMPRESSIVE!Do they have a P.O. box so I can start sending my money??"

It was reported that the Sussexes' new non-profit organization will be focusing on "emotional support groups" and wellbeing.

"Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be," the statement read.

Meghan and Harry also opened up that their son served as the inspiration behind the foundation's name.

"Archwell" is derived from the Greek word for "source of action" and another means "strength."

As for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that his health is already "improving" after spending two nights in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to coronavirus.

READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth Extends Compassion To Boris Johnson Amid This Dark Hour
M&S is donating over 4,000 pyjama sets for doctors and nurses to wear as scrubs.

The donation will be made to the NHS Royal Derby Hospital, which is located close to the M&S distribution centre in Castle Donington.

In London, M&S is also donating thousands of specially branded t-shirts to form part of a uniform pack for the NHS Nightingale frontline team in London.

The T-shirts, which are black and feature the slogan We are the NHS, have been specially designed to make it easier for everyone to identify the fantastic doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers who are all working tirelessly to save lives.

The retailer is also donating clothing care packs for NHS Nightingale patients to help provide some comfort and normality when they get discharged. M&S is sourcing, packing and delivering the individual care packs for male and female patients, which each contain a t-shirt, jumper, joggers, knickers or boxers and socks, and will be available in a range of sizes.

These packs will ensure real dignity for our patients and make the nurses very proud to be able to provide such an amazing level of care, said Natalie Forrest, Chief Operating Officer at NHS Nightingale London, in a statement.

In addition to donations of clothing, M&S is also donating food to some hospitals. From next week, the retailer is starting a new, twice-weekly free food delivery programme to help feed the hardworking teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Marys Hospital in Paddington, with deliveries of nearly 5,000 prepared meals, sandwiches and treats every week for the next two months.

M&S is donating to the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal, which is helping to fund essential support for NHS staff and volunteers caring for patients across the UK.

Customers can help do their bit by selecting NHS Charities Together  partners of the Clap for Carers initiative  as their preferred Sparks charity, enabling M&S to continue donating every time customers shop in its food stores and online.

Were doing our bit to help the NHS by focussing on what we do best - providing great food and clothes - in the hope we can make it just a little easier for our NHS heroes to do what they do best, as well as the patients in their care, said Steve Rowe, CEO of M&S.

It follows the introduction of special shopping hours for NHS, emergency service and health and social care workers every Tuesday and Friday during the first hour of trade and dedicated M&S Bank telephone banking hours from 6pm to 7pm every day.

M&S has also increased the size and product range of daily deliveries to its 46 hospital stores across the UK to help NHS workers access essential family products, including more meat, fish, produce and personal care items.

We get through these challenging times by pulling together and its been truly humbling to read the suggestions that have been pouring in from colleagues and customers alike with ideas for how we can help those on the NHS frontline, continued Rowe.
Burma Myanmar President Orders Officials to Preserve Evidence of Rakhine Atrocities

A police officer stands guard near a house that was burnt down in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, on Aug. 30, 2017. / Reuters

YANGONThe Myanmar Presidents Office on Thursday ordered Union-level ministries and the Rakhine State government to preserve evidence related to alleged human rights violations against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State that were investigated by a government commission.

The Presidents Office said the aim of the directive is to assist criminal investigations and ensure they proceed against the perpetrators. It also warns that anyone who destroys evidence will be prosecuted.

The Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) was formed by the Myanmar government in 2018 to investigate allegations of human rights violations and related issues in the wake of terrorist attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Rakhine State.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh in late 2017 after the governments security forces launched clearance operations in northern Rakhine State in response to the ARSA attacks. Those who fled recalled arbitrary killings, rape and arson against their property by Myanmar security forces. UN investigators said the operations had genocidal intent. Both the Myanmar government and military have denied the accusations.

In January, the commission submitted its final report to Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. While denying the security operations had genocidal intent, the report admitted that war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law took place.

The report states that crimes occurred including mass killings of Rohingya and the failure to prevent the burning of homes in abandoned Muslim villagesboth alleged to have been committed by members of the Myanmar security forces.

President U Win Myint forwarded the report to the countrys military chief and Union Attorney General (UAG) for use in investigating and prosecuting the military personnel responsible. Both the UAGs office and the Office of the Judge Advocate General said they are undertaking criminal investigations into the incidents mentioned in the report, Thursdays directive states.

According to the directive, the government took all necessary steps, both on the ground as well as through the use of satellite imagery, to document and inventory the current state of the sites in question.

To assist and ensure that criminal investigations can be undertaken, all ministries and the Rakhine State government, their agencies, departments, offices, and personnel are prohibited from destroying, or removing or permitting the destruction or removal of any property, immovable or movable, in any area of northern Rakhine State, that may provide evidence of events referred to in the ICOEs final report, it says.

All ministries and the Rakhine State government are further directed to preserve documents, images, videos, audio [clips] and other media related to the events that occurred in northern Rakhine State referred to in the ICOEs final report, it continues.

In January, the International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to protect Rohingya from killings and other atrocities while refraining from destroying evidence related to alleged crimes against them. The order followed The Gambias filing of a lawsuit against Myanmar, accusing the Southeast Asian country of committing genocide against the Rohingya.
Italy's prime minister has told the BBC that the European Union risks failing as a project in the coronavirus crisis, BCC reports.

Giuseppe Conte says the EU must act in an adequate and co-ordinated way to help countries worst hit by the virus.

Mr Conte says the European Union needs to rise to the challenge of what he calls "the biggest test since the Second World War".

This was his first interview with the UK broadcast media since the pandemic exploded in Italy seven weeks ago.

He was speaking as Italy and some other EU countries try to push more frugal members of the bloc to issue so-called "corona bonds" - sharing debt that all EU nations would help to pay off. The Netherlands in particular has opposed the idea, leading to a clash between finance ministers of the eurozone.

The Italian prime minister told the BBC that Europe's leaders were "facing an appointment with history" that they could not miss.

"If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real."
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has all but ruled out more industry-wide compromises with employers after the government's JobKeeper legislation passed Parliament on Wednesday.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was now employers' turn to "step up" and take advantage of JobKeeper rather than asking for further compromises on workers' pay and conditions, which unions had agreed to in three big bargains struck before the $130 billion wage subsidy plan was announced.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus says employers who breach the JobKeeper laws will face public campaigns from unions. Credit:AAP

"You're going to have to actually prove that you can't get the JobKeeper and also prove that you're suffering because... not all employers are," Ms McManus said. "And just because there's a little bit of a downturn isn't justification for cutting hours and we won't be accepting any proposals to cut pay."

Ms McManus' comments came as the government announced it would freeze 242,000 public servants' wages for six months.
SALT LAKE CITY, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: EXR) announced today it will release financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 7, 2020 to discuss its financial results. Hosting the call will be Extra Space Storage's CEO, Joe Margolis. Joining him will be Scott Stubbs, Executive Vice President and CFO.

During the conference call, company officers will review operating performance, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period. The question-and-answer period will be limited to registered financial analysts. All other participants will have listen-only capability.

To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call: Dial in at least five minutes prior to start time.



Domestic: 855-791-2026 International: 631-485-4899

Conference ID: 4875969

Conference Call Playback:



Domestic: 855-859-2056 International: 404-537-3406

Conference ID: 4875969

The playback can be accessed beginning on May 7, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET through May 12, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The conference call will also be available on the Company's website under Investor Relations at www.extraspace.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will also be available for 30 days on the Company's website.

Full Text of the Earnings Report and Supplemental Data

The full text of the earnings report and supplemental data will be available at the Company's website at http://ir.extraspace.com immediately following the earnings release to the wire services after the market close on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.

For those without Internet access, the earnings release will be available by mail or fax, on request. To receive a copy, please call Extra Space Storage Investor Relations at (801) 365-1759.

About Extra Space Storage Inc.

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2019, the Company owned and/or operated 1,817 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 1.3 million units and approximately 140.0 million square feet of rentable storage space offering customers conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States.

For more information, please visit www.extraspace.com.

SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc.

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The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has demanded that assaults on doctors be treated as non-bailable offence and that the Centre brings in a law for the medical fraternity amid rising incident s of violence at a time when they are in the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.

Doctors and nurses, particularly those involved in Covid-19 care have been at the receiving end of harassment from landlords and fellow residents in different parts of the country amid fears that they could transmit coronavirus.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday, the FORDA cited multiple incidents of assault on doctors and called for a Central Protection Act for doctors.

It cited a case in Delhis Gautam Nagar area where it said a female resident doctor and her sister were abused and manhandled by a person in their residential colony and another incident in from AIIMS, Bhopal where two doctors were abused and assaulted by police personnel even after showing their ID cards when they were returning to their apartments after emergency duty.

These are not isolated incidents, rather part of the long chain of incidents of violence against doctors. FORDA condemns such inhumane acts of violence and demands that all such acts be marked as Non-bailable Offence. Central Protection Act for doctors, as demanded earlier, is the need of the hour for protection of the whole medical fraternity, it said in the letter.

Last month, in a television address to his constituency of Varanasi about the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned people against misbehaving with doctors and nurses amid reports that many healthcare professionals are facing harassment for caring for Covid-19 patients.

Modis warning came a day after the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) wrote to Shah about discrimination and unfair behaviour by landlords who allegedly asked doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers involved in Covid-19 care to vacate their rented homes.

Shah had then spoken to Delhi Police chief S N Shrivastava and directed him to ensure security of doctors.
Twenty out of total 28 patients who were found infected with novel coronavirus in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district have been cured and tested negative, officials said on Thursday.

However, two of the COVID-19 patients (out of 28) have died, they said.

"Fifteen people have already been discharged after their tests turned negative and 10 others would be discharged in a couple of days, Bhilwara District Collector Rajendra Bhatt said.

He said one person tested positive for novel coronavirus in Bhilwara on Thursday, taking the district's tally 28.

Dr Arun Gaud, principal medical officer of the Bhilwara district hospital, said the 28th person, who tested positive for the infection on Thursday, was identified in screening by a medical team and was admitted to hospital.

The first COVID-19 case in Bhilwara was reported on March 19 after which massive screening and contact tracing of positive patients started on a war-footing. A curfew was also imposed and later it was made stricter when the cases began to increase rapidly.

The collector said that the entire population of 26 lakh in Bhilwara have been screened.

Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has appreciated the "Bhilwara model" and directed officials to implement it in other COVID-19 hotspots, including in Jaipur.

In a video conference with officers on Thursday, he said the model is being praised worldwide and the officials should also follow it in other such as Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Tonk, Jhunjhunu, Banswara where coronavirus positive cases are being reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EDMONTONAlberta Premier Jason Kenney slammed the federal governments border control measures and said his province would be looking at enforcing quarantines on visitors, as well as tracking them through smartphone apps in order to defend against a possible second wave of coronavirus.

This is not a violation of civil liberties, Kenney stressed during a media briefing late Wednesday.

I am not impressed with how the federal government managed international arrivals through this whole thing.

The move would see the province deploy teams to entry points to do rigorous screening of travellers coming from countries with high rates of COVID-19, according to Kenney.

The province would enforce quarantine orders on foreign travellers they deem a risk for going around the general population infecting people and somehow use smartphone technology, like an application, to track them  although Kenney didnt elaborate on how this would be done.

To protect us from a second phase of the pandemic, I believe that it may be necessary to do what countries like Taiwan, Singapore, (South) Korea have done, he said, referring to those countries strict border controls and relative success in stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Kenney added that his proposal is similar to whats being done in British Columbia, where they, too, have imposed stricter border controls. Using the example of countries in Asia, Kenney said the border in Canada could have been controlled better and closed earlier.

We appreciate our partnership with the federal government in many aspects of the covid crisis, Kenney said. But on this, if they wont do the job at the ports of entry, at least this provincial government will.

The Alberta government is developing the policy, but Kenney wouldnt give details on how long it would last. He said he was confident that his government had the authority to impose the rules under the Public Health Act.

Kenney also said he was willing to ship equipment  like ventilators  to other provinces that may be in need, as long as Albertans were taken care of.

The moves come after a wave of stark pandemic projections struck the province this week.

The premier gave a televised address to Albertans Tuesday evening, sharing a glimpse at some of the projections going forward. Officials also briefed reporters on the COVID-19 outlook on Wednesday.

Albertans can expect between 800,000 and one million COVID-19 infections  but health officials stress those numbers should be thought of as the entirety of an iceberg.

Many of those will never be tested and confirmed cases, which officials say are the tip of the iceberg, as the province believes there will be many cases that show no or very few symptoms.

That makes projecting deaths difficult.

The current probable scenario for the province, with a population of about 4.3 million, shows between 400 and 3,100 deaths by the end of the summer, with the pandemic peaking in mid-May. The elevated scenario sees between 500 and 6,600 deaths in Alberta with a peak in early May.

Alberta also rolled out hospitalization projections with a probable peak of 818 visits in late May and an elevated scenario peak of 1,570 hospitalizations in the beginning of May.

Much depends on how well Albertans heed public health-orders and physical distancing measures recommended by health officials. It also depends on how hard high-risk populations in the province are hit, like those in continuing care facilities.

Predicting the virus is not an exact science and much depends upon what assumptions different provinces have made.

For instance, in projections rolled out on Wednesday, Saskatchewan officials say they assume that for every one person infected, 2.4 others will also be infected. This is in a best-case scenario.

This scenario would see around 150,000 people in that province infected, and just over 3,000 deaths.

Alberta officials said they used different data specific to the province. They also said projections could change over time as more becomes known about the virus and the pandemic.

In their own scenario, Alberta officials believe that for every person infected, one to two more people will also be infected  making the number a bit lower compared to neighbouring Saskatchewan.

Alberta health officials and the premier say they are confident that with the province moving quickly to secure supplies and equipment, they can handle the pandemic deaths, hospitalizations, ventilator needs and admissions to intensive care.

Officials forecast having enough equipment and supplies until the end of April, and said there could be a potential shortage of face shields and N95 masks by the end of June  but said they havent factored in supplies currently on order.

Read more about:
Pompeo indirectly accuses China of dishonesty over COVID-19 pandemic

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 9:57 AM

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has indirectly accused China of not being transparent and honest about the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which reported no deaths from the illness for the first time since the outbreak began.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday at the US State Department, Pompeo said all countries must provide accurate and timely data to help the world learn more about COVID-19. He did not mention China by name and avoided harsh rhetoric he has used recently.

"Every nation, be they a democracy or not, has to share this information in a transparent, open, efficient way," he said.

The top US diplomat has previously accused China of covering up the scale of the outbreak in the early days and not sharing accurate data. Beijing insists it has been transparent about the pandemic and has sharply criticized US officials who cast doubt on that.

Trump accused the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday of being "China-centric" and said he would temporarily block US funding for the Geneva-based UN health organization.

"The WHO really blew it," Trump said in a Twitter post. "For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric."

Trump has blamed China for the global pandemic, repeatedly using the term "Chinese virus" despite criticism that it is racist and anti-Chinese.

On Monday, China reported no coronavirus deaths for the first time since the outbreak began and a drop in new cases, but a northern town started restricting the movement of its residents amid concerns of a second wave of infections in the country.

While China has managed to curtail its coronavirus epidemic, the extreme measures to contain it have inflicted a heavy toll on its economy and social interactions.

The coronavirus outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, has infected over 1.4 million people, killing more than 82,000 of them and wreaking havoc on the global economy as governments imposed lockdowns to rein in its spread.

More than 50,000 people in Wuhan were infected, and more than 2,500 of them died, about 80% of all deaths in China, according to official figures.

As of April 8, more than 398,000 people have been confirmed with the coronavirus in the US, with nearly 13,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States has by far the most known COVID-19 cases with nearly twice as many as Spain and in Italy, but fewer deaths than in the two hardest-hit European nations.

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WASHINGTON  Senate Democrats on Thursday stalled President Donald Trumps request for $250 billion to supplement a paycheck protection program for businesses crippled by the coronavirus outbreak, demanding protections for minority-owned businesses and money for health care providers and state and local governments.

They sidetracked a request by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to give the unanimous consent necessary to fast-track Trumps request.

We need more funding and we need it fast, McConnell said as he opened the Senate, assuring them there would be future bills to deal with other issues.

Democrats' demands sparked a spirited response from McConnell, who implored them not to block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more.

Nobody thinks this will be the Senates last word on COVID-19. We dont have to do everything right now, McConnell said. "Lets continue to work together, with speed and bipartisanship. We will get through this crisis together.

Thursday's Senate development doesn't mean the legislation is dead. Democrats and Republicans agree the aid is urgently needed. The dispute is over billions more Democrats want to add to the legislation.WASHINGTON (AP)  Senators torpedoed quick passage of a new coronavirus aid package Thursday, with Democrats rejecting a Trump administration request for $250 billion to boost a small business payroll fund and Republicans refusing Democrats' demand for another $250 billion for hospitals and states.

The standoff doesn't end the pursuit of more rescue funds. Democrats and Republicans agree the aid is urgently needed and talks continue. But it reinforces that Congress and the White House will need to find bipartisan agreement.

Nobody thinks this will be the Senates last word on COVID-19," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Lets continue to work together, with speed and bipartisanship. We will get through this crisis together.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared the Senate vote merely a stunt" as the country faces an epic crisis. She ridiculed the administration for trying to jam a $250 billion request through Congress with 48 hours notice with little data to back it up.

Really? Pelosi said on a conference call with reporters.

The stall comes as communities across the nation strain to meet health care needs and salvage local economies pummeled by the crisis. A new jobless report shows a whopping 16.8 million Americans are now out of work.

The massive infusions of federal cash  the $250 billion sought by the administration would come on top of combined legislation already totaling about $2.5 trillion -- are intended as a patch to help the $21 trillion U.S. economy through the current recession, which is causing an economic contraction and a spike in joblessness that is overwhelming many state systems for delivering unemployment benefits.

With Congress all but shuttered  and unlikely to return April 20, as planned  lawmakers pledged to keep negotiating with the White House.

In the brief Senate session, Democrats rejected Trumps request for $250 billion to supplement a paycheck protection program for businesses.

McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin say the program, which involves direct subsidies to companies to keep employees on payroll and pay company rent, is on track to quickly deplete its first $350 billion infusion as businesses rush to apply for the aid.

Democrats are not opposed to boosting the payroll fund, but they want to ensure that the popular program delivers benefits to businesses in minority communities that are often under-served by traditional lenders.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., accused McConnell of trying to ram through legislation and detailed a variety of glitches in the program, including fears that many big lenders are not serving minority neighborhoods.

Democrats are pressing for half of the White House request, or $125 billion, to be channeled through community-based financial institutions that serve farmers and family-, women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits in rural, tribal, suburban and urban communities.

They circulated a $500 billion plan that would include the Trump request and add $100 billion for hospitals and other health care providers and $150 billion to state and local governments, as well as a 15% boost in food stamp benefits. They hope this serves as a basis for talks with McConnell going forward.

With Capitol Hill virtually shut down, legislation is most easily passed through unanimous agreement, which is often not an easy task.

Another complication is lone wolf Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who promises to block efforts to pass such huge legislation through the House without lawmakers present and ready to vote. The Senate is used to passing legislation by unanimous consent, but the House is more typically driven by the majority party imposing its will.

Pelosi said McConnells request simply cant advance through the Democratic-controlled House under unanimous consent.

The future of the legislation is likely to be largely determined by a small, familiar group of senior Washington hands, including Pelosi, McConnell and Mnuchin, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Vice President Mike Pence is convening another day of conference calls with lawmakers and the coronavirus task force, talking separately with Senate Republicans and Democrats, on the crisis and federal response.

The Senate convened for the brief pro-forma session with just four senators present  none in masks  to consider the dueling proposals.

Senate Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who presided over the brief session, told reporters it is unlikely the chamber will reopen April 20 as planned.
The Chinese Government Sends A Team of Medical Experts to Kazakhstan

2020/04/09

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian announces:

To help Kazakhstan fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government has decided to send a team of medical experts to Kazakhstan. The team, organized by the National Health Commission, consists of experts selected by the health commission of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The team left for Kazakhstan on the afternoon of April 9.
(Newser)  Researchers are warning the Trump administration not to bank on warm weather to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In a letter sent to the White House, a panel from the National Academy of Sciences says data on the spread of the virus in cold versus warm weather is inconclusive, per the New York Times. It cites "some evidence" of reduced transmissions under high temperature and humidity, but it also notes the virus spread "exponentially" under the same conditions in China, and is continuing to spread in balmy Australia and Iran. "Given current data, we believe that the pandemic likely will not diminish because of summer, and we should be careful not to base policies and strategies around the hope that it will," says immunologist Kristian Andersen, a member of the panel behind the letter.

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The letter also mentions research by Tulane University's Chad Roy, who found that COVID-19 lived longer than influenza, monkeypox, tuberculosis, and the SARS virus when subjected to high heat and humidity, reports CNN. Dr. Anthony Fauci seemed to agree with the outlook offered in the letter during a Thursday appearance on Good Morning America. While certain other viruses see a reduced ability to spread under warm weather, "one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather," he said, per the AP. "If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But I don't think we need to assume that." In February and March, President Trump suggested that April's warmer temperatures would stymie the virus, though he hasn't made the claim more recently. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
WASHINGTON - After Rich Cruse saw about $3,000 in income for his photography business quickly disappear to the coronavirus, he tried to apply for unemployment benefits in California. But like many states, his isnt yet accepting claims from the self-employed like him.

Thats left Cruse, 58, earning just meagre pay driving for Uber Eats near San Diego. And he worries about the health risks.

I wear a mask and am practically eating hand sanitizer, he said. Its not what I am supposed to be doing.

Even as nearly 17 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits in the past three weeks  a record high, by far  millions of people appear to be falling through the cracks. They cant get through jammed phone systems or finish their applications on overloaded websites. Or theyre confused about whether or how to apply.

And now there is a whole new category of people  gig workers, independent contractors and self-employed people like Cruse. The federal governments $2.2 trillion economic relief package for the first time extended unemployment aid to cover those workers when they lose their jobs. Yet most states have yet to update their systems to process these applications.

The struggles at U.S. unemployment systems run by the states contrasts with the smoother and more robust protections that many European governments provide for millions who have been thrown out of work as a result of the viral outbreak. In France, for example, 5.8 million people  about a quarter of the private-sector workforce  are now on a partial unemployment plan: With the governments help, they receive part of their wages while temporarily laid off or while working shorter hours.

Larisa Ignatovich, who works as a household helper for families around Paris, is among them. French confinement measures mean she can leave only to buy groceries or for medical emergencies. When the confinement rules were imposed in March, her husbands construction work dried up, and she could no longer work. Ignatovich feared they would lack money for food and rent.

But then the government announced special programs to help prevent virus-related layoffs. Under the plan, Ignatovichs employers continue to pay her, and the government reimburses the employer 80% of the sum.

Many European governments seek to subsidize wages in downturns so that workers can remain attached to their employers. By contrast, the U.S. approach typically is to provide support to those whove lost jobs. But unemployment aid doesnt cover everyone. It can be limited to six months or less.

Some economists argue that the European approach explains why unemployment rates there dont spike as high in downturns as in the United States, and fewer workers drop out of the workforce compared with the United States.

The new U.S. economic relief package does include $350 billion in loans for small companies that agree to retain or rehire their employees. These loans are forgiven if theyre used for wages. But that program is off to a rocky start. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has already asked Congress for more money given the tidal wave of applications for the loans.

For workers with traditional jobs, state unemployment agencies can use their employers tax records to confirm that theyre employed and determine their earnings history to set their benefit levels. Those workers are eligible in part because their companies pay into state unemployment funds.

By contrast, self-employed and gig workers typically havent contributed to unemployment funds. And neither have the online platforms that they work through. Now that theyre eligible for jobless benefits, those workers will have to provide paperwork to document their incomes. Compounding the challenges, the federal government is providing an additional $600 per week of jobless aid beyond what states provide. This federal money must be routed through the states  another new responsibility.

All of this takes time, which means money cant get to the jobless recipients very quickly.

I suspect it may take much longer than governments and workers want before the unemployment benefits arrive, said Dmitri Koustas, an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Chicago.

Under the economic relief package, the federal government will pay the benefits for the self-employed and other newly eligible groups. But states must evaluate whether an applicant is actually eligible. Koustas says many states fear theyll be stuck with the bill if they mistakenly approve someone.

For that reason, some states are requiring the self-employed and gig workers to apply for regular state unemployment benefits first. Only if their claims are rejected can they apply for the new federal coverage.

Massachusetts has warned that its unemployment office wont be able to accept claims from gig workers, contractors or the self-employed until April 30. The office has turned to a vendor to establish a new platform for those applications.

In North Carolina, the state unemployment office, which has received a whopping 497,000 jobless claims since mid-March, said it wont likely be able to accept applications from independent contractors and the self-employed for two more weeks.

Pringle Teetor, 62, of Chapel Hill, had to close the glass-blowing studio she co-owns after her revenue evaporated once local art galleries shuttered and spring festivals were cancelled. Shes filed for unemployment benefits. But Teetor isnt sure whether her application cleared because she kept getting dropped off the computer system. Though she has some savings, she may seek other work if she cant reopen her studio soon. Her husbands dental practice remains closed.

If this goes on much longer, its going to change everything, Teetor said.

In California, Cruse tried to apply unemployment benefits after two of the road races that he photographs for charitable groups were cancelled. But after filling out forms online, he was told he wasnt eligible. The state has yet to update its website for self-employed workers.

Cruse used to regularly take sunset photos from the beach, which he would post on social media to promote his photography business. But with the beaches closed, he cant even do that.

The prospects arent that great for me for the next two to three months at least, he said. All the existing work that I have is gone.

___

AP Writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
Assemblymembers Son Victim of Gun Violence

The 32-year-old son of Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) was one of four victims who were shot on Sunday around 4:00pm in the 8900 block of Hobart Avenue in South Los Angeles.

Devon Gipson and his fiancee, Jennifer Salazar, were visiting his mother when they decided to walk to the neighborhood store. It was during this walk that the suspect fired from a car, hitting Devon in the back and his fiancee in her leg. Two others were shot, including one fatality.

Devon and Jennifer were taken by ambulance to Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Her leg was treated and she was discharged. Devon was admitted and underwent surgery to stop the bleeding and repair the damage that the bullet caused after it entered his back, fracturing his rib and puncturing his lung before it exited.

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Devon is a father and a full-time employee working for Mattel, Inc. in El Segundo, Ca.

As a father, the news of my son being shot was devastating to myself and my family, said Asm. Gipson. I rushed to the hospital not knowing his condition. I thank God that he is recovering and pray for the loved ones of the other victim who lost his life. As a legislator, I know that too often many families experience similar scenarios on a regular basis. This must stop.

No one is exempt from gun violence. Bullets dont discriminate; senseless gun violence plagues our communities, leaving nothing but pain in its path, noted Gipson. My family and others feel that pain. I have always been a strong advocate against gun violence. It was personal before and its certainly even more so now.

Gipson was the author of AB 879 (Ghost Guns), a law which mandates the registration of gun parts that are easily purchased and used to build guns. Ironically, in the past five years, he has held two anti-gun violence rallies at the intersection of Vermont and Manchester Avenues in the same community as the shooting.

Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly, said, I intend to join with local representatives who seek to rein in the animosity that led to this terrible event. Our community needs to be together in spirit as we face all our challenges.

Gipson stated, I intend to continue to fight against gun violence with increased vigor, meeting with colleagues, local officials, stakeholders and residents. No tears, no fear.

At press time, there is no suspect for the crime nor motive. The shooter remains at large.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:01:54|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed 30 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 1,232.

Out of the 30 cases confirmed during the past 24 hours, 12 are in the capital Baghdad, eight in Basra, two in each Dhi Qar and Diyala, and one in the provinces of Najaf, Sulaimaniyah, Erbil, Karbala, Kirkuk and Wasit each, the ministry said in a statement.

So far, 1,232 cases have been confirmed in the country, of whom 69 have died and 496 recovered, according to the statement.

The Iraqi authorities have taken several measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, including extending a nationwide curfew until April 19.

To help Iraq cope with the coronavirus spread, a Chinese team of seven experts has been working with their Iraqi counterparts since March 7.
The Nepal government on Thursday went back on a reported decision to lift the ban imposed on the plying of vehicles on Friday and Saturday to allow people stranded here due to the coronavirus outbreak to return to their homes in other districts.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel said no decision has been taken regarding lifting halt imposed on vehicles for Friday and Saturday to allow people to leave Kathmandu to return their homes during lockdown.

However, earlier, an aide to the deputy prime minister, who is also the coordinator of the high-level coronavirus control committee, told reporters in Kathmandu that the government will lift the restrictions for two days.

"No decision has been made to lift ban on vehicular movement for two days, as reported in some media outlets," says a statement issued by Pokharel.

Thousands of people wishing to return home from Kathmandu are stuck in the capital city due to the nationwide lockdown imposed till April 15.

The three-week long lockdown in Nepal entered 17th day on Thursday even as the number of COVID-19 positive cases remained nine for the past 96 hours.

The government has so far tested around 3,000 samples for coronavirus, according to Health Ministry spokesperson.

There are at present 7,940 people quarantined in different parts of the country and 117 people are kept in isolation.

To control spread of coronavirus, the government initially imposed an 8-day lockdown in March, but later extended it twice, on April 1 and April 7 till April 15.

International and domestic flights have been halted till April end and all long route bus services also remained suspended till mid-April.

Meanwhile, local authorities quarantined 25 people, including 14 Indian nationals and 11 Nepalese, in Saptari district in South-East Nepal as they violated the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
London, 7 April 2020 (SPS) - The Western Sahara Campaign UK has mourned the passing of Emhamad Khadad, a member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front, Coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), on last Tuesday after long illness.



Below is the full text of the condolence message addressed to President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali:



His Excellency Brahim Ghali



Secretary-General Polisario Front



President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic



4 April 2020



Your Excellency



We are sad to learn of the passing of Emhamed Khadad.



This a great and tragic loss. Khadad was a great and inspiring representative of his people,



a determined and skilled diplomat in the struggle for self-determination. He was an inspiration to us, always wanting to support the work of the Western Sahara Campaign UK.



He was instrumental in supporting the work of solidarity campaigns, realising the importance and opportunity of challenging the plunder of Western Saharas natural resources and supporting legal challenges in all jurisdictions including WSCs challenge.



In this difficult time, our thoughts are with his family, and with the Saharawi people, for whom he fought so fiercely. Please on behalf of his family and the Saharawi people accept our condolences. We shall miss him greatly.



In solidarity



Mark Leuthford



Chair



John Gurr



Co-ordinator (SPS)



062/SPS
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 21:02:19|Editor: xuxin

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BERLIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of German companies applying for short-time work as a result of the coronavirus crisis climbed to around 650,000 by April 6, according to a special evaluation published by the German Employment Agency (BA) on Thursday.

Within ten days, the number of applications had gone up almost 40 percent and "continued to grow dynamically," according to BA.

Applications for short-time work had been received from almost all German industries but retail and hospitality industries were particularly affected, BA noted.

In Germany, employers receive government support when switching to shorter working hours during an economic crisis in order to avoid permanent lay-offs. In 2019, only 1,300 German companies had applied for short-time work on a monthly average, according to BA.

Although short-time work in Germany was at a "historic high," the statistics would also give "some reason for hope," Thore Schlaak, an economic policy expert at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) told Xinhua on Thursday.

"German employers are trying to keep their workforces rather than lay them off," added Schlaak. "This was precisely the aim of the German government and this calculation seems to be working, at least for the time being."

BA assumed that the number of employees in Germany on short-time work would turn out to be significantly higher than during the economic and financial crisis in 2008-2009. Up to 1.4 million German employees were working short-time in 2009.

On Wednesday, leading German economic institutes forecasted that the country's unemployment rate would rise to 5.9 percent "at its peak" in 2020 while the number of short-time workers would further increase to 2.4 million.

BA head Detlef Scheele pointed out that short-time work compensation was currently the best instrument to prevent unemployment in Germany. The German Employment Agency was "gearing almost all our activities" towards advising the companies concerned and was increasing the size of the responsible teams.

Currently, almost 8,000 BA employees, ten times more than usual, are processing short-time work applications and the payments to companies in Germany.
Still reeling from the death of her father from complications with the coronavirus, Paola Rodriguez braces herself for another death in the family, as her sister clings to life in a Summit hospital.

After battling the brutal symptoms of the coronavirus, Francisco Rodriguez, 75, died in his Linden home from a pulmonary embolism on March 29, his daughter said. The results of a test that came in Wednesday showed he was positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, she said.

The morning of Franciscos death, Paola Rodriguez raced to his home with her daughter, who went inside while Paola stayed outside because she is immunocompromised. She waited tensely as paramedics entered the house. Then firefighters. Then more medics.

Finally, her daughter came out and told her.

That was it, said Paolo Rodriguez. My father was gone.

But Paola Rodriguez had no time to mourn her father. Her sister Maria Derius Rodriguez, 54, had been taken to Overlook Medical Center on March 19 and diagnosed with pneumonia. The day after she arrived at the hospital, Maria was taken to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator that has kept her alive as her lungs struggle to take in air.

Maria Derius Rodriguez, 55, has been in the hospital on a ventilator for nearly three weeks. Her father Francisco died March 29 from complications with the coronavirus.

Nearly three weeks later, Maria remains on the ventilator and is not responsive. Doctors have told Paola Rodriguez and Marias husband and two children to prepare for the worst.

Through the pixels of an iPad held to Marias face by a hospital worker clad in full-body protective gear, Marias family tearfully said their goodbyes on Wednesday. Framed by tubes and medical equipment, Marias eyes flickered at the sound of her familys voices.

She opened her eyes to the sound of our voice, said Rodriguez.

The barrage of tragedy has hit Rodriguez and her family in swift and cruel succession, starting March 14, when her brother-in-law complained of a headache and chills, she said. Despite the coronavirus pandemic that was infecting more and more people by the day, Marias brother-in-law was refused a COVID-19 test, she said.

Days after her brother-in-law visited her parents in their Linden home, the first of Franciscos symptoms came abruptly.

My mother called me and said Something so weird happened, said Rodriguez. 'Your father was in the bathroom and he fainted.' In their 56 years of marriage, Ingrid Rodriguez had never seen that happen to her husband. Francisco was a healthy man, with no underlying health conditions, said his daughter.

As the days went on, Franciscos condition worsened, as he developed severe chills, a low-grade persistent fever and lost his appetite. At night, Francisco would be delirious with fever, talking to himself in bed, said Rodriguez.

Throughout the week, my father just kept getting worse," said Rodriguez.

At 4 a.m. March 28, much like he did every morning, Francisco got up and shaved his face, a daily ritual he had neglected as he grew weaker and more sick. The next morning, Franciscos face was white as a paper, Rodriguezs mother told her. Medics arrived, but it was too late. At 11 a.m. March 29, Francisco was pronounced dead.

Much like her brother-in-law, Rodriguezs father was not able to be tested for the coronavirus. Doctors told him to assume he had the virus, to stay home so he wouldnt infect others, and to only go to the emergency room if he had a fever above 101 degrees and trouble breathing.

It was only after he died that Francisco was tested for the deadly virus.

Entire families across New Jersey have been impacted by the coronavirus deadly toll. A husband and wife from Palisades Park died alone in the same hospital, a week apart. One family from Freehold ravaged by the virus lost four members. A Kearny woman, who cared for her son who had Down Syndrome, died just nine days before the virus also claimed her sons life.

In one of the harsh changes forced by the virus and facing families across the world, Rodriguez and her family were unable to bid her father farewell, as they were all sick or in quarantine and limited by strict social distancing rules. Francisco was cremated April 3.

None of us were able to go see his body," said Rodriguez. "We werent able to have a proper ceremony. The last one to see him was my mother and my daughter.

Now, Rodriguez and her family wait to see if Maria will pull through, beating what doctors say are low odds that her body will remember how to breathe again. In the time since Franciscos passing, Rodriguezs mother, brother-in-law, niece and nephew have all tested positive for the coronavirus, she said.

None of them have shown severe symptoms and are all in self-quarantine.

Doctors have told the family that they can attempt breathing trials for Maria, to see if she will breathe on her own again, or to keep her on the ventilator. Since Monday, doctors have tried to lower the sedation administered to Maria to see how she responds.

But the prognosis is grim, with doctors telling the family that Maria was not responsive to the trials Tuesday, said Rodriguez.

They dont think shes going to make it, she said. The doctor feels that if they try to do the breathing trials, she might not be able to resist being off of the ventilator.

For now, the family plays a heart-rending waiting game to see if Maria will recover, separated by the virus, despite their closeness. Rodriguez, a teacher, lives in Rahway, across the street from Maria and down the block from another sister. Three of four sisters live in Rahway, which neighbors Linden, where their parents lived.

When her father died, Rodriguez wanted nothing more than to embrace her family and comfort each other. She hopes that her story serves as a reminder to obey social distancing rules, as difficult, painful and unfair as they may feel.

I was dying to go next door to my sister," said Rodriguez, fighting tears. "To go hug her. And my niece and my brother-in-law. To mourn together. And we cant do it because we know what this is.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
Manoj Viswanathan By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Mohammed Salim, a resident of Angadipuram in Malappuram, has been frantically contacting medical stores and pharma distributors for the past few days to buy some medicines. His four-year-old son Shadin is a leukaemia patient and has to visit the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram every two months for treatment. The hospital provides medicines free-of-cost to the child. However, the lockdown has landed the family in dire straits.

We had an appointment for April 1, but could not reach Thiruvananthapuram due to the lockdown. We have run out of medicine. Two days ago, an NGO delivered some medicine from Kozhikode, which will be over soon, Salim said.

He is not alone. Hundreds of cancer patients across the state are in trouble. There are many who had to attend radiation and chemotherapy sessions in the past two weeks but are unable to reach the hospital due to the travel restrictions.

My wife Thankamma, 62, is a breast cancer patient and has been undergoing treatment at the RCC for the past three years. We have medicine for only two days. I visited all medical stores at Pulpally in Wayanad with the prescription two days ago but it was not available, said Scaria, a resident of Seetha Mount near Pulpally.

My scheduled date for consultation was March 29. I contacted the hospital over the phone and was told to call after April 15, said Gopi, a resident of Malappuram who is recuperating after an ENT surgery.

An official at RCC said they have made an arrangement with the Fire and Rescue Services and State Youth Commission to deliver medicines to cancer patients.

Patients can contact us with their registration number and we will forward it to the doctor concerned.

The prescribed medicines will be delivered with the help of the district Fire Station, said the official.

Patients from northern districts buy medicine for two months when they come for treatment. They have been calling us complaining that they are not able to procure the medicine due to the lockdown, state Drugs Controller Ravi S Menon told TNIE.

The price of the medicines ranges from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh. We are trying to procure the medicine from the trade stock of companies in Mumbai, which offer some discount to regular customers, he said.

Depending on RCC

Most patients from marginalised sections depend on RCC as it offers free treatment and medicines. There are 55 patients who avail free treatment and medicines under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme of the Union Government.

Besides, there are many schemes of the state government and NGOs that offer support to the poor patients who are unable to bear the treatment expenses.

State Drugs Controller Ravi S Menon said they delivered medicines via drug inspectors to patients in Kasaragod and Kannur. An RCC official said they conducted four such trips in 10 days
(Newser)  Former Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton has been indicted on a felony charge of injury to a child after his teenage daughter accused him of beating her. A Tarrant County grand jury indicted the 38-year-old Hamilton on Monday. He remains free on $30,000 bond after he turned himself in to authorities on Oct. 30. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of two to 10 years in prison, the AP reports. Hamilton's attorneys say the Texas Rangers Hall of Famer is innocent of the charge. His 14-year-old daughter told her mother, Hamiltons ex-wife, that her father struck her after he became enraged by a comment from her. According to an affidavit by a Keller Police Department detective, Hamiltons daughter told police that he went on a rampage Sept. 30.

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She says he threw a full water bottle overhand at her, hitting her in the chest, then cursed and shouted at her. He pulled away the chair on which she rested her feet and threw it, breaking the chair, she told detectives. It didnt hit her, but he then grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her from the chair on which she sat, she says. She fell to the floor, and he allegedly lifted her up, threw her over his shoulder and carried her to her bedroom. The girl said at this point she was telling Hamilton, Im sorry. Upon reaching her bedroom door, he allegedly tossed the teen onto her bed, pressed her face onto the mattress, and began hitting her legs with an open hand and closed fist. She said that after he finished striking her, he told her, I hope you go in front of the f---ing judge and tell him what a terrible dad I am so I dont have to see you anymore and you dont have to come to my house again. Hamilton has struggled with cocaine and alcohol addiction in the past.

(Read more Josh Hamilton stories.)
Jaipur, April 9 : The spurt in coronavirus cases -- from 83 to 430 in 8 days -- in Rajasthan has worried the government officials. The coronavirus infection has spread to 24 out of 33 districts in the state by Thursday.

Jaipur, April 9 (IANS) The spurt in coronavirus cases -- from 83 to 430 in 8 days -- in Rajasthan has worried the government officials. The coronavirus infection has spread to 24 out of 33 districts in the state by Thursday.

The infection was limited to 5-6 districts, Chief Secretary D.B. Gupta told IANS. It spread to more areas with the return of attendees of the Tabliki Jammat congregation in Nizamuddin, Delhi, he added.

On March 31 there were 83 cases in 11 districts, but in eight days the number had increased to 430 in 24 districts, he added.

The worst-hit districts are Jaipur (140 cases), Jodhpur (34), Jhunjhunu (31), Tonk (27), Bikaner (20), Jaisalmer (19), Kota (15) and Banswara (12).

On Thursday, 47 new cases were reported. Of this, 11 were from Jaipur, 7 each from Jhunjhunu, Tonk and Jhalawar, 5 from in Jaisalmer, 3 from Jodhpur, and one from Barmer.

Expressing worries over the rising Covid-19 hotspots in the state, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked officials to implement the Bhilwara model to control situation in new hotspots, like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Churu, Jhunjhunu and Tonk.

He also expressed worries over rise in coronavirus cases in Jodhpur in the last few days. Jodhpur had seven hotspots till March 31. But by Thursday, it had increased to 34.

"We need to check the community spread. Screen each household in the city," he told officials and said more testing facilities be set up in the districts where the number of cases had risen in the last few days.

Of the 19,107 samples in the state, 430 tested positive and test report for 826 samples were awaited, said Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
After US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to supply Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, seen as useful in the treatment of COVID-19.

"Thank you, my dear friend, Narendra Modi for sending Hydroxychloroquine to Israel," a tweet from the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel read. "All the citizens of Israel thank you."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation on April 3 with Benjamin Netanyahu where the two leaders discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the response strategies adopted by their respective governments to the health crisis.

The leaders also explored possible collaboration between India and Israel in fighting the pandemic, including by improving availability of pharmaceutical supplies and by innovative use of high technology.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday.

Earlier, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the export of raw materials to his country to produce hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonaro was one of the leaders Prime Minister Modi spoke to over the weekend in his continuing interaction with leaders since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine in the but the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had banned exports of the drug and its ingredients in view of the rapid rise in the infection-related cases in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ted Kelly had been holed up in his small studio apartment in Philadelphia for two weeks, and he was weary with bad news. Every few minutes, his phone buzzed with more calls from recently laid-off workers whose lives had been capsized by the novel coronavirus.

There were a few things he knew before even looking at a number.

For one, he was almost certainly not who they were trying to reach. He was a community organizer for a local nonprofit that advocated for workers; the callers were probably looking for the state's unemployment office.

And he knew there would ultimately be very little he could do to help them.

He picked up anyway.

On the other end: an out-of-work bartender who first started losing tips, then hours, and eventually her job entirely. A gig musician's wife, unsure if the family would qualify for unemployment. A mother of two who worked stadium concessions and suddenly had no more work and no more money.

No, Kelly explained over and over, he was not with the unemployment office at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

No, he did not even work for the state government.

No, he could not access any case files.

Each day now, dozens of calls were puncturing the isolated quiet of Kelly's dimly lit studio, where bright fabrics and bookshelves-turned-partitions crowded inward like a hug. The calls - hundreds a week, he estimated - were runoff from the surge of distress happening beyond the walls of his apartment.

By early April, more than 1.1 million new unemployment claims had been filed in Pennsylvania alone as a result of the rapid and surreal national economic shutdown caused by the virus, according to data provided by the Pennsylvania unemployment office. This second pandemic, one of mass layoffs across the country, has hit the state especially hard. And in turn, it exposed a threadbare unemployment administration that had struggled to keep up with claims even when unemployment was at 4 or 5 percent.

The logjam had been years in the making. The state has laid off hundreds of administrative staff and shuttered many offices and call centers in recent years - a result of budget shortfalls caused by flat unemployment funding from the federal government and partisan gridlock in the state legislature.

Now, even with $38 million in new federal funds to bolster its unemployment administration - part of $1 billion in emergency funding made available nationwide by covid-19 legislation in Washington - the state would have to mend old deficiencies while coping with the new crisis.

"The basic problem is that the feds haven't been sufficiently generous in providing administrative moneys," said Wayne Vroman, a labor economist at the Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington. "State legislatures have to provide it in some way or another. Pennsylvania really been seriously hurt, I would say, by the failure of the state to continue providing adequate supplemental funding."

Many new applicants have found themselves disoriented in a system with little human contact and no one to answer their questions.

And Kelly found himself a receptacle for Philadelphia's pain.

That so many people were calling him was an accident of timing, bureaucracy and algorithms. Just a few weeks ago, Kelly, 30, was still settling into a new job as an organizer at the Philadelphia Unemployment Project - PUP for short - a nonprofit that advocates for the city's out-of-work residents. It had the distinction of coming up first when someone typed "Philadelphia unemployment phone number" into Google, which a lot of people had been doing amid the greatest economic crisis since the Great Recession.

When social distancing measures began in Philadelphia, PUP shut down its downtown office and forwarded the calls to Kelly's cellphone.

Then came the mass layoffs.

Without access to their case files, Kelly could not do much for the people calling, but he could answer questions that came up as users filled out their benefits applications for the first time. He could explain what each eligibility category meant. He could give some context for why the system was so backed up.

It was something.

One of those callers was Shannon Darcy, 31, who was laid off on March 15 from her job as a bartender and server at Condesa, an upscale Mexican restaurant near Rittenhouse Square. Darcy, someone who always liked to have a plan, promptly applied for unemployment benefits and food stamps. She felt gutted; one month ago, she had expected to be just weeks away from getting married. Now the wedding was delayed and the money from the celebration had instead become a financial lifeline.

At least, she thought, unemployment compensation could soften the financial blow from losing a steady job.

But when it came time to file her biweekly claim, she immediately ran into trouble, Darcy said. She had woken up at 6 a.m. to file online ahead of the crowd, but when she opened her computer, the Web portal kept crashing. Thirty-six hours and hundreds of phone calls later, she decided to call the Pennsylvania governor's office as a Hail Mary. A woman there gave her the number for a local organization that might be able to provide some advice.

She dialed; Kelly picked up the phone.

Darcy thought he sounded as frustrated with the government as she was, which brought comfort; she felt heard for the first time after weeks of growing panic.

Kelly gave her a state email address to try, and she began to pass that email and his contact information along to friends in a similar situation.

"It's very scary that it took one person calling the governor's office 30 times on Monday to get a phone number of one nonprofit organization that could explain why this is happening," she said in an interview. "This is an unacceptable way to have to access information. Instead of the government, we're relying on a group chat of 25 restaurant industry workers."

The state government, in a statement, said it was working to improve response times but did not offer any specifics. "We are working quickly to bolster our [unemployment compensation] operations during this unprecedented time, while serving our customers as effectively and efficiently as possible," said a spokesperson for the state unemployment office.

Not long ago, Kelly might have been on the other end of these calls. Eighteen months before, he had navigated the unemployment system after being laid off from a call center position with Urban Outfitters, the clothing chain. He ended up with a fridge of slowly rotting groceries when his power was shut off because he could not pay the bill.

He had grown up comfortably in a white suburb of Philadelphia. But since graduating from New York University nearly a decade ago in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, he saw friends and family members growing more and more vulnerable despite soaring stock market values. He heard politicians, on the left and the right,offer what he considered lip service to working-class voters while the social safety net was shrinking. That was why he now identified as a communist, he said, though he never mentioned it to callers.

Now,in the wake of the pandemic, he felt like one of the lucky ones, with a job and a sense of purpose. Without realizing it at first, he had become one flicker of humanity in the vast bureaucratic void. He had to keep picking up the phone; without much else in the way of immediate solutions, it felt meaningful "just being able to say a few words of solidarity and to reassure people that it's not their fault this is happening."

"There's already been a massive crisis. People have not been able to get connected with the unemployment compensation office in Pennsylvania since before the pandemic hit. But since the workplace closures started, it's gotten out of control," Kelly said. "This is not a system that is set up to care about people."

Before the pandemic, Kelly and his colleagues had one crucial bit of advice for people who could not get their phone calls answered by the unemployment office: go stand in line at one of the four CareerLink offices in Philadelphia, funded by the state's American Jobs Center program. In normal times, these offices - which are not run by the unemployment program - were a catchall for some of the state's neediest, from recently laid-off individuals seeking unemployment compensation to families seeking temporary benefits like cash assistance.

Each of those offices had a designated phone where people who stood in line were guaranteed that someone would pick up their call. People would stand there for hours waiting for their turn, sometimes lining up in the morning and not leaving until the end of the business day.

Then, like other workplaces, the CareerLink offices closed. The newly unemployed are finding out what others in the system already knew: Withso little human contact, simple problems could quickly turn into devastating setbacks.

Two weeks after she first filed, Darcy received her financial determination letter in the mail. She qualified for $300 a week - less than the maximum because her tips are not considered wages. She tried to sound upbeat when walking through the new math of her life out loud one recent afternoon. She added over and over that she was in a much better position than others.

But she also admitted the numbers did not easily add up. Her monthly expenses including rent were about $2,400 a month, which she made work comfortably when she was employed.

"I went from planning my wedding and being a month away from getting married and wanting to start a family, to not even knowing what's going to happen a week from now," she said, pausing and adding that she was not going to let herself get emotional. "Instead, I'm 31 and filing for food stamps. I've never had to live like this before. And it's scary."

Last Tuesday, when some of her friends received their first unemployment checks, Darcy looked at her bank accounted and realized no money had been deposited.

"What are we supposed to do? Just wait for them to respond to us?" she said Friday.

Uptown, Kelly looked down at his phone and saw he had missed several calls. He took a breath and started calling them back.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The European Union (EU) has denounced the bombing of al-Khadra Hospital in Tripoli for two successive days, injuring some staff members and causing material damage
THE Covid-19 pandemic may have changed how the Filipino faithful are observing their Holy Week traditions this year, but it has not dampened their faith.

With the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) implemented nationwide, regular church activities such as public celebration of masses have been temporarily suspended. Thus, churches have turned to digital means to sustain the faith of their communities.

This includes broadcast of Holy Masses on TV and radio, as well as digital apps for those who would like to embark on their traditional Visita Iglesia, but are unable to do so given the current situation.

God is everywhere

"Livestreaming of the Sacraments especially the celebration of the Mass introduces a new avenue in encountering God. Our encounter with God should not only be confined in sacred places. God is everywhere. You can celebrate your faith anywhere," says Fr. Joselito Danao, of the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minglanilla, Cebu.

Fr. Danao adds that in the past, Sunday Masses have been aired on TV and radio for sick and elderly parishioners who cannot attend the mass physically. The Vatican encourages parishes to facilitate Masses via livestreaming. This is called Misa Sine Populo (mass in the absence of the worshipping congregation), he added.

Digital church initiatives

Amid the ECQ, Filipinos have turned to social media and the Internet to watch livestreams of Masses and holy rosaries and to join prayer groups.

Msgr. Julius Perpetuo S. Heruela, parish priest of the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish in Bacong, Negros Oriental and a member of the Diocesan Covid Task Force, says that there are already nine parishes in the Diocese of Dumaguete celebrating virtual Masses.

Before, these Masses were just televised on national TV. Now, we can do it every day within the parish with our own parishioners with the help of technology and fast connectivity, Msgr. Heruela added.

Livestreaming of Masses has also been a regular practice at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino de Cebu since November 2016.

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We started livestreaming our masses with only a camera and a laptop every Fridays and Sundays, says Fr. Genesis Labana, director of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino de Cebu Media Center, the social communication office of the parish.

After the suspension of masses in the Archdiocese of Cebu last March 18, the Basilica streams its masses daily in various platforms, Fr. Labana adds.

Apart from the livestream of the liturgies on their Facebook account and YouTube channel, the Basilica has also partnered with several media outlets, which share their livestreamed masses on their respective Facebook pages. The liturgies can also be heard through their official audio streaming website.

We are glad that many institutions have shown willingness to be an instrument of God in sharing the gospel, he adds.

Aside from the efforts of bringing the word of God to devotees, Fr. Brian Brigoli, priest formator at the San Carlos Seminary College, says that the livestreaming of masses is also part of their initiatives to serve seminarians and their families during this time of global health crisis. Through technology and connectivity, seminarians and their families can attend virtual Mass together despite being physically apart.

'For where two or three gather in my name'

A few weeks before the official directive, leaders from Victory Christian Fellowship (VCF) already began to research about holding church activities online.

Since only a few VCF locations have been broadcasting worship services online, the congregation quickly organized a workshop on livestreaming for around 100 pastors and 50 staff members to ensure that they knew how to maximize technology so that members can still meet, pray, and worship together.

"By God's Grace, we had a measure of preparation before the ECQ and were able to train for it relatively quickly," says Pastor Manny Carlos, who is part of the multisite congregations Bishops Council.

For weeks now, VCFs various sites around the Philippines have been broadcasting Sunday services, daily worship messages every morning, weekly praying and fasting, praise and worship music, and even youth and Kids Church activities all through social media. Everything is shot from the individual homes of the pastors and ministry volunteers using whatever equipment is available.

The promise in Matthew 18:20 -- 'For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them is also applicable to how were currently using technology to worship and pray together, and to be a source of hope amid a trying time, the preacher explains.

Visita Iglesia app

Amid the suspension of religious activities for the Holy Week to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, devotees are unable to participate in several traditions. Among these is the Visita Iglesia, which involves visiting at least seven churches between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

However, thanks to an app by a Cebu-based tech startup, devotees may still continue their Visita Iglesia tradition online.

The Visita Iglesia app is made by InnoPub Media in partnership with Smart Communications Inc. and the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

For Visita Iglesia 2020, while Cebu is on community quarantine as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the virus, we are featuring key historical churches to serve as virtual Visita Iglesia, says Max Limpag, co-founder of InnoPub Media, who adds that the app is also part of on-going preparations for Smarts Digital Tourism: Road to 2021 initiative, which commemorates the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines.

Information on how to install the Visita Iglesia app, as well as information on the different heritage churches are available at https://mycebu.ph/visita-iglesia/. (PR)
They were very proactive," Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said of IDHS at the governors press briefing Thursday. "They were immediately following recommendations to start thinking about their facilities, trying to identify their space issues, trying to figure out how people would be able to be spread out if they needed to isolate and segregate.
After 11 weeks of isolation, at least 55,000 people flocked to Wuhan station yesterday. The airport also newly operational with over 100 commercial flights. The border in Heilongjiang closed due to fears of "imported" infections. At present there are 1045 positive cases imported from different parts of the world.

Wuhan (AsiaNews / Agencies) - As of yesterday, movement has returned to the city of Wuhan. After 11 weeks of total isolation, people received permission to go out on the streets and travel.

At least 55 thousand people swamped Wuhan station (see photo), and left the city when the railway connections reopened. According to the authorities, the most common destinations were Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu.

Hundreds of people had been stuck in isolation and can now return to their residences; others are traveling to return to work after more than two months on lockdown. The airport is also operational again with over 100 commercial flights. Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, was closed on January 23rd.

Meanwhile, the border between China and Russia in Heilongjiang was closed yesterday. In recent days, 87 cases of imported Covid-19 were recorded in this province. Of these, 84 were from Russia. At the beginning of the month, Russia had closed all flights to and from China. In this way, the border between Vladivostok and Suifenhe had become one of the few passages between the two countries, used by Chinese who wanted to return to Russia from their homeland.

"Imported" infections have become very risky in China, with fears of a relapse of the epidemic, just as the country returns to normal. According to the National Health Commission, until yesterday there were 1045 positive cases in China imported from different parts of the world.
Dr Anthony Fauci has said he thinks Americans should stop shaking hands after the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Dr Fauci, the country's top virus specialist and White House adviser, suggested the drastic change to Western-style greetings in an interview on Tuesday.

'When you gradually come back, you don't jump into it with both feet,' Dr Fauci told the Journal's host Kate Linebaugh.

'You say, what are the things you could still do and still approach normal? One of them is absolute compulsive hand-washing. The other is you don't ever shake anybody's hands.'

'I don't think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you,' Dr Fauci added.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr Anthony Fauci looks on during a news briefing with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House in Washington last week

Bruce Greenstein, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer of the LHC Group offers President Donald Trump an elbow bump in place of a handshake for safety as Dr Anthony Fauci and Vice President Mike Pence look on after the president declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency at a news conference at the White House in Washington, on 13 March

On Today this morning, he again stressed the importance of social distancing for Americans.

'I think at least for a while, I think we should refrain from that right now, we need to concentrate on the physical separation,' he said.

The virus-specialist did predict that things could start to improve in the US by the end of April.

Dr Fauci has previously warned of how the virus could impact life in its aftermath.

On Tuesday, during a White House Covid-19 press briefing, the doctor told a reporter that the world will never return to what was considered 'normal' before the novel coronavirus emerged four months ago.

Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, made the somber prediction at after a journalist asked whether the US will be able to 'get back to normal' prior to the introduction of a universal vaccine for COVID-19.

'If "back to normal" means acting like there never was a coronavirus problem, I don't think that's going to happen until we do have a situation where you can completely protect the population [with a vaccine],' Fauci said before clarifying his previous use of the phrase.

The coronavirus death toll in the United States continued to spike on Wednesday with 1,881 new deaths in 24 hours bringing the national total to 14,831.

There are now 435,553 confirmed cases across the country, a jump of 32,890 Wednesday, as the outbreak rockets toward its projected peak on April 12.

The country's fatality rate is now at 3.4 per cent, a .2 per cent increase, despite a drop in new deaths on Wednesday.

Tuesday's deaths reached record levels with the highest number of coronavirus deaths registered anywhere in a single day after 1,890 fatalities were reported.

Wednesday's smaller death toll came as cities that suffered an early outbreak, such as Seattle, began to report a plateau in new cases.

The estimated death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States has been lowered from 82,000 to 60,000 after new projections scaled back the number of fatalities over the next four months by 26 per cent.

The updated projections has also brought forward the peak day of deaths to April 12 where an estimated 2,212 deaths are expected to occur over 24 hours.
Geneva, April 9 : "Please quarantine politicizing COVID. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged here, saying "Unity is the only option to defeat this virus." Answering a question from the press about US President Donald Trump's threat to freeze US funding to the WHO, Tedros on Wednesday said his message for the world at this moment is unity and solidarity, instead of politicizing the virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I will suggest two things to the world," he told a virtual press conference from Geneva. The first is national unity, and the second is global solidarity.

Tedros stressed that at the national level, leaders should work across party lines.

"My message to political parties: do not politicize this virus. If you care for your people, work across party lines and ideologies ... Without unity, we assure you, even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble, and more crises," Tedros noted.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

"Now, the United States and China, all the rest of G20 and the rest of the world should come together to fight the virus," he said, adding that "When there are cracks at the national level and global level, that's when the virus succeeds." Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for support for WHO.

"It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," said Guterres in a statement.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
(Natural News) As the world continues to reel from the effects of the coronavirus, its worth noting that China, where the outbreak started, has been dogged by controversy, especially for its initial response. When reports of a mysterious viral pneumonia first appeared in Wuhan in December, the Chinese government played down the severity of the outbreak and quashed any dissension, before finally acknowledging it in mid-January.

However, U.S. intelligence officials were already warning of an outbreak sweeping through the erstwhile epicenter as far back as late November last year, according to ABC News.

According to two officials familiar with the documents contents, concerns about what is now known to be the coronavirus pandemic were initially detailed in a November intelligence report by the National Center for Military Intelligence (NCMI). The report was the result of an analysis of wire and computer intercepts combined with satellite images.

Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event, stated one of the sources on the NCMIs report. The source also confirmed that the report was briefed multiple times to to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House. The Pentagon, however, issued a statement Wednesday denying that the product/assessment existed.

Widely available, but took time to reach upper echelons

According to the sources, the NCMI report was made widely available to people authorized to access intelligence community alerts. Following its release, other intelligence community bulletins also began circulating through confidential channels across around Thanksgiving. These bulletins stated that Chinas leadership knew that the epidemic was out of control even as crucial information was kept from public health agencies and foreign governments.

Former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Mick Mulroy, now a contributor for ABC News, said that the report would have set off a significant alarm. He also said that it would have been followed up by literally every intelligence-collection agency.

Mulroy, who previously worked in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), stated that the NCMI does serious work that senior government leaders usually dont ignore.

When the report came out in November, however, it did not immediately make its way to the upper echelons of government. Intelligence often only gets elevated once analysts and officials reach a certain threshold of confidence in their assessment. The sources describe repeated briefings December for policy-makers and decision-makers across the federal government and the National Security Council before the report was finally elevated. That happened in January when information that the U.S. intelligence community had gathered about the outbreak in China appeared in the Presidents daily briefing.

Pentagon denies the reports existence

When asked about the report on ABCs This Week last Sunday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper mentioned told George Stephanopolous that he was not aware of such a report. However, Esper confirmed that they have people who monitor the pandemic closely. So, our people who work these issues directly watch this all the time, explained Esper.

On Wednesday, NCMI Director Col. R. Shane Day provided a statement saying that media reports about the report were false.

As a matter of practice the National Center for Medical Intelligence does not comment publicly on specific intelligence matters. However, in the interest of transparency during this current public health crisis, we can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is not correct. No such NCMI product exists, stated Day.

Intelligence work continues

The veracity of the report notwithstanding, the U.S. intelligence community is continuing its work on the virus. In particular, intelligence officials are trying to determine exactly how many cases and deaths have occurred in countries like China, where U.S. officials state that the official figures cannot be trusted. (Related: Chinas response to COVID-19 is the latest in string of COVER-UPS and suppression.)

Beijing officially notified the World Health Organization of the coronavirus outbreak on December 31. However, according to a source briefed on the matter, Chinese social media and state-controlled media had begun providing public clues about the struggle to contain the outbreak by early to mid-December.

I trust that the [intelligence community] was looking very hard at China in the early days when the Chinese were less than forthcoming, said former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Its a crucial role when governments arent forthcoming.

Sources include:

ABCNews.GO.com

Edition.CNN.com
Every model in the Caterham range traces its roots to the Lotus Seven introduced in 1957, but some take the retro treatment a step further than others. None embrace heritage more than the new Super Seven 1600.

The company explained it designed the Super Seven 1600 to "evoke the glamour, the color, and the joy of motoring in the 1970s" without the drawbacks of the era's technology. It certainly looks like it was made 50 years ago, and we're told it sounds like it, but you won't need to change the ignition points on the side of the road. Power comes from a Ford-built 1.6-liter four-cylinder tuned to deliver 135 horsepower and 122 pound-feet of torque. It's fitted with a pair of Jenvey-sourced throttle bodies that look just like a pair of Weber 40 carburetors.

135 horsepower doesn't sound like much, not when you can buy a Toyota Camry with more than 300 horses under the hood, but keep in mind the Super Seven 1600 tips the scale at 1,245 pounds. To add context, the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata weighs 2,341 pounds. Caterham quotes a brisk 5-second sprint from 0 to 60 mph and a 122-mph top speed. The five-speed manual transmission channels the engine's power to the rear wheels; we'd expect nothing else from a Seven.



See Full Image Gallery >>

The company installed flared front fenders reminiscent of the ones it fitted to cars it made during the 1970s, 14-inch alloy wheels, a wood-rimmed steering wheel, and leather upholstery. There are several period-correct paint colors to choose from, and buyers can select a wide or a narrow body called SV and S3, respectively.

Caterham's Super Seven 1600 is on sale now in England and priced at 33,495, a sum that represents about $41,500, and the company gives customers the option to receive it as a kit and build it themselves, Lego-style. It's a permanent, regular-production addition to the line-up, so there's no need to challenge another enthusiast to a bloody duel for a build slot. Caterham told Autoblog the Super Seven 1600 is coming to the United States, where it will be offered as a kit or as a rolling chassis, but pricing information hasn't been announced yet.

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Advances in imaging & monitoring technology have changed the complete outlook of monitoring systems in every corner of healthcare. Fetal monitoring workstations are constructed on response to lower the difficulties faced by a healthcare professional in order to treat a patient in a labour room.

Both hardware and software advancements are provided that meet the needs of multiple users and improves the operational workflow. Where fetal monitoring systems are improvising on technology in respect to achieve better user-system understanding.

The workstation which holds the system is getting equal attention to match the change in fetal monitoring systems. Technology evolves, one of the bigger concerns remains to be of effectively integrating new hardware into existing spaces.

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Developments are done in order to regulate the changes occurring from the other end of manufacturer or service staff who is responsible for developing the fetal monitoring system. The modular, durable design lets the user adapt to the workstation easily as hardware and technology advances with affecting time.

The healthcare providers interact with the fetal monitoring workstation in both delivery and labour environments of gynaecology department, consisting of features and benefit like ample storage space, cable settings which provide a neat work environment and many more accessories to support the workstation.

The fetal monitoring system provides a fetal and maternal assessment to women booked to birth or for her routine check-ups, thus, the workstation provides a safe and sound environment for the procedure which demands high safety.

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Technological advancements in new fetal monitoring workstations

The new fetal monitoring workstation, available through direct sales and also as an original equipment manufacturer, is just the latest addition to the IT mounting solutions expressly for medical professionals.

The new fetal monitoring workstation designs consists of various new features in order to give support to multiple users if require, features like displays, EMR hardware, adjustable height and ergonomic design with monitoring and with lot other accessories to support the need.

Additional space to store a CPU, UPS, or isolation transformer and are also available with prefabricated and custom finishes. Basically, lowers the outside interferences like storage problem, tangled wires and monitoring systems sensitivity.

It provides a better experience for both the professional and the patient in further diagnosis. Major technology advancement observed in the fetal monitoring workstation is the integration of the hardware and the IT technology which builds up a process positioned for greater mobility and easy viewing for both clinicians and patients.

Fetal Monitoring Workstation Market Assessment

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Factors driving the market to the end user

Global market for fetal monitoring workstation is driven by the rising population observed globally. Fetal monitoring system is a basic device to monitor the changes observed in a fetal growth, systems of different modalities are present to run the procedure.

Fetal monitoring workstation provides a safe and sound environment to the monitoring system in order to perform the task, which involves serious safety for both mother and foetus.

Fetal monitoring workstation is an assembly of different accessories which lowers the work in order to perform the procedure. It is meant to be a bedside unit which follows the patient in order to monitor special readings out of it to form a conclusion about the procedure. Thus, highly compatible to the busy environment of hospitals and clinics.

Regional market outlook

Geographically, global fetal monitoring workstation market is segmented into six key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (exc. China), China and Middle East & Africa. North America will continue to grow in terms of investment provided to the research wing in developing markets.

Population density is expected to escalate in the Asia pacific (exc. China) region allowing more fetal monitoring workstation markets to establish and produce goods within the region. Europe is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rise in population, changing lifestyle and rise in awareness between consumers and suppliers.

Economic growth is supporting the health care infrastructure in developing countries allowing more number of players to contribute with ease and efficiency.

Competition outlook

Some of the players identified in the global fetal monitoring workstation market are there since its inception. Companies like GCX mounting solutions and Capsa Healthcare are building special computing workstation which offer systems to meet department needs.

Each product in their line is built to improve long term medical workplace efficiency and compatibility with different fetal monitoring systems developed by respective companies like GE healthcare, Philips, Sonosite, Drager, Mindray and many more.

Market of the fetal monitoring workstation is centralized and revolves around these central major players, which incidentally is a moving point for smaller markets to grow at a faster rate. The compatibility of workstations with major fetal monitoring system manufacturers is the sole reason to drive the market of the fetal monitoring workstation provided by the existing players.
Australia's finance minister said he was confident that the economy will "bounce back strongly" when the coronavirus crisis is over.

Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Mathias Cormann said the fundamentals of Australia's economy "remain sound."

"We're quite confident on the other side, once we're on the other side of this coronavirus-induced crisis, that we'll be able to bounce back strongly," Cormann told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Cormann's comments came after S&P Global Ratings said the outlook for Australia's "AAA" credit rating has been revised to negative from stable on risks over coronavirus. The rating agency said it could lower Australia's rating within the next two years if the economic damage caused by the pandemic is more severe or prolonged than expected.

Asked if there could be more fiscal and monetary measures to stave off a possible recession, Cormann said: "The (Reserve Bank of Australia) and the government are both doing everything we can."

"Monetary policy and fiscal policy are very much heading in the same direction, supporting the economy, supporting business, supporting jobs," he said. "Our focus, of course, is on supporting Australians through this temporary challenge  to ensure that we've got the strongest possible opportunity for a big bounce back, have like a major recovery on the other side."
Fieri compared his longtime friendship with Andres and other famous chefs to playing in a band.

When you hang out with generous, philanthropist warlords like Jose Andres, all you want to do is go bigger, go better," said Fieri, who cooked alongside Andres during last year's California wildfires.

In the early days of the outbreak, Fieri, the TV host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," also wanted to do more. He bought $50,000 in gift cards to support local restaurants. He sent dozens of personalized videos to CEO's from big food companies seeking donations.

His Restaurant Employee Relief Fund quickly raised $10 million, with a goal of raising $100 million, to offer $500 grants for laid-off workers. The first checks were handed out last week.

As diners, were always the ones asking restaurants for help We ask the servers to take special care of our tables, the bartenders to listen to our stories and the bussers to clean up our messes," Fieri said. He described the program as a big warm blanket, as if to say, hey, we got you, its our turn to help you for once."
Mau : , April 9 (IANS) The Mau police has succeeded in tracing two more Tablighi Jamaat attendees in the district. They have been quarantined and their samples have been sent for testing.

With this, the total of Jamaat attendees in districts of Varanasi zone has gone up to 216 while the total number of corona positive cases in Uttar Pradesh has gone up to 387.

Varanasi zone ADG Brij Bhushan said, "In past 24 hours, Mau police succeeded in tracing two more Tablighi Jamaat attendees. Till Tuesday, 20 attendees had been detected in Mau district. Now, the figure has reached 21 in this district." The figures of Tablighi Jamaat event participants in Azamgarh (36), Ghazipur (22), Varanasi (43), Jaunpur (45) including 14 Bangladeshis, one Nepali and 10 from other states), Bhadohi (16) -- including 11 Bangladeshi, Mirzapur (8) and Sonbhadra (17) remain unchanged.

Among the Jamaat attendees located in the zone so far, 12 have been tested COVID-19 positive including two each in Varanasi, Mirzapur and Jaunpur, three in Ghazipur and Azamgarh each. Five persons in their contact have also been infected.
Nirupa Sampath By

Express News Service

CUDDALORE: Over 60 artisans from Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh set out for Tamil Nadu for work five months ago.

Along with their families, the artisans travelled through Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Puducherry, Chidambaram, Kurinjipadi, Vadalur and Nellikuppam. The made and sold machetes, sickle knives, and other materials during the journey.

However, when they reached Virudhachalam a few weeks ago, the national lockdown was announced.

Stranded with limited resources, the group, including 25 children, has now taken temporary shelter at an Ayyanar temple near Cuddalore-Virudhachalam NH.

Speaking to Express, Kumar (40) said, We came to Tamil Nadu to earn some money and return to our village at the earliest. However, this sudden lockdown and fear of virus attack are giving us sleepless nights. We plead with the government to make arrangements for our return journey.

Virudhachalam sub-collector Praveen Kumar and Tahlisdar Kaviarasu met the labourers recently and provided them food, water and safety gear.

The group stays under a tree at Ayyanar temple and uses the shelter allotted by officials only during nights.

We have also communicated the labourers details with a sub-collector in Madhya Pradesh. They will be safely sent home after the lockdown, Kaviarasu said.
Diabetic kidney diseases are the main cause of kidney failure in industrialized countries. An international, EU-funded R&D project - which is being headed by the Medical University of Innsbruck, and involves collaboration with the Medical University of Vienna and international partners - is being implemented with the aim of using computer software to provide personalized predictions of the disease's progression and bring about improvements in individuals' responses to treatment. Project findings will have the potential for application also in other chronic conditions.

An international consortium has started the R&D project "DC-Ren: Drug combinations for rewriting trajectories of renal pathologies in type II diabetes'. Aimed at developing systematic approaches in order to discover improved combination of drug treatment for complex diseases, the international research initiative ranked on top of 50 other applicants to secure the EUR 6m in funding.

The R&D project is headed by Gert Mayer, Director of the University Hospital for Internal Medicine IV (Nephrology and Hypertension) at the Medical University of Innsbruck. The goal is to develop a data-based support tool for decision-making with a view to optimizing personalized therapies. The university will be working with teams from Austria (emergentec biodevelopment GmbH, and a working group led by Rainer Oberbauer, head of the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis at the Medical University of Vienna /Vienna General Hospital), Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands.

Mathematical model for predicting disease trajectory

Diabetic kidney diseases are the main cause of kidney failure in industrialized countries. Although we have seen a significant improvement in the range of treatment options available, it is still not possible to fully predict their effectiveness in individuals." Gert Mayer, Innsbruck-based nephrologist and project coordinator

A mathematical model is intended to generate predictions on disease trajectories and responses to treatment, which in turn will help to improve the precision of personalized combined medications. "The scientific approach is based on an innovative new patient assessment concept in the form of a hybrid AI solution developed by one of the project partners, Vienna-based technology company emergentec biodevelopment GmbH," Mayer explains. Key biobanks and clinical data will be used in combination with experimental, analytical and statistical evaluations in order to develop a prototype technology solution, which will then be validated in clinical settings. Mayer sees huge potential in the model: "Besides assessing new health technologies and the possibilities they open up, the aims of the DC-ren project are clearly a move towards enhancing precision medicine as a means of treating complex diseases." "As in our two previous EU projects on this subject, we will use innovative approaches to further improve the effectiveness of treatments for diabetic kidney disease," added Rainer Oberbauer of MedUni Vienna.

Diabetic kidney disease more prevalent

Around 50 million people in Europe, or 10% of the population, suffer from chronic kidney conditions. Meanwhile, about 40% of diabetics suffer kidney damage as a result of the disease. The steady increase in the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in Europe means that kidney, heart and vascular diseases are also becoming more widespread. Early recognition and prevention are playing a central role in treatment, and are also becoming a major focus in nephrology research. If the disease is diagnosed at any early stage and its trajectory can be forecast accurately, targeted treatment can be administered, removing the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant, which become necessary in the later stages of the condition. According to Gert Mayer: "Renal insufficiency not only restricts the functioning of the kidneys, it also affects the cardiovascular system and bone metabolism - the consequence is an increased risk of heart attack and osteoporosis."
2 1 of 2 Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2018 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 John Storey / Special to the Chronicle 2018 Show More Show Less



Saison Hospitality, the group that owns San Francisco restaurants Saison and Angler, will launch a new takeout and delivery barbecue concept Saturday called Saison Smokehouse. Its the first service that the restaurants are offering since closing after San Francisco issued shelter-in-place orders on March 17.

Nobody needs fine dining right now, and obviously we cant go out to a meal, so this is a simple comforting way to help, the company said through a press representative. Everybody needs a bit of barbecue in their life.
Stake: Ormonde sold its interest in the Barruecopardo venture to Oaktree Capital Management

Dublin-listed natural resource firm Ormonde Mining made a loss of 11.3m last year. This comes after a loss of 1.65m in 2018, according to annual results from the company.

Earlier this year Ormonde sold its 30pc stake in the Barruecopardo joint venture in Spain to Oaktree Capital Management for 6m. Oaktree is the major shareholder in the project.

Losses from continuing operations in 2019 totalled 900,000, while Ormonde's losses from discontinued operations were 10.4m.

Following the disposal of its stake in the Barruecopardo joint venture, the company said it has been focussed on assessing opportunities available in the resources sector.

Ormonde had identified over sixty prospects which it has looked at over the last two months, "with a number of these being considered for advancement".

While the coronavirus pandemic is having an impact upon its activities, Ormonde's management believe opportunities will remain available over the short to medium term.

"Our strong cash balance will attract an increased number of new opportunities over the coming period," Ormonde said.

The company continues to retain some exploration and development assets in Spain.

Former non-executive director of the business, Jonathan Henry, is stepping up to the position of chairman of the company, while Tim Livesey and Richard Brown join the board as non-executive directors.

Yesterday Mr Henry said: "While the Covid-19 situation has created an unprecedented set of circumstances, and with international travel having ceased entirely, Ormonde is continuing to review current and new opportunities.

"Armed with the 6m cash disposal proceeds, it is in a strong financial position from which to develop its business," he said.

Shares in the company were up 7pc in Dublin yesterday.
The Thane police on Thursday



arrested five persons in connection with an alleged assault on a man at Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad's bungalow here over an objectionable social media post.

The alleged incident had taken place on the night of April 5. As per the complainant, some police personnel were also involved in 'abducting' him and taking him to the minister's bungalow.

Thane police spokesperson Sukhada Narkar confirmed that five persons had been arrested.

They were produced before a court and sent in police custody till April 13, she said, without giving more details.

According to Anant Karmuse (40), a city-based civil engineer, some police personnel visited his house on Sunday night, telling him that he would have to go to police station, but instead took him to Awhad's bungalow.

At the bungalow, he was beaten black and blue by some ten to fifteen men over a morphed picture of the minister he had shared on Facebook, he said, alleging that this happened in Awhad's presence.

Karmuse had earlier criticised Awhad on social media when the minister announced that he would not follow prime minister Narendra Modi's appeal to light lamps on April 5.

Awhad, an NCP leader, claimed on Thursday that for the last five years he was getting threats of murder on social media, some persons had recced his house, and his family was being targeted by trolls.

He also alleged that Karmuse was a member of the Shiv Pratishthan, a right-wing organisation.

The BJP has demanded that Awhad be dropped from the state cabinet.

On Thursday state BJP legislators Sanjay Kelkar and Niranjan Davkhare submitted a memorandum to Thane police demanding that Awhad's name be included in the First Information Report.

They also demanded suspension of the two personnel of the city police who were allegedly involved in the crime.

On the other hand, city NCP chief Anand Paranjape demanded that police take action against those who targeted Awhad on social media with threats and obscene posts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
African leaders on Wednesday rallied behind the World Health Organization (WHO) and its head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus following an attack on the world health body by American president Donald Trump.

The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation, Trump posted in an April 7 tweet.

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa has called the World Health Organization (WHO) and its head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus exceptional after they were criticised by THE US President Donald Trump.

Mr Ramaphosa tweeted that the leadership of Dr Tedros, who is from Ethiopia, during the Covid-19 pandemic was incalculable.

Ramaphosa later issued a full statement in his capacity as AU president reaffirming the continents support for the WHO.

Overall the AU recognises and appreciates the good work that has been undertaken by the WHO and notes with a sense of satisfaction the various initiatives and measures that are continuously undertaken by the organization to mitigate the spread of the pandemic such as mobilising resources, sharing real-time information and providing technical and material support, the statement read.

Earlier, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat had defended the WHO chief, a position that was backed by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Nigerian Buhari and Namibias President Hage Geingob.

During his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, Tedros had declined to respond to questions about Trumps specific criticisms and said, Why would I care about being attacked when people are dying? I know that I am just an individual. Tedros is just a dot in the whole universe. I prefer to really focus on saving lives, he said at the media briefing.
A question of 'Who Are We' has probably never been so stark as in the current crisis. Am I a mother who is primarily safeguarding my children (while trying to home-school them)?

Am I a daughter who is concerned about my father in a nursing home and how best to connect with him?

Am I an individual who is trying to look after my own health?

Or am I a business leader who needs to effectively lead her team to ensure that, not only are they safe, but they also have jobs to stay in and come back to when this crisis is over?

While the obvious answer is we are all of the above, there is a risk that our role as business leaders at this point in time may seem inconsequential and not important.

In times of danger, we know that we kick into the fight-or-flight mode and by necessity, we will look after our nearest, our dearest and ourselves.

However, I urge business leaders around the country and around the globe to remember that when the immediate medical danger is over, when the self-isolation and quarantine phase is over, the medics, the frontline staff and the politicians will step back and take a much-earned hiatus. And it is at that stage that the business leaders will need to step up and be the leaders they are.

For me though, the question is what direction do we want to lead Ireland Inc in?

Obviously, it is crucial that we maintain and ensure the viability and stability of businesses, and I know that for many SMEs in today's environment, this is becoming increasingly difficult.

I admire and respect the lengths to which business owners are trying to reinvent themselves to keep viable.

For them, it is the Government and politicians they need help from in their immediate need.

But longer term, it is likely to be larger businesses, the international companies, the multinationals, that will be looked to, to frame what our new business environment may look like.

Ireland Inc has been pushed into the digital era overnight and something that we as a profession of accountants planned to develop over the next number of years has become reality.

We are all grappling with working remotely. We are all identifying new ways of doing business. We are being forced to remove personal contact, and I am witnessing this meaning that group decisions and consultation are occurring less and less.

The art of negotiation is diminishing day by day and the vital importance of body language and physical connection, which are so vital to many aspects of business, has almost disappeared.

While this has been artificially escalated, my question to us all as business leaders is what do we want the new normal to look like when we exit?

Is there a risk that our drive for how we do business, that our drive for how we are successful in this current period, will overtake basic human needs? Basic human necessities? Basic human values?

They are the value of social interaction, the value of feeling needed, the value of being wanted and the value of being important.

There is a risk that as we move quicker and quicker into this digital era in business, we could forget these values and become obsessed with the obvious benefits of working remotely. The increased time efficiency, the ability to deflect conflict easier, the lack of facilities costs; I could go on.

I personally fear that this is a route that we could quite easily find ourselves heading along, and be unable to turn the train quickly.

Therefore, my call to us today, as business leaders, is yes, in the short term, look after the profitability, look after the viability of your business, keep it going so that people have a job. However, keep in mind what is important to us going forward.

Is it that we keep the human values of empathy, of negotiation, of debate, of effective decision-making, or is it that we move to a faceless, heartless and remote way of working in future?

There is room for both, but without positive intervention or without deliberate direction, there is a risk that we will be pushed down the route of least resistance, which could be one of diminished human intervention.

I would fear that this would not be good for society and would not be good for the next generation, who would lose the art of debate, decision-making, empathy and negotiation.

So business leaders as a whole, please in this current crisis have two goals: your short-term goal and your long-term goal.

It may be that we need to come together to agree and try to devise what the long-term goal looks like, and what business in the second half of 2020 and going forward will look like.

FAAS at GT focuses mainly on the technology, life sciences and financial services sectors. The team operates at international level, across the GT global network, with a large focus on multinational clients.grantthornton.ie/service/financial-accounting-and-advisory-services-faas/
UPDATE: 12:20 PM

Southern Connecticut is under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch untl 4 p.m.

Track the storms here.

EARLIER STORY

An advancing cold front will bring gusty winds and possible thunderstorms to Connecticut this afternoon.

Temperatures will also drop 20 degrees from this afternoon to Friday morning.

The National Weather Service has posted a Wind Advisory for all of Connecticut.

The advisory is in effect from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday. West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.

A low pressure system over the northern Great Lakes will deepen as it approaches the region today, the NWS says.

A secondary low will then develop and rapidly deepen as it moves into Maine. Showers develop in multiple rounds, the first associated with a warm front late this morning followed by a line of showers and embedded thunderstorms with the cold front this afternoon..

The gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.

According the NWSs hourly forecast, winds will begin to increase 9 a.m. Peak wind gusts are expected between 4 and 6 p.m.

The best chance of rain - and thunderstorms - is between noon and 3 p.m.

Finally, there is also a coastal flood advisory for Fairfield and New Haven counties between noon and 2 p.m. with high tide expected to be about a foot above normal.

The forecast

Today: Showers likely, then showers and thunderstorms after noon. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. High near 57. Light south wind increasing to 12 to 17 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. West wind 10 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Increasing clouds, with a high near 51. Breezy, with a west wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Northwest wind 11 to 13 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32.

Sunday: Increasing clouds, with a high near 57.

Sunday Night: Rain, mainly after 9 p.m. Low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent.
[April 09, 2020] TazWorks Announces New Widget to Improve Client Onboarding & Training

SALT LAKE CITY, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TazWorks, the leader in technology solutions for the background screening industry, today announced a new digital adoption tool to its industry-leading background screening software, which includes step-by-step guides called software walkthroughs. The move is intended to help the company's new and existing clients to accelerate onboarding, training and mastery of TazWorks Software. The company made the announcement in conjunction with the unveiling of its new corporate website at TazWorks.com . "Background screening is complex by its nature, and while our software is pretty easy to use, there is definitely a lot to learn," said TazWorks COO, Joe Olsen. "Software walkthroughs guide the user through every aspect of the software as if there was an instructor siting over their shoulder. When the guides are not enough, the user can instantly access our entire knowledgebase library without leaving the app, or they can initiate a live chat session with a customer support representative. This technology will change the way our clients onboard and train new employees and will be especially helpful as we emerge from the COVID pandemic to help our clients efficiently adapt to the sudden increase in demand for background screening services."



"Training end users and employees can be a daunting task, so software walkthroughs are a game changer for screening agencies," said screening industry expert Jason Morris. "Getting employees to be productive in a short amount of time is huge for the industry and getting them up and running fast allows screening professionals to turn new clients into revenue producers in no time!" TazWorks software walkthroughs will be generally available in late April 2020. Customers can access the tool through the new "TazHelp" widget that says, "I Need Help" on the righthand side of the screen within TazWorks Software.

ABOUT TAZWORKS: TazWorks is a SaaS-based software and technology platform that powers the largest number of independent background screening agencies in the United States. TazWorks offers end-to-end technology solutions and revenue-generating strategies to Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) who provide background screening as a service. TazWorks delivers the most comprehensive network of integrated data providers, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), Property Management Systems (PMS), drug screening, and other related services. TazWorks was founded in 2002 and is based in the Greater Salt Lake City area of Utah. Contact:

Ashley Casaus

801-572-7401

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tazworks-announces-new-widget-to-improve-client-onboarding--training-301038108.html SOURCE TazWorks

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Asian tycoons are looking to snap up assets pummelled by the deadly coronavirus at bargain prices, but they are also facing hurdles as more governments seek to deter foreign takeovers of local firms.

Over the past three months, top executives of companies based in mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore have told investors that they are looking for acquisitions. They include Victor Li, who took over Hong Kong's CK group from his father Li Ka-shing two years ago, and billionaire Guo Guangchang, the founder of the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate, Fosun Group.

On the lookout for coronavirus bargains: CK Hutchison Holdings Chairman Victor Li. Credit:Bloomberg

Major stock indexes in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific all plunged about 20 per cent in the first quarter in their worst rout since the 2008 financial crisis, making retail chains to hotels and property developers attractive to suitors. Cash-rich conglomerates like Li's CK group are in a position to invest when others struggle as they are built to defend against the bad times, said Jonathan Galligan, group deputy head of research at CLSA Ltd.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for any company with cash," Galligan said. "If you look at what's happened in the global market, right now cash is king."
LUBULINI  The gruesome murder and possible rape of a 41-year-old woman has sent shock waves around Ntfutfwakati, around Lubulini.

The woman was allegedly strangled, before her naked body was dumped under vegetation, just a few metres from her homestead.



Her body was found on Monday morning, by an elderly man who happens to be the womans neighbour. The elderly man had gone to check on the woman, after nobody had accounted for her on the previous day, as she was last seen coming from a local watering hole on Saturday evening.



Assaulted



Her body was found naked when the elderly man made the horrific discovery, but police are yet to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted.

It is believed that her attackers, who were probably looking for money, stormed the womans homestead on Saturday night.



It was gathered that the killers invaded the womans house while she was sleeping with a friend, who usually assisted her with household chores, and beat her up. The friend, who was in the same house as the victim, later told investigators that two men stormed into the house while they were asleep.

The friend, who managed to run away during the attack, said the attackers had covered their faces using balaclavas.



It was alleged that the woman was dragged outside the house by her feet.

Drag marks stretching from the door up to the spot where the womans unresponsive body was found suggest that she was already dead when she was taken out of the house.



The man, who made the shocking discovery, disclosed that when he got inside the house to investigate, he found everything turned upside down, indicating that there might have been a struggle before the woman eventually died.

He said the body had been partially concealed under some vegetation, but beneath the covering, the woman was naked.

She had some injuries to the head, suggesting that she had been beaten. Bruises that were also discovered around her neck gave an indication that she may have as well been strangled by her attackers.



Onlookers



Investigators from the Lubulini Police Station were called to the scene, and the macabre discovery attracted a lot of onlookers, who were mainly community members who watched from a distance as the officers were trying to piece together the womans last grisly moments alive.

The investigators spent hours scouring the scene for possible evidence.



A relative who preferred to be referred to as Make Mavimbela, described the killing of her niece as out of character for the area.

Its devastating because she was a jolly person and wouldnt hurt a fly. We are still asking questions about the motive of the killing. It could be that the people were looking for money. For now we dont know what really happened and we are leaving everything to the police to unravel the truth, said the grieving woman.



By the time of compiling this report, police had already started canvassing the area for possible clues. Sources hinted that at least three members of the same family had been questioned over the death, and it was expected that the search would be widened as no arrests were immediately made.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that the alleged killers were still at large.

She said police investigations into the shocking death were still ongoing.

She then encouraged any person who might have any information to aid police investigations to come forward.
The clergy have been banned from lending their services to patients suffering from the coronavirus due to the increased chance of spreading the deadly illness.

Bishops and those belonging to the Church of England have been warned against volunteering at hospital chaplains, even while wearing personal protective equipment, as the nation tries to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an impassioned plea to members of the church, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell, urged the clergy to take the medical advice given and help NHS staff on the frontline in other ways such as shopping.

The bishop, who was formerly the Bishop of Reading and is soon to become the next Archbishop of York, said the clergy would be banned from entering wards treating patients presenting with symptoms of the coronavirus.

Members of the Church of England have been banned from volunteering at hospital chaplains amid the coronavirus crisis. (Stock image)

In a letter to the clergy, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell (pictured), urged the clergy to take the medical given

In a letter seen by The Times, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell, whose authority the capital's newly transformed Nightingale Hospital falls, said members of the church needed to maintain 'an extremely strict discipline regarding contact'.

The announcement comes as 13 members of the church were told it would be unsafe to lend their services to patients being treated by London's Barts Health NHS Trust, which currently has only two Anglican chaplains that cover their five hospitals in the city.

Meanwhile deputy head of chaplaincy at St Barts Hospital, Tasha Critchlow, said the hospital would welcome those who could provide end-of-life care and solace to those dying.

She told The Times: 'The hospital would welcome qualified professional volunteers who can give end-of-life care and provide solace.

'We would train them and given them personal protective equipment (PPE).'

The announcement comes just weeks after the Church of England banned all its services until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban comes just weeks after the Church of England banned all its services until further notice due. (Stock image)

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby (left) and John Sentamu (right) respectively, said it was 'necessary to put public services on hold' in a joint letter

Following the Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement that members of the public should practice social distancing in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, the Archbishop of Canterbury announced that public worship would be 'suspended until further notice'.

In a joint letter, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu respectively, said it was 'necessary to put public services on hold'.

The archbishops wrote: 'Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead.

'Our life is going to be less characterised by attendance at church on Sunday, and more characterised by the prayer and service we offer each day.

'We may not be able to pray with people in the ways that we are used to, but we can certainly pray for people. And we can certainly offer practical care and support.'

They added: 'This is a defining moment for the Church of England. Are we truly are a church for all, or just the church for ourselves.

'We urge you sisters and brothers to become a different sort of church in these coming months: hopeful and rooted in the offering of prayer and praise and overflowing in service to the world.'

The latest move comes as the nation continues to control the surge in coronavirus cases which has now hit 55,242.

Yesterday health officials also confirmed that 7,095 people in the country have now died from Covid-19.
Living in the Land of Tyrants

Commentary

James Otis, one of the original patriots, was a man who was constantly concerned about the threat of tyranny. He was the one who coined the famous phrase, Taxation without representation is tyranny.

Otis was living in the land of tyrants, just as Americans are finding themselves today.

In the 1760s, he narrowed his focus against the British government when the Writs of Assistance were universally issued.

It is a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer, he wrote.

The fear that some in power will take their power to destructive ends is no different today than it was in the 1760s.

The Global Race to Rule

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global race for government officials to prove who can not necessarily rule best, but who can rule most effectively. From mayors to governors to heads of state, the attempt to control the spread of the illness has induced various methods for controlling the citizenry.

It would be an understatement to say these officials, regardless of their geographic location, are in a position of envy. The task is a very tall one, and for some, it has become insurmountable. This is why outrageous statements have become nearly commonplace, like that of Vincenzo De Luca, the president of Campania in Italy, who threatened to send police with flamethrowers to peoples homes if they didnt comply with lockdown measures.

In Serbia, the threat is inflammatory, yet more actual. Under the state of emergency, President Aleksandar Vucic has assumed absolute authority, which has led to closing the nations borders, 12-hour curfews, and house arrest for those 65 and older.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is exercising the same authority during the countrys state of emergency. A new pandemic-related bill entails prison sentences of up to five years for spreading false information about the CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, and up to eight years for interfering with efforts to control the spread of the illness, such as disobeying curfew and quarantine orders. An opinion that doesnt coincide with the governments directives is considered false information, which violates the countrys freedom of the press.

Israels government is using its counter-terrorism technology to track those suspected of being infected. South Korea is tracking credit card purchases and issuing a government-mandated GPS app for the purpose of tracking and punishing those who break quarantineall without a warrant.

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has taken the ultimate step by ordering police and military to shoot troublemakers.

State Officials in US Adopting Tyrannical Methods

Here in the United States, the threats have been slightly less intrusive.

States and counties (and parishes) continue to shut down or highly restrict the movement of its citizens under the threat of penalty of law. Businesses have been fined or forced to close. Individuals have been subject to the same. Meanwhile, numerous prison inmates have been released due to the threat of coronavirus.

In Houston, a man charged with murder was released on bond because of his fear of contracting the illness.

In Florida, a pastor was placed under arrest for denying local orders and holding church services. He has since complied and closed the doors of the church. Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by executive order, stating that houses of worship are considered essential. Other state governors have either issued or are considering issuing the same order.

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, has not only threatened to shut down houses of worship during the pandemic, but to do so permanently.

Police are, unfortunately for them, on the front lines of enforcing these orders. It has resulted in citations, fines, and arrests. Enforcing these orders that have completely sabotaged the American way of life has resulted too often in pushback from citizens, and pushback that is in itself criminal. Theres been violent resistance, including citizens using the virus as a physical threat to law enforcement.

Not abiding by social distancing guidelines, breaking curfew, and attending church has created criminals who would otherwise never be. This is the result of authoritarianism.

The fact is, this ongoing citizen-level isolationism is soon to undergo a contraction, as the UK has begun to fear. People, not just Americans, cant be involuntarily confined to their homes for extended periods of time, regardless of how noble the reasons may be.

While Otis stated that a mans house is his castle, he wasnt suggesting people be confined to it. In fact, his fear during his time is very relatable to todays situation.

US Officials Should Adhere to Otiss Worries

The writs of assistance granted power to officers of any level to conduct searches and seizures at any time, any place, against anyone, for any reason, or no reason at all. That was a sticking point when states began creating their constitutions, as well as when the Bill of Rights was written.

Otis complained that each officer could become, and undoubtedly, at times, would become, a tyrant in a legal manner. And thats the worry, not just in the United States, but around the globe, that citizens will be subject to tyrants.

Serbia, Hungary, South Korea, Italy, the Philippines, and other nations have and are conducting themselves in tyrannical manners under the guise of security and human preservation. The competition to be crowned the most effective leader has well been underway. The rules are of their own dictating. The best results, regardless of the means, could very well become the accepted method moving forward.

The U.S. federal government, and, in particular, state and local governments, are establishing their own methods, as is granted them in the 10th Amendment. Britain created a fever pitch against the colonists 260 years ago because of ever-tightening restrictions. American officials are doing much the same, though it remains to be seen when it will hit a fever pitch.

It was once a fundamental maxim that every subject had the same right to his life, liberty, property, and the law  Otis wrote. Unfortunately, that fundamental maxim seems as uncertain today as it was in the 1760s.

Dustin Bass is the co-founder of The Sons of History, a YouTube series and weekly podcast about all things history. He is a former-journalist-turned-entrepreneur. He is also an author.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Our community must come together during these tough times and were proud to be able to support both our local restaurants and hospital workers during these challenging times.

During these uncertain times, local dealership group Crown Automotive Group, has stepped forward to help support our community as we collectively fight the COVID-19 pandemic. To help the heroes on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis and to give relief to local restaurants affected by the lock down, Crown has asked the Parkshore Grill and Baystar Restaurant Group and Catering to prepare over 500 meals to hospital workers and medical staff at two local hospitals: Bayfront and Morton Plant.

We cant thank our area hospitals and their dedicated staffs adequately for what they do every day as we face this epic tragedy that has affected so many families in our community and the nation. We also wanted to support our area restaurant groups, Frank Chivas with Baystar and Steve Westphal of St. Pete Restaurant Group who have been so charitable in their own right during this pandemic, said Jim Myers, President and Chief Operating Officer of Crown Automotive Group. The least we can do is give back and make sure these front line hospital heroes dont have to worry about a meal during their busy shift.

Long hours fighting for the community has made day-to-day activities even more difficult for medical staff working in hospitals. Crown would like to thank these individuals for all the sacrifices they have made by providing a good meal during a typical busy shift.

At Morton Plants main campus 250 meals will be delivered between 10:30 and 11:00 am on Thursday April 9th. 250 meals represent enough food to feed all the staff working from the 11 am morning shift through the afternoon. Morton Plant meals will be prepared by The Baystar Restaurant and Catering Group, best known for the Salt Rock Grille and Island Way Grille of Clearwater and the food will be donated and delivered by Crown employees.

At Bayfront Hospital, the Parkshore Grille of Beach Drive in downtown St. Pete, part of the St. Petersburg Hospitality Group will prepare 275 meals which will be donated and delivered by Crown Automotive Group employees at 5:00 pm on Thursday April 9th. 275 meals represent enough food to feed all the late shift hospital staff as they prepare to fight for so many patients again through the night.

All Crown delivery volunteers will deliver the food outside the hospital at an exclusive entry used by hospital workers only. Crown will also be delivering 30 cases of water to both hospitals.

We are proud to stand together with other local businesses, continued Myers. Our community must come together during these tough times and were proud to be able to support both our local restaurants and hospital workers during these challenging times.

ABOUT CROWN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Over the last 50 years, Crown Automotive Group has grown into one of the largest privately owned dealership groups in the nation with operations in Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Every Crown Automotive dealership features an extensive selection of new, certified, and meticulously inspected pre-owned vehicles with financing options for every budget. Customers can also expect superior service from a team of highly trained technicians at Crown's signature award-winning service facilities. Driven by four core values: Customer Focus, Teamwork, Integrity, and Growth, the group is committed to providing each customer with "The Better Way To Buy." Visit http://www.crowncars.com for more information on Crown Automotive Group and The Better Way To Buy.
Allegion plc (NYSE: ALLE), a leading global provider of security products and solutions, today announced business updates related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and ongoing impact on market conditions.

Allegion is closely monitoring the most recent developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, remaining focused on the health and safety of employees and business health, both in the short and long term. Allegion continues to monitor, evaluate and manage its operating plans, inventory levels and supply of materials around the world in light of the most recent developments in its markets. The company is adhering to best-practice safe hygiene guidelines by recognized health experts like the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as any applicable government mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"During this time of uncertainty, we remain deeply committed to do what's right for our employees, customers and the communities where we operate, as well as our business health and essential critical infrastructure," said David D. Petratis, President, Chairman and CEO. "We will continue to be mindful of best practices for employee health and safety, relying on smart working, safe hygiene and social distancing measures, whenever and wherever possible. I thank all Allegion employees for their dedication to living our values and delivering on our commitments. Thank you, also, to our customers and suppliers for their continued engagement and trust in our business. We express our gratitude, especially, to those on the front lines of combating this global pandemic."

Employee Welfare

A global COVID-19 response team continues to monitor the most recent developments and share regular updates to all Allegion employees. Allegion has taken active steps to maintain a safe working environment, including adhering to guidelines set by the WHO and other health agencies, conducting deep cleaning of its facilities on a regular basis, restricting non-essential business travel, restricting visitor access to facilities and taking social distancing measures. Where possible, the company has instructed managers to take a flexible approach to enable employees to work from home and has ensured that those employees have effective IT tools and resources in place to support connectivity and to minimize disruption to the business.

Supply Chain and Operations

Allegion remains focused on business continuity and ensuring its facilities remain operational where safe and appropriate to do so. Today, Allegion's operations in Mexico are temporarily suspended due to a general public health decree, which follows our earlier response to similar decrees in Italy and Spain. At this time, Allegion expects to resume these operations upon expiration of the local orders or earlier, if permitted. The company will comply with future government orders if and as they apply to its operations. In addition, the company anticipates periodic work stoppages at certain plants due to temporary reduction in customer demand or material shortages. Allegion will continue to serve its customers when possible through its channel partners or inventory on hand.

These temporary measures are implemented in a way that allows prompt production startup when public health and market conditions improve. To the extent any additional temporary closures or adjustments to production are necessary, such measures will be implemented in a way that minimizes disruption to customers and the overall business, including continuing to take prudent measures to mitigate, to the extent possible, any financial impacts.

Financial Updates

Allegion recently implemented several actions to address the COVID-19 impact to its business, including reductions to discretionary spending, elimination of non-essential investments, a hiring freeze and re-prioritization of all capital expenditures. These actions will help mitigate the financial implications associated with COVID-19.

Allegion leadership believes the company has an extremely strong balance sheet and liquidity that provide flexibility and position the company well throughout this time of uncertainty. Allegion's net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.6 times at Dec. 31, 2019. The company currently has an undrawn credit facility up to $500 million available, if needed, and no principal payments due on outstanding debt until September 2022. In addition, Allegion's business generates significant annual cash flow due to industry-leading EBITDA margins and low capital intensity. As a result, on average, the company's available cash flow conversion to earnings ratio has exceeded 100 percent over the past several years.

While Allegion has taken the above actions and its financial position remains strong, the company's fiscal year 2020 full-year guidance, previously issued on Feb. 18, 2020, did not anticipate the impact of a global pandemic. Given the high uncertainty around the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the company is withdrawing its full-year guidance until visibility in the global markets returns to more predictable levels. Allegion will provide its business and financial updates in its quarterly earnings release and 10-Q report that will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 23, 2020.

About Allegion

Allegion (NYSE: ALLE) is a global pioneer in seamless access, with leading brands like CISA, Interflex, LCN, Schlage, SimonsVoss and Von Duprin. Focusing on security around the door and adjacent areas, Allegion secures people and assets with a range of solutions for homes, businesses, schools and institutions. Allegion had $2.9 billion in revenue in 2019, and sells products in almost 130 countries.

For more, visit www.allegion.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the expected impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "outlook," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar expressions generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may relate to such matters as projections of revenue, margins, expenses, tax provisions, earnings, cash flows, benefit obligations, dividends, share purchases or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including those relating to any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to its products and services; any statements regarding future economic conditions or its performance; any statements regarding pending investigations, claims or disputes; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These statements are based on the company's currently available information and its current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. They are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties many of which are beyond the company's control as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information on these factors and other risks that may affect the company's business is included in filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2019, June 30, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2019, and in its other SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005459/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Whitney Moorman Reputation Management Leader

317-810-3241

Whitney.Moorman@allegion.com

Analyst Contact:

Tom Martineau Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations

317-810-3759

Tom.Martineau@allegion.com
Cumberland Countys prison cannot maintain necessary COVID-19 precautions with its current inmate count and shortage of protective equipment, the county warden wrote this week, as state officials continued to point fingers as to which part of government should orchestrate a reduction of Pennsylvanias prison population.

The situation has spurred many county criminal justice authorities to begin working on cutting their prison populations, particularly following Fridays state Supreme Court directive for county judiciaries to identify inmates for potential release if their prison populations are such that proper steps to mitigate COVID-19 cant be taken.

Im looking at lists right now to release people early who arent a danger to the public, nonviolent criminals, Cumberland County District Attorney Skip Ebert said Wednesday. Theres a lot of work being done to reduce the prison population.

The Supreme Court order handed down Friday was generated by a petition from the Pennsylvania Prison Society, on behalf of several affected inmates, asking the court to order counties to release certain groups of prisoners.

The court denied the request per se, saying that such a blanket order would not take into account the varying size and density of county prisons across the state.

But the court simultaneously ordered that county president judges assess their districts prison population and develop plans to cut that population if it is determined that utilization of public health best practices is not feasible due to the population of the county correctional institutions.

On Monday, Cumberland County Warden Travis Shenk wrote to Cumberland County President Judge Edward Guido confirming that it is virtually impossible for the county prison to follow federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines with its current inmate count.

Social distancing as recommended by the CDC is/has been very difficult to achieve, Shenk wrote. The jail simply does not have the space to keep incarcerated individuals six feet apart unless there would be a significant population reduction.

The prisons limited supply of personal protective equipment is not sustainable for the current population, Shenk also wrote.

To date we have provided all inmates and staff with mask along with hand sanitizer but still these mitigating factors cannot compare to a reduction in the inmate population, Shenk wrote, plus the jail will not be able to sustain these resources (mask and hand sanitizer) needed because of the unavailability in the public sector.

Ebert said Wednesday that he expected to meet with Guido and other county criminal justice officials on Thursday to finalize a list of about 15 inmates that the countys probation department says can be supervised outside of prison.

Probation came up with a list of potential people who would be eligible for release, and Im in the process of screening that list right now to see if I have any objections, Ebert said.

According to the county, the jail population was 325 inmates as of Wednesday, which is already somewhat low. In early March last year, the population was running in the 360-inmate range.

Major offenses that would require a person to be arrested and held have declined as stay-at-home orders related to the pandemic have gone into effect, Ebert said, although an increase in domestic violence cases remains a concern.

Police are generally keeping offenders out of jail for all but the most serious situations, Ebert said.

Low-level offenses are being dealt with by phone or through summonses and things like that whereas before you might have had more arrests, Ebert said.

Thats the danger  you take people who are out in the population now and may have already been exposed, you put them in the prison, and now you have a risk of [the virus] spreading there, Ebert said.

His office has also been able to release a handful of inmates who present low risk to the public by extending plea bargains.

We had a guy today, he was pretty old, and we just took the plea for time served, Ebert said.

Fridays Supreme Court order also threw more fuel onto the debate over which branch of state government is most appropriate to organize the release of lower-level inmates during the pandemic.

In a concurring statement, Chief Justice Thomas Saylor wrote that In my view, the primary authority to release qualifying prisoners on account of a disaster emergency rests with the governor  and/or the General Assembly.

Multiple advocacy groups have called upon Gov. Tom Wolf to use his legal powers to order a statewide release program for county prisons and state correctional facilities.

Last week, the Appeal, a news service focusing on criminal justice reform, reported that Wolfs advisers have concluded that he does have such ability under his reprieve powers in the state constitution, but that the preference is for the Legislature to make such a move instead of doing it by executive fiat.

In his opinion, Saylor noted that Wolfs emergency powers allow him to direct and compel necessary evacuations, and that the Legislature is perfectly capable of passing laws to the same effect, while the ability of the judiciary to make such determinations is limited.

Otherwise, I believe the governor should fashion an appropriate executive order  and/or the General Assembly should enact appropriate legislation  to secure those releases deemed to be necessary by the Health Department and which are consonant with the preservation of public safety and other relevant factors, such as those delineated in the courts present order, Saylor wrote.

Email Zack at zhoopes@cumberlink.com.

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Cornelia Ras beat the virus after multiple people were infected at a nursing home in Goeree-Overflakkee, South Holland, Netherlands. (Getty)

A Dutch woman aged 107 is believed to be the worlds oldest survivor of coronavirus.

Centenarian Cornelia Ras fell ill on 17 March, a day after her 107th birthday, after attending a church service with fellow residents of her nursing home on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee, south-west of Rotterdam.

Ras and 40 others at the service subsequently tested positive for the virus.

On Monday, the pensioner was told that she had beaten the virus.

Twelve of her fellow residents died from COVID-19.

Her niece, Maaike de Groot, told Goeree Overflakkee News: When I heard it, I honestly didn't think she would survive. All the stories you heard about people on the IC who were in such bad shape. And then her age.

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"It was such a huge relief when the doctor called. Of course I did speak to my aunt in between and she has not been scared for a moment.

She is really incredibly strong. We are all very relieved that it is over."

According to Reuters, de Groot told Dutch newspaper AD in a separate interview: We did not expect her to survive this.

She takes no medicines, still walks well and gets down on her knees every night to thank the Lord.

From the looks of it, she will be able to continue to do so.

Previously, Bill Lapschies, a 104-year-old American, was the oldest known survivor of COVID-19.

Asked how he recovered, the war veteran, from Oregon, said replied: I dont know. It just went away. Sit out here and you can get rid of anything.

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CHARLESTON -- At the age of 97, P. (Percy) Scott Smith passed away peacefully in his home at Atria Merrimack Place in Newburyport, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Scott lived a full, spirited life and will be fondly remembered by the many whose lives he touched.

Scott was born on December 22, 1922 (12-22-22 as he liked to say) in Richmond, Virginia to Marie Crandall and Percy Scott Smith Sr. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1940 in Richmond, Scott continued his education at Cornell University where he discovered his love of physics. In 1943, he interrupted his studies when he served in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. to help in the war effort, using radar and infra-red detectors to monitor military activity. After his discharge and return to Cornell, he met a doctoral student, Catharine Elizabeth Thomas, and they married in the fall of 1946.

Scott completed his Ph.D. in Physics in 1951 and always considered himself incredibly lucky to get to be advised by (and double-date with) the remarkable Richard Feynman. After teaching at Emporia State University in Kansas for two years, Scott moved to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois where he was a beloved teacher in the Physics Department until his retirement in 1990. One of his former students later named an asteroid after him and many others have stayed in touch over the years. He and Catharine raised their three children, Chuck, Bob and Karen. They were active members of the Wesley United Methodist Church, as well as many other campus and town organizations. They moved to Newburyport, MA in 2005 to be close to their daughter. Scott made many dear friends at Atria, in his many Bridge games and at Belleville Congregational Church.

Scott loved so many things in this life beyond his family, friends and physics. He was a life master in Bridge and a lifelong exercise enthusiast, playing badminton at EIU and jogging well into his 80s. He also loved the German language and would spontaneously break into German when talking or singing. Scott loved nature. He could identify many birds by sight or song and would help with the annual bird count in Charleston. He would later recall his favorite day of childhood to be May 25, 1934, when he first arrived in Saratoga, NY where his family would spend many summers. Other places special to him include the Florida Keys and the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho, where Scott loved to hike and which was the site of many gatherings with extended family.

Scott is survived by his son, Charles (Chuck) Crandall Smith and wife Linda of Cottonwood, Arizona; his daughter, Karen Smith Conway and husband Tim of Newburyport; grandchildren Keith, Kelly and Petey Conway and Michele (Smith) Colburn; as well as his dear friend, Althine Marsh, two great grand-children, many nieces, nephews and other extended family.

In addition to his parents, Scott was predeceased by his wife Catharine, son Robert Scott Smith, and siblings Helen Smith Moss, Robert James Smith and two infant brothers, Ernest and Crandall.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, there will be a virtual celebration of Scotts life on Saturday April 11, followed by an informal time of sharing stories and memories, which was one of Scotts favorite things.

Those interested in joining remotely may contact the family or email scottsmithservices22@gmail.com for more information. Donations in Scotts memory may be made to the EIU P. Scott Smith Scholarship fund or to the nature/environmental organization of your choice. Arrangements are by Elliott, Woodworth & Rogers Family Funeral Home, 35 Green Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.
In another in a long string of IT-related re-inventions, Florida seems poised to restructure its top tech offices.Last year, the state nixed the Agency for State Technology (AST), its standalone IT office, creating instead the Division of State Technologies (DST) within the parent entity of the Department of Management Services, the state's chief business office, and merged it with the DMS' telecommunications division.Now, after a little more than a year, the state is poised to undertake another reorganization effort, but one that seeks to re-separate the state's top IT office and the DMS' telecommunications processes. HB 1391 , introduced in January by Rep. James Grant, would abolish the DST and replace it with two new offices: the Florida Digital Service (FDS) and the DMS Division of Telecommunications. The digital service agency would still operate from within DMS, however.The legislation, which has passed both the House and the Senate awaits a signature from Gov. Ron DeSantis to become law, marks one in a handful of attempts to shake up the IT service delivery in the state since 2005.Grant said the FDS will focus on developing a statewide enterprise architecture, as well as an interoperable data system for state agencies. As such, the office will be in charge of creating a standardized language for data across agencies as a means of facilitating better sharing. With increased data sharing and a common language, Grant hopes the new approach will lead to more better decision-making for state officials and, eventually, an "Amazon-like" user experience for state residents.Grant added he hopes Floridas digital service will be modeled on the U.S. Digital Service , the federal executive unit dedicated to government-wide modernization efforts created during the Obama years.The legislatures never really done a good job of defining the mission of the agency, the lawmaker told, adding that this new reorganization seeks to do just that by making distinct and specific the responsibilities of the FDS.At the same time, the bill would also create a financial technology sandbox , a "business-friendly" framework that gives regulatory flexibility to tech entrepreneurs who may want to invest in Florida. This would allow the state's Office of Financial Regulation to relax certain licensure requirements for certain companies, as a way of promoting IT industry growth within the state.The reason that this bill is important is that Florida is tremendously behind, Grant said, referring to the state's modernization efforts. The state has never had a true enterprise architecture. Weve never truly done data governance; weve always just operated in silos.The bill is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but due to the governments preoccupation with COVID-19 there are likely to be delays, said Grant.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

On March 2, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shared tweets on the novel coronavirus (see them in the gallery above). The tone and content of the messages show how radically different their approaches were in the early stages of the outbreak.

This was just one day after New York City identified its first COVID-19 patient and three days before San Francisco reported its first cases.

The messages, surfaced by Vox reporter German Lopez, show the discrepancy in the mayors' attitudes at the start of the pandemic. Breed sent out a string of tweets advising residents to prepare for "disruption." De Blasio posted some public health messages, but he also shared a tweet that evening telling New Yorkers to go out on the town. As you can imagine, his encouragement to have fun was more widely shared than any of his other messages or any of Breed's stern warnings.

In the Tweet, de Blasio wrote, "Since Im encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions. Heres the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see The Traitor @FilmLinc. If The Wire was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film." This tweet was shared 2,100 times and liked 1,700 times.

De Blasio also posted a Tweet advising New Yorkers to wash their hands and cover their coughs. It was retweeted 19 times and received 49 likes.

Meanwhile Breed advised residents to "Prepare for possible disruption from an outbreak" and then included a bulleted lists of things to do: "-Have a supply of essential medications for your family -Make a child care plan if you or a caregiver are sick -Plan for how to manage a school closure -Plan for how to care for a sick family member w/out getting sick yourself." The tweet was shared 10 times and given 21 hearts.

A second tweet by the major listed ways to reduce spread of the virus. It received four retweets and likes.

Breed also fired off several tweets updating residents on the city's preparations such as expansion of emergency workers and outreach efforts to share information with different segments of the population.

These tweets, from New York's mayor and San Francisco's mayor, were posted on the same day. pic.twitter.com/jvdiLrknD8  German Lopez (@germanrlopez) April 6, 2020

San Francisco, the entire Bay Area and California in general has been lauded for its early action in addressing coronavirus while active response came later in New York. Some experts believe S.F.'s earlier moves may be one reason the city has experienced dramatically fewer cases and deaths than New York. In mid-March, both New York City and San Francisco had a couple dozen cases. As of Thursday morning, New York City had reported 4,571 deaths; San Francisco meanwhile had 10 and the nine-county Bay Area, 115. Cases in New York state number 78,221 versus 19,127 in California, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Breed declared a state of emergency in San Francisco on Feb. 25, while New York's declaration came on March 13. Bay Area counties began issuing shelter-in-place orders on March 16, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented a mandate for the entire state on March 19. New York's order came about a week later.

While early action may be one reason for San Francisco's lower numbers, health experts believe several other factors may also be at play, including urban density (New York is more dense than California), differences in mass transit (New Yorkers are more likely to be packed on subways than Californians) and access to testing (New York has tested more of its residents than California).

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Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
Kerala Police are performing a dual role, feeding thousands of hungry people and simultaneously enforcing the 21-day lockdown in the state, which has won the police force a reputation for efficient handling of the coronavirus pandemic after reporting the first case of infection in India at the end of January.

The force started by distributing a few hundred food packages daily, but the number of people being fed has increased gradually to reach 50,000 people across 15 centres.

The polices open kitchen, called oru vayar ootaam -- which loosely translates as feeding a stomach  is gaining in popularity. Many volunteers, non-government organisations and student police cadets have stepped forward to feed the needy.

We dont want people to go hungry. We started in a small way but expanded after we realised the need to feed many. We concentrate mainly around hospitals where people usually go hungry. Were serving senior citizens and the destitute as well, said P Vijayan, inspector general of police (IGP), Kochi Range, and the brain behind the open kitchen initiative.

Vijayan was also the guiding force behind the Student Police Cadets programme in Kerala, which has found national traction.

Kerala has taken the lead in many ways as far as tackling Covid-19 is concerned. The state was the first to report the disease. We alerted the health workers and politicians about Covid-19. There was a timely intervention from the police as well. Now, the results are there for all to see. We cant forget our duties and responsibilities towards the poor and distressed people. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the state police chief have given us admirable support in our endeavours, the IGP said.

Charitable organisations, tour operators, student bodies and ordinary people have stepped forward to fund the polices novel initiative.

Kerala was the first Indian state to report a coronavirus case in when a student from Wuhan university in China tested positive on January 20.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up measures to stem rapidly growing coronavirus cases in Turkey, but his refusal to impose a full lockdown to keep the economy afloat is drawing criticism.

Turkey has been reporting some 3,000 infections a day in the last few days, with cases shooting up from zero to over 34,000 in just about four weeks. The death toll stood at more than 700.

The number of cases is doubling in every few days. From 7,400 on March 28, it reached 15,000 on April 1 and exceeded 30,000 on Monday, according to official figures. Erdogan has imposed a series of tough measures but thus far resisted calls for a complete confinement.
Phuket people asked to prepare for Tambon Lockdown

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavitpatana has issued an order for all subdistricts on the island to come under lockdown, with no non-essential travel beyond subdistrict borders permitted, starting next Monday (Apr 13), Songkran Day.

COVID-19Coronavirushealth

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 9 April 2020, 10:12PM

The lockdown will be in effect 24 hours a day, from 00.01am on April 13 to 11:59pm on April 26, a total of 14 days or until the situation is resolved, said the order.

Six Phuket subdistricts (tambon in Thai)  Patong, Karon, Chalong, Rawai, Kathu and Srisoonthorn  are already under lockdown orders, brought into effect over the past week.

The order to shut down the remaining 11 tambon on the island came at the meeting of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee at Phuket Provincial Hall this afternoon (Apr 9), and the order was posted in Thai on the official Facebook page of the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department this evening. (See here.)

Governor Phakaphong urged all people on the island to remain in their places of residence as much as possible during the lockdown in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Also during the fortnight, teams of officers and volunteers will conduct door-to-door checks of households to check the temperatures of residents in the hope of identifying infected people early and hence prevent the virus from spreading further.

Officers will check the temperature of all people in each area. If any person is suspected of being infected, they will be sent to a hospital specified by the province, Governor Phakaphong said in the order.

Officers must clean every public area, and every store by using sterilizing sanitiser, he added.

If there are employees who need to work in a hotel. The hotel must find a room for them to stay and must inform the authorities of the number and the details of the people being accommodated.

And local government officials must publicize this order to people in their areas, he added.

Only people involved in emergency and essential services will be permitted past the checkpoints to be set up, namely those in the medical, telecommunications and postal services as well as drivers delivering consumer goods and produce and government officers performing their duties.

Any persons needing absolutely necessary travel beyond the tambon borders must first obtain permission from their District Chief, the order notes.

The order urged people to prepare for the lockdown, but warned against hoarding. The order did not define the punishment for hoarding, only that punishment for hoarding will be at the officers discretion.

SERIOUS ENFORCEMENT

The implementation of this order requires the cooperation of all people in Phuket to stop the spread of COVID-19 as soon as possible, which if left for a long time will cause serious damage to someone or affect the public interest. Therefore [I] cannot grant the right to dispute [the order] under Section 30 of the Administrative Procedure Act 1996, Governor Phakaphong said.

Governor Phakaphong warned that breaking the order was punishable under Section 52 of the Communicable Disease Act 2015, which can incur a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to B100,000, or both.

Breach of the order may also be punished under Section 18 of the Emergency Decree, which may incur a penalty of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to B40,000, or both, the order noted.

CALL FOR SUPPORT

To pass through this crisis quickly, we have to ask for cooperation from people to stay home all the time like a 24-hour curfew for 14 days after this Monday (Apr 13), Phuket Provincial Administrative Chief (Palad) Wikrom Jaktee explained after the meeting this afternoon.

We want everyone to be home and go out as least as you can. We need 14 days, as it is how long it takes for people infected with the coronavirus to show symptoms, he said.

There will be exceptions for those who really need to go out [of the tambon], he assured.

Please stay home, health volunteers, civil defense volunteers, members of the public and village headmen will knock on your doors to check your body temperatures.

Please prepare essential goods for living before Apr 13. Those who can not prepare by themselves, please inform your local administrative organizations [municipality and OrBorTor] who will arrange a bag of essential goods for you. Mr Wikrom said.

If all people in Phuket together follow the suggestion, we will all eventually see the light at the end of tunnel. If it really works, by April 30, we will have found all the infected people in Phuket and have rushed to help them recover in order to bring our lives back to normal, he added.

Additional reporting by Khunanya Wanchanwe and Kiattikul Chumanee
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- JAC Motors recently launched a new brand strategy for traditional fuel-powered PVs as part of effort to speed up deployment of its PV Era 3.0, according to a post on its WeChat account.

In the Era 3.0, the automaker will roll out a series of fuel-burning models with the nameplate of Jiayue. As for naming rules, the sedan series will be dubbed A, and X is for SUVs. Following the letter, numbers will be used to distinguished vehicles sizes.



Under the new strategy, JAC Motors plans to release in 2020 several PV models, including the Jiayue X7 and Jiayue X4 SUVs, which are set to hit the market in April and the second-half of the year respectively.



At the Chengdu Motor Show 2019, the Hefei-based automaker unveiled the Jiayue A5 hatchback sedan, opening the chapter of its PV Era 3.0. The new model is the fruition of joint efforts from JAC Motors and Volkswagen, and of the introduction of German VDA quality management system.



By virtue of the partnership with Volkswagen Group and the VDA system, JAC Motors has made further progress in its manufacturing quality by retrofitting production facilities, fostering a dedicated quality management team trained by its German automaker partner, and sharing production lines with Volkswagen under a uniform set of standards.

JAC Motors is one of Chinese indigenous automakers that grasp a whole set of independent technology R&D capabilities, and set up R&D hubs overseas. According to a report from Xinhua, it has by far plowed a total of RMB11.7 billion in R&D businesses since 2012 (photo source: JAC Motors' WeChat account).
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Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This is done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Union Pacific

Is Union Pacific fairly valued?

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$5.36b US$6.03b US$6.66b US$6.97b US$7.46b US$7.82b US$8.13b US$8.40b US$8.64b US$8.85b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x10 Analyst x10 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 4.91% Est @ 3.96% Est @ 3.29% Est @ 2.83% Est @ 2.5% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.3% US$5.0k US$5.2k US$5.4k US$5.2k US$5.2k US$5.1k US$5.0k US$4.8k US$4.6k US$4.4k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$50b

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We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 10-year government bond rate (1.7%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.3%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2029  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$8.9b (1 + 1.7%)  7.3% 1.7%) = US$161b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$161b ( 1 + 7.3%)10= US$79b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$129b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$150, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 21% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

NYSE:UNP Intrinsic value April 9th 2020

Important assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Union Pacific as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.031. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldnt be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price to differ from the intrinsic value? For Union Pacific, We've put together three further aspects you should further research:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Union Pacific that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does UNP's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the NYSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
A 24-year-old Pompton Lakes EMT died from complications with the coronavirus, friends and state officials said.

Kevin Leiva, an EMT in North Bergen and at Saint Clares Dover Hospital, died from complications with the coronavirus Tuesday, said Cesar Perez, an EMS supervisor in Passaic for Saint Clares. He leaves behind his wife Marina.

Leiva is the second EMT who worked at Saint Clares to have died from complications with the coronavirus. He died one week to the day after the death of Israel Tolentino Jr., a 33-year-old Passaic firefighter and EMT at Saint Clares.

Leiva was remembered as smart, positive and selfless, who lived to help others through being an EMT.

We did everything together, said Kara Connolly, his partner for two years at Saint Clares. We became really close. I talked to him every single day. Hes so selfless. He did everything for anybody.

Kevin Leiva was an EMT in North Bergen and at St. Claires Hospital. A Paterson native, he and his wife, Marina, called Pompton Lakes home.



Kevin was only 24 years old. We thank him for his service to our state and our families. We will not forget him. pic.twitter.com/AD0PMF25lB  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 9, 2020

At Thursdays press briefing, Gov. Phil Murphy honored the young EMT, thanking him for his years helping others.

Kevin was only 24 years old," said Murphy. Bless him. We thank him for his service. For an extraordinary lifetime. For his service to this state.

Perez, Leiva and Leivas best friend Franklin Pachay all started at Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) at the same time, meeting at their orientation. Although Leiva was a dedicated, diligent EMT, eventually becoming an EMT supervisor for Saint Clares, his friends would tease him for nodding off during orientation videos.

We used to crack on him because he used to fall asleep during the videos, recalled Perez. He was great and hes going to be missed.

When it came to work itself, Leiva was serious, said Perez. But at work, Leiva was never without a snappy comeback, he said.

He was always known as super funny and positive and hard-working, said Connolly. When Saint Clares was awarded the contract to provide emergency medical services for Passaic, both Connolly and Leiva applied. The two became partners, talking every day and becoming good friends.

Eventually, both became EMS supervisors at Saint Clares.

A candlelight vigil was planned for Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to honor Leiva at the Passaic EMS headquarters on Grove Street.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
An inmate has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing another prisoner at a correctional centre on NSW's mid-north coast.

The two men, aged 50 and 28, allegedly approached the cell of a 26-year-old man at the Kempsey jail on Wednesday afternoon before the younger prisoner was stabbed several times in the neck, chest and back.

The injured prisoner was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a critical but stable condition, NSW Police said in a statement on Thursday.

The two men were arrested, with the older man charged with attempted murder and the younger man charged with aiding and abetting attempted murder.

They were refused bail to appear at Port Macquarie Local Court via video link on Thursday.
Amidst the lockdown due to coronavirus COVID-19, the Border Security Force (BSF) troops formation has come forward to help people living along the borders by providing them with face masks, soaps, rations to the poor and elderly people. One such formation has also been taking active participation in Jammu and Kashmir to help the locals. The BSF has reached out to the villages in a bid to help them fight coronavirus.

"Our units under 183 battalion deployed at Poonch area are providing free rations, medicines and masks to the locals. We have communicated to villages that those who have returned back to the area should self-quarantine for at least three weeks," said a BSF official.

The BSF is deployed on the borders of Pakistan and Bangladesh for more than 6,200 km. At the borders, the operational activities have not seized rather the vigil has been enhanced to prevent any mischief of trans-border criminals.

"There are some seizures of contraband items on eastern and western borders during this lockdown period. We have enhanced our vigil to prevent any mischief of trans-border criminals," said one official.

In areas like Punjab and Jammu, migratory labours were stuck during the lockdown. On the eastern front on ICP Petrapol, truck drivers got stranded. Similarly in many areas, in the border belt, there were many daily wage earners. They were identified and provided with necessary rations.

The BSF has asked its personnel to remain ''wherever they are'', saying that there would be no movement before April 21 amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country. The BSF has issued an alert in which it said that there would be no movement before April 21 as part of the precautionary measures put in place due to coronavirus pandemic.

Instructions have been issued to all formations of BSF that leave of those who are already on leave be extended till April 21 and also for those who are due to join in April. Similar instructions have also been issued for the training centres where training programs were already running.
The statewide death toll increased by 42 Thursday, the largest number the state has reported to date in its daily pandemic updates, followed by the 34 deaths it reported Tuesday. According to the ISDH, 245 Hoosiers have died from the virus. More than 32,000 people tested for the virus, while more than 6,300 have tested positive.
Charities that rescue migrants attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing on Wednesday condemned Italy for its decision to close its ports because of the coronavirus epidemic.

The interior ministry said late Tuesday that Italy could no longer be considered a "port of safety" for the duration of the outbreak, which has killed over 17,500 people in the country.

That means migrants rescued at sea cannot be disembarked in Italy.

The closure comes a month after Italy was put on a nationwide lockdown in a bid to stem the virus's spread.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Mediterranee, German maritime rescue group Sea-Watch and Spanish Open Arms accused Rome of using the crisis as an excuse to stop taking in migrants.

"At a time like this, the suffering of citizens affected by a health emergency cannot become a reason to deny support... to those who risk losing breath not in an intensive care bed, but by drowning.

"All lives must be saved, all vulnerable people must be protected, both on land and at sea. It is possible and necessary to do so," they said.

The four charities pointed out that they had all put resources and personnel at the disposal of the Italian health system for the coronavirus battle. And that providing safe harbour to those saved at sea was "a legal obligation".

The Alan Kurdi vessel, run by the German NGO Sea Eye, was seeking a safe port after rescuing some 150 people off Libya Monday, including a pregnant woman.

The interior ministry says nearly 3,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far this year.

Departures from Libya are expected to increase as the situation there deteriorates.

"A year into the conflict, the humanitarian situation in Libya has never been worse," the International Organization for Migration's Libya mission chief Federico Soda said in a statement Wednesday.

Aid workers were finding it increasingly difficult to access the vulnerable, and security challenges were now coupled with grave health concerns posed by the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As pangolins come under the scanner as potential intermediate hosts of the novel coronavirus transferred from bats to humans, Indian wildlife conservationists warn that the states of Tamilnadu and Uttarakhand are emerging as the hotspots for the poaching of the endangered scaly anteater mammal.

A recent study, published in the journal Cell, had placed pangolins as a natural reservoir of coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another recent study had identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2 like viruses in Malayan pangolins smuggled into China to be sold in wet markets.

In these markets, pangolins find demand both in food and traditional medicine, making them the most-commonly trafficked mammal.

"The discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible hosts in the emergence of novel coronaviruses and should be removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission," said Ved Kumar, a former wildlife conservationist with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and founder of Maaty Biodiversity Conservation & Societal Research Organization in Uttarakhand.

Kumar told PTI that over the last decade, the demand for pangolin biological parts in China and other Southern Asian markets has increased due to their perceived medicinal properties, and value as a delicacy.

"So the poaching graph of this species continuously increases," he said.

In their study, published in the journal Forensic Science International: Reports, Kumar and his team described the hotspots for pangolin trafficking in India.

Based on their research, Kumar said between 2003 and 2014, states in Northeast India like Assam, Manipur, and Meghalaya were the hotspots for pangolin poaching in the country, adding that trafficking of the animals is also increasing in other places.

"Now the trends change as poachers move towards Southern and Northern India. In the current scenario, Tamilnadu and Uttarakhand are the hotspots of poaching," he said, adding that dense forests with open boundaries and low forest staffs are factors linked to increased poaching in a region.

Based on earlier studies from 2011 to 2013, analysing 51 pangolin seizures reported all over India, the scientists said 42 of them were made from the North-eastern states of India.

Assessing another report of more than 91 pangolin seizures, reported between 20092017, they said the states of Manipur and Tamilnadu have had the highest number of documented confiscations.

The latest study by Kumar and his team indicated that between 2014 and 2018 most of the cases were reported from central, northern, and eastern Indian states where Maharashtra and Uttarakhand report the second highest position with 12 per cent of overall seizures.

This study assessed the status of illegal trade of pangolin based on seizures reported from 2009 to 2018 in India using available data from print and electronic media.

"Over the last decade 119 pangolin seizures were recorded and it is estimated that 7500 individuals perished in a decade. It is concluded that in India its north-eastern part is the hub of trade of pangolins," Kumar and his team noted in the study.

According to the scientists, the poached animals are transported by traffickers into China and Myanmar through road and postal services.

"Road transport, local taxi and postal service are the modes of trafficking. If we talking about Southern India, the traders purchase the pangolin body part from the local poachers, transport via road in trucks and other heavy vehicles by West Bengal to Assam, Nagaland, and transport into China via Myanmar," Kumar explained in an email.

Asked about the reasons for the demand for the "shy and nocturnal" mammal, he said these are largely driven by myths about their healing properties.

"People have myths that the pangolin's various body parts, especially their scales, and also its fetuses, blood, bones and claws have healing properties in traditional medicines," the wildlife conservationist said.

Kumar clarified that there is no scientific proof for these beliefs, adding that some people also consume the animal as meat.

"Their meat is considered a delicacy and high source of protein in restaurants, where its consumption is also a symbol of status," he added.

As the "secretive and slow-moving" mammal continues to be killed and transported illegally, Kumar said the places from which they are removed may see changes in their ecology.

"Ecologically pangolins are so important. In natural ecosystem it plays as a biological pest controller and soil caretakers. Due to their food preferences pangolin control the population of termites and ants in natural ecosystem," he said.

Each year, Kumar said, a pangolin consumes about 70 million insects from the forest, making it safe for plant species.

"Apart from that, their large and elongated claws make them capable of burrowing underground for shelter and to excavate termites and insects for food. In doing so the soil is mixed and aerated, improving the quality of the nutrients in the soil," he added.

Since the major threat for the survival of pangolin is from local communities, Kumar said, an understanding of public perceptions and awareness on conservation of the mammal is important.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 50 Republican U.S. Representatives told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday that economic and military cooperation between Washington and Riyadh is at risk unless the kingdom helps to stabilize oil prices by cutting crude output.

"If the Kingdom fails to act fairly to reverse this manufactured energy crisis, we would encourage any reciprocal responses that the U.S. government deems appropriate," said a letter to the crown prince signed by 48 lawmakers, or about a quarter of the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats.

It was the latest pressure by Republican lawmakers on Saudi Arabia over its race for oil market share with Russia.

Crude oil prices have plummeted with slumping demand during the coronavirus outbreak and on excess supply. Crashing prices threaten highly leveraged U.S. oil companies with bankruptcies and layoffs. Many of the lawmakers were from oil-producing states, including Louisiana's Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, who spearheaded the letter.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and Russia will participate in an OPEC+ meeting. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he brokered an output cut of 10-15 million barrels per day but Moscow and Riyadh have yet to publicly indicate any agreement on the level or how to distribute reductions among OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Energy Department said low oil prices will force companies to gradually cut output by nearly 2 million barrels per day.

The letter said thousands of American workers in oil and natural gas and related fields face increased financial and economic uncertainty.

"Failure to address this energy crisis will jeopardize the joint efforts between our nations to collaborate economically and militarily," the letter said. "The U.S. military presence in the Middle East region has maintained the stability that provides for the economic prosperity and ensures the security of

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our two nations."

Senate Republicans introduced a bill in March to remove U.S. troops, missiles and defense systems from the kingdom if it does not cut output. The bill faces an uphill battle, but analysts said threats to Washington's defense relationship with Saudi Arabia have given the Trump administration another card in its talks with the kingdom.

Trump has also threatened tariffs on Saudi and Russian oil imports, but such measures are opposed by industry groups such as the American Petroleum Institute who say they would increase costs for U.S. refiners.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio)\

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New COVID-19 Mobile Testing Site in South L.A.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas announced a new COVID-19 mobile testing site will open Wednesday at the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) to serve residents in Willowbrook, South Los Angeles, and surrounding neighborhoods.

By opening this testing site today  along with the locations at the College of the Canyons and East Los Angeles College  we are ensuring more access for all to receive services no matter where they live.

Our Fire Department team members will be here on-site, working with personnel from Charles Drew University and the MLK Outpatient Center, to provide patients who drive-up with the self-administered testing kit according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief, Daryl L. Osby.

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CDU is also slated to begin analyzing demographic data to determine the novel coronavirus effect on diverse communities across Los Angeles County.

It is heartening to know that residents of South L.A. and the surrounding areas will now have a convenient place to get tested, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. It is imperative, now more than ever, to ensure that we are continuing our work against longstanding health disparities by ensuring greater equity and access to resources in our communities.

As the statistics are now showing, under-resourced communities of color are being disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus. However, there have been very few, if any, COVID-19 testing sites in these communities, said CDU President and CEO Dr. David M. Carlisle. Testing is critical to disease detection that helps us flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19  for everyone. It is extremely important that we make these tests available to hard-hit communities of color. CDU as a community-founded institution has been in South Los Angeles for 53 years with a commitment to eliminating health disparities. This is why we are partnering to open a testing center and better serve our community.

CDU is located across the street from the state-of-the-art Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus, which provides an array of vital services to the community, including urgent care, hospitalization and recuperative care for people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Besides serving as a mobile testing site, CDU has been tapped to work with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to collect demographic data, including information on ethnicity and zip code in relation to the number of tests performed, test results, hospitalization and fatality rates.

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As one of the most diverse counties in the country, we know that COVID-19 does not discriminate along ethnic or community lines, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. This demographic data is vital to ensuring that our resources are appropriately and equitably distributed, tailored to serve the communities most in need.

The higher death rates from COVID-19 in Black communities is sadly, not surprising, said Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, dean of the College of Medicine at CDU. There is an old saying in the Black community that when America gets a cold, the Black community gets pneumonia. The disparities that exists in health care are not explained by any one factor; multiple things add up to increase risk and create more severe outcomes. Poverty, institutional racism, poor public schools, lack of health insurance and lack of access to healthcare are some of those factors. With COVID-19, the higher rates of chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney failure among African-Americans help explain the higher rates of death from the disease among Black Americans.
Good Friday is a Holy Day for Christians across the globe, as it marks the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, and Black Friday, and it preceded Easter Sunday, which marks the resurrection of Christ. The date for Good Friday is often a matter of dispute for Eastern and Western Christianity.

Moreover, the date of the holiday varies every year as it follows both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. This year, Good Friday will be celebrated on April 10 in the United States. Good Friday is celebrated all across the US, however, it is not considered a Federal Holiday.

Is Good Friday a Bank Holiday in the United States?

Also Read | Good Friday WhatsApp status messages to upload and share with near and dear ones

While Good Friday is not a Federal Holiday, it is considered a state holiday in some states. Good Friday is a public holiday in 11 states in the US. On that day, most businesses are closed and all schools have a holiday. While Good Friday is considered a Holy Day in the US, it is not a Bank Holiday.

Also Read | Tejasswi Prakash responds to rumours of dating Shivin Narang, says 'he is a good friend'

Some private sectors might be closed in some states, but most of the country will still function normally. Most banks will also remain open for business on Good Friday. However, Easter Sunday, which will be celebrated on April 13, 2020, will be a bank holiday for the entire nation.

Also Read | Is Good Friday a national holiday? Know the significance of the day and other details

In some states, such as Indiana, Good Friday is considered a state holiday for all employees. Hawaii is another state where most city and state offices are shut down. In Hawaii, public transport will also run on a state holiday schedule. Moreover, most private offices and businesses will be shut down, even in states that do not consider Good Friday as an official Holiday. Most people have to visit church on Good Friday, so a large majority of offices mark it as a holiday.

Also Read | Good Friday quotes in Hindi to share with your friends and family
A pharmacist giving a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, on March 16 at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

While lockdown measures appear to have been effective in curbing the spread of the new coronavirus, experts say loosening restrictions too much before a vaccine is available may lead to a resurgence of cases.

A new study of China led by researchers at the University of Hong Kong concluded that there was still a "substantial risk" of new infections, particularly from travelers, and that the virus needed to be closely monitored to prevent another outbreak.

"Although control policies such as physical distancing and behavioral change are likely to be maintained for some time, proactively striking a balance between resuming economic activities and keeping the reproductive number below one is likely to be the best strategy until effective vaccines become widely available," said the study's lead researcher, Joseph Wu.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Lockdown measures in China were effective in curbing the "first wave" of the novel coronavirus' spread, a new study led by researchers at University of Hong Kong has concluded. But experts warn that loosening restrictions too much before a vaccine is available may lead to a resurgence of cases.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal on Wednesday, was first reported on by The Guardian. The research was based on modeling of the virus' spread in China, which appears to have been contained as the country has not reported any new domestic cases since March 19.

"The first wave of COVID-19 outside of Hubei has abated because of aggressive non-pharmaceutical interventions," the study found.

The research concluded that China had been able to greatly reduce the virus' reproduction number  meaning, the number of people on average who one person can infect  from two or three to just under one.

But the study warned there was still a "substantial risk" of new infections, particularly from travelers. It stressed that the virus' spread needed to be closely monitored to prevent another outbreak, or "second wave" of the disease, and achieve "an optimal balance between health and economic protection."

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"Although control policies such as physical distancing and behavioral change are likely to be maintained for some time, proactively striking a balance between resuming economic activities and keeping the reproductive number below one is likely to be the best strategy until effective vaccines become widely available," said Joseph Wu, who leads the infectious-disease-modeling research at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health and co-led the study.

The virus has infected over 1.5 million people worldwide and killed more than 88,000. China, once the epicenter of the disease, has reported more than 82,000 cases and 3,337 deaths.

Rebecca Cairns reported for Insider that more than 40 research teams were developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Though producing an effective and safe vaccine can normally take five to 10 years, research can be expedited during times of outbreak with increased funding.

"Given the current severity of the crisis, there are efforts to fast-track a vaccine for COVID-19 in as little as 12 to 18 months," Dr. Abe Malkin, the founder and medical director of Concierge MD in Los Angeles, told Cairns.

Editor's note: An earlier headline in this article overstated the experts' conclusion, which did not specifically recommend keeping existing aggressive lockdown measures in place.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New York, April 9 : New York's "battle on the mountaintop" against coronavirus is raging, its death toll rose by a record number for a second consecutive day, hospitalisations are slowing and its curve is flattening as a result of social distancing efforts but 40 per cent of tests are still coming out positive in this US hotspot that has been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

New York reported 779 deaths, a record number for the second consecutive day as the state experiences its peak death week.

"There's still a significant amount of disease there and everyone needs to continue to follow the guidelines," White House coronavirus co-ordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said at a briefing Wednesday.

Birx said that the New York metro area which includes northern New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island is still seeing 11,000 new cases per day and the positivity tests are in the 40 per cent range.

Based on data shared by the White House and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York State recorded 6,268 deaths by Tuesday. Its new cases rose by more than 500 Tuesday, down from nearly 1,000 daily for most of last week.

Cuomo confirmed that New York is at last "flattening the curve" of the outbreak but warned that the death toll will continue to rise as patients hooked up to ventilators for a few weeks begin to succumb to COVID-19.

New York's virus death toll has surged past the number killed during the 9/11 terror attacks.

Birx cautioned Americans that those with asthma, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and renal disease "no matter what age" are susceptible to a worse outcomes and urged them to comply with social distancing guidelines currently in place till month end.

The number of cases are stabilising but micro epidemics in metro and rural areas continue in parallel, Birx said.

Birx said national health officials are "concerned" about many areas outside of New York.

Birx mentioned a few of those looming threats. New Orleans metro area is reporting 800 new cases per day, Detroit Metro Area 1400 cases per day, Chicago 1200 cases per day, Boston 1100 cases per day and Philadelphia metro area 1400 cases per day.

In stark contrast, Seattle has 350 cases per day and the Los Angeles metro area 800 cases per day with test positive rates in the 9 per cent range.

"So this really is the idea of what it takes, they have been continuously mitigating," Birx said of the comparison between New York's 40 per cent positive rate and the West Coast's lower 9 per cent positive rate.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's foremost infectious diseases expert on the White House task force said social distancing measures are having an effect and Americans must not get "complacent".

"We know now for sure that the mitigation that we have been doing is having a positive effect. But you don't see it until weeks later." Social distancing as a mitigation tool, Fauci said, is "not only the only tool, it's the best tool we have".

Fauci has cautioned that COVID-19 is showing all the signs that it could hit on a seasonal cycle and that a vaccine is the ultimate gamechanger. According to him, the most aggressive timeline could deliver a vaccine in "12-18 months".

(Nikhila Natarajan can be contacted at @byniknat)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
- Vice Ganda paid tribute to some of the unsung heroes in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 crisis

- He expressed his gratitude and appreciation for service crew members and grocery employees for their public service during the pandemic

- The Kapamilya star also apologized on behalf of everyone who has shown disrespect to them in the past

- According to Vice, the public will always remember their heroism even after the crisis ends

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Vice Ganda took to social media to pay tribute to some of the unsung heroes in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 crisis.

KAMI learned that Vice expressed his gratitude and appreciation for service crew members and grocery employees for their public service during the pandemic.

He also apologized on behalf of everyone who has shown disrespect to them in the past.

The comedian promised that the public will always remember their heroism even after the crisis ends.

Ngayon naappreciate natin ang halaga ng mga service crew, grocery staff, kahera at baggers.

Patawarin nyo po kami kung minsan namin kayong napakitaan ng pangit na attitude.

Di po namin malilimutan ang kabayanihan nyo. God bless you, Vice tweeted.

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The COVID-19 pandemic induced shutdown has produced an unprecedented effect across the marketing and advertising ecosystem. While the future looks rather grim at this point, industries and sectors and, in fact, the entire human race is seeing a solidarity like never before. Leading by example are the stalwarts of Indias media and advertising domain who participated in exchange4medias first webinar.

Heres what Sam Balsara, Chairman and MD, Madison World; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India; Ashish Bhasin, CEO APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network, and Amer Jaleel, Group CCO and Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group had to say about the need for solidarity in this crisis in a webinar moderated by Naziya Alvi Rahman, Editor, exchange4media.

AN INDUSTRY-WIDE SOLIDARITY

Kicking off the conversation, Balsara defined solidarity for the industry, clarifying that agencies should refrain from taking advantage of any situation the crisis might cause. He was clear that this is when companies must stay transparent in dealings with clients, agencies and employees especially. Even if the lockdown continues, which it mostly will, I'm sure under Ashish's (Bhasin) leadership, we'll come together on our platform (the Advertising Agencies Association of India) and take a decision on what we can collectively do and ensure that lives and jobs are safe once the industry gets back to normal, Balsara said.

IPG Mediabrands Sinha was quick to second that, and added that the priority for everyone should be to keep the industry safe and to stay united in ensuring the safety and happiness of employees, of partners and vendors. We are in the media business and we feed off media, and are closer to whatever is happening. Small examples of what we can do are  we can help people in need, sick people, our own employees, their families, etc. So we can start with simple things, both physically and emotionally, which will raise the morale at this point of time, said Sinha.

In his capacity as President of AAAI, Bhasin pointed out that this is an industry that is quick to come together in solidarity even when there is no crisis. According to me, the first thing for us as leaders is to be real and authentic. Everybody needs to understand that this is an emergency situation and it is not business as usual. It is going to impact and cause difficulties to a lot of people, hopefully for a short period of time and hopefully we will all come out of it. At times like these, liquidity is an issue that affects all agencies. So we need to start communicating with our friends on the media owners side and tell them our problems and accommodate each other, keeping in mind the challenges that they face too.

He added that Sundar Swamy, Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa, has proposed an initiative, which he hopes to take forward with the support of senior industry folks like Balsara and Sinha  to write to the Government about what they can do to help agencies at a time like this. This is also a time to address people working in the industry dealing with insecurity about their jobs, salaries, etc., and for the leadership to communicate and reassure people across the industry, particularly those at the lowest end of the pyramid, and come out stronger in the end.

MullenLowe Lintas Groups Jaleel said that the crisis has a huge humanitarian aspect to it, which the industry should keep in mind. The crisis has had a far-reaching effect across sectors, and it is not limited to just the media and advertising industry. Marketing has understood how inter-dependent it is on the littlest person, the person at the factory. We have understood how dependent we are on our production people. This crisis is huge and it is human. It has exposed inter-dependence and has converted a lot of people into better human beings. The whole world has a shared history right now and is experiencing similar problems. We may all become saints by the end of this, because we will get each other so much and we will understand each other so much, Jaleel said. While he agreed that the situation has brought the industry together, he also said that there has been pettiness and bickering. All that will soon disappear, he observed, since this issue has put everyone in the same boat.

ON GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Speaking about the kind of support the industry seeks at this juncture from the Government, Bhasin spoke about some of the obvious ways it can help the industry. One of them was to clear the dues owed to advertising companies, given that the Government itself is a major advertiser in the country. This could help address the liquidity issues the industry is trying to deal with. If the Government can pay its own bills, which are often not paid for months, and even years, that would help. The TDS deducted, especially from media agencies, is disproportionate, because our commissions tend to be 2-2.5%, but TDS is much higher than that. There are always refunds we need to get on income tax and that often gets stuck for years and the industry needs this money to pay salaries, rent, etc. There are some practical suggestions like these.

He also drew parallels with whatever is happening around the world, particularly in places like Singapore that are offering relief to businesses. Over a period of time, we need to put money back into the pockets of businesses so that they can continue to run, pointed out Bhasin, saying that the industry is still in the process of collating suggestions and pleas to put before the Government.

NEED FOR UNPRECEDENTED MEASURES

Speaking about the crisis before the world and the industry, Balsara observed that there has been no time in history when the whole world has been locked down the way it is today, perhaps barring the recession of 2008 brought on by the Lehmann situation.

At that time, business and advertising took a hit. We, in fact, saw negative growth in advertising for the first time in years back in 2008. The most difficult task now for both agencies and advertisers is to get the economy going again, he said, adding that it might be a lot easier for companies that have maintained brand equity to benefit when things normalise. However, the industry folk need to put their heads together to evaluate how advertising can get rolling again when the lockdown is lifted, because everyone will be facing a severe cash crunch.

IPGs Sinha said it is premature to guess about how things will turn out when the lockdown ends and India returns to normalcy. It is all nice to say that there will be a U-shaped or V-shaped recovery path, but it will take time. There is no doubt. We need to go client by client and break them up in small, manageable parts. So each client has some strong markets and weak market depending on category. Without generalising, some kind of micro discussion with clients will need to happen.

An interesting discussion that followed was about the brand Amul, part of the IPG Mediabrands clientele, which has been particularly active through the crisis, despite being a conservative advertiser that has gone on record to say it spends less than 1 per cent on advertising. Sinha offered a possible reasoning for Amuls sudden advertising overdrive.

Aside from Amuls infrastructure, which has been able to respond to the surge in demand for milk, a lot of credit goes to Mr R S Sodhi. If you see the communication, a lot of it is around Maa ki Mamta, or small moments of joy at a time like this, he explained, observing that with morbid news coming out of news channels today, Sodhi has brought out some positivity in his advertising. Also, given that many advertisers are staying away and withholding their campaigns, its been a kind of hidden bonus for Amul to advertise and get the consumers attention at a difficult time like this. However, only time will tell how much this campaign has impacted its brand equity.

Bhasin added that advertisers and agencies would do well to note that when the lockdown lifts, it will not be a switch that comes on and restores normalcy in the country. He spoke from experience, having seen first-hand how the offices in Wuhan, China have coped and are still recovering from the COVID-19 blow.

Speaking about how the creative agencies might help in this regard, Jaleel said, All of us, whether marketers or brand builders of any kind, are trying to keep a connection on with our audience. There is a lot of fear among people. What we are suggesting to our clients is what we have always done traditionally in the past, which is to keep the connections going with consumers and solve problems with creativity.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis will be felt and seen across the board even through 2021, said Balsara. While some categories might be up and running in no time, others might be left grappling and struggling to return to what they were in the pre-COVID era.

Compiled by Christina Moniz

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Three nurses who were pictured wearing bin bags because of a lack of protective gear have tested positive for coronavirus, it was reported last night.

The frontline staff at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow were forced to put clinical waste bags on their heads and feet last month due to shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).

All three nurses in the picture were diagnosed with the virus at a North London testing centre last week, a senior hospital source told The Daily Telegraph.

Three nurses from Northwick Park hospital in London who posed last month while wearing protective equipment made from bin bags have been diagnosed with Covid 19

The three nurses worked in the north London hospital which has been inundated with patients suffering from Covid-19 symptoms

A spokesman for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park Hospital, said: 'We can confirm that a number of staff members working in our Covid-19 positive areas have tested positive for the coronavirus. This is unfortunate but not unexpected, as it corresponds with the experience of healthcare workers across the world. We are providing full support to those of our staff members who become unwell, and wish them a swift recovery'

Northwick Park Hospital was the first in the country to declare a critical incident after an influx of coronavirus patients.

More than half of staff on one ward have reportedly contracted the virus and hospital bosses have been blamed for failing to provide them with suitable PPE.

A spokesman for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park Hospital, said: 'We can confirm that a number of staff members working in our Covid-19 positive areas have tested positive for the coronavirus.

'This is unfortunate but not unexpected, as it corresponds with the experience of healthcare workers across the world.

'We are providing full support to those of our staff members who become unwell, and wish them a swift recovery.'

Speaking last month, one of the nurses said they had no choice but to use bin bags because of the shortage of PPE in the hospital.

She said: 'We could catch the virus ourselves. We need proper PPE kit now, or nurses and doctors are going to die. It's as simple as that.

'We're treating our own colleagues on the ward after they caught the virus from patients. How can that be right?

'There are so many younger people here on ventilation - many with asthma or diabetes. They can't stop coughing, they just cough and cough and cough and they can't help it.'

Yesterday, the Royal College of Nursing warned the lack of PPE in health care settings is 'fundamentally compromising' the care being delivered to patients.

Nurses' safety is also being put at risk, the union warned.

Despite repeated assurances that more personal protective equipment (PPE) is on the way, the RCN said that the kit is not reaching the front line.

Nurses are still being forced to share equipment, buy their own or reuse kit, according to the RCN's chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair.

In a letter to the parliamentary Health Committee chairman, and former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, Dame Donna said that nurses are being forced to choose between their sense of duty and the safety of themselves and their families.

'Nursing staff are at the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic,' Dame Donna wrote in the letter, dated April 6.

'Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) and the slow and small-scale roll out of Covid-19 testing.

'Our members are facing impossible decisions between their own or their family's health and their sense of duty.

'The distribution and adequacy of PPE has led nursing staff to share equipment, buy their own supplies or to reuse single-use PPE. Although there are announcements that millions of pieces of PPE are being distributed, they aren't reaching the front line across all health and care settings.'

Global shortages of PPE have led to shortfalls on the NHS front line as medics try to care for the rising tide of patients with Covid-19.

Officials have said that millions of pieces of kit have been distributed and a hotline has been established to help frontline staff get PPE where it is needed most.

But in a submission of evidence to the Health Committee's Covid inquiry, the RCN added: 'Actions to mitigate PPE distribution is regarded by our members to have been too slow and not transparent.

'Public commitments have not translated into increases in consistently deployed and accessible stocks of adequate PPE.

'Without adequate and proper PPE, nursing staff are putting their own lives, the lives of their families and patients, at risk. This situation is unconscionable.'

A lack of PPE and hand santisier is particularly acute for nurses in GP surgeries and care homes, the RCN added.

The RCN said that insufficient and inadequate PPE means health and care employers are breaching statutory obligations.

The union said it had written to the Health and Safety Executive calling for intervention.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'We are working around the clock to give the NHS and the wider social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak.

'Every single hospital, community pharmacy and ambulance trust has now had a PPE delivery. Yesterday we delivered over 30 million items of PPE to NHS Trusts in England, and over the last few weeks, over 600 million items of PPE have been delivered, including masks, gowns, aprons and gloves.

'The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we continue to work closely with industry, social care providers, the NHS, NHS Supply Chain and the Army so all our NHS and care staff have the protection they deserve.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte has projected that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic could linger and severely affect the nation for up to two years.

The President made the statement in a briefing held with Cabinet officials aired in the wee hours on Thursday.

"Kapag hindi naayos itong COVID-19, mapurnada talaga tayong lahat. Huwag ninyong madaliin," Duterte said.

[Translation: If we do not handle COVID-19 well, it would not really serve us any good. Let's not rush things.]

"Itong COVID na ito, sinusundan ko talaga," Duterte said. "Ako ang pinakaunang nag-lockdown kasi nasusundan ko na ang istorya."

[Translation: I followed how COVID developed. I was the first to declare a lockdown because I was able to follow the story.]

The President approved on Tuesday the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to extend the quarantine to 11:59 pm of April 30 to further contain the spread of the coronavirus. Under Duterte's earlier order, the present quarantine is scheduled to end at 12:00 a.m. of April 13.

Luzon is home to over 57 million people. It is where Metro Manila, the countrys political and economic nerve center, is located.

"You can keep criticizing, pero alam ng Pilipino ano itong COVID at ano ang hakbang ng gobyerno. Ako magbigay ako sa inyo ng hope. For the time na andito ako, ako ang [may] control, ibigay ko lahat. Do not worry about the money," Duterte said.

TIMELINE: The COVID-19 response money trail

[Translation: You can keep criticizing, but Filipinos know what COVID is and how the government is responding. I will give you hope. As long as I am here, I have the control, and I will give it my all. Do not worry about the money.]

Duterte signed on March 25 the Bayanihan to Heal as One law, which gave him special powers to combat the crisis. Among the provisions is a 5,000 to 8,000 monthly allowance for two months to poor families.

The DSWD allotted 200 billion emergency fund for the cash aid and started to distribute the subsidies to qualified families last April 3.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told CNN Philippines Wednesday that a second rollout of cash aid for some four million more families who are not included in the DSWDs initial list will happen soon.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Health department has recorded a total of 3,870 COVID-19 cases. The death toll is now at 182, while 96 people have recovered from the disease.
The said appeal of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry abroad can quickly vanish when this happens, according to a royal expert. Allegedly, the Buckingham's Palace has several aces that can soon put the two into the shadows.

As reported by Express UK, the tale of the decade with regard to the Royal palace is Megxit. People simply cannot believe it - Prince Harry married an actress from across the world, and then they ultimately decided to leave. No one certainly saw that coming.

As a result, Meghan and Harry have dominated royal headlines for months now. If they were intensely scrutinized while still in their senior roles in the palace, their decision to step down further intensified the press.

Since their shocking declaration of wanting independence back in January and ultimately deciding to do something about, media reports regarding the royals have circulated about them. Most of the reports had been in the negative, though, with theories and assumptions that the two will certainly undermine the grown by commercializing the monarchy or leaking out royal secrets -in exchange for fame or money.

Even though Prince Harry reportedly warned his team and even his own wife that this should never happen, the Buckingham Palace reportedly has an ace up its sleeve already.

According to Caitlin Flanagan, who is a staff at the Atlantic, Meghan and Harry have overplayed their hand. If they think that their appeal would last, particularly in Hollywood, they are dead wrong. Not just because people will lose interest in them after a while, but because the palace would churn out more interesting figures that could put the two of them out.

Who are these figures? None other than Kate Middleton and Prince William's children. The source believes that once Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis grow up, the media frenzy will be focused on them.

Kate Middleton and Prince William were particularly popular too back in the day. They still are, even though admittedly, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have dominated the scene for a while. However, if these three children grow up and show off their unique personalities and antics, Meghan and Harry would have to say goodbye to whatever fame they have now, the insider warns.

Of course, the two also have their own child that the media will be interested in one day, but Baby Archie is barely one. Moreover, if the present malicious reports about Meghan Markle being a gold digger and a diva continue on, the likelihood of her being dropped by Hollywood even before Prince George and his siblings grow up is high. Not to mention, the different reports about Prince Harry not liking LA and already regretting his decision to go away with his wife.

If the insiders' take on the matter comes true - that Prince Harry will not be able to find a lucrative opportunity in the US and he'll just miss the royal family he was very close to, then the two's troubles can start soon enough.

The present coronavirus is also making things hard for them as all their moves are starting to be hindered. They announced a new charity foundation, Archewell, and this is only met with criticisms of insensitivity. They want to pursue professional goals, but the world is hardly allowing that to happen these days for everyone, as people are encouraged to stay home and not work for a while.

They are also being lambasted for leaving the UK and the royal family when being united is needed the most.

READ MORE: Who's Struggling? Kate MIddleton and Prince William Prove They Have THIS Under Control During Coronavirus Crisis
MILWAUKEE  A Milwaukee Democrat, Sen. Tim Carpenter, has called for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, to be removed from his role as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Carpenter made the announcement in the wake of Tuesday's spring election. Vos was instrumental in preventing the election from being postponed, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had tried to do.

A Journal Times video of Vos telling voters that it was "incredibly safe to go out" while wearing mandatory personal protective equipment circulated widely online on Tuesday, with many pointing out the irony of Wisconsin having a social distancing order in place while also having an election.

When any Burlington poll workers arrived at the Burlington Department of Public Works building at 2200 S. Pine St., where all voters did drive-thru voting, they were all required to wear full personal protective equipment at the poll.

The opening lines of Carpenter's two-page letter, during which Carpenter would later describe Vos as arrogant, Speaker Robin Vos proudly boasted and took pride that he cruelly forced hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites to choose between protecting their health and that of their families and community, and their constitutional right to vote. No voter should have ever been forced into this dilemma during the Coronavirus pandemic that is destroying American lives."

Carpenter later pointed out what he felt was a contradiction in Vos' and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's professed insistence that Wisconsin's election could not be rescheduled, since some Republicans had proposed moving an election during winter 2018's lame-duck session.

Robin Vos has repeatedly said that Wisconsins election must take place as scheduled, but he must be forgetting that in 2018, during the Lame Duck Session, he and his Republican colleagues proposed moving the date of this years Presidential Primary for the political benefit of Republican Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. If elections can be rescheduled for political expediency, then they can be moved in the interest of public health," Carpenter wrote.

As of 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Vos' office had not yet replied to a request for comment on Carpenter's letter, nor had a spokesperson for the NCSL.

Vos became president of the NCSL less than a year ago, in August 2019.

The leader of the NCSL alternates between a Democrat and a Republican with each new president. It is a bipartisan association that aims to serve the more than 7,000 state lawmakers and 20,000-plus legislative staff across the U.S.

Vos has been a member of the Wisconsin Assembly since 2004.

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Free tool to track and manage critical resources in real time now available on Salesforce AppExchange

Traction on Demand and Thrive Health announced free, global availability for a new open-source mobile application for healthcare providers that are fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, available here on Salesforce AppExchange-the world's leading enterprise cloud marketplace. The Traction Thrive Critical Care Resource Management application, built on the Salesforce platform, is designed to view, track and allocate critical healthcare personnel, personal protective equipment, ventilator availability, and other critical supplies in real-time.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005127/en/

"Our partner community is making available an open-source mobile solution to help scale the ability to respond to the crisis with critical resources," said Rob Acker, CEO of Salesforce.org. "Our hope is that nonprofits, governments, and health systems around the world will benefit from this platform designed to offer agility and flexibility for their individual needs during this crucial time."

The app is designed to enable governments and healthcare providers to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 virus at a local level, and to allocate resources to save lives and ease pressure on healthcare workers. Whereas hospitals can install their own independent version, the app can also be implemented by healthcare systems enabling them to get an at-a-glance view of their full network's utilization and capacity.

"This app helps healthcare workers to be better armed with what they need to save lives and stay protected," said Greg Malpass, Founder and CEO of Traction on Demand, which designed and built the system. "After a successful engagement of 26 hospitals within the first week of launch, we've decided to make this app available globally on AppExchange free of charge. It's the right thing to do."

The app was built on the Salesforce platform, enabling health organizations to implement and scale rapidly. Traction Thrive is customizable by healthcare providers, scalable without any new data centers, accessible from permanent and temporary facilities worldwide, and portable by practitioners across devices.

Canadian healthcare technology firm Thrive Health identified the need for real-time worker and equipment tracking, and conceptualized the solution in partnership with Traction on Demand.

"In a time of crisis, it is crucial to be able to track your people and critical supplies in real time, so they can be allocated efficiently and effectively to save lives and ease pressure on the system," says David Helliwell, Co-Founder and CEO of Thrive Health.

The Traction Thrive Critical Care Resource Management app has three functions:

Enables healthcare workers to specify which workers, ventilators and personal protective equipment they have while also showing each facility's current occupancy and resource capacity.

Serves as a communication hub between healthcare providers within a site or across regions.

Offers advanced reporting capabilities for hospitals and regional health leadership.

"The severity of outcomes for this outbreak now largely depends on ensuring that hospitals and healthcare workers have the resources they need to treat all infected patients while keeping themselves safe," said Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, Chief Medical Officer of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Salesforce. We're operating in real-time. This means organizations need hyper-local insight into the COVID-19 outbreak so they can allocate supplies and resources accordingly."

The Traction Thrive Critical Resource Management app was built by Traction on Demand and Thrive Health. To learn more, visit https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N3A00000FMvlIUAT.

Salesforce, AppExchange, Salesforce.org and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Traction on Demand

Traction on Demand is one of North America's largest dedicated Salesforce consulting and app development firms. The company helps commercial and nonprofit organizations design, develop and implement Salesforce technology. Traction on Demand is a proud B Corporation. Visit tractionondemand.com for more information.

About Thrive Health

Thrive Health is a software company founded with a mission to improve the delivery of healthcare in Canada and around the world. The company is helping millions of Canadians to track their COVID-19 symptoms at thrive.health/covid19-app using the #1 medical app in Google Play and Apple App Store. Visit thrive.health for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005127/en/

Contacts:

For further information:

UK

TopLine Comms

Jodie Brazier, Comms Consultant

tractionondemand@toplinecomms.com

+44 (0) 7487 514511



Europe

Traction on Demand

Kelsi Tsatouhas, PR Manager

kelsi@talkshopmedia.com

1-604-786-2273
David Watkins, from Dublin, has been hired as digital communications lead for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Picture: REX

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Ireland at the Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, during their three day visit to the Republic of Ireland. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Kate Middleton and Prince William have hired Irish social media expert David Watkins to lead their digital team.

Mr Watkins (27) from Dublin, previously worked for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, but moved to Cambridges team after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left their royal roles. He was originally headhunted by the Sussexes last year, during which he crafted their ambitious Instagram strategy and is responsible for their digital 'wins' in 2019.

Most recently, he was pictured with Meghan during her final round of engagements in London in January, before she and Harry announced their departure from their royal roles.

Now that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are relying more heavily on social media to manage their messaging during COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Mr Watkins was recruited to lead their digital communications team; a job which he began April 1, the day after Meghan and Harry officially left their post.

During his eight-month employment with the Sussexes, he managed their day-to-day digital branding and led partnerships aligned with their causes, including a takeover of National Geographic.

Expand Close David Watkins, from Dublin, has been hired as digital communications lead for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Picture: REX / Facebook

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Whatsapp David Watkins, from Dublin, has been hired as digital communications lead for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Picture: REX

Since moving to his work to Kensington Palace, he is leaving a similar imprint on the Cambridges social media strategy, including lengthier captions and more personal touches. He reportedly spearheaded the viral video of Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte's clap for the NHS last month.

In recent weeks, there has been a significant shift in how the Cambridges represent themselves online, notably with a more personal touch. On Wednesday, they shared a screengrab of a Zoom conference call in which Kate and William spoke with primary school students from Casterton Primary Academy whose parents are working on the NHS frontline.

Social media is a key tool for the royal family to reach a wider range of people, in particular the younger generation following them. During Mr Watkins' past career as global social media coordinator at Burberry HQ in London, he led lucrative commercial partnerships with Apple Music.

Expand Close The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Ireland at the Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, during their three day visit to the Republic of Ireland. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Ireland at the Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, during their three day visit to the Republic of Ireland. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

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The royal couple made their first trip to Ireland in March in a three-day visit to Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Galway.

Mr Watkins is a graduate of St Andrew's College in Booterstown and holds a degree in economics and politics from UCD. The Irish Independent has contacted Mr Watkins for comment.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China has made all-out efforts to ensure the production and supply of key drugs against COVID-19, an official said Wednesday.

The country's daily production capacity of Chloroquine Phosphate can meet the demand of 100,000 people, Cao Xuejun, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a press conference.

Daily production capacity of another drug, Arbidol, can meet the demand of 50,000 people. The daily production capacity of Favipiravir can meet the demand of 15,500 people, said Cao.

The country has also stepped up the production of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) against the disease. The daily production capacities of two TCM drugs -- Lianhua Qingwen Capsule and Jinhua Qinggan have reached 2 million boxes and 26,000 boxes, respectively, according to Cao.
Spain's tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, says that the government is working on an "exit strategy" with the tourism industry that will be "progressive" and for which national tourism will be the first to recover.

Maroto spoke with representatives of the Spanish Tourism Council on Wednesday. Different "scenarios" are being considered, with the tourism offer being "adapted" to how the pandemic develops and to ensuring that Spain is a "safe destination". The government's "obligation", she added, was "to work according to these scenarios in activating measures and support for the tourism sector". The minister observed that tourism had driven economic recovery after previous crises (such as the financial crisis) and that the government wants it to do so again.

Meanwhile, a report in the ABC newspaper on Thursday suggests that the government is working on a plan that contemplates there being no foreign tourism this summer. ABC states that a government measure which would have the greatest impact on the economy is one by which there is "a closure of borders (total or partial)". This summer's tourism would therefore be based on the national market.

ABC adds that the government is apparently considering only allowing Spaniards to travel abroad this summer if they have a health certificate that recommends travel, i.e. they are not infected. Moreover, it is said that the government is looking at reducing crowds at events and in "certain spaces", and these would include beaches.

A government source, ABC continues, says that "it is impossible to predict anything at the moment, but I see international tourism as being practically impossible". One scenario is, therefore, that Spain will not be open to international tourism until the autumn.
Japan recorded 503 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, its biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, as a state of emergency took effect but commuters still crowded some trains into Tokyo despite government calls to stay at home.

The jump in new COVID-19 cases, including 144 in Tokyo underscored the struggle of Japanese authorities to contain the outbreak without imposing a sweeping, mandatory lockdown on the population as most countries overseas have done.

A day after the state of emergency was proclaimed, some Tokyo trains were still full of commuters, some voicing confusion over how they were now expected to restrict their movements to stem transmissions of the virus.

The month-long state of emergency gives regional governors more power to press businesses to close. But Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike is expected to announce only on Friday which categories of businesses will have to shut, so many shops and businesses were left to decide what to do for now.

Moreover, authorities have generally been given no powers to penalize people who disregard calls to stay at home or businesses that decline to shut down.

"It's unavoidable that people have to come out for work," Risa Tanaka, a mask-wearing office worker, said near Tokyo's Shinjuku station. She said she usually tried to work at home, but had stepped out to deliver some documents. "I don't know if (this) emergency declaration is enough."

"We've reduced the number of in-office workers by half, but we are still rotating to go into work," said commuter Chihiro Kakegawa, an employee of a Tokyo financial institution, adding that it had freed her from being in the office every day.

INFECTIONS SPIKE IN TOKYO, OTHER REGIONS

Tokyo recorded 144 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the total in the capital to 1,339, Koike said. That rise helped carry the nationwide tally to 4,768, according to an evening report by public broadcaster NHK.

NHK later said 503 people had been newly infected nationwide, the first time that tally passed the 500 mark in a day.


ZURICH (dpa-AFX) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) agreed to pay its 2019 dividend in two installments following a request from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.



The Swiss bank's board proposes that instead of a total dividend of 0.2776 Swiss francs per share, it will distribute 0.1388 francs per share. Half of the new proposed dividend will be paid from retained earnings and the other half coming form the capital contribution reserves.



The bank also plans to propose a second cash distribution of 0.1388 francs per share in the Autumn of 2020.



Subject to confirmation following this assessment and the subsequent approval by shareholders, the resulting aggregate dividend in 2020 would be in line with intention to increase the dividend by at least 5% per annum.



All other proposals of the Board of Directors remain unchanged. The Annual General Meeting will be held on April 30.



The company confirmed the summary given in its trading update on March 19, 2020 together with the further comments on current trading and outlook provided in Annual Report on March 25, 2020.



Credit Suisse plans to publish its results for the first quarter of 2020 on April 23, 2020.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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China took new measures on Wednesday to try to prevent asymptomatic silent carriers of the new coronavirus from causing a second wave of infections, as the country reported another modest rise in confirmed cases.

Mainland China reported 63 new infections on Wednesday, up from 62 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said. Of those, 61 were travellers arriving from overseas, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in China to 81,865.

While new infections have fallen from their peak in February after China locked down several cities and imposed strict travel restrictions, authorities have called for continued vigilance amid fears of a fresh resurgence of infections.

Aside from curbing an influx of infected travellers from abroad, Chinas other concern is managing asymptomatic people, or virus carriers who exhibit no clinical symptoms such as a fever or a cough.

On Chinas Twitter-like Weibo service, Are asymptomatic people really asymptomatic? was the third most-discussed topic on Thursday afternoon, highlighting a state media interview with Liu Youning, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Peoples Liberation Army General Hospital.

Liu said asymptomatic carriers posed little risk, but that people should continue to avoid crowded areas, maintain social distancing, wear masks and wash hands.

Scary, we need to keep safe. Some people are already getting slack, they dont wear masks when going outside, wrote a user posting under the name Lu Ban of the Vast Desert.

China reported 56 new asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of such cases to 657 since data for such infections were published daily from April 1.

The State Council, or Cabinet, on Wednesday published new rules to manage asymptomatic coronavirus carriers, or what some state media described as silent carriers of the virus.

Under the regulations, medical institutions must report detection of asymptomatic cases within two hours of their discovery. Local governments must then identify all known close contacts of the case within 24 hours.

Asymptomatic patients will be quarantined collectively for 14 days, and will be counted as confirmed cases if they start to show symptoms. People who have had close contact with them must also be quarantined for two weeks.

Earlier this week, a new function appeared on Tencents ubiquitous WeChat mobile platform allowing people to check if they have ever sat on trains and planes near an asymptomatic carrier who later became a confirmed case.

The heightened sense of caution came as restrictions on outbound movement of people from Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province and epicentre of the outbreak in China, were lifted on Wednesday after a virtual lockdown of over two months.

Easing was also evident elsewhere, as the commercial centre of Shanghai said it would begin reopening some schools from April 27.

Makeshift hospital

Of the 61 new confirmed cases arriving from overseas, 40 were in Chinas northeast Heilongjiang province, which shares a border with Russia. All 40 were returning Chinese nationals, reported Xinhua.

The Heilongjiang city of Suifenhe is building a makeshift hospital because imported cases from Russia continue to rise, reported state-controlled tabloid Global Times on Thursday, as all of the citys isolation hotels were full.

Suifenhe has closed its borders to all arrivals and implemented restrictions on the movement of its citizens on Wednesday, similar to measures seen in Wuhan.

Wuhan, a megacity of 11 million people in the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, still sees tens of new cases of asymptomatic carriers each day.

Hubeis health authority has reported 303 new asymptomatic cases since it began publishing data for such cases on April 1, but only two asymptomatic patients in Wuhan were reported to have developed symptoms and become confirmed case in the same timeframe.

Mainland China has reported 657 new asymptomatic cases so far this month. Of those, it said 57 have developed symptoms.

Chinese health authorities estimated earlier in April that around two-thirds of the asymptomatic patients will later develop symptoms.

As of Wednesday, 3,335 people in China have died from the virus that causes a flu-like respiratory disease. Wuhan accounts for more than 75% of the fatalities.

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The dysfunctional family that owns Korean Air and parent conglomerate Hanjin Group on Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the death of former chairman Cho Yang-ho.

Cho died in Lost Angeles last year just days after being ousted as airline chief in an unprecedented palace coup.

Cho's widow Lee Myung-hee as well as his son, the current Hanjin chairman Cho Won-tae, and younger daughter Cho Hyun-min were present at the ceremony along with around 100 guests.

The eldest daughter Cho Hyun-ah of "nut rage" notoriety stayed away after failing in another attempted coup against her brother last month.
Those with body temperatures over 38 degrees Celsius are kept at the checkpoint to have their temperatures checked again after 30 minutes. Only those with normal temperatures are allowed to enter the city, while others are placed in quarantine.
A neo-Nazi who murdered the father of her child because she wanted to end their relationship and get hold of his life insurance has lost her appeal against conviction in Western Australia.

Melony Jane Attwood plotted with fellow white supremacists to bludgeon 42-year-old FIFO boilermaker Alan Taylor to death with a hammer as he slept in the Girrawheen house he owned and allowed her lover Robert Edhouse to live in.

The WA Supreme Court heard Mr Taylor did not know the pair were in a relationship, but may have suspected, and their motive for the 2016 killing was getting hold of a $1 million life insurance policy they believed he had.

Neo-Nazi Melony Jane Attwood and Robert Edhouse (pictured together) bludgeoned her boyfriend Alan Taylor to death as he slept

Alan Taylor, 42, a FIFO worker was asleep when the pair used a hammer to kill him before trying to make the scene look like a burglary gone wrong

Attwood, who led Aryan Girls and pretended to have separated from Mr Taylor in a Centrelink sham, wanted him 'out of the way', trial judge Justice Lindy Jenkins found.

She also found Edhouse may have wanted to eliminate his sexual rival, retain cohesion of the Aryan Nations group he presided over and impress Attwood.

The killers trashed the house to make it look like a burglary, then went to a cinema in a bid to create an alibi.

Attwood made a distressed-sounding triple-zero call when she returned home.

She has continuously protested her innocence and argued her lawyer didn't follow instructions at trial, but her appeal was dismissed on Thursday.

She and Edhouse were in 2018 sentenced to a minimum of 21 years behind bars, which the state argued was manifestly inadequate on appeal, but that was also ruled unsuccessful on Thursday.

Neo-Nazi Melony Jane Attwood and Robert Edhouse (pictured together) were sentenced to a minimum of 21 years for bludgeoned her boyfriend Alan Taylor to death as he slept

During sentencing, as Justice Jenkins described the extent of Mr Taylor's head injuries, Attwood appeared to briefly faint, drawing scoffs of disbelief from the victim's supporters.

Moments after Edhouse was convicted, he attacked co-offender Corey Joshua Dymock, a former friend and acolyte who was acquitted of murder but found guilty of being an accessory.

Edhouse had to be restrained in the dock by security guards after he threw punches and threatened to kill Dymock, and was charged with contempt of court.

Dymock had his five-year sentence trimmed to four on appeal.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:47:41|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese anti-epidemic medical team, divided into two groups, have been sharing anti-epidemic experiences with local Lao governments and medical staff in Laos' southern and northern hubs of Pakse and Luang Prabang from Tuesday to Thursday.

Shi Tongchuan, the deputy head of the team, told Xinhua on Thursday that in Pakse, some 470 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane, the Chinese medical experts conducted on-site training and operation demonstrations for medical staff from six southern provinces, and answered questions on diagnosis, treatment, protection, and control of the COVID-19 cases.

In the provincial hospital laboratory, the Chinese experts trained testing personnel on standard operating procedures and specimen sampling; in the provincial health department, the team communicated with officials on epidemic prevention and control, public places's disinfection, epidemiological investigations, and management of high-risk groups, and proposed improvement measures.

Likewise, in Laos' northern hub Luang Prabang, some 220 km north of Vientiane, the Chinese doctors participated in the epidemic prevention seminars of eight northern Lao provinces, trained the local medical staff and answered questions on the COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment.

The team also trained the local lab staff on personal preventive equipment dressing and held a symposium with relevant representatives of the Lao Health Ministry and of the eight northern Lao provincial health departments.

Laos detected its first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 24, and only after five days, the Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team arrived in capital Vientiane on March 29.

The Chinese medical team includes experts in various fields such as infection prevention and control, intensive care, epidemics, and laboratory testing. They also brought along with medical treatment, protective supplies and a batch of Chinese and Western medicines.

Lao Health Ministry announced at its daily press conference that the country has detected 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon.
Efforts to push a further $250 billion of coronavirus aid for small businesses through the US Congress were stalling as top Democrats said they would back the measure only if it was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals and local governments

Washington: Efforts to push a further $250 billion of coronavirus aid for small businesses through the US Congress were stalling on Wednesday as top Democrats said they would back the measure only if it was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals and local governments.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer proposed, in a statement, more than $500 billion in total interim aid that could be followed with another measure expanding relief down the road.

But as the day wore on, Republicans and Democrats appeared far from agreement, jeopardizing immediate action on any bill that would require unanimous support in Congress under fast-track rules.

There is no realistic chance that another sprawling bill which allocates half a trillion dollars to a number of priorities, even important ones, will be able to pass the Senate or the House by unanimous consent this week, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a tweet late on Wednesday.

Pelosi, in an interview with National Public Radio, said the Republican legislation for $250 billion in aid will not get unanimous support in the House.

Congress has already allocated more than $2.3 trillion in three waves of legislation aimed at cushioning the economic hit of the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 14,700 people in the United States.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pushed for Congress to act by the end of this week on the $250 billion request he made on Tuesday.

But there was no sign Republicans would support legislation that goes beyond the additional small-business loans. Nor had Democrats signaled they would back off of their call for coupling the small business aid with $250 billion more for hospitals and state and local governments dealing with the coronavirus crisis and for more food assistance for poor people.

They (Democrats) shouldnt use the leverage of small business needing this money to accomplish a lot of things that right now dont need to be done, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley told Fox Business.

A deadlock would mean that neither side is able to win Senate passage of a bill on Thursday and that negotiations might be needed in coming days.

Help for hotels, restaurants

The $250 billion in small-business loans, which would turn into grants if basic lending requirements are met, would be on top of $349 billion that began flowing last Friday.

The loan program is targeted at helping hotels, restaurants and other businesses hurt by the shutdown aimed at curbing the spread of the highly infectious novel coronavirus.

Sean Kennedy, a National Restaurant Association vice president, said in a phone interview that nearly 15 percent of restaurants had either gone out of business since the virus took hold in the United States or were considering doing so within the next two weeks.

He said his association was lobbying for more flexibility in Treasury Department rules governing the loan program.

Top administration officials held separate telephone briefings for House Republicans and Democrats about the coronavirus response. A House Democratic source said Mnuchin told them over $98 billion in small-business loans had been approved so far.

Most lawmakers are not in Washington and the regular business of the Senate and House is on hold at least until 20 April, when the current recess is set to end, although it could be extended.

In the unlikely event the Senate approves a bill on Thursday, Pelosi would either have to get her 429-member chamber to go along with a unanimous voice vote for the Senate measure or call lawmakers to Washington, possibly on Friday, to muster a majority of the House for passage.

Pelosi has told House Democrats that additional federal aid costing more than $1 trillion was needed. That would follow the 27 March enactment of the $2.3 trillion stimulus bill.

Pelosi and Schumer said half of the $250 billion in small-business aid must be for community banks serving farmers and nonprofit organizations as well as minority-, women- and veteran-owned companies.

The bill must also include $100 billion for hospitals and other healthcare facilities, $150 billion for U.S. states and local governments, and an expansion of nutrition programs, they said.
New Delhi, April 9 : As many as 84 per cent of people in India are staying at home to ward off the Covid-19 threat, according to the latest Ipsos poll.

The poll found that 4 in 5 people in 14 countries polled (including India) are staying at home to stop the spread of Covid 19.

Japan is the exception to this where people are not locked in. The countries with the biggest increase in self-isolation are Russia, Vietnam and Australia.

Interestingly, India is tied with the US at the seventh spot on self-isolation (84 per cent) and is preceded by Spain (95 per cent), Vietnam (94 per cent), France (90 per cent), Brazil (89 per cent), Mexico (88 per cent) and Russia (85 per cent). Japan is the only exception, where only 15 per cent claimed to be in self-isolation.

Overall, the data show that the strategy of self-isolation has been well-accepted by populations in most of the countries surveyed. Not only are governments implementing the measures, but the citizens are also mostly complying and staying home.

The majority of the people in at least 14 of the 15 countries surveyed have gone into self-isolation and are quarantining at home to stop the spread of Covid-19.

In the survey of 28,000 people conducted from April 2 to 4, Japan had the lowest numbers for self-isolation.

The peak for reported self-isolation was achieved two weeks ago in about half the countries surveyed, with almost miniscule reporting further forward movement since then.

"These are unprecedented times. Covid-19 within a short spell has turned into a deadly pandemic. Governments are enforcing complete lockdowns for containment of the spread of the aggressive coronavirus. Majority of Indians (like global citizens) are showing complete adherence to the restrictions imposed by staying at home, which seems to be the best solution for controlling the flare," said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

However, respondents in a few countries showed slight decline in self-isolation over the past week, including China (down 4 percentage points), India (-3) and Germany (-3). The country with the biggest increase in self-isolation is Russia (+23 points), followed by Vietnam (+16), Australia (+11) and Mexico (+8).
The House Oversight Committee revealed the allocation of medical supplies from the strategic reserve on Thursday, showing that the reserve has been depleted but also raising questions about how items were distributed.

For instance, Vermont, which has 605 cases of the coronavirus, received the same number of surgical masks as Texas, which has more than 10,000 cases. Both states were allocated 287,022 from the Strategic National Stockpile, according to documents from the Department of Health and Human Services released by the committee.

Additionally, each received 120,900 respirators.

House Democrats point out that based on 2010 Census data, that is equivalent to roughly 193 respirators for every 1,000 residents in Vermont, but fewer than 5 respirators per 1,000 residents in Texas.

Neither FEMA, which is coordinating supplies among the states, nor the Department of Health and Human Services answered DailyMail.com's questions about how supplies are allocated and who makes those decisions.

200 ventilators from the federal stockpile are delivered by the California Air national Guard to New York

Workers carry boxes at Oklahoma's Strategic National Stockpile warehouse. In the warehouse are roughly four million pairs of gloves, 120 thousand gowns, 173 thousand face shields and goggles, 900 thousand surgical and medical masks, 110 thousand respirators and a variety of other personal protections equipment

Questions about supply decisions were raised at the daily White House press briefing on Wednesday after President Donald Trump tweeted Colorado would get 100 ventilators at the request of embattled Republican Senator Cory Gardner while other states have complained they have not had their requests filled by FEMA.

Neither Vice President Mike Pence nor Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the administration, answered whether having a personal relationship with the president helped a state get supplies but Birx outlined a general process on how decisions are made.

'I can tell you, within that decision complex is not just the absolute number of cases, it's the hospital capacity and what each of those hospitals have,' she said.

'So different states have different - which I don't think any of us probably knew before this - but there are some states that have lots of ventilators, and there's other states that, proportion to their population or by their cases of COVID, have less. And so I'm sure Denver and Colorado fit into that model where there were hospitals that had less ventilators proportionately and were needed for the cases that we're seeing,' she noted.

Face shields and other supplies are pictured at Oklahoma's Strategic National Stockpile

Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday did not answer a question on whether having a personal relationship with the president helped a state get medical supplies

Dr. Deborah Birx addressed supply allocation at White House Wednesday, saying the decision process took into consideration 'hospital capacity and what each of those hospitals have'

Supplies are loaded onto a delivery truck at Oklahoma's Strategic National Stockpile

The administration noted it has asked states to return supplies - such as Washington state and California returning ventilators - they've received when their need lessens so those items can be reallocated to other areas that need them.

'We're actually getting some ventilators back. As you know, the State of California was great. They sent some back, which they won't need. And Washington State, likewise. And we have some others coming back, so we're using them in areas we need them,' President Trump said Tuesday.

Much about the National Strategic Stockpile has been kept secret, NBC News reported, including the locations and number of warehouses storing supplies.

There are at least six storage facilities spread across the country, according to past reports, packed with $7 billion to $8 billion worth of supplies in warehouses that look like those used by Amazon or Walmart.

The center are strategically placed to be able to get supplies to anywhere in the country within 12 hours, Thomas Frieden, who was the director of the CDC in the Obama administration, told NBC.

During the H1N1 pandemic, the stockpile released a quarter of its inventory of antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to help every state respond. The stockpile was also used to assist with the response to Ebola cases in the U.S. and during the Zika virus outbreaks, Frieden said.

President Donald Trump gave Colorado 100 ventilators at the request of Sen. Cory Gardner

Senator Cory Gardner is considered one of the most vulnerable Republicans on the ballot in November and his state of Colorado got ventilators at his request

Additionally, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner sparked questions about how medical supplies are distributed when he said last week that New York got a supply of surgical masks after President Trump received a call about the situation from a friend.

In a rare appearance in the White House briefing room last Thursday, Kushner talked about getting surgical masks to New York, saying he was made aware of the problem by the president, who got a call from a friend of his in the state to complain about the lack of protective gear.

'Got a call from the president, he told me he was hearing from friends of his in New York that the New York public hospital system was running low on critical supplies,' Kushner said.

He described making a series of calls to officials and said the result was the administration would 'send a month of supply.'

Meanwhile, the Strategic National Stockpile is nearly out of the N95 respirators, surgical masks, face, shields, gowns and other medical supplies desperately needed to protect front-line medical workers treating coronavirus patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services told The Associated Press Wednesday that the federal stockpile was in the process of deploying all remaining personal protective equipment in its inventory.

The HHS statement confirms federal documents released Wednesday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee showing that about 90% of the personal protective equipment in the stockpile has been distributed to state and local governments.

HHS spokeswoman Katie McKeogh said the remaining 10% will be kept in reserve to support federal response efforts.

For the last month, health care workers across the nation have taken to social media to illustrate the shortages by taking selfies wearing home-sewn masks on their faces and trash bags over their scrubs.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner sparked questions about how medical supplies are distributed when he said last week that New York got a supply of surgical masks after President Trump received a call from a friend

President Trump has faulted the states for not better preparing for the pandemic and has said they should only being relying on the federal stockpile as a last resort.

The AP reported Sunday that the Trump administration squandered nearly two months after the early January warnings that COVID-19 might ignite a global pandemic, waiting until mid-March to place bulk orders of N95 masks and other medical supplies needed to build up the stockpile.

By then, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for help.

Trump spent the first two months of the outbreak playing down the threat from the new virus.

At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the federal stockpile had about 13 million N95 respirators, masks which filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles and are critical to prevent health care workers from becoming infected.

That's just a small fraction of what hospitals need to protect their workers, who normally would wear a new mask for each patient, but who now are often issued only one to last for days.

Federal contracting records show HHS made an initial bulk order of N95 masks on March 12, followed by larger orders on March 21.

But those contracts won't yield big deliveries to the national stockpile until the end of April, after the White House has projected the pandemic will reach its peak.

For nearly a month, Trump rebuffed calls to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order companies to increase production of respirators and ventilators, before he relented last week.
Muslim organisations and civic society members on Thursday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to stop the "harassment" of social activists and students by the Delhi Police during the ongoing lockdown.

The letter claimed that there have been "a series of detentions and arrests" of social activists and student leaders by the Delhi Police.

"Upon preliminary study, it appears that the police crackdown is directed against those involved in the peaceful anti-CAA-NRC movement, which was undertaken for the protection of our Constitution, democratic ethos and civil liberties," the letter said.

"We have observed that highly respected social activists are being implicated in false cases related to the northeast Delhi riots of 2020," the letter said.

A statement issued by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind mentioned names of Maulana Tauqeer Raza, president , Milli Ittehad Parishad, former MP Udit Raj, DrZafarul Islam Khan, chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, Syed Sadatullah Hussaini, Ameer Jamaat e Islami Hind, among the signatories of the letter.

The activists are being asked to go to police stations for questioning during the lockdown, claimed the letter.

At this time, when the courts are partially working and communication is limited due to the lockdown, these steps tantamount to unnecessary "harassment" by the Delhi Police, the letter said.

It is causing"immense anxiety" and difficulty to these law-abiding citizens who are currently engaged in social work and helping the poor and needy, it added.

"We the undersigned appeal to you to direct the Delhi Police to refrain from harassing activists during the pandemic and the lockdown and targeting people from a particular community," it said.

The Delhi Police has a reputation for being one of the best policing units in our country, they said hoping it will desist from any action that would harm its reputation and give scope for people to level accusations of bias and non-professional conduct on it.

The signatories also included Ravi Nair, Maulana Asghar Ali Salfi Manzoor Alam, Uzma Naheed, Anil Chamadia, Labid Shafi and Siraj Sait.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has started a social media trend to express gratitude to all the workers in essential services who are outside their homes fighting COVID-19. Akshay posted a video reminding people that we are able to stay safe at home because people like the police, doctors, nurses and various government sectors are continuing to work. (Image: Instagram)
Possible further trims could come from a meeting of the Group of 20 nations on Friday.

Negotiations hit a snag late Thursday over Mexicos reluctance to cut its share of oil, reportedly 400,000 barrels a day, leaving the deal in limbo.

Even before that happened, oil prices fell because analysts and traders had hoped for a bigger reduction to prevent the buildup of a glut of oil. On Thursday afternoon, the West Texas Intermediate crude future contract, the American benchmark, was down more than 7 percent to $23.28 a barrel.

Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, a research firm, said markets would not be impressed by the deal.

In addition, the new cuts wont begin until May, allowing oil supplies to increase. There are also doubts about whether some of the countries party to the cuts, like Iraq, which often produces whatever it can, will really observe them. Ms. Sen said that OPEC and its collaborators were largely doing what they would be forced to do anyway.
Update: The IRS has launched a new tool to help people register their direct deposit information for stimulus payments.

Americans are waiting for their coronavirus stimulus payments.

If you normally get your tax refund or benefits from Social Security by direct deposit, thats how youll get your stimulus check.

But if you normally get a paper check for benefits, it will take longer to get your stimulus money.

Much longer.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin previously said payments would start to go out on April 17, but the Washington Post obtained an internal IRS draft document that said payments would start as early as April 9  a week earlier than expected.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Then the Treasury Department said those who get their tax refunds and Social Security benefits by direct deposit would see their payments by April 15.

But if you normally get paper checks from the IRS and Social Security, payments wont start going out until April 24, an IRS spokeswoman told the Post.

Payments would go to the lowest-income Americans first, starting with those with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24.

Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week, the report said.

Checks would be issued on Sept. 4 for those who near the income cutoff, and the rest  those for whom the IRS didnt have prior tax information  would be issued on Sept. 11, the report said.

So if you want to speed up when you get a payment, you need to get the IRS your direct deposit information.

The problem is how.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin previously said the IRS would create a portal so Americans could give this information to the federal government, but thats not expected to be ready until mid-April.

That leaves you with few choices.

First, you could rush to get a tax return ready so the IRS has your direct deposit information. Lots of people are waiting, though, because the federal government extended the tax filing deadline until July 15. New Jersey is expected to follow, but the legislature wont vote on that until April 13.

Second, you could wait for the IRS tool. When its ready, its expected to be posted on the IRS website.

Your third option is to use a tool created by TurboTax. Its not an official IRS tool, though the company said it was created in a partnership with the IRS.

Otherwise, youll just have to wait for your snail mail paper check.

To see how much of a benefit you may receive under the current law, use our stimulus payment calculator.

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Mr Joseph Donkor, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Coordinator of the St Johns Ambulance Ghana on Wednesday, appealed for logistical assistance to support the fight against the COVID-19 in the three regions.



Though there is no reported case of COVID-19 in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions, Mr. Donkor said, as people from the locked-down areas thronged into the three regions, his outfit required an ambulance, and Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs).



This will enable us to move around local communities to attend to any emergency situation, he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani.



Mr Donkor emphasised being in a health emergency situation, the ambulance could not be left out in the fight against the pandemic and they required adequate support not only from the government but development partners.



I think our services are needed most in the rural areas. Ghanaians must recognise and appreciate our existence and contributions to national development. We need urgent support to make our work relevant and make society feel our impact in times like these, he said.



Personnel of Ambulance services, Mr. Donkor indicated remained as the front-liners in the fight against the pandemic elsewhere and appealed to corporate bodies, non-governmental and civil society organisations to support them.



He indicated that the financial burden was extremely huge for government alone to bear, and called on the private sector to support relevant state institutions to enable them to contribute effectively to stem the spread of the COVID-19.



Mr Donkor commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the measures he had put in place so far to contain the disease and advised Ghanaians to support the government by complying with the directives.

Source: GNA









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The middle-aged white man storms toward the teenagers, forcefully shoving three girls out of his way. Screams pierce the air as he crouches down and grabs a young black girl by the neck. "Get off of her!" someone shouts.

The disturbing scene, captured in a video that went viral over the weekend, followed a tense standoff over social distancing, according to Louisville news outlets. On Tuesday night, the Louisville Metro Police Department identified the assailant as John Rademaker, a physician who has been charged with strangulation and harassment and placed on leave from his job.

"Obviously, we do not advise individuals concerned about social distancing to take matters into their own hands and confront people about it, especially in any physical way," police said in a statement to local media outlets.

The incident highlights how "quarantine shaming" - calling out people who are perceived as not doing their part to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus - can escalate quickly and even turn outright dangerous. As The Washington Post's Meagan Flynn reported, an 86-year-old woman died last month after a confrontation at a Brooklyn hospital where a fellow patient accused her of standing too close and shoved her to the ground. Her assailant has since been charged with manslaughter.

The growing emphasis on regulating individual behavior has also raised concerns about police overreach. The New York Police Department has been criticized for arresting people who allegedly fail to maintain social distancing, and then throwing them in jail, where they have an increased likelihood of being exposed to the virus. Similarly, a Pennsylvania woman who went for a drive just to get out of the house was pulled over and given a $200 citation for violating the state's stay-at-home order, raising a slew of civil liberties concerns.

On Tuesday, police in Brighton, Colorado, issued a public apology to a man who was handcuffed in front of his 6-year-old daughter after being accused of violating social distancing guidelines. Matt Mooney told KDVR that he, his wife and daughter were playing T-ball when officers informed them the park was closed - an apparent misunderstanding, since groups of less than four people are allowed in to exercise. When Mooney refused to hand over his identification, he was placed into a squad car.

"It is evident there was an overreach by our police officers," the Brighton Police Department said in a statement.

In Louisville, witnesses told WLKY and the Courier-Journal that nine teenagers had gathered by a lakefront amphitheater at dusk on Friday, defying officials' recommendations to stay home and avoid congregating in groups. A couple walking through the affluent subdivision angrily approached them, cursing at the teens for failing to maintain six feet of separation.

"We're leaving, let's please not cuss at each other," one girl can be heard saying as the 26-second video begins. The man mutters something about "this a------ right here," then shoves two teens out of his way.

According to the Courier-Journal, the woman accompanying Rademaker had also started filming the confrontation, and one of the teens knocked the phone out of her hand. In the viral video, a white woman in green leggings can be seen grabbing at a young black girl, who appears to be the only person of color in the group and is lying on her back. "Give me my phone," the older woman demands.

At that point, Rademaker storms in, pushing a third teenager out of the way. According to an arrest warrant obtained by WDRB, he put his hands around the 18-year-old victim's neck and appeared to choke her as she lay on the ground. Within a matter of seconds, bystanders intervened and pulled the physician off the teen.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The 18-year-old had a red mark on her neck when emergency medical personnel arrived but did not require hospitalization, according to the warrant.

The video ignited a furor, with the Root referring to the incident as "#SocialDistancingWhileBlack." On Sunday, a representative from Southern Indiana Anesthesia Consultants, where Rademaker works as a physician, said that he had been placed on administrative leave. A profile page for Rademaker also vanished from the website for Baptist Health, a hospital network that contracts with the anesthesiology group, the Courier-Journal reported.

Baptist Health has multiple hospitals and clinics in the Louisville area, and 14 local employees had tested positive for covid-19 as of March 30, WAVE 3 News reported.

"For someone to lay their hands on a child, I don't care who you are or what they did," Chris Shinn, a resident of the upscale Norton Commons neighborhood where the confrontation took place, told WAVE 3 News. "We don't need this here and it's ridiculous."

Rademaker, who is charged with one count of first-degree strangulation and three counts of harassment with physical contact, was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday, according to WDRB. Court records show is scheduled to be arraigned on May 8. He could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the distribution of cash aid for the beneficiaries of the social amelioration program may start next week.

Belmonte said the local government already received from Department of Social Welfare and Development the names of 377,584 low-income individuals who are financially suffering due to the COVID-19 crisis.

"I got the list yesterday (Wednesday). Today I am going to be meeting [with] my punong barangays muna (my barangay captains first)," Belmonte told CNN Philippines.

She said the local government will validate and update the list before they proceed with the distribution.

"We need to validate if these poorest of the poor are still alive or living in QC... or still in the address given," Belmonte explained.

In Navotas City, Mayor Toby Tiangco has yet to receive the names of beneficiaries from the DSWD.

Tiangco said he submitted around 49,000 forms to the department on Wednesday.

From those who submitted the forms, the DSWD is expected to choose 27,978 names who will receive the cash aid from the national government.

Social Welfare spokesperson Irene Dumlao told CNN Philippines on Wednesday that they aim to finish the distribution of the emergency aid before this weekend.

"Hindi ko alam kung paano nila nasabing madi-distribute within the weekend. Holy (Maundy) Thursday ngayon," the Navotas City Mayor said. "Unless they will be working overtime so kailangan maibalik muna nila sa amin ang mga pangalan na pinili nila."

[Translation: I do not know why they said they will distribute within the weekend. It's Holy (Maundy) Thursday today. Unless they will be working overtime, they need to return to us the names they chose.]

"Tapos gagawin ng city hall, gagawan ng payroll 'yun. Wala naman bangko ng Sabado't Linggo," he added.

[Then city hall will make a payroll. There are no banks from Saturday to Sunday.]

But he clarified the more than 223 million budget for the beneficiaries of the cash aid was already turned-over to the city.

Tiangco also raised the possible problem in distributing the cash aid since the city government may only withdraw a limited amount from their funds.

He said around 20 Navotas city hall officials are entitled to do a maximum of one million pesos cash advance at a given time.

"Assuming tama ako, na 20 times one million, 20 million lang ang maka-cash advance at one time. And each of them need to liquidate before makapag-cash advance sila ulit... So hindi ganon kabilis yan," Tiangco explained.

[Translation: Assuming I'm right, 20 times one milion, we can only cash-advance 20 million at one time, and each of them need to liquidate before we can make another cash advance so it won't be that quick.]

In Metro Manila, each beneficiary will receive as much as 8,000.
Harvard Law School students were startled on Wednesday when, during a class held over Zoom, a student brandished his gun on-screen. The student, Chance Fletcher, is the president of the HLS chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal network. Its longtime leader, Leonard Leo, advises President Donald Trump on judicial nominees; a majority of Trumps appellate judges are members of the group.

Several of Fletchers classmates immediately noticed the firearm, which at first he appeared to be cleaning. One student who immediately saw the weapon told Slate Fletcher then began cocking it back and looking inside the barrel and practicing to make sure it clicks.

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He probably had the gun on-screen for at least 15 minutes, this student said. At one point, the barrel was facing his face. It didnt look like hed ever held a gun. I was worried I was going to watch my peer accidentally shoot himself. None of us had any way to know the gun was loaded or unloaded.

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The class, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, has about 40 students and is taught by professor Adriaan Lanni. On Wednesday, Lanni had invited Marjorie Allard, chief judge of the Alaska Court of Appeals, as a guest speaker. According to two students, Fletcher brandished his gun while Lanni and Allard were speaking, though neither appeared to notice. The class was discussing sentencing enhancements. (Every student who spoke with Slate stressed their admiration for Lanni and expressed disappointment that she was subjected to Fletchers behavior.)

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HLS prohibits firearms on campus but has no clear policy regarding the brandishing of weapons during Zoom class. All five students who spoke to Slate did so on the condition of anonymity for fear that HLS might punish them for revealing details of a class. The school did not return a request for comment, nor did Fletcher. He did, however, tell the Daily Caller that he was cleaning one of my handguns so that I could go shoot vermin in my Grandmothers yard after classes, and never intended for my cleaning of a firearm to be a disruption.

The HLS chapter of the Federalist Society routinely pushes for more conservative speakers, professors, and viewpoints on campus. In October, a group of students affiliated with the chapter demanded an expansion of HLSs clinical offerings to include more conservative advocacy. Law school clinics typically focus on helping underserved and indigent clients. But these students sought clinics that contribute to well-funded Republican causes, including a Pro-Life Clinic to support abortion restrictions and a Second Amendment Clinic to combat gun safety laws.

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Many members of the HLS Federalist Society chapter rise quickly through the ranks of the national organization, where they will rub elbows with federal judges, politicians, and influential attorneys. The Harvard chapter is one of the most well-connected student groups on campus. A number of Trumps judges were members during their time at HLS, including the presidents latest nominee, 37-year-old Justin Walker. Trump appointed Walker to a federal district court after he made 162 media appearances defending Brett Kavanaugh following his nomination to the Supreme Court. (Walker previously clerked for Kavanaugh.) Trump now seeks to elevate Walker to a powerful federal appeals court. The American Bar Association rated him Not Qualified. His trajectory illustrates the paths to power available to ambitious members of the chapter.

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Students didnt buy Fletchers claim that he was just cleaning his gun and didnt mean to distract from class. Fletcher tries to be controversial, a student in the class told Slate. He always participates to say something conservative and rude. Its a classic Federalist Society persona. Everyone else rolls their eyes when he speaks because its going to be intentionally provocative and adds nothing to the conversation. This student said that, when the class still met in person, Fletcher sat with other Federalist Society students in a corner. They were always snickering to each other when people commented on any kind of progressive criminal justice reform, like fixing racial disparities in sentencing.

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A different student told Slate that they felt the display was particularly outrageous because we had a guest in the class, Allard. Its sort of threatening in a way that felt really inappropriate.

Judge William Pryor of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has hired Fletcher as a clerk after graduation. Reached by email Monday night, Pryor told Slate, I have no comment about this matter.

Fletchers classmates were unsurprised that he was able to obtain a prestigious clerkship. The Federalist Society people dont play by the same rules that the rest of the school plays by, one of his classmates told Slate. There was an unspoken understanding even among the 1L class that while the rest of us were required to wait two years to ask for recommendations and apply for clerkships under the uniform clerkship hiring plan, many of our 1L peers in the Federalist Society already had them lined up.

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It is known that its much easier for people in the Federalist Society to get prestigious clerkshipsjust as a matter of numbers, a different student in Fletchers class said. (Because HLS keeps its clerkship record secret, Slate could not independently verify this claim, which was echoed by four other students.) Theres so much less competition. When you have a judge appointed by Trump whos rated Not Qualified by the American Bar Association, most moderate or left-wing students would hesitate to apply to a clerkship with them. Conservative students might lack those compunctions.

In December, HLS Office of Career Services put up a post on its clerkship blog that it had received zero applications for clerkships with two Trump judges, which seems like wasted opportunities. Among those judges were Lawrence VanDyke, a longtime anti-LGBTQ activist, and Sarah Pitlyk, who opposes abortion, surrogacy, and fertility treatment. Both were rated Not Qualified by the ABA.

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Another classmate of Fletchers agreed. There are just so many uber-conservative judges on the federal bench, this student explained, and proportionally not that many conservative law students who are qualified for judicial clerkships. So all the conservative students are going to get really pedigree jobs in the federal judiciary if they want to. Its almost guaranteed. Then theyll have this shiny new resume line.

Fletcher is on a trajectory to be a potential Gorsuch clerk, the student continued, referring to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who is known for hiring hyperpartisan clerks. And maybe a federal judge.

For more news coverage, listen to Slates What Next podcast.
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Workers wearing hazmat suits have been spotted burying caskets in a mass grave on New York's Hart Island - as the number of burials quadruples amid the coronavirus pandemic and the city's death roll rises to 4,778.

A dozen contracted laborers were seen digging and burying the caskets - some of which had names carved on them - on Thursday.

The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.

Typically, about 25 bodies are buried there once a week by low-paid Rikers Island jail inmates. That number began increasing last month as the new coronavirus spread rapidly and New York became the epicenter of the pandemic.

They are now burying about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week, DailyMail.com has been told.

Currently, 4,778 people have died from coronavirus in the city and 87,725 have been infected.

Until now, officials have remained tight-lipped on whether coronavirus victims were being buried on Hart Island.

On Thursday, officials said they had no choice but to bury COVID-19 patients at the city's cemetery as it deals with the mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space.

Workers wearing hazmat suits and other protective gear were spotted burying caskets in a mass grave on New York's Hart Island on Thursday amid speculation coronavirus victims are now being buried there

About a dozen workers were seen digging and burying the caskets - some of which had names carved into them - on Thursday as at least one refrigerated truck was brought onto the island

Those dressed in hazmat suits had to use a ladder to get down into the mass grave on Thursday as the new caskets were buried. They were watched by a corrections officer (far right)

Under a new policy, the medical examiner's office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before they're buried in the city's potter's field on Hart Island.

City officials haven't explained whether the increase in burials at Hart Island is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly.

Prisoners from Rikers Island are usually brought in to dig graves on Hart Island but the Department of Corrections has since hired contracted laborers to carry out the work due to the outbreak.

'For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic,' DOC Press Secretary Jason Kersten told DailyMail.com. 'Contracted laborers are performing this important work under DOC supervision.

'Burial operations at the city cemetery remain uninterrupted and they continue to be supervised by DOC, which has been performing this solemn duty on Hart Island for over 150 years and will continue to do so until the jurisdiction of Hart Island moves to Parks in 2021.'

For burial on the island, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets. The deceased's name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps if any body needs to be exhumed later. The caskets are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.

Earlier on Thursday, the department referred questions about causes of death to the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Aja Worthy-Davis, an OCME spokeswoman, said it would take time to collate individual causes of death from the office's records, but that it was probable some of the recent burials include those felled by the coronavirus.

The island may also be used as a site for temporary interments should deaths surge past the city's morgue capacity - a point that has not yet been reached, according to the DOC and OCME.

'We're all hoping it's not coming to this,' Kersten said. 'At the same time, we're prepared if it does.'

OCME can store about 800 to 900 bodies in its buildings and also has room to store about 4,000 bodies in some 40 refrigerated trucks it can dispatch around the city to hospitals that typically have only small morgues.

At least 45 caskets - some of which had names carved into them - appeared to be buried in the mass grave on Thursday morning alone

The caskets were stacked three on top of each other in the mass grave as inmates used a digger to help transport the bodies

The inmates wearing personal protective equipment stacked the caskets after unloading them from the digger

Mayor Bill DeBlasio said earlier in the week that officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the city's potter's field

The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, is full

Normally, about 25 bodies bodies are buried each Thursday on Hart Island. That number increased to 72 since the end of March when coronavirus fatalities increased drastically in the city, according to the Department of Corrections

The mass grave was dug last week and stretches along a lengthy portion of the island

Mayor Bill de Blasio has so far not confirmed whether burials for coronavirus victims had been or would take place there but indicated this week the city might resort to using the island for temporary burials during the pandemic.

'We may well be dealing with temporary burials so we can then deal with each family later,' he said.

'Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island.'

Those currently buried on Hart Island include people who haven't been identified, unclaimed bodies and people whose families could not afford burial costs.

In the past, the island has been used as a burial ground for victims of the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic and the thousands of people who died of AIDS in the 1980s.

The first AIDS victims were buried away from other graves on the island in 1985 over fears they would infect the other bodies.

The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, are full.

It comes after public officials sparked panic and disgust last week after claiming some of the dead would be temporarily buried in public parks across the city.

'Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line. It will be done in a dignified, orderly and temporary manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take,' Mark Levine, a Manhattan council representative, tweeted.

The comments caused a stir, prompting Levine to clarify his remarks, saying he understood any temporary burials would be carried out on Hart Island rather than public parks.

'I have spoken to many folks in City gov't today, and received unequivocal assurance that there will be *no* burials in NYC Parks,' he said.

'All have stated clearly that if temporary interment should be needed it will be done on Hart Island.'

While the suggestion of park burials has been dismissed, the question of what to do with the escalating body count remains pertinent.

In video footage from 2017, above inmates are seen burying the dead in prison uniform rather than the hazmat suits they are now dressed it

About a dozen workers were seen digging the graves on Thursday as at least one refrigerated truck was brought onto New York City's Hart Island

Prisoners from Rikers Island are usually brought over to dig graves on Hart Island. The DOC says it has stopped inmates from digging due to the ongoing pandemic

The refrigerated truck that was brought onto the island is the same as those currently parked outside hospitals across Manhattan as part of makeshift morgues set up to deal with the number of people dying from the coronavirus outbreak

Authorities have not officially confirmed if coronavirus patients are currently being buried on Hart Island despite morgues overflowing across the city and the death toll continuing to rise

The Mayor's spokeswoman, Freddi Goldstein, has stressed that the city government was not considering using local parks as cemeteries.

But she added that Hart Island, where around one million New Yorkers are already buried in mass graves, may be used 'for temporary burials, if the need grows'.

Melinda Hunt, the founder of the Hart Island Project who produced the drone video footage, said it appeared to show burials of COVID-19 victims.

She said the number of burials had increased and the process had become more systematic in recent weeks.

A former Rikers Island inmate who spent five months working on the island until February this year has also told of the grim operation that goes on there.

Vincent Mingalone said in a voiceover of the video that he worked as a team of around seven men who formed a supply chain to move the bodies from a truck to the mass grave every Thursday.

The bodies were stacked three deep and then covered with sand and soil.

Mingalone said he is now worried about whether there will actually be enough inmates willing to do the job.

When he was incarcerated, he said no one else volunteered to do the work because they viewed it as 'ghoulish' or 'dirty' and because it was low paid compared to other prison jobs.

'A lot of people didn't want that job,' he said.

'Now it's going to be slim pickings because a lot of inmates have all been released because of this pandemic.'

About 1,000 inmates have been released from Rikers Island since the pandemic broke out.

The majority of those digging on Thursday were dressed in white, head-to-toe hazmat suits amid the coronavirus pandemic

Normally, about 25 bodies bodies are buried each Thursday on Hart Island. That number increased to 72 since the end of March when coronavirus fatalities increased drastically in the city, according to the Department of Corrections

Those currently buried on Hart Island include people who haven't been identified, unclaimed bodies and people whose families could not afford burial costs
A bridge on a normally busy provincial road in northern Italy has collapsed.

With virtually no traffic on streets due to the coronavirus lockdown, only two truck drivers suffered minor injuries in the incident in Tuscany on Wednesday.

The fire service said the 260 metre bridge on the SS330 road near the town of Aulla, roughly midway between Genoa and Florence, collapsed at 10.25am local time (08.25am UK time).

Although casualties were limited in Wednesday's incident, it highlights the poor state of repair of Italy's road network.

It follows the collapse of a motorway bridge in the port city of Genoa in 2018 that killed 43 people.

Helicopter views of the area of the latest accident showed sections of the bridge crossing the river Magra had collapsed to the level of the water, buckling a stretch of road behind it.

The lockdown to halt the spread of the coronavirus meant that heavy midweek traffic that might normally have been using the bridge was absent and only two vehicles were involved.

The two drivers were taken to hospital with minor injuries, a fire brigade spokesman said.

A fire brigade team helped by dogs inspected the debris of the concrete bridge, dating back to 1908 and rebuilt after World War Two, but did not find any other vehicles.

The bridge used to be managed by provincial authorities before being put under the management of ANAS, a company controlled by state-owned railway group Ferrovie dello Stato.

The infrastructure has undergone periodic safety controls since 2019, ANAS said in a statement, adding it had formed an ad-hoc group to find out the causes of the collapse.

Transport Minister Paola De Micheli, who said ANAS had been operating the bridge since 2018, said the ministry had set up a committee to investigate the incident and draw up a report in 30 days.

The poor maintenance of Italy's roads and bridges and mismanagement of its highway network has been a major political issue since the collapse of the bridge in Genoa, which was operated by infrastructure group Atlantia.

Following the 2018 disaster, the government has repeatedly threatened to strip Atlantia of its motorway concession and to hand over to ANAS responsibility for operating the highways currently run by the infrastructure group.
Mayor Tim Keller wants nonessential businesses to know: He means business.

Keller, along with Albuquerque Fire Rescue and the Albuquerque Police Department, are cracking down on nonessential businesses found in violation of the governors public health order.

The new reality and these state orders are certainly challenging, and I know they are very tough on businesses and, in many ways, can seem uneven or unfair, but theyre extremely important, Keller said during a Wednesday news conference. I want to remind everyone that the goal is were trying to save folks lives and I know, as a city, were trying to keep as many essential business open.  But the nonessential ones you just have to close, it just is what it is right now.

Keller said APD, AFR and the Environmental Health Department will be conducting enforcement, issuing warnings and eventual citations, for nonessential businesses that stay open. He said some businesses that have been resistant have been warned and at least one, Rags to Riches Smoke Shop, has been cited.

APD Lt. Ray Del Greco said officers are ramping up enforcement action and have conducted checks on around 400 businesses, the vast majority of which are complying with the order. To enforce the order, APD is using a team of officers dedicated to patrolling for noncompliant businesses, checking referrals by State Police and citizen complaints.

Gilbert Gallegos, an APD spokesman, said the department issued 10 formal warnings on Tuesday to nonessential businesses. Those warnings must be signed by the business owner or manager and, if officers are called to the same business a second time, they will be cited.

Businesses have three hours from the formal warning to shut down, or they will be cited, he said. APD will also issue warnings to essential businesses that do not follow public health guidelines.

Gallegos said a second violation may be cited as a petty misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of up to $100 and/or up to six months in jail. A third violation, and each following violation, may be referred to the state  and each violation is punishable by a civil administrative penalty of up to $5,000.
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor says Luxembourg has unfrozen 1.6 billion dollars of Iran's assets despite an attempt by victims of terror to get the funds as compensation.

Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Wednesday, April 8, Tehran thwarted Washington's efforts to seize and transfer the CBI's funds out of Europe.

However, the case mentioned by Hemmati is related to a private lawsuit against the Islamic Republic.

In 2012, a New York court found there was evidence showing that the Islamic Republic provided "material support and resources to al Qaida for acts of terrorism". The extremist group had carried out the September 11 hijacked plane attacks in New York and Washington.

The court awarded the plaintiffs, all private citizens of the United States, damages of over $7 billion.

Based on the 2nd Circuit's ruling, families of the victims were seeking access to $1.6 billion of Iranian funds in Luxembourg, which were frozen as part of international sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

When in 2016 international sanctions against Iran ended, the money in Luxembourg remained frozen pending litigation. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic attorneys appealed against the ruling of the American court.

On January 13, the plaintiffs' hopes highly diminished when the Supreme Court repealed the decision by a federal appeals court in New York and returned the case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

CBI attorneys told the Supreme Court that the federal appeals court ruling in New York would put the United States in violation of international law and threatened "disastrous consequences" for American foreign relations.

Later, the Luxembourg Times reported on March 27 that a Luxembourg court rejected a U.S. court request to compensate victims of the Twin Tower attacks by seizing assets from Iran.

"The rule of the U.S. court used to repeal the immunity of the defendants, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Central Bank of Iran, is not compatible with international law," it added.

In the meantime, Hemmati has stopped short of saying whether the released funds were transferred to Iran or not. Given current U.S. sanctions on Irans banking, the funds most probably will remain in Europe and theoretically can be used for food or humanitarian purchases.
Rapper Chynna Rogers Dies at Age 25: Manager

Chynna Rogers, a 25-year-old rapper and model, died on Wednesday in her home, according to her manager.

John Miller confirmed Rogerss death to Fox News and other news outlets. Her cause of death is not known.

Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed, the rappers family said in a statement. Its not clear if she died from COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 across the United States in recent days.

One of the rappers last social media posts came amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, saying that she is committed to making music.

View this post on Instagram yall know how i feel about smiling but this a good jawn A post shared by Chynna (@chizzyano) on Mar 22, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT

ATTENTION i miss you. i miss humans. i miss the flow of the universe. i made a lil sumn pre-quarantine to satisfy these cravings. attention, off in case i die first, seems to hold new meaning. shows or no shows, ill do my best to create art & stay connected. with love, wash your hands, she wrote on Instagram, making a reference to people washing their hands to stave off getting infected with COVID-19.

In the wake of her death, a number of social media users offered condolences to her family.

Rogers started her career as a model when she was 14 after signing with Ford Models, Pitchfork Media reported.

She is survived by her father, Michael Magness; two brothers, Jeremy Payne and Michael Magness; and sister Nala Magness, The New York Times reported.
As the Cabinet approved on Tuesday a record-breaking A108 trillion emergency stimulus package in response to COVID-19 ravaging the nationas economy, the deep-seated rivalries it has amplified within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were hidden from view.

The fundamental elements of the governmentas plan come from proposals made within the party, spearheaded by the LDPas policy research council chairman Fumio Kishida, who is also seen as a viable successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

But the lead-up to the massive proposal, put forward on March 31, was shaped by behind-the-scenes political maneuvers, amid an internal struggle between LDP forces backing Kishida and those plotting to deflate his rising influence. Some members were still showing displeasure over the proposal at a party meeting this week.

As Kishida seeks to seize momentum, and gain wider appeal by demonstrating leadership abilities and making media appearances, multiple hurdles have stood in his way as was demonstrated in the compilation of the partyas coronavirus response.

The difference between the two sides manifested itself most significantly in the proposalas centerpiece: the cash handout. It was initially discussed on a much larger scale, to total around A12 trillion a or A100,000 per person.
New Delhi, April 8 (IANSlife): An online-only art sale, featuring paintings of women across Southeast Asia, offers a rich window into diverse cultures and distinctive rituals of the region including countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Burma.



Live till April 22 at the official Bonhams website, the sale titled 'Ritual and Culture' features more than 30 20th century paintings.



Among the highlights is a curated group of paintings depicting the mesmerising beauty of women in Southeast Asia, as well as the crucial roles they play in society.



The group of works is led by Hanoi by French artist Alix Ayme, who had travelled in and painted extensively in Asia.

The painting features a classic street scene with a Vietnamese mother strolling along a path, her baby nestled by her hips, as the city Hanoi - depicted by Ayme as a verdant sub-tropical paradise - comes into spring.



Created in the 1920s during the artist's first sojourn in Vietnam, Hanoi is one of her earliest paintings and a rare oil-on-panel example to come to the art market.



Through the lens of cultural insiders, Nguyen Trung and Boi Tran both draw inspiration from women wearing the elegant Vietnamese gown, the 'ao dai', which pays tribute to the beauty and grace of generations of ladies in Vietnam.

A similar penchant for the subject is also seen in Burmese modern painter U Lun Gywe, whose Bathing by the Riverside perfectly encapsulates the artist's impressionist style



A private collection of rare-to-market works by Antonio Blanco, a Filipino-born Balinese painter of Spanish descent, will also be on sale.

The collection comprises the artist's figurative paintings and exquisite poems, revealing his immense passion and pride for his adopted home of Bali.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the necessity of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the coronavirus crisis in the face of a threat by US President Donald Trump to withhold funds for the UN agency.

"The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the front lines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus," Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news agency.

"It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," he said.

Trump on Tuesday criticised the WHO's response to COVID-19 and threatened to freeze US funding for it.

Guterres said that once the current health crisis is over, there will be time to study how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly and to evaluate the performance of all involved.

But now is not that time. Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences, he said.

The situation on the ground seems to support Guterres' appeal for support for the WHO.

The confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 with more than 500 recorded deaths, according to the WHO.

While the virus was slow to reach the continent compared with other parts of the world, infections have grown exponentially in recent weeks and are continuing to spread, it warned.

Africa's first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on February 14 and since then the number of African countries reporting cases has risen to 52 out of a total of 54.

The WHO said communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to the outbreaks locally.

The UN agency is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, isolation, case management and contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement.

The chief spokesman for the secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said the United Nations is supporting the Nigerian government in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Three ambulances were donated Wednesday to Lagos State, home to some 21 million people. Other essential preventive, testing and treatment equipment procured by the United Nations is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days.

In Zimbabwe, he said a severe climate- and recession-induced hunger is deepening the COVID-19 crisis. The World Food Programme said it is urgently calling for US $130 million through August to help millions of the most vulnerable people in the country.

A recent nationwide assessment found that the number of acutely food insecure Zimbabweans has risen to 4.3 million from 3.8 million at the end of last year, the spokesman said. More than half, 7.7 million people, of the country's population are regarded as food insecure.

In Venezuela, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Peter Grohmann, said the first shipment of 90 tons of UN life-saving supplies was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday to support the COVID-19 response.

The shipment includes 28,000 personal protective equipment kits for health workers on the front line as well as oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits.

The supplies have been financed by the international donor community, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and UN agencies, Dujarric said.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Spain has delivered the first batch of medical supplies to health authorities to support the fight against the pandemic, he said.

The shipment includes hand sanitizer and gloves and more supplies are expected in the coming days, including face masks, gloves, detection kits, and personal protective equipment.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said COVID-19 is generating an unprecedented global economic crisis, with the economic destruction cruelly and unequally distributed.

For the world's poorest countries, the financial fallout caused by the pandemic, combined with debilitating debt-service obligations, are hampering their ability to prevent further transmission and protect citizens, she said in a statement on Tuesday. "The situation is already dire, and it is only going to get worse."

A report of the International Labour Organization said the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific reports in a study that COVID-19 is having far-reaching economic and social consequences for the region, with strong cross-border spillover effects through trade, tourism and financial linkages.

It highlights the immediate risk to the region's economic outlook posed by the pandemic, already deepening an economic slowdown.
In an unusually pointed statement, Manila laments loss of trust among neighbours due to incidents in disputed seas.

The Philippines has expressed solidarity with Vietnam after Hanoi protested against what it said was the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coastguard vessel in the disputed South China Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila expressed deep concern over the reported April 3 sinking of the boat off the Paracel Islands. There were eight fishermen on board at the time.

The incident happened at a time when a common approach was crucial in confronting the coronavirus pandemic, it said.

COVID-19 is a very real threat that demands unity and mutual trust. In the face of it, neither fish nor fictional historical claims are worth the fuse thats lit by such incidents, the unusually strong-worded statement from Manila said.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has built several islands equipped with military installations in the area, one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes. Vietnam has been a consistent and vocal opponent of Beijings increasingly muscular territorial ambitions.





The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs recalled that 22 Filipino fishermen were left floating in the high seas, after a Chinese vessel sank their boat at Reed Bank on June 9 last year. They were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing vessel.

Our own similar experience revealed how much trust in a friendship is lost by it and how much trust was created by Vietnams humanitarian act of directly saving the lives of our Filipino fishermen, the department said.

Chinese maritime militia

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, however, played down the incident within the Philippines exclusive economic zone, even as it sparked anger in the streets.

The owner of the Chinese vessel later apologised for the incident and promised to compensate the Filipino fishermen for the damage to their fishing boat.

There has been speculation that the Chinese vessel involved in the boat-ramming was part of a maritime militia deployed by Beijing to intimidate vessels from other countries in the area.

The United States has also expressed serious concern over the reported sinking of the Vietnamese vessel and called on China to remain focused on supporting efforts to combat the pandemic and stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.





Amid the pandemic, China has announced new research stations on military bases it built on Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef and landed special military aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, referring to two of seven islands China built on disputed shoals in the South China Sea.

China has also continued to deploy maritime militia around the Spratly Islands, she said, referring to a hotly contested group of islands and citing a 2016 decision by an international tribunal that invalidated Chinas sprawling claims in the South China Sea.

China has said it has the right to build in waters where it exercises sovereignty and has ignored and continued to defy the arbitration ruling.

The Philippines warned that incidents like the sinking of the Vietnamese boat undermine the potential for a trusting relationship between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China.

It cited positive momentum in talks between ASEAN and China on a proposed code of conduct  a pact to prevent large clashes in the South China Sea, which many fear could be Asias next flashpoint.

China responded to Vietnams diplomatic protest and demands for an investigation with its own statement accusing the Vietnamese boat of illegally entering Chinese waters. It said it collided with the Chinese ship Haijing 4301 after conducting dangerous actions.

All eight Vietnamese sailors were rescued by the Chinese and admitted to wrongdoing, China Maritime Police spokesman Zhang Jun was quoted as saying in a statement.

China seized the islands from Vietnam in 1974 and frequent confrontations have occurred there.
A yachtsman attempting to sail from suburban Melbourne to Tasmania hit rocks off the coast of Portsea and had to be winched to safety.

The 67-year-old Tasmanian man left Williamstown on Wednesday bound for home, but was forced to turn back when he experienced issues with his yacht.

Police said the sailor ran aground at Corsair Rock off Portsea when he tried to enter Port Phillip Bay around 7.30pm.

He put out a mayday call over the radio and Water Police co-ordinated a response with the Coast Guard and volunteers from the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad.
By Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Jewish Chronicle, which describes itself as the world's oldest Jewish newspaper, is to seek liquidation, one of the most high profile media casualties of the coronavirus pandemic that has led to a collapse in advertising spend.

Founded in 1841, the title - often known as the JC - said the liquidation was expected to be finalised in the coming two to three weeks and it would make every effort to continue to publish over that time.

"Devastating news for us," said Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle. "I won't be saying anything beyond confirming that the paper will be out as usual next week, and we have every intention of avoiding any interruption."

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has hammered marketing budgets, forcing media groups around the world to reduce staffing numbers, cut costs and halt publication of some titles.

"Despite the heroic efforts of the editorial and production team at the newspaper, it has become clear that the Jewish Chronicle will not be able to survive the impact of the current coronavirus epidemic in its current form," the JC said in a statement.

The board of the Jewish News, which describes itself as Britain's biggest Jewish newspaper, made the same announcement.

The Kessler Foundation, owners of the JC, said it was working to secure a future for the title after the liquidation. The Guardian newspaper reported that staff had been told the parent company had run out of money during the lockdown.

The London-based Jewish Chronicle says it strives to reflect a wide diversity of Jewish religious, social and political thought across the spectrum, both Orthodox and secular.

"We deeply regret the news of the potential liquidation of both the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish News and the impact that this will have for the many fine journalists, who contribute enormously to Jewish life in this country," a spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said.

Story continues

"We hope that a buyer will come forward to salvage the many jobs that may be lost."

Over nearly two centuries, the newspaper has reflected the ups and downs of European Jewry, from pogroms against Jews in the Russian empire and questions of Zionism to the foundation of the Jewish state and anti-Semitism in Britain.

In one of the newspaper's most notable interviews, the JC in 1981 spoke to then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who described Israel's attack on an Iraqi nuclear plant as a step towards international anarchy.

"This is very sad news for the staff and Jewish community, particularly at the start of the festival of Passover," said Jo Stevens, the opposition Labour Party's media spokeswoman said.

"Collapsing print sales and advertising revenue are hitting regional, local and independent news outlets already under financial pressure, extremely hard."

(Additionanl reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alison Williams)
Bengaluru, April 9 : An 80-year-old woman from Karnataka's Gadag with history of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) has succumbed to Covid-19, an official said on Thursday.

The deceased was designated as the state's 166th Covid-19 positive case. Gadag is 383 km northwest of Bengaluru.

Across the state, 159 Covid-19 patients, including a pregnant woman, are isolated at designated hospitals and are in stable condition, except two who continue to be critical, positive cases 43 and 101.

After 191 positive cases were reported till Thursday noon, six more cases surfaced in the next five hours -- five men and a woman.

"As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, 197 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, including six deaths and 30 discharges," said a health official.

Karnataka's 192nd Covid positive case is a 40-year-old woman from Belagavi, the mother of the 128th case. The woman's 22-year-old son, also a contact of the 128th case, is the 193rd case.

A 27-year-old man from Dharwad with travel history to Delhi is the 194th case.

A 66-year-old man from Bengaluru Urban with SARI is the 195th case. He had travelled from Manipur to the city on March 12.

Similarly, a 42-year-old man from the same place with SARI is the 196th case.

The state's 197th case is a 27-year-old man from the same place with similar medical condition.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde confirmed during a phone conversation with Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba the inalterability of stance on international sanctions against Russia.

As noted, Dmytro Kuleba informed his Swedish counterpart about the progress of negotiations within the Trilateral Contact Group for peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas and the Normandy format.

"Ann Linde reiterated the inalterability of Swedens stance on the need to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia until Moscow entirely fulfills its obligations under the Minsk agreements and terminates the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs.

The ministers agreed to maintain close cooperation on these issues during Swedens OSCE Chairmanship in 2021 and to hold consultations between the MFAs of both countries this year to this end.

The foreign ministers also discussed measures to counter the spread of COVID-19. Kuleba garnered support of the Swedish side for non-application of sanctions to Ukrainian citizens in the territory of Sweden for violating the visa regime due to quarantine measures.

The parties also exchanged views on deepening cooperation in the energy and law enforcement spheres.

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US Agencies Call on FCC to Bar China Telecom From Operating in US

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal agencies on April 9 urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke Chinese state-owned company China Telecoms authorization to provide international telecommunication services in the United States.

The agencieswhich included the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce, among othersmade this recommendation after a DOJ-led review of the company identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks surrounding China Telecoms operations, according to a DOJ press release. China Telecom is the U.S. subsidiary of Chinese state-owned telecom firm China Telecommunications Corp.

The move comes amid heightening U.S. scrutiny over security threats posed by Chinese companies, including in the area of telecommunications. Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to establish a committee that will review national security concerns arising from foreign-owned companies who wish to participate in U.S. telecommunications networks.

And last May, the administration barred Chinese telecom giant Huawei from doing business with American firms on national security grounds. U.S. officials cited concerns that the companys equipment could be used by the Chinese regime for spying or to disrupt communication networks.

The DOJ said the latest recommendation was based on a range of concerns, including that China Telecom is vulnerable to exploitation, influence, and control by the Chinese regime.

It said that the nature of the companys U.S. operations provided opportunities for Chinese state-backed actors to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of U.S. communications.

The DOJ added that the company had failed to comply with the terms of a 2007 agreement with the department, without providing further details.

China Telecom has also made inaccurate statements to U.S. authorities about where the company stored its U.S. records, raising questions about who has access to those records, the department said. It also made inaccurate public statements about its cybersecurity practices, drawing concerns about whether it complies with U.S. cybersecurity and privacy laws, the DOJ added.

The security of our government and professional communications, as well as of our most private data, depends on our use of trusted partners from nations that share our values and our aspirations for humanity, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement. Todays action is but our next step in ensuring the integrity of Americas telecommunications systems.

A spokesperson at the FCC said the agency was looking into the issue. We welcome the input of the Executive Branch agencies and will review it carefully, the spokesperson said in an email.

This is not the first time China Telecom has drawn criticism in the United States.

Last September, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked the FCC to review approvals of China Telecom and China Unicom, another state-owned telecom company, to operate in the United States.

These state-owned companies continue to have access to our telephone lines, fiber optic cables, cellular networks, and satellites in ways that could give it [China] the ability to target the content of communications of Americans or their businesses and the U.S. government, including through the hijacking of telecommunications traffic by redirecting it through China, the senators wrote at the time.

Last June, a large portion of mobile device traffic in Europe was diverted for two hours through systems controlled by China Telecom. Experts from U.S. tech company Oracle investigated the incident and found that the company hijacked the mobile traffic, a type of hacking which is called Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking.

The company has also been involved in several other BGP hijackings in recent years, including in the United States, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of the Military Cyber Professionals Association. The report said that the hijackings could be part of the Chinese regimes new strategy, using more subtle methods to steal data from targeted networks or companies.

The report noted that, through this method, the Chinese regime could access an organizations network, steal valuable data, add malicious implants to seemingly normal traffic, or simply modify or corrupt data.

The FCC last May also voted unanimously to deny another Chinese state-owned telecom company, China Mobile, the right to provide services in the United States, citing risks that the Chinese government could use the approval to conduct espionage against the U.S. government.

Joshua Philipp contributed to this report.
Infectious disease expert Dr Paddy Mallon has warned that this holiday weekend could be Irelands Cheltenham in terms of the spread of Covid-19.

The expected flood of cases has not yet happened in Ireland because of the measures everyone has taken and Government actions to date, Dr Mallon told Newstalk Breakfast.

The Government acted at the right time unlike the government in the UK, he said, where an event like Cheltenham was allowed to go ahead and now there are tens of thousands of cases as a result.

It was one of the seminal events that led to wider spread of the virus in the UK, he said.

The Easter bank holiday weekend could be Irelands Cheltenham if people in the east of the country (where there are more cases) decide to take off.

People need to stick with the message, if they do then next week we could be seeing a drop off.

Dr Mallon said there was cautious optimism and that if everyone sticks with the plan the flood could be halted.

Treat this the same as every other weekend.

Stay home, eat chocolate and next week we could be seeing good news.

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A man has been sent forward for trial accused of the murder of his former partner Nadine Lott, who died after sustaining serious injuries in her Co Wicklow home.

Mother-of-one Ms Lott died last December 17 in St Vincent's Hospital, where she had been in a critical condition for the previous three days.

The beauty therapist was found with serious injuries at her home in St Mary's Court, Arklow, at around 4am last December 14.

Two days later, her ex-partner, Daniel Murtagh (32), of Melrose Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin, appeared at Bray District Court accused of a serious assault on Ms Lott.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

He had said "sorry" when that charge was put to him.

The case was later upgraded and a murder charge was brought, at which point Mr Murtagh was remanded in continuing custody.

Indictment

The district court heard "he made no reply" when the murder charge was brought.

Detective Garda Darren Mulhall said the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed trial on indictment.

Mr Murtagh faced his seventh hearing when he appeared again at Cloverhill District Court yesterday.

A book of evidence was served on the accused, who was told by Judge David McHugh that he was being returned for trial to the Central Criminal Court.

The judge told him he must notify the prosecution within 14 days if he intended to use an alibi in his defence.

Judge McHugh acceded to a request from defence solicitor Padraig O'Donovan to grant legal aid to include senior counsel representation.

He also agreed to the solicitor's request for continued psychiatric assessments of the accused.

Mr Murtagh, who has not yet indicated how he will plead, has yet to be given a date for his appearance before the Central Criminal Court, but it will take place in the next term, which runs from April 20 to May 28.

The judge also ordered that copies of video evidence be handed oto the defence.
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With COVID-19 raging through the nation, and limited supply of PPE at hospitals, doctors and other critical care personnel are at high risk due to their increased and daily exposure to the virus. For health care workers, the need to plan for a possible worst-case outcome for themselves and their families has become an immediate concern. Doctors are spending limited weekend time urgently completing the paperwork so that their family is protected in case of the worst outcome. If a person were to pass away intestate (with no will or living trust), the legal system makes the decision on their behalf, which can be a long and expensive process.

To alleviate the stress, as a physician financial blogger, here is my suggestion on what exactly should be completed:

1. Get mentally prepared. This may sound trivial, but while some find this easy to do, others end up in tears  especially during this sensitive time  thinking about some of these decisions regarding their children and family, should they pass away. The best way to view this is that you are taking care of everything should something happen, with the hope that nothing will. This is also a good opportunity to express to a partner, family member, or confidante the stored up stress and fears that we all have when life-death is concerned.

2. Complete a revocable estate trust in addition to a will. This group of documents, usually prepared as a set, includes:

A living trust. This document designates how to handle all of your assets (home, cars, and especially non-retirement accounts, etc.). It ensures that not only are your assets secure from probate but also that the money is delivered and spent in the way you intend it to be.

This document designates how to handle all of your assets (home, cars, and especially non-retirement accounts, etc.). It ensures that not only are your assets secure from probate but also that the money is delivered and spent in the way you intend it to be. A pour-over will. This document acts as a catch-all, directing the courts on how to dispose of anything not handled above. Very importantly, it also designates who will be guardian to your children in case disaster occurs.

This document acts as a catch-all, directing the courts on how to dispose of anything not handled above. Very importantly, it also designates who will be guardian to your children in case disaster occurs. Power of attorney for finances. This document designates who will make financial decisions for you if you are unable to.

This document designates who will make financial decisions for you if you are unable to. Power of attorney for health care decisions and advanced health directives. These documents designate who will make medical decisions for you and carry out any specific medical requirements.

The additional benefits of having a full estate plan is that it will help you avoid the long and expensive probate (proving of the will) process, will keep all of your information private, and help you avoid estate taxes (gift, inheritance and death taxes). This process is especially important if you are married, have children, and/or have a positive net worth.

If you complete only the will and specify beneficiaries for the accounts, which many opt to do, it will only designate the guardians to your children but not a trustee for your assets, or timeline of how your assets should be distributed. Beneficiaries are paid out immediately or given full control at the time of your passing. What decisions should be made based on a will is the reason the probate process exists, so to count on a will to take care of things is often ensuring additional work for those left behind. A will is also available to the public with a small fee, upon your death, which can lead to a loss of privacy for your loved ones.

3. Get an emergency binder ready. You can use Google Docs or Excel to list all of your accounts, insurances, burial services information, obituary, and include the full estate or will paperwork in the binder. Remember that you need a physical copy of the will. It is not filed or submitted anywhere before your death. For account passwords, you can use a password manager such as LastPass.

How can I quickly have the estate plan done?

Online

If you opt for the online version, you can use Trust & Will or LegalZoom. Estate planning is state-specific, and both of these websites will provide you with the correct forms for your state, and they have attorneys on board to answer your questions.

Once you complete the forms, you can download, or they will mail you two copies. You will need the appropriate parts notarized in-person or online, and two disinterested (not related to you) witnesses will need to sign the appropriate parts of the paperwork. Keep each copy in a separate location, with one preferably in a safe deposit box. The turnaround time is dependent on how quickly you can answer the questions above. For some, it takes about 15 minutes; for others, it takes a couple of days to think over.

In-person

Call a few estate planning attorneys in your area and ask their process and pricing (pricing ranges from $800 to $3,000). The attorney will ask questions and guide you to which documents you should complete depending on your circumstance (there are some exceptions where people only need to do the will or irrevocable trust), and your specific state laws. And its always helpful to have an attorney available to answer your questions and help you set up the timeframe of how your assets should be distributed. Once the questions are answered via phone/video, they will meet you to explain all of the documents, notarize it as needed, and provide you with two copies.

Afterwards, you may need to update some bank accounts, deed of any property, insurance, etc. to the name of your trust. The name of the trust is usually something boring like your last names+the word trust+date. Going forward, everything should be named to your trust as specified, and you can always change it and update it as needed since it is revocable. The trust will become irrevocable at death.

Stay safe, everyone, and thank you health care heroes.

Dewan Farhana is founder and CEO, Betternest, and blogs at Doctor Finances.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com




Haiti - FLASH : 2nd death of Covid-19





The Ministry of Public Health informs the population that a second person died of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Wednesday April 8, 2020. This death occurs 3 days after the first death recorded on Sunday April 5 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30454-haiti-flash-covid-19-first-death-in-haiti.html



The new victim is a 69-year-old woman who suffered from diabetes and tension. This citizen is one of 30 cases that have been confirmed to date in Haiti.



The Ministry salutes the memory of this compatriot who has left and wishes strength and courage to her family, friends and all those affected by this departure.



The MSPP recommends to the population to be more careful because this new coronavirus is a reality, it is together that we will succeed in dealing with it.



- Stay home

- Always wash your hands

- Avoid putting your hands in your mouth, nose and eyes

- Always keep a distance of 3 steps away from other people if you have to travel for an emergency.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30454-haiti-flash-covid-19-first-death-in-haiti.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The Winnipeg Free Press is tracking the status of COVID-19 in Manitoba, as reported by provincial health authorities.

The Winnipeg Free Press is tracking the status of COVID-19 in Manitoba, as reported by provincial health authorities.

Note: The number of daily and active cases in the charts below display positive PCR test results. Thousands of COVID-19 tests are in laboratory backlogs awaiting processing, and many Manitobans are now being directed to do rapid antigen testing, which is not included in these numbers. As a result, the active and daily case numbers below are estimated to be much lower than actual cases in the community.

Proportion of positive tests

The percentage of PCR tests that are positive -- referred to as the positivity rate or test positive proportion by the province -- shows the infection rate among those tested for the virus. This is another indicator for the extent of infections within Manitoba.

A higher positivity rate suggests that the virus is more widespread in the population.

However, in January 2022, the provincial government changed eligibility for PCR tests, so not all symptomatic individuals qualify for one. Many individuals are given rapid tests, and return for PCR testing only if their rapid test is positive and they meet certain qualifications.

As a result, test positivity on this chart does not necessarily represent the spread of the virus in the community, but rather test positivity among a subset of the population who qualified for PCR testing.

COVID-19 vaccinations

(Editor's note: Our chart displaying vaccine uptake in Manitoba's health districts is currently out for maintenance.)

Cases across Manitoba

Case rates in Manitoba

Another important statistic is per capita value, which helps compare a value among groups of different sizes.

Generally speaking, more populous areas will have more tests, positive cases and deaths simply because there are more people. To effectively compare areas with different populations, we determine how many tests, cases and deaths there are for each person in the area. "Per capita" means "per person."

Per-capita data is usually reported "per 100,000" to avoid using tiny decimal values.

COVID-19 across Canada

Charts provided by The Canadian Press update weekly.
Three new self-isolation facilities for people living in the Direct Provision system will be opened by the end of the week.

The new centres will be in Cork, Limerick and Dundalk and are in addition to a further facility opened in Dublin on Monday. This brings the total self-isolation capacity to 299 rooms at this time across the four centres.

Residents staying in self-isolation facilities will have their own bedroom and their own bathroom.

Health and social care personnel will also be available on site.

The Department of Justice also announced a partnership with HSE and Safetynet for the introduction of a national clinical telephone service to provide public health advice to management of DP centres so they can better support their residents.

The latest measures are in addition to the 650 beds across the system to facilitate greater social distancing and isolation announced last week.

These are located in hotels in Dublin, Cork and Galway in a bid to take pressure off existing centres which house over 7,000 people - including 2,000 children.

In consultation with the HSE, a large number of transfers of residents to this new accommodation was completed over the weekend and a small number of additional transfers took place early this week.

The Department of Justice said the vast majority of these beds are located in twin rooms, accommodating two people.

It said that if any person is being accommodated in these locations based on an identified vulnerability such as old age or a medical condition, they have their own bedroom and their own bathroom to facilitate cocooning.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said officials were working hard to tackle the challenges posed by Covid-19 and that the Department "continue to augment facilities in the time ahead".

However, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) criticised the use of twin rooms as accommodation stating that they do not ensure physical distancing.

Last week, an open letter to the Government signed by more than 920 prominent lawyers, doctors, public health officials and academics claimed that the State may be in breach of Article 2 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights unless it provides own-door accommodation to people living in Direct Provision.
A 72-year-old man died



of coronavirus in Bokaro district, the first COVID-19 death reported in Jharkhand, a health official said on Thursday.

The patient died on Wednesday night, Bokaro District Chief Medical Officer Ashok Kumar Pathak said.

The man was kept in the isolation ward of a hospital after he showed symptoms of the virus on April 5. He was later tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday held a virtual meeting with the members of Indian Chamber of Commerce during which issues such as aspects of border trade with neighbouring countries and meeting contractual and export commitments during the lockdown period were discussed, sources said.

At the request of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata, Shringla held the meeting with the members led by the Chamber's President Mayank Jalan and immediate past president Rudra Chatterjee.

Discussions with members of the Chamber focused on various aspects of border trade with neighbouring countries, meeting contractual and export commitments during the lockdown period, and potential challenges and opportunities for Indian business and industry in the post COVID-19 phase, the sources said.

Members of the ICC were also briefed by the Foreign Secretary and Additional Secretary (Economic Relations) P Harish about the initiatives of the Ministry of External Affairs in assisting Indian citizens around the world and foreign nationals in India during this challenging time, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The export of cement from Turkey to Azerbaijan increased by 15.04 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 amounting to $8.2 million, the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend on April 9.

In March 2020, the export of cement from Turkey to Azerbaijan increased by 8.92 percent compared to March 2019 and amounted to $2.6 million.

From January through March 2020, the export of cement from Turkey to the world markets grew by 9.6 percent compared to the same period of last year, amounting to over $915 million.

The export of cement from Turkey reached 2.1 percent of the country's total export volume from January through March 2020.

In March 2020, Turkey exported cement worth $317.5 million to the world markets, which is 0.3 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

The export of cement from Turkey in March 2020 amounted to 2.4 percent of the country's total export volume.

Over the past 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkey exported cement worth $3.6 billion.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
In the build-up to the 2019 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Partys most potent campaign plank was to pose a direct question: Modi versus who? Now the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) may have redefined notions of national leadership: It is the chief ministers (CMs) who are at the frontline of the battle. In a sense, the crisis is a reminder that real power and responsibility does not vest in Delhi, but in the state capitals. A Modi-centric political universe is being finally forced to acknowledge the existence of a diverse range of regional leaders.

Take, for example, the Maharashtra CM, Uddhav Thackeray. Lacking his fathers charisma or administrative experience, he was widely perceived as an accidental CM when he took over in November. Less than six months later, Thackeray has become the face of Maharashtras fight against the coronavirus. His daily TV addresses stand out for their assured presence in an age where panic seems only a remote control button away. That he has spoken out firmly against any attempt to communalise the spread of the virus is a reflection of the distance the Shiv Sena has travelled under his leadership. If the coronavirus-positive numbers in Maharashtra are higher, it is a consequence of more rigorous testing, and Mumbai being a social contact hub for travellers.

Take also the Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan. Until now, Vijayans image was of a local political strongman with limited mass connect. The coronavirus crisis has shown him to be a hands-on politician with a firm grasp over the administration. Be it an economic package for the poor, setting up emergency testing facilities in hotspot districts, or even imposing a controlled lockdown, Kerala, with its valued tradition of public health investment, has been a step ahead of the national agenda.

Indeed, across the political divide, different states have risen to the challenge. In Punjab, for example, Captain Amarinder Singh has ensured that the states large migrant labour population is given enough financial support to stay back ahead of the harvest season. In Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath was one of the first to assure a guaranteed income to daily-wage labourers. In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has set up three fully-equipped Covid-19 hospitals. In Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel has ensured extra rations for all, while in Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot government moved swiftly to contain the outbreak in Bhilwara. In Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government has initiated mass-scale random testing. Assams Sarbananda Sonowal government has been quick to scale up its medical preparedness, while in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjees Sufalbangla scheme has ensured vegetable prices are kept in check.

This special focus on CMs to deliver underscores the urgent need to re-orient Centre-state relations in the coronavirus-hit age. The Delhi-knows-best mindset has long plagued the political order, creating a centralised system of decision-making. In the Modi years, major decisions such as demonetisation were taken, with minimal consultation and maximum disruption, a command-and-control approach that allows for no consensus-building. A war-like situation like the current one demands a fundamental change: A need for constant interaction with stakeholders in a spirit of genuine partnership, where the focus shifts from nurturing a personality cult to incentivising a collective effort.

Today, each state is in desperate need of extra central funds and relaxation in fiscal limits. Even the Goods and Services Tax (GST) model  pitched as an exemplar of a reset in Centre-state relations  is now under scrutiny with many states complaining that they havent received pending GST compensation. There is also a need for an effective nationwide protocol where the Union health ministry and apex bodies such as the Indian Council of Medical Research work closely with local state bodies on critical issues like testing permissions for private labs and ensuring swifter delivery of personal protective equipment for health workers.

This is where Modi needs to lead the way by rising above all political divides. As Gujarat CM, Modi would often complain about state autonomy being compromised by a dominant Centre. And yet, the prime minister (PM) held his first meeting with CMs only on March 20 when the coronavirus-positive cases in the country had crossed 200; five days later, a national lockdown was put in place at four hours notice without allegedly intimating the CMs in advance. When a nine-minutes-lights-off campaign was announced, CMs or state power ministers were not taken into confidence. When the Centre declared a financial package for the poor, there was again no attempt made to involve state finance ministers. It is only over the last few days that the PM has initiated a welcome dialogue with the Opposition leaders on the coronavirus, a step which should have ideally been taken weeks ago when Parliament was in session.

When he first came to power, Modi spoke of himself as captain of Team India, promising to replace excessive centralism with cooperative federalism. This is the moment for him to walk the talk: Maybe even set up a national task force, comprising CMs, Opposition leaders, and domain experts to fight the coronavirus collectively. A general must lead the war effort but, this time, brigade commanders must get their due. Brand Modi must play second fiddle to Team India.

Post-script: While most chief ministers have shown the way, a few have also been exposed. In Goa, for example, CM Pramod Sawant interpreted the lockdown as a diktat to shut down all shops, thereby plunging the state into chaos over essential food supplies. When he did finally open the grocery stores, it came with a warning: Dont blame me now if the virus spreads! Surely Goans, like all Indians, deserve a more rational and empathetic leadership in these troubled coronavirus times.

Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author. His latest book is 2019: How Modi Won India

The views expressed are personal

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PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)an alliance of leading cancer centersis continuing to share new resources for optimal cancer management amid new and changing challenges related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The nonprofit organization's Best Practices Committee has published a new article online-ahead-of-print in JNCCNJournal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network detailing their recommendations for keeping cancer patients, caregivers and staff as safe as possible.

"The unprecedented challenges we are all facing from the COVID-19 pandemic heighten NCCN's commitment to sharing evidence-based consensus from leading medical experts as rapidly as possible, free-of-charge, to everyone around the world," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "We are doing everything we can to review and share reliable information that will help keep oncology patients, providers, and staff safe under the new reality of increased risk."

"We can continue to provide our patients with effective and compassionate care, without sacrificing the health and safety of our teams, colleagues, and families, by carefully evaluating any emerging research and modifying our treatment approaches accordingly," said lead author Pelin Cinar, MD, MS, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. "People with cancer and their loved ones already go through so much, and now they face new fears around catching COVID-19 or delaying necessary treatment. By sharing these recommendations, we want to reassure the oncology community that there are some aspects of care that we can and will control in order to improve outcomes for people with cancer."

The JNCCN article contains the most current information at the time of publication, but notes that recommendations regarding public safety and practice may change rapidly; individuals can also keep up with the most up-to-date information via the CDC website.

The NCCN Best Practices Committee recommendations can be summarized as follows:

Patient Safety

Prescreen and screen for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure history via telephone calls or digital platforms

Develop screening clinics to allow for patients with symptoms to be evaluated and tested in a dedicated unit with dedicated staff

Convert in-person visits to telemedicine visits when possible

Limited or no visitor policy

Limit surgeries and procedures to only essential, urgent, or emergent cases

Consideration of alternative dosing schedule to allow for fewer in-person visits to the cancer center and/or the infusion center

Switch from infusional therapy to oral oncolytics if equivalent formulation is available

Transition outpatient care to care-at-home whenever possible (e.g. pump disconnection, administration of growth factors, hormone therapy)

Increase interval between scans or use biochemical markers in lieu of scans

Provide resources for wellness and stress management for patients

Healthcare Worker Safety

Assure availability and use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) per guidelines

Create a centralized resource or website to communicate recommendations to the healthcare workers around PPE and workflows

Implement daily screening tools and/or temperature checks

Telecommute when possible, with limited onsite staff participating in rotations on a daily basis

Establish clear stay-at-home and return-to-work guidelines

Provide resources for wellness and stress management for healthcare workers

The full article can be found at: https://jnccn.org/page/May%20Special%20Feature%20on%20COVID-19%20/new-special-feature-on-covid19.

In addition to Dr. Cinar, the article includes authors from Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Duke Cancer Institute, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Moffitt Cancer Center, Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center  James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (including Fred Hutchinson Research Center and University of Washington), University of Colorado Cancer Center, and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital.

Meanwhile, NCCN continues to add to, and update, the growing list of free resources available at NCCN.org/covid-19. Recently-published items include:

General

Treatment of Cancer by Site

Screening and Early Detection

Supportive Care

NCCN remains committed to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives under any circumstances. The organization has continued posting new updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines)which contain optimal recommendations for normal resource levels in the United Stateswhile also sharing new shorter term guidance for adjusting cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. NCCN's Global Program also provides guidelines to account for differing regional resource levels and non-English languages, while the NCCN Foundation provides funding for versions in non-medical language for patients and caregivers. The NCCN Guidelines are always available free-of-charge for non-commercial use at NCCN.org (free registration required) or via the Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines App.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of 30 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCN, Facebook @NCCNorg, and Instagram @NCCNorg.

Media Contact:

Rachel Darwin

267-622-6624

[email protected]

SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Related Links

https://www.nccn.org/


Half of the people taking part in a new survey assessing the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on personal finances reported that they believe their savings will run out before the end of April.

Clever, a company that negotiates with real estate agents for lower fees, questioned 1,000 homeowners and renters on March 31 in order to gauge how they have been impacted by the outbreak.

A day before, the St. Louis Fed predicted that 47 million Americans could lose their jobs and that the unemployment rate could exceed 32% before the economic freeze triggered by stay-at-home measures begins to thaw.

REAL ESTATE: Redfin furloughs 41 percent of realtors amid pandemic

Clevers survey showed that many of its respondents have little in reserve to weather a long recession. The findings include:

22% of homeowners dont have enough in savings to cover one months mortgage.

Almost half of renters surveyed reported having less than $500 set aside for emergencies. A similar amount said their savings wouldnt be enough to cover one months rent.

30% of homeowners had less than $1,000 reserved for emergencies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the average homeowner spends just under $6,000 per month, and recommends homeowners have between $17,300 and $35,600 squirrelled away for expenses over 3-6 months in case they have no active income.

12% of homeowners are already behind on mortgage payments due to the coronavirus crisis. About 27% are worried about defaulting on their mortgages.

STILL LIFE: Drone photos show an empty Houston from the sky during stay-at-home order

More than half of both renters and homeowners say they are racking up credit card debt to pay bills. Federal stimulus checks of up to $1,200 should provide some relief, but the respite is likely to be temporary.

The survey also found that the real estate market has been thrown into turmoil.

Would-be sellers are taking their homes off the market (23%) or dropping the listing price (27%). Nearly a third were holding off on listing their home.

The majority of buyers, meanwhile, are bailing from house searches, either delaying plans (48%) or giving up altogether (17%). However, about a quarter see the pandemic as a buying opportunity should prices fall enough.

Complete results of Clevers survey can be found here.

Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
New Delhi, April 9 : One was accused of hate speech before communal riots broke out in Delhi in February this year and the other is still remembered for his slap on Prashant Bhushan years ago over the lawyer's position on Kashmir. But the two seem to have worked to create an unique identity for themselves as 'dial a help'.

Both Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Bagga were fielded by the BJP for the Delhi assembly election from Model Town and Hari Nagar respectively. However, both lost the election. However, ever since Mishra opened a crowd funding account to raise a handsome Rs 1 crore to be disbursed among the riot victims as northeast Delhi was liming back to normalcy. Similarly, Bagga has become a Twitter helpline where he is liasoning with BJP's youth wing, the Art of Living Foundation and Patanjali to ensure ration and medicine reach those whoever seek his help, not just in the national capital but beyond, as India witnesses an unprecedented 21 days shutdown.

Bagga - a tweet away for help in Shutdown "I have barely been able to sleep. I can't keep the phone on silent and notifications are constantly coming seeking help," says Bagga. He claims, on average he attends to 200 requests per day. He claims most of the requests are coming through Twitter, while those who have his number are also sending WhatsApp requests.

"Initially I got SOS calls where at least hundred people were in need of food. But then there are requests for just five in a family," he said.

There are also requests coming in from across India, he says and a cursory look at his Twitter timeline proves this.

On April 4, Diksha Pandey sent an SOS on behalf of Bimal Maurya who she claimed was stuck in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur. On April 3, Sridhar V reached out to him for help in Madhya Pradesh's Indore. What Bagga does, he tags the local BJP leadership, mostly from the BJYM, who in turn sends out the help. For instance, for Sridhar's request, Bagga sought help from Indore MLA Ramesh Mendola. "Its a two way street. They help us, wherever they are. We help them here in Delhi," he reasoned.

He may have plastered the town with anti AAP posters many a time and run campaigns under the aegis of Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, but the shutdown brought out a different persona. Believe it or not, for a request on April 2, Bagga openly sought help from Delhi's Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, his political opponent. He even spoke to AAP's Ankit Lal to arrange a doctor for Twitter user Sachin Mittal. Asked on his political differences with AAP, he shot back, "This is not the time to consider that." Kapil Mishra - a metamorphosis post riot?

Mishra is known to have very strong views on most things including the Shaheen Bagh blockade, which started against the citizenship Act brought by the Centre. Just before the communal riots broke out in parts of northeast Delhi, Mishra warned against "another Shaheen Bagh' at Jafrabad area, a minority-dominated area of Delhi.

But, as the riots ended killing 53 and injuring more than 200, Mishra seemed to have gone through a metamorphosis. The campaign to crowdfunding began on February 28 and in a very short span of time, Rs 72 lakh was raised. Operated through crowdcash.org, Mishra raised a whopping Rs 1 crore.

On April 18, he suspended the campaign after reaching the target.

While direct disbursal were made to many accounts, help was also extended to 62 families "whose homes or businesses were damaged".

The goal of the campaign, in Mishra's own words, was to identify families who were "massively impacted due to the riots and help them with monetary assistance". However, he was clear from the beginning that the recipient would be "underprivileged Hindu families who have been impacted by the riots". Though, the opposition criticized this exclusivity, the financial assistance was timely for the recipients.
Three prominent Nigerian preachers have countered Pastor Chris Oyakhilomes viral video wherein he established a link between the 5G network, Coronavirus, and anti-Christ.

In the video, Mr Oyakhilome also stated that the lockdown was to enable the Federal Government to install 5G in Abuja and Lagos.

He told his members in a sermon that 5G was part of the new world order where some figures of authority in the world were trying to build a religion, economy, and government for the entire universe.

But the three clerics, Poju Oyemade, Sam Adeyemi and Matthew Ashimolowo, debunked Oyakhilomes claims at separate fora.

Ashimolowos angle

In a video, Ashimolowo, who is the senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre in London, explained that there was no correlation between 5G and end-time signs.

He warned Christians not to join Christian leaders in promoting conspiracy theories.

According to him, all those claims were conspiracy theories that had nothing to do with the anti-Christ.

He maintained that COVID-19 was a pandemic and must be dealt with as such.

If coronavirus is caused by 5G, why is it in his village that does not have a 5G?

It has always been the nature of Christian leaders to plant fear in their members whenever there was going to be a major world occurrence.

The church should be more concerned about preparing their members for the Second Coming of the Lord instead of condemning a major technological breakthrough.

Its fake news to associate 5G to coronavirus, he said.

Adeyemi and Oyemades angle

Adeyemi and Oyemade gave a vivid explanation of the 5G network and dispelled fears that it was linked to the antichrist.

Adeyemi, who is the senior pastor of the Daystar Christian Centre, said churches, mosques, schools, and markets were shut in Nigeria during the influenza pandemic which hit the world in 1918.

He shared his thoughts in an Instagram chat with Oyemade, who is the senior pastor of The Covenant Christian Center.

Mr Adeyemi said he studied how the 1918 pandemic affected Nigeria, so he could give perspective to his followers on the novel coronavirus disease.

Taking a question from Mr Oyemade on how a leader can handle a crisis like the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Mr Adeyemi said people were giving extreme interpretations of the crisis.

He added that the leaders role in a crisis is to give perspectives, stating that he studied the last global pandemic before COVID-19 to give the right perspective.

I went online, there was a pandemic 100 years ago, let me go and study it and check it out, because the interpretation that people are giving to this pandemic, they range from one extreme to the other, Mr Adeyemi said.

I dont even want to go into the details now, but theres quarrel on social media now; from 5G to 10G and other things. I decided to check, how did it affect Nigeria?

In 1918, there was a global pandemic caused by the Spanish flu, which spanned January 1918 to December 1920.

It was estimated to have infected 500 million people  about a quarter of the worlds population at the time and killed 50 million people worldwide.

Relating the 1918 pandemic to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Mr Adeyemi said: I found a research article by a history lecturer at the University at Birnin Kebbi. Beautiful research!

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I had to buy it. But I was happy buying it because when I read it, it was amazing, it dug into the British archives, all the records that the colonial officers kept.

[In] 1918 September, when the thing hit, the way air travel now is the main thing for global transportation and it was air travel that moved the coronavirus around, it was sea travel that spread influenza around then.

The ships that brought sick people into the Lagos port; I got the names, the dates they arrived, how it spread in Nigeria.

Id tell you the one that I saw and almost screamed, they closed churches, they closed mosques, they shut down schools, they shut down markets. 1918. So, some of us now think it is the anti-Christ that is at work, he does not want us to gather together and fellowship.

We should just be thanking God that we have the internet now and we can be relating without meeting together. They shut churches in 1918. So when the leader takes perspective like that, then you can calm people down and tell them there will be life after this thing.

mr Adeyemi said there are opportunities in every crisis, and it is the leaders duty to see the opportunities and not to project fear on his/her followers.

Apostle Suleman reacts

But the President of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, warned critics of Mr Oyakhilome against name-calling.

In a series of tweets, Mr Suleman said: I see many people online attacking Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. If you have a contrary opinion, state it clearly so you can be listened to or keep quiet, he said.

Insults, name-calling, character assassination are all proofs that you have nothing to say.

The full transcript of Mr. Oyakilomes video is presented below

In Nigeria for example, the federal government intervened and shut down Abuja and Lagos, even though the state government had already given their own instructions for the lockdown.

The federal government was pushed to lockdown Abuja and Lagos specifically. Why? Because of 5G in Abuja and Lagos. They already tested 5G in Abuja and they are engaging it already in Lagos. Thats the reason the federal government had to lockdown Abuja and Lagos. So the 5G could be installed. There are other cities planned for.

I have said before, what killed people in Wuhan, China was not the virus, it was the 5G. If you say its not, tell us how you discovered yours. This is the reality. Thats what killed them. I told you, what the world is dealing with right now is not a virus. The problem is not a virus. This is the biggest deception in the world. Its not a virus.

You cannot hide from a virus by staying in your house. Not after they told us it can live for four days on a dry surface. If it can live for four days on a dry surface, that means it can be borne of wind. That means it is airborne.

If it is airborne, you cant hide in your house. The bundle of contradictions is insulting to our intelligence. Its like they forget what they said the previous day, they forget what they said the week before.

Then they come up with something else. If you put all theyve been saying together, they just dont measure up. They are very unscientific. Its unbelievable that in a world if so much knowledge, this type of deception can actually take place.

What is the reason for social distancing? It is not because of infection. That is the easiest way to prevent protests. This is in the playbook. Its there, its part of the agenda. So when people think that they can infect themselves, they stay away from each other. This is what social distancing is about. So we dont communicate.

Because we are praying, I dont believe they can go much further before the whole structure of what theyre doing collapses, (speaks in tongue). This whole thing will collapse. By the power of the Holy Spirit, it will collapse. You are not in your houses because of COVID19. Youre not locked in your houses because of any virus. Its far from a virus.

Listen, Im not creating a conspiracy theory, Im saying there is a conspiracy. Im not theorizing. A theory is something that is not yet proven, so this is not a theory, its a proven reality.

Its a fact. Go out and check some of those streets where 5G has been tested. Youll find that while youre in your house, theyre planting the structure. They would not want to be seen or affected by traffic or by protest. The cleanest way is to keep you in your house.

If anyone says this is not true, let him prove it. The facts are available. The truth is clear. Check carefully, the picture that the media shows; thats why I said do your own research.

They carry photos from China, or from Italy, or Spain and show to the Americans, show to the British. You see things like oh this is really happening, but its not. They do not tell whats killing the people.

Two things are killing the people. The first one is where those 5G signals are being tested and have been turned on. A lot of people died. This is real. Number two, where are the people that normally got sick with the flu? Where are they? Nobody is talking about the flu right now.
The bipartisan movement calls for trade and easing of sanctions. To overcome the Covid-19 threat, divisions between governments must be overcome. In the Islamic Republic mosques and mausoleums transformed into centers for the production of masks and sanitary material.

Tehran (AsiaNews) - A bipartisan movement, made up of senior officials, politicians and diplomats from the United States and Europe, has launched a new appeal to the White House to facilitate humanitarian trade with Iran, essential to counter the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Islamic Republic is the most affected nation in the Middle East by the new coronavirus, with approximately 65 confirmed cases, just under 4 thousand victims and 30 thousand recovered.

To respond to the need for health supplies, the authorities have transformed mosques and historical places, including the mausoleum of Shah Cheragh into factories for the production of protective masks.

There have been repeated appeals to the US government to ease its policy of all out confrontation with heavy sanctions against Iran which have caused blockages and restrictions in sending medicines and basic necessities.

To stem sanctions, three European nations have used the Instex system for the first time in sending aid. And news of the sending of medical supplies to the United States, also overwhelmed by the pandemic, by groups of Iranian students, was reported in recent days.

The authors of the statement write "as the world grapples with COVID-19  the disease caused by the novel coronavirus  we must remember that an outbreak anywhere impacts people everywhere. In turn, reaching across borders to save lives is imperative for our own security and must override political differences among governments".

Among those who shared the appeal launched by the European Leadership Network and The Iran Project we find: the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini; Lord Desmond Browne of Ladytown, a former British defense minister; Paul O'Neill, former US Secretary of the Treasury and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Danish Prime Minister and former NATO Secretary General.

Aid, experts underline, cannot make up for a necessary (targeted) easing of some sanctions and this must take place "without preconditions". The US government, they continue, must take measures "immediately" to "facilitate humanitarian trade with Iran" and "support its ongoing efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic." Added to this is the expansion of the "scope of exemptions" for humanitarian reasons, including "the devices and equipment necessary to effectively combat" the new coronavirus.

Meanwhile, efforts are increasing in Iran to accelerate the production of masks and other basic medical equipment, to make up for the lack of supplies from abroad and to guarantee internal autonomy. For this reason, the mausoleum of Shah Cheragh (the King of Light) in Shiraz, in southern Iran, was temporarily converted (pictured) to a factory, inside which the female workforce is engaged full time in the creation of masks protective.

Not only sanctuaries, places of worship are also being transformed into production centers. In Tehran, the Imamzadeh-Masum mosque, south-west of the capital, welcomed a group of 40 women who, on a voluntary basis, decided to dedicate their time to the production of the protective healthcare masks and suits, in great demand worldwide because of the pandemic. As the seamstresses stitch, a team is in charge of cutting out and sorting the masks, which are placed in buckets. Other women fold and arrange the printed sheets of material as they are produced.

In another room of the place of worship, men sitting on prayer mats make plastic gloves with rudimentary heat-sealing devices.
Farmers in Ontario, Canada, paid tribute to health workers at the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, on April 8, amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Members of the agriculture community in Elgin County came together for a tractor drive-by to thank the health workers risking their lives to save those infected by the virus.

Ontario had reported 5,276 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on April 8, part of the 19,289 total cases reported in Canada on that date. Credit: Andrew Buttigieg via Storyful
Scammers trying to cash in on the coronavirus pandemic are setting up fake fundraising appeals pretending to be the grieving relatives of Covid-19 victims.

Families whose loved ones have sadly died due to contracting the virus have claimed their social media accounts have been hacked or cloned, with those taking over their pages asking Good Samaritans for their money.

The mother of one of the UK's youngest coronavirus victims has been targeted by the heartless scammers.

Diane Middleton lost her daughter Chloe Middleton last month and had previously warned people to be vigilant against the virus.

Chloe Middleton (pictured above) is believed to be one of the youngest coronavirus victims in the UK - she is thought to have had no underlying health conditions

The status Diane Middleton posted to Facebook regarding her account being hacked

The information in the fake fundraising page that used Mrs Middleton's words

On April 3, Mrs Middleton informed her Facebook followers that her account had been hacked.

Her post read: 'My Facebook account has been cloned, someone is pretending to be me and is asking for money.

'Do not give a penny and please spread the word and please report the account to Facebook'.

One person had used the details Mrs Middleton had used in a previous post about her daughter Chloe to set up a fundraising page for a woman called Chelsea McDonnell.

The text Mrs Middleton used, was used word for word on the GoFundMe page, which is still available on the site.

The organiser of the fund raiser was said to be based in Barking, London. However the Middleton family are based in Buckinghamshire.

According to The Sun, con artists also targeted another relative of a coronavirus victim.

Karen Marshall lost her sister Lindsay Marshall on April 4.

Lindsay Marshall is pictured left, her father Alan is centre and her sister Karen right

Karen Marshall said she had also been a victim of scammers trying to make money from her grief

Social media posts on Karen's Facebook page state she was 'sickened' that someone had tried to exploit the death of her sister.

Karen told Lancashire Live: 'It just sickens me to know that someone would use the loss of Lindsay to try to make them money, especially when the money we were raising was going to such a good cause.'

The fundraiser had been launched on 'Fundrazr' and has since been removed.

In a statement a spokesman said: 'At this time, many scammers are trying to take advantage of community goodwill and line their own pockets. By working together, we can stop them.'
In an Australian first, doctors and nurses can now test critically ill patients arriving at St Vincent's Hospital for coronavirus and receive results within an hour.

The rapid test means patients arriving at the emergency department with serious respiratory problems can be quickly assessed for COVID-19 and then sent to the right ward for treatment.

St Vincents Hospital registered nurse Damien Davis Frank holding one of the new rapid testing swabs for COVID-19. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Chief operating officer of research at the hospital, Associate Professor Philip Cunningham, said the test would be "enormously useful".

"At the moment, it's really for those acutely unwell coming in," he said. "When they need airway intervention immediately, to know whether they are positive or negative is essential for their management."
Massachusetts State Police are trying to identify a man found dead on Tuesday morning at Revere Beach. The body was found near the Oak Island Bath House by a nearby condominium resident.

As of right now, police do not have a cause of death, but further examination of the body has provided them with more clues into who the victim might be.

(He) is a male, approximately 30-40 years old, and roughly 511 tall," state police said in a statement. During the examination a metal plate was discovered in the mans lower back, indicating he has had lower back surgery in the past."

While police are still investigation the circumstances surrounding the mans death, they did say earlier this week that "the man may have washed onto the shore from the ocean.

Police ask anyone who know of a missing person fitting this description, or who may have information related to the case to call the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County at 617-727-8817.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:56:44|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Turkey have strengthened their mutual understanding and trust in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the solidarity will have a lasting effect on their relationship, Turkish experts have said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that China will continue to support Turkey in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in line with its needs, and facilitate its purchase of medical supplies in China.

Noting that the COVID-19 is spreading around the world and posing severe challenges to Turkey, Xi, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, expressed sincere sympathy and firm support to the Turkish government and people.

"This is an important conversation and the support that China is expressing (to Turkey) as a nation which is at the forefront of this fight, has to be praised in these extraordinary times," Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia Pacific Studies, told Xinhua.

"This exchange of views shows that mutual understanding and partnership between the two nations are not simply on a short-term basis for this pandemic," but are long-term, and will contribute to their existing relations, the professor of international relations said.

At a time when countries are banning medical supply exports, China's offer of support is much appreciated by Turkey, which has imposed strict restrictions to tackle the spread of the coronavirus among its population, he said.

According to data released Wednesday by the Turkish Health Ministry, 812 people have died while a total of more than 38,000 cases have been confirmed.

Noting that now is a time of stress tests for international relations, and that some nations are facing a lack of international solidarity and support, Colakoglu said Sino-Turkish ties are expected to become even stronger after the health crisis.

"We sincerely value our good cooperation with China in this crisis. They have been open to us throughout and shared their experience and knowledge about this disease which has no borders and is affecting everyone everywhere," a Turkish official said on the condition of anonymity.

"Our relations with China will be stronger after this pandemic. We don't consider our ties with Beijing on a temporary or a project basis. We see it going beyond that to a strong partnership, because we need each other," he told Xinhua.

He added that video-conferences were regularly being held between Chinese and Turkish doctors for exchanging views and therapy methods as well as progress on the disease.

Scholars have said that the pandemic has to be addressed globally with international cooperation and coordination instead of protective measures.

Altay Atli, an Istanbul-based Asia expert, said that the fight against the pandemic needs the engagement of each and every nation, including but not limited to the biggest and most powerful countries, which are generally seen as an anchor against traditional threats.

Atli told Xinhua that "restrictive measures would hit countries who rely the most on medical supplies and other goods and services needed during the pandemic."

Praising China's remarkable progress in epidemic control and assisting other countries in need, he said that China would play a "leading role" in the new world order that is expected to come about following the end of this pandemic with technological and digital breakthroughs.

Turkey and China have strengthened their trade cooperation and political dialogue in the last decade. China is currently Turkey's third largest trading partner after Russia and Germany.

The two countries have also expressed their willingness to maximize their cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a development initiative proposed by China in 2013 envisioning trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
Pentagon leaders anticipate that the coronavirus is likely to strike more Navy ships at sea after an outbreak aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific infected more than 400 sailors, a top general said on Thursday.

General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one member of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was hospitalised on Thursday in intensive care on Guam, where the carrier has been docked for more than a week.

He said 416 crew members are now infected and that 1,164 test results are pending.

"It's not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue," Hyten told a Pentagon news conference. "We have too many ships at sea. ... To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan."

He said the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier in port at Bremerton, Washington, preparing for a Pacific deployment, has an unspecified number of crew members who have the virus.

"There's been a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz, and we're watching that very closely before the Nimitz goes out," he said. "But it's not a huge breakout, it's not a big spike at this point."

Hyten said in addition to the 416 sailors who have tested positive so far, 3,190 have tested negative. Results from tests on the rest of the crew are pending, he said.

He said 2,700 crew members have been taken off the ship and are lodged "all over the island", which is a US territory. Those who have tested positive are being checked by medics twice a day.

More broadly, Hyten said the outbreak aboard the Roosevelt is an illustration that the military has to adapt.

"This will be a new way of doing business that we have to focus in on," he said, referring to the challenge of recruiting, training, deploying and potentially conducting combat amid the pandemic.

"We're adjusting to that new world as we speak today."

The outbreak aboard the Roosevelt began in late March and has thrust the Navy into a leadership crisis. Thomas Modly, who resigned Tuesday as acting Navy secretary, had fired the commander of the Roosevelt, Capt Brett E Crozier, for having widely distributed a letter urging faster action by the Navy to save his sailors.

Later, in a separate appearance, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that despite the outbreak aboard the Roosevelt, it could be put back to sea and returned to duty relatively quickly if required by world events.

Speaking along with Hyten at the Pentagon, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defence, told reporters the defence leaders realize the coronavirus is not going to be a short-term problem in the military.

"We're going to need to change and adapt because even over the coming months, the virus isn't going to go away," Norquist said. "We're going to have to be able to operate in a COVID environment."

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
By PTI

BEIJING: China has reported 63 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including 61 imported ones, raising concern of a second wave of infections as the country on Wednesday lifted more-than two-month lockdown of Wuhan, the origin point and epicentre for the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials said on Thursday.

The Chinese health authority said on Thursday that two deaths were also reported taking the total death toll in the country to 3,335.

The overall coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in the country.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Thursday it received reports of 63 new confirmed coronavirus cases on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, of which 61 were imported, taking the total tally to 1,104.

After nearly three months of grim battle against the coronavirus since January, China is fast returning to normalcy with factories and business humming back to activity amid concerns of a rebound due to steady rise of new infections especially coming from thousands of Chinese returning from abroad.

The 73-day lockdown of Wuhan was lifted by the authorities on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of people in Wuhan, the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic, began travelling out of the sprawling city.

However, two new domestic cases were reported in Guangdong Province.

Also on Wednesday, 56 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, including 28 from abroad, were reported on the mainland taking their total to 1,104.

Many of them were put under quarantine.

Asymptomatic coronavirus cases are those who test positive for the virus but do not show any symptoms and have the potential to cause sporadic clusters of infections.

As of Wednesday, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 1,103 imported cases.

Of the cases, 374 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 729 were being treated with 31 in severe condition, NHC said.

It said 73 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

Hubei province and its capital Wuhan from where the virus was first surfaced in December last year, reported two new deaths on Wednesday with no cases.

Wednesday was also a landmark day for Wuhan as ten of thousands of people of the 11 million city travelled by road, air and trains for the first time after Jan 23 lockdown as the government has lifted all cubs.

By Wednesday, 960 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 45 confirmed cases in the Macao and 379 in Taiwan including five deaths, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The virus, which first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, has since spread around the world infecting more than 1.4 million people, killing more than 82,000.
FLINT, MI -- The city and Genesee County are in talks that could turn a Flint hotel into emergency housing for homeless people with COVID-19.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Martin Cousineau said Wednesday, April 8, that federal Community Development Block Grant funds sent to the city and county to respond to the coronavirus emergency may be used to temporarily re-purpose the hotel if its necessary.

We have got people looking into that at this time, Cousineau, a Thetford Township Democrat, said after commissioners met Wednesday. Some of these (funds) may be able to be used for this project.

Cousineau said he believes the federal funds combined amount to more than $1 million and said county attorneys are working through paperwork that would be needed to administer the program through the county Emergency Management Department.

Officials involved in the talks said the emergency housing would only be used if there are a rush of cases that would require it.

The Holiday Inn Express is located on Longway Boulevard, near I-495 Highway. The hotel has 120 rooms, according the the Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerces Visitors and Convention Bureau.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach a representative of the hotel for comment, but similar emergency planning is going on across the country.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Los Angeles has embarked on a massive effort to bring thousands of homeless people off the streets and into hotels to protect them and others from infection. Chicago also has plans to reserve at least 1,000 hotel rooms through partnerships with five hotels, another effort aimed at relieving the pressure on hospitals that are the only option for the seriously sick.

Homeless numbers are expected to rise after stay-at-home orders have forced more people out of work, the AP reported.

The city of Flint said in a statement to MLive/The Flint Journal that responsibility for ensuring the community is prepared to handle the COVID-19 crisis lies with the countywide Emergency Operations Center, which the city is a part of.

We are responding proactively and continuing to push other agencies to help create solutions, Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in a written statement. We will do everything in our power to help residents get the services they need during this time of crisis."

The city said it has pushed for an additional emergency plan to be established in case current needs grow.

We will remain proactive, but also optimistic and prayerful that we will not need to engage these options. We also will continue strongly encouraging the task force to be fully prepared for the days ahead.

Noting that the amount of quarantine space is limited, the city of Flint pushed for an additional emergency plan in case the need outpaces that limited capacity.

The local plans being reviewed by the county task force includes one option that would rent out a local hotel for $100,000 a month at the citys expense, using federal grant dollars to care for homeless individuals who must be in quarantine but are not sick enough to be hospitalized, the citys statement says.

In the Flint area, shelters like Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties have said the demand for homeless services is increasing daily.

Shelters have been forced to set up their own areas for isolating homeless individuals who have or are presumed to have cornoavirus and have less capacity because of the need for social distancing.

The county reported 638 residents had tested positive for coronavirus as of Tuesday, April 7.

Also on Wednesday, the American Hotel and Lodging Association announced that more than 15,000 hotels have signed up for its new initiative  Hospitality for Hope  which identifies hotel properties that have offered to provide temporary housing for emergency and healthcare workers.

The same program could also make hotels available as alternative care sites such as an emergency hospital or place for those quarantined to stay if needed.

75 new coronavirus cases in Genesee County; 6 deaths in Saginaw County now

Catholic Charities grapples with helping Flint homeless amid coronavirus pandemic

7 more coronavirus deaths in Flint area, first fatal cases reported in Lapeer County
Two Queenslanders are being checked for COVID-19 each minute, on average, after the state expanded testing in predicted hot spots earlier this week.

A total of 3000 people were tested across the state on Wednesday, with 10 returning positive results.

Of the 66,700 Queenslanders tested since the pandemic began, a total of 953 have returned a positive result.

Health authorities say 372 infected people have since recovered.
In a small Ohio town about 30 minutes north of Cincinnati, a TV reporter approached a woman who was driving away from Palm Sunday service.

Arent you concerned you can infect other people if you get sick inside? CNNs Gary Tuchman asked.

No, the unidentified woman said. Im covered in Jesus blood.

Ohio has a stay-at-home order, but churches are exempt. It is still against the recommendation of health officials to gather in crowds.

In Indiana, church offices can remain open as a designated essential business, but they are required to abide by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which prohibit more than 10 people gathering together.

This would throw tradition off kilter for anyone who goes to church, but now is an especially inconvenient time for churches to close because of Easter.

For Stanley Hubbard, pastor at Kingsley Terrace Church of Christ, theres a silver lining to not being able to get together at churches like what would normally happen on Easter Sunday.

Big hats and extravagant clothes arent important at all to Easter, Hubbard said. The same thing applies to bunnies and eggs. Its all irrelevant to Jesus rising from the dead. If no one can get together at church, the thinking goes, maybe the focus will return to where it should have been all along.

Theres something about crisis in life that makes you get rid of all the fluff and makes you focus on whats real, Hubbard said.

People tend to think theyre in control of their lives, he added, and its times like these that serve as a stark reminder that, no, people have no control at all.

In fact, Hubbard said, Weve never been in control.

For those who are concerned that Easter just wont mean as much this year without the church service and family gatherings, no one can tell you youre wrong. Those are personal feelings, and theyre probably tied strongly to tradition.

Hubbard and others are trying to remind their congregations that the physical church just serves as a convenient meeting space. The real church  the one that makes a difference  is the people.

Are we closing the church? Hubbard asked. No. The church is the people; therefore it never closes.

Thats the same way Pastor Denell Howard feels.

Howard, at Hovey Street Church of Christ, detests Easter as a pagan holiday thats phenomenal for capitalist Christianity because people spend big money on suits and dresses. Its one of three days of the year that draws whats referred to as the CME crowd: those who only go to church on Christmas, Mothers Day and Easter.

But even if youre someone who wants an extravagant show of faith, Howard said its not that big of a deal that you cant be at a physical church on Easter Sunday.

We have a pandemic right now, he said, so whether people can go to a house of worship on Easter is not a concern.

Howard pointed out that the Greek word for church  ecclesia  refers to a group of faithful people. Its a compound word that means to call out. It wasnt until later that the word came to signify an actual assembly.

Howards prayer for people during this time:

Consider the God of heaven, he said. Consider what Easter is really about. Consider the sacrifice. Consider what sacrifices are they willing to make for family and friends.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Uttarakhand government on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to the next of the kin of its officials, employees and people who have lost their lives while carrying out their duties during coronavirus outbreak.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office said, "Uttarakhand government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs each to the next of the kin of the government officials, government employees and all corona warriors who may lose their lives while carrying out their duties during the coronavirus."

State Finance Secretary Amit Negi said the same compensation also applies to media persons.

"The compensation will also be given to the next of the kin of media persons in Uttarakhand if they get infected while carrying out their duties during the coronavirus," Negi said.

The state finance secretary stated that if any government officials, employees or media persons are infected with the virus then their treatment cost will be borne by the state government.

In addition to that, the state government also announced that it will release Rs. 10 crore from the Chief Minister's relief fund to the state medical education department in wake of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VANCOUVERFor Naila Waheed, the 14-hour plane ride was the home stretch, the moment she felt like her family had made it back to Canada. But the preceding two weeks of despair and anxiety will stick with her for some time.

Now shes worried about the family she left in Pakistan who are among thousands of Canadians trying to get home but dealing with unreliable flights or even a complete lack of them. If you can find one on Pakistan International Airlines, the price is extreme, she said.

I know so many people that ended up paying $3,000 per ticket even though they already had a ticket, Waheed said. They were being told this is a special flight and you have to buy them fresh.

She saw one family at the airport shell out $12,000 to get home. Throughout Pakistan, Canadians there are worried about how to return to Canada as Pakistan remains locked down attempting to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Canadian consulate helped organize some flights for Canadians, but those still in the country say more are needed.

Waheed spent weeks trying to get home to Milton. The effort included a tense hours-long wait with her husband and 15-month-old daughter at the airport while her flight was continually delayed. All the while, she feared it would be cancelled.

Flights are harder to get due to a pilots strike, now rumoured to be over. But as of Thursday morning the reality of the situation was still unknown to many.

Theres all sorts of stories going on, Waheed said. I dont even know what the truth is.

Now, at self-isolation at home with her family, she stresses about her parents in-law finding a way back to Canada. Their daily grind of searching for a flight home continues, she said.

Theyre just so anxious to get back as well, she said. Theyre offering flights for April 20 and onward and the prices are ridiculous  $4,000 per person for one way.

In Karachi, Abdullah Ayaz Mullanee, of Toronto, is waiting for a flight to open so he and his wife can make it home. He and other family members arrived in the country in early March to help sick grandparents.

Mullanee is a mullah who runs an online institute and the slower internet speed where he is prevents him from working much.

He said there are thousands of Canadians on social media in Pakistan trying to figure out how to get home. Among those is one couple he knows expecting a child who made a tough decision to stay and deliver in Pakistan.

The problem is flights open up and people book them then they get cancelled, he said. So, its really risky to book a flight.

Mullanee said the Ottawa should be in talks with Air Canada to try to get flights to Pakistan, and if they wont do that, at least make it clear such flights wont be happening.

Diplomats in the country seem overwhelmed, he said.

He said its apparent Canadas High Commission in Pakistan are trying to help but said there are thousands of Canadians there and communication is poor.

Mullanee said he fears hell have thousands in debt to pay off by the time he does get home.

Global Affairs Canada did not reply to an email asking if more flights were to be arranged to bring Canadians back from Pakistan.

In mid-March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to come home as the COVID-19 pandemic gained international momentum. Canadians abroad complained of the difficulties in getting flights back to Canada as airlines cancelled them.

Since then, Canadas consulates abroad have worked to arrange flights to bring thousands of Canadians back to the country, but many have complained of high costs. Ottawa has said it negotiated with Canadian airlines to run the flights at cost.

In Milton, Waheed said she is relieved to be home.

Shed feel better if her family was on their way and wants the Canadian government to help arrange more flights.

At this point, one or two flights isnt going to cut it, she said. Im still worried about them, hoping theyll get back soon. Safely.

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The Kwara State Government on Thursday announced a total lockdown on the state in a renewed effort to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), exactly 48 hours after it took a similar step in Offa local government.

The government said violators of the pronouncement may face prosecution in line with the state regulations on the pandemic  except vehicles carrying goods and services such as food and drugs and categories earlier exempted in a recent address by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The administration also commended Abuja and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their technical supports, including recently helping to strengthen governments response team and training of its LGA disease surveillance and notification officers (DSNOs) on COVID-19 preparedness, response and surveillance.

The government, however, said a total lockdown was necessary to flatten the curve of transmission at this time.

The government hereby bans all vehicular movements, including private and commercial vehicles, from 6 p.m. tomorrow, Friday 10 April, 2020, Kayode Alabi, Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Technical Committee on COVID-19, told a news briefing in Ilorin, the state capital.

The only exceptions are commercial trucks carrying goods and services who would operate with absolute respect for social distancing and other COVID-19 safety protocols. All kinds of shops, bars, pubs, and markets are hereby shut until further notice. Markets where foods and medications are sold will open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, between 10 a.m. and 2p.m.

Contractors working on government projects are allowed to proceed to work with no more than 20 workers on site at one time.

The total lockdown is for initial 14 days and may be reviewed as government monitors the situation, he added.

He said previous restrictions remain and would be enforced.

Commending the federal government and the WHO, Mr Alabi said the NCDC has sent down a crack team of experts to strengthen its capabilities to combat the spread of the virus.

The government also commends the World Health Organisation for the recent training of our health officials across the 16 local government areas on community-level COVID preparedness, response and surveillance. All our LGA Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) are now back in their localities to do a step down training for community informants and focal persons, he said.

Mr Alabi also expressed strong disapproval of the alleged stigmatisation of COVID-19 patients or other persons and communities on account of their contacts with any patient.

He warned that anyone caught doing so may be prosecuted in line with the regulation and relevant laws.

His words: The government is dismayed by reports of some people stigmatising the families, relations and acquaintances of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19. This development is not only unhealthy but it is in fact inimical to the efforts to trace contacts and flatten the curve of transmission of the virus.

As was aptly observed by His Excellency in his live press briefing of Tuesday April 8, the government repeats clearly that contracting COVID-19 is neither a death sentence nor a crime. Anyone who has contracted it is a victim of an unknown enemy. They are not villains to be stigmatised. Just anyone can be victim of the deadly virus. All the patients and their families are persons to be catered for at this time. This is a tough time for them and nobody will be allowed to add to their worries!

We state also that the government has carefully refused to mention the names of patients or their families. It has accorded the patients and their families all the rights, privileges and confidentiality due to them under relevant laws and ethics. The government will not hesitate to prosecute anyone found guilty of stigmatising patients and communities, or robbing them of their dignity. We warn that sharing of the picture of any COVID-19 patient qualifies as a crime and government will treat the despicable characters behind it as suspected criminals going forward.

We assure the public that everything is being done to prevent community transmission and there is no use destroying years of community peace and relationships in the guise of identifying (COVID-19) contacts, whether primary or secondary. The cases at the isolation centre are stable and without any symptoms, and are getting the right care and support every step of the way.

Fellow Kwarans, we repeat that this is no time to panic. Please stay calm. The Government will do everything to keep you safe. But we also need you to play your own role. Stay at home. Keep social distancing. Avoid crowd. Prioritise personal hygiene. And please do not spread unverified news. Once again, we pray for all those infected to get well soon. We assure them of getting the best care possible. We also thank all our healthcare givers for their priceless contribution to humanity. We are grateful to all of you and we urge you to do your best for us at this time and always.

Rafiu Ajakaye

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor/

Spokesman of the Technical Committee on COVID-19
Statement by Tanaiste on the investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria

Press release

Statement by Tanaiste Simon Coveney, T.D. on the investigation into

the use of chemical weapons in Syria

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published the first report of its Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) on 8 April 2020. The report addresses the use of chemical weapons in Ltamenah, Syria in March 2017.

Responding to the publication, the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney TD, said:

I welcome the first report of the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) which represents an important step in tackling impunity for the use of chemical weapons. The report found that the Syrian Air Force was responsible for the use of chemical weapons on three occasions in March 2017 in Ltamenah, Syria, affecting at least 106 persons. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. International investigations are an important first step towards accountability and an end to impunity. I commend the work of the IIT, work which strengthens efforts to improve respect for, and implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention globally. Ireland supports the ongoing work of the IIT in investigating other incidents of chemical weapons use.

Even in the current crisis, the suffering of the Syrian people, who have endured more than nine years of war, is not forgotten. At a time like this, when we are more conscious than ever of the vital work done by health staff, it is unconscionable that hospitals and health facilities in Syria have frequently come under attack in the course of this brutal conflict. Ireland will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to address the needs of the Syrian people.

ENDS

Press Office

9 April 2020

Notes to Editors

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) was established in 2018 by the Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere if requested. This first report focuses on the incidents of chemical weapons use in Ltamenah, Syria on 24, 25 and 30 March 2017 and is available here

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Steve Francis, General Manager of Sol, says his company makes it its business to give top priority to the caring for the health and safety of its team members, customers and the community.

Sol EC Ltd. (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), supplier of fuels, lubricants, bitumen and LPG, is recognizing those who, on a daily basis, leave their places of abode to go out of their way to provide health care to communities across the state.





The Company is especially recognizing those health care personnel who are currently on the frontline of the national effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, cause of the COVID-19 disease.





And to demonstrate this recognition and support, Sol EC Ltd (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) is contributing $10,000 XCD in fuel vouchers to the Ministry of Health.





The vouchers are valid from April 6, 2020 and are redeemable at all Sol service stations towards fuel purchases.

"We take our corporate responsibility seriously and are mindful of the vital role that our products and services play in the communities in which we operate, Steve Francis, General Manager of Sol expressed in a release made available earlier this week.





Francis added: "This is just our way of saying thanks and supporting those individuals helping others.





Francis assured that "We (Sol) are committed to the health and safety of our team members, customers and the community as a top priority. We are focused on maintaining a continued, healthy work environment, and have taken extensive preventative measures to protect our staff and their families from exposure to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), to ensure that we continue to provide our products and services safely to our customers.




Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 17:47:34|Editor: huaxia

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LILONGWE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Malawi needs nearly 194 mln US dollars to foot a National COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan worth 203 million dollars, health minister Jappie Mhango, said Wednesday.

The minister disclosed this during the official launch of the Plan in Malawi capital, Lilongwe, where he sounded an SOS, and appealed for support.

"The resource gap is evidently huge, considering that as of 7th April, 2020, the country had already registered eight confirmed cases, with one death; and the virus may further spread to most parts of the country owing to the fact that the infected may have made contact with several people before testing positive." he said.

The minister appealed to the donor community, humanitarian partners, the private sector, and all stakeholders working in disaster risk management or the health sector, among others to support the resource mobilization process and implementation of the plan.

He gave an assurance that the funds will be used for their intended purpose and that financial statements will be made public for transparency and accountability's sake.

According to the minister, so far Malawi has run 200 samples and confirmed eight cases (one death) of COVID-19.

But the Minister of Health expressed fears that the situation can turn worse if necessary measures are not put in place to fight the pandemic.

"The current modeling on the potential impact of the coronavirus shows that, without necessary interventions, Malawi can be hit hard by the virus and the mortality can be up to 50,000 deaths," said the minister.

Four of the eight people who tested positive for COVID-19 had travel history of India, the UK and South Africa while the other four were transmitted locally, according to health authorities.
As doctors and nurses at UMass Memorial work to treat COVID-19 patients, the health care systems CEO said the system has fallen victim to price gouging of protective gear.

UMass Memorial Health Care, like hospital systems across the country, is struggling to make sure there is enough personal protective gear, or PPE, for doctors, nurses and staff responding to the COVID-19 crisis, CEO Dr. Eric Dickson has said.

And in the pursuit of PPE, Dickson said the system has been scammed by sellers.

We have been burned a couple of times already in our desperation to make sure that we have all the PPE our staff needs," Dickson said during a virtual town hall seminar last week.

UMass Memorial is among hospitals that have filed 65 complaints to the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, reporting price gouging of PPE, officials said Wednesday afternoon.

This horrible virus has brought out the best in people but its also brought out the worst in people, Dickson said during the town hall. There are people coming up with fraudulent PPE that theyre trying to sell to us, asking for cash prior to the shipping of the equipment.

Healeys office said it is looking into the complaints of price gouging.

On March 20, the attorney generals office passed an emergency regulation prohibiting price gouging of essential goods during an emergency.

Weve heard from hospitals and consumers about skyrocketing prices for things like hand sanitizer, face masks, and other essential gear needed to prevent the spread of this highly contagious virus and keep our front-line workers safe. Thats unacceptable and illegal, Healey said in a statement announcing the regulation. We issued this emergency regulation because no one should be exploiting this crisis and putting the public at risk.

Since then, Healeys office said it has received hundreds of complaints.

The attorney generals office has been working outreach to businesses or sellers who have been reported for alleged price gouging. The office is gathering information about the price of the products before the pandemic compared to now and is asking them to explain any higher prices, officials said.

Businesses and sellers that violate the regulation can be ordered to pay restitution, up to $5,000 penalty per violation, and other injunctive relief, Healeys office said.

Price gouging can be reported to the attorney generals office online.

Related Content:
Making Sense of the 2020 Census

We know all lives matter, but are all lives being counted? In 1909, the inception of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) charged the nation to re-evaluate their stance on African American lives in response to the ongoing violence across the country. Since their birth, the NAACP continues to make strides in the best interest of African Americans, one of which being their work centered around the decennial Census.

Through means of educating, recruiting and filing a lawsuit against the federal government, the NAACP demands for the African American population to be counted as much as possible in the 2020 Census. The United States Census determines the distribution of political power and money by quantifying the American people and allocating funds to healthcare, housing, and education programs in addition to government services.

The United States Census affects the livelihood of everyone, especially the undercounted. Past surveys have shown that Latinos, African Americans, non-English speakers, non-traditional families, and those with informal living arrangements are the hardest to calculate. Poor policy-making decisions, equal employment opportunities, and the alleviation of poverty within the aforementioned groups are the results of miscounting communities and individuals.

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The United States Census affects everyone, especially the Undercounted.

For every community not counted, $100,000-$200,000 that would have gone towards advancing their economic, political and societal position is lost. Funds that would have gone towards erasing the poverty line, securing housing, monitoring discriminatory practices, and enforcing civil rights laws. Undercounted communities have little to no representation because they are not prioritized.

According to the Census Bureau post-enumeration survey, 800,000 African Americans went uncounted. What does this mean? It means once again, the voice of African Americans was denied. Many programs that impact African Americans are based in whole or part on data derived from the Census. History proves the disenfranchisement of Black people socially, politically and financially. Another ten years cannot pass before we realize how vital the United States Census is to the United States democracy.

The children are the future.

Since the United States last decennial Census, the array of events, movements, and tragedies that have sprung across the nation have left citizens all over in disarray. In the first month of 2010, the worlds deadliest earthquake struck the Island of Haiti. 2013 birthed the Black Lives Matter movement after the acquittal of George Zimmerman. In 2016, the United States greeted their Republican President, Donald Trump.

The list of terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and injustices that have shadowed America in our past decade should not cloud the advancements and heights the country has yet to reach. In each of these instances, the opinion, vote, and livelihood of someone was taken away either through corrupt politics, natural disasters, or premeditated motive. As we move into our new decade, the younger generation must be aware of the world around them and the voice they have in changing it.

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The children are the future is not a coined phrase that should be taken lightly. All generations should be concerned with completing the Census, yet Generation Z and the Millennial generation have a far greater duty. There have already been financial constraints within the Census Bureau, which puts the African American community at risk of being undercounted. Remaining informed and educating members of Congress, in addition to state and local leaders about the issues of the African American community, is crucial in producing desired results.

We know all lives matter, but all lives have not been counted. The work of the NAACP and the Leadership Conference Education Fund, to name a few, have been doing the work to promote and protect the civil and human rights of citizens. As the 2020 Census makes its way to our mailboxes and computer screens, I charge you, my reader, to ensure you and your family will be counted!
COVID-19 and radio amateurs in IARU Region 2 After the COVID-19 pandemic began, up to April 2, 2020 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has reported 247,473 confirmed cases and 5,600 deaths in America



It has been considered that COVID-19 has had an impact on the economy of thousands of people. Due to its high level of infection, governments have established quarantine measures among those adopted to prevent virus propagation among the population. At global level, this has affected the education of more than 90 % of students due to the closing of schools (more than 1.5 billion of children and youths).



Radio Amateurs



In America, radio amateurs have commented that they have been following the isolation measures in their homes and in their community, and that they maintain the distance of two meters from one person to another and avoid attending social gatherings. Radio clubs are using virtual meetings via web.



In most countries in the region, people have commented that they have been quarantined in their homes for more than 2 weeks without going out, which has led to some degree of anxiety and to an increase in food consumption or to loss of appetite and insomnia.



Communication networks



Due to COVID-19, there has been an increase in the use of social communication media among the population, as well as use of virtual classes implemented by several education institutions at all levels, given that students must remain at home.



So far, radio amateurs in most American countries have reported no problems in their Internet service to send and receive messages. However, there have been some reports of deficient VoIP communications in several conventional Internet applications at certain hours of the day.



Message network



For about three weeks now, radio amateurs have implemented a chat message network using an Internet app, formed by emergency communications representatives from several IARU R2 member societies, forming groups for South America; the Caribbean (which also includes RAC in Canada) and the Winlink Technical Support Group (which includes the member societies of Central America, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores).



With Federacion de Radio Aficionados de Cuba (FRC), communication has been maintained via regular email with Prof. Arnaldo Coro, CO2KK, Area C Emergency Coordinator and with Dr. Carlos A. Santamaria, CO2JC, FRC Emergency Coordinator.



VoIP Radio amateur Communication Networks



For approximately one year, Central American member societies have implemented the FRACAP VoIP Echolink Network, where radio amateurs from Central America and the United States usually reporting. Besides, the Americas Digital Network in the VoIP DMR mode (sponsored by Radio Club de Chile), with reports of radio amateurs from Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile in this network.



Frans, J69DS, from St. Lucia, has provided support in the compilation of VoIP EchoLink/IRLP nodes with their VHF frequencies in several Caribbean islands.



ITU Winlink Network for the Americas



The ITU Winlink RMS node network in Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic is currently in operation, thanks to coordination from Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (Jonathan Remba, XE1BRX, and Alfonso Tamez, XE2O); Mike Burton, XE2/N6KZB, from the Winlink development group; Miguel Alcaine, ITU Area D Representative and Rodrigo Robles, ITU Region 2 Emergency Representative, and to representatives of the Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic member societies that form the Winlink technical support group.



In Curacao, Brett Ruiz, PJ2BR, VERONA President, has provided support to create the e-mail address list of the Winlink network of radio amateurs residing the Caribbean islands. Besides, Brett commented that he has been able to connect via HF using Winlink to the HI8COE node in the Dominican Republic.



Individually, several radio amateurs have reported that they have helped other radio amateurs, via web conferences, PEER TO PEER, from other countries with the installation of the Winlink Express user program and in the delivery and reception of conventional and IARU-format messages through the Telnet mode as an initial form of learning about the use of the Winlink global network.



Eng. Rodrigo Robles (ITU) has indicated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken in several Caribbean islands, there can be a delay in the installation of the RMS HF/VHF nodes that ITU had planned for installation in seven Caribbean islands.



Radio Amateur HF Net



Radio Club de Chile, Liga Colombiana de Radio Aficionados, and Club de Radio Experimentadores de Nicaragua, through the EMCOR IARU R2 chat group, have provided the list of frequencies in the different HF bands and VHF repeater frequencies that could be used in case the conventional Internet service failed due to the saturation of cells or problems in the cloud of the e-mail servers.



Conclusion



For radio amateurs in Region 2, the COVID-19 pandemic is an experience that has affected our homes, communities and countries in different ways. Besides, it has rekindled the solidarity and support that radio amateurs can offer to their communities, neighboring countries, governments and NGOs involved in relief work, via the amateur radio stations installed in our homes, with the use of communication networks via radio and/or the different VoIP modes used by the radio amateurs as an alternate communication channel for the delivery and reception of messages from diverse origins.



73



Cesar Pio Santos Andino, HR2P

IARU R2 EMCOR



IARU Region 2 https://iaru-r2.org/
First discovered in the 1960s, Cannabigerol (CBG), a once rare, non-psychoactive molecule from which hundreds of other cannabinoids are derived, recently gained momentum as more companies and brands like Avicanna Inc. (OTC: AVCNF) learn of the molecules therapeutic benefits in over-the-counter and pharmaceutical applications.

According to recent investigations by Avicanna, CBG has similar properties to CBD, acting as a competitive partial agonist for cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system and immune cells.

In a comment on the molecule, Avicanna CEO Aras Azadian said: We know through our own research that CBG has a higher affinity to the endocannabinoid system (EDC) receptors and is showing significant potential in many disease areas.

In testing, the molecule acts as an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial agent that regulates mood and mitigates disease-related pain. Despite CBGs immense benefits, many firms find it difficult to produce, given that it is rarely expressed in common cultivars.

It takes thousands of pounds of biomass to create small amounts of CBG isolate, said Steves Goods CEO James Rowland to Forbes. Thats because most hemp only contains minute percentages of CBG, whereas there are now hemp strains that contain 20% CBD in the crop. If the CBG content of the same crop is only 1%, that means you need to extract 20 times the amount of biomass to get the same amount of CBG out.

Testing Breeds Results

Innovative breeding techniques have led to optimized cultivars including those with significantly higher amounts of rare cannabinoids. Companies that have been able to successfully bring to market solutions include American Hempseed, which recently announced an offer of certified feminized seeds with 15% CBG and compliant THC levels to global markets and farmers.

Years of breeding excellence has allowed us to breed out THC levels, and increase the levels of CBG in what is now a stabilized genetic ready for the 2020 harvest, said AHS representative Stuart Matthews.

Story continues

In total, armed with industry-wide research and advancements spearheaded by firms such as AHS, farmers will better be able to act on recent regulatory evolution and prevailing industry sentiment to plant genetically superior hemp seeds, and cultivate at large scale.

Navigating Tumultuous Times

With firms like Avicanna and American Hempseed helping democratize cannabis-specific farming and improve accessibility to medically life-changing cannabinoids, concerns have been shifted to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In short, the crisis has prompted mass layoffs and business closures, forcing unemployment claims in excess of 6 million.

Restaurant and business owners like Jeremy Sasson, have laid off many workers, and closed venues completely.

We found ourselves in a position where, two weeks prior to these transitions, we were already seeing sales compression, Sasson said.

We had to lay off hundreds of team members and furlough many others.

Despite the recent developments, cannabis demand has persisted, with states like Illinois running into a supply crunch.

"The demand we are seeing in our Illinois Sunnyside stores is very strongon par with what we were seeing at the launch of recreational sales in January, but because of the social distance process we have implemented, we are not able to meet that consumer demand on a daily basis, said Jason Erkes, a Cresco Labs Inc. (OTC: CRLBF) spokesman.

The demand pop is a relief to farmers as planting season nears. Premium seed suppliers such as American Hempseed are already seeing an increased interest in CBG seeds, and as a boost, Avicanna will actively offer its Cannabinoid API which includes finished white-label and bulk formulation products.

The potential for new revenue streams in the cannabis value chain exists in cannabinoids such as CBG. These cannabinoids will provide farmers, brands and retailers the ability to deliver better consumer and medical solutions in the dermatological, gastroenterological, and mental health areas.

For more information visit https://americancbgseeds.com.

Photo by Aphiwat chuangchoem from Pexels.

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The county has approved an emergency purchase of personal protective equipment for the Medical Examiners Office as deaths due to COVID-19 continue to rise.

On Wednesday, Michigan became the third state in the country to report more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the outbreak began one month ago. In the county, more than 700 cases and 39 deaths due to the virus have been reported.

County commissioners agreed to the emergency $10,327 purchase in a teleconference meeting Wednesday, April 8.

The equipment being requested has been sanctioned by the Center for Disease Control and will be used for cases (autopsies) that are suspected of COVID-19, Purchasing Administrator Derrick Jones said in an email to commissioners.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach Dr. Brian Hunter, the countys medical examiner, for comment on Thursday, April 9.

But the National Association of Medical Examiners has reported shortages of personal protective equipment among its members that the organization says are concerning, particularly of N-95 masks.

Shortages are extending to other PPE such as gloves, gowns, and face shields. We are not aware of any offices yet, that dont have PPE, NAME says in a posting on its web site. Most offices seem to be conserving PPE, as in using masks for longer time periods or for more autopsies than in the past."

NAME says there is little scientific concern about contracting COVID-19 while performing an autopsy in full PPE. The risk of acquiring COVID-19 is greater in the community than in the autopsy room," the organization says.

The CDC says that during autopsies, the following PPE should be worn at a minimum: nonsterile, nitrile gloves when handling potentially infectious materials; if there is a risk of cuts, puncture wounds, or other injuries that break the skin, heavy-duty gloves over the nitrile gloves; a clean, long-sleeved fluid-resistant or impermeable gown to protect skin and clothing; and a plastic face shield or a face mask and goggles to protect the face, eyes, nose, and mouth from splashes of potentially infectious bodily fluids.

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

75 new coronavirus cases in Genesee County; 6 deaths in Saginaw County now

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
It was late March, the coronavirus was spreading, people were still getting on planes to go on vacation, and flight attendants were posting on Facebook that yes, they had contracted the virus themselves.

A Frontier Airlines flight attendant said the question hit her: We are still flying?

We are testing positive," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her job. "Something needs to be done.

While the volume of passengers at U.S. airports has plummeted, one union representing American Airlines flight attendants offered a glimpse this week of the number of coronavirus infections in their ranks: About 100 flight attendants for Philadelphias dominant carrier have tested positive.

Confirmed cases will increase without a doubt, the union told members Monday.

Sara Nelson, president of a separate union, the Association of Flight Attendants, said Wednesday that at least 150 flight attendants at other airlines have tested positive for the virus.

 READ MORE: SEPTA is beginning a lifeline schedule, closing stations and limiting service Thursday

We believe that that is underreported, Nelson said in a video message to her members. At least 1,000 flight attendants are in self-quarantine because of exposure to the coronavirus, she said.

One Philadelphia-based flight attendant who tested positive died last month: 65-year-old Paul Frishkorn, who worked for American.

Anxiety levels are at an all-time high, said Julie Hedrick, national president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents 27,000 American Airlines workers.

Those worries are highlighted in posts to private Facebook groups where flight attendants have shared stories of getting the dreaded phone call about a passenger they flew with testing positive, or having to quarantine alone in a hotel.

 HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you.

Others have lamented how hard it is to get tested, even for flight attendants, who are considered essential workers during a crisis that has shut down wide swaths of the U.S. economy. Some are angry about cheap airline tickets that tempt passengers to fly unnecessarily during a global pandemic.

Then theres the larger uncertainty that is becoming a hallmark for workers still on the job as the virus spreads: As the Frontier flight attendant put it: Every day, every flight that you take, you dont know if this is the day youre going to get it.

Both the Frontier flight attendant and a second who asked that her employer not be identified said theyd like to see more flights grounded, and employees told to stay home, during the pandemic.

The Frontier flight attendant acknowledged its a divisive topic in group chats with colleagues. Some people are just so concerned about the job and the money, she said. And some are worried about their health, about their families, about their children.

Flight attendants might be sick and not know for days," said Hedrick of the APFA. "In the meantime, they continue to work and then return home to their families.

In its message to members on Monday, the union said Americans response to coronavirus has been reactive rather than proactive, and that the company repeatedly downplayed the unions concerns, first raised in January.

 READ MORE: I feel like Ive been benched: For 9 people in the Philadelphia region, this is what it means to be jobless during the pandemic

Hedrick said the APFA has consistently advocated for access to personal protective equipment, social distancing on planes, and taking temperatures of passengers and crew in airports.

Last weekend, American told flight attendants the company will start providing masks and that front-line employees are also allowed to use scarves and bandannas as face coverings. American has also limited food and beverage service on flights through April 30 and is blocking off 50% of standard middle seats and all seats adjacent to flight attendant jump seats, a company spokesperson said.

Flight attendants are eligible for a two-week paid pandemic leave if they test positive, are waiting for test results, or are told to quarantine by a doctor or health officials. Some employees are also eligible for voluntary leave with a partial salary, the company said.

The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, American said in a statement. We are in close contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health officials, and are coordinating with them on any required health and safety related measures. We continue to look at all ways we can care for  and protect  our team during this stressful time.

Frontier said it has given masks and gloves to all flight attendants, implemented a system to monitor for potential coronavirus exposure, and offered voluntary leaves with partial pay. The airline said it had increased heavy cleaning of planes, and recently started using a fogging disinfectant to kill viruses on surfaces.

A Frontier spokesperson also pointed to a change this week: Passengers are now required to certify that they have not exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus in the last 14 days, that they will check their temperature before going to the airport, and that they wont travel if they have a fever.

We have standing scheduled calls with the Association of Flight Attendants three times a week and sometimes more, if needed, so that we can communicate on and react to any specific concerns that are being raised by flight attendants, Frontier said in a statement.

Meanwhile, unions are decrying unnecessary flights. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 50,000 employees at 20 airlines, has called for a halt to leisure travel, while allowing flights that support essential services to continue.

 READ MORE: Construction continued in South Philly despite Gov. Wolfs coronavirus shutdown. At least two workers have tested positive.

Hedrick agrees. Transporting medical personnel and supplies by plane is necessary, she said, however, leisure travel and more flights than absolutely needed at this point puts our flight attendants at continued risk, and does not help with the containment of the virus.

Frontier said it will not be operating the vast majority of our original flight schedule for the month of April.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration did not directly respond to questions about whether the U.S. Department of Transportation is considering limits on leisure flights. The agency referred to guidance for airlines and flight crews, issued March 12, that gives advice on self-monitoring for symptoms, practicing social distancing during layovers, and using private transportation between airports and hotels.

We have some flight attendants who are very sick right now, Nelson said Wednesday. And they need our support. They need our good thoughts and our prayers, and they also need us to listen to them, that we need to take this very seriously.
Acyl fluorides are organic compounds that contain a fluorine atom in their structure. These compounds have recently gained much attention in transition-metal catalysis due to their stability and selective reactivity. However, their commercial production remains a challenge. A group of researchers in Tokyo have found a way to generate complex acyl fluorides from widely available acyl fluorides through a reversible reaction, with the rare metal palladium at the core of this process.

In organic chemistry, metals have recently gained attention for their roles as catalysts of a variety of reactions where two different starting materials are joined together, generally known as cross-coupling reactions. Acyl fluorides are a special type of carbon compounds that contain fluorine in their structure. They are very important in various cross-coupling reactions due to their stability and reactivity, as evidenced by the increasing amount of research reporting their relevance.

Because of their central role in these reactions, synthesis of acyl fluorides is an important research topic explored by chemists worldwide. Scientists have already devised several techniques to synthesize acyl fluorides using metal catalysts, but using a simple acyl fluoride as a reagent for the synthesis of complex acyl fluorides is not explored.

Junior Assoc Prof Yohei Ogiwara, Prof Norio Sakai, and Shintaro Hosaka, a group of scientists from the Tokyo University of Science, had previously identified a variety of techniques to transform acyl fluorides using palladium as a catalyst, including a technique involving the manipulation of the acyl C-F bond. As a result of detailed experiments, they found that palladium can help cleave the acyl C-F bond of acyl fluoride. What was more fascinating was that this reaction was reversible, meaning that the presence of palladium also catalyzed the formation of this bond.

These findings encouraged the scientists to now develop a novel strategy for the synthesis of acyl fluorides. "We envisioned reversibility of the acyl CF bond cleavage/formation may be the answer to the conundrum of acyl fluoride synthesis," states Dr Ogiwara, lead scientist of the study. In their recent report published in Organometallics, they detail the palladium/phosphine-catalyzed synthesis of a variety of acyl fluorides from a simple and commercially available acyl fluoridecalled the benzoyl fluorideas a fluoride source.

This novel method involves an "acyl-exchange reaction," whereby a reaction is induced between benzoyl fluoride and benzoic anhydride by palladium. Benzoic anhydride is a part of a larger subclass of compounds known as acid anhydrides, which are composed of two acyl groups bonded to the same oxygen atom. Therefore, this compound was a perfect supplier of acyl groups.

The researchers found that this reaction resulted in the production of adequate amounts of complex acyl fluorides as desired. By testing out various catalysts and substrates (the chemicals undergoing the reaction), they confirmed that benzoyl fluoride, benzoic anhydride, and palladium indeed provide the best results. However, the preferred complex acyl fluoride can be obtained by playing around with the substrates. This reaction is thus efficient and allows for the preparation of a variety of more complex acyl fluorides. "At its core," reports Prof Sakai, "this reaction proceeds through the cleavage and formation of the acyl CF bond at the palladium center."

Using this method, Dr Ogiwara and his team succeeded in obtaining 10 or more types of acyl fluoride from benzoyl fluoride, demonstrating the efficiency of this technique. An added bonus is that through this technique, acyl fluoride presents an attractive source of fluorine. "This study represents the first practical protocol to use commercially available acyl fluoride as a fluorination reagent for the catalytic generation of a variety of value-added acyl fluorides," reports Prof Sakai. The reversibility of the breaking and formation of the C-F bond is the highlight of this study, and it could potentially find many industrial applications.

Reference Titles of original paper : Benzoyl Fluorides as Fluorination Reagents: Reconstruction of Acyl Fluorides via Reversible Acyl CF Bond Cleavage/Formation in Palladium Catalysis Journal : Organometallics DOI : 10.1021/acs.organomet.0c00028

About The Tokyo University of Science

Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan's development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.

With a mission of "Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society", TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today's most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.

Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/

About Dr Yohei Ogiwara from Tokyo University of Science

Dr Yohei Ogiwara is a Junior Associate Professor at the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science. Having completed his doctoral studies in 2014 from Keio University, he went on to serve as an Assistant Professor at TUS before progressing to his current role. His key research interest is organic chemistry, with a focus on organometallic and synthetic chemistry. He is a recipient of many prestigious awards, most recently including the research grant from TOBE MAKI Scholarship Foundation in 2019.

https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/fac/p/index.php?69c1
Turns out Missoula is a diverse place when it comes to howling.

We were at it again Tuesday and Wednesday nights, yipping and yapping, barking and ah-roooing from our back stoops and front porches, from the South Hills and jam-packed (blush) Waterworks Hill trailhead, from Lolo, Bonner and East Missoula and from who knows where all?

Inevitably real canines joined in the cacophony, although thereve been no reports of such participants other than domestic dogs. Wouldnt it be a hoot if ?

The Howl has been a thing at 8 p.m. in Missoula for a week now as the coronavirus chaos closes in.

Its in solidarity with healthcare workers, essential employees, and all others on the front line of this pandemic, as Amy Crider, its instigator, explained on the Howl for Missoula Facebook page that started it all on April 1.

For some, the five minutes or so of howling have let us find our voices in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

Were just naturally gifted howlers. Its the way we roll, said Tammy Elser, who steps out onto her second-story deck in the lower Rattlesnake with her daughter Erin Agner and lets loose. Most nights Erins boyfriend Andrew Peacock and housemate Ben Seratt join in the beautiful noise.

Howl time on Tuesday night just missed the rise of the supermoon over peaks to the east. Within minutes the brightest full moon of 2020 was in broad beam from the west side of town, the natural phenomenon smiling down on a troubled town like your jolliest bald uncle.

Its reprise Wednesday night was almost as enchanting but came nearly half an hour later as the first full night orb of the COVID-19 invasion downshifts to lesser cycles. Who knows if the Flower Moon that waxes full in the early morning hours of May 7 will behold such a buttoned-down world?

Almost 14,000 people have joined Criders Facebook group, one that keeps her fulfilled and extremely busy between nightly howls. She welcomed the help over the weekend of a second administrator, Sam Niederman.

Howling didnt really mean anything to me up until this movement started, Crider said. Now it kind of means everything.

She learned on Tuesday there was a mass email going around Providence St. Patrick Hospital expressing gratitude for the supportive howls.

Thats the first time I just sat there and bawled, said Crider, whose husband works at an essential service job as she stays shut down at home during the crisis dealing with diabetes.

How did the Howl start? someone wondered on the Facebook page.

Down in the chest and up to the throat and then rising into the mouth and through the lips into the trembling air, came one reply. Thats how mine started.

Others speculated more seriously that the howling phenomenon began in Denver. Denverchannel.com reported on April 2 that Shelsea Ochoa and Brice Maiurro introduced the Facebook group Go Outside and Howl at 8 pm on March 27. It had more than 461,000 members as of Wednesday evening.

They did it to bring their friends together as both deal with the consequences of the citys stay-at-home order, the article said.

Ochoa, a performance artist, said she got the idea from Brazil, where people go to a particular beach at sunset to cheer and perform a form of martial art known as capoeira. Maiurro, on the other hand, recalls a group of friends coming together to recite poetry in an alleyway in Boulder that would eventually lead to howling at midnight every full moon."

In mid-March locked-down Italians began singing Volare and the national anthem from their balconies and front doors while some bang on pans.

Theres also evidence that a social trend #Solidarityat8 that started earlier in the winter had something to do with it. People around the world are encouraged to clap for health care workers dealing with COVID-19 patients at either 8 p.m. or during change of shift.

In Montana the howling good idea spread quickly from Missoula, Crider said. She tracks similar Facebook groups in Great Falls, Helena, Billings, Seeley Lake and the Bitterroot, and said there are probably other towns by now.

Shes had to shut down one member who insisted that fireworks were a better show of support than howling.

Besides the fact that theyre illegal in the city of Missoula, fireworks can be offensive to people like herself with PTSD, Crider said, not to mention hospital workers and dogs.

Most importantly, thats not what its about, she said. Save that for the Fourth of July.

Howlings a good diversion, said Elser, a lifelong educator who is missing her students at Salish Kootenai College during the lockdown. We have neighbors on the front lines and others who are unable to stay at home during all this. My daughter is a dispatcher, my son-in-law is a firefighter, my next-door neighbor is an anesthesiologist.

I have nothing but respect for them all, and that includes the receptionists and the CNAs (certified nursing assistants) and it goes on and on and on.

There are plenty of howling tutorials on YouTube, including one posted in 2010 by a young woman known only as WolfOfShadows1986.

One of the first things you have to remember with howling is your attitude with it, she instructs. For me, I like to almost shape-shift into the wolf or the canine part of myself so I can bring out the sound and the emotions behind it.

You just sit in a comfortable position and feel your body change. You can feel yourself growing a muzzle and erect ears. You can sometimes feel a tail, feel your hands becoming paws ."

Elser gets all the instruction she needs from her neighbors dog Frank, who has an exceptionally good, robust, baritone howl.

Long before Howl for Missoula, Elser said, We were well aware of Franks unique gift, and loved it. He also does it for first responders, police and fire. Any time theres a siren in the neighborhood he chimes in with complete, robust support for emergency responders.

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Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 19:58 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ecedb 1 National COVID-19,novel-coronavirus,Gorontalo,East-Nusa-Tenggara,Jakarta-administration Free

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) became the latest province to confirm the presence of COVID-19 within its borders on Thursday, bringing the total number of provinces affected to 33.

Health Ministry data showed that East Nusa Tenggara had confirmed one case after previously only reporting a suspected infection. The province followed Bengkulu, which reported its first confirmed case on Mar. 31.

Gorontalo is now the only province in the archipelago that has not reported any COVID-19 infections. Local news outlets said on Monday that 29 patients under surveillance in the province had tested negative, leaving 6 people under surveillance and 1,255 under general monitoring.

Achmad Yurianto, the ministrys disease control and prevention director general, said on Thursday afternoon that 337 new COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in the country, bringing the total number of infections to 3,292. The death toll also rose to 280 as the ministry reported the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities in a single day: 40 deaths. The figure doubled Indonesia's previous highest one-day death toll of 20, on March 26.

This is a heartbreaking figure for us because we know that viral transmission among the public is still taking place, Yuri said in his daily press briefing on Thursday.

Jakarta remains the hardest-hit province with 236 new confirmed cases, bringing the total tally to 1,706 cases and 142 fatalities in the capital.
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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 19:13 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ebea6 1 National Constitutional-Court,house-of-representatives,Lawmakers Free

The House of Representatives is planning to revise the Constitutional Court law, seeking to scrap the ten-year term limit for justices and instead set a retirement age of 70 for all members of the nine-justice bench.

According to the draft bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, the revisions focus on the change of tenure for the justices as well as the eligible age for a candidate to be selected as a Constitutional Court justice.

Article 23 point 1 of the draft bill stipulates that Constitutional Court justices must retire at 70 years of age. The bill scraps the existing provision in Article 22, which stipulates that justices will serve for five years and can be reappointed for only one additional five-year term.

Article 4 of the draft bill extends the tenure of the Constitutional Court chief justice and deputy justice to five years from the current 2.5 years.

The bill also increases the minimum age for a person to be eligible for the position of Constitutional Court justice from the existing 47 years of age to 60 as seen in Article 15 point 2 of the draft bill.

House Legislation Body (Baleg) deputy chairman Willy Aditya of the NasDem Party said the bill was one of seven currently being discussed by lawmakers, which also included the omnibus bill on job creation, the indigenous peoples bill and the state civil apparatus (ASN) bill.

Critics, however, argue that the bill does not touch the substance of the problems in the Constitutional Court as it focuses only on the tenure of justices.

Legal expert Erwin Natosmal Oemar of the Indonesian Public Interest Lawyer Network (PILNET) said there was no urgency for the House to deliberate the bill, especially while the country scrambled to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Erwin further argued that the draft bill reflected a conflict of interest. "It was created only to extend the term of office for justices who will soon retire," he told The Jakarta Post.

Arsul Sani of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs said the bill was initiated by Baleg and that the commission would continue the deliberation.

"Lawmakers in Commission III will discuss the bill and critique it. [The draft] still can change. We welcome public criticism," he told the Post on Thursday.

Similarly, Commission III lawmaker Taufik Basari, who is also member of Baleg, said the contents of the bill could still develop.

"The current draft is still very open for further discussion. It is only a proposal," he said.
The Cambodian government Thursday evening announced a one-week travel ban within the country, preventing all travel between provinces, and even districts, on account of concerns garment workers were planning to disobey orders to work through Khmer New Year.

The order, which was signed by Hun Sen on Thursday, will come into effect at midnight Thursday and last one week till April 16, spanning the entire duration of the annual Khmer New Year holidays, which have been canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For national safety and the lives of people, I have no better choice than to issue this order, Hun Sen said on his Facebook page, publishing the two-page order.

The travel ban prevents any travel between Phnom Penh and the 24 provinces, though movement within the capital will continue unabated. Traveling between other provinces, with movement down to the district level, has been prohibited.

All vehicles found traveling between the areas will be prohibited, except for those carrying government officials and those used for essential services, such as goods trucks, medical vehicles, and sanitation services.

Transportation vehicles for garment workers, who will have to work through the now-canceled holiday, will be permitted to ferry workers to and from work, as long as they are registered or have an approval letter from the Labor Ministry or provincial departments.

The government has so far displayed an inconsistent stand on the pandemics spread in Cambodia. While downplaying the spread of the coronavirus for nearly two months, it has at the same time periodically shut down the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, banned public events and spaces, closed schools and recently asked spas and massage parlors to shutter.

However, it did not cancel flights from other countries when international travel was still prevalent and only recently placed restrictions on foreign arrivals, but at the same time has enforced this travel ban and is actively considering a state of emergency.

Hun Sen, who just two days ago said there was a 0.01 percent chance he would enact the draft state of emergency law, which has yet-to-be-passed in parliament, said in his Facebook post he had changed his mind.



If [we] would have had the Law on National Administration in the State of Emergency, it would have been implemented now, he said, referring to the official name of the draft legislation.



At a Tuesday press conference, Hun Sen said he was canceling the Khmer New Year holidays because workers were planning to leave Phnom Penh despite having to work, which would exacerbate the countrys novel coronavirus tally, which now stands at 118 total cases.



If [we] allow them to go freely, the situation after Khmer New Year will be at higher risk, he said. Now people in the countryside are afraid of people from the city bringing the disease, as people in the city worried about infection. Additionally, Heng Sour, spokesperson for the Labor Ministry, posted on Facebook Wednesday that any workers who flouted the order to continue working through the holidays would be placed in 14-day quarantine without pay.



Given that the draft state of emergency has not been promulgated, it was not entirely clear what law or constitutional articles were being used as a basis for the travel ban.

The state of emergency draft law has been strongly criticized by rights groups for giving the government sweeping powers to curtail fundamental rights and to enact martial law.

Government spokesperson Phay Siphan said the Constitution gave the executive branch the responsibility to maintain the safety of the people, enabling the issuance of a travel ban.

We dont have any problem because it is the royal governments obligation to maintain safety for people, he said, adding that it would not be hard to implement the prime ministers order.

The order is in the peoples interest and for the safety of the people and the whole nation, he added.

Hours prior to issuing the order, leaked audio of Hun Sen had the prime minister saying there were some workers seemed to disagree with the decision to work through the holidays next week.

I wanted to order in a way that prohibiting traveling from one province to another, he said in the short clip, seemingly an audio memo.
Over the past couple weeks, the national news media and many Democratic politicians have been calling attention to the significant number of African Americans who have perished from the novel coronavirus. An April 7 op-ed by the New York Daily News even went as far as to call the virus a black plague.

The underlying logic of racializing the pandemic is that African Americans make up a disproportionate number of those who have perished from the disease in several major American cities (many are not closely tracking racial data, meaning that we have an incomplete picture). Disproportionate, in this context, means that the percentage of deaths from a group exceeds its percentage of the population.

For instance, in Houston, Texas, where African Americans make up around 22 percent of the population, seven out of eleven deaths through early April were African Americans, prompting the citys health authority, Dr. David Persse, to note that there is a disproportionate number of African Americans who seem to be suffering the worst consequences of the virus.

We are still in the early stages of this pandemic, and the research on this topic is as novel as the virus itself  its difficult to draw hard conclusions about the causal factors that explain who gets the virus and who succumbs from it.

Persse hazarded his own guess, noting that there have been factors such as health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, that appear associated with more severe coronavirus infections. He also noted that these conditions, as well as disparities in medical care, may explain some of the difference in the death toll.

Ironically, on the same day the New York Times published an article focused on African Americans that explained that the coronavirus is infecting and killing black people in the United States at disproportionately high rates, New York City revealed age-adjusted numbers showing that Latinos, not African Americans, had the highest age-adjusted coronavirus death rate.

Story continues

Perhaps this will bring about calls that the Times have should have reframed its article around Latino death rates rather than black ones. Maybe another newspaper op-ed will call the virus a Latino plague, at least in New York City.

The citys data also showed that, despite claims from New York Citys Public Advocate that New Yorkers of more color are disproportionately at higher risk, the Asian-American death rate is actually lower than that of whites.

One way to look at this data would be to scramble the racial hierarchy being assembled by liberal activists and the news media  Latinos actually have it worst, and Asians, another ethnic minority  have it best. But that would simply replace one form of distorted thinking for another.

Most Americans dont have statistical training, and have a hard time parsing out the data when presented this way. The racial data presented by the city of New York, the New York Times, and many other media and political actors are what we call univariate, or rotating around one variable: race.

The problem with univariate data is that they dont use controls. With only one variable being presented, you only have one explanation for a phenomenon.

Of course, practically nobody is arguing that African Americans or Latinos have a greater genetic predisposition to catching or dying from the novel coronavirus. That kind of scientific racialism is rare in the United States today (although there were some unfortunate rumors on social media suggesting black people cant contract the virus).

But when we present our data with only one variable, we can end up flattening the image of an entire group and misinterpreting a social problem.

Weve seen this story before, with crime. In many parts of America, African Americans are overrepresented versus their share of the population in crime statistics. For years, racist demagogues used this fact to claim that criminality was a feature of African Americans. But eventually, social scientists discarded simple univariate analysis and learned to correlate factors such as social inequality, the prevalence of the drug trade, and low-quality policing as the true culprits that drive crime  among blacks, whites, and virtually every other group. The news media, wisely, moved away from focusing on the race of criminal perpetrators, coming to understand that race is merely a social fiction, not useful for correlating to complex problems that impact people of all backgrounds.

We should remember that when we think about the pandemic.

A young, healthy African-American with great health-care coverage who telecommutes every day and has groceries delivered to his door is not automatically at higher risk of contracting the virus or succumbing to it than an elderly white man who rides the subway to work every morning to work at an essential business where he interacts with hundreds of people a day.

The causal variable here is almost certainly not race. Although the virus is not perfectly understood, it is much more likely that factors such as underlying health conditions drive death rates, not race. Theres also the reality that a virus spreads person to person. It will take detailed analysis by epidemiologists and others to understand how the virus spread from neighborhood to neighborhood. In the south Georgia town of Albany, for instance, we know that the outbreak emerged primarily from a crowded funeral. Why is there a much more severe viral outbreak in Detroit than Baltimore, despite some overlap in demographics? Univariate analysis can only tell us so much.

Some would argue that because the prevalence of these risk factors is different among different racial groups, we should still target racial groups in response. But doing so would fail the test I offered above: Youd end up over-delivering social concern and care for the person who faces little risk and under-delivering social concern and care to the person who faces great risks.

Our response to the virus should be as comprehensive as possible. We wouldnt want to miss, for instance, the possibility of a tragic and destructive outbreak in the county that in 2016 held the title for Americas lowest male life expectancy due to its high concentration of health problems  that was West Virginias McDowell County, a locale that is around 90 percent white.

Rather than trying to draw a circle around a racial approximation of who has it worst, we should marshal our resources and sympathies to ensure that nobody squeezes through the cracks. It may very well be true that in many locations, the majority or a disproportionate number of the people who hold the actual causal risk factors are African American or Latino. But if we care for those people who hold the actual at-risk factors rather than trying to approximate them with racial generalizations, we should be able to respond in a way that encompasses everyone  whether they be black, Latino, white, Asian, Native American, or mixed-race.

If a group is disproportionately impacted, a comprehensive and universal response will make sure they are disproportionately aided. But such a response will aid everyone.

Furthermore, the progressives who are pushing racial narratives around the virus should think about the political costs of doing so. In many ways, the pandemic has united Americans, encouraging the kind of mass solidarity needed for social distancing and supporting emergency measures, such the over $2 trillion of relief spending Congress just authorized. Research shows that implicit associations between African Americans and poverty decreases support for aiding the poor  because people wrongly think that helping the poor with government assistance means helping blacks over whites. Universal, comprehensive policy doesnt face that obstacle.

In some sense, the racialization of the coronavirus is part of a larger racialization of social and political issues in the United States. I fear that this racialization is giving life to racial categories  pretending that they are material, rather than a coincidental feature of a person.

Disproportionate statistical realities are often used to justify racialization. X group is disproportionately impacted by Y, this logic goes, therefore Y is a problem primarily for X group. This formulation is often politicized, which is something you can tell because of how unevenly it is applied. We dont, for instance, discuss suicide as a white problem, even though age-adjusted white suicide rates are astronomically higher than black and Latino suicide rates. Prison isnt a male problem, even though upwards of nine out of ten people in prison are men.

Im not arguing that discrimination  both historic and contemporary  is not at least a part of the reason we have disproportionate outcomes in all these areas. Discrimination is a real problem we must confront to have the post-racial society we dream of.

But highlighting disproportionality is not an excuse to argue that some group has it worst. If you were to pick a white person and a black person who both had coronavirus, you would have to know more about their individual profiles to know who has it worst, if such a thing can even be argued. Given the thousands of factors that decide a persons health outcomes, we are likely to see wide variations in how people within racial groups are impacted by the virus  which will paint a much more complicated picture than a simple, single-variable correlation between race and deaths.

People go through life as individuals, not as racial groups, and describing their lives with the language of racial groups is always, at best, an approximation. At worst, it leads to ugly stereotyping and racial essentialism. As University of Pennsylvania political scientist Adolph Reed Jr., a man of the Left, writes:

Racism is the belief that race is a category that defines and encapsulates natural populations. It does not. A claim that black people are especially vulnerable, as black people, to COVID-19 or any contagion is as preposterous as a claim that unicorns are especially vulnerable.

More from National Review
Turkey is preparing to take new steps to alleviate the damage to its labour market from restrictions imposed during the coronavirus outbreak, offering relief to workers that was immediately criticized as insufficient.

The government will ban layoffs for three months and provide a daily stipend of almost 40 liras to people who arent eligible for unemployment benefits and lost their jobs after March 15, NTV reported Wednesday, citing a draft law proposal by the ruling AK Party. The proposal grants President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the right to extend the ban by up to six months, NTV said.

Keeping unemployment in check is among the urgent challenges facing an economy Morgan Stanley says is the most heavily affected by the pandemic across countries in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The non-farm jobless rate was 15.8 per cent in the three months to January, according to the latest official data.

The package of support soon came under withering attack. Arzu Cerkezoglu, head of the labour confederation DISK, described it as a freakish unpaid-leave policy.

Commenting on Twitter, Cerkezoglu said the monthly payment to workers who will be sent on unpaid leave under the proposal would amount to 1,177 liras, almost a quarter of what they could get under the governments short-term employment allowance program. Workers should be paid at least the minimum wage, she said.

Turkey reported 87 new coronavirus fatalities Wednesday, bringing the death toll from the outbreak to 812, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

The number of confirmed cases rose 12.1 per cent from Tuesday to 38,226. Turkey screened 24,900 people over the past 24 hours with 4,117 testing positive for the virus, the minister said.

Below are highlights of data compiled by Bloomberg on the outbreak in Turkey:

Total cases rose 12.1 per cent on Wednesday, compared to an all-time low of 11.6 per cent on Monday.

The percentage of people who tested positive during screening was 16.5 per cent on Wednesday.

The number of total tests administered during the first 30 days of the outbreak reached 247,768. The daily number will reach 30,000 from next week, Koca said.

Policy makers have gradually increased restrictions on peoples mobility since the first case was confirmed March 10. The government has announced a lockdown for young and elderly people, suspended air transportation and limited movement in and out of more than 30 cities, including Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.

Erdogan unveiled a 100-billion-lira package to mitigate the economic fallout, including cheaper credit and tax deferrals for businesses. Morgan Stanley now sees Turkeys gross domestic product contracting 3.6 per cent this year, followed by a gain of five per cent in 2021.
Government reports state of Quintana Roo with highest number of job losses

Chetumal, Q.R.  The state of Quintana Roo heads the list of six in the country with the highest amount of layoffs. The report, which was presented during the Executive Conference, shows that between March 13 and April 6, more than 63,000 people in Quintana Roo lost their jobs.

According to data from the federal government, the state of Quintana Roo leads the way with the loss of 63,847 jobs followed by Mexico City with 55,591, Nuevo Leon with 23,465, Jalisco, 21,535, the State of Mexico with 16,036 and Tamaulipas with 12,652.

The government points out that these six entities register 56 percent of the 346,878 sources of employment that were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report presented during the conference, some of the Quintana Roo companies with the most dismissed workers include hotels and tour industry, however, some include construction companies.

On the list are popular names such as Hotel Gran Caribe Real who dismissed 1,251 employees, Les Antilles constructions letting go 1,149, Hoteles Solaris de Mexico who fired 897 of its employees, Servicios Resorts SA de CV who dismissed 870, Torre Noriega Consulting who are now 755 less and Experiences Xcaret Parks who let 699 of their staff go.

Data by the Federal government establishes that in general terms, 216,000 workers who were separated from their jobs no longer have access to IMSS health services, adding that in at least 50 percent of the cases, there is no legal justification to separate workers from labor sources due to the coronavirus health emergency.

They noted that the biggest layoffs have been by large consortiums, while micro-companies with less employees have gone above and beyond to keep their staff.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Tablighi Jamaat, the super spreader of the coronavirus in India seems to have caused a spike in the coronavirus positive cases in Pakistan also.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said in a tweet, "Interesting: it seems the Tabalegi Jamat has created problems in Pakistan too with regard to COVID-19. Seems to be a sect issue. Do listen in".

Tewari attached a video from a Pakistan new channel which featured an interview with Yasmin Rashid, Health of Punjab province in Pakistan. Half of the cases in Pakistan have come from Punjab, which is also the largest province.

Rashid said the main reason for the jump in cases in the province has been the Tablighi Jamaat. She said that of the total 2004 postive cases of COVID-19, 1314 are those linked to Tablighi Jamaat.

Rashid said that 549 cases from the Tablighi Jamaat came positive which led to a sudden rise in the number of cases.

She added that going by statistics, of the 10,000 people of Tablighi Jamaat in quarantine when they undergo tests, 35-40 per cent are likely to be positive.

As a result of this, cases will go up further as the number of tests has been increased by the government.

In an earlier tweet, Tewari said, "Why can't these Tablighi's just behave themselves? Don't these people realise that they have done enough damage already. If you preach the word of God you first must learn to be responsible members of society. For them enough does not seem to be enough."
Demand created: Why no country wants to take on China on the coronavirus

UNSC meet to discuss COVID-19 on April 10, 1.30 am

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: The United Nations Security Council will hold a closed door informal consultation on COVID-19. The meeting will be held at 1.30 am on April 10.

This comes after 10 non-permanent members led by the Dominican Republic forced the UN Secretary General to hold a discussion on the pandemic.

This development comes after China demitted the Presidency of the UN Security Council last week. It may be recalled that Estonia had attempted to have a discussion on the pandemic, but was blocked by China, Russia and South Africa. It was argued that this was not a peace and security issue and hence could not be part of the UNSC's mandate.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

On Friday, UNSC President Dominican Republic demanded for the informal consultation arguing coronavirus impacts peace and security. The demand was backed by Indonesia, Germany, Vietnam, Belgium, Estonia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Niger, Tunisia and South Africa.

The date for the informal consultations will be fixed after the UN Secretary General addresses the UNSC through video conference. During the address, an update on the status of the pandemic and also the steps are taken to fight the virus would be given.

Fake News Buster

The outcome of the discussion is still not clear as Russia would back China. The US, on the other hand, is yet to take a call. US President Donald Trump has off late gone soft on China after Beijing supplied 1,000 ventilators for New York. France and the United Kingdom are likely to favour an outcome during the informal discussions.
Spain is poised to extend a nationwide lockdown and Italy is moving toward doing the same as Europe's rising infection rate complicates plans to begin reversing stringent restrictions on public life.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will ask parliament on Thursday for an extension to a state of emergency through April 25. His Italian counterpart, Giuseppe Conte, is preparing to prolong the national lockdown from a current expiration date of April 13 for another two weeks, according to officials, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential issue.

The persistent increase in cases complicates efforts by European leaders to gradually ease the rules that have been put in place to slow the spread of the virus. The restrictions are having a devastating impact on economies across the region, and politicians are under pressure to relax them as quickly as possible.

The continent has been hit hard, suffering more than 65% of worldwide deaths and Spain, Italy, France and Germany trail only the U.S. in infections.

New virus cases in Germany climbed the most in five days, according to figures Thursday from Johns Hopkins University. Italy said Wednesday that it recorded 3,836 new infections, the highest in three days.

In Spain, total cases rose to more than 150,000 and deaths surpassed 15,000, underscoring the severity of Europe's most extensive outbreak, even if daily figures declined.

In Germany, where the economy is expected to shrink by almost 10% in the current quarter, Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to consult with regional premiers on Wednesday on how soon and to what extent current restrictions can be eased.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier sought to tamp down a debate on loosening the lockdown, saying it would send the "wrong signal" as the government asks people to stay home over the Easter holiday and daily infection rates continue to "swing."

"There's a silver lining on the horizon, even if it's too early to sound the all clear," Altmaier said in Berlin after a meeting of the government's coronavirus task force. "It's also better for the economy if we're disciplined and hold on for a few more days rather than starting too early."

In Italy, only selected companies in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as possibly some shops, will likely be allowed to reopen next week, the officials said. Conte may approve a new decree as early as Friday, they said.

Italy needs to define which industrial sectors could restart production, Conte told the BBC. If scientists confirm that the country can start a gradual return to activity, "we might begin to relax some measures by the end of this month," he said.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza is particularly cautious on relaxing the lockdown, one of the officials said, insisting on the need for data on the spread to improve further before considering whether to gradually reopen more businesses from early May.

An easing of the lockdown may be on a regional basis, the official said. The business-rich north of Italy has been the worst-hit by the virus. The government is considering recommending that people carry masks and gloves with them for protection in closed areas, including shops.Members of the medical and scientific committee advising the government are urging caution. The lockdown bans movements within Italy, and virtually confines people to their homes save for work, health or emergency reasons.

"The only thing we are certain of is that the lockdown measures are efficient, and to stop the epidemic we have to bring down the rate at which the infection spreads," Luca Richeldi, a pulmonolgist at Rome's Agostino Gemelli hospital and a member of the committee, said in an interview. "Some changes in mid-April would be justified, but they have to be small and for activities that can guarantee social distancing and protection measures, otherwise it's practically certain there will be a new outbreak," he added.

Portugal, which declared a state of emergency on March 18, tightened containment measures further from Thursday through Monday. The government wants to limit movement during the Easter holiday weekend by closing airports to all passenger travel and banning movement between municipalities.

Schools in the country, which so far hasn't been as badly hit by the outbreak as neighboring Spain or Italy, will remain closed through the month of April and Prime Minister Antonio Costa may indicate later on Thursday when they might start reopening.

Luxembourg will become the first EU country to start systematic mass tests on its population, regardless of whether they show coronavirus symptoms or not.

The move is important, as mass testing to isolate carriers and prevent new surges is a condition for the lifting of restrictions on movement, according to a draft "exit strategy" memo by the European Commission, seen by Bloomberg.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control now recommends the widespread use of face masks to reduce the spread of the infection.

While face protection is seen only complementary to other measures, such as social distancing and personal hygiene, "the use of face masks in the community could be considered, especially when visiting busy, closed spaces, such as grocery stores, shopping centers, or when using public transport," according to the EU agency.
Ontex authorized to continue operations in all countries to ensure supply of vital products while preserving safety of our employees

Q1 2020 LFL revenue up 6.8%, with Europe up 7.7%

FY 2020 outlook suspended due to low visibility on future impacts of COVID-19 pandemic across our operations and markets

Strong liquidity position with no near-term maturities and funding of operations strengthened

Dividend payment suspended; to be revisited later in 2020

AGM confirmed to take place as scheduled on May 25, 2020

Regulatory News:

Ontex Group NV (Euronext Brussels: ONTEX; 'Ontex,' 'the Group' or 'the Company') today provided an update on several topics including its sales for the three months ending March 31, 2020. The Q1 2020 trading update including the usual quarterly information will be published as scheduled on May 6, 2020.

Ontex's response to COVID-19

The world is facing an unprecedented public health crisis and we are helping to address it by capitalizing on our more than 40 years of experience in personal hygiene to provide products that are vital in daily use today.

Our 18 production facilities remain open and operating with limited disruptions so far thanks to the efforts of our people, our suppliers and supply chain partners to keep ensuring a steady, daily flow of millions of personal hygiene products to healthcare workers and consumers in all geographies where we operate. However, as the pandemic continues to spread across countries in which we operate, maintaining our current level of activity is increasingly challenging.

The health of our employees and business partners is our primary concern, and we are focused on their safety, that of their families and that of the communities in which we operate. We have taken and will continue to take the necessary measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect our employees. This will remain our absolute priority throughout this difficult time.

We are also supporting communities where we live and work in different ways. A few examples include donations of adult pants to nurses and doctors in Wuhan (China); of purchased safety gloves to the Health Service of Castilla y Leon (Spain); and of adult diapers to a hospital in Karachi (Pakistan); each time helping caregivers and people in need. Support is also provided by connecting caregivers with our suppliers who can source critical products that we do not produce, such as facemasks and gloves.

Q1 2020 LFL revenue up 6.8%

Preliminary reported revenue in Q1 2020 stood at 574.2 million (+6.8% LFL), driven by growth in AMEAA (+10.7% LFL) and Europe (+7.7%), while activity in Healthcare decreased (-2.1% LFL).

The higher-than-expected Q1 2020 revenue is primarily attributable to a surge in customer and consumer purchases in Europe after the first week of March, anticipating governmental measures in most countries to limit the movement of people to combat the COVID-19 virus.

The impact of currencies on Q1 2020 sales was -9.0 million, of which -11.2 million was recorded in March alone as a result of currency depreciation mainly in the AMEAA Division (Mexican Peso, Brazilian Real, and to a lesser extent Turkish Lira); a weaker British Pound also had an unfavorable impact on sales of the Europe Division.

First Quarter in million 2020 20191 % as reported % at LFL Ontex Reported Revenue 574.2 546.2 +5.1% +6.8% Europe 250.1 233.7 +7.0% +7.7% AMEAA 213.5 199.5 +7.0% +10.7% Healthcare 110.6 113.0 -2.1% -2.1% 1Customer reshuffle from AMEAA to Healthcare of 2.1 million in Q1 2019

FY 2020 outlook

As a leading supplier of quality retail brand hygiene products, in particular in Europe, and as the operator of strong local brands in our other markets, we believe that we are well positioned to withstand the tougher economic environment ahead of us that will affect consumers' purchasing power.

However, despite the Q1 2020 revenue performance, considering the current uncertainties related to the duration of the pandemic and its impacts on our operations, supply chain partners and customers as well as the high volatility of currencies, we have decided as a matter of caution to suspend the 2020 outlook communicated in the 2019 Full Year results release of March 4, 2020 until visibility improves.

Strong liquidity position with no near-term maturities; funding of Ontex operations strengthened

In this period of unprecedented turmoil and uncertainties for economies around the world, Ontex remains focused on maintaining adequate liquidity and funding for its business and is taking all necessary measures to preserve cash.

No principal repayments are due until the 600 million syndicated term loan, fully drawn, and the 250 million bilateral term loan, of which 150 million is currently drawn, fall due respectively in November 2022 and November 2024.

The Group also has a fully committed 300 million syndicated revolving credit facility maturing in November 2022, of which 30 million was drawn at March 31, 2020.

Preliminary net debt at 31 March 2020 was 871 million compared with 940 million at 31 March 2019. Net debt at 31 March 2020 was only 10 million higher than net debt of 861 million at 31 December 2019, reflecting a less pronounced seasonal pattern than in past years, on the back of continued tight management of working capital and capital expenditure, which Management intends to pursue in the current context.

However, due to the many uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic exposed above, Management has decided to draw down the remaining 270 million of the revolving credit facility as a matter of caution, so as to provide financial flexibility if necessary.

Dividend payment suspended; to be revisited later in 2020

The Board of Directors has decided not to propose paying a dividend of 0.16 per share to the general meeting in May in support of Management's initiatives to preserve cash resources and financial flexibility in the present circumstances. The Board intends to revisit the possible payment of a dividend later this year as visibility on the impacts of the pandemic on our operations and markets improves.

Date of general meeting of shareholders confirmed

The general meeting of shareholders will take place as scheduled on May 25th, 2020. The necessary documents related to this meeting will be made available to shareholders by April 24th, 2020, and instructions will be provided in light of regulations issued by the relevant authorities governing shareholder meetings in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

DISCLAIMER

This report may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements regarding or based upon our management's current intentions, beliefs or expectations relating to, among other things, Ontex's future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies or developments in the industry in which we operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied thereby. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein.

Forward-looking statements contained in this report regarding trends or current activities should not be taken as a report that such trends or activities will continue in the future. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report.

The information contained in this report is subject to change without notice. No re-report or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of the information contained herein and no reliance should be placed on it.

In most of the tables of this report, amounts are shown in million for reasons of transparency. This may give rise to rounding differences in the tables presented in the trading update.

This trading update has been prepared in Dutch and translated into English. In the case of discrepancies between the two versions, the Dutch version will prevail.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005764/en/

Contacts:

ENQUIRIES

Investors

Philip Ludwig?+32 53 333 730

Philip.ludwig@ontexglobal.com

Press

Gaelle Vilatte?+32 53 333 708

Gaelle.vilatte@ontexglobal.com
The Princess Hotel in Barcelona is being used by Hospital del Mar to quarantine patients who have been discharged but cannot self-isolate at home.

Health workers represent around 15% of all confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain  19,400 professionals have tested positive since the beginning of the outbreak. Of this figure, 10% have been hospitalized, while 20% have been discharged after recovering from the disease.

Given these risks, Spains Health Minister Salvador Illa announced on Wednesday that the country will soon begin a clinical trial on how to stop health workers from contracting the coronavirus. The investigation, dubbed the Clinical Trial for the Prevention of Coronavirus Infection in Health Workers (Epicos), is the largest in Europe in this sector, according to Illa. The trial will study 4,000 health workers, from wardens to doctors, at 62 hospitals in 13 regions in Spain.

The Epicos initiative is part of a new wave of drug trials and studies that are already underway or awaiting approval. In the last month, the Spanish Medicines Agency has received 120 proposals for trials, said Cesar Hernandez, head of the regulatory agencys department for human medicines. Of these, 21 have already been approved and are underway.

Hernandez said that this surge of initiatives is good because it foments research and makes use of the great potential of Spains public healthcare system, which has traditionally been a leading participant in large-scale clinical trials.

Hydroxychloroquine

The Epicos investigation will use hydroxyhcloroquine, among other drugs. Novartis

The Epicos investigation will evaluate to what extent existing medicines, which have so far had promising results against Covid-19 but have not been trialed on a large scale, can protect health workers from contagion. Some volunteers will be given hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties; other will take drugs used against HIV (a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir); while a third group will be given a placebo. The investigation, which will be overseen by the Spanish Medicines Agency, will release its first results in four weeks time.

Although the trial is aimed at health workers, the findings from the investigation will be applicable to the entire population and could, for example, be used to treat patients and their carers.

The research is part of the World Health Organizations Solidarity trial, which was launched at the end of March as part of a rapid global search for drugs to treat Covid-19. The advantage of the trial is that it is testing medicines which have been available for years, meaning that their safety and the adverse effects are well known. Whats more, with the exception of hydroxychloroquine and tenofovir, generic versions of the medicines are already on the market, which significantly reduces the cost.

The investigation has the support of pharmaceutical companies. The Swiss multinational Novartis on Wednesday donated enough hydroxychloroquine to treat tens of thousands of patients across Spain.

Jose Ramon Arribas, the head of Infectious Diseases at the La Paz hospital in Madrid, says there is currently zero evidence on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, although he supports further investigation.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
BALDWIN -- The Lake County Board of Commissioners adopted an "essential staffing and operations policy for COVID-19 pandemic" and expanded family leave and sick leave policies at its meeting on March 25.

"I developed (the staffing policy) over the weekend, so when the governor issued her stay at home stay safe executive order on March 23, we were able to make minor adjustments for it to comply with the order and put it in place immediately," Lake County Administrator Tobi Lake said.

"I met with department heads and board leadership in a special department head meeting, and later that day we implemented it on March 24. The board of commissioners formally approved it at their meeting on March 25," he continued.

The essential staffing and operations policy states that the spread of the coronavirus disease has caused "unprecedented challenges" to the operations of county government and delivery of essential public services, and following the typical, non-emergency procedures would undermine the effectiveness of the county's response to the disease.

The policy authorizes the county administrator to designate certain non-union and non-trial court positions as essential or non-essential and direct the closure of certain offices or facilities.

Nonessential employees may be placed on administrative leave and essential employees may be required to continue reporting, be deployed to other offices or facilities, be assigned new functions, or be placed on administrative leave, the policy states.

"All non-union employees were either classified as essential or nonessential," Lake said. "Some are working normal hours to address critical county business and provide vital public services, others are working limited hours or days, some are working remotely, and others have been ordered to stay home and not to report for work."

Employees placed on administrative leave will be compensated with pay for up to 15 working days without deduction from their leave or compensatory time banks, the policy states.

Employees at a closed facility who are directed to report to work, but fail to do so, are not entitled to paid administrative leave and will have their time charged to banked vacation, sick, personal leave, or compensatory time.

"The county buildings have been closed to the public under an earlier notice and although no one has been formally reallocated to different departments, I have had to use people to help assist in aiding our emergency services response to the virus," Lake continued.

Additional policies were added to the agenda and approved by the board, as well, Lake said. They address employee paid family leave and sick leave as required in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.

"I believe President Trump signed the act on March 18, and it was required to go into effect on April 1 or 2," Lake said. "Given such a tight turnaround, we were forced to quickly develop the policies and add them to the agenda because the next board meeting wasn't until April 8."

The Family Medical Leave Expansion and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave polices adopted by the BOC define the expanded leave available to employees during the pandemic as required by the federal act.

The FMLA policy provides up to 12 weeks of job protected "Public Health Emergency Leave" (PHEL) to eligible, covered employees who are unable to work because they must care for a child or children under 18 years of age, if the children's school or childcare provider is unavailable due to a public health emergency.

The first ten days of PHEL are unpaid, however, an employee may elect to use accrued paid leave instead of unpaid leave. After the first ten days, the county will provide pay at two-thirds the employee's regular rate up to $200 per day or $10,000 total.

Eligible employees taking leave under the FMLA Expansion Act will be reinstated to their former positions, or to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, however, no employee is entitled under this policy to any right, benefit or position other than that to which the employee would have been entitled had they not taken leave, the policy states.

The Emergency Paid Sick Leave policy states that the county will provide all employees, including new hires, with paid sick leave, separate from any normal sick leave accruals, if the employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19, has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19, is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis or is caring for someone who meets those criteria, or a child who's school or daycare is closed due to the pandemic.

The sick leave will not be deducted from the employee's accrued leave banks.

For additional information regarding these policies, or how to access county services remotely, visit lakecounty-michigan.com.

In other business, the BOC approved the hiring of Road Patrol officer Deputy Seth Rosebrook.

Rosebrook was hired by the Lake County Sheriff's office on March 16. He has ten years of military experience, including in the military police, and was a police officer in Port Aransas, Texas, for nine years.

His 19 years of service in military policing and civilian law enforcement will be an asset to this county, Sheriff Ed Williams told the BOC.

Due to the threat of the spread of the coronavirus, and the executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to close all places of "public accommodation," the BOC meeting was held via telephone conference.

The next BOC meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m., April 8. To access the meeting by phone, dial (312) 757-3121. When prompted enter the access code: 533-997-197.

Visit lakecounty-michgan.com for more information.
Amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases, the Odisha government has promulgated an ordinance with a provision of imprisonment up to two years for violators of the epidemic regulations.

It has also come out with an order to make wearing face masks mandatory from Thursday morning, a violation of which will invite a fine.

Those found moving without face masks will have to cough up Rs 200 each for the first three occasions, which will increase to Rs 500 for every violation after that, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said.

The order exempts children below two years of age and asthma patients.

The stringent measures came as the state witnessed a big jump in the number of COVID-19 cases to 44 from just five reported on April 1. The state has seen one death due to the disease.

The ordinance enacted late on Wednesday night amends a section of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, officials said on Thursday.

According to the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order under the principal Act is liable to face imprisonment up to two years or pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or be slapped with both.

"Every offence under this Act shall be cognisable and bailable," an official said.

The ordinance was brought as the state Assembly is not in session at present, he added.

It replaces section 3 of the main Act, which states that violating the law invites imprisonment for a maximum period of six months and a Rs-1,000 fine, an official said, adding that a clause has been inserted in another section of the principal Act.

Procurement of goods, services and equipment for prevention and control of an epidemic disease has been brought under the purview of the amended provision, which was not a part of the original 1897 Act, the official said.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the state government implemented the Odisha COVID-19 Regulations, 2020 last month, using the main Act.

Meanwhile, the state government came up with a notification on Thursday, which made wearing face masks compulsory.

Though there is a shortage of N-95 masks in the markets, people may use a clean handkerchief or a piece of cloth with multiple folds to cover the nose and mouth while going outside, Odisha government's spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi said.

Another official said the experience of Japan containing the spread of the virus by using masks was taken into consideration while issuing the order.

"Wear simple face mask whenever you go outside to slow spread of #COVID-19. Use any cotton material like handkerchief or piece of cloth and prepare it as a face mask to cover your nose, mouth and chin," the state Health and Family Welfare department said in a tweet.

Reports said on Thursday, the police in Bhubaneswar let the violators go without paying a fine as many said they were not aware of the order. The policemen asked them not to venture out of their homes without a face mask.

A report from Ganjam, quoting District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, said traders and shopkeepers have been directed not to sell essential commodities such as grocery, medicine and vegetables to people not wearing face masks.

The traders in Berhampur, the biggest business centre of southern Odisha, have welcomed the order.

"We have been appealing to the buyers to wear a mask and maintain social distancing," Odisha Traders' Association president Rabindranath said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lack of adequate security has been a huge and seemingly endless problem with Zoom.

Chennai: Google has banned the popular Zoom app on all official devices used by its employees.

The videoconferencing app originally intended for professionals holding meetings, was adopted by school teachers and students trying to recreate a classroom, dance and yoga guides holding training sessions for enthusiasts across the globe and families and friends coming together from their sequestered lives.

"It does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees," Google spokesperson Jose Castenada was quoted as saying by BuzzFeed News. However, employees could continue to use Zoom on their browser or mobile phone to stay in touch with family and friends.

Lack of adequate security is a huge and seemingly endless problem with Zoom. Some group calls got Zoombombed by hackers jumping in uninvited to meetings, data from Zoom was allegedly being sent to Facebook on its iOS app, a bug in Zoom on Windows left passwords vulnerable to theft, and the app is not end-to-end encrypted as promised.

After a Zoombombing incident when hackers got into a classroom meeting and flashed Swatikas to the students, the FBI issued advisories telling teachers to ensure their meetings are password protected and uses security measures available on the app.

Zoom's security issues have also led to lawsuits being filed against the Silicon Valley company. CEO Eric Yuan even admitted two days ago that Zoom calls were mistakenly routed through China.

Before Google, Elon Musk's Spacex too cautioned its employees against using the Zoom app, citing security concerns.

Yet, despite security issues being discovered everyday, Zoom is still growing compared to Microsoft Team, Google Meet and another popular group video call app Houseparty.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Air India chief Rajiv Bansal on Thursday said that the "crippling effect" of the novel coronavirus has further plummeted the airline's finances to a "precarious" position but despite that, it has managed to keep afloat.

Bansal, in a message on Thursday, also assured the employees of providing all the "essential armoury" in carrying out evacuation and chartered flights amid the pandemic.

"Air India has been passing through a critical financial condition much before the Covid19 onslaught. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted our finances to a precarious position. In spite of this, your airline has left no stone unturned to continue to remain afloat," Bansal said in a message to Air India employees on Thursday.

Reminding the employees that the organisation is always with them during these trying times, he said, their safety and health are as important to the company as of its passengers.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure you get all the essential armoury to fight this war. Our dedicated medical services team members are available round the clock for any consultation, advice or emergency. We are doing everything possible to minimise risk factors," Bansal said.

Besides taking all the precautionary measures and providing PPE to ensure your safety, Air India was amongst the very few airlines in the world, who are providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for its crew to equip them to face any COVID-related safety concern onboard, he said.

It was the first carrier to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from Coronvirus-hit Wuhan in China in January.

It is due to these precautionary measures that so far, only one of the airline's crew members amongst so many, who have been flying our charter flights all over the world, has tested COVID positive, he added.

"I am relieved to inform you that she has also been discharged after full recovery under the watchful eyes of our medical department," Bansal said.

In recent weeks, Air India has operated flights to Israel, Germany and London, using its wide-body Boeing 777s and B787s. These services were mainly to carry foreign nationals stranded in the country due to the lockdown, which began on March 25.

Stating that all of us in Air India, no doubt, are in this war together, Bansal said, "Adversity brings the best out of us and is a litmus test of our courage and strength of character. This is also the time to show how much we care for one another.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has put military operations on hold for two weeks, the state Saudi media reported Wednesday.

Coalition spokesperson Col. Turki al-Maliki has been cited by the SPA news agency as saying that the ceasefire will take effect at noon on Thursday (9:00 GMT).

The Arab coalition has been fighting Houthis since 2015 at the request of Yemen's UN-recognized government.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, urged the warring parties last month to stop military action and ramp up efforts to counter the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A fresh death and 18 new cases of



COVID-19 were recorded in Telangana on Thursday, taking the total positive cases in the state to 471, Health Minister E Rajender said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in the state rose to 12.

The number of people discharged cumulatively was 45 and the active cases 414, Rajender told reporters here.

Only one person was on ventilator support, he added.

A media bulletin on COVID-19 said till date there was no evidence of community transmission of the virus in Telangana.

It said 101 hotspots have been identified in the state.

Rajender said testing of samples of those who returned after participating in the Tablighi jamat event in Delhi and their contacts had been completed.

The number of cases related to the Delhi congregation was 388, according to a release.

The minister said tests are being conducted for all those who had returned from foreign countries and their contacts.

He also said there was a possibility of about 60-70 people (related to the Tablighi event) being discharged on Friday and expressed hope that others too would be sent home after recovery by April 22.

As being said from the beginning, Telangana would have been corona-free state by now if these Markaz (Delhi religious congregation) cases are not there. It is the same in all the states, he said.

The number of cases has come down because of the lockdown, with 99 per cent of people confining themselves to their homes, the Minister said.

Rajender also said the state government would soon introduce tele-medicine for the benefit of people having any other health problems during the lockdown.

The state government would also offer counseling by psychiatrists over telephone for those in need, he added.

State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar visited Mallepally area in the city along with local MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj, DGP Mahender Reddy and other officials as part of containment measures for coronavirus.

The government has identified 12 containment clusters in the city to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to an official release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
What have we learned from coronavirus?

We learned that walls work.

We learned that the open borders idee fixe has tumbled on both sides of the Atlantic in just about a month or so, besides the fact that the run-up to the destructive open borders strategy had been going on for decades.

We learned that we are facing digital Easter, digital Passover, digital this, and digital that everywhere. Surprisingly, all of this because of the number of infected in the United States has reached "catastrophic" 0.1% of the entire population. (For comparison, seasonal flu affects about 20% or more of the population.)

We learned that much of the internal workings of our society are hidden. For example, doctors were not allowed to prescribe an anti-malarial drug to treat coronavirus patients until the FDA approved. It certainly looks as though our doctors were one of the first to lose their freedom to the FDA, who has been methodically strangling medical innovation in America for decades.

We learned that our doctors are mostly order-takers now. They are told by an army of unelected and uneducated bureaucrats what they are allowed to prescribe to their patients. Our doctors are no longer able to prescribe medicines that actually treat illnesses  only the medications permitted.

We learned that CDC statistics do not distinguish between patients who happen to die while having the coronavirus and those who die from the disease.

We learned that some judge in Hawaii is about to rule that the 2-to-1 coronavirus death ratio between men and women is sexist and unconstitutional.

We learned why so many U.S. governors freak out when they must face epidemics like the coronavirus. They went into panic mode not because the novel virus is as terrible as the bubonic plague, but because they knew for sure that they (and their predecessors) had spent taxpayers' money for their pet wealth redistribution projects instead of preparing for regular seasonal illnesses.

We learned the right criteria of a state governor's work  not how much he asks from the federal government, but how much he does not ask from the federal government, for asking the federal government is just another wealth redistribution scheme.

We learned that most Americans are under the solid (and faulty) belief that it's the federal government's job to fight epidemics, not the governors in each state.

We learned that governments worldwide had learned their lesson, too: they comprehended that taking full control of people's lives and suppressing a free press is a much easier task than previously thought. Some of them, including some state governors, are even bragging about the coming of the "new progressive era."

We learned that due to travel restrictions, CNN lost most of its viewership because practically nobody passes through airports these days.

We learned that leftists are bigger fans of business bailouts than conservatives, for they understand that helping businesses is almost always done as a wealth redistribution scheme.

We learned most of the government's decisions in all countries are made based on mathematical and computer models, not the actual data. Global warming was just a model. Hurricanes' trajectories are only models. Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment numbers are not real numbers; they are numbers generated by a model. Models also produced the future number of infected by the coronavirus and the number of deaths (both incorrect). (By the way, Napoleon learned the lesson of theoretical models in government when he appointed a genius mathematician and physicist Pierre Laplace to head the Ministry of the Interior. Laplace was dismissed just six weeks later. Modern governments still do not get it.)

We learned that the "social distancing" recommendation of six feet is based on, again, on a model from the 1930s, not actual research.

We learned that having three branches of government increases compounded authorities' stupidity during a crisis not threefold, but by three orders of magnitude.

We learned that Italy and the United States are the only two large countries in the world that never used the BCG vaccine to fight tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine has an unexpected side-effect  it significantly diminishes the severity of coronavirus illness.

We learned what it looks like when hospital capacity is exceeded, like in China, Italy, and Spain.

We learned that not all exports are created equal. When you have exported manufacturing outside your country, you must rely on foreigners to bail you out.

We learned, due to forced homeschooling and seeing what teachers do in virtual classrooms, what is essentially going on in schools: indoctrination and political propaganda on an industrial, global scale.

We learned that any number that comes from some countries (like China or Russia or Cuba or Iran or North Korea) must not be trusted or used for any comparison or any coronavirus-related arguments.

We learned that we have not only a shortage of medical personnel, but also a severe lack of competent journalists.

We learned that only some of the so-called journalists are indirectly on the Chinese payroll. Most of the left-leaning mass disinformation media and international organizations (like the WHO) are under direct Chinese control.

We learned that we are surrounded by terminally naive people who still believe that the number of coronavirus cases in the United States exceeds the number of coronavirus cases in China. The bitterness of the situation is that these people vote.

We learned that a lot of people were surprised that there is no such thing as a national toilet paper reserve.

We learned that red tape actually kills  apparently, millions of surgical and N95 masks do exist but are waiting for FDA inspectors.

We learned who is salivating at coronavirus-related deaths statistics and unemployment numbers. (Hint: These people are laser-focused on nullifying the 2016 elections.)

We learned the political affiliation of those who want Americans who are unemployed and sick.

We learned that we are surrounded by many countries that have converted themselves into concentration camps. Moreover, they, most likely, will choose to remain in these camps when the coronavirus is gone.

We learned that the United States is surrounded by other heads of state who are dictators, thugs, war criminals, and just lowlife people. In November 2020, we must choose the commander-in-chief who can deal with these characters.

Gary Gindler, Ph.D. is a conservative columnist at Gary Gindler Chronicles and the founder of a new science: politiphysics. Follow him on Twitter and Quodverum.
A Wuhan resident has ordered 76 types of breakfast all at once to satisfy her cravings as the former epicentre lifts its coronavirus lockdown.

The customer wanted to make up for the morning meals she missed during the 76-day draconian quarantine, according to the press.

It comes as the city where the pandemic began has allowed its 11million residents to travel in and out of Wuhan after nearly 11 weeks.

Social media footage shows a delivery worker ordering the items at a breakfast restaurant before he carries bags of food with a wooden pole on his shoulders yesterday.

The delivery guy, known by his surname Fu, received an order request at 6.33am on the first day of unlocked Wuhan, Chinese media report.

A female client asked him to buy 76 breakfast meals, symbolising the number of days Wuhan residents spent under quarantine.

It took Mr Fu an hour to complete the order as most restaurants still remained close after Wuhan lifted the travel restrictions just a few hours ago.

Social media footage shows a delivery worker ordering the meals at a breakfast restaurant before he carries bags of food with a wooden pole on his shoulders yesterday in Wuhan

A Wuhan resident has ordered 76 types of breakfast all at once to satisfy her cravings and celebrate the end of the quarantine as the former epicentre lifts its coronavirus lockdown

I havent had Guo Zao in more than two months, the customer told the press. Im so happy today that Wuhan lifted the lockdown.

Guo Zao is a local phrase commonly used to describe eating breakfast as Wuhan is known for its vibrant food culture.

Today is a special occasion, I want to make up for all the breakfast I missed during the isolation, the resident added.

After this meal, our life will be better and better! The resident then shared the food with her family and neighbours.

China sealed off the city of Wuhan on January 23, when it became apparent the deadly Covid-19 virus had started there. Residents are seen buying ready-made food in Wuhan on March 23

Wuhan residents are pictured today as the city has allowed people to travel in and out of the city yesterday after nearly 11 weeks

China sealed off the city of Wuhan on January 23, when it became apparent the deadly Covid-19 virus had started there.

But at 00.50am on Wednesday, trains carrying people out of the city began running, and major highways also began opening up as China's lockdown on Wuhan was lifted.

Chinese state media said at least 11,000 air passengers left via Wuhan's airport yesterday, while 55,000 boarded trains out of the city's three railway stations.

Motorways were also jam-packed as thousands of cars queued at toll stations waiting for officials to open expressways at the stroke of midnight.

A stunning light show brightened up the midnight sky in Wuhan yesterday as the former epicentre celebrates the end of its 76-day coronavirus lockdown.

A video shows bridges and skyscrapers on either side of the Yangtze river displaying animated images to thank all the medics and key workers who helped the city beat the epidemic.

The total of infections in China stands at 81,865 and the death toll rose to 3,335. Worldwide, more than 1.4million people have contracted the pathogen and at least 85,937 people have died.
Twelve more people tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal, taking the total number of active cases in the state to 80, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Thursday.

Banerjee, who chaired a meeting of trade and industry representatives at Nabanna, the state secretariat, also said that three persons were discharged from hospital following recovery.

"Till yesterday, the number of active cases stood at 71. Today, three persons were released, but 12 fresh cases were reported. The total number of active cases now stands at 80 in Bengal," Banerjee said.

Among the 12 are a health worker and the medical superintendent-cum-vice principal (MSVP) of a state-run hospital in Howrah, the chief minister said.

Family members of the MSVP and the health worker have been placed under quarantine.

The chief minister, however, took solace in the fact that 79 medical staffers at the city's Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College, where a patient died last week, have tested negative for the disease.

"All 79 people including doctors, nurses and health workers at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College have tested negative for coronavirus, and this is good news, she said.

Maintaining that she was unsure how long the lockdown would continue, Banerjee stressed that even if the shutdown remains in force, "things have to be looked into from a humane point of view to ensure that common people don't starve".

"I cannot say how long this lockdown will continue. There are so many occasions lined up...yesterday there was Shab-a-Barat, then there is Bengali New Year in a few days, next comes 'charak mela', but people cannot gather or celebrate due to the lockdown..., she said.

We will be meeting (a scheduled meeting with the PM) on April 11 to review the situation. But if the lockdown continues, we must see things from a humanitarian point of view so that people do not starve to death.... we have to maintain a balance," Banerjee said.

The government has set up 711 camps, where it is feeding two lakh migrant labourers and others stranded in the state since April 1, she said.

"Our government is feeding two lakh migrant labourers and stranded people from 16 other states. Most of these people are being taken care of by our government... Some NGOs have also come forward to help. This (initiative) will continue till the time it's needed," she said.

The chief minister also said that chances of schools reopening were quite slim, and that dry rations to the beneficiaries of mid-day meals will be distributed in the first week of May.

The state government on Thursday launched a mobile app 'Sandhane' for ASHA workers - who would conduct surveys and upload information on areas, where people in large numbers were exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

The administration, with the help of the information from the app, will earmark vulnerable areas and take necessary action to contain the spread of the disease.

Showing a map prepared by the government on clusters where a number of people were found infected, Banerjee said eight hotspots have been identified in Bengal.

"We have to control it (the spread of COVID-19) in these areas. My officials have done a very good job. We have to concentrate more on Howrah," she said.

So far, 104 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus in West Bengal. Of them five have died, and 19 recovered from the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Instacart employee Eric Cohn used to wear a respirator mask, goggles and gloves only to protect against mold and asbestos as he restored homes in Tucson, Arizona.(Reuters)

Now, Eric Cohn dons the same gear in his new job - shopping for quarantined customers. (Reuters)

Sydney Iacino and Tiffany Haworth sell sustainably-caught fish at the Pacific Horizon tent at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in San Diego, California. (Reuters)

Corinne Henslee and her sister Ellen prepare orders at Front 9 Farm where they have started offering weekly deliveries of vegetables, meats, cheeses and other fresh items following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Lodi, Ohio, US (Reuters)

With over 90% of the U.S. population under orders to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Cohn is among a new class of front-line workers delivering food to peoples houses.(Reuters)

Commercial fisherman Ben Stephens pushes a cooler filled with fish packaged for delivery at Tuna Harbor in San Diego, California. (Reuters)

Tim Kelly and Jimmy Myers run one of four pickup spots in Madison Park, Lakewood for Front 9 Farm where they have started offering weekly deliveries of vegetables, meats, cheeses and other fresh items following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Ohio, US (Reuters)

Bluefin tuna steaks are seen onboard a commercial fishing vessel in Tuna Harbor in San Diego, California, US. (Reuters)

Instacart employee Eric Cohn said he often feels vulnerable in the supermarket checkout line as other customers get closer to him than the recommended 6 feet (1.8 meters). (Reuters)

Eric Cohn, once safely back in his car, he disinfects his gloved hands, steering wheel, door handles and phone. He often works 14 hours with a goal of making $200 a day. (Reuters)

Eric Cohn sprays his phone with disinfectant. (Reuters)

Concerns about staff safety led a family in New Yorks Brooklyn neighborhood to decide to close their three restaurants. (Reuters)

Commercial fisherman Ben Stephens cuts an opah fish onboard the Gutsy Lady 4, a fishing vessel, docked in Tuna Harbor in San Diego, California, US (Reuters)

With restaurants closing and so many people ordering food from their homes, many Americans have found delivery slots at grocery stores evaporating. (Reuters)

Commercial fisherman Ben Stephens sells fish directly to a customer out of the back of his truck in Coronado, California, US. (Reuters)

Instacart employee Eric Cohn, 34, heads to his car outside a Safeway grocery store. (Reuters)

Chef Jeorge Cardenas shares an elbow bump with regular Ix customer Lorenzo Bernasconi. (Reuters)

Concerns about staff safety led a family in New Yorks Brooklyn neighborhood to decide to close their three restaurants.(Reuters)

Eric Cohn loads an order into his car outside a Fry's grocery store. (Reuters)
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A dystopian prison drama, currently one of the most popular films on Netflix with UK viewers, has left viewers terrified and unable to sleep.

Spanish film The Platform, is set in a prison where cells are set around a large moving slab that descends, floor by floor, meaning those at the top can gorge while others are left to starve

With two prisoners per cell and only two minutes a day to eat their fill there's an intense fight for survival, with blood, gore, murder and cannibalism.

In a cruel twist the prisoners change floors each month. So despite being high up during one month, they could find themselves starving with no food the next.

One Twitter user commented: Another later comments: 'If everybody ate only what they needed the food would get to the lowest level,' prompting others to compare the film to coronavirus panic buying.

Another added: 'The platform on Netflix is just what we live in right now. Its the reality.'

Some Twitter users described the hour-and-30-minute film The Platform as a 'masterpiece' while others said they lay awake at night thinking about it

The film opens on Floor 48, where there is still food left on the platform, with Goreng (Ivan Massague) - who volunteered to enter the prison for six months in exchange for a diploma.

His cellmate Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor) is serving a year for manslaughter.

The pair become friendly over the course of the month, until they are relocated to level 171, where food will be scarcer. Goreng wakes up tied to a bench and is told Trimagasi intends to eat chunks of him to sustain them both.

In one twisted scene a bloodied woman named Miharu (Alexandra Masangkay) rides down on the platform in search of her lost child - something she does every month - and is attacked by the cellmates on the floor below.

Twitter was set ablaze by the film, with some praising the 'pretty intense' and 'really gross' plot while others revealed they were left confused by the ending

She manages to kill them both and continues on her way.

The following month, Goreng awakes on Level 33 with a woman, Imoguiri (Antonia San Juan), as a cellmate.

He tries to convince others to ration their food, and forms a plan to travel down the entire prison rationing the food during the month he finds himself on level eight.

Viewers took to Twitter to comment on the film, with some praising the 'pretty intense' and 'really gross' plot, while others revealed they were left confused by the ending.

One wrote: 'Just finished watching #ThePlatform on #Netflix & all I can say is WOW! I was completely blown away.

'Terrifying, captivating, thought provoking. Haven't been this intrigued by a film in a long time.

'Grabbed my attention from the first shot & never let go. This is a MASTERPIECE!'

Another added: 'The Platform might be the creepiest/weirdest movie I've ever seen.

The film opens in a dimly lit cell with a large rectangular 'pit' directly in the centre of it. Actor Ivan Massague (pictured) is Goreng, who volunteered to enter the prison for six months

'Looks like I'm not getting to sleep anything soon again tonight. WT actual F? Thanks Netflix!'

The film trailer opened in a dark cell as an inmate revealed: 'There are three kinds of people. The ones above, the ones below and the ones who fall.'

One user said: 'You guys should watch The Platform on Netflix, more relevant now than ever.'

Some social media users compared the movie to the rush to stockpile food ahead of the coronavirus lockdown - leaving supermarket shelves bare

One wrote: '#The Platform #Netflix, a must for anyone trying to figure out their level in society.'

The Spanish film was initially released in Taiwan on February 21 before reaching UK screens a month later on March 24.

Many users revealed they were left feeling restless after watching the film, as others praised it as 'brilliant'.

One wrote: 'Put everything down guys, I have just watched the best scifi horror for years and years a Spanish movie on Netflix (I'm in UK) called the platform.

'The script is brilliant and intelligent, the rest well. Have you got a strong stomach?'
- Tedros Ghebreyesus said he received death threats while running the global efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic

- The WHO boss said some personal attacks came from people in Taiwan a few months ago

- According to him, he brushed off the personal attacks but said a line was crossed when people insulted Africa

- Tedros was responding to a question about whether criticism made it difficult for the leader to operate

The DirectorGeneral of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday, April 8, revealed he had been receiving death threats and racist insults from people.

This, he said, was as a result of running the global efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic that has seen at least 83,615 people dead since t was first reported in China.

READ ALSO: Donald Trump threatens to cut WHO funding, accuses it of favouring China

The Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom revealed he had been receiving death threats and racist insults from people. Photo: WHO.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: COVID-19 information at their mercies: CAS Mwangangi, journalist Korir studied together

Tedros brushed off the personal attacks during a press conference from the organisation's Geneva headquarters but said a line was crossed when people decided to insult Africa.

I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months. Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, black or Negro," he said.

"I am proud of being black, proud of being Negro. I do not care, to be honest ... even death threats. I do not give a damn," he told reporters during the conference call.

READ ALSO: City Mayor embarrassed after finding wife at party violating social distance directive

He was responding to a question about whether criticism from world leaders such as President Donald Trump in the midst of a global pandemic made it more difficult to operate the WHO.

Tedros, however, commented specifically on insults that he said came from Taiwan.

Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan, he said.

READ ALSO: Francis Atwoli calls on government to allow police to instil discipline in Kenyans breaking curfew laws

President Donald Trump had threatened to cease sending US funds to the WHO accusing it of bias towards China. Photo: CNN.

Source: UGC

The Foreign Ministry knows the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticising me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I did not care, added Tedros

The WHO boss further pleaded with world leaders and politicians to put aside differences and focus on the fight against the pandemic.

Please quarantine COVID-19 politics. That is what we want. We do not care about personal attacks, he said.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Lockdown in Wuhan, China lifted after 76 days

We care about life passing every single minute unnecessarily because we could not unite to fight this virus," he added.

This came barely days after Tedros condemned remarks made by scientists on a French TV saying they had insulted the entire black community.

The scientists were discussing the potential of moving a vaccine trial in Europe and Australia to Africa.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Local students shop for stranded elderly people during pandemic

Trump had threatened to cease sending US funds to the WHO accusing it of bias towards China where the international body lifted a two-and-a-half-month travel ban on Wuhan

The US leader said he was going to put a very powerful hold on funding to the WHO, the UN body whose country is the biggest contributor, accusing it of being Chinacentric.

This, seemingly suggesting that the WHO had gone along with Beijings efforts months ago to minimise the severity of the outbreak.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Bristol Myers Squibb is donating $345,000 worth of personal protective equipment and expanding its free medicine program to include those who lost their insurance because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its unclear what PPEs the Princeton-based company will donate and which healthcare workers will get them.

A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

.@BMSNews is donating $345,000 worth of PPE. BMS also announced that it is expanding its patient-support program to provide free medicines to those who have lost their health insurance due this emergency and its impact.



We thank CEO Giovanni Caforio for all BMS is doing.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 7, 2020

Bristol Myers Squibb said Tuesday that its patient support program will now also assist people who lost their job and health insurance due to the COVID-19 pandemic or non-U.S. citizens who are unable to return to their home country because of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented financial challenges for patients and families, adding considerable new stress to the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and health insurance, Giovanni Caforio, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer, Bristol Myers Squibb said in a statement on the companys website. As more patients face difficult decisions in their daily lives, it is important to continue their treatments.

You can enroll in the program by calling the BMS Contact Centers newly created Expanded Patient Support phone number: 1-800-721-8909 or visiting BMS.com

There are 17 products are available to patients with an existing prescription.

Bristol Myers Squibb patient support programs and the Bristol Myers Squibb Patient Assistance Foundation distributed more than $2 billion in free medicine in 2019.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
By Trend

Azerbaijanis who returned from abroad thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

Zaur Adilov, who is on quarantine in the Athletes Village, said that he was brought from Izmir after sending a letter, requesting help.

Adilov stressed that he is in Baku for the fifth day.

In response, head of the sector on work with Turkic-speaking states under the leadership of chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora Fuad Muradov called me and ensured that the Azerbaijani government would provide help, Adilov added.

"Then Chairman of the Izmir Association of the Azerbaijan Brotherhood and Business Community, Azerbaijani businessman Asif Gurbanov, known in Turkey as Asif Kurban, was informed about us, the letter said. Kurban paid for five days of our 21-day accommodation in Turkeys hotel.

Adilov added that both the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with the Diaspora and the Izmir Association of the Azerbaijan Brotherhood and Business Community called every day.

"We really needed moral support, Adilov said in the letter. The Azerbaijani diaspora and related structures in Turkey are represented by Azerbaijanis with high organizational abilities. We are grateful to them."

"The Azerbaijani government, the Azerbaijani embassy and consulate in Turkey faced a difficult choice, Adilov added. The embassy in Ankara revealed that my son Jalal had very high level of insulin, insulin resistance and TSH hormones. He suffered from severe scoliosis and flat feet.

For this reason, our family was sent to Azerbaijan by a charter flight, the letter said. We also thank the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey. Once again, we thank President Aliyev and all those who participated in resolving the issue of our return."

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Raquel Lezama and her daughter, Monica Ramos, 19, walk home from Manual Arts High School with their grab-and-go meals for the family March 25. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In the fastest surge of layoffs in U.S. history, nearly 17 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government reported Thursday.

It marked a tsunami-like economic hit not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when 1 in 4 workers were jobless. The figures suggest the U.S. unemployment rate in April will soar to 15% or even higher.

The latest bad news set off renewed pressure from President Trump and other administration officials to relax restrictive social distancing policies to allow businesses to reopen in an effort to speed a rebound in the American economy.

Trump this week returned to previous refrains about not allowing the cure to be worse than the disease. And Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Thursday that the economy could be running again in May.

"Hopefully we're going to be opening up," Trump said Thursday. "Very, very, very, very soon, I hope."

Yet continued high levels of infection, a still-rising death toll and new evidence that the coronavirus is spreading into less-populous parts of the country that previously had few cases all suggested that a quick reopening may not be feasible.

Experts have warned that relaxing restrictions too soon could prolong the pandemic and set off secondary waves of infection. Newly infected carriers could spread the disease back into recovering areas and infect individuals who had escaped the first round.

Such a scenario would end up battering the economy anew, experts warn, perhaps in ways that are harder to control than the government's current self-induced shutdown.

Instead of early relaxation of lockdowns and other social distancing measures, some economists suggested what's needed is more and longer-lasting help for those thrown out of work.

"The major takeaway from the labor market data is that Congress and the administration are going to have to provide more aid to a beleaguered domestic labor force that will face a period of mass unemployment, said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at the accounting firm RSM US.

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President Trump speaks about the coronavirus at the White House on Thursday. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

The claims filed in the last three weeks are a mind-boggling 2,500% increase over the pre-virus period, economists at the Economic Policy Institute said. For a benchmark, this is as if the entire adult populations of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin applied for unemployment insurance in the last three weeks.

California accounted for a disproportionately large share of jobless claims. More than 925,000 people in the state applied for benefits in the week that ended April 4, bringing to 2.9 million the total filings in the last three weeks.

The Federal Reserve, anticipating the bleak news in the Labor Departments latest weekly report, announced minutes later that it was creating a new set of programs to provide $2.3 trillion in loans to aid businesses, states and cities.

We are moving with alarming speed from 50-year lows in unemployment to what will likely be very high, although temporary, levels, said Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell, speaking Thursday morning in an online interview with the Brookings Institution.

The central bank has pulled out all the stops to flood the economy with cash to keep credit flowing to prevent a freeze-up in the financial system.

But the magnitude of the layoffs suggested that neither the Feds interventions nor Congress $2.2-trillion relief package approved two weeks ago will be enough.

The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have pushed to provide an additional $250 billion to the $350-billion small-business lending program that forgives loans to those that retain employees. But the Senate deadlocked on the proposal Thursday as Democrats demanded safeguards for the so-called Paycheck Protection Program. They also wanted to add $150 billion to support state and local governments, and $100 billion for the healthcare system.

The small-business loan program has gotten off to a rocky start as some banks balked at participating and some regulations were not finalized. But once the loans start getting processed at a faster clip, this initial pot of money is going to be gone, said Beth Milito, senior executive counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business lobbying group.

Even though businesses are starting to plan for reopening, Milito doesnt see a quick recovery. I think the thaw-out is going to last longer than we had hoped originally, she said, noting that her state, Virginia, has a shelter-in-place order until June 10. And really, June 11, are people going to be comfortable enough to run out and meet at a restaurant? Probably not.

SynergEyes Inc., a specialty contact lens maker in Carlsbad, is bracing for six months of declining revenue and demand, said Bob Ferrigno, the companys chief executive. Since sales started falling March 18, he said, the company has cut production from three shifts five days a week to two shifts over three days.

This week the 15-year-old business, with about 100 employees, was approved for a $1.5-million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program. It will allow the company to avoid layoffs and keep paying virtually all of its employees at their regular rate, Ferrigno said.

Wed be in threat without it, he said of the 1% interest-rate loan.

On Thursday, Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, sought to damp expectations that a substantial change was imminent in the administration's economic-reopening policy.

"The president has been talking to his economic advisors," Kudlow said. "There's nothing formal going on. The president is seeking guidance from everybody, inside and outside of government.

Besides the continuing spread of the virus, the layoffs will inevitably cause many workers to become disconnected from their employers, even though most layoffs are being labeled temporary.

For one thing, workers in lower-paying service businesses such as restaurants and retail stores may want to stay on unemployment rolls out of concern about personal safety and because of the relatively generous levels of jobless benefits provided in the recent aid legislation.

Why work and risk getting infected when one is better off not working? asked Sung Won Sohn, a business economist at Loyola Marymount University.

In the fourth quarter of last year, unemployment benefits nationally averaged $377.97 a week, according to the Labor Department. The supplemental pandemic aid in the relief package raised that by $600 a week through the end of July.

Yet the deeper the job losses, the longer it will take for the labor market to heal. Economists say the unemployment rate is likely to remain close to 10% at the end of the year.

We are trying to be hopeful that the quickest layoffs in history will soon turn to the quickest labor market recovery in history, but we may be just whistling in the dark here, said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Bank in New York.

Thursdays jobless claims report showed that 6.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits in the week that ended April 4. That compared with 6.9 million workers who filed initial claims the previous week and 3.3 million the week before that.

Before mid-March, the number of new jobless claims had been hovering in the low 200,000s.

Some experts questioned whether the economic costs of fighting the virus were worth it.

Arthur Laffer, a conservative economist known for his tax cut proposals, said allowing poverty to spread would cause its own significant health problems. He said it was wrong to build policies around people most vulnerable to the virus, such as the elderly.

Laffer, who is 79 and has been a close advisor to Trump, said he would be willing to expose himself to more risk if that would help his grandchildren's prospects.

"It would be absolutely immoral to deprive them of the economic opportunities I had because I wanted to extend my life one more minute," he said.
TOKYO, Apr 9, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems, Ltd. (MHI Thermal Systems), a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group, is launching a new series of commercial advertisements promoting the company's domestic lineups of "BEAVER" residential-use air conditioners and commercial-use air conditioners. The new ads, featuring popular actress Keiko Kitagawa, were created to mark the 50th anniversary of the BEAVER brand in 1970. TV broadcasting of the new commercials will get underway in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area from April 10, with other major cities to follow from April 11. The company's aim is to reinforce the image of "MHI air conditioners" as a way of enhancing their name recognition and product differentiation in the domestic market.The new commercial promoting MHI's residential-use air conditioners is the first to appear in almost 20 years, the previous ad dating to 2001. It calls attention to the latest systems' "diverse comforts" enabled by their various advanced features. The complementary ad for the company's commercial-use systems emphasizes their ease of operational control deriving from IoT technology and their energy efficiency. Brand value will be enhanced under a concept of "comforting the world with heat."In the commercial for residential-use air conditioners, Ms. Kitagawa appears in a soft white dress, relaxing with a cat in an abstract space bathed in warm colors. The ad describes the various advanced features of the BEAVER lineup: their swift "JET airflow" and powerful "WARP" operating modes; "area air conditioning" enabling control of 16 different airflow patterns; "sensor-controlled airflow" and "power-saving support" enabling automatic control of airflow volume and direction as well as automatic switching to low operating mode when the sensor detects no one is present; and "bio-clear filter" which, through temperature and humidity control, suppresses allergens such as pollen and, relying on the power of enzymes and urea, traps and suppresses pollutants. The ad describes the resulting indoor comfort as well as the various modes of comfort realized through energy efficiency.In the ad for commercial-use air conditioners, Ms. Kitagawa, this time dressed in a white suit, walksbriskly through a nondescript space of cold colors. "Don't you think there's a big connection between work efficiency and office air conditioning," she begins. The ad proceeds to describe how air conditioning contributes significantly to work efficiency by introducing the company's proprietary technologies such as "M-ACCESS," an IoT-based service for remote monitoring of air-conditioning status and energy saving, and "AirFlex," the industry's first air-conditioning technology to prevent air from blowing directly on the people present.Both commercials, as well as behind-the-scenes looks into their production, can be viewed on the MHI Thermal Systems website. Plans also call for the ads and visuals of Ms. Kitagawa to be available through the company's Twitter and Facebook accounts (content only available in Japanese).MHI Thermal Systems, since its launch in 2016 taking over MHI's Air-conditioning & Refrigeration business, has focused on expanding business in thermal solutions - primarily development of advanced technologies and products - and strengthening communication with customers as well as the company's brand power. Broadcasts of commercials featuring Ms. Kitagawa, started in 2017, are an integral part of those initiatives, and now, with the new ads we will ramp up our advertising and PR activities further.About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial firms. For more than 130 years, we have channeled big thinking into solutions that move the world forward - advancing the lives of everyone who shares our planet. We deliver innovative and integrated solutions across a wide range of industries, covering land, sea, sky and even space. MHI Group employs 80,000 people across 400 locations, operating in three business domains: "Power Systems," "Industry & Infrastructure," "Aircraft, Defense & Space." We have a consolidated revenue of around 40 billion U.S. Dollars. We aim to contribute to environmental sustainability while achieving global growth, using our leading-edge technologies. By bringing people and ideas together as one, we continue to pave the way to a future of shared success.For more information, please visit MHI's website: https://www.mhi.comFor Technology, Trends and Tangents, visit MHI's new online media SPECTRA: https://spectra.mhi.comSource: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
The coronavirus death count in New York City, already unfathomable, is expected to surge in the coming days as officials begin including people who have been dropping dead at home without an official diagnosis.

Emergency Medical Service data first reported by Gothamist suggests the undercount of individuals who have likely died from the virus is massive. On Tuesday alone, 256 people were pronounced dead at home across the five boroughs. Until this month, about 25 people in New York City were found dead in their homes on a typical day, suggesting that most of Tuesdays calls were related to the outbreak that has already killed over 5,400 people across the state and infected 140,386 more.

According to New York City Fire Department data obtained by The Daily Beast, first responders have reported 2,192 dead-on-arrival calls over the last two weeks. On average, the department handled about 453 of those calls over the same period last year.

That data also showed that the number of cardiac or respiratory arrest calls has exploded, from 20 to 30 a day at the end of March and the beginning of April in 2019, to 322 on one day in April in 2020with more than 100 calls every day since March 28. While 30 to 50 percent of those calls ended in a death in 2019, more than 50 percent of those calls have ended in a death every day since March 22 this year, with the percentage steadily rising to 75 percent as of April 5.

New York Is in Crisis: Cuomo Pleads for Help as State Suffers Worst Single-Day Death Toll

Every person with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis is counted in the number of fatalities, whether they passed away at home or in a hospital, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement to The Daily Beast. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the NYC Health Department are working together to include into their reports deaths that may be linked to COVID but not lab-confirmed that occur at home.

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They did not specify when the city will begin reporting that data, but the decision to include the possible virus-related fatalities comes after Gothamists report about at-home deaths that were likely related to the disease and not included in the citys reports.

While New York City reported over 400 coronavirus deaths in less than 24 hours on Wednesday, that number did not include those who died in non-hospital settings without a formal lab diagnosis.

While initially refusing to discuss his administrations reporting system, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday agreed the city should include home deaths to give an accurate account of the tragedy ravaging the city. He acknowledged that a vast majority of deaths at home are coronavirus related.

The blunt truth is coronavirus is driving these very tragic deaths, de Blasio said on CNN. Were talking about something like 100, 200 people per day. Dont take this disease ever lightly because the real death toll is even higher.

The mayor added that New Yorkcurrently the epicenter of the pandemic in the United Stateshas seen more deaths in the last couple of days than the number of people who died in the World Trade Center.

State and city officials are still struggling to track the number of coronavirus cases, as officials believe there are a number of individuals infected with the virus who have not, or cannot, be tested.

One emergency room doctor told The Daily Beast that his hospital is aggressively sending people home.

Being in the hospital is not going to change their course of illness, the physician said, indicating the hard choices medical professionals face during this pandemic.

De Blasio said that he was hopeful the virus was starting to slow after seeing indications that the citys overwhelmed hospital system was seeing fewer admissionsuntil he learned that hundreds of people are dying in their homes without seeking medical care.

NYC Is on the Brink as Patients Flood Hospitals Already Under Siege

We never saw anything like this in normal times, he added. We have to acknowledge that, and say this is further evidence of just how destructive this disease is.

On Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 779 more people had died across the state, marking the second day in a row that the Empire State saw an increase in deaths related to the pandemic.

If the hospitalization rate keeps decreasing the way it is now, then the system should stabilize these next couple of weeks, which will minimize the need for an overflow that we have built into the system, Cuomo said, adding that the number of deaths, as a matter of fact, will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away.

The death toll has already overwhelmed city hospitals and morgues. To deal with the flood of bodies, 45 refrigerated trucks have been set up across the five boroughs, some of which are already full, and a temporary morgue has been erected outside Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said last week that New York will also receive 250 ambulances, about 500 EMTs and paramedics, and 85 more refrigerated trucks to help with the overload.

On Monday, de Blasio, whod previously refused to detail any plans for mass burials, said that the city has contingency plans in place if needed to bury COVID-19 victims in temporary plots on Hart Island, which has been used as New Yorks potters field for 150 years, until morgues and cemeteries can handle the influx.

Were going to try and treat every family with dignity, respect, religious needs of those who are devout, and the focus right now is to try to get through this crisis and obviously also put all of our energy and resources into saving those we can save, de Blasio said. Thats how were going to go about it. Well have the capacity for temporary burials. Thats all Im going to say.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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When Dave Dier's brother was receiving treatment at Bryan West Campus, the staff there helped his family in a time of need. Now, Dier is doing what he can to return the favor while trying to make things a little safer for everyone.

Dier's company, Eclipse Screen Printing and Embroidery, is making masks from T-shirt fabric, metal and stabilizers to be sold for personal use or donated to local hospitals. A portion of every purchase will go to the Food Bank of Lincoln.

Dier said he is making masks with "Nebraska Strong" printed on them, but he will soon be branching out into other designs. Masks will be available for order Thursday on his website (nebraskastrong.com.)

Dier said he decided to do something to help local hospitals because of the care his brother received after a fall last month, even as staff was preparing for the spread of the coronaviruas.

"When we left," Dier said, "I knew the importance of masks and the importance of supporting these people."
Mumbai, April 10 : Bollywood actress Maanvi Gagroo has revealed a sordid casting couch experience that she once had to suffer, involving a web series maker.

The actress said the incident took place about a year ago, according to a report in indiaglitz.com. The website said that Maanvi got a call from the producer in question, with an offer for a role in an upcoming web series.

"A year ago, I got a call from a random unknown number. They were like, 'we're doing a web series and we wanted to cast you'. They told me the budget and I said, 'no, this is too less and why are we talking about the budget? Tell me the script. Only if I'm interested and you are interested in roping me, we can discuss about money, dates and all'. So he's like 'we're asking people if they are okay with the budget.' When I said 'no, it's less', he tripled the budget just in his next sentence. He said, 'I can give you this much also, but you'll have to make a compromise'," Maanvi said, according to the website report.

The actress then said she would call the police and added: "This words 'compro', 'compromise' -- I was hearing it after seven or eight years. Suddenly, I don't know what triggered me, I started abusing him. I told him 'How dare you? I'm going to file a complaint with the police'. I was really mad because in this pro-imposed #MeToo era, I was baffled how things like this still happen." Maanvi appears in the popular Amazon Prime web series "Four More Shots Please". Earlier this year she was seen in the film "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan", and last year she had a starring role in "Ujda Chaman".
A stunning light show brightened up the midnight sky in Wuhan yesterday as the former epicentre celebrates the end of its 76-day coronavirus lockdown.

A video shows bridges and skyscrapers on either side of the Yangtze river displaying animated images to thank all the medics and key workers who helped the city beat the epidemic.

Since Wednesday, 11million residents have been allowed to travel in and out of the city where the pandemic first began in December.

An extraordinary light show has brightened up the midnight sky in Wuhan as the former epicentre celebrates the end of its 76-day coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday

Video from yesterday shows bridges and skyscrapers on either side of the Yangtze river radiate animated images to thank all the medics and key workers who helped Wuhan

More than 1,000 buildings across the city were lit up, bearing animations of health officers and words such as 'united' and 'build a beautiful future together'.

Names of 34 Chinese provinces were also displayed during the light show to express the city's gratitude to all the medics who were sent to Wuhan to help combat the outbreak, Chinese media report.

Over 42,600 medical workers from all over the country were sent to Hubei during the outbreak to join the local hospitals on the front line against the deadly disease.

China sealed off the city of Wuhan on January 23, when it became apparent the deadly Covid-19 virus had started there.

But at 00.50am on Wednesday, trains carrying people out of the city began running, and major highways also began opening up as China's lockdown on Wuhan was lifted.

More than 1,000 buildings across the city lightened up, bearing animations of health officers and words such as 'China must win' and 'heroic city'

When the lockdown was lifted the topic quickly began trending on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.

'Wuhan lifts lockdown' and 'Welcome back Wuhan' were posted.

Chinese state media said at least 11,000 air passengers left via Wuhan's airport yesterday, while 55,000 boarded trains out of the city's three railway stations.

Motorways were also jam-packed as thousands of cars queued at toll stations waiting for officials to open expressways at the stroke of midnight.

A woman wearing a protective face mask and pink overalls stands with her luggage next to the first official train departing from Wuhan

At the height of the virus, Wuhan's lockdown saw citizens forced into their homes by authorities.

And transport hubs and streets were desolate except for police patrols and emergency workers.

But restrictions in the city have dropped off in recent days as new infections significantly fell.

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, mainland China reported no Covid-19-related deaths on Tuesday.

The total of infections in China stands at 81,865 and the death toll rose to 3,335. Worldwide, more than 1.4million people have contracted the pathogen and at least 85,937 people have died.
TAIPEI, Taiwan  A dispute over whether Taiwan warned the World Health Organization about human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus before China did has renewed calls to allow the island to join the organization, over the strong objections of Beijing.

The conflict stems from Taiwan's decadeslong struggle for international recognition and China's insistence that the island and mainland China, separated at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, are one entity and should be reunified.

Now, disagreement over Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO could have consequences not only for the 24 million people living in Taiwan, but also on the health of people around the world. The growing dispute also comes as President Donald Trump increases pressure on the WHO and its response to the outbreak in China.

Officials from Taiwan contend that it told the WHO in a Dec. 31 email about suspected human-to-human transmission of the virus in China's Hubei province  the same day China officially informed the international health body of the first cases of the previously unknown disease.

Joanne Ou, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, told NBC News that the warning came from Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control and was sent to China and the WHO.

Ou said health officials in Taiwan knew from the SARS outbreak of 2002-03 that such viruses tend to be transmittable from human to human. "It's the same coronavirus family, which is highly contagious. We informed them of our opinion ... but nobody listened to us," she said recently.

NBC News asked to see the email between Taiwan and the WHO, but Taiwanese officials declined, saying they don't disclose "internal communications" because they are "confidential."

Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said he believes that Taiwan has done an "exceptional job" responding to the crisis and that if it had been a member of the WHO, "we would have learned at least two weeks earlier of the threat we were facing."

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"In addition, we would have learned at least six weeks earlier that the outbreak could be successfully suppressed and how to do so," he said in an email. "The experience of the last three months shows that exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO decreases the effectiveness of the WHO and increases risks to the world."

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

The WHO denies that Taiwan alerted it about the possibility of human-to-human transmissions in the Dec. 31 email. China's Foreign Ministry has forcefully rejected the implication that it pressured the WHO to ignore Taiwan's early warnings.

As late as Jan. 14, the WHO was tweeting that Chinese investigators had found "no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission."

It wasn't until 10 days later that the WHO announced that there was evidence that the disease was highly contagious and was passed from person to person, four days after China reported it.

The virus has since killed at least 88,900 people around the world, forced governments to put billions of people on lockdown and plunged the world economy into crisis.

Special channel for Taiwan

Taiwan has long complained that it can't get the latest WHO data and guidance directly, nor easily share its information with other countries.

In the past, the WHO required Taiwan to make requests and share data through China, but more recently, the agency has set up a special channel for Taipei to communicate with it directly.

Taiwan's allegation that the WHO mishandled information about the newly discovered disease has highlighted the fact that it is locked out of the agency. Just how sensitive this is came into startling focus on March 28 after a senior WHO official appeared to hang up on a journalist from Hong Kong who asked him about the island's membership.

It is an embarrassing scene. @WHO Director General, Bruce Aylward, hangs up in an interview with RTHK when he is asked about reconsidering Taiwans membership. Ironically, despite being so close to China, Taiwan manages to keep the #coronavirus infection and fatality rate low. pic.twitter.com/bFWRXpCyHN  Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) March 28, 2020

The WHO issued a statement later saying Taiwanese membership is up to WHO member states, not WHO staff members, to decide.

Under President Donald Trump, China and the U.S. have become embroiled in seemingly constant friction, from the trade war and protests in Hong Kong to allegations that Beijing initially tried to cover up the outbreak.

The president and members of his administration have also angered Chinese officials by accusing Beijing of not having alerted the world quickly enough to the severity of the outbreak and by using the terms "China virus" and "Chinese virus."

Now, the Trump administration has stepped into the dispute over whether Taiwan should be in the WHO, criticizing it for allegedly having bowed to Chinese pressure.

"They missed the call. They could have called it," Trump said of the WHO during Tuesday's coronavirus briefing. "They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know."

He also took issue with the agency's criticism of his ban on travel from China in early February, calling the agency "China-centric" and threatening to review the millions of dollars the U.S. contributes to the agency's budget.

The WHO has responded to such criticisms by insisting that it actively sought information from China, gauged the situation through its own means and shared its findings with the world.

On Wednesday, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the organization, saying the agency works closely with every nation, while urging the U.S and others to join forces in the efforts against the virus.

"The focus of all political parties is to save the people. Please don't politicize the virus," he said.

The WHO has also praised China for having quickly identified the new virus and shared its data.

According to the WHO, the organization was informed of cases of an unknown pneumonia in Wuhan on Dec. 31. From Dec. 31 to Jan. 3, China reported 44 cases of pneumonia of "unknown etiology," the organization has said.

According to the state-run newspaper China Daily, authorities there said they began regularly informing the WHO, "relevant countries" and regions, and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan about the pneumonia outbreak starting Jan. 3.

Trump's comments about the WHO and China followed the signing into law on March 26 of the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act, under which the U.S. government agreed to advocate for Taiwan's participation in international organizations.

"The responsibility now falls to the United States government to comply with each and every component of that," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said later.

On Friday, the State Department called for Taiwan to be given observer status in the WHO's World Health Assembly, specifically citing Taiwan's success in fighting the coronavirus.

"Taiwan is a leader in preventing the spread of COVID-19. The United States and Taiwan hope to share the Taiwan Model with countries around the world. Taiwan has a role to play in global health and should be a World Health Assembly observer," the department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said on Twitter.

Image: Travelers pass through a health screening checkpoint at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in southern China's Hubei province (Emily Wang / AP)

Taiwan participated in the World Health Assembly as an observer when relations between Beijing and Taipei were relatively goodfrom 2009 to 2016. Since 2017, Beijing has prevented Taiwan from participating.

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian lashed out at officials in Taiwan, saying that since the outbreak authorities on the island "have been going high and low for reckless political manipulation and continuously playing up Taiwans so-called participation in WHO and the World Health Assembly, with the real aim of using the epidemic to seek independence."

"We are firmly opposed to this. Their scheme will never succeed," he added.

China has also reacted to U.S. criticism of its handling of the outbreak by accusing the Trump administration of trying to divert attention from criticism of its own slow response.

In a news briefing March 24, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, rejected claims that the mainland had initially concealed the epidemic.

"In the past two months or so, the people of the mainland have united as one and worked hard to fight the epidemic," she said. "The achievements they have achieved are universally recognized, and they have won precious time for epidemic prevention for the world."

Zhu added that China had frequently shared health information with Taiwan and that as of March 24 had notified the island's authorities 101 times.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

The WHO has also rebutted Taiwan's version of events.

An agency spokesperson, Tarik Jasarevic, told NBC News that the Dec. 31 email didn't mention anything about human-to-human transmission.

"The email said that there were news reports of atypical pneumonia reported in Wuhan and that Wuhan authorities said they believed it was not SARS and that they are doing examinations," Jasarevic said, referring to authorities in the city where the outbreak was first identified. "The email ends by asking WHO if we have any information to share."

China has also forcefully rejected allegations that it pressured the WHO to downplay evidence of human-to-human transmission.

"We believe that the WHO will always properly handle relevant issues in accordance with the one-China principle and General Assembly resolution 2758," Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said March 24, referring to the 1971 U.N. resolution that recognized the People's Republic of China and ejected the Republic of China (Taiwan) from the United Nations.

Image: Medical staff transfer a patient at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan (Darley Shen / Reuters)

In his emails to NBC News, Jasarevic also said that despite Taiwan's not being a member, the WHO works closely with Taiwanese authorities, receiving and sharing information and expertise on several health issues.

'Exceptional job'

Taiwan's officials maintain that the island is kept out of most WHO meetings and that communication between the two sides isn't as broad and efficient as it is between the WHO and its member countries.

The coronavirus pandemic and the Dec. 31 email bring up the perennial question of whether the island should be allowed to join the health body.

Chan Chang-chuan, dean of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health, believes Taiwan should be included because it can contribute in ways other countries can't.

He said Taiwan learned about the virus much earlier than others, partly because of its proximity to the mainland and because it speaks the same language, has many Taiwanese people living there and knows how to deal with diseases originating from China.

"Taiwan learned during the SARS outbreak that it cannot expect timely and accurate information from China when it comes to newly emerging diseases," Chan said. "So this time, it tried to find out information on its own."

He said Taiwan's participation in the WHO "could create another possible channel for getting timely and accurate information about China, because we're so close and there's so much interaction."

Renewed scrutiny of Taiwan's relationship with the WHO has come amid widespread praise for the island's handling of the outbreak.

As of Thursday, Taiwan had 380 active cases and five deaths  far fewer than many countries in Asia and regions farther from China. The island swiftly adopted epidemic prevention measures based on the assumption that the coronavirus could be transmitted human to human, actions that helped it avoid widespread transmissions.

Many governments have been criticized for having reacted slowly or not adequately enough, even as they watched the situation in China and elsewhere become serious and as Beijing placed Hubei province's 58 million people under lockdown Jan. 23.

It's not clear whether an early warning from Taiwan, if it had indeed been made and if it had been communicated to other countries, would have made a difference. And regardless of whether Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO would've had an impact, Taiwanese officials hope the island's success in dealing with the disease and stepped-up U.S. support mean its pleas will finally be heard.

"We need the WHO, and the WHO needs Taiwan," the island's health minister, Chen Shih-chung, said at a news conference recently.
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Oil & Gas Automation and Control System Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Oil & Gas Automation and Control System Market was valued at USD 29.65 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 51.94 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 9.8% over the forecast period 2020-2025.

According to Forbes, the dependence of the oil and gas industry on automation has increased in the last decade, and this is expected further to double by 2020. Automation gives operators immediate access to important performance, condition and technical information which speeds up decision-making, troubleshooting, and performance efficiency.

Drilling is an expensive process in the oil & gas industry, and it involves considerable safety risks for the workers. Automating manual portions of that process, like pipe handling and pressure drilling, can significantly reduce safety risks, and speed up the overall drilling process.

Moreover, automation helps in diagnostics and inspections of the machinery as well. Unmanned drones or submersible devices help to monitor and aid the inspection process. These vehicles are controlled remotely, and can even broadcast live video feeds and data back to a central location.

However, on the flip, strict restrictions that are imposed to curb the adverse effects on the environment along with, the rigid regulations imposed on oil & gas drilling activities restrict the growth of oil & gas automation and control system market.

Key Market Trends

Upstream Industries Offers Potential Growth

The upstream industry finds and produces crude oil and natural gas. The upstream is sometimes also known as the exploration and production (E&P) sector. Upstream profitability largely depends on production and surface operations efficiency. With the substantial number of offshore production platforms, incremental improvements in operational efficiency yield meaningful financial gains.

Further, with the use of autonomous underwater vehicles and unmanned vehicles, it is possible to monitor pipelines and avoid any mishap.

Moreover, the implementation of 3D printing helps to optimize and compress supply chain operations. This leads to the exchange of digital blueprints, allowing operators to print replacement parts on-site and reduce downtime costs. It also helps in prevent ing obsolescence by allowing for instant printing of parts no longer in production, thus improving the profitability of upstream assets.

For instance, Shell has used 3D printers to prototype its Stones Oil and Gas station in the Gulf of Mexico , the deepest oil and gas drilling station in the world. They used a 3D printer to produce a scaled-down plastic version, including all components, in only four weeks. This version helped them understand how to improve components before building the real-life buoy in the construction yard and even helped to work out the most efficient assembly sequence for the buoy. Shell saved USD 40 million by highlighting design flaws at an early stage.

, the deepest oil and gas drilling station in the world. They used a 3D printer to produce a scaled-down plastic version, including all components, in only four weeks. This version helped them understand how to improve components before building the real-life buoy in the construction yard and even helped to work out the most efficient assembly sequence for the buoy. Shell saved by highlighting design flaws at an early stage. Carefully targeted automation can cut costs and, more importantly, can also improve the reliability of production equipment, which in turn extends an asset's economic life and improves profitability.

With the increasing demand for crude oil in different industries such as transportation, industrial activities, and electric power drives the need for more upstream activities which in return will create a market for oil & gas automation and control system market.

North America Holds a Significant Market Share

The United States is the largest market for oil and gas in North America . The country's newfound shale resources and government policies that aim at making the country the top oil and gas producer in the next few years is expected to drive the demand for sensors market in the oil and gas industry.

is the largest market for oil and gas in . The country's newfound shale resources and government policies that aim at making the country the top oil and gas producer in the next few years is expected to drive the demand for sensors market in the oil and gas industry. For instance, with the United States Department of the Interior (DoI) planning to allow offshore exploratory drilling in about 90% of the outer continental shelf (OCS) acreage, under the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024, the oil and gas sector in the region is expected to open up new opportunities to the market.

Further, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States will become a net energy exporter in 2020 and will remain so throughout the projection period as a result of large increases in crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production coupled with slow growth in U.S. energy consumption.

will become a net energy exporter in 2020 and will remain so throughout the projection period as a result of large increases in crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production coupled with slow growth in U.S. energy consumption. Therefore, as the new opportunities in the oil and gas sector are coming up in this region it is expected that it will have a positive outlook on the oil & gas automation and control system market.

Competitive Landscape



The oil & gas automation and control system market is fragmented and competitive in nature. Fall in crude oil prices followed by project cancellation from 2014 to 2016, multiple rounds of industry layoffs were announced that left companies with a reduced number of skilled workers. This increased the dependence of oil companies on automation to complete processes at every level such as upstream, midstream, and downstream. This creates a competitive environment among the players. Some of the players are Honeywell International Inc., Siemens AG, ABB Ltd, Rockwell Automation Inc.



Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.3.1 Rising Demand for Safety Systems in the Oil and Gas Industry

4.3.2 Increasing Oil Consumption

4.4 Market Restraints

4.4.1 Rigid Regulations Imposed on Oil and Gas Drilling Activities

4.5 Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.6 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis

4.6.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.6.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.6.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.6.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.6.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Oil and Gas Industry Activity

5.1.1 Upstream

5.1.2 Midstream

5.1.3 Downstream

5.2 Geography

5.2.1 North America

5.2.1.1 United States

5.2.1.2 Canada

5.2.2 Europe

5.2.2.1 Germany

5.2.2.2 United Kingdom

5.2.2.3 France

5.2.2.4 Russia

5.2.2.5 Rest of Europe

5.2.3 Asia-Pacific

5.2.3.1 China

5.2.3.2 Japan

5.2.3.3 India

5.2.3.4 South Korea

5.2.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.2.4 Latin America

5.2.5 Middle East and& Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

6.1.2 Schneider Electric SE

6.1.3 Emerson Electric Co.

6.1.4 Eaton Corporation

6.1.5 Dassault Systmes SE

6.1.6 Honeywell International Inc.

6.1.7 ABB Ltd.

6.1.8 Rockwell Automation Inc.

6.1.9 Yokogawa Electric Corporation

6.1.10 Siemens AG

6.1.11 Robert Bosch GmbH

6.1.12 Texas Instruments Inc.

6.1.13 Johnson Controls Inc.



7 INVESTMENT ANALYSIS



8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8hleya

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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Research and Markets

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Morgan County reached double-digits for positive COVID-19 coronavirus tests Thursday, confirming two additional cases.

Meanwhile, two other west-central Illinois counties  Greene and Schuyler  reported their first positive cases.

The Morgan County cases, which bring the number of positive tests to 10, involve a girl in her teens and a woman in her 40s. Both are self-isolating and recovering at home, according to Morgan County Health Department officials.

There have been 110 negative test results in Morgan County; 12 still were pending Thursday. One person in the county has died from COVID-19.

Greene Countys first positive test involves a man in his 50s. Health department officials said the person has self-quarantined at home since March 27, when symptoms were first noticed. The man is isolated and recovering at home.

The Schuyler County Health Department said the person who tested positive in that county is recovering at home; the department released no additional details.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,344 new cases Thursday and 66 additional deaths. There now are 16,422 cases, including 528 deaths, in 81 counties in Illinois.
BISHKEK -- A former Kyrgyz customs officer from the southern city of Osh who openly criticized a powerful former deputy chief of the Central Asian nation's customs service who is at the center of a corruption scandal, has been transferred from house arrest to a detention center in Bishkek.

The Birinchi Mai District Court in the Kyrgyz capital said to RFE/RL on April 8 that Emilbek Kimsanov had been transferred to pretrial detention on March 31 and would be held there at least until April 16.

Kimsanov was taken into custody in February in the Russian city of St. Petersburg at the request of the Kyrgyz authorities. He was extradited subsequently to Kyrgyzstan, where he was placed under house arrest over his alleged involvement in the 2018 beating of a son of the former Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev.

Kimsanov's wife Maria Zavorotnyaya in an April 8 video statement addressed to President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, said that the case against her husband was organized by "an influential man of Kyrgyzstan" due to a standoff with her spouse. Zavorotnyaya did not mention the "influential man's" name.

Earlier in the year, Kimsanov's brother, Emirbek Kimsanov, asked Jeenbekov to protect his brother from Raimbek Matraimov and his family, who, he said, had been persecuting Emilbek Kimsanov for his refusal to participate in Matraimov's "corruptive schemes."

Raimbek Matraimov has been at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal exposed by a joint investigation by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP,) and the Kyrgyz news site Kloop.

The investigation chronicled how a 37-year-old Uyghur businessman from China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, self-confessed money launderer Aierken Saimaiti, moved hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan, much of it via a business network led by Khabibula Abdukadyr, a secretive Chinese-born Uyghur with a Kazakh passport.

Saimaiti was shot dead in Istanbul on November 10, but before his death he gave reporters documents that revealed the massive and systemic plunder of public funds from Kyrgyzstan.

The investigation also implicated Matraimov, who has denied the allegations.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA  Emerging from the darkness of a global pandemic that has devastated communities and families are stories of people coming together to help each other out. Across the country, people are getting to know their neighbors better as they offer to buy groceries for them and check in on their elderly neighbors.

In Northern Virginia, 16-year-old Parnika Saxena set her sights on both the short term and long term when she started thinking of ways to help people survive the coronavirus crisis. Because she lives with both her parents and grandparents, Saxena knew she had to take all the necessary precautions to prevent the coronavirus from entering her home, especially with her grandparents living there.

Saxena, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, also wanted to focus on longer-term ways to fight the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, and any future viruses that may emerge. She had some extra time on her hands to focus on research, with schools across Virginia shut down and the governor instructing residents to stay at home.

As the coronavirus spread around the globe, Saxena and her family, who live in the Loudoun County section of Chantilly, would have conversations almost every night at the dinner table about the coronavirus and what they could do to help people. In those conversations, Saxena told her family about a concept that might help to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.



The idea was a type of face mask that allows oxygen to pass through, making it breathable, yet stopping coronavirus particles from getting through.

Applying what she had learned in classes at school, her school's Nanotechnology Club and her own independent research, Saxena came up with the idea of a graphene mask. The mask covers all openings of the face. It is transparent, making it ideal for everyday use by not only health care workers, but also the general public. It is lightweight, strong, flexible, and stretchable, making it easy to fit to face as a mask.

Story continues

I was able to put together this theory and proposal for a face mask that can hopefully help people in the prevention of COVID-19, Saxena said in an interview with Patch.

Saxena wanted to know if she was on the right track and if her idea for a face mask that she believed could protect people from the coronavirus was feasible. So she sent her proposal to her classmates, teachers and professors at universities and laboratories.

Her teachers were supportive of the research she had started. And professors across the country responded positively to the idea. They sent her suggestions on ways to proceed with improving the concept.

One group of university professors said they wanted to discuss the concept with her and would talk about the mask among themselves this week before holding a Zoom meeting with Saxena.



Get the latest updates on the new coronavirus in Virginia as they happen. Sign up for free news alerts and a newsletter in your Patch town.



Local politicians, like Virginia Del. Suhas Subramanyam, have reached out to Saxena to congratulate her for developing an idea that could prove extremely helpful to health care workers and the general public.

After speaking with a couple other experts in the field, Saxena said she was able to improve the design of her graphene mask. The experts suggested that since "monolayer nitrogen-doped graphene" is too thin to stand on its own, using it as a coating on textiles could be more practical.

Too complicated to explain over the phone, Saxena sent Patch a follow-up email explaining the changes suggested by the experts.

"This gives us the ability to fashion the graphene (along with a textile) into a 3D mask as well as take care of the concern that I had about the conductive property of graphene," Saxena said in the email. "When a conductor of electricity (graphene) is coated onto a insulator/non-conductor of electricity (textile), it breaks the electrical circuit."

One downside of using graphene is its high cost. However, Saxena has learned in her research that graphene flakes are cost-effective as opposed to a layer of graphene. "However, this will require more research into seeing how to cost-effectively produce this mask," she said..



In case you're wondering how it's possible that a high school junior is coming up with innovative ways to protect people from the coronavirus and future viruses, you need to understand her school. In national high school lists, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, or TJ, is often described as the best high school in the U.S.

Graphene face mask proposal (Courtesy of Parnika Saxena)

TJ is a magnet school located just off Little River Turnpike between Anandale and Alexandria that enrolls students from school districts across Northern Virginia. It's extremely difficult to get into the school. If young people pass the rigid tests to get into TJ, they will get the opportunity to take such courses as nanochemistry and quantum physics.

Saxena said she was introduced to graphene in the Nanotechnology Club and has been hooked on studying its potential ever since.

"Its a like a song you cant get out of your head. Once you read about it, it's so fascinating  its properties and the amount you can do with graphene," she said.



Saxena is scheduled to re-start school at TJ  along with students at schools across Fairfax and Loudoun counties  through online classes on Tuesday, April 14.

Along with her aptitude for the hard sciences, Saxena is a skilled dancer, an interest she acquired from her mother and grandmother, both of whom are dancers. Saxena won a Girl Scout Gold Award for a dance therapy program she developed. The Gold Award is awarded to Girl Scouts who have made a significant impact on their community and is one of the highest honors a Girl Scout can receive.

Saxena takes her dance therapy workshops to schools, assisted living facilities and nursing homes across Northern Virginia. She also got the opportunity to travel to India and Kenya to demonstrate her dance therapy.

"We use dance therapy as a means to bring joy to our communities. We encourage dance to be used as a form of self-expression and exercise as well as a topic for scientific discussion, regarding the neurological and muscular benefits of dance," Saxena explains on her website.

Saxena also has developed an app that has dance tutorials and instructions for people unable to attend her in-person worshops.

"Anything to help the community is very fulfilling," Saxena told Patch.

For her graphene mask idea, Saxena created a video that lays out the problem and how her use of nanotechnology in developing a mask could be one solution for containing the spread of the coronavirus.

With surgical masks, large particle droplets can be blocked. But they do not filter extra small particles in the air that are spread by coughs and sneezes. The loose fit of surgical masks does not give complete protection. Also, on the downside, surgical masks are for one-time use only.

"With the production of graphene masks, health care workers, the sick and the healthy can effectively and comfortably protect themselves from COVID-19," she explains in the video.

Saxena wants universities and labs to learn about her idea because many of them have the resources to create graphene mask prototypes that can be tested. At the very least, universities could verify the validity of the mask makeup that she has hypothesized can work, and in turn, help communities as soon as possible.

"Its going to be so amazing if someone can actually test this and put it to use," Saxena said.

RELATED:

This article originally appeared on the Fairfax City Patch
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The World Bank Board of Directors has approved US$140 million in funding for the International Development Association (IDA) to improve the quality of education and learning in Niger, a statement from the International Development Association (IDA) has announced
Amid the advancing pandemic and its repercussions, one such institution that is persistently living up to its expectation is the judiciary at the regional level. Among others, the Kerala High Court has been pronouncing some of the finest, and measured judgments, most notable for its compassion, while defending diverse rights of citizens

India is entering its tenth week since the first case of the COVID-19 pandemic was reported on 30 January, 2020. Owing to the countrywide lockdown, its implementation by the tenacious police on the ground, efforts of the relentless front-line healthcare workers, the essential service providers, and numerous other invisible supplementary support systems and contributions extended by diverse players, India is putting up a backbreaking fight.

Amid the advancing pandemic and its repercussions, one such institution that is persistently living up to its expectation is the judiciary at the regional level.

Among others, the Kerala High Court has been pronouncing some of the finest, and measured judgments, most notable for its compassion, while defending diverse rights of citizens - some of these include the right to be protected from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, right to move freely throughout the territory of India, right to medical treatment, right to essential supplies, right to reproductive choice and right to rear animals. Furthermore, the court went a step ahead, to protect the rights of three Keralite cats!

Right to be protected from the economic fallout of the pandemic

The Kerala High Court was one of the first courts that directed banks, financial institutions and tax authorities to defer recovery proceedings and coercive measures. It was an obvious relief to people, who were being impacted by the economic slump manifested on account of the pandemic. However, the Supreme Court, now in the middle of a credibility crisis, stayed this judgment in an unreasoned order, without engaging with any of the concerns raised in the Kerala High Court's judgment. The Supreme Court's stay has been subjected to criticism, on account of both procedural and substantive improprieties.

Right to free movement, medical treatment, essential supplies, et al

As the positive cases progressively rise and the emblematic corona-line wended up the graph, most states have sealed their borders to quarantine themselves from any incoming non-localite, essentially the migrant workers. One such state was Karnataka. It erected blockades on some of the road routes between Karnataka and Kerala, and prevented the movement of persons seeking any form of medical relief. The Kerala High Court Advocates' Association approached the high court, requesting them to open up the road borders.

On 1 April, 2020, in the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association verus The State of Kerala and Ors., the Kerala High Court took up the aforementioned border issue through video conference.

At the video conference hearing scheduled at 1.45 pm in the Kerala High Court, when it came to its notice that the Centre and the two state governments were already in the process of resolving this issue, the court adjourned the special sitting to 5.30 pm. When the court re-convened, it was intimated that the meeting was in progress, and that the outcome of the deliberations would be known by 6 pm.

The court adjourned the video conference hearing to 6.30 pm. When the governments did not arrive at a decision by 6.30 pm, the court, observing that "any further delay in resolving the stalemate could be catastrophic for the residents" of Kerala, ruled that such restrictions and barricades were illegal. It also directed the central government to ensure that the blockades are removed forthwith.

In holding so, the Kerala High Court ruled that the fundamental right of a citizen to move freely throughout the territory of India (under Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution), and the fundamental right to life and personal liberty (under Article 21 of the Constitution), will be infringed in the case of a resident of Kerala, when he/she is denied entry into Karnataka for availing medical treatment, or is deprived of essential articles of food that are being transported into Kerala.

Both the states eventually resolved the dispute, and Karnataka agreed to allow passage for patients across the border from Kerala, who are not infected with COVID-19.

This judgment not only preserves and enforces the fundamental rights of citizens, but does so on priority. This is in stark contradiction to the manner in which the Supreme Court has off-late, approached rights-based matters.

For instance, when the Supreme Court finally decided to hear the matter regarding the constitutionality of the internet ban in Kashmir, after several months of lockdown imposed in Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, it did not provide any meaningful relief to the Kashmiris, albeit expressly declaring that the right to freedom of speech and expression, contained in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, includes right to information.

Right to reproductive choice

The Kerala High Court allowed the medical termination of 24-week pregnancy of a minor rape survivor, and re-iterated that "'Y''s right to make reproductive choices is also a facet of her personal liberty as understood under Article 21 of our Constitution. The said choice would extend to deciding whether or not to carry her pregnancy to its full term."

The judgment assumes significance for treating an abortion case as critical enough to warrant immediate adjudication, in the middle of a pandemic. This is especially so, given that even during ordinary times, the requirements of judicial authorizations under the archaic abortion law, have often caused delays, and such delays have militated against a woman's reproductive rights. The Kerala High Court however, via its timely intervention, has ensured access to abortion even during these compelling times.

Cats have rights too!

In N Prakash versus State of Kerala and Anr., the petitioner requested the court that he be allowed to travel to procure "Meo-Persian" biscuits for his cats.

Holding that it is a fundamental duty of every Indian citizen under Article 51A(g) of the Constitution, to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures, and that the animals have rights and freedoms under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the court ruled that the petitioner has the right to obtain a pass from the police authorities for procuring food for his "feline friends."

Moreover, "animal feed and fodder" were held to be "essential items" in respect of which movement is permitted during the lockdown period.

Further, in his concurring opinion, and in what can set quite a precedent, Justice Shaji P Chaly ruled that the liberty and choice of a citizen to rear an animal is traceable to his fundamental right to privacy as recognized by the Supreme Court in Puttaswamy's case, which in turn is a facet of his right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

He also ruled that the choice of the petitioner not to cook non-vegetarian food is also a well-protected facet under Article 21 of the Constitution and he has no choice than to procure food from outside.

In these chilling times, that too when India lacks a comprehensive and a functional rights-based framework of public health related legislations, Kerala High Court has consistently stepped up and hammered home the dictum - rights matter.
The Fort Bend County jail has had no COVID-19 cases thus far, and the jail inmates themselves are working to keep it that way.

Since Monday, inmates who were previously assigned to sewing duties have been diverted to making face masks, and have been producing about 100 per day, the sheriffs office said.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Harris County takes applications for $10M small business loans

Lt. Jeff Kovar from the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office came up with the idea after he observed the impact that the sheriff's offices free disinfectant distribution program had on the community.

I just thought, What else could we do? We have all these inmates that are creative and talented, he said.

According to Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, many other counties have issued surgical masks to protect their jail inmates. By outfitting the Fort Bend County jail inmates with the cloth masks, surgical masks can go to first responders.

MORE FROM CLAIRE GOODMAN: Fort Bend County Sheriffs office, county judge lock horns over funding for free disinfectant

As of right now, we have no confirmed cases in our facility, and we want to keep it that way, said Kovar. I came up with this idea to preserve our (personal protective equipment) so we can save the surgical masks for first responders.

The masks have flannel lining with a cotton exterior and are compliant with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions protection standards for the general public.

According to Nehls, the material for the masks is purchased from local fabric stores using funding from the commissary budget.

Maj. Chad Norvell of the Fort Bend Sheriffs Office explained that the commissary budget comes from income from the jail commissary store. Aramark, a food distribution service, supplies the jail with items like candy or soft drinks, and the inmates in turn pay for those items using money given to them from individuals outside the jail.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas prisoners to craft up to 20,000 cloth masks a day for state employees, offenders in quarantine

Families put money on a card for the inmate, and then the inmate buys something they want at the commissary store. The money from that goes into a commissary fund, and we use it for various programs, Norvell summarized.

We can use those funds because the inmates here are learning something. Theyre contributing, Nehls explained.

About 700 inmates are housed in the jail. Kovar estimated that between six and 12 inmates make masks at any given time. The men in the project come from the veterans division of the jail. The women are sewers by trade.

Prior to the pandemic, the sewers did all the tailoring and uniform repairs in the jail. They have now been diverted to making masks, and some of the male inmates have joined in the effort.

The inmates take immense pride in their work and are proud to be a part of the efforts to protect their fellow inmates from infection.

I cant think of a better way to do my time than to help someone else, said inmate Dave Harrison Its good to help somebody for a change.

Andrea Pesce was a sewer for 35 years prior to being in custody in the jail. Pesce hopes that by making masks to keep her fellow inmates safe, shell be able to show her children that she is making a change in her life.

I want to do whatever I can do to show my kids that Im trying to make a difference at this point, Pesce said, as tears formed in her eyes. Im not making them proud by any means, but at least I'm doing something to show that I'm trying to turn myself around for them.

claire.goodman@chron.com
Representative image

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It has been more than two weeks since the lockdown was enforced and majority of the business process management firms (BPM) are still struggling to enable work from home and sustain businesses.

Stringent client restrictions, lockdown and infrastructure woes have made it difficult for them to work at full capacity. This is in turn will impact their businesses, said executives and industry stakeholders.

Partha DeSarkar, CEO, Hinduja Global Solutions, a Bengaluru-based BPM firm, said majority of the firms are still struggling to enable its employees to work from home (WFH). Some of them have enabled 60 percent of its workforce to WFH, whereas for others it is barely 10 percent.

Challenges

For one, before the lockdown was announced on March 24, employees rushed back home. These employees, significant portion of them from rural India, are unable to work due to lack of connectivity and access to hardware such as laptops or desktops.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Even in urban centres, facilitating work from home has been a challenge due to client issues, where privacy is a huge concern. Ajay Shah, head  recruitment, Teamlease Services, pointed out that protocols for BPM firms are quite stringent, which does not have provision for working from home.

After COVID-19 outbreak intensified, some of the non-voice process work such as email could be done through chatbots. But voice-based process job could not be transferred due to the protocols.

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

"This is where the impact has been high," added Shah.

Voice-based process jobs involve directly calling customers/clients for sales and other customer services. This requires employees to be physically present at the centres.

Industry impact

Some of the major players have already announced the impact it is going to have on companies. An ET report stated that close to 50 percent of work have been stopped in some outsourcing firms.

Last month, Genpact, one of the prominent players in the US, said in the US Securities and Exchanges Commission filing that the company is not able to predict the exact impact COVID-19 will have on FY20 results. But it is likely to impact its hiring, ability to retain clients and pricing pressure, the statement added.

As business slumps, layoffs will only follow, industry sources said.

DeSarkar explained that at a time when some companies are working half their capacity, people who are unable to work from home will not have any jobs. It is not like these jobs will come back once situation recovers. There is no guarantee, he added.

The sector employs about 11 lakh people and according to reports, it accounts for about $38 billion. A human resource personnel, who did not want to be named, pegs that anywhere between 30-50 percent of this workforce could lose their jobs.

First of these layoffs have already started with Gurgaon-based BPM firm Fareportal has laid of over 300 employees. In a statement shared with Moneycontrol, the company said that this is the first time the company had laid off employees in the 25 years. The decision to layoff, the company, was taken after its business went down by 85 percent.

DeSarkar said that unless the government gives stimulus package, these workers will be trouble. "This is what we have given as recommendations from NASSCOM as well," he added.

What will happen to the industry?

But it does not mean that the entire ecosystem will be affected for long. The travel restriction, which is likely to be extended and lockdown concerns will make the clients look at different options.

India and Philippines are one of the largest players when it comes to BPM services.

So, what will happen is that current operations will go on. But we might not see expansion. So companies might look at other countries for expansion, explained a human resources expert.
The UK government has rejected President Donald Trumps offer to help with the COVID-19 treatment of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson was admitted to an intensive-care unit on Monday evening after his persistent coronavirus symptoms worsened, a spokesman said.

Following the news, Trump told a press briefing that his administration had contacted Johnsons doctors and told them he had asked two unnamed pharmaceutical companies to offer the prime minister support.

Ive asked two of the leading companies, these are brilliant companies  Ebola, AIDS, others, theyve come with the solutions and just have done incredible jobs, Trump said. And Ive asked them to contact London immediately.

He added: Theyve really advanced therapeutics and therapeutically and they have arrived in London already. Their London office has whatever they need, and well see if we can be of help.

Weve contacted all of Boriss doctors and well see what is going to take place, but they are ready to go.

The president did not name the companies or drugs he was referring to, though he has increasingly promoted the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin  drugs whose efficacy treating COVID-19 is being tested but has not been proved.

Johnsons spokesman rejected the offer on Tuesday, saying any treatment he receives is a matter for his doctors.

Were confident the prime minister is receiving the best possible care from the National Health Service, the spokesman said. Any treatment he receives is a matter for his doctors.

The person added, however, that we are grateful for all of the warm wishes the prime minister has received overnight.

Johnson continued to receive warm words from other world leaders and political opponents.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said he sent all my support to Boris Johnson, to his family, and to the British people at this difficult moment.

Keir Starmer, the new leader of the opposition Labour Party, described the news of Johnsons admission to an ICU as terribly sad.

All the countrys thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family during this incredibly difficult time, he tweeted.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: Thinking of @BorisJohnson and his family tonight. Get well soon. You are in great hands and we all want you safe, well and back in @10DowningStreet.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 610 on Thursday, up from 542 the day before, and the number of new cases also came in higher at 4,204 from a previous 3,836.

The daily tally of cases was the highest since April 5, and comes as a disappointment to a country in lockdown since March 9, anxious for clear signs that the illness is in retreat.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light rose to 18,279, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world.

The number of confirmed cases climbed to 143,626, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.

There were 3,605 people in intensive care on Thursday against 3,693 on Wednesday -- a sixth consecutive daily decline offering some good news despite the climb in new cases and fatalities.

Of those originally infected, 28,470 were declared recovered against 26,491 a day earlier.

A doctor at a new coronavirus unit at Casal Palocco hospital near Rome checks on a patient suffering from the virus

The Italian government on Thursday won a confidence vote in the Senate on an emergency decree that lays out measures worth 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to support the economy battered by a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

The package, dubbed the 'Heal Italy' decree and presented by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 16, suspends loan and mortgage repayments for hard-hit companies and families via state guarantees for banks.

Among other measures, it also increases funds to help firms pay workers temporarily laid off as a result of a lockdown imposed by the government to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The ruling coalition dominated by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party won the Senate motion by 142 votes to 99.

The decree was contested by the opposition, spearheaded by Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party, which said the package was insufficient and bedevilled by bureaucracy which made it hard for people to access the funds available.

Since the March 16 initiative, the government has presented two more decrees aimed at helping the most needy with basic provisions, and offering guarantees to banks to try to ensure that credit and liquidity to companies does not dry up

Medics place an empty biological isolation stretcher - designed for transporting patients with coronavirus - into the back of an ambulance at a hospital in Salerno

Madrid and Rome are also seeking assistance from EU partners to rebuild their economies in the wake of the disaster, but Germany has rejected the idea of joint borrowing and the Netherlands is blocking a compromise solution.

EU finance ministers were to meet later Thursday by videoconference for the second late-night crisis talks of the week to try to agree terms to allow hard-hit members to access funds.

'If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real,' Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC, suggesting the very future of the EU was at stake.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, said it was vital the ministers hatch a plan big enough to meet the challenge, warning: 'If not all countries are cured, the others will suffer.'

European companies are also suffering under a public lockdown, which health experts say is vital to slow the virus' spread but has effectively frozen economic life.

In one example, German airline Lufthansa warned it was losing one million euros ($1.08 million) an hour and would need state aid.

The coronavirus slump has also exacerbated the instability in world energy markets, and on Thursday top oil producers from OPEC like Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ partners, including Russia, met to discuss cutting production to boost prices.

The World Trade Organization has warned of the 'worst recession of our lifetimes.'

An Italian Army officer from a unit specializing in biological defence offloads supplies at a nursing home in Torre Boldone, Italy

A soldier from a biological weapons unit uses a hose filled with disinfectant to clean the parking lot of a nursing home in Torre Boldone, Italy

Three officers from the Russian army, which has been drafted in to help Italy, carry three containers filled with ethanol to disinfect a nursing home in Torre Boldone

The worst-hit countries in Europe - the worst-hit continent - are Italy and Spain, where daily death tolls are now down from their peaks but still running high, despite strict lockdowns.

Spain's daily fatalities fell to 683 on Thursday, down from 757 the day before, while its total passed 15,000.

In Italy, the country's youngest COVID-19 patient, a two-month-old baby girl, was reportedly released from hospital, a moment of hope in a country with 17,669 dead.

Italy's epidemic has turned life in the country upside down, but also brought out acts of generosity from the likes of Sister Angel Bipendu, a nun and a doctor who distributes medical care alongside spiritual succour.

She tries to remain optimistic, despite the ravages of the coronavirus reminding her of earlier epidemics in her former central African homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

'I think of my Congo, where sick people will also die of hunger,' the 47-year-old told AFP as she made home visits in Bergamo province, epicentre of Italy's outbreak. 'I'm afraid of not being able to do everything I have to do. Fear of being infected? Absolutely not.'

One hundred Italian doctors, Sister Bipendu's colleagues, have died in the outbreak, according to their health association.
It was going to be a reasonably good year for oil. OPEC+ would continue to keep a lid on production to keep prices above dangerous levels, and U.S. shale would continue to expand. But a series of events--some predictable and some not-so-predictable would change the trajectory of the global oil market.

Russia quit the cuts. The coronavirus epidemic that had paralyzed China signaled it had bigger plans, ones that involved the whole planet. The result: what started as a reasonably good year turned into a nightmare.

The oil industry is reeling from this nightmare, but unfortunately, there is no waking up from it. Oil producers are selling their crude at discounts to even current depressed benchmarks, desperate to find buyers, according to a new Bloomberg report. The price pain is universal, stretching from Russia to Alaska and from Europe to Australia.

At the same time, oil storage tanks across the world are filling up, sparking fears that we will soon reach capacity. When this happens, current prices will seem high by comparison. There is also a looming shortage of tankers as traders charter VLCCs to store crude offshore. The cherry on top of this oil horror cake is the uncertainty about a global production cut deal.

Someone should definitely make a movie about it.

Bloomberg reported this week, quoting unnamed traders, that Russias Sokol blend was selling at a discount of some $8 per barrel to the Dubai benchmark, which traded at about $33-34 on Monday and Tuesday. This, according to the report, was a stunning $11 per barrel less than the last Sokol deal. Even worse, Australias Varanus, according to the traders, traded at a discount of $13-14 per barrel to dated Brent, which this week recovered to around $30 a barrel. Thats down from a premium of 50 percent to Brent for the last Varanus cargo.

The discounts tell a gloomy story: there is a lot of oil and few buyers. Its a story that has become pretty familiar over the last few weeks. The coronavirus outbreak crippled demand--first in Asia and then in Europe, North America, and anywhere else people are being advised to stay at home to prevent the further spread of the disease. So all the oil that cannot be sold, discounts or not, is being sent into storage.

Related: Global Oil Producers Agree On Joint 10 Million Bpd Output Cut

Earlier this year, data analytics company OilX calculated that there were about 650 million barrels of crude in storage onshore and another 100 million barrels in tankers offshore.

But this was in mid-March. Since then, demand is thought to have fallen further thanks to lockdowns, more flight groundings, and travel restrictions.

Now, another analytics company, Signal, who focuses on the shipping industry, has calculated that as many as 440 Very Large Crude Carriers may be required for floating storage, meaning they would be unavailable for normal operations. This monstrous number of VLCCs would be needed in the event of an oil Black Swan, Signals analysts said. Such an event would entail oil overproduction of 20 percent over demand that would result in 880 million barrels needing storage space.

The firm also made calculations for low- and mid-case scenarios, in which oil production would exceed demand by 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively. In the low-case scenario, there would be some 115 million barrels in need of storage, which would mean 57.5 VLCCs. In the mid-case scenario, the extra barrels needing storage would be 497 million, which would require 249 VLCCs.

Right now, the world is in the low-case scenario, according to Signal. This is good news given the reports about onshore tanks filling up, with at least one major hubSaldanha Bay in South Africaalmost full now. Space is quite literally running out.

The situation may progress from a low-case scenario to a mid-case scenario if OPEC and the rest of the oil world fail to agree on a deal. It will be a different deal: this time everyone will have to cut, which may make reaching an agreement on quotas more difficult. On the other hand, everyone is suffering now, which could make reaching an agreement easier.

The problem is, even a global deal may not be enough for the physical market. A deal could prop up prices, but it wont magically revive demand, which, according to the latest reports, may have fallen by as much as 30 percent or 30 million bpd already. There has been talk of cuts totaling 10 million bpd, with U.S. President Trump mentioning a range of 10 to 15 million bpd. But thats just talk.

There is a glimmer of light on the horizon, however. China is tentatively returning to normal. Refiners who had to reduce their run rates dramatically during the lockdown are now once again buying oil. It is way too early to say how long Chinas full recovery will take, but the renewed interest of Chinese buyers in oil is certainly cause for hope that the nightmare will end eventually.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
When the United States entered World War II, the Warren Featherbone factory in Three Oaks, Michigan converted its production facilities from corsets to raincoats to outfit American troops heading overseas. Now, close to 80 years later, the family-owned distillery that now occupies that same building is again pivoting its production in the service of the greater goodthis time by making hand sanitizer amidst a global pandemic.

Its kind of like things are repeating themselves, says Bill Welter, who founded Journeyman Distillery with his wife Johanna in 2010. Were having our chance to do our part.

More than 600 distilleries around the country have made a similar switch in recent weeks, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. While there are still some regulatory challenges to overcome and the council has been pushing the Food and Drug Administration to further loosen tax rules, the Welters and many others are successfully producing alcohol-based hand sanitizer that meets World Health Organization standards.

The pivot in production has been relatively simple, Bill says: Instead of making whiskey, which has been our focus and forte, were effectively making vodka.

Of course, while Bill and Johanna were motivated to help the community, the decision wasnt entirely selfless: they wanted to save their business, too. In mid-March, when Michigan restricted bars and restaurants to takeout and delivery service, the Welters knew that theyand the rest of the food and hospitality industrywere in trouble. They had to lay off more than 100 employees across their distillery and restaurant, as well staff who worked on the putting green and in the event spaces on the property.

Frankly, it was terrifying and gut wrenching and just heartbreaking, Bill says. Weve worked so hard to create this business, and then all of a sudden you wake up one day and the state of Michigan as well as many other states say, well, youre gonna have to close your businessnot because of anything youve donebut, you know, for the betterment of society and protection of peoples health.

Story continues

After starting with three employees in 2010, the Welters business had grown to 150 employees earlier this year. Many of their staff had been with the company for years.

The initial reaction is shock and fear, Johanna says. But she and Bill quickly fell back on what she calls that startup spirit of thinking: Okay, lets figure this out. What do we need to do next?

As supplies of hand sanitizer began to dwindle nationwide, Bill saw a news report about how alcohol can be repurposed to fill the gap and asked their production manager to look into it. Then things began to fall into place. In mid-March, the Food and Drug Administration issued guidance allowing certain facilities, including distilleries, to create hand sanitizer.

Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, has pivoted from making whiskey to producing hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Courtesy of Journeyman Distillery

Originally Journeyman was giving its new product away. The company donated more than 1,200 bottles to frontline health care workers in Michigan. But recently, it has started selling the product as well, which means the Welters could afford to rehire about 15% of their staff.

Each Saturday for the past three weeks, the distillery has opened its doors for curb-side service, selling both whiskey and sanitizer with 40% of the proceeds going to a relief fund for the employees who were laid off. This past weekend, cars stretched for a mile waiting for their turn to buy the products. So far, these efforts have raised close to $30,000. In addition to the cash in the relief fund, the company also prepares a meal on those days for each of its employees to pick up and share with their families.

We always talk about how our distillery is a family to us, Johanna says. The Journeymen customers and our community have come out to support us and them, and that is so heartwarming.

The challenge of starting a whole new product line isnt without its hiccups. While the Welters have plenty of the main ingredientethanolon hand, they had to work to source enough bottles and other other chemicals, such as peroxide and glycerin, that go into sanitizer. But the distilling industry has come together to solve some of these logistical problems, the Welters say. They have leaned on the relationships theyve built over the last decade and have traded supplies with other local beverage or agriculture companies and called in favors from friends in other cities as well.

The ability to sell hand sanitizer has been a miracle for Journeyman, Bill says. But it doesnt sell for the kind of price that whiskey does, and its hard to know how long the company can keep this up. Because they are using their distilling capacity to make sanitizer instead of whiskey right now, he also notes that this could mean they have a gap in whiskey availability down the line.

Bill and Johanna know their business is far from being safe, but they are still grateful for the ability to help their business and their community amid the national health crisis. Just last week, Bills father reminded him that his great grandmother was a nurse who responded when the survivors of the Titanic arrived in New York. He and Johanna see their effort as a way of supporting medical professionals today.

Its been a wonderful opportunity for our business to showcase what I would call American ingenuity, Bill says. But also, its just an amazing sense of pride to be able to assist at a time where I think we felt so helpless. Feeling like were part of the solution has given us new purpose.
Attorney General Maura Healey and doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital are warning the public about the health effects of smoking and vaping during the coronavirus pandemic, saying they may put people at higher risk for the disease, weaken the immune system and make COVID-19 infections much worse.

The threat of COVID-19 further highlights the dangers that e-cigarettes pose, especially to our young people, Healey said, in a statement issued Thursday. Combatting the youth vaping crisis has never been more important, and we want the public to understand the heightened risks associated with smoking and vaping during this pandemic.

The AGs office and MGH sent out an advisory to educators, medical professionals, parents and advocacy groups detailing their concerns about smoking and vaping while the spread of coronavirus  which causes a respiratory infection  continues to put a strain on the states hospitals.

We are at a critical moment when it comes to combating the coronavirus pandemic  supplies and equipment are in short supply and intensive care units are filling up, Jonathan Winickoff, director of Pediatric Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, said in a statement. "If you are smoking or vaping, I urge you to quit. Quitting during this pandemic could not only save your life, but by preventing the need for treatment in a hospital, you might also save someone elses life.

The advisory notes that smoking and vaping could increase the chances that someone who contracts the virus would need to be hospitalized. Doctors say infections from the virus could be worse for smokers or vape users, and that the hand-to-mouth contact when using cigarettes or vaping devices could help the virus spread.

So far, there are more than 16,000 cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts, 1,583 of which have required hospitalizations.

Since the outbreak began, 433 people have died from COVID-19-related illness.

Although the global coronavirus pandemic has overshadowed concerns about vaping-related illnesses, last year, Gov. Charlie Baker temporarily halted sales on vaping products in the state after hospitals began reporting lung disease among people who were vaping. Unlike smoking, which comes with health risks that were known, the direct cause of vaping-related illnesses were still largely a mystery to health officials last year.

MassLive sought data from the Department of Public Health on the reported illnesses and found a high level of initial reports of vaping-related illnesses out of Southern Worcester County.

MassLive was denied additional records on symptoms and other details associated with the cases, with the DPH citing several public records exemptions. MassLive appealed the denial and the states records division has ruled in MassLives favor on two appeals. MassLive is currently waiting on a third appeal, an in-camera review of the records by the state records division.

Related Content:
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden before a debate in February. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

Joe Biden confronted the daunting task Wednesday of uniting and energizing a party that has been through a long, divisive primary, and is now distracted by the fears and daily challenges of a global pandemic and world economic collapse.

With Sen. Bernie Sanders decision to drop out of the race, Biden is seeking to win over his rivals loyal band of progressive supporters, many of whom lack enthusiasm for the former vice president and his establishment brand of politics.

As the presumptive nominee, Biden is likely to enjoy a fundraising boost and the benefit of the Democratic Party devoting its full efforts to his campaign to beat President Trump in the fall.

Its time to come together and unite around our presumptive nominee, Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez said Wednesday.

Biden is free to ramp up his search for a running mate, which he had begun quietly, in deference to Sanders, when he was still in the race.

Biden issued a statement Wednesday that praised the Vermont senator's leadership and welcomed his followers to his camp, and invoked Sanders' campaign slogan.

"Ill be reaching out to you. You will be heard by me. As you say: Not me. Us," Biden said.

Progressives say Biden will have to do far more  by way of policy, personnel and choice of vice president  to broaden his support on the left, especially among young people.

They are looking for something more than just, We have to stop Trump, said Ben Wessel, executive director of NextGen America, a progressive super PAC that is on track to register 300,000 young voters in 11 battleground states this election cycle. He has to recognize the new reality we are in right now, especially with coronavirus. We have a bunch of young people feeling like their economic future is completely screwed.

Sanders' withdrawal from the race was a signal moment in Biden's decades-long career in politics. He outlasted a huge field of mostly younger rivals for the Democratic nomination, to finally achieve a goal that has long eluded him.

Story continues

His first two runs for the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1988 and 2008, failed badly. The third time, this year, was not exactly charmed: He stumbled in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. But his fortunes turned abruptly after he scored decisive victories over Sanders and the rest of the field in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday.

But just as Biden became the prohibitive front-runner, the pandemic abruptly crippled his ability to capitalize on his victories, raise money and build momentum. The imposition of stay-at-home orders made in-person political rallies and fundraising events impossible, and made it hard for Biden to get his message out to voters preoccupied with the public health threat.

Sanders' exit now allows Biden to work with the Democratic National Committee to raise money. They have plans to launch a joint fundraising committee that can solicit checks from donors in the tens of thousands of dollars. Contributions to the campaign itself have a $2,800 federal limit.

One avenue for Biden to energize and unify the party could be his choice of a running mate. Hes committed to picking a woman, and his campaign is expected to set up an operation for vetting candidates as soon as next week.

If Biden chooses a progressive like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a former rival, it could help fire up the left and young people. He is also under pressure from some quarters to pick a woman of color. Other Democrats believe a strong progressive on the ticket could be a liability in a general election and would favor a more centrist woman like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or another former rival, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll illustrated the political risk to Biden if he does not bring Sanders supporters into the fold between now and election day. The poll found that if Biden were the Democratic nominee, 80% of Sanders supporters would vote for Biden, and 15% would go to Trump. That would be a slightly higher rate of defection than in 2016, when post-election analysis found that 12% of those who voted for Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the primary went with Trump in the general election.

Trump, in a response to Sanders announcement on Twitter, courted the senator's supporters on grounds that they shared hostility to free-trade agreements, which Biden tended to support.

This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted Trump tweeted. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!

Biden, however, is drawing support from the anti-Trump wing of the GOP: The Lincoln Project, an organization of disaffected Republicans, endorsed Biden on Wednesday. At a virtual fundraiser, Biden invited former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel to headline the event with him. That won't go over well with some progressives and young people who think his call for bipartisanship is naive.

Biden has for weeks been reaching out to Sanders supporters and other progressives. He embraced bankruptcy reform policies backed by Warren. He proposed a Sanders-inspired plan to provide free tuition at public and community colleges, but to a more limited population. He held virtual happy hours and town halls to cultivate ties with young voters, who voted for Sanders by wide margins.

Senior Biden aides have been opening lines of communication with progressive groups, including old-line organizations such as Planned Parenthood and activist start-ups like Indivisible.

Julian Brave NoiseCat, policy director of Data for Progress, a progressive research firm that has been in touch with Biden aides, said he saw a better prospect for moving Biden to the left on climate change policy than on healthcare, where Biden has staked pretty firm opposition to "Medicare for all."

He is receptive and movable as long as progressives are willing to give him a fair shake, NoiseCat said.

But many other Sanders supporters are more wary. A letter to Biden from several large progressive advocacy groups including NextGen, Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement urged Biden to quickly pivot off a return to normalcy campaign theme. For so many young people, going back to the way things were before Trump' isnt a motivating enough reason to cast a ballot in November, the letter said.

One of the progressive leaders that activists want to see Biden partner with, Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna, who was a co-chair of the Sanders campaign, said in an interview Wednesday that Biden is moving in the right direction.

Of course I would like him to embrace an agenda that is completely progressive, but no one gets everything they want, Khanna said. What is more important is that we have an honest, open and constructive dialogue about where we are coming from and what the vice presidents policies are."

Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, a New Orleans congressman, a while back began networking with Khanna and other progressive lawmakers supporting Sanders to assure them the former vice president was interested in their ideas and approach and would be seeking their advice should he become the nominee.

"Hes been thoughtful about building alliances between the progressive movement and the African American community," Khanna said of Richmond. "He set a tone that the Biden campaign will be inclusive, will want a new generation of progressive voices to be part of it. He is an incredible asset.

The outreach is not coming from just inside the Biden campaign. Democratic establishment Super PACS  a group that irritated Sanders backers in 2016 when some aligned with Clinton in the primary  are also working to ease the lingering tensions Trump tried to inflame with his tweets Wednesday.

The organization American Bridge, whose founder launched an effort in 2016 to troll Sanders supporters and other social media users who attacked Clinton online, on Wednesday put out a new digital ad. It was a tribute to Sanders and the campaign he ran.

Thank you, Bernie, the text on the screen said at the end. Were in this together.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:21:39|Editor: huaxia

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Video: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont announces on April 8, 2020, that he drops out from the presidential race. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

"Bernie has done something rare in politics. He hasn't just run a political campaign; he's created a movement," former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said. "While the Sanders campaign has been suspended -- its impact on this election and on elections to come is far from over."

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out from the presidential race on Wednesday, paving the way for former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee for an upcoming showdown with sitting President Donald Trump.

"The path to victory is virtually impossible," Sanders said in a live-streamed address to supporters. "I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

"I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," acknowledged Sanders, while insisting that he and his supporters have won "the ideological battle."

The announcement was hardly a surprise since Biden had already amassed a big lead over Sanders in the primary that has been put on pause due to a coronavirus outbreak across the United States.

A 78-year-old, self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders launched his second bid for the White House in February 2019, years after he lost to former U.S. Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton in the last Democratic primary in 2016.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park of Chicago, the United States, on March 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

In the second primary, Sanders finished strong in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, elevating him as the field's prohibitive front-runner. But the momentum stalled in South Carolina, where Biden revived his campaign with a resounding victory that kicked off his consecutive Super Tuesday wins.

"If you look at the remaining primary calendar (such as it is), there aren't really any obvious places where Sanders was likely to beat Biden, or have much chance of an upset," Christopher Galdieri, associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua.

"I think the prospect of a bunch of losses in primaries delayed for coronavirus mitigation was not a pleasant one, or one good for his long-term influence in Congress and politics more broadly," Galdieri said.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Trump tried to sow discord among Democrats, blaming Sanders' loss of momentum on his rival and fellow liberal, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

"Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday!" Trump wrote. "The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"

Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)

Despite a second failed attempt for the White House, Sanders will continue to exert his influence on the Democratic Party's platform and could potentially impact the Biden-Trump matchup, analysts and pundits said.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Sanders offered his congratulations to Biden, vowing to work with him but stopping short of offering the endorsement.

"While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible to assert influence over the party platform and functions," Sanders said.

Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of American daily USA Today, said in a Wednesday analysis that Sanders' exit from the race and "warm words" for Biden mean that "the Democratic Party has united behind a nominee earlier than in any open contest in nearly two decades."

"That doesn't ensure victory," Page noted. "But the opposite situation might have invited defeat."

In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said Sanders and his supporters "have changed the dialogue in America."

"Bernie has done something rare in politics. He hasn't just run a political campaign; he's created a movement," Biden said. "While the Sanders campaign has been suspended -- its impact on this election and on elections to come is far from over."

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president, attends a caucus night rally with his wife Jill Biden at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 3, 2020. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)

Appealing to Sanders' base, Biden, a 77-year-old moderate political veteran, echoed some key components of the senator's progressive platform, including addressing climate change, confronting the nation's income inequality, reforming its health care system, and making education at public colleges and universities free.

"I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country. I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You're needed," Biden said.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, tweeted Wednesday that the degree of passion Sanders "has generated -- particularly among the young -- around issues of economic and social justice is impressive," warning that their "legitimate concerns around the failures of the status quo" should not be ignored or dismissed.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, analysts believed that there will be a lot of uncertainties surrounding the Biden-Trump matchup in the 2020 presidential election.

While the outbreak has plunged the U.S. economy into recession and "made unemployment skyrocket," it has also clearly "reshuffled everyone's plans," Galdieri said.

"It's also forced both candidates off the campaign trail," he continued. "It's an open question as to whether any in-person campaigning will happen for the rest of the race, and nobody knows what that will mean for the election."

(Article by Xinhua Reporters Sun Ding, Deng Xianlai and Xu Jianmei) 
The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the United States and Europe, dousing the optimism of US President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel.

The virus has now killed more than 86,000 people and infected 1.5 million, sparing almost no country and tipping the world into a devastating economic crisis as global commerce shudders to a halt.

For the second straight day, the US grieved nearly 2,000 deaths on Wednesday, as flags flew at half-mast in hardest-hit New York.

World toll of coronavirus infections and deaths as of April 8 at 1900 GMT. By Valentine GRAVELEAU (AFP)

There was also a record death toll of 938 over 24 hours in Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care, his condition said to be "improving."

France saw its total number of dead climb over 10,000 as the country prepared to extend its strict lockdown measures. Spain and Italy are still seeing hundreds of deaths per day despite tentative signs the disease may have peaked.

And the pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected: in Africa, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency and Liberia said it was locking down its capital Monrovia.

Its deadly tentacles also crept deep into the Amazon rainforest, with the first case detected among the Yanomami, an indigenous people isolated from the world until the mid-20th century and vulnerable to disease.

A woman wearing a face mask adjusts her child's mask as they arrive at Wuhan's Hankou rail station to take one of the first trains to leave the Chinese city since a ban on outbound travel was lifted. By NOEL CELIS (AFP)

Nevertheless, some glimmers of hope shone in the darkness, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying the epidemic curve seemed to be flattening.

"We are hopefully heading towards a final stretch, the light at the end of the tunnel," said Trump.

'Playing with fire'

All around the world, medical facilities are at bursting point as they struggle with a relentless procession of critically-ill patients.

In the badly affected city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, sick patients are passing out before arriving at emergency care and the elderly are slumped outside in wheelchairs at overwhelmed hospitals.

"My grandmother died, my mother has all the symptoms, my 15-year-old sister too and the government is doing nothing, nothing! We need to be almost dying in order to receive assistance," said Xiomara Franco, a relative of a sick patient.

Chart showing world merchandise trade volume, expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to WTO data. By Gal ROMA (AFP)

"There is a lack of oxygen, a lack of medicine, a lack of nurses and doctors, a lack of stretchers," complained Henry Figueroa, another angry relative.

At the global level, the World Health Organization and Trump are embroiled in an ugly war of words, with Trump accusing the UN body of "blowing it" and being too close to China.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged unity at a time of global crisis, saying: "If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it."

"It's like playing with fire."

'People are crazy'

A banner reading "Stay at home" is displayed on a fence at a closed crossing point of the French-German border in Seltz, eastern France. By PATRICK HERTZOG (AFP)

Governments are wrestling with the problem of when to exit lockdown procedures and reboot a global economy that is effectively in deep freeze.

The World Trade Organization warned the pandemic was likely to spark the deepest recession "of our lifetimes," with global trade poised to plummet by one third.

The Bank of France said the country's economy would shrink six percent in the first quarter -- the worst performance since the end of World War II.

Europe powerhouse Germany is seen contracting an eye-watering 10 percent as the eurozone squabbled about pooling debt for "coronabonds" to help the worst-affected members like Spain and Italy.

A health worker walks a patient through a disinfection chamber set up in front of a hospital in Mitrovica, Kosovo. By Armend NIMANI (AFP)

In Miami, hundreds lined up in cars to get unemployment forms after the website crashed due to a surge in demand.

Gus Rios, a 67-year-old former factory worker, said: "People are looking for help, people [are] crazy right now, almost, to get something because we don't know the situation how long is going to be."

Recent US data indicate 10 million people have lost their jobs in the world's top economy that is closed for business.

Nevertheless, Wall Street chose to see the glass half-full Wednesday, seizing on Cuomo's upbeat assessment and rising more than three percent.

'Doing something good'

The pandemic has forced half of humanity inside, an unprecedented measure that has allowed wildlife to reclaim previously choked streets.

In India, hundreds of monkeys are running riot in the roads around the presidential palace while peacocks display their spectacular trains on top of parked cars in Mumbai.

In Vienna, animals are being conscripted into the fight against the virus, with horse-drawn carriages converted from a tourist attraction to a food delivery service.

Christian Gerzabek, who drives one of the famous city "Fiaker", said business had crawled to a halt but "the horses still have to be moved, they want to get out after the winter."

"I thought that we should combine that... with doing something good for people who need it," he told AFP.

burs-ric/sah/kma
Queensland power companies are underestimating fine pollutants from their coal-fired plants because the state government has not legislated that they "continuously monitor" their emissions, environmentalists say.

Power station operators, they say, are allowed to estimate emissions rather than deal with real-time data.

A new report from Environmental Justice Australia points to increased pollutants from older coal-fired stations, including Tarong and Gladstone in Queensland. Credit:Paul Jones PDJ

Environmental Justice Australia believes rapidly increasing emissions are proof Queensland should also mandate that power companies install industrial-scale fabric bag filters.

This follows an update of the latest data to the federal governments National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) on April 1 showing major increases in pollutants from Queensland's older coal-fired power stations.
LONDON (AP)  A truck driver accused in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found inside a refrigerated container that had been hauled to England pleaded guilty to manslaughter Wednesday.

Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, entered the plea at Central London Criminal Court. Robinson appeared in court via video link alongside four co-defendants.

The bodies of the 39 people were found in the container at the back of the truck on Oct. 23.. Police investigating the case found the 31 male and eight female victims were all from Vietnam and ranged in age from 15 to 44, including 10 teenagers.

Police said they died of a combination of a lack of oxygen and overheating in an enclosed space. The victims came from impoverished villages in Vietnam and are believed to have paid people smugglers to take them on risky journey to better lives abroad.

The truck discovered in the town of Grays, east of London, had arrived in England on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Robinson previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property. He denied a charge of transferring criminal property.

Another defendant, Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Langdon Hills, denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, of County Armagh, Northern Ireland, previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

A trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 5.

Robinson appeared at court via video link alongside four other co-defendants.

British Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

He also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between May 1 2018 and October 24 2019.

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, of Hobart Road in Tilbury, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Story continues

Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Corkley Road in Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, has previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration

Valentin Calota, 37, of Cossington Road in Birmingham, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones QC said a human trafficking conspiracy charge was being dropped in relation to Kennedy and Robinson.

He asked for three weeks to decide whether to proceed with a trial against Robinson on the outstanding charge he faced.
Bill Gates, chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, gestures during a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. AP




COLUMBUS, OhioMarion Correctional Institution officer John Dawson has died from the coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday, marking the first time an Ohio prison staffer has died from the spreading pandemic.

The 55-year-old Mansfield resident had underlying health issues, the governor said. He tested positive for the virus on March 30, and at one point was placed on a ventilator, according to the Marion Star.

Dawson had worked in the Marion prison, a minimum- and medium-security facility for men, since 1996, DeWine said. He worked in the prisons control center handing out equipment to staff, the governor said.

Mr. Dawsons death reminds us that as we celebrate the fact that Ohio is doing comparatively well, we are still seeing a large number of deaths, DeWine said during his daily briefing at the Ohio Statehouse. As of Wednesday afternoon, 193 Ohioans have died of the disease, and a total of 5,148 have tested positive.

To date, 48 staffers and 17 inmates have tested positive at seven of Ohios 31 prisons, the governor said. So far, Dawson is the only one to die.

As of Tuesday afternoon, seven of those inmates were at the Marion facility. Dawson was the second staffer at the Marion prison to test positive, according to DeWine.

DeWine said officials are "very aggressively testing in state prisons. When someone has symptoms, they are tested, he said.

Read more Ohio coronavirus coverage:

Ohio legislation would give AG Dave Yost power to limit purchases of in-demand items, fight price-gouging during coronavirus crisis

Coingate convict Tom Noe among Ohio inmates Gov. Mike DeWine wants to release early amid coronavirus fears

Gov. Mike DeWine recommends releasing 167 more Ohio prison inmates due to coronavirus crisis

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Ohio lawmakers eye rainy day fund as state budget reels from coronavirus crisis
A surgeon who was convicted of sexual assault when he forced himself on a student doctor has been allowed to return to work after he made a vow to treat women with 'dignity and respect.'

Dr Muhammad Ishtiaque, 56, pulled the victim towards him and twice tried to kiss her on the neck after he offered to shake the woman's hand when they were staying at hospital accommodation in Nottinghamshire.

He told the medical student 'you are wonderful, you are amazing' before she managed to get away from him and flee to her room. She was later said to be in tears as she reported him to a colleague.

Ishtiaque, who had been working as a locum surgeon at Kings Mill Hospital near Mansfield, was convicted by a jury of sexual assault in September 2018.

Dr Muhammad Ishtiaque, who had been working as a locum surgeon at Kings Mill Hospital in Nottinghamshire, was convicted by a jury of sexual assault in September 2018

The following year, he was suspended from medical practise for 12 months at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester.

But at a review hearing last month, Ishtiaque was allowed to return to unrestricted medical practise and his suspension was revoked after he insisted he had 'fully reflected on his actions.' He had denied wrongdoing at his trial.

The incident took place on July 24, 2017 when Ishtiaque and the student known as Ms A were discussing medical matters.

Towards the end of their discussion, the doctor offered his hand to the woman, pulled her towards him and held her against his body so that she could not move away from him.

He twice attempted to kiss her on the lips and instead kissed her neck as she turned her head away.

Ishtiaque was convicted of sexual assault after he pulled a student doctor towards him and twice tried to kiss her on the neck after he offered to shake her hand when they were staying at hospital accommodation (Pictured: Kings Mill Hospital)

She then broke away and returned to her room. The student doctor reported the incident to the hospital accommodation officer the following day.

The officer said in a statement: 'She started to cry and I said "Let me make you a cup of tea." I came back with the drink and she started to explain what had happened the night before.

'She said they started to talk in a professional manner about job roles. She said he went to shake her hand and pulled her towards him.

'And then she said he tried to kiss her on the neck and she pulled away and then he tried to pull her towards him and she felt he wanted to kiss her on the lips. She was very upset, crying. That is why I made her a cup of tea because she was shaking.'

At Nottingham Crown Court upon his conviction in 2018, Ishtiaque, from Luton, was sentenced to two months imprisonment suspended for a year and was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for five years.

He later appealed his sentence and his name was taken off the register. He was instead told to a complete a community order.

Ishtiaque, who began working for the NHS in 2009 after originally living in the province of Sindh in Pakistan, said he had undertaken a three-day Professional Boundaries course following the incident.

He said: 'I recognise the obligation on a doctor to behave in a way which preserves the reputation of the profession. I would like to continue to work as a doctor in the NHS and continue providing services to the public.

At Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) in 2018, Ishtiaque, from Luton, was sentenced to two months imprisonment, suspended for a year and he was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register for five years

'I have developed insight into my behaviour and the effect that any behaviour on my part on that evening would have had on the student doctor.

'I have stayed positive and learned from this experience in terms of maintaining appropriate conduct as a doctor to the wider public so as to preserve the reputation of the profession. I have inside me more than I could explain.

'I know that my conviction has an impact on the reputation and standing of the profession, and that it may shake public confidence in doctors generally. I am embarrassed and ashamed to think I should be the cause of such consequences.'

Ishtiaque's lawyer Alan Jenkins told the hearing: ' The victim was neither a patient nor an employee and as such, there was no power relationship. It was a brief incident and Dr Ishtiaque did not pursue her.

'He has expressed regret for any action or actions thereof that could have been misconstrued by his colleagues and he verbally apologised for his actions and has promises there will be no repeat of similar incidences in the future.

'Dr Ishtiaque has been though a long and hard process of remediation, which has involved extensive reflection and discussion. The Tribunal could be confident that risk of repetition was extremely unlikely.'

In clearing the doctor to return to work, tribunal chairman Ian Comfort said: 'Dr Ishtiaque did his best to answer questions fully and comprehensively in order to be of assistance.

'He has fully reflected on his actions, and that he accepts the decision made by the court. He showed no resentment towards Ms A, and that he instead looked to understand the behaviour that led to the allegation.

'Dr Ishtiaque explained how the courses he has attended on boundaries and communication have increased his awareness of how he interacts and engages with others in a professional setting, and in particularly, his interactions and engagement with women.

'There is a very low risk of repetition given the remediation and insight Dr Ishtiaque has shown.

'He demonstrated the importance of treating people with dignity and respect, and he explained how he will apply this learning in practice.'

The Tribunal determined that a reasonable and well-informed member of the public would be satisfied that Ishtiaque has insight into his actions, and that he is unlikely to repeat them.

It concluded: 'The Tribunal determined that a reasonable and well-informed member of the public, bearing in mind all of the evidence before the Tribunal today, and the successful completion of the community order imposed by the court, would be satisfied that Dr Ishtiaque has insight into his actions, and that he is unlikely to repeat them.

'Accordingly, the Tribunal determined that Dr Ishtiaques fitness to practise is no longer impaired by reason of his conviction.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 17:14:42|Editor: huaxia

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XI'AN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A new China-Europe freight train route has been launched in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd.

The first freight train on the route, loaded with solar panels, departed from Xi'an's Xinzhu station Wednesday for Barcelona in Spain.

So far, Xi'an has launched 15 freight train routes linking 44 cities in 14 countries. The city has launched 736 freight trains as of April 7, up 144 percent compared with the same period last year.

Since the beginning of this year, the throughput from the station has reached 1.58 million tonnes, up 48.9 percent compared with the same period last year.
"Our model says that social distancing will likely lead to the end of the first wave of the epidemic by early June. The question of whether there will be a second wave of the epidemic will depend on what we do to avoid reintroducing COVID-19 into the population. By end the of the first wave of the epidemic, an estimated 97% of the population of the United States will still be susceptible to the disease, so avoiding reintroduction of COVID-19 through mass screening, contact tracing, and quarantine will be essential to avoid a second wave."

For the second time in four days, a coronavirus projection model heavily relied upon by the White House task force has been updated, again dropping the number of projected deaths and hospitalizations.The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington dropped its estimated death projection on Sunday for the first wave of the pandemic to 81,766 deaths, down from 93,531.By Wednesday, the projection dropped the estimated total deaths to 60,415, revised down from 81,766 deaths, which was revised from down 93,531, a revised number itself.Moreover, the projected total hospital bed shortage decreased from 34,654 to 15,852 (a revised number from April 5), and the so-called "peak" of hospital usage was pushed up from April 15 to April 11. The peak daily death toll was also moved up to April 12, from the revised April 16 date.The changing estimates have always been based off the implementation of "full social distancing through May 2020 and do not factor in another wave of the virus post-August 1.At an impromptu press briefing on Sunday, President Donald Trump told the nation that we are using fewer beds than the relied upon models have projected, specifically highlighting hard-hit New York.Trump said.Based on the IHME model, Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci, leaders in the White House coronavirus response task force, earlier this month estimated between 100,000-240,000 deaths related to COVID-19, The Washington Post reported.As previously noted by The Daily Wire,According to the site hosting the IHME model, the projections are based off of dataWith regard to the modeling cutting off at August, the site notes that this does not mean the end of the pandemic, but the end of the projected "first wave":
Wyoming Business Tips for April 13-19

A weekly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.

By Nicholas Giraldo, market researcher, Wyoming SBDC Network

Wyoming has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced local governments and businesses to close their doors and cancel events in an effort to protect the public and stop the spread of the disease.

These social distancing rules have been especially hard for small businesses, but local business groups, volunteers, and state and federal agencies have stepped up and marshaled their resources to help Wyoming entrepreneurs minimize the impact of the coronavirus closures.

Local chambers of commerce are offering support. Chambers around the state are collecting resources and getting engaged via social media to connect their members with important information. Here are some of the ways chambers in Wyoming are helping:

-- Creating social media pages that list special hours and delivery/curbside pickup options of their members.

-- Sponsoring challenges where residents are entered to win prizes when they buy gift cards from local businesses.

-- Providing their membership with up-to-date information and weekly webinars to help businesses make it through these recent closures.

Volunteers from around the state came together last month to form the Wyoming Technology Coronavirus Coalition (WTCC) with the goal of minimizing the effects of COVID-19 through technology and community involvement.

So far, they have coordinated personal protective equipment supply drives that have collected around $6,400 worth of desperately needed equipment -- including N95 masks -- to donate to medical facilities around the state. The WTCC also coordinated with makerspaces around the state to manufacture surgical masks and face shields for health care workers in Wyoming to protect themselves against coronavirus.

The recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides financial relief to small businesses across the country affected by the coronavirus pandemic through disaster and paycheck protection loans, which are administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The Wyoming SBDC Network has trained advisers who are accessible virtually around the state and ready to help small-business owners apply for these SBA loans.

What the examples above show is that the pandemic may have us separated, but it doesnt mean we have to go it alone. All around the state, citizens from all walks of life are working together to help each other through this crisis. Through collaboration, they are proving that Wyoming really is just a small town with long streets.

If your business needs assistance during this pandemic, Wyoming SBDC Network advisers are available to help you with every aspect of business operation. Contact your local adviser for no-cost, confidential assistance by visiting www.wyomingsbdc.org.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers no-cost advising and technical assistance to help Wyoming entrepreneurs think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. In 2019 alone, the Wyoming SBDC Network helped Wyoming entrepreneurs start 108 new businesses; create or save 3,402 jobs; and bring a capital impact of more than $24 million to the state. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. SBA.

To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY 82071-3922.
Police at the scene in Essex where the 39 bodies were found. Photo: PA

A truck driver from Northern Ireland has admitted killing 39 migrants who were found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck.

The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were found by emergency services at an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, shortly after a container arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium in the early hours of October 23 last year.

Among the men, women and children were 10 teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.

An Essex Police investigation into an alleged people-smuggling ring linked to the deaths led to charges against five men, including lorry driver Maurice Robinson.

Virtual

During a virtual hearing at the Old Bailey, 25-year-old Robinson admitted 39 counts of manslaughter on or before October 24 last year.

Robinson, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration of non-European Union citizens between May 1, 2018, and October 24, 2019.

He admitted acquiring criminal property, but denied a further charge of transferring criminal property.

The prosecution asked for three weeks to consider whether to go ahead with a trial on that charge.

Robinson appeared by video link from custody before Mr Justice Sweeney alongside four co-defendants yesterday.

He was jointly charged with British-Romanian Gheorghe Nica (43), of Langdon Hills, Essex, who denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

Mr Nica also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga (27), of Tilbury, Essex, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Christopher Kennedy (23), of Corkley Road, Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, has previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

The fifth defendant, Valentin Calota (37), of Cossington Road in Birmingham, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones QC said a human-trafficking conspiracy charge in relation to Mr Kennedy and Robinson was being dropped by the Crown.

Robinson's four co-defendants now face a trial at the Old Bailey, lasting up to eight weeks from October 5.

The hearing was conducted virtually, with most lawyers and court reporters attending by Skype.
Singapore saw a sharp rise of 287 new coronavirus cases on Thursday with a majority of them having link to foreign worker dormitories.

This is the highest daily number reported to date and brings the total number of cases here to 1,910, according to The Straits Times.

Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean has called for a multi-ministry task force to handle the COVID-19 spread in the island country's foreign workers dormitories, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.

Wong also confirmed that Singapore Police and the Singapore Armed Forces were putting a coordinated effort in the containment of the virus.

To cut the containment in the dormitories, many healthy foreign workers especially those working in essential services, will be moved to the army camps, floating hotels, and vacant Housing Board blocks, said Health Ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak.

The ministry believes that foreign workers had visited Mustafa center, a shopping-complex, where some employees were already ill and came in contact with these employees.

Wong added that enforcement efforts will be stepped up against those who continue to flout safe-distancing measures.

"We hope Singaporeans will comply not just because of enforcement efforts but really out of a necessity for all of us to do our part," he said.

In view of this development, the government has said workers will now not be able to prepare their own meals to reduce human contact, and cleanliness and hygiene have been stepped up. Existing sick bays will also be scaled up to take care of workers who need to be isolated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Sunday afternoon, high on a remote perch on Catalina Island overlooking the calm Pacific Ocean, an eaglet cracked through its shell in front of hundreds of eager viewers, all watching the intimate moment unfold on their personal screens from a distance.

Theres The Birthday Bird! one viewer exclaimed in the comment thread of a live video stream.

Im opening a bottle of champagne tonite, another replied.

A video feed of the nest, which belongs to a mated pair of bald eagles named Chase and Cholyn, has been running online 24/7 since 2017. To the core audience, which gossip about bird behavior and Channel Island wildlife drama, the moment marked a climax in an ongoing soap opera.

Cholyn hasnt seen the youngster yet, right? one viewer posted in the streams comment thread. Boy, I really want to see her reaction!

The nest feed is one of 174 live streams of nature and wildlife hosted on Explore.org, a nonprofit hub of nature web-camera feeds, and one of thousands of similar feeds streaming online around the clock. In the past month, many nature webcams in California have seen record traffic and interest. People braced against the coronavirus pandemic are looking for virtual escapes from the doldrums of life indoors.

Explore has always been about nature as healing, but at times like this, it really proves a point, says Charles Weingarten, Explore.org founder and CEO. Its meditational, it slows you down and its a way for people to find solace.

Explore.org runs cams of condor nests in Big Sur, panoramic sunset views atop Mount Diablo and the beach scene in Santa Monica, which lately has been blissfully serene, Weingarten said. You get a lot of people watching from the Midwest like, Oh, my God! You see this beautiful coastline without any people on the beach, so its actually the prettiest its ever looked.

Traffic to the website in March was up 85% over the same month last year, the group said, with people tuning in from around the globe, especially Europe. Viewership in Italy, which has been ravaged by COVID-19 cases, is up 1,374%, the group said. (Explore.org would not provide total traffic figures.)

Nature cams around California are operated by government land managers, research institutions, private companies and residents alike, and provide close-up views of a wide range of spectacles, from the habits of barn owls and mountain lions to the rhythmic sway of surf breaks and kelp forests.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which runs 10 web cams, has seen a 10-fold increase in viewership in the past month, said senior communications strategist Ken Peterson. The aquarium, which usually attracts about 2 million physical visitors a year, has received 5 million web clicks on the wildlife cam section of its website in the past two weeks. The majority of viewers typically tune in from California, but that has flipped since the coronavirus pandemic. Now, 81% of the sites traffic is coming from elsewhere in the U.S., Peterson said.

The aquarium is producing more narrated programs. A recent one from the sea otter pen invited viewers to send in questions to the aquariums social media team in real time. The aquarium is also releasing 15-minute guided meditation episodes called Morning MeditOcean, featuring feeds of the ocean environment overlayed with ambient tones and a soothing voice-over.

Weve been trying to give people a way to have those aquarium experiences from home, Peterson said. Particularly with everybody on lockdown, its become important to stay connected to nature.

A robust body of research behind the concept of the nature cure indicates that exposure to plants, wildlife and natural systems  even virtually  can reduce stress and boost self-confidence. With much of the world cooped up inside, webcams provide a window into that peace of mind, Peterson said.

With the surge in viewership, Peterson said the aquarium is evolving its video strategy beyond giving viewers a stress-release valve. While education has always been foundational to the aquarium, the narrated video feeds have opened up new teaching tools for parents who suddenly find themselves homeschooling their children.

The aquarium looks to launch more online learning modules for elementary school-aged children and to roll out other new programming that may stick around once the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

This is just demonstrating there are more ways we can reach people in the future, Peterson said. Im sure well be able to say, Aha, that was something that originated in a crisis that well carry on going forward.

Gregory Thomas is the Chronicles editor of lifestyle and outdoors. Email: gthomas@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @GregRThomas
Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Taran and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper had a phone conversation in the early hours of Thursday, during which the U.S. expressed its support for Ukraine's actions aimed at building its defense capacity for effective fight against Russia's aggression.

"Secretary Esper congratulated Minister Taran on his recent appointment as Minister of Defense and reiterated U.S. support for building the capacity of Ukraine's forces to defend more effectively against Russian aggression," reads a release on the results of the defense ministers' phone conversation posted on the website of the Pentagon.

Taran reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to transforming its defense sector in line with NATO principles and standards.
Crates of masks snatched from cargo planes on airport tarmacs. Countries paying triple the market price to outbid others. Accusations of modern piracy against governments trying to secure medical supplies for their own people.

As the United States and European Union countries compete to acquire scarce medical equipment to combat the coronavirus, another troubling divide is also emerging, with poorer countries losing out to wealthier ones in the global scrum for masks and testing materials.

Scientists in Africa and Latin America have been told by manufacturers that orders for vital testing kits cannot be filled for months, because the supply chain is in upheaval and almost everything they produce is going to America or Europe. All countries report steep price increases, from testing kits to masks.

The huge global demand for masks, alongside new distortions in the private market, has forced some developing countries to turn to UNICEF for help. Etleva Kadilli, who oversees supplies at the agency, said it was trying to buy 240 million masks to help 100 countries but so far had managed to source only around 28 million.
<! Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila: educated on SIP >

Maryam Uwais, a special adviser to President Buhari on Social Investment Programme has published a long rebuttal to educate the two leaders of the National Assembly on the programme.

Both Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila claimed the programme was a scam and further claimed it has gulped over N2trillion.

You got it so wrong, said Uwais, the lawyer who has been in charge of the programme since 2016, until October 2019 when it was handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

The programme since inception got N619.1 billion not anything above N2 trillion, she said.

She made a point-by-point clarification on the status of the programme and the money allocated to it.

1. That the National Social Investment Programme has gulped over N2 trillion since 2016, when the fund was created. *UNTRUE*

a)Although the total appropriation by the National Assembly (NASS) from inception, for the 4 NSIPs, is N1.7 trillion, the actual funds released for the NSIPs between January 2016 and October 2019 (when the NSIPs were handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development), amounted to *N619.1* billion, constituting *36.4%* of the total appropriation from the NASS.

b)The monies released for the N-SIPs can be further broken down into 14.03% (2016); 35% in 2017; 43.5% in 2018 and 57.8% (as at Sept 2019) of the N500b in 2016 and N400b appropriated for the subsequent years. It should be noted that for 2017 to 2020, the sum of N100b was appropriated specifically for the National Housing Fund hosted by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

These releases covered operational activities and payments to 13,363,680 beneficiaries across all the 4 NSIPs, all of whom can all be verified either through their BVN numbers or their unique numbers generated by the National Social Register, those identities having been generated for the poorest of the poor who do not own bank accounts for sundry reasons.

c) As at September 2019, the funds had been expended as follows, on the: Job Creation programme (549,500 N-Power graduates and non-graduates and 7 Technology Hubs); National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (in 33 States, 9,963,762 pupils to 107,862 cooks in 54,952 primary schools); the National Cash Transfer Programme (including the development of the National Social Register by the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office) 1,491,296 poor and vulnerable households comprising 6,056,872 individuals in 33 States and 620,947 cash transfer beneficiaries; and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (managed by the Bank of Industry); a total of 2,279,380 TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni beneficiaries.

2.That as part of the conditions for poor and vulnerable beneficiaries to be engaged, they are made to apply online, through the internet and they require a BVN for payment. *UNTRUE*

a)The National Cash Transfer Programme derives all the cash transfer beneficiaries from a National Social Register (NSR), comprising State Social Registers that are developed and hosted by the State Ministries of Panning of each State. The process for objective identification of poor and vulnerable households is as provided in the Financing Agreement (F.A) signed between Nigeria and the World Bank, for which purpose the World Bank IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family are being utilised.

The process involves a poverty mapping of the LGAs in each State, community mobilisation, targeting and identification supported by trained enumerators at State and LGA levels, after which each of the households identified by the communities is visited and data collated, which information includes fields such as the size of household, age, gender, persons with disability (if any), assets, vocation of head of household, educational qualifications (if any), dwelling house conditions, etc.

As at March 31st 2020, the NSR comprised 11,045,537 individuals from 2,644,495 households, collated from 35 States, 453 LGAs, 47,698 communities. Each and every beneficiary has a generated unique number and can be tracked.

Finally, all the data collated is subjected to a proxy means testing formula to determine those who merit the grants and the accompanying training. Even though each State hosts its own information, all of the data is hosted at the National level as the National Social Register.

As at March 31st 2020, the NSR comprised 11,045,537 individuals from 2,644,495 households, collated from 35 States, 453 LGAs, 47,698 communities. Each and every beneficiary has a generated unique number and can be tracked.

b)Furthermore, payment service providers have been selected in an open procurement process to pay the cash beneficiaries at their locations, as many of them reside in communities where there is a dearth of banking infrastructure. Even though the majority of beneficiaries are not financially literate, the National Social Investment Office (NSIO, then under the Office of the Vice President) commenced the pilot exercise of payment of beneficiaries in 6 States through microfinance banks in September 2019, with a 93% success rate. The exercise was preparatory to full digitization, especially with the impending cashless policy in March 2020.

c)It is also pertinent to mention that the National Economic Summit Group, (working with Accenture and the Busara Centre for Behavioral Sciences) formed the Policy Intervention Unit for the NSIO.

Furthermore, in addition to the World Banks strict auditing responsibilities, the African Network of Environmental and Economic Justice has provided over 700 monitors across all the LGAs where the NSIP beneficiaries exist. The link to the Report is to be downloaded at: https://aneej.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mantra-Field-Report-final-compressed.pdf. Indeed, the ICPC, EFCC & the DSS were also invited to monitor the process to protect the beneficiaries, after they receive the benefits in the field.

d)It is only in respect of the Job Creation programme that applications are made online. That particular programme was initiated for youth who consist of graduates and non-graduates, as with JAMB candidates who continue to apply for their own admission, online. Indeed, all the LGAs around the country currently have N-Power beneficiaries serving in sundry capacities.

The utilization of the BVN for N-Power beneficiary payment is also as a means of identity (since the NIN number can be generated from the BVN) and to facilitate the tracking of payments and further ensure accountability.

e)The identities of the cash transfer beneficiaries are protected by law (the FOI Act), as the consent of recipients of social grants is a pre-requisite, before disclosure. They can, however, be found and verified through the LGA community facilitators (CTFs) who have been trained to support them by weekly visits to the wards. The names, wards, LGAs, States and phone numbers of the CTFs can be found at http://n-sip.gov.ng/resource-data/, as the data collation continues to grow around the country.

3.The Leadership of the Senate also stated that the NSIP information was not accessible to the National Assembly. *UNTRUE*

a)It is, however, on record that all invitations to public hearings and meeting by the NASS were honoured by the myself (as the supervisor of the NSIPs) and the cluster teams, while documents relating to the structure, activities and progress of the NSIPs were routinely shared with them, over the period that the NSIO supervised the NSIPs under the auspices of the Office of the Vice President (OVP). Furthermore, the monthly reports of 3,000 N-Power monitors, spread across the 774 LGAs, are available to both Poverty Alleviation Committees of the NASS.

b)It should also be noted that the accounting and procurement aspects of the NSIPs were handled by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on behalf of the NSIO, and not the OVP. All requests for information related thereto were responded to, by that Ministry.

4.It was further asserted, apparently, that because the beneficiaries are not known personally to the NASS members, the National Social Register is a scam and needs to be reformed through a process that is more inclusive of the NASS.

The NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members. No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers. Verification of their identity and status is possible, as has been for all investigative journalists and monitors, through the CTFs.

*REGRETTABLE & DANGEROUS*

a)The NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members. No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers. Verification of their identity and status is possible, as has been for all investigative journalists and monitors, through the CTFs.

b)It should be noted that Nigeria has signed a Financing Agreement with the World Bank, in which the process of identification of beneficiaries was set out. Any departure from the process, which would place at risk the accessibility to the IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family.

c)The demand for the inclusion of candidates to the NSR from the NASS has been a recurring issue from the inception of the NSIPs. My role and singular focus has simply been to comply with the terms of Agreement and the MoU entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as to establish an objective, efficient and transparent process for uplifting the poor out of poverty through structures and mechanisms that are credible and sustainable.

I have consistently reminded both NASS Committee Chairmen on Poverty Alleviation that there is no social protection programme in the world in which politicians are responsible for selecting the beneficiaries of cash transfers. All successful social protection programmes extract their beneficiaries from an objective community platform, if only to ensure that the poorest of the poor are supported out of poverty in an inclusive community driven and timely manner. The data being collated in each household enables the accurate and scientific measurement and tracking, to assure of analysis and research towards resolving poverty. Since poverty knows no ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, the process must be insulated from influences that are likely to deviate from achieving the desired objective of alleviating abject poverty, rather than be used for patronage or as compensation for loyalty.

I have consistently reminded both NASS Committee Chairmen on Poverty Alleviation that there is no social protection programme in the world in which politicians are responsible for selecting the beneficiaries of cash transfers. All successful social protection programmes extract their beneficiaries from an objective community platform, if only to ensure that the poorest of the poor are supported out of poverty in an inclusive community driven and timely manner

d)The tripartite process for identification of cash transfer beneficiaries is in accordance with similar established best practice the world over, as the communities in which the poor reside know who is most in need.

The community takes ownership and supports the process, if engaged in the identification of the needy. While not perfect, the process is as near authentic as is possible in the circumstances, as we continue to strive towards improvement.

Building the State Social Registers has been a painstaking and continuous collaborative effort, with huge amount of funds expended in striving to achieve the credibility that would be put to waste, if discarded as suggested. Reform is certainly welcome, but not the reform that would introduce influence and partisanship into the NSR, thereby making a mockery of the critical data so far collated around the country.

5.The NSIPs have been handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs since October 2019, but it has become necessary to respond to the unfortunate allegations made at the National Assembly on the 7th of April 2020, which allegations were made in respect of certain aspects of the NSIPs from inception in November 2015 to September 2019. This response is necessary for the purpose of:

i)Safeguarding the entitlements of the poorest of Nigerian citizens, whose benefits are likely to cease because they are not known or connected to NASS members or any other person of influence;

ii)Protecting the integrity of the NSR, which development has been a painstaking process over the past 4 years, along with the huge investment and effort expended on data that is critical for development and poverty analysis; and

iii)Ensuring compliance with the World Bank Financing Agreement (FA) signed by Nigeria and the World Bank, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Nigeria, the Swiss Government and the World Bank, to facilitate the return of the funds recovered from the Abacha family.

Disregarding the process set out in the F.A would risk the suspension of the utilization of the IDA Credit and the recovered funds for the cash transfer beneficiaries. That balance which is currently over $500m, would be placed at risk. In the current Nigerian situation, we cannot afford to lose such a huge amount of resources that have been provided to support the poorest of the poor out of poverty.

6.This Statement is prepared to set the records straight on certain aspects of the processes, structure and activities of the NSIPs between November 2015 and September 2019 when I supervised the NSIO operations.

Having handed over the NSIPs in October 2019, I assume no responsibility for the operations thereafter as the Ministry is well positioned to handle the NSIPs and take decisions thereupon. Thank you.

*Maryam Uwais MFR*

Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments

8th April 2020.
PULLMAN, Wash. - Canada lynx are losing ground in Washington state, even as federal officials are taking steps to remove the species' threatened status under the Endangered Species Act.

A massive monitoring study led by Washington State University researchers has found lynx on only about 20% of its potential habitat in the state. The study, published recently in the Journal of Wildlife Management, covered more than 4,300 square miles (7,300 km) in northeastern Washington with camera traps but detected lynx in only 29 out of 175 monitored areas.

The results paint an alarming picture not only for the persistence of lynx but many other cold-adapted species, said Dan Thornton, an assistant professor in WSU's School of the Environment.

"Lynx are good sentinel species for climate change," said Thornton, the corresponding author on the study. "They are specialized, have larger ranges and need really cold, snowy environments. So, as they go, they are like an early warning system for what's going to happen to other climate sensitive species."

Wildfire, rising temperatures and decreasing snowpack have all hurt the lynx's ability to survive in Washington, the researchers found.

In the last 24 years, large wildfires have ripped through northeastern parts of the state, destroying habitat for lynx and their favorite food: snowshoe hare. It can take as long as 20 to 40 years for that landscape to recover.

The lack of snow and cold are also a problem, as lynx with their bigger paws are specially adapted to hunt on snow and for the prey that live there. As temperature rises, warmer adapted species like bobcat and cougar could also bring competition into lynx territory.

"We learned that lynx are responding strongly to many of these factors - snow conditions, temperature and fire - that are likely to change even more as the climate warms," said Thornton.

The connection to Canadian populations is also key for the lynx survival in Washington, and that connection is complicated by differing conservation status. In Washington state, they are protected at the state and federal levels as a threatened species. In Canada, they are harvested for their pelts.

The lynx's protected status in the U.S. may also change. Lynx are currently found in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Washington, but a 2016 federal draft assessment found the species would disappear from its northern range without protection by 2100. However, a new assessment in 2018 concluded that the lynx could be removed from threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Living in high, remote areas, lynx are challenging to study, and estimates of actual individuals are difficult to make, but according to an analysis by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife based on data collected in the 1980s, the state used to have about 7,800 square miles of habitat capable of supporting 238 animals. In 2017, that estimate was revised down to about 2,300 square miles capable of supporting 38 to 61 lynx. This latest study adds strong evidence that their territory in Washington is further contracting.

To document the elusive animals, WSU graduate student Travis King, the lead author on the study, covered thousands of kilometers and spent two summers in the field. He also relied upon many partners and volunteers, ranging from government natural resource agency employees and conservation groups to hikers and citizen scientists. The researchers and volunteers deployed and collected 650 camera traps which generated more than 2 million images which were, in turn, sorted with the help of dozens of WSU student volunteers.

This is the first time such a comprehensive method using camera traps to track lynx has been employed. Thornton and his colleagues are now working to use the method to estimate the lynx range in Glacier National Park in Montana.

###

This research was supported by a Seattle City Light Wildlife Research Grant, Conservation Northwest, the United States Forest Service and a Department of the Interior Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Research Fellowship. King received funding through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program as well as Washington State University.
Leaving the royal family and his duties behind in the middle of a global pandemic is surely something Prince Harry did not anticipate before pushing with their decision to quit as senior royals.

When the 35-year-old Duke and his wife Meghan Markle made a bombshell announcement to quit as senior members of the royal family, it created a division of backlash and support. But regardless of the condemnation from royal enthusiasts, Prince Harry is focused on one thing: protecting his wife and 11-month-old son Archie from the public and media scrutiny.

But after the turn of events caused by the coronavirus outbreak, royal experts believe that Prince Harry will now have to reflect on his decision to turn his back on his family.

Speaking to Zoe Burrell's "Royals" podcast, royal commentator Angela Mollard said that Harry might be feeling "tremendously isolated" at the moment because of the quarantine and the fact that he cannot do anything to help his countrymen.

Zoe Burrell added that the Duke might have lost his sense of purpose as he completely isolates himself and his family from the royal family.

"I really worry about Prince Harry. He is someone who is very connected to his family as it is all he has ever known," Mollard said.

"He has no connection with that now. In fact, of all the times to move apart from the Royal Family, I can imagine that right now, he feels tremendously isolated," she added.

Mollard believes that Queen Elizabeth's grandson had dedicated his whole life serving the British people, so he may feel useless at the moment when the country needed his support the most.

The royal expert is convinced that Harry will feel extra isolated since they will not have any contact with friends or anything purposeful activity at the moment.

"Prince Harry has many talents, and he has a particular ability at bringing people together and really understanding issues and feeling very passionate about those issues," Mollard explained.

"Prince Harry has no real sense of purpose among that at the moment," she added.

The royal commentator said that although Meghan and Harry are working behind-the-scene for their new charity institution to help COVID-19 relief efforts, the Duke may be seriously reflecting on what he just did to the royal family and how it will affect the future.

Before officially stepping down as senior royals, Prince Harry's personal project, The Invictus Game, was forcibly put on hold due to the threats of coronavirus. Harry issued a heartfelt apology and explained that it is an incredibly difficult decision, but a necessary one since the health and safety of everybody is the top priority.

Earlier this week, Meghan and Harry's spokesperson revealed that the ex-royal couple already decided to name their charity institution as "Archewell."

While the philanthropic project aims to support efforts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple thinks it is not yet the right time to launch the institution and instead focus on surviving the coronavirus.
Photo: Screen capture, Zoom meeting UBC Life Sciences Institute director Dr. Josef Penninger

Clinical trials on a drug to block the COVID-19 virus will start April 9 at 10 centres in Europe, the University of B.C. researcher leading the work said April 8.

We will understand it. By summer, we might have drugs, which work. Its a unique time. We will live through it, said UBC Life Sciences Institute director Dr. Josef Penninger.

But, he warned, a vaccine against the virus could be a year to 18 months away.

The teams findings hold promise of an early vaccine for COVID-19, Penninger said.

Penningers team said last week it had found a trial drug that blocks the cellular door the virus uses to infect people with COVID-19.

We trick the virus and it cannot infect us anymore, Penninger said in a video conference call hosted by UBC journalism Prof May Lynn Young.

He said a global teams work provides new insights into the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its interactions on a cellular level, as well as how the virus can infect blood vessels and kidneys.

He said its spread in the body can cause multi-organ failures.

Scientists from around the world and from UBC are working on new testing and treatments, he said.

This is not a good virus, he said. We should fear it.

He added, We can understand it. Because we can understand it, we can do something about it.

Penninger said the virus causing COVID-19 is a close sibling to the first SARS virus. He said earlier research has helped his team to rapidly identify ACE2 as the entry gate for SARS-CoV-2, which explains a lot about the disease.

The entry gate is the same, Penninger said.

Using engineered replicas of human blood vessels and kidneys  organoids grown from human stem cells  the researchers demonstrated the virus can directly infect and duplicate itself in such tissues.

Penningers teams findings were published in the science journal Cell April 3

The study has involved researchers from Vancouver, Toronto, Spain and Sweden.

The clinical trials will start in Germany, Denmark and Austria. The trials will include 200 people with severe cases (but not late stages) and last for seven days.

The idea is that we clinically prevent them from going into the late stages and, hopefully, prevent them from dying, Penninger said.

We need a vaccine but people should not bring up their hopes, he cautioned.

Penninger explained that cell membrane-surface protein ACE2 plays a key role in the outbreak.

In earlier work, Penninger and colleagues at the University of Toronto and the Institute of Molecular Biology in Vienna identified ACE2 as the key receptor for SARS, the viral respiratory illness recognized as a global threat in 2003.

What the researchers found through cell cultures is that the drug inhibited the coronavirus load. What can be drawn from that, they said, is key information on the diseases development and that severe cases of COVID-19 can lead to multi-organ failure and cardiovascular damage.

The entry gate is the same, Penninger said.

He said it remains unknown why the virus affects some and not others.

Thats the $1 million question, he said. No one understands. Some people recover; some fall into severe lung disease.

Further, Penninger cautioned, people should be ready to deal with the virus for a long time to come as outbreaks come up.

I hope Im wrong.

Research by Penningers team was supported in part by the Canadian federal government through emergency funding focused on accelerating the development, testing and implementation of measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to claim anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine can be used to treat the virus.

Its a claim U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci has already discounted as not tested  to Trumps displeasure. It has since been revealed the president has financial connections to the drugs producer.

Penninger, however, backs Fauci.

There is a trial in China which shows it does not work, Penninger said.
BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he expected European Union finance ministers meeting later on Thursday to make progress towards agreeing a 500 billion euro ($543.20 billion) coronavirus economic rescue package.

In a 16-hour videoconference that stretched through the night from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, the EU ministers failed to seal a deal on how much more to support their coronavirus-stricken economies.

The ministers are due to reconvene at 1500 GMT on Thursday.

"It's important that we take this decision today on the 500 billion euros that is in discussion -- that's an incredibly large sum of money that we could use to help a lot of people, especially in the hardest hit countries, Spain and Italy," Altmaier told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio.

"I have confidence that (German Finance Minister) Olaf Scholz, together with his colleague (French Finance Minister) Bruno Le Maire, can push this forward today and we are all working on that together," he added.

Scholz had said on Wednesday that finance ministers had almost reached agreement "but not quite" and he hoped a deal would be struck before Easter.

But divisions have so far prevented a deal between southern EU states, led by Italy, who demand far-reaching measures like issuing joint EU debt, and the Netherlands, acting as the bulwark of the fiscally conservative north, which is calling for more restraint and narrowly focused measures.

Weeks of fraught discussions about the scale and scope of EU support to cushion the economic slump triggered by the pandemic have exposed deep EU divisions, echoing the ones already seen in the euro zone and financial crises that started a decade ago.

The bloc's 27 member states have also fought over medical equipment and drugs, and imposed emergency border checks inside what normally is Europe's zone of control-free travel in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, in further signs of how coronavirus is testing EU unity.

($1 = 0.9205 euros)

(Reporting by Michelle Martin, additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Catherine Evans)
Police in Maryland have found the body of missing eight-year-old Gideon McKean, great-grandson of Robert F Kennedy, who went missing on a canoeing trip with his mother last week.

Maryland Natural Resources Police said that divers located the body 2.3 miles south of his grandmothers home in Shady Side, Maryland, on Wednesday after a five day search.

It came almost a week after 41-year-old Maeve Kennedy McKean, and her son Gideon, went missing whilst canoeing in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Ms McKeans body was found on Monday, around 2000 feet from the spot where Gidens body was located.

The McKean family had been using the Shady Side home of Ms McKeans mother, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, as a place to self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic.

The mother and son pair got into trouble last Thursday when they appeared to be overtaken by the strong winds, said police, which prevented them from paddling back to shore in their canoes.

Their capsized canoes were later reported and a recovery mission was launched using aviation and underwater imaging technology alongside the US Coast Guard.

In a statement, Ms McKeans mother, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, thanked state and federal authorities for their work.

She said: They have helped us bring some closure to this terrible loss, and our family will always be grateful for their tireless work,

Maryland governor Larry Hogan confirmed on Twitter that Maeve and Gideon McKean had both been found, and said: "Please continue to keep their family in your prayers as they mourn this devastating loss."

Mr Hogan also thank the state's natural resources police and agencies involved in the rescue.

Ms McKeans husband, David McKean, paid tribute to his magical wife and perfect son in a Facebook post last Friday.
London: The fear of Corona is no longer taking the name of freezing all over the world. Today the havoc of this virus has spread so much in every corner of the world that it has created a rage in the hearts of people. This virus has also started taking the form of an epidemic. The lives of thousands of families are getting affected by this virus every day. There have been more than 88000 deaths worldwide due to this virus. Not only this, the number of people infected with this virus has been found in millions. There are still many countries around the world, where the death toll is constantly increasing.

Improvement in health of British PM, now talking to doctors

938 patients died in one day: 938 patients of corona virus died on Tuesday in Britain. In this way the number of dead in the country has increased to 7,097. However, the Medical Director of the National Health Service, Stephen Powis, says that signs of a decrease in the number of newly infected cases have started. But the citizens of Britain will have to keep following physical distance because if not done then the virus will start spreading again.

Death toll increases in America, more than 2000 victims of death in one day

Today the lockdown will be reviewed: According to the information received, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said that Dominic Raab will preside over the Government Response Meeting (COBRA) on Thursday in the absence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The effects of lockdown will be reviewed in this. This review will be done on the basis of scientific facts and figures. It is known that on March 23, Johnson announced an early 21-day semi-lockdown.

Trump happy with decision of Government of India to supply tablets, says, 'Thanks PM Modi'

Target of one lakh test every day: Britain has set a target to test one lakh corona virus every day till the end of April. The British government has taken this decision after facing criticism for working on this issue at a slow pace. The help of private companies will also be taken in this work. On Tuesday, the Chief Medical Officer of England had said to learn a lesson from Germany in this context. A UK official also said on Wednesday that the government is considering withdrawing the money for the 'antibody test' kit as these tests have not been proved correct.

Changes in America came towards China, Know reason
Shares of IDBI Bank on Thursday jumped 10.6 percent after the company said it has targeted to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore in the current fiscal

New Delhi: Shares of IDBI Bank on Thursday jumped 10.6 percent after the company said it has targeted to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore in the current fiscal.

The scrip gained 10.57 percent to Rs 21.95 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it climbed 6.34 percent to Rs 20.95.

The private sector lender on Wednesday said it has targeted to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore through rupee bonds in the current fiscal.

Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets

The borrowing programme comprises additional Tier I bonds up to Rs 3,000 crore, Basel III Tier 2 bonds up to Rs 3,500 crore and senior/ infrastructure bonds up to Rs 1,000 crore by way of private placement during 2020-21.

Separately, it said that the board of directors has also approved the proposal to sell the bank's stake of up to 27 percent in its life insurance joint venture IFLI.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation (the Foundation) is pleased to announce five new members of its National Board of Trustees, which oversees the management of the organization's policies, practices, principles, affairs, funds, and property.

"We are pleased to welcome this extraordinary group of professionals to the Foundation's national leadership," said John Crosson, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's National Board Chair. "Each has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the Foundation's mission. Their experience and expertise will be especially critical as we navigate the challenging times of COVID-19 and beyond."

These individuals will serve as National Trustees to March 2023:

Meenakshi Bewtra, MD MPH PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bewtra has been conducting clinical research for nearly 20 years in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and sees patients with IBD at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.

Rhonda Bolding has more than 20 years' experience marketing for professional services firms. She currently serves as Marketing Manager at Strada Architecture, LLC where she manages firmwide marketing and public relations to support the strategic goals and vision of the firm, and to enhance their competitive position. Rhonda began her work with the Foundation as a team captain in the Guts & Glory Walk in Detroit, MI in 2006. Rhonda has served on the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Western PA / West VA Chapter board for the past six years and currently serves as that Chapter's Board President.

Deborah Crawford has over 25 years of experience and interest in the healthcare field. She spent her formative years with McKinsey & Company as a consultant in the healthcare, insurance and energy industries, focused on strategic analysis and cost reduction. Prior to McKinsey, Deborah worked with Deloitte Consulting with an emphasis on streamlining operations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic as Vice Chair of the Research & Education Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee. She also serves as a Trustee of Hathaway Brown School, where she is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Strategic Horizons Task Force.

Tolulope Falaiye, MD, MSCI is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children's Colorado, Colorado Springs with an interest in IBD and the transition from pediatric to adult medical care. She is currently on the Pediatric Affairs national scientific advisory committee of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. She previously worked at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital where she established a pediatric IBD clinic and pediatric IBD transition clinic.

Sean Kelley is currently the Director, Talent Acquisition, for Amazon World-Wide Operations based in Seattle, WA. Over his 30-year career, Sean has held various leadership roles in Operations/Supply Chain Management, Inclusion & Diversity and Talent Acquisition, as well as being an advocate for U.S. military veterans. Sean began his career serving as a U.S. Navy Supply Corps officer specializing in submarine logistics. Following separation from the Navy, Sean has built a successful career with three Northwest icons: Starbucks Coffee Company, Microsoft Corporation and Amazon.com.

Trustees of the Foundation's National Board are elected for three-year terms and may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

"Each of our new national trustees has proven his or her commitment to the Foundation and brings vital passion and unique skills to further strengthen the organization," explains Michael Osso, President & CEO of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. "They will play a critical role leading us to better care for patients and accelerating toward cures for IBD."

About the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation

The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation is the leading non-profit organization focused on both research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Foundation's mission is to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life for the estimated 3 million Americans living with IBD. For over 50 years, we have been inspiring and engaging patients and caregivers in the country's largest IBD community and helping to dramatically accelerate the pace of research by breaking down traditional barriers to patients, data, funding, and collaborations. We also provide extensive educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public. For more information, visit www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org, call 888-694-8872, or email [email protected].

SOURCE Crohn's & Colitis Foundation

Related Links

http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org


Taiwan hit back at the head of the World Health Organization as a dispute over the self-ruled island's exclusion from the body threatened to overshadow efforts to rein in the spread of the coronavirus.

Taiwan's foreign ministry demanded an apology for what it called unnecessary and slanderous comments from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Tedros, who is Ethiopian, had earlier accused Taiwan of being behind a racist campaign against him and Africans in general.

"Without having checked the facts, Tedros's unprovoked and untrue accusations not only differ from reality, they have also seriously harmed our government and our people," the ministry said in a statement Thursday. "This kind of slander is extremely irresponsible."

President Tsai Ing-wen expressed "strong protest" against Tedros' allegation that it was behind racist attacks and invited him to visit the island.

"Taiwan always objects discrimination in any form. We know how it feels to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else as we have been excluded from global organizations for years," she said in a post on her official Facebook page. "So I'd like to invite Tedros to visit Taiwan, to see how Taiwanese commit to devote to international society despite being discriminated and isolated."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said later Thursday that it hopes "the Taiwan authorities will not politicize the pandemic or engage in any political maneuvering."

Responding to a question about criticism from President Donald Trump and other world leaders, Tedros said at a briefing Wednesday that Taiwan was behind a campaign against him.

"When as a community people start to insult us, that's enough," he said. "We cannot tolerate that. But since I don't have any inferiority complex when I am personally affected or attacked by racial slurs, I don't care because I am a very proud black person."

"This attack comes from Taiwan," he said. "The foreign ministry knows about this campaign and they didn't disassociate themselves."

Tedros also urged the U.S. and China to work better together or risk transforming the pandemic into a bigger crisis.

Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu has been critical of the WHO's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Taiwan's exclusion from the organization, but it was unclear what campaign of racist attacks Tedros was referring to.

Taiwan's response to the virus has garnered widespread praise from voices as diverse as the U.S. State Department, Bill Gates and Barbra Streisand. The island has so far reported 379 cases and five deaths.

While Taiwan's government was a founding member of the United Nations, the People's Republic of China took its seat in the body -- and all subordinate organizations such as the WHO -- in 1971. China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory. Taiwan's government rejects the claim, asserting it is an independent, sovereign nation.
Japan is willing to fund its companies to shift manufacturing operations out of China, Bloomberg has reported as the disruptions caused to production by the coronavirus pandemic has forced a rethink of supply chains between the major trading partners.

As part of its economic stimulus package, Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion to help its manufacturers shift production out of China. Of this amount, 220 billion yen ($2 billion)is for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries.

China is Japans biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China have slumped by almost half in February due to lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus hitting manufacturing and the supply chain.

Shinichi Seki, an economist at the Japan Research Institute, predicted that there would be a shift in the coming days as there already was renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base. Having this in the budget will definitely provide an impetus, he told Bloomberg.

Companies, such as car makers, which are manufacturing for the Chinese domestic market, will likely stay put, he said.

The Japanese governments panel on future investment had last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.

More than 37 per cent of the 2,600 companies surveyed by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. in February had also said they were diversifying procurement to places other than China amid the coronavirus crisis.

The policy, however, could strain ties that had been on the mend lately and affect Prime Minister Shinzo Abes years-long effort to restore relations with China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was supposed to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the virus and no new date has been set.
Modern Family may be one of the most popular comedies of the past decade, but the last day on set was nothing but tears. At least, thats how Ty Burrell recalls the final day of the two-part finale episode, which premiered on Wednesday night in the US.

It was wet, because we were all crying so much, the Emmy-winning actor tells Yahoo Entertainment about the mood on set as the end of 11 seasons and 250 episodes approached.

According to Burrell, the last scene the whole cast filmed together also happens to be the last scene of the episode  a serendipitous piece of scheduling that also led to some headaches on the part of the crew.

Read more: Florence Pugh slams abuse directed at her relationship with Zach Braff

It was the only time in my life where the director and the showrunner had to come out and ask, Could everybody not cry so much? Like, cry less? he remembers, chuckling. Everyone was just trying not to cry between scenes.

Amid the tears, Burrells alter ego  well-meaning, if accident-prone, patriarch Phil Dunphy  had reasons to be joyful. After 11 years co-parenting three kids alongside his better half, Claire (Julie Bowen), the two are officially on their own again. Theyre finally empty nesters, he confirms.

So with Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke (Nolan Gould) launched into the world, Phil and Claire are focusing on each other, preferably outside the house. Theyre going to have some adventures. Thats what their decision is: The next chapter is going to be adventure.

Burrells own post-Modern Family adventures will include raising his two young daughters using some of the lessons he gleaned from Phil over the past 11 years.

Ty Burrell, left, and Holly Burrell arrive at the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Try hard is really the big lesson. ... I think were all more forgiving of someone who is trying hard. You get annoyed at people who are trying too hard, which is what Phils been doing for the bulk of his life. Ive seen my daughters exercise all kinds of new muscles around their eyes in terms of eye-rolling  new directions that I didnt think you could roll an eye at me for trying too hard.

Story continues

Read more: Ryan Thomas thrilled as his children meet for the first time

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Burrell is trying hard to help the restaurant workers in Salt Lake City, where hes a part owner of two establishments. The actor partnered with the citys mayor and the Downtown Alliance to launch Tip Your Server, which hopes to provide $500 grants to employees who have been laid off in the wake of coronavirus quarantine measures, as well as a series of earthquakes that have struck the region.

There are about 15,000 unemployed people in that industry in Salt Lake City right now, Burrell says, encouraging those who can to donate to the program. Were really trying to create a stopgap to get them to federal funding and unemployment, because those things are notoriously slow and difficult.

 Video produced by Jon San
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the anti-malaria drug dubbed as a game-changer in the fight against coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic by some experts. President Trump also praised the prime minister for his "strong leadership" in helping "not just India, but humanity" in this fight.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you PM Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" the US President tweeted.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

President Trump's words of praise for PM Modi sends a clear message that the Indian government had taken the decision to partially export the HCQ only on humantarian ground and not under the "threat of retaliation" in international trade by the US.

Earlier on Monday (April 6), President Trump had warned of a possible 'retaliation' against India if it does not export hydroxychloroquine to the US. President Trump had issued the warning a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre banned export of the drug while trials are on to check the efficiency of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients.

"I would be surprised if he would, you know, because India does very well with the United States," he had said during a press briefing at the White House.

"So, I would be surprised if that were his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi's) decision. He'd have to tell me that. I spoke to him Sunday morning, called him, and I said we'd appreciate your allowing our supply to come out. If he doesn't allow it to come out, that would be okay, but of course there may be retaliation. Why wouldn't there be?" he added.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Wednesday assured that India will not face any shortage of hydroxychloroquine. "It has been ensured that not only today, even in the future, there will not be any lack of HCQ (hydroxychloroquine) as and when needed," Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Aggarwal said at a press briefing in New Delhi.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Attorneys for the Legislative Council and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham say legislative rules appear to prohibit the possibility of convening a special session remotely without lawmakers entering the Capitol.

They addressed the question in legal filings with the state Supreme Court, which is considering arguments on how to proceed with the June 2 primary election amid the virus pandemic.

One option the justices asked the parties to address: Would it be legal for the Legislature to meet electronically?

Attorneys for the Legislative Council  a panel that includes high-ranking legislators of both parties  said in their response that legislative rules require the physical presence of lawmakers to convene a session.

Changing the rules is possible, they said, but would require a two-thirds vote in person, or just a majority if committees recommended the changes first.

Legislative Council attorneys also noted that taking emergency action to change election laws in time for the June 2 primary would also require two-thirds approval of the House and Senate. They said the council couldnt predict the outcome if votes were held to change legislative rules or election laws.

But Thomas Hnasko and Michael Browde, representing the Legislative Council, told the Supreme Court that its unlikely that any such legislative action could be implemented in a timely manner to accommodate the primary election.

Matthew Garcia and Jonathan Guss, attorneys for Lujan Grishams office, meanwhile, offered a similar interpretation of legislative rules, arguing that they appear to require a physical presence of lawmakers in the House and Senate. They said its less clear whether the Constitution and state laws would also preclude a remote session.

As for the election itself, the governors attorneys said the Supreme Court has broad discretion to order changes to New Mexicos election procedures to safeguard public health and the right to vote amid an unprecedented health emergency.

The justices, they said, are empowered to craft equitable relief that could include postponing the June 2 primary for three to five weeks or directing election officials to mail ballots to voters.

The Supreme Court is considering an emergency petition by 27 county clerks who want to shift the primary largely to an election by mail. They say poll workers  most of whom are older than 60  are scared to work amid the pandemic and that many of the voting sites are closed to protect public health.

The Republican Party of New Mexico and 29 GOP legislators, in their own filing, have slammed the clerks proposal as an inappropriate attempt to bypass the legislative process. They say New Mexicos voter rolls are riddled with inaccuracies and that mailing out ballots would open the door to fraudulent votes.

The Republicans suggest encouraging people to cast absentee ballots  a two-step process in which people would request a ballot and provide their address  or calling a special legislative session to craft new election procedures.
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The UK has recorded 881 more coronavirus deaths today, taking Britain's total to 7,978 as its coronavirus crisis rumbles on and 4,344 more positive tests pushed the number of patients, past and present, to 65,077.

The grim tally is considerably smaller than the devastating 938 announced yesterday but still represents the second biggest surge since the epidemic began almost six weeks ago. Britain has so far managed to avoid the dark milestone of announcing 1,000 deaths in a single day, something that has only happened in the US.

NHS England announced 765 more fatalities in its hospitals among patients aged between 24 and 103, taking England's total to 7,248, and 116 deaths were announced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Experts say it is still too soon to see the impact of the UK's lockdown in daily statistics but, speaking in today's Government briefing, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said 'the NHS can cope' with the current situation. Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical adviser, added 'there is still room' in intensive care units.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, along with Sir Patrick and Professor Whitty today said the lockdown appears to be working at that it is crucial people continue to stay at home over the Easter weekend. They said the rate of hospitalisations and diagnosis is slowing, but that death tolls would continue to rise for at least another fortnight.

Deaths announced each day have not, for the most part, happened in the past 24 hours but are spread across the days and weeks that came before, making it impossible to predict where the peak will be - or has already been - or to get a clear picture until around a week to 10 days after the date in question.

Because the situation in the UK is still so volatile and fast-changing, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today said there is 'no possibility' that the UK's lockdown will end any time soon. Mr Raab refused to provide a more detailed update in today's briefing, saying officials would 'make the right decisions at the right moment'.

The Government was expected to review its social distancing timescale on Monday - which marks three weeks since Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ground-breaking 'stay at home' speech - but this has been delayed on account of Mr Johnson's illness.

The PM remains in intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital in central London. He is said to have had a 'good night' and to be 'continuing to improve' on his fourth day after being admitted.

In other COVID-19 developments in Britain today:

Wales has opened its first drive-through coronavirus testing centre for NHS staff at Cardiff City Stadium;

Police have threatened to start roadblocks and stop people in the street if the public don't obey laws telling them to stay at home;

NHS statistics show 92 per cent of people dying of coronavirus in its hospitals are over the age of 60, and 52 per cent are 80+. The youngest was five years old and the oldest 106;

Department store Debenhams has gone into administration and the livelihoods of its 22,000 employees are now under threat;

A respected think-tank has warned that a million people could end up with long-term health conditions as a result of the economic hit from coronavirus lockdown;

The Bank of England has extended the government's Ways and Means provision - effectively its overdraft;

It has emerged that MPs have been offered an extra 10,000 in expenses to help them and staff work from home;

EU officials have accused the UK government of being in 'fantasy land' by insisting the Brexit transition period cannot be extended beyond December.

NHS staff are working round the clock to try and save the lives of critically ill coronavirus patients in the UK. Currently, around 13 per cent of everyone who is hospitalised in Britain and tests positive for COVID-19 will die of it

Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital on Monday after his fever carried on for more than 10 days and has since been given oxygen therapy to help him breathe.

His spokesman said today: 'The PM had a good night and continues to improve in intensive care at St Thomas's. He is in good spirits.'

In a round of interviews earlier, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Mr Johnson was doing 'reasonably well'.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is now de facto leader of the Government and is standing in as deputy while Mr Johnson recovers from his illness.

Mr Raab will keep Government running, potentially for weeks, but there are concerns about a power vacuum at a moment when the country needs strong leadership.

The PM had been expected to lead a discussion next week about the progress of the UK's lockdown and considerations of when it might end, but it looks as if he will now be unable to.

Downing Street said the three-week review, which is now required by law, would go ahead with or without Mr Johnson.

The consensus is that Britain is still a long way off the level of security it needs to be able to start easing social distancing and the closure of public places.

Just 4,344 new cases of the coronavirus have been diagnosed in the past 24 hours - the day-by-day figures tentatively show a levelling off of the number of people testing positive, despite an increase in the numbers of people being tested

The number of people in intensive care continues to rise across the UK. Sir Patrick Vallance today said he doesn't expect the numbers of deaths being announced each day to fall until the intensive care numbers do

Paramedics at St Thomas' Hospital in London are pictured wheeling a patient outside of an ambulance

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sky News: 'I don't think there is any possibility, any likelihood of these lockdown measures being lifted immediately, or even imminently.'

She added: 'I wouldn't expect any change coming out of today's Cobra meeting but we will see where the discussions take us.'

Downing Street did not contradict Ms Sturgeon, and a spokesman said: 'What we absolutely need to do now is to keep baring down on the rate of transmission which means continuing with social distancing measures and making sure we are protecting the NHS and saving lives.

POLICE THREATEN TO START ROAD BLOCKS IF PEOPLE DON'T STAY HOME Police chiefs are now only 'a few days away' from introducing road blocks and searching shopping trolleys as people continue to flout the coronavirus regulations. Northamptonshire Police said the 'three-week grace period is over' and suggested they may start searching trolleys at stores to check people's shopping is essential. Chiefs are calling for laws to ban Britons from driving long distances and flouting the rule to exercise more than once a day ahead of a hot Easter weekend. Officers in Windermere, Cumbria, are already sending people in camper vans home, while locals in St Ives, Cornwall, blocked some roads to protect residents. Police have also created online forms for people to report potential breaches of the lockdown which was imposed on March 23 to fight the coronavirus pandemic. At least five chief constables are said to be backing more stringent restrictions and clearer rules - including legislation to enforce the order to limit exercise to a one-hour period outdoors after some people flouted it to sunbathe in parks or beaches. Chief constable in Northamptonshire, Nick Adderley, said forces are 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' when it comes to policing the new rules, and he added that Government guidance on how to police the rules 'could be even clearer'. He added: 'If things don't improve, and we don't get the compliance we would expect, then the next stage will be road blocks and it will be stopping people to ask why they are going, where they're going.' A Downing Street spokesman said today 'the police have our full backing, and the public's as well', adding that officers should 'engage, encourage and then enforce'. Currently, police can fine people or simply tell them to move. The emergency Coronavirus Act gives ministers sweeping powers to impose restrictions on 'events and gatherings', which it appears could be deployed to cover unnecessary travel. Advertisement

'As we have said before we are at a critical point, that is certainly the case as we approach the Easter weekend.'

This mirrors the comments of leading government scientists. Chief scientific adviser to the Cabinet, Sir Patrick Vallance, said this week that it would be another seven days or more before the effects of the lockdown became clear.

His deputy, Professor Angela MacLean, said in yesterday's briefing: 'This count of new cases in the UK, day by day over the last few weeks, is not accelerating out of control... the spread of the virus is not accelerating and that is good news.'

Speaking ahead of a virtual question-and-answer session with party leaders, Ms Sturgeon today said 4,957 people in Scotland have now tested positive for the virus, up by 392 from 4,565 the day before.

Ms Sturgeon added that 1,781 people are in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

It has been 100 days since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Wuhan in China, the First Minister said, adding the lives of the people of Scotland since then have been 'transformed in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago'.

Addressing the Easter weekend, she urged people to continue to follow lockdown protocols.

She said: 'I know how hard it is for people to do that, it will seem even harder over this Easter holiday weekend, especially for families with children and indeed for the children themselves and for older people who would normally be spending time with their grandchildren.

'Please stay in touch with family, friends and loved ones in whatever alternative way best works for you.

'Reach out to and look out for people even as you stay physically apart from them, but please do follow the rules and stay at home over Easter.'

Meanwhile, just 16 new cases have been diagnosed in Wales - to a total of 4,089 - because of a temporary change in the way the country records patients.

Dr Robin Howe, a director at Public Health Wales, said the number was lower than usual as a result, adding: 'Todays figures reflect a much shorter period of six hours of testing. Case numbers will return to normal on Friday, as we return to 24 hour reporting.'

Government ministers are facing backlash this week over an apparent lack of plans for how to get the UK out of its coronavirus lockdown when the time comes.

Although scientists and officials are unanimous that it is too soon to end the dramatic measures next week, and there are no signs it will be over before April, little information is forthcoming and when the Government aims to relax its shutdown.

Current statistics of daily deaths are not an accurate reflection of the day-by-day situation in the UK because there can be a time lag of more than three weeks between someone becoming infected with coronavirus and dying. Symptoms take days - if not weeks - to become life-threatening. The death has to be recorded and reported and the process takes days or even weeks before the official confirmation filters through to NHS England

'STAY AT HOME THIS WEEKEND': DOMINIC RAAB Dominic Raab read the riot act to Britons ahead of the sunny Easter weekend tonight saying lockdown must stay in force until the coronavirus outbreak peaks. The Foreign Secretary appealed to the public to keep following social distancing rules as he took the daily Downing Street briefing, insisting the disease must not be allowed to 'kill more people and hurt our country'. In a stark message, Mr Raab - deputising for Boris Johnson as he is treated in intensive care - said: 'We're not done yet. We must keep going.' Far from easing the lockdown, police have been urging tighter restrictions such as barring people from driving long distances and making it illegal to exercise more than once a day - although Home Secretary Priti Patel has so far batted away the calls. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the disease must not be allowed to 'kill more people and hurt our country' But the trade-offs involved in the national effort are becoming increasingly clear, with claims two million people have already lost their jobs. The respected IFS think-tank has warned that more than a million people might suffer long-term illness as a result of the economic misery. Labour's new leader Keir Starmer said ministers must spell out their 'exit strategy'. 'I'm not calling for precise timings, but the strategy,' he said. 'This is incredibly difficult on people and we need to know that plans are in place, and what they are.' Downing Street insists planning is under way across Whitehall for the restrictions to be eased - but flatly refused to say what that might involve, saying the government's focus is on tackling the epidemic. In a direct appeal to the public, Mr Raab said: 'Above all, as we go into this long bank holiday weekend I think people should think very long and hard, not just about the guidance and the importance of keeping it up, but about what happens to those on the NHS frontline who are doing a heroic job, if people in large numbers don't comply with those rules. 'I would urge everyone just to take a moment before they do anything however warm it is, however great the temptation, just to think about the sacrifices those on the frontline, particularly in our NHS are making.' Mr Raab said: 'While the early signs suggest that they are having the impact we need to see, it's too early to say that conclusively. 'Sage (the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies) will meet next week to discuss the latest evidence and we will keep the measures we've put in place under review.' Mr Raab added: 'We don't expect to be able to say more on this until the end of next week. 'The measures will have to stay in place until we've got the evidence that clearly shows we've moved beyond the peak.' Advertisement

Anger is growing over a lack of clarity over the future of measures which have already put millions of jobs at risk and led businesses into choppy waters. The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank has warned that more than a million people might suffer long-term illness as a result of the economic misery.

Labour's new leader Sir Keir Starmer said ministers must spell out their 'exit strategy'.

'Im not calling for precise timings,' he said, 'but the strategy. This is incredibly difficult on people and we need to know that plans are in place, and what they are.'

Downing Street insisted planning is under way across Whitehall for the restrictions to be eased - but flatly refused to say what that might involve, saying the government's focus is on tackling the epidemic.

Mr Raab is chairing a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee meeting this afternoon and is expected to send a strong signal that lockdown will continue afterwards.

No 10 has made clear the PM will not be participating in any government business while he battles the disease in intensive care - meaning decisions are in the hands of Mr Raab and Cabinet.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that a legally-required review to extend emergency measures will take place next week.

While insisting that will be the 'formal' decision, he gave a strong hint there will not be any change. 'It is essential we stay the course,' he said. 'The guidance very much remains in place and will continue to remain in place over the Easter weekend.'

A formal decision on extending lockdown will not be taken until next week, but there is now no chance of it being lifted. Senior politicians are set to launch a 'Stay at Home This Easter' publicity drive later designed to avert an exodus of sun-seekers.

There are growing concerns over the economic impact of coronavirus as the World Trade Organisation warned of the 'deepest recession in our lifetimes'.

The British Chambers of Commerce warned that furloughing staff could cost taxpayers 50billion over the next three months.

A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) today raised fresh questions about the trade-offs involved in the extreme curbs, which are intended to stop hundreds of thousands being killed by the disease.

The IFS said there is debate over 'whether the adverse health effects of a recession may be greater than the increased morbidity and mortality within the pandemic itself'.

It stressed that the scale of the economic hit from the lockdown is unclear, but is likely to be 'much larger' than the 2008 credit crunch which meant 900,000 more people of working age developed serious health issues.

Another 500,000 are estimated to have suffered poor mental health as a result of that crisis.

If the economic hit is twice as large it would be expected to lead to 1.8million people enduring chronic illness, and a million mental health issues.

In a sign of the intensifying strain on the country's finances, the Government said it has expanded its overdraft with the Bank of England to ensure it has sufficient cash to cope with disruption.

It said the central bank will directly finance the extra spending the Government needs on a temporary basis.

Ministers will commit the UK to weeks more coronavirus lockdown as Dominic Raab (pictured in Whitehall today) chairs a Cobra crisis meeting for the first time with Boris Johnson still in intensive care

Nicola Sturgeon pre-empted Dominic Raab's coronavirus crisis meeting today by declaring there is 'no possibility' of lockdown being lifted any time soon

PM BORIS JOHNSON 'CONTINUES TO IMPROVE', SAYS DOWNING STREET Boris Johnson is 'continuing to improve' in intensive care and engaging with medical staff treating him for coronavirus, it was revealed today. Downing Street relayed more positive signs about the Prime Minister's health saying he had a 'good night' although he is still receiving oxygen. 'The PM had a good night and continues to improve in intensive care at St Thomas's. He is in good spirits,' his spokesman said. However, there is no sign Mr Johnson will be able to take part in decisions over the outbreak ravaging the country, after No10 confirmed yesterday that he is not working. In a round of interviews earlier, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the premier was doing 'reasonably well'. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee later that is expected to signal the lockdown will continue for weeks longer despite mounting fears over the economic hit. He told BBC Breakfast this morning: 'He's stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff. 'I've known the Prime Minister for a long time and I wish him well in this difficult time and I think things are getting better for him.' Advertisement

The Treasury and the Bank of England said, in a joint statement, that it would minimise the need to raise additional funding from bond markets or currency markets.

The Government's bank account at the central bank, historically known as the Ways & Means Facility, will rise to an undisclosed amount.

Ministers will be able to spend more in the short term without having to tap into the bond markets, as a result of the move.

Any money drawn from the facility, which usually stands at around 400million, will be paid back as soon as possible before the end of the year, the Treasury said.

The measure was last used during the 2008 financial crisis, which saw its value increase briefly to 19billion.

Meanwhile, police chiefs are calling for laws to ban Britons from driving long distances and flouting the rule to exercise more than once a day ahead of a hot Easter weekend.

Officers in Windermere, Cumbria, are already sending people in camper vans home, while locals in St Ives, Cornwall, blocked some roads to protect vulnerable residents.

Police have also created online forms for people to report potential breaches of the lockdown which was imposed on March 23 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

At least five chief constables are said to be backing more stringent restrictions and clearer rules - including legislation to enforce the order to limit exercise to a one-hour period outdoors after some people flouted it to sunbathe in parks or beaches.

Northamptonshire Police said the 'three-week grace period is over' and suggested they may even start searching shopping trolleys, but how this would work is unclear.

Currently, police can fine people or simply tell them to move. The emergency Coronavirus Act gives ministers sweeping powers to impose restrictions on 'events and gatherings', which it appears could be deployed to cover unnecessary travel.

According to the legislation this can cover 'any vehicle, train, vessel or aircraft', as well as 'any tent or moveable structure'. The Health Secretary can issue a 'direction' prohibiting events of a 'specified description' to stop the transmission of the virus.

However, the law does not include any provision that could force people to have prior permission, show paperwork, or have reasonable cause to leave the house.

The PM's spokesman said 'the police have our full backing, and the public's as well'. He added that police should 'engage, encourage and then enforce'.

The Government confirmed that anyone caught sunbathing would be asked to move on by police, with a Downing Street spokesman saying: 'People should not be going to parks or beaches to sunbathe. It goes against our rules on essential movement.'

Devon and Cornwall Police are threatening to fine holidaymakers and second home owners who try to enter the area for the Easter weekend and refuse them entry.

Locals have already told the council about 650 cases of holiday lets and second home owners who have arrived in Cornwall in the five days before the weekend.

At a press conference last night, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said a UK-wide decision would not be taken until next week when the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies reports. He also admitted there would be economic 'hardship ahead'.

Professor Stephen Powis of NHS England said the lockdown was working. But he added: 'We have to continue following instructions, we have to continue following social distancing  if we don't, the virus will start to spread again.'

Polling by King's College London and Ipsos Mori showed nine out of 10 people support the lockdown.

Sung-Il Cho, professor of epidemiology at Seoul National University, told The Daily Telegraph that cases ought to drop below 50 per fortnight before moves towards a 'gradual recovery.'

Modelling by the newspaper found that for the UK that would mean waiting until the middle of next month.

The South Koreans have been able to bring the virus to heel by a stringent testing regime, contact tracing and quarantines. They have recorded just 200 deaths without imposing a lockdown and record 53 new cases each day.

Professor Chis Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, echoed Mr Sunak, saying that there would be no talk of an exit strategy until 'we are confident we are beyond the peak.'

However, experts have warned that returning to life after lockdown won't be a return to normality. Many anticipate that there will be a vicious resurgence of the disease in the autumn.

Prof David Alexander, of University College London's institute for risk and disaster reduction, told The Telegraph: 'Britain and other countries should hold themselves ready to return to lockdown, possibly with more stringent conditions than before. In the autumn, a second wave of Covid-19 could occur and could be devastating.'

Another option is to allow the young and healthy to return to work, while others continue with the strict 'stay at home' guidance.

But the majority of scientists believe the government will opt for the strategy of beating the numbers of cases down to a tiny level before proceeding with any liberation of the populace.

And even if that were achieved, life would not suddenly resume as it was before the draconian measures were placed upon us.

Dr Joe Grove, of UCL's department of infection and immunity, told The Telegraph: 'Once the current epidemic peak has passed, simply returning to life as usual would likely trigger another epidemic.

'Ultimately, the only way we can shake off the shackles of Covid-19 is widespread immunity and the only safe way to achieve that is through vaccination. In the meantime, testing gives us a route to some semblance of normality.'
Sex workers across the globe have faced dire economic threats as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and the worldwide shutdowns of regular daily activity that it has caused as authorities attempt to curb spread of the disease. A United Nations agency this week issued a statement calling on governments to include sex workers in their economic relief packageswhich has not yet happened in such countries as South Africa, France, Japan, and the United States.

In Kenya, sex workers have come up with a new way that they hope they can use to rebuild their incomes during that countrys coronavirus shutdown, which began on shortly after the East African country confirmed its first case of the disease on March 13.

The legality of sex work in Kenya is ambiguous, with laws often varying from city to city. But in Mombasa this week, an advocacy group representing sex workers there has asked the local government to reclassify sexual services as essential, allowing the workers to see clients again, and resume earning an income, according to a report by the All Africa news service.

"Since the scourge started, we have incurred losses, Maryline Laini, head of the group High Voice Africa, told the news service. The closure of bars, restaurants and clubs as a result of the curfew has rendered 90 percent of sex workers jobless. These were the places where we could get our daily bread.

Prior to the pandemic, Mombasa sex workers could command fees as high as 10,000 Kenyan shillingsor about $95 in a country where the average worker earns just $76 per month. A typical sex workers fee, however, could also be as low as 50 shillings, which is less than 50 cents in U.S. currency.

Since the pandemic, those who have been able to continue working have reduced fees to as low as the equivalent of 20 cents.

Laini says her group has also called on the government to include sex workers in any economic relief package designed to keep the Kenyan economy afloat. She told All Africa that sex workers in Kenya are now as likely to suffer the effects of starvation as die from coronavirus infection, due to their suddenly extinguished business.

In Bangladesh, home of the worlds largest legal brothel, the situation appeared somewhat more hopeful for the countrys sex workers, who lost their jobs when the 12 government-approved brothels were ordered closed due to the pandemic. After initially offering only a single cash payment of about $25 and one 65-pound bag of rice, the Bangladeshi government now says it will supply food to the now-destitute sex workers continuously until the crisis has finally passed, according to a Reuters report.

Photo By Ninara / Wikimedia Commons
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday said he has undertaken the distribution of 2,000 food packets for lunch and dinner at various locations across the city for those hit by the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 77-year-old actor said along with these packets, the efforts of providing around 3,000 bags of monthly provisions are also on.

"On the personal front, 2,000 packets of food are being given each day for lunch and dinner at various locations over the city and the larger bags of a monthly provision, about 3,000 bags, which would take care of at (least) 12,000 mouths is in process," Bachchan's wrote on his blog.

The actor said locations such as Haji Ali Dargah, Mahim Dargah, Babulnath Temple, the slum in Bandra and a few other slums in the interior north of the city will benefit from the initiative.

However, getting the provision to reach the needy was "an exercise", the actor hopes something would work out soon.

"The process has its problems. The lockdown has now made it illegal to step out of the house and living areas. So even though I have been able to get the bags ready its transportation causes problems," he said.

"The authorities are saying that when the package arrives, people, specially those in the slums for whom the material is specially packed (and who) have not eaten for 3-4 days, they rush for the vehicle to pick up their package, which almost causes a stampede and the Police cannot allow that to happen with the conditions of social distancing," Bachchan added.

The actor said he personally insisted that wherever the food is being distributed, proper lines are formed so that the precautionary guideline of social distancing is followed to the T.

"The volunteers, thank the Lord are working tirelessly in extreme conditions to make sure of its proper functioning. It is a tough task but what can be done, the cues are large and with each passing day are getting bigger and bigger," he said.

Bachchan recently pledged monthly ration to support 1,00,000 households of daily wage workers belonging to the All India Film Employees Confederation amid the pandemic.

Following up on the same, the actor said the process has begun and he is monitoring it.

"Hopefully within a few days the data that has been provided to me should bring succour to 1,00,000 families over the entire work force, for a month. If each family average can be taken as 4, then 400,000 mouths are being fed with the bare essentials of food and provisions," he said.

"It is a massive exercise but the efficiency of retailers and the body that monitors the data at Association level shall get into driving mode and execute this gesture from all of us," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman has spent a night behind bars and been fined $2000 after breaching coronavirus self-quarantine at a Queensland hotel because no fresh towels were sent to her room.

Anna Carter, 45, was supposed to be in two weeks of self-isolation at the Ibis Brisbane Airport Hotel after arriving from NSW, Brisbane Magistrates Court was told on Thursday.

Anna Carter was supposed to be in self-isolation at the Ibis Brisbane Airport Hotel.

But police found her outside the hotel on Wednesday, one day after she was given a $1300 fine for leaving her room to buy a Band-Aid.

She told officers the hotel was not replacing her towels each day and she had checked out.
Kerala is set to commence convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat critically ill coronavirus cases on a trial basis

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is set to become the first state in the country to commence convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat critically ill COVID-19 cases on a trial basis.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given its nod to the state government for the first of its kind project, initiated by the prestigious Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), a top official said.

SCTIMST, an Institution of National Importance under the Union Department of Science and Technology, is expecting to start the trials by this month end once the required approvals from the Drugs Controller of India and the Ethics committee are received.

"We have received the approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct it as a clinical trial", Director of the city-based institute Dr Asha Kishore told PTI.

"This is a form of convalescent plasma therapy. The technique is to use (blood) plasma of patients who have completely recovered from COVID-19 as it will be rich in antibodies", she said.

In COVID-19, some small studies have been done in China and United States where they had tried this treatment method -- taking the plasma of a patient who is cured and whose blood contains lot of antibodies to fight the virus, she said.

Their plasma is collected and infused into COVID-19 patients who are critically ill and whose immune system cannot fight the virus.

"We do not have strong evidence that it works. So it will be tested in the form of a clinical trial to see whether it will work or not", the Director said adding they were trying to get Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 25 lakh.

The project has been approved by the state government and five medical colleges -- at Thiruvananthapuram, Alapuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur -- and an expert form COVID-19 clinic in Kozhikode, Dr Anoop, who will do the clinical follow up, will be participating in it.

Click here for LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

"We will monitor the "Plasma Pheresis"-- a technique of collecting the blood of patients and separating the plasma from blood cells. SCTIMST is awaiting the approval of Drugs Controller of India (DCI) for this kind of blood donation as the stringent criteria of regular blood donation will have to be relaxed for this exceptional situation," she said.

Once the DCI approval was received, the ethics committee will be approached to give its nod, Asha said.

"We are collaborating with state hospitals, COVID-19 cell and the institute's transfusion medicine department.So we will together conduct the study when we get approvals", she said.

This has to be a voluntary donation from the patients who have recovered from the disease.

"Their swab sample has to be clear 3 times before they are called clear and they have to wait for two weeks quarantine to be over only after which their blood will be collected for "plasma pheresis" process, the director explained.

The plasma can be collected, stored and kept and given whenever a critically ill patient does not respond to anything else, she said.

Asha said they were hoping to get the required approvals by next week after which all logistics will be arranged.

Patients who have recovered will have to be contacted, counselled, get their informed consent and bring them to blood banks in the five medical colleges.

"We hope to start by the end of this month. Their blood will be tested for HIV, Hepatitis and all procedures would be followed only after which plasma would be taken from their blood," she added.

Asked if patients had been contacted by the institute, she said, the state government has the list of the patients, and once all the approvals are received, the government would hand over to them.

The SCTIMST focuses on high quality, advanced treatment of cardiac and neurological disorders, indigenous development of technologies for biomedical devices and materials and public health training and research.
Hyderabad, April 9 : As part of its containment strategy to tackle the COVID-19 spread in the state, the Telangana government has drafted students of Public Health, from the University of Hyderabad (UoH).

The students will be deployed for conducting epidemiological fieldwork in various districts across the State.

As many as 15 students of the second-semester Master of Public Health (MPH) course have volunteered for the work, the university officials said on Thursday. The students have received orders from district authorities to participate in active and passive surveillance teams.

Telangana, through the Office of the Director for Public Health and Family Welfare of the Ministry of Health, has undertaken a statewide surveillance and containment strategy against Covid-19 in line with the recommendation of WHO for Global Surveillance strategy for human infection.

Lauding the students for volunteering to serve in the hour of crisis, Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, Prof. Appa Rao Podile described it as part of the university's social responsibility mandate. "For students of public health of our university, this is indeed a valuable opportunity for gaining hands-on experience in a field in which they are getting trained", he said.

Apart from the Public Health students, four research scholars and 30 students, including current MPH seniors and alumni, have volunteered to work with the Telangana government for the humanitarian cause.
Who doesnt like a gift card to a local restaurant?

Thats just what two New Jersey towns are doing to help support local businesses and, in one case, honor those who are working in the medical field on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Lacey Township Police Department announced it would be giving gift cards for two local dining establishments to township residents who work in a hospital.

Good Evening Lacey Township, In a combined effort, the Lacey Township PD, Lacey Twp. Superior Officers Association,... Posted by Lacey Township PD on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Beginning April 13, $25 vouchers will be available at Captains Inn and Caffreys Tavern & Backyard for any township resident who works in a hospital as long as they show their hospital identification badges. The vouchers are not limited to doctors and nurses. Residents who work as technicians, phlebotomists, registration staff, security officers, custodial staff, and cafeteria staff can obtain a voucher toward a current or future takeout order while the supply of vouchers last.

We would like to express our deep admiration and appreciation for your efforts and sacrifices made by each of you during this pandemic, the Lacey Township Police Department said.

The gesture is being made with the help of the police department Lacey Township Superior Officers Association, Lacey Township PBA 238, and the Lacey Municipal Police Foundation as a way to give back to the medical staff. There was also help from a couple of people who wanted to step up and help.

Additionally, we would also like to thank two anonymous donors who have made gracious contributions toward this offer, the department said. The kindness and generosity shown by our residents during this difficult time has been truly remarkable. Displayed on each Lacey Police Officers uniform patch is the term unitate fortitudo, which is Latin for strength through unity. We could not be more proud to wear this patch each day and to be this townships police department.

Deptford Township Mayor & Council want you to support local small businesses in our town during this time of absolute... Posted by Deptford Township - Municipal on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Lacey Township is not the only location doing something like this. In Deptford, Mayor Paul Medany and the townships council announced a program that, through the townships website, a $10 discount would be applied for residents who ordered from local pizza shops.

Deptford Township Mayor & Council want you to support local small businesses in our town during this time of absolute need, Deptford Township said in the statement. They are the backbone of our local economy and employment who could use everyones help now!

Subscribe to the #TogetherNJ newsletter to get a weekly dose of these uplifting stories right to your inbox.

Have you seen an inspiring story in your community during this troubling time? Tell us about it. See more uplifting stories in #TogetherNJ.
According to a new report from Korea, Samsung wont delay Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 launch event. This information comes from the Korea Herald, by the way.

Some sources suggested that Samsung may have to delay the Galaxy Note 20 and Fold 2 launch event due to the current situation in the world, the virus outbreak. Well, if this report is to be believed, that wont happen.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 & Fold 2 wont face delays, report claims

Korea Herald actually got this information from an unnamed industry insider. He claims that preparations are underway for the upcoming Galaxy Note launch, and there is no delay, plain and simple.

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This is yet another source that suggests that the Galaxy Note 20 and Fold 2 will be announced at the same time. That is not surprising as the Galaxy Z Flip launched alongside the Galaxy S20, while the Galaxy Fold was announced alongside the Galaxy S10.

If there are no delays planned, then the event will probably take place sometime in August. That is the usual timeframe when Samsung announces its new Galaxy Note series devices.

Depending on how the situation with the outbreak unfolds, Samsung may be forced to host an online-only event. Of course, the whole situation may completely change by August, in which case we may actually get a physical event.

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The Galaxy Note 20 will probably look somewhat similar to the Galaxy S20 series

We did not exactly see any Galaxy Note 20 design leaks, or anything of the sort, only third-party concept images. Its safe to assume that the phone will somewhat resemble the Galaxy S20 series, though.

The device is rumored to include a centered display camera hole, and very thin bezels. It will also probably include sharper corners than the Galaxy S20 series. On top of that, you can expect metal + glass / ceramic build.

The phone will probably include a camera setup from the Galaxy S20+, at least thats what the rumors have been saying. Android 10 will come pre-installed on the device, along with Samsungs One UI skin.

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The Snapdragon 865 will fuel the device in the US and China, while users in Europe and India will probably get the Exynos 990 variant. We will probably see two Galaxy Note 20 devices, if not three.

The Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to offer a more appealing design than its predecessor, and come with an ultra-thin glass (UTG) display. It is expected to sport a display camera hole, and not that unseemly notch like its predecessor.

The device will probably also include a larger secondary display on the outside. More Galaxy Note 20 and Fold 2 leaks will surface in the coming weeks / months, so stay tuned.
A Thai woman tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time one week after she recovered and was discharged from hospital, the Thai Rath news agency reported on Thursday, citing health authorities in the central Chaiyaphum province.

The 38-years-old woman returned from abroad in early March, and went to visit a doctor in Bangkok on March 12 after developing COVID-19 symptoms. She reportedly spent two weeks in a hospital and fully recovered. The woman then returned to her native Chaiyaphum province and felt sick again. She visited a doctor last Saturday and tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time in less than a month.

"This is a strange case, but it is confirmed by medical records and the doctors in a Bangkok hospital confirmed it during an epidemiological investigation," the head of a provincial health department has said during a briefing, as quoted by Thai Rath, Sputnik reports.

The Chaiyaphum province is the least affected region of the country, and only four cases of coronavirus have been confirmed there.

Thailand has so far confirmed 2,423 COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths from coronavirus-related complications.
In Singapore, nonmedical healthcare personnel who were caring for patients with COVID-19 are at an increased risk for psychological distress related to the pandemic. A brief research report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers from National University Health System and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore used a self-administered questionnaire to examine the psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress experienced by health care workers in Singapore in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and compared these outcomes between medically and non-medically trained hospital personnel.

Medically trained workers scored significantly lower on measures of depression and anxiety and impact of COVID-19 outbreak.

These findings are consistent with those of a recent COVID-19 study demonstrating that frontline nurses had significantly lower vicarious traumatization scores than non-frontline nurses and the general public.



Reasons for this may include reduced accessibility to formal psychological support, less first-hand medical information on the outbreak, less intensive training on personal protective equipment and infection control measures.



Source: Eurekalert

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Nonmedical health care workers had higher prevalence of anxiety even after adjustment for possible confounders.
[April 09, 2020] NOTICE TO INVESTORS WITH MARGIN ACCOUNTS AT FULL-SERVICE BROKERAGE FIRMS: KlaymanToskes Commences Investigation into Damages Sustained by Investors Who were forced to Sell Securities Due to Margin Calls

KlaymanToskes ("KT (News - Alert)"), www.klaymantoskes.com, announced today that it is investigating damages sustained by Investors who were forced to sell securities due to margin calls. The investigation focuses on full-service brokerage firms' negligence and mismanagement of leveraged accounts. Recently, investors quickly saw the major stock indices lose significant value after closing on Friday, February 21, 2020, at near 52-week highs. The market volatility has been precipitated by COVID-19. Many investment portfolios, like the stock indices, have also seen tremendous declines, leaving leveraged accounts especially at risk of margin calls. The use of securities in an investment account to collateralize margin loans exposes investors to leverage, which increases he risk in an account. Margin abuse can result in excessive use of margin loans or the failure to utilize risk management strategies to protect account collateral. Therefore, full-service brokerage firms and financial advisors are required to disclose to investors the risks of the use of margin. Additionally, the failure to use risk management strategies directly exposes an investor's leveraged account to margin calls due to fluctuations in the volatile securities markets. Those margin calls may result in the forced sale of securities. However, if you made self-directed trades in your investment account with E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, or Interactive Brokers, or another self-trading platform, this investigation does not apply to you.



The sole purpose of this release is to investigate whether strategies deployed by full-service brokerage firms were suitable for investors whose investment accounts were leveraged by a margin loan and received calls forcing the sale of securities. Investors who held leveraged accounts at full-service brokerage firms, and have information relating to the manner in which the firm handled their portfolios, are encouraged to contact the attorneys of KlaymanToskes at (561) 542-5131, or visit our firm's website at www.klaymantoskes.com. About KlaymanToskes

KT is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm represents high net-worth, ultra-high net-worth, and institutional investors, such as non-profit organizations, unions, public pension funds, and multi-employer pension funds. KT has office locations in California, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico. Destination: https://klaymantoskes.com/notice-to-investors-with-margin-accounts-at-full-service-brokerage-firms/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005838/en/

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To the Editor:

President Trump has fired the intelligence community watchdog who was critical in fielding the whistle-blower complaint that triggered the impeachment (news article, April 4).

As Cornell Law classmates of Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, we are deeply dismayed that late last Friday President Trump fired Michael in retaliation for his decision to advise Congress of the complaint.

By alerting Congress to concerns regarding President Trumps call with the president of Ukraine, Michael acted in full accord with his duties under federal law and Cornell Laws motto, Lawyers in the Best Sense.

We view this politically motivated termination as undermining the critical role of inspectors general and the essential values of transparency and accountability in government. Inspectors general are appointed to impartially ensure that no official, including the president, abuses his office. Michael did his job as inspector general and was fired for it.
Jeff Bezos has thanked staff at an Amazon warehouse and a Whole Foods in Dallas after spate of strikes and sick-outs over working conditions during the pandemic.

The world's richest man was filmed taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on his surprise visit to the facilities on Wednesday. He is seen waving to staff and thanking them, telling one: 'I can't shake your hand. It's a hard habit to break.'

Amazon has faced a spate of strikes and sick-outs over working conditions as employees test positive for the coronavirus and others ask for more protections.

Five senators have written to Amazon founder Bezos after worker Chris Smalls was fired from his job following a protest at the company's Staten Island plant. In the letter they express 'continued concern about working conditions at Amazon'.

An internal document leaked, in which Amazon's general counsel described Smalls as 'not smart, or articulate.'

The company has since said it testing the use of disinfectant fog at the warehouse in Staten Island.

Jeff Bezos was filmed taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on his surprise visit

Jeff Bezos has was filmed thanking staff an Amazon warehouse and a Whole Foods in Dallas after spate of strikes and sick-outs over working conditions during the pandemic

Bezos was seen waving to staff and thanking them, telling one: 'I can't shake your hand. It's a hard habit to break.' He visited a Whole Food in Dallas, according to reports

The virus has led to at least 436,510 cases across America - including workers at more than 50 Amazon facilities, according to a New York Times report.

Amazon posted the footage of Bezos visiting the store and factory on Wednesday.

The retail giant had earlier confirmed it is now tracking its warehouse staff and will fire them for failing to socially distance themselves from their co-workers.

An Amazon spokesman told DailyMail.com they are taking 'intense measures' to ensure safety, adding: 'We've had some instances of employees intentionally violating our clear guidelines on social distancing at our sites, which endangers both the individual and their colleagues.'

It is understood workers will be warned if they are caught failing to follow the new rules. They may then be fired if are found to have broken them for a second time.

The spokesman added: 'Individuals who intentionally violate our social distancing guidelines will receive two warnings  on the second documented offense, termination may occur.'

Jordan Flowers holds a sign protesting at the Amazon building in Staten Island on March 30

Breana Avelar, a processing assistant, holds a sign outside the Amazon DTW1 fulfillment center in Romulus, Mich. on April 1. Employees are protesting in response what they say is the company's failure to protect the health of its employees amid the COVID-19 outbreak

In California fast food workers also went on strike Thursday. Employees from chains including Burger King, Taco Bell, Popeye's, are thought to have taken part.

GE workers across the country had protested Wednesday to ask that they are given the tools to make ventilators to help patients.

'Instead of laying workers off, GE should be stepping up to the plate with us to build the ventilators this country needs,' Carl Kennebrew, president of the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America said.

Workers at Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's in Boston united to protest against working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday.

The grocery store employees joined forces with customers to demand 'adequate protections', NBC Boston reports. The group met in a Whole Foods parking lot where they stood apart to protest.

And staff at an Amazon delivery facility in Chicago protested Saturday, looking for more protections as they work. Police who broke up the vehicular picket were told they should be 'ashamed' of themselves, Patch.com reports.

Their colleagues in New York City also walked out last week and one worker was fired after protesting at the Staten Island facility.

Communications Workers of America members carry signs that read 'Protect Our Lives! Protect America!' as they take part in a protest to demand General Electric accelerate crisis response by manufacturing ventilators at GE plants including the plant in Lynn, Massachusetts

IUE-CWA union GE (General Electric) workers take part in protest demanding the company to use the workforce to produce ventilators and demanding more safety measures amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Lynn, Massachusetts on Wednesday

Grocery and warehouse workers - many in low-wage jobs - are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing.

They are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing.

To alleviate the concerns of some their workers Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said it is rolling out face masks and temperature checks at all its U.S. and European warehouses by next week.

Their protest comes after the deaths of at least four grocery workers across the United States.

Two Walmart employees at the same Chicago-area store, a Trader Joe's worker in New York, and a greeter at a Maryland Giant grocery store passed away in the last two weeks.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:30:45|Editor: xuxin

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MADRID, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from COVID-19 in Spain has surpassed 15,000, the Spanish government said Thursday, adding it expects a decline in the country's epidemic.

As of Wednesday night, the number of deaths from the virus had risen by 683 to 15,238, the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services said. The daily count of deaths slightly dropped from 757 the previous day.

The total number of confirmed cases increased by 5,756 to 152,446, registering a 3.9-percent hike, down from the 4.4-percent rise 24 hours earlier.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday that the country is close to the beginning of a decline in its novel coronavirus epidemic.

The COVID-19 date is encouraging and "the fire has started to come under control," the prime minister told parliament before a vote on the extension of a state of emergency by another two weeks until April 26.

On Wednesday, Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa said the country has "reached the peak of contagion," although it recorded a rise of new COVID-19 cases and deaths for a second day after four straight days of decline.
A two-month-old baby who was believed to have been Italy's youngest COVID-19 patient has been released from hospital after overcoming the disease.

The baby was no longer running a temperature or fever and was released with her mother, who has recovered from a bout of pneumonia, reports said today.

The baby and mother were hospitalised in the southern city of Bari on March 18.

Italy has officially attributed 17,669 deaths to COVID-19, more than any other country.

A two-month-old baby who was believed to have been Italy's youngest COVID-19 patient has been released from hospital after overcoming the disease. Pictured: a medical worker in Salerno

The government is now weighing how and when to ease social distancing measures that have helped see daily death tolls slowly come down from a high of 969 last month.

Yesterday Italy recorded its lowest rate of new coronavirus deaths so far with a 3.2% increase in deaths to 17,669, while infections went up by 3,856 to 139,442.

There were another 542 fatalities recorded, compared with 604 the day before and 636 deaths on Monday.

Italy has officially attributed 17,669 deaths to COVID-19, more than any other country. Pictured: a man wears a face mask in Bari

There were 3039 new case on Tuesday, so yesterday's figure marked an increase of more than 800, however it is worth noting that Italy tested more people yesterday.

There were 3,693 people in intensive care on Wednesday against 3,792 on Tuesday - a fifth consecutive daily decline, further underscoring hopes that the illness is on the retreat after a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 9.

The pressures on hospital ICUs in Italy and Spain may have eased in recent days as new virus cases decline. But the emotional and psychological toll the pandemic has taken on the doctors and nurses working there is only now beginning to emerge.

Already, two nurses in Italy have killed themselves, and psychologists have mobilized therapists and online platforms to provide free consultation for medical personnel.

Individual hospitals hold small group therapy sessions to help staff cope with the trauma of seeing so much death among patients who are utterly alone.
Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ), the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, is making strenuous and persistent attempts to get Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to break a ceasefire with Turkish-backed rebels in Idlib province, Middle East Eye reports in its article Mohammed bin Zayed pushed Assad to break Idlib ceasefire. In recent months, Assads forces backed by Russian airpower made significant gains against rebel groups in Syrias northwestern Idlib, killing hundreds and forcing a million civilians to flee towards the Turkish border in the process.

Turkeys military intervened in February, helping balance the conflict until violence was stopped by a Moscow-brokered truce last month. However, MBZ both tried to prevent the ceasefire agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from being implemented, and has since called Assad to encourage him to re-launch his offensive, MEE has learned. Days before the ceasefire deal was struck in a four-and-a-half-hour meeting in the Kremlin on 5 March, the crown prince sent Ali al-Shamsi, the deputy of MBZs brother and national security adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed, to negotiate a deal with Assad in Damascus.

According to sources familiar with MBZs plan, the crown prince agreed to pay Assad $3bn to reignite the offensive against Idlib, the rebels last redoubt, $1bn of which was due to be paid before the end of March. By the time the ceasefire was announced, $250m had already been paid up front.

The deal was negotiated in the strictest secrecy. Abu Dhabi was particularly concerned that the Americans did not get to hear of it. Washington supported the Turkish militarys efforts to confront Assads forces in Idlib, and had already expressed its anger with the crown prince over the release of $700m of frozen Iranian assets in October. One high-level source told MEE: During the Idlib clashes, al-Shamsi met Bashar and asked him not to reach an agreement with Erdogan on a ceasefire. This happened just before Erdogans meeting with Putin. Assad replied that he needs financial support.

He said that Iran has stopped paying because they dont have cash, and the Russians dont pay anyway. So he asked for $5bn in direct support for Syria. They agreed on $3bn, $1bn paid before the end of March, the source added. When Assad started to rebuild his forces for a push on Turkish positions in Idlib, the Russians, who monitor military movements on the ground closely in Syria, got wind of the plan. Putin was furious, the source continued. Putin sent his defence minister, Sergei Shoygu, on an unplanned visit to Damascus to stop the Syrian government firing up the offensive again.

The message Shoygu delivered was clear: We do not want you to restart this offensive. Russia wants the ceasefire to continue. By then the Emiratis had already paid $250m to Damascus, the source said.

A senior Turkish official has confirmed that the UAE made such an offer to the Syrian government. All I can say is that the content of the report is true, the official said. Sources told Middle East Eye that MBZ persisted in his attempts to get Assad to break the ceasefire even after Shoygus visit. A second tranche of the initial $1bn was delivered to Damascus.
The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 89,000 with more than 1.5 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.

Montenegro

Authorities in Montenegro have detained a medical staffer accused of publishing a list of the names of people infected with the novel coronavirus.

Prosecutors said on April 8 the man had been ordered detained for up to 72 hours pending further investigation into the case.

The suspect, identified only by the initials M.R., is a staffer of the IT department at the Health Center in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica.

He was detained late on April 7 for the alleged unauthorized collection and usage of personal information.

He is accused of sharing data on COVID-19 patients with other people who are not authorized to handle the information.



A list of at least 60 names of people infected with the virus, along with their socal ID numbers and birth year, has been distributed on social networks since April 3.

The government ordered an investigation, saying that publishing the names of infected patients "violates basic human rights."

Civil society organizations and opposition parties have also condemned the publication of the list.

There have been 248 confirmed coronavirus cases in the Adriatic country of some 630,000 people so far, two of whom have died.

Romania

Romania confirmed another 441 cases of COVID-19 on April 9 to reach 5,202, with 26 more fatalities bringing the toll to 246, the country's coronavirus task force said on April 7, amid renewed calls for a sustained increase in the number of tests.

The first coronavirus case was confirmed in Romania on February 26 and the first death on March 22.

The country has been under a state of emergency since March 16, and President Klaus Iohannis on April 6 announced his intention to extend it by one month, while the government decided to postpone local elections that should have been held in early summer.

Despite strict lockdown measures and hefty fines, on April 9, some 2,000 people gathered at the airport in Cluj, a city in northwestern Romania, huddling for hours in the airport parking lot while waiting to board chartered flights to Germany where they would work as seasonal farmhands.

Romania is allowing seasonal workers to leave the country, despite the crisis, and the German government reached an agreement last week to take in 80,000 foreign seasonal workers under strict conditions, with arrivals spread equally over this month and the next one.

The workers who arrived in Germany all underwent medical checks on arrival before going into effective isolation while working on farms.

However, in Romania, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban ordered the removal of the Cluj airport management for failing to ensure social-distancing measures were respected while the workers waited to board the planes.

In the northeastern city of Suceava, the epicenter of the outbreak in Romania, anti-corruption prosecutors on April 9 opened investigations into reports that morgue personnel at the local hospital had demanded bribes for their "extra efforts" from families of deceased patients.

The hospital in Suceava has been put under military command since last week.

Russia

A curfew for children and the elderly has been introduced in Russia's Bashkortostan region to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The head of Bashkortostan, Rady Khabirov, said on April 9 that the curfew for citizens 65 years of age and older started at 6 p.m. local time and runs until 10 a.m. For children, the curfew is from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m., he added.

Khabirov also confirmed reports saying that the largest hospital in Bashkortostan's capital, Ufa, had seen a rise of cases attributed to "pneumonia" in the past two weeks.

Rimma Kamalova of Ufa's Kuvatov Republican Clinical Hospital's rheumatology department told RFE/RL on April 8 that the flow of patients with pneumonia symptoms was "simply enormous."

Khabirov said that some 500 people had been tested for coronavirus, though there were no official results yet.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources at the hospital in Ufa told RFE/RL that more that 60 tests came back as positive for the coronavirus on April 8.

Also on April 9, authorities in Bashkortostan introduced a system requiring individuals to obtain electronic permission to use personal cars for trips during the lockdown.

Permission to use a car for one trip up to 90 minutes long per day can be obtained through registration at a government website.

Hungary

Hungary has extended a nationwide lockdown indefinitely to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on April 9.

Hungary has officially recorded 980 confirmed cases and 66 deaths in the pandemic, although the government has acknowledged the number of actual cases is probably much higher.

Nationwide restrictions on movement allowing only travel to work, trips to stores and pharmacies for necessities, or exercise outings were to expire on April 11.

"We are extending the duration of movement restrictions. We are extending them indefinitely," said Orban in a video posted on his Facebook page.

"We will reconsider the restrictions on a weekly basis," he added.

Orban asked citizens to respect restrictions over the coming Easter holiday by avoiding groups and observing social-distancing guidelines in public spaces.

Orban also granted city mayors the power to make "more severe decisions regarding their respective communities."

Last week, Hungary's parliament endorsed a bill giving populist right-winger Orban sweeping new powers he insists are necessary to fight the pandemic but which critics at home and abroad say are simply a power grab.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Balkan and Tatar-Bashkir services, AFP, digi24.ro, g4.ro, Reuters, and hotnews.ro
A protesters demands rent forgiveness for the month of April due to the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout. (Los Angeles Times)

Nearly one in three renters in the U.S. failed to pay their April rent at the beginning of the month, a landlord industry group warned Wednesday.

Thats a big increase in missed payments, compared with even one month before. In March, 81% of households paid the rent within the first days of the month. By April, on-time payments dropped to 69% of households.

Its not really surprising that so many tenants couldnt make the rent this month, considering that 16.6 million people  roughly one in 10 workers  have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks.

But its still shocking to see how quickly so many renters sank into financial distress. Its another reminder that too many people live paycheck to paycheck, and teeter on the edge of losing their home even in normal times.

California and other states have halted evictions during the coronavirus emergency. That will keep people housed during the pandemic. When the cash payments of $1,200 or more per family and the extra unemployment benefits in the federal rescue package begin to arrive, that will help some tenants cover their rent. Homeowners are getting a hand too; Congress and federal regulators have told mortgage lenders to let borrowers delay mortgage payments without penalty if they're affected by the pandemic.

Still, there are many people who will lose income during the social-distancing-driven shutdowns and the recession they are causing. No state has yet figured out what to do when the emergency is over and how cash-strapped renters will manage when all that delayed rent comes due.

Thats a huge problem that could set off a chain reaction of distress.

Tenants who cant pay their rent debt will face eviction, which can damage their credit and make it more difficult to rent another home. Many will likely have a hard time finding stable housing they can afford. California had a homelessness crisis before the pandemic. If evictions skyrocket after the emergency has passed, that will only add to the misery.

Story continues

To avoid the kind of suffering and economic devastation that played out after the last recession, struggling renters will need a bailout. They will need some kind of rental assistance now to help avoid building up a debt that they can't pay. Or they'll need some kind of rent debt forgiveness down the road.

A growing number of housing advocates and local elected officials are calling on governors in California, New York, Washington and other states to use their emergency powers to cancel rent and put a moratorium on landlords' mortgage payments during the coronavirus emergency. It looks like no governor has yet taken up the call to action, which is understandable because there are all kinds of complexities and ramifications that come from canceling rent.

One of the biggest questions is who should pay the cost of the rescue.

Landlords? No. Thats not fair. There are lots of landlords who are small business owners and rely on rent payments for their income or their retirement. We want landlords to stay in business. They provide an essential service: a roof over ones head.

Besides, they've got problems of their own. Denied much-needed rent payments during the emergency, they risk foreclosure if their lenders don't give them the option to delay mortgage payments. They face other penalties too if they cant pay their property taxes or properly maintain their buildings. And they need to pay the employees who manage the day-to-day operations of properties.

Worse, the financial toll caused by lost rental income could prompt landlords to sell their properties in droves, which could trigger a real estate market crash. Or it could also hasten the ongoing shift from mom-and-pop landlords to investment firms. Advocates say that shift, which accelerated after the last recession, has already resulted in the loss of older, more affordable apartments as investors buy up properties to remodel and raise the rents.

Well, then, how about making mortgage lenders provide a cushion? Maybe. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are offering landlords forbearance if they do not evict tenants who cant pay the rent during the coronavirus emergency. Landlords without government-backed loans dont automatically get that relief, so a housing industry group is lobbying Congress to require forbearance for all multifamily mortgages. Its somewhat easier for the banks that make mortgage loans to abide delayed payments. The lenders will eventually get most of their the money when the loans are paid off.

How about sticking Wall Street and big investors with the bill? That's what some tenant groups have advocated. They want large corporate owners of rental housing and big banks that were bailed out after the last financial crisis to eat some or all of the cost of rent forgiveness. Yet some experts warn that could create problems, too. Lenders typically sell mortgages to the financial industry, which then bundles them into securities and resells them to investors. The buyers often are pension funds and insurance companies. When landlords default on the mortgages, that decreases the value of the bonds and, ultimately, the public employee pension funds that invested in them. So taxpayers have an interest in making sure Wall Street gets paid too.

Ultimately, the federal government is going to have to provide the policy direction and a lot more money to keep tenants housed, keep landlords whole and to stabilize the real estate market. The simplest solution would be for Congress to create an emergency coronavirus housing voucher to help struggling tenants cover the rent. Or perhaps Congress could direct mortgage companies to offer forbearance for, say, three to six months, with the federal government picking up the incremental costs associated with delayed payments.

Theres simply too much at stake for Congress and the Trump administration to be passive observers of any eviction tidal wave. They have a moral obligation to save the U.S. from another housing crisis.
New advice for patients with IBD (Crohns disease or ulcerative colitis) says they are not at any increased risk of developing Covid-19.

The guidance was issued by the National Clinical Programme in Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the HSE. The Irish Society of Gastroenterology also endorses this advice.

Prof Laurence Egan, Consultant Gastroenterologist and IBD group lead, National Clinical Programme in Gastroenterology and Hepatology said that while patients with IBD and doctors should be mindful of Covid-19 symptoms that might mimic an IBD flare they are not at increased risk of Covid-19.

While patients with IBD have similar symptoms to non-IBD patients- fever, dry cough, muscle pain and the other usual features of the disease, Chinese data shows us that about 4% of Covid-19 patients report diarrhoea, abdominal cramping or vomiting. Therefore, one should keep an open mind about symptoms that might mimic an IBD flare, and doctors should arrange a test for any patient with a fever and other symptoms of Covid-19 according to HSE testing guidance, Prof Egan said.

All IBD patients should strictly adhere to the standard HSE and Government advice to minimize their risk of infection- social distancing, hand hygiene and cough etiquette.

Those IBD patients over 70 years of age, with other chronic diseases or with active disease on immunosuppressant agents, biologics or systemic corticosteroids should stay at home, cocoon themselves because these medicines lower your immune system and may make it harder to fight Covid-19. The HSE has advised that this should continue for two weeks from 27 March, Prof Egan said.

To date, worldwide 275 IBD patients who tested positive for Covid-19 have been reported to the Secure-IBD registry, the database to monitor and report on outcomes of Covid-19 in IBD patients. This suggests that having IBD does not indicate a greater risk of contracting the virus. There is also no evidence to suggest a more severe case of the infection for those with IBD. However, the reported numbers are small making it hard to draw conclusions.

Further advice specified in the new guidelines includes:

- If the patient with IBD is an essential worker and taking one ofthe medicines listed below, they should discuss with their occupational health department before working.

- If symptoms of COVID-19 develop such as fever, cough or shortness of breath, the patient should immediately contact their GP or consultant.

- If the patients symptoms of IBD are getting worse (flaring), they should contact their GP or Consultant.

Any IBD patient who tests positive for COVID-19 should be registered in Secure-IBD (covidibd.org)

- If you take any of the following medicines you should cocoon yourself (stay at home) because these medicines lower your immune system and may make it harder to fight COVID-19. The HSE has advised that this should continue for two weeks from 27 March.

Ustekinumab (Stelara)

Vedolizumab (Entyvio)

Methotrexate

Infliximab (Remicade, Inflectra, Remsima)

Adalimumab (Humira, Amgevita, Hulio, Imraldi)

Golimumab (Simponi)

Azathioprine (Imuran)

Mercaptopurine (Purinethol)

Tacrolimus (Prograf)

Ciclosporin (Sandimmune, Neoral)

Tofacitinib (Xeljanz)

Clinical trial medications

Prednisolone (Deltacortril) at a daily dose of 20mgs or greater




By Tommy Ardiansyah

BOGOR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian hair stylist Herman Maulanasyah knows that he may look comical in his makeshift protective gear but he sees that as a small price if it helps protect him and his customers from the novel coronavirus.

Clad in a plastic sheet held together with tape, a ski mask, a gas mask and latex gloves, Maulanasyah, 40, welcomes customers at his salon in the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, even as the virus spreads across the country.

"Please don't judge, I'm not making it for fun or to look ridiculous, this is how I show my appreciation to the health workers," Maulanasyah told Reuters at the salon he has run for 15 years.

Before he starts cutting hair, Maulanasyah sprays his protective gear and his customers' hands with sanitizer.

He has worn the gear for the past two weeks as part of efforts to cut the risks from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed at least 240 people and infected nearly 3,000 in the world's fourth most populous country.

Health workers in Indonesia have paid a high price, with at least 24 doctors dying from the disease, according to the Indonesian Doctors Association. In Jakarta, 130 medical workers have been infected, according to the city government said.

Jakarta has ordered businesses and schools to close in a bid to contain the virus and it plans large-scale social restrictions enforced by security personnel.

Though Maulanasyah's salon is outside Jakarta, where many of the cases in the country have been clustered, his income has dwindled from about 500,000 rupiah ($31) a day to 100,000 rupiah ($6.20).

Customer Abdul Rahman Fattah said he felt safer having his hair cut this way but conceded that the cumbersome outfit worn by Maulanasyah meant the result may not always be perfect.

As another precautionary measure, Maulanasyah allows only four people in the salon and urges everyone to keep their distance.

"This is to protect myself because I have a family, my child and wife, therefore I need to ensure my safety at work because I don't know whether the people who come here are infected or not," he said.

(Reporting by Tommy Ardiansyah; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Ed Davies and Robert Birsel)
CHICAGO, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the mounting fear and isolation felt by Illinois residents 60+, who are at increased risk for serious illness from the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-17) and Peoria City/County Health Department Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer for Heartland Health Services Dr. Gregg Stoner will speak live with thousands of older adults from the 17th Illinois Congressional District in a telephone Town Hall on Wednesday, 4/8 at 6 p.m.

The telephone town hall will offer participants a chance to hear directly from the Congresswoman and local health official about the importance of social distancing, measures to protect residents in nursing homes, assisted living, and senior housing, and other pressing concerns for older adults across the state.

"During this critical time, we must do everything in our power to ensure Illinoisans have access to the resources and information they need to protect their physical and financial health," Congresswoman Bustos said. "I thank AARP for this opportunity to help address the concerns of their members and Dr. Stoner for offering his medical expertise as we navigate this public health crisis."

Participants in the Town Hall will also be able to share their experiences and ask questions during the hour-long conversation, developed to address growing concerns about health, wellness and service offerings.

The Town Hall will be available to 20,257 AARP members across 17th Illinois Congressional District as well as members of the general public through a Facebook and Twitter Livestream. Data shows that members of the older population, specifically people that are age 60 or older are more vulnerable to COVID-19, which causes a respiratory illness that can lead to serious cases of pneumonia.

"Each day, we hear from older adults across the state who have questions about how this crisis is going to impact their health, their financial security, and the safety of their loved ones and caregivers," said AARP Illinois State Director Bob Gallo. "AARP is grateful that Congresswoman Bustos and Dr. Gregg Stoner recognize the uneasiness that comes from these uncertain times, and their willingness to speak directly with our members about resources available."

In addition to working to ensure that older adults, their families and those caring for them have the most accurate and up-to-date information to protect themselves from COVID-19 and prevent the spread to others, AARP Illinois has also been working with state leaders on other concerns related to the outbreak, including:

The need for robust support and resources provided to states and local communities, including health care professionals and first responders, who are on the front lines of this effort.

The potential for fraud as scammers prey on older adults during this time  using headlines as opportunities to steal money or sensitive personal information.

Social isolation and the risks associated with leaving vulnerable older adults without access to food and regular human contact during this time.

Worries about financial security during uncertain economic times with markets reacting (or overreacting) to coronavirus news of the day.

The Town Hall will be monitored live by AARP screeners, who will patch through callers with questions covering a variety of concerns from all across Illinois.

AARP Illinois members in Illinois who opt to receive telephone Town Hall calls as part of their membership will receive a phone call shortly before the start of the April 8 event. Those who wish to join the tele-town hall through Facebook and Twitter can do so from the AARP and Congresswoman's pages.

Last week (4/1) a similar Telephone Town Hall with Illinois Governor Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Chief, Dr. Ezike brought in more than 5,000 phone participants and another 15,000 who listened through the Facebook livestream.

You can find AARP's coronavirus resources at www.aarp.org/coronavirus.

About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, 1.7 million members in Illinois and 250,000 in Chicago, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.

SOURCE AARP Illinois

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Every day, he goes online and checks his messages again and again, and every day is the same: no response. George Weinhouse, a 67-year-old retired anesthesiologist, answered the call weeks ago for volunteers with medical experience to help New York weather the worst pandemic since 1918.

Mr Weinhouse stepped out of his comfortable post-career life, submitted his registration and credentials, and waited. Even as the coronavirus crisis approaches its peak in New York, straining the medical system like no other previous disaster, hes still waiting.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Mr Weinhouse was among 89,456 medical volunteers ready to relieve exhausted front-line health providers. But just 7,000 have been assigned to a job, leaving about 92 per cent yet to be deployed.

I dont know whats going on here. I dont understand this, Mr Weinhouse said this week, in the most recent of several telephone interviews with The Washington Post. Im waiting and I want to help, and I mean, its really frustrating.

Some within city and state government say its good to have far more volunteers than hospitals actually need. Hospitals are prioritising certain specialties more than others, a state health department spokesperson said: physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, respiratory therapist technicians and registered nurses.

Government officials added that a state database created for the effort compiles and automatically vets volunteers and checks professional licenses, but individual hospitals or systems are responsible for requesting and assigning staffers, along with training and determinations for shifts and potential compensation.

But some volunteers said they are willing to work for free and perform any task. A few, including Mr Weinhouse, lamented lax communication and the feeling of being in an indefinite holding pattern, even as governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, appears on television most days to describe a worsening crisis and plead for urgent assistance.

Please come help us in New York now, Mr Cuomo said last week as the states daily death toll passed 250.

It has since more than tripled that, and overall more than 6,200 New Yorkers  nearly three-quarters of them in New York City  have died, as of Wednesday evening.

You keep on hearing elected officials saying: Were at war, were at war,  said an individual who spent eight years as a first responder in Manhattan and, after submitting his name and qualifications on the volunteer portal on 18 March, has received only automated responses and has been unable to sign up for EMT shifts. So if were at war, where are our reinforcements?

That individual was among several who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution or because they hadnt been authorised to speak publicly. If a volunteer is placed, some hospitals include a clause in their contracts that prohibits them from speaking with the media.

Mr Weinhouse said he has reapplied to both the citys Medical Reserve Corps and states database in the past two weeks. He submitted his credentials to a hospital chain and this week sent a message to a different hospital, offering to help even with administrative duties. Weeks earlier, he withdrew from a class on directing theatre productions, set aside other responsibilities, cleared his schedule. All he does now, he said, is check his email 10 times a day.

Im not blaming anybody, he said. But I would hope that since the need is so great, theyd be able to use us in some way.

Late last month, Jess Schneider was told that a hospital near Central Park had an urgent need for volunteer nurses. Assigned a start date of 30 March, she left her home in Boise, Idaho, and made the 38-hour drive east. She arrived in Manhattan, New York, moved into her sisters apartment, and didnt start until Monday.

I raced to get here, and Ive just been sitting, Ms Schneider said on Wednesday in a telephone interview from her hospitals break room. She walked around the city, saw a few sights and mostly waited for instructions.

She declined to identify which hospital she was eventually assigned to and said it was important to point out that, as a volunteer, Ms Schneider does not officially represent any health organisation.

But, she said, the confusion has intensified since her first shift. She learned of a dramatic compensation disparity, with some nurses earning $10,000 (8040) weekly stipends, she said, and others signing contracts that paid a fraction of that. Ms Schneider said she makes $2,000 (1600) per week. Her hospital lacks a sufficient number of N95 masks, she said, and it is not testing the ones it has to make sure they fit. Some nurses have refused to work without masks that fit properly, she said.

Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Show all 26 1 /26 Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town An empty street in Manhattan borough following the outbreak of coronavirus disease in New York City Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town A cab drives down at Seventh Avenue in Times Square Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Syracuse University campus is seen almost empty as number of universities are moving all classes to e-learning, due to the coronavirus outbreak Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty street is seen near Lincoln tunnel Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan An empty restaurant Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty chairs are seen near Hudson yards Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan An empty restaurant Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town A mobile souvenir shop sits in an empty parking lot at Allianz Field as a match between the New York Red Bulls at Minnesota United FC is postponed USA Today Sports/Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan An empty Jacob K Javits Convention Center Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Syracuse University A person sits in an empty eating hall Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty parking lots Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Jacob K Javits Convention Center Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Seventh Avenue Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty retail stores Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty street is seen outside the New York Times building Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Empty parking lots Reuters Coronavirus turns New York into a ghost town Manhattan Reuters

If there is indeed an abundance of volunteers in the state and city databases, Ms Schneider said, theyre certainly not at her hospital. She said it is impossible to provide sufficient care to each of her patients simply because of their numbers.

Ms Schneider said that in previous hospital jobs, there was roughly one nurse for every four patients. Here, she said, its a dozen patients per nurse, with some rooms crammed with four or five beds. Some nurses signed agreements to work 21 consecutive days, with 12-hour shifts that often last much longer, and no time off.

I dont know whos in charge, Ms Schneider said, adding that she reported for work at 7am on Wednesday and waited nearly 90 minutes before being given instructions. Its total, utter chaos.

Ms Schneider said she has tried to shield patients and their families from her overwhelming stress, though sometimes it spills over.

During her first day, she entered the room of a coronavirus patient who was near death and leaned the sick woman forward so she could look into a tablet and see her family as they said goodbye. Ms Schneider said she felt a flood of emotion coming and needed to walk away. She then apologised to the grieving family because, with the ward short-staffed, Ms Schneider had to check in with other patients.

It was horrible, she said two days later. This is what weve been hearing about, and this is real.

On Wednesday morning, Ms Schneider said she was one of two nurses on a floor with 18 beds, all of them filled.

You kind of expect a s*** show. I didnt expect one this big, she said. But when asked whether she regretted volunteering, she paused before saying no. Its what we do. I dont know if every nurse feels like that, but its what we do.

Late in Mr Weinhouses career, he taught a class at New York Universitys teaching hospital. He found himself harping on one tenet of the Hippocratic oath more than the others: that, if needed, a medical professional should always answer the call.

He first recited the pledge when he graduated from medical school in 1978, and he said it is why he volunteered last month. New York needed him, Mr Weinhouse said, though he remains confused about why it has not taken him and the thousands of others up on their willingness to help.

Were all trying to do whats right, he said. But were all in the same holding pattern for whatever reason.

When Mr Weinhouse retired three years ago from NYU Langone Medical Centre, he knew a traditional retirement was not for him. He loved the theatre, and his first volunteer assignment was working as an assistant stage manager for a small, off-Broadway production. He draped his stethoscope, which he had worn most days for the previous 20 years, on a shelf next to his opera CDs, theatre books, and preserved show reviews Mr Weinhouse had written in his spare time.

He said he can remember his walk to work on the first day of his new job in show business, along with those feelings of being overwhelmed but essential. He wanted to direct a show someday, and earlier this year he signed up for a class on theatre direction.

Im not the person who sits around, he said. I dont like sitting around. I really dont.

That was before the coronavirus, though, and Mr Weinhouse followed the soaring numbers of confirmed cases in New York and again felt called to a life he thought he had left behind. Unconcerned with getting sick himself  other than some mild hypertension, Mr Weinhouse said, he is healthy  he signed up, quit the stage production, withdrew from the class. He was looking forward to using his old stethoscope again and taking another walk to a new job.

Mr Weinhouse initially expressed a preference for working on overflow hospitals such as the USNS Comfort ship or the field hospital built by the US Army Corps of Engineers at the Javits Center. But he said he would work anywhere and do anything: administrative work, organising an emergency room, scheduling. He said he never asked to be paid.

Without an assignment, Mr Weinhouse spends much of his time watching the news, he said, which reminds him that while people keep dying and hospitals keep filling, his phone isnt ringing.

Its really aggravating. I cant explain it, Mr Weinhouse said. Id just like the state to explain whats going on.

The Washington Post
A man has tested positive for coronavirus after being placed in an immigration removal centre despite his symptoms, fuelling concerns that hundreds of detainees are at risk as the Home Office continues to hold them.

Lawyers have also warned that a number of people with pre-existing medical conditions are still in removal centres despite the department saying it would imminently carry out reviews to identify and release vulnerable detainees three weeks ago.

A notice distributed to people held in Brook House removal centre on Tuesday states that a detainee who was placed there on 2 April tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. It said that he was moved onto the isolation wing on 5 April.

It marks the second confirmed case across the detention estate and the first in Brook House, although there have been reports of other detainees in the centre showing symptoms in recent weeks, including one man who was reportedly serving food to other detainees just before he fell ill.

People held in immigration detention either have no criminal convictions or have already served the sentence for any crime they committed. They are placed in detention for the purpose of deporting them, but due to coronavirus removal flights are not currently taking place.

Hundreds of detainees have been released from removal centres in the UK in response to the pandemic, but between 400 and 500 people are estimated to still be locked up, which lawyers argue is illegal because there is no prospect of removing them.

Detainees in Brook House told The Independent they were fearful that they or others could have contracted the virus because the man who tested positive is said to have been using shared facilities in the days before.

Leo Nokaneng, a Zimbabwean national who has been in Brook House since February, and has been advised to shield himself during the pandemic because he has asthma, said: He was walking around, using the gym, using the IT room. I think more people might be infected. Im asthmatic, so its a worry. There are so many other people at risk too.

Theres not social distancing in here. Were in single cells now, but Ive been told to shield for 12 weeks because of my asthma. So Im trying to do that, but I still need to go out to get my food. People are still congregating in the food hall and in other parts of the centre.

The 30-year-old, who is detained on the basis of a crime he committed 11 years ago and for which he has served his sentence, questioned why the government was releasing thousands of prisoners from jail, but continuing to hold immigration detainees despite there being no prospect of removal due to travel bans.

If they can release 4,000 prisoners, what about us? The definition of a removal centre is to deport people. If a deportation order isnt imminent, youre not meant to be detained. Right now, there are no flights. So in each and every ones case, their deportation isnt imminent, he said.

Recommended Immigration detainees say they feel unprotected from coronavirus

Someone is going to die in here, trust me. Theres no control. They say we cant mix with other wings, but the officers on different wings mix at lunch time. Were always going to be at risk in here. They need to release people, and then if they need to they can put them back in detention after this coronavirus. This is about peoples health.

A legal challenge on 26 March called for the release of those from about 50 countries to which the Home Office is currently unable to effect removals and of detainees who are particularly at risk of serious illness or death if they catch the disease.

The High Court rejected the demands on the grounds that the Home Office was already assessing the vulnerability of individual detainees and taking steps to make detention centres safer. The departments legal representative said reviews to identify the most vulnerable detainees were under way and due to be completed imminently.

The Independent can confirm that lawyers plan to issue judicial review proceedings next week for four detainees whom the Home Office has not yet reviewed, despite the fact that they have underlying medical conditions and would be at high risk if they contracted Covid-19.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, the law firm representing the individuals, said they suffered from a range of health issues that placed them at higher risk, including asthma, mitral valve prolapse  a heart condition  cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

Georgia Banks, caseworker at Duncan Lewis, said the Home Office was currently relying on bail applications and individual applications to the High Court to release individuals, and that this did not provide a reliable or fast enough solution.

She added: The Home Office continues to detain individuals who they know cannot be deported due to travel restrictions and who could be at significant risk if they contract coronavirus. An outbreak of coronavirus in immigration removal centres does not only pose a massive risk to the vulnerable individuals detained within them, but is also a significant public health risk.

Those who are at high risk of being hospitalised if they contract the virus should be released immediately, so that they can properly self-isolate and protect themselves from the serious danger they face from the disease.

It comes as 19 cross-party MPs wrote a letter to the home secretary, seen exclusively by The Independent, calling for a suspension of deportations and the release of immigrants currently being held in detention centres across the UK in the interests of public health.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine, who wrote the letter, said: With zero prospect of immigration detainees being deported in the current global context of closed borders and grounded flights, it is simply inhumane to hold hundreds of people in detention centres with no prospect of being repatriated.

There is simply no justification for the Home Office to continue to keep people locked up indefinitely, living in fear of a coronavirus outbreak in their centre. They must be released immediately.

Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, said: The home secretarys response to this crisis is dangerously out of step with the rest of government, as shown by her decision to detain somebody with Covid-19 last week putting hundreds of other detainees, staff and their families at risk.

Despite assurances to the High Court, her detention centres continue to imprison and endanger desperately vulnerable people, including trafficking survivors, and to what end?

If the prison service is able to release serving offenders before time, surely the home secretary can bring herself to release those who are detained only for her own administrative convenience.

A Home Office spokesperson said: We are responding to the unique circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak and following the latest guidance from Public Health England.

We have robust measures in place to deal with any cases of coronavirus. This has been supported by the High Court, who recently ruled that our approach to detention and coronavirus was sensible, with the appropriate precautionary measures in place.

The public expects that we maintain law and order and keep them safe from high-harm individuals, which is why the vast majority of those currently in detention are foreign national offenders.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday announced that all fishermen in the state will be given Rs 2000 each, while lottery sellers and 'beedi' workers will get Rs 1,000 each, as financial assistance amid nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus.

He also said that 12 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the state and Kerala's coronavirus count climbed to 357.

"12 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in the state - four each in Kannur and Kasaragod, two in Malappuram, one each in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. Of these, 11 contracted the disease through a local contact, 1 had returned from a foreign country. Total positive cases here reach 357," the Chief Minister said at a press conference here.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 5,865 including 169 deaths and 477 cured/discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Digital cameras as well as many other electronic devices need light-sensitive sensors. In order to cater for the increasing demand for optoelectronic components of this kind, industry is searching for new semiconductor materials. They are not only supposed to cover a broad range of wavelengths but should also be inexpensive. A hybrid material, developed in Dresden, fulfils both these requirements. Himani Arora, a physics PhD student at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), demonstrated that this metal-organic framework can be used as a broadband photodetector. As it does not contain any cost-intensive raw materials, it can be produced inexpensively in bulk.

In the last twenty years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have become a coveted material system. So far, these highly porous substances, up to 90 percent of which are composed of empty space, have largely been used to store gases, for catalysis or to slowly release drugs in the human body. "The metal-organic framework compound developed at TU Dresden comprises an organic material integrated with iron ions," explains Dr. Artur Erbe, head of the "Transport in Nanostructures" group at HZDR's Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. "The special thing about it is that the framework forms superimposed layers with semiconducting properties, which makes it potentially interesting for optoelectronic applications."

The group had the idea of using the new semiconducting two-dimensional MOF as a photodetector. In order to pursue it further, Himani Arora investigated the semiconductor's electronic properties. She explored, among others, to what extent the light sensitivity was dependent on temperature and wavelength - and came to a promising conclusion: From 400 to 1,575 nanometers, the semiconductor could detect a broad range of light wavelengths. The spectrum of radiation thus goes from ultraviolet to near infrared. "This is the first time we have proved such a broadband photodetection for a photodetector completely based on MOF layers," the doctoral candidate notes. "These are ideal properties for using the material as an active element in optoelectronic components." Small bandgap makes for efficiency

The spectrum of wavelengths a semiconducting material can cover and transform into electrical signals essentially depends on the so-called bandgap. Experts use this term to describe the energetic distance between the valence band and the conduction band of a solid state material. In typical semiconductors, the valence band is completely full, so the electrons cannot move around. The conduction band, on the other hand, is largely empty, so the electrons can move around freely and influence the current flow. While the bandgap in insulators is so big that the electrons cannot jump from the valance band to the conduction band, metal conductors have no such gaps. A semiconductor's bandgap is just big enough to raise the electrons to the higher energy level of the conduction band by using the light waves. The smaller the bandgap, the lesser the energy required to excite an electron. "As the bandgap in the material we explored is very small, only very little light energy is required to induce the electricity," Himani Arora explains. "This is the reason for the large range of the detectable spectrum."

By cooling the detector down to lower temperatures, the performance can be improved yet further because the thermal excitation of the electrons is suppressed. Other improvements include optimizing the component configuration, producing more reliable contacts and developing the material further. The results suggest that the MOF-based photodetectors will have a bright future. Thanks to their electronic properties and inexpensive manufacturing, MOF layers are promising candidates for a raft of optoelectronic applications.

"The next step is to scale the layer thickness," says Artur Erbe, looking forward. "In the study, 1.7 micrometer MOF films were used to build the photodetector. To integrate them into components, they need to be significantly thinner." If possible, the aim is to reduce the superimposed layers to 70 nanometers, that is, 25 times smaller than their size. Down to this layer thickness the material should exhibit comparable properties. If the group can prove that the functionality remains the same in these significantly thinner layers, they can then embark on developing it to the production stage.

###

Publication:

H. Arora, R. Dong, T. Venanzi, J. Zscharschuch, H. Schneider, M. Helm, X. Feng, E. Canovas, A. Erbe: Demonstration of a broadband photodetector based on a two?dimensional metal-organic framework, in Advanced Materials, 2020 (DOI: 10.1002/adma.201907063) Additional information:

PD Dr. Artur Erbe | Himani Arora

Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at HZDR

Tel.: +49 351 260-2366

Email: a.erbe@hzdr.de | h.arora@hzdr.de Media contact:

Simon Schmitt | Science editor

Phone: +49 351 260-3400 | Email: s.schmitt@hzdr.de

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf | Bautzner Landstr. 400 | 01328 Dresden / Germany | http://www.hzdr.de

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) performs - as an independent German research center - research in the fields of energy, health, and matter. We focus on answering the following questions:

How can energy and resources be utilized in an efficient, safe, and sustainable way?

How can malignant tumors be more precisely visualized, characterized, and more effectively treated?

How do matter and materials behave under the influence of strong fields and in smallest dimensions?

To help answer these research questions, HZDR operates large-scale facilities, which are also used by visiting researchers: the Ion Beam Center, the High-Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden, and the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources.

HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association and has five sites (Dresden, Freiberg, Grenoble, Leipzig, Schenefeld near Hamburg) with almost 1,200 members of staff, of whom about 500 are scientists, including 170 Ph.D. candidates.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-08 19:21:04|Editor: ZD

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A man stands on the balcony of his house during a countrywide lockdown in New Delhi, India, April 8, 2020. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held an all-party meeting with leaders of different political parties through video conferencing to discuss the COVID-19 situation. Modi described the situation in the country similar to social emergency and hinted at extending the ongoing lockdown in the country. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held an all-party meeting with leaders of different political parties through video conferencing to discuss the COVID-19 situation.

Modi described the situation in the country similar to social emergency and hinted at extending the ongoing lockdown in the country.

"Prime Minister underlined that the situation in the country is akin to a social emergency. The country has been forced to take tough decisions and must continue to remain vigilant," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said. "He said that several state governments, district administrations and experts have asked for extension of the phase of lockdown."

Wednesday marks the 15th straight day of the ongoing 21-day lockdown across the country announced by the government to contain the spread of the pandemic. The three-week lockdown is expected to end on April 14.

Authorities have imposed strict curfew-like restrictions to prevent the movement of people across the country. All road, rail and air services have been suspended in the lockdown, except essential services.

Modi told the leaders that the priority of his government was to save life, saying the country was facing serious economic challenges as a result of COVID-19, which the government was committed to overcome.

The ongoing crisis has forced thousands of migrant workers to move back to their villages, besides increasing the unemployment rate in the country.

India's federal health ministry Wednesday morning said the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 149 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 5,194.

A man wearing a facial mask stands outside his house during a countrywide lockdown in New Delhi, India, April 8, 2020. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held an all-party meeting with leaders of different political parties through video conferencing to discuss the COVID-19 situation. Modi described the situation in the country similar to social emergency and hinted at extending the ongoing lockdown in the country. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)
Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has warned that the EU could fail over the response to coronavirus.

He said that the union has to work in a more co-ordinated way to fight the outbreak, or risks collapsing altogether.

With the Italian economy set to contract and debt set to inevitably spiral, Conte, speaking to the BBC, reiterated his desire for an increased social and economic response on the European level.

Its a big challenge to existence of Europe and the history of Europe, were not just writing pages in the books of economics, were writing pages in history books, Conte said.

This is a big appointment with history and we cannot miss it. Myself and other European leaders need to rise to the challenge. Theres no doubt that if our response is not strong and unified, if Europe fails to come up with a monetary and financial policy adequate for the biggest challenge since the Second World War, for sure, not only Italians, but European citizens will be deeply disappointed.

If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real. I wont allow it to materialise, I want to banish [the risk].

The crisis in Italy has begun to ease in recent days with the daily death toll dropping from nearly 1,000 two weeks ago to 542 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

As of Thursday morning, there have been 139,422 cases of Covid-19 and 17,669 deaths in Italy, compared to 61,474 cases and 7,097 deaths in the UK, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Conte also warned the UK that without mass testing, any response to the outbreak is akin to fighting the coronavirus in the dark.

Giuseppe Conte insists greater testing has aided the fight against the coronavirus (AFP via Getty)

Italy, which has been in lockdown since 9 March, believes the large number of cases is largely due to increased testing, with nearly double the UKs daily testing, which has averaged around 14,000 tests per day.

Conte, when asked what advice he would offer the UK, emphasised the importance of testing to the country, which has rolled out 50,000 in the last day alone.

For sure, performing tests means trying to bring this situation more under control, Conte said.

Without testing it would mean having to cope with it [the coronavirus] in the dark.
Over the past few years, Indore in Madhya Pradesh has made a reputation for being the cleanest city in India. Four years in a row, the city bagged the top position in the Central government's cleanliness survey and has an impeccable record when it comes to waste management and household-waste segregation.

BCCL

But now Indore is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Indore has more COVID-19 cases than some of the biggest cities in the country. On Thursday morning, Indore had 151 COVID-19 positive cases, neatly half of the 347 infections reported in the whole of Madhya Pradesh. The city has also seen 16 deaths due to the virus.



This puts the city on the list that has a population of over 30 lakh along with Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, which have the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

BCCL

According to residents, the local administration had failed to act in the initial stage which has left the city in condition what it is in now.



"In the beginning, the health department focused on screening those who arrived in Indore via Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat after returning from abroad. This was a major error of judgment as Indore is a commercial city and thousands of people arrive and leave through railway and road. But such visitors were not screened initially," Amulya Nidhi, an activist in the health sector told PTI.

BCCL

The district administration announced lockdown in the city from March 23. After the first coronavirus cases were reported in the city, it imposed a total curfew in the city. "I feel that in a densely populated city like Indore, lockdown should have been announced from the beginning of March," Nidhi said.



Despite the number of cases on the rise the administration has ruled out community transmission and said that the infection is limited to some clusters.

"There is no community transmission-like situation in the city. The majority of coronavirus cases are coming from a few particular pockets of the city," Salil Sakalle, head of the medicine department of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College said.

He also pointed out that most of those died due to the infection had other health conditions. "Most of the patients who succumbed to the disease were admitted to hospitals late, and many were already suffering from other ailments besides COVID-19," he said.





Currently, Indore, being one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country, is under a strict lockdown and the local administration has made arrangements for home delivery of essential items such as milk, groceries, potatoes and onions so that people need not step out. Sakalle also said that the curfew in the city should be extended beyond April 14 to contain the spread of the virus.

Recently, the city had also made headlines after medical professionals who were screening suspected COVID-19 patients came under a mob attack in the Patti Bakhal area of Indore.

SCREENGRAB

The health officials who had gone to the area to screen some people who had returned from Delhi after attending religious gathering when they were pelted with stones, leaving two women doctors injured.


Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 610 on Thursday, up from 542 the day before, and the number of new cases also came in higher at 4,204 from a previous 3,836.

The daily tally of cases was the highest since April 5, and comes as a disappointment to a country in lockdown since March 9, anxious for clear signs that the illness is in retreat.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 18,279, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world.

The number of confirmed cases climbed to 143,626, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.-

There were 3,605 people in intensive care on Thursday against 3,693 on Wednesday  a sixth consecutive daily decline offering some good news despite the climb in new cases and fatalities.

Of those originally infected, 28,470 were declared recovered against 26,491 a day earlier.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a press briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in Washington on April 5, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

US Will Ask WHO Tough Questions Over How They Were So Wrong About Virus From China: Pence

The United States will ask the World Health Organization tough questions over the international bodys handling of the CCP virus, Vice President Mike Pence promised.

The organization (WHO) is closely aligned with China and has repeatedly parroted talking points promoted by Chinas ruling regime.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, emerged in China last year before spreading around the world. The party manipulated information about the outbreak, tried silencing insiders who spoke out, and railed against world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

Pence said Trump believes in accountability and noted American taxpayers are the largest funding source for WHO, which is part of the United Nations.

While U.S. funding for WHO will likely continue, that doesnt mean that at the right time in the future we arent going to ask the tough questions about how the World Health Organization could have been so wrong, Pence said in an interview with Fox News Hannity on Wednesday night.

Literally at the time President Trump stood up the coronavirus task force in January and suspended all travel from China, just days before that, the World Health Organization was continuing to diminish the threat of the coronavirus and its impact in China, Pence added. Well get to the answers of that and well create accountability, just like the American people would want us to do.

When Trump on Jan. 31 banned some travel from China, WHO officials condemned the move, arguing against any travel restrictions. Some of the top American public health officials have credited the move, along with a later ban on travel from many European countries, as undercutting the spread of the CCP virus.

World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom (L) shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2020. (Naohiko Hatta/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has been increasingly vocal against WHO and this week told reporters that he plans to pause American funding for the group, calling it too China-centric.

They called it wrong. They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known. They should have known. And they probably did know. So well be looking into that very carefully, the president said.

They seem to err always on the side of China. And we fund it, Trump added in criticism matched by multiple U.S. lawmakers. One lawmaker this week introduced a bill for suspending federal funding to WHO until its chief, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, resigns.

Tedros, who was elected to his post with Chinas backing, told reporters on Wednesday in response to Trumps comments: If you dont want many more body bags you refrain from politicizing itplease quarantine politicizing COVID.

Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian native, also claimed he was the target of a racist attack by Taiwan, which has said it tried to warn WHO about the virus as China covered up what was happening in the early days of what later became a pandemic.

Taiwans Foreign Ministry called the claims groundless.

We are a mature and highly-accomplished advanced democratic country, and have absolutely not instigated our people to personally attack the WHOs Director General, and have absolutely not made any racist comments, it said.
Tens of millions of people could have already caught the coronavirus, according to German scientists studying the pandemic.

Two researchers from Gottingen University claimed countries have only spotted six per cent of all COVID-19 cases, on average.

But the team also claimed that the rate was even lower in the UK, at just 1.2 per cent - suggesting the true size of the outbreak was up to 5million.

Rates - which the researchers said were true up to March 31 - were also staggeringly low in Italy (3.5 per cent), Spain (1.7 per cent) and the US (1.6 per cent).

Because of the huge disparity, they described the official tallies trotted out by health ministers across the world each day as 'rather meaningless'.

Official statistics show around 1.5million people worldwide have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Based on the researchers' claim, this would suggest the true size of the pandemic is now in the region of 26million - if nothing has changed in the past week.

Official statistics show around 1.5million people worldwide have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus

Professor Sebastian Vollmer and Dr Christian Bommer, whose findings have not been scrutinised by other scientists under a peer-review process, estimated that Germany has detected around 15.6 per cent of all cases

SO HOW BIG WOULD THE OUTBREAKS BE IN EUROPE AND THE US? GERMANY % DETECTED: 15.6% MARCH 31 CASES: 71,808 MOST RECENT TOLL: 108,202 MARCH 31 ESTIMATE: 460,000 MOST RECENT ESTIMATE: 700,000 UK % DETECTED: 1.2% MARCH 31 CASES: 25,481 MOST RECENT TOLL: 60,733 MARCH 31 ESTIMATE: 2million MOST RECENT ESTIMATE: 5million SPAIN % DETECTED: 1.7% MARCH 31 CASES: 95,923 MOST RECENT TOLL: 152,446 MARCH 31 ESTIMATE: 5.7million MOST RECENT ESTIMATE: 9million ITALY % DETECTED: 3.5% MARCH 31 CASES: 105,792 MOST RECENT TOLL: 139,442 MARCH 31 ESTIMATE: 3million MOST RECENT ESTIMATE: 4million The German researchers only provided the estimate for March 31, given their calculations for the true size of the outbreaks across Europe at the time. The estimate for the most recent case toll is based on the same maths, which is likely to have changed given that more people have now been tested. Advertisement

Professor Sebastian Vollmer and Dr Christian Bommer, whose findings have not been scrutinised by other scientists under a peer-review process, used data from a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The pair estimated that Germany has detected around 15.6 per cent of all cases.

Germany has been hailed for its rigorous COVID-19 testing regime, with laboratories analysing results from up to 90,000 swabs a day.

The country's official coronavirus case toll stands at 108,202 and 2,107 patients have died - giving it a mortality rate of around 1.9 per cent.

In comparison, the mortality rate in the UK is six times higher - around 11.7 per cent -because of the UK's testing fiasco.

Number 10 has promised to dramatically scale-up efforts to meet swabbing levels seen in Germany by the end of April.

But experts have described the ambition as 'a stretch' and NHS bosses themselves have said the targets are unrealistic.

The UK only currently tests hospital patients and frontline NHS staff for the virus - it tested around 13,000 people yesterday.

Tens of thousands of cases will go unnoticed under the regime because they don't suffer symptoms or are affected only mildly.

Professor Vollmer and Dr Bommer predicted the rate of diagnosed cases in the UK was just 1.2 per cent on March 31.

At the time the UK had recorded just 25,000 cases, which would have equated to a figure of 2million, under their calculations.

Given that the UK's official case toll stands at 60,733, it would mean around 5million Britons have been struck down in total using the same maths.

In the early days of the outbreak, the Government used its own modelling scheme of estimating around 1,000 cases for every one death.

Under this same projection, it would suggest that around 7million Britons had been struck down by the life-threatening virus.

Professor Vollmer said: 'These results mean governments and policy-makers need to exercise extreme caution when interpreting case numbers for planning purposes.'

He added that 'such extreme differences in testing' mean official case records are 'largely uninformative and do not provide helpful information'.

Dr Bommer added: 'Major improvements in the ability of countries to detect new infections and contain the virus are urgently needed.'

The pair added that putting an end to current lockdowns across Europe 'requires a strong reduction in the transmission of new cases'.

And they called for 'major improvements in the ability of countries to detect new infections' to get a more accurate picture on the true crisis.

They wrote: 'In absence of such measures, the virus might remain undetected again for an extended period of time and a new outbreak is likely just a matter of time.'
Apple has released updates for many of its products to fix a major bug in FaceTime.

iPhones, Macs, iPads and Apple Watches have all received new software that will allow the video and audio calling app to go back to working properly.

The update fixes an issue that stopped newer devices from calling those with older software, leaving iPhones and Macs unable to communicate with each other.

The problems came as many people around the world rely on FaceTime to communicate with loved ones and colleagues through coronavirus lockdowns.

All of the new software updates are available now. They can be installed in the usual way, through the Settings app on iPhone and iPad, the App Store on Mac or in the devoted Watch app.

The issue meant that those on the latest software were unable to communicate with people who were using older versions of the software, such as iOS 9 or earlier. Both audio and video calls were affected.

The updates do not bring any new features or cosmetic changes. Any major updates are likely to be saved until the entirely new versions of the software, which is expected to be announced at Apple's developer conference this summer.

That conference will take place entirely online this year, for the first time ever. Apple has yet to fully detail how it will introduce the software without its usual in-person keynote presentation.

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Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The new version of the software is usually revealed at that event in June, and made available to developers and other testers shortly after. It is then made publicly available around the same time as the new iPhones arrive, in September.
The suspension of normal work at the Calcutta High Court and its subordinate courts in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak has put many litigants and lawyers in a quandary as not all are tech-savvy to go for e-filing of cases and hearing through video-conferencing.

High Court Registrar General Rai Chattopadhyay said on Thursday that it is true that litigants from far-off and remote places in West Bengal may not be able to easily adapt to the new system of filing of cases and hearings.

"But at this moment, we have no other way out and this is the most handy tool to ensure that the most urgent matters are taken up for hearing," she told PTI.

Currently, petitions can be filed at chcfiling@gmail.com, she added.

Chattopadhyay said the normal format for filing cases at the registry and court hearings will resume as soon as the situation normalises.

While welcoming the high court administration's decision to go for video-conferencing through Skype for hearing extremely urgent matters during the period, lawyer Rabi Shankar Chatterjee said many lawyers are not well-equipped with the new technology.

"I have been practising at the high court for 34 years, but I am not well-versed with these new technologies, which the new generation is more adept in," he said.

Though the measures are only for the time being, the high court administration, the Bar Council and the High Court Bar Association may introduce a training programme for those lawyers who are not well-versed with e-filing and hearing of petitions through video-conferencing, Chatterjee said.

"This will not only ensure a speedy disposal of cases, but also reduce crowding in courtrooms," he added.

The registrar general said it will depend on discussions and policy decisions by the judiciary on whether e-filing and hearings through video-conferencing can be developed as a supplementary system after the resumption of normal work.

"At this moment, we have adopted this method only to deal with urgent matters," she said.

The Calcutta High Court had, on March 28, notified that it would hear petitions through video-conferencing via Skype conference call only due to the inconvenience faced by lawyers and litigants in physically attending court proceedings due to the ongoing 21-day lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The notification also said only extremely urgent matters would be taken up for hearing through video-conferencing.

Advocates would be required to file the petitions through e-mail, it said.

The high court is taking up the hearings of only urgent matters since March 15, following the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan had, on March 24, ordered that the proceedings of the high court, its circuit benches in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Jalpaiguri and the district courts would remain suspended from March 25 to April 9 owing to the prevailing situation.

The order has now been extended till April 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, April 9 (Reuters) - The European Union is ready to provide 92 million euros to help support Armenia's economy and healthcare system as it battles to curb the South Caucasus' worst outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The ex-Soviet country of around three million had reported 921 cases of the virus by Thursday. Ten people have died.

"The funds will be directed towards supplying medical devices and equipment, training for medical and laboratory staff, support to SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) and business community, as well as social and humanitarian assistance to those affected by the coronavirus outbreak," the EU said in a statement.

The government in neighbouring Georgia also expects support from international financial institutions.

Selim Cakir, the International Monetary Fund's resident representative in Georgia, said in an open letter that the IMF and a range of international bodies including the World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank as well as France and Germany were discussing a substantial financial relief package.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ex-Soviet country's richest man and leader of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, transferred 100 million lari ($31 million) to a special support fund. The total amount of transfers from Georgian private companies and businessmen totalled 123 million lari.

The country of 3.7 million in the South Caucasus had reported 218 coronavirus cases as of Thursday, with three deaths. (Nvard Hovhannisyan in Yerevan, Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by)
Photo: Doraliz Terr

A couple of Canadian tourists, believed to be from Vancouver, got the exact opposite reaction they were looking for after they accosted a Mexican reporter for doing her job on a Puerto Vallarta beach.

Mexican officials have closed beaches and recreational centres to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but it appears some people are not getting the message.

Mexican reporter Doraliz Terron, was doing a live report on Facebook when two tourists, reportedly from Vancouver, accosted her at Los Muertos Beach telling her, "you cant film us, get out of here."

The video, which is making the rounds on Mexican news outlets, shows one man accosting the reporter and slapping at the phone she was using to record the broadcast.

The tourist can be heard swearing and verbally abusing the reporter and even asking for money to be included in her video.

Paralelo Informativo and the Puerto Vallarta Daily News have identified the two men as from the Lower Mainland, but Castanet is not able to independently confirm their identities.

Both the Canadian and U.S. Ambassadors to Mexico have condemned the actions and attitudes caught on tape. The United States Ambassador, Christopher Landau says, what a shame! I dont know if he was a citizen of the United States or Canada, but the truth is he was rude, wrote the ambassador.

The Canadian ambassador to Mexico, Graeme C. Clark, also expressed his position on the matter: I fully agree with @USAmbMex. Completely unacceptable. I apologize if you are a Canadian."

The mayor of Puerto Vallarta, Arturo Davalos, called for tourists not to visit beaches while the health pandemic lasts.

This is not the time for tourists or visitors to come, it is time for them to take shelter and stay at home, right now are not the best conditions so we are not going to attend to them as they deserve and most importantly, they are not going to be infected or will not infect someone, said the mayor.

Terron also indicated she received abuse from the staff at Fidencios where the incident happened.

Mexican restaurants are allowed to remain open if they follow social distancing guidelines but they are prohibited from offering service on the beaches at this time.

Warning: the video posted below contains graphic language.
The real estate marketand daily lifehas been completely upended in just a few weeks. Yet maybe in spite of it all, you've managed to find a home you love and are ready to make an offer. Congratulations! But as you hover on the brink of what is potentially the biggest investment of your life, amid a global crisis, you may be feeling a fair amount of uncertainty.

We're here to help you navigate this step with a new series, "Home Buying in the Age of Coronavirus." Our third installment aims to help you answer the question: "How do I negotiate an offer right now?" It'll also help you figure out how to get your offer to the closing table.

Here is everything you need to know about getting from offer to closing during the coronavirus pandemic.

How low can you go?

So how much can you lowball? Not as much as you would think.

"Banks have rolled out mortgage forbearance programs, so most sellers are not in immediate danger of losing their home, even if they just lost their job or their income has been significantly cut," says Caleb Liu, who flips homes in Southern California with HouseSimplySold.com. "Other sellers have opted to pull their listings and wait for better market conditions, so inventory remains tight."

On the other hand, a home seller who doesn't have the luxury of time is facing a smaller buyer pool, due to stay-at-home orders and concerns about buying a home based on what may only amount to a virtual tour. So buyers could have the upper hand for a short time when it comes to homeowners who need to sell.

"Here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale region it's still a very strong seller's market with a low inventory of homes," says Jo Ann Bauer, an agent with the Ozer Group Coldwell Banker Realty. "However, I think nervous sellers are going to be more open to price adjustments and negotiating with buyers, so there is room for buyers to be more aggressive in their offer price."

Still, buyers should not assume that because we are in a pandemic they can automatically lowball a seller. Sellers may be more willing, however, to entertain offers on the lower end.

"While I'm not seeing lowball offers, I am seeing sellerswho may have held out for potential better offers if we were not in this crisisquick to take offers they receive and get officially under contract," adds Julia Henson, a real estate professional in Springfield, MO.

The only way to test a seller's level of motivation is to make an offer, says John Grimes, an agent in Atlanta. But play it safe.

"Just remember that most sellers that don't absolutely need to sell would rather not engage with a buyer that is seeking to take advantage of the situation," says Grimes, who advises offering a modest discount of 3% to 5% below asking price to start a dialogue.

Be prepared for a longer closing

Ordinarily, once your offer is accepted, it's a straight line to closing. In the age of coronavirus, that journey is more of a zigzag. That means buyers need to prepare for potential delays.

This is due to the health and safety concerns of appraisers, home inspectors, and repair contractors. They are adjusting their guidelines and availability, which can slow the transaction. (Many of these professionals are quickly adapting to doing their work remotely when possible.)

"Buyers may need to embrace a longer transaction process by setting the closing date out further than the typical 30 days," advises Bauer.

She also recommends adding contingencies in the contract for the in-person viewing of the property.

"By anticipating a potential delay upfront and writing an extension into the contract, buyers can have a little more peace of mind in this uncertain time," she says.

Ensure you have a mortgage commitment

Securing financing may be the biggest challenge right now, so make sure you have a mortgage commitment letter when you make an offer. This is a more detailed document than a pre-approval and, as the name implies, represents a firm commitment from your lender.

"Banks are issuing fewer loans in order to conserve cash to offset the imminent delinquencies," says John Castle, an agent with Keller Williams Integrity Realty in Ottawa, Ontario. "Many buyers believe they have secured financing when, in reality, their lender may have only conditionally approved their loan."

And many lenders are tightening up their terms and conditions. Minimum credit scores and required cash reserves have risen to new levels, making it difficult for many buyers to qualify.

Make sure your lender is staying on top of the fast-changing mortgage industry, says Nathan Claire, an agent at Momentum Realty in Jacksonville, FL.

"But as long as the buyer can qualify for whatever financing they are seeking to acquire, there shouldnt be any issue with achieving a successful close," Claire says.

Just don't be afraid to over-communicate during this time.

"Make sure you touch base with your lender preferably every day, or at least every other day," says Liu. "The credit markets are shifting rapidly."

And if you have the funds, all-cash offers are even more desirable to sellers during this time, as they allow buyers to close on the home more quickly than an offer contingent on financing.

The post How To Negotiate an Offer on a Home in the Age of Coronavirus appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Swiss Re announced that Ian Haycock has been appointed to the newly created role of chief data officer as of May 1, 2020.

Together with Youngran Kim, who started as the group chief technology officer this month, Haycock will further shape Swiss Res digital transformation, said the reinsurer in a statement.

Haycock has more than 32 years experience in technology, analytics and operations, including 26 years within financial services. He joined Swiss Re in 2003 as head of Technology for Capital Management & Advisory.

In 2008, he took on the role as head of Enabling Program Asset Management, which was responsible for rebuilding the asset management platform following the financial crisis. Since 2012, he has held the role of chief operating officer for Asset Management.

Data-based insights are key in facilitating good decision making, especially in todays ever-changing environment. In this new role, Ian will be refining our data strategy, data governance and data structure with the aim of further strengthening our footprint as a tech-enabled risk knowledge company. Ian will also be responsible for the enabling of new data-driven business models and digital solutions, said Anette Bronder, Swiss Res group chief operations officer.

Source: Swiss Re

Topics Swiss Re
World leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former managing director of the World...





World leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former managing director of the World Bank, have asked the G-20 countries for a $44 billion debt relief for African countries to tackle the novel coronavirus.





The duo joined over 100 world leaders in demanding immediate internationally coordinated actionwithin the next few daysto address our deepening global health and economic crisis from COVID-19.





In a letter address to the G20 nations, the leaders said the 2008 to 2010 economic crisis is less complicated than the current pandemic seen across the world.





In 2008-2010, the immediate economic crisis could be surmounted when the economic fault lineunder-capitalization of the global banking systemwas tackled, the letter read.

Now, however, the economic emergency will not be resolved until the health emergency is effectively addressed: the health emergency will not end simply by conquering the disease in one country alone, but by ensuring recovery from COVID-19 in all countries.





The also asked the international community to waive this years poorer countries debt repayments, including $44 billion due from Africa, and consider future debt relief to allow poor countries the fiscal space to tackle the health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.





We ask the G20 to task the IMF and the World Bank to further assess the debt sustainability of affected countries.





THE GLOBAL PICTURE

The world leaders, including Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, former prime ministers of the UK; Joyce Banda, former president of Malawi; Ban Ki Moon, former UN secretary-general; Mo Ibrahim, Sudanese billionaire; George Soros, founder and chair of the Open Society Foundations, all asked for an immediate release of $8 billion to battle the pandemic.





World leaders must immediately agree to commit $8 billionas set out by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Boardto fill the most urgent gaps in the COVID-19 response, the said.





This includes: $1 billion this year urgently needed by WHO: This would enable WHO to carry out its critically important mandate in full. While it has launched a public appeal200,000 individuals and organizations have generously donated more than $100 millionit cannot be expected to depend on charitable donations.





$3 billion for Vaccines: The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is coordinating the global research effort to develop and scale up effective COVID-19 vaccines. In addition Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance will have an important role procuring and equitably distributing vaccines to the poorest countries and requires $7.4 billion for its replenishment: this should be fully funded.





$2.25 billion for Therapeutics: The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator aims to deliver 100 million treatments by the end of 2020 and is seeking these funds to rapidly develop and scale-up access to therapeutics.





They also asked the G20 for a further $35 billion will be required, as highlighted by WHO, to support countries with weaker health systems.





The leaders, of whom are seven Nobel laureates, including Joseph Stiglitz and Malala Yousafzai, the aim should be to prevent a liquidity crisis turning into a solvency crisis, and a global recession becoming a global depression.





Optimistic estimates from Imperial College London suggest there will be 900,000 deaths in Asia and 300,000 in Africa, from COVID-19.




PITTSBURGH, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "I have active pets of various ages with the older animals not always wanting to engage with the younger who require a surface to chew for teething and scratching," said an inventor from Fairmount Heights, Maryland. "This inspired me to develop a means for the pets to play, exercise, and teeth."

She developed the PET PLAYSET to provide play, exercise, stimulation as well as a challenge for pets. The invention is equipped with a teething and scratching surface. It features a waterproof design for use indoors as well as outside. Additionally, this portable product would also feature a treat and water dispenser.

The original design was submitted to the Washington, D.C. sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 18-WDH-2484, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


Google and the US Senate have become the latest high-profile organisations to ban the use of popular video-calling app Zoom amid data security concerns.

A litany of issues have emerged as Zoom's popularity has soared during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, forcing CEO Eric Yuan to issue an apology.

Today, Zoom has released a privacy-focused update in an attempt to improve its data protection measures and prevent the loss of more users.

Google and the Senate join NASA, SpaceX, Tesla and the German Federal Foreign Office in ditching the app for official business.

Scroll down for video

Google and the Senate become the latest high-profile organisations to ditch Zoom, following NASA, SpaceX, Tesla and the German Federal Foreign Office (file photo)

WHAT IS ZOOM DOING TO ADDRESS SECURITY CONCERNS? To address concerns, the company has hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser. It also formed an advisory board to look into its privacy and safety practices. Zoom has also sent out an update with a new security menu to make accessing privacy tools easier. The platform has introduced a dedicated security icon at the bottom of the screen from which users can quickly access all the app's safety features. The new menu now allows to update security settings while live in a call for the first time, rather than making meeting hosts set security settings before a call. This was something critics said was leading to gaps in meeting security and privacy, because users unaware of all Zoom's safety features often started meetings without seeing all the options. In addition to the new centralised security menu, Zoom said meeting IDs would no longer be displayed on the title toolbar. The company said this was to prevent others seeing active meeting IDs when 'Zoom screenshots are posted publicly', and using the information to crash meetings. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was criticised when hosting a virtual Cabinet meeting on the platform last month, after he revealed the meeting ID and usernames of several Cabinet ministers by posting a screenshot to Twitter. Advertisement

The restriction for Google staffers is currently limited to corporate computers and comes under the search giant's policy of not allowing non-approved applications.

A statement from Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, provided to MailOnline and first reported by BuzzFeed, reads: 'We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network.

'Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees.

'Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.'

Meanwhile, the US senate has told members to stop using the beleaguered app for calls, citing security concerns, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Zoom has rapidly become one of the most essential apps as people adapt to remote working.

However the app's surge in popularity has been outstripped by a string of publicity disasters and various privacy scandals.

Zoom has acknowledged that its security measures were inadequate, and that its rise to prominence and the scrutiny that comes with such an astronomical rise caught the company off-guard.

It is now rushing out updates to bolster its protection.

The company has hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser and formed an advisory board to look into its privacy and safety practices.

Today, Zoom sent out an update with a new security menu to make accessing privacy tools easier.

A dedicated security icon will feature at the bottom of the screen from which users can quickly access all the app's safety features.

'We recognise that various security settings in the Zoom client, while extremely useful, were also extremely scattered,' the company said of the update.

'The addition of this persistent Security icon helps augment some of the default Zoom security features in your profile settings and enables Zoom users to more quickly take action to prevent meeting disruption.'

In addition to the new centralised security menu, Zoom said meeting IDs would no longer be displayed on the title toolbar.

The company said this was to prevent others seeing active meeting IDs when 'Zoom screenshots are posted publicly', and using the information to crash meetings - a practice known as 'Zoombombing'.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was criticised when hosting a virtual Cabinet meeting on the platform last month, after he revealed the meeting ID and usernames of several Cabinet ministers by posting a screenshot to Twitter.

It was revealed last week Zoom claims to secure calls with end-to-end encryption, the industry gold standard for privacy.

However, the company actually employs a lesser form of security called TLS which is similar to HTTPS  used to secure websites.

Zoom calls this lesser feature 'end-to-end encryption', a different definition to what is used by the rest of the industry.

With Zoom's form of cybersecurity, a chat is encrypted on a server but, if Zoom and its staff wanted to, they could unlock the chat and view its contents.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was mocked after sharing a screenshot of the cabinet's virtual meeting and leaving on the Zoom ID (pictured). Zoom's latest update removes the ID from the top bar of a call

Zoom did not immediately respond to MailOnline's request for comment, but CEO Eric Yuan did put out a startling statement last week.

It reads in its entirety: 'Whether you are a global corporation that needs to maintain business continuity, a local government agency working to keep your community functioning, a school teacher educating students remotely, or a friend that wants to host a happy hour to spark some joy while social distancing, you are all managing through unique challenges brought upon by this global health crisis.

'During this time of isolation, we at Zoom feel incredibly privileged to be in a position to help you stay connected.

'We also feel an immense responsibility. Usage of Zoom has ballooned overnight  far surpassing what we expected when we first announced our desire to help in late February.

'This includes over 90,000 schools across 20 countries that have taken us up on our offer to help children continue their education remotely.

'To put this growth in context, as of the end of December last year, the maximum number of daily meeting participants, both free and paid, conducted on Zoom was approximately 10 million.

'In March this year, we reached more than 200 million daily meeting participants, both free and paid.

'We have been working around the clock to ensure that all of our users  new and old, large and small  can stay in touch and operational.

'We have strived to provide you with uninterrupted service and the same user-friendly experience that has made Zoom the video-conferencing platform of choice for enterprises around the world, while also ensuring platform safety, privacy, and security.

'However, we recognize that we have fallen short of the community's  and our own  privacy and security expectations.

'For that, I am deeply sorry, and I want to share what we are doing about it.'
- A father became emotional after he could not buy his newborn baby clothes and supplies

- His cries were heard by kind staff members who decided to help him out

- The PnP workers bought him supplies and donated their own baby clothes

There is no shame in crying out for help; and this a new father knows well after he sought help since he could not buy his newborn the basic requirements.

Joseph, arrived at the mall to buy baby clothes for his newborn child but because of the lockdown, he could not buy clothes or a blanket and broke down in tears at Pick 'n Pay.

READ ALSO: Comedian Eric Omondi leaves fans in stitches after mimicking health CS Mutahi Kagwe

READ ALSO: Mike Sonko's wife Primerose Mbuvi flaunts palatial home fitted with expensive decor

On Saturday, the Irene Village Mall in Centurion, Gauteng shared an inspiring story that proved once again netizens can stand together in tough times.

His cry for help did not fall on deaf ears and the staff at the PnP decided to bless him.

"Not only did the team come together for some essentials but they all undertook to donate baby clothing to Joseph in his time of need from their own homes," read the post.

READ ALSO: Mwimbaji Bahati aahidi kumwandalia mkewe Diana harusi kubwa zaidi Afrika

The post inspired netizens who applauded the PnP workers from South Africa for helping a father in need.

Tanya Marius Blignaut commented: "So touching and congratulations Joseph and family on your little bundle of joy."

Mangi Sharon said: "Well done team Pick 'n Pay Irene Mall. May God bless y'all."

Linah Mogotsi added: "Ubuntu is what I see. God Bless Irene Mall and protect you from this virus so that you can help more people."

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Her landlord kicked her out with seven children, then Kenyans came to her rescue | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Get an in-depth analysis of COVID-19 impact on the global premature ejaculation market.

Analysis of the premature ejaculation therapeutics market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the period 2020-2025.

Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market.

Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the market.

Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage.

The premature ejaculation therapeutics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 8% during the period 2019-2025.



The global premature ejaculation (PE) therapeutics market is expected to grow at a steady CAGR during the forecast period. The market growth can be mainly attributed to the growing prevalence of premature ejaculation (PE) among men globally. PE is the most prevalent sexual dysfunction among men world over.



With the presence of a single approved oral drug, the PE therapeutics market is dominated by off-label drugs, generic versions of patent expired drugs, and OTC formulations, both regionally as well as globally. The increasing demand for several off-label and generic drugs is a primary factor driving the growth of the market. The treatment with off-label drugs belonging to SSRIs and topical formulations has revolutionized the treatment approach.



Several vendors are offering off-label drugs that belong to different drug classes such as SSRIs and PDE5 inhibitors and OTC topical creams/sprays for treatment. Therefore, the demand for such drugs is likely to increase at a steady rate globally.



Another advance is the advent of metered-dose delivery systems. Several OTC anesthetic sprays are formulated to deliver the drug through a metered-dose administration. Metered-dose delivery systems deliver lidocaine and prilocaine in base form without organic solvents. Such drugs can be easily removed before vaginal penetration, thus circumventing the need for a condom that most patients find uncomfortable. Hence, such advanced formulations are likely to boost the future growth of the global PE therapeutics market



The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the premature ejaculation therapeutics market during the forecast period:

High Demand for Topical Drug Therapies for PE Treatment

Low Effectiveness of Non-pharmacological PE Treatment

Increasing Awareness Campaigns and Initiatives for PE Treatment

Advances in PE Drug Formulation Technology

Premature Ejaculation Therapeutics Market: Segmentation



This research report offers a detailed segmentation by drugs, ROA, and geography.



The SSRIs segment is likely to retain its market dominance during the forecast period. SSRIs are considered as effective drugs for the treatment of PE, and they majorly include paroxetine, sertraline, fluoxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, and dapoxetine. Several evidence-based studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of SSRIs in delaying ejaculation, which ensures their role as first-line agents for the treatment of lifelong and acquired PE. The growth of the segment is likely to be facilitated by an increase in the number of countries gaining approval for the use of Priligy. The increased recommendation of SSRIs by healthcare professionals is one of the key factors for the growth of the segment worldwide.



The increase in the share of the PDE5 inhibitors segment can be mainly attributed to the brand value of existing PDE5 inhibitor drugs, which facilitate high uptake among patients, especially for self-management. Anesthetic agents have proved effective and are generally tolerated for patients with PE. Several topical anesthetics are inexpensive and readily available from pharmacies, thereby allowing them an easy medication to buy. The segment is likely to witness higher CAGR during the forecast period than other drug therapies. The expected launch of new licensed/unlicensed OTC products worldwide is the prime factor enhancing growth.



Oral therapeutics consists of tablets, capsules, solutions, and suspensions. Several oral agents, specifically SSRIs, tramadol, and dapoxetine, have proven effective and safe for the treatment of PE. Hence, several HCPs are recommending oral therapeutics as a primary treatment option to manage premature ejaculation. A daily dose of oral therapies has exhibited improved and enhanced efficacy over topical therapies. Therefore, the demand for oral therapeutics is increasing at a steady-state worldwide. Moreover, the growing pervasiveness of PE and the increasing uptake of generic off-label medications are the key factors enabling the growth of the oral ROA segment.



Topical medications refer to the drugs that are applied to the skin and include creams, gels, sprays, powders, emulsion, solutions, and ointments. These drugs are often used as a needed option for efficient management of PE and erectile dysfunction. Therefore, the segment accounts for a smaller share than oral therapeutics. Easy availability of several topical medicines at multiple sales channels acts as one of the key factors, which boosts the product uptake of topical therapies in the vast majority of patients.



Market Segmentation by Drug Class

SSRIs

PDE5 Inhibitors

Anesthetic Agents

Others

Market Segmentation by ROA

Oral PE therapeutics

Topical PE therapeutics

Insights by Geography



North America is the major revenue contributor to the global premature ejaculation therapeutics market. The presence of a large disease population, coupled with better access to healthcare, especially OTC drugs, and increased focus on sexual wellness products is the primary factor for high shares. The strong presence of key vendors is also another reason for high product uptake in the region.



The presence of major vendors, better disease awareness, high healthcare spending on sexual wellbeing is the primary factor for high market share in this region. Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain are the major revenue contributors. The increasing treatment-seeking population will mainly drive the market in Europe due to improved PE awareness and increased patient focus on healthy sexual well-being.



A low treatment-seeking population associated with social stigma in select regions, lack of awareness, and comparatively less access to healthcare services, especially in developing countries, are few factors that limit the growth of the market in this region. Japan, India, China, Australia, and South Korea are the major revenue contributors in the region.



Market Segmentation by Geography



Europe

North America

APAC

Latin America

MEA

Insights by Vendors



The global premature ejaculation therapeutics market is fairly fragmented and is characterized by the presence of both pharmaceutical companies and generic manufacturers offering off-label branded drugs and generics. Vendors are offering off-label drugs, generic versions, and OTC topical anesthetic agents. Companies offering topical anesthetic drug formulations are gaining widespread popularity than manufacturers offering oral PE therapeutics.



Pfizer, Bayer, Eli Lilly and Company, and GlaxoSmithKline are also being used as off-label drugs. Therefore, these global players have a significant presence in the market as physicians, especially in select countries such as the US, Germany, and Japan and are prescribing popular brands such as Paxil, Zoloft, Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis as off-label drugs. However, due to their high cost, a broad majority of physicians worldwide are recommending low-cost generic versions of these popular prescription drugs. Therefore, the market has witnessed the entry of many generic manufacturers offering generic drugs of the patent expired drugs at a low price.



Key Vendors

Absorption Pharmaceuticals

Innovus Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer

Plethora Solutions Holdings

Other Vendors

Bayer

Eli Lilly and Company

GlaxoSmithKline

MidasCare

Momentum Management

Pound International

Reckitt Benckiser Group

Recordati

Royalty Pharma

Shibari

The Menarini Group

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/49qok6

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation of Intelsat S.A. (I) on Behalf of Investors

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf Intelsat (News - Alert) S.A. ("Intelsat" or the Company") (NYSE: I) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws.

On November 5, 2019, unbeknownst to investors, Intelsat had met with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) to discuss the private sale of certain wavebands controlled by Intelsat for future "5G" use (the "C-Band") and that the FCC opposed Intelsat's then-existing proposal, instead favoring a public auction rather than private saleof the C-Band.







Then on November 18, 2019, the FCC announced that it would publicly auction the C-Band that Intelsat had been hoping to sell privately.

On this news the Company's share price fell $5.38 per share, or over 40%, to close at $8.03 per share, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased Intelsat securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200408005798/en/
A teenager described the coronavirus test like 'being stabbed in the brain' as her viral video shows a testing swab being forced several inches into her nostril.

Shelby, from Utah, went to a drive-thru testing centre in the US and posted footage of her experience on Tik Tok which has since amassed millions of views.

In the short clip a nurse reaches through Shelby's car window and inserts a long swab deep into her nostril to reach the back of her throat.

Once there, the swab is rotated for a few seconds in order to collect cells from the nasal cavity.

The testing process, which is standard worldwide, is followed by the sample being sent off to a lab to look for genetic material of the coronavirus within the patient's DNA.

Shelby said the test was painful and made her gag, and her nose even bled a little later that evening. Health officials urged people to stay at home if they wanted to avoid having the same experience.

Shelby, from Utah, described the coronavirus test like 'being stabbed in the brain' as her viral video shows the swab being forced several inches into the nostril

A nasopharyngeal swab test is used to collect cells from deep inside the nasal cavity because the nostril itself doesn't give an accurate enough sample.

After the fluid sample is collected it is sent to a laboratory for a PCR test (polymerase chain reaction), a standard scientific procedure which involves building up a model of the person's DNA using the sample they gave.

Within this, technicians can then look for evidence of genetic material (RNA) from the coronavirus, which is wrapped up in the person's own DNA if they are infected.

Public Health England and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US both prefer to use this type of test because it is extremely accurate.

Unfortunately for suspected COVID-19 patients, it can be uncomfortable.

Shelby, who posted her testing experience on social media, started suffering from coronavirus symptoms in early March.

She told BuzzFeed a local drive-thru testing centre booked her in later that same day for a swab test.

She said: 'They did a "deep nose swab", which I was assuming would only be a couple of inches up my nose and a little uncomfortable.

Paediatric nurse practitioner Jessica Peck shared a diagram of how the coronavirus test is carried out on Twitter and said: 'This is how far back we have to put the swab to test you for #COVID19z. You might want to follow medical recommendations and #StayAtHome'

WHAT IS THE SWAB TEST FOR CORONAVIRUS? Nasopharyngeal swabs are used to detect respiratory viruses, such as the flu and the new coronavirus. It is the preferred choice for SARS-CoV-2 testing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It involves inserting a long, flexible cotton bud into the nostril and along the nose 'floor'. This is supposed to be done slowly so that it is comfortable. The aim is to reach the posterior nasopharynx, a cavity made up of muscle and connective tissue, covered in cells and mucous that are similar to the nose. It continues down into the throat. The swab is rotated several times in order to get enough cells. The sample is then sent to a lab, where it will be tested to determine if the patients cells are infected with the virus. The coronavirus is a RNA virus, which means it uses ribonucleic acid as its genetic material. A process called reverse transcription is needed to transcribe the RNA into readable DNA. A swab sample doesn't collect much RNA in one go, therefore a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to rapidly make billions of copies so it can be analysed. The DNA is dyed a fluorescent colour, which glows if the coronavirus is present, confirming a diagnosis. Advertisement

'But, it ended up going down several inches and it was painful. My eyes watered quite a bit, and it made me gag.

'Later that night, I sneezed pretty hard and my nose started to bleed a little, but it wasn't uncontrollable or anything.'

She titled her video, on her account @shelfboi: 'Got a test lol. Felt like I was being stabbed in the brain.'

Many other patients have relived their distressing test experience on social media, with another woman also saying it felt like the swab was 'digging' into her brain.

The unnamed woman, from Ontario, said on Instagram that the swab was 'jammed up her nostril' which caused it to bleed.

And paediatric nurse practitioner, Jessica Peck, shared a diagram of how the coronavirus test is carried out on Twitter.

She posted a diagram of a swab being pushed through someone's nose and into their throat with the caption: 'This is how far back we have to put the swab to test you for #COVID19z. You might want to follow medical recommendations and #StayAtHome.'

It's hoped that one day people will be able to conduct some types of coronavirus tests from the comfort of their own home.

These tests - called antibody tests - would look for signs of an infection in the past rather than a current diagnosis, and would take blood instead of cells from the nose. This can be done by pricking the finger in the same way diabetics check their blood sugar.

But so far, no antibody test has proven to have an accuracy high enough to reliably diagnose COVID-19.

Therefore, health chiefs can only rely on tests which diagnose current infections using the nasopharyngeal swabs which have to be processed in laboratories.

Tests are currently only being offered to those who are seriously ill, normally in hospital, and doctors and nurses who think they might be infected.

The Government currently tests a maximum of 15,000 people per day but has plans to scale up so 100,000 can be done every day in England by the end of April.
The Lovell Federal Health Care Center temporarily has closed the Kenosha VA clinic, 8027 22nd Ave.

Communication issued last week stated the move was made in an effort to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

On a daily basis about 75 patients are served at Kenoshas Community Based Outpatient Clinic, according to media spokesperson Jayna Legg.

The services provided there span several disciplines including telehealth, immunizations and laboratory services.

To help clinic staff address the most urgent needs first, patients are asked to use online tools for routine or non-urgent concerns. These include My HealtheVet Connect: https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/home and Va Connect: https://mobile.va.gov/app/va-video-connect.

Those concerned about COVID-19 issues are advised to go to the VAs COVID-19 website: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/index.asp.

Some services will continue, Legg said.

Even during the temporary closure for the COVID-19 crisis, the clinic still is providing (face-to-face) wound care, injections for mental health patients, VA Video Connect appointments, phone visits, secure messaging, faxes and incoming phone calls, she said, adding veterans should call the clinic number, 262-653-9286, during the business day.

According to the press release, veterans who need immediate assistance may call the Telephone Advice Line at 224-610-2920, the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255. If the issue is an emergency, please call 911 or visit the nearest emergency department.

The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is the nations only fully integrated medical facility between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. Located in North Chicago, it operates four Naval Station Great Lakes clinics and three community-based outpatient clinics in McHenry and Evanston, Ill. and Kenosha.

Carthage donates food to Shalom Center

Sodexo, the food service provider at Carthage College donated more than 1,600 pounds of food to the Shalom Center in Kenosha. The shelter received a variety of food, including dairy, produce, and bread.

We donated the food because there is a need out there every day, but especially now in these challenging times, said Jim Risacher, Sodexos Interim General Manager. Carthage College and Sodexo have always partnered with the community to make every day a better day.

Carthage Dining has made prior donations and has a long-standing relationship with the Shalom Center. Shalom has a full-service kitchen to make meals for the community.

Chicago urologist launches telemedicine service

With the unprecedented disruption to the countrys healthcare system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians are developing alternative ways to connect with patients.

A Chicago urologist is making his specialty practice available immediately, with a clear message to patients: Stay home, stay healthy and see me in my online Virtual Clinic!

Dr. Paul M. Yonover, who specializes in all aspects of adult urology including kidney stones and infections, urinary problems, and prostate and bladder cancer, has launched a urology telemedicine service for patients to get medical care while practicing social distancing.

Patients  new and existing  can contact him (773-281-1011) to arrange a virtual visit via Doxy.me, a secure, state-of-the-art videoconferencing platform.

Yonover will coordinate with any existing primary care physician to provide continuity of care.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
At the Salvation Armys food pantry in Birmingham, a line of cars wrap around the building. A center that serves 50 families on a typical Tuesday is suddenly serving hundreds, mirroring the trend of lines stretching at food banks and pantries around the country.

Some Alabama food pantries are worried the new demand could push them to the breaking point, while food banks, which help supply food pantries, have had to adapt on the fly in the wake of COVID-19.

The economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic has led to an explosion in demand for Alabamas food pantries and food banks. And while some banks and pantries have had to adjust their operations to compensate for the spike in need, others are having difficulty sustaining the demand and are living on the economic edge. As more and more Alabamians struggle to put food on their tables, Alabamas food banks are struggling to meet the demand.

Some food pantries are running out of money, others out of food, and some have run out of volunteers.

Requests for food assistance at the United Ways 2-1-1 program in Alabama are up 700 percent from the previous month, according to the latest statistics. Meanwhile, more than $6.6 million in COVID-19 related unemployment compensation was paid out to Alabamians last week.

Food sourcing and being able to finance the food that we need has become a serious problem in our day-to-day operations, said Jim Jones, founder of Sylacauga-based Alabama Childhood Food Solutions, which serves Shelby, Talladega, Tallapoosa and Coosa counties and is one of the largest food pantries in central Alabama.

The faith-based pantry typically serves 2,000 children a week, but more than 8,000 kids were fed in the last three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jones said. About 700 families also use the pantry, but an additional 100 families are now food insecure in the pantrys service area due to COVID-19.

Alabama Childhood Food Solutions has a weekly budget of $24,000, and Jones said the pantry only has funding to stay open the next three months. Beyond that, weve got to find some money, he said.

In Alabamas Wiregrass region, fewer than 25 percent of the 100 food pantries are open because of a volunteer shortage, according to David Hanks, executive director of the Wiregrass Area Food Bank.

The closings are occurring at a time when food-insecure Alabamians need them most. The food bank distributed 40 percent more food last month than in March 2019, an increase from 261,000 pounds of food delivered to 365,000 pounds delivered last month.

Instead of leaning on corporate food donations, the food bank is now relying on non-traditional suppliers such as distributors who traditionally serviced now-shuttered restaurants and schools and are looking for other places to ship their food.

At Mission Point Marketplace, which operates a food pantry supported by thrift stores in Ozark and Midland City, the situation is dire, according to Pastor Haley Enfinger.

Mission Point needs to raise $20,000 a month to sustain operations at the pantry and its homeless shelter but sales at the thrift stores have dropped 80 percent during the pandemic.

Our revenue stream has changed, Enfinger said. We can do one month and then after that we have to look at what adjustments need to be made. We live from paycheck to paycheck and from donation to donation.

Mission Point laid off two full-time employees so the workers can collect unemployment and the nonprofit can stay afloat.

Finding volunteers has also been difficult because of health concerns, Enfinger said.

Theyre scared. A lot of folks are scared that theyre going to get the virus and its going to kill them, so theyre not roaming like they used to, he said.

In Montgomery, the area food bank is now operating more like a food pantry with 30 percent of pantries closed.

We have folks that are coming to the food bank here for help. We normally act more like a distribution center, said Rich Deen, CEO of the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Weve had a number of our agencies that have had to close, and the main reason for that is they dont have too many volunteers or they have volunteers that are elderly and they dont want to put them in harms way.

The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, which serves a 12-county area and 250 service agencies, including food pantries and shelters, has had to make similar adjustments. Its mobile pantries have increased capacity by 50 percent and they have implemented a drive-thru method of distribution because of the virus. The food bank has had to close its doors to volunteers to protect the safety of its hired staff.

Weve seen a spike in the need. Weve had folks that are laid off calling us, said Elizabeth Wix, director of partnerships and interim executive manager of the food bank. Its been an interesting time, its been very busy for us. Weve had to think on our feet very quickly.

Wix said their food banks funding is not an issue  monetary donations spiked to $54,000 last week compared to $4,000 from the same seven-day period last year, a thirteen-fold jump. The challenge is securing enough food to meet all of the demand, although the banks operations are not in danger from the pandemic.

Half of the banks food is typically supplied by retail stores like Walmart, Sams Club and Publix, but supply is low. And the increase in demand means the food bank has had difficulty getting its orders fulfilled by other suppliers.

Alabama Childhood Food Solutions is having similar problems.

There are so many people that appear to be hoarding food in their homes, Jones said. That it is cutting down on the supply available to food pantries not only in Sylacauga, but around the state. We cant find the products that we need to share and there will come a time where product availability will have a serious impact on our sharing.

Jean Rykaczewski, executive director of the West Alabama Food Bank, said besides demand tripling in the banks service area, the coronavirus does not pose a threat to its operations.

Nothing has changed except for the amount of [food] insecure people for us, she said.

At the Salvation Army food pantry at 2015 26th Ave. North in Birmingham, where vehicles were turned away Wednesday, the 300 percent increase in demand is only expected to jump even further the longer the pandemic goes on, according to Major Charles Powell, area commander of the Salvation Army for Greater Birmingham.

I believe that that number is going to continue to grow as the people get further and further from their last paycheck, Powell said. Theyre going to wonder, how am I going to feed my family? or how am I going to pay this months rent?

Rykaczewski was optimistic those supplying needy Alabamians with food would weather the crisis.

We will get through this, she said. The food banks in this state are in position to make this work.

To help support you local food bank or food pantry, or to find a food pantry near you to receive food, visit the Alabama Food Bank Association.
As the coronavirus crisis continues to capture everyones attention, cybercriminals stay busy running scams and delivering malware using the attention-getting virus as a lure. The threats from the scammers and crooks, which began as early as January and continue unabated, range from tricking people out of their financial data to delivering pernicious malware.

[ Check out these 11 phishing prevention tips for best technology practices, employee education and social media smarts. | Get the latest from CSO by signing up for our newsletters. ]

Although some scammers use novel techniques to commit their crimes, many schemes rely on tried-and-true phishing methods that exploit unpatched software flaws that sometimes have stayed unfixed for years. On April 1, the US Secret Service (USSS) sent out an information alert, Fraudulent COVID-19 Emails with Malicious Attachments, that warns about messages masquerading as COVID-19 status emails from employers, merchants and other businesses.

The USSS has uncovered attempted attacks that, using these faux alerts, sought to remotely install malware on the infected system to harvest financial credential, install keyloggers, or lockdown the system with ransomware. The malicious attachments are usually Microsoft Office or WordPad file types that exploit a now-patched vulnerability in Microsoft Office, according to the alert. However, the Secret Service says that variations exist and attack vectors evolve.

Patch Microsoft Office vulnerability CVE-2017-11882

Mark Coleman, assistant to the special agent in charge at the USSSs Criminal Investigative Division, tells CSO that the malware spreaders were seeking to exploit the two-decades-old Microsoft Office memory corruption vulnerability CVE-2017-11882, for which Microsoft released a security patch in November 2017. CVE-2017-11882 is a common, and even prolific technique for attackers to spread malware, involved in over 600 incidents through the first three quarters of 2019, according to researchers at Cofense.

The Secret Service also said that phishing emails disguised as coming from a hospital, with the recipient notified they might have come in contact with a coronavirus-infected person, also carry malware attached to a downloadable Excel file, which exploits the same Office flaw. Similar to the fraudulent corporate COVID-19 emails, these were Excel .XLSM files that likely were attempting to exploit the same CVE-2017-11882 Microsoft Office vulnerability, says Coleman.

The malware can steal login credentials, open shares on the networks, and view all files and folders as well as discover and take cryptocurrency information. A variation on this attack is an email purportedly from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) targeting medical suppliers asking them to provide protective medical equipment from an attached list that contains malware.

The HHS scammers sent emails that contained a .EXE file attachment that carried a .PDF extension prefix in the file name, Coleman says, a technique used to fool the recipients into believing they were opening a PDF file containing a list of needed supplies. Coleman says they think the executable deployed Agent Tesla to the potential victim user, which logs keystrokes and captures credentials. Agent Tesla is a time-tested piece of malware that also exploits CVE-2017-11882. It has been sold to thousands of cybercrooks who pay subscription fees at varied levels to license the software.

Multiple reports of COVID-19 scams

This combination of exploiting an irresistible topic and old and unpatched vulnerabilities is powerful. It is extremely normal for people that target vulnerabilities to use really old vulnerabilities, Roger Grimes, a former security specialist at Microsoft and now a data driven defense evangelist at KnowBe4, tells CSO. Around 25% of organizations never get around to applying any given patch after its pushed out, he says.

This creates the perfect conditions for madly successful phishing campaigns. Around 80% to 90% of all successful exploits happen because of social engineering, Grimes says, and 20% to 40% of successful exploits happen because of unpatched software. Together they account for 90% of all risks within organizations.

Weve seen a 670% increase in phishing in March mostly because of COVID campaigns. Its amazing how much effort and vigor phishers have, Grimes says.

Whether using proven or novel methods, scammers and malware purveyors show no signs of slowing down as they piggyback on the fears surrounding coronavirus:

Like the Secret Service, the Better Business Bureau received reports of individuals posing as HHS employees using SMS messages to spread word of a supposed online coronavirus test, which in reality led to data-stealing malware.

Researchers at KnowBe4 reported the same kind of youve come into contact with a coronavirus-infected person phishing email that the Secret Service referenced. This phishing campaign delivers malware that serves as a trojan downloader and detected by only a handful of major anti-virus applications.

Researchers at IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence identified emails claiming to be sent by the US SBA that appear to be a confirmation email for an application for disaster assistance. Instead, the emails deliver attachments that, when opened, execute Remcos malware that installs a remote access Trojan (RAT).

Relatively early on in the coronavirus crisis in Western nations, the UKs NCSC warned of the creation of phishing campaigns pegged to the coronavirus crisis, saying back in mid-March that cybercriminals were creating phishing landing pages at a rapid clip.

Worldwide crackdown on COVID-19 scammers

Consequently, law enforcement agencies worldwide are vowing to crack down on the criminals riding in on the wave of this deadly disease. US Attorney Offices around the nation have announced their active interest in prosecuting cybercriminals, including the US Attorneys Offices for the Southern District of California and Western District of Louisiana.

Earlier this week, the US Attorneys Office in South Carolina even formed a COVID Strike Team that pulls from a broad group of law-enforcement resources including US Attorneys Office, federal law enforcement officers from an array of agencies, officers with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and members of the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office.

Other countries are pushing to prosecute COVID cybercriminals. This week Australia announced that its Signals Directorate is mobilizing its offensive capabilities to bring down any criminals that exploit the COVID-19 crisis.

USSSs Coleman says that working with local law enforcement is key to nipping these scams in the bud. As a leading federal agency responsible for investigating complex cyber-enabled fraud schemes and training state and local partners how to do the same, we believe in partnerships which act as a force multiplier, he says. By so quickly and frequently disseminating criminal intelligence on real-time threats to the general public and other stakeholders, we are able to reduce the effectiveness and success of these emerging COVID-19 frauds.

In the meantime, a joint alert from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdoms National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued on April 8 regarding the exploitation of COVID-19 by malicious cyber actors offers a series of steps organizations can take to mitigate the risks of these actors causing damage. Regarding the kinds of phishing schemes flagged by the Secret Service, the guidance recommends that organizations:
His Lordship the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah has directed all Court Registrars to discontinue the appointment of the suspended ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Central Regional Vice Chairman Ekow Ewusi as an auctioneer.

According to the Chief Justice, the embattled politician who is the CEO of Coastal Mart does not have a valid license to practice as an auctioneer in Ghana.

A statement signed by the Judicial Secretary copied to all Registrars of Courts and sighted by Kasapafmonline.com said: this directive takes immediate effect.

Mr Ewusi in February 2020, was arrested by officers of the CID over missing excavators seized in the clampdown on illegal mining (galamsey).

Hes believed to have auctioned several of the missing excavators and other equipment seized from illegal mining operators.

The arrest followed a request made to the CID by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng.

According to the letter written by the Minister, Mr Ewusi was contracted to cart excavators and pieces of equipment seized by Operation Vanguard to designated areas for safekeeping.

The Ministers letter said the Ministry had received information that he sent an unknown number of equipment to an unauthorized location including one in Tema.

It further said, Information reaching me indicates that he has sold an unknown number of the pieces of equipment including excavators.

Source: Kasapafmonline.com
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that the people who misbehave with doctors and nurses treating COVID-19 patients will strictly be punished.

"It needs to be understood that doctors and nurses are saving our lives. They are treating COVID-19 patients despite being at risk to be affected by the coronavirus. Instead of appreciating them, we are misbehaving with them. I would like to warn the people that any misbehaviour with them will not be tolerated. Strictest punishment will be given to such people," Chief Minister Kejriwal said at a daily media briefing.

"In today's meeting with L-G and Delhi Police officials, we have decided that such incidents will not be tolerated. I am happy the people who assaulted the doctors in Gautam Nagar are in police custody," he added.

Two woman resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by their neighbours, who accused them of 'spreading coronavirus' in Gautam Nagar area here late on Wednesday night.

Earlier today, Kejriwal held a meeting with Medical Directors, Superintendents of Delhi's government and private hospitals, via video-conferencing, to formulate a strategy for early identification of COVID-19 patients in the capital.

At present, there are 669 cases of coronavirus in the capital including 426 from the Tablighi Jamaat event that took place in Nizamuddin Markaz last month.

With 591 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's total count of coronavirus positive cases on Thursday climbed to 5,865, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.Among the total cases include 5,218 active cases, 478 cured, discharged, and migrated cases and 169 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
April 09, 2020

U.S. Oil & Gas Plc.

("US Oil" or the "Company")

Placing of Ordinary Shares

PLACING OF ORDINARY SHARES

U.S. Oil & Gas Plc, ("USOIL" or the "Company"), the oil and gas exploration company with assets in Nevada, is pleased to announce that it has placed with private investors 222,714 new ordinary shares of .0001 Euro each (the "Placing Shares") at a placing price of STG .31 per share including a share premium of .3399 Euro on each Placing Share to raise gross proceeds of circa $83,295. Each Placing Share will rank (pari passu) with each ordinary share currently in existence.

The proceeds of the placing will be used to provide US Oil with additional working capital, including the funding of drilling operations. Since no commissions are payable, the net proceeds to be received by the Company are circa $83,295. The 222,714 Placing Shares will shortly be issued through CREST.

Following the placing, the issued share capital of the Company will increase to 65,137,103 ordinary shares of .0001 Euro each. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The following parties have an interest of more than 3% in the shares of the Company:

Name No of Shares Percentage holding

Brian McDonnell 3,927,940 6.03%

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this communication reflect the current thinking of the Board and the Company's present plans. The Company reserves the right to alter plans in the light of developing knowledge and circumstances. Shareholders' attention is drawn to the note below concerning Forward-looking Statements.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: business plans and strategies of US Oil and Gas; operating or technical difficulties in connection with drilling or development activities; availability and costs associated with inputs and labour; drilling and exploration costs; the speculative nature of oil exploration and development; diminishing quantities or quality of reserves; synergies and financial impact of completed acquisitions; the benefits of the acquisitions and the development potential of properties of US Oil and Gas; the future price of oil; supply and demand for oil; the estimation of reserves; the realization of reserve estimates; costs of production and projections of costs; success of exploration activities; capital expenditure programs and the timing and method of financing thereof; the ability of US Oil and Gas to achieve drilling success consistent with management's expectations; net present values of future net revenues from reserves; expected levels of royalty rates, operating costs, general and administrative costs, costs of services and other costs and expenses; expectations regarding the ability to raise capital and to add to reserves through acquisitions, assessments of the value of acquisitions and exploration and development programs; geological, technical, drilling and processing problems; treatment under governmental regulatory regimes and tax laws.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements

THE DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein constitutes an offer or solicitation by U.S. Oil and Gas Plc for the purchase or sale of any securities nor does it constitute a solicitation to any person in any jurisdiction where solicitation would be unlawful.

For further information contact:

Brian McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer +353 (1) 631 9022

About U.S. Oil & Gas:

U.S. Oil & Gas plc is an oil and gas exploration company with a strategy to identify and acquire oil and gas assets in the early phase of the upstream life-cycle and mature them. The Company's

main asset is in Nye County, Nevada where it holds the entire share capital of US-based company, Major Oil International LLC ("Major Oil"). Major Oil has acquired rights to exploration and development acreage in Hot Creek Valley, Nye County, adjacent to the oil and gas rich Railroad Valley area of Nevada, both of which are part of the Sevier Thrust of central Nevada and western Utah, USA.

For further information please refer to our website at: www.usoilandgas.us

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Bernie Sanderss presidential bid was not a failure because it inspired millions of people and dramatically shifted the political discourse, veteran activist and academic Noam Chomsky has claimed.

The Vermont senator this week announced he was ending his second run for the White House, a day after the Wisconsin primary, which was overshadowed and disrupted by the coronavirus crisis.

With his campaign very much on the back foot and trailing Joe Biden in delegates by some measure, Mr Sanders, 78, said he could not in good conscience continue, given the limited likelihood of turning things around and when people were rightly focussing on combating the pandemic.

Among those to heap praise on Mr Sanders was Mr Chomsky, a renowned progressive intellectual and linguist, who said the campaign was not a failure.

Its common to say now that the Sanders campaign failed. I think thats a mistake, the 91-year-old told Democracy Now.

Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Show all 18 1 /18 Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Jessica Canicosa, a precinct captain for Bernie Sanders, waits to greet caucus voters at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Hotel workers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas get to grips with voting papers during the Nevada caucuses AFP via Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A caricature of Bernie Sanders is projected on to a tree during a rally in Las Vegas EPA Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A woman waits to have a photo taken with Elizabeth Warren during a town hall meeting in Las Vegas REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures The threat of coronavirus and other germ-borne illnesses was on some voters' minds at the Democratic caucuses in Henderson, Nevada Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Former vice-president Joe Biden takes a selfie with a voter in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucuses REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Amy Klobuchar changes her shoes backstage after giving a speech in Exeter, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A warmly-wrapped-up dog attends an Elizabeth Warren event at Amherst Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Bernie Sanders, who romped to victory in New Hampshire against Hillary Clinton in 2016, talks to the media in Manchester Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden was hoping to improve on his poor showing in Iowa in the New Hampshire primary Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren, renowned for giving time to supporters for selfies, works the crowd at the University of New Hampshire in Durham Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden takes a selfie with a supporter and his child outside a campaign event in Somersworth, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders quarrel after a confrontation in a TV debate in which Sanders claimed that Warren was not telling the truth about a conversation in which she claimed he had said a woman could not win the presidency on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Supporter Pat Provencher listens to Pete Buttigieg in Laconia, New Hampshire on 4 February Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire while awaiting the results of the Iowa caucus Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren is presented with a balloon effigy of herself at a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A Trump supporter rides past a rally for Amy Klobuchar in Des Moines, Iowa on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A man holds up a sign criticising billionaires in the presidential race in front of Michael Bloomberg in Compton, Califronia. The former New York mayor skipped the first caucus in Iowa and instead campaigned in California on 3 February Reuters

I think it was an extraordinary success, [and] completely shifted the arena of debate and discussion. Issues that were unthinkable a couple years ago are now right in the middle of attention.

He added: The worst crime he committed, in the eyes of the establishment, is not the policy hes proposing; its the fact that he was able to inspire popular movements, which had already been developing  Occupy, Black Lives Matter, many others  and turn them into an activist movement, which doesnt just show up every couple years to push a leader and then go home, but applies constant pressure, constant activism and so on.

Many commentators have pointed out that because of Mr Sanderss success and the way he especially inspired young voters  he won the primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada  visually every Democratic candidate was obliged to have their own policies on topics such as climate change, greater accessibly to healthcare, and criminal justice reform.

As it, Mr Sanders has said his name will remain on the ballot in the primaries remaining and he will continue to collect and accrue. He said this was a deliberate tactic to try and put pressure on the committee that agrees the partys official policy platform this summer.

 Noam Chomsky says the Republican party is the most dangerous organisation in human history

Mr Chomsky said if Donald Trump were elected it would be an indescribable disaster.

It means that the policies of the past four years, which have been extremely destructive to the American population, to the world, will be continued and probably accelerated, he said.

What this is going to mean for health is bad enough. I just mentioned the Lancet figures. It will get worse. What this means for the environment or the threat of nuclear war, which no one is talking about but is extremely serious, is indescribable.

He said he assumed a Biden presidency would be a continuation of former president Barack Obamas administration nothing very great, but at least not totally destructive, and opportunities for an organised public to change what is being done, to impose pressures.

He said if Mr Biden, 77, were elected Mr Sanders and his supporters could continue to seek to put that pressure on him.

Aware that he will need the backing and votes on Mr Sanderss supporters if he is to defeat Mr Trump in November, Mr Biden immediately paid tribute to the senator after he suspended his campaign. In a statement directed at those who had so vigorously supported the veteran democratic socialist, he also said: I see you, I hear you.

On Thursday, in what was seen as another nod to the progressives he need to win over, he unveiled two new proposals he said would help ease the economic burden on working people.

These were a proposed lowering of the age eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60 and eliminating student debt for some lower-income families.

In our nations 244 years, we have never weathered a crisis that we did not emerge from stronger, Mr Biden wrote. This one will be no different.
Howrah: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee presides over a meeting with District Magistrates to review the situation in the state during the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus, at Nabanna in Howrah on Marc Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, April 9 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she would attend the video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11 regarding measures to tackle the Covid 19 pandemic.

"There is a meeting on April 11. I have also been invited. I will see how the discussion unfolds. We will give our opinion," Banerjee said during a consultation at the state secretariat Nabanna with industry and trade representatives.

On Wednesday, Banerjee had said she was yet to hear anything officially from the Centre about Modi's scheduled video conference with the chief ministers.

"I am getting the news from you. I haven't got it officially. Once I receive it, I will let you know. First it comes out in the papers, then I come to know officially. This is the problem," Banerjee had said when asked whether she would be attending the conference.

This would be the Prime Minister's third video conference with the chief ministers after the viral disease broke out in India. Banejee had attended the first interaction, and articulated her viewpoint. But she skipped the next one saying Bengal would not get a chance to speak as it was allotted a time slot to give its suggestion at the previous meeting.
KALAMAZOO, MI  After a string of people gave offensive statements during a recent Kalamazoo City Commission meeting hosted on the Zoom platform, Mayor David Anderson asked the citys attorney what the options were to move the meeting forward.

If were gonna sit here as 100 people take advantage of the opportunity to anonymously spew some venom out there, Im not gonna be comfortable with that, Anderson said, as people with screen names including Harry Potter waited in a virtual line to comment.

The commission cut off comments at the first part of the meeting, but still had to deal with another round of disruptions later in the meeting, as a city staff member muted any that became inappropriate.

As Kalamazoo and other local governments across the state push to hold meetings online instead of traditional in-person meetings because of coronavirus, theyve also learned of the dark side of Zoom meetings as Zoom bombers have dropped in to cause chaos.

The trolls, invited in to comment along with the rest of the public as required by Michigans Open Meetings Act, are spewing hate speech during the public meetings required for local municipalities to get work done.

Michigan is looking for a way to move public meetings forward without opening them up to a firestorm of comments from anyone, including anonymous and unverified internet trolls. Meanwhile, police are warning pranksters that Zoom bombing can get you arrested.

On Wednesday, March 18, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued recommendations advising against gatherings, and soon after opened the door to allow municipalities to hold virtual meetings instead.

Less than two weeks later, Zoom bombers disrupted a Grosse Ile Township Board meeting during the public comment portion at the end of the session.

No member of the public whom I could identify offered to comment, but two anonymous intruders essentially injected derogatory comments about people of Chinese ancestry," Supervisor Brian Loftus said. "I would not tolerate any such commentary in a public meeting were the speaker physically present, I attempted to silence them as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, not quickly enough.

He could not control the anonymous intrusions and asked for a motion to adjourn, which the board quickly approved, Loftus said. All other business at the meeting had already been concluded before the adjournment, and officials advised anyone still listening they we would respond to any and all commentary provided via email or a phone call, he said.

During a virtual Kalamazoo City Commission meeting on March 31, Zoom bombers seemingly took turns with the virtual mic to offer comments, many laced with profanity, and some referenced killing people of certain races, and included racial slurs.

A city official muted each comment as quickly as possible once they became inappropriate, but not before the words were potentially heard on speakers in living rooms in Kalamazoo and beyond. City officials asked the people to stop and criticized them for hampering the ability of citizens to comment by derailing the process.

The next day, a video conference about Detroit water hosted on Zoom on April 1, was shut down after a complete takeover by trolls that injected pornographic images and racial slurs into the virtual meeting space, Jill Ryan, director of the group Freshwater Future said.

Organizers scrambled to remove meeting participants for a few minutes before closing the call and canceling the video conference. The call was organized by Michigan activists that have successfully pushed to restart water service to low income people with unpaid bills.

The incidents highlight some of the virtual meeting pitfalls that have to be solved if the government wants to continue to use online platforms for public input.

Our communities have essential work that requires a public meeting and opportunity for public comment," Michigan Municipal League Director of Communications Matt Bach said in an email message He said the governor understands communities have essential work that requires public meetings and requires the opportunity for citizens to comment, referencing the order allows meetings to be held electronically instead of in-person, as normally required under the Open Meetings Act.

Unfortunately, even during these difficult times some people put their own amusement above the public good," Bach said. The First Amendment protects that speech even if it is distracting from local governments work for the greater good."

The city of Kalamazoo and other municipalities are giving input to the MML for talks the group is having with the Michigan Governors office about ways to address the troll issue while still allowing public input, Kalamazoo Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said.

The MML is working on the issue, Bach said.

The Michigan Municipal League is aware that communities have encountered Zoom bombers and we are hoping to work with state leaders to address the issue in a way that best meets the needs of the public and local governments attempting to conduct essential business," Bach said. He declined to give further specifics about the MMLs work on the issue.

The behavior, apparently a joke to the culprits, has also caught the attention of federal and state authorities.

They arent laughing.

You think Zoom bombing is funny? Lets see how funny it is after you get arrested, Matthew Schneider, United States Attorney for Eastern Michigan said in a prepared statement. If you interfere with a teleconference or public meeting in Michigan, you could have federal, state, or local law enforcement knocking at your door.

Charges may include  to name a few  disrupting a public meeting, computer intrusion, using a computer to commit a crime, hate crimes, fraud, or transmitting threatening communications. All of these charges are punishable by fines and imprisonment, the statement said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warned consumers of potential hijacking and cybersecurity breaches after an MLive reporter contacted her office about the Detroit water conference on Zoom that was hijacked.

In Michigan, Zoom bombing could result in criminal charges under several statutes relating to Fraudulent Access to a Computer or Network (MCL 752.797) and/or Malicious Use of Electronics Communication (MCL 750.540), Nessel said.

The FBI has received multiple reports of teleconferences set up through Zoom being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. Schools using the technology to conduct classroom exercises have also reported interruptions in video-teleconferencing sessions, according to the agency.

Andrew Birge, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Michigan, advised that anyone running a videoconferencing, be it a business, a law enforcement meeting, a classroom or video chatting with family, you need to be aware that your video conference may not be secure and information you share may be compromised.

Be careful, Birge said. "If you do get hacked, call us.

Robert Stevenson, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, asks people to report any incidents of hacking or any other type of fraud to a local, state or federal law enforcement agency.

It is a shame that during a pandemic which is causing fear and anxiety across the globe that there are wrongdoers seeking to disrupt virtual environments which have become essential to communication, teleworking and online learning, FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven M. DAntuono said, urging people to practice good cyber hygiene. People can visit fbi.gov or ic3.gov to learn more about tips they can take to keep their devices secure, he said.

The FBI recommends taking the following steps to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:

Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.

Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.

Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to Host Only.

Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated its software. In the security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.

Ensure that your organizations telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.

Zoom has offered its own tips to about hosting virtual events.

The FBI asks victims of teleconference hijacking, or any cyber-crime, to report it to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Despite the delays and offensive language, the disrupted city of Kalamazoo meeting achieved its purpose, to designate $2 million to help small businesses in a partnership with the United Way.

Chris Sargent, the president and CEO of the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region who attended the Kalamazoo virtual meeting, said it was offensive and unfortunate but not surprising to hear racist comments.

I think what it does, though, creates an opportunity its out in the open. Nobody can hide from it. Nobody can be surprised from it. Now its important that we continue to work tirelessly to change that outcome, and to eliminate it from happening again in the future, he said.

Kalamazoo City Commissioner Chris Praedel said he was angered by the despicable hatred spewed at the citys public meeting.

I feel horrible for the people who waited to speak about real topics that matter to them during this crisis and even worse for those who had to listen to the disparaging comments at home. Im so grateful to those individuals who held on, Praedel said.

He doesnt want officials to be intimidated or deterred in serving the people of the community, Praedel said, and the commission has important work to do.

I think its so important the community hear from us as leaders, especially young people. This is not who we are. This is not Kalamazoo. These anonymous trolls do not represent our shared values and it wont be tolerated. Its simply not in our DNA. I believe we will rise above this hate. We need the help of our community to serve as vocal allies and find ways to make it abundantly clear moving forward that hate has no home here. We need to all speak up when we hear and see it," Praedel said.

The Grand Rapids City Commission took a different route at its April 7 virtual meeting, by banning all public comments, which also kept troll comments out. However, city leaders likely violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act by not allowing public comment during its virtual public meeting Tuesday, April 7, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.

Jennifer Dukarski, deputy general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, said the governor has made it clear in her executive order that the general public must be able to continue to participate in government decision making.

The closure of public comments goes against the spirit of the Open Meetings Act and is improper and appears to be a violation of the Act itself and the Governors Executive Order, Dukarski said.

Disturbances also happen in traditional meetings, she said, but holding them in a virtual space just makes it easier for people to do.

Were going to have these situations crop up whether its on a virtual platform or in or real open a live meeting, and the best we can do is just be prepared to respond to it, Dukarski said. The the muting of that individual in the Kalamazoo example was absolutely appropriate. Just like in a public meeting trying to quiet them and escorting them out of the room would have also been an appropriate measure to take if they were screaming hate speech and causing that type of commotion.

Governments should be careful to ensure their response is appropriate to the level of speech, she said, and not to allow it to become a way to silence critics or used to overreact to comments given, or to otherwise keep the public out of the process. She is hopeful officials can learn from the sudden shift to digital allowed under the governors temporary order.

Hopefully well be able to emerge from this COVID-19 world and be in a situation where were returned to a more normal style of public meeting, and we will just have learned some very good computer skills in the interim," Dukarski said.
Italian gov't shuts ports to all irregular migrants

The four-way decision says Italy, which has been under emergency for seven weeks, will remain shut until further notice.

Italy closed its ports to irregular migrants saved by NGOs in the Mediterranean in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to media reports.

A legal decision adopted late Tuesday by the health, interior, foreign and transportation ministers closes ports to those saved beyond the Italian search and rescue region in the Mediterranean.

ITALY HAS REPORTED 17,669 FATALITIES RESULTING FROM THE VIRUS

The Alan Kurdi rescue vessel, named after a toddler whose lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015 and became an international symbol, was not allowed to deck at an Italian port in recent days.

Residents in Lampedusa, Italys closest point to Africa, reportedly held a demonstration due to irregular migrants, with reports saying protesters were critical of migrants who defied quarantine measures.

Reports added residents anger was a result of three migrants traveling on the island.

There are nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases worldwide, almost 87,500 deaths, and more than 317,600 recoveries, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.
Married At First Sight's KC Osborne may need a refresher course on how to properly wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 31-year-old dance instructor wore her mask loosely and even took it off at one stage while checking in at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday.

She was heading home to Sydney solo after spending several weeks self-isolating in the Victorian capital with her boyfriend, Michael Goonan.

That looks a little loose! Married At First Sight's KC Osborne may need a refresher course on how to properly wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic

KC briefly touched her face - which is being discouraged to limit the spread of coronavirus - as she took the mask on and off.

She looked stylish in skinny jeans, a black turtleneck and a puffer jacket, and also carried a $2,500 Givenchy handbag.

Showing off her expensive taste, she pulled along a $4,000 Louis Vuitton suitcase.

Hmm! The 31-year-old dance instructor wore her mask loosely and even took it off at one stage while checking in at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday

Australians have been encouraged to avoid all non-essential domestic travel, including over the Easter holidays.

KC and Michael faced some criticism earlier this week for setting a bad example as citizens are being encouraged to observe social distancing rules.

They were pictured kissing and cuddling in photos published on Monday.

Don't do that! At one stage, she took off her face mask before catching a flight back to Sydney

Be careful, KC! She briefly touched her face - which is being discouraged to limit the spread of coronavirus - as she took the mask on and off

And while KC offered Michael a squirt of hand sanitiser from her designer handbag, some fans questioned whether their outing constituted 'essential travel'.

'Not the time to be showing off in public!' one fan wrote on Facebook after seeing the photos of KC and Michael in Melbourne.

'We are meant to be at home social distancing. Confirming a rumour for a tabloid is not essential,' they added.

Stylish: She looked stylish in skinny jeans, a black turtleneck and a puffer jacket, and also carried a $2,500 Givenchy handbag

Luxury: Showing off her expensive taste, she pulled along a $4,000 Louis Vuitton suitcase

'So is no one going to address the fact that KC is breaking isolation to accompany her partner to work?' another wrote.

'That would be an inessential outing for her,' a third Facebook user pointed out.

The Victorian government has published a list of 'essential outings', which cover shopping, exercise, work and education, and access to medical services.

People who fail to comply with social distancing rules may be liable for fines of up to $20,000.

In trouble: KC and Michael faced some criticism earlier this week for setting a bad example as Australians are being encouraged to observe social distancing rules

Clarification: However, it's important to note that Michael and KC didn't break any rules by kissing or cuddling. They were a couple living together at the time, which means they didn't have to observe social distancing with each other

However, it's important to note that Michael and KC didn't break any rules by kissing or cuddling. They were a couple living together at the time, which means they didn't have to observe social distancing with each other.

Furthermore, Michael was attending business meetings, which means his outing fell within the permitted category of 'work and education'.

On Married At First Sight, KC was paired with Drew Brauer, while Michael was matched with Stacey Hampton.
The European Union is ill suited for crisis. Its 27 members are happy to feed at the common trough in sunny times, but storms tend to turn them into squabbling rivals. The financial collapse of 2008 and the following refugee crisis are memorable for their bitter recriminations and disunity. Its all happening again over Covid-19, this time amplified by fear and death on a continent struggling with half of the worlds 1.4 million confirmed cases.

Borders are being thrown back up. Italy and Spain, Europes hardest-hit countries, facing economic collapse on a grand scale, accuse the prosperous north of being deaf to their cries for help. The north sees itself once more called on to bail out a profligate south. Hungary sheds a few more vestiges of its democracy. China and Russia, quick to seize on an opportunity to demonstrate the fickleness of democracy, bring in medical supplies that the European Union is purportedly failing to share. This week, the head of the unions top scientific research body, Mauro Ferrari, quit after just three months on the job in a storm of mutual recriminations.

As in crises past, old enmities surfaced. A group of Italian politicians bought an ad in a German paper to remind the Germans that they were not compelled to pay off their debts after World War II. And once again, a chorus of commentators questioned whether the union can survive.

Part of the problem with this picture, as in the past, is a misunderstanding of what the European Union is and what it is capable of doing. The bloc is an alliance of sovereign countries, not a central government, and Brussels has control only over external trade and competition. For the rest, its executive branch, the European Commission, can only seek cooperation, not order it. The states that share the euro do not have true fiscal union, under which wealthier parts of the bloc would prop up the poorer.
Unemployment claims are wildly surpassing historic totals nationwide. Alabama food pantries are struggling to keep up with demand. Congress is considering additional action.

Its a lot to keep up with. Heres Alabamas latest economic news -- good and bad. And a few things to know about how swiftly-changing national policies could affect you.

What you need to know tonight

National:

In the last three weeks, 17 million people have filed for unemployment in the United States, a total that eclipses the number of people unemployed at any point during the Great Depression. Dont let the spiking stock market fool you, were off the map here. During the last recession the unemployment rate doubled from 5 percent to 10 percent in basically two years. Now? It may quadruple over the span of a month.

So whats driving the market optimism? It may be efforts state and local leaders around the country took to limit the spread of coronavirus are starting to show evidence of success. That coupled with the truly unprecedented rise in small business loan applications and unemployment claims, is fueling a debate over whether the economy should start to reopen sooner than scientists advise.

Or it could be a new program announced by the Federal Reserve to lend as much as $2.3 trillion directly to states, cities and mid-sized businesses. This is on top of the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress last month. Thats $4 trillion the federal government may be injecting into the economy to keep it afloat during a pandemic-fueled slowdown.

And, now, Congress is considering a new stimulus package -- Phase Four of their plan to combat COVID-19 and the economic chaos it caused. Were in the early stages so theres significant disagreement in Congress about what the package should include. Both parties have advocated for an $250 billion added to the Payment Protection Program for small businesses. But while Republicans are pushing for a clean increase, Democrats are advocating that the program be restructured to allow more types of small businesses to apply, and earmarking half of the amount for businesses that did not receive the first round of funding. Democrats are also requesting an additional $100 billion for healthcare providers, $150 billion in additional aid to cities and states, and a 15 percent increase to people receiving food assistance.

State:

Unemployment rates are also way up for Alabama. More than 100,000 Alabamians filed claims last week, a jump from 80,000 new claims the week before. Just a month ago, the state averaged about 1,500 new claims a week so this two week jump has been staggering. Theres little bright side here but if theres a semblance of a lifeline its this: Alabama has now started issuing the additional $600 in weekly unemployment compensation included in the Federal stimulus package that was signed into law last month.

Weve also seen at least a 700 percent increase in the numbers of families in need of food banks and food pantries. AL.coms Howard Koplowitz reports that spike is pushing some food pantries to the breaking point with a lack of food, monetary resources and volunteers. If youre in a position where youre able to help, heres how.

Market update

Dow Open: 23,690.66

Dow Close: 23,716.60 (Up 1.22%)

In case you missed it

What were watching

A survey indicates Alabama may be among the top states in the country applying for new loans. Bill Thornton will have a story.

Resources

Coronavirus in Alabama: How many infected; where to get tested; key information you need

Coronavirus in Alabama: How to help, how to get help

What happens if you lose your job due to coronavirus?

What to do if you cant pay your bills

How much will I get from the coronavirus stimulus?

How do you apply for small business funds from the stimulus package?

COVID-19 COVERAGE RESOURCES: Follow our live updates. Find all of our coronavirus stories. A continuously updated vital information post. A free text-messaging service so you can receive the most urgent coronavirus updates on your cellphone. And ask questions. To sign up, subscribe to Alabama Coronavirus Urgent Alerts. A new weekday newsletter is available. You can subscribe here. Also, download our mobile app where you can receive on-the-go notifications.
Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday ordered Houstons parks and trails to close for the weekend, just one day after saying the parks would remain open as long as people practiced social distancing.

The reversal, announced at the mayors daily coronavirus news conference, follows Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgos order Thursday closing all county parks for the weekend.

As late as Wednesday afternoon, Turner had resisted closing the citys parks, saying he did not want to be heavy handed.

We shouldn't have to tell people not to be in a park that's crowded where you can't engage in social distancing, the mayor said Wednesday. Police officers shouldn't have to come and tell you no, but if we must, we must. But I don't think that as a governmental leader, that I should dictate everything you do as if you don't have a mind of your own.

The mayor said he changed his mind Thursday after learning of 615 new coronavirus cases reported in Houston, the highest single-day jump yet, though about half the cases were from tests conducted in March. The city now has recorded 1,995 cases of the virus.

The health department sent me the numbers today at 1:30. I saw 615. That's a high jump, Turner said, adding that he made the change to underscore the importance of social distancing.

Turner said his order would go into effect at sundown Thursday. Hidalgos order was to take at 8 p.m. Thursday and extend until 8 a.m. Monday.

Houston Parks and Recreation Director Steve Wright said Turner informed him of the closures shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday and did not come to this decision lightly.

To dissuade people from visiting parks, the city will close gates, erect barricades and rotate its 36 urban park rangers on patrols throughout the weekend, Wright said. About 100 of the citys 380 parks can be closed up with gates and fences. The closures include all 165 miles of city trails, including its bike trails.

Asked what penalty city officials would enforce for violators, Turner said he would leave it up to the police department to take the necessary steps.

Police Chief Art Acevedo said officers would issue warnings first, then citations for anyone caught at a city park a second time. Those who refuse to leave would be subject to arrest, Acevedo said, though he added that he would prefer to use sugar than vinegar.

Even without Turners order, a forecast bout of rain and storms was expected to keep many Houstonians indoors over the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for most of southeast Texas Thursday and projected hail, damaging winds and rain through the afternoon and evening in Houston.

Now Playing: The latest state and local case counts and news headlines from the Houston Chronicle news team. Video: Laura Duclos/Houston Chronicle

The inclement weather was forecast to abate Friday before returning Saturday and Sunday with possible thunderstorms and showers.

Before opting to shutter all of them, Turner had given park rangers authority to close down crowded parks. He said Wednesday that no parks had yet been closed, but he hinted at the prospect of changing his mind, saying he would assess the situation on a daily basis.

Turner also said, however, the city shouldn't have to tell people not to be in a park that's crowded where you can't engage in social distancing.

The city previously had removed all basketball rims at city parks and closed its playgrounds, community centers, golf course, driving ranges and tennis centers.

Turner previously had ordered the removal of all basketball rims at city parks after reports emerged that people were continuing to play on the courts. Trails remain open, but officials have closed playgrounds, community centers, golf courses and driving ranges.

On Wednesday, Hidalgo said early trends showing social distancing may be slowing the spread of the virus here could be reversed if the public concludes the worst has passed.

If we have an Easter weekend where everybody decides theyre going to congregate, then were going back several steps, she said.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
Two persons are on the run after testing positive for the novel coronavirus at Old Fadama, a suburb of Accra.

These individuals, who were confirmed to have been infected by the virus are yet to be reached by contact tracers three days after confirmation of their status.



Contact tracers have encountered difficulties convincing the patients to comply with isolation protocols and have since fled the neighbourhood since their test results came in on Monday, April 6, 2020.



It was really difficult getting them so they called in security to help but since then, these persons have been away from the community. Each time they call, they either ignore or pick up and say they are far away from the area.



The number of Covid-19 cases in Ghana stand at 313 with six deaths recorded so far since the onset of the pandemic. The recent increase in the figures according to authorities, is as a result of enhanced testing following the announcement of a lockdown in Accra, Kasoa, Tema and Kumasi.



The two new carriers, one is a female head porter, popularly known as Kayayo who shared a single room with 15 others including three children.



That has been a challenge for the contact tracers and the security team on the ground.



With no evidence of travel history, it is unclear how these carriers got infected, pointing to a possible case of community transmission. Contact tracers are on the ground liaising with the police to convince suspected secondary contacts in the area to volunteer for a test for the novel coronavirus.



Some opinion leaders in the area who back the decision of non-compliance by the potential contacts, have their commitment grounded in a supposed conspiracy theory of an ulterior motive. They say they are not going to allow the testing of those who may have come into contact with this person because, there are rumours in the area that the contact tracers are taking the blood samples to the government for some rituals, Fred Smith said.



This latest development brings to three, the number of carriers who have yet to submit to quarantine protocols as part of measures to control the spread of the virus.



Three carriers now on the run in Ghana



In March, one of the Guineans who tested positive for Covid-19 in Tamale escaped.



The young lady, who authorities say is in her early 20s allegedly scaled the wall at the back of the hotel where she and nine others were being held in mandatory quarantined. At midnight when everybody was asleep she scaled the wall and escaped leaving her belongings, including a mobile phone, Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed told JoyNews.



He added that security personnel have launched a manhunt for her.



Mr Saeed said the Guinean escaped at the blind side of two police officers and two military personnel who were guarding the hotel.

Source: myjoyonline.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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BRISBANE, Australia, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) (Orocobre or the Company) advises that following the Argentine Ministry of Production declaring Olaroz and Borax operations as "essential" activities, further progress has been made in recommencing production in both businesses.



All activities are being undertaken within strict health and safety standards and in coordination with the provincial COVID-19 Emergency Operational Centres. Safety remains the Companys highest priority and the focus is on the health of workers, their families and those of related communities. A strict biosecurity protocol remains in all workplaces.

Production and shipping of lithium carbonate has now recommenced at Olaroz with a significantly reduced number of personnel at site. Orocobre would like to thank all stakeholders who worked collaboratively to achieve this goal including the communities, unions, local authorities and our employees.

The lithium market continues to be weak with stock throughout the supply chain. Many electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers have reduced or temporarily closed operations and demand is unlikely to recover until these reopen. Logistical challenges remain, exacerbated by the geographical spread of the supply chain.

Borax has also recommenced production and shipping of essential products to customers including those in Brazil.

On-site operations for the Olaroz Stage 2 expansion remain suspended. However, engineering, planning and procurement work is continuing offsite.

On-going impact of COVID-19

Operations at both Olaroz and Borax remain subject to a variety of potential disruptive factors related to COVID-19 including ongoing government restrictions on personnel movement and travel, closure of suppliers and customers, and potential reduced demand for products. The duration and severity of these disruptions is currently unknown and as such the ultimate impact on Orocobre financial performance and operating results, whilst the subject of continual review by Orocobre Board and Management, remains uncertain.

The possible future infection of employees with COVID-19 at any Orocobre operation could also affect the ability of that site to continue operating.

Management and the Board of Orocobre are working to minimise and manage any negative outcomes resulting from COVID-19 and will provide further updates to shareholders as appropriate.

Authorised by:

Rick Anthon

Joint Company Secretary

For more information please contact:

Andrew Barber

Chief Investor Relations Officer

Orocobre Limited

M: +61 418 783 701

E: abarber@orocobre.com

W: www.orocobre.com



Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrocobreLimited

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orocobre-limited

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About Orocobre Limited
President Trump responded to Bernie Sanders suspending his presidential campaign by questioning why President Obama never bothered to endorse Joe Biden during the Democratic primaries.

'And I don't know why President Obama hasn't supported Joe Biden a long time ago,' Trump said at the White House Wednesday. 'There's something he feels is wrong,' Trump claimed.

Trump also said that he hoped disaffected Sanders fans would come support him since the Republican president and the democratic socialist senator see eye-to-eye on trade.

President Trump responded to Bernie Sanders dropping out of the Democratic primary race by asking why President Obama never backed Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee, during the process

Bernie Sanders addressed supporters via livestream on Wednesday and said he was suspending his presidential campaign. 'I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth,' he said 'But the path toward victory is virtually impossible'

With Sanders out, Biden will become the Democratic nominee. But Trump floated that something 'weird' was going on because Sanders was keeping his delegates and told supporters he'd still be on the ballot in the states to come

Trump also stoked speculation that Obama hadn't endorsed Biden in the primary because 'he knows something that you don't know.' Obama, for months, has said he wouldn't back a Democrat in the primary

'And I hope that a lot of Bernie Sanders people just like they did last time, we got a tremendous percentage of Bernie people and I think they voted for me largely because of trade,' Trump said in the briefing room.

Trump had been asked by a reporter to offer his thoughts on the Sanders campaign being over.

'He didn't really drop out,' Trump began. 'What about his delegates? He said that he's going to keep his delegates.'

'That's a weird deal going on there,' Trump said.

Sanders first announced he decided to drop out on a staff call and then informed the press. He then spoke to supporters over livestream a little before noon on Wednesday.

On the call he said that he would keep his name on the ballot in states that have yet to vote in the Democratic primary.

And he'd keep amassing delegates too, as a way for the progressives to have more sway during this summer's Democratic National Convention, which is now set to happen in August instead of July due to coronavirus concerns.

'And I think he's doing it to negotiate, I assume,' Trump surmised.

After describing what he thought was 'weird' behavior from Sanders, Trump brought up Obama, who has said for months that he wouldn't endorse any candidate during the primary.

'I'm sure he's going to come out at some point because he certainly doesn't want to see me for four more years,' Trump commented on Obama's coming endorsement. 'We think a little bit differently,' the president said.

'You know what, I'll tell you, it does amaze me that President Obama hasn't supported Sleepy Joe, it just hasn't happened, when is it going to happen?' Trump mused. 'He knows something that you don't know. That I think I know, but you don't know,' the president went on.

Trump said he watched Sanders speech Wednesday calling it 'standard fare' from the democratic socialist.

'The future of this country is with our ideas,' Sanders had told supporters.

Sanders said that Joe Biden 'would be the nominee.' And that after the convention they would take on President Trump together.

Bernie Sanders (right) said he knew that Joe Biden (left) would be the Democratic nominee, but he told supporters he would stay on the ballot in order to collect delegates so that progressive could have more sway at the Democratic National Convention

The race had been over for the Vermont senator since he lost Michigan to Biden in mid-March.

'I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth,' Sanders said Wednesday. He pointed out that he was about 300 delegates behind the former vice president. 'The path toward victory is virtually impossible.'

'I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful,' Sanders continued. 'So today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign.'

Sanders called it a 'very difficult and painful decision.'

And he said he knew some of his most fervent supporters would not support him throwing in the towel.

'I know there may be some in our movement who may not agree with this decision,' Sanders said.

But the coronavirus pandemic, he added, played into his decision - as he needed to do 'an enormous amount of work' as part of his day job, that of a U.S. senator.

'As friends, Jill and I want to say to Bernie and Jane, we know how hard this is. You have put the interest of the nation - and the need to defeat Donald Trump - above all else,' Biden said in a statement sent out by his campaign. 'And for that Jill and I are grateful.'

'But we also want you to know: I'll be reaching out to you. You will be heard by me. As you say: Not me, us,' the former vice president continued. 'And to your supporters I make the same commitment: I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country.'

Biden said he hoped Sanders' supporters, which represent the younger part of the party, would support him.

'You are more than welcome. You're needed,' Biden said.

Of course the Trump campaign immediately went for Sanders' supporters too.

'With Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign, it's all but official that the Democrat establishment got the candidate they wanted in Joe Biden, as well as the candidate President Trump will destroy in November,' Campaign Manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.

'President Trump is still disrupting Washington, D.C., while Biden represents the old, tired way,' Parscale added, blasting Biden for 'continuing to coddle the communist regime in China.'

Trump's campaign also welcomed disaffected Sanders supporters to give the current president a look.

'Democrat elites shoved Bernie Sanders to the side for a second time, leaving many of his supporters looking for a new home,' Parscale said.

Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, saw his fortunes rise and then fall over the course of the Democratic primaries, which kicked off in early February.

Sanders had a strong performance in the first three races.

In Iowa, he tied Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, though the bigger story out of the Hawkeye State was an app malfunction that led to widespread reporting delays of the caucus results.

Sanders, Buttigieg and the rest of the 2020 contenders had moved on to New Hampshire by the time the results were finally reported.

In the Granite State, Sanders again benefitted from his next-door-neighbor status, winning the state, but only by 1.3 points over Buttigieg. Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in third.

It was in Nevada where Sanders cemented his frontrunner status.

He received 46.8 per cent of the vote in the caucus state, showing strength with Democratic Latino voters.

But Joe Biden finished in the top two for the first time - telling his supporters this was enough momentum for him to stay in the race.

South Carolina changed everything for both Biden and Sanders.

In the Palmetto State, Biden won with the help of the important endorsement of Rep. Jim Clyburn, Congress' most powerful black lawmaker. And Biden beat Sanders by a commanding 28.5 points.

From there, Biden had all the momentum in the race - quickly snapping up endorsements from Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke, who had dropped out of the race previously.

On Super Tuesday, which took place three days later, Biden snapped up 11 of the 14 states that voted.

Sanders' biggest prize, California, wasn't called until the narrative was already set: Biden was again the frontrunner.

Republicans insisted that in-person voting in Wisconsin go on despite fears that the gathering could expose voters to the coronavirus. Many voters were picking between Democrats Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders

The former vice president continued to collect endorsements, including from Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-New York City mayor who was also competing for moderate Democrats support.

A week later, when Michigan voted as part of Super Tuesday II, Sanders lost his last, best chance of eating into Biden's delegate lead.

Neither Biden nor Sanders have been able to actively campaign since the Super Tuesday races due to the coronavirus crisis, in which social distancing measures were slowly put in place all over the United States.

Sanders was first to utilize livestream campaigning - holding coronavirus-themed events, usually with a musical guest also performing, which was typical for his campaign.

Biden was slower to adapt, but now has a television and livestream set up in his recreation room at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

On Tuesday, Wisconsin Republicans made voters in that state vote amid the pandemic - with droves waiting in long lines to make their pick between Biden and Sanders.

In 2016, Sanders stayed in the race until the convention though endorsed Hillary Clinton on July 12, two weeks before Democrats gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to give the former secretary of state the nomination.
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jennifer Aydin has the coronavirus disease.

Ive been sick for the past 10 days, she said in an Instagram video. And as of Monday I got my test results back and it turns out that I am positive for COVID-19.

Aydin, 42, who lives in Paramus, said her symptoms started last week, starting with extreme fatigue last Monday. She asked her husband, plastic surgeon Bill Aydin, to bring home a coronavirus test.

But he was reluctant because I didnt have the normal symptoms, like a fever or heavy cough, she said, coughing. But the RHONJ cast member insisted.

Im doing better now, which is why I am checking in, said Aydin, whos been quarantined in her home away from her five kids and husband. There were a few rough days where I was just extremely tired and sleeping a lot. I had this very dense headache and extreme night sweats. Ive lost my sense of taste and smell.

In an Instagram Live video, Aydin said she didnt know how she contracted COVID-19, but that since her husband told her to stock up on food, she had gone to various stores: ShopRite in Rochelle Park, BJs in Paramus, and Corrados in Paterson, wearing gloves and a flimsy mask from her husbands office.

I thought I took all the necessary precautions, she said, noting that she did not wipe down her groceries because of the sheer volume of food her family needed. The headache and muscle aches were signs that something was wrong, she said.

It wasnt my usual headache, it felt like a very dense headache where my head felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds.

Bill was hesitant because he didnt want to waste any coronavirus tests.

The tests that he had were very limited," she said.

Still, Jennifer said she hadnt had a fever in 20 years, and she just kept sleeping the days away.

After her positive test result, the Paramus Board of Health called to ask where she had been, how many people were in her house and what her symptoms were. She said she scolded the board because of restrictions for testing that wouldnt have included her symptoms.

I just think its so wild.

Aydins RHONJ co-star, Teresa Giudice, who recently lost her father to pneumonia (unrelated to the coronavirus), wished her castmate well on Instagram.

Glad you are getting better, she posted.

Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
The SimplyBiz Group plc (LON:SBIZ), which is in the professional services business, and is based in United Kingdom, received a lot of attention from a substantial price increase on the AIM over the last few months. As a small cap stock, hardly covered by any analysts, there is generally more of an opportunity for mispricing as there is less activity to push the stock closer to fair value. Is there still an opportunity here to buy? Lets examine SimplyBiz Groups valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if theres still a bargain opportunity.

View our latest analysis for SimplyBiz Group

What is SimplyBiz Group worth?

According to my valuation model, the stock is currently overvalued by about 25%, trading at UK1.68 compared to my intrinsic value of 1.35. Not the best news for investors looking to buy! But, is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Given that SimplyBiz Groups share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from SimplyBiz Group?

AIM:SBIZ Past and Future Earnings April 9th 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. SimplyBiz Groups revenue growth are expected to be in the teens in the upcoming years, indicating a solid future ahead. Unless expenses grow at the same level, or higher, this top-line growth should lead to robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? SBIZs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above its fair value. At this current price, shareholders may be asking a different question  should I sell? If you believe SBIZ should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Story continues

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on SBIZ for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its true value, which means theres no upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for SBIZ, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on SimplyBiz Group. You can find everything you need to know about SimplyBiz Group in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in SimplyBiz Group, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Rev. Cyril George Carstensen Lutterodt, widely known as Counsellor Lutterodt stormed the Osu Cemetery, Wednesday, to engage in a spiritual battle with forces behind the spread of Coronavirus.



According to him, he received a direction from God to enter the cemetery at 12 noon and thwart the evil plans of the wicked lest the tragedy that has befallen Ghana and the world will surge.



And as the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, he adhered to the instruction.



God asked me to do it. At a point in time, I lost control of myself at the place, he told ghanaweb.



Asked when the pandemic will end after battling the forces for an hour, Lutterodt did not give a definite period but said: Spiritually, its been blocked.



In a video clip which captures his activities at the cemetery, Lutterodt, in a smock, is heard speaking on tongues with a bottle of water, anointing oil and communion wine signifying life, anointing and the blood of Jesus respectively.



I declare liberty, I declare freedom in the name of Jesus, he said as he took off the smock. I bring out my body unto You and declare that, Lord, none is buried. I activate and ask the souls of the dead people to arise in this sun. That the arrow that flies by day, will not have any impact Covid-19, its your end



He used the anointing oil "to break every yolk", the water to "purify the land" and the communion wine to cast away demons making it impossible to find a remedy.



Confirmed coronavirus cases around the world near 1.5 million while almost 90,000 people have died with the virus.



In Ghana, 6 people have died as national case tally stands at 313. The regional distribution of the cases, according to the Ghana Health Service are: Greater Accra Region has most cases (274) followed by the Ashanti Region (25), Northern Region (10), Upper West Region (1), Eastern Region (1), Upper East Region (1) and Central Region (1).



A total of 161 cases were reported from the routine surveillance, 37 from enhanced surveillance activities and those from travellers under mandatory quarantine in both Accra and Tamale are 115.

Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi and all of the country's MPs are to go into self-quarantine after a nurse assigned to do screening of the legislators tested positive for COVID-19, the government said on Thursday.

Health Minister Lemogang Kwape told parliament that some legislators at a special session on Wednesday had interacted with a health worker who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"Everyone who was here has to undergo mandatory quarantine from here," the director of health services, Malaki Tshipiyagae, announced.

This includes Masisi, and all 63 MPs of the ruling and opposition parties.

It is the second time in less than a month that Botswana's leader will have been quarantined.

On March 21, he was forced into self-isolation following a trip to neighbouring Namibia -- which had three confirmed cases at the time -- to attend the inauguration of President Hage Geingob.

The special session was called to debate Masisi's request to extend Botswana's state of emergency for another six months -- one of a slew of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus in the diamond-rich country.

Parliament gave its approval on Thursday.

Masisi encouraged lawmakers to complete their tasks despite the spreading pandemic.

"Let's remember who we are to the public," Masisi told MPs. "I'm asking that let's finish this matter and go to quarantine."



The landlocked country has announced seven additional cases, bringing the tally to 13, one of whom died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday rejected demands by Italy for common euro zone bonds to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that Germany would back other instruments to help countries hard-hit by the crisis, reports Reuters.

I spoke today with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for a long time and we agree that there is an urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult, Merkel said.

And Germany is ready for this solidarity and committed to it. Germanys wellbeing depends on Europe being well. Now, which instruments are fit for this purpose, here there are different views. You know that I dont believe we should have common debt because of the situation of our political union and thats why we reject this, she added during a news conference.

But there are so many ways to show solidarity and I believe we will find a good solution.
PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus on Wednesday cut production across the board to absorb the hit to manufacturing from the coronavirus crisis. In its largest ever production adjustment, the European manufacturer said it was reducing output of its best-selling A320 narrow-body family by a third to 40 aircraft a month.

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus on Wednesday cut production across the board to absorb the hit to manufacturing from the coronavirus crisis.

In its largest ever production adjustment, the European manufacturer said it was reducing output of its best-selling A320 narrow-body family by a third to 40 aircraft a month.

It also cut production of larger wide-body jets with the A350 falling by about 40% to 6 aircraft a month, and the A330 family down by more than 40% to 2 aircraft a month, based on the most recently published Airbus production figures.

The move, which Airbus said represented an average output reduction of a third, came as deliveries halved in March to 36 aircraft.

Aerospace has been hit worldwide by the pandemic.

Airbus has experienced particular disruption since France and Spain - two of its core manufacturing nations alongside Britain and Germany - placed their populations in lockdown in mid-March, restricting the movement of workers.

Reuters reported last week that Airbus was considering sharp cuts in production of all models in the face of plunging demand, cash problems at airline customers and logistical difficulties in delivering aircraft.

Airbus said it had delivered 122 aircraft between January and March, down 25% from a year earlier.

It also said it had produced a further 60 aircraft in the first quarter but had been unable to deliver them because of the crisis, which has forced many airlines to defer deliveries and prevented others from sending teams to take delivery.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Piotr Lipinski. Editing by Jane Merriman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Vernon County Censor

April 21, 1920

100 years ago

NEW FIRE TRUCK ARRIVES

Viroquas fine new fire truck created quite a sensation as it dashed through Main Street Tuesday evening will [sic] bell clinging. It is a powerful and efficient machine, and handsome as it is efficient.

The truck is a Nash, 2-ton, Model 2018, 30 horse power, 4 forward speeds, full electrical equipment such as starter and light.Fire equipment.consists of a power driven pump of rotary type capable of delivering 250 gallons of water per minute at 120 pounds pump pressure. This should throw water higher than our standpipe with ease. In addition to the water pump is furnished a chemical apparatus with 40 gallon tank and 250 feet of chemical hose.Several small hand extinguishers, ladders, pike pole, axes, etc. Complete the equipment.

The machine has all exposed metal parts in full nickle plate, body is painted a bright red with black and gold striping.

BUTT SLEEPS IN CEMETERY

And Dr. W.E. Butt slept in Viroqua cemetery Sunday night  not because he considered himself dead, but to prove his lack of fear and to pull down the $10 which Manager B.C. Brown offered in last weeks advertising. This novel stunt was prompted by the great picture The Greatest Question, which deals with the hereafter.the sleeper [must] relate his experience during the running of the picture, and will receive the $10. Be there to hear Doc tell about it  how the sparrows gave him a thrill, how he protected himself from the elements, where he slept etc.

A little wind storm Monday morning did some damage to residences here. Between fire and wind this vicinity has suffered much damage this winter and spring.

The Vernon County Censor

April 12, 1945

75 years ago

Tractor-trailer being built here. An interesting industry has been developed in the city during the past year by Albon Tollefson, on South Rock Street. With the crew of men who also drive the school buses, Mr. Tollefson is manufacturing a trailer to be used on tractors. These commodious and useful tractor auxiliary are especially useful for farm hauling, and no doubt will be a decided asset on any farm. They are built on rubber and the lumber used in their manufacture is boiled in creosote, making it practically weather proof. With the aid of some unusual tools, among them a pneumatic hammer, all parts are riveted.

The national committee for the United National Clothing Collection has appealed to Kiwanis International and other service organizations of this country for assistance in establishing a local committee in every community in the US for the purpose of conducting an intensive collection of used clothing. In the liberated countries, 125 million people, including 30 million children, will be the recipients of your generosity. The drive in the city will be conducted under the leadership of Otto Lund, with the assistance of the churches, Kiwanis, American Legion and other organizations. Donations may be sent to the Normal School or the Norther States Power Co. office. Also, the Boy Scouts have volunteered to assist with delivery. Call Otto Lund at the County Normal School. In the county, Calvin Marx will have charge of the clothing collection.

The Vernon County

Broadcaster-Censor

April 9, 1970

50 years ago

Ernie Urban defeated two-term Mayor Vic Ellefson Tuesday in Viroqua, 692 to 434. Alderman elected: Dick Sullivan, Mel Fortney, and Ed Gorman,

Deaths: Gerald Christianson, 26; Manville Running, 82; Kenneth A. Stafford, 67; Walter Paul Bobst, 69; Mathilda (Dummer) Schlict, 79; Byron Leo Bender, 74; Reinhart Christianson, 88.

Seven new members elected to Vernon County Board: Leland McDaniel, Willard Lawton, Don Arneson, Kenneth Volden, Percy Sandwick, Kenneth Keach, Harry Baller. Around 4,300 people voted in this election.

Other election results: In Hillsboro, a new mayor, Ed Hammer, was elected to succeed E. V. Hofmeister who was not a candidate after serving 25 years. In Viola a hard liquor referendum was defeated in both Vernon and Richland portions.

The Vernon County Broadcaster

April 13, 1995

25 years ago

Dr. Mark Heberlein of the Vig-Gundersen Clinic warned the public of the dangers of the low-level high-speed jet flights that were proposed for parts of Vernon County by the Air National Guard. Dr. Herberlein, who was a former a former flight surgeon, noted that there were problems with the F-16 plane which included that it was more likely to crash if mechanical problems arose with the aircraft. Seven Air Force aircraft crashed between 1985 and 1992. In summary, he argued that there was no rational reason that these flights were needed.

Todd Leifker, who was accused last summer of operating a sophisticated theft ring stealing Harley Davidson motorcycles was re-arrested last week. He was caught attempting to steal the evidence against him from the Vernon County Sheriffs Department impound garage. When deputies arrived, he was in the process of loading some of the stolen motorcycle parts into a van that belonged to his accomplice Dennis Medley. The deputies had responded to a silent alarm. Both men were jailed and could face many years in prison.

With federal budget cuts on the way, The Viroqua School Board laid-off 13 Chapter I and special education teachers, aides and clerical workers. The budget cuts for Wisconsin are expected to be as much as $4 million or more.

Stanley Applebee of rural Viroqua was bound over for trial on a charge of first-degree reckless homicide. He shot his friend in an alcohol-related incident which resulted in the death of another rural Viroqua man Richard Sagmoen. He faced up to 40 years in prison. When arrested, he said that the gun went off by accident. Applebees blood alcohol level when he was arrested was .352.

Kim Johnson, a senior at Viroqua High School, was selected for the Sousa National Honor Band. Later in the year, Kim and her parents will travel to Washington, D.C., for three days of band rehearsals and then to perform a concert at George Washington University.

The Vernon County

Broadcaster

April 15, 2010

10 years ago

An evening with a pair of dual meets ended favorably for the Viroqua boys tennis team as it earned two wins at Black River Falls.

Jack Robinson received a certificate of appreciation for 14 years of service on the Vernon County Highway Committee.

The Vernon County Historical Society has raised enough money through a capital campaign to build an elevator at the Vernon County Museum and to convert the boiler room into a space that can be used as a meeting room and classroom.

Greg Koelker of Stoddard caught a 26-inch female walleye near Red Wing.

Dan Morrison and Travis Anderson of Premier meats won the Reserve Champion Award for their ring bologna-course ground at the 70th annual convention of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors.

Vernon County Historical Society  by Bonnie Sterling, Donna Halverson, Peg ORourke, Irving Leif and Denise Kirchoff

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The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team. Global cases: More than 1,579,600

Global deaths: At least 94,500

US cases: More than 452,500

US deaths: At least 16,100 The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

8:45 pm: CDC extends order restricting cruise ships from allowing passengers to disembark

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced the extension of the "No Sail Order" affecting cruise ships that it originally issued on March 14. The policy restricts cruise ships from allowing passengers or crew members to disembark, and they cannot let crew members come aboard, either, unless the U.S. Coast Guard approves. The order is in place until the secretary of the until the Secretary of Health and Human Services' declaration that coronavirus is a public health emergency expires, the CDC directory rolls back or changes the order or 100 days from the day the order is published in the Federal Register  whichever one of those happens first. Each cruise ship operator must submit to the Coast Guard and the CDC a plan for preventing the spread of coronavirus within seven days. "Currently, there are approximately 100 cruise ships remaining at sea off the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast, with nearly 80,000 crew onboard," the CDC said in a statement. "Additionally, CDC is aware of 20 cruise ships at port or anchorage in the United States with known or suspected COVID-19 infection among the crew who remain onboard." Jordan Novet

8:16 pm: Delta says 35,000 workers taking up voluntary unpaid leaves, still seeking more

Delta Air Lines Inc Chief Executive Ed Bastian said on Thursday that nearly 35,000 workers had volunteered so far for voluntary unpaid leaves of absence the company is offering in an attempt to stem costs because of the coronavirus crisis. In a memo to employees, Bastian said the company was enhancing the benefits provided to employees while on leave and offering new longer-term leaves of up to 12 months as it continues to seek more volunteers. Reuters

7:30 pm: Google creates online unemployment application with state of New York

Google has created an application portal to help the state of New York deal with a historic surge in unemployment filings. The company said it could potentially bring a similar service to other states. In partnership with companies including Verizon and Deloitte, Google developed an unemployment insurance application that New York's Department of Labor says will be reliable, according to a Thursday press release. The goal is to automate the process and "dramatically reduce" the number of New Yorkers who need help by phone. "Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the New York State Department of Labor's unemployment insurance filing system has faced an unprecedented increase in volume  with peak weeks seeing a 16,000% increase in phone calls and a 1,600% increase in web traffic, compared to a typical week," the agency said. Jennifer Elias

7:04 pm: Frustration mounts on Main Street as entrepreneurs wait on banks and SBA for much-needed funding

Some small business owners waiting for a lifeline in the form of Paycheck Protection Loans under the $2.2 trillion stimulus package have held out hope that a second and smaller form of aid might keep them afloat in the meantime. But as demand spikes for federal funds, new guidance and stalled payouts from the Small Business Administration on its Economic Injury Disaster Loans and advance grants are adding to frustrations and fears on Main Street. Unlike PPP loans that go up to $10 million, small business owners can apply for disaster assistance of up to $2 million directly through the SBA, with $10,000 advance grants available even sooner. The SBA initially said so-called EIDL grants of up to $10,000 would be made available "within three days" of a successful application, but has since shifted language to say these advances would be available "within days" of a successful application. The Massachusetts district office of the SBA on Monday said that the cash advances would be limited to $1,000 per employee, up to $10,000, a more detailed description of the initial "up to $10,000" language the administration had used. But that bulletin has since been taken down, adding to confusion about the availability and speed with which these might go out to businesses. Kate Rogers, Betsy Spring

6:55 pm: LinkedIn offers to connect job-seekers with essential businesses for free

LinkedIn built a profitable business with its paid tools for job recruiters. Now in the wake of COVID-19 shutting down broad swaths of the economy, LinkedIn is ditching the core engine of its business model to help people connect with jobs at no cost. With unemployment claims spiking to record levels, LinkedIn is connecting essential businesses  such as hospitals  with qualified employees and volunteers at no charge. LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, is expanding its longstanding Recruiting for Good program, which uses LinkedIn employees to help healthcare organizations and disaster-relief non-profits fill positions. Right now, the company has 100 employees recruiting for 540 hospitals, and is working on 260 requests from healthcare organizations and non-profits looking to fill over 26,000 roles. Julia Boorstin

6:48 pm: Amazon says it could soon begin testing some warehouse workers for the coronavirus

Amazon employees hold a protest and walkout over conditions at the company's Staten Island distribution facility on March 30, 2020 in New York City. Workers at the facility, which has had numerous employees test positive for the coronavirus, want to call attention to what they say is a lack of protections for employees who continue to come to work amid the coronavirus outbreak. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Amazon said that it's working on developing coronavirus tests that could be used to help protect warehouse workers, who are particularly exposed to the disease. In a blog post, the company said it has started building "incremental test capacity" that could eventually result in "regular testing of all employees, including those showing no symptoms." Amazon said it has mobilized employees across the company, including research scientists, program managers, procurement specialists and software engineers, to form a dedicated team that will work on developing coronavirus tests. The team is in its early stages, having obtained the necessary equipment to build its first lab, Amazon said. Once work is underway, the hope is "to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon," Amazon said. "We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others." Annie Palmer

6:40 pm: Ex-Obama budget chief: Government's coronavirus assistance needs oversight to avoid backlash

The U.S. government's sprawling policy response to the coronavirus pandemic is necessary, but so too is proper oversight of the new programs, President Barack Obama's former budget chief said. "I think the more oversight the better, in part because we really do need to get money out the door fast," Peter Orszag said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "If you don't have any oversight at all, you're just asking for trouble. There will be more fraud than is necessary." Orszag, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget, said he does not think properly administered oversight will create bureaucratic inefficiencies that make it harder to execute the programs. "Oversight doesn't necessarily impede speed here," said Orszag, now CEO of financial advisory at Lazard. "In fact, what I would say is there is a risk to too little oversight because it will generate more backlash when things go wrong and therefore undermine the ability to do more later when we need it," he added. Kevin Stankiewicz

6:31 pm: JPMorgan now sees economy contracting by 40% in second quarter, and unemployment reaching 20%

JPMorgan economists issued an even more dire forecast, now foreseeing a 40% decline in the nation's gross domestic product for the second quarter and a surge in April's unemployment rate to 20% with 25 million jobs lost. In an earlier forecast, they said second-quarter GDP would be down 25%. The economists, however, continue to see a second-half recovery, based on the assumption that disruptions from the pandemic fade by June. They note that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits has totaled 16.8 million in just three weeks. "With these data in hand we think the April jobs report could indicate about 25 million jobs lost since the March survey week, and an unemployment rate around 20%," they wrote, "Given the expected hit to hours worked this quarter we now look for -40.0% annualized real GDP growth in 2Q, down from -25.0% previously." Patti Domm

5:45 pm: EU ministers seal deal on half a trillion euro coronavirus rescue plan

European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies after weeks of wrangling that exposed painful divisions in the bloc headed for a steep recession. EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and after assurances for Italy that the bloc would show solidarity. Reuters

5:39 pm: Banks and health care companies will report earnings, but virus updates will matter most in week ahead

Major banks and health care companies will be the first to reveal how the early weeks of the coronavirus shutdowns impacted their profits, outlook, work force and customers. Earnings season begins in the week ahead, with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Johnson & Johnson among the first to release first quarter earnings reports Tuesday. But the stock market that appears to be willing to overlook anticipated bad news for now. Patti Domm

5:30 pm: OPEC and allies agree to historic 10 million barrel per day production cut

OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, on Thursday agreed to historic production cuts that will take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude. The agreement came as the oil-producing nations held an extraordinary meeting to discuss production policy amid falling oil prices. The group will cut 10 million barrels per day in May and June, 8 million barrels per day from July through the end of the year, and 6 million barrels per day beginning in January 2021 and extending through April 2022. Pippa Stevens

5:15 pm: Universal Studios extends park closures

View of the entrance of Universal Studio Hollywood closed during the Covid 19 crisis, April 2, 2020, in North Hollywood, California. Valerie Macon | AFP via Getty Images

Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando will remain closed through at least May 31, according to a company statement. The closure affects the theme parks and Universal CityWalk at both locations. The Universal Orlando Resort hotels have also temporarily suspended operations. There are flexible programs for guests who have purchased tickets for dates during the closure, according to the company. Universal Studios Hollywood originally closed March 14 and initially expected to reopen March 28. Hannah Miller

4:45 Coronavirus cases in the US pass 452,000

4:17 pm: California Gov. Gavin Newsom reports drop in daily ICU admissions

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that 150 hotels have agreed to give deep discounts to health care workers logging long hours in hospitals while dealing with coronavirus outbreak, during his daily news briefing at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Thursday, April 9, 2020. Rich Pedroncelli | Pool | AP

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the state saw a 1.9% drop in the daily number of patients admitted into the ICU yesterday, which now totals 1,132 people. Newsom warned, however, that the daily drop was only one data point and is not reflective of a greater trend, but it's an encouraging sign that reinforces the state's social distancing guidelines. Newsom said 18,309 people are infected with the coronavirus in California and 492 people have died. The total number of people hospitalized increased by 4.1% overnight to 2,825. After receiving questions on why Newsom decided to send ventilators to other parts of the country, he said the state's hospital system is only using 31.89% of all its ventilators in its system, meaning approximately 8,000 are not in use. "We thought it was the right thing to do, but I also want to let you know it was the responsible thing to do as American citizens from a moral and ethical imperative to save lives," Newsom said at a press conference. Noah Higgins-Dunn

4:05 pm: S&P 500 jumps more than 1%, capping off its best week since 1974

Stocks rose sharply on Thursday, wrapping up a big week of gains, after the Federal Reserve detailed a bevy of programs to support the economy during the shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% to close at 2,789.82 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 285.80 points, or 1.2%, to 23,719.37. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.8% higher at 8,153.58. The U.S. stock market will be closed Friday due to Good Friday. For the week, the S&P 500 surged 12.1%. That was its biggest one-week gain since 1974, when it rallied more than 14%. The Nasdaq had its best week since 2009, jumping 10.6%. The Dow soared more than 12% for one of its biggest weekly gains on record. Fred Imbert

4 pm: Volkswagen announces 'emergency furloughs'

Volkswagen said Thursday that it is implementing "temporary emergency furloughs" of production and maintenance employees at its plant in Tennessee effective April 11. The company said the furloughs are not expected to last more than four weeks, which would be in-line with expected timelines for other automakers such as Fiat Chrysler and Tesla to resume production. "Our primary objective is to protect the financial health of Volkswagen for the benefit of our team as we address the emerging and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on our industry," Tom du Plessis, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, said in a press release. Approximately 2500 VW employees and contractors are impacted. Non-furloughed employees will continue working from home and will use one mandatory vacation day next week. The plant employs about 3,800 people, according to its website. A company spokesman did not immediately respond for comment. VW said it will continue to provide health care benefits and coverage of premiums, paying both employer and employee contributions. Employees also will still receive their first quarter bonuses as well as their March monthly bonuses, the company said. The furloughed employees, according to VW, eligible to receive an additional $600 per week in federal compensation through the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, as well as state unemployment benefits. Mike Wayland

3:25 pm: German study shows coronavirus might not be fatal as previously thought

3 pm: Pence bars top health experts Fauci and Birx from appearing on CNN, the network says

Vice President Mike Pence's office is barring top public health officials from appearing on CNN until the news network agrees to air the White House's daily coronavirus briefings in their entirety, CNN reported on Thursday. CNN often airs only the first portion of the daily briefings live, the part that is typically led by President Donald Trump, before returning to their news anchors during the second half of the briefing. Only after Trump is finished speaking, taking questions from the press and calling on various experts to come up to the lectern, do Pence and other top officials have their own dedicated time to take questions and make announcements. Christina Wilkie

2:44 pm: NYC first responders describe 'devastating' coronavirus cases as cardiac arrest calls surge

The Fire Department of New York, or FDNY, has registered a staggering increase in calls for cardiac arrest patients as the city saw its count climb to more than 84,000 known cases as of Thursday morning, with more than 4,400 deaths. Since the coronavirus came to the city, the FDNY has reported a 50% daily increase in calls for emergency services. But the number of cardiac arrest calls has been especially grim. From March 20 to April 5, the agency logged an average of 195 cardiac arrest calls daily, with 129 people dying each day, according to statistics provided to NBC News. During the same time period last year, the FDNY averaged 65 cardiac arrest calls a day, and 27 of those calls, on average, ended in death, the statistics show. NBC News

2:27 pm: Prime Minister Boris Johnson released from intensive care

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for PMQs at the House of Commons on 25 March, 2020 in London, England. Wiktor Szymanowicz | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care on Thursday, after being admitted for coronavirus treatment. "The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," a spokesman for No. 10 Downing Street said in a statement to NBC News. Kevin Breuninger

2:03 pm: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he's 'not that confident' in federal government's handling of coronavirus crisis

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo complained about the federal government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. "How confident am I of federal responsibility and action? Not that confident," Cuomo said as he left a daily press briefing in Albany on the virus. Cuomo's criticism came after he announced that COVID-19 deaths in New York reached a daily record for the third straight day with 799 fatalities, and after he said that the $2 trillion federal relief bill does even less for his state than he thought. Kevin Breuninger

1:49 pm: Gone but not for good: Restaurants try to keep in touch with furloughed workers

At 115 years old, Columbia Restaurant Group's flagship location in Tampa is the oldest restaurant in Florida. The eatery has survived the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Depression and two world wars. But on March 20, it temporarily shuttered nine locations and furloughed 90% of its workforce after Gov. Ron Santis closed the state's dining rooms. "We have people who have been with us 10, 20, 30 years, so we're doing everything we possibly can to retain those employees, that's our first priority," Chief Marketing Officer Michael Kilgore said. "We have every expectation that we'll be able to hire people back and reopen." The family-owned company is primarily using HotSchedules, the restaurant and hospitality software, to stay in touch with employees. Furloughed workers are also receiving free meals and the proceeds from any gift cards that have been sold. Amelia Lucas

1:33 pm: Pelosi pushes need for money for smallest US businesses

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said othe country's smallest businesses need to be protected against the ravages of the coronavirus outbreak and pushed for $60 billion to be allocated to those enterprises in the next funding allocation. "There is a disparity in access to capital in our country. We do not want this tragedy of a coronavirus to exacerbate that disparity or to ossify it, to solidify it," Pelosi told reporters. Reuters

1:20 pm: How much unemployment can you get? That depends on your state

Unemployment insurance claims are generally filed with the state in which someone worked. The average person receives $378 a week in unemployment benefits, according to U.S. Labor Department data as of year-end 2019. But that figure masks wide variation among states. Mississippi, the least generous state, paid an average $213 a week. Massachusetts, the most generous, paid $555. That means the typical jobless person in Massachusetts gets $1,368 more per month than in Mississippi. Greg Iacurci

1:06 pm: Coronavirus could push half a billion more people into poverty globally, UN warns

The coronavirus pandemic could result in between 420 million and 580 million more people, or 8% of the global population, living in poverty, a study by the United Nations University has found. Researchers based their calculations on the most extreme scenario of a 20% decline in income or consumption around the world. This looked at people falling below the three international poverty lines of living on less than $1.90, $3.20 or $5.50 a day. Higher estimates could mean that half of the overall global population of 7.8 billion people could be living in poverty by the end of the pandemic. There were 3.4 billion people living on less than $5.50 a day in 2018, which are the latest official recorded figures. Even based on its "low" scenario of a 5% fall in income or consumption, this could lead to the first increase in global poverty since 1990, the authors stated in the paper which was published Thursday. In this case, researchers forecast that as many as 135 million people, or nearly 2% more of the world's population, could become destitute as a result of COVID-19. Vicky McKeever

12:52 pm: Coronavirus pushes auto dealers to embrace online sales like Tesla, Carvana

While Tesla and Carvana, an online used car sales company, have been selling vehicles online for years, U.S. auto retailers have essentially used the internet as a tool to bring people into the dealership, not to sell vehicles. Many saw online sales as a threat to their showrooms; however, the coronavirus is changing that. Automakers are rolling out new online sales tools or enhancing current programs for dealers, as they view online sales as one of their last chances for salvation during the pandemic. Fiat Chrysler, for example, launched a new online sales program this month that allows customers to partially, if not completely, go through the sales process online. As with Carvana and Tesla, the purchased vehicle can be delivered to their home without them ever stepping foot in a dealership. Michael Wayland

12:27 pm: The right way to use and clean your mask during the pandemic

Both customers and cashiers wear face masks at 99 Ranch Market in Quincy, MA on March 13, 2020. Stan Grossfeld | The Boston Globe via Getty Images

People should be wearing cloth face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control said. For masks to be effective, they must be worn properly. Here's the right way to use a cloth face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic, plus common pitfalls that could affect your safety: Focus on the Fit: Face coverings should be snug, but still comfortable, and cover your whole nose and mouth, and extend underneath your chin, according to the CDC.

Face coverings should be snug, but still comfortable, and cover your whole nose and mouth, and extend underneath your chin, according to the CDC. Put it on carefully: The World Health Organization suggests that people first clean their hands before putting a mask on and check that there are no holes or tears in the fabric.

The World Health Organization suggests that people first clean their hands before putting a mask on and check that there are no holes or tears in the fabric. Don't touch the mask while wearing it: If you must take off your mask for a quick breather, or an itch, it's important to practice good hand hygiene after touching the face covering.

If you must take off your mask for a quick breather, or an itch, it's important to practice good hand hygiene after touching the face covering. Take it off carefully: Be extra careful not to touch the front of your mask and your eyes, nose and mouth when removing your face covering, and wash your hands after handling your mask, according to the CDC.

Be extra careful not to touch the front of your mask and your eyes, nose and mouth when removing your face covering, and wash your hands after handling your mask, according to the CDC. Wash your mask often: According to the CDC, machine-washing your mask is enough to disinfect your cloth face covering.

According to the CDC, machine-washing your mask is enough to disinfect your cloth face covering. Keep social distancing: Wearing a face covering is just one additional step that you can take to stop the spread of COVID-19, but it's not a replacement for the other important prevention measures, such as washing your hands and social distancing. While surgical masks and N95 respirators should be saved for healthcare workers, the idea is that a simple cloth covering could prevent asymptomatic people from spreading the disease in situations where it's hard to maintain social distance. Cory Stieg

12:19 pm: Fed fires an even bigger bazooka to save the economy, expands its shopping list to include junk bonds

The Federal Reserve dramatically expanded its efforts to save the economy, even adding junk bonds to the list of assets it can buy, as a wave of businesses are expected to have trouble surviving the recession. Stocks jumped, Treasury yields rose and the dollar sagged after the Fed said it would provide $2.3 trillion in programs that expand its operations to reach small and midsized businesses and U.S. cities and states. Gold futures surged $51, a 3% gain to $1735 per ounce on the view that the Fed initiatives could be inflationary. Corporate debt ETFs also rallied. iShares IBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF was up 3.2%, while HYG, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF surged 6.8% in its biggest move since 2008. The Fed provided details of some programs it had already announced, but added some new ones and some surprises. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said, after the announcement, that the Fed was aiming its efforts at the part of the real economy that need the most help and that other programs could be added. Patti Domm

12:11 pm: New York coronavirus daily death toll reaches third-straight record at 799, Gov. Cuomo says

Funeral parlor workers move a body from a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue at the Brooklyn Hospital Center to a hearse, in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 8, 2020 in New York. Bryan R. Smith | AFP | Getty Images

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is bringing in more funeral directors as coronavirus deaths across the state hit a third-straight daily record with 799 fatalities. "We're in a battle, right, but this is about a war," Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany. "Before you start talking about restarting the economy, you're going to have to address the damage that is done to society today, which is intense."

New York state is grappling with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country with more than 151,000 confirmed cases across the state and 81,800 in New York City alone  almost as many as China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

12:01 pm: Wall Street firm dangled up to 175% returns to investors using US aid programs

A New York investment firm pitched wealthy investors in recent days on a way to make returns of 22% to 175% using U.S. government programs designed to help Americans keep their jobs and boost the coronavirus-stricken economy, according to a marketing document seen by Reuters. Following questions posed by Reuters, Arcadia Investment Partners, which has about $1 billion under management, said it had put its plans on hold. The idea was in "formative stages" and the firm was not "presently moving forward with this strategy given reasons that include uncertainty surrounding the regulations," Dahlia Loeb, managing director at Arcadia, told Reuters in an email on Wednesday. She did not elaborate further. The firm had sent the pitch as recently as this weekend to "a limited number of sophisticated investors," according to the marketing materials, which are dated April 4 and marked confidential. In an email sent Sunday, and seen by Reuters, Loeb wrote it was a "highly time-sensitive opportunity" and had offered to discuss it with investors that day or early in the week. Reuters

11:52 am: Airlines should start hearing back about their bailout applications by Friday, Mnuchin says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hopes to begin offering "preliminary information" to airlines about their applications for government assistance starting Friday to help stem the pain from the coronavirus pandemic. "We hope to get to a lot of the airlines starting tomorrow and over the weekend with preliminary information," Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC. Major airlines last Friday, including Delta, JetBlue, American, United and Spirit, said they had applied for federal aid aimed at covering payroll, as instructed by the administration. Those grants were approved as part of a more than $2 trillion relief package passed by Congress late last month. The bill also offered $29 billion in loans to passenger and cargo airlines, but grants have taken first priority as the government hopes to save jobs and airlines hemorrhage cash. "It is our objective, to make sure that I've said this is not a bailout, but airlines have the liquidity to keep their workers in place. So that's the next big thing we'll be rolling out," Mnuchin said. Lauren Hirsch

11:40 am: CVS and Walgreens are opening more drive-thru testing sites

A man directs vehicles as they arrive at a rapid COVID-19 testing site in Lowell, MA on April 07, 2020. On Tuesday, April 7, CVS Health will launch the operation of a rapid COVID-19 testing site in Lowell, the first of its kind in the state. Craig F. Walker | The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Thousands of people will soon be able to drive to a nearby parking lot, swab their noses and find out within minutes if they have the coronavirus. CVS Health and Walgreens each opened one drive-thru testing location last month  but they're now expanding the number of sites and opening them to the general public. Their first drive-thrus were restricted to first responders. Walgreens plans to open 15 more testing sites across seven states, starting this week. CVS opened up two new drive-thrus on Monday: one in Atlanta and one near Providence, Rhode Island. It also relocated its Massachusetts drive-thru to a site in Lowell that has capacity for five lanes. Both are also using a new tool: Abbott Laboratories' ID Now, which can deliver test results in minutes. Melissa Repko

11:22 am: Senate adjourns until Monday after Democrats block McConnell's bid to add $250 billion in small business aid

Senate Democrats blocked a Republican push to unanimously pass a bill to put $250 billion more into a loan program for small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. With only a few senators in the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to approve the measure by a unanimous vote. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., objected to the request, stalling the legislation. Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell said he was not "talking about changing any policy language" the parties negotiated last month as part of an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency spending package. He urged Democrats not to "block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more"  tweaks to the small business aid program and more emergency funding for hospitals and states, a proposal Democratic leaders outlined Wednesday. Jacob Pramuk

10:30 am: New York City Mayor warns coronavirus restrictions might need tightening, says it's time to 'double down'

A postal worker delivers mail during the coronavirus pandemic in New York City. Jose Perez| Bauer-Griffin | Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the city may need to tighten its social distancing restrictions to contain the coronavirus outbreak and prevent it from resurging, saying it's going to be a "long, tough" April. De Blasio said the last thing New York can afford is to let the disease resurge now that the city is beginning to see evidence that the spread of the infection is starting to slow. Noah Higgins-Dunn, Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

10:24 am: Trump plans to launch second coronavirus task force focused on economy

President Donald Trump is planning to launch a second coronavirus task force that focuses on his administration's response to the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, NBC News reported Thursday, citing a senior administration official. The second task force will include Trump's new chief of staff, Mark Meadows, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, NBC reported. Trump could announce the second task force as soon as this week. The White House did not immediately provide comment on the new commission. The Washington Post first reported on the task force. Kevin Breuninger, Christina Wilkie

10:20 am: This map shows the states that suffered the biggest job losses last week due to coronavirus

Another eye-popping weekly U.S. jobless claims report showed again how far-reaching the coronavirus's economic toll has been. Claims for state unemployment benefits were most concentrated in Hawaii, Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada and Rhode Island with claims of 79, 78, 75, 56 and 51 and 51 per 1,000 workers, respectively. The data is for jobless filings through the end of last week.

10:12 am: Powell says the economic recovery can be 'robust' after the coronavirus is contained

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the economic rebound following the coronavirus-induced shutdown "can be robust" despite the sharp downturn. In the meantime, he said the central bank is committed to doing whatever it can to support the flow of cash to businesses and households both through a plethora of financing programs and by keeping interest rates anchored near zero. Powell spoke during a webinar for the Brookings Institution the same morning that the Fed announced a new $2.3 trillion financing initiative directed at small and larger businesses as well as households and state and local governments. Jeff Cox

10:06 am: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says US could be open for business in May

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he believed it was possible that the U.S. could open back up next month. "I do, Jim," Mnuchin said after CNBC's Jim Cramer asked about re-opening the economy in May. The comments came during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues," Mnuchin added. Mnuchin said that the administration was doing "everything necessary that American companies and American workers can be open for business and that they have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim." Tucker Higgins

10:02 am: Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has recovered from the coronavirus

James Gorman, chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman fell ill with the coronavirus about three weeks ago and has since recovered and been cleared by physicians, according to a company spokesman. The executive remained in charge of Morgan Stanley the entire time he was ill and has been working from home, according to spokesman Wesley McDade. Gorman, 61, is the first Wall Street CEO to disclose that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. He has run Morgan Stanley, a leader in wealth management and equities trading, since 2010. Hugh Son

9:34 am: Dow jumps more than 300 points as Wall Street heads for a massive week of gains

Stocks jumped after the Federal Reserve gave more details on how it will support the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 300 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 gained 1.1% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%. Thursday's gains put the major averages on pace for strong weekly gains. The Fed announced a slew of programs, including loans geared towards small and medium-sized businesses, that will total up to $2.3 trillion. Fred Imbert, Pippa Stevens

9:28 am: Stanford, Apple to release an app that connects first responders to drive-through tests

A new app from Stanford Medicine built with Apple's help will help connect firefighters, police officers and paramedics in California to drive-through COVID-19 testing if they are showing symptoms of the coronavirus. Users take a survey with questions about their symptoms. If they have symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection, the app recommends testing. First responders can take that result to their workplace contact in charge of health, referred to as a "department infection control officer" inside the app, and get scheduled for priority testing at a Stanford Health Care site. The First Responder COVID-19 Guide app is one of several new technology initiatives to connect people at high-risk for COVID-19 infection with testing. Kif Leswing

9:15 am: Jeff Bezos makes surprise visit to Amazon warehouse and Whole Foods store amid worker safety concerns

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Wednesday made a surprise visit to an Amazon fulfillment center and a Whole Foods store as workers have called on the company to better protect them against the coronavirus. The visit comes as Bezos and Amazon have faced criticism from warehouse workers, Whole Foods employees, union officials and legislators about a lack of protective measures for employees who continue to work amid the coronavirus outbreak. Last week, Whole Foods workers staged a nationwide "sick out" to call for paid leave for workers in quarantine and health-care coverage for part-time and seasonal workers, among other demands. Three Amazon warehouses in Staten Island, Detroit and Illinois also walked out last week to demand the company close their facilities after they reported positive cases of the coronavirus. Annie Palmer

9:09 am: Yelp lays off or furloughs more than 2,000 employees due to coronavirus

Yelp is laying off 1,000 employees and furloughing about 1,100 more due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The company will offer severance pay to employees laid off, as well as reimbursement for up to three months of health insurance coverage. Furloughed employees will retain most of their benefits and receive two weeks of additional pay, Yelp said. Jessica Bursztynsky

9:04 am: Federal Reserve unveils details of $2.3 trillion in programs to help support the economy

The Federal Reserve released long-awaited details regarding its Main Street business lending program and several other initiatives it is undertaking to backstop the reeling U.S. economy. Under provisions outlined for the first time, the loans would be geared toward businesses with up to 10,000 employees and less than $2.5 billion in revenues for 2019. Principal and interest payments will be deferred for a year. The Fed said the programs would total up to $2.3 trillion and include the Payroll Protection Program and other measures aimed at getting money to small businesses and bolstering municipal finances with a $500 billion lending program. Jeff Cox

8:56 am: Ex-FDA chief urges US to stay united in coronavirus fight, says 'Every part of the country' still at risk

The U.S. does not currently have the coronavirus testing capacity to ease up on social distancing efforts, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. If health officials "knew where this virus was spreading, different parts of the country could take different measures and relax some of these measures based on an assumption and knowledge that the virus really wasn't spreading in their community," Gottlieb said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "But I think every part of the country really is at risk right now. People who say, 'Well it's not spreading in my community,' probably don't know." The argument that certain communities and possibly states could attempt to restart their economy sooner than others is "eminently reasonable," said Gottlieb, a CNBC contributor who sits on the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina. A dense urban environment is not the same as a rural community, he said. But right now, he stressed, "we don't know where the risk is." Kevin Stankiewicz

8:50 am: Bill Gates: Schools will reopen in the fall, but economy won't magically return to the way it was

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates told CNBC he thinks schools will be able to resume in the fall but the U.S. economy won't magically return to the way it was before the coronavirus pandemic. Governments around the world have ordered people to stay home, and elected officials in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Washington and other states have closed schools for the rest of the academic year. Some schools have made it possible for students to take classes remotely over the internet, but the Microsoft co-founder noted that many students don't have the computers or internet connections necessary for remote learning. "I do think school will be able to resume in the fall," Gates said in an interview with Becky Quick that aired on "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "But I don't think this school year there's going to be any significant attendance. You know, maybe in the summer, people will do something special. But that would be very hard to do." Matt Rosoff, Jordan Novet

8:39 am: US weekly jobless claims total 6.6 million, vs 5 million expected

Jobless rolls continued to swell due to the coronavirus shutdown, with 6.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims in the week ended April 4, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That brings the total over the past three weeks to more than 16 million. The most recent number represents a decline of 261,000 from a week ago, which revised up by 219,000 to nearly 6.9 million. The ongoing surge in filings for unemployment insurance has been exacerbated by the expansion of those who can file claim. The CARES Act has expanded the group to include the self-employed and independent contractors. Jeff Cox

8:12 am: UK leader Boris Johnson 'continues to improve' after a third night in intensive care

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson "continues to improve," his spokesman said, after spending a third night in intensive care with coronavirus. The spokesman also said Johnson had a good night and is "in good spirits." The prime minister, who is at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, has been receiving "standard oxygen treatment," indicating that he is not on a ventilator. Before the Downing Street briefing, Culture Minister Oliver Dowden told the BBC that Johnson is "stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff." "I think things are getting better for him," Dowden said. Holly Ellyatt

8:06 am: Poland and Finland extend restrictions

Poland and Finland announced extensions of nationwide restrictions, stretching closures into May. Polish borders will remain closed until May 3, and the government will extend a lockdown for schools and businesses, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. Businesses will remain locked down until April 19 and limits for schools, as well as rail and air transport, will be extended for two more weeks, he said. Poles have also been told to cover their mouth and nose as of next Thursday, when the government is also expected to publish a schedule of "coming back to a new economic reality." Finland's government confirmed it was extending most of its restrictions by a month. The extension until May 13 had been expected. At the end of March, the government extended its ban on public meetings of more than 10 people and shut down public services such as schools for most students. Restaurants, which were closed from April 4, also will remain shut until the end of May, excluding takeaway sales. However, the government is considering lifting restrictions on nonessential traffic to and from the Uusimaa region around Finland's capital Helsinki. Reuters with contribution from CNBC

8:04 am: IMF chief says pandemic will unleash worst recession since Great Depression

The pandemic sweeping the world will turn global economic growth "sharply negative" in 2020, triggering the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021, the head of the International Monetary Fund said. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva painted a far bleaker picture of the social and economic impact of the coronavirus than even a few weeks ago, noting governments had already undertaken fiscal stimulus measures of $8 trillion, but more would likely be needed. She said the crisis would hit emerging markets and developing countries hardest, saying they would need hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid. Reuters

7:12 am: Former FDA chief says US won't have capacity to produce COVID-19 therapeutic at scale

The U.S. might have an effective drug to treat the coronavirus by the fall but won't have the manufacturing capacity to produce enough to meet demand, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. "We may have an effective drug in the fall," he said. "But we're not going to have the capacity to produce it at scale to give it to the millions of people who might be eligible for it, who might need it." Will Feuer Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina.

7:01 am: Bill Gates says US could open back up at end of May

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates told CNBC the U.S. may begin to reopen the economy at the end of May but it won't magically return to the way it was before the pandemic. "The behavior of people in terms of wanting to travel or go to events or even go to a restaurant, it's been utterly changed by the concerns about this disease," the Microsoft co-founder said in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick. "No one should think the government can wave a wand and all of a sudden the economy is anything like it was before this happened. That awaits either a miracle therapeutic that has an over 95% cure rate, or broad usage of the vaccine." Before a vaccine is available, he said, countries that have had considerable epidemics must figure out which activities should come back. He suggested that people could probably return to manufacturing and construction jobs, and hopefully education. Matt Rosoff, Jordan Novet

6:15 am: Iran's death toll rises by 117 to 4,110

Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said the country's death toll had risen by 117 to 4,110, according to Reuters. The total number of infections has reached 66,220, he said. Holly Ellyatt

5:40 am: Spain's daily deaths decrease; death toll surpasses 15,000

Spain's number of daily coronavirus deaths slowed after two days of increases. Spain's health ministry said 683 people died from the virus in 24 hours, taking the death toll to 15,238. The total number of confirmed cases has now risen to 152,446 from 146,690. Holly Ellyatt

4:50 am: UK leader Boris Johnson said to be 'getting better' as he spends a third night in intensive care

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care in a London hospital having been admitted for persistent coronavirus symptoms, although his condition is said to be improving. Culture Minister Oliver Dowden is the latest U.K. lawmaker to comment on Johnson's condition, telling the BBC Thursday morning that the prime minister is "stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff," adding, "I think things are getting better for him." Johnson is receiving "excellent care" at St. Thomas' Hospital in London where he is being treated, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said at the government's daily press briefing Wednesday afternoon. Holly Ellyatt

4:20 am: Russia's cases rise above 10,000

A police officer at the Iberian Gate in a deserted Red Square during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Valery Sharifulin
Europeans and Americans are desperate to move beyond the worst of the crisis and return to something approximating normality, but the World Health Organization is cautioning that moving too fast will undermine the sacrifices made so far.

Where things stand: Nearly every country on Earth is still seeing their caseload increase, and a recent uptick in Singapore shows that apparent victory over the virus can be fleeting. But several countries are providing reason for optimism.

Four countries now report fewer active cases than one week ago, according to a report from Albright Stonebridge Group, though Cambodias testing rate is so low that theres little reason to trust its data.

Chinas numbers might also be too good to be true, but the trajectory is clearly positive. The cordon sanitaire around Wuhan was lifted Wednesday after 76 days, allowing people to travel freely and families to reunite.

numbers might also be too good to be true, but the trajectory is clearly positive. The cordon sanitaire around Wuhan was lifted Wednesday after 76 days, allowing people to travel freely and families to reunite. South Korea now has twice as many recoveries as active cases, but it isnt declaring victory yet. The government is extending strict social distancing rules for another two weeks, but the country will go ahead with parliamentary elections on April 15. Voters will wear masks and gloves.

now has twice as many recoveries as active cases, but it isnt declaring victory yet. The government is extending strict social distancing rules for another two weeks, but the country will go ahead with parliamentary elections on April 15. Voters will wear masks and gloves. In Jordan, thousands have been arrested for the crime of being outside during what is perhaps the worlds strictest coronavirus lockdown. It seems to be working  Jordans case count has fallen to 202, while numbers are climbing elsewhere in the Middle East.

New Zealand saw more recoveries (35) than new cases (29) in the past 24 hours.

While the government's decisive action has contained the outbreak, the aim is to "crush it" before easing restrictions, Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes.

Austria is leading Europes tiptoe toward normal life, with small shops reopening next week and larger ones on May 1. Schools, restaurants and hotels are slated to open their doors in mid-May.

Denmark and Norway are also rolling out staged reopening plans, while Italy is expected to allow some factories to reopen soon.

Phase two is a necessary phase in which we will have to learn to coexist with the virus, because the virus wont disappear, Italys Health Minister Roberto Speranza has said. We have to rethink how we will organize our social life, our manufacturing and our public health-care system. ... It will be very gradual.

Italy and Spain appear now to be through the worst of what have been Europes deadliest outbreaks so far.

We have begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can touch it, Alberto Mantovani, scientific director of the Humanitas hospitals in Milan and Bergamo, told WSJ. We feel it in the hospital. The number of admissions is down and people are leaving the ICU.

France, Italy and the U.S. are now in the eye of the storm.

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Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 16:55 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e0b3a 4 National KPK,Jakarta-Corruption-Court,reclamation,Riau-Islands-governor,Nurdin-Basirun,sentences,imprisonment,Corruption-Eradication-Comission,corruption Free

A panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced suspended Riau Islands governor Nurdin Basirun to four years in prison for accepting bribes in relation to a reclamation project in the province.

The governor was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp 200 million (US$12,592) and Rp 4.22 billion in restitution fees for his crimes.

If [the defendant] does not pay [the restitution fee] within one month after the court's decision, the defendant's property will be confiscated and auctioned off to cover it, presiding judge Yanto read the verdict during a virtual hearing on Thursday.

The court also revoked Nurdins right to run for office for the next five years.

Prosecutors previously demanded a six-year sentence and a fine of Rp 250 million.

Read also: Reclamation project delayed in Riau Islands after governor nabbed for alleged bribery

Both Nurdin and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors told the bench that they were considering whether to appeal the sentence.

The KPK arrested and named Nurdin a graft suspect in July last year for allegedly accepting bribes and unlawful gifts from local businessman Abu Bakar over the deliberation of the provinces zoning plan on coastal areas and small islands.

Abu Bakar allegedly bribed the governor in exchange for a reclamation permit at Tanjung Piayu in Batam, which would later be used as a resort and tourist area even though the site was previously reserved for land cultivation and a protected forest.

Nurdin is suspected of having accepted a total of Rp 665 million in different currencies, including the Singaporean dollar and US dollar.

The KPK also named Abu Bakar, Riau Islands Maritime Affairs Agency head Edy Sofyan and agency official Budi Hartono suspects in the case.

Nurdin was elected Riau Islands governor in April 2016. He was replaced by his deputy Isdianto shortly after his arrest.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met with Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State at the State House, Abuja.

Mr Zulum, who spoke to State House Correspondents after the meeting, said he was in the state House to brief the president on the recent military action against Boko Haram by Chadian soldiers on the shores of Lake Chad and its implications on Nigerias National Security.

The action of the Chadian soldiers was in retaliation over the killing of about 91 Chadian security personnel by the Boko Haram insurgents recently.

Mr Zulum quoted the president to have promised to take more decisive and proactive measures towards ensuring that the Boko Haram menace in parts of the country is totally eliminated for sustainable peace and development.

READ ALSO:

After critically analysing the situation, we both expressed the belief that time has come to once and for all to put an end the senseless acts of terror by Boko Haram and other criminal elements operating in the region, he said

The governor said he also briefed Mr Buhari on his administrations efforts at containing the ravaging Coronavirus in Borno.

NAN reports that Borno has so far not recorded a single case of Coronavirus in the state.

(NAN)
[April 09, 2020] Sard Verbinnen & Co Public Affairs Announces New Leadership Appointments

Sard Verbinnen & Co ("SVC") Public Affairs today announced new leadership appointments, further expanding its team and capabilities. Bruce Haynes , currently Co-Vice-Chairman of SVC Public Affairs, has been named Chairman, leading SVC's more than 30 public affairs professionals across the firm's nine offices.

, currently Co-Vice-Chairman of SVC Public Affairs, has been named Chairman, leading SVC's more than 30 public affairs professionals across the firm's nine offices. Trent Duffy , co-founder of HDMK Public Affairs and a former lead communications officer in the White House and U.S. Congress, joins as Vice Chairman of SVC Public Affairs and Co-Head of the Washington, D.C. office.

, co-founder of HDMK Public Affairs and a former lead communications officer in the White House and U.S. Congress, joins as Vice Chairman of SVC Public Affairs and Co-Head of the Washington, D.C. office. Michele Davis , most recently Global Head of Corporate Relations and a Management Committee member at Morgan Stanley, joins SVC as Senior Counselor, advising SVC and its clients across numerous practice areas including public affairs, financial communications and crises.

, most recently Global Head of Corporate Relations and a Management Committee member at Morgan Stanley, joins SVC as Senior Counselor, advising SVC and its clients across numerous practice areas including public affairs, financial communications and crises. Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, who joined the firm in 2018, continues to serve as Vice Chairman of SVC Public Affairs and Co-Head of the Washington, D.C. office.

who joined the firm in 2018, continues to serve as Vice Chairman of SVC Public Affairs and Co-Head of the Washington, D.C. office. Ed Gillespie, who has served as Chairman of SVC Public Affairs since June 2018, is transitioning to become Senior Executive Vice President for External and Legislative Affairs at AT&T (News - Alert). Gillespie will report directly to CEO Randall Stephenson. "Since its launch two years ago, SVC Public Affairs has quickly become an integral part of our client advisory offering, and we know Bruce will drive its continued success in his new role as Chairman," said Paul Verbinnen, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of SVC. "We are excited to continue growing the practice, and, as a big step in that direction, to welcome Trent and Michele to SVC to join Bruce and Miriam. We appreciate Ed's leadership in helping establish this world-class practice, assembling a deep team and building the foundation for its long-term success. We respect his decision to join AT&T, a unique opportunity, and we look forward to continuing our friendship and working with him in his new role." Haynes said, "I look forward to working with Miriam and now Trent Duffy to lead SVC's extraordinary group of over 30 global public affairs professionals. Michele Davis joining Karen Boykin-Towns as an SVC Senior Counselor balances and broadens the depth of our advisory capacity. We will miss working with our good friend Ed, but the addition of Trent and Michele will allow us to continue to grow an already expanding busiess and help more clients create, build and protect economic and social value."



"I'm looking forward to being a part of the impressive SVC team and joining a global enterprise that engages clients at the highest levels of public affairs," Duffy said. "I'll always value what we achieved at HDMK, but at this stage of my career I am ready to take on this new and exciting challenge." Davis said, "SVC is a unique advisory firm with nearly 30 years of experience helping boards and management teams navigate high-stakes communications issues. Its integration of public affairs alongside financial communications, litigation, and crisis communications is a perfect fit for my experience and the work I love to do. I also share the firm's cultural values of integrity, collaboration and giving back to the communities where they work."

Gillespie said, "SVC is an incredible firm and I'm proud to have been a part of it. While I'm sad to leave, I am excited by this new opportunity at a great American company which is a client of the firm's. SVC Public Affairs will continue to thrive under the strong leadership of Bruce Haynes and Miriam Sapiro and with the great additions of accomplished professionals like Trent Duffy and Michele Davis." Trent Duffy Background Duffy brings 30 years of communications, public affairs and campaign experience to SVC. Prior to founding HDMK, Duffy served in top positions in the White House, the U.S. Congress and in the private sector. Duffy worked for President George W. Bush as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary, serving as chief spokesperson for the president on economic policy, regulatory policy energy, health care, homeland security, telecommunications, taxes and trade. Duffy regularly conducted the Official White House Briefing for the White House press corps. Prior to serving in the West Wing, Duffy was Communications Director to White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mitch Daniels, where he developed and led government-wide communications strategies for the president's budgets. Duffy also has extensive communications experience on Capitol Hill and in politics, working as Communications Director for the House Ways and Means Committee and as Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee. Michele Davis Background Davis recently worked as Global Head of Corporate Relations at Morgan Stanley, where she served as a member of the firm's Management Committee. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Davis was a partner and co-head of the Washington, D.C. office for The Brunswick Group, a global consulting firm. Davis also served as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Policy Planning for the U.S. Department of Treasury under Secretary Hank Paulson, leading Treasury Department communications during the 2008 global financial crisis and advising Secretary Paulson on messaging to markets and the American public. Davis's government service also includes work as Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications as well as serving as Communications Director for the House Majority Leader. Davis has also served in the private sector as Senior Vice President for Regulatory Policy at Fannie Mae. About Sard Verbinnen & Co. ("SVC") SVC is an independent strategic communications firm focused on supporting companies through complex, high stakes situations affecting reputation and value, including transactions, proxy contests, IPOs, litigations and crises. Headquartered in New York, SVC has offices in Washington, D.C, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong. The firm has over 200 employees, including more than 20 partners. SVC has been widely recognized for its leadership in its focus areas. In 2019, Mergermarket ranked SVC the #1 Global PR Firm by deal volume and value for the third consecutive year. The Holmes Report named SVC 2019 Financial PR Agency of the Year, and SVC is ranked by Chambers and Partners as a Top Tier, Band-1 PR Firm. For more information, please visit www.sardverb.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005503/en/

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The coronavirus epidemic has led to an immediate and complete shutdown of the live music and festival industry, and those working in the sector need immediate support to avoid going bankrupt, according to an analysis by Music Hungary Association and Hetfa Research Institute.

According to the research, the shutdown of the live music industry affects some 36,000 people. The lack of events means that most of them are left without a source of income for the upcoming months.



While the amount of loss largely depends on the length of the outbreak, the industry is set to lose some HUF 13 billion of income. About HUF 4-5 bln of the total loss will be missing from the wages of Hungarian musicians and experts working in the field.



The research says that, on average, Hungarian musicians earn more than 60% of their income through live performances. Another important source of income (more than 15%) is the royalties received after songs played at catering establishments and concerts. However, most public places are now closed, taking away this source of income as well.



Due to these difficulties, musicians are set to lose more than 70% of their income in the upcoming months.



Music Hungary Association has hence sent the government a list of recommendations to ameliorate the situation.



Proposals include the extension of employer contribution suspension until the end of the year, decreasing the VAT of activities related to live performances to 5% until the end of 2021, making royalties tax-free in 2020-21, increasing the Hungarian music quota of radio stations by 10-15 percentage points, as well as support for virtual concerts and appearances on digital platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.



The complete list of proposals and additional statistics are available here (in Hungarian)
By Donald Kirk





WASHINGTON D.C.  The scene is deceptively tranquil: People cruising down near-empty streets on bicycles, young parents playing with their kids, joggers puffing along on sidewalks.







It's just as it should be on a Sunday except that it's a weekday when the main streets would ordinarily be crowded, the kids would be in school, and most normal people would be at work in busy offices having commuted on crowded metro subways and buses or in their own vehicles, cursing as they moved in and out of traffic jams.







The headlines scream of an impending "Pearl Harbor" crisis, of between 100,000 and 200,000 dying, of hospitals and emergency rooms already filled and doctors having to make life-or-death decisions as to whose life is worth trying to save with a precious ventilator and who might as well be left to die. The visual contrast between the scenes around you and the realities of crowded hospitals and not enough ventilators and face masks, much less other more sophisticated equipment, is really beyond imagination.







In fact, you would never have imagined what's happening all around you even in some fantastical film or novel full of strange turns and twists, but the drama is going on every day, every hour, in American cities, and no one dares predict with much certainty when or how the play will end. A few weeks? By mid-summer? By the end of the year? You hear forecasts from one extreme to the other, spoken tentatively, hesitantly, simply because no one knows.







Nor is there any telling where and how the disease will strike, but one danger is pretty clear. If you can't spend all your waking and sleeping hours at home, as we are often reminded is the safest place of all, at least you can avoid crowds like the plague. The most vulnerable are the aged and infirm consigned to nursing homes where cluster outbreaks have become the new normal. Even if the old folks have separate rooms, they're often still too close to avoid transmission of the disease.







It was also way too crowded aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, now at Guam getting cleaned up and sprayed down from stem to stern after dozens of sailors aboard the vessel picked up the bug in a joyous few hours on shore in the central Vietnamese port of Danang.







There's a wondrous irony here. It was in 1965 that the first wave of U.S. marines went ashore at Danang, where they were greeted by the mayor and pretty girls with garlands of flowers at the outset of a war in which their mission was to defeat the forces of Vietnamese communism. It was a noble cause, American people were told, and it wouldn't take long to show the enemy the evil error of its ways.







Thousands of marines, and the U.S. army troops who replaced them, lost their lives in a war that was probably not winnable unless the U.S. sent troops on the ground into the heart of the enemy above the 17th parallel. That was the line that supposedly divided Vietnam in 1954 like the 38th parallel the Americans had scrawled on a map between the two Koreas in 1945. The Americans had gone home two years before the forces from the land we called "North Vietnam" swept south to victory over all "South Vietnam" 45 years ago this month.







This time, on a friendly port call, surrounded by a flotilla of supporting vessels, the Theodore Roosevelt encountered an enemy far more insidious, more powerful, more stubborn and enduring than the Vietnamese Communists. Compounding the ravages of COVID-19 is the drama of the dismissal of the captain of the carrier for publicizing his feelings about the danger of the disease in a letter to his bosses. Then, in the next act in the drama, came the denunciation of the captain by the acting secretary of the navy in a harangue to the sailors on the carrier, after which the acting secretary had to resign for his foul language.







Here in the U.S. capital, the drama of the Theodore Roosevelt was mostly a distraction, a sideshow among many others as men and women worried about whether they too would be snuffed by the disease, their careers ended, their high hopes dashed.







Even as the beauteous spring days faded into dark nights of uncertainty, Washington never looked so calm, so laid back, so peaceful while all-news stations blared out the numbers of dead and dying, ill and fearful, and the papers emblazoned the bad news in banner headlines over story after story. Through it all was the image of the president, Donald Trump, holding forth before a skeptical media, trying to make up for his failure to anticipate the disaster engulfing the land that he had once pledged to make great again.







) has been witnessing the drama from his base in Washington before returning to his home in Korea.



Donald Kirk ( www.donaldkirk.com
The council in Marbella has announced the largest public investment and tax reduction plan in its history in a bid to tackle the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Angeles Munoz announced last Friday a battery of measures which, she said, would involve allocating 130 million euros to economic recovery. She also called on central government to lift the ban on local councils spending their accumulated surplus, which in the case of Marbella amounts to 70 million euros.

Munoz highlighted the unemployment data released last Thursday, with an increase of 17.3 per cent (to 14,200), in addition to an imminent "unprecedented crisis". That is why the council will allocate 60 million euros to municipal investments and ten million euros to employment and training.

Small firms and self-employed

In addition, the council is working on an ambitious plan to maintain employment and the survival of small firms and the self-employed. This involves 25 measures that will require 130 million euros of municipal funds. One measure will be the application of the "zero activity, zero tax" principle.

There will also be direct subsidies for firms that retain the same number of workers as prior to the crisis, a scheme to which two million euros has been allocated.

Construction

Meanwhile, since the state of alarm was decreed on 14 March, Marbella council has received 616 urban development files, of which 386 are building licences. This is a similar number to those that were put in place last January, before the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

On Monday, the council approved nine of these licenses, which will see an investment of 1.7 million euros.
As the impact of the new coronavirus became clear for Madison, Conn. indie R.J. Julia Booksellers, owner Roxanne Coady was faced with the question of how to ensure that the stores 30 full-time employees have a paycheck and the store itself has a future. The answer was to give books away to children who need them.

In a March 23 appeal, Coady asked customers to show their support by purchasing books through the store for distribution to the 1,500 children receiving lunches in the New Haven public schools. In a matter of weeks, the idea gained a powerful advocate in U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, grew to include the Bridgeport public schools, and as of April 8, raised $150,000.

Like everybody, I was a wreck, and thinking, where are we going to get money? Coady said. At the same time, I do a lot of work with the schools, and I was hearing how many lunches they were giving out. I thought, people want to be helpful, so why not generate sales that give books to people who otherwise would not have access?

The idea quickly gained supporters, including Sen. Murphy, with whom the bookstore was working to launch the now-postponed Bridgeport Book Fest. Murphy sent an e-mail to his constituents, and the response was overwhelming. The store raised $100,000 in a single day.

The result is that Coady will be able to distribute approximately 30,000 books in New Haven and Bridgeport. 7,500 K8 readers will receive a book a week for four weeks when their families go to pick up their lunches. Coady will select the titles based on age group with her buyers, two sales representatives from Penguin Random House, and the executive director of Read to Grow. Ten percent of the funds will go to Read and Grow to support their work coordinating the distribution of the books.

For the bookstore, the success of the initiative, combined with online sales to general readers, and federal support, is enough to ensure that Coady does not have to lay off any of her full-time employees. This could close the gap for us, Coady said.

Given the unprecedented nature of the public health crisis, Coady said she remains concerned about what the future will bring for small businesses, including independent bookstores, which are particularly vulnerable in an economic downturn. But, she added, the outpouring of support from customers is a source of hope and inspiration. Its just the coolest, Coady said. I do believe that tough times bring out the best in people, and I think theres probably a lot more stories like this out there.
Australians stranded in Peru, Argentina and South Africa will have the chance to come home on three more coronavirus rescue flights.

The federal government has struck a deal with Qantas on the flights, which are expected to happen in the next week.

A further 280 Australians are on a flight from Peru on Thursday in a separate government-organised rescue.

The federal government has struck a deal with Qantas on the flights, which are expected to happen in the next week

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is looking at similar flights from India and The Philippines to bring more citizens home during the global pandemic.

'We are getting Australians home, we are harnessing our relationships overseas, we are leveraging our fantastic network,' Senator Payne said on Thursday.

Earlier in the week, flights from Nepal and Cambodia brought people back to Australia.

There are thousands of Australians in India where strict border closures are hampering the efforts of people to get out.

Senator Payne said Australia was looking at options for a commercial charter flight through ongoing talks with the Indian government, which has enforced lockdowns.

'We thought we had made some headway earlier in the week but that did not progress, so we are continuing to do that,' she said.

Australians stranded in Peru, Argentina and South Africa will have the chance to come home on three more coronavirus rescue flights. A man is seen being detained in the Peruvian capital of Lima

Australians overseas have been told they must pay their own way home, with a seat on the flight from Peru costing $2550 a person.

Other countries are subsidising return journeys but Senator Payne signalled commercial rates would still apply for Australians.

'Where there is a real difficulty for Australians to afford those flights, we have encouraged them to engage with friends and family for the purposes of that process,' she said.
A quiet street in Cairo, Egypt (Photo: VNA)



According to the diplomat, no Vietnamese in Egypt have been infected with the COVID-19.



Amid the complicated and unpredictable developments of the disease in the host country, the embassy has actively given relevant recommendations and instructions to those Vietnamese living and working there.

It has also regularly disseminated medical regulations and guidelines of the host country to the community. A hotline was established to support Vietnamese citizens in case of need, Cong said.

For those still stuck in Egypt, the embassy has also regularly exchanged information and worked with local authorities to ensure visa extension for them while they wait for flights to return home.

The embassy has organised charitable activities to help the Vietnamese community in the country, he added.

So far, Egypt has reported 1,450 cases of COVID-19 infections, including 94 deaths./.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said there are grounds for "cautious hope" that current measures to contain the coronavirus in Germany are having an impact and won't need to be tightened.

"We can be very pleased that perhaps, as things stand, we can say that isn't necessary," she told reporters in Berlin on Thursday after a cabinet meeting. She urged her compatriots to abide by measures over the coming Easter weekend to minimize contact with other people. "We must stay focused. The situation is fragile."

Merkel's cautious words comes as Spain and Italy prepare to extend their own lockdowns by another two weeks.

"I would really love to be the first one to say to you that everything is how it was and we can get things going again," said Merkel. "But that's not the case. My job right now is to say what is happening now. That doesn't mean that I don't think day and night about what might happen in the future."

As the coronavirus maintains its grip on Europe, authorities are caught between the urgent need to reactivate battered economies and calls by health officials to maintain restrictions on public life. Merkel indicated that the battle will be long.

"It will not disappear until we really have a vaccine with which we can immunize the population," said the German chancellor. "That means nothing less than we will have to live with the virus."

Merkel will meet with the leaders of Germany's 16 states on Wednesday to consider next steps.

Armin Laschet, a Merkel party ally and the state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous region, said evidence about the spread of the virus needs to be weighed alongside the damage caused by the lockdown. Small retailers and car dealerships may be able to put appropriate health measures in place to address the virus, he added.

---

Still, Health Minister Jens Spahn warned that a return to normality will be a slow process over a period of months . How closely Germans adhere to restrictions over the Easter break starting Friday will be crucial, he said.

"We are still far away from day-to-day life as we knew it before coronavirus," Spahn said. "We will need to do without many hard-won things in the coming weeks and months."

The daily number of new cases ticked up on Thursday in Germany, rising 5,633 compared with a day-earlier jump of 4,288, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That put the total number of confirmed infections in Europe's largest economy at 113,296, the fourth-highest in the world behind the U.S., Spain and Italy. Germany registered 333 new deaths from the virus, the highest daily toll so far.

Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany's public-health institute, said Thursday the number of infections among older citizens is increasing and that's likely to push up the death rate.

"We must continue with the restrictions over Easter and in the days after," Merkel said. "Because we could very, very quickly destroy what we have achieved."
(Photo : REUTERS/Benoit Tessier) A view shows the deserted arcades of the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, during a lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, April 8, 2020.

The French government is running on a smartphone app that could warn users if they came into contact with a coronavirus carrier, ministers said on Wednesday, Apr. 8. The move, however, would likely raise questions about the impact of tracing technology on civil liberties.

France, which has entered the fourth week of a lockdown imposed to slow the unfold of the coronavirus outbreak, is exploring approaches to quit the restriction on movement through touch-tracing apps.

ALSO READ: Microsoft Launches Coronavirus Tracker to Help Spread Information; But Beware of Fake COVID-19 Tracker Apps!

Technology can help fight COVID-19, says France minister

"In the fight towards COVID-19, technology can help," France's junior tech minister, Cedric O, told the newspaper Le Monde in an interview. He added nothing will be decided without extensive debate."

The minister said France was working on a "StopCovid" project that would use a proximity-tracking. He said it would be a Bluetooth-based app that customers could voluntarily set up on their cellular phones.

Its effectiveness might depend on people voluntarily using the app to document the reality they have tested positive. The app could then notify all the people who've been in near contact that they have got been near someone who has identified himself as positive.

"The application would simply inform you that you have been in contact in the previous days with someone who tested positive," O said. He said a task force had been working on a prototype for several days, but a launch date was uncertain.

ALSO READ: Alphabet's Free COVID-19 Testing App is Now Live, But You Might Have to be Careful on Using it!

French app sparked debate among officials

French regulation forbids individual mobile tracking apps compared to China and Taiwan, which tracks people who have tested positive to a virulent disease and enforce quarantine orders.

The issue has sparked a debate among President Emmanuel Macron's parliament, according to the New York Times. Several lawmakers from his party warned they might vote against any move to apply geo-tracking technology.

The French app would only be using the Bluetooth feature and not geolocation itself, Cedric O clarified. He added the app will not entirely track the user's movements. The records might be anonymous and deleted after a definite period. Germany and Switzerland are operating on similar apps, he added.

"We shouldn't start a mind-trip over how repressive an application it would be," the minister said. He underscored the application is just a voluntary tool and can be uninstalled from the phone at any time. O said

nobody will have access to the list of contaminated people, underscoring that nobody will know who contaminated who.

Tech app should follow the strict legal framework, authorities said

The project currently supports centralized and decentralized approaches, TechCrunch reported. This means that authorities have to determine its implementation.

However, two parliamentary sources told Reuters that France is open to contact-tracing technology as long as it follows a strict legal framework.

While the app is currently on the works, the French authorities rolled out an official website to encourage people to avail of telemedicine services to treat patients.

The site is mining aggregated data from telecom companies to know how people move around the country and is leveraging systems studying statistics to forecast the coronavirus outbreak.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Peter Weber ended his Bachelor season engaged to Hannah Ann Sluss. During the finale, it was revealed that the couple had broken up due to Webers feelings for Madison Prewett. The episode ended with Weber and Prewett side by side. But a few days later, they announced that they did not plan on pursuing a relationship with one another. That was about a month ago.

Now, Webers currently in Chicago self-isolating with Kelley Flanagan (from his season) and his friend Dustin Kendrick (from Hannah Browns season). The pilot says he and Flanagan are not dating, but he can see a future with her.

Kelley Flanagan and Peter Weber | Francisco Roman via Getty Images

Dustin Kendrick hopes the public will get to see what Ive been seeing during this time of Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagan

In a recent interview with Life & Style, Kendrick didnt comment on the couples status, but he did say theyre cute together.

Their interactions are just cute and [they] just conversate all the time, he told the publication while promoting his new IGTV series called Heard, Chef where local top chefs from Chicago teach the Bachelorette alum a dish to cook. So yeah, Im excited for you guys to see what Ive been seeing during this time. Hopefully, you guys do.

Kendrick says he, Weber, and Flanagan have all fallen into a bit of a quarantine routine. And it sounds like Flanagan is doing most of the work.

Kelley does most of the cooking. We do the cleaning, he says. Also she loves cleaning, too. Shes kind of spoiling us for sure.

Why Dustin Kendrick thinks Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagan are attracted to one another

Kendrick thinks Weber is attracted to Flanagan because shes a strong woman.

I think theyve had a strong connection ever since the beginning when they met each other last year, he said. But I think Peter for sure is attracted to just how strong of a woman Kelley is and how she doesnt take no sh*t and shes just really her own woman and powerful in that way.

As for why Kendrick thinks Flanagan is drawn to Weber: I think Kelley just loves how adventurous Peter is and theyre both up for an adventure and theyre just two sweet-hearted people and Im excited to see them both happy, he said, adding that he absolutely feels like a third wheel. Third-wheeling hard! Absolutely!

Read more: The Bachelor: Colton Underwood Thanks Cassie Randolph for Taking Care of Him When He Had Coronavirus in Heartfelt Post
Thursday, April 9th, 2020 (12:01 am) - Score 8,570

Before it was only a mathematical model (here) but now, after three years, the idea of pushing broadband ISP speeds of up to 1 Terabit per second (1000000Mbps) along a traditional copper line by using previously unexploited waveguide modes is finally being turned into a practical lab test at Brown University (USA).

At present a lot of consumers in the UK still get their broadband using Digital Subscriber Line technologies like ADSL2+ and VDSL2 (FTTC), which send electrical signals down a tiny bit of twisted pair copper wire in order to deliver an internet connection into the home.

Stanford Professor and CEO of ASSIA, Dr John Cioffi, is one of those who helped to develop DSL and in 2017 he also proposed a new technology called Terabit DSL. However, unlike a normal DSL line, the TDSL solution adopts the radically different approach of using an existing copper wire as a mere guide (waveguide) to help direct a wireless broadband signal in the 100GHz+ millimeter Wave (mmW) band.

The original model predicted that this method could potentially deliver speeds of 1000Gbps (Gigabits per second) at distances of 100 metres, 100Gbps at 300 metres, 10Gbps at over 500 metres and possibly 1Gbps at 640-700 metres. Just for comparison, the best you could probably expect on an optimal hybrid fibre G.fast line at 300 metres, with the latest kit and amendments, is probably 500Mbps (or c.200-300Mbps on Openreachs current setup).

NOTE: 1000Gbps = 1 Terabit per second (hence Terabit DSL). The figures above are downstream only, but at 100 metres an aggregate speed (download + upload) of 2Tbps may be possible.

The extra speed comes from the fact that above 100GHz you have a lot more spectrum frequency to play with (able to carry lots of data) and these signals can essentially fit between the copper wires. After that it would be possible to harness multiple-antenna style (MIMO) processing to transmit and receive the signals (modern WiFi and 5G networks also make use of MIMO).

Until now TDSL has only existed as an interesting mathematical model of what might be possible, but after a lot of work the idea is now being tested in a new lab at Brown University. So far, the research results indicate successful transmission modes, even around bending pairs of wireless in the 200GHz range, said a brief project update from ASSIA.

The fact that such speeds could be achieved, without needing to replace existing copper cables with expensive full fibre infrastructure, is a possible incentive for operators to explore the approach. For example, upgrading each home with fibre to the home can cost $3000 to $4000 per home  [but TDSL] could reduce costs of building the high-speed access networks of the future by a factor of five to ten, claimed ASSIA.

However there remains a big question mark over the real-world viability of using mmW spectrum in such a way, which is a band that can be easily disrupted (such signals usually dont travel very far without a dense or powerful network to keep them stable). At the same time it could take years to turn TDSL into a viable commercial product and by then most of the UK will have hopefully already been upgraded to gigabit-capable FTTP.

The very fact that many countries, including the UK, are already planning to switch-off and remove their old copper networks means that TDSL may well arrive long after the main party has finished (it makes little economic sense to maintain FTTP and copper side-by-side). Nevertheless the work itself is fascinating and were curious to see how it develops. The following video from 2018 gives a good description of the new tech.
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The Kansas State Legislature voted Wednesday to override a provision of the governors stay-at-home order that limited religious gatherings to 10 people, even as the coronavirus cases in the state grew this week, jumping 40 percent to over 1,000 with 38 deaths. Kansas Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, issued an updated statewide order on March 28 that resembled similar orders in other states: no large gatherings, limited travel, and the curtailment of daily business to those deemed essential. Pretty standard stuff. But not to Republicans in the state, who also happen to control the Statehouse. Republican Senate leaders pushed to override the governors public health order and will now allow religious leaders to congregate freely on Easter Sunday.

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Republicans in the state Legislature were able to undo the executive order using powers they granted themselves last month that allow the Legislature to override the governor in a wide range of circumstances. The power grab by Republicans in the state came after GOP lawmakers were outraged when the governor was early to close schools for the remainder of the academic year and restrict foreclosures and evictions in response to the pandemic. Republicans in the state Senate saw the handwriting on the wall and, when the emergency order needed to be renewed, set about crafting an amendment that outlined what the governor did not have the authority to do in response to the pandemic. And it wasnt just religious gatherings they were worried about protecting. It was access to guns and booze.

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The final wording of the resolution was more limited, but still prohibited regulating the arms trade in the state in any way. The original amendment put forward by the Republican leadership, however, is particularly outrageous. The amendment articulates the GOPs wildest dreams, where the Democratic governor is specifically not empowered to do much of anything really. The Governor shall not have the power or authority  to utilize all available resources of the state government  as reasonably necessary to cope with the disaster and does not have the authority to perform and exercise such other functions, powers, and duties as are necessary to promote and secure the safety and protection of the civilian population. Really classic Republican stuff.

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Republicans continue to grumble about government overreach after trying to incapacitate the state, curtailing its ability to do much of anything. Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican also running for the U.S. Senate, said the limit on the size of church services was part and parcel of this typical Democratic overreach. I think they were just very upset with the fact that the government was going to tell them that they couldnt practice their religion, Wagle said. Wagle said most people knew the dangers and werent planning on attending anyway, but dont tell us we cant practice our religious freedoms.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to Thursdays episode of What Next.
At least one high-ranking royal, as well as dozens of lower-level officials, have COVID-19, The New York Times reports.

Dozens of members of the ruling Saudi royal family, as many as 150, have been infected with coronavirus in recent weeks, a news report said.

Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud  the governor of the capital Riyadh who is in his 70s  is in intensive care after contracting the virus, according to The New York Times, which cited hospital communications, doctors in the country and sources familiar with the family.

King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) have retreated into isolation to avoid the outbreak.

Doctors at an elite hospital that treats royals are preparing 500 more beds for an expected influx of patients.

Directives are to be ready for VIPs from around the country, the operators of the elite facility, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, wrote in a high alert sent out electronically on Tuesday to senior doctors and later obtained by the Times.

We dont know how many cases we will get but high alert, said the message, which instructed all chronic patients to be moved out ASAP and only top urgent cases will be accepted, according to the newspaper.





The alert added any infected staff members will now be treated at a less elite hospital to save room for royals.

There are thousands of Saudi princes. Many travel regularly to Europe and some are believed to have contracted the virus abroad and brought it back to Saudi Arabia, the report said.

The kingdom of about 33 million people has reported 2,932 cases and 41 deaths.

The country, home to Islams holiest sites Mecca and Medina, banned the year-round Umrah pilgrimage and sealed off the areas in early March.

Travel in and out of the country, as well as between provinces, has since been largely restricted, and four governates and five major cities have been placed under 24-hour lockdown.

Authorities have yet to announce whether they will proceed with this years Hajj, scheduled for the end of July. Last year, about 2.5 million people travelled to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Hajj, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lives if able.

Worse to come

So far, mostly members of lower branches of the royal family have been infected, a source familiar with the situation told the Times. The vast majority of cases in the country have been in migrant labour camps and slums around Mecca and Medina.

But as the outbreak in the country spreads, Salman, the 84-year-old king, secluded himself on an island palace near Jeddah, while the crown prince has moved to a remote site on the Red Sea coast.

A Saudi health minister on Tuesday warned the outbreak in the country may only be beginning.

Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000, Tawfiq al-Rabiah said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

The Saudi royal family is estimated to have about 15,000 members.

In early March, several royals and officials were arrested in what some observers said may have been a crackdown related to a plot to remove MBS.
An Australian traveller placed in a 14-day quarantine after returning home from overseas has resorted to toasting bread with her hair straightener after discovering there was no toaster in her four-star hotel.

Amy Todd, 34, and her partner Matt have been staying at the Travelodge Hotel Sydney since arriving from Los Angeles on March 30 after Prime Minister Scott Morrison instated 14 days of forced isolation for all Australians returning home from overseas on March 27 in a bid to control the rising coronavirus cases.

The couple received a grocery care package from their friends, which included breakfast ingredients such as bread, bacon, eggs and avocado, shortly after their arrival in the hotel - but lacked the facilities to prepare a decent meal.

'We quickly realised we had nothing to make toast,' Amy told Daily Mail Australia.

The room included just a microwave, kettle, fridge, desk, bed and a lounge so they came up with a brilliant way of using other household appliances as a cooker.

The pair used a hair straightener to toast bread, an iron to make toasted sandwiches, a kettle to boil eggs, and a microwave to cook bacon for their delicious breakfast.

Scroll down for video

Amy Todd who's placed in a 14-day quarantine after returning from overseas has revealed how she used her hair straightener to toast bread for her breakfast

The couple used a hair straightener to toast bread, an iron to make toasted sandwiches, and a microwave to cook bacon and scrambled eggs

The couple came up with a brilliant way of using other household appliances as a cooker - including the kettle to poach eggs, and microwave to 'crisp' up the bacon

'After a failed attempt of making toast in the microwave we had a think about what other "tools" we had with us that we could use to make toast,' Amy said.

'My partner Matt is pretty handy to have when camping or travelling and had a thought to try my hair straightener - of course after sanitising it. It did toast the bread; but was still a little bit soggy.

'We had also learned that we can make bacon in the microwave, poached eggs in coffee mugs, boiled eggs in the kettle.

'I actually like bacon cooked in the microwave; it is crispy and not as oily.'

The couple also used an iron with tin foil to make toasted sandwiches.

'I learned that you can make toast and toasted sandwiches with an Iron along with some paper or foil. We tried this and it worked a treat,' she said.

'After being served cereal for the duration of the trip, I was just wanting toast so it was great that our toastie was successful.

'It's amazing what you can do when you focus on what you do have rather than what you don't have. We have been trying to work out some other Hotel MacGyver tips and tricks.'

After realising their room didn't come with a toaster, they resorted to an iron to make toasted sandwiches - and it was a success!

Another woman who's in quarantine made a cheese toastie using her hotel iron

One man used a hairdryer to heat up his pizza because his hotel didn't have a microwave

On Wednesday morning, Ashleigh (front) and Emily Meuwissen (back) left the Swissotel in Sydney for the first time after spending two weeks in enforced quarantine

A happy traveller freed at last as he waved from inside a bus taking guests away from the Swissotel in the Sydney CBD on Wednesday

After sharing her hair straightening cooking hack in a Facebook group, many Australians placed in an enforced 14-day quarantine at other hotels revealed they have been using other household items to cook their food too.

One woman attempted to make a cheese toasting using an iron, while one man used a hairdryer to heat up his leftover pizza because his hotel room didn't come with a microwave.

Amy and her partner will be able to check out of the hotel on Sunday, April 12 and she said she's looking forward to returning home to see her dog.

'I understand that this has been a necessary precaution; but it was tough to get into the headspace of having freedom removed,' she said.

'It was pretty confronting the thought of being escorted from the airport by the police and army but in the moment it felt like a movie or a dream, it's definitely a story for the grandkids.

'We have just tried to focus on what we do have and how we can get through each day. Each day we get through is another closer to home time. We have been extremely fortunate to be in quarantine together; I think that helps.'

Since being in isolation, Amy said she's learned a lot of lessons, including 'resilience', 'empathy' and a 'deepened appreciation for those fighting on the frontline'.
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This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the local news industry was a patient who already had all the underlying health conditions, said Mi-Ai Parrish, the former publisher of the Arizona Republic.

Now, local news is a patient in critical condition. Each day brings a new round of layoffs and pay cuts for journalists, a new slowing down of a printing press, and a new silence in communities that need accurate, updated, and tailored information. This is the tragic irony of our current moment: The COVID-19 pandemic is underscoring the critical importance of local news while also decimating it.

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Considering this contradiction and examining paths forward were at the heart of Future Tenses most recent web event in our yearlong Free Speech Project series, which is examining the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

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In communities across the U.S., local journalists have kept their communities informed throughout the pandemic about things like how many tests are available, where to go to get the resources they need, whats happening with their schools, what shortages their hospitals facethe sort of crucial, community-level coverage that large national publications like the New York Times cant.

Local news coverage during the pandemic hasnt just been about tallying cases. Kyle Pope, the editor and publisher of Columbia Journalism Review, noted that outlets have also shone a spotlight on social problemsthings like existing issues in county jails, the lack of capacity for digital learning in schools, and resource gaps at hospitals.

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We think of local journalists as first responders, said Suzanne Nossel, the CEO of PEN America, a membership organization of writers dedicated to protecting free expression. Indeed, news organizations have been widely designated as essential businesses during the pandemic.

Recognizing the importance of their work to their communities, many news organizations have taken down paywalls for their COVID-19 coverage, an honorable decision which highlights an interesting conundrum, said Parrish, currently the Sue Clark-Johnson Professor in Media Innovation and Leadership at Arizona State University. (Disclosure: ASU is a partner with Slate and New America in Future Tense.) Outside of emergency situations, people often argue against paywalls by claiming that journalism is so vital that it should be freebut whats lost in that argument is that precisely because journalism is so vital, it needs the financial backing of its audience.

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Unfortunately, convincing people to pay for journalism, particularly online journalism, is difficult.

Theres still sort of a hangover from the days where everything on the internet was free and people expected it to be free, Nossel said.

In a November report, PEN America found that over the past 15 years, newspapers have lost over $35 billion in ad revenue and 47 percent of newsroom staff. In many cases, the report notes, the digital shift has collapsed local newsrooms business models.

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Without even taking into consideration the impact of our current pandemic, $35 billion represents a massive funding gap, one not easily bridged. Doing so requires recognition among the public that journalism is a necessary public serviceand perhaps government funding.

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The most recent stimulus bill, as Nossel and Viktorya Vilk recently highlighted in Future Tense, includes almost no support for the journalism industry. But several organizations, including PEN America, are calling for future stimulus funding to include a special focus on local news organizations.

Government funding for journalism is controversial in the U.S., with critics citing concerns over editorial independence. But there are successful models for maintaining independence despite government funding in areas such as scientific research and the arts, Nossel said.

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Perhaps this stimulus phase can kind of destigmatize the idea of expanding public funding and catalyze a robust, in-depth debate, she said.

One thing thats clear is that solutions are urgent. More than 2,100 newspapers have disappeared since 2004, according to University of North Carolina professor Penny Muse Abernathy. And that was before the pandemic. Once they disappear, they do not come back, said Nossel. So theres a finality at stake here.

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Ultimately, said Pope, the problem local news faces is so daunting that theres no rescue big enough thats going to come from the outside. Rescuing local news requires community buy-in and community boots on the ground.

To get their communities to rally around them, said Pope, its incumbent on these news organizations to humanize themselves.

There are lots of ways to do this. It may involve sitting with your critical readers to discuss concerns over barbecue. It may involve, as Pope once did, parking an RV on the streets of Manhattan and opening the doors to community members with concerns, comments, questions, and tips. It wont always be easy.

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But luckily, local news organizations have two big things going for them on this front. First, the majority of Americans trust local television, newspapers, and radio (more so than national news sources), and this trust increases with increased contact with local reporters.

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The second, Parrish highlighted, is that among local journalists there is still so much heart for the work, despite constant challenges. After the 2016 election of Donald Trump, journalism schools across the country saw a surge in class sizes, and the panelists said it was reasonable to expect a similar reaction in the months following the pandemic.

Pope said his largest source of hope is local journalists commitment to telling stories that matterthe type of commitment that has them emailing CJR the day after theyve been laid off with an idea for a new, important story that theyre ready to report.

This hope is especially important in the face of the industrys uncertain future.

Its like everything that were living through right now. None of us know where the other side is, Pope said.  I live in New York City and every day I look for glimmers of hope in the data, and some days I see it and some days I dont  [W]e have to get through that phase first, and then we can start looking at the battlefield and sort of say, Where do we go now? 

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Turkey Hill Minit Markets on Wednesday announced the temporary closure of a second Lehigh Valley store due to the coronavirus.

An employee at the 6020 Sterners Way store in Hanover Township, Northampton County, informed the convenience store of a positive test for the COVID-19 illness caused the virus, according to a news release.

Turkey Hill Minit Markets on Saturday announced an employee of the 55 Morgan Hill Road in Williams Township also tested positive for the virus.

The store outside Easton closed at 10 p.m. Friday and the Hanover Township store outside Bethlehem closed at noon Wednesday, according to the company.

Both were set to be cleaned and sanitized by an industrial cleaning crew before reopening "in the next few weeks," Turkey Hill Minit Markets said.

The Easton area employee also worked for a few hours at the 1140 Hellertown Road store in Bethlehem, but only in the office. That area of the store was subsequently deep-cleaned, the company said.

We are grateful to all our customers for your patience and understanding during this time, Turkey Hill Minit Markets said in the release announcing the Hanover Township closure. All Team Members that work at the store have been contacted and advised to follow CDC-recommended guidelines. We are making every effort to provide the affected Team Member and our broader team with the necessary resources and support.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
President Muhammad Buhari has granted presidential pardon to 2,600 inmates of Correctional Centres nationwide, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbeshola, has said.

Mr Aregbesola, who made this known while addressing a news conference on Thursday in Abuja, said that 70 of the inmates would be released from Kuje maximum custodial centre

After the release of the first phase, the committee will continue to meet regularly to consider those who deserve the benefit, he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the UN had advised Member States to reduce the number of inmates in custodial centres, in view of the social distancing policy aimed at containing the spread of Coronavirus.

He described the launch of the 2020 presidential pardon as historic, adding that the process of selecting beneficiaries started in 2018.

Mr Malami warned the beneficiaries to desist from crimes, urging the community to receive them without stigmatisation.

He lamented that 70 per cent of inmates in Nigerias Correctional Centres were awaiting trial.

In his remarks. the Controller-General of NCoS, Jaafaru Ahmed, said that so far the service had not recorded any case of COVID-19.

He said that the exercise would go a long way in reducing the number of inmates in the service nationwide.

(NAN)
Courbevoie, France and Oslo, Norway, 8 April 2020 

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, and ZWIPE, a leading biometric fin-tech company, announce today, as per plan (1), the arrival of the first engineering samples of the next generation of the biometric secure element

This device will be the heart of the F.CODE next generation biometric card that IDEMIA will sell to Financial Institutions

ZWIPE, the holder of worldwide and exclusive rights to distribute this technology, will benefit from early availability of this new platform for their customers (2)

IDEMIA has selected IDEX Biometrics, a leading provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions, as supplier of the biometric sensor for the new platform.

The three companies will be piloting in the second half of 2020, with commercial rollout planned from 2021 and onwards.

Following the exclusive partnership and distribution agreement signed between IDEMIA and ZWIPE, the two companies announce that first samples of the new chip have now arrived for further verification and qualification with the first power-on successfully executed. Therefore, the new platform will now progress to the next stages of developments and will be able to meet expected demand from card issuers with a first launch on the market as from second half 2020 followed by a mass production of biometric cards during 2021.

IDEMIA and IDEX have signed an agreement by which IDEX will supply the cards sensors for this next generation of biometric payment cards. This agreement deepens a long-standing collaboration between IDEMIA and IDEX to develop biometric payment cards including an IP licensing agreement signed in October 2019 (3).

By teaming up with ZWIPE and IDEX to offer a disruptive biometric payment card platform that will radically reduce biometric payment card costs, IDEMIA is driving the growth of the biometric cards market and enables an accelerated path to mass volumes, which will ultimately benefit the issuers and users of cards.

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Amanda Gourbault, IDEMIA Executive Vice President Financial Institutions says: This achievement of this key milestone demonstrates that our next F.CODE generation biometric card development is being executed according to plan allowing a pilot launch second half 2020. Together with our business partners we are showcasing our best-in-class expertise in designing and manufacturing biometric-based payment cards.

Andre Lvestam, CEO of ZWIPE says: We are pleased to see this progress and we strongly believe that bringing forward the new platform together with IDEMIA will be a major catalyst in creating long term shareholder value and provide the technological leap needed to shape the future of the biometric payment card market and to drive commercial success for ZWIPE. The progress up until now has further strengthened our conviction that this project will meet not only the time schedule, but also the targeted unit cost reductions on biometric payment cards.

Vince Graziani, CEO of IDEX commented: We are proud to have been selected by IDEMIA and look forward to continue collaboration with this leader in authentication solutions, and to initiate collaboration with ZWIPE to bring biometric payment cards to the mass market. This award by one of the worlds largest card manufacturers is a validation of our off-chip product design that enables high performance at a disruptive cost point.

--o--

1: see PR - https://www.idemia.com/press-release/idemia-and-zwipe-partner-offer-disruptive-biometric-payments-card-platform-2019-09-19

2: manufacturers of payment cards, wearables and other payment solutions, and their suppliers.

3: see PR - https://www.idemia.com/press-release/idemia-enters-patent-license-agreement-card-enrollment-solutions-idex-order-expand-its-leadership-field-biometric-cards-2019-10-03

--o--

For further information contact:

Marianne Be, Investor Relations, E-mail: marianne.boe@idexbiometrics.com , Tel: + 47 918 00186

Derek DAntilio, Chief financial Officer, E-mail: derek.dantilio@idexbiometrics.com , Tel: +1 197 827 31344

About IDEX Biometrics

IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX and OTCQB: IDXAF) is a leading provider of fingerprint identification technologies offering simple, secure and personal authentication for all. We help people make payments, prove their identity, gain access to information, unlock devices or gain admittance to buildings with the touch of a finger. We invent, engineer, and commercialize these secure, yet incredibly user-friendly solutions. Our total addressable market represents a fast growing multi-billion-unit opportunity.

For more information, visit www.idexbiometrics.com and follow on Twitter @IDEXBiometrics

About IDEMIA

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space.

Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets  our identity  whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.

With 13,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.

For further information, go to www.idemia.com and follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter

Press contact: PR firm: Havas Paris, Irina Pungaru, +33 (6) 13 02 34 76, idemia@havas.com



About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is Making Convenience Secure for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipes solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com

For more information contact: Andre Lvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com





This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachment
Immediate Term

Mid-Range

Long Term

As 2020 began, we were anticipating a milestone year of progress and unprecedented technology opportunities ahead. In just a few weeks, the entire world and our country were gripped with the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Many have called this pandemic the battle of their lifetime. We are reminded of a quote by our 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy:The world will not surrender, and it will not submit. We will persevere to fight this virus and get back to normal. But perhaps a better way of thinking about where we're headed is as the "next normal." State and local governments are experts at providing services to their citizens, but the next normal of how that will be done is taking shape in real time. Technology is front and center in the way that government provides critical services to citizens. To prepare for the next normal, governments must think about how needs will evolve in the immediate term, mid-range and long term.The immediate needs of government center around the ability to communicate with citizens and their internal team. Providing accurate and timely information to citizens helps limit fear in the community. Governments are using every tool in their toolbox: websites, social media, online forums, etc., to provide the latest information about the spread of COVID-19. Communicating to employees is also critical to calm the uncertainty around what will happen to their jobs.Equally as important as communication is the need to ensure a solid, safe, and robust ability for teams to work remotely. In a time of social distancing, keeping government workers working remotely is a must. Critical applications like unemployment eligibility are being stressed with the new volume of citizens needing assistance. The most important immediate needs for government are accessibility, connectivity, and capacity. Governments must be accessible to the citizens, connectivity must be robust to ensure proper communication, and governments capacity to deliver services must be strengthened.The mid-range needs of government will be about realigning everything they do today with the next normal of operations. A realignment with government leadership will be required to reassess previous COVID-19 plans and their impact on pressing changes related to people, process, and technology. It is critical that the role of technology in this crisis play a part in that planning and realignment. Processes, especially for remote work , will need to be updated to ensure mass remote work is possible in the future. The next normal of remote work will demand policies that protect the workers and the government. Technologies must shift to accommodate remote work in a safe and secure environment, and cybersecurity protocols must be reviewed and altered to meet the realities of the next normal. The skill sets of the technology team will need to be assessed with an eye toward growing and developing skill sets to effectively meet the changing environment. Current contracts also need to be reviewed and future contracts need to be assessed to enable the supply chain to meet the needs of government.The long-term needs of government must include modernizing and strengthening technologies, to enhance disaster recovery, support the need for continuity of operations, and ensure delivery of essential services. After COVID-19, governments will no longer be given a pass when it comes to managing services during a crisis with outdated technologies . In the next normal, the people will not stand for service limitations because government is perceived to be out of date and ill prepared. Technology will rise to a new value standard with leadership and getting what you need now will be at a premium. Governments used to shy away from spending large amounts of funds to prepare for what may never happen. Times are now changed forever  the next normal will require properly prepared plans. The ability to understand essential processes and personnel will be a building block upon which government services in a crisis will be built. Being ready for a crisis will not be a nice to have but a have to have.State and local governments are amid a great battle that will rise and fall over time. An eye towards the future will be required if technology leaders are to be successful. To close our thoughts, we are reminded of another quote from our 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan:Heres to our brave government technology leaders of the future. Be safe and stay healthy. The people need you!
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New data reveals that there is a need to 'raise the line' with increased hospital beds, increased staffing and more medical supplies in order end the current coronavirus outbreak and safe more American lives.

With 42 out of 50 states now under a shelter in place order, the American public has been told that social distancing is essential to 'flatten the curve' of the outbreak, cutting off the spread of the virus by remaining at home.

By flattening the curve, the peak of hospitalizations is lessened, softening the burden on hospitals with a lower surge in patients, but in order for the fight against the outbreak to be fully effective, the U.S. must also 'raise the line' by increasing the capacity of its healthcare system.

A new graph shows how a combination of 'flattening the curve' and 'raising the line' will save thousands of American lives in the coming months and allow for a swifter end to the outbreak and a return to normal life.

Officials around the country are scrambling to ready healthcare facilities as the national death toll reached over 14,800 days before the peak of the outbreak is expected to hit on April 15.

New data shows how the country's healthcare system capacity must also be increased hand in hand with flattening the curve of more American lives are going to be saved from coronavirus

COVID-19 patients arrive to the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus on April 06 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Experts warn that hospital capacity across the United States must be increased to fight the outbreak to save thousands more lives

The graph first shows the effects that social distancing will have in decreasing the main spike in cases across a longer period of time.

Yet the line for hospital capacity still sees a significant chunk of this peak lying in the danger zone where the healthcare system will not have an adequate number of resources to treat patients.

It then shows how increasing this hospital capacity and 'raising the bar' can bring the full peak of the outbreak under the critical line and save many lives.

Flattening the curve may still result in the same number of people being infected but means that it will happen over a longer period of time, allowing the healthcare system to plan ahead for a future influx of patients.

It is still expected that 20 percent of those infected will need hospitalization, according to Vox, leaving healthcare experts warning that the line must be raised at lightening speed to ensure patients can be properly treated.

The graph first shows the peak of the outbreak if there was now social distancing

Social distancing flattens the curve but the line shows that the healthcare system capacity still falls under the peak of the outbreak meaning more staff, beds and supplies are needed

The healthcare system must 'raise the bar' or 'raise the line' to save thousands of lives, working alongside social distancing to ensure that waves of patients in the future can be treated

According to a model compiled by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, there was still a shortage of 36,654 hospital beds, 16,323 ICU beds, and 24,828 ventilators nationally as of April 7.

The battle comes as the U.S. has fewer hospital beds, fewer doctors and fewer nurses than other rich countries.

Hospitals, especially in rural areas where resources are more limited, must raise the capability of their facilities to deal with future waves of patients with increased staffing and beds.

They can also cancel elective procedures and increase the use of Teledoc which will reduce the number of people who have to leave their homes for an appointment, running the risk of being infected when they do so.

'The institutions that are really faltering are city hospitals and municipal hospitals,' an emergency medicine doctor in New York City told Vox.

'They don't have the funding of private institutions to increase capacity.

'There's a lot of discussion of ventilators, and I hope there's enough momentum to meet demand. My concern is we're not focusing on other nitty-gritty details: ventilator medications and critical care personnel,' he said.

'If the only pulmonologists at the hospital get sick, this is going cost a lot of lives.'

In New York City, where the death toll reached over 4,200 Wednesday, the peak of the outbreak is expected to hit earlier than it will nationally. By April 8, the Big Apple is expected to reach its worst point, increasing the vital need for the line to be raised fast.

Temporary field hospitals have already been established in Central Park, in the Javitts Center and in other places in the outer boroughs as officials add tens of thousands more beds to their system.

Central Park was transformed into a 68-bed makeshift field hospital in just 48 hours to take the pressure off overwhelmed hospitals the country's coronavirus epicenter as the city's healthcare system attempts to 'raise the line' on its capacity to treat patients

The hospital has 41 patients currently - three of which are in the ICU - mostly from the hardest-hit boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The city has added thousands of beds in recent days

New York state has also made the move to organize all of its hospitals into one system which could see doctors and nurses from upstate transferred to downstate hospitals where there is a greater need for staff.

Within the system, patients can also be transferred from overcrowded hospitals.

'It's to everyone's benefit to work together to try to get people healthy,' Karen Joynt Maddox, co-director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, said.

'It's bad for everyone else in New York state if the epidemic doesn't get contained in NYC, economically and from a health perspective. It's actually bad for the country, too, of course.'

At the University of Washington, as in many other hospitals around the country, elective surgeries have been canceled as retired doctors were called in to help.

'We feel such plans have really helped us with the medical response,' said Ali Moktad, a professor at IHME and chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington.

'And we did the same thing for the county and the next-door county, and also diverted resources to Harbor View Hospital, which we were concerned about. It serves our prisons and the homeless.'

Greater concerns come with attempts to increase staff as more and more healthcare workers are infected and fall ill themselves.

'I think one of the biggest limiting factors is staffing,' Cynthia Cox, who directs the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, told Vox.

'We might be able to increase staffing by bringing back retirees and allowing early graduation from medical and nursing schools. But its equally likely staffing numbers could fall as nurses and doctors are exposed to the virus and fall ill or need to be quarantined.'

A medical worker wearing personal protective equipment wheels a body to a refrigerated trailer serving as a makeshift morgue at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Monday, April 6, 2020, in Brooklyn. The city is now believed to be only days from its outbreak peak

Workers build the the makeshift trailer morgue for the thousands of COVID-19 victims outside Icahn Stadium in Randalls Island, New York on Wednesday as hundreds die in the city

As well as increasing the number of beds and staff, however, raising the line also means increasing supplies including face masks and personal protective equipment.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an order under the Defense Production Act to facilitate the supply of materials to produce ventilators to Philips, General Electric Co, Hill-Rom Holdings Inc, Medtronic Plc , ResMed Inc and Vyaire Medical Inc.

Trump said the order would help the firms 'overcome obstacles in the supply chain that threaten the rapid production of ventilators'.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday awarded two contracts worth more than $1billion to make ventilators needed to treat severely sick coronavirus patients and plans to announce five additional contracts later this week.

HHS awarded automaker General Motors Co a contract for $489million to produce 30,000 ventilators, while it also announced a $646.7million contract given to Dutch health technology company Philips to produce 43,000 ventilators by year end, including 2,500 ventilators by the end of May.

Some healthcare experts, especially those in Washington, the first epicenter of the national outbreak where the worst now appears to be over, are hopeful that the line can be raised in time.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Seattle is giving its army field hospital back to the Federal Emergency Management Agency so that it can be sent to a harder-hit state, as Washington's curve of new infections starts to flatten.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that the emergency field hospital set up by the Army Corps of Engineers will be disassembled and redeployed to a state more in need of the site.

Inslee said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon that the facility is no longer needed as hospitals seem to have brought the outbreak under control and social distancing has slowed the spread of the virus in Washington.

'I think we can come up with the beds and ventilators we need, and I think this country has the resources to do it,' said Moktad.

'I know for instance that the same ventilator is being used on multiple patients. Our physicians are becoming very creative. I am really hoping we can still avoid the peak by more people staying at home.

'We are all concerned about the peak right now, but we should also be concerned after the peak, how we can reallocate resources,' he added.

'Let's avoid the peak, but also one week after let's make sure we can provide the best medical care possible then for those who need it.'
Nearly 300 sailors on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the Navy announced less than a week after that ship's commanding officer was removed from his job over the way he warned superiors about the health crisis.

As of Wednesday, 286 members of the Roosevelt's crew have COVID-19. That makes up more than half of the Navy's 548 COVID-19 cases in the ranks, the highest among the military branches.

The Navy's handling of the health situation on the carrier led to a week of chaos that ultimately unseated the service's top civilian leader, former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly.

Modly removed the Roosevelt's commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, last week. Crozier had sent a four-page letter to Navy leaders -- and some outside the chain of his command -- raising serious concerns about the spread of coronavirus cases on the ship.

Related: Modly's Final Message to the Fleet: 'I Lost Situational Awareness'

Many aboard the Roosevelt saw Crozier as a hero who was looking out for his crew. Modly said Crozier put his crew at risk by allowing sensitive information about a deployed carrier's readiness level to go public.

Modly has since resigned as acting Navy secretary after addressing the Roosevelt's crew in the wake of Crozier's relief. Modly disparaged their former skipper, saying his decision to send the letter warning about COVID-19 cases publicly made him "too naive or too stupid" to command the ship.

Almost all of the Roosevelt's nearly 5,000 crew members have now been tested for COVID-19, according to Navy statistics on the disease, which has caused a global pandemic. Results for 2,874 of the COVID-19 tests have been completed.

More than 2,300 members of the Roosevelt's crew have moved ashore in Guam. That's nearly 400 people short of the 2,700 that Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the Navy wanted to move off the ship by the end of last week.

Crozier, in the letter that was later published by the San Francisco Chronicle, called for all but 10% of the nearly 5,000-person crew to be taken off the ship while it was disinfected. The captain said it was impossible to have enough social distancing onboard to stem the spread of the virus.

He warned that if leaders did nothing, it could cost lives.

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," he wrote. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset -- our Sailors."

Crozier is one of the Roosevelt crew members who has tested positive for the illness.

The Roosevelt isn't the only Navy carrier dealing with COVID-19 cases. A sailor last week tested positive for the disease on the supercarrier Nimitz, which is preparing to deploy.

There are also cases on the carriers Ronald Reagan and Carl Vinson.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Nimitz Becomes 4th Aircraft Carrier with COVID-19 Case: Report
The Redwood Springs Healthcare Center, a skilled nursing facility in Visalia, announced two staff members and six patients had tested positive for COVID-19. (Google)

As he drove home from the grocery store Sunday, Ruben Macareno, a city councilman in Farmersville, Calif., noticed a few groups of people socializing in their frontyards.

Macareno, while staying in his car, encouraged the groups to disperse, emphasizing the danger of the spreading coronavirus in California. Farmersville is in Tulare County, which had just reported its first coronavirus-related death.

As the numbers start to climb, they start to say, Oh shoot, this is in our backyard, said Macareno, who serves in the town of about 10,700 east of Visalia. He described a mentality in which many locals view the pandemic as a public health emergency that strikes cities and urban areas, not their small, more isolated enclaves.

A lot of us don't think it will hit us, but it can hit us, Macareno said.

Tulare County residents, however, are seeing firsthand how the virus is infiltrating their towns along the foothills of Sequoia National Park as the number of cases and reported deaths have increased in the last week.

An outbreak in a Visalia nursing home has become a hot spot, and local leaders are working to keep residents at home, worried that some think their geography will keep them shielded from COVID-19.

Nestled in the San Joaquin Valley, the 460,000-resident county is home to a largely agricultural community. In 2018, the county valued its dairy production at $1.68 billion, and grapes and oranges were more than $800 million each.

In the city of Tulare, bisected by Route 99, there was very little question that COVID-19 was going to come, especially with the number of travelers who pass through, Deputy City Manager Josh McDonnell said.

But deeper inland, Joe Tanner, who was recently named city manager of Lindsay, a town of about 13,400 residents, is facing resistance from retail shops refusing to shut down.

The town took immediate and obvious measures to take the governors March emergency declaration seriously from the start, Tanner said. Officials established social distancing measures at government facilities, closed the police department lobby and installed plastic shields at the finance department, where residents pay utility bills.

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Still, theyve struggled to get a few nonessential stores to close, despite calls from the county and efforts from the city to educate them on the importance of restricting contact with others, he said. The City Council is planning to vote on an emergency ordinance to fine the stores and could also force closure, he said.

Because of Lindsay's rural lifestyle and its location away from major highways, he said, some may think its safe. There is still an element of the community that we still need to educate, he said.

The first major COVID-19 outbreak in Tulare County was announced on April 1 at a Visalia skilled nursing facility, three days after staff members began showing symptoms.

The Redwood Springs Healthcare Center announced two healthcare staff members and six patients had tested positive. Immediately, the center distributed N95 face masks, gloves and gowns to staff and established a lockdown area to keep infected patients isolated as it tried to contain the spread, said Anita Hubbard, the administrator of the nursing home.

But it was too late. On Tuesday, six days later, 47 residents and staff members had been infected in the facility where about 60% of residents are older than 65, Hubbard said. Twelve others have tested negative, she said, and 18 tests are pending.

One resident died Tuesday morning and one remains hospitalized, Hubbard said. She said the center does not know how the spread began.

This incident underscores the service and sacrifices made by our dedicated team every day, she said in a statement. Our top priority remains the health and well-being of everyone in our facility.

As officials race to contain the pandemic, the spread in nursing homes has been particularly alarming. In Washington state, federal officials said more than 120 cases and at least five deaths were tied to one home; in California this week, one Riverside County facility had more 30 people test positive. The elderly are among the most vulnerable to the illness.

The cases of COVID-19 at the Visalia nursing home represent about half of the citys 98 reported cases. Tulare County reported 168 confirmed cases on Wednesday, many of which have been traced to person-to-person contact. Tulare County health officials reported the first couple of confirmed cases in mid-March and the first coronavirus-related death on March 28. Ten days later, the death toll rose to seven.

The county reported on Tuesday the death of an individual older than 65, but how this person became sick is unknown.

The county did not say where the person lived and has released little information about the regions coronavirus-related deaths, because ages or locations could be identifying factors in smaller towns, said Tammie Weyker-Adkins, a spokeswoman for the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency. Of the people who have died, four were older than 65. One contracted the illness through person-to-person contact and two were travel-related.

The county has tested 1,073 people as of Wednesday through its public health lab, Weyker-Adkins said. There are nine recovered cases, and 271 people are under self-quarantine. People older than 65 account for 55 cases, the largest age group.

Although the Redwood Springs center reported 47 in-house cases, Weyker-Adkins said, a total of 56 cases are tied to the nursing home, including friends and relatives of residents.

The county sent a clinical nurse to Redwood Springs to assist staff, she said, and is overseeing that the facility is keeping COVID-19 patients separated from healthy patients and providing personal protective equipment where needed.

At this point, we are partnering with them to ensure that they are following those protocols, she said.

Visalia City Manager Randy Groom said it was curious how the county was reporting more cases and fatalities than neighboring Fresno County, which has nearly 1 million residents but fewer reported cases and fatalities. Most counties in the San Joaquin Valley are similar in their makeup and economy, he said, but with varying testing capabilities, it was difficult to pinpoint the reason for the difference. He considered the outbreak at the nursing center a contributing factor.

Yet this rural city is preparing. It is working closely with a local hospital to prep spaces for infected patients, has established a testing site downtown and reserved a convention center two blocks from the hospital for possible overflow, Groom said.

Meanwhile, Macareno in Farmersville has taken to Facebook. He links articles to recent news, posts the countys daily update of cases and takes messages from residents about concerns, coronavirus-related and not.

He said he gets the occasional message from someone saying the pandemic is a conspiracy driven by media and politics, but those have lessened as the virus begins to spread in the region. In those instances, he reminds the commenters that no matter what they believe, the illness is not political and they have to be careful around other people.

In Woodlake, a town where the clear skies offer a stunning view of the Sierra mountain range, Mayor Rudy Mendoza also heard similar messages early on from Central Valley residents. But as the pandemic creeps closer, they have stopped.

He said he has taken a practical approach to inform residents about how the pandemic will affect their daily life, and he urges residents not to pay too much attention to the influx of news from around the world and the mounting death toll in cities like New York.

Now that were a month into this thing, I think people are much more wiser, Mendoza said, because were starting to see the fatalities and all the things that are going on and hitting even closer to home.
George and Amal Clooney have donated more than one million dollars (807,000) to the coronavirus relief effort, including money for the NHS.

The couple, who have a home in Berkshire, are understood to have donated money to six causes.

That includes a total of 300,000 dollars (242,000) to the NHS, the relief effort in the Lombardy region of Italy and the Lebanese Food Bank.

George and Amal Clooney have donated more than one million dollars to the coronavirus relief effort (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Amal, an internationally renowned human rights lawyer, was born in Lebanon.

The couple also donated 250,000 dollars (202,000) to both the Motion Picture and Television home, of which Hollywood star George is a board member, and to the US actors union SAG-AFTRA Fund.

The same sum went to the Los Angeles Mayors Fund, which helps provide childcare for the citys emergency service and health care workers.

The donation was first reported by Deadline. Other celebrities to donate towards the coronavirus fight include Angelina Jolie, who pledged one million dollars to combat child hunger.

Rihannas Clara Lionel Foundation donated five million dollars (4 million) towards organisations in the US and around the world.

Former California governor and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged one million dollars to a fund supplying resources to frontline medical staff while Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively donated the same sum to two food bank charities.
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Electronics manufacturing company ITI Limited and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are set to sign an agreement for the manufacturing of portable ventilators, a top official of the public sector firm said on Thursday.

The company expects to start production of the ventilators in about two-and-a-half months from the date of signing of the memorandum of understanding and technology transfer of the ventilator technology to it from the DRDO.

"We are going to sign a memorandum of understanding with DRDO in the next 2-3 days for the transfer of technology for portable ventilators. We will get 80-90 per cent components locally and the rest will have to be imported. We expect to start manufacturing ventilators in the Bengaluru plant in two-and-a-half months from the date of technology transfer," ITI Chairman and Managing Director RM Agarwal told PTI.

He said that the cost of ventilators will depend on the size of the order that the PSU will get. "The cost of ventilators that we will produce will be lower than units of the same quality. Being a PSU, we will not charge high margins. The final cost cannot be estimated at present because the cost of components for low volume production will be high and less for high volume production. Once DRDO transfers technology, we will start working on material cost and orders," Agarwal said.

India might need anywhere between 110,000-220,000 ventilators by May 15 in the worst-case scenario if coronavirus infection continues to spread. The number of ventilators available in the country is a maximum of 57,000 at present and come with a cost of Rs 5-15 lakh, according to a Brookings report.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Agarwal said that the portable ventilator will cost less than the ICU ventilators and the DRDO technology can be used for catering needs of armed forces in future.

He said that ITI can expand manufacturing of portable ventilators at three other locations -Mankapur and Rae Bareily in Uttar Pradesh and Palakkad in Kerala.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
Coronavirus in India live updates: A 70-year-old woman in Dharavi's Kalyanwadi has reportedly passed away after contracting novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, Maharashtra has reported 25 coronavirus deaths today, taking its total tally to 97. Of the 25 deaths today, 14 were reported in Pune, followed by nine in Mumbai and one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri.

Also Read:India Coronavirus live updates Friday (April 10): 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

The state administration said 229 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking total injected cases to 1,364, highest number of coronavirus cases among all states. Overall in India, 5,734 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 166 deaths have been reported so far, until 7:30 PM today. Of this, 473 persons have been discharged after recovery, data by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deputed high level multi-disciplinary Central teams to assist the States and State Health Department in activities pertaining to cluster containment plan and hospital preparedness (ICU & Ventilator management for COVID-19 patients).

Earlier today, the government announced significant investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crores for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. The funds will be utilised for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (amount of Rs 7774 crores) and rest for medium-term support (1-4 years) to be provided under mission mode approach.

Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

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10:30 PM: Govt exempts customs duty, health cess on essential medical goods

The central government on Thursday granted exemptions from basic customs duty and health cess on the import of ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, personal protection equipment (PPE), COVID-19 test kits. Basic customs duty exemption shall be available upto September 30, 2020.

10:25 PM: Residents scramble for basics as 22 hotspots in Noida, Greater Noida sealed till April 15

As Uttar Pradesh sealed off hotspots in 15 districts of the state, Guatam Buddh Nagar ramped up efforts to fight the contagious virus. Gautam Buddh Nagar authorities identified and sealed 22 hotspots in the district till April 15. Supertech Capetown in Noida's Sector 74, with over 2000 families, is one of the housing societies that has been completely locked down by the authorities.

Police were deployed outside identified societies, premises were sanitised, areas were completely sealed off as residents queues up outside their society gates to receive the delivery of essential commodities.

10:20 PM: UP reports 51 new cases of coronavirus, state tally rises to 410

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday reported 51 new positive cases of Novel Corona Virus in various districts of the state, which includes 30 Tablighi Jamaat attendees. Meanwhile, 31 patients (8 Agra, 3 Ghaziabad, 12 Noida, 5 Lucknow, 1 Kanpur, 1 Shamli, 1 Pilibhit) have been declared recovered and discharged till date. According to the state government, out of 410 total COVID-19 cases, 225 are linked to Tablighi Jamaat.

10:10 PM: UK reports 881 death in last 24 hours, toll rises to 7,978

As many as 243,421 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the UK on Thursday. Of this, 65,077 have tested positive and the number of people admitted to hospital with symptoms stands at 16,784. Of those, virus has killed 7,978 people.

10:00 PM: 23 Wadhavan family members of DHFL group violated lockdown

As many as 23 members of Wadhavan family of DHFL group have been placed under institutional quarantine by local police in Mahabaleshwar after they visited the town, violating the lockdown. The process to file a complaint has been initiated at the local police station, news agency ANI reported.

"It will be inquired that how 23 people of Wadhavan family got permission to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar," said Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

"Wadhawan Brothers who are on bail in DHFL, Yes Bank fraud case are given VVIP treatment by Maharashtra government to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in Convoy. I have urged Governor of Maharashtra to order Investigation," BJP leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted.

9:50 PM: Canada estimates coronavirus could kill 11,000 to 22,000

The coronavirus pandemic could kill between 11,000 and 22,000 people in Canada, the government projected Thursday. The government estimated that the country could see 0.93 million-1.9 million COVID-19 cases by the time the pandemic ends, assuming Canadians observe strict social distancing and other safety measures over the next few months, news agency AFP reported. These are the federal government's first projections on the pandemic's possible toll in Canada.

The virus has killed 476 people in Canada as of Thursday morning., according to figures provided by provincial authorities.

9:40 PM: Punjab makes face masks compulsory at public places

After Delhi, Punjab has made wearing face mask compulsory at public places. "Health Secretary is issuing a detailed advisory for the people. Just remember to wear mask when you step out of home for any emergency/essentials. A piece of clean cloth is all you need," says Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh.

9:30 PM: Ola gets nod for non-COVID medical emergencies services in AP

Andhra Pradesh on Thursday gave permission to OLA cabs for operation of Emergency Medical Transport services in state, ANI reported. Serviceswill be for urgent medical care (non-COVID related) like dialysis, cancer, heart ailment. Primarily decided to launch pilot project at Visakhapatnam, says the state government official.

9:20 PM: 15 new coronavirus positive cases reported in Andhra Pradesh today

Andhra Pradesh on Thursday reported 15 new positive cases today. Of this, 11 reported in Prakasam, 2 in Guntur, 1 each in East Godavari and Kadapa. The virus has taken life of 2 people today. Total positive cases in the state now stand at 363 (including 10 discharged people & 6 deaths), says Arja Srikanth, Andhra Pradesh COVID-19 nodal officer.

9:10 PM: Rajasthan reports 33 new COVID-19 cases, total tally reaches 463

Rajasthan has reported 33 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, taking the state's tally to 463, according to state official. As many as 28 cases have been reported in Jaipur, 11 each in Neelgarh and Purani Basti, followed by 7 in Ptang bazar and 4 in Ramganj. Subash chauk, Manak chauk thana, Suharo ka mohalla and Thora nalas each reported one case.

9:00 PM: 229 new coronavirus cases, 25 deaths reported in Maharashtra today

Maharashtra has reported 25 coronavirus deaths today, taking its total tally to 97. Of the 25 deaths today, 14 were reported in Pune, followed by nine in Mumbai and one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri. The state administration said 229 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking total injected cases to 1,364.

8:45 PM: Need to keep warships free of Covid-19, says Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh has said that it is important to ensure that operational assets such as warships and submarines remain free of COVID-19 and to keep guard up to be ready for combat.

"We all have soon come around to realising that the danger is real, imminent& unprecedented. For the Navy, we have taken certain measures in consonance with Government of India," says Navy chief.

Including stoppage of recruitment and training; freeze on movements and transfers; stoppage of work, except those related to national security, Health, and essential Services: Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh to Navy personnel on #COVID19 2/2 https://t.co/JVzPkIO07j  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

8:35 PM: Out of 114, 2 quarantined staff of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital test positive for COVID-19

Two patients, out of 114 quarantined healthcare workers, of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier on April 4, two patients, who were admitted at the hosital, had tested positive for COVID-19 following which 114 medical staffers were quarantined.All 114 staffers, including doctors, nurses and ward boys, who were incidentally exposed to these patients were quarantined.

8:25 PM: Delhi Police use drone cameras to monitor situation in Daryaganj area

In wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Delhi Police is using drone cameras to monitor the situation in Daryaganj area.

Delhi Police use drone cameras in Daryaganj area to monitor the situation amid lockdown, in wake of #COVID19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/AecR7S1ISf  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

8:15 PM: Gujarat reports 21 new coronavirus positive cases

Gujarat has reported 21 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking total positive cases in the state to 262 which include 26 discharged and 18 deaths. As of now, 212 are stable and 3 are on ventilator, while, 4 are quarantined for surveillance, according to Health Department, Gujarat.

8:05 PM: Karnataka to cut legislators salaries by 30% for one year

In a bid to support the fight against coronavirus in the state, ministers and members of legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year. "we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

7.49 PM: ICMR updates testing strategy for coronavirus

7.41 PM: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has instructed Principal Secretary and Collector of Health Department to seal the areas in Korba district's Katghora area, where seven coronavirus cases were found.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) updates its testing strategy for #COVID19. The revised strategy also states 'asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between days 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact'. pic.twitter.com/5UW6xq7x49  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

7.36 PM: First COVID-19 case in Aligarh

First case of coronavirus has been found in Aligarh today. The patient is a 22-year-old man, who hails from Firozabad and had come to Aligarh on March 12 to attend a religious event. He and 9 others had been placed under home quarantine on 30th March. Others with him have tested negative but he tested positive, informed Aligarh District Magistrate CB Singh.

8:00 PM: Karnataka to cut legislators salaries by 30% for one year

In a bid to support the fight against coronavirus in the state, ministers and members of legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year. "we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

7.33 PM: Coronavirus pandemic: Madhya Pradesh to lock down hotspots in 15 district

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed senior government officers to seal coronavirus hotspots in 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh, informed state's Information and Public Relations Department.

7.10 PM: Maharashtra Police stops contacts of latest COVID-19 death in Dharavi

Maharashtra Police said that it stopped 4 close contacts of a coronavirus-positive woman who lost her life, in Tokawade. It was found that doctors had advised them to get tested but they were trying to flee out of Mumbai. All four have been detained and sent for medical examination, police sources said.

7.07 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: BMC confirms 3 new cases in Dharavi

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has confirmed that 3 new cases of coronavirus have been identified in Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia. Earlier today, an elderly woman living in Kalyanwadi area of Dharavi passed away, supposedly due to coronavirus, taking the death toll in the area to three.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has instructed Principal Secretary & Collector of Health Department to seal the areas in Korba's Katghora where seven cases of #COVID19 have been reported: State Information & Public Relations Department pic.twitter.com/qTpSgRhRxC  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

6.56 PM: Coronavirus outbreak: 18 new cases in Telangana today

Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajendra informed that 18 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Telangana today. This is expected to increase the number of cases from 442 which has been confirmed by Union Health Ministry.

6.53 PM: Coronavirus update: Masks made mandatory in Rajasthan's urban areas

Wearing of masks has been made mandatory in urban areas of Rajasthan, informed state government's Department of Infomation and Public Relations.

6.51 PM: IN PICTURES: National Sports Club of India in Worli (NSCI) converted into a quarantine facility by Mumbai Civic Administration

3 new #COVID19 positive cases have been reported in Dharavi of Mumbai today. The total number of positive cases here rises to 17 (including 3 deaths): Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) #Maharashtrapic.twitter.com/EHY99qEKVu  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

6.48 PM: Double salary for those involved in fight against coronavirus: Haryana CM

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that individuals involved in care, treatment or testing of coronavirus patients will be paid twice the amount of their salary as long as the COVID-19 pandemic lasts.

6.42 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: 9 dead; 79 new cases in Mumbai today

Maharashtra: Mumbai Civic Administration has converted National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Worli into a quarantine facility. #COVID19pic.twitter.com/xVlDuvDE4O  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

6.34 pm: Coronavirus crisis: DRDO, ITI to jointly produce portable ventilators

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) are planning to join forces to produce portable ventilators. State-run telecom technology company ITI will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DRDO this week to begin work on the ventilators, according to a statement by ITI.

6.24 PM: Ministers' panel reviews current status, management of coronavirus in India

A Group of Ministers (GoM), had detailed deliberation on containment and management of COVID-19. The GoM also discussed the actions taken so far, current status of social distancing measures as a preventive strategy and the stringent actions taken by the Centre as well as the States to contain the spread of COVID-19. The panel also reviewed the testing strategy and availability of testing kits across the country along with the strategy for hotspots and cluster management.

6.11 PM: Coronavirus in Mumbai: Third COVID-19 death in Dharavi

A 70-year-old woman from Kalyanwadi in Dharavi has reportedly died due to coronavirus, making it the third death in Asia's biggest slum.

6.06 PM: Centre sanctions Rs 15,000 crore for India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package

Centre has announced investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. The funds sanctioned will be utilised for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (Rs 7,774 crore) and rest will be used for medium-term support (1-4 years) under mission mode approach, the government said in a statement.

5.33 PM: Coronavirus in India: Death toll touches 169; confirmed cases at 5,865

As on 5:00 PM today, total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India stand at 5,865, whereas death toll of the country is at 169, data by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. There are 5,218 active COVID-19 cases in the country, whereas 477 patients have been cured or discharged.

79 more #COVID19 positive cases reported in Mumbai today, taking the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the city to 775: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) #Maharashtrahttps://t.co/IDTuf0vYFg  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

5.24 pm: Uttarakhand coronavirus news

4 areas in Dehradun have been sealed after fresh coronavirus positive cases were found in the area, said Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police (Law and Order). He added that 2 areas in Haridwar and 1 in Nainital have also been sealed in the state.

5.17 pm: Jammu and Kashmir coronavirus news

Around 34 new COVID-19 cases have been reported from Kashmir, in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. With this, the total tally has risen to 152 in the union territory. Jammu has 32 confirmed cases now. J&K Principal Secretary (Planning) Rohit Kansal revealed that new figures in a tweet saying that the totally number of COVID-19 cases in J&K now stand at 184.

#COVID19#JammuAndKashmir 24 more positive in Kashmir. Total 184. 32 in Jammu, 152 in Kashmir. All are contacts. A result of aggressive testing. @diprjk@HealthMedicalE1@MoHFW_INDIA - Rohit Kansal (@kansalrohit69) April 9, 2020

5.10 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus news

The Maharashtra government has taken the decision to cut the salary of state legislators by 30% amid novel coronavirus lockdown situation in the country. The cabinet also proposed that Governor to appoint Uddhav Thackeray as MLC from governor quota as the elections have been deferred.

5.04 pm: Coronavirus live: PM Modi tweets about benefits of Aarogya Setu app

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took to Twitter to inform people about the benefits of the Aarogya Setu app. "Feeling scared of COVID-19 will not help. We have to take the right precautions and fight this pandemic. Aarogya Setu is an important step in that direction. Have you all downloaded it?" tweeted PM Modi.

Only feeling scared of COVID-19 will not help. We have to take the right precautions and fight this pandemic. Aarogya Setu is an important step in that direction. Have you all downloaded it? https://t.co/fDGF5Ur0mj - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

Tracks the spread of COVID-19 and notifies you if someone around you is suffering from it. Also lists help-desk numbers of various states. Fantastic usage of technology to combat Coronavirus. https://t.co/6fmXForMx5 - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

This is very important to do. Remember, Aarogya Setu is more effective when more people around you download it. I hope all of you urge your family members and friends to download this App. https://t.co/MZgGJ6R37r - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

4.50 pm: Chhattisgarh coronavirus news

7 COVID-19 positive patients from Katghora city of Korba district have been tested positive, according to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur. With this, the total number novel coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh stand at 18 including 9 people being discharged, reported ANI.

4.44 pm: Coronavirus live: Govt issues advisory regarding voluntary blood donation during COVID-19

The National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC), under the Union Health Ministry, on Thursday issued an advisory regarding voluntary blood donation during novel coronavirus pandemic. Click on the link below to see the advisory.

https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/NBTCGUIDANCEFORCOVID19.pdf

4.38 pm: Mumbai hotspot: Woman from Dharavi dies on Thursday

A 70-year-old woman from Dharavi in Mumbai passed away on Thursday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told ANI.

4.27 pm: Jaipur coronavirus news

The authorities have imposed stricter curfew rules in Jaipur's Kho Nagoriyan region after a COVID-19 positive case was reported in the capital city of Rajasthan.

4.17 pm: Coronavirus cases India: 13,400 samples tested in last 24 hours, says ICMR

4.15 pm: Coronavirus cases live updates: 1,30,000 samples have been tested so far, says Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

4.14 pm: Coronavirus cases live: Govt offering relief measures to stranded persons, says Ministry of Home Affairs

4.13 pm: Coronavirus cases:Govt regulating use of hydroxychloroquine, says Health Ministry

4.12 pm: Coronavirus news:No need to panic over availability of PPEs: Health Ministry

4.10 pm: Coronavirus in India live updates: Coronavirus 10 corona specialists teams sent to 9 states, says Health Ministry

4.08 pm: Coronavirus India live updates: Supplies of PPEs and ventilators underway: Health Ministry

4.07 pm: Coronavirus in India: 5,000 train coaches turned into isolation wards, says Health Ministry in its daily briefing press briefing

4.04 pm: Coronavirus India: 549 new cases reported in last 24 hours: Health Ministry

4.02 pm: Coronavirus live: 5,734 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India country, says Health Ministry

4.02 pm: Coronavirus updates: 17 deaths reported in past 24 hours, says Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry

4.00 pm: Coronavirus live updates: Health Ministry begins COVID-19 briefing

3.59 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news

Karnataka's ministers and members of legislature will take a 30% cut each in their salaries and allowances for a year to fund the fight against COVID-19 in the state.

3.51 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: GB Pant Hospital no longer a COVID-19 facility

Delhi's GB Pant Hospital, which was a novel coronavirus facility, is no more a COVID-19 facility in the wake of problems faced by other patients, as per a Delhi government order issued on Thursday.

3.40PM: Six people including a doctor and his wife have been tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh. The patients are in quarantine while their contacts have been placed under home quarantine.

3.30PM: Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a proposal for 30% salary cut for all state legislators for a year starting from this month (April).

3.19 PM: RBI clarification on borrowing by states

There are certain media reports that the government of India (GoI) has allowed states to avail up to 50% of their borrowing requirement for the Fiscal Year 2020-21, in April 2020 itself. Government of India's consent for the said borrowing by state government is applicable for the first nine months of the current financial year 2020-21, and as per the state govt advance indicative calendar submitted to the RBI.

3.05 PM: Coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has informed that the total tally of coronavirus cases in the state stands at 11. Nine out of them have recovered & were discharged, while more person will be discharged soon.

76,000 people in Chhattisgarh are currently under home quarantine: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel #COVID19https://t.co/qcLrVWPxWQ  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

3.00 PM: Nizamuddin-like event was planned in Maharashtra: Anil Deshmukh

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says a programme like the one at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz was scheduled to be held near Mumbai in Vasai on March 15-16 but the state didn't give permission. "Why didn't Delhi Police stop this programme like us? Because of this, COVID-19 cases have increased," he said.

2.55 PM: Coronavirus cases in Rajashtan

A total of 43 new positive cases were found in Rajasthan today, including 4 evacuees. The district-wise tally include -- Banswara 2, Jaipur 11, Jaisalmer 5, Jhunjhunu 7, Jodhpur 3, Tonk 7, Jhalawar 7, Barmer 1. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 430.

43 new positive cases were found in Rajasthan today (including 4 evacuees) - Banswara 2, Jaipur 11, Jaisalmer 5, Jhunjhunu 7, Jodhpur 3, Tonk 7, Jhalawar 7, Barmer 1. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 430: Rajasthan Health Department #COVID19pic.twitter.com/zWg7s6MTon  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

2.44 pm: Coronavirus news: UNSC to hold first virtual meet on COVID-19 on Thursday

The UN Security Council will hold a closed video-conferencing meet on Thursday to discuss the novel coronavirus situation. This is the first time the world body's top organ is conducting a meeting on COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed over 88,000 lives globally and infected around 1.5 million people.

2.34 pm: Coronavirus in India: Delhi High Court, subordinate courts to remain open during summer vacation in June

The Delhi High Court (HC) and all subordinate courts will remain open during the scheduled summer vacation in June to make up for closure due to novel coronavirus. The decision was taken after a meeting between Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) and the HC judges to make up for the loss of the court working hours and to mitigate difficulties being faced by the litigating public.

2.28 pm: Jharkhand coronavirus news

Jharkhand government has confirmed one death in the statistics it released on Thursday. Meanwhile, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stand at 12, taking the confirmed cases to 13. The cases have been reported from the 3 districts in Jharkhand.

2.23 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus news: BMC orders ban on vegetable/fruit markets, hawkers and sellers in Dharavi

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday ordered a ban on all vegetable/fruit markets, hawkers and sellers in the containment area/buffer zone in Dharavi, during the lockdown period. This is being done as a precautionary step to stem the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the pharmacies in the area will be allowed to remain open.

2.17 pm: Mumbai hotspot: Containment zones increased to 341; NSCI stadium turned into quarantine facility

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday increased the number of containment zones to 341 in Mumbai. The civic authority also make a quarantine facility for high-risk COVID-19 patients at NSCI indoor stadium in Worli. The facility can accommodate nearly 400-500 patients.

2.09pm: Coronavirus updates: EU launches "Team Europe" package to support partner countries

The European Union has launched its "Team Europe" package to support the partner countries with more than 20 billion euros to fight novel coronavirus pandemic, according to European Union External Action, which is EU's diplomatic service. The team's objective is to combine resources from the EU, its member states, and financial institutions. The European Commission and the European Investment Bank have already pledged a support of more than 15.6 billion euros from existing programmes.

2.00 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news: 10 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in the state

Karnataka reported 10 fresh novel coronavirus cases on Thursday. Meanwhile, an 80-year-old woman from Gadag district in the state died, taking the death toll to 6 in Karnataka.

1.55 pm: Coronavirus news: British PM Boris Johnson stable now

According to Downing Street spokesperson, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is making steady progress now. He is admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital. Boris Johnson was shifted to the ICU on Monday night as his condition worsened.

1.45 pm: Coronavirus India: App to help people stay away from COVID-19 patients

An IT professional has developed an app which will help people stay away from novel coronavirus patients. The app uses the Google Maps feature to give the exact whereabouts of the patients.

1.35 pm: Uttar Pradesh hotspot: Noida administration urges people to stay at home, not panic

Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari has urged people to stay at home and not panic amid the lockdown in novel coronavirus hotspots.

Noida Authority is conducting sanitisation drive across Noida, especially in the sealed areas. Also, drones are being used for spraying disinfectant. I want to appeal to all to stay at home & do not panic: Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of Noida Authority https://t.co/bamHkwQl7h - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 9, 2020

1.22 pm: Coronavirus updates: Modi govt draws 3 phase plan to fight COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has drawn a three-phase plan to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre has released an Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package to the states to fight novel coronavirus. The package is 100% centrally funded. According to the communication sent to the states and UTs, the project will be implemented in three phases, phase 1- from January 202 to June 2020, Phase 2- from July 2020 to March 2021 and phase 3- from April 2021 to March 2024. The issue had also come up during PM Modi's interaction with chief ministers of the states.

1.15 pm: Delhi, Noida hotspot: Check full list of sealed novel coronavirus hotspots

Delhi and Noida authorities have completely sealed off a total of 42 COVID-19 hotspots in several areas of these cities. Check the complete list, click on the link below.

Read more here:Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida

1.08 pm: Coronavirus live: Total COVID-19 cases cross 1.5 million worldwide

Over 1.5 million novel coronavirus cases have been reported from world over, according to tally compiled by AFT (0530 GMT) on Thursday from official sources. Out of these 1.5 million infections, around 87,000 people have died across 192 countries and territories.

12.59 pm: Coronavirus live updates: US Indian diaspora stands in solidarity with India on fight against COVID-19

The US Indian Diaspora has expressed solidarity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against COVID-19. Around 200 Indian American organisations have expressed faith and solidarity in the government's initiatives to curb the spread of novel coronavirus in India.

12.50 pm: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news: Check cases, deaths, helpline numbers and more

Madhya Pradesh reported the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 13 and 229 active cases on Thursday. Check details regarding the state's cases, deaths, helpline numbers and more here.

Read more here:Coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh: Cases, Deaths, Helpline Numbers and More

12.43 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has issued orders for providing ration to the displaced Pakistani families in the state. There are around 6,000 displaced Pakistani families living in Rajasthan and several of them are facing acute shortage of ration due to nationwide lockdown.

12.37 pm: Odisha lockdown news: State govt extends lockdown till April 30

Odisha government announced the extension of the lockdown till April 30. It is the first state to formally extend the lockdown. The government said that all curbs will be in place till April 30 to prevent the further spread of novel coronavirus.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Odisha becomes 1st state to extend lockdown till April 30

12.29 pm: Coronavirus live updates: Americans should never shake hands again, says Top US expert

United States' top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci ha said that Americans should never shake hands again with each other. He added that the gesture would not only stem the spread of COVID-19 but also decrease instances of influenza considerably in the country.

12.23 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: Rapid testing to be done first in hotspots

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Thursday that rapid testing for novel coronavirus will be started as soon as the rapid testing kits arrive. He added that the testing will be first done in the COVID-19 hotspots in the national capital.

Also Read: Delhi coronavirus cases count: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, helpline, updates

12.16 pm: Mumbai hotspot: 143 fresh novel coronavirus cases reported

152 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday. Out of these 152, 143 cases are from Mumbai alone. Meanwhile, according to Health Ministry, the total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra now stand at 1,135, whereas the death tally is at 72, the highest in the country.

12.10 pm: Karnataka coronavirus news: State govt to discuss alcohol sale in Thursday's cabinet meet

Karnataka excise minister H Nagesh said on Thursday that the sale of alcohol in the state will be discussed in Thursday's cabinet meeting adding that the people will have to tolerate the ban. He also stated that " we are losing Rs 1,800 crore per month for not selling alcohol."

12.04 pm: Andhra Pradesh coronavirus news

Andhra Pradesh reported no new COVID-19 cases in the past 12 hours. The total number of novel coronavirus cases stands at 348 now, whereas the death tally is at 4, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website.

11.57 am: Gujarat hotspot: 55 new cases reported in the state

55 new cases of novel coronavirus were reported in Gujarat. Out of these, 50 cases were recorded in Ahmedabad, two in Surat and one in Dahod, Anand and Chhota Udepur. According to Health Ministry, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state stand at 179, while the death toll is at 16. Gujarat has the second-highest number of novel coronavirus casualties in India after Maharashtra which is the worst-affected state in the country in terms of number of confirmed cases as well as death tally.

11.48 am: Delhi hotspot: 669 novel coronavirus cases reported till Thursday

Around 669 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Delhi till Thursday. Out of these cases, 426 cases are from the Tablighi Jamaat event meet held in Delhi's Nizamuddin in March.

#WATCH "Till now, there are 669 COVID19 positive cases including 426 cases from Markaz, in Delhi," Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain pic.twitter.com/n7FYwXTx1a - ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

11.42 am: Coronavirus live updates: Why Hydroxychloroquine matters for COVID-19 patients' treatment

The efficacy of anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine has been a topic of discussion of late in the medical world and world over alike. It is mooted by many that the drug could restrict the novel coronavirus from replicating further but the large scale studies in this context are underway.

Read more here: Coronavirus treatment needs a rethink; and why Hydroxychloroquine matters

11.33 am: Hotspot area: IndiGo announces suspension of international flights till April 30

Budget carrier IndiGo announced on Wednesday that it suspending all its international flights till April 30 in the wake of nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of novel coronavirus in India.

Coronavirus: IndiGo suspends international flights till April 30

11.25 am: Corona hotspot: Do you live in a COVID-19 hotspot? Here are the do's and don'ts for you

If you are residing in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh's hotspot areas identified by the state governments on Wednesday and wondering what you can do and cant amid restrictions. Read the story link below to get all the details.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Do you live in a pandemic hotspot? Here's wat you can and can't do

11.17 am: Delhi hotspot, Noida hotspot: Authorities seal 42 novel coronavirus hotspots in several areas

The authorities in Delhi and Noida have identified and sealed a total of 42 COVID-19 hotspots in several areas of these cities. This is done to stem the further spread of novel coronavirus and break the chain subsequently.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida

11.07 am: Mumbai hotspot: BMC to acquire 1 lakh test kits from South Korea

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said on Thursday that the civic body will procure 1 lakh rapid testing kits from South Korea.

10.59 am: Corona hotspot: State-wise COVID-19 cases in India, see here

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is teh state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic

10.53 am: Hotspot area: Global death toll past 88,000

The death tally due to COVID-19 pandemic has crossed 88,000 globally. The maximum death cases have been reported from Italy. Around 17,000 people have died in Italy so far, followed by the US and Spain, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

10.45 am: Corona hotspot: PM Modi tweets after Trump thanks him for hydroxychloroquine supply

After US President Donald Trump thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the hydroxychloroquine supply to the United States, PM Modi took to Twitter to say that the India-US partnership is stronger than ever. "Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever." PM Modi tweeted.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

10.37 am: Punjab coronavirus news: Jalandhar resident passes away

A 59-year-old novel coronavirus patient in Jalandhar, Punjab died on Wednesday night. He was on ventilator support for the last 2 days. Meanwhile, KBS Sidhu, Special Chief Secretary, Punjab Disaster Management (COVID-19) said that the district administration is working out modalities for the man's cremation as per the standard protocol.

10.27 am: Coronavirus live updates: Dubai companies slash jobs as COVID-19 hits business

Dubai's non-oil private sector was hit hard in March as key sectors of the Middle East's trade and tourism hub, Dubai were affected by steps aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19, according to a survey released on Thursday. The IHS Markit Dubai Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to the lowest reading ever recorded in the decade-long survey, to 45.5 in March from 50.1 in February, reports Reuters.

10.18 am Coronavirus updates: Maharashtra reports highest death toll in India

Maharashtra apart from having the highest of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India, also has the highest death toll in the country. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state has 1,135 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, and 72 deaths so far. Gujarat has the second-highest death rate at 16 and confirmed cases at 179. Madhya Pradesh has the third highest death cases at 13.

10.07 am: Coronavirus live: Centre to hold high-level GoM meet on COVID-19 on Thursday

The central government will hold a high-level meeting of the Group of Minister (GoM) to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting will be held at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

10.03 am: China coronavirus news: COVID-19 positive rise to 1,100 with 63 new infections

China on Thursday reported 63 new confirmed novel coronavirus cases, taking the total rise in the number of cases to 1,100 including 61 imported ones. This has raised concern of a second wave of infections as China lifted the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan on Wednesday. Wuhan was the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials said on Thursday. The Chinese Health authority said that two deaths were also reported, taking the total death tally in the country to 3,335. Meanwhile, the overall novel coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in China.

9.56 am: Coronavirus latest news: After US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi

After US President Donald Trump thanked India for supplying anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine, Brazilian President Bolsonaro said that his country will be able to treat COVID-19 patients as well as patients of Lupus, Malaria and Arthritis. "We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of Lupus, Malaria, and Arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," Bolsonaro said.

9.47 am: Jammu and Kashmir coronavirus news

A 61-year-old novel coronavirus patient died in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Thursday. This is the 4th death due to COVID-19 in the union territory. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases stand at 158 in J&K.

9.40 am: Jharkhand coronavirus news

9 more people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus infection in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to 13 in the state. Out of these, 3 new cases are from Ranchi's Hindipiri area and 4 from Bokaro. They are the family members of earlier positive cases from Ranchi and Bokaro. Ranchi District Collector Rai Mahimapat Ray has said that all the cases found to be positive have been sent to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) where they will be kept in isolation.

9.28 am: Coronavirus news: White House working on plan to cut aid to WHO

US President Donald Trump has said that the country is planning on cutting aid to World Health Organisation (WHO) after accusing it of favouring China. "We're holding back. We want to say very unfair. So the United States -- $452 million compared to $42 million. That's to the World Health Organization. That's not good. That's not good. Not fair. Not fair at all," Trump said.

President Trump: "We're holding back. We want to say very unfair. So the United States -- $452 million compared to $42 million. That's to the World Health Organization. That's not good. That's not good. Not fair. Not fair at all." pic.twitter.com/kkEqKdS03n - The Hill (@thehill) April 9, 2020

9.19 am: Punjab coronavirus news

Punjab reported 16 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with 10 out of these 16 cases being reported from Jawaharpur village which has 21 cases now. Mohali district has the highest number of cases in the state at 36.

9.14 am: Andhra Pradesh coronavirus news

Andhra Pradesh government has decided to take over 58 private hospitals across 13 districts in the state. The decision was taken in the wake of 329 COVID-19 positive cases and 4 deaths in the state. The state government has taken over a total of 19,114 beds in these private institutions. 17,111 are non-ICU beds, while 1,286 are ICU beds and 717 isolation beds these hospitals will help the government with.

9.00 am: Coronavirus live updates: India reports 540 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours and 17 deaths

India has recorded 540 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and 17 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website. The total number of active novel coronavirus cases in the country now stand at 5,095, meanwhile the death toll is at 166. Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 1,135 confirmed cases including 72 deaths. Tamil Nadu is the second state with 738 confirmed cases including 8 deaths so far.

8.54 am: Coronavirus global news: New York doctors shocked at the speed of death in the city

Doctors and nurses in New York, US, say the COVID-19 infection is not only affecting thte elderly or patients with underlying health conditions, the young and healthy too are getting infected by the deadly virus. Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has said that the patients appear fine one minute but become unresponsive knocking the death's door the next. She added that the doctors and nurses have been left shocked the speed of the deaths in the city. New York is the epicentre of novel coronavirus pandemic in the US. The virus has infected over 4,15,000 people in the city.

Read more here: Coronavirus in USA: Speed of deaths surprise doctors as New York toll reaches 150,000

8.44 am: Coronavirus updates: Man assaults 2 women doctors of Safdarjung Hospital; accuses them of spreading COVID-19

A 42-year-old man assaulted two women resident doctors of the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi when they stepped out of their homes in their neighbourhood to buy groceries. The man attacked the women, blaming them of spreading coronavirus in the Gautam Nagar area although the doctors are not COVID-19 duty. The Hauz Khas police arrested the accused and registered a case against the man on the complaint of a 29-year-old resident doctor, who is a Gautam Nagar resident.

8.30 am: Jharkhand coronavirus news

Jharkhand has reported its first COVID-19 death in Bokaro. A 65-year-old man from Sadam Bokaro died of the respiratory infection on Wednesday. A total of five people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus from Bokaro. The first case was that of a woman with travel history to Bangladesh, with three others from the same family testing positive later. Ranchi has a total of seven positive cases.

8.15 am: Coronavirus live: US reports over 2,000 deaths in a day

Over 2,000 people have died in the United States for the second day in a row, as per the Johns Hopkins University tally on Wednesday. Nearly, 14,000 people already passed away in the US crossing the numbers in Spain which has so far reported 14,555 deaths. Meanwhile, the US is yet to cross Italy's figures, which is the worst-affected country in Europe recording around 17,000 deaths.

8.00 am: Delhi coronavirus news

30 healthcare workers including doctors, nurses and technicians at the Cardio-Neuro Centre in AIIMS, Delhi have been asked to isolate themselves after a 72-year-old man who visited the Hospital with neurological problem tested positive for COVID-19. The patient has been transported to AIIMS Trauma Centre, which has been converted into a dedicated novel coronavirus hospital. Meanwhile, contact tracing of these health workers has been initiated.

7.45 am: Coronavirus live updates: Donald Trump thanks PM Modi for supplying hydroxychloroquine to United States

Donald Trump on Wednesday praised PM Modi for allowing the supply of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. Thanking the prime minister, Trump said that US will remember this favour.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

7.30 am: INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is teh state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic
I am a firm believer that one plus one equals two. Until I have the evidence to believe otherwise, I believe it is critically important for us to help people quit inhaling anything into their lungs that could be causing any type of inflammation, as the coronavirus will only find an inviting environment otherwise, said Dr. Carolyn Dresler, a former associate director of medical and health sciences for the Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration, during a webinar last week for Action on Smoking and Health, an international nonprofit group.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Chinese coronavirus patients who smoked were more than twice as likely as those who didnt to have severe infections from Covid-19. And smoking has been identified as a factor in patients who became ill in 2012 with MERS, another coronavirus.

Another signal points to the vulnerability of smokers to this coronavirus. The virus seems to attack the body by attaching to a binding receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, or ACE-2. Tobacco use may increase the expression of ACE-2. That is why doctors and researchers speculate that smokers may become infected with more copies of the virus than other patients.

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About 34 million adult Americans smoke cigarettes, according to recent data, and some five million middle- and high-school students report having vaped nicotine and marijuana products.

A frightening outbreak of life-threatening lung illnesses tied to vaping last summer was eventually tied to vaping marijuana oils that contained the additive vitamin E acetate. But doctors say at least 15 percent of the patients reported having vaped only nicotine products.

Dr. Winickoff, a pediatrician, said that prudence about marijuana products was also advisable: Inhaling combusted or vaped cannabis products can damage lung cells, may increase viral replication, and does affect the ability to fight off infection, he said.

Clean air is what the lungs should be inhaling, especially during a global pandemic.

Last month, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians called for a ban on sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes in the state during the pandemic. Already smoke shops are being shut down in many states because they are not deemed to be essential businesses. But some public health officials note that other retailers that sell cigarettes and vaping devices, such as gas stations and grocery stores, are still permitted to do so.
They will not be allowed to go to work or study.

De-facto authorities of the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula have decided to oblige all those who arrive in Crimea to self-isolate for two weeks.

Read alsoCrimean residents asked to report forced draft for Russian military service

They will not be allowed to attend places of work, studies, or public places, according to Russia's RIA Novosti.

As UNIAN reported earlier, 26 cases of COVID-19 coronavirus were recorded in occupied Crimea as of the morning of April 6. The self-isolation regime over the coronavirus epidemic on the peninsula was extended until late April.
The C.D.C. uses information on hospitalizations to help public health officials better understand the evolving epidemiology of a disease, and to help in the planning and prioritization of health care resources.

On Wednesday, the C.D.C. also announced new guidelines outlining how employees who are considered essential by their employers but who have been exposed to people infected by the virus can go back to work. The guidelines apply to workers who do not feel sick and are able to follow certain precautions.

Such workers can return to work if they take their temperature before heading to their workplace, wear a face mask at all times and practice social distancing while on the job, Dr. Robert Redfield, the C.D.C. director, said at the White House coronavirus briefing. While at work, they should not share headsets or other objects that touch their face, and they should not congregate in break rooms or crowded places, he added.

Dr. Redfield said that employers should send workers home immediately if they developed any symptoms. He also said they should increase air exchange in their buildings, and should clean common surfaces more often. The goal, he said, is to get these workers back into the critical work force so that we dont have worker shortages. In its report on hospitalization data, the agency cautioned that the findings about Covid-19 were preliminary, with the number of cases expected to increase considerably as the virus continues to spread and as testing becomes more available. Also, the data does not reflect the surge of cases during the first week of April, straining hospitals in places like New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Michigan.

But the numbers reflected trends that were reported from other countries at earlier stages of the outbreak. The C.D.C. received information about possible underlying medical conditions in a subset of 180 patients. Approximately 90 percent of those patients had one or more underlying conditions. The most common of those was hypertension, in 49.7 percent of patients, followed by obesity, chronic metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic lung disease (like asthma) and cardiovascular disease.
By Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

The agreement was reached after EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and offered Italy assurances that the bloc would show solidarity.

But the deal does not mention using joint debt to finance recovery - something Italy, France and Spain pushed strongly for but which is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria.

It only defers to the bloc's 27 national leaders whether "innovative financial instruments" should be applied, meaning many more fraught discussions on the matter were still ahead.

"Europe has shown that it can rise to the occasion of this crisis," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, praising what he said was the most important economic plan in EU history.

Earlier on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the EU's very existence would be under threat if it could not come together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

For weeks, EU member states have struggled to present a united front in the face of the pandemic, squabbling over money, medical equipment and drugs, border restrictions and trade curbs, amid fraught talks laying bare their bitter divisions.

While Le Maire said the Thursday agreement paved the way for debt mutualisation, his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, stressed the opposite.

"We are and will remain opposed to eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or the Netherlands in the long-term," Hoekstra said after talks ended.

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STRAINED SOLIDARITY

Mario Centeno, who chaired the Thursday talks after sixteen hours of all-night discussions earlier this week failed to yield a deal, said 100 billion euros would go to a scheme to subsidise wages so that firms can cut working hours, not jobs.

The European Investment Bank would step up lending to companies with 200 billion euros and the euro zone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund would make 240 billion euros of cheap credit available to governments, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day talked on the phone with Conte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, paving the way for the eventual agreement, which now awaits approval from the bloc's 27 national leaders in the coming days.

She said she agreed with Conte on the "urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult".

Merkel also made clear Berlin would not agree to jointly issued debt, but said other financial avenues were available.

Discussions on that have so far been fraught between the more fiscally conservative north and the indebted south, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic.

The package would bring the EU's total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion), the biggest in the world.

But controversy remained over how to kickstart economic growth, with European Economics Commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, saying the money for that could be raised against the bloc's next joint budget for 2021-27.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Gabriela Baczynska, Michelle Martin, Toby Sterling, Joseph Nasr, Francois Murphy, Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio, Joan Faus, Gwenaelle Barzic and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Grant McCool and Diane Craft)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:49:15|Editor: huaxia

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A main road in Jerusalem is seen deserted as lockdown is ongoing amid novel coronavirus outbreak on April 9, 2020. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

by Keren Setton

JERUSALEM, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Virus knows no borders. During the raging COVID-19 global pandemic, the Israelis and Palestinians, despite their feud over territories and religions, have seen the urgent need for joint efforts to combat the deadly coronavirus.

So far, the number of novel coronavirus cases in Israel has risen to 9,755, including 79 deaths, while Palestine has reported 263 confirmed cases and one death.

Given the economic and social dependency between the two peoples, their cooperation in the West Bank is actually not new and exists on a daily basis.

The Israeli military unit of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has been increasing its cooperation with Palestinian officials in coordinating international aid from outside the region.

"We are investing great efforts, jointly with all the other relevant authorities, to preserve the health and welfare of the residents in the area," said Kamil Abu Rukun, head of the COGAT.

So far, thousands of testing kits and more protective outfits and disinfectant materials have been handed over to Palestinians in the West Bank.

Besides, Palestinian medical workers have been brought to Israel to learn how to convert hotels into treatment centers, while several meetings between Palestinian and Israeli medical personnel have been held to exchange information.

"Cooperation between the two sides in fighting the virus is much more visible than in other arenas," said Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst on Israeli-Palestinian affairs in the International Crisis Group headquartered in Belgium.

"They both understand that without each other they cannot get rid of the virus," Zalzberg told Xinhua.

For most Palestinians, the threat of the pandemic comes from their weak health care system which in many cases is believed to have stretched its capacities to the limit.

The Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade since Hamas took over the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007, which has since exerted a sustained pressure on its health care system.

In addition, the Palestinian enclave, home to 2 million people, is also one of the most densely populated areas in the world, thus making social distancing quite a challenge amid the outbreak of a highly contagious virus such as COVID-19.

"With the high density, poverty, poor access to clear water, the expectation to practise hygiene measures and social distancing is a bit unrealistic," said Ghada Majadli, director for the Occupied Palestinian Territories at Physicians for Human Rights in Israel.

"The conditions in Gaza, even before the virus, are an obvious cause for concerns," said Miriam Marmur, a spokeswoman for Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement based in Israel.

"Basic civilian infrastructures such as electricity are dilapidated after years of suffocating closure," the spokeswoman added, as constant flow of electricity is critical for the steady operation of ventilators and the sewage disposal.

In addition, the number of testing kits in the territory, according to various sources, is alarmingly low.

The majority of the 1,500 testing kits supplied to the Gaza Strip have already been used, said Marmur, adding half of the 60 ventilators or so are now in regular use by chronic patients.

UN officials have also praised the two sides for rising to the occasion in joint fight against a common enemy.

"I commend the Palestinian and Israeli authorities for their efforts to deal with COVID-19 and for the exemplary levels of collaboration. Their close coordination and prompt actions will save lives," tweeted Jamie McGoldrick, the UN development & humanitarian deputy special coordinator in Palestine.

However, there are still more hurdles to overcome.

When the crisis blows over, people on both sides will have time to re-evaluate their positions. Those who advocate annexation of Palestinian territories or advocate complete separation will have a major test case from which many lessons can be learned.

"You cannot just build a barrier and ignore things," said Zalzberg.
The officers from Mumbai crime branchs unit 3 raided a godown at Reay Road on Wednesday night and seized 95,000 masks worth 1.36 crore and arrested a 36-year-old trader under the Essential Commodities (EC) Act on Thursday.

The owner of the godown, Abdul Sayyad Aktari Mirtuza, was arrested under the EC Act. Mirtuza, a Byculla resident, told the police that he had bought the masks in bulk and stored them in his godown and wanted to sell them later. He has been supplying face masks to medical stores and others from more than five years without any license. The officers have seized 64,000 N-95 masks worth 1.28 crore and 31,000 3-ply masks worth 7.75 lakh, said senior inspector Ashok Khot of unit 3.

After the lockdown was declared on March 23, the crime branch has seized around 32.58 lakh masks worth 17.30 crore from different parts of the city. Of these, 10.30 lakh were N-95 masks worth around 12.45 crore, while the remaining were 3-ply masks worth 4.85 crore, joint commissioner of police Santosh Rastogi of the Mumbai crime branch said.

The government has declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities upto June 30 to insure that there is no scarcity of these two items and they are priced correctly. Under the EC Act, the government has declared that investigating agencies can carry out operations against those involved in the black marketing of masks and hand sanitisers.

We started a crackdown against those storing the masks illegally and are selling them at a higher price. We have arrested around 20 people from across the city under the EC Act until now selling these products in black market, said Rastogi.

If any person stores masks in a truck or a godown without a valid licence, then the police informs the collectors office and following the collectors order, the masks are handed over to government authorities. Until now, we have handed over around 9.20 lakh seized masks to the civic body and Haffkine Institute as per the collectors orders. The others too will be handed over soon after the orders are received, a crime branch officer said.
ROXANA  Spring is in full swing and summer may soon be on its way, but recreation vehicle rentals for family road trips have mostly ceased, according to Michael Smalley, vice president of Cruise America.

With 130 rental locations in North America, including one in Roxana, Cruise America and other RV rental providers are taking a financial hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. Smalley said they also are looking at ways their homes on wheels can serve communities and families during the crisis.

If you would have told me the amount of destruction in the travel business 30 days ago, you could have knocked me over with a feather with where we are at now, said Smalley. Everything has come to a complete standstill. Its like slow motion. The shelter in place order pretty much eliminated any leisure travel for the moment.

With 40 percent of the companys business stemming from European countries  such as Germany, the U.K. and Holland  and the closure of Americas national parks, cancellations continue and new reservations have been mostly non-existent.

I woke up this morning and couldnt figure out what day it was because there is nothing usual about what we are doing, said Smalley.

At first, it looked like it was going to be a short-term thing and we were going to miss out on spring break bookings, and we may miss out on some Europeans coming over to visit the state parks, he said. However, every day this goes on cancellations are cascading so fast we can barely keep up. So its been very disheartening.

Despite reservations being at an all-time low, Cruise America and other RV rental companies are seeing some business from first responders, clinics and healthcare professionals, utility companies, those who cant fly and others who may need to quarantine themselves or a family member.

What we are doing today as an essential business is that we have refocused our efforts on helping other businesses stay open, said Smalley. Energy companies and clinics need temporary support vehicles, and if there is any business, thats where its coming from.

The company also has been seeing some one-way business as people transport parents and grandparents across the country.

Now we have requests from Albany, New York to Albuquerque  not your traditional one-way, said Smalley. Thats telling me were serving people who just cant fly.

Warren Patton, the general manager of Byerly RV in Eureka, Missouri, said that although his companys vacation rentals also have been greatly affected hes seeing a need for vehicles from healthcare workers and people who just need to remain separate from their families.

They just need a place to be, said Patton. They dont need to go to a campground. They dont need to go to a campsite. What they do need is just the ability to be at home and keep their family safe or stay on the job site.

A member of the St. Louis RV Association board, Patton said he has been working with other dealers to come up with a long-term package for first responders who might need vehicles as added safety measures. Any offerings will be posted to stlrv.com as soon as they become available.

If they want a month minimum, then were trying to offer something at a discounted rate, he said.

Although Smalley said hes never seen anything like the current scenario in his 31 years with the company, he hopes that somewhere along the line, the sun is going to rise again, this thing is going to be over and theres going to be this wonderful picked-up demand for people to get out there again and get moving.

It will come back, Smalley said. It is proven that a motorhome can help strengthen the bonds of family.

This company was founded in 1972 during the oil embargo when you couldnt even get gas, he said. If we can overcome that, and 9/11, and other things we faced, it will come back.
Nothing goes without saying, and I have said and written many times that my father, Harry Weinstein, was crucial to my cooking and eating life. If you have browsed this blog over... Read more
ROCK HILL, S.C., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when a day at the office increasingly means the kitchen table or couch, team leaders and decision-makers face a host of new challenges to keep internal communications productive. While state-of-the-art video conferencing technology increasingly allows for quality participation from multiple locations with collaborative features, there can still be a trade-off in the lack of shared physical space. Newcomers to remote work need skills to improve conditions and solve problems.

A March 25 webinar by agile transformation consultant Jeff Burstein offered pro tips from seasoned remote-working executives for "Continuous Value Delivery In a Work From Home World." The free 90-minute session was open to professionals in information technology, education, digital marketing, manufacturing, architecture and more. To maximize the value of teleconferencing, they encouraged all participants to map out in advance the experience they want to achieve, and use virtual icebreakers to get everyone talking.

Some of the problems and solutions included:

Maximizing engagement during virtual

meetings/avoid multitasking Encourage team members to use their

webcam by introducing their work

environment/displaying personal items Managing work and personal time while at

home Keep personal appointments and designated

family time on shared calendars Avoiding burnout Encourage employees to clock out when

needed while remaining reachable for urgent

matters Building comradery between remote

workers: Try virtual coffee, happy hour, yoga;

acknowledge birthdays.

When managing the shift from an in person workplace to virtual, as most companies have been forced to do by the COVID-19 emergency, personal touches matter. One advisor who frequently left handwritten thank-you notes on employees' desks continued the practice by scanning the notes and displaying them.

"The Coronavirus has impacted all of our lives and, presently, it cannot be business as usual," said Burstein, who is planning a follow up conference in the coming weeks. "How can we deal with these never before seen complications, disruptions and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic? "

"Our goal is to provide free access to experts and a professionally facilitated workshop intended to identify solutions for any business owner, employer, employee, education professional or institute seeking a level of stabilization or trying to solve for a better allocation of stretched resources."

Facilitators of the webinar included Spencer Loren Teillon, Dareion Johnson, Stephanie Chernoff, Dory Caplin, David A Brown and Stephen Moubray. For more information, go to https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/continuous-value-deliver-wfh-world-meet-experts-find-jeff-burstein/.

SOURCE Advanced Enterprise Agility

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WASHINGTON  U.S. spy agencies collected raw intelligence hinting at a public health crisis in Wuhan, China, in November, two current and one former U.S. official told NBC News, but the information was not understood as the first warning signs of an impending global pandemic.

The intelligence came in the form of communications intercepts and overhead images showing increased activity at health facilities, the officials said. The intelligence was distributed to some federal public health officials in the form of a "situation report" in late November, a former official briefed on the matter said. But there was no assessment that a lethal global outbreak was brewing at that time, a defense official said.

On Wednesday night, the Defense Department disputed an ABC News report that an "intelligence report" had warned about the coronavirus in November.

"We can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is incorrect," said a statement by Dr. R. Shane Day, an Air Force colonel who is director of the National Center for Medical Intelligence, a unit of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency. "No such NCMI product exists."

But the current and former officials told NBC News that while no formal assessment was produced in November  and hence no "intelligence product," in the jargon of the spy agencies  there was intelligence that caught the attention of public health analysts and fueled formal assessments that were written in December. That material and other information, including some from news and social media reports, ultimately found its way into President Donald Trump's intelligence briefing book in January. It is unknown whether he read the information.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

James Kudla, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, declined to comment beyond the NCMI statement.

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Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that he did not see intelligence reports on the coronavirus until January.

"We went back and looked at everything in November and December," he said. "The first indication we have were the reports out of China in late December that were in the public forum. And the first intel reports I saw were in January."

Even after public health authorities began sounding the alarm in January, the U.S. took few steps to ready itself for a pandemic. There was no effort to boost national stockpiles of medical equipment or encourage social distancing, for example. While Trump touts his decision to stop flights from China coming to the U.S. on Jan. 31, about 381,000 people had flown from China to the U.S. in January, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Image: A rail station in Wuhan (Noel Celis / AFP - Getty Images file)

Experts believe the coronavirus outbreak began last fall in a seafood market in Wuhan.

The South China Morning Post, citing Chinese government data, reported that the first documented case of someone in China's suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, occurred Nov. 17.

On Dec. 31, an Associated Press report out of China was one of the first English-language news accounts of a mysterious new virus.

"Chinese experts are investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan that some have likened to the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic," the story began.

Initially, the World Health Organization was conservative. In a statement about the disease on Jan. 14  discussing the first case outside China, in Thailand  the WHO said "there is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission."

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

But by mid-January, it was clear that the virus was spreading well beyond China.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans on Jan. 6 to take precautions if they were traveling to China. The next day, the CDC's Emergency Operation Center activated a COVID-19 Incident Management System  an emergency management tool used to direct operations, deliver resources and share information.

The extent to which the U.S. intelligence community was warning the White House about the potential implications of the virus remains unclear. Senior congressional aides have told NBC News that the House and Senate intelligence committees did not receive anything that would have constituted an intelligence early warning.

The first House briefing on the coronavirus was Feb. 6, an Intelligence Committee aide said, the day Trump was acquitted in the Senate on impeachment charges.

The Washington Post has reported that U.S. intelligence agencies wrote intelligence reports including ominous warnings about the coronavirus in January and February. None of the classified intelligence reports about the virus have been made public.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 08:59:18|Editor: ZD

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Volunteers arrange boxes of donated medical supplies outside the York Regional Police Headquarters in Toronto, Canada, April 8, 2020. About 10, 000 face masks and other medical supplies donated by Chinese Police Liaison Officer in Canada were handed over to York Regional Police on Wednesday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, has been placed in solitary confinement at a federal prison in New York state over what Reuters reports was "a verbal dispute over phone use."

Cohen, who is 53, is U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and is serving time for violating campaign finance laws.

On Wednesday, Cohen was transferred to a Special Housing Unit (SHU) at Otisville Federal Correctional Institution, an extreme discipline section of the prison, Reuters reports Thursday:

Until now, Cohen had been housed in a minimum-security camp at Otisville, which is about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of New York City. One of the sources said Cohen was placed in solitary after another inmate complained about his internet use. "It is my understanding that a verbal dispute over phone use prompted a temporary placement to SHU pending an investigation. I do not however know who prompted the altercation, or if the action taken was factually/ regulatory appropriate," Cohen's lawyer, Roger Adler, said in an email to Reuters. A former representative for Cohen, Lanny Davis, declined to comment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it could not comment on the circumstances of individual inmates. Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Trump has denied having the encounters.

Last month, Cohen asked to be released from prison early, citing the coronavirus outbreak and the high risk in prison of contracting COVID-19. Federal District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan denied the request.

"Ten months into his prison term, it's time that Cohen accept the consequences of his criminal convictions for serious crimes that had far reaching institutional harms," Pauley wrote on March 23.

More at Reuters:

Exclusive: Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, in solitary confinement

[Aram Roston, Mark Hosenball]
Life is risky. If you didn't know that in February, you must know that by now. Touch nothing! Go nowhere. Money, health, jobs and businesses all in the risk register. People are putting off seeing the doctor about something just in case they catch the virus.

So why create life at all? It would have been safer for God not to have bothered. Total up the pain of Covid-19 bereavement and it is immense. Some would blame God for it all as if he purposely created this killer. No he didn't, but the wonder of evolution, of life itself, has massive risks associated with it including, as we have discovered, Covid-19.

Evolution of life goes hand in hand with risk but, despite that, God ultimately chose to evolve life, because, just like vast majority of us, God loves life so very much, and the risk was worth taking.

Getting that message over, in a time of pain, like this one, is difficult, but God's not immune to pain, ours or his. God in Jesus Christ planned that walk into Jerusalem 2000 years ago, knowing that he would die a most dreadful death. But why bother?

Well... God is love. I can think of no other way God could have shown a complete willingness to put us first. We applaud the health workers because they are putting their lives on the line. Some, like Florence Nightingale, give all they are and all they have that others might live. It is the most selfless loving of all that God does at Easter. Action above all words, that we might know at the heart of creation is love... and life.

Which is why Easter is also about resurrection, for life does not end here, ever. Thousands of Covid-19 relatives may never say their goodbyes - it's too risky - but when a handful and then hundreds see Jesus fully alive from 40 hours after crucifixion, there is a profound hope of immense proportions at the end of this tunnel. As Queen Elizabeth said on Sunday, echoing Vera Lynn: we'll meet again. And in all the bleak brokenness of isolation, sickness and bereavement, Easter agrees. Life will win because God bothers, loves and suffers. Life wins now, and beyond death. Jesus made it so.
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio

Fraud: Englewood Drive

Police went to the UPS facility at 5 p.m. April 2 about a customer trying to pick up two televisions, which an employee believed had been fraudulently purchased. The UPS employee called the name of the person on the package and letter. The man told UPS he did not know anything about the package.

The person picking up the items said he was told to do so by a friend who lives in Ghana. The man had come from Dayton to pick up the items. He said he was originally from Ghana.

He told police he had recently received a phone call from a good friend to pick up the package in Cleveland. He said he asked his friend about the contents of the package, but his friend was hesitant to say. He finally said they were two 65-inch TVs.

He said his friend had begged him to do him this favor. He did. He was given the address and a referral letter to hand to the customer agent at UPS.

The man gave police the name of his friend in Ghana and a phone number. He was honest with police, who released him.

Police spoke with UPS security. She said the items would be returned to Amazon and not released. She contacted the local person to whom the items were sent. He said he did not order them, but that his credit card had been used to buy them. He also told police that his bank had advised him about fraudulent activity on his account a few days prior to this incident.

The detective bureau may review this incident.

Found property: Pearl Road

A customer in the drive-thru window at PNC Bank on April 4 found that the customer before him had left $300 and a receipt in the dispensary slot. He tried to get the drivers attention, but the man kept driving. The customer took the money to the police station, where an officer verified that the cash matched the receipt. Police planned to contact the customer who left the money.

Burglary: Sprague Road

Police were contacted at 12:58 a.m. March 31 about a woman trying to forcibly enter an apartment. The victim said the woman had broken his bedroom window trying to do so.

As police were on their way, the victim was leaving the complexs parking lot in a car. Police stopped it. The driver said she was there trying to contact her aunt, who lived in one of the buildings, but she was unable to give police the address.

Police placed her in the cruiser for further investigation.

The victim said he was asleep with his girlfriend when he heard a noise. He saw the woman crawling through his unlocked bedroom window. She was a former girlfriend. He got out of bed and pushed her out of the window.

During the altercation, the suspect scratched his face several times. When she was outside of the apartment, she broke the outer pane of the window and entered the complex through the unlocked entry front door. She grabbed a trash can near the front entrance and used it to beat on the victims entry door.

He then told her the police were responding and she tried to flee.

Police noticed the scratches on his face. The victim said he wanted to pursue charges. The suspect was charged with burglary and assault and taken to the police station.

The report stated that the incident occurred during the coronavirus shelter-in-place order. The suspect lives in another city. She was not in compliance with the stay-at-home orders. She was also issued a temporary restraining order.

Possession of narcotics equipment: Old Oak Boulevard

An officer at 12:56 a.m. March 11 saw a car turn from Bagley Road and cross over the lane lines. He stopped the car as it pulled into the hospitals parking lot.

The driver appeared very fidgety and nervous. The officer told the driver that her cars license plates had expired and that she had crossed the lane lines. Her license also was suspended.

The passenger seat had trash on it. Another officer saw a crack pipe and syringe cap in plain view. Asked if she had any drugs or anything sharp on her, she said she had the crack pipe and had needles in the back seat, but no drugs.

She was arrested. An officer found a hypodermic syringe under the drivers seat. The suspect said she does smoke meth and was in the process of putting herself into rehab.

Theft: Engle Road

Police went to Days Inn at 7:18 a.m. March 28 regarding a car theft. An overnight employee had parked his car in front of the hotel near the main lobby. When he went to get in it that morning, it had been ransacked and his gym bag was gone. The bag contained clothing, shoes and personal and tax information.

Police reviewed a security tape. It showed a pickup truck pulling up next to the car at 3:04 a.m. A man exited it. He went to the cars unlocked driver side door and opened it.

The victim acknowledged that he must have forgotten to lock his car after retrieving something earlier in the night. The suspect went through the car, took the duffel bag and put it in the trucks bed.

The suspect continued to check other cars in the lot. The truck entered the lot by cutting through the grass near the Red Roof Inn. Police found that the man also checked all the cars in the Red Roof Inns lot. Police searched the area for the truck, but did not find it.

Read more from the News Sun.
Here is a list of stocks to focus on today. (Image: Moneycontrol)

SBI Life Insurance | Board appoints Mahesh Kumar Sharma as Deputy Chief Executive Officer. (Image: PTI)

IDBI Bank | Board approved in principle proposal to sell stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company to extent of 23-27%. (Image: Flickr)

Manali Petrochemicals | Company recommenced production of Propylene Oxide, feedstock for Propylene Glycol which is a pharmaceutical input, on April 7 at Plant 1. (Image: Moneycontrol)

GRM Overseas | Company restarted its plant operation on April 8. (Image: grmrice.com)

NLC India | Company resumed mining operations of Neyveli Mines. (Image: nlcindia.com)

Music Broadcast | Qualified institutional buyer bought 4.42% stake during Q4FY20. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

CRISIL reaffirms ratings on debt instruments of IndusInd Bank

HDFC Bank: RBI returned bank's proposal to elevate Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri as EDs. RBI asked bank to examine and submit ED appointment proposals post new CEO appointment.

Ajanta Pharma: Company gets US FDA nod for Cholestyramine powder

Titan Company: Quarter started well, but COVID impacted sales in March. Jewellery business saw a 5 percent decline. Watches division grew 1 percent despite impact in March. Eyewear saw 20 percent decline. Other businesses saw a growth of 42 percent on a low base.

Marico Q4: India business posted low single-digit volume decline in the quarter. Overall secondary growth in the quarter was in low single digits.

Hindalco Industries: Novelis received approval from the European Commission for sale of the Duffel facility of Aleris to Liberty House Group for 310 million.

Astron Paper & Board Mill: Company received permission from the Government of Gujarat regarding commencement of production for its unit located at Bhuj.
The Mexican government ordered citizens to observe social distancing. Still, some residents are ignoring the warning, and many of them were seen on the beach in Veracruz, according to a recently published article.

A BEACH, PARK, AND FOOD STALL AMID THE THREAT OF COVID-19

A well-known beach in Veracruz was bustling during the weekend as Mexicans gather on the beach. This action shows how some of the Mexicans defy and did not heed to the call of the government to observe stringent social distancing to slow down the spread of the virus.

In an article published by a local news outlet, parks and plazas in Mexico City were filled with young couples and defied the government's warning and recommendation for healthy distancing. Aside from the busy beach, Many street food stalls also continue to serve food such as tacos and tortas while standing or seated.

It can be recounted that in the previous report of Latin Post that at least six students from the University of Tampa in Florida tested positive for the virus after they defy the government's warning. These students were suspected of having a history of visiting beaches and gathering with large crowds during their spring break.

Going back to Mexico City, public transportations such as buses and subway cars are now much emptier. Still, it was observed that the recommended 1.5 meters healthy social distancing was not followed.

In another park in Eastern Mexico City, a woman kisses and cuddles with her boyfriend and told the news outlet that the social distancing measures of the government are too extreme. She said that she did not know anyone who has COVID-19 and so she thought that everything about the virus is a hoax.

The woman said: "There's no disease, they made it up ... If there were a disease, I would already know someone who died. They're asking us to stay at home, but we're taking advantage of our free time to be together."

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VERACRUZ

Instead of following the orders of the Mexican government to stay at home and observe stringent healthy social distancing, some were seen outside their homes enjoying a day at the beach in the Gulf Coast of Veracruz.

Another local news outlet reported that the Playa Villa del Mar, near the port of Veracruz, was filled with revelers and vendors offering swimming suits, food, and alcoholic beverages.

Even though the federal government has already ordered the temporary closure of beaches to control the spread of the virus, it was discovered that none of the municipal, state, or national security forces are enforcing the rules in Playa Villa del Mar.

When the municipalities were asked to give comments, they said that they do not have the authority to tell people to leave the beach as Mexico's beaches are classified as federal zones.

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF ESTABLISHMENTS NOT FOLLOWED

Some non-essential businesses that were ordered by the government to close did not follow the government's order either. Hair salons, tattoo parlors, repair shops, car washes, and vendors continue to trade, most notably in the Mexico state municipalities of Toluca, Metepec, and Zinacantepec.

President Lopez Obrador said that he wanted to avoid declaring a total shutdown because it will hurt the economy and, most notably, the poor.

However, he said on Friday that there is a possibility of implementing more stringent measures such as curfew because of recent incidents of citizens not following the rules.

Moreover, in the developing report, the Mexican government already declared a health emergency on Monday and suspended all non-essential activities until April 30. This declaration was followed by a warning that sanctions would be given to businesses that do not comply.

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The Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two persons in connection with the killings of BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four police personnel in an IED attack allegedly by Maoists in Dantewada last year, said the probe agency on Wednesday.

The accused were identified as Bhima Tati, (27) and Madka Ram Tati (36), both residents of Patel Para, Tikanpal village, Dantewada. They were arrested on Tuesday and then produced before the special NIA court, Jagdalpur the next day, which has granted their custody for six days to the NIA for interrogation, the agency said.

The IED blast was carried out on April 9, 2019 near Shyamgiri village in Kuakonda Police Station in which the then sitting Dantewada MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed by CPI (Maoist) cadres along with four police personnel of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF). The arms and ammunitions of the martyred security personnel werealso looted by the assailants.

A case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 396, 307 and 120B of IPC, section 25 and 27 of Arms Act, section 3 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act, section 13(1)(a), 38 and 39 of UA(P) Act, 1967 was registered with Kuakonda police station, against unknown persons. Subsequently, the NIA had reregistered the case on May 17, 2019 and began investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being used to treat and prevent COVID-19 despite weak evidence for effectiveness, and physicians and patients should be aware of the drugs' potentially serious adverse events, states a review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Physicians and patients should be aware of several rare but potentially life-threatening adverse effects of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine." Dr. David Juurlink, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and a senior scientist at ICES

The review provides an overview of potential harms associated with these drugs as well as their management based on the best available evidence.

Potential adverse effects include

Cardiac arrhythmias

Hypoglycemia

Neuropsychiatric effects, such as agitation, confusion, hallucinations and paranoia

Interactions with other drugs

Metabolic variability (some people metabolize chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine poorly and a small percentage metabolize them rapidly, which affects the response to treatment)

Overdose (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are highly toxic in overdose and can cause seizures, coma and cardiac arrest)

Drug shortages (patients with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other chronic diseases, who take hydroxychloroquine to treat these conditions could have problems accessing this drug)

The review summarizes the poor quality of evidence suggesting that these treatments might be beneficial in patients with COVID-19 and cautions that it is possible that these treatments could worsen the disease.

"Despite optimism (in some, even enthusiasm) for the potential of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19, little consideration has been given to the possibility that the drugs might negatively influence the course of disease," says Dr. Juurlink. "This is why we need a better evidence base before routinely using these drugs to treat patients with COVID-19."
A deadly outbreak of coronavirus has killed nine residents at a Scottish nursing home as the number of Covid-19 related deaths in care continue to surge.

Tranent Care Home in East Lothian is the latest to be hit by the crisis, after a number of similar tragedies across the UK.

Fifteen deaths were yesterday confirmed at Castletroy Residential home in Luton, which has 69 beds for elderly people with nursing or personal care needs.

Nine Covid-19 related deaths have been reported at Tranent Care Home in East Lothian, pictured

Elsewhere in Scotland, eight residents died after showing symptoms of the virus at Castle View care home in Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, and there were 13 more deaths at Burlington care home in North Lanarkshire.

Tranent owners HC-One, which also operates Castle View, said they would not comment on the number of deaths, reported as nine by The Scottish Sun, at the 60-bed property.

A spokeswoman said: 'Caring for our residents and supporting our colleagues is at the heart of what we do, and we are doing everything we can to make sure our residents and colleagues stay safe and well throughout these challenging times.

'We have a comprehensive coronavirus contingency plan in place, which was created by our clinical director and reflects the latest government guidance.

'We are working closely with our local health and care partners, and we are continuing to take action to secure the medical equipment, PPE (personal protective equipment) and supplies we need to protect residents and colleagues alike.'

The spokeswoman said the home was stocked with thousands of PPE items in line with government guidance.

She added: 'We are proud of our colleagues and how they have risen to the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak by showing huge dedication and commitment to our residents.

Care home owners are growing anxious about a lack of personal protective equipment, such as that being worn by staff outside the Nightingale Hospital in London today, pictured

'We are providing round-the-clock support for all our teams and we are also grateful to relatives for their ongoing support and understanding.

'Our thoughts and sympathies are with those families who have lost a loved one at this exceptionally difficult time and we are doing what we can to support them.'

Welsh care home boss claims PPE supplies are being reserved for English customers A care home owner in Wales has revealed her struggle to get basic PPE for her staff and claims that supplies are being reserved for English customers. Ceri Roberts runs two care homes in Porthmadog and Criccieth which care for a total of 78 residents, each of whom must be attended to by two people in a team of 120 staff. But Ms Roberts has been unable to order aprons from her usual suppliers during the coronavirus pandemic and said they have been ring-fenced for care homes over the border. Instead, she has resorted to buying them on Amazon for ten times their original price. The Cariad Care Home owner said: 'I spend 80,000 a year with my main supplier but he just said don't expect a lot as aprons and gloves and being bought by NHS England. 'I'm just thinking what to do. My training and development manager did a prototype out of rubbish bin bags. 'Every time our team visits one resident they use two aprons, two pairs of gloves. If they go to see someone four or five times a day they soon mount up. It's very very frustrating.' A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: 'If care homes are having a problem accessing stock through their normal suppliers, we have made contingency arrangements for them to access PPE via their local authority.' Advertisement

The deaths come as care home operators have called for help from the army and family doctors, according to The Guardian.

Older people's charity Age Scotland claimed residents were not being tested for the virus and that in some cases, local GPs were refusing to attend care homes, while unions representing home care workers told of members also not being tested, and being denied PPE.

In Wales, one boss has experienced similar struggles and claims that supplies are being reserved for English customers.

Ceri Roberts runs two care homes in Porthmadog and Criccieth which care for a total of 78 residents, each of whom must be attended to by two people in a team of 120 staff.

But Ms Roberts has been unable to order aprons from her usual suppliers during the coronavirus pandemic and said they have been ring-fenced for care homes over the border.

Instead, she has resorted to buying them on Amazon for ten times their original price.

She said: 'We normally have loads of stock, especially gloves and aprons. I was buying aprons online and put them in my basket and went to check out and it said 'these can only be bought by people in England'.

'These are basic needs. I'm not talking about enhanced PPE like specialist visors.

'I spend 80,000 a year with my main supplier but he just said don't expect a lot as aprons and gloves and being bought by NHS England.

'I'm just thinking what to do. My training and development manager did a prototype out of rubbish bin bags.

'The council have said they will send some but I imagine they will send a roll of 200. We go through about 4,000 aprons a week.

'Every time our team visits one resident they use two aprons, two pairs of gloves. If they go to see someone four or five times a day they soon mount up. It's very very frustrating.'

Gary Smith, regional organiser for GMB Scotland, told The Guardian staff can't afford to live on statutory sick pay and so were still going into work even when unwell.

'It's an utter shambles,' he added. 'We need a programme of testing. These people need to be properly valued by the government and others; caring is built on insecure and low paid workers.'

As a result, the chief executive of Scottish Care, the sector's umbrella body, suggested the military could be drafted in to help improve the supply of equipment and essential supplies.

Fifteen deaths were yesterday confirmed at Castletroy Residential home in Luton, pictured

The shortage means Ms Roberts has resorted to buying rolls of aprons online from stores such as Amazon.

Where a roll of 200 aprons will usually cost 2 from suppliers, she said they can be marked up to as much as 20 online.

The 56-year-old said: 'At the moment care homes seem to be the only company that have not benefited from any additional funding or grants.

'The team are really frightened and we want to do something for them but at the moment we are holding off as if we are not going to get funding we need to be confident we can run.

'A lot of the team have young families and they are scared to come to work but they do with a lot of reassurance. It's very difficult.

'In north Wales we are hearing of more cases locally and that makes people very very anxious.'

Another care home worker in Wales said: 'Myself and others in the sector are scared for the safety of the vulnerable people we support, our own safety, and the safety of our families when we return home from work having been potentially exposed to the virus whilst working without sufficient PPE.

'We are unable to keep that 2m distance at all times within the workplace due to the fact that manual handling often requires two workers to carry out personal care for the physically disabled when using equipment such as slings and hoists.

'I feel the least we deserve is to be able to protect ourselves with face masks when carrying out such unavoidable and close contact tasks.

'I am unsure of how the government can on one hand demand that everyone remains 2m apart from anyone who is not from their household when out in public yet once we, as care workers, step over the threshold and into our workplace we are then expected to work, without protection, within inches away from the same people we are told to keep distance from outside.'

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd, pictured, described problems over the delivery and accessibility of PPE in the care sector in Wales as 'a ticking time bomb'

Helen Whyley, director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Wales, said the situation was 'not good enough' after hearing the concerns from staff working in more than 600 care homes across Wales.

She said: 'The Covid-19 crisis continues to intensify yet nursing staff who are working hard to support patients in Wales' 600-plus care homes during this time are still not receiving appropriate supplies of PPE.

'This week our members in nursing homes have been telling us that they are worried about not having the appropriate kit to carry out their roles.

'Nursing staff in care homes are providing vital care in the fight against Covid-19 and have the same right to PPE as nursing staff in hospitals, yet they do not have access to adequate supplies, putting themselves, their families and their patients at risk, causing them to feel extremely anxious.

'The current situation is not good enough. Nurses and health care support workers deserve to do their jobs safely and with confidence during this pandemic and RCN Wales will continue to fight until each member of staff receives the appropriate protection.'

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd, added: 'The problems relating to the delivery and accessibility of PPE in the care sector in Wales is a ticking time bomb.

'We're seeing it in Scotland already with thirteen residents tragically passing away in a care home in Glasgow due to Covid-19 and a lack of personal protective equipment. I fear the same thing will happen in Wales unless we address this now.

'We've asked for clarity about the situation, we've asked for honesty. We're being told that things are in hand, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that this is not the case.

'Welsh Government must urgently tell us exactly what is being done to ensure the care sector can have immediate access to PPE. People are desperate.'

A Welsh Government spokesman said: 'The Welsh Government has provided all local authorities with access to supplies of PPE via the network of local authority joint community equipment stores across Wales.

'Directors of social services have been asked to manage and co-ordinate the distribution of stock to care providers in their areas.

'If care homes are having a problem accessing stock through their normal suppliers, we have made contingency arrangements for them to access PPE via their local authority.'
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Injuries to the pelvic region, which requires a pelvis fixation, are usually observed in multiple trauma patients. The significant threat from pelvic ring injuries is primarily related to blood loss which leads to hemorrhage, and hemorrhage is one of the leading causes of death. The blood loss is severe in case of bone fractures and arterial bleeding and as a general rule, patient with unstable pelvic joint needs to be prepared preferably within 6 hrs of injury.

Pelvis fracture has the highest significance of all skeletal injuries due to the unstable mortality rate range from 7.8% to 22.4% and open injuries considerably increase the probability of a fatal outcome. Pelvis fixation systems are provided to support the target area, and allow it to heal in a prescribed duration. External pelvis fixation system is provided in addition to other fixation standards. Benefit of external pelvis fixation system is that it is minimally invasive and can be applied rapidly.

In general, pelvic ring instabilities are of three major types: anterior instability, posterior instability and antero-posterior instability. On the basis of the target area, pelvis fixation systems are designed respectively in order to support the need. Pelvis fixation systems are one unit consisting different components such as pins, clamps and connecting bar in significant value.

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Pelvis Fixation System Market: Market Dynamics

Global pelvis fixation systems market is largely driven by the prevalence of hip and pelvic fractures and rising geriatric & adult population. In accordance with the researchers following these observation, the rate of pelvic fractures in cases of polytrauma ranges from 23% to 51%.

In addition, the adoption rate of pelvis fixation systems to support the pelvic fracture is also vividly observed. There is a rundown of causes due to which chronic hip pain can occur; hip fractures are most commonly observed in elderly patients with osteoporosis. Osteoarthritis, according to center of disease control (CDC) affects 22 Mn people every year, which not always but leads pelvic fractures due to age, trauma and other factors.

In 2015, trauma cases reported the highest number of deaths from age 1 to 46 years. Healthcare and lost productivity reported to be around $671 Bn that year being the highest out of major diseases observed. Associated injuries with pelvic fractures are supporting reasons for developing new technologies in forming pelvis fixation systems, injuries ranging from soft tissue injuries which vary from superficial abrasions and laceration, to closed internal injuries.

Axial and appendicular injuries are frequently associated with pelvic ring fractures. Urgency of the product is highly observed due to all the facts surrounding the trauma and orthopedic pelvic cases. Pelvis fixation system is a basic device to monitor the changes and provide a support to the affected pelvic area.

Pelvis fixation systems of different modalities are present to run the procedure with availability of both internal and external fixation gives it a better chance than other alternatives.

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Pelvis Fixation System market: Segmentation

By Product Type:

Internal fixation system

External fixation system Tubular Circular



By End Users:

Hospitals

Clinics

Others

Geographically, the global pelvis fixation system market is segmented into six key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (exc. China), China and the Middle East & Africa. North America will continue to grow over the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is expected to be attractive in terms of investment provided to the research wing in developing markets. Population density is expected to escalate in the Asia pacific (exc. China) region allowing more market opportunity for pelvis fixation system to establish and produce goods within the region.

Europe is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rise in population, changing lifestyle and rise in awareness among consumers and suppliers. Economic growth is supporting the health care infrastructure in developing countries allowing more number of players to contribute with ease and efficiency

Some of the players identified in the global pelvis fixation system market are DePuy Synthes, Stryker, Orthofix, Treu Instrumente, Zimmer Biomet, Alboland, Excel Medical, Excel Medical, SEGUFIX, TST R. Medical Devices, SOFEMED International and Mikai etc. among others.

Companies are building special pelvis fixation systems to offer systems to meet department needs. Each product in their line is built to improve long term medical efficiency and compatibility with different requirements.

Market of the pelvis fixation system is centralized and revolves around the incidence of pelvic fixation cases observed globally which incidentally is a moving point for smaller markets to grow at a faster rate. The compatibility of systems towards the patients provided by the manufacturers is the sole reason to drive the market of the pelvis fixation systems.

For In-Depth Competitive Analysis, Buy Now @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/23011

The report covers exhaustive analysis on:

Pelvis Fixation System Market Segments

Pelvis Fixation System Market Dynamics

Pelvis Fixation System Historical Market Size

Pelvis Fixation System Market Size & Forecast

Pelvis Fixation System Market Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Pelvis Fixation System Competition & Companies involved

Pelvis Fixation System Market Drivers and Restraints

Regional analysis includes:

North America

Latin America

Europe

Asia Pacific exc. China

China

Middle East & Africa

Report Highlights:

Shifting Industry dynamics

In-depth market segmentation

Historical, current and projected industry size

Recent industry trends

Key Competition landscape

Strategies of key players and product offerings

Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

A neutral perspective towards market performance
By Michael Erman

April 6 (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp said that it will launch two new drive-through COVID-19 testing sites in Georgia and Rhode Island on Monday using new, faster tests than had previously been available, with up to four more locations to follow.

The company said both drive-through testing sites will use testing equipment made by Abbott Laboratories that can deliver results within minutes. It expects to be able to perform around 1,000 tests per day at each site.

"We want to get some experience under our belt with these sites and understand exactly sort of what the volume looks like. And we'll also be improving the logistics associated with each of the sites over time," CVS Chief Medical Officer Troy Brennan said in an interview.

Brennan said the company expects to announce a third testing site in a different state on Tuesday and could launch up to three more sites afterward.

CVS was part of a group of U.S. retailers that pledged at a White House news conference on March 13 to open the testing sites in their parking lots. CVS has only opened one drive-through testing site, in the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Brennan said CVS was basically "shutting down that other model" of a single lane drive-through in the parking lot of one of its stores. A CVS spokeswoman said the Shrewsbury site is still operational, but the company is evaluating how and when to transition to this new model in Massachusetts.

The new testing sites will not be located in CVS parking lots. Instead, one will be located at Georgia Tech university and the other will be in the parking lot of a casino in Rhode Island.

CVS will supply personnel from its MinuteClinic unit to oversee the testing. The states will provide security and protective equipment.

The testing is currently available at no cost to patients, CVS said.

"Right now, the federal government's paying for these tests and will do so for a specific duration of time," Brennan said. "Then we'll develop the capability to bill insurance."

Patients will need to pre-register in advance online at CVS.com in order to schedule a same-day time slot for testing, the company said. Testing at the sites is for eligible individuals who meet criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in addition to state residency and age guidelines. (Reporting by Michael Erman Editing by Nick Zieminski)
TORONTO - Premier Doug Ford vowed Wednesday to immediately and vastly increase the number of COVID-19 tests Ontario performs after the province faced criticism for allowing most of its lab capacity to sit idle for days.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - Premier Doug Ford vowed Wednesday to immediately and vastly increase the number of COVID-19 tests Ontario performs after the province faced criticism for allowing most of its lab capacity to sit idle for days.

The province has been conducting fewer than 4,000 tests per day recently, although it is able to do 13,000.

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the virus that causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. THE CANADIAN PRESS/NIAID-RML via AP

Ontario at first didn't have enough assessment centres, then there were not enough labs to process the tests, then the supplies of reagent  key chemicals needed for testing  were low. But now that those issues have been resolved, there is no reason for the shortfall, Ford said.

"Now my patience has run thin and no more excuses," Ford said. "It's unacceptable.... We say we can do 13,000 a day, then we need to start doing 13,000 every single day."

Ford said he wants to see every long-term care resident, front-line health-care worker and first responder tested.

"We have to make this happen and we need to start doing it immediately, starting tomorrow," he said.

The more people who are tested, the more reliable the numbers will be at showing the scope of COVID-19's spread in Ontario, Ford said.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said a new testing strategy will be released soon, though she spoke Wednesday of prioritizing people in long-term care and retirement homes and Indigenous communities.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives for his daily briefing at Queen's Park in Toronto on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Assessment centres are told to use their clinical judgment to administer COVID-19 tests, but doctors have said they're told to adhere to provincial criteria of people who have symptoms and also fall into certain prioritized groups, including health-care workers, travellers and long-term care residents and staff.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said there is growing evidence of people with COVID-19 presenting with atypical symptoms, so the province is looking to give the assessment centres more flexibility to test those people.

The assessment centres had been testing around 60 per cent of people referred to them in mid-March, but are now testing between 70 and 75 per cent, a spokesman for Elliott said.

Even people with COVID-19 symptoms were being turned away from testing and told to self-isolate because there was not enough reagent to process the tests, Elliott said.

Ford said the reagent was restocked four or five days ago, but refused to lay the blame at the feet of anyone in particular for the continuing shortfall of tests over that period.

"We have to move forward and learn from our mistakes in the past," he said.

Ontario reported 550 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the biggest single-day increase so far, though figures also showed a return to an increasing testing backlog.

The new cases bring the total in the province to 5,276 cases  an increase of 11.6 per cent over Tuesday  including 174 deaths and 2,074 resolved cases.

The jump followed two days of relatively lower numbers of new cases.

Despite Ontario being able to run 13,000 tests per day, assessment centres have only been submitting about 3,500, the government said.

But even with that gap in available testing capacity, a backlog of pending tests that had nearly been cleared has now grown for two days in a row, and is up to more than 1,100.

There are now 99 assessment centres open in Ontario. Ford announced Wednesday that the province is extending hours of construction on critical health-care infrastructure projects, such as assessment centres and temporary structures that hospitals are preparing in the event of COVID-19 patient surges.

The number of people in hospital dropped since Tuesday, from 614 to 605, but more are now in intensive care and on ventilators.

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There are now at least 58 long-term care homes with one or more cases of COVID-19. About 45 per cent of all of the COVID-19 deaths in Ontario have been among long-term care residents.

Pinecrest Nursing Home, the site of Ontario's largest outbreak, reported another resident's death overnight, for a total of 28 deaths linked to COVID-19 at the Bobcaygeon facility.

Toronto Public Health said Wednesday that at least 16 residents had died due to COVID-19 in Seven Oaks long-term care home, with another 45 confirmed and 56 probable cases among the 249 residents. Thirteen staff have tested positive.

As well, 580 of Ontario's confirmed COVID-19 cases have been in health-care workers.

 With files from Cassandra Szklarski

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2020.
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The economic devastation wrought by COVID-19 is still coming into focus in the United States, China, and Europe, but for the worlds poorest countries, its likely to be exponentially worse. Before its over, the crisis could wipe out a decade of progress against global poverty and lead to the first overall increase in extreme poverty in 30 years, according to a new analysis. As many as half a billion people could fall below the poverty line.

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The report from the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University, a U.N.-founded think tank, finds that if global incomes drop 5 percent due to the pandemica conservative estimate of the likely consequences from multiple months of lockdownthe number of people living in extreme poverty (measured as wages of $1.90 per day) would increase by 1 percent. A more drastic 10 percent contraction would increase the extreme poverty rate by up to 6 percent. The U.N.s Sustainable Development Goals, which call for entirely eliminating extreme poverty by 2030, are looking very shaky right now.

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This would mark the first overall increase in global poverty since 1990. Regions where poverty rates are already highest would be the worst hit: 80 percent of those newly plunged into poverty would likely be in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. If you measure poverty as an income of $5.50 per day, another common benchmark, East Asia would see the most dramatic increases.

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Developing countries are uniquely vulnerable to the outbreak itself. Their medical systems often dont have the resources of wealthier countries, which have themselves been overwhelmed in this pandemic. In crowded slums, social distancing is impossible, and limited access to fresh water makes frequent hand-washing a luxury. Aware of these vulnerabilities, many developing countries have been extremely proactive in combating the outbreak. El Salvador declared a quarantine before it even had a single case, to take one extreme example. Indias 1.3 billion people are currently in the middle of an unprecedented lockdown, and the government of the countrys most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, says the quarantine wont be lifted as long as theres a single case.

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These lockdowns, even if they sometimes come with ulterior motives, are necessary but devastating to the worlds most economically vulnerable people. And the kind of business bailouts being implemented in many developed countries are difficult to carry out in countries where most people work in the informal sector. Moreover, the remittances from migrant workers that form the lifeblood of many developing countries have slowed to a trickle as wealthy countries have shut down their own economies.

Citing the UNU report, Oxfam is calling on world leaders to agree to an ambitious rescue package for poor countries including $1 trillion in debt cancellations or postponements. Reeling from their own crises, wealthy national governments might not be in the most generous mood. But as one Ghanaian official put it, discussing the challenge facing Africa, this is a  break the glass moment.
The fire outbreak which occurred at the accountant generals office, gutted two key departments including the one that processes consolidated revenue sharing amongst the three tiers of government.

The fire at the Treasury House located in southeast of Abuja city center was successfully contained within an hour, as fire fighters and other first responders including the police and emergency management officers, raced to the scene shortly after the outbreak.

According to Premium Times two senior officials briefed on the fire incident said two key offices were razed by the inferno before it was put out. The fourth and fifth floors were also affected.

An official said;

The fire started at the fourth department where federal, state and local government allocations and other crucial payments are processed and then found its way up to the fifth floor where the accountant-general has his office. We had to suspend a meeting we had scheduled for 11:a.m. via video conferencing.

Another official said the fire did affect their data centre. He said;

The fire did not affect our data centre, which is actually fully backed up. We have been using computer to process and back up information for the past 11 years.

Public Relations Officer of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Sandra Ugo told journalists that personnel of the FFS arrived on time and were able to put out the fire before much damage was done to the building.
A 107-year-old Dutch woman, Cornelia Ras has recovered from the novel coronavirus to beat the record earlier held by Bill Lapschies, a 104-year-old American who also survived World War II and the Spanish Flu pandemic

According to a statement on Dutch newspaper, AD Reported, she fell ill a day to her birthday on March 17th after attending a church service along with 40 other people who then tested positive for the disease after test.

12 of the people died but the 107-year-old woman was given a clean bill of health on Monday.

Statement below:

We did not expect her to survive this, her niece Maaike de Groot told the newspaper.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Abia Govt Relaxes Lockdown Ahead Of Easter Celebration

She takes no medicines, still walks well and gets down on her knees every night to thank the Lord. From the looks of it, she will be able to continue to do so.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 1,213 on Thursday to 21,762, health authorities said, with 148 new deaths.

The countrys death toll stands at 2,396, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.
When it comes to looking for advice on how to get acquired, theres a lot out there  405 million Google entries, to be exact. When it comes to advice on how to acquire, however, the results are fewer and are predominantly process-based, not strategy based.

You can't become a market leader through organic growth alone. Google has made more than 200 acquisitions in its 21 years, the first being just three years after it was incorporated. Those doing the math can see that that's about 10 acquisitions a year. To get the speed and breadth needed for scale, even 200 percent year-on-year organic growth won't cut it. The knowledge and capabilities that come with acquisitions dwarfs anything that can be done on your own.

Related: When Acquiring a Company, Don't Forget About the People

In my company's 10-year history, we have undergone seven M&As and are continually looking for new opportunities that fit our business goals. How we've made this work isnt because of the usual tactics of due diligence and negotiating on price (though of course someone here was responsible for that). The decisions on who and when to acquire are based on much more personal and personable reasons. Here are my tips.

Get M&As into the DNA of your company

Before you start looking at and judging external companies, its time for some self-reflection. To get M&As right, it comes down to the DNA of not only the company you're acquiring but also your own. If your DNA doesn't support acquisitions, then any deal is likely to fail. My company made our first acquisition with a staff of seven. The company we acquired had 30 employees. To others, that may seem like a risky move and an easy way to lose control, but making your DNA support M&As is like training a muscle  the earlier you start, the stronger it becomes. Early M&As signal to your team that even great companies can't do everything alone. If you build the muscle too late, your team won't be as ready to accept others into your company.

Go after a good business, not a good deal

It might seem like semantics, but the difference between the two words is important. A good deal refers to the acquisition price, but when we talk about a good business, what we mean are the people and the culture. You can get whats considered a good deal on paper, but in reality the culture of the acquired company does not fit your own and the likelihood of future success is zero to none. A successful acquisition goes beyond the Excel sheets and the revenue charts. Buying a company that's a good deal isn't wrong all the time (and is a step that my company has taken), but its important to be honest and upfront with yourself. Post-acquisition, you're going to face challenges integrating the two companies into a single collaborative working unit.

Related: How to Make a Successful Acquisition to Grow Your Company

Do due diligence with the people

Doing your financial due diligence is an obvious step in the acquisition process, but the most important and often overlooked step is to do due diligence with people. Spend time not only with the CEO but also with the wider team. Understand the company's culture and learn how decisions are made. Whats the group intelligence of the business youre acquiring? Find out how they dealt with and recovered from past failures. Did they learn from them or repeat them further down the line? Does it evolve, is it steady or declining? Talk to the people. Being personally interested and inquisitive about the people in the company. Spending time with the team, observing them and noting how they interact with one another will tell you more about the character of the business youre acquiring than any additional meeting with the CEO will.

Get out of your comfort zone

Making yourself feel vulnerable is a hard step to take, but it's a critical one. Meet people in their office as opposed to your own. Yes, you won't have the home court advantage, but when youre out of your comfort zone, you can better analyze how you feel about your potential new partners. If spending time with the target company doesnt make you feel good, its a telltale sign that this is not a good business for you. I've personally walked away from good deals when spending time at the other company didn't feel right to me. But its not just about spending time with the people. Taking the conversation away from the boardroom is critical. Spend leisure time with them, meet their families and see how they interact away from the office.

Be willing to pay up front

If youve done your due diligence, spent quality time with the target company and are still happy to move forward with the acquisition, the level of conviction should be so high at this point that youre ready to give up on normal protection mechanisms like down payments and earn-outs. This is my company's policy, and I feel strongly about paying everything up front on day one.

Of course this policy doesn't work for every company, but I believe in true partnerships. You can't build one while holding a gun to someone's head and telling them to reach certain goals. Is it nontraditional? Yes. Could I get burned? Maybe. It is risky? No. By paying up front youve given your new partners the option to walk away, which means that if theyve chosen to stay it's for the right reasons. The first day after an acquisition is now like day one of a startup, working with people who are in it together.

Related: 10 Factors To Consider When Making An Acquisition

Will this work in 100 percent of acquisitions? Probably not. Statistically youre likely to make a mistake, just as you could make a mistake if you did enforce protection methods. Given that, I believe that the upside of the successful acquisitions with this approach far outweighs any upsides of going down the traditional route.

When you're buying another company  unless the acquisition is for a unique technology  what you're really buying is the brains behind the operation. These are the people who love and believe in what they do and have made the company the success that it is today. Its personal because its about your gut reaction. Its personal because you all have to get along. If you wouldnt sit in a coffee shop chatting about a new startup idea with these people, then the deal, no matter how good it sounds, is not for you.

Related:

If You Use Stripe or PayPal, This App Can Help Manage Cash Flow

5 Things You Need to Know About Acquiring a Business

Coronavirus: The Shift From Fear Of Supply To Fear Of Demand



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:19:08|Editor: xuxin

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Workers clean a train carriage converted into an isolation ward for COVID-19 patients to fight against the epidemic at Agartala Rail Station in Tripura, India, April 9, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- India's Health Ministry said on Thursday that the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 166 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 5,734.

"As of 8:00 a.m. local time today 166 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," the ministry said in a statement.

This is a jump of 17 deaths and an increase of 540 cases since Wednesday morning.

According to ministry officials, so far 473 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

"The number of active cases in the country right now is 5,095," said the statement.

Thursday marks the 16th day of the ongoing 21-day lockdown across the country announced by the government to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities have imposed strict curfew-like restrictions to prevent the movement of people across the country. All road, rail and air services have been suspended, except essential services.

The three-week lockdown is expected to end on April 14.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with key political leaders on Wednesday, when he indicated that the ongoing lockdown could be extended.

Meanwhile, local governments in Delhi and neighboring Uttar Pradesh have sealed COVID-19 hotspots in their territories to combat its spread. Authorities in both the places have made it mandatory for people to wear face masks while venturing out.

According to officials, nobody will be allowed to enter or exit from these hotspots and government officials will ensure delivery of essential items in the sealed areas.
You cant tell us to social distance and throw six men in a 15-by-15-foot cubicle, a 49-year-old inmate said in a phone interview from the prison. The inmate at first spoke on the record, but called back, asking to remain anonymous, fearing retaliation from prison staff. They wont let us outside. People are sick, coughing, not able to breathe, and we are piled on top of each other. I cant believe the crap I have to witness each day. Im mad; Im terrified.
Remote Agents Key to Bank Call Center Success During Coronavirus

Bank call center traffic has increased exponentially since COVID-19 struck on a global scale. Many financial institutions were able to make a quick transition to remote work for their agents and employees in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a move that has enabled them to keep up with unprecedented demands on customer service.

According to statistics from Neustar, a technology company with several hundred banking clients, call center volume increased just 3.8 percent in January after the first U.S. coronavirus infection was reported. As governments began issuing more serious warnings in late February, that number jumped to a 21.5-percent increase across all banks. And between January 21 and March 8, Neustar reported a 36.2-percent increase in call volumes across all banking tiers, with a whopping 43.3-percent increase for large banks.

Robert McKay, senior vice president of customer identity and risk solutions at Neustar, told American Banker that wait times are on the rise as well. In fact, the company has heard reports of waits of up to three and a half hours. The average wait time for banking customers, according to McKay, is between 40 and 90 minutes.

Some financial institutions have been able to deal with the increased call volume, as well as the physical limitations imposed by COVID-19 social distancing mandates, by swiftly and efficiently moving their agents to a remote work model. In fact on March 18, Discover was already in the process of moving its 8,000 contact center agents to a remote work model when the company experienced a 5.7 magnitude earthquake outside its largest contact center and statement-processing center in Salt Lake City.

It was bad timing for Discover, which was dealing with a roughly seven-percent increase in call volume from customers panicking about the financial consequences of COVID-19. But the company successfully completed its transition to remote work, and proudly reports that by March 26, 91 percent of calls reached an agent within five minutes. Discover also boasts an average speed of answers for all calls of 74 seconds.

The outstanding results have been made possible through a comprehensive remote work policy. Discover enabled its agents to securely access confidential customer data from their homes using thin-client computers that rely on remote servers to ensure a secure data connection. The company already had many of the devices on hand for a planned upgrade later in the year.

Discover was already offering remote work to its agents as well, which put the company in a good position for a full transition. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 23 percent of its call center agents already worked from home. the company has also been able to divert some call center traffic to its other communication channels, like a messaging service on its mobile app. The app has experienced twice the volume in March as February. Additionally, Discover took advantage of AI within its IVR system so that key words like "coronavirus" could direct callers to the appropriate agents.

Ally Bank also cites a flexible remote work model that went into effect in mid-March for handling an influx of call volume related to COVID-19. The company has boasted wait times of just one or two minutes recently, and credits its remote agents as well as measures like self-service options and peer-to-peer payment services for its success.

And USAA, a company with financial centers throughout the US, has nearly 100 percent of its workforce running remotely. The company, which has experienced a spike in calls about financial assistance over the past month, has encouraged members to use its digital channels like its website and app for routine requests. Call center managers have also been asked to spend extra time working with their team members via remote, one-on-one check-ins to ensure call center agents' and customers' needs are being met.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
A fire broke out in a slum at



Narkeldanga area of the city on Thursday evening, gutting a few shanties and a parked lorry, a Fire Brigade official said here.

The blaze, that broke out at 9.30 pm, was brought under control within an hour by the fire fighters with the help of eight fire engines, the official said.

No one was injured in the incident, a Kolkata Police officer said.

West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose, who rushed to the spot, praised the fire fighters for timely action and preventing any major damage by bringing the blaze under control swiftly.

Three shanties and a parked lorry loaded with paper products were gutted in the blaze, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Outside his home in the Weequahic neighborhood of Newark, Ryan Haygood watched for two weeks as his city struggled to come to terms with the significance of the coronavirus outbreak.

Even though Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was ahead of most other cities in New Jersey in his response  he first began holding daily briefings on March 16  city officials were still having difficulties keeping people at home and non-essential businesses closed.

A couple of weeks ago it was clear there were people in the city who were taking it very seriously and others who were not," said Haygood, president and CEO on the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. "You could drive down the street and see a lot of people out.

Newark police started with warnings, issuing some 300 over a four-day period in late March. But some residents still werent following the city and state orders to stay at home. In the past week and a half, Newark police charged more than 900 people and closed around 50 businesses for violating orders from the governor.

The level of noncompliance is especially concerning in Newark, a city with a population that might be disproportionately at risk of succumbing to the coronavirus.

Data from across the country suggests that black Americans are more susceptible to the coronavirus than the population at large, due to a combination of factors, but largely down to a higher than average prevalence of underlying health conditions, like high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes, public health experts say. In Chicago, some 70 percent of those who have died from coronavirus are black, while only about 30 percent of the citys population is black. Newarks population is 49.7. percent black, according to the most recently available Census data, compared to 15% of the statewide population.

I really, really am concerned about what those numbers will look like in Newark, Camden, Trenton and Irvington, Haygood said. It preys on the underlying conditions you find mostly in black people."

Early research also suggests that poorer communities are seeing much greater spread of the disease. That means Newark, with 28% of its residents living in poverty, nearly 3 times the national rate, according to Census date, could be facing a perfect storm of factors that intensify the crisis.

Our lack of access to healthcare makes it even worse, Baraka said in his video press conference on Wednesday. "Were falling victim and thats why its that much more important to protect ourselves, to follow these orders.

The initial numbers from New Jersey would seem to bear out these very concerns. Of the 1,700 people in the state who had died after contracting the virus as of Thursday, 61% were white, 22% were black, 6% were Asian, less than 1 percent were native or Pacific islander and 11% were still being investigated. Compare that to the breakdown of the state population, which is 72% white, 15% black and 10% percent Asian.

As of Wednesday, 1,939 people in the city had tested positive for the virus and 92 had died, Baraka said. Both of those are among the most of any municipality in New Jersey. (The state as a whole has reported 51,027 cases of coronavirus and 1,700 people have died, as of Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy said in his daily briefing.)

Complicating this picture, though, is incomplete data and limited testing  two issues that have bedeviled the coronavirus response, nationally and statewide, from the start. Even though African-Americans in New Jersey already appear to be disproportionately represented in deaths, we wont have a clearer picture until the state starts releasing more specific demographic data. So far, the state has only released the high-level death numbers broken down by race.

Murphy said Thursday that state officials were focused on the impact of the virus on African-American communities.

For now, though, Newark is preoccupied with slowing the spread of the virus. Wade, the health director, said its especially important for those with underlying health conditions to follow city and state orders on staying at home.

Dont risk going out if you dont have to, and for individuals who have those particular (underlying) conditions, dont allow even family members to come in if they dont have to, he said.

And In that respect, the daily drumbeat of stories about noncompliance in the city  including one night in which Newark police cited 161 people and closed 15 businesses  illustrates how seriously leaders are taking the issue.

Anthony Ambrose, Newarks public safety director, said police wrote nearly 1,000 summonses in the last week and a half  no other town in New Jersey has reported close to that number.

We dont want to give you a summons, we want to save lives, Ambrose said.

The effort seems to be working. Ambrose emphasized the daily number of summonses have been falling as more people are staying inside; on Monday, he said, officers wrote only 34 summonses for people violating the order to stay inside, way down from the numbers last week. No non-essential businesses were found to be operating that day, either. He stressed that educating the public has been the most important factor in decreasing the number of people being charged.

On Tuesday, Haygood looked out his window and saw just two people, both carrying grocery bags. He noted this was a positive change from the previous couple of weeks.

I dont think initially people appreciated the situation," he said. "But now there are very few people out around where I live.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion.

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Doctors care about patients, not diseases. The question we should often think about is what are the medical problems that havent been solved yet and how can we solve them, renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said on April 4 during an exclusive interview, Zhongguo Jijian Jiancha Bao (China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily) reported Tuesday.

Zhong Nanshan receive interview with Zhongguo Jijian Jiancha Bao on April 4. (Photo/Zhang Rui)

Zhong, who is also an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), is the head of the high-level expert team put together and sent to Wuhan by Chinas National Health Commission (NHC) to guide epidemic response work and conduct on-site investigations.

Zhong was born in in 1936 in Nanjing, capital of east Chinas Jiangsu province. He graduated from Peking University Health Science Center (then the state-run Beijing Medical School) in 1960, and was one of the first batch of students sponsored by the Chinese government to study abroad after the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy.

In 2013, Zhong took part in the countrys fight against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic. This year, when the novel coronavirus outbreak hit China, the 84-year-old expert once again went to the front line of the battle like an iron warrior.

During the recent three-day Qingming Festival national holiday from April 4 to 6, Zhong continued to work tirelessly in his office in the Yuexiu campus of Guangzhou Medical University in Guangzhou, capital of south Chinas Guangdong province.

His recent interview with Zhongguo Jijian Jiancha Bao gave a great deal of insight into his work, ideas, beliefs, and some of the reasons why the man is so highly respected in China.

Going to the front: I went to Wuhan with an urgent desire to learn more about the disease.

On Jan. 18, Zhong went to Wuhan, capital of central Chinas Hubei province and also the previous epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on short notice.

On the afternoon of Jan. 18, I got the notice about going to Wuhan and joined the NHCs high-level expert team that same night. I was made head of the team and was told to take part in discussions the next day. I realized then that the situation was probably serious. I went to Wuhan with an urgent desire to learn more about the disease, Zhong said.

Zhong reported the epidemic situation on behalf of the expert team on the morning of Jan. 20, when he confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus and cases of medical workers becoming infected. These were two very important signs, as they signified that the disease would spread quickly, Zhong pointed out.

In the face of a new infectious disease, the first priority is to think about how to prevent it, Zhong said, stressing that for all public health incidents, the first priority is to keep the situation within the upper stream of those incidents, and that efforts must be made to prevent it from spreading out.

Fighting COVID-19: We need to prevent more infections and reduce deaths. What can be more important for a doctor than this?

Under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has formulated the correct epidemic prevention and control strategies, Zhong said.

During the initial stage of the outbreak, China locked down Wuhan in order to cut off the spread of the virus and launched mass prevention and treatment measures across the country, Zhong said, noting that those measures were later upgraded to joint prevention and control efforts.

The joint prevention and control efforts highlight four key points: early discovery, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment, Zhong explained, adding that these efforts have proven effective in China.

China has been making efforts to summarize the ways the disease works while paying close attention to medical treatment, Zhong pointed out, adding that the clinical manifestations and effective drugs China discovered during its fight against COVID-19 serve as a good reference for the world to follow.

After painstaking efforts, China has made important phased achievements in prevention and control of the epidemic, and these results were hard-won, according to Zhong.

However, the disease is spreading rapidly overseas and the country is coming under mounting pressure from imported COVID-19 cases, Zhong noted, pointing out that by April 3, China had reported more than 700 imported cases of COVID-19, and the figure continues to rise.

China should promptly adjust and improve its epidemic prevention and control measures and focus its efforts on preventing imported cases and a recurrence of the outbreak in the country, Zhong said.

When asked about the greatest pressure he faced during the fight against the epidemic, Zhong said throughout his career as a doctor, the greatest pressure has always come from a patients death.

Since I started my career as a doctor, the greatest pressure for me has always come from whether I am successful in saving patients lives. If I manage to save and cure a patient, then everything else is easier to deal with. But if I fail to save the life, its the most stressful moment for me, Zhong revealed.

The same is true with the present fight against COVID-19. We need to prevent more infections and reduce deaths. What can be more important for a doctor than this?

Making progress: Historical experience has told us that a vaccine is the final answer to prevention and control of an epidemic.

We have carried out clinical tests for chloroquine and the Lianhua Qingwen Capsule, which have so far both proven to have positive effects. Chloroquine can shorten the course of the disease and reduce viral load, while Lianhua Qingwen Capsule can significantly reduce the time needed for alleviation of symptoms, Zhong disclosed.

Its essential to develop vaccines for the COVID-19, Zhong said, noting that COVID-19 is more contagious than SARS, which is why some countries are now reporting more than 10,000 confirmed cases a day.

Historical experience has told us that the vaccine is the final answer to prevention and control of an epidemic, Zhong said, adding that vaccines for COVID-19 are urgently needed.

Scientific research: Basic scientific research should serve clinical practice.

Clinical treatment must always have an extremely important position in anti-epidemic efforts, and basic scientific research should serve clinical practice, said Zhong.

Zhong disclosed that his research team collected the clinical characteristics of 1,099 COVID-19 cases and published its findings in the New England Journal of Medicine soon after the outbreak of the epidemic.

It was the first time that data on more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients across the country was gathered. The paper is also by far the most cited research on the epidemic in the world, Zhong added.

We found in the research that about half of the COVID-19 patients didnt have fever when they were admitted to hospital, and some patients who had high laboratory indexes quickly became severe cases. Such basic research findings have played a very good guiding role in curing and treating the disease around the world, Zhong said.

Family tradition: My father didnt talk much. He said one should make sure what he says is based on evidence.

Zhong says his career choice can be largely attributed to his family environment.

Zhongs father was a paediatrician. His mother graduated in advanced nursing from Peking Union Medical College (then China Union Medical University) and served as vice president of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (then tumor hospital in south China).

In the 1940s and 1950s, many neighbors often brought their children to my home for medical diagnosis and treatment. After they were cured, the neighbors were very happy and my father felt a sense of achievement, Zhong said.

My parents talked a lot about medicine at home, which had quite a big influence on me. It helped develop my interest in the subject, Zhong added.

The greatest influence his father had on him was the idea that one should always seek truth from facts, according to Zhong. My father didnt talk much. He said that one should make sure what he says is based on evidence.

According to Zhong, his family members understand his work and have always supported his career.

Ive made some achievements in my work. The support from my family is very important, Zhong said.

Life: How the Steel Was Tempered had a very big influence on me. The patriotism in the book has influenced a whole generation.

During his time in the University of Edinburgh, some of Zhongs studies won widespread recognition from his teachers and research fellows. One of his teachers tried to persuade him to stay, but Zhong decided to return to his motherland when his studies had ended.

Our country gave us the opportunity to study abroad when it was in a very difficult situation financially, so I never thought about not returning home. I thought I had to come back to help with our countrys scientific research after finishing my studies abroad, Zhong said.

I havent had much time to read novels since I began to work, but I read a lot of novels when I was in primary and secondary school. How the Steel Was Tempered had a very big influence on me. The patriotism and the idea of one for all and all for one in the book has influenced a whole generation, Zhong said.

Just like my father said, you can feel your life has been worthwhile if you leave something valuable in the world, Zhong said.

Medicine is a practical discipline, said Zhong, revealing that many of his ideas, inspiration in work, and research questions came from clinical practice.

Im not used to finding research questions from literature, Zhong said.
Some of the products of Smithfield Foods are displayed in front at a news conference on WH Group's IPO in Hong Kong on April 14, 2014. (Bobby Yip/Reuters)

Smithfield Foods Closes US Pork Plant Due to CCP Virus

CHICAGOSmithfield Foods Inc, the worlds biggest pork processor, said on Thursday it is temporarily closing a plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, because of the CCP virus, the latest disruption to the U.S. food supply chain from the outbreak.

The company will suspend operations in a large section of the pork plant on April 11 and completely shutter it on April 12 and April 13, after employees tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, according to a statement.

Hams and other memorabilia are displayed at a restaurant in Smithfield, Va. on May 29, 2013. (Amanda Lucier/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

The plant has a total of 3,700 workers, Smithfield said. It supplies nearly 130 million servings of food per week, or about 18 million servings per day, in the United States, according to the company, which is owned by Chinas WH Group Ltd.

Tyson Foods Inc said on Monday it closed a pork plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, after more than 24 cases of COVID-19 involving employees at the facility. U.S. beef plants run by JBS USA and National Beef Packing Company have also shut.

By Tom Polansek

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
Pharmaceutical firms are not entirely confident with performance in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the global supply chain up-side-down.

A lab at Ha Tay Pharmaceutical JSC (HNX: DHT).  Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Imexpharm Corporation (HoSE: IMP) targets to increase total revenue and pre-tax profit up 23 per cent and 28.4 per cent to VND1.75 trillion (US$74.5 million) and VND260 billion in 2020, respectively.

Big player Traphaco JSC (HoSE: TRA) sets a 17 per cent growth in total revenue, which is hoped to reach VND2 trillion, and a 9 per cent increase in total profit, which is expected to hit VND180 billion in 2020.

The company in 2020-25 will focus on making new products and receive new technologies from its South Korean partner Daewoong while seeking new strategic partnerships.

Other firms such as Saigon Pharma (SPM JSC, HoSE: SPM) and Pharmedic (Pharmaceutical Medicinal JSC, HNX: PMC) eye their earnings will increase between 1 per cent and 8 per cent on-year in 2020, respectively.

Earnings at DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (HoSE: DHG) and Ha Tay Pharmaceutical JSC (HNX: DHT) are forecast to edge up this year while Lam Dong Pharmaceutical JSC (HNX: LDP) expects its pre-tax profit in 2020 will drop a quarter to more than VND9 billion.

According to the firms, the major problem for 2020 is the global supply chain, which has been interrupted and remained stagnant since the end of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday in late January as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the entire global economy, forcing businesses to close temporarily.

Ha Tay Pharmaceutical JSC and DHG Pharmaceutical JSC are buying materials from Chinese suppliers. As the COVID-19 started in Wuhan, China in late December, it has disrupted the supply and caused a shortage of production inputs for the two firms.

Meanwhile, Imexpharm now has a European-standard facility. That helps the company earn 89 per cent of its total revenue from producing and distributing its own products and store a sufficient amount of materials for a potential production recovery.

The pharmaceutical stocks are widely-known as defence for investors as the companies have had good earnings based on rising demand for medicines and healthcare services and they have also had good cash dividend records.

But pharmaceutical stocks such as DHG, DHT and TRA have lost about 21.6-28 per cent in the last two months.  VNS

VN pharma landscape set for shake-up Facing significant expansion from multinational corporations, Vietnamese drug giants took a hit in 2019 despite new strategies, signalling an uninspiring outlook for future growth.
But so far Iceland has been steadily testing people with and without symptoms, with the help of deCODE genetics, a company that has long operated in the country and is a subsidiary of Amgen. The country has one of the highest proportion of tests performed by any country for the coronavirus, according to government officials. They have tracked the origins of different infections, traced contacts and even looked at the virus different strains.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hailed a microbiologist who travelled 1,500 km from Hyderabad to Lucknow to help out in sample testing amid COVID-19 outbreak, saying there are lakhs of such "soldiers" in India who should be honoured and encouraged.

Ramakrishna of Telangana reached Lucknow after covering a distance of 1,500 km and started serving in the fight against coronavirus, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.

He is a research student and is currently assisting in taking test samples at King George''s Medical University, she said.

"This is our India. There are lakhs of such soldiers in India. Let's honour them and give encouragement to their enthusiasm," the Congress general secretary said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams wants the state government to stop people from changing their driver's licence address to North Stradbroke Island after 300 applications were made in just over a week

Hundreds of people are exploiting a loophole to bypass a travel ban to a popular Queensland holiday destination, says a local mayor.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams wants the state government to stop people from changing their driver's licence address to North Stradbroke Island after 300 applications were made in just over a week.

'While some of these applications may be genuine, with so many in just over a week, it is clear some are trying to find a loophole by claiming they permanently live on the island,' Cr Williams said.

Non-permanent residents have been banned from going to the island, just east of Brisbane, as part of COVID-19 restrictions.

Non-permanent residents have been banned from going to the island, just east of Brisbane, as part of COVID-19 restrictions

The ban means people who do not live on the island cannot travel there for a holiday or any kind of recreation.

The island is an extremely popular school holiday destination.

'I realise this travel ban will be inconvenient for those with holiday homes on the island but right now, the health of the community must take priority,' Cr Williams said.

State Disaster Co-ordinator Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police are aware of the applications.

'It's not a game to work out how you can game the system and go to your holiday home on Straddie because you want to spend the one weekend a year that you spend there at the expense of everyone else,' he said.

Australians have been warned not to travel during the Easter holiday season as the number of coronavirus cases hit 6,104.

Queensland have taken extreme measures in regards to stopping the spread of coronavirus by closing their borders for the first time since the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1919.

Queensland have taken extreme measures in regards to stopping the spread of coronavirus by closing their borders for the first time since the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1919. Pictured: Queensland border control on April 9

Only residents - and exemptions such as emergency services, government workers or the transporting of goods - are allowed to cross the border from April 3.

Certain beaches have also been closed to avoid temptation over the long weekend.

Gold Coast Council closed some of its most famous beaches, Surfers Paradise, Coolangatta and The Spit at midnight on Tuesday, but left others open.

Oher beaches were left open for both swimming and exercise, in a move Mayor Tom Tate said was aimed at keeping 'out-of-towners' off the sand.

New South Wales has also closed beaches in the eastern suburbs, such as Bondi, on March 21 after thousands breached social distancing rules.

Australians have been warned not to travel during the Easter holiday season as the number of coronavirus cases hit 6,010.

New South Wales residents have also been warned to stay put during Easter.

'We will be going through caravan parks early issuing warnings to people that may think they can get around these laws,' Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.

'It is important over this weekend that we continue the good work and we continue to isolate, as frustrating as that may be.'
Leftist US Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign Wednesday, clearing the way for rival Joe Biden to secure the Democratic nomination and challenge Donald Trump in November.

The feisty 78-year-old democratic socialist shook up the 2020 race with his relentless pursuit of "economic justice" for all Americans and a demand for universal health care.

But he acknowledged his campaign had fallen short, as party voters determined Biden would be a stronger candidate to go up against Trump in the general election.

"I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful," Sanders told supporters in a livestream from his home, where he has remained for the bulk of the coronavirus pandemic that put all in-person campaigning on hold.

"Vice president Biden will be the nominee," he said, adding that he congratulated his rival, a "very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward." Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in 2016, mounted a formidable 2020 bid.

He raised astonishing amounts of money from record numbers of donors, becoming the frontrunner early this year and earning the most votes in the first three state-wide contests.

But he was eclipsed by a surging Biden, who won the vast majority of remaining primaries and now holds a commanding lead in the all-important race for delegates who choose the nominee.

Sanders brought his liberal ideological platform -- including a call for universal health care and a $15 hourly minimum wage -- into the mainstream.

"Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice," Sanders said.

Several lawmakers have come out in support of his policies, and Biden has shifted leftward to incorporate some Sanders positions, although he does not support Sanders's Medicare for All plan.

Biden immediately hailed Sanders as "a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country." He urged Sanders supporters to join his campaign, which already has the backing of nearly all other ex-rivals in the race including senators Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, and former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg.

"I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country," Biden said in a statement to Sanders and his supporters.

"I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You're needed." Trump made his own pitch for Sanders's supporters, though in a more abrasive tone.

"Bernie Sanders is OUT!" the president posted on Twitter, saying Senator Elizabeth Warren helped split the liberal vote by remaining in the race during key contests, thereby helping Biden, the Democratic establishment's clear choice for the nomination.

"The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!" Trump said. Trump won the 2016 election with help from disaffected working-class voters who believed they were being left behind by politicians in Washington.

Sanders also appeals to those voters.

On Wednesday he warned the coronavirus was causing an "economic meltdown" that has resulted in millions of lost jobs and a scramble for many to regain access to health insurance.

Sanders said he would not remain in an unwinnable campaign that would "interfere" with important anti-coronavirus work while the country is gripped by crisis.

Biden said his focus is on ending the pandemic, but promised to continue campaigning despite the logistical challenges.

"First things first: how we're going to keep America safe and get this crisis under control and provide economic assistance," he said during a virtual fundraiser.

And he repeated a pledge to choose a woman as his running mate -- a topic on which he said he has asked former president Barack Obama for advice.

"I'm going to need a woman vice president who has the capacity, has strengths where I have weaknesses," Biden said.

Sanders stressed he would remain on the ballot and seek to gain as many delegates as possible in order to "exert significant influence" over the direction of the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bagalavan Perier B By

Express News Service

VILLUPURAM: Villupuram police has continued its search for a missing COVID-19 patient for the second day on Thursday, increasing the number of teams involved in the search from three to seven.



Meanwhile, district health officials claimed that the man had not been discharged by hospital staff but had escaped while the results for a second test were pending.



According to Villupuram police, 26 people, who were in the care of health department for having COVID-19 symptoms, history of travel to Delhi or contact with positive patients, were discharged on Tuesday after their tests for viral infection were negative. However later that night, police said health officials informed them that four of the 26 had tested positive and asked the police to trace them.



As three of the four patients are from the district, police found them easily and they were admitted back to the Government General Hospital in Villupuram for treatment. However, the fourth person is a native of Delhi. He had come to Villupuram last month after visiting Puducherry where he was arrested in connection to two cases, including making a hoax bomb threat call to Raj Nivas, police said.



Police, however, said the health department had alerted them to the missing persons late on Tuesday, making their task harder. They feared he might have crossed the district border by any truck carrying essential goods.



'We have increased the police teams involved in the search from three to seven and all the borders are under strict surveillance. The search is continuing.' said Villupuram Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar.'



Health officials, who could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, on Thursday claimed that the man from Delhi had not been discharged but had escaped. When asked if the other three patients who later tested positive had also escaped, they were evasive.



According to the health department, the mans first test result was inconclusive and so he had been tested again. Officials alleged that he had escaped from the quarantine ward before the result of the second test came back.



Meanwhile, Puducherry police had reportedly caught a person they thought might be the missing man. Later a police team from Villupuram went there and confirmed that he was not the missing person. The Villupuram district administration and police department have released the mans photograph and urged members of the public to inform them if they saw him anywhere.
MIDDLETOWN  Erika Taylor, associate professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University, is honored among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education in the March 20 issue of Diverse Education.

Taylor joined the faculty in 2007 and teaches courses in the areas of organic chemistry, biochemistry, environmental chemistry, and bio-medicinal chemistry, among others.

Shes also associate professor, environmental studies, and associate professor, integrative sciences, and takes a multidisciplinary approach to investigating problems at the biological chemistry interface.

Diverse acknowledged Taylor for striv(ing) to find ways to exploit enzymes found in nature to perform reactions that can help advance the fields of chemistry and medicine. Her research group has included over 75 students to date, spanning high schoolers to PhD students, with women and other underrepresented students comprising more than three-quarters of her lab members.

Taylor also serves as the faculty director of Wesleyans Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program, which assists students from underrepresented groups in preparing for, entering, and progressing successfully through post-graduate education.

Diverse cited her for being a passionate advocate for diversity and lending time and energy to provide opportunities in science for female, minority, and low-income students.

In 2018, Taylor received Wesleyans prestigious Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching for her dedication to supporting the academic and personal development of all of her students.

Beyond Wesleyan, she founded and continues to run a Girls in Science camp for elementary through middle school-aged girls, which highlights the diversity of women in science.

Taylor holds a bachelors degree in chemistry with honors from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and was a postdoctoral research associate at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Video-conferencing app Zoom, which has surged in popularity amid the global CCP virus pandemic, is facing mounting privacy and security concerns after research reports and the CEOs disclosure revealed its encryption keys were being transmitted to servers in China in some cases.

The backlash reached a crescendo recently with Taiwans recent banning of any government use of Zoom, citing security concerns. The April 7 measure marked the first time a government had imposed a formal action against the company.

In the United States, a similar picture is emerging. Experts told The Epoch Times that concerns related to Zooms alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party are absolutely warranted.

Watchdog group Citizen Lab recently examined Zooms encryption during multiple test calls in North America, in which they found keys for encrypting and decrypting meetings were transmitted to servers in Beijing. The report stated that Zoom used non-industry-standard cryptographic techniques with identifiable weaknesses.

An app with easily-identifiable limitations in cryptography, security issues, and offshore servers located in China [that] handle meeting keys, presents a clear target to reasonably well-resourced nation-state attackers, including the Peoples Republic of China, the authors wrote in their April 3 report.

The app has gained immense popularity in recent weeks as millions of Americans under lockdown are required to work from home. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Zoom reached more than 200 million daily users worldwide in March, a massive increase from the 10 million daily participants at the end of December.

Zoom also appears to own three companies in China, the report states, adding that according to a recent SEC filing, the company, through its Chinese affiliates, employs at least 700 employees in China that work in research and development.' This arrangement, researchers noted, may make Zoom responsive to pressure from Chinese authorities.

Casey Fleming, chairman and CEO of intelligence and security strategy firm BlackOps Partners, said Americans should be very wary of any software or hardware created or manufactured in China.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) completely controls all production and exploits every opportunity to steal intellectual property and innovation through every means possible, Fleming told The Epoch Times. Economic espionage is part of the CCPs grand strategy of Hybrid Competition (Warfare) to defeat the United States, capitalism, and democracy to ultimately control the world.

The world is waking up to how ruthless and evil the Chinese Communist Party really is and their true intentions, he said. Recent CCP actions and statements reveal this point. The CCP is very much like a nefarious and dysfunctional crime family running a nation-state.

The Epoch Times reached out to Zoom for comment but didnt receive a response.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security said in a positively worded memo that the company had been responsive to the concerns raised about its software, according to Reuters. The memo was recently distributed to top government cybersecurity officials.

Growing Scrutiny

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan admitted in an April 3 blog post that the company mistakenly added servers for the app in China.

In our urgency to come to the aid of people around the world during this unprecedented pandemic, we added server capacity and deployed it quicklystarting in China, where the outbreak began, Yuan said. In that process, we failed to fully implement our usual geo-fencing best practices. As a result, it is possible certain meetings were allowed to connect to systems in China, where they should not have been able to connect.

In February, to handle an increase in demand, Yuan said Zoom added two of its Chinese data centers to a lengthy whitelist of backup bridges, potentially enabling non-Chinese clients tounder extremely limited circumstancesconnect to them (namely when the primary non-Chinese servers were unavailable).

He added that Zoom immediately took the mainland China data centers off of the whitelist of secondary backup bridges for users outside of China after learning about the oversight.

In an October 2017 interview with Medium, Yuan said he decided to move to the United States in the mid-1990s because of the growing internet wave, which he said had not taken off in China. He said he got his U.S. visa on his ninth attempt.

The first time I applied for a U.S. visa, I was rejected, Yuan said. I continued to apply again and again over the course of two years, and finally received my visa on the ninth try.

The FBI also warned about Zooms security vulnerabilities in a March post saying there were reports of video calls being hacked with pornographic and/or hate images, and threatening language. The Justice Department also issued a similar release.

Experts said the criticisms they have seen against the app are similar to the ones about the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, which is facing a national security review.

On April 3, a group of 19 House lawmakers sent a letter to Yuan asking him to shed light on the companys data collection practices, including information on attendee attention tracking, cloud recording, and automatic transcriptions of conferences.

And according to The New York Times, New York Attorney General Letitia James asked Yuan in a letter about the new security measures that Zoom has put in place. The New York City Department of Education has also banned teachers from using the app.

Zoom is dealing with a heavy load of backlash against a multi-faceted and often mind-boggling shortsightedness with regard to user privacy and the overall security of its platform, Attila Tomaschek, data privacy expert at ProPrivacy, told The Epoch Times.

Beijing theoretically could demand that the encryption keys for those calls be handed over for decryption by Chinese authorities, allowing them full access to the contents of those calls and the ability to listen in on supposedly private conversations, he said.

Meanwhile, Zoom was hit with a class-action lawsuit by shareholder Michael Drieu, who accused the company of overstating its privacy standards and failing to disclose that its service wasnt end-to-end encrypted.

Also, Google on April 8 banned the use of Zoom on employee computers, citing security concerns. A spokesperson told The Hill the move was part of Googles longstanding policy of not allowing the use of unapproved apps for work.

The fact that Zoom effectively gave Chinese authorities access to the call data of users in North America, well outside the normal reach of the communist regime, raises the alarm to a whole new level, Tomaschek said.

[Zoom] represents a particularly attractive target for government agencies in gathering intelligence, he added. When the company quite literally hands over the keys to an authoritarian government, it presents massive issues with regard to user trust and its overall security practices.

From The Epoch Times
The fighter sustained a fragmentary injury that appeared to be lethal

An employee of Ukraine's Armed Forces was fatally wounded in action in Donbas, as Russian mercenaries opened fire in Khutir Vilny, Luhansk region. Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that on April 9.

The enemy fired grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. Ukrainian forces returned fire and suppressed hostile activity.

The Ukrainian fighter sustained a fragmentary injury that appeared to be lethal.

As we reported earlier, a ceasefire case occurred in Donbas, involving a threat to the lives of civilians. Pro-Kremlin mercenaries opened fire from 82 mm mortars and automatic grenade launchers. The Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that on April 9. A rocket-propelled grenade fired from AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher exploded in the yard of a local resident. No casualties were observed; shell fragments hit the windows and the rooftop.

The authority admitted that by firing in the populated area, the armed gangs put the lives of locals in danger. Thus, the units of the Ukrainian military opened fire to repel the adversaries.
The presidential contest this year is going to be unpredictable, perhaps the most unpredictable in modern times, and Donald Trump is poised to be a formidable Republican opponent.

But the decision by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday to suspend his campaign, and with warm words for Joe Biden, means the Democratic Party has united behind a nominee earlier than in any open contest in nearly two decades.

That doesn't ensure victory, of course, but the opposite situation might have invited defeat. Democrats have now taken Step One: Joe Biden will be the presidential nominee, and he will be backed with apparent enthusiasm by every one of his primary rivals.

Not to mention the most popular Democrats in the country, Barack and Michelle Obama. The former president and first lady have carefully stayed out of the primary contest, but with Sanders' announcement they will will feel free to weigh in. That is likely to be an inestimable asset for Biden, who served for eight years as Obama's vice president, in raising money, generating energy and offering advice.

Coronavirus and 2020: How a pandemic is changing the presidential campaign

Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, embraces Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In his announcement, Sanders acknowledged the power of Trump as a factor in his decision. He suspended his campaign even before the results had been counted in Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin, a state he won in 2016 but trailed in surveys this time. His words were delivered on a video livestream from his Vermont home, the platform itself reflecting the historic complications of a presidential race at a time of pandemic.

"As I see the crisis gripping the nation, exacerbated by a president unwilling or unable to provide any kind of credible leadership," he said, "I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win, and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us."

That "important work" includes not only pursuing progressive policies  Sanders undeniably has left his stamp on the Democratic agenda  but also denying President Trump a second term. That stands in contrast to four years ago, when Sanders pursued his challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the nomination to the bitter end amid a general assumption that Trump couldn't win the White House.

Story continues

Now one of Trump's greatest political assets is his unified control of the GOP. It may be an irony that he has helped unite not only Republicans but also Democrats.

"Biden has two major tasks ahead of him right now  uniting the party to work on the all-important task of defeating Donald Trump and scaling up his campaign infrastructure to deal with the entirely unique campaign he has to run in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crisis," Guy Cecil, political director for Clinton's 2008 campaign who now heads the largest Democratic super PAC, said in an interview. "Not having to devote any more time or resources to a primary makes both of these tasks significantly easier."

Moving markets: Stocks rise as Bernie Sanders drops out of US presidential race

The relatively early end to the Democratic contest is particularly remarkable given its chaotic beginning. Two dozen credible contenders were vying for the nomination, a record, and Biden was a fragile frontrunner who stumbled in the opening contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Even so, in an unprecedented political recovery, he rebounded with a victory in South Carolina and managed to consolidate his standing with a near sweep on Super Tuesday early last month. That left Sanders with no realistic path to the nomination.

His willingness to acknowledge that reality, and to step back, is crucial.

Four years ago, Hillary Clinton's team complained that Sanders fought on for too long and then didn't do enough to convince his supporters to back her. This time, Sanders' greatest electoral strength, his standing among young voters, is Biden's biggest electoral weakness. In this year's contests, Sanders carried the support of voters under 30 by double digits, although he failed in his efforts to generate higher turnout among them. Rising progressive leaders, including New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, have endorsed Sanders and viewed Biden warily.

Not voting: Many young supporters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a primary night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020.

Biden acknowledged Sanders' importance in a conciliatory statement that thanked him for putting "the interest of the nation" and "the need to defeat Donald Trump" first. Let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders: I hear you, Biden said. I know whats at stake."

Persuading his voters to embrace his former rival will be a test for Sanders. In an ABC News/Washington Post Poll last month, 15% of the senator's supporters said they would vote for Trump if Biden was the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, Trump immediately tried to stir up resentment among them. "Bernie Sanders is OUT!" the president tweeted almost instantly. "This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"

That said, Trump won't have the easy attack his campaign saw against a Democratic Socialist, the affiliation Sanders claims.

That prospect had delighted Republican strategists when Sanders led the field after winning in New Hampshire and Nevada. And whatever his weaknesses, Biden also has more strength than Clinton among white working-class voters in the industrial states that delivered narrow victories, and the White House, to Trump last time.

"The more time Joe Biden has to focus on November, the more likely he is to win," veteran Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said in an interview. "The more help Sanders provides bringing his supporters into the Biden tent, the more likely we are to defeat Trump."

Sanders said he would keep his name on the ballots for the primaries that remain in hopes of amassing as many convention delegates as possible, gaining leverage on the Democratic platform and party procedures.

But the nomination?

Settled.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Step One: Done. With Sanders out, Joe Biden gets an early start
Amidst current circumstances, children with speech and language disorders are at a greater risk of regressing educationally than other students. However, students can regain ground; in most cases, a childs regression will not be permanent.

With speech and language impairment ranking as the second most common disability category under which U.S. schoolchildren receive services via the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), many parents are reporting concern about the impact of COVID-19 related school closuresworried about their childrens access to speech and language services and their childrens ability to successfully complete schoolwork and maintain skills from home.

Consequently, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) offers this information to parents of children who have been receiving speech-language pathology services in schools:

Your child is (still) entitled to a free appropriate public education. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has clarified that school districts must continue to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all students at this timeincluding students with disabilities. ED has stated that FAPE may encompass, as appropriate, special education and related services provided through distance instruction (virtually, online, or telephonically). While noting that it may not be possible for services to be provided in the same manner as they are when school buildings are open, ED emphasizes that federal disability law offers flexibility in determining how to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities.

Your child may be able to receive virtual speech and language services during closures. Some school districts had virtual treatment services in place prior to COVID-19, and some have initiated or increased so-called telepractice capability because of the pandemic. According to ED, Many disability-related modifications and services may be effectively provided online. These may include . . . speech or language services through video conferencing. However, a schools ability to offer telepractice services depends on state regulations of telepractice for speech and language treatment, local school district policies, technology capabilities of both the school district and family, and a variety of other factors outside the control of parents and speech-language pathologists (SLPs). And although, in some cases, telepractice can offer equal benefits to therapy delivered in person, in other cases, it may notdepending on the individual child, their specific condition(s), and their strengths and weaknesses.

Your child has a right to privacy. Privacy laws for students with speech and language disabilities still apply. A students personal health records may not be shared without parental consent under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)although the government has announced that it will exercise discretion regarding enforcement of penalties for health providers using remote communications technologies that dont fully comply with HIPAA requirements. Another important privacy law is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students private educational records. Parents should know that SLPs may need to modify treatment or seek parental approval in certain instances due to these privacy considerationssuch as when providing group treatment to students. Although students privacy may be reasonably protected when group services are provided in person, when done via telepractice, other adults or members of a household may become aware of the personal information of other students. These are factors that parents and SLPs must consider together.

Children who regress can rebound. Amidst current circumstances, children with speech and language disorders are at a greater risk of regressing educationally than other students. However, students can regain ground; in most cases, a childs regression will not be permanent.

You are doing your best. SLPs understand that the demands parents are facing are unprecedented. They realize that most parents are not trained as professional therapists or student aides, and that many children with speech and/or language disorders may not adapt to distance learning as easily as other children. They recognize that parents are doing their best as they strive to help their child with schoolwork and therapy, often while dealing with a range of other responsibilities.

Your SLP is doing their best. Just as parents confront this new situation, so do SLPs. Most school-based SLPs were not set up to provide telepractice or implement changes to Individualized Education Programs for a large number of students in this very challenging situation. Nonetheless, SLPs continue to be dedicated and fully invested in your childs educational, social, and life success. To SLPs, having a good partnership with parents is essentialwith all parties focused on serving the childs best interests.

For more information about speech and language services in schools, visit http://www.asha.org/public.

About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 211,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems, including swallowing disorders. http://www.asha.org
Death has its draw-backs, particularly for those whose toupees survive them.

Recently, an auction house in Bristol sold off a number of items that had once belonged to Peter Wyngarde, the smoothie actor who played the moustachioed detective Jason King in the TV series of the same name.

The lots at the auction included Wyngarde's snake-skin jacket, his purple-shaded sunglasses, his childhood teddy bear and his silk kaftan smoking gown, as well as his trophy for the 'Best Dressed Personality of 1970', which he had won against stiff competition from Cliff Richard and George Best.

Recently, an auction house in Bristol sold off a number of items that had once belonged to Peter Wyngarde, the smoothie actor who played the moustachioed detective Jason King in the TV series of the same name (pictured)

Yet the most memorable item in the auction was Lot 190, sheepishly described by the auctioneer as Wyngarde's 'personal toupee... with a fine mesh base .

Supplied within its original box, addressed to Wyngarde at his personal residence. A rare item from the Peter Wyngarde estate'.

One customer was prepared to buy it for 170, so we must trust that it went to a happy home, or even a happy head.

But Wyngarde was a fastidious man and not the sort of person who would have wanted his toupee put under the gavel.

I felt the same sense of squeamishness on behalf of Frankie Howerd. In life, the great comedian was always embarrassed by his baldness, so took to wearing a singularly ill-fitting toupee.

'He was the only one convinced that it was practically impossible to see the join,' observed his biographher, Graham McCann.

'Even Max Bygraves, one of his oldest most trusted confidants, had to pretend not to notice every time a gust of wind caused the hairpiece to hover slightly over Howerd's head.'

A few years after Frankie Howerd (pictured) died, his house in Somerset was opened to the public

Barry Cryer was not alone in thinking it had a life of its own.

'Frankie used to scratch the back of his head when he was talking to you sometimes and it would go up and down like a pedal bin.'

A few years after Frankie Howerd died, his house in Somerset was opened to the public.

Along with his furniture and his various artworks, his toupee was placed on display, perched on his old dressing table for visitors to gawp at.

The pop artist Andy Warhol, a year younger than Peter Wyngarde, was another closet toupee wearer.

The victim of alopecia, he was always embarrassed at being bald, particularly in the Sixties, when hair was all the rage.

He owned four toupees, each slightly different. One of his helpers claimed to be able to gauge Warhol's mood by his toupee.

'The messy one was supposed to indicate he was in a bad mood and not to be approached.'

One day, a friend sneaked a peek into the little case that Warhol took with him everywhere, and spotted a pair of scissors and a roll of Johnson & Johnson medical tape.

'So that's how he attaches his toupee,' he thought.

Back in March, Tate Modern in London (pictured) opened a 'major retrospective' of Warhol's art, which included his four toupees laid out in a display cabinet for all to see

The same friend rode with him on the rollercoaster at Coney Island in 1963, and looked back to see Warhol's toupee lifting off his head in the wind.

'Oh my God!' he thought.

'It's gonna come off!' But it stayed put, thanks to the adhesive powers of Johnson & Johnson.

I remember sitting immediately behind Warhol in a mini-bus on the way to Oxford in 1980, and being captivated by the tell-tale gap between his hair and his head.

His wide-eyed biographer, Blake Gopnik, believes that 'the way he camouflaged his baldness had a touch of genius'.

But to me, it was more like a touch of ineptitude. A nd now, like Peter and Frankie, Warhol must suffer the posthumous indignity of having his toupees on public display.

Back in March, Tate Modern in London opened a 'major retrospective' of Warhol's art, which included his four toupees laid out in a display cabinet for all to see.

No sooner had the exhibition opened than it closed, due to coronavirus.

But the ghosts of Warhol's blushes have not been spared: you can still see the toupees online, in a short film on the Tate's website.

Between the two curators saying that this-or-that work is 'extraordinarily powerful'  the catch-all term of praise in the art world  they start cooing over his toupees.

'In the late Fifties, he starts to wear a toupee,' one of them says, 'which then becomes this very iconic silver wig.'

Poor Peter! Poor Frankie! And now, poor Andy! Is it not time we let their toupees rest in peace?
Ethiopia on Wednesday declared a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected 55 people and resulted in two deaths there.

It is the first state of emergency announced under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018 and won last years Nobel Peace Prize in part for expanding political freedoms in the authoritarian nation.

Because the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse, the Ethiopian government has decided to declare a state of emergency under Article 93 of the constitution, Abiy said in a statement.

I call upon everybody to stand in line with government bodies and others that are trying to overcome this problem, he added, warning of grave legal measures against anyone who undermines the fight against the pandemic.-

The attorney generals office issued a statement specifying that the state of emergency would go into effect from Wednesday and last for five months.

Violators of the terms of the state of emergency face up to three years behind bars, it said, although it did not specify what constituted a violation or which rights might be suspended.

It was thus not immediately clear how the state of emergency would affect day-to-day life in Ethiopia.

The government has so far refrained from imposing a lockdown similar to those in effect elsewhere in the region, including in Rwanda, Uganda and Mauritius.

According to the countrys constitution, under a state of emergency the Council of Ministers has all necessary power to protect the countrys peace and sovereignty and can suspend some political and democratic rights.

Wednesdays decree is likely to beef up security operations with a greater role for the federal government, including the military, said William Davison, Ethiopia analyst for the International Crisis Group, a conflict-prevention organisation.

While this approach is understandable given the situation, it is critical that there is transparency over the governments extra powers and that there is adequate monitoring of implementation, Davison said.

-Opposition challenges move-

Since reporting its first COVID-19 case on March 13, Ethiopia has closed land borders and schools, freed thousands of prisoners to ease overcrowding, sprayed main streets in the capital with disinfectant, and discouraged large gatherings.

But Abiy said over the weekend that a harsher lockdown would be unrealistic given that there are many citizens who dont have homes and even those who have homes have to make ends meet daily.

Jawar Mohammed, a leading opposition politician, said Wednesday this called into question why a state of emergency was necessary.

Officials have been saying the country is too poor to stop population movement. So why do you need a state of emergency if you are not planning to impose stricter rules? Jawar told AFP.

During consultations with Abiy earlier this week, the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) voiced worries that a state of emergency would lead to human rights abuses  a well-documented problem under previous states of emergency imposed during several years of anti-government protests that swept Abiy to power.

We explained our concern that the state of emergency has been initiated several times and it has been abused to violate the rights of citizens and other political activists, OLF chairman Dawud Ibsa told AFP.

Its also unclear how the state of emergency might affect planning for hotly-anticipated general elections in Ethiopia.

The countrys electoral board announced last week that voting planned for August would need to be postponed because of the pandemic.

It did not provide a timeline for when the elections would ultimately be held, and lawmakers constitutional mandates expire in October.

Davison, with the International Crisis Group, said the state of emergency could be used to formally postpone elections past that deadline, though such a move risks sparking opposition backlash.

It is therefore essential that the government works with opposition parties on managing this constitutionally sensitive period and making new electoral arrangements, Davison said.

SOURCE: AFP
The Pentagon released guidance Tuesday for testing military personnel, civilian employees, family members and contractors for COVID-19, affirming its stance that it will not test patients who have mild cases or no symptoms at all.

According to a memo released by Matthew Donovan, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, testing asymptomatic patients or those with mild forms of the novel coronavirus doesn't affect outcomes and could prevent a seriously ill patient from receiving a test.

Furthermore, he added, a negative test in a patient without symptoms is not enough to clear them to return to duty.

Under the guidance, military health care providers are to determine who should receive tests, based on symptoms, the likelihood of patients having contracted the disease in their communities and the potential for severe outcomes.

Related: More Than Half the Navys Coronavirus Patients Are on the Carrier Theodore Roosevelt

Hospitalized patients are to be tested, as are symptomatic patients at high risk for developing a severe case of the disease, including those who are older or have an underlying health condition.

Civilian Defense Department employees can be tested if they meet the criteria and their jobs are essential to national security. Family members can also receive testing if they are symptomatic, hospitalized or otherwise at high risk for severe illness.

The guidance also spells out the criteria patients must meet to return to duty. To qualify to go back to work, three days must have passed since a patient has registered a fever without the use of fever-suppressing medications; they must not have respiratory symptoms; and at least seven days must have passed since symptoms developed.

They also can return to work if they meet the symptom abatement criteria and have received negative test results from two consecutive nasal swabs, taken 24 hours apart.

Some troops and family members have complained that they don't know the extent of coronavirus infections in their communities because testing is not widespread.

Donovan said the new guidance applies to all branches and will protect at-risk populations, maximize testing and improve force health decisions.

As of Tuesday, 1,975 service members had tested positive for COVID-19, including 470 Army, 351 Air Force, 140 Marine Corps and 513 Navy personnel. An additional 1,185 family members, civilian employees and family members also have confirmed cases.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at patriciankime@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Read More: DoD considers Stop-Loss Order to Maintain Troop Levels During the Pandemic
(CNN) Non-national migrant rescue ships will no longer be able to dock in Italy, after the country declared its ports were not safe due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Given the spread of Covid-19, Italian ports cannot guarantee the necessary prerequisites to be qualified as 'places of safety,'" the government decree says.

While it does not mention migrants specifically, the order refers to search and rescue operations, which pluck thousands of migrants from the Mediterranean each year.

It will remain in place for the duration of the health emergency triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the decree added.

The measure was condemned by several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Sea Watch, MSF and Open Arms, in a joint statement.

The statement said Italy should "show the same solidarity towards vulnerable people who risk their lives at sea because they have no alternative" at a time when the country is seeking international help to deal with the pandemic.

"With a decree whose obvious purpose is to stop rescue activities in the Mediterranean, without providing alternatives to save the lives of those fleeing Libya, Italy has deprived its ports of the connotation of 'safe places,'" the joint statement read.

None of the NGO signatories currently have rescue ships at sea, according to their statement.

But the decree comes as the German-flagged vessel Alan Kurdi, operated by Sea-Eye, is currently in international waters off the coast of Libya with 150 shipwreck survivors on board, including a pregnant woman, according to their press release.

The Italian Ministry of Transport has asked the German government to "take responsibility" for the landing port for the Alan Kurdi vessel, it said in a statement.

Italy has been one of the worst-hit European countries in the pandemic. According to John Hopkins University, the country has 139,422 confirmed cases and 17,669 deaths as of Wednesday.

In 2018, the far-right former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini closed Italy's ports to migrant rescue vessels. And in 2019, Italy adopted a decree that could see ships docking without authorization facing fines of up to $57,000.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Italy closes ports to rescue ships, targeting migrants."
[April 09, 2020] Hondros College Transitions Classes to Live Stream

Hondros College, the leading real estate, appraisal, insurance and mortgage educator for both online and classroom learning in Ohio, has transitioned all real estate licensing courses to an online, synchronous distance-learning format to minimize the risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19) to students, staff, and community. Synchronous distance learning means the instructor and students are separated only by distance and not time, allowing for real-time interaction between students and instructor. These courses are now available immediately for students that would prefer to take instructor-led courses rather than the traditional online courses that Hondros College also offers. Once Governor Mike DeWine recommended that Ohio education providers suspend in-person classes, Hondros College began working to transition courses to the online synchronous live stream format. Hondros College went live with this new format on Thursday, March 26. These courses provide the same materials, instructors, and classroom participation as in-person courses, just in a safe and distant environment. "While classrooms across the country are being disrupted and many schools are struggling to implement new virtual learning solutions, we are grateful to already have in place all of the distance learning technologies and platforms needed for individuals to learn in a live virtual setting," said Tina Lap, President of Hondros College. "Following the advice of Governor DeWine, we implemented an action plan to close our classroom locations and transition our staff and students to this virtual setting, with new remote instructor office hours, virtual open houses, and student support available seven days a week to help individuals who are looking to complete licensing or continuing education during this time. We hope that by minimizing disruptions to learning that we can offer even a little peace of mind in this uncertain time, and we encourage instructors to connect with individuals to share real-life experiences, answer questions, and help apply concepts to the practice of real estate."



Hondros College also offers live streaming courses for mortgage loan officer and insurance licensing as well as asynchronous online courses. "At Hondros College, we are dedicated to serving our students and passionate about providing them with the tools necessary to help them succeed in their career," said Tina Lapp. "We recognize this is a difficult time for many people, and we want our students and communities to know that we are here to support them."

For more information on current regulations and guidance directed by the Ohio Division of Real Estate, please visit https://www.com.ohio.gov/real/. For more information on Hondros College's response to COVID-19, visit https://www.hondros.com/helpful-information-about-coronavirus/. About Hondros College Educating over one million real estate, appraisal, mortgage, insurance, and home inspection students via classroom and online courses, Hondros College has been a leader in adult education over the last 50 years. Whether it's pre-licensing and exam prep solutions, to post-licensing and continuing education courses, Hondros College is committed to ensuring student success through their entire education experience. For more information, visit www.hondros.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005576/en/

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The Trump administration on Monday applied an international terrorist designation to an ethno-nationalist group known as the Russian Imperialist Movement, marking the first time the U.S. has applied such a designation to a white supremacist organization.

The State Department relied on expanded counterterrorism authorities released in September in order to designate R.IM. as a foreign terrorist organization and to bring sanctions against three of its leaders.

During a Wednesday phone interview with National Review, Nathan Sales, the State Department envoy on counterterrorism, described the move as a historic step in administrations efforts to keep up with the dynamic nature of extremist violence in the 21st century.

We think this sends a really strong message to the world, as well as to interested parties here in the United States, that were going to use our counterterrorism authorities to the fullest extent possible to confront terrorists of whatever ideological stripe, Sales said.

President Trumps September executive order empowered the State Department to target groups and individuals that have not necessarily committed any violent acts themselves but instead provided training for those who have. Before the executive order, the governments hands were tied when pursuing known terrorist leaders: only those individuals who were known to have directly participated in the planning of an attack could be sanctioned. But under the leadership prong of the new guidance, an individuals status as a leader in a terrorist group, such as RIM, is itself sufficient to designate the person as a foreign terrorist and to sanction them as such.

Sales explained that RIM fell squarely under the State Departments expanded sanctions authorities because, while the group and its leaders are not known to have personally directed any attacks, they operate two training camps outside of St. Petersburg, Russia, where prospective terrorists travel to learn woodland combat and survival skills.

Story continues

The groups training camps have already proven to be more than a summer camp for disaffected young men playing soldier. In 2017, two men set off bombs in Gothenburg, Sweden months after leaving one of the groups Partisan training camps. No one was injured in the blasts, but the location of the attacks suggests the men were targeting recent Middle Eastern and North African refugees. The paramilitary camp in St. Petersburg was a key step in [the bombers] radicalization and it may be the place where they learned to manufacture the bombs that they used in Gothenburg, the prosecutor on the case told the Daily Beast during trial.

Sales argued that the expanded sanctions authorities dont imperil anyones right to free speech, since propaganda efforts alone are not sufficient for designation; the individuals in question must cross the line into indirectly furthering terrorist plots by providing training.

While its not what landed them on the sanctions list, R.I.M. does maintain an extensive propaganda network which allows them to form relationships with other Eastern European neo-fascist groups and recruits from among their ranks. Like the Islamic State, the group has found success in wooing alienated young men intent on lashing out against a perceived existential threat; in this case, the influx of Arab refugees who began flooding Scandinavia in 2014 and 2015.

The group has also reportedly tried to make inroads with American neo-Nazi groups, which have been known to coordinate with their European counterparts. In 2015, a group of American white supremacists travelled to Russia to the International Conservative Forum in St. Petersburg, where they rubbed shoulders with white supremacist groups from Italy, Greece, and Germany.

European ethnocentrism reemerged as a significant threat to national security in 2015, primarily in response to the influx of refugees Middle Eastern and North African immigrants fleeing to Europe. White supremacist attacks against immigrants spiked that year across Europe, and the U.S. suffered the worst white supremacist attack in its history at the hands of the Charleston church shooter Dylan Roof.

As this nascent international movement gathered steam, the U.S., which had for years focused its counterterrorism efforts on Islamic extremism, was caught flat-footed and suffered attacks at the hands of white supremacists who were radicalized online, often by foreigners.

We know that the transnational white supremacist movement is very much a transnational phenomenon. The shooter at the El Paso Walmart, we know that he was inspired by the Christchurch shooter in New Zealand, so were always on the lookout for foreign groups that might try to reach into the homeland either to recruit Americans or to inspire Americans to commit acts of violence, Sales told National Review.

R.I.M. has recruited heavily from Poland, Sweden, Germany and other Scandinavian countries by drawing on Norse mythology in their propaganda and casting their efforts as part of a pan-European campaign to rid the region of non-whites.

While the level of coordination between R.I.M. and the Kremlin remains unclear, the proximity of its training camps to a major Russian metropolis  and their continued operation despite the media attention they received in the wake of the Gothenberg bombings  suggest the group operate with at least the tacit approval of Vladimir Putin. Indeed, RIM members have served as little green men in Putins proxy war against Ukraine, helping pro-Russian separatists seize Crimea in 2014. Ukrainian forces, such as the Azov Battalion, have also allied with white supremacist groups but U.S. intelligence has determined that the extremist groups were more active on the pro-Russian side.

While Putin gestured at a crackdown on the group (their website is now censored in Russia) the group operates freely in the country and continues to be tolerated by the authorities, in the words of former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter. In addition to serving as soldiers in Putins near-abroad campaign, they also serve the useful function of sowing chaos in western democracies, which, in Putins zero-sum view of the world, is an unalloyed good.

Some observers have cast the move as a thinly veiled attempt to rehabilitate the administrations reputation on the issue of white supremacy, which has persisted since Trumps infamous Charlottesville speech. Indeed, the designation gone largely unremarked upon by the political medias opinion makers, and most news articles reporting the development have included wary statements from extremism researchers casting the move as a public relations stunt. But, coupled with the FBIs recent aggressive pursuit of domestic white supremacists  and provided the State Department continues to monitor these foreign groups and designate them accordingly under the new expanded guidance  Trumps September executive order may prove to be a substantial blow against a white supremacist threat that began to emerge in earnest in Europe during the refugee crisis of 2014 and 2015, and has since metastasized in the U.S.

The sanctions against R.I.M.s three leaders  Stanislav Vorobyev, Denis Gariev, and Nikolay Trushchalov  will deprive them of access to the U.S. financial system and will freeze their assets in the international banking system. It will also enable the prosecution of any sympathetic American who attempts to aid them. In the administrations view this move is a long overdue modernization of the way the U.S. deals with an extremist phenomenon that doesnt respect borders and uses the internet to form communities that can have a devastating impact on Americans and free people around the world.

More from National Review
Across the country small firms constitute 99.9% of all businesses and 47% of private sector jobs. Small business is the economic backbone of America. Small businesses encourage innovation of products and services, and expand the diversity and uniqueness of a communitys character.

Springfield has a right to be proud of its small business environment.

Springfield has been recognized as one of the top 50 cities to start a small business. Mayor Sarno correctly boosts that innovative and entrepreneurial ambition[s] resonates in Springfield. Sarno is committed to expanding small businesses in Springfield and aspires for Springfield to become a capitol for emerging business. His plan included a reliance on traditional federal, state and local resources available for small business development and expansion.

The CARES Act policy attempts to aid small businesses and their workers with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). PPP makes all small businesses eligible for government-backed loans equivalent to eight weeks of businesss prior average payroll, plus 25 percent of that amount. The small businesses taking these loans need not make any payments for six months, if (and this is a big if), they maintain their workforces. If they maintain their workforce the loans turn into grants and become free money.

The PPP intention is excellent.

The economy has been put into a barbiturate-induced-like coma. In medicine a barb coma uses a barbiturate drug to induce sedation typically to protect the patients brain during major neurosurgery.

The economic shutdown is like an induced coma, the barbiturate drug for small businesses are loans that turn to grants if workforces are maintained. It is crucial to get the barbiturate dosage correct. Further, an induced coma causes systemic adverse side-effects. For example in medicine, induced coma patients often need mechanical ventilation and can possibly develop infections and severe bed sores.

The CARES Act has the dosage way too small and has not avoided adverse side-effects.

The CARES Act $350 billion to small business is radically inadequate. Glenn Hubbard and Michael Strain of the highly conservative American Enterprise Institute have estimated $1.2 trillion dollars is desperately needed just to replace 80 percent of the lost revenue of small businesses caused by the coronavirus shut-down. The under-dosage of PPP will needlessly cause economic death for millions of small businesses.

In addition, both small businesses and banks making loans are worried there is too much risk in PPP loans. The riskiness is generating uncertainty and adverse side-effects of delays. Banks worry that verifying all information for the loans will take too long to process checks to save businesses, yet if the loan goes wrong the bank could be held financially liable.

Businesses are unsure of how easy it will be turning a loan into a grant. Small businesses worry they may be saddled with burdensome debt, making them worse off than simply shutting their doors permanently now.

Denmark overcomes these side-effects with government-direct payments to workers covering 75% of an employees salary, while the business covers the rest. Unfortunately, the US government lacks the technical infrastructure to make direct payments to cover payrolls.

Banks as PPP intermediators means small businesses not in well-established credit lines are likely to find it more difficult to secure a PPP backed loan. Bank of America has on their website: To be eligible, you must have a Small Business lending and Small Business checking relationship with Bank of America as of February 15, 2020 or a Small Business checking account opened no later than February 15, 2020 and do not have a business credit or borrowing relationship with another bank.

Most small businesses have a relationship with a bank. However, smaller banks will be hesitant to take on risk. And small businesses that operate primarily on revenue and cash rather than credit, may find it difficult to secure a loan. Thus, the most vulnerable small mom-and-pop firms are most likely to be unable to secure loan or take on risk.

JP Morgan Chase in a September 2019 report found 29% of small businesses in urban areas are unprofitable, and 47% had two weeks or less of cash buffer. They further found that in communities similar to Springfield, with populations of low-income and communities of color, the profit margins are lower and cash reserves even less. These data suggest that many small businesses in cities such as Springfield will be competing for scarce PPP funds; banks will prefer stronger and larger firms in communities with higher household incomes. PPP funds will be exhausted in an unnecessary brutal competitive battle over excessively-scarce economic relief.

The under-dosage and additional side-effects have delayed and curtailed small businesses ability to access PPP funds. These problems will mean unnecessary business closures, loss of jobs and income, and a prolonged economic pandemic especially in Springfield and similar cities. Even with side-effects mitigated, the under-dosage alone means preventable death for millions of small businesses as PPP funds are exhausted. Small businesses deserve better and more generous life lines during the economically induced business coma.

Dr. Hans G. Despain, is department chair, economics and honors program chair at Nichols College
The last time leaders of Pre-K 4 SA went before the San Antonio City Council, on Feb. 13, they persuaded members to call a special election May 2 for renewal of the programs sales tax, instead of a widely expected November balloting.

That meeting was interrupted by the announcement of the citys first case of coronavirus, an evacuee being housed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. It foreshadowed the turn Pre-K 4 SA took Thursday, when its CEO, Sarah Baray, asked the council to move the election back to November.

The council approved the request unanimously, since state and local officials had deemed holding an election May 2 practically impossible amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

Even just a couple of weeks after Pre-K 4 SA first approached the council, the possibility of having to go back to a November election was apparent, Baray said after the vote.

The San Antonio area now has more than 550 coronavirus cases and is under stay-at-home orders except for essential needs. Schools are closed. Gov. Greg Abbott on March 25 allowed local governments to postpone elections.

The Alamo Colleges District, as well as North East, Southwest and Southside independent school districts, already have postponed their elections. Pre-K 4 SAs governing board voted unanimously March 26 to ask the council to make the change.

Advocates of the city-funded early childhood education program had wanted to keep the sales tax vote away from a bruising presidential election also clouded by more controversial city ballot initiatives.

Voters first approved the one-eighth-cent-per-dollar share of the city sales tax that created the program in November 2012, and it is up for renewal this year.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

The program operates four centers, each offering full-day pre-kindergarten to 500 of the citys 4-year-olds, and it trains teachers and distributes grants to participating school districts, many of which have ramped up their own pre-K offerings in recent years.

Officials worry that they wont be able to provide as many grants after the current fiscal year, Baray said. They are anticipating a reduction of about 9 percent in sales tax revenue next fiscal year because of the pandemics economic impact.

Since 2016, Pre-K 4 SA has provided about $16.8 million in competitive grants to schools and child development centers. In January, Baray said the program expected to award $4.2 million to schools in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Were really going to have to prioritize in our budget, serving children and families first, which we always have done, but with additional sales tax, we were able to reach out and provide grants and professional learning, Baray said. Well have to see what level of grants and professional learning we can provide going forward.

On ExpressNews.com: Pre-K 4 SA is increasingly an option for San Antonio families too affluent for free pre-k

The program is run by a board appointed by the council and draws the bulk of its funding from the sales tax, with some pass-through state funding from the school districts. Its budget last fiscal year was $47.3 million, of which $36.4 million was from the sales tax.

Program officials are now also second-guessing plans to expand center seats to families that have more income than those that qualify for state-funded free pre-K but are not affluent enough to afford private options. Typically, about 60 percent of the citys 4-year-olds qualify, and parents of between 3,000 and 5,000 4-year-olds are caught in this income gap, Baray said.

As the number of people applying to the state for unemployment benefits rapidly grows, Pre-K 4 SA folks expect that more families will be deemed eligible for free pre-K.

We do anticipate continuing to expand, but it will probably be much slower than we initially anticipated, Baray said.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Krista, become a subscriber. Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva
The Madras High Court has impleaded



the Indian Council of Medical Research and Ministry of AYUSH on a petition claiming that a herbal medicine has been developed to cure coronavirus.

A division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and R Hemalatha on Wednesday passed the interim order while observing that both the Central and state governments were not encouraging researchers and doctors in the country to develop vaccines to treat diseases.

The petitioner S Madheswaran, a retired health inspector from Erode sought a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to allow him to appear before the technical expert committee, set up to track the spread of the disease, to explain about a herbal medicine, which he claims can be used to prevent and cure the deadly disease.

When the PIL came up, the bench asked whether there was any history of any vaccine being developed by our researchers for any dangerous disease.

It also observed that only after the scientists of some foreign nations and researchers develop a vaccine will it be used by us.

Finding fault with both the governments for not encouraging researchers, scientists and doctors in the country, who are well-informed, the bench pointed out that funds were not allotted to them for their development.

Referring to 'Nilavembu Kashayam' introduced by traditional ayurvedic experts to treat dengue fever, the court said no further research was done on it.

Alluding to another traditional medicine being sold in the market now known as 'Kabasura kashayam', to fight the coronvirus, the judges sought to know why the governments did not show interest to carry out research on it.

The bench said it would pass a detailed order after hearing all sides.

The petitioner submitted that the herbal formulation ABIAIS-VIRUS KILLER 180 is composed of safe, traditionally used herbals meant to safeguard people from infections caused by the coronavirus.

He also claimed that the herbal formulation will prevent community transmission of the virus in 3 to 5 days.

The petitioner said he made representations to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, the Chief Minister and many others, requesting them to permit him to appear before the experts committee, but there was no response following which he moved the court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A self-isolating 90-year-old is still able to enjoy his familys traditional Irish music sessions at their home in County Kerry in the west of Ireland by connecting with video chat.

Footage shared to YouTube on April 8 by the nonagenarians daughter Niamh Ni Bhaoill shows his grandsons performing for him.

One of the grandkids can be seen playing the bodhran while the other plays the concertina as the grandfather watches and applauds at the end.

We have been social distancing since March 12  luckily my 90-year-old dad can use a smartphone so we can now keep in touch  and have regular music sessions, Ni Bhaoill said in the YouTube description of her video.

The Irish government has encouraged protective self-separation for people in vulnerable groups including those over 70.

As of Thursday, April 9, Ireland had reported 6,574 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 263 deaths. Credit: Niamh Ni Bhaoill via Storyful
Capturing and freezing the emotions of society through art in the times of Corona

Boosting the morale of the people amid the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown is a challenge the central and state officials in India have been determinedly trying to meet.

Art has been used to promote awareness of COVID-19 and spread the knowledge on the fight against the novel coronavirus at the ground level, for instance through Phad art. 

Artists from Shahpura promoting awareness thru Phad art at grassroot level on COVID-19. Phad painting is a scroll form of folk art from Rajasthan done on a long piece of canvas known as Phad. Photo Courtesy: Twitter

Leading the initiative through arts is the Indian Council For Cultural Relations (ICCR) which has roped in art teachers and practitioners from around the world to conduct real-time classes over Skype and other such web-conferencing platforms.

It offers a range of classes on classical dance (Kathak, Bharatnatyam, etc), music, painting, and even yoga from its 37 cultural centres across Europe, US, China, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Guyana, South Africa, the Netherlands, Russia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, among others.

ICCRs initiatives aim to unite citizens across the world, affected by the spread of Covid-19, through art including the launch of an online art competition.

Life is Art. Art is Life. Pour out your emotions onto paper, canvas, digital medium and join world artists in spreading cheer. #ArtagainstCorona Participate in United Against Corona-Express through Art. Win prizes. pic.twitter.com/RpqxDOos0G  ICCR (@ICCR_Delhi) April 1, 2020

"United against CORONA- Express through Art" is a unique art competition by ICCR that encourages submissions of artistic expressions to present their emotions, feelings, ideas and innovative thoughts on the COVID-19, social distancing, quarantine and the fight against the virus through art.

It is open to all amateur and professional artists from India and the world over in all age categories.

Artworks can be on Canvas/Paper, through mediums such as oil, water colours, pencil, crayons; Digital Art Graphic Posters & Paintings.

It can be categorized into Contemporary Art; Folk & Tribal Art; Cartoons & Illustrations; Digital & New Age Art.

Entries are sought from Professional Artists; Amateur Artists; Children & Students  Below age of 21.

Participants are required to send high resolution photos (upto a maximum 10MB) of their work to ICCR by 1st May 2020.

A high level jury consisting of eminent artists and cultural persons will select the best works. Attractive prizes shall be given to winning entries.

Best of the expressions will be exhibited in leading galleries in India and abroad. A permanent online exhibition will also be on display.

Participation details and guidelines are available on its website and queries can be emailed to ICCR.

The ICCR shared that social distancing, self-isolation, quarantine have separated people physically but in a unique way this has brought people even closer with a great appreciation of humanitys common fate. "In this time, virtual space can serve as an analogue to the physical space providing a platform for the intermingling of ideas and Art. That is why ICCR is holding this competition in cyber space, a place where we can be together while being apart."

United we stand against the viruses ranged against us. Lets use the medium of Art to show our resolve. Attached are guidelines for the competition united Against Corona-Express through Art pic.twitter.com/akbPOLa5p3  ICCR (@ICCR_Delhi) March 31, 2020

The contest is really going global with responses from many countries in the world ICCR shared in a tweet.

The United Against Corona- Express Through Art is truly going global. Great response from all over the world https://t.co/52iPI4IIIJ  ICCR (@ICCR_Delhi) April 2, 2020

ICCR believes that Art gives us hope, purpose and a desire to see beyond the problems of these difficult times and would like to capture this moment, record this period through the pure expression of Art.

CCR believes that Art gives us hope, purpose and a desire to see beyond the problems of these difficult times. This competition is an effort to develop solidarity among the peoples of the earth and to bring together expressions of similar emotions in all countries pic.twitter.com/Eh7zU6uxJ8  ICCR (@ICCR_Delhi) March 31, 2020

ICCR is not only keeping Indian culture active and alive across the world, it is also contributing to the country wide effort to fight this virus by contributing one days salary to the relief fund.

ICCR will never be behind in contributing to the country wide effort to fight this virus. Not only in contributing one day salary but also in keeping ICCRs activities active across the world. @PMOIndia @MEAIndia https://t.co/C8HhMsJuiu  ICCR (@ICCR_Delhi) April 5, 2020

Another online art competition in the times of corona is the Indian Monuments Through Your Eyes launched by the Embassy of India (ICN), in Berne, Switzerland.

Monuments of India art competition by Indian Embassy, Berne Switzerland. Photo Courtesy: Twitter

Embassy of India (ICN) invites entries for an online pencil drawing competition of Indian Monuments. Selected entries will be featured on Embassy social media. To participate send your drawings by email to info.berne@mea.gov.in by Apr 20, reads its tweet.
The coronavirus pandemic could push half a billion people globally into poverty, the the charity Oxfam has warned.

A report from the Nairobi-based charity looked at the impact the crisis will have on global poverty because of shrinking household incomes or consumption.

It found: 'The economic crisis that is rapidly unfolding is deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis.

'The estimates show that, regardless of the scenario, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990.'

The report added this could mean some countries revert to poverty levels last seen three decades ago.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have called for governments to put a hold on debt payments from the world's poorest nations so they can battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of India's poor have been thrown out of work because of a nationwide stay-at-home lockdown. Above, migrant workers sit atop a bus to their villages following the enforcement of the 21-day lockdown

Members of the Thai police forces distribute free facemasks and food to poor people amid restrictions set up to halt the spread of coronavirus in Bangkok on April 9

Report authors explored a number of scenarios to assess how poverty levels could change.

The most serious scenario would result in a 20% squeeze on incomes.

It would mean the number of people living in extreme poverty - $1.90 a day or less - would rise by a staggering 434 million, to nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide

Women are at much greater risk than men because they are more likely to work in the informal economy with little or no employment rights.

A woman in the city of Zarka, Jordan, receives a food parcel from the army after the implementation of a strict lockdown

Under the same scenario, those living in higher poverty, $5.50 or less, would jump by 548 million to almost four billion people.

The report warned: 'Living day to day, the poorest people do not have the ability to take time off work, or to stockpile provisions.'

It added that more than two billion informal sector workers worldwide had no access to sick pay.

The World Bank said last week that poverty in East Asia and the Pacific region alone could increase by 11 million people if conditions worsened.

Oxfam has proposed a six point action plan that would deliver cash grants and bailouts to people and businesses in need.

Residents stand close to each other as they queue for cornmeal outside a supermarket in Mbare, Harare, Zimbabwe

The charity also called for debt cancellation, more International Monetary Fund support, and increased aid.

Taxing wealth, extraordinary profits, and speculative financial products would help raise the funds needed, Oxfam added.

Calls for debt relief have increased in recent weeks as the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has roiled developing nations around the world.

People hand out food at a food distribution site in Harlem, New York, which has seen a surge in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak. The group, Unidos Si Se Puede, expects to hand out bags of food to at least 500 people with New Yorkers having lost their jobs and income due to the outbreak

In total, governments around the world would need to mobilise at least $2.5 trillion to support developing nations.

The report said: 'Rich countries have shown that at this time of crisis they can mobilize trillions of dollars to support their own economies.

'Yet unless developing countries are also able to fight the health and economic impacts the crisis will continue and it will inflict even greater harm on all countries, rich and poor.'

Globally nearly 1.5 million cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, with close to 90,000 deaths recorded.
08.04.2020 LISTEN

I was just browsing on the net and came across a news item on a site Id never previously visited  indy100.com  which attracted my attention so much that I felt I should be able to ask a few questions about whats going on in Ghana in our struggle against the spread of Covid-19. The heading of the article read:

Labour Politician expelled for saying Boris Johnson deserves this after he was moved to intensive care.

And indeed, that heading tells the whole story. The mayor of a town in Derbyshire has apologized and been expelled from the Labour party after she said Boris Johnson 'deserved' to have coronavirus.

Shelia Oakes, who is the mayor of Heanor and a Labour Councillor has had the whip withdrawn by the Amber Valley Labour Group after she made the comments on Facebook, meaning she no longer represents the party. Oakes reportedly responded to a post asking people to say a 'little prayer' for the PM on Monday night, after Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit.

So I asked myself, could this ever happen in Ghana  that an opposition party would go as far as expelling a prominent member of the party for making a similar heartless comment about our President should anything like this happen to him especially in this our crisis era? I doubt it. Thank God, our President is hale and hearty and still going strong in spite of his age and leading our battle against Coronavirus. As a matter of fact, comments from top officials of the opposition NDC make it very clear that they would have jubilated if our President had been struck dead (God forbid) by covid-19. And I think its a crying shame.

For example, it is on record that Kwame Dzokoto, a Comedian and failed NDC parliamentary aspirant, claims that it was President Akuffo Addo who imported Coronavirus into Ghana. Is there anyone out there who doesnt see this as an unguarded statement coming from a former parliamentary candidate of the largest opposition party in the country, considering the fact that he didnt have any evidence to support his claim?

And when a day after the Presidents first address to the nation on the pandemic when he announced that the confirmed positive cases in Ghana stood at 19, the aspiring but failed Honourable man derided the President that he lied because the figure had jumped to 21. Meanwhile, today as I write, the number is no longer 21 but 313 and six deaths. So was he too lying then? He should check on the Coronavirus Dashboard and see how figures keep changing all over the world.

Shortly after the Presidents address announcing restrictions on movements and gatherings and advice on how the population should comport themselves the only message the General Secretary of the NDC decided to give Ghanaians was that the real intention of the address was not to deal with covid-19 but to find space to put the pieces of the rigging equipment together so that by the time anybody could say, Jack, the election had been compromised. Woaa look! Nowhere in any of the Presidents addresses since the Covid-19 outbreak has he made any mention of elections but apparently to the NDC General Secretary the most important issue in the world worth discussing now is the ELECTIONS which are scheduled for the end of the year.

And of course, General Mosquito didnt end there. Apart from continuously disputing figures without providing any evidence to the contrary, he went further to boldly state that he would continue to make politics with the pandemic until the President had been tested for the virus. So what do you think he was hoping for? Hurray, I said it, the President has tested positive for COVID-19 and is not fit to contest in the next Elections.

But sadly and shamelessly, even after the President and his household have been tested and proven to be negative he continues to make politics out of a pandemic which is striking people down not only in Ghana but globally. Perhaps he may still not believe the results but I thought to see the President going on with his duties as we all see should be enough to convince Mr. Asiedu Nketiah.

Meanwhile, he himself has not been bold enough to get tested as the likes of former President Rawlings have done. And yet his party is not telling him anything. Perhaps they forget that it is not even impossible that some, or indeed many of us, may not live till the date of the Elections. Or we may get there but there would be no Elections at all. And if that happens I wonder what those who cannot survive in a country without Elections would do.

Im not sure the political rivalry between the NPP and NDC is any different from that between the Labour and Conservative parties in the U.K. or the Republicans and the Democrats in the U.S. But whereas in the U.K. an opposition party would expel a member for saying their sick Prime Minister deserves being taken to Intensive Care in our case what our opposition party does to a member who wishes evil on our President and wrongfully tags him for importing Covid-19 into the country is rather applauded. Meanwhile, as at the time he was making this statement, Kwame Dzokoto knew very well how Covid-19 first entered Ghana. Its a crying shame!

Kwame Twumasi-Fofie

Sunyani

[email protected]
The Government's business support help will still not be enough to bring the steel industry back from the brink of collapse, it is claimed.

Industry body UK Steel has urged ministers to make more money available in addition to aid promised last week for firms struggling in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

A new scheme will provide loans of up to 25m to firms with turnover of up to 500m.

Plea: Industry body UK Steel has urged ministers to make more money available in addition to aid promised for firms struggling in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

But UK Steel has warned this will cut out big producers. It has also said the 25m funding for mid-sized companies would not be nearly enough in a slowdown.

A crisis could put 32,000 jobs at risk and UK Steel director general Gareth Stace has called on the Government to 'immediately cast the net wider'.

He added: 'Such moves are crucial to ensure the industry can continue to manufacture the high-quality steel that Britain needs, and is in a strong position to contribute fully to the economic recovery when it arrives.'

An industry source said: 'The Government view is that you should not go to them until you've extinguished every other available opportunity.'
The Majority caucus in Parliament is set to donate GHS100,000 to the COVID-19 National Fund.

A cheque for the stated amount will be presented to the Board of Trustees of the Fund at the Jubilee House later today, Thursday, April 9, 2020.

Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu in addressing the media today, underscored the need for government to be supported in every way possible to help win the fight against the disease

In respect of the COVID-19 Trust Fund, as you are aware, we finalized the Bill the previous week and the President has assented to it so its now an Act and the Trustees have been constituted. And beginning today, as I have been told, they are available from 11 am this morning till 2 pm to receive the monies and resources that benevolent Ghanaians would want to contribute to assist in the fight against the Coronavirus disease. So we intend to present a cheque of one hundred thousand Ghana cedis (GHS100,000) as our widows mite to the COVID-19 Trust Fund, he said.

COVID-19 Trust Fund

Parliament on Thursday, April 2, 2020, passed the COVID-19 National Trust Fund Bill, 2020.

President Akufo-Addo has assented to it and its now an Act.

The Government of Ghana set up a COVID-19 Trust Fund to assist the government's efforts in the fight against the disease.

The trust, which is chaired by former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, is receiving public contributions to help improve the lives of the vulnerable who will be worst-hit by the pandemic.

President Akufo-Addo last Sunday disclosed that the COVID-19 National Trust Fund had received a total sum of GH8.75 million in the form of donations from the general public.

Donations so far

Ghana has so far recorded 313 cases of the novel coronavirus.

Out of the 313 case count, three persons have recovered, and the death toll stands at six.

The extent of the outbreak has encouraged many people to donate and give in various kinds.

President Akufo-Addo donated his April, May and June salaries as seed capital for the Fund.

Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia continued in the President's steps and also donated his three months' salary to the Trust Fund.

All Ministers of State and other top appointees at the presidency voluntarily decided to donate 50 percent of their salary for the next three months to the recently initiated COVID-19 Fund.

Parliament has also contributed GH200,000 with the Speaker of the House, Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye also donating half of his three months' salary to the Fund.

Institutions that have also donated to the Fund so far include Hollard Ghana  GH100,000, Absa Bank Ghana  GH1 million, Interplast  GH1.2 million, Justmoh Construction Limited contributing GH500,000 and SSNIT  GH500,000

Other groups and associations have also made different donations in cash and kind to various hospitals and health services in the country.

---citinewsroom
Huawei is looking to reduce its dependency on American companies following the trade restrictions imposed by the Trump administration last year. The company plans to move away from Qualcomm and is apparently exploring other options. And according to a recent report from DigiTimes, Samsung and MediaTek are both vying to tap that opportunity.

The two companies are hoping to supply Huawei with 5G modems for mid-range and budget 5G smartphones. The Chinese company does make its own 5G chips. However, the expected demand will be high enough for it to seek supplies from third-party chipmakers as well.

Qualcomm, Huawei, Samsung, and MediaTek are the four major companies worldwide currently manufacturing 5G mobile modems.

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Samsung and MediaTek are hoping to supply Huawei with 5G modems

2020 is the year of 5G and despite the COVID-19 situation, the 5G market will likely continue to grow throughout the year. Manufacturers have already started making affordable 5G phones, and as the competition grows stronger, the price point will drop further.

Huawei, known for delivering phones at relatively cheaper prices, is expected to be at the forefront in this race.

The companys fully-owned chipmaker HiSilicon recently launched the Kirin 820 mid-range 5G SoC. This chipset integrates the Balong 5000 5G modem, the same modem as the companys flagship Kirin 990 chipset.

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Going forward, the company might look for low-cost modems for its mid-range and budget 5G smartphones from a third-party supplier. Since it cant use Qualcomms 5G chips, Samsung and MediaTek are hoping to supply the Chinese company with their respective solutions.

Samsung currently has two 5G mobile modems on its product catalog, the Exynos Modem 5100 and Exynos Modem 5123. Both of these modems are primarily designed for the high-end smartphone segment, though.

It remains to be seen if the South Korean conglomerate has plans to release a new 5G modem in the future. Or if it plans to supply one of these solutions to Huawei.

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MediaTek, on the other hand, entered the 5G mobile SoC game with the high-end Dimensity 1000 chipset last November.

A couple of months later, the Taiwanese chipmaker also introduced its first mid-range 5G chipset, the Dimensity 800. MediaTek claims that the Dimensity 800s 5G modem is more power-efficient than other similar solutions in the market.

If Huawei is indeed looking for a third-party supplier for 5G modems, itll be interesting to see who it partners with  Samsung, MediaTek, or both. Well likely get to hear more about it in the coming months, once the developments start taking shape.
The social distancing brought on by the coronavirus may be keeping neighbors from getting together in person, but the pandemic didn't stop one Mendon, Massachusetts community from joining together to say "thank you" to one of their hard-working residents, a 23-year-old nurse named Paige Colombo.

After working an overnight 12-hour shift as a cardiac nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, Colombo drove home in the early morning hours last week to see neighbors waving at her from their doorways. Her street was lined with handmade signs thanking her  and all front-line medical workers  for their sacrifice.

23-year-old nurse Paige Colombo returned home from a 12-hour shift last week to find her neighbors had lined the street with signs thanking her for keeping their community safe. (Abbey Colombo)

"At first, I couldn't fully comprehend what was happening," Colombo told TODAY. "I was in shock that everyone put so much effort into making me feel loved and supported ... When I pulled into my driveway, my family was waiting for me and we were able to walk down the street together  that was when I was able to process everything and felt the overwhelming love and emotion."

"Gratitude instantly filled my heart," Colombo continued, explaining that in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, she and her co-workers have been working tirelessly to care for their patients, filling in wherever needed, regardless of which unit they typically work on. "The most challenging part has been adjusting to this 'new normal' and accepting that we're all unsure when it will end. Working in this new environment is much more emotionally exhausting than I expected ... but I am inspired by my team to keep pushing every day."

More than 15 signs awaited Colombo as she drove into her neighborhood after her shift on April 1. (Abbey Colombo)

The signs, hand lettered and adorned with colorful drawings, praised Colombo and her team for their work keeping their community safe.

"Today's superheroes wear scrubs," read one sign.

"Thank you," read another. "You are brave. You are strong."

In addition to the

Paige's younger sister, Abbey Colombo, said her mom and a neighbor thought of the heartwarming idea.

Story continues

"We live at the end of our street, so Paige passed about 15 signs before she was greeted by my family, holding signs in our driveway," said Abbey Colombo, who is currently a senior in college at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. "I have never been more proud of Paige than I am now, as she is on the front lines battling this pandemic. She has been so humble, gracious and strong during this difficult and scary time at work."

Download the TODAY app for the latest coverage on the coronavirus outbreak.

Paige Colombo, 23, with her younger sister, Abbey, 22. (Abbey Colombo)

"Paige is never one to seek attention," the 22-year-old explained, "so seeing her get the honor and attention she deserved was very moving for me."

Michelle Manoogian, a neighbor of the Colombo family, organized the show of gratitude through email and their neighborhood Facebook group. Manoogian says she hopes the gesture leads other communities to do the same.

A neighbor who helped organize the effort said she hopes her community inspires others to find ways to thank the essential employees in their lives. (Abbey Colombo)

"While you are home, think of a creative way to say 'thank you' to all of the essential workers," said Manoogian. "Not just health care, but people delivering your groceries, mail and parcels. You can be the difference, and you can be someone's hero."

Colombo said her neighbors' support has made her feel more empowered at work. (Abbey Colombo)

Colombo agreed.

"I can honestly say that since this show of support, I have felt empowered every time I go to work," she said. "I can't express how important it is for health care workers to feel supported right now  there are still a lot of unknowns and as much as we want to support each other, it can feel isolating because much of the world doesn't understand what we're going through. It feels so special to know others out there are behind us as well."
Unemployment caused by the response to the coronavirus crisis remains sky-high, though new weekly statistics show things have slightly improved. The U.S. reported 6.6 million unemployment claims last week, down 261,000 from the previous week; Ohio reported 224,182 initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 4, compared to 274,188 claims made the previous week.

The Federal Reserve unveiled plans to inject another $2.3 trillion into the economy through $600 billion in loans to small and mid-sized businesses, as well as purchasing junk bonds and $500 billion worth of bonds from states, counties and cities. The measures push the Fed far beyond anything it attempted in the 2008 financial crisis, according to the New York Times.

Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday said social-distancing measures in place around the United States are draconian and said the U.S. must be very careful to ensure that the restrictions are fully justified. Barr said such measures should be revisited next month.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he believes its possible that the U.S. could be open for business next month. I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues, Mnuchin said on CNBC.

As many as 150 members of the Saudi royal family have contracted coronavirus, potentially shedding light on why Saudi Arabia has taken stern measures to curb the spread of the virus  including the likely cancellation of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca that has taken place every year since 1798.

Even once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided, handshakes should become a thing of the past, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administrations top infectious disease expert. I dont think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you, he told the Wall Street Journal.

By the numbers

World cases and deaths: 1,502,618 confirmed cases, 89,915 deaths

U.S. cases and deaths: 432,554 confirmed cases, 14,829 deaths

Ohio cases and deaths: 5,148 confirmed cases, 193 deaths, 1,495 hospitalizations

General information

Coronavirus timeline: How the coronavirus spread from cases in China to Ohio in less than three months

Coronavirus in Ohio: Department of Health opens call center to field questions, open 7 days a week

Ohio is under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus. What does that mean?

Coronavirus patients can take a turn for the worse two weeks into the illness, experts say

Kids and coronavirus: Children have come down with COVID-19, but usually with milder symptoms

Coping with coronavirus: Guide aims to ease fear of pandemic disease

MetroHealth Dr. Amy Ray offers helpful coronavirus advice in video

Can you have coronavirus without knowing it? Absolutely.

Loss of smell may be early symptom of coronavirus

Heres how much it costs to get coronavirus treatment

Heres what you should do right now to get your piece of the coronavirus bailout: Unemployment and small business aid

Risk/mitigation factors

Age, race and underlying conditions: What makes you more susceptible to coronavirus?

Hypertension could be a leading factor in coronavirus deaths: Heres what to know

How will coronavirus affect allergy sufferers?

Heres why mitigating the pandemic curve matters

What you might not know about using face masks to protect against coronavirus

Ways to distribute homemade masks for protection from the coronavirus

Will the shingles vaccine help me fight coronavirus? No. Heres why

Coronavirus update: Virus could live up to 24 hours on cardboard, 3 days on plastic and steel, study says

Coronavirus and lungs: How do smoking, vaping, air pollution affect respiratory illnesses?

How humidity could help fight coronavirus

ACE2: How researchers think coronavirus attacks cells, and how it could be stopped

Coronavirus and the lungs: Does COVID-19 cause more severe pneumonia or ARDS than other viruses?

Could coronavirus travel through the air? What new research says

Antibody coronavirus tests could deliver faster results, better understanding of reach

Will wearing a mask protect me from coronavirus? The answers arent that simple

Ways to distribute homemade masks for protection from the coronavirus

Cant find elastic to make a mask? Here are some other options

Hygiene/etiquette

Washing your hands: Best public restroom etiquette in the age of coronavirus

How to protect yourself from coronavirus: An infocomic goes viral

Ohio health department chief regularly cites school study on hand-washing. What does it say?

How to keep your car clean to reduce risk from coronavirus

Coping at home

Compiling a COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine prep kit: What you should have on hand at home

Should I take elderberry supplements to ward off flu, coronavirus?

Homemade hand sanitizer to battle coronavirus? Dont use denatured alcohol -- or vodka

10 essential tips to working from home during the coronavirus outbreak

Working from home? These 10 must-have items will make the transition easier

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Have a back-up plan for pets in case you get sick with coronavirus, Cleveland APL says

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Haiti - NOTICE : The municipal administration of Port-au-Prince reduces its hours





The Municipal Administration of Port-au-Prince informs taxpayers that due to the situation which prevails following the appearance of the coronavirus Covid-19 on the national territory [which has already infected 30 people and caused 2 deaths hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30481-haiti-flash-2nd-death-of-covid-19.html ], the Administration is obliged to modify its working hours.



From now on, our offices will operate from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. until further notice.



Please note that this change in schedule will not affect the roads or emergency services such as the fire department.



The Town Hall thanks the Port-au-Princiens, Port-au-Princiennes for their understanding.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30481-haiti-flash-2nd-death-of-covid-19.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30479-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-april-8-2020.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Running an air purifier at home can be a good idea anytime, to help filter out indoor allergens and pollutants like fumes from cooking and cleaning products. And that's especially true now, when so many people are stuck indoors 24/7 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But you may also be wondering if an air purifier can prevent COVID-19 by capturing virus particles that could be traveling in the air.

We spoke with air quality and virology experts, and asked CR's own experts to weigh in. The consensus is that while air purifiers probably don't offer much protection in most circumstances, they may be worthwhile in a few specific ones.

If someone in your household is sick with COVID-19, running an air purifier in their quarantine room may help protect other family members or caregivers. The same goes for healthcare workers who are self-quarantining when they come home.

Our understanding of how the coronavirus spreads is evolving, but the current thinking is that it travels via droplets expelled from the body through coughing, talking, and breathing. While most of these droplets fall to the ground quickly, some research suggests smaller particles may remain in the air for longer.

But even if you live with a healthcare worker or someone sick with COVID-19, before you run out to buy an air purifier, our experts say that simply opening up the windows in your home to let in fresh air will help dilute indoor contaminantsincluding virus particles.

If airing out the room isnt an option, you could try using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier.

We dont yet have direct evidence that filtration works to reduce transmission of the novel coronavirus, says Jeffrey Siegel, an indoor air quality expert and professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto who has researched portable air purifiers with various airborne particles.

Story continues

But we can infer from what we know for similar viruses, like SARS," he says, that there is reason to think air purifiers might help in some situations.

In 2003, during the SARS outbreak, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority recommended hospitals use portable air purifiers with HEPA filters to help reduce transmission to healthcare workers if isolation wards were not available. In the U.S., the CDC also recommended the use of HEPA purifiers to help reduce viral concentrations of the SARS virus in the air when properly ventilated hospital rooms werent available.

Recent research published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and under review at BMC Infectious Diseases suggests that air filtration can reduce the risk of transmission of measles and influenza.

In theory, if an air purifier removes viruses from the air, it reduces concentrations in the room and thus reduces the potential for exposure, says Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer and professor at Virginia Tech who specializes in airborne disease transmission, air quality, and nanotechnology. So there is a mechanistic reason to think that air purifiers could help reduce transmission.

Read on to find out how air purifiers can capture the coronavirus, how to use an air purifier to help limit the spread of COVID-19 at home, and details on the air purifiers from CRs tests that may work best in this very specific scenario.

How an Air Purifier Could Capture the Coronavirus

HEPA filters are very effective. They are certified to capture 99.97 percent of particles that are precisely 0.3 micron in diameter. And they are even better at capturing particles that are either larger or smaller than that, Marr says, including viruses.

The novel coronavirus itself is 0.125 microns, but Marr says the droplets it travels inwhen people cough, talk, or breatheinitially are larger, around 1 micron. That's a size easily captured by HEPA filters.

James Dickerson, CRs chief science officer echoes the consensus that air purifiers could help in some situations, but with a caveat: HEPA filters are very efficient at catching coronavirus-size particles, but the particles must first physically travel to the filter, he says.

That means an air purifier has to be capable of consistently drawing in enough air to reduce the amount of virus particles in the air. The faster an air purifier can cycle air through the filter, the better its chances of catching virus particles. You can see how fast an air purifier cleans the surrounding air by looking for its CADR (clean air delivery rate) number on the packaging.

CADR reflects, in cubic feet per minute, the volume of clean air that an air purifier produces at its highest speed setting. At lower speeds, the rate a machine is able to clean air decreases. The packaging should have three CADR ratings, one for smoke, dust, and pollen, which represent small, medium, or large particles, respectively. For example, a purifier with a CADR of 250 for smoke reduces smoke particle levels to the same concentration that would be achieved by adding 250 cubic feet of clean air each minute. (Smoke particles are similar in size to the smallest virus droplets while larger droplets are closer to the pollen size range.)

Based on CR's lab tests of air purifiers, we recommend looking for a model with a CADR over 240, which can perform roughly five air exchanges per hour in its suggested room size. In our tests, these air purifiers perform well for quickly removing particles of all sizes from the air. All the models we highlight below have a CADR over 240.

One practical matter to consider, however, is that you may not want to run an air purifier on its highest speed setting (in order to achieve the highest CADR). Air purifiers can be quite loud, especially at higher speeds, and that can disturb the sick persons sleep. Here at CR we measure air purifiers noise levels in decibels and rate that trait. The models we highlight perform well removing particles even at lower, quieter speeds.

Even the most efficient air purifiers cant prevent some droplets from landing on surfaces, where they can live for hours or even days according to early research at the National Institutes of Health. So to help prevent the spread of the virus in your house, you should clean your home and wash your hands frequently, too.

How to Use an Air Purifier When a Family Member Is Sick

If you believe you or someone in your household might have COVID-19, follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for essential steps to take, which include how to monitor symptoms, when to seek medical help, and the proper way to isolate someone who's sick.

To use a HEPA purifier at home to help prevent transmission of the virus to other family members, Siegel suggests placing the unit three feet from the person who is sick with COVID-19. We know that close contact is a main transmission route so I would rather people have an air purifier on low speed near the patient rather than farther away on super high speed, he says.

Run it 24 hours a day on the highest setting that wont disturb the sick persons sleep. In addition, keep the air purifier separated from anything that can obstruct airflow, such as curtains or furniture, and keep the door to the room closed. When used correctly, the filter can potentially intercept floating virus particles before they reach a caregiver in the same room, says Siegel.

Take extra precautions when handling the air purifier and changing the HEPA filter. According to early studies, the coronavirus can live on plastic and steel, both materials air purifiers are commonly made of, for up to three days. And, Siegel says, "We dont know yet how long the coronavirus can survive on filters."

Dont touch the air purifier while its in use, and when its time to change the filter, put on gloves and a surgical mask if you have one, take the air purifier outside, and clean and disinfectant the exterior. Then remove the filter and dispose of it in a sealed bag. If your air purifier has a fabric prefilter, wash it.

One note about advertisements you may be seeing about using air purifiers against the coronavirus: Be wary if you see products that claim they can outright prevent COVID-19 or destroy the coronavirus.

Some air purifiers claim to kill viruses using UV light or some kind of photocatalysis technology, says John Galeotafiore, a director of testing at CR. We suggest consumers take these claims with a grain of salt because there isn't enough concrete evidence yet that proves they work in these settings.

HEPA Purifiers From CRs Tests

Consumer Reports does not test air purifiers for virus removal, but we do perform our tests using similarly sized airborne particles as small as 0.1 micron and up to 1 micron (a range that includes dust mite allergens, cat allergens, smog, smoke, and atmospheric dust). All of CRs top-rated models have no problems trapping particles in this spectrum.

Because air purifiers typically have several speed settings, we test for dust and smoke removal both at the highest speed and at a lower speed, and we do the same for noise. Here are seven air purifiers that have high CADRs and earn an Excellent or Very Good in our particle reduction tests while being quietso they should help capture viruses without disturbing a sick persons rest.

For more information on these and other air purifiers we test, including the recommended room size for the machines below, see our air purifier buying guide and ratings. These models are listed in alphabetical order.

The Alen BreatheSmart Classic is an air purifier made for large rooms, but this sleek model can clean the air quietly and even more quickly when used in a small room, like a bedroom. It scores an Excellent rating in our particle reduction test at high speed and a Very Good rating on its lower speed. Both speeds earn Good ratings for noise, meaning you should be able to carry on a conversation in the room.

This Blueair Blue Pure 211+ scores Excellent ratings in both our high-speed and low-speed particle reduction testsone of only two models to do so (the other one is the Blueair below). This air purifier is relatively quiet on its lower setting, garnering a Good for noise, but is a little loud on its highest speed setting.

While Blueair Classic 605s cleaning ability is more than most people need in a bedroom, its the best and fastest air purifier we test, garnering Excellent ratings in both our high-speed and low-speed particle reduction tests. Its the only model we test that earns a Very Good noise rating on its low speed while still getting superb cleaning results (at its highest speed, this model is quite noisy, though).

In our particle-reduction tests, the Honeywell HPA300s air purifier scores Excellent and Very Good ratings at its highest speed and lower speed, respectively. For noise, its rated Good at any speed.

In our tests, the SPT AC-2102 air purifiers high-speed setting earns an Excellent rating for removing particles from the air, but its pretty noisy, garnering a Fair rating in that test. You can use it on a lower, quieter speed setting, though, which still earns a Very Good rating for particle removal.

At high speed, this Winix 5300-2 scores an Excellent in our particle reduction test and earns a Very Good rating for noise, the only model to do so at its high-speed setting. Its also the least expensive model on this list. We recommend operating it only at high speed because this Winix doesnt perform particularly well for removing particles at low speed.

Similar to the Winix 5300-2 above, we only recommend running this FresHome WACP450 on its highest speed setting, which earns an Excellent rating in our particle reduction test while scoring a Good for noise (still fairly quiet). Its efficiency for removing particles drops notably on its lower speed settings.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify the particle sizes that HEPA filters can capture.





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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Over 1.5lakh Ayush doctors have been called to join the Covid-19 medical team in Maharashtra to provide additional hands during the pandemic.

Ayush is the acronym of medical systems locally practised in India such as Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

From Thursday, Ayush doctors have started their online training programme in Covid-19 care to procure certificates as per the guidelines of the state health department. In addition to this, the health ministry has sent a notice to Government Dental College, Fort, requesting their services in emergency.

As HT reported on Thursday, the health department has come up with a new guideline where suspected and confirmed Covid-19 patients will be divided into three categories- mild, moderate and severe according to the condition of their health. Currently, in Mumbai as per the record of Maharashtra Medical Council, there are above 20,000 registered allopathy doctors. But if the community transmission starts in Mumbai region with a population of 1.84 crore, the ministry will require additional help from Ayush doctors and dentists.

Ayush doctors have years of experience in handling patients. These doctors may not be directly involved in providing treatment to patients on ventilators but can take care of patients in mild and moderate categories, said Kuldeep Kohli, director of Ayush, Maharashtra.

But only qualified Ayush doctors will be allowed to take care of patients. All the doctors will have to attend an online curriculum designed by All India Institute of Medical Sciences to gain basic knowledge about Covid-19 treatment. Following which, they will have to appear for an online examination to procure their qualification certificate.

We will have to send the list of qualified Ayush doctors to the state government for their further reference. In the online course, through videos and exercises, doctors are given a basic understanding of how to handle patients along with maintaining their own safety, said Kohli. The training has started from Thursday which will continue for a week before they can start giving examinations for certificates, he added.

Other than this, the state government is in the process of converting Podar Ayurved Medical College into a quarantine centre to treat mild patients. Kohli confirmed the development.

As per the instruction of the Union Health Ministry, we are also suggesting people to consume Ayurvedic products like chyawanprash to build up their immunity. Through our Facebook page, we are also teaching people yoga, he added.

Other than Ayush doctors, the state government also wants to include dentists to participate in taking care of the Covid-19 patients. Dr Vivek Pakhmonde, dean of Government Dental College said, We have received a notice from the health ministry where they have instructed all registered dentists to stay at a stand by. If a situation arises, we will also have to cater to patients.

A day after the state government called upon the retired doctors to provide helping hands in treating Covid-19 patients, a section of doctors has raised concern about it. As per the data of the health department, people between the age group of 60-80 are most vulnerable to the infection with the highest mortality rate.

Asking elderly doctors to participate in treatment is too risky. If they get infected, the chances of the spread of the virus among patients and medicos are very high. Earlier, also we had written a letter to the corporation about the issue, said Nilima Vaidya-Bhamare, secretary of Association of Medical Consultants.

However, though the state health department is yet to formulate the required role of elderly doctors in Covid-19 care, a senior health officer said, We will not involve them in treating severe patients. We will post on the departments where the interaction with patients will be minimal. If a crisis arises, all the young doctors will be required on the field. So, we will need more hands, especially senior doctors in managing the desk duties.
Expressing concern over the spike in Covid-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh in the recent days, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur outrightly held the workers of Tablighi Jamaat responsible for the spread of the virus in the state.

Had the jamaat attendees not hid their travel history to Nizamuddin congregation and restricted their movement, the state would have been free of Covid-19 by now, the CM said, adding that 40% positive cases are of the jamaat workers and they have contributed to spread this pandemic across the country.

Jai Ram said, as many as 172 people, who had been part of the markaz at Nizamuddin, have been identified in the state. Among them, 17 are still in Delhi, while some have been quarantined in the state and some are still being traced.

Majority of the Tablighi members, who have been quarantined, hail from Sirmaur, Chamba and Solan districts.

So far, over 700 samples have been taken in the state and 28 people have tested positive for the virus, Thakur said, adding that at present, there are 21 active cases in Himachal and all have Tablighi links. Four patients, all members of an industrialist family from Baddi, have been shifted to Delhi for the treatment and two others have recovered. While a Tibetan, who died in Kangra district on March 23, had not informed the health authorities about his ailment and had undergone treatment at a private hospital.

Meanwhile, 4,855 people have been quarantined in the state, he added.

On extending the lockdown, the CM said that personally he is in favour of continuing the lockdown, but the final decision will only be taken after the video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11.

HP govt will provide all possible help to pharma companies

The Himachal government will extend all possible help to the drug manufacturers having units in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh area, to ensure smooth manufacturing of various life-saving drugs including hydroxychloroquine, the CM said.

Interacting with the representatives of major pharma companies through video conferencing, the CM said most of these firms are trying to meet the worldwide demand for hydroxychloroquine drug amid coronavirus pandemic.

As many as 250 pharma units have resumed production in the area.

While appreciating the companies for resuming the production, the CM said sufficient number of trucks would be provided to facilitate transportation of medicines from these companies.

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WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) steadfastly believes that students who are blind or have low vision should have the same educational opportunities and programs as their peers without disabilities. With the passage of the $2.2 trillion relief package on March 27, the U.S. Department of Education now has the ability to either support that opportunity, or undermine it by recommending waivers of the two laws that protect students' civil rights. AFB urges Congress and the Department of Education to focus on providing states, school districts, and schools with the full capacity they need to serve children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, not on waiving educational rights.

Along with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that makes available a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities and ensures special education and related services. In the law, Congress states: Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.

"Blind and low vision students need access to education as much as any other student," said Stacy Cervenka, AFB Director of Public Policy. "These students need to keep up with their reading and math skills, so they are prepared when school begins again. They also need to maintain their skills in orientation and mobility (O&M), braille, adaptive technology, and daily living skills. Many of these students already face barriers related to low expectations and inaccessibility of classroom materials. Allowing them to fall behind their classmates will only create one more needless barrier."

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country have been closing their doors, and most are working to transition to online or distance learning programs. However, some school districts nationwide have delayed or foregone such alternative educational programming, citing concerns about federal law as it relates to providing equitable educational opportunities for students with disabilities as laid out in IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. While the Department of Education has sought to dispel this concern, as part of the relief package legislation, the Department has 30 days from the bill becoming law on March 27 to alert Congress if any waivers of these laws are considered necessary as they relate to providing special education services to students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan.

On Friday, March 20, AFB submitted a letter to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) asserting that students with disabilities must have access to the same opportunities as other students during this crisis. The letter was co-signed by the American Council of the Blind, American Printing House for the Blind, Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Council for Exceptional Children Division of Visual Impairments and Deafblindness, National Organization for Albinism for Hypopigmentation, and the Perkins School for the Blind. AFB also signed onto a letter with the American Council of the Blind to key leaders in the Senate and the House of Representatives, expressing concern about the (then) forthcoming legislation that would allow the Department of Education to waive the civil rights protections of students with disabilities. That letter called on Congress to fully fund the IDEA and thereby provide teachers with significantly more resources with which to educate students with disabilities.

There are numerous positive examples of states, school districts, schools, or individual teachers doing excellent work providing remote services despite the dearth of resources and funding. Yet these educators acknowledge that more must be done. AFB has gathered testimonials from teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) and other professionals in the education field and published them in a set of blog posts:

How TVIs and O&M Instructors are Handling the Challenges of Distance Learning, Part 1

How TVIs and O&M Instructors are Handling the Challenges of Distance Learning, Part 2

"AFB remains committed to protecting the educational rights of blind and low vision students in K-12 education throughout this pandemic," Cervenka said.

Along with several other organizations in the blindness field invested in the education of students with visual impairments, AFB is working on a survey Increasing Accessibility to Education for Students with Visual Impairments, that will gather information from family members, TVIs, and O&M instructors so that we can better understand the direct impact COVID-19 is having on the education of children from infancy through age 21 who receive special education services.

About the American Foundation for the Blind

Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit that creates a world of no limits for people who are blind or visually impaired. AFB mobilizes leaders, advances understanding, and champions impactful policies and practices using research and data. AFB is proud to steward the Helen Keller Archive, maintain and expand the digital collection, and honor the more than 40 years that Helen Keller worked tirelessly with AFB. Visit: www.afb.org

SOURCE American Foundation for the Blind

Related Links

http://www.afb.org


Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 9th April 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

Coronavirus: Chinese Medical Team Arrives In Nigeria

A 15-man medical delegation from China has arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Recall that the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire revealed that Nigeria was expecting a delegation of medical professionals from China.

FG Reduces 2020 Budget Over Coronavirus Pandemic

Due to the global economic realities necessitated by the Coronavirus outbreak, the Federal Government of Nigeria has sent a new budget proposal to the National Assembly for consideration.

Mike Adenuga Redeems N1bn Pledge To Fight Coronavirus

The Mike Adenuga Foundation has redeemed his N1 billion pledge to the Central Bank of Nigeria and private sector coalition against COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Governor Okowa Gives Update On Delta State Index Case

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has provided a fresh update on the States first Coronavirus (COVID-19) case.

35 Nigerian Senators Asked To Go For Coronavirus Test

A group known as Civil Society Coalition Against COVID-19 (CISCAC) has asked 35 senators who recently attended a three-day international training programme in London to go for Coronavirus test.

COVID-19: Jigawa State Extend Stay At Home Orders By Two Weeks

Governor Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa State has extended the stay at home order for civil servants in the State by two weeks in efforts to prevent Coronavirus outbreak.

Nigeria On Course To Stop Coronavirus  FG

The Federal Government has expressed that Nigeria remains on the right path to conquer the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Only Buhari Can Determine Extension Of Lockdown  FG

The Federal Government says only President Muhammadu Buhari can decide whether or not, the lockdown of Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT will be extended.

Coronavirus: Buhari Sends Solidarity Message To UK Prime Minister Johnson

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent his message of solidarity to UKs prime minister, Boris Johnson who was rushed into intensive care after suffering serious coronavirus symptoms on Monday, 6th April.

Coronavirus: Ekiti State Begins Distribution Of Palliatives

Following the lockdown imposed on the nation as a result of the novel coronavirus, Ekiti state government has begun the distribution of palliatives to the state residents in order to cushion the effect of the stay at home.
South Korean celebrities are ageless, as described by the mob. In several instances, they would share their secrets and tips to achieve such a youthful glow.

Koreans are widely known for their beautiful skin and slim figure. As the genre of the K-pop industry started emerging internationally, the audiences are becoming fond of achieving the same skin texture and looks. Therefore, celebrities are often asked about their beauty tips that normal citizens may follow.

While there is a lot of beauty clandestine revealed by stars, the majority of them would endorse Korean facial masks as part of their routines. Not only female personalities have indulged in such a beauty product, but some male artists vowed their efficiency in rejuvenating the skin.

How does a facial mask help in detoxifying facial skin?

A facial mask claims several positive effects on the skin. One, it unclogs the pores from dead skin cells, oily substances, and metabolic wastes. Second, it increases skin hydration as it is essential to moisten dry or dehydrated skin. Next, it erases visible fine lines that are evident signs of aging; thus, smoother texture is then achieved. Another thing is it evens the tone of the skin. Note that facial masks are intended to increase the oxygen through sweat gland secretion. Most of all, it tightens the skin to look young as ever.

Here are some of the Korean facial masks endorsed by celebrities.

Considered as one of the leading brands of facial masks in Korea, MEDIHEAL is carefully formulated to find a solution in certain facial skin dilemmas as well as setting a standard of affordability among target consumers. It has different variations such as NMF (Intensive Hydrating Mask), Tea Tree Essential Blemish Control Mask, Collagen Essential Lifting and Firming Mask, W.H.P. Brightening and Hydrating Charcoal Mask and D.N.A Hydrating Protein Mask and H.D.P Photoready Tightening Charcoal Mask.

Park Min-young, as its ambassador, uses Malie Korean Face Mask that has a lot of variety to choose from. It promises ultra hydration with the help of serum, Aqua-type texture that will boost moisturization, and comes in different types such as Red ginseng, snail, green tea, and many more. Many users have commended this product as regular use eliminates dark spots, circles, puffiness, and pigmentation.

Etude House is known for its wide array of Korean beauty products, which includes facial masks. Celebrities like Park Shin-Hye and Krystal Jung endorse this brand. It's Etude House 0.2 Therapy air mask sheets come in different types such as lemon and blueberry. It promotes skin hydration and facial relaxation. It contains ingredients that are naturally extracted from plants.

Another Korean facial mask suggested by Korean celebrities is the Celavi Essence Facial Mask. It comes in six variants: seaweed, rice, collagen, aloe vera, vitamin c, acai berry, all of which are known as anti-oxidant aging. What sets them apart from other facial sheets is they support different skin types, whether you are a man or a woman. Their choices of botanicals are infused in every product.

Collagen is known as a nourishing agent to battle skin imperfection. This is the main ingredient of the Gold Collagen Ampoule Korean facial mask. What makes it excel among other brands in the market is its cellulose sheet that avoids slipping and sliding while applied on the face. It also has 24-karat gold, which combats wrinkles to replenish the youthful glow.


By PTI

UNITED NATION: India's GDP growth for the current fiscal is expected to slow down to 4.8 per cent, a UN report has said, warning that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to result in significant adverse economic impacts globally.

The UN 'Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) 2020: Towards sustainable economies' said that COVID-19 is having far-reaching economic and social consequences for the region, with strong cross-border spillover effects through trade, tourism and financial linkages.

India's GDP growth for the fiscal year 2019-2020 was estimated at 5 per cent and is forecast to slow down to 4.8 per cent for the current fiscal 2020-21. Economic growth for the country could stand at 5.1 per cent for fiscal year 2021-22, the report said.

The report noted that these are very preliminary forecasts based on the data and information available up to March 10.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving rapidly and showing no signs of abating as of March 31, 2020, its negative impacts on economic performance of countries and territories in Asia and the Pacific will likely be very significant," a disclaimer accompanying the GDP chart for economies in the Asia and Pacific in the report says.

"India's economic growth declined considerably by more than the earlier estimate (5 per cent in 2019 compared with previous estimate of 7 per cent), as uncertainties ahead of the general election and tighter credit conditions weighed on manufacturing activities and investments. Weakness in income growth and a rising unemployment rate also undermined consumer sentiment. Its exports were affected by global trade tensions as well, while extreme weather events -especially rainfall - disrupted agricultural activities," the ESCAP report said.

The report noted that COVID-19, first reported in China and subsequently globally, has significantly increased the downside risks to the Asia and Pacific region's near-term economic outlook.

"While the pandemic was initially expected to affect primarily China's economy (mostly in the first quarter of 2020), its spread worldwide, including in the Asia-Pacific region, could result in significant adverse economic impacts.

"High economic integration regionally and internationally could exacerbate the economic slowdown through multiple channels, such as trade, tourism and financial markets," it said.

The report cautioned that despite measures to contain COVID-19, such as quarantines, suspension of productive activities and the lockdown of cities, the spread of the novel coronavirus has already adversely affected regional and global economies.

"The regional economic impact is anticipated to be greater than that experienced 17 years ago when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out," it said for the outlook for the Asia and the Pacific region adding that it is not only because of China's growing economic importance but also because of increasingly globalised production structures.

Preliminary estimates by ESCAP suggest that the Asia-Pacific region's GDP could experience declines of 0.6-0.8 per cent (valued at $132 billion to 172 billion) as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic through trade links alone.

The report noted that the global economy is experiencing a significant slowdown. In 2019, global economic growth is estimated to have expanded at its slowest pace since 2008, at 2.3 per cent, a sharp deceleration from 3 per cent growth in 2018.

Growth is forecast to slow to 2.0 per cent in 2020 before experiencing a modest pick up in 2021, as the global economy loses growth momentum amid a pandemic and an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment.

Further, against an increasingly uncertain global environment, economic growth in the developing countries and territories of the Asia-Pacific region weakened considerably in 2019 to 4.3 per cent, a sharp slowdown from 5.3 per cent in 2018 and 5.0 per cent projected earlier for 2019.

The slowdown was led by the large economies, namely China, India and Russia. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected supply chains and disrupted manufacturing operations around the world.

It noted that the pharmaceutical industry is facing shortages in the supply of raw materials.

"India, which produces 20 per cent of the world's drug supply by volume, imports from China 70 per cent of the raw materials for manufacturing such pharmaceuticals. If the COVID-19 pandemic is prolonged, supplies are anticipated to be disrupted." The report emphasised that in order to overcome the effects of the global pandemic requires the whole world, including the Asia-Pacific region, to strengthen cooperation and coordination.

It took note of the recent call by India to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders to coordinate virus containment measures.

India proposed the establishment of a COVID-19 emergency fund under SAARC and offered an initial contribution of $10 million in this regard.

The report said that since at least the start of the millennium, the Asia-Pacific region has been the engine powering global economic expansion.

The region's strong economic growth has more than tripled people's income and largely improved their access to basic services, such as health care, education and electricity.

As a result, about one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty mostly in China and India in the past two decades.
By now, everyone in Ireland has felt the effects of Covid-19. Local businesses are closed, schools are shut and families are being kept apart in order to stem the spread of this terrible virus. But while the nation is encouraged to stay home to stay safe, many men and women are becoming trapped in abusive households.

The mantra at the moment is that we are all staying safe at home, explains Womens Aid CEO, Sarah Benson. Thats all fine and well but what if your home is the least safe place for you? Thats the challenge here.

We need to be mindful that there are people out there who are actually at a greater risk when asked to stay at home. This is a really difficult time for them.

According to Sarah, domestic abuse is still a huge issue in Irish society

Domestic violence is a global epidemic, she explains. Were talking about a global figure of 1 in 3 women will suffer from some form of domestic abuse from a current or former partner. In Ireland - as in many European countries - it would be closer to about 1 in 4 but that is still close to a quarter of the female population. That is why it is so important.

The issue is now being magnified because of the current Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. As people are forced to stay at home, this can lead to a rise in abusive behaviours.

Isolation is a key tactic of domestic abuse, explains Sarah. Coercive control, monitoring peoples movements and keeping them from the people that support them. This actually provides an opportunity for those who are abusive to escalate their behaviours.

Stay connected

In order to counteract this, Womens Aid is encouraging people to stay in close contact with their friends and family.

We need to stay connected, she explains. Just reach out, even if you dont get a response. Simply write a message that says, Hey there, I am here if you want to chat, or Are you free for a chat later today? something thats subtle. Be the proactive one. Dont wait for the person who may be in the more difficult situation to reach out.

Sarah also recommends agreeing to a specific code word or emoji that signals that someone is in danger.

If you are concerned about a family member and you are in WhatsApp or text contact with them, if it is safe to do so, agree with them an innocuous emoji symbol or a specific word which could be taken as a signal that somebody is in danger, she explains. That would then act as a prompt that you need to contact the Guards. There are creative ways to stay connected with people in a safe way. These are the things we need to consider at the moment.

Reach out

Sarah also encourages anyone who is worried about a friend or in an abusive situation to reach out and use the supports that are out there. While many businesses are closed, charities like Womens Aid are still there to help those that need them.

Predominantly we support women but we will help anyone who needs our support. Just reach out and contact the freephone helpline 24/7 on 1800 341 900, she explains. We also have a full interpreter service. We can dial in over 170 languages for non-English speaking women.

We also have an instant chat service a number of times during the week through our website. We have a text number for deaf or hard of hearing women as well. In the Dublin area, we have specialist court accompaniment services and a drop-in service for women seeking to apply for protective orders and then over day-to-day services and clinics around the city. 

Anyone who is worried can call us, she explains. We often take calls from family members, friends and even employers who are worried about someone close to them. They ring us to seek support and we can tell them how to help as well.

Someone might be worried about their sister or their adult child. People are very worried about doing the wrong thing and can often lead to them doing nothing because they become a little bit paralysed.

There are many things people can do with care to try and help a loved one to stay safe or become safe if they need to get out of a dangerous situation.

However, if you or a loved one is in immediate danger Sarah encourages calling the Gardai.

The Gardai are the main port of call if someone feels at risk, she explains. If you can make only one call when you feel in danger, make it 999 or 112.

If you would like to help Womens Aid to continue their vital work please donate today on their website.

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Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Rothschild's family are donating a whopping $10 million to help COVID-19 relief funds.

The donation was announced on Wednesday, with roughly half of the funds going address, 'the urgent needs facing the homeless population in Los Angeles.'

The other half of the funds will be devoted to, 'helping African countries prepare for a pending outbreak,' according to the Hilton Foundation website.

Family donation: Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Rothschild's family are donating a whopping $10 million to help COVID-19 relief funds

The Los Angeles grants will be divided between three organizations, Brilliant Corners, California Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Brilliant Corners will receive $2,250,000 in a partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

The grant will, 'provide flexible funding for Brilliant Corners to immediately purchase essential supplies and cover expenses related to developing and implementing a COVID-19 response plan to care for individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County.'

Family grant: The Los Angeles grants will be divided between three organizations, Brilliant Corners, California Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles

The next grant will go to the California Community Foundation for $500,000 that will, 'immediately purchase essential supplies and cover expenses at six of LA Countys federally qualified health clinics, which have a special designation to serve clients who are unhoused.'

The funds will also go to, 'triaging those experiencing homelessness who are sick, exposed, or in need of testing to the appropriate temporary housing intervention.'

The third Los Angeles based grant goes to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles for $2,250,000 to its Pandemic Relief Fund.

Third grant: The third Los Angeles based grant goes to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles for $2,250,000 to its Pandemic Relief Fund

The fund will go to the, 'bulk purchasing of supplies and will also release funding through strategic sub-grants directly to providers.'

The fund will also help supply 'personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, thermometers and testing kits' to overcome shortages.

The Africa grants will be divided through three more organizations, Sharing Hope for Communities Inc, The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa and the United Nations Children's Fund.

Africa grants: The Africa grants will be divided through three more organizations, Sharing Hope for Communities Inc, The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa and the United Nations Children's Fund

The Sharing Hope for Communities is a Hilton Humanitarian Prize laureate, receiving $500,000 to, 'support outreach initiatives and establish a trusted information source.'

The funds will implement, 'Kenyas COVID-19 response plan within four of the largest informal settlements in Kenya: Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru (in Nairobi), and Bangladesh (in Mombasa).'

The WHO will get $3,000,000 to, 'strengthen the capacity of health systems in nine high-risk countries to respond to COVID-19 cases: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Senegal and South Africa.'

UNICEF is receiving $1,500,000 to, 'strengthen risk communication and community engagement capacity of four high-risk countries in East Africa to respond to COVID-19: Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.'
The death of tipplers in Tamil Nadu



in separate instances following the lockdown-triggered dry regime has turned the spotlight on withdrawal symptoms, with experts warning that some could even go into delirium and suggesting medical attention including counselling.

With the state-run TASMAC downing shutters and their personal stocks also running dry, many alcoholics are likely to harm themselves in the process of battling addiction, S Nambi, a city-based psychiatrist said.

He called for addressing the problem at primary health care level before it assumed alarming proportions.

The government has also recommended for counselling to such persons.

"The non-availability of alcohol all of a sudden will cause withdrawal symptoms.

While craving and mild trembling could be seen in normal cases, nearly 15 percent will develop complicated withdrawal symptoms and tend to become irritable, go into delirium or experience severe anxiety or restlessness," he said.

The second case calls for medical emergency because if not attended on time, then the patient may end up harming himself, Nambi added.

Earlier, three men died in neighbouring Chengalpattu after consuming varnish mixed with water, as they could not obtain alcohol from the government-owned local TASMAC outlet which was closed due to the ongoing lockdown enforced to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Before that, in Pudukottai district, three men died after consuming cool drinks mixed with after shave lotion, in the hope of getting high.

In a realted incident in Villipuram, a 65-year old man, who desperately tried to get a bottle of liquor from an outlet, but could not, fainted and was later pronounced dead at a government hospital on Wednesday.

Apparently, taking into account the plight of tipplers, the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) has issued a set of guidelines to medical officers in the state to follow the necessary protocol while assessing and treating those showing symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

Director of Public Health, K Kolandaswamy said the affected could call and get counselling from the staff.

"If they have severe symptoms and are unable to handle their withdrawal, the family can get them admitted to the nearest Government hospital," he advised.

Liquor sales in the state is nationalised and brings in a lot of cash for the government, with the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) reporting nearly Rs 29,000 crore revenue till mid-March.

However, it has since the national lockdown on March 24, reported about Rs 80 crore loss, Prohibition Minister P Thangamani said.

Implementation of prohibition is a poll promise made by all political parties, including the ruling AIADMK which, however, wants to do it in a phased manner.

Thangamani had in the state Assembly earlier reaffirmed the government's commitment to enforce prohibition in a phased manner, saying sudden closure could lead to several problems.

"When liquor is easily available in the neighbouring states and the Union Territory Puducherry, introducing prohibition may lead to smuggling or penetration of illicit arrack," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cemento Sur licence temporarily suspended

ICR Newsroom By 09 April 2020

Cemento Sur has had its operating licence temporarily suspended by the mayor of the District Municipality of Caracoto in Puno, Peru, because it was operational during the countrys state of emergency, according to Onda Azul.



We have closed the door of the Cemento Sur company, he said, while specifying that the Ministry of Production issue an authorisation to the company so it can circulate regularly. To avoid the operation of the company we have blocked its accesses, said the authority.

Earlier speculations of an employee showing COVID-19 symptoms have been ruled out by the Regional Directorate of Health.

Published under
With the Indian security forces stretched in Jammu and Kashmir in aid of civil administration to fight coronavirus spread, Pakistan-based terror groups have activated launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and the border in Jammu to infiltrate 230 terrorists over the next few weeks and months.

The batch of five terrorists killed on Sunday in a close-quarters battle with the armys Special Forces commandos was among the first in recent weeks. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh told HT soon after that there were many more at the terror launch pads.

Indias national security planners have put a figure to this effort across the border to create a summer of discontent in the Kashmir valley.

There are around 160 terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) are ready to infiltrate into the Valley from across the LoC in Kashmir, people tasked with the analysis of intelligence about terror movements and camps told HT.

In the Jammu sector along the international border, around 70 armed and trained terrorists are at the launch pads to infiltrate into this area through unfenced riverine and nullahs.

Terror Infiltration Routes Kashmir Sector Gurez, Machchil, Keran, Tangdhar, Naugam and Uri Jammu Sector Jourian, Hira Nagar, Kathua, Samba and Jammu Rajouri Sector Poonch, Krishna Ghati, Bhimber Gali, Sunderbani and Naushera

According to counter-terror operatives, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists are camping at Samani-Bhimber and Dudhnial launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and waiting for the first opportunity to infiltrate into J&K. Similarly, LeT has been sending its terrorist cadre to Leepa and Kel launching pads in Leepa Valley and Neelum Valley respectively to infiltrate into the Valley.

As part of its plan to intensify infiltration for terror strikes in J&K, the JeM terror group have been consolidating their trained cadre across the international border in Sialkot sector since February.

Also Read: Spike in ceasefire violations by Pakistan amid Covid outbreak

Intelligence inputs reveal that a group of armed JeM jihadists arrived at their Markaz in village Mundeke, Tehsil Daska in Sialkot district on 11 February 2020.

Home Ministry officials say that there were 133 successful infiltration events along the LoC and IB in 2019. Most of the cross overs took place between April and September 2019.

The 5 April Keran sector encounter in which five terrorists were killed reveals that the LeT has big plans to infiltrate from the Kupwara sector: Home Ministry official

During January-February 2020, the Indian security forces managed to arrest 48 jihadists or overground workers and neutralize 24 terrorists including three foreign nationals.

The 5 April Keran sector encounter in which five terrorists were killed reveals that the LeT has big plans to infiltrate from the Kupwara sector, one home ministry official said.

The infiltration from Pakistan takes place in different sectors: Gurez, Machchil, Keran, Tangdhar, Naugam and Uri in Kashmir sector; Poonch, Krishna Ghati, Bhimber Gali, Sunderbani and Naushera in Rajouri sector; Jourian, Hira Nagar, Kathua, Samba and Jammu in Jammu sector.

Counter-terror operatives said the main outfits involved in infiltration in recent years have been the Jaish, Lashkar and the Hizbul Mujahideen. But they have been picking up signals that Rawalpindi GHQ intends to revive Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI) in Sialkot, Punjab and Kotli region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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Coronavirus death toll jumps to 4,110 in Iran

Total number of cases since the start of the outbreak reaches 66,000, but daily numbers show a downward trend.

Iran reported 117 more deaths from the novel coronavirus on Thursday  the lowest one-day virus death toll in the last 25 days  pushing the death toll to 4,110, Iranian state TV reported.

1,634 PEOPLE TESTED POSITIVE IN THE LAST 24 HOURS

Kianoush Jahanpour, a Health Ministry spokesman, said that 1,634 more people tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 66,220, but a hopeful figure as the lowest increase in case numbers since March 23.

Jahanpour said 32,309 people have so far recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,918 patients are in critical condition.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  President Mitch Daniels has announced that all flags on Purdue University campuses statewide will be flown at half-staff beginning Wednesday (April 8) to honor Dr. Steven C. Beering, Purdue President Emeritus, who passed away earlier this month. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued the order to lower the flags on all Purdue and Indiana University campuses through sunset Sunday (April 12).

Beering served as Purdues president from 1983-2000, during which time the university expanded its international efforts, grew its liberal arts programs, promoted diversity, greened and beautified the campus, added 20 major buildings, and took fundraising to new levels. At the time of Beerings retirement, his name had appeared on the diplomas of more than half of the university's living alumni. Prior to becoming Purdues president, Beering served as dean of the Indiana School of Medicine.

More information on the life of Steven Beering can be found here.

Media contact: Tim Doty, doty2@purdue.edu
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has issued two risk alerts: Examinations that Focus on Compliance with Regulation Best Interest and Examinations that Focus on Compliance with Form CRS. These risk alerts provide broker-dealers and investment advisers with advance information about the expected scope and content of the initial examinations for compliance with Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS. Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS are key components of a broader package of rules and interpretations, adopted contemporaneously on June 5, 2019, to enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors' relationships with broker-dealers and investment advisers. The compliance date for Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS is June 30, 2020.

Initial examinations of Regulation Best Interest will focus on assessing whether broker-dealers have made a good faith effort to implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to comply with Regulation Best Interest, including the operational effectiveness of broker-dealers' policies and procedures. Initial examinations of Form CRS will focus on assessing whether firms have made a good faith effort to implement Form CRS, including reviewing the filing and posting of a firm's relationship summary as well as its process for delivering the relationship summary to existing and new retail investors.

"Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS are critical to the protection of Main Street investors, and we feel it is important to share our plans for initial examinations to help firms assess their preparedness as the June 30, 2020 compliance date nears," said Pete Driscoll, Director of OCIE. "Based on conversations we have had with the industry, we know firms have made substantial progress in implementing these new rules. We understand that this implementation will be an iterative process, and our focus will be on firms continuing good faith and reasonable efforts, including taking into account firm-specific effects from disruptions caused by COVID-19."

"OCIE has been working closely with both FINRA and SEC staff to ensure that we harmonize our examination efforts for Regulation Best Interest across our examination programs," said John Polise, OCIE's National Director for the Broker-Dealer and Exchange program. "I encourage firms to review the Risk Alerts to understand the scope of initial exams."

OCIE conducts examinations of SEC-registered investment advisers, investment companies, broker-dealers, self-regulatory organizations, clearing agencies, transfer agents, and others. It uses a risk-based approach to examinations to fulfill its mission to promote compliance with U.S. securities laws, prevent fraud, monitor risk, and inform SEC policy. To see other OCIE publications, please visit www.sec.gov/ocie.
T he Portman Estate has joined the list of London landlords offering rent holidays to retailers and restaurant owners that are desperately trying to conserve cash.

Since last month when numerous businesses were forced to close sites due to Covid-19, tenants across London have been trying to negotiate new rent deals with landlords to reflect that they have no, or substantially less, trade.

Oliver Fenn-Smith, chief executive of The Portman Estate, which has a property empire across 110 acres of Marylebone, said the firm is in close contact with nearly 200 retailers, restaurants, bars and leisure businesses.

The company will offer tenants that have been hurt by government-enforced closures three months where they will pay no rent. Those rent holidays are for the quarterly bills that were due last month or the one expected in June.

Fenn-Smith said: Our focus is on helping to alleviate their immediate cash flow concerns.

He added: We are continuing to assess the ongoing situation and are in touch with each individual business to work through this difficult time together.

The Portman Estate is one of the capital's "Great Estates" that have owned much of central London for centuries.
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Parents across the U.S. are stressed right now about pretty much everything, including how extended school closures will affect their kids learning. But the nature of parental concerns runs the gamut. Some parents complain that their kids are bored and not getting nearly enough work from their teachers; others bemoan the parental involvement and password management required to deal with all of the ridiculously named apps that turn learning into screen time, while still others say their kids are overwhelmed and regularly bursting into tears. Some parents contend, despite what they are hearing from their districts, that none of these remote assignments matter, while others worry about their kids falling behind. The one thing thats consistent is that no one seems happy with what their schools are doing during this crisis.

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Actually, there is one other thing thats consistent: Education researchers and sociologists agree that the implications of the coronavirus on U.S. education are dire, but primarily for disadvantaged students.

There are some students that I havent heard from in four weeks.  a Seattle public school teacher

The impact of this COVID-19 crisis is going to be felt most profoundly by the students who are already most vulnerable, John B. King Jr., president and CEO of the Education Trust and the former U.S. Secretary of Education, told me. These include children with disabilities and children who rely on schools for essential services such as counseling and crisis support, as well as low-income students who may rely on schools for meals and shelter. Although districts are scrambling to provide meals and other services to students in need, many families arent receiving them. New York City public schools usually distribute 600,000 free lunches per day when school is in session, but just over 100,000 families daily are getting these meals now.

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Some students dont have the digital tools or resources needed to continue classes at home. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, 1 in 4 low-income teens does not have access to a home computer. Some school districts are distributing tablets or Chromebooks but have long backlogs; other students have devices but no internet access. In Philadelphia, for instance, school surveys found that only 41 percent of third through eighth graders in the district, and 51 percent of high schoolers, have internet access.

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This class divide has racial implications as well. There are some students that I havent heard from in four weeks, an eighth grade public school teacher in Seattle who did not want to use her name told me recently; most of her missing families, she says, are those for whom English is a second language. Caroline Smith, a humanities teacher at a Boston public high school in which 96 percent of students are nonwhite, says that at least 35 percent of her students havent engaged with their digital curriculum at all.

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Even when disadvantaged students do have the necessary hardware, they may not have the parental support they need to navigate unfamiliar platforms and complete the assigned work. Even older children often need help working through complex math and writing assignments and science projects, and they often need help staying on task with their work, says Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at Indiana University who studies how social inequalities affect families and schools. Having a parent with the time and mental energy to be the de facto teacher will inevitably give affluent white students with stay-at-home or part-time employed parentsor, more likely, mothersan edge. The same could be said for the children of parents with full-time but flexible work.

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This is why most scholars arent worried about how affluent students learning will be affected by the pandemic. Some of these students may fall a bit behind, but others may move ahead, beyond what they would do if they were in school, says Karl Alexander, an emeritus professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Affluent parents are, for instance, signing their kids up for online classes in droves: Outschool.com, a platform for K12 students that offers small online classes, has had to recruit 5,000 new teachers to cover the recent spike in demand. And 200,000 K12 students have signed up for free trials of Rosetta Stone, the language learning platform, since March 20, a representative told me. Even free, online kids fitness and mindfulness classeswhich, in a world where were all stuck inside, are more important to mental and physical well-being than everarent accessible to everyone. Cosmic Kids Yoga might seem ubiquitous in your circle, but its not ubiquitous in all circles.

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There are all these ways in which more affluent students get advantages over less affluent students in the current system without COVID-19. And thats only going to be exacerbated now, says Jason Dougal, the executive vice president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, a nonprofit organization that, among other things, studies educational systems around the world and advises school leaders on best practices. Even privileged families who arent signing their kids up for extra classes and tutoring are still probably teaching their kids plenty; they may be having regular lunch and dinner conversations about virology and astronomy and politics, in part because they are more likely than working-class parents to spend the day at home. According to a March report published by the Economic Policy Institute, fewer than 10 percent of workers in the lowest wage quartile can telework, compared with 61.5 percent of workers in the highest.

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Affluent parents are also more likely to get the kind of support and education they want from their kids schools right noweven if their requests dont benefit all students equally. Ive talked to school leaders, and theyre saying, Im trying to deal with the kids who dont have the devices or dont have internet accessbut whos calling, whos emailing, whos yelling? Its the parents of students who are doing very well, because theyre worried that their little Johnny or their little Sally is going to fall behind, Dougal says. Youve got school leaders who are juggling these incredibly important issues at the same time theyre being pulled by the squeaky wheels who are worried about their kids and their college applications in eight years.

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Even if youre not signing your kid up for everything or demanding more of your childs schoolmaybe youre even one of the parents whos actively refusing to home-school your kids right nowits important to acknowledge the role of privilege in that decision. The parents who feel comfortable saying thanks, but no thanks to their childrens schools are those who know, on some level, that their kids are going to do just fine in the long runand who expect that their kids teachers will be OK with the decision and not punish them for it. Privileged students probably wont face any consequences for not getting their at-home work done. Meanwhile, students from more vulnerable familiesarguably the students who most need empathy and flexibility right noware the ones who are more likely to be held accountable to the rules and to face consequences, Calarco says; her research has shown that public school teachers give privileged students the most leeway when they dont turn assignments in.

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So what does all of this mean for the long term? If low-income students fall farther behind, and privileged students mostly do fine, achievement gaps will widen in the coming months. My worry is that the inequalities will manifest in privileged students being promoted to the next gradeor given more access to things like advanced courses or college enrollmentwhile students from more vulnerable families will be left behind, Calarco says. If that happens, the effects will be felt for years, because once a student falls behind, its really hard to catch them back up; their learning rate has to accelerate beyond the learning rate for kids at grade level.

Given that remote learning could exacerbate equity problems and is generally stressing everyone out, why are schools pursuing it at all? Many states, including New York, have mandated or recommended that schools provide alternate forms of instruction during the coronavirus crisis. But even without these recommendations, public schools likely feel compelled to continue teaching because they believe deeply in their mission, yes, but also because they must stay in business to preserve their funding. In most states, public schools have to deliver a specific number of days of instruction, or their funding is reduced, says Timothy Hallett, a sociologist at Indiana University who studies school accountability. Schools are already underfunded, so this is a big administrative issue, and it is one reason why there is pressure to keep education going. (Plus, if schools close entirely, taxpayers might question the need to pay school taxes.) Teachers, too, have to continue working to abide by their contracts.

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As families switch to online learning, the cracks that have always lurked in the U.S. education system might, now, become easier for everyone to see. For one thing, its now obvious that teachers should be better trained in the use of technology and that schools or local governments should do a better job of ensuring that everyone has access to devices and the internet. Technology is a part of our infrastructure in ways that we are not acknowledging, and thats a huge problem, says Cassidy Puckett, a sociologist at Emory University. The upside is that perhaps the crisis will inspire states to prioritize access. Hopefully, this experience will cause a lot more people to care, says Amy Gonzales, a communications researcher and information technologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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Another shift that could cause problems for schools: Many parents now are engaging with their childrens curricula more closely than they ever have before, and some might not like what they see. Among other things, privileged parents might not find the work stimulating or relevant for their kids. Ive heard it multiple times from leaders Im talking to who are worried that there are going to be some number of parents who are going to decide theyre either going to home-school or, more likely, maybe go to a nontraditional public school, a charter school, or maybe a private school if they have the means, Dougal says. These moves could threaten the credibility of public school education further.

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To be clear, its not that public school teachers or administrators arent skilled. (I, for one, am realizing just how hard teaching is, as I flail in my attempts to educate my kids.) Nor is it that they dont know how to come up with creative assignments. Its that the incentives built into the U.S. education system prioritize the wrong thingsspecifically, test scores over deep learning. Test scores are controlling everything that we do, even in, quote, better school districts, says Barbara Stengel, a philosopher of education and professor emerita at Vanderbilt University (although thankfully, schools this year are allowed to skip statewide standardized tests).

For decades, in part due to No Child Left Behind, U.S. public schools have felt pressure to instruct through lectures and emphasize rote facts rather than to encourage things like cross-disciplinary project-based learning. (This approach doesnt even work: Students in the United States score lower on international reading, math, and science tests than do students in nearly a dozen other countries, including Canada, Ireland, Poland, and China.) And now, Dougal argues, one of the reasons that remote learning is proving to be such a challenge in the U.S. is because students are so used to lecture-based instruction and arent comfortable working independently. In the countries with the highest-ranked educational systems, such as Estonia, Finland, and Singapore, they approached teaching and learning differently before any of this, and that put them in a position to just be in a much better situation right now, Dougal says.

The coronavirus is transforming so many aspects of our lives, and our childrens education is no exception. Privileged parents with children who do not have learning challenges can rest assured that their kids are going to be all right. But students who have fewer resources, or who learn differently, may find that the crisis holds them back more. If theres any silver lining, its that the pandemic may expose some of our education systems long-standing weaknesses to the masses and give us the collective will to finally address them.
On this day, April 8, exactly 182 years ago, a new service began across the Atlantic, with a new ship. The SS Great Western, was a wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship built for the primary purpose of ferrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean at high-speed.

She was not only the first steamship of this type - even though she had had four masts for sails  but was also the worlds largest passenger ship from 1837 to 1839. On its maiden voyage, the Great Western left Bristol, England, on April 8, 1838, and arrived in New York City 15 days later (half the time that sailing ships usually took), according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

It was in fact 74 years later that the RMS Titanic began its maiden voyage in the same direction, in 1912. Unfortunately, we know, it had also become her last, after she hit that iceberg. The engineering marvels of that time must have included, on the top of the list, the skills of shipbuilding.

The field of Shipbuilding then must have been like todays scientific fields of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. And a man called Isambard Kingdom Brunel then, must have been a technology-icon people looked up to, like how one would look up to Elon Musk today.

It is on this engineer, who designed the Great Western, that I wanted to focus on, in this column today. He and his father are counted among some of the greatest engineers in history. And it is perhaps appropriate to look at their contributions to Britains progress; and, indirectly, to the worlds.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel had also designed another British steamship Great Eastern, for the India trade -- which held the distinction of being the worlds largest ship afloat, at its launching in 1858.

Earlier to that he was an engineer at Bristol Docks, and a chief engineer in the Great Western Railway. In fact, this man  the Encyclopaedia Britannica tells me  was responsible for building more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of railway in the West Country, the Midlands, South Wales, and Ireland.

But, thats only in the British Isles. He had also constructed two railway lines in Italy. And he was an adviser on the construction of the Victorian lines in Australia, and the Eastern Bengal Railway in India.

But then, what else can you expect from a man whose father, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, was the first engineer who audaciously suggested, in the 1820s, to drill a tunnel under Londons River Thames.

This senior Brunel had left the French Navy to flee to the United States in the aftermath of the French Revolution. But he rose to hold the post of chief engineer of New York City.

He had built many buildings, improved the defences of the channel between Staten Island and Long Island, and constructed an arsenal and a cannon foundry. In fact, his design for the Washington DCs Capitol building was short-listed, but somehow not accepted due to the US governments economic considerations.

I remember going under the River Thames a couple of times when using the London Underground, but it is only recently that I got to know more about these pioneering engineers who made it possible.

When we consider the advantages that todays civil engineers have, with their draft-board work and lathe-machine cutting aided by high-precision computer modelling, and with their project planning and scheduling aided by the latest Project Management software, we must look, with awe and respect, at what those engineers had achieved back then, almost 200 years ago.

This father-son duo had worked on buildings, bridges, tunnels, docks, railroads, ships and a host of other civil engineering marvels. And naming a university as Brunel, is just not enough.
A rare primate was released in Phieng Bung Natural Reserve in Nang Kha Commune, Na Hang District of the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang on Tuesday.

The Indochinese rhesus maccaque released into nature on Tuesday.  VNA/VNS Photo

The Indochinese rhesus macaque, also known as 'golden monkey', is an endangered and rare species listed in Vietnams Red Book.

The monkey and 12 wild bamboo rats were found and seized in the household of Trieu Van Dung, residing in Ban Thac Hamlet, Yen Hoa Commune of Na Hang District.

District police made a record of Dung's violation of the law for possessing the wild animal.

The wild animals would survive in nature because they were released back to the forest in a very healthy condition given that they were captured not too long ago, according to the local authorities.

In Binh Phuoc Province, 25 wild and rare animals have released into Bu Gia Map National Park this year.

Before returning to nature, the animals were well nourished and treated to recover their wild instincts after being domesticated in household farms.

The parks wild animal rescue centre continues to monitor the health and adaptability to the natural environment of the animals.

Established in 2016, the wild animal rescue centre has received 104 wild animals and released 85 of them to nature.

Tuyen Quang forest rangers and the rare primate before it is released back into nature on Tuesday.  VNA/VNS Photo



The rest are being cared for and rehabilitated at the centre.

Most of the wild animals were handed over by local people and forest rangers.

Bu Gia Map National Park is located on an area of nearly 25,600ha and is home to 400 species, of which there are 30 endangered mammals, 10 rare birds and 16 reptiles in the red book.  VNS

Nghe An: Rare green sea turtle returned to nature A green sea turtle was released back into the ocean on June 8 in Cua Hoi sea in Cua Lo town of the central province of Nghe An.
Mayors policy singles out religious gathering in a manner inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution, state and federal law

GREENVILLE, Miss., April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Liberty Institute today sent a letter to Greenville, Mississippi Mayor Errick Simmons urging him to withdraw an order that targets churches holding CDC compliant drive-in services during the COVID-19 pandemic. First Liberty represents Pastor Charleston Hamilton and King James Bible Baptist Church (KJBBC) in Greenville.



You can read First Libertys letter here .

Protecting religious liberty is essential, even during a pandemic, said Jeremy Dys, Special Counsel for Litigation and Communications at First Liberty. Americans can tolerate a lot, if it means demonstrating love for their fellow man, but they will notnor should nottolerate churchgoers being ticketed by the police for following CDC guidelines at church. This has to stop now.

Pastor Hamilton and KJBBC have rigorously followed the CDC guidelines for the COVID-19 crisis since it came to Mississippi. Unable to meet in-person, KJBBC creatively chose to utilize a drive-in method of holding church services while still strictly adhering to the guidelines. Members of KJBBC drive in their cars and park in their parking lotin maybe 7 or 8 cars total. Pastor Hamilton stands at a distance greater than 6 feet from his parishioners as they remain their cars with the windows up. No one leaves their cars at any time during the service. Rather, they listen to Pastor Hamilton as he, utilizing a bullhorn, preaches to them in the open air.

However, Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons recently issued an order prohibiting drive-in services. The order leaves Pastor Hamilton and other church leaders in fear that their church members will be fined and criminally prosecuted for merely engaging in drive-in church services that fall well within the CDC guidelines.

In its letter, First Liberty explains that, Your prohibition of religious gatherings of this type and the ticketing of participants, regardless of the precautions taken, is forbidden under both federal and Mississippi state law. Mississippis Religious Freedom Act (MRFA) prohibits government officials from substantially burdening religious exercise without demonstrating that the restriction imposed advances a compelling interest by the least restrictive means. The First Amendments Free Exercise Clause imposes a similar standard when government action targets religious exercise. We require Greenville, Mississippi to withdraw the unconstitutional order that, disturbingly, targets religious exercise.

Story continues

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
The Delhi and Uttar Pradesh government announced the containment of coronavirus hotspots on Wednesday evening. These areas, out of which 20 are in Delhi and 22 in Noida, are ones where six or more people have been identified as positive. Authorities believe that there could be a higher probability of infection in these areas.

As it stands, restrictions in these areas will be tighter than other areas under lockdown. If you are from one of the hotspots and are wondering what you are free to do, here's a lowdown on what you will be allowed to do and what not amid the tight restrictions:

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Country records 540 new COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths in 24 hours; tally at 5,095

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Groceries and other essentials can be ordered home.

Ambulances that have special permission will be allowed within these hotspots for emergency cases.

Authorities will also undertake door-to-door monitoring and sanitisation efforts.

Also read: How Bhilwara became a model to contain coronavirus

WHAT YOU CANNOT DO

You cannot move in or out of these areas.

You cannot step out for groceries or medicine.

Even media that have been given freedom of movement amid the lockdown, will not be allowed inside these areas.

All entry and exits to the areas will be closed.

Also read: Coronavirus treatment needs a rethink; and why Hydroxychloroquine matters

The containment model is inspired from Bhilwara in Rajasthan that sealed its borders and implemented strict measures after there was a spike in the number of cases. A doctor at a private hospital was diagnosed, following which more doctors and nurses were found positive. Hospital records showed that patients from 13 districts had visited the facility during that period. Nearly 10 lakh households were screened, and 6,000 people put under isolation. Curfew was imposed. Control rooms and treatments centres were set up. In the end 22 of 27 patients recovered and only one positive case was reported in nine days.

Also read: Coronavirus: Delhi govt makes wearing masks mandatory while stepping out

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic.
One day after a much-criticized speech that cost the Navys top official his job, the commander of the Navys 7th Fleet walked onto the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in Guam and spent 90 minutes answering questions from its beleaguered crew.

The address Tuesday by Navy Vice Adm. William Merz was much better received than Mondays now infamous address by former Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, said sources who spoke to The Chronicle. But the question-and-answer session came amid another large jump in the number of coronavirus infections on the ship.

The Navy said Wednesday that 286 sailors have tested positive and 2,588 negative, with 93% of the crew having been tested. But one Roosevelt sailors father, Mark Blakewood of Orange Park, Fla., said Wednesday his son, who recently tested positive, saw 96 infected sailors enter the gymnasium where he is being treated in the previous 12 hours.

Way low, the elder Blakewood called the Navys latest tally.

Merzs visit came as The Chronicle reported that sailors aboard the ship have been disinfecting and cleaning the vessel while wearing little protective gear, many fashioning ripped T-shirts into improvised masks, a practice instituted by the Pentagon on Sunday.

Friday will mark two weeks docked in Guam for the Roosevelt, a frenetic port call that has seen infection rates soar among the ships nearly 5,000-member crew, the ouster of its commanding officer and the sudden resignation of the head of the Navy. Capt. Brett Croziers candid letter to Navy command, first reported by The Chronicle, sent shock waves through the military establishment as he pleaded for resources to stem the coronavirus outbreak aboard the nuclear-powered warship.

The 50-year-old Santa Rosa natives letter prompted the Navy to begin getting sailors off the ship and into onshore quarters, but it also cost him his job. Modly removed him last week, saying his sharing of the letter with people outside the chain of command allowed it to become public and undermined national security.

Modly took a 19-hour flight from Washington to Guam to address the crew. His obscenity-laden remarks, in which he suggested Crozier was either stupid or naive, shocked and angered the crew and ultimately led to his resignation.

In his meeting with crew members Tuesday, Merz responded to questions posed by sailors on the carriers hangar bay. Photos of the session show crew members attempting to keep their distance from each other, with many of them wearing masks or other face coverings.

More sailors have been moved off the ship in recent days, the Navy reported, with more than 2,300 now onshore. Navy photos from Tuesday show sailors disembarking from the carrier to waiting vans to take them to 14-day quarantines in Guam hotels.

In another Navy photo from Tuesday, a sailor wearing a T-shirt over his face is shown having his temperature taken. Other photos show crews setting up mobile intensive care units on Guam in the event sailors need hospitalization. So far, there have been no hospitalizations among those on the ship.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Meanwhile, the Navy rebutted a report by Politico that a sailor had tested positive on the Nimitz carrier, which would have made it the fourth carrier to have a positive test.

A sailor displayed symptoms, was placed into isolation off the ship out of an abundance of caution, and subsequently had testing that was inconclusive, said Cmdr. John Fage, of the U.S. 3rd Fleet. Sailors that had been in close contact with the individual were also removed from the ship as a precaution and placed into quarantine. That sailor remains off the ship.

A second Nimitz sailor had tested positive for the coronavirus, he said, while outside of Washington on leave in early March. That crew member remains at that location and has not returned to the ship, which is docked in Bremerton, Wash., Fage said.

The Ronald Reagan and Carl Vinson carriers, which are undergoing maintenance, have also reported positive cases.

Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni
"Patient 252" is a six-year-old boy in HCMC's District 5. He lives in Cambodia in a family of five, two of whom have been infected with the virus and are undergoing treatment in Cambodia. The boy returned to Vietnam with two other family members through the Moc Bai border gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh, which borders HCMC, on April 8. He is being treated at Tay Ninh General Hospital.

"Patient 253" is a 41-year-old woman in Hanoi's Me Linh District. She is the sister-in-law and neighbor of "Patient 243," a man confirmed infected after visiting the Bach Mai Hospital, now the nation's largest Covid-19 hotspot. She is being treated at Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

"Patient 254" is a 51-year-old man, also a resident of Hanoi's Me Linh District and a neighbor of "Patient 243" and another infected woman, and had close contact with both of them. He is undergoing hemodialysis at the Hanoi Kidney Hospital and has been quarantined there for Covid-19 treatment.

"Patient 255" is a 29-year-old man from Ha Giang Province's Bac Quang District who landed in Hanoi March 27 on Aeroloft flight SU290 from Russia. He is also undergoing treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

Vietnam has entered the third stage of the epidemic with several community transmission cases and some sources of transmission yet to be detected, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son said Tuesday.

Of the active cases, Vietnam has discharged 128 patients after recovery. Most of the active cases are those coming back from Europe and the U.S. and people whod come in close contact with them.
For many older adults, aging-in-place, or remaining in their own home as they age, is a priority. Decision making and planning is critical to successful aging-in-place, yet often older adults defer decisions about their aging-in-place and long-term care needs. As a result, when seniors experience a health crisis, loved ones often must step in as surrogates to make emergent decisions about their medical care and living situation.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) recently awarded $3.9 million to fund research by Northwestern Medicine that aims to better understand how older adult aging-in-place and long-term care decision making and implementation is impacted by age-related changes, social influences and environmental factors.

"We know that the majority of seniors do not want to leave their home as they age, yet very few people plan for their home-based needs required to safely age-in-place," said principal investigator Lee Lindquist, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., chief of geriatrics at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "The most important decision that most people navigate is how to balance age-related changes, such as worsening cognition and decreasing mobility, with their needs. Many older adults underestimate how much support they'll need as they age, while others outright dismiss planning for home support. Without planning, aging-in-place is not a safe option for many older adults."

Through earlier research funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Lindquist led a team of seniors, geriatricians, university researchers, social workers, communication experts and home care specialists in developing PlanYourLifespan.org, a web-based tool that facilitates making decisions and planning to age-in-place. The tool addresses later-in-life issues including hospitalizations, falls and memory loss, as well starting conversations with loved ones and financial planning for future needs.

"Through education about future health and home-based needs, as well as access to these resources, older adults can make choices and share them with loved ones for their future needs," said Lindquist. "Our earlier research found that the Plan Your Lifespan tool is effective in improving decision making about aging-in-place for older adults. However, we still don't know if having these plans has translated into seniors achieving their aging-in-place goals."

With the NIA funding, Lindquist seeks to answer that question, as well as to better understand how decision making for aging-in-place is influenced by older adults' age-related changes, social factors and environments and how these things may impact timely adoption of these plans and the ability for seniors to successfully age in place.

"Do age-related changes like cognitive decline or increased disability have a greater impact than social influence from a spouse, adult offspring or friends? Does where seniors live, such as a city or rural environment or in a house versus apartment, make a difference in if older adults actively plan for their future needs," said Lindquist. "All of these factors likely play a role and by understanding those influences, we can better support older adults in making decisions and implementing plans that will support them in aging-in-place successfully and safely."

Lindquist and her team will conduct a 42-month longitudinal study of older adults who are using Plan Your Lifespan. Surveys will be conducted every six months in conjunction with cognitive, social, functional and health literacy data collection. In addition, data will be collected on decision changes, resource use, timing of plan implementation and goal concordance.

(A Wellness Update is a magazine devoted to up-to-the minute information on health issues from physicians, major hospitals and clinics, universities and health care agencies across the U.S. Online at www.awellnessupdate.com.)

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  Earlier this week, state public health officials started sharing racial and ethnic breakdowns of coronavirus cases in Ohio.

The numbers, which currently show that black Ohioans make up a disproportionate number of cases, came with some sizable caveats.

Thats because the demographic data for reported COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths is incomplete, with between 20% to 40% of the information missing.

Those gaps in Ohios public health data systems have been magnified over the past month. First, as local health departments scrambled to identify clusters of the disease as it spread in their communities. And now as they examine larger questions, like whether COVID-19, which health and elected officials have repeatedly said doesnt discriminate, actually does, adding another layer to the health inequities already well documented in black and brown communities in Ohio and across the country.

While demographic data has not yet been released for Cleveland or Cuyahoga County, Yvonka Hall, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition, said that the ZIP codes most affected so far have included predominantly black communities.

Hall said she has heard that health officials arent sharing demographic information because they dont want people to panic.

People should be panicked right now. A lot of black people have seen people die, she said. There cant be enough alarm.

Hall had a 52-year-old childhood friend with asthma die recently from coronavirus-related illness. She had talked to her on Facebook that morning and by that night, her friend had died.

County health officials, at first, citied privacy concerns for holding back some demographic data beyond patients age and sex, but have said they will release local demographic information for confirmed COVID-19 cases this Friday.

Without data, people on the ground like Hall cant warn their communities about the true risks of the virus, she said. And marginalized communities already are at a higher risk because they are more likely to have chronic conditions, she said.

We should not have to be guessing how to save peoples lives, Hall said.

Read more: Coronavirus raises familiar feelings of isolation, distrust and stigma in Cleveland

She said its just frustrating that city officials arent taking leadership roles in helping the black community. Shes seen Mayor Frank Jackson make one public statement in the past week, while the city continues to issue notices saying the Cleveland Department of Public Health will not release additional demographic information beyond age and gender over privacy concerns.

Instead, the city should have pulled Hall and others into a war room of sorts to talk about disseminating information into the community to dispel the myths that black people cant get coronavirus, she said.

We cant say what we dont know, Hall said.

A disproportionate impact

Large cities, like Chicago, have reported an alarmingly higher rate of infections and deaths among black residents.

In Cook County, black residents make up only 23% of the population but account for 58% of the coronavirus-related deaths, according to WBEZ, the public radio station there. Within city limits, black residents make up 70% of reported deaths. However, data shared by the Illinois health department also show that, like Ohio, nearly a quarter of confirmed cases have not included race. Less information, about 7%, is missing for reported deaths.

As of Wednesday, race was not reported in 22% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25% of deaths related to the disease in Ohio. Data, at this point, is even more unreliable for ethnicity, which includes Hispanic and Latino populations, and is missing for 37% of confirmed cases and 41% of deaths.

Based on the statewide data available, black Ohioans represent 19% of the 5,148 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Yet, in Ohio, only 12% of the total population is black, according to the 2020 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census.

Deaths are only slightly disproportionate. Of the 193 people who died in the state, 13% were black.

Read more: Ohio releases demographic data on coronavirus cases, deaths for the first time

Its unclear what difference the availability of tests for the virus make in larger metropolitan areas and urban centers, which often have a higher minority populations.

Testing across Ohio has been severely limited, reserved mainly for health care workers, first responders and those who are hospitalized.

Public health officials across the country, however, have acknowledged that black and other minority communities already suffer disproportionately from diseases, like heart disease and diabetes, that can be attributed to social determinants of health, things like lack of access to healthy food, transportation and housing. In Northeast Ohio, those health conditions have led to shorter lifespans for many who live in predominantly black communities.

Data on some of those underlying health conditions is collected on federal COVID-19 report forms submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has been reported publicly in other states, but not in Ohio.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health has been aggressive about collecting demographic data because in our community, we know there has been a historical, very unfortunate legacy of racism, structural racism and of our communities of color having an experience quite different than others, Dr. Heidi Gullett, medical director said during Wednesday's press briefing.

Those disparities and those inequities, she said, carry over into a pandemic, and the board of health staff wants to do everything it can to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to survive the pandemic.

Chasing down data

In Ohio, public health data for the coronavirus pandemic, other infectious diseases and health issues are collected on a patchwork of forms and funneled through an array of computer systems by 113 local health departments, hospitals, doctors offices and testing laboratories.

For each suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, health workers are supposed to fill out four different multi-page forms with information for: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.

Only the CDC form has fields to collect details on race and ethnicity.

View COVID-19 reporting forms

Ohios cases are entered, either electronically or manually, into the Ohio Disease Reporting System by approved users, including hospitals, labs, infection specialists and public health workers.

Sometimes the contact information shared with city and county health departments is not complete or accurate, Gullett said. In those cases, intelligence specialists from the Northeast Ohio Fusion Center helped track down contact information or health sanitarians go to their homes and talk to them through the doors. Any additional demographic information gathered is fed back into the disease reporting system.

ODH Director Dr. Amy Acton earlier this week attributed the gap to patients not providing demographic information.

We are asking hospital systems to encourage people to fill out that data, she said.

For the most part, gathering demographic data in Cuyahoga County has not been an issue, Gullett said.

In rare circumstances, people have declined to give us some demographics like race and ethnicity, but most agree, Gullett told The Plain Dealer.

Missing demographic data from elsewhere in the state, coupled with still-limited testing makes it harder for public health officials to have an accurate picture of who the virus is affecting the most.

Theres a number of different reasons for the data gaps: Normal registration data wasnt collected for all patients who went to drive-through testing facilities; some may have been tested outside of their normal health care systems and the systems themselves each have their own methods and timeline for collecting and entering information into the state system.

In Ohio, most of the testing capacity outside of ODH has been at major hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and MetroHealth.

UH said it complies with all of ODHs reporting guidance.

The Clinic laboratory calls positive tests to an on-call infection preventionist twice per day, according to the Clinics infection control team. The results are then sorted by county or health district and reported by phone or email to the appropriate health department, the infection control team said.

The infection preventionist then enters the case details into ORDS. Patient-level details can be automatically populated into ORDS from the labs electronic data feed or entered manually by the infection preventionist, the infection control team said. The process is the same for in-house testing and private lab testing.

The MetroHealth System did not respond to a request for comment.

Building a better system

Public health data overall is very fragmented, Adam Perzynski, chief science and strategy officer at Global Health Metrics, a health data science company.

The data collected on infectious and chronic diseases, vaccines and deaths are kept by the state in systems created and purchased from different vendors.

Data is fed into those systems both electronically and manually from health care systems, physicians offices and public health workers.

Some larger health systems, like MetroHealth and the Clinic, use the same electronic medical records system, EPIC.

Locally, some smaller providers use their own systems, and in some cases hospitals acquired by a care system have multiple health data systems even though the providers all have the same logo on their shirt.

From some places in Ohio, death data is still sent to the state on small paper cards, he said.

All of those different issues create data challenges, said Perzynski, a sociologist and professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

Robust enterprise data systems exist in some places, like Los Angeles County, California, and allow officials to see not only disease data but to compare information on spending and service utilization. That type of system could work on a state level, Perzynski said, and could allow for quicker and more reliable information on disease spread in situations like the current pandemic, he said.

Thats been a hard sell, he said with cost, trust and fears about privacy regulations among the hurdles. Federal incentives as part of the Affordable Care Act a decade ago pushed more health systems to switch to electronic records.

The pandemic is already inspiring more data sharing, Perzynski said, with agreements being signed at a record rate between local hospitals like MetroHealth and the Clinic and 250 or more other healthcare systems across the country to examine critical care responses. But a better system is needed, he said.

We will slowly get there, he said. I hope that the current situations can light a fire.

COVID-19 reporting forms

Read more coronavirus coverage:

Phone, internet providers extend service yet some still disconnected from lifelines during coronavirus pandemic

Ohioans cut travel nearly in half under stay-at-home order: ODOT

A fair amount of Ohio patients with suspected COVID-19 died before tests returned from private labs, ODH says

Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless calls for city, county action to protect the homeless during coronavirus pandemic

Hospital coronavirus testing order to cut down on simply unacceptable delays in Ohio results

How the Cleveland Clinic is using modeling to respond to the coronavirus pandemic: Q&A
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Police said Thursday they have detained 221 digital sex criminals nationwide last and this year after opening an investigation into 274 sexual crime cases.



According to the National Police Agency (NPA), 32 of the detainees have been put under arrest for various digital sex crimes, including production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials, nonconsenting sharing of sex videos of women and secret filming of women in public places.



By crime type, police have detected three cases of production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials, including one involving the "Baksabang" chat room on the messaging service Telegram that allowed paid members to view illegally taken photos and videos of violent sex acts involving underage girls.



Baksabang founder Cho Ju-bin, a 25-year-old, and his three co-conspirators have been arrested for allegedly blackmailing women into providing their sexual videos to the Telegram chat room.



Another 10 cases involved redistribution of such sexual exploitation materials, police said.



In as many as 144 cases, offenders were charged with photographing or filming their partners during sex without their consent and sharing those materials with acquaintances and others.



The remaining 117 cases involved other digital sex crimes, such as secret filming of women in public places and production and uploading of manipulated videos called deepfakes.



The NPA said 34 cases have been transferred to the prosecution and the other 240 cases are still under investigation.



The 221 detainees include 57 operators of online sexual sites, such as Cho, 64 distributors of sexual materials and 100 possessors of such materials, it noted.



Police said they are now tracking down suspected operators of other illegal sexual chat rooms on the Telegram messenger service, including the "Nth Room," while looking into the distribution of sexual exploitation materials on the Wickr instant messaging service.



The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency has recently investigated 114 Discord channels, known for spreading child sexual exploitation materials, and detained 10 criminal suspects.



Meanwhile, the Supreme Prosecutors Office said it has instructed prosecutors nationwide to seek much tougher punishments against digital sexual criminals. In particular, prosecutors have been ordered to demand a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for masterminds of sexual exploitation criminal rings in court trials.



The prosecution will also demand an imprisonment of longer than seven years for suspects accused of distributing sexual exploitation materials for profit.



The ruling Democratic Party declared war on digital sex crimes last month and submitted three revision bills for the Criminal Law, the Sexual Violence Crime Act, and the Information and Communication Network Act to the Assembly, calling for stricter punishment of blackmailing with videos of a sexual nature. (Yonhap)


Dedication, strategy and hard work are the only key elements that have made a small town boy Chandan Roy popular overnight. Hailing from a village named Mehnar in Vaishali district of Bihar, Chandan has been receiving loads of appreciation for his performance in the character of Vikas in the latest web series Panchayat created by TVF, a web series platform. The eight- episode web series premiered on April 3 on Amazon Prime.

Panchayat is a comedy-drama revolving around the journey of Abhishek Tripathi, played by Jitendra Kumar aka Jitu Bhaiya, who has landed in a village named Phulera situated in Ballia, UP as a Panchayat secretary due to lack of job after completing his engineering. The series has been rated 9.1 out of 10 by IMDb. The series directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra also features eminent actors like Neena Gupta and Raghuvir Yadav.

Vikas (Chandan) is an important character in the series who is always seen accompanying and helping Abhishek Sir (lead actor) to survive in the village. The series is shot in a small village named Mahoriya near Bhopal.

In an interview with HT, Roy said, The appreciation I am getting from all over the country is the real achievement for me. Appreciation is better than any award. I am glad that I got an opportunity to be a part of this beautiful series.

The series is shot in the backdrop of a typical village that shows the everyday drama and struggle of the Panchayat officials.

The series has wonderfully portrayed the everyday life and events happening in a village. Even those who have not visited or lived in a village will be able to feel the vibes of a village. I think many children who are unable to visit their ancestral villages during this summer vacation due to the coronavirus outbreak will be able to feel the series even more, the 26 year old actor told HT.

Chandan Roy (Vikas) with Jitendra Kumar (lead actor) (A still from the web-series)

Chandans father is a constable in Bihar Police posted in Patna and his mother is a homemaker. Talking about the family support during his journey he said, My parents never supported me to get into this industry, mainly because of the financial issues. We didnt have enough money so I decided to earn for myself and pursue my career in acting.

Roy completed his bachelors degree in mass communication from Patna College and then went to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) to complete his PG Diploma in Radio and Television in the year 2013.

He worked for a media organisation for over two years in New Delhi and used to participate in various theatres after his office hours.

I have always been passionate about acting. I worked in the organisation to earn enough money so that I can move to Mumbai and try my luck in acting. Fortunately, after a struggle of more than two years, I was selected for the role of Vikas that has brought name and fame to me. Many acclaimed actors have texted me after watching this series and have praised my work. This is no less than an award.

Roy has also signed another movie named Jamun directed by Gaurav Mehra that will be released on Netflix soon.

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OLD BRIDGE, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE American:BDR) announced today that it has entered into a definitive Senior Subordinated Convertible Loan and Security Agreement (the "Loan Agreement") with certain investors (the "Lenders"). Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, the Lenders have agreed to provide the Company with a term loan facility (the "Facility"), including an initial aggregate tranche A loan commitment of $800,000, of which $600,000 was advanced at closing on April 8, 2020 and $200,000 will be advanced at a later date. The Loan Agreement allows for up to $700,000 of additional loans under the Facility, subject to a maximum aggregate amount of $1,500,000, upon the mutual agreement of the parties. The Lenders, who are directors and executive officers of the Company or their affiliates, are not obligated to provide loans in excess of the $800,000 committed and/or advanced at closing.

Commenting on the Agreement, Ted Grauch, Blonder Tongue's CEO and President, said: "We are pleased that we have completed this financing, particularly in view of current conditions in the financial markets. This Facility also results in accommodations provided by our senior secured lender that will make an additional $400,000 available on our working capital line of credit. This financing will improve our liquidity and provide us with greater working capital to fund our current and future operations and R&D investments."

The Loan Agreement has a three-year term. Interest on loans will accrue at 12% per annum, compounded monthly and is payable monthly, in-kind, by the automatic increase of the principal amount of the loans by the amount of accrued interest payable for the month. At maturity, the Company is obligated to pay the Lenders the accreted principal balance of the loans plus any other accrued unpaid interest.

The Lenders will have the option of converting the principal balance of the loan held by each of them, in whole (unless otherwise agreed by the Company), into shares of the Company's common stock. The conversion price will be determined based on the volume weighted average trading price of the Company's common stock on the NYSE American during the five trading days preceding the date of the Loan Agreement. A different conversion price may apply to amounts loaned under the Facility following the date of the $800,000 initial tranche. The conversion right is restricted to limit the number of shares issuable upon conversion until the Company receives stockholder approval pursuant to applicable NYSE American rules. The Company expects to obtain stockholder approval at its June 11, 2020 annual meeting of stockholders.

The Company also announced that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary, R. L. Drake Holdings, LLC, entered into a Consent and Amendment to Loan Agreement and Loan Documents (the "Amendment") with MidCap Business Credit LLC ("MidCap"), the Company's existing senior secured lender. The Amendment amends the October 25, 2019 Loan and Security Agreement between the parties and provides for the removal of a $400,000 availability block, subject to its re-imposition at the rate of $6,666.66 per calendar month, commencing on June 1, 2020. Removal of the block is subject to certain conditions, including the Company securing additional equity or debt financing, with the financing under the Facility described above meeting the requirements for such removal.

About Blonder Tongue

Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. is the oldest designer and manufacturer of cable television video transmission technology in the USA. The majority of our products continue to be designed and built in our state-of-the-art New Jersey facility for 50 years. Blonder Tongue Labs offers U.S.-based engineering and manufacturing excellence with an industry reputation for delivering ultra-high reliability products. As a leader in cable television system design, the Company provides service operators and systems integrators with comprehensive solutions for the management and distribution of digital video, IPTV and high-speed data services, as well as RF broadband distribution over fiber, IP, and Coax networks for homes and businesses. Additional information on the Company and its products can be found at www.blondertongue.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The information set forth above includes "forward-looking" statements and accordingly, the cautionary statements contained in Blonder Tongue's Annual Report and Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 (See Item 1: Business, Item 1A: Risk Factors, Item 3: Legal Proceedings and Item 7: Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations), and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are incorporated herein by reference. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "target", "intend", "plan", "seek", "estimate", "endeavor", "should", "could", "may" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections for our future financial performance, our anticipated growth trends in our business and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. Blonder Tongue undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof. Blonder Tongue's actual results may differ from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in Blonder Tongue's "forward-looking" statements.

Contacts

Eric Skolnik

Chief Financial Officer

eskolnik@blondertongue.com

(732) 679-4000

Ted Grauch

Chief Executive Officer

tgrauch@blondertongue.com

(732) 679-4000

SOURCE: Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/584431/Blonder-Tongue-Announces-Successful-Closing-of-800000-Subordinated-Convertible-Debt-Financing-and-Amendment-of-MidCap-Loan-Facility
We are pleased to recognize Dr. Brett Hill as a UroLift Center of Excellence for his commitment to providing consistent care to BPH patients using the UroLift System treatment, said Dave Amerson

NeoTract, a wholly owned subsidiary of Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) focused on addressing unmet needs in the field of urology, today announced that Brett Hill, D.O., The Urology Center PC of Omaha, in Omaha, NE has been designated as a UroLift Center of Excellence. The designation recognizes that Dr. Hill has achieved a high level of training and experience with the UroLift System and demonstrated a commitment to exemplary care for men suffering from symptoms associated with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), also known as enlarged prostate.

Recommended for the treatment of BPH in both the American Urological Association and European Association of Urology clinical guidelines, the FDA-cleared Prostatic Urethral Lift procedure using the UroLift System is a proven, minimally invasive technology for treating lower urinary tract symptoms due to BPH. The UroLift permanent implants, delivered during a transurethral outpatient procedure, relieve prostate obstruction and open the urethra directly without cutting, heating, or removing prostate tissue.

The UroLift Center of Excellence program is designed to highlight urologists who are committed to educating their patients on BPH and the UroLift System as a treatment option and consistently seek to deliver excellent patient outcomes and experiences.

We are pleased to recognize Dr. Brett Hill as a UroLift Center of Excellence for his commitment to providing consistent care to BPH patients using the UroLift System treatment, said Dave Amerson, president of the Teleflex Interventional Urology business unit. This achievement has helped many patients experience durable, longterm relief from the burdensome symptoms of BPH while preserving sexual function*1,2.

Over 40 million men in the United States are affected by BPH, a condition that occurs when the prostate gland that surrounds the male urethra becomes enlarged with advancing age and begins to obstruct the urinary system. Symptoms of BPH often include interrupted sleep and urinary problems and can cause loss of productivity, depression and decreased quality of life.

Medication is often the first-line therapy for enlarged prostate, but relief can be inadequate and temporary. Side effects of medication treatment can include sexual dysfunction, dizziness and headaches, prompting many patients to quit using the drugs. For these patients, the classic alternative is surgery that cuts, heats or removes prostate tissue to open the blocked urethra. While current surgical options can be very effective in relieving symptoms, they can also leave patients with permanent side effects such as urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and retrograde ejaculation.

About the UroLift System

The FDA-cleared UroLift System is a proven, minimally invasive technology for treating lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The UroLift permanent implants, delivered during a minimally invasive transurethral outpatient procedure, relieve prostate obstruction and open the urethra directly without cutting, heating, or removing prostate tissue. Clinical data from a pivotal 206-patient randomized controlled study showed that patients with enlarged prostate receiving UroLift implants reported rapid and durable symptomatic and urinary flow rate improvement without compromising sexual function*1,2. Patients also experienced a significant improvement in quality of life. Over 100,000 men have been treated with the UroLift System in the U.S. Most common adverse events reported include hematuria, dysuria, micturition urgency, pelvic pain, and urge incontinence. Most symptoms were mild to moderate in severity and resolved within two to four weeks after the procedure. The Prostatic Urethral Lift procedure using the UroLift System is recommended for the treatment of BPH in both the American Urological Association and European Association of Urology clinical guidelines. The UroLift System is available in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, Mexico and South Korea. Learn more at http://www.UroLift.com.

About NeoTract | Teleflex Interventional Urology

A wholly owned subsidiary of Teleflex Incorporated, the Interventional Urology Business Unit is dedicated to developing innovative, minimally invasive and clinically effective devices that address unmet needs in the field of urology. Our initial focus is on improving the standard of care for patients with BPH using the UroLift System, a minimally invasive permanent implant system that treats symptoms while preserving normal sexual function*1,2. Learn more at http://www.NeoTract.com.

About Teleflex Incorporated

Teleflex is a global provider of medical technologies designed to improve the health and quality of peoples lives. We apply purpose driven innovation  a relentless pursuit of identifying unmet clinical needs  to benefit patients and healthcare providers. Our portfolio is diverse, with solutions in the fields of vascular and interventional access, surgical, anesthesia, cardiac care, urology, emergency medicine and respiratory care. Teleflex employees worldwide are united in the understanding that what we do every day makes a difference. For more information, please visit http://www.teleflex.com.

Teleflex is the home of Arrow, Deknatel, Hudson RCI, LMA, Pilling, Rusch, UroLift and Weck  trusted brands united by a common sense of purpose

# # #

For Teleflex Incorporated:

Jake Elguicze, 610.948.2836

Treasurer and Vice President, Investor Relations

Media:

Nicole Osmer, 650.454.0504 nicole@healthandcommerce.com

*No instances of new, sustained erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction

1. Roehrborn, J Urology 2013 LIFT Study

2.McVary, J Sex Med 2016

MAC00968-01 Rev A
Signs limiting the purchase of meat products at local supermarkets might make shoppers think theres a meat shortage. But that is far from true.

The province has plenty of protein. Its just that a lot of it was meant to go to restaurants. With the COVID-19 shutdown, it is suddenly available. Suppliers just have to figure out how to get it into the supermarkets and homes of hungry, housebound families.

Our food system can produce a lot of food, but it cant change quickly and thats the crack in the system that has been identified during the shutdown, said Franco Naccarato, executive director of Meat & Poultry Ontario, an organization that represents the provinces meat producers and suppliers.

Many restaurant and food service industry suppliers have a lot of fresh product and dont know how to get it into the retail market, Naccarato said.

Its like me telling you to stop talking to all your friends and everyone in your network, and making a whole new set of friends in a day, Naccarato said. Theyre two different worlds. You dont know who to talk to or who can refer you. The suppliers that did 100-per-cent food service now have to build a new network.

Meat & Poultry Ontario is connecting its members with retailers this month to get more meat onto retail shelves.

I think there will be a lot of changes in the food system after all of this, Naccarato said. Were realizing that food processors are some of the most important people right now and we need to make sure things can be viable for them.

Before the closure of restaurant dining rooms, Etobicoke-based wholesaler The Butcher Shoppe shipped tens of thousands of pounds of meat a day to about 2,000 restaurants, casinos, schools and hotels across the province, says Stacey Weisberg, whose father, Allan, started the business as a butcher shop in Kensington Market in 1984.

Were crushed, what can we say? This is a devastating situation and were doing everything we possibly can to stay open, he said. We have fresh inventory that we need to do our best to sell or put it in the freezer so that we dont throw it out.

The Butcher Shoppes store at its Etobicoke headquarters has seen a spike in business, but Weisberg says theyre looking into getting meat directly to more customers, possibly via an online store.

One big challenge is quantity.

When you look at the food service industry, a good percentage of vegetables and meat packaged for restaurants arent meant for home consumers because they dont have the money to buy 100 lbs. of brisket or the freezer space for it, said Darryl Koster, owner of Buster Rhinos in Whitby. Youre either a meat-packing plant selling to Loblaws or youre doing bulk packaging for restaurants. These are huge systems and it cant be broken down quickly.

Koster sells prepared barbecued meats and pork rinds on a wholesale and retail level, and says his chicken supplier has been selling wings at $2.50/kg less than usual, since bars and pubs have temporarily closed and theres an excess of wings. He bought a thousand pounds of wings and 100 pounds of chicken breasts and sold them through Buster Rhinos online store to help get it to home cooks.

Randy White, president of Sysco Canada, the Canadian branch of the global food service provider for restaurants, arenas and institutions such as hospitals and schools, says it has also started to supply retailers that are running low on meat. It takes a few days to work out the logistics but it hasnt been too difficult, he says, and its up to the retailer to repackage the products into smaller portions for consumers.

Its not something you can instantly adapt to, but the industry is in a crisis and we have to step up to supply the food system and help our customers and continue to nourish communities, he said.

Sysco has also set up an information site called Foodies Unite, offering to help restaurants that are open for takeout turn their empty dining areas into temporary stores by stocking them with pantry and household items.

For Linc Farm, a smaller producer in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the transition has been a bit easier. Juliet Orazietti and her husband, Martin Weber, supplied beef, pork, lamb and chickens to restaurants and farmers markets in the region. Now they deliver meat directly to home cooks.

We went from delivering one pig to one location, to one pig to 10 locations. Its a lot more work, but its manageable. Were just glad the meat is finding a home.

But getting home cooks to buy what are typically considered special-occasion products is the biggest challenge for others.

King Cole Ducks in Stouffville wants to convince people that duck isnt just a fancy restaurant dish. The company has been trying to diversify since the 2003 SARS outbreak, when Chinese restaurants saw business plummet. If youve had a roast duck at a Chinese barbecue place, odds are its from King Cole Ducks.

We have our products in retail stores, and theres a lot of it available, so especially with Easter approaching we hope duck is something people will try, said Patti Thompson, vice-president of sales and marketing, adding the farm has a store thats open to the public.

For now, much of the ducks slated for restaurants is being frozen. We tell the meat managers that supply is not a problem for us, Thompson said.

I hope after all of this there will be a greater appreciation for the local food supply and the people who grow it, she said. Were all here in your backyard and we can keep feeding you.
Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

The top US health officials leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic have shot down the numerous conspiracy theories suggesting fatality rates were being intentionally misrepresented.

In recent days, several influential figures floated theories that the US had been inflating its statistics on deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

"They are nothing but distractions," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday.

"I would just hope we just put those conspiracy stuff  and let somebody write a book about it later on, but not now," he added, while waving his hand.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The top health officials leading the US's response to the coronavirus pandemic have shot down the numerous conspiracy theories suggesting fatality rates are being intentionally misrepresented.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said during a press conference on Wednesday that her team had been "hearing both sides" of the unverified rumors  with some suggesting the number of coronavirus-related deaths has been intentionally inflated and others suggesting the opposite, that deaths have been intentionally underreported.

"This has been known from the beginning: So those individuals will have an underlying condition, but that underlying condition did not cause their acute death when it's related to a COVID infection," Birx said. "In fact, it's the opposite. Having an underlying condition and getting this virus, we know, is particularly damaging to those individuals."

"If you have asthma ... if you have diabetes, if you have hypertension, these are preexisting conditions that put you at a greater risk to having a worse outcome," she added.

Dr. Deborah Birx.

Associated Press/Patrick Semansky

In recent days, several influential figures have floated theories that the US has been misrepresenting its statistics on the coronavirus and that health officials may have not differentiated "between those who die with the disease and those who die from it."

Story continues

"There may be reasons people seek an inaccurate death count," the Fox News host Tucker Carlson said during a segment on Tuesday. "When journalists work with numbers, there sometimes is an agenda."

Earlier in April, the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh attempted to qualify his theory by saying he was "not trying to stir anything up" but argued that "with this new arrival of COVID-19, that coronavirus is being listed as a cause of death for many people who are not dying because of it."

"They're dying because of other things," Limbaugh added, according to The Daily Beast. "But it's speculation. It's fascinating."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also weighed in on the false assumptions by recalling his tenure advising previous presidents amid the HIV/AIDS crisis.

"Having been through other serious issues, particularly the very painful early years of HIV/AIDs  when people talk about conspiracy theories, you will always have conspiracy theories when you have a very challenging public-health crisis," Fauci said. "They are nothing but distractions."

"I can assure you we have so much to do to protect the health and the welfare of the American people that I would just hope we just put those conspiracy stuff  and let somebody write a book about it later on, but not now," he added, while waving his hand.

Nearly 400,000 people in the US tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday afternoon, and more than 12,000 have died.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A new spike in Asia, fueled by travel

Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are confronting new waves of coronavirus cases, largely fueled by infected people who recently arrived from other countries, according to data compiled by The Timess graphics team.

Singapore is also seeing a rise in community cases, with more than 400 in the past week linked to migrant worker dormitories.

None of these places had a single day with more than 10 new cases until March, but that changed in the past two weeks.

Students or expatriates returning from Europe or the U.S. account for a large share of the imported cases.
Coronavirus Delhi: The number of cases in India is on a steady rise and Delhi is one of the most-severely affected states in the country. The state government has implemented several measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Delhi government has also announced Operation SHIELD to fight the coronavirus spread. SHIELD stands for sealing of the immediate area/surroundings after geographical marking, home quarantine of all the people living in the area, isolation and tracing of people who have been first and second contacts, essential supply of commodities is ensured, local sanitisation of the area by authorities and door-to-door health checks of everyone living in the area. SHIELD will be operational in 30 containment zones in Delhi. Recently, the Delhi government made it mandatory for people in the city to wear masks while stepping out of their homes. The government has also sealed several areas in the city believed to be hotspots of coronavirus.

Here's all you need to know about the coronavirus in Delhi:

Delhi coronavirus cases, deaths, cured patients

The coronavirus count in Delhi has been on a steady rise. One of the earliest reported cases in the country was in Delhi. Currently, the number of confirmed cases in Delhi is 1069, according to data by the Health Ministry. So far, 25 have been discharged and 19 have succumbed to the virus.

Also Read: Coronavirus India Lockdown live updates: Lockdown extension certain; country's COVID-19 active tally at 6,634

Delhi coronavirus helpline numbers

There are Central and state helpline numbers for people in Delhi. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a dedicated coronavirus helpline number on WhatsApp -- 91 88000 07722. Once you add the number to your contacts, you can send a 'Hi' and you will receive all the relevant coronavirus updates and information.

One can also call the Central government's dedicated helpline number for Delhi -- 011-22307145. Alternatively, you can send a 'Hi' through WhatsApp on 91 9013151515. The Central government's WhatsApp helpline number is powered by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).

Also read: Coronavirus: Do you live in a pandemic hotspot? Here's what you can and can't do

Coronavirus in Delhi updates

Delhi government has made it mandatory for people to wear masks while stepping outside. People who are found without coronavirus would be penalised. It also sealed 20 areas that have been earmarked as hotspots of coronavirus. The government said that it would ensure door-to-door delivery of essential goods in the sealed areas. However, people will not be allowed in or out of the sealed areas. Some of these areas are in Malviya Nagar, Dwarka, IP Extension, West Vinod Nagar and Seemapuri.

Also read: Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

Tablighi Jamaat cases: The Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi's Nizamuddin in March is believed to have accelerated the rise in coronavirus cases in the country. The organisers also came under the scanner for alleged violation of various guidelines. The congregation was attended by an estimated 800 visitors from countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan, as well as by attendees from all across the country. The organisers have claimed that about 2,500 members were at Nizamuddin Markaz. It added that after the janta curfew and the subsequent Delhi government and nationwide lockdowns led to a large number of attendees getting stuck at the Markaz. According to the government, more than 25,000 Tablighi Jamaat attendees and their contacts have been put under quarantine.

Also read: Coronavirus: Full list of COVID-19 hotspots sealed in Delhi, Noida

Also read: Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic.
A man has been charged with drug offences after being stopped on a Sydney street during the coronavirus lockdown.

Police questioned the 40-year-old man in Ultimo in the CBD on Wednesday afternoon and he couldn't explain why he was outside.

Detectives searched him and allegedly found 'substantial' quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA worth an estimated $50,000 in his backpack.

The man was walking along Macarthur Steet, in the Sydney CBD, on Wednesday at 5pm when he was stopped by police. He allegedly could not provide a good reason for being out in public

The man was also allegedly carrying drug manufacturing equipment and more than $4000 in cash.

He's due to face Central Local Court on Thursday charged with a series of drug offences such as supply, dealing with the proceeds of crime, possessing suspected stolen property and having house breaking implements.

He was also charged with failing to comply with a public health order because he didn't have a legitimate reason to leave his house.

People in New South Wales can be given on-the-spot fines of $1,000 to people who are out of their home for non-essential reasons.

Essential reasons include work, exercise or buying items such as groceries.

Officers allegedly found 65.2 grams of methamphetamine, 8.4 grams of MDMA and 12.9 grams of ketamine (stock)
by Mathias Hariyadi

The incident occurred in Maumere, Flores Island, where a ship was not allowed to dock. After 19 hours of negotiations, those on board were allowed to disembark, sent to local quarantine facilities. Indonesias Health Ministry imposed a partial lockdown on Jakarta.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Weeks before the celebration of Idul Fitri (Eid al-Fitr), millions of Indonesians are travelling to their hometown for family reunions. The traditional mass exodus is known as Mudik.

In Jakarta, despite a government order not to travel, many have already left. But what happened in Lorens Say Port, Maumere, Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, had Indonesians riveted following the incident unfold between last night and noon today.

Initially, the Sikka Regency (district) Chief Fransiskus Roberto Diogo had authorised people on the KM Lambelu (pictured) to go ashore, but yesterday, when the ship tried to dock in Maumere, port authorities refused permission in order to stop the possible spread of the COVID-19 virus. This led to dozens of passengers jumping into the sea.

"Some passengers put on a life jacket and jumped into the sea," said I Putu Sudayana, head of the local rescue team.

Only after more than 19 hours of intense negotiations between the ship's captain and Sikka officials were 233 passengers able to disembark, but only after agreeing to enter local quarantine facilities where they will stay until allowed to leave by health authorities. No family member will be able to visit them.

The incident stems from rumours that some passengers and crew members had contracted the COVID-19 virus. A local official, Marius Ardu Jelamu, said three passengers had tested positive and should be under self-quarantine.

Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Indonesias Health Ministry imposed a partial lockdown on the city, as requested by Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, to curb the spread of the virus. Anyone who violates the order will be prosecuted.
Harpoon Brewery announced it is hosting its annual 5-mile road race virtually on May 17 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Participants are asked to run or walk five miles on a course of their choosing, or even on a treadmill.

The annual road race raises money for The Angel Fund, a non-profit charity that raises money to supports ALS research at the Cecil B. Day Laboratory for Neuromuscular Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

To date, Harpoon has raised over $2.1 million for the The Angel Fund, according to their news release.

The unique nature of the virtual road race allows for an unlimited amount of participants, which can allow for an increased fundraising impact.

Like many breweries, COVID-19 has made us rethink or postpone many of our annual events, but we did not want it to stop us from raising money for a cause that is so important to us at Harpoon, said Dan Kenary, CEO and co-founder Harpoon Brewery. We are thrilled that our employee owners were able to find a way to make this annual race work in a safe and fun way that invites everyone to come together  even while apart  to support The Angel Fund.

Harpoon is encouraging runners to share a selfie or photo of themselves on social media with #Harpoon5miler on race day. DJ Steve Greco, of 343 Productions, will be providing an official race playlist for participants to listen to while on their routes.

Registration opens on April 9 at 12:00 p.m. Runners who register before May 8 will have a choice between two tiers of participation. The six-pack level includes a race bib sent via email, chances to win prizes and a virtual race bag with discounts and coupons from local partners. the 12-pack level includes a race bib and shirt, 4-pack of Harpoon IPA or Harpoon Rec. League, virtual partner discounts/coupons and a Friday night pass to HarpoonFest, which will be held later this summer.

Related Content:
Signs of fatigue over alerts, privacy concerns pose challenge to governments efforts to contain spread of coronavirus.

Seoul, South Korea  South Korea has earned international plaudits for tracking and containing the coronavirus since reporting its first case back in February.

Once the largest outbreak outside of China, South Korea has now managed to push the number of cases confirmed each day to around 50.

Swift action and free or affordable mass-testing have been the countrys most effective weapons in countering the virus. But South Korea has also turned to technology for help.

Routes taken by infected patients are published online regularly, while incoming travellers are required to report their symptoms daily on an app that they have to download on arrival at the airport.

Moreover, any person with a smartphone in South Korea  almost the entire population, given that nine out of 10 South Koreans have one  gets location-based emergency messages that alert them when they are near a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

People get the messages automatically and are not allowed to opt out.





Ive been getting these messages maybe six, seven or even 10 times a day, Cho TW, a university student, told Al Jazeera.

Now, I know which areas to avoid and I do feel like the government is doing a good job at keeping me informed.

Signs of fatigue

But as the outbreak drags on and the messages continue to buzz on phones around the country in unison, people are showing signs of fatigue.

Raj Sharman, a professor at the University of Buffalos Management Science and Systems Department, studies the relationship between disaster mitigation and technology. According to his research, the effectiveness of text message alerts depends on the type of emergency at hand.

When it comes to emergency notifications, how people comply really varies by the context. The impact of the messaging is actually based on ones perception of the threat, Sharman said.

We tend to look at all disasters as the same but a small storm is very different from an active shooter situation, which is very different from a building fire.

Swift action and free or affordable mass-testing have been South Koreas most effective weapons in countering the virus [File: Ahn Young-joon/AP]

In other words, how people respond to text messages with government advice reflects not only their personal beliefs but societal and cultural pressures.

Text messages definitely would be effective at least in getting people to know about the situation, but the next question is compliance. If someone thinks COVID-19 is not life-threatening, they may not be as compliant [to health recommendations] as others, Wencui Han, an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Also, if the people around me dont care, then maybe I dont think I have to follow [recommendations]. But if we all, for example, are staying at home and taking these messages seriously, then this influences everyone else.

Steady stream of alerts

At least 10,384 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Korea as of April 8, but more than half have already been cured. At least 200 people have died of the disease.

The text alerts are sent out at the discretion of regional governments and specifically target people in those areas, giving them an opportunity to avoid locations where active cases have been found.





The government overseeing Jongno-gu  a district in Seoul with a population of nearly 158,000  compiles an anonymous list of patients on their website. The site includes their area of residence and where they are currently hospitalised, along with where they have been and at what time.

As one text message alert from the Jongno-gu government reads: A 15th foreigner in Jongno-gu staying at the Somerset Palace Hotel in Seoul has tested positive. For more information, such as their path of movement, please visit our website.

Sharman says it is hard to judge how effective such text messages are but his studies have found alerts related to slow-developing disasters tend to generate less interest and compliance.

In addition, each individuals perception of the risk from COVID-19 would also affect their behaviour and the impact of the message.

Becoming a nuisance

Some South Koreans  who have been receiving these messages on a daily basis for weeks  are starting to see the alerts as a nuisance.

Lee Yeon-ha, a university student majoring in film and media arts, says the messages have become very annoying.

I cannot disagree with the fact that its good for people to know if there are infected people visiting the same places that they might go to, he said. But I think the government is sending these messages too frequently  I know I stopped reading them.

Even in countries such as South Korea some have expressed concerns over the governments data-sharing strategy and privacy [Ahn Young-joon/AP]

Lee may not be the only one suffering from alert fatigue.

There are studies that suggest that, if you use text messages for cases of non-emergency, they do lose effectiveness. Also, if they send too many messages, people tend to ignore them, Sharman said. This happens even in a healthcare context.

In a study of emergency messages on university campuses, Han and her colleagues found that if you send alerts very often, students will start to ignore this channel. But if alerts are sent rarely, then its seen as very critical and they will understand that.

Will other countries follow?

Other governments have also turned to technology to battle the virus  using apps to monitor people in quarantine or send reminders on lockdown rules.

But privacy issues are already being raised and even in South Korea some have expressed concerns over the governments data-sharing strategy, since specific details about an infected persons path could ultimately reveal their identity.





Information published online and sent to phone users can name specific bars, restaurants or hotels. So, even though patients names are kept anonymous, a detailed timeline of their whereabouts combined with a persons area of residence may reveal who they are.

In South Korea, people have been tracked to the point where they could be identified. Their implementation arguably compromised their citizens privacy and this is a question we have to think about and challenge in a democracy, Sharman said.

Privacy concerns

Sharman said that some local privacy laws in the western countries such as the US might prevent sending out the equivalent of South Koreas emergency alerts but the greater issue to overcome would be cultural expectations around privacy.

When governments start using location-based technologies  identifying your location and tracking you  that would be a new experience to Americans. We have always preached against government oversight, he said.

But in collectivistic societies like India, China and South Korea, the desire for greater privacy is a lower threshold than what we have in Western countries, especially when there is an argument for greater public good.

Experts said that in South Korea, people have been tracked to the point where they could be identified [File: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]

In general, emergency messages are very, very rare in the United States, Han added.

However, South Korea was not always so forthcoming with patients information.

During the 2015 MERS outbreak, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon criticised the national government, accusing it of failing to monitor suspected MERS patients and withholding information from the public.

That is a far cry from the situation now. As Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha put it in a recent interview with the BBC, the countrys new approach is openness, transparency and fully keeping the public informed.

For Lee, the university student, privacy is merely a necessary trade-off given how easily the virus spreads.

I am concerned about the privacy of infected people, but I think we should all understand the governments decision, he said. If I got the virus, I would provide my details to the government without hesitating.

For now, it is unclear whether other countries such as the US  which reported its first case at the same time as South Korea but now has the most COVID-19 cases in the world  will consider a similar alert system.

But the technological infrastructure is certainly there, and Sharman believes it can be implemented in a way that does not compromise privacy.

I dont know if what South Korea did was right. Its something I wouldnt like. But then again, I am from the US, Sharman said.

Mitch S Shin contributed to this report
Use finance options to your advantage | Learn how to use credit and debt. Picking up a property mortgage that you can definitely pay off and then earn more out of whether from rental or sale is one such bet. They key is to know your limits and plan accordingly. For credit cards, pay the balance and earn cash backs or points  whatever banks terms are. These can then be used for other purchases. (Image Source: Reuters)

Harini Subramani

Its a new dawn for non-bank payment aggregators (PAs) who are now on notice as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has drawn the line with a new set of guidelines for them.

So, who are these PAs? They are online payment facilitators for e-commerce merchants. They allow merchants to accept card payments and bank transfers without having to develop their own payment infrastructure, which otherwise would have entailed an additional cost.

Whereas a payment gateway is an e-commerce software application with a pass-through mechanism through which cards, net banking and e-wallet payments are accepted, a payment aggregator is the combination of all these gateways.

In some aspects, the RBI circular which introduced the Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways on March 17, this year, is a far cry from the discussion paper placed on the RBI website in September 2019.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

What exactly did the RBI do?

Existing non-bank entities offering payment aggregation services shall have to apply for authorisation on or before June 30, 2021. It has set a capital requirement of Rs 15 crore of net worth for applicants, which needs to be raised to Rs 25 crore within three years of operations. However, that is much lower than the Rs 100 crore proposed in the discussion paper.

The guidelines have imposed additional onerous and superfluous conditions on non-bank PAs.

To be fair, the term payment aggregator has been defined for the first time. What is difficult to fathom is the rationale behind the requirement of such non-bank PAs to undertake background checks of merchants.

The apex bank has gone in for such checks to prevent merchants from cheating customers by selling counterfeit products. The question is, why should the aggregators pick up the tab, which would add to their transaction costs?

Compare it with a non-virtual setting. The intermediary who receives the money from the customer is mandated to do a background check of the seller concerned. The relevance is out of place.

For a moment, lets assume that its a well-meaning move. However, will it not be wise to provide a safe harbour mechanism, or legal protection, to PAs against any foul play by merchants?

The Information Technology Act, 2000, serves as a perfect example where under Section 79, intermediaries  broadly those who receive and store electronic records  are provided a safe harbour, or an immunity against unlawful actions of third parties, which include posting illegal content. This in a way ringfences the intermediary from likely adverse consequences.

The new framework also clearly segregates PAs from e-commerce sites making them distinct entities. According to the new guidelines, the PAs will be separated from the marketplace business prior to their application for authorisation. However, they may operate from within the same entity, a suggestion that was put forth by National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). This is a positive for the likes of Paytm, a player that operates both as a PA and an online marketplace.

However, this emphasis on the ownership structure marks a significant shift from the 2009 stance that did not prescribe such a formula. Strangely, the new regulations are silent on the operation or the over-riding effect with regard to the 2009 circular.

The regulatory norms took effect from April 1, except for the activities for which timelines have already been provided for. Does that mean the existing payment aggregators come under the new regulatory ambit, automatically?

Then, there is also the requirement of KYC (Know Your Customer) compliance, but there is still no clarity on whom such test is to be conducted. Some clarification on this front will definitely help as it may avoid duplicity and reduce transaction costs for the players.

It is hard to miss the gap of more than 10 years between the two circulars, given the fast-changing nature of the digital world. The discussion paper rightly observed that the 2009 circular fell short of the crease and that there is a need to at least delineate functions of e-commerce players performing the dual role of payment aggregators and marketplace aggregators. It also talked about providing a redress mechanism to the users of PAs.

Even the legal nitty-gritty around e-commerce has to be factored in, considering the evolving jurisprudence. That makes it incumbent on the central bank to constantly engage with the industry to feel the pulse of the market.

Saamir Raketla contributed to the article.
Hong Kong education officials are in discussions with schools over their use of video-conferencing app Zoom after security concerns were raised about personal data leaks and the hacking of online classes and posting of explicit material.

Schools across the city have been using the software to live-stream lessons since face-to-face teaching was suspended in early February because of the coronavirus.

Students from dozens of secondary schools have urged senior teachers to ban the application, which has soared in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, amid growing calls for the education sector to switch to alternatives seen as safer.

Security concerns such as data leaks, the routing of some calls through mainland China, and Zoombombing  when uninvited people hijack meetings  have triggered a backlash in parts of the world, with Taiwan and Germany recently restricting its use.

Hong Kongs Education Bureau said schools had been reminded of Zooms potential security risks, while Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the government would continue to hold talks with schools over the issue.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung says Hong Kong will consult experts before taking any further steps in relation to Zoom. Photo: Winson Wong

If there are security risks, after discussing with schools, [the Education Bureau] would then seek opinions from experts and decide on a next step, Yeung told lawmakers during a Legislative Council meeting on Thursday.

At least two Hong Kong secondary schools have been a victim of Zoombombing. Both St Stephen's Girls' College and Christian Alliance International School had uninvited guests crash their digital classes and share graphic material.

The citys privacy commissioner had also raised concerns over Zoom as it urged schools to step up security measures and consider using other apps or software until the security issues were resolved, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Charles Mok, who represents the information technology sector in the legislature, said schools should consider alternatives such as Microsoft Teams or Google Hangouts Meet, although he said he understood some teachers and pupils might have become used to Zoom over the past two months.

Story continues

At least 40 secondary schools student concern groups on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for management to ban Zoom for online classes, citing data leakage concerns and the possible impact on school operations.

Esther Pak, vice principal of St Stephen's Girls' College, said on Thursday the school had written parents and teachers about last months Zoombombing, adding there had been no repeat of the incident.

We have reminded students to properly identify themselves when they join the meeting, while teachers should carefully check the identity of each participant, she said, adding its IT team had been closely monitoring the latest security issues.

Pak said Zoom remained the most popular platform at the school, but teachers were free to use alternatives.

A North district secondary school principal, where students had called for Zooms ban, told the Post the school would be looking for suitable alternatives but there were barriers to removing it completely.

Teachers have been more familiar with Zoom since they have used it for some time. It might be difficult to completely abandon it and switch to other software, the principal said.

However, many cross-border students  Hongkongers living in mainland China who travel over the border to learn and account for about 30 to 50 per cent of pupils at each North district school would not be able to access alternative platforms such as Google Hangouts Meet.

Teddy Tang Chun-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools and principal of HKMA K S Lo College, said his school had also been looking into alternatives such as Cisco Webex for live-streamed lessons.

But he said the secondary school heads association had not discussed the issue recently.

All eight publicly funded universities in Hong Kong said they were aware of Zooms potential security risks and had issued guidelines and taken precautionary measures, although they did not comment on whether they would ban it.

The University of Hong Kong said it had reminded staff and students to download the latest version of Zoom and note the heightened security options, while Education University said users personal data other than their email address would not be kept by Zooms cloud system under normal circumstances.

City University said it had been assessing the various applications it used and if anomalies were identified, the university would take immediate action.

Responding to the security issues, Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan said this week: Clearly we have a lot of work to do to ensure the security of all these new consumer use cases.

But what I can promise you is that we take these issues very, very seriously. Were looking into each and every one of them. If we find an issue, well acknowledge it and well fix it.

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Dark matter, which cannot be physically observed with ordinary instruments, is thought to account for well over half the matter in the Universe, but its properties are still mysterious. One commonly held theory states that it exists as 'clumps' of extremely light particles. When the earth passes through such a clump, the fundamental properties of matter are altered in ways that can be detected if instruments are sensitive enough. Physicists Rees McNally and Tanya Zelevinsky from Columbia University, New York, USA, have now published a paper in EPJ D proposing two new methods of looking for such perturbations and, thus, dark matter. This paper is part of a special issue of the journal on quantum technologies for gravitational physics.

Until now, searches for dark matter clumps have relied on the fact that tiny changes in the values of fundamental constants will alter the 'tick rate' of atomic clocks, some of which may be precise enough to pick up this difference. McNally and Zelevinsky's work adds methods that involve measuring a small extra 'push' or acceleration on normal matter caused by the clump, using, firstly, gravity sensors and, secondly, gravitational wave detectors. Gravity sensors are already spread around the world in the IGETS network, which is used for geological research; and scientists at the LIGO observatories in the United States are already looking for gravitational waves. Thus, McNally and Zelevinsky can mine the data from these ongoing experiments for evidence of dark matter.

McNally explains that this work was inspired by two things: the benefits of re-purposing existing experiments, and science fiction. "I enjoy novels like A Fire Upon the Deep [by Vernor Vinge] and The Three-Body Problem [by Liu Cixin] that explore what might happen if fundamental constants change, and it's fun to explore such things in the real world." As for practical applications of this work, however, he advised taking things one step at a time. "First we need to find out what Dark Matter is, then maybe we can find out how to use it."

###

Reference:

R. L. McNally and T. Zelevinsky (2020) Constraining domain wall dark matter with a network of superconducting gravimeters and LIGO, European Physical Journal D 74:61, DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2020-100632-0
Mel Watkins, the remarkable Canadian political economist, died last week at the age of 87. I wish he had lived longer. As Canada battles its way through the COVID-19 crisis, his clarity of thought would have proved invaluable.

Watkins was well-versed in orthodox, or so-called neoclassical, economics. He did his graduate work at Americas high-end Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He wrote about general equilibrium models in scholarly journals.

In the abstract mathematical debates that characterize so much of mainstream economics, he could hold his own.

But from early on, he also understood the limitations of conventional economics. He knew that the real world is not defined solely by supply and demand. Market forces do not always produce optimal results.

Politics matter. And so does history.

In this, Watkins was following in the footsteps of Harold Innis, another brilliant Canadian political economist.

To Innis, the world was not an abstraction. Rather, it was grounded in the details of reality. The Canadian economy, for instance, could only be understood through reference to the raw materials, or staples, that it produced for export. And the characteristics of these staples, which ranged from furs to codfish to wheat, defined the political and commercial institutions that developed in Canada over time.

When Watkins returned to the University of Toronto 1958, this time as a professor, its political economy department was the centre of Innisian thought. Watkins first major contribution to this school, in a 1963 journal article, was to translate Inniss often obscure writings into terms that orthodox economists could understand.

But his real intellectual breakthrough was his focus on the concept of the staples trap. Building on Innis, he argued that reliance on the export of raw materials could deform a country, leaving it dependent on the whims of the imperial power it serviced.

To Watkins, such a dependence characterized Canadas relationship to the United States. In 1967, the then Liberal government appointed him to head a task force into foreign ownership. A year later, that task force recommended a series of measures aimed at reducing Canadas dependence on the U.S.

For a few heady years, Watkins was the toast of the town and Canadian economic nationalism a real force. Under pressure from the nationalist left, Pierre Trudeaus federal Liberal government reluctantly introduced controls on foreign investment. It even bought an oil company.

An attempt by Watkins and like-minded members of the so-called Waffle group to move the New Democratic Party to the left was less successful. In 1972, the NDP leadership purged the Waffle and expelled its members, including Watkins, from the party.

That estrangement quietly ended in 1997, when Watkins ran federally for the NDP.

Throughout, his economic nationalism never wavered. In the great, free-trade debate of 1988, Watkins was eloquent in his opposition to integrating the Canadian and U.S economies. He argued that free trade would decimate Canadian manufacturing, increase the countrys dependence on raw materials and limit Ottawas ability to act in the national interest.

As it turned out, he was right. But he lost the political battle anyway. Free trade and globalization became done deals.

Now we are living with the results. The pandemic has once again illustrated Canadas weaknesses. For instance, we produce the raw materials used to make the crucial N95 protective face masks. But we do not produce the masks themselves. And in spite of government promises, we are unlikely to do so in the near future.

That leaves us dependent on the whims of U.S. President Donald Trump and the good graces of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, both of whom head countries that do make such masks.

Meanwhile, Albertans suffer the consequences of their reliance on oil, a commodity susceptible to wild price swings over which they have no control.

Were he alive, Watkins might say that Canada is caught in a couple of classic staple traps. Hed be right again.
But couples who intended to marry in either city can get married elsewhere, if they have access to transportation.

Though most municipal offices are closed across the country, some cities are still issuing licenses to nonresident couples who plan to marry within city or state limits.

Yonkers, N.Y., is one. What weve done is set up a tent outside City Hall, said Vincent Spano, the city clerk. That tent is open to couples by appointment only on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the virus subsides. Licenses from Yonkers allow couples to marry anywhere in the state, but New York City residents without a compelling reason to marry shouldnt rush to email him through the City of Yonkers website for a slot during tent hours.

Were trying really hard to keep it only to Yonkers residents, Mr. Spano said. He has been making exceptions for some struggling with the municipal closures in Manhattan and Westchester County. If somebody writes with a story, we want to help, he said. Im getting a lot of emails from New York City people who need health coverage, or somebody is pregnant and they need to be married. One guy is going back into the military. I dont want anybody to be put at risk. But to put it bluntly, if you dont have a good excuse Im not going to do it.

Molly Gregor, the editor of New Jersey Bride Magazine, is fielding calls daily from as-yet unlicensed brides desperate to keep their original wedding dates. Their predicaments are not always emergencies.

The date may be their anniversary and theyre sentimental about it, or they may have a relative whos sick and they want to make sure that person sees them married, she said. I tell them, Call your town. Some are setting up picnic tables outside in the sun and letting couples come and sign the paperwork outdoors on tables six feet away.
A new anti-aircraft missile regiment deployed in the north of Yakutia took up combat duty to protect airspace over the Russian Arctic and the Northern Sea Route. The regiment is armed with S-300PS anti-aircraft missile systems. The Norwegian newspaper High North News, published by the Center for the High North of Northern University, responded to the news in the article Russia Activates Newest S-300 Air Defense Unit in the Arctic.

Russia upgrades its long-neglected air base near Tiksi in Yakutia and activates its latest Arctic anti-aircraft system. A unit of S-300 surface-to-air missiles is now combat ready according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. For the past decade Russia has been engaged in modernizing and upgrading existing Arctic bases and building new ones. It now maintains a network of more than a dozen bases from the Kola peninsula in the west to the Bering Strait in the east.

The airbase near the town of Tiksi is the latest base to receive modern military hardware further expanding a protective shield of anti-aircraft weapons along Russias Northern Sea Route. The base received a shipment of S-300 missiles and support hardware in August 2019 when two vessels, the Sevmorput and the Valery Vasilyev, arrived from Arkhangelsk. The unit was first activated for training purposes in December 2019 and a collection of eleven military buildings, including dormitories, administrative buildings, power plants, fuel storage, and missile control room were completed in February.

Equipment arrives at Tiksi

Originally, Tiksi was supposed to receive the more modern S-400 system as early as 2015, but according to a recent report by CSIS, a think tank in Washington DC, these announcements were overblown. Despite the many announcements, these military systems do not appear in the satellite images analyzed. While this does not rule out the possibility that they will be stationed on Tiksi in the future, it is important to note that Russian statements about Tiksi may be overblown. In fact, satellite images acquired between 2013 and 2019 show very little construction, explain experts at the think tank.

While other bases such as the Nagurskoye air base on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and the Temp air base on Kotelny Island received major expansions, including the so-called Arctic Trefoil buildings, Tiksi appeared to be of lower priority. The limited developments and minimal military equipment on Tiksi suggest it may not be a key outpost for Russias enhanced presence, and instead, merely an aspirational project, concluded CSIS just last month.

This appears to now begin to change as the Russian Ministry of Defense released a set of photos of the S-300 launchers and control buildings during the opening ceremony attended by the Commander of the Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Northern Fleet, Lieutenant General Alexander Otroshchenko.

Upgrading systems throughout the Arctic

Elsewhere in the Arctic, Russia has already moved to replace the older S-300 system with what experts call the worlds most capable air defense system, the S-400. The Rogachevo air base on Novaya Zemlya received its regiment-sized unit of S-300 between 2014-2015 with further upgrades to the radar systems and related equipment in subsequent years. This past summer the bases missiles were replaced with S-400 and the unit became combat ready in September of last year. Last month Russias air defense forces engaged in a full-scale test of the new system, which has an effective range of 380-40 kilometers according to the Russian government.

The S-400s provide more advanced radar and Electronic Warfare systems capabilities, which expand the range of Novaya Zemlyas air defenses. The airspace monitored and controlled from Rogachevo air base has now increased to 600 kilometers for detection and 400 kilometers for engagement, CSIS experts conclude in an assessment of Russias Arctic capabilities.

More S-300 and S-400 to come

According to Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, Commander of the Northern Fleet, additional S-300 and S-400 systems will be deployed across the Russian Arctic to create a complete anti-aircraft dome over the region. As a result of this the Arctic will be covered from any means of an air attack by the enemy, including aviation, cruise or ballistic missiles, explained Moiseyev in a recent interview.

Russia has also been engaged in rapidly expanding its long-range detection capabilities by commissioning radar installation across the Arctic. The so-called Resonance-N radar has been deployed near the Rogachevo base and in the Zapolyarny district further west. The system is part of a new generation of over-the-horizon radar capable of detecting and tracking hypersonic targets at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers. The new radar installations operate in conjunction with the S-400.
Ukraine's international reserves exceed $25 billion and remain at the level of the year-start, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

"Considering interventions of previous days, Ukraine's international reserves currently remain at the level of the year-start and exceed $25 billion," the NBU wrote on Facebook.

The NBU emphasizes that the amount is sufficient both to smooth out excessive exchange rate fluctuations on the foreign exchange market and to fulfill all current external debt obligations.

In addition, the National Bank on April 8 sold $44.5 million on the foreign exchange market.

According to the regulator, demand was slightly higher than supply, and the hryvnia exchange rate fluctuated around UAH 27.3 per U.S. dollar.

According to the National Bank, in general, the situation on the foreign exchange market has normalized in recent weeks. The surge in demand from both businesses and households has completed. At the end of March, the National Bank returned for foreign currency purchase operations.

iy
The Gujarat government on



Thursday sought the help of over 1,000 private doctors in treatment of COVID-19 patients if the situation in the state worsens in future, officials said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held talks via video conference from Gandhinagar with leading private doctors and office-bearers of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) of Gujarat in this regard, secretary in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Ashwani Kumar, told reporters in Gandhinagar.

In a release, the state government said that it will get the services of around 1,000 private physicians and 300 anesthesiologist whenever required.

For timely response and effective use of resources in case of an emergency situation, the state government has decided to form a coordination committee in each district under the chairmanship of respective district collectors.

These committees will also have IMA representatives and leading doctors of each district, the release said.

The chief minister also directed the senior officials to form a state-level coordination committee comprising senior secretaries involved in coronavirus-related works and senior IMA members, the release said.

During the video conference, Rupani assured that private doctors will be given personal protection equipment and N95 masks for enhanced safety.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HILLSBORO Charges of aiding a felon and obstructing law enforcement have been referred to the Vernon County District Attorneys Office, according to Hillsboro Police Chief Patrick Clark, in relation to a substantial battery that occurred in the city of Hillsboro.

Trenton Clark was arrested March 7 for two counts of substantial battery after police learned he assaulted a male and a female at The Bent Finger Tavern, which is owned by his mother and stepfather, Amy and Travis Verken, according to a press release from the Hillsboro Police Department.

During an initial interview with the Verkens, they said Clark had not been in their bar that evening and that they did not know where he was. According to authorities, both people were aware Clark had an active felony arrest warrant for a previous incident in Juneau County, which they learned after a search warrant was executed on their home looking for Trenton Clark on March 4.

Authorities said the Verkens continued to deny Clarks presence at their establishment in follow-up interviews.

Investigation later determined through evidence collection and witness statements that Clark was present at the establishment that evening, and not only were the Verkens aware of his presence, Amy Verken had helped him flee, hiding him from law enforcement to avoid apprehension after the assault.

Charges are expected to be filed in Vernon County Circuit Court charging Amy Verken with aiding a felon and obstructing law enforcement and Travis Verken with obstructing law enforcement.

Clark remains in custody at the Vernon County Detention Center. The case remains under investigation.

Charges are expected to be filed in Vernon County Circuit Court charging Amy Verken with aiding a felon and obstructing law enforcement and Travis Verken with obstructing law enforcement.

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Police have issued an appeal for the public's help in tracking down an on-the-run prisoner.

Maurice Kane (23) had his licence revoked in January after a number of breaches.

Police issued an appeal on Thursday, April 9.

Inspector Antony Frazer said: "Kane, who was sentenced for a number of offences including theft, possession of Class B and Class C drugs, was released from prison on licence, however following a number of breaches, his licence was revoked.

"He is described as around 173 cm tall, of slim build with short/crewcut dirty fair hair. We believe he has connections to north and east Belfast and possibly Portadown.

"Despite exhaustive attempts to arrest Kane, police have been unable to locate him. I appeal to anyone who has seen Maurice Kane, or who knows of his whereabouts to contact us on 101 quoting reference number 1738 of 18/01/2020.

I would also appeal directly to him directly to hand himself in.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous."

There are 12 people listed on the Department of Justice's unlawfully at large web page.
Nijal Shah had three job interviews lined up when the pandemic hit.

A recent graduate of the University of Waterloo, hed taken on debt from his masters program in chemical engineering and was seeking full-time work in pharmaceuticals to help pay the bills. The goal, he says, was to make enough money to help his family in India.

Shahs opportunities vanished in a matter of weeks. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept Canada, the labour market ground to a halt. He lost his part-time job. His prospective employers stopped calling.

He has enough money saved for Aprils expenses, but, ineligible for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance, he wonders how hell afford rent and food come May. If worse comes to worst, he says hell seek work at grocery stores.

Right now, I feel like I have nothing, he told the Star. Sometimes I get really depressed wondering what will happen in the next few months if things dont go back to normal.

Shahs situation isnt uncommon among university students graduating amidst the global pandemic. In the span of weeks, students preparing for life after post-secondary education have seen their convocation ceremonies cancelled and their employment opportunities slip away, most without guarantee of returning anytime soon.

Nearly a million people between the ages of 15 and 24 enter the job market during the summer, according to StatsCan, and nearly 100,000 students take part in co-op programs. This year, those jobs have all but dried up.

While the federal government has launched a swath of aid to workers whove lost employment and income, programs such as CERB  which offers eligible workers $2,000 on a monthly basis  are largely inaccessible to students, many of whom earned less than the $5,000 work-income requirement for 2019 or the 12 months prior to application, necessary to qualify for CERB.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced more support for student jobs, indicating that the federal government will cover 100 per cent of wages for students hired under the Canada Summer Jobs Program. The government will also extend the time period for job placements to the winter, recognizing that many jobs will start later than usual and companies will be permitted to hire students part-time.

The hope is that these incentives will encourage businesses to hire students during the downturn, Trudeau said on Wednesday.

But some students say theyll feel the burn of the receding labour market nonetheless.

Its certainly going to be a very difficult transition from school into the labour market for students, said Ricardo Tranjan, an economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

A lot of employers arent in a position to onboard new people and train them right away, either because of the employers financial capacity or because of our current rules around working safely. Students, right now, are more likely susceptible to precarious part-time work until the economy fully recovers and they can land something more permanent.

Niamh Gyulay, a soon-to-be graduate of OCAD University, says the biggest problem that students at the design school are facing is the cancellation of events and networking opportunities that help aspiring artists begin their careers. The cancellation of OCADs Graduate Exhibition  GradEx, for short, where graduating students showcase and sell their work to thousands of audience members, several of whom attend the show to recruit new talent  leaves many students without the opportunities they aspired to and the lucrative gigs that can ensue.

Thats basically what our entire degree was working towards, said Gyulay, who is graduating with a bachelors degree in design for advertising. When we found it was cancelled, we felt defeated, really.

A petition circulating online called #DontForgetStudents, led by a group of students from several Canadian universities, is calling on the federal government to provide income support to cover all students and recent graduates regardless of prior work experience and income. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had amassed more than 24,150 signatures.

Students and recent graduates cant find work and dont have any income assistance coming their way from the federal government, said Alex Gold-Apel, a student at U of Ts Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. This is a group of people struggling with rent, tuition, living expenses, and who often rely on summer employment and immediate postgraduate employment to stay afloat and pay bills. Without it, theyre facing serious struggles.

Trudeaus announcement to expand the Canada Summer Jobs Program wont come close to addressing the whole problem, he says.

Graduates need help now. Many students were expecting to start jobs in May. It will take weeks or months to identify and apply for summer jobs, and thats if there are businesses that are still hiring. Students and graduates cant wait that long for help that might not come.
Lucknow, April 9 : In a much-awaited decision, the Lucknow district administration has decided to provide free sanitary napkins, soaps and hand sanitizers to women at their homes.

District magistrate Abhishek Prakash said that free sanitary napkins, soaps and sanitizers will be made available to women through six 'Sakhi' vans.

The district magistrate said, "We learnt that during lockdown, women and girls in some areas could not get sanitary napkins. We have prepared a route chart of those areas. The vans will reach there and provide them with free napkins, soaps and sanitizers." He said women who want to avail these essential items can call on a helpline number.

Most online shopping portals that are functioning during the lockdown period, have been refusing to deliver items that are 'non-essential'. Their list of essentials includes only flour, pulses, rice, salt and cooking oil. Items like sanitary napkins, toothpastes, shampoos are not on their list. Most of these items have already flown off shelves of smaller grocery stores.
With many Californians facing economic distress because of the coronavirus, state officials have taken steps to block evictions and protect renters. Heres what Bay Area tenants and landlords need to know.

Q: Can my landlord evict me while the health emergency is in place?

A: No. On April 6, state judicial leaders barred courts from enforcing eviction orders against renters. In ruling that eviction orders threaten to remove people from the very homes they have been instructed to remain in, the state Judicial Council went a step further than a March 27 executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which required a statewide two-month halt on evictions of tenants who could not afford to pay rent because of the coronavirus pandemic. The action halts legal procedures used by property owners to initiate and enforce evictions. In June, the council indefinitely delayed a proposal to allow evictions to resume after Aug. 3, in order to give Newsom more time to create a new plan.

Q: What sort of evictions does the ruling cover?

A: The ruling applied to all residential evictions, regardless of cause.

Q: How long will the ruling be in effect?

A: The order will remain in effect until 90 days after Newsom declares an end to the current state of emergency. Thats likely to continue at least through July.

Q: What if I was served an eviction notice before the Judicial Council order went into effect?

A: Tenants who were served with a eviction court summons before the new order cannot be penalized for failing to respond, unless they pose a public danger. For tenants who have already responded, trials are postponed for at least 60 days.

Q: What happens when the order is lifted? How soon will my rent be due?

A: Its unclear. While these emergency rules effectively put evictions on hold at least through the summer, they do not establish any new tenant rights or defenses to an eviction, address requirements for notifying landlords or providing documentation when tenants are unable to pay rent due to loss of income or other coronavirus-related reasons, or address how repayment will be handled, according to the San Francisco Tenants Union. It is likely the state legislature will eventually address those issues.

Q: Can my landlord raise my rent during the health emergency?

A: It depends on the city. In April the San Francisco Board of Supervisors introduced legislation that freezes rent increases and pass-throughs. That legislation has now been extended through at least Sept. 23. The San Francisco Apartment Association has already asked its members not to raise rents during the health emergency. Landlords can still raise rents and impose pass-throughs, but the increases will be delayed until after the freeze is lifted.

Some cities have also enacted rent freezes. Concord has enacted a rent freeze for most people. Oakland has capped rent increases at 3.5% in most cases, and landlords cant charge late fees. On June 23, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors passed a rent freeze due to expire on July 28.

Q: Will my landlord be able to evict me if I cant pay the back rent even after the 90-day post-health-order deadline?

A: Not in San Francisco. The city passed legislation that permanently bars landlords from evicting tenants if they cant pay rent due to coronavirus-related issues, like job loss or getting sick from the virus. A collection of real-estate industry and landlord groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the city ordinance, called the COVID-19 Tenant Protection Ordinance.

Q: Can I still book an Airbnb or other short-term rental?

A: San Francisco and San Mateo counties say that short-term rentals can operate, but only for purposes allowed under the health orders. Using a short-term rental for vacationing, sightseeing or visiting friends isnt allowed. But such rentals can be used for purposes like self-isolating to avoid infecting household members.

Q: Ive read that everyone is leaving San Francisco! Is that true?

A: Somewhat. The San Francisco Apartment Association reports that about 7.5% of tenants have broken their leases since the pandemic started. Many of them are students and young professionals who decided to shelter in place with their families or to relocate to cheaper cities because they can now work from home.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Q: Now that everyone is leaving, is San Francisco cheap? How much have rents fallen?

A: While rents have dropped about 12% in the city, they will have to go down a lot more before San Francisco qualifies as affordable. Through May, rents in in the city had fallen 9.2% compared to a year ago. in June they dipped another 2.6% to $3,280 a month . So far Cupertino leads the Bay Areas decline, year over year, with rents dropping 15.7% to $2,680.

Q: What kind of incentives are landlords offering to lure tenants to new buildings?

A: Many new buildings are offering four to eight free weeks of rent, and some have even given 10 free weeks for select units. Others are advertising signing bonuses or months of free parking.

ANSWERS FOR LANDLORDS

Q: Do tenants have to provide evidence that they are unable to pay rent due to the coronavirus?

A: Yes. This requirement may be satisfied with a letter, email or other written communication that explains the financial impact that the tenant is experiencing. The explanation should be objectively verifiable. Third-party documentation is not necessary to satisfy this step, but tenants are advised to provide supporting documents. This could include evidence of a loss of income related to a business closure, loss of working hours or wages, layoffs, or out-of-pocket medical costs caused by the pandemic.

Q: What if I cant pay my property taxes or mortgage?

A: See our detailed FAQ for homeowners and other property owners on SFChronicle.com.

Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko contributed to this report.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
The Town Pump Charitable Foundation is donating $1 million to its food bank partners across the state to help them feed a growing number of out-of-work Montanans who are losing their jobs during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The money will be sent directly to 100 food banks, food pantries and shelters in 83 Montana communities. These grants do not require any community matching funds, according to a news release on Wednesday,

Demand for food assistance is rising at an extraordinary rate, as the pandemic has put additional financial strains on families who were already vulnerable and needing food assistance

This is Montanans helping Montanans, Foundation Director Bill McGladdery said in a statement. Town Pump recognizes the urgency to help out our neighbors now as food insecurity grows in this unprecedented emergency.

Food bank representatives said the monetary donations allow for needed versatility, allowing them to purchase what food they need, according to the release.

Kathy Griffith, director of the Butte Emergency Food Bank, said her staff has seen an increase of 25 percent than normal.

Weve had over 127 households that have just walked over the past week, she said. We're just going to keep giving out food until we run out.

She said cash donations allow the food bank to order items before they run out.

For right now, were OK, in terms of supply, Griffith said. Weve been lucky enough to have so many people contribute items. But were only about a month into this, and theres been an increase in people needing to utilize the food bank.

The Beaverhead Community Food Bank has also seen an increase in clients over the last few weeks.

Dawn Brown, secretary and treasurer of the Beaverhead food bank in Dillon, said her crew of volunteers has seen a 23 percent increase since the shutdown of local businesses due to the coronavrius pandemic.

Were seeing more families and single adults coming in more than ever before, she said.

On average, the Beaverhead food bank sees about 65 to 70 households each week, Brown said, but over the last three weeks the numbers have increased to 80 to 85.

She said monetary donations are useful because the food bank often needs to buy milk, sliced loaf bread and fresh produce from Safeway and local grocery stores.

We are very fortunate that a lot of ranchers or hunters have donated a lot of meat. We have freezers full of deer and elk, Brown said. She added that the food bank typically buys canned and dried foods from the Montana Food Bank Network

She said while the food bank is still well stocked, shes not sure what the situation will be about a month from now, given that the governor recently extended closures until April 24th.

Were expecting an increase of people coming in next week, since its taking awhile for people to receive benefits, Brown said.

Meanwhile, the Montana Food Bank Network is also receiving money from the Town Pump Foundation. The networks purchasing power equals about $5 in food for each $1 spent by a food bank, extending the impact of the grants, according to the news release.

The emergency grants will not affect the Foundations annual Be A Friend In Deed, Help Those In Need fundraising campaign for food banks in the fall, according to the news release.

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Philip Martin Rosoff, an emeritus professor at Duke University School of Medicine who headed the hospital ethics committee there, said that hospitals had become more corporate over the decades and that their executives consequently had the same impulses as other executives to control the narrative. However, he said, hospital officials have other reasons to be wary of doctors and nurses who take matters into their own hands, such as patient safety. He cited the refusal of some surgeons to treat H.I.V.-positive patients at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

Perhaps nowhere is the friction between health workers and management more palpable than in the New York area.

Health systems including Northwell Health, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center have barred workers from speaking to reporters, though not always with the explicit threat of termination.

Do not respond or speak to any reporters, as well as current or former employees, regarding a pending news story, wrote David A. Feinberg, the chief marketing and communications officer at the Mount Sinai Health System, in an email to all faculty and students on March 26. Mount Sinai has more than 40,000 employees.

There has been internal dissent as well. Tasha Smith, a Mount Sinai nurse, said she had been fired after complaining to her boss that she was uncomfortable treating coronavirus patients without proper equipment, and said she had brought a doctors note attesting to her anxiety. Mount Sinai said in a statement that Ms. Smith had been fired because without any notice, she walked off the job. It also said it always provided its medical staff with the equipment needed to safely do their job.

Ms. Smith, who had worked at the hospital for three years, said the abrupt firing frightened fellow nurses. Theyre afraid to speak up, she said. I was made an example of.

On Friday, several New York City Council members announced plans for legislation to prohibit firing health care workers for speaking publicly about hospital conditions.
The 21-day lockdown is set to end next week but several state leaders have called for an extension or only a partial lifting of restrictions, which they say is the only way to avoid a coronavirus epidemic that will be difficult to tackle.U.S.-India Business Council President Nisha Biswal in an interview told ANI that under the present circumstances, businesses are looking at boosting work from home capabilities and taking measures to allow safe operation of essential businesses and supply chains."We'll follow the decisions and guidance of government authorities on any extension of the social distancing measures in India. Judging by what is happening in the US, Europe, we anticipate and are prepared for these measures to be necessary for a while longer," Biswal told ANI.She further added that a safe and sustainable availability of migrant labour to keep supplies flowing to the "at home" population will be important for a more enduring lockdown.Biswal believes once the economic activity and demand resumes, India could hold the potential for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing."It's an opportunity for India to play a more robust role in the manufacturing of many different product lines in the near term," said Biswal. Even as the immediate focus for the government is pandemic mitigation, Biswal said, she is confident that India could be an attractive place for more production to be housed."Companies are increasingly thinking about diversifying their manufacturing and supply chain, not just to have it housed in one country but to think about more regional production," Biswal said.The American Business chamber chief praised the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Biswal also added that the government of India moved very quickly to announce the first round of economic measures that were geared towards supporting the most vulnerable. By expanding the social safety net and ensuring that people who are going without a paycheck are supported.Going forward the chamber has recommended a "second round" of measures to be put in place by the government of India to support businesses."The second round of economic measures really should focus on what do businesses need to get through this time period. We suggested that the government should think about some strong stimulus measures that can really help keep Indian businesses afloat, through this time," Biswal added.While lauding India's move on enforcing the 'Janata curfew" Biswal insisted that there is a need to look into the provision of providing some waivers to the BPO industry and services in India, which are providing crucial support to America's critical cell centres including hospitals, insurance and banking sectors.Also in India, the service sector accounts for a huge per cent of India's GDP. In order to maintain business continuity, India needs to help companies adapt their operations so that they're able to function better from work from home ecosystem, she said."We have a relationship in the US-India corridor between our two governments and between our two countries that we can have a more collaborative approach and maybe we can in that process also have that stronger example for the rest of the world as well,' Biswal further added.The US Chamber has made it clear to all governments including India that they have got to create an open global trading system."Whether it's a drug, medical equipment or PPE. There are several components and ingredients that are coming from different places, there is a global supply chain and value chain. And if every country starts putting export controls and stops goods from moving out of their country or moving into their country, it is gonna affect the ability to meet demand in every country," Biswal explained.Biswal added: "We are seeing that happen if every country starts talking about trying to nationalize supply chains, products and inventory I think it's gonna become very difficult. And I think India has understood this." (ANI)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Rio Arriba County has settled with a Chama man for $55,000 more than six months after Sheriff James Lujan was accused of pulling him over for flying the Mexican flag on his truck.

In a previous tort notice issued in October, Joshua Talamante alleged that Lujan pulled him over during Chamas July Fourth parade and told them he needed to take down the Mexican flag flying from this truck.

Talamante also said Lujan told a deputy to take down the flag and said that Talamante was lucky he did not (expletive) get shot. The flag, Talamante said, was flown in honor of his familys heritage.

John Day, Talamontes attorney, said in a news release that Rio Arriba County agreed to pay the settlement before a lawsuit was officially filed.

Sheriff James Lujan is an incompetent, dangerous and unstable sheriff, and is an embarrassment to the professional New Mexico law enforcement community, Day said in the release.

Lujan did not return requests for comment Wednesday.

Day said in a phone interview that although the county did not officially admit Lujan ordered that the flag be taken down, the settlement proves a violation took place.

Its clear that theyre nervous about what he did, he said. Ive been practicing law in northern New Mexico for 25 years  Ive never seen anything like this clown.

Lujan also faces charges from last month for allegedly showing at a SWAT standoff in Espanola drunk and obstructing officers, according to a criminal complaint filed by Espanola police.

Lapel footage from the scene shows an out-of-uniform Lujan telling officers to leave the standoff so he could arrest the suspect, Phillip Chacon.

The New Mexico Attorney Generals Office said its prosecutors are investigating the incident.

Asked whether Talamante is still flying the Mexican flag on his truck, Day said he is free to express his First Amendment rights.

He can if he wants to, he said. Thats whats great about this.
A former Labour Party election agent collapsed and died after he was attacked while walking his dog.

Retired civil servant Ralph Baxter, 72, is believed to have been punched by a fellow dog walker after stepping in to protect his shih tzu, called Bertie, when it was attacked by the other mans husky.

Mr Baxter stumbled the 400 yards back home to his wife Anne following the attack on a bridle path at the edge of their village, but collapsed in his front room from an apparent heart attack.

Yesterday a neighbour told how Mrs Baxter let out an almighty scream when paramedics arrived at the cul-de-sac property and confirmed that Mr Baxter  who was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2007 for his public service  had died.

The victim (pictured with grand-daughter Amy holding Bertie) worked for the Department of Work and Pensions for 43 years and was a well-known Labour trade union leader

The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: Ralph was one of the best people on this earth. After the incident he came home and told Anne, Ive been attacked, I dont feel good.

Anne was making the dinner in the kitchen but by the time she had switched off the cooker and gone in to see him, he had collapsed.

It is a tragedy. He was such a lovely man who saw it as his duty to help whoever he could.

A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder following the incident on Wednesday afternoon. He remained in custody last night as police awaited the results of a post-mortem examination.

Ralph Baxter is believed to have been punched by a fellow dog walker on this very lane after stepping in to protect his dog, Bertie

The suspect was named locally as restaurant worker Ben Nesbitt, who lived a few streets from Mr Baxter in Roade, Northamptonshire. Villagers said he lived with his brother and sister, who is thought to own the husky, called Shadow.

One resident said: The husky attacked the smaller dog and when Ralph intervened, the huskys owner attacked him. I used to see him taking that dog up the road towards the fields virtually every day for their bit of exercise. Its just awful.

Mr Baxter worked for the Department of Work and Pensions for 43 years and was a well-known Labour trade union leader. In 2017, he acted as election agent for Sophie Johnson, who unsuccessfully stood against Tory MP Andrea Leadsom in South Northamptonshire.

Mrs Johnson described Mr Baxter, who had been in the Army before going into the Civil Service, as a substitute father figure and one of the best friends that I ever had.

She added: Ralph was the most loyal person and would do anything for people he loved.

Ralph Baxter (pictured) died after he was attacked while walking his dog

Every time I spoke to him, it seemed like he had just been around to a neighbours house sorting out their plumbing or fixing up their loft. She said Mr Baxter bought Bertie as a puppy.

Mrs Johnson, now a town councillor in Hayle, Cornwall, added: He loved that dog he would defend his dog just like he would defend any person in trouble.

Ralph got Bertie with the idea that it would encourage him to get out and get more exercise. They had a great bond.

Detective Inspector Pete Long, from the East Midlands special operations unit major crime team, said: We are treating this incident as a murder investigation.

I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or who may have information about the incident to please come forward and help us.
Researchers from Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City have launched two vital clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of two drugs -hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin - to treat patients with COVID-19 (infection with the novel coronavirus).

Researchers from the two health systems plan to enroll nearly 2,300 patients who are COVID-19 positive or suspected of being positive for the virus.

"Results from these studies will help us to understand the value of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in treatment of COVID-19 as we seek ways to fight the virus effectively and reduce the human cost of this pandemic," said Samuel Brown, MD, principal investigator of one of the studies and a critical care researcher at Intermountain Healthcare.

Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug typically used to treat some autoimmune diseases, and azithromycin, an antibiotic typically used for sinusitis or pneumonia, have been suggested as potential treatments for COVID-19, but whether they actually help is unknown.

In addition, the drugs can cause significant side-effects. In some cases, hydroxychloroquine has increased the levels of a different virus present in the blood or caused problems with heart rhythm. Further, a surge in interest in hydroxychloroquine has left patients who take the drug to manage ongoing chronic illnesses at risk of losing access to their regular course of treatment.

"Because COVID-19 is a new disease, we're all starting from scratch," said Adam M. Spivak, MD, a principal investigator of one of the clinical trials and an infectious disease physician at University of Utah Health. "The only way to answer the key question of 'does this drug work?' is to perform an unbiased clinical trial where we study its effects."

In the first trial, patients hospitalized with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 will be given either hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin to determine whether either drug affects the severity of COVID-19 and saves lives.

Researchers plan to enroll 300 patients in the clinical trial from across all Intermountain Healthcare hospitals and University of Utah Health hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients.

"The main question we're looking to answer in this trial is, does HCQ improve the severity of illness and save lives for patients hospitalized with COVID-19?" said Dr. Brown.

In the second set of trials, patients with confirmed COVID-19 who are being treated as outpatients will be given hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin to determine if either drug can prevent hospitalization. The trials will also determine whether hydroxychlorquine impacts viral shedding and prevents infection of household contacts as compared to placebo.

For these outpatient trials, researchers will enroll 2,000 patients across Utah from all Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health System hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients. Patients will receive treatment and be monitored via telehealth.

Brandon Webb, MD, a principal investigator of the first trial and an infectious diseases physician at Intermountain Healthcare, said there's significant global interest in both clinical trials to provide scientific evidence as to whether these drugs are effective in treating COVID-19 patients.

"There's worldwide interest in these drugs, but the available clinical data have not yet shown any benefit. These clinical trials allow us to protect the safety of patients but also answer the really important question of benefit versus harm," he added.

Clinical trials typically take months or years to launch. Researchers at Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health, the Utah Department of Health, and the Utah Medical Association were able to launch these COVID-19 clinical trials in two weeks.

"Everyone on our research team has been working 18-hour days to make this happen," said Dr. Brown. "We've been able to be nimble and flexible while still meeting the rigorous standards of a clinical trial because the need for this knowledge is so great. We applaud all of these organizations for working collaboratively to make these clinical trials a reality and to do the right thing for our patients."

Researchers acknowledge there may be pressure on clinicians to use hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients outside of a clinical trial. While it may feel reassuring to prescribe this medication in the midst of a pandemic, it may be counter-productive or even harmful until physicians better understand their impact, they say.

Two weeks ago, research leaders at Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health agreed to work together to help solve this problem.

"Although some providers will choose to prescribe HCQ to their patients, Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health, the Utah Department of Health, and the UMA recognize the safest way to use this medication to treat COVID-19 is within the framework of clinical trials," said Raj Srivastava, MD, assistant vice president of research at Intermountain Healthcare.

"We believe these trials will ensure patients are provided information about potential associated risks and have consented to participate so their progress can be closely monitored by healthcare providers and research staff," added Rachel Hess, MD, MS, a principal investigator of the outpatient trial and co-director for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Utah.

###

About University of Utah Health

University of Utah Health is the state's only academic health care system, providing leading-edge and compassionate medicine for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the U.S., including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health touts a $373 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah's physicians, including more than 1,250 health care providers each year at its Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Health. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and four hospitals -- University Hospital; University Neuropsychiatric Institute; Huntsman Cancer Hospital; and the University Orthopaedic Center. For ten straight years, U of U Health has ranked among the top 10 U.S. academic medical centers in the rigorous Vizient Quality and Accountability Study, including reaching No. 1 in 2010 and 2016.
North Korean migrant workers and the companies that dispatch them overseas still have a strong presence in Africa, despite UN sanctions prohibiting the export of North Korean labor past the last month of 2019.

According to a former North Korean diplomat who defected and is now applying for refugee status in the United Kingdom, Pyongyang has many allies in Africa and has made strategic alliances with several African nations, so they are ignoring the sanctions, which are meant to deprive the isolated country of cash and resources that could be funneled into its nuclear program.

There are many African countries that are close to North Korea, the ex-diplomat, identified only by his surname Kim, told RFAs Korean Service Tuesday.

Kim said that most African countries have long-standing alliances with North Korea, many dating back to the Cold War era, and do not see the advantage of kicking North Korean workers out because they are highly skilled and they accept relatively low pay.

Equatorial Guinea said it has returned all North Korean workers in its interim report in March last year to comply with paragraph 8 of UN Security Council Resolution 2397, which says that North Korean workers must be repatriated before late December 2019.

But Equatorial Guinea did not reveal a specific number for how many North Koreans were repatriated.

Angola meanwhile promised in 2016 to cut off all military and economic exchanges with North Korea and send back all workers, including military officers.

However, it is known that this promise has not been kept yet.

Tunisia, the only African country that submitted its final report on the repatriation of North Korean workers specified in Resolution 2397, pointed out in its report that most other African countries are ignoring UN sanctions against North Korea.

We cant say that African countries are faithfully implementing sanctions against North Korea, Kim said.

According to Kim, North Korean affiliates in Africa are all officially under Pyongyangs prestigious Mansudae Art Studio, which commissions artistic works for propaganda. But North Koreas External Construction Guidance Bureau, the Korean Workers Partys Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Peoples Armed Forces all send their affiliates as well, leading to a situation in which North Korean companies with a presence in Africa are all competing with each other to make money to prop up Kim Jong Un and his inner circle.

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) told RFA that the international community should pay attention to the North Korean migrant situation, especially to the human rights of the workers, because those officially dispatched by Pyongyang are deprived of most of their earnings and live and work in squalid conditions.

The role of North Korean workers sent abroad is crucial to maintaining the Kim family regime, said Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of HRNK.

Despite the coronavirus crisis, North Korean workers are risking their lives to earn foreign currency for the regime, he added.

A Washington-based source familiar with Africas economy, who requested anonymity on fear of reprisal, told RFA that infrastructure and construction work under a long-term development plan is underway.

According to the source, more than 2,000 North Korean workers have been dispatched to work in pro-North Korean developing countries with poor medical systems.

Data published by the website North Korea in the World, which provides information regarding North Koreas external diplomatic and economic relations, the total number of North Korean workers dispatched to other countries, prior to the December 2019 repatriation deadline, was about 100,000 to 120,000.

Among African countries, Angola had the most North Korean workers with about 1,000. Nigeria, Algeria and Equatorial Guniea had about 200 each and Ethiopia is believed to have 100, but the current status of North Koreans in these countries is unknown.

An RFA reporter visiting Tanzania in 2016 was able to identify about 100 North Korean medical staff that had been dispatched there.

In its final implementation report on sanctions prohibiting the export of North Korean labor, submitted to the UN Security Council on the March 19, the U.S. stressed that there are no North Korean nationals who have received valid labor permits in the U.S. from December 23, 2018 to December 22, 2019, and that the US is complying with sanctions.

The report, released on April 3, also calls for the repatriation of North Korean workers from other UN member states, saying the U.S. will continue to implement all the UN Security Councils resolutions related to North Korea.

The UN Security Councils North Korea Sanctions Committee did not answer questions from RFA about its position on the remaining North Korean workers in Africa as of Thursday afternoon.

Reported by Albert Hong for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Police officers drive away a lorry (C) in which 39 dead bodies were discovered sparking a murder investigation at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, east of London, Britain, on Oct. 23, 2019. (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

Northern Irish Driver Pleads Guilty Over 39 Vietnamese Truck Deaths

LONDONNorthern Irish truck driver Maurice Robinson has pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter related to the deaths of Vietnamese people found in a shipping container in southeast England last year, police said on Wednesday.

The victims, 31 men and boys and eight women whose ages ranged from 15 to 44, were discovered in October in a container at the back of a truck driven by Robinson to an industrial estate in Grays in Essex, about 20 miles (32 km) east of London.

Most were from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces in north-central Vietnam, where poor job prospects, environmental disasters, and the promise of financial reward fuel migration.

Robinson, 25, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in November to charges of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring cash, which he knew or suspected came from criminal conduct.

At Wednesdays hearing at the Old Bailey, Londons Central Criminal Court, a second man, also charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, British-Romanian dual national Gheorghe Nica, 43, pleaded not guilty.

Several others have been arrested and charged in both Vietnam and the United Kingdom, and other legal proceedings are ongoing.

Autopsies concluded that the provisional cause of death of the 39 Vietnamese people was a combination of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, and hyperthermia, or overheating, in an enclosed space.

The trial will begin on Monday, Oct. 5.

By David Milliken and Estelle Shirbon
09.04.2020 LISTEN

Ghanas startup entrepreneurship ecosystem is dotted with a few dozen organizations looking to use technology as a lever to augment traditional financial services, contribute to building a better national financial system, and expand financial inclusion among other things. Ghanaians can make mobile payments and money transfers, access loans and raise funds, as well as manage financial assets from mobile devices without entering a banking hall.

In this paper, the Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) explores innovations spearheaded by Financial Technology (FinTech) companies within the broader framework of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and offers a path to growth for players in the FinTech space.

The FinTech Ecosystem

Payment solution companies such as mobile money services operated by telcos, smartphone applications such as zeepay and expresspay, crowdfunding apps like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, Insuretech, distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies are key components of the FinTech ecosystem. In Ghana, the telcos have rather leapfrogged and are now leading the pack in terms of payment solution FinTechs.

Through collaboration with commercial banks, banking services are more decentralized and scaled up to cover a much wider demographic which erstwhile were limited by the unavailability of brick and mortar bank branches in their communities. The FinTech ecosystem in the country is particularly unique.

A typical payment solutions company needs the cooperation of telcos who currently provide mobile money services, commercial banks, the bank of Ghana, and the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), which owns the platform that enables mobile money operability and automated clearing.

The relationship among these partners is delicately balanced to ensure a mutually beneficial working relationship. ACEYE has observed that telcos have been covertly trying to limit the flexibility and convenience of using other payment apps such as expresspay, zeepay, and the likes. While it was initially simple to move money across these smartphone powered applications and mobile money wallets, telcos have revised the procedure and in some cases, the number of steps required to validate and complete a transaction across these platforms thus, making the users less satisfied compared to completing transactions directly through mobile money wallets.

The insurance industry in Ghana is also gradually integrating technology into its core business within the broader meaning of insuretech. Vehicle insurance is now done online and made readily verifiable by anyone with access to a mobile phone or internet. The National Insurance Commission (NIC) hopes to curb the menace of vehicles with fake motor insurance stickers plying the roads, thus, endangering lives and property, through the launch and use of the motor insurance database. Significant strides have been made in the FinTech subsector.

The payments department of the Bank of Ghana has been proactive in providing the needed oversight on issues ranging from minimum capital requirements to regulations on how FinTech can help fight money laundering and terrorism financing; GhIPSS efforts to promote seamless cross-platform transactions through a unified payments interface is commendable, the innovations spearheaded by telcos and standalone payment gateway providers have all contributed to enrich the ecosystem.

FinTech And Financial Inclusion

FinTech is playing an important role when it comes to penetration of financial services products across the country. Fueled by the growing number of smartphone users, increasing penetration of the internet across the country, increased integration of technology-powered products with traditional banking and finance services, and the governments digitization drive, FinTech companies are using advanced tools and technologies aimed at optimizing processes not just internally, but also to provide the end-users with a superior experience by ensuring greater convenience, engagement and enhanced security.

Drivers of FinTech Growth

More and more Ghanaians are becoming tech-savvy. An annual report released by global digital agencies, We Are Social and Hootsuite has revealed that as of 2018, 10 million Ghanaians were using the internet. The figure represents 35% of the total 29,150,000 population of the country and is an increase of two million on the figure recorded in January 2017. The rise of Ghanaian internet users was replicated across the continent with Africa recording the fastest growth rates in Internet penetration, with the number of internet users across the continent increasing by more than 20% compared to 2017.

Much of Ghana's growth in internet users was attributed to more affordable smartphones and mobile data plans. These developments have empowered Ghanaians to experiment with a variety of internet-powered tools and products which were inaccessible to them a few years ago. FinTech has benefited a lot from increased access to the internet and telecommunication facilities.

Another key driver the FinTech innovation in Ghana is the general levels of education of the Ghanaian populace. More people can read or at least make sense of simple numbers due to an increase in Generation Z and the millennial population. Access to formal and adult education programs have all supplemented the efforts of the government to get a good proportion of literate citizenry. While key infrastructure deficits remain in the technology and telecommunications space, the progress is certainly remarkable and is fueling the FinTech revolution.

Commercial and investment banks in Ghana are embarking on massive innovation drives with mobile applications that allow users to enjoy internet banking services. This is the key force behind the growth in FinTech in the country currently. Bolstered by the efforts of GhIPSS, demand by consumers, the use of point of sales devices by shopping malls and supermarkets, FinTech is roaring and will hopefully supplant traditional forms of investment and banking in the not too distant future.

Challenges To FinTech Growth

When compared to the rest of the world, FinTech in Ghana is at a nascent stage. Challenges are therefore a core component of the growth process. At present, internet data cost is a significant limiting factor for most Ghanaians. The average Ghanaian toggles their mobile data on and off several times in a day.

Others simply do not have the money to stay online. Recent scams and fraudulent activities on mobile money platforms have not helped either. A rather troubling case is the exorbitant charges that telecom companies levy mobile money users. We are convinced that like any other technology product, the more people use them, the better their utility and therefore anything that limits access to these FinTech products is an unwelcome obstacle.

The Path To FinTech Growth in Ghana

Corporations flourish where there is an adequate regulatory and legal framework, not too restrictive and definitely not too lax to warrant abuse and exploitation by greedy corporate executives. The Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987) which allows for the entry of non-banks, as well as enable direct licensing of FinTechs by the Bank of Ghana is a good first step but not enough. Growing the nascent FinTech industry as a distinct part of the financial services sector needs a supportive ecosystem and environment. Based on what we have observed in the industry and in light of recent developments, we propose a few things that need to be done to further move the government digitization agenda forward, provide a better environment for FinTech entrepreneurs with a supportive environment, and encourage Ghanaians to increase the adoption of these new technologies in the financial services sector.

There is a need for a different, specific tax regime for FinTech Companies. The current system of tax laws combines FinTechs with other service sector organizations for tax purposes. FinTech companies do not enjoy any special status and thus, do not have any specific benefits under the tax laws albeit the government talks a lot of digitizing the payment systems sector and growing a cashless economy.

This is downright defective and an indication of poor policy implementation, at best. Companies in the countrys free zone enclaves enjoy special tax benefits, private educational institutions, and other organizations have sector-wise tax benefits because of the special services or goods they produce. Granting FinTech companies tax holidays and other incentives will mark a good starting point to encourage startup entrepreneurs to contribute to the government's digitization drive. The importance of a differentiated treatment in taxation, in order to further strengthen business models and value proposition for customers, cannot be overemphasized.

Unfair competitive practices must be banned. The telecom giants appear to be frustrating users of smartphone-based payment service providers piggybacking their platforms. Ghana needs a commission to monitor and discourage unfair competition practices. Corporations who have established themselves as leaders in their respective industries have abused that position and bullied smaller less-resourced ones for far too long.

Covid-19 presents a window of opportunity, let us not waste it. In the wake of the cascading effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on all aspects of the economy and possible contamination of currency notes, digital payment options should be aggressively promoted by government and non-government actors as an alternative to cash. The Indian government capitalized on its demonetization exercise in 2017 to make a strong case for the country to ramp up its use of digital payment options.

The determination of the GhIPPSS should not be discouraged. The recent launch of the universal code for cashless payments is a very laudable first step among the series of interventions implemented recently. An aggressive and coordinated marketing campaign in collaborations with traditional financial institutions should be intensified to increase the rate of adoption. The strategy was quite successful and is worthy of emulation. The benefits will certainly outlast the current health and economic crisis.

Conclusion

FinTech companies have been at the forefront of promoting wallet-based savings, insurance, and investment products. Banks in partnership with mobile money operators and financial technology firms have been leveraging data mining and analytic tools to extract valuable insights from mobile money customers data to provide credit scoring for short term loans. We have seen that most wallet based transactions in Ghana are focused on cash-in and cash-out, person-to-person (P2P) payments, and airtime top-ups (GSMA, 2018). For the industry to achieve its next milestone, FinTech firms need to scale up operations and partner with new actors to drive up digital transactions up and wider otherwise, our research suggests that the unit profit of payment solutions providers from these services will not justify underlying investments and operating costs. Globally, the industry is seeing a wave of convergence and fusion among financial service (FS) providers and Technology, Media and Telecommunication (TMT) companies. Where fusion is not happening, we see coopetition(cooperating to compete), which is the collaboration that occurs when the interests of FS and TMT businesses diverge. At the top of the market, we have even seen some regulators seeking to match up the big TMT firms with the big banks and get them to work together. There is lots of opportunity for growth in the country and the right time to rev up the growth engine is now.
Barcelonas Pakistani diaspora also providing food parcels to homeless and people in need and producing protective gear.

Barcelona, Spain  When Sheraz Syed returns home from his working day, he cannot hug his three children or his wife, because of the coronavirus.

Being a taxi driver these days is a high-risk job. But on top of his regular work, along with 195 Pakistanis in Barcelona, he provides free rides to healthcare staff in the city.

The initiative started at the beginning of Spains lockdown, in mid-March, as six Pakistani taxi drivers led by Shahbaz Ahmed discussed how medical workers would be able to return at night to their homes.

Since then, their effort has expanded to about 200 volunteers, including some drivers from other nationalities.

They started by sharing their contact details with hospitals and organised their schedules to cover the city centre and more remote facilities, such as the Can Ruti Hospital.

Medical staff work too many hours and we saw that they were going to their jobs using public transport, said Asim Gondal, a driver volunteering his services.

For this reason, as they are working on the frontline for humanity, we began this service also to save them more time and, in this way, they dont spend it on public transport.

Gondal and his family have lived in Barcelona for about 20 years and Spain, he said, a country he now considers home.

This is a difficult time for Spain, he said.

About 43,000 Pakistanis live in Barcelona, and almost 89,000 in Spain overall, according to the Spanish Statistical Office.

About 43,000 Pakistanis live in Barcelona, and almost 89,000 in Spain overall, according to the Spanish Statistical Office [Sheraz Syed/Al Jazeera]

The drivers follow preventive measures: they wear masks, gloves and have disinfectant gel in their cars.

None of the people in the group have the virus, but there have been previous cases of Pakistani taxi drivers with COVID-19.

Five are reported to be recovering in hospital.

Its frightening when your workmate is at the hospital. Some are my friends and they have eaten in my house, said Syed. There is always a risk.

In an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) has limited taxi traffic to 20 percent each day and each driver is allowed to work once a week.

We will provide this service until we can, said Gondal.

Like many in Spain, which is facing a severe economic downturn as thousands have been laid off, the coronavirus outbreak has impacted the drivers personal finances.

We dont have any economic help from the government and only self-employed workers are able to work, the rest have been fired, claimed Syed.

This has impacted their personal protection; not all taxi drivers can afford a screen to separate them from their passengers.

A temporary workshop in the Catalan Islamic Cultural Centre where protective masks and robes are made for healthcare workers. [Sheraz Syed/Al Jazeera]

In addition to the taxi drivers inititative, over the past two weeks, the local Pakistani community has stepped in to help.

Grocery store owners have converted industrial warehouses into spaces taxi drivers can use to organise food parcel distribution to the homeless and families in need.

Hundreds of masks and robes for medical workers are being sewn together at pace at the the Catalan Islamic Cultural Centre.

More than 15,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Spain since the start of the epidemic, and there have been more than 152,000 cases overall.
Yonhap News Agency / via Latin A/Reuters

The all-clear after a test for coronavirus infection does not mean all clear, it turns out. Nor can a person who had COVID-19 and then recovered be sure that it wont strike again. Such is the disturbing news coming out of South Korea, the country widely credited as the most successfuland transparentovercoming the pandemic threat to its people and economy.

Trumps Korean Coronavirus Diplomacy Is a Disaster

At a briefing earlier this week, Jeong Eun-kyeong, director-general of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that 51 people previously thought to have recovered completely tested positive again shortly after they got out of quarantine. Jeong said the virus may have been reactivated in some fashion since it was in the CDCs judgment too early after their recovery for them to have been reinfected.

We are conducting a comprehensive study on this, Jeong said. There have been many cases when a patient during treatment will test negative one day and positive another. But the CDC is putting more weight on reactivation as the possible cause.

There is reason for concern, but not consternation, according to various analysts.

The possibility of false negatives is very real, says Dr. Ogan Gurel, who came to Korea nine years ago armed with a medical degree from Columbia to teach and do research after having served at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Think about how the test is done, he says. You put a swab of cotton up deep in the nose and rotate it. Even if done right, the procedure is not always guaranteed to pick up the virus. Moreover, the storage, transport, etc. of the sample could create a negative resultmany experts think this may be the problem.

Obviously the CDC will be looking at that issue very carefully as it conducts new, more elaborate tests of the reactivated patients.

At a minimum, the uncertainty has Koreans on edge, wondering if the countrys highly touted efficiency in driving out the illness is really working so well. Its so erratic, we should be extra careful, says Chang Sung-eun, an office worker staying at home during the pandemic. Mistakes do not happen so often, but nobody knows.

Story continues

Gurel cites estimates that false negatives occur in just 1 percent of cases but observes, When youre testing hundreds of thousands of cases, you get some numbers.

Korean CDC figures show that as of April 9, South Korea, with a population of some 52 million people, had tested 494,711, of whom 10,423 were confirmed to have the disease, while 204 had died.

By comparison, as of this writing New York City alone, with a population of 8.5 million, has had more than 4,500 deaths.

Another aspect of the problem, says Gurel, is that everybodys immune system is different.

If screw-ups in testing are the main reason why no one can be totally sure not to have contracted the bug, or to have recovered at least to the extent theyre no longer contagious, other less obvious factors also come into play. Unfortunately, these may grow in importance over the years, even assuming scientists do come up with a vaccine.

The scariest scenario has to be mutationa change in the nature of the virus. In other words, the strain that teams of scientists and doctors have created defenses against may mutate into a different variety that is just as deadly.

There is indeed frequent mutation, says Gurel. It is absolutely critical that we perform genome studies of both the virus and patients and correlate these genetic studies with clinical outcomes.

Such painstaking research would help us understand exactly why some people get serious disease while in others it is fairly mild," he goes on. Ascertaining which portions of the virus mutate and which are conserved will help in designing effective vaccines which would concentrate on the regions of the virus that generally do not mutate.

Then, says Gurel, there is the problem of immune failure over time with an unsustained antibody response. People whove had measles or chickenpox, for instance, usually can rely on some level of immunity for the rest of their lives.

But thats not the case with all viruses, with the common cold a notable example. We know that there is no vaccine and that it frequently recurs in people, he notes, and about 15 percent of common cold cases are caused by a mild variety of coronavirus.

Its Probably Too Late to Use South Koreas Trick for Tracking Coronavirus

Like common cold viruses, he says, coronavirus may create a less than robust immune response in some people. Bottom line: There may be some concern of limited immune response being a possibility with this novel coronavirus.

Gurel dismisses, however, the theory that the coronavirus may be latent within a persons system, escaping detection until blossoming as a disease in the manner of HIV, herpes, or hepatitis. COVID-19, he says, does not have such latency.

In the search for cures, Gurel warns against accepting President Donald Trumps advice and trying hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug. Trump asked, What have you got to lose? says Gurel, repeating a Trump line. There are serious side effects, including blindness in some cases.

Gurel offers some advice that Trump might want to take to heart: "We should be open to evaluating such therapies but still apply some level of rigor in order to avoid compounding the tragedy."

By way of comparison, Gurel notes that victims of the 1918 flu, the disease that killed 40 million worldwide in 1918-1919, took incredibly high doses of aspirin to drive down the fever. There are, he says, theories that high levels of aspirin contributed to the outcomethe high number of deaths.

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A British teacher living in the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan says he is relieved to have opted against returning to the UK, despite spending 76 days in lockdown.

Chris Hill, 38, a foreign language teacher originally from Washington in Tyne and Wear, lives with his wife and four-year-old daughter around 10 minutes from the market where the global pandemic is thought to have originated.

He says he is now glad that he decided not to go back home to the UK, as it is only two weeks into its own lockdown while battling the outbreak.

In January, as the city began to shut down, Mr Hill had toyed with the prospect of returning on one of several repatriation flights to the UK, but opted not to do so.

He feared that his young family would be unable to join him.

He sad: 'Wuhan has been under lockdown for around two-and-a-half months. If I was in England, I would just be going into lockdown, (making it) five, six, seven months in total.

'I'd take the three months over seven any day.'

While some restrictions have now been lifted to allow people to travel in and out of the city, residents are still only permitted to leave the home for two hours at a time.

Mr Hill said: 'People who do live in Wuhan that were outside of the city when the lockdown took place, it allows them back in.

'But the restrictions that I have of going out for two hours per day, those are still in place until the end of the month and then they're going to reassess.

Chris Hill with his four-year-old daughter Renee Gao. He says he is glad he opted to stay in Wuhan

Caitlyn Gao, wife of Chris Hill, with their four-year-old daughter Renee Gao. Mr Hill was worried his family wouldn't have been able to join him in the UK

Mr Hill said he was in regular contact with friends and family back home, who are 'going crazy' under lockdown

'Most of the businesses are still closed because with the two-hour time limit, there's no point in businesses opening for most of the day. So everyone just stays at home.'

Mr Hill said he expected to be entirely free to leave his home by the middle of May - almost four months on from the January 23 start of the city's lockdown.

He added that carrying on with his teaching online had been hard, saying: 'My wife still works, my daughter is being a hyperactive four-year-old who wants to go out but can't.'

Mr Hill said he was in regular contact with friends and family back home, who are 'going crazy' just two weeks into the UK's own restrictive measures.

Having experienced it for two-and-a-half months himself, Mr Hill advised those struggling with the experience of being stuck at home: 'What you like doing as a hobby - do it as much as you can.'

'Well, not drinking. That's just stupid,' he added.
The Nigerian Army (NA) has taken delivery of high grade armoured tanks and artillery vehicles from China to boost its fight against Bo...





The Nigerian Army (NA) has taken delivery of high grade armoured tanks and artillery vehicles from China to boost its fight against Boko Haram.





The military hardware, built to specification by China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco), were ordered by the Federal Government.





The tanks and vehicles are equipped with latest technologies and have the ability to wage war from multiple fronts and cloudy or smoky weathers.





Chief of Policy and Plans (CPPLANs), Lt.Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, while receiving the consignment, said Nigerians should expect more robust operations against Boko Haram and other forms of insecurity in the country.





The Federal Government is in making sure that the Nigerian Army is not only equipped, but ready to contain the problem of insecurity we are having across the country. This is being tackled with trained personnel and required equipment.





Others are still coming. The armaments were acquired from China. They are in different categories- heavy tanks, light tanks and we also have two types of artillery weapons. They have the latest technology in tanks and armament.





The first set of 15 40-foot containers that were offloaded were made up of spare parts and accessories of all these equipment. Those ones are already out of the port and on their way to their destinations.





Those who will operate them have been trained in China. If not for the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19, some of their trainers would have joined us here to train more people, he added.





VT4 and ST1 tanks are powerful new generation main battle weapons which has a range of 500km.





On Wednesday, the COVID-19 medical personnel and supplies from China also arrived in Nigeria.





However, the Acting Director Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Benard Onyeuko, said troops in Gamboru, Borno State, have eliminated some Boko Haram fighters.





The terrorists, in a convoy of seven gun trucks and several motorcycles, were overpowered as they approached the battalions location at about 1800 hours on the 7th of April, 2020.




The Mizoram government has



appealed to states to extend humanitarian help to residents of the northeastern state who are stranded in various parts of the country due to the lockdown imposed to contain spread of novel coronavirus, chief minister Zoramthanga said.

The Mizoram government can do nothing to take back the stranded people now as all flights, trains and road transport remain suspended following the 21-day national lockdown, the chief minister said.

Hundreds of Mizos stuck in several cities and towns across the country are facing hardship according to information received by the state government, Zoramthanga said.

"The state government alone cannot solve the issue. Mutual cooperation is necessary to address the problem of the stranded Mizos.

"We have requested chief secretaries of all states to step up measures for safety of the people of Mizoram and extend humanitarian help to them," Zoramthanga told PTI.

The chief minister said that the state government is collecting the names and contact number of the people of Mizoram who are stranded across the country.

"We have sent the details of the stranded people to the respective chief secretaries for extending humanitarian help to them. We are trying our best to trace all the stranded people," he said.

Mizoram's lone Lok Sabha MP Lalrosanga had said on Wednesday that 400 Mizos are stranded across the country due to the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Finhay, a fintech, micro-investing platform founded in 2017, formally announced the closure of a financing round led by Acorns co-founder Jeffrey Cruttenden and Thien Viet Securities.

As part of the development, Finhay will use the funding to expand market reach, improve infrastructure, and grow its team.

In the wealth management sector in Vietnam, were just tapping to the surface of its potential, said Finhay founder and CEO Nghiem Xuan Huy. And with the financial support, experiences, and expertise from our new investors, we could capture this potential and accelerate our growth.

Additionally, Finhay will be using the funds to support an education initiative for its Vietnamese users. The content will cover investing basics and strategies.

Finhays modern, tech-enabled solution is revolutionizing access to wealth management resources for millennials, said Jeffrey Cruttenden, co-founder of Acorns, the fastest growing financial wellness system with 7M accounts. With a growing need for fintech in Vietnam, Finhay's competitive advantage is its commitment to financial literacy and emphasis on education for younger generations."

To learn more about Finhay and its diverse portfolio of wealth management tools, visit https://finhay.com.vn.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
As local licensed professional counselors, education figures and others warn of a growing problem with mental health issues, mental illness and possible suicides as the stress from the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic continue, focusing on help is a common theme. Carolyn Robistow, a licensed professional counselor in The Woodlands believes anxiety is more prevalent than in the past.

The Villager did a telephone interview with Robistow on some of the mental health issues arising from the pandemic, notably anxiety, which she specializes in. Robistow is a Texas state-Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of The Joy Effect, a private practice in The Woodlands. She has a bachelors degree in education and a masters degree in counselor education. Before she opened The Joy Effect, she was both a teacher and then a school counselor at Texas school districts. Robistow works with Mosaics of Mercy, a local mental health resource center that helps paid individuals with appropriate counseling and mental health care.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Cornyn goes after China, Texans cheerleaders shows stay-at-home workout

QUESTION: What is anxiety?

ROBISTOW: There is my take on anxiety and a book called the DSM, where we would find what the criteria is for generalized anxiety disorder, which is diagnosed. People misconstrue what that looks like. A lot of the stigma is being taken away from it, which is a positive thing. (Younger people) Are growing up in an age where there is more access to information that peaks anxiety. It is harder for them to turn it off which then makes it harder to turn off your brain from ruminating on it. Rumination is something we see is really common in anxiety. An anxious thought or worry pops into your head, Oh gosh, what if my loved one gets sick? Anxiety shows up when you cannot shake that thought and you cant stop from feeling worried about that thought and that you may not be doing enough to prevent that. Then it leans into obsessive-compulsive and somehow if you dont do the right thing, it is your fault they get sick. We are seeing a lot more anxiety, I dont know if it is more recognized or because it is more prevalent.

QUESTION: What are you seeing more of in relation to mental health during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic?

MORE FROM JEFF FORWARD: Montgomery County mental health experts say online, virtual counseling is available amid COVID-19

ROBISTOW: As someone who specializes in anxiety, which is kind of over-thinking in general and worrying about things..there is definitely an increase in that. I am also seeing a lot of people maybe stuck in self-judgment or shaming themselves for feeling anxious because they are having that idea of, I dont have it as bad as someone else so shouldnt be so upset or worried. I want the community to know, this is an anxious time and it is reasonable for your anxiety to ramp up. I think a lot of what I try to get our community to understand is you do not have to be at rock bottom for help to be helpful for you or to reach out for services. We all have a mask and we want everything to look fine on the outside, but on the inside, were all screaming for help, and somehow asking for help is shameful. That is why I love Mosaics of Mercy, because they make resources so available. A lot of people in The Woodlands dont know what counseling looks like or if they need counseling. Or what level of anxiety is healthy versus a problematic one.

QUESTION: Are there different types of anxiety? Isnt anxiety a normal human function of survival?

Mental Health Resources National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 24-hour-a-day help line with counselors - 1-800-273-8255 or Via text message: text TALK to 741741 Mosaics of Mercy, 33300 Egypt Lane, Suite K300, Magnolia, Telephone: 346-703-0051. Online at: https://mosaicsofmercy.com/ Licensed Professional Counselor Carolyn Robistow, https://joyeffectcounseling.com/ Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare: http://www.tricountyservices.org/ -Telephone hotline: 1-800-659-6994 See More Collapse

ROBISTOW:A lot of the anxiety that is happening right now is functional anxiety. Anxiety is our bodys way of maintaining homeostasis and safety and protection. It is a very basic, instinctive skill. We want our brain to know when we are in danger so we can act quickly to protect ourselves. It is self-preservation. It is in our best interest to have some level of anxiety. Unhealthy anxiety is when our brain starts to respond as if were in danger even when we are not. It is like a smoke detector that picks up a smoke signal when there is no fire. Then we are kind of living with a smoke detector in our head going off even when there is no fire.

QUESTION: What are the biggest misconceptions about anxiety and counseling?

ROBISTOW: I think that is where people are getting mixed up right now, which is what is a healthy level of anxiety to have? My answer is, which maybe not the answer, is if it is keeping you from sleeping well or being able to focus or being unable to be present in your, day to day, then it is worth looking into addressing it. People think counseling is some sort of long term enormous investment and Ill be in counseling my whole life and my anxiety isnt that bad. The truth is, counseling works different for everyone.

QUESTION: What advice do you have for people who may believe they need counseling but have not taken the next step?

ROBISTOW: I would say, if you are thinking, do I need counseling, then is it probably a good idea to reach out to a counselor. We tend to be slow on the uptake with that. For my (patients), specifically when it comes to anxiety, (symptoms) would be difficulty sleeping, sort of trouble shutting off your brain at night and getting the what ifs to kind of quiet themselves down so you can get restful sleep. If you notice the what if are really sneaking their way in, you might be more irritable. Anxiety takes a lot of physical energy. If you notice you are more tensed up than normal, or kind of irritable, things like that can be signs. It can be, youre irritable because youre not sleeping, but youre not sleeping because you are anxious. Addressing the anxiety will improve your sleeping.

QUESTION: Judge Wayne Mack has reiterated the message that relatives and friends need to be watchful of people they think may have mental health issues; what would you say to relatives who are concerned?

ROBISTOW: I know for Judge Mack, he is coming from a lot of the suicidal ideations (angle) and depression, where there is a tremendous need to be watchful for suicidal ideations. As far as anxiety, just being able to say to your loved one, Hey, I noticed you seem pretty worked up, or pretty down or pretty upset. Im wondering if that is something counseling would help with. I think one thing that is true more so now than ever, is people are becoming more and more open to online counseling, which is making it more accessible for people who are so anxious they dont want to leave home even when were not on lock down. Or, they are so depressed, that getting outside is a real challenge for them. Online services make these treatments more accessible. More and more counselors are able to provide that service (online). Counseling does not look like it always does in the movies, where you go lay on a couch (Sigmund) Freud sits behind you and writes on a clipboard. It just does not look that way anymore. The landscape of it changing a little bit makes it a lot more comfortable and doable, and I want people to know that is an option for them.

QUESTION: How does counseling help a person? What are you as a counselor talking to them about in treatment? Are there prescription drugs that are utilized?

ROBISTOW: The briefest answer is going to be it depends on the counselors orientation and specialization. Using a service like Mosaics of Mercy, and I have a feature on my (website), how to choose a counselor. (They need) To say, here is what Im hoping to get out of this experience. Then, having that service like Mosaics connect you with the person who is going to be the right fit. You could be sitting on the couch across from the worlds most renowned expert in anxiety, but if they dont get you, it can be useless. If that relationship piece is not there, then the services are not going to be as beneficial. The most important criteria is you are with a counselor who gets you and who you can trust with your, deepest and darkest (secrets). There are so many different ways and approaches therapists use now. Most therapists do a free consultation on the phone. I would (advise), schedule a couple of consultationsit almost like doing an interview. Call them up on the phone, ask them some questions (to see if the fit is right).

jeff.forward@chron.com
The Marketing Minute by Spiral Marketing In this age of instant media gratification, its time to distill more personal stories in a format that will reach more people.

Spiral Marketing is launching a new podcasting series as an extension of its five-year running show. Karl Boehm, CEO of Spiral Marketing, is inviting journalists to join him, as well as an audience of marketers, entrepreneurs, and branding professionals, on The Marketing Minute.

The Marketing Minute, by Spiral Marketing, contains three segments: the story, the insights, and the background. Journalists experiences are unique to their personal opinions, expertise, and perspectives, and Boehm understands writers arent always available to expand on them.

In this age of instant media gratification, its time to distill more personal stories in a format that will reach more people, says Boehm.

As part of Spiral Marketing's increased outreach and distribution, The Marketing Minute podcast will air on major podcast directories, including iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Journalists Simon Owens and New York Times bestseller Ryan Holiday, as well as Benton Crane of Harmon Brothers and Entrepreneur on Fire John Lee Dumas, have each been a part of Spiral Marketings podcasts. The Marketing Minute maintains the personal connections that level up professional communicators on Spiral Marketing, while focusing on three main points to impact change and growth in just a few minutes.

Journalists interested in being on The Marketing Minute should reply to this press release or fill out Spiral Marketings easy four-question form at https://spiralmarketing.com/podcasts/marketingminute/journalistsinvite.

Spiral Marketing is a digital marketing agency and media company run by strategist, podcast host, and public speaker, Karl Boehm. Over the past twenty years, Boehm has worked with and grown over two hundred different brands across a spectrum of industries. The Spiral Marketing Podcast has been on the air for over five years. An archive of the Spiral Marketing podcasts can be found at: https://www.spiralmarketing.com/.


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
[April 09, 2020] Celanese Launches Sustainability on Celanese.com

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global chemical and specialty materials company, today announces the launch of Sustainability on Celanese.com, an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) focus on the Celanese culture of stewardship, inspired by the company's vision of improving the world and everyday life through its people, chemistry and innovation. Celanese began this new decade looking ahead with increased attention on a sustainable future while continuing to take great pride in its successful past 100 years. Leading Celanese into the new decade, CEO Lori Ryerkerk is building on the company's reputation as a good steward of our environmental resources and a valued community partner. Recently, Celanese was awarded the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award for 2020. Also of late, Celanese acquired Elotex, a portfolio of redispersible polymer powders that helps to improve the sustainability of building materials. Celanese also formed an ESG Council made up of senior leaders from key ESG-related functional and business areas with special representation from its regional leadership. "How we demontrate our commitment to a sustainable future plays such an important role in our success that we've raised up Sustainability as one of our four strategic pillars," said Ryerkerk. "Even during these challenging times, it is important to help stakeholders stay informed of the actions Celanese is taking to address sustainability and ESG topics. We are dedicated to operating responsibly and strive to remain at the forefront of sustainable practices."



"The Council serves to align ESG efforts with Celanese's strategic sustainability goals and industry best practices," said Lynne Puckett, ESG Council executive sponsor, Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "In years past, we have shared our sustainability story through a variety of mediums including the Stewardship report. Today, companies communicate their sustainability efforts in the ESG framework. One way the Council has aligned Celanese's work in sustainability with ESG best practices is by updating, re-organizing and enhancing this content." About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Our businesses use the full breadth of Celanese's global chemistry, technology and commercial expertise to create value for our customers, employees, shareholders and the corporation. As we partner with our customers to solve their most critical business needs, we strive to make a positive impact on our communities and the world through The Celanese Foundation. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of $6.3 billion. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com. Forward-Looking Statements: This release may contain "forward-looking statements," which include information concerning the company's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future revenues or performance, capital expenditures and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words "outlook," "forecast," "estimates," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "plans," "intends," "believes," and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the company or its customers will realize these benefits or that these expectations will prove correct. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Numerous factors, many of which are beyond the company's control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed as forward-looking statements. Other risk factors include those that are discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005660/en/

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South Africa: NW calls on patients to adhere to self-quarantine

The North West Health Department has called on residents to obey the rules of self-quarantine to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus in the province.

"The province now has 15 confirmed cases. We cannot afford to have the numbers increase because of individuals who do not respect the rules of lockdown or regulations around quarantine, said MEC Madoda Sambatha.

The provincial department said it noted with concern a lack of understanding of the province's position on self-quarantine at home and mandatory quarantine in a state facility.

Based on the directive of President Cyril Ramaphosa, people who are infected with Coronavirus, but who have no or moderate symptoms will remain in isolation at home or at a place provided by government, and those with severe symptoms will be transferred to a hospital.

It is equally important to also keep in mind the protection of those not sick from any possibility of being infected or getting transmission from people who knew they have tested positive but through their deliberate misbehaviours they infect or transmit to others, this on its own is a criminal offense.

Anyone who is placed in self-quarantine and deliberately breaks the rules and procedures of self-quarantine will be tracked down and when found will forfeit the right to self-quarantine.

By law we should be opening criminal offenses for these individuals who put others at the risk of infection by breaking the rules of self-quarantine, said the MEC.

Sambatha emphasised the need to balance individual rights of people who deliberately break the law and endanger the lives of many innocent and healthy South Africans and strict rules meant to protect the majority of law abiding citizens.

In the new Standard Operating Procedure on quarantine and hospital isolation, the Health Department added a requirement that any general practitioner, private hospital or government hospital that prescribes self-quarantine at home must request permission from the MEC in writing with motivation on why self-quarantine.

The MEC will then send a team of clinical specialists to assess the place for self-quarantine and make recommendations to the MEC.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
To recover from the coronavirus, as she did, Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighboring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the super old"  people who are at least 100. As the nation with the worlds highest number of COVID-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Im well, Im well, Zanusso said Tuesday during a video call with The Associated Press from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont. I watch TV, read the newspapers.

Zanusso wore a protective mask, as did her family doctor of 35 years beside her, Carla Furno Marchese, who also donned eyewear and a gown that covered her head.

Asked about her illness, Zanusso is modest: I had some fever.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Her doctor said Zanusso was in bed for a week.

We hydrated her because she wasnt eating, and then we thought she wasnt going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting, Furno Marchese said.

One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before, Furno Marchese said. The doctor recalled when Zanusso was able to sit up, then managed to get out of bed.

What helped her get through the illness? Courage and strength, faith," Zanusso said. It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also give yourself courage, have faith.

COVID-19 can cause mild or moderate symptoms, and most of those who are infected recover. But the elderly and those with existing health problems can be at high risk for more serious illness.

The virus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and over 88,000 worldwide. The World Health Organization says 95% of those who have died in Europe were over 60 years old.

Under Italys five-week-long lockdown, which is aimed at containing the spread of infections that have overwhelmed hospitals, visitors arent allowed at homes for the elderly.

Her doctor asked Zanusso what she would like to do when they open the doors.

Id like to take a lovely walk, she replied. And your three great-grandchildren? Watch them play together.

Deaths, hospitalizations and new infections are leveling off in Italy, and Premier Giuseppe Conte is expected to announce in the coming days how long the lockdown will remain in place, with expectations that some restrictions could be eased.

For now, Zanusso is isolated from other residents as she awaits a follow-up swab test to confirm she is negative for the virus.

She grew up in Treviso, in the northeastern Veneto region, where she worked for many years in the textile industry. Zanusso, who turns 104 on Aug. 16, had four children  three of whom are living  and has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Shes old, but healthy, with no chronic illness, her doctor said.

This week, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera devoted an entire page to the stories of super-old survivors, called healing at 100 years old. The inspirational portraits are a counterpoint to news of large numbers of deaths among elderly people living in Italian nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities.

Of the victims, most elderly werent tested for COVID-19 if they died in nursing homes, so the numbers dont figure into Italys overall coronavirus death toll, which is the highest in the world.

Medical staff went through a very hard time, said Furno Marchese, the doctor. It was a great emergency with so many residents ill, so to see a positive outcome was very rewarding, not only for me, but for all the people who worked hard here nonstop."

Outside the nonprofit, 61-bed Maria Grazia Residence, the Italian flag flies at half-staff in tribute to those who died of the virus.
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Thu, April 9, 2020 21:11 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0efbeb 1 National Tasikmalaya,Ahmadiyah,Ahmadiyah-Mosque Free

Authorities in Tasikmalaya, West Java, have banned the renovation of a mosque in Cipakat vilage, Singaparna district, that belongs to a local Ahmadiyah congregation, a minority Muslim group that has long been persecuted for its beliefs.

The ban was enacted in a joint decree signed on Jan. 27 by authorities in the regency, including Tasikmalaya Regent Ade Sugianto.

The representatives of the local Ahmadiyah group received a copy of the decree on Saturday.

Nanang Ahmad Hidayat, the chairman of the local Ahmadiyah group, said the decree included nine key provisions, one of which prohibited any members of the group from performing religious activities in public.

The renovation of their mosque, the Al-Aqso Mosque, was also halted as the administration wanted to prevent public outrage, he said.

The ban is reportedly based on Law No. 28/2002 on the construction of buildings, as well as a joint decree issued by the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Home Ministry on religious harmony.

Nanang said he was confounded by the ban. He said the mosque had had a building permit since 1980.

The mosque has existed since 1970. The last renovation took place in 2005. We planned another renovation in 2019 because the roof [was leaking]. It won't be a major renovation, he said.

He added that the group already kept all religious events private to avoid public controversy. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the mosque had only occasionally hosted group prayers with limited attendance as most members were practicing physical distancing, he said.

Read also: Officials halt reconstruction of vandalized Ahmadiyah mosque

Aip Mubarok, the head of human resources development at the Tasikmalaya chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Islamic organization, said the activities of the local Ahmadiyah group had never seemed to bother anyone in the region.

He said the administrations ban contradicted a 2008 joint decree issued by the religious affairs minister, the attorney general and the home minister on the activities of Ahmadiyah groups.

The controversial decree  which critics call a violation of religious freedom  bans Ahmadis from evangelizing their beliefs, but it does not explicitly stipulate any ban on practicing their faith.

Aip called on the Tasikmalaya administration to engage in a dialogue with the local Ahmadiyah group instead of imposing the ban.

Its for the sake of mutual understanding, so that the rights of Ahmadiyah members may be protected in accordance with the law, Aip added.

Ahmadiyah groups have long been persecuted in the country, with some local administrations sealing mosques belonging to the minority group and justifying their actions using the 2008 joint ministerial decree prohibiting Ahmadiyah adherents from spreading their beliefs.

The decree referred to a 2005 Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) fatwa declaring the teachings of Ahmadiyah heretical.

Earlier this month, authorities in Sukabumi, West Java, reportedly prevented the reconstruction of a mosque belonging to an Ahmadiyah group in the regency, highlighting the continued repression of the minority Muslim group since the mosque was set ablaze by a mob in 2008. (rfa)
LOS ANGELES  The hotel guests checked in one by one, handing their belongings to a uniformed employee waiting with a luggage cart.

They were offered bottled water and shown to their rooms. But unlike typical guests patronizing area hotels, they would not be paying for their accommodations.

They were the first wave of temporary shelter recipients identified through Project Roomkey, a statewide initiative California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled last week to secure 15,000 hotel and motel rooms for some of the state's 151,000 residents experiencing homelessness.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Los Angeles County, home to the largest unsheltered population in the state, set its own goal of obtaining an additional 15,000 rooms for some of the 60,000 people living on its streets, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Project Roomkey is part of California's effort to flatten the coronavirus curve as COVID-19, the disease it causes, spreads. More than 17,000 Californians had tested positive for the virus and nearly 500 had died as of Wednesday, according to NBC News counts. At least 18 cases involved people experiencing homelessness, according to the county's public health director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

To mitigate the damage, officials fast-tracked previously announced plans to temporarily shelter homeless residents, who are at greater risk of experiencing chronic health problems or contracting deadly diseases.

Researchers warned last month that as many as 3,400 people experiencing homelessness could die from COVID-19, according to a joint study by universities in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania and Boston. As many as 1,200 of those victims were projected to live in California.

"As a humanitarian issue and to protect emergency room resources, it is essential that we do everything we can to help homeless people find safety," said co-author Randall Kuhn, an associate professor of community health sciences at the University of California-Los Angeles' Fielding School of Public Health.

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Hotel rooms set aside for Project Roomkey are reserved for the most vulnerable people living in the streets, including those over age 65 and those who have pre-existing health conditions. Those in temporary shelters will have greater access to services, such as warm meals and medical assistance, and the program will also help to ease congestion inside shelters, where it has become difficult for residents to practice social distancing, a key to further preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Image: Homeless in California during COVID-19 (Michael Owen Baker / Los Angeles County)

The first hotel opened Friday in Los Angeles, and five more have since come online, said Heidi Marston, interim director of the Homeless Services Authority, who anticipates having more than 1,000 beds available by next week in over 15 sites across the county.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said this week that the number of rooms must increase rapidly, and he encouraged hotel operators to allow the government to lease them.

Project Roomkey equips each hotel or motel with supportive services, including drug and alcohol counseling, mental health treatment, fresh meals and onsite security. Nurses monitor residents and staff members daily for signs of coronavirus infection, Marston said, and people who become symptomatic will be moved into isolation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay 75 percent of leasing costs, and the state will provide $800 million in emergency funds to counties. Los Angeles County and its partners have collectively allocated $39.3 million in state emergency funding for the project.

Expanding temporary shelter had already been a goal before the outbreak, "but it's now more urgent than ever," said County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, adding that it is "no small feat."

"We have a moral and ethical responsibility to do our part," she said.

One Southern California hotel backed out of Project Roomkey this week after residents of a nearby senior living community protested plans to use the site, an Ayres Hotel, as a temporary shelter.

"We have heard the concerns of Laguna Woods residents and do not want to add more fear or worry to our neighbors," the company said in a statement.

Ayres Hotels, which owns multiple properties across the region, said it will continue to use one of its locations for Project Roomkey. That hotel is close to medical facilities and will operate under strict isolation guidelines, the hotel said.

The battle to house California's unsheltered population has been well documented for decades. At the beginning the year, Newsom asked lawmakers to direct $1.4 billion toward combating the crisis. Last year, homelessness increased by 16 percent across the state, according to the annual point-in-time count.

Now, cities and counties are navigating the two public health crises  the coronavirus and homelessness  according to the needs of each community. San Diego is completing plans to move 800 homeless residents into the city's convention center, NBC San Diego reported. Additional beds are being secured through Project Roomkey.

San Francisco has leased more than 900 rooms in eight hotels, with more coming online later this month, The Associated Press reported.
The Indonesian National Police have intensified social media monitoring in efforts to prevent the dissemination of false information and comments that defame the President and government officials during the Covid-19 outbreak. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has backed its affiliate the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia in objecting to the monitoring order and urge authorities to focus more on tackling the pandemic and ensuring the dissemination of accurate, transparent information.

The order, signed by Head of the Criminal Investigation Agency Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo on April 4, stated that the polices cyber patrol will monitor the spread of coronavirus-related hoaxes, defamation against the president and the government and online fraud associated with the sale of health and medical equipment.

Social media users, who spread false information relating to government policies to tackle the pandemic, will be charged under the articles 14 and or 15 of the criminal code. If they are guilty, the social media users will face a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.

In addition, those found insulting the President and government officials will be subject to the Criminal Code's Article 207, carrying a maximum sentence of 1.5 years in prison. Health equipment frauds will be charged under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

AJI, in its join statement with other freedom of expression and freedom of the press organisations, said they urge the authorities to drop the order and called on police to act professionally and without partisan political pressure during the pandemic.

AJI asks the National Police to prioritise the principles of Human Rights and Due Process of Law when they carry out its functions and duties amid the outbreak, AJI added.

On March 30, police arrested four suspects for spreading hoaxes related with Covid-19. At the end of last month, police recorded at least 45 cases of dissemination of hoaxes. Indonesian health authorities have confirmed 2,956 Covid-19 positive cases with 240 people dying from the virus as of Wednesday, April 8.

The IFJ said: IFJ condemns any efforts from the National Police that will damage freedom of speech and access to information in Indonesia. Intensified monitoring and threats of arrest may hinder the publics right to express their opinions. Amid the health crisis, it is essential for the government to listen to suggestions and criticisms so that authorities can improve their public health strategy and successfully tackle the pandemic in the country.
The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday said he has received death threats and racist insults in the course of leading the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the CNBC, the Ethiopian microbiologist said: I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months.

He reportedly told reporters during a conference call from the organisations Geneva headquarters about abuses, racist comments and (those) giving him names, (like) black or Negro.

Im proud of being black, proud of being Negro, he told reporters I dont care, to be honest  even death threats. I dont give a damn.

Mr Ghebreyesus was responding to a question about whether criticism from world leaders such as President Donald Trump in the midst of a global pandemic makes it more difficult to operate the WHO.

Mr Ghebreyesus commented specifically on insults that he said came from Taiwan.

Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan, he said.

And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didnt disassociate themselves. They even started criticising me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didnt care.

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The official is currently sparring with Mr Trump who has accused him of unduly aligning with the Chinese in the battle against the dreaded pandemic. Mr Trump also threatened to withdraw financial support for the WHO, though he later backtracked.

Mr Ghebreyesus has since responded to Mr Trump, urging him not to politicise the war on COVID-19.

Please quarantine COVID politics. Thats what we want. We dont care about personal attacks, he said. We care about the life passing every single minute unnecessarily because we couldnt unite to fight this virus.

He also pleaded for world leaders and politicians to put aside differences and focus on the fight against the pandemic, which has now infected more than 1.4 million people around the world and killed at least 83,615, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday debunked a media report stating that Union minister Smriti Irani had fed workers belonging to her parliamentary constituency of Amethi, who were stranded in Wayanad due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

RSS mouthpiece, 'Organiser' had on April 6 carried a report titled 'Smriti Irani helps starving daily wagers of Amethi stranded in Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad Constituency'.

The report said the minister's "timely intervention" had saved 35 migrant workers stranded in Karuvarakundu in Malappuram district of the state which falls under the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Vijayan, who met the media after the COVID-19 evaluation meet, said the news was noticed on Tuesday but he had ignored it as "propaganda''.

"When we enquired about it, we found that 41 guest workers (migrant workers) were staying together at a place and the panchayat officials had provided 25 kits to them as they had stated that they would cook for themselves. There was no shortage of food there," he said.

Vijayan, however, said he saw a news report from Delhi saying 'Help from Smriti reaches Wayanad' and 'Rahul helps Amethi'.

"Saw a propaganda piece being circulated through 'Organiser' of RSS saying that the timely intervention of Smriti Irani helped the starving workers from Amethi. Just want to make one thing clear. The State has been assisting the guest workers and all other hard-hit people of the state.," he said.

"There should be no competition or misleading propaganda that might disrupt or undermine the efforts of the state," he added.

On allegations that the state government was giving more importance to migrant workers, he said they were from the downtrodden section of the community and helping them was the society's responsibility.

"We feel that our motto, Atithi Devo Bhava, is something which we need to implement in our lives. We need to provide good food, accommodation and necessary medical help," the chief minister said.

The Centre has been requested to allot a special train for them so that they can return to their respective states once the lockdown is lifted, he said.

The state will also provide Rs 1,000 each to at least 10,000 artists who have applied to the government for help during the present circumstances.
Its time to encourage people to wear face masks as a precautionary measure on the grounds that we have little to lose and potentially something to gain, say experts in The British Medical Journal.

Professor Trisha Greenhalgh at the University of Oxford and colleagues say despite limited evidence, masks could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.

The question of whether masks will reduce transmission of Covid-19 in the general public is contested. Irish health authorities have not yet recommended widespread use.

The BMJ says that although clinical trial evidence on the widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against Covid-19 is lacking, increasing numbers of agencies and governments, including the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, are now advocating that the general population wears masks. It says others, such as the World Health Organization and Public Health England are not.

The BMJ says some researchers argue that people are unlikely to wear masks properly or consistently, and may ignore wider infection control measures like handwashing. Others say the public should not wear them since healthcare workers need them more.

But the BMJ says Greenhalgh and colleagues challenge these arguments and suggest that in the context of Covid-19, many people could be taught to use masks properly and may well do this consistently without abandoning other important anti-contagion measures.

The BMJ says that they say if political will is there, mask shortages can be quickly overcome by repurposing manufacturing capacity  something that is already happening informally. They conclude that it is time to act without waiting for randomised controlled trial evidence.

Masks are simple, cheap, and potentially effective, they write. We believe that, worn both in the home (particularly by the person showing symptoms) and also outside the home in situations where meeting others is likely (for example, shopping, public transport), they could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.

In a linked editorial, Babak Javid at Tsinghua University in Beijing and colleagues agree that the public should wear face masks because the benefits are plausible and harms unlikely. And they say cloth masks are likely to be better than wearing no mask at all.

The BMJ says in a release that as ws we prepare to enter a new normal, wearing a mask in public may become the face of our unified action in the fight against this common threat and reinforce the importance of social distancing measures, they conclude.

In an opinion piece, researchers recommend that health care workers should not be caring for Covid-19 patients without proper respiratory protection, and that cloth masks are not a suitable alternative for health care workers.
Police officers beat and arrested protesting doctors and health care workers in Quetta, Pakistan on Monday, prompting outrage across the country.

The clash occurred after several hundred medical staff had marched to protest the authorities' failure to provide them with personal protective equipment (PPE) in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Across Pakistan, over 4,000 cases and 60 deaths have been recorded so far, figures which are certainly underestimates due to the shambolic state of the country's health care system.

The arrests and beatings occurred after health workers rallied near the citys main hospital and marched to the Balochistan Chief Ministers house. Police aggressively used batons to disperse the march and arrested 150 health workers. Responding to the arrests, health workers went on strike.

Doctors detained in Balochistan, Pakistan, following a protest against lack of equipment. Credit: Pakistan Young Doctors Association

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) warned in a press briefing that most services will not be provided until they are given the necessary equipment and PPE to tackle the surge in coronavirus cases. YDA has denounced the government for not following World Health Organisation guidelines, forcing medical staff to protest in defence of their right to safety and life itself.

The lack of PPE is an issue common to all health care workers on the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. The protest by doctors and other staff in Pakistan comes as protests and criticism of governments' lack of preparedness have mounted across North America and Europe.

Pakistans government claimed the medical workers were arrested for violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which bans gathering of more than five people, and holding a procession. Facing a wave of public criticism, Prime Minister Imran Khan later expressed his dismay over the arrests.

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, Pakistans poorest province, and the 10th largest city in the country, with a population of well over one million. The province, which has long been the scene of an ethno-separatist insurgency, is virtually under Army control, and dominated politically by a tiny kleptocracy. They preside over dilapidated public infrastructure, including totally inadequate health facilities. This is reflected in the fact that in Balochistan, which is home to some 12.3 million people, less than 4,000 coronavirus tests have thus far been conducted. To date there have been 206 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two deaths.

Mondays protest was driven by the mounting toll the virus is taking on health care workers. Underscoring the disastrous impact of the absence of PPE, 19 doctors and health workers in Balochistan have tested positive for COVID-19. Thousands of suspected cases are not tested for COVID-19 due to the lack of test capacity and essential medicine.

The situation across Pakistan is little better. All medical facilities in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar are dealing with a severe shortage of ventilators, gloves, masks and respirators. Health workers in Sindh have also warned the government that they will take strike action if their demands for PPE are not met.

The most vulnerable are the residents of villages and rural areas bordering Iran, which are economically dependent on Iran and have been completely ignored by the central government and Balochistan provincial authorities.

This state of affairs has been created by the hoarding of billions of rupees by the super-rich, venal bourgeois elite, which has displayed its utter contempt towards the masses by refusing to take the most elementary measures to effectively combat the coronavirus.

The terrible social conditions facing the masses are worsening by the day. Many can no longer afford basic food items due to skyrocketing prices and the devaluation of the rupee. While the Balochistan government has extended a lockdown till April 21 in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, this has further exacerbated the social crisis for working people, many of whom now find themselves unemployed and without income-support. Neither the Balochistan provincial government, nor Khans federal government have taken adequate measures to protect Pakistans impoverished masses from the catastrophic social and economic impact of the pandemic.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenias banks provided loan repayment holiday worth 9,3 billion drams to nearly 290,000 citizens during the current crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at todays Cabinet session, adding that a similar holiday has also been granted to 5,300 legal persons with a total amount of 15,4 billion drams.

There are all grounds to state that this process will continue. But I want to note that these decisions have been made without any administrative engagement by the government, the PM added.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
More than 100 inmates at the Monroe Corrections Complex near Seattle on Wednesday staged a revolt and threatened to take corrections officers hostage after half a dozen prisoners tested positive for the coronavirus.

Law enforcement agencies responded to the correctional facility at 7pm to help contain what a Washington State Patrol spokeswoman called a large 'disturbance,' which reportedly started after it emerged that six inmates and five prison staff tested positive for COVID-19.

State Trooper Heather Axtman confirmed inmates were making threats to start fires and possibly take corrections officers hostage, but she said she didnt know whether violence had broken out.

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More than 100 inmates at the minimum security unit at Monroe Corrections Complex near Seattle staged a revolt Wednesday after six inmates and five staff tested positive for COVID-19

Rebelling inmates set off fire extinguishers and reportedly threatened to take correction officers hostage

Law enforcement officers responded in force, deploying pepper spray and 'sting balls' that shoot out small rubber projectiles to bring the situation under control

Two inmates at the Monroe prison described the chaotic scene inside the prison in electronic messages to The Seattle Times with one calling it 'off the hook,' saying corrections officers had 'these grenades that shoot pellets to control what the hell is going on,' apparently referring to explosive devices known as 'sting balls' that shoot out small rubber projectiles.

Another man said: 'Its bad over here again. People are starting to run outdoors, throw food and all.'

A KIRO7-TV news camera appeared to show a controlled scene with inmates on their knees with their hands restrained with zipties outside and armed law enforcement patrolling around the perimeter.

The Washington State Department of Corrections confirmed details related to the incident in a press release, saying that more than 100 minimum-security inmates staged a demonstration in the recreation yard over COVID-19 concerns.

'All measures to bring individuals into compliance were ignored including verbal directives, pepper (OC) spray and sting balls, which release light, noise, and rubber pellets,' reported the DOC.

Inmates are seen handcuffed in the yard after the revolt was quelled Wednesday evening

The housing units where the demonstration was staged were fully evacuated by staff

Inmates set off fire extinguishers within two housing units, making it look like smoke from the outside.

The revolting prisoners were ordered to stand down, and half of them complied, but the other half continued the disturbance, prompting law enforcement officials to deploy sting balls at them.

'The individuals then stopped the destruction of the two housing units and came into compliance,' the press release stated.

According to the state DOC, there were no injuries to staff or inmates. Both housing units were evacuated.

The facility has been grappling with the coronavirus and the revolt came on the same day inmates at the prisons minimum-security unit were told that additional inmates had tested positive for COVID-19.

The Department of Corrections have confirmed six inmates and five staff members at the Monroe facility have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the statement from the DOC, the sick prisoners were transferred from the minimum security unit on Sunday to the prison's isolation unit, where they were being monitored and cared for by prison medics.

'The Department of Corrections continues to work at protecting medically vulnerable incarcerated individuals,' the agency said. 'All individuals in the housing unit where the first positive individuals were previously housed continue to have no symptoms of illness or disease (asymptomatic) and are wearing surgical masks for further protection.

'The Department of Corrections takes the safety and security of its correctional facilities, staff, and incarcerated individuals very seriously. An internal investigation will be completed.'

The state Department of Corrections released a statement saying the agency works to protect vulnerable inmates at the Monroe facility amid the coronavirus pandemic

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 436,510 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15,674 deaths nationwide

Inmates and families of those confined at the unit have raised alarms, saying inmates are vulnerable as they share living and recreations spaces, making it difficult to practice social distancing recommended by public-health officials.

April Franklin told KIRO7-TV that her husband, who is housed in the minimum security unit, suffers from asthma and COPD, which makes him vulnerable to the coronavirus.

'He doesnt even eat in the chow hall, because the last time he was in there they were sitting two men at a table less than three feet apart,' she said. 'Theres no social distancing in there.'

Nick Straley, an attorney for Columbia Legal Services, on Wednesday night said the organization will file an emergency motion Thursday on behalf of the inmates with the state Supreme Court asking for immediate action to address the DOCs 'inadequate COVID-19 response' at the Monroe prison.
Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak met with US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien and discussed the IMF-Ukraine cooperation and the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien The issues of Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF were also discussed, the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine reports.

Yermak informed that the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada would be held shortly, in the course of which the necessary laws should be adopted to start implementing the new program of cooperation with the Fund.

As noted, the key attention was paid to counteracting the coronavirus pandemic. Andriy Yermak expressed his condolences to the US over the major death toll caused by the virus.

The parties discussed the recent phone conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They noted the constructive nature of this conversation and coordinated further steps to implement the agreements reached.

The Head of the President's Office informed the American diplomat of the situation in Donbas and the state of negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.

In addition, Andriy Yermak and Kristina Kvien discussed the development of Ukrainian-American cooperation in trade, economic and other spheres.

On April 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo discussed the issue of counteracting the coronavirus and the possibility of Ukraine obtaining loan guarantees from the United States.

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A 76-year-old man, who had tested positive for coronavirus, died in Jodhpur and 47 new cases emerged in Rajasthan on Thursday, taking the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 to 430 in the state.

The 76-year-old man wasfied during a survey in Jodhpur, ACS (Medical and Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said.

With this, the death toll due to novel coronavirus rose to seven in the state.

Singh said 47 more people tested positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan.

A doctor from Jodhpur who was engaged in a door-to-door survey also tested positive, he said.

Of the new 47 cases, 11 are from Jaipur, seven each in Tonk, Jhalawar and Jhunjhunu, five in Jaisalmer, three in Jodhpur, two in Banswara and one in Barmer, the ACS said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





If Azerbaijani citizens do not comply with the rules of the special quarantine regime, then the appeal will be made to the country's leadership to tighten the measures, Chairman of Azerbaijan's Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB), Member of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers Ramin Bayramli said.

Bayramli made the remark in Baku at the briefing of the Operational Headquarters on April 8, Trend reports.

If citizens show patience during 2-3 weeks, they will be able to stop the spread of the infection and return to normal life, TABIB chairman said.

"Sometimes our citizens do not fully comply with the quarantine regime and do not understand the seriousness of the situation, Bayramli said. "However, people must understand that if the quarantine rules are not observed, the number of infected persons will increase and more serious consequences will arise. In this case, the number of fatal cases will also increase."

Bayramli added that TABIB is currently continuing its activity related to coronavirus by carrying out the medical treatment, diagnosis and prevention.

Today, 15 laboratories operate in Azerbaijan, TABIB chairman said.

New laboratories will open in Sheki and Sumgayit cities next week, Bayramli added. Currently, we are conducting up to 3,000 coronavirus tests. We will bring the number of tests up to 5,000 soon.

The special logistics plans have been created in connection with the tests, TABIB chairman said. As soon as the request is obtained, the doctors go home to the patients and carry out analysis. Patients remain at home until the results of the medical check-up are known."

Bayramli stressed that today more than 3,000 medical check-ups were carried out in the country and 105 infected people were detected.
Despite a lofty statement on March 26, the worlds richest nations, the G20, have responded poorly to the devastating effects that COVID-19 is having on the global economy, particularly small and vulnerable states.

The G20 pledged to work swiftly and decisively with the front-line international organizations, notably the Wold Health Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and multilateral and regional development banks to deploy a robust, coherent, coordinated, and rapid financial package and to address any gaps in their toolkit.

Yet, there is a marked absence of international consultation and global solidarity. Instead, wealthy nations have retreated into nationalism, protectionism and isolationism.

In the absence of a coherent international response, small and vulnerable states, especially those that are highly reliant on tourism, will be the worst victims. For at least two years after COVID-19 is brought under control, the economies of these countries, will languish in economic lassitude and regression, causing social discontent, disquiet and, maybe, even disorder.

The United States (US), which should be the leader of global action, has been prominent in its inaction. Preoccupied with Presidential elections in November and the rising number of deaths and the declining performance of the economy, the US government and the Congress are both focussed on America first.

No one can blame them for attention to their countrys needs, but the adverse effects of COVID-19 cannot be surmounted by America only. The US relies on the rest of the world to be a vibrant market for its goods and services. When the economies of these countries contract and their earnings decline, their capacity to buy from the US shrinks and so do their imports of US goods and services that maintain US employment and revenues.

Apart from a statement on April 7 that the US had mobilised US$6 million to provide test kits to Barbados and more than 60 other countries to fight the spread of COVID-19  about US$10,000 per county  there has been no announcement by the US government of any initiative to provide funds that would help developing countries, especially those in its immediate neighbourhood, to cope with the grave blows to their economies.

It must be hoped that this is a delay and not a decision, and that US leadership that has, in the past, contributed to global recovery will emerge once again.

Similarly, on April 3, the 27-nation European Union (EU) said it would provide a grant of US$8.6 million to help the Caribbean fight the coronavirus outbreak. Roughly that sum works out to US$570,000 each for 15 countries, while these countries have had to spend tens of millions. The EU and Britain have also not proposed any programmes for tackling the global economic crisis that is so obviously and troublingly unfolding. The EU failed to mobilise a plan for its own membership. Instead, member countries of the Community unilaterally imposed restrictions on each other, stopping transport links without coordination. Every country withdrew into its own cocoon.

Notwithstanding its medical supplies to some countries, China, too, has announced no proposals for a Fund of its own to help vulnerable developing countries to cope with the economic battering they are enduring.

Chinas response has not matched its economic and financial capacity. But it has the opportunity now to provide global leadership. There has never been any better or important time for China to give meaning to its often-stated commitment to South-South co-operation. It has a real chance to bolster its standing as well as to protect its loan investments in many of the affected countries.

These countries, particularly the tourism dependent ones, have lost as much as 20% of their Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2020, and the next two quarters will be no better. Their expenditures have spiked in the construction of quarantine facilities; purchases of emergency medical equipment and test kits; and management of the virus. Unbudgeted expenditure has also had to be made to cushion the shocks to the vulnerable who have been laid-off or had their incomes slashed as planes stop flying, cruise ship stop docking, and hotels close.

Amid all this, government revenues have been drastically reduced. They simply cannot continue to service international debts, including loan repayments to China.

This situation will get worse for many Caribbean countries whose economies rely heavily on tourism. The World Travel and Tourism Council has projected a global loss of 75 million jobs and $2.1 trillion in revenue. As job losses reach stunning figures in the US, UK and EU, it will be close to two years, after shutdowns around the world are lifted, before tourism re-emerges as a major contributor to economic growth.

Throughout that period, small and vulnerable economies will flounder irreparably unless there is international direct help  bilaterally and internationally. On March 30, Antigua and Barbudas Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, wrote to the Heads of the IMF and the World Bank proposing measures to help small and vulnerable economies, including suspension of per capita income as a criteria for concessional financing; debt relief including suspension of debt payments, write-offs of aged debt particularly by the Paris Club; and budgetary support through a mix of grants and low-cost loans on a country by country basis.

Such an effort needs the urgent support of the US, China and the EU  each of which, for different reasons, should have a vested interest in political stability and economic security in the Caribbean.

The G20 countries stated that they are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic. The rest of the world should be vocal in holding the G20 countries to their word.

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

(The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)
San Francisco, April 9 : Google has confirmed that Hangouts Meet is no longer a Hangouts product and will simply be known as Google Meet.

The rebrand will happen on a rolling basis, meaning it will take time for it to disseminate globally, reports Android Police.

The search engine giant also confirmed that Meet is an independent part of G Suite, the portfolio of business services that also includes brands such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive.

Hangouts or Classic Hangouts is a separate platform from Hangouts Chat and the rebranded Meet.

Google's Hangouts is just like any messaging platform with features like video calling, while Hangouts Chat is just for messaging and Meet is for meetings.

It probably wise to put the Google name front and center, as it does for so many of its other services Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Keep, Google Assistant and more.

Currently, Google Meet's usage is 25 times what it was in January and the service is gaining more than 2 million new users a day.
The number of Turkish people who succumbed to the novel coronavirus has jumped to 812, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet late Wednesday.

The number of total cases also surged, reaching 38,226 from Tuesdays toll of 34,109.

Koca urged people to abide by the rules of self-isolation and emphasized the importance of staying home amid the pandemic.

However, the number of people who recovered from the disease raised hopes as it topped 1,846.

Daily coronavirus infections in Turkey  the worlds ninth-worst hit country by the number of active cases  have risen for the ninth consecutive day.

READ: Turkey coronavirus death toll jumps to 812 while cases top 38,226

Second person dies of COVID-19 in Fethiye

A second person has died of COVID-19 in Fethiye.

British national Jayne Kathleen Hunt, a 73-year-old who has lived in the Cals area of Fethiye for approximately 15 years, was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Fethiye State Hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19. Jayne suffered with an underlying, respiratory condition.

Her husband, Jack, was also quarantined for testing.

Source: https://gercekfethiye.com/fethiyede-coronadan-ikinci-olum/26561/

Turkey to track citizens via mobile phones to enforce quarantines

According to a report by Reuters, Turkey will monitor the mobile phones of those diagnosed with the new coronavirus to ensure they do not break quarantine, authorities said on Wednesday, marking the latest measure to stem an outbreak that has surged over the last month.

Turkey will start tracking citizens and send them a message and call them each time they leave their homes, the presidencys Communications Directorate said.

They will be asked to return home and police will penalise those who continue to violate quarantine rules, it said, adding that Turkish law allows for processing of personal data without consent for exceptional aims.

READ: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-turkey-phones/turkey-to-track-citizens-via-mobile-phones-to-enforce-quarantines-idUSKBN21Q1ZY

Coronavirus hits districts unevenly in large Turkish provinces

A map released recently by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shows that the distribution of the coronavirus cases across the country and within provinces highly differ.

The total number of cases has surpassed 38,000, with the death toll exceeding 800, according to the latest data.

Istanbul, Turkeys largest city with a population of around 16 million, accounts for nearly 60 percent of all confirmed cases. Izmir, a province on the Aegean coast, comes second with 1,500 cases, followed by the capital Ankara with 1,000 cases.

READ: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/coronavirus-hits-districts-unevenly-in-large-turkish-provinces-153711

Convalescent plasma therapy useful in treating COVID-19

The aim of convalescent plasma therapy is to take antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from a virus and transfer them to a treat a person sick with the virus.

READ: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/health/convalescent-plasma-therapy-useful-in-treating-covid-19/1797975

What to do if you think have Coronavirus

Update from Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital

If you attend the Esnaf and are found to be positive for COVID-19 and have a Turkish ID number (including 99 IDs), you will be categorized as an emergency and WILL NOT have to pay for treatment, regardless of whether you have SGK or not.

READ: What to do if you think have Coronavirus

Chinas Wuhan ends 76-day lockdown, millions hit streets, airports, train stations

A medical worker from Jilin province tears up during a ceremony as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. (AFP Photo)

After more than two months indoors, millions of Wuhan residents are now enjoying a renewed sense of freedom after the Chinese citys 76-day coronavirus lockdown was lifted on Wednesday. A tentative light at the end of the tunnel

READ: https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-wuhan-ends-76-day-lockdown-millions-hit-streets-airports-train-stations

Global statistics

There are now 1,536,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, of which 340,188 have recovered. The number of fatalities stands at 89,898.

Source: Worldometer.

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Todays featured image: Faralya by Lyn Ward
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte talked tough on property owners who reportedly demand rent payments during this state of emergency.

Maghintay kayo lessors, nagpaparenta, huwag ninyong madaliin  Huwag mong pahirapan ang mga tao, Duterte said, obviously addressing landlords, in televised briefing with other top government officials early Thursday.

[Translation: Learn to wait, lessors. Dont rush them into paying. Dont give them a hard time.]

Kung hindi mo naman pala gustong tumulong ng kapwa tao mo, sunugin na lang natin 'yang mga apartments mo. Tutal may bumbero. Tawagin mo. Eh huwag ganun. Huwag ninyong i-pressure, he added.

[Translation: If you do not want to help others, lets just burn your apartments. Anyway, there are firefighters from whom you could ask for help. Dont pressure them.]

Ako, nagwa-warning lang ako. Eh pilitin ninyo hindi makabayad ang pamilya tapos itapon ninyo, sarahan ninyo yung bahay.

[Translation: Me, I am just warning you. You are evicting families who cannot settle, locking them out of the house.]

The chiefs warning stemmed from reports that many tenants are being pressured to pay.

He then appealed to the lessors to postpone collecting fees, claiming that tenants are running low on funds.

On April 4, the Department of Trade and Industry issued a memorandum granting a 30-day grace period on residential and commercial rents whose due dates fall within the duration of the Luzon-wide quarantine without incurring interests, penalties, and other charges.

This is in line with the law giving Duterte additional powers to handle the current health crisis as he sees fit.

Under Section 4 of the law, refraining from giving reprieve on rental deadlines is punishable with imprisonment of two months and fine of P10,000 to P1 million.
Chynna, the hip-hop artist who first turned heads on the modeling runway and then with her talent as a rapper, died on Wednesday in her native Philadelphia. She was 25.

The cause was not immediately known, John Miller, her manager, said in an email on Wednesday night.

The rapper, whose full name was Chynna Rogers and who lived in both Manhattan and Philadelphia, was known for her solo recordings and her collaborations with the hip-hop collective ASAP Mob. Death was a recurring theme in Chynnas music, including in her album, in case i die first, which was also the name of one of her tours.

I think theres too many soundtracks to our lives, Chynna said in an Instagram video that she shared on Tuesday, her final post. I need music to die to.

Word of Chynnas death stunned the hip-hop world, which has grappled with the loss of a number of young rappers, including Juice WRLD, who died of an accidental drug overdose in December at 21, and ASAP Yams, one of Chynnas mentors, who died of accidental drug intoxication in 2015 at 26.
The coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess has slashed its prices after more than 600 passengers contracted the deadly virus on board.

Carnival Cruise Line, who operates Princess Cruises, has offered savings of up to $400 on a number of US cruises on the ill-fated ship in a bid to entice customers.

Hundreds of infected passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney on March 19 without medical checks, leading to 15 deaths around the country and a criminal investigation.

A 15-night Hawaiian round trip cruise leaving from San Francisco on October 24 will set passengers back just $1,821 for an interior room - a saving of $352.

Scroll down for video

Ten nights on the Ruby Princess from San Francisco to Alaska in May 2021 has been slashed by $320 to $2,799 per person

Hundreds of infected passengers were allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess in Sydney on March 19 (pictured) without medical checks, leading to 15 deaths around the country and a criminal investigation

The same cruise in January next year is also on sale at $1,919 - a saving of $372.

Ten nights on the Ruby Princess from San Francisco to Alaska in May 2021 has been slashed by $320 to $2,799 per person.

Customers will be able to save $400 on a cruise to Alaska in July next year. Passengers will have to pay just $2,679 for 10 nights leaving from San Francisco.

A seven night Californian cruise in September is $1,295 per person, a saving of $270.

The cheap deals come after more than 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark from the ship on March 19, despite two travellers on board displaying coronavirus-like symptoms 24 hours before the boat docked in Sydney.

There have since been more than 600 confirmed cases and 15 deaths linked to the ship nationwide.

The Ruby Princess is currently docked in Port Kembla, near Wollongong. A criminal investigation into why passengers were allowed to disembark without health checks has commenced.

The investigation will cover the actions of the port authority, ambulance, police, NSW Health and ship operator Carnival Australia.

Ruby Princess savings Seven night California cruise in September 2020: $1,295 ($270 saving) 10-night San Francisco to Alaska in May 2021: $2,799 ($320 saving) 15-night San Francisco to Hawaii in October 2020: $1,821 ($352 saving) 15-night San Francisco to Hawaii in January 2021: $1,919 ($372 saving) 10-night San Francisco to Alaska in July 2021: $2,679 ($400 saving) Advertisement

The ship is expected to spend up to 10 days in Port Kembla as its 1,040 crew members undergo medical assessments, treatment or emergency extractions.

Around 200 workers have symptoms of the illness and no crew members are allowed to leave without permission from NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller.

NSW Police said it would investigate whether national bio-security laws and state laws were broken.

'From my perspective there are many unanswered questions,' Mr Fuller said.

'There seems to be absolute discrepancies between the information provided by Carnival and what I would see is the benchmark for the laws of the federal and state government.'

The NSW government is under fire after leaked emails revealed results of on board swab tests from the cruise ship's passengers who were showing signs of influenza would have been available the same day passengers disembarked.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard is standing behind his staff who had allowed the Ruby Princess cruise ship to disembark in Sydney on March 19, despite knowing the results would be known within hours.

Defending the decision, NSW Health said in a statement on April 3 that transmission could not have been prevented by staff and the 'vast majority' of those diagnosed did not display symptoms until off the ship.

The Ruby Princess is currently docked in Port Kembla, near Wollongong. A criminal investigation into why passengers were allowed off is underway

'The Ruby Princess was assessed as low risk, based on the level of illness on board, the negative COVID-19 tests done on passengers while in New Zealand, and the positive influenza tests done on a large proportion of the passengers with influenza like illness,' it read.

A team of 30 detectives from state crime, counter terrorism and marine area command are investigating the communications and actions which led to the fiasco.

The first briefing into the investigation was held on Wednesday morning, NSW Police said.

High-priority witnesses will be interviewed in the coming days with police urging anyone with relevant information to contact Crime Stoppers.
By Gina Lee

Investing.com - Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday as investors await the release of the weekly U.S. unemployment data later in the day.

Forecasts prepared by Investing.com suggest that as many as 5.25 million Americans claimed unemployment benefits in the past week. Almost 10 million Americans have already been laid off in the preceding two weeks.

Japans Nikkei 225 slid 0.47% by 10:35 PM ET (3:35 AM GMT) as the country began its second day of the state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.

South Koreas KOSPI gained 0.83% as the Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest unchanged at 0.75%. This was in line with analyst forecasts prepared by Investing.com.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 led gains as it jumped 1.75%. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was up by 0.53%. Chinas Shanghai Composite was up 0.54% while the Shenzhen Component was up 0.17%.

Aberdeen Standard Investments Hugh Young said in a CNBC interview that the numbers on the unemployment front will likely look fairly bad.

Weve seen the initial short, sharp rises (in unemployment) and I think as other industries assess the effect on their businesses - even when their businesses are in decent shape - are going to look at cutting out costs more and more. Its going to be quite brutal, I think, in the months ahead, he added.

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Coronavirus infections are spiking in Japan and creating hot spots in India's congested cities just as the US and some of the hardest-hit European countries are considering when to start easing restrictions that have helped curb their outbreaks of the disease.

Japan reported more than 500 new cases for the first time Thursday, a worrisome rise since it has the world's oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious in the elderly.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency, but not a lockdown, in Tokyo and six other prefectures earlier this week. Companies in the world's third-largest economy have been slow to embrace working from home, and many commuters were on Tokyo's streets as usual.

India, whose 1.3 billion people are under a lockdown until next week, has sealed dozens of hot spots in and around the capital, and will supply residents with food and medicine while not allowing them to leave. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 5,000, with 166 deaths, according to India's Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, deaths, hospitalizations and new infections have been leveling off in places like Italy and Spain, which together have more than 30,000 deaths. Even New York has seen encouraging signs amid the gloom.

At the same time, politicians and health officials warn that the crisis is far from over and a catastrophic second wave could hit if countries let down their guard too soon.

We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. But it's not a time to be complacent. It's not a time to do anything different than we've been doing.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has climbed to about 1.5 million worldwide, with nearly 90,000 deaths, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The true numbers are almost certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and concealment by some governments.

The US has by far the most confirmed cases, with over 430,000 people infected.

New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, for an overall death toll of almost 6,300, more than 40% of the U.S. total of around 15,000.

The bad is actually terrible, Cuomo said. Still, the governor said hospitalizations are decreasing and many of those now dying fell ill in the outbreak's earlier stages.

In a sign of how much the virus has affected air travel, the number of Americans getting on airplanes sank to a level not seen since the 1950s, the dawn of the jet age. The Transportation Security Administration screened fewer than 100,000 people on Tuesday, a drop of 95% from a year ago.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was improving and sitting up in bed, authorities said, after he had spent a second night in intensive care due to COVID-19 symptoms.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious-diseases expert, said the Trump administration has been working on plans to eventually reopen the country amid evidence that social distancing is working to stop the virus's spread.

But he said it's not time to scale back such measures: Keep your foot on the accelerator because this is what is going to get us through this, he said at Wednesday's White House briefing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US citizen has bought more guns last month compared to other periods since the FBI started collecting information more than two decades ago, says an article.

Every day, the death toll of people losing their battle with COVID-19 continues to increase while the majority of the nation is on lockdown.

It seems that many people in the US are looking at guns as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. According to experts, this reaction is not feared to result from a social disorder.

The Statistics of Guns

In March, the FBI conducted 3.7 million background checks. This is the highest total since the 1998 instant background check program.

The results were 1.1 million higher compared to the March 2019 record.

On March 21, 210,000 checks were conducted. It was the biggest one-day record.

The FBI data reveals that there are more than 2 million guns purchased in March alone.

Illinois got the highest number with almost 500,000 gun sales, followed by Texas, Kentucky, Florida, and California.

Running-Out of Guns and Difficulty Meeting the Market's Demand

Shops selling guns across the US reported that they are unable to restock their shelves immediately to meet the demands of the market.

The latest information also tops the former high of 3.3 million. It was set in December 2015. This was after former president Obama raised the likelihood of assault rifles restrictions due to the San Bernardino, California mass shooting.

Check these out:

Why Did Gun Sales Skyrocket?

According to US gun Industry expert and Law School Professor Timothy Lytton of Georgia State University, the majority of the new gun sales are being influenced by two factors that have been brought by the COVID-19 crisis.

The first factor is the concern with civil society. Police, fire, and health services may significantly "erode" someday. This event may lead to a fall of law and order in the community. In this scenario, guns act as 'self-help' tools.

The second factor is the intervention of the government of the United States on its citizens' freedom, such as restrictions for gun ownership, which the Constitution of the United States of America enshrines, as Lytton explained.

Potential Fears of the People that May Trigger Increased Purchase of Guns

The majority of the public health measures, such as the restriction of the population's movements, shelter-in-place, and limits on what people can buy, increases the public's fears, including the possibility of government takeover and tyranny.

The Two Factors

In other ways, the two reasons provided by Professor Lytton are in contrast with each other.

Some people worry that the US government is falling apart, and some feel that this may be a reason why the government might not protect them. The public is also worried that the government is getting stronger to limit people's freedom.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Destiny Media Technologies Inc. (TSXV: DSY) (OTCQB: DSNY), the makers of Play MPE, a cloud-based SaaS solution for promotional music marketing, today announced that the Company will hold a conference call on April 15, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss financial results for its second quarter ended February 29, 2020. The Company plans to release financial results for the second quarter after market close on April 15, 2020.

The conference call will include comments from President, Chief Executive Officer, Fred Vandenberg.

Date: April 15, 2020

Time: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)

Direct dial in: 1-416-764-8688

North America toll-free participant dial in: 1-888-390-0546

Conference ID: 23021016

A replay of the call will be available until April 22, 2020.

Direct replay: 1-416-764-8677

North America toll-free replay: 1-888-390-0541

Replay passcode: 021016#

A transcript will also be available on Destiny's corporate site at https://investors.dsny.com

About Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

Destiny Media Technologies Inc. ("Destiny"), provides software as service (SaaS) solutions to businesses in the music industry solving critical problems in distribution and promotion. The core service, Play MPE (www.plaympe.com), provides promotional music marketing to engaged networks of decision makers in radio, film, TV, and beyond. More information can be found at www.dsny.com.

Contacts:

Fred Vandenberg

CEO Destiny Media Technologies, Inc.

604 609 7736 x236

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54315
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  As the country celebrates the Day of Valor, several lawmakers are seeking posthumous honors for frontliners who died in the battle against COVID-19.

Detained Senator Leila de Lima, AKO BICOL Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., and BHW Party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co on Thursday made suggestions for higher recognition for the country's modern-day fallen heroes.

De Lima said the 21 doctors and other frontliners who have died in the fight against COVID-19 should be declared as national heroes.

'"We have witnessed the emergence of a new breed of heroes as our country faces a new battle. Our heartfelt gratitude and admiration goes out to our doctors, nurses, health workers, volunteers and other frontliners who put their lives on the line so that others may live amidst this pandemic," she said in a statement on Araw ng Kagitingan.

Garbin said the fallen heroes should be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani for their "supreme sacrifice and devotion to their profession."

He said funeral rites at the Heroes Cemetery do not have to be done immediately as there is a rule that the remains of COVID-19 patients have to be cremated right away.

"In our proposal, the ultimate resting place would be the Libingan ng mga Bayani. After the immediate COVID-19 threat has passed, there will be a proper time to properly honor the fallen frontliners versus COVID-19," he said.

Meanwhile, Co proposed the establishment of "Gawad Juan Flavier" for those who died in COVID-19 fight. She asked the Committee on Honors to recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte to sign an executive order amending the Honors Code of the Philippines to establish a new honor to be named after esteemed late Health Secretary, Dr. Juan Flavier.

The Health Department on Wednesday bared over 200 doctors and nurses in the country have contracted the coronavirus disease. The agency said 252 health workers have tested positive for the deadly disease as shown in its latest data. Of this number, 152 or 65 percent are doctors, while 63 or 25 percent are nurses.

The Philippine Medical Association said these deaths could have been prevented had there been enough protective gear. Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the cases in the medical field could have been caused by patients who keep their status hidden from healthcare workers.
* Chinese importers buy spot cargoes - traders

* LNG suppliers offer cargoes from various plants

* KOGAS asks for some cargoes to be deferred - sources

By Jessica Jaganathan

SINGAPORE, April 9 (Reuters) - Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices edged up this week from record lows in the previous week as Chinese buyers re-entered the market, but stale demand elsewhere capped the rise in prices.

The average LNG price for May delivery into northeast Asia <LNG-AS> rose by 10 cents to an estimated $2.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week, several traders said.

Prices for cargoes delivered in June are estimated to be around $2.50 per mmBtu, they added.

Four LNG tankers carrying U.S. LNG are on their way to China after Beijing started granting tax waivers to some importers, trade sources said.

This is the first time since March 2019 that shipments have resumed after a long-standing trade war in which China raised tariffs on LNG imports from the United States to 25% last year.

Beijing has started granting tax waivers to LNG importers, three China-based sources familiar with the matter said, though details on the companies that have received exemptions on the tariffs were not clear.

Two of the sources said the tariff has dropped to zero, though a separate value-added tax of about 10% still applies.

China's Guangzhou Gas may have bought a cargo for delivery in June at about $2.40 per mmBtu, three traders said. This follows an earlier spot purchase by China's ENN, they added.

"China's demand is returning but whether it's sustained will be the question, given demand everywhere else has dropped," one of them said.

Four laden LNG tankers are floating on waters near the west coast of India, according to Clipperdata, adding that overall demand in India has reduced due to coronavirus driven lockdowns, which have hampered industrial demand.

Still, India's Reliance Industries entered the spot market to seek a cargo for June delivery, said traders, though it was not immediately clear if the refiner has bought the cargo.

Story continues

Supply was ample, however, with several LNG plants offering cargoes.

Indonesia's Bontang LNG plant and Angola LNG offered cargoes for April to June period while Indonesia's Pertamina offered a cargo for loading from Corpus Christi.

Brunei LNG sold two cargoes for delivery in May at about $2.40 to $2.60 per mmBtu, while Australia's Ichthys LNG sold an April-loading cargo at similar price levels on a delivered basis, traders said.

Japan's Hokkaido Electric bought a cargo for delivery in first half of June at about $2.50 to $2.60 per mmbtu, an industry source said.

Meanwhile, state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), South Korea's top LNG buyer, has asked for some cargo deliveries to be deferred, citing high inventory levels due to the coronavirus outbreak reducing downstream demand, sources said. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
The Indian-American community has expressed solidarity with PM Narendra Modi in India's fight against coronavirus. Nearly 200 Indian-American organisations in a press release have expressed their solidarity on his government's initiatives to curb the COVID-19 spread in India. These Indian American organisations include national, regional, ethnic, cultural, religious foundations.

Commending PM Modi's efforts to curb coronavirus, they wrote, "We would especially like to commend the mammoth efforts of the Indian government and states working cohesively under the able leadership of Prime Minister Modi ji for the wide-ranging and timely measures to address this issue and to alleviate the inevitable hardship that they will endure during this time of lock-down. We salute the citizens of India for your fortitude, patience, discipline, and social consciousness at this testing time."

"We salute the efforts of all those individuals who along with international organisations; national governments; and private, public and social sector organisations are working tirelessly often at a huge personal risk to tackle this crisis and save precious human life," added the Indian-American organisations.

The Indian American organisations have also appealed to all citizens of India to continue to trust the Prime Minister in these difficult times. They also said that the nation should closely follow the advice of the PM. The organisations emphasised on a global united effort to fight the coronavirus.

India has reported 5,095 active cases of coronavirus (as of 9 am, April 9), according to the health ministry. Total deaths stood at 166. As many as 472 patients have been cured or discharged and 1 migrated.

Also read: Coronavirus in China: Wuhan ends 76-day lockdown

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Country records 540 new COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths in 24 hours; tally at 5,095
Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak at the start of an OPEC and NON-OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, December 6, 2019.

Some of the world's largest oil producers will try to agree on the terms of historic output cuts on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to crush worldwide demand for crude.

An emergency video meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC partners, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, started shortly after 4:10 p.m. Vienna time.

President Donald Trump has fueled hopes of a cut far larger than any deal OPEC+ has ever agreed on before, suggesting the energy alliance could take between 10 to 15 million barrels of crude off the market.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $34.12 a barrel Thursday afternoon, up almost 4%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $26.18, around 4% higher.

WTI futures had jumped 12% shortly after Reuters, citing one unnamed OPEC source and one unnamed Russia source, reported OPEC+ had secured a deal  one that could climb as high as 20 million barrels per day (roughly 20% of global supplies).

Oil prices pared most of their gains as the meeting continued, with energy analysts highly skeptical about the reported scale of the production cuts.

Tweet 1

A simmering feud between OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC leader Russia is thought to be one of many possible complications to an unprecedented production cut.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, who fell out when a previous pact to curb supply broke down last month, have signaled that any decision would depend on the U.S. and other non-OPEC producers joining in.

Trump has shown no appetite to mandate such a policy but suggested earlier this week that oil production in the U.S. had already fallen.
The City of Midland Health Department is currently conducting their investigation on one new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Midland County, bringing the overall case count to thirty-one.

The thirty-first confirmed case is a male in his 40s who was tested by Midland Health. The male has been self-isolating at home. The source of exposure is community acquired.
Open source

Ukraine will receive extra 320,000 pills for the fight against coronavirus, as the Healthcare Ministry reports.

The drug with hydroxychloroquine will be enough for the treatment of 22,000 people.

This drug is prescribed in the national protocol of treatment of the patients with Covid-19 and it is used for the patients with the heavy disease and only at the hospital, under the control of the doctors and with the written agreement of the patients, the message said.

The drugs will be supplied as humanitarian aid from Sanofi and Sandoz companies. It will be free for people with coronavirus.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the number of people infected with COVID-19 has increased to 1892. 224 new cases were recorded in Ukraine per day. Overall, 57 people died, 45 patients recovered.

In Kyiv, the number of people infected with Covid-19 increased up to 335 people, including 16 medical workers.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has set up 12 containment clusters to help combat the further spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), said commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar on Wednesday.

The GHMC officials have set up containment clusters in Ramgopalpet, Shaikhpet, Red Hills, Malakpet (Santosh Nagar), Chandrayangutta, Alwal, Moosapet, Kukatpally, Qutubullapur (Gajularamaram), Mayurinagar, Yosufguda and Chandanagar, given that these areas reported a total of 89 Covid positive cases so far.

Special attention is being given to sanitation and spraying of disinfectant in these clusters, Mr Kumar said. Apart from this, a team consisting of health and GHMC officials are going to each and every household to identify those who are symptomatic and getting them tested.

In these clusters, public movements is monitored and barricading has been done to keep check on public movement. Discussions have been held with Hyderabad city police commissioner Anjani Kumar, he said, adding that barricading and bandobust will continue.

Out of 593 people who returned from Tabligi Jamaats Markaz event in Nizamuddin in New Delhi, 63 people have tested Covid positive, including 45 family members. Since they have all been identified and hospitalised, there is a good chance that corona cases will decrease, he hoped.

He said precautionary steps have been taken for safety of sanitation workers. Masks are being supplied to all workers through zonal commissioners, he claimed. Over 60,000 reusable cloth masks are getting ready stitched by SHG women, he said.

The GHMC commissioner, however, did not react to Deccan Chronicle reports published a few weeks earlier that the corporation had misused and diverted over `4 crore funds to acquire masks, gloves and other important precautionary items, leading to a requirement now to buy cloth masks. Instead, he said, nearly 30,000 cloth masks are ready. Within four days, other 30,000 masks will get ready.

We have placed an order to supply a health kit, consisting of gloves, masks, soap, shoes and other required material to sanitation workers. These kits will be distributed among workers in a week, he said.

Currently, nearly 27,000 GHMC sanitation workers are on the field without adequate health kits, which by Mr Kumars own admission, will be supplied with them, at the earliest, in a week.

From now on, wearing a mask, gloves, and health kit will be made mandatory, he said, without reflecting on why it was not done so far, weeks after the Covid epidemic has brought the entire country to a lockdown.

For convenience of workers, 34 buses are being arranged. To maintain social distancing, a volunteer will be appointed to manage crowd in each bus, he said.

Mr Kumar informed that around 4,500 to 4,800 metric tonnes of garbage is being collected and sent to dumpyards. He said due to lockdown, the GHMC is trying to feed homeless and poor with Annapurna meals. Around 55,000 people eat meals each afternoon. Around 35,000 people are being provided with two meals per day, he said.

However, the GHMC chief did not choose to speak on why the Corporation had recently first decided to ban private philanthropists providing meals for poor, needy and migrant workers. The GHMC, under orders from municipal administration and urban development bosses, had banned these people, leading to huge public uproar, putting at risk lives of thousands of people.

After beating a hasty retreat over its mistaken adventure, the GHMC, through an order from additional commissioner on April 4, again granted permission to private charities to feed the poor, but were made to give credit to GHMC under the lockdown duress.

On his part, the GHMC chief, conceded that around 17,000 food packets are being distributed by private individuals in 10 mobile vans, adding, but are being monitored by a special wing set up in the GHMC.

Lokesh Kumar further said that they have issued passes to 145 donors to distribute food in 400 locations across the city.

A junior official in GHMC, on condition of anonymity, said, we are barely able to do a good job of feeding people with subsidised food in normal times through Annapoorna canteens. To take on the job of feeding thousands of people during lockdown was a mistake. To save face, after realising our order banning people from directly feeding the needy could have led to starvation cases, we have now gone back to letting them do it.

A volunteer, working on feeding nearly 50,000 people each day since the lockdown began, said, The GHMC tried its best to stop our volunteers. They wanted to put GHMC stamps on our food packets. They violated even privacy norms and made calls to volunteers for two days, including women, not to come out of house and feed people. Now, they are claiming our work as if it is being done by the GHMC. Guess while it is Coronavirus year for humanity, it is election year for these officials.
Shailesh Gupta, President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), has condemned Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhis suggestion to the Prime Minister for a two-year ban on media advertisements by the Government and PSUs. In a statement issued, Gupta said, Such a proposal tantamounts to financial censorship. It is a very small amount as far as government spending is concerned, but its a huge amount for the Newspaper industry, which is essential for any vibrant democracy, and is struggling to survive.

Gupta points out that print is the only industry which has a Wage Board and the Government decides how much the employees should be paid. This being the only industry where market forces dont decide salaries, the Government has a responsibility towards the industry, he stressed. Further, in the age of fake news and distortion, Print is the best platform to get news and views directly across to the people in every nook and corner of the Country, for both  the Government and for the Opposition.

There is already a decline in advertisement and circulation revenue due to recession and the digital onslaught, further to add to the problem we now face severe financial crisis due to the complete lockdown of industries and business. At a time like this when media personnel are risking their lives and bringing news on the Pandemic situation, the suggestion of the Congress President for a two-year ban on media advertisements is deeply disturbing and demotivating for the entire media industry, the statement added.

The INS appealed to the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party to reconsider and withdraw the suggestion made to the Prime Minister about the Complete ban on media advertisements for two years in the interest of a vibrant and free Press.
A group of college students, who returned home after the closure of Lucknow University (LU), have volunteered to protect the residents of their native Nawapar village in eastern Uttar Pradeshs (UP) Gorakhpur district from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The village has a population of around 2,700 people and falls under Campierganj block in Gorakhpur district.

The students are ensuring the villagers daily needs such as delivering vegetables on a door-to-door basis are taken care of. They also made sure that 28 people, who returned home from various parts of the country before the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown was enforced on March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19 outbreak, are under quarantine at a primary school on the outskirts of the village. No one from the village has tested Covid-19 positive so far, and the quarantine period of most of them is about to get over.

The volunteers are also giving tips to the villagers about how to wash their hands in 20 seconds.

The Covid-19 spreads largely because of ignorance, which can be attributed to a lack of information. We formed a group to help our villagers in a bid to ensure that they dont suffer from lack of awareness, said Vikas Chaudhary, a law student of LU, who returned to his native village on March 23 to attend a family function.

Chaudhary came up with the idea of forming a group, which was supported by the village chief, Ram Raksha Paswan. The team was formed after other youngsters from the village joined it. Soon, they started visiting each and every household and advised the villagers to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, a concept many were unfamiliar with.

Initially, the team was formed with only four members but has since swelled to 14 and all of them belong to 19-25 years age bracket. The members keep in touch with each other through their mobile phones and WhatsApp.

Paswan has barred the entry of outsiders to the villagers as four roads leading to Nawapar village have been sealed.

Four of us are keeping a strict vigil and preventing outsiders from visiting our village unless it is an emergency, said Deepak Kumar, who holds a graduate degree and a member of the group. The volunteers are also distributing food and other essential items to the needy villagers amid the ongoing lockdown.

We wear masks or cover our faces with our handkerchiefs. We maintain distance from one another and even from our family members when we return home, said Suresh Yadav, a first-year undergraduate student.

The volunteers have also motivated the youth from adjoining villages to emulate them. Other villages in our gram sabha have taken a leaf of these volunteers book. Our youngsters are also helping us, said Sanjeev Yadav, a member of the gram sabha.

People from other parts of the state are also making similar efforts.

For instance, Rajiv Mishra (42), a research scholar of Prayagrajs Nehru Gram Bharti University, is busy spreading awareness on how to protect from SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, in villages located in remote areas of Shankargarh block.

The arid and rocky Shankargarh block is located about 50 kilometres south of Prayagraj and is known for its low literacy rate among women and widespread malnutrition among poor children, making them more susceptible to Covid-19 because of their low immunity. The poor in the block also suffer from respiratory disorders because of prevalent quarrying activities.

I am concentrating on Kapari and Khan Samera villages that are home to tribal people. Theyve poor literacy and personal hygiene is almost non-existent. Ive been visiting their homes and making them aware of Covid-19. The villagers are being taught the importance of washing hands with soap, said Mishra.

He is also distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, soaps and awareness pamphlets among the tribals. A group of students and youngers are helping Mishra to reach out to the vulnerable local population.

Every morning, we leave for the villages and return home in the evening, he added.

Shashank, a post-graduate student of sociology at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), is busy helping students in the remote areas of Mirzapur district.

Shashak, a native of Gorakhpur, lives in a rented accommodation in Varanasi. He chose not to go home when the nationwide lockdown was announced and decided to help the poor in Mirzapur district. He, along with two friends Harish Chandra Bind and Shashikant, organised 20 packets of relief materials, including five kilograms each of flour and rice, from charitable organisations and distributed among the Mahadalit Musahar community in Baraini gram panchayat area of the district.

Its a grim situation. I decided to distribute relief material in remote areas of Mirzapur district in a bid to ensure that the needy people get some relief. Theyre happy to be looked after under these trying circumstances, Shashank said. Shashank and his team members have also launched an awareness drive among the locals about Covid-19 and are giving them basic personal hygiene tips. They have also urged the locals to contact doctors at government hospitals in case they catch a cold and show other symptoms such as cough and fever. Also, they appealed to the people to maintain cleanliness in their neighbourhoods.

(With inputs from K Sandeep Kumar in Prayagraj and Sudhir Kumar in Varanasi)
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is at the cusp of launching its second phase to add more sectors like agriculture and tourism, a senior Pakistani official has said, rejecting reports that the multi-billion dollar project is slowing down due to the coronavirus outbreak.

China has committed to invest over USD 60 billion in Pakistan as part of the CPEC under which it planned to build a number of special economic zones.

Asim Saleem Bajwa, chairman CPEC Authority, in a tweet on Wednesday rejected reports about the adverse impact of the coronavirus on CPEC projects.

Rumours about the CPEC slowing down totally baseless. Misdirected propaganda articles keep appearing, said Bajwa, who is a former army lieutenant general.

He said that in fact the second phase of the CPEC being launched to add more sectors which would be developed in Pakistan.

Reality;#CPEC making steady progress & is at the cusp of launching phase 2 with enhanced scope, involving Chinese and Pakistani private sectors, he said.

Bajwa further said that agriculture and food security, science and technology and tourism would be additional focus areas in the second phase of the project.

Planning Minister Asad Umar also said on February 26 said that new projects would be added in the second phase.

The CPEC was launched in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan and so far it focused on energy and infrastructure projects.

The CPEC connecting China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port is regarded as the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is aimed at furthering China's global influence with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

India has objected to the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday decided to recommend Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's name for one of the two vacant MLC seats that are to be nominated by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to the legislative council to avoid a constitutional crisis, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said on Thursday.

"As MLC elections cannnot be held due to COVID-19, it is being done to avoid a constitutional crisis," said Malik after the meeting was concluded.

Today's Cabinet meeting was chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

"According to the constitution the Chief Minister has to become a member of a House within six months of the government formation and there are two seats from Governor quote vacant which are to be nominated by him. Uddhav Thackeray is not a member of any House yet," he added. Maharashtra has a bicameral legislature with both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.

Nawab further informed that Cabinet has also taken a decision to avoid giving media bytes regarding the matter.

Uddhav was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the State by the Governor in November 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Melia Koh Samui, the new nautical-themed beachfront resort in Thailand, has appointed Ernesto Osuna as its new general manager.

A seasoned professional with two decades of luxury hospitality experience across Europe, North America and Asia, Spanish-born Osuna has taken charge of the opening of the 159-room and 31-suite luxury resort overlooking Choeng Mon Beach, on Koh Samuis north-eastern coastline in the Gulf of Thailand.

Osuna has worked for Melia Hotels International for seven years and was previously a cluster general manager for two Melia properties in Zhengzhou, China; Gran Melia Zhengzhou and INNSIDE Zhengzhou.

He also oversaw the 2015 opening of Melia Danang in Vietnam after he was the general manager of Melia Buenavista in Cuba.

Osuna began his hospitality career at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid in 1997 as a room service operator, waiter and then restaurant supervisor. He swiftly rose through the ranks and was appointed to hotel manager and general manager positions at numerous five-star resorts under the likes of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts and The Excellence Collection.

Melia Koh Samui celebrated its grand opening on January 10, unveiling a host of world-class facilities including two restaurants, a swim-up bar, a lagoon pool that loops through its grounds like a river, a two-level infinity pool, an executive lounge, spa, fitness centre, ballroom and conference facilities and, for families, a kids club, outdoor playground and mini water park.

Ernesto has been with Melia Hotels International for seven years and has been a general manager at hotels and resorts in six different countries, said Bernardo Cabot, senior vice president Asia Pacific, Melia Hotels International. His considerable knowledge of our brand, his rich and diversified experience around the globe and his profound success in opening luxury and business hotels undoubtedly make him the best person to oversee the launch of Melia Koh Samui, our first Melia Hotels International property in Thailand.

With its lagoon pool, suites made from teak wood vessels, range of conference facilities and more, Melia Koh Samui was unprecedented for Thailand, Osuna added. It is the most incredible project I have worked on to date and together with my team of talented staff we will ensure Melia Koh Samui establishes a reputation as one of Thailands leading resorts. - TradeArabia News Service
Blunder for the ages

A resident of North Tyneside, Brenda Boyd, accidentally sends a middle finger emoji to the NTcouncil during their conversation regarding bin collection in their area. The woman expressed her feelings of embarrassment regarding the whole ordeal.

Despite the writing fault, the situation managed to appeal to readers and give them a chuckle while browsing the platform.

The online exchange, consisting of Brenda M Boyd and North Tyneside Council occurred on the 3rd of April as Brenda was inquiring the status of their bin collection system. The officials replied to her stating the collection have resumed normal operations, and they were responded with the emoji of a middle finger being raised.

Brenda initially wanted to send a thumbs-up emoji, but inadvertently sent a rather rude gesture instead. The authority replied, asking if what she sent was actually what she meant to say.

Ms Boyd shyly responded saying on Twitter; she intended to send a different reply and not the negative expression and apologized for any offence given. She added, "Oh my goodness, I've just had another proper look - really sorry."

The council, instead of being insulted, took the blunder quite well, expressing the laugh they got it from after weeks of gloom due to the crisis being experienced. They told Brenda to not worry about her mistake, and it was an excellent way to give a little laugh and positivity.

Read Also: [VIDEO] JK Rowlings Shares Breathing Techniques That Helped Her Conquer COVID-19

Positive Reactions

The exchange has garnered a lot of attention on the social media platform where people are expressing their support for Brenda and her unintentional effort of making the world laugh.

One Twitter post asks Ms Boyd not to remove her reply as it gives a ray of light in the dark times being faced as of the moment. Another statement considers the woman a hero no person asked for but desperately need.

Other replies read it gave them a smile amid the worrying situation the country is experiencing.

North Tyneside Council

The NTCouncil is the governing body of North Tyneside in control of the area's public services.

One such activity they manage is the collection of bins of the homeowners to maintain a clean and safe environment for its residents and any visitors. They have scheduled dates for the collection, and guidelines if anyone has missed the set dates.

The officials can also be contacted online for anyone needing assistance with their bins if they are eligible; the requirements of which can be seen on their website.

Several tips on how to manage your household wastes are also posted on their site accessible to the public.

NTCouncil also takes reports of illegal waste dumping. They have set forth the guidelines below if one witness a perpetrator in the act.

Keep your distance;

Take note of the time and place of the incident;

Write down a description of the culprit;

Note down the vehicle plate number if one is involved; and

Safe keep a written note of the above.

The governing body is also open to suggestions and feedback from its inhabitants to ensure that what they experience is kept positive and safe.

Read Also: [COVID-19 FAKE NEWS] No More Viral Messages: WhatsApp Stops Circulating Messages Altogether
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/09/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Peter Weber says he discovered a dealbreaker in his relationship with Madison Prewett that sealed the deal in his mind their relationship was not going to work out.Peter opened up about the reasons why he and Madison officially split during a Tuesday appearance on Nick Viall 's The Viall Files podcast , and the pilot's "biggest" issue with Madison apparently extended far beyond her virginity."A lot of people think it was all about sex and it was all about saving herself for marriage and that was 'the biggest thing Peter can't do' -- which was frustrating to see because, you know, to be honest, that wasn't the biggest thing for me," Peter said.Peter went on to reveal what would have turned out to be a huge problem in their relationship."Again, I respect Madi and always will, but it was other things, like, she was also saving herself for just being able to travel with her significant other until marriage," Peter told Nick.Peter explained that while he and Madison could travel together, every destination -- domestic or international -- would be a big production because they'd have to book and sleep in separate hotel rooms.In addition, Peter revealed Madison wasn't willing to have sleepovers in general."If she came out to [Los Angeles] and I had my apartment and she had hers, she wasn't going to be able to spend the night with me," Peter explained."That was something she had just made a decision for herself, which again I respect like no other."But Peter said not being able to spend the night with Madison was "a big thing" for him, especially since he'd have to wait until marriage -- about two years or so, he said -- to really enjoy traveling with his love."That's a lifestyle thing that's so tough... and I bond a lot in relationships by spending the night together," Peter revealed."Not just being physical but spending the night and waking up the next morning, having breakfast... That wasn't going to be the case with [Madison], and that would be tough to get over."Peter got engaged to Hannah Ann Sluss during the Final Rose Ceremony of his season, but Peter ended up blindsiding and dumping the model in January because he couldn't give her his whole heart.With the help of host Chris Harrison playing matchmaker, Peter and Madison filmed a brief reunion in California after Peter became single again.But the fate of Peter and Madison's relationship was undecided until they met again on the March 10 finale of , which featured the pair openly discussing their situation and choosing to officially get back together.Peter told Nick that he and Madison waited to hash things out live because he wanted their reconciliation to be "completely authentic."Things, however, quickly fell apart for the couple , and they decided just two days later to call it quits."It was super sad. I remember for probably six hours, we stayed on her bed [at her hotel] -- we laughed, we cried, we hugged each other, we said nothing, we talked. It was rough," Peter recalled.Peter added he and Madison just proved his mother Barbara Weber right by determining through serious conversation they aren't compatible and so their relationship would never work out long-term.Barbara, for example, pointed out that Peter loves to drink and party on the weekends and Madison seemed much more religious and faith-driven in her hobbies.Peter and Madison therefore announced their split on March 12 through separate statements on Instagram.For the last two weeks, Peter has been self-quarantining with contestant Kelley Flanagan . Peter insisted to Nick they're not currently dating ; however, he admitted there is hope in the future for them to work out as a couple.Meanwhile, Madison appears to still be single Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has described as unfair and baseless a statement made by Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president...





Senate President Ahmad Lawan has described as unfair and baseless a statement made by Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social investments.





Uwais had reacted to comments credited to Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, on the national social investment programme (NSIP).





Uwais said the comments of the national assembly leaders were regrettable and unfortunate.





At a meeting with Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, in Abuja on Tuesday, Lawan and Gbajabiamila demanded a reform of the programme.

While the speaker wondered what parameters the government was using to implement the programme, the senate president said: I think we have not been able to reach far out there to get them properly captured.





But in a statement, Ola Awoniyi, special adviser on media to the senate president, said at the meeting with Farouq, the national assembly leaders made some observations on aspects of the NSIP and recommended that the implementation process be finetuned and the scheme be backed with legislation to make it more efficient, effective and accord with global best practices.





Although the official Press Statement issued at the end of the meeting clearly conveyed the deliberations and resolution of the meeting, some misrepresentations appeared in the reports by one or two newspapers, the media aide said.





Also, there was no mention of N2 trillion or any amount whatsoever in the statement. Virtually all other media houses published or broadcast the press statement accurately except for the errant reports mentioned above.





The comments at the meeting were not made to denigrate any official but to make the scheme more effective in the delivery of its critical mandate and these comments were well taken by the Honourable Minister and her delegation.





The minister was honest enough to admit that the NSIP had some challenges and also bedevilled with intrigues which she was yet battling with.





The leadership of the national assembly would not have suggested an enabling legislation for the NSIP if it does not believe in the relevance of the scheme.





Awoniyi said the misrepresentation made Uwais to issue a rejoinder containing unfortunate insinuations which were totally extraneous to the discussions at the meeting.





We, therefore, take strong exception to the innuendo by the presidential aide that her rejoinder was issued towards safeguarding the entitlements of the poorest of Nigerian citizens, whose benefits are likely to cease because they are not known or connected to NASS members or any other person of influence. That insinuation is unfair to the members of the national assembly and entirely baseless, he said.





The media aide said public office holders should be receptive to constructive ideas and suggestions.





The leadership of the national assembly is committed to sustaining its cordial working relationship with the other arms of government as it has seen the benefits of this approach in the improved environment and speed of policy and decision making, he said.




By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2020 - 22:35 | World, All, Coronavirus

As China has claimed that the new coronavirus epidemic has peaked within the country, Beijing's battle to contain imported infection cases has confused and frustrated Japanese people who work in the capital.

Aiming to hold the delayed session of China's national parliament in April, Beijing authorities have become more serious about curbing the resurgence of the pneumonia-causing virus outbreak in the city, diplomatic sources said.

The annual meeting of the National People's Congress was originally scheduled to be convened on March 5 in Beijing, but it has been postponed due to the spread of the virus, first detected late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

(People pray at a park in Beijing on April 4, 2020, in memory of those who died of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus.)

On Wednesday, meanwhile, China lifted the months-long lockdown imposed on Wuhan, in a symbolic sign that the Communist-led government is confident in winning the fight against the virus that causes the respiratory disease called COVID-19.

"As the number of new infection cases has been decreasing, the Chinese leadership is apparently eager to convene the National People's Congress by the end of April," one of the sources said.

"To achieve the goal, Beijing is likely to continue taking every possible step to prevent the virus from being carried to the capital by foreigners and returnees. For the time being, we are certain to be swayed by immigration control policies," he added.

Since early February, the total number of infected patients in Beijing has risen to around 600 from about 150, but more than 170 cases have been imported from other nations, health authorities said.

Late last month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry abruptly announced that on a temporary basis it would not allow foreigners to enter the country beginning March 28. The measure has applied even to those who hold a valid visa or residence permit.

"It was a very sudden notification. Six out of my nine colleagues returned to Japan to seek refuge from the virus in late January and now cannot come back to China," said a female worker at a Japanese government-backed organization in Beijing.

(People sit at a distance at a food court in Beijing.)

"We don't know when the entry ban will be removed. A lack of personnel has interfered with our daily routine," she added.

A major Japanese trading house has resumed normal operations of its Beijing bureau since early March, but only Chinese staff members have been working inside the office as Japanese employees have been stranded in their home nation.

"I hope China will lift the entry ban of visa-holding Japanese immediately following the end of the postponed National People's Congress, probably in late April or early May," one of the workers of the trading company said.

But even if such Japanese expatriates return to Beijing after immigration restrictions ease, they are expected to be quarantined for two weeks upon arrival as instructed by the municipal government.

Since early last month, Beijing authorities have required a 14-day isolation for anyone entering the city from Japan, saying infections have been seriously expanding in the country.

(Posters seen on a street in Beijing tell pedestrians what to do to avoid being infected with the new coronavirus.)

Recently, all the people reaching Beijing from other areas in China -- whether Chinese citizens or foreigners living in the nation -- have been also obliged to be quarantined for two weeks at their home or some designated facility like a hotel.

A Japanese employee, who was back in Beijing on March 15 and experienced the 14-day isolation at his apartment, told Kyodo News, "I was prohibited from stepping out of my room. I was strictly monitored by administrators of my residential district."

"When I arrived in Beijing, the airport was full to overflowing as many Chinese rushed to return home from abroad, believing Beijing is safer than other countries. I thought I would be infected with the new coronavirus because of close contact."

As he had to have a health interview and go through several procedures to enter Beijing, it took more than eight hours to get to his apartment from the airport.

During the quarantine period, he spent time mostly working, reading books, playing online games and watching the television. As delivery services using smartphone apps have been widely embraced in China, "I did not have trouble buying daily necessities," he said.

An apartment concierge received food products or other goods from a driver and put them in front of the door of his room. While told by administrators not to have contact with others for two weeks, he had to report his temperature to the district every day.

Related coverage:

China closes Russia land border to stem import of coronavirus

China mulls 4 tril. yuan in special bonds to boost virus-hit economy

Coronavirus to bring worst economic fallout since Great Depression: IMF

"I was not able to even take a walk around the neighborhood and meet friends, adding to my stress. In addition, whenever I checked my temperature, I was strongly worried about what would happen if I would be stricken with pneumonia or other diseases under quarantine."

"In such a stress-laden environment, it was extremely difficult to concentrate on work at home. If I had been sent to a designated facility, I would have been mentally exhausted and it would have taken long time until my life returned to normal," he said.

One day after he was back in Beijing, the local government began quarantining all travelers arriving in the capital from overseas at designated facilities for 14 days at their own expense, unless there is a special reason.

"Even though Beijing removes the entry ban in the near future, it may continue to implement the same quarantine measure to control the movement of foreigners," he said.

"Some of my Japanese friends have expressed optimism that they can return to Beijing after the end of the National People's Congress, but I recommend they should stay in Japan for a while unless they have an urgent task here," he added.
Kanazawa University researchers identified a novel sublineage of enterovirus A71-C4 isolates with two recombinants, which showed greater virulence than the B5 subgenotype, during the 2015-16 outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease in northern Vietnam

Kanazawa, Japan - Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute viral infection that usually affects infants and children below five years. In a study published in Scientific Reports in January 2020, an international research team including Kanazawa University, the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Nagasaki University and Hanoi Medical University, has demonstrated the emergence of a new enterovirus (EV) A71-C4 lineage during the 2015-2016 outbreak of HFMD in northern Vietnam. Further, through clinical studies and an experimental mouse model, they have shown that EV-A71 C4 subgenotype may be more virulent than the B5 subgenotype.

HFMD is a common contagious childhood illness caused by enteroviruses of the family picornaviridae, the most frequently reported being EV-A71, coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), and CV-A6. It typically runs a mild self-limiting course; however, in rare cases it may cause inflammation of the meninges and the hindbrain, resulting in paralysis, cardiopulmonary complications, or even death. While most cases resolve within a few weeks, EV-A71 infections may be more severe, with serious complications.

To determine the epidemiological characteristics and identify the various enterovirus strains responsible for HFMD in northern Vietnam, the research team collected and analyzed throat and rectal swabs from 488 affected children in Hanoi.

Son T. Chu, lead author of the study, explains: "CV-A6 was the most common strain, followed by EV-A71. Of these EV-A71, 92.1% were the B5 subgenotype and 7.9% were the C4 subgenotype. Whole-genome sequencing showed that seven of the eight C4a strains formed a new lineage, including two possible recombinants between EV-A71-C4 and CV-A8 strains."

The researchers evaluated the proportion of inpatients as a clinical measure of virulence. Hospitalized children with EV-A71 significantly outnumbered those with CV-A6. Further analysis among the EV-A71 infected children showed that the proportion of inpatients among C4-infected was significantly higher than that among B5-infected, implying greater virulence of C4 than B5.

"As the number of C4-infected patients was small, we applied another technique to compare virulence," says Kyousuke Kobayashi, neurovirologist and lead author. "We inoculated transgenic mice susceptible to EV-A71 infection with viral isolates and monitored them for limb weakness, acute flaccid paralysis, body weight and death. We found increased paralysis and significantly higher mortality among mice infected with C4 strains than those infected with B5 strains."

HFMD is an emerging public health problem with periodic large outbreaks in pediatric populations in East and Southeast Asia. Currently, there is no approved antiviral drug against EV-A71 and the best strategy to mitigate its impact is to develop appropriate vaccines. Though inactivated vaccines exist, more suitable candidate strains may be identified from among the newly emerged EV-A71-C4 strains for developing live attenuated vaccines.

###
Race promoter Francois Dumontier said he had no choice other than to postpone June's Canadian GP.

As F1 decides to extend the current three-week factory shutdown for a further fortnight, the Montreal organisers announced officially that they are "saddened" to call off the popular race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for now.

"Closing Canada's borders was one thing, but we thought it could move in the right direction," Dumontier told Le Journal de Montreal.

"That was not the case.

"We gave ourselves until Easter to make the decision, but as soon as premier Francois Legault announced that Quebec was on hiatus until May 4, it was clear that this was jeopardising the organisation of our race," he added.

"The erection of temporary infrastructure was to start well before this deadline. But I am calm. I now pass the baton to the officials of the grand prix de France."

Indeed, the French GP at Paul Ricard is now nominally scheduled as the effective season opener at the end of June.

Dumontier said: "The calendar as we know it today, after all of these postponements - it must be forgotten. I even think that between 15 and 18 races, as F1 wants to do, is an optimistic forecast."

He does not even rule out that Canada could in reality be the first race of 2020, much later in the year.

"Because of our climate, our grand prix will have to take place before mid October. But yes, anything is possible," said Dumontier.

(GMM)
CHILDREN at St Marys School in Henley whose parents are key workers have joined a national movement to encourage people to stay positive during the coronavirus pandemic.

The youngsters have been painting and drawing rainbows to decorate the windows at the front of the school in St Andrews Road.

The independent school is closed to most pupils but the few who are attending have been taking advantage of the time and space to do things a little differently.

Their artwork is already inspiring smiles and waves from passers-by on their daily exercise walks and bike rides.

Children working remotely are also taking part in the movement, called #rainbowsinwindows, and have been very creative in their approach, from drawings to mosaics and even painting their driveways.

With the new NHS Nightingale hospital in London opening to patients, the school is encouraging all its pupils to answer the call for childrens drawings to be sent to decorate the walls.

Deputy headteacher Kate Bodle said: I have been incredibly proud of how resilient our children have been during this time of extraordinary stress and uncertainty for everyone.

The children in school have been working hard, enjoying socially distanced physical education lessons and plenty of fresh air as well as having fun painting their rainbows. As part of the Cognita education group, we have been very lucky to have been supported by our colleagues around the world as we face this global challenge together.
The 2020 budget deficit has increased to N5.18 trillion after adjustments were made to revenue projections in line with prevalent glob...





The 2020 budget deficit has increased to N5.18 trillion after adjustments were made to revenue projections in line with prevalent global realities.





The deficit in the previous budget was N2.17 trillion.





On Wednesday N312 billion was slashed from capital projects in the 2020 budget, representing a 20% cut.





N5.08 trillion has a 51% deficit of N5.2 trillion. Although the national assembly and judiciary are yet to make adjustments to their budgets, the 2020 budget at its N10.276 trillion size and projected revenue ofN5.08 trillion has a 51% deficit of N5.2 trillion.

According to the revised budget documents, new borrowings by the government was adjusted from N1.59 trillion to N4.43 trillion with incremental borrowing projected at N2.84 trillion.





In total, the government hopes to raise N5.189 trillion to fund the 2020 budget.





The projected oil revenue was reviewed downward from N7.67 trillion to N1.44 trillion.





The net non-oil revenue was also projected downward from N6.442 trillion to N5.84 trillion with corporate tax and value-added tax expected to contribute N1.822 trillion and N2.164 trillion down from the original N1.836 and 2.25 trillion respectively.





Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, had explained that the budget had to be revised because of a drop in crude oil prices on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic.





The government has already requested for $6.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) to be able to fulfil its responsibilities.





It has also shelved plans to raise $3.3bn from Eurobonds issuance.




BANGALORE, India, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A ventilator is a medical device that is used in treating respiratory failure in patients. The ventilator allows patients to breathe naturally, by mimicking the respiratory rate of the person to deliver oxygen-containing gasses into the lungs, and periodically exchange gas for helping the patient boost the hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention level.

The widespread impact of COVID-19 has made the WHO declare it as a pandemic. The global effects of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are now starting to be felt by all countries and will have a significant impact on the ventilator market size.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE VENTILATORS MARKET SIZE

Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms of respiratory tract infection such as dyspnea, of which the proportion of serious and critical patients is around 13%. Patients with dyspnea need to be given prompt ventilator care to reduce the progression of disease into much severe state, especially since there are no appropriate drugs to cure the disease. This impact of COVID-19 across the globe is expected to increase the ventilator market size.

The major factor supporting the growth of the invasive ventilation segment is its broad applications in respiratory diseases, neurological illnesses, and sleeping disorders.

The rapid growth of the global geriatric population, increased prevalence of respiratory diseases such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and the cost-effective design of homecare equipment and facilities contribute directly to a growing demand for respiratory therapy equipment, including ventilators.

Improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies coupled with growing awareness of available chronic respiratory disease therapies has resulted in the rapid adoption of mechanical ventilators boosting the ventilators market growth.

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REGION WISE VENTILATOR MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Since the current ventilator reserve of all COVID-19 affected countries is insufficient to meet the demands, countries have taken drastic steps to fill up the existing gap.

In North America , the U.S. has introduced the National Newspaper and Defense Development Act, authorizing the manufacture of ventilators by Chrysler, general motors, Toyota, and other automobile firms. Based on the likely scenario, the ventilator market is projected to rise by 150.1 percent in 2020, with a revenue of US$ 11.70 billion . The revenue value has jumped from US$ 4.68 billion in 2019. Furthermore, by 2026, the ventilators market size is expected to hit US$ 5.20 billion , with a CAGR of -12.64 percent from 2020 to 2026.

, the U.S. has introduced the National Newspaper and Defense Development Act, authorizing the manufacture of ventilators by Chrysler, general motors, Toyota, and other automobile firms. Based on the likely scenario, the ventilator market is projected to rise by 150.1 percent in 2020, with a revenue of . The revenue value has jumped from in 2019. Furthermore, by 2026, the ventilators market size is expected to hit , with a CAGR of -12.64 percent from 2020 to 2026. In the Asia Pacific region, the demand Ventilator in China is estimated at 202.8 K units in 2020, compared to 14.7 K units in 2019. In 2020, production is projected to increase by 1279.6 percent. The demand for Ventilators will decrease based on the contamination of COVID-19, and the excess mask manufacturing capacity will be faced with greater adjustment. Additionally, the overall ventilator production is expected to fall back in 2021, bringing the ventilators to demand in China at 48.8 K units, with a CAGR of -21.13 percent from 2020 to 2026.

region, the demand Ventilator in is estimated at units in 2020, compared to units in 2019. In 2020, production is projected to increase by 1279.6 percent. The demand for Ventilators will decrease based on the contamination of COVID-19, and the excess mask manufacturing capacity will be faced with greater adjustment. Additionally, the overall ventilator production is expected to fall back in 2021, bringing the ventilators to demand in at units, with a CAGR of -21.13 percent from 2020 to 2026. Due to the serious shortage of ventilators in Europe , the European Commission disclosed on March 25th that the supply chain of ventilators throughout Europe could only meet 10% of the demand. Italy and Spain have opted not to provide ventilators for patients over the age of 60 and elderly patients over the age of 65, respectively. The total demand gap can hit around 1281 K units, and the current domestic production capacity or import to be resolved is urgently needed. The U.S., Italy , and Spain have especially acute gaps in demand among all the countries. This surge in demand is expected to increase the European market share.

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Ventilators Market Segment by Type

Positive Pressure Mechanical Ventilators

Negative Pressure Mechanical Ventilators

Ventilators Market Segment by Application

Infancy

Anesthesia Management

Emergency Treatment

Others

The Key players in the market include

Medtronic

BD

Philips Healthcare

Hamilton Medical

Smiths Medical

Carl Reiner

Dragerwerk

GE Healthcare

Getinge

Mindray Medical International

ResMed

Teleflex

DEMCON

Maquet etc.

Others

Key regions covered in the report are

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Others

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SIMILAR REPORTS

 Internet Medical Market Research Report

Internet medical refers to anything and everything present over the Internet related to the medical field. The Internet medical includes, Internet as the carrier and technological system of health education, medical information, electronic health records, disease risk assessment, online diagnosis, electronic prescription, clinical diagnosis, and clinical care and recovery, and other forms of health butler service.

Based on the field the Internet medical market is segmented as Internet Medical Devices, Internet Medical Software & Systems, and Internet Medical Services according to different fields

The research report attempts to unveil key opportunities available in the global Internet Medical market by providing industry-standard precision in analysis and high data integrity to help players gain a strong market position. In addition, the study provides market size for the period 2015-2026, both country-wise and region-wise. This report also provides the market size and forecast in terms of revenue for the period 2015-2026 by each application segment.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-4Y219/global-internet-medical-key

 Face Mask Market Research Report

The face mask market size is currently in huge demand due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Based on the likely scenario, the face mask market is projected to rise by 153.1 percent in 2020, with a revenue of USD 7.24 billion. This revenue value has jumped from USD 2.86 billion in 2019. Furthermore, by 2026, the face mask market size is expected to hit USD 3.14 billion, with a CAGR of -12.99 percent from 2020 to 2026.

China is the largest producer of the mask, and due to the current surge in demand, China's mask production has risen more than 10-fold to 120 million per day, but the mask disparity in global supply and demand still cannot be mitigated.

The report analyzes and examines the status and future forecast of the global face mask, involving efficiency, output, value, consumption, growth rate (CAGR), market share, historical, and forecast. The study also offers an in-depth insight into the market potential and advantages, opportunities and challenges, limitations, and risks of the global and key regions.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-1K269/global-face-mask-industry

 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Market Research Report

The demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Market Size was estimated at US$ 40,400 million in 2018 and is expected to hit USD 58,700 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 4.8 percent over the forecast period.

Personal protective equipment is used in dangerous work settings to provide protection against health risks. The introduction of strict regulatory rules concerning workers' health and the widespread effect of COVID-19 drives the demand for personal protective equipment market size.

This report presents the market size of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worldwide, splits the breakdown (data status 2014-2019 and forecast to 2025) by manufacturers, country, form, and application. Furthermore, the report analyzes the market status, market size, growth rate, potential trends, market dynamics, opportunities and challenges, risks and barriers to entry, distribution channels, distributors, and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-25U56/global-personal-protective-equipment-ppe-market

 Medical Supplies Market Research Report

The global Medical Supplies market size is expected to rise from USD 105.8 Billion in 2019 to USD 160.6 Billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 7.2 percent from 2019 to 2025.

In depth Impact of COVID-19 to Medical supplies market is covered in the report.

Asia is expected to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period due to factors such as rising geriatric population, increasing the incidence of diseases, growing medical tourism industry, and developing healthcare infrastructure.

The research report uses various methodologies to analyze the Medical Supplies market to provide reliable and in-depth industry information.

View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2U256/medical-supplies

 Medical Ventilator Market Research Report

A medical ventilator is a system that offers respiration for patients who are seriously ill and those that need emergency treatment. Ventilators are also present during the surgery for supplying anesthesia to the patient.

The demand for medical ventilators is rising due to the increasing numbers of critically ill patients, high incidence of chronic disease among children, the prevalence of lifestyle disorders such as heart attack, respiratory diseases, and emergency care demand for ventilators. Furthermore, the recent outbreak of pandemic COVID-19 is also expected to increase the medical ventilator market size.

The medical ventilator market report incorporated analyzes of various factors which increase the growth of the market. This represents patterns, constraints, and factors that either positively or negatively turn the market.

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War of words between US president and WHO chief rages on as calls for solidarity to fight coronavirus go unheeded.

US President Donald Trump continued to feud with the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing it of initially minimising the coronavirus outbreak and then siding with China in its response.

He also hit back on Wednesday at WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who earlier accused Trump of politicising the pandemic, a move he said would lead to many more body bags.

They said more body bags  He [Tedros] would have been much better serving the people hes supposed to serve if they gave a correct analysis. Everything was China-centric: Everything is going to be fine, no human-to-human [transmission],' said Trump.

He wanted me to keep the borders open. I closed the border to spite him, it was a hard decision to make at the time. We made a decision against the World Health Organization.

Trump noted China provides the WHO with more than $40m in funding, while the United States gives well above $400m.





Yet, everything seems to be Chinas way. Thats not right, thats not fair to us, and honestly, its not fair to the world. I cant believe hes talking about politics, look at the relationship they have with China, Trump added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters the US is re-evaluating its funding to the WHO. Organisations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which theyre intended, he said.

Many body bags

WHO chief Tedros said now is not the time for such threats as more than 88,500 people have died worldwide with 1.5 million confirmed infections.

The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please dont politicise this virus, Tedros said at a press briefing in Geneva, addressing politicians and world leaders.

If you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it  We will have many body bags in front of us if we dont behave.

Tedros noted Thursday marks 100 days since China first notified the organisation of cases of pneumonia with unknown cause on December 31.

Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, also rejected Trumps suggestion the WHO was China-centric, saying: We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind.

WHO regime change?





In his comments at the daily White House taskforce briefing, Pompeo was stopped short when asked about changing the leadership of the body, something US politicians have raised in previous days.

This is not the time to be doing that kind of change, he said.

Pompeo said it was necessary to have really good data from all countries, including China, and for them to be transparent  upfront and allow information to flow freely.

In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was not the time to assess the global response to the pandemic, calling instead for the international community to focus on working in solidarity to stop the virus.

The UN Security Council will convene later on Thursday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and the response.

Tedros said China and the US should follow the example of the former Soviet Union and the US, which launched a 10-year global campaign in 1967 that eradicated smallpox, a disease then killing two million people annually.
A Qantas engineer has been sacked after slapping a female flight attendant on the bottom before take off.

Luke Sikalias lost his claim for unfair dismissal at the Fair Work Commission after an incident before a flight from Melbourne to Sydney in May 2018.

The 55-year-old asked the woman if she was single and told her he likes blondes before slapping her and leaving his hand on her body.

The father-of-two left the flight, before being recalled onto the plane due to a mechanical issue he said he caused so he could ask the flight attendant on a date.

Qantas say the airline will not allow any harassment in their workplace

Fair Work Commission Deputy President Val Gostencnik said Mr Sikalias' actions were 'creepy'.

'A modicum of common sense should tell one that the conduct... is not on,' he said, as reported by The Brisbane Times.

Mr Sikalias had another incident with the flight attendant in November 2018 where he again slapped her on the bottom, saying he meant to touch her back.

He denied the sexual harassment claims and was fired in March 2019.

Mr Sikalias was forced to move in with his parents and could not provide for his children after he was sacked.

He claimed he was professional at work, while the flight attendant had complained to other staff about his behaviour, though no one saw any misconduct.

Federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Engineers Association Steve Purvinas was frustrated with Fair Work's verdict due to a lack of evidence.

'A man with 37 years' experience, the only job he's ever had in his life, has lost his income and career because of one report to which there are no witnesses,' he said.

A Qantas spokesman said they won't allow any harassment in their workplace.

'We have zero tolerance for any form of harassment,' they said. 'Everyone should feel safe and respected when they come to work.'
These four galaxy clusters were among hundreds analyzed in a large survey to test whether the universe is the same in all directions over large scales. The study results suggest the concept of an "isotropic" universe may not entirely fit.

The universe may not be the same in every direction after all.

The expansion rate of the universe appears to vary from place to place, a new study reports. This finding, if confirmed, would force astronomers to reassess just how well they understand the cosmos.

"One of the pillars of cosmology  the study of the history and fate of the entire universe  is that the universe is 'isotropic,' meaning the same in all directions," study lead author Konstantinos Migkas, of the University of Bonn in Germany, said in a statement . "Our work shows there may be cracks in that pillar."

Related: The universe: Big Bang to now in 10 easy steps

The universe has been expanding continuously for more than 13.8 billion years, ever since the Big Bang  and at an accelerating rate, thanks to a mysterious force called dark energy. Equations based on Einstein's general theory of relativity suggest that this expansion is isotropic on large spatial scales, Migkas wrote Tuesday (April 7) in a blog post about the new study.

Observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the universe-pervading radiation left over from the Big Bang, support this notion, he added: "The CMB seems to be isotropic, and cosmologists extrapolate this property of the very early universe to our current epoch, nearly 14 billion years later."

But it's unclear how valid this extrapolation is, he stressed, noting that dark energy has been the dominant factor in the universe's evolution over the last 4 billion years or so. Dark energy's "baffling nature has not yet allowed astrophysicists to understand it properly," Migkas wrote. "Therefore, assuming it to be isotropic is almost a leap of faith for now. This highlights the urgent need to investigate if today's universe is isotropic or not."

The new study reports the results of one such investigation. Migkas and his colleagues studied 842 galaxy clusters , the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe, using data gathered by three space telescopes: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Europe's XMM-Newton and the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics, a joint Japanese-U.S. mission that ended in 2001.

The researchers determined the temperature of each cluster by analyzing the X-ray emissions coming from huge fields of hot gas within them. They used this temperature information to estimate each cluster's inherent X-ray luminosity, without needing to take into account cosmological variables such as the universe's expansion rate.

The researchers then calculated X-ray luminosity for each cluster in a different way, one that did require knowledge of the universe's expansion. Doing so revealed apparent expansion rates across the entire sky  and these rates didn't match up everywhere.

"We managed to pinpoint a region that seems to expand slower than the rest of the universe, and one that seems to expand faster!" Migkas wrote in the blog post. "Interestingly, our results agree with several previous studies that used other methods, with the difference that we identified this 'anisotropy' in the sky with a much higher confidence and using objects covering the whole sky more uniformly."

This graphic shows a map of the universe's expansion rates in different directions, estimated in a new study by Konstantinos Migkas and collaborators. The map is in galactic coordinates, with the center looking toward the center of our galaxy. The black and purple colors show the directions of the lowest expansion rates (the Hubble constant); yellow and red show the directions of the highest expansion rates. (Image credit: University of Bonn/K. Migkas et al.)

It's possible that this result has a relatively prosaic explanation. For example, perhaps galaxy clusters in the anomalous areas are being pulled hard gravitationally by other clusters, giving the illusion of a different expansion rate.

Such effects are seen at smaller spatial scales in the universe, the researchers said. But the new study probes clusters up to 5 billion light-years away, and it's unclear if gravitational tugs could overwhelm expansion forces over such vast distances, they added.

If the observed expansion-rate differences are indeed real, they could reveal intriguing new details about how the universe works. For instance, maybe dark energy itself varies from place to place throughout the cosmos.

"It would be remarkable if dark energy were found to have different strengths in different parts of the universe," study co-author Thomas Reiprich, also of the University of Bonn, said in the same statement. "However, much more evidence would be needed to rule out other explanations and make a convincing case."

The new study appears in the April 2020 issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. You can read it for free at the online preprint site arXiv.org .

Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook .
Mapping all its 13 lakh employees and identifying potential quarantine facilities for each of them is part of the protocol drafted by Central Railway to insulate its staffers from COVID-19.

The document Rail Pariwar Dekh Rekh Muhim' (Drive to take care of the railway family) lists a series of steps to be followed by zonal railways to keep employees safe.

All 17 zones of the railways, India's largest employer, are preparing to implement the steps recommended, officials said.

COVID-19 has infected more than 5,700 people and claimed at least 166 lives in the country.

"All employees over the respective divisions/ workshops/HQ to be mapped. That is employees name, current residential address, phone numbers should be maintained in such a way that their location (area wise) can be ascertained and they can be contacted anytime...For each employee (including their dependents) a potential quarantine facility /isolation facility should be identified or marked,'' the paper says.

Sources said the protocol is already being implemented in some zones following the deaths of two railway employees in the pandemic.

On April 5, a a 53-year-old technician with no travel history died at a hospital in Siliguri in West Bengal, prompting authorities to order home quarantine for his 12 colleagues and as many medics who treated him. On March 23, an official died of the disease in the West Bengal capital Kolkata.

All concerned senior officials have been advised to keep the complete mapping of employees with them at all times. They have also been told to create a database of healthy employees and volunteers, sources said.

The protocol states that special care must be taken with employees and their dependents who have co-morbidities, the presence of other health complications such as hypertension and diabetes.

It suggests that local level committees be immediately formed. These would help in monitoring home quarantine, availability of grocery and daily requirements to quarantined employees and their dependents.

"They would also coordinate with medical teams, police and other local authorities and follow other instructions issued from time to time such as increasing awareness for protection against COVID-19, family counseling,'' it says.

All leave sanctioning authorities and senior and immediate supervisors of all departments will have to check every day with their staff, if they or any of their family member is showing COVID-19 symptoms.

The protocol states that the personnel department will be tasked with tracking connections of COVID -19 identified cases to avoid community spread.

"A core team to be made in each unit which will receive information regarding new cases and start tracking possible connections. Additionally, a weekly telephonic contact to be made with each employee. A record of this to be maintained and a daily report to be submitted to respective higher officer. In this their medical conditions to be enquired and instruction to be given to contact immediately' when any such symptoms, related to COVID-19, is found,'' the paper states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  University Hospitals received 15,000 homemade masks in four days after it made a call out to the community to make and donate cloth masks to help protect healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

But it still needs a lot more masks, and is asking for the help of anyone who can sew.

The hospital system aims to collect 100,000 donated masks in two weeks. Its handing out mask masking kits with enough supplies to sew 10 masks. You can pick the kits up at hospital locations across Greater Cleveland.

Anyone who can sew is urged to pick up one of these mask making kits, and return it to the hospital as soon as the masks are complete. You can stop by any of these locations to pick up materials and drop off supplies on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. any day of the week:

UH Elyria Medical Center, main entrance valet

UH Geauga Medical Center, main entrance valet

UH Parma Medical Center, main entrance

UH Management Services Center, back entrance

Cloth masks are not recommended for doctors and nurses working directly with COVID-19 patients. But they will provide protection to everyone else: hospital visitors, hospital workers who arent providing care for coronavirus patients, patients at drive-thru testing sites and for COVID-19 patients who cant tolerate a medical-grade mask.

University Hospitals is asking sewers to follow its specific pattern for masks donated to the hospital. If you have any questions about mask making for UH, please email UHClevelandVolunteer@UHHospitals.org.

There are lots of easy patterns to sew a cloth mask for yourself, which the CDC now recommends everyone wear in public places, like the grocery store or the pharmacy.

Read more about sewing masks below:

12 simple steps to make a fabric mask to protect from the coronavirus: See the video

Making a coronavirus mask without a sewing machine is fairly easy (video)

How to help sew masks for hospital in coronavirus crisis

Hudson volunteers make 750 masks in a week for Canton hospital during coronavirus crisis
An 87-year-old Chinese patient, who became an internet sensation after a serene picture showed him enjoying a sunset with his doctor, has recovered from the coronavirus today.

The pensioner, Wang Xin, was discharged from the People's Hospital of Wuhan University on Thursday after being treated for two months.

The former patient will be sent to a 14-day quarantine for observation, according to the press.

Mr Wang was first known by the public after a picture of him watching a beautiful sunset with his doctor touched the hearts of millions of people.

A picture of an elderly coronavirus patient enjoying a beautiful sunset with his doctor, Liu Kai, has touched millions of Chinese people's hearts. It was taken by another medical worker

A video shows the elderly patient bid a tearful farewell with the medical workers as he is escorted to leave the Wuhan hospital today.

'You are the ones who saved me from the Grim Reaper and [you're] the reason why I'm so healthy now,' cried Mr Wang.

The serene picture of Mr Wang and his doctor was first shared on Chinese social media on March 5.

The pair was on their way to take a CT scan when the doctor, Liu Kai, asked the pensioner if he would like to stop for a moment to watch the sunset. Another medical assistant took the picture as they were enjoying the moment.

A glimpse of sunshine was particularly precious for the busy coronavirus medic and the elderly resident who had reportedly been hospitalised for nearly a month at the time.

The hospital said in mid-March that the patient's condition was significantly improving and he is now able to leave his bed.

An 87-year-old Chinese patient, who became an internet sensation in a picture of him watching the sunset with a doctor, has recovered from the coronavirus today

The heart-warming picture moved millions of social media users: 'What a spectacular scene,' one comment read.

'So amazing. Hope you can enjoy more beautiful sunsets like this.'

Another web user wrote: 'I can't explain with words how this picture makes me feel. It makes me feel so warm.'

The 27-year-old medic was sent from Shanghai to help the hospital in Wuhan when the coronavirus outbreak began.

Dr Liu had returned to his hometown on April 1. He phoned today to congratulate Mr Wang's full recovery.

The elderly resident, who is a violinist, performed a song for the medics at the hospital when Dr Liu was leaving.

The news comes as medical workers from all over China have been leaving Hubei in the past few weeks after the country claimed to have largely curbed the epidemic. A medical staff member from Jilin Province tears up before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan

Wuhan, where the epidemic began, lifted the strict travel restrictions on its 11million residents yesterday after a draconian 76-day lockdown. Commuters are pictured today in Beijing

The news comes as medical workers from all over China have been leaving Hubei in the past few weeks after the country claimed to have largely curbed the epidemic.

More than 46,000 doctors and nurses were sent to the former epicentre since late January to help beat the deadly disease.

Wuhan, where the epidemic began, lifted the strict travel restrictions on its 11million residents yesterday after a draconian 76-day lockdown.

The novel coronavirus, which is rapidly sweeping the world, has infected over 1.4million people and claimed at least 85,937 deaths globally.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2020 - 15:04 | Arts, Feature

(Irene Hirano (4th from L), wife of Daniel K. Inouye, the late senator from Hawaii, takes part in a ceremony at the airport renamed after him on May 30, 2017, to commemorate the name change)

WASHINGTON - Irene Hirano, head of the U.S.-Japan Council and widow of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, died Tuesday in Los Angeles following an extended illness, the council said Wednesday. She was 71.

Born in Los Angeles, she was also president and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in the city, a position she took in 1999 and held for 20 years. The museum is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Americans of Japanese ancestry.

"Irene's visionary leadership will be terribly missed, not only in the Asian Pacific Islander communities, but in American society as a whole," Norman Mineta, the museum board of trustees' chairman and former transportation secretary, said in a statement.

He called her a "caring, passionate person with unquestioned integrity."

As president of the council and museum, Hirano played an instrumental role in fostering people-to-people ties between the United States and Japan.

The council is a nonprofit group based in Washington that has organized exchange programs to strengthen U.S.-Japan relations since its inception in 2008.

In January, she informed the organization of her decision to retire, citing "some personal considerations."

In a separate statement, Phyllis Campbell, the council's board chair, praised Hirano as "a singular figure in U.S.-Japan relations, respected by leaders on both sides of the Pacific."

Her accomplishments included the launch of "Tomodachi Initiative," a public-private partnership backed by the U.S. and Japanese governments, to invest in the next generation of young Japanese and U.S. leaders. The program was created to also support Japan's recovery from the 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Her husband, a Japanese-American Democrat from Hawaii and World War II veteran, died in 2012 at the age of 88. He remains the second-longest-serving U.S. senator in history, having served for nearly 50 years.
Staff at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with ice cream sent from Scoop De Ville, by way of Fuel the Fight. Read more

Two grassroots campaigns are joining forces in a bid to give at least 3,500 meals to frontline health-care workers in the Philadelphia area this Sunday.

Fuel the Fight, whose three-week-old GoFundMe drive has raised about $82,000 in cash plus twice more in commitments to buy and give away restaurant meals to workers at 10 Philadelphia-area hospitals and coronavirus testing sites, is working with #SavePhillyEats, an online platform where restaurants sell special experiences and gift cards that has attracted high-profile restaurateurs including Jennifer Carroll, Mike Strauss, and Ange Branca.

Fuel the Fight has the cash while #SavePhillyEats has the clout. Theyre calling this joint effort #GivePhillyEats.

Meanwhile, as is typical behavior in the food industry, restaurants and pizzerias everywhere are sending food to first responders working during the coronavirus crisis.

 READ MORE: Philly and organizations around the region give out free food for communities

The #GivePhillyEats meals  an entree, side, and dessert  will not be traditional Passover or Easter dinners, says Bill Conners, a tech entrepreneur who founded the all-volunteer Fuel the Fight three weeks ago with his wife, Lauren, and five friends, his business partners Mike Mayock and Woody Klemmer; Cole Berman and Mike Davis, who are in finance; and Alex Penza, who is in wholesale produce.

We want the restaurants to put their own diverse spin on them, said Conners, who before helping to found Fuel the Fight had no restaurant experience or background.

Fuel the Fight, which raised $20,000 in the first 48 hours, has played broker, arranging and paying for meals, which in turn keep the participating restaurants going. The restaurants and Fuel the Fight volunteers deliver the food to the hospital workers.

Through a new association with the national effort Frontline Foods, which has 501(c)3 charitable status, Fuel the Fight can accept corporate donations. Wayne-based Evolve IP, for example, has agreed to match employee contributions.

Sundays #GivePhillyEats effort has received commitments from chefs and restaurants. Besides Carroll, Strauss, and Branca, buy-ins have been received from Safran Turney Hospitality (Barbuzzo, Lolita, etc.), High Street on Market, Garces Catering, Joey Baldino (Palizzi Social Club and Zeppoli), Eclat Chocolate, and Marc Vetri (Vetri Cucina and Fiorella). Vetri and Jose Garces will prepare meals at home, while other chefs will put on masks to work out of the Fitler Club, which has donated use of its kitchen.

 READ MORE: Window service: Restaurants work through the pane during coronavirus shutdown

The #SavePhillyEats platform was created by entrepreneurs Anthony Bucci and David Bookspan after they saw restaurants soliciting for donations on GoFundMe. We thought we could aggregate and amplify all the eyeballs out there, Bucci said.

The platform lists revenue-generating premium experiences, such as home-cooked dinners by chefs, a trip to Cuba with chef Guillermo Pernot of Cuba Libre, and discounts on restaurant gift cards.

SavePhillyEats does not take commissions or charge for participation.
The novel coronavirus began spreading in New York City in February, before widespread testing began, and the strain so far identified in local samples came from Europe, a scientist said Wednesday.

Adriana Heguy, a geneticist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who led the research, told AFP that tracing back the virus' chain of transmission will help policy makers make better informed social interventions in the future.

"It's very interesting that so far, the majority seem to be coming from Europe, and this is in part I think because there was a focus on stopping travel from China," she said.

The findings also tie in with a spate of mysterious pneumonia cases that New York physicians were treating before large scale testing began in the city, she added.

Heguy and her team determined the viral sequences of 75 samples taken from the nasal swabs of patients at Tisch Hospital, NYU Winthrop Hospital and NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn.

All organisms mutate over time, but so-called RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 introduce errors in each cycle of their replication.

This is the reason why influenza viruses are so different from season to season and require new vaccines.

While the new coronavirus doesn't seem to mutate as fast as the flu, there are enough changes for scientists to trace back its ancestry, much like a person's DNA can be traced back to their parents and grandparents.

To do this, the New York team uploaded the samples they had taken to a server run by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID EpiFlu) where scientists from around the world share data.

The first patient they studied had no relevant travel history, meaning he had been infected by someone in their community.

"By the specific changes that had occurred in his virus, we could tell basically, with a high degree of probability that it was coming from England," said Heguy.

Beyond determining transmission pathways, there could be clinical implications in continuing to gather more data.

For example, scientists will eventually seek to learn whether some strains lead to less or more serious forms of the disease than others, and this could inform targeted treatments.

Another potential use will come as countries go back to work and lift lockdown restrictions -- as China and South Korea are starting to do.

If, as scientists suspect, the virus is seasonal and returns in a smaller second wave, they can immediately sequence its genome from infected patients, then take samples from the neighborhood where they live to determine if there is a community outbreak.

This in turn can help more targeted social interventions.

The team is in the early stages of their project but hopes to soon sequence nearly 200 samples per week with the goal of offering thousands of genomes for analysis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it would no longer be involved in managing the refineries after the rehabilita...





The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it would no longer be involved in managing the refineries after the rehabilitation exercise.





Mele Kyari, the corporations group managing director, said it would engage the services of a company that would manage the refineries on an operations and maintenance basis.





We are going to get an O&M contract, NNPC wont run it. We are going to get a firm that will guarantee that this plant would run for some time, Kennie Obateru, NNPC spokesman, quoted him to have said in an interview with Arise TV.





We want to try a different model of getting this refinery to run. And we are going to apply this process for the running of the other two refineries.





Kyari also explained that the ultimate goal is to adopt the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) model where private partners would decide the fate of the refineries.





Also speaking on Channels TV, the NNPC boss said eliminating the petrol subsidy would free up funds to develop basic infrastructure in the education, health, transport, and other sectors for the benefit of the citizenry.





Subsidy is elitist because it is the elites that benefit from it. They are the ones that have SUVs, four, five cars in their garages. The masses should be the ones to benefit, he said.





There are many things wrong with the under-recovery because it makes us supply more than is needed. This makes the under-recovery to be bloated because we unwittingly subsidize fuel for the whole of West Africa. That has to stop.





Subsidy removal, he also said, would correct cases of smuggling and product arbitrage in the market adding that it would also provide the needed impetus for the NNPC to establish retail outlets in neighbouring countries.





On the agitation in some quarters for a reduction in the price of kerosene, he said the corporations focus was rather on how to migrate all those who were still using kerosene for domestic cooking to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is popularly referred to as cooking gas.





According to him, apart from LPG being a cheaper fuel than kerosene, it is also safer and more environment-friendly.
A utility worker sweetly serenaded an elderly woman who has dementia from outside the gate of her senior living facility while she enjoyed some fresh air  and his impromptu performance.

Sarah Ditmars Cahill was singing and dancing outside the Alabama Oaks Assisted Living Facility in Winter Park, Florida, last week to try to cheer up her mother from a safe distance. When she noticed Albert Jones, a utility worker for Southeast Connections Gas Company, singing while he worked, she enlisted him to help.

'I heard this beautiful voice across the street,' she told CBS News. 'He had his earbuds in and I motioned to him. He took them out and I said he should come over and sing to mom since he was so much better than me. He was happy to do so!'

So sweet: Albert Jones, a utility worker for Southeast Connections Gas Company, serenaded an elderly woman outside the Alabama Oaks Assisted Living Facility in Winter Park, Florida

Cheering her up: The woman's daughter, Sarah Ditmars Cahill, said her mother has dementia and doesn't understand why she cant visit her amid the coronavirus pandemic

Cahill explained that her mother had dementia and doesn't understand why her only daughter can't come through the gate of the senior living facility amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said not being able to get closer than 10 feet to her mom has been difficult for her, but she has tried to make up for it by visiting her from afar when she is sitting outside with her caregiver.

Upon her urging, Jones sang the Gospel hymn 'His Eye Is On The Sparrow' to her mother while she captured the heartwarming moment.

'Why should I feel discouraged? And why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely / And long for heavenly home / When Jesus is my portion?' he crooned from outside the gate.

Kind: Cahill was visiting her mother last week when she heard Jones singing nearby. She asked him to sing to her mom, and he happily crooned the Gospel hymn 'His Eye Is On The Sparrow'

All smiles: Cahill snapped a selfie with Jones, who has become an online star after the video of him singing to her mother went viral

'If you listen carefully you can hear mom singing with him. She loves music and is always singing,' Cahill said.

She later learned that Jones sings in his church and has a nursing home singing ministry.

The footage of Jones serenading her mother quickly went viral and even attracted the attention of Hugh Jackman, who shared the video on his Instagram page.

'Its these special moments that remind us that there is so much good in the world,' he wrote. 'I wish I knew your name Sir. If anyone who knows his info, please dm me. Id love to say thank you directly.'

Aww! Cahill has remained in touch with Jones, and earlier this week, he returned to her mom's senior living facility to sing her Happy Birthday in honor of her turning 94

New friend: Cahill said her mom had a 'huge smile' when she saw Jones and 'was so happy to see him'

Cahill told CBS that she responded to Jackman and gave him Jones' information. The next day, Jackman's secretary called Jones and told the utility worker the actor wants to meet him.

The public interest in Jones' act of kindness has had Cahill in communication with him daily, and on Tuesday, she asked him if he would visit her mom again in honor of her 94th birthday.

Cahill said her mom had a 'huge smile' when she saw Jones, who sang 'Happy Birthday' to her this time around.

'She was so happy to see him. She knew his heart, even from the distance,' the daughter said.
BOKARO: Jharkhand reported its first death due to the novel coronavirus pandemic on Thursday (April 9, 2020) after a 72-year-old man died in Bokaro. With this, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the Steel City has risen to five.

Confirming the development, Bokaro Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said, ''A 72-year-old COVID-19 patient from Bokaro passed away early morning today.''

According to reports, the 72-year-old deceased belonged to a coronavirus-infected family in which four people have earlier tested positive for the COVID-19. The family resides in the Gumia block of Bokaro district.

The female member of the family had recently returned from attending the Tablighi Jamaat-led event in Delhi. She had got infected with the deadly virus in Delhi and after her return, the infection spread in her family.

Five persons had tested positive for coronavirus in Jharkhand's Bokaro on Wednesday.

"Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Bokaro, taking the total number of cases to nine in Ranchi, State Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni had said on Wednesday

Kulkarni said they are family members of those who had tested COVID-19 positive from Ranchi and Bokaro.

Meanwhile, India's total number of COVID-19 infections jumped to 5,734 which includes 5095 active cases of infections, 473 cured and 166 deaths, as per Heath Ministry data at 8 am on April 9.

The number of coronavirus COVID-19 infections saw a sharp rise on Wednesday (April 8, 2020) with 5,734 active cases, 473 recovered and 166 deaths, as per the data by Union Health Ministry at 8 am on Thursday (April 9).

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, at his meeting with other parliamentarians, hinted that the ongoing 21-day lockdown may be extended further and that a complete exit is not possible. PM Modi pointed out that the country was facing a "social emergency-like situation" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also cited serious economic challenges in containing the spread of the deadly virus, according to an official statement.

PM Modi asserted that his government's priority is to "save each and every life", adding "The present situation is an epoch changing event in mankind's history and we must evolve to counter its impact." The Prime Minister is scheduled to interact with all chief ministers on April 11.
This wasnt how organizers of Birminghams Pepper Place Saturday Market had hoped to kick off the opening weekend of the popular farmers markets 20th anniversary season.

But as the market has done since it debuted in June 2000, it has adapted with the changing times.

In wake of the COVID-19 scare, the Pepper Place market has switched to a drive-thru-only service that offers customers the chance to order their produce, meats and baked goods in advance and then pick it up on Saturday mornings without ever getting out of their cars.

This Saturday, April 11, is the start of the markets outdoor season, when, typically, several dozen farmers and food vendors from around the state and thousands of shoppers would fill the Pepper Place and Martin Biscuit Co. parking lots and line 29th Street South to celebrate the start of the spring-summer produce season in Alabama.

Organizers, though, began experimenting with the drive-thru pick-up model during the markets winter season, and after a three-week trial run, they feel like theyre ready to go all in this Saturday.

All that we have learned from this experience is that the best thing you can possibly do is be flexible and adapt and just try to be resilient, Leigh Sloss-Corra, the markets director, says. If one thing doesnt work, then try something else. Keep your faith.

Birmingham is also such an amazing place where people are really, really loyal to their local businesses, she adds. And this is one way that I think that people also feel like they can be connected to their community and feel like they're giving back to (the farmers) that are really important.

After launching the drive-thru service with five farmers on March 21, the market has gradually expanded each weekend. This Saturday, Sloss-Corra has 15 farmers and vendors lined up, and, she says, they hope to grow to about 30 vendors over the next few weeks.

The smart thing that we did was we started small, Sloss-Corra says. Were just adding a few more (vendors) every week to work out the kinks and see what the system will tolerate.

Heres how it works:

Starting on Monday of every week, customers may go to the Pepper Place Saturday Market website and start placing their orders from the coming weekends list of vendors. All orders are paid for in advance with a credit card to ensure that no paper money is exchanged. The deadline to order each week is Thursday for some vendors and Friday for others. No in-person purchases are allowed at the market.

(This week, customers have to place and pay for their orders individually with each farmer, Sloss-Corra says, but starting next week, they will be able to bundle their order and make a single payment.)

On Saturday mornings, customers drive to the pick-up lane set up along Second Avenue South between 28th and 29th Streets and are directed, single file through the pick-up line. The market is open from 7 a.m. to noon each Saturday.

Customers are required to stay in their cars and the farmers will deliver their order and place them in the trucks or backs of their cars. All the farmers wear gloves when handling the orders.

Two Saturdays ago, Sloss-Corra says, the Pepper Place market had about 350 cars go through the drive-thru line. Last Saturday, there were 536 cars.

The lines, she says, have run relatively smoothly, and customers, she adds, have been patient and appreciative.

You know, there were a lot of cars, and when you talked to people, they would look at you and say, Thank you so much for doing this. We're so grateful. We're so appreciative, she says.

And even when people had to wait a long time, they were all smiles, she adds. You think a market exists to feed people, and our farmers are feeding peoples bodies but theyre feeding their souls, too.

Belle Meadow Farm in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is among the farms participating in the Pepper Place Saturday Market drive-thru program. (Photo courtesy of Peritus Public Relations)

During the COVID-19 outbreak, farmers markets are among those Alabama businesses that are considered essential and allowed to stay open  if they operate within certain social-distancing guidelines  while the statewide shelter-in-place order is in effect.

The contactless, drive-thru model is being tested at other famers markets around the state and around the country.

With no immediate end to the coronavirus crisis in sight, Sloss-Corra says the Pepper Place farmers market is prepared to continue the drive-thru service through the rest of the summer, if necessary.

Also, she adds, the market is exploring the option of adding a delivery service in the coming weeks.

I think when we get through this, well be stronger than ever, she says.

And that 20th anniversary celebration will have to wait, Sloss-Corra adds.

Well celebrate our 21st birthday next year, she says. When were 21, well have a big party next year.

The Pepper Place Saturday Market takes place Saturdays from April 11 through Dec. 12. Hours are 7 a.m. to noon, and the address is 2829 Second Ave. South. To see a list of farmers and vendors and to place an order, go here.

READ MORE:

Only in Alabama: Boiled peanuts delivered to your front door

For Alabama chef Frank Stitt, a different kind of normal

Alabama BBQ restaurant owner steps up to feed schoolkids

Heres a way to show health care workers you love them

5 ways to support your local Alabama restaurants during the COVID-19 outbreak
A heartbroken man was forced to say goodbye to his beloved brother by peering through a hospital window after he succumbed to the coronavirus.

Padraig Byrne, from Dublin, climbed onto a bench outside St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar, where his wife Felicia works, to pay his final respects to Francis, 70, who had passed away 30 minutes earlier on April 1.

He had been unable to visit his brother - who was already in hospital when he began showing symptoms of the virus - due to restrictions in place to help fight Covid-19, but said it brought him comfort to be able to see him one last time.

Speaking to Joe Duffy on RTE Radio One's Liveline yesterday, Padraig said: 'I saw the bench and I decided I had to see him, I just had to have a look.

Padraig Byrne, from Dublin, climbed onto a bench outside St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar to pay his final respects to Francis, 70, who passed away on April 1

'I felt I was there and I felt I was with him. It was the only way I could say my last goodbye to him.

'I shed another tear when I had a look, and I said, "Goodbye, Francis".'

He revealed Francis had died when he looked through the window, with his wife Betty and daughter Rachel by his side.

Padraig told how he hadn't seen his brother for four weeks as he hadn't been able to visit him before his coronavirus diagnosis due to social distancing measures.

Padraig told how he hadn't seen his brother Francis, pictured, for four weeks as he hadn't been able to visit him before his coronavirus diagnosis due to social distancing measures

'His wife had been up a couple of times but it was a couple weeks after that that he was diagnosed with the virus,' Padraig explained.

'I went up to the hospital and I got a bench in the hospital grounds and I put it up against the window to see him.

'It was the first time in about four weeks that we had seen him. I looked through the window.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS? Like other coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold and that triggered SARS, COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are:

Fever

Dry cough

Shortness of breath

Difficulty breathing

Fatigue Although having a runny nose doesn't rule out coronavirus, it doesn't thus far appear to be a primary symptom. Most people only become mildly ill, but the infection can turn serious and even deadly, especially for those who are older or have underlying health conditions. In these cases, patients develop pneumonia, which can cause: Potentially with yellow, green or bloody mucus

Fever, sweating and shaking chills

Shortness of breath

Rapid or shallow breathing

Pain when breathing, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Low appetite, energy and fatigue

Nausea and vomiting (more common in children)

Confusion (more common in elderly people)

Some patients have also reported diarrhea and kidney failure has occasionally been a complication. Avoid people with these symptoms. If you develop them, call your health care provider before going to the hospital or doctor, so they and you can prepare to minimize possible exposure if they suspect you have coronavirus. Advertisement

'Two days previously, myself and my other brother Brendan had gone up to the hospital and got the bench so we could look in and see him. But two days after, he passed away.'

A small private burial service was held, in line with government restrictions, but Padraig and his four other brothers Liam, Damien, Brendan and Brian were not allowed to carry the coffin due to the infection.

Padraig told how the undertakers brought the hearse up to his estate in Clondalkin and drove past his neighbours, giving them an opportunity to pay their final respects.

'The residents stood out and applauded as Francis went by and it was lovely and I thank them for that,' Padraig said.

'We drove behind the hearse out of the estate to the cemetery. We could only go to the grave when he had been lowered down into it, there were maybe 12 of us there.

'When this is all done and dusted, we probably won't be hit by it until we go to another funeral with a eulogy and everything like that.'

Padraig described his brother as a 'family man' who had 'great faith' and 'a passion for the environment'.

He also urged members of the public not to become complacent about the restrictions currently in place, adding: 'We're all vulnerable but the elderly are more vulnerable and they're our parents. We have a duty to them.'

A condolence message on the website rip.ie reads: '[Francis'] family would ask that over the coming days everyone who knew Fran would take some time to light a candle or say a prayer.

'A Celebration of Fran's life with family and friends will be held in due course. Feel free to leave your messages of support in the online condolence book.'

Secretary of Clondalkin Tidy Towns Pat O'Sullivan paid tribute to Francis, telling the Irish Mirror: 'He spent countless hours tending the landscaping, maintenance and cleanliness of his estate, Floraville.

'It was an honour to have known Fran not only for his voluntary work but also because he was a humble man who gave so much so that many could enjoy and appreciate our village.'

Ireland currently has 6,074 recorded cases of coronavirus and 235 deaths.
Japan reported more than 500 new positive cases of the novel coronavirus for the first time Thursday, the latest in a sudden spike in infections since the Tokyo Olympics were postponed till next year.

Before the Games were pushed back, Japan appeared to have its outbreak largely under control. Despite the global pandemic, organizers maintained they were forging ahead with preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics to kick off in Tokyo on July 24, and they encouraged athletes to do the same.

Then on March 24, amid mounting calls to delay or cancel the Olympics, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee announced that the upcoming Games would be held a year later due to the worldwide health crisis.

MORE: Tokyo Olympics postponed, will be held 'by the summer of 2021'

On that day, Japan had reported just 1,140 diagnosed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled at the time by Johns Hopkins University. As of Thursday night, that tally was up to around 5,500, not including the 712 cases linked to the Diamond Princess cruise ship that docked in Tokyo earlier this year, according to figures published by Japan's national broadcaster NHK. By prefecture, Tokyo tops the list of infections with over 1,500.

Over 100 people in Japan have died from the disease so far, including 11 from the cruise ship, according to NHK. There has been a threefold increase in deaths since the Tokyo Games were postponed.

PHOTO: This picture shows the Olympic rings displayed outside the National Stadium, a venue for the Tokyo Games, in Tokyo, Japan, on April 7, 2020. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

The sharp rise in cases and deaths has prompted speculations that Japan had previously understated the scope of its outbreak. Several Japanese citizens, whom ABC News spoke to on the streets of Tokyo, said they believe the government was trying to keep the numbers low so that the Olympics would take place as scheduled.

However, a doctor in Tokyo who talked to ABC News on condition of anonymity said he didn't believe there to be a cover-up but rather that red tape has kept testing to a minimum to prevent hospitals from overcrowding.

Story continues

ABC News has reached out for comment from the Japanese government.

MORE: Olympic flame to arrive in Japan as plans for Tokyo Games forge ahead despite pandemic

The Japanese government has maintained publicly that their strategy all along has been to target clusters of cases rather than conduct mass testing, which officials say has kept Japan from the brink so far. Officials link the recent increase in infections to people coming into the country from abroad. The Japanese government has also admitted that infection routes cannot be traced in a rising number of cases. The prime minister, however, has pledged to ramp up testing.

Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases declined ABC News' request for access to videotape its laboratory activities and COVID-19 testing, citing security concerns and biohazard risks.

An administrator at the public health center for Tokyo's Shinjuku ward who only gave his name as Aria told ABC News they're getting calls from a rising number of residents who want to be tested for COVID-19.

"Were receiving over 200 [calls] per day," Aria said. "Concern among the people is on the rise. Our people answering phones cant get a break."

PHOTO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a face mask attends a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo on April 7, 2020. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Abe on Tuesday declared a monthlong state of emergency -- but not a lockdown -- for Tokyo and six other prefectures to stem the spread of the deadly virus in the world's third-largest economy. The Japanese government does not have the legal authority to enforce the kinds of lockdowns seen across Europe, where fines and other penalties have been imposed. So instead, officials have asked the public to practice "jishuku" or self-restraint by voluntarily heeding their calls to stay home and close businesses.

"What this means is that the Japanese people are required to voluntarily follow the government, without the latter providing incentives or compensations in return to the people and, importantly, without taking responsibility for what is in real terms government orders," Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, told ABC News. "So the containment policies are made by the government, but their costs are borne by the people who 'voluntarily' restrain themselves."

MORE: No plans to cancel or postpone Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid coronavirus outbreak, organizers say

Nakano said Japan's unique approach to combatting the virus is a disjointed combination of two things: the absence of political interest and leadership on the one hand, and the bureaucratic denial and risky experiment on the other.

"The Japanese ruling elite form a class of their own, out of touch with the reality of the daily life and concern of the people. They are preoccupied with the Olympics and have prioritized the resume of what remains of Abenomics over serious countermeasures against the spread of the virus," Nakano told ABC News, referring to the economic policies enacted by Abe at the outset of his second term. "In the absence of clear and firm political leadership, the bureaucrats and public health experts who are left to devise the government policies continue to refuse to face up to the magnitude of the outbreak and have also committed Japan to a 'unique' and highly-risky approach that is based on a certain 'cluster infection' theory."

PHOTO: A man wearing a face mask crosses a street in Tokyo, Japan, on April 8, 2020. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

Nakano said the hypothesis was that the virus outbreak could be combatted through a narrow focus on clusters of infection, while ignoring the infections that do not result in clusters.

"If the theory worked and if people voluntarily bore the cost of social distancing," he noted, "then the state would have enough medical resources to treat the severely ill patients, according to this approach."

The problem unfolding now is that the theory failed and the Japanese government did nothing to enhance state capacity to cope with an eventual explosion in the number of severely ill patients, according to Nakano.

"[The government] has consistently, grossly under-tested," he said. "And as a result, to date, there is no data to base judgment on the scope and speed of the infection."

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

Reporting by Anthony Trotter in Tokyo, Japan. Writing and additional reporting by Morgan Winsor in London, United Kingdom.

Japan's sudden spike in coronavirus cases after Tokyo Olympics postponement raises eyebrows originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned on Thursday that social distancing restrictions may need to be tightened and extended until June to contain and prevent the coronavirus outbreak from resurging, saying it's going to be a "long, tough" April. "Unfortunately, restrictions may have to go up, meaning if things really get worse, we might have to tighten up further," de Blasio said at a press conference. "It's not what I envision today. It's not what any of us want. But the truth is the truth. I don't think anyone watching out there wants to be told pretty lies." De Blasio said the last thing New York can afford is to see a resurgence in the disease now that there's been some evidence that the spread is starting to slow. It may not be June until the city starts loosening some of its restrictions, he said. "April, we're going to have to fight this fight the way we are now into May, that could be a lot of May in fact. I would love it if some change could happen in May. But it may not be until June," de Blasio said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks as the Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort arrives in Manhattan's Pier 90 to help relieve the strain on local hospitals with its 1,000 beds and 1,200 personnel during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City. Ron Adar | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

New York City is grappling with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country with more than 81,800 confirmed cases as of Thursday morning  more than half of all cases across the state and almost as many as China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. De Blasio outlined three phases of the outbreak that show where the nation's largest city needs to be before officials will even consider reopening it. Right now, there is "widespread transmission" of COVID-19 where the city is unable to keep track of all the cases or trace where they originated, de Blasio said. "You're seeing constantly new cases. ... We cannot trace the origins of individual cases back to their original source," he said, adding that the city has to ration testing right now. The city needs to get to "low-level" transmission, which is when they are able to trace cases to their source and test more people, before officials will consider loosening some social distancing restrictions, according to a chart presented at the press conference. The third phase, "no transmission," is when new infections are primarily coming from outside New York City.
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Gravity-based Water Purifier Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global gravity-based water purifier market size grew at a CAGR of 13% during 2014-2019. Looking forward, the market is expected to continue its double digit growth rate over the next five years.



The gravity-based water purification systems are extensively being adopted globally due to their performance efficiency, easy portability, and zero electricity consumption. The demand for these purifiers is also facilitated by the growing consumer preferences towards convenient and simple water purification techniques. Owing to the degrading quality of drinking water resources, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and African regions, the governments are rapidly investing in sustainable and efficient purification infrastructures in these countries.



Moreover, the implementation of stringent governmental regulations, coupled with the launch of various initiatives for reducing the carbon footprints has led to the replacement of electricity-based purifiers with gravity-based water purifiers. Furthermore, increasing disposable income levels, rising living standards, and growing consumer awareness are some of the other key factors that are expected to create potential revenue opportunities for players operating in the gravity-based water purifier market.



The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined with some of the key players being Aquafine, Aquatech, Eureka Forbes, GE Appliances, HUL, Kent RO Systems, LG, Livpure, Panasonic, and Philips.



Key Questions Answered



How has the global gravity-based water purifier market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end-use?

What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel?

What is the breakup of the market based on the region?

What are the price trends of gravity-based water purifier?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the market?

What is the structure of the gravity-based water purifier and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the market?

Key Topics Covered



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Gravity-Based Water Purifier Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Product Type

6.1 Individual Water Purifier

6.2 Community Water Purifier



7 Market Breakup by End-use

7.1 Residential

7.2 Commercial

7.3 Others



8 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel

8.1 Direct Sales

8.2 Company Outlets

8.3 Online

8.4 Others



9 Market Breakup by Region

9.1 Asia-Pacific

9.2 North America

9.3 Europe

9.4 Latin America

9.5 Middle East & Africa



10 SWOT Analysis

10.1 Overview

10.2 Strengths

10.3 Weaknesses

10.4 Opportunities

10.5 Threats



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis

12.1 Overview

12.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers

12.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

12.4 Degree of Competition

12.5 Threat of New Entrants

12.6 Threat of Substitutes



13 Price Indicators

13.1 Key Price Indicators

13.2 Price Structure

13.3 Price Trends



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 Aquafine

14.3.2 Aquatech

14.3.3 Eureka Forbes

14.3.4 GE Appliances

14.3.5 HUL

14.3.6 Kent RO Systems

14.3.7 LG

14.3.8 Livepure

14.3.9 Panasonic

14.3.10 Philips



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/k3zniw

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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At least two Bay Area school districts have suffered recent cybersecurity breaches in the wake of the sudden switch to digital learning during coronavirus-related school closures.

In Oakland and Berkeley, student privacy has been compromised and, in one case, an unknown adult male exposed himself to teenagers during a class video conference.

In Berkeley, a man somehow gained access to an online Zoom video conference Tuesday, exposed himself to the high school students and shouted obscenities before the teacher ejected him from the session.

The district immediately banned all video conferencing with students until security could be ensured.

In Oakland, the district suffered a more widespread breach of student privacy after administrators inadvertently publicly posted hundreds of access codes and passwords used by teachers and students to log into online classrooms and video conferences.

The codes allowed anyone with a Gmail account to join the Google Classroom sites set up by teachers across the district, allowing access to students full names as well as their comments posted in the class. The documents also included the time, access codes and passwords for Zoom video conferences with teachers and students.

In Oakland, district officials were unaware of the exposure of the information until The Chronicle notified them of easily found information and access to the sites.

Such breaches of student privacy and digital security have plagued school districts across the Bay Area and the country as classrooms have moved online for several weeks if not months because of COVID-19 containment efforts. The breaches have been widespread in other areas as well, with company meetings, church gatherings and other events suddenly interrupted by hackers.

The school incidents exemplify how unprepared districts and technology companies were to meet an instantaneous and massive demand for ways to educate and communicate with students online, experts said.

You throw this curveball at everybody and theyre scrambling, said Joel Schwarz, cybersecurity expert and adjunct professor at Albany Law School. Theyre trying to figure out what the heck to do.

Teachers and administrators are faced with a steep learning curve in protecting student privacy, often without experts on staff to oversee contracts with technology companies or to monitor use and access, Schwarz said.

Access codes and passwords should never be posted on a social media site, but rather only via personal emails, otherwise, youre basically given the keys to the castle and saying, Come on in, he said.

Allowing outsiders access to lists of class names and teacher information, which occurred in Oakland, offers a welcome mat for spear phishing  or fraud by pretending to be a trusted sender in emails, Schwarz said.

It does raise alarms for me, he said, adding theres a lack of experience in cybersecurity. A lot of schools are struggling.

He recommended schools bring in experts or consultants if necessary to help them transition to digital instruction to ensure cybersafety. He also suggested partnering with other districts to reach comprehensive privacy agreements with education tech companies.

Oakland officials said they were in the process of locking down the websites Wednesday afternoon, although the content was still publicly accessible three hours after The Chronicle notified them of the issue. The pages were removed from the districts website late in the afternoon.

The district planned to reach out to teachers and school administrators to advise them of the possible exposure of student information and access, said spokesman John Sasaki.

Were all encountering challenges like other districts, he said. Its a learning process for all of us.

In Berkeley, Superintendent Brent Stephens informed families Wednesday of the incident with the man exposing himself.

What is especially troubling about this incident is that it appears that the teacher followed all the current guidance about security precautions in Zoom, Stephens said. Still, the intruder obtained the credentials for the meeting and was able to gain access to the session.

Police are investigating.

Security within Zoom has been increasingly questioned in recent weeks as the number of schools, companies and individuals using it has exploded during shelter-in-place orders.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Zooms CEO promised Wednesday to increase security standards, explaining that the company is starting a feature called Security that defaults privacy settings to their highest level. The San Jose company also said it would upgrade encryption for its video calls and meeting rooms for large online gatherings.

Stephens said it appears likely that a student cut and pasted the access information to the video conference, which was obtained by the intruder.

Were all kind of learning about the world that were in, he said.

The district had already incorporated extra security features with Zoom two weeks ago by creating a districtwide corporate account, requiring passwords and teacher authorization to access. The man apparently created a pseudonym that matched a students first name.

Many other districts and individual teachers have also taken advantage of Zooms offer of free access during closures, including unlimited meeting minutes.

Were being asked to sustain student learning while theyre at home and using technology to do it and just stumbling through these issues, Stephens said.

The sad part, the superintendent said, was that students were so happy to be seeing their classmates and peers again this week, even if on a video chat  and that was yanked away for their safety, at the expense of that joy.

He hopes to restore video conferencing with additional security measures next week.

Its just heartbreaking hearing stories from parents that their kids arent getting out of bed until 11 in the morning and are displaying symptoms of depression, Stephens said. And (Zoom) was alleviating some of that.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jiltucker
Editor's note: Our writer Rita's journey from China to the U.S. and back again was planned months before the coronavirus pandemic descended on the world. That descent ended up turning a simple trip home into a kind of epic journey. The changes in her location -- which we reference, but do not dwell on, to help anchor the story -- gave her a unique perspective on the changing landscape -- and outlook -- of the world as COVID-19 infections spread. We're publishing a diary of that period here in part to relay some of that first-person perspective to you, our readers. It goes without saying, but the tech angles run throughout, as they are running throughout all of our lives right now (whether or not we "work" in tech). Apps connect us more than ever at a time when we can't physically be together, and they are now a critical lever in getting things done. Governments scramble to use tech to track what's happening -- although surprisingly even what we think of as the most totalitarian efforts fall short in a crisis. And at the end of the day, the internet is where all our information is coming from. (IL)

Departing

On the night of March 13, before my flight from Philadelphia back to China, my Airbnb host stopped by my room to say goodbye. I was squeezing a stack of masks and a few bottles of hand sanitizer into my suitcase. They were the remaining stock of coronavirus protective items that I panic-bought in early February as soon as I landed in the U.S. As China's production picked up speed, I gave away most of my supplies -- which I had planned to bring back to my family in China -- to friends and relatives in the U.S.

I had also asked my host, a slender, high-spirited botanist in her early fifties, whether she needed any supplies when I arrived at her house in early March. She gave a relaxed smile and said she wasn't worried. There had barely been any cases in Philly, so there was no need. Plus, she had never worn a mask.

Story continues

"People think you're sick if you wear one," she refused politely. "Why do people in Asia wear them?"

I explained that there's a big debate on whether masks were necessary for the public. The consensus was that they were effective at preventing the transmission of COVID-19. Health officials in the West had for long recommended them only for patients or someone in contact with those who were sick, though the U.S. has recently moved to suggest mask-wearing for everyone in public.

In Asia, however, mask-wearing was a cultural norm even before the COVID-19 outbreak. Given the disease's incubation period could be as long as 27 days, which meant many people could be unwitting carriers, wearing masks became an act of solidarity to protect others. Chinese cities had early on mandated mask-wearing in public. For me, they worked both as a placebo and a reminder not to touch my face.

Within a week's time, the disease had advanced rapidly across the U.S., adding dozens of new cases in Philadelphia. All large events were suspended, and my host suffered from a handful of canceled stays.

I decided to ask her again whether she wanted any protective products. "Yes, that'd be great. I don't have any sanitizers with me. No masks, either." Her eyes lit up this time. "But how do you wear one?"

I handed her the items and realized that I was about to flee coronavirus for the second time. When I planned my visit to the U.S. a few months back, I had not the faintest idea it would spiral into two great escapes: first leaving China where the disease just began to spread, and later leaving the U.S., where a similar crisis was taking form.

Weeks 1-2: Fears in parallel worlds

I was getting restless when I left for the U.S. some 50 days ago. Objectively speaking, my chances of contracting COVID-19 were slim. I was previously in lightly-hit cities like Taipei (which was an early mover in putting effective controls in place). And 99% of the passengers on my flight departing Hong Kong had masks on. But the sum of uncertain events triggered by the epidemic -- from abrupt changes in border controls to canceled flights without notice -- elevated my anxiety.

Things felt uncannily normal in Texas when I arrived. It was three weeks before the U.S. reported its first community transmission in late February. None of the screening I anticipated was present at immigration: no temperature checks or even questioning if I had been in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the first coronavirus case appeared. I felt relieved and immediately chucked the mask I had worn on the plane. "It's safe here," I thought to myself, seeking solace in the sight of the bare-faced crowd, even though I knew my decision was largely prompted by the prejudice against masks in this part of the world.

My relaxation was short-lived. In fact, I would live the next eight weeks swinging between reason and paranoia.

The relatives and friends with whom I had planned to stay could no longer host me. Their employers, both of Asian descent, had introduced a new 14-day self-quarantine rule on staff who came into contact with visitors from China, even though Texas had no such regulation.

Cleaning supplies at a Costco in Plano, Texas, were out of stock in early March when the entire state had just one COVID-19 case. The area has a sizable Asian population. / Photo: TechCrunch

Technically, I could roam free, but fears among the local Chinese community were too visible. The digital tools that kept the diaspora emotionally close to home also distanced them from their physical reality abroad. Consuming a flood of fearmongering posts on WeChat, many Chinese expatriates began hoarding household products long before the U.S. saw an outbreak. Chinatowns became ghost towns. My mother was shocked to learn only Asians were wearing masks and messaged me daily saying I should wear one and avoid crowds.

I followed only the latter advice -- avoiding crowds -- and voluntarily opted for 14-day social distancing, not because I was scared of getting infected but because I was paranoid about passing it onto others asymptomatically. My compulsive information seeking in hopes of better understanding the epidemic only reinforced my angst. No silence I had dealt with felt as unbearable as the isolation amid the immense uncertainties that coronavirus brought to all of humanity.

Weeks 2-5: Coming to terms

When I finally allowed myself to resume socializing two weeks later, I would, out of courtesy, disclose to people that I had recently been in China. The reactions I received were a mixed bag.

Most of my American friends expressed sympathy for China's situation and were pleased I was in a safer place. A local dentist refused to see me until 21 days later -- then the longest time for a patient to display COVID-19 symptoms -- because he lived with someone who was frail. Some Chinese friends living in the U.S. jokingly congratulated me on my escape from the plague, which wasn't my intention, but I admitted I was lucky. A fifty-something Chinese acquaintance avoided shaking my hand and gingerly asked how long I had been in the U.S.

I tried not to be bothered by people's hint of mistrust. After all, their response was driven by the human instinct to survive. Trust had also eroded with the spread of the epidemic in China, where neighbors avoided conversations and a person's sneeze in the elevator would make others cringe. Though understandable, these small shifts in behavior could take a toll on social interaction and people's mental health in the long run.

By then, I knew I probably had a clean bill of health. It helped that Texas was run on wheels and I could easily practice social distancing walking on empty, tree-lined streets. As my mind restored to peace, and I moved to Philadelphia for the second part of my U.S. trip, I began to devour the expanding trove of Chinese-language writings on the disease; they were perhaps one silver lining behind the dark virus cloud.

Trapped indoors, Chinese people were forced to contemplate difficult questions -- though sometimes leading to unintended consequences, like a rise in divorce cases. The unusual level of civic engagement and discussion sparked by the crisis provided some consolation. Stories of ordinary people fighting illness were vividly told by institutional and citizen journalists. The death of whistleblower Li Wenliang set off an unprecedented amount of anger on the internet. Another enthralling moment came when internet users rushed to preserve a censored interview using coded text.

The unusual, collective outcry against Chinese authorities soon gave way to a fragmented digital world. As China's heavy-handed lockdown began to bear meaningful results, online users rushed to trumpet the country's contingency plan. Others submerged in the more mindless activities of mobile gaming and video streaming to pass time. Meanwhile, schools and businesses moved to resume digitally with IT support touted by private tech firms.

Food delivery staff of China's Meituan worked through the COVID-19 crisis to sustain society's lifeblood. / Photo: Meituan

The offline world in China was also inching back to normalcy. Physical shops were allowed to reopen and restrictions on movement were being eased nationwide. People increasingly ventured out of their homes, taking masks off to sneak sips of fresh air when guards were out of sight.

For others, the daily routine hadn't changed much, though life had become more precarious. While it was easy for high-earning professionals to attend virtual meetings and celebrate the remote working boom, those working in services, manufacturing and logistics had not been able to stay home but worked round the clock to sustain society's lifeblood. They were also unlikely to have paid leave and many lacked employer-provided health insurance. As it turned out, this is just one manifestation of disparity exposed by the health crisis.

Week 6: The price of seeking safety

I knew China was on the horizon as soon as I arrived at my flight's departure gate. The crowd was uniformly wearing some kind of a face protector. I hadn't put one on yet. I had been adjusted to a maskless environment for weeks by then and it didn't seem necessary to wear one during the layover in Chicago, where I cautiously kept a distance from others. There were barely any masked travelers at the airport other than the passengers en route to Hong Kong and Mainland China.

I put on one nonetheless in the spirit of solidarity. But others' ammunition of protective equipment immediately put me to shame. Many donned surgical gloves, some in lab goggles and even plastic rain ponchos, disinfecting any surface their bodies touched. Drinking water with my mask dangling off one ear now felt transgressive, not to mention I broke a taboo by having in-flight meals.

More than impressed by people's precautions, I was intrigued by the discrepancy in their access to masks. Paying exorbitant prices could secure the robust but scant N95 respirators. Most had the less expensive surgical masks, but even those became hard to find without connections to a supplier. A few wore the dubious varieties like the sponge mask, the washable cartoon cloth mask (I wore a Hello Kitty one to my elementary school during the 2002 SARS epidemic) and even DIY ones like a fashionable shawl.

Flights also became a microcosm of the disparity in protection: first-class cabin passengers were seated at a supposedly safe distance from one another, while the elbow-to-elbow economy travelers fretted the risk of flying amid an outbreak would outweigh the benefit of returning to what they perceived as a safer country.

Even getting a seat on the plane was a privilege. While airlines were suffering overall due to travel bans, demand could surge temporarily around major policy shifts. Following the WHO's declaration that COVID-19 was a global pandemic, schools around the world moved classes online and shut dorms, prompting international students to go home. Flight tickets skyrocketed. Those who wanted to go home but couldn't afford the price were stranded.

Week 7: Battling uncertainties

Health checks at a border checkpoint in China to prevent COVID-19 being brought back to the country. / Photo: TechCrunch

While our plane was traveling across the globe, my home city of Shenzhen announced expanded compulsory quarantine for arrivals from four to eight countries -- adding the U.S. to the list -- in an effort to contain imported cases as the epicenter of COVID-19 shifted overseas.

At 8 PM, the Shenzhen customs checkpoint resembled a hospital waiting room with a barely moving queue a few hundred meters long. Screenings were underway to detect coronavirus cases. The updated policy had not been officially announced, and many travelers were still expecting their family on the other side of the border. Impatience and confusion filled a hall that was lit by nauseating fluorescent lights. Will everyone be tested for the virus at the border or later at a quarantine base? Will foreigners receive the test for free? Will people have to pay for the quarantine?

Even the immigration staffers had few details. China's containment measures were in flux just like the spread of the virus. The flood of inbound returnees was quickly squeezing the country's medical resources and filling budget hotels repurposed as quarantine facilities.

At 1 AM, I was finally called upon for a temperature check. I filled out a dozen forms asking similar questions about my travel history and health condition, each going to a different government agency. I wondered why, with China's alleged technological prowess, this grunt work hadn't been digitized or streamlined. Are resources for public monitoring going into other areas the government prioritizes?

I felt exhausted, but not more than the customs officer examining me, who had been toiling away for more than 12 hours. Despite having full-body protection, he was unaware his mask had slid beneath his nose.

"When do you get to go home?" I asked. "Who knows? There are so many of you coming back. China can't afford another outbreak. We have no choice but to work," he said nonchalantly.

Once my paperwork was sorted, I proceeded to cross the border. China immediately welcomed me with a text message, reminding me to register with the public security bureau as location data from my telecoms carrier showed I had recently been in "epidemic-stricken" America. The virus outbreak was giving Beijing more reason to monitor individuals. The question was why, given the government already commanded abundant citizen data, it seemed to have struggled in their early efforts to track people traveling from Wuhan.

As @thisboyuan reminds me, that the govt is scrambling to track peoples movement during the epidemic shows what Beijing has put in place for a national surveillance system still has considerable limitations  Rita Liao (@ritacyliao) February 12, 2020

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I was placed in a group of 20 travelers, most of whom were overseas Chinese students, to wait for the shuttle that would take us to the quarantine hotel. We bonded quickly by grumbling about the surreal eight-hour border crossing, but no one was actually angry. Instead, there was an outpouring of genuine gratitude for front-line health and immigration workers.

Famished, one of us volunteered to put everyone in a WeChat group so we could order food delivery together. The WeChat group, aptly named "3.14 Quarantine", turned out to be useful for trading information and supporting each other through the erratic quarantine period. A street-sweeping truck was humming at a distance. The clock struck 4 AM as our bus pulled up in front of the hotel.

Travelers arrived at a hotel in Shenzhen that had been repurposed as a quarantine base. / Photo: TechCrunch

Week 8: Embracing chaos

Adjusting to the Chinese time zone became virtually impossible as my day confined to the hotel room was punctuated by a string of sporadic events: temperature checks, meal deliveries, nucleic acid tests, phone calls from various government agencies and transfers to new quarantine locations. One night, we were given half an hour to pack up and get on a bus that took us to the edge of Shenzhen. There we underwent a virus-detecting test, only to be transported back eight hours later, at 3 a.m., to another hotel in the same area we had previously stayed.

My quarantine peers were growing impatient with the unpredictable circumstances and began calling any relevant phone number they could find. As we shared in our WeChat group snippets of information we had collected from hotel staff, local officials, relatives and friends, something became clear: The quarantine system was the result of mass mobilization and complex coordination between public and private organizations, ranging from health workers and the Communist Party's base-level administrative organ (called neighborhood committees) through to government-subsidized hotels and residential complexes.

When policymakers imposed frequent changes, the players implementing them on the ground often ended up scrambling, leading to miscommunication and such counterproductive measures as shuffling us around in crowded buses. They were briefed only on their part of the job rather than the entire process, which remained opaque, so getting close to policymaking power was critical. Calling a relative who worked in the disease control department was probably more useful than asking a hotel staffer. Personal ties seemed to matter even more in China when one sought control in times of uncertainty.

Some of us with insider information learned how to game the system. Before being dispatched to quarantine bases, we had to self-report our household address, for each district government was in charge of quarantining its own returning residents. The more deep-pocketed district normally provided higher-standard lodging and food, a piece of information precious to desperate individuals fighting for marginally better treatment.

I fall into the camp of people embracing chaos, as trying to stay informed and in control over continually updated guidance from above could quickly make me cross the line into anxiety.

There is already an abundance of self-care tips floating around, but having outrun the coronavirus twice, I could at least attest to their efficacy: Pare down your information sources to one or two trustworthy outlets; stay physically active; call people; keep a sense of humor; take deep breaths and perhaps spare some time for a mindfulness talk. It's better to reserve grit for any long-term changes caused by COVID-19, which are looking increasingly likely.

On the afternoon of March 29, staff from my neighborhood committee came knocking on my door. Clad in blue hazmat suits, they gave me a final temperature check and granted me a piece of paper declaring my completion of the quarantine. I immediately put on a mask and went downstairs.

Things seemed intact at first glance, but a closer look revealed subtle but long-lasting changes since I had left two months prior.

Everyone was wearing a mask -- even drivers alone in their cars. Premises had temperature checks and sanitizers at the entrances. Many small restaurants looked deserted; the ones back in business had more food deliverymen waiting about than people dining in. War-like propaganda posters dotted the street, reminding people that the battle against the plague wasn't over. The world would never be quite the same.
Representative image

The adage that the sins of the past are heaped on the present is coming true. India is battling a coronavirus epidemic. It tried to stop its spread by announcing a nationwide 21-day lockdown as infections began to rise but without a supporting health infrastructure, the casualty rate is likely to go up.

India spent barely 1.29% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare in the financial year 2020, an April 7 report from CARE Ratings says. The spending on capital expenditure was worse, at only 0.19%.

That perhaps explains why India did not do enough testing right from the start. The best managers of the coronavirus epidemic are acknowledged to be Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, not necessarily in that order. What they did was to first test, followed it up by contact tracing and subsequently, isolation.

Lockdowns were the last option. India went for a lockdown probably because it was the cheapest  but not the most recommended-- option.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Show me the money

India announced the worlds largest healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat but failed to back up such an ambitious and socially relevant scheme with enough money.

As the novel coronavirus rampages across the country, it is clear that Maharashtra is the worst hit. That should not come as a surprise. Among the large states in India, Maharashtra spends the least. It spent barely 0.5% of its gross state domestic product on healthcare. Even if one considers the share of healthcare expenditure as a percentage of revenue, Maharashtra fares poorly. Of course, there is one large state, Telangana, which has a lower number.

Some states, however, have been spending a good deal of money on health services. The Northeastern states are way ahead of their bigger counterparts. Arunachal Pradesh spends the most on health services-- 5.8%. It is followed by Meghalaya and Mizoram. Among medium states, Assam and Chhattisgarh lead the way.

Among the big ones, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthans spending is double than that of Maharashtra in terms of percentage of the GSDP. Each of these have spent more than 1.29% of GDP the Centre has spent (though technically speaking states spend a percentage of GSDP).

Maharashtras case is more peculiar because it has spent more money on giving away flats to slum dwellers who were encouraged to squat on public land.

The state overshot cut-off dates against mandates of courts, by passing ordinances and laws to allow more slums to emerge. Today, Maharashtra is considered the slum state of India with the largest clusters in the country. In other words, it has spent more money and legislative time on slums than on healthcare.

And now it wants to waive in perpetuity all property taxes to be paid by rehabilitated slum-dwellers. As pointed out earlier, the reasons are obvious. Slum-dwellers are voters, they help in siphoning off money meant for entitlements and they also allow for real estate adventurism.

Follow LIVE updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

The sad part is that the state government did not ramp up its health services even as the density of people living in the slums went up. So now you have more people, more slums, less money and a rampaging virus. It is not surprising then that Maharashtra has been badly hit.

What is more worrying is that with climate change new epidemics are likely to surface. Maharashtra and India will be sitting ducks if health services (and education) are not ramped up on priority.

India cannot blame other countries, communities or people. It is the policymakers who should share the blame--for allowing cities to get congested, for not putting into place measures to fight the spread of disease and for not allocating enough money o health services and education.

This neglect explains why India is ranked among the worst in the world on the World Banks Health Capital Index (HCI). Its scores lower than Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The only country in the neighbourhood that ranks lower is Pakistan.

If India wants to find its place in the sun, it better ramp up its healthcare and education expenditure.
Were all social distancing right now. And that begs the question: how do you have sex in the era of COVID-19 self-isolation? Is it even safe to have sex during the pandemic?

First, the facts. COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is spread by direct person-to-person contact or by people who are close to (within six feet) of each otheras its believed that the virus is expelled in respiratory droplets from a cough or sneeze, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which you can then inhale. You can also pick it up from contaminated surfaces if you then touch your face without washing your hands properly first and therefore introduce the pathogen into your body.

So, yes, sex can contribute to spreading the coronavirus. Youre clearly close enough to someone when youre naked on top of each other, and you are also probably kissing, or at least breathing heavily.

But it's not contracted directly from sex. The coronavirus is a respiratory virus. It can be transmitted through your saliva and intimate contact, but it is not directly transmitted genitally, Mark Surrey, MD, a clinical professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLAs David Geffen School of Medicine, tells Health. That distinction matters, because safe sex during the pandemic depends on your current relationship situation and, well, why youre having sex in the first place.

If youre single and dating

Because of social distancing or state-mandated shelter-in-place guidelines, its not okay to go out on dates right nowunless those dates are over FaceTime or some other video chat app.

The New York City Health Department recently issued guidelines on COVID-19 safe sex practices, recommending against having sex with anyone outside of your household. (In other words, someone you already live with.) The idea of having a sex buddy, where you and they only have sex with each other during the pandemic, is not recommended, wrote ob-gyn Jen Gunter in The New York Times. First of all, the idea goes against social distancing, and you dont actually know how closely (if at all) theyre staying away from other people, she warned.

What kind of sex can people who are single and on the dating scene have? The New York City guidelines put it this way: You are your safest sex partner. Masturbation is both safe and satisfying, and the health department recommends washing your hands and any sex toys for 20 seconds with soap prior to using them, which is also a good idea as a general hygiene habit.

If youre dating but not living together

If you and your partner are not quarantining together, then you two must social distance from each other. And social distancing sex means having phone sex or sexting (words or images). Theres obviously absolutely no physical contact with either option.

If you dont know how to initiate or what to say to get you (and your partner) off, try dropping your voice just a bit, using an app you save only for sexting (only to help you switch into a sexy mindset), and listening and responding to what they say rather than planning your every move. Video sex is certainly COVID-19-safe, but not always socially safe. If you do sext videos, do it with a trusted partner, aka one you know wont save or take video or images of what youre doing virtually and send them to others.

If youre living with a partner

Do they have COVID-19? Do you? If the answer to either is yes, or you have suspected exposure and are in quarantine/isolation, you should not be having any physical contact sex right now, and you should be staying in separate bedrooms anyway, says the CDC.

Consider taking precautions if you or your partner falls into a higher risk group (like they are immunocompromised or have a chronic condition like diabetes) by making the decision to skip physical sex altogether, suggests The New York City Health Department.

If you and your household partner have not been exposed to anyone with COVID-19, are showing no symptoms, feel healthy, and have no reason to believe you might be harboring the virus, you can have sex, says Dr. Surrey.

If you're having sex to have a baby

For many women, the idea of putting their dreams of having a baby on hold is agonizing. There is the question of whether or not women should be getting pregnant right now, says Dr. Surrey, who is the associate director at the Southern California Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills. So, is it safe to have sexto have a baby? There is some evidence that suggests vertical transmissionor mom-to-baby transmission of the virus during pregnancy or deliveryis possible. (However, more research on this needs to be done, as this is not definitive.)

Still, there's a lot of speculation that we're in for a baby boom at the end of the year. If you were to conceive a baby while one partner had COVID-19 (remember, people can be asymptomatic, so you may not know if you have it), it does not appear that the virus is transmitted via sperm or eggs, so the resulting embryo shouldnt be affected, says Dr. Surrey.

Again, keep in mind that the understanding of the new coronavirus and how it spreads continues to change. For couples trying to procreate right now, I suggest being more vigilant about avoiding social contact and hand hygiene, but its tricky to come up with clear parameters, says Dr. Surrey.

The information in this story is accurate as of press time. However, as the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to evolve, it's possible that some data have changed since publication. While Health is trying to keep our stories as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed on news and recommendations for their own communities by using the CDC , WHO , and their local public health department as resources.

Source: health.com
As a coronavirus outbreak began to swell at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner last week, a minimum-security inmate escaped and has not been found.

Prison officials notified local police on April 2, that Richard R. Cephas, 54, was missing at 12:45 a.m. He was an inmate in the complexs prison camp, which is not fenced in, said Butners town police chief, James Champion.

The prison said Cephas is a non-dangerous offender serving a sentence for drug offenses, according to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

As of Thursday, Butner has 76 cases between staff and inmates  the largest outbreak among the federal prisons. No deaths have been reported at Butner.

Sue Allison, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman in Washington, could not say whether Cephas had been tested for the virus. She said no inmates at the Satellite Prison Camp, adjacent to the Butner prison, have tested positive for COVID-19.

At the time Cephas fled, Butner officials had reported that nine inmates in the complexs medical center had tested positive as well as one employee.

Since then, the numbers have grown dramatically, with a surge of positive test reports over the weekend. On Wednesday, the bureau reported 58 positive tests, with all but one of them inmates.

By Thursday afternoon, the number of staff who tested positive jumped to 17, with all but one working in the medium-security facility that also has the biggest number of inmate cases, which climbed to 44.

The additional staff and inmates reported brings the total to 76 cases, the largest outbreak among the federal prisons. No deaths have been reported at Butner.

That medium-security facility can hold 641 inmates, and is adjacent to the minimum-security Satellite Prison Camp that has space for 273 inmates.

Inmate Richard Cephas, who fled the federal prison camp at Butner on April 2, 2020.

The Granville Vance Public Health Department had reported 63 cases at Butner on Wednesday, which accounted for all but 20 of Granville Countys total.

Butner prison officials did not provide additional comment about Cephas beyond the April 2 news release. Prison officials have declined to comment about the outbreak since it first surfaced late last month.

Story continues

Coronavirus outbreak at Butner

The camp has been in turmoil in recent days, according to inmates family members, who have told The News & Observer that beds have been shifted to create space for inmates who need to be isolated. Some inmates have speculated that Cephas fled to avoid catching the disease, those family members said.

Champion said Cephas is the first inmate to escape the prison that he can recall in the past year. He did not expect it to be a problem for the community.

Typically, they dont stay around the area when they escape from the camp, Champion said.

Creedmoor police posted a notice on its Nextdoor page that said: The police department has not received any specific information indicating Cephas is in our immediate area.

Court records show Cephas was sentenced on June 22, 2017, in U.S. District Court in Delaware to five-and-a half years. Court records also indicate he had a knee replacement before he reported to prison four months later.

He is African-American, 5-feet, 9-inches, weighs 155 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair, the release said.

Some inmates at the camp work at the nearby UNICOR Federal Prison Industries factory, which produces clothing and textiles. Family members of inmates at the camp say the factory has been producing masks for staff and inmates to wear at the federal prisons for protection from the virus.

Allison said she could not discuss Cephas conditions of confinement.

Allison said if Cephas had tested positive for the virus, the health department for Vance and Granville counties would have been notified. Lisa Macon Harrison, the public health director for the counties, said she was unaware of a contact.

The complex, which includes another medium-security facility and a low-security facility, houses 4,700 inmates; many of them are elderly and infirm.

On Tuesday, bureau officials said they were stepping up early release of inmates at Butner because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Battle Creek, Mich.  A Michigan man was allegedly assaulted after he mocked another man who was using thong underwear as a coronavirus mask.

The Battle Creek Enquirer reports the bizarre incident occurred in a home on Lakefront Drive in Battle Creek around 7 p.m. on Monday. The 57-year-old victim told the suspect it looked like the thongs laying around the victims house, which upset the suspect.

A warrant is being sought for the 47-year-old suspect who allegedly returned to the victims house 45 minutes after the initial confrontation, struck the victim in the side of the head and kicked him in the ribs, the newspaper reported.

Officers were unable to find the suspect following the incident. There are 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Calhoun County, including one fatality, as of Tuesday, April 7.

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The Zoom video meeting and chat app has become the wildly popular host to millions of people working and studying from home during the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  Zoom will not be used  for now  for home-based learning online lessons by Singapore schoolteachers.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has suspended its use while it irons out security issues linked to the popular video conferencing app. The app shot up in popularity as millions of people worldwide find themselves having to work, study or socialise from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an incident that occurred on Wednesday (8 April), Zoombombers had hijacked a home-based learning lesson for secondary school students in Singapore, sharing pornographic images in a video conference and harassing students.

When contacted, MOE said it was aware of a second breach of another Zoom lesson, but the ministry declined to provide details of that incident.

The director of MOEs Educational Technology Division Aaron Loh told Yahoo Lifestyle SEA, These are very serious incidents. MOE is currently investigating both breaches and will lodge a police report if warranted. We are already working with Zoom to enhance its security settings and make these security measures clear and easy to follow.

A parent of one of the students in the class, who wanted to be known only as Ms Loh (not related to MOE official), told Yahoo Lifestyle SEA that she was horrified by the incident. Her 13-year-old daughter, Zee, told her that two Caucasian men suddenly joined her online geography lesson without invitation. They then screen-shared images of penises to the class of 39 Secondary 1 students and asked the girls to show us your boobs. The teacher quickly terminated the lesson.

Ms Loh, a 47-year-old civil servant, said she is shocked and angry, and hoped that MOE could use a safer alternative to Zoom  such as Google Meet  for livestreamed lessons. Home-based learning should be safe for kids. Yet there are predators preying on them everywhere. If MOE is not able to provide a safe learning space, maybe it can continue to give online homework without doing video conferencing.

Story continues

Schools across Singapore closed from Wednesday (8 April) as part of circuit breaker measures against the spread of the coronavirus, but home-based learning continued to be conducted for students.

Teachers that Yahoo Lifestyle SEA spoke to said that lessons conducted through Zoom should be made secure by taking measures like requiring passwords to join meetings and vetting participants using the waiting room feature. One male secondary school teacher, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media, said that some teachers may not be well-versed in ensuring that Zoom meetings were secure, since home-based learning had only been implemented since last week.

Controversial rise of Zoom

Zoom became the go-to video chat app for people during the coronavirus outbreak as it has user-friendly features and allows users to talk to up to 99 other people simultaneously. The companys chief executive officer Eric Yuan said in a blog message on 1 April that Zooms daily users ballooned to more than 200 million in March from 10 million at the end of December last year.

As part of social distancing measures, Singapores government began using Zoom from last week as a platform for its regular ministerial press conferences on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

A spokesman for the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office told the Straits Times that the public sector has implemented telecommuting to reduce the level of person-to-person contact. Government agencies are using a variety of tools, including Zoom, to disseminate information for the convenience of external parties, he said.

There are various reports of security and privacy issues faced by Zoom. Zoombombing or Zoom raiding, in which uninvited mischief-doers hack into or hijack online meetings to harass participants, has become an organised phenomenon involving thousands of perpetrators as the number of users rose dramatically globally. Such trolls have shared pornography inside meetings or spouted racist hate speech. Abusers share Zoom meeting codes on platforms such as Instagram or Discord, and coordinate raids on video conferences.

While Zoom is popular with consumers and businesses, some companies and countries have banned it due to concerns over security and privacy. New York City banned its schools from using Zoom for remote teaching. Google and SpaceX banned the use of Zoom among their employees, and Taiwan and Germanys governments have banned Zoom for official use.

Zoom has promised to improve its security and privacy features. Nate Johnson, a Zoom spokesperson, said in a statement on 2 April, Zoom strongly condemns harassment of this kind and we have been reporting instances of this to various social platforms in order for them to take appropriate action.

As a parent, or a Zoom user, how can you make Zoom more secure?

Tips to make your Zoom chat more secure

dont share the Zoom meeting link or the meeting ID on public platforms

dont use the personal meeting ID; allow Zoom to create a random number for each meeting

set a meeting password

set screen sharing to "host only"

limit recording permissions for call participants

create a waiting room for the call, which allows the host to manually give users entry to the call

disable file transfer

disable "join before host"

disable "allow removed participants to rejoin"

Related stories:

COVID-19: Singapore confirms record high of 287 more cases

Tips on how to use Zoom safely

'Zoombombing' becomes a dangerous organised effort

Zoom is facing heat over privacy  here are 4 more secure alternatives

How to teach your grandparents to install Zoom
The Chief Executive officer of the Youth Employment Agency(YEA), Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong has supported the blind community at Saabo Zongo with a donation of food items amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The items where received on behalf of the blind community by Alhaji Musa Akabonga, President Council of Zongo Chiefs.

Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong also feeds vulnerable persons at Akwatia Line and Aboabo areas, all within the Kumasi Metropolis.

Government, as part of measures to prevent further spread of COVID-19, restricted movement in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions as well as Kasoa for two weeks which took effect from Monday, 30 March 2020.

So far, Ghana has recorded 313 cases of the COVID-19 Virus, with 6 deaths.

The Chief Executive officer of YEA also used the opportunity to educate members of the community visited on the need to observe hygienic practice and maintain social distance.

He appealed to all well-to-do Ghanaians to endeavour to extend helping hands to the less-privileged in these hard times.

Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong also joined the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh to make donations to the Cheshire Kumasi Home and the Kumasi Childrens Home.
As the COVID-19 pandemic closes businesses, and 16.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment in recent weeks, local businesses in Montgomery County are working together to try and survive.

Inspired by stories he had seen elsewhere, Rocky Castillo, the owner of Green Mango Graphics in Conroe, decided to put his teams skills to work while also helping other local businesses. Green Mango Graphics prints signs, car wraps, and T-shirts, so all the team needs is a design.

The idea is simple, a local business contacts Castillo and sends them a logo to be printed on a shirt, right above the message #HereForGood. When the business sells the shirt, half of the proceeds go to the business, and half go to Green Mango Graphics.

My business is business-to-business, Castillo said. So, Im noticing that 90 percent of my customers are either not working or, or are producing at a much lower capacity.

He sees the initiative as a win-win. His employees are still working, local businesses get to raise awareness of their struggle, and both of them get to make some money.

Local support

The businesses that participate must be local to Montgomery County, and in order to get paid for the shirts with their logo they have to be able to sell at least 12 shirts, otherwise, its not cost-effective. But that doesnt mean businesses that cant commit to selling 12 have to miss out on the opportunity. Castillo will also be printing shirts with the Montgomery County Strong logo and will give half the proceeds of each one to the buyers chosen business.

Right now, Green Mango is in the process of finding local businesses to participate, and fundraising until at least May 3. Once the orders are in and the fundraising is met, the shirts will go out. Each Friday, the businesses that sell at least 12 of their shirts that week will be paid. Right now, the goal is to raise $20,000.

Castillo has already set up a Facebook page for the Montgomery County Strong initiative where information about the fundraising, and the shirts, can be found.

Still open

Several local businesses have already signed up, including Kemper Health, Lakeside Realty Group, Burke Family Plumbing LLC, A-1 Welding, Big Sexy Foot Pegs, Radiant Mark, and B52 Brewing, among others.

Right now we're doing anything and everything we can to keep our business open for our bartenders and for our employees, Jessica Blackburn, co-owner of B52 Brewing said. It just seemed like a good opportunity for us to participate and get the word out that small businesses like us are still open.

B52 is still selling beer to-go curbside at its Conroe location, and to keep things interesting the brewery is still making new flavors to be released next week. The brewery is changing its production schedule to brew beers that are more shelf-stable, like sours and stouts, instead of IPAs.

Blackburn said theyve run the numbers and believe the brewery has the fiances to stay open for a few more months. The support from the community, she said, has been overwhelming. Unfortunately, the brewery has had to furlough some of its bartenders, something Backburn said they never thought they would have to do.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
The Chinese government alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) of several cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on December 31, 2019, and reported the first death on January 11. India discovered its first case a month later (January 30) and had its first death two months later (March 11). It is clear that Covid-19 has largely been driven by human-to-human transmission, forcing public health officials to announce social distancing as an effective way to drive down the viruss reproductive numbers (known as R0, and pronounced as R naught), meaning the average number of new infections generated by each infected person.

For the epidemic to begin to end, the reproduction rate has to drop below one. Based on a mathematical model, a multi-author paper published in the March 16 issue of Science cautioned that undocumented infections are responsible for nearly 80% of the total documented cases in China, and that this single factor could facilitate rapid dissemination of the coronavirus. Those with undocumented infections often experience mild to no symptoms and can go unrecognised by the health system, thereby increasing the risk of the virus spread.

During the first half of January, before China imposed a complete lockdown in the affected province, the R0 of the virus had risen to 2.38, indicating a high capacity for sustained transmission. China was quick to announce a complete lockdown on January 23. Subsequently, the R0 plummeted below one, suggesting containment of the epidemic with only a marginal increase, if any, in new infections, and new deaths for weeks on end. This is the basis of a lockdown.

What is not clear, however, is the length of the period for these measures to remain in force to keep the infection R0 below one for a reasonable period, and to prevent a possible rebound after the control measures are relaxed. Do regional and population-specific factors play a role in this?

India imposed a similar lockdown on March 22, exactly two months after Wuhan, first as a peoples curfew on an experimental basis, followed quickly by a nationwide lockdown from March 25. Two questions are being asked now: First, did India succeed in containing the disease as effectively as China? Second, India has a prevalence of tuberculosis, and persistent BCG vaccination has helped boost robust innate (pre-existing) as well as adaptive immunity in the Indian population. So will this broad-based immunity help India weather Covid-19?

An analysis of data, till April 8, reveals interesting trends. With over 120,000 tests done, the rate of positive cases in India with densely-populated regions is 4.5-5.0%, as compared to much higher figures in hotspot European nations and the United States. India is yet to start testing clusters with high rates of Covid-19. However, based on the expanded testing standards, the low positivity rate is encouraging. What is even more remarkable is the almost near lack of severe and critical cases and limited mortality.

But then India is not China or Europe where most infections and deaths are concentrated in ageing populations. The ministry of health and family welfare has put forward a set of interesting figures. Consistent with global patterns, 73% of Covid-19 patients in India are male and around 40% are in the 20-40 years age group. But only about 17% of the patients are senior citizens (60-80 years), though there is a higher proportion of deaths among them. These are the documented figures and perhaps community surveillance through rapid antibody tests will throw further light on as-yet-undocumented figures and defy the trends observed so far.

How does a host immune system recognise the virus as an enemy and proceed to eliminate it? Once the lymphocytes recognise the virus as foreign, the foot soldiers in this fight (cytokines) are mobilised. They set off a cascade of signals to killer T-cells to marshal an effective response. Usually, the stronger this immune response, the quicker the chances of thwarting an infection. This is why younger people remain less vulnerable to the coronavirus. Once the enemy is defeated, the immune system returns to normal and generates Memory T-cells that are ready to attack more quickly, should the same infection re-enter the body.

In most cases, that is what happens. However, in some Covid-19 cases (here the exact figures could vary among populations), age notwithstanding, the immune system continues to remain in an agitated state, even if the virus no longer remains a threat. It continues to release cytokines, almost like a storm, which instead of doing any good to the body, attacks multiple organs, leading to death. The immune system in the elderly is in a state of immune senescence, and thus they must remain indoors and not interact with the young since many of the latter could be asymptomatic carriers. This is also the case with those (age no bar) who have diabetes, lung or kidney disease or are immune-compromised.

India has done exceedingly well so far. The challenge is now to sustain the benefits of the lockdown and the added immunity that the population enjoys due to the microbial load. The next few weeks are crucial; lifting the lockdown, even temporarily, is not advisable.

Narinder Kumar Mehra is the Indian Council of Medical Research national chair and former dean (research), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The views expressed are personal
Sixty percent of Americans think they would last three months or less with their current savings if they were to lose their job, according to a new survey.

With millions across the country losing work to the coronavirus pandemic which has prompted mass business shutdowns, 24 percent of think they have enough to last one to three months, 15 percent a month, 9 percent one to two weeks and 12 percent less than a week.

Women would only last an average of five-and-a-half-months, men seven, and many say they would resort to selling blood or sperm.

Financial expert Suze Orman recommends people have enough saved to last them three to six months but a survey of over 1,000 people revealed that a quarter of the nation could only manage one to three months without any income.

Financial expert recommends people have enough saved to last 3-6 months but only 60 percent of Americans could last the minimum recommended time (file image)

About 24 percent of Americans think they have enough to last 1-3 months, 12 percent less than a week, 9 percent one to two weeks and 15 percent a month

It comes as a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed last week. The number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March amid the coronavirus pandemic

However the study noticed millennials (born 1981 to 1997) were more accurate about their monthly costs.

Their estimation was $14 shy of accuracy while Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) was off by $225 and Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) by $358.

All groups surveyed by careers website Zety, overestimated outgoings however.

Based on actual monthly savings, Baby Boomers were better off with $11,758 set aside on average, lasting them 6.7 months.

Despite having more saved ($12,523), Generation X could last less time (6.4 months) and millennials with only $10,341 to spare could get by another six months.

Across the board, the majority of outgoings was spent on rent or mortgage, with Baby Boomers paying the least ($903) and Generation X the most ($1,067).

Generation X was also the only age category to spend more than their paycheck.

Of the 1,000 participants, 22 percent of men would sell their sperm, 13 percent of women would sell their eggs but only 11 percent of males and eight percent of females would trade in their phone for cash

Only 100 Baby Boomers were included in the study while 291 Generation Xers and 595 millennials.

Of the 479 females and 520 males questioned, women spent 113 percent of their income while men only parted with 85 percent of theirs.

The questionnaire found that in order to make up for any loss of income, 22 percent of men would be willing to sell their sperm, 13 percent of women would sell their eggs but only 11 percent of males and eight percent of females would trade in their phone for cash.

Both women and men agreed on how they felt about selling blood plasma (34 and 35 percent respectively.

A quarter of Americans are also 'very worried' about a recession (24 percent), and the same about is 'not worried at all'. About 43 percent admit they're 'somewhat worried' and 9 percent 'not worried at all'.

It comes as a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

However the study noticed millennials were more accurate about their monthly costs, while Generation X was off by $225 and Baby Boomers $358

Of the 479 females and 520 males questioned, women spent 113 percent of their income while men only parted with 85 percent of theirs (file image)

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounded the country to a halt.

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Additionally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields back to work faster - which some saw as a sign the administration will slowly start to reopen the economy.

Under prior guidelines workers were told to stay home for 14 days if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Under new guidelines critical workers, in fields such as health care or food supply, can go back to work as long as they are asymptomatic.

They will have to follow certain conditions including taking their temperature before going to work, wearing a face mask at all times, and practicing social distancing.

'One of the most important things we can do is keep our critical workforce working,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said while unveiling the new guidelines during a White House news briefing on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia declares Yemen cease-fire amid outbreak

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces declared Wednesday a two-week long cease-fire in Yemen starting from Thursday amid coronavirus outbreak, according to local media.

TO CURB THE SPREAD OD CORONAVIRUS

The cease-fire could be extended, the official SPA news agency quoted coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki as saying.

Maliki said the move supports Yemeni governments decision to accept the cease-fire call by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the worlds worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Michigan Medicine has put its field hospital plans on hold as experts predict the health systems COVID-19 cases are significantly lower than expected.

Early predictions by University of Michigan Health System clinicians suggested Michigan Medicine could hit its 1,000-bed capacity by Friday, April 10, in a worst-case scenario. Officials considered building a 500-bed step-down field hospital for recovering coronavirus patients at the universitys indoor track on South State Street by that date.

University of Michigan may create field hospital on south campus athletic complex in case of coronavirus case surge

Now, hospital modeling suggests mitigation efforts, like social distancing, indicate the field hospital may not be needed at this time. Spokeswoman Mary Masson said the health system no longer has a target date to open a field hospital.

It appears from current COVID-19 cases and modeling that the curve is significantly flattening," Michigan Medicine said in a statement. "We are in communication with state officials to coordinate and determine future need. Our ongoing focus is on our current capacity and readiness to serve patients in our existing hospital facilities.

UM nurses ask to use outside masks, but leaders confirm hospital-supplied policy

Models released on Tuesday, March 31, suggested mitigation efforts could bring down the number of COVID-19 projected patients in Michigan Medicine hospitals by as much as 65% compared to the worst-case projections.

Its unclear how much current projections have changed in the last week. Michigan Medicine has also declined to specify how many hospitalized patients remain in critical condition. Doctors also were not available for further comment Thursday afternoon, April 9.

The epidemic curve is a term used by public health officials to illustrate how coronavirus cases are trending over time, often showing exponential growth during outbreaks. The goal is to flatten this curve so theres not a dramatic peak in cases that overwhelm the healthcare system.

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point

Michigan Medicine had 219 confirmed COVID-19 patients in its hospitals as of Thursday afternoon, April 9, according to information shared daily. About 175 patients have been discharged since the hospital began tracking information on March 21. Twenty-four patients were discharged in the last day, data shows.

There were 21,504 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,076 deaths in Michigan as of Thursday,, according to the latest numbers provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

In Washtenaw County, there were 603 cases and 12 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon, April 8, according to Washtenaw County Health Department data.

MORE FROM MLIVE:

Social distancing lowering the curve by as much as 65 percent, Spectrum Health estimates

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Ann Arbor residents enjoy the warm weather while maintaining social distancing guidelines

Letter from the Editor: You can support MLives vital reporting by subscribing today
She announced she is expecting baby number two - a little girl - last month.

And pregnant Vogue Williams looked radiant when she enjoyed her once daily walk out with husband Spencer Matthews and son Theodore, 19 months, on Wednesday.

The lovely family were of course out walking their beloved dog Winston as they got some fresh air amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Family fun: Pregnant Vogue Williams enjoyed a stroll with Spencer Matthews and their son Theodore on Wednesday (and pet dog Winston came along, too!)

Congratulations: Vogue announced she is expecting baby number two - a little girl - last month and she is now six months pregnant

Vogue, who is six months pregnant, looked lovely wearing a leopard print jacket worn with a black top and matching leggings for the daily outing.

She wheeled her son on his little trike and he looked absolutely delighted to be going out and about.

Spencer wore an Aztec-print jacket over a white T-shirt and grey joggers for the outing, keeping a handle on Winston's leash.

Chic: Vogue looked lovely wearing a leopard print jacket worn with a black top and matching leggings for the daily outing

Glued to his phone: Spencer wore an Aztec-print jacket over a white T-shirt and grey joggers for the outing, keeping a handle on Winston's leash

Vogue told Hello! that while the couple are 'excited' to expand their family, they 'had a few bumps in the road this time round'.

She revealed she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - a condition which affects a woman's ovaries.

The Irish beauty told the publication: 'We're delighted. It's so exciting but kind of scary to think we're going to have another newborn. There's no doubt that I feel lucky to be having another baby.'

Honest: Vogue told Hello! that while the couple are 'excited' to expand their family, they 'had a few bumps in the road this time round'

Not plain sailing: She revealed she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - a condition which affects a woman's ovaries

The TV host - who revealed she was expecting Theodore at the three-month mark in March 2018 - revealed the couple have been trying to conceive since last summe.

They decided to 'keep it under wraps for longer' as the pregnancy 'hasn't been as straight forward the last one'.

Vogue said: 'It was certainly a different path for us this time, so it's really nice to be here and talking about it now.

The Irish beauty told the publication: 'We're delighted. It's so exciting but kind of scary to think we're going to have another newborn. There's no doubt that I feel lucky to be having another baby'

'I wouldn't say alarm bells were going off, but we did wonder how we could make it work a bit more efficiently.'

Weeks after their happy announcement, it was revealed that their E4 reality show has been axed due to plunging ratings.

The couple and their son Theodore fronted Spencer, Vogue and Baby Too before the channel commissioned a second series, Spencer, Vogue and Wedding Two.

She said: 'I wouldn't say alarm bells were going off, but we did wonder how we could make it work a bit more efficiently'

However, a source told The Sun: 'Spencer and Vogues first show, which followed their journey into parenthood, was really successful, but the second instalment, which covered the run-up to their wedding, failed to set the world alight.

'When there were talks about making a third series, it was eventually decided it wasnt commercially viable, plus, Spencer and Vogues team tried to negotiate a bigger and more lucrative package and it wasnt working.

'There was talk about following their journey into becoming parents for a second time after Vogue announced her pregnancy earlier this March, but it all just fell through.'
Twin sisters who had lived together died within days of each other after both testing positive for coronavirus, their family has said.

Eleanor and Eileen Andrews are believed to have contracted the virus at the home they shared in Abercynon, south Wales.

Both sisters, aged 66, had underlying health conditions.

Eleanors son Stuart Andrews said his mother was the first to show symptoms and died on 29 March, and four days later her sister passed away after being admitted to hospital.

His wife Janice said the family felt like they were living a nightmare after the sisters deaths.

It doesnt feel as if its real, Ms Andrews told ITV.

We feel as if were in a horror film or a nightmare and someone is going to wake us up.

Mr Andrews said: Thats what it feels like and it is starting to take its toll on us. Its getting harder now every day.

The sisters older brother, Philip, who lived in the same house, is also in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19. He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

They are trying to save Phillips life now, Mr Andrews said. Its terrible. He was still up and about, he was active and then to see him go like this, youd think he was a totally different person.

He urged people to listen to the government advice and stay indoors.

Just stay in, because this is the effect of people not staying in, and not listening to the government, you know. We dont want to put people through what we are going through.

As of Thursday evening, 7,978 deaths had been reported in the UK.
- with reporting from Aoife Moore

A number of Fine Gael ministers do not believe a government can be formed and that a second general election will be needed.

The ministers believe an agreement can be reached with Fianna Fail but that no other party will step up and enter government, forcing the country to vote again.

The ministers were speaking as it emerged that the joint policy paper from the two parties will now not be agreed until tomorrow as a scheduled meeting has been delayed by 24 hours.

The document will now not be presented to the Green Party, Labour, the Social Democrats, and the Regional Independent Group until Friday.

This is because of Finance Minister Paschal Donohoes inconclusive 16-hour conference call with eurozone finance ministers today aimed at addressing the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, several Fine Gael ministers have expressed concern that all the progress made with Fianna Fail will come to nothing.

I just dont see any of the other parties stepping up. If youre the Labour Party, given what happened to them in 2016, would you sign up for another suicide mission? No, of course not. The Greens, as far as I could see it, never wanted to go in, and who knows about the Social Democrats, one minister said.

The ministers fear that many people do not realise that because of the Covid-19 crisis, the new government will need to take very drastic and tough decisions and you cant do that with a minority government or if you are reliant on independents.

People are talking about 80 seats, for what we have to do, we would need 90-plus and I just cant see that coming to pass. We are in 2011 territory in terms of the decisions we have to take. You simply cant do that with a majority of two or three, a minister said.

A growing sense of disillusionment has begun to ramp up in some quarters of Fianna Fail as TDs find themselves learning about the policy framework from the media.

We dont know whats going on, were taking the biggest step in the history of the party and the State, and we dont know whats going on with Micheal Martin and the party hierarchy and thats truly shocking.

Weve had no input, weve never seen it, and its never discussed with us, its well to try and entice smaller parties, but they have to entice their own first, one TD said.

Meanwhile, a grassroots group of Fianna Fail members has written to the partys TDs encouraging them to form a national emergency government, or face the partys end entirely.

The group, Cosmhuintir Fianna Fail, who are understood to have hundreds of members, say they are made up of loyal and hardworking members of the party.

The letter, sent via email to elected TDs, says it is a cry from the heart of Fianna Fail for the rehabilitation and reform of the party which will only be served, in the long term, by committing to a National Emergency Government to bring us through the sad events of our time, the letter reads.

TDs are hearing about a growing distrust within the party of leader Micheal Martin.

What were hearing more now than we ever heard before is that they would like to see a different leader. The impression is that Micheal is doing this in his own interest, not in the interest of Fianna Fail.
Alabama Media Group has won second place in the innovation category of the 2020 National Headliner Awards for their work reporting on women and gender disparities in Alabama.

The cornerstone of the project was a special print edition, released across the state, featuring essays highlighting the thoughts, concerns, aspirations and grievances from over 200 women. The essays were featured as the sole content of the print editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Mobile Press-Register, marking the first time a large newspaper devoted an entire section to only quoting women.

The essay project came on the heels of Alabama lawmakers passing a law to ban abortions in nearly all instances, a law that sparked widespread protests across the state. The award recognizes the reporting efforts around the legislation, as well as video interviews featuring reporter Abbey Crain interviewing women about their own decisions pertaining to abortion.

The award also recognizes investigative reporter Anna Claire Vollers work for her months-long reporting on how Alabama treats its mothers, spanning topics from maternal mortality, to breastfeeding in the workplace, to health care access.

In addition to the essays and reporting effort, Alabama Media Group launched Reckon Women, a Facebook group thats home to hundreds of conversations about how to make life better for women in Alabama and the South.

This work showed the power of serving an audience by working alongside them to reclaim their own narrative, said Rebecca Walker Benjamin, senior managing producer at Alabama Media Group. While the country was talking about Alabamas women, we instead listened to the women and amplified their voices, revealing new avenues and networks for those stories to be uncovered and reported. Were proud of the ground weve broken through our approach, and continue to build upon it in other areas of coverage.

In addition to the award for coverage of Alabamas War on Women, a project which included efforts from almost every editor in the company, videographers, multiple reporters and print designers, the Headliner Awards also recognized the 2019 work of Alabama Media Group investigative reporter Connor Sheets.

Sheets, in collaboration with ProPublicas Local Reporting Network, won third place in the Health, medical and science writing division for his work chronicling the struggles of sick and injured inmates left under the weight of medical debt acquired during their time served.

Im honored to receive this recognition and grateful to all the people across Alabama who courageously shared their medical bond stories with me," Sheets said. "Id also like to thank my editors, Challen Stephens and Charlie Ornstein, for guiding this reporting effort, and ProPublica for giving me the opportunity to be a part of its fantastic Local Reporting Network.

The Headliner Awards were founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City. The awards are some of the oldest and largest in the country.

Alabamas Biggest Newspapers Publish Essays By 200 Women On Abortion Ban
DECATUR  Public health officials continued to urge physical distancing Wednesday as the number of cases of COVID-19 passed 15,000 statewide, with 82 additional deaths reported.

In Macon County, there are now 13 people who have tested positive for the disease, according to the county's Crisis Communication Team. The county said 110 tests have been performed, and eight tests are pending.

The county health department has said it is identifying and notifying people who have had contact with patients.

"All confirmed cases are following isolation guidelines," the county's Crisis Communication Team said in a statement. "Those considered to be contacts of the confirmed cases have been and are being notified and instructed to follow direction to prevent the spread of illness."

The county did not release ages and genders of newly confirmed cases on Tuesday or Wednesday; the Herald & Review has requested that information.

Statewide, the total number of cases is at 15,078, while deaths reached 462. Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at the daily COVID-19 briefing in Chicago that the rate of increase in cases from day to day is beginning to decline.

You're not seeing the exponential growth that we were seeing before, she said. But even as there may be some glimmers of hope, I say that physical distancing has to  must  continue to be the way that we reduce the spread of this virus. Please stay home.

One person in Macon County has died, a man in his 80s who was a resident of Fair Havens Senior Living and whose death was confirmed Tuesday evening.

Health officials said earlier this week that at least four people at a senior living facility had been diagnosed with the virus; while the health department would not confirm that facility was Fair Havens, several government officials did so.

In a video posted on the city's website, Decatur City Manager Scot Wrighton said: "Weve been assured by the management of that facility that theyre taking appropriate actions to further shut down access to the facility, do more testing and protect both the residents and employees of that facility."

Wrighton also said the Decatur Public Transit System is asking that riders wear face masks on buses. He said signs recommending the masks will be posted Wednesday. The masks will be required later in the month.

"We're entering a transition period where we recommend for the safety of drivers and the traveling public that you have a face mask, but at some point, about 10 days out, it will be required in the interest of public safety," Wrighton said.

While Ezike said a decrease in the rate of rise, which now looks more linear than exponential, was promising, she could not predict how many days the state is away from a peak in cases, which could last several days once it is hit.

So we're, with guarded optimism, we're hoping that we're getting close to either the peak or the plateau. It's not clear yet how long that would be, she said.

The latest deaths came in 11 counties  Boone, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, Macon, Madison, McHenry, St. Clair, Tazewell and Will  with 61 of them in Cook County. The deaths came in people from their 30s to their 90s.

The state tested 75,066 persons for the virus as of Wednesday, an increase of about 6,300 from Tuesday.

Pritzker said testing capabilities just reached the 6,000-daily threshold in Illinois, which is still short of the 10,000 target set by health officials. According to medical and scientific experts, he said, processing 10,000 tests per day will give officials the clearest picture of how many confirmed COVID-19 cases are in the state and how it is spreading.

The hold up, Pritzker said, is due to new laboratory automation machines manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific, which originally promised to process a multi-thousand daily unit increase of tests, or about 200 hourly. But those five machines  distributed to Illinois three state-run labs  are not giving technicians the level of output that we want to see, the governor said.

More importantly, these tests are not producing valid results in a way that meets our exacting standards, Pritzker added. I am as impatient as the rest of you are, wanting to increase testing, but I will not sacrifice accuracy for the sake of speed. The tests and results they will provide are too important.

Until those machines are operating correctly, the governor said, they will not be used to examine Illinois tests.

He also said the state could increase testing output through privatized labs used by the federal government, but those labs turn around test results in 7-10 days, as opposed to state labs and local hospitals which can produce results in two days.

People can end up on a ventilator before they ever get their testing result. That's just not a timeline that I want to bet on, he said of privatized tests.

Pritzker said the state is working with the scientists and technicians, the academics and innovators here in Illinois, to expand our test results.

He said state labs are running three shifts to increase results, and 96 locations across the state are now collecting specimens.

To ensure a steady stream of supplies our in-state universities and local laboratories are creating our own raw materials, instead of relying upon the global supply chain, which is frankly in disarray, the governor said, noting they are creating certain parts of testing that hospitals and labs will be able to now access locally rather than waiting on purchased supplies to arrive.

Pritzker said Abbott Labs dedicated the supplies for around 3,000 rapid, 5-minute response testsper day in Illinois, but he noted the federal government redirected most of these early tests to private systems without our state input about where the tests would make the most impact.

He added that the federal government provided state labs with 15 Abbott ID now machines, but only 120 total tests.

That's eight tests per machine for all of Illinois, but I assure you that we will leave no stone unturned to get the tests that we need to run those machines at full bore, he said.

On another testing note, Ezike said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a test which detects antibodies from the virus in those who have already had it.

Antibody tests will play a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 by helping with identification of people who have actually overcome an infection and have developed the immune response, she said. Results from antibody testing will identify individuals who we assume will be no longer susceptible to the infection and can return to work. This test could also help determine who may donate plasma, plasma being the liquid component of blood that could serve as a possible treatment for those who are seriously ill from COVID-19.

Allison Petty contributed to this story.
A 107-year old Dutch woman has recovered from the coronavirus, probably becoming the oldest survivor of the pandemic in the world.

Cornelia Ras fell ill on March 17, the day after her 107th birthday, Dutch newspaper AD reported, after attending a church service with other residents of her nursing home on Goeree-Overflakkee, an island in the southwest of the country.

She and 40 others at the service were subsequently diagnosed as carrying the virus.

Twelve of that group have since died, but Ras was told by her doctors on Monday that she had beaten the infection.

We did not expect her to survive this, her niece Maaike de Groot told the newspaper.

She takes no medicines, still walks well and gets down on her knees every night to thank the Lord. From the looks of it, she will be able to continue to do so.

Prior to Ras, the oldest widely documented coronavirus survivor was Bill Lapschies, a 104-year-old American.

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The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members will on Thursday convene a closed-door meeting with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the COVID-19 via videoconferencing.

The meeting is expected to focus on the Secretary-General's appeal for a global ceasefire and the pandemic's impact on Council agenda situations, including peacekeeping operations, special political missions and humanitarian responses, according to What's In Blue, a series of insights produced by Security Council Report on evolving Security Council actions.

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, the 15-member Security Council has not met even once or come up with a united response or resolution to the pandemic, mostly due to a stand-off between the US and China over the origin of the virus, which has infected at least 1.5 million people globally and killed more than 80,000 others.

Last week, nine member states of the UNSC requested to discuss the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus and its impact on UN operations across the Guterres later confirmed that he is going to brief the Security Council on the matter.

The session comes as Council members have been discussing two separate draft resolutions on COVID-19 -- a reported French-led draft resolution that has been discussed exclusively among the P5, and, more recently, a Tunisian-produced draft resolution that elected members have been negotiating, the website said.

A resolution could galvanise the global community towards a response coalesced around international security against COVID-19, it added.

Dominican Republic took over the presidency of the UNSC on April 1 from China which held the chair till March 31.

In a report last week providing an update on his global ceasefire appeal, Guterres described the COVID-19 pandemic as "the greatest test the has faced since the formation of the United Nations", which "has and will have profound social, economic and political consequences, including relating to international peace and security".

In his global appeal, the Secretary-General further highlighted the particular challenges to conflict-affected countries where "health systems have collapsed," "health professionals are few in number and have often been targeted", and refugees and displaced persons are "doubly vulnerable".

In his briefing today, Guterres is also likely to focus on the pandemic's impact on and risks to Council agenda situations. He is also expected to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on UN peace operations, which has been suspended till June 30 in view of the rapid virus spread and their ability to fully carry out their mandated activities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman has spent a night behind bars and been fined $2,000 after breaching coronavirus self-quarantine at a Queensland hotel because no fresh towels were sent to her room.

Anna Carter, 45, was supposed to be in two weeks of self-isolation at the Ibis Brisbane Airport Hotel after arriving from New South Wales, Brisbane Magistrates Court was told on Thursday.

But police found her outside the hotel on Wednesday, one day after she was given a $1,300 fine for leaving her room to buy a Band-Aid.

She told officers the hotel was not replacing her towels each day and she had checked out.

A woman has spent a night behind bars and been fined $2000 after breaching coronavirus self-quarantine. Pictured: Travellers being quarantined in Brisbane

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'She had no real reason to be absent from the hotel,' a police prosecutor told the court.

'We are all aware of just how urgent the (COVID-19) situation is and the importance of self-quarantine, especially when directed to by a public health official or police.'

A day earlier, Carter was found at the Fortitude Valley railway station.

She told police she had left her room to buy a Band-Aid because she had a blister to her foot.

They returned her to the Ibis Hotel, but by 8am the next morning she had checked out.

Officers found her five hours later back in Fortitude Valley

She told police she had checked into a city hotel and was at the station to withdraw cash at an ATM.

Carter was arrested and spent the night at the police watch house in Brisbane before appearing in court, where she pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to comply with a COVID-19 direction.

Magistrate Stephen Courtney said her conduct was selfish and immature.

'Significant effort and expense have been gone to because of people like Ms Carter because the community can't be confident (they) will do the right thing,' he said.

Mr Courtney recorded a conviction and fined Carter $2000.
Saudi Arabia and Russia Thursday ended their oil war that has shaken the global oil markets and negatively affected many oil-reliant economies, including Nigeria.

The worlds two largest oil exporters came to a resolution at an expanded Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emergency meeting which was held through a video conference.

Both countries have agreed to slash crude oil output, a move which is expected to boost oil prices.

According to Bloomberg, OPEC and its allies agreed to cut production by about 10 million barrels per day in May and June.

The two biggest producers in the group will each reduce their daily oil output by about 5.5 million barrels with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23 per cent, delegates at the meeting told Bloomberg, asking not to be named.

Earlier last month, to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global oil market, members of OPEC had agreed to cut crude oil production by a combined volume of about 1.5 million barrels per day, to stop further reduction in international oil price.

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OPEC said the burden of the cut would be shared with non-OPEC allies, led by Russia.

However, Moscow rejected the plan and said countries were free to export as much oil as they could from March ending when the current deal ended.

Saudi Arabia responded aggressively by increasing its output to 12.3 million barrels a day, more than 25 per cent higher than the previous months production, a move Russia also followed.

Since then, Brent crude price has fallen, to as low as $22 per barrel, the lowest in close to two decades, before rising steadily to about $30.

Nigeria having earmarked its crude oil benchmark at $57 had to slash its crude oil benchmark price, down to $30, while crude oil production remains at 2.18 million barrels per day as earlier contained in the budget estimates.

Because of the oil price decline, Nigeria has also slashed its 2020 budget by over N320 billion and proposed a new budget of N10.27 trillion against the N10.59 trillion passed by the national assembly.
The meeting of the so-called OPEC+ is scheduled to be held Thursday after officials delayed it following Saudi Arabia criticizing Russia over its comments about the price collapse.

Iran demanded on Wednesday that U.S. oil production levels must be known before an upcoming OPEC meeting with Russia and others seeking to boost global energy prices.

A meeting in March saw OPEC and other nations led by Russia fail to agree to a production cut as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut demand for oil. In the time since, prices have collapsed. International benchmark Brent crude traded Wednesday over US$34 a barrel as U.S. benchmark West Texas crude traded under US$25.

Iranian state television quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zabganeh as saying he discussed the "method of decision-making" for the meeting Thursday with OPECs president, as well as his Kuwaiti and Russian counterparts.

"Other producers, including the U.S. and Canada, should participate in this topic and there should be an agreement about production base of each country that is a basis for production cut," Zanganeh was quoted as saying.

The U.S. and Canada are not part of OPEC. However, U.S. officials have been in discussions with other oil producers over the price collapse, which has hurt American shale oil firms.

Iran, a founding member of OPEC, faces its own challenge as U.S. sanctions bar it from selling its crude oil abroad since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers.


MUSKEGON, MI  The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Muskegon County took another big one-day leap, surpassing 50.

The Muskegon County Health Department reported 53 cases of coronavirus COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 8. Thats up from 41 on Tuesday.

The death toll remains at four, according to the health departments web site.

Statewide, there were 1,376 new confirmed cases on Wednesday and 114 additional deaths. Totals in Michigan stand at 20,346 confirmed cases and 959 deaths.

A spokeswoman for Mercy Health declined to tell MLive how many people were hospitalized with COVID-19 at the organizations two hospitals in Muskegon.

Instead, she provided the following statement, even after being assured that MLive was not interested in identifying any of the patients:

Mercy Health protects the privacy of our patients and does not comment on their treatment, and that includes commenting on whether or not a person is a patient at our hospital.

Dori Peters, public health emergency preparedness coordinator for the Muskegon County health department, told MLive she would try to find out the number of hospitalizations but did not have any by late Wednesday afternoon.

Ottawa Countys confirmed cases jumped from 52 to 56, with one death reported on Wednesday, according to the Ottawa County Health Department. The death was of a woman in her late 70s with underlying health conditions, according to the health department.

Among patients with confirmed cases, 23 percent were hospitalized, according to the health department.

The District 10 Health Department reported one additional case of COVID-19 in Newaygo County, bringing the total there to four. There have been three cases, including one death, in Oceana County.

MLive has complete coverage on coronavirus COVID-19, including maps of known cases, at mlive.com/coronavirus.

PREVENTION TIPS

Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips:

What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases:

 Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

 Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same.

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

 Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

 Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available.

 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.).

 Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season.

For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

More on MLive:

Michigan becomes 3rd state to eclipse 20,000 coronavirus cases

Coronavirus cases spread throughout Muskegon County, but hit black residents especially hard

Need a laugh? Watch this Muskegon area principal rap Some Good News to students
China on Thursday reported 63 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours including 61 imported ones, recording a two-week high in the number of daily confirmed patients returning to the country from abroad.

Preparing for a possible second wave of infections, the Chinese government has also issued strict new guidelines for monitoring and treating asymptomatic patients or those who are infected but do not show symptoms.

Two new deaths reported from the central Chinese province of Hubei pushed the overall death toll to 3335 while the total number of Covid-19 infections stood at 81865, the national health commission (NHC) reported Thursday.

China has now recorded nearly 120 imported Covid-19 cases in two days, and as of Wednesday the mainland had reported a total of 1103 of these cases.

Of the 1103, 374 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 729 were being treated with 31 in severe condition, said the commission, the NHC said.

The two new domestic cases were reported from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

A new circular issued by the State Council, Chinas cabinet, has instructed local authorities to intensify the detection of and prompt response against asymptomatic cases of Covid-19.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat, said the circular, noting that they are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

Screening of asymptomatic infections should be stepped up, targeting close contacts of confirmed patients, people involved in cluster outbreaks, those exposed to Covid-19 and travellers from areas with high risks of infections, the document quoted by official news agency, Xinhua reported.

The State Council issued strict measures to monitor asymptomatic cases, an indication that this has the potential to fuel a second wave of the outbreak within China.

Once verified, asymptomatic carriers will be put under concentrated medical observation for 14 days and can only be released from quarantine upon two consecutive negative nucleic acid test results, with a sampling interval of more than 24 hours, the Chinese cabinet document added.

The process doesnt end there.

An additional 14-day medical observation is still necessary for asymptomatic patients who have been discharged from concentrated quarantine, said the document, asking them to undergo follow-up physical examinations in hospitals over the two weeks.

As of Wednesday, a total of 1104 asymptomatic cases, including 364 imported from abroad, were still under medical observation on the Chinese mainland, the NHC said in its daily report.

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The Power Distribution Companies in Nigeria have thrown their weight behind the bill being proposed by the National Assembly for Nigerians to enjoy two months of free electricity to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic.



Recall that last week, Speaker of the House of Reprsentatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, announced that a stimulus bill will be passed by the house once they reconvene that would mandate the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to give Nigerians two months of free electricity.



In a statement released on Wednesday April 8, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors ANED said the modalities for the free power would be worked on as soon as possible and they would notify Nigerians. The statement which was signed by the Associations Executive Director, Sunday Oduntan, reads in part



The electricity distribution companies recognise the challenging effects of the coronavirus on the economic and daily lives of our customers. In fulfillment of our commitments to the nation, we hereby align ourselves with the efforts of the National Assembly and the Federal Executive to mitigate the hardship that is currently being borne by our customers and other citizens all over the country.



We are committed to working with them to ensure more efficient power supply within this difficult period, as the nation battles with the ravages of COVID-19. We are also completely aligned with the plans to ensure palliative measures, including free electricity supply to all Nigerians for two months, to make life easier, during the lockdown period. Details of implementation to come soon.





In a related development, the management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBEDC says it would be donating N100m towards the fight against COVID-19 pandemic within its operational area.



The Chief Operating Officer, IBEDC, John Ayodele, disclosed this on Wednesday while donating food items worth N10m to the Oyo State Government as part of measures to combat COVID-19 in the state. While presenting the items, the IBEDC boss also announced that the company has also donated N5m to the University College Hospital Ibadan in support of the institutions efforts at combating the deadly virus.



IBEDC, as a law-abiding corporate citizen and socially responsible organisation, has earmarked about N100m for relief items namely rice, noodles and semovita. This gesture encompasses the states we cover namely Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Kwara, and partly Niger, Kogi and Ekiti states. he said

Source: LIB









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The importance of corporate culture can be hard to quantify, but certainly developing and supporting a culture that enhances the organizations ability to meet or exceed business goals is vitally important. For todays digital businesses, key technology platforms support this goal.

As any business looks to the future, it has become clear that the modern digital business must implement new apps and tools that support the desired cultural attributes.

Two commonly desired cultural attributes that new digital platforms must support are collaboration and creativity. The ability of teams to complete projects more quickly and with better outcomes is critical to success. Collaborating more effectively can also provide a sustainable competitive advantage. And creativitythe ability to conceive of and document new business processes, product ideas, or improvements to the customer experienceseparates winners from losers. Creativity can come from anywhere in the organization and providing all employees with the digital tools that support individual creativity is fast becoming the norm for digital businesses. As collaboration becomes more prevalent and easier in an organization, creative silos are removed, and teams are able to share ideas and innovation across business units.

The power of analytics and consistent data

Specific technologies have proven themselves to be important for driving collaboration and creativity as part of the corporate culture. The specifics of any implementation may vary from company to company, but in general these solutions are broadly effective. Below are two examples of technologies that enable collaboration and creativity, but there are of course many others.

Perhaps the most important new technology is analytics. The most impactful analytic tools are those that can be used by virtually every employee, not just highly trained data scientists. Analytics tools provide the insight and perspectives that are essential to finding creative new internal business processes or ways to interact with customers. Empowering employees with analytic platforms that they can easily use and integrate into their daily routine is the starting point for finding the specific insights that ignite the spark of creativity. And this creative spark becomes intoxicating. Once data is used to inspire creative thinking to improve the brand experience, employees will become more excited to use the data to solve complex customer issues.

Analytics also supports enhanced collaboration, since a single, consistent set of analyses that documents business results or provides insights can be the foundation which all teams can build on. Teams that use different data will spend an inordinate amount of time identifying which analyses are right rather than doing useful work.

A technology solution that provides comprehensive and consistent customer data is the second vital driver of collaboration and creativity. Having a single source of truth for customer behavior and activity is the foundation for collaboration activities that focus on sales, product development, and marketing, to name a few. Consistent customer data that delivers a 360-degree view enables teams to focus on the project at hand with the confidence that they arent heading in the wrong direction. Comprehensive customer data supports creativity by giving you the ability to segment or identify specific customer or prospect types and what triggers their actions. Its now possible to be much more creative in how the business interacts with specific types or groups of its customers.

Having documented and accurate data and analyses is the catalyst for both collaboration and creativity. The ability to focus on what to do rather than what is the data? moves both processes forward more quickly and effectively. Creativity is not something that the Design or Marketing teams own. With the right tools in place, all employees will feel a sense of ownership for finding creative solutions to the customer problems at hand.

To learn more about how to build a culture of creativity and collaboration, please click here.
What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals  the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat.

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: 'The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

'We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.'

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it?

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.'

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die.

'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in.

'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.'

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. It can also live on surfaces, such as plastic and steel, for up to 72 hours, meaning people can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces.

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms  but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why.

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus?

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world.

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much  changing is known as mutating  much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they're tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured?

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?

The outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'.

Previously, the UN agency said most cases outside of Hubei had been 'spillover' from the epicentre, so the disease wasn't actually spreading actively around the world.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to politicisation of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show honest leadership.

Geneva: The head of the World Health Organization gave a strident defence of his agencys handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, in response to US president Donald Trumps criticism and suggestions that Washington could review its funding for the agency.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to politicisation of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show honest leadership.

Tedros said he expected US funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.

Trump and his administration repeated its criticism, on Wednesday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was re-evaluating U.S. funding to the body, saying international organisations utilizing US taxpayer money needed to deliver on their goals. But he objected to a leadership change at the WHO at this time.

US contributions to the WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the second-largest country donor, according to US figures. The WHO website shows the United States as its top donor, contributing nearly 15 percent of the budget.

Trump told the daily White House briefing on the coronavirus that Beijings payment was a small fraction of Washingtons WHO contribution, and that was not fair at all.

So, were going to do study, investigation. And were going to make a determination as to what were doing. In the meantime, were holding back. We ... want to see.

Trump said the WHO issued a statement on 14 January saying there was no human-to-human transmission and criticized him very strongly when he said he was going to shut down flights from China.

Tedros said the WHO had kept the world informed about the latest data, information and evidence and noted that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organization of cases of pneumonia with unknown cause on 31 December.

Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, rejected Trumps suggestion that the WHO was China-centric, saying: We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind.

Earlier, Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to Tedros, also defended the agencys relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak.

It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this, said Aylward, who led a WHO expert mission to China in February.

In an interview with KDKA Radio, Pompeo said: I think its pretty clear that the World Health Organization hasnt lived up to its billing, it hasnt been able to achieve what it was designed to achieve, and we just cant continue to permit that to go on. Weve got to find a way.

Pompeo was asked at the coronavirus briefing whether it was time to change the WHO leadership and replied: This is not the time to be doing that kind of change.

'We make mistakes'



In New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday now was not the time to assess the global response to the pandemic, calling instead for the international community to focus on working in solidarity to stop the virus.

Tedros said his UN agency would conduct its usual assessment of its performance after the emergency and draw lessons about its strengths and weaknesses, adding: We make mistakes like other human beings.

He summarised his advice as: Please, unity at national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the U.S. and China.

The most powerful should lead the way and please quarantine COVID politics, he added, referring to COVID-19, the highly contagious, sometimes deadly illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Tedros said Beijing and Washington should follow the example of what the former Soviet Union and the United States did in 1967 when they launched a 10-year global campaign that eradicated smallpox, a disease then killing 2 million people annually.

Tedros rejected racist slurs against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan, and disclosed that he had also received a death threat during the crisis.

We are losing people, why would I care about being attacked when people are dying? he said, noting there were already 60,000 body bags after more than 1.3 million infections.

We will have many body bags in front of us if we dont behave, he added.
Over the last month Giovanni Sartori has lost his sense of time.

He doesnt remember exactly when his younger brother, a strong and healthy 53-year-old with whom he lived, began to have a high fever and breathing problems. But he knows that after about a week in that condition, taking the paracetamol prescribed by his general practitioner, he was taken to the hospital. Ten days later, he was dead.

Sartori, 60, remained alone with his 90-year-old mother in Castana di Pradello, a village in Emilia Romagna, Italy where there are more cows and sheep than people. Their home is over 3 miles from the closest pharmacy and grocery store, and 30 miles from the hospital in Codogno, where the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy was registered. Now, Sartoris mother is presenting symptoms of the virus. Shes been like this for a couple of weeks and she didnt want to go to the hospital, he explains in a telephone interview. Luckily, Dr. Cavanna came to our place one day. When I saw him walk in, I felt reborn.

Luigi Cavanna is the head of the oncology ward in the nearby Piacenza hospital. From the second week of March, when the lockdown in Italy began, he realized that too many seriously ill COVID-19 patients were arriving in the emergency room  while most of them could have been treated at home earlier, before their symptoms became too grave.

Cavanna and a colleague during a house visit on March 26. His teams bring patients medicine and a device that monitors the levels of oxygen in the blood, which they return after theyve recovered. In more critical cases Cavanna leaves tanks of oxygen. | Gabriele MicalizziCesura

Thats why he now travels throughout the areas around Piacenza every day, along with several colleagues. Together, his three teams have visited more than 300 people with COVID-19 symptoms. They bring patients medicine and a device that monitors the levels of oxygen in the blood, which they return after theyve recovered. In more critical cases Cavanna leaves tanks of oxygen and, as with Sartoris mother, bags of fluid with nutrients for non-oral feeding. My mother is already better, says Sartori. Being in her own bed rather than in a crowded hospital is what made the difference.

Story continues

When I realized that the emergency room was overcrowded with people already in serious condition, I knew something was wrong, Cavanna explains. This is not a stroke or a heart attack, but a virus that can hit in different ways and that follows its course. We have to try to stop it before it damages the lungs in a way that is sometimes irreversible. According to the data he collected during the first month, fewer than 10% of the patients he treated at home worsened to the point where they had to be hospitalized.

Until last week, Cavanna was giving most of his patients both hydroxychloroquine (commonly used for malaria and certain inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis) and an antiviral that is usually prescribed for HIV. Then AIFA, Italys equivalent to the U.S.s Food and Drug Administration, issued a note advising to be very careful in prescribing them together. So now, except in rare cases, he uses hydroxychloroquine on its own. Although the drug hasnt been tested for the coronavirus, he says it is the most effective treatment for now.

Cavanna and his team are able to enter the patients' homes because they have the necessary protective gear, provided both by the hospital where they work and by private donors. After the visits, they clean their gear and undress. | Gabriele MicalizziCesura

The White House has also been enthusiastically recommending the drug as treatment for coronavirus, with President Donald Trump describing it as a miracle cure  an endorsement that is risking shortages. Cavanna stresses the importance of having a doctor prescribe and monitor the medication vigilantly. Every day I receive dozens of phone calls and answer all of them. I prefer answering the phone at 2 a.m. rather than hearing that a patient is getting worse, Cavanna says.

Now that Italys rate of coronavirus cases has plateaued, medical officials are looking at what worked and what didnt  and increasingly they are turning to new initiatives such as the one pioneered by Cavanna. Local administrations in other regions and nonprofits like Doctors Without Borders are organizing groups of doctors to provide services at home and in facilities most at risk, such as nursing homes.

Keep up to date on the growing threat to global health by signing up for our daily coronavirus newsletter.

We made a mistake, especially in Lombardy explains Ivan Cavicchi, professor of sociology of health at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome. We were totally focused on increasing the number of beds in intensive care units, , without having enough anesthesiologists, he says. But in situations like this, strengthening the entire system is essential. Only then can hospitals function properly.

He says that instead general practitioners and other primary care providers were abandoned and left without protection. So far nearly 100 doctors have died in Italy, about half of them general practitioners.

During a house visit, like this one on March 26, Cavanna will wear a disposable gown over his protective suit as well as googles, two masks, two gloves, two caps and shoe covers. | Gabriele MicalizziCesura

Cavanna and his team are able to enter the patients homes because they have the necessary protective gear, provided both by the hospital where they work and by private donors. During their expeditions they wear a protective suit that Cavanna jokingly describes as similar to ones worn by aviators in the movies, and on top of it, at each visit, they wear an additional disposable gown. They also wear googles, two masks, two gloves, two caps and shoe covers.

Officials are also trying to prepare facilities for a possible resurgence of the coronavirus. In addition to reorganizing the hospitals, we need to reorganize the doctors studios throughout the region, explains Pier Luigi Bartoletti, deputy secretary of FIMMG, the Italian federation of family doctors. Bartoletti and his collaborators are already thinking about next winter, whenin the worst case scenariothe virus could strike again with force.

As early as October, the waiting rooms of doctors offices must be redesigned, with separate routes for those with flu symptoms, he says. In addition, we need to offer doctors protective gear and training to use it properly, along with the appropriate diagnostic tools. Bartoletti is working with doctors at the Spallanzani Hospital in Rome to test a device that would allow for rapid COVID-19 testing using just a drop of blood taken from the finger.

Now that Italys rate of coronavirus cases has plateaued, medical officials are looking at what worked and what didnt. Increasingly, they are turning to new initiatives such as the one pioneered by Cavanna. | Gabriele MicalizziCesura

Today, coronavirus tests may require 4 or even 5 days to get a result. Thats too long, if you are following the preventative strategy. Instead of waiting for the tests, Cavanna takes along a device the size of a mobile phone to perform ultrasound chest scans. We know that in such an affected area people with signs of bronchitis or pneumonia are almost certainly positive, he explains. I keep the swab in case of doubt or for post treatment, to make sure theyre no longer contagious once cured.

Doctors and experts agree that the pandemic has been an eye opener  not only for Italians but also for the rest of the world  with regard to the strengths and weaknesses of the various healthcare systems. But no system has yet proven equipped to deal with an extreme situation such as the current pandemic. We were taken by surprise at a time when we felt immortal, but now it is clear to everyone that this is not the case, says Pier Luigi Bartoletti. If we repeat the same mistakes, it will be our fault too.
London, April 9 : A British driver has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants, who were found dead in a refrigerated lorry in the UK's Essex county last year.

On Wednesday, lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 25, from Craigavon in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales in London, known as the Old Bailey, reports Xinhua news agency.

At the same hearing, co-defendant Gheorghe Nica denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

Both men appeared via video-link at the hearing.

The migrants, including two 15-year-olds, were found in the lorry on an industrial estate in Essex on October 23, 2019 and were mostly from poor and rural areas of Vietnam's north-central provinces.

The trailer arrived in Britain on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Essex police said earlier this year that the cause of death is a combination of hypoxia and hyperthermia.

According to the BBC, the other defendants face a trial at the Old Bailey lasting up to eight weeks.

It is scheduled to begin on October 5.
Samsung has rolled out the Android 10 update for the Galaxy A60, making it the fourth Samsung smartphone after Galaxy J6, A10 and A20e to get the latest version of Android this week.



Samsung Galaxy A60

The update is rolling for Galaxy A60 with model number SM-A6060 and requires a download of around 1.9GB size. A detailed changelog of the build is currently unavailable, but we know it brings in One UI 2.0 and March 2020 Android security patch to the Galaxy A60.

The Android 10 update is currently seeding in China and South Korea, but it should arrive in other markets soon.

If you live in South Korea or China, you will get Android 10 on your Galaxy A60 in a few days, but you can also check for it manually by heading to your unit's Settings > Software update menu.

Source (in Korean) | Via
Mike Tyson has admitted he regrets owning big cats following the release of Netflix hit Tiger King.

The seven-part show documents the private big cat industry in America and features the ongoing feud between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin.

At the height of his fame, former heavyweight world champion Tyson owned three Bengal tigers named Kenya, Storm and Boris.

But he has now admitted he was wrong to keep them as pets.



I was foolish, he said. Theres no way you can domesticate these cats 100 per cent, no way thats going to happen.

Theyll kill you by accident, especially when youre playing rough with them and youre punching them back. They get hyped up, hit you back and youre dead.

I used to sleep with them. Im just happy I educated myself, it was late but I was doing the wrong s***. I shouldnt have had them in my house, believing they were domesticated  I was wrong.

Tyson bought Kenya while he was jailed for rape, spending $72,000 on the 550lb animal.

He kept her for 16 years but was forced to sell the tiger when she ripped a womans arm off.

The tiger didnt know the lady, so it was a bad accident, added Tyson. They tried to [sue me] until they found out she tried to jump over the fence.

When I saw what the tiger did to her hand, I had a lot of money back then, so I gave her $250,000.

You couldnt believe what they can do to a persons flesh. I had no idea. They are incredibly quick for being up to 600lb. They kill you in like three seconds with one swing.

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WASHINGTON  Seeking to move past allegations that she has tried to profit from the coronavirus crisis, Senator Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia, announced on Wednesday that she and her husband would divest from all individual stocks and move their money into mutual and exchange-traded funds.

Ms. Loeffler, a freshman senator who was already in a competitive race to keep her seat, has faced weeks of attacks from her rivals in both parties and scrutiny from the news media over millions of dollars worth of stock trades her portfolio made just before the coronavirus pandemic roiled the financial markets. Her critics questioned whether Ms. Loeffler  and a handful of other lawmakers who actively traded stocks during the same period  had used nonpublic information they received from their jobs as senators to make money or avoid financial losses suffered by other investors as the pandemic spread.

Ms. Loeffler adamantly denied that again on Wednesday, insisting that she had done nothing wrong, legally or ethically. The stock trades were all made by outside financial advisers at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Sepio Capital and Wells Fargo, who independently manage her investments without our input, direction or knowledge, she said. Ms. Loeffler added that she was not privy to any meaningful nonpublic information about the virus because of her job in the Senate.

Still, the decision underscored how Ms. Loefflers vast wealth, once thought to be an asset for her campaign, had become a political distraction and a potential liability as she seeks to hold her Senate seat this fall against Democratic and Republican challengers. A former businesswoman with no political experience, Ms. Loeffler was appointed to fill Georgias vacant Senate seat late last year and pledged to put at least $20 million into her own campaign.
Critically ill persons



from Kasaragod district would be airlifted to hospitals within the state if needed, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said as one more patient died in the northern district after being "not allowed" to reach Mangaluru in Karnataka.

Since the lockdown, imposed to prevent the COVID-19 spread, came into force, Karnataka has sealed its border roads and highways, resulting in death of at least nine patients from Kerala after ambulances carrying them were not allowed to cross Thalapady, about 20 km from Mangaluru.

The issue was resolved on Tuesday with Karnataka agreeing to allow non-COVID-19 patients to cross the border to avail treatment at Mangaluru hospitals.

Vijayan told reporters on Thursday that even though the matter was solved, some issues still remained.

"Today also, one person died not getting treatment", he said, but did not elaborate on the issues.

"To ensure this does not happen again, seriously ill patients, will be airlifted to hospitals in our state, if needed", he said.

Meanwhile, Kerala made additional arrangements to issue medical certificates to patients seeking treatment in Mangaluru in Karnataka for diseases other than COVID-19.

A facility for issuing certificates was already functioning near the Thalapady check post in Kerala.

Besides this, a Medical Officer will be posted 24/7 at the Manjeswaram Community Health Centre (CHC) to issue the certificates, Kasaragod District Medical Officer (Health) Dr A V Ramdas said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday had disposed of Karnataka's petition challenging the Kerala High Court order on opening the national highway traffic at Kasaragod border to provide hospital access in Mangaluru to patients from Kerala after the centre informed the two states have amicably resolved the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PHOENIX, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, University of Phoenix announced its intention to commit every federal dollar that it receives from the CARES Act to providing direct financial assistance to students who were not exclusively studying online before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Education Stabilization Fund included in the recently passed CARES Act legislation requires colleges and universities to use at least 50 percent of any funding received for direct financial assistance to students. University of Phoenix today said they would exceed that requirement and put 100 percent of its share of federal funds towards relieving the financial burden of current students. The university also announced that it would provide public updates on its use of the federal funds, ensuring complete transparency with current students and the general public.

The updates will be posted to the University of Phoenix COVID-19 website.

As the most experienced online university and the first to offer accredited online degree programs, University of Phoenix recognizes its unique position and responsibility to assist the millions of students, teachers and professors who have been affected by the necessary shift to online learning in light of COVID-19. Today's announcement is one small part of a broader effort the university is undertaking to help as many people as possible make the transition to online teaching and learning.

"University of Phoenix is unequivocally committed to using every penny of CARES Act funding for direct financial assistance to our studentsmany of whom are nurses, members of the military and veterans who have stepped up on the front lines fighting COVID-19to help them navigate these difficult times," said Andrea Smiley, Vice President of Public Relations at University of Phoenix. "We strongly believe that every higher education institution should devote the majority of these federal funds to direct financial assistance to students and that the federal government should provide close and careful oversight to ensure that happens."

"I am incredibly proud of the University of Phoenix adult students and alumni who have answered the call in the fight against COVID-19," added University of Phoenix President Peter Cohen. "Our students and graduates who are serving in the military, and as EMTs, nurses, teachers, small business owners and more are giving their all each and every day, and we are extremely proud of them and grateful for their service. Now more than ever, we believe it is our responsibility to do what we can to take care of our students and their families, which is why we're committing to use every dollar of CARES Act funding for direct financial assistance to students. University of Phoenix is proud to lead in this effort, and we hope that other institutions will also use these federal dollars only for direct assistance to students during these difficult times. As leaders debate the next phase in our battle against the virus, we will remain consistent and committed: Our impacted students and families should and will be prioritized."

SOURCE University of Phoenix

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JetBlue requested approval Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Transportation to temporarily suspend all service from Worcester Regional Airport from April 15 through June 10 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Worcester Regional Airport was one of 11 airports where JetBlue wanted to suspend service. Some of the airports like Houstons George Bush International and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International would affect service to Boston as well.

JetBlue based the requests of dwindling passenger numbers. Many of the flights requested for suspension were booked at less than 15% capacity. JetBlue said last April the airline earned approximately $22 million each day in revenue. This April daily revenue is $1 million.

After canceling service to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Jet Blues request for Worcester involved the flight to JFK in New York City.

In its filing JetBlue said flights from Worcester to New York City booked at less than 15% capacity, making the service unsustainable for JetBlue to operate.

JetBlue also cited Bostons Logan International Airport, at only 55 miles away, could provide service. Worcester Regional Airport is closer to Boston than T.F. Green International Airport in Providence. On Wednesday, JetBlue announced service would be suspended in Providence and Boston would act as a co-terminal airport.

Beyond Worcester, of the 10 other airports JetBlue wanted to suspend service, four would affect Logan Airport.

JetBlue looked for suspensions of service from April until June 10 on flights from Dallas to Boston, Houston to Boston, Minneapolis to Boston and season service from Palm Springs to Boston.

Flights out of Dallas and Minneapolis to Boston have been booked as less than 20% to capacity, JetBlue said. Houston to Boston flights are less than 15% booked.

Service to and from Palm Spring was canceled on March 27 through October. JetBlue requested seasonal flights beginning in April out of Boston to Palm Springs be suspended as well.

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Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 09.04.2020 - The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is contributing financially and with relief supplies to help overcome the global COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, it is adapting existing programmes by redirecting CHF 56 million of funding. The SDC has also transferred CHF 18 million to international organisations. It continues to deliver relief supplies to affected countries, including protective suits which were dispatched to Italy on 8 April 2020.

In the current crisis, Switzerland is committed to cross-border solidarity and aims to strengthen cooperation with other affected countries and international organisations. This was announced by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis last week.

First delivery of relief supplies to Italy

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) dispatched relief supplies to Italy for the first time yesterday. 10,000 protective suits worth CHF 100,000 have been handed over to the Italian Civil Protection Department on 9 April 2020. Other relief supplies delivered so far have gone to China, Nepal and Serbia. Further assistance is in the process of being implemented (Greece) or planned (second delivery for Italy). All deliveries are examined by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), to ensure availability of supplies and compliance with the measures taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland.

CHF 18 million for international organisations

The SDC is following the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in close cooperation with Swiss representations and partner organisations at home and abroad. Under existing budgets totalling CHF 18 million it is providing targeted support to organisations working to combat COVID-19 and its effects internationally, supporting health systems in affected countries and providing humanitarian aid. This includes contributions to UN organisations (WHO), the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (including the International Committee of the Red Cross), the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Adjustments to SDC programmes amounting to CHF 56 million

The SDC is adapting its programmes to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. To back it up in its efforts, it has a network of partnerships in its partner countries and can rely on close cooperation with Swiss and international NGOs. Adjustments are planned for the SDC's global programmes and also at country level, for example in Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Bolivia, Honduras, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Moldova and Kosovo. Over the next three months, around CHF 56 million will be reallocated in this way.

The focus is on improving the income and livelihoods of people in need, boosting basic healthcare and food security, and supporting refugees and displaced persons. The four-year framework credits of international cooperation support these adjustments.

International solidarity more crucial than ever

"The COVID-19 crisis is above all a public health crisis. But it is already clear that it will have far-reaching economic, financial and social consequences," notes Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis. In order to provide support as quickly as possible, under the UN's global humanitarian response plan around USD 2 billion is therefore to be made available to combat the pandemic. With the above-mentioned contributions, Switzerland is participating in this multilateral response.

It is in Switzerland's interest to support other countries in coping with the COVID-19 crisis and thus contain the further spread of the pandemic, with the grave consequences that would entail. If the pandemic spreads as rapidly in developing countries  especially in Africa  as it did in Europe and North America, the consequences will only be able to be mitigated with international support. Switzerland's humanitarian tradition is therefore of particular relevance in the current situation.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




A young boy was able to celebrate his fourth birthday in style with all of his closest friends despite social distancing laws spoiling the party his parents had planned.

Little Orion, from Toowoomba in Queensland's Darling Downs region, prepared lolly bags and cupcakes and hosted a 'drive-by' party with his parents.

Adorable footage showed Orion waiting eagerly outside for the first car to arrive.

Orion, from Toowoomba, Queensland, was turning four on April 1 - however the party his parents had planned was cancelled due to rules that prevent more than two people from outside a residence gathering in that home to stop the spread of coronavirus

The car had a 'Happy Birthday' banner attached and one of his friends waiting inside ready to wish him happy birthday and hand over a present through the window.

Orion thanked them before quickly running back to his mother, who was holding treats such as juice boxes, lolly bags and cake.

He quickly returned to the car where he passed the party treats through the window.

The little boy could hardly wipe the smile from his face after the first car drove off, and continued to cheer and shout whenever a new car entered the quiet road.

'This is very special - he will never forget this,' one of his friend's parents said.

'They came to my birthday,' he cheerfully called to his mother.

When she asked if he was excited, he replied with 'very'.

Video showed Orion waited eagerly outside for the first car to arrive, which had a 'Happy Birthday' banner attached

Friends visited Orion all day to wish him a happy birthday, and he thanked them by gifting them with treats

The day ended with opening presents, cutting a cake and eating party food.

Australia has reported 6,089 cases of coroanvirus as of Thursday morning, with 2,813 people having recovered and 51 deaths.

Social distancing laws were introduced in order to help reduce the spread of coronavirus.

People have been instructed to stay more than 1.5 metres apart at all times.

No more than two people, outside of the same family, are allowed to gather in public, according to rules introduced on March 29.

In Queensland you can have two guests to your home who don't live there.

Orion's mother didn't want her son to miss out on his birthday due to the coronavirus pandemic

Australia has reported 6,089 cases of coroanvirus as of Thursday morning, with 2,813 people having recovered and 51 deaths
FILE PHOTO: Fire service crews decontaminate the street on the third day of a 14-day lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Abuja

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's president has pardoned 2,600 prisoners to reduce overcrowding in the West African country's jails and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, a presidential aide said on Thursday.

"President @MBuhari has granted a presidential pardon to 2,600 inmates nationwide," Bashir Ahmad, President Muhammadu Buhari's personal assistant on new media, said in a tweet.

He said it was part of the government's efforts to "decongest the custodial centres" and discourage the spread of the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19.

Ahmad, in another message on Twitter, said those pardoned included inmates aged 60 and above, those with illnesses that were likely to kill them and prisoners sentenced to three or more years who had less than six months left to serve.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country of some 200 million people, registered its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in late February. It has had a total of 276 confirmed cases and six deaths.

The country has imposed a number of measures to stop the spread of the virus, including the closure of its borders and the imposition of lockdowns in the capital Abuja, the commercial hub of Lagos and the neighbouring Ogun state.

(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Libby George; editing by Barbara Lewis)
We all obviously know at this stage how serious this pandemic is, but I suppose that we here in Saudi were the same as everywhere else in thinking originally that it was a bad dose of flu which had hit China and a few other nations in the Far East.

Boy were we wrong! In a few short weeks, we were all to learn the seriousness of an illness that didnt recognise borders and that the speed in which it travelled was frightening.

To be fair, Saudi authorities acted quite quickly once they recognised the seriousness of the situation, and they did so with strict and unbending rules.

Unlike other governments, Saudi didnt transmit suggestions or half-baked requests; they laid down the law and did so with consequential penalties for those whoever decided to ignore the new official directives.

Initially, they closed all airports Kingdom-wide to international travel and soon after extended the closure to include all domestic flights within the Kingdom. They then closed all Government buildings and Public Sector offices and ceased travel by bus, train, taxis, etc.

Following that, all shopping malls were closed with the exception of grocery stores and pharmacies within the malls, and also included in this were restaurants and coffee shops throughout the entire Kingdom.



People were now beginning to realise the gravity of the situation, and everyone reorganised themselves in order to adhere to the directives and life goes on.

Nevertheless, the number of Covid-19 cases were still rising so the authorities then reduced the number of people permitted to work within the Private Sector to 40% and every employee over the age of 55 was given 18 days mandatory Covid-19 leave with pay.

Through all of this, the Government was observing the rise in numbers of those affected in other countries and decided that more stringent action was required, so they introduced a mandatory curfew. The curfew was initially from 7pm to 6am, but after a couple of days this was changed and it is now from 3pm to 6am.



The police, National Guard, and other military organisations patrol the streets, roads, and motorways in huge numbers, and with fully armed military vehicles to enforce the law.

During the curfew, large trucks drive through the cities, spraying disinfectant and sanitiser sterilising the streets and roads. It all sounds very regimental and overpowering, but its not really. Abide by the rules, get whatever you need to get done done - but just do it all before 2pm and be home by 3pm. Simple!

As I mentioned above, the penalties for breaking the rules are harsh. For Saudi Nationals, first offenders are fined 2,500. For the second offence its 5,000 and 10 days in jail. Expats/non-nationals are not treated so lightly, the first offence is mandatory deportation, and you go to jail until the flights are back up and running (could be months).

People are generally willing to go with the flow though, and due to all of the above the numbers affected in Saudi are reasonably low. As of today (Sunday, April 5) the following are the official figures:- Population - 34.7 million; Corona Cases - 2,372; Total Deaths - 29; Recovered - 420.

Medical care within the Kingdom is normally very expensive, and medical cover is obligatory. However, King Salman and the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, recently announced that all medical care for coronavirus victims will be administered free of charge.



Also, many of the hospitals have had entire wings emptied of patients and refitted to suit the treatment of the virus. Actually on that note, well done to all the frontline staff both at home and over here for your super-heroics during this pandemic, it is much appreciated.

We hope that all our family, neighbours, and friends in Ireland stay virus-free and that you are all coping as best as possible through these unchartered waters. Hopefully, we will see you all in a few months once the war against this pandemic has been won.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on April 9 where the leaders discussed COVID-19 challenges. PM Modi took to Twitter to inform about the discussion and assured that India will help Uganda in controlling the spread of the coronavirus.

Spoke on phone to President Yoweri Museveni about the challenges arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. India will support, in every way it can, Ugandas efforts to control the spread of the virus. @KagutaMuseveni  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

Read: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Writes To PM Modi; Seeks Help For Indian Diaspora Stuck In UAE

Stern message from Museveni

While Uganda has not reported any death due to the virus, the African nation has confirmed 53 cases of coronavirus and put strict measures in place to fight the pandemic. On April 8, Museveni sent a stern message to the people of Uganda called for strict adherence to the guidelines.

Read: Audible Clip Of PM Modi's COVID Videoconference With Oppn MPs Leaked; Allegedly From TMC

The 75-year-old leader said that the country is not fighting against COVID-19 but against the social indiscipline as they do not want to follow simplest guidelines. Referring to some requests of exemption for online exams, the Ugandan leader said that people should stop speaking the language of normalcy in the period of abnormalcy. He has also asked landlords to not evict tenants saying one can always demand money when the health crisis is over.

To the Landlords trying to evict people because of rent, this is not allowed. We are all in a #COVID-19 crisis. The world is not ending today; you can always demand your money later when all this is over. pic.twitter.com/HtRstIOmCW  Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) April 8, 2020

Read: 'Not Just Helping India But Humanity': Trump Thanks PM Modi For Hydroxychloroquine Supply

Read: PM Modi Calls Poster Asking People To Honour Him Fake, Says Reach Out To People In Need
TDT | Manama

His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa paid tribute yesterday to medical and nursing professionals, as well as volunteers in the Kingdom, for their keenness to answer the call of duty and be in the frontline of preserving Bahrains health security.

HRH the Premier was speaking as he received, at his palace in Riffa, Supreme Council for Health (SCH) president and National Taskforce for Combatting Coronavirus (COVID-19) chairman Lieutenant-General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

HRH the Premier said that Bahrain boasts distinguished national medical professionals who are a source of pride for everyone, and they deserve thanks and appreciation.

He noted that Bahrain is reaping the fruits of its efforts to develop its human resources in the educational and health fields, so as to be effective elements in building, developing and protecting the nation.

HRH the Prime Minister issued directives to study a suitable mechanism to appreciate and reward them for their dedication and commitment to the noble human values of medicine and medical professions.

HRH the Premier also directed to follow up on and provide all the needs of the medical and nursing professionals so as to be able to carry out their duties to the fullest, as well as protect them from risks.

HRH the Prime Minister hailed their tremendous efforts to protect society from diseases and epidemics, thus entitling themselves to be a supportive element of the development process in the Kingdom.

HRH the Premier stressed that the health system in Bahrain has proven its merit and its ability to deal with the requirements of the current crisis, which, he said, is the fruitful outcome of the foundations on which the medical and other sectors had been built.

This has enhanced Bahrains reputation as a country that respects humans right for a decent life and health security. This would not have been possible hadnt the government been keen on strengthening the health infrastructure, as well as upgrading and developing the health sector in accordance with an ambitious strategy aimed at improving public health and enhancing the quality of health and treatment services, according to the latest world systems, HRH Premier said.

HRH the Prime Minister extended congratulations to all the affiliates of the health sector on World Health Day, stressing that the world recalls with pride the great efforts and roles of the medical and nursing staff for the sake of ensuring the health and safety of everyone.

HRH the Premier expressed pride in the high sense of patriotism showcased by all Bahrainis, who rallied together to volunteer and serve the nation in order to overcome the challenge created by the spread of COVID-19, and deal with it with awareness and responsibility, commensurate with the requirements of the current phase.

The SCH president expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the government, led by HRH the Prime Minister, and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, for their sound directives that have contributed to the Kingdoms success in overcoming the challenges the world is going through.

Dr Shaikh Mohammed lauded HRH the Premiers unwavering interest in the health sector, as well as his constant keenness to follow up closely the efforts of the national campaign to combat COVID-19 and get assured about the health situation in the Kingdom to ensure that the best services are delivered to Bahrains citizens and residents.
THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Premier Gold Mines Ltd. says an offer made in March to buy Centerra Gold Inc.'s 50-per-cent stake in the Greenstone Gold Mines Partnership for US$205 million has not been accepted.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 22, 2014, file photo, gold bars are stacked in a vault at the United States Mint, in West Point, N.Y. Premier Gold Mines Ltd. says an offer it made to buy Centerra Gold Inc.'s 50 per cent stake in the Greenstone Gold Mines Partnership for US$205 million has not been accepted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mike Groll

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Premier Gold Mines Ltd. says an offer made in March to buy Centerra Gold Inc.'s 50-per-cent stake in the Greenstone Gold Mines Partnership for US$205 million has not been accepted.

Greenstone's principal asset is the proposed Hardrock Mine project near Geraldton, Ont.

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Premier, which holds the other 50 per cent stake in the project, had said an unnamed third party would be the actual buyer of the ownership stake, at Premier's option.

Late last year, Centerra launched a lawsuit against Premier over the validity of a mineral resource estimate that suggested development should proceed on the Greenstone property. Premier said it filed a counterclaim in February.

Premier CEO Ewan Downie says Centerra's decision to not accept the buyout offer suggests it sees value in the stake and is inconsistent with its refusal to make a "positive feasibility decision" on the project.

The proposed purchase price was to include US$175 million in cash and the assumption of all of Centerra's obligations under the partnership agreement, including the remaining earn-in obligation of US$30 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:PG, TSX:CG)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday gave instructions to seal the affected area in Korba's Katghora where seven cases of COVID-19 positive cases have been reported.

"On finding 7 positive COVID-19 patients simultaneously in Katghora in Korba district of the state, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has given firm instructions and asked the Health Department to seal the affected area and get everyone tested there," an official release said.

It said he has also given instructions to form a special team for Katghora which will remain completely dedicated to the area.

Baghel has also given instructions that all people who came to the affected area of Katghora in the last 20 days and "who have contact with them" should be identified and quarantined.

He said that during this period, the doctors, health workers, and other government employees working in this area should also be tested.

The Chief Minister called for action on a war-footing by creating a special room in Katghora.

Terming the news as a bit worrying, he said the state government was fully prepared to deal with such an urgent situation.

Earlier in the day, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur confirmed that seven patients from Katghora city of Korba district have tested positive for COVID-19.

Chhattisgarh earlier had 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus including nine who have been discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on March 11, 2020. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Calls to Defund WHO Mount Among US Lawmakers

Calls to defund the World Health Organization (WHO) arent only being discussed in the Trump administrationnumerous U.S. lawmakers are now publicly stating that the international commission played a role in covering up Chinas botched handling of the CCP virus pandemic.

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) introduced a resolution on April 7 that calls for Congress to withhold funding from the WHO until the organizations Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus resigns. Hes also calling for the WHO to be probed for its actions in shielding Beijing.

The WHO helped the Chinese Communist Party hide the threat of COVID-19 from the world and now more than 10,000 Americans are dead, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks, said Reschenthaler in a statement.

Reschenthaler noted that the United States is the largest contributor to the organization, adding that its not right that Americans hard-earned tax dollars are being used to propagate Chinas lies and hide information that could have saved lives. He said the bill would hold the WHO accountable for its negligence and deceit.

In a Jan. 14 Twitter post, the WHO repeated Chinese propaganda, writing that preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China.

Internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times have highlighted how the Chinese regime purposefully underreported cases of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, and censored discussions of the outbreak, fueling its spread.

In total, the United States contributions make up 22 percent of the WHOs assessed funds from member nations.

Instead of working to save lives around the world, WHO stood by and downplayed the severity of the virus so as not to offend Chinese officials, Reschenthaler said. I hope my colleagues join me to hold WHO responsible for playing politics rather than focusing on its mission to coordinate global efforts.

Meanwhile, a growing handful of senators, including Sens. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio, (R-Fla.), Rick Scott, (R-Fla.), and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), have publicly called for a review of U.S. funding, and some spoke about holding accountable the organizations leadership, specifically its director general.

The Chinese Communist Party used the WHO to mislead the world, Rubio said in a April 7 statement. The organizations leadership is either complicit or dangerously incompetent. I will work with the Trump Administration to ensure the WHO is independent and has not been compromised by the CCP before we continue our current funding.

Scott stated that, in addition to de-funding, Congress should hold a hearing and investigate the WHOs role in helping Communist China cover up information regarding the threat of the Coronavirus.

They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic, Scott said in a statement.

We know Communist China is lying about how many cases and deaths they have, what they knew and when they knew itand the WHO never bothered to investigate further, he said. Their inaction cost lives.

President Donald Trump first announced on April 7 that the United States plans to place a hold on funding for the WHO. He said it is too China-centric and criticized the organization for opposing his early decision to place a ban on travel from China aimed to prevent the spread of the CCP virus to the United States.

At an April 8 task force briefing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the administration is currently reevaluating our funding to the WHO, adding that the organization hasnt accomplished what it was intended to deliver.

We need to make sure that not only the World Health Organization, but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of Americawe need to make sure its delivering on those taxpayer dollars, Pompeo said.
Press Release

9 April 2020

In Germany, frontline medical staff looking for accommodation can already choose from more than 4,000 places to stay, including 2,000 hotel rooms on Airbnb.

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Airbnb is working with hosts from across Germany to provide first responders, doctors and emergency responders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, with secure accommodation while they carry out their vital work. Through this global initiative, hosts have already offered 100,000 free and affordable places to stay. Meanwhile, frontline staff can book both free and paid stays in 160 countries and regions. Airbnb will waive all fees on the first 100,000 stays booked through this program.

"The vital work performed by frontline medical staff in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic deserves the greatest admiration. Supporting them as much as possible is the right thing to do and Airbnb and hosts want to do everything within our means to ensure that medical staff can carry out their work as well and safely as possible. We would like to thank all frontline workers throughout Germany and the many hosts who are already offering them a place to stay." - Kathrin Anselm, General Manager DACH, CEE & RUS at Airbnb.

The Germany-wide initiative follows a global launch after Airbnb announced its goal to provide housing to 100,000 COVID-19 responders, inspired by the pilot programs launched in France and Italy.

In the UK, Airbnb is working closely with hosts to provide National Health Service (NHS) staff and other frontline workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic with accommodation close to newly built emergency hospitals. In Italy, Airbnb is helping hosts to provide free accommodation for emergency responders who need to move to one of the crisis centres in northern Italy. This way, hosts are helping to protect frontline workers and their families by accommodating them on-site to reduce the risk of infection of others. In France, Airbnb hosts have already accommodated 1,000 medical professionals for free in the last two weeks. In partnership with the French government, hosts all over France have offered over 8,000 free places to stay throughout France since the launch of the program two weeks ago.

Frontline staff can request accommodation under the programme directly through the Airbnb platform. Airbnb will review the requests and once accepted, medics and helpers will be given access to Airbnb's Open Homes platform. Frontline staff can select accommodation based on their needs, e.g. in terms of location. To participate, hosts can offer entire homes free of charge or at a reasonable price. The respective listings will be available exclusively for use by medical staff within the framework of the program.

Accommodation of frontline staff who are exposed to a higher risk of COVID-19 infections requires prevention and strict safety measures. The health and safety of the Airbnb community is a key priority for Airbnb. Thus, German hosts participating in the program agree to the applicable safety and hygiene guidelines of the Robert Koch Institute.

You're a German host and want to offer your listing?

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You're a German Frontline worker looking for accommodation?

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For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

LATEST, April 9, 6:50 p.m. The nine counties that comprise the Bay Area reported just three new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, the lowest total of the week so far.

The deaths were reported in Alameda County (Berkeley), Contra Costa County and Santa Clara County. The death at a Hayward nursing home that was announced Thursday evening will likely be logged in Alameda County's Friday totals.

The three deaths are down from the five deaths reported Wednesday, the 13 deaths reported Tuesday and the eight deaths reported Monday. Tuesday was the deadliest day of the outbreak in the Bay Area so far.

April 9, 4:50 p.m. A new death was reported at the Hayward nursing home where at least 65 individuals have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Seven people in total have died in total. Of the 65 confirmed cases, 40 are residents and 25 are staff members.

April 9, 4:10 p.m. Santa Clara County announced 62 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total to 1,442. The county also announced an additional death, bringing the death toll to 47.

Santa Clara County also began releasing case data organized by the infected individual's race, age group and gender, following suit with the state of California's recent inclusion of demographics in case reporting.

In the county, 70% of deaths have been men, despite that men make up just 51% of the cases. Additionally, the data breakdown reveals 36% of the cases are in those who are Latino or Hispanic, 34% are in those who are white, 23% are in those who are Asian, and 4% are in those who are black.

April 9, 4 p.m. Dr. Deborah Birx outlined the results of testing efforts across the U.S. thus far, noting that between 118,000 and 120,000 per day are being tested. With an estimated 75% of the data  1.5 million tests  Dr. Birx released some statistics by age and sex.

- 200,000 tests of individuals 25 years and under yielded 11% positive results

- Over 500,000 tests of individuals aged 25-45 yielded 17% positive results

- Nearly 500,000 tests of individuals aged 45-65 yielded 21% positive results

- Nearly 200,000 tests of those aged 65-85 yielded 22% positive results

- 30,000 tests of those aged over 85yielded 24% positive results

- 56% of those tested were female; 15% of those tests were positive

- 44% of those tested were male; 23% of those tests were positive

April 9, 3:40 p.m. President Donald Trump announced in a press conference at the White House on Thursday that student loans would be suspended for six months and that the end date may go further.

Those paying off student loans through Navient and FedLoan, two of the largest American providers, were notified within the past few days of temporary changes to their loans. Included in the changes are zero percent interest rates and optional administrative forbearance.

The changes to your federal student loans that we explain in this communication will end Sept. 30, 2020, read an email from Navient to loan recipients on April 6.

Its currently unclear what accommodations, if any, will be made available to those paying privately held student loans.

April 9, 2:55 p.m. KGO reports "several cases" of the coronavirus have emerged at the Drake Terrace Retirement Community in San Rafael.

According to the network's Dan Noyes, "several residents and associates" have tested positive, but the origin of the virus remains unknown at this time.

April 9, 2:40 p.m. San Francisco's 28 emergency child and youth centers in the city will remain open until June 2, with the possibility of extension, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the city's Recreation and Parks Department announced Thursday.

The centers, open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., are available to children grades K-8 and health care workers in hospitals working 12-hour shifts.

April 9, 2:30 p.m. The Alameda County D.A.'s Office on Thursday announced a new email address dedicated for tips about retailers price-gouging food and essential supplies during the shelter in place.

Anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, is encouraged to file a complaint at pricegouging@acgov.org," reads a tweet.

April 9, 2:05 p.m. As Santa Rita Jail in Dublin grapples with a growing number of coronavirus cases in inmates  a 12th case was announced Thursday  officials have decided to release hundreds of lower-level offenders to lower risk of infection by easing crowding. To date, the jail has released more than 600 of the roughly 2,600 inmates incarcerated at the beginning of March.

More are expected to be released to house arrest. Among them may be Derick Almena, the man awaiting retrial for the Ghost Ship fire, which killed 36 people in Oakland in December 2016. More here.

April 9, 1:50 p.m. San Francisco City Supervisor Gordon Mar, who represents the Sunset District, told the San Francisco Examiner Thursday he is fighting to keep a portion of the Great Highway closed to cars and open to neighborhood cyclists for the duration of the shelter in place. The road between Sloat Blvd. and Lincoln Way was temporarily closed to vehicles on Friday.

Keeping Upper Great Highway closed to cars and open for people for safe, socially distant exercise makes sense to me, Mar said, adding that the outlet for exercise would allow locals to socially distance while still enjoying the fresh air by the water.

SFMTA head Jeffrey Tumlin is currently considering the request, but has yet to release a statement on the proposal.

April 9, 1:45 p.m. Berkeley announced its first death from COVID-19 Thursday. The 40-something resident had underlying health conditions. To protect the privacy of the family, other details weren't released on the patient.

I am deeply saddened at the news of the first COVID-19 death in Berkeley, and my condolences go out to their family, Mayor Jesse Arreguin said in a statement. We all have the power to reduce the spread of this virus  and the deaths and heartache it creates. We all must follow the shelter in place order to protect ourselves, our neighbors, friends, family, and those most at risk. Together, we can get through these difficult times.

The Berkeley resident who passed away is one of the 34 people in the East Bay city infected with COVID-19. This death is one of the 17 lab-confirmed fatalities in Alameda County.

April 9, 1:25 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided an overview of the latest coronavirus numbers from the state Thursday and said 50 people have died in the last 24 hours. The state now has a death toll of 492.

Newsom said 2,825 patients are currently hospitalized, a 4.1% increase from Wednesday. There are 1,132 individuals in intensive care units and he said this is a 1.9% decrease from yesterday.

Newsom was happy to announce a decrease in ICU patients, but emphasized, One data point is not a trend. One data point is not a headline.

To date, more than 86,000 people have applied for California Health Corps, a program bringing retired or out-of-the-industry healthcare workers back to work and building up a reserve of people to help care for COVID-19 patients. Newsom said the state will provide healthcare workers with hotel vouchers if they are exposed to the virus or test positive and need a room for isolation. Workers will also have access to free flights from United Airlines.

The California Fish and Game Commission is meeting Thursday to discuss delaying the recreational sport fishing season that starts in some places in April. Newsom said, "Were not ending the season, we just want to delay it." Newsom said the state had heard from officials in Mono and Inyo counties where the season opens April 26 and there were concerns about the region becoming overwhelmed with visitors amid the pandemic. Newsom said the healthcare systems in these counties wouldn't have the resources to care for both COVID-19 patients and any visitors who might injure themselves on streams.

April 9, 12:30 p.m. Contra Costa County announced an additional death Thursday afternoon, bringing the county death toll to eight. The county also has 22 more cases for a total case count of 484. Health officials also said 31 people in the county are hospitalized due to the virus.

The county saw its first case on March 4.

April 9, 12:10 p.m. Marin County announced Thursday that officials will begin enforcing restrictions against nonessential car trips  one not for buying food or picking up medicine  to parks and open spaces throughout unincorporated parts of the county. No-parking zones will be enforced with fines of up to $100. While trails and parks are not closed, their parking lots are, so people have been illegally parking near near access points to parks and open spaces.

"Unfortunately, we continue to see a large number of visitors travelling to Marin County for non-essential reasons," a statement from the county said. "More specifically, a multitude of visitors not practicing social distancing and crowding our trails, parks and neighborhoods, which puts the health and safety of our county at risk."

April 9, 9:45 a.m. San Francisco County reported 48 new coronavirus cases Thursday morning, bringing the total to 724. The death toll remains 10. San Mateo County identified 22 new cases and now has a total of 633. The death count remains 21.

Nine Northern Californian residents who were on the Grand Princess Hawaii cruise sued Princess Cruise Lines and its parent company, Carnival Corp., in federal court in San Francisco Wednesday for alleged negligence in exposing them to the virus, according to the East Bay Times. Two passengers and one crew member died from COVID-19 complications; 103 individuals on board the ship tested positive.

April 9, 7 a.m. Santa Cruz County officials issued a new health order Wednesday closing all parks and beaches through April 15, which includes the upcoming Easter weekend.

The order specifically prohibits surfing.

While the vast majority of Santa Cruz County residents are staying home and following the direction of the County Health Officer, unfortunately some visitors and community members are treating this extraordinary crisis as a holiday, Sheriff Jim Hart said. We are at a critical moment in our efforts to reduce the impacts of COVID-19, and we need to make sure were doing everything we can to halt the spread of this disease.

Anyone who violates the order could be hit with a misdemeanor and fine up to $1,000.

The popular wave forecasting website Surfline encouraged surfers to obey the order. "Theres much uncertainty around whether we should surf or not," Surfline forecaster Matt Kibby wrote. "In taking stock of the current situation, our view is this: shred at home  and we dont say this lightly, as connecting surfers with their passion is our entire mission. We know now that in order to beat the coronavirus, we all need to isolate ourselves as much as possible for the foreseeable future. The sooner and more completely we do that, the sooner we can get back to what we love."

The order officially went into effect at midnight Wednesday and yesterday afternoon many surfers were catching their last waves. The Santa Cruz Sentinel shared an image of surfers in the water at Pleasure Point.

Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases):

ALAMEDA COUNTY: 681 confirmed cases, 16 deaths*

For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

*Number excludes infected patients in city of Berkeley, which has its own health department and 34 cases and 1 death.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 484 confirmed cases, 8 deaths

For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

LAKE COUNTY: 2 confirmed cases

For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 154 confirmed cases, 10 deaths

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

MONTEREY COUNTY: 71 confirmed cases, 3 deaths

For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 28 cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN BENITO COUNTY: 34 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 724 confirmed cases, 10 deaths

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY: 633 confirmed cases, 21 deaths

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 1,442 confirmed cases, 47 deaths

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 80 confirmed cases, 1 death

For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 115 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 136 confirmed cases, 1 death

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 559 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 7,067, New Jersey 1,700 and Louisiana 702.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
[April 09, 2020] Using Data Science to Advance Educational Tools for Young Children: Fifth Annual Data Science Bowl Announces Winners; Thousands Participated in Worldwide Competition

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) and Kaggle, in partnership with PBS KIDS, today announced the winners of the 2019 Data Science Bowl which challenged participants to use artificial intelligence (AI) to advance innovation in educational media for young children. Over the course of 90 days, thousands of data scientists used AI to create algorithms to analyze anonymous game-play data from PBS KIDS Measure Up!, a free game-based learning app. The winners' algorithms most effectively analyzed data about how children use the app to predict users' performance on in-game math assessments. The submissions will help to improve the technology behind these educational games, as measuring performance is a key step towards providing experiences that are tailored to the needs of individual users. Research shows much of the most critical brain development in children takes place before they reach kindergarten. Access to effective early learning resources is critical, and research demonstrates that high-quality educational media can help support young learners. The learnings from the fifth annual Data Science Bowl will chart a path for the greater application of AI to digital education tools and help PBS KIDS and others to create new content and solutions that ensure every child is learning the important skills these tools aim to teach. Insights gleaned from these algorithms also have implications that will help improve digital media and technology to support young children's learning. From future adaptive and personalized educational games, to potential classroom applications, these approaches are stepping stones that can lead to innovation in early childhood learning. "Since launching the Data Science Bowl in 2014, our mission has always been to enable and inspire people to use data science for good," said Dr. Josh Sullivan, executive vice president and leader of Booz Allen Hamilton's (News - Alert) Analytics and AI business. "We believe that, with the right talent, tools, and knowledge, collective ingenuity can change the world for the better. This year's competition demonstrates the power and profound impact data science and AI can have on early childhood education. Algorithms developed in this competition can help design new technologies and tools to provide the best learning experience that will ultimately help young kids thrive in school and life." The Data Science Bowl brings together data scientists, technologists, and domain experts across industries to take on the world's challenges with data and technology. It's a platform through which individuals can harness their passion for social good, unleash their curiosity, and amplify their impact to effect change on a global scale. The 2019 competition brought together over 4,400 participants who submitted more than 75,000 entries-the highest number of submissions since the inaugural Data Science Bowl launched in 2014. Participants this year collectively dedicated an estimated 280,000 hours developing the algorithms. "PBS KIDS provides free access to media content that is proven to help children learn. A key piece of information when trying to measure learning gains from technology is being able to identify what players are and are not yet capable of," said Jeremy Roberts, Senior Director of Learning Technologies, PBS KIDS Digital. "The approaches from this year's Data Science Bowl will help us build more effective educational games to make available to all kids, so that they can learn important skills. We couldn't be more thrilled with the exciting world of possibilities that have opened up to us though the collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton, Kaggle and this year's participants." PBS KIDS Measure Up! was developed as a part of the Ready To Learn Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, which supports the development of innovative early childhood learning efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS KIDS. The top teams from the 2019 Data Science Bowl winners all tackled the Data Science Bowl for the first time this year with impressive results: 1st Place: Team zr & oyx

The first place team, Zhuoran Ma and Xuan Ouyang, began competing in data science competitios three years ago. This is their first time winning a competition and their first year participating in the Data Science Bowl. The team said of the competition, "We believe that data science can make meaningful contributions to help improve children's learning through educational gameplay and we wanted to use our skills to help." 2nd Place: Team Fuson





Team Fuson-Yuki Abe, Kosuke Shingyouchi, and Toshiki Ishikawa-includes two university students and a software engineer, each with varying degrees of familiarity with data science. This diversity was key to their success: "We learned from each other and by studying the public kernels and discussion boards during the competition," Team Fuson said. 3rd Place: Team Limerobot

Sanghoon Kim, a data scientist working for an online retailer, started competing in Kaggle competitions last year. Also a newcomer to the Data Science Bowl, Kim joined the competition with about a month before closing, using deep neural networks to help solve this year's challenge. The top five winning teams will split $160,000 in cash prizes. The three teams with the best score comprised entirely of actively registered university students (Fall/Winter 2019/2020 enrollees) was awarded a separate $8,500 University prize by Booz Allen. Over 150 students participated in the 2019 Data Science Bowl. "Over five years, the Data Science Bowl has drawn tens of thousands of data scientists, technologists, and other experts, which is simply astounding," said Anthony Goldbloom, CEO, Kaggle. "We continue to be inspired by the wealth of knowledge and diverse backgrounds of participants from around the world, who donate their spare time and skills to affect positive change in areas from early cancer detection to childhood education."

Over the last five competitions, more than 54,000 Data Science Bowl teams have developed and submitted over 189,000 AI models aimed at improving everything from the detection of lung cancer and heart disease to monitoring ocean health and helping accelerate life-saving medical research. For more information about past Data Science Bowl competitions, visit DataScienceBowl.com/Competitions. The contents of the PBS KIDS Measure Up! app were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. The app is funded by a Ready To Learn grant (PR/AWARD No. U295A150003, CFDA No. 84.295A) provided by the Department of Education to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. About Booz Allen Hamilton

For more than 100 years, business, government, and military leaders have turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to solve their most complex problems. As a consulting firm with experts in analytics, digital, engineering and cyber, we help organizations transform. We are a key partner on some of the most innovative programs for governments worldwide and trusted by the most sensitive agencies. We work shoulder to shoulder with clients, using a mission-first approach to choose the right strategy and technology to help them realize their vision. With global headquarters in McLean, Virginia, our firm employs nearly 27,000 people globally, and had revenue of $6.70 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH) About Kaggle

Kaggle is the world's largest online data science competition community. With more than 4 million+ members across 194 countries, the Kaggle community uses its diverse set of academic backgrounds to solve complex data science problems. Working as individuals or in teams, the winning competitors are awarded prizes and industry recognition for their accomplishments. About PBS KIDS

PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers children ages 2-8 the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, digital media, and community-based programs. PBS KIDS and local stations across the country support the entire ecosystem in which children learn, including their teachers, parents and community. Provided by stations, the free PBS KIDS 24/7 channel and live stream is available to more than 95% of U.S. TV households. Kidscreen- and Webby Award-winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including digital games and streaming video. PBS KIDS offers mobile apps to help support young children's learning, including the PBS KIDS Video app, which is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple (News - Alert) TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung TV and Chromecast. PBS KIDS also offers parent and teacher resources to support children's learning anytime and anywhere. For more information on PBS KIDS content and initiatives supporting school readiness and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter, Facebook , and Instagram. About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @CPBmedia, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and subscribe for email updates. About The Ready To Learn Initiative

The Ready To Learn Initiative is a cooperative agreement funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). It supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted to preschool and early elementary school children and their families. Its general goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with a particular interest in reaching low-income children. In addition to creating television and other media products, the program supports activities intended to promote national distribution of the programming, effective educational uses of the programming, community-based outreach and research on educational effectiveness. BAHPR-CO The contents of the PBS KIDS Measure Up! app were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. The app is funded by a Ready To Learn grant (PR/AWARD No. U295A150003, CFDA No. 84.295A) provided by the Department of Education to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005146/en/

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Instagram on Tuesday announced a slew of new capabilities to combat misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, along with a co-watching feature that helps users feel less isolated while sheltering at home.

Efforts to clamp down on misinformation include the following:

Removing COVID-19 accounts from recommendations unless they are posted by a credible health organization;

Downranking feed and Stories content that third-party checkers have flagged as false;

Removing false posts from Explore and hashtag pages and false claims or conspiracy theories that could cause harm;

Prohibiting misleading ads for products referring to COVID-19;

Temporarily banning ads and branded content promoting certain medical supplies including face masks;

Adding stickers to promote accurate information; and

Including more educational resources in Instagram Search.

Additionally, Instagram has created a shared story to help make social distancing more bearable, through a Stay Home sticker, and it launched the co-watching capability it began testing last year.

Wrangling Facts

We work with third-party fact-checkers, who rate content across Facebook (Instagrams parent company) and Instagram, a Facebook spokesperson said, in a response company rep Raki Wane provided to TechNewsWorld.

Instagram applies a label to content deemed false or partially false, and adds a link to a fact-check explaining why the information may be incorrect, the spokesperson said.

Instagram has not set a time limit on its temporary ban on ads and branded content because of the evolving timeline of this health emergency, the spokesperson noted.

The new stickers, which include reminders to users to wash their hands and distance themselves from others, will be available over the next few days.

A search for information relating to coronavirus or COVID-19 will trigger a message connecting searchers to resources from the World Health Organization and local health agencies. It will be available globally in the coming weeks.

Assessing Instagrams Effort

This is an incredibly positive and much needed move by Instagram, remarked Liz Miller, principal analyst at Constellation Research. It not only addresses issues around misinformation and fraudsters looking to prey on chaos, but it also does more to better connect people who may feel more socially isolated than distant.

Instagram is uniquely positioned to give people an outlet  one where they can connect with friends and family, and see the positive stories out there to add a bit of sunshine, she told TechNewsWorld.

That said, Instagram will have to decide whether misinformation is an issue only at the apex of a crisis, Miller noted.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

If it decides misinformation is a problem only during a crisis, Instagram will need to define what a crisis is, who calls it, what experts get pulled onto the assessment and response team  and communicate this intention now, she said.

This effort is pretty impressive if they execute to plan, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

If they can, Instagram has set the new bar for what can and should be done with social media, he told TechNewsWorld.

Instagrams Co-Watching Capability

Instagrams co-sharing feature lets users view Instagram posts with their friends over video chat.

This is the best shot it has to get people to use tools like this, with large numbers of people locked in their homes, Enderle observed.

CrossFit trainer Tyson Stoll was among the first users to give it a spin.

Just used it with my CrossFit friends. So easy!! pic.twitter.com/RrfNIdrs4F

 Tyson Stoll (@tjsjeep) March 24, 2020

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

This co-watching feature turns a passive action into a shared event, Constellations Miller said, but I just asked two teens, one 14 and the other 18, about it via Instagram and the universal answer I got was Why?'

Instagram began testing the co-watching feature in March of last year.

Big Techs Efforts to Fight Misinformation

Social media platforms have taken unprecedented steps to stop the spread of coronavirus-related misinformation, noted Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at eMarketer.

Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube last week announced they would collaborate to combat misinformation about coronavirus.

However, their efforts might not be enough, suggested Miller. Just today, on Facebook, I was served a sponsored ad for childrens protective hats with a clear face guard guaranteed to stop droplets of spit which could contain a virus.'

Lawmakers should be approached for help, said Enderle.

You cant win by playing whack-a-mole. You have to be able to go after the criminals, and law enforcement can do that, he said. Put a few of them in jail with impressive fines that exceed their profits, and youll cut back significantly on this behavior.

Criminals With a Conscience

Various United States law enforcement agencies have warned about the ever-increasing number of coronavirus-related scams.

Some ransomware gangs reportedly have pledged to stop attacking health organizations during the pandemic.

However, at least two have not refrained.

Weve seen documented cases of cybercriminal rings continuing to attack even after pledging not to, said Chris Clements, VP of Solutions Architecture at Cerberus Sentinel.

That could be because they are geographically distant from their victims, Clements told TechNewsWorld. Other possibilities are that they see their pledge as a way to get potential victims to lower their guard, or they might fear other cybercriminals will beat them to the punch.

Such a pledge is meaningless because cybercriminals really have nothing to lose by breaking the promise not to attack, observed Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4. Further, there is also no indicator of when they will resume the attacks.

Healthcare organizations need to maintain vigilance because the stakes are so high, Kron told TechNewsWorld.

Today, the gold star goes to Instagram for tackling two issues: misinformation and combating the feeling of isolation, Constellations Miller said. The real test will be what happens tomorrow, when COVID-19 is not the primary headline causing misinformation to hurl across the Internet.

Its easier to rally resources to fight misinformation about a pandemic than it is about political or socially debatable issues, eMarketers Enberg noted. Thats likely one reason why Facebook has stuck by its refusal to fact-check posts and ads from politicians, even as it has expanded its fact-checking programs for other types of content.
Virgin Australia has cancelled all of its domestic flights apart from one daily return service between Sydney and Melbourne.

The flight will run once per day, apart from on Sunday.

The move comes after the airline asked the government for $1.4billion to survive the coronavirus crisis.

A spokesman for the airline said government advice urging Australians not to travel - even between the states - had drastically slashed demand.

'As a result of Government restrictions, less people are travelling and we have made changes to our schedules to reflect this,' a statement released on Thursday regarding the changes read.

Virgin will continue to offer at least one daily service, as well as continue transporting cargo locally and internationally, and would be open to reconsider should demand increase.

Virgin Australia has suspended all but one domestic flight, weeks after grounding its entire international fleet. Pictured: Virgin Australia cabin crew greet a chartered Virgin Australia flight as it arrives at Hobart International Airport

A spokesman for the airline said government advice urging Australians not to travel - even between the states - had drastically slashed demand. Pictured: A man travelling through Sydney Airport wearing a face mask

'We continue to monitor passenger numbers and adjust our capacity requirements as necessary,' the statement continued.

'We will operate charter flights including assisting the Government in bringing Australians home.'

When Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah asked for the $1.4billion loan late last month, he said the airline wouldn't actually require the funds unless the pandemic continued beyond six months.

'We have been in ongoing discussions with government about the support the whole industry will need if this crisis is prolonged,' a Virgin Australia spokesperson previously told Daily Mail Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison closed Australia's borders in response to the crisis after seeing figures which suggested the overwhelming majority of COVID-19 cases in Australia were brought in from overseas.

So far, there are 6,105 known cases of coronavirus in Australia, including 51 fatalities

The decision instantly stripped tens of thousands of airline staff, travel agents and others in the industry of their jobs.

Virgin alone was forced to stand down 8,000 staff members without pay when it grounded its entire fleet of 125 planes.

'Companies like ours are taking a range of measures to respond and manage the financial impact,' Mr Scurrah said.

'However, the support we've proposed will be necessary for the industry if this crisis continues indefinitely, to protect jobs and ensure Australia retains a strong, competitive aviation and tourism sector once this crisis is over.'

Under the proposal, the government would take an ownership stake in Virgin if the airline was unable to repay its debt within three years.

Embattled airline Virgin Australia gives annual leave BACK to workers after they were stood down due to the coronavirus outbreak slashing profits Virgin Australia has re-credited leave to staff forced to take time off when the coronavirus caused the airline to stand down thousands of its workers. It comes after the federal parliament passed the $1500 fortnightly wage subsidy, which is expected to help pay aviation workers caught in the economic storm. Transport Workers' Union secretary Michael Kaine has welcomed Virgin's move and called on Qantas to match it. 'Qantas has recently mortgaged its planes and forced staff to bail it out from their leave balances,' he said on Thursday. 'With the government stepping in to subsidise wages and backdating this to March 1, Qantas should pay this back. We appeal to Qantas to reconsider its stance.' Last month, Qantas stood down 20,000 staff or two-thirds of its workforce, giving them the option to take paid annual leave or unpaid time off work. Qantas will this month start paying the JobKeeper wage subsidy early, weeks ahead of receiving the money from the tax office. 'The government has said in cases where employees have been stood down and elect to take paid annual leave, the JobKeeper payment will subsidise part of that income,' a Qantas spokesman told AAP. 'That's exactly how we are applying the payment.' Advertisement

Mr Scurrah described the situation in Australia and globally as unprecedented.

'There has never been a travel environment in Australia as restricted as the one we see today and the extraordinary steps we've taken have been in response to the Federal and State Governments' latest travel advice,' he said recently.

'We are now facing what will be the biggest grounding of aircraft in this country's history.'

So far, there are 6,105 known cases of coronavirus in Australia, including 51 fatalities.

While concerning, the figures are far greater in other parts of the world, particularly European nations and the United States.

In America, there are currently more than 435,000 cases, while Spain, Germany, Italy and France all have more than 100,000 infections.

International travel has been halted in most corners of the globe to slow the spread of the virus.

Virgin Australia last week accused its rival Qantas of spreading rumours it would collapse amid the coronavirus crisis (pictured are Virgin and Qantas aircraft at Sydney airport)

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Virgin Australia accused its rival, Qantas, of spreading rumours it would collapse following the decision to suspend services.

Both carriers have suspended international flights until at least mid-year.

Virgin Australia complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told Sky News it would be unfair for the government to effectively nationalise Virgin to stop it from being placed into administration.

'The government can't pick winners and losers,' Mr Joyce said following the announcement.

'Whatever aid is given to one company has to be given to every company in that sector.'

ACCC chairman Rod Sims confirmed Mr Scurrah had launched a complaint against Qantas, following Mr Joyce's comments.

'The complaint that we've had from Paul Scurrah is that Qantas is engaging in anti-competitive conduct, designed to damage Virgin as a competitor,' he told the ABC.

'We have to look at whether the behaviour has the purpose or the effect of substantially limiting competition.'
Thomas Wilson, 19, was jailed for six months after being arrested last Tuesday

A teenager was jailed for six months after threatening to cough and spit at police while another yob was sentenced to nine months in prison for coughing at officers and telling them: 'I hope you and your family die.'

Shocking bodycam footage shows Thomas Wilson, 19, from Coventry, boasting to police officers about having coronavirus before saying he will cough and spit in their faces.

Another man was recorded coughing at a female officer in Birmingham before chillingly telling her: 'I have corona, you're going to die.'

Thomas Wilson (left), 19, was jailed for six months after being arrested last Tuesday and Bevan Burke (right), 22, was jailed for nine months after spitting at a shopkeeper on April 3

West Midlands Police released the recordings as three thugs were jailed this week for threatening to infect people with Covid-19.

Wilson was sentenced to six months in prison after he arrested on his birthday last Tuesday by armed police.

Cops scrambled to Coventry after he threatened a lorry driver with an axe and spat at him in a shocking road rage attack.

Bodycam footage shows police handcuffing him before he shouts: 'I'll start coughing in all your f***ing faces.'

He also threatened to spit and cough at PC Katie Wynne before officers pulled a spit hood over his head.

Wilson, of Binley, Coventry, pleaded guilty to common assault on an emergency worker and was jailed for six months.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told Wilson he should be 'thoroughly ashamed of himself' and said the UK faced an 'unprecedented threat from Covid-19'.

He said: 'It will attract a longer-than-normal sentence in the current health crisis.

'The current situation dictates that the public knows what happens if you behave in this way. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.'

Wilson, who appeared in court on Monday via video-link from the jail where he had been on remand, replied: 'I am, sir.'

Wilson pictured being arrested and threatening officers. Bodycam footage shows him boasting to police about having coronavirus before threatening to cough and spit on them

On the same day Bevan Burke, 22, was jailed after he spat at a shopkeeper who had banned him from the store for shoplifting.

Burke stormed into Allen's Croft Post Office, Northfield, Birmingham, on April 3 and spat at the victim shouting: 'I have corona, you're going to die'.

Police swooped on his home in the town and found him hiding in a cupboard.

In an audio recording, Burke was heard to cough and blow towards officers in the back of a police van.

He then tells them: 'I've got confirmed coronavirus and now you've got it. I hope you and your family die.

'He's got no respect for anyone, him there, he's going to corona and die. Yeah, I've got it though. I have got it, ask the doctors.'

Burke is then heard coughing while a female officer tells him to stop.

He then boasts: 'You got corona now than, you're going to have that now. You're going to have caught that.'

He admitted assaulting emergency workers and a shopkeeper and shoplifting and was jailed for more than nine months at Birmingham Crown Court.

A third thug, Anthony Edwards, 54, was also jailed for 16 weeks on Monday for spitting in an officer's face.

Officers were called to a petrol station in Corporation Street at 9.45pm on Saturday following reports of a drunk man causing problems, pouring fuel on the floor and obstructing traffic.

Evans, of no fixed address, tried kicking out at them and as they arrested him he spat in an officer's face.

Assistant Chief Constable Danny Long said: 'It's completely unacceptable for people to behave in this way against officers, other emergency services staff, key workers or indeed any member of the public.

'At a time of heightened concern across the whole country a minority of people are using the threat of coronavirus as a weapon.

'It won't be tolerated and offenders have now been sent a clear warning: there is the very real risk you will be sent to prison.'
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Linkedin Djemi Amnifu and Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Kupang and Flores  Thu, April 9, 2020 06:02 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0b6002 1 National sikka-regency,NTT,East-Nusa-Tenggara,COVID-19,coronavirus,outbreak-in-Indonesia,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,virus-korona-nusa-tenggara-timur,ship,Pelni Free

Health authorities in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have placed everyone on board the KM Lambelu under quarantine in the region after three of the ships crew were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19.

We received information that three crew members aboard the KM Lambelu had undergone rapid testing and tested positive for the disease, the provinces COVID-19 task force head Marius Ardu Jelamu said.

Based on the information, Sikka Regent Fransiskus Roberto Diego decided to keep the ship away from the region, as the administration awaited the test results of every person on board.

Given that rapid tests only provide rudimentary information on whether a person has contracted the coronavirus, the administration would send swab samples of the three crewmen for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests at a laboratory in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to obtain more conclusive results.

The vessel, owned by state ship operator PT Pelni, was carrying 233 passengers and crewmen from Nunukan, North Kalimantan, and was originally scheduled to dock at Lorens Say Port in Sikka on Monday.

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesia to administer more PCR tests, acknowledges some rapid tests 'ineffective'

Upon entering Maumere Gulf off the coast of Sikka in the early hours of Monday, the ship was told to wait for the arrival of a medical team that would conduct COVID-19 testing of everyone on board.

Passengers became agitated after waiting at sea for nearly 24 hours, afraid that they had been left stranded with insufficient provisions. Some decided to jump off the ship in the hope of being able to swim to shore.

Two passengers jumped off the ship when it was still at sea. Fortunately, they were rescued by Navy vessels, as well as the Maumere search and rescue team, Marius said.

The ship was eventually allowed to dock at Lorens Say Port on Tuesday evening after the medical team completed the rapid testing. All passengers were immediately put into quarantine for 14 days, Marius went on to say.

Meanwhile, the three crew members who tested positive for coronavirus have been placed under observation and ordered not to disembark the ship. (rfa)
The programs previous peak came in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina. It disbursed loans of $1.7 billion that year, according to the Congressional Research Service. In early March, Congress allocated funds to support around $7 billion in lending in response to the pandemic. It added another $10 billion through the CARES Act to fund the $10,000 cash grants, saying applicants could get that money even if their applications were denied.

But the demand has been extraordinary.

If every applicant received the maximum $10,000 grant, the funding would cover around one million businesses. But more than three million applied for disaster loans last week alone, Joseph Amato, the director of the S.B.A.s Nevada office, told attendees at a webinar on Monday. His comments were reported earlier by The Washington Post.

In response to the demand, the S.B.A. appears to have also added an additional restriction on the grants: Dozens of business owners said they had been told that the grant, if they got it, would be limited to $1,000 per employee  meaning the smallest businesses could not receive the full amount.

Even early applicants who have been approved for larger loans still have unanswered questions.

Abninder Mundra, who owns a franchise of the UPS Store in Portola Valley, Calif., applied for a loan on March 20 and was approved four days later for $210,000. He finally received and signed his closing documents this week. He was still waiting for the cash to arrive  and for details about how the $10,000 grant would work.

A retail business owner in California, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared jeopardizing the loan he had been promised, was relieved to be getting the money needed to support his employees, but frustrated about the process.

He sought a loan on March 17, right after his state became eligible. In late March, he received a call from an S.B.A. official who requested additional documents, then verbally approved a loan of $500,000. It took more than a week before he got a letter confirming the loan, along with a pile of closing documents to sign.

Business owners who applied later are afraid the funding will run out before their applications are processed.
Bareilly : , April 9 (IANS) A 28-year-old resident of Lucknow was found hanging in a guesthouse in Bareilly, police said.

Anurag Deep Gupta was stranded in the town and was staying at the guesthouse since March 18.

When Gupta did not come out of his room for several hours on Wednesday, guesthouse manager Nadeem knocked at the door, but got no response.

When Nadeem peeped into the room, he saw Gupta hanging from a ceiling fan. He informed the police who tried to access his contact details from his mobile phone, but Gupta had reportedly deleted all data before allegedly committing suicide.

The manager said that Gupta was upset over the fact that he was not able to return home despite attempts.

The body has been sent for post-mortem and his family in Lucknow informed by police.
After new cases jump, Suifenhe city along border with Russia announces restrictions similar to those Wuhan endured.

The Chinese city of Suifenhe entered a lockdown fuelled by an influx of infected travellers crossing the border from Russia in recent days.

The northeast regions health commission reported 40 new cases on Wednesday, all returning Chinese nationals who crossed the border, according to local media reports.

In response, Suifenhe city, 1,600km (990 miles) away from Beijing, announced restrictions on the movement of citizens similar to the measures hard-hit Wuhan endured.

People must stay in their residential compounds and only one person per family may leave once every three days to buy necessities and must return the same day, state-run CCTV reported.

The government also announced the building of a 600-bed isolation hospital to treat those infected.

The province announced a total of 127 imported COVID-19 cases with six patients in severe condition, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Enormous pressure

Meanwhile, in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus emerged, its more than two-month lockdown ended on Wednesday with life slowly returning to normal.

The city reported just three new confirmed infections over the past 21 days and only two in the past two weeks.

While the whole country is celebrating the unlocking of Wuhan, few noticed that Heilongjiang is under enormous pressure dealing with infections coming over the border, one person wrote on the Weibo social media platform.

Russia on Thursday reported a record one-day rise of 1,459 new cases of coronavirus, pushing its national case total to 10,131.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose by 13 to 76, according to the national coronavirus crisis response centre.

President Vladimir Putin announced an extension of a nationwide non-working week until April 30, and in a televised address he delegated power to the regional authorities to deal with the outbreak.

As of Thursday, there are some 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world. More than 88,500 people have died and at least 330,000 recovered.
SHERIDAN  Legislative leadership has indicated a special session of the Wyoming Legislature may take place in the very near future as industries across the state feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the members of the 65th Legislature, Senate President Drew Perkins, R-Casper, and Speaker of the House Steve Harshman, R-Casper, indicated that ongoing discussions regarding the public health crisis have prompted the need for additional work from legislators.

The Legislatures Management Council will meet remotely April 16 to assign specific topics to joint interi...
By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center Executive Director Apr. 08, 2020 | 04:37 PM | CADIZ

This happened before the travel ban and large meeting prohibitions were put in place. This person spread it unknowingly, but in light of the seriousness of the disease, it's disappointing to learn that some leaders in the Christian community are resisting the government's stay at home orders as if this is a direct attack on the church and a violation of their First Amendment rights. It is not. The order applies to all large gatherings including sporting events, concerts, and schools. The intention is to slow the spread of COVID-19 until a vaccination has been developed.





Another pastor in North Christian County called me the other day and told me that he was being pressured to hold church services by some of his members. Shortly after, it was reported that a church in nearby Dawson Springs held a revival service where an infected member exposed worshipers. Four have since contracted COVID-19.





Some may be tempted to look at the relatively low numbers in Kentucky (Less than 1500 cases and 65 deaths) and criticize the authorities for being overly aggressive. However, public health experts project between 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in this nation alone. There will be plenty of time for post COVID 19 analysis when the disease has passed. However, when health experts uniformly advise that a crisis is coming, it's wise to heed their counsel and to take certain precautions to stem catastrophe.



How many families during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic would have gladly lived with daily inconvenience and economic slowdown only to have their family members spared? One of my board member's great aunts lost four children to the Spanish flu in 1918. They all died within nine days in the tiny Western Kentucky community of Cunningham. Altogether, 675,000 Americans died from that pandemic. Fifty-million died worldwide.



During that 1918 flu outbreak, several Kentucky churches shut their doors, including Simpsonville Baptist Church which closed for four months. They did this out of concern for their membership and community at large. And they didn't even have social media outlets to carry virtual services.

Many have been critical of the EMW abortion center in Louisville from being allowed to remain open. I agree that this is inconsistent with closing all other elective medical centers. However, please don't use this as an excuse to pick a fight with the government and to resist social distancing guidelines. Please work alongside the government where they are doing good. Cooperate with the authorities as they lead and work to slow the spread. This is a pro-life position that will positively impact thousands in this moment.





Are you praying for the health of your community and for the disease to slow? Then do something to help effectuate that prayer. Are you asking God to give our leaders wisdom? Then please know the same Bible that tells us to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1 tells us also to submit to those same leaders in Romans 13:1-2 and 1 Peter 2:13-17. Do you believe that God is at work in times of crisis? Then be an agent of hope and encouragement to those who need help (Rom. 15:13, Eph. 2:8-10, Psalm 46:1-3).





Jesus reminds us that the two great commandments are to love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Submitting to our government honors God. Following the stay at home order and practicing social distancing to help slow the spread is loving our neighbor.





The church isn't being forced to stop preaching. It is being asked to temporarily cease meeting in person. Enterprising ministry leaders will see this as a new opportunity for the church to join a corner of society and share a message in a new arena. The internet and social media platforms such as Facebook Live and YouTube are great ways to connect and meet people who wouldn't normally step inside a church. In many cases, I've been told that attendance and viewership of online services far exceed the usual Sunday morning attendance.





So should you hold in-person church services this Easter Sunday? Simply ask yourself this: Do you want to be remembered as being the conduit that possibly spread a deadly disease throughout a region? Or do you want to be remembered as being a force for good that aided your community in a time of great need?"









"I just got off the phone with a pastor friend in Eastern Kentucky who shared some sad and disappointing news. A person in his community traveled out of state, contracted COVID-19, and attended a church service shortly thereafter where other congregants contracted it. I just learned that one of them died.
With his poll numbers dipping, Donald Trump vowed to soon open the US economy with a bang, even as the number of coronavirus deaths in the US passed the 14,500 mark and his original target date for ending the national lockdown is just four days away.

The president again made questionable claims, including a bit in his prepared opening statement in which he cited numbers without explaining what they are, to predict the US is pulling out of the worst of the outbreak. After he departed the briefing, Deborah Birx, a federal physician on his coronavirus task force, appeared to provide those numbers. She said the number of cases appears to be leveling off because even though the amount of new cases in hotspot cities remains in the hundreds or thousands per day, the rates of positive tests are in the 30 per cent range.

Were getting closer. You see the numbers. Were getting much closer to getting our country back to the way it was, Mr Trump said vaguely. Were going to win. Were going to do it much sooner than people think.

For about a week last month, Mr Trump predicted all or much of the country would be open for business by Easter Sunday. I was criticised for that, he said, backtracking by calling that an aspirational date.

Mr Trump was back pushing a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a treatment drug for Covid-19  even though his top public health experts warn that trials have not yet shown it is effective against the novel disease. The New York Times reported this week that his family has a financial stake in the parent company of the firm that makes a popular version of the medication.

Despite those words of caution from Anthony Fauci and others, Mr Trump announced a federal medical stockpile now contains 30 million of the pills, with his government distributing millions.

Mr Trump held another combative and aggressive briefing on a day when US confirmed cases of the virus approached 419,600 and deaths neared the 14,300 mark. It was a day, however, when the political world paused from the partisan back-and-forth about his handling of the epidemic as it focused on senator Bernie Sanders exiting the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential primary.

For Mr Trump, that took attention away from his declining poll numbers as he saw drops in overall job performance and his handling of the pandemic outbreak. According to RealClearPolitics, the presidents approval rating sank to 45.2 per cent, erasing a slight increase during the first weeks of the outbreak. On his virus response, a CNN-SSRS survey found a majority of those polled, 55 per cent, disapprove of the presidents handling of the crisis.

Democrats and many public health experts on Wednesday continued to criticise both the federal response, Mr Trumps view of Washingtons role, and his messaging.

Zeke Emanuel, vice provost of global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and the brother of former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, said Mr Trump should tell Americans life will not go back to normal for 18 months.

I think a good leader  Winston Churchill or even Ronald Reagan  would have said, Listen, weve got the next 18 months. Heres what to expect. And heres what were going to be doing in response to that, he told MSNBC. We are going to be able to open up a little bit. We are going to have to keep this physical distancing in place, with modifications.

He also said Mr Trump should push questionable malaria drugs as a Covid-19 treatment less, and instead prepare the public for whats coming. Theres no preparation for the public.

Asked about some conservativess calls that the United States somehow retaliate against China for not informing the world that the virus had gone public there, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said now is not the time for retribution. Such matters will be considered after the pandemic has subsided.

On a day when Mr Trumps Tuesday evening harsh words for the World Health Organisation escalated, his top diplomat told reporters it is the administrations job to make sure international organisations that receive US taxpayer funds are using those monies to benefit America.

Theres going to be a lot of time to look back and see how the World Health Organisation performed, he said after stating one of his duties is to preserve and protect the American taxpayers.

But Mr Trump sent more mixed signals about the millions of dollars in American funding that goes to the global group annually. He both said he is holding back on those contributions and starting a study to see if the funds should be withheld, while calling on China to put more into WHO coffers.
Google released a blog post, explaining how Google Meet keeps video conferences protected, without mentioning even once Hangouts Meet, a product of its G Suite app lineup. The company later confirmed that the service has been renamed and the hangouts branding is retired from Googles business suite.

G Suite is essentially a suite of cloud computing productivity tools and software, targeted at business users. With the current health situation around the world, many people are now staying at home and rely on video conferencing tools, but with the recent security issues discovered in Zoom Google decided it's a good moment to promote its own service.

Hangouts will remain a brand within Hangouts Chat. However, knowing how Google loves to rename or even kill its own projects, we wont be surprised to see it renamed to Google Chat (although Gchat was already a thing). The rebranding of Hangouts Meet is already happening but will take some time to roll out to all business users across the globe.

Source | Via
New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday (April 8, 2020) denounced the social stigma being faced by heathcare workers in the face of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released yesterday, the union ministry cited several reports of incidents where healthcare workers, sanitary workers and police have been facing discrimination on account of fear, panic and misinformation about COVID-19 infection.

The statement said: "Public health emergencies during outbreak of communicable diseases may cause fear and anxiety leading to prejudices against people and communities, social isolation and stigma. Such behavior may culminate into increased hostility, chaos and unnecessary social disruptions."

The ministry also came up with a list of do's and don'ts in their effort to "counter such prejudices" and so that we "respond appropriately in the face of this adversity".

Do's

* Appreciate efforts of people providing essential services and be supportive towards them and their families.

* Share only the authentic information available on the website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India or the World Health Organisation.

* Cross check any information related to COVID-19 from reliable sources before forwarding any messages on social media.

* Share positive stories of those who have recovered from COVID-19.

Donts

* Never spread names or identity of those affected or under quarantine or their locality on the social media.

* Avoid spreading fear and panic.

* Do not target healthcare and sanitary workers or police. They are there to help you.

* Do not label any community or area for spread of COVID-19.

* Avoid addressing those under treatment as COVID victims. Address them as "people recovering from COVID.

The nationwide tally of coronavirus infections rises sharply to over 5,600 cases with more than 180 deaths, reported till Wednesday evening.
Did Trump give Israel 1 million face masks despite coronavirus equipment shortages in the US?



An Israeli press report claiming the US Department of Defense shipped one million face masks to Israel have angered Americans, causing some to question the Trump administration's priorities



By The New Arab April 08, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - An Israeli press report claiming the US Department of Defense had shipped one million face masks to Israel to help protect Israeli soldiers has angered Americans, causing some to question the Trump administration 's priorities amid the coronavirus pandemic amid reports of shortages of protective equipment for US health workers.



The Pentagon's alleged shipment was initially reported by the Jerusalem Post, however mention of American involvement was later scrubbed, raising suspicions that US public anger may have forced Israeli military censors to act.



Israel's army is notorious for tightly monitoring media output, having barred or redacted over 2,000 stories just last year, according to the Movement for Freedom of Information. "US Department of Defense give 1 million masks to IDF for coronavirus use," read a headline published by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, referring to the shipment that had arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday night.



The original article said : "A plane carrying over a million surgical masks for the IDF landed in Ben-Gurion airport Tuesday night, in an operation run by the US Department of Defenses Delegation of Procurement". Curiously, the headline was later revised to: "Israel brings 1 million masks from China for IDF soldiers" but traces of the old headline can be seen in the article's URL. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter All mention of the US Department of Defense's alleged involvement also appear to have been removed, with no reason given in the updated article for the revision or official retraction posted.



A yet-to-be-deleted tweet by the Jerusalem Post official account still shows the original introduction (screenshot here ).



The New Arab has reached out to the Department of Defense Defense Logistics Agency for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.



Israel's spy agency Mossad has been involved in a frantic effort to secure protective gear as Tel Aviv scrambles to respond to a major coronavirus outbreak.



The initial headline mentioning US involvement in the shipment sparked fury on social media, where users highlighted America's own struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak.



"American hospitals are begging for protective gear, this is sickening," wrote one Twitter user, referring to US medical workers who have complained about reported shortages of protective gear for frontline workers. "While frontline American health workers go without & Palestinians are told to use their socks, Trump ships a million masks to israel's army," wrote another, referring to reports that Palestinian prisoners were told by Israeli authorities to use socks as face masks. The delivery of US supplies to support Israel's military comes just days after a US Navy captain was removed for alleging that the Pentagon had given inadequate attention to a Covid-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.



Brett Crozier wrote a letter that was leaked to the media describing the virus-struck vessel's dire situation.



Following Crozier's removal, US Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday over his mishandling of the affair and the heavy-handed approach towards the navy captain. The Crozier affair was just the latest in a string of missteps by the Trump administration amid the coronavirus pandemic, drawing sustained criticism from the American public. US President Donald Trump initially downplayed the virus, which he likened to an ordinary flu and said was under control in the United States, before later accepting that it was a national emergency. More than 12,000 Americans have now died from Covid-19. " Source " Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here
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Linkedin Sheila Dang, Kate Holton and Helen Coster (Reuters) New York, United States/London, United Kingdom  Thu, April 9, 2020 13:44 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d4b9d 2 Business media-industry,media-company,media-monetization,Advertisement,advertisement-industry,revenue,coronavirus,impact Free

From Rupert Murdoch's News UK to McClatchy's chain of local newspapers across the United States, news publishers are attracting record numbers of readers as people in lockdown seek information about the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet advertising revenue has plummeted for many publishers as companies slash marketing budgets and prove reluctant to buy ads against coronavirus coverage for fear of tarnishing their brand.

Forecasts for global advertising growth this year have been revised down by $20 billion since March 12, according to market research firm eMarketer. It estimates ad spending growth of just 8.4% in China, where the outbreak began, the slowest since 2011.

Total local advertising in the United States could decline by up to 30% this year, or $38 billion, according to media research firm Borrell Associates.

Publishers, advertising agencies and tech firms that help place ads have been trying to persuade brands to rethink, arguing that by eschewing coronavirus coverage, advertisers are losing access to engaged readers.

So far, they appear to have had limited success.

"I can't say we've yet noticed a change," said Ben Walmsley, commercial director for publishing at News UK, a division of News Corp. "I think change will be relatively slow."

ViacomCBS-owned CBS News Digital has made some headway with marketers and agencies, said Christy Tanner, its executive vice president and general manager. "But its been more slow-going than most of us would like."

The Washington Post and the Atlantic said they also had not seen a shift in behavior from advertisers who are avoiding pandemic content.

The industry was already suffering from declining advertising revenue. Gannett, BuzzFeed, Britain's MailOnline and News Corp Australia have all announced furloughs, pay cuts or other cost-cutting measures.

Damon Reeve, CEO of the Ozone Project, which sells the online ad inventory of a majority of British national titles, said he had heard that advertising was being kept away from up to 60% of editorial content.

A representative for Reuters news organization said the company has also experienced an impact and cited an Internet Advertising Bureau study that showed 70% of advertisers have scaled back ad spending across the industry during this period.

"Factual news coverage on the global pandemic is essential and must be supported," Reuters CEO Michael Friedenberg said on Twitter https://twitter.com/mfriedenberg/status/1245797237977948163 on April 2. "It is incumbent upon the ad tech and verification industry to ensure that trusted news from reputable sources about Covid-19 is not blocked by safety filters."

Five of the top U.S. advertising spenders last year - Comcast, AT&T, Amazon, P&G and General Motors - either declined to comment or did not respond to questions about their advertising policies.

Blacklist backlash

For years, ad tech firms such as DoubleVerify have offered tools for brands to stop ads from appearing on web pages or URLs that include keywords like "shooting" or "murder." These advertising "blacklists" exploded in usage after the 2016 U.S. election, when brands sought to avoid polarizing news coverage.

"Trump" was the most popular blacklist keyword until "coronavirus" overtook it earlier this year, with more than 3,100 advertisers blocking it as of March, according to ad tech firm Integral Ad Science.

Ad agencies GroupM and Universal McCann have advised clients against blacklisting all coronavirus articles.

"There are stories about death tolls in Italy or the UK which would not be very appropriate to be monetized, but there are stories about communities coming together and we wouldn't want to block that kind of content," said Stevan Randjelovic, GroupM's director of brand safety and digital risk.

Some ad tech companies have urged brands to use tools that help stop ads from appearing on some but not all articles pertaining to coronavirus. Trade groups representing news publishers have also called on the ad community to stop using keyword blocking practices.

"The leaders that need to be speaking out are the advertising brands and the CMOs and I'm starting to see some of that," said Jason Kint, CEO of trade group Digital Content Next.

The Washington Post sales team is working directly with some advertisers who were previously purchasing ads through automated tools, which might avoid the Post if keyword blocking were applied, said Joy Robins, the newspaper's chief revenue officer.

"If we're not able to hand-hold and work directly with brands, there are a lot of unintended consequences with a blanket block," Robins said.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35

Separating ourselves from each other is hard. Yet social distancing is precisely what medical experts have told us to do during this season of the COVID-19 global pandemic  a season in which more than 1 million people are experiencing the disease and tens of thousands have died from it. The disease is strengthened by our lack of medical supplies or a cure. Fear is an understandable human response.

In the Pan-African community, this fear is heightened. We are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 when compared to whites. A main factor has been mistrust of the medical system, which has practiced racial bias against African Americans, historically. In addition, many people in this community hold hourly, low-wage jobs. Dr. Lisa Cooper at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says fear of lost wages or loss of employment may lead African Americans and other vulnerable Americans to try to work when they are ill, contributing to further spread of the disease within their communities. Dr. Stephanie Miles-Richardson at Morehouse School of Medicine says considerations like these make Black people bigger targets for contracting and succumbing to the coronavirus.

There are also other practical, cultural and spiritual considerations. While the practice of social distancing can be lifesaving, this practice may be countercultural and impractical for many in the Pan-African community. Working from home is not a viable option for many in Africa or in the African diaspora, given their jobs or the lack of an adequate safety net that would allow them to survive without working for a period. The choice is to stay home and not feed your family or to continue working with the risks.

Historically, Pan-African communities have survived great moments of trial, in part, because they were able to gather. One of the greatest testimonies to this was immediately following the enslavement period when formerly enslaved African persons sought to gather their separated families. This led to a renewed model of the extended family over the smaller nuclear family.

The gathering at churches and places for education became centers of Black life after enslavement. Churches have and still do serve as safe, inspirational and educational places for Pan-African communities. But social distancing has restricted this lifeline of survival and thriving.

There are, however, innovative models of gathering emerging, just like in this earlier history of Pan-African communities. Churches are moving to online platforms and reorganizing their leadership. Joint advocacy  through targeted group phone calls and writing to our congressional leaders  is making a difference.

Thanks to those who have joined in our advocacy agenda to make COVID-19 legislation better address the needs of people struggling with hunger and poverty. Romans 8:37-39 reminds us that through faith, we can still make a difference together in times like these. May this scripture be a source of encouragement in this COVID-19 season during Lent and Easter.

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox church engagement at Bread for the World in Washington, D.C.
Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan  once heralded for early successes in battling the pandemic  are now confronting a new wave of coronavirus cases, largely fueled by infections coming from elsewhere. Singapore is also seeing a rise in local transmissions, with more than 400 new cases in the past week that have been linked to migrant worker dormitories.

New Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Daily The charts show the total number of cases. The orange bars are cases from travel to other countries. The blue bars are ones that were transmitted locally.

The first confirmed cases in all three places were connected to people who had traveled to Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began, followed by small clusters of cases among residents with no travel history. Despite their proximity to mainland China, however, they had all managed to keep their case counts low for weeks, through vigilant monitoring and early intervention.

None of these places had a single day with more than 10 new cases until March, even as the coronavirus spread around the world.

That changed in the past two weeks, as both Hong Kong and Singapore saw new cases in the double digits for consecutive days, with the bulk attributed to those who have traveled from abroad. Singapores numbers are now triple-digits, with large clusters of cases linked to dorms for migrant workers.

Taiwan was hit with a surge of new cases, the vast majority of which were imported from other countries, while the number of locally transmitted infections remained low.

Recent scenes at airports in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, from left from top . Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times, Sam Yeh/Agence France-Presse, Adam Dean for The New York Times  Getty Images, from left from top .

Students or expatriates returning from Europe or the United States account for a large share of the imported cases. At least 191 of the confirmed cases in Hong Kong, for example, were among students who had returned from studying abroad in Britain. Similarly, 46 cases in Taiwan were among students studying abroad in Britain who had returned home after mid-March.

Top 15 Places Traveled Here are the places where people confirmed with coronavirus had traveled to.

Hong Kong and Taiwan each had one tour group that separately visited Egypt, where multiple travelers developed coronavirus symptoms and fell ill after they returned in early March.

In Singapore, several members of the military contracted the virus while stationed in France.

All three places had initially banned travelers only from Hubei Province, in China. But as virus hot spots developed in other places, the governments increasingly expanded travel restrictions or mandatory quarantine measures to encompass the rest of the world.

When travel restrictions and quarantine orders were put in place Hong Kong Travelers prohibited from these places. Quarantine orders for people who recently traveled to these places. Taiwan Travelers prohibited from these places. Quarantine orders for people who recently traveled to these places. Singapore Travelers prohibited from these places. Quarantine orders for people who recently traveled to these places. Note: When travelers are prohibited, residents, long-term visa holders and other exempted groups are allowed in with quarantine restrictions.

By the end of March, all three places had prohibited short-term visitors, though residents or other long-term visa holders could still enter under the quarantine measures.

The first step is to further prevent imported cases and to cut off the infection chain around the world and within Hong Kong, said Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs chief executive, at a news conference announcing the new measures. All non-Hong Kong residents arriving at the airport from any overseas region will not be allowed through immigration for 14 days starting on March 25.

Singapore stopped allowing short-term visitors on March 23. Taiwan barred all foreign visitors on March 19.

Beyond ramping up travel restrictions, the governments in these regions are putting in place stricter social-distancing measures. They are also continuing to monitor people who have tested positive for the virus and to trace their contacts.

Singapore has imposed a new lockdown until at least May 4  closing all schools and nonessential workplaces.

If their case numbers continue to creep up to a point where they dont feel like they can keep up with the case finding, case isolation, contact tracing, monitoring contacts and isolating the contacts, then that will be problematic said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
A professor who studies the 'phenomenon' of fertility doctors who deceive patients into carrying their babies has revealed the motivation behind the 'gross' act.

Jody Madeira, from Indiana, specialises in studying fertility fraud and believes there are at least 30 cases of doctors inseminating women with their sperm without their consent around the world, including Jan Karbaat in the Netherlands and Kim McMorries in America,

Speaking on Somethin Else's The Immaculate Deception podcast, she said she had never heard a 'convincing answer' as to why doctors do it.

However, she said motivation can range from believing they are 'helping patients' by helping them become pregnant, to doctors who behave 'like rapists' and want to 'insert themselves into other people's lives.'

Jody Madeira, from Indiana, spoke to Somethin Else's The Immaculate Deception about the motivation behind fertility doctors whom inseminate women with their own sperm and impregnate them (pictured, Jan Karbaat, who is believed to have fathered at least 48 children)

Jody explained that there was often recurring characteristics in cases of fertility fraud and said that the practice occurs 'all over the world' including in the US, Canada, South Africa, Belgium, the UK and Germany.

She said: 'They tend to be white male doctors, practising in the '70s and '80s. They tend to be community leaders, religious figures. Doctor after doctor falls into this pattern.'

Jody said: 'Nobody has actually asked these doctors why they did it and received a convincing answer.

'Doctors say they do it to help desperate patients. But there are other ways to help desperate patients, and you can help by treating them in a respectable and ethical fashion.'

Kim McMorries used his own sperm to impregnate women in the 1980s, and still runs an obstetrics, gynecology and infertility clinic

She continued to say doctors may perform the act as a way to make their business look more successful, saying: 'You have a business reason, and that's easier than people are lazy or donors don't show up.'

She went on: 'Then there are darker reasons, the doctors believe they have great genetics and the world would be better if there were more of their children in it.

'Or more narcissistic, not just an ego, a pathological condition.'

'Or you have other reasons which are more akin to reasons why people rape... power, the desire to insert oneself in someone's life in unorthodox ways.

Professor Jody revealed the motivation behind the act, revealing that some doctors do it as an act of power, while others may do it for 'business reasons' or they believe they're helping 'desperate patients

She went on to discuss doctors such as Jan Karbareet in the Netherlands and Kim McMorries in America, who both inseminated women with their own sperm while working as fertility doctors.

She said: 'I don't think they hated women. I think they must have had a conception of women and men and fatherhood.

'I think that they had a certain conception of their role as a medical provider. You cannot engaged in elicit insemination without believeing that the doctor knows best.

'They did it to fulfill some deep seated psychological need. That's when you turn to the darker reasons.'

Jody said she believes doctors have a variety of motivations as to why they might do it, but said she had never heard a convincing answer as to why they perform the act

Discussing the case of Karbaat, she went on to say that the way he ran his business should have rang alarm bells for authorities because 'it was indicative of a lot of problems.'

She said: 'Authorities stepped in at an earlier point and took over the clinic because he wouldn't stop practicing.

'There an inability to stop practicing, he had been told to retire, he was endangering his patients and he could not stop. He would not stop. He willfully didn't stop.'

Jody explained that on learning about these cases, she has been left with a feeling of 'physical revulsion.'

She said: 'That feeling of physical disgust has remained with me for the duration of this project, its the idea of a doctor who does this.'
Celebrities across the world are donating their time and money to help fans, first responders and others in need cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

From donating to food banks, to launching entertaining series on Instagram, to giving money for pharmaceutical research, these are the stars to follow for a little bit of happy news.
Read what is in the news today:

Politics

-- The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday issued a statement expressing its deep concern over a China coast guard ships hitting and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the East Vietnam Sea on April 2.

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a video message to a teleconference of health ministers from the Western Pacific region hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, with a focus on fighting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Society

-- Vietnam reported no new COVID-19 cases on Thursday morning while more than half of the 251 patients have recovered, with at least two more of them expected to be discharged later same day.

-- The rector and six other officials at Banking University Ho Chi Minh City have been suspended for 15 days for disregarding social distancing by attending a party at the apartment of one of the officials, after which a lecturer fell to his death from the 14th floor of the building on Sunday.

-- All police officers at the police unit of Dong Ngac Ward in Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi have been placed under quarantine after their deputy police chief came into close contact with Vietnams COVID-19 patient No. 243.

-- The Ministry of Information and Communications has set a target of having 60 percent and 40 percent of Vietnamese people use social networks and search engines, respectively, developed domestically by 2025.

Business

-- The first of two initial shipments of more than 450,000 protective suits made in Vietnam departed Hanoi on Tuesday, bound for the United States to help healthcare professionals there fight the coronavirus.

World News

-- The novel coronavirus has infected over 1.5 million people and killed more than 88,300 around the world as of Thursday morning, according to numbers pooled by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. More than 329,600 patients have recovered.

-- Northern Irish truck driver Maurice Robinson has pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter related to the deaths of Vietnamese people found in a shipping container in southeast England last year, Reuters quoted police on Wednesday.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
April 9, 2020

Special airlift complements existing airlift between Amsterdam and the US

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - With the current loss of around 90% of all flights between Europe and Asia, there is a major shortage of freight capacity. At the same time, and precisely because of the crisis surrounding COVID-19, there is a huge requirement to transport medical equipment and other supplies quickly between the US, Europe and China. KLM has now joined forces with Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) and the Dutch government to create a temporary special cargo airlift between the Netherlands and China. In addition to these parties, requests for extra capacity are coming from many other organizations. This airlift to Asia will start on April 13, 2020.

During the coming six to eight weeks, specifically for this important airlift between the Netherlands and China, KLM will bring its Boeing 747 Combi aircraft back into operation, ensuring a continuous flow of special freight capacity - two times a week to Beijing and three times a week to Shanghai. This will create approximately 250 tons of extra freight capacity in each direction per week. The flights will operate alongside the existing services of the so-called skeleton timetable that has been in force since March 29, 2020 with two Beijing and two Shanghai flights operated using Boeing 787s and Boeing 777s.

The Full Freighters of KLM/Martinair will continue to be deployed on North Atlantic routes, which Philips will use to airlift from Amsterdam to distribution points in the US. KLM/Martinair will also continue to fly on South Atlantic routes as well as to Africa.

In view of the current 90% decline in flights and future expectations, KLM had decided in early March 2020 to phase out its remaining Boeing 747s as of April 2020 instead of summer 2021. For the airlift from Amsterdam to Shanghai and Beijing, two Boeing 747 Combi aircraft are now being put back into service specifically for these two routes and for the indicated period.

"I consider it extremely important that especially in this time of crisis, KLM can add value to Dutch society through flexibility, creativity and collaboration," said Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM. "Philips' initiative to team up with KLM to find a solution for the pressing need for freight capacity between Europe and China for critical medical equipment and supplies fully underlines this. I am proud that a joint team of very committed and professional colleagues from both companies have been able to create an adequate solution in such a short time frame."

"Philips and KLM have been important partners for more than a hundred years," said Frans van Houten, CEO Royal Philips. "It is good that we have quickly found each other again in this time of need to make this important airlift to China possible. In combination with the existing airlift to the US, we can now transport essential medical products and supplies faster between the US, Europe and China, helping healthcare providers more quickly in their difficult task of fighting the coronavirus."

For further information, please contact:

Steve Klink

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 10888824

E-mail: steve.klink@philips.com

Leandro Mazzoni

Philips Investor Relations

Tel.: +31 20 59 77222

E-mail: leandro.mazzoni@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.





Attachments
New Delhi, April 9 : With domestic pharmaceutical majors ramping-up their capacity to churn out around 30 crore anti-malaria pills -- Hydroxychloroquine, India can easily manage to export the drug and maintain robust domestic stocks, industry insiders and experts said.

At present, the drug is being aggressively pitched as the best option to fight the Covid-19 infection. However, no large scale trials have taken place to prove such claims yet.

Nevertheless, world leaders like US President Donald Trump have become ardent advocates of the drug.

India, thereby, has become the world's focus as the largest producer of the drug and the manufacturing numbers are just staggering. Some industry estimates show that India can produce around 30 crore doses of the medicine per month, while the domestic requirement will not exceed 10 crore pills.

Consequently, both the US and Brazil have requested the Centre to allow exports of the drug, with the Brazilian side going as far as to compare the drug to 'Sanjivani', a mythical herb which was referred to in the epic Ramayana.

India has now allowed the drug to be shipped out, but on a case-to-case basis, making the product as vital as adhesive tape or aspirin of the present time, not to mention that it was developed during World War II.

"India at present has enough stock of this medicine and can even afford to export some of it to the countries which have been heavily impacted by Covid-19," said Sudhir Kalhan, Chairman, Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic Bariatric Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. He is also the Chairman of industry body Assocham's National Council on Healthcare.

"At present, only healthcare workers would require this drug to deal with the initial signs of being infected with Covid-19," he added.

On March 25, India had banned the export of Hydroxychloroquine. However, on April 6, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notified lifting of restrictions on 14 drugs, including Hydroxychloroquine.

"The ban earlier imposed was based on emergency situation and in absence of proper assessment of requirements within the country vis-a-vis capacity," said Shirish Ghoge, an independent industry expert and a former senior director with Abbott and Sanofi.

"Two factors weighed in favour of bringing Hydroxychloroquine tablets from the banned to the restricted category. There were assessments of realistic requirements for local consumption and the capacities with the Indian companies like IPCA and Zydus Cadila which can produce over 10 crore tablets per month," Ghoge added.

"As a result, a very wise and rational decision has been taken by the Indian government in allowing measured quantities of export of Hydroxychloroquine tablets and we should compliment them for earning goodwill from the US government which will further improve the trade relations between the two countries," he said.

According to pharma industry expert Aamit Khanna: "India has enough stocks of Hydroxychloroquine despite the Indian government lifting the ban in order to support its relationship with the US and Brazil. India has stood strongly for human interest and supported the global fight against the Covid19 crisis.

"Indian pharma companies currently can boost production capacity by 5-6 times to 70 MT per month, totalling to 35 crore tablets every month. India needs to have 10 crore tablets in stock for its domestic consumption." However, Anil Tiwari of Fenesta Healthcare LLP said: "Even though India needs a lesser quantity of anti-malarial drug in comparison to countries in the African continent, and Indian manufacturers are well equipped to fully fill the domestic demand, the real hurdle will be faced to source raw materials to manufacture the drug." In addition to the goodwill generated towards India, many industry insiders feel that the move will also help them build brand reputations in the US and other key markets.

They said that this opportunity can be used to project India as not just generic drugs major, but also as a powerhouse of medicine production.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Program Part of Company's Overall $10 Million Commitment to COVID-19 Relief

RACINE, Wisconsin, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With a goal of enabling this generation of children to better protect themselves and their communities, SC Johnson and Save the Children are partnering to educate and enable children worldwide to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This new partnership will focus on helping children and their loved ones respond to this and future public health threats.

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8713051-sc-johnson-save-the-children-covid-19/



SC Johnson is donating $1 million to help vulnerable and marginalized children around the world. This donation will support Save the Children programs that shine a light on the importance of personal hygiene and handwashing with the goal of slowing the rate of transmission and limiting the impacts of the pandemic on children and their families globally. SC Johnson will support Save the Children's global response to this pandemic, including efforts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, India and Mexico.

"We all must work together to equip our younger generations with the information and tools they need to protect themselves," said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. "I am incredibly grateful the teams at SC Johnson and Save the Children were able to quickly form this global partnership, with our shared goal of safer and healthier children and families now and in the future."

"Save the Children is proud to partner with SC Johnson in helping ensure the world's most vulnerable children have access to hygiene information, education, nutrition and social-emotional support amid the COVID-19 pandemic," said Janti Soeripto, President and CEO of Save the Children. "The new world we're living in reinforces the importance of powerful partnerships like this one, which bring us together as a global community for the safety and well-being of children and families around the world."

In addition to promoting the importance of good hygiene habits, this partnership also provides much needed support to help manage and overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by:

Supporting children's emotional needs with educational and psychological support as children struggle to deal with the stress and anxiety during these challenging times.

Addressing food insecurity by providing meals and food vouchers to families.

Educational support by providing books and other materials to support learning at home.

The partnership will also launch a joint social media campaign that allows parents and caregivers to engage children to share and amplify personal hygiene tools, tips and techniques. Details of this campaign will be announced shortly through both organizations' social media channels.

SC Johnson Doubles Commitment to COVID-19 Relief

The partnership, announced today, coincides with a doubling of SC Johnson's contributions  from $5 million to $10 million  to support pressing public needs and those battling the virus on the front lines. Efforts taken by the global manufacturer of household and professional cleaning and disinfectant products to date include:

$1 million donation to the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund.

donation to the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund. 80,000 SC Johnson product care packages donated to hospital workers and first responders in the United States , distributed by the CDC Foundation.

, distributed by the CDC Foundation. $1 million to support various COVID-19 response efforts in Asia , Europe and Latin America .

to support various COVID-19 response efforts in , and . Support for the local medical response to COVID-19 in the company's backyard by providing meals, snacks and books to school children and care packages to first responders.

SC Johnson continues to assess ways to address the needs of people around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 134-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding 100 years ago, we've changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children  every day and in times of crisis  transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube

Related Links

http://www.scjohnson.com



SOURCE SC Johnson
A protester damages a photo of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harri Harris during a rally near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Dec. 13, 2019. Korea Times file



By Jung Min-ho



U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris is gaining the status of persona non grata among the Korean public, if not yet officially designated as such by the Korean government.



His words and acts that defy diplomatic protocols dismay and make Koreans feel humiliated. Conservatives and progressives agree on this assessment, which is rather unusual in the extremely polarized nation.



Since he took up the post in July 2018, Harris, a former admiral who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a U.S. Navy officer, has been under fire by even many conservatives, who in general view the United States and its representatives far more favorably.



The latest controversy came after he told foreign correspondents here on Jan. 17 that South Korea should consult the United States about its plans to resume individual tours to Mount Geumgang in North Korea if the South wants to avoid misunderstandings that could trigger sanctions.



His remark has drawn stinging criticism from Cheong Wa Dae and ruling party lawmakers as well as a street protest over the weekend. Some denounced Harris for "being rude" and "acting like a governor general" during Japanese colonial rule (1910-45).






A man has been accused of throwing a hatchet at a garda car, smashing one of its windows, in an act of "extreme violence" outside his home.

Michael O'Leary (38) is also accused of unlawful possession of two knives during the alleged confrontation.

Judge John Cheatle granted him bail at Dublin District Court.

Mr O'Leary is charged with possession of a hatchet with intent to cause injury and throwing it a garda car, criminal damage to the vehicle and unlawful possession of two knives.

The offences are alleged to have happened at Mourne View, Skerries, in the early hours of yesterday.

Garda David Woods said he was objecting to bail due to the seriousness of the charges, adding that there were more to be brought.

The case arose from a "viol- ent and serious incident" involving alleged damage to a garda car and an attempt to assault a garda, he said.

Stupid

Mr O'Leary addressed the judge, saying "this is a year of harassment" by the gardai. He said the charges were "stupid" and he wanted them dropped.

Judge Cheatle granted Mr O'Leary bail of 150 with no cash lodgement required.

The garda sought a curfew, but defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy said this would be "unduly onerous".

Gda Woods said there were allegations of "extreme viol- ence" and a curfew would be in the public interest.

The judge said he thought it would be wise to be inside at night during the current crisis and suggested a 10pm to 6am curfew before reducing that to 11pm to 6am at Ms D'Arcy's request "in case restrictions are lifted" during the summer.

The accused is to be of good behaviour and of sober habits in public under the bail terms.

Gda Woods also asked for a condition that he does not carry knives or sharp objects in public, but the judge said this would be covered by other terms.

He ordered disclosure of prosecution statements to the defence and remanded Mr O'Leary on bail until September.
ROME - Spain has reached the peak of the coronavirus pandemic and will soon start to ease the current lockdown, Premier Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday.



''We have reached the peak and now the de-escalation begins'', Sanchez told Congress, stressing however that the return to normality will be ''gradual'' and in line with the gravity of the situation.



The number of victims in Spain on Thursday dropped by 74 compared to the previous day to 683 fatalities in 24 hours, Spanish health authorities were quoted as saying by Efe news agency. The total death toll so far has been 15,238, health authorities said.



There were 5,756 new infections registered on Thursday, bringing the total number of positive Codiv-19 cases to 152,446.



Moreover, 4,044 people recovered from the virus, up 8.42%, for a total of 52,065, according to the latest data provided by the Spanish health ministry and quoted by Efe.
The Saudi-led coalition said it began observing a unilateral ceasefire in war-wracked Yemen on Thursday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but Huthi rebels dismissed the initiative as political manoeuvering. The coalition said a two-week pause in the five year-conflict took effect from 0900 GMT, but a spokesman for the Huthis alleged air strikes continued to pound targets in Yemen after that. "The aggression didn't stop... and until this moment there are tens of continuous air strikes," Huthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera news network some five hours after the truce began. "We consider the ceasefire a political and media manoeuver" to bolster the image of the coalition "in this critical moment when the world is facing" the coronavirus pandemic, he added. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in support of an internationally recognised government in 2015, pitting it against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. If the ceasefire were to take root, it would be the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered truce in the port city of Hodeida during talks in Sweden in late 2018. The truce offer was welcomed by the United States, key Saudi-led coalition partner the United Arab Emirates, UN chief Antonio Guterres and the Arab League. "The announcement is a constructive response to the UN Secretary General's call for the parties to focus on countering the COVID-19 pandemic", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. "We urge the Huthis to respond in kind to the coalition's initiative," he added. The UAE, which drew down its troops in Yemen last year as the conflict became increasingly intractable, said the Saudi move was "wise and responsible". "Hope the Huthis rise to the occasion. The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. - Wider solution - Yasser Al-Houri, secretary of the Huthis' political council, poured cold water on the coalition's declaration, saying that the Saudis "are dishonest and violate every truce they announce". "The announcement of this truce is to evade the true national vision that offers real solutions," he said, referring to a roadmap for peace unveiled by the rebels on Wednesday. The declaration of the ceasefire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties. Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that the truce, which may be extended, could pave the way for a wider political solution. Officials indicated they are keen for a UN-sponsored face-to-face meeting with the rebels to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Hours before the announcement, the Huthis released a document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end of the coalition's blockade on Yemen's land, sea and air ports. The rebels also demanded that the coalition pay government salaries for the next decade and hand over compensation for rebuilding, including homes destroyed in air strikes. Guterres, who has called for an "immediate global ceasefire" to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones, welcomed the truce offer, urging the government and Huthis to enter negotiations. "Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict," he said. - 'Rare opportunity' - The declared ceasefire comes as Saudi Arabia, reeling from plunging oil prices, seeks to extricate itself from the costly conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Yemeni people and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen's broken healthcare system has so far recorded no cases of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit hailed the ceasefire offer as a "rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen". Fighting had recently re-escalated between the Huthis and Riyadh-backed Yemeni government troops around the strategic northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Marib, after a months-long lull. Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, noted that "the Huthis have currently opened multiple battlefronts they cannot afford to close." Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and the border city of Jizan in March, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital, state media reported. It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Huthis offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil installations. Last week, the coalition carried out multiple air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in retaliation for the missile strikes.
Among the states with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, Madhya Pradesh is fighting the battle against the virus without any ministers as Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who assumed office on March 23, is yet to form his Cabinet.

As the central state has witnessed rapid growth in the number of coronavirus cases, crossing the 400-mark on Thursday, clamour for Cabinet formation has gradually grown.

Social media users have wondered why the state is yet to appoint ministers despite an exponential rise in the number of cases. State capital Bhopal has so far reported 94 cases and Indore 213. Fresh cases have also been reported from Dewas, Dhar, Betul, Hoshangabad, Shajapur, Sheopur and Raisen.

A workaholic, Chouhan has been busy round-the-clock, conducting field visits, addressing field officers, devising strategy with his core team of officers, and conversing with the public through video addresses. His Twitter handle has remained active with information and important advisories.

A senior official from the CM's Secretariat, on the condition of anonymity, told News18 that when the Cabinet is still to be formed, powers of all the ministers are automatically vested with the Chief Minister and that Chouhan regularly approves all department files presented to him.

Chouhan also directly communicates with field officers through video conferences and with department heads through personal meetings. However, after several officers from the Health Department contracted the infection, Chouhan has been relied on video conferences rather than physical meetings.

Chouhan maintained that he had assumed office on March 23 at 9pm and within an hour had started conducting meetings on the developing pandemic. There was hardly any time to form his Cabinet, he had said.

Chouhan said the BJP high command has decided that the Cabinet will be formed after the lockdown ends, adding his party colleagues, MLAs and MPs are there to help him out.

I start my interactions with different sections of the society at 6am and my meetings last well past midnight, said Chouhan, adding that he has a devoted team of bureaucrats and the support of 7.5 crore citizens.

But the opposition Congress has time and again raised the issue of the cabinet formation. It has also slammed former party colleague and ex-health minister Tulsiram Silawat who was part of the group of rebel MLAs that deserted the party just before the outbreak in the state. Silawat later joined BJP and is hopeful of a ministerial berth in the Chouhan government.

The absence of a Cabinet has led to administrative slackness, which is evident in departments like health, said Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta. Close to 40 employees in the department, including senior officers, have tested positive so far.

How many meetings can a single person take in a day, asked Gupta, claiming close to five lakh people in rural areas are waiting for home and relief measures.

Party media cell in-charge Narendra Saluja said the Cabinet formation could not take place as the BJP government has a huge task of accommodating the new entrants into the Cabinet. Keeping in mind the gravity of the situation, district-wise assignment of charges to ministers could have come in handy in fighting the disease, he added.

Twenty-two Congress MLAs, including six ministers, had resigned and joined the BJP, bringing down the Kamal Nath government on March 20.

While Nath hasnt commented so far on the Cabinet formation, he has been regularly pointing out anomalies and shortcomings in the fight against the pandemic.

Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains and the state publicity department are yet to respond to related queries.
Over 90 Centre-run Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) have been turned into quarantine centres across India as part efforts to create additional heathcare infrastructure to deal with any major spike in the number of the coronavirus (Covid-19) cases, according to officials aware of the matter.

India plans to ramp up Covid-19 testing to deal with the pandemic better and it is likely to lead to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

According to official data, as many as 60 KVs and 33 JNVs have been converted into quarantine facilities in places like Balasore in Odisha, Karnatakas Bidar, Tinsukia (Assam) and Joshimath in Uttarakhand.

One of the officials cited above said of the 645 JNVs across the country, 400 such schools have been offered for the creation of facilities to isolate 2.5 lakh people. There are over 1,100 KVs.

Union human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had directed an assessment of how the premier central schools could offer support in the fight to against the pandemic.

The 60 KVs are spread across 26 regions and state and defence ministry authorities have taken them over for creating quarantine facilities.

In the Agra region alone, four KVs in Sarsawa, Chandinagar, Surajpur and Hindon have been taken over by authorities combating the virus. Similarly, four schools in Baroda, Ahmedabad and Jamnagar (Gujarat) have been turned into isolation centres. Two schools have been taken over by authorities in the Bengaluru region.

Buildings of 10 KVs have been converted into quarantine centres in the Chandigarh region and seven in the Jammu region.

B K Singh, the commissioner of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti that runs JNVs, said his organisation has been contributing in the mitigation of the impact of Covid 19 by offering around 400 Schools, with a capacity of isolating around 2.5 lakh persons, spread over 400 districts. Already in 33 schools, it [quarantine centres] is functioning, Singh said.

Singh said they had advanced the internal exams and concluded them by March 18. So, the academic session was completed and by March 21, summer vacation was announced ahead of the scheduled up to May 25.

He said due to the lockdown imposed to check the pandemic, around 20-25 students have been unable to return to their homes. In view of this unforeseen situation, the students staying on different campus continue to access to mess halls, libraries, smart classes, games, TV etc. However, these campuses have been locked down.

An official said the students have been offered facilitated like video calling, text messaging and calling free of cost.

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The Chhattisgarh High Court on



Thursday directed the state government to launch an "intensive search operation" to find 52 Tablighi Jamaat members who arrived in the state after attending a congregation held in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi last month.

A division bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Gautam Bhaduri passed the direction while hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) related to the coronavirus pandemic through video conference.

Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma said this was the first time the high court heard a case through video conference amid the pandemic.

"Goutam Khetrapal, counsel (for intervener), has raised issue concerning non-testing of all such persons who have returned to Chhattisgarh after attending the congregation of Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Nizamuddin," the order said.

"Khetrapal has informed the court that out of 159 Tablighi Jamaat members who have returned to Chhattisgarh, only 107 persons have been tested, out of whom only 87 reports have been received, thus leaving 23 awaited test reports and 52 non-tested persons who may be the cause of COVID-19 spread in the state, if they are eventually found to be suffering from the infection," it said.

"We direct the state government to initiate intensive search operation to locate 52 persons.. and forthwith obtain reports of 23 persons whose samples have been taken but reports are awaited," the HC said.

"For these 23 persons and remaining 52 persons, status report shall be submitted on the next date of hearing on April 13," the order said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An investigation into 'catfishing' is the biggest in Northern Ireland and involves 61 child victims, a court has been told

An investigation into 'catfishing' is the biggest in Northern Ireland and involves 61 child victims, a court has been told.

The claim was made during a bail application for Alexander McCartney (22), of Lissummon Park in Newry. He faces hundreds of charges, allegedly committed between 2017 to 2019, involving possession of indecent images of children and extreme pornographic images, inciting sexual acts and blackmail.

Newry Magistrates Court, sitting in Craigavon, was told that a bail application was strongly opposed and that a "sadistic" element had been identified within the alleged offences.

McCartney is alleged to have contacted girls aged between 10 and 15, claiming to be a young female to gain their trust.

He would then request images and at a later point would disclose to the girls that they had been catfished, telling them that if they did not do as he said, he would upload the pictures to the internet, the court was told.

The alleged victims would then be compelled to carry out degrading sexual activity, much of it too graphic to report.

The court was told while the defendant usually ordered the girls to film themselves performing sex acts, he also instructed some to involve younger siblings.

The alleged victims are "not only local, but worldwide, going as far as America and New Zealand", the court was told.

McCartney was arrested, interviewed and released on police bail last year while inquiries continued.

Over the course of 11 interviews the defendant made no-comment replies.

There were several releases on bail ahead of charging, and on each occasion McCartney was banned from having any device capable of internet access.

But it emerged the defendant was continuously breaching that condition and reoffending in the process.

In one instance, having been permitted to return to his computer degree course, the defendant accessed the internet and used Facebook at his university campus.

A prosecutor said: "Bail is strongly opposed. The defendant shows no regard for conditions.

"The breaches are not low-level. They are continuous reoffending.

"He continued to use the internet and the same app in order to get indecent images of children right up to just three hours before his ultimate arrest."

A defence lawyer argued that bail could be granted with strong conditions and confirmed that McCartney's parents were willing to put forward a significant cash surety.

It was pointed out that the breaches occurred while on police bail and before any charges or court appearance.

The defence lawyer said: "It is accepted that these are very serious charges and the investigation is vast.

"My client is 22 and has no previous record. He has spent some eight months on remand, which accounts for a significant time in custody."

But District Judge Michael Ranaghan threw out the application for bail.

"This is a serious matter alleging that young victims were subjected to degrading, sadistic sexual abuse. The strength of evidence is significant," he said.

McCartney is due to appear again in court again next month via video-link.
Tenants living in overcrowded accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic believe the housing crisis is putting their health seriously at risk.

Some are living in three-bedroom houses with up to 15 people and will be unable to self-isolate should someone in the property contract Covid-19.

In Dublin city centre, a double bed is being rented to two strangers for 560 each, bringing in a total of 1,120 a month.

The two-bed apartment, which was advertised on Rent.ie, is being shared by five people. In the other room, a set of bunk beds and a single bed are crammed in.

A tenant living there, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was "impossible to follow HSE guidelines".

"If one person gets it (coronavirus), it means we will all have to get it as there is nowhere else for us to go and we are all living in such a small space."

Desperation

Young students and migrant workers are particularly affected as many turn to overcrowded accommodation out of desperation as it is more affordable.

Diogo Barros (26), originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, lives in another property in Dublin city centre.

He praised the Government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, but said this needs to be a wake-up call about the health and safety issues surrounding the housing crisis.

"It's been really challenging, as the majority of us foreign students are living in small spaces with a huge amount of people," he told the Irish Independent. "So when you hear on the news about social distancing, it is really hard for us to do.

"The guy I'm sharing a room with still has to go out to work and there are five of us living in a two-bed property at the moment."

Diogo moved to Ireland five years ago, and while he loves living here, he finds the housing situation "unbelievable".

"I came here with a dream, with a goal, me giving up on this to move back home would be me wasting a lot of effort and time that I put in to be here," he added.

"When I first came here I was sharing a tiny apartment with six people. There was one bedroom and a bunk bed in the living room.

"And now, with the coronavirus, it is hard being stuck at home with a lot of people in a small space. All of my friends are living in overcrowded accommodation."

Bruna (27), also from Brazil, is sharing a three-bedroom house with seven people. She did not want her surname to be used. Some of her housemates are working long hours in supermarkets, while others have been temporarily laid off from their jobs in the hospitality industry.

"We are doing things like washing our hands and everything, but we still don't feel safe," she said.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), which regulates the private rental sector, said that everyone living in rental accommodation "must follow the Government and HSE guidelines on social distancing".

When asked about the issue of people living in overcrowded accommodation, a spokesperson said: "While there are minimum standards covering some aspects of private rented accommodation, it is important to note the regulations are silent on how many people should occupy the accommodation provided.

"During the Covid-19 emergency period, the RTB is asking all landlords, tenants and housemates to keep lines of communication open, discuss problems promptly and respect each other's positions if any issues arise within a tenancy."
A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking an SIT probe into the incorporation of the Delhi Healthcare Corporation Ltd (DHCL), claiming it was done in violation of various statutory provisions.

The petition has been listed by the high court registry for hearing in July due to the restricted functioning of courts following the coronavirus outbreak.

The plea by Abhijit Mishra, a financial economist, has sought directions to the Lt Governor to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the incorporation of DHCL.

He has alleged that DHCL was incorporated "in contravention of the Constitution of India, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act and the Transaction of Business Rules, 1993".

Apart from an SIT probe, the petition also seeks a CAG audit into the accounts, functions and role of DHCL.

The petition has further alleged that the DHCL was incorporated without approval of the Lt Governor and has sought initiation of criminal proceedings for criminal breach of trust against all the officials involved in it.

Mishra had in July last year also moved a plea seeking action against the officials involved, including AAP government ministers, for incorporating DHCL without the LG's approval.

He had in that plea also sought an audit of DHCL by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The high court had declined to entertain the plea then. However it had directed CAG to "take all care to audit the use of government fund" by DHCL, Delhi Arogya Kosh, the Health and Family Welfare department of the AAP government and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Mishra has now moved the plea claiming that responses he received from DGHS under Right to Information regarding DHCL indicated that it has not yet been established, whereas the government had in 2016 appointed several persons as Directors of DHCL.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
April 8, 2020

Today, the Company held its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. This release contains the results of that meeting, as well as an update on COVID-19 related matters.

Company Update

SBM Offshores priority is the health and safety of its staff, contractors and their families, ensuring safe operations across the Companys activities at the same time. A dedicated task force continues to monitor the situation at all Company locations across the globe, on a daily basis. The Company follows advice from the relevant authorities and medical experts. SBM Offshore stays in close contact with clients, partners and suppliers.

Safe operations of our fleet is of the essence. In the first quarter, the year-to-date uptime of the fleet has been in line with our historical track record. Business continuity protocols have been activated at shore bases, as well as for offshore operations. To keep offshore operations safe and stable, only essential maintenance is performed. Crew changes have become more difficult as travel restrictions often apply in and out of countries where the Company has operations or crewmembers are located. Crew rotations have been extended for those offshore while their upcoming counterparts are in self-quarantine at monitored facilities onshore.

In the last few days, SBM Offshore has transported some crewmembers with symptoms from one FPSO back to shore. Further tests have now confirmed a number of positive COVID-19 cases. The Company is assessing the situation with the client and the authorities.

SBM Offshore is carrying out construction activities in many parts of the world. Additional measures and protocols have been put in place to ensure the health and well-being of staff and contractors at the yards. Construction yards in China reopened in February and are now close to planned capacity. In Singapore and Dubai, the yards have remained open until the end of March. Since last week, the authorities suspended activities at the yard in Singapore for a period of two weeks. Some delays in project execution will be unavoidable. The Company is in close contact with clients and business partners to manage the situation, adjust execution planning and where appropriate create mitigation plans.

Story continues

In SBM Offshores office locations, most staff work from home and activities continue. Staff are updated on a regular basis and are supported with advice to help them achieve a healthy balance between professional and personal lives.

Activity and operations therefore continue, although with some incremental expenditure to keep operations running safely. In this regard, measures have been taken to postpone non-vital programs to reserve cash to help offset these impacts.

The unprecedented effects of the combined supply and demand shocks in the oil and gas industry have a major impact on oil and gas companies across the globe. In order to preserve liquidity and cash, measures to reduce and defer expenditure are in the process of being implemented by most oil companies across all of their business segments. SBM Offshore is assessing where the Company may be able to assist its clients, while creating a solution which is fair for all parties.

SBM Offshore announced the completion of the EUR150 million 2020 share repurchase program on April 3, 2020. The Company continues to have access to sufficient liquidity from its operating cash flow, committed project financing, revolving credit facility and cash balances.

The Company will provide regular updates on its website and expects to provide further visibility on the impact of the current situation on the Companys business and financials as part of the regular 2020 First Quarter Trading Update on May 14, 2020. An update on the status of the outlook and guidance for 2020 financials will be provided at that time, taking into consideration any further developments in the coming weeks.

2020 AGM Resolutions

SBM Offshore N.V. is pleased to announce that all but one resolutions were adopted as proposed during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of April 8, 2020. The adopted resolutions include the re-appointments of Bruno Chabas as member of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer and Francis Gugen as member of the Supervisory Board as well as the appointments of Andy Brown and Jaap van Wiechen as members of the Supervisory Board.

A proposal to implement legally required changes to the Remuneration Policy for the Management Board to comply with legislation implementing the EU Shareholder Rights Directive in the Netherlands did not get the required 75% of the votes. As a result, the existing Remuneration Policy 2018, which was adopted in 2018 remains in place with respect to the Management Board remuneration. The Supervisory Board will continue to engage with shareholders and stakeholders and use this input for a proposal for a new remuneration policy in the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2021.

Shareholders also voted in favor of the proposed dividend of US$150 million, which represents a dividend distribution of US$0.8098 per ordinary share. Dividends will be paid in Euros using an exchange rate of 1.0870, which will result in a payout of 0.7450 per ordinary share. The cash dividend is payable on May 6, 2020 to all shareholders of record as at April 15, 2020 through the bank or broker administering the shares.

ABN AMRO is responsible for executing the dividend payment on behalf of SBM Offshore and offers the Companys shareholders the option to participate in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). By participating in this program, shareholders can reinvest their net dividend into shares of the Company. Further information regarding the DRIP will be made available by ABN AMRO to all financial intermediaries.

Further details on the adopted resolutions can be found on the Companys website.

Corporate Profile

The Companys main activities are the design, supply, installation, operation and the life extension of floating production solutions for the offshore energy industry over the full lifecycle. The Company is market leading in leased floating production systems, with multiple units currently in operation.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company employed approximately 4,450 people worldwide spread over offices in our key markets, operational shore bases and the offshore fleet of vessels.

SBM Offshore N.V. is a listed holding company headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It holds direct and indirect interests in other companies.

Where references are made to SBM Offshore N.V. and /or its subsidiaries in general, or where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies SBM Offshore or the Company are sometimes used for convenience.

For further information, please visit our website at www.sbmoffshore.com .

The Management Board

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 8, 2020

Financial Calendar Date Year Trading Update 1Q 2020  Press Release May 14 2020 Half Year 2020 Earnings  Press Release August 6 2020 Trading Update 3Q 2020  Press Release November 12 2020 Full Year 2020 Earnings  Press Release February 11 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders April 7 2021





For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Bert-Jaap Dijkstra

Group Treasurer and IR

Telephone: +31 (0) 20 236 3222 Mobile: +31 (0) 6 21 14 10 17 E-mail: bertjaap.dijkstra@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com

Media Relations

Vincent Kempkes

Group Communications Director

Telephone: +31 (0) 20 236 3170 Mobile: +31 (0) 6 25 68 71 67 E-mail: vincent.kempkes@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com

Disclaimer

This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Some of the statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements based on managements current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those in such statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results and performance of the Companys business to differ materially and adversely from the forward-looking statements. Certain such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, may, will, should, would be, expects or anticipates or similar expressions, or the negative thereof, or other variations thereof, or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, or intentions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this release as anticipated, believed, or expected. SBM Offshore NV does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any industry information or forward-looking statements set forth in this release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Nothing in this press release shall be deemed an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Attachment
In attempt to save peace talks, Afghan govt. frees 100 Taliban prisoners

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 4:05 PM

The Afghan government has released 100 low-risk Taliban prisoners, officials say, a day after the militant group said they would quit talks with Kabul.

Afghanistan's Office of the National Security Council (NSC) said in a statement that the prisoners released on Wednesday were "thoroughly vetted" and had all taken an oath never to return to fighting.

The government "has received the same assurance from the (Taliban's) leadership in Doha," the statement added.

Officials said the release prisoners were selected based on their health, age and length of remaining sentence "as part of our efforts for peace and containment of COVID-19."

The government and the militant group have been discussing prisoner exchange, which would pave the way for intra-Afghan peace talks, in Kabul since last week.

The swap is part of an agreement reached between the United States and Taliban in February that envisages a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The Afghan government was not a party to the negotiations or the deal, but it has agreed to free the prisoners.

But Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's office in Qatar, said on Tuesday that the group would not participate in the "fruitless meetings," claiming that Kabul is delaying the exchange process.

According to Afghan government officials, the Taliban are demanding the release of 15 top commanders involved in some of the most violent attacks in recent years.

Earlier on Wednesday, Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the NSC, told AFP that the 15 commanders were not among those being released, and that additional prisoners would be freed "depending on what the Taliban do".

"We are doing our part in the agreement. The peace process should move forward," he added.

Under the agreement involving the US, the Afghan government is required to ultimately release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and the militant group to free 1,000 government captives.

Afghan officials have said they would release at least 10,000 non-Taliban prisoners in an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus in prisons.

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The Afghan government has vowed to move forward with the release of dozens of Taliban militants it is holding behind bars, even though a swap between the two sides appears to have collapsed.

Kabul "will release 100 Taliban prisoners today based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence, Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council (NSC), said in a tweet on April 9, a day after the same number of militants with similar profiles was freed from detention.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban finds the release of prisoners on a daily basis unacceptable."

Earlier this week, the Taliban recalled a three-member team it had sent to Kabul to try to finalize a prisoner swap originally set to happen by March 10.

The militants blamed the administration of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for delaying the exchange "under one pretext or another, while Kabul called on the Taliban not to sabotage the process by making excuses."

Asked why the government was releasing Taliban inmates, Faisal said: "We need to push the peace process forward."

A pact signed by the United States and the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, on February 29 calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year conflict.

The Taliban has vowed to release some 1,000 Afghan government troops and civilian workers it is holding.

In return for the start of talks and a series of security commitments from the Taliban, all U.S. troops and other foreign coalition forces are meant to withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa, and tolonews.com
Two Irish companies have come up with a new tech system to help shops control the number of people safely entering at any one time.

The joint venture between Redtech and Tapadoo counts those entering and exiting a shop, displaying the count live on a screen.

The equipment could help retailers that are trying to cope with advisory rules on how many people to let in to a premises while still observing safety measures to protect staff and other shoppers from viral infection.

The technology is based on laser scanning as opposed to cameras, meaning that it does not capture personal identities in the way that CCTV cameras do.

If a shop's count goes over the allowed occupancy level, the screen changes colour.

It is currently being trialled in a SuperValu store in Ratoath, Co Meath. RedTech supplies people-counting devices to event organisers. Its technology was used during the Pope's visit to Dublin in 2018. Tapadoo is a long-standing Dublin-based mobile app development company.

Redtech supplies and installs the sensor and networking equipment. The sensors are connected online using a dedicated router managed by the company.

As people enter or exit the store, events are relayed to a server operated by Tapadoo, which maintains the count and relays it back to connected clients. If the occupancy goes above the preferred level, this is highlighted in the web pages or apps. The service also supports a similar notice system within a staff app, in case the retailer prefers to physically man the entrance instead.

The move comes as retailers wait for further formal advice from health authorities on the duration and intensity of Ireland's current lockdown status.

Government sources have suggested that Ireland may be in for a longer lockdown period, possibly lasting for most of April.
NORWALK  As the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus continues to grow in the city, further straining local resources, a sign of thanks was raised Wednesday outside of Norwalk Hospital.

K&J Tree Service owner Kyle DeLucia and his niece Kayla Boyle set up a crane to display a large American Flag and a thank you note for Norwalk Hospital staff on Wednesday. Boyle came up with the idea to thank health care workers during the coronvirus outbreak and helped her uncle paint the sign.

Norwalk continues to be hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which closed city hall and schools. According to data released Wednesday, there were 644 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Norwalk, which ranks second behind Stamford for the most cases in the state.

While city hall remains closed, Norwalk began its new video conference meetings this week with its boards, councils and commissions.

According to the city calendar, many of these meetings have been canceled but some are going to be conducted via Zoom, a video conferencing app. The Finance and Claims Committee of the Common Council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to revise and approve a new budget calendar.

According to Norwalk Communications Manager Josh Morgan, all city meetings will be on Zoom and cross-posted onto YouTube. It will cause a 25-second lag in the meetings.

We want to make that clear in case someone is watching on YouTube and then wants to go on Zoom to ask a question, but discovers public comment has ended, Morgan said. Members of the public who wish to participate via Zoom will be asked to pre-register in advance of the meeting.

Information on how to register for meetings is available on the meeting agenda. Morgan said residents can also email public comments, which will be read at the meeting.

Video recordings and meeting minutes will be posted on the city website within seven days following a meeting.

The Board of Education will live-stream its full board meetings. The next full Board of Education meeting has been moved to April 16, so it doesnt conflict with the Common Council meeting on April 14.

Norwalk Public Schools spokeswoman Brenda Wilcox Williams said the Board of Education will record its committee meetings and post the recordings on YouTube the next day.

The video conferences are complex for staff to manage, so we dont have the bandwidth to stream all the committee meetings, she said. We have to prioritize distance learning needs.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
A 'despicable' university lecturer avoided jail after spitting at police and telling them she had coronavirus while being arrested.

Jane Challenger-Gillett, 55, breathed in and then spat at officers who attended her home in Brighton.

The University of Brighton senior lecturer, also known as Jane Challenger-Gillitt, appeared before Brighton Magistrates' Court and admitted two offences.

Jane Challenger-Gillett, 55, also known as Jane Challenger Gillitt, was handed a six-month suspended sentence after spitting at two police officers who attended her home in Brighton

It was revealed she was in breach of a community order for abusing and assaulting officers who responded to a disturbance in October.

On April 1 she spat at police officers Alexander Ferguson and Stuart Ellis.

But she was spared a prison sentence because she is the sole carer for a 'vulnerable' partner and has been battling an alcohol problem.

Challenger-Gillett is a senior lecturer in computing, engineering and maths.

She previously appeared in court in September 2018 for failing to provide a breath test when suspected of drink-driving.

She also assaulted a police officer, and was given a 20-week suspended prison sentence alongside a driving ban.

Then she appeared back in court in October for breaching a restraining order by brandishing a knife and shouting at a neighbour.

When police arrived she attacked them and two more officers in custody.

A picture posted by Challenger-Gillett onto her Facebook profile before the incident

She was also convicted of assaulting two police officers at a beach in Brighton.

At Brighton Magistrates' Court, District Judge Tessa Szagun heard how Challenger-Gillett told officers she had coronavirus.

She 'used the threat of Covid-19 to gain an advantage over persons protecting the public', the court heard.

It was described as 'particularly despicable'. She breathed in and spat at the officers, causing fear to them and their families about the infection.

The court also noted that police numbers are stretched with absences as officers self-isolate.

District Judge Szagun imposed a six-month suspended sentence because of Challenger-Gillett's 'family circumstances' as the sole provider for her vulnerable partner.

Her previous convictions showed her 'inability to moderate her drinking', the court heard.

Challenger-Gillett was ordered to complete nine months of alcohol dependency treatment and pay 500 in compensation to each officer, with a 122 surcharge and 85 costs.

The University of Brighton confirmed she still worked there and stated: 'We are aware of the information that is in the public domain and we will be investigating this further.'
Theres been a lot of conflicting information when it comes to wearing masks in public during the coronavirus pandemic.

These mixed messages have spread across Michigan and beyond, as our stay-at-home order continues to keep everyone but essential workers in or near their homes.

Like people in many other states, Michigan residents are being encouraged to wear cloth face masks when leaving their homes.

In this recent video from WIRED, Dr. Seema Yasmin explains everything we need to know about wearing masks. Where should we be wearing masks? What kinds of masks should we wear? Can we make our own?

See the full video here.
Ithaca, N.Y.  A man robbed an Ithaca gas station Wednesday morning while claiming to be armed, according to Ithaca police.

At 1:52 a.m., officers responded to the A Plus Mini Market at 210 S. Cayuga St. for a reported robbery, police said.

A preliminary investigation found that a man walked into the store and demanded money from the cash registers, according to police. He told the gas station clerk that he was armed, police said.

He ran from the scene with an undisclosed amount of money before police had arrived, police said.

The suspect was between 5-feet, 8-inches and 6-feet tall, and he wore a black hat, grey zip-up sweatshirt and a blue bandana over his face, police said.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and ask that anyone with information about the robbery contact the Ithaca Police Department.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.
State Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Thursday that he created response teams from within his office to give authoritative answers to law enforcement and other groups with questions about compliance and enforcement of Alabamas stay-at-home order.

Beginning today, the Alabama Attorney Generals Office has assembled response teams dedicated to answering questions of a legal nature from local law enforcement, city and county officials, business owners and management, employees and the general public about how to comply with the state health order concerning the coronavirus pandemic, Marshall said.

Members of those groups can call 1-800-232-8520 to reach the response teams. The response teams are: law enforcement; local and county officials; consumer; business; and general constituent.

The guidance issued by Marshalls office is not intended to be private legal advice, the attorney general said. The response teams were created to assist officials and the public with reaching a timely resolution" to their questions about the order issued by Gov. Kay Ivey last week.

The state stay-at-home order, as well as additional local health orders, have raised questions about local enforcement and compliance," Marshall said. "My office has established a dedicated toll-free phone line to take questions during business hours so that officials, businesses and the public have access to authoritative information.

The attorney general noted that consumers with complaints about price gouging or fraud related to COVID-19 can file their complaints here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:01:43|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- With Prime Minister Boris Johnson spending his fourth day in intensive care after his condition deteriorated from contracting the coronavirus, questions remains as to who will run Britain as the country ponders a COVID-19 lockdown.

Johnson tasked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him during his absence, but political commentators have been quick to ask how the chain of command will operate if difficult decisions need to be taken without the prime minister in the driving seat.

The first big test for Raab and senior ministers will come next Monday, the day Johnson said he would review the national lock-down he imposed last month.

The Daily Telegraph said Raab is likely to come under increased pressure to review the coronavirus lockdown on Monday as planned.

When Johnson put the country into lockdown, he said he would review his decision after three weeks, and relax the instructions if the evidence shows that would be possible.

Raab has insisted that the team of Johnson's senior government ministers operate on a system of cabinet collective responsibility, but constitutional experts point out that some duties can only be carried out by the prime minister.

Raab's authority to sanction military action is one question raised by outside observers.

Politician Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the House of Commons Defense Select Committee, said: "It is important to have 100 percent clarity as to where responsibility for security decisions lies. We must anticipate adversaries attempting to exploit any perceived weakness."

Raab said at a press briefing this week: "I've been given a clear steer from the PM, very clear instructions in terms of dealing with coronavirus."

Dr Catherine Haddon, a senior fellow at the think-tank Institute for Government, said some powers could be distributed to a number of Cabinet ministers when the occupant of 10 Downing Street is incapacitated.

Academic and political expert Professor Iain Begg from the London School of Economics told Xinhua: "If Johnson is unable to decide, and there is division over a crucial strategic choice, it does create a problem. But a key advantage of the relative informality of UK governance structures is that ways can generally be found to adapt."

"I very much doubt Raab alone would be empowered to take a key decision, but the strength of collective decision-making lies not just in finding ways of making the decision, but also binding the participants into supporting it, even if they were against it."

There might subsequently be leaks aimed at assigning blame, or claiming credit, but decisions will be taken, added Begg.

Begg said one of Britain's best known leaders, World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was twice incapacitated while in office as PM (once during the darker days of WWII) without significant derailment of government.
Restrictive measure is based on reciprocity



The government has decided to temporarily suspend visa-free entry and visa waiver programs with 90 countries imposing entry bans or restrictions on South Koreans as part of its efforts to stem the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic. This measure, which will take effect next Monday, is not an outright entry ban on foreign travelers. Yet it is based on reciprocity to reduce imported infection cases by discouraging foreigners from making nonessential visits to Korea.



On Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice jointly announced that the restrictive measure will be applied to 90 countries -- 34 subject to the suspension of a visa-free entry program and 56 affected by the halted visa-waiver program. Those countries include Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Chile. Aside from the suspension, all 90-day visas issued to foreigners before April 5 will become invalid.



However, the U.S. is not affected by the measures because it has yet to place any entry restrictions on South Koreans. Neither will be China as it has no visa-free agreement with Korea. But an estimated 1.9 million Chinese nationals will see their 90-day visa invalidated, making it harder for them to make short-term visits to Korea.



On Wednesday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called for the restrictive measures against foreigners whose visits are not essential and urgent. It is somewhat belated, but inevitable to block the influx of virus carriers from abroad, especially when roughly 30 percent to 40 percent of new infections are imported cases.



However, Chung made it clear that the country will maintain its policy of openness in coping with the public health crisis. He argued that the suspension of visa-free and visa-waiver programs was necessary to address growing fears about an increasing number of foreign arrivals bringing the virus into Korea. On Wednesday alone, 24 of 53 new infections were among travelers from overseas. And 861 of the total 10,423 confirmed cases here have so far originated in other countries.



The country -- a small-scale open economy -- has so far imposed no entry ban on travelers from other countries, except for those from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where COVID-19 originated last December. However, 151 countries and territories are imposing a total or partial entry ban on travelers from South Korea. Thus, there has been a growing call for the government to take the same measure against travelers from those countries.



South Korea can no longer maintain its policy of no restrictions on foreign arrivals as the pandemic continues to spread rapidly in Europe and the U.S. The country has enforced a 14-day quarantine on travelers from abroad since April 1. But this step has strained the country's quarantine capacity with the virus testing cost soaring as the number of travelers in isolation has jumped to 43,931, accounting for 84.7 percent of all quarantined people.



The potential influx of the virus from abroad could trigger a second wave of infections here. The Moon Jae-in administration should not hesitate to take more timely and appropriate measures to better protect Koreans from the pandemic.




Building a curriculum vitae is a time-consuming process  just ask Homo neanderthalensis.

First unearthed in the Neander Valley in Germany, Neanderthals were long known for one quality: their extinction, about 40,000 years ago. In the late 19th century, the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel didnt do the species any favors when he recommended the name Homo stupidus.

In recent decades, however, the Neanderthals skill set has expanded. They now are known to have made a glue-like birch bark tar (no trivial task), cave art and shell beads. They hunted large mammals like stags and bulls as well as fish, ducks, raptors and rabbits. And they made stone tools and projectiles.

A new study, published today in Scientific Reports, adds another talent: fiber technology  and perhaps, by extension, numeracy, because strands of string are combined in pairs and sets to form cord.

They were not supposed to be doing much of anything, really, if you go with the stereotype, said Bruce Hardy, a paleoanthropologist at Kenyon College in Ohio, and the papers lead author.
As the states recreational marijuana industry fights to be included amongst what is considered essential business in Massachusetts, a group of adult-use shops has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Charlie Baker.

Last month, Baker ordered that non-essential businesses must close amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While medical marijuana businesses are considered essential, recreational shops had to close their doors.

Theres no industry more regulated than the marijuana industry. None. Not the liquor industry, not the banking industry, said Ellen Rosenfeld, a co-owner of CommCan, one of the marijuana businesses that launched the lawsuit.

Bakers order forced 43 recreational marijuana shops to stop operations through at least May 4 as the state tries to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The decision has led some companies to lay off employees. Other businesses worry they will not be able to continue operations after the ban.

The governor has reiterated during press conferences that one reason to keep recreational marijuana shops closed is to stop out-of-state buyers from coming into Massachusetts to make purchases.

The potential that the coronavirus is going to pour into the borders through adult-use dispensaries, I think hes catastrophizing it, said Rosenfeld, who added that most of her customers live within 20 minutes of the dispensary.

The suit, filed this week in Suffolk Superior Court, argues that Bakers ban stops Massachusetts residents from being able to access regulated marijuana, which many people use as medication even if they are not registered with the states medical program.

This includes military veterans and other persons who rely on marijuana for medical treatment but are reluctant to access the Commonwealths medical marijuana program because they fear this might deprive them of federal benefits; and, persons on Nantucket, where The Green Lady Dispensary is the only legal source of marijuana products, the suit reads.

The suit was filed by CommCan, The Green Lady Dispensary, AscendMass, MassGrow, Bloom Brothers and Stephen Mandile, an Iraq veteran who uses recreational marijuana as medicine and is also an Uxbridge selectman.

Its been well over a year and a half now, people relying on those dispensaries to be open. They are a retail store, just like any other grocery store or package store, Mandile said. I dont see why we have to punish the entire industry.

A spike in new medical marijuana patient registrations indicates that some consumers had been using the recreational market to purchase medicine. As recreational sales came to a halt, the state Cannabis Control Commission said it saw more than 1,300 new patient registrations from March 23 to April 1. In the 10 days before that period, the commission received 500 patient registrations.

Mandile said that some people who use marijuana as medicine do not want to register as a patient to maintain their privacy. Some cant afford the cost of going to a referral clinic, which can cost between $150 and $300, he said.

By classifying adult-use marijuana establishments as non-essential, while classifying similar regulated businesses - such as liquor stores and medical marijuana dispensaries - as essential, the Executive Orders violate the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs and exceed the Governors executive authority, reads the suit, which seeks declaratory and injunctive relief from the court to permit adult-use sales.

Rosenfeld noted that her dispensaries, like many others in Massachusetts, took steps to address the pandemic, like increasing sanitation, early on.

Not only are the marijuana businesses themselves losing out on revenue during the ban, but the state is missing out on tax revenue from sales, the lawsuit notes.

Other states where marijuana is legal, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, and Washington, have allowed recreational stores to operate during the pandemic.

Though recreational shops are currently closed, the CCC this week allowed for wholesale transfers of existing adult-use marijuana to medical operators to help support the medical supply chain.

Related Content:
Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social investment programme (SIP), says the claims made by Senate President Ahmad La...





Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social investment programme (SIP), says the claims made by Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, on conditional cash transfer are regrettable and dangerous.





Lawan and Gbajabiamila had faulted the manner in which SIP was being implemented during the 14-day lockdown ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.





At a meeting with Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, in Abuja on Tuesday, the leaders of the national assembly demanded a reform of the programme.





While the speaker wondered what parameters the government was using to implement the programme, the senate president said: I think we have not been able to reach far out there to get them properly captured.





But in a statement on Wednesday, Uwais said some of the claims of Lawan and Gbajabiamila were false.





She said it is untrue that beneficiaries were made to meet requirements such as presenting a bank verification number (BVN) as claimed by Lawan.





That as part of the conditions for poor and vulnerable beneficiaries to be engaged, they are made to apply online, through the internet and they require a BVN for payment. UNTRUE, she said.





The utilization of the BVN for N-Power beneficiary payment is also as a means of identity (since the NIN number can be generated from the BVN) and to facilitate the tracking of payments and further ensure accountability.





The identities of the cash transfer beneficiaries are protected by law (the FOI Act), as the consent of recipients of social grants is a prerequisite, before disclosure. They can, however, be found and verified through the LGA community facilitators (CTFs) who have been trained to support them by weekly visits to the wards.





The names, wards, LGAs, States and phone numbers of the CTFs can be found at http://n-sip.gov.ng/resource-data/, as the data collation continues to grow around the country.





The Leadership of the Senate also stated that the NSIP information was not accessible to the National Assembly. UNTRUE.





The monthly reports of 3,000 N-Power monitors, spread across the 774 LGAs, are available to both Poverty Alleviation Committees of the NASS. It should also be noted that the accounting and procurement aspects of the NSIPs were handled by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on behalf of the NSIO, and not the OVP.





It was further asserted, apparently, that because the beneficiaries are not known personally to the NASS members, the National Social Register is a scam and needs to be reformed through a process that is more inclusive of the NASS. REGRETTABLE & DANGEROUS.





Uwais said the national social register has the names of people that were selected within the constituencies of the federal lawmakers, adding that no person is taken from one community to another.





Having handed over the NSIPs in October 2019, I assume no responsibility for the operations thereafter as the Ministry is well positioned to handle the NSIPs and take decisions thereupon, she said.
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday decided to recommend chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's name for being nominated as member of the state Legislative Council from the governor's quota.

IMAGE: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray wearing a mask arrives in his car in wake of coronavirus pandemic at Matoshree in Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

Thackeray, who is currently not a member of either of the Houses of state Legislature, was not present at the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken.

At present, there are two vacancies in the Legislative Council from the Governor's quota after MLCs Rahul Narvekar and Ram Wadkute quit the Nationalist Congress Party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party before the assembly polls in October last year.

The term of these two vacant seats is till mid-June.

Maharashtra parliamentary affairs minister Anil Parab said that the decision to recommend Thackeray's name as MLC from the governor's quota was taken at the state Cabinet meeting.

"Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been requested to appoint Uddhav Thackeray from one of the two vacant seats," he said.

Thackeray was not present at the Cabinet meeting which was chaired by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar at the state secretariat.

Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik told reporters that Thackeray had been advised not to attend the meeting, since the Cabinet was to recommend his name to the governor for appointment as MLC.

"As MLC elections cannnot be held due to COVID-19, it is being done to avoid a constitutional crisis," said Malik after the meeting was concluded.

Article 164(4)of the Constitution states that a minister, who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister.

The six-month period in Thackeray's case ends on May 28 as he was sworn as chief minister on November 28 last year.

Nine Legislative Council seats from the MLAs' quota are falling vacant on April 24, and Thackeray was set to be elected as an MLC during the biennial elections as one of the candidate.

But, in view of the coronavirus outbreak and the national lockdown, the Election Commission has deferred the polls.
Lockdown in Delhi could be extended beyond April 14 if the current situation persists, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday while refusing to speculate on how things may shape up in a weeks time.

Sisodias statement follows Odishas decision to extend the lockdown provisions in the state till April 30 and cmes soon after the implementation of a hard lockdown in 23 areas of the national capital in attempts to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.

Delhi currently has 699 cases of Covid-19 including nine casualties.

If the situation persists then there could be a need to extend the lockdown since the cases are continuing to rise. It is difficult to say anything about how things may turn out in six to seven days time. Any decision will be taken in the interest of the general public by the chief minister and the prime minister, a quote by Sisodia was put out by AAPs Twitter account.

Click Here for Latest Reports on Coronavirus

Odisha became the first state on Thursday to extend the lockdown by another 15 days beyond April 14. The schools and educational institutions in the state will remain closed till June 17. The state government has requested the Centre not to start train and air services to the state till April 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a video conference with chief ministers of all states and Union territories on April 11 when a final decision on the issue of lockdown-extension can be taken. However, a communication from the office of the prime minister released on Wednesday had indicated that most states prefer an extension of the lockdown. The prime minister is himself said to be of the view that lifting the restrictions at this stage was not possible.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
A patient and their family were not consulted before a do not resuscitate (DNR) notice was issued at a Belfast hospital battling coronavirus, a Stormont Assembly member has said.

Alex Easton, a DUP Assembly member on Stormont's health committee, alleged neither family members nor patient were consulted before a DNR notice was issued for someone who was conscious at the Ulster Hospital near Belfast.

Some elderly residents have voiced fears over the use of such measures during the pandemic when doctors are having to make difficult ethical decisions while allocating ventilators.

Alex Easton (pictured), a DUP Assembly member on Stormont's health committee, alleged neither family members nor patient were consulted before the DNR notice was issued

Patients could have acute treatment withdrawn to instead offer it to those with a greater chance of survival, guidance has said.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has set out guidelines on the rationing of care if the NHS is overwhelmed by new cases.

Mr Easton asked a Stormont official: 'Can you assure me that people's lives are not being decided without consultation with their loved ones?

'If that is the case it is totally unacceptable.'

The Ulster is one of Northern Ireland's main hospitals in the front line of the battle against Covid-19.

BMA ethics guidance says: 'If services are overwhelmed during this pandemic, health providers will put in place - or expand - systems of triage.

The Ulster Hospital (pictured) near Belfast, which is one of Northern Ireland's main hospitals in the front line of the battle against coronavirus (file photo)

'Triage is a form of rationing or allocation of scarce resources under critical or emergency circumstances where decisions about who should receive treatment must be made immediately because more individuals have life-threatening conditions than can be treated at once.

'Triage sorts or grades persons according to their needs and the probable outcomes of intervention.

'It can also involve identifying those who are so ill or badly injured that even with aggressive treatment they are unlikely to survive and should therefore receive a lower priority for acute emergency interventions while nonetheless receiving the best available symptomatic relief.'

Stormont's chief social worker, Sean Holland, said he would investigate the case raised by Mr Easton.

He added: 'My understanding is that these are decisions which ideally we should talk about these things when we are fit and well.

'These should be decisions with clinicians and family and carers.'
Advertisement

The poignant childhood scrapbook of the only man to be awarded two Victoria Crosses in World War One has been rediscovered after 119 years.

Captain Noel Chavasse, a medic in the British Army who was fatally injured in Belgium in 1917, compiled the remarkable 209-page notebook with his twin brother Christopher when the pair were teenagers.

The scrapbook contains more than 100 sketches and watercolours depicting scenes from the Battle of Waterloo and chivalrous acts by medieval knights in shining armour.

The notebook, which was titled 'Snow Flakes' by Captain Chavasse and dates back to 1900 and 1901, also contains fictitious accounts of soldiers fighting in wars alongside pages declaring simply 'duty at all costs.'

The extraordinary notebook, created when the brothers were 16, has now emerged for sale with militaria dealers War & Son in Leominster, Herefordshire, for 7,000.

It is being sold alongside the bravery medals of another member of the Chavasse family - the twins' nephew Noel, who served as Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's aide-de-camp in World War Two.

A page reads 'duty at all costs' in an extraordinary scrapbook created by Captain Noel Chavasse and his brother Christopher when the pair were teenagers in 1900 and 1901

Captain Chavasse (left) titled the notebook 'Snow Flakes' (right), and included pages explaining how snowflakes are formed

Captain Chavasse, a doctor and Olympic athlete who was born in Oxford, is one of only three men to win the Victoria Cross twice since it became the highest award for gallantry in 1856.

The captain, who also fought in the Battle of the Somme, was first awarded the medal in October 1916 when he 'tended to the wounded in the open all day under heavy fire' during the Battle of Guillemont and saved the lives of 20 badly wounded men over three days.

He was said to have displayed 'courage and self sacrifice beyond praise' for retrieving the casualties, some in a shell hole just 25 yards from the German trenches.

Captain Chavasse, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, was posthumously awarded his second Victoria Cross for bravery shortly after he died aged 32 in August 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele.

The medic carried an injured solider to a nearby Dressing Station and refused to leave his post despite being 'severely wounded early in the action.'

The scrapbook contains more than 100 sketches and watercolours depicting scenes from the Battle of Waterloo and chivalrous acts by medieval knights in shining armour

Pictured: A page in the extraordinary scrapbook containing a sketch depicting a scene from the Battle of Waterloo and a story titled 'Under Fire'

The extraordinary notebook, created when the brothers were 16, has now emerged for sale with militaria dealers War & Son in Leominster, Herefordshire, for 7,000

It is believed Noel Chavasse created the illustrations for the notebook and his brother Christopher wrote the stories which accompanied them

He continued to 'perform his duties' and 'went out repeatedly under heavy fire to search for and attend to the wounded who were lying out' despite his injuries.

Captain Chavasse, described as an 'inspiring example' in a London Gazette report in September 1917, later died of his wounds and was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

His twin brother, Christopher, sometimes known as Claude, served as an army chaplain in World War One and was awarded the Military Cross and Croix De Guerre for his gallant effort to search the battlefields and bring in the wounded.

Christopher, who also competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and later became the Bishop of Rochester, went on to name his son Noel as a tribute to his lost brother.

Pictured: The Chavasse family seen in 1904 with twins Christopher and Noel seen standing up at the back of the photograph

The extraordinary scrapbook also included a set of riddles (left) and an explanation of how snowflakes are formed (right)

Captain Chavasse, a doctor and Olympic athlete who was born in Oxford, is one of only three men to win the Victoria Cross twice since it became the highest award for gallantry in 1856

The pair, who were born in Oxford and later attended university there after moving to Liverpool with their father, also drew pictures of areas in the city

Pictured: A watercolour painting of Oxford seen from Godstow which was also included into the fascinating scrapbook

The captain, who also fought in the Battle of the Somme, was first awarded the medal in October 1916 when he 'tended to the wounded in the open all day under heavy fire' during the Battle of Guillemont

The twins were brought up in Oxford and later moved to Liverpool when their father, the Reverend Francis Chavasse, was appointed Bishop of Liverpool.

Their notebook reads like a love letter to Oxford, where they both attended university, and Captain Chavasse sketched various scenes of the historic city including Magdalen Bridge and the River Thames at Godstow.

The archive had belonged to a private collector who was unaware of its significance, thinking it was compiled by the younger Noel, not the double Victoria Cross recipient.

Christopher's son Noel was awarded a Military Cross during World War Two for his efforts in providing progress reports in hostile conditions during the Italian Campaign of 1943.

Stephen Nuwar, of War & Son, said: 'When we saw the scrapbook it was clear that it dated from earlier than first thought, and in fact belonged to the double VC recipient Noel Chavasse and his twin Claude, not his nephew of the same name.

'It is an extraordinary and breathtaking find. To discover something so personal is really special. Claude wrote the text, while the bulk of the illustrations were by Noel.

Pictured: A hunting scene 'for Easter eggs' created by 'Christopher Noel' which was among the drawing found inside the notebook

Captain Chavasse, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, was posthumously awarded his second Victoria Cross for bravery shortly after he died aged 32 in August 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele

Christopher, who also competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and later became the Bishop of Rochester, went on to name his son Noel as a tribute to his lost brother

The archive had belonged to a private collector who was unaware of its significance, thinking it was compiled by the younger Noel, not the double Victoria Cross recipient

Pictured: A page in the notebook explaining the scrapbook had been edited by Christopher and illustrated by Noel

'There are scenes of Waterloo and the Boer War, knights in shining armour, Ottomans, but also ghost stories, steam trains, ships and snow flakes.

'When you read Noel's words 'to do one duty', it is especially poignant considering his actions 16 years later.

'To carry on tending to those wounded troops knowing he was dying himself, you can scarcely believe the level of bravery.

'The Chavasse family was truly extraordinary. Noel was fond of drawing snowflakes, and it is interesting that the book carries that title.

'But he could never be considered a snowflake in today's sense, as he was one of the bravest men in the war.'
Burma Rights Groups in Myanmars Shan State Demand Justice for Villagers

The Mongmit signboard. / Ta'ang Women's Organization

At least 18 villagers in northern Shan State have faced rights abuses within a month at the hands of Myanmars army, according to Taang rights groups.

Rights abuses occurred in Mongmit, Mongton and Kutkai townships, according to the three rights groups. Their joint statement said one woman from Hel Htin village was arrested by Myanmars army on March 25. Then six others, including the Pan Tin village chief, were also arrested later that day when troops were reportedly searching for members of the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in the village.

Rights groups said they asked for the release of the seven villagers from the army barracks in Mongmit. They also demanded justice for a village chief in Mongton who was killed in a bomb blast.

No visitors were allowed, according to Lway Hlar Reang, secretary of the Taang Students and Youth Union (TSYU).

We went to meet their relatives in the village. They told us that the army did not let them see the villagers, she said.

Even village administrators could not meet them, she added.

We wanted them to release those seven villagers who have been detained. While a lot of people were worried about being infected by COVID-19, they detained seven people. We were worried about them and didnt know anything about what had happened to them, she said.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for Myanmars military, told The Irrawaddy that a woman from Hel Htin was arrested after she took a photo of troops passing through the village.

We arrested her for taking a photo. We interrogated her and, from her information, we arrested four members of the TNLA when we searched the village, he said.

Troops found 30 guns and some grenades in the village, the spokesman said.

We will take action against them after interrogation, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun said.

The rights groups said in Mongton Township two Moe Nue village administrators were forced to guide troops on March 29 and the village chief was killed by a bomb blast and a bullet wound.

Myanmars Infantry Battalion 251 reportedly paid 3 million kyats (US$2,100) in compensation to the village chiefs family, according to the rights groups.

The [army] met the family and asked them not to try to seek prosecution for the death and gave compensation instead, said Lway Hlar Reang.

They kept the family quiet for 3 million kyats, she added.

The rights groups asked the military to explain why the village chief was killed, adding that they would fight for justice.

The village secretary survived the incident but he did not dare to meet rights groups, she said.

They should tell villagers how they will take action against those who killed the village chief, said Lway Hlar Reang.

You may also like these stories:

Five Rakhine Civilian Deaths Blamed on Myanmars Military

Myanmar Govts Crackdown on Journalists Angers Media and Legal Insiders
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Classes will remain suspended in Baguio City until May 31, a full month after governments scheduled lifting of the extended Luzon lockdown, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said.

Magalong signed an executive order on Wednesday extending the citys class suspension, which was supposed to be lifted on April 15. But with the quarantine extended until April 30, Magalong said [We] cannot be complacent and we must continue to be vigilant in the face of this emerging disease.

Culmination rites are also prohibited during the suspension period. Schools are directed to coordinate with the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for further instructions regarding the guidelines.

Baguio city has been hailed for its response to the COVID-19 crisis, after no new cases have been recorded for over a week.

Magalong attributed the summer capitals low numbers to mass testing and effective contact tracing. Baguio has so far listed 14 cases of COVID-19 and one fatality.
As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump is eyeing something a little more...celestial, if you will, signing an executive order that will bar any international efforts to prevent the removal of resources from the moon.

On Monday morning, President Trump signed an executive order, which has been in the works for over a year, aptly titled Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources. The order stresses that the 1967 space treaty enables the use of resources on the moon, Mars, and other places.

Outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity and the United States does not view space as a global commons," the order states, adding that Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space."

This arrangement also specifies, however, that any businesses in space should comply with international law. In 2015, the Obama Administration passed a law giving the green light to American firms to utilize resources from the moon and asteroids.

This executive order should come as no surprise. Trump has taken a consistent interest in asserting American power in the final frontier, creating the Space Force branch of the U.S. military in 2018 with the goal of carrying out space warfare if needed. The new executive order, however, now aims to clear the path for businesses to go all-in on Trump's plans.

Scientists have long believed that future missions to the moon would yield major resource opportunities that could be used in the energy sector or other purposes. NASA's Artemis program intends to bring Americans back to the moon by 2024.

Researchers are investing a lot of time and resources in new ways for astronauts to live-with and take advantage of the unique ecosystems of celestial destinations. These projects include sustainable shelters, renewable energies and much more.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Voters cast ballots at Wilshire Park Elementary School in the March 3 primary, when Californians rejected 61% of all local bond and tax measures. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Even before the coronavirus infected the economy and flattened many voters wallets, Californians were in a sour mood. In the March 3 primary, 61% of all local bond and tax measures failed.

Combine that fact with the current virus-induced economic coma, and it would seem to doom any November ballot proposition that seeks to raise taxes  or squeeze money out of anybody.

But wait a minute! Theres another way to look at the results of those local bond and tax measures. In truth, two-thirds of the proposals were supported by a majority of voters. Only one-third didnt receive at least 50% of the vote.

Most of the measures that failed did so because they fell victim to Californias supermajority vote requirement for many local revenue measures: 55% for school bonds, 66.7% for most taxes.

These supermajority vote obstacles dont apply to statewide tax and bond measures  or anything else on a state ballot. A simple majority is all thats needed.

So, looking ahead to November, its possible that an ambitious, labor-backed proposal to alter sacrosanct, property-tax-cutting Proposition 13 by raising levies on business property isnt as doomed as it might seem based on the local election results.

But I dont think so. That property tax hike always had a tall hill to climb. And its even steeper now.

Remember: Another Proposition 13  a state measure unrelated to property taxes  also failed on the primary ballot. It would have authorized a record $15 billion in school construction bonds: $9 billion for K-12 and $6 billion for higher education.

It received just 46.9% of the vote. That was a stunner. It was the first time since 1994  a very Republican year  that a state school bond measure had failed.

One widespread theory was that many Californians mistakenly suspected that the school bond 13 was an effort to undermine the iconic tax-cutting 13, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1978. Feeding that suspicion was the pending ballot initiative to raise business property taxes.

Story continues

But Mark Baldassare, president and pollster of the Public Policy Institute of California, didnt buy the confusion argument.

A case [for the bonds] needed to be made to the voters, and it was never made, Baldassare told me. That was the job of Gov. Gavin Newsom and his political strategists.

I also wonder, Baldassare continued, whether something bigger is going on here about how people are feeling about school funding.

Theyre not feeling very happy about it, apparently. And that doesnt bode well for the November property tax measure because 40% of its tax take is targeted for public schools and community colleges. The rest would go to local governments.

But there were 240 measures on the primary election ballot to raise money for public schools and local governments, and 146 failed; 94 passed.

Specifically, 82 bond issues failed and 42 passed. Virtually all were for schools. Sales taxes fared better: 23 passed and 22 failed. But 34 parcel taxes were rejected and just 19 passed. Of other taxes  including hotel occupancy, marijuana  10 passed and eight failed.

By contrast, voters in the last presidential primary in 2016 felt more generous: 67 local bond and tax measures passed and only 20 failed.

Maybe too many school districts and local governments asked for too much this time.

Kudos to numbers cruncher Rob Pyers for digging through all the local election results and compiling the data. Hes research director for the California Target Book, which handicaps congressional and legislative races.

The outcomes didnt shock Target Book publisher Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic consultant who has managed many local bond and tax campaigns.

Voters totally distrust government officials to spend money wisely, Sragow says. Second, they believe theres plenty of money already in the system, if it were just spent wisely.

So you have to convince them to hold their noses, suspend their own gut sense and vote to tax themselves because the money is needed for an absolutely compelling cause.

Thats what happened when a labor-business coalition helped Democratic leaders beat back a 2018 effort to repeal a hefty gas tax increase to finance road repairs.

But many voters have buyers remorse about the gas levy, and their grumpiness is rubbing off on other tax proposals, consultants tell me.

Were going to live with the gas tax forever, Sragow says.

Thats another reason why youd think sponsors of the business property tax hike might back off trying to sell their measure until the next election in 2022. But theyre not.

Were absolutely going ahead in November, says strategist Larry Grisolano. The campaign has turned in 1.7 million voter signatures, far more than enough to qualify the measure for the ballot.

The initiative, sponsored by the California Teachers Assn. and the service employees union, would tax commercial property worth more than $3 million at market value. No longer would it enjoy Proposition 13s sweet tax breaks. Residential property wouldnt be affected.

But well-funded business opponents will argue that homeowners would be next on the taxers hit list.

Theyll also assert that, with many businesses struggling to survive because of the virus lockdown, its no time to add an extra tax burden.

Sponsors will flip the argument and maintain that schools and public health providers need money to recover from the economic meltdown and prepare for the next tragedy.

The odds are heavily with the no side. By November, voters are likely to be even more sour.
(April 8, 2020) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that people would learn more about a national model in the coming days, but he did not provide a specific date. Trudeau said its not yet clear exactly when Canada will reach a peak adding that strict adherence to critical public health measures, including physical distancing and staying home as much as possible will help reduce the impact of the outbreak. This is as 3M confirmed Monday it would continue to ship desperately needed N95 masks to Canada after reaching an agreement with the U.S. government.

Total COVID-19 cases in Canada: 17,063 diagnoses and 344 deaths

Alberta - 1,373 cases, including 26 deaths (447 resolved)

British Columbia  1,291 cases, 43 deaths (805 resolved)

Manitoba - 217 cases, 3 deaths (21 resolved)

New Brunswick - 105 cases (39 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador - 228 cases, 2 deaths (28 resolved)

Northwest Territories - 5 cases

Nova Scotia - 310 cases, 1 death (64 resolved)

Ontario  5,276 cases, 174 deaths (2,074 resolved)

Prince Edward Island - 22 cases (3 resolved)

Quebec  9,340 cases, 150 deaths (231 resolved)

Saskatchewan - 260 cases, 3 deaths (88 resolved)

Yukon - 7 cases (4 resolved)

CFB Trenton - 13 cases

Note: Ontarios overall numbers reflect cases and deaths recorded up to 4 p.m. the previous day, as per Ontario public healths reporting practices. They do not include deaths or cases reported by other media outlets or sources after their deadline.

For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canadas public health website, World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and locally; SRMT website, MCA website, St. Lawrence County website and Franklin County website
Colton Haynes took to Instagram on Thursday to mourn the tragic loss of his older half-sister Julie Haynes Held, who passed away aged 51 on Monday after a battle with cancer.

And the Teen Wolf actor specifically cited how upsetting it was that he could not be among family during this time as they are in self-isolation due to the coronavirus.

'I'm at a loss for words. My beautiful sister Julie passed away from a long battle with Cancer. My heart hurts,' Haynes, 31, wrote alongside a gallery of family photos on his Instagram feed on Thursday.

'My heart hurts': Colton Haynes took to Instagram on Thursday to mourn the loss of his older half-sister Julie Haynes Held, who passed away aged 51 on Monday after a battle with cancer

'Trying my hardest to focus on being grateful that she doesnt have to suffer any longer & remembering all the incredible times weve had togetherbut I just feel absolutely gutted that our family cant be together to hold one another during this crippling time,' the Arrow actor continued.

'I feel you here with me more than ever Julie.' he concluded.

In the snaps, Colton appears with his sister as well as other siblings on various trips, as they jump for joy in front of the Louvre in Paris, France, or make funny faces aboard the subway in New York City.

Other photos see Julie surrounded by Colton and other family members in front of the Eiffel Tower, on the beach, in the woods, or dressed in Halloween costumes.

Memories: Haynes, 31, wrote a sad and heartfelt caption alongside a gallery of family photos on his Instagram on Thursday

Hurting: The actor cited how upsetting it was that he couldn't be among family during this time, due to restrictions on social gatherings in light of COVID-19: seen here in February

According to Julie's obituary, she is survived by her husband and three children, her mother, along with half-brothers Colton, Clinton and Joshua Haynes, among other family members.

Among Colton's many friends and followers who commented with condolences and warm thoughts, some of his famous contemporaries to chime in included Twilight star Taylor Lautner, actresses Ally Maki and Alexandra Shipp, along with actor Trevor Donovan.

On top of the obvious worldwide pandemic, it's been somewhat of a difficult time for Haynes, now with the tragic loss of his sister.

Better times: In the snaps, Colton (left) appears with his sister as well as other siblings on various trips, as they pose in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Awash in nostalgia: Other photos posted by the actor see Julie surrounded by Colton and other family members in the woods, or dressed in Halloween costumes

Last October, the Teen Wolf star finalized his divorce from Kardashian florist Jeff Leatham, after a process that lasted for more than a year.

The pair initially wed in late October 2017, with Haynes filing for divorce only six months later.

And in August of last year, the television star posted a very candid throwback photo from when he was in the hospital in 2018 battling substance abuse and addiction.

Loving family: According to Julie's obituary, she is survived by her husband and three children, her mother, along with half-brothers Colton, Clinton and Joshua Haynes
Odisha has become the first state to extend the 21-day lockdown till April 30. The 21-day nation-wide lockdown will end on April 14. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has requested the Centre not to start train and air services till April 30. The state has also announced that all educational institutions in the state will remain closed till June 17.

Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases so far, including two who have cured or have been discharged. The deadly virus has claimed one life in the state. Amid the continuously rising tally of COVID-19 cases, many states are favouring the extension of lockdown.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has requested the Centre not to start train and air services till April 30th; Educational institutions in the state to remain closed till June 17th. https://t.co/z5R4a8Cyap ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao on April 6 said he was in favour of extension of the lockdown by another week or two after April 15. He said he would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the lockdown considering the current situation in the country.

The final decision, however, is likely to be taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with chief ministers of all the states on Saturday. In his last meeting with CMs on April 2, PM Modi had sought suggestions from states, especially those affected the most by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eleven empowered committees formed to oversee India's response to COVID-19 pandemic have also received several feedbacks from states on the lockdown extension. Delhi and Noida have selected 20 and 22 hotspots, respectively, where the authorities will impose "super curfew" to contain the community transmission.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 166 and the number of cases to 5,734 in the country on Thursday, says the latest Union Health Ministry data. While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,095, as many as 472 people were cured and discharged and one had migrated. Total 17 new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours across the country, the ministry said.
New Jersey officials are pressing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to open a coronavirus testing site in South Jersey as they watch cases soar in that part of the state, saying the two existing FEMA sites are too far to the north.

We need a third FEMA site  in South Jersey, and we need it now," U.S. Rep. Andy Kim said Thursday. This is how were able to keep watch. If we dont have a coordinated and sustained testing regime, were not going to be able to keep watch on the virus as we restart the economy.

The absence of a FEMA site in South Jersey has left it to county officials and hospitals to run testing sites in places like Camden and Burlington Counties, New Jersey lawmakers said. They argue that local governments dont have the manpower, equipment, and resources that FEMA can deploy.

Though South Jersey accounts for only 11% of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, lawmakers worry that the many retirees who live in the southern Shore are among the people most vulnerable to the virus.

Were seeing just over the last seven days upward of a 300% increase in positive cases in Burlington County and Ocean County. Were seeing just a tremendous increase, and we really need to make sure were on top of this, Kim, a Democrat whose district includes both counties, said Tuesday.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus shutdowns put another 6.6 million Americans out of work, bringing 3-week total to over 16.5 million; N.J. imposes new limits on grocery shopping

Officials in those areas, he said, are constantly talking to me about the difficulties of having a steady stream of test kits, of having the personal protective equipment needed for the workers at the test sites." He added: Were not going to ever get to the scale that we need to adequately understand and reliably understand the impact of this virus at South Jersey and the Shore until we get the federal government involved.

Kim and the entire New Jersey congressional delegation, along with both of the states senators, wrote to FEMA in late March asking for the agency to open a third testing site in the state, backing a push by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Kim pressed the issue with FEMAs regional director Tuesday during a conference call with the states congressional delegation. He got no commitment, and prodded agency officials again Thursday in a news conference with Murphy.

Theres really nothing else that we can do more important than understanding where this virus is in order to be able to slow the spread of this, Kim said.

 READ MORE: As Philly officials see positive signs on COVID-19, White House fears a Pa. hotspot and may send more aid

North Jersey is the center of the states outbreak, accounting for two-thirds of the cases and nearly 70% of fatalities. South Jersey also accounts for 11% of the states cases and death toll; the other cases are in Central New Jersey. Burlington and Ocean Counties have had 140 deaths as of Thursday out of the 1,700 statewide, according to state data.

Since the early days of the states response to the pandemic, Murphy has actively sought FEMAs help to set up mobile testing sites in North Jersey. The agency opened its first mobile testing site in Bergen County March 20. It was flooded with residents, causing the site to shut down temporarily after testing nearly 600 people.

Three days later, a site in Holmdel began operating. Murphy has secured an arrangement with federal officials so FEMA can run these sites until May 31.

FEMAs testing sites have filled a critical demand in North Jersey. Each can collect up to 500 samples per day and get test results in two to five days. Health officials have said this scale of testing is crucial to taming the pandemic by giving epidemiologists data on how to adapt the states response to the virus spread.

 READ MORE: Do you still think coronavirus is just like the flu? Heres why COVID-19 is more dangerous.

But their locations in the states current hot spots have left South Jersey without adequate resources, federal lawmakers say. Holmdel, the closer of the two FEMA testing sites, is 70 miles northeast of Camden and more than 80 miles from Atlantic City.

It is our understanding that only individuals residing within 50 miles of each site are eligible to be tested. This leaves over one million New Jerseyans out of range from receiving a test at any federally resourced facility, the congressional delegation wrote to FEMA in a bipartisan letter March 27. As you know, seniors are among the most vulnerable groups of people to COVID-19; approximately eight out of 10 deaths reported in the U.S. occurred in adults aged 65 years and older. The southern region of New Jersey has numerous townships which are among the localities with the highest percentage of seniors in the entire state.

New Jersey has been ravaged by the coronavirus more than any other state except New York. More than 51,000 people have tested positive for the disease.
The main entrance and exit gate of RFM Hospital where one of the patients who tested positive for COVID-19 was admitted and delievered twins on Tuesday night. (Pics: Sibusiso Zwane)

MANZINI - One of the two people who recently tested positive for COVID-19 got her results just after giving birth to twins at RFM Hospital and there is an uproar at the health facility.



The woman arrived at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital heavily pregnant on Tuesday and she was screened for COVID-19, after which she was referred to the normal labour ward, where she was admitted.



A source close to the matter alleged that the patient was aware that she was a suspected case of COVID-19 as she was awaiting her test results from the Ministry of Health, but the health workers were never informed.

The source said later on the day, the patient was assisted by health workers to give birth and she was blessed with twins. Thereafter, the source said the woman was taken to the normal maternity ward. In the morning (yesterday), the patient was informed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and she would be transferred to the Lubombo Referral Hospital. By that time, a number of health workers had been in contact with her, the source said.



Paramedics



Indeed, he said personnel from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), who are widely referred to as paramedics, took her to the Lubombo Referral Hospital. Furthermore, the source said after the incident, the hospitals management met with the staff members who were on duty when the patient was admitted before giving birth.



The source said in the meeting, management allegedly said only those who were in direct contact with the patient would be quarantined for monitoring purposes. Meanwhile, RFM Hospital Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Benjamin Simelane referred this publication to the Ministry of Health.

Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi said there was laid down procedures to be followed after a person had tested positive for COVID-19.



The minister said contact tracing would be done and those people, who would be found to have had contact with the patient, would be tested. In this case, the minister said the workers; including nurses and the other women who were in the labour ward, would be tested.



She said the process should have started yesterday, but the challenge was that they had to start by transferring the COVID-19 positive patient and her babies to the Lubombo Referral Hospital.

Otherwise, she emphasised that the laid down procedures would be followed.




By Baek Byung-yeul







Samsung Group's self-initiated compliance committee has accepted a request from the company's management to delay its scheduled public apology, over both alleged and confirmed illegal activities, for one month.







The committee, which was launched in January to better monitor the group's compliance with the law, sent recommendations to the group's management including its leader Lee Jae-yong on March 11 to make a public apology over illegal activities  including Lee's efforts to take control of the group  within 30 days.







Lee and Samsung's management needed to respond to the committee's request by April 10 at the latest but the group requested on April 8 to push back the date by one month, the committee said.







"Samsung's management asked for the deadline to be extended as opinions about how to execute the recommendation of the committee vary," the committee said.







Regarding the request, Samsung officials cited the spread of COVID-19 as the primary reason for the postponement. The pandemic has been affecting the tech heavyweight's core businesses here and there, requiring them to go into emergency management mode. "Accepting the management's request, we decided to prolong the due date to May 11," it added.







The request came ahead of the upcoming general election, which will be held next week. Also, the country's Supreme Court ordered a retrial for Samsung leader Lee, who was convicted of corruption in a scandal that unseated former President Park Geun-hye and trained public ire on corporate untouchables. The top court said the interpretation by the Seoul High Court on what constituted bribes by Samsung to Park was too narrow.







As Lee's case is being in court, the request is also demonstrating Samsung's "strategic patience," as an apology made in accordance with the committee's recommendations, could influence the court trial with judges possibly using the apology as a reference.







Unsurprisingly, the committee chief Kim Ji-hyung expressed his regret about the request saying "this is disappointing that Samsung was not able to keep the date set by the committee." He also urged Samsung to come up with the best measure to meet the public's expectations. The committee also asked Samsung to ditch its "no union policy" and come up with measures to better deal with the union issue.







Samsung officials declined to comment. But an official who asked to be identified only as "an industry source" pointed out the committee is somewhat biased in favor of disclosing bad conduct rather than becoming an independent partner that can upgrade Samsung's compliance capability to better manage the group's finances and operations.







"Concerns have been raised that the committee is too focused on delving into what happened in the past though the organization is also aimed at monitoring whether the conglomerate complies with its own regulations," the official told The Korea Times.







The committee will hold its next meeting on April 21. As the committee mentioned before it launched a website at

in March to enable anyone to report any violation case at Samsung affiliates. To secure transparency of the whistle-blowing system, the committee outsourced the management of the whistleblower protection program to Korea Business Ethics Institute.




A Rochester man charged in the March 2019 murder of Garad Hassan Roble pleaded not guilty Thursday morning.

Muhidin Omar Abukar, 31, pleaded not guilty in Olmsted County District Court to a single charge of second-degree murder-with intent-not premeditated. He has been held on $10 million unconditional bail since his arrest in August.

Roble, 28, was found by a passing motorist in the pre-dawn hours March 5 on 45th Street Southeast, between St. Bridgets Road Southeast (County Road 20) and Simpson Road (County Road 1). Roble had multiple gunshot wounds, and was determined to have died from those wounds, which included at least one head wound and another to the abdomen, according to court documents.

A second man, Ayub Abucar Hagi Iman, is also charged in connection with Roble's death. Iman, 23, is charged with second-degree murder-with intent-not premeditated for his alleged involvement. He is being held on $1 million unconditional bond. A plea hearing has not been scheduled.

Motion to suppress evidence filed in Roble murder case

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Second arrest made in March murder
Maharashtra Police on Thursday detained four people who were contacts of a COVID-19 positive woman and sent them for medical examination.

The four of them were trying to flee out of Mumbai and were stopped by the police in Tokawade. The doctors had advised them to undergo tests for COVID-19 but they tried to flee. The woman has lost her life, informed the police.

At least 143 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Mumbai so far, while the figure is at 1,297 for the state. The country is currently under lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed 169 lives so far.

Meanwhile, India's total COVID-19 cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, with 591 new cases reported in last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 5,734 cases; 5,218 are active COVID-19 cases, and 477 patients have been recovered or discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 09, 2020] MDxHealth Provides Q1-2020 Business Update

PRESS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM  April 9, 2020  MDxHealth SA (Euronext: MDXH.BR), a commercial-stage innovative molecular diagnostics company, today provided a business update for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020.



Michael McGarrity, CEO of MDxHealth, commented: As communicated at the time of our annual results in February, we have been highly focused on the execution of our growth strategy, and our first quarter 2020 results reflect that focus. Product revenues in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 26% compared to Q1-2019 and ConfirmMDx units, while impacted in March by the COVID-19 outbreak, were still up 3% from the same period last year. Despite the unavoidable challenges presented by this pandemic, MDxHealths compelling value proposition, strong business fundamentals and emphasis on focus and execution remains unchanged. I would also like to communicate with confidence the following: Our menu of tests to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients suspected of prostate cancer remains best-in-class

Our supply chain is in good order and we have taken appropriate measures to ensure the safety and continuity of our laboratory operations

We are committed to prudent financial stewardship and operating discipline From a commercial perspective, MDxHealth representative contact with clinicians began to decline in March due to the COVID-19 crisis, predominately affecting SelectMDx volumes. However, the impact of this reduction in volume had minimal effect on our revenues or cash flows given that SelectMDx is not yet reimbursed. From the physicians perspective, one of the major healthcare effects of the COVID-19 crisis has been their inability to see their patients. However, a recent article published in the Urology Times1 highlighted how the ConfirmMDx test, which can be ordered without a patient visit, helps urologists manage their patients during this unprecedented pandemic. Additionally, it points to ConfirmMDxs ability to help stratify those patients at very low risk for aggressive prostate cancer who can avoid an office follow up visit, MRI or a prostate biopsy. This is especially important for patients over the age of 65 who are considered high-risk for COVID-19 and who comprise approximately 70% of a urologists patient population. MDxHealth is geared to support these urologists and help them navigate these times. Our top priority has been to protect our people and their families, as well as our customers and their patients. Our MDxHealth team has adapted to the current challenges and we remain committed to building value for all of our stakeholders, patients, customers, employees and shareholders. Highlights for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 Total revenue of $5.9 million, up 24% from $4.7 million in Q1-2019

Product revenues of $5.6 million, up 26% from $4.5 million in Q1-2019

Growth of 3% in ConfirmMDx units compared to Q1-2019

Reduction of 28% in SelectMDx units compared to Q1-2019

Summary of billable test volume by product Territory Products Quarter Ended March 31, 2020 2019 % Change U.S. ConfirmMDx 4,532 4,379 3% SelectMDx 3,346 4,941 (32)% E.U. SelectMDx 1,063 1,165 (9)%



COVID-19 and Outlook for 2020 The Company remains confident in the potential of its two complementary commercial stage products to provide urologists with a clear clinical pathway to accurately identify clinically significant prostate cancer, while minimizing the use of invasive procedures. We believe this clinical pathway, with SelectMDx guiding cancer detection in a pre-biopsy setting and ConfirmMDx in a post-biopsy setting, will continue driving momentum and increase market share on all fronts.

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company is suspending its 2020 guidance previously provided on February 26, 2020 as part of its 2019 year-end press release. Current market conditions and rapid developments on the COVID-19 front make it extremely difficult to project future results. The Company has taken the necessary measures to ensure continued ability to provide its services to patients and physicians, while maintaining fiscal responsibility and keeping its employees safe. About MDxHealth MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company's tests are based on proprietary genetic, epigenetic (methylation) and other molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urologic cancers, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. The Companys European headquarters are in Herstal, Belgium, with laboratory operations in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and US headquarters and laboratory operations based in Irvine, California. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on social media at: twitter.com/mdxhealth, facebook.com/mdxhealth and linkedin.com/company/mdxhealth. For more information: MDxHealth



[email protected]







This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the companys control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of MDxHealth in any jurisdiction. No securities of MDxHealth may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. securities laws. NOTE: The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx, and SelectMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA.



1 Urology and Precision Medicine in the COVID-19 Era, by Neal D. Shore, MD, March 27, 2020

https://www.urologytimes.com/coronavirus/urology-and-precision-medicine-covid-19-era

Attachment Click her for English

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. (Micah 7:7-8 NRSV).

The Prophet Micah delivered the above prophetic message of hope and encouragement to ancient Judah and Israel in one of their darkest periods in history. He stressed the need to look up to and wait for the Lord, that the Lord would hear him, and that even though his enemy rejoiced in his distress, he would rise again and be rescued by the light of the Lord.

Then, as now, the children of God were suffering under enemy oppressors. In the present case, it is the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, our invisible public enemy number 1, that is oppressing us and causing sufferings and hardships globally. Then, as now, the children of God were in fear of their enemies not knowing what the powerful enemies would do to them. Then, as now, some people mocked God and his children for what had happened to His children. Then, as now, many children of God lost hope of redemption by God. And then, as now, there were courageous people like Prophet Micah whose faith in God was unshaken and who trusted that God would protect and deliver them one day.

Jesus himself became a target of mockery by people who seemed to rejoice in other people's distress. Two criminals were hanged on the left and right sides of Jesus on the cross. In the darkest hour in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ when the weight of the sins of all mankind had been placed upon him on the cross for our sake, one of the criminals decided to insult, mock, and taunt him. Among other things, he said, Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!

It was not good for the criminal to rejoice over the agony and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. The other criminal rebuked him and asked Jesus to remember him when he came to his kingdom. Jesus promised him that he would be with him in Paradise (Luke 23:39-43 NRSV).

The enemies seem to be winning at this time. A time like this calls for soul-searching regarding our relationship with God. Those who join the enemy camp by mocking, taunting, and questioning Christians about the existence and power of our God are squandering valuable soul-searching opportunities with God. Their time would be well-spent if they joined others in praying for God's mercy and healing. Christians strongly believe that God is going to speak clearly and do something new one of these days. As we say in Ghana when God picks up a stone, he does not throw it quickly; He takes His time. Remember that David used just one of the five stones he picked from the stream to defeat the giant called Goliath.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are upon us. You may recall that Jesus did not say much from the time of his arrest at Gethsemane to the time of his crucifixion on the cross at Calvary. He did not even put up a defense at the trials when his very life depended on it. When Jesus spoke, however, one of his last acts before his death was a grant of mercy. He promised Paradise to a convicted criminal who admitted while dying on the cross that he deserved his punishment of death. Jesus impliedly forgave the man his sins and gave him a pass to Paradise.

Picture for a moment Jesus Christ on the cross and the two criminals by his sides. Which side are you on? Are you on the side of the one who insulted and mocked Jesus by questioning his Messianic status and power to free himself from the cross? Or, are you on the side of the other criminal who recognized his sins and asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom and received mercy from Jesus?

At this time, a double portion of mercy is what we need from Jesus Christ. Repentance and forgiveness of our sins are what we need. Healing and deliverance from evil are what we need, and we believe that by the stripes and wounds of Jesus we are healed physically and spiritually! What we do not need is fear. What we do not need is doubt. And so let's muster courage and stand firm in the faith. If we do that, the enemy cannot rejoice over us no matter how low we fall or how long we sit in darkness. The Lord will continue to be our light and our salvation.

Praise God that the story of Jesus Christ did not end on the cross. Those who rejoiced in the death of Jesus were disappointed three days later. There was a resurrection. The darkness that had fallen gave way to God's light of the resurrection. Jesus rose from death as he had promised to the glory of God.

That is why the Apostle Paul, quoting the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea, said, Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:54-57).

Therefore, no matter how difficult the circumstances we are facing today, we have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The enemies may rejoice because we are down and in darkness at this time, but it will not be for long. Let no one deceive you that our God may be unfaithful or uncaring. We serve an ever faithful and caring God. By the grace of God, we claim victory over all areas through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter!

Prayer is the key. May God grant us the grace to seek Him daily through our prayers.

Dr. Daniel Gyebi, Attorney-at-Law, Texas, U.S.A., and Founder, PrayerHouse Ministry, Kumasi, Ghana.



PrayerHouse Ministry is dedicated to providing a quiet facility for Christians to pray individually by themselves without any intermediary priest, pastor or any other person. This is a free service. No money is demanded or accepted. One facility is located at Kyerekrom / Fumesua, near Building and Road Research Institute Offices, one mile off the Kumasi-Accra Road and next to a house called Grace Castle. If you are interested, please contact Agnes at 054-7498653. Another is located at Kantinkyiren, at the junction of Kantinkyiren and Konkori, off the Kumasi-Obuasi Road, branching left at Trede junction. Contact Kwadwo at 020-8768461 / 0246-989413.
As California and other states stockpile ventilators to prepare for a surge of coronavirus patients, a debate is emerging among doctors across the country about whether the breathing machines actually hinder recovery from COVID-19.

A few small studies from around the world have led some doctors to consider the possibility that placing COVID-19 patients on a ventilator hurts more than it helps, and may even increase their chance of dying. But no large data studies prove this, doctors point out and, so far, no medical guidelines warn against the use of ventilators.

In general, putting someone on a ventilator is an extreme measure because it involves sedating patients and inserting a tube in their mouth and threading it through the airway into the lungs. The ventilator then pumps oxygen into the lungs, taking over the job of breathing. Too much oxygen or pressure from the ventilator can damage the lungs.

But recent studies hint at trouble, specifically with COVID-19 patients:

A study in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus emerged late last year, found that out of 37 critically ill COVID-19 patients on ventilators, 30 died within a month. One report in Italy looked at 1,300 critically ill patients and found that 90% were intubated and put on a ventilator. Of those, a quarter died in the ICU.

Among COVID-19 patients from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 67% died after receiving advanced respiratory support, which includes ventilators or other invasive procedures, according to a report from Londons Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre.

In New York City, 80% of coronavirus patients placed on ventilators have died, the Associated Press reported.

Patients who go on ventilators are already very ill, and many will die even with that level of care. But some doctors in the Bay Area and elsewhere are wondering whether using a ventilator might be worse for some COVID-19 patients, or at least whether they should delay the intervention for as long as possible.

The traditional approach is to say, lets just intubate them now while we still have a little bit of time, said Dr. Jahan Fahimi, medical director of UCSFs emergency room in San Francisco. Well, in COVID, were thinking thats not the right approach. But if you dont intubate them, its going to be much more labor intensive from the medical side, to watch these patients carefully on high-flow oxygen.

Fahimi said that the Bay Areas early shelter-in-place orders so far have had the desired effect of lessening the pace of new infections in San Francisco, which means hospitals are not overwhelmed and staff are able to carefully manage care of COVID-19 patients. Thats helping doctors keep patients off ventilators longer, and in some cases altogether.

Fahimi said his colleagues in New York say that intubating a patient is when most of the trouble begins. Patients are already quite sick if they require intubation, but their condition may deteriorate further once theyre intubated.

Theres a lot of nuance here and theres a lot of speculation, he said. But theres definitely a theory out there that if you can avoid intubation for as long as possible and keep someone on high-flow oxygen and keep them awake, that they may in the long run do better.

Not all doctors agree.

Dr. Antonio Gomez, medical director of critical care at San Francisco General Hospital, said there is an inherent harm with ventilators. But if a patient has a low oxygen level or is working too hard to breathe, he said, then intubation would help  even with COVID-19 patients.

For now, the hospitals strategy is to intubate COVID-19 patients with severe breathing problems sooner, rather than waiting until the last possible minute, Gomez said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

They are safe to use for COVID patients, Gomez said. We do not believe that ventilators are causing harm to patients that have COVID infections, and we continue to follow our strict protocols.

Sufficient data on whether ventilators could be harmful specifically to COVID-19 patients doesnt exist, said Anita Chandrasena, a pulmonary-critical care physician and chief physician executive at Dignity Health Bay Area.

Critical care specialists support using lung-protective strategies, including turning patients and helping place them in alternate positions to improve lung function and perhaps delay the need for a ventilator, Chandrasena said.

But doctors dont have all the answers yet.

Dr. Albert Rizzo, the chief medical officer with the American Lung Association, said evidence suggests that COVID-19 patients may need a different kind of ventilator than other patients and may need different levels of oxygen and pressure, as well.

Its a very difficult situation taking care of those critical-care patients, especially when the ventilator needs vary from patient to patient, Rizzo said.

Regarding COVID-19, he said, we need to think differently.

Sarah Ravani and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani, @ErinAllday
The most powerful supercomputer in the world for academic research has established its mission for the coming year.

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) announced that the National Science Foundation has approved allocations of supercomputing time on Frontera to 49 science projects for 2020-2021. Time on Frontera is awarded based on a project's need for very large scale computing to make science and engineering discoveries, and the ability to efficiently use a supercomputer on the scale of Frontera.

The projects selected range from efforts to model the global climate to simulating tornadoes over the lifetime of a storm to designing vehicles for hypersonic flight. The projects are led by researchers at 34 universities across 16 states and began April 1, 2020.

Frontera is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded leadership-class computer system designed to be used by the most experienced academic computational scientists in the nation. In 2018, NSF awarded TACC a $60 million grant to design and build the system, and another $60 million to operate the system for five years. Frontera was deployed in September 2019 and since last fall, teams of early users -- selected by NSF or granted discretionary access to the system -- have successfully used Frontera for science.

"Computation and data-analytics are now an integral part of the scientific discovery workflow for many fields of science and engineering," said Edward Walker, Program Director in the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. "The Frontera system, as well as the expert team assembled to support the scientists using the system, serves as an important instrument for the nation. NSF funded Frontera to inspire new transformative ideas and explorations, and to shed light on fundamental scientific discoveries that would not be possible otherwise."

The allocations awarded this month represent the first cohort of Frontera users selected by the Large Resource Allocation Committee (LRAC) -- a peer-review committee of computational science experts convened annually to assess the readiness and appropriateness of projects for time on Frontera.

To be considered for an LRAC allocation, researchers needed to justify the scientific need for the request, and be able to use at least 250,000 node hours (with 56 cores per node) annually, with a maximum award of 5 million node hours per project. Approximately one-third of submitted proposals were awarded time on Frontera.

The projects awarded allocations on Frontera will utilize a total of 54 million node hours. They constitute approximately 65% of the total time on the system being allocated for this year.

An additional 30% of the total time on Frontera will be awarded to "Pathways" projects -- smaller allocations to science teams with a strong scientific justification for access to a leadership-class computing resource who have not yet demonstrated code readiness -- and "Large-Scale Community Partnerships"-- extended allocations of up to three years to support long-lived science and engineering experiments. (Awards for those two tracks will be announced later this month.) A final 5% will be awarded on an as-needed basis to projects of urgent need, educational projects, and industrial collaborations.

"We're excited by the strength of the applications and the breadth of science that Frontera will support," said Tommy Minyard, TACC Director of Advanced Computing Systems.

Among the awardees is Ivan Soltesz, a neuroscientist at the Stanford School of Medicine who received an allocation of 1.4 million node hours on Frontera to develop a data-driven, biologically-constrained model of the hippocampal network at scale.

"Our generous allocation of compute time on Frontera makes it possible to perform uniquely large-scale, data-driven simulations of key brain cell networks involved in memory with unprecedented biological realism," Soltesz said.

Another awardee, Caroline Riedl, research assistant professor of Physics at the University of Illinois, is part of a large international collaboration analyzing particle collision data from the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN. Riedl was awarded 1.5 million hours to unravel the mass of hadrons and the quark structure of protons. Her work will analyze past particle physics experiments from the COMPASS experiment and explore new detectors for quantum chromodynamics research (COMPASS++/AMBER).

"We were very excited to learn that our request for an LRAC allocation on TACC's Frontera was approved," Riedl said. "The Frontera resources will allow us to analyze the data collected with the nuclear physics experiment COMPASS at CERN significantly faster and at greater precision and answer questions like: what holds the world together at its core? And what is the origin of the mass of objects in our daily life?"

Daniel Bodony, Blue Waters Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will use his allocation of 5 million node hours on Frontera to study fluid-thermal-structure interactions, one of the principal challenges that inhibits hypersonic vehicle design.

"Our allocated time on Frontera will enable us to understand how hypersonic vehicles interact with the very fast, hot, and turbulent flows they generate," Bodony said. "We are especially interested in predicting and modeling how the vehicle's external surface responds - deforms and heats-up - to the high-speed flow, as well as how the surface changes impact the flow itself."

An award of compute time on Frontera will enable Carnegie Mellon Astrophysicist Tiziana DiMatteo to perform cosmological simulations that follow the fate of the universe from the Big Bang all the way to the formation of all galaxies and their massive black holes.

"The novel HPC framework developed for Frontera, driven by CPUs and on-chip neural network accelerators, will allow us to merge generative deep learning with cosmological codes," DiMatteo said. "AI methods will accelerate cosmological simulations to forge new paths as cosmology moves into the Hyper-Moore regime."

Frontera is the fifth most powerful supercomputer in the world, the largest at any university, and the fastest non-accelerated (primarily CPU-based) system in the world, according to the latest Top500 list.

"Frontera is an important national resource, helping to accelerate academic research and maintain U.S. technological competitiveness," said Minyard. "NSF's investment in cyberinfrastructure, and their trust in TACC to build and operate Frontera, is of paramount importance to the health, security and well-being of our nation."

###

[View a full list of awarded projects.]
As we continue to grow nationwide, were extremely proud of how accessible and appealing our brand is to potential franchisees and we are committed to keeping that promise.

Fitness Machine Technicians today announces it was named a FRAN-TASTIC 500 Winner by FranServe Inc., the world's largest franchise consulting and expansion organization. The company was recognized as one of 500 brands offering a superior opportunity for those seeking to build and grow their own business through franchising.

Were honored to be recognized by this industry-leading organization, said Don Powers, Founder & CEO at Fitness Machine Technicians. As we continue to grow nationwide, were extremely proud of how accessible and appealing our brand is to potential franchisees and we are committed to keeping that promise.

Brands were nominated and selected based on the following criteria:



Brand Identity

Turnkey Model

Operational Support

Superb Training

Industry Leader

Scalability

Quick to Launch

Clear Marketing Message

Alesia Visconti, CEO of FranServe Inc. says, Franchising is a doorway for many people looking to be their own boss. A brand that makes our annual FRAN-TASTIC 500 list demonstrates that it goes above and beyond the norm in helping people fulfill their dreams of business ownership through franchising. Its a brand that sets itself apart.

Fitness Machine Technicians offers service/repair and maintenance on a variety of exercise equipment on a contract and non-contract basis. The company is headquartered in Philadelphia and offers franchise opportunities in multiple markets across the nation.

About Fitness Machine Technicians

Fitness Machine Technicians specializes in the maintenance and repair of fitness equipment for commercial and home exercise facilities. Clients include fitness centers, corporations, hotels, condominiums, high schools, colleges and universities, government, and residential homes across the United States. Its corporate-trained and authorized technicians are committed to providing the most reliable repair and maintenance services.

Fitness Machine Technicians also offers franchise opportunities to individuals with an interest in fitness and looking to run a service-based business based on a proven operating model. The companys award-winning franchise currently has locations in more than 80 territories across the country. For more information, visit the website at http://www.FitnessMachineTechnicians.com or call 844-FMT-FIXX.
The opposition is putting pressure on Victoria's police, prosecutors and courts to publicly explain the decisions that led to the conviction of Cardinal George Pell.

Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien said the seven High Court judges who acquitted the cardinal on Tuesday had in effect "expressed no confidence" in the state's justice system, and that all the officials involved in convicting him owed the public an explanation.

Cardinal George Pell arriving at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Sydney on Wednesday. Credit:AAP

"The High Court has stepped in to say Victoria's legal system's got a fundamental problem  they're getting it too wrong for too long, and the public has got to ask questions about how we can continue to have confidence in Victoria's legal system," Mr O'Brien said.

"Instead the Police Minister and the Premier say 'nothing to see here'. They think it's OK to sweep all this under the carpet  well, justice is too important to be swept under the carpet in this state."
THE Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) has joined the world in the fight against the horrible COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the society.

The lawyers' union has put measures in place for tele-working to limit the risks to employees and stakeholders. It has also cancelled all non-essential travel and will neither organise nor participate in any physical meetings until the end of this month.

"We are also looking at organizing online meetings and webinars to remain as responsive as possible to the needs of our members and the legal community. PALU Executive Committee also took the proactive step to postpone our 11th Annual Conference, which will now be held from 23rd to 26th September 2020 in Arusha, Tanzania," said PALU President, Chief Emeka Obegolu in his letter that was made available to the 'Daily News' yesterday.

Chief Obegulu invited PALU members to continuously stay informed, seek credible data and restrain from disseminating false or unverified information. He encouraged them to proactively assist the government to formulate and implement measures that are appropriate and adequate to their specific country contexts.

Later this month, he noted, PALU will share with members across the continent an advisory commentary with measures, both from the legal sector on the continent and governments, on the COVID-19 pandemic that will lead to more virtual engagements.

"In the midst of these hard times, we remain optimistic that this too shall pass, and the world will rise in health and prosperity once again. Until we are able to meet again in person, the PALU Executive Committee, our Secretariat team and I, wish you and your families good physical, mental and spiritual health under the present difficult circumstances," said the president whose union has its offices at Arusha City.
On the fifteenth day of the national lockdown Mumbai reported 106 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the overall tally to 696, the civic body said.

The death toll in the financial capital rose to 45 with five patients undergoing treatment at various hospitals succumbing to the viral infection on Wednesday, staMted a release issued by the Brihnmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

However, the state government has separately put the rise in the COVID-19 cases in Mumbai at 72 and the overall tally as on Wednesday at 714.

Meanwhile, the BMC put the number of the people being recovered from COVID-19 and released from hospitals at 59, though no new patient was discharged on Wednesday.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that 313 suspected patients have been admitted in various hospitals in the city.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The BMC said it has identified quarantine facilities for more than 11,000 people across 24 wards in the mega city.

"They are being used to house high risk and low risk contacts of COVID-19 positive cases from slums, chawls and congested localities in order to arrest the spread of the pandemic in congested areas," said Pednekar.

The mayor further added that over 900 high and low risk contacts have already been shifted to these quarantine facilities.

The 106 new COVID-19 positive cases included six fresh cases from the slum sprawl Dharavi and two new cases from Mahim, including a 43-year-old man and a nurse working at private Breach Candy Hospital.

The BMC said that 51 of the 106 new cases tested positive in G-South ward.

The civic body claimed that 99 per cent of the new cases are from the high risk contacts, who are already separated from the slum,quarantined and tested proactively.

"A large number of cases in one pocket of Worli Koliwada, and several staffers from Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central tested positive for COVID-19, which is the reason for the sharp rise in coronavirus cases," the BMC claimed.

Meanwhile, amidst growing cases of COVID-19, the Mumbai civic body has made wearing of masks at public places compulsory, an official release stated.

Issuing a circular, the BMC also warned of arrest under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for flouting its order.

"All persons moving out for whatever purpose and for whatever reason in public places like streets, hospitals, offices, markets etc must wear mask or cloth mask," it stated.
The exact moment the COVID-19 virus infects a cell has been captured in a series of images by a team of Brazilian researchers using a powerful electron microscope.

Experts from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil captured the amazing pictures while studying the ways the coronavirus replicates and spreads.

In a series of images you can see multiple particles of the deadly virus go from attempting to enter a cell to being seen inside the cell.

Researchers used a tool that allows them to magnify objects up to two million times their normal size, allowing them to get deep inside the cell and see the virus.

In this image the block dots (the coronavirus) can be seen making their way into the cell membrane - the first part of the infection process

In the second image - zoomed in much further than the first - you can see the virus entering the cell nucleus - where the genetic material for the cell is kept

In the third image viral particles - seen as the block spot - have infected the cell's cytoplasm. At this point coronavirus has spread and infected the cell

The Brazilian research institution, Fiocruz, said the cells used in the study came from the African green monkey - not from humans.

Cell cultures from the African green monkey, a species of primate found in Sudan and Ethiopia, are often used in laboratory tests, according to Fiocruz.

The most important image of the three captured by the researchers in Brazil shows the moment COVID-19 begins to enter the cell itself.

In one of the images you can see several particles of the virus trying to infect the cell's cytoplasm - that is where it keeps the genetic material.

In another image viral particles have infected the cell - the point at which in a human they would have said to have caught the virus.

'Scientists used viruses isolated from samples collected from the nose and throat of an infected patient,' the team wrote.

'Infected cells are then taken to a laboratory where they are inspected under a an electron microscope - to capture the moment of infection.'

Dark spots in the images captured by the researchers show the SARS-COV-2 virus.

Research institutions around the world are studying the virus in close detail in order to try and find out how to stop it.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2

There is currently no cure or vaccine for the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China and is thought to have jumped to humans from bats.

As it is a completely new virus researchers need as much information about the pathogen as possible in order to produce a vaccine.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Details of the first images of the moment of infection are on the Fiocruz website.
First Time Flying RPA for Customer Delivery; Saves Packing, Shipping and Reassembly

SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan. 8, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) for the first time flew a new MQ-9 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to a customer location at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Typically, a new MQ-9 is packed and shipped by GA-ASI for reassembly after delivery. Ferrying the MQ-9 to Holloman saves costs and time in shipping, reducing time for airmen to reassemble the aircraft, making it available for training immediately upon arrival.

A key aspect of delivery was flying the RPA through the National Airspace System (NAS) after originating from GA-ASI's Flight Operations Center in Palmdale, California. GA-ASI and Holloman air crews worked together to ensure the successful ferry of the aircraft.

"GA-ASI continues to lead the charge towards enabling large unmanned aircraft to fly in the NAS," said David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI. "Our efforts, along with other partners, are gaining momentum and successfully flying the MQ-9 to our U.S. Air Force customer further demonstrates the safety and efficiency of RPA flight in the broader airspace."

The USAF estimates that ferrying the MQ-9 saved 142 man-hours.

"This is the first time that team Holloman has taken delivery of a new MQ-9 by ferry flight," said Col. Casey Tidgewell, 49th Operations Group commander. "It's critically important because flying outside of our training area helps normalize RPA flight inside the NAS and provides broader aviation experience for our instructors. I could not be more proud of our operations and maintenance professionals that made this happen."

GA-ASI has flown several RPA flights in the NAS while working with the FAA and other authorities to secure proper approvals. The company continues to work towards a future where its RPA can simply "file and fly" in the NAS just like commercial flights.

Hi-resolution images of MQ-9 are available to qualified media outlets from GA-ASI.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator RPA series and the Lynx Multi-mode Radar. With more than six million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.

Predator, Lynx, SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

CONTACT:

GA-ASI Media Relations

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

+1 (858) 524-8101

ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com

Related Images

ga-asis-mq-9a-block-5.jpg

GA-ASI's MQ-9A Block 5

'This is the first time that team Holloman has taken delivery of a new MQ-9 by ferry flight,' said Col. Casey Tidgewell, 49th Operations Group commander.
New Delhi: India has approved the requests of 25 countries asking for hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, to fight the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials on Thursday. The decision was taken after a comprehensive stock-taking was done.

A total of 30 countries had requested India for the drug including the US which had termed the drug as a game-changer, though the medical community still doesn't have a consensus regarding it. The clearance to export for 25 countries include paracetamol, other than hydroxychloroquine.

The requests to India not only came via diplomatic channels but world leaders personally called Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the last 24 hours, US President Donald Trump and Brazilain President Jair M Bolsonaro have thanked India for the approval of requests.

Trump in a tweet said, "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends." Thanking "India and the Indian people" for the decision on HCQ he said, it "will not be forgotten! Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!"

Brazilian President in an address to the nation said, "We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of Lupus, Malaria, and Arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil."

The UK also thanked India for paracetamol export.

The British acting high commissioner Jan Thompson in a tweet said, "Thank you Narendra Modi and the Government of India for approving the export of paracetamol to the UK. Global cooperation is critical in the fight against COVID19. UK and India have a track record of working together as a Force for Good tackling global challenges."

PM Modi spoke to 15 world leaders since the outbreak of the pandemic which includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, Saudi Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. One of the main aims of the conversations was to chalk out a global strategy to deal with the crisis.
The belief that things are not OK is reasonable; the belief that nothing will ever be OK again appears to indicate a clinical condition. A gradual adjustment to our changed circumstance is the appropriate trajectory; the feeling that every day this becomes increasingly unbearable is a pathological one. There is the thinnest of membranes between sensible and unreasonable, spiraling anxiety. I know I have both, but trying to separate them is like untangling the Gordian knot.

We have two triggers for mental illness in the current crisis: sadness when we fear for our lives and stress when our emotional attachments decay as a result of social isolation. We as a country have not taken adequate steps to address either of these crises and fall particularly short on the second.

The spread of the virus cannot be mitigated for now, but the anticipatory fear it instigates can be tempered through the time-honored techniques of augmented medication and increased contact with therapists. It is not a weakness or a failure to seek such supports. Do what it takes to head off a breakdown. It is a lot easier to prevent than it is to repair, and we have good tools for psychic overload.

Isolation, too, has remedies. Zoom cocktails and FaceTime do not temper it adequately for many people, and it is to be determined on a case-by-case basis when the mental health benefits of seeing someone you love (even outside and six feet away) are greater than the physical health dangers of such encounters.

Fear of contagion has pushed people into behavior that exacerbates depression and anxiety and so can lead to suicide  raising the mortality of Covid-19 among people who dont even have it. Lonely people can succumb to touch deprivation and need to be embraced. Dr. Tiffany Field, the director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miamis Miller School of Medicine, has argued that touch deprivation exacerbates depression and weakens the immune system; positive touch stimulates the vagal nerve and reduces cortisol, a stress hormone that can impair immune response. We should be figuring out when and how people deprived of touch can get the physical contact they need as safely as possible. It wont be completely safe  but neither is their sensual deprivation. If people are dying from going untouched, then touch, however regulated, becomes a necessary remedy. It is neither expensive nor complicated.

These are the ways to transcend pathology. As someone who already had depression and anxiety, I didnt want a crash course in empathy, but Ive had one. I feel singularly well placed to comfort those who are taking their first deep plunge into depression, and I reach out daily to those who need contact, psychological or physical. It has become a calling for me.

I can help them assess what is pathological and remediable. I know these unwelcome alleyways  and the paths out of them  like the back of my hand. Its not that an antidepressant will make people unafraid of this mysterious and awful virus, nor that a single hug will mitigate their profound aloneness, but they can help.
On March 10, a man named Cody Lee Pfister walked into a Missouri Walmart and filmed himself licking deodorant on one of the shelves.

According to the statement of probable cause Warrenton police later used to secure a warrant for his arrest, Pfister turned to a phone camera and asked, "Who's scared of coronavirus?" before sticking out his tongue and "dragging it across approximately ten (10) containers on the shelf and a portion of the shelf itself."

REAL ESTATE: Redfin furloughs 41 percent of realtors amid pandemic

He and friends shared the video on social media, where it promptly went - well, viral - with 40,000 shares on Facebook and more on other platforms. Within days, the 26-year-old was charged with making a terrorist threat in the second degree, a felony.

"It was idiotic, moronic, all those things," said Pfister's attorney, Patrick Coyne. "But was it felonious? That's going to be the question."

Attorneys and law enforcement officials are suddenly grappling with questions like that one - if not precisely like that one - amid new regulations aimed at stopping the spread of covid-19. As governors and mayors issue stay-at-home orders and ban gatherings, law enforcement personnel are tasked with making sure citizens comply with unprecedented restrictions on their freedom of movement and, in some cases, their livelihoods, during a crisis unlike any most have ever experienced. And they are doing so in full knowledge that to enforce laws meant to keep people apart, they must come in close contact with would-be violators.

"Police are put in this unenviable position of trying to enforce that," said Chuck Wexler, head of the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of state and local police executives that researches ways to improve policing practices.

"The challenge is finding a way to engage with the public when you don't want to arrest someone. That's the last thing you want to do. You want to educate the public - and not make people's lives worse than they already are."

STILL LIFE: Drone photos show an empty Houston from the sky during stay-at-home order

While law enforcement officials around the country are spending more and more time breaking up gatherings and knocking on doors of nonessential businesses that flout closure orders, they are also encountering a less familiar offense: People are using the novel coronavirus itself as a threat by coughing on officers or one another, threatening to cough on those around them, or contaminating merchandise at stores.

In one instance, Gerrity's grocery store in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, was forced to throw out $35,000 worth of food when a woman allegedly coughed and spat on it on purpose and claimed to be infected with the virus. She was charged with making terroristic threats, among other things. A man faces similar charges in Minnesota for allegedly coughing on a grocery store employee and making false and racist comments about the cause of the virus.

In Manalapan, New Jersey, a Wegmans employee asked a 50-year-old man to move away from her and the display of prepared foods she was tending. Instead of backing up, the man allegedly moved closer, coughed and told her he was infected with the virus.

In another disturbing pattern, reports are mounting of Americans threatening law enforcement officers with the virus. In Alaska, a woman allegedly caught shoplifting told officers she was suffering from the virus, before retracting that story to avoid felony charges. In Martin County, Florida, a man pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving allegedly told officers he was suffering from the virus, removed a mask they gave him and began intentionally coughing toward the officer. He was charged with assault and threatening a public servant.

"We have zero tolerance for this despicable behavior, and anyone who threatens the health and lives of my deputies will face the maximum charges," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder wrote in a Facebook post about the incident.

The fact that many officers are becoming ill with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has lowered the tolerance for such threats. The New York Police Department reported this week that a dozen police officers had died of the virus and 20 percent of its uniformed workforce was out sick. In New Jersey, 573 law enforcement officers, about 1 percent of that workforce, were infected across the state as of Wednesday afternoon.

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So many New Jersey officers have faced verbal threats of infection that state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced plans to take over the prosecution of a half-dozen such cases. Those include cases involving two men who allegedly spat on officers responding to reports of domestic violence, and a woman allegedly trying to fend off a DWI arrest. In one case, Grewal said, an officer who was spat on eventually contracted covid-19.

The reasons people make such threats, or follow through on them, fall into two categories, said Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia who recently published a book entitled "The Psychology of Pandemics."

Some are young adults engaging in "stressed-induced antisocial behavior," he said. "They wish this was all over, and they have a personal sense of invincibility anyway."

Another group, he said, has "more sinister" motivations, including a desire to be "agents of chaos."

The huge stress many people feel as a result of the pandemic is a factor, he said. "It's protracted. It's drawn out. You don't know when it will end. You don't know if the people around you are safe or infected," Taylor said. "And, of course, this is the first pandemic that we've ever seen in the era of social media and Internet connectivity, which is accelerating the spread of fear."

The charges levied against those who allegedly intentionally spread or threaten to spread the virus varies by state and local jurisdiction. But many people involved in these cases have been charged with some form of making "terroristic threats" against others, in addition to more familiar charges such as assault.

In late March, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen issued a memorandum to federal law enforcement officials around the country suggesting they might apply terrorism laws to those who threaten others with the spread of covid-19.

"Because coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of a 'biological agent' " under federal law, Rosen wrote, "such acts potentially could implicate the Nation's terrorism-related statutes." He pointed to laws regarding the handling or production of biological agents for use as a weapon and hoaxes involving biological weapons.

Grewal believes the use of "terroristic" in these kinds of charges means something different from what many Americans might understand - and even what Rosen, himself, might have meant.

"It's really taking steps or taking measures to threaten the well-being of others," Grewal said. "It's not akin to, like, terrorism. It's more focused on an individual."

Most jurisdictions agree that those offenses warrant arrest and some form of criminal charge.

But unlike others, Grewal also defends an aggressive approach to policing infringements of social distancing and other restrictions.

"Initially, we were in a posture of starting from a warning point of view. . . . But last week, we quickly shifted from warning into enforcement and into a zero-tolerance posture," he said. "That's really born out of guidance from our health department and messaging from our governor that the only tool that we have right now is social distancing and the stay-at-home order."

But Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson took a different tack in a news conference last week, advising local jurisdictions against arrests whenever possible.

"Our goal is 100 percent voluntary compliance," Ferguson said. "I want to be very clear: I don't want to have to use the powers of my office to hold accountable those who intentionally violate the governor's emergency orders."

Meanwhile, Coyne, the Missouri lawyer, said the coronavirus prosecutions are not that different from other public nuisance cases. He said he had just wrapped up one in which a man was charged under the same statute as Pfister was. He had pulled a fire alarm in a hospital.

"Which is obviously ridiculous," Coyne said. "That then caused a danger to life. You've got to knowingly do it. That's where I've seen this charge a couple times."

For Pfister's case, Coyne is arguing his client did not commit a felony because he didn't knowingly do harm. The incident took place in early March, long before major alerts and stay-at-home orders occurred in Missouri, even before the World Health Organization officially called the spread of coronavirus a pandemic.

"My argument is pretty clear that on March 10, everything was kind of normal, you know?" Coyne said. "None of us could wrap our head around this pandemic thing."
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday led a review of the Covid-19 spread in national capital Delhi, the lockdown protocols and the ability of the administration to accommodate a large number of coronavirus patients in case of a spike in cases. In a statement issued later, Raj Nivas put out a statement outlining the status in concrete terms.

What it did not reflect, officials said, were the two key concerns that were expressed at the meeting about the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at its headquarters, or Markaz, last month.

There were two questions to which there were no clear answers, a senior government official told Hindustan Times after the meeting. One, if the authorities had been able to trace the last of the Tablighi Jamaat worker in Delhi who attended the congregation. And two, have we been able to pinpoint all the clusters linked to the Jamaat.

Complete Coverage: Coronavirus Outbreak

A second government official said there were no clear answers to these questions in a city where two-third of all Covid-19 cases have been traced back to the Jamaat. By last evening, the city had 669 Covid-19 positive cases. Of these, 426 cases had been linked to the Jamaat. There were 93 fresh cases last evening. All of them had been evacuated from the Markaz and located in quarantine facilities in north Delhi.

This remains an area of concern, the second official said, pointing that the story of the family of three in south Delhis Defence Colony who tested positive reinforced this worry.

It turns out that the private security guard of the locality had attended the congregation in Nizamuddin in March. He did not volunteer the information when the authorities appealed to people who had been to the Markaz to come forward. He was eventually located after the three tested positive to the Sars-Cov-2 pathogen and health officials started contact tracing.

The police registered a case against the guard and sent him to a quarantine facility. But there could be others, many others, the second official mentioned above said.

The police already have been trying to trace people who may have attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation using their mobile phones. But it is a painfully slow exercise.

Also Read: How India performs on 6 steps to flatten coronavirus curve

The use of mobile phones to track people who violated orders to be in self-isolation has led the police to identify 23 violators so far. They have been charged under the penal code and sent to a state-run quarantine facility, the Raj Nivas statement said.

In his presentation, the Delhi health secretary outlined the city administrations medical preparedness considering possible scenarios.

The Health Department is implementing a containment strategy for all possible high risk zones.... ASHAs and ANMs (Auxiliary nurse midwife) have been trained, retired govt/private medical professionals are being engaged to augment human resources, the statement said.

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Local news reports indicate that Liberian mobile operator Lonestar Cell-MTN is succeeding in its efforts to boost coverage to remote towns and villages across the country.

In a statement from Lonestar, founded in 2001 and majority owned by South Africas MTN Group, the operator says that it has to date connected around 104 rural communities to its network.

Recently additions include sites in such counties as Grand Cape Mount, Nimba, Bong, Gbarpolu, Maryland, River Gee, Sinoe, Lofa and Grand Gedeh.

Lonestar has been quoted as saying that more than 338,000 people living in these areas  areas not previously covered by any mobile network, can now make voice calls and send text messages for the first time. The installation of these new sites means that customers no longer need to travel long distances to search for a signal.

This follows the announcement in early January of the commissioning of new sites in more than 55 remote towns and villages across Liberia.

Lonestar Cell-MTNs Chief Executive Officer, Uche Ofodile was quoted in local press reports as promising that the communities we have connected so far are just the start. We will continue to connect more communities as we go along.

Lonestar describes itself as the countrys leading operator, in a market that also includes Orange Liberia, Libtelco and Novafone.
Elsewhere, however, repression carried the day. In late medieval Eastern Europe, from Prussia and Poland to Russia, nobles colluded to impose serfdom on their peasantries to lock down a depleted labor force. This altered the long-term economic outcomes for the entire region: Free labor and thriving cities drove modernization in Western Europe, but in the eastern periphery, development fell behind.

Farther south, the Mamluks of Egypt, a regime of foreign conquerors of Turkic origin, maintained a united front to keep their tight control over the land and continue exploiting the peasantry. The Mamluks forced the dwindling subject population to hand over the same rent payments, in cash and kind, as before the plague. This strategy sent the economy into a tailspin as farmers revolted or abandoned their fields.

But more often than not, repression failed. The first known plague pandemic in Europe and the Middle East, which started in 541, provides the earliest example. Anticipating the English Ordinance of Laborers by 800 years, the Byzantine emperor Justinian railed against scarce workers who demand double and triple wages and salaries, in violation of ancient customs and forbade them to yield to the detestable passion of avarice  to charge market wages for their labor. The doubling or tripling of real incomes reported on papyrus documents from the Byzantine province of Egypt leaves no doubt that his decree fell on deaf ears.

In the Americas, Spains conquistadores faced similar challenges. In what was the most horrific pandemic in all of history, unleashed as soon as Columbus made landfall in the Caribbean, smallpox and measles decimated Indigenous societies across the Western Hemisphere. The conquistadores advance was expedited by this devastation, and the invaders swiftly rewarded themselves with enormous estates and whole villages of peons. For a while, heavy-handed enforcement of wage controls set by the Viceroyalty of New Spain kept the surviving workers from reaping any benefits from the growing labor shortage. But when labor markets were finally opened up after 1600, real wages in central Mexico tripled.

None of these stories had a happy ending for the masses. When population numbers recovered after the plague of Justinian, the Black Death and the American pandemics, wages slid downward and elites were firmly back in control. Colonial Latin America went on to produce some of the most extreme inequalities on record. In most European societies, disparities in income and wealth rose for four centuries all the way up to the eve of World War I. It was only then that a new great wave of catastrophic upheavals undermined the established order, and economic inequality dropped to lows not witnessed since the Black Death, if not the fall of the Roman Empire.

In looking for illumination from the past on our current pandemic, we must be wary of superficial analogies. Even in the worst-case scenario, Covid-19 will kill a far smaller share of the worlds population than any of these earlier disasters did, and it will touch the active work force and the next generation even more lightly. Labor wont become scarce enough to drive up wages, nor will the value of real estate plummet. And our economies no longer rely on farmland and manual labor.
The IT Act (2000) has been amended with new intermediary guidelines to make social media platforms responsible in removing unlawful content that has gone viral.

The Indian government is finalising a notification for an amendment to the Information Technology Act (2000) which makes social media platforms responsible for the content shared there. The act has been amended with new intermediary guidelines to make social media platforms responsible for removing unlawful content that has gone viral.

The Economic Times reported citing two senior officials in the law ministry who said some minimal changes to the draft amendments have been made by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, and the new guidelines are waiting for final approval.

The draft amendment was first reported by LiveLaw on March 12, 2020 and was tabled to make social media platforms responsible and accountable.

Presently, section 79 of the IT Act (2000) stipulates that an intermediary is not responsible for content uploaded by third parties. Moreover, the intermediaries are also required to act with due diligence and follow a notice and takedown regime which stipulates that they will take down objectionable content after a judicial order has been issued against it.

Theres no law however that can make social media companies divulge information about users on their platform. However, the new guidelines might just force social media platforms to bypass encryption standards to find out who shared objectionable content.

Notifying the guidelines is the only way to deal with the current situation where content is being created on one platform - Like TikTok - and being circulated on other social media like WhatsApp, while companies are not able to control it citing end-to-end encryption, a government official told ET.

With the new guidelines in place, social media platforms have to take down objectionable content going viral on its platforms, even if the content originally came from another social media site. The ET report cited the government official asking companies like TikTok and Facebook to deploy better techniques and more investment to proactively take down objectionable content. Furthermore, platforms like WhatsApp cannot cite end-to-end encryption as a reason for inaction.
NAIROBI -The novel coronavirus is racing toward a collision with two longer-running pandemics, as waves of HIV and tuberculosis infections have left tens of millions of people in the developing world particularly vulnerable to the new threat.

The regions hardest hit by HIV and tuberculosis are in Africa and South Asia, where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly. The countries most at risk include South Africa, home to the world's largest number of HIV-positive people, and India, which has the highest number of tuberculosis cases in the world.

HIV and tuberculosis are present almost everywhere around the globe. Tuberculosis has spread in recurring pandemics for hundreds of years, killing at its peak in the 19th century an estimated quarter of Europe's population. More than 1 million still die of tuberculosis each year. HIV reached pandemic stage in the 1980s and has killed at least 32 million people. Around 40 million people currently live with HIV.

Experts expect covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, to affect carriers of HIV and tuberculosis disproportionately, and border closures and crowded hospitals may make getting treatment harder.

South Africa is a simultaneous epicenter of all three pandemics. The country is home to 20 percent of the world's tuberculosis cases, as well as 20 percent of the world's HIV-positive population -- nearly 8 million people -- and has the largest confirmed covid-19 count in Africa, at more than 1,700.

"We are preparing for the worst," said Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious-disease specialist who is on the country's presidential coronavirus task force.

That vulnerability has spurred the government there to take quicker and more drastic action in attempting to slow the spread of coronavirus. It has also meant that HIV and tuberculosis experts are well-represented on the country's coronavirus task force.

"When you look at the data from Wuhan, the worst affected were above 70 years old," Karim said. "We are preparing for a scenario where it looks similar in HIV and tuberculosis patients - a death rate in the region of 10 percent."

Covid-19 hasn't been around long enough for conclusive studies to be completed on its relationship with immune disorders, but the risks are readily apparent. Tuberculosis is primarily a respiratory disease, like coronavirus, which means that those who suffer from it often have severely diminished lung health. And HIV causes a progressive failure of immune systems, leaving carriers more susceptible to death from other infections.

Some experts fear deaths from tuberculosis in India could double in the next year or two. Already, more than 1,000 Indians die of tuberculosis every day.

For tuberculosis survivors like Deepti Chavan, 37, covid-19 is a terrifying prospect. She was cured of a multi-drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis in 2005, but lost one of her lungs. Her remaining right lung is ravaged by a type of fungus.

She has spent most of the last month isolated in the one-bedroom apartment she shares with her parents in Mumbai. She stays in the bedroom, and her parents eat and sleep in the living room.

If the coronavirus is "taking the lives of normal healthy people with two lungs, I don't think we have any chance of surviving," she said. Her only option is to isolate herself until the pandemic is over. "I won't be able to come out even after the government says it's safe to venture out," she said.

Experts are basing some of their assumptions about how covid-19 will interact with HIV and tuberculosis on studies that link them with influenza, even if the comparison is inexact. The coronavirus has proven to be deadlier than the common flu, especially among the elderly, and the working assumption of most experts is that it will also have a greater effect on immunocompromised populations.

"Modeling studies suggest more flu and more severe flu in tuberculosis patients than in someone who is healthy. And in some cases, flu can trigger active tuberculosis in latent tuberculosis cases. The flu can act as a stressor, and a trigger," said Nesri Padayatchi, who has studied tuberculosis in South Africa for 25 years. More than 2 billion people around the world carry a latent form of tuberculosis.

But even if experts' worst fears about the interaction of the diseases aren't true, ruptures in pharmaceutical supply chains due to border closures as well as the diversion of local medical resources away from HIV and tuberculosis treatment could still jeopardize millions of lives.

"The collateral damage of all this is going to be immense," said Madhukar Pai, an epidemiologist who heads the McGill International TB Centre in Canada. If covid-19 spreads widely in lower-income countries, all the gains made against tuberculosis in recent years will be "unraveled," he said.

Initial reports from China and South Korea indicate that the coronavirus has already disrupted care for tuberculosis patients in those countries, said Pai. Medical personnel are being diverted to tend to people infected with the coronavirus, and wards for patients suffering from drug-resistant tuberculosis have been repurposed to serve as coronavirus isolation wards.

Countries with poorer health systems in eastern and southern Africa that, unlike India, don't have pharmaceutical industries are also facing the prospect of running out of drugs.

Kenya's borders have been closed for weeks, and the supply of antiretroviral drugs is uncertain. Like many African countries, Kenya limits antiretroviral drug users to one-month prescriptions because of limited supply. Now, the crowds that gather at clinics every month to collect the drugs are ideal locations for the coronavirus to spread.

Experts are particularly worried about countries like Kenya, but unsurprisingly, attention has been concentrated on South Africa, which continues to bear the brunt of both the HIV and TB pandemics.

The country is the midst of a three-week lockdown, and 10,000 health workers are going door-to-door across the country to test people, as well as to locate where people with HIV and tuberculosis are living.

That challenge is compounded by an estimated 2 million South Africans who have HIV but are undiagnosed, and a large number of other people who are thought to be taking their antiretroviral drugs inconsistently, which can leave the immune system more vulnerable.

"We're rapidly establishing a central data repository that will house all strategic information, such as people's HIV status, for example, as well as other medical records," said Ian Sanne, another member of South Africa's coronavirus task force, who is designing interventions in consultation with President Cyril Ramaphosa. "That data can be combined with related movement data. Since this is deemed a national security issue, we are able to use people's cellphone data to a certain extent to monitor movements, too."

The data will be used to identify locations where hot spots are likely to occur - or are occurring already - and where to build field treatment centers, said Sanne.

India is also in the middle of a three-week lockdown, including a ban on nearly all public transportation. More than 1.3 billion people have been asked to stay in their homes except to buy food or medicine. That has spurred an exodus of workers who are leaving cities on foot after their jobs disappeared and they faced a struggle for survival.

While India and South Africa have relatively robust medical systems compared to those of other developing countries, the lockdowns have left millions with HIV and tuberculosis uncertain of how they will access the treatments necessary to manage their chronic conditions. The lockdowns in effect thrust a disproportionate impact of the coronavirus onto poorer and sicker people.

"Ensuring continuity of treatment for the already sick is at the top of our agenda," said Michel Yao, the World Health Organization's emergency operations manager in Africa. He stressed that in the developing world, it isn't just HIV and tuberculosis that governments should worry about, but malaria, which affects more than 200 million people annually, mostly in Africa, and malnutrition, which affects nearly 1 billion.

Public health activists are urging swift action from governments across the developing world to ensure HIV and tuberculosis patients don't lose access to treatment.

Kenya, despite only having recorded just over 170 confirmed covid-19 cases, is likely to impose a lockdown in the coming days, and the country's health ministry has already begun strongly advising people not to leave their homes. But the guidance on one-month antiretroviral prescriptions remains in place.

"If a lockdown comes to Kenya, a complete one, we simply don't know if there are enough [antiretroviral drugs] in the country to treat our HIV-positive people, or what strategy the government has to get them," said Nelson Otuoma, who directs a nonprofit that advocates for people with HIV in Kenya.

"HIV-positive people here are more scared they won't get treatment, or won't even be let into the hospital, than of getting this new disease."

- - -

Slater reported from New Delhi.
In a few small ways, Pope Francis is a traditionalist. He opposes abortion, gay "marriage" (although he supports gay civil unions), and the notion of infinite genders.

In most other ways, though, the pope constantly demonstrates that he emerged from a Marxist background. Despite being the Catholic Church's pre-eminent man of God, he has a Gaia-centric view of nature. He also brings a Marxist's understanding of economics (i.e., simplistic and wrong) to the papacy. That's why, on Wednesday, the pope suggested that COVID-19 is the Earth's revenge for climate change and then implied that politicians concerned about the economy are akin to Hitler in 1933.

To understand how the head of the Catholic Church can make statements so perfectly aligned with leftism, one has to go back to the left's long march through the Church.

The Latin American Catholic Church went leftist in the 1950s and 1960s, when it developed "liberation theology." This was also when Pope Francis came of age as a Catholic priest. "Liberation theology" is a pure leftist doctrine tacked onto Catholicism:

Liberation theology proposes to fight poverty by addressing its alleged source: sin. In so doing, it explores the relationship between Christian theology  especially Roman Catholic theology  and political activism, especially in relation to social justice, poverty, and human rights. The principal methodological innovation is seeing theology from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed.

Liberation theology's defining concept is "social justice." That's how a Latin American leftist now heads the institution that, under Pope John Paul II, once stood firmly with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the West's existential fight against socialism.

Francis's push to the left began early in his papacy, when, in December 2013, he preached economic Marxism to the flock. The pope's Marxist worldview also means he supports the whole idea of anthropogenic climate change. In his 2015 encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si', Pope Francis said climate change is real and is primarily "a result of human activity."

Both these beliefs came to the fore on Wednesday, when The Tablet and Commonwealth magazines published an email interview with the pope. Regarding COVID-19, Francis reverted to animism  that is, the view of nature as a living, god-like being:

"We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods?" the Pope said. "I don't know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature's responses," he added.

Ignore the silliness of glacial melt. What's significant is that this viewpoint is totally antithetical to Judeo-Christian doctrine. The Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, long ago abandoned animism in favor of a single divine entity that created the Earth and all that is upon it.

In the same interview, Pope Francis took a swipe at Donald Trump, who is very worried that extreme measures against COVID-19 will destroy the American economy, leading to depression and everything that flows from it (e.g., suicide, depression-related health events, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc.). That's not how Pope Francis sees things:

The Pope also warned against the rise of populist politicians  who he said are giving speeches reminiscent of Hitler in 1933  and others who are focusing solely on the economy.

The Catholic Church has survived for close to 2,000 years, so it's not likely that a single Marxist pope can destroy it. Nevertheless, traditionalists have to be worried when the pope starts speaking of Gaia with the same immediacy with which he speaks of God. Moreover, everyone should look askance at a pope who joins with the world's Marxists to attack Trump with Hitler insults because Trump is worried about the economic costs attendant upon flowing from the same questionable models that have led to twenty years of climate change hysteria.

File photo credit: Casa Rosada.
With COVID-19 global pandemic the governing body of ISKCON (GBC) has advised all devotees across the globe to support the government body of their country by following due instructions.

All devotees have been advised to observe Isolation and not to visit the temple or even move out of their houses all across the globe.

ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Spiritual leader Radhanath Swami Maharaj said, "All our lectures and classes, Sunday programmes and meditation continue in full swing even now but the difference is that now everything is happening online and not in person. We have requested all devotees to continue with their sadhana bhakti from their homes."

"We have ensured that all devotees are connected with their respective temples in their city through online classes, meetings on zoom & hangouts and they can take online darshan of Radha Krishna deities and are advised to chant extra round for the benefit of mankind. Online yoga classes have been started for adults and separate online yoga classes for kids through Govardhan Eco Village. All retreats, yoga classes, conferences and Sunday feasts are all cancelled," he added.

"It is our moral duty to come forward and contribute to what best we can in the current situation. ISKCON through its various projects has been contributing to society. All our temples across Globe are preparing meals and distributing to needy, casual workers near the temple on a daily basis since lockdown. In Mumbai Radha Gopinath Temple is serving free lunch packets daily for 700 volunteers to our local BMC ward."

"The ISKCON temple in Delhi is currently distributing 1 lakh meals in the afternoon and evening to daily wage workers. We plan to increase the number of meals to 5 lakhs in due course of time with the help of donations from devotees," he further stated.

"We are supplying regularly lunch and dinner comprising of rice, daal and sabji to at least 4000 villagers around GEV in Wada especially to stranded and needy people along with the government officials on duty in the wake of the emergency for fighting against the novel Coronavirus," said Gauranga Das, Director - Strategy & Collaborations - Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV)

"ISKCON family is widespread across the world and in this panic situation, we are trying to reach out to all devotees across the globe to extend our support. We are launching our website this week "ISKCON Coronavirus Resource Center" which will connect devotees all across the world to assist in this COVID-19 situation. This website will have a dashboard of Reported cases of COVID-19 in ISKCON Community, Confirmed cases, Suspected cases and departed soul due to COVID-19," he added.

This website will have "Prayer Board", "Covid Knowledge Forum", "Information for Communities", "Ask the ISKCON leader", "Ask the Devotee Doctor" where devotees all across the globe can post questions about COVID-19 to devotee medical professional.

"Volunteer to protect devotee" where devotees all across the globe who wants to volunteer medical help or providing meals to devotees who are in isolation can provide their details and thereby extend help.

"Report Suspected COVID patients" where devotees can report about their sickness to ensure the required support is extended.

"Temple wise or zone wise distribution of aids" and another session "Donate for COVID-19 victim" where devotees all across the globe can donate at their own free will and the funds can be used for the devotee fighting COVID-19 battle all across the globe," said Gauranga Das.

"Ours is a satellite licensed 24X7 television channel dedicated to connecting viewers to almighty. During these difficult days, Hare Krsna TV is providing soul cooling music, mesmerizing dhuns, motivational programs by Gauranga Das, Gaura Gopal Das, Jay Shetty, and others. Since we don't entertain ads on our TV channels devotees can enjoy uninterrupted programs," said Dr B. C. Shah, Director of 'Hare Krsna' TV Channel.

Radha Krishna Das, Administrative Advisor Annamrita said, "Now amongst this COVID-19 situation Annamrita took this challenge to serve nutritious lunch to all the municipal wards every day through our dedicated staff following WHO guidelines to all the Municipal staff in 24 wards."

"This includes people dedicatedly serving in departments of Solid waste management, Maintenance department, Public Health Department, Water Department, Social justice department, Disaster management department, and Hospital staff etc," he stated.

"We are also providing khichdi to families staying in slums in various locations in Maharashtra and also to construction workers and their families on various construction sites in Mumbai. Every day around 15,000 municipal employees and 10000 casual workers and slum residents are benefitted by Annamrita's khichadi," he further stated.

Radha Krishna Das added, "Annamrita Foundation has also started serving meals in hospitals in Mumbai to almost 5000 plus on daily bases, Health care staff includes Doctors, Nurses, Assistant staff, pathology staff, and office assistants. Major hospitals including Kasturba hospital, Maa Hospital Chembur, Shatabdi Hospital Govandi, GTB hospital patients, BL Nair Hospital and has further received meal also now there is a request from JJ Hospital & St George hospital to supply meals for almost 1000 staff."

"We have begin ICU and Isolation facilities for COVID-19 patients at Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi - Tembha Hospital (Municipal Hospital), Mira Bhayander in coordination with Municipal Commissioner of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra," said Dr Ajay Sankhe, Director Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute, which is founded by devotees of ISKCON.

"We are currently handling 47 patients including 13 COVID-19 positive patients. We have started collecting the samples through our Pathology Partner - 'Apoorva Diagnostics' which is a NABL approved lab. The collected samples are then sent to the ICMR approved labs for processing. The charges for the tests are placed at Rs. 4500," he added.

"In the last couple of weeks, while many other hospitals and nursing homes in the vicinity are not functioning, we are continuing our services for the welfare of the community," he further stated.

"Our medical and paramedical team of more than 600 is tirelessly working 24x7 risking their lives and we are treating 500-600 regular patients daily and 60-70 indoor patients which are mainly in ICU and ICCU. Our main speciality doctors are available to manage other emergency cases as well. We have also arranged pick-up and drop services for our staff who are coming from far off places," Dr Sankhe said.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gov. Wolfs decision to close schools for the rest of the academic year wasnt a surprise considering the continued spread of the coronavirus and rising number of Covid-19 deaths across the state.

But the news brings mixed reactions.

While school district leaders are hugely disappointed, there also is a sense of relief from the clarity of the decision, said Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.

Previously, superintendents had to prepare several different instructional plans just in case students returned to classrooms. Now, they can focus on remote learning to finish out the school year.

I think today, nobody is happy, DiRocco said. But most school districts would tell you that they wanted something definite. Now we know. Lets roll up our sleeves and get to work.

The decision takes school leaders into uncharted territory, where they face numerous difficult decisions.

Who will graduate?

How will kids move to the next grade level?

Is it possible to have a graduation ceremony? Or how could districts have a virtual ceremony?

Meanwhile, schools officials and students will be grieving the loss of prom, spring sports, musicals, field days, and end-of-the year ceremonies.

All those things are off the table now, DiRocco said. School districts are receiving the notice and starting to absorb the news.

While school districts dont have to provide continued education for the rest of the year, the state department of education is strongly encouraging it. An emergency school law that Wolf signed recently waived the required number of instructional days this school year, locked in pay for most school employees and asked districts to submit continuity of education plans to the department. About half of the districts across Pa. have submitted plans.

Many local districts started online assignments this week that students are expected to complete even though most districts arent grading those assignments. Previously, students were simply encouraged to do enrichment activities.

Most people still favor face-to-face instruction, and students being able to work collaboratively, but there are advantages to online learning, DiRocco said. Most districts are offering online assignments that can be done at the students convenience. Students can sleep in if they want to and review video lectures multiple times, if necessary.

There is an abundance of online resources that teachers often cant take advantage of because they are so focused on classroom teaching, DiRocco said. This situation provides an opportunity to use those augmented features.

School districts may have to spend some time on assessment and review next school year, to see where students are academically. The amount of review that will be required will depend on how well school districts deliver instruction remotely in these final eight weeks or so, DiRocco said.

Some school subjects translate better to online or remote learning than others. Social studies and language arts could be easier to teach online than science, speech class and technical education.

You cant really do science labs at home, DiRocco said. Same thing for students in career and technical education. You cant really do welding or work on a diesel engine at home.

Its really going to depend on the subject area, DiRocco said. Some classes will be fine remotely and others are going to be more difficult.

The state department of education obtained two online platforms that school districts can use for free, which will help districts upload assignments and track student participation without having to create their own platforms.

Everyone is going to do their best to close out the school year and have seniors ready for their next steps and all other students ready to move up, DiRocco said. School districts will get it done. They will rise to the occasion.

READ: Pa. school districts jump into remote learning: This is not a normal situation for anybody

READ: Harrisburg schools cant reach all students online, so theyre going to try public television
Among people who were tested:

11 percent of those under 25 were positive.

17 percent of those between 25 and 45 were positive.

21 percent of those between 45 and 65 were positive.

22 percent of those between 65 and 85 were positive.

24 percent of those over 85 were positive.

Tests for the coronavirus are provided if people show symptoms such as a dry cough, fever or shortness of breath. Women are slightly more likely to get tested than men, although men seem to be more susceptible to the coronavirus, said Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House. Among women who were tested, 16 percent were positive; 23 percent of men who were tested had coronavirus infections.

The data, while disturbing, does not come entirely as a surprise. Similar trends have been observed in China and Italy, where men were both infected and succumbed to the coronavirus at higher rates than women.

To all of our men out there, no matter what age group, if you have symptoms, you should be tested, Dr. Birx said.

But one American man did not seem all that excited about wide-scale testing: President Trump.

The president expressed reluctance to wait for comprehensive national testing before reopening the country for business and social life again. While he boasted that testing has increased drastically in recent days, he said it would be implausible to expect that the whole country could be screened for the virus as a condition of restoring normal life.

Do you need it? No, he said at his daily briefing. Is it nice? Yes. Were talking 325 million people. Thats not going to happen, as you can imagine.

Even though more than 1,000 people are now dying every day in the United States, new infections have slowed in places where stringent measures have been in place for more than two weeks, offering some hope.

OPEC and Russia reach a deal to cut oil production amid lower demand.
The year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

Georgieva made the remarks during her address on Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy here ahead of next week's annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"Today, the world is confronted with a crisis like no other. COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory," she said.

The virus is causing a tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people. What was normal just a few weeks ago going to school, going to work, being with family and friends is now a huge risk, she said.

Observing that the world is faced with extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this crisis, she said that it is already clear, however, that global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020.

In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression, Georgieva said.

Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020. Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year, she said.

The Great Depression was the worst worldwide economic downturn that lasted for 10 years from 1929, beginning in the US when the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street crashed and wiped out millions of investors.

The IMF chief said that given the necessary containment measures to slow the spread of the virus, the world economy is taking a substantial hit.

This is especially true for retail, hospitality, transport, and tourism. In most countries, the majority of workers are either self-employed or employed by small and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses and workers are especially exposed, she added.

Of the view that emerging markets and low-income nations across Africa, Latin America, and much of Asia are at high risk, Georgieva said with weaker health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option.

With fewer resources to begin with, they are dangerously exposed to the ongoing demand and supply shocks, drastic tightening in financial conditions, and some may face an unsustainable debt burden, she said.

In the last two months, portfolio outflows from emerging markets were about USD 100 billion, more than three times larger than for the same period of the global financial crisis.

Commodity exporters are taking a double blow from the collapse in commodity prices and remittances, the lifeblood of so many poor people, are expected to dwindle, she said.

The IMF, she said, estimates the gross external financing needs for emerging markets and developing countries to be in the trillions of dollars, and they can cover only a portion of that on their own, leaving residual gaps in the hundreds of billions of dollars. They urgently need help, she said.

However, encouraging is that all governments have sprung into action and, indeed, there has been significant coordination.

Countries around the world have taken fiscal actions amounting to about USD 8 trillion. In addition, there have been massive monetary measures from the G20 and others, she said.

As such, Georgieva said that there is need to continue with essential containment measures and support for health systems, shield affected people and firms with large, timely, targeted fiscal and financial sector measures, and reduce stress to the financial system and avoid contagion.

Even as we move through this containment phase, we must plan for recovery, she added.

COVID-19, which originated in China, has globally claimed 88,538 lives and infected nearly 1.5 million people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Someone is really 'lovin' McDonald's coffee.

A wild video filmed last month in Washington shows a man using his trusted drone to get his hands on some coffee during the state's shelter-in-place order.

The brief footage was captured on March 22 in Renton, a small city just 11 miles southeast of Seattle.

Scroll down for video

The brief footage was captured on March 22 in Renton, a small city just 11 miles southeast of Seattle

The drone can be seen flying over the small city as it makes its way to the McDonald's

The thirsty coffee fanatic sends off the drone and includes in the video a brief snippet of his call with McDonald's staff.

'Good morning are you guys open,' the man says in the clip, before telling them that he has placed an order for the caffeinated beverage.

'But I'm not able to go outside because of the quarantine and stuff,' he adds.

He asks can staff take the coffee outside as he is sending his drone to retrieve the beverage.

An employee can be seen coming out of the store with a coffee and she does look to have a phone in her hand

The employee passes the coffee off to another, who situates the coffee neatly into the vessel made for its journey. The coffee then takes off in the sky

The footage shows the drone flying over the city and eventually making its way to the McDonalds.

An employee can be seen coming out of the store with a coffee and she does look to have a phone in her hand. The employee passes the coffee off to another, who situates the coffee neatly into the vessel made for its journey.

The coffee makes the difficult journey back in the drone, blowing in the wind as it makes its way to the Renton home.

The coffee drinker quickly snatches his prize from out of the carrier and enjoys, not wiping down the container before taking a sip.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an extension of the national lockdown. The lockdown will be extended by another two weeks, beyond the original 21 days.

Most of the initial lockdown measures will remain in place until the end of April, said the president.

We are only at the beginning of a monumental struggle, said Ramaphosa. If we end the lockdown too soon, we risk a resurgence of the disease.

He added that risk-adjusted measures will be assessed to ensure certain businesses can return to operation.

We did not take this decision lightly, said Ramaphosa.

The priority for the government is to ensure there is not a massive loss of life, while at the same time not allowing the economy to collapse.

This will see healthcare efforts ramped up, along with financial packages for local businesses.

Huge impact on the economy

The decision to extend the lockdown will have a negative impact on South Africas economy, and the SA Reserve Bank has estimated that as it stands, there will be a net loss of 370,000 jobs in the country this year.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 South African businesses could also shut down permanently due to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

This is according to Efficient Group economist Dawie Roodt, who told MyBroadband the crisis will damage an economy that was already crippled before the virus hit.

Roodt said that South Africa would have to start asking serious questions about economic growth and the relationship between poverty and mortality rates.

The single biggest killer on this planet is not COVID-19, or measles or cancer. The single biggest killer on this planet is poverty, Roodt stated.

Pay cuts

Large South African companies have announced drastic measures to cope with the coronavirus lockdown in South Africa, which include salary cuts and 4-day work weeks.

EOH CEO Stephen Van Coller recently unveiled a list of stringent measures to dramatically cut costs and manage liquidity at the company.

In a letter to staff, Van Coller said their key focus is to manage the business in an environment where they can expect a substantial drop in revenue.

Edcon CEO Grant Pattison recently informed their suppliers they will not be able to pay them.

He said the company, which operates Edgars and Jet, only has enough money to pay salaries and is facing a trading slump after the lockdown was announced.

Cases in South Africa

Ramaphosa also revealed there were 1,934 confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus cases in South Africa as of 9 April.

This is an increase of 89 cases over the past day.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa rose by 96 to 1,845 on 8 April  the biggest daily increase since March.

Five more COVID-19 deaths were recorded on 8 April, which brought the total number of coronavirus deaths to 18.

The latest COVID-19 victims were aged between 52 and 77. Two of the victims were from Gauteng, two from the Free State, and one from KwaZulu-Natal.
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Linkedin Amber Milne (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Thu, April 9, 2020 22:08 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f08a9 2 Art & Culture Oscar-Wilde,Britain,LGBTQ,playwright,art-and-culture Free

Campaigners fear developers will carve bijou flats out of the British prison where playwright Oscar Wilde was jailed for the gross indecency of gay sex after plans for an arts hub failed.

HMP Reading, the forbidding Victorian prison that was "home" to the Irish playwright from 1895 to 1897, closed in 2014 and has since hosted a raft of LGBT+ arts events, including readings of Wildes work by actors such as Rupert Everett.

But hopes by campaigners that a local British council might buy the jail, situated just west of London, and turn it into a permanent arts center died on Monday when Britains Ministry of Justice rejected Reading councils bid.

Jason Brock, leader of Reading Borough Council, said he would now work closely with the developers, whose identity remains secret, to protect the landmark.

I intend to meet with the successful bidder at the earliest opportunity ... to ensure the historical and cultural value of Reading Prison is given prominence as plans are developed, he said in a statement on Monday.

Campaigners - from actor Stephen Fry to writer Julian Barnes - said the site should be preserved, not turned into flats.

Read also: Oscar Wilde biopic by Everett hails 'Christ-like' gay icon

The Oscar Wilde trials and his subsequent imprisonment have global implications for LGBTQ history, culture and rights, said Molly Merryman of LGBT+ heritage organization Queer Britain.

The Reading Gaol represents the most significant chapter in 19th century LGBTQ history, and should be preserved.

Wildes treatment threw a harsh spotlight on homosexuality laws. The playwright was brought to trial for his homoerotic writings and relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, who penned the phrase: I am the love that dare not speak its name.

Residents had planned a march last month to protest against plans to sell the site to private buyers but took their cause to Twitter instead after the coronavirus lockdown came into force.

We dont want the historical Gaol to become luxury flats, we want it to be a world-class arts and heritage site, open to all, and an asset to the whole community, campaign group Save Reading Gaol said on an online events page.
TWIN FALLS  The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the College of Southern Idaho and Idaho Power Co. are working together to strengthen white sturgeon populations in the middle Snake River. Stocking hatchery-reared sturgeon  the progeny of wild parents  is one part of a much bigger plan to help conserve sturgeon populations and maintain fishing opportunities for these long-lived river giants.

The Snake Rivers white sturgeon population received a boost recently with the stocking of more than 1,800 young white sturgeon. Each spring, Idaho Power fisheries biologist Phil Bates and the team from College of Southern Idaho release hundreds of baby sturgeon in 15 sections throughout the Snake River. These sturgeon are stocked near Twin Falls, and from CJ Strike to Brownlee reservoirs, to help boost populations where sturgeon no longer reproduce naturally. No sturgeon are stocked in the Bliss Dam to CJ Strike section, to help keep this population as wild as possible. Each young sturgeons journey to stocking day is quite a process.

White sturgeon are found throughout the Pacific Northwest, all the way to Alaska. In Idaho, they are present throughout the Snake River up to Shoshone Falls, and in the lower Salmon River. North Idahos Kootenai River also has a distinct white sturgeon population that is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Despite their wide distribution in Idaho, sturgeon face significant survival challenges from a history of overfishing, together with extensive changes to their river habitats from dams, water diversion and pollution. Today, sturgeon fishing is only allowed on the Snake and Lower Salmon rivers, and all Idaho sturgeon fishing is catch-and-release only.

Conservation programIn the early days of Idahos white sturgeon conservation hatchery program, mature adult sturgeon were captured in February or March and transported to the College of Southern Idahos hatchery near Twin Falls. After a few more months, these fish were spawned then returned to the river reach where they were captured months earlier.

This model presented more than a few problems. Removing adult fish from the river could result in death to one or more of these fish, either during the capture process, during transport, or while in captivity, setting back the spawning program not to mention the direct loss of a valuable spawning adult fish. With only two to three adults of either sex captured at a time, the limited number of families produced failed to reflect the genetic diversity of the fish found in the river.

After a few years of experimentation, Idaho Power biologists perfected a technique that addresses both issues. Using fine-mesh nets, they remove drifting sturgeon eggs and sturgeon larvae directly from the river in the reach between Bliss Dam and CJ Strike Reservoir, the only stretch of river above Brownlee Reservoir that still has the right conditions needed for sturgeon to successfully spawn. These fertilized eggs and larvae are then transported to CSIs hatchery where the young fish spend the next year feeding and growing to about 12 inches in length. This process puts no adult fish at risk and the eggs collected represent a much more diverse group of spawning adult fish, a much better long-term conservation strategy reflecting natural spawning.

In the days leading up to release, each baby sturgeon is individually marked with a PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag. These tags will identify individual sturgeon for many years to come as biologists assess Middle Snake River sturgeon health and survival.

Stocking day

The hatchery truck veers off Main Street and slows to a stop adjacent to the Grand View boat ramp. Bates and fisheries technicians Jack Wu and Charlie Kerrick begin the methodical process of releasing baby white sturgeon back into the Snake River, the final step in a 16-month effort. Each fish is netted from the holding tank, quickly scanned to record its unique tag number, and then placed in a five-gallon bucket of water. Five or six fish later, one of the technicians hefts the bucket and takes a few steps to the rivers edge. The buckets contents are slowly poured into the river and the young sturgeon spill into their native waters for the first time.

The process is repeated until 50 fish have been released. Soon, the shallow water covering the boat ramp is alive with baby sturgeon, varying in size from 8 to 14 inches, a reflection of their various genetic makeups. Some enter the water and immediately move off into the deep. Others swim slowly in random patterns, while a few remain almost motionless, acclimating to their new surroundings. Yet just minutes after stocking is complete, the shallows are empty. The living dinosaurs have vanished, off to seek their fate and, hopefully, to play an integral role in the white sturgeons survival.

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Our skin is exposed to daily stresses that can result in sensitivity, dullness, dryness and congestion. But thankfully face masks are the perfect way to boost your regime, no matter your skin woe.

Whether you've got dry skin, oily skin, acne, blemishes or blocked pores, there's a face mask out there to fulfill almost any demand. They're an easy and efficient skincare step that can be incorporated into your routine to help get your skin back on track.

But with so many face masks to pick from - sheet masks, exfoliating masks, clay masks, gel masks - it can be hard to find the one that suits your skin and lifestyle.

Ahead, we've hand-picked eight of the best face masks to exfoliate, hydrate and deep clean every skin type.

If you're looking for a skincare product to tackle congested, dull and breakout-prone skin, a hardworking clay mask is all you need to get your complexion back on track.

The L'Oreal Paris Charcoal Detox Clay Mask is the number one bestselling mask on Amazon and for a good reason. Not only is it affordable, but it's also efficient with its formulation of charcoal which helps to draw impurities out of the skin and clean out blocked pores.

Buy now on Amazon

The Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme mask uses natural pumpkin enzymes, aluminium oxide crystals, and alpha and beta hydroxy acids to exfoliate and brighten lacklustre complexions.

The gritty resurfacing mask, which smells like pumpkin pie, leaves skin immediately brighter and baby soft after just one use. It's a great choice for normal skin types that can tolerate fragrance and acids.

Buy now on Cult Beauty

Founded by cosmetic surgeon Dr Yannis Alexandrides, 111SKIN's Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask is soaked in a brightening blend of hyaluronic acid, 24-karat gold and Damascus rose extract.

This hydrogel mask is a best seller and favourite among celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, who used the mask to give her skin extra glow before her wedding day.

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This bright blue and minty fresh face mask from Ole Henriksen helps control excess oil and diminish the appearance of pores.

Inspired by the 'cold plunge' part of a Scandinavian sauna cycle, this cooling clay mask contains a cocktail of alpha and beta hydroxy acids and antioxidant-rich botanicals to soothe, mattify and refine pores.

We're real fans. And social media influencers like Ellie Gonsalves and Desi Perkins have given the mask their tick of approval too.

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Ultra-hydrating and gentle, Summer Friday's Jet Lag Mask was created to counteract the dulling and drying effects of aeroplanes.

Key ingredients include nourishing shea butter, ceramides, which help protect the skin barrier, niacinamide to help reduce pore sizes and vitamin C, a well-known brightening agent and moisture magnet. Apply a thin layer before bed and wake to hydrated, soft and dewy-looking skin.

Buy now on Cult Beauty

With an invigorating gel texture, this refreshing face mask from Lumene helps give skin a boost of hydration.

Dehydrated and irritated skin types will swoon over this formulation of pure Arctic spring water and organic nourishing Nordic birch sap. It's a must-have for quenching sun-drenched skin and soothing sunburn. Slather the mask onto the skin and then place a cold, damp cleansing cloth over the top for rapid relief and increased moisture levels.

Buy now on Feelunique

This 100 per cent vegan face mask from The Body Shop is excellent at decongesting the skin without leaving it feeling tight and dry. Its formulation combines charcoal, green tea leaves and organic tea tree oil to draw out impurities and to refine the skin's texture.

The best seller has been described as 'the best face mask ever' by reviewers online.

Buy now on The Body Shop

This overnight face mask from fan-favourite beauty brand Drunk Elephant will address your thirsty skin woes. The vegan-friendly mask will restore hydration and moisture in the skin, with its hard-working formulation of fatty acids, niacinamide, plant squalene, ceramides, antioxidants and prickly pear extract.

Leave F-Balm to work its magic overnight and wake up to a replenished and plump complexion.

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Those who are in a fret over



not getting a new 'panjika' (almanac) in the run up to the Bengali New Year due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, there seems to be a ray of hope.

One of the publishers of the Bengali almanac is mailing auspicious occasions in the first month of the Bengali New Year to some of their regular customers.

The 'panjika', a ready reckoner for everyhing auspicious, sells like hot cakes before 'Poila Baisakh' which marks the beginning of the Bengali calender.

The Bengali New Year usually falls on April 14 or April 15.

But the situation is different this time, with the publishers unable to despatch the almanacs to the markets, in view of the lockdown.

Adapting to the situation, the publishers of 'Bisuddha Siddhanto Panjika' have decided to mail the detailed list of the auspicious occasions in the first month of the Bengali calender to some of their regular customers.

"We had printed around 40,000 panjikas in the first phase as they are in high demand especially before 'Nabo Barsho' (New Year).

"But since delivery of these editions is not possible due to the lockdown, we are requesting our regular customers to send us their mail ids or social media contact details. We can send them the image of the 'Boisakh' page of the almanac through pdf attachment," publisher Suparno Lahiri said on Thursday.

He did not elaborate on the number of customers who had sent their details as the process has "just started".

Lahiri hoped that the print editions of the 'panjikas' will be despatched to the markets within few days after the lockdown is lifted.

The 'Bisuddha Sidhanto Panjika' is followed by a sizeable section of Bengali households and religious institutions like Ramakrishna Mission.

A spokesperson of another 'panjika' maker, 'Gupto Press Panjika', more popular among the general public, including most community Durga Puja committees, said "Our print editions are stocked in our printing press. We will be able to deliver only when transportation is allowed.'



She said as distributors could not come to their office, thousands of almanacs were lying unsold.

Prosenjit Pal, a trader, and Bappan Saha who runs a tailoring unit at Sodpur in North 24 Parganas district, are distraught for not getting the 'Gupto Press Panjika' which they buy before 'Nabo Barsho'.

"While I cancelled the customary 'Nabo Barsho' celebrations, I am looking forward to 'Akshay Tritiya' celebration, which is still some days away. But without the 'panjika', I cannot plan anything," Pal said.

Nirmal Dey, a septuagenarian, is unhappy that he is yet to get hold of the 'Gupto Press Panjika'.

"I am planning to hold a reception for my son's marriage in November. But before discussing it with my family priest, I believe in checking auspicious moments, planetary positions which are meticulously given in the almanac. But I was told by the publishers that they are helpless in the present situation," he said.

Pritam Moulik, a film production assistant in Mumbai currently stuck at his Kolkata home, also misses the excitement of flipping through the pages of the 'panjika'.

Meanwhile, the pandemic has caused a washout of 'Nabo Barsho' celebrations with big and small traders having scrapped the traditional ritual of holding Ganesh puja and starting the red-covered new account book (halkhata) after a performing puja on that day.

"Not a single trader has come to my shop to buy 'halkhata' this year. Even if the practice had been on decline for past several years, it has never been so bad. Just imagine Bengalis can't celebrate 'Poila Boisakh' this year. Had we ever imagined that such a thing would happen," Rabindra Koley, a 'halkhata' dealer said.

He said, 3,000 'halkhatas', printed before the lockdown, were lying unsold in his Rabindra Sarani shop.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has directed the Commissioners of Police in States where the social restriction orders have been emplaced to continue with the enforcement of the orders.

Adamu gave the directive in a statement posted on the verified Twitter handle of the Nigeria Police Force on Thursday.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Abia Govt Relaxes Lockdown Ahead Of Easter Celebration

The police boss stressed that the restriction orders in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)  to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country  were still effective.

He called on religious leaders in the states and the FCT, as well as other states affected by the restriction orders to continue to cooperate with relevant government agencies, urging them to use their leadership positions to encourage worshippers to observe prayers and worship programmes in the confines of their homes.

Adamu explained that the call has become necessary in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic which has immensely challenged humanity across all spheres of life.

The Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has directed the Commissioners of Police in States where the social restriction orders have been emplaced to continue with the due enforcement of the orders.  Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) April 9, 2020

to continue to cooperate with relevant government agencies and use their leadership positions to encourage worshippers to observe Prayers and Worship Programs in the confines of their homes.  Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) April 9, 2020

The IGP expresses deep concerns that for the first time in the annals of our history, circumstances have compelled us to emplace restrictions on social gatherings, which inevitably is also affecting religious programs of all faiths.  Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) April 9, 2020
With hospitals fighting over limited supplies of equipment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, some doctors and nurses working in the most sensitive settings are getting creative to protect themselves and their teams from the deadly disease, and finding help from an idea hatched half a world away.

ABC News previously reported on some hospitals using baby monitors to check in on their patients while limiting their exposure, and now some critical care workers said they are innovating again to solve a particularly tricky problem: how to intubate and extubate coronavirus patients -- meaning inserting a tube down a sedated patient's throat to give them oxygen and later removing it -- while still shielding themselves from exposure to the virus.

"During intubation and especially extubation, COVID-19 virus particles can become aerosolized and easily inhaled by the anesthesiologist, respiratory therapist, or nurse who are very close to the airway," Dr. Bryce Austell, the chief resident in anesthesiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told ABC News.

MORE: Baby monitors in the ICU: Nurses get creative to save lives, critical equipment

As hospital workers searched for a solution, one came to them over social media, shared from an ocean away in Taiwan: so-called "aerosol boxes."

The boxes are essentially clear, hollow, plastic or glass cubes about a foot and a half wide that have the bottom and one side open, two arm holes cut in another side. Placed over a patient's head as they're sedated and lying down, the boxes ideally allow healthcare workers to see and work with the intubation tube at the patient's mouth while only exposing their gloved hands and arms inside the cube.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

"The aerosol box provides an extra barrier to the COVID-19 virus in addition to our standard PPE [personal protective equipment]," Austell said.

Story continues

The boxes are not proven science and it's not clear how rigorously they have been tested. But a group of doctors who simulated an intubation using a box found that the ad-hoc barrier [...] provided a modicum of additional protection and could be considered to be an adjunct to standard PPE, according to a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

MORE: Coronavirus updates: NY curve flattens despite highest daily death toll, Cuomo says

The design, which has spread across the world on social media, spurned medical professionals and manufacturers into quickly replicating the overseas efforts in the U.S.

Some hospitals, like Rush, are constructing the devices in-house. Dr. Parag Patel said he came across a design for an aerosolized box from a Dr. HsienYung Lai in Taiwan, who reportedly posted his design online for doctors and manufacturers around the world to replicate. Patel enlisted Austell, who has a mechanical engineering background, and they set to work making prototypes with materials from Home Depot.

Patel and Austell also worked with engineers led by Hudson Vantrease at Wilson Sporting Goods to create a 3-D printed final product.

PHOTO: Anesthesiologists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago display the aerosol box used to protect medical workers during intubations of COVID-19 patients. (Rush University Medical Center)

Austell said the boxes are now being used in the operating room, as well as the intensive care unit, and they have provided some to other local hospitals for use there as well.

Roy Kirchner, the founder and president of Ultimate 3D Printing Store in the Tampa, Florida area, had a similar idea and said he has quickly reoriented his businesses to produce the boxes using high-quality protective glass, after learning about the design of the Taiwanese doctor's innovation from a California doctors Facebook post.

I just immediately saw him like, wow, this is something like I can immediately change from manufacturing lids for 3-D printers, he told ABC News. I started calling a couple of my fabricators and figured out we could make 50 to 60 a day.

Kirchner is currently making and distributing the boxes to local Florida hospitals who have requested them, and is seeking to raise more money to purchase more high-quality plastic and distribute them across the country.

Larry Shore, the founder of Shore Plastics, a custom plastics manufacturer in the Baltimore area, has also started manufacturing the devices using Dr. Hsien Yung Lais design together with Maryland Thermoform Corporation, a plastics manufacturer that is also producing face shields along with the boxes, for hospitals from Baltimore to Calfornia.

Shore said he wanted to help protect frontline medical workers like anesthesiologists, who handle intubations and extubations at many hospitals.

"For them it's like standing next to a nuclear reactor. It's very scary," he told ABC News. "I'm getting calls from parents of doctors, where their sons or daughters are in the ER working, and they saw this online, and they want to get one and gift it to the hospital."

Given shortages of personal protective equipment, and the struggle some rural hospitals have in securing what they need in the midst of an outbreak concentrated in major cities, smaller facilities are becoming increasingly resourceful as well.

At the Adirondack Medical Center in upstate New York, which hasnt been able to acquire aerosol boxes, respiratory therapists and doctors have practiced intubating patients under clear rain ponchos and drop cloths, which can be cheaply bought at local hardware stores and more readily accessible than the manufactured plastic boxes.

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

Ultimately, we want proper airflow, ideally in a negative pressure room with proper PPE, but we also realized that might not be an option, as we get this influx of patients, Rebecca Albright, a respiratory therapist at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, New York, told ABC News.

And aerosol boxes are not a perfect solution. Doctors from two Boston hospitals, Boston Medical Center and Brigham and Womans Hospital, said in their letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine that the box restricted hand movement and required training before their use on patients, given some of the difficulties that can arise when patients are intubated and extubated.

"The aerosol box is not a replacement for proper PPE, but rather an added layer of protection to keep healthcare providers safe while they perform procedures that increase their risk of becoming infected by COVID," Patel said. "We are just trying to do our best to stay healthy for our patients and our families."

Albright said there's a "lot of controversy around whether it's effective or not."

But, she said, "At this point, when were dealing with a novel virus, most of it is novel ideas that come with it as far as the treatment path.

Jay Bhatt, a practicing internist and Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, is an ABC News contributor.

Amid global pandemic, global on-the-fly innovation in some hospitals originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Harris County Public Health late Wednesday released a breakdown of its 19 coronavirus deaths by race and ethnicity, at the request of the Houston Chronicle.

The fatalities, which exclude the city of Houston, include: Nine white, four Hispanic, three black and one Asian. The remaining two are categorized as other, which includes more than race, Pacific Islander and Native American.
The winning ticket in Wednesday nights Powerball lottery drawing was sold at a liquor store in Piscataway, New Jersey lottery officials revealed Thursday afternoon.

Buy-Rite liquors on Stelton Road sold the $190 million Powerball winner, according to the New Jersey Lottery.

The winning numbers were 02, 37, 39, 48 and 54 with Power Ball number 05 and multiplier 03.

The rollover jackpot will reset to $20 million for the next drawing April 11.

The Buy-Rite store will receive a $30,000 commission check for selling the winner.

And one other New Jersey ticket came close, getting four of the five white balls - it was sold at Barnegat Quick Stop, on Main Street in the Ocean County town. That tickets winner will take home $50,000.

If you win a jackpot, call lottery officials at 1-800-222-0996.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Speedy Hire Plc (LON:SDY).

What Is Insider Selling?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.

Check out our latest analysis for Speedy Hire

Speedy Hire Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Chairman of the Board David James Shearer bought UK64k worth of shares at a price of UK0.64 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK0.55). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was David James Shearer.

David James Shearer bought 200.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK0.60. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

LSE:SDY Recent Insider Trading April 9th 2020

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK684k worth of Speedy Hire shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Speedy Hire Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Speedy Hire insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Speedy Hire insiders bought more shares in the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Speedy Hire. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Speedy Hire (including 1 which is potentially serious).

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
We know moving forward that we will face a hostile court, thats not new, said Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. But he indicated that it was just the beginning of a prolonged fight. What they have done is invited further litigation, because they literally, quite literally, disenfranchised voters who had relied in good faith on the court.

Ronna McDaniel, the Republican Party chairwoman, argued in an interview on Fox Business that the Democrats want to take away the safeguards that ensure the integrity of the election process, accusing them of trying to force election reforms across the country during a time of crisis.

The push to limit voting options is in keeping with Republicans decades-running campaign to impose restrictions that disproportionately affect people of color, the poor, and younger voters, under the banner of combating voter fraud  which is exceedingly rare. Democrats have more core constituencies among the nations disenfranchised, and both parties have long believed that easier voting measures will benefit Democrats.

But the current public health crisis brings new urgency to the battle, as Democrats and some Republican state officials turn to expanded voting by mail as an important way to avoid the serious health hazard of crowded polling stations amid a pandemic.

In a pre-coronavirus world, Republicans found that the specter of voter fraud and the need for tighter voter restrictions were popular messages with segments of their base. If there was a chance that the political equation might change with the pandemic, Mr. Trump and his allies have not seemed concerned.

The president has embraced some of the most outlandishly false claims about voter fraud, at times proclaiming that the popular vote in the 2016 election  which he lost  was rigged. He has long impugned voting by mail, which, while more vulnerable to fraud than in-person voting, has proved overwhelmingly secure in states with mail-in elections, including Colorado and Washington State. (Mr. Trump had formed a special commission to investigate voter fraud in 2016 but it produced no evidence before he shut it down in 2018.) Even so, he applied for his own mail-in ballot in Florida in March.

He has remained consistent in his opposition to mail-in voting throughout the coronavirus crisis, even as his lead health agency in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lists postal balloting as its first recommendation to reduce crowd size at polling stations.
Almost two-thirds of businesses in Ontario paid or plan to pay their April rent in full, according to a recent survey, while questions remain as to how theyll continue to be able to afford rent going forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sixty-four per cent of businesses that pay rent surveyed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said they paid or planned to pay their April rent in full, the federation said this week.

About 20 per cent have agreements with their landlords to defer part or all of their rent payment, while 11 per cent could not pay their full rent and have no deferral agreement in place, the federation said.

And while many of the businesses surveyed were able to meet their obligations for April, concerns remain as to how they will be able to keep doing so in the months ahead, should the pandemic continue and force businesses to remain closed or maintain reduced operations.

We dont want the fabric of Main Street destroyed after this, said Julie Kwiecinski, the federations director of provincial affairs for Ontario.

Its really important that governments address both the health crisis and the economic crisis simultaneously.

The federation said it supports the provincial NDPs call, issued over the weekend, for the provincial government to provide a 75 per cent rent subsidy (up to $10,000) for three months to small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as charities and non-profits.

The CFIB has also been urging provincial governments across Canada to provide monthly $5,000 hardship grants to businesses that were forced to close or reduce operations, as well as those especially affected by revenue losses.

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be for businesses of all sizes to cover these fixed costs, Kwiecinski said.

She said its possible more rent deferrals are forthcoming for those businesses that were unable to pay their April rent, as they have discussions with their landlords.

According to the government of Ontarios website, a landlord can end a commercial tenancy if the rent is not paid 16 days after its due. At that point, the landlord is entitled to evict the commercial tenant and change the locks without notice, according to the Commercial Tenancies Act.

The government previously announced a halt to residential evictions due to the pandemic. In a letter sent to Health Minister Christine Elliott, the president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Rocco Rossi, also urged the government to extend that protection to commercial tenants as well.

Some major commercial landlords are working with their tenants on solutions.

A spokesperson for Ivanhoe Cambridge said it had granted rent deferrals for April to certain retail tenants, including in Ontario.

This deferral was granted on a case-by-case basis and for a period of time to be specified based on the evolution of the COVID-19 situation. Our decisions are made with caution in these circumstances, said Katherine Roux Groleau.

Its unclear just how many tenants got the break, however, and whether some would be considered small businesses.

Lease agreements with our tenants are confidential in nature and for this reason, I cant provide more information on the matter, Roux Groleau said.

Cadillac Fairview said in a statement it recognizes many of its tenants are facing economic challenges and said it has deferred April rent for a significant amount of our retail clients.

In his letter to Elliott, Rossi said rent deferrals might be useful in the short term, but after months of operating without revenue and suddenly faced with a big rent bill, many businesses might be forced to close permanently, he wrote.

He said other options for commercial tenants include encouraging corporate landlords to establish relief funds for their tenants, and allowing the Toronto Rent Bank to provide interest-free repayable loans to commercial tenants who have faced major revenue losses.
When New Jersey announced the new stunning numbers of unemployment claims in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday morning, it also gave updated guidance on how gig workers, freelancers and the self-employed can file for benefits.

Unemployed people across the state have been frustrated with delays and an inability to get through using the Department of Labors 40-year-old computer system, which has struggled under the pressure of massive unemployment claims because of coronavirus. Nearly 215,000 more workers filed last week for a total of almost 577,000 in the past three weeks.

Its very possible that New Jerseys unemployment numbers will go even higher as some workers have told NJ Advance Media they have been unable to get through and file.

Lots of gig workers have also said they have been unsure of the process, which was clarified by the Labor Department again Thursday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

It said those who may be eligible for the special unemployment compensation for gig workers, known as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, should start the application process and apply now.

Their standard unemployment claim will likely be denied, but being ineligible for regular unemployment is a federal prerequisite to being eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, DOL said. These workers should also gather two years of income records, which will be used to calculate the amount of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance they are entitled to receive.

The law clearly says this is for individuals who would otherwise have been ineligible, DOL commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo previously told NJ Advance Media. No matter what, the first step is going to be to go through the denial process.

DOL also said its backdating unemployment claims to make sure no one loses a week of benefits even if they cant get through right away.

The agency will update with more information as it becomes available on its website.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
France has today ordered Google to start paying media groups for displaying their content.

Regulators found that the search giant's practices caused 'serious and immediate harm' to the French press sector.

Google has refused for months to comply with Europe's new digital copyright law, saying it would downgrade search results for publishers who asked for money.

The US company's behaviour was 'likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position', the competition regulator found.

Google has been ordered by French regulators to pay media groups for displaying their content (file photo)

The new rule on so-called 'neighbouring rights' is meant to guarantee that news publishers are paid when their work appears on search engines and social media.

But Google refused to comply, saying that articles, pictures and videos would be shown in search results only if Google would not have to pay.

If they refuse, only a headline and a bare link to the content will appear, Google said, almost certainly resulting in a loss of visibility and potential ad revenue for the publisher.

Media groups and news agency AFP lodged a complaint with the competition regulator last November.

The regulator said today that 'Google's practices... were likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position, and caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector'.

Google is required 'to conduct negotiations with publishers and news agencies on the remuneration for the re-use of their protected content', the regulator said.

'This injunction requires that the negotiations effectively result in a proposal for remuneration from Google,' the agency said.

The remuneration must be applied retroactively to October 2019, when France became the first country to ratify the EU law.

Google said that since the new copyright law came into force in France last year it had been 'engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news'.

The company's Vice President for News, Richard Gingras, said in a statement: 'We will comply with the order while we review it and continue those negotiations'.

A customer buys a magazine at a newspaper kiosk in Paris today. French regulators found there was 'serious and immediate harm' to the media sector from Google's practices

Google had previously said that the law does not impose a fee for posting links, and that European news publishers already derived significant value from the eight billion visits they receive each month from users who search on Google.

While the law does include the option of free licences, the regulator questioned Google's position that generally nothing would be paid for the display of any protected content.

It said: 'This choice seems difficult to reconcile with the purpose and scope of the law, which aimed to redefine the sharing of value in favour of press publishers vis-a-vis platforms, by assigning a neighbouring right which must give rise to remuneration.'

Furthermore, the regulator said by imposing a principle of zero remuneration on all publishers without examining their respective situations, Google may have engaged in discriminatory practices that would constitute an abuse of a dominant position.

The regulator said that the interim measures, which will require Google to publish material via methods chosen by publishers, will help provide for balanced negotiations and ensure neutrality for how information is indexed.

Google is required to submit monthly reports on procedures for implementing the injunction.

France's culture ministry, which subsidises much of the media sector, welcomed the injunction.

'Google now has to propose news publishers a fair remuneration commensurate with the value that the search engine derives from the content,' culture minister Franck Riester said in a statement.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - When Jose Andres first came to New York City, the wide-eyed sailor in the Spanish navy docked on West 30th Street full of ambition. Decades later, the award-winning chef has an upscale food hall on that very street and will serve 40,000 meals this week across the city where he built his dreams, and which is now the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chef Liset Garcell prepares to give out free meals to those affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, at Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster Restaurant, Monday, April 6, 2020, in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Samuelsson has partnered with chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen to distribute meals to those in need. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - When Jose Andres first came to New York City, the wide-eyed sailor in the Spanish navy docked on West 30th Street full of ambition. Decades later, the award-winning chef has an upscale food hall on that very street and will serve 40,000 meals this week across the city where he built his dreams, and which is now the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus.

Andres, whose restaurants in the United States include The Bazaar, Jaleo and the two Michelin-starred Somni, founded World Central Kitchen in 2010. It has served over 15 million meals worldwide after hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters.

Since the pandemic, his organization has served more than 750,000 meals from Miami and Los Angeles to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Fairfax, Virginia. It works out of places like libraries, food trucks and shuttered restaurants, feeding 125 hospitals, students in school lunch programs and even quarantined cruise ship passengers.

Andres has amassed an A-list network around the world, relying on celebrity chef pals including Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Marcus Samuelsson to feed the hungry and buoy the humble restaurant kitchens across America where many started their careers.

Im in debt to America. ... Thats the best I can give to America because America gave me a home. America gave me opportunity," Andres told The Associated Press in a recent phone interview.

In New York City, he set up a cafe to serve the Mount Sinai field hospital in Central Park. In Harlem, he's using Chopped" TV judge Samuelsson's Red Rooster restaurant to feed families.

Samuelsson's Miami restaurant hasn't opened to the public yet, but instead of leaving it empty, he turned it over to World Central Kitchen. They are serving sandwiches and salads there to laid-off hospitality workers, homeless residents and Uber drivers.

*A man leaves Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster Restaurant after getting a free meal during the new coronavirus pandemic, Monday, April 6, 2020, in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Samuelsson has partnered with chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen to distribute meals to those in need. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Even in crisis, these top chefs aren't serving bland porridge. Recent meals at senior centres in Washington, D.C., included creamy tomato pasta with spring vegetables, and cilantro rice bowls with spiced chickpeas and spinach topped with citrus vinaigrette and crispy tortillas.

Andres was among the first to close his restaurants, hoping to create a blueprint for chefs around the world on how to use their restaurants and employ workers while feeding the hungry.

This operation is growing every day," he said. We want to put America to work in the process of feeding America."

In California, Fieri is on standby, ready with a 48-foot-long (15-meter-long) rescue kitchen and support team. Guy is ready to go," Andres said. This is like war. You need to have troops ready for action."

Fieri compared his longtime friendship with Andres and other famous chefs to playing in a band."

When you hang out with generous, philanthropist warlords like Jose Andres, all you want to do is go bigger, go better," said Fieri, who cooked alongside Andres during last year's California wildfires.

In the early days of the outbreak, Fieri, the TV host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," also wanted to do more. He bought $50,000 in gift cards to support local restaurants. He sent dozens of personalized videos to CEOs from big food companies seeking donations.

His Restaurant Employee Relief Fund quickly raised $10 million, with a goal of raising $100 million, to offer $500 grants for laid-off workers. The first checks were handed out last week.

As diners, were always the ones asking restaurants for help.  We ask the servers to take special care of our tables, the bartenders to listen to our stories and the bussers to clean up our messes," Fieri said. He described the program as a big warm blanket, as if to say, Hey, we got you. Its our turn to help you for once."

Ray announced a $4 million donation Tuesday from her two charities. Half will go to feeding and nutritional programs, including World Central Kitchen. The other half will support animal rescue, feeding and veterinary programs.

We are not a disaster relief fund by origin or desire but thats what weve become quite frankly in the last couple of years," she told the AP in a phone interview.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Andres' organization is one of the largest recipients.

Hes just there around the clock all over the planet and I love Jose. Im so devoted to him," Ray said from her home in upstate New York.

In Minnesota, Chef Andrew Zimmern was among the first there to shutter his restaurants, fearing for his workers' safety. Next, he cobbled together the Independent Restaurant Coalition, hiring lobbyists to be a voice in Washington for restaurants, especially mom-and-pop ones. He noted that such restaurants are many peoples first jobs, as teens, and are top employers of single moms and those transitioning from prison.

We cant fail. (Restaurants) have to be open and ready to welcome their workers back," said Zimmern. If we cant do that, it will be an economic and humanitarian cultural catastrophe."

___

This story has been edited to clarify that Jose Andres was among the first chefs to close restaurants in the U.S., not Spain.
Youre used to hearing from us when theres a breaking development about the coronavirus pandemic in New Jersey -- and sadly, those updates dont usually bring joyful, happy stories with feel-good endings.

We promised to bring you only the most important, timely developments about the coronavirus and the effects of the COVID-19 illness on our state, direct to your inbox. Since then, every journalist at NJ.com has been focused telling the story of this pandemic from every angle.

But something tells me you could use some good news right about now. Fortunately, we have plenty of that, too: Our new #TogetherNJ effort is telling those mood-lifting stories, and wed like to offer you an easy way to get the best of the good news, right to your inbox: The #TogetherNJ Newsletter.

Maybe youre in need of something affirming and spirit-lifting to remind you that even as COVID-19 continues its rampage across our state, New Jerseyans bring light and kindness to one anothers lives.

Maybe you miss human connection, and are looking for an organization in need of someone who has the time, talent or treasure you want to share.

Maybe -- and this is entirely OK -- you just want to read something cheerful. We have plenty of stories like that, and the #TogetherNJ newsletter is a great new way to get them delivered right to your inbox. Each Thursday at 3 p.m., our free #TogetherNJ newsletter will bring you mood-lifting stories about how New Jerseyans are showing each other love in this difficult time:

We know theres a lot of news coming at you these days, so we want to make sure you dont miss out on the soul-nourishing stories that will get us all through the dark days ahead. Sign up now for our free #TogetherNJ newsletter, and lets celebrate the goodness thats still all around us.

We're all in this #TogetherNJ

Need some good news? Our #TogetherNJ page has stories, videos and more. Find all our #TogetherNJ videos on YouTube for a guaranteed mood lift!

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.
A lawsuit challenging the dismissal of a University of Illinois professor for falsifying research has been dismissed by Chicago U.S. Judge Andrea Wood.

In ruling that the UI did not violate the legal rights of Fei Wang, a former associate professor in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, the judge dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.

That means Wang can amend his complaint to correct its legal deficiencies if he meets a May deadline.

UPDATED: UI trustees fire tenured professor over falsified research There was little discussion about the dismissal of Fei Wang, an associate professor in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology who was making $87,617 a year.

Wang was fired by the UI Board of Trustees in 2018 after a multi-year investigation into allegations that he provided false information in a grant application to the National Institutes of Health.

The UI, as a consequence of Wangs improprieties, returned $355,000 in grant money that Wang had received.

Wangs complaint alleged the UIs inquiry into his conduct contained procedural and substantive deficiencies. But Wood concluded the UIs process met legal requirements of law and rejected Wangs claim that he was not afforded the opportunity to defend himself.

... Wangs allegations do not support a plausible inference that the university provided him an insufficient hearing before revoking his tenure. To the contrary, (the complaint) shows the university undertook a four-year investigation and review process prior to deciding to revoke Wangs tenure and terminate him, Wood wrote in her 21-page March 30 decision. He was given ample notice of the research misconduct allegations such that he could prepare a detailed and comprehensive response to them.

And after the Investigation Panel issued its finding and its recommendation that his tenure be revoked, Wang was able to appeal those findings three times.

Although Wang alleged that university officials improperly handled his case, the judge said his objections were immaterial because the UIs obligations in these kinds of disputes are clear.

An accused is entitled to oral or written notice of the charges and provided with an explanation of the evidence against him and the opportunity to tell his employer his side of the story.

Further, the chosen decision-maker must be impartial.

Wang alleged that investigators were biased against him. But the judge said he provided no persuasive evidence to support that claim.

UI officials said the matter was brought to their attention in January 2014 when department head Jia Chen received an email from one of Wangs colleagues informing him that Wang had fabricated data included in a grant application related to his work on human embryonic stem cells.

When investigators met with Wang to discuss the matter, they asserted that he admitted to everything.

Wang, however, said he never admitted misconduct. But UI investigators said he acknowledged behavior that they characterized as misconduct.

For example, the UI identified multiple admissions by Wang that they considered damning, including him not performing the research he claimed to have done in the NIH application.

When confronted with the fact that he had submitted images of mouse cells and falsely claimed they were human cells, Professor Wang admitted this is exactly what he had done, the investigators wrote. They said he told them I crossed the line by guessing the results and putting error bars on experiments that was done only once.

Wang also told investigators he deeply regretted the terrible mistakes associated with the NIH grant.

I wish I could take them back, he told investigators.

Jim Dey, a member of The News-Gazette staff, can be reached at jdey@news-gazette.com or 217-351-3569.
Biotechnology giant CSL Limited's chief scientific officer, Professor Andrew Cuthbertson, says social distancing is the best weapon Australia has to combat the coronavirus, with a vaccine 12 to 18 months away from being ready for the public.

The Melbourne-based company is working with the University of Queensland and the CSIRO on a potential COVID-19 vaccine which Professor Cuthbertson said on Thursday was on track to go into clinical testing in June.

Dr Kong Yuefeng, a recovered COVID-19 patient, donates plasma in the blood centre in Wuhan. Credit:AP

Professor Cuthbertson added that it was important to recognise vaccines under development could fail at any stage, and that it would be 12 to 18 months before one could pass clinical trials and be made available to protect the public.

The public health measures put in place in the interim were what had kept infections below a level that would overwhelm Australia's healthcare system, he said, and any relaxation had to be done carefully and gradually.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt anchors off the coast in Gosport, England, on March 23, 2015. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Beijing Exploits Pandemic to Probe the South China Sea

Commentary

This week the Pentagon acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemicwhich President Donald Trump has correctly called a plaguehas affected U.S. military operations.

The disease has definitely reduced the combat effectiveness of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The virus threatens the lives of the warships skilled personnel. Given the training and experience required to successfully operate an aircraft carrier for peacetime demands, much less combat, it would take a decade or more to replace the nuclear-powered behemoths sailors, pilots and technicians.

Thank God were not in a shooting warhot war or kinetic war in the jargon. The admirals know that in the interest of long-term security, the carrier must defeat the disease for the next few weeks. Social distancing and time anchored in the ship sick bay slow operationshence the reduction in what the military calls tempo. Even if the ship remains at sea, its capabilities are diminished. According to a recent report, the carrier is quarantined in Guam for an indefinite period.

Would that adversaries suffering from the COVID-19/Wuhan virus focus on healing themselves during the pandemic.

Alas, that is not the nature of war, or gray-zone war as waged by communist China. The COVID-19/Wuhan plague began in the city of Wuhan, China (Hubei province). Despite Beijings propaganda campaign, that is a fact.

On April 6, the U.S. government warned China to resist the temptation to exploit global focus on the Chinese virus for geopolitical gain in the South China Sea, or SCS.

The precipitating event was a claim by Vietnam that a Chinese coast guard vessel sank a Vietnamese trawler in the SCS. The deep-sixed fishing boat is the headline but not the whole story. The U.S. State Department reports that since January, Beijing has expanded so-called research stations and the deployment of military aircraft in the contested million-plus-square-mile maritime zone that extends from Chinas coast south to Singapore and the Strait of Malacca.

AFP quoted State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus as saying, This incident is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.

Long string indeed. Clashes in the SCS over islands and fishing rights have occurred since the 1970s.

However, aggressive Chinese territorial expansion in the area began in the early 1990s. Beijing diplomatically framed its territory-expansion policy as bilateral struggles over islets and reefs between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors.

But this fight isnt a local squabble. The SCS maritime zone has global import. An estimated $5 trillion per year in trade (goods and resources) transits the SCS.

In 2016, The Hague international arbitration tribunal supported the Philippines accusation that China had intruded on Filipino territory by seizing sea features and islets and conducting illegal fishing operations. China ignored the court verdict. The tribunal relied heavily on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty, which China had signed.

Beijing flouted international law and so far has gotten away with it.

Call this warfare what it is: Chinese gray-zone warfare with the goal of extending Beijings control in the area without provoking a hot war with America. China invades the SCS with construction barges and drilling rigs, which build artificial islands. Swarms of fishing boats and Chinese Coast Guard ships follow the barges. Beijing then employs propaganda, crime, covert influence operations, political agitators and old-fashioned bribery to secure its gains.

Chinas communist dictatorship employs all of these techniques.

Now it exploits a plague it spawned to gain geopolitical advantage in the South China Sea.

Austin Bay is a colonel (ret.) in the U.S. Army Reserve, author, syndicated columnist, and a teacher in strategy and strategic theory at the University of Texas. His latest book is Cocktails from Hell: Five Wars Shaping the 21st Century.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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He is the son of professional bodybuilder turned action film star Arnold Schwarzenegger from an affair the Terminator star had with his housekeeper Mildred.

And Joseph Baena, 22, proved to be the spitting image of his famous father, 72, on Wednesday afternoon when he took to Instagram to show off his impressively muscular physique.

'Perfect time to practice some posing,' captioned the fitness model, who could be seen flexing his built back and bulging biceps to the camera.

Flexing: Joseph Baena, 22, (left), proved to be the spitting image of his famous father Arnold Schwarzenegger, now 72, (right) on Wednesday afternoon when he took to Instagram to show off his impressively muscular physique

Baena posed sans shirt on a lavish glass balcony, while the rain drizzled over the Los Angeles landscape. Joseph donned black, fitted sweatpants paired with black and white checkered Vans slip-ons.

The body shape and pose looked exactly like the famous photo of his father taken in October 1976, when Arnold was aged 29.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, aspiring actor Joseph used his Instagram Story to host a live workout session. To promote the free routine, Baena flaunted his stella physique in a pair of itty bitty red shorts, while flexing for his audience.

Scandal: Joseph is Schwarzenegger's love child with former housekeeper Mildred Baena, which made headlines in 2011; Arnold and Joseph pictured in 2018

Free fitness: On Saturday, the aspiring actor used his Instagram Story to host a live workout session

Joseph often uses his Instagram page to document and promote his fitness journey - even posting photos of himself at the gym with dad Arnold.

Schwarzenegger famously won the Mr. Olympia professional men's bodybuilding contest six times in a row in the early 1970s.

He went on to become one of Hollywood's highest paid stars throughout the '80s and '90s, before becoming the Governor of California in 2003.

Seeing double: Joseph shares the same passion for fitness as Arnold; Arnold (LEFT) in 1967 and Joseph (RIGHT) in 2019

Following in his footsteps: Schwarzenegger, now 72, is famous for having won the Mr. Olympia professional men's bodybuilding contest six times in a row in the early '70s; Arnold pictured in 1976

Joseph is Schwarzenegger's love child with former housekeeper Mildred Baena, which made headlines in 2011.

Arnold also has four other children with ex-wife Maria Shriver: Katherine, 29, Christina, 28, Patrick, 26, and Christopher, 22.

The ex-California governor is also father to four children with ex Maria Shriver: Katherine, 30, (whose husband is actor Chris Pratt); Christina, 28; Patrick, 26; and Christopher, 22.

Family: Mildred Baena, (centre) Arnold's former housekeeper is Joseph's mother (pictured in April 2019) - she fell pregnant with Joseph while Arnold was married to Maria

Shared passion: Joseph often uses his Instagram page to document and promote his fitness journey - even posting photos of himself at the gym with dad Arnold; the pair pictured in 2018

Past love: Arnold pictured with his ex-wife Maria in 2003 - they were married from 26 April 1986 - 2011

Sources told Page Six last year that Joseph is hoping to build a relationship with his siblings, noting that Katherine and Christina 'have really no relationship with Joseph,' while Patrick and Christopher 'have more of a relationship with' him.

A source close to the family said that all parties involved have been amenable since news broke in 2011 that the Terminator actor had fathered a child out of wedlock during his marriage with Shriver.

'Eight years later, everyone is feeling their way out of a nightmare, and they've all done a really good job finding their way into a new normal,' the source said.

Half-siblings: Arnold also has four other children with ex-wife Maria Shriver: Katherine, 29, Christina, 28, Patrick, 26, and Christopher, 22

Arnold seemed like a proud papa when he wished son Joseph Baena a happy 22nd birthday online back in October.

He said: 'Happy birthday Joseph! Watching you graduate from college this year and seeing you follow your passions has been amazing. You are a fantastic son, and I cant wait for our next training session. I love you,' the action hero/former governor of California tweeted along with a series of father/son snapshots.

His birthday message for Joseph came less than a week after his other son Christopher celebrated his own 22nd.

Another year around the sun! Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated his 'secret son' Joseph Baena's 22nd birthday on social media back in October

Scholar: Another picture had the Predator actor wrapping a burly arm around his son while attending Baena's graduation from Pepperdine University

Arnie and Joseph looked close in the photos, which showed them hanging out at dad's favorite Gold's Gym.

Another picture had the Predator actor wrapping a burly arm around his son while attending Baena's graduation from Pepperdine University.

It looked like the duo spent the special day together as well.

On Joseph's Instagram he shared a first person video of himself bicycling around the Venice Beach area with his pop.

'Turns 22 and is still on the beach cruiser trying to catch up to dad,' he wrote on top of the video.
French Navy Flagship Will Return to Port Due to Coronavirus Symptoms on Board

Sputnik News

07:45 GMT 08.04.2020(updated 08:15 GMT 08.04.2020)

The country is trying to curb the pandemic via severe quarantine measures. At least 73,488 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 8,896 have succumbed to the disease, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of France's Marine Nationale, had to return to port after some staff on board showed symptoms, according to an official statement by the Ministry of Armed Forces. According to officials, at least 40 servicemen are under medical supervision at the moment.

"As of today, a screening team with test kits will be dispatched to the aircraft carrier to investigate the cases that have arisen and to prevent the spread of the virus on board the vessel", the ministry said.

The vessel is currently in the Atlantic, on its way to the Mediterranean to return to the port of Toulon, originally planned for 23 April.

The ship is the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel and the only nuclear-powered carrier outside the US Navy. It operates three 12 aircraft Rafale-M squadrons and one 3 aircraft E-2C Hawkeye squadron. The Charles de Gaulle can transport up to 800 troops and their heavy vehicles as well as a large crew of up to 2,000 sailors.

A Sputnik

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Elodie Yung, seen here in her "Daredevil" role as Elektra, is the new lead for Fox drama "The Cleaning Lady".

Elodie Yung, seen here in her "Daredevil" role as Elektra, is the new lead for Fox drama

"The Cleaning Lady".

9 Apr  Early last month, it was reported that Fox is recasting the lead for its upcoming drama, "The Cleaning Lady", and looks like the starring role now goes to Elodie Yung.



The French-Cambodian actress replaces Shannyn Sossamon, who exited the project just a week after being cast, following the first table read.



The title character, Reyna Salonga, is originally a Filipina, hence Sossamon's earlier casting since the Hawaiian-born actress is of Filipino descent. Salonga's ethnicity has now been changed to match Yung's background, who is born to a French mother and a Cambodian father, but the drama will still focus on Philippine culture.



Yung's character will be a Cambodian doctor working in Manila and married to a Filipino man, Marco Salonga. She then travels to the US for a medical treatment to save their son that has been diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening immunodeficiency disorder.



Refusing to be beaten down when the system fails and she is forced to go into hiding, she becomes a cleaning lady for the mob while dodging the FBI and keeping secrets from her undocumented Filipina sister-in-law Fiona Salonga, played by Ginger Gonzaga.



Fox ordered the drama pilot for "The Cleaning Lady", based on the Argentinian series of the same name, last January. It is scheduled to be filmed in New Mexico, though a date has yet to be set as all productions are currently halted due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.



Yung previously portrayed Elektra Natchios in MCU Netflix series "Daredevil" and "The Defenders". Her silver screen credits include "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "Gods of Egypt" and "The Hitman's Bodyguard". She will be seen next in a Disney+ movie, "Secret Society of Second Born Royals".
Highlights Google has issued a ban on the use of the Zoom videoconferencing app for all its employees

Google sent a mail to its employees last week, informing them that the videoconferencing app will no longer function in their corporate laptops and desktops.

Zoom first came into action in 2019 but its popularity skyrocketed in March 2020 when the number of active users went up to 200 million from 10 million in December.

Tech giant Google has issued a ban on the use of the Zoom videoconferencing app for all its employees citing security concerns. Zoom witnessed a surge in popularity as it gave people a platform to socialize and carry out their professional work seamlessly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per a report published in BuzzFeed News, Google sent a mail to its employees last week, informing them that the videoconferencing app will no longer function in their corporate laptops and desktops.

"We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network," Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.

"Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile," Castaneda further added.

Founded by Eric Yuan, Zoom first came into action in 2019 but its popularity skyrocketed in March 2020 when the number of active users went up to 200 million from 10 million in December.

However, Zoom did not have a smooth sail thenceforth as it was mired in controversies because of its flawed security policies. In March 2020, a Motherboard report revealed that Zoom's app for iOS sent its users data to Facebook irrespective of the user having an account on the social media app. Soon after the vulnerability was discovered, Zoom fixed the glitch. Yuan in a blog post said, "We took action to remove the Facebook SDK in our iOS client and have reconfigured it to prevent it from collecting unnecessary device information from our users. We updated our privacy policy to be more clear and transparent around what data we collect and how it is used explicitly clarifying that we do not sell our users' data, we have never sold user data in the past, and have no intention of selling users' data going forward."

Things got murkier for Zoom when an ex-NSA hacker Patrick Wardle discovered two new security flaws in the app. His findings revealed that the bugs launched by local attackers can easily gain control over a person's Mac. While one bug allowed the attacker to inject malicious code into the Zoom installer, the other bug could control the user's webcam and microphone.

Another report by The Intercept revealed that the Zoom calls are not end-to-end encrypted contrary to the company's claims. Earlier this month, Zoom admitted that some video calls were "mistakenly" routed through servers in China.

Google isn't the only company that has banned its employees from using the app. On April 8, the Taiwan cabinet asked all its government agencies to stop using "products with security concerns, like Zoom". Earlier, Zoom was banned by Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX over security concerns. As per a report published in Reuters, the employees of SpaceX were told that their access to Zoom has been disabled. "We understand that many of us were using this tool for conferences and meeting support. Please use email, text or phone as alternate means of communication," a SpaceX mail obtained by Reuters read.
Fani-Kayode asked whether some people are more equal than others. He said it is a crying shame that a few sons of the South West bow...

Fani-Kayode asked whether some people are more equal than others.





He said it is a crying shame that a few sons of the South West bow, quiver and tremble before their masters.





He asked: Are Dangotes drivers and trucks immune to COVID-19? Will you give similar exemptions to southern businessmen and traders?; saying Shame on you!





Reacting to critics, Gov Abiodun said he wondered why the exemption he granted Aliko Dangote Group of Companies has generated so much hues and cries.

He told his critics, among whom was Fani-Kayode, to try and be like Dangote if they want to enjoy similar preferential treatment.





While addressing a press conference in his Iperu residence on Monday, Abiodun said: So, if I give Dangote an exemption and you think he did not deserve it, you can choose to become a Dangote and I will give you that exemption as well.





In a swift reaction on Wednesday, Fani-Kayode fired back at Abiodun on his verified Twitter handle, saying:





Someone tell Dapo Abiodun that my name is Femi Fani-Kayode. I am quite happy to be a Fani-Kayode and I have no desire to be a Dangote.





I am not interested in tax exemptions from his Ogun State or in selling my soul to satan.





I ask again, does he have to be a slave to feel fulfilled?




The phone call came in early April. It was the office of the local coroner. An official told the family in Irans southwest to come pick up their 20-something sons body.

An overdose of methadone while in Irans Sepidar prison was how they described the cause of death. But the family suspects differently.

They believe the authorities are trying to cover up their tracks after he was suffocated with teargas during a prison riot over conditions, amid an outbreak of Covid-19 that has shaken Irans penal system.

He had never had a drug problem and they refused to provide a death certificate, said Mansoureh Mills, an Amnesty International who spoke to the young mans relatives.

Rights campaigners are worried about the fate of dozens of Iranian prisoners who may have been harmed by security forces while protesting being confined in detention centres amid the coronavirus pandemic. Amnesty International said it feared around 36 prisoners have been killed by Iranian regime enforcers attempting to suppress uprisings in at least eight prisons around the country.

Citing sources inside Iran, Amnesty alleged live ammunition was used to quell protests by detainees fearful they would become sick with Covid-19. Amnesty cited at least one case in which a prisoner was possibly beaten to death.

It is abhorrent that instead of responding to prisoners legitimate demands to be protected from Covid-19, Iranian authorities have yet again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns, Diana Eltahawy, of Amnesty International, said in a statement in which the group called for an independent probe into allegations of the torture and death of those in custody.

Iran has furloughed or granted pardons to thousands of prisoners to ease congestion in many detention centres amid the worst outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the Middle East. At least 4,110 people in Iran have died of Covid-19 and at least 66,000 cases have been confirmed, according to the health ministry.

But Amnesty accused Iranians of not releasing enough prisoners, retaining some who were jailed on political charges many independent observers consider trumped up, and even members of religious minorities such as the Bahais, in prison largely because of the bigotry of the countrys clerical establishment.

Among those given a temporary release are 42-year-old UK national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and Aras Amiri, an Iranian employee of the British Council. Both were jailed on charges of espionage that have been described as absurd by all but the most strident supporters of the Tehran regime.

Many political prisoners who have been convicted of nonviolent offences remain in jail. Some of the prisoners are in jail on charges of freedom of expression or taking part in protests, which is their legal right, Reza Khandan, the husband of jailed human rights lawyer Nasrine Sotoudeh, said in a video. They should be freed. They are all in danger.

At least 4,110 people in Iran have died of Covid-19 and at least 66,000 cases have been confirmed, according to the health ministry

Numerous prisoners have begun to test positive for coronavirus in recent weeks, and those detained as well as their relatives have begun to speak out to demand releases, tests, hygienic supplies and separation of sick and healthy detainees.

Prison riots erupted late last month in two prisons in Irans restless and largely ethnic Arab southwest, the site of increasing anti-government protests in recent months, with the captive setting fire to rubbish bins. Unverified videos posted to the internet showed smoke rising from prison compounds, sometimes with the sounds of gunfire in the background.
Three types of the deadly coronavirus are spreading around the world - and the US is being rocked by the original strain from China.

Cambridge University researchers mapped the genetic history of the infection from December to March and found three distinct, but closely related, variants.

Analysis of the strains showed type A - the original virus that jumped to humans from bats via pangolins - was not China's most common. Instead, the pandemic's ground-zero was mainly hit by type B, which was in circulation as far back as Christmas Eve.

Results showed type A was the most prevalent in Australia and the US, which has recorded more than 400,000 COVID-19 cases. Two-thirds of American samples were type A - but infected patients mostly came from the West Coast, and not New York.

Dr Peter Forster and team found the UK was mostly being bombarded with type B cases, with three quarters of samples testing as that strain. Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were also dominated by type B.

Another distinct variation, type C, descended from type B and spread to Europe via Singapore.

Scientists believe the virus - officially called SARS-CoV-2 - is constantly mutating to overcome immune system resistance in different populations.

Dr Peter Forster and team found the UK was mostly being bombarded with type B cases, with three quarters of samples testing as that strain. Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands were also dominated by type B

The genetic history of the coronavirus was mapped from December 24 to March 4, revealing three distinct, but closely related, variants. Scientists believe the virus may be constantly mutating to overcome differing levels of immune system resistance in different populations

Pictured, a breakdown of the different coronavirus genomes and to which of the three major group they belong to. The lines indicate a rough split between the type. The larger the circle, the higher the amount of cases

HOW DOES CORONAVIRUS HIDE IN THE BODY? The SARS-CoV-2 virus has a large number of spikes sticking out of its surface which it uses to attach to and enter cells in the human body. These spikes are coated in sugars, known as glycans, which disguise their viral proteins and help them evade the body's immune system. 'By coating themselves in sugars, viruses are like a wolf in sheep's clothing,' explained Professor Crispin. The coronavirus has a relatively low level of sugar shielding. The lower glycan density means there are fewer obstacles for the immune system to neutralise the virus with antibodies. Advertisement

The study has thrown up an oddity that the original A strain spread through West Coast USA despite not being being the most prevalent in China, the B strain.

However because both strains were in existence by January, when US got its first case, it does not mean it arrived any earlier and was not detected. The researchers said the study was too small to draw any firm conclusions.

The academics' published work - which has been scrutinised by fellow scientists - only traced the samples of 160 patients across the world, including many of the first cases in Europe and the US.

Methods used to trace the prehistoric migration of ancient humans were adapted to track the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

The team have now updated their analysis to include more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases up to the end of March to provide a clearer snapshot. It has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The smaller snapshot, published in the journal PNAS, initially suggested that type C was the most common in Europe.

But the data now shows type B is spreading more rampantly - all but one of 31 SARS-CoV-2 samples taken from patients in Switzerland were of the second cluster.

It comes after two separate genetic studies found most of New York's outbreak came from Europe, and revealed the infection was being spread in mid-February - weeks before the city's first confirmed case.

Methods used to trace the prehistoric migration of ancient humans was adapted to track the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19

NEW YORK'S OUTBREAK CAME MOSTLY FROM EUROPE - NOT CHINA The first cases of coronavirus in New York spread mostly from Europe, according to two scientific studies. Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case. The scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai N.Y.U. and Grossman School of Medicine studied DNA from thousands of samples of coronavirus patients and concluded the first travelers to bring the virus to the city came from Europe, not Asia. But they also found that the strand of the virus that arrived in Washington state came from China. Both research teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March. One of the studies detected seven separate strains of viruses that arrived in the New York City area and researchers expect to find more. Despite examining different examples of the outbreak, researchers from both teams reached largely the same conclusions about its origins, according to specialists. Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the New York Times: 'The majority is clearly European.' Advertisement

Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NYU scientists studied DNA from thousands of samples of coronavirus patients to conclude travellers from Europe brought the virus to the Big Apple.

But they also found that the strand of the virus that arrived in Washington state came from China, echoing the finding of Dr Forster and team.

The Cambridge scientists found that two thirds of the 310 virus samples sequenced in the US were type A.

And all of the American cases linked to cruise ships had type B strains. It is not clear what ships they caught the virus on - but the Diamond Princess, quarantined off the coast of Japan for weeks, recorded more than 700 infections.

Data showed England's first two cases - thought to be a University of York student and his mother at the end of January - had type A, suggesting they caught it in China.

No other samples from England, Scotland or Wales were type A, with almost 30 of the 40 viruses shown to be type B.

Dr Forster told MailOnline it was possible the UK's outbreak could be traced back to Italy but that the data was too limited to make any conclusion.

The other cases recorded across Britain were type C, which is also likely to be traced back to East Asia.

The UK's first 'super-spreader' - father-of-two Steve Walsh - was known to have went to a business conference in Singapore and infected scores of patients in Sussex.

Dr Forster told MailOnline that type A originally mutated into type B within China - but type C, the 'daughter' of B, evolved outside of the nation.

He admitted scientists are clueless as to how type B 'pushed aside' its predecessor to become more common in China - but the question will be answered 'one day'.

Type B was found to be comfortable in the immune systems of people in Wuhan and did not need to mutate to adapt.

However, outside of Wuhan and in the bodies of people from different locations, the variation mutated much more rapidly.

This indicated it was adapting to try and survive and overcome resistance among other populations, such as Westerners.

Data analysis suggests the original strain of the virus could have been circulating in China as far back as September.

And Dr Forster said the type B strain was 'alive and kicking' by Christmas Eve, their analysis revealed.

It means the virus had already mutated before China recorded any COVID-19 cases - Wuhan first described an outbreak of a mysterious virus on December 31.

He told MailOnline: 'The majority of cases in Wuhan are B type while a derived C type later emerged and spread initially via Singapore.'

And he suggested type C was not mutating - but called for caution over his finding, saying the sample was very small.

Dr Forster added that the data used was just a snapshot and did not include tens of thousands of confirmed cases recorded in each country.

For example, China's outbreak may mainly consist of type A - but the data analysed suggests that is not the case.

Type A is the closest to the one found in bats and pangolins and is considered to be the 'root' of the outbreak.

Type A has two sub-clusters and the first, labelled as the T-allele, has substantial links to East Asia as it was found in Americans that lived in Wuhan.

However, the second A type sub-cluster, called the C-allele, is slightly different due to a string of mutations.

In the study, the scientists said: 'Nearly half of the types in this subcluster, however, are found outside East Asia, mainly in the US and Australia.'

The original study had access to 93 type B genomes and 74 were in either Wuhan (22), other parts of eastern China (31) or neighbouring Asian countries (21).

A smattering were identified elsewhere, but type B had a strong affinity for Wuhan and is derived from type A via two mutations, at T8782C and C28144T.

The scientists argue that these methods could help predict future global hot spots of disease transmission and surge.

To donate to the work of the researchers, click here.

Coronavirus mostly spread to New York from Europe and was sweeping through the city by mid-February, study of genomes reveals

The first cases of coronavirus that arrived in New York spread mostly from Europe, according to two scientific studies.

Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case.

The scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai N.Y.U. and Grossman School of Medicine studied DNA from thousands of samples of coronavirus patients and concluded that the first travelers to bring the virus to the city came from Europe, not Asia, according to The New York Times.

But they also found that the strand of the virus that arrived in Washington state came from China.

President Trump banned entry to the US by foreign nationals who had visited China within the past two weeks on 31 January. He banned travel from Europe on 11 March.

DNA Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case. This map is based on an earlier based on an earlier genome study and shows eight different strains of coronavirus identified by scientists and how they have spread around the world

Travel data shows 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up hardest-hit by the coronavirus outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting

In mid-March travelers coming to New York from Europe, where outbreaks in Italy and Spain were already spiking, were being asked at John F. Kennedy International Airport only if they had been to China or Iran, not if they had visited the hardest-hit nations in Europe, the Times reports.

Both research teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

One of the studies detected seven separate strains of viruses that arrived in the New York City area and researchers expect to find more.

Despite examining different examples of the outbreak, researchers from both teams reached largely the same conclusions about its origins, according to specialists.

Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the Times: 'The majority is clearly European.'

It was not until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities as well as imposing restrictions on mass gatherings.

Although the New York outbreak appeared to originate in Europe, the Washington state cases appear to have come from China.

Researchers found viruses in Washington, which was the first major outbreak in the US, shared mutations in common with ones isolated in Wuhan by Chinese medics.

The first confirmed case in New York came on March 1 and around two weeks later new infections began to soar.

Previously researchers have said that coronavirus mutates very slowly with only tiny differences between the different strains.

But a new study by Cambridge scientists found there are three main types of the novel infecting people, and the strains may be mutating to conquer the immune systems of populations around the world.

Last week travel data emerged showing 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up as the hardest-hit by the outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting.

Figures from the US Commerce Department from December, January and February, which were the critical early months in the outbreak, reveal how hundreds of thousands or even millions of undetected coronavirus cases could have entered the country while medical experts remained unaware of the seriousness of the illness.

The world first heard about the virus in December, when it remained confined to China and mostly in the epicenter of Wuhan.

Beijing was accused of covering up the spread of the virus, which may have left China's borders through asymptomatic patients well before new cases were picked up around the world.

Isolated cases started showing up in Europe in late January, before the pandemic took off in Europe in February.

The travel data shows 759,493 people entered the US from China before President Trump's travel ban on 31 January.

Another 343,402 arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.

Medical experts say it cannot be known how many travelers may have been infected, but it's highly likely some were not exhibiting symptoms.

And as air travel has surged in recent years, enabling the pandemic to spread as it has, some officials suspect the virus' true impact was happening sooner than they realized.

Trump has been criticized for not rolling out a widespread testing program when cases began spiking in the US.

At least eight strains of the virus are being tracked by researchers around the world, using genetic detective work to show how the virus spreads.

The virus appears to mutate very slowly, with only tiny differences between the different strains and that none of the strains of the virus are more deadly than another, experts say.

They also added it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

Scientists also said that despite conspiracy theories falsely claiming the virus was made in a lab, the virus's genome shows it began in bats.

According to figures updated last night, coronavirus had infected 1.5 million people worldwide and killed nearly 88,000 people.

The US has seen more than 435,000 people infected and over 14,800 fatalities.

New York has suffered more than 150,000 cases with over 6,200 deaths.
Utica, N.Y.  Bored while staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic?

Utica police are warning those who look to entertain themselves by riding all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes or mini-bikes to stay off of city streets.

On Wednesday, an extended ATV joy ride earned a Utica man 72 tickets after he was arrested for driving it on city streets and refusing to stop for police.

Jasmin Kendic, 23, also was charged with obstructing governmental administration and fleeing from police.

Utica Police Lt. Bryan Coromato said in a news release that the warmer weather has spurred a number of complaints about ATVs, dirt motorcycles and mini-bikes being operated on city streets, public highways and in parks.

Last month, city police ticketed four others for illegally riding ATVs in parks and on the streets.

We realize that people are bored during the COVID-19 self-quarantine period. However these vehicles have no place in our city parks or highways, Coromato said. The ATVs are damaging the grounds of our city parks and pose a hazard to motor vehicle traffic on public highways.

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Nolan Weidner is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached by call or text at 315.247.7419 or via email at nweidner@syracuse.com.
Your favourite place to jet off for a cold Bintang is heading for financial hardship.

Yes, Bali, the go-to island destination for Australians of all ages, has been hit hard by the global pandemic, with a graph, posted by The Daily Examiner via Tradingeconomics.com, clearly showing a sharp fall in tourist numbers of around 30 per cent compared to this time last year.

The Indonesian island has been forced to close its borders to international visitors, and anyone who decided to stay on the island is currently having to abide by strict lockdown laws. Businesses, beaches and temples have all had to close and the streets are practically bare. A stark contrast then to the usual flurry of images depicting Aussies filling up clubs and posing for Instagram-worthy photos.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Finns Beach Club (@finnsbeachclub) on Mar 17, 2020 at 3:01am PDT

But if you had a holiday booked to the popular island resort, there could be some particularly bad news in store for you. Thats because the island relies incredibly heavily on tourism to stay afloat, and without hordes of holidaymakers flocking to Balinese shores, is at risk of collapse.

Mangku Nyoman Kandia, a tour guide who has worked in Bali since 1984, spoke to the ABC, telling them, The coronavirus has collapsed the Balinese economy. Its seen a steep drop since when social-distancing measures were put in place,

No tourist, no money.

Ross Taylor, president of the Indonesia Institute at Monash University, Melbourne told Al Jazeera that Bali could have itself to blame because of the heavy reliance on tourism.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bali Life  Best Life  (@balilife) on Jan 14, 2020 at 3:23am PST

We know that 80 per cent of Balis GDP is based on tourism. Theres been this huge transition where almost everyone has placed all their eggs in the tourism basket.

The result of taking that away would be catastrophic.

Adding that the majority of households in the Western world will have access to some sort of financial buffer to help see them through the pandemic, Taylor said, In Bali, most people earn only a couple of hundred dollars a month. If they lost their jobs, they will have nothing to fall back on.

The decision to close down businesses and borders was made in response to the growing number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in Indonesia, with numbers standing at 1986 and 181 respectively, as of April the 3rd.

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HAMDEN  Volunteers packed the cars of 400 families with food donations Wednesday at the middle school.

Donations from the Connecticut Food Bank and Christ The Bread of Life Parish were put directly into families cars as a further effort to physically distance and reduce contact during the coronavirus crisis.

The distribution was supported by help from the National Guard, Hamden CERT, Hamden Police Department, Superintendent of Schools Jody Goeler, Church Street School Family Engagement Coordinator Hector Velazquez, Hamdens Community Development Manager Adam Sendroff, and public school staff.

State. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. visited the distribution at Hamden Middle School where families received bags of food that included dairy products, fresh produce, canned goods and other food items.
Justin found a Coming Soon listing on a Thursday evening and when I checked it out online, I couldnt sleep all night, says Jennifer Lerma. First thing in the morning, we saw that the listing was live, so we drove by to see the outside and check out the yard, which is our priority because of the dogs. I had our agent [Steve Gaich with Compass] do a tour with me over Facetime and then Justin talked to him on the phone and we made an offer.
Wednesday, 08 April 2020 19:29:46 (GMT+3) | San Diego

Figures for the Latin American steel industry are expected to continue to decline in the new scenario of the health crisis and its economic effects, according to a press release today from Alacero.

February results of crude steel production show a 6 percent reduction compared to the same month of 2019, 4.8 million tons (Mt). At 3.4 Mt, rolled steel production was 2 percent lower than the result seen in February last year. In the accumulated result, the three main producing countries in the region presented decreases: Mexico (-15 percent), Argentina (-7 percent) and Brazil (-6 percent). In comparison with February last year, Mexico (-17 percent) and Brazil (-1 percent) declined, with Argentina seeing an increase of 8 percent.

Latin American steel imports in January advanced 0.1 percent in relation to the same month of 2019. Exports showed a 20 percent cut in relation to January of last year, although they were 9 percent higher than the result of December 2019 (728,000 tons). This performance indicates the continuation of the effects derived from the low economic activity observed since the end of 2019, which has discouraged the demand for steel, an essential material for many other industries, Alacero said.

The press release noted that analysts and international institutions agree that 2020 will be a tough year with the combination of the effect of the decrease in economic activity due to the general confinement imposed in the coronavirus response and the drop in oil prices. Given Latin America's high dependence on oil, commodities, and global economic performance, the region may face a complex scenario, Alacero said. In this scenario, to adapt the production to the market demand, the steel sector has also reacted by decreasing the activity; there are already some blast furnaces at lower capacity due to this contingency.

In Latin America the steel industry has adopted all the measures for a safe operation and care of people. They have also adopted social aid measures such as donations, construction of field hospitals, among others.

In the midst of the advancement of this health contingency in Latin America, our industry has been collaborating greatly in this entire process of strengthen the health systems: supplying steel for the construction of a new COVID-19 treatment center, building a community hospital and providing extraordinary funds to support communities where are the plants. Everyone is united against this fight, said Francisco Leal, General Director of Alacero.

Steel participates in an enormous number of value chains that are essential, such as transportation, oxygen supply, infrastructure, storage of food and disinfectant products, white goods and many others, Leal concluded.
(TNS)  At 40 weeks pregnant, Cody Cuningham faced a daunting reality.Her baby was due in 24 hours. But she wouldn't be released from custody for another eight days. A nonviolent felony drug conviction meant the 25-year-old would be separated from her newborn at the hospital and returned to Shakopee prison to finish her sentence.In the midst of a pandemic, Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said he saw no reason to put her and the child at risk. So Cuningham became the first Minnesota inmate to be granted work release due to concerns around the novel coronavirus.Freedom meant delivering her daughter, Grace, with the encouragement of her mother  instead of under the gaze of two correctional officers. The alternative is hard to imagine. "I don't want to let go of her," said Cuningham, of South Haven. "She's perfect."Pressure is mounting for the Department of Corrections to release hundreds of nonviolent, elderly and medically vulnerable prisoners as COVID-19 spreads behind bars. Criminal justice advocates have peppered Schnell's office with phone calls and demonstrated in front of the governor's residence in St. Paul. They see this as a potential life-or-death issue for individuals with chronic health problems, who are trapped inside unhygienic facilities where social distancing is not possible and healthcare is limited.None of Minnesota's 11 prisons are equipped with an intensive care unit and the state agency does not own a single ventilator. With visitation suspended for nearly a month and facilities on intermittent lockdown, families have restricted access to imprisoned loved ones and fear for their safety. Others worry they may never come home."Our mistakes shouldn't be a death sentence," said Elizabeth Johnson, whose husband is serving time at St. Cloud prison. "I feel I'm grieving a loss of someone whom is still present."In less than a week, nine inmates tested positive for the respiratory disease and another 12 are presumed positive based on reported symptoms. At least four DOC employees, at Moose Lake and Red Wing juvenile facility, have also fallen ill with the virus.A 48-year-old inmate at Moose Lake who collapsed and died Sunday morning after going into cardiac arrest will be posthumously tested for COVID-19, Schnell said.County jails have, so far, been spared from an outbreak  likely because officials moved aggressively to slash their inmate populations last month. Hennepin and Ramsey County released several hundred detainees, some of whom are held pretrial. But state prisons have been slow to follow suit.Mark Haase, the newly appointed Ombudsman for Corrections, penned a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders last week advocating for them to expand Schnell's release authority. Now Minnesota lawmakers are weighing a bill that would grant Schnell temporary emergency powers to place low-risk inmates on supervised release if they have less than 180 days left on their sentence."Current statutes may not give the commissioner enough discretion to release people early and adequately manage the population," Haase testified Monday during a virtual legislative hearing.Haase pointed to Midwestern states like Iowa and Illinois, which have released more than 500 prisoners to reduce overcrowding and ease staffing pressures. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order last month calling for a moratorium on admissions to the state prisons and juvenile facilities.Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL, St. Paul, who chairs the House Public Safety committee, incorporated the ombudsman's recommendations in his draft of the bill, which also adds protections for law enforcement and domestic abuse victims.Walz expressed support for the proposal, saying he's open to using an executive order to free nonviolent inmates who are within six months of their anticipated release dates should the Legislature fail to act on the issue.That may not be necessary, since Schnell is using his existing powers to review potential candidates for placement in expanded work, education and vocational training release programs.Roughly 1,600 of the state's total 8,900 prisoners have underlying health conditions, ranging from high blood pressure to diabetes and COPD. Forty-one of those are also within 90 days of their original discharge date. Schnell's executive staff will assess which inmates should be prioritized and begin the release process as soon as next week."This is an unprecedented action, but these are unprecedented times," said Schnell, who said he cannot recall a similar response of this scale over his last 35 years in law enforcement. "The last thing we want is population instability ... We're not being reckless."But Schnell acknowledges that an influx of parolees would require additional funding to maintain adequate supervision. Midge Christianson, president of the Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties, said she worries their operational system will struggle to accommodate dozens of new clients without added resources."It goes without saying that trading one problem for another is not something we're after," she said.Timing is urgent, defense attorneys and inmate advocates warn, because conditions are deteriorating inside Minnesota facilities.Staff members and inmates at prisons across the state, from Faribault to Moose Lake, told thethat requested mitigation efforts were delayed and inconsistently enforced.Hundreds of men sat shoulder-at-shoulder in the chow hall at Moose Lake until last Monday  after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported."We're like sardines, you're packed in so tight," said Troy Dulude, who is serving a 4-year sentence for burglary. "Guys are freaking out."The Moose Lake prison gym is now closed, but Lino Lakes' remains open. And some facilities are still operating education classes with up to 30 students."Why are we not following the same rules inside that we are outside?" lamented a Faribault corrections officer, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press. "Soon it's going to be too late."Many fear the outbreak behind bars far exceeds the 20 inmates reported by administrators, as dozens are sick but unwilling to seek medical attention for fear of being placed in solitary confinement and losing privileges."I don't blame them," said Jordan Blevins, a 37-year-old inmate at Moose Lake. "Why would you want to die in a smaller hole?"
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Often touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 patients, hydroxychloroquine is under investigation in clinical trials for use on coronavirus patients. However, there are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Folwell described the fear and worry he felt in the hospital, and thanked his family and friends for their prayers and love.

Theres a level of prayer and a level of realizing that youre not driving anymore that is truly humbling, he said. I kept focusing on the fact that I have somebody to love and people are loving me and praying for me. I have something to do and something to look forward to.

Before being diagnosed, Folwell traveled out of the state  to the hinterlands of Utah with friends and family  and made several stops at various North Carolina newsrooms and media outlets, including the Winston-Salem Journal.

Two Journal employees self-quarantined after learning of Folwells diagnosis.
This article was written for Fethiye Times by Sian Midgley

Well weve made it back to the UK. Thank you to all who wished us a speedy and successful journey. But let me tell you a bit more about the journey and a lovely Brucey bonus we got on the way back

Freedom

The hotel myself and Mrs Windy had been in for 10 loooooonnnnnnggggggh days was no more than a two minute walk from the Auckland International Airport Terminal. As myself, mother and the other eighteen travellers on our tour left the hotel for one last time we resembled greyhounds being released from the trap, shoppers bursting through the doors on the first day of the Harrods sale, gazelles leaping and frolicking in the fields. Well, actually, as the average age was around 70 it was more of a shuffle than a frolic but you get the idea.

Where Is Everybody?

Right, so airports  busy, bustling, noisy, crowded places, yes? Well, actually, no. During THE VIRUS everything is different and airports are no exception. 28 Days Later and Legend spring to mind but where exactly is Will Smith when you need him? All the Duty Free shops were closed and boarded up. There was one single juice bar open and that was your lot. However one of the sweet shops just had a security grill pulled down in front of it and I worked out that if I stretched far enough I could reach a family bag of Minstrels. But, no, Im not letting this situation force me into a life of crime. It starts with Minstrels, it ends with murder over the Maltesers. Ive seen enough daytime dramas to know this.

I have to say though that it is quite possibly one of the creepiest situations Ive ever been in. Except maybe for that time when I was 16 and my boyfriends dad thought it was a good idea to try and persuade me he was the better option shudders. But thats a whole other story.

The ghostly Auckland airport

I Love Flying

The next 22 hours in the air, flying via LA, were awesome though. Huh, what? I hear you say. Yes, thats right  AWESOME. And why? Because we were upgraded to Business Class (high five). Ive no idea why but I wasnt going to ask. I put on the free socks, I slathered on the free hand cream, I rinsed with the free mouthwash, I puckered up and applied the free lip balm, oh boy I could get used to this. I slept for seven hours on the first flight, five on the second, fully stretched out on my flatbed and huddled under a warm blanket. Oh yes I could definitely get used to this.

I couldnt see, or smell, mother but every so often a little giggle would float over the privacy screen so I could relax, knowing that her little problem was still keeping her amused.

Food Glorious Food

But what you are all really interested in is the food isnt it? Well let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Although to be fair, after the paltry rations we were given at the hotel a piece of dry coal would probably have tasted better.

There was none of this chicken or fish sir, chicken or fish madam, sorry weve run out of fish sir. Oh no, it was Miss Midgley, what can I offer you for dinner? Perhaps chicken in a white wine sauce? Maybe duck in a coconut curry? How about a salmon mousse for starters? And can I offer you some bread from our bakery  a warm slice of sourdough maybe?. All served on real plates with real cutlery and real napkins.

A luxury starter

Spot the Ride

Once we got to Heathrow we met our driver for the hour long drive home. Suffice to say it wasnt difficult to find his car in the short stay carpark.

Wonder which one is our ride?

Now we just need to sit out another 14 days in complete lockdown before I can enjoy fisticuffs over a packet of toilet rolls in Morrisons. In the meantime, stay safe everyone.
Many international students have decided to stay in Vietnam during the Covid-19 outbreak.

International students overcome Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam

Thai Nguyen University of Education has 265 foreign students from Laos, China, Mozambique and Nigeria. As of now 62 students still live at the university's dormitory. The university managers have issued notices and guidance in both Vietnamese and English to help the students through the outbreak.



The university can produce hand wash and has bought face masks for the students. The students have their body temperature taken daily and been helped to buy necessities. They also study online and have wifi maintained so they can stay in their room or go to the library.



Since the students' movements outside of the dormitory are limited from April 1 to 15, the university held a Lao New Year Festival and an international writing and film making event for the majority of Laotian students.



Hanoi National University of Education has 200 foreign students from South Korea, China and Laos. Many students have returned to their countries but 26 remain in Vietnam. The university has helped the remaining students provided them with updates on their Facebook page.



Shiori Kinoshita, a Japanese exchange student at Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, said he could feel the warmth and peace in Vietnam. In the letter, writing to the university's administration and asking to let him stay in Vietnam, Kinoshita said he knew the dangers and decided to stay in Vietnam because he really wanted to keep studying Vietnamese.



He said he had understood more about Vietnamese and many of his thoughts had changed. He also wants to contribute something to his host country.



Cuu Long University moved to teach online since March 30 and students were asked to stay inside their dormitories. Silimoungkhoun Souknilanh, vice head of the foreign student committee, said they were calm and went on studying as usual thanks to encouragements and advice from the embassies and the university's managers.



The students also exercise, plant vegetables and help other students study while staying inside the dormitory.

Dtinews/Tien Phong

Overseas Vietnamese students who choose to stay in pandemic-hit areas Over the past few weeks, while a large number of overseas Vietnamese students have returned home amid COVID-19 concerns, others have decided to stay on in their host countries.
The Delhi Police has registered a case against the management of a city hospital for "negligence" in informing the local administration about coronavirus cases.

Police said the authorities at Maharaja Agarsen Hospital of West Delhi's Punjabi Bagh also handed over the body of a coronavirus patient to relatives in violation of the government guideline.

The matter came to light after a complaint was received from the Punjabi Bagh SDM, who said a 72-year-old Rohtak woman was admitted to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital on March 10.

Subsequently, she was referred to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital where she tested positive for COVID-19.

The hospital authorities carried out COVID-19 tests on 82 employees who came in contact with the woman.

Six of them tested positive for the infection, police said.

Later, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, who was also undergoing treatment in the same ward tested positive for the virus.

He died at Maharaja Agrasen Hospital on April 4, Deepak Purohit, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), said.

The body was handed over to relatives by the hospital authorities without informing the local administration, he said, adding that they violated the Union government guidelines in this regard.

He said a detailed inquiry into the matter was conducted by the DM (West).

The relatives of the man also did not inform anyone about the cause of the death and several people attended his cremation, the DCP said.

Later, a son of the deceased also tested positive for coronavirus, he said.

However, a senior doctor at Maharaja Agrasen Hospital said both patients had symptoms of other diseases.

None of them was admitted to the hospital as a coronavirus suspect, he said.

"The woman was referred to another hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30. After the reports came in, we took all necessary steps as a responsible organisation and all staff members were quarantined and required testing was done," he said.

"Efforts were made to transfer the second patient but he passed away. We are not a COVID designated hospital but trying our level best to the responsibililty thrust upon us by the circumstances," he added.

Police have registered the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act for negligence in informing the matter to local authorities and handing the body of a coronavirus victim to relatives in violation of the government guidelines.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the 24th day of a strict lockdown in France to stop the spread of COVID-19, a French policeman uses a drone to check the surroundings of the closed German-French border in Strasbourg, eastern France, on April 9, 2020. (Frederick Florin / AFP via Getty Images)

Heightened Sense of Anxiety: Police Increasingly Face COVID-19 Threats

The head of the Canadian Police Association says he is worried about the increasing number of COVID-19 threats officers face while responding to calls.

During this particular pandemic there is a very much heightened sense of anxiety, said Tom Stamatakis in Vancouver. That just goes through the roof.

There have been reports across the country of people claiming they have the novel coronavirus and intentionally coughing on officers. Police forces are warning such behaviour can be considered an assault on a peace officer.

A 24-year-old man from Coquitlam, B.C., was charged after allegedly coughing towards three officers during an arrest on April 6.

A 59-year-old man allegedly coughed into the faces of two Mounties in Wetaskiwin, Alta., on the weekend when they responded to a disturbance call. He was also charged.

James Deane (R) has a bad cough but he and friend Marla (no last name given) say they feel alright as they sit on the sidewalk in Seattle, Washington, on April 6, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Two days earlier, RCMP in Flin Flon, Man., said a 16-year-old boy coughed into an officers face while making references to COVID-19. Its not believed the teenager had the virus, but the officer was forced to self-monitor as a precaution.

Ottawa police charged a 33-year-old man last month after someone spit on officers telling them he was COVID-19 positive.

A number of Mounties in Nova Scotia have also reported that they have faced threats of being coughed on by people claiming to have the virus.

Police are already facing unique pressure on the front lines of the pandemic, Stamatakis said.

While the general population is told to self-isolate, officers are heading out each day to interact with people in uncontrolled situations.

There have been a number of events where people have acted out and threatened, if you will, that they are contagious or they have COVID, said Danny Smyth, Winnipegs police chief.

Police stop vehicles to heading north on state highway one at Warkworth in Auckland, New Zealand, on April 09, 2020. (Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Smyth said police there are dealing with each case differently, but such threats can result in a charge of public mischief.

Officers being spat at is not unique to the pandemic, said Catherine Fortin, an RCMP spokeswoman. But it now represents an even greater safety concern.

The threat to transmit the COVID-19 virus is a threat to the well-being and health of RCMP officers, Fortin said in an email.

This is a criminal offence.

Precautions are being taken. Operators with 911 are asking callers if theres any threat of COVID-19 before officers are dispatched. However, Stamatakis said, in many cases there isnt the time in emergency situations to determine if officers are truly safe from the virus.

We often dont know anything about the people we are interacting with, Stamatakis said. And we are typically interacting with them in an uncontrolled environment.

Police services are enacting more stringent protocols around personal protective equipment. Not every police service has access to a lot of supplies, Stamatakis said, and individual officers dont always have time to put the gear on.

Prison Police officers stand guard after an ambulance (Rear) entered the SantAnna prison during a protest of inmates relatives in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, in one of Italys quarantine red zones on March 9, 2020. (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)

You dont have the luxury of making sure you are properly equipped because things can unfold in a dynamic way.

Edmonton police officers were called to a transit bus this week after there was an altercation between passengers. Police said one of the passengers repeatedly coughed on the bus driver and on transit peace officers before saying he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Intentional threats of COVID-19 against individual officers put pressure on the whole police force, Stamatakis added.

Police need to investigate whether the person is actually infected. Officers must self-isolate in the meantime.

Vehicles, tools and supplies have to be decontaminated-all of which takes significant time and resources.

A Canadian border agent wears as face mask at the U.S./Canada border in Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada, on March 22, 2020. (Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images)

Theres also a mental toll on officers who are already concerned they could be bringing the coronavirus home to their families, Stamatakis said.

He stressed that concern for officers is just as real as that for other front-line workers required to interact with the public. The number of police officers who have contracted the virus continues to rise each day, he added.

As of Monday, nine Toronto Police Service members had tested positive for COVID-19. Police forces in Windsor, Ont., Ottawa, and Vancouver, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, have also had cases of infected members.

The Edmonton Police Service said last week that a second employee had tested positive. The civilian member acquired the virus through exposure, not travel, the police force said.

It is a difficult job often and in this environment, it is particularly stressful, Stamatakis said.

By Kelly Geraldine Malone
COVID-19 Could Increase Extreme Poverty in Latin America by 22 Million

According to Alejandro Werner, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), COVID-19 has converted the economic perspective in Latin America into the most horrible it has been in over 500 years.

The same pessimism is demonstrated in the fluctuations of manufacturing, remittances, materials premiums, and tourism.

According to economists, the said conversion, which is also considered a threat to the country, would be exceptionally robust on social development's key metric, which, they said, is "extreme poverty."

Based on the figures presented by IMF, if the pandemic's development results in a 5-percent drop in the active population's average income, the number of Latin Americans who are in extreme poverty would increase to between "67.5 million and 82 million."

If the drop in wages for the so-called financially active populace were ten percent, the figure would then rise to nearly 90 million individuals.

Latin America Before the Outbreak

Since ten years ago, even before the occurrence of COVID-19, Latin America has not been "heading the right direction" in its initiative to stop the curse of extreme poverty, which was set out in the UN roadmap.

Following the decade-long effort of improvement, the population's rate in an extreme famine condition in Latin America has been over given years binding rises on an already extremely high basis from the year 2012 at the 8.2-percent minimum, has been passed over twice the digit.

This low development and the lower redistributive strength of several administrations in the region have been experienced already, in recent times, as the social progress's key indicator.

However, the pandemic is the main highlight-without necessarily considering the impact of, specifically, COVID-19. This indicator, according to reports, would have attained 10.7 percent towards the end of 2020.

And, with this pandemic already included on the risk map, figures are expected to shoot up to 13.3 percent.

Check these out!

Crisis Faced

In the new set-up, the most hopeful computations which anticipate a decrease of 1.5 percent in inequality, and rise of fiver percent in GDP per capita, a point to the extreme poverty of roughly 2.9 percent in 2030.

Meanwhile, the most doubtful minus change in the distribution pattern, and with a one-percent growth per capita, is slightly below nine percent.

Nevertheless, the shaking of COVID-19 on the fundamentals of the economy is the main highlight at present. Relatively, the most hopeful computation points to the extreme poverty of roughly 5.7 percent of the populace in 2030, and in the most doubtful, 11.9 percent.

ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena said during a monograph's presentation on the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 in Latin America, the world is currently facing an unmatched humanitarian and health crisis over the last 100 years.

The executive secretary added that this is not a financial crisis. Instead, it is more of a crisis in health and welfare. Barcena also explained that it is not the market's but the State's role, that's going to be essential in addressing the crisis.
Citywide

Photo: Tenderloin Museum

The Bay Area's shelter-in-place order has brought countless events usually held as in-person gatherings online. We're aiming to support local businesses in San Francisco and Oakland by highlighting five of these events each day.

Got a suggestion for an online event based in SF or Oakland? Email our events reporter, Teresa Hammerl.

Here's your SF events calendar for Thursday, April 9. Join a comedy show, an open mic night or discuss a Netflix movie with others  all from the comfort of your couch.

Cine-canape + Discussion - I'm not an easy man

Photo: Via Alliance Francaise de San Francisco/Facebook

Still looking for an opportunity to brush up on those foreign language skills? Join the Alliance Francaise de San Francisco for their new weekly online event. Every week, expect to watch a movie and then discuss it in French during a Zoom session. Watch "I'm Not An Easy Man" on Netflix this week and then join the discussion about it.

When: Thursday, April 9, 3 p.m. (watch the movie before you join)

How to join: If you want to participate in the discussion, RSVP on Eventbrite before 11 a.m. on Thursday and receive a link to access the Zoom conversation before 3 p.m.

Price: Free

Tenderloin Times: Sharing Local News Across Time

The publication advocated limiting building heights in June/July 1981. | Via Internet Archive

The Tenderloin Museum is bringing back the Tenderloin Times, a neighborhood newspaper no longer in print, for one night. Former Tenderloin Times editors Rob Waters and Sara Colm will join Neighborhood Newspapers of San Francisco collection project manager Lisa Ruth Elliott in sharing some of the stories of the Tenderloin as taken from its pages.

Reporter Dennis Conkin will also bring insights about a lifetime in community journalism, and photographer Lance Woodruff will reflect on photojournalism and his current role teaching history to youth. San Francisco History Center Historical Photograph Collection manager Christina Moretta will then talk about a selection of the newly digitized archive of black and white original photographs used for the publication.

Story continues

When: Thursday, April 9, 5:30 p.m.

How to join: Via Eventbrite, Zoom link will be emailed to those who register.

Price: Free

MoAD Open Mic Online

Image: Museum of the African Diaspora/Facebook

Open Mic at Museum of the African Diaspora is going virtual. Hosted by poet Nia McAllister, join her for an evening of spoken word, featuring artists from throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Everyone is welcome.

When: Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m.

How to join: Via Zoom, more details on Facebook

Price: Free. Interested performers should RSVP, those who want to be part of the audience only don't have to RSVP.

Free meditation and mindfulness class

Image: Jyoti/Eventbrite

Learn how to still your mind in meditation and discover practices that can help you be a more effective, happy, and balanced version of yourself in this meditation class, which usually takes place at the Women's Building in the Mission. The online session will kick off with an explanation of Chakra meditation for new students and will also include a Dharma talk.

When: Thursday, April 9, 6:30 p.m.

How to join: Via Zoom

Price: Free

Mental Health Comedy Hour

At the Mental Health Comedy Hour, the theme will be Were not OK, and thats OK!. The show, presented by Castro-based Strut, aims to de-stigmatize mental illness and therapy through humor and open conversations about often difficult topics. Expect some queer stand-up comedians to tell jokes and talk about their life with mental illness. There will also be an interview with a licensed mental health professional.

When: Thursday, April 9, 7 p.m.

How to join: To join, make sure to RSVP on Facebook.

Price: Free

Midday break

Need a virtual pick-me-up between now and Thursday evening? Get a virtual pick-me-up for your kids by enrolling them in a new Monterey Bay Aquarium online course or enjoy the SFMOMA from home yourself with videos and articles from around the museum.
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris / AP



U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris has said privately that he does not plan to stay on beyond the November U.S. presidential election, regardless of whether President Donald Trump wins another term, five sources told Reuters.



Harris, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. Navy who started in Seoul in 2018 after Trump appointed him, has expressed increasing frustration with the tensions and drama of his tenure, the sources said, all speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.



"He's been wanting to stay only until November rather than serving in the second term even if Trump wins it," one source with direct knowledge of the issue said.



The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to comment, nor did a close aide to Harris.



Harris' predecessors each served about three years and generally enjoyed good personal rapport with South Koreans. But his time in Seoul has been marked by increasing acrimony between the two longtime allies.



The U.S. ambassador has become the public face of what many South Koreans see as overbearing policies embraced by the Trump administration in the name of "America First."



Although polls show wide South Korean support for the alliance in general, people there have balked at Trump's demands that Seoul pay billions of dollars more for a U.S. troop presence in the country.



The military cost-sharing agreement lapsed in December, and the failure to strike a new deal has led to more than 4,000 South Korean workers being put on unpaid leave.






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Bogota, April 9, 2020  Bolivian authorities should reform the countrys lockdown decree to ensure that journalists cannot face jail time for reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 25, Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez signed a decree extending Bolivias nationwide COVID-19 lockdown to April 15. Article 13-2 of the decree states that individuals who incite non-compliance with this decree or misinform or cause uncertainty to the population will be subject to criminal charges for crimes against public health.

The decree states that violators could face one to 10 years in prison if convicted of violating that article.

The COVID-19 pandemic must be taken seriously, but vague regulations that criminalize disinformation make Bolivias interim government look more concerned about its public image than about an effective response to the crisis, said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick. These overly broad provisions that criminalize speech open up the dangerous possibility of abuse against journalists reporting vital information and facts.

Raul Penaranda, editor of the independent Brujula Digital news website, told CPJ in a phone call that he believed the article was aimed at opposition politicians who have allegedly spread rumors and fake news about the coronavirus.

However, Rafael Loayza, dean of the communications faculty at the private Catholic University of Bolivia, told CPJ in a phone interview that the vaguely worded article could be used against reporters by a government that he described as extremely sensitive to criticism.

Anez, who replaced President Evo Morales after his resignation in November and is acting as interim president until national elections slated for later this year, has yet to invoke the article, according to Loayza and Penaranda.

Speaking with CPJ by phone, Isabel Mercado, the editor of the independent La Paz daily Pagina Siete, explained that reporters have been overwhelmed covering the coronavirus and the nationwide lockdown, and have not devoted much coverage to the article.

During its five months in power, the Anez interim government has forced several opposition radio stations off the air, harassed critical journalists, and labeled some as seditious, according to news reports. In January, Anezs former communications minister, Roxana Lizarraga, declared that freedom of expression in Bolivia has its limits.

There is a lot of concern among journalists about the governments relationship with the press, Loayza told CPJ. Its very worrisome.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 08, 2020 | 03:58 PM | FRANKFORT





He also announced eight new deaths associated with the virus, and 331 individuals that have recovered.







Beshear has announced a new executive order that limits shopping to one person per household. This will apply to grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, etc. There will be some exceptions to this rule, including those that can't remain "healthy at home" without supervision, and other adults that have physical or mental impairments. He also calls on any stores that are still open to use common sense and to help enforce the new order.





In a second new order, Beshear has also banned door to door solicitations.





Other updates include Kentucky Dam Village being activated, the 30 day prescription refill policy has been renewed, and the federal government has approved the additional $600 in unemployment funds for Kentucky residents.





You can see the full update below:





During his Wednesday update, Governor Andy Beshear announced 204 new cases of COVID-19 in the state, for a total of 1,346 cases across the Commonwealth.
Following an extension of Gov. Steve Bullock's stay-at-home order, the Unified Health Command has extended the closure of all non-essential businesses, including salons, in Yellowstone County.

The amended order extends the temporary closure of businesses in Yellowstone County through April 24, and also includes personal care establishments, like nail and beauty salons, barbershops and tattoo or piercing parlors.

The order amendment was issued Wednesday by John Felton, the county's health officer.

The extended closures mirror Bullock's, who issued a statewide stay-at-home order that went into effect on March 28, shuttering "non-essential businesses."

On Tuesday the governor's order, which was first set to expire Friday, was extended through April 24.

Other provisions outlined in Felton's newest amendment are restrictions to one-one-one massage therapy services and the closure of some "non-essential retailers" including arts and craft stores and hobby stores.

Under Wednesday's order a person seeking a massage treatment must have a written order from a doctor, and the therapist much be licensed in Montana.
Clay, N.Y.  JMA is known as a wireless technology company, not a medical equipment maker. Nevertheless, the companys engineers in Clay took just 10 days to design an emergency-use ventilator they say could be used to keep critically ill coronavirus patients alive.

Working with Dr. John Callahan, a Syracuse physician of internal medicine, JMA designed what it says is an inexpensive, easy to manufacture mechanical ventilation device for hospitals to use when they have run out of traditional ventilators.

They were able to assemble their own device within 10 days, controlled by an internal computer that basically mimics the functionality of a modern, full-featured ventilator, Callahan said. The hope is that we would be able to use this to act as a stand-in should there be an acute emergency shortage of ventilators.

JMA has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of the device under its emergency use authorization program.

It also has formed a company, Prevail NY LLC, to manufacture the device if its emergency use is approved. (The name stands for Pandemic Response Emergency Ventilation Assembled In Liverpool.)

Dave Jackson, president of transmission line systems at JMA, said the company could make several hundred of the ventilators a week at its plant on Henry Clay Boulevard north of Liverpool. The devices would be sold at cost, likely to the state or federal governments, he said.

The company is making the blueprints for the ventilator available for free online for manufacturers around the globe to use, he said.

Its a way to help stabilize a patient while theyre waiting, said Jackson. This is not a product line for us. Were not a medical manufacturer, but we are really good at manufacturing and engineering.

JMA, a wireless technology company in Clay, designed this ventilator for emergency use to keep alive patients severely ill with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. JMA

JMA used off-the-shelf parts in the ventilator, a feature that keeps its cost to produce to no more than $500  far less than the thousands of dollars a traditional ventilator costs, he said.

Officials in New York and other states have expressed concerns they may run out of ventilators to keep alive patients severely ill with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Under such a nightmare scenario, doctors might have to ration ventilators, effectively deciding which patients live and which ones die.

Callahan said that scenario prompted him to research the possibility of designing a ventilator that could be manufactured quickly. At first, he discussed the possibility with officials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then contacted Syracuse University.

SU referred him to JMA, a maker of 4G and 5G wireless equipment and software-based communication systems. JMA engineers designed a device using motors, controllers and standard sheet metal meant for mass production.

The device uses an FDA-approved manual resuscitator known as a bag valve mask and mechanically operates it to breathe for patients unable to do so on their own, Callahan said.

It could only be used in a hospital because the patient would have to be intubated and sedated, the device would have to be connected to a hospitals oxygen supply line, and the patients blood oxygen levels would need to be monitored, he said.

This would clearly be a device of last resort that would have applicability, lets say, as occurred in Italy," he said. In Italy, you had patients for whom there were no available ventilators and they were basically turning people away based on age and other comorbid conditions.

John Mezzalingua, CEO and founder of JMA, said the company is ready to jump-start manufacturing of the ventilators in Clay and at the companys plant in Bologna, Italy.

JMA employs nearly 1,000 people globally, including more than 500 in Clay.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Potential coronavirus exposure at Syracuse store, laundromat in Liverpool

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Hospitalized, critical patients at record highs; 422 total cases

Mixed emotions as new NY coronavirus deaths surge to 779, but hope remains, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
DETAILS are emerging about what triggered the shooting of a policewoman, Lance Corporal Francisca Tengey, by a soldier during lockdown duties last night.



The identity of the soldier has been revealed as Able Seaman 1 (AB1) Oppong Bekoe of the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp in Accra who is currently on detention after shooting the policewoman in the thigh at Tema New Town.



The victim who received treatment at the Tema General Hospital is attached to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Tema Regional Police Command and was deployed for COVID-19 assignment.



Information available to DGN Online indicates that the military high command were locked up in a meeting with the hierarchy of the Tema Regional Police Command over the incident.



A statement signed by the Tema Regional Police Commander, DCOP Edward Johnson Akrofi-Oyirifi, said they received information on Thursday, April 9, 2020, at about 6am, that the policewoman had been shot.



Police detectives were dispatched to the scene and saw blood around a snap check point mounted for the operation COVID Safety at Tema Newtown, where the police officer was assigned for duty.



The statement said whiles on duty, the said police officer was accidentally shot in her right lower thigh from behind by Able Seaman 1 (AB1) Oppong Bekoe of the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp who was also detailed for the same operation at the said checkpoint.



The victim was rushed to the Tema General Hospital, where she has been treated and discharged.



Meanwhile, cautioned statement has been taken from the offending soldier and released to his unit commander for further investigation.



Lance Corporal Tengey has been treated and discharged by medics at the Tema General Hospital after sustaining two fearful gunshots.







Source: DGN Online









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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Assam with 28 positive cases of



COVID-19 has not reported any new case on Thursday but the condition of the last person who tested positive for COVID-19 is "alarming", Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The condition of the retired BSF personnel from Hailakandi district is "alarming" and he has been shifted to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital, the minister tweeted.

The patient's other "parameters are stable but his oxygen saturation is decreasing and has been shifted to ICU of SMCH for better monitoring", he said.

The 65-year old man, who has a travel history to Saudi Arabia, tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday night. The man had also attended the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

No new case has been reported so far in the state since Wednesday and 27 out of the 28 confirmed cases in the state are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi, the minister said.

The confirmed patients are being treated at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital, Sonapur District Hospital, Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Goalpara Civil Hospital and Golaghat Civil hospital.

A total of 2,359 people have been tested so far with 28 people testing positive for the COVID-19.

It is mandatory for even those who have tested negative to be tested thrice during the quarantine period, the minister had said earlier.

A total of 2,215 persons who came in contact with COVID-19 patients were identified and kept under home surveillance as they are symptomatic.

All persons who arrived here from coronavirus affected countries or other states should remain under strict home isolation for 28 days from the date of arrival in Assam, irrespective of whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic, Sarma said.

Meanwhile, the first batch of doctors, nurses and health workers attending to COVID-19 and quarantined patients have completed their first week of duties, and have proceeded to designated places, including a five-star hotel, for the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, he said.

The expenses will be borne by the state government, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bank of America Global Head of Equities Fabrizio Gallo made the remarks on March 25

Leaked audio has revealed a Bank of America executive berating traders who planned to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, in shocking remarks that have been criticized as 'cold-blooded'.

In the March 25 conference call, Bank of America's Global Head of Equities, Fabrizio Gallo, told the bank's top equity and equity derivatives traders that long-term remote work would not be an option.

'Of course, we are going to entertain special cases but not the 'I don't feel comfortable, sorry.' It doesn't work that way over the long term,' Gallo said in the recording obtained by CNBC, citing exceptions that might be made for employees with serious health issues.

'At some point in time, one has to make a decision,' Gallo told the group assembled on the phone. 'And the reason why it's called critical function is because we have a critical requirement by senior-ups to provide proper and orderly markets. And we cannot provide proper and orderly markets if 99 percent of the population decides they don't feel comfortable.'

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 20, the final day that the famed trading floor was open. On March 25, Gallo demanded that his traders at Bank of America come into the office despite their ability to work remotely.

Gallo then seemed to threatened demotions or even termination for those who were unwilling to work in the office as the deadly pandemic sweeps across the nation.

'You cannot on one hand say you cannot trust the firm and on the other hand get the money from the firm, for a long period of time if you are in a critical function,' he said. 'Now if people decide they don't want to be in a critical function we can have that conversation too.

'Every single person in this office right now has a family. Every single person in this office right now has children. Every single person in this office right now has elderly parents. Some are very far away, some are here. Every single person in this office is worrying about it.'

Charlotte, North Carolina, where Bank of America is headquartered, had implemented a shelter-in-place order the day before the call, on March 24, ordering all non-essential workers to stay at home. New York's similar order had gone into effect on March 20.

While financial institutions are considered essential infrastructure, authorities have urged anyone who is able to work from home to do so. Even the New York Stock Exchange closed its floor on March 23, with all traders working remotely.

Still, Gallo appeared to demand that his traders quickly return to the office or face professional consequences.

On Thursday, a New York Stock Exchange employee is the sole person present to ring the opening bell. BofA says that 95% of its traders are now working from home

'There's a balance there between critical mass in the office and not critical mass in the office,' said Gallo. 'If you're deemed critical and you decide to stay at home then we'll just take your access away  no problem, after a certain period of time.

'I assume people when they're staying at home, they are self-quarantining? Are they're going out for a walk? They're going to the supermarket? So, you can catch it at the supermarket. You can catch it at the CVS. You can catch it walking next to a person.'

Bank of America did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com, but told CNBC: 'The premise of this conversation is that after a period of time and the government and health officials have said that it is safe, people will need to come back to work and we know people will have personal challenges and we will need to help them plan for that.'

'This conversation took place two weeks ago when we were establishing new protocols about employees executing trades from home,' the company's statement continued.

'We have 95% of our people working from home in the trading businesses including some of our most senior traders.'

Despite the company's explanation, Gallo's remarks drew swift backlash from the public.

'I'm a customer that does significant business with BofA. How do you justify Fabrizio Gallo's comments at a time like this? I have no interest in working with a firm which doesn't value it's employees... particularly at a time like this,' one person wrote on Twitter.

'His speech, in the midst of a global pandemic, is one of the most cold-blooded things I've ever heard,' the person continued.

Another person who said they formerly worked at Bank of America tweeted: 'I was told "Every employee is critical at Bank of America" once. Does that mean everyone gets threatened like that a** Fabrizio Gallo did to his team at BofA? Stupid! It's all for your performance.'
NASA has chosen a new lunar surface delivery partner from its list of Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) vendors to actually transport stuff on its behalf  Mojave's Masten Space Systems, which is being tapped by the agency to take eight payloads, including non science and tech instruments, to the Moon's South Pole in 2022.

Masten is the fourth company awarded a lunar delivery contract under CLPS, after NASA announced that three other companies would be tasked with taking payloads back in May, 2019. Those included Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, as well as Orbit Beyond. Orbit Beyond later dropped out of its contract, though Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines are still aiming to deliver their payloads using landers they've created sometime next year.

The new Masten contract, like the others in the CLOPS program, is part of NASA's Artemis program, which seeks to return human tot he surface of the Moon, and set up permanent scientific exploration there, with the ultimate aim of using it as a stepping stone to taking humans to Mars and potentially beyond. NASA has focused on public-private partnerships like those formed through the CLPS program to assist it in making its Moon and Mars missions possible, and bringing commercial interests along for the ride.

Masten's contract is a $75.9 million award, that specifies end-to-end delevirey of the payloads, as well as their integration with the company's XL-1 lander. They're also required to land on the Moon and operate for at least 12 days post-landing. The specific instruments that XL-1 will carry include tools for measuring and mapping the lunar surface temperature, as well as radiation, and the presence of hydrogen and other gases that could indicate the presence of water.

The XL-1 lander developed by Masten is an evolution of lander designs that took part in, and won the NASA Centennial Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge in 2009. Masten has also developed and flown a number of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets on behalf of NASA, including the Xaero test vehicle.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced it will use the extra $20 million that Congress allotted for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative this year to address invasive species control and prevention, restore habitats, remediate environmental problems that it previously designated Areas of Concern, and address nutrients that enter the lake and cause harmful algal blooms.

After being funded at $300 million for years, the program got a $20 million boost for 2020. After repeatedly trying to cut the programs funding, President Trump announced support last year during a campaign appearance in Michigan.

The President is a fan of the Great Lakes, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, an Ohio native who graduated from Case Western Reserve University, told reporters on Thursday. Hes heard from a number of lawmakers, a number of governors and and the people who live in the Great Lakes states. So hes fully committed to the Great Lakes.

The EPA said $7.5 million of the extra money will be used for habitat restoration and sediment remediation to restore and delist Areas of Concern along the Great Lakes, which include Ohios Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Black and Maumee rivers.

Were working hand in hand with Governor (Mike) DeWine, said Wheeler. He has a very active program to help restore Lake Erie and its tributaries. Were looking to augment what hes doing."

Around $5 million will be used to fund research and development of systems to treat ballast water used by ships traveling between the lakes, which can spread invasive species as it is discharged. And $5 million will be used to control invasive species like Asian carp, and reduce levels of nutrients that leach into the lake and feed algal blooms of the sort that rendered the city of Toledos water supply undrinkable for a period in 2014.

Another $2 million will be used to keep trash out of the Great Lakes. Wheeler says the EPA has over 50 trash free water projects spread across the country, and has been soliciting applicants for beach and shoreline cleanup projects, harbor and river cleanup projects and trash and litter prevention and education projects in the Great Lakes. In other parts of the country, Wheeler said the EPA funds small ships that filter trash out of polluted water bodies.

At EPA, we know we dont have to choose between a healthy environment over a healthy economy, said Wheeler. We can and should do both. And this is especially true when it comes to work the EPA is doing to restore the Great Lakes.

Local members of Congress applauded the initiative, with Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Dave Joyce saying it would help to protect the invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse that is the Great Lakes system.

The Great Lakes is one of our nations most important resources, added Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs. From the commerce it drives regionally to the drinking water it provides locally, the ecological safety of the lakes is important to the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans.

Put simply, our Great Lakes cannot be replaced  they must be protected and deserve robust federal investment, agreed Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

More coverage:

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New York state is now the coronavirus epicenter of the world with more infections than any other country outside of the United States.

The number of confirmed cases in New York state increased to 159,937 on Thursday after the number of infections went up by 10,000 in 24 hours.

In comparison, Spain has now recorded just over 152,000 cases and Italy's infections increased to more than 142,000.

China, which is where the coronavirus first broke out late last year, currently has nearly 83,000 infections.

The United States has 469,450 cases and accounts for a third of the world's total infections.

In terms of fatalities, Italy's death toll is the highest across with the globe with more than 18,000 cases. The US follows with 16,715 and then Spain with 15,300.

New York state's death toll as of Thursday was just over 7,000.

The state posted a record-breaking increase in coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day even as a surge of patients in overwhelmed hospitals slowed.

Governor Andrew Cuomo described the death count - which increased by 799 in 24 hours - as a lagging indicator reflecting the loss of people sickened earlier in the outbreak.

The snapshot of hospitalizations showed a less dire picture.

Cuomo said the net 200-patient increase in hospitalizations "is the lowest number we've had since this nightmare started', compared with daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.

Intensive care admissions also were down in the state as more than 18,200 people were hospitalized.

Over two-thirds of the state's deaths are in New York City alone, where fears are growing that the real death toll has been significantly miscounted and that a dramatic spike in New Yorkers dying in their homes is also linked to coronovirus.

On a general day, first responders will answer calls to between 20 and 25 people who died in their home in New York City. By Tuesday, this has skyrocketed to 265 people.

The state is faring far better than any of the models suggested it would in terms of hospitalizations but Cuomo said the projections 'keep him up at night' and could still happen if people do not comply with social distancing

City officials have now said that they will include these deaths, which have not been tested or treated for coronavirus, in the official death toll meaning the number of New York City's deaths could rise once again.

The city is recording a 5.3 percent fatality rate as of Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, the US was told to brace for what officials called the 'peak death week'.

The country reached a record-high number of deaths on Tuesday with 2,000 fatalities.

The grim number of fatalities came as the estimated death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the US was lowered from 82,000 to 60,000 after new projections scaled back the number of fatalities over the next four months by 26 percent.

The updated projections has also brought forward the peak day of deaths to April 12 where an estimated 2,212 deaths are expected to occur over 24 hours.

The new estimates were released on Wednesday by forecasters at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation - a model often cited by the White House coronavirus task force.

The projected downward revision in the death toll coincides with comments from health officials and political leaders that cases may have reached a plateau in certain cities.

Its most recent update now projects there will be just over 60,000 deaths by August 4, which is down from the nearly 82,000 fatalities is had forecast on Tuesday.

US health officials have previously estimated that between 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die.

The model also moved up its projected peak in the number of deaths to this Sunday. The revision moves forward the projected peak by four days - suggesting the strain on the healthcare system will begin to abate a little sooner than previously expected.

Peak resource use for hospitals is predicted to occur on April 11 - the day before the peak death toll - where an estimated 94,000 beds, 19,000 ICU beds and 16,500 ventilators will be needed.

Despite the updated projections showing a lower number of deaths, health officials warned that a second wave of infections would occur if Americans relaxed their 'social distancing' practices.

'What's really important is that people don't turn these early signs of hope into releasing from the 30 days to stop the spread - it's really critical,' said Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, referring to guidelines aimed at reducing the spread of the virus.

'If people start going out again and socially interacting, we could see a really acute second wave.'

The updated projections has also brought forward the peak day of deaths to April 12 where an estimated 2,212 deaths are expected to occur over 24 hours, new data shows

Peak resource use for hospitals is predicted to occur on April 11 - the day before the peak death toll - where an estimated 94,000 beds, 19,000 ICU beds and 16,500 ventilators will be needed
The federal government has extended its childcare funding to council-run services on the same day the NSW government announced it would spend $82 million to prop up the ailing sector.

The federal Department of Education told local government operators on Thursday they could qualify for an 'exceptional circumstance' supplement after councils complained the free childcare package announced last week would force them shut their services without access to the JobKeeper subsidy.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has extended crisis childcare funding to council-run services in a supplementary package. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It comes after Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday morning announced the state was ensuring the continued operation of 260 council-run childcare centres with its own crisis package, with multiple sources saying both levels of government were unaware of the others' plans.

The funding, which will also make preschool free for parents over the next six months, comes after assurances by federal Education Minister Dan Tehan earlier this week that he had heard the concerns raised by councils, "and we continue to work on the issue."
Security officers wearing protective face masks check travelers making their way to their boarding gates at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 14, 2020.

Some 150 Cambodian migrant workers and students on Wednesday urged their government to allow them to return home from Malaysia, where they were left stranded after Prime Minister Hun Sen refused to accept them, citing fears they could be infected with the coronavirus.

Sobri Salleh, one of the students, told RFAs Khmer Service that he and the others learned of Hun Sens decision on Tuesday as they were prevented from boarding planes to Cambodia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Members of the group broke down and cried, he said, as many had already spent hundreds of U.S. dollars on their flights and packed up their lives in Malaysiawhere authorities have confirmed 4,119 infections and 65 deathswith the expectation of returning home for good.

There are students, workers, and touristssome of whose visas are about to expire, Sobri Salleh said.

Many of the workers no longer have jobs [because of the economic impact of the outbreak], so they want to return home. If they cant go home, they wont have enough money to meet their needs [in Malaysia].

Of the 150 Cambodians, around 10 refused to leave the airport until late Tuesday evening, when officials from Cambodias embassy met with them and asked them to leave. The embassy did not provide food for them and Sobri Salleh said he spent his own money to ensure everyone had something to eat.

Another student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFA that she was willing to submit to a two-week quarantine if she is allowed to return home.

In Malaysia now, there are no jobsthey are only helping their own people, she said.

RFA spoke with an official at the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur who refused to comment about the situation, but the embassy later released a statement saying that the 10 people who refused to leave the airport have been provided temporary shelter until the problem is resolved. The embassy also asked Cambodians in Malaysia to remain patient.

Hun Sen on Tuesday had told members of the media in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh that he would not allow the 150 Cambodian nationals to return home from Malaysia because we dont know who among them has COVID-19, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Dy Thehoya, senior program officer at Cambodian rights group the Centre for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights, told RFA that the government should reconsider banning its citizens from returning to Cambodia, saying that they will face severe hardships if forced to stay in Malaysia.

How much does the government need to spend to bring them home? he asked.

They pay taxes to the government, so when they are in trouble, the government should help them  The government is obligated to protect its citizens. Most governments only ban foreigners [from entering], not their own citizens.

Reports of the ban came as Cambodias Ministry of Health announced the countrys 117th confirmed COVID-19 case on Wednesday, while the total number of cases worldwide neared 1.5 million and more than 87,000 related deaths. Cambodia has yet to record a death from COVID-19.

Workers at home

Workers at home in Cambodia, meanwhile, continued to struggle amid the outbreak, which has hampered the economy and shuttered factories, leading to an increasing number of layoffs.

On Wednesday, a dozen unions from the textile, construction, transportation, and tourism industries signed a joint petition urging the government to pay suspended workers the 60 percent of minimum monthly wagesequivalent to around U.S. $115they were promised in February and called for an official order preventing employers from firing their employees during the crisis.

The petition came in response to an announcement by Hun Sen a day earlier that the government will only pay laid off workers U.S. $70 per month, though he said that they would not be required to attend vocational training to receive the money, as was part of the proposal two months ago.

Athit Kong, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Union (CCAWU), said the government should pay each suspended worker 20 percent of their minimum wages and employers pay the remaining 40 percent.

The government is paying us only U.S. $70 a monthwe insist the government ensures that each suspended worker receives 60 percent of his or her salary, he said, adding that unions also want microfinance institutions to defer their loans and interest.

In addition to his announcement of decreased payments to people who had been laid off, Hun Sen on Tuesday suggested workers should sell their belongings to cope with the financial crisis during the outbreak.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Hun Sen had also spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about cooperating with the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and to request U.S. $2 million in aid to combat COVID-19.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh confirmed the two had spoken by phone on Tuesday and that Pompeo had expressed hope that over U.S. $2 million in new U.S. aid  will help Cambodia's efforts confronting the epidemic.

The statement said that Pompeo and Hun Sen also discussed the importance of Cambodias sovereignty, as well as ways to strengthen its democratic governance, including the importance of freedom of expression, especially during this time when all voices are needed to fight the pandemic.

Cambodias Supreme Court banned the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in November 2017 over an alleged plot to topple the government which, along with a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on NGOs and independent media, paved the way for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the countrys July 2018 general election.

Rollbacks on democratic freedoms in the country have prompted criticism of Hun Sens leadership from Western governments and rights groups in recent years, and friction between Washington and Phnom Penh has increased over the crackdown.

Reporter jailed

Also on Wednesday, Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued a statement demanding the immediate release of Cambodian journalist and director of the TVFB news site Sovann Rithy, who was arrested for reporting a comment by Hun Sen about the outbreak.

Sovann Rithy was taken into custody by police in the capital on Tuesday evening and charged with incitement to cause chaos and harm social security under article 495 of the criminal code, RSF said, citing police chief Sar Theth.

The reporter had accurately posted on Facebook a comment by Hun Sen earlier that day telling motorbike-taxi drivers who go bankrupt because of the crisis to sell your motorbikes for spending money  [because] the government does not have the ability to help.

The information ministry reacted by ordering the revocation of TVFBs media license on the grounds that its editor had selected the prime ministers quote, RSF said, noting that Sovann Rithy is due to appear before a municipal court tomorrow.

We call on the Cambodian justice system to put an end to this utterly Kafkaesque case by releasing Sovann Rithy at once, and we call on the government to reinstate TVFBs media licence, Daniel Bastard, the head of RSFs Asia-Pacific desk, said in the statement.

Imprisoning a journalist for quoting a statement by the prime minister word for word is more than absurd. The COVID-19 crisis must not be used as pretext for getting rid of journalists who do not blindly toe the government line.

Cambodia was ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in RSFs 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
I. Israel: Is Bibi considering a fourth election? The agreement between Israels two Benjamins  Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Knesset speaker Benny Gantz  faced a last-minute glitch on April 6, just as the press was announcing the details of the unprecedented emergency coronavirus government that would allow Netanyahu to serve the first 18 months as premier and then hand over the reins to Gantz. Patio summit not enough. On April 3, Netanyahu and Gantz met for hours on the famous patio in the prime ministers house on Balfour Street, while maintaining a safe distance in accordance with the Health Ministry's guidelines. Most of their political and legal advisers were on the phone. Obstacles were removed one after another. The overall mood was that a great event was about to take place. Both sides seemed to want to make a deal before the Passover holiday, so they both made important concessions. Mazal Mualem has the all the details here. Gantz gives in on annexation. The big breakthrough occurred when Gantz shocked his supporters by conceding on the issue of annexing West Bank territories, agreeing that it could be brought before the Knesset for a vote, writes Shlomi Eldar here. In other words, he made it easier for a Netanyahu-Gantz government to impose Israeli sovereignty on territories in the West Bank and Jordan Valley. All about the judges. The agreement broke down at the last minute when Netanyahu retracted his concession on who would sit on the Committee for the Appointment of Judges. His conservative coalition allies balked at him giving up the veto, so the carefully choreographed negotiation and roll out hit one more snag. Netanyahu toys with idea of fourth election. The assumption is that the two sides will somehow resolve the issue over the judiciary and ultimately sign the agreement, writes Ben Caspit here. The last thing Gantz needs is a fourth election campaign after Blue and White crumbled in his hands and split into two competing parties. But the political landscape seems to change by the hour and Netanyahus inner circle and hard-liner allies might be liking his odds, if slim, in the event of a fourth round. And Netanyahu, for his part, is toying with the idea  mainly due to very positive polling" because of his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, writes Caspit. He knows, however, that elections can be tricky: You know where you stand when you enter them, but you can't predict where you'll be standing afterward.
Pooja Hegde is now considered as every director's favourite, all thanks to her last film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Well, the actress has been delivering back-to-back successful films in Tollywood and now became the number one heroine in the Telugu film industry.

Pooja Hegde feels overwhelmed with audiences love feels like the top of the world. She is taking all the advantages of her star status. During a media interaction, Pooja Hegde responded on her star status in Tollywood and said, "I like to be in the top slot and I'm happy with the position I have been enjoying in the Telugu film industry." "I love to be called the number one heroine and I also want the same status in Bollywood," she further added.

On a related note, after delivering blockbuster like Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo starring Allu Arjun, Pooja Hegde will next be seen in Radha Krishna Kumar's directorial venture opposite Baahubali star Prabhas. Prabhas 20 is said to be an intense love story set in the '70s, and fans are eager to see Prabhas and Pooja together on the silver screen. Reportedly, due to Novel Coronavirus outbreak, the makers of Prabhas 20 quickly concluded the Georgia schedule and headed back to Hyderabad. The post-production work of the film has been stopped due to lockdown.

Apart from Tollywood, Pooja is also making waves in Bollywood. After Housefull 4's big success, the actress bagged the lead role opposite Salman Khan in his next, Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali. Interestingly, she is also in talks with filmmaker Hanu Raghavapudi for a women-centric film. Earlier, reports were also stating that she will be seen romancing Suriya in Hari's directorial venture, Aruvaa. But the official confirmation about the same hasn't come yet.

Also Read : Pooja Hegde Is Dating This Bollywood Actor? Find Out The Truth
New Delhi, April 9 : As novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases continue to increase in the country, at least 88 per cent Indians feel that the 21-day nationwide lockdown, scheduled to end on April 14, should be extended further, a new poll said on Thursday.

The findings showed that 88 per cent of the respondents are refraining to order food online during the lockdown period, according to the survey by news platform Inshorts.

The poll which included response from 40,000 app users revealed that 92 per cent of the respondents feel private sector should be allowed testing of COVID-19 in order to augment testing facilities for the respiratory disease.

"Lockdown is the best way to practice social distancing and curb the spread of the coronavirus," said the survey.

The Odisha government on Thursday decided to extend the lockdown period till April 30 to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. It also decided to keep the educational institutions closed till June 17.

Odisha is the first state in the country which extended the lockdown period by another 15 days.

The total tally of novel coronavirus cases in India reached up to 5,734 on Thursday. Of these, 5,095 are active cases, 166 are dead, one has migrated, while 472 people have been discharged after recovery.

Maharashtra is the worst affected state so far with 1,135 active cases, 117 cured and discharged and 72 have died.
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Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti and Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 07:27 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0b952f 1 City COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,COVID-19-West-Java,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,large-scale-social-restrictions,PSBB Free

As Jakarta is set to implement large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) on Friday, the capitals satellite cities are looking to prepare their own PSBB regulations to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Bogor Deputy Mayor Dedie A. Rachim praised Jakartas PSBB policies and said that Bogor, West Java, would seek to implement its own measures soon.

Based on the instructions of West Javas governor, Bogor and Jakartas other satellite will follow suit, he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

According to Dedie, approximately 200,000 Bogor residents travel to and from Jakarta daily using commuter lines. Meanwhile, more than 20,000 vehicles from Bogor pass through the Jagorawi toll road to go to the capital and home again every day.

Similarly, Tangerang Mayor Arief R. Firmansyah said the city had sent a PSBB request to the Banten provincial administration.

Approximately 700,000 residents of Tangerang municipality commute to and from Jakarta every day, Arief said in a statement on Wednesday.

Read also: National Police detail tightened measures to combat COVID-19, support government policy

Tangerang Deputy Mayor Benyamin Davnie said the administration was calling on residents not to go the Jakarta.

Stay at home and finish your work from home, he told the Post.

Meanwhile, Tangerang regent Ahmed Zaki Iskandar told the Post that the administration was currently discussing the possibility of implementing PSBB regulations in the regency.

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi echoed their sentiments, saying that he would soon bar Bekasi residents from traveling to Jakarta.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Tuesday that the capital would start implementing PSBB measures on Friday. Gatherings of more than five people will be prohibited and public transportation services will limit passenger numbers to 50 percent of capacity and restrict their operational hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company on Thursday said it has appointed Anamika Roy Rashtrawar as its managing director and chief executive officer.

The appointment is effective March 27, the company said in a statement.

Rashtrawar, who takes over from Warendra Sinha after his retirement, is the first woman MD and CEO of a large private sector general insurance company in India, it said.

"She is a dynamic woman leader who has been on the board of the company and has successfully led many businesses in the company, especially the digitalization projects. I am confident that Mrs Rashtrawar will take the company to the next level of performance in terms of customer service, sustained growth and profitability," IFFCO MD U S Awasthi said.

She joined the company as a whole-time director in June 2018 and spearheaded the company's business transformation project by expanding operations in tier-II,-III, -IV towns.

"IFFCO Tokio is well-positioned to take on the emerging challenges in the insurance industry in India as it has the best team and excellent business partners and loyal clients. It is a tough time for any insurance company but nothing is permanent and this too shall pass, Rashtrawar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Olaf Scholz, Germany's finance minister at a press conference after the Eurogroup negotiations in Berlin. (Michael Kappeler/Picture alliance via Getty Images)

Financial ministers from EUs 19 eurozone states met late into Wednesday morning via video-conference, but failed to thrash out an agreement on a stimulus package to help EU states withstand the economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussions have now been postponed until Thursday 9 April. The main bone of contention is whether member states should pool their debt.

Diplomatic sources told Reuters news agency that: The Italians want a reference to debt mutualisation as a possible recovery instrument to be analysed more in the future. The Dutch say no.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz said this morning that the finance ministers  also known as the Eurogroup had almost agreed but not quite. Scholz said there were three proposals under debate, with a combined volume of 500bn ($542bn, 440bn).

Ahead of the meeting, it was clear that the Eurogroup would discuss three main measures including the European Stability Mechanism, a pot originally set up during the euro crisis, but loans come with stringent conditions, and are subject to oversight by the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund.

Scholz reiterated his recommendation that the tough conditions to access ESM funds needed to be relaxed, so that that if a country says it wants to use these funds there's not then a load of commissioners who go there and first spend weeks discussing with them how they should change their policies in the coming years.

The Commission is also putting forward 100bn into a short-time work initiative called SURE, modelled on Germanys Kurzarbeit scheme, where the government pays companies 60% or more of an employees salary whilst they are stood down or have their hours reduced.

The European Investment Bank proposed a pan-European fund of to guarantee up to 200bn in loans to small and medium-sized companies.

However, the debate about debt mutualisation, which has been wrangled over since the financial crisis, is now centre stage again.

Story continues

Read more: Angela Merkel: EU facing its greatest test since its founding

Nine countries, led by Spain and Italy, have been very vocal about how they feel debt mutualisation would strengthen EU solidarity. They say they should not have to borrow and be subject to rigorous checks and repayment schedules  or forced to later enact austerity measures  as the coronavirus pandemic is a symmetrical shock and called for corona bonds.

Eurobonds were much debated during the euro crisis a decade ago but ultimately rejected by Germany and a few other countries, who were loath to assume debt liability for countries like Italy and Greece, whose economies needed an overhaul.

Corona bonds would be more or less the same idea: they would allow heavily indebted countries to borrow money at better terms as countries with robust economies, like Germany, would be co-guarantors, making the weaker ones a safer bet.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez wrote in the Guardian that Europes future was at stake and that it is time to act with solidarity in creating a new debt mutualisation mechanism.

Scholz stands with chancellor Angela Merkel in opposition to corona bonds.

Read more: Merkels final act is her biggest challenge so far

Some German finance experts, including the president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) are pro-debt mutualisation. Marcel Fratzscher told the Rheinischer Post (link in German) newspaper that the German economy is an integral part of a European economy that can only be as strong as its weakest link  and these are Italy and Spain at the moment.

Sharing financial risks is the next necessary step in European integration," OECD secretary general Angel Gurria told Germanys Suddeutsche Zeitung (link in German), noting that he was absolutely in favour of the euro states issuing issue community bonds to combat the economic consequences of the corona crisis.
TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (13,925.714, up 311.57 points.)

Hexo Corp. (TSX:HEXO). Health care. Down 25 cents, or 26.04 per cent, to 71 cents on 14.4 million shares.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Up three cents, or 6.74 per cent, to 47.5 cents on 12.5 million shares.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up nine cents, or 2.34 per cent, to $3.94 on 10 million shares.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Up eight cents, or 7.14 per cent, to $1.20 on 7.9 million shares.

MEG Energy Corp. (TSX:MEG). Energy. Up six cents, or 2.11 per cent, to $2.91 on 7.8 million shares.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG). Energy. Up one cent, or 0.71 per cent to $1.42 on 12.7 million shares.

Air Canada (TSX:AC). Industrials. Up $2.09, or 12.61 per cent, to $18.66 on 7.3 million shares.

Companies in the news:

Air Canada  the airline plans to rehire 16,500 laid-off workers via Ottawas emergency wage subsidy, though the vast majority will remain at home amid the collapse of global travel triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said Wednesday it will apply for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to retain or bring back workers who were let go under a cost reduction program that saw nearly half of Air Canadas 36,000 employees lose their jobs as air traffic skidded to a halt due to the virus.

Cogeco Inc. (TSX:CCA). Down 40 cents, or 0.42 per cent, to $95.50. The company says its Quebec-based radio business has temporarily laid off about one-quarter of its employees due to a significant decline in advertising from retailers affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. Cogeco chief executive Philippe Jette says its radio stations have maintained good ratings during the pandemic by providing news, information and music during the crisis.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX:MFI). Down $1.26, or five per cent, to $24.02. The company is suspending operations at its poultry plant in Brampton, Ont., after three employees at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. The company says its deep cleaning the plant including common areas and offices as it completes an investigation into the cases

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2020.
Vaibhav Saxena and Nguyen Thi Phuong, lawyers at Vietnam International Law Firm

The draft Law on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) contemplates permitting a PPP structure mainly in the sectors of transportation, power plants and the grid, water utility supply, drainage and wastewater treatment, offices for state authorities, healthcare, education and training, and IT infrastructure.

Under the draft law on PPP, the minimum investment capital of a related venture is marked at VND200 billion ($8.7 million) excluding the case of an operations and management agreement project. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), requirements on the minimum of total investment capital for PPP projects is necessary for the selection of worthy schemes for investment in such form as such contracts are normally long-term ones that necessitate numerous governmental commitments.

In addition, for each of the aforementioned sectors, the government will issue the minimum investment capital requirement under a specific social-economic strategy. Hence, this condition would prevent thinned-out investment leading to low investment efficiency.

This provision raises the question of how projects under VND200 billion ($8.7 million approx.) can be implemented in the form of PPP. In reality the proportion of such ventures falling below the cut-off is significantly low (about 30 per cent, according to MPI data).

However, many small-scale projects in health, science and technology, environmental protection, and education with total investment below VND200 billion ($8.7 million)  but which still fall in the category of sectors which be considered necessary to the society and required private investment  should also have a legal basis to be considered as a PPP initiative.

According to the government, the private investment in those small-scale projects are already governed by Decree No.69/2008/ND-CP and Decree No.59/2014/ND-CP on encouraging privatisation in certain sectors. However, the draft also acknowledges such privatisation regulations are not comprehensive that contain merely investment incentives. The government may consider issuing a guiding decree of PPP law with similar regulations but simpler than the law for such small-scale ventures, or amending and supplementing the decrees.

Applicable laws

As stipulated in Article 3 of the draft law, the investment activities in the form of PPP must comply with the provisions of the related law and other relevant laws.

The draft PPP law stipulates the predominance of it against other relevant laws, in case there is a conflict in regulations in relation to the order and procedures for investment and implementation of projects; activities of PPP scheme enterprises; governing laws of related contracts; investment security; state capital management mechanism directly applied to PPP venture between this law and other relevant laws.

With the fact that the application period for a PPP venture usually lasts many years, provided that the legal system of Vietnam is still in the process of finalising, amending and supplementing regularly, this predominance shall be considered as a commitment of the state with investors to secure their particular and directly applicable incentives/policies as provided by the PPP law.

Termination of contract

Under Article 54 of the draft law, the PPP contract can be early terminated under several circumstances. The first is in the case of any party to the contract seriously violating the performance of obligations of the contract.

The second is in the case of obtaining an agreement on terminating the contract with the authorised state agencies or contract signing agencies, as well as approval of the competent authority which approved the investment policy.

The PPP contract also can be terminated in case of force majeure events in which any attempt to amend or supplement the contract cannot ensure the continuous performance of the project or in case of national interests, national defense and security goals. Further, the authorised state agencies are empowered to terminate the contract if the related enterprise falls into insolvency as regulated in the Law on Insolvency.

In this latest draft version, the position of investor seems to be more equal with the position of the state compared to the former version of draft PPP law. However, the rights and interests of investors should be protected and respected by two factors.

First, by further expanding the circumstances in which the investor may terminate prior to the term of the contract in accordance with the provisions of the civil law contract termination. And second, by the authorised state agencies terminating the PPP contract when determining that the investor or venture enterprise falls into insolvency, and cannot transfer the project to a third party as stipulated in the draft law.

Government guarantees

Under the draft law, the government shall provide to the investors the guarantees relating to (i) access to land, exercise of land use rights, and rights to use public assets; (ii) mortgage of assets and the rights to commercially operate infrastructure facilities and systems; (iii) revenues for project enterprises implementing PPP contracts; (iv) conversion of foreign currency for such enterprises; (v) use of guarantee service of a third party; and (vi) the obligations of providing public service and infrastructure facilities for the enterprises. These guarantee regulations convey the seriousness of the government to encourage investment in PPP sectors. However, these guarantees need to be further refined to increase the bankability of such ventures.

In spite of the fact that the draft law has mentioned the guarantee for circumstances relating to the change in the laws (meaning the applicable law to the project still be PPP law), this provision is in fact also entangled and in conflict with the Law on Promulgating of Legal Documents. Under Article 156.3 of the Law on Promulgating of Legal Documents, if various legislative documents promulgated by the same agency contain different regulations on the same issue, the one that is promulgated later shall apply.

Actually, both the rule of law application in Article 156.3 and the principle of priority application of law as in Article 3 of the draft PPP law and the other laws are necessary. The inconsistency in the practice of applying the law is because in the Law on Promulgating of Legal Documents, there is no connection between these two principles.

Therefore, Article 156.3 needs to be amended in this direction: in case the legal documents issued by the same agency have different provisions on the same issue, the one that is promulgated later shall apply; in cases where the former legal documents have a priority to apply the law to such issues, the provisions of the former legal documents shall apply.

Mechanism to share risk

A committed revenue in the PPP contract shall be calculated based on the financial plan of such project. The investor and the company shall transfer 50 per cent of the increase between actual revenue and committed revenue. The parties may agree on the level of the committed revenue but not higher than 125 per cent of the revenue in the financial plan.

Under the draft PPP law, the government also decides to provide a revenue risk sharing mechanism for qualified schemes in the form of adjustment of product prices, service fees or contract terms. However, the risk sharing mechanism is narrow. The state shall share with the investors and the company 50 per cent of the revenue reduction between actual revenue and committed revenue for projects fully satisfying the following conditions:

* The proposed initiative; apply build-operate-transfer, build-transfer-operate, build-own-operate contracts and do not use state capital to support the construction of works, infrastructure systems;

* Changes in the planning, policies and related laws cause the actual revenue to be lower than the committed revenue. The parties agree on the level of revenue committed but not higher than 75 per cent of the revenue in the financial plan;

* Having implemented all measures to adjust prices, product and service prices or adjust the term of contracts but fail to ensure the revenue level specified at 75 per cent of the revenue in the financial plan.

It can be seen that a 50 per cent cap as mentioned above would require further consideration in order to make things better attractive for the investors and lenders. The risk sharing ratio to follow the ratio of the enterprises equity structure and state capital in the project.

Governing laws

In PPP schemes, as per the regulations of the draft law, contracts and other relevant documents shall be governed by Vietnamese law. The compulsory requirement of using these laws is different from the Civil Code 2015 where one party is foreign. It makes up a civil relation involving foreign elements to choose overseas law as governing law of the contract.

However, the draft law is the first piece of specific legislation that will govern the PPP sector and deflects from the Civil Code which exists at present and may be construed to form the roots of Vietnamese laws in civil relations. Such deflection under the draft law has raised concerns among investors and it may restrict lending options since the lenders prefer to choose more advanced and stable laws that have dealt with related concerns for the past several years and have evolved with time.

In a PPP project where a public and a private partner enters into a contract and are located in Vietnam, they will be subject to the laws of the land and shall have to follow Vietnamese laws which gives a way to the principle of applicable law. Understanding the fundamentals of the governing law and applicable law aspects is important and the partners to a PPP contract need to acknowledge the same, but the legal regime should be more transparent in providing a better picture from a jurisdiction and regulatory point of view.

From the investors desk, this provision would be a significant factor affecting their capital flow since practically, for the execution of any PPP project, the investor shall have to avail funding from lenders. International lenders may have reservations on the mandatory application of Vietnamese laws as the governing law of related contracts, given the fact that the Vietnamese laws witness timely changes that are pertinent in developing legal systems. It would be challenging to reach agreements with lenders when proposing for the disbursement of funds, and it is subject to the consideration by the government and shall depend on the decision of the National Assembly.

Despite the fact that PPP projects require a huge amount of capital to build and operate, the pay-back ability and profits derived from such ventures attract significant concern on the part of the investor. It is precedent that several are built to facilitate socio-economic development and strengthen infrastructure. Investors should consider by estimating the financial viability of each one closely.

The draft law on PPP is expected to see the light of the day soon, and it is expected to carve out a path for glowing investment opportunities in Vietnam.
New Hartford, N.Y.  New Hartford police are looking for a teen who ran away from the House of the Good Shepherd.

Tyneishia Henderson, 16, left the House of the Good Shepherd early Tuesday morning and has not been seen since, police said.

She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes, according to police.

Henderson was last seen wearing navy sweatpants and a black winter jacket that reads NASA," police said.

Police ask that anyone who knows more about Hendersons whereabouts call 315-724-7111.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.
By Trend





A report of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers for 2019 was presented and discussed in the parliament on April 9, Trend reports referring to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Azerbaijani prime minister Ali Asadov delivered a report through the video conferencing.

Following the discussions, the report was adopted by vote.

The MPs comments and proposals will be sent to the Cabinet of Ministers.
Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced bonuses to health care workers on "the frontline" of the country's fight against the coronavirus.

Putin included the payments among several new measures to support Russians during the epidemic after health officials reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases.

The president urged the public to be patient with lockdown restrictions to help slow the spread of the virus.

"For most people, to be inside four walls is dreary and miserable," he acknowledged during a video call with regional governors.

"A breakthrough in battling the infection will depend on our discipline and responsibility."

The country is realising how crucial the work of nurses and doctors is "for the first time in decades", said Putin, promising 10 billion rubles ($132 million) for monthly bonuses to health care staff nationwide.

Doctors treating coronavirus patients would receive an additional 80,000 rubles ($1,059) per month, while nurses, ambulance medics and drivers would get from 25,000 to 50,000 rubles.

"These specialists are on the front line," said Putin, who also ordered an increase in the worker's state insurance to a level afforded to members of the armed forces.

Russia reported 1,175 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 8,672. The epicentre of the epidemic is Moscow, with 5,841 cases.

So far, Russia has recorded only 63 deaths however.

Putin also announced the allocation of funds for Russian regions to provide more hospital beds and medical equipment.

He said 33 billion rubles had been set aside for "specialised, fully equipped" beds in hospitals and infection wards. Another 13 billion rubles was allocated for equipment including ventilators and ambulances.

Putin said he hoped the additional capacity would not be needed but cautioned that "we must be ready to fight for the life of every person in every region."

Story continues

As they prepare for a spike in coronavirus cases, Moscow authorities are rushing to complete construction of a 500-bed facility for coronavirus patients styled on a hospital built in China.

During his meeting with the heads of Russia's regions, which are mostly under strict lockdown, Putin urged the governors not to disrupt local economies by implementing unnecessary measures.

"The economy cannot be stopped," Putin said. "We must understand what damage, what devastating consequences this can lead to.

"Now we need to establish the conditions for companies, organisations and entrepreneurs to return to their normal work schedule," he said

To help small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), Putin proposed deferring insurance payments and restructuring their debt.

He also gave the central bank five days to come up with other measures to support such companies.

As the pandemic hit Russia, the Kremlin introduced breaks on consumer loans and mortgage payments, support for SMEs and early payouts of social benefits.

Putin said Wednesday that Russians made unemployed after March would receive the upper limit of jobless benefits in April, May and June and announced new payouts for families with young children.
That strawberry youre eating while self-isolating from the coronavirus? Chances are it came from a farm. Or it may have come from a large agricultural operation many, many kilometers away from your home, harvested by hand, possibly by migrant workers brought in from other towns, cities, or even countries. But can that system continue to bring you strawberries as the global coronavirus pandemic continues? Or bread? Pasta? Cooking oil? The coronavirus has already sent the global economy into a tailspin, with tens of millions of people being put out of work, as factories from Wuhan to Bavaria to Michigan suspend operations. What does this mean for the food we eat? If you live in a rural setting in a temperate climate where the growing season is under way, you might be preparing to eat produce from your backyard or your dacha. But if you live in a city  as more than half the worlds population does -- chances are you rely on the global food supply chain to make sure your bread and milk, or noodles and bananas, are in stock at the market. What happens when the people picking our fruits and vegetables get sick or have to quarantine? What happens when the packers who make sure the potatoes and onions are boxed and put onto trucks to be driven to towns and cities cant work? What happens when wheat cant be milled or shipped to bakeries to be baked into bread and sold at markets and food stores? Could we be facing global food shortages in the coming months?

Massive disruptions to global food supply system will result from the pandemic, Chris Elliot, a professor at Queen's University in Belfast, wrote in a post on Twitter.

Heres what we know about how the coronavirus is affecting food supplies. Whats Going On? In mid-March, the pandemic was accelerating in most countries, even as a handful began to show signs of flattening the curve  the term used for slowing the rate of new infections. But the stress on the global food supply system was already clear. A protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers, and more, Maximo Cullen, the chief economist for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, warned in a paper. Panic buying and hoarding in some places added to worries that retailers and wholesalers whose inventories might be small already could be wiped out. By early April, the World Food Program  another UN agency  tried to reassure nervous consumers. Global markets for basic cereals are well-supplied and prices generally low, the program said in a report released on April 3. Disruptions are so far minimal; food supply is adequate, and markets are relatively stable, spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs was quoted as saying. But we may soon expect to see disruptions in food supply chains if big importers lose confidence in the reliable flow of basic food commodities, she said.

For industrialized nations, whose food supply chains were already undergoing a shift due to changing consumer habits and tastes, that bodes for more uncertainty. Were talking about a radical change to a food chain that was already going through a radical chain, James Tillotson, a retired professor of food policy and international business at the Friedman School at Tufts University in the United States, told RFE/RL. Whos Most At Risk? For major industrial nations, whose populations tend to be particularly concentrated in urban and suburban centers, the food supply chains are longer, more complex, and, possibly, more vulnerable. For less industrial, more rural, and agrarian economies, supply chains tend to be shorter and simpler. If youre not getting your eggs and milk from chickens and cows and goats in your backyard, for example, then you might be getting them from the farmers in the next village over. Other commodity goods -- such as wheat, corn, or soybeans -- are sold and shipped in bulk, often over long distances. That means there are more points where the supply chain can be disrupted. Add to that the fear factor: Consumers fearing the possibility of shortages rush to buy more than they otherwise would, thus causing the shortages theyd feared. Some food markets in Moscow, for example, reported shelves being emptied of ready-to-eat buckwheat.

Thats led some countries to cut back on food exports in a bid to ensure they have enough food for their own citizens. Vietnam, a major exporter of rice, has suspended exports of that product and other commodities. India, a major producer of rice, like Vietnam, has also suspended exports. In Kazakhstan, one of the worlds major exporters of wheat, the government has restricted exports of that commodity. Earlier, the government had suspended exports of other goods like onions, sugar, sunflower oil, and even buckwheat  a grain that has emotional resonance for many older Kazakhs and Russians as a way to ward off hunger. Last month, Russia, the worlds largest wheat producer, suspended exports of processed grains such as buckwheat, rice, and oat flakes. Restricted supplies have pushed up prices, not only locally but globally in some cases. In the Boston area, for example, the price of a dozen eggs has tripled in recent weeks, Tillotson said. Higher prices and supply restrictions have created opportunities for black marketeers. Police in Kyrgyzstan this week detained shipments of milled wheat flour that was being smuggled out of the country in sacks labeled cement. In an unusual public appeal, activists, academics, and a group of executives for some of the worlds biggest food-processing companies warned on April 9 that the number of people going hungry around the world could increase dramatically in the coming months.
OVER 4.72bn/-revenue was collected from fisheries resources in Kagera Region within a period of two years, Officer in-charge of the Lake Victoria Surveillance Unit, Efrazi Mkama has disclosed.

He noted that the revenue was equivalent to 144.3 per cent performance while the target was to collect about 3.27bn/-.

He elaborated that during 2017/18 financial year, the target was to collect 1.44bn/-, while actual collections stood at 1.86bn/-, implying 129.2 per cent performance.

During 2019/19 fiscal year, the department had targeted to collect 1.83bn/ but managed to surpass the target by collecting about 2.86bn/- (approximately 156.3 per cent).

The performance was due to tax adherence and continued education to the fishing communities on the importance of paying tax," he said.

He however raised concern following increasing water levels due to ongoing rainfall, where several infrastructures, including buildings on landing sites had been submerged.

He cautioned fishing communities plying Lake Victoria to adhere to weather updates released by the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) and ensure that their vessels and passengers are equipped with lifesaving gadgets to avoid drowning.

The East African Community has designated the lake basin as an 'economic growth zone', with the potential to develop into a major economic region. The fisheries are vital in creating employment opportunities, mostly rural-based, thereby helping to reduce rural-urban migration.

Fish is also a rich source of animal protein for human consumption and provides raw material (fishmeal), for processing animal feeds.

The fish industry contributes to the GDP and has continued to be an important source of foreign exchange earned from fish exports.

Besides, the fish industry contributes to the national and local government revenues through levying of various taxes, levies and license fees.

The sector has also contributed directly and indirectly to the improvement of physical infrastructure and social facilities such as roads, schools and hospitals, particularly in remote fishing communities.

Based on current stock estimates, the lake has the potential to yield fish valued at over US$ 800 million annually on a sustainable basis.

Further processing and marketing the fish in the local and export markets could provide opportunity to generate additional earnings.

Currently, however, only about 500,000 tonnes of fish is landed annually, with an average landing value of approximately US$ 600 million.
Amid a 21-day lockdown in India to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, AirAsia India on Thursday conducted two special flights on Coimbatore-Mumbai route to transport essential supplies, including health care products.

These are first special flights of AirAsia India. Other airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India have been operating such special flights to transport essential items acrossIndia during the lockdown.

"AirAsia India flight i5 9131 today carried 6500 kilos of healthcare essentials including protective equipment and masks from Coimbatore to Mumbai," said the spokesperson for the airline.

"Flight i5 9130 from Mumbai to Coimbatore also carried relief material required by the government of Kerala," the spokesperson added.

India is under the lockdown since March 25 to contain the fast-spread coronavirus. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this time period.

However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator DGCA are permitted to operate during the lockdown. PTI DSP



http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg



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A team of American experts says it has uncovered a previously unknown Islamic Republic nuclear weapons development site in Iran.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) called on Tehran on April 8 to acknowledge the previously undisclosed site to international inspectors.

Founded in 1993, the Institute for Science and International Security is led by former United Nations IAEA nuclear inspector David Albright.

ISIS says that it has evidence the Islamic Republic operated the nuclear weapons development facility in northern Iran until at least 2011 when it was likely destroyed as Western nations began to investigate the country's weapons program.

"Based on documents in the Iran Nuclear Archive, seized by Israel in early 2018, Irans Amad Plan created the Shahid Mahallati Uranium Metals Workshop near Tehran to research and develop uranium metallurgy related to building nuclear weapons", ISIS says.

Amad Plan refers to Irans alleged roadmap to developing a nuclear weapon.

"The facility was intended as a pilot plant, aimed at developing and making uranium components for nuclear weapons, in particular components from weapon-grade uranium, the key nuclear explosive material in Iranian nuclear weapon cores," the institute disclosed.

The site was meant to be temporary until the production-scale Shahid Boroujerdi facility at Parchin was completed.

Parchin is a village in Hesar-e Amir area in the Central District of Pakdasht County, Tehran Province, 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) southeast of downtown Tehran. In November 2011, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that it had "credible" information Parchin was used for implosion testing. The IAEA sought additional access to Parchin, which Tehran rejected.

However, ISIS believes that the key building of the Shahid Mahallati uranium metals workshop, was apparently gutted and abandoned between late 2010 and early 2011, after another Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow was uncovered near the neighboring city, Qom.

"Iran should declare this site to the International Atomic Energy Agency and allow its inspection since the facility was designed and built to handle nuclear material subject to safeguards under Iran's comprehensive safeguards agreement," Albright insisted in the ISIS report, adding, "The IAEA, more generally, should verify sites, locations, facilities, documentation, equipment, and materials involved in the Amad Plan activities, and urge Iran to cooperate fully in these investigations, despite their age, as part of ensuring that Iran has not continued nuclear weapons work up to today."

Meanwhile, Albright told the Washington Free Beacon the site has not been publicly revealed earlier and it is likely Western nations had no knowledge of it prior to Israel's seizure of the nuclear documents.

"This site may have been close to being able to make weapon-grade uranium cores for nuclear weapons, albeit no evidence Iran had any weapon-grade uranium yet," Albright said. "But the site highlights concretely that Iran was putting in place a nuclear weapons production industry, not just a development program, and there is no evidence of its destruction."

The Free Beacon cited a non-proliferation expert and research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Andrea Stricker, as saying, the discovery of this new site "shows the extent to which Tehran lied to international inspectors about its past and possibly ongoing nuclear weapons program.

"Today, Tehran is closer to a nuclear weapon than previously thought," Stricker said, asserting, "The IAEA needs to undertake a full investigation in Iran to ensure that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful."

Referring to a plethora of complications in building a production-scale uranium metallurgy plant, ISIS report says, "Overcoming these difficulties would typically call for a pilot plant, designed to develop and test critical procedures being planned for Shahid Boroujerdi, the pilot plant starting with surrogate materials, then introducing natural uranium, and later processing weapons-grade uranium, as a template for Shahid Boroujerdi."

Most importantly, ISIS has argued, the weapon-grade uranium would be expected to be in short supply, its preciousness demanding well-tested and practiced metallurgical manufacturing procedures, the goal is to avoid mistakes and blunders potentially resulting in significant losses of expensive weapon-grade uranium.

Read the full report here
Benchmark apps have been existing for a long time now and almost every smartphone manufacturer is boasting the high benchmark scores that their smartphones achieve in these apps. While benchmark scores need not necessarily translate into real-time performance, smartphone companies in the past have been accused of manipulating the scores. On similar lines now, MediaTek has been accused of cheating mobile benchmark and providing it as a service.

According to a report from AnandTech, in the PCMark benchmark, MediaTek Helio P95 SoC on the OPPO Reno3 Pro outperformed the MediaTek Dimensity 1000L SoC on the OPPO Reno3 (Chinese variant). When the benchmark was run again on an anonymized version of PCMark, there was a 30% difference compared to the regular PCMark app installed on these devices, and it isnt a small difference. In order to check if the issue persisted in Snapdragon-powered devices, the benchmark was run again on the Snapdragon 765G powered OPPO Reno3 Pro 5G, and there was no abnormality found in benchmark scores and it was seemingly similar across all benchmark apps.

Upon further inspection of the firmware files, AnandTech discovered a Sports Mode in the APK ID of PCMark. This Sports Mode was also found on various other benchmarking apps including AnTuTu, GeekBench, 3D Bench, and other AI Benchmark apps. Essentially, the characteristics of the Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) is fixed on this Sports Mode that adjusts the speed and power settings of the devices processor, and the memory controller can be run at maximum frequency all the time. The firmware files also include _FPS_ entries which is also believed to boost the benchmark numbers.

Furthermore, the findings reveal that several devices with MediaTek chipsets had a similar config file with the Sports Mode, even on older devices like the Sony XA1 which is powered by the MediaTek Helio P20 SoC.

In response to the report, MediaTek said that it follows industry standards and is confident that benchmarking tests accurately represent the capabilities of its chipsets. Additionally, some brands have different types of modes turned on in different regions so device performance can vary based on regional market requirements, says MediaTek. It also says that it is left to the brands to configure their own devices as they see fit.

Furthermore, the company says that benchmarking tests are in line with the practices of other companies and also accuses key competitor (probably Qualcomm) having chipsets that operate in the exact same way.

We do find it interesting that AnandTech has called into question the benchmarking optimizations on MediaTek powered devices, when these types of configurations are widely practiced across the industry. If they were to review other devices, they would see, as we have, that our key competitor has chipsets that operate in the exact same way  what AnandTech has deemed cheating on device benchmarking tests.

MediaTeks statement to AnandTech:

MediaTek follows accepted industry standards and is confident that benchmarking tests accurately represent the capabilities of our chipsets. We work closely with global device makers when it comes to testing and benchmarking devices powered by our chipsets, but ultimately brands have the flexibility to configure their own devices as they see fit. Many companies design devices to run on the highest possible performance levels when benchmarking tests are running in order to show the full capabilities of the chipset. This reveals what the upper end of performance capabilities are on any given chipset. Of course, in real world scenarios there are a multitude of factors that will determine how chipsets perform. MediaTeks chipsets are designed to optimize power and performance to provide the best user experience possible while maximizing battery life. If someone is running a compute-intensive program like a demanding game, the chipset will intelligently adapt to computing patterns to deliver sustained performance. This means that a user will see different levels of performance from different apps as the chipset dynamically manages the CPU, GPU and memory resources according to the power and performance that is required for a great user experience. Additionally, some brands have different types of modes turned on in different regions so device performance can vary based on regional market requirements. We believe that showcasing the full capabilities of a chipset in benchmarking tests is in line with the practices of other companies and gives consumers an accurate picture of device performance.

Source 1, 2
WASHINGTON - Competing proposals for coronavirus relief failed in the Senate Thursday morning, as Democrats objected to a proposed $250 billion increase in a small business program, and Republicans shot down the counter-offer. The clash left the path forward for additional federal intervention uncertain as the virus continues to tear through the economy.

In a brief floor session, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of treating "working Americans as political hostages" by refusing to add more money to the "Paycheck Protection Program," a new $350 billion small business loan program that is being overwhelmed by demand.

"I am literally talking about deleting the number 350 and writing 600 in its place. . . . That's all we're suggesting here today," McConnell told Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who represented the Democratic side in the "pro forma" floor proceedings. "Please do not block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more."

Van Hollen retorted that McConnell was performing "a complete political stunt" by offering a "go-it-alone, take-it-or-leave-it" proposal that was designed to fail. Cardin and Van Hollen said other small business emergency and disaster loan programs also needed to be replenished. They also sought major funding increases for hospitals, cities and states and food stamp recipients. Van Hollen displayed newspaper headlines documenting problems with the Paycheck Protection Program rollout that Democrats want to address.

"What we're saying here today is 'yes, we know we need more money for this program,' many of us predicted this before we passed the Cares Act," Van Hollen said, referring to the massive $2 trillion rescue bill enacted only two weeks ago. "But for goodness sakes, let's take the opportunity to make some bipartisan fixes to allow this program to work better for the very people it's designed to help."

The impasse came amid signs that the economy is continuing to deteriorate.

New figures Thursday morning showed 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, on top of nearly 10 million Americans who had already applied for unemployment the two previous weeks. Economists say the collapse in jobs signals an unemployment rate of 12% or more, which would be the highest since the Great Depression.

Congress has tried to respond swiftly to the disaster, approving a record $2 trillion relief package less than two weeks ago that contained $349 billion for the new Small Business Administration's lending program. The law also contained huge spending increases for unemployment insurance, individual payments to Americans and corporate bailout funds.

But the enormity of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on all parts of the economy is forcing Congress and the administration to scramble for additional rescue measures.

The small business program in the law is being swiftly tapped, with $100 billion already committed in forgivable loans despite a rocky rollout. Earlier this week Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to immediately approve $250 billion more for the program. So far, officials said more than 400,000 companies have filed applications for these taxpayer-backed loans, but it's unclear how many of the country's 30 million small businesses will be able to secure assistance.

Democrats disputed that the program was in immediate need of more funds, saying they wanted changes to ensure fairness and transparency. They are also seeking major funding increases for hospitals and health systems and cities and states, along with a 15% increase in food stamp benefits. But McConnell objected when they proposed their counter-offer Thursday on the floor.

The Democrats' proposals for $150 billion more for cities and states and an additional $100 billion for hospitals would double spending for those areas since similar amounts were contained in the Cares Act. McConnell argued that money for those purposes was only beginning to be spent and needs should be assessed before agreeing to more, while the small business program needs money now.

From here, it is uncertain where the standoff will go. With both the House and Senate out of session, and lawmakers unwilling to return to Washington en masse because of health concerns, nothing can pass either Chamber without bipartisan agreement that has the unanimous support of all lawmakers. Any one lawmaker of either party has the ability to object and block any legislation from moving forward.

After Democrats blocked his unanimous consent request Thursday, McConnell told reporters lawmakers would "have to continue the discussion" in the days ahead. The events took place with the Capitol eerily empty, a small group of reporters standing feet away from McConnell and stretching out recording devices to capture his words, some wearing face masks as they did so.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Thursday that Mnuchin had called her Tuesday and "asked for a quarter of a trillion dollars in 48 hours with no data."

"Will we eventually need more for PPP? OK, but let's see the data. ... We have time to negotiate to see how and where and when we should have more money there," Pelosi said.

Democrats' proposal would allocate the additional $250 billion for small businesses, but specify that only half of that would go to the Paycheck Protection Program. The other half would include $60 billion for community-based lenders, and $65 billion for disaster loans and disaster grants, among other items.

"There is a disparity in access to capital in our country. We do not want this tragedy of the coronavirus to exacerbate that disparity," Pelosi said. She added that "everything is an opportunity" and Democrats hoped to use negotiations to diminish disparities in society.

Pelosi said she had not spoken with Mnuchin on Thursday but reiterated that his proposed $250 billion increase for the Paycheck Protection Program "would never pass the House by unanimous consent. It is the basis for some negotiation but it would never pass the House by unanimous consent."

Mnuchin told CNBC Thursday that President Trump was willing to accept some additional demands as part of the administration's request to Congress for the additional $250 billion for the small business program.

"We need more money for small business. The president has been very clear - he's happy to talk about other issues such as hospitals and states in the next bill, but we wanted to go and get money for the small business program, which has enormous bipartisan support," Mnuchin said.

The standoff contains echoes of the days of partisan bickering that preceded ultimate agreement on the $2 trillion rescue bill, so despite Thursday's theatrics it is likely congressional leaders will find a way to make a deal. How quickly that will happen, though, is uncertain, and the contours of any final proposal also remain to be determined.

- - -

The Washington Post's Robert Costa and Jeff Stein contributed to this report
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street on his way to Buckingham Palace after the general election in London, Britain, December 13, 2019. Thomas Mukoya | Reuters

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson "continues to improve," his spokesman said Thursday, after spending a third night in intensive care with coronavirus. Speaking to journalists, the spokesman also said Johnson had a good night and is "in good spirits." The prime minister, who is currently at at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, has been receiving "standard oxygen treatment," indicating that he is not on a ventilator. Culture Minister Oliver Dowden earlier Thursday commented on Johnson's condition, telling the BBC that Johnson is "stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff," adding: "I think things are getting better for him."

Johnson's battle in hospital comes as the U.K. reported on Wednesday its largest daily rise in deaths so far  938 fatalities  raising the overall death toll to 7,097 people. The government's emergency committee are convening Thursday to discuss lockdown measures and to review scientific data around the spread of the coronavirus in the U.K. since restrictions on public life were introduced in late March. Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, is currently deputizing for Johnson and will chair the meeting. Almost all businesses remain closed, except for those deemed essential, and the public have been told to stay at home unless they need to buy food, fetch medicine or exercise once a day. Johnson, 55, was moved to the intensive care unit at St. Thomas' Hospital on Monday evening after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.
The World Health Organisation's chief slammed the US for politicising the Covid-19 pandemic and singled out the Taiwan government for condoning what he said were online attacks against him.

In a series of scathing attacks, WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also blamed the media for "adding fuel to the fire" on Wednesday amid escalating geopolitical tensions from US President Donald Trump, who blamed the WHO for being China-centric and threatened to stop funding the international body.

Tedros denied he was favourable to China and thanked the US for its generous funding, but said the two countries should work together.

"Now, the US and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy," Tedros said. "[There is] no need to use Covid to score political points."

"We don't do politics at WHO," he said. "We care for the poor. We care for those who are vulnerable."

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to withhold US funding from the World Health Organisation. He had castigated the WHO on Twitter earlier that day and issued a veiled threat against the agency.

"The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look," he said.

"Fortunately, I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

" Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020

Responding to a question about Trump's criticism, Tedros told a press conference: "Please don't politicise this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have more body bags, then you do it."

Tedros also turned to what he said were personal racist comments that started in Taiwan.

"I can tell you personally attacks which have been going on for more than two, three months: abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, black or negro," he said. "Maybe for the first time I will make this public: even death threats. I don't give a damn.

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"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan ... And Taiwan, the foreign ministry, they also know the complaint. They didn't dissociate themselves. They even started criticising me in the middle of all that insult and slur. But I didn't care " three months.

"Since I don't have any inferiority complex when I'm personally affected or attacked by racial slurs, I don't care, because I am a very proud black person or negro. I don't care being called even negro " I am."

Taiwan has criticised WHO for not working with the self-ruling island, which China insists should not be individually represented on the international level.

Two weeks before the WHO said in a tweet on January 14 that the new coronavirus didn't appear to spread via human-to-human transmission, citing Chinese government information, Taiwanese health authorities had reached the opposite conclusion.

But Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu said they never heard back from the WHO even though Taiwan tried to reach out to the United Nations regarding its finding.

Taiwan is seen as one of the few places in the world which has successfully stemmed the spread of Covid-19 without resorting to draconian measures.

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

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  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
As a veteran of the U.S. Army, Im often thanked for my service. Ive never felt comfortable receiving this thanks. To be honest, Im not proud of my participation in the Iraq War.

But recently, as the initial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the U.S., I was thanked for my service under very different circumstances. This time, I truly appreciated the sentiment.

I work part time at a small farm in upstate New York, harvesting greens, washing vegetables, and packing orders, among other tasks. When a customer came in last week to pick up 25 pounds of carrots, she surprised me by saying, Our community appreciates your work. Thank you.

When Im thanked for my service as a veteran, I usually deflect the gesture. But on a chaotic day at the farm preparing orders for over-shopped local grocery stores, that customers thank you felt genuine, and I was grateful.

The current pandemic and economic crisis have made it clear that farmers, grocery workers, and other food producers and distributors perform an indispensable service to our nation. As the COVID-19 death toll rises and many citizens are quarantined, these essential workers leave home to ensure produce gets harvested, food gets packaged, and grocery shelves get stocked. They feed our nation.

Yet these workers are often treated as expendable labor, enduring long hours and poor conditions, while not receiving a living wage or health care benefits. Thats unacceptable.

If the mental health of farmers is a measure of how well our national food system is doing, were in bad shape. The high veteran and service member suicide rate is well-publicized (20 per day). Yet the rate among farm workers exceeds that of veterans. Lack of access to mental health care, partisan battles over the farm bill, tariffs, and crippling debt are all contributing factors.

Another thing to consider is that Mexican farm workers, tens of thousands of whom travel to the U.S. every year on work visas, form the backbone of our food production system. Without these workers, farm production would suffer significantly. Yet racism and discrimination towards Mexicans is rampant in the U.S., in no small part fueled by President Trumps rhetoric. Thats hypocritical.

In these difficult times, we ought to say thank you to food producers and distributors for providing a life-sustaining service to our country. But more than that, we ought to thank them by ensuring theyre paid a living wage and can go to the hospital without going bankrupt.

Now more than ever, its clear the U.S. needs a $15 an hour minimum wage and universal health care. While were at it, we ought to defund and dismantle Trumps ineffective and racist border wall and instead work to fix immigration policy, providing a clear path to U.S. citizenship for those who seek to live and work here.

Our national security depends on those workers who feed us. We ought to give them the support they deserve.

Kevin Basl is a writer, musician and antiwar activist. He is a member of Veterans For Peace and About Face: Veterans Against the War. This article was distributed by OtherWords.org.
PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) - The French government is prepared to provide "massive support" to Air France KLM to help the French-Dutch air carrier make it through the current downturn, France's finance minister said on Wednesday.

"Air France is losing billions of euros per month. Air France is not going to need a boost, but rather massive support from the state," Bruno Le Maire said on France 2 television.

"Air France will get this support from the state, we want to save at all costs this French industrial champion," Le Maire said, adding other big companies such as planemaker Airbus needed help too. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)


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Please stop flooding my dm with such messages. Im not in the mood  nipa as) aye shi
Nirina Ravolona knows all the secrets to the natural brews she sells at Ambodivona market, and no-one doubts her when she touts an infallible cure for coronavirus. "A mix of ginger, lemon and onion will give the virus a good hiding," Ravolona declared, bolstered by her 20 years of experience. She recommends "spicy products" to boost the immune system and thus thwart the dreaded microbe. The claim has no backing at all in medical science. But there was no sign of scepticism among her customers in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo, where the 55-year-old is politely known as "Madame" Nirina. "The Malagasy turn to household remedies every time there is an epidemic, it's our tradition," she said. Coronavirus has infected more than half a million people around the world, killing at least 21,000 of them, since it was first detected in December. In Madagascar, where there have been 19 detected cases, President Andry Rajoelina has imposed a lockdown on the country's two main cities. But impoverished citizens have largely ignored orders to stay home. For many, the need to provide for their families has trumped fears of catching the deadly respiratory disease. - Lemon and ginger rush - Ambodivona market bustled even more than usual this week as vendors latched onto the pandemic as a new business opportunity. "After the president announced the first case of coronavirus, everyone rushed to buy lemon and ginger," said Olivier Toky Randrianandrianina, who usually only sells ginger. "So I also ordered lemons from my suppliers," he explained, sitting behind a pile of citrus. Randrianandrianina was right to branch out. In just days, the price of lemons tripled from 2,000 ariary (54 cents, 50 cents of a euro) to 6,000 ariary per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Ginger prices have also jumped tenfold. "If everybody is rushing to buy lemon, that must mean it works," said Gervais Ramiarinjatovo, who came to Ambodivona to stock up on the fruit. For Randrianandrianina, the hype around so-called natural coronavirus remedies was just one sales opportunity like any other. "It doesn't really interest me -- all I am doing is selling my products," said the doubting 30-year old. "In any case, I don't really believe in this coronavirus," he added. "It's an illness for Vazaha (Westerners) and the Chinese." - 'Magic' leaves - A few stalls away, Gino Andosoa Rasolofonianina offered dried eucalyptus and ravitsara tree leaves, believed to carry medicinal properties. "We saw Facebook posts explaining the virtues of these plants, so we thought it would be a good investment," he said. The 28-year-old suavely detailed the recipe for his "magic" tree-leaf concoction. "You bring water to a boil and drop in five leaves," he explained, as easily as if he were describing the latest smart phone. "You can then let the vapour diffuse into your house or drink the water as if it were tea." It would not cure coronavirus, he specified, but provide protection against it as an antiseptic. Madagascars president himself has encouraged the use of alternative remedies as a way of "strengthening the antibodies" to coronavirus. "We will make patient inhale ravitsara essential oils and provide them with high-calorie foods... in conjunction with medicine," said Rajoelina in one of several televised speeches this week. The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded a loud note of caution. "The novel coronavirus is not a flu (and) ancient grand-mother remedies must be seen with doubt," said WHO country representative Charlotte Faty Ndiaye. "To date there is no scientific study showing the effectiveness of any medicinal plant in Madagascar," she said. "Given that there is no remedy to this epidemic, the Malagasy have nothing to loose," Nirina retorted. "At worst they will waste money, and at best they immunise against the virus."
The Coral Princess cruise ship returned to sea Thursday after another batch of passengers departed, but 13 foreign travelers who are being prevented from leaving are still aboard, Princess Cruises said.

Although five charter flights  one domestic and four bound for Europe and South America  were scheduled to depart Thursday, Princess Cruises said it ran into red tape while trying to help those 13 get home.

"Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, current travel restrictions by home countries will prevent homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities will not authorize the use of local hotels," the cruise line said in a statement.

As a result, the 13 will join the Coral Princess crew in a self-imposed quarantine on the ship, which was scheduled to leave Port Miami by 6 p.m. EDT. Additional staff was being brought aboard the liner to support those under quarantine.

.

The cruise line has been putting Coral Princess guests on chartered planes all week in keeping with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that no cruise ship passengers be allowed on commercial aircraft, even if they haven't shown any flu symptoms.

The Coral Princess' ordeal began March 5 when the ship departed Santiago, Chile, with 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members. The ship was then denied permission to dock at ports as it proceeded northward before finally being allowed to dock in Florida.

Three passengers died, including a 71-year-old man in a Miami hospital after being taken off the ship.

Passengers look out as the Coral Princess docks at Port Miami on April 4, 2020.

Australian police raid ship at center of virus outbreak

Australian authorities wearing protective gear boarded the Ruby Princess ship linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases and 15 deaths to seize evidence and question crew members.

About 2,700 passengers disembarked from the ship on March 19 in Sydney and it has since become the largest source of coronavirus infections in Australia. More than 600 cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths are linked to the Ruby Princess.

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New South Wales police, which boarded the ship Wednesday night at Port Kembla south of Sydney, said its expected to remain in port for 10 days with its 1,040 crew undergoing medical assessments. About 200 crew have shown symptoms of COVID-19, while 18 have tested positive for the virus. The workers remaining on the ship are from 50 countries.

New South Wales police Commissioner Mick Fuller said Thursday that officers seized a black box very similar to that of international planes and other evidence. He said the captain had been extremely helpful.

There have been a total of just over 6,000 and 51 deaths in Australia from the virus.

Crew member of Zaandem cruise ship dies in Florida

A crew member who was hospitalized for days after two ill-fated cruise ships with coronavirus patients were finally allowed to dock in Florida has died, officials said.

Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Mallak on Thursday confirmed the death of Wiwit Widarto, 50, of Indonesia. Widarto had tested positive for COVID-19, raising the Zaandam ship's coronavirus-related death toll to four.

The man died Wednesday, six days after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports, said Holland America Line spokesman Erik Elvejord. He had been taken to a Florida hospital the same day the ship docked.

Four elderly passengers had already died before the cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of those men tested positive for COVID-19. The fourth man's death was caused by a viral infection.

About 1,200 passengers disembarked the Zaandam and sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to replenish the first with supplies and crew members who were falling ill. The cruise company and federal and Florida officials negotiated for days before allowing disembarkation.

Six Pride of America crew members test positive in Honolulu

Six crew members aboard the Pride of America cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus, including two who have been hospitalized, a Hawaii state agency reported.

Elsewhere, the Carnival Valor  one of the ships the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said had passengers who tested positive for coronavirus  docked in New Orleans and is letting crew members off the ship. The Coral Princess continues to disembark passengers in Miami.

The Pride of America is docked in Honolulu harbor, the Hawaii Department of Transportation said in a statement. About 500 crew members are still aboard, but the vessel has had no passengers embarked since March 14. Like the rest of the cruise industry, ships have been idled to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

There was no further information on the condition of the two crew members who were taken to a hospital. None of the names of the ill crew members has been released.

The ship is operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, which had no immediate comment. The Transportation Department said the ship is homeported in the state and offers cruise itineraries that keep it in the Hawaiian islands.

It said Hawaii's Department of Health is working with the cruise line and the CDC to get unaffected crew members off the ship and on their way to their home states. When they arrive, they will be required to home quarantine for 14 days.

The Pride of America is docked in Honolulu.

Crew disembarks from Carnival Valor in New Orleans

The Carnival Valor docked in New Orleans on Wednesday night, according to Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen.

"Crew members who are debarking the vessel have been cleared to fly by our medical team, the airline transporting them, and by immigration authorities," according to the cruise line's statement provided by Gulliksen. "They will be taken from the Carnival Valor directly to the airport via chartered buses which will be thoroughly cleaned after each use."

The CDC released a list of cruises where passengers became symptomatic and tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days after disembarking. This included the Carnival Valor: Feb. 29 to March 5; March 5 to 9; and March 9 to 14.

Each member of the crew had their temperatures taken every day over the past month and will do so again upon leaving the ship.

The cruise line is taking extra precautions in case of asymptomatic spread.

"For the health and safety of all crew remaining on board, all crew are being quarantined and we are following elevated protocols so that any asymptomatic team member does not inadvertently come into contact with others," according to the statement.

Since the middle of last month, all 27 Carnival Cruise Line ships have remained docked at homeports or anchored at sea. They contain no guests, just crew.

Looking ahead to May and June, the cruise line anticipates international travel restrictions will remain in place.

"We are taking a conservative approach with regard to getting our crews back to the ships, so we have closed inventory on those sailings so that we dont overextend our ability to provide service on board," according to another statement provided by Gulliksen.

As of Saturday, there were 52,000 crew members remaining aboard 73 cruise ships either docked or anchored in or near U.S. ports, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. An additional 41,000 crew members were aboard 41 cruise ships underway close to American shores.

That doesn't count the thousands of others aboard ships frequented by Americans scattered across the Caribbean and oceans around the world.

The Coast Guard said, "The cruise industry has an ongoing obligation for the care, safety and welfare of their seafarers."

Contributing: Jayme Deerwester, Chris Woodyard, Morgan Hines, Curtis Tate and Rasha Ali, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Heads up: Costa Cruise passengers file class-action lawsuit alleging mishandling of coronavirus crisis

But ... Centuries-old laws may shield the cruise industry from huge payouts in coronavirus suits

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Why 13 Coral Princess guests will be stuck on board ship
Sierra Leone's 72-hour lockdown has ended with the authorities announcing one new case of Covid-19 and declaring that all of the primary contacts of those infected had been located.

President Julius Maada Bio thanked the people of Sierra Leone for largely complying with orders to stay at home, saying the government deeply cares about the collective health of the nation.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the president said the lockdown had allowed them to account for all positive coronavirus cases and locate their primary contacts, who had been placed under surveillance.

More than three-quarters of secondary contacts had also been identified.

Scaling up

The government also scaled up logistics at quarantine centres and mapped out the spread of Covid-19 throughout the country.

Bio said officials were now using technology to harmonise contact tracing, travel records and lab tests. The number of beds for isolation has increased from 30 to 70 and five laboratories are now equipped to carry out Covid-19 tests.

Despite a closure on sea and waterways, five transport boats with 36 people aboard, including Ghanaian and Senegalese nationals, were apprehended during the lockdown and were placed under quarantine.

A total of 205 people are now under quarantine

Bio said some 4 billion Leones (384,000 euros) had been provided to feed vulnerable people.

'Own the fight'

The president warned against the use of fake news and prank calls to the emergency number which was clogging up the system, saying the police would investigate wrongdoers.

Many patients in Sierra Leones hospitals voluntarily discharged themselves before the lockdown came into effect, fearing Covid-19 infected patients would be placed alongside them. But Bio confirmed that all positive cases were being cared for in a separate facility, and urged those who had left prematurely to return to hospital to complete their treatment.

The president urged Sierra Leoneans not to stigmatise those who suffering from the coronavirus and called on the country to own the fight against it.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Chad Kauffman was trapped under a pile of rubble. He tried to scream but no words came out.

It was only a dream. But reality was bad: he was under medical sedation with a tube down his trachea funneling air to and from his lungs.

Kauffman is among a growing number of coronavirus COVID-19 patients who have recovered from the respiratory disease after requiring critical care to survive.

His recovery marks a first, though, for Mercy Health Saint Marys in Grand Rapids, as Kauffman is the first critical care patient to be discharged from there.

Healthcare workers at the hospital lined the halls Wednesday, April 8, and greeted the 40-year-old Kentwood resident with fanfare as he was wheeled out for discharge.

Mercy Health posted a video capturing the moment on Facebook, and it has been watched so far about 73,000 times. Mercy Health declined to share how many others are currently receiving critical care at the hospital for COVID-19.

Kauffman said he was glad that those who helped him, and others were able to see a critical care recovery.

I know they work hard and see few or very little results sometimes, he said.

Kauffman fell ill with what he thought was a bad head cold in early March. His symptoms worsened about two weeks later, and by March 19 or so he was hospitalized.

I said, Goodbye, to everybody, he recalled of leaving home for the hospital. You just say, Goodbye, and you dont know if youre going to be returning home at some point or not.

Kauffman doesnt remember a good chunk of the three or so weeks that he was hospitalized with the disease. He was medically sedated for about a week, and then it took about three to four days to come out of the fog.

The most frightening part of the experience was not being able to have his wife, Johana Kauffman, by his side, he said.

Most hospitals are not allowing non-essential visitors in an effort to save personal protective gear for workers and stop the further spread of coronavirus.

Johana and Chad Kauffman (Courtesy Photo | Johana Kauffman)

As he was being sedated, he said he was comforted by a nurse who held his hand.

In the time he was awake, Chad Kauffman was able to talk with his wife via phone. Johana Kauffman contracted the virus as well but had a mild case that did not require hospitalization.

Always believe in the power of prayer, Chad Kauffman said. Always be open and willing to give those prayers if needed.

He warned people to take the disease and the governments social distancing rules seriously. He wants people to think before posting something dubious about coronavirus on social media.

Mercy Health officials said they are inspired by Chad Kauffmans story.

We are inspired by the hope and resilience of our patients, particularly with this recovery story, Mercy Health said in a statement.

Its our mission to be a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities, and we are honored to serve throughout this pandemic. We pray for all of the health care workers, patients and their families, for their health and wellbeing.

On Thursday, state health officials reported that 1,076 people in Michigan have died from the virus. Michigan has 21,504 total confirmed cases of COVID-19. In Kent County, there were a total of nine deaths and 233 cases.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Michigan senator proposes $13 per hour increase for frontline workers during coronavirus crisis

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.
Gov. Kristi Noem drafts bill limiting 'action civics'

This legislation prohibits colleges and schools from directing, requiring or compelling students to protest or lobby as part of a grade or a class.
Telenor Pakistan and Ericsson have signed an agreement through which Ericsson will transform the Telenor Pakistan mobile backhaul network into an IP-based infrastructure.

The aim of the upgrade is to enhance the capacity of Telenor Pakistans network backbone and meet growing traffic demand.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will supply microwave transmission solutions and products to optimize Telenor Pakistans network and sites, as well as strengthening the backhaul of the service providers wireless broadband and cellular traffic.

This, says Ericsson, will result in a more robust and cost-effective network. Ericsson says that its microwave solutions offer key advantages such as high capacity, efficient use of spectrum, low-energy consumption and simplified operations and maintenance.

Telenor Pakistan is a mobile data and digital services provider, owned by Norways Telenor Group. According to available figures, it is the second-biggest mobile operator in Pakistan, with an estimated 46 million customers.

With recent technological advances in microwave system software and new radio hardware, microwave transport has moved from megabit-per-second capacity to gigabit-per-second capacity. Ericssons microwave transport portfolio, with what the company describes as its market-leading MINI-LINK 6000 nodes for both traditional microwave bands and E-band, will provide gigabit capacity that supports increased mobile broadband speeds and better application coverage throughout Pakistan.
Ameya Dalvi

Ive seen Smart TVs evolve at a fair pace over the past 12 months. Ive seen the picture and sound on budget TVs get better, and official Android OS get adopted by most of the popular brands. Netflix and Prime Video support, which was missing in the first half of 2019, is also a non-issue now in most cases. But, there are some areas where progress has been scant or non-existent, and I hope that gets addressed this year.

Here are seven things on my wishlist that I hope to see become common in Smart TVs by the end of this year. Some may be very basic, but they matter, and need to be there.

1. A proper TV OS with a good app ecosystem

To be brutally honest, AOSP (Android Open Source Project) based platforms have no place on Full HD and 4K TVs in 2020. In simple terms, AOSP is nothing more than a basic phone platform repurposed for TV. In the majority of cases, the video resolution is capped at 480p or 720p, even for services like Netflix and Prime Video, thus not letting you get the best out of your high-resolution TVs. AOSP is serviceable at best on 32-inch or smaller TVs with 768p resolutions or lower, but the experience is really bad on larger screens. The paying consumer deserves better.

The other prominent issue ailing Smart TVs is the lack of a decent app ecosystem, especially on Linux-based TV OSes. Some of these TVs can play content at a higher resolution in apps like YouTube or Netflix, but most of them lack support for popular Indian services like Hotstar, Sony Liv, etc. And this has been an issue for a long time. Since these brands are looking to sell their TVs in India, the knowledge of what Indian consumers prefer to watch should be put to good use and not put on the back-burner.

Either the TV manufacturers should upgrade their respective OSes to address the above issues, or opt for more matured platforms like Official Android for TV, or Amazons Fire TV OS.

2. Ultra HD (4K) TVs based on Fire TV OS

Speaking of Fire TV OS, this platform certainly deserves better. Onida released a couple of models on this platform at the start of this year  one 32-inch HD ready model, and one 43-inch Full HD one, and thats that. I had a great experience with its 43-inch TV and have been looking forward to more. Surprisingly, there is no news about any other manufacturer looking to release newer models based on Fire TV OS. Nor have I heard anything concrete about bigger 4K models from Onida.

(Also read: Vu 50CA Cinema TV review: Arguably the best smart TV under 30K)

Amazons Fire TV Stick 4K is one of the finest media streaming devices in India, and a combination of that with a good quality display would be a recipe for success, or so we think. Hopefully, some good TV manufacturers will soon start thinking along those lines too. Im looking forward to a bunch of quality Fire TV OS based 4K TVs later this year, and with good sound too, I hope.

3. An improved Prime Video app

The Prime Video app made its way on to Official Android TVs in the second half of last year. It is sort of hard coded on those TVs as it still isnt available on the Google Play Store for TVs, and hence cannot be updated from time to time either. The app is sluggish, buggy at times, and a shadow of its avatar on Fire TV OS. This is the case with the Prime Video app on several other popular TV platforms too. A revamp is overdue, and I hope it happens soon.

4. Faster boot times

Pretty much self-explanatory that. Boot times for most Official Android TVs still hover around the 40-seconds mark. This really needs to come down to well under 30 seconds. The Philips Smart TV based on Saphi OS that I reviewed recently would boot in about five seconds. I know its a different OS, but still, 40 seconds is too slow. Thankfully, almost every TV released in the past couple of quarters, except the ones from Xiaomi, has incorporated an instant resume from standby feature. Its time to reduce boot times, too.

Can be done, should be done.

(Also read: Mi TV 4A, Vu Ultra android, Onida Kaizen XT: Best smart TV deals under Rs 25,000 (Jan 2020))

5. A viable Chromecast alternative

All Official Android TVs have Chromecast built in, and let you cast content from compatible apps onto the TV. All other TVs support mirroring at best. Mirroring is not the same as casting and it is quite counterproductive. Nothing much has changed in Miracast as a technology in a while. Either it needs to evolve to a point where one can do selective mirroring, especially when watching videos, without keeping the source device entirely occupied, or manufacturers need to look for a viable alternative to Chromecast. Yes, this is more of wishful thinking, but its not entirely outside the realms of possibility.

6. Easy to reach ports

This is a very simple wish. In fact, some manufacturers have been doing the right thing by placing the ports closer to one edge of the TV rather than near the centre. I would like to see all of them do this. Once you wall mount a TV, it is very difficult to reach the ports if they are closer to the centre. The problem grows manifold as the size of the TV increases. For 55-inch and larger screens, they are nearly a foot and a half to two feet away from the edge, making it near impossible to reach them.

You cannot expect one to unmount the TV to simply connect an HDMI cable, can you? Something as simple as placing the ports six to eight inches from the edge can solve this problem. All you need is a common-sense design approach at the back of the TV. It has been done before, and it needs to be done by everyone from here on.

7. Desktop stand at the centre of the TV

This is an even simpler wish. The Majority of manufacturers today opt for a pair of desktop stands that connect to the device near the left and right edges of the TV. If you plan to wall-mount the TV, this is inconsequential. But it poses a problem for those who choose to place their TV on a desk. The problem is simple, one needs a broad enough table or platform to accommodate the stands at either end. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to accommodate such a wide stand.

A centre stand eliminates that problem and lets you place a much larger TV on a much smaller desk. It would be nice if manufacturers can give this a serious thought and save consumers some space and furniture cost.

These are a few things that I would like to see in Smart TVs over the next few months. If theres something that you would like to add, Id love to hear about it!
UPDATE APRIL 9, 2020: Hyundai's U.S. Actions in Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The safety, health and well-being of Hyundai employees, customers, business partners and the communities where we do business are of the utmost importance during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Hyundai has established a COVID-19 response team at all affiliated companies to monitor the situation, minimize the risks and prepare for all potential scenarios.

The following is an update on the COVID-19 impact at Hyundais U.S. operations and the proactive and preventive measures each operation has taken. This information will be updated in real time.



Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) donated $2.2 million to childrens hospitals throughout the U.S. to support COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing Centers This pandemic has created a particular threat to children with cancer, many of whom have compromised immune systems COVID-19 drive-thru testing provides a safe and trusted way for children who have risk factors to receive the care they need

Reinstated the Hyundai Assurance Job Loss Protection program Hyundai will make up to six months of payments for new owners who lose their jobs due to COVID-19 and have purchased or leased their vehicle between March 14 to April 30, 2020, through Hyundai Motor Finance For select new purchases through April 30 financed by Hyundai Motor Finance for well-qualified buyers, Hyundai is offering 0% APR financing and deferring payments for 120 days at the customers request Current Hyundai Motor Finance customers can defer payments up to three months if they lose their job or face a medically related hardship before April 30, 2020 There is a new TV spot on the Assurance Job Loss Protection program now running in place of all previously scheduled Hyundai TV advertising

Worldwide extension to June 30, 2020, of warranties expiring between March and June 2020 U.S. Hyundai owners with a 5-year/60,000-mile new-vehicle limited warranty or a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty that is expiring between March and June 2020 will have the warranty coverage extended to June 30, 2020

Hyundais First Responders Program now includes healthcare professionals and hospital employees (as defined by the U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics), making them eligible to receive $500 off all-new Hyundai vehicles

Offering a complimentary three-month extension of Hyundais Blue Link  Connected Care service, which includes SOS Emergency Assistance, Enhanced Roadside Assistance and Automatic Collision Notification, for customers with accounts expiring March 20 through the end of May

Connected Care service, which includes SOS Emergency Assistance, Enhanced Roadside Assistance and Automatic Collision Notification, for customers with accounts expiring March 20 through the end of May All employees are working from home In compliance with California Governor Gavin Newsoms Safer at Home order, the Hyundai National Headquarters building in Fountain Valley, CA is closed

Suspended all travel

Providing all full-time employees up to 10 extra days of paid time off for those directly impacted by COVID-19

Offering short-term vehicle leases for employees with college students who can benefit from temporary transportation while they are home during school closures

Distributed the CDC recommendations on preventative measures to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, including coronavirus, to all employees

Restricting visitors at all Hyundai facilities

Suspended training sessions at all Hyundai Training Centers

Expanded cleaning of Hyundai press fleet vehicles and no-contact vehicle deliveries and pick ups

Cancellation or postponement of company events and programs, including having no audience at the global reveal of the all-new 2021 Elantra on March 17, cancellation of the 2020 Sonata Hybrid media drive program and a dealer recognition trip, among others

The National Salute to Americas Heroes (NSAH), presented by Hyundai, one of the countrys largest military air and sea shows held each Memorial Day weekend in Miami, was cancelled this year The NSAH is looking for nominations for four heroes who will be awarded new Hyundai Sonatas on Memorial Day as recognition for their outstanding service





Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA)

Extended the suspension of production until May 1 to protect the health and well-being of team members, their families and communities Production is expected to resume on Monday, May 4 HMMA employees will continue to receive medical, dental and vision benefits during this interruption to vehicle production Team members may use their paid vacation time or leave during this period

HMMA initially suspended production on March 18, 2020, following a confirmed case of COVID-19 among its workforce HMMA notified the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) of this case All team members were informed of the situation

Developed enhanced procedures to provide safe, secure and sanitized workspaces for the approximately 3,000 team members when they return to work These proactive measures include pre-screening for elevated temperatures, ensuring physical distancing guidelines throughout the facility, expanding cleaning protocols and increasing distribution of health and safety materials

Suspended public tours

Donating 450 boxed lunches to nurses, emergency room teams, and intensive care unit teams at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Baptist Hospital in Montgomery (South/East), and Baptist Hospital in Prattville on April 9, April 14, and April 16



Hyundai U.S. Dealerships
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Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 08:26 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bc33f 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,COVID-19-test,coronavirus,PCR-test,SOE-Minister Free

Indonesia's COVID-19 Task Force plans to distribute equipment for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to 12 of the countrys 34 provinces to help detect the virus, the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry has said.

The regions that will receive the test kits are Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central Java, East Java, Bali, Lampung, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua.

The test kits should be operated in a standardized virology lab with negative-pressure rooms such as in hospitals, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir's aide Arya Mahendra Sinulingga said on Wednesday.

Indonesia, one of the many countries scrambling to procure coronavirus testing equipment, purchased the test kits from Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.

Read also: Indonesia ranks among world's worst in coronavirus testing rate

With a total of 18 PCR detectors and two RNA automatic extractors, the country is now expected to be able to test 5,000 to 10,000 samples a day. Therefore, we could test 300,000 a month, he said.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo said medical facilities would be able to expedite COVID-19 detection and optimize the recovery processes of patients to put a stop to the transmission of the disease.

Health authorities in Indonesia have tested more than 15,000 samples so far.

As of Wednesday, the government had recorded 2,956 cases nationwide with 240 fatalities.
AG Barr Opposes Bill Gates Proposal for COVID-19 Vaccine Certificates

Attorney General William Barr came out in opposition to a proposal floated by Bill Gates for people to eventually gain certificates for being vaccinated against the CCP virus.

Im very concerned about the slippery slope in terms of continuing encroachments on personal liberty. I do think during the emergency, appropriate, reasonable steps are fine, Barr said on Wednesday night when asked about the proposal during an appearance on Fox Newss Ingraham Angle.

Pressed to be more specific, he added, Id be a little concerned about that, the tracking of people and so forth, generally, especially going forward over a long period of time.

Gates is funding multiple efforts to produce a vaccine against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. During a question-and-answer session on Reddit, an online forum, he floated the idea of a certificate when asked what changes society will have to make in light of the pandemic.

The question of which businesses should keep going is tricky. Certainly food supply and the health system. We still need water, electricity and the internet. Supply chains for critical things need to be maintained. Countries are still figuring out what to keep running, he said.

Bill Gates at an event in in New York City on Nov. 6, 2019. (Mike Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times)

Eventually we will have some digital certificates to show who has recovered or been tested recently or when we have a vaccine who has received it, he added.

A number of commenters reacted strongly to the proposal, saying it validated conspiracy theorists about world leaders wanting mandatory marks for vaccines.

Asked about backlash to the proposal, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters: The reference to digital certificates relates to efforts to create an open source digital platform with the goal of expanding access to safe, home-based testing.

Barr said there are situations where liberties can be restricted, such as during war and pandemics, but added the Department of Justice was going to look at whether the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified and there are not alternative ways of protecting people.

When, on April 30, restrictions the U.S. government put forth expire, officials should let people adapt, Barr added.

I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under the bed, but allow them to use other ways, social distancing and other means, to protect themselves, he said.
A quarantined traveller has revealed the exorbitant laundry prices in the hotel they are forced to stay in for two weeks due to the coronavirus.

Dan Wood landed in Sydney from the UK last Friday, and is six days into his mandatory 14-day quarantine at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel.

Mr Wood posted images of the hotel price list for laundry and dry cleaning on Reddit on Wednesday, where washing a single T-shirt costs $16.50.

'These are the cleaning prices in quarantine, with a 100 per cent markup on top. It would cost me $1,011 to get my washing done,' he said.

Dan Wood landed in Sydney from the U.K. last Friday and is six days into his mandatory 14-day quarantine at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Sydney

The Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney's laundry prices, where washing a single t-shirt costs $16.50

A form given to guests by Radisson Hotels states that 'all laundry services during this time attract a 100 per cent surcharge from our provider for those in quarantine due to items needing washing separately'.

'This is what I calculated because of the markup in price so it's like $33 per shirt,' Mr Wood told Daily Mail Australia.

'I based it off four shirts, one pair of shorts, two pairs of jeans, ten pairs of underwear, twelve pairs of socks and eight t-shirts.

'It's ten days worth of clothes which is why it's a bit ridiculous.'

Mr Wood said he would hold off on his washing until he got home.

'I'm not usually one to spend a lot of money at the best of times, so I'll wait it out and do a big load when I get out,' he said.

An information form given to guests at the Radisson Blu Hotel, where the laundry heading reads there is a 100 per cent surcharge for guests in quarantine

Quarantined guests in the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney drying their clothes in the window of their room

Radisson Hotels website states they have activated their corporate crisis response team during COVID-19 and are working with local authorities to ensure safety for their guests.

'All our hotels have been informed in detail on essential preparatory and prevention measures  ranging from hygiene measures including increased cleaning and sanitizing frequency to guidelines on how to handle suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) or lockdowns for quarantine purposes in cooperation with the local authorities,' the website states.

'We are continuously monitoring and following the changes in recommendations and guidelines of the local governments and the local health authorities in the countries we operate in, to continue working towards providing the best service possible while safeguarding the safety of our guests and associates, within the requirements issued by such local authorities.'

A Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the hotel did not make money off the increased laundry costs.

The Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Sydney, where Mr Wood is in quarantine after returning from overseas

'We use an outsourced laundry that have temporally reduced their operation,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'They have indicated that to do the laundry of quarantine guests they would have to do a special procedure and as a result it would incur a 100 per cent surcharge,' a spokesman said.

'The hotel does not make any money out of this. When guests have contacted us we have offered options that they can contact directly to organise for their laundry to be picked up and returned.

'These are difficult times we are all trying our best to look after the quarantined passengers.'

Comments on Mr Wood's post offered more frugal ways to clean his clothes in quarantine.

'Clothes with bar soap in the sink or bathtub, underpants boiled inside the kettle. Everyone does this,' one comment reads.

'Just walk around in the robes that they provide. Not like your having visitors,' another comment says.

'Youre not going out anytime so no one will judge you for your stinky clothes.'
Spanish health authorities say that reported coronavirus infections and deaths have gone down again after a two-day uptick, hopefully signaling a return to the overall slowdown in the pandemic growth under a national lockdown.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that authorities reported 5,756 new cases and 728 new deaths over the previous 24-hour period. That is compared to new 6,180 cases and 757 new deaths on Wednesday.

Overall, Spain has 152,446 infections and 15,283 fatalities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, situating it as one of the world's hardest-hit countries along with the United States and Italy.

Over 52,000 patients have also recovered in Spain, as pressure has eased slightly on its hospitals.

Like many countries, Spain is struggling to gauge the true extent of the virus outbreak due to a lag in testing of the general population. Authorities have recognized that several thousand of elderly people have died in nursing homes without being tested. Only deaths of people who had tested positive are being included in the official statistics.

The latest figures were released as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appeared before the national Parliament to ask for its endorsement of a second two-week extension of Spain's state of emergency that permits the lockdown against the virus. Support is expected after the main opposition party said it would back the Socialist-led coalition government.
Todd Gurley runs off the field following the Rams' season finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 29, 2019 at the Coliseum. (John McCoy / Getty Images)

Todd Gurley and Clay Matthews no longer play for the Rams, but they caused a social media stir Wednesday by intimating that their former team had not paid them money owed.

The Rams cut Gurley on March 19 before he was due $10.5 million in bonuses. He signed a one-year contract this week with the Atlanta Falcons worth $5.5 million, according to overthecap.com. He posted a tweet that said @RamsNFL past due. Send me money ASAP.

@RamsNFL past due. Send me money ASAP  Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) April 8, 2020

Matthews, also cut March 19, retweeted Gurleys comment, adding, You and me both TG! Better get some interest with that too.

You and me both TG!  Better get some interest with that too  https://t.co/E8RIOhg7sH  Clay Matthews III (@ClayMatthews52) April 9, 2020

The Rams declined to comment. But a person with knowledge of the situation said the Rams were abiding by language that is standard in all of the teams contracts.

Gurley is owed $7.55 million. But offset language in his contract with the Rams reduces the Rams' liability if he signs elsewhere. Gurley will be owed at least $5 million.

Matthews is owed $2 million. But because of offset language in his Rams contract, if the 11-year veteran signs with another team, that figure will be reduced. For example, if Matthews signed for $1 million, the Rams would owe him $1 million. If he signed for $2 million, the Rams would not owe him anything.
Fatima, a nurse in the intensive care unit at Alcorcon hospital in Madrid, is writing from a hotel room, where she is staying to protect her mother, who has Alzheimers, her elderly father and her two teenage daughters from getting the coronavirus. On my shift yesterday I saw for the first time how life and death look at each other in the blink of an eye, she writes. I had to help distressed families who, with no warning, had death look into their innocent eyes. I shook a womans hand before administering medication so that a ventilator could breathe for her. I told her, Everything will be fine, but I failed her. Death won again. I went outside to cry.

Many health workers, on the frontline of a crisis that as of Wednesday had cost the lives of 14,555 people in Spain, with hundreds of thousands ill, feel like Fatima. At a group counseling session for medical staff at Gregorio Maranon hospital, psychologist Maria Mayoral explains: They see people getting worse one day and dying the next, which creates uncertainty and a feeling that control has been lost. They are also afraid of contracting [the coronavirus], and passing it on to their loved ones, which generates feelings of guilt and isolation.

They feel helpless, angry, sad and a lot of anguish because they are being pushed to their physical and mental limit Maria Paz Garcia-Vera, professor of clinical psychology

On March 14, when Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a state of alarm in a bid to slow the coronavirus outbreak, mental health experts at Gregorio Maranon hospital began to treat not only coronavirus victims and their families, but also their colleagues.

Days later, Celso Arango, the president of the Spanish Psychiatry Association (SEP) and head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service at Gregorio Maranon hospital, sent a letter to SEP members, asking them to take care of health workers fighting against exhaustion, feelings of impotence as they make vital decisions they have not been trained to take.

Arango also attached material from other entities, such as the American Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS), to help medical staff deal with overwhelmed hospitals, risk of infection, distressed patients and bereaved families. Everyone says they are working without proper resources and making very complicated decisions, says psychiatrist Ana Maeso, one of the specialists counseling health workers via telephone or video conference on behalf of the Spanish Neuropsychiatry Association. They feel helpless, angry, sad and a lot of anguish because they are being pushed to their physical and mental limit.

Two health workers hug outside the Severo Ochoa hospital in Madrid.

The coronavirus crisis has a big impact on the mental health of health workers, whether or not they have been infected, as seen in China where the virus first took hold. There, half of the 1,200 doctors and nurses caring for coronavirus victims in 34 different hospitals suffered symptoms of depression and, to a lesser extent, anxiety (44%) and insomnia (34%), according to a study published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Similarly, during the SARS epidemic in 2003, frontline healthcare workers reported feelings of depression, anxiety, fear and frustration, a situation that was repeated in 2014 with the Ebola crisis.

The hardest thing when a patient dies is seeing the family in their masks crying and calling from the door: Dad, we love you! And you go over and even though hes sedated, you tell him theyve come to say goodbye. Sometimes he makes a gesture. Then his family cries. I cry with them, says Gloria, another intensive care nurse.

Emotional support is normally provided by the families but with isolated patients this is now being assumed by the health workers, says Maria Paz Garcia-Vera, a professor of clinical psychology, who is coordinating the Health Ministrys helplines, which are manned by 47 crisis experts. Although they feel very appreciated by everyone, this also means a lot of pressure because they dont want to disappoint. They are going way beyond the call of duty.

The hardest thing when a patient dies is seeing the family in their masks crying and calling from the door: Dad, we love you! Gloria, intensive care nurse

After years of working with infectious patients at the Gregorio Maranon hospital, auxiliary nurse Irene Llorente, is finding it hard to comprehend the fact that a patient could be getting better one day and two days later pass away. In one counseling session, she says, I just wanted to cry. I couldnt stop. I just walked out the door of the hospital and cried. I couldnt sleep. I had nightmares.

This reaction after finishing a shift in the current circumstances is normal, according to psychologist Mayoral. To be able to work you have to dissociate yourself, but that is an additional cost; you focus on your work but you are also empathetic and you absorb feelings, and thats when the so-called compassion fatigue happens, she says. There is a lot of physical and mental fatigue. They are being subjected to extreme emotions.

Fatigue. Exhaustion. Back-to-back shifts. Many of the health workers contacted by EL PAIS were too exhausted to talk. I try to stop thinking about everything thats going on, one nurse told us.

The head of intensive care at Torrejon hospital, Mari Cruz Martin Delgado, has been sleep deprived since February 25 when the first critically ill patient was admitted to the unit. I have that permanent feeling of being on guard  hyper-alert, she says. We have all doubled and tripled bed numbers; we have changed our way of working, and are continually making decisions while feeling we are not giving the best care, says Martin Delgado, who is also on the board of the Spanish Association of Intensive, Critical Medicine and Coronary Unit Medical Care (Semicyuc).

A coronavirus patient in the intensive care unit of the Vall dHebron hospital in Barcelona. Massimiliano Minocri (EL PAIS)

Her colleague Maria Antonia Estecha, who runs the intensive care unit at the Virgen de la Victoria Hospital in Malaga, in the south of Spain, is also suffering from a lack of sleep. I dont sleep well, she says. Three or four hours. We work under a lot of pressure, which escalates without respite. The feeling of uncertainty is also distressing. The main source of frustration is the lack of single-use video laryngoscopes, special tubes, muscle relaxation monitors and better ventilators. But in general we are doing okay. We have so much work that theres not much time to think.

Mental health experts say healthcare workers are currently experiencing a hyperactive dynamic. Most of them are focused on doing their best, on throwing themselves into the task at hand and the extremely high levels of tension allow them to concentrate, says psychologist Transito Bernal, who works with nurses at the Cordoba Nursing School. But we have to prepare them, because after [the crisis ends], they will suffer from anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

They see people getting worse one day and dying the next, which creates uncertainty and a feeling that control has been lost Psychologist Maria Mayora

Services to help health workers with mental health issues are available in five Spanish regions, including La Rioja, Navarre, Madrid, Cantabria and the Balearic Islands, as well as the provinces of Cordoba, Guipuzcoa, Ciudad Real, Guadalajara and Granada.

What will happen when the coronavirus crisis ends? There has been a lot of improvisation and they [the health workers] are extremely angry; there will be a lot of burnout. They will relive everything, says Enrique Garcia Bernardo, a psychiatrist at Gregorio Maranon hospital.

There is a general consensus that the mental health of health workers must be addressed as soon as possible. If they start taking care of themselves now, asking for help, theyll be able to handle the fallout better, says Mayoral. Some will have resources. Others will not.

In the meantime, she and her colleagues will continue to provide counseling to health workers and listen to variations of the same message: I need to know when this is going to end and if Im going to hold out.

If I cry its because Im healthy In the support group they help you see that whats happening to you is normal. That if I cry its because Im healthy, says auxiliary nurse Irene Llorente. Now I concentrate on the present. If I have to do this, Ill do it.

According to psychologist Maria Mayoral, who leads these counselling sessions, the idea is to allow the health workers to validate their emotions because there is a tendency to interpret sadness as a weakness. The sessions also focus on living in the here and now, encouraging those embroiled in the crisis to ask themselves, what can I do today? And then to make them see that they are the ones who are best prepared to deal with the crisis.

We focus on getting them to accept that in the situation they are in and with the resources they have, they are doing everything they can, says Mayorals colleague Transito Bernal.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is moving to increase its domestic production of personal protective equipment for health-care workers across Canada.

The company, best known for its luxury winter parkas, announced plans last month to start production of medical gear at two Canadian factories.

It now says it will begin to reopen its other Canadian facilities over the next two weeks to bring all eight of its locations into production.

Approximately 150 employees are currently producing equipment in Toronto and Winnipeg. The company says as many as 900 employees will be working when it reaches full capacity.

Canada Goose plans to produce at least 60,000 gowns per week, with plans to deliver up to 1.5 million, at cost.

The company has three manufacturing facilities in Winnipeg and three in the Toronto area as well as operations in Montreal and Boisbriand, Que.
police car

Daniel Tadevosyan/Shutterstock

Adam Roth, 36, was charged on Wednesday in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in connection to the deaths of his wife, Dominique Roth, 34, and his sister-in-law, Deidre Popanda, 26.

His relative, Gilane Popanda, told police that Adam Roth had been "acting obsessive" about his family and started stabbing them on March 10.

Roth later told police that the coronavirus was "coming," and he needed "to save them," the county sheriff's department told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A man accused of killing his wife and sister-in-law had an "obsessive" concern with COVID-19, and believed he had to "save" then from the coronavirus, according to a criminal complaint police issued in Wisconsin.

Adam Roth, 36, was charged on Wednesday in connection to the deaths of his wife, Dominique Roth, 34, and his sister-in-law, Deidre Popanda, 26, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the county sheriff's department told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Police said relatives Desiree Popanda, 36, and Gilane Popanda, 62, were also injured in the same incident.

Gilane Popanda told police that Adam Roth had been "acting obsessive" about the health and safety of his family, and on March 10, he started stabbing "everybody," including Desiree's 9-year-old son.

Desiree and her son were able to escape the home and flee to a neighbor's to ask for help, according to the criminal complaint seen by the Journal Sentinel.

Roth was found inside with a large kitchen knife, according to CBS 58, and when he was arrested, he told police officers that "the coronavirus was going to get them, so I had to kill them," and "this is what happens when you take too many illicit drugs."

One day after the stabbing, Roth told a detective that the coronavirus "was coming and I had to save them," according to the criminal complaint seen by the Journal Sentinel.

Story continues

He had an court appearance via Zoom on April 8, and has been charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one count of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and one count of mistreatment of animals/causing death by use of a dangerous weapon.

His bond has been set at $500,000.

Read the original article on Insider
The Ghost Ship warehouse after a fire swept through the building in Oakland in December 2016. (Associated Press)

A man charged with manslaughter in the Ghost Ship blaze that killed 36 partygoers at a firetrap warehouse in the Bay Area may be released from jail because of the coronavirus outbreak, a judge ruled Wednesday.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge has decided to release Derick Almena from custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and place him in an electronic monitoring program while he awaits retrial, officials said. Almena's attorney, Tony Serra, told the San Jose Mercury News that there is a strong possibility that officials will release his client.

Almena, 49, has been jailed since 2017. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Dec. 2, 2016, fire that broke out during an electronic music party at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland. Prosecutors allege that Almena, who was the master tenant on the lease, was criminally negligent when he illegally converted the industrial building into a residence for artists and held unpermitted events inside.

The building was packed with furniture, extension cords and other flammable material but had only two exits and no smoke detectors, fire alarms or sprinklers, prosecutors say.

A jury deadlocked on the charges in September and a new trial is scheduled for July. His co-defendant, Max Harris, was acquitted of the same charges.

Almena is scheduled for a court teleconference on Friday and could be released as early as this weekend, probably to house arrest, one of his defense lawyers, Vincent Barrientos, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Eleven cases of COVID-19 have been reported at the Santa Rita Jail. In a report, jail medical staff said Almena's psychological, physiological and physical health were in jeopardy behind bars, Barrientos said.

Teresa Drenick of the Alameda County district attorney's office said prosecutors have opposed releasing Almena and will seek a court order barring him from contacting witnesses or victims in the case.

We strongly disagree with the court's decision, Drenick said.




The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday expressed concern over reports that religious minority groups from around the world have faced discrimination because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The USCIRF has accused Pakistan of increased stigmatization of Shias in recent weeks because of some of the earliest patients to test positive there were Shias. It has also blamed India and Cambodia for doing the same with Muslims. USCIRF also mentioned that religious communities have been harassed and accused of bringing COVID-19 to their countries.

COVID-19 does not discriminate based on religion or creed. Around the world, individuals of every faith and every denomination have been infected. It is time to stop scapegoating religious minorities - as we have witnessed by the Chinese Communist Party - and instead unite against this pandemic, noted USCIRF Chair Tony Perkins.

READ | Pak Troops Shell Forward Posts Along LoC In Rajouri

In addition, local authorities in South Korea have filed a lawsuit against the Shincheonji Church, alleging that it undermined public health measures, even though the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated publicly that the church has cooperated with the governments efforts.

Governments around the world are undoubtedly busy responding to the public health crisis, but they still have an obligation to respect and protect religious freedom, especially for minority communities during and following this crisis, USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin said.

READ | Sri Lanka Thanks India For Sending Life Saving Medicines; President Rajapaksa Issues Post

US slams Pak

Earlier on Tuesday accused the Balochistan provincial government of "scapegoating" the already vulnerable Hazara Shi'a community for this public health crisis.

"We are troubled that government officials in Balochistan are scapegoating the already vulnerable and marginalized Hazara Shi'a community for this public health crisis. This virus does not recognize religion, ethnicity, or border and should not be used as an excuse to discriminate against a single community" stated USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava.

READ | Pakistan Allows Movement Of Cargo Vehicles To Afghanistan

In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF noted an increase in discrimination against certain religious minority groups, and recently released a factsheet about the effect of COVID-19 on religious freedom. USCIRF has also called on all governments to release religious prisoners of conscience during the pandemic because of the heightened risk of infection in prisons.

Presently, there are around 1,513,935 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, which has led to the death of around 88,433 people. Along with it, around 329,731 people have reportedly recovered. Leading the number of global positive cases of coronavirus, the United States has become the new epicentre of the pandemic surpassing China, Italy, and Iran.

READ | Read This Valorous Tale As Indian Army Jawans Foil Pak Terrorists In Keran Even Amid Covid
The Houston Chronicle has lifted the paywall on this developing coverage to provide critical information to our community. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription.

9:55 p.m. After the coronavirus test came back positive, the family of James C. Campbell racked their brains, wondering where he had picked up the virus. He didnt get out much. Was it in the VA waiting room? The grocery store?

As his condition improved, Campbells family felt hope when doctors said they would treat him with the much-discussed malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.

But the drug didnt save him. The second wave hit hard.

In the wee hours of March 31, with no family allowed in his isolation room, he died.

His son, James T. Campbell, now worries COVID-19 will be like AIDS: Ignored until its too late.

9:00 p.m. A prisoner at the states LeBlanc Unit in Beaumont has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

TDCJ said Wednesday that going forward, any unit where positive cases arise will be placed on a complete lockdown, meaning inmates will be confined to their cells. LeBlanc would make the 16th prison placed on lockdown because of COVID-19 exposure.

The LeBlanc Unit is located about 90 miles east of downtown Houston. No other prisoners there have tested positive. Statewide, 70 prisoners have tested positive, along with 62 TDCJ employees or contractors.

More than 28,500 inmates who were possibly exposed to a known or suspected case remain in medical restriction, while 169 inmates with symptoms or a positive test are in medical isolation.

8:50 p.m. Starting tonight, and continuing every weeknight, the Houston Chronicle multimedia team will show you the latest local COVID-19 numbers and news headlines on video -- all in under a minute.

Now Playing: The latest state and local case counts and news headlines from the Houston Chronicle news team. Video: Laura Duclos/Houston Chronicle

7:51 p.m. The number of positive tests for the novel coronavirus in Texas has reached 11,376  a 14 percent increase from Wednesday.

At least 219 people have died in connection to the rapidly-spreading virus.

The greater Houston region now has 4,274 cases and 54 deaths.

6:38 p.m. Brazoria County on Thursday reported its second death related to the novel coronavirus.

A Pearland woman between the ages of 70 to 80 died on April 6, three days before the county made news of her death public. The county said in a statement that the paperwork for this case was transferred from another, unspecified health jurisdiction on April 8.

Her death was not previously included in another countys numbers, officials said.

6:17 p.m. The Galveston County Health District administered nasal swabs to 156 people on Thursday at its first drive-thru testing site in Texas City, officials said.

The facility at 9850 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway is free but only open to people at a heightened risk for complications from the novel coronavirus. The University of Texas Medical Branch is providing the swabs and analyzing the results through its lab. An appointment through the health district is required.

Also on Thursday, the health district reported two deaths  a man and woman with underlying health problems  and 21 new positive COVID-19 cases.

6:09 p.m. The majority of Harris County Sheriffs Office employees diagnosed with the novel coronavirus work in the jail, officials said.

Thirty-eight employees have tested positive for the virus and 29 of them work in the jail, according to authorities. Two have since been hospitalized.

Authorities, including the Harris County Public Health, are working to investigate who may have had contact with the jail staffers  including inmates.

Five inmates at the Harris County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, according to officials.

5:37 p.m. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has announced 91 new cases and one additional death in the unincorporated county.

There are now 1,052 positive cases in Harris County, and 3,047 total when including Houston. The city and county report a combined 34 deaths and 420 recoveries.

During a press conference Thursday evening, Hidalgo also discussed the possibility of implementing further protective measures for assisted living facilities in the Houston area. Vulnerable residents at those facilities have been hit especially hard by the virus around the country. So far, in the Houston region, an outbreak has been reported at four assisted or independent living facilities.

Visitation already has been suspended at nursing homes, and the Texas Department of State Health Services this week issued updated guidelines for such facilities to prevent outbreaks.

Hidalgo said her office is looking at additional protections, such as additional screening and protective equipment, for those facilities.

5:11 p.m. An H-E-B employee in Pearland has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a news release from the grocer.

The employee worked at the 2710 Pearland Parkway location and was last at the store on Monday. The store has since been deep cleaned multiple times and all staffers in contact with the employee have been notified, officials said.

4:38 p.m. The federal government will extend funding for four drive-thru testing sites in the Houston area through May 30.

In a letter to Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, members of the United States Public Health Service said the transition period applies to four sites, two city-operated facilities at Delmar and Butler Stadium and two more county-operated facilities at Stallworth and Legacy Stadium.

The letter, signed by Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, also states the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had recently approved a self-nasal swab for testing patients that will soon be used at the testing sites.

This testing method is less invasive and is safer for both patients and health care providers, Schwartz wrote. This process will improve the safety of individuals on site by reducing personal contact, consumption of PPE and biohazardous waste.

The extension of funds comes as lawmakers and city officials pleaded with federal officials to keep the drive-thru testing sites going with FEMA supplies and funding.

3:36 p.m. A data center outage in Austin threw the Texas Workforce Commission  and other state agencies  offline as they were working to process hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims, state officials said.

The outage lasted about an hour, until 2:45 p.m., and was caused by a hardware problem, a Texas Department of Information Resources spokesperson said.

Another spokesperson for the Texas Workforce Commission said their website and unemployment insurance system was impacted.

During the outage, anyone who tried accessing TWC resources would have been unable to log on to apply for unemployment insurance claims or reach the call center tasked with helping to process those claims.

No data was lost as part of this network outage," said Steve Pier, spokesperson for the DIR. "The network is online and connectivity has been fully restored."

3:18 p.m. The city of Houston will close its parks and trails during the Easter weekend starting Thursday evening, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was first to close parks for the county this week as a social distancing tactic. The closures for unincorporated Harris County also begin Thursday night at 8 p.m. and will last through Monday.

Park officials said Thursday during a news conference that 100 parks would be locked up with gates and barricades.

Turner said the decision to close the parks was in part because of the large jump in Houston's novel coronavirus cases. He reported 615 new cases, half of which are from March tests. The city of Houston now has a total of 1,995 COVID-19 cases.

The mayor urged Houstonians to wear masks while theyre out and about.

2:45 p.m.: For weeks, residents at Avanti Senior Living in Towne Lake and their family members have had to limit physical contact; speaking over the phone, waving hi through windows and scheduling Skype calls to stay safe and practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the senior facility asked family members to participate in a parade as a way to put a smile on residents faces and help them feel connected to loved ones. The staff has also helped members stay connected by installing Skype on their tablets and using FaceTime on Apple products.

Were all safe, said Jill Weiner-Clegg, community relations director, said. Were all taking precautions for our residents. Theres no cases or anything in our community thankfully. We like to keep it that way. Everybody sees senior living as a nursing home and were nothing like that.

 Chevall Pryce

2:27 p.m.: Harris County on Thursday began taking applications for $10 million in forgivable loans for small businesses harmed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, reports the Chronicle's Zach Despart.

Business owners can apply online at www.harriscountyloan.com and seek up to $25,000. Loans will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and be administered by the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

Find out if you qualify for a loan here.

2:05 p.m.: Since Monday, people at the Fort Bend County Jail who were previously assigned to sewing duties have been diverted to making face masks for their fellow inmates, and have been producing about 100 per day, the sheriffs office said.

Lt. Jeff Kovar from the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office came up with the idea after he observed the impact that the sheriff's offices free disinfectant distribution program had on the community.

 Claire Goodman

1:55 p.m.: The experimental therapy transfusing the blood plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19 into patients fighting the disease is coming to more Houston-area hospitals.

Baylor College of Medicine and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center are partnering to make the potentially therapeutic plasma available to hospitals that get the Food and Drug Administrations permission to transfuse it into patients.

Convalescent serum therapy, as its known, drew national attention the evening of March 28 when Houston Methodist Hospital and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York became the first U.S. hospitals to use it on patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

 Todd Ackerman

1:25 p.m.: Executives with Houston oilfield service company Halliburton are taking pay cuts amid layoffs and cuts to employee benefits as record low oil prices  partially caused by the coronavirus pandemic  continue to take their toll on the industry.

In addition to the layoffs and executive pay cuts, Halliburton is will not give out employee raises this year. The oilfield service giant will continue to match employee 401K contributions but will not be making a lump sum contribution at the end of the year, as the company has done in the past.

 Sergio Chapa

12:45 p.m.: Some employees of a major Port Arthur refinery have questioned their companys efforts to prevent infection during the COVID-19 outbreak, a conflict the United Steelworkers Union says is becoming common across the industry, reports the Beaumont Enterprise's Jacob Dick.

On Tuesday, Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA confirmed that an employee at its Port Arthur refinery had tested positive for COVID-19, but said the worker had not been on the site since March 26. Affected employees who may have came into contact were directed to self-quarantine, the company said in a statement.

Case numbers continue to grow in Southeast Texas and in the petrochemical base of Jefferson County, but most companies have continued to have production employees on-site and few have publicly reported slow-downs on processing units.

12:35 p.m.: The Texas Supreme Court has tossed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Harris Countys stay-at-home order, though the legal fight is set to continue in state district court.

The Wednesday dismissal came at the request of the suits plaintiffs, including longtime conservative activist Steve Hotze and the pastors of three Houston-area churches.

Under Abbotts executive order, which supersedes local stay-at-home orders, houses of worship may remain open, though they must conduct their activities online or through remote audio or video services when possible. Abbott later issued more detailed guidance in a joint statement with Attorney General Ken Paxton, adding that churches should cancel in-person gatherings or limit the number of congregants, depending on how substantial community spread of COVID-19 has been in their area.

 Jasper Scherer and Robert Downen

12:15 p.m.: Sports are fans stuck at home watching previously-recorded games in the name of social distancing. But a group of NBA and WNBA stars and former stars will attempt to fill the void with a made-for-ESPN HORSE competition.

The eight players will remain isolated, competing from their home courts in a competition straight from driveways and rec centers everywhere.

Beginning Sunday at 6 p.m., Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz, Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky, Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever along with former NBA stars Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce will compete in a traditional HORSE competition, the NBA and NBPA announced on Thursday.

 Jonathan Feigen

12:05 p.m.: Entergy Texas, the energy giant that powers most of Liberty County, has extended their policy for suspending service disconnections until further notice as the coronavirus situation evolves.

On March 16, they originally announced the policy was for 30 days. The company continued the policy until further notice.

 Christopher Shelton

11:45 a.m.: A Courthouse Security Officer at the Houston federal courthouse is confirmed to have died of COVID-19 following an exam by the Harris County medical examiner.

Brian Magee, who served at the front entrance to the courthouse on 515 Rusk Street and kept order federal district, bankruptcy and appeals courtrooms for years, died at his home Sunday. COVID-19 was the primary cause of death, according to the medical examiners report.

Magee, 66, of Spring, had several conditions that contributed to his death. He served for 25 years with the Precinct 4 Constables office prior to his years at the courthouse. He retired as a lieutenant with the constables office.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison said he was exemplary in his work on the front lines at the federal courthouse.

Even during the most trying times, he was a complete gentleman, the judge said. First in the Constables Office, then in the federal judiciary, he served his country long and well.

 Gabrielle Banks

11:42 a.m.: The City of Pearland has expanded service availability of food trucks currently registered in the city to aid social distancing, according to a news release. It will remain in effect until April 30.

Mayor Tom Reid signed Order TR 6, to "make it easier for local vendors to serve customers without creating large crowds," the release stated. The order allows food trucks to operate on private property, with the owner's permission, off of public streets that could inhibit traffic or cause other hazards.

Trucks must display and require social distancing guidelines, have hand sanitizer for customer use, and there cannot be more than two food trucks at a give location. Trucks must serve pre-orders (call-in orders made from their homes or vehicles and then picked up).

11:09 a.m. You may be stuck at home, but some of Houston's famous faces want to help you stay in shape.

In our new series "The Home Stretch," Houston celebrities demonstrate their 5-minute workouts at home in videos you can watch on RenewHouston.

For the first video in the series, which you can watch below, Texans cheerleader Torrey demonstrates an easy, full-body routine that you can do in your living room.

Now Playing: Texans Cheerleader Torrey demonstrates a full body workout that can be easily done at home. Video: Houston Texans

10:55 a.m. Sen. John Cornyn hasn't been one to mince words on China, as of late, and he didn't slow down Thursday morning.

The former Texas Attorney General said China "unleashed a weapon on the world" by hiding the severity of the coronavirus, later adding that "they need to be held responsible for that."

"But the problem is China," Cornyn said, "where this virus came from, essentially failed to report to the rest of the world and share the information they knew so the rest of the world could get prepared."

Benjamin Wermund has the full story on Cornyn's controversial comments here.

10:49 a.m. Mortgage rates are already near historic lows  and Freddie Mac thinks they'll drop even further, the Chronicle's R.A. Schuetz reports.

"While mortgage rates remained flat over the last week," the government-sponsored mortgage finance company wrote in its weekly survey, "there is room for rates to move down."

Both average rates for a 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage are down roughly 80 basis points from the year before, in large part because of how the novel coronavirus pandemic has affected stock markets.

10:25 a.m.: Nearly 115 million Americans who filed their taxes last year will receive their stimulus check via direct deposit into their bank account by April 14 at the latest.

But $30 million will be mailed to residents in the form of paper checks and won't be sent out until April 24. Some checks may not reach Americans until September.

Find out how much you qualify for here.

 Rebecca Hennes

10 a.m.: About 400 families sought help during the first distribution at St. Peters Episcopal Church in Pasadena a week ago. This week, more than 500 families lined up in their cars to receive basic foods and other goods at the church, reports the Chronicle's Olivia P. Tallett.

The ministry will continue the program every Wednesday while the need continues. Organizers are already bracing for what they believe is going to be an ever longer line of people looking for food assistance every week.

The church initially limited its feeding efforts to families living in the ZIP codes that they usually serve, said Pedro Lopez, vicar of St. Peter's. But "now we have opened this for anybody in need regardless of where they live. If they need food, we will give to them too."

Want to help? Check the Chronicle's coronavirus resource guide.

9:50 a.m.: Master control room operators at energy companies have found themselves among the few people still working in skyscrapers emptied by work-from-home orders, making downtown Houston feel more like a ghost town than the heart of the fourth largest city in the United States, reports the Chronicle's Sergio Chapa.

Listen to Chapa on today's Coronavirus Chronicle podcast to learn more about how oil-and-gas companies are coping with COVID-19.

9:15 a.m.: The Astros Foundation arranged for Papa Johns pizza to be delivered to all 94 Houston Fire Department stations this week as a show of gratitude for the firefighters' work.

Overall, 470 pizzas were delivered across the 94 HFD stations.

 Matt Young

9:10 a.m.: A Fort Bend County Sheriff's deputy has tested positive for COVID-19 and 12 other department employees are in quarantine, officials have confirmed.

The confirmed positive case involves a deputy who recently traveled to California for training. According to department spokesman, Major Chad Norvell, the deputy is experiencing mild symptoms and is at home recuperating.

Officials are currently working with the Fort Bend County Department of Health and Human Services to identify and notify any department employee or civilian that may have been exposed to the virus through contact with the deputy.

 Kristi Nix

9 a.m.: Black Houstonians are disproportionately suffering from coronavirus. Across Harris County, the largest county in the state, trends are unknown because the health department has declined to release data by geography, race and ethnicity.

Harris County (excluding Houston) releases racial breakdown of its deaths due to COVID-19: 9 white, 4 Hispanic, 3 black, 1 Asian.

Adding Houston, deaths now are: 38 percent black; 38 percent white; 21 percent Hispanic; and 3 percent Asian.

 Zach Despart, Mike Morris and Jasper Scherer

8:30 a.m.: Starting April 13, the Houston Independent School District will launch a hotline for students and parents with questions about its distance learning, also known as HISD @ H.O.M.E.

From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, you can call the hotline at 713,556-4636, and operators will be able to answer questions in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic, according to a news release.

Accessible at the website houstonisd.org/home, the HISD at H.O.M.E. portal currently contains links to online learning applications, advice on creating an in-home school schedule and support for accessing digital tools.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the online portal provides instructional videos in English and Spanish in subject areas, including math, science, reading, writing, social studies and fine arts. The videos are broadcast on HISD-TV (Comcast channel 18 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99) and online at HoustonISD.org/LiveTV.

8:10 a.m.: Unemployment claims in Texas surged to 314,000 last week as both measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus and an oil price bust continued to result in masses of layoffs throughout the state.

Nearly 750,000 Texans have filed applications for benefits since March when the shutdowns began. That's more than all the claims submitted in the state in the entire year of 2019.

In the last three weeks, more than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment.

 Erin Douglas

8:05 a.m.: The Houston Museum of Natural Science will furlough 337 employees effective immediately, reports the Chronicle's Wei-Huan Chen.

All furloughed employees, which make up 70 percent of the museum staff, will be eligible for health insurance and other benefits until at least May 31. They are being encouraged to apply for unemployment benefits and "safety net" programs.

The salaries of the remaining 144 employees will be reduced by at least 15 percent. The goal is to bring back the employees at a near-future date to reopen the museum. Visit www.hmns.org for more information.

For up-to-date tracking of the spread of the novel coronavirus in Texas, visit houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 25 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Apr. 9.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Pain Already Being Felt

Flexibility Isnt Enough

Time to Rethink Tax Systems?

On March 2, Wesley Harper started his new job as executive director of the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities. A few days later, he went to Washington to meet with members of the states congressional delegation, planning on discussing a dry agenda of topics such as rural broadband, 5G infrastructure, wastewater and the Census. COVID-19 was added at the last minute, almost as an afterthought.Thats how much we underestimated this, and that was a month ago, Harper says. It was in those meetings that I really started to grasp how severe this was going to be.Harper is now working overtime to help keep his members afloat as they try to combat a public health emergency, even as theyve shifted to remote operations, furloughed some workers and reassigned others. As cities in Nevada and elsewhere struggle to keep from drowning in the current tsunami, they know theyre about to be pounded by another big wave  the fiscal impact from the nations economy all but shutting down.Nevada cities had been seeing healthy revenues, exceeding budgeted expectations. Now, they collectively face shortfalls of about 4 percent for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and anticipate shortfalls as high as 14 percent in the next fiscal year. We have essentially no taxes coming in from gaming and hospitality, Harper says. The state is going to be through its rainy-day fund in fairly short order.Nevada depends the most of any state on sales taxes, while its municipalities are the most reliant on unrestricted state aid as a share of revenue. But the story is dire all over. Cities from Santa Barbara, Calif., to Scranton, Pa., have furloughed workers. In Akron, Ohio, 600 city employees  a third of the total workforce  have been furloughed. Already, numerous states are projecting shortfalls that reach into the billions of dollars. Thats before theyve fully registered the anticipated drop in revenues.The effect on March numbers was uneven, due to the suddenness of the economic shutdown. The real pain will start this month. More than 40 states have delayed income tax filing deadlines, meaning April  normally their best month for collections  will leave them far short. We still havent seen tons of states take action yet, as far as significant budget cuts, says Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies at the National Association of State Budget Officers. I would expect more budget cuts to come.Most economists are predicting that, after a catastrophic drop, the economy will start growing again as early as this summer. Even if that plays out as hoped, a lot of damage will already have been done. Each percentage point increase in the unemployment rate historically has led to a 3.7 percent drop in state revenues, which would be about $45 billion, according to the Brookings Institution . The official unemployment rate rose nearly 1 percent in March, to 4.4 percent. Its widely expected to reach into double digits soon.Both states and municipalities went into the crisis with record levels of reserves on hand. That will help, as will federal assistance. The stimulus package known as the CARES Act included $150 billion in fiscal relief for states and localities, with additional programmatic assistance. More help from Washington is likely to come, perhaps as early as Thursday.Its still too soon to know how deep the damage to state and local budgets will be, or how long-lasting. It took state and local governments years to dig out of the fiscal holes left by the Great Recession that ended in 2009.Municipal governments have only recently returned to where they were in 2006 and 2007, says Michael Pagano, director of the University of Illinois at Chicagos Government Finance Research Center. Will city governments be in another 10- to 15-year trough before they get back to where they were in February?When Minnesota passed a $330 million coronavirus response package last week, House GOP Leader Kurt Daudt warned that the state could see shortfalls that end up being worse than the $6.2 billion deficits it saw following the Great Recession.New York, which began its fiscal year on April 1, is projecting budget shortfalls ranging from at least $4 billion to more than $10 billion. Neighboring Connecticut expects to fall $500 million short by June 30, then face a bigger hole of $1.4 billion in the next fiscal year. Michigan projects its tax revenues could drop as much as $3 billion for the current fiscal year and as much as $4 billion next year.Its tough to cut that kind of money with only weeks left in the fiscal year, just as demands on government services are rising fast. Pennsylvania has let go 2,500 part-time or seasonal workers. Nearly 9,000 full-time state employees, representing more than 10 percent of its workforce, will stop getting paid by the end of the week.Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued line-item vetoes cutting $235 million from the states current budget and $210 million from the next. He axed dozens of programs, including some of his own priorities. Under normal circumstances, I would not veto bills and budget items that are good policy and smart investments for the state, Inslee said. As everyone knows, these are not normal times.Washington, D.C., has implemented a hiring freeze as it seeks cuts of $607 million to its current budget and at least as much again next year. Cincinnati has furloughed 600 full-time employees and more than 1,100 part-time workers. Mayor John Cranley has assured them that leave will be temporary, but no one can say how long the economy will remain on hold.Even after stay-at-home orders start to be lifted, the economy will restart in stages. Businesses that have closed will take some time to gear back up. Dont count on going to any concerts or sporting events soon after the stores have reopened. Consumers might be tentative about purchases, given the high unemployment rate.You cant store services. When salons reopen, people will only pay for one haircut, not all the appointments they missed.You shut down the economy for however long  if those businesses are shuttered, states are facing very different economies than they went into this with, says Tracy Gordon, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute.Last year, Gordon coauthored a study that found roughly 70 percent of state spending is on autopilot. Costs associated with Medicaid, pensions, debt service and K-12 education funding formulas are not subject to changes during annual or biennial appropriations.States and localities are now trying to protect emergency services, public safety and utilities from cuts. That puts more pressure on the rest of their budgets.Gordon says they have more flexibility to move money around during a crisis. Just as the U.S. Treasury secretary can take extraordinary measures to avoid bumping up against the debt ceiling, state and local officials can take unusual steps such as borrowing from dedicated funds. But that money has to be repaid, often with interest and fairly quickly.State and local officials are trying to give themselves some wiggle room. Last week, Kentucky passed a one-year budget, rather than its regular two-year spending plan. San Diego is considering moving from an annual to a quarterly budget. New Jersey legislators are expected to vote next week to extend the current fiscal year from June through September, in part to capture 2019 income tax filings now due in July.Whatever the timeframe, most budgets in place now or passed soon will have to be revised as the economic fallout becomes more clear. No state had to make adjustments to its fiscal 2019 budget, says Sigritz, the NASBO official. Lots of states will have to revisit their budgets in fiscal 2021. From every indication right now, states are going to be facing very significant revenue decline, he says.Fiscal relief in the CARES Act was largely limited to states, as well as localities with populations larger than 500,000. Smaller cities and counties are hoping they can count on direct assistance in the near future.Congressional Democrats are calling for an additional $150 billion in aid to states and localities as part of a deal, which may pass Thursday, to increase a federal small business loan program. Theyre widely expected to push for more when Congress returns from recess on April 30.Federal aid will buy states, cities and counties some time. It probably won't be enough to make them whole. The University of Illinois Pagano suggests that the feds should consider reviving general revenue sharing, a system of unconditional grants to states and localities that ended in 1986.He also argues that local governments in particular may be forced to restructure their tax systems to better reflect the current economy. As the economys service base has grown, sales tax collections have been eroding. But ideas such as taxing services or wealth have proven almost impossible to implement.In a recession, its easier for states and localities to cut services than to raise taxes. At this point, the only question is how deep and how enduring the cuts will be.Its not clear how short-term this is going to be, says Gordon, the Urban Institute economist. Its like a Category 5 hurricane, but it lasts over many quarters  a hurricane that hits all over the country.
Indias embattled financial institutions are facing further challenges attracting overseas funding as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to cut growth in the worlds fifth-largest economy to 30-year lows.

Loan syndications for Indian borrowers in recent weeks point to growing concerns among offshore lenders of a further deterioration in asset quality as a result of the sharp decline in economic activity and rising unemployment. India enforced a 21-day lockdown on March 25 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past month, financial institutions including PNB Housing Finance and debut borrower HDB Financial Services have closed loans with limited syndication.

The reception from offshore lenders underscores the weak sentiment towards the Indian financial sector, which is already reeling from a series of defaults.

Confidence in the financial sector is low and one of the issues people have had is non-performing assets, said a loan syndications banker at a global bank. We are only hoping that there are no fresh spurts of NPAs. Otherwise, it could be an even longer journey to recovery.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

BANKING SECTOR WOES

NPAs at Indian banks are not a new concern, with a systemwide bad loan ratio of 9% as of March 2019, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Since the lockdown began on March 25, Fitch has cut Indias GDP growth forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2021 to 2% from 5.1% previously. This year could see the slowest growth in the country in 30 years, the ratings agency said.

Moodys on April 2 changed its outlook for the Indian banking system to negative from stable, warning the lockdown will eventually lead to pressure on profitability and capital.

Indias banking sector suffered another blow in mid-March when the RBI seized control of beleaguered Yes Bank, the countrys fifth-largest private sector bank, which recorded a surge in gross bad loans to 18.87% of total loans for the quarter ending December 31 from 2.1% a year earlier.

Non-banking financial companies have been wrestling with tight liquidity following defaults and credit scares that began with missed payments from Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services in September 2018. Dewan Housing Finance, another major NBFC, defaulted on its debt last June.

Debt capital will continue to remain a challenge for most NBFCs, said one Mumbai-based banking analyst. There are lenders and investors who at this point in time are only comfortable with certain names and not the others, so access to funding still remains constrained to a few.

Since 2018, NBFCs have increasingly relied on Indian banks for funding and most banks are now near their exposure limits, he said.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 9

POOR APPETITE

Several NBFCs had lined up offshore borrowings late last year, but few international lenders joined the deals despite the rarity value and strong parentage of the borrowers.

Last week, PNB Housing Finance, a unit of state-owned Punjab National Bank, announced it had raised another US$100m through co-financing loans from two foreign lenders. That followed a month after it closed a US$75m three-year bullet term loan with only one bank joining after nearly six months of general syndication.

LIC Housing Finance, a subsidiary of state-owned insurance giant Life Insurance Corp of India, is returning to the offshore loan markets after nearly 17 years. It is expected to close a US$200m three-year loan without general syndication, having attracted only one bank in senior syndication so far.

In mid-March, HDB Financial Services, the NBFC unit of Indias largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, increased a three-year loan to US$530m from US$300m despite only two banks joining in general syndication. State Bank of India, one of the three leads, took a final hold of US$250m, increasing its initial underwritten commitment by US$150m.

In 2019, Indian NBFCs raised a combined US$3.07bn from offshore syndicated loans, according to Refinitiv LPC data. Overall, Indian loan volumes fell 24.5% year on year to US$18.20bn.

Deal flow from India also declined 23% year on year in the first three months of 2020 to US$4.95bn.
The Duchess of Cambridge has given us another insight into her chic WFH wardrobe, as she gave a surprise Zoom call to children who are still attending school.

She looked positively beaming as she joined Prince William in engaging with teachers and pupils alike.

For her first-ever virtual public appearance, Kate opted for a cheap but ever-so cheerful mustard yellow jumper from Zara. The jumper is an old style - and so no longer available to buy - although Banana Republic has a similar style (85, shop it here.)

To accessorise the yellow jumper, she donned her pair of 165 Catherine Zoraida Gold Fern Drop Earrings (shop them here), which she first sported during a visit to The Ark Open Farm in Northern Ireland in February.

Kate kept her balayaged waves loose and natural, pinning just a few strands back from her face, while her make-up was kept bronzed and natural so as to accent the mustard hues of her jumper.

This is the second peep we've been given into what she wears while WFH - and home-schooling Prince George and Charlotte - just a matter of weeks ago, we were afforded a look at her in her home office, where she sported a pink suit from Marks & Spencer.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their Zoom call with pupils / Kensington Royal

Prince William and the Duchess spoke to staff and children at Casterton Primary Academy, which is located close to Burnley General Hospital and has a high percentage of pupils whose parents are key workers.

The mother-of-three told pupils: "Well done honestly to you and everyone who's in during this time. It must be such a relief for all the parents, who are key workers, to know that the normality is there for their children - they've got the structure and they've got a safe place for them to be, so really really well done to all of you."
F OMO was back on Thursday as investors anxious about the Easter trading pause did their own panic buying, hoovering up risky consumer stocks like Cineworld and Superdry.

Markets will close on Thursday and not reopen until Tuesday. For City traders studying coronavirus case numbers and oil prices like hawks that feels like an awfully long time.

Global case numbers, currently at 1.5 million, could show a slowdown over the weekend. Opec could finally agree on some production cuts and drive oil prices back up. Things are moving fast at the moment.

That fear of missing out meant risk-taking was the order of the day, with crestfallen leisure and travel stocks  beaten black and blue by the recent sell-off  leading the charge.

Cineworld, which has become something of a totem for the coronavirus market crash, rallied 16% up 9.6p to 70p. It has been forced to shut all 787 cinemas due to the lockdown.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread also rose 7% gaining 206p to 3101p and easyJet jumped 7% or 44p to 690p.

Superdry, another consumer stock, also gained 14% up 19p to 154p.

That sentiment helped the FTSE 100 rise past the 5800 mark for the first time in a month, led higher by pleasing signs in the oil market.

Brent crude was up 3.3% to $34 per barrel on hopes a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia could be reached at Opec meetings on Thursday and Friday. The FTSE 100 gain later steadied, up 52 points at 5,729.63 points.

Further down the market, tool rental firm Speedy Hire said around 50% of its 1700 staff had been placed on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

It has frozen recruitment and salary reviews, cut senior salaries by 20% for three months and halted non-essential spending to cushion the blow from lower sales. Shares fell 1% to 54p.

Small-sized fund managers also revealed the scars of the market crash. Newly-merged Premier Miton, down 2.7% to 94p, saw assets under management drop by a fifth to 9.1 billion for the three months ending March.
Australias parliament passed a record A$130 billion ($80 billion) jobs-rescue plan late Wednesday, as the government continues efforts to buttress the economy from the coronavirus outbreak.

Its unprecedented in its scale and its scope, and around six million workers should be able to use this program to stay in a job, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a television interview. The package will help build that bridge to the recovery on the other side.

The support will see the government pay wage subsidies of A$1,500 every two weeks per employee to help struggling businesses keep people in work. Its the latest step in Prime Minister Scott Morrisons plan to ensure the economy can survive in hibernation during the health crisis and then quickly be revived when businesses such as restaurants, clubs, casinos and cinemas are allowed to reopen.

Since the coronavirus threat emerged, the conservative government has abandoned plans to return and keep the budget in surplus, pumping an unprecedented amount of stimulus into the economy in a bid to avert it from falling into a crippling long-term recession.

Total fiscal and monetary stimulus has now exceeded A$320 billion, or 16.4% of gross domestic product. Asked on Sky News Thursday whether further huge fiscal support was likely, Frydenberg said the A$130 billion jobkeeper package would be hard to beat. Australians would be paying back the debt burden for years to come, he said.

The jobs-rescue plan was passed on Wednesday in a special sitting of parliament with a reduced number of lawmakers.

In other economic measures, Morrison last week announced it will make childcare free to help workers stay in their jobs. On Tuesday, he said a new industry code of practice for commercial tenancies would be legislated to provide rent relief for businesses hit by the outbreak. Any decline in revenue for small- or medium-sized enterprise will be reflected in a proportionate drop in rent they have to pay, he said.

Still, Morrisons government can only do so much. Some economists are forecasting that Australias unemployment rate could soar to 12%, from 5.1% in February, as potentially hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs amid the shutdown. The nations central bank has cutting its rates to 0.25% and shifted to bond-buying operations.

Australias Huge Household Debt Threatens to Worsen Recession

Morrison has grown more confident that social-distancing restrictions and the nations relatively high rates of testing appear to be working to control the outbreak and flatten the curve of growth. As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Australia had 6,013 confirmed cases, up 1.8% from the day before. Fifty people have died.

Authorities are warning they dont want Australians to relax during the Easter break, which starts on Friday. In New South Wales, the most populous state thats been hardest hit by the outbreak, police warned on Wednesday they will use the holiday period to patrol country roads, back streets, main highways and caravan parks to ensure people are complying with the restrictions.
Sydney's beach culture has been brought to a grinding halt after local councils banned entry to popular coastal spots to limit the spread of coronavirus.

But not even a government-mandated closure could stop Deborah Hutton from heading out for a swim in the eastern suburb of Tamarama on Friday.

The media personality, 58, was caught breaking into the fenced-off beach at Mackenzies Bay, one week after it had been closed off to the public.

Can't fence her out! On Friday, Deborah Hutton was caught breaking into a Sydney beach that had been closed by the local council to limit the spread of coronavirus

Wearing a beach towel across her shoulders, she was pictured approaching the metal fence surrounding the area.

Deborah, who lives in nearby Bronte, carefully slid through an opening in the barricade while holding onto the metal bars for support.

Dressed for a day in the sun, the former model wore a floaty kaftan and a pair of white flip-flops.

Let me in! Wearing a beach towel across her shoulders, Deborah was pictured approaching the metal fence surrounding Mackenzies Bay

Sliding in: She carefully slid through an opening in the barricade while holding onto the metal bars for support

Glamorous: Dressed for a day in the sun, the former model wore a kaftan and a pair of flip-flops

Bathing beauty: The Skin Cancer Foundation ambassador slicked her hair back into a chignon and concealed her gaze behind dark sunglasses

The Skin Cancer Foundation ambassador slicked her hair back into a chignon and concealed her gaze behind dark sunglasses.

After entering the secluded area, Deborah made her way across the rocky shore and stripped down to a white halterneck swimsuit.

The plunging one-piece showcased the former magazine editor's ageless physique and deep golden tan.

White hot! After entering the secluded area, Deborah made her way across the rocky shore and stripped down to a white halterneck swimsuit

Glowing: She also went makeup free, showcasing her naturally youthful complexion

Staying active: Fitness-loving Deborah was seen prancing through the surf

She also went makeup free, showcasing her naturally youthful complexion.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Deborah Hutton for comment.

Bondi's council area of Waverley, where Mackenzies Bay is located, has become a coronavirus hotspot in recent weeks.

Luxury look: Deborah accessorised her look with several bracelets and silver rings

Hotspot: Bondi's council area of Waverley, where Mackenzies Bay is located, has become a coronavirus hotspot in recent weeks

Locked out: On March 27, Waverley Council officially banned entry into several beaches, including Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte and Mackenzies Bay

On March 22, Prime Minister Scott Morrison blasted 'negligent' beachgoers after thousands of people swarmed to Bondi Beach despite social distancing rules.

'There is no excuse to say you do not know [about social distancing]. You have to keep your distance between each other,' Morrison said at a press conference.

'If Australians cannot do that, if they can't do that on a broader scale, they are denying the government and authorities the most important weapon we have to save lives and to save livelihoods.'

Cracking down: NSW Police now have powers to issue on-the-spot fines of $1,000 and prosecute individuals and corporations for breaching Public Health Order directions

Penalties: The maximum penalty for individuals is a fine of up to $11,000 and/or six months' jail

On March 27, Waverley Council officially banned entry into several beaches, including Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte and Mackenzies Bay.

NSW Police now have powers to issue on-the-spot fines of $1,000 and prosecute individuals and corporations for breaching Public Health Order directions.

The maximum penalty for individuals is a fine of up to $11,000 and/or six months' jail.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there are 6,104 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including 51 deaths.
As more U.S. states issue stay-at-home orders to combat the spread of coronavirus, many people are working from home and spending long hours streaming their favorite TV shows and movies.

That's concerning for health officials.

Researchers have continuously found that sitting for long periods is bad for your health. It can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, even result in death, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Zhaoping Li, chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition at UCLA, told USA TODAY that some of her patients have been watching too much television, not getting enough sleep, or not being active in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

This is the right time people need to do more active things, not just sitting around, Li said, adding that muscle loss and weight gain are among the risks associated with inactivity. Take this opportunity to do self examination, self inspection and self care. This is the time we'll have no excuse to say, I'm too busy.

Another health risk that can arise from sedentary behavior is thrombosis, or blood clots, said Dr. Mary Cushman, professor of medicine and pathology at the University of Vermont.

Maureen Lewis leads an outdoor morning exercise routine for neighbors on her street in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, on March 27. Lewis stands in the street to allow participants to see her from their driveways while observing social distancing. The workout includes light stretches and exercises for 10 to 15 minutes.

There are two types of thrombosis that can form in any vein or artery, slowing or blocking normal blood flow and increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. In fact, on average, one American dies of a blood clot every six minutes, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Blood clots are often diagnosed in one leg or the other, Cushman said, and can cause pain, swelling and redness.

And the thing is, you don't always have to have all the symptoms, so that's where it gets tricky for patients to know what's going on and sometimes even for doctors to figure out, Cushman told USA TODAY.

Amid the coronavirus, Cushman said shes mainly worried about venous thromboembolism. Thats when blood clots form in the veins and can lead to part of the clot traveling to the lungs and causing blockage, also called a pulmonary embolism. The symptoms can include chest pain and shortness of breath.

Story continues

Mapping coronavirus: Tracking the U.S. outbreak

She said blood clots can affect anyone but VTE is about 60% higher in African Americans.

The lifetime risk of VTE after age 45 is 11.5% in African Americans, while this is 6.9% in whites in the U.S., Cushman said, attributing the difference to a higher percentage of obesity in black communities and differences in socioeconomic status. Recent data also shows that COVID-19 is disproportionately killing black people at an alarming rate.

How can you help yourself? Here are a few tips from Li and Cushman:

Take five-minute walk breaks each hour. Grab some water from the kitchen or take a bathroom break.

Make sure you have enough space to stretch your legs if you are working from home. Try not to cross your legs for long periods.

Stay moving. Keep your legs moving if you're working from home; search YouTube videos for home workouts; get up and stretch during a TV commercial break.

Stay hydrated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Are you getting enough exercise? Tips for self care
Private lender HDFC Bank on Wednesday said the RBI has asked it to examine and submit the proposal regarding two crucial appointments only after a new CEO assumes charge later this year

New Delhi: Private lender HDFC Bank on Wednesday said the RBI has asked it to examine and submit the proposal regarding two crucial appointments only after a new CEO assumes charge later this year.

On 28 November, 2019, the Mumbai-headquartered lender had informed the stock exchanges about the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri by the Board of Directors each as Additional Director and Executive Director (Whole-Time Director) of the bank, subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the shareholders.

RBI puts key board appointments of @HDFC_Bank on hold until a new CEO is appointed. Why is the RBI move significant? Industry sources tell us pic.twitter.com/UlK5nDRlRO  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 9, 2020

"We are now in receipt of a communication dated 7 April, 2020 from Reserve Bank of India stating that since these are important positions in the Bank, the Bank is advised to examine and submit the proposal after a new MD and CEO assumes charge later this year," HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets

The bank will accordingly ensure compliance with Reserve Bank''s instruction, it added.

Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri shall continue as additional directors on the board of the bank till the ensuing Annual General Meeting, in terms of the relevant provisions of Companies Act, 2013, it added.

Bank's long-time MD and CEO Aditya Puri is set to retire in October this year as he would turn 70, in accordance with the RBI guidelines on age limit.

The lender had in November informed about launching a global hunt to find a successor to the founding-chief executive.

HDFC Bank scrip closed at Rs 888.95 apiece on the BSE, down 0.83 percent from the previous close.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed Adams Outdoor Advertisings challenge of Madisons sign ordinance and its claims against the city.

In a 51-page decision, U.S. District Judge James Peterson said there is no constitutional problem with Madisons sign ordinance.

Whether the Capitol Square should look like Times Square is a decision that Madison city government is entitled to make, he wrote.

Adams alleged our entire sign ordinance was unconstitutional, city attorney Michael May said after the ruling. So, at least theoretically, if they won, Adams and anybody else could have put up billboards  including moving and digital billboards  wherever they wanted.

The decision means Adams challenges to our sign ordinance are dismissed, and the ordinance can continue to operate as it has for years, May said. Madison generally has a ban on new billboards in the city, and this will keep that long-standing policy decision.

Adams officials could not be reached for comment and its unclear if the company will appeal the decision.

Adams, which has gone to court in recent years against Madison, Fitchburg and Dane County over the placement of its billboards around the area, argued in the federal lawsuit that Madisons ordinance is unconstitutional because it bans new advertising signs, such as billboards. It also asserted that the ordinance unconstitutionally imposes unreasonable restrictions on existing advertising signs in the city but doesnt ban or impose the same restrictions on other types of signs in the city, such as real estate, political and noncommercial signs.

State Supreme Court sides with Madison in dispute over Beltline billboard

The federal case tracks back several years. Adams operates a billboard at 615 Forward Drive, on property owned by a local television station, and the station owners built a new facility that partially obstructed the billboard, the court decision says. In 2016, Adams sought to remove the sign and bank its net area through a city advertising sign bank program. Zoning administrator Matthew Tucker denied the application determining the billboard didnt meet eligibility criteria. Adams didnt appeal the decision to the citys Urban Design Commission.

In April 2017, Adams submitted 26 applications to the city seeking to modify or replace existing billboards. In June 2017, Tucker denied 25 of the 26 permits, citing ordinance provisions the proposed modifications would violate. The next month, Adams filed the lawsuit in federal court.

Billboard firm sues city, calls sign ordinance unconstitutional free speech infringement

May said hes unsure about the cost of the litigation because the citys attorneys were hired by the citys insurer.
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Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to conduct tests for 15 lakh residents of Asias largest slum Dharavi, to mitigate future danger and contain the spread of coronavirus.

Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale said that he spoke with BMC officials who have ensured to conduct door to door tests of people living in Dharavi.



'A team of private and BMC doctors will be made and they will make door to door visits. While in some locations, area clinic will be started and a primary coronavirus test will be done. We have to use the cluster policy to contain the spread of coronavirus,' Shewale said adding that in next 10 to 12 days, the screening and testing of Dharavi area will be done.



COVID-19 LIVE | As death toll rises to 169, Centre sanctions Rs 15,000 crore coronavirus package

Dharavi is Asias largest slum with over 15 lakh population living in 625 hectares of land at the heart of Mumbai. More than 15 coronavirus patients were detected in Dharavi out of which three people died.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said that in the highly populated localities like Dharavi, drones will be used to disinfect the localities. He also said that in these localities the common toilets have been used that has been infected and cleaned regularly by the fire brigade.



ALSO READ: One COVID-19 patient dies in Dharavi, three new cases found.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray also decided to put extra force in Mumbai. He appointed two additional IAS officials Ashwini Bhide and N Ramahwami for the coordination and expediting the machinery.



Moreover, Manisha Mhaiskar, another IAS officer who worked earlier as the additional municipal commission and handled the health department was asked to assist the BMC chief, Pravin Pardeshi, in containing the coronavirus pandemic in various pockets of Mumbai.

In Mumbai, the G/Southward of BMC is a high-risk area. In this ward, Lower Parel, Worli and Prabhadevi reported 184 coronavirus positive cases while Byculla registered 64, Tardeo, Malabar Hill and Peddar road 53 cases while Andheri west has 46 coronavirus positive cases.
China's Wuhan now has only 181 severe cases of COVID-19

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:56, April 08, 2020

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, the Chinese city hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, had only 181 patients in serious conditions, with 71 being critically ill, as of Monday, dropping from a peak of over 9,000 cases, a health official said Tuesday.

"Notable results have been achieved. However, there are still great difficulties in the treatment of severe patients," Guo Yanhong, the National Health Commission official, said at a press conference, stressing that China has gone all out to save more lives.

The high proportion of elderly patients and patients with multiple diseases have posed challenges to the treatment, Guo noted, adding that some patients also need a longer time to recover due to their unstable conditions.

Highlighting the practice of pooling good medical resources, the official said severe patients are treated at high-calibre hospitals with centralized treatment.

For patients with multiple diseases, coordinated treatment across disciplines has been strengthened, and it is important to reinforce nursing personnel for elderly patients, according to Guo.

Facing increasing imported cases, Guo said more efforts are needed to attend to mild patients and prevent mild symptoms from developing into severe ones, as well as strengthening treatment featuring the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Meanwhile, personalized treatment plans should also be highlighted to take scientific and targeted measures, Guo said.

The Chinese mainland had reported a total of 983 imported cases as of the end of Monday. Of them, 285 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 698 were being treated with 21 in severe condition, the commission said in its daily report.

Wu Xinjuan, with the Chinese Nursing Association, said COVID-19 patients are prone to psychological problems such as anxiety, fear and helplessness.

Doctors and nurses have been encouraged to communicate with patients and give them confidence by sharing successful stories in treatment, Wu said, adding that patients are also encouraged to talk with their family members and friends via mobile phones to ease anxiety.

"We emphasize the management of COVID-19 patients at every single stage," said Wang Guiqiang, an infectious disease expert with the Peking University First Hospital, when responding to a question concerning people tested positive again after being released from hospitals.

Requirements on follow-up visits and self-quarantine for recovered patients have been clarified in the updated diagnosis and treatment scheme, in a bid to reduce the risk of further transmission outside hospitals, according to Wang.

Patients who have been discharged from hospitals after recovery will still be under observation, Wang said, calling for more efforts from local medical institutions on monitoring and health checkups.

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A s our NHS heroes continue to fight the good fight, saving the lives of people with severe cases of coronavirus, many are paying out of pocket to stay in temporary accommodation to protect vulnerable family members at home.

This is why luxury short-term home rental platform onefinestay has pledged its support to a new initiative called NHS Homes.

Started by the Short Term Accommodation Association, it offers free homes for key health workers in need of temporary accommodation.

So far, forty London hosts on onefinestay have offered up their luxury residences for NHS workers in need.

The usual full range of services will be provided by onefinestay, including 24/7 support and professional housekeeping with increased deep cleaning and disinfecting.

Onefinestays Chief Markets Officer, City Collection, Livina Liyanage said in a statement: "We feel it is so important that everyone does their part to support each other in these times of crisis.

One Fine Stay

Hospitality is in our DNA so in partnership with our homeowners, we are doing our bit to look after and support NHS Key Workers by opening up available homes for free. Its great that the homesharing industry is coming together as one for the common good and we hope to see more businesses pledge their support."
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre suspended all performances of "Hamilton" as part of statewide coronavirus closures. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Arts organizations, many of which are financially vulnerable even in the best of times, find themselves on life support as coronavirus spreads around the globe. Museums, theaters, concert halls and opera stages of all sizes have closed. Performers and behind-the-scenes employees are being furloughed or laid off.

How can you help? The Times' arts team has brainstormed 22 ways you can help sustain art and those who produce it. As many fear prolonged damage to the arts infrastructure as the country heads into economic recession, lasting closures have profound consequences and certain organizations even cease to exist.

Art can sustains humanity in its darkest hours. Here are possible ways to add a little light. Email your suggestions to us at calendar@latimes.com.

1. Purchase a membership: From big art museums to small artist-run organizations, membership is one crucial way to help stabilize operating budgets. Membership also strengthens community.

2. Take an online dance class: Many unemployed professional dancers have begun offering classes online. Some classes are free, but some include a link to Venmo or Zelle if youd like to donate.

3. Request a private dance class: Some dancers are offering private lessons on request. For those who can afford the extra expense, it's a way to support the community while learning and getting a much-needed distraction.

4. Donate your theater ticket: Was the show youve been looking forward to canceled? Instead of asking for a refund, consider donating the cost to the theater instead.

5. Become a theater subscriber: Subscriptions, the beating heart of many theater companies, have been on a years-long downturn. Rebuild that base by committing vital funds and counting yourself as part of its community. You can take advantage of subscriber perks when programming is up and running again.

6. Buy CDs and vinyl rather than streaming music: This ensures that artists get a bigger chunk of the proceeds than they would through a streaming service. You can order CDs and vinyl from sites such as SoundCloud and Bandcamp, not just giants like Amazon and Apple. You also can buy music directly from the labels and, better still, the artists websites. The sound might be better, and you may encounter less spotty streaming caused by internet-use overload. Owning recordings is a good way to become more involved in how you listen to music, which can deepen your experience. And we need deep experience right now.

Story continues

7. Mail-order from independent book and record stores: Some may still have knowledgeable clerks with whom you can consult over the phone.

8. Lobby for government support of the arts: In Britain, musicians and other independent artists are being guaranteed as much as 80% of their income for three months. Make it clear to local, state and federal officials that if they want your support, they must support the arts.

9. Buy existing art: Galleries with a range of prices, from under $100 to deep into six figures, have set up virtual viewing. Most artists don't have gallery representation, so go to them directly. You'll find many individuals  say, a nature photographer selling prints  are taking internet orders.

10. Commission art: Is there an artist out there whose work you really love? If you are able, commission a piece of work for yourself or a loved one to gaze at while in quarantine, or better yet to give as a celebratory gift for when COVID-19 is finally behind us.

11. Use social media: If you can't afford to donate to a cause, consider leveraging the power of your social network. From art programs for kids to healthcare initiatives for artists, charitable causes are on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Promote the ones you like and spread the word. Can't afford a painting? Share your love and appreciation for a local artists work on social. The artist may appreciate the promotion  and draw a patron through your network.

12. Subscribe to a publication, digital or print: The public conversation around art, artists and art organizations is essential. Subscriptions also help to support art writers, editors and other staffers covering the community. Journalists are also spreading spreading the word about ways you can help, as well as ways you can get help if you need it.

13. Register to vote: Few would choose a candidate based solely on their view of the role of art in American life, but that knowledge can inform your evaluation of choices.

14. Buy a museum catalog: It's an alternative to an in-person visit. Many museum stores are still open for business online, and they offer much more than catalogs. Think fun gifts for the family members you cant see for a while. Mothers Day is just around the corner too.

15. Donate to a mutual-aid fund for artists: Many are cropping up to help all kids of artists demonstrating financial need. The Dramatists Guild Foundation, for example, is helping playwrights who have had their plays canceled. To find more, run a Google search for guilds and foundations that support specific types of workers affected by the pandemic.

16. Watch live or recorded theater: Many shows are being streamed on different platforms. Theaters are working with Actors Equity and other guilds to get people paid for the work, but they need customers to pay for the shows for there to be revenue to be split.

17. Watch and donate to an artist's, comedian's or musician's livestream: Willie Nelson isnt the only musician livestreaming from his living room. Find a band, musician or artist you particularly like, tune into their virtual shows and donate each time you do.

18. Buy merch: This is a particularly good way to get funds to touring musicians, dance troupes and theater groups that rely on moving physical merchandise  T-shirts, stickers, mugs and more  to shore up the cost of doing business. Be sure to buy directly from the organization, band or group.

19. Support the National Endowment for the Arts: The NEA is often a target of government funding cuts, so its more important now than ever to voice, and vote, your support. It remains open during the coronavirus pandemic and is receiving and reviewing grant applications, many of which will be crucial for nonprofit organizations seeking to stay afloat.

20. Donate to  or spread the word about  Artist Relief Fund: Launched in early April, this fund was created by a collective of seven national grant-making foundations that normally support the work of artists in better times. It aims to provide immediate financial assistance of $5,000 to 100 different artists each week through Sept. 1. With more money it can, of course, do even more.

21. Support artistic responses to the crisis: Artists serve as mirrors, reflecting society's beauty and ills in new ways. Many are beginning to respond to the pandemic and will need an audience, and sometimes audience feedback, to continue their work. The Times recently reported, for example, on a coronavirus haiku and sound art project by Alan Nakagawa working in conjunction with the Orange County Museum of Art.

22. Track relief responses from established organizations: Large organizations like the Getty have the money and infrastructure to direct money to arts groups in efficient ways. Following where that money goes can help to identify vetted programs that could use other types of help, be it money or volunteered time.
Mr. de Blasio swept into office in 2013 on a wave of rhetoric about how New York had become a bastion of inequality. Over the last six years of his administration, the mayor has set out to repair that imbalance with universal prekindergarten, increases in the minimum wage for city workers and paid sick leave.

The coronavirus outbreak has now illuminated other gaps between the haves and have-nots in New York City, from the availability of testing sites to the availability of beds and personal protection equipment at hospitals.

In New York City, Latinos represent 34 percent of the people who have died of the coronavirus but make up 29 percent of the citys population, according to preliminary data from the citys Health Department. Black people represent 28 percent of deaths but make up 22 percent of the population.

New York Citys racial disparity in deaths is similar to that in other parts of the state, but is actually less pronounced than in other states and cities that have released racial breakdowns of coronavirus cases and deaths.

In Chicago, for example, black people account for 72 percent of virus-related fatalities, even though they make up a little less than a third of the population.

Mr. Cuomo said on Wednesday that some of the difference could be attributed to poorer people having more untreated chronic health problems than more-affluent individuals, making them more likely to die if they contract the virus.

But he said that black and Hispanic people may also be disproportionately represented on the front lines of workers who are at high risk.
South LA Community Standing Together Against COVID-19

In just a few weeks, the coronavirus has completely changed life as we know it. This pandemic has also exposed the wealth and necessity of community-based organizations, and a need for a substantial social safety net. Every resident is feeling the devastating impact of COVID-19 within South LA and across the City of Los Angeles. This crisis requires elected leaders, residents, and community-based organizations to collaborate on solutions. The vital role of South LA nonprofits like Community Coalition and other resident led organizations is amplified during times like these. While many residents are rightfully focused on meeting the needs of themselves and their families, many feel a responsibility to help their neighbors and their community at large during this pandemic.

Surviving this crisis will require innovation on every level, said Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Our emergency senior meals program was an opportunity to quickly respond to the needs of our community. We need every organization and individual to consider how they can help their neighbors make it through this. This is a time for unity, not isolation.

On Monday, March 16, Community Coalition (CoCo) joined other community-based organizations, in an act of solidarity, to suspend their customary hours of operation, asking staff to work from home in the interests of public health and safety. This was a huge deviation from their normal model of grassroots organizing. For 30 years, CoCo has helped turn a flicker of hopearising from a small gathering of people in a living room convened by founder Congresswoman Karen Bassinto a vibrant reality for thousands of Black and Latino residents. In the midst of a crisis, CoCo continues to fight for equity, opportunity, and justice for South LA. Their People First Platform has adapted to mobilize their members in creative ways while practicing physical distancing. Currently, CoCo members have focused on helping students access laptops; supporting mental wellness and arranging mental health services for our youth; as well as delivering basic needs and essentials to over 40 South LA families.

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We dont want people thinking they have to face these hardships all by themselves, said Hector Sanchez, Deputy Political Director at Community Coalition. The fallout from this crisis is all the more reason for us to be there for one another and have each others back. Thats what South LA is about and its why organizations are stepping up for the community during this time to provide the needed resources and services. We get through this together, not as individuals.

This crisis has catalyzed widespread community action. A patchwork of South Los Angeles community-based organizations, churches and individuals have erupted to provide services to residents during this crisis. A cooperative called Community Response System of South Los Angeles (CRSSLA) launched operations, including emergency centers, medical triage and food distribution centers. Community Build Inc, the lead agency for CRSSLA continues to provide food weekly from their corporate office and at their Vermont site.

Local, state and federal elected officials have all introduced legislation to help address the devastating financial and health ramifications of COVID-19. As a lifelong organizer, LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson understands the need for a holistic approach to solve the problems this crisis presents. His office launched the emergency senior meals program to support two highly vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic: homebound seniors, and small business owners and their employees. The program also engages community based organizations like Community Coalition to manage outreach and intake.
Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister has cautioned the public against stigmatizing COVID-19 patients or communities that record cases of the disease.



He said such attitude could potentially derail efforts at reducing the spread of the pandemic, adding that the health experts are there to take control of the issues; and I am quite confident of their ability.



Dr Bin Salih stated this during a days regional level media orientation on COVID-19 organised by the Ministry of Information, the Health Promotion Division of the Ghana Health Service, and the USAID Breakthrough Action Project in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG).



He noted that the mode of spread of the pandemic required that they empower and equip the various key stakeholders with the basic knowledge and information to support in educating and disseminating the relevant information towards the containment and prevention of the spread of the disease.



On meningitis, the Minister appealed to the media to help educate the public to report early to health facilities when experiencing any suspected symptoms, stressing that the 33 deaths recorded in the region were as a result of late reporting.



Mr Joel Abekuliya, a Health Promotion Officer and Lead for Risk Communication and Social Mobilization Technical Working Group reiterated the importance of the media in fighting public health pandemics, hence, the need to equip them with accurate and reliable information to carry out their work diligently.



He stressed that it was only when the media was equipped with the right information that they would be able to educate and also allay the fears of the public with regards to the pandemic.



Mr John Markpe, a Regional Health Promotion Officer bemoaned the rate at which people were peddling false information about the pandemic on social media and cautioned journalists against the republication of such information without verifying from the health authorities.



Mr Sualah Abdul-wahab, the Upper West Regional Chairman of the GJA who made a presentation on behalf of the Association cautioned journalists to avoid sensationalism and racial/ethnic profiling.



He urged the media to be accurate and report facts, endeavour to protect affected persons, seek expert opinion, prioritize expert sources and uphold professional ethics among others to help educate and sensitize the public against the spread of the disease.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The mighty Harland & Wolff siren  which has not been heard for two decades  blared across Belfast in tribute to the selflessness and professionalism of the healthcare staff battling coronavirus last night.

Across Northern Ireland church bells rang, car horns honked and families came to their front doors to clap, cheer, and make a joyful noise last night in tribute to the NHS heroes battling to save lives as the crisis intensifies.

Applause for the valiant workers who daily risk their lives has filled the streets of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK every Thursday night since the lockdown began, and last night was no exception.

In Belfast the shipyard which built the Titanic sounded its horn in solidarity with the dedicated legion of NHS workers.

In the harbour even the freighters and passenger ships sounded their foghorns from their berths.

Stormonts Parliament Buildings was once again bathed in NHS blue in honour of the healthcare workers.

Expand Close Jackie Upton from East Belfast brings a pot out to join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jackie Upton from East Belfast brings a pot out to join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison

Harland & Wolff managing director John Petticrew said: We figured that it would be appropriate because they are unique times we are in, we thought we would sound a unique alarm.

It is quite simple. It is to support all the essential workers who are working, like nurses and doctors and bus drivers, to show our support from Harland & Wolff, just the same as everybody else.

He added: It is not about Harland & Wolff, it is about the people risking their lives on our behalf.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Residents from East Belfast join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Emma McWIlliams and daughter Emily hold the Belfast Telegraph Clap for the Carers poster in East Belfast . Photo by Peter Morrison Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook

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Whatsapp UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

A long row of cars parked outside the yard and its famous yellow cranes sounded their own horns to mark the occasion.

Unite the Union represents workers at Harland & Wolff.

A spokesperson said they sounded the shipyard horn to show their appreciation and that of workers across Northern Ireland for frontline NHS staff and those working to sustain other frontline services in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

East Antrim Ulster Unionist Assembly Member John Stewart, who is based in Carrickfergus, 12 miles up the coastline, tweeted: Got goose bumps hearing the shipyard horn sound out from Harland & Wolff as we joined in #ClapForHeroes.

Expand Close John and Laura Gallagher and their children Abbie and Oran who have been showing their support for carers every Thursday outside the family home in Derry's Waterside. Picture Martin McKeown. 09.04.20 / Facebook

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Whatsapp John and Laura Gallagher and their children Abbie and Oran who have been showing their support for carers every Thursday outside the family home in Derry's Waterside. Picture Martin McKeown. 09.04.20

In London Boris Johnsons pregnant partner Carrie Symonds tweeted a string of clapping emojis as she joined in the Clap For Carers campaign at 8pm.

Her tweet came less than an hour after it was confirmed Mr Johnson had been moved out of intensive care at St Thomas Hospital.

She accompanied her post with a painted picture of a rainbow.

Expand Close Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab clapping outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to salute local heroes PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab clapping outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to salute local heroes

Blue lights from a row of fire engines and police vehicles on Westminster Bridge lit up the outside of St Thomas Hospital during the national round of applause for the nations healthcare heroes.

More than 10 emergency vehicles, including boats on the Thames, performed the display as dozens of police and firefighters applauded.

One firefighter, who gave her name as Mo, from Lambeth, said the display was an act of solidarity with our fellow workers, adding: Were all one family.

She added: Theres a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, so its nice to do something all together, everyone up and down the country.

Expand Close UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook

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Whatsapp UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services.

In Newtownards, Pastor Mark McClurg  who spent days in the intensive care unit at the Ulster Hospital battling the virus and is now recovering at home  joined in the tributes.

Our wee street is clapping for our heroes in the NHS, he said in a brief video message filmed on his doorstep.

As he and his neighbours applauded and cheered, Pastor McClurg added: Thank you so much for all you do  and thank you so much for saving my life.

Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker tweeted three clapping emojis, adding: Really lovely that our @NHSuk workers are being shown the love and respect they deserve.

Shouldnt have taken something as dreadful as this, but lets ensure that its continued long after this nightmare is over.
DETROIT  A makeshift hospital inside downtown Detroits TCF Center  formerly known as Cobo Hall  is ready to accept its first patients.

The field hospital will bring in its first 25 patients on Friday, April 10, per a news release from the governor's office. The temporary hospital will have up to 1,000 beds.

Four Michigan health care providers are part of the partnership to provide support, staff and resources to the facility: Henry Ford Health System, McLaren Health Care, Beaumont Health and the Detroit Medical Center.

Fighting this virus is going to take all of us working together as Michiganders," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a news release. "We are proud to be partnering with these Michigan health care systems to help save lives and ensure those with the most serious cases of COVID-19 get the care they need."

It will not accept patients by ambulance or walkup, per the release. Patients will come from other southeast Michigan hospitals and will have been hospitalized at least 48 hours. It will only be accepting COVID-19 patients, state officials said.

The field hospital will have two floors  the top floor with 600 beds for seriously ill COVID-19 patients and the bottom floor with 400 beds for recovering patients, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson told MLive.

Less than two weeks ago, the TCF Center was chosen as a field hospital site. The Michigan National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Emergency Management Agency have transformed the convention center into a hospital in the days since.

Lynn Torossian will manage the new field hospital. She most recently served as president and CEO of the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.

Henry Ford Health System is also providing pharmaceutical purchasing and patient tracking services.

While the four Michigan hospitals are providing senior leaders to manage operations and some staff help, the newly-rebranded TCF Regional Care Center will be largely staffed through FEMAs Public Health Strike Team. Medical professionals can volunteer to serve through a new website launched by the state.

The hospital will be in place at least six months, which is why Junes North American International Auto Show scheduled for the convention center has been canceled.

A second field hospital site has been chosen, at Novis Suburban Collection Showcase.

Michigan has 20,346 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 959 deaths, as of Wednesday, April 8.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Inside Detroits TCF Center as soldiers, engineers build field hospital for coronavirus patients

Michigan to open second field hospital for coronavirus patients in Novi

Michigan becomes 3rd state to eclipse 20,000 coronavirus cases

Report: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will extend stay-at-home order

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
The International Monetary Fund has vowed to remain closely engaged with Morocco as the authorities address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

This came in a communique issued by the IMF confirming that the North African country drew the $3 billion available resources under the arrangement.

The authorities will use funds purchased under the PLL to cope with the social and economic impact of COVID-19, to maintain strong external buffers in a context of heightened uncertainties, and to maintain an adequate level of official reserves to mitigate pressures on the balance of payments, the communique, released Wednesday afternoon, said.

The PLL instrument is precautionary and designed to meet the liquidity needs of member countries with sound economic fundamentals but with some remaining vulnerabilities. It provides rapid access to Fund resources in the event of external shocks or a worsening global environment.

The international financial institution recalled that since 2012, Morocco has benefited from four successive PLL arrangements with the IMF.

This is the first time the authorities draw on funds available under the PLL, to cope with the unprecedented shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, including both its domestic impact and spillovers from a global recession, the IMF explained.

It noted that despite a range of measures taken by the authorities to increase health spending and support businesses and households, Morocco is likely to experience a recession in 2020 due to sizable declines in exports, tourism and remittances and a temporary freeze in economic activity.

While the current account deficit will widen and capital inflows should decline in 2020, Morocco is expected to maintain an adequate level of official reserves following the PLL purchase, the communique stated.

In a joint statement earlier Wednesday, the Moroccan Finance Ministry and the Central Bank, Bank Al Maghrib, said Morocco resorted to the PLL as part of our countrys proactive response to the pandemic crisis of Covid 19.

The amount is repayable over a 5-year period, with a 3-year grace period, said the joint statement.

The Covid19 pandemic, of an unprecedented scale, foretells a much deeper global economic recession than that of 2009. Moroccan economy will therefore be impacted, particularly in terms of global trade, travel receipts, remittances of Moroccan expatriates and FDIs, the statement said, adding that the PLL amount will help mitigate the impact of the health crisis on economy and is expected to help the country pay its imports besides sending a positive signal to foreign investors.
When Delhis Neet Kaur and Mumbai-based Preet Singh got engaged a year ago, they set their wedding date for April 2020. Unfortunately, the D-day fell victim to the lockdown. We had a choice to not to go ahead with the wedding, but Preet said Lets do it, shares Kaur, adding, This day wasnt special to just us but our families, too. So, we asked a group of close family and friends to join us online; we expressed our love in their presence and sought their blessings.

And these two arent the only ones to take a virtual detour to solemnise their wedding. US-based interior designer Ashley and her partner, photographer Matthew Engels, were due to get married in Houston, but the pandemic rained on their parade. Not ones to be bogged down by unforeseen circumstances, the duo eloped in their living room and had a pastor marry them via Facebook Live, in the online presence of their close ones.

READ| Wedding in the time of Covid-19: Jaipur couple tie knot with minuscule attendance

Guests who have made it to the virtual ceremonies via video/audio applications say that the experience has been unprecedented yet beautiful. Krista Walker, one of the online bridesmaids at Ashley and Matthews wedding, describes the experience as unlike anything she has ever witnessed. It was definitely not what they expected, but it was beautiful to be able to be in that moment with them via Facebook and FaceTime. They had their first bite of brownies instead of a wedding cake because thats all they had in the pantry, says Walker, whos supposed to get married in October, and is hopeful that the situation will normalise by then.

Karan Kalra, who made it, albeit virtually, to Neet and Preets wedding says that their wedding puts the value of love into perspective. They followed through with committing themselves to one another on the date that they had picked six months in advance. The way they celebrated their love brought joy to us all, he says, and New York-based books editor Laura Brown  who was a virtual attendee at her friend Rebeccas wedding  adds, I wish I could have attended but I still had chills when I saw my friend, the bride, walk down the aisle.

READ | Wife wears her wedding dress again after 25 years. Watch husbands wholesome reaction

Seeing the popularity of the trend, some matrimonial sites have also started cashing in on the idea of virtual weddings. An Indian matchmaking website has even announced that its now providing pandits to conduct Hindu marriage ceremonies online, during the lockdown. And independent places have also stepped up to cater to the need of the hour.

Delhi-based pandit Deepak Garg, who works in a firm that arranges pandits for various ceremonies, says there is a new demand in the market. We have been getting calls from people asking us to conduct online marriages via social media. People are postponing the rituals, but want pandits to officiate basic wedding vows.

Theres also the question of legality when it comes to virtual marriages, but those who have gone ahead with it say they did so to celebrate the day. Neet Kaur, who is planning to have an official wedding at a gurdwara, soon after the lockdown, shares that she and her husband had to face a lot of brickbats on social media for their online wedding, but they remain undeterred. We did it because we wanted to celebrate our day, and wanted to be happy on this day every year!

Author tweets @bhagat_mallika

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Kristen Stewart turns 30 today best known for her role in Twilight series, but even before she shot to fame as Isabella Swan, Kristen has been a part of the industry as an unconventional actress. Coming from a talented family, who has worked in the film industry, Kristen always knew she would work in the industry but didn't think she would be acting in movies.

Her father John Stewart, has worked with Fox and Comedy Central as a stage manager and television producer while her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, is a script supervisor and also directed the 2012 film K-11. Once, quoting her memory as a child, Kristen revealed, "I had to act in a school play when I was about ten years old. I really didn't want to do it. But everyone had to do it so I didn't have a choice. A talent agent came and watched it and later gave me some work. It's funny because I'd always known that I wanted a movie career. I just didn't think that I would be in the movies."

Here are some of the best performances by Kristen Stewart in the 2 decades of her acting career.

Speak

Kristen, known to be working unconventional stories, at the age of 14 years delivered one of the most moving performances. In Speak, Kristen plays an isolated, reserved high-school student. Barefaced and quiet, Kristen is shown living with an aftermath of a traumatic incident, her character becomes distant from her friends, unable to talk about the trauma and express her feelings.

Lizzie

The film is not Kristen's first LGBT+ role. She is seen in a supporting role and still managed to make us root for her despite going down a dark path. The film follows Lizzie, in the 19th century, who falls in love with a maid, played by Stewart. Their lesbian relationship causes trouble and they find themselves caught up in a murder.

Clouds Of Sils Maria

Another of Kristen Stewart's highly appreciated supporting roles is in Clouds Of Sils Maria. She won the Cesar Award for best supporting actress and became the first American actress to win at the infamous French film award show. The movie follows a middle-aged actress who has an intimate relationship with her personal assistant (played by Kristen) while also debating her relationship with a female co-star who plays her love interest.

The Runaways

The film was inspired by the real-life story of the rock girl band of the same name. The band created by Cherrie and Joan Jett were best known for songs like Cherry Bomb and were suspected to become as big as The Beetles. Kristen, in the film, was seen playing Joan Jett, who also praised Kristen's performance. The film shares about their struggle of discovering fame at such a young age. Kristen looks unrecognizable with her dark, boyish features and raspy voice.

Seberg

Kristen's 2019 drama thriller, follows her as Jean Seberg, a French new wave actress in the late '60s. She becomes the target of the FBI due to her support to the civil rights movement, and her romantic relationship with Hakim Jamal, a Black Panther activist. Jean begins to realise that her life and career are in jeopardy as the overreaching surveillance and harassment starts to take a toll on her. The film will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from May 15, 2020.

Chris Hemsworth In Netflix's Extraction Looks Jaw-Dropping Handsome; Trailer Out Now

Chris Evans's Mom Convinced Him To Play Captain America
So-called Donetsk Peoples Republic is willing to send eight people to Ukraine, and wants to get 10 people in return, self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic is committed to exchanging 11 Ukrainian prisoners for eight of their own

Open source

Militants from the so-called self-proclaimed republics in Donbas have declared their readiness to send 19 people to Kyiv within the framework of the prisoner swap. Representative of the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR) in the humanitarian subgroup of Tripartite Contact Group Olga Kobtseva has informed about it, RBC reported.

"Within the framework of the new exchange of detained persons, self-proclaimed republics will hand over 19 people to Kyiv, 18 people will be sent back in response," Kobtseva said.

According to her, the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic is willing to send eight people to Ukraine and wants to get 10 people in return, self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic is committed to exchanging 11 Ukrainian prisoners for eight of their own.

A source close to the office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told the agency that the number of people he planned to exchange would most likely change.

As we reported earlier, the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and the militants of the occupied Donetsk region ("DPR") may take place before the end of next week.

"After long negotiations, we still managed to convince the representatives of Ukraine to conduct an exchange before the Easter holidays. The parties were able to agree on an exchange of detained persons using the 10 for 8 formula," DNR's ombudsman stated.
As a new element in protecting its employees and clients during the Coronavirus epidemic, Tesco is placing limits on the number of customers who may enter its shops in Hungary from today, the subsidiary of the UK retail chain announced.

Those who have to wait must queue outside the shops while keeping a safe distance from one another.



The number of customers admitted at any one time varies according to the size of the shop.



Tesco staff will control the number of shop visitors with the help of a mobile phone app. They will also check to make sure that customers who enter between 9 a.m. and noon are over 65 as mandated by the government.



Photo courtesy of Tesco
Indonesian construction workers from East Java affected by Malaysia's movement restrictions gather in their rented house in Kuala Lumpur on March 27th. (Photo: Antara)



The ministrys proposal to reallocate its 8.6 trillion Rp budget was approved by the House of Representatives on April 7th.

During a virtual working meeting on April 7th with House Commission I, which oversees foreign affairs, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mayerfas said the reallocated budget will be used to fulfill the needs of about 49 Indonesian missions abroad and to ensure the wellbeing of Indonesian citizens affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of April 7th, the ministry recorded that 302 Indonesians had tested positive for COVID-19 abroad, resulting in eight fatalities. Meanwhile, 37 citizens have recovered from the disease./.
Haverford College will not require standardized test scores for admission for at least the next three years, given the disruption caused by the coronavirus, the school announced Thursday.

We believe this change to our standardized testing policy will reduce stress and provide students with much greater flexibility as they navigate a college admission process that is unfolding much differently than expected, said Jess Lord, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid.

Admission decisions have been made for students entering this fall; the change takes effect for students applying for fall 2021. Students will have the option of submitting scores.

Haverfords decision follows similar moves by many other prominent colleges around the country in the last few weeks, including Boston University, Tufts, Vassar, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Case Western, the University of California (including the main Berkeley campus and UCLA), and Davidson, according to the Boston-based Fair Test: National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a critic of the SAT and other standardized tests. Locally, Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and Neumann University in Aston announced recently that they were going test-optional.

 READ MORE: More local colleges are scrapping SAT requirement

Some schools have scrapped the requirement for three years like Haverford, others for one year, and some indefinitely, said Bob Schaeffer, interim executive director of Fair Test.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

The virus has led to widespread disruption on college campuses, with most moving to remote instruction for the rest of the semester. SAT and ACT tests have been canceled, and theres uncertainty about when they can resume. Schools also have had to cancel on-campus tours for prospective applicants.

The move to make scores optional also comes as the higher education marketplace braces for financial losses and an uncertain enrollment season, with questions about when campuses can reopen. Challenges had already loomed from growing competition and the decrease in high school graduates.

 READ MORE: Colleges stand to lose millions because of coronavirus

The latest wave follows a steady increase in schools that have stopped requiring scores for admission to varying extents in recent years, including in this area Temple, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Immaculata, Stockton, Rider, Rowan, Susquehanna, Ursinus, Delaware, Cabrini, Dickinson, Eastern, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, La Salle, Muhlenberg, and St. Josephs.

Now almost half of four-year colleges around the country are test optional, Schaeffer said.

This is the tipping point, he said of the recent addition of schools.

 READ MORE: Temple to make test scores optional for admission

Haverford, which enrolls 1,314 students, admits about 16% of its applicants. Lord said standardized test scores traditionally played a small role in the evaluation process.

At the end of three years, the college will evaluate the impact of the change and decide whether to continue.
A major garda checkpoint at Junction 20 along the M1 motorway today is, according to reports, stopping non-essential vehicles from crossing the border from Northern Ireland into the south, as part of Covid-19 restrictions.

Reports suggest that vehicles deemed to be on non-essential journeys are being turned around at the exit for the Carrickdale Hotel and returned north.

In a statement to the Democrat today, Gardai said: "An Garda Siochana has today launched a major operation to ensure public compliance with the travel restrictions introduced recently as part of Covid-19 public health guidelines.

"The operation  Operation Fanacht- will see an extensive network of checkpoints established across the country.

"The Operation will run from today at 12noon until Monday night, April 13.

"It will involve thousands of checkpoints every day. At any one time, there will be over 2,500 Gardai involved in checkpoints or high visibility patrolling."

Speaking today, Deputy Commissioner, Policing and Security, John Twomey said, This significant policing operation is designed to support travel restrictions put in place to help flatten the curve and save lives.

There has been very good compliance with the travel restrictions and we want to thank the public for this. However, it is vital that this continues over the coming days and over the weekend. This will save lives.

In particular, we would ask people who are thinking of travelling to parks, natural beauty spots or holiday homes outside of the 2km limit not to do so. We are sending them a clear message that if they are stopped at a checkpoint they will be turned back.

The operation will also see Gardai conduct high visibility patrols at major tourist locations, parks and natural beauty spots to ensure compliance with travel restrictions.

Operation Fanacht will also enhance road safety.

Unfortunately, despite the reduced traffic levels, there are still people putting their lives and the lives of others at risk by speeding, drink and drug driving, and not wearing their seat belt, said Deputy Twomey.
: Kerala, from where



the country's first three coronavirus positive cases, all Wuhan returnees, were detected, is using technology to ensure that public healthcare system works like a well-oiled machine to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state government has turned its public healthcare system into a single interconnected grid to generate uninterrupted information and provide efficient services, thanks to daily video conferences of top health authorities for chalking out a dynamic strategy to tackle the pandemic.

The daily zoom or remote conferences held by Health Minister K K Sailaja and top health sector officials with the medical and paramedical personnel on the ground have lent a cutting edge to the state government's all-out efforts in monitoring the situation and formulating effective responses to address the various needs and concerns of the people.

The minister is joined in this meticulous exercise by top administrators and planners, including Dr Rajan N Khobragade, Principal Secretary, Health; Dr Rathan U Kelker, State Mission Director, National Health Mission, Dr Saritha, Director of Health Services, Dr Ramla Beevi, Director of Medical Education and other senior officials.

The second round of the conference involves district hospitals, general hospitals, taluk hospitals and the state Medical College Hospitals to get a clear picture on the ground.

This has transformed Kerala's much-vaunted healthcare system into a well-oiled single cohesive grid that helps authorities keep a tab on COVID-19 in all its facets.

Dr Khobragade said it is during these interactions that the essential ingredients required for the day's planning are collected, such as data of patients and those in quarantine, discharged cases, test results, state of hospital infrastructure including logistics, stock of testing kits and medicines, and availability of personnel protection equipment (PPE).

This exercise has been envisaged as a two-way communication.

The top brass in the state headquarters will get a firm idea of what is happening on the ground and make suggestions to those on the ground for managing the situation, as it keeps changing.

The personnel spread across the state and working day-and-night can put across their requirements anytime, to be addressed immediately, he added.

A press release quoting Dr Khobragade said the zoom conferences are an important medium for clinical management discussions.

It has proved to be a vital prop in dealing with this serious health crisis by putting the state's resources to the optimal use.

Dr R Ramesh, Project Director, Kerala State AIDS Control Society and Chairman of IEC Committee, said as a thoroughgoing person, the minister never fails to attend the zoom conference as a medium to gather minute ground level details and formulate strategies accordingly.

This approach not only strengthens the preparedness of the system to meet any eventuality but also motivates the personnel on the ground.

Thanks to technology, each of us can do it sitting in our room, without compromising social distancing, which is a critical prop in countering the infection, Dr Ramesh, who is part of the process, said.

Kerala reported its first coronavirus case in January-end.

All the three were treated and discharged.

The meticulous planning and execution of strategies by the state government, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has been hailed by national and international authorities.

The state has 259 active cases and over 1.40 lakh people under observation in various hospitals.

There are two fatalities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Airbnb is shifting its Experiences platform, which sells guided tours and tourist activities like cooking and pottery classes, to the virtual world with online experiences that will be hosted through Zoom.

With half of the world sheltering in place, travel has been placed on indefinite hold. Airbnb is pitching its Online Experiences service as a new way to connect with people around the world and help hosts earn income throughout the COVID-19 disruptions.

So far, the platform features activities from 30 countries and includes everything from learning about K-beauty from a TV host in Seoul to learning the art of meditation from a Japanese monk in Osaka or making homemade pasta with an Italian nonna in Rome.

Older, isolated adults can also sign up for a free Online Experience and learn a new skill through groups like SAGE, which works to improve the lives of LGBT older people, and the National Council on Aging.

"Millions of elders aren't able to go outside and risk their health due to the current crisis and need activities to help them stay connected to the world around them," said SAGE CEO Michael Adams in a statement.

"Through our partnership with Airbnb, SAGE is able to give older members of LGBT communities across the country an opportunity to not only meet other people, but also learn a new hobby and travel to nearly anywhere around the world, all from the safety of their home."

Other experiences include learning magic, tapas classes from Portugal and training with a British Olympian.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/experiences
HELSINKI, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanoform, an innovative nanoparticle medicine enabling company, has appointed Miguel Calado as Chairman of the Board. Following a one-year succession process, Miguel will succeed Rabbe Klemets, who is moving into an advisory position. Non-executive board member, Mads Laustsen, will assume Miguel's previous role of Vice Chairman.

Since joining Nanoform's board last year as Vice Chairman, Miguel has applied his expertise in strategic business management and finance to contribute to the company's recent success within international markets. Miguel previously was CFO at PepsiCo International and CFO at Hovione Group, an international particle engineering contract development and manufacturing company. Miguel is also an experienced board member with positions on the boards of companies in Europe and the US.

The appointment of a new Chairman of the Board follows the establishment of Nanoform USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary in the US. By increasing the impact of its technology in international markets, Nanoform strives towards its goal of providing advanced nanoparticle engineering services to partners across the globe.

Miguel Calado said: "Having witnessed the evolution of Nanoform's technology as Vice Chairman, it is a great privilege to be appointed Chairman of the Board. I look forward to working strategically with the Nanoform team to enable more patients around the world to benefit from enhanced drug therapies."

Rabbe Klemets said: "It has been a fantastic journey, from the launch of the company through to seeing it become an internationally-recognised provider of best-in-class nanoparticle engineering services. I am delighted that Miguel will be taking the reins, since I am unable to commit for the coming several years of international expansion, but I will continue to support the company as it continues to revolutionize pharmaceutical development."

Edward Hggstrom, CEO of Nanoform, said: "Thank you Rabbe for four years of steady guidance. I now look forward to working with Miguel as the company continues its global expansion.

About Nanoform

Nanoform is an innovative nanoparticle medicine enabling company. Nanoform works together with pharma and biotech partners globally to reduce clinical attrition and enhance their molecules formulation performance through its best-in-class nanoforming services. The company's multi-patented and scalable Controlled Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (CESS) technology produces nanoformed "designed-for-purpose" API particles, as small as 10nm. This enables poorly soluble molecules in the pharmaceutical pipeline to progress into clinical development by increasing their rate of dissolution and improving their bioavailability. Nanoform's unique nanoforming technology provides novel opportunities in diverse value enhancing drug delivery applications.

For more information please visit http://www.nanoform.com

For further information, please contact:

Prof. Edward Hggstrom, CEO

[email protected]

+358-29-415-0684

For investor relations queries, please contact:

Henri von Haartman, Director of Investor Relations

[email protected]

+46-7686-650-11

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/nanoform/r/nanoform-appoints-miguel-calado-as-chairman-of-the-board,c3084791

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/18905/3084791/1227165.pdf Press release (PDF)

SOURCE Nanoform
The first cases of coronavirus that arrived in New York spread mostly from Europe, according to two scientific studies.

Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case.

The scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai N.Y.U. and Grossman School of Medicine studied DNA from thousands of samples of coronavirus patients and concluded that the first travelers to bring the virus to the city came from Europe, not Asia, according to The New York Times.

But they also found that the strand of the virus that arrived in Washington state came from China.

President Trump banned entry to the US by foreign nationals who had visited China within the past two weeks on 31 January. He banned travel from Europe on 11 March.

DNA Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case. This map is based on an earlier genome study and shows eight different strains of coronavirus identified by scientists and how they have spread around the world

Travel data shows 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up hardest-hit by the coronavirus outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting

In mid-March travelers coming to New York from Europe, where outbreaks in Italy and Spain were already spiking, were being asked at John F. Kennedy International Airport only if they had been to China or Iran, not if they had visited the hardest-hit nations in Europe, the Times reports.

Both research teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

One of the studies detected seven separate strains of viruses that arrived in the New York City area and researchers expect to find more.

Despite examining different examples of the outbreak, researchers from both teams reached largely the same conclusions about its origins, according to specialists.

Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the Times: 'The majority is clearly European.'

It was not until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities as well as imposing restrictions on mass gatherings.

Although the New York outbreak appeared to originate in Europe, the Washington state cases appear to have come from China.

Researchers found viruses in Washington, which was the first major outbreak in the US, shared mutations in common with ones isolated in Wuhan by Chinese medics.

The first confirmed case in New York came on March 1 and around two weeks later new infections began to soar.

Previously researchers have said that coronavirus mutates very slowly with only tiny differences between the different strains.

But a new study by Cambridge scientists found there are three main types of the novel infecting people, and the strains may be mutating to conquer the immune systems of populations around the world.

Last week travel data emerged showing 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up as the hardest-hit by the outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting.

Figures from the US Commerce Department from December, January and February, which were the critical early months in the outbreak, reveal how hundreds of thousands or even millions of undetected coronavirus cases could have entered the country while medical experts remained unaware of the seriousness of the illness.

The world first heard about the virus in December, when it remained confined to China and mostly in the epicenter of Wuhan.

Beijing was accused of covering up the spread of the virus, which may have left China's borders through asymptomatic patients well before new cases were picked up around the world.

Isolated cases started showing up in Europe in late January, before the pandemic took off in Europe in February.

The travel data shows 759,493 people entered the US from China before President Trump's travel ban on 31 January.

Another 343,402 arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.

Medical experts say it cannot be known how many travelers may have been infected, but it's highly likely some were not exhibiting symptoms.

And as air travel has surged in recent years, enabling the pandemic to spread as it has, some officials suspect the virus' true impact was happening sooner than they realized.

Trump has been criticized for not rolling out a widespread testing program when cases began spiking in the US.

At least eight strains of the virus are being tracked by researchers around the world, using genetic detective work to show how the virus spreads.

The virus appears to mutate very slowly, with only tiny differences between the different strains and that none of the strains of the virus are more deadly than another, experts say.

They also added it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

Scientists also said that despite conspiracy theories falsely claiming the virus was made in a lab, the virus's genome shows it began in bats.

According to figures updated last night, coronavirus had infected 1.5 million people worldwide and killed nearly 88,000 people.

The US has seen more than 435,000 people infected and over 14,800 fatalities.

New York has suffered more than 150,000 cases with over 6,200 deaths.
Ukraine imposes 65% duty on coal imported to Ukraine from Russia with some exceptions from April 15

The duty of 65% on coal imported from the Russian Federation to Ukraine with some exceptions is imposed from April 15, 2020, according to government resolution No. 261 dated March 18.

The exception is anthracite coal, bituminous coal and coking coal for metal industry, as well as lean coal for companies generating electricity and heat.

The imposition of the duty on imported electricity earlier announced at the government meeting is not envisaged in the document.
Gardai stop and question people at a checkpoint on OConnell Street in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

Ireland is facing a prolonged period of very strong social distancing measures if coronavirus is to be suppressed, a Government adviser has warned.

Professor Philip Nolan, who heads the National Public Health Emergency Teams statistical modelling group, said the restrictions were designed to ensure Ireland would not experience any surge in cases but rather a long period with a large number of cases spread equally across that time frame.

He said the strategy was about suppressing the disease, not eliminating it.

The leading academic said if mitigations had not been taken to prevent the spread of the disease, Ireland would be seeing a peak in 20 days time of 100,000 cases per day.

He said limited steps, such as the closure of schools, would have seen a peak in 40 days time of 60,000 cases per day.

Prof Nolan expressed confidence that the current lockdown on movement across the state would mean there would barely be a peak detectable at all.

We will be requiring very strong social distancing measures for some prolonged period of time in order to keep the disease suppressed for the length of time that we need to, he said.

The professor said Ireland would only be in a position to assess how restrictions may be changed or relaxed when it gathers enough evidence from other countries that have taken similar steps.

The coronavirus death toll in Ireland rose to 263 on Thursday, with 28 further deaths reported since Wednesday.

There were 500 new confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland, taking the total in the country since the outbreak began to 6,574.

Prof Nolan said social distancing was having a profound effect.

He said the day-on-day growth rate of the virus had dropped from more than 30% to 9%.

Weve been monitoring the epidemic very closely, he said.

And, as I would have said last week, theres clear evidence that the social distancing measures that are designed to reduce the transmission of the virus are having a very profound effect on the transmission of the virus.

On the slowing growth rate, he said more progress was needed.

Frankly, that number needs to be zero in order to have control or suppress this epidemic, he said.

Prof Nolan said the reproductive rate  the number of people infected by each infected person  had also fallen significantly.

He said it had decreased from around four at the beginning of the outbreak to very close to one.

The professor said one was the pivotal number as a reproductive rate only slightly above one would mean the virus would continue to grow.

He said if the rate fell below one then cases would start to decline.

We should flatten this curve so much that we're distributing over a long period of time and there isn't an identifiable surge or peak within that Professor Philip Nolan

The academic said the social distancing measures were designed to ensure Ireland would not experience a so-called surge in cases.

We shouldnt be expecting a surge, we shouldnt be expecting a peak, he said.

We should flatten this curve so much that were distributing over a long period of time and there isnt an identifiable surge or peak within that.

Irelands chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said that, as of Tuesday, there were 317 separate clusters of cases in Ireland.

He said of the confirmed cases at that point, around 24% resulted in a hospital admission and 3.6% in ICU admission.

Dr Holohan said 27% of the confirmed cases were healthcare workers.

He expressed concern that people with other health problems were showing reluctance to seek medical help during the epidemic.

Dr Holohan also said there was no evidence that people returning to Ireland from the Cheltenham racing festival in March had a significant impact on the transmission of the virus in the country.

On the data presented by Prof Nolan, Dr Holohan said: The goal of our management is about the prevention of the transmission of this virus.

The information that Professor Nolan has shared with you this evening is that we have very substantially impacted that and these curves are telling you that we have, as a country, saved many peoples lives, saved hospitalisation, saved admissions to intensive care units in very large numbers as a consequence of this.

But its come at a significant cost in terms of the impact we have had to endure as a society.
IT industry body Nasscom has sought financial relief package from the government to save jobs of vulnerable employees, who are working in business process management (BPM) firms and global in-house centres (GICs).

BPM and GICs provide finance, accounting, payroll, procurement, HR, supply chain, legal and other services to global, parent and domestic companies and to their customers. Of the total 40 lakh employees of the IT sector, the BPM constitutes over 10 lakh of the workforce.

"BPM/ GIC and parts of the IT Industry are operating at max 70 per cent capacity utilisation. Assuming 20 per cent of the industry is idling at home, that's a very large number. Salary costs would be huge," Nasscom told The Times of India

Nasscom has suggested that employees from these firms be paid minimum wages and statutory entitlements. The IT trade association has asked the government to bear the provident fund contribution of such employees and companies for the next three months.

Nasscom has also suggested the government introduce a furlough scheme so that lockdown does not risk the job of any vulnerable employee.

A rough calculation of Nasscom data shows that if the larger firms are excluded, about 4 lakh employees would be exposed to financial vulnerability. A majority of them would have a basic pay of about Rs 12,000 per month. Hence, this would mean that the industry and the government will have to chip in with Rs 480 crore relief package for these employees.

Also read: Coronavirus: 3.5 lakh trucks with Rs 35,000 crore of goods stranded

Also read: Cadila Healthcare,Ipca Labs share price rise up to 8% on nod to export Hydroxychloroquine
Lets get real for a minute - with the world facing the worst medical crisis of modern times, a lot of us have constant risk looming over our own lives or that of our communities and loved ones. Thankfully, theres a bunch of people whore devoting themselves to uplifting spirits even during times of passing in the form of dancing funerals - where the pallbearers who hoist coffins perform a synchronised dance, much to the glee of social media users with all the spare time in the world to create memes from the footage.

Nearly half a decade on from the initial videos, they seem to have resurfaced in 2020 on platforms such as Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.

These Ghanaian undertaker who dancing with the coffin at funeral are the best meme of 2020 #coffinmeme #funeralmeme pic.twitter.com/xF3c5S20z8  Sxfyan (@sxfne) April 5, 2020

The formula is simple - take a clip of someone potentially heading for certain death and/or pain, cut to the funeral at the very last millisecond, and to bring it all together, slap on a sample from Astronomia, by Tony Igy. In the weeks following February 2020, thousands of variations went viral especially on TikTok, whose shorter video length suited the meme perfectly.

A video from the YouTube account Travelin Sister explains the death celebration as a part of Ghanian culture. I traveled to Ghana to attend the funeral for my mother-in-law and witnessed an incredible performance. Professional dancers proudly honored the homecoming with impressive body movement, graceful footwork, and incredible strength that would make any Ghanaian family proud."

In 2017, BBC News Africa documented the work of the pallbearers - usually a group of four to six people - who raised spirits at Ghanaian funerals with extravagant dances while transporting coffins. Families are increasingly paying for their services to send loved ones in style - with each funeral becoming something of a local attraction.

The amount for the service varies depending on the type of ceremony, which can last between three and seven days. On an average, it is usually around 13,000 cedis the currency of Ghana, which would be equivalent to just over 2,000 euros. However, the figure may be higher.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Benjamin Aidoo, one of the founders of a popular pallbearer group said, Customers say, Daddy loved to dance when he was alive, let him dance once more, highlighting the emotional release family members get from turning sad moments into ones of celebration and respect for the dead.

Not every group is that professional - much to the Internets collective amusement.





How soon until they die out? Well just have to wait and see.
China's foreign ministry on Thursday backed World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus amid a spat with Taiwan.

Tedros accused Taiwan of instigating racist personal attacks on him at a briefing on Wednesday, prompting Taiwan's foreign ministry on Thursday to strongly protest.

"I certainly will not agree with (Taiwan's) accusations," said spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zhao Lijian. "We hope the Taiwan authorities will not politicize the epidemic situation or engage in political manipulation."

Tedros was elected with the strong support of China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and is one of five permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council.

He has firmly backed Beijing's claims to have been open and transparent about the outbreak, despite strong evidence that it suppressed early reports on infections, while echoing its criticisms of the US.

At China's insistence, Taiwan has been barred from the UN and the WHO and even stripped of its observer status at the annual World Health Assembly.

At the same time, it has one of the most robust public health systems in the world.

Also on Thursday, Zhao confirmed that the China-Russia land border had closed, and said that the Chinese embassy in Russia had reminded Chinese citizens to take adequate precautions, including to "abide by Russia 's relevant epidemic prevention regulations".

Zhao also defended China's early response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying accusations by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Beijing had concealed information were "groundless".

"The channel for the US to obtain epidemic information and data from China is unimpeded," Zhao said.

As of Thursday, China had reported 82,883 COVID-19 cases and 3,339 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with mild or no visible symptoms.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
The Salvation Army, which has a Napa food program, has launched a virtual food drive to raise money to support its meal programs during the coronavirus emergency. For instance, a $30 donation will provide a food box containing staple foods to feed a family of four for up to four days. A $250 gift will provide a hot, to-go meal for 100 people.

To learn more or to make a donation, go to food.gosalarmy.org. The Salvation Army is also partnering with Walmart to provide the Salvation Army in communities across Northern California with items like canned food, toiletries, and cleaning products for their clients. Donors can purchase needed items from the Walmart Registry for Good, which will be automatically shipped to their chosen Salvation Army location. Go to registry.gosalarmy.org and click on a city to help support that community.

You can also donate by phone. The Salvation Army is launching a new Text to Give option to support the COVID-19 response. Text HOPE to 52000 to donate $10 to the nonprofit. The donation will be added to the donors phone bill. You can also call 1-800-SAL-ARMY to make a gift. Both are fast and easy ways to do the most good in your local community.

Since March 16, The Salvation Armys Del Oro Division, which covers Northern California and Northern Nevada, has provided 87,708 individuals with a meal or food box.

Editors Note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to all online readers. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/.


Japans Honda Motor Company has reopened its factory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, more than two months after it was closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

But the reopening came with new virus protection measures, including temperature checks for workers and a rule that employees keep more than one meter apart.

The factory is co-owned by Honda and Chinas Dongfeng Motor Group. It was shut in late January when officials ordered a lockdown in Wuhan over the coronavirus epidemic. The worlds first coronavirus cases began appearing in areas around Wuhan in December.

The factory reopened on March 11 and began operations slowly. It is now back to its pre-virus manufacturing rate, Li Shiquan told reporters. He is the assistant director of one of the factories.

Returning workers were asked to report where they had been since the epidemic started, Li said. They were also asked to get their temperatures checked. A high temperature is one of the main signs that someone might be infected with the coronavirus.

Li said about 98 percent of the 12,000 factory workers were now back on the job.

The co-owned company made 800,000 cars last year.

We have many customers who are waiting for cars, he said, adding that workers were putting in extra hours to meet demand.

A sign in the factory said the goal was to make 1,237 cars that day. That is 17 percent higher than its usual target of 1,060 cars.

Factories at another Honda co-owned company, this one with Chinas GAC, are also asking workers to work longer hours, GACs chairman Zeng Qinghong told financial experts last week.

The government permitted people to leave Wuhan on Wednesday in what is believed to be an important victory in the battle against the coronavirus.

Chinas factories began reopening weeks ago as infection rates in many areas started to decrease.

Now, other countries such as Italy and the United States are trying to stop the spread of the virus by asking businesses to close and the public to stay home.

Honda has stopped manufacturing in the U.S. and Canada until May 1. It has also closed factories in countries from Britain to Thailand. Some of its Japanese factories are also closing as necessary.

The Wuhan factory reopened after the government approved its plan to fight infection risks, Li Shiquan said.

The plan included the closure of break areas to prevent groups from gathering. Reuters reporters on a visit to the factory saw workers wearing gloves and masks. Most were staying a meter apart.

Li said no coronavirus cases had been found since the factory reopened.

He added that the factorys more than 500 suppliers in Wuhan had also been permitted to reopen on March 11.

Im Jill Robbins.

The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lockdown  n. to completely shut down a town or city

epidemic  n. an illness that is transmitted to many people

customer  n. someone who buys something from a store or business
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the governments were taking all steps necessary to save lives, and added that is the duty of the citizens to ensure minimal social interaction.(File Photo: IANS) Image Source: PK

New Delhi, April 9 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, here on Thursday, said the people misbehaving with the healthcare personnel would face the strict punishment.

"I warn all those who misbehave with doctors or nurses. It will not be tolerated. Those involved in any such action will have to face the strictest punishment," the Chief Minister said and added, instructions had been issued for the action.

Kejriwal, while referring to a Wednesday's incident where two female doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by their neighbours, said the accused had been arrested.

"Two doctors of Safadarajng Hospital were mistreated because they were treating coronavirus patients. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I spoke with the Lieutenant Governor about this and he informed me that the people who misbehaved have been arrested," Kejriwal said.

"The medical staff are fighting double battles. First, they are fighting against the coronavirus from the forefront. When they go to home, they are mistreated," Kejriwal lamented. "Just imagine about the crisis if they (health professionals) stopped working," he said.

There has also been reports that the healthcare workers were being pushed out of their rented accommodations and mistreated by the landlords.

The Delhi Health and Family Welfare Department has asked the district administration and the police to take strict action against landlords and houseowners who are forcing doctors, paramedical staff, healthcare personnel to vacate their rented residences.
ALTON  Shannon Walker, the wife of Alton Mayor Brant Walker, on Wednesday made a tearful apology for her violation Sunday of Illinois stay-at-home coronavirus order.

On Sunday, she was among those cited at Hirams Tavern, 213 W. 3rd St., Alton, for violating the order by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. In a released statement Wednesday to The Telegraph, she expressed her most sincere and humble apology for my poor judgment this past week.

I hope others will learn from my mistake and that everyone will do their part to flatten the curve of this highly contagious virus, she said.

I take the COVID-19 threat very serious, she said. It is through no one elses actions but my own that resulted in embarrassment for our great city.

Alton Police last week said they had received several citizen complaints alleging Hirams Tavern was continuing to operate on weekends despite Pritzkers March 20 executive order prohibiting all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit. At the time, officers investigated the complaints and observed no unauthorized activity.

At 1 a.m. Sunday, several people were located inside Hirams Tavern in an area outside public view, clearly disregarding the executive order and public pleas for compliance, according to police. A criminal complaint for reckless conduct, a Class A misdemeanor charge, was signed against every person gathering at the bar, including Shannon Walker.

On Monday, Brant Walker said he told Alton Police Chief Jason Jake Simmons not to give his wife any special treatment.

My wife is an adult capable of making her own decisions, and in this instance, she exhibited a stunning lack of judgment, Brant Walker said. She now faces the same consequences for her ill-advised decision as the other individuals who chose to violate the Stay At Home order during this incident.

On Wednesday, Shannon Walker said she is self-quarantining herself for the sake of our community and my safety. She declined to say where due to the abundance of hate mail and death threats I have received.

I understand that many are upset by my actions, she said. I also understand that I am not exempt from Gov. J.B. Pritzkers statewide order that was placed for all our safety and am willing to face the consequences of my actions.

Shannon Walkers statement in full:

I wish to express my most sincere and humble apology for my poor judgment this past week. I take the COVID-19 threat very serious. It is through no one elses actions but my own that resulted in embarrassment for our great city. For the sake of our community and my safety, I am self-quarantining at an undisclosed location due to the abundance of hate mail and death threats I have received. I understand that many are upset by my actions. I also understand that I am not exempt from GOV J.B. Pritzkers statewide order that was placed for all our safety and am willing to face the consequences of my actions. I hope others will learn from my mistake and that everyone will do their part to flatten the curve of this highly contagious virus. Stay safe! #MyAlton
HOUSTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 7, 2020, Potts Law Firm, LLP filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Fort Bend County, Texas against the driver of a pickup truck who killed a man early morning on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

The driver, who was suspected to be drunk and going anywhere from 90 to 100 miles per hour, was driving north in the southbound lanes on SH99. Authorities said they repeatedly tried to stop him and made an attempt to get ahead of the vehicle and set up spikes but were unsuccessful. Before they could make a second attempt, the driver hit a white vehicle traveling the correct direction near West Bellfort. The driver of the vehicle going the right way, Elijiah Anderson, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities say the driver of the pickup, who was later determined to be intoxicated, traveled at least 10 miles in the wrong direction. The lawsuit aims to get justice for Elijiah's family, namely his mother, Latris Renee Hamilton, based on the negligence exhibited by the drunk driver as well as the owner of the vehicle, who knew or should have known that the driver was unfit to drive due to his intoxicated state, prior to allowing him to use his vehicle.

Not only is Ms. Hamilton mourning the loss of her son, whom she describes as "an all-American boy," but she is also the Chief Nursing Officer at one of the Kingwood Community Hospitals, trying to lead during unpredictable and stressful times for all. During his life, Elijiah would always have breakfast for his mother in the morning after she worked long hours to support her children. He was also the type of son that rallied his other siblings for a trip to Houston to surprise their mother for Mother's Day.

A heartbroken Latris Hamilton expressed, "He robbed me of watching Elijiah grow up, but he also robbed the world of a great man, somebody who loved to give back, somebody that was going to be an integral part of his community. That man robbed the world of someone good."

"It's horrifying to think that the Ms. Hamilton has to suffer the severe consequences of someone else's selfish actions," said Derek H. Potts, National Managing Partner of Potts Law Firm, LLP. "To lose a loved one is tragic in and of itself, but the senselessness of driving drunk makes this situation almost impossible to come to terms with. We're doing our best to support her and help the family through this time the best way we can."

Potts Law Firm is dedicated to making Houston residents more aware of the threats on Houston roads; the firm has already begun fighting these perils with the launch of a new website, Dangerous Roads Houston, as a resource for Houstonians to identify accident hotspots in the area.

"Unfortunately, this case is yet another example of just how dangerous our roads can be," said Potts. "While reckless drivers are completely responsible for their actions, we hope this resource can help other drivers in the Houston area be more vigilant in protecting themselves."

About Potts Law Firm:

Potts Law Firm LLP is a National Law Firm based in Houston with offices in Kansas City, Springfield, Dallas, Albuquerque and Little Rock, which has extensive experience handling serious road and highway collisions due to driver negligence, defective automobiles and dangerous road conditions. The firm's team of highly competent attorneys has experience in many diverse areas of the law. Potts Law Firm's dedication and experienced representation has led to the recovery of billions of dollars on their clients' behalf.

For more information, please call (713) 963-8881 or visit https://www.potts-law.com. Follow us: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

SOURCE Potts Law Firm

Related Links

www.potts-law.com


Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies that have a large footprint in manufacturing, R & D and healthcare worker training in India, is working with the government to ensure the continued supply of essential medical devices to the healthcare workers fighting COVID-19 situation in India.

"The lockdown imposed has largely been able to minimize the community spread of the virus, however, this had also inadvertently affected the supply chain of essential medical devices as the instructions given from the central government to ensure smooth supply were not properly translated at the state authority levels," said Pavan Choudary, Chairman and Director General, MTaI

"We are thankful to the GOI led by Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) for its leadership and its unself-conscious outreach to other departments like Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) (including Invest India) and Nava Sheva customs who joined hands to ensure Customs clearances for the medical devices which were earlier stuck," he added.

"DoP and the Invest India team under DPIIT have also helped the industry resume warehouse operations of medical devices in New Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. They have also facilitated curfew passes for essential staff for the supply of these essential products," he further stated.

With limited courier services available and restrictions on manpower movement, many medical device companies are operating with skeletal staff which is proving to be a challenge in ensuring smooth supply of medical devices to Hospitals.

There are issues at Mumbai ocean port, as well as in several cities outside the big six, which need quick resolution.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Details added (first version published at 17:56 on April 8)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 8

Trend:

The World Health Organization (WHO) highly appreciates the work carried out by Azerbaijan in connection with coronavirus, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev made the remark in Baku at a briefing of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8, Trend reports.

In the observed global emergency, based on its fundamental principles of foreign policy, Azerbaijan supports cooperation and solidarity in international relations, he added.

A good example of this is the fact that a resolution on global solidarity in the fight against coronavirus was put forward at the UN General Assembly on April 2. Azerbaijan joined the resolution as a co-author, which is another indicator of Azerbaijans commitment to solidarity in the fight against this scourge, Hajiyev noted.

The official stressed that in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic between Azerbaijan and the World Health Organization (WHO), effective cooperation has been established, and it has risen to a qualitatively new level.

As the head of state noted, Azerbaijan invited the WHO expert group to the country, which held important discussions with relevant government agencies, in particular, healthcare. They also praised the work carried out in the country, said Hajiyev.
The sector also contributes about 25% to the country''s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from service activities and over 33% to the manufacturing output of India.

New Delhi: Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) exporters will be impacted more by the current lockdown on account of COVID-19 pandemic as the sector accounts for over 45 percent in the country''s total outbound shipments, according to trade experts.

They said that the magnitude of the impact on MSME exporters can be gauged from the statement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which has projected that global trade in goods is set to decline steeply between 13 per cent and 32 percent in 2020 as countries across the world are battling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sector also contributes about 25 percent to the country''s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from service activities and over 33 percent to the manufacturing output of India.

Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the government should immediately come out with an incentive package for exporters as the current crisis will severely hit the MSME sector.

"India will suffer very badly as the biggest impact will be on the MSME exporters. They will also face issues in calling back their workers as several of them have migrated to their villages and towns," he said.

Expressing concern, he said several countries including the US, Japan and Germany have announced incentive packages but India has yet to roll out support measures for exporters.

"Incentives will help exporters to resume work immediately after things start getting normal, otherwise they will not be able to restore their global buyers," Dhar said.

Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic has put the economies across the world on a virtual standstill.

"Indias major exports items such as petrochemicals, gems and jewellery, automobiles and auto-components, cotton-yarns and textiles, apparels, marine products, bovine meat among others are likely to receive a jolt primarily due to slump in demand in its major markets and disruption of supply chains which are integrated across countries," he said.

When asked about any numbers, he said estimating any figures of drop seems unrealistic as it would largely depend upon the virus rather than government incentives "as to how long, a quarter, six months, a year or still longer, it takes to emerge out of the virus and damage it inflicts on the human health and lives".

However, he added that the pandemic has opened up enormous opportunities in sectors such as pharmaceuticals wherein India has been the largest supplier of generic medicines which are highly competitive in European and American markets.

Besides, Joshi said the virus outbreak that emanated from China, has transformed the outlook of multinationals manufacturing in China and they are actively scouting for alternative destinations for investment to either to shift their manufacturing or making new investments.

"This is the time India should transform this calamity into an unprecedented opportunity to make India the manufacturing hub and realise its make in India objective in real sense," he added.

Assistant Professor and expert on agriculture economics Chirala Shankar Rao said there is a need to give special focus on MSME exporters who are engaged in agri products as there is a surge in demand for food products in global markets due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Sharing similar views, Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) Chairman Mohit Singla said more than 100 per cent spike has been registered in demand for essential commodities such as rice, wheat and pulses in the current crisis.

There will definitely be rebalancing of trade due to the current pressing situation where there is contraction of demand and consequently supply also getting disrupted. Due to the continued lockdown in several countries, supply has suffered and the extent of damage will depend on the number of days lockdown persists, he added. `

Global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the WTO on Wednesday has said while warning that the numbers would be "ugly".

"World trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world," the WTO had said in a statement.
Police raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish prayer group in Melbournes inner-east on Thursday morning where a group of at least 10 men were praying in contravention of social-distancing rules.

Just after 11am, about 10 police vehicles swooped on an apartment above an IGA store in Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea.

Police warned men meeting at the same venue on Wednesday and issued several warnings to the organiser of the group to not hold gatherings.

Police attended the location again on Thursday after being made aware of people heading to the address for a meeting.
[April 09, 2020] Rebooting Wuhan: Pause for new start

BEIJING, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on the restart of Wuhan after 76 days of lockdown: In order to curb the COVID-19 outbreak, the painful, yet proper decision to lock down the hardest-hit Wuhan was made on Jan. 23. More than two months on, the city finally lifted its restrictions on outbound travel on April 8. Wuhan has long been a thriving and beautiful city. Historically, it was known as "the thoroughfare leading to nine provinces." The city is also the largest water, land and air transportation hub in inland China with direct flights to five continents. Attracted by the clouds drifting gently over the Yellow Crane Tower and the colorful spring blossom, tourists often flock to Wuhan. After over two months fighting COVID-19, however, normal life is now beginning to return. Subway service is now resuming in the city. Locals can go outside for a walk, to enjoy the river views at nighttime, or to savor a bowl of freshly cooked "hot dry noodles" at local restaurants. Zhu Ming, who came to the city with her husband to visit relatives, can finally return to her business in Guangdong province. Meanwhile, Wuhan resident Ms. Xiong is also able to return homeafter being locked out of her city since going travelling during Spring Festival.



The reboot of Wuhan hasn't come easily. During the lockdown, locals have stayed home self-isolating to reduce the risk of infection. Two makeshift hospitals, "Huoshenshan" and "Leishenshan," were quickly built to improve the city's capacity to receive and treat patients. In addition, over 10 temporary hospitals and numerous quarantine centers were also established for collective medical observation and treatment. These positive and systematic measures have truly turned the epidemic situation around, and bought time for the world to control COVID-19. However, the re-opening of Wuhan does not mark the end of the epidemic. To prevent a rebound, measures such as the health QR code and real-name registration have been applied in the city to ensure the health of its migrant population as much as possible. This means that once suspected cases appear, they can be traced in time, thereby facilitating the investigation, prevention and control. Enterprises in Wuhan have also gradually resumed work, based on their location, risk and category. Besides, other standard measures have been implemented, such as disinfecting public transport vehicles and spaces, and regularly taking people's body temperature.

Lifting the lockdown in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan marks that China has gone through its "darkest moment" and allows it to begin to get back on track. What happened in Wuhan has proved that whilst curbing the spread of COVID-19 is full of challenges, it is not impossible if proper measures are taken. China has been willing to share effective information on COVID-19 with the rest of the world, to provide assistance within its capacity, and to work together to fight the common enemy of all humanity. The "reboot" and "rebirth" of the world is sure to come in the near future. China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm Rebooting Wuhan: Pause for new start

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2020-04/09/content_75911623.htm View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rebooting-wuhan-pause-for-new-start-301038048.html SOURCE China.org.cn

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By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 08, 2020 | 08:26 PM | GRAVES COUNTY

A semi crash Wednesday afternoon in Graves County closed a section of State Route 58.

The Graves County Sheriff's Office says the crash happened around 4:30 pm on State Route 58 West. Deputies said 29-year-old Jensen Smith, of Murray, was traveling east in a semi transporting fertilizer when he approached a curve at Frazier Road.

Smith's truck ran off the right side of the road and ended up in a yard, with the trailer turned onto its side. Smith was uninjured due to the cab of the truck remaining upright.

State Route 58 was blocked between State Route 1283 and Frazier Road until the semi was removed and the roadway reopened at approximately 7:15 pm.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Cloudy. Snow showers developing in the afternoon. High 2F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 60%. Snowfall around one inch..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around before midnight. Low 2F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - BioNTech (BNTX) disclosed additional details of an collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to advance candidates from BioNTech's mRNA vaccine program. The collaboration aims to rapidly advance multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates into human clinical testing based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA vaccine platform. As per the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will pay BioNTech $185 million in upfront payments, including a cash payment of $72 million and an equity investment of $113 million. BioNTech is eligible to receive future milestone payments of up to $563 million for a potential total consideration of $748 million. Pfizer and BioNTech will share development costs equally. Initially, Pfizer will fund 100 percent of the development costs, and BioNTech will repay Pfizer its 50 percent share of these costs during the commercialization of the vaccine. The two companies plan to jointly conduct clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine candidates initially in the United States and Europe across multiple sites. BioNTech and Pfizer intend to initiate the first clinical trials as early as the end of April 2020, assuming regulatory clearance. BioNTech and Pfizer will also work jointly to commercialize the vaccine worldwide, excluding China, which is already covered by BioNTech's collaboration with Fosun Pharma, upon regulatory approval. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This week the House of Angostura launched a new live & interactive social media campaign through Instagram, titled HouseLockDown series, which aims to build and share moral support to the international bar community, those working in hospitality as well as sharing some creative ideas to budding at-home Bartenders.

The House of Angostura, together with Artisan Spirits Ltd. and its valued network of House of Angostura national Brand Ambassadors stretching from New Zealand, Vietnam, Dubai, South Africa, Eastern Europe to the Bahamas (home of our new Global Cocktail Champion) and naturally to Angostura's home in Trinidad & Tobago, developed the HouseLockDown series. This series which airs live on Instagram at 5:00 P.M. Central European time, Monday through Friday, hosted each day by Mr. Daniyel Jones (@daniyeljones) - Angostura's Global Brand Ambassador and twice short-listed at Tales of the Cocktail as one of the world's top 10 Brand Ambassadors.

Every day, Daniyel Jones will provide helpful positive thinking tips via the "Brighter Side" segment of the virtual show, then some helpful fitness techniques during the "Super-Hero" feature before welcoming on that day's featured guest to share the "Sip n' Chill" moment - sharing experiences, favourite drinks as well as answering questions from Instagram Live virtual viewers and making shout-outs to friends and partners in the business.

Every week up-and-coming home bartenders then have the chance to post their homemade cocktail of their choice, with the chance to win one of three virtual home mixology masterclass sessions weekly, hosted by one of our Global Ambassadors. Lucky winners can then choose to host a Live Watch party with other persons or not. Finally, at the end of each week, Friday sees HouseLockDown feature its own mystery invited guest, not one of the Ambassadors but, an industry icon with a close relationship to the House of Angostura.

This Series recognizes the troubles and challenges which the world is currently enduring, but it brings its own joy and liquid sunshine into the homes of so many persons across the world.

Note to the Editor

The House of Angostura

Capitalizing on its heritage as the world's most well-known maker of aromatic bitters, the House of Angostura has catapulted into the 21st century with an exquisite range of rums, the magnificent Amaro di ANGOSTURA and of course, ANGOSTURA aromatic bitters and ANGOSTURA orange bitters, now in demand in more than 170 countries across the world.

The Making of Angostura Rums

The rums of the House of Angostura are a treasured legacy, a tribute to the evolution of the rum industry in the Caribbean and the men and women who nurtured it. The House of Angostura owns the only rum distillery in Trinidad today, and controls its rum manufacturing process from end to end. Our rums are blended by masters with years of experience and training in original traditions, who closely maintain guarded formulas and techniques. Our blenders are involved at every stage to ensure the highest quality and consistency, from molasses selection through to cask selection.

The House of Angostura is renowned for its unique, signature style, which stems from techniques that have stood the test of time. Our premium rums are made from the highest quality molasses fermented with proprietary yeast cultures, distilled in continuous stills, then aged in charred oak barrels.

The House of Angostura: A Rich Rum History

The House of Angostura's award-winning rums are steeped in more than 190 years of tradition. The journey started in 1824 when founder Dr. Johann Siegert first produced aromatic bitters in Angostura, Venezuela (today called Ciudad Bolivar). In the 1870's, Dr. Siegert's three sons migrated to Trinidad, among them Don Carlos Siegert, who pioneered the brand, establishing ANGOSTURA aromatic bitters as an integral ingredient in premium cocktails and ultimately a mainstay of cocktail culture. The family's Siegert Bouquet Rum became a Trinidadian tradition up until the early 1960's and part of the company's rich rum heritage. In the 1970's, The House of Angostura expanded, acquiring the Fernandes family distillery, which was founded in the 1890's by Manoel Fernandes, an immigrant from Portugal, and known for making high quality rums.

For further information, please contact Lawn Davis via email - davisla@angostura.com

WEBSITE

www.angostura.com

http://angosturabitters.com/
Edward Francis Kerrigan passed away after battling cancer for several months on Monday, April 6, 2020. at the age of 72.

He passed away at his home in Pembroke, Massachusetts surrounded by his family.

He was born on July 12, 1947 in Dowra, Co Cavan, Ireland. He was a master carpenter and a renaissance man of the trades.

He will be remembered by all those apprentices and tradesman whom he taught not only the trades, but also lessons of life. A quiet man who lead by example, he will be fondly remembered by his many friends and family members.

He grew up in a Christian boys' school in Dublin and played for the famous Artane Boys Band. He married the love of his life, Mary Nagle on March 18, 1971.



He moved back to his hometown in Dowra, Co Leitrim where he began to raise his family.

He left his home country of Ireland with his wife and eight children in 1988 and started a new life in America where he has lived since. A devout Catholic, he was an active member of his local parish St Marys in Scituate, Massachusetts.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, his sister Kathleen, and his eight children: Ann, Billy, Susan, Geraldine, Jimmy, Edwina, Eamon, and Grace and their spouses/partners. He has 16 grandchildren and countless nieces and nephews who loved him dearly.

A private burial was held on Thursday, April 9 for family only. A future wake and funeral service is being planned for after the pandemic is over.

Donations in his memory can be made to South Shore Health Foundation at 55 Fogg Road, S Weymouth, MA 02190 or online at southshorehealth.org/evergreen.
The cancellations began pouring in to Williamson Caterers during the second week of March, soon after federal health officials recommended a ban on large gatherings to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

For a caterer, it was like a dagger to the heart.

The phone was ringing off the hook, said Rick Williamson, 55, the third-generation owner of the Willow Grove catering business. Two months of scheduled work disappeared overnight: wedding receptions, spring fund-raisers, corporate events  all nixed as the severity of the impending pandemic sunk in.

On March 12, Williamson laid off his full-time staff of four people, the first layoffs in more than five decades for the business, an offshoot of the family-owned Williamson Restaurants that once operated in the Philadelphia area and in Florida. He told 40 part-time servers there was no work, at least until May.

For the first time since he started working in the family business at age 13, Williamson himself was off the payroll.

But his workload only picked up. Like many small business owners, Williamson has worked overtime since the pandemic brought his business to a screeching halt. He was on the phone with lenders, trying to secure a Small Business Administration loan. He worked with insurance carriers and benefits administrators to see if they can give him a break. He tried to coax better terms from creditors, who are also in a tight bind.

 READ MORE: Why does Pennsylvania have so many more unemployment claims than even larger states?

Williamson Caterers LLC is one of the countrys more than 28 million small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic, some of which may never reopen again. Individually, each company is but a speck. Collectively, businesses with fewer than 500 employees account for 45% of the countrys GDP, and almost half of its employment, according to J.P. Morgan Chase.

In the year of the plague, Williamson acknowledges the extraordinary challenges he faces are nothing special for many small business owners.

And thats exactly the point.

At work I wig out about it, he said. You go home, turn on the news, and theres no one whos unaffected. I mean everybodys impacted in a different way. Some people are out of work and dont have food. There are people who are ill with this crazy virus that for some people is a sniffle and a cold, and for other people, theyre dead in 48 hours. Thats the reality check.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered

As the new reality has settled in, Williamson is searching for an elusive pathway out  and preparing for the worst. When will things go back to normal?" he asked. What is the new normal going to look like?

Initially, he thought business would begin to recover in May, but that was way too optimistic. Customers with scheduled events in June are now canceling. Even when the government eventually lifts the lockdown, he expects it will take longer before confidence is restored and guests and servers will feel comfortable in close contact with each other. The best-case scenario, he says, is that business will begin to resume in July, though hes hoping to pick up an impromptu graduation party before then.

As much as everyone is asking questions, there are no answers, he said. No one can say with 100% certainty that they have the answer, other than Ask me tomorrow and the answer might change.' 

Williamsons challenge is one of simple math and fixed costs. He has trimmed expenses by cutting payroll and canceling food orders and linen rentals. The trucks arent going out, so were not spending money on gas and tolls, he said. But just the cost of being in business is a little over $120,000 a year, without paying a single soul.

While Williamsons home mortgage lender gave him a 90-day reprieve, the commercial lender was not so flexible. Theyre looking at commercial loans way differently than theyre looking at residential mortgages, he said.

The utility bills keep coming for energy, water, phones, and internet. We have freezers that are currently maintaining product and I need to make sure the building is secure, he said. I am in an older building and I am concerned that shutting down completely for several months will lead to more problems  leaks, breakage, pests.

He is still paying for health insurance. He also pays about $2,500 a month in commercial insurance premiums, covering things like vehicles, workers compensation, an umbrella liability policy, and liquor liability (coverage for damage or injury caused by an intoxicated patron). While the insurance carriers wont reduce premiums, they may give him a rebate after an annual audit that would compensate for the business slowdown. But that wont come until the end of the year  no help to the immediate cash crunch.

Those are the primary concerns, he said. A minor challenge is trying to collect on the receivables we have out. Companies and individuals are all in the same position and, understandably, keeping their cash.

Williamson said hes fortunate because many of the customers who canceled bookings rescheduled their events for a later date. He offered to repay deposits to customers who canceled and did not reschedule, but asked those customers for some time before he reimburses them. Theyve been so good and so great about understanding that, he said.

His four children, meanwhile, are eating well on the surplus banquet food stranded from canceled events. Were not getting pizza," he said. His wife, Beth, lost hours working as a school nurse when classes were canceled, but still works as a part-time home-care nurse.

 READ MORE: Small businesses scramble to grab $350 billion in coronavirus PPP cash before it runs out

The sole member of the family who has come out a winner is their rescue dog, Greta, who gets walked four or five times a day by his children.

One part of the business that is still functioning is an ongoing obligation to supply meals every day to LIFE St. Mary, an elder-care program. Williamson and his chef, Dave Banecker, prepare the meals in the morning, an arrangement that will continue until the chefs unemployment insurance starts, and then itll just be me doing it," said Williamson.

Amid the gloom, the show must go on: Williamson is still taking calls from customers who want to book in 2021  weddings get planned well in advance.

Coronavirus will be history by then, right?

Weve got to be positive and tell them that were going to be there, he said. Whatever it takes, Williamson Caterers will get through this.
President Donald Trump wants to cut the salary of the president of the Tennessee Valley Authoritycurrently at $6 millionand will support such a cut as part of a huge infrastructure investment package, Fox News reports.

"I've been waiting for somebody to ask me about that," Trump said, adding "It's been bothering me for a long time, too."

TVA is a federal power utility that has operations across seven states. The base salary of its president, Jeff Lyash, was last year $920,000, which compares with $400,000 for Trump himself. Yet Lyash received a total of $8.16 million, most of it coming from performance-based bonuses and a $1.8-million one-time payment for Lyash's agreement to relocate from Canada to the U.S.

"I don't know the gentleman, but he's got a heck of a job," Trump said, as quoted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "He gets paid a lot of money, which is an amazing thing."

A spokesman for Tennessee Valley Authority countered with the argument that unlike other federal companies, TVA does not receive taxpayer funds.

"TVA has not received taxpayer funding in more than 20 years," Kim Hopson said. "We are entirely self-financed by power revenues from our customers. Because of the importance of our mission, we must have a competitive compensation package to attract and retain the highly skilled talent needed to serve those who count on us."

Trump seems to be at odds with the company because of coal. Last year, the President asked the Tennessee Valley Authority to keep a coal-fired power plant in Kentucky running, but the utility refused to do so and shut down its last unit earlier this year, as it was cheaper than keeping it running.

"When we want them to do something for us, they are not there for us, and that's not good," Trump said.

The U.S. president floated the idea of an infrastructure aid package worth some $2 trillion at the end of last month.

"It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4," Trump said in a tweet.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Key Companies Covered are Aurora Cannabis, CannTrust Holdings, MedReleaf Corp, Emerald Health Therapeutics, The Cronos Group, Green Relief Inc., Medical Marijuana, Inc., ABcann Medicinals, Inc., GW Pharmaceuticals, Aphria Inc., Canopy Growth Corporation, & more

PUNE, India, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global medical marijuana market size is expected to reach USD 26,920.4 million by 2026, owing to the increasing demand for decriminalization of marijuana in most parts of the world. Medical cannabis or medical marijuana is extracted from the marijuana plant and can be used for treating certain illnesses and health conditions. But due to government restrictions, the use of marijuana as a medicinal drug is not tested rigorously. A recently published report by Fortune Business Insights titled, "Medical Marijuana Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Pain Disorders, Cancer, and Others), By Type (Flowers, Concentrates, Edibles and Others), By Distribution Channel (Dispensaries, Online, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026" discusses the market comprehensively. According to this report, the market was USD 6,338.1 million in 2018 and is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 20.4% during the forecast period set between 2019 to 2026.

Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/medical-marijuana-market-102609

What is the Scope of the Report?

The report is based on a thorough analysis of the market taking into account parameters such as growth drivers, restraints, current medical marijuana market trends, challenges, and opportunities that lies ahead of the market. It also discusses the market in details based on factors such as application, type, distribution channel, and geography. It also throws light on the competitive landscape of the market, names of significant players and the key strategies adopted by them to gain a competitive edge in the market. Furthermore, the report emphasizes on major industry developments, and other interesting insights into the market. The report is available for sale on the company website.

An Overview of the Impact of COVID-19 on this Market:

The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic.

We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future.

To get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market.

Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/medical-marijuana-market-102609

Market Drivers

Medicinal Properties of Cannabis to Propel Growth

The increasing demand for legalization of medical cannabis across various states is a major medical marijuana market growth driver. Besides this, the rising prevalence of diseases such as Parkinson's disease, cancer, neurological disorders, and acute pain diseases is also expected to aid in expansion of the market in the forecast period. On the contrary, increasing application of marijuana beyond the required dose may result in side effects such as hallucinations, dizziness, low blood pressure, and others. This may stand as a major challenge to the market in the long run.

Regional Segmentation:

Increasing Awareness on medicinal Properties of Cannabis to Offer Lucrative Growth Opportunities for the Rest of the World

Geographically, North America earned the maximum medical marijuana market share with a revenue of USD 5,994.9 million earned in 2018, that is anticipated to reach USD 24,578.3 million by the end of 2026.Growth of this region is attributed to the rise in the number of legalization of marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes, coupled with the presence of major vendors in the region. Europe ranks second in terms of cannabis cultivation and is expected to witness significant growth owing to the increasing investments for research activities by many public and private entities in the forthcoming years.

Furthermore, the market in Latin America and the Rest of the World is anticipated to witness lucrative business opportunities in the years to follow. This is owing to the rise in prevalence of chronic ailments, psychiatric disorders, acute pain diseases and the increasing awareness about the medicinal benefits of cannabis.

Quick Buy - Medical Marijuana Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102609

Competitive Landscape:

Entry of New Players Will Intensify Market Competition

The rapid developmental pace of medical marijuana and its wide expansion has propelled many players to enter into this market and make heavy investments in research and development of the same. Although the most crucial part is its production and cultivation, significant medical marijuana market revenue is derived from the pharmacological organizations. Besides this, with the increasing number of marijuana legalization in various states, more and more players are entering into the market to make their mark in the competition. Existing players are focusing on geographical expansion for gaining a competitive edge in the market in the forthcoming years.

List of the Key Companies Operating in the Medical Marijuana Market are:

Aurora Cannabis

CannTrust Holdings

MedReleaf Corp

Emerald Health Therapeutics

The Cronos Group

Green Relief Inc.

Medical Marijuana, Inc.

ABcann Medicinals, Inc.

GW Pharmaceuticals

Aphria Inc.

Canopy Growth Corporation

Other Vendors

Key Industry Developments of the Medical Marijuana Market Include:

September 2019 - The first ever medical marijuana tablets were launched by Curaleaf in Florida and is available across 26 Curaleaf dispensaries across the U.S.

March 2019 - Harvest One Cannabis signed an agreement with Health House for distributing Satipharm CBD Gelpell Capsules for carrying out business across Asia, New Zealand, and Australia.

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/medical-marijuana-market-102609

Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction

Research Scope



Market Segmentation



Research Methodology



Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers



Market Restraints



Market Opportunities

Key Insights

Recent Industry Developments Such as Mergers & Acquisitions



Regulatory Scenario for Key Countries



Data on State Wise Marijuana Spending (U.S.)



New Product Launch



Key Industry Trends

Global Medical Marijuana Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026

Key Findings / Summary



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Application



Pain Disorders





Cancer





Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Type



Flowers





Concentrates





Edibles





Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Distribution Channel



Dispensaries





Online Channel





Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Region



North America





Europe





Latin America





The Rest of the World (Row)

TOC Continued.!

Request for Customization:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/medical-marijuana-market-102609

Have a Look at Related Reports:

Cannabis Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Type (Flowers/Buds and Concentrates), By Application (Medical, Recreational (Edibles and Topicals), and Industrial Hemp), and Geography Forecast till 2026

Cannabis Beverages Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic), Distribution Channel (Mass Merchandisers, Specialty Stores, Online Retail, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019 - 2026

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data.

At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges.

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Press Release: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/medical-marijuana-market-9746

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Last week, Bon Secours Mercy Health, which runs 51 hospitals in seven states, announced it would furlough 700 workers. On Wednesday, Ballad Health, which operates 21 hospitals across Tennessee and southwest Virginia, delivered the same bad news to 1,300 employees and said executives would take pay cuts. Employees at Childrens National Hospital in the District were informed this week that they must take off one week, using either vacation time or, if they have none, unpaid leave.
Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr., has condemned some arguments made by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in relation to COVID-19 and measures put in place by the current administration to halt the spread of the pandemic, describing them "pollution of the environment".



Some communicators of the NDC have accused President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo of 'stealing' ideas from former President John Mahama on COVID-19.



President Akufo-Addo during his 5th address to the nation on measures being taken by his government in battling with the deadly COVID-19 announced a number of reliefs for nurses, the vulnerable in society and Ghanaians in general.



Some of these freebies include no water bills for three months, free transportation for health workers and so on.



But the NDC believes some of them were ideas from their flagbearer; hence he should be given the credit.



Reacting to this on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kweku Baako said such claims are 'unsustainable' and that it only 'pollutes the environment'.



Im hearing that the Presidents address and proposals were stolen from Mahama. When did Mahama speak? If Im not mistaken, Mahama spoke on April 4. They claim they President is executing prescriptions by President Mahama.



Has anyone read Ofori-Attas presentation to Parliament on March 11 and 30. He told Parliament that measures are being put in place to close a possible financial gap in the 2020 Budget that could result from the coronavirus.



On March 30 before Mahama spoke, he (Ofori-Atta) came out with a document captioned Covid Alleviation Programme. Paragraph 38 of Ofori-Attas speech to Parliament reads Mr Speaker, that is why to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on businesses and households and ensure that economic activities are sustained while minimizing job losses. The Ministry of Finance will immediately release an amount of GHC1million upon approval by Parliament.



The Ministry is proposing to use an equivalent of $219m from the Stabilization Fund. The cap will focus on areas that will provide maximum result on alleviating the impact of the virus pandemic with a focus on protecting job losses, livelihoods, supporting small businesses and ensuring the programme is efficiently and sustainably implemented.



Targeted business and households will include those in the health sector, education sector, hospitality industry, small and medium enterprises and households hit by the coronavirus. The specific details of the cap will be fashioned out shortly."



"So, if you check the sequence, the point that someone has stolen someones idea is unsustainable . . . every Ghanaian including the former President have the right to make suggestions but to suggest that the sitting president had no ideas as to how to go about this matter and so deliberately went to pick what the former President said belittles the . . . it pollutes the environment," he indicated.



Listen to Kweku Baako in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
ATLANTA, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) announced today the appointments of two new independent directors to the boardTim E. Bentsen and James M. DeCosmoeffective immediately. CatchMark also announced that current independent board member Douglas D. Rubenstein will succeed Willis J. Potts Jr. as chairman of the board effective at the June 24, 2020 annual stockholder meeting. Mr. Potts and Independent Director Donald S. Moss are retiring after serving on the board since 2006.

Mr. Bentsen is a former audit partner and practice leader of KPMG LLP, the global audit, tax and advisory services firm. He retired from KPMG in 2012 after serving numerous publicly-traded companies with a specialization in the financial services industry. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of Synovus Financial Corp., and previously served on the boards of Ridgeworth Funds, a mutual fund complex, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.

President and CEO of Forestar Group, Inc. from 2006 to 2015, Mr. DeCosmo built his career in the forest management, real estate and energy industries. Before joining Forestar he had been a Group Vice President for Temple-Inland Forest Inc. and previously worked for Scott Paper Company and Kimberly Clark Corp.

Mr. Rubenstein is Chief Operating Officer of Benjamin F. Edwards & Company, Inc., a private, full-service broker-dealer. He joined the CatchMark board in 2013 in connection with the Company's listing on the NYSE and has been chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance committee as well as a member of the Audit and Finance committees.

Mr. Potts said: "These director appointments further strengthen our board, providing exceptional expertise and experience in public company governance, finance, and the forest products industry. Tim Bentsen and Jim DeCosmo are proven leaders who can provide valuable insight and guidance to our first-rate management team. I look forward to Doug Rubenstein succeeding me after my rewarding tenure with CatchMark. Doug has been a thoughtful and compelling presence on the board, ready to take on this leadership role. I wish CEO Brian Davis and everyone at CatchMark all the success they so deserve in meeting our goals to provide durable cash flow and a stable consistent dividend for our stockholders."

Mr. Rubenstein said: "All of us on the board want to thank Willis for his outstanding leadership since the inception of CatchMark and in guiding us forward since then. We would also like to thank Don for his unwavering commitment to our success. I look forward to working with our board and our outstanding management group as CatchMark continues to execute on its strategic initiatives and disciplined capital allocation to drive stockholder value."

Mr. Moss, who is Chairman of the board's Compensation Committee and will retire effective at the 2020 annual stockholders meeting, said: "It's been a privilege serving CatchMark and working with such an effective board and executive team. I look forward to the company's building on its growth through ongoing, disciplined management and forest stewardship."

About CatchMark

CatchMark (NYSE: CTT) seeks to deliver consistent and growing per share cash flow from disciplined acquisitions and superior management of prime timberlands located in high demand U.S. mill markets. Concentrating on maximizing cash flows throughout business cycles, the company strategically harvests its high-quality timberlands to produce durable revenue growth and takes advantage of proximate mill markets, which provide a reliable outlet for merchantable inventory. Headquartered in Atlanta and focused exclusively on timberland ownership and management, CatchMark began operations in 2007 and owns interests in 1.5 million acres* of timberlands located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. For more information, visit www.catchmark.com.

* As of December 31, 2019

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," or other similar words. However, the absence of these or similar words or expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and are based on certain assumptions, discuss future expectations, describe plans and strategies, contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition or state other forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, that our goal is to provide durable cash flow and a stable consistent dividend for our stockholders and that we will continue to execute on our strategic initiatives and disciplined capital allocation to drive stockholder value. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, that (i) we may not generate the harvest volumes from our timberlands that we currently anticipate; (ii) the demand for our timber may decline due to changes in general economic and business conditions in the geographic regions where our timberlands are located, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken as a response thereto; (iii) a downturn in the real estate market, including decreases in demand and valuations, may adversely impact our ability to generate income and cash flow from sales of higher-and-better use properties; (iv) timber prices could decline, which would negatively impact our revenues; (v) the supply of timberlands available for acquisition that meet our investment criteria may be less than we currently anticipate; (vi) we may be unsuccessful in winning bids for timberland that are sold through an auction process; (vii) we may not be able sell large dispositions of timberland in capital recycling transactions at prices that are attractive to us or at all; (viii) we may not be able to access external sources of capital at attractive rates or at all; (ix) potential increases in interest rates could have a negative impact on our business; (x) our share repurchase program may not be successful in improving stockholder value over the long-term; (xi) our joint venture strategy may not enable us to access non-dilutive capital and enhance our ability to make acquisitions; (xii) we may not be successful in effectively managing the Triple T joint venture and the anticipated benefits of the joint venture may not be realized, including that our asset management fee could be deferred or decreased, we may not earn an incentive-based promote and our investment in the joint venture may lose value; and (xiii) the factors described in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

SOURCE CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc.
New York : US President Donald Trump has fired a fresh salvo at the World Health Organization, accusing its chief of siding with China and "politicising" the coronavirus pandemic while repeating his threat to freeze the UN agency's funding. Trump's allegation comes a day after the US President threatened to put a "very powerful" hold on US funding to the World Health Organization and criticised it for having "missed the call" in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump slammed the Geneva-based global health agency for its early guidance aimed at countering the international spread of the coronavirus.

The president's fresh allegation comes after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against politicisation of COVID-19 and said that such a move will only result in "many more body bags". "If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus]. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it," Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. Hours later at the White House conference, Trump agreed that the COVID-19 should not be politicised, but alleged that the WHO chief was doing exactly that and was siding with China.

"When he (Ghebreyesus) says politicizing, he's politicizing. That shouldn't be. We spend USD 450 million last year, hundreds of millions in previous years. And they got to do better than that. They got to do better. When you talk about politics, I can't believe he's talking about politics look at the relationship they have to China," Trump said in response to a question.

"China spends USD 42 million. We spend USD 450 million and everything seems to be China's way. That's not right. It's not fair to us. And honestly, it's not fair to the world," he said.

The United States is reevaluating its funding with respect to the WHO, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the White House. "This is very consistent with what President Trump said since the beginning of his campaign. Organizations have to work," he added. "They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended and we need to make sure that only the WHO but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America we need to make sure it is delivering on this taxpayer dollars. The WHO is no different in that respect," the top American diplomat said. Trump asserted that the WHO had to get its priority right.

"I think they have to get their priorities right and their priorities are that everybody has to be treated properly, every country. And it doesn't seem that way,' he said. "It doesn't seem that way so we are going to do study investigation and we are going to make a determination as to what we are doing. In the meantime, we are holding back, we are going very unfair to the United States USD 452 million compared to USD 42 million that is to the World Health Organization. That is not good, that is not good, not fair," he said.

"Not fair at all and other countries as you know also gave very substantially less than the United States and the world WHO got it wrong. I mean they got it very wrong, in many ways they were wrong. They also minimised the threat very strongly and not good," Trump said.
Animepromo.com scored 47 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

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PAGE TITLE Studio Ghibli DVD Box Set: Dragonball Z & GT Complete DVD Box Set UK & USA DESCRIPTION Studio Ghibli and Dragonball Z Complete DVD Box Set at Otaku Castle. We also stock Dragonball GT DVD as well as Rosario+Vampire, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop and many other titles, with delivery to the UK and USA. KEYWORDS studio ghibli, dvd, box set, dragonball z, complete, dragonball gt, uk, usa OTHER KEYWORDS complete, series, complete series, box set, end 13, season, 12 end



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The hospital is not yet releasing other information concerning its testing including the number of tests it has performed or the types of tests it uses.

With increased precautions, Divine Saviors emergency department and birthing center have remained open for patients and other vital services are continuing such as dialysis and critical surgeries, Walters said. Some hospital visits are being handled via teleservices.

We still have visitor restrictions and we are screening everyone who enters the building, including our employees, for signs of illness, Walters said. Our housekeeping team always does an incredible job of keeping our facility clean. We have added additional staff who are cleaning high-touch surfaces on a regular basis  door handles, switches, chairs  as an added precaution.

We have hand sanitizer throughout the facility for patients and staff usage as well. With CDC now recommending universal masking, you will see patients and non-patient care staff also wearing non-N-95 masks as an extra precaution.

Stay the course for Easter

Walters and Lorenz urged the community to continue following the states Safer at Home order for the Easter holiday and beyond.
To the Editor:

For over 130 years, Crouse Health has been a trusted community resource in Central New York, providing care to all residents, in good times and especially in times of crisis.

As we all work to adapt to the significant disruption in our daily lives, we remain focused on the health and safety of our patients, visitors, co-workers and our community.

That is our mission.

We are collaborating with our county health department, state and federal agencies, elected officials and the other local hospitals to address the critical issues a crisis like this demands.

We have canceled elective surgeries and procedures  restricted our visitation policy  and are screening for symptoms, checking temperatures and requiring masks at all points of entry  all to keep our staff, patients and community safe and to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

We also want to let you know that despite COVID-19, our team continues to provide your family with the highest level cardiac, stroke and maternity care/NICU in Central New York. Just say, Take Me to Crouse.

Moving forward, we will keep our community informed and updated via social media and our web site at crouse.org/coronavirus.

I am proud to work with our dedicated employees, physicians and providers, all of whom continue to deliver outstanding care to our community, despite the current challenges. They are strong, resilient and focused, and it is a privilege to be a part of this wonderful, passionate team.

While this situation is ever-changing, one thing is clear: Our community needs us now, more than ever, and we will continue to be here to provide 24-hour care  no matter what the circumstances.

Thank you for putting your trust in Crouse Health.

Kimberly Boynton

President and CEO

Crouse Health

Syracuse

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Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Hospitalized, critical patients at record highs; 422 total cases

Mixed emotions as new NY coronavirus deaths surge to 779, but hope remains, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Blue Marist Dr Nabil Antaki slams the punitive measures that hinder the fight against the pandemic. Today in Aleppo there are no ventilators and beds in intensive care units, essential if the virus spreads. In the city some people show COVID-19 symptoms but have tested negative.

Aleppo (AsiaNews)  In order to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic, which is still contained in Syria, it is essential to scrap European (and US) sanctions against Syria, this according to Nabil Antaki, a Christian doctor specialising in gastroenterology, who spoke to AsiaNews.

A lay member of the order of Marist Friars, he is one of the few medical doctors who remained in Aleppo during the war, playing a leading role in the relief work to help hundreds of thousands of people victimised by years of conflict. In his view, the punitive measures harm the entire civilian population and could aggravate the epidemic, but have had no effects on ending the war.

Born in Aleppo, the married father of two (who live in the United States), Dr Antaki graduated from the University of St Joseph in Beirut (Lebanon) and specialised in Canada. He founded the Blue Marists with his wife, a medical association that helps the poor. Before the conflict, the health system "was well functioning", but today there are no resources or equipment like ventilators, beds in intensive care units. Dr Antakis interview with AsiaNews follows:

Talking about the COVID-19 Pandemic, how is the situation in Syria? And in Aleppo in particular?

Fortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is not, so far, as severe in Syria as in Europe and the US. Up until today, there are only 19 reported cases with two deaths, all in the Damascus area. No case has been reported in Aleppo.

Did you see any patient in your hospital with novel coronavirus symptoms?

We have seen some cases in Aleppo with symptoms and CT scans very similar to COVID-19 but the PCR[*] tests were negative.

Syria up to now doesn't seem to have been hit hard by coronavirus cases. Do you think the official numbers are true or are cases underestimated?

I think that the true number of people with coronavirus is higher that the official declared number of cases. This is mainly due to the very little number of people tested. We are not doing large-scale screening in Syria; only severely ill patients are tested. I don't think that the authorities are hiding the number of cases, they don't have any interest in doing so; nobody will blame them if they declare more cases since they took all preventive measures to avoid the spreading of the coronavirus

After so many years of war are you ready to face the pandemic or is the health system in crisis?

No, we are not [prepared]. Syrias well-functioning health sector before the war has been so badly degraded by the effects of war and by the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the US. If the epidemic becomes more severe, we don't have enough equipment, like ventilators, beds in Intensive care units . . . to face it.

Are the measures taken by the government (curfew, lockdown and so on) enough or is more necessary to halt the spread of the virus?

So far, the measures are enough (closing schools, universities, restaurants, coffee shops, manufacturing plants, workshops and all shops except food stores, plus a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am, but if the epidemic gets worse, total confinement should be declared.

Are refugee camps and displaced people a source of trouble?

Displaced people and refugees in camps are the most vulnerable people and a source of concern, but fortunately up until now they are not more affected than others.

Do you want to send a message or ask something through AsiaNews?

I would like to ask European governments to lift the sanctions against Syria. They constitute a form of collective punishment of a civilian population, contrary to the Geneva conventions. They may aggravate the coronavirus epidemic and have had no effects on ending the war or advancing toward a political solution of the Syrian conflict.

[*] Polymerase chain reaction.
In these desolate times of coronavirus pandemic, healthcare workers are at the frontline of this war against the disease.

Selflessly working non-stop shifts, not being able to meet their families and continuously at risk of contracting the virus, nothing has put healthcare workers off from leading the charge against the pandemic and they are doing so impeccably.

Twitter/Sudha Ramen

There have been various pictures of doctors across the world working tirelessly that have evoked special praise from the people. Now a loved up picture of healthcare couple has gone viral. Both covered in protective suits sharing an emotional moment is one of the most beautiful pictures we have come across during the coronavirus crises.



Sudha Ramen of the Indian Forest Service first shared the picture of the couple on Twitter and paid tribute to first responders, who are at the forefront of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

To all the Health care personnels across the globe.. Salutes and  on

#WorldHealthDay

This picture of a couple who work day & night to fight COVID speaks volumes. They can touch each other only when they are in the protective gears. #COVIDWarriors #Inspiration pic.twitter.com/0knAjBJLXN  Sudha Ramen IFS  (@SudhaRamenIFS) April 7, 2020





It is unknown where the beautiful moment took place, but it nonetheless full of human emotion.

Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, emergency responders including doctors, nurses and healthcare workers are working tirelessly by putting their lives at stake to treat Covid-19 patients.

Reuters

There are now some 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world. More than 88,500 people have died and nearly 330,000 have recovered.



India has recorded 540 new cases reported in past 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stand at 5,734, according to latest figures from Union Health Ministry. The death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 166 while 472 patients have been cured of the virus or discharged.




OTTAWA, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. (Cornerstone or the Company) (TSXV-CGP) (F-GWN) (B-GWN) (OTC-CTNXF) is pleased to provide an update on its Bramaderos gold and copper joint venture in southern Ecuador in which it has a 12.5% interest carried by JV partner and project operator Sunstone Metals Inc. (ASX:STM) through to the start of commercial production (see About Bramaderos, below).



Figures related to this news release can be seen in PDF format by accessing the version of this release on the Companys website ( www.cornerstoneresources.com ) or by clicking on the link below:

http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/pdf/NR20-10Figures.pdf .

HIGHLIGHTS:

Individual surface rock chip samples return up to 11.6g/t gold and 2960g/t silver (see Table 1, below)



Espiritu outlined over an 800m strike with multiple interpreted lodes



Mapping of the distribution of clay alteration, quartz veining, barite and metal values (gold-silver-lead-zinc-copper) indicate multiple parallel lodes



Further sampling, trenching and mapping followed by drilling will take place as soon as Ecuadors COVID-19 restrictions allow

FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Espiritu target (Figure 1) was developed based on soil geochemical results and structural interpretations from field mapping and detailed ground magnetic data.

Results have been received from exploration undertaken prior to the temporary suspension of activities in Ecuador due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The exploration has included geological mapping, surface rock chip sampling and some trenching to test outcropping mineralization.

The results include high gold and silver assays from rock chip samples of quartz-barite veining associated with argillic alteration. Other samples are highly anomalous in epithermal related pathfinder elements such as lead, zinc, and copper (Figures 2 and 3). These related elements can be detected using handheld XRF analysis which provides a guide for further detailed sampling and laboratory analysis.

Story continues

The Espiritu trench, ES-01, is partially complete and some samples are awaiting analysis at the laboratory. The handheld XRF analyses shown in Figure 2 for zinc are used as a guide only to identify areas of alteration with the potential to host gold and silver, to be confirmed once laboratory assays are completed.

Data so far suggests a north-north-east trend to the anomalous gold and pathfinder elements and this trend corresponds with linear breaks in the ground magnetic imagery. An 800m strike extent to mineralization has been defined by work to date (Figure 2) and this could double to 1,600m based on early stage reconnaissance that has identified scattered gold anomalous samples along the north-north-east trend (Figure 3). This will be followed up once field work resumes.

Cornerstone VP Exploration, Yvan Crepeau, said:

These are new and very encouraging results. Espiritu sits within the previously defined epithermal corridor that extends to the south-west where it incorporates the 2 million-ounce epithermal Dynasty Goldfield. In light of these high-grades and the extensive strike length, we will resume sampling and trenching as soon as possible with a view to drilling at Espiritu at the first opportunity.

Sample ID Easting Northing Elevation Sample Type Sample Method Rock Type Au (ppm) Ag (ppm) As (ppm) Cu (ppm) Pb (ppm) Zn (ppm) 111112 632340 9550548 1111 Float Grab Altered Rock 11.63 2962 287.1 134320 >10000 5428 51481 632271 9550531 1086 Float Grab Altered Zone 3.698 26.67 22.7 58.1 723.8 264 CUFS03112 632002 9550861 1107 Outcrop Chip Vein 1.833 27.3 741 15 248 23 51356 632232 9550396 Float Chip Altered Zone 1.801 181 73.3 3658.5 >10000 751 110301 632002 9550858 1105 Outcrop Grab Hydrothermal Breccia 1.615 38.62 1048.9 15 1594.6 22 111314 631842 9550341 951 Outcrop Chip Altered Rock 1.229 22.61 131.6 69.7 2638.1 81 111308 632239 9550433 1032 Float Chip Andesitic Tuff 0.835 634 224.1 9626.3 190890 2619 111338 632225 9550145 945 Float Chip Altered Zone 0.826 13.24 27.4 27.4 519.5 181 111336 632178 9550328 997 Float Chip Altered Zone 0.558 161 295.9 250.2 15300 106 111332 631904 9550440 1016 Sub-Outcrop Chip Altered Zone 0.48 6.18 334.8 217.6 1482.1 617 CUEA030157 632137 9550160 838 Trench 2m Channel Andesitic Breccia 0.442 4.3 43 47 171 655 111330 632047 9550558 1083 Outcrop Chip Altered Rock 0.416 3.6 2775.1 26.6 9.4 27 CUEA030163 632270 9550275 838 Trench 0.1m Channel Vein 0.368 25.9 132 275 1880 521 111303 632069 9550412 976 Outcrop Chip Hydrothermal Breccia 0.315 5.11 204.1 9.7 70.8 8 111309 632263 9550486 1065 Float Chip Altered Rock 0.267 51.44 23.7 91.2 1488.8 81 111064 632962 9551475 1009 Float Grab Altered Zone 0.236 3.18 852.3 61.4 179.9 148 111335 631992 9550373 984 Outcrop Chip Altered Zone 0.232 3 16.5 8.6 44.7 25 111339 632343 9550080 927 Outcrop Chip Andesitic Tuff 0.216 11.6 146.3 26.6 791.7 27 111213 632346 9550580 1134 Subcrop Chip Altered Zone 0.214 10.34 74.2 434.4 197 326 111341 632326 9550125 967 Sub-Outcrop Chip Hydrothermal Breccia 0.213 6.9 70.8 9.9 108.7 70 111333 632213 9550351 1011 Sub-Outcrop Chip Hydrothermal Breccia 0.209 5.23 142.4 10.1 80.5 20 111337 632169 9550311 984 Float Chip Altered Zone 0.208 30.55 190.1 69.1 3329.8 71

Table 1: Rock chip assay data from Espiritu target.

Update on Suspension of Field Activities in Ecuador

Exploration activities at the Bramaderos Project have been temporarily suspended in line with the COVID-19 directives of the Ecuadorian government. Cornerstone and joint venture partner and project operator Sunstone Metals are maintaining communication with all employees and stakeholders in Ecuador. Desktop activities, primarily in Australia, are ongoing as we interpret data to move target areas towards being drill-ready when the suspensions are lifted.

About Bramaderos

Measuring 4,948 hectares, the Bramaderos project is located approximately 130km from the Loja provincial capital in southern Ecuador. The project is easily accessible via the Pan American Highway that crosses the property.

The Bramaderos concession is owned by La Plata Minerales S.A. (PLAMIN), which in turn is owned 87.5% by Sunstone (the project operator) and 12.5% by Cornerstone. Cornerstones 12.5% interest is carried by Sunstone through to the start of commercial production and repayable at Libor plus 2% out of 90% of Cornerstones share of earnings or dividends from the Bramaderos project (see news release 20-01 dated January 7, 2020).

More information about the property can be found at www.cornerstoneresources.com .

Qualified Person:

Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstones Vice President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Bramaderos project for Cornerstone and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this news release.

Sampling and assaying

PLAMIN uses a fire assay gold technique for Au assays (FAS-111) and a four acid multi element technique (IMS-230) for a suite of 48 elements. FAS-111 involves Au by Fire Assay on a 30-gram aliquot, fusion and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) at trace levels. IMS-20 is considered a near total 4 acid technique using a 20g aliquot followed by multi-element analysis by ICP-AES/MS at ultra-trace levels. This analysis technique is considered suitable for this style of mineralization.

Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted ~1/28 samples. The values of the standards range from low to high grade and are considered appropriate to monitor performance of values near cut-off and near the mean grade of the deposit. The check sampling results are monitored and performance issues are communicated to the laboratory if necessary.

Sample security was managed through sealed individual samples and sealed bags of multiple samples for secure delivery to the laboratory by permanent staff of the joint venture. MS Analytical is an internationally accredited laboratory that has all its internal procedures heavily scrutinized in order to maintain their accreditation. MS Analytical is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 2005 Accredited Methods.

PLAMINs sampling techniques and data have been audited multiple times by independent mining consultants during various project assessments. These audits have concluded that the sampling techniques and data management are to industry standards. All historical data has been validated to the best degree possible and migrated into a database.

Rock samples are collected by PLAMINs personnel, placed in plastic bags, labeled and sealed, and stored in a secure place until delivery by PLAMIN employees to the LAC y Asociados ISO 9001-2008 certified sample preparation facility in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Rock samples are prepared crushing to 70% passing 2 mm (10 mesh), splitting 250 g and pulverizing to 85% passing 75 microns (200 mesh) (MSA code PRP-910). Prepared samples are then shipped to MS Analytical Services (MSA), an ISO 9001-2008 laboratory in Langley, BC, Canada, where samples are assayed for a multi-element suite (MSA code IMS-136, 15.0 g split, Aqua Regia digestion, ICP-AES/MS finish) and gold by Fire Assay (MSA code FAS-111, 30 g fusion, AAS finish). Over limit results for Cu (>1%) are systematically re-assayed (MSA code ICF-6Cu, 0.2 g, 4-acid digestion, ICP-AES finish). Gold is assayed using a 30 g split, Fire Assay (FA) and AAS finish (MSA code FAS 111). Over limit results for Au (>10 g/t) are systematically re-assayed (MSA code FAS-415, FA, 30g., gravimetric finish).

Soil samples are dried at low temperature, screened to 80 mesh (MSA code PRP-757); a 15 grams portion is then assayed for a multi-elements suite (MSA code IMS-136, Aqua Regia digestion, ICP-AES/MS finish).

Quality assurance / Quality control (QA/QC)

The MSA Analytical Laboratory is a qualified assayer that performs and makes available internal assaying controls. Duplicates, certified blanks and standards are systematically used (1 control sample every 20-25 samples) as part of PLAMINs QA/QC program. Rejects, a 100 g pulp for each rock sample, are stored for future use and controls.

About Cornerstone

Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Ecuador and Chile, including the Cascabel gold-enriched copper porphyry joint venture in northwest Ecuador. Cornerstone has a 22.2% direct and indirect interest in Cascabel comprised of (i) a direct 15% interest in the project financed through to completion of a feasibility study and repayable at Libor plus 2% out of 90% of its share of the earnings or dividends from an operation at Cascabel, plus (ii) an indirect interest comprised of 8.5% of the shares of joint venture partner and project operator SolGold Plc. Exploraciones Novomining S.A. (ENSA), an Ecuadoran company owned by SolGold and Cornerstone, holds 100% of the Cascabel concession. Subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including SolGolds fully funding the project through to feasibility, SolGold Plc will own 85% of the equity of ENSA and Cornerstone will own the remaining 15% of ENSA.

Further information is available on Cornerstones website: www.cornerstoneresources.com and on Twitter. For investor, corporate or media inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations:

Mario Drolet; Email: Mario@mi3.ca ; Tel. (514) 904-1333

Due to anti-spam laws, many shareholders and others who were previously signed up to receive email updates and who are no longer receiving them may need to re-subscribe at http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/s/InformationRequest.asp

Cautionary Notice:

This news release may contain Forward-Looking Statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of Cornerstones beliefs, plans, objectives, strategies, intentions and expectations. The words potential, anticipate, forecast, believe, estimate, intend, trends, indicate, expect, may, should, could, project, plan, or the negative or other variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify Forward-Looking Statements. Although Cornerstone believes that its expectations reflected in these Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, such statements may involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in our regulatory filings, viewed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com . For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets, predicting natural geological phenomena and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of an environmental, climatic, natural, political, economic, business, competitive, or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our Forward-Looking Statements. Although Cornerstone believes the facts and information contained in this news release to be as correct and current as possible, Cornerstone does not warrant or make any representation as to the accuracy, validity or completeness of any facts or information contained herein and these statements should not be relied upon as representing its views after the date of this news release. While Cornerstone anticipates that subsequent events may cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims any obligation to update the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein except where outcomes have varied materially from the original statements.

On Behalf of the Board,

Brooke Macdonald

President and CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A woman who arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport while wearing not a stitch of clothing was later arrested when she refused to leave the facility, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

Mariel Vergara, 27, of Pueblo, Colo., was completely nude when she walked into the airport and made her way to the Spirit Airlines ticket counter on Friday night, April 3, authorities said.

A deputy dispatched to the scene noted that Vergara had already put on a dress by the time he arrived.

State Police searching for suspect vehicle after motorcyclist injured in Marrero hit-and-run Louisiana State Police troopers are on the lookout for a black sport utility vehicle that fled the scene after crashing into a motorcyclist in

But she was still violating public decency laws because she had on no underwear, and the dress was too short to cover her genitals, the Sheriff's Office said.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Airline officials told Vergara she wouldn't be able to travel due to her attire -- or lack thereof. She was asked to leave the airport, but Vergara refused, the Sheriff's Office said.

Vergara ignored deputies' orders to leave the airport and scuffled with them as she was being taken into custody.

She was arrested and booked Saturday with obscenity, resisting arrest, battery of a police officer, simple battery and remaining in a place after being forbidden.

Vergara was being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna Thursday on a $5,000 bond when she was rearrested and booked with battery of a corrections officer and resisting an officer by force or violence. No details were available about the new charges.
By PTI

MUMBAI: A 40-year-old policeman was injured when he was dragged for around 50 metre by a motorcyclist, who tried to evade checking at Wadibunder in south Mumbai on Thursday amid the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said.

The incident took place at P D'Mello Road, where motorcyclist Khajabi Shaikh Naim (42) dragged assistant police inspector Vijendra Dhurat, who tried to intercept the two- wheeler, the official said.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 LIVE

A team of policemen where screening vehicles at the entrance of Eastern Freeway, when Dhurat found something suspicious about the motorcyclist and tried to stop him, he said.

The injured was rushed to a hospital and is presently out of danger, he said.

Naim was arrested under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, he said.

WATCH | What is hydroxychloroquine and why is India giving it to the US?
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 10:48:05|Editor: zyl

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WELLINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported 23 new confirmed and six new probable cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed and probable infections to 1,239 in the country.

One person has died from COVID-19 so far, and 317 people have recovered, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield from the Ministry of Health told a press conference.

There are 12 significant clusters across the country. Community transmission accounts for 2 percent of the cases, Bloomfield said, adding 14 people are in hospitals across New Zealand.

New Zealand entered a four-week lockdown, or epidemic response Alert Level 4, from midnight March 25. The government's wage subsidy scheme has helped more than 1 million Kiwis keep their jobs, according to the government.

Bloomfield said the cabinet will decide on the next steps on April 20, two days before the month-long lockdown ends.

The State of National Emergency to support the COVID-19 response will be extended a second time, for a further seven days.

A State of National Emergency provides the people managing the response in an emergency access to powers they would not normally have, but might require now to implement and enforce these measures, according to Minister of Civil Defense Peeni Henare.

Health Minister David Clark said a range of support is being rolled out across New Zealand to help people look after their mental health during COVID-19.
New Delhi: During the coronavirus crisis situation, the one thing that lights up peoples mood is wonderful pictures on Instagram and former actress Namrata Shirodkars recent post truly is a treat to the eyes. Her photo features superstar Mahesh Babu, herself and daughter Sitara from one of their past trips to London. Sitara, as a baby, is cradled in Mahesh Babus arms while Namrata looks on. They are all smiles in the photo.

Along with the post, she also attached an extensive note, which said, Memory therapy for the soul! Just decided each one for each day to make me happier and look at life more positively in these trying times... Love makes our world go around... everyone who believes that photographs make you happy and heal your soul should give it a try! Stay home stay safe.

Take a look at the post here:

Such a sweet post, Namrata!

Mahesh Babus last film was Sarileru Neekevvaru, which released in January 2020. The superstar essayed the role of an army officer in the action-romance opposite Rashmika Mandanna.
Spain is close to reversing its coronavirus curve, prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Thursday.

Spain has endured the most positive cases of Covid-19 in Europe with, as of Thursday afternoon, 152,446 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Italy stands at more than 139,000.

Only Italy (17,669) has suffered more fatalities from the crisis than Spain (15,238)  but Sanchez has been encouraged by the latest data.

In the last 24 hours, 683 have died from the virus in Spain, a decrease of 74 from the previous day.

Sanchez saide believes Spain is close to surpassing the worst phase of the pandemic, vowing to lead the country to total victory over the virus.

The fire starts to come under control, the PSOE leader announced in Madrid to a near-empty parliament. We have reached the peak and now the de-escalation begins.

The climb has been difficult, as the descent will also be.

Spain has been in lockdown since 15 March but, despite a decline in fatalities, Sanchez asked parliament to extend the quarantine until 26 April.

With the potential for severe economic ramifications due to widespread lockdowns in Europe, the European Commission is continuing its efforts to co-ordinate a possible roadmap to ease measures.

Pedro Sanchez has announced Spain is close to reversing coronavirus curve (POOL/AFP)

Sanchez has also called for unity in Europe, warning against cuts and austerity.

The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity, Sanchez claimed. This scenario requires strength. Cuts and austerity are not the way forward.

But despite Austria, Czech Republic and Denmark edging towards becoming the first European countries to relax lockdown measures, EU leaders are still far from agreeing.

Lengthy negotiations lasted from Tuesday to Wednesday between EU leaders but an agreement over a economic support package is still to be agreed.
DETROIT -- Krysti Kallek has worked for the past decade in the emergency department at Detroits Sinai Grace Hospital. But shes never experienced anything like Michigans coronavirus crisis.

The number of patients. The severity of their symptoms.

The emergency department is bursting to the seams, day after day, night after night.

Weve run out of stretchers. Weve run out of body bags, said Kallek, who is a nurse.

Patients end up in the emergency-department hallways using oxygen tanks, she said. One night, they even ran out of oxygen tanks, so staff ran oxygen tubing from patient rooms to the people in the hallways.

And the COVID patients who come in are so, so fragile.

Weve never had patients like this, who crash so fast out of nowhere, Kallek said. One minute theyre smiling and the next minute theyre down.

And when the patients are put on ventilators, which many are, its hard to keep them calm and sedated, she said. So you have to put them on multiple drips, which brings down their blood pressure and you have to monitor that, and theyre still waking up and having things happen out of nowhere.

The situation is so fraught that emergency-department nurses are afraid to take a meal break because that leaves even fewer nurses to monitor so many patients, she said. I couldnt tell you the last time I took a break.

To make matters worse, the fact that coronavirus is highly contagious means patients cant have family with them, and the medical staff has to worry about being infected themselves. Kallek said a colleague who has coronavirus is now on a ventilator struggling for his life.

Its in this environment, she said, that she and other nurses on the night shift staged a walkout Sunday. When the shift began, there were six nurses, including one still in training, expected to care for 68 patients already there  not counting those likely to arrive during the night.

We needed to do something drastic to get peoples attention, Kallek said, adding the nurses who walked out had the full support of day-shift nurses who agreed to stay on to care for patients.

The biggest complaint: understaffing, which Kallek says has been a long-time issue at Sinai-Grace, whose clientele tends to be disproportionately low-income and more likely to have underlying health issues such as asthma and diabetes.

High patient volume is creating an increased need for staffing, especially nurses, said a statement provided to MLive by Detroit Medical Center, which operates Sinai Grace. The DMC is using a variety of resources to help to supplement nursing staff.

Kallek says Detroit Medical Center, which operates Sinai-Grace, should increase incentive pay and do whatever it takes to increase permanent, adequately trained staff, especially in a crisis that has pushed Sinai-Grace to a breaking point.

Its been like this for the past two, three weeks, Kallek said. And once it started, it has not stopped.

Unrest around the state

Kallek is far from the only Michigan health-care workers anxious and upset these days.

Across the state, there are concerns about staffing. Worries about shortages of personal protective equipment. Fears about their own health.

Doctors on front lines of coronavirus: It seems like the sky is falling

At least three Michigan healthcare workers have died from coronavirus.

Officials at the Beaumont Health in metro Detroit said on Monday that 1,500 of its 38,000 workers, including 500 nurses, were out sick with COVID symptoms. The Henry Ford Health System said about 600 to 700 of their 31,000 workers have tested positive. At University of Michigans Michigan Medicine, 110 workers out 728 tested positive for the coronavirus. Two-thirds of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bay County are health care workers, according to the Bay County Health Department.

In Detroit, there was the walkout at Sinai Grace. In Kalamazoo, nurses at Borgess Medical Center are alarmed by the specter of temporary job transfers to the east side of the state. In Mount Pleasant and Lapeer, McLaren hospitals are being criticized by the Michigan Nurses Association for not doing enough to protect and support employees.

If we dont take care of our nurses, who will be left to take care of COVID-19 patients? said Christie Serniak, a nurse who is a local union president at McLaren Central Michigan Hospital in Mount Pleasant.

Hospital officials say they are doing the best they can in an unprecedented crisis.

Our team members are our greatest asset and their health and safety is a top priority, said a statement from Henry Ford Health System.

A McLaren spokeswoman said her hospital system is working with the nurses union to address their concerns, and officials are moving quickly to address the fluidity of this crisis to keep patients and staff safe.

Nonetheless, there are ongoing issues with staffing levels, access to coronavirus testing for staff and a shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPEs, such as masks and gowns, acknowledged Ruthann Sudderth, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

Weve been laser-focused on getting more PPEs in the midst of a nationwide shortage, Sudderth said. Hospitals are doing everything they can and using all of their purchasing power to get more supplies.

There also is a shortage of coronavirus tests and test supplies such as throat swabs and reagents used in the testing, she said. While testing of symptomatic health-care workers is considered a high priority, she said, the shortages have made that difficult.

We want to do more, but we need more stuff, Sudderth said.

As for staffing, that has been and remains one of our primary concerns, she said. Adding beds without additional staff who are trained to provide that level of care doesnt help a whole lot, so staffing continues to be a challenge.

The influx of COVID-19 patients into hospitals is exacerbated by the number of healthcare workers who are also out sick, she said.

Its not a huge percentage of their overall workforce, Sudderth said. But these are people that we absolutely need to be able to report to work so the system feels that.

And what these people are doing showing up to work every day is nothing short of heroic.

Mandatory transfers?

Those words of encouragement are cold comfort for Jamie Brown, president of the Michigan Nurses Association, the states largest union representing registered nurses, who said shes hearing from worried colleagues around the state.

Coronavirus has Michigan nurses worried about protective equipment, sick leave

Theres so much uncertainty when we walk into the hospital, and we dont know that were going to be able to keep ourselves safe , she said.

But it goes way beyond worries about having enough masks, she said.

A critical-care nurse at Ascension Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Brown is battling a situation at her own hospital in which some nurses are being told theyre on a list for mandatory, temporary transfer to Ascension hospitals in metro Detroit.

If they dont go, they could be terminated, Brown said.

The union has been trying to sit down with Ascension to figure out a voluntary program if we need to send people to the other side of the state, Brown said. We dont want to have to mandate that, when it doesnt take into account personal needs or family needs.

For instance, she said, some nurses are single parents who dont have a good option for someone to watch their children if the parent was in metro Detroit.

My biggest fear is that our nurses are going to be burned or sick, and were not going to have enough staff when we need them to take care of patients, Brown said. Hospitals need to sit down and talk with us and come up with a solution.

Ascension Michigan issued a statement saying it has not implemented any mandatory reassignments to southeast Michigan," but doesnt appear to rule it out.

As we continue to navigate providing care during this global pandemic, emergency response plans are in place for ensuring we have the resources required to provide care to all who need it, the Ascension statement said.

Lack of testing

Meanwhile, a resident physician for Beaumont Hospitals in metro Detroit says he and many of his fellow residents at Beaumont are worried about spread of coronavirus within the hospital.

Beaumont has over 400 resident physicians and the administration has basically been really pushing us to work even in situations that aren't safe, said the resident, who did not want his name used because residents have been told not to talk to the media.

For example, personally I was out sick with COVID symptoms, and I have the employee health department at Beaumont, the resident said. I asked to be tested, and they said, No, well just wait until youre three days asymptomatic and then you can come back to work. How do I know Im not spreading (coronavirus) around the hospital?

One of my colleagues had a fever and she was really sick, and was refused testing three time, the resident said. The last time, they told her, You can only be tested if you cant talk, so basically like if youre near intubation.

To be clear, the resident said, Beaumont tells workers to stay home if its obvious that theyre sick. But if its cough and shortness of breath thats not severe, they tell us to wear a mask, he said.

The Beaumont resident said hed like to see Beaumont do a better job of minimizing staff, saying that with elective surgeries and procedures canceled, there are way too many residents, and people like social workers and nurse practitioners who are around and getting exposed when they dont need to be."

We also should be offered testing as needed if were complaining of symptoms, he said. They should test us immediately, rather than just say, you can be asymptomatic for a couple days and come back to work.

He said many of the front-line workers feel like were on a different page from hospital administration.

Our main priority is protecting the patients and the staff, he said. It feels like administrations main priority is just getting through this with minimal monetary loss.

Overwhelmed and worried

A nurse in the intensive-care department at Sinai Grace said hes reaching his own breaking point.

He just put in his two weeks notice, and is taking a job at another metro Detroit hospital.

The understaffing at Sinai Grace has become so problematic, he said, that he worries that patients may have died because he cant provide the level of care they require.

Sixty beds in the two ICU units compared to the normal 40, and these days, its common that every bed is taken.

The nursing staff hasnt increased, which means each nurse is often assigned three patients instead of the usual two. Thats especially worrisome because some of the people are so sick that in normal times, a nurse would be assigned exclusively to that patient.

Do the best you can, the nurses are told. Just do the best you can to keep people alive.

But this has been going on for several weeks now, and its only getting worse, says the nurse, who asked his name not be used because the hospital has fired staff who speak to the media without permission.

The patients keep coming, and theres talk of adding 20 more beds to the critical care units.

And its not just the exhaustion and frustration that comes with too many critically ill patients and too few resources. The hospital has stopped contributions to 401K plans during the crisis; with elective surgeries and procedures canceled, revenue is down.

But its not really about his compensation, he said. Its about the patients, and thats the biggest issue for me.

Kallek is staying at Sinai Grace, at least for now. But the challenge, she said, is formidable.

I love working there. I dont want to leave, Kallek said, saying she loves the tight-knit community of nurses and doctors in the emergency department.

But right now, people are just dying in the hall in front of us, and theres nothing we can do about it, she said. Were all going to need therapy after this. Were used to death. But this is a whole new thing.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Mapping spread of coronavirus in Michigan over past four weeks

Conoravirus upends Michigans Class of 2020: This isnt the senior year that anyone wanted'

MichMash: Medical supply shortage has businesses stepping up amid coronavirus pandemic

Second Michigan legislator confirmed positive for coronavirus
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX: MIN) (FSE: 3XS) (OTCQX: EXMGF) ("Excelsior" or the "Company") is providing an update on its temporary suspension of operations (see Excelsior news release dated March 26, 2020 - Excelsior Provides Corporate Update). As the duration of the suspension remains unknown at this time, Excelsior is taking steps to conserve cash and maintain a robust balance sheet. Excelsior is reducing its workforce, while retaining the personnel necessary to maintain the facilities and sustain environmental monitoring and compliance requirements. The Gunnison Copper Project will be maintained in a safe care and maintenance state; thereby, allowing Excelsior the ability to restart the wellfield when timing is deemed optimal.

In order to provide additional liquidity during this period, Excelsior has also now received the second US$5 million loan installment from Natural Resources Credit Fund I LP (see Excelsior news release dated November 1, 2019 - Excelsior Mining Secures Credit Facility).

"The Company's focus remains employee health and safety, as well as maintaining a strong balance sheet during these challenging times," said CEO, Stephen Twyerould. "Excelsior is retaining the flexibility to restart production at the Gunnison Copper Project once the uncertainty caused by the global pandemic passes."

Excelsior is also restructuring its Chief Financial Officer position by appointing Mr. Greg Duschek as Interim Chief Financial Officer. After a short transition period, Mr. Duschek will take over the role from Mr. Roger Baer. Mr. Duschek is currently General Manager at the Gunnison mine site and through this role has excellent insight into operational and financial matters. Mr. Duschek is a CPA, CA who began his career with Ernst & Young. Throughout his career, Mr. Duschek has held senior accounting roles with several operating mining companies including Kinross Gold and Detour Gold.

Story continues

About Excelsior Mining

Excelsior "The Copper Solution Company" is a mineral exploration and production company that owns the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County, Arizona. The project is a low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project that is permitted to 125 million pounds per year of copper cathode production. The Feasibility Study projected an after-tax NPV of US$ 807 million and an IRR of 40% using a US$ 2.75 per pound copper price and a 7.5% discount rate.

Excelsior's technical work on the Gunnison Copper Project is supervised by Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President & CEO of Excelsior and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Twyerould has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Additional information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: "Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study" dated effective December 17, 2016.

For more information on Excelsior, please visit our website at www.excelsiormining.com.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Excelsior Mining Corp.

Concord Place, Suite 300, 2999 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85018.

JJ Jennex, Vice President, Corporate Affairs

T: 604 723 1433

E: info@excelsiormining.com

www.excelsiormining.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" concerning anticipated developments and events that may occur in the future. Forward looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the results of the Feasibility Study, including operating and capital cost estimates and the economic benefits from the Gunnison Copper Project; (ii) the schedule for production and first copper cathode sales; (iii) the details of the care and maintenance operation plan; (iv) the Company's cash forecast; (v) the timeline to re-start operations; (vi) the Company's liquidity position; and (vii) the ability to mine the Gunnison Copper Project using in-situ recovery mining techniques.

In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, expectations and anticipated impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, copper and other metal prices, the timing and amount of future development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the progress of construction activities, receipt of and compliance with necessary regulatory approvals, the estimation of insurance coverage, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks inherent in the construction of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in project parameters as plans continue to be redefined including the possibility that mining operations may not commence at the Gunnison Copper Project, risks relating to variations in mineral resources and reserves, grade or recovery rates, risks relating to the ability to access infrastructure, risks relating to changes in copper and other commodity prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of copper and related products, risks related to increased competition in the market for copper and related products, risks related to current global financial conditions, risks related to current global financial conditions and the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks inherent in the conduct of mining activities, including the risk of accidents, labour disputes, increases in capital and operating costs and the risk of delays or increased costs that might be encountered during the construction process, regulatory risks, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks, risks related to disputes concerning property titles and interests, environmental risks and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's reports and filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54298
Sanaa, April 9 : A Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighting Houthi forces in Yemen has declared a ceasefire, according to officials.

The ceasefire will come into effect on Thursday in support of UN efforts to end the five-year-old war, the BBC reported.

The coalition, backed by Western military powers, has been fighting against Houthi forces aligned to Iran since March 2015.

It's unclear if the Houthi forces will also observe the ceasefire.

Last month the UN Secretary General AntAnio Guterres called on those in Yemen to cease fighting and ramp up efforts to counter a potential outbreak of the coronavirus.

He called on the parties in the country to work with his special envoy Martin Griffiths to achieve a nationwide de-escalation.

On Wednesday, Griffiths welcomes the ceasefire news in a statement.

He said: "The parties must now utilise this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency." Both sides are expected to take part in a video conference to discuss the ceasefire. The proposal calls for the halting of all air, ground and naval hostilities.

A statement from the coalition forces said: "On the occasion of holding and succeeding the efforts of the UN envoy to Yemen and to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people and work to confront the corona pandemic and prevent it from spreading, the coalition announces a comprehensive ceasefire for a period of two weeks, starting on Thursday." The situation in Yemen has long been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The war has cost many civilian lives and left the country on the brink of collapse.

The UN has brokered talks in the past, but this will be the first that the coalition has announced a countrywide ceasefire.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, spokesman of the Houthi movement said his group had put forward a vision to the UN which includes an end to the war and to "the blockade" on Yemen.
Covid-19, the highly infectious lung disease caused by the coronavirus, killed at least 1,900 people in the US for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, while infections reached 430,000 including more than 14,700 deaths, media reports said.



The number of known coronavirus infections in New York state alone approached 150,000 yesterday (April 8), reported Reuters.



A total of 779 people had died in the past day in New York state, Governor Andrew Cuomo was quoted as saying in the report. New Jersey reported 275 had died there, said Cuomo. Both totals exceeded one-day records from just a day earlier.



New York is one of 42 states where governors have issued stay-at-home orders and closed all non-essential workplaces.



US deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,700 on Wednesday, the second highest reported number in the world behind Italy, according to a Reuters tally. New York state accounts for over a third of the US total.



Officials have warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected US pandemic death toll by 26 per cent to 60,000.
Oil prices rose Thursday after Russia said it was ready to slash output, fuelling hopes that key producers are poised to seal a deal aimed at boosting coronavirus-hit energy markets. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up about three percent at $25.84 a barrel in afternoon Asian trade, having risen almost five percent at the open. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.7 percent to $33.08. It had jumped about three percent in earlier deals. Exporting group OPEC and allies including Russia as well as other major producers will hold a teleconference later in the day with expectations growing that they will agree to reduce output to support the struggling market. Prices are at near-two-decade lows with travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the virus throttling demand, and Riyadh and Moscow locked in a vicious price war. But Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's top exporters, now look set to draw a line under their dispute to help provide some stability. Moscow said Wednesday it is willing to cut output by 1.6 million barrels a day, or about 15 percent, Bloomberg News reported, smoothing the path towards a deal. In a further sign that a deal was imminent, Kuwait's Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel reportedly said top producers intend to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day. Fadhel said in an interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai published Thursday that the aim of the huge reduction is to "restore balance to the market and prevent further drops in the prices". A key sticking point had been whether the US would join any deal, but analysts say a fall in America's crude output forecast released earlier this week is likely enough to satisfy Riyadh and Moscow for now. Another key meeting takes place Friday, when G20 energy ministers hold talks remotely to discuss steps to steady the market. Still, analysts caution that the devil will be in the detail, and an output cut deemed too small could send prices even lower. A cut of just 10 million barrels a day "might not trigger much of a rally and probably eventually see selling pressure drive crude back to the low-mid $20s", said Edward Moya, senior market analyst with OANDA. A more modest output reduction may also not go far enough to tackle growing oversupply caused by weak demand. Rystad Energy forecasts the global oil glut could reach 25 million bpd in April. Moya also cautioned that a "turn for the worse could happen", which derails a deal, adding that "the following 24 hours will be critical for global oil prices".
Britons should wear face masks to protect against the killer coronavirus because they can stop the spread of the infection, experts say.

International researchers, led by the University of Oxford, called out organisations who refused to be extra cautious and recommend face masks.

Although there is not definitive evidence that masks could slow transmission, they should be encouraged 'just in case', the team said, and could even save lives.

The benefit of using face masks has become a topic of fierce debate in recent weeks as the number of COVID-19 infections globally surpassed 1.5million.

Earlier this week, a team from the University of East Anglia (UEA) concluded there was no strong evidence that face masks can protect healthy people.

It comes after the UK Government insisted healthy Britons do not need to wear face masks to try and protect themselves.

The advice is in stark contrast to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which contests that all Americans should wear them when out and about.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says widespread use is not necessary, and also raised concerns there could be a shortage of masks for medical workers if they are bought by the general public.

Britons should wear face masks to protect against the killer coronavirus because they can help curb the spread of the infection, experts say. Pictured, a man wearing a mask in London

A team, including researchers from the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics, said masks could save lives. A woman is pictured wearing one in a city

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) today, Professor Trisha Greenhalgh at the University of Oxford and colleagues said it's time the public adopted the use of face masks.

They said that despite limited evidence, masks 'could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.'

'The precautionary principle states we should sometimes act without definitive evidence, just in case,' they wrote.

'Even limited protection could prevent some transmission of COVID-19 and save lives. Because COVID-19 is such a serious threat, wearing masks in public should be advised.'

Deaths have risen steeply globally, reaching almost 90,000 since the pandemic started in China in January.

Without an effective vaccine or drugs to cure the disease, Professor Greenhalgh and team questioned why masks aren't considered necessary for everyone.

She and her team looked at a multitude of studies assessing the benefits of wearing masks, either to protect against the coronavirus or another virus, like flu.

They said the literature has been 'inconsistently interpreted by policy makers'.

The World Health Organization, for example, updated its guidance on Monday and only recommends masks for those with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

The WHO acknowledged the virus can be transmitted by people who do not have symptoms, but said it must still spread via droplets which can pass through the masks' big filters, or on contaminated surfaces.

It stressed that masks must be reserved for healthcare workers as much as possible.

However, elsewhere WHO acknowledges that the wearing of masks by the general public has a place in severe pandemics to limit the spread of disease, Professor Greenhalgh and team said.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FACE MASKS: WHAT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN Research on how well various types of masks and face coverings varies but, recently, and in light of the pandemic of COVID-19, experts are increasingly leaning toward the notion that something is better than nothing. A University of Oxford study published on March 30 concluded that surgical masks are just as effective at preventing respiratory infections as N95 masks for doctors, nurses and other health care workers. It's too early for there to be reliable data on how well they prevent infection with COVID-19, but the study found the thinner, cheaper masks do work in flu outbreaks. The difference between surgical or face masks and N95 masks lies in the size of particles that can - and more importantly, can't - get though the materials. N95 respirators are made of thick, tightly woven and molded material that fits tightly over the face and can stop 95 percent of all airborne particles, while surgical masks are thinner, fit more loosely, and more porous. This makes surgical masks much more comfortable to breathe and work in, but less effective at stopping small particles from entering your mouth and nose. Droplets of saliva and mucous from coughs and sneezes are very small, and viral particles themselves are particularly tiny - in fact, they're about 20-times smaller than bacteria. For this reason, a JAMA study published this month still contended that people without symptoms should not wear surgical masks, because there is not proof the gear will protect them from infection - although they may keep people who are coughing and sneezing from infecting others. But the Oxford analysis of past studies- which has not yet been peer reviewed - found that surgical masks were worth wearing and didn't provide statistically less protection than N95 for health care workers around flu patients. However, any face mask is only as good as other health and hygiene practices. Experts universally agree that there's simply no replacement for thorough, frequent hand-washing for preventing disease transmission. Some think the masks may also help to 'train' people not to touch their faces, while others argue that the unfamiliar garment will just make people do it more, actually raising infection risks. If the CDC does instruct Americans to wear masks, it could create a second issue: Hospitals already face shortages of masks and other PPE. Advertisement

They wrote: 'The suggestion that the public should not wear masks because healthcare workers need them more is valid up to a point, but it is surely an argument for manufacturing more masks, not for denying them to populations who could potentially benefit from them.'

They argued that the main reason for dissuading people from using face masks - because there isn't enough evidence - is not strong enough to discourage them completely.

The experts pointed to 'substantial indirect evidence' to support using face masks.

For example, they said the coronavirus stays in the air for several hours and people can be asymptomatic for days before showing signs of illness. Wearing a mask could be the difference between someone else catching it or not.

They also said people in a deadly pandemic could be highly motivated to use them correctly if taught, quashing arguments that people fail to use them in the right way.

'Masks are simple, cheap and potentially effective,' the group, which involved experts in Austria, Switzerland, Scotland and London, said.

'They could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.'

In a linked editorial, Babak Javid at Tsinghua University in Beijing and colleagues agree that the public should wear face masks because the benefits are plausible and harms unlikely.

Earlier this week, researchers from the University of East Anglia, in Norwich reviewed scientific evidence on the topic and said widespread use of masks wasn't needed.

However, masks have a 'small protective effect' that could help shield the elderly and vulnerable people from the killer bug.

If both an ill person and those who are well - and who live in the same household - wear masks, the risk of transmission is cut by 19 per cent, literature suggests.

Lead author Professor Paul Hunter said: 'It's important to remember that we have not been able to look specifically at COVID-19 because there have been no specific studies to date.'

Overall the UEA team concluded there was no push to change current UK policy - which says healthy people do not need to wear masks.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on April 3 that the evidence on masks being useless had been 'very clear from the start'.

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam claimed wearing masks was 'wired into' some Asian cultures.

His claim came hours before Donald Trump recommended all Americans wear the mask, but said it was voluntary.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dramatically switched its stance overnight after deliberation for a few days.

'From recent studies we know that transmissions from individuals without symptoms is playing a more significant role in the spread of the virus than previously understood, so you don't seem to have symptoms and it still gets transferred,' the president explained.
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi 10th Installment: Date, Amount, How To Check Status Online and Other Details

Viral: This Animated video released in 2020 looks exactly the sequence of PM security breach

Covid-19: Farmers neck-deep in trouble owing to lockdown

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

Madhya Pradesh, Apr 09: Farmers have been one of the most hard hit by the ongoing 21-days nationwide lockdown.

The wheat crop standing in the fields has ripened but farmers are having trouble getting labourers for harvesting.

Farmers of Madhya Pradesh are also struggling with this problem.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Farmers in Chhatarpur say they are incurring losses as they are unable to harvest their crops due to lack of labourers amid COVID19 lockdown.

According to a tweet by ANI, Kalibandhu, a farmer, says that no labourers are being found to harvest the crop.

Kalibandhu, a farmer says, "There are no labourers to harvest our crops. The machines for harvesting crops are very costly and we can not afford them. We are very worried as we will have nothing to sell and earn if this continued". #CovidLockdown https://t.co/hxlMAxN1bj pic.twitter.com/bG7yO2neGA  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

Machines for harvesting crops are also very expensive that they cannot buy them. They are very worried because they will have nothing to sell and earn if the lockdown continues.

Family members of farmers in Rohtak, Haryana are helping them to harvest crops, due to shortage of labourers.

Hemchandra, a farmer says, "Crop is ready, so we are taking help of our family members to harvest it. Still, we need labourers as the work is very slow".

Fake News Buster

Underlining this critical situation in the wake of lockdown, Lucknow-based farm expert Sudhir Panwar said, "Movements of farmers and agriculture labourers should be allowed from home to farms so that they can continue with their ongoing harvest operations.

Delayed procurement is not much of a problem, but harvest can not be delayed. If harvest is forced to be delayed, it will result into loss of 5-10 per cent of produce due to shattering in wheat and mustard".

Karnataka govt in favour of lifting lockdown in coronavirus free districts

Meanwhile, the number of virus-infected patients in Madhya Pradesh jumped to 385 as 72 new coronavirus positive cases were reported on Wednesday, health officials said.

The highest number of 213 cases are from Indore with 21 deaths where the state death toll reached 29.
A married couple found stabbed to death at their London flat have been pictured for the first time.

Sonia Calvi, 66, and Edgar Daza, 60, were discovered with multiple stab wounds at their home in Stockwell, south London on April 1.

Paramedics and police were scrambled to the scene in a desperate attempt to save them but they were later pronounced dead.

Daniel Briceno-Garcia has been charged with two counts of murder and will next appear in court on June 3.

Five other people, four men and one woman, all in their forties and fifties, were also arrested on suspicion of murder but have been bailed pending further investigation.

Pictures of the couple, who moved to the UK from South America, have been released for the first time today.

Sonia Calvi, 66, and Edgar Daza, 60, were discovered with multiple stab wounds at their home in Stockwell, south London on April 1. They were later pronounced dead at the scene

Janet Samuel, who lived three doors down from the crime scene, said: 'There were a few people living there, it was a shared flat. They didn't speak English and kept themselves to themselves.'

Another neighbour, who wished not to be named, said: 'People would move in and out of that flat often and I didn't really know anybody.

'There were about six or seven living there - the flat was divided up inside - and I don't think any of them spoke English.'

A police cordon remained at the scene, on the edge of a larger housing estate, for more than 24 hours after the killing.

Forensic investigators set up tents in a small play area outside the flat where they gathered evidence.

One woman, who lived across the road, saw officers making a number of arrests at the address.

She said: 'I was shocked by it because I could see the flat from my window. There were people being brought out of the flat and I saw people being arrested - five men and a lady.'

Police and forensic investigators are pictured inside a cordon in Stockwell, south London after the killings on April 1

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'Daniel Briceno-Garcia, 44, was charged on Thursday, April 2 with two counts of murder.

'He appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Friday, April 3 and was remanded into custody. He will appear next appear at the same court on Friday, June 3.

'Police were called to a residential address in Dorset Road, SW8 at around 4pm on Wednesday, April 1.

'Inside the address, officers found a man and a woman suffering stab injuries - both were pronounced dead at the scene.

'They have now been formally identified as married couple, Sonia Teresa Burton Calvi, 66, and Edgar Aguilera Daza, 60. Their next of kin are aware.

'Six people - five men and one woman - were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder; one man was charged as above; the others have been bailed pending further enquiries.

'Detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command investigate.'
People who plan to have a barbecue on Easter have been warned their hands could catch fire if they don't dry them after using sanitiser.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service issued the warning on Thursday and urged people to be cautious near an open flame.

'With an increase in the use of hand sanitiser, wed like to remind everyone that its ingredients are flammable,' the NSW RFS said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

'If youre planning a BBQ this weekend, please ensure that you completely dry your hands after using hand sanitiser before coming into contact with a naked flame.'

The NSW Rural Fire Service issued the warning on Thursday through social media and urged people to be cautious when near an open flame

Most hand sanitisers contain 60 to 80 per cent alcohol, which effectively kills bacteria but is also highly flammable.

Because alcohol is a major ingredient in hand sanitiser, it has been classified as a Flammable Liquid Category 2 by Safe Work Australia.

People who have sanitiser on their hands are warned to keep away from heat, sparks, open flames, hot surfaces and avoid smoking.

Though NSW RFS issued the warning to those celebrating Easter, social gatherings such as BBQs are now restricted to a maximum of two people.

There are exceptions if more than two people live together.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Australians to stay at home over the four-day religious holiday rather than visiting friends and relatives, in keeping with the social isolation measures designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Police will be able to fine anyone gathering in groups larger than two people.
A Porsche, a Mercedes-Benz and a Goulburn property purchased with the proceeds of a million-dollar fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme have been forfeited to the Commonwealth.

Last month Alaedine Rifai, 41, and his partner Amal Hilmi, 36, pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal scheme of $1.5 million through a criminal syndicate that earned some members upwards of $50,000 a day.

A Mercedes E63 registered in the name of Alaedine Rifai. Credit:Australian Federal Police

Together the western Sydney couple enjoyed a lavish lifestyle funded by the proceeds of the criminal enterprise. For Ms Hilmi, that included an $83,000 Porsche Cayenne purchased in August 2018 in her name and a property in Goulburn, purchased for $280,000 the next month.

For Mr Rifai, the proceeds of the fraud went towards a $62,000 Mercedes-Benz E63 and an $18,000 Audi S3, purchased in August and September 2018.
Private schools must open in term two for children who need supervision during the COVID-19 crisis, after Education Minister Dan Tehan issued a binding legal directive tied to their funding.

Federal, state and territory leaders are still finalising what term two will look like across the country after the school holidays. Education ministers are weighing up options for a staggered shift towards more normal school operations, which could see year 12 students and those in more hands-on subjects returning to campuses for some sessions.

Education Minister Dan Tehan has directed private schools to be open. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The national cabinet meeting on Thursday discussed schools, focusing on a coherent approach after Easter holidays amid confusion among parents and teachers. Government sources said the leaders were working towards a more consistent national position on which children should be attending school, although no decisions have been made.

While most private schools have been maintaining in-person supervision options for children of essential services workers in addition their rollout of distance learning, Mr Tehan has written to independent school peak bodies highlighting a "small number" that have closed their campuses entirely.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister appeared fed up Thursday with people who continue to gather in groups despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as he announced new fines to convince people to obey public health orders.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks during a COVID-19 live-streamed press conference at the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg Tuesday, March 31, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister appeared fed up Thursday with people who continue to gather in groups despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as he announced new fines to convince people to obey public health orders.

"I would tell those who are so disrespectful of the rest of us to understand that (enforcement officers) will be everywhere  in every neighbourhood, everywhere you are  and that you'd better change the way you've been behaving," Pallister told reporters.

While police forces in other provinces including Quebec and Nova Scotia have been issuing fines for weeks, Manitoba will start to in the coming days.

Individuals who break rules such as the 10-person limit on public gatherings will face fines of $486. Non-essential businesses that open, or essential businesses that open but do not ensure proper distance between customers, will be fined $2,542.

The province will work with municipal and First Nations police and bylaw officers to levy the fines, Pallister said, although initially the focus will be on warnings.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said the city may use its own penalty system, at least in the short-term. An existing municipal bylaw allows for fines of up to $1,000 or six months in jail for individuals, he said. It only applies on city-owned property such as municipal parks.

While both politicians said most people are obeying public-health orders, pictures have emerged on social media in recent days of large groups of people playing soccer, football and other games in parks. A tattoo parlour in Brandon  a non-essential business under the province's health order  was recently ordered to shut down after being found open, health officials said.

"For those who are still not getting the message, we've reached the point where the continued violations of these measures needs to stop," Bowman said.

The announcement came as the province revealed three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total of confirmed and presumptive cases to 224. Three people have died since the start of the outbreak and 76 have recovered.

The new fines do not apply to gatherings in private homes, but health officials urged people not to host family gatherings with Easter and other religious holidays approaching.

"In situations where you're having large family gatherings, you're putting all those people that you care about at risk," Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer, said.

With the pandemic continuing, organizers of Dauphin's Countryfest  a music event that attracts thousands of people each summer  announced they are cancelling this year's festival.

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And new restrictions may be looming in parks and campgrounds.

The province shut down washrooms and other facilities at its parks Thursday, and Pallister said a committee is looking at what further actions might be needed in the coming weeks and months. Provincial campsites are slated to open for the season on May 8.

Winnipeg has left parks open while closing amenities such as athletic fields and play structures, but Bowman said an all-out closure is being considered.

"We're hoping that that's not necessary because, you know, it's a Catch-22 governments are in right now," Bowman said.

"On one hand, we're saying go home, but on the other hand we're trying to provide space so that when people do need to leave (home), they have safe spaces (where) they can spread out."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020
Doctors and health authorities are turning to academics and creative volunteers to make face shields for frontline workers, in a bid to combat a widespread shortage of critical personal protective equipment.

Professor Gordon Wallace, of the University of Wollongong, said the institution was approached by the Illawarra Shoalhaven local health district to manufacture face shields and make prototypes for spare ventilator parts.

Blake Cochran is developing creative solutions to the protective equipment shortage. Credit:James Brickwood

"Its all really been driven by them and their needs," he said. "Were here and ready to help."

The university, in collaboration with two local 3D printing companies, has been asked to produce 3000 face shields over the next three weeks. The university has been making about 400 shields a day.
The COVID-19 crisis has prompted the Ontario government to quietly pass legislation this past week allowing the virtual witnessing of wills and powers of attorney.

The move responded to a surge of interest among people wanting either to create or update their wills while following government advice to stay at home and practise social distancing, said Toronto estate planning lawyer Jordan Atin.

Never before in his 25 years of drafting wills, Atin said, has he fielded so many inquiries  a trend lawyers all over the world are experiencing. Were actually doing triage so the wills that we need get done as quickly as we can, he said.

The pandemic obviously has more people  particularly front-line health care workers  thinking about their own mortality. I just had an email from two front-line doctors who need wills right away, Atin said this week.

For others, the coronavirus threat is simply leaving people more time on their hands. Wills are one of those things people put off, like cleaning out the garage, said Atin, an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall law school.

But how could someone draft a will when were all being asked to stay clear of each other and Canadian law requires that it be signed in the presence of two witnesses, who cant be a beneficiary, a spouse or a minor?

So this past week, Ontarios Attorney General made an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act that says the witness requirement can be satisfied by audio and video technology.

While a revolutionary move in Ontario, other jurisdictions allow for the video execution of wills, especially in the United States, Atin said.

For the duration of the pandemic, the law now allows for a will to be signed by three people who do not need to be in the same room together.

It works like this: The testator and two witnesses  one of them must be a lawyer or paralegal  connect on video. The two witnesses watch the will maker sign the document.

That document is then sent by courier, not email  digital signatures arent allowed  to the first witness, say a lawyer such as Atin, who must then sign it, again on video, before sending it  again by courier  to the other witness. He or she then signs it, watched by the other witnesses, perhaps on a Zoom call.

Now youve got a valid will. (Handwritten wills, called holographs, are also legally recognized in Ontario. They do not require witnesses.)

The video witnessing also applies to power of attorney documents and, like wills, this measure is only valid during the pandemic, at least as it stands now.

Atin admitted its not a perfect solution.

But it is better than what we were having to deal with, which was exposing ourselves and our clients of having to be in the physical presence of other people. And its not like other documents that can be witnessed by anybody  if youre leaving everything to your spouse and your kids you cant have them witness the will.
[April 09, 2020] Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announce Proposed Settlement in the Liberator/JMP Settlement

The following statement is being issued by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP regarding the Liberator/JMP Settlement:







IN THE EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE STATE OF NEVADA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF CLARK DAN SCHMIDT, on Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, vs. LIBERATOR MEDICAL HOLDINGS, INC., et al., Defendants. AND ALL CONSOLIDATED ACTIONS. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Master File No. A-15-728234-B Dept No. XI CLASS ACTION

SUMMARY NOTICE TO: ALL HOLDERS OF LIBERATOR MEDICAL HOLDINGS, INC. ("LMH") COMMON STOCK WHO RECEIVED CONSIDERATION FOR THEIR SHARES IN THE ACQUISITION OF LMH BY C.R. BARD, INC. ("BARD") FOR THE PRICE OF $3.35 PER SHARE, WHICH CLOSED ON (News - Alert) JANUARY 21, 2016 (THE "ACQUISITION") YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the Eighth Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada, Clark County, that a hearing will be held on July 13, 2020, at 9:00 a.m., before the Honorable Elizabeth Gonzalez of the Eighth Judicial District Court of Clark County, Nevada, 200 Lewis Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada, Courtroom 3E, for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed Settlement for $3,000,000 should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) whether an Order and Final Judgment should be entered by the Court; (3) whether the Plan of Allocation for the Net Settlement Fund is fair, reasonable, and adequate and should be approved; and (4) whether the application of Class Counsel for the payment of attorneys' fees and expenses should be approved.1 This Settlement Amount exists in addition to the $4,750,000 settlement amount involved in the related Libratore Settlement, resulting in a total proposed recovery for the Class of $7,750,000. IF YOU HELD LMH COMMON STOCK AND RECEIVED CONSIDERATION IN THE ACQUISITION FOR THE PRICE OF $3.35 PER SHARE, WHICH CLOSED ON JANUARY 21, 2016, YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE SETTLEMENT, INCLUDING THE RELEASE AND EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS YOU MAY POSSESS RELATING TO YOUR OWNERSHIP OF LMH COMMON STOCK. If you have not received a detailed Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action ("Notice") and a copy of the Proof of Claim and Release form, you may obtain copies by writing to Liberator/JMP Settlement, Claims Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box (News - Alert) 404130, Louisville, KY 40233-4130, or on the Internet at www.LiberatorSettlement.com. If you are a Class Member, in order to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim and Release by mail (postmarked no later than July 28, 2020), or online at www.LiberatorSettlement.com (no later than July 28, 2020), establishing that you are entitled to recovery. If you have previously submitted a valid Proof of Claim in connection with the related Libratore Settlement, you do not need to submit another Proof of Claim for this Settlement. Please contact the Claims Administrator if you have any questions concerning whether you have previously submitted a valid Proof of Claim. All Members of the Class who did not timely and validly request exclusion from the Class will be bound by any judgment entered pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement. Any objection to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation, and/or Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees and expenses, must be received by each of the following recipients no later than June 22, 2020: CLERK OF THE COURT DEPARTMENT XI EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA 200 Lewis Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89155 Class Counsel: ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP David Knotts 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA (News - Alert) 92101 Counsel for JMP: WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI, P.C. Steven Guggenheim 650 Page Mill Road Palo Alto (News - Alert), CA 94304 PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. If you have any questions about the Settlement, you may contact Class Counsel at the address listed above. DATED: March 9, 2020 BY ORDER OF THE COURT

EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA 1 Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein have the meaning given to them in the Stipulation of Settlement dated February 5, 2020. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005001/en/

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The African Union Commission (AU) is appealing to its member states not to repatriate other African nationals who test positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while in jurisdictions different from their home countries.

Rather, the Commission wants such persons to be treated just like any other patient of the disease in the countries they tested positive.



According to the Director for the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) at the AU, Dr John Nkengasong, it would be out of place to repatriate such persons.



His comment followed the government of Ghanas indications to repatriate 10 ECOWAS nationals who tested positive for COVID-19 after being arrested and placed into mandatory quarantine in Tamale, in the Northern Region recently.



The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, had on Sunday, March 29, 2020 given an indication that the ten would not be treated in Ghana, a decision many have described would rather put the lives of many others at risk of contracting the virus should they be repatriated.



If a national of a member state tests positive in a country different from their home country, they should seek care in that country, and officials ought to engage with physicians on how to adequately manage the process of care, Dr Nkengasong said.



Video Press Conference



Addressing journalists across the continent via video conference, he maintained that member states need to intensify their ability to test and detect patients, isolate them and find their contact to be monitored as containment strategies.



Giving an update of the pandemic in Africa, he said as of 9 am East African Time on April 2, 2020, Africa had recorded an increased number of 6,213 cases in 49 countries, with 221 deaths and 469 recoveries.





The AU, he said, has presently deployed an online platform in delivering training on laboratory diagnostics, surveillance, and infection prevention and control for member states due to travel restriction.



Similarly, the Africa CDC, he said is providing support to countries through the distribution of test kits and other logistics to assist in the care and treatment of patients.



Mobile Laboratories



Dr Nkengasong also pointed out that, with countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote divoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal recording increased positive cases, member states ought to quickly adopt the use of mobile laboratories to undertake door-to-door testing of people in areas affected by the infection.





Already, South Africa, he said had commenced using the mobile laboratories to test and identify those infected and isolate them as containment measures.



He stressed that the lockdown of cities across the continent identified as epicentres of the disease should come with the ability to quickly test people and find their contacts should such results return positive.



You must have a good specimen system that you can supplement the mobile laboratories with so that the turnaround time for results becomes efficient so people do not become overly apprehensive, Dr Nkengasong said.



He said that as the numbers keep increasing on the continent, We need to bear in mind that the virus will find its way into vulnerable communities and sit itself there and thats where you see it exploding and spreading further into multiple countries as witnessed in Europe and other places, he said.



Commending governments in the affected countries for the lockdowns being implemented in cities where the infections are spreading, he said, such would go to minimise social harms.



The Director however, encouraged them to build local partnerships and let the communities understand the benefit of the lockdown.



Create champions from the community, liaise with chiefs and opinion leaders, sensitise them and get them to understand the effects of the social distancing as a key proven method for controlling the outbreak, Dr Nkengasong counselled.



Africas Own Vaccines



Asked whether Africa is looking at research solutions towards finding its own vaccines to cure the pandemic instead of always looking up to the international community for such, Dr Nkengasong said that, although some 30 candidate vaccines are undergoing trials, lInstitut Pasteur, located in Senegal which is Africas foremost developer of vaccines presently has no such focus.



However, he emphasised that there are groups that are looking into vaccines testing which require a coordinated effort.



The Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI), he said also has a variety of vaccines they are currently pushing through, but regardless of who is producing it, we should not expect a vaccine within the next 12 months, thats the unfortunate situation, he underscored.



On the recent Anti-COVID-19 Fund established by the AU, Dr Nkengasong said that there are engagements ongoing for bilateral and multilateral support for the fund.



There is an appeal for multiple partnership and they have seen a lot of goodwill expressed to support from bilateral and multilateral partners of Africa, but we need to see that those goodwill are being translated into concrete actions, he pointed out.





Source: Daily Graphic









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Liz Canavan Assistant Secretary to the Department of An Taoiseach speaking to media on the latest measures Government Departments have introduced in response to Covid-19 at Government Buildings, Dublin. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins

OVER 33,000 people have closed their applications for the 350 per week pandemic unemployment payment because they already have a job or claim other welfare.

A senior government official confirmed that the number of people whose applications for the PUP scheme have been closed has risen from 19,000 to 33,000.

The Department of Social Protection is providing income support to over 507,000 recipients who are availing of the 350/week pandemic payment.

But Department of the Taoiseach assistant secretary Liz Canavan said a number of people are closing their claim because their employer is availing of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. "The number of people who've closed a pandemic unemployment payment claim has now increased to over 33,000," she said.

Read More

Ms Canavan said 80pc of these claims were closed because the recipient is now back in work, 5pc said they were claiming another social welfare payment, while 15pc did not give a specific reason why they were closing their claim.

Many applicants have closed their claim because their employers are now availing of the temporary wage subsidy scheme which allows businesses to claim up to 70pc of their employees' weekly pay from the Government, up to a maximum of 410 per week.

Over 40,300 employers have now registered with the Revenue-administered scheme. The tax authority has generated 155 million of payments to employers. Ms Canavan clarified today that employers are under no obligation to top-up the payment to give employees their normal salary.

Employees are not currently paying tax on income earned under the wage subsidy scheme but income tax, USC and PRSI will be recouped at a later date by Revenue, Ms Cavanan said, adding that this will be phased over the tax year. 

The main thing is not to slow down the cash getting out now, so thats the main purpose of it, she said.

At the daily briefing on the Governments response to Covid-1, Ms Canavan also said An Garda Siochana and the PSNI were working together to prevent people from making non-essential cross-border journeys over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

There is excellent ongoing cooperation between An Garda Siochana and their colleagues in the police service, Northern Ireland, she said.

Points of contact have been established to monitor cross border travel and to ensure that restrictions in this jurisdiction are adhered to. Key locations of concern have been identified and the guards will follow their usual approach to engage, educate, encourage and enforce as a last resort.

Elsewhere, new laws have been signed to give mobile networks flexibility to create extra capacity for mobile phone and broadband services.

The networks have come under strain in recent weeks as more people rely on their mobile phones and home broadband to communicate with work and keep in touch with family and friends.

The Department of Communications in conjunction with the communications regulator have signed regulations to create flexibility for networks.

Ms Canavan said: Mobile networks have coped well with the extra usage, but they currently have less headroom to accommodate further increases or potential spikes in demand.

Ms Canavan also said that four hotels had been contracted in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Dundalk to provide self-isolation rooms to people in Direct Provision who may require them

A further 250 beds have now been added on top of the 650 beds that were announced by the Department of Justice last week to support social distancing and cocooning measures. Around 650 Direct Provision residents have been relocated in recent weeks to allow them to self-isolate.

Ms Canavan also said it was now clear that the current restrictions in place on public movement would be rolled back on a more phased basis rather than in one go. She said a senior officials group and the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 were examining how lifting the restrictions on an incremental basis would work.

"I suppose at the beginning we might have all thought that might all happen in one go, but we're more clear now it's going to happen in a much more phased way. So there's ongoing work, and there are a number of subgroups off the SOG [senior officials group] looking at a range of those issues," she said.
Two junior government doctors,



including a woman, have alleged they were beaten up by police personnel who accused them of "spreading coronavirus", leading the authorities to take disciplinary action against a constable and order a probe into the incident on Thursday.

The doctors suffered injuries in the attack, which they said, took place close to AIIMS Bhopal - their workplace - when they were on way to home after duty on Wednesday evening.

Taking a serious note of the incident, Bhopal City (South) Superintendent of Police Sai Krishna Thota on Thursday attached a constable to the line (taking him off field duty) and ordered a probe.

We showed them our IDs and also had our aprons on, said the lady doctor, identified only as Ritu, accompanied by the other victim, who had his right hand bandaged.

There were some more colleagues. The policemen were abusive and said we were the ones spreading the viral infection.

"They threw away our belongings and kept hitting us with sticks without any rhyme or reason, she alleged as her male colleague nodded in approval.

She claimed policemen also told them "you are disgrace to this country".

We first conveyed the matter to our professors and lodged a complaint with the mobile police control room through phone," she said, showing her crape bandage.

The two doctors later received first aid at the AIIMS. Some of their friends recorded their ordeal and uploaded it on social media.

AIIMS Bhopal Director Dr Sarman Singh told PTI that they dont have any grudge against the police now as officers immediately contacted the hospital after the incident and took action promptly.

Seeking to downplay the incident, he said it was not proper to focus on "small things" in the midst of a major health crisis.

SP Thota said, Police got a call that some vendors were selling vegetables near AIIMS which they were not supposed to. Two constables rushed to the spot in a four- wheeler to disperse the crowd.

People out there ran helter-skelter on seeing the police. Near the same place they saw these (two) young doctors in civil dress. It was hard to differentiate them from others in the crowd," he contended.

"These doctors were not buying vegetable... they were purchasing milk," the SP added.

An altercation took place, but the doctors did not suffer any major injuries or fractures," Thota said.

The SP acknowledged the role of doctors in fighting the coronavirus crisis.

"Doctors and police are on the same page in fighting the virus and we want cordial relations between the two pillars who are actually striving hard to manage the situation," he said.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Kamal Nath termed the incident as shameful.

He tweeted, Policemen beating up two PG doctors, including a lady doctor, has come to light. This is extremely shameful.

We are proud of doctors who are serving people during the pandemic by risking their lives."



The Congress leader demanded strict action against the guilty to ensure such incidents do not recur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wellington: After devastating Vanuatu and lashing Fiji, tropical cyclone Harold has re-strengthened to a category five storm but avoided a direct hit with Tonga.

Thousands of people were made homeless in Vanuatu after Harold made landfall at least twice as a category-five storm with winds of more than 235km/h.

A destroyed building in Luganville, Vanuatu. Credit:AAP

There are now reports of at least one death on Vanuatu's Malo island, and complete devastation on Ambae island.

Cameraman Joseph Tom, who was one of the first to survey the hardest-hit northern islands, told Radio NZ everything was smashed to the ground.
We tried to have a Zoom family meeting, but we had trouble with the technology, so it didnt turn out well, Carrie Hoza said. But the nursing staff at Evanston Hospital was beyond amazing. They took such good care of her, holding up the phone so she could hear us, and reading her our letters and prayers. None of us could be there when she died, so my grandmothers nurse, Alejandra, was like a guardian angel to all of us.
Since his ouster last year, Sudans veteran leader Omar al-Bashir has been detained and convicted of corruption, becoming the Middle Easts latest fallen strongman.

The 76-year-old, held in Khartoums Kober prison where many of his opponents were detained during his rule, had ruthlessly crushed dissent after his rise to power in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup.

For three decades, he tenaciously held onto power through several bouts of protests, even after the 2011 Arab Spring revolts that toppled Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

Bashirs fate, however, was sealed after his own military reacted to mounting popular anger and ousted him in April last year after months of street demonstrations.

He was handed a two-year sentence over corruption charges in December and faces separate charges over the deaths of protesters and the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

An appeals court upheld the sentence on Wednesday.

The former leader has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over war crimes and genocide in the war-ravaged Darfur region of western Sudan.

One of Africas longest-serving presidents, Bashir showed many different faces during his 30 years at the helm.

Known for his trademark dancing and waving of a cane before addressing loyalists, Bashir had remained defiant in the face of growing street protests before his overthrow.

He long proved himself a political survivor, evading not only the ICC but also a myriad of domestic challenges ranging from economic misery to bloody internal conflicts.

 Darfur conflict 

Bashir was indicted by the ICC over the Darfur conflict that erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against his Arab-dominated government, accusing it of political and economic marginalisation of their region.

The United Nations estimates around 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million others displaced in the conflict.

Human rights groups say Khartoum targeted suspected pro-rebel ethnic groups with a scorched earth policy, raping, killing, looting and burning villages.

Bashir openly defied the ICC, travelling overseas within Africa and further afield to countries including Russia and China and winning re-election in 2010 and 2015 in polls boycotted by opposition groups.

The ex-president even flew to Damascus, just days before protests erupted at home, to meet Syrias President Bashar al-Assad.

It was not until February that Sudans transitional authorities who came to power months after his ouster agreed he be handed over to the ICC.

 Protests 

Bashir, who has two wives and no children, was born in 1944 in Hosh Bannaga, north of Khartoum, to a farming family.

He entered the military at a young age, rising through the ranks and joining an elite parachute regiment.

He fought alongside the Egyptian army in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

In 1989, as brigade commander, he led a bloodless coup orchestrated by Islamist scholar Hassan al-Turabi against a democratically-elected government then led by Sadiq al-Mahdi.

A career soldier, Bashir was known for his populist touch, insisting on being close to crowds and addressing them in colloquial Sudanese Arabic.

Bashir became skilful over time. He learned the trade. At the beginning, he was not a prominent figure, said Marc Lavergne, an Africa expert at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris.

He made several public appearances even as protests raged against him following his governments decision in December 2018 to triple bread prices, and as Sudan grappled with shortages of food, medicines and foreign currency.

At a rally in January 2019, in the northern city of Atbara, Bashir voiced his disdain for protesters calling them traitors, conspirators and rats that should return to their holes.

But the protests kept going for weeks until tens of thousands marched on April 6 to set up a sprawling encampment outside the army headquarters in Khartoum.

Months of unrest and clashes with security forces left dozens dead, hundreds wounded and thousands jailed.

 Hosting bin Laden 

Between 1992 and 1996, Bashir led Sudan towards a more radical brand of Islam, hosting Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, and he sent jihadist volunteers to fight in the countrys civil war with the south Sudanese.

Bin Laden was expelled under US pressure after Washington placed Sudan on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Under Bashirs rule, ethnically diverse Sudan saw the south gain its independence in 2011 after two decades of conflict between the Arab Muslim north and the mainly Christian or animist south.

The secession  under a peace deal that Bashir accepted  saw the south take the bulk of Sudans oil fields.

As economic woes mounted, Bashirs cash-strapped administration broke ties with Shiite Iran in favour of its rival, Saudi Arabia.

Khartoum provided troops to the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-aligned Shiite rebels in Yemen, in a move criticised by Bashirs opponents at home.

In his trial last year, Bashir admitted to having received millions of dollars from Saudi royals, including the kingdoms de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He insisted the funds were not used for private interests but as donations to support individuals and entities.
The Andalusian health service was criticised this week for writing to its staff to tell them not to talk publicly about their treatment of coronavirus patients because of a central government order.

Up to now, the source of much public information on the evolution of the crisis in Spain, including criticism, has come from the real-time accounts of healthcare workers.

The regional bosses, controlled by the conservative PP party, appeared to use the excuse of an order by PSOE-controlled central government to gag health workers. Under the state of alarm, Madrid has taken control from the regions of health-data gathering, which has caused tension between the two levels of government.

The letter (page 1 and page 2) asked staff to "keep secret" information about their duties or face possible criminal charges. But the PSOE said that the government order had been misinterpreted and warned the PP not to play politics with the crisis.
GREENWICH  The town of Greenwich will require all grocery store and restaurant employees to wear masks or face-coverings along with gloves to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

First Selectman Fred Camillo made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, using powers he has under the state of emergency he declared last month. Camillo said the order goes into effect immediately. He said it doesnt necessarily require a mask, just something like a scarf or bandana that ensures that a workers face is covered.

This is important for people who are near food supplies to make sure they dont accidentally pass something onto that, Camillo said.

The order covers grocery stores and any business where food is handled. Camillo said he has not yet received any feedback on the order, which was announced late Wednesday afternoon.

If you dont have masks, you can wear a cloth or handkerchief, which I am telling people to do now to not tax our supplies at this early stage, Camillo said. And I have already seen people in establishments with masks. I have to believe they have some already. We can certainly work with people going forward.

Camillo said town Director of Health Caroline Baisley had already reached out to local businesses and said there will be more communication to make sure everyone is aware of the order.

There will also be enforcement, Camillo said.

We want businesses to thrive so we would be there to help if they need it, he said.

The call for people nationwide to wear masks to stop the spread of the virus increased in the past week, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the practice. Camillo said he had heard concerns from town residents and decided to move ahead with the order after confirming with the towns legal department that he has the power as long as the directive does not conflict with an order from Gov. Ned Lamont or President Donald Trump.

If anyone in the public sees someone not wearing a mask in any of those establishments, please let us know and we will contact them, Camillo said.

The town has put in place restrictions to close town parks and beaches, with violators potentially facing trespassing citations. Camillo said there will be consequences if the new restriction is not followed at local businesses.

We are requiring them to do that, Camillo said. My preference would be for them to do it and be done with it. I guess if you tell somebody to do something and they dont do it then the hammer has to come down and youd have to have some kind of punishment or fine for not following the order.

But certainly we have made it a practice to warn people if they are in violation of an executive order or an emergency declaration and if they follow it, thats the end of it. Were not looking to punish people or make their lives harder than they are right now, he said.

According to the towns Department of Health, 234 Greenwich residents have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday, up from the 217 reported on Tuesday. Greenwich Hospital reports that as of noon on Wednesday there were 111 people hospitalized there from all over the region diagnosed with coronavirus.

The hospital said that 136 people who were diagnosed have been discharged to continue their recovery at home.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
The senior Saudi prince who is governor of Riyadh is in intensive care with the coronavirus. Several dozen other members of the royal family have been sickened as well. And doctors at the elite hospital that treats Al-Saud clan members are preparing as many as 500 beds for an expected influx of other royals and those closest to them, according to an internal high alert sent out by hospital officials. Directives are to be ready for V.I.P.s from around the country, the operators of the elite facility, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, wrote in the alert, ...
Beth Croker of Haddon Heights holds up a "MISS YOU" sign as she visits with her mother, Sandy Croker, 76, who is at a second floor window inside of her apartment in Haddonfield. Visits to most senior living facilities and nursing homes have been temporarily halted because of the coronavirus epidemic. Read more

The last time Alexandra Gunnison saw her father, in early March, the coronavirus was in the early, smoldering stages of its wildfire spread across the country.

Soon afterward, his nursing home in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., was closed to visitors. Not long after that, her father, Dana Gunnison, 75, was confined to his room, along with all other residents.

He sleeps probably 18 hours a day. I call every day when Im able, she said, but he doesnt always pick up. Since he has Parkinsons disease and now no access to physical or speech therapy  its increasingly difficult to understand him. And Gunnison, of West Philly, worries that ongoing isolation could accelerate his decline.

Shes now one of many who are wondering when, or whether, they will see their elderly loved ones again, as recommendations of social distancing and temporary retirement-home visitor bans are stretching into indefinite periods of separation.

A complicating factor is: For the elderly, lengthy periods of isolation to protect them from the virus could be a cure worse than the disease.

The risks of loneliness and isolation are so great that we dont know if were causing a lot of harm by totally socially isolating people, said Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrician and associate professor at University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, who has studied the health effects of loneliness in older adults, and found links to dementia, loss of mobility, cardiovascular decline, and death.

The hard thing is, we dont have any idea as to when these health risks take effect. Is it after a week? A month? she said. We need to proactively think about how we are supporting people, or were going to see a lot of complications.

 READ MORE: Chef Rich Landau was forced to close his restaurants. A visit to his ailing father gave him a boost.

Some families are getting creative, driving by parents and grandparents homes with signs, or visiting through windows and screen doors. Nursing homes are, in some cases, leaning on such services as FaceTime and Zoom to maintain connections (an unproven intervention, said Perissinotto, but probably better than nothing). And local senior centers are stepping up by conducting frequent phone check-ins, and delivering crossword puzzles along with frozen meals.

But for many, coronavirus precautions have erected a barrier thats starting to take on the look of permanency.

Beth Croker of Haddon Heights said her mother, Sandra, who is 76 and still recovering from a stroke, has not left her home in three weeks. Theyve fallen into a bleak quarantine routine: Croker drops off groceries, then goes around to the back of the senior housing complex and calls her mother, so she can wave from the window.

On Saturday, she decided to decorate the parking lot with handmade signs, blast some Bob Seger and act like an idiot  by throwing herself a dance party for her mothers amusement.

I want to make her smile every day, she said, but I dont have much to talk about, because Im just isolating myself, too."

Margate resident Kathy Tabasso and her family have also been hunting for loopholes.

Tabasso, 63, now visits her 88-year-old mother only peering in from the porch for a wave and a quick chat by phone. And last weekend, Tabassos son, a first responder, piled into his car with his wife and their four children for what Tabasso called a love drive-by," holding hand-drawn signs out their car windows, while Tabasso waved from the porch.

I wanted, of course, to go grab them out of the car, she said. It was such a joyous event.

For those who dont have children and grandchildren nearby, local organizations are rushing to fill the gaps. One is KleinLife, which runs four community centers in Philadelphia and Montgomery County that normally serve hundreds of seniors with classes, exercise programs, support groups and lunch service. The centers closed in March, but administrators pivoted quickly to support the seniors in exile.

Theyre delivering a weeks worth of meals every Tuesday, along with booklets of crossword puzzles and, for Passover, haggadahs. The staff also divided up the list of clients from the last six months, and committed to calling every single one of them two or three times a week.

Still, Sue Aistrop, the organizations vice president for active adult life, said shes deeply concerned about the clients, including Holocaust survivors from Northeast Philadelphias Russian community still recovering from long-ago traumas through such programs as art and dance therapy.

More immediately, she said, The Northeast is pretty low income for the seniors, and the congregate meal we were serving was for many their biggest nutritional and caloric meal of the day. So were really worried about their food intake."

Adele Knopman, who stopped counting after she turned 89, said shes grateful those phone calls keep coming, even as her children and grandchildren are social-distancing for her safety.

The isolation wasnt getting to her yet, though. Shes lived through a lot: World War II, Vietnam. Life will continue after this, too  and shes looking forward to it. Im a crazy optimist, she said, her shrug audible by phone. You want me to tell you everything is terrible?

Its the grandchildren who are panicking.

Ryan Hancock of South Philadelphia received news that his 96-year-old grandmother, who raised him in Albany, Ga., was running a high fever and might not pull through. Given that the town is a coronavirus hot spot, the emergency room was not an option  and neither was visiting for Hancock, who is a cancer survivor.

If she dies or she gets sicker, there is no opportunity for me to get down there, he said.

Matt Roberts, whose parents recently moved from Philadelphia to Florida, checked in helplessly by phone as his father drove himself six hours to a hospital in Jacksonville for emergency surgery on a brain aneurysm. Under other circumstances, he would have been there. Now, he said, Theres this fear of being close to each other to help, and certainly traveling to help introduces this risk that a lot of people are uncomfortable with."

Perissinotto, the geriatrician, confessed that, as she spoke with a reporter, she was on her way to pick up her own 76-year-old mother, to bring her to shelter in place with her family. Given her mothers sturdy health and the recent death of Perissinottos father, they decided that, for them, the safest choice was to be together  with precautions to minimize the risk.

How I phrase this for my own patients is, you have to have these conversations with your family: What are the risks Im willing to have, and how do I balance our wishes with the greater public-health goals?" she said. Is there a calculated risk I need to take, in that I will mask and clean my hands, but still have contact, if thats going to be the last time potentially I see someone?

For those who make the opposite decision, its hard not to second-guess.

Anthony Monte Carlo, 20, a Deptford resident and a student at Rutgers-Camden, had planned to visit his 94-year-old great-grandmother in South Carolina in March  but succumbed to his parents pleas that he stay home.

I hope I get to see her again because I dont know when all of this is going to be over, and I dont know how much time I might have left to see her, said Monte Carlo, who believes hes only just begun to realize how much he and his great-grandmother have in common.

Part of me really just wants to go down there," he said. "A greater part of me wants to protect her.
Israels police, Shin Bet, said it arrested and charged an Israeli citizen with spying for enemy Iran and plotting terror attacks, reports say.

The internal security agency in a statement said whose identity has been protected by a court, was arrested last month and indicated Tuesday and had been contact with Iranian agents abroad where he was given money, guidance and encryption tools.

The man, the agency also noted, was expected to provide information on strategic Israeli sites, ways to promote division in Israeli society, carry out attacks against Israeli targets and enlist Palestinian citizens of Israel to assist Iran.

The Irans alleged spy agent was also expected to help recruit Palestinian citizens of Israel to carry out attacks. He also reportedly in contact with a Lebanese member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group and also met with two people in Hungary who said they worked for the Iranian security forces.

Shin Bet accused the Islamic Republic of attempts to carry out spy and terror activity within Israel, this also at a time when the world is facing the coronavirus epidemic which has badly spread in Iran.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:56:12|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out from the presidential race on Wednesday, paving the way for former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee for an upcoming showdown with sitting President Donald Trump.

"The path to victory is virtually impossible," Sanders said in a live-streamed address to supporters. "I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign."

"I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," acknowledged Sanders, while insisting that he and his supporters have won "the ideological battle."

The announcement was hardly a surprise since Biden had already amassed a big lead over Sanders in the primary that has been put on pause due to a coronavirus outbreak across the United States.

A 78-year-old, self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders launched his second bid for the White House in February 2019, years after he lost to former U.S. Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton in the last Democratic primary in 2016.

In the second primary, Sanders finished strong in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, elevating him as the field's prohibitive front-runner. But the momentum stalled in South Carolina, where Biden revived his campaign with a resounding victory that kicked off his consecutive Super Tuesday wins.

"If you look at the remaining primary calendar (such as it is), there aren't really any obvious places where Sanders was likely to beat Biden, or have much chance of an upset," Christopher Galdieri, associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua.

"I think the prospect of a bunch of losses in primaries delayed for coronavirus mitigation was not a pleasant one, or one good for his long-term influence in Congress and politics more broadly," Galdieri said.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Trump tried to sow discord among Democrats, blaming Sanders' loss of momentum on his rival and fellow liberal, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

"Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday!" Trump wrote. "The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"

Despite a second failed attempt for the White House, Sanders will continue to exert his influence on the Democratic Party's platform and could potentially impact the Biden-Trump matchup, analysts and pundits said.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Sanders offered his congratulations to Biden, vowing to work with him but stopping short of offering the endorsement.

"While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible to assert influence over the party platform and functions," Sanders said.

Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of American daily USA Today, said in a Wednesday analysis that Sanders' exit from the race and "warm words" for Biden mean that "the Democratic Party has united behind a nominee earlier than in any open contest in nearly two decades."

"That doesn't ensure victory," Page noted. "But the opposite situation might have invited defeat."

In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said Sanders and his supporters "have changed the dialogue in America."

"Bernie has done something rare in politics. He hasn't just run a political campaign; he's created a movement," Biden said. "While the Sanders campaign has been suspended -- its impact on this election and on elections to come is far from over."

Appealing to Sanders' base, Biden, a 77-year-old moderate political veteran, echoed some key components of the senator's progressive platform, including addressing climate change, confronting the nation's income inequality, reforming its health care system, and making education at public colleges and universities free.

"I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country. I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You're needed," Biden said.

David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, tweeted Wednesday that the degree of passion Sanders "has generated -- particularly among the young -- around issues of economic and social justice is impressive," warning that their "legitimate concerns around the failures of the status quo" should not be ignored or dismissed.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, analysts believed that there will be a lot of uncertainties surrounding the Biden-Trump matchup in the 2020 presidential election.

While the outbreak has plunged the U.S. economy into recession and "made unemployment skyrocket," it has also clearly "reshuffled everyone's plans," Galdieri said.

"It's also forced both candidates off the campaign trail," he continued. "It's an open question as to whether any in-person campaigning will happen for the rest of the race, and nobody knows what that will mean for the election."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:57:35|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI/GUANGZHOU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Shanghai Municipality and Guangdong Province will gradually reopen schools as the novel coronavirus epidemic continues to ebb away across the country.

In Shanghai, classes for senior students in middle and high schools will resume on April 27, Lu Jing, director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, told a press briefing.

Universities, colleges and secondary vocational schools can also resume classes for graduating students from April 27, and the specific reopening dates must get prior approval of local education authorities.

All schools in Shanghai should prepare to reopen before May 6, but the time for students to return to school will be released in accordance with the epidemic situation.

Meanwhile, in Guangdong, students in their final year of middle and high schools will return to school on April 27, while students in primary and middle school can resume school life from May 11, said the provincial department of education.

Graduating students in universities and colleges can go back to school from May 11, while others in universities, colleges, technical institutes and secondary vocational schools can resume classes from May 18.

The reopening dates for kindergartens and special education schools will be released later.

Nationwide, Beijing and Hubei Province have not yet announced reopening dates for schools.
Bodies are moved to a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue at Wyckoff Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 6, 2020 in New York.

When Dr. Josh Mugele heard New York's Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's call for help treating thousands of patients stricken with COVID-19, he felt the pull to volunteer. Mugele, who's been trained in emergency medicine and has worked in disaster zones, is employed by a health system about an hour northeast from Atlanta. His hospital hasn't yet seen a spike in cases of the novel coronavirus, so Mugele has been less busy than usual.

"I'm been feeling particularly useless over the past few weeks," Mugele said in a phone interview. "I think we'll get a surge here at some point, but I knew that the need was more urgent elsewhere, and I haven't pulled my weight yet."

So Mugele starting talking to his family and his employer, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, about flying out to New York, which has more than 150,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Georgia, by contrast, has fewer than 11,000 confirmed cases.

New York's policymakers have repeatedly called for doctors, nurses and other medical workers to join the fight against the coronavirus. About 90,000 have volunteered to do so, with about 25,000 offering to fly in from other states, the governor's office told reporters on Wednesday. But fewer than 1,000 of them have been placed into hospitals, the New York Times reported, and many are still sitting idle as the state works to iron out problems with having an influx of applications.

Mugele said he found the process relatively smooth, but he's working for free as a volunteer at New York's public hospitals. It took a few weeks for him to go through an emergency credentialing process to confirm his licenses, along with a few other checks, before he was assigned to the Metropolitan Hospital Center is a hospital in East Harlem.

He's bringing with him a few pairs of scrubs and four N95 respirator masks, which he recognizes he'll need to sanitize and reuse.

"My family knows the risks as well as I do, and we talked openly about it," he said. "I looked at my will, created a list of accounts and wrote letters to my kids just in case."

Mugele arrived in New York on Wednesday for orientation, and has heard that he might be reassigned to a hospital in Brooklyn.

The process for credentialing and assigning medical workers like Mugele to hospitals could improve in time as health officials iron out the kinks. But an ongoing challenge, half-a-dozen medical professionals told CNBC, is that the virus is spreading quickly and it's hard to predict where the next hotspot will be.
Zoom has now announced that it plans to address security concerns but it may be too little too late. The companys video conferencing software has gained both popularity and notoriety over the past few weeks. Thats the result of an increase in the number of users taking advantage of Zoom as isolation and social distancing measures ramp up. But also of severe security leaks found in the software.

Those security concerns have been widely reported, slowing Zooms growth. But it has also prompted swift action from the company. To begin with, founder Eric S. Yuan laid out a 90-day plan to combat the issue. That plan has now been updated with the announcement of a new cross-industry collaboration.

Now, Zoom has announced the formation of a Chief information security officer (CISO) Council and Advisory Board. That will include leading security experts from the wider tech industry, including Alex Stamos. Mr. Stamos is Adjunct Professor at Stanfords Freeman-Spogli Institute and a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution. His role with Zoom will be as an outside advisor.

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Beyond the addition of Mr. Stamos, Zoom also indicates that other security experts will be joining the effort to fix Zooms problems. Thats said to include CISOs from HSBC, NTT Data, Procore, and Ellie Mae, among others who havent been named. The Advisory Board, conversely, will include security leaders from VMware, Netflix, Uber, Electronic Arts, and others.

A multitude of security concerns plague Zoom and big corporations are taking notice

Zoom may now be ready to address security concerns but the initial discovery of leaks to Facebook wasnt the only problem discovered. While the company almost immediately halted that breach from impacting users, it was discovered shortly afterward that other vulnerabilities were present. Namely, those vulnerabilities potentially let bad actors take control of webcams and mics belonging to Zoom users.

For Mac users, the problem was worse, with subsequent reports indicating that bad actors could take control of the devices themselves.

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Making matters worse still, calls were shown to not be encrypted properly  or at least not to the degree that the company claimed. And video calls for some were routed through servers in China without explanation or need.

Summarily, Zooms problems stacked rapidly and were quickly made public.

As a result of that, organizations and user figures have halted or dropped off. Moreover, the announcement of a new cross-industry team to fix the issues may, in fact, be arriving too late. Reports now indicate that Zoom can no longer be used by Googlers, for example.

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The company has not only told workers not to use it. Google will also be blocking Zoom outright on company-owned hardware, based on a recent BuzzFeed article citing company spokesperson Jose Castaneda. Google has told employees it will no longer work because it doesnt live up to company standards for security.

Googlers arent the only ones abandoning Zoom either

The search giant isnt the only major entity to have stopped using Zoom, at least for now, either. This week, both SpaceX and the New York City Department of Education are telling users to stop using Zoom. The latter organization hasnt outright banned use but has asked schools to stop using Zoom  putting forward Microsofts services as an alternative.

Both Microsoft and Google have their own enterprise communications offerings. And each has currently been offered with a free trial period to meet the increasing demand for communications and collaboration apps caused by sheltering guidance around the globe.
LANSING, MI  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday a newly created task force that will be responsible for providing recommendations on how to address racial disparities in health care during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

This virus is holding up a mirror to our society and reminding us of the deep inequities in our country. From basic lack of access to care, to access to transportation, to lack of protections in the workplace, these inequities hit people of color and vulnerable communities the hardest, Whitmer said during a press conference Thursday.

Known as the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, the team will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and will begin meeting this week.

Whitmer said data in the state and across the country continues to show that African Americans are being significantly impacted when it comes to the spread of the virus. In Michigan, African Americans make up 14% of the population but represent 33% of confirmed cases and 40% of the deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus.

"We still need to get more robust data, but this is consistent with what we are seeing across the country. If people are disproportionately impacted by poverty, working in lower-wage jobs, unable to work from home, needing to use public transportation, lack the ability to isolate sick individuals in their home appropriately, or disproportionately have a higher rate of chronic health conditions, they will be more significantly impacted by this disease, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the states chief medical executive.

This isnt the first time Whitmer has expressed concern about racial disparities in health care. In her State of the State address in January, she pointed to disparities in health outcomes for African American mothers and announced she was working with the states medical schools to incorporate training on implicit biases.

As the coronavirus crisis has unfolded, Whitmer said she and her administration have taken several steps to help ease some of the pain thats been caused. Whitmer said that while efforts to stop evictions and foreclosures, increasing unemployment benefits, restoring water and other measures help, not enough is being done to combat the virus in minority communities.

Whitmer says access to essential protections and health care are limited in these communities and more must be done to assist them. She went on to say the crisis allows the state to study how to protect workers in times of crisis.

It should not have to take a crisis like this for us to really address this. It is an opportunity to examine it, to understand it and to do better, Whitmer said. Its an opportunity for us to expand unemployment benefits or perhaps paycheck protections. Or protections for workers who are sick or ensure access to quality, affordable health care.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

READ MORE

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Coronavirus cases are growing outside metro Detroit and rural Michigan isnt ready

Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020
Washington, April 9 : US President Donald Trump has appointed his campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany to be the next White House Press Secretary, replacing Stephanie Grisham, it was reported.

McEnany, 31, is a seasoned defender of the president, and has made frequent television appearances to promote his policies, said a BBC report on Wednesday.

Her predecessor Grisham, did not conduct a single press briefing during her nine-month tenure.

risham will return to her previous post as First Lady Melania Trump's chief of staff.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, and former CNN contributor, McEnany has made headlines for her passionate defences of the President.

As the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, she has come under fire for her early statements on the virus, including suggesting opposition Democrats were "rooting" for the pandemic to "take this President down".

In a February appearance on a Fox Business show, she said: "We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, and isn't that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?" McEnany has also previously worked as a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee and in 2018 published a book on the movement behind Mr Trump's 2016 election win, said the BBC report.

McEnany has been criticised for her past support of the "birther" conspiracy theory questioning former President Barack Obama's birthplace.

On Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton's press secretary Joe Lockhart shared a 2012 tweet from McEnany where she said Obama's brother was in "that hut in Kenya".
Amid the rising incidents of prejudices aand social stigma against some communities and area due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday (April 9) issued an advisory saying that such prejudices and social stigma during outbreak of communicable diseases may cause fear and anxiety which could culminate into increased hostility, chaos and unnecessary social disruptions.

"Cases have been reported of people affected with COVID-19 as well as healthcare workers, sanitary workers and police, who are in the frontline for management of the outbreak, facing discrimination on account of heightened fear and misinformation about infection. Even those who have recovered from COVID-19 face such discrimination," the Union Ministry said in its advisory.

The Union Health Ministry also saoid that certain communities and areas are being stigmatised only on the basis of false reports floating in social media and elsewhere. The MoHFW said that there is an urgent need to counter such prejudices and to rise as a community in order to defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

In its advisory, the MoHFW has advised all responsible citizens to understand that:

 Although coronavirus COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease which spreads fast and can infect any one of us, we can protect ourselves through social distancing, washing our hands regularly and following sneezing / coughing etiquettes.

 Despite all precautions, if anybody catches the infection, it is not their fault. In situation of distress, the patient and the family need support and cooperation. It must be noted that the condition is curable and most people recover from it.

 Healthcare workers including doctors, nurses, and allied & healthcare professionals are rendering their services tirelessly to provide care and medical / clinical support in this situation of crisis. Sanitary workers and police are also doing selfless service and playing critical roles in addressing the challenge of COVID-19. They all deserve our support, praise and appreciation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:26:21|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's pro-government forces on Thursday accused the Houthi militia of launching an artillery shelling against a residential area in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Sporadic attacks also recorded in many areas of the war-torn Arab country despite announcing a two-week unilateral ceasefire by the Saudi-led coalition aimed at alleviating the suffering of Yemenis.

In Hodeidah, an official of the joint pro-government forces told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "the Houthis shelled a residential area in Hays district of Hodeidah, killing a woman and injuring four other citizens."

Shrapnels of the Houthi shelling landed on the citizens' houses located in the southeastern part of Hodeidah, causing injuries among some children, the source said.

Local residents confirmed that "the Houthi shelling resulted in damaging some houses of the local citizens, in addition to causing panic and fear among the families living in the area."

Earlier in the day, the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths welcomed the announcement by Saudi Arabia, on behalf of the "Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen," of a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen.

The envoy said that the ceasefire can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He called upon the government of Yemen and the Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities.

Griffiths also called on the two-warring rivals to engage with each other in good faith and without preconditions to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.

Yemen has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of capital Sanaa.

Over the past five years, Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition against the Houthis in Yemen in support of Hadi's internationally-recognized government.
[April 09, 2020] Universal Robots Launches ActiNav, the World's First Autonomous Bin Picking Kit for Machine Tending Applications

The complexity of automated bin picking is well-known throughout the industry, requiring huge efforts in both integration and programming. Today, most bin picking products are solely focused on the vision aspect of bin picking and often require hundreds of lines of additional programming to bridge the gap from "pick" to "place" - especially if the "place" is not just dropping into a box or tote but accurately inserting the part into a fixture for further processing. ActiNav Autonomous Bin Picking changes all that, allowing manufacturers with limited or no bin picking deployment expertise to quickly achieve high machine uptime and accurate part placement with few operator interventions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005435/en/ ActiNav Autonomous Bin Picking solves unstructured bin picking and accurate placement for machine tending applications. Unlike conventional alternatives which require lengthy and complex integration and programming efforts, ActiNav simplifies the application with end-to-end autonomous motion. This makes random bin picking accessible to small and large production facilities alike. (Photo: Business Wire) ActiNav combines real-time autonomous motion control, collaborative robotics, vision and sensor systems in one easy to use, fast to deploy and cost-effective kit. The system requires no vision or robotic programming expertise, but is instead based on a "teach-by-demonstration" principle using a six-step, wizard-guided setup process integrated into the UR cobot teach pendant. ActiNav can be easily and quickly deployed by manufacturers' in-house automation teams or through assistance from a UR distributor or integrator to deliver increased productivity, quality and efficiency. "Machine tending has always been one of te mainstay applications for our collaborative robot arms," says VP of Product and Applications Management at Universal Robots, Jim Lawton. "We discovered a significant market need for a simple solution that enables UR cobots to autonomously locate and pick parts out of deep bins and place them precisely into a machine. This is not pick and drop; this is accurate pick and part-oriented placement."



ActiNav is available through UR's distribution channel and via the new UR+ Application Kits platform, an expansion of the cobot pioneer's successful UR+ ecosystem of components certified to work seamlessly with UR cobots. Like other UR+ application kits, ActiNav is developed with in-depth application knowledge that eliminates the duplication of engineering efforts when deploying widely used applications. ActiNav works with UR's UR5e and UR10e e-Series cobots, a UR+ component or user-defined end effector, and application-specific frame or fixture as needed. The kit includes the Autonomous Motion Module (AMM) and ActiNav URCap user interface software, along with a choice of 3D sensors. While there is a variety of approaches to automating machine tending stations, many of which include implementing trays, bowl feeders or conveyors to get the parts to the machine, Lawton explains how ActiNav bypasses this step. "Parts are often already in bins, so the most flexible and scalable option is to deliver that bin of parts to the machine and then pick them directly from the bin and place them into the machine," he says. "This minimizes floor space and reduces the need for part-specific tooling."

ActiNav autonomously inserts parts into CNC or processing machines such as drilling, deburring, welding, trimming or tapping. The high-resolution 3D sensor and CAD matching enables high-accuracy picks powered by ActiNav's Autonomous Motion Module (AMM) that determines how to pick the part, then controls the robot to pick the part and place it in a fixture each time. The autonomous motion control enables ActiNav to operate inside deep bins that hold more parts; something that standalone bin picking vision systems struggle to accomplish. IDC's (News - Alert) Research Director covering robotics, Remy Glaisner, is closely following the market for automated machine tending solutions. "Today more than ever, technology users are looking to preserve the integrity and continuity of business operations," he says. "In that context, simplifying the integration or redeployment of highly flexible robotic systems becomes a critical capability for manufacturers and other industrial users. In many ways, ActiNav will set a new level of operational expectations regarding the future of intelligent systems." Download product videos and images here:

urrobots.com/ActiNavPress About Universal Robots

Universal Robots (UR) was founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible collaborative robots (cobots) that are safe to work side by side with people. Since the first cobot was launched in 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly cobot now sold worldwide. The company, which is a part of Teradyne (News - Alert) Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. In 2019, Universal Robots had a revenue of USD 248 million. For more information, please visit www.universal-robots.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005435/en/

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[April 09, 2020] Viator goes virtual to support small businesses and help travelers #RoamFromHome

NEEDHAM, Mass., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Viator, a Tripadvisor company, today announces #RoamFromHome, a new project enabling tour guides and experiences hosts to bring their activities online. The new virtual experiences allow travelers to continue expanding their horizons from the safety of their sofas, while also supporting the small businesses hit hard by COVID-19. Make pasta like the professionals , enjoy a self-guided wine-tasting , wander around Berlin , or visit sites made famous by Harry Potter and more. "With #RoamFromHome, we hope to help travelers continue exploring the world while so much of it, and so many of us, remain on lockdown," commented Ben Drew, president, Viator. "We've also heard from our operators just how challenging things have been. For that reason, we'll waive commission on these products. We want this project to support our operator community - and give those of us at home a way to keep learning and exploring." The key facts: Travelers can access our new virtual experiences in this dedicated section of Viator . Experiences are organized by category, including culture, sightseeing, and food & drink.









. Experiences are organized by category, including culture, sightseeing, and food & drink. Experiences are a mixture of free and paid. On the paid experiences, Viator will waive commission, meaning all proceeds go to the operator.





Currently about 80% of the paid experiences on #RoamFromHome are run by small businesses. Homebound travelers can prepare vegetarian dishes like mattar paneer in a private cooking class with a chef broadcasting from her home kitchen in Mumbai , or learn to make pasta at home with a highly rated chef in Florence , who's been running Italian food tours with her family for over 15 years.







with a chef broadcasting from her home kitchen in , or at home with a highly rated chef in , who's been running Italian food tours with her family for over 15 years. Experiences are currently available in English, but may expand to additional languages going forward.





We also trawled our video library  collected by our team who's been traveling the world, recording amazing experiences for the past decade  and made the best ones available. Travelers can hang out on the beach with penguins, go off-roading through Sedona, take in NYC's nighttime skyline views, and so much more.





At this time, we're dedicating our social media channels to these experiences, as well as fostering connections with guides, operators and experience providers worldwide. Check out our Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn . These are unprecedented, unthinkably difficult times for so many people, businesses and industries globally. We hope that #RoamFromHome will help families and friends connect not only with each other but with new cultures as well -- all while supporting the small businesses that have helped so many of us create happy, long-lasting memories. What else are you doing to help the industry?

We're working closely with our operators to identify ways in which we can help them through these challenging times. In addition to the option to add virtual tours, we've done the following to support tour operators, with additional ways to support them in progress: Faster payouts: We've initiated more frequent payouts to help operators receive payment faster and assist with cash flow.





We've initiated more frequent payouts to help operators receive payment faster and assist with cash flow. Free optimization sessions : We're providing free, 1-1 sessions with our team to help operators improve their listings so when demand returns, they'll be positioned to take more bookings, more quickly.





: We're providing free, 1-1 sessions with our team to help operators improve their listings so when demand returns, they'll be positioned to take more bookings, more quickly. Dedicated content and resources : We've created and collected content to help operators through the COVID-19 crisis. That content is centralized here and is being updated regularly.





: We've created and collected content to help operators through the COVID-19 crisis. That content is centralized and is being updated regularly. More broadly, the Tripadvisor charitable foundation is committing $1M to support organizations serving the most vulnerable populations around the world in response to COVID-19. About Viator Viator, a Tripadvisor company, makes it simple for travelers to find and book the best tours and activities anywhere in the world. With access to more than 300,000 bookable experiences, travelers can easily discover and book with confidence, thanks to the millions of traveler reviews. Viator is the easiest, most flexible way for travelers to experience the most memorable things to do in their destination. Travelers can plan in advance or book on-the-go to skip long lines and sold-out signs. We offer a low-price guarantee, 24/7 multilingual support, and a 24-hour cancellation policy. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/viator-goes-virtual-to-support-small-businesses-and-help-travelers-roamfromhome-301038336.html SOURCE Tripadvisor; Viator

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The most frequent query that Jeremy Maclaurin has received from Chinese textile and apparel makers in recent days is: when are our next orders coming in?

MacLaurin runs China Textile Traders, which helps brands source from the southern Chinese manufacturing hub Guangdong province, as well as from other Asian countries like Vietnam.

Normally at this time of the year, brands are looking for new product samples to use for the winter season, he said.

But the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the entire cycle of fashion sourcing and is threatening to slash orders in coming months, making the manufacturers questions very tough to answer.

At the moment, we are still catching up with post-Lunar New Year orders. We just anticipate that once these orders are fulfilled, we are going to have a very quiet three to four months  probably until August or September, MacLaurin said on the phone from his office in Vietnam.

The situation for Chinese exporters has changed dramatically over the past two months. In February, they were unable to work on overseas orders due to draconian lockdowns imposed by the Chinese government.

By March, most were able to resume operations, but they were then forced to stop or cut back on production after the pandemic turned into a full-blown crisis in the United States and Europe, closing retail outlets and leading brands to cancel orders.

This put significant stress on one of Chinas largest industries  textile and apparel manufacturing  which in recent years has slowly been losing market share to Vietnam and Bangladesh where labour is cheaper.

Last year the value of the countrys textile and apparel exports fell 1.85 per cent from a year earlier to US$271 billion, according to China Customs Administration data.

Shipments dropped an additional 20 per cent to US$29 billion in the first two months of this year, as Chinas economy was battered by the coronavirus.

Some 86 per cent of large and small manufacturers in 28 textile industrial estates across China had resumed work by the end of March, according to the China National Textile and Apparel Council, an industry group supervised by the State Council, Chinas government cabinet.

Story continues

But in a survey conducted among 190 firms in the last week of March, more than 60 per cent said their current export orders were less than half of normal levels, with just over 50 per cent of respondents saying their production had reached 80 per cent of capacity.

The entire export-oriented supply chain is facing pressure, so production capacity has started falling

China National Textile and Apparel Council

The entire export-oriented supply chain is facing pressure, so production capacity has started falling, the council said.

In Keqiao, a textile manufacturing and distribution hub in eastern Chinas Zhejiang province, a lack of new orders from abroad and the delay in normal spring trade fairs due to the coronavirus outbreak have put manufacturers and traders in limbo.

James Wang, a sales manager for Puhong Textile, which mainly supplies fabrics to manufacturers in Vietnam and Bangladesh, said he had been furloughed for nearly two weeks after just coming back to the office in early March.

It was a similar story for export department staff at some large textile firms in the area, he said, adding there was not much he could do about it at the moment.

If we develop new products for clients now, the cost could be high considering expensive delivery costs because of the virus. And if buyers dont place orders, then our efforts would be in vain, Wang said.

Export-oriented textile firms are also finding it difficult to shift to produce for the domestic market because it would require major changes in the way they do business. Many do not have large warehouses to store finished goods and would have to adjust to longer invoice payment periods common in the domestic trade.

Some manufacturers had turned to live streaming to sell their products to domestic consumers, although not everyone agreed it was a winning strategy.

Its hard to sell a piece of fabric via live streaming, because its not a finished product like a garment, said Cherry Song, general manager of Keqaio-based Shuangsuo Textile, whose primary market for textile products was Bangladesh.

Clients still want to see the actual product to decide whether they want to place orders. So the benefit from live streaming is minimal.

Bach Zhang, a small textile manufacturer from Keqiao, said he had been thinking about trading personal protective equipment such as masks because textile orders from the US and Europe had dried up. But slim profits, unstable market prices, and tightened export regulations on medical supplies in recent weeks have made the idea look much less attractive.

Keqiaos export-oriented economy has been hit hard by the pandemic. Last year, the districts exports rose 15.6 per cent year-on-year, well above Chinas total export growth of 5 per cent. But in the first two months of the year Keqiaos exports fell nearly 20 per cent from a year earlier, according to the local government.

Daily traffic at Shaoxing Textile City, a large marketplace in Keqiao for trading fabrics, is only half of its normal volume almost two months after reopening in mid-February, said local exporters and traders.

The wave of cancelled overseas orders has also rippled through to upstream industries  like cotton yarn and chemical fibre production  in the textile and apparel supply chain.

The price of polyester staple fibre, a material commonly used to make sportswear, has plummeted from 7,005 yuan (US$992) per tonne at the beginning of the year to 5,200 yuan per tonne this week, partly due to the sharp decline in the price of oil, from which it is made.

During good times in previous years, lower costs for raw materials could offset rising wages in Chinas labour-intensive textile and apparel manufacturing sector. But lower material costs caused by the unprecedented global economic impact of the coronavirus have proved to be little help as there are so few orders to fill.

Song, from Shuangsuo Textile, said her company normally bought materials when orders came in, but some manufacturers had stocked up before the Lunar New Year, anticipating prices would go up after the holiday. Now they cannot sell the materials without taking a large loss.

Gaurav Sharma, head of sales and sourcing for Chinese textile and apparel trading firm Yukun Group, said his operation in the mainland had been paralysed.

The companys factory in Hubei, about 50km from the initial coronavirus epicentre Wuhan, used to employ 450 to 500 workers, but would likely remain a ghost building for some time, even after the government lifted citywide lockdowns this week.

Despite signs that China is bringing the outbreak under control, Sharma, who is based in Hong Kong, is worried that clients may not be mentally prepared to do business in the country any time soon over concerns that something could go wrong again in the future.

I am doing three things at the moment: I am in a lifeboat, which means I will do whatever I can when orders come. I am also seeking new opportunities [to sell clothing products]. And I have also been looking for options aside from sourcing [for the fashion industry], Sharma said.

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A Parliamentary Aspirants in August 2019 of NDC Parliamentary Primaries in the Akatsi South Constituency, Mr. Samuel B. K. Nugblega has donated items worth one hundred and fifty thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC150,000.00) to the NDC party and various health facilities in the Akatsi South Constituency to augment the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The items and institutions that he donated to are stated below:

DONATIONS TO NDC PARTY

A set of megaphones for mounting on party van of the constituency

5 mobile megaphones for distribution to all 5 zones

3 boxes (150 pieces) of surgical mask for NDC Constituency Party office.

1 box of hand sanitizers for distribution to party executives present.

RADIO STATIONS (SHINE FM AND KALAEWO FM)

Hand Sanitizer - 1 box each

Mask:

Surgical - 1 box each (100 pieces)

N95 - 1 box each (40 pieces)

DONATIONS TO HEALTH FACILITIES

A set of megaphones for mounting on District Health Directorate van

Mask:

Surgical - 50 boxes (2,500 pieces)

N95 - 50 boxes (1,000 pieces)

Total - 100 boxes (3,500 pieces)

Bedsheets - 200

Pillow cases - 82

Overalls - 179

Hand towels - 320

Hand sanitizer:

Boxes - 6

Gallons - 2

Syringes and needles with syringe tray - 0ver 10,000

Poly Clinical Tubes - 100

Nebulizer - 2

Cylinder Holder - 1

Anesthesia Breathing Circuit - 60

Different kinds of catheter - 300

Some other item for theatre use -

Additionally, Mr. Nugblega presented 30 Packs of bottled water and 24 Packs of soft drinks; including 4 packs of Malta Guinness

The items for the health facilities were officially handed over to the District Director of Health Services, Dr. George Nyarko and were subsequently distributed among ten health facilities, including the three private hospitals in the Akatsi township

Receiving the items, Dr. Nyarko expressed appreciation to the philanthropist and assured him that the items will be put to the best use for the benefit of both the health workers and the clients who will visit the facilities. He assured Mr. Nugblega that the District Health Directorate in collaboration with the health facilities are making every effort to ensure that the fight against the COVID-19 is won in the district.

On his part, Mr. Nugblega, as he is popularly known, indicated that the coronavirus pandemic is no respecter of persons for which reason everybody is at risk. He noted that the best way of dealing with the virus is to prevent as there is no cure for it at the moment. That is why he has presented the megaphones to both the NDC party and the District Directorate of Health Services to intensify health education and promotions towards the prevention of the COVID-19 in the district.

Mr. Nugblega commended the Leader and Flagbearer of the NDC party H.E. John Dramani Mahama for not just directing all members of the NDC to contribute to the national effort in fighting the COVID-19, but has also taken the lead in donating various items across the country in support of the Government efforts in this regard.

He further commended all who have contributed in diverse ways in resourcing the Akatsi South District Health Directorate and the Health facilities in the district; including the Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Bernard Ahiafor who donated Veronica buckets, liquid soaps, and Hand Sanitizers to improve personal hygiene in the district.

According to him, the COVID-19 is the common enemy of everyone and we cannot depend on government and the MP alone as far as the fight against coronavirus is concerned.

He, therefore, called on all well-meaning citizens of Avenor to contribute in whatever way they can, to support in the fight against this deadly coronavirus.

He called on the citizenry to observe all the directives outlined by the President, H. E. Nana Akofo Addo, World Health Organization and the preventive measures outlined by the Health Authorities; including frequent washing of hands under running water, frequent use of hand sanitizers, social spacing and eating food that will strengthen our immune system.

He said, being a native of Avenor and a member of the Opposition NDC, he will continue to support the party in particular, and the constituency in general in whatever way he can. The Director of Human Resources for the health of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), Mr. Nugblega assured the District Health Directorate and the entire Constituency that he has more to offer and that they should hope for more from him.
A decision on whether the State exams will go ahead is due in the coming days.

It's understood that the main priority of Education Minister Joe McHugh is that the Leaving Certificate should sit as normal, but the decision will ultimately rest on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency team.

The focus is on the main exam period from June 3 to 23.

Speaking at the morning health briefing, Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Taoiseach, Liz Canavan said the minister is encouraging students to continue to study as normal.

"Government is focused on holding both sets of state exams, the Junior and Leaving Certs," she said.

"The minister has also said that he would prefer to see students get at least two weeks class time in school before they have to sit any exams.

"We know that students and their families need clarity on this, and we know that you're feeling a lot of pressure.

"We're asking you to keep studying, and to keep focused, we are working on providing you with answers in relation to the exams, as soon as possible."

Contingency plans in the absence of normal exams are under consideration and all decisions will be based on the public health advice on what happens in relation to current restrictions.

The national public health emergency team are to meet at the end of this week, and the Minister hopes to provide clarity on both exams in the coming days.

Ms Canavan also highlighted that for the annual planning to arrange school transport for the upcoming year, the closing date for school transport applications is Friday, April 24.

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Police have arrested two people after they were seen licking their hands in a supermarket before wiping them over meat, fresh produce and fridge handles.

CCTV footage released by Lancashire Police showed two people entering the Sainsbury's store in Morecambe on Saturday at around 1.45pm.

They then shocked customers and staff after they made a show of licking their hands, forcing staff to throw away hundreds of pounds worth of produce.

The store was thoroughly disinfected and the food had to be destroyed, said police.

CCTV footage released by Lancashire Police showed two people entering the store (above)

The incident took place at a Sainsbury's store in Morecambe (pictured above) on Saturday at around 1.45pm

Inspector James Martin, of Lancashire Police, said: 'That anyone could think this sort of behaviour is appropriate or amusing even in normal times is beyond me, but at this time of crisis when many people have been faced with empty shelves in some shops is flabbergasting.

'It is utterly despicable.'

After releasing CCTV images of the pair, officers made the arrests on Wednesday afternoon.

Enquiries into the incident are ongoing.

So far in the UK there have been 7,095 deaths and over 60,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

In the North West alone there have been 770 deaths and over 6,000 confirmed cases.

There have now been 75 fatalities across NHS Trusts that cover the Morcambe area, these include Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital and Furness General Hospital.

People up and down the country have been forced into lockdown, only being able to go out for essential items.

People have also been urged to wash their hands more often due to stop the spread of the virus.
Legal luminary, Dr Thomas A. Mensah, who played a pivotal role in the countrys boundary dispute with Cote dIvoire, has passed on at age 87.

Dr Mensah died in London last Tuesday after a short illness.

A former President of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), he represented the country in a number of cases at the International Court on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the popular one being the boundary dispute case between Ghana and Cote dIvoire.

Accolades

He also represented Ghana as an ad hoc judge in the "ARA Libertad" Case (Argentina v. Ghana).

Dr Mensah was also chosen by Bangladesh in the maritime boundary delimitation dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the Bay of Bengal.

In 2013, the IMO Council awarded him the prestigious International Maritime Prize for 2012.

The International Maritime Prize is awarded annually by IMO to the individual or organisation judged to have made the most significant contribution to the work and objectives of the organisation.

Donkor Fordjour confirms

Throwing further light on the late Dr Mensah, a statesman and politician, Dr Kwame Donkor Fordjour, who was a personal friend to the deceased, confirmed the passing of the man he described as a close friend.

He left Ghana for London on March 14, and when he was returning, he complained that he was not well. He had complained that he was not able to swallow food properly. He went back for two weeks and passed on last night, he told the Daily Graphic on phone from his base in Kumasi.

On the burial arrangement, he explained that because of the coronavirus situation across the world, it was difficult for the family in Accra to move to London for that purpose.

Eulogy

He described Dr Mensah as a close friend,  one who was more than a brother to me.

He was not my biological brother but he was more than a brother to me. He was my best man in 1960 and since then, we did everything together. Any time he came to Ghana, he usually came to me in Kumasi although he had his own house, he said.

On what the death of Dr Mensah meant to the country, Dr Donkor Fordjour said it was a big loss to Ghana and added that history would remember him for paying his dues to the country.

Ghana owes Dr Mensah a lot. He was the judge that prepared the way for Ghanas victory over Cote dIvoire in the historic oil boundary dispute case, he added.

He added that efforts were being made to inform President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo about the death.

Biography of Dr Mensah

Dr Thomas A. Mensah was born in Kumasi on May 12, 1932 and raised in Ghana. He graduated from the University of Ghana and then studied abroad, first studying Law at the University of London, and graduated in 1959.

In 1961, he entered Yale University Law School, United States, where he obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1962 and a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) in 1964.

He then embarked on a truly international legal career, first as Associate Legal Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna from 1965 to 1966 before joining the IMO Secretariat, in London, in 1968 as Director of the Legal Office.

In 1981, he was designated Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Legal Affairs and External Relations Division, IMO, a position he held until 1990. He was also a visiting Professor of the World Maritime University (WMU), in Malmo, Sweden, from 1981 to 1990.

On leaving IMO, Dr Mensah became Special Advisor on Environmental Law and Institutions, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, from 1991 to 1992. He then became Cleveringa Professor of Law, Leiden University, Leiden in The Netherlands, from 1993 to 1994.

Dr Mensah published numerous articles, monographs and papers in the field of public international law, law of the sea, maritime law and international environmental law.

---graphic.com.gh
The support is aimed at building of community resilience through assistance to vulnerable people, transition to online education, and fighting disinformation.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi has said the European Union will provide Eastern Partner countries with EUR 962 million to counter the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, in particular, over EUR 190 million will be allocated for Ukraine's immediate and short-term needs amid the pandemic.

Read alsoEU allocating EUR 80 mln to Ukraine for war on coronavirus

"In support of our Eastern Partner countries in the fight against coronavirus, both regional and bilateral funds are being redirected as part of TeamEurope response, amounting to EUR 962 million, for immediate needs and mitigating socio-economic impact," he said on Twitter on April 8.

In particular, Ukraine will receive the funds for the building of community resilience through assistance to vulnerable people, transition to online education, and fighting disinformation.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 30, it became known that the European Union was allocating EUR 80 million for the war on the novel coronavirus in Ukraine.

UNIAN memo. The Eastern Partnership is a political initiative launched at the Prague Summit in May 2009, which aims to bring together six eastern neighbors, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine with the European Union.

The EU's cooperation with Eastern partners is focused on stimulating political, social and economic reforms. This means strengthening democracy and achieving stable and balanced growth in the interests of citizens.
Clean energy firm Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) on Thursday said its power generation capacity saw a 30 per cent rise at 2,545 MW in FY 2019-20, while total electricity supplies jumped 14.5 per cent to 4,310 million units (MU) during the fiscal.

"AGEL has added 587 MW capacity in FY20 and net export (power supply to consumer) of 4,310 million units, up by 14.5 per cent Y-o-Y," a company statement said.

Its power generation capacity rose to 2,545 MW in 2019-20 from 1,958 MW in 2018-19.

Its solar power generation capacity rose by 250 MW from 1,898 in 2018-19 to 2,148 MW in 2019-20. Similarly, its wind energy capacity rose by 337 MW to 397 MW in last fiscal from 60 MW a year ago.

On the impact of lockdown to contain COVID-19, company said, "Electricity generation has been specified as an essential service amid lockdown."



Besides, the company recognised that must run status of all renewable energy (RE) projects in India remains unchanged even during the lockdown period.

It also noted that there is no moratorium applicable on payments for RE generation.

The Ministry of Power had clarified to all state governments that obligation to pay for power supplied by IPPs (independent power producers) remains unchanged and bills need to be settled within 45 days of presentation of bill or as provided in the PPA (power purchase agreement).

It also said, "All solar and wind plants are in operation as per normal business course. Electricity generated from all plants is being off-taken on a continuous basis in normal course. It is receiving the regular payments from all the DISCOMS.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Just across the River Spree from the quiet of Berlin's Museum Island during lockdown, Angela Merkel sits in self-imposed quarantine in her city center apartment. The galleries at the UNESCO World Heritage Site may boast more World War II bullet holes than visitors in the time of coronavirus, but the calm eludes the German chancellor.

After more than 14 years in office, Merkel has returned to the front line of crisis fighting and is in her element again. At 65, she's more in demand than ever as Europe's most powerful leader steers her country through what she describes as the greatest challenge since the war. Polls show a surge in support for her party and broad public approval of her policies.

Yet history may judge her less on her custody of the region's powerhouse economy than on what she does to help its weakest members through a public-health disaster unparalleled in peacetime.

The last crisis to undermine the European integration project was financial as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus required bailouts between 2010 and 2015 to keep the continent's single currency intact. This time, people are dying in their thousands and Italy, the euro region's third-biggest economy, risks going into meltdown.

"Obviously it's a legacy moment," said Daniel S. Hamilton, a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins who is currently Richard von Weizsaecker fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin.

"The crisis is really doing a number on European unity," and Germany above all countries has the greatest stake in maintaining a united Europe, he said. "It's reached a stage where Germany will have to show that it is part of the solution to restoring faith in the European project."

As the European Union's longest serving leader, Merkel's dilemma is whether she goes all out to help the bloc emerge intact from the pandemic, or risk it splintering along national lines.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned the covid-19 response could give succor to nationalist, anti-EU parties that have gained ground across the continent since the onslaught of the European debt crisis in late 2009.

The difference now is that every country is affected and the threat to the EU's integrity more palpable still. As the virus spread, nations restored border controls and embarked on their own missions to tackle the outbreak while the EU stalled.

"The way in which countries help or do not help each other can shape perceptions of European integration for a long time to come," Holger Schmieding and Kallum Pickering, economists at Berenberg Bank, wrote on Sunday. "A perceived lack of such solidarity could jeopardize the long-term cohesion of the EU and the euro zone."

The expectations weighing on the chancellor are a result of both Germany's status as the bloc's dominant economic player and Merkel's long years of experience. She is one of few world leaders still in power who recall first-hand the task of combating the fallout from the financial crisis-and indeed the pressure she was under to act.

During the euro-area crisis, the Obama administration clashed with Merkel's government over what it saw as an insufficient willingness to use Germany's economic might to stop the turmoil proliferating. The sense in Greece and elsewhere in Europe was that Germany had a special responsibility to help and further atone for its role as aggressor in World War II.

That narrative is again being aired during the coronavirus. Italian regional leaders and mayors took out a full page advert in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week reminding Germany of the debt relief it was granted in 1953 and called for the same kind of magnanimity from Berlin now.

"It is solidarity that you Germans were shown by many European countries after the war and up until reunification," the officials said. "Dear German friends, memory helps in making the right decisions."

Yet such appeals fail to acknowledge the domestic political reality of keeping a fractious coalition and the German public on board, something that Merkel balanced through the long years of turbulence. The exception was the migration crisis of 2015-2016, when her decision to open the borders to refugees from Syria strained German society more than at any time since reunification of east and west 25 years earlier.

Merkel has learned from her mistakes then, and is taking time to communicate her actions to the public even while in self-quarantine. In her weekly podcast on Saturday, she highlighted government efforts to bring security "in these uncertain times," and drew attention to her "long negotiations" with fellow EU leaders last week during a six-hour video-conference.

After that virtual meeting, EU leaders came under fire for failing to come up with a common response to the pandemic, with Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte singled out for leading resistance to joint European debt sales dubbed "coronabonds." Germany has long ruled out pooled debt on the grounds that it would mean underwriting weaker states at its own taxpayers' expense.

Italy's Conte called on Germany and the Netherlands to set aside their reservations and support such "extraordinary" measures, in an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper published Monday. Conte is one of nine EU leaders to urge the use of coronabonds to combat the crisis.

Schmieding, Berenberg's chief economist and also a veteran of the Greek crisis, said the political logic for coronabonds is now "overwhelming." He pointed to the contrast between the government's decisive actions to shield the German economy with a package worth some 750 billion euros ($827 billion) and its lackluster support for a "forceful" common European response.

Germany regards the fact it is spending so much to shore up its economy as a key line of defense for Europe as a whole, according to a senior government official.

It has already ditched a legal requirement to adhere to balanced budgets-a focus that French President Emmanuel Macron once referred to as a "fetish"-to allow debt financing. A further stimulus program is being considered for after the pandemic to kick start recovery, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

European disagreement is fanned by the "toxic debate" steered by German conservatives that southerners are now seizing the opportunity to pull Berlin into a "transfer union," said Jana Puglierin, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

At the same time, "it's not helpful if you push Merkel into a corner and blame her or Germany for everything," she said. Merkel "really is a pro-European and she wants to hold this project or club together, said Puglierin. "But don't expect her to agree to something that is not possible."

German polls show overwhelming support for Merkel's government during the pandemic. Some 74% of respondents to broadcaster ZDF's regular Politbarometer survey last week said the measures to fight the economic fallout were correct, while 79% said Merkel was doing a good job. The chancellor remains Germany's most popular politician.

The political dividend is clear, with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union-led bloc jumping about 10 percentage points in less than a month to its highest level since before the 2017 election. Party infighting over the candidate best placed to succeed her before next year's election has disappeared from public view. Even just the perception of a "Germany First" approach has seen support drop for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, whose roots lie in opposition to euro-area bailouts.

Still, Merkel has signaled her willingness to risk a potential backlash by doing more to help as the death toll and economic hit from the pandemic increase.

She favors deploying the European Stability Mechanism, a bailout fund set up in 2012 to help euro members. Scholz, her finance minister, has said that in addition, Germany is ready to help the European Investment Bank step in to aid European companies in a liquidity crisis; that it backs the relaxation of EU deficit rules; and sees the bloc's multi-annual budget as another tool that can be used to help. That amounts to a potent package without the use of coronabonds, Scholz said.

Germany has supplied masks and other medical aid, while using the air force to fly in a handful of seriously ill coronavirus patients from Italy and France for treatment. "Luftwaffe planes once caused fear and panic in these countries," Der Spiegel wrote. "Today they come as friends in times of need."

Whether it's enough to ride out the crisis and help the EU emerge intact remains to be seen. Hamilton of Johns Hopkins compared the situation to a hurricane.

"We'll weather the storm with great damage, but what exactly will have to happen in terms of disaster relief and recovery is still, I think, anybody's guess," he said.

As Merkel weighs her response, she has one important event in her diary that serves as a reminder of the need for European unity: May 8 is the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, known in Germany as the Day of Liberation.

Additional German help for Europe's worst affected nations during the pandemic would give the commemoration special resonance, and probably mark Merkel's last crisis act as chancellor.

"I always thought it was not about Germany first, it was about Europe when it came to Merkel," said Puglierin at the European Council of Foreign Relations. "Who if not her?"
John Rademaker, 57, is reported to be the Kentucky doctor who strangled a teen over social distancing guidelines

A Kentucky doctor has been charged with strangulation and harassment after a video went viral in which he appears to shout profanities and shove teenage girls.

John Rademaker, 57, was arrested by the Louisville Metro Police Department in connection with the 27-second clip which allegedly shows him grabbing an 18-year-old woman by the throat during a heated argument over social distancing.

Rademaker was placed on administrative leave from his job at One Anesthesia after the incident before being arrested by police on Tuesday and charged with one count of strangulation and three counts of harassment.

The victims shown in the video are not named.

'The Louisville Metro Police Department has arrested John Rademaker in reference to an investigation stemming from a viral video at Norton Commons, Friday,' police announced in a Facebook post.

'Mr. Rademaker faces a total of four charges to include: Strangulation 1st degree and Harassment with physical contact.

John Rademaker was arrested on Tuesday in connection with this 27-clip in which a man is seen accosting a group of teenagers over social distancing and strangling one girl

Local police announced the arrest of John Rademaker after the video went viral

'LMPD did not release the video or blur faces in this incident. The viral video was well circulated. This is an on-going investigation and we simply cannot comment further.'

Footage captured on a cellphone emerged over the weekend, which allegedly showed Rademaker coming to blows with a large group of young people at the Norton Commons amphitheater in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday at around 8.30pm.

The doctor and his female friend, who is also reportedly a health care worker, confronted the nine teenagers for not following social distancing rules to help curb the spread of coronavirus, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

This doctor from Indiana was caught on video on Friday physically attacking a group of teenage girls in Louisville, Kentucky, for failing to follow the rules of social distancing

Rademaker allegedly shoved the young woman in the blue sweatshirt after a verbal argument

As of Wednesday evening, Kentucky had just over 1,300 confirmed cases of the illness and 73 deaths.

The video opens with Rademaker dressed in a red T-shirt and bluejeans having a verbal argument with a young woman, who assures him that they are about to leave.

'Let's not cuss at each other,' she tells him.

The doctor then points a finger at one of the teens, whom he referrers to as 'this a**hole right here,' then shoves the girl.

'What the f*** is your problem?' the girl cries out. 'You do not touch me!'

He then lunged at an 18-year-old woman lying on the ground, and proceeded to allegedly strangle her by squeezing her neck. The victim did not require medical attention

The victim's friends intervened, leaving the woman gasping for air and crying out

The confrontation escalates even further when Rademaker pushes another girl out of the way, then lunges at a third teen lying on the ground and allegedly proceeds to strangle her by placing his hands around her neck.

Her friends intervene and yell at the doctor to let go of the 18-year-old woman, who is heard in the video gasping and crying out.

Rademaker was accompanied by this blond woman, who claimed to also be a doctor

A longer version of the video shows a young man in the group warning the doctor to 'quit it,' before the two sides disengage.

A woman in the group is heard telling the female doctor that she is 'not a health care physician'.

'Oh, yes I am!' the woman replies, to which another teen in the group says, 'you just assaulted a human being'.

The alleged victim of the attack called police, who responded to the scene and took an incident report.

A spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department told DailyMail.com that the 18-year-old victim did not require or request medical attention after having her breathing impeded.

Meanwhile, Rademaker's employer released a statement through a public relations agency, saying he has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

'Our well wishes extend to all parties involved and we will continue to monitor this situation as new information develops,' the company said.

Local police have warned that people should refrain from taking the law into their own hands to enforce social distancing.

'Obviously, we do not advise individuals concerned about social distancing to take matters into their own hands and confront people about it, especially in any physical way,' a police spokesperson said.

'We ask people who are concerned about large gatherings to call 311 or 911 to report their concerns.'

The federal government continues to encourage social distancing guidelines across the nation as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

As of Wednesday evening, there were more than 435,000 national cases and the death toll stood at 14,831.
Marie Osmond has taken to her Utah mountain home with her husband Steve Craig - whom she has married twice (in 1982 and again in 2011) while self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic.

And the 60-year-old The Talk star has been sharing her thoughts from inside her mansion.

'Some of the best advice I ever received is a message that feels very appropriate in this moment. It came from my father, who always used to tell us, "The most important work you will ever do is within the walls of your own home,"' she told Digital Journal on Wednesday. 'I love what I do and I am so grateful that I'm able to continue working safely from home, but it's the work that I put into myself and into my beautiful family that will always bring me the most joy.'

Live from her home: Marie Osmond has taken to her Utah mountain home with her husband Steve Craig - whom she has married twice (in 1982 and again in 2011) while self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic

All good in the hood: And the 60-year-old The Talk star has been sharing her thoughts from inside her mansion

She added, 'That feels especially true right now.'

And the star, who has been working since she was a child, says she would not change a thing.

'I feel so grateful that ever since I was a young girl, I have been able to do what I love: performing and connecting with people. I've had so many incredible opportunities that have brought me to where I am today,' said the Donnie & Marie star.

First time: She first wed Steve in 1982; here they are seen on their wedding day

Twice is nice: Marie and Steve tied the knot again in 2011; seen here in Las Vegas in 2016

And the former Las Vegas performer is happy to have NutriSystem provide her with healthy meals.

'Everyone knows how much I love the brand,' she said. 'I've worked with them for 14 years and not only do I know the program works, but I also believe in the company and I know they care.

'Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, people across America are turning to Nutrisystem because they safely deliver your favorite foods made healthier right to your door.'

She continued, 'It's convenient home-delivery of delicious meals and snacks, perfectly portioned to help you be healthy and stay on track.

Here she is seen at home: 'Some of the best advice I ever received is a message that feels very appropriate in this moment. It came from my father, who always used to tell us, "The most important work you will ever do is within the walls of your own home,"' she told Digital Journal on Wednesday

'Earlier this year, Nutrisystem launched new plans that are personalized to your body type, your goals, and your food preferences.

'I've gotten so much feedback from customers saying how much they love this and that it's been even easier to stick to and they are able to order and enjoy their favorite foods.'

She also has been sharing hopeful messages on Instagram.

'I've been sharing a lot of messages of hope on my social media that I've found to be so inspiring and so helpful during this time. I think it's very important to reach out to people and let them know that they're not alone in this.'

On the job: Marie has been taping The Talk from her Utah home; she also has a house in Vegas

Her day job: She is on The Talk with Sheryl Underwood, Carrie Ann Inaba, Sharon Osbourne, Eve Cooper

'The other day we were speaking about how important it is to share our light with others and I recalled this beautiful quote: 'faith is seeing the light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness',' she added.

Earlier this month she shared how she is doing on Instagram while at her home in Utah.

'Ive had a lot of firsts in my life but like you, this is my first pandemic,' she said.

Family first: Osmond at the 45th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in LA in 2018 with some of her children

'And Im sure, like every other first we have been through, the hardest parts will always be the unknowns.

'When I first heard we all had to stay home, I thought. what?? It felt like I was being sent to my room. I guess this all got real to me when @thetalkcbs stopped airing for a few weeks to be safe.

'Before I left LA to go to Arizona to check on my daughter Jessica, I made sure my kids in California were all safe. Then we went back home to Vegas. My husband and I got the rest of our kids set up there... then went to Utah.

'Steve has diabetes and my immune system isnt the greatest so we felt at our tender ages of 29 we should isolate ourselves.

She has always worked hard: Marie in 1977. 'I know I am very blessed to be able to do this! I guess after 57 years of working consistently I almost forgot how enjoyable it is to take a nap,' she said of self isolation

They were a great team: Marie and her brother Donnie Osmond of the Donny & Marie show which aired from 1975 until 1979

'After growing up with a large family of brothers and then 36 years of raising my children, Im enjoying being alone with my husband.

'It has been a blessing to have that time together especially after being apart for over 25 years!  And you know what else I am doing? Sleeping... I mean really sleeping and it is amazing!!!!

'I know I am very blessed to be able to do this! I guess after 57 years of working consistently I almost forgot how enjoyable it is to take a nap.

'After all, the house IS soooo quiet! There isnt somewhere to go, a deadline to meet or something planned I need to tackle this quarantine has been hard on so many for different reasons, but being a glass half full... instead of a glass half empty kind a person, I believe there are valuable things to learn from this also.'

Doing it herself: She said that she is doing her own hair and makeup at home these days

She also said it is in how we spend our time.

'We have an opportunity to reset, to really get rid of what isnt healthy or good for us.'

And we also have time to serve others in many ways.

'Like checking on our neighbors to make sure they have what they need from food to medicine and YES lets send more and more funny and uplifting memes to each other! Social distancing does not mean closing everyone off because right now we need to keep in touch. '

Earlier this week she was on QVC and she recorded from her home.

'Hi guys! I'm super excited to see you guys starting at 1am EST on @QVC tonight! Let's have a pajama party with @Nutrisystem popcorn together! Looking forward to hearing from you during the shows. Send me your questions through the comment section and I'll try to answer them live! And hopefully you can call in to the shows, too! Stay safe and healthy!'
An infectious disease expert has slammed a strategy to tackle coronavirus by building herd immunity, predicting it could result in 160,000 deaths.

Australian health officials have been considering relaxing social distancing measures to allow COVID-19 to spread in order to create resistance to future outbreaks.

Dr Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University said 60 to 70 per cent of the population would need to get infected with coronavirus for the plan to work, which could end up causing a huge spike in deaths.

Dr Sanjaya Senanayake (pictured) has predicted in a best-case scenario, 16,000 Australians would die if health officials allowed COVID-19 to spread through 60 to 70 per cent of the population to build herd immunity

'It is a terrible idea. It might happen naturally but it shouldn't happen deliberately,' he told the Today show on Thursday.

'The issues with it is that about 60 to 70 per cent of the population would have to become naturally infected for herd immunity to occur, for the other 30-40 per cent not to get infected.

'If you look at our Australian population, that means about 160,000, if we say one per cent is the case fatality rate, 160,000 people would die. If we are really conservative [with 0.1 per cent] it would still be 16,000.'

A long-term herd immunity strategy to deal with the virus has been flagged for consideration if a vaccine does not become available soon.

It would involve exposing healthy Australians to the virus at a rate that would not overwhelm hospitals while also increasing immunity, in a bid to protect the vulnerable.

Social distancing restrictions would first be eased for the less vulnerable or less likely to die, such as schoolchildren and young people, then for other members of population once it was safe.

But Dr Senanayake rejected the idea, forecasting that even in a best-case scenario 30,000-odd healthy Australians would still require hospitalisation and 16,000 would die.

COVID-19 infections continue to drop across the country, after the government shut borders, closed businesses and enforced strict social distancing rules. Pictured: A sign reminds people to stay 1.5 metres away from others

He said it was a bad idea ethically, morally, and in terms of resources, and the health care system would not cope.

The case fatality rate (CFR) - the percentage of people diagnosed with the disease who die - is currently 0.7 per cent in Australia.

During the early stages of the outbreak, WHO estimated the disease's CFR at around two per cent based on China's data, but the figure can vary depending on demographics, which, in the case of COVID-19, is higher for those aged over 60.

This variable can also explain why some countries may have a higher death rate, as seen in the worst hit nations Italy and Spain, which both have older populations and sit at about 11.75 per cent and ten per cent respectively.

Early modelling suggested Australia, which has similar demographics to Italy, could experience the same disastrous outbreak that unfolded in Europe.

Despite these predictions, Australia is among the countries with the lowest mortality rates such as South Korea at 1.67 per cent and Germany which, despite having more than 100,000 cases, has a CFR of just 1.38 per cent.

Experts have found the common feature among these nations has been early and widespread testing.

Fears are held for countries with limited testing and restrictions that they will see exponential growth in weeks to come, including Japan which has a CFR of 2.62 per cent and an older population.

Health officials are considering allowing coronavirus to course through up to 70 per cent of the community to build herd immunity if a vaccine does not become available soon. People are pictured in line at the coronavirus testing station at Bondi beach on April 1

The effect of late measures is currently being witnessed in the United States, where the 2.16 per cent death rate is climbing.

According to modelling conducted by the Doherty institute, if no action had been taken to stop the spread of the disease, about 23million Australians, or 89 per cent of the population, could have been infected.

Although infection rates in Australia are on the decline, health officials believe this is due to cases no longer being brought in by travellers.

There are still concerns over a handful of community transmissions, and the likelihood that ascending rates could resurface if appropriate health measures are not maintained.

On Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said while the virus could be eradicated by imposing lockdowns until infection rates fell to zero, the majority of the population would still be susceptible to the virus.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Without increased immunity rates in the community, aggressive border controls would be needed for 'a long time' after lockdowns were lifted, he said.

A NSW health official said controlling the spread of coronavirus was still a priority to ensure the health system is not stretched to treat patients but partially easing social distancing measures to diffuse the virus at a 'gentle' pace was definitely option.

However, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said social distancing rules to limit the spread of the virus would stay in place even until a vaccination is developed.

As the curve begins to flatten, discussions have begun to focus on how to approach the next stage of the crisis and kick-start the economy as soon as possible.

Without a vaccine to combat the virus, controlled exposure to COVID-19 could allow society to return to normal faster.

Despite the decrease in cases, the nation's leaders and health officials have warned people it is vital they stick by social distancing rules and stay at home over the Easter weekend to ensure they do not re-surge.

As of Thursday, there have been 6,029 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country including 51 deaths. Of the total, 2,597 people have recovered.
The fight involving the two women, in which the police were called to intervene.

It took two units of police officers to apprehend a woman who was involved initially in a fight with another female in Little Tokyo last Monday.





The woman also put up a prolonged fight with the law officers as she resisted arrest.

Persons who were witnesses to the event, said that the woman is currently a resident of Fairbaine Pasture but is originally from Rose Bank.





THE VINCENTIAN understands that the woman got into a tussle with another woman.





The police were called in to separate the women.





One account of what transpired, related that the incident got out of hand when the police attempted to speak to the Fairbaine Pasture woman. She seemed to have taken offence to this and went into a tirade, cursing the officers and refusing to move on as instructed.





This developed into what can only be described as an open fight between the woman and the police, the source said.





Video footage appearing on Social Media showed the woman confronting the law men, kicking out at them and even pushing one of them.





The footage clearly showed a male member of the public lifting the woman and slamming her into the tray of a police transport, in front of plain clothes officers.





Before she was lifted into the police transport, the woman is said to have even gone under the transport to avoid being arrested.





The woman continued with her tirade, lacing her critics with colourful expletives, and even complained that her purse had been snatched. She insisted she wasnt leaving without it.





All this time, a large crowd had gathered, and the persons could clearly be seen to be ignoring health officials advice on social distancing.





The commotion is said to have overflowed into the crowd as friends and supporters of the woman verbally clashed with those who had called for her to go with the police.





The woman was subsequently released from police custody, but THE VINCENTIAN was unable to confirm whether or not she was charged.




DAYTON, Ohio  A woman accused of shoplifting more than $1,200 in groceries from a Kroger store is facing multiple charges after she told police she was infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Fox 19 reports Stephanie Incarnato, 28, of Dayton, is charged with exposing others to a contagion, two charges of possession of drugs, and one charge of theft. She will be held in isolation at the Hamilton County Justice Center for 14 days, according to cincinnati.com.

Incarnato is accused of stealing $1,280 worth of groceries on Tuesday from a Kroger grocery store in Sharonville, Ohio, WLWT Channel 5 reports. When she was arrested, she gave police a false name, told them she had the coronavirus and Hepatitis C, claimed to have swallowed narcotics and also said she was pregnant, cincinnati.com reports.

Police tell WLWT that Incarnato is showing no symptoms of the virus, and they emphasized that they do not believe she was trying to intentionally contaminate merchandise. She refused treatment at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. She was not tested because she was not showing symptoms.

Fox 19 says police still disinfected the patrol car in which she was transported and anyone who came into contact with her will be closely monitored.

Still something were going to take very seriously," Dana Taggart with the Sharonville Police Department tells Fox 19. Just as she was making that claim were not going to say, Oh, well, youre lying.' We have to take her word for that and take every precaution necessary and make sure were keeping everybody safe.

More coronavirus coverage:

State confirms 4 new coronavirus cases in Cleveland, the smallest increase in more than 2 weeks

Projections show COVID-19 coronavirus will be one of Americas deadliest events -- Heres the numbers

Greater Clevelands air pollution could push up regions coronavirus death toll, Harvard research suggests

Cleveland Clinic doctor says coronavirus cases steady the last 6 days, hospitals still planning for a surge

Why are Ohios gun shops still open? State says its a nod to constitutional rights
The United Nations Security Council is all set to discuss the "Impact of COVID-19 on the issues that fall under the Security Councils mandate" later on Thursday at approximately between 1-1.30 am IST (10th April). The Council President for the month of April, the Dominican Republic, said that the meeting will be held via a video-teleconferencing (VTC). This comes shortly after China vacated the rotating presidency of the top body at the onset of April, having purportedly blocked the Coronavirus discussion through March.

Read: UN Security Council To Discuss COVID-19 Pandemic In Closed Session On Thursday

The UNSC session on COVID-19 will be held behind closed doors and will mark the first discussion on the pandemic by the UN organ that has killed more than 74,000 people and infected over 1.3 million globally. In the four months since the outbreak originated in Wuhan, China has repeatedly snubbed discussions on the virus taking advantage of being the head of the body for the month of March.

Read: EU's Top Scientist Resigns Over 'disappointing' Response To COVID-19 Outbreak

Formal request by non-permanent members

Nine of the 10 non-permanent members formally requested for this meeting featuring a presentation by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The nine countries that requested the meeting are Germany, which initiated the effort, followed by Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Indonesia, Niger, St Vincent, and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam. The only non-permanent South Africa did not support the move, stating that the council's purpose has always been peace and security, not health and economic issues. Meanwhile, the United States has demanded that for any meeting to proceed it must specify that the virus first emerged in China, which has been opposed by the latter.

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: UN Security Council To Discuss Covid Behind Closed Doors; Here's Each Member's Position
CHANDLER, Ariz., April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (MCHP)  Microchip Technology Incorporated, a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions, today provided an update on its expected March 2020 quarter net sales and the current business environment. Microchip announced that its net sales for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 is expected to be up about 3% sequentially versus its revised guidance provided on March 2, 2020 of about flat sequentially. Microchip also announced that it received record bookings for the March 2020 quarter and that its backlog for the June 2020 quarter is up about 9% from the March 2020 quarter backlog at the same point in time.



Microchip, however, believes that the strength in bookings may be a result of customer concerns about supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 virus. With economies around the world contracting rapidly, with millions of people getting laid off and with customer factory closures due to shelter in place ordinances in various countries, we believe that product demand is likely to weaken significantly.

Therefore, Microchip is proactively taking a series of actions to lower its cost structure. Microchips CEO, President and other executive staff members will take a 20% salary cut effective on April 20, 2020 while the rest of the non-factory employees in the company will take a 10% salary cut. The salary cuts will be in addition to the reduction of cash bonuses and other discretionary expenses. The cost reduction actions in our U.S. factories will vary with some employees taking salary cuts and others taking rotating time off depending on the factory loading levels for various locations. Cost reduction actions in our non-U.S. locations will depend on local law requirements including obtaining works council approval in certain jurisdictions and employee consent for salary cuts in other jurisdictions. The Microchip board of directors will also take a 20% cut in their cash compensation.

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Microchip expects that its capital expenditures for fiscal 2021 ending March 31, 2021 will be reduced to about $50 million to $70 million, primarily for maintenance capital and to support new product introductions.

While we see strong bookings and backlog right now, we also see a very high degree of uncertainly in our business due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus, said Steve Sanghi, Microchips CEO. With millions of job losses, customer factories shutting down and weakening economic activity, we are taking actions to reduce expenses and capital expenditures to prepare for these conditions.

Microchip plans to complete its financial accounting processes and announce its March 2020 quarterly and year-end results on May 7, 2020. There will be no conference call associated with this press release.

Cautionary Statement:

The statements in this release relating to net sales for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 expected to be up about 3% sequentially, belief that the strength in bookings may be a result of customer concerns about supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 virus, economies around the world contracting rapidly, millions of people getting laid off and with customer factory closures due to shelter in place ordinances in various countries, we believe that product demand is likely to weaken significantly, proactively taking a series of actions to lower its cost structure, reduction of cash bonuses and other discretionary expenses, that the cost reduction actions in our domestic factories will vary with some employees taking salary cuts and others taking rotating time off depending on the factory loading levels for various locations, that cost reduction actions in our non-U.S. locations will depend on local law requirements including obtaining works council approval in certain jurisdictions and employee consent for salary cuts in other jurisdictions, expecting capital expenditures for fiscal 2021 ending March 31, 2021 will be reduced to about $50 million to $70 million, a very high degree of uncertainly in our business due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus, millions of job losses, customer factories shutting down and weakening economic activity, and taking actions to reduce expenses and capital expenditures to prepare for these conditions are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to: any continued economic uncertainty or weakness due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus, monetary policy, political, trade or other issues in the U.S. or internationally (including with respect to trade and other matters involving China), any continued or unexpected fluctuations or weakness in the U.S. and global economies (including China), changes in demand or market acceptance of our products and the products of our customers; our ability to successfully integrate the operations and employees, retain key employees and customers and otherwise realize the expected synergies and benefits of our acquisitions; the impact of current and future changes in U.S. corporate tax laws (including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017), foreign currency effects on our business; the mix of inventory we hold and our ability to satisfy short-term orders from our inventory; changes in utilization of our manufacturing capacity and our ability to effectively manage and expand our production levels; competitive developments including pricing pressures; the level of orders that are received and can be shipped in a quarter; changes or fluctuations in customer order patterns and seasonality; the impact of any future significant acquisitions that we may make; our ability to obtain a sufficient supply of wafers from third party wafer foundries and the cost of such wafers, the costs and outcome of any current or future litigation or other matters involving our Microsemi acquisition, the Microsemi business, intellectual property, customers, or other issues; the costs and outcome of any current or future tax audit or investigation regarding our business or the business of Microsemi, our actual average stock price in the March 2019 quarter and the impact such price will have on our share count; fluctuations in our stock price and trading volume which could impact the number of shares we acquire under our share repurchase program and the timing of such repurchases; disruptions in our business or the businesses of our customers or suppliers due to natural disasters (including any floods in Thailand), terrorist activity, armed conflict, war, worldwide oil prices and supply, public health concerns or disruptions in the transportation system; and general economic, industry or political conditions in the United States or internationally. The financial information in this press release is also subject to change as we complete our quarterly financial and accounting control closing procedures and the annual audit of our financial statements and internal control over financial reporting.

For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, please refer to Microchip's filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. You can obtain copies of Forms 10-K and 10-Q and other relevant documents for free at Microchip's website ( www.microchip.com ) or the SEC's website ( www.sec.gov ) or from commercial document retrieval services.

Stockholders of Microchip are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. Microchip does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after this April 8, 2020 press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

About Microchip:

Microchip Technology Incorporated is a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs, which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company's solutions serve more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com .

Note: The Microchip name and logo are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the USA and other countries.
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday he spotted "instant winners" after months-long travel restrictions in China's Hubei province were removed.

Wuhan, the Hubei city where the coronavirus pandemic originated in December, is trying to find a new normal in the wake of an 11-week quarantine that closed the capital for business.

"With the opening of Wuhan last night," the "Mad Money" host said, "it's a whole new ballgame for the second largest economy in the world. We're already seeing some instant winners."

Cramer laid out a diversified basket of companies that spans the freight, technology, construction, restaurant and apparel industries. Below are his thoughts on each pick:

UPS and FedEx: "UPS and FedEx spent fortunes building out giant hubs in China. Their stocks are roaring here, but they still aren't up enough."

Apple: "I'm salivating over the idea that people will lap up Apple's 5G phone when a rejuvenated China lines up for the darned thing," Cramer said. "With China coming back, and Apple's service revenue stream getting a big boost from a locked down America, this stock suddenly seems pretty darned attractive, to me."

Skyworks Solutions and Broadcom: "Skyworks Solutions and Broadcom are both fabulous plays on a China comeback. I think their telco chips will be very strong in the second half."

Nvidia: "They have a ton of Chinese business. Who knows, maybe the Chinese government will finally bless their Mellanox acquisition  something that make the stock spike immediately."

Caterpillar: "Caterpillar's running because the Chinese Communist Party has spent fortunes on economic stimulus and they need CAT's machines. These days Caterpillar's more levered to oil than to China, but I think the stock's still a winner on any Chinese resurgence."

Nike: "When you get out of lockdown, you want to splurge, like with a pair of Nikes. I was on the fence about this one with the Olympics postponed, but now you've got China as a second half story and the Olympics next year."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Apple and Broadcom.

Disclaimer
Stating that public gathering could pose health risk, Pune Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) has decided to stop its operations at Market Yard from Friday [October 10].

The circular issued by Pune APMC administrator BJ Deshmukh on Thursday states that the arrival of agriculture produce at its submarket in Pimpri and Manjri areas will continue.

The state government is also planning to keep vegetable markets in the urban areas of Mumbai and Pune closed to keep people from crowding these areas despite issuing warnings. Revenue minister Balasabheb Thorat said vegetable markets in urban areas could be closed to check spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus).

According to the Pune APMC, PMC had sealed Gultekdi, Kasewadi, Nana peth, Bhavani peth, Rasta peth, Mahatma Phule Mandai, Somwar peth, Mangalwar peth, Budhwar peth, Guruwar peth, Shaniwar peth, Raviwar peth and Kondhwa areas. As maximum people visiting Market Yard, mainly tempo drivers, potters, retail traders and middlemen are residents of these areas, traders and staff are unwilling to continue operations because of health risks involved.

Deshmukh said people living near Market Yard are facing inconvenience as police are not allowing them to leave the area.

Vilas Bhujbal, president, Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard traders and agents association, said, With some positive cases reported from Gultekdi area, APMC has decided to close operations. We have appealed to traders to not bring vegetable supply from outstations and farmers till further instructions.

There is a rush to buy vegetables, ever since the news arrived that the Market Yard will be closed. Since there is less supply of vegetables, the prices have increased, said Mayur Kalate, a retail vegetable vendor at Jijamata Bhaji Mandai, Aundh

Meenal Patil who came along with her mother-in-law to buy vegetables for the week said, The prices of the vegetables are skyrocketing and some vegetables like ginger and coriander which are used in most of the dishes is not even available.

Markets closed to check footfall

Even as Pune APMC has decided to close operations from Friday, traders and Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) officials claim that it will not affect residents. Residents and retailers say the decision will escalate the prices of vegetables and fruits.

A MSAMB official on condition of anonymity said, Residents used to crowd markets and hoard vegetables and fruits despite telling them that supply will be regular. Hence, it is necessary to close markets for at least a week. Grocery shops selling cereals and other edibles would remain open and direct supply from farmers is also not stopped.

I have been going to Market Yard on alternate days to buy vegetables and sell it at the retail market. The prices have already shot up because of short supply. The closure of wholesale market for an indefinite period will cause further price escalation, said Sarika Deshmukh, a vegetable vendor from Pune-Satara road.
With all the Tablighi jamaat



event returnees traced in Andhra Pradesh, the number of COVID-19 cases in the state was expected to come down after completion of testing of them and their primary contacts, the state government said on Thursday.

A release from the CMO, quoting what officials told Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy at a high-level review meeting, said the rise in the number of coronavirus positive cases in the state was only due to the Jamaat attendees and their primary contacts.

The state governments health adviser Srinath Reddy explained the COVID-19 trend, the medical protocol being followed and the analyses of various surveys at the meeting.

The release said the officials then briefed the Chief Minister on the current status of cases and the preventive measures being adopted in the state, which has reported 348 coronavirus cases and four deaths as of Thursday morning.

As the testing of the Jamaat attendees and their primary contacts gets completed, the number of cases will drop, the release quoted the officials as having told the CM.

The police under the DGP did a tremendous job in tracing out the Jamaat attendees and their contacts. And because of that, we were able to safeguard the health of those who returned from New Delhi and also their family members, the officials said.

Enquiring about the results of household survey conducted in two rounds so far, the Chief Minister directed the officials to conduct the third phase in a comprehensive manner, by investigating the health details of each member of a household.

The survey should be foolproof and error-free. Everybody with symptoms of the virus should be tested, Jagan said.

Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas, Agriculture Minister K Kanna Babu, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Special Chief Secretary (Health) K S Jawahar Reddy, Principal Secretary M T Krishna Babu and other officials attended.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There has been series of calls for resignation of World Health Organization (WHO) Director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as hes been accused of aiding China to lie about their death toll numbers thereby covering up the true impact of Coronavirus in the Asian nation.

China says it has had 81,000 cases with 3300 deaths compared to the US death toll now over 10,000 and the US believes China covered up their death toll and in the process helped spread the disease. In February, when China reported 17,238 infections and 361 deaths, Tedros, an Ethiopian, said there was no need for countries to impose travel restrictions and that measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade were not needed.



Last month Tedros praised the Chinese regime, saying: For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten.

Now US politician, Republican Sen. Martha McSally has called for his removal from the job saying he helped China cover up a lie with some estimates suggesting their death toll could be as high as 40,000.

Dr Tedros deceived the world. At one point, he even praised Chinas transparency during its coronavirus response efforts despite a mountain of evidence showing the regime concealed the severity of the outbreak. This deception cost lives. She said to Fox News on Monday.

She added that she never trusted a communist and that the Chinese governments cover-up of this virus that originated with them has caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the worldI think Dr Tedros needs to step down.



It should be remebered that a whistleblowing doctor, Dr Li Wenliang, who first alerted the rest of the world to the escalating crisis within Hubei province, was sanctioned by medical authorities and police.

He later died of the virus and the country denied questionning him with the help of the police, labeling it as a rumor.
PIGEON  The Huron County Community Foundation and Elkton Lions Club are sponsoring another "pop-up" food pantry on Saturday, just in time for the Easter holiday.

The food distribution will once again take place at 11 a.m. at Laker Elementary School, 6436 Pigeon Road, in Pigeon. Troopers from the Michigan State Police post in Caro and the Oliver Township Fire Department will provide assistance.

Kurt Damrow of the Elkton Lions Club said the response to last weeks mobile pantry was overwhelming, as volunteers distributed food to about 2,500 people. That number includes pre-packed groceries for homebound people, and the pantry organizers, the Lions Club and the Thumb Breadbasket, were able to secure two truckloads of food from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, which Damrow praised for making the food pantries possible and providing a variety of foods from week to week.

The Food Pantry of Eastern Michigan is doing a remarkable job of really balancing the loads to make it a good grocery run for families, he said.

Damrow said organizers never know for sure what types of food the trucks will bring from the food bank until they open up the trailer doors.

He pointed out just how many members of the community pitch in to allow the food giveaways to take place. He mentioned Joel Fiebig and Stephanie Long of Countryside Transportation, who have donated the companys services for this weekends pop-up pantry.

Anyone in need is welcome to pick up food.

Pantry workers will use social distancing practices as volunteers distribute food. Those picking up food will be asked to remain in their vehicles  with their windows rolled up  as they drive along the pick-up route. They are asked to clean out their trunks or backs of their vehicles so volunteers can quickly and efficiently load food items. Those picking up food are not required to fill out any paperwork, and families can carpool if they choose. Food recipients will only be asked their name, hometown and number of people living in their household.

For a calendar of food pantries around the Thumb, go to www.fbem.org. The calendar is updated daily and covers 22 counties.
Five Civilians Killed in Terrorist Attack in Southeastern Turkey - Authorities

Sputnik News

10:10 GMT 08.04.2020

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Five civilians have been killed in an attack carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organisation, in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir, provincial authorities said on Wednesday.

"Today at 06:30 a.m. [03:30 GMT] in the Kulp district, five residents who were travelling by car to the forest to harvest firewood were killed as a result of a blast of an improvised explosive device planted by members of the PKK terrorist organisation. Our security forces launched an operation to identify and capture the perpetrators of the attack", the authorities said in a statement.

In March, the Anadolu news agency reported that Ankara intends to build a drone base in the eastern province of Erzurum to launch operations against Kurdish militants.

The Turkish government has been fighting the PKK since the early 1980s. The PKK/YPG seek to establish a Kurdish autonomous state, including in parts of Turkey, an aspiration that expectedly has met a strong confrontation in Ankara and prompted anti-PKK raids by the Turkish security forces. The Turkish military also attacks Kurdish forces in northern Iraq

and it was the fight against the Kurdish terrorists that Ankara said was the reason for its military operation in northern Syria.

Though the sides signed a ceasefire agreement between in 2013, the armed conflict resumed two years later in the wake of several terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK militants.

A Sputnik

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Photo credit: Getty Images

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Air Force is looking at turning the B-1B Lancer bomber into Americas first hypersonic missile carrier.



The B-1B could carry up to 31 AGM-183A Arrow hypersonic missiles.

In a future conflict, B-1Bs could devastate the enemy, launching scores of unstoppable hypersonic missile strikes against key military targets.

The U.S. Air Force is taking a hard look at outfitting the B-1B Lancer bomber to carry hypersonic missiles. The ex-nuclear bomber could carry more than two dozen ARRW missiles, each of which flies at a blistering 15,345 miles an hour. The refit could transform the B-1 from an aging bomber on the verge of retirement into a door kicker that would fire the opening shots in a future conflict.

The B-1B bomber was originally designed as a heavy strategic bomber meant to conduct low-level, high-speed dashes into Soviet territory to carry out nuclear strikes. In the 2000s the bomber lost its nuclear mission and performed as a workhorse over the skies of Afghanistan, delivering precision guided strikes in support of friendly ground forces.

Now the B-1 could be repurposed yet again, carrying the Air Forces AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missiles. Here's a video of a captive carry test from 2019 that revealed the missile's shape:

According to Air Force Magazine , the service thinks it can mount up to 31 ARRW missiles on a B-1B bomber. The missiles would be carried both internally and on hardpoints fitted to the belly of the aircraft. The B-1B has always had the ability to carry missiles, particularly nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on its fuselage but never actually did. The big bomber is built to be stealthy, and sticking missiles on the outside of the plane would ruin the planes carefully designed radar cross signature.

The AGM-183A Arrow is a so-called boost glide hypersonic weapon, using a rocket motor to launch the hypersonic vehicle to a high altitude, accelerating it to Mach 20 like a space bound rocket. The vehicle stops short of leaving the atmosphere, flattening its trajectory and then entering a shallow dive to the target. Traveling more than 15,000 miles an hour, the hypersonic weapon travels too quickly for enemy air defenses to successfully intercept. A combination of kinetic energy and high-explosive warhead would pack a devastating punch.

Story continues

Photo credit: Anadolu Agency - Getty Images

In wartime, a flight of B-1B bomberseach loaded with 31 Arrowswould attack in conjunction with other more stealthy bombers, including the B-2 Spirit and upcoming B-21 Raider. The bombers would launch against pre-plotted targets such as enemy headquarters, fixed-missile sites, and other facilities, and would probably have the capability to target newly detected defenses located by bombers and drones. The B-1Bs and their hypersonic payloads would help shut down enemy air defenses, allowing more vulnerable aircraft such as the B-52H and less stealthy tactical aircraft to operate more closely to their targets.

The Air Force wants to upgrade at least a squadrons worth of B-1Bs to carry hypersonic missiles. The Lancer bombers were originally supposed to be phased out as the B-21 Raider comes online in the late 2020s. The bombers added a lot of hours acting as close air support platforms during the war in Afghanistan, increasing the stress on their metal frames. As a result, in late 2019 the Air Force prohibited them from flying low-level missions .

Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI - Getty Images

The Air Force currently flies 62 B-1Bs out of an original 100 planes. It wants to retire another fifteen, likely those with the most fatigued airframes. The last B-1B was produced in 1988 and many of the original parts suppliers are no longer in business. The fifteen retired planes would likely go into storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where they would be slowly cannibalized for spare parts to keep the remaining planes flying.

If the B-1B does adopt this new mission, it will cap off what is by any means an extraordinary flying career. Few airplanes have carried out as varied missions as the B-1B, from infiltrating the worlds toughest air defenses as a nuclear bomber to supporting ground troops in contact in Afghanistan.

The plane will likely fly much longer than its original designers predicted.

Source: Air Force Mag

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Grand jury proceedings

The plaintiffs petition includes numerous allegations about the grand jury proceedings that claim the grand jury could not possibly have been given a thorough presentation on the facts of the incident because it took an average of mere minutes to approve an indictment in each of the 155 cases. Also, the plaintiffs allege the panel was not shown any video footage of the clash between the Bandidos and Cossacks and their support groups that could have cleared many of wrongdoing, and that the grand jury was provided with materially misleading and false statements and information.

Tittle said he thinks the plaintiffs have a good chance of winning on appeal.

To require proof of how the grand jury was actually misled without knowing what went on in the grand jury room seems like an impossible standard to me, Tittle said. We offered eight pages of facts from which it could be determined that the grand jury got far less than an accurate picture of what actually happened out at Twin Peaks. According to the courts order, that wasnt enough. Theres really nothing else we could have offered without violating the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings.
Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan and his party colleague Councillor Maria Dollard are calling for a six-month rates write-off for small independent retailers and other small businesses to help the economic recovery when Ireland starts to look at post Covid-19 recovery.

The pair say that Central Government should make up the loss of revenue to local councils so that they can maintain essential services - but that a rates write-off is an essential minimum request for local business. They have also said that Government should establish a mandatory arbitration system to mediate between landlords and tenants so that a fair system is in place to ensure both landlords and tenants are supported fairly in getting out of this crisis.

"We are of the view that while a six-month rate write-off, wont in itself help many businesses to get back on their feet, it will send out an important message that we are in this together and together we will emerge," said Cllr Dollard.

Deputy Malcolm Noonan said that this was the request of Retail Ireland, and that having attended an IBEC online briefing for Oireachtas members, he was made aware of the immense challenges faced by small and medium sized enterprises as the State emerges from the pandemic.

"A rates write off could be financed by Central Government so that local authorities are not out of pocket and can maintain services," says Cllr Dollard.

"Furthermore we need an independent arbitration process so that landlords and tenants can work out a fair way of dealing with the lost months of trading."

Deputy Noonan pointed to the much greater financial supports available to business in other countries such as cash grants, liquidity measures and interest free loans.

"Money has never been cheaper, we should use every mechanism at our disposal; EU and State Aid to ensure that our valuable SMEs and small retailers can emerge and thrive once again," he said.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Last months killing of four Mexican gray wolves in southwestern New Mexico by federal agencies has prompted outcries from wildlife groups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March 18 said there were 163 endangered Mexican gray wolves in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona, a population increase for the second year in a row.

But 2019 was also the deadliest year for livestock killed by wolves, with 126 confirmed incidents in New Mexico and 58 in Arizona.

The current management plan for the animal allows agencies to intentionally harass, implement non-lethal control measures, translocate, place in captivity, or lethally control problem wolves.

One wolf was killed by the Interagency Field Team on March 23, and the other three were killed on March 28.

Wolves killing calves and adult cows was cited as the agencys reason for all four lethal removals.

These killings on behalf of the livestock industry are a shame, especially considering they happened right after the announcement of population increases, Michael Robinson, advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Journal. Some ranchers take efforts to protect their livestock, but some are really lackadaisical about it, so Fish and Wildlife ends up taking these measures, in one case killing an uncollared wolf pup.

In a March 24 memo authorizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services Program to remove three wolves, Brady McGee, coordinator of the Mexican gray wolf program, said livestock depredations had continued despite agencies working to mitigate the scenario, and were likely to continue without additional control measures.

I am concerned with the numerous depredations in this area over a short period of time and the toll these depredations have caused the livestock producer, McGee wrote. It is the services intent to recover the Mexican wolf in a manner that reduces economic effects on the local livestock industry.

The Interagency Field Team and groups like Defenders of Wildlife work with ranchers in wolf-occupied areas to prevent livestock depredations. Methods include removing animal carcasses that attract wolves, changing where calving operations take place and patrolling on horseback to scare away wolves. Fish and Wildlife memos authorizing the lethal wolf removals state that area ranchers had been taking preventative measures.

The wolves belonged to the Prieto Pack and the Mangas Pack in southwestern New Mexico. Both packs are in an area that had at least 20 confirmed livestock kills by wolves on federal or private land from September 2019 to mid-March.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 05:26:15|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-China collaborative research into the COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is one of the major fronts the world's top two economies can work on together to help win the global war against the pandemic, said a health policy expert.

"I believe U.S. and China can work together on three fronts that are key to winning the global battle against coronavirus disease (COVID-19)," Dr. Xi Chen, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told Xinhua via Wechat on Wednesday.

First, both countries have great power working together on accelerating research and development of vaccine and therapeutics, he said. Multiple clinical trials are ongoing in China as China first went through the epidemic and many patients are still being treated.

With both governments stepping up efforts to invest and promote public-private partnership in developing some effective vaccine and therapeutics, the process will "have large chance to be shortened and more lives to be saved," he said.

Chinese health workers have cumulated very rich clinical experience treating COVID-19 patients, and U.S. health facilities are currently overwhelmed with patients, said Chen, also president of China Health Policy and Management Society (CHPAMS).

"There can be large ground for exchanges among doctors in both countries to standardize and streamline the treatment process to save lives. Chinese doctors will play an important role," he said.

It will also be crucial for the two countries to keep the global industrial and supply chains open, stable and secure as China is a major producer of face masks, ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), and the U.S. recently becomes the global COVID-19 epicenter with great demand, said Chen.

"Such collaborations will be much needed and fruitful," he said. "We can't send soldiers to war zone without weapons. Give doctors what they need. When they are safe, the population can be safer."

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 400, 000 with fatalities over 12,000 by early Wednesday afternoon local time, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Globally, over 180 nations and regions have reported over 1.4 million cases with a death toll of over 83,000.
Coronavirus cases in the country show no sign of abating with the number of total cases crossing 5,500 on Thursday. Odisha became the first state to announce the extension of Covid-19 lockdown in the country.

As many as 23 hotspots in Delhi have been sealed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Madhya Pradesh has also sealed three major cities - Indore, Ujjain and Bhopal - while 15 districts will be in a complete state of lockdown in Uttar Pradesh.

Here are the key developments:

1. The Ministry of Health updated the latest Covid-19 tally in the country to 5,734 on Thursday which includes 5,095 active cases and 166 deaths. As many as 473 patients have been cured or discharged.

2. The Odisha government has decided that the lockdown in the state will be extended until April 30. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the same on Thursday after a meeting with his cabinet.

3. Its not possible to lift the lockdown abruptly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a meeting with the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament on Wednesday.

4. PM Modi on Thursday acknowledged US President Donald Trumps thank you note and said that India will do everything possible to help humanitys fight against coronavirus.

5. Three new neighbourhoods have been added to the list of 20 areas in the national capital that have been placed under a hard lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. The new areas are Bengali Market near Mandi House in Central Delhi, Sadar area in Old Delhi and some areas falling under the Moti Bagh locality in South Delhi.

6. Delhis Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday that the lockdown in Delhi could be extended beyond April 14 if the current situation persists.

7. In a first, the railways has introduced time-tabled parcel trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods.

8. Jharkhand on Thursday reported its first coronavirus death.

9. Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain are three major cities in Madhya Pradesh to be sealed completely in the wake of the rising coronavirus cases in the state.

10. The coronavirus crisis could push as many as 400 million Indians, including migrant workers and daily wage earners, into poverty, the International Labour Organisation said.
A field hospital at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is expected to start caring for coronavirus patients Friday, officials announced.

Clinical care for people diagnosed with COVID-19 will be provided at the center, located at 415 Summer St., Partners HealthCare said. The facility will have 1,000 beds available to patients, and the health care provider will oversee much of the operations.

Partners is collaborating with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh in the effort dubbed Boston Hope," according to a statement released Thursday.

Id like to extend my thanks to Governor Baker, Mayor Walsh and their teams for the opportunity to bring our clinical skills to serve the patients who will be admitted to Boston Hope, Anne Klibanski, CEO of Partners HealthCare, said in the statement. In unprecedented times like these, we are grateful to be able to respond with every resource possible and work together to deliver the care and compassion patients deserve.

Of the facilitys 1,000 beds, half will be for homeless individuals, and 500 will be for non-critical patients, Walsh said during a press conference Sunday. There will also be six acute-care suites, a physical therapy space, 52 nurses stations and 48 bathroom facilities.

Patients from hospitals both within and outside Partners HealthCares network will be cared for, according the health care providers statement.

We are preparing for whatever comes our way, for our vulnerable residents and for all of our residents, Walsh said.

The opening of the BCEC field hospital is part of a statewide effort to combat the outbreak of the viral respiratory infection, as public officials in Massachusetts forecast a surge in cases and fatalities between April 10 and April 20.

Modeling shows up to 172,000 residents in the commonwealth could contract the virus, Baker has said.

Dozens of testing sites have already been set up across the state, including one in Lowell. The center offers up to 1,000 free tests daily that each take roughly 15 minutes to process. Testing for the disease is a key part of finding out where resources are needed, the governor said at a press conference last week.

The Worcester DCU Center opened Thursday as the commonwealths first coronavirus treatment center. Area hospitals, public officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been working in recent weeks to convert the 50,000-square-foot facility into a medical station to allow for an additional 250 hospital beds. The station will be operated by UMass Memorial Health Care.

Baker has said other sites are also being considered as COVID-19 treatment centers, including Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne, Springfields MassMutual Center and other smaller locations, the governor said.

As a city, were focused on protecting our fellow Bostonians, especially the most vulnerable among us, Walsh said in a statement. I thank all the partners involved in this work for their tireless efforts. This facility has the potential to help hundreds in need, and Boston will continue its work to stop the spread of COVID-19, and ensure all residents are safe, healthy, and get the care they need.

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Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered a new role for the brain chemical dopamine that is independent of classic neurotransmission. The new role appears to be critical to changes in gene expression related to chronic exposure to, or abuse of, cocaine, according to a study published Friday, April 10, in the journal Science.

"Our study provides the first evidence of how dopamine can directly impact drug-induced gene expression abnormalities and subsequent relapse behavior," says Ian Maze, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, and Pharmacological Sciences, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author of the study. "Beyond transmission of signals between neurons in the brain, we have found that dopamine can be chemically attached to histone proteins, which causes cells to switch different genes on and off, affecting regions of the brain that are involved in motivation and reward behavior. This biochemical process significantly affects cocaine vulnerability and relapse when perturbed by drugs of abuse."

The study revolves around DNA and how it works to form each person's individual biological map. Each cell in the body contains two meters of DNA, the blueprint for all functions of all cells in the body. This DNA is wound around spools of histone proteins (proteins that package DNA in the nucleus of cells, and are heavily prone to chemical modifications that aid in the regulation of gene expression) into structures referred to as nucleosomes. When DNA encoding a specific gene is wound tightly within the spool, that gene is less likely to be expressed. When the gene is not wound as tightly, it is more likely to be expressed. This can affect many functions of a given cell.

Dopamine, known as the feel-good neurotransmitter, is a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we eat food that we crave or while we have sex, contributing to feelings of pleasure and satisfaction as part of the natural reward system. This important neurochemical boosts mood, motivation, and attention, and helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses. Dopamine also enables us not only to see rewards but to take action to move toward them.

Vulnerability to relapse during periods of cocaine withdrawal is believed to result from functional rewiring of the brain's reward circuitry, particularly within mid-brain regions, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The research team discovered that a protein called transglutaminase 2 can directly attach dopamine molecules to histone proteins (a process called histone dopaminylation or H3Q5dop) which, in turn, affects the histone-DNA spool to enable environmentally regulated alterations in gene expression. They found that histone dopaminylation plays a critical role in fueling heightened vulnerability to relapse over a prolonged period of time. Specifically, accumulation of H3Q5dop in the VTA can, in effect, hijack the reward circuitry, making it difficult to distinguish between good and maladaptive behavior. The study found, however, that reducing H3Q5dop in rats programmed to undergo withdrawal from cocaine significantly reversed cocaine-mediated gene expression changes and reduced cocaine-seeking behavior.

"The question that has always challenged neuroscientists is, what are the underlying molecular phenomena that drive increased vulnerability to drug relapse in people," says Ashley Lepack, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Neuroscience, The Friedman Brain Institute, in Dr. Maze's lab at Mount Sinai, and first author of the study. "Our research is shedding valuable light on this area by identifying histone dopaminylation as a new, neurotransmission-independent role for dopamine that hasn't been implicated before in brain pathology."

"We believe these findings represent a paradigm shift in how we think of dopamine, not just in the context of drug abuse, but also potentially in other reward-related behaviors and disorders, as well as in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, where dopamine neurons are dying," says Dr. Maze. "In this case, the question becomes, 'could this neuronal death be due, in part, to aberrant dopaminylation of histone proteins?' "

In a study published last year, Dr. Maze and his team found that another neurotransmitter, serotonin, a chemical involved in the regulation of mood, acts in a similar way as dopamine on gene expression inside brain cells.

"When we observed this unique signaling mechanism with serotonin, we decided to look at other neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, and found that it could also undergo this type of chemical modification on the same histone protein," explains Dr. Maze.

Early-stage work with human post-mortem tissues has demonstrated to Dr. Maze that strong parallels may well exist, but that basic questions around biochemical function still remain before human trials can begin. "From a therapeutic standpoint, we've started to identify from rodent models the mechanisms that can actually reverse aberrant and addictive behaviors," says Dr. Maze, "and that knowledge could be vital to moving this novel research into the clinic."

###

Researchers from State University of New York at Buffalo, The Rockefeller University, McGill University, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine contributed to this research.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and South Nassau Communities Hospital are ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Queenslanders will need a border pass to get back into their state if they leave this weekend.

The new rules to deter Easter holiday travel come into force at 11.59pm on Friday.

Border passes will be granted to people who have a valid reason for leaving the state, such as giving care to a relative.

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Queenslanders will need a border pass to be allowed back into their state if they leave

Anyone without a valid reason risks being turned around at the border.

Those who visit a coronavirus hotspot such as Sydney will have to go into 14 days of isolation when they return home.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said a complete border shutdown is on the cards.

'We are not ruling out further measures into the future. So you do not want to get caught across the border.

'So, everyone please stay in your state. Let me say it again - stay in your state,' she said.

It comes after the state's most popular beaches on the Gold Coast were closed when sunbathers flocked to the sand last weekend.

In the past two weeks three hundred people changed their address to North Stradbroke Island so they can dodge a travel ban and visit at Easter.

The island said it will refuse entry to anyone not a permanent resident from 24 March.

The local mayor said people's determination to dodge the restrictions 'blows my mind'.
Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday he doesnt plan to change his day-to-day operations and doesnt plan to get tested for the coronavirus even though one of his top staffers has tested positive for the illness.

Matt Platkin, chief counsel for Murphys administration, recently tested positive for COVID-19, NJ Advance Media reported Wednesday. Platkin is asymptomatic and self-isolating, the governors office said.

Murphy said Thursday that Platkin is doing fine.

At least one other close aide to the governor was also tested for the virus, according to two sources with knowledge but werent authorized to speak on the record.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Murphy has said twice in recent weeks he hasnt been tested for the virus himself. And he said Thursday he doesnt see the need to be tested now, despite the fact that he is recovering from surgery he had March 4 to remove a cancerous tumor from his kidney.

I dont have any symptoms. I hope it stays that way, Murphy said at the Trenton War Memorial during his daily coronavirus press briefing.

New Jersey is testing only people showing symptoms of COVID-19 because of a shortage of supplies and manpower.

Plus, Murphy said: I just dont go near people. I havent been with Matt in a whole bunch of days.

If theres anything to report on that, Ill come back," the governor aded.

A reporter also pressed the governor on why his top attorney was able to get a test despite not showing symptoms.

Why does he get a free pass to do that? Murphy asked.

Murphy said Platkin came in contact with a number of people who turned out to have the virus, and Platkin thought he should get tested to be safe.

The governor noted how Platkin and his fellow attorneys in the governors office have crafted the 22 executive orders that Murphy has signed to help respond to the pandemic.

We need this guy," Murphy said.

Platkin had been attending Murphys daily press briefings in Trenton before going into quarantine.

Murphys office has required reporters this week to wear face coverings to the briefings at the Trenton War Memorial. Reporters also sit at least six feet away from each other.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million residents, has at least 51,027 cases and 1,700 deaths from COVID-19, officials announced Thursday. Thats more than any U.S. state but New York.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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BERLIN - Two planeloads of Eastern European farmhands arrived Thursday in Berlin and Duesseldorf amid strict precautions to protect the country from the new coronavirus, as an ambitious German program to import thousands of seasonal agricultural workers got underway.

Seasonal workers had been caught up in the countrys ban on travel after the outbreak of the coronavirus. That left a massive deficit in personnel available to pick asparagus, which has already sprouted, and plant other crops in German fields, where some 300,000 such workers were employed last year.

Most came from Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Hungary, where wages are much lower than in Germany, which is Europes largest economy.

Under the new program, workers need to fly to the country in controlled groups  to prevent the possible infection of others en route  and are subject to medical checks upon arrival. They then must live and work separately from other farmhands for two weeks, and wear protective gear.

Announcing the program, Agriculture Minister Julia Kloecker said it was a pragmatic and goal-oriented solution that would allow up to 40,000 seasonal workers into the country in April, and another 40,000 in May. She said the hope was to find an additional 20,000 over the two months among Germanys own unemployed, students or resident asylum seekers.

This is important and good news for our farmers, she said. Because the harvest doesnt wait and you cant delay sowing the fields.

Ahead of time, interested workers have to register online and have their information checked by federal police. Farmers needing help register online with Eurowings, the airline contracted to bring the workers in, saying when theyre needed and where.

So far, 9,900 people had registered for April and another 4,300 for May.

Flights are then organized to bring in groups, and the first group of workers, 530 people from Romania, arrived on Thursday in Duesseldorf and Berlin, Eurowings said. Further flights were already planned to Duesseldorf, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Frankfurt.
President Donald Trump has denied having any investments in the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which he has consistently presented as reliable treatment for Covid-19.

Asked as he was leaving his latest coronavirus briefing whether he has any financial interest in the drug, the president replied: No I dont. Good question.

A less toxic derivative of chloroquine, the drug has yet to be fully approved by the FDA for use with Covid-19 patients, although its use has been permitted under a so-called emergency use authorisation.

However, even that clearance has proved controversial, with reported shortages of the drug affecting patients with conditions like lupus who take the drug on a regular, approved basis.

As recently as late March, some doctors and drug experts were vigorously rejecting Mr Trumps persistent enthusiasm for both chloroquine and hydroxychloroqine, some calling it insane and egregious.

At the same briefing where Mr Trump denied having a stake in its production and sale, vice president Mike Pence and top doctor Anthony Fauci explained that the drug is being trialled along with other medications to see if it can be approved as a Covid-19 treatment.

There are a number of different clinical trials, Dr Fauci said, emphasising that trialling a drug is the optimal way to determine ultimately if something is safe and effective and works.

Speaking to Fox Newss Sean Hannity the same day he denied profiting from the drug, Mr Trump talked up his own efforts to provide hydroxychloroquine to people in the US: By the way, the hydroxychloroquine, we have millions of doses that I bought. I bought millions of doses. You know, for the country.

Mr Trump also praised the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, for selling him the drug. I bought millions of doses of it. More than 29m. I spoke to prime minister Modi, a lot of it comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was great. He was really good.

However, just days before, Mr Trump said at another briefing that the US would retaliate if India did not agree to release its stocks for sale.
Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: - Australian police raid virus-hit cruise ship - Australian police raided the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seized its black box, as part of a criminal investigation after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney and 15 later died of the illness. Police wearing protective suits and masks boarded the vessel in Port Kembla, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Sydney, on Wednesday night, New South Wales Police said. - Taiwan demands apology from WHO chief - Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization chief after he accused the island's government of leading personal attacks against him and his agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Relations between the WHO and Taiwan have worsened considerably since the pandemic began, even as health experts have lauded Taiwan for its response to the virus. Taiwan used to be able to obtain observer status at the WHO's annual assembly, but diplomatic pressure from Beijing in recent years has pushed the island out of major international bodies. - Markets, oil rise - Asian markets were mostly in positive territory Thursday following another strong day for Wall Street as traders bought into optimism that the coronavirus crisis could be nearing its apex, while crude extended gains on hopes top producers will agree to a massive output cut. - Scores of detained Rohingya freed in Myanmar - Cases against scores of Rohingya Muslims detained after fleeing Myanmar's restive Rakhine state have been dropped, as fears grow of a potential coronavirus outbreak in the country's overcrowded prisons. A military crackdown in 2017 forced some 750,000 Rohingya to escape to Bangladesh. Those who remain in Rakhine live under tight restrictions with little access to healthcare and education, unable to move freely in conditions Amnesty International has branded "apartheid". - Tokyo Disney parks extend closures - Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea said they will extend their closures after the Japanese government this week declared a month-long state of emergency to halt the spread of the virus. The parks, which usually attract more than 30 million visitors each year, had originally hoped to reopen this month. - Locked-down Chinese city builds temporary hospital - The Chinese city of Suifenhe in northeastern Heilongjiang province, which has seen an influx of imported coronavirus cases from Russia in recent days, is building a temporary hospital to treat those who have been infected. The hospital will provide more than 600 beds and is expected to be completed by April 11. The city, on the Russian border, has already placed residents under lockdown and closed the land border. - Australia, New Zealand police halt Easter getaways - Hundreds of police officers in Australia and New Zealand have been deployed to stop holidaymakers from reaching beaches, campsites and vacation homes over the long Easter weekend, usually one of the most popular travel periods of the year. "You can't rent a holiday house, you can't rent an Airbnb, you can't camp, you can't caravan, you can't boat, you can't fish," said Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville. "This needs to be a very different Easter," she added. burs-sr/fox Police officers in protective gear prepare to board the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seize its black box at Port Kembla, Australia Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen listens to a soldier during a visit to a military base in Tainan A woman peers out from her shack as firefighters and volunteers disinfect a street in Yangon A man wearing a face mask stands in lane in the Chinatown area of Yokohama A medic from Jilin Province tears up before leaving during a ceremony at Tianhe Airport in Wuhan Australian and New Zealand police will stop people from trying to take breaks away from home over the Easter weekend
Guwahati/Agartala, April 10 : One more Covid-19 case was detected in Assam on Thursday night, taking the state's positive cases to 29 while the total number of positive cases in the northeastern region climbed to 34, ministers and officials said.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a tweet, said: "A person from Dhubri district, who was in contact with the first patient (with Markaz linkage) from the same district, has been confirmed as COVID-19 positive. The total number of Covid patients in Assam now stands at 29." Dhubri district in western Assam borders Bangladesh.

Apart from Assam, the other case are in Manipur (two), and Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura (one each) and 28 of the 34 took part in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month, while a Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man had tested positive last month after they returned from the UK and the Netherlands, respectively.

A 65-year-old man from Assam's Hailakandi district whose sample tested positive two days ago has a travel history to Saudi Arabia and returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to officials in Silchar Medical College, the condition of the man, a former employee of madrassa education board, is very critical and he is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the medical college.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also been infected with coronavirus.

Besides, four persons from Assam and eight from Tripura, who had attended the Jamaat congregation, have tested positive for Covid-19 and are under treatment in hospitals in north India.

Assam's Golaghat district has reported the highest number of nine cases followed by four each from Nalbari and Morigaon districts, three from Goalpara, two each at Silchar and Dhubri, one each from Hailakandi, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup, Lakhimpur and South Salmara district.

Sarma told the media in Guwahati that the state government is considering issuing entry permits as a temporary measure to regulate the entry of people into Assam after the nationwide lockdown ends.

"This temporary permit would be a special entry certificate and not on the lines of Inner Line Permit, as is mandatory in the other northeastern states," Sarma said, adding that legal action would be taken under the Disaster Management Act against those people who are hiding after attending the Nizamuddin event.

"We are concerned that once the lockdown is lifted and inter-state transport is resumed, there would be a lot of pressure since there are thousands of people from Assam and other northeastern states who are stranded in different parts of the country and would try to come back to their homes," the minister said.

Assam is the gateway for six other northeastern states.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:30:29|Editor: huaxia

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An airplane carrying a Chinese medical team arrives in Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu)

The two new labs are expected to add a combined daily testing capacity of 3,000 samples to greatly enhance the country's diagnosis capability.

SHENZHEN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese biotech company BGI Group is ready to deliver equipment for building two COVID-19 testing labs in Serbia to help the country's fight against the pandemic, according to the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province Thursday.

The two new labs are expected to add a combined daily testing capacity of 3,000 samples to greatly enhance the country's diagnosis capability.

BGI-developed Huoyan (Fire Eye) Lab has been used in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China.

Mammoth Foundation, a charity group in Shenzhen, signed the donation agreement with the Serbian government on an online ceremony on Wednesday, on behalf of Chinese firms including BGI, Tencent and Zijin Mining.

Serbia will be the first European country to land BGI's coronavirus testing lab. The national medical center in Belgrade will host one of the Fire Eye Lab. The other lab will be located in the southern city of Nis.

Wang Jian, founder and chairman of BGI, said the experience of Wuhan shows that testing capacity is crucial in the early control of the epidemic.

"We are happy to build the virus detection platforms to help Serbia in the prevention and control of the epidemic," said Wang.

The Fire Eye labs have been recently put into operation in the United Arab Emirates and Brunei, BGI sources said, adding the company is in talks with 10 governments or partners for the building of more labs. 
Appliances and consumer electronics industry may see 50 per cent decline in sales in April-June due to the lockdown, but a recovery is expected in the second quarter when festive sales begin, a top official of Panasonic India said.

Having suffered an unprecedented sales decline of 6-7 per cent in 2019-20, the industry will be up against challenges in both supply and demand sides due to the coronavirus pandemic, Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma told PTI.

Demand in Q1 might be half of which it should be. In April, it may be only 25 to 30 per cent of the normal demand. While in the month of May, it would be half of the normal demand, he said.

It would take at least three more months for the appliances market to get back to normal, Sharma added.

That's how Panasonic is preparing for itself. The market demand would shape up and we are looking at Diwali, for the situation to normalise, he said.

Commenting on the impact of the ongoing lockdown, he said in March there was a decline of 35 per cent in sales, which in turn had a huge impact on annual sales.

The impact on annual demand was that it dropped by "6 to 7 per cent, which is quite unprecedented", Sharma added.

On the recovery path, Sharma said the industry is going to face challenges not only on supply side but also on demand side after the lockdown.

Before the lockdown, in February and March , the appliances and consumer electronics industry was already facing shortage of components, which are primarily imported from China, thus impacting production.

Sharma said the initial indicators from China started becoming visible from February onwards and that time it was more on the supply side.

However, China slowly resumed operations by the first week of March and almost 50 to 60 per cent capacity was in operation and then we started to face lockdown, he said.

March is the month, when the sale of cooling products as airconditioners and refrigerators, which are necessary items, starts and in April-May it is on peak, Sharma added.

There is a huge impact for Panasonic and the entire industry," Sharma said adding as per industry estimated most of companies have done only 30 to 40 per cent of their targets in March.

Seeking government support, he said taxes on consumer durables should be reduced to bring it into lower GST slabs to make it more affordable at a time, when people are expected to curtail discretionary spends after lockdown.

When people would have lesser income, this essentially means that we have to make our products more affordable with a lower rate of GST for airconditioner and TV, he said.

Sharma also suggested that the industry should ensure more component manufacturing activities in the country to ensure smooth supply and demand.

Sharma, who is also heading the Electronic & White Goods Manufacturing Committee of FICCI said it is already discussing with various stakeholders on phased manufacturing plans on components such as PCB, compressors etc.

The government is also supporting the industry, which under the new scheme has announced up to 6 per cent subsidy on the total output.

I expect that such schemes would encourage the manufacturing of backward integration of components of our industry, which is long due, he said.

Last month, the government approved production-linked incentives worth Rs 40,995 crore for electronics manufacturing companies.

Under the scheme, electronic manufacturing companies will get an incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies over a period of next 5 years.

When asked whether sale from e-commerce channels is going to increase in the appliances segment, he said for the initial week after lockdown it would rise as people would skip visit stores, but gradually offline would bounce back.

When it comes to appliances, for a few weeks, there would be a surge in the sale (online) which will happen immediately once the lockdown is over. This may be for a couple of weeks but then the kind of emotion which we have and the touch and feel factor, which we are used to for our purchase decisions, specially in semi urban and rural areas, it will still be again offline, Sharma said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Bottom line: Returning to its roots may seem like a step backwards but its important to remember that this is just an experimental feature right now that may or may not ever see the light of day. Facebook must have some sort of data suggesting a niche feature like this would be a wise move, otherwise they likely wouldnt be wasting their time with development.

Facebook may be looking to return to its roots as a platform for connecting college students with each other if a recently discovered experimental feature is any indication.

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong recently discovered an experimental Campus feature that Facebook appears to be working on. The new space is exclusively for college students as you must have an email address ending in .edu to gain admission.

Based on Wongs screenshot, users can add details about their college life such as their major, minor and even the dorm they live in. This information will be used to help connect users with other students in the same class and program, the fine print indicates.

Facebook, as you may recall, got its start in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg created Thefacebook, a directory of sorts for students attending Harvard College. The concept caught on like wildfire, eventually expanding to other colleges across the US and Canada before opening to anyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address in late 2006.

These days, Facebook is the largest social networking platform in the world with around 2.5 billion monthly active users.

Masthead credit: 4 PM production
Some jobless Americans will start seeing heftier unemployment checks as soon as this week, depending on where they live.

States are beginning to implement the historic enhancement of unemployment benefits that Congress included in its $2.2 trillion relief package to address the CCP virus pandemic savaging the economy. It includes a $600 weekly increase for up to four months, on top of state benefits.

Among the earliest beneficiaries are unemployed people in New York, which has emerged as the epicenter of the U.S. outbreakbut laid-off workers in most states will eventually get the full amount due, retroactive to as early as March 29.

States had to wait until the federal Department of Labor issued guidance on the extra funds, which will be fully covered by the federal government. That guidance came out this past weekend, a week after the bill was signed.

However, many states still dont have a timetable for implementing the new pandemic unemployment assistance programwhich covers those who lost their jobs or had to stop working because of the coronavirusbecause it requires a more extensive change to their applications and systems.

The pandemic program extends jobless benefits to independent contractors, gig economy workers, and the self-employed, who typically dont qualify in many stateswhich are now scrambling to figure out who exactly qualifies and what documentation these workers will need.

New York to Send Enhanced Benefit This Week

Jobless New Yorkers who are already getting an unemployment check can expect to see the additional $600 this week, a state Department of Labor spokeswoman told CNN on Monday. Those filing new claims should start receiving both their state and enhanced federal payments in two to three weeks.

In Missouri, eligible unemployed residents should begin receiving the federal benefits as early as the week of April 12, after the state Division of Employment Security updates its technology and implements various procedures, the agency said Monday.

Meanwhile, Indiana expects to start sending out the larger checks the week of April 20th, Fred Payne, commissioner of the state Department of Workforce Development, said Monday.

For Michelle Parks, the additional funds cant come soon enough.

The Pittsboro, Indiana, mother of two sons was furloughed from her job at a retailer at the end of March. State officials initially said the extra $600 might not show up in checks until May, which made her extremely nervous since her state benefit will only be $390 a week. She still has to pay more than $600 a month in health insurance premiums to maintain the familys coverage.

I looked at my husband and said, What are we going to do? How are we going to make it on this?  said Parks, who wrote to her federal lawmakers asking about the delay. There has to be some sort of urgency here. This is needed at this moment.

Parks, who said she was able to file her initial claim online fairly easily at the end of March, was happy to hear Monday that shell receive the federal benefits in about two weeks.

April 20th feels like a win in this book, she said. Its better than May.

Other states, including Ohio, Oregon and Texas, are still working on the process to send out the extra federal money, agency officials said. Some states will provide a single larger weekly check, while others may opt to send the state and federal benefits separately.

Payments Will be Retroactive

The rollout comes at a time when states are overwhelmed by an unprecedented crush of people filing for first-time benefits as companies large and small lay off and furlough workers amid the pandemic.

Nearly 10 million Americans submitted initial claims in the last two weeks of March. But countless more were unable to get through to their state unemployment agencies and complete their applications.

But those who havent been able to file their initial claims yet shouldnt lose out. The federal enhancement will be paid retroactively to claims filed starting March 29 in most, if not all, states. The additional payments end by July 31 at the latest, under the current legislation.

Independent contractors and the self-employed will have to wait longer.

States are working on creating online applications and updating back-end systems to begin enrolling their jobless residents in the pandemic program. Though its modeled on the existing disaster unemployment assistance program, its still a big lift for many states since they typically do not provide jobless benefits to independent contractors and the self-employed, who are now covered by the federal relief.

Theres a huge difference between modifying our current unemployment system or process to include the $600 federal benefit for those already eligible and creating an entirely new system for a totally new class of covered workers, Payne said.

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the commercial real estate market became apparent in March as most businesses deferred their real estate decisions.

Net absorption of office spaces in Q1 2020 witnessed a decline of 30 percent from the peak observed in Q1 2019. IT-ITeS (56 percent), as well as co-working (13 percent) occupiers, drove leasing activity during the quarter, a report has said.

Construction activity and the process of obtaining requisite approvals from the government also slowed down at the beginning of March, in line with growing concerns of the impact of COVID-19, a report titled the India Office Market Update Q1-2020 by JLL said.

New completions were recorded at 8.6 mn sq ft in the first quarter of 2020, a 40 percent drop as compared to the same period last year, the report said.

Over the next few months, leasing is expected to be mainly driven by renewals and consolidation activity. With fresh take up of spaces likely to be limited, landlords might have to sit on locked-in capital or completed buildings for a relatively long time period, the report said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Occupiers have also begun renegotiating their lease contracts for lower rents, an extension of rent-free period as well as waiver of lock-in periods. Short-term liquidity concerns might arise for developers/landlords with occupiers seeking concessions.

Co-working operators, who are more exposed to short-term contracts, may face greater problems if members decide not to renew, while operators with more secured medium-term and long-term contracts will be less exposed, it said.

Business continuity plans and remote working strategies have been successful. Hence, future demand from occupiers is likely to take into account the need for flexible workspace, the report noted.

The evolving COVID-19 crisis is prompting corporates to re-evaluate their commercial real estate strategies, with a focus on enhancing resilience measures. There will be a greater emphasis on cost management, employee wellbeing and sustainability, and the adoption of flexible working practices as resilience practices ramp up, said Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL.

Over the next few months, leasing is expected to be mainly driven by renewals and consolidation activity. With fresh take up of spaces likely to be limited over the next couple of months, landlords might have to sit on locked-in capital (completed buildings) for a relatively long time period, he added

The three larger markets of Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi NCR accounted for nearly 75 percent of the net absorption in Q1 2020, despite the overall decline in the overall market. Net absorption in Mumbai and Chennai more than doubled in Q1 2020 as compared to Q1 2019, led by strong leasing activity in the first two months by IT/ITeS occupiers.

However, the global health crisis arrested the growth of the Hyderabad market with limited relevant supply coming into the market, declining by 78 percent in net absorption in the first quarter of 2020 year-on-year. Resultantly, Hyderabads contribution to overall net absorption fell from 29 percent in Q1 2019 to 11 percent in Q1 2020, the report said.

The strong leasing momentum of 2019 continued in the first two months of 2020 before the pandemic impacted the Indian market in March. Several leasing deals in the final stages of negotiation were deferred as the office market witnessed a net absorption decline of 30% y-o-y. New completions also saw a fall of 40% y-o-y during Q1 2020. Several office assets in the final stages of completion were stuck owing to delays in obtaining requisite approvals from the government authorities, said Samantak Das, executive director and head of Research, REIS, JLL.

IT-ITeS occupiers drove the pre-commitment activity across most of the major office markets in India. These occupiers require larger floor plates and pre-commitment becomes a necessity in markets with very limited availability of Grade A office spaces.

New completions were recorded at 8.6 mn sq ft in Q1 2020, a fall of 40 percent YoY from levels observed in Q1 2019 and representing the second largest dip witnessed in new completions in the last five years. Post demonetisation, new completions dropped to less than 20 percent of that seen in Q1 2016.

In sync with net absorption, Bengaluru accounted for a major chunk of the new completions in Q1 2020. The Delhi NCR market, which gained steam in Q4 2019, witnessed a fall of 44 percent in new completions YoY. Hyderabads rise in the office market was also paused with new completions in Q1 2020 decreasing by 68 percent YoY.

Even though Mumbai witnessed new completions of 0.84 mn sq ft in Q1 2020, supply of commercial Grade A office spaces in primary submarkets remained constrained, the report said.

Vacancy levels came down to 12.8 percent in Q1 2020 from 13.3 percent in Q1 2019. Cities like Bengaluru (5.6 percent), Hyderabad (7.7 percent), Chennai (8.0 percent) and Pune (5.5 percent) continued to hover at single-digit vacancies. Bigger markets such as Mumbai and Delhi NCR recorded vacancy levels of 12.7 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively, the report said.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday dodged a question on whether he'd been briefed on the contents of doomsday memos from his trade advisor Peter Navarro that warned of catastrophic potential outcomes from the coronavirus.

'I don't remember that. I've now seen the memo. Peter sends a lot of memos,' the president said at his daily White House press briefing.

But Trump was being asked if he was briefed on what the memos said when his trade adviser sent them in late January and February when the coronavirus wasn't in the public conscious.

He didn't answer that but noted he has seen it since then. The memos were revealed in media reports this week

'I didn't see the memo at the time but I have seen it since,' the president said.

On Tuesday, Trump denied he'd seen them but said he would take look at them.

President Donald Trump dodged a question on whether he'd been briefed on a doomsday memo from his trade advisor Peter Navarro

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro sent two memos about the potential human and economic costs of the coronavirus pandemic to White House officials

In them, Navarro claimed as many as 2 million Americans might die and a full-blown pandemic could cost the economy trillions, while warning of the desperate need for medical equipment.

'I didn't see them, but I heard he wrote some memos talking about pandemic. I didn't see them. I didn't look for them either,' Trump said on Tuesday.

Trump did express familiarity with recent press reports on the memos  and said he talked to Navarro about them recently. He described himself as responding to the urgent tone by closing down travel from China, an action he took Feb. 2 that included non-U.S. citizens from China.

'But that was about the same time as I felt that we should do it. That was about the same time that I closed it down. I asked him [Navarro] about it just a little while ago because I read something about a memo. I said, did you do a memo? I didn't look  I didn't see it,' Trump said.

Trump also indicated he had not yet seen the memos  which were reported in the New York Times and printed in their entirety by Axios.

Trump denied having seen the explosive memos, but also said he would see them soon, and indicated he had followed their warnings due to closing travel by non-U.S. citizens from China

'I didn't ask him to show it to me. He said, yes, I talked about the possibility of a pandemic. Nobody said it's going to happen, but, you know, there is a possibility, there always has been a possibility, but people wouldn't talk about it. but it was right about the time that I closed it down,' Trump said.

Trump was again asked about his optimistic statements at the time that said the number of U.S. cases would soon be down to zero.

'But you have to understand, I'm a cheerleader for this country,' Trump said.

Trump said his action on China, which came about two weeks after the first U.S. infection through travel: 'And it was right about that time. But i'm not going to go out and start screaming this could happen, this could happen. So, again, as president, I think a president has to be a cheerleader for their country. But at the same time I'm cheerleading, I'm also closing down a very highly infected place,' Trump said.

Navarro, a China hawk within the administration, warned the Trump administration in late January and again in February that failing to contain coronavirus could cost the US trillions of dollars and millions of American lives.

Asked when he learned about the memos, Trump said: 'I read about it a day ago, maybe two days ago.' The February memo seeking a congressional appropriation was titled: 'MEMORANDUM TO PRESIDENT THROUGH NSC, COS, COVID-19 TASK FORCE,' in reference to the chief of staff and the coronavirus task force.

A dire January 29 memo was titled: 'MEMORANDUM TO NSC'  the National Security Council  and bore Navarro's name. Axios described it as a memo to White House staff.

Navarro, Trump's trade advisor, issued his first grim warning in a memo dated January 29 - just days after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in the US.

At the time, Trump was publicly downplaying the risk that the novel coronavirus posed to Americans - though weeks later he would assert that no one could have predicted the devastation seen today.

Navarro penned a second memo about a month later on February 23, in which he warned that as many as two million Americans could die from the virus as it tightened its grip on the nation.

The memos were obtained by the New York Times and Axios on Monday, as the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide surpassed 368,200 with at least 11,000 deaths.

Trade adviser Peter Navarro warned top Trump officials in late January and again in February that failing to contain coronavirus could cost the US trillions of dollars and millions of American lives. Trump is seen with Navarro (center) at a March 9 press briefing on coronavirus

The January memo marks the earliest known high-alert to circulate within the West Wing as officials planned their first substantive steps to confront the disease that had already spiraled out of control in China.

It serves as evidence that top officials in the administration had considered the possibility of the outbreak turning into something far more serious than Trump was acknowledging publicly at the time.

'The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil,' Navarro wrote.

'This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans.'

Navarro stated that the administration faced a choice about how aggressive it would be in containing the outbreak, offering two different scenarios.

The first scenario suggested that the disease could be on par with a 'seasonal flu', resulting in relatively low human and economic costs.

But Navarro further asserted that 'risk of a worst-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked', given information emerging from China.

He specifically cited one worst-case scenario in which more than 500,000 Americans could die.

Navarro's initial memo is dated January 29 - days after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in the US. At the time, Trump was publicly downplaying the risk the virus posed to Americans

Navarro sent the first memo to the National Security Council before it was distributed among Trump administration officials, according to the Times.

It was penned on the same day that Trump unveiled his White House task force to address the threat.

The following day, the president announced limits on travel from China - which Navarro had pushed for in his memo.

But it wasn't until weeks later that Trump implemented more aggressive measures to stem the spread of the virus, under ongoing criticism from many who've said he acted too slowly.

People familiar with the memo's distribution told the Times that it reached a number of top officials - including aides to then-Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

However, the sources said it was unclear if Trump ever saw it.

Navarro and Matthew Pottinger, the chief deputy at the National Security Council, were among the few officials pushing for the administration to take stronger action against the growing coronavirus threat in late January.

Some officials have argued that their concerns are more prescient in hindsight than they were at the time.

One official told Axios that the January memo 'struck me as an alarmist attempt to bring attention to Peter's anti-China agenda while presenting an artificially limited range of policy options'.

Trump announced limits on travel from China one day after Navarro issued the memo. Pictured: A medical worker treats a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated in late December

Navarro opened the memo by writing: 'If the probability of a pandemic is greater than roughly 1%, a game-theoretic analysis of the coronavirus indicates the clear dominant strategy is an immediate travel ban on China.'

At another point he concluded: 'Regardless of whether the coronavirus proves to be a pandemic-level outbreak, there are certain costs associated with engaging in policies to contain and mitigate the spread of the disease.

'The most readily available option to contain the spread of the outbreak is to issue a travel ban to and from the source of the outbreak, namely, mainland China.'

He cited an estimate by the Council of Economic Advisers' which indicated that banning travel from China would cost $2.9billion per month - or $34.6billion over a year.

But he also noted that without containment a pandemic could cost the US up to $5.7trillion, depending on how deadly it was.

Navarro pointed to the history of pandemic flus as he suggested that the chances of a new one were elevated by the novel coronavirus strain.

'Historical precedent alone should be sufficient to prove the need to take aggressive action to contain the outbreak,' he wrote.

He went on to say that early figures on how easy the virus was spreading indicated that it posed even greater risks than aforementioned pandemic flus.

Navarro's second memo was addressed specifically to President Trump, but was not explicitly signed by the trade adviser.

In it he warned that a third of the country could be infected by COVID-19, resulting in anywhere between a million and two million deaths.

He requested $3billion for immediate aid to 'support efforts at prevention, treatment, inoculation, and diagnostics', writing: 'This is NOT a time for penny-pinching or horse trading on the Hill.'

The White House official who spoke to Axios about the memos said that the second one 'lacked any basis for its projections, which led some staff to worry that it could needlessly rattle markets and may not direct funding where it was truly needed'.

Neither Navarro nor the White House returned requests for comment from the Times or Axios.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon defended Navarro's motives to Axios, calling the memos 'prophetic'.

Bannon charged that Navarro had been forced to put his concerns in writing because 'there was total blockage to get these facts in front of the President of the United States'.

He said that 'naivete, arrogance and ignorance' from White House advisers 'put the country and the world in jeopardy' - adding that Navarro had been sidelined from the task force after voicing his concerns.

'In this Kafkaesque nightmare, nobody would pay attention to him or the facts,' Bannon said.
Taiwan has hit back at what it described as baseless accusations made by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, in which he claimed to have been subject to racial abuse from officials in the East Asian state.

The Taiwanese foreign ministry has demanded an apology from Dr Tedros, who said he has received death threats and been called a negro since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Without having checked the facts, Tedross unprovoked and untrue accusations not only differ from reality, they have also seriously harmed our government and our people, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday. This kind of slander is extremely irresponsible.

President Tsai Ing-wen expressed strong protest against the allegation that Taiwan was behind the campaign of abuse, and invited him to visit the island. Taiwan always objects discrimination in any form, she said.

In reference to Taipeis exclusion from the United Nations and the WHO, due to pressure from China which claims the island as its own, President Tsai added: We know how it feels to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else as we have been excluded from global organisations for years.

Dr Tedros first made the allegation during a media briefing on Wednesday, having been asked to address criticism from Donald Trump and other world leaders over the WHOs approach to the pandemic.

He revealed that he had been subject to personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months.

Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, black or Negro. Im proud of being black, proud of being Negro, he added.

I dont care, to be honest ... even death threats. I dont give a damn.

Dr Tedros, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, claimed that this attack came from Taiwan three months ago.

We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan, he said. And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didnt disassociate themselves. They even started criticising me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didnt care.

Taiwans foreign ministry, which has criticised the WHOs handling of the coronavirus pandemic, called for an immediate apology.

Our country has never encouraged the public to launch personal attacks against him or made any racially discriminatory comments, a spokeswoman said.

Our government demands an immediate clarification and an apology from director-general Tedros.

Any online attacks against Dr Tedros are not linked to the states foreign ministry nor instigated by it, the office added.

Relations between the WHO and Taiwan have worsened since the pandemic began, even as health experts have lauded Taiwan for its response to the virus.

It has reported just 379 cases and five deaths, despite its close proximity and trade links with China, where the pandemic began.

Taiwan claims that information it provided to the WHO on cases and prevention methods has not been passed onto member states.

While Taiwans government was a founding member of the UN, China took its seat in the body  and all subordinate organisations such as the WHO  in 1971.

Amid criticism it is overlooking the East Asian island, WHO released a statement last week saying that it was taking into account the states contributions in the fight against coronavirus.

The question of Taiwanese membership in WHO is up to WHO Member States, not WHO staff, it said.

Chinas Communist Party regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to one day seize the island  by force if necessary.

Beijings efforts to isolate the island have ramped up since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects the One China policy.
Some of the states biggest construction unions claim new rosters employed by oil and gas giants to reduce movement to and from sites defy the WA governments FIFO mental health code of practice.

In a joint statement on Thursday the AMWU, Electrical Trades Union and CFMEU slammed rosters that require two weeks of isolation in addition to standard work and rest periods and called for policies to be changed to allow them to isolate at home.

Unions have slammed new FIFO rosters. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Woodside rosters are moving to two weeks of isolation, four weeks of work and two weeks of rest while Chevron only requires its eastern states workers to do the isolation period after entering WA.

The mental health code of practice was released in 2019 in an effort to improve support for FIFO workers after years of high suicide rates.
Oregons public college and university classrooms will sit empty for the rest of the academic year, as Gov. Kate Brown said Monday that her earlier order shutting down campuses across the state will extend through June.

Brown also said incoming students already accepted to Oregons public colleges and universities before she ordered public schools to close are guaranteed admission this fall regardless of how they do in the final months of their high school career.

Incoming freshmen need to be considered fairly in light of the educational interruptions they experienced due to Covid-19, she said.

The announcements came during a press conference where Brown and state schools chief Colt Gill laid out guidelines to determine how to award diplomas to high school seniors in light of school closures prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The governor also extended those public school closures through the end of the current academic year.

Seniors who were on track to graduate when Brown issued her initial closure order on March 16 will do so, she said, including students who had passing grades at that point in any course required for them to earn a diploma.

Gill stressed that high school seniors have by and large completed 12 1/2 years of public education from kindergarten until now.

These kids have accomplished a lot of learning, he said.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano

Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above.

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Oregons education reporters are looking for parents who would like to speak with a journalist about the effects coronavirus is having on families across the state. Would you like to chat with one of us? Fill out this form.
The Northampton City Council unanimously voted last week in favor of a zoning ordinance that paves the way for the sale of the communitys well-known World War II Club.

The business, called The Deuce, was put up for sale in September 2019 due to a decrease in membership. The asking price for the building, located at 50 Conz St., was $899,000.

Signature Sounds, a record label company and concert host in the city, was looking to buy the club and its liquor license in early March. The building is currently not allowed to operate as a nightclub, so rezoning the business was seen as necessity for the sale to go through.

The ordinance that passed on April 2 would change the zoning designation of the club and eight other parcels of land on Conz Street from a neighborhood to a central business, loosening some restrictions on how The Deuce can operate.

I am supportive of changing these from neighborhood business to central business, City Councilor James Nash said during the legislative bodys meeting, which was broadcast online. Its a zone that doesnt really fit the way were developing right now.

The World War II Club has been operating in Northampton since 1972 and is seen by many community members as a cornerstone business in the city.

The club, which includes a bar and a social hall, hosts popular dance and karaoke events, poetry slams and trivia nights. Some residents have brought up that The Deuce also serves as an event space for members of the LGBTQ community.

Last month, the city councils Committee on Legislative Matters voted to give the zoning change a positive recommendation following a public hearing where residents deliberated on the ordinance.

Several people who live close to the club expressed their worries about drunken behavior at the business and noise complaints. Concerns about traffic and parking were also brought up.

Resident Tetty Gorfine wrote a letter to community members earlier this year expressing her opposition to the zoning change. Speaking at the committees March 9 meeting, Gorfine said she has a difficult time getting in and out of her own driveway when The Deuces lot is filled up.

Nash said he recognizes concerns like Gorfines. During last weeks city council meeting, he noted there is inadequate parking at the club. The Deuce has the capacity to fit 200-plus people in its space, but the club only has 60 parking spots, according to the city councilor.

Theres overflow into the neighborhood," Nash said. Theres no parking on Conz Street. Theres very little on Fruit Street. You might find some on Wilson."

The city councilor has been speaking with the potential new owner of the club about how to combat parking problems and about issues regarding late-night rowdiness. He said that Signature Sounds does not have a history of people wanting to stay out past 2 a.m.

Concerns were also brought up by residents in March about The Deuce operating as a nightclub for so long without the proper zoning designation.

Nash noted that he wants to rectify a long history of things not quite lining up.

The history of how things have developed at the World War II Club - theres a bit of mystery around how they got permission to open up a club serving liquor," Nash said. Theres no record ... of the city council ever actually taking that vote.

The sale of the property has yet to be finalized, and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz still needs to sign off on the zoning change.

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Broadway has extended its shutdown until June 7 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the 41 famous theaters in New York City could remain closed until Labor Day, sparking fears for their future.

The extension was announced Wednesday by the president of the Broadway League, Charlotte St. Martin, who said she was 'hopeful' that the theaters would reopen to the public in the first week of summer.

Broadway initially announced a month-long shutdown on March 12 in a bid to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Performances were due to resume this coming Sunday, but The Big Apple is still crippled by the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the city's death toll from the highly-contagious virus reached 4,260. On the same day, the confirmed number of cases soared past 80,000.

In light of the shocking figures, St. Martin says Broadway will remain shuttered until June - but anticipated that the date could once again be pushed further back.

Broadway has extended its shutdown until June 7 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the 41 famous theaters in New York City could remain closed until Labor Day. The shuttered Richard Rogers Theatre, home to popular play Hamilton, is pictured

The theater district in midtown Manhattan is eerily quiet amid the shutdown

'We're hopeful that the restrictions will be lifted by June 7, but if they're not, we will continue to monitor government restrictions and will advise ticket holders as soon as we know what those restrictions are,' she stated.

According to The New York Times, some experts predict the theaters may not reopen until Labor Day (September 7).

In his press conference Wednesday, Gov.Andrew Cuomo declared that schools and essential businesses will re-open far earlier than the theaters.

'Before you go to Broadway theaters, people are going to say, "When can I go back to work? When can I go back to school? When are the other essential services going to open?" Before they go to a play, there's going to be a lot of other questions that they're going to ask, and that's going to be a function of numbers,' he stated.

Performances were due to resume this coming Sunday, but The Big Apple is still crippled by the coronavirus. The city is expected to reach its peak of COVID-19 deaths this week

Times Square is pictured empty this past weekend. There are fears for the long-term health of Broadway, as the number of tourists visiting New York City could drastically decline

The fact that Broadway will be closed for a minimum of three months is causing anxiety about its future. The shutdown is by far the longest in its history. In comparison, Broadway closed for just 48 hours following the 9/11 terror attack.

Some say that Broadway will 'will recover more slowly than some other parts of the economy because live performance usually involves large numbers of people getting together in confined spaces, which could be viewed as a public health risk'.

The multi-billion dollar industry may further be roiled by the fact that people will be unwilling or unable to pay for expensive theater tickets if the country is plunged into a likely recession due to the virus.

Additionally, Broadway also relies heavily on tourism, and the number of people visiting New York City is expected to drop dramatically in the short-term future.

One theater insider said that, when Broadway does eventually reopen to the public, there may be less shows to see.

'How many shows can Broadway sustain when it comes back? Maybe it's not 31 shows. Maybe it's 20,' they told The Washington Post.

One theater insider said that, when Broadway does eventually reopen to the public, there may be less shows to see. The cast of popular play Hamilton is pictured
The Rivers State Government on Thursday said two pilots of Caverton Helicopters remanded in prison by a Magistrate Court in the state ...





The Rivers State Government on Thursday said two pilots of Caverton Helicopters remanded in prison by a Magistrate Court in the state were not in prison but in a government hotel.





The two pilots, Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari, were remanded at the Port Harcourt Custodial Centre on Tuesday.





Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike had led a team to arrest the pilots for flying people into the state amidst Coronavirus lockdown.





But the Federal Government had bashed Wike for arresting the two pilots and the passengers for flying into the State during Coronavirus lockdown.





Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Wednesday, said the Federal Government duly granted Caverton Helicopters the right to fly into Rivers.





He said the Police Commissioner and the Commander of the Air Force Base in Port Harcourt would have to answer for alleged incompetence and for going with Wike to arrest the pilots.





However, the Rivers State Government on Thursday said it moved the two Caverton pilots, to a hospitality facility owned by the government in Port Harcourt





Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, the states Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who disclosed this, said the step was taken to protect inmates at the Port Harcourt Correction Centre.





Adangor said in a statement that the movement was after a Chief Magistrate Court granted his request for variation order on the detention of the pilots.





Whilst the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State would ordinarily not want to discuss on radio any matter pending before a Court of competent jurisdiction, it has become necessary to correct the misinformation being circulated that the two Pilots arraigned before the Chief Magistrates Court, Port Harcourt, on Monday, 7 April 2020 are being remanded a the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.





The truth of the matter is that the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State applied for and obtained a variation Order from the Chief Magistrate Court, Port Harcourt changing the place of remand from The Port Harcourt Correctional Centre to any Rivers State Government-owned facility or building including Delta Hotels, GRA Port Harcourt.





Based on that Order of variation of the remand order, the two pilots are being remanded at Delta Hotels, GRA Port Harcourt and are attended to regularly by medical personnel attached to the Rivers State COVID-19 medical team, he said in a statement.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Patriarch Sahak II Mashalian of Constantinople and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation amid the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a news release issued by the patriarchate.

During the April 8 telephone conversation, President Erdogan asked Sahak II about the state of affairs of the patriarchate and the Turkish-Armenian community, according to the news release.

Erdogan thanked the patriarch for the latters contribution in the fundraiser-campaign for the coronavirus response, according to the news release.

The Turkish president told the Patriarch that he has facilitated the possibility of return of Armenian nationals to Armenia, referring to the 100 Armenian citizens who are being transported by land from Istanbul.

The Armenian government has ensured the leasing of the vehicles, but due to the closed borders with Turkey the buses will travel via Georgian territory, which required permission from Turkish and Georgian authorities.

According to the news release, Erdogan has expressed willingness to assist Armenia with the provision of medication.

Erdogan wished Sahak II good health and also inquired about the needs of the Turkish-Armenian community. Sahak II wished peace and good health to the Turkish president.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
In this Monday, March 9, 2020 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks during a news conference on updates regarding on the novel coronavirus COVID-19 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. AP



The head of the World Health Organization gave a strident defence of his agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism and suggestion that Washington could review its funding for the agency.



WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to "politicization" of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show "honest leadership".



Tedros said that he expected U.S. funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.



U.S. contributions to the WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the second largest country donor, according to U.S. figures. The WHO website shows the United States as its top donor, contributing nearly 15% of the budget.



"We have kept the world informed about the latest data, information and evidence," Tedros said, noting that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organization of cases of "pneumonia with unknown cause" on December 31.



Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, also rejected Trump's suggestion that the WHO was "China-centric", saying: "We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind."



Earlier, Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to Tedros, also defended the U.N. agency's relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak.



"It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this," said Aylward, who led a WHO expert mission to China in February.



In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that now was not the time to assess the global response to the pandemic, calling instead for the international community to focus on working in solidarity to stop the virus.



Tedros said his U.N. agency would conduct its usual assessment of its performance after the emergency and draw lessons about its strengths and weaknesses, adding: "We make mistakes like other human beings."



He summarised his advice as: "Please, unity at national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the U.S. and China."



"The most powerful should lead the way and please quarantine COVID politics," he added, referring to COVID-19, the highly contagious, sometimes deadly illness caused by the new coronavirus.



Tedros said that China and United States should follow the example of the former Soviet Union and the United States who launched a 10-year global campaign in 1967 that eradicated smallpox, a disease then killing 2 million people annually.



Tedros rejected "racist slurs" against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan, and disclosed that he had also received a death threat during the crisis.



"We are losing people, why would I care about being attacked when people are dying?" he said, noting there were already "60,000 body bags" after more than 1.3 million infections.



"We will have many body bags in front of us if we don't behave," he added. (Reuters)


CHICAGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the nation's leading voluntary lung health organization, the American Lung Association is launching a $25M initiative to end COVID-19 and defend against future respiratory virus pandemics. The COVID-19 Action Initiative will be used to expand the Association's ongoing respiratory research program, enhance key public health measures, and establish an advanced network to stop future respiratory virus pandemics. The initiative will also work with public and private entities to increase research collaboration and develop new vaccines, detection tests and treatment therapies.

COVID-19, like most in the coronavirus family, is a respiratory disease, so the American Lung Association is uniquely positioned to have substantial and rapid impact. The Association will fund respiratory virus research through the following channels with its COVID-19 Action Initiative:

Expand COVID-19 research within the current clinical trials of the Airways Clinical Research Center (ACRC) Network

Fund Coronavirus Awards and Grants for preventive research, vaccines, antivirals and to advance future outbreak preparedness

Provide ACRC pilot grants to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on patients with chronic lung disease

"The Association has always played a key role in managing respiratory viruses ranging from our work with influenza to funding basic research on understanding COVID-19," said American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer. "We intend to serve as the convener of government, private industry and public health organizations to form a coalition that ensures better preparedness to meet the virus outbreaks of the future."

In addition to raising funds to increase a research commitment, the Lung Association will allocate funds to education and advocacy to support public health against the current and future threats of COVID-19 and respiratory viruses.

"More than 36 million people in the U.S. suffer from lung disease, which places them at higher risk for experiencing complications of COVID-19, making it even more critical that we urgently work on reducing its impact," Wimmer said. "Our Association was founded on the principle of using education, advocacy and research to eradicate tuberculosis, and we will use those same principles to ensure our nation can address today's pandemic and is prepared for future lung infections like COVID-19."

More information on the association's COVID-19 Action Initiative can be found at Lung.org/cv19-action.

About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

American Lung Association  55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150  Chicago, IL 60601

1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 1425 North  Washington, D.C. 20004

1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.org

CONTACT: Stephanie Goldina | American Lung Association

P: 312-801-7629E: [email protected]

SOURCE American Lung Association

Related Links

http://lung.org


EE is giving all NHS staff free unlimited data for six months to support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a similar offer from Vodafone.

The mobile operator, part of the BT Group, said all NHS staff could register online for the offer using a valid NHS email address.

Once signed up, workers will receive a text message confirming unlimited data has been added to their account until October 9.

Those already receiving discounts through the NHS discount scheme are also eligible for the free data.

The offer is not valid for NHS staff who are EE mobile broadband or pay-as-you-go customers, however.

All EE pay monthly customers who are NHS staff with a valid NHS email address can take advantage of the offer, which doesnt include mobile broadband or pay-as-you-go customers

'As we all continue to navigate these uncertain times, staying connected to loved ones is increasingly important,' said Pete Jeavons, marketing communications director at BT and EE.

'Using our network, we wanted to show a small token of our appreciation for the work the NHS is doing to keep us all safe; hopefully this will help them to keep in touch with friends and family during this difficult time.'

In an advertisement released to promote the offer, actor Kevin Bacon, a regular star of EE TV ads, addresses NHS workers.

Kevin Bacon appears in an EE advert announcing unlimited data for NHS staff for six months

'Were clapping for you, were rooting for you but most of all, were thankful for you,' Bacon said, appearing from isolation at his home in the US.

EE said that the long six-month timeframe for the offer was decided due to the uncertainty surrounding how long lockdown would go on for.

'Were doing this to give all NHS staff the comfort that they can keep connected with loved ones during these difficult times,' it says on its website.

'Running out of data is the last thing anyone needs right now, especially those on the front line.'

The offer is aimed to prevent any NHS worker from being hampered by a lack of connectivity during the health crisis

EE and BT said they are doing all they can to increased support for the NHS, including connecting temporary field hospitals such as NHS Nightingale in London.

NHS Nightingale London has been set up at the ExCeL London exhibition centre in the London Docklands, and another four are set to open in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Harrogate.

Fellow mobile operator Vodafone also launched a similar internet data scheme that is says will benefit around 125,000 NHS staff.

Since Monday, Vodafone has been giving NHS workers who are existing customers 30 days free unlimited mobile data.

It said the 30-day offer could be extended depending on 'how the current situation evolves'.

Interior of NHS Nightingale Birmingham, which is set to open on Friday. The five NHS Nightingale Hospitals are temporary facilities specifically set up for COVID-19 patients

Also this week, Vodafone revealed that it is part of a research project with Imperial College London to use the collective power of idle smartphones to research COVID-19.

The telco is encouraging users to download its DreamLab app and leave their devices on, charging and connected to the internet while they sleep.

The collective power of these phones creates a virtual supercomputer, capable of processing millions of calculations.

This, it says, will help scientists analyse huge amounts of information in a shorter space of time and research how drugs and food-based molecules can help patients with or recovering from COVID-19.

The UK's network providers, including the big four are also giving their customers free access to NHS advice online during the coronavirus crisis.

Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three are among the firms who will let customers access the NHS homepage and the emergency webpage NHS 111 for updates on coronavirus.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

Some three Prison facilities in the Ashanti Region have benefitted from the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II's largesse as they received quantities of food items.

The lucky penitentiaries, which are housing thousands of inmates, including males and females, are the Ohwim Prison, Manhyia Local Prison and Kumasi Central Prison.

The items that the Asantehene presented included bags of rice, bags of maize, boxes of bottled water, yam, crates of eggs and packs of sachet water.

Furthermore, the Asantehene presented boxes of Latex Gloves and boxes of hand sanitizers to help protect the prisoners against the deadly Covid-19 virus.

The presentations were made separately by the 'Manhyia Palace Covid-19 Humanitarian Relief' team, on behalf of the king.

Prison officers, who received the items on behalf of the prisoners, commended the Asantehene for his exemplary leadership and his passion to support the needy.

Government's decision to lockdown some communities to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus has informed Otumfuo's decision to assist people that will be affected.

The Asantehene has therefore stockpiled food and other items, worth a GHC1 million, which he is distributing to the needy for them to survive the lockdown.

---Daily Guide
Countries around the world are scrambling to source more ventilators for patients infected with coronavirus, but doctors fear that these will be useless without essential drugs to keep patients comfortable, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal. These drugs, which include sedatives and painkillers, are already running low in the hospital pharmacies of many countries, including the US.

"This is the most stressed I've been," said Amy*, a clinical pharmacist at a hospital in New York State. Her facility is treating a growing number of patients so ill with coronavirus that they need to be connected to a ventilator to help them breathe. But the hospital is running out of the drugs for sedation and pain relief that such patients need.

In comparison to all of February, just one week in March saw the use of 10 midazolam drips, (compared to none), twice as much propofol and more than three times as much dexmedetomidine as well as 17 morphine drips, which would usually only be used for palliative care.

Amy now spends most of her day trying to order more supplies, making inventories of the medication already in stock and coming up with strategies for how to conserve it.

The problem is not confined to New York, or even the US. Hospitals around the world are facing shortages of the critical medicines needed to ventilate patients.

As a result, some doctors are having to use unfamiliar alternative drugs. Others are forced to choose drugs with greater side effects, including those that can increase the length of time a patient stays on a ventilator. In some cases, doctors are even performing potentially avoidable surgeries to take people off ventilators early, because they need to conserve medication.

As global demand for essential drugs skyrockets, there are fears that manufacturers may not be able to make enough to keep up. The pandemic has brought home just how fragile the world's supply chain of medicines is.

Essential drugs

Most people with Covid-19 suffer mild symptoms. Some, however, develop a more severe form of the disease, and require mechanical ventilation in intensive care to help them breathe.

Ventilation requires the insertion of a tube into a patient's airway -- known as intubation. Once on the ventilator, the patient needs to be kept sedated. These processes require a range of drugs. According to one hospital, 24 hours on a ventilator for a patient with Covid-19 could require almost 50 different medicines, including those for intubation and sedation, as well as cardiac, respiratory and antimicrobial drugs.

Medical workers put on personal protective equipment at the start of their shift at a field hospital run by Samaritan's Purse and Mount Sinai Health System in Central Park, New York, during the coronavirus pandemic (Getty Images)

Sedatives and painkillers are vital to keep the patient calm and comfortable. Without them, ventilated people can become agitated, especially in the unfamiliar setting of an intensive care ward, and try to pull out their breathing tube. The most critically ill patients can stay on a ventilator in intensive care for several weeks.

Pharmacists deal with drug shortages on a near-daily basis, but the surge in demand for painkillers and sedatives due to coronavirus is exacerbating the problem.

Amy's hospital has more than trebled its use of some common sedatives and opioid painkillers. But, for now, despite a few close calls, her colleagues are still managing to find the drugs they need in their hospital. However, Amy is preparing for a scenario where they cannot order any more.

Propofol, a commonly used anaesthetic, is of particular concern. Supplies are running out in hospitals all over the world. Propofol is a fast-acting sedative that doesn't stay in the body long. This means that, after being anaesthetised and intubated, patients can be kept lightly sedated for their stay in intensive care.

Patients take longer to be woken from drugs that give deeper sedation. As a result they may spend more time on a ventilator than necessary, preventing other patients from accessing the bed. Light sedation, on the other hand, means that patients tend to spend less time in intensive care overall, which lowers their risk of catching an infection or experiencing delirium, a severe state of confusion associated with a lack of oxygen to the brain and medications given in ICUs. ICU delirium can cause cognitive impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is a risk factor for early death.

"Propofol is the thing I'm most concerned about," Amy said. "A lot of our patients are requiring really high doses to obtain sedation so we're going through our supply really quickly and we're having a hard time getting any, or being able to order more."

Other hospitals have reported similar shortages. In an Instagram video, Mary Macdonald, a nurse in Oakland County, Michigan, describes how her hospital ran out of anaesthetic drugs.

"Resources are very slim," she said. "We have no medications to keep these patients even ventilated, let alone ventilators. Medications like fentanyl or propofol that would keep a patient sedated while they're intubated we're out of."

Her hospital told local media it was sourcing from other facilities and directly from manufacturers, as well as assessing alternative products. A spokesperson said: "The safety of our patients, associates and providers is our utmost priority."

The effects of the shortages are felt well beyond the US. Italy, Spain and France have all added propofol to their national drugs shortages list, which means that some drug manufacturers have flagged delays in supply.

Some producers of drugs commonly used in combination with propofol -- including fentanyl, dexmedetomidine and midazolam -- have reported shortages in the US, Italy, Spain and Germany. The UK has banned all four drugs from being exported in order to conserve supplies for its own hospitals.

Seeking alternatives

Drug shortages have an immediate impact on patient care. Amy, the clinical pharmacist in New York State, now has daily meetings with intensive care doctors at her hospital to tell them what she is able to order. Then they go through each patient's drug regimen, substituting propofol with alternatives in order to conserve supplies.

The alternative drugs include benzodiazepines. Often, these are not the first choice for mechanically ventilated patients, as studies show that they can cause ICU delirium. This means that they are normally only used on patients who cannot tolerate the better options. Now, Amy is having to prescribe them more widely.

Dr Ali Haider -- an interventional cardiologist who has been working at Baystate Medical Center, Massachusetts, during the Covid crisis -- is also concerned.

"We're seeing definite shortages of propofol, fentanyl and midazolam," he said. Like others, Haider and his colleagues are using different medications than usual, including hydromorphone (sold under the name Dilaudid) for sedation.

"We've started using Dilaudid drips, which we normally do not use in the ICU setting," he said. "Those are the powerful narcotics that we don't often use but have resorted to due to the fentanyl shortage."

Baystate Medical Center declined to comment.

Coronavirus cases are a double whammy for ICUs -- not only are there more patients who need ventilation, but they need it for a week, or even two.

"The storm hasn't hit here but we're watching what's going on in New York," said Haider. "If I tried to guess, we've at least doubled or tripled our ICU capacity... the difference is here normally when someone is ventilated our goal is to get them extubated. They're on the ventilator for a couple of days. In this situation you have a lot of people ventilated for a long period of time, so they burn through it [the medicine]. It's the volume and the duration."

Amy's hospital is also using opioids more, despite the high risk of addiction. She hopes that patients will not be sent home and prescribed oral opioids because pharmacists and family doctors do not realise that the drugs were used as a stopgap in intensive care. The US is suffering an opioid crisis, with millions misusing prescription medications -- about 128 Americans died from an opioid overdose every day in 2018.

For now, Amy has also started using ketamine as a sedative in order to conserve propofol. While ketamine is used regularly in other intensive care units, it has never been used before in hers. Normally the introduction of such a drug, which could cause significant harm to patients if used incorrectly, would be reviewed by a multidisciplinary group, approved by different committees and then rolled out with an education plan to teach nurses how to administer it.

In the middle of the crisis there is no time for that. "We rolled it out in 24 hours with me just doing as much on-the-fly education as I could," said Amy. "That's certainly less than ideal."

She added that doctors at another hospital -- NYU Langone Health -- are performing a surgical procedure called a tracheostomy to get patients off of ventilators after three days, therefore conserving medications.

During a tracheostomy, a hole is cut in a patient's neck and a tube is inserted into the airway, usually temporarily. Patients don't require such high doses of sedatives or pain relief with a tracheostomy than when on a ventilator.

Tracheostomies are typically carried out after at least a week on ventilation if attempts to have the patient breathe unaided have failed. Tracheostomies are considered high risk for the team carrying out the procedure, as it exposes people to droplets containing the virus from the patient's throat.

Doctors at NYU Langone said that they had developed a new technique to help perform this procedure more safely, reducing the number of droplets sprayed from the throat. Carrying out the procedure on Covid-19 patients should "allow patients to be weaned from the ventilator sooner, thereby reducing the need for certain medications such as paralytic agents," a spokesperson told the Bureau.

Amy's hospital is drawing up a similar policy in light of the drug shortages. "We've never before done a tracheostomy just to reduce the analgesia medication," she said. "That's what we're considering at our hospital now. They're looking at starting a process for that in the next few weeks."

If hospitals had the necessary drugs, Amy said, patients would not have to undergo these surgeries, which can leave visible scars.

Looking ahead

Drug shortages are not a new problem. They can be caused by quality issues, which could mean that a batch has to be destroyed or recalled. There could also be a limited amount of profit to be made from a drug, which means that only a few manufacturers produce it. This leaves the supply chain vulnerable to disruptions if a manufacturer has issues.

In the US, for example, a surge in demand for certain drugs caused by coronavirus has compounded the problem. Manufacturers have not reported any issues with producing propofol, but there is a shortage because demand for the drug has skyrocketed.

With midazolam and ketamine, companies including the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have reported shortages due to ongoing manufacturing delays and a surge in demand. Pfizer estimates that some ketamine and midazolam products on back order will not be available until 2021.

The US Food and Drugs Administration said that it was working closely with manufacturers to ensure that they continue to notify the agency of any interruption in manufacturing that could lead to a shortage in supply. A spokesperson said that the agency was updating its shortage list regularly and communicating in real time so that hospitals have the most up-to-date information on drug shortages.

The pandemic has emphasised how opaque and fragile the global supply chain for medicines is. The raw ingredients for many American drugs are made in China, India and the EU. Manufacturing capacity in China fell as the coronavirus crisis worsened. As a result, India banned the export of 26 active ingredients for drugs to keep them for domestic production.

While European manufacturers have some supplies to continue making medicines, lockdowns are causing issues with distributing the drugs.

As the number of patients with Covid-19 grows daily at her hospital, Amy is hoping for a best-case scenario in which she can order "a ton" of propofol and fentanyl. In a worst-case scenario, she would have to use continuous anti-epileptic drugs to put patients who are on ventilators into a coma. She hopes things do not get to that point.

"At this point we're all being creative and barely getting by," she said, adding that what could happen in the coming weeks is never far from her mind.

Like many hospitals across the world, Amy's is desperately increasing the number of intensive care beds with ventilators to treat the influx of coronavirus cases. But, she says, the machines will be "essentially useless" if the hospital cannot replenish the medicines needed to keep patients on them.

"Every time I see that they're talking about getting more ventilators, I'm like, 'What about the drugs?'" she said.

*Name has been changed to protect identity
With a view to help the people



facing hardships due to the lockdown, two Muslim friends here have launched an initiative, as part of which they are providing essential items like food packets, grocery kits to the needy ones in the city and nearby areas.

The duo- Hussain Shabbir (37) and Huzaifa Hussain (36)- have named this initiative as 'Food for Curfew'. Shabbir is into construction business and Huzaifa is also a businessman.

"With the help of our friends and well-wishers, we are helping the daily wage workers, homeless people, orphanages and persons stranded in various parts of Nagpur by providing packets of cooked food, grocery kits and fruits to them. We are also providing sanitary napkins to women," they said.

"We decided to do our bit for that section of the society, which has been hit hard due the lockdown. Donations in cash and kind have made this possible," they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Chadian army said on Thursday it had wound up an offensive against Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad border region in which 52 troops and 1,000 jihadists were killed.

Army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa Agouna told AFP that the operation, launched after nearly 100 soldiers were killed last month, ended Wednesday after the Nigerian jihadists were forced out of the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The citizenry have been advised not to panic over the increasing cases of COVID-19 being recorded in the country.

Mr Joel Abekuliya, Health Promotion Officer at the Health Promotion Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), who gave the advice said this only meant "We are picking all the cases that we may have lost."



Mr Abekuliya said the increasing cases of COVID-19 being recorded also meant that the country's enhanced surveillance and contact tracing efforts were yielding results such that all persons with the disease would be identified and properly catered for to halt the spread of the disease.



He was making a presentation on COVID-19 at a day's training workshop held in Tamale for journalists drawn from the Northern, North East and Upper East Regions.



The training, organised by the Ministry of Information and the GHS in partnership with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), was to equip the journalists with accurate and reliable information on the COVID-19 to inform their reportage on the disease.



The country confirmed two cases of COVID-19 on March 12, and as at April 07, the confirmed cases rose to 287 with five deaths and three recoveries.



Mr Abekuliya dispelled suggestions by some members of the public that the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country were being underreported saying the figures published on the website of the GHS were authentic and represented the true situation of the country regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.



Mr Caesar Abagali, Northern Regional Chairman of the GJA, who made a presentation on behalf of GJA, expressed the need for the GHS to be quick in responding to journalists' requests for information on the disease to ensure that they do not mislead the public.



Mr Ahmed Hussein, Northern Regional Information Officer expressed the need for the right information to be communicated to the understanding of members of the public to better inform their behaviour towards the disease.



Some of the participants expressed urgency for a regular briefing of journalists at the regional level, especially in regions where the disease had been recorded to ensure clarity on efforts to halt its spread.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Staring into a smartphone camera in an empty classroom in rebel-held northwest Syria, geography teacher Danielle Dbeis addresses students confined at home away from the novel coronavirus.

"Even if we are now doing distance learning... you can still talk to me online," says the 42-year-old, standing in front of a white board.

Like in much of the world, educators in Syria are taking classes online after the country's various regions sent pupils home hoping to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.

But distance learning is no small feat in a country battered by nine years of war, where fighting has displaced millions and the electricity supply is sporadic at best.

Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib has not yet recorded any case of the virus.

But aid workers fear any outbreak would be catastrophic in the region, which is under a jihadist-dominated authority and home to at least three million people.

In the main city of Idlib, Dbeis points to a map of Syria she has drawn on the white board, her voice bouncing off the walls of the empty classroom.

A colleague films a lesson by Kurdish language teacher Hayat Abbas to be broadcast on local televion and Youtube for distance learning, in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province /  AFP

Her school used to teach 1,000 girls before it closed last month, she says, but now only 650 have continued learning online as the others have no access to a smartphone or laptop.

Even those with the right equipment face difficulties, says the teacher, who uses WhatsApp to send her students videos.

"Most students don't have constant access to the internet," she says.

And during long power cuts, she adds, they "are not able to charge their phones".

- 'Anything not to miss out' -

At home elsewhere in Idlib city, Nour Sermini spends her days with her eyes riveted on her mobile phone screen, books and notes scattered around her on her bed.

Distance learning is no small feat in a country battered by nine years of war, where fighting has displaced millions and the electricity supply is sporadic at best /  AFP

Switching from one WhatsApp group to another, the 17-year-old checks in with her various teachers.

"We'll do anything not to miss out on our education," she says.

The deadly virus is just the latest of many obstacles to learning in Idlib, she says, after years of air strikes on the surrounding region by Damascus and its ally Russia.

"The bombs didn't manage to stop us from learning," and neither will the virus, she says.

Since March, a fragile truce has held in northwest Syria.

But months of bombardment before that disrupted the education of some 280,000 children, the UN Children's Fund says.

Across the Idlib region, more than half of the 1,062 schools are now damaged, destroyed or in areas too dangerous for children to reach, according to Save the Children.

Displaced from their homes in the rounds of violence, hundreds of thousands of children live in overcrowded camps or temporary shelters, with little to no water or electricity.

In one of these camps, in the village of Kafr Yahmoul, Ahmed Rateb has just finished recording a maths class in a tent.

"We're trying as much as possible not to deprive the kids of an education," says the 29-year-old teacher, who sends along his tutorials on Telegram and WhatsApp.

But some are now unable to follow for lack of a smart screen as well as long blackouts inside the camp, he admits.

- 'Sufficient power and internet?' -

As the civil war enters its tenth year, the Damascus regime controls around 70 percent of Syrian territory after successive victories against jihadists and rebels.

A man films a mathematics lesson by teacher Ahmed Rateb in a makeshift classroom inside a tent, in Syria's Idlib province /  AFP

In these territories too, where Damascus has announced 19 cases of COVID-19 including two deaths, schools have closed their gates.

To make up for lost time, the education ministry has started beaming Arabic, English and science classes into homes via a special television channel.

But there too, power cuts can last up to 14 hours a day, and the government caps the size of internet bundles allowed for each family.

In the northeast of the country, the semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities are looking to launch distance learning within days, education official Nureddin Mohammad says.

No case of the novel coronavirus has yet been announced in the region, where medical supplies are limited and there are no tests.

Teachers are filming classes to be broadcast on local television channels and on Youtube, and teachers will keep in touch with pupils via WhatsApp, he tells AFP.

Bandar Ismail, a 35-year-old father of three, says he cannot wait for the first episodes.

But he wonders whether the authorities will be "able to ensure sufficient power and internet for the project to succeed".

Kurdish language teacher Hayat Abbas, meanwhile, says she already misses teaching students in person.

In distance learning, "it's just a half-an-hour lecture or less, and we try to explain as much as possible," the 43-year-old says.

"But you can't answer pupils' questions."
By PTI

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "terrific" for allowing the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to the US, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, agreed to lift the ban on the export of the medicine to the US after Trump spoke to Modi on phone last week.

Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem that arose and he was terrific. We will remember it," Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus on Wednesday.

In a tweet hours earlier, Trump praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten!" he said.

"Thank you, Prime Minister for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in his tweet that went viral and was re-tweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakh people.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans lost their lives due to the coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease.

Scientists and the medical fraternity are racing against time to find a vaccine and a therapeutic solution to the infection that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

ALSO READ | Arm-twisting by Trump must be resisted

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for the potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each.

And since the drug is also used for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

The Indian-Americans have welcomed the decision of the Indian government to allow the export of HCQ.

"President Trump is graceful and grateful. He is honest when he says that he will not forget India's gesture. He is a true friend of India," said Al Mason, a Trump supporter.

"Thank you President! I think you are well orchestrating the compulsion of history and demand of destiny that we and India be the best of friends, joined at the hip and yet as family, free hearts and minds to love across a spectrum of emotions, but always together," tweeted Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra.

According to Johns Hopkins University date, 88,538 people have died due to coronavirus and nearly 1. 5 million people have been infected.

The US has the highest number of infections in the world at 431,838, followed by Spain (148,220)and Italy 139,422.
Even though she is only two films old, Bollywood actress Ananya Panday has been winning over the hearts of audiences with her bubbly charm and happy-go-lucky persona.

Ananya, who has been self-isolating with her parents and sister Rysa in Mumbai during the lockdown period, looks forward to her upcoming films with actors Vijay Deverakonda, tentatively titled Fighter and Khaali Peeli with Ishaan Khatter.

Ananya recently interacted live with her fans on social media and here are some interesting takeaways from the candid session.

Favourite City

Ananya's favourite city is Mumbai. However, she is not very fluent in speaking Marathi.

Favourite Person

Ananya says that her mother Bhavana Panday is her inspiration and not her actor father Chunky Panday.

Favourite Thing to Shop For

Food. Ananya says that she loves grocery shopping and going out to pick up all her favourite kinds of food.

Ananya's Hollywood Crushes

They are Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling and Zac Efron.

Favourite Hollywood Movies

Shutter Island, Kill Bill and Fightclub.

Favourite Bollywood Films

Ananya likes David Dhawan's Aankhen and Yash Chopra's Silsila. Ananya also says that she really likes comedy flick Andaaz Apna Apna.

Favourite Bollywood Actors

Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh.

Favourite Online Game

Currently, Ananya's hooked onto QuizUp and says she is learning a lot of general knowledge on the app.

Ananya's Special Talent

Ananya jokes the only special talent she has is that she can touch her nose with her tongue.

Is Ananya Really Dating Ishaan Khatter?

Unconfirmed media reports claimed that Ishaan is currently in a relationship with Ananya. Both are working on Maqbool Khan's Khaali Peeli. About Ishaan, Ananya says, "We are similar people and bond over a lot of common things. Our film is very special to both of us." Ananya adds that Ishaan is chilled out and very talented.

Follow @News18Movies for more
The African Development Bank Group on Wednesday announced the creation of the COVID-19 Response Facility to aid regional member countries in fighting the pandemic.

The announcement was made in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday, April 8.

The Facility is the latest measure taken by the Bank to respond to the pandemic and will be the institutions primary channel for its efforts to address the crisis. It provides up to $10 billion to governments and the private sector.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, said the package took into account the fiscal challenges that many African countries are facing.

Africa is facing enormous fiscal challenges to respond to the coronavirus pandemic effectively. The African Development Bank Group is deploying its full weight of emergency response support to assist Africa at this critical time. We must protect lives. This Facility will help African countries to fast-track their efforts to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19, Adesina said, commending the Board of Directors for its unwavering support.

The Facility entails $5.5 billion for sovereign operations in African Development Bank countries, and $3.1 billion for sovereign and regional operations for countries under the African Development Fund, the Bank Groups concessional arm that caters to fragile countries. An additional $1.35 billion will be devoted to private sector operations.

Commenting on the Facility, Acting Senior Vice-President Swazi Tshabalala said: The setting up of the Facility required a collective effort and courage by all our staff, Board of Directors and our shareholders.

Two weeks ago, the Bank launched a record-breaking $3 billion Fight COVID-19 Social Bond, the worlds largest US dollar-denominated social bond ever on the international capital market. Last week, the Board of Directors also approved a $2 million grant for the World Health Organization for its efforts on the continent.

These are extraordinary times, and we must take bold and decisive actions to save and protect millions of lives in Africa. We are in a race to save lives. No country will be left behind, Adesina said.

About the African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa's premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 44 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states.
New Delhi, April 9 : Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto has lashed out at the Central government for imposing a national lockdown which he says, "will only make India weak".

In an article in a national newspaper, Bajaj has strongly criticized the lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for three weeks to control the COVID-19 epidemic.

Baja has concluded that the lockdown is "arbitrary" which needs a "recalibration". He also said that, "We have to sell ourselves out of it".

Bajaj wrote that that so far, the industry has received scant support from the government. "However, I'm less concerned about that as to my mind, the priority is recalibration of this arbitrary lockdown. For, I firmly believe that we're not going to save ourselves out of this crisis, we have to sell ourselves out of it," he added.

One of the country's foremost industrialists, Bajaj compared the lockdown to other countries and said it is only making India weak.

"To the best of my knowledge, virtually no country has imposed such a sweeping lockdown as India has; I continue to believe this makes India weak rather than stronger in combating the epidemic", Bajaj said.

"I don't buy the condescending argument that all Indians are a bunch of illiterate, ignorant, indisciplined morons who need cattle-like shepherding", he added taking exception to the approach of a sweeping lockdown.

He is of the view that the approach cannot sustain. "The current approach is obviously totally unsustainable in the future; every now and then when a virus returns, are we to fear that the lockdown will also be back?," he asked.

Offering an alternative solution, Bajaj has argued that the young people should have been allowed to go about their work to keep the economy moving.

"We should have kept only the vulnerable at home, closed all public spaces, and allowed the young and healthy to keep turning wheels of the economy -- with due precautions, with respect to hygiene, masks, distancing, etc", Bajaj wrote.

Advocating the use of homeopathy and ayurveda, Bajaj has said that these cheap and scalable solutions should not have been barred as India is a centre of excellence in these streams.

"I'm dismayed that despite having a full-fledged Ayush ministry and being the world's centre of excellence in homoeopathy, India has barred homoeopaths and naturopaths from offering affordable, scalable solutions, especially given that homoeopathy is universally acknowledged to have no inimical side effects," he said.

Bajaj Auto has assured dealers, suppliers and employees, including all contract employees, that it will not permit this extreme lockdown to impact them till April 14.

"However, I'm afraid we cannot guarantee that this will continue to be the case thereafter as well," Bajaj wrote.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
As the coronavirus continues to rip through the nation leaving behind thousands of victims in its path, black communities have been infected and their residents killed at a disproportionate rate across the country, according to several states' analysis of data.

After this virus is done infecting it will expose a lot of weaknesses in the health care system. The world will not be the same, said Dr. Tyson Bell, a pulmonology and intensive care physician at the University of Virginia and medical director of the intensive care unit.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided some limited data as political pressure to do so increased.

But while the portion of data released by the CDC did reveal racial disparities on a national scale, there were caveats. The data was pulled from a small sample size during a limited time frame -- 14 states during the month of March -- and race and ethnicity data was only available from 580 patients hospitalized for coronavirus, out of a total of 1,482 patients in the report.

According to the CDC, even though the racial breakdown from the population in the report was 59% white, 14% Latino and 18% black, 45% of hospitalized coronavirus patients were white and 8% were Latino, while 33% were black, "suggesting that black populations might be disproportionately affected by COVID-19."

Still, it's the largest amount of national data to have been provided so far -- and it sheds new light on racial disparities seen in cities and states across the country that have collected such data.

MORE: CDC releases new data as debate grows over racial disparities in coronavirus deaths

Some states had previously begun releasing numbers broken down by race on their own and the rates shocked the nation.

States reporting numbers by race for COVID-19 include Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana. Some statistics raised alarms among health care professionals and community and government leaders that COVID-19 is affecting black communities disproportionately.

Story continues

Louisiana released data showing that while African-Americans only make up roughly 32% of the population they account for 70% of the deaths in the state

This is unprecedented. This has been a one of the hardest things I've ever had to do because you've got to get people to understand just how serious and devastating this thing is," said New Orleans City Councilman Jay Banks, who is also chairman of the historic Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure club -- a New Orleans-based Mardi Gras parade krewe -- which has lost six members to COVID-19.

PHOTO: EMS personnel bring a patient into the emergency center at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center amid the coronavirus outbreak, in New Orleans, March 25, 2020. (Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

Louisiana isnt the only state facing these harsh realities. Chicago, Milwaukee and Minnesota are finding themselves battling a disease that is taking the lives of the most vulnerable in their communities.

In Michigan, African-Americans have died at more than eight times the rate of white people despite making up only 14% of the states population.

In Illinois, 58% of Cook County deaths from COVID-19 were black though the population is 23% black, and 72% of Chicago deaths were black patients though the city is 32% black.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said those numbers take your breath away, and [the statistics were] among the most shocking things I think Ive seen as mayor.

When the first reports of the COVID-19 outbreak surfaced from China, public health leaders feared if COVID-19 came to the U.S. it would devastate communities of color.

We had initial concerns when we first saw the outbreak coming, particularly the early reports out of China, and we recognized this may be a problem for communities of color, Dr. Georges E. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association and emergency medicine physician said. You had early evidence from Asia that showed that older folks, older than 60 or 65, with chronic disease would do worse when they got the infection. So when you put that together with the understanding that in this country you already have a [black] population disproportionately affected by disparities in things like diabetes, heart disease and asthma, we understood that if those populations got infected they would be more at risk.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

Historically, black populations have been affected differently by the rapid spread of infectious diseases.

Benjamin drew parallels to how he witnessed the AIDS and opioid epidemics affect black communities as a frontline physician in the '80s.

I was around in the early days of the AIDS epidemic and watched that one ravage communities and even how the opioid epidemic ravaged communities of color, he said. He noted that outbreaks devastating communities of color have been a repeated theme throughout history.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, raised similar concerns saying in a press briefing at the White House Tuesday that the disproportionate amount of deaths in the black community remind him of his work during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The greater proportion of my professional career has been defined by HIV/AIDS African Americans dying at greater rates from COVID-19 could be a similar moment, Fauci said.

PHOTO: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Briefing Room, March 26, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Leaders in medicine, public health and legal fields have decried the lack of wide reporting of race statistics as a fundamental injustice and an issue that has contributed to issues in understanding the full scope and depth of the disease's impact on minorities.

States are reporting data along lines of geography, gender and age-- there is no defensible reason for excluding racial demographic data. Our ability to fully understand and confront this pandemic requires and demands that we obtain racial data, said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an organization focused on addressing issues of inequity.

MORE: Make COVID-19 tests, treatment easy to access for black Americans to address health disparities: Experts

Benjamin said he received early reports from health officials around the country that people of color were dying at a higher rate, but not being able to find data.

I got calls early on from some state health commissioners that they were seeing a disproportionate number of deaths in people of color, Benjamin said. When I initially went looking for the race information early on I couldnt find it. At that point they were anecdotes and not evidence, but enough of them raise alarms.

Unfortunately, without data to show where and how the disparities were happening, alarms could not be raised quickly enough.

Systemic barriers

While the country comes to terms with how to attack the coronavirus crisis head on, another widely known and unaddressed crisis is complicating the response: systematic racism within the health care system.

Fauci on Tuesday at a White House briefing said that these health disparities have long been prevalent in the African American community and that this pandemic is shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is.

A range of studies conducted by such organizations as the American Journal of Public Health and The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality over the past few decades have shown black people are less likely to have insurance and access to affordable medical testing.

Black Americans are also more likely to have underlying conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma and if a patient with those underlying conditions gets a severe illness they tend to fare worse.

Its not that theyre getting infected more often, Fauci said. Its that when they do get infected, their underlying medical conditions ... wind them up in the ICU and ultimately give them a higher death rate.

PHOTO: People wait in line to for coronavirus testing testing during outside Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, April 7, 2020. (Joshua Lott/Reuters)

Additionally, implicit bias within the health care system has long played a factor in the wellness of black Americans.

Systemic racism and bias in the healthcare system have resulted in chronically poor health outcomes for Black Americans, Kristen Clarke wrote in a letter Monday to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Studies looking at manifestations of racial bias within the health care system have found black patients are sometimes treated differently than whites, leading to things such as undertreatment of pain and racial differences in what treatment is offered for a heart attack .

People are very leery of systems that don't benefit them, Banks said while discussing how the rate of African American deaths is partly representative of a system that is highly entrenched with inequality. People are very leery of systems that have been disparaging towards them their whole life and all of a sudden you're going to tell me you're gonna run in and save me when you haven't been trying to do that before, Banks said.

He added, It is not a talking point to bash some political party. The fact of it is that it's real. There's a definite disparity in medical care in this country, and people of color and poor people have less access to medical care, period.

Where should the US go from here? Experts issue a government call to action

Health equity advocates and community leaders called out the federal government, as well as state and local health departments for their role in the coronavirus' disproportionately high impact in black communities.

We need to know [race statistics] in order to allocate health healthcare resources more equitably. We call on HHS to mandate the collection or racial demographic data so that we can actually see the impact on our most vulnerable communities," said Dr. Uche Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, and emergency medicine physician.

Dariely Rodriguez, director of the Economic Justice Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, echoed the called for increased data disaggregated by race.

We will continue to call on the federal government and state and local departments to increase transparency and to shed light on how communities of color are being impacted during this pandemic, Rodriguez said. There's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be collecting data on race because we know that it's correlated with worse outcomes in certain communities, especially vulnerable communities. I think what's important to remember here is that our leaders get their power from the public, and they are accountable to us, and accountability ultimately requires transparency.

Banks said that Louisiana Gov.John Bel Edwards is teaming up with local leaders across the state for target messaging to the black community.

The message: This will kill you and kill people you care about. Period. You need to stay home, you have to."

A message to physicians and patients

Frontline physicians and public health leaders and health offered their perspective on what both physicians and patients can do when faced with the mounting COVID-19 disparities in communities of color.

Interfacing with the health care system can be daunting for black patients given how they have been treated historically and in current-day. I would encourage patients to be as fully informed as possible about COVID19 symptoms and try to bring a family member or friend to advocate for them in healthcare settings. Additionally, physicians must be mindful that while they make think they are providing unbiased care, the data tells us otherwise. Implicit bias has been implicated as a factor in the racialized health disparities, Blackstock said.

Benjamin offered that physicians considering the role of unconscious bias may be able to help change the trajectory.

I myself have to always do a little introspection and think about my own unconscious biases, and raise my index of suspicion. I think [more physicians doing this] would help the inequities a lot, Benjamin said.

PHOTO: Medical workers talk as people waiting in line to receive testing for COVID-19 outside Roseland Community Hospital, in Chicago, April 7, 2020. (Joshua Lott/Reuters)

He also suggested that if possible, black patients bring someone with them when seeking medical care to help be an advocate.

Bell said it's important for physicians to speak out if they identify systemic barriers, work to remove them, and dont take no for an answer. He used the example of restrictive testing in his state early on that may have contributed to the COVID-19 outcome disparities.

Early when Virginia was rolling out testing, we had a restrictive set of rules as to who could be tested or not, Bell said. We [at the University of Virginia] set up our own in house testing so that we didnt have to depend on rules we didn't think were appropriate or broad enough to really get a good sense [of who needs testing] and protect our community. We didn't take no for an answer and when barriers came up, we broke them.

Nancy A. Anoruo, MD MPH is senior internal medicine resident physician with a focus on public health at the University of Massachusetts, and a former health disparities research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Elizabeth K. Thomas is a White House reporter and producer at ABC News.

This report was featured in the Thursday, April 9, 2020, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast.

"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Coronavirus is disproportionately killing the black community. Here's what experts say can be done about it originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Net income of 1.6 million, with breakeven achieved one year ahead of the target date

Operating revenue up 21% to 40 million on the back of organic growth of 34% in turnover to 27 million

0.6 million increase in cash over the year to 10.7 million 1 at Dec. 31, 2019, prior to GSK's 7.9 million subsidy payment in January 2020. At the beginning of April 2020, the cash position amounts to 15.2 M excluding French research tax credit 2018 (3.5 million) still expected in April 2020

at Dec. 31, 2019, prior to GSK's 7.9 million subsidy payment in January 2020. At the beginning of April 2020, the cash position amounts to 15.2 M excluding French research tax credit 2018 (3.5 million) still expected in April 2020 No let-up in R&D efforts, which were maintained at 40% of turnover over the year

Maintaining the Group's medium-term objectives despite the Covid-19 pandemic

New organization structure with three independent Business Units in January 2020-Service, Biotech and Artificial Intelligence

Conference call in French Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 6.15pm (Paris time)

Tel.: +33 (0)1 70 71 01 59 PIN code: 50101161#

Regulatory News:

ONCODESIGN (Paris:ALONC) (ALONC FR0011766229), a biopharmaceutical group specialized in precision medicine, is announcing its full-year 2019 results and its outlook for 2020 and beyond.

Philippe Genne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Oncodesign, commented: "We had an exceptional year in 2019, which brought some major strategic accomplishments. Our operating revenue reached the key 40 million mark after three years of strong growth, and we also achieved profitability. Our clinical portfolio also gained traction in parallel with this strong financial performance. Firstly, we selected an initial drug candidate, the first-in-class RIPK2 kinase inhibitor in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, which originates from our Nanocyclix technology platform, and we sealed a promising partnership with Servier to select a LRRK2 kinase inhibitor as a drug candidate in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Likewise, our Service business delivered robust organic growth of +11% with the signature of major service partnership agreements. In addition, the growing reputation of Oncodesign's expertise internationally powered growth of 12% in North America. Overall, this performance is a testament to the effectiveness of our unique business model built to meet our goals of profitable growth and financial independence. This approach has enabled us to maintain a high level of investment in R&D-40% of turnover again in 2019-and to remain focused on our ultimate goal of improving patients' quality of life by discovering innovative new therapies effective for cancer and other serious diseases with no known treatment. Our recent introduction of a new organization structure based on 3 business units-Service, Biotech and Artificial Intelligence-should make our model even more effective and also provide greater clarity as to how we create value.

Arnaud Lafforgue, Chief Financial Officer of Oncodesign, added: "With our robust 10.7 million pro forma cash position at December 31, 2019 and 15.2 million at the beginning of April 2020 (excluding French research tax credit 2018 of 3.5 million still expected in April 2020), we are better-equipped than ever to fulfill our development potential. We are reiterating our confidence in our future prospects notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic, which has not put our medium-term targets in doubt. The aim remains for the Service BU to generate 50 million in turnover by 2023, with an EBITDA margin of between 15% and 20% and for the Biotech BU to launch the clinical development of three products."

"We would like to take this opportunity to restate our support for all healthcare staff and, more broadly, for all the organizations and individuals working flat-out each and every day in response to the pandemic", concluded Philippe Genne, Oncodesign's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer"After introducing homeworking and all the requisite health-related safeguards, leading to successful implementation of the business continuity plan, Oncodesign has adapted to a new way of working. We would also like to thank our employees, our shareholders and our partners for their unstinting commitment especially in this health and stock market chaos."

2019 operating revenue up 21% to 40 million

Oncodesign's operating revenue rose 21% to 39.51 million in 2019. The rise in operating revenue was fueled chiefly by organic growth in the Group's turnover to 26.9 million. This 34% increase marked the third year of brisk growth (after 40% in 2018 and 28% in 2017), representing a CAGR of 25% since 2017.

2019 Service turnover up 11% to 21.1 million, with organic growth and the US leading the way

In 2019, Service turnover grew 11% to 21.1 million, supported by the signature of strategic service contracts, in particular with partners such as Galderma, Erytech Pharma, EISAI and Ipsen in oncology. This firm performance was predicated chiefly on organic growth, which held up at a brisk pace, with a CAGR of 16% over the 2017-19 period. Turnover in North America (United States and Canada) recorded a 27% increase to 2.5 million in 2019. North America contributed by 12% to the 2019 turnover, up from around 10% in 2018. This advance illustrates the region's pivotal role for the Service business, supporting the case for its continued development over the coming years. Oncodesign is working on a new type of Drug Discovery service offering, with business partners contributing to the technological aspects and promotional efforts set to be supported by specialized business developers who have joined the existing team, including in North America. This new tech-driven offering should pave the way for business to accelerate over the coming year.

2019 Partnership turnover: 5.8 million

The Partnership's turnover flowed from the strategic alliance established in early 2019 with Servier to pursue LRRK2 kinase inhibitor research. The partnership began in March 2019 and generated turnover of 5.8 million in 2019, consisting of a 3 million upfront payment received on signature and 2.8 million to cover the corresponding research costs. After the end of the financial year, Oncodesign and Servier reached a preliminary major milestone in February 2020 in the development of their LRRK2 program in Parkinson's disease. This was achieved ahead of the original timeline and triggered a milestone payment to Oncodesign. In addition, negotiations are underway with new partners, and the aim is to resume clinical development of the mutated EGFR radiotracer in 2020. Development of the program originating from the Nanocyclix platform was fully internalized by Bristol-Myers Squibb under its agreement with Oncodesign, and the project continues to move forward.

Other operating income down 0.7% to 12.6 million in 2019

Additionally, Oncodesign recorded in January 2019 the annual subsidy payment from GSK of 7.9 million, reflecting its acquisition of the Les Ulis research center (last payment has occur in January 2020). The second significant component of other operating income was the research tax credit, which amounts to 3.7 million in respect of 2019 (0.2 million from Canada already collected and 3.5 million from France expected in April 2020). Lastly, other operating revenue declined by almost 20% to 1 million in 2019.

Operating income of 0.7 million in 2019, after an operating loss of 3.8 million in 2018

Operating expenses increased by 6% to 38.8 million. This reflected Oncodesign's tight grip on costs considering that turnover rose by 34% (up 19% excluding Servier's upfront payment). The increase in purchases consumed of just 2% to 17 million was particularly impressive. Staff costs came to 18 million, up 13% relative to 2018. This increase reflects the 12 new hires between June 2018 and year-end 2019, including research directors, to support the development of our new service offers (IDDS and DDSA). Oncodesign's average headcount rose to 235 in 2019, from 232 in 2018.

R&D expenses declined by 8% to 11 million in 2019, from 12 million in the previous year. The Company has made the strategic decision to stop funding the ALK1/2 program (while it looks for a partner) and to focus on its flagship MNK1/2, LRRK2 and RIPK2 projects, and its collaborative projects. The IMAKINIB and IMODI collaborative projects came to an end in December; only the Oncosnipe project remains active. Thus, the investments made in 2019 mainly concerned the MNK1/2 and RIPK2 programs, paving the way for the selection in December of a RIPK2 kinase inhibitor drug-candidate, which was one of Oncodesign's key goals.

After taking these factors into account, Oncodesign recorded operating income of 0.7 million in 2019, after an operating loss of 3.8 million in 2018.

In millions of euros 2019 2018 Change Turnover 26.91 20.09 34.0% Other operating income 12.59 12.68 -0.7% Total operating revenue 39.51 32.76 20.6% Purchases consumed (16.91) (16.55) 2.2% Staff costs (18.06) (15.99) 12.9% Other operating expenses (0.40) (0.47) -14.6% Taxes other than on income (0.95) (1.01) -5.8% Net depreciation and amortization (2.52) (2.56) -1.7% Operating income/(loss) 0.67 (3.81) +4.5 m

Net income of 1.6 million in 2019, after a net loss of 3.1 million in 2018

Net financial expense contracted slightly to 0.20 million, directly reflecting lower interest costs on borrowings. Exceptional expense came to 0.10 million. Net income from consolidated companies improved significantly to 0.62 million. Amortization of the negative goodwill related to the Ulis research center contributed 1 million (0.8 million in 2018) to Oncodesign's 2019 net income, which came to 1.6 million, compared to a loss of 3.1 million in 2018.

In millions of euros 2019 2018 Change Operating income/(loss) 0.67 (3.81) + 4.5m Financial income and expense (0.20) (0.25) -19.9% Recurring profit of fully consolidated companies 0.47 (4.06) + 4.5m Exceptional income and expense (0.10) 0.11 -186.5% Income tax 0.26 (0.00) n.m. Net income/(loss) from consolidated companies 0.62 (3.95) + 4.6 m Share of income/(losses) from associates Amortization of negative goodwill 1.00 0.80 24.5% Consolidated net income/(loss) 1.62 (3.15) + 4.8m Net cash position 10.7 10.1 + 0.6m

Solid cash position of 10.7 million2 at December 31, 2019 despite ongoing R&D spending

Despite further heavy investment in R&D activities (around 40% of turnover), cash available stood at 7 million at December 31, 2019 excluding the research tax credit due in respect of 2018. By comparison, cash available stood at 6.4 million at December 31, 2018 excluding the research tax credit. After pro forma inclusion of the 3.7 million due in respect of the 2018 research tax credit, cash amounted to 10.7 million. Payment of the 2018 research tax credit was confirmed in April 2020.

In addition, Oncodesign's cash position has been boosted by the final subsidy payment of 7.92 million by GSK in January 2020.

Taking all these factors into account, its cash position at the beginning of April 2020 stood at 15.2 million before payment of the French 2018 research tax credit of 3.5 million anticipated during April 2020.

Introduction in early 2020 of the new independent BU-based organization structure

As a result of the growth in the Service business and the emergence of a more mature portfolio, including drug candidates under proprietary and partnership programs, Oncodesign reviewed its organization structure and decided to establish three Business Units: Service, Biotech and Artificial Intelligence. The aim of the new structure is to make the Group's business activities clearer for its employees, customers, partners and investors. Each of the BUs has its own objectives and resources. The Service and Biotech BUs were up and running in early 2020, while Artificial Intelligence, the third BU, will be set up during 2020 to support the drug discovery of the future. A senior executive is currently being hired to run it. To finalize this new organization, Oncodesign will move into a new building in December 2020 housing the corporate, IT and the Biotech and Artificial Intelligence BUs.

Business continuity plan and roll-out of appropriate measures to address the Covid-19 pandemic

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Oncodesign activated on March 12, 2020 its "Pandemic Management Plan" covering the whole organization, including the labs, quality assurance, IT infrastructure, human resources and logistics. It will safeguard the continued delivery of services in line with any additional guidelines imposed by the health authorities.

The new organization structure introduced at the beginning of the year, the effective roll-out of the business continuity plan and its current cash holdings have curbed the effects to date and will ensure Oncodesign's continuing operation over the coming months.

Medium-term development plan maintained despite the Covid-19 pandemic

For the time being, the health crisis is not having a significant impact on the Group's activities, but it is difficult, in the current state of affairs, to estimate its ultimate impact of the crisis on Oncodesign's order backlog, turnover and laboratory activity. Depending on how long it lasts, it could call into question the Group's economic outlook for the current year, like that for the entire global economy. The activities of the Service business, which depend on the activities of pharma and biotech companies, are particularly at risk. As things stand, we are reiterating our 2020 target of 40 million in turnover and positive net income as announced 4 years ago thanks to our hybrid business model.

It is recalled that the acquisition in September 2017 of the service part of Bertin Pharma, allowed Oncodesign to become a founding member of the IDMIT project (Infectious Disease Models and Innovative Therapies). IDMIT is a world-class research infrastructure dedicated to preclinical research on primates to study and understand infectious diseases and to develop and evaluate innovative preventive and therapeutic strategies. This national biology and health infrastructure is under the responsibility and coordination of Roger Legrand of the Institut de Biologie Francois JACOB of the CEA. The co-founders are the CEA, the Pasteur Institute, the University of Paris-Sud, Inserm, ANRS and thus the company Oncodesign.

IDMIT is interested in the study of human infectious pathologies, their treatment and prevention. The aim of this infrastructure is to develop animal models of human infections, centralize state-of-the-art technological platforms, particularly in in vivo imaging, and provide a highly competitive infrastructure for preclinical research on vaccines and anti-infectious treatments. IDMIT has models of human viral infections in non-human primates, in particular for the study of HIV/AIDS, Corona Virus, Dengue, Chikungunya, influenza, yellow fever, etc.

Within the framework of this infrastructure, ONCODESIGN has added to its own technologies and skills, the skills and specialized platforms in infectiology and immunology present within IDMIT, for the benefit of its internal projects and its clients partners. In addition, Oncodesign ensures the commercial exploitation of this infrastructure, manages the Biological Resource Centre and takes care of quality assurance. To this end, Oncodesign has a team seconded to the CEA site at Fontenay-aux-Roses, where the various equipment and installations related to IDMIT are located. It is obvious that in the current circumstances, these infrastructures are strategic for Oncodesign at different levels, in the short and long term.

Oncodesign's key growth drivers will be

Further development of our strategic technology pillars based on AI: a precision medicine platform for the 21st century

Ramp-up in our pipeline: selection of kinase inhibitor drug candidates originating from our Nanocyclix technology and selection of external opportunities from other targets

Growing maturity of the pipeline with molecules moving into clinical stage: anti-mutated EGFR radiotracer (phase I completed), RIPK2 and LRRK2 inhibitors, MNK1/2 inhibitors in oncology

Acceleration in the development of multi-year Drug Discovery Service Agreements (DDSA) and Integrated Drug Discovery Services (IDDS) agreements delivering growth in Service turnover and EBITDA

Non-dilution of shareholding: no fresh funds raised since the IPO in April 2014

Looking beyond 2020, Oncodesign's targets for 2023 are

Service BU: turnover of 50 million and EBITDA margin of between 15% and 20%

Biotech BU: launch the clinical development of three products

Artificial Intelligence BU: halve drug discovery lead times and build up revenue streams

Oncodesign's annual financial report is available on the website at www.oncodesign.com

Next report: First-half 2020 sales on July 23, 2020 (after market close)

About ONCODESIGN: www.oncodesign.com

Founded 25 years ago by Dr. Philippe Genne, the Company's CEO and Chairman, Oncodesign is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to precision medicine. With its unique experience acquired by working with more than 800 clients, including the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, along with its comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, regulated bioanalysis, medical imaging and Artificial Intelligence, Oncodesign is able to predict and identify, at a very early stage, each molecule's therapeutic usefulness and potential to become an effective drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, which represent a market estimated at over $46 billion in 2016 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry's R&D expenditure, Oncodesign's technology has already enabled the targeting of several promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, along with partnerships with pharmaceutical groups such as Bristol-Myers Squibb. Oncodesign is based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town's university and hospital hub, and within the Paris-Saclay cluster. Oncodesign has 233 employees and subsidiaries in Canada and the USA.

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This press release contains certain forward looking statements and estimates concerning the Company's financial condition, operating results, strategy, projects and future performance and the markets in which it operates. Such forward-looking statements and estimates may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is designed to," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "objective," "should," or the negative of these and similar expressions. They incorporate all topics that are not historical facts. Forward looking statements, forecasts and estimates are based on management's current assumptions and assessment of risks, uncertainties and other factors, known and unknown, which were deemed to be reasonable at the time they were made but which may turn out to be incorrect. Events and outcomes are difficult to predict and depend on factors beyond the Company's control. Consequently, the actual results, financial condition, performances and/or achievements of the Company or of the industry may turn out to differ materially from the future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by these statements, forecasts and estimates. Owing to these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the correctness or fairness of these forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

1 After pro forma inclusion of the 3.5 million due in respect of the 2018 French research tax credit, expected in April 2020

2 After pro forma inclusion of the 3.5 million due in respect of the French research tax credit, expected in April 2020

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005565/en/

Contacts:

Oncodesign

Philippe Genne

Chairman and CEO

Tel.: +33 (0)3 80 78 82 60

investisseurs@oncodesign.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Mathilde Bohin Louis-Victor Delouvrier

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 95

oncodesign@newcap.eu

NewCap

Media Relations

Arthur Rouille

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 00 15

oncodesign@newcap.eu
(TNS)  Mainers dramatically reduced their movement around the state over the past month as the growing severity of the coronavirus pandemic influenced social behavior and government policies.State traffic data and publicly available smartphone metadata show mobility in Maine decreased steadily over the past five weeks as company work-from-home policies transitioned into school and business closures, and finally a statewide stay-at-home order from Gov. Janet Mills.But changes in mobility have wide regional variations, according to traffic data from the Maine Department of Transportation and smartphone tracking data from New York-based human mobility data company Unacast. Movement in urban and more densely populated parts of southern Maine has plummeted, while declines in some rural areas has been less pronounced.Local livelihoods, average driving distances, the timing of business closures and community lockdowns, and the geographic spread of coronavirus all contributed to those variations, experts said.There are also questions about the accuracy of smartphone data in rural parts of the state, they said.That data has to be taken with a huge grain of salt,said Kathryn Ballingall, a researcher focused on transportation data for the University of Maines Margaret Chase Policy Center. There may be methodological issues with this that are unintentionally biased against rural areas.Traffic at major intersections in and around Portland on Fridays, typically among the weeks busiest travel days, declined by more than 60 percent between the first weeks of March and April, according to regular monitoring reports from the Maine Department of Transportation.Average mobility, defined as miles traveled, declined by around 55 percent statewide, according to Unacast.Nonessential travel  meaning not for groceries or other necessities  fell by as much as 75 percent, according to the firm, which maintains a COVID-19 online scorecard based on anonymous smartphone and other publicly available data.Unacast assigns a letter grade to states and counties based on their reduced mobility. It gave Maine an overall B-minus, meaning there has been a decrease in mobility of between 55 percent and 70 percent.Cumberland County, home of Maines largest city and about one-fifth of the states population, earned an A-minus grade from the company, thanks to a 70 percent decrease in nonessential travel. York, Kennebec and Penobscot counties all earned B grades and limited nonessential travel by the same degree, according to Unacast.But Oxford County, in Western Maine, earned a D grade overall and an F, or failing grade, in nonessential travel, registering less than a 55 percent decrease. Aroostook, Lincoln, and Hancock counties also earned failing grades.A company spokeswoman did not directly answer a question about whether it had a large enough data set to accurately quantify mobility and movement in rural areas.Unacast has not specifically examined peculiarities in different types of regions and is using the same methodology to measure change in distance traveled across the scoreboard, Tanya Merisier said.Declines in traffic volume also varied regionally. Friday traffic at I-295 exits in Portland, Freeport, Brunswick and South Portland dropped by more than 60 percent over the course of March.Those declines differ greatly from State Route 117 in Turner, where traffic fell by 33 percent over the month, and Route 2 in Wilton, where the decline was under 40 percent.Just because some parts of the state have limited movement less than others doesnt mean they are ignoring social distancing guidelines, said Maine State Economist Amanda Rector.If people are perceiving more cases close to them, they may be more likely to reduce their travel and stay at home, Rector said.The states first cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus, were recorded in southern Maine. Two-thirds of the 537 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, and almost all deaths attributable to the virus, occurred in Cumberland and York counties Rural counties, on the other hand, have few confirmed cases, although some hospitals have not reported cases to the state , and not enough testing is being done to capture the true scope of the problem. As of Wednesday, Oxford County had only 12 confirmed cases, while there were three in Hancock County and two in Aroostook County.Major population centers in southern Maine, including Portland , implemented curfews and limited business hours in mid-March, prior to Mills closure of nonessential businesses two weeks ago and stay-at-home order March 31, Rector added.This may have caused earlier or larger decreases in mobility compared to more rural parts of the state, she said.Overall, mobility and nonessential trips dropped off swiftly in the week since Mills stay-at-home order was issued, and Maines overall mobility-reduction score has since improved by two full letter grades, according to Unacast. Traffic volumes at intersections in Vassalboro, Trenton, Mattawamkeag, Winthrop and other towns dropped quickly after nonessential businesses closed.But there are other important distinctions that can help explain continued mobility. People in rural Maine generally have longer commute times and travel farther to essential shops and services and may not have as many delivery options, Rector said.It may also be the case that jobs easily converted to remote work are clustered in southern and coastal Maine, whereas rural parts of the state have a higher proportion of jobs that require workers to be on site, or they lack the broadband infrastructure to support remote work.It also may be that Mainers living in more densely populated parts of the state had more opportunities to reduce nonessential trips, said Yuseung Kim, a professor at the Muskie School of Public Service at University of Southern Maine.Limiting trips to shops, restaurants, coffee shops and other activities would show as a large reduction in nonessential trips, but people in rural areas had fewer nonessential places to visit to begin with, he said.There is a much smaller number of the nonessential destinations in the rural counties, so theres little room to reduce the nonessential trips there, Kim said.Both Kim and Ballingall, from the Margaret Chase center, have concerns that Unacasts data might have too small a sample size or other flaws that skew the data. It may be that its definition of nonessential makes sense in big cities, but is less effective in outlining rural travel patterns.There also may be issues of low smartphone ownership, spotty reception and other issues. Unacast lacks data about nonessential travel from Franklin, Washington and Piscataquis counties.Is it correct to say that Aroostook County is doing a really bad job at social distancing while Cumberland County is (doing a good job)? Ballingall said. Perhaps, this data set is not accurately pinpointing what is considered essential or nonessential.
Citing the prevailing situation in the country amid coronavirus pandemic, former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla on Thursday said that it is impossible to start the 13th edition of the IPL after April 15.

The IPL was postponed till April 15 in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

"I don't see any preparation, our priority is to fight coronavirus and save people. See it will all depend on the government what decision they will take. We will go by the government decision. We are hearing that lockdown may extend in this situation if you think IPL can happen by April 15 so it seems not possible," Shukla told ANI.

When asked about whether foreign players will participate in the IPL, Shukla said that in present situation no match is possible and also the foreigners travel is restricted in the country.

The Central government on March 11 suspended all visas to India till April 15 as part of the measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

With 591 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's total count of coronavirus positive cases on Thursday climbed to 5,865, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Among the total cases include 5,218 active cases, 478 cured, discharged, and migrated cases and 169 deaths. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), one lakh thirty thousand samples have been tested for the coronavirus so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Marakkar Arabikadadlinte Simham

This Mohanlal starrer is unarguably the biggest project of 2020 so far. Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham which is directed by Priyadarshan revolves around the historical character Kunjali Marakkar IV, who was the naval chieftain of Samoothiri kingdom in the 16th century. The historical drama is expected to have a massive release once the lockdown ends and things are back to normal.

Bilal

Bilal, the upcoming action thriller which is a sequel to the 2007-released Mammootty starrer Big B, is undoubtedly the most anticipated upcoming projects of the year. The movie, which marks the megastar's second collaboration cinematographer-director Amal Neerad was expected to start rolling in March 2020. But the project has been postponed due to all India lockdown and is expected to go on floors once it ends.

Aadujeevitham

Prithviraj Sukumaran-Blessy duo's ambitious project Aadujeevitham is another Malayalam film to watch out for in 2020. The crew members of the project are currently stuck in Jordan, where they were shooting the final schedule due to the COVID_19 crisis. Prithviraj has shed around 30 kilos for his character in the movie. Aadujeevitham will also mark legendary musician AR Rahman's comeback to Malayalam cinema after a long gap.

Kurup

Dulquer Salmaan is playing the title role in the upcoming biopic Kurup, which is based on the life of the notorious criminal Sukumara Kurup. The movie marks Dulquer's second collaboration with Srinath Rajendran, the director of his debut film Second Show. The project, which is bankrolled by Dulquer Salmaan himself under his home banner Wayfarer Films, was originally planned as an Eid release.

Malik

Malik, the upcoming political thriller marks Fahadh Faasil's second collaboration with the popular editor-director Mahesh Narayanan, after the success of Take Off. The actor plays the titular character in the movie and has shed around 15 kilos for the perfection of his character. The movie, which is said to be based on real events, was originally slated to hit the theaters as a Vishu release.
As Jewish people around the world began celebrating Passover on Wednesday, a Huntsville synagogue was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.

Swastikas and racial slurs were spray-painted on the building of Etz Chayim, the Conservative synagogue on Bailey Cove Road.

This is like a smack in the face as we try to celebrate our freedom, said Laura King, a member of the synagogue and local leader in the Jewish community.

King said she believes the vandalism was carried out during the sacred Passover holiday to maximize the hurt felt by the congregation.

Passover is an annual commemoration of the story of Exodus. Jewish families gather in homes and retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

Passover is a time where we gather together to celebrate our freedom from bondage, yet this year, we had to do it in isolation" because of the coronavirus pandemic, said the Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama in a statement. To think anyone would take advantage of such a time to commit such heinous acts is the lowest of the low.

The vicious and repugnant images found on the walls of Etz Chayim are a powerful reminder that anti-Semitism is still here and we, as a community, must come together and work tirelessly to end it," the statement says.

King said the language of the graffiti indicates those responsible were sophisticated.

The graffiti included slurs that refer to Jewish people and Holohoax, a term used by Holocaust deniers.

This is something they thought about, King said.

Lt. Michael Johnson, a Huntsville police spokesman, said the department is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 256-722-7100.

In a statement, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said the city condemns anti-Semitism in the strongest possible terms.

We seek to find those who perpetrated this crime, and I urge anyone with information about the vandalism to report it to police, Battle said. As a City, and as an inclusive community, we stand side by side with our Jewish brothers and sisters and people of all faiths. Any offense against one is an offense against all.

Rabbi Eric M. Berk, of Huntsvilles largest Jewish temple, Bnai Sholom, said he was shocked the vandalism happened in the city and disgusted it was carried out on the first night of Passover.

All signs point to it not being a coincidence, he said. Its as if a church was vandalized on Easter Sunday.

King said she was numb and shocked after hearing the news.

This is an abomination, she said. But I am sure it does not reflect on the community in Huntsville. It only reflects on the people who did this.

King said many local churches have offered their prayers and support to the synagogue. We have tremendous support from the community, she said.

Berk echoed that sentiment. Were seeing that with folks who arent Jewish who are out there right now helping to clean up the synagogue, he said Thursday afternoon.

Pastor Rusty Nelson, of The Rock Family Worship Center, and his wife were among the volunteers who showed up at the synagogue Thursday morning to clean and remove the graffiti.

Were very connected with the Jewish community and are just here to stand in solidarity, Nelson said. Stuff like this just ticks me off.

In a statement, the executive board of Temple Bnai Sholom and Rabbi Berk expressed love and support for the members of the synagogue.

We may be different congregations, but we are all part of the greater Jewish Community of Huntsville, Alabama, the statement says. We stand together united against all forms of antisemitism and hate speech. We are still one people.

This story was last updated at 3:38 p.m. with statements from Mayor Tommy Battle and the Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama.
New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall announced his endorsement of former vice president Joe Bidens Democratic presidential bid.

Biden became the presumptive party nominee when Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race .

We need clear-eyed, principled, and steadfast leadership for the working families of New Mexico and this nation. The leader we need is Joe Biden, the senator posted on Twitter.

Udall thanked Sanders for his incredible run.

I know that he will never stop fighting for working people and for the progressive values that must define our path forward, and that he will continue to be a leading voice in our coalition, he said.

Udall predicted Biden would defeat President Donald Trump and would be outstanding president for *all* Americans.

He will stand up for working people who have been left behind by this president, and he will restore the soul of this nation that has come under attack from President Trump, he said.

But New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce predicted in a news release that Trump will win reelection because he has a vision for the future and the internal conviction and stamina to get us there.

He said Bidens socialist ideas are just as destructive as (Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth) Warrens or Sanders and the Democratic Party is too radical and out of touch with Americans.
To reduce academic loss of



students due to closure of schools following the coronavirus pandemic, authorities in Assam's Hailakandi district have launched distance learning programme in some educational institutions.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT)- based programme has been launched in 13 higher secondary schools, 33 high schools, and 52 Islamic educational institutions, a district administration spokesman said on Thursday.

Inspector of Schools Rajiv Kumar Jha asked teachers not to consider the lockdown period as holiday but as an opportunity to work from home for the benefit of students.

A directory containing mobile numbers with WhatsApp and e-mail IDs of students and teachers have been compiled through which learning materials such as written text, teaching videos, YouTube videos, question-answer practice sets and classwork materials are shared daily with students.

The programme has been taken up from April 2 following instructions from the managing director of Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, Jha said.

"Homework is assigned to students and their answers are checked.

"A screenshot of the classes being held per school daily is shared in our district WhatsApp group," said Jha.

The classes are conducted during school hours and are based on textbooks, he said.

Appreciating the head of institutions and the teachers for holding such classes in 100 per cent secondary schools in Hailakandi district, Board of Secondary (SEBA) Chairman R C Jain suggested covering more students, particularly those who cannot afford a smartphone, under the programme. PTI ESB.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday approved Alphabet Inc unit Google's request to use part of a US-Asia undersea telecommunications cable after the company warned it would face significantly higher prices to carry traffic by other means.

Google agreed to operate a portion of the 8,000-mile Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook Inc helped pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link but U.S. regulators have blocked its use.

The Justice Department earlier told the FCC in a petition it supported Google's revised request. The agency said U.S. agencies believe "there is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States."

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, whose relations with the United States have soured over the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, trade disputes and security concerns.

In a statement, Google thanked the FCC for approving its request and added "dedicated global network deployment and operations team is continually increasing capacity to meet the needs of our users, and that includes our subsea cable system."

The FCC is allowing Google to operate the segment for the next six months, pending a final disposition of the license application.

Google told regulators earlier this year it has "an immediate need to meet internal demand for capacity between the U.S. and Taiwan, in particular to connect Googles Taiwan data center to Google data centers in the United States and to serve users throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

It added that without that "capacity, the value of large, recent capital investments Google has made in the United States is significantly reduced."

The Justice Department said without temporary authority "Google would likely have to seek alternative capacity at significantly higher prices."

Google has also agreed to "pursue diversification of interconnection points in Asia," as well as to establish network facilities that deliver traffic "as close as practicable" to its ultimate destination, the department added.

The United States has expressed concerns about China's role in handling network traffic and potential for espionage. Around 300 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet by carrying 99% of the worlds data traffic.

A Facebook affiliate sought FCC approval to use a portion of the cable connecting the Philippines to the United States to handle traffic.

Facebook said on Wednesday it is "navigating through all the appropriate channels on licensing and permitting."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski and Sonya Hepinstall)
Lee McKelveys first day on the job was also the last time he saw nearly all of his coworkers.

The 29-year-old Navy veteran and former Houston Ship Channel dock worker started a new job March 12 as a master control operator at EVX Midstream, the largest operator of wastewater pipelines in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. It was a routine first day filled with paperwork, shaking hands, learning new names and figuring out where the printers, bathrooms and break room are.

Then an email from management arrived.

The afternoon note alerted employees that until further notice, they would work from home to protect them from the coronavirus, which at the time had infected just 1,600 people nationwide. The order was for nonessential workers, however, and McKelvey was among those needed to maintain the federally designated critical infrastructure of the energy industry.

It went from about 60 people to about five people just that fast, McKelvey said.

Now Playing: With tens of thousands of people working from home due to the conronavirus outbreak, downtown Houston has become a ghost town. One exception is a pipeline control room operator working alone in a 25-story downtown building. Video: Brett Coomer

In the following days, as the outbreak grew exponentially, McKelvey and the other master control room operators found themselves among the few people still working in towers emptied by work-from-home orders, making downtown Houston feel more like a ghost town than the heart of the fourth largest city in the United States.

World Standing Still: Oil industry faces unprecedented crisis

But at EVX, the precautions went a step further. To enforce social distancing, there would be only one operator in the control room on rotating 12-hour shifts. The three veteran master control operators gave McKelvey a crash course in monitoring the companys pipelines, saltwater disposal wells and other field equipment. But they couldnt prepare him for the feeling of isolation over the days that followed.

Each workday, McKelvey leaves his wife, son and daughter and begins a commute from Humble that takes half the time it did on his first day. He arrives to an empty garage at the 811 Louisiana Tower, where he can park his truck almost anywhere he wants. Inside, he greets the security guard in the lobby and the cleaning staff, often the only other people in the building, and takes a lonely elevator ride to the 25th floor.

There, McKelvey enters a dark, empty office. He takes a large bottle from the front desk and squirts hand sanitizer into his palms before walking a darkened hall, past cubicles and offices left in disarray by workers who departed weeks ago with computers and personal belongings.

The master control room, already dimly lit, isnt made much brighter by the glow of 16 computer screens and two flat-screen TVs. One shows cable news while the other can be switched to Netflix, Hulu or other streaming services. After a quick debriefing from the previous shift, McKelvey settles into a day filled with alerts and notifications from the companys field operations.

When he needs to step away from the screens, McKelvey goes down the hall to the lonely break room, grabs a drink and looks out the windows to survey an empty city. Most of the shops and restaurants in downtown Houston are closed, including those in the citys underground tunnels. Road construction crews still work on projects here and there, but otherwise McKelvey sees very few people downtown  which by comparison seemed remarkably busy during his first day on the job.

At the end of his shift, McKelvey returns to the company of his family, having encountered on most days fewer than a handful of people.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself, McKelvey said. I go to the windows and look out and see the downtown that I grew up around look so empty. It really is kind of lonely.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

EVX isnt the only pipeline company whose master control operators are working in unusual conditions during a global pandemic that has infected 1.4 million and killed nearly 80,000.

Like other workers around the globe performing vital tasks, the operators are helping to keep the power on while millions are working from home, says Alex Oehler, interim president and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Theres an incredible sense of service, a sense of purpose, a sense of dedication and a get-it-done attitude, Oehler said. Youre seeing all that in spades right now.

Houston liquefied natural gas company Cheniere Energy owns and operates more than 300 miles of pipeline and two LNG export terminals that must be constantly monitored. The companys cargoes need to be sent to destinations around the world despite the growing pandemic.

Cheniere has a master control center at its downtown headquarters and a backup at an undisclosed location. Although most of its other office workers are telecommuting during the crisis, master control operators still come to work. Shifts havent changed and the same number of operators are still required but they are now practicing social distancing and have access to hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and other safety gear.

The companys goal is to maintain safe and uninterrupted operations, said Cheniere spokeswoman Jenna Palfrey.

Industry Downturn: Crude oil sold below $6 per barrel in some parts of Permian Basin

Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy takes advantage of having multiple control centers to keep tabs on its more than 60,000 miles of crude oil and natural gas pipelines across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The company, which has a large regional office among the towers in downtown Houston, has two master control centers and three backup sites at undisclosed locations. Operating under normal shifts, six operators work in the control rooms at any given time while managers, supervisors and engineers do so remotely.

The control rooms are large enough to allow people to sit 12 feet apart, but TC Energy went further and opened its three backup sites to allow for even greater social distancing. As an additional safety measure, the three backup centers are operating with a completely sequestered staff.

The gas controllers are a special group of employees with highly specialized skills, which means not anyone can do their job. So it is imperative that we take extraordinary actions to keep them healthy and safe, said Millie Moran, vice president of TC Energys U.S. natural gas pipeline control centers.

The company had to plan for all aspects of life, she said. It provides comfortable lodging, meals, snacks and anything they need to give them the creature comforts of home, Moran said.

Downturn: $20 per barrel oil sends energy companies to restructuring experts in droves

Oklahoma pipeline operator Williams has one of its master control rooms at its regional headquarters inside the 64-story Williams Tower in the Galleria area, equally desolate after the Galleria mall and area stores closed and the numerous offices were vacated in favor of telecommuting.

The pandemic hasnt affected the number of master control operators in the office or their schedules, but the company is limiting the presence of other employees in buildings with control rooms. Temporary work stations allow master control operators to sit in separate rooms and increase social distancing.

The company, which handles 30 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S., must maintain service through its system of pipelines, says Williams Vice President of Central Services Dave Keylor.

With the COVID situation were able to remain in place but were increasing social distancing and hygiene procedures, Keylor said.

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Ex-chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said that coronavirus fatalities are under-reported as he revealed the death of his brother.

His 71-year-old brother, ex-Home Office translator Umar, died at home today, leaving the legal expert saying that praying for a loved one wearing masks and gloves is what nightmares feel like.

Mr Afzal announced the devastating loss on social media as he raised concerns about the way deaths are being recorded.

Nazir Afzal (pictured, left) has revealed that his brother Umar (right) has died and says the UK is under-reporting deaths due to the virus

He said: 'Following my brother's death from Covid-19 I learnt: 1. We are substantially under-reporting deaths by not including home & care

'2. Praying for your loved one wearing masks and gloves is what nightmares feel like.

'3. You don't "fight" it - it's not a measure of character.

'4. Stay at home.'

In another tweet, he explained his concerns about the way in which deaths are recorded.

He wrote: 'My dear eldest brother Umar has passed away at home today. The certificate will say Natural Causes but he tested + for coronavirus.

'Let him be remembered for the joy he gave us all, not the way he died. May he rest in peace. I miss him terribly.'

And Mr Afzal revealed that his heartbroken 91-year-old mother was forced to see her son for the last time through a window.

'My 91yr old mum, herself attached to an oxygen tank, asked to see her first born sons face one last time through the window as he lay in a body bag,' he said.

'The zip was opened to allow this. Its these moments of humanity & compassion that COVID19 cannot take away from you.'

England, Scotland and Wales have recorded 887 more coronavirus deaths today, taking Britain's total to 7,984.

NHS England announced 765 more fatalities in its hospitals among patients aged between 24 and 103, taking England's total to 7,248.

The Scottish Government announced this afternoon that 81 more people had died there, taking the national total to 447, and Wales confirmed a further 41 fatalities, increasing its own number of victims to 286.
NDC Activist, Dela Coffie has urged Ghanaians to cooperate with President Akufo Addo to safeguard them against the spread of Coronavirus in the country.



According to him, the President has indeed "stepped up to the plate in these difficult times, and he needs the support of every right-thinking Ghanaian to be able to contain COVID-19''.



Dela Coffie noted that though some people may not acknowlege efforts by the President in these trying times, it is however wise that Ghanaians repose confidence in him to ensure their safety.



We sure will come back here and ask legitimate questions if we do not see any action in the execution of these measures, but for now, let's look at the positives'', he posted on his Facebook.



Full article:



Okay, I agree that not every household owns a tap and indeed water doesn't flow into all taps in Ghana but Akufo-Addo's COVID-19 social mitigating measures also includes free tanker services to vulnerable households;



"All water tankers, publicly and privately-owned, are also going to be mobilized to ensure the supply of water to all vulnerable communities."



Key phrase: "vulnerable communities." Certainly, this is going to provide some respite for the down trodden.



Many will not acknowledge it, but truly Akufo-Addo has stepped up to the plate in these difficult times, and he needs the support of every right-thinking Ghanaian to be able to contain COVID-19.



We sure will come back here and ask legitimate questions if we do not see any action in the execution of these measures, but for now, let's look at the positives.



Yes, we can get through this devoid of cynicism, attrition and undue partisanship.



Stay safe, folks!!!





Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected]









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Bottom line: The tech community was looking forward to Microsoft's interesting take on foldables with its Windows 10X-powered Surface Neo. However, the company has seemingly changed its plans from releasing the device this year, along with Windows 10X, and is now focused on bringing the OS to single-screen devices and porting some of its features to Windows 10.

The Surface Neo and its underpinning Windows 10X OS were poised for a late-2020 release, but both products are unlikely to make that schedule, reports ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley. The delay is likely to do with the disturbance caused by the ongoing pandemic and Microsoft's renewed (and intriguing) focus on bringing Windows 10X to single-screen devices first, instead of making it the USP of foldables as originally planned.

Announcement of the delay was made internally by product chief Panos Panay, says Foley, adding that "Microsoft also won't be enabling third-party dual-screen Windows devices to ship with 10X in calendar 2020." The development is unlikely to affect one of the first OEM foldables - the ThinkPad X1 Fold - as it will be powered by Windows 10, with Lenovo bringing 10X support post-launch.

It's also possible for Windows 10 users to receive 10X features before the latter comes out. Foley notes that Microsoft is looking to bring containers on the desktop for improving compatibility with legacy apps as it has done on Windows 10X, although the feature needed considerable time to mature.

Microsoft's hold off with the Surface Neo and Windows 10X seemingly has to do with the software side of things as the company's supply chain was noted to be getting "back on rails" last month, indicating that upcoming products like the Xbox Series X and Surface devices would be arriving per schedule.

Interestingly, the release window of the Android-powered Surface Duo is said to remain unaffected, which will enable Microsoft to offer something new in the Surface lineup for buyers this holiday season.
Pennridge to vote on one textbook; further review on other one
New Delhi, April 9 : The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said, here on Thursday, 10 multi-disciplinary teams had been despatched to 9 states to coordinate the fight against coronavirus.

Addressing the media, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said, "these teams will coordinate with states on containment plan, hospital preparedness and ventilator management." The states where these teams have been sent are Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

During the day, a Group of Ministers (GoM) evaluated the work done so far, challenges ahead and preparation to overcome them, he said.

On the dedicated Covid hospitals, the main focus of the Ministry, he said, the GoM discussed how the number of such hospitals could be increased in states. Detailed discussion also took place on categorisation of hospitals, he added.

Agarwal said there were 5,734 confirmed cases, recovery by 473, and 166 deaths and added, 540 new cases and 17 deaths were in the past 24 hours.
Some U.S. Air Force units have instituted a buddy system that groups individuals into cohorts or "pods" as the service attempts to stave off the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials say.

Airmen at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, for example, have begun implementing the containment strategy, known as a "ring-one cadre." It groups together airmen who would normally commingle on a day-to-day basis, explained Col. Kenyon Bell, installation commander and head of the 82nd Training Wing.

"This has been an evolution," Bell said in an interview Tuesday. "Each time we start to formalize our containment strategy and move down how we minimize exposure, it evolves."

His comments came after photos sent to Military.com last week showed airmen with the 82nd walking around the base closely together even as top officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper, stressed that troops should strictly follow the Centers of Disease Control guidance to stay six feet or more apart whenever possible.

Related: The Pentagon Says Troops Are Social Distancing. Why Do These Photos Say Otherwise?

Families of airmen attending the training raised concerns in a private Facebook group and began pressing base officials, asking whether leaders were ignoring the call for social distancing.

During a Facebook Live video chat Friday, Bell explained the new system, calling it "a ring-one cadre of people," or those airmen who interact the most with each other on duty. Bell said the groups in his office, for example, have split up in order to avoid unnecessarily bringing in other airmen.

"We need to physically distance ourselves as much as practical," he said Tuesday. "When we're marching around, yes, we can break down into smaller groups."

But if, for instance, Bell came down with COVID-19 symptoms and had to quarantine for 14 days, his cohort office buddies "would do the exact same thing," he said.

The commander said he's been calling the system "physical distancing" instead of "social distancing" because airmen are still encouraged to keep social connection during this difficult time.

"The part that I think a lot of people have a hard time grappling with is, when we're in a training environment, there are some cases that you just cannot physically stay six feet apart from each other and accomplish our mission," Bell said. He gave the example of trainees changing an aircraft tire, which is a two-person job, at least.

"Since we have been deemed essential to the mission, and we have to accomplish that training, then we accept some risk in that area," he said.

Sheppard is home to the largest technical training wing in the Air Force, producing roughly 65,000 graduates annually, according to a fact sheet provided to Military.com. At any given time, there are between 4,500 and 5,000 technical trainees at Sheppard, assigned to six training squadrons. Trainees span more than 60 Air Force specialties in the aircraft maintenance, logistics and civil engineering career fields, the service said.

The ring-one concept is not completely regimented. A commander who oversees 1,000 people isn't picking which airmen stay within a specific 10-person group, nor are they assigning airmen to groups, Bell said. That happens as a natural progression to keep a "small ring-one [group] as possible," he added.

Bell imposed a restricted movement order March 20 for the 5,000 trainees living on base.

"It's been several decades since I've been 18 years old, and now [they are] confined to a space of a 16-mile fence line to live, work and play for an indefinite period of time. So, as you can imagine, there's some frustration, there's some restlessness," he said. "But at the same time, by and large, we have made a tremendous effort to educate people on why we do it."

Grouping Shift Work

The 80th Flying Training Wing, which has 350 student pilots at any given time, shares Sheppard with the 82nd. While the 82nd has strictly limited its trainees' movement, the 80th doesn't have the same luxury, since some of its personnel -- including international student pilots -- live off base.

Col. Russell Driggers, 80th commander, has divided his airmen into what he called "pods" -- as small as six to seven airmen -- in addition to moving airmen around in "blue and silver" shifts to bring them on duty during very specific times. Driggers said that all training is done within the assigned pods, which are rotated -- one week on and one week off -- to further mitigate the possibility of interaction.

Unlike the 82nd -- which has courses that last anywhere from one month to more than seven months, depending on specialty -- flight training students come in for roughly a one-year curriculum. The base has not accepted any new international students since Esper issued a stop-movement order last month, but students are free to leave "if those nations will accept travel from the United States," Driggers said.

Air Combat Command units are also aggressively using a shift-like model, said spokeswoman Leah Garton.

Maintenance personnel with the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, have split work "into team A-and-B shifts alternating daily or weekly to minimize potential exposure," Garton said.

"Personnel on each shift are required to sanitize their equipment prior to shift turnover," she said in an email. "Crew chiefs sterilize high-maintenance personnel contact zones in and around cockpits and throughout maintenance work areas."

Meanwhile, 20th Fighter Wing squadrons at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, have been divided into two teams with alternating flying schedules.

Pilots and maintainers use rapid crew swaps and hot-pit refueling "to increase sortie generation while decreasing the amount of times maintenance personnel have to interact with the jet," Garton said.

The examples listed illustrate the dynamics happening at each base around the country amid the coronavirus outbreak, Bell said.

One-Size-Fits-All 'Doomed to Fail'

Sheppard has had at least two confirmed COVID-19 cases on the installation: a member of the 80th and an employee at the base Starbucks. The base no longer publicizes confirmed cases following a Pentagon order to stop doing so at the base level in order to preserve operational security measures.

"I share the concerns and hear them frequently from family members, who are chiming in and asking about, 'Hey, what's happening with my son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter?'" Bell said. "Again, we're trying to offer that separation and minimize exposure, and there are lots of efforts that are going on across the installation that will help us prevent the spread."

Last week, when asked whether the Air Force would require all bases to institute the same specific protocols to protect airmen, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein emphasized that commanders have to do what makes sense for their units.

"Local commanders at the installation level have got the most situational awareness," he told reporters during a Mitchell Institute "Aerospace Nation" chat April 1. "Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma doesn't look like Kunsan [Air Base, South Korea], which doesn't look like Ramstein [Air Base, Germany]," he said.

Goldfein said he was not surprised to learn of the pod structures happening at Sheppard, which he said is likely happening at other units, too.

"If my job is nuclear security, and I'm going out to the missile fields, it wouldn't surprise me at all that that squadron is hanging pretty tough and tight together because they're having to operate in that unique environment," the chief said. "A one-size-fits-all approach to every installation is doomed to fail.

"Again, the individual who has the most situational awareness who is making the smartest, most thoughtful decisions are those installation commanders," Goldfein said. "We expect [them] to lead the way, and we tell them, 'Don't wait for us. Operate within the bounds that we've set and move out.'"

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read more: A-10 Makes Emergency Belly Landing at Moody Air Force Base
Netflixs Tiger King star Joe Exotic, the former Oklahoma zoo owner serving 22 years in prison after being found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill an animal rights activist, found a new audience member at the White House coronavirus task force briefing on Wednesday.

I know nothing about it, President Donald Trump said when New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked him if hed consider granting a pardon. Twenty-two years for what? What did he do? Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon?"

When Nelson noted one of Trumps sons was pushing for a pardon, Trump quipped that it must be (Donald Trump Jr.), I had a feeling it was Don.

While Trump smiled several times during the exchange, he said, Ill take a look.

Trump Jr. said Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, received what appeared to be a stiff sentence after he was convicted of planning a hit on Carole Baskin of Big Cat Rescue, an animal rights activist and Maldonado-Passages longtime nemesis.

I watched the show, but it was like, I dont know exactly what he was guilty of or wasnt, Trump Jr. said, according to Fox News. It doesnt seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when theyre saying, Were putting this guy away for 30 years,' Im saying that seems sort of aggressive.

Maldonado-Passage, who says he was wrongly convicted, requested a pardon in late March. He also filed a nearly $100 million lawsuit against former colleagues and government officials, accusing many of them of perjury, false arrest and imprisonment and malicious prosecution, according to Fox News.
Ecuador's ex-president sentenced to 8 years in prison for bribery

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 11:28, April 08, 2020

QUITO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A National Court of Justice tribunal in Ecuador on Tuesday sentenced ex-President Rafael Correa to eight years in prison for bribery.

Another 17 people, mostly former aides, received the same sentence for accepting bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for juicy government contracts, the national Prosecutor General's Office said on Twitter.

They include Correa's former Vice President Jorge Glas who had been in jail since 2017 for corruption related to the Odebrecht case.

Correa and Glas were also barred from running for public office for 25 years, precluding any presidential runs in 2021.

Correa's former ministers of Tourism, Urban Development and Housing were also among those convicted and sentenced.

Correa denied the accusations, claiming they were politically motivated to prevent him from running again.

Odebrecht has admitted it ran a multinational bribery scheme to win lucrative state contracts for major public work.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  Rivers crowded with walleye fisherman has led some cities in Ohio to restrict access to rivers because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The latest list of closings, delays and restrictions is below. Wednesdays list can be seen here.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

The emergency room at University Hospitals North Ridgeville Health Center temporarily is being shut down for 60 days.

Akron Childrens Hospital is asking everyone coming to any facility to wear a mask or cloth-face covering.

The University of Akron announced that all summer courses, held across two sessions, will be taught online due to concerns about the coronavirus.

The state has halted to sale of non-resident fishing licenses. Fremont has closed off fishing access to the Sandusky River, and Maumee has cut off fishing access to the Maumee River.
A road on the island of Suva was swamped with floodwater from Cyclone Harold on Thursday, April 9 after the category four cyclone hit Fiji.

Footage recorded by local reporter Nacanieli Tuilevuka shows a street in Suva blocked by floodwater, with vehicles nearby were unable to access.

The storm battered the islands after a coronavirus lockdown was mandated by the government.

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told civilians to stay indoors unless they had to evacuate their homes. Some residents were trying to use the cyclone to evade COVID-19 restriction, according to local authorities. Credit: Nacanieli Tuilevuka via Storyful
Zoa Morani recently shared a post after getting tested COVID-19 positive on Instagram. In her post, Zoa Morani lauds her doctors and reveals her experience. Read here

The entire country has currently reached a sensitive point where there is a sense of fear in the mind of people due to coronavirus pandemic. Though, the government has imposed complete lockdown in the entire country and has advised people not to come out of their homes, still every day the count of coronavirus patients is increasing in the country. Recently, reports revealed that after Kanika Kapoor, Zoa Morani has been tested positive of coronavirus.

Further, the actor recently shared a long post on her Instagram sharing her experience in the hospital and also shared that her father and sister have also been tested positive. The actor lauded the efforts of the doctors with the nurses, who are taking care of her day and night. She revealed that she can see their discomfort in the suits which they are wearing 24/7 still they are serving all the patients. No doubt, all these police people and doctors are not less than heroes.

She added that her doctor is so full of life that he constantly makes jokes and keep her smiling always. She added that Pranayam and Hot water helps you a lot during this time. While, interacting with a media portal, Zoa Morani revealed that her sister got normal cold and cough some days back, immediately after her she got that the same symptoms. Her sister was normal in the next seven days but her symptoms continued even after that.

Also Read: Hina Khan has a special birthday wish for costar Rohan Mehra, see photo

On the work front, Zoa Morani has in all featured in many films like Always Kabhi Kabhi, Mastaan, Bhaag Johnny. Recently, Zoa Morani also appeared in web series like Akoori and Bhoot Purva in Zee 5.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
As Nigeria struggles to diagnose more cases of COVID-19, a group of medical laboratory scientists has promised to help improve the nations testing capacity.

The group, Young Medical Laboratory Scientists Forum (YMLSF), on Wednesday said it was ready to deploy its 30, 000 members to diagnostic labs to ensure more patient samples are processed per day.

Last week, the Nigeria centre for Disease Control said it was hoping to increase its testing capacity to 1, 500 tests per day.

The countrys COVID-19 testing regime is limited to only those with travel history and people who have made contact with them.

As a result, testing has not been widespread. Only a total of over 5,000 people have been tested, a poor figure when compared to nearly 60, 000 total in South Africa.

Nigeria is currently processing 1, 500 COVID-19 tests per day, according to the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire.

Claims

In a statement jointly signed by the national president and national secretary of the group, Isomah Chiladi Jeff and Ediale Solomon respectively, It said there were reports credited to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, saying the country has only two experts who can manage molecular testing for COVID-19 in the seven diagnostic labs across the country.

The group said the source of the statistics is not only wrong but also adversely deleterious to the medical laboratory human resources management which is cardinal at precarious times like this.

PREMIUM TIMES is yet to independently verify the reports as the spokesperson of the health ministry could not be reached.

Adequate scientists

According to the group, Nigeria has adequate trained medical laboratory scientists who are resource persons in molecular testing.

With the plethora of challenges in containing COVID-19 in Nigeria, it should interest you to know that diagnostic man power is completely out of this bracket as there are more adequately trained medical laboratory scientists who are resource persons in molecular testing as evidenced in the compiled list of Nigerian experts sent to NCDC by Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), the group stated.

The group also said the federal lawmakers would have knowledge of the level of expertise of medical laboratory scientists in the country better if they could embark on a tour to assess the level of preparedness from the medical laboratory experts across facilities.

But considering the pandemic and complete lockdown by the federal government, it will be our opinion that you kindly verify the facts from the appropriate authority/regulatory body (medical laboratory science council of Nigeria) established by the Act of the honourable chambers.

Laboratory Management as enshrined in our curriculum entails setting up any sort of medical or molecular laboratory, managing the laboratory and production of reliable and quality results for patient management and this we shall uphold to the people of Nigeria.

However, these laboratories though equipped with sophisticated and contemporary equipment needs upscaling and putting in use to keep tabs with the insidious nature of this pandemic. This is the norm as it is in sync with the tenets of Laboratory Quality Management System regarding equipment purchase and installation and manpower, the group said.

It assured the federal government of its willingness to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

YMLSF which is a body of young medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria with over 30,000 members scattered all over Nigeria wants to reassure the Federal Government and the good people of Nigeria that we are ever ready to make our human resource available for testing to fight this pandemic, it said.
A crew member on board the floating military hospital currently docked in the Port of Los Angeles has tested positive for coronavirus  less than two days after the disease was detected in a sailor on board the USNS Comfort near New York.

US Navy Lt. Andrew Bertucci said the infected crew member aboard the USNS Mercy 'is currently isolated aboard the ship, and will soon transfer to an off-ship isolation facility where they will self-monitor for severe symptoms'.

'This will not affect the ability for Mercy to receive patients,' Bertucci told ABC News on Wednesday.

'The ship is following protocols and taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of all crew members and patients on board.'

Scroll down for video

The hospital ship USNS Mercy is seen above at the Port of Los Angeles on March 27. A crew member on board has tested positive for coronavirus, the Navy announced on Wednesday

The USNS Mercy, which arrived in Los Angeles on March 27 to ease the strain on California's hospitals, has been accepting non-COVID-19 patients as the state continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Wednesday, there were 30 patients on board the 900ft-long, 70,000-ton ship which holds 1,000 hospital beds.

The patients on board have been treated for a variety of ailments including pneumonia, heart failure, and gunshot wounds.

Medical personnel are accepting patients on the converted supertanker who do not have the virus in order to clear up beds in the rest of Los Angeles' hospitals.

In Los Angeles County, there are more than 7,500 cases of the virus and 198 people have died. There are fears the city may soon see a spike.

Statewide, there are 19,063 confirmed cases of coronavirus in California as of Thursday morning.

The death toll as of late Wednesday reached 507 people.

On Monday, it was announced that a crew member on board the USNS Comfort in New York tested positive for coronavirus.

The ship - docked in Manhattan - was sent to take in non-coronavirus patients from overwhelmed hospitals in the stricken state where nearly 150,000 people have been infected and more than 6,200 have died.

Sailors on board the Mercy are treating non-COVID-19 patients. The image above shows medical staff transport the first patient from a Los Angeles hospital on March 29

The crew member is in isolation and has not made contact with any patients on board the 1,000-bed ship which arrived from Norfolk, Virginia, on March 30.

Any other crew members who made contact with the infected person are also in isolation, even though they all tested negative.

A Navy statement obtained by ABC News read: 'There is no impact to Comfort's mission, and this will not affect the ability for Comfort to receive patients.

'The ship is following protocols and taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of all crew members and patients on board.'

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump approved New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's request to treat coronavirus patients on board the USNS Comfort.

Cuomo had told reporters on Monday that he was 'going to call the president this afternoon and ask him to shift the USNS Comfort from non-COVID to COVID'.

In New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in US, the number of cases continue to skyrocket and hospitals are scrambling to keep up with the demand.

According to the chair of the New York City Council Health Committee, the death toll is actually even higher than reported because not all of the dead are being tested for the virus amid a shortage of kits.

Hours after Cuomo's interview, Trump confirmed that he spoke with the governor and agreed to use the ship, originally intended to take in non-COVID patients from overwhelmed hospitals, for coronavirus patients.

'We hadn't had that in mind at all, but we're going to let him do it,' Trump said Monday.

'It's set for Covid,' the president said, adding that the ship has been approved to treat New Jersey patients as well.

Earlier this week, the Navy said that a crew member on board the USNS Comfort, which is docked above at Pier 90 in New York City, tested positive for coronavirus

Despite Trump's announcement Monday, Joint Staff Surgeon Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the top medical doctor for the military, said the ship was already treating coronavirus patients.

He stated: 'Our commitment has been that if a patient comes to us, we would take care of them.'

'Have we had patients who ultimately were determined to have coronavirus on the hospital ships? Yes. And we're taking care of them, just like we're taking care of all the other patients going forward,' Friedrichs added.

As of Tuesday, the Comfort has treated 44 patients, just a handful of whom were infected with coronavirus.

That number, however, is expected to rise significantly in the coming days, according to officials.

The ship has come under fire for seeing so few patients despite the dire need for medical experts to combat the coronavirus outbreak on the shore.

Despite the drastic demand, there are currently some 1,200 crew aboard the USNS Comfort who are idle, with a lack of patients due to the strict protocols in place that has seen them refuse to take certain medical conditions.

Another military-run hospital in New York City, the 2,500-bed makeshift facility that was built inside the Jacob Javits Center has only taken in 66 patients as of Tuesday, according to Politico.

Nearly 437,000 cases of COVID-19, the highly infectious lung disease caused by the coronavirus, were confirmed in the United States as of Thursday afternoon, including more than 15,600 deaths.

For the second straight day the virus killed at least 1,900 in a 24-hour period.

Cuomo said 779 people had died in the past day in his state. New Jersey reported 275 had died there.

Both totals exceeded one-day records from just a day earlier.

Despite the grim figures, Cuomo said overall trends still appeared positive.

Cuomo cited a drop in new hospitalizations and other data as evidence that New York's social-distancing restrictions were 'bending the curve,' helping to gain some control over the infection rate.

New York is one of 42 states where governors have issued 'stay-at-home' orders and closed all non-essential workplaces.

While public health experts say such measures are vital for controlling the contagion, the restrictions have strangled the US economy, leading to widespread layoffs, upheavals on Wall Street and projections of a severe recession.

Cuomo said the loss of life would likely continue at current levels or increase in days ahead as critically ill patients die after prolonged bouts hooked up to ventilators.
Warren Buffett is an amazing fellow who built his wealth on his own, starting by selling bottles of soda and newspapers when he was a child. Over decades, he became one of the world's wealthiest people. You may know that the company he has helmed since 1965 is Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B). But you may not know that when he took over the company, it was an ailing textile enterprise -- which he transformed into a much bigger and broader business.

There are lots of other things you probably don't know about Berkshire Hathaway. Here's a look at 10 of them. After learning more about the company, you may find that you want to invest in it.

No. 1: It's huge

The first thing to know is that the company is massive. Its market value was recently around $430 billion -- and that's after the stock was down more than 30% from its 52-week high following the coronavirus-related market crash. As of the end of 2019, Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries employed about 391,500 people. (Interestingly, there are only a few dozen people who toil at the company's headquarters in Omaha, alongside Buffett himself.)

No. 2: It has grown at a rapid clip

It's common knowledge that Buffett's smarts (and those of his partner Charlie Munger) have grown the company at a rapid clip. Buffett reports on the growth in every annual letter to shareholders, and in his last letter reported an overall growth from the mid-1960s to 2019 of 2,744,062% -- or 20.3%, equal to a compounded annual gain of 20.3%. In contrast, the S&P 500 averaged 10% annually over that period, for a total of 19.784% growth.

To put that in context, consider that Apple's average annual gain over the past 20 years was about 22.8%. Berkshire's growth has been very robust for a very long time, though, inevitably, it's slowing. It's hard for a $432 billion company to keep growing briskly.

No. 3: It's made many people very wealthy

If you'd invested a mere $100 in Berkshire Hathaway back in the mid-1960s and you'd hung on, you'd have more than $2 million today. Invested $10,000? That would top $200 million!

You didn't even have to have been in Berkshire all along. If you invested $10,000 in Berkshire about 30 years ago, in mid-1990, you'd have more than $370,000 now. Investing $10,000 in mid-2000 would leave you with more than $50,000.

No. 4: It encompasses many companies

Next, you might know that Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate, as Buffett has collected many companies under his roof. But you may not appreciate just how many companies. On the company's website, a dedicated page lists subsidiaries -- more than 60 of them, including names such as Benjamin Moore, Brooks, International Dairy Queen, Johns Manville, Justin Brands, McLane, Business Wire, Clayton Homes, Forest River, Fruit of the Loom, GEICO, Nebraska Furniture Mart, NetJets, Pampered Chef, See's Candies, Shaw Industries, and the entire BNSF railroad.

No. 5: It's likely to encompass many more companies in the future

Over the years, Buffett has repeatedly added companies to his conglomerate, preferring to buy entire businesses as long as he sees them as high quality, with exceptional management, and as long as he can buy them for a reasonable price. He's patient for the right deals, though, so now and then long periods pass without any major purchase. At the end of 2019, Berkshire Hathaway had about $125 billion in cash and equivalents, and short-term investments in U.S. Treasury bills. Buffett has noted on many occasions that he's always on the lookout for "elephant-sized" acquisitions.

No. 6: Much of its value lies in stocks

Much of Berkshire Hathaway's value is attributable to the shares of stock it owns in other companies. Together, at the end of 2019, the shares were worth nearly $250 billion. The top five holdings are below:

Company Percentage of Company Owned Cost at Purchase Market Value as of Dec. 31, 2019 Apple 5.7% $35.3 billion $73.7 billion Bank of America 10.7% $12.6 billion $33.4 billion Coca-Cola 9.3% $1.3 billion $22.1 billion American Express 18.7% $1.3 billion $18.9 billion Wells Fargo 8.4% $7.0 billion $18.6 billion

Many of the companies, such as Coca-Cola, have been holdings for decades, while others, such as Apple, are fairly new. You can see that Berkshire owns significant chunks of some significant companies, such as nearly 20% of American Express, and roughly 10% of Coca-Cola and Bank of America. Other holdings include Visa, Moody's, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and U.S. Bancorp, along with airlines such as Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines. (Buffett has recently sold many airlines shares, though.)

No. 7: It doesn't pay a dividend

Berkshire Hathaway benefits from dividends -- it collected about $3.8 billion in dividends from its 10 largest stock holdings in 2019 -- but it doesn't pay a dividend. That's because Buffett believes he can deliver more value to shareholders by hanging onto excess cash and investing it -- either in shares of stock, in purchases of entire companies, or in short-term investments, waiting for future big purchases.

Buffet has explained that whenever he and Munger don't think they can deliver sufficient value outside of a dividend, they'll consider paying one. In the meantime, though, they have executed some share buybacks, when they felt the stock price was sufficiently low. Buffett has repeatedly explained that it's wrong to buy back shares at high prices, as that destroys value.

No. 8: Its annual reports are must-reads

Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are considered must-reads by investors in the know. He writes them in an accessible manner, imagining that he's writing to his sister, who is not a Wall Street professional, savvy in financial jargon. You can read as many as you like at the company website, and if you do, you're likely to gain at least several lessons from each one, along with deepening your understanding of Buffett and Berkshire. You'll probably chuckle a bunch of times, too, as the letters are not without occasional jokes.

No. 9: Its annual meeting is a big deal

Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, usually held in early May in Omaha, is a big hoopla, often dubbed "the Woodstock for capitalists." It started decades ago with just a handful of attendees but has steadily grown to hundreds, then thousands, and now tens of thousands of people.

There are many events over the weekend in Omaha, with various groups of friends and investors and students of finance having their own regular gatherings. The meeting itself is an all-day affair, featuring an entertaining, hour-long movie the company makes, followed by Buffett and Munger (89 and 96, respectively) answering scores of questions from shareholders, journalists, and analysts -- for five hours. (In contrast, most company annual meetings feature the CEO answering a few questions from the several dozen or several hundred people present.) There are also gobs of company products on display and/or for sale in the convention center; the company rakes in millions from the sale of its merchandise alone.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's meeting will be held virtually, something that hasn't happened before. Look for it streaming on Yahoo! on May 2. (It's starting later than usual, in the afternoon, so there will likely not be the usual number of questions.)

No. 10: Its future is planned for

A final thing to know is that with Buffett turning 90 this summer, and Charlie Munger already in his 90s, many are worrying about succession. Fortunately, Buffett has planned for that, and his board of directors knows whom to tap to manage the company when he is no longer able to do so. He already has two investing lieutenants in place -- Ted Weschler and Todd Combs -- and many speculate that the managing chief is likely to be Greg Abel or Ajit Jain, who respectively lead his energy and insurance divisions.

There's much more that's interesting about Buffett and his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Read a lot more and you may decide you want to be a shareholder.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell), the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care, announced its COVID-19 Health Innovation Collaborative, an initiative that seeks to connect diverse innovative health-technology companies across the U.S. to bring forth solutions that address gaps in response to global health pandemics.

"At GuideWell, we believe it takes a village to support people and communities to achieve better health," said Ana Gupte, GuideWell chief strategy and innovation officer. "We are launching this initiative as a call for solution-driven thought leaders to join a collaborative and innovative task force to aid our nation through this global health crisis and to better prepare us for future health pandemics."

The rapid escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked alarm worldwide. Its global impact has resulted in shortages in supplies and equipment as well as staff and laboratory testing capabilities. In addition, COVID-19 is creating health concerns related to social isolation and mental health.

As a health solutions company, GuideWell is committing $125,000 to source innovative technology solutions that demonstrate potential to alleviate some of the health care challenges people face during public health emergencies.

The collaborative is specifically focused on addressing critical risk areas facing health care professionals and staff, homebound COVID-19 patients and families, and other social issues arising from social distancing.

Applicants will be evaluated on their ability to fast-track innovative solutions aimed at reducing some of the most complex stress factors COVID-19 is bringing to bear on the U.S. health system. Specifically, GuideWell is seeking innovative approaches in the following categories:

Virtual, in-home care solutions for at-risk populations that have limited access to health care services

Solutions that reduce risk for health care providers in clinical settings, including approaches for increasing protection of clinical staff

Solutions focused on reducing social isolation due to COVID-19 diagnosis or social distancing

Solutions for delivering food and urgently needed supplies to at-risk populations and households with COVID-19 exposure or symptoms

For each category, a cohort of 3-5 companies will be selected, and asked to work together to create a connected, high-impact approach.

"COVID-19 has quickly highlighted critical gaps in the nation's health care crisis-management infrastructure," said Kirstie McCool executive director of GuideWell Innovation. "It is in unprecedented times like these where rapid innovation plays a pivotal role in our fight to overcome global pandemics and prepare and manage future health emergencies."

Applicants chosen to participate in the collaborative will be eligible for a portion of the $125,000 non-dilutive award funding that GuideWell is providing to support the collaborative. In addition, chosen applicants may receive an opportunity to pilot their solution in collaboration with GuideWell and its clinical partners.

To make the most impact during this extremely time sensitive period, applications must be submitted by May 8, 2020. To learn more, visit: https://guidewellinnovation.com/covid-19-collaborative/

About GuideWell

GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell) is a not-for-profit mutual holding company and the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care. The GuideWell organization includes the leading health insurance company in Florida; a portfolio of clinical delivery organizations; a health care consumer marketing, sales and engagement company; a provider of administrative services to state and federal health care programs; and a leader in risk adjustment and population care management. The GuideWell enterprise serves 27 million people in 35 states and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. For more information, visit www.guidewell.com.

SOURCE GuideWell

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Co-Chief Operating Officer Neil Masterson to Leave Thomson Reuters

TORONTO, April 8, 2020 -- Thomson Reuters (TSX / NYSE: TRI) today announced that Neil Masterson, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Operations & Enablement, will leave the company on July 31, 2020.

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"We thank Neil for his hard work and dedication throughout his successful tenure and wish him well in his new endeavors. He and his teams have helped lay the foundations for us to operate as one Thomson Reuters," said Steve Hasker, President and CEO of Thomson Reuters.

"It has been a pleasure to serve the company over the years. Thomson Reuters has always stood out to me for having both great people and great products - those are the hallmark of a company truly dedicated to its customers. I wish everyone within the organization the very best for the future," said Neil Masterson.

During his 20 years with Thomson Reuters, Masterson has held a number of key leadership positions. Prior to his current role, Masterson was the company's Chief Transformation Officer, and he also led the company's former Enterprise Technology & Operations organization prior to being named Co-COO in 2018. As Chief Transformation Officer, and then Co-COO, he led the centralization of several key functions, including technology, digital, product and content development, and marketing, that were key to driving a 'One TR' view across the enterprise. Masterson began his career at the company with Thomson Financial, eventually being named Managing Director of the Investors segment in the company's former Financial & Risk business.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the world's most global news service - Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com.

CONTACTS MEDIA

David Crundwell

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Frank J. Golden

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SOURCE Thomson Reuters
Julia (de Lucia) and I are business partners, working together to make our dreams come true ... we are the Start-Up Girls. Thats Anny Aurora speaking, in Berlin, setting up the barest thread of a storyline. Anny and Julia move into their new office and all of a sudden start making out. Theyre joined by Kai Taylor, who walks in and pulls out his cock, which becomes the focus of their attention. They take turns sitting on it but only Julia does the hard-driving anal.

July Johnson, petite but well-endowed, gets it on with business associate Ronny Rosetti. Shes a bit chunky but cute. Lullu Gunn, another start-up girl, gets photographed by Jason Steele. Shes very cute and bouncy. Jason fucks her doggie-style without even taking his pants off. Anny, who looks beautiful, walks around Berlin (plenty of local color) and meets up with Kai, the guy from the three-way. He sits on a chair and she bounces on his dick.

Anny and Julia go out to party when the lights go down. Nice montage of Berlin nightlife. Julia dances with Chad Rockwell and they talk some business before they fuck in several position. Its more efficient than passionate, but the anal in scissors position is strong. Not the hottest Private release, but Anny and Berlin make it a plus.
According to intelligence data, five members of enemy troops were wounded on April 8.

Russia's hybrid military forces on April 8 mounted eight attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire eight times on April 8. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded as a result of enemy shelling," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on April 9.

Read alsoEpidemiological situation in occupied Donbas getting worse  Ukraine's Def. Ministry

The enemy opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Under attack were Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Pavlopil, Hnutove, Starohnativka, Novo-Oleksandrivka, Orikhove, and Zaitseve.

According to intelligence data, five members of enemy troops were wounded on April 8.

"Since Thursday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions twice near the town of Krasnohorivka and the village of Novomykhailivka, using tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns and heavy machine guns," the update said.

No Ukrainian army casualties were reported over the period under review.
SPRINGFIELD  A research team for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has found there is no evidence yet that the MGM Springfield casino has reduced state lottery revenues.

The analysis and report, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences, was presented during a gaming commission meeting Thursday. The lead presenter was Mark W. Nichols, a professor of economics with the University of Nevada in Reno, a member of the research team.

The good news is that there really is no evidence that casinos have harmed lottery sales statewide, Nichols said. Lottery revenues have been growing and reaching record highs; lottery profit has been reaching record highs as well.

The researchers found a 3.05% decrease in lottery sales in Springfield during the casinos first year, compared to the prior year. The sales in the region  with surrounding communities generally referring to Agawam, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, West Springfield and Wilbraham  decreased by 0.38%.

Statewide, however, lottery sales increased by 6.5% during the same period.

The group, in its presentation, said there is no evidence that casinos have harmed lottery sales statewide.

With one year of data, we cannot attribute the decrease in lottery revenue in Springfield to the casino, said the report, part of a multi-year study known as the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts.

The MGM casino opened Aug. 24, 2018.

Lottery sales had been growing fairly rapidly in fiscal 2018 and 2019 at nearly 4%, Nichols said, compared to the annual average growth rate of about 1.5%.

The total lottery sales generated $1.1 billion in profit in fiscal 20019, an all-time record, according to a report summary.

Nichols said state lottery sales had peaked in March and April of 2018, ahead of the casinos opening. A large Powerball jackpot at that time may have been a contributing factor.

Lottery sales statewide are the largest source of local aid for communities, the report said.

All three gaming establishments in Massachusetts have been shut down by the state due to the coronavirus pandemic until at least May 4. The move mirrored Gov. Charlie Bakers push to close non-essential businesses during the crisis.

The research was completed ahead of the current shutdown of the states casinos.

The research is critical for gaming commission policy, commission Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein said in a prepared statement.

The Legislature issued a clear mandate in the gaming law, requiring measures to protect the states successful lottery in order to assure that local aid remains a reliable source of funding for communities across the state, Judd-Stein said. The use of research will be critical to our ability to assess and inform policy reflecting the rapidly changing environment due to the global pandemic.
PORTAGE  A 35-year-old local man told police he was eating a hamburger when he hit a bump, ran over a fence and drove his 2014 Chevrolet Spark into the swimming pool of his mobile home park.

Police said Paxton Suggs had also been drinking alcohol and they took him into custody Wednesday afternoon on three counts of drunken driving.

Police were called out shortly after 2 p.m. to the Oak Tree Village mobile home park and found the green car sitting on top of a swimming pool cover while Suggs attempted to crawl out of the pool, according to the incident report.

Suggs began to crawl out, but stumbled and fell back into the pool, police said.

He later said he had driven to get fast food and was returning home when he crashed into the pool, according to police. He walked home to the 200 block of Sandalwood, told his girlfriend and then returned to his car where he was attempting to retrieve items.

After failing field sobriety tests, police said Suggs was found to have a blood alcohol count that was twice the legal limit.

A towing company removed the vehicle from the pool and Suggs was taken to jail, police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:07:53|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The further tightening of restrictions on daily life in Germany is not necessary at present, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday after a cabinet meeting dedicated to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

"The curve is flattening out," said Merkel at the Chancellery. The latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope."

Merkel stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions. The ultimate goal is not to overburden the healthcare system in Germany, she said.

German citizens have repeatedly been urged to obey the contact restrictions over the upcoming Easter holidays. The situation is still "fragile" and "we are not allowed to be careless now," she said.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn also stressed that the Easter holidays in Germany would be a "fork in the road" in the fight against the coronavirus.

"If we remain forceful over the weekend, a gradual return to normality becomes more probable," said Spahn. "If we get careless now, the likelihood increases that an extension of the conditions will be necessary."

Spahn said that the "restrictions in everyday life," such as the closure of kindergartens and schools, were slowing down the spread of the disease. Of the almost 110,000 confirmed infections in Germany, more than 50,000 people have already recovered.

Despite some issues, the German healthcare system has a "strong foundation," Spahn said. Currently, about 3,000 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care in German hospitals, but more than 10,000 intensive care beds are still vacant.

Next week would witness "important consultations," Merkel said. On Wednesday, the German government and the state ministers are scheduled to discuss the next steps in the coronavirus crisis, such as a potential easing or extension of the restrictions.
Unfortunately, Prince Harry's royal background will not help him in his life in Los Angeles. In fact, he is expected to just be Meghan Markle's shadow and remain "helpless" outside the monarchy.

Despite trying so hard to build his empire in the U.S, Prince Harry will be feeling incapable and powerless soon, a former royal editor predicts.

In an interview with Closer, the author of "Prince Harry: The Inside Story", Duncan Larcombe, revealed how the 35-year-old Duke could be nothing but Meghan's "plus one" and be like a "duck out of water".

"Harry didn't go to university, and he hasn't had much work experience other than being in the army and charity work," Larcombe explained further. "Being in Hollywood is likely to make him feel like a duck out of water, as it will be tricky for him to find a suitable role."

The royal prince only went to Eton College before he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005. He then served the British Army for over 10 years.

He took up active duty in Afghanistan before he dedicated his time to the charity sector with his brother Prince William under The Royal Foundation.

Because of his minimal knowledge and skills outside the monarchy, he might fail and lose his pace while Meghan could continue pursuing her Hollywood dreams alone.

According to the royal author, not being able to pursue what he wants to give his family-of-three will make him feel vulnerable, most especially now that they got stuck due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Once he feels that way, the Duke of Sussex will be missing the royal family more than ever.

Sussexes At Disadvantage?

The couple reportedly chose L.A. since they wanted to be based in a country where they could still perform their royal duties while earning.

In addition, they immediately left Canada after they found out that they might be forced to pay taxes in both countries due to Meghan's passport status.

According to a report published by a U.K. news outlet, the Duchess of Sussex would need to cash out a huge sum of money to cover and pay for tax of her earnings.

"They were told getting work visas in Canada would be difficult, and because Meghan remains a U.S. citizen, so is taxed on her worldwide income, she would end up paying in the U.S. and Canada," the report said.

Moreover, Meghan would then be required to report self-employment income while paying a 15.3 percent levy to cover taxes. She would also have to sign a disclosure document and submit it to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for any of her foreign bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry -- since he is expected not to find a suitable job -- will remain leaning on Meghan.

His stay in L.A. could also be more complicated since he does not even have any plan to apply or even consider U.S. citizenship.

"Harry is not applying for a Green Card or dual citizenship anytime soon, which will come as a surprise to many because that is what most people assumed he'd do on moving to the U.S.," the insider said.
Reuters

Alphabet Incs Google said on Wednesday it would give two months of free access to the paid version of its cloud-based game streaming platform Stadia as people are confined to their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Users can access Stadia by downloading the app on their iOS or Android phones or by signing up on its website.

The company said its offer was open to users in 14 countries, starting Wednesday, and would be rolled out over the next 48 hours.

The paid version, Stadia Pro, otherwise costs $9.99 a month and offers access to games such as GRID and Destiny 2: The Collection in 4K resolution.

"To reduce load on the internet further, we're working toward a temporary feature that changes the default screen resolution from 4k to 1080p", the company said here in a blog post.

Google's Stadia, launched here in November, is expected to compete with Microsoft Corp's upcoming Project xCloud.
While health and legal professionals continue to urge governments to depopulate jails and prisons, Ontario judges are struggling to decide how much the COVID-19 pandemic should influence their decisions to release or detain people accused of and convicted of crimes.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime event and there isnt a body of case law to help judges navigate the issue, said Daniel Brown, a Toronto defence lawyer and vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers Association.

And a review of recent bail decisions in Ontario exposes a momentous divide within the judiciary, he said.

Some judges have rightly recognized that otherwise healthy inmates are at risk of catching and spreading the virus within the jails, while others are demanding proof that a prisoner is at a higher risk... due to their age or health, before considering the virus as a factor favouring their release.

Earlier this week, Ontario Superior Court Justice David Harris, who sits in Brampton, needed no convincing about the potential lethality of COVID-19 when he ordered release on bail for a man accused of criminal harassment, assault threatening death, discharge a firearm and break-and-enter. Leaving that man in jail would put him in one of the most dangerous places imaginable during the pandemic, he said.

Harris wrote that he made his decision  which followed an audio-conference last week  with considerable reluctance. On three prior occasions, the mans request for release had been denied.

The Crown continued to oppose the mans release. He had been in custody for 17 months and his trial is scheduled for September.

Details of the allegations against him are covered under a publication ban.

COVID-19 has radically altered the proper application of the Criminal Codes touchstone tertiary ground to refuse bail when releasing an accused might undermine public trust in the system, Harris wrote.

The Canadian public understands the momentous nature of this crisis, he wrote. In the publics mind, the real and tangible threat of contracting the virus may well supplant the otherwise negative reaction to the release of an accused person.

Harris acknowledged that he had considered the contents of a briefing note Crown attorneys have been filing in such detention-related cases. The briefing note, prepared and regularly updated by the Ontario Solicitor General, sets out what measures have been taken to combat the virus inside the provinces jails, and gives a summary of testing and cases inside.

The April 1 note said Ontario had implemented several strategies to limit the effects of COVID-19 on our inmate population and correctional staff. Those included reducing the number of people locked up by 24 per cent by April 1, a reduction of more than 2,000 inmates.

After summarizing the testing numbers, the memo states: Given the size of our population, this is currently a very small risk factor.

Those efforts, Harris wrote, however laudable they may be, cannot change the high level of risk within a correctional institution. That there are not many cases yet is of little consequence. The virus starts in one person but then can run like wildfire through an entire population. It can then be carried outside of the institution by the staff. That is the nature of a pandemic and of contagion. It can take hold at any time.

In a separate decision also released this week, an Ottawa judge released a female prisoner after finding she did not need to demonstrate that her particular circumstances put her at greater risk in the jail than other inmates.

But, as Brown noted, other judges are looking for evidence that a person is vulnerable to the disease before granting bail.

Last week, after a two-day teleconference hearing, Superior Court Justice Faye McWatt refused to release an imprisoned man facing firearms offences.

While noting that COVID-19 is seriously affecting this community, she disagreed that inmates were at a more elevated risk of contracting the disease than the general population, calling those conclusions based on speculation and not on evidence.

The judge, who also considered the Ontario Solicitor General briefing note, found it incumbent that someone seeking bail should file at least rudimentary evidence that he or she suffers from underlying health conditions that would make him or her more susceptible to the virus.

Another decision last month, by Superior Court Justice Mark Edwards in Newmarket, also rejected a coronavirus-related bail application from an accused robbery suspect, noting that he did not have any underlying health conditions and was relatively young.
New York

Even as coronavirus deaths mount across Europe and New York, the U.S. and other countries are starting to contemplate an exit strategy and thinking about a staggered and carefully calibrated easing of the restrictions designed to curb the scourge.

"To end the confinement, we're not going to go from black to white; we're going to go from black to gray," top French epidemiologist Jean-Francois Delfraissy said in a radio interview.

At the same time, politicians and health officials warn that the crisis is far from over despite signs of progress, and a catastrophic second wave could hit if countries let down their guard too soon. Deaths, hospitalizations and new infections are leveling off in places like Italy and Spain, and even New York has seen encouraging signs amid the gloom.

In other developments:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care but was improving and sitting up in bed, authorities said.

Saudi Arabian officials announced that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen will begin a cease-fire starting Thursday. They said the two-week truce was in response to U.N. calls to halt hostilities around the world amid the epidemic.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

In China, the lockdown of Wuhan, the industrial city of 11 million where the global pandemic began, was lifted after 76 days, allowing people to come and go.

Wuhan residents will have to use a smartphone app showing that they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus. Schools remain closed, people are still checked for fever when they enter buildings and masks are strongly encouraged.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering changing self-isolation guidelines to make it easier for those exposed to someone with the virus to return to work if they have no symptoms. Under the proposal, aimed at workers in critical fields, such people would be allowed back on the job if they take their temperature twice a day and wear a mask, said a person familiar with the draft but was not authorized to discuss it and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-diseases expert, said the Trump administration is working on plans to eventually reopen the country amid "glimmers of hope" that social distancing is working to stop the spread.
UN Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking, managed by UNODC, responds to COVID-19 through support to 10 NGOs

Photo:  UNODC

Vienna (Austria), 9 April 2020 - With growing attention to the impact of COVID-19 on victims of trafficking in persons globally, the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking, in the context of its first ever emergency response window, will support 10 new NGOs across the following world regions: West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, South Asia and Western Asia. The Trust Fund is managed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Under sub-programme 1 of its fourth call for proposals, the Trust Fund will be working with specialized NGOs that provide essential assistance to human trafficking survivors at a time where it is becoming increasingly difficult for the most vulnerable in society to be recognized as victims of this hidden crime.

Through its small grants programme, the Trust Fund remains at the vanguard of the crisis in supporting grassroots organizations worldwide to respond to the needs of a greater number of victims. The Trust Funds priority focus is on projects targeting women and girls, refugees and migrants including IDPs and victims arising from armed conflict or instability caused by a breakdown of law.

The Trust Fund has reserved USD 2 million in grants for selected NGOs and remains committed to delivering vital assistance to human trafficking victims globally and bringing this terrible crime out of the shadows. To this end, the Trust Fund expects to launch a second emergency window call later in the year in addition to its regular call for proposals under its small grants programme, that would require a replenishment of the fund on the basis of the growing demand in 2020.

***

Since its inception in 2010, the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women & Children has received USD 7 million in contributions from 31 Member States, 33 private sector organizations and scores of individual donors. The Trust Fund provided grants to 60 NGO projects that offer essential assistance to 3000 trafficking survivors a year in over 40 countries.
(Photo : REUTERS/Craig Lassig) Researchers at the Microbiology Research Facility work with coronavirus samples as a trial begins to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19, 2020

In a previous report, a malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine is said to be a potential cure for COVID-19. Also, the United States President Donald Trump has touted this malaria medication. However, the said potential drug for coronavirus shows a different story in Sweden as several hospitals in the country pulled out the medication after some patients have shown the side effects after taking it.

READ ALSO: A Hope For Cure: Old Malaria Drug Eyed as a Possible COVID-19 Cure After 'Largely Successful' Trials

Doctors in Vastra Gotaland hospitals (Sweden) decided to pull out Chloroquine as some patients with coronavirus had shown side effects of the medication--it included cramps, peripheral vision loss, and migraines. There are also reports saying that in 1 to 100 people, the malaria medication can cause the heart to beat too fast or slow, thus, leading to a fatal heart attack.

Chloroquine was used as a malaria treatment in the 1940s. It was it is a potential cure for COVID-19 "after showing promise in studies in China." However, Britain stopped clinicians from distributing the medication until clinical trials are done, citing concerns on its side effects.

Top critical care doctors in the United Kingdom Professor Anthony Gordon said on Wednesday, Apr. 8, there is "still 'no strong evidence' the drug could treat coronavirus."

It is unclear which versions of Chloroquine have been given to patients who showed side effects. The malaria drug has multiple versions, and the established ones are Chloroquine (CQ), branded as Aralen, and counterpart hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), known as Plaquenil. According to Daily Mail, hydroxychloroquine is "thought to be less toxic" and may only cause fewer side effects.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus Can Be Reactivated After COVID-19 Patients Survived; Second Time Can Be Fatal

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
- Three people, including a government official, were killed Thursday in a roadside bomb attack in central Mali, the government said, as fresh violence hits the war-torn West African state.

A regional government official was travelling in a military convoy in the volatile centre of the country when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, killing him.

Two others also died in the attack, an official from Mali's territorial administration ministry said, without specifying whether they were soldiers.

Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives since.

Despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed the centre of the country, and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Laying roadside bombs is a favoured tactic of jihadists active in the Sahel. Also known as improvised explosive devices, they kill and maim scores of victims every year in Mali.

MINUSMA, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, warned of deteriorating security in the centre of the country on Thursday.

Joanne Adamson, the UN's deputy special representative in Mali, told reporters that there had been "an increase in inter-community clashes, but also attacks against the population by armed extremist elements."



Central Mali has become the epicentre of violence in the vast semi-arid country, where ethnically motivated killings and jihadist attacks are now common. Militants killed some 70 people between March 1 and April 3, Adamson said, according to a transcript of her statement to reporters.

The UN has stopped running internal flights in Mali for two weeks, she added, as part of measures to curb COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexicos budget surpluses are receding in the rearview mirror, with the state staggering from a one-two punch of falling oil prices and a business slowdown due to the coronavirus.

That double whammy has top-ranking lawmakers bracing for difficult budget decisions during a special legislative session thats expected to be called this summer.

Were going to have to do some major recalibration on the budget, said House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chairwoman Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, adding that lawmakers will likely have to address a revenue downturn of at least $1 billion.

Everything is going to have to be on the table, Lundstrom added.

That could mean spending cuts, drawing down the reserve levels and the clawing back of proposed one-time spending  including $320 million for a new early childhood trust fund and $180 million for statewide road repairs.

However, Lundstrom told the Journal a pared-back spending plan would likely not include across-the-board cuts, saying she would favor keeping funding levels intact for health care programs and economic development initiatives.

What were trying to do is make sure were not cutting things that are critical, Lundstrom said.

But approved pay raises for teachers, judges and other state workers that are now scheduled to take effect July 1 could be reduced  or put on hold.

All the things we hoped for, theyre back on the table, said Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec.

Neville said there are many unknowns about the budget situation, including how quickly businesses can bounce back once a state-mandated closure order is lifted and whether the federal government will approve additional stimulus funds for states.

But it appears increasingly clear that a $7.6 billion budget plan approved by lawmakers in February for the fiscal year that starts in July will have to be scaled back significantly.

That budget plan calls for state spending to increase by roughly $535 million  or about 7.5%  over current levels.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said last month that a special session to bring spending levels for the coming budget year in line with reduced revenues is inevitable.

But she said her administration wanted more clarity on federal relief funding and new state revenue estimates before setting a session date.

Top lawmakers now say they expect the special session will take place in mid-June.

Rainy day fund

A silver lining for New Mexico amid the increasingly gloomy financial outlook is found in the states reserves.

In December, the state was projected to have $1.7 billion in reserves at the end of the current budget year in June, or nearly 25% of state spending.

Even if that number ultimately ends up being smaller, there should still be enough money in reserves to avoid emergency budget-balancing measures for the current budget year, which ends June 30, leading legislators say.

Thats largely due to 2017 legislation sponsored by the late Rep. Lorenzo Larry Larranaga that called for a certain amount of oil and natural gas taxes and royalties to be set aside in cash-flush years.

That rainy day fund, technically known as the tax stabilization reserve fund, has grown rapidly in the past several years  when oil production levels skyrocketed  and is projected to have more than $1.3 billion in it at the end of the current fiscal year.

Given that backdrop, a Tax Foundation report released this week found New Mexico was one of the best prepared states for the crisis  along with Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota and West Virginia.

But the report also noted several of those states could be hit particularly hard due to their reliance on oil and gas-related revenue.

States like Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota and New Mexico have rainy day funds that would be the envy of the nation were it not for the unique challenges resource-dependent states face as energy prices plummet, the report by the nonpartisan group said.

Unlike some other reserve accounts, New Mexicos rainy day fund can be accessed only by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, an action that could be necessary during the special session.

Outlook unclear

Lujan Grisham said this week that her administration is expecting coronavirus cases to spike in New Mexico by the end of this month or early May.

Once infection rates subside, the governor suggested there would likely be a gradual lifting of the business closure order by sector, but she said no firm plan is in place and said she could not predict exactly when that might happen.

We have to get the economy going again, Lujan Grisham said during a Tuesday meeting of the State Investment Council that was conducted by telephone.

Federal funds could help in that effort, and a $2 trillion stimulus package approved by Congress last month included an estimated $1.25 billion for New Mexico. But that money cannot be directly used to backfill state programs, according to the Legislative Finance Committee.

Instead, the money will be spent on expanding unemployment benefits and one-time $1,200 checks for most state residents, though some New Mexicans may not get those funds for weeks.

Meanwhile, Lundstrom said lawmakers may pass a budget adjustment package during the special session, then do more budget-balancing work during the 60-day session that starts in January 2021.

Our world has changed, and nobody could have guessed it a month or so ago, Lundstrom said.
The strength of federalism has come to the fore in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic with many chief ministers coordinating with each other to help out people stranded outside their home states, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Thursday.

Soren said he spoke with chief ministers of various states, including Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi, where people of Jharkhand were working and they promised all support.

In an interview to PTI, he said based on the total calls received at the migrant helpline being run by the state's labour department, there are about 7 lakh Jharkhandis who are currently outside the state,



Soren said lifting the lockdown is a "big challenge" and must be given a considered thought. Though the spread of the coronavirus has been kept in check in Jharkhand, things could change if a large number of people return to the state from various parts of the country, he said.

"The prime minister (Narendra Modi) did not ask the states while imposing the lockdown and now he is asking states for suggestions to open the lockdown," he said.

The nationwide lockdown was imposed from March 25 by the Centre to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has claimed 166 and infected 5,734 people across the country.

Soren said his government started work early and that had helped in keeping COVID-19 cases in check.

"About two lakh people came into our state after the lockdown somehow, but we had put mechanisms in place to deal with the situation. Now details of 1.75 lakh out of those people are with us. Some people belong to Jharkhand, while others are from West Bengal and other states," he said.

They are in home quarantine and information on them could be obtained as the committees were formed by the state government at the district, block, village and panchayat levels, Soren said.

"We have also set up information centres. There is one for people within the state and the other is for people from our state stuck in other states," he said.

The chief minister also said Jharkhand was largely dependent on the Centre for resources and would need a dedicated financial package to deal with the crisis.

"Due to the imposition of the GST, the central government has already broken the back of states. We would need a dedicated package from the Centre. We would also need more health equipment," he said.

Soren said the Centre had given about Rs 250 crore to Jharkhand from the package announced by it nationally and it also received some pending dues, but that is not enough.

The Jharkhand chief minister also asserted that India's federalism had manifested itself during the COVID-19 crisis and many chief ministers were coordinating with each other.

"In this time of crisis, the strength of the federal structure has come to the fore. I spoke personally with various CMsKerala (Pinarayi Vijayan), Maharashtra (Uddhav Thackeray) and Delhi (Arvind Kejriwal) where our people are stuck," Soren said.

"Based on total calls received in the Migrants Helpline control room, approximately 7 lakh of our people are outside the state. There are two nodal officers appointed for each state, they have also done good work. I would like to thank the CMs of other states who have helped our people," he said.

Soren said the Kerala chief minister had even told him that people from Jharkhand will even be provided "chawal (rice) and dal" instead of South Indian food, but they must stay put.

An example of cooperation among chief ministers was witnessed earlier this week when Soren asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami to act over the issue of about 200 women being forced to work at an apparel firm in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu chief minister ordered immediate action and the women were rescued.

Asked about the impending decision on whether to open the lockdown at the end of the 21-day period, Soren said, "Opening of the lockdown is a big challenge. It needs to be assessed keeping in mind that social distancing and health services do not collapse."



He said the lockdown has to be opened like shifting the gears of a car.

"We are focusing on social security and the health sector. When the lockdown ends, our people stuck in various places where the effect of the coronavirus is high, like in Delhi, may return and if a coronavirus infected person comes in and goes to the villages, it can lead to spike in cases," he said.

The medical facilities that the state has are very limited and it is dependent on assistance from the Centre, he said.

"Till now we have demanded 1,500 ventilators but have got none. Similarly, there are just 8 testing machines, out of which only 4 are operational," Soren said, underlining the limited resources his state has in fighting the coronavirus crisis.

Till now, at least 13 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Jharkhand with one death.

Asked about the state having a very low number of cases, he said Jharkhand has its advantages as well as disadvantages and while it is among the most backward states, it has hilly areas and settlements are scattered helping in the implementation of social distancing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Covid-19 lockdown in Odisha will be extended till April 30, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Thursday after a meeting of the state cabinet. Odisha is the first state to extend the lockdown ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis video conference to discuss the lockdown extension.

In a statement after the meeting, Patnaik said Odisha has also urged the Centre to stop train and flight services to the state till April 30. Schools and educational institutions would remain closed till June 17, he said.

According to Union health ministry data, Odisha has reported 42 confirmed Covid-19 cases so far. One person has died in the state due to coronavirus disease.

Also Watch: Coronavirus | Entire staff of Odisha Assembly quarantined: Speaker explains why

On April 3, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation announced it is creating a containment zone, a nearly rectangular area with 1.5 km length and 800 metre width that centred on a housing complex, the epicentre of the local outbreak with 18 positive cases of coronavirus disease. On Twitter, the citys municipal body released a map showing a black dotted line along the busy Cuttack-Puri road indicating the contours of the zone which it said no one can enter or exit as long as the containment orders were on.

With Odisha reporting its first death due to Covid-19 on Tuesday when a 72-year-old retired government servant died in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the authorities have stepped up surveillance and testing. After Surya Nagar and Bomikhal, the officials added Jadupur, Kapilaprasad, Sundarpada and finally Satya Nagar as conatinent zones.

Ten villages in Kendrapara district, a gram panchayat in Bhadrak district and a village in Jajpur district have also been declared as containment zones.
Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday (April 9) arrested a local terrorist in Baramullah area of North Kashmir. Sources told Zee Media that the arrested terrorist belongs to Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

A police officer said that a joint team of Territorial Army and Jammu and Kashmir police arrested the terrorist from Gantmullah area of Baramulla.

The arrested terrorist has been identified as Bashir Ahmad Baig of Shirpora. Secutity forces have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including one AK-47 rifle with magazines and 40 rounds, from the arrested terrorist.

According to Jammu and Kashmir police, Baig had joined Jaish-e-Mohammad few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Baramullah police has managed to bring back two boys to their homes who had left to join terror groups. Police added that a case has been registered in connection with this matter and further probe is on.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - When Dr. Amy Acton, Ohios health director, revealed Wednesday that it looks like Ohio is now on target for a much smaller peak of new coronavirus cases than once feared, it didnt come totally as a surprise.

Other numbers the health department had been reporting for days could be used to provide an indication that a more optimistic projection was possible, if not likely.

While cautioning that the need to continue social distancing and other safety measures remained, Acton said the new projection is that Ohio will peak at 1,600 cases a day, not close to the 10,000 she shared earlier.

Other data the health department had been releasing daily had begun to paint a picture of COVID-19 in Ohio. This data illustrated below and updated through Wednesday, however, comes with the caveat that the limited testing has been focused on the sickest people and health care workers. Acton believes many more have been infected.

Daily changes

The number of new cases reported each day has leveled off or even declined, with increases of 8% and 7% over previous totals the last two days. The daily increases were above 20% a couple weeks ago.

In pure numbers of new cases reported daily, they have remained within a range of 304 to 427 a day for the last eight days, including 366 on Wednesday and 332 on Tuesday.

The daily change in confirmed Ohio coronavirus cases has leveled off or even dipped in recent days.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Onset of coronavirus

The Ohio Department of Health for each case has estimated the date of onset of symptoms. This often is well before a case is confirmed through testing. This is important information to identify when the spread is occurring.

The latest data on this does not show a spike, but rather the numbers in a steady range of 144 to 268 a day the last half of March.

Officials are far less likely to know yet about people who identified symptoms in the last few days. These people might not have gone to a doctor yet. Or tests may be pending.

These are the estimated onset dates for each of Ohio's 5,148 confirmed coronavirus cases. Confirmation often is days after the first symptoms, leading to smaller numbers for the most recent days.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Hospitalizations

A major concern is having enough hospital beds to care for patients, especially intensive care unit beds. Acton reported on March 24 that 1,300 of the states 3,600 ICU beds were vacant. The goal was to stay within capacity.

The daily ICU numbers reported by the state are not for any one point in time (accounting for discharges and deaths), but rather a running total of all coronavirus patients who have been in ICU at some point.

The additional ICU cases reported daily for the last week have been 55, 46, 25, 20, 38, 28 and 38.

This chart shows the total number of known hospitalizations requiring intensive care. The daily increase has been 55, 46, 25, 20, 38, 28 and 38 over the last week.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

High death numbers for the oldest

Before coronavirus reached Ohio, it was known that death rates were much more common among older people.

This has held true in Ohio.

Among the 193 confirmed deaths, 93 have been at least 80 years old, and another 50 were in their 70s. Just three people under the age of 50 have been reported to have died because of COVID-19.

Seventy-four percent of the Ohio people known to have died from coronavirus were at least 70 years old.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Hospitalization trend by age

Like with the deaths, total hospitalizations are trending toward older people.

Just 48 of the 1,495 hospitalizations to date have involved people under the age of 30. Thats in contrast to 536 hospitalizations for people 70 and up.

Sixty-two percent of the known coronavirus hospitalizations to date are among people age 60 and older.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral.

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University of Akron to hold all summer classes online to reduce the spread of the coronavirus

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Amitav Ghosh, in part for his commitment to writing about climate change as well as his gorgeous historical writing. Suketu Mehtas last book, on immigration, This Land Is Our Land, was wonderful. The journalist Rana Foroohar and I think alike on many topics  most recently on the dangers posed by the new digital firms (Dont Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles  and All of Us). Books like Peter S. Goodmans Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy can convey a far better sense of the dysfunctions in our economy and our society than can my drier, more analytic work. Just as I would encourage anyone interested in understanding the Great Depression or mid-19th century Britain to turn to Steinbeck or Dickens.

For theater: Urinetown, by Greg Kotis, was one of the best plays I have ever seen, and I saw it two or three times. Also Cardinal, by Greg Pierce, about a postindustrial town that tries to reinvent itself by turning red. I am from Gary, Ind., so I could relate. We support the Committee to Protect Journalists and I admire brave reporters all over the world including Maria Teresa Ronderos (Colombia), Giannina Segnini (Costa Rica and now a colleague at Columbia), Ferial Haffajee in South Africa, Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria) and the tenacious human rights reporters at Rappler (Philippines). A Columbia alum and citizen journalist, Omoyele Sowore, ran for president in Nigeria and was arrested after a controversial tweet. Now more than ever we need good journalism and we are getting it thanks to the philanthropists funding groups like the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ProPublica, The Marshall Project, Daily Maverick and others.

What writers are especially good on economics? And what economists are especially good writers?

Recent years have seen many good economists trying their hand at writing a popular book in an attempt to disseminate their ideas among a wider audience and influence opinion  with a remarkably large number attaining more than a modicum of success.

The past 12 months have been particularly rich, with Thomas Philippons The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucmans The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflos (winners of this years Nobel Prize) Good Economics for Hard Times, and Thomas Pikettys 1,100-page Capital and Ideology. (I mention that partially out of envy: My editor would never have allowed me to get away with anything near that length, and I think back longingly over the pearls on the cutting room floor, especially in my first popular book, Globalization and Its Discontents, a mere 282 pages.) For all its devastation, the financial crisis spawned a large number of excellent popular books, including Martin Wolfs The Shifts and the Shocks: What Weve Learned  and Have Still to Learn  From the Financial Crisis, Adair Turners Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance, and my colleague Adam Toozes Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World.

What do you read when youre working on a book? And what kind of reading do you avoid while writing?

I look for a book that is particularly well written (from a craft perspective), more likely than not fiction, in the hope that, somehow, the beautiful use of language, the well-chosen turn of phrase, will seep into my writing. Some nonfiction writers aspire just for clarity; Ive also sought something more  that there would be at least moments when the reader would think, that was a good read, and even better, inspire them to do something about the problems that Ive tried to depict.

Do you count any books as guilty pleasures?

Sadly, I dont have any guilty reading pleasures. I love the idea of a cold night, detective novel and bar of chocolate, but am too Puritanical for that.
The United States on Wednesday again was headed toward the highest daily death toll in any nation during the global coronavirus pandemic: At least 1,804 deaths reported as of Wednesday evening with several states still expected to tally new casualties, nearing a record set just a day before.

With that dark announcement came some hope: Authorities said that these deaths are a lesson of early missteps in how the nation dealt with the virus, a lagging indicator of infections that Americans failed to stop three or four weeks ago before widespread "social distancing" was implemented. They believe that Americans now have largely learned enough to slow the outbreak's painful toll, which continued to tick up in hot spots that have been struggling to contain the virus for weeks.

The state with the largest number of announced deaths Wednesday again was New York, home to 35 percent of all American infections and about 43 percent of fatal American cases. It reported 779 daily deaths from the virus.

New Jersey and Connecticut, where New York's outbreak has spilled across state lines, both also reported record death totals. So did California, one of the first states to be hit.

But new covid-19 infections appear to be leveling off or declining in some hard-hit parts of the country, possibly an indication that the American outbreak is nearing its peak. A computer model of the pandemic lowered its awful projections for the virus again on Wednesday, predicting 60,000 American deaths this year, down from 92,000 a few days ago.

No model actually knows the future, and estimates have been shifting frequently.

A rising concern among many public health experts is the fate of states in the South and Midwest, where social-distancing came later than other states or never, and where infections are creeping up.

"We can prevent that by continuing the kind of mitigation that we're now doing generally throughout the country," said Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious-disease doctor, in an interview on Fox News Channel. He said he was particularly worried about Pennsylvania and Colorado. "Now is not the time to pull back at all, it's the time to intensify."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said Wednesday that his state had set records for infections and deaths from the virus. In Maryland, new infection numbers jumped by 25 percent in one day. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said the Washington, District of Columbia, region is just starting to climb: "We're still several weeks away from the peak."

The American outbreak of covid-19 is by far the largest of any country in the world - according to official figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University - with more than 423,000 infections, almost three times the number of cases reported by second-ranking Spain, which has 146,000. China, where the outbreak began, has reported about 25 percent of the number of cases as the United States - approximately 83,000 - but there is widespread doubt about the veracity of those figures. Worldwide confirmed infections crested 1.5 million on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump continued his verbal attacks on the World Health Organization, arguing that the international body leading the fight against the virus has been too friendly toward China, and on Wednesday he threatened to withhold U.S. funding to the group.

"Very unfair," Trump said of the group, noting that America pays more than China does to support its budget.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus immediately bristled at Trump's criticism of the organization, saying countries should unify and avoid politicizing the virus "if you don't want to have many more body bags."

New data released Wednesday reinforced the fearsome nature of the virus, deflating hopes that it is not as serious among younger adults or that it would have a summer offseason.

A Washington Post analysis found that at least 759 people under age 50 have died of the virus in the United States - shattering the once-common assumption that this is a disease that threatens just the old and infirm. Children are still largely spared, and young adults are still more likely to recover than the elderly. But it appears age is less of a shield than previously imagined.

"A very fit 30-year-old triathlete is just as vulnerable as a chess-playing 45-year-old who gets no exercise," said Shawn Evans, an emergency physician at a hospital in La Jolla, Calif. "We just don't know who it is that this virus carries the master key to."

Another study, by a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences, found that the virus is not likely to wane significantly in the summer, when much of the country sees significantly higher temperatures; some studies have found that the virus seems less likely to spread at temperatures above 63 degrees. President Trump had gone further in February, saying the virus "will go away in April" when traditional flu season ends.

But, the academy panel said, that idea should be treated with caution. Even if the virus does spread more slowly in hot weather, they said, it is still armed with an enormous advantage: most of the human population still has no immunity to it.

"Given that countries currently in 'summer' climates, like such as Australia and Iran, are experiencing rapid virus spread, a decrease in cases with increases in humidity and temperature elsewhere should not be assumed," the panel said.

Elsewhere in the world on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in intensive care for a third day, but a spokesperson said he was "sitting up in bed and engaging positively" with health staff. Britain reported sharp increases in new infections and deaths.

In Japan, previously seen as a success story in containing the virus, a surge of new cases has led to a political battle between municipal officials in Tokyo - who want a strict shutdown - and central government officials who want looser rules with less economic impact.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said there will be "no lockdown" of the capital.

There was more positive news from Washington state, the first in the United States to face a major coronavirus outbreak. With infections and hospitalizations leveling off, officials said the state would return a Federal Emergency Management Agency field hospital that was set up next the Seattle Seahawks stadium so it could be used in another state.

"This virus knows no borders, and we must care for the sick and vulnerable, regardless of any city, county, or state line," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, said in a statement.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said he would order flags flown at half-staff in memory of the state's 6,200 dead. Cuomo said that new hospitalizations were trending downward, and it appeared that his state's expanded hospital capacity would be enough to handle the virus.

But, Cuomo said, more certainly will die.

"The number of deaths, as a matter of fact, will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away," he said.

The U.S. government has been criticized for squandering key weeks earlier this year, when it might have imposed wider testing, done more screening of incoming travelers, and encouraged lockdowns and social distancing. President Trump has at times minimized the threat from the virus, saying in late February that U.S. cases would soon be "pretty close to zero."

This week, as the death toll has risen to record levels, Trump has issued some admonitions about social distancing and grave warnings about the virus - but also has used his Twitter feed and nightly news conferences to talk about his television ratings, to insult rivals, and to feud with various foreign leaders and health officials.

Opinion polls show that public sentiment about Trump - which jumped up last month, as the crisis worsened - might be turning downward. CNN, Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University polls released Wednesday that showed between 45 percent and 46 percent of the American public rating Trump positively for his handling of the outbreak, compared with polls in late March that found approximately 50 percent approved of his management of the crisis.

Trump has not changed his approach. On Twitter, he spent Wednesday lobbing insults at the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden

In one tweet, Trump said that he believed the virus - whenever it is beaten - would be "quickly forgotten."

"Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner rather than later, the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten," Trump wrote. "Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!"

But - in states like New York - there was little consensus about when, or how, the country could return to normal absent the rapid development of a vaccine. Cuomo, for instance, said he was discussing with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut how to eventually lift parts of the stay-at-home lockdown.

But he said he was not sure when - or if - the old version of normal would return. He said active coronavirus cases could be with us all for a long time.

"It may never be zero," Cuomo said. "You think there's ever going to be a morning that I wake up again, in my life, not worried about this in the back of my mind?"

- - -

The Washington Post's Scott Clement, Brady Dennis, Andrew Freedman, Emily Guskin and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
About 20 people took to Caspers Pioneer Park at noon Thursday to protest what they believe to be government overreach in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

One demonstrator at the protest, organized by a local libertarian group, held a sign demanding Gov. Mark Gordon let the state work. Other signs read Defend liberty and Dont flatten the economy.

A police SUV idled for a few minutes nearby before pulling away, while another policeman observed from a vehicle parked outside of the new courthouse.

Gatherings of 10 or more people in Wyoming are currently prohibited by a public health order issued by Gordon and state Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist. Protests are not listed among the orders exemptions, though additional exemptions can be requested from county health officers if demonstrated ... that people at a gathering will maintain at least six (6) feet of space between one another, and that effective cleaning will be performed before and after the gathering.

State-issued orders in response to the pandemic have also temporarily closed all schools, as well as many non-essential businesses such as bars, gyms and museums. Restaurants dining rooms are also closed, though delivery and takeout is still permitted.

Health officials have identified 240 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, in Wyoming, and another 81 probable cases. More than 100 people have recovered, and no deaths have been reported. Experts say the total cases is almost certainly considerably higher, since testing is limited.

Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen earlier this week told the Star-Tribune that he had advised local law enforcement agencies that they could issue misdemeanor citations under the law prohibiting the willful violation of public health orders. Itzen said, though, that law enforcement hoped to first gain compliance through educational efforts. He said Wednesday afternoon that he was not aware of any citations yet issued under the law but noted that he would not necessarily hear about them until court hearings were pending.

Sheriffs Sgt. Sean Ellis, who serves as a spokesman for the countys coordinated response to the pandemic, said Thursday afternoon that he did not know of any citations issued for violations of directives applicable in Natrona County.

At the Thursday protest, people who didnt hold signs for passing cars to read instead circled in groups of three or four, talking. A woman driving by shouted from the window of her SUV: Go the f- home.

Economic worries

Dale Shelden said that an economic collapse occasioned by business closures would cause more deaths by suicide than the virus would directly kill by infection. He acknowledged, though, that increased risks to elderly people meant nursing homes should take increased precautions.

Protester Jeff Yetter told the Star-Tribune that personal sacrifices would be required to effectively prevent deaths, but that he didnt think government intervention was the most effective method. He noted the descending price of oil  which is partially attributable to decreased consumption under COVID-19 sheltering orders  would wreck Wyoming employment prospects.

Theres no such thing as equal liberty in a situation like this, Yetter said. I dont think that Casper is gonna recover.

The Natrona County Campaign for Liberty encouraged the protesters to gather in a letter from state coordinator Cathy Ide posted to Facebook.

The mission of the Natrona County Campaign for Liberty, according to its Facebook page, is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of education, issue advocacy, and grassroots mobilization.

The national Campaign for Liberty was founded by former Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Challenging protesters

A number of counter-protesters planned to meet at the park while staying in their cars, including former Democratic legislator Debbie Bovee. She said she got word of the protest and immediately emailed all Democrats on her mailing list to tell them.

I just told them, If you want to drive by with a sign, let em know you dont appreciate it, Bovee said Thursday. There was nothing organized in it at all.

In an email chain ahead of the protest, opinions were split on how to proceed, she said, with some saying it wouldnt be good to give the group attention. Others suggested it would be effective to surround the park with signs. However, Bovee said she believed it was important for them to show up and to not let the message go unchallenged.

I just think that group of people are endangering the citizens of Natrona County, she said.

In an interview with the Star-Tribune Thursday, Ide said the demonstration was in part inspired by recent cease-and-desist orders issued in two separate states against the company Hobby Lobby, which had violated orders shutting down non-essential businesses in the states of Texas and Colorado, as well as the mass closures of businesses on main streets across Wyoming.

You drive through Casper, its like a ghost town compared to what we usually are, she said. You dont have the usual hustle and bustle, and its just sad. Our effort was more geared toward getting Wyoming back open to business and to rescind (Gordons) order.

The letter she posted on Facebook, which calls the coronavirus the Chinese virus, refers to a recent public health directive for Teton County residents to stay home and states that orders closing public spaces are totalitarian.

Those of us who respect our U.S. Constitution and believe in defending citizens rights of self-responsibility  to go to work or stay at home, to wear a face mask or to walk outdoors in fresh air, to gather in worship or practice social distancing  realize that if we stay silent and allow this kind of government overreach, we may lose our cherished freedoms forever, the letter states. America was founded upon personal responsibility and self-governance. We rely on honest science, honest data, and hard facts. We do not rely on media-driven hysteria and conflicting reports.

Ide said that while she was not trying to downplay the seriousness of the virus, her effort was intended to display a growing sentiment of dissatisfaction with the closure of the states economy.

I think a lot of people are frightened to even take a public stance, she said. I visit with so many people, and a majority of people I talk to want to get back to work. They are completely opposed to this limited shutdown. It just affects people psychologically, it gets you down and depressed, and you dont like to see this happen in our community.

The Natrona County organizations rhetoric closely resembles that espoused by the national organization in recent communications to its membership. In a blog post on March 16, Paul called the COVID-19 outbreak  which has produced more than 450,000 cases and 16,000 deaths in the U.S. alone  a hoax perpetuated by government leaders to deprive Americans of their freedoms, rather than protect public health.

That is not to say the disease is harmless, the letter read. Without question people will die from coronavirus. Those in vulnerable categories should take precautions to limit their risk of exposure. But we have seen this movie before. Government over-hypes a threat as an excuse to grab more of our freedoms. When the threat is over, however, they never give us our freedoms back.

The Natrona County chapter of Campaign for Liberty has attracted some attention for their political organizing activity in recent months. In the fall, the organization found itself at the center of some internal controversy within the Natrona County Republican Party. Ide, a member of the countys executive committee, canvassed parts of the city in October with door hangers and flyers opposing Casper Republican Rep. Jerry Obermuellers proposal for a corporate income tax, a move that raised questions among some local Republicans about improper lobbying activity. A formal complaint was never filed.

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Shane Sanderson Crime and Courts Reporter Shane Sanderson joined the Star-Tribune in 2017. He covers courts and law enforcement agencies in Natrona County and across the state. Shane studied journalism at the University of Missouri and worked at newspapers there before moving to Wyoming. Follow Shane Sanderson 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
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine agreed on the main items of the updated state budget and the corresponding amendments may be adopted already next week.

This was discussed at the meeting between Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ukraine Larisa Galadza, the Government portal reports.

In particular, the Head of Government accentuated the importance of adopting amendments to the State Budget as soon as possible, as it would allow to provide financial assistance to pensioners and to increase increment for medical personnel.

The Verkhovna Rada agreed on the main expenditures of the updated State Budget. By the end of the workweek, we are still working with the specialized Committee. And the next week we expect MPs to vote for changes to the State Budget, Shmyhal stressed.

The Prime Minister told the Ambassador of Canada about the steps undertaken by the Government to counteract the spread of coronavirus, in particular, support for healthcare workers, socially vulnerable groups, jobless people, small and medium-sized businesses.

The Prime Minister also informed Ms. Larisa Galadza about the establishment of the Coronavirus Response Fund. In her turn, the Ambassador of Canada shared her countrys experience in combating the coronavirus and noted that Ukraine is taking effective measures.

During the meeting, the Ukrainian plane crash in Iran was also discussed.

We have gained an understanding that the black boxes from this plane could be returned to Ukraine. Work continues despite other challenges, the Prime Minister said.

He also expressed gratitude to Canada for its support of Ukraine and its firm position on preserving sanctions against Russia. In turn, the ambassador noted that Canada always stays the course and intends to further accentuate its stance in this issue on the foreign policy arena.

On March 30, the Verkhovna Rada sent the amendments to the state budget for 2020, which proposed to reduce the revenue side by UAH 122.9 billion and increase the expenditure side by UAH 79.2 billion, to repeated first reading.

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The London Ambulance Service contractor was arrested over the alleged theft of face masks. (Getty)

Police have arrested a London Ambulance Service (LAS) contractor on suspicion of stealing face masks so that he could sell them online during the coronavirus crisis.

The man, who is in his 20s, is accused of stealing the personal protective equipment (PPE), along with other items, from stores in north London before selling them online.

He was held in Windmill Road, near Edmonton ambulance station, on Wednesday, but has since been bailed, while items recovered in searches have been returned to LAS.

The man stole face masks and other personal protective equipment. (Getty)

The Metropolitan Police said he had access to the sites because he was a contractor working with LAS.

Detective Inspector Jason Colby said: "I am saddened that anyone would take advantage of the NHS for their financial gain at such a critical time.

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"These masks are a vital piece of PPE for emergency service personnel and are used to keep both themselves and patients safe.

"We will continue to crack down on anyone attempting to take advantage of our emergency services for personal gain, especially at such an unprecedented time.

"We are grateful to those who are assisting our investigation.

The Crown Prosecution Service has previously said some people are using the COVID-19 pandemic to commit criminal offences, including Ashaq Sattar, 40, who posed as an NHS volunteer.

He knocked on the doors of elderly and vulnerable victims in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, claiming he would collect their medicine for a small fee.

Sattar was jailed for a year at Leeds Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.

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Taiwan's foreign ministry has decried accusations from the head of the World Health Organization that it condoned racist attacks against him.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had alleged the comments were coming from the self-governing island.

Dr Tedros made the comments at a press briefing in Geneva where he vocally defended himself and the U.N. Health Agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Tedros, 55, is a former Ethiopian health and foreign ministry and WHO's first Africa leader. He has claimed Taiwanese diplomats were aware of racist attacks and death threats against him but this not distance themselves from the comments

He accused Taiwan's foreign ministry of being linked to a month-long campaign against him and said that since the emergence of Covid-19 he has been personally attacked, including receiving death threats and racist abuse.

Dr Tedros, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister and WHO's first African leader, said: 'This attack came from Taiwan.'

He claimed Taiwanese diplomats were aware of the attacks but did not dissociate themselves from them.

Dr Tedros added: 'They even started criticizing me in the middle of all those insults and slurs. I say it today because it's enough.'

The basis of his allegations were unclear.

The Taiwan foreign ministry expressed 'strong dissatisfaction and a high degree of regret' at his remarks.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (left) poses with a masked soldier amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic during her visit to a military base in Tainan, southern Taiwan, on April 9

It requested Dr Tedros 'immediately correct his unfounded allegations, immediately clarify, and apologize to our country.'

A statement said that Taiwan's 23 million people have themselves been 'severely discriminated against' by the politics of the international health system and 'condemn all forms of discrimination and injustice'.

It added that Taiwan is a 'mature, highly sophisticated nation and could never instigate personal attacks on the director-general of the WHO, much less express racist sentiments'.

Dr Tedros has strong links to China and was elected to his position with their support, which has long-held frosty relations with Taiwan and claims it as its own territory.

Dr Tedros and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands in in Beijing in January this year ahead of a meeting to discuss how to curb the spread of Covid-19

China is also one of five permanent veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council.

Dr Tedros - who has never practised as a medical doctor - was elected to lead the WHO in 2017 amid allegations of heavy lobbying by Chinese diplomats.

Shortly after his election to the WHO, a report in The Times said: 'Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijings financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries.'

WHO's then-outging Director General Margaret Chan from China gestures next to new Dr Tedros after his election during World Health Assembly in May 2017 in Geneva

UN records also show that Chinese contributions to both Ethiopia's aid budget and the WHO have increased during times when Dr Tedros has held top leadership positions.

Dr Tedros has firmly backed Beijing's claims that it has been open and transparent about the Covid-19 outbreak despite strong evidence that it suppressed early reports on infections, while echoing its criticisms of the U.S.

At China's insistence, Taiwan has been barred from the U.N. and the WHO and even stripped of its observer status at the annual World Health Assembly.

Dr Tedros' election as WHO chief in 2017 has been strongly linked to his relationship with China. Above he is pictured with Chinese Premier Li Kequiang in Beijing in 2017

At the same time, it has one of the most robust public health systems in the world, and has won praise for its handling of the virus outbreak.

Despite its close proximity to China and the frequency of travel between the sides, Taiwan has reported just 379 cases and five deaths caused by Covid-19.

U.S. and Taiwanese officials met online last month to discuss how they could increase the island's participation in the world health system.

The meeting sparked fury from Beijing which opposes all official contacts between Washington and Taipei.

A series of Tweets sent from the Taiwan foreign ministry account strongly condemned Dr Tedros' claims

In a further comment on Tedros' remarks, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted that the island agreed with his assertion that there was, 'No need to use COVID to score political points.'

Wu tweeted: 'We agree! Yet without evidence, #Taiwan is accused of orchestrating personal attacks. This claim is baseless, without merit & further marginalizes the good work in which the @WHO is engaged worldwide.'

Tedros had not appeared to have accused the Taiwanese government of being directly behind the attacks, but merely of condoning them.

Dr Tedros has faced criticism over his handling of the pandemic, in particular for heaping praise on China's communist party for its response.

He said 'commitment to transparency' and the speed with which it detected the virus was 'beyond words'.

His comments led to allegations, notable among Donald Trump, that the WHO is 'China-centric'.

Trump alleged the WHO had 'criticized' his ban of travel from China as the COVID-19 outbreak spreading from the city of Wuhan.

Dr Tedros decried his criticism and threats of funding cut threats over the WHO's response to the outbreak.
Lady Gaga attends the 2019 Met Gala. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Lady Gaga is in talks to play Patrizia Reggiani  ex-wife of murdered fashion boss Maurizio Gucci  in a new true crime tale being helmed by Ridley Scott.

Reggiani was jailed for ordering a hitman to gun down her husband in 1995, 18 months after he sold his Gucci shares for $170m (137m).

She became known as the Black Widow and was released in 2016 after serving 18 years in prison.

Read more: R Kelly lawyer accuses Lady Gaga

Scotts film adaptation of the scandalous true story, entitled Gucci, has been bought by studio MGM after a bidding war that also included streaming giant Netflix.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the promise of a theatrical release was a major factor for Scott in backing MGM.

Maurizio Gucci's ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani is escorted by police officers into Milan's court in 1998. (AP)

Scotts wife, Giannina Scott, is a producer on the film and described it as a labour of love for the couple.

Gaga will be hoping to secure another Oscar nomination, having scooped a Best Actress nod for A Star is Born.

The 34-year-old won the Best Original Song Oscar for Shallow and attracted headlines after her performance on the telecast with co-star Bradley Cooper.

Read more: Shallow co-writer on dark past

Scott, meanwhile, has been hard at work on historical epic The Last Duel, with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reuniting to write a movie together for the first time since their Good Will Hunting Oscar win.

Based on a true story, the film chronicles a duel between two best friends in 14th century France after one is accused of raping the others wife.

Ridley Scott is working on The Last Duel with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. (WireImage)

That films production was halted by the coronavirus pandemic, but is set to resume as soon as the crisis has eased.

Read more: Ridley Scott dubs Donald Trump a nutcase over coronavirus

Scott will move directly from The Last Duel to Gucci, in the hope of getting the buzzy project moving as soon as possible.

MGM will be hoping to turn their fortunes around after losing a significant amount of money  estimated at up to $50m (40m)  after the pandemic forced them to delay James Bond blockbuster No Time to Die.

The studio has, ambitiously, already set a November 2021 release date for Gucci.
Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) on Wednesday labeled President Trump a drug-pusher for continually touting hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus.

The president keeps taking the stage and as opposed to what Dr. [Anthony] Fauci and medical health professionals are telling us, pushing this drug, Harris said on The View. Hes got to stop  hes not  we dont want a drug pusher for president.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that anecdotal reports indicate has been effective in treating some coronavirus patients. There has not, however, been conclusive clinical evidence of its efficacy. The New York Times on Tuesday touted Trumps small personal financial interest in a French company that produces the drug, even though Trumps investment in the company amounts to roughly $1,000.

I certainly understand why the president is pushing it, Dr. Joshua Rosenberg of Brooklyn Hospital Center said in a different Times article on Monday. Hes the president of the United States. He has to project hope.So Im not faulting him for pushing it even if there isnt a lot of science behind it, because it is, at this point, the best, most available option for use.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has cautioned against investing too much faith in the drug.

I think weve got to be careful that we dont make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug, Fauci told Fox News on Friday. We still need to do the kinds of studies that definitively prove whether any intervention, not just this one, any intervention is truly safe and effective.

Fauci and economic adviser Peter Navarro, both members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, sparred on Saturday over the drugs effectiveness during a meeting. Navarro was apparently incensed that Fauci maintained that hydroxychloroquines effectiveness was not scientifically proven.

It was pretty clear that everyone was just trying to get Peter to sit down and stop being so confrontational, a person familiar with the meeting told Axios.

Story continues

New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he would ask Trump to increase the supply of hydroxychloroquine to the states hospitals. The state is a coronavirus hotspot,

There has been anecdotal evidence that it is promising, Cuomo told reporters, while noting the drugs effectiveness has not yet been scientifically proven.

More from National Review
CALIFORNIA  Veterinarians say we should make sure to keep our pets away from other animals.

Doctor Dawn Alves from All About Pets Veterinary Hospital said it is unlikely a pet could get the virus from a person or give it to a person, but there are other risks.

Pets could potentially spread it if it gets on their fur because the virus could live on their fur coat about as long as it does on clothing.

Meaning, if it gets on their fur and someone pets them, then touches their face, they themselves could become infected.

"That actually gets me thinking because he sees other dogs when we go outside to go to the bathroom and I don't know what other owners do or where they may have been, so that gets me thinking a little now," said pet owner Rachel Dias.

Doctor Alves said the safest thing to do is keep your animals away from other animals and humans for as long as we are social distancing.

"You think of how many cases there are out there. If one tiger tested positive, I don't really have any concerns," said Laura Jellison, who explained she is not worried.

If you are out walking your dog, take them to less populated areas.

The Centers for Disease Control said at this time, there is no evidence of cases here in the United States where people have spread the virus to their pets.
Iraq's intelligence chief was appointed the country's third prime minister-designate in just over a month Thursday after the resignation of the most recent candidate amid political infighting. The upheaval threatened a leadership vacuum at the helm of the government amid a severe economic crisis and viral pandemic. Adnan Al-Zurfi's candidacy was imperiled in the past 48 hours when key Shiite parties rallied around Iraq's intelligence head, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to replace him.

His chances were further diminished when the main Kurdish and Sunni blocs withdrew support for his candidacy. Iraq's president appointed al-Kadhimi, 53, as prime minister-designate shortly after Al-Zurfi's resignation.

"I am honored to accept this designation. We are all servants to the Iraqi people, we will do our best to be at the level of responsibility before the people and history," al-Kadhimi told Iraqi President Barham Saleh during his designation.

al-Kadhimi was appointed by former Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi as head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service and has served in this post since June 2016.

Al-Zurfi faced stiff resistance from Iraq's powerful Iran-backed political parties since his appointment in March.

In a resignation letter to Saleh, al-Zurfi cited "internal and external reasons" that prevented him from carrying out his duties as premier-designate.

He had presented a government plan focusing on the economy, reconstruction and bringing arms under the control of the state but fell short of producing a Cabinet lineup to parliament.

"I offer my apologies first to everyone who put their trust in us," the letter said.

Al-Zurfi is the second premier hopeful to withdraw since caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned in December under pressure from mass protests. Mohammed Allawi, a former communications minister, stepped down last month, citing obstruction from political parties and after failing to garner support for his proposed Cabinet. al-Kadhimi, who is backed by parties across Iraq's fragmented political scene, is unlikely to face the same setbacks as Allawi and al-Zurfi.

According to Iraq's constitution, he has 30 days to present a Cabinet lineup to parliament.

Image Credits: AP
Listed landlord and developer Hibernia Reit has pre-let 24,000 sq. ft. in its 2 Cumberland Place development to 3M Digital Science Community.

The offices are located in Dublin 2.

In a trading update, Kevin Nowlan, Hibernia's chief executive, said it is too early to have a full picture on how the coronavirus pandemic will impact the company.

However, he said the group is in a strong position with low leverage, substantial cash and undrawn facilities, and a diverse range of tenants, many of which, he said, are on long-term leases.

While we expect activity in occupational markets to slow until the current crisis abates, some lease negotiations are continuing and we are delighted to have pre-let three floors in 2 Cumberland Place to 3M, Mr Nowlan added.

In the first three months of this year the company secured three new office lettings covering 56,000 sq. ft., adding 3.3m to its contracted rent.

The new lettings have reduced the companys vacancy rate in the in-place office portfolio to 7pc from 12pc.

All three lettings were ahead of September 2019 net estimated rental values ("ERVs").

Hibernias annual contracted rent now exceeds 66m, with approximately 90pc coming from office properties, and the majority of the balance coming from residential.

The company said it has a strong balance sheet. It has fully unsecured debt funding with no maturities until December 2023, and cash of 21m and undrawn facilities of 133m at 31 March this year.
The number of cases affected by coronavirus disease Covid-19 in Pakistan rose to 4,332 on Thursday, with Prime Minister Imran Khan expressing concern that the situation can further deteriorate.

There was an increase of 248 new cases between Wednesday and Thursday, according to figures released by National Command and Control Centre, and quoted by news agency ANI. So far, 572 patients have recovered from the deadly disease in Pakistan, ANI reported.

Five people have died in the last 24 hours bringing the nation-wide toll to 64. Thirty-one patients are currently battling for life at healthcare centres, the news agency said.

The countrys Punjab province has more than 2,100 affected people.

Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic. Prime Minister Khan once again warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further.

It is a misconception that this pandemic will not spread rapidly; it will become worse in the days to come. If we dont take preventive measures, the deadly disease will rise in the country like it did in Europe and will create a lot of trouble for us, Khan said.

He also said that the hospitals in Pakistan may not be able to cope with the patients, according to local media.

He, however, defended his decision to not impose total lockdown, saying over 50 million were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such step is taken.

The Sindh province has reported as many as 1,128 cases, followed by 560 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 213 in Gilgit Baltistan, 212 in Balochistan, 102 in Islamabad and 28 in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The government has extended partial lockdown till April 14 and is constantly asking people to stay indoors and follow social distancing.








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Dr. Raymond Keller says that races of ethical humanoid Extraterrestrials that have been monitoring activities on Earth are shocked by the unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic on Earth. These races have allegedly somehow informed Dr. Keller that the pandemic is an evil simulation which is in complete violation of and subversive to human sovereignty on Earth.



Dr. Keller is the author of a new book entitled The Venus Conspiracy which documents his contacts with a race of ethical humanoid Extraterrestrials on Venus.



He elaborates that the cloud cover around Venus has subverted the kind of fascination that has gripped amateur astronomers regarding alien activities on Mars.



Mars which is closer and lacks the cloud coverage of Venus can be much more easily researched by amateur astronomers.





"There is a lot that NASA is not telling the public about Venus. Those in the know recognize Venus as Earths sister planet. Both worlds are approximately the same size, have rocky surfaces and water vapour in their respective atmospheres," says Raymond Keller





Dr. Keller alleges that the Ethical Extraterrestrials that he has been in contact with have asserted that 5G has been a delivery mechanism for the coronavirus and that this technology is the work of demonic aliens working with a Deep State through various Agreements.





The existence of such alleged Agreements has been further documented by Dr Michael Salla and his learned colleagues in Exopolitics research.

Exopolitics practitioners conduct academic research supported by whistleblowers on the existence of clandestine agreements and activities with various supposedly good, indifferent and completely evil alien races.







The goal of Exopolitics is to bypass an alleged cover-up and to monitor how such Agreements are resulting in potentially desirable or dysfunctional phenomena on Earth.





This alien-elite complex seeks to destroy and replace human free will with total servitude in what former University of Notre Dame professor Horace Carby-Samuels described as a "Bio-Electrical Union". Mr. Carby-Samuels who has been a resident of Ottawa made alleged contacts with this alien-elite complex though "dream states".





Since January 2013 investigative researchers allege that as a result of contacts with these regressive entities Mr Carby-Samuels has apparently been under the control of the demonic aliens separately described by Dr. Salla that have been responsible for historical and on-going systemic problems on Earth.







Just before Mr Carby-Samuels was fully taken over against his will, he began to warn everyone who he made contacts with about an upcoming "alien threat" to destroy humanity which now seems to be unfolding through the coronavirus.







Alfred Lambremont Webre's interview elaborates that humans are scheduled to be injected with microchips controlled by the same 5G technology used to trigger the coronavirus.



This interview then elaborates that they can no longer passively observe the further needless destruction of humans and Earth's ecosystems under a 5G demonic alien-sponsored agenda, and that these Ethical Extraterrestrials are working with "White Hat" military organizations on Earth to now actively oppose Deep State control under demonic aliens that have also been blamed for alien abductions.





Alfred Lambremont Webre who is also Canadian is no "kook".





Exopolitics: Politics, Government, and Law in the Universe, he is the recognized founder of Exopolitics, the science of relations among intelligent civilizations in the multiverse," documents

"He is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School and a former Fulbright Scholar. He has taught economics at Yale University and constitutional law at the University of Texas. He is the former general counsel to the New York City Environmental Protection Administration, former director of the 1977 Carter White House extraterrestrial communication study, and former NGO delegate to the United Nations. The author of, he is the recognized founder of Exopolitics, the science of relations among intelligent civilizations in the multiverse," documents Simon & Schuster

This interview and a video by David Wilcox suggest that the coronavirus may be leading planet Earth in some kind of "war for planetary liberation".





Could we be headed to some kind of "War of the Worlds" scenario?



You be the judge.









We got up there and a woman materialized in a white jumpsuit, with strikingly bright red hair. She told us she had come through a 'stargate', an interdimensional portal and she knew why we were there and she was going to answer our questions about flying saucers and life on other planets. We talked to her for about three hours, he said.



Dr. Keller said they got a picture with the group and the alien but when they developed the film she wasnt seen. Dr. Keller says he encountered an ethical humanoid when visiting Mount Shasta in California.We got up there and a woman materialized in a white jumpsuit, with strikingly bright red hair. She told us she had come through a 'stargate', an interdimensional portal and she knew why we were there and she was going to answer our questions about flying saucers and life on other planets. We talked to her for about three hours, he said.Dr. Keller said they got a picture with the group and the alien but when they developed the film she wasnt seen.





Dr. Keller has authored three books on the UFO phenomenon, the most recent, The Cosmic Rays Excellent Venus Adventures. You can find all of his books on Amazon.









I invite you to read my book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst if you want to explore the world of corruption and manipulative aliens as background to the so-called "coronavirus".

The manipulate aliens I cite my book appear to be connected with the current "coronavirus" pandemic simulation. The manipulate aliens I cite my book appear to be connected with the current "coronavirus" pandemic simulation.

In the above YouTube interview, Alfred Lambremont Webre's suggests that the coronavirus has a two-fold agenda.The first alleged agenda is to depopulate humans on Earth.The second accompanying agenda is to create mass fear and panic to then further enable totalitarian control by an alien-elite complex through a vaccination program.The injected humans would then become assimilated and "Zombie-fied" under the complete control of demonic aliens and the elites who sold out humanity to these demonic entities according to representation in the above YouTube interview.This interview then further alleges that some of these Ethical Extraterrestrials may be related to humans on Earth and that they oppose "coronavirus plot" as the "last straw".Dr. Michael Salla's research on the demonic aliens versus the Ethical Humanoid Extraterrestrials is documented in Peter Tremblay's new book on Justin Trudeau
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Under the new scheme signed by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, solar projects approved before November 23, 2019 and starting commercial operations between July 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 will enjoy the new tariffs.

Specifically, the Government has fixed the tariffs for rooftop solar at 1,943 VND (8.38 US cents), floating solar at 1,783 VND (7.69 US cents) and ground-mounted solar power projects at 1,644 VND (around US 7.09 cents) for each kWh.

The new tariff, which is 24 percent lower than the earlier scheme, will be applied for 20 years starting May 22.

For other subsequent projects, the feed-in-tariffs shall be determined through bidding mechanism.

The decision was promulgated nine months after the 9.35 percent rate expired on June 30 last year.

However, the purchase price of electricity from grid-connected solar power projects with planning and commercial operation dates before January 1, 2021 with the total cumulative capacity of not more than 2,000 MW in the southern province of Ninh Thuan  a solar power hotspot  will be entitled to a preferential price of 2,086 VND (9.35 US cents) per kWh.

Organisations and individuals producing rooftop solar power are allowed to sell a part or all electricity output to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the countrys largest power company, or others who do not use EVNs power grid.

It means that power sellers and buyers can negotiate their prices and ways to use electricity directly from the solar system themselves.

This decision has been awaited by large-scale solar investors and households and businesses investing in rooftop solar power.

The approval of the new scheme comes after a new energy strategy was released by the Government in February, which aims to promote energy security and sustainable socio-economic development. It calls for a much larger share of clean energy in Vietnam.

As one of fastest growing countries in Asia, the countrys demand for energy is expected to reach about 130GW of electricity by 2030, more than double the current 54GW.

By the end of June, the country had a total of 82 solar power plants with a cumulative capacity of 4.46GW connected to the national grid.
The founding President of IMANI Africa, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, has said while Ghanaians praise President Nana Akufo-Addo for his fight against COVID-19, it must not be lost on them that the health infrastructure investments made by Mr John Mahamas administration, have helped that fight, for which, in his opinion, the former President deserves some acknowledgement.



While we praise Nana for the interventions to fight COVID-19, we must acknowledge the continuous strategic investments in health infrastructure JM made which is coming in handy now, Mr Cudjoe tweeted, adding: JM was visionary, too.Just recently, Mr Mahama said the health facilities and infrastructure he built during his time in office, have become indispensable to Ghanas fight against COVID-19.



Days earlier, the Minister of Health, Mr Kweku Agyeman-Manu, announced at one of the press briefings of the government regarding the COVID-19 situation that the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Bank of Ghana Hospital are ready to be used to manage critical cases and VIP cases, respectively. The Bank of Ghana later issued a statement to clarify that its facility was available to every citizen and not just VIPs. Also, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, also known as Ridge Hospital, is one of the main facilities being used to fight the virus.

Speaking at a brief ceremony at his office in Accra on Saturday, at which he presented some PPE worth GHS300,000 to the National Democratic Congress COVID-19 Response Team for onward distribution to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital with a promise to procure a further GHS90,000 worth of PPE for other health posts, Mr Mahama said: It is with great humility that I note that the massive investments we made in health facilities during my tenure as President, have become the mainstay of the response to the novel virus. This marks progress and demonstrates what vision and foresight can do in nation-building, he added.



That notwithstanding, the flag bearer of the biggest opposition party said: It has become clear, in an era of pandemics and infectious diseases, that a reactionary approach does not offer a sustainable path to protecting our people and economy from the harmful effects of such outbreaks.



Mr Mahama said a more proactive state of readiness must be put be in place going forward. No longer must it be the case that dangerous diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS or COVID-19 get to our shores before we scramble around to arrest their impact.



These diseases, he said, have unfortunately become serious threats to our survival and go beyond just the health of our people, adding: They have adverse implications for our economy and our very way of life. In that regard, I wish to table the following proposals, which I believe will leave us better prepared and ready to take on any future eventuality especially pandemics like the COVID-19 case.



These proposals are a part of our manifesto, which we intend to launch later in the year, when we have collectively defeated this pandemic. It has become necessary now to make them public because of the current climate and in the hope that to the extent possible, they may be factored into ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19.



If there is any lesson to be drawn from the COVID -19 episode, it is the fact that we are not immune from pandemics that hitherto were deemed to be far removed from us. While we may have been spared outbreaks like Ebola, SARS, MERS and the like, we have been very much affected by COVID-19, which has proven extremely disruptive to our lives and holds the potential of having dire consequences for our economy.



The relative fragility of our health and social welfare systems makes us even more vulnerable to its fallouts. Our people stand to suffer tremendously if such diseases are allowed to take us by surprise. Even as we count the cost, it is imperative that we learn the lessons of today and act now to ensure that we are much better prepared, when, not if, the next pandemic rears its head, he warned.

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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Wellington: The coronavirus pandemic could yet brew a constitutional crisis in New Zealand, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitting the timing of this year's poll is under review.

New Zealand is currently headed to the polls on September 19, the date Ardern announced back in January.

However, restrictions on mass gatherings during the country's lockdown and uncertainty over when social-isolation measures will be lifted have prompted a public airing of alternatives.

Reconsidering: NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday. Credit:Getty Images

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters called for the election to be moved to November 21, his party's long-time preferred date.
The Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) has asked the city's health department to stop mentioning Nizamuddin Markaz in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases.

In a letter to the secretary, Delhi Health department, chairman of the Commission Zafarul Islam Khan asked the department to drop any mention of "religious undertones" in its daily bulletins.

The daily bulletins update the number of fresh coronavirus cases and deaths due to the epidemic including figures of those who were evacuated from Tablighi Jamat Markaz after they were stranded there due to lockdown.

As per the last updated bulletin on Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi were 669 including 426 from the Markaz.

"Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda of the media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country," Khan alleged in his letter.

Muslims are being "attacked" in various areas, calls are being made for their "social boycott", and a boy was "lynched" in the northwest Delhi, he mentioned in his letter.

TheWorld Health Organisation(WHO) has taken cognisance of this phenomenon and its Emergency Programme Director Mike Ryan has said countries should not profile novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in terms of religion or any other criteria, stated the letter.

The Union health ministry too has said that despite all precautions, if anybody catches the infection, it is not their fault.

Its advisory has requested citizens to "never spread names or identity" of those affected or under quarantine in their locality on the social media, Khan said in the letter. The letter requested to the Health department to stop mention of any data which has religious undertones and which can be exploited for political or communal purposes by "vested interests".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Thursday assured Uganda that it would extend all possible support to Kampala in its efforts to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The assurance was given when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The two leaders discussed the health and economic challenges arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said.

"The prime minister assured President Museveni that India stands in solidarity with its friends in Africa during the present health crisis, and would extend all possible support to the Ugandan government's efforts to control the spread of the virus in its territory," it said.

Modi expressed his appreciation for the goodwill and care extended to the Indian diaspora in Uganda by the government and society, including during the present situation.

Modi warmly recalled his visit to Uganda in July 2018, and touched on the special nature of India-Uganda ties.

Both leaders hoped that the world would soon prevail over the challenge of COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
09.04.2020 LISTEN

The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako Jnr has exposed the barefaced lies being peddled about the provision of medical infrastructure by the NDC, led by former President John Mahama.

Mr. Baako, who made the exposure on the Kokrookoo Morning Show of Peace FM, quoted copiously from official documents to rubbish medical infrastructure claims by the NDC and stripped former President Mahama naked on his much-touted but empty slogan of infrastructure king.

Mr. Baako Jnr., reading from official sources including cabinet memos signed by NDC Ministers and letters from the Ministry of Health, insisted that the NDC and former President Mahama cannot take credit for projects he never started and did not complete before leaving office. He disputed, with evidence, claims that John Mahamas administration built hospitals across the country.

Citing the Ho Teaching Hospital, formerly Volta Regional hospital which started under Gen. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and commissioned under the current Akufo-Addo government, Mr. Baako indicated that it would be wrong for one administration to take sole credit for such projects.

Zeroing in on the Bank of Ghana and International Maritime hospitals, Mr. Baako insisted it would be wrong to list them as achievements of the Mahama administration since both are independent bodies and funded the construction of their hospitals with no support from central government or former President Mahama.

Mr. Baako Jnr. also deplored several attempts by the NDC, including pictures in the infamous Green Book, to claim credit for the construction of 9 hospital projects under the Euroget Projects. Describing these attempts as "shocking", Mr. Baako explained that the entire Eurojet project received cabinet and parliamentary approval in 2008 under Kuffours administration, and had still not been completed when President Akufo-Addo assumed office on January 7, 2017.

Reading a cabinet memo dated July 2012 and signed by Hon. Alban Bagbin, then Minister of Health, Gen Henry Smith, Minister of Defence and Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Minister of Finance, Mr. Baako challenged anyone to prove that the "Eurojet Hospital Project agreement was not signed and the loan facility agreed in 2008.

The Kufuor government signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Euroget S. A. for the construction of the hospitals in April 2008, gave Cabinet approval for the commencement of the project on October 29, 2008, with parliamentary approval received on November 12, 2008.

The Upper West Regional Hospital was the first to commence construction in August 2010 and the other projects such as the Afari Military Hospital, Tepa Municipal Hospital, Twifo Praso Municipal Hospital, Adenta-Madina Hospital at Kwabenya, Salaga Hospital among others are all under construction but are being claimed by the NDC as former President John Mahamas legacies and have been captured in the partys Green Book ahead of the 2016 elections.

According to the contractors, the Madina Hospital at Kwabenya would be completed by December, while Tepa Hospital would be completed and handed over in April 2020, with Nsawkaw Hospital to be ready by June 2020.

The contractors claim the Konongo and Kumasi Sewua hospitals will be completed by November 2020, with the Salaga and Twifo Praso also targeting 2020.

Mr. Baako Jnr. also disputed claims made by the Ranking Member of the Health Committee in Parliament and MP for Juaboso Constituency, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh that Ghana was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Baako Jnr. said the claims by Akandoh are false. WHO rated Ghana 56% in overall preparedness to fight COVID-19. This is beyond average, he told host Kwame Sefa Kayi.

The Central Regional Minister, Kwamina Duncan was the NPP representative on the show.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Para Resources Inc. (TSXV: PBR) (WKN: A14YF1) (OTC: PRSRF) (the "Company" or "Para") announces that due to circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the British Columbia Securities Commission and other members of the Canadian Securities Administrators granted "Issuers" in the Canadian securities industry up to an additional 45 days, to complete year-end statutory filings. The Company does not believe that it will be able to file its December 31, 2019 audited annual financial statements by its usual 120 day deadline of April 29, 2020, and will be relying on the extension. Accordingly, as required by the conditions of the extension, the Company's management and other insiders will be subject to a trading black-out that reflects the principles in Section 9 of National Policy 11-207 until its financial statements are filed, which will be by June 16, 2020. Other than as previously disclosed by the Company in news releases, including the information herein, there are no other material business developments since the date of the Company's most recent filing of its interim financial statements and management discussion and analysis for its Q3 ended September 30, 2019. The Company will be providing an update news release on the status of filing its December 31, 2019 audited financial statements by May 29, 2020.

ABOUT PARA RESOURCES:

Para Resources Inc. ("Para") is a junior gold mining and exploration company. The Company owns the El Limon Mine in Zaragoza, Colombia, a project that includes both near-term mining and milling operations as well as highly prospective exploration properties. The Company has acquired a fully permitted mine and facility with adjacent properties that have an abundance of small scale artisanal miners, dramatically reducing the exploration risk. It is anticipated that the operating mine will be profitable in the short term, providing a return on capital as a stand-alone entity, and funding regional exploration to expand resources.

Para is unique in that the Insiders have invested more than US$30 million of their capital and own approximately 70% of the Company's equity.

Para's new management team is seasoned and proven, having discovered, built, managed and sold several different mines over the last 40 years.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Javier Cordova"



Javier Cordova, President & Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact Andrea Laird, telephone: +1-604-259-0302.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54324
Declan Donnelly and wife Ali Astall joined Lucy Mecklenburgh and Ryan Thomas in leading a slew of stars in a nationwide applause in honour of the NHS, police and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Presenter Dec, 44, and Ali, 41, were seen joining the nation outside their home and joining in with the applause which rang out across the nation on Thursday - as staff across the country continue to place themselves in harm's way to beat coronavirus.

Joining Dec and Ali in clapping for the carers were stars including the Beckham family, Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh, and Brian May and wife Anita Dobson.

Praise: Declan Donnelly and wife Ali Astall led a slew of stars in a nationwide applause in honour of the NHS, police and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic

Dec and Ali looked focused as they applauded enthusiastically on their front doorstep.

Former soap star Ryan, 35, joined his fiancee Lucy, 28, newborn son Roman and his daughter Scarlett, 11, in applauding in a video shared to social media.

Lucy cradled Roman as Scarlett clapped alongside her outside their home.

Queen rocker Brian May, 72, joined actress wife Anita Dobson on their doorstep to show their appreciation.

Former soap star Ryan Thomas, 35, joined his fiancee Lucy Mecklenburgh, 28, newborn son Roman and his daughter Scarlett, 11, in applauding in a video shared to social media

The Beckhams join in with the clap for carers event this evening, as millions of Brits thanks the NHS and key workers

United: Kate Garraway also joined the celebration amid her husband Derek Draper's battle with coronavirus which has seen him hospitalised

Support: Kate and Derek's children Darcey, 13, and William, nine applauded for the carers

Fireworks: The star shared a video of the firework celebration let off by her neighbours

Thank you: The star thanked key workers in an emotional Instagram post

The couple were seen clapping before giving the thumbs up to the camera, with Anita blowing a kiss.

The guitarist captioned the clip: 'To our front-line fighters - A HUGE THANK YOU - Bri & Anita.'

Kate Garraway joined the applause amid her husband Derek Draper's battle with coronavirus, which has seen him hospitalised.

Making a noise for them: Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes also appeared at their doorstep to show their support

Bang the drum: Ruth brought out a wooden spoon and a saucepan to make some extra noise for the incredible NHS

The star joined the couple's two children, Darcey, 13, and William, nine outside their home as they watched a fireworks display.

She wrote: 'The neighbours added some extra sparkle to tonights #clapforcarers . Thank you thank you. you are all amazing.'

It emerged earlier this month that Derek had been admitted to intensive care displaying coronavirus symptoms, with Kate and their children isolating at home.

The Beckham family once again showed their support from lockdown with Victoria, 45, David, 44, and their children Romeo, 17, Cruz, 14, and Harper, eight applauding.

Victoria wrote: 'Managed to set the phone up this week to get the whole family showing our appreciation for all the frontline workers and our brilliant NHS.

Praise: Katie Price, 41, and her disabled son Harvey, 17, also came out in support of the NHS once more as the pair clapped on their doorstep

Nationwide event: Katie said: 'We're gonna do a big clap for the NHS, all the doctors and nurses, big clap' as Harvey cheered

'Thank you for another week of hard work.'

Myleene Klass applauded with baby son Apollo and daughter Hero, nine, in tow as they wore blue for the NHS.

Myleene, 42, said: 'Woo for the NHS!' as she and her children wore blue and banged kitchen equipment in celebration.

Katie Price, 41, and her disabled son Harvey, 17, also came out in support of the NHS once more as the pair clapped on their doorstep.

Katie said: 'We're gonna do a big clap for the NHS, all the doctors and nurses, big clap' as Harvey cheered.

Harvey then said: 'Thank you NHS' as the mother-son duo continued clapping.

For the past two weeks, NHS workers have been the recipients of the cheers and claps from the nation.

Cheers: Queen rocker Brian May, 72, joined actress wife Anita Dobson on their doorstep to show their appreciation

Support: The couple were seen clapping before giving the thumbs up to the camera, with Anita blowing a kiss

But last week the event, organised by the Clap For Our Carers campaign, was expanded to include all key workers, such as supermarket staff, the emergency services and teachers who are continuing to work.

It comes as an urgent new appeal was launched tonight in an attempt to raise millions of pounds to support NHS nurses, doctors, staff and volunteers.

NHS Charities Together hopes the #OneMillionClaps campaign will raise at least 5million.

The appeal will be promoted with a short film voiced by David Walliams and featuring NHS staff and people from across the UK.

#OneMillionClaps is part of National COVID-19 URGENT APPEAL, which was launched two weeks ago by NHS Charities Together - the official umbrella organisation for NHS charities.

The appeal asks people to donate 5 by texting the word 'CLAP' followed by any messages of support to 70507.

To you: Myleene Klass applauded with son Apollo and daughter Hero, nine, in tow as they wore blue for the NHS

Cute: Apollo and Hero were among the younger Brits showing their support

Each 5 donation will be used to provide a range of supplies and support for NHS staff and volunteers- including food, travel, accommodation and counselling. Individual messages of support will be also forwarded to local NHS charities and sent to the donors' local hospital.

The goal is to inspire at least a million people to donate 5 - meaning more than 5million will be raised for NHS staff in just one evening.

Ellie Orton, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together said: 'Every single penny raised for nurses, doctors and NHS staff in this way will go to help those health service workers who are working so hard and risking so much to help us.

'Thousands of staff are risking their lives every day for us and many of them are now sick themselves or at breaking point.

'I really hope #OneMillionClaps inspires those who can to give a donation that will make a real difference to the amazing staff and volunteers who are daily saving lives and battling against this horribly virus on our behalf.

'If we can raise 5 million tonight, it will go a long way to providing them and their families with the support they so desperately need.'

The UK recorded 881 more coronavirus deaths on Thursday, taking Britain's total to 7,978 as its coronavirus crisis rumbles on and 4,344 more positive tests pushed the number of patients, past and present, to 65,077.

The grim tally is considerably smaller than the devastating 938 announced on Wednesday but still represents the second biggest surge since the epidemic began almost six weeks ago.

Britain has so far managed to avoid the dark milestone of announcing 1,000 deaths in a single day, something that has only happened in the US.
A single format and simpler, uniform rules would have kept the service going.

In other parts of the world including in the US, managing demand and capacities along with ensuring preventive measures were an issue, but there was hardly any administrative hurdle anywhere.

At least two recent research reports, one by Technopak and another by LocalCircles, juxtaposed physical neighbourhood stores (kirana) against e-commerce to show physical retail had served the consumer much better since the lockdown kicked in.

They also gave out numbers to say that e-commerce was a tiny fraction of the total retail pie in the country, suggesting that the role of e-tailing was insignificant even as consumers were forced to stay home due to Covid-19-linked lockdown.

Both points had merit, but the reports missed out on why e-commerce failed its loyalists during one of the toughest weeks.

Coming to the second point, if e-commerce firms sell a minuscule portion of the total retail sales in the country, as rightly pointed out by the reports, they did not explain why traders have been up in arms against e-commerce firms fearing adverse impact on their business.

Based on traders complaints, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had instituted a probe into the alleged predatory pricing by e-commerce firms.

But by definition, predatory pricing can be done by an entity with substantial market share, and e-commerce is clearly a small player still in India, as argued in the Delhi high court.

However, since the focus of the moment is COVID-19, lets focus on the first point.

That is, why did e-commerce firms let their users down.

After the lockdown, e-commerce firms cancelled the old orders and then delayed deliveries once the service resumed, triggering angry reactions on social media.

But, if their side of the story is to be believed, they have been a victim of red-tapism and licence raj in the time of COVID-19.

While working from home, as all of India is, an executive at a prominent e-commerce firm says everyone has been on the job 17 hours a day.

Whats striking is that the employees are not busy brainstorming over the next innovation in e-commerce or planning for the next big shopping festival once things normalise.

In fact, a large number of them are engaged in an odd job: Talking to officers across 750-plus districts in the country so that curfew passes could be issued for transporting goods from the warehouse to the delivery hubs across as many pin codes as possible.

At the core of the problem was the fact that there was no uniform norm for anything guiding e-commerce.

The rules changed from one state to another, one city to another, one district to another and one day to another.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the one-day Janata Curfew on March 22, e-commerce was among the exempted services.

Then after the lockdown a few days later, local administration and cops across the states took over, issuing new orders and reversing the old ones.

Trucks were stopped and delivery associates were beaten up, resulting in a shutdown and crippling the services for days.

Subsequently, the companies started getting curfew passes, though after crossing several state-level and district-level hurdles.

The passes are trickling in, they are not all there yet.

Even as the companies have begun taking orders and deliveries are rolling out slowly, the problem of multiple checks and passes during the lockdown remains.

Individual passes have to be secured for each city and each town, making the task of issuing tens of thousands of curfew passes for e-commerce companies alone a humungous exercise.

Then there are different formats for states.

If West Bengal permits self-certification, Punjab and Maharshtra may not.

Within states also, formats change. For example, in Maharashtra, Mumbai and Pune have different rules. While Pune allows e-passes, Mumbai does not.

The e-commerce firms had yet another issue. Whats essential and whats not.

They could sell only essential goods online and every district defined it differently.

Now, was blanket to be treated as essential or non-essential?

Could diaper be counted as an essential?

While working from home, were routers, plugs and laptops essential? No, all these were struck out.

E-commerce was told to stick to staple food and medical supply.

Even as coronavirus is a worldwide phenomenon and e-commerce is delivering globally, why is it that the service got choked in India?

A single format and simpler, uniform rules would have kept the service going, as an executive, whos going through it all, says.

In other parts of the world including in the US, managing demand and capacities along with ensuring preventive measures were an issue, but there was hardly any administrative hurdle anywhere.

Here in India, the companies had stock but could not deliver because of silos drawn up by municipalities and districts.

Yet another lesson for the states on what not to do in a crisis situation.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. The doubling rate of coronavirus spread in Armenia comes near to 10 days, Health Minister of Armenia Arsen Torosyan wrote on his Facebook page.

''If we preserve this rate we will have 1800 cases on April 19 and 3600 cases on April 29. The positive side is that the rate of spread in the last 5 days is lower than the rate of the last 10 days.

The negative side is that this small relative achievement can be lost if we calm down and again return to our daily life without preserving the preventive regulations', ARMENPRESS reports the Minister wrote.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
The telecom regulator, ComReg has confirmed that it is to allow mobile phone companies access to extra bandwidth to cope with the significant increased traffic demands of mobile networks since the outbreak. Stock picture

Extra radio spectrum is to be made temporarily available to mobile network operators to cater for a sharp rise in demand for voice and broadband services. The introduction of measures by the Government to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic have led to a surge in usage.

The telecom regulator, ComReg has confirmed that it is to allow mobile phone companies access to extra bandwidth to cope with the significant increased traffic demands of mobile networks since the outbreak.

The access will be granted for an initial period of up to three months with the potential to extend it for a further three months if the current restrictions remain in place for that period.

ComReg is releasing additional spectrum in the 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands while it temporarily liberalises the 2.1 GHz band which is currently licensed for 3G use only.

The regulator said the measure is a response to "the exceptional and extraordinary situation raised by Covid-19".

"This use should reduce the traffic in the bands in which services are currently being provided, thereby improving services even for those customers whose equipment cannot directly use these bands," ComReg said.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Virgin Media had both expressed concern about the plans citing the threat of interference to their operations.

The IAA had said it was "greatly concerned" at the proposed use of the 2.6GHz band because of its proximity to the band used by radar that assists the work of air traffic controllers.

Virgin Media, which uses the 700MHz band on its closed fixed cable network, claimed the temporary release of spectrum on this bandwidth was likely to result in interference which would have "a significant adverse impact" on its services.

ComReg acknowledged that there were "a small number of technical issues" relating to the co-existence of existing services with the proposed temporary use of spectrum by other operators.

Amid concern about their ability to meet the demand for voice and broadband resulting from the large number of people observing the lockdown, the country's three mobile network operators - Eir, Three and Vodafone - had made a joint request to ComReg last month to release extra spectrum.

The regulator said the three companies and Virgin Media as well as RTE Transmission Network had agreed coordination procedures.

It is expected regulations to give effect to the temporary changes will be approved by the minister for communications, Richard Bruton, in the coming days.
European finance ministers are again trying to hammer out a deal to minimise the expected recession.

The European Union faces an existential threat if it cannot come together to combat the coronavirus crisis, Italy said on Thursday as the divided bloc sought to salvage talks on a rescue package to aid battered economies.

A deal has so far proved elusive amid fraught discussions between the more fiscally conservative north and the indebted south, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and is pushing for unprecedented measures like issuing joint EU debt.

Sixteen hours of talks between EU finance ministers on a half-a-trillion-euro ($546bn) package collapsed on Wednesday. They resumed on Thursday to push for a deal to help governments, companies and individuals through a deep recession the pandemic is expected to cause in Europe this year.

Its a big challenge to the existence of Europe, Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC. If Europe fails to come up with a monetary and financial policy adequate for the biggest challenge since World War II, not only Italians but European citizens will be deeply disappointed.

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For weeks, the EU has struggled to show a united front in the face of the pandemic, with the 27 member states squabbling over economic rescue plans, medical supplies and border curbs.

France and Germany are pushing for a compromise to break the deadlock, but budget hawk Austria said that, while it was willing to make concessions, the contentious euro bonds remained a no-go for Vienna.

That is out of the question for us, said Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel.

A deal may still be possible on Thursday, said German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.

It looks like an agreement is possible, he said, signalling that the Netherlands, seemingly alone in demanding tough conditions for countries like Italy and Spain if they draw aid funds, had softened its stance.

A senior EU diplomat said the risk was growing that the finance ministers would just patch up divisions for the sake of announcing a deal, but would leave the key unresolved issues to national leaders.

There is a lot of pressure for an agreement today, said the diplomat. Germany and France are pushing for it. But its not easy  we may be heading for a formal agreement that doesnt really solve much in practice.

Sticking points

The package under discussion would bring the EUs total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion), the biggest in the world. But it includes contentious elements that expose deep divisions among countries on sharing the financial burden of crises, bringing back bitter disputes and mistrust from the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012.





Another problem is agreeing on conditions under which eurozone governments could access cheap credit from the eurozone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism.

Italy and most other countries are ready to accept very light conditions, but the Netherlands wants stricter rules, including country-specific economic criteria, which is politically unacceptable for Rome.

Its important that we take this decision today on the 500 billion euros that is in discussion  thats an incredibly large sum of money that we could use to help a lot of people, especially in the hardest-hit countries, Spain and Italy, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said.

Other elements of the package being discussed are more guarantees for the European Investment Bank to back up companies and a scheme to help subsidise wages across the bloc so that companies can cut work hours instead of jobs.

But a separate plan to finance the recovery, after the epidemic, raises more questions. France and the southerners want the money  possibly up to three percent of EU gross domestic product, or more than 400 billion euros ($437bn)  to be borrowed jointly on the market by all EU states.

This is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria, which strongly oppose joint debt issuance, even in such an emergency as the coronavirus pandemic.

The ministers might end up sidestepping the problem by just mentioning the need for a recovery fund and asking the 27 national leaders of the bloc to decide on how to finance it.
Sandha Maung, 18, is one of the tens of thousands of Myanmar migrant workers who have returned from Thailand in recent weeks after their factories closed or employers asked them to go home as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

The migrant workers returning from Thailand, along with thousands of others coming back from jobs in China, are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine once they cross the border to ensure that they do not have the contagious virus, known officially as COVID-19.

Myanmar nationals comprise the largest migrant worker population in Thailand at about 2.3 million, according to a 2019 report by the International Organization for Migration. Labor activists say that most of the migrant workers are from Mon and Kayin states and Bago and Yangon regions.

Sandha Maung, who hails from Theinzayat village in Kyaikhto township of southeastern Myanmars Mon state, spoke with reporter Khin Khin Ei from RFAs Myanmar Service about his journey back from Thailand and the hardship he faced as a migrant worker. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.



RFA: What did you decide to return to Myanmar?



Sandha Maung: I returned because of COVID-19 and because of the hardship I faced as a migrant worker. I changed jobs three times. First, I worked as a seamster. Then, I quit because I did not do well at that job. After quitting a job, I needed to secure a new one within 15 days. Otherwise, my work permit would have expired. So, I had to take odd jobs like transporting bottles of purified water and working as a vendor. I had been sending money to my family from the wages I earned at work. It has been three months now, and I havent been able to send any money back. I was working on renewing my passport, and [now] Thailand is going through a recession. Usually, I sent up to 200,000 kyats (U.S. $240) a month to my family.

RFA: Why do Myanmar workers seek jobs in Thailand?

Sandha Maung: Because of the scarcity of job opportunities inside Myanmar, many people want to go to Thailand to take jobs under the memorandum of understanding [MOU between Myanmar and Thailand]. The bosses know about it and prefer new workers over the senior ones because they can pay lower wages to the newcomers.

RFA: What kinds of hardship do migrant workers face there?

Sandha Maung: Thailand is going through a recession, and jobs have become scarce. Many Myanmar migrant workers as well as some Thai workers are facing hardships. There are random job agents in the street who charge up to 3,000 baht [U.S. $92] and promise to find jobs for them. Many people are gullible and are pushed by job scarcity to trust these employment agents. They are lured into jobs that are not good. They tolerate unpaid jobs, horrible conditions, and broken promises. Some Myanmar people work with Thai agents to exploit other migrant workers.

RFA: How difficult is it for migrant workers to change jobs in Thailand?

Sandha Maung: Normally, work permits can be extended up to five years under the bilateral agreement, but lately they are giving all sorts of reasons not to [renew them], and are no longer extending them after four years. When a migrant worker gets a job in Thailand thorough an agent under the MOU, he needs to stay in that job for at least two years, regardless of what the conditions are. If he cannot, then his employer issues an official letter of transfer that requires the worker to find another job within 15 days. If he cant do this, then the work permit will expire, and he will be an illegal worker. Then, the migrant worker cannot get a legal job at factories. He will have to survive doing odd jobs.

RFA: What will you do now that you have returned to Myanmar?

Sandha Maung: So far, I dont know what Ill do next since Ive returned home. I have no savings and no plans. There is no support from the government for returning migrant workers, let alone for other people in the country. I dont have any plans for a job here. I dont have enough capital to start a new business. I have no idea about what to do. I have seen many factories in the country that are shut down. I hope the trend will be reversed and that we will have more job opportunities at home. We prefer to work in our home country.

Reported by Khin Khin Ei for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Safeway in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Google Maps

A woman identified as Jennifer Walker was arrested by police in South Lake Tahoe, California, on Tuesday.

Police say she was licking jewelry and putting it into her cart at a local Safeway, which resulted in the store throwing away $1,800 worth of items.

Walker has since been charged with felony vandalism.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A 53-year-old woman in California has been arrested after police said she ruined $1,800 worth of groceries by licking items at a local grocery store.

An employee at a Safeway supermarket in South Lake Tahoe, near the Nevada border, called 911 reporting that a woman was putting jewelry from the store on to her hands, licking the pieces, then putting them into her cart, which was filled with other items, according to a press release from the city.

The store said all items in the cart  worth $1,800  had been cross-contaminated and were unable to be sold. A further investigation found that the woman had no intention of buying any of the items, according to the release.

The woman, later identified as Jennifer Walker, was charged with felony vandalism and booked into El Dorado County Jail. Her bail has been set at $10,000.

Several grocery stores across the country have faced similar incidents, of customers licking, coughing, and spitting on items as supermarkets remain open as essential businesses amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In Massachusetts last week, a man was tackled by bystanders who said he coughed and spit on produce at a grocery store.

In New Jersey last month, a man was charged with making "terroristic threats" after police said he intentionally coughed on a supermarket employee.

Also in March, a woman was arrested after police said she spat on produce, bakery items, and meat at a Pennsylvania grocery store, causing $35,000 worth of damage.

Read the original article on Insider
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Huthi rebels has declared a two-week ceasefire in the country starting Thursday in a bid to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The unilateral ceasefire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties despite a call by the United Nations for an immediate cessation to protect civilians in the Arab world's poorest nation from the pandemic.

The announcement, due to take effect from 9 a.m. GMT on Thursday, marks the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered ceasefire in the port city of Hodeida during talks in Sweden in late 2018.

The unilateral ceasefire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring Riyadh-led military coalition and Yemen's Huthi rebels

'The coalition is determined... to support efforts towards combatting the spread of COVID-19 pandemic,' Turki al-Maliki, the military alliance's spokesman, said on Wednesday.

'The coalition announces a comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen for a period of two weeks, starting on Thursday.'

The two-week truce, which could be extended, was aimed at creating 'appropriate conditions' for a UN-sponsored meeting between the warring parties to enable a 'permanent ceasefire' in Yemen, Maliki added.

There was no immediate reaction from the Iran-aligned rebels.

The war has already left Yemen gripped by what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis

But hours before the announcement, the rebels released a comprehensive document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end of the coalition's blockade on Yemen's land, sea and air ports.

The coalition, which launched its military intervention to support Yemen's internationally recognised government in 2015, said it was fully committed to a two-week ceasefire.

But when asked whether it will respond if the rebels persist with attacks during the truce, a Saudi official said it reserved the right to 'defend our people'.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths welcomed the truce, calling on the warring parties to 'cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency'.

The ceasefire comes as Saudi Arabia, reeling from plunging oil prices, seeks to extricate itself from the costly five-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Saudi deputy defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman called on the rebels to 'show good will' by seriously engaging in dialogue.

'The two week ceasefire will hopefully create a more effective climate to deescalate tensions, work with (Griffiths) towards a sustainable political settlement,' Prince Khalid said on Twitter.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Yemen to help avert potentially disastrous consequences of the coronavirus outbreak.

Saudi deputy defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, pictured, called on the rebels to 'show good will' by seriously engaging in dialogue.

Yemen's broken healthcare system has so far recorded no cases of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic.

'The ceasefire seems to be more of a courtesy than a policy -- it comes in response to UN calls to deescalate during the COVID-19 crisis,' Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, told AFP.

Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government and the Huthi rebels had all welcomed an appeal from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an 'immediate global ceasefire' to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones.

'It is most important to watch if the Huthis will stop their military operations,' Alasrar said.

'That will be the real litmus test of a successful ceasefire as the Huthis have currently opened multiple battlefronts they cannot afford to close.'

Yemen's healthcare system, severely damaged by the war, has so far not recorded any cases of COVID-19, but there are fears that when it does it, the impact will be catastrophic

Fighting recently escalated again between the Huthis and Riyadh-backed Yemeni troops around the strategic northern districts of Al-Jouf and Marib, ending a months-long lull.

And Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and the border city of Jizan late last month, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital, state media reported.

It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Huthi rebels offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating assaults on Saudi oil installations.

Last week, the coalition carried out multiple air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in retaliation for the missile strikes.
Nearly 100 citizens of Armenia in Turkey have contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. This is what Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Anna Naghdalyan said in response to Armenpress news agencys question how it was possible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize the transport of those citizens to Armenia when Turkey and Armenia have a closed border and no diplomatic relations.

Anna Naghdalyans response is the following: You are aware that Armenia is taking all possible measures to ensure the return of citizens to Armenia, and priority is given to citizens of Armenia in difficult situations in countries where the coronavirus pandemic is widely common. This is why a decision was made to transport the citizens of Armenia who are in Turkey and wish to return to Armenia.

Nearly 100 citizens of Armenia in Turkey have contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making efforts and providing funding to transport 70 citizens of Armenia through the territory of Georgia, and they will be under a mandatory 14-day quarantine as soon as they arrive in Armenia. The transport is agreed with the relevant Turkish and Georgian services, and their assistance is valuable.

As for the press release issued by the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople stating that Turkey plans to provide assistance to Armenia in the fight against the coronavirus, Anna Naghdalyan said the following: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the press release regarding the phone talks between the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and the President of Turkey. As a third party, we will refrain from commenting on the unofficial information. In any case, there is no such issue on the agenda.
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By The Associated Press

Apr. 08, 2020 | WASHINGTON

By The Associated Press Apr. 08, 2020 | 12:03 PM | WASHINGTON

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the partys establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, acknowledging the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up.



The Vermont senators announcement makes Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in a general election campaign that will be waged against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.



Sanders initially exceeded sky-high expectations about his ability to recreate the magic of his 2016 presidential bid, and even overcame a heart attack last October. But he found himself unable to convert unwavering support from progressives into a viable path to the nomination, with "electability fears fueled by questions about whether his democratic socialist ideology would be palatable to general election voters.



The path toward victory is virtually impossible, Sanders told supporters Wednesday. If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination I would certainly continue the campaign, but its just not there.



He called Biden a very decent man but didnt offer an explicit endorsement of the former vice president. Sanders said his name would remain on the ballot in states that have not yet held primaries so he can gain more delegates and exert significant influence on the Democratic platform.



Biden credited Sanders for creating a movement and appealed to his progressive supporters.



I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country, Biden said. I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. Youre needed.



Sanders began his latest White House bid facing questions about whether he could win back the supporters who chose him four years ago as an insurgent alternative to Hillary Clinton. Despite winning 22 states in 2016, there were no guarantees hed be a major presidential contender this cycle.



But Sanders used strong polling and solid fundraising  collected almost entirely from small donations made online  to quiet early doubters. Like the first time, he attracted widespread support from young voters and made new inroads within the Hispanic community, even as his appeal with African Americans remained weak.



Sanders amassed the most votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which opened primary voting, and cruised to an easy victory in Nevada  seemingly leaving him well positioned to sprint to the Democratic nomination while a deeply crowded and divided field of alternatives sunk around him.



But a crucial endorsement of Biden by influential South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, and a subsequent, larger-than-expected victory in South Carolina, propelled the former vice president into Super Tuesday, when he won 10 of 14 states.



In a matter of days, Biden's former Democratic rivals lined up to endorse him. His campaign had appeared on the brink of collapse after New Hampshire but found new life as the rest of the partys more moderate establishment coalesced around him as an alternative to Sanders.



Things only got worse the following week when Sanders lost Michigan, where he had campaigned hard and upset Clinton in 2016. He was also beaten in Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho the same night, and the results were so decisive that Sanders headed to Vermont without speaking to the media.



The coronavirus outbreak essentially froze the campaign, preventing Sanders from holding the large rallies that had become his trademark and shifting the primary calendar. It became increasingly unclear where he could notch a victory that would help him regain ground against Biden.



Though he will not be the nominee, Sanders was a key architect of many of the social policies that dominated the Democratic primary, including a Medicare for All universal, government-funded health care plan, tuition-free public college, a $15 minimum wage and sweeping efforts to fight climate change under the Green New Deal.



Sanders began the 2020 race by arguing that he was the most electable Democrat against Trump. He said his working-class appeal could help Democrats win back Rust Belt states that Trump won in 2016, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. But as the race wore on, the senator reverted to his 2016 roots, repeatedly stressing that he backs a political revolution from the bottom up under the slogan Not me. Us.



Sanders, 78, also faced persistent questions about being the fields oldest candidate. Those were pushed into the spotlight on Oct. 1, when he was at a rally in Las Vegas and asked for a chair to be brought on stage so he could sit down. Suffering from chest pains afterward, he underwent surgery to insert two stints because of a blocked artery, and his campaign revealed two days later that he had suffered a heart attack.



But a serious health scare that might have derailed other campaigns seemed only to help Sanders as his already-strong fundraising got stronger and rising stars on the Democratic left, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, endorsed him. Many supporters said the heart attack only strengthened their resolve to back him.



Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren outshone him throughout much of the summer, but Sanders worked his way back up in the polls. The two progressive candidates spent months refusing to attack each other, though Sanders offered a strong defense of Medicare for All after Warren offered a transition plan saying it would take the country years to transition to it.



The two longtime allies finally clashed bitterly, if briefly, in January, when Warren said that Sanders had suggested during a 2018 private meeting that a woman couldnt be elected president. Sanders denied saying that, but Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.



Warren left the race after a dismal Super Tuesday showing in which she finished third in her own state. Any lingering tension seemed to fade by Wednesday when Warren tweeted her thanks to Sanders for fighting so relentlessly for Americas working families.



And Sanders made clear that while he is exiting the campaign, he will keep pushing for progressive principles.



Please stay in this fight with me," he told supporters. "The struggle continues.
Thirty million children are at risk of disease and death because of the secondary impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report warns.

Aftershocks, a new report released by child-focused aid charity, World Vision Ireland, reveals millions of children are under threat from other diseases and increased food insecurity. Weak health systems quickly becoming overwhelmed and more people being pushed into extreme poverty means lives are at risk, the charity says. The charity has announced that it plans to increase its initial reach from 11 million to 22.5 million people across 17 priority countries, with its Covid-19 response.

The report analyses the devastating secondary impacts on children of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, and models what would happen if they were replicated in the current crisis. It focuses on these consequences in the 24 most fragile countries covered by the UNs COVID-19 humanitarian appeal.

Key findings:

Secondary impacts will threaten many more childrens lives than COVID-19 itself. Current child deaths are low because severe novel coronavirus infections are rare among children.

As many as 30 million childrens lives are in danger from secondary health impacts:26 million+ children at greater risk of being exposed to other deadly diseases for lack of immunisation

5 million+ children could suffer from increasing malnutrition, an increase of almost 40% from current levels

100,000+ children could die from malaria, a 50% increase from current levels



Niall McLoughlin, CEO of World Vision Ireland, said: 30 million childrens lives at risk is a shocking statistic and it really brings home the reality that children are so vulnerable in a crisis. Experience tells us that when epidemics overwhelm health systems, the impact on children is deadly.

"They are so dependent on their parents and susceptible to plunging into extreme poverty, should anything happen to them. As well as already being vulnerable to diseases and malnutrition, the secondary impacts of a crisis like Covid-19 on children in fragile contexts is devastating - oftentimes, they must engage in child labour to survive; see their families sink into poverty; or suffer isolation and psychological harm.

World Vision, which launched a major emergency response to the Ebola outbreak in 2015, analysed various impacts including reduced access to healthcare, decreased immunisations and a rise in malnutrition. The report demonstrates that the combination of pre-existing weak health systems, populations with high need, and this current pandemic may lead to catastrophic mortality for children.

The report comes as World Vision launches its 70 million response plan to combat the effects of the virus. With the majority of its more than 37,000 staff being locally based, the organisation has been responding since January to the initial outbreak in Asia, and plans to reach 22.5 million people across 17 priority countries.
People humiliating medical professionals, who are on the frontline of the battle against novel coronavirus, should be named and shamed, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.

Vardhanwas delivering the keynote address at the 'Global Online Conference onCOVID-19: Fall-out and Future' organisedby The Times School of Media, which is part of the Bennett University.

Vardhan's comments come in the backdrop of reports about health professionals coming under attack in various parts of the country.

Vardhan, in his address, stressed that social distancing andlockdownare the most potent social vaccine at the moment to combatcoronavirus.

Vardhan, who is also the minister of Science and Technology said India is among the five-six countries which have isolated the virus and has proceeded towards the development of a vaccine.

"We are part of the World Health Organisation solidarity trial where we are working on vaccine. All the scientific work that is related to management ofCOVID-19 pandemic is going on.

"I strongly feel that social distancing andlockdownare the most potent social vaccine at the moment. As long as we do not have a vaccine, social distancing right now andlockdownremains the most potent social vaccine. This is a point that needs to be underlined right now," he said.

The minister also thanked the medical professionals who have been on thefrontlineof fight againstCOVID-19 "despite all the possible risks of getting infected".

"They are putting their heart and soul Some cases appear where they are being humiliated orostracizedin the society due to one reason or the other. Every day we hear such information.

"I think we have to name and shame such people and stand with the medical professionals and ensure that such incidents do not happen in the society," he said.

Stressing that India had begun preparations to tackle the virus right from the time China reported about it to the WHO, he said India has the lowest cases per million at 3.8 across the world and has a doubling rate of 4.58.

The Union minister said a majority of districts in the country are still unaffected and asserted that there is a very aggressive containment strategy in place.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FAIRFIELD (dpa-AFX) - GE (GE) said, given the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company believes it is prudent to withdraw guidance for 2020. For the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, GE preliminarily expects adjusted earnings per share to be materially below its prior guidance of about $0.10, which the company had shared on March 4, 2020. GE preliminarily expects Industrial free cash flow to be near the prior guidance of about negative $2 billion. GE CEO Lawrence Culp, Jr., said, 'We are taking swift actions across the company to position GE to come out stronger on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis. With net proceeds of about $20 billion from the BioPharma transaction now in hand, we have more flexibility to de-risk and further strengthen our balance sheet.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
B oris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care at St Thomas Hospital, Downing Street has said.

The Prime Minister, 55, was moved into the ICU at about 7pm Monday night on the advice of his doctors after he began experiencing breathing difficulties.

But after three nights in intensive care his condition improved enought to be moved back to the ward and he is now in "extremely good spirits", Downing Street said.

A spokesman said: "The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery."

A billboard van outside St Thomas' Hospital in Central London where Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted / PA

"He is in extremely good spirits."

Colleagues, MPs and world leaders were quick to congratulate the PM, including US President Donald Trump, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Mr Trump said: "Great News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just been moved out of Intensive Care. Get well Boris!!!"

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: So good that the Prime Minister is out of intensive care and on the road to recovery.

"The NHS is there for us all and I know our amazing NHS staff have given him their characteristic world-class care.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputising for the PM said: "The news we all wanted to hear. Thank you to all the NHS staff helping the country and the PM to beat #coronavirus. Together we can all do our bit by staying home and protecting the NHS #StayHomeSaveLives."

Meanwhile, his partner Carrie Symonds tweeted a string of clapping emojis as she joined in the Clap For Carers campaign at 8pm.

Her tweet came less than an hour after it was confirmed Mr Johnson had been moved out of intensive care.

New Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also tweeted: This is good news. I hope it is the beginnings of a speedy recovery.

The PM being moved from intensive care came after Downing Street said his condition was "improving" earlier on Thursday.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

The Prime Minister had a good night in St Thomas Hospital on Wednesday night and thanks the NHS for the brilliant care he has received, his official spokesman said.

Mr Johnson spent a total of three nights in ICU where he was said to be continuing standard oxygen treatment," without the need of a ventilator.

Mr Johnson spent a total of three nights in ICU / Getty Images

Mr Raab is expected lead the Government's show of support for health staff in his absence.

The PM was last seen in public clapping for NHS workers in Downing Street last Thursday.

He was admitted to hospital on Sunday for tests and observation after his coronavirus symptoms persisted for 10 days.

His spokesman added that weekly claps for carers have been providing wonderful, unifying moments for the country. It is hoped that millions will turn out again at 8pm tonight.

The Prime Minister thanks the NHS for the brilliant care which it is providing, Mr Johnsons spokesman said.

The claps for carers have provided wonderful, unifying moments for the entire country. Im sure that tonight we will once again see people in their millions paying tribute to our fantastic dedicated care workers.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the first big breakthrough in Mr Johnsons health on Wednesday, when he said the PM was now sitting up in bed and engaging positively with medics
A world expert in aerosols says the new coronavirus may be spreading more easily through the air than first thought - from breathing as well as coughing or sneezing in some cases.

While scientists agree the virus is not airborne in the same way as other infectious diseases such as measles, they are split on the question of how big a risk it poses in the air.

The World Health Organisation says theres not enough evidence to say the virus can jump from person to person in small or aerosolised particles. Its mostly shed by larger water droplets from the nose and mouth, tiny balls of mucus, salt and virus that can shoot out up to about a metre when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Sometimes they land on and contaminate surfaces, but theyre too heavy to survive long in the air.

The question of how easily the new coronavirus can spread in the air is still up for debate. Credit:AP

A growing number of scientists, including infectious disease expert Professor Raina MacIntyre and aerosol scientist and WHO advisor Professor Lidia Morawska, now say the risk from aerosols may have been underestimated. Warning signs are piling up, Professor Morawska says - the virus rips through a cruise ship even after passengers are isolated in their cabins, a choir meets in Washington and 45 out of the 60 singers leave the two hour rehearsal infected even though none have symptoms.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said that the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra are a result of Delhi Police not stopping the Tablighi Jamaat's religious gathering in Markaz, Nizamuddin following which the attendees came back to the state and added to the case tally.

Deshmukh said that the Maharashtra government did not give permission for a similar religious gathering.

"A program like the one at Markaz in Delhi's Nizamuddin was scheduled to be held near Mumbai in Vasai on March 15-16 but was not allowed by us. Why did the Delhi Police not stop this program like us? Because of this, COVID-19 cases have increased," Deshmukh said at a press conference here.

"The whole state machinery is trying its best to contain this pandemic. This new problem surfaced in Maharashtra and other states because of the Delhi Police. Who is responsible for this?" he asked.

The Maharashtra Home Minister further said that approximately 58 people who attended the Delhi gathering are still to be traced.

"57 to 58 Tablighi people still missing in the state, they have switched off their phones, they need to come to us or we will take strict action against them," Deshmukh added.

The Tablighi Jamaat event has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 in India with several positive cases linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

162 more COVID-19 cases were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 1,297, according to the state Health Department.

Meanwhile, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,734, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Out of the 5,734 cases; 5,095 are active cases while472 cases have recovered and been discharged, while one case has migrated. The death toll has risen to 166 after 17 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Efforts continue to return Egyptians stranded the world over because of the coronavirus

The last flight arriving from Washington carrying Egyptians stuck in the US due to the coronavirus lockdown landed in Egypt early Sunday morning.

EgyptAir, the countrys carrier, said the flight was the last to return stranded Egyptians.

The company managed to repatriate thousands of Egyptian citizens from various countries, Roshdi Zakaria, president of EgyptAir Holding Company, was quoted as saying.

Ziad, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, was lucky enough to take the first flight leaving Washington last Thursday.

I called EgyptAir and filled the application form online. Just a day later, the embassy contacted me about my flight details. I had to collect my things quickly and go to Washington, he said.

Ziad is now spending his 14-day quarantine in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam. Many of his friends are still stuck in the US and Canada, he added.

The number of Egyptians in the US wanting to leave is nearly 1,000, according to Minister of Immigration and Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram. She said her ministry received several requests from Egyptian students in the US to return home especially following the closure of universities.

Amr Abdallah, who was visiting his daughter in Santa Monica, contacted the consulate on a 24-hour hotline for the stranded. The embassy then sent a list of those who wished to fly on EgyptAir which contacted the passengers later to inform them of their travel details to Egypt via Paris, Abdallah said.

During our transit in Paris, he added, we were told we would be quarantined in a hotel in Cairo for 15 days.

The news was a shock to many passengers who were not sure they would be able to afford the expenses. However, as it turned out, he said, all expenses at the hotel were covered by the government.

Egyptians in other countries were not as lucky. Islam, a honeymooner in Bali, Indonesia, arrived on 16 March and was planning to spend a week. He heard the news about the closure of air space even before he had finished unpacking. Egypts suspension of international flights, which began on 19 March, was originally set to last until 31 March but was extended to 15 April. It is not clear whether it will be lifted then.

I am in contact with other stranded Egyptians through WhatsApp. As a group, we are in constant touch with the embassy and a member of parliament who is monitoring our case, Islam said.

We were promised that a plane will return us on Saturday 4 April provided we sign a paper that we will return to a 14-day-quarantine in Marsa Alam, he added, but then we were told that we must wait until 15 April when flights resume.

Now, most of us are staying in the same hotel which is literally deserted and we are trying to support each other. We have no other choice, Islam said.

Makram said that Egyptian embassies in Indonesia and Singapore are trying to coordinate with the authorities there to return Egyptians.

Twenty-one Egyptians cant leave Brazil and are left with no choice but to wait.

Menna was attending a two-month public relations course in Brazil. She is now in Brazil with 20 other Egyptians who were there to study, on holiday or for their honeymoon.

Amr Abdel-Moneim, Mennas father, told Al-Ahram Weekly that they contacted the embassy which was very cooperative, but could not do anything. They promised to help but, given the distance and the few number of passengers, their situation is more difficult, he said.

A minimum 140 passengers is needed to send an emergency plane, according to Makram.

However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, Abdel-Moneim said. The Brazilian embassy arranged with Ethiopian Airlines to repatriate Brazilians in Egypt on Tuesday. I hope the authorities can arrange for the same plane to take back the Egyptians on its trip back from Brazil, he said.

There are hundreds of students studying in England who are also waiting to be repatriated after the suspension of universities until the next academic year. Some were lucky to make it through after several flights headed to the UK to retrieve Egyptians.

Farah, who is studying interior design in Manchester, was fortunate to catch a plane last week Tuesday and is now spending a 14-day quarantine in a hotel in Cairo.

The quarantine is relaxing. I try to spend most of the time in my room practising social distancing. But sometimes I leave my room and meet the others who try to socialise with caution, Farah said.

It is possible that another flight will head to the UK next week, according to a tweet by Jeoffrey Adams, the British ambassador to Cairo.

We are in discussions with the authorities and airlines to arrange further return flights, possibly next Sunday, 12 April, for the last remaining British visitors in Egypt, Adams said on twitter.

The Ministry of Immigration called on all Egyptians abroad and who wish to return to fill an application form available on the ministrys website or contact their embassies by phone or in person.

We give priority to those who were on business trips or went to visit family members abroad and their break ended, or their visas expired, and they have to leave. Given that most of them have no shelter and may not have enough cash, we had to run emergency flights to return them... The return of residents needs more time and different arrangements, Makram said.

The situation in the Gulf, where thousands of Egyptians work, is no better.

EgyptAir said last month that it would charter flights from Kuwait to Cairo from 26 March to 30 March. Another flight was added on 31 March.

Talks are underway with Saudi Arabia to allow more emergency flights to return Egyptians there, according to the Ministry of Immigration.

Thirty-seven Egyptians in Tunisia were returned last week via Tunis Air. Several were on business trips while others are working for UN organisations operating in Libya. They were forced to go to Tunisia to return home.

Last week, an emergency flight arrived with 140 Egyptian passengers in Oman.

Egyptians in Sudan were allowed to return home by bus via the Qustol-Eshkit crossing that opened in March. However, it was closed late last month to control coronavirus.

All Egyptians brought from overseas undergo tests for the coronavirus and are asked to remain in self-isolation for 28 days. Those who are required to spend the first 14 days in a hotel either in Cairo or Marsa Alam stay another 14 days at home.

The return of Egyptians was coordinated between the Ministry of Immigration, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Health and the Foreign Ministry. A task force was set up representing the four ministries to receive return requests and respond to queries. It has received thousands of requests.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The owner of a New Jersey-based screen printing and embroidery company has launched an online store selling custom-made apparel to support local businesses in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Brandon Gano, owner of Twisted Ink in Flemington, recently created Here For Good Central Jersey, through which T-shirts are sold at $20 apiece and half of each sale is donated to an independent business represented by the design or logo of the apparel that is sold.

Gano said the store has already earned over $2,000, and hence raised over $1,000 for approximately 10 participating businesses as well as for the Flemington Community Partnership, which is providing grant funds for local businesses that have closed and are unable to operate due to the pandemic.

Robin Lapidus, executive director of the Flemington Community Partnership, described Ganos project as a very exciting initiative to help struggling businesses in the area.

We are so impressed with our businesses resiliency and creativity and willingness to help each other, Lapidus said. This has really been a challenge, but weve seen incredible creativity and partnership and cooperation and its really been very inspiring.

Gano emphasized that the 50 percent of funds he keeps are not a money maker for his business, but instead are used to print and ship the apparel created to support other businesses.

Im not trying to make money out of a crisis," Gano said. Financially, were in a very good place right now to be able to weather this storm. But I also see a lot of businesses, locally and globally, that are just absolutely terrified right now."

Businesses can join the initiative by expressing their interest via email to onlinestore@twistedinkspe.com. Most local business owners have submitted their own designs for the T-shirts incorporating a logo or other marker of their business, including Hardys Coffee Co. in Flemington, the Red Mill Museum Village in Clinton, and Riding with HEART in Pittstown.

Businesses do not have to commit to a contract or pay any cost to make the apparel, Gano confirmed.

It doesnt cost them anything to get involved, (except) five minutes of a conversation to just talk through what color shirt and what color ink they want," Gano said. And there are no long-term contracts.

Im not saying you have to work with us for the next three years or something. If the screen printer that you usually use for your business isnt doing something like this, Im happy to support your business and do it with you. And then when this is all over, youre more than welcome to go back and use that printer and support them again.

"This is just to support as many businesses as we possibly can in the meantime, he said.

Interior of Twisted Ink in Flemington.Courtesy - Brandon Gano

Gano was inspired to launch the online store after communicating with other screen printing business owners across the United States that have created similar initiatives.

Its kind of a theme thats sweeping the country right now, which I think is awesome," Gano said. The ultimate goal is if we have 50 screen-print shops, and we each sign on 50 businesses, and each business sells 50 shirts, then as a whole weve raised a million dollars for good. ... And its blown up from there.

There are way more than 50 shops across the country doing it. So realistically, we could raise well over $1 million, which is fantastic.

While stating that he wants to support as many businesses as possible through the store, Gano emphasized that he is seeking to keep his client base largely confined to those located in the Hunterdon and Somerset County region so as to benefit the screen printing businesses launching similar efforts in their own areas.

I could have easily done Here for Good New Jersey,' but I feel like that kind of takes away from the purpose of the store, which is also to support local screen print shops. So for me to sell shirts in Atlantic City doesnt really do me any good, and its hurting another screen printer, Gano explained.

Gano added that he feels particularly attached to the community in which his business has operated for the past year and a half.

Without Flemington, without Hunterdon County, without Somerset County, my business would be nothing and I would be nothing. So this is my way to repay that debt, Gano said.

In acknowledging that eventually local businesses will again open and be operational, Gano expressed a desire to nonetheless continue supporting them through the online store or a similar initiative.

I know that people are going to be able to go back out, and go to their favorite restaurants and their favorite businesses and be able to support them that way, but I would love to find a way to keep something like this going because its a really good way to give back and continue to support the community that has supported me, Gano said.

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Ms. Brennan told lawmakers on Thursday that the agency was already in talks with the Treasury about the potential loan, but its revenue predictions suggest that the money would not be enough if the crisis continues.

Even with an increase in online shopping and package delivery to Americans cooped up at home, the agency could see a 50 percent reduction in total mail volume by the end of June, compared with the same period last year, Ms. Brennan told the lawmakers.

She said the projected shortfall this fall could throw regular mail delivery into doubt.

They are chilling numbers, said Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, who leads the House subcommittee responsible for the Postal Service. The reaction of a lot of my colleagues  their jaws were dropping. It is one thing to say the Postal Service is suffering. It is another to hear these specifics.

For now, the mail service, which operates under government-mandated service requirements, has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic. Even as scores of its more than 600,000-person work force have fallen ill and some have died, mail sorters and carriers have continued to walk their routes in every corner of the country, in many cases the only physical lifeline Americans now have to the outside world. They deliver medicines, coronavirus test kits and packages ordered online, and could play a crucial role in Novembers presidential election, in which voting by mail is expected to surge.

But the debate over whether to shore up the Postal Service has been politically fraught.

Negotiators on Capitol Hill had reached a tentative deal last month to provide the Postal Service around $13 billion in direct relief as part of the $2 trillion stimulus law. That was far less than House Democrats had proposed, but it had the buy-in of a crucial Republican negotiator: Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, according to the officials familiar with the talks.

But Mr. Mnuchin said the administration would not have it.

Mr. Connolly said on Thursday that he would recommend that House leaders promptly back the new, higher figures presented by the Postal Service, and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the oversight panel, indicated that she saw doing so as a matter of life and death for the agency.

Unless Congress and the White House provide meaningful relief in the next stimulus bill, the Postal Service could cease to exist, she said.
Twelve new coronavirus positive cases were reported in West Bengal on Thursday, informed state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 80. Three patients have been discharged, the CM further informed.

India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,865, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. 5,218 are active COVID-19 cases and 477 cases have been recovered/discharged and one case migrated.

The death toll has also risen to 169 after 20 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran warns IMF, says US cannot veto its request for loan

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 7:53 AM

President Hassan Rouhani has warned the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider Iran's request for $5 billion without "discrimination" after reports said the US was seeking to block the loan.

While the IMF has said it is in dialogue with Iranian authorities to understand Iran's needs and what is required for Tehran's demand to be processed, several reports say the fund is under the US pressure to forego the request.

"We urge all international organizations to fulfill their legal duties. Iran is a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and has always paid its shares; some of our resources are at their disposal," Rouhani said on Wednesday.

"If there is to be discrimination between Iran and other countries, it is not tolerable for us and the world's public opinion," the president added.

Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote last month to the IMF to request a $5 billion emergency loan for funding Tehran's needs to fight the novel coronavirus.

Iran is currently the worst-hit country by the coronavirus in the Middle East, where the respiratory disease has killed more than 3,800 people and infected over 62,000 others.

"We haven't asked for anything from this fund for the last 50 years even as we have fulfilled our obligations. If they [IMF] do not fulfill their duties in these difficult circumstances, the world will have a different take on this issue," Rouhani said.

Will IMF stand up to US bullying?

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani said over the weekend that the United States was using its clout within the IMF to stonewall the loan request.

The US has the largest number of shares within the IMF, giving it 16.5% of the body's total votes. Technically, other IMF member countries could amass a majority of votes to approve Iran's loan even with US opposition. The Europeans and many other countries have reportedly come out in favor of the loan.

"Many countries around the world and thinkers have also stated that the International Monetary Fund must fulfill its obligations to the Iranian people," Rouhani said.

Iran's Vice President for economic affairs Mohammad Nahavandian said Tuesday night that the US has no right to block the loan after US media reports said Washington planned to veto the Islamic Republic's request.

"No country in the International Monetary Fund has the right of veto and the IMF's policy is to be fair in assessing and approving loan requests," Nahavandian told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

The official said Iran's request is currently "passing its legal process", adding that many countries "wholeheartedly" support Iran's loan request.

"When we face the outbreak of disease worldwide, it is important to understand each other and if the disease is not contained in a part of the world, we actually help its spread in other parts of the world," Nahavandian said.

"Therefore, this is not an internal issue; rather, it is a global issue that should be taken into serious consideration," he added.

Several reports, however, cited US officials as saying that the Trump administration was adamant in its opposition.

A State Department spokesperson justified its opposition by claiming that Iran was "seeking cash to fund its adventurism abroad, not to buy medicine for Iranians", Al-Monitor reported.

President Rouhani said the American rulers will carry "the historic shame for retaining their pressures on the great Iranian nation in these conditions".

"America has always been a unilateralist and in this disease case, it continues with the same wrong trend and inaccurate thinking," he said.

"This is a historic issue. History will remember that the White House, which has been a terrorist in economic matters, is also a terrorist in medical matters," the Iranian president added.

Tehran is specially incensed by the US government's offer of help and sticking to its "maximum pressure" campaign at the same time. Since the coronavirus outbreak, the Trump administration has imposed at least three rounds of new sanctions targeting trade with Iran.

President Donald Trump brazenly said last week that the US had no "moral responsibility" to halt Iran sanctions if Tehran did not ask for it to fight the pandemic.

"No, no, no, they didn't even ask me about it," Trump said on Thursday during a press briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force when asked if he had a "moral responsibility" to lift the sanctions.

The US president added that he would only consider "helping" Iran if "they asked". Iranian authorities have dismissed the offer as hypocritical "words without action" and have urged the international community to act against Washington's "economic terrorism" amid the pandemic.

Navandian told CNN, "Despite the rhetoric that food and medicine is not subject to sanctionsall banks and financial institutions have been subject to a blackmailing by the United States' government."

"So in reality, the provision of medical supplies has been very difficult and very costly," the official said, explaining that transactions costs are exerting a "double" pressure on Iran in its fight against the new coronavirus.

Rouhani said the US government is violating the World Health Organization (WHO)'s 2005 plan, requiring countries to cooperate before and during pandemics.

The Iranian nation, he said, has been resilient throughout history, and it will bear up again this time.

"We continue to have good relations with other countries and our friends. We produce our needs inside and supply others from outside. For foreign exchange, the Central Bank provides it and we supply the necessary goods."

Iran sanctions are quickly becoming a presidential campaign issue in the US, with Trump's rivals calling on him to extent exemptions within the US sanctions regime to help fight COVID-19.

On Monday, two dozen former senior American and European officials urged the Trump administration to relieve the draconian sanctions, saying it could "potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives in Iran".

"Targeted sanctions relief would be both morally right and serve the health and security interests of the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world," a statement by the group of 24 former NATO secretary generals, UN and EU senior officials and foreign and defense ministers said.

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Y-20 cargo plane-Type 15 tank combination enhances Chinese military capability

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/8 19:28:43

One domestically made Y-20 large cargo aircraft can reportedly carry two newly commissioned Type 15 tanks for long-range transport operations, and this new combination will enhance the Chinese military's strategic transport capability, experts said on Wednesday.

By using this combination, China can quickly send powerful armored reinforcements into difficult environments at high elevations, among mountains or in water-rich locations, they said.

Thanks to the Type 15 tank's light weight of about 30 tons, a Y-20 can carry two of them at once and achieve long-range deployment of 7,800 kilometers, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Wednesday, revealing this combination for the first time.

The transcontinental flight-capable Y-20 transport aircraft can carry more than 60 tons, and the size of its large cargo bay can fit two Type 15 tanks, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese air defense expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The Y-20 can also carry one Type 99A main battle tank, which weighs about 50 to 60 tons, but this new combination can enhance the Chinese military's strategic transport capability by offering different tactical choices, Fu said.

The lightweight Type 15 is designed to efficiently operate in difficult terrains at high elevations, in mountainous regions and water-dense areas, where a heavy tank like Type 99A may not perform at full potential, Fu said, noting that two lightweight tanks can also outperform one heavy tank in some combat scenarios.

Multiple Y-20s can also transport a mixture of Type 15s, Type 99As and other kinds of armored vehicles, leading to a significant improvement in China's long-range rapid deployment, Fu said.

China has a vast territory, and having a good aerial transport capability will optimize the military's power and structural deployment, military expert Ge Lide said on CCTV.

The Type 15 made its public debut at the National Day military parade on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, and some Type 15s were deployed in exercises in the plateaus of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region in January 2020.

The Type 15 tank is the world's only modern lightweight tank in service, Chinese military magazine Weapon reported in 2019, noting it is equipped with a 105-millimeter gun and advanced sensors that can "devastate enemy light-armored vehicles in regions not suitable for heavy main battle tank deployment."

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Los Angeles, April 9 : At a time when several global personalities are making donations to fight the battle against the novel coronavirus, Hollywood actress Jennifer Stone has decided to fight the pandemic as a registered nurse.

The former "Wizards Of Waverly Place" actress announced her plan to fight the global virus as a registered nurse, reports aceshowbiz.com.

She uploaded a photograph on Instagram of her three different ID badges, she captioned it: "A very good friend of mine (@maiarawalsh ) pointed out to me that today is #worldhealthday. It is also the day I went from a volunteer, then a student nurse, and now an RN resident." In the same post, she further talked about her immediate goal for her new career.

"I just hope to live up to all of the amazing healthcare providers on the front lines now as I get ready to join them," she said.

Stone completed her nursing school in December 2019.
When Gov Andrew Cuomo issued a desperate call last month asking doctors and nurses to come to New York and help shoulder the enormous burden of treating an ever-growing number of coronavirus patients flooding the city's hospitals, medics across the country listened, and they came in droves.

Some 90,000 medical professionals so far have signed up to volunteer at hospitals overflowing with critically ill patients in order to take some of the pressure off the existing staf.

But according to multiple reports, more than 90 per cent of them were still sitting on the sidelines waiting to be called up.

Articles published this week by The Washington Post and The New York Times quoted frustrated doctors and nurses as saying that they have been waiting in vain for someone to reach out to them and give them an assignment, even though they were willing and able to help with the pandemic response.

Some 90,000 medics have signed up to volunteer at New York hospitals overflowing with coronavirus patients, but more than 90 per cent of them were still waiting to be called up

Hospitals across the city only accept volunteers that had their licenses and disciplinary histories vetted, and they prioritize certain specialties over others

Government officials explained that a state database created to recruit volunteers compiles and vets candidates, but individual hospitals are then responsible for calling them up, training them and giving them specific assignments.

Hospitals often prioritize certain medical specialties over others, such as ICU doctors, respiratory therapists and nurse practitioners.

The city and state's slow-moving bureaucracies slow down the process even further, along with a tangled web of regulations and a general sense of confusion.

The governor's office said there is a staff of lawyers vetting the volunteers' licenses and looking into their disciplinary histories before allowing them to set foot inside a hospital

Meanwhile, as of Thursday afternoon, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City alone has reached 80,204, with more than 4,200 fatalities, and a disturbing video has emerged of workers burying coffins containing the bodies of COVID-19 victims in a mass grave on Hart Island.

The Post interviewed Dr George Weinhouse, a 67-year-old retired anesthesiologist, who said that he has approached multiple hospitals over the past two weeks offering to help in any capacity, but to no avail.

This March 27 photo shows health care workers from Atlanta-area hospitals flying to New York to help with the coronavirus outbreak

'I dont know whats going on here,' Weinhouse said. 'Im waiting and I want to help, and I mean, its really frustrating.'

Bevin Strickland, a former pediatric ICU nurse form North Carolina, offered a similar account to The Times, describing her efforts to sign up as an unpaid volunteer online and via email, but getting no response from anyone.

She ultimately got assigned to Mount Sinai Queens, but only after contacting the hospital directly and being instructed to go through a private recruiting agency handling temporary hires.

Strickland was given a salary of $3,800 a week for three 12-hour shifts, even though she said her plan was to do the work for free.

'I dont feel like I should be walking out of this scenario with any money,' she told The Times. 'It feels wrong.'

Registered Nurse Elizabeth Schafer, 36, of South St. Paul, Minnesota, left her home to volunteer in New York where she says the situation inside the hospital is grim

During her first two days on the job, she said two other nurses from out-of-state quit after becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

Cuomo has waived some regulatory restrictions to expedite the process of putting volunteers to work where they are needed most, including allowing medics with out-of-state licenses to practice medicine in New York without a local license.

Health care workers who have hit the ground already, many brought in by staffing agencies, discovered a hospital system in danger of being overwhelmed.

'I have never seen so many human beings in an ER at one time in my entire life,' said Liz Schaffer, a nurse from St. Paul, Minnesota, who had her first shift Tuesday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. 'Shoulder to shoulder. It is a sight I never thought I would see. Patients are dying every day. Every single day.'

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 159,937 COVID-19 cases in New York and 7,067 deaths

Many medical workers have become seriously ill. Protective masks, gowns and gloves remain rationed at some hospitals due to anticipated shortages.

Despite those risks, many have volunteered to join the fight.

Whatever it is that they need, Im willing to do, said Jerry Kops, a licensed nurse on Long Island who was on tour as a musician in the Blue Man Group before its North American tour was interrupted by the coronavirus shutdown a few weeks ago.

I keep thinking about my old co-workers and friends that are still in nursing. And to me, its like if they have to be there, I should be there too, he said. If it means being at a testing site, cool. If it means being relief staff for RNs that are overworked right now in hospitals, cool.

New York officials say the state will need tens of thousands of additional medical workers - up to 45,000 - to deploy quickly as the death toll from the coronavirus continues to climb.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:22:41|Editor: zyl

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GENEVA/UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- "Please quarantine politicizing COVID. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers...Unity is the only option to defeat this virus," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

"I will suggest two things to the world," he told a virtual press conference from Geneva when answering a question about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to withhold funds for the UN agency. "The first is national unity, and the second is global solidarity."

Trump on Tuesday criticized the WHO's response to COVID-19 and threatened to freeze U.S. funding for it.

Tedros stressed that at the national level, leaders should work across party lines.

"My message to political parties: do not politicize this virus. If you care for your people, work across party lines and ideologies ... Without unity, we assure you, even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble, and more crises," Tedros noted.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, it's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

"Now, the United States and China, all the rest of G20 and the rest of the world should come together to fight the virus," he said, adding that the virus succeeds when there are cracks at the national level and global level.

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for supporting the WHO during the COVID-19 crisis in the face of Trump's threat.

The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the frontlines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, Guterres said in a statement. "It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19."

Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences, rather than for evaluating the performance of all involved, he said.

The situation on the ground seems to support Guterres' appeal for support for the WHO.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 with more than 500 recorded deaths, as infections on the continent have grown exponentially in recent weeks and are continuing to spread, according to the WHO.

Africa's first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on Feb. 14 and since then the number of African countries reporting cases has risen to 52 out of a total of 54.

The WHO said communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to the outbreaks locally.

The UN agency is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, isolation, case management and contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement.

For instance, the United Nations is supporting the Nigerian government in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Three ambulances were donated Wednesday to the populous Lagos State. Other essential preventive, testing and treatment equipment procured by the United Nations is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for the secretary-general.

In Venezuela, the first shipment of 90 tons of UN life-saving supplies, including 28,000 personal protective equipment kits for health workers on the frontline as well as oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits, was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday to support the COVID-19 response, said Peter Grohmann, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country.

In a televised speech on Monday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez also expressed support to the WHO, saying that the UN-body sent out warnings at an early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak and made specific plans to contain the virus.

Washington should not pass the blame to the WTO for its own failure in managing the COVID-19 situation, she added.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Spain has also delivered the first batch of medical supplies to health authorities to support the fight against the pandemic, Dujarric said.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said Tuesday COVID-19 is generating an unprecedented global economic crisis, with the economic destruction cruelly and unequally distributed.

For the world's poorest countries, the financial fallout caused by the pandemic, combined with debilitating debt-service obligations, is hampering their ability to prevent further transmission and protect citizens, she said.

A report of the International Labour Organization said the pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.
Its official. With blessings from both major political parties leaders, Gov. Phil Murphy has moved New Jerseys primary elections for fall party nominations to July 7 from June 2.

It was about time. Murphy hemmed and hawed about advancing the primary date for days, even though its been obvious for weeks that a June 2 polling date would not fly amid extended social distancing orders.

About two hours before Murphy announced the change Wednesday, Bernie Sanders suspended (read quit) his campaign for the Democrats nomination, leaving Joe Biden as the all-but-certain presidential nominee. It renders New Jersey presidential primary, in both parties, irrelevant on any date going forward.

Since Sanders wants to continue to collect state delegates, New Jersey voters can circle the July 7 date if they want to participate for that reason. Below the presidential ticket, though, there are major nominations to decide, including U.S. senator.

In South Jersey, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drews switch to the Republican Party, puts a multiple candidate choice in front of 2nd Congressional District voters in both parties. This has also influenced the neighboring 3rd District, where one potential GOP Van Drew challenger  when the congressman was still a Democrat  will instead take on other GOP hopefuls gunning to run against single-term Democrat Rep. Andy Kim this fall.

Murphy said that the five-week postponement to July 7 should allow in-person voting, but wouldnt commit to that. Obviously, the progression of the states COVID-19 outbreak is the overriding concern, but the governor must get the word out on which way this will go as soon as possible. No dawdling this time.

Its still baffling, maybe infuriating, that Murphy hasnt called for a second postponement of Atlantic Citys important change-of-government referendum vote. Earlier, he moved it from March 31 to May 2, but decreed that all ballots must be cast by mail. The registration deadline is April 21  but how many potential voters actually know that?

As stated here previously, a pivotal decision made with no day-of-election, in-person voting option is akin to disenfranchisement, given the cultural norms and community diversity in Atlantic City. A recent opinion piece on the New Jersey Globe website by Belleville (Essex County) Mayor Michael Melham makes a similar point.

Towns with non-partisan municipal elections will have them as originally scheduled May 12, but theyll also be mail-only under Murphys order. Melham argues that this gives incumbents an unfair advantage:

They understand how the electoral system works and have developed an infrastructure at some level to get out the vote. Meanwhile, challengers will struggle for name recognition. Door-to-door campaigning will be heavily curtailed, while it will be impossible to host in-person fundraisers.

He adds, Because the average voter likely has no idea about the upcoming election, he or she would likely throw away the ballot when it suddenly appears... .

It may be water under the bridge for May 12, but the mayor offers suggestions for conducting all-mail elections as fairly as possible. These include an initial mailing to all voters explaining that there will be no sample ballot, and alerting the recipient to look for an official ballot in their mailbox soon. Another idea is allowing completed ballots to be returned in person at municipal clerks offices, not just mailed individually to county election boards.

To the extent that these steps are practical, they should be policy for May 2 and, if necessary, for July 7.

No one wants to see what was witnessed in Wisconsin on Tuesday, when voters risked their lives in long lines to cast ballots because a court refused to sensibly delay the primary. But no one wants to see an election, in New Jersey or elsewhere, that prompts accusations that it was unfair or even rigged.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

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Its a Sunday, a day when home shoppers would normally pack open houses. Luke Smith arrives solo to a Redondo Beach, Calif., listing, angles his laptop toward the front door so its camera can capture the scene and enters the two-bedroom condo.

This property is listed for $819,900 (U.S.), the real estate agent for Rex tells his client, a video director who is 30-plus miles away watching on his own computer in a Beverly Hills apartment. One of the first things you will notice when you do walk in is that breeze. I have that patio door open.

The novel coronavirus has shut down large swaths of the U.S. economy, leading to millions of layoffs and the closure of bars, malls and events. And it has slammed the real estate industry. Applications for loans to purchase a home have plunged, and deals are falling out of escrow.

But sales activity hasnt completely stopped, at least not yet. Those who are determined can still buy a home. They just have to navigate the strangest market ever.

From the state on down, California governments have issued stay-at-home orders but deemed aspects of the real estate industry essential. That has allowed home sales to continue in an increasingly complicated fashion.

Traditional open-house viewings are banned in California. Some buyers are touring houses virtually or taking part in individual showings with agents who stand six feet away.

Appraisers are conducting more drive-by-valuations, and buyers are watching inspections via video call.

If you are ready to close, a masked and gloved notary may show up to your doorstep to get signatures that must be completed in person.

This is what it looks like during these times, software salesperson Spencer Gattinella said in a text, while sharing a photo of him and his wife in masks, signing the paperwork for a five-bedroom San Clemente house on a pop-up table in their current driveway.

Many people were searching for a home before the coronavirus was an issue in the United States. Now, along with their agents, they are feeling their way through rapidly changing rules.

Everybody is trying to figure out what to do, said Tregg Rustad, a Los Angeles agent with Rodeo Realty. How can we do this responsibly, how can we be safe, how can we not spread anything?

Elizabeth Morrison had been looking about a year for a house in the Los Angeles area when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his stay-at-home order.

The San Fernando Valley renter long wanted to stop paying someone elses mortgage. And even though the coronavirus outbreak mostly wiped out her industry  shes a vice-president for a major live events company  she was hoping her employer would bounce back after only a temporary rough patch. She was still interested in buying, even hopeful that with the market seizing up she might find a deal.

Morrison started touring homes virtually. She found a house she was willing to see in person, a fixer-upper in Los Angeles Crenshaw district. Donning a mask and gloves, and staying six feet away from the real estate agent, she visited the house two weekends ago.

She got in just under the wire. A few days later, Los Angeles added in-person showings of housing for lease and sale to its list of banned activities  a move that will probably freeze the market further.

I would never buy a home for almost a million dollars sight unseen, said Morrison, whose $750,000 offer was ultimately accepted. Its too big of an investment.

The city of Los Angeles appears to be the only local entity yet that has gone that far, according to the California Association of Realtors  which means, given the maze of local municipalities, some shoppers need only expand their search if they want to see a place in person.

Walk just a block from the home Morrison is buying, and youll find yourself outside city limits in an unincorporated county area.

Lotus Lou, a spokesperson for the California Association of Realtors, said the countys rules, along with the state stay-at-home order, allow in-person showings as long as stricter local rules dont ban it and social distancing is practiced.

The association says there should be no more than one agent and two other people in a house at a time. And there should also be a warning. Sellers and buyers must be expressly made aware of the risks of showing and visiting properties: that it may be dangerous or unsafe and could expose them or others to coronavirus, the group said in recent guidance to members.

Alex Comisar, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, did not respond to questions about whether consumers could tour a home in the city for sale or lease by themselves without an agent.

The state Department of Public Health said it supports the actions being taken by Realtors to enforce physical distancing during this time.

The county health department on Monday confirmed that in-person showings, where people practice social distancing, are indeed allowed in areas covered by its order. But separately, as the death toll mounted, county officials urged people to avoid going outside this week and even refrain from shopping, if they have enough supplies.

Morrison said she felt relatively safe during her tour, noting that she followed the guidance of the time. But if her deal falls through she wouldnt want to see another house in person, even in places where its allowed.

Its more terrifying every day, Morrison said, noting that the understanding of how the virus spreads and who is at risk seems to change constantly.

Redfin said requests for agent-led video tours soared nearly 500 per cent between the week that ended March 14 and the week that ended March 21. Rex said its virtual home-tour traffic rose steadily in March, with the growth rate climbing as more governments directed people to stay home.

Although few probably would purchase a home without stepping inside, Smith, the Rex real estate agent, said its possible to put down an offer thats contingent on eventually seeing it.

The new environment is also placing a premium on vacant homes, said Suzanne Seini, chief operating officer of Active Realty.

There are buyers who are not even interested in going in a sellers home right now if they still live there, she said.

Some sellers also arent interested and are pulling their homes off the market. Part of that is safety, but its also because selling into a crazy, declining market isnt the best strategy unless you have to.

Firm home-sale and price data wont be available until later this month, at the earliest. But early measures show the market is turning.

Applications for a mortgage to buy a home fell 17 per cent during the week that ended March 27 in California. That followed a 23 per cent decline a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Redfin said asking prices for newly listed homes in the U.S. have also started to dip.

Sellers who are willing to have someone in their home are asking agents to bring only people who are serious about pulling the trigger, said Sean Sadri, an agent with Active Realty.

Sadri said he is already restricting in-person tours for prospective shoppers on his own  a decision he can make because, like most agents, hes an independent contractor.

If its just someone looking for a home whos on the fence ... I am not going to put myself out there, he said.

Others have less flexibility. A salesperson for a major homebuilder in southern California said hes required to show homes to whoever shows up unless they have COVID-19 symptoms or know they have been exposed to someone with the disease, even if they are months or years away from buying.

Being around any more people than I have to scares me, said the employee, who asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation from his employer. What are we doing calling selling homes essential?
Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) late Wednesday reported record gold production and revenue for the first quarter and said the company was on pace to meet full-year 2020 guidance.

The producer listed quarterly gold production of 262,632 ounces. This included some 12,000 ounces from its share of Calibre Mining Corp. in Nicaragua, where operations were temporarily suspended near the end of the first quarter due to COVID-19.

The significant increase in gold production over the first quarter of 2019 was driven by the Fekola Mine in Mali, which had a very strong start to the year with record first-quarter gold production of 164,011 ounces, well-above budget by 9% (14,011 ounces) and 49% (53,662 ounces) higher compared to the first quarter of 2019, B2Gold said. Fekola's significant increase...was mainly due to expansion of the Fekola mining fleet and optimization of the pit designs and mine plan for 2020, which have provided access to higher-grade portions of the Fekola deposit earlier than anticipated in previous mine plans.



First-quarter revenue was a quarterly record of $380 million from B2Golds three operating mines. The company listed sales of 239,500 ounces at an average price of $1,588 per ounce. Revenue in the same period a year ago was $264 million on sales of 203,400 ounces at an average price of $1,298 per ounce (excluding the discontinued operations of El Limon and La Libertad, which were sold in October).

B2Gold said consolidated production guidance remains at between 1 million and 1.055 million ounces of gold this year with cash operating costs of between $415 and $455 an ounce. Based on current life-of-mine plans, for 2020-2024 period, annual production is forecast to average 950,000 ounces with all-in sustaining costs averaging $825 an ounce.

Based on a $1,500 gold price, B2Gold said it expects to generate cash flow from operating activities of more than $700 million in 2020.

The company is continuing to focus on its COVID-19 response measures and to date has not experienced any incidents of the COVID-19 virus at its sites or corporate offices, B2Gold said.
Catwoman reunites with an old flame (and meets a new mystery man) as Tini Howard takes over DC ongoing comic

Catwoman returns to Gotham City, with a nod to Les Miserables
More than 1.6 million of France's 67 million people may have been infected with the new coronavirus to date, according to a projection by general practitioners' union MG France, based on doctors' reports.

The union said in a statement that 2,048 members from around the country who had participated in an online survey reported seeing 56,154 people with coronavirus symptoms between March 17 and April 3.

Extrapolating from these numbers, it estimated that 1.67 million people in France had been infected with the virus over this period.

This would represent nearly 2.5 percent of the population.

"Obviously, this is an extrapolation," MG France president Jacques Battistoni said at a press conference, adding the projection was based solely on people with symptoms -- not asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

"But it does give an idea of the order of magnitude," he said.

By Wednesday, France's coronavirus death toll stood at 10,869, with 7,148 people in intensive care and 82,048 confirmed cases.

The country's health authorities have not published any official infection numbers as only a small number of people are actually tested for the virus.

Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who leads the coronavirus science council advising the government, told France Info Wednesday that a campaign of testing among the general population in eastern France suggested the infected population was smaller than expected, "possibly in the order of 10 to 15 per cent."



The World Health Organization says the transmission rate of COVID-19 -- the number of people an infected individual infects in turn -- is thought to be between 2.0 and 2.5 if social distancing measures are not applied.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SKANES FAGERHULT, Sweden, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The health and safety of our shareholders, employees and other stakeholders is our priority. Thus, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak Concentric has decided to take certain precautionary measures to limit risks of contamination during its Annual General Meeting on 23 April 2020.

The 2020 Annual General Meeting of Concentric AB (publ) will be held as planned at 15:00 CET on Thursday 23 April 2020, at Klara strand, S:ta Clara, Klarabergsviadukten 90, in Stockholm, but with a limited scope and subject to precautionary measures as follows:

No food or refreshments will be served.

The presence of Board members and management will be limited.

At the meeting, such presentations that have been held in previous years at annual general meetings will be withdrawn alternatively substantially shortened.

The number of persons attending, who are not shareholders will be limited.

Shareholders are welcome to send questions in advance of the meeting to [email protected]

Shareholders are also welcome to use a proxy instead of attending the meeting in person.

If you have notified Concentric of your intention to attend Concentric's Annual General Meeting and have been in a risk area in the past 14 days before the date of the meeting, or if you have been in close contact with a person infected with the new coronavirus, Concentric encourage that you refrain from attending. This is to avoid the further spread of the infection.

We wish to remind you of the option not to attend Concentric's Annual General Meeting in person but instead to participate through a proxy.

The proxy form for agents to represent shareholders and to exercise their voting rights is available for download here https://anmalan.vpc.se/concentricAGM/images/FullmaktEng2020.pdf

We hope shareholders understand that Concentric is limiting the Annual General Meeting as outlined above given the current special circumstances as a result of the coronavirus.

Concentric is closely monitoring developments on the coronavirus and will, when necessary, update the above precautionary measures prior to the Annual General Meeting. We encourage that all those who intend to participate at the meeting stay updated via www.concentricab.com , on potential further measures.

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact Lennart Lindell, +46 (0)766 104 004

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/concentric-ab/r/changed-arrangement-at-concentric-s-annual-genereal-meeting-on-april-23--2020-due-to-the-coronavirus,c3084665

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Concentric AB
Albany, N.Y.  Upstate New York hospitals will soon be asked to send staff to the New York City area to help facilities there stressed by the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

The staff moves are just one piece in a massive overhaul Cuomo is attempting of New York's health care system to respond to the virus. He wants hospitals statewide to share resources collectively, including staff, supplies, equipment and beds.

Cuomo has said New York City-area hospitals could eventually transfer patients Upstate. That hasn't happened yet.

Cuomo to Upstate New York hospitals: We need you in this fight

Upstate NY sheriff to Cuomo: Dont send coronavirus patients here

As coronavirus patients cram NYC hospitals, Syracuse hospitals still have 300 empty beds

When will coronavirus stop? It is not going to be soon, Cuomo says

Staff moves will come first. They would be voluntary, Cuomo said during a press briefing in Albany.

"You have Upstate hospitals that are nowhere near capacity," he said. "Send your staff down to New York City hospitals."

Cuomo has been meeting with health care leaders in recent days to plan for the peak of the virus, which is expected in the next week to three weeks. He wants the patient load to be shared by hospitals across the entire state.

He acknowledged it's a new approach. Hospitals are cooperating, he added.

Were dealing with a war, Cuomo said "Were dealing with a war weve never dealt with before. We need a totally different mindset and organizational transformation. We need an unprecedented sense of cooperation, of flexibility, communication and speed.

Combining that whole system, and youre no longer just the Western New York hospitals or the Central New York hospitals, its one coordinated system - Its much easier said than done, but we have to do it.

More than 1,500 New Yorkers have now died due to the virus, up from 157 just over a week ago.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Coronavirus in NY: Deaths top 300 in 1 day for 1st time, total reaches 1,550

Cuomo apologizes to unemployed who cant get help from NYS labor department, It must be infuriating

When will the peak of the coronavirus pandemic hit CNY? What to watch for

Coronavirus unemployment: Cant reach New York labor department? Youre not alone

Coronavirus in Onondaga Co.: 41 people recovered, 7 remain in critical; 228 total cases

Syracuse nursing home resident tests positive for coronavirus

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
Ontarios top doctor has issued new COVID-19 testing guidelines aimed at front-line health workers and long-term care residents  though they stop short of a call by the premier to test all of those people.

Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of health, said in a memo that new residents admitted to long-term care should be tested, as should roommates of any symptomatic residents, and any asymptomatic residents, staff or visitors that have come in contact with a confirmed case.

Symptomatic residents are still included in testing guidelines, but Williams is also now specifying that atypical symptoms should be considered, including unexplained fatigue, delirium, falls, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills and headaches.

All health-care workers, caregivers, care providers and first responders should be tested as soon as is feasible if they develop any symptoms, including atypical ones, Williams wrote.

Were going to do a lot more tests on a daily basis ... in a wider scope to try to monitor it, assess it quicker and respond in a faster way to any potential cases, he said in his daily briefing.

Premier Doug Ford called Wednesday for every long-term care resident, front-line health-care worker and first responder to be tested, expressing frustration over the number of daily COVID-19 tests performed in Ontario falling well short of its lab processing capacity.

Ford said Thursday that he remains committed to achieving that.

Our goal at the end of the day is test every single front-line health-care worker, all workers, being nurses, doctors, (personal support workers), cleaners, he said.

Anyone thats involved in health-care, there has to be a priority. Our priority is to make sure we target the long-term care residents and the workers there as well.

Williams said that these new guidelines focus on vulnerable populations and front-line health workers, but additional guidance is expected to be provided in the coming days to further increase the testing of Ontarians.

But Williams also noted in the memo that testing of asymptomatic patients, residents or staff is generally not recommended.

He has also issued a new directive to long-term care homes requiring all staff and essential visitors to wear surgical masks while they are in those facilities, whether there is an active outbreak or not.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario, which represents personal support workers, said the province should also amend a current provincial directive that ensures health care workers in hospitals are using N95 masks to include staff in long-term care homes, as well.

Candace Rennick, the unions secretary-treasurer, said Williams order is a good first step, but even that equipment is in short supply, and not as effective as N95 masks.

The surgical masks are not stopping the spread of this virus, she said. Theyre not meant to do that.

Ontario reported 26 new COVID-19 deaths Thursday, for a total of 200. There have been 483 new confirmed cases since Wednesday, with a provincial total of 5,759  an increase of 9.2 per cent.

William Osler Health System announced Thursday that a long-time environmental services worker at the Brampton Civic Hospital has died from COVID-19.

More than 2,300 cases have been resolved, which is 40 per cent of Ontarios total COVID-19 confirmed cases.

There are now 632 people in hospital confirmed to have COVID-19, with 264 of them in intensive care and 214 of those people on ventilators.

Nearly 4,100 tests were completed in the 24 hours up to 4 p.m. Wednesday, not long after Ford railed against the relatively low number of tests being performed in Ontario.

There is lab capability to do 13,000 tests per day, but the testing backlog grew for a third day in a row, by about 100 to just over 1,200.

Ontario is now seeing at least 69 outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term care homes across the province, with at least 88 deaths.

There are major outbreaks at several homes around Ontario. Pinecrest Nursing Home  a 65-bed facility in Bobcaygeon  has seen 29 of its residents die and the same number of staff have tested positive.

At least 16 residents at Seven Oaks long-term care home in Toronto have died due to COVID-19, with another 45 confirmed and 56 probable cases among the 249 residents. Thirteen staff have tested positive.

Ten residents at Almonte Country Haven outside Ottawa have died due to COVID-19 and 20 others have tested positive.

Ford also announced Thursday that a jobs and recovery committee of cabinet will focus on getting businesses up and running and people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Read more about:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday asserted that a decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after getting expert advice and taking into account the increase in the number of coronavirus positive cases.

Palaniswami, after a consultative meeting with a dozen government panels set up to tackle COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu cautioned that there is a chance for the infection to progress to community transmission stage and appealed to people to cooperate for effective implementation of curbs considering the gravity of the contagion.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, he said a decision on extension of lockdown depended on a couple of factors.

"A decision will be taken considering the status of the disease...it is contagious and the number of cases are on the rise and as of now 738 people are infected and these aspects will be factored in," he said answering a question.

The Chief Minister's pointer towards the steady rise in the number of cases is seen as a hint that the government might considering prolonging lockdown.

"A 19-member committee of medical experts has been set up and their advice will be solicited and also the government 12 panels on tackling COVID-19 scenario will be consulted and then a decision will be taken," he said.

To a question, he said: "We are now in stage two, there is a chance for progression into stage three and the government is taking all steps to confine the infection to stage two."



On testing more people, he said: "We have bought four lakh rapid test kits for swift testing," adding in the first phase, family members of positive people will be tested and then their contacts and further it shall cover the localities of those affected.

Days ago, Palaniswami had said that one lakh test kits have been ordered from China and it will arrive on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
2 testing labs in Serbia get boost from China

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-04-09 11:26

Chinese genomics company BGI Group signed an agreement with the Serbian government on Wednesday to help the European country build two coronavirus testing laboratories, as the pandemic continues to rage across the continent.

The two labs, one located in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, and the other in the southern city of Nis, will be capable of testing a combined 3,000 samples per day once they begin to operate, significantly boosting the country's testing capabilities.

The Belgrade lab will be built at the country's national medical center, which is currently being renovated.

"Thank you for what you have done for the Serbian people at this difficult time," Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told BGI. "We have received support and help from China in medical supplies, experts, technology and experience from our first day of battling the coronavirus. Without Chinese help, we would not be able to win the battle."

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo said the embassy will continue to provide help so that the two labs can begin operating as soon as possible.

Wang Jian, BGI's founder and chairman, said testing is crucial for early detection and control of the coronavirus. It can effectively prevent delays of medical treatment and reduce public panic.
Dynamo gave an update on his coronavirus diagnosis as he appeared on This Morning on Thursday.

The magician, 37, said he and his wife Kelly Frayne are still sleeping in separate rooms as he continues self-isolation, but he's feeling 'a lot better' after suffering 'severe' symptoms last week.

Dynamo (real name Steven) also spoke about how he thought his 'career was over' as he battled Crohn's disease and was diagnosed with arthritis.

Health: Dynamo gave an update on his coronavirus diagnosis as he appeared on This Morning on Thursday

The magician said: 'Coronavirus puts me at really high risk. We're sleeping in separate rooms and keeping each other as far away from each other as possible.

'It's been difficult, you have to keep your distance from everyone.

'I'm feeling a lot better, still croaky. My thoughts go out to everyone who is going through it.'

Dynamo added he is working his way back to full health after self-isolating for two weeks, a recommendation given to all suspected carriers by the World Health Organisation.

Precautions: The magician, 37, said he and his wife Kelly are sleeping in separate rooms, but he's feeling 'a lot better' after suffering 'severe' symptoms last week (pictured last year)

Last week, Dynamo shared a lengthy video explaining to fans he was advised to get tested privately after suffering from a 'persistent cough and lots of aches and pains,' due to his ongoing battle with Crohn's disease.

Despite the diagnosis, Dynamo reassured fans he's feeling 'better and better every day' and urged his followers to stay at home, as he praised 'incredible' key workers for the commitment during the pandemic.

Dynamo explained he was well aware most people could not afford a private coronavirus test, by he'd been advised to do so as he is on immuno-suppressant therapy after being diagnosed with Crohn's disease at the age of 14.

Dynamo said: 'I'm feeling a lot better, still croaky. My thoughts go out to everyone who is going through it'

Crohn's: Dynamo has been suffering from Crohn's disease since the age of 14, but a recent bout was brought on when he was admitted to hospital (pictured) with food poisoning in 2017

Dynamo also discussed how he became very ill and ended up in hospital with food poisoning in 2017.

The star also put his career on hold for several years due to a crippling battle with arthritis, but is set for a long-awaited return to screens next week with the Sky One series Dynamo Beyond Belief.

He said: 'I ended up falling ill really bad with food poisoning during the three years it took to make which meant I couldn't perform magic the way that I usually could.

'The doctor said I couldn't perform magic anymore. I had to re-evaluate my whole approach, I thought my career was over. I created ideas from my hospital bed.'

Back to magic: The star also put his career on hold for several years due to a crippling battle with arthritis, but is set for a long-awaited return to screens next week with the Sky One
Dr. Jahan Fahimi unzips the plastic inner entrance to a mobile isolated care unit set up in a hospital parking lot. If you live in San Francisco and come down with COVID-19, this is where you might end up.

But look around the mobile unit, even the University of California San Francisco Health hospital itself, says the emergency care physician.

"It's eerily quiet in our emergency room and in the hospital," he says. "Most of us would have expected that the surge would already be here. And it hasn't yet come."

Since the pandemic began, many California hospitals have been preparing for a massive influx of COVID-19 patients  the dreaded surge. However, evidence is mounting that California's early action  including the first statewide stay-at-home order in the U.S.  may have helped slow the spread of the virus and temporarily relieve pressure on hospitals.

Submitted by Jahan Fahimi

At one point, several weeks ago, about half of the patients at one San Francisco-area hospital had either tested positive for COVID-19 or were possible cases, says Dr. Stephen Parodi, an executive with the Permanente Medical Group, which oversees more than 30 California hospitals.

Since then, he says, the rate of hospitalizations has stabilized.

"We saw within about three to four days of implementing the stay-at-home orders, a levelling off."

Submitted by Doug Oakley

According to the COVID Tracking Project, a collaboration of volunteer scientists, journalists and engineers who track and collate COVID-19-related data, in the first week of March, the states of New York and California had about the same number of coronavirus cases. Now, New York has about eight times as many cases as California, and close to 10 times as many deaths.

While New York issued its stay-at-home order only a day after California, several California jurisdictions had already enacted their own orders several days earlier and shut their schools long before New York did.

"That's when we really started seeing a dropping and levelling off of the cases," says Parodi.

Story continues

They have additionally prohibited most residential and commercial construction, closed dog parks and playgrounds and banned play with a ball except with family  rules that have been strictly enforced. Local authorities are also turning people away at many beaches, which some other states, such as Georgia, have been loath to do.

Kim Brunhuber

"You look outside, it looks like Christmas Day on the streets; there's nobody's walking around," says Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the Berkeley School of Public Health.

And because the public has largely heeded the early injunctions, they have been more effective, he says.

"Think of it as like a paper cutter coming down on viral transmission. It's the most draconian weapon we have at our disposal in public health."

WATCH / Dr. Jahan Fahimi shows how his hospital in San Francisco is preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients:

Last week, the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) published a state-by-state projection of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. over the next four months. The report suggests California's early and aggressive distancing measures are paying off.

"The data is telling us that they are working and they are effective at reducing the number of mortality and reducing the demand on our hospitals as well," says Ali Mokdad, a professor at the IHME.

The states like California and Washington that implemented physical distancing early had fewer deaths than what was projected, Mokdad says.

"We were really disappointed when many states delayed these measures."

As of Wednesday evening, governors in eight states had yet to issue statewide stay-at-home orders: Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Missed opportunity

Nicholas Jewell, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, says many states lost an important opportunity. When measures aren't taken, the number of infections grows exponentially, so two weeks of lead time on physical distancing could reduce the number of deaths by 80 to 90 per cent, he says.

The time to enact stringent physical distancing measures is when many people think "it's too early and you're overreacting," he says.

"It's a real mistake to wait until you think, 'Well, now we have a problem. We need to start doing something about it.' You're already really too late."

Rich Pedroncelli/The Associated Press

Several other factors are likely helping to slow the spread in California.

Dr. Fahimi says high-tech workers in Silicon Valley were among the first to stay at home.

"A lot of the companies were very proactive about sending their workforce home and doing work remotely even before the shelter-in-place orders were placed," Fahimi says.

As far as testing goes, after an initial lag that left California behind other states, it has now greatly ramped up its system.

Gov. Gavin Newsom created a task force that he says will boost testing fivefold by the end of the month. And Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday evening that any L.A. County resident who has symptoms can get tested by applying online.

Experts say testing is key to understanding infection patterns, which makes it easier to slow the virus's spread.

On Tuesday, Garcetti also mandated that all customers and employees in essential businesses that are allowed to remain open must wear face coverings.

The worst is still to come

The state is now so well stocked with equipment it is sending 500 of its ventilators to other states that need them more urgently.

The flattening of the curve has bought the state a resource more valuable than masks or ventilators: time.

"So that when the surge actually does come, we are much better prepared than we would have been otherwise," Fahimi says.

There's plenty of cause for optimism, but each of the experts who spoke with CBC News had a different way of issuing the same warning: the worst is still to come.

"We don't know how big the surge will be," Fahimi says. "We just know that one is going to come."

Prisons, health-care facilities, large populations of homeless people, they're all "dry tinder lying around," says Rutherford. "And if you get a spark on it, they will ignite."

Submitted by Robert Kim-Farley

Dr. Robert Kim-Farley is an epidemiology professor at UCLA, as well as a former official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He cautions against premature optimism. He says there are asterisks when comparing the current situation in California's biggest cities and the nightmare unfolding in New York.

For example, he says, compared to New York City, Los Angeles County is a much less dense metropolitan area. And in this case, L.A.'s oft-criticized urban sprawl and dependence on getting around in cars rather than public transit may have helped with physical distancing, he says.

Kim-Farley also acknowledges that California's early scramble for medical and protective equipment was at least partially due to decisions made years ago.

The budget for building and maintaining stockpiles was slashed by the state's former governor during the last recession. The materials, he says, were either sold off or given away because they couldn't be maintained.

Kim-Farley says he hopes this experience has taught the state a lesson.

"That just because we're going to have financial difficulties doesn't mean that we shouldn't be paying what's necessary for an insurance policy of having strong, robust stockpiles just for these types of things, when we have a pandemic."

University of California, Berkeley

Rutherford, a former medical resident at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, says it's vital that experts, policymakers and the public understand what happened during the outbreak and what was effective in dealing with it.

Society must watch and learn, and, hopefully, remember, he says, "for when the next epidemic comes along 100 years from now."
Those involved in care, treatment, testing of Covid-19 patients to get double salary: Harayana CM

People humiliating medical professionals should be named and shamed: Dr Harsh Vardhan

9 more coronavirus deaths in Mumbai today, toll rises to 65: BMC

Maharashtra to cut legislators salaries by 30% for one year

State Reserve Police Force to be deployed in Mumbai's containment zones: Health Minister

229 new cases in Maharashtra today, total count at 1364

Covid-19 hotspots in 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh to be sealed

At least 70,000 to be releases from quarantine on Friday:CM

Uttarakhand to pay 10 L compensation to kin of govt officials who while on duty during coronavirus outbreak

No customs duty, cess on import of Covid-19 test kits, ventilators, face masks

A road leading towards Bhopal railway station in Chandbad locality barricaded as containment area after detection of coronavirus positive during the nationwide lockdown in wake of coronavirus outbreak in Bhopal on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

With 591 new Covid-19 cases reported since Wednesday, India's coronavirus count has gone up to 5,865, according to the latest figures released by the Union health ministry on Thursday. Of these, 169 patients succumbed to the virus while 477 people have recovered and been discharged.

On the diplomatic front, India has begun sending consignments of life-saving drugs as gifts to neighbouring countries to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic, South Block officials said on Thursday. Officials said the government was sending drugs to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Seychelles, Mauritius and some African countries. One of the early consignments, an Air India plane with 10 tonnes of medicine, was sent to Sri Lanka on Tuesday.





A Bloomberg report says that 1.5 million people around the world are infected by Covid-19. More than 3,25,000 people have recovered from coronavirus but the death toll has surpassed 85,000.

Here are the live updates on coronavirus:
CABC report calls for Canada and USA to keep border open to cement trade

09 April 2020

The Canadian American Business Council's (CABC) latest report on Canada/US cross-border trade calls for governments in north America to open border trade to cement and other building materials during the COVID-19 crisis to keep some liquidity in the economy.



"If we don't keep this backbone of the economy going, we are going to extend the time the recovery will take, policy-makers are getting that," said Steve Morrissey, executive vice-president of the Cement Association of Canada, a member association of CABC. "I hope the trade unions and others who are trying to sensationalise the conditions out there don't override the fundamentals that we need to keep in place. Because if we don't have construction out there, what else is going to be sustaining any actual liquidity in the economy?"



Policymakers on both sides of the Canada-USA border have been intent on keeping open commercial trade, although the leisure sector has been restricted during the pandemic. Domestic production of cement in Canada reached 14.5Mt in 2019 and consumption was at 9Mt, said Mr Morrissey. Exports to the USA accounted for almost 5Mt of cement.



"In some [Canadian] states they can't manufacture cement anymore, but they have active projects going on, and with the depreciation of the Canadian dollar, our product is even more advantageous," he said. "So, because of the confluence of events, our exporting is actually positive right now."

Published under
As U.S. fatalities from COVID-19 rise, Germanys death rate from the virus is roughly half that of Americas.

As Americas front-line health workers still struggle to obtain face masks, South Korea has a smooth system to distribute masks to its health workers and its entire population.

Both countries are democracies and U.S. allies, not authoritarian regimes like China. So shouldnt we be looking at what these countries are doing right, and whether their methods are applicable here?

The German case is particularly interesting because relatively few people seem to be dying. Their fatality rate from virus cases as of early this week stood less than half the nearly 3% rate in this country.

Three key factors deserve the credit: strong leadership, early and persistent testing and a robust health system that works.

Germany is doing more testing than other countries, but still not enough, I was told by Anna Sauerbrey, deputy editor-in-chief of Der Tagesspiegel, by phone from Berlin.

Despite President Donald Trumps false claim that the United States is now doing more per capita tests than any other country, several countries are doing better. Germany, as of late last week, was testing one in 90 citizens, compared with one in every 273 people in the United States.

These numbers enable German officials to find infections early, even among asymptomatic patients, isolate them and contain the disease from spreading.

And only widespread testing will permit scientists to amass the data required to get a clear picture of the disease, including how many people have had it and shown no symptoms, which means they can return to work.

Moreover, widespread testing is vital to figuring out the real death rate from COVID-19, and for finding a response to blunt the virus if it returns in a second wave.

So here are the two key important reasons Germany has been able to conduct widespread testing  while the United States has faltered until now.

First, political leadership. Germany and the United States both have federal systems, says Sauerbrey, but the polarization is not that great here. Germanys minister presidents (the equivalent of elected state governors) come from different parties, but were able to cooperate and create a common set of rules, she explains. Despite upcoming state elections, they dropped partisan rhetoric.

They didnt use this for political show, Sauerbrey adds.

Equally important, Chancellor Angela Merkel  who had appeared to be fading before the crisis  rose to the challenge, inspiring the public and working with state governments. She did a great job communicating to the public how dangerous the virus was and how important solidarity is, says Sauerbrey. Her first speech was intense and emotional, and people understood the need to change their behavior.

But lastly, Germany was able to administer tests and avoid overwhelming its health system because that system is so solid. What can really drive death rates is if you dont have enough intensive care beds, says Sauerbrey, and Germany had them. Germans have a universal health care system, but with private doctors and a dual public-private system that guarantees coverage to all. In Germany, you dont have to be afraid to call in sick, says Sauerbrey.

National and state leadership, a solid health system and widespread ongoing testing  unburdened by shortages, partisan politics and a chaotic health system.

Need I say more?

And then there is the case of South Korea, which has become the global gold standard on testing and keeping COVID-19 in check. But what I want to write about here is Seouls success at solving its face mask shortage.

After an initial mask crisis, the central government decided to intervene in production and distribution, writes E. Tammy Kim in the New York Times. By early March, the government was purchasing 80% of the national production of KF-94 masks, the equivalent of the American N95, from the nations 130 or so manufacturers (for comparison, think how the U.S. mask crisis might have been avoided if Trump had made robust use of the Defense Production Act).

The masks were shipped at a discounted price, first to hospitals and health providers, and then to pharmacies all over the country. No first responders washing masks or improvising bandanas in Seoul. No long queues at pharmacies, and everyone on the street wearing masks (as CDC guidance now recommends for the U.S.).

I asked Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvanias Perry World House, what were the keys to this process.

In South Korea, he replied, there is close trust between the government and the chaebols (business conglomerates). Businesses are more mindful of the national interest, so they worked together to bend regulations on tests, and compete to produce the best tests and accelerate production.

There was much more of a consensus on what needed to be done, and almost a worship of science and innovation. An educated public understood that a science-based approach was needed.

What Germany and South Korea have done is totally within the capacity of this country. In theory. If this crisis forces Americans to face up to why we are falling behind.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:33:10|Editor: zyl

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CAIRO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian automobile sales have seen declining amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, said Osama Aboul-Magd, head of the Egyptian Automotive Dealers Association (EADA).

"People are worried because of the pandemic. They focus more on buying food stuff, sanitizers and protective medical products to avoid infections," Aboul-Magd said.

The recent anti-COVID-19 measures, including a partial curfew, have also led to dropping in sales in the Egyptian market, he added.

"The association has also taken preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus such as asking car dealers to use 50 percent of the staff and giving the other 50 percent paid vacations," the head of the EADA said.

Aboul-Magd noted that Egypt has 170 auto companies operating on market, including 19 companies that manufacture and assemble cars of all kinds.

Speaking about the Chinese cars, Aboul-Magd said Chinese automobiles are very popular in the Egyptian market.

"Chinese cars are competing with famous brands because of their good quality and reasonable prices ... this is what customers search for everywhere," he stressed.

According to Egypt's Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC), 13,000 Chinese cars were sold in Egypt from January to November 2019, up by 79 from a year earlier.

A total of 173,812 cars were sold in Egypt during the same period in 2019, according to AMIC report.

Aboul-Magd hoped that the Chinese factories will resume production soon so as to help reboot the global auto production.
Broad spectrum

Digital cameras as well as many other electronic devices need light-sensitive sensors. In order to cater for the increasing demand for optoelectronic components of this kind, industry is searching for new semiconductor materials. They are not only supposed to cover a broad range of wavelengths but should also be inexpensive. A hybrid material, developed in Dresden, fulfils both these requirements. Himani Arora, a physics PhD student at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), demonstrated that this metal-organic framework can be used as a broadband photodetector. As it does not contain any cost-intensive raw materials, it can be produced inexpensively in bulk.

In the last twenty years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have become a coveted material system. So far, these highly porous substances, up to 90 percent of which are composed of empty space, have largely been used to store gases, for catalysis or to slowly release drugs in the human body. "The metal-organic framework compound developed at TU Dresden comprises an organic material integrated with iron ions," explains Dr. Artur Erbe, head of the "Transport in Nanostructures" group at HZDR's Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. "The special thing about it is that the framework forms superimposed layers with semiconducting properties, which makes it potentially interesting for optoelectronic applications."

The group had the idea of using the new semiconducting two-dimensional MOF as a photodetector. In order to pursue it further, Himani Arora investigated the semiconductor's electronic properties. She explored, among others, to what extent the light sensitivity was dependent on temperature and wavelength - and came to a promising conclusion: From 400 to 1,575 nanometers, the semiconductor could detect a broad range of light wavelengths. The spectrum of radiation thus goes from ultraviolet to near infrared. "This is the first time we have proved such a broadband photodetection for a photodetector completely based on MOF layers," the doctoral candidate notes. "These are ideal properties for using the material as an active element in optoelectronic components."

Small bandgap makes for efficiency

The spectrum of wavelengths a semiconducting material can cover and transform into electrical signals essentially depends on the so-called bandgap. Experts use this term to describe the energetic distance between the valence band and the conduction band of a solid state material. In typical semiconductors, the valence band is completely full, so the electrons cannot move around. The conduction band, on the other hand, is largely empty, so the electrons can move around freely and influence the current flow. While the bandgap in insulators is so big that the electrons cannot jump from the valance band to the conduction band, metal conductors have no such gaps. A semiconductor's bandgap is just big enough to raise the electrons to the higher energy level of the conduction band by using the light waves. The smaller the bandgap, the lesser the energy required to excite an electron. "As the bandgap in the material we explored is very small, only very little light energy is required to induce the electricity," Himani Arora explains. "This is the reason for the large range of the detectable spectrum."

By cooling the detector down to lower temperatures, the performance can be improved yet further because the thermal excitation of the electrons is suppressed. Other improvements include optimizing the component configuration, producing more reliable contacts and developing the material further. The results suggest that the MOF-based photodetectors will have a bright future. Thanks to their electronic properties and inexpensive manufacturing, MOF layers are promising candidates for a raft of optoelectronic applications.

"The next step is to scale the layer thickness," says Artur Erbe, looking forward. "In the study, 1.7 micrometer MOF films were used to build the photodetector. To integrate them into components, they need to be significantly thinner." If possible, the aim is to reduce the superimposed layers to 70 nanometers, that is, 25 times smaller than their size. Down to this layer thickness the material should exhibit comparable properties. If the group can prove that the functionality remains the same in these significantly thinner layers, they can then embark on developing it to the production stage.

###

Publication:

H. Arora, R. Dong, T. Venanzi, J. Zscharschuch, H. Schneider, M. Helm, X. Feng, E. Canovas, A. Erbe: Demonstration of a broadband photodetector based on a two?dimensional metal-organic framework, in Advanced Materials, 2020 (DOI: 10.1002/adma.201907063)

Additional information:

PD Dr. Artur Erbe | Himani Arora

Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at HZDR

Tel.: +49 351 260-2366

Email: a.erbe@hzdr.de | h.arora@hzdr.de

Media contact:

Simon Schmitt | Science editor

Phone: +49 351 260-3400 | Email: s.schmitt@hzdr.de

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf | Bautzner Landstr. 400 | 01328 Dresden / Germany | http://www. hzdr. de

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) performs - as an independent German research center - research in the fields of energy, health, and matter. We focus on answering the following questions:

How can energy and resources be utilized in an efficient, safe, and sustainable way?

How can malignant tumors be more precisely visualized, characterized, and more effectively treated?

How do matter and materials behave under the influence of strong fields and in smallest dimensions?

To help answer these research questions, HZDR operates large-scale facilities, which are also used by visiting researchers: the Ion Beam Center, the High-Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden, and the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources.

HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association and has five sites (Dresden, Freiberg, Grenoble, Leipzig, Schenefeld near Hamburg) with almost 1,200 members of staff, of whom about 500 are scientists, including 170 Ph.D. candidates.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The ongoing Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has claimed 188 lives since the beginning of the year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said on Thursday.

The health agency said in its weekly report that the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 19 in week 13, to 12.

Nigeria is now battling two deadly diseases: Lassa fever and COVID-19, which has infected 276 people and caused six deaths.

While COVID-19 is a new global disease with less epidemiological information, Lassa fever has become endemic in Nigeria. The country has battled it annually for the past 50 years.

The NCDC, on Thursday, said since the onset of the 2020 Lassa fever outbreak, the country has recorded 963 confirmed cases and 188 deaths.

Last week, the total number of deaths was 185, meaning three people died from the disease within the last week.

Outbreak

NCDC said for reporting week 14, the number of newly confirmed cases decreased from 19 cases in week 13, to 12 cases.

The new cases were reported from Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi and Sokoto.

There has been a gradual reduction in new cases reported across the country in the last three consecutive weeks.

This could be as a result of the rains in some parts of the country especially in places with a high burden of the disease.

READ ALSO:

Lassa fever, diagnosed all year round, peaks in the dry season from November to May.

In the last few years, the number of suspected and confirmed cases, as well as deaths from the disease, have been rising, leading to concerns from health experts.

Every year, health workers are also affected by the disease, sometimes leading to fatalities.

However, no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 14.

So far, the total number affected health workers during the outbreak is now 37.

Health workers are often in the frontlines in the treatment of Lassa fever patients and this them susceptible to contracting the disease.

Specifics

Meanwhile, the weekly situation reported that three states, Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi, have the highest number of cases from the outbreak.

Of all confirmed cases, 72 per cent are from three states: Edo, 32 per cent; Ondo 32, per cent, and Ebonyi 8 per cent.

The five states with the highest number of confirmed cases are: Edo with 314 confirmed cases and 39 deaths; Ondo, 309 confirmed cases and 44 deaths; Ebonyi with 73 cases and 16 deaths; Taraba with 55 cases and 21 deaths and Bauchi with 43 cases and 18 deaths.

In total for 2020, 27 states have so far recorded at least one confirmed case across 126 local government areas.

Cumulatively from week 1 to week 14, 188 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19. 5 per cent.

Also, there has been a significant increase in the figures when compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the statistics, cumulatively between week one and 14, 2020, there were 4287suspected cases, 963 confirmed, 14 probable and 188 deaths compared to same period in 2019 which had 2133 suspected cases, 537 confirmed, 15 probable and 123 deaths were reported.

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Also, the predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years and the male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:1.2.

Scourge

Lassa Fever is a hemorrhagic disease transmitted by a vector called multimammate rat. The virus is transmitted from the excreta or urine of the vector to humans, and from humans to humans.

Anyone suspected of being in contact with a Lassa patient needs to be presented to the health facilities within a period of 21 days.

Symptoms of the disease at early stages are similar to febrile illness such as malaria.

General symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, anus and other body orifices. It could also present persistent bleeding from sites of intravenous cannulation.

Early diagnosis and treatment increase a patients chances of survival.
CHICAGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-and the worldwide reaction to it-has compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.

At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Thermal Printing Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:

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According to the new research report "Thermal Printing Market by Offering (Printer, Supplies), Printer Type (Barcode, POS, Kiosk & Ticket, RFID, and Card), Format Type (Industrial, Desktop, Mobile), Printing Technology (DT, TT, D2T2), Application and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Thermal Printing Market is expected to grow from USD 43.2 billion in 2020 to USD 53.5 billion by 2025; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2020 to 2025. The growth of the thermal printing market is driven by factors such as rising utilization of automatic identification and data capture technologies for improving productivity, growing concerns regarding product safety and anti-counterfeiting, increasing use of thermal printing technology in latest on-demand printing applications, rising penetration of wireless technologies in mobile printers, and growing use of RFID and barcode thermal printers in the fast-growing e-commerce industry.

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Barcode printer segment to hold the largest share of the thermal printer market, by type, in 2020

Barcode printer segment will lead the thermal printer market, by type, in terms of size, in 2020. Thermal barcode printers are extensively used in small, medium, and large businesses to label and subsequently track the products to be shipped. This is one of the significant factors that has led to the leading position of barcode printers in the thermal printer market.

The market for healthcare & hospitality application to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The thermal printing market, based on application, has been segmented into retail, transportation & logistics, manufacturing & industrial, healthcare & hospitality, government, and others. Among all applications, the thermal printing market for healthcare & hospitality applications is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period. The use of smart labels helps in the instant tracking of patients and medical equipment, whenever required, especially in emergencies. Thermal printers are widely used for printing labels and tags that are compatible with various processes in the healthcare application and help to improve patient flow, bed utilization, and asset allocation.

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North America to hold the largest share of thermal printing market by 2020

North America is expected to hold the largest share of the thermal printing market by 2020. The US leads the market in North America owing to its well-established economy that encourages government and private investments in new technologies. APAC is expected to account for the second-largest share of the thermal printing market during the forecast period. China and Japan are significant demand-generating countries for thermal printers in this region.

A few key players operating in the thermal printing market are Zebra Technologies (US), SATO Holdings (Japan), Seiko Epson (Japan), Fujitsu (Japan), Star Micronics (Japan), BIXOLON (South Korea), and Honeywell International (US).

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Former Fox host Bill OReilly has sparked anger after saying that many of those who have died of coronavirus were on their last legs anyway.

OReilly, 70, appeared on former Fox News colleague Sean Hannitys radio show on Wednesday to discuss the pandemic that has infected millions worldwide while killing tens of thousands in the United States and upending the economy.

O'Reilly, who left the network after it was revealed that several women received financial settlements after claiming he harassed them, said: Many people who are dying, both here and around the world, were on their last legs anyway.

And I dont want to sound callous about that.'

Hannity then remarked: Youre gonna get  hold on, youre going to get hammered for that.

To which OReilly replied: Well, I dont care. I mean, a simple man tells the truth.

You mean people that have underlying conditions and that have compromise immune systems, any virus wouldve Hannity said, before OReilly cut in.

Yes, OReilly agreed.

Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News commentator, told Sean Hannity's radio show on Wednesday that many of those who died from coronavirus were 'on their last legs anyway.' O'Reilly is seen center in New York in November 2019

O'Reilly then accused the 'far left' of 'smearing' him for the comments he made on Hannity's show

O'Reilly said the 'nuts objected' when he pointed out that 'the virus death rate for folks without preexisting conditions is below one percent'

OReilly then argued that Spain and Italy  two countries who have been hit hard by the pandemic  saw higher death rates than the United States because of their government-run health care systems.

Somebody can break this to Bernie Sanders, number one, they have socialized medicine which is not nearly as good as our private system, OReilly said.

But number two, many more people smoke in Europe than here.

And this ravages the lungs, Hannity said.

And they have an older population, too, Hannity said.

Absolutely, OReilly said.

And theyre the ones that have been succumbing in the big numbers, Hannity added.

OReilly then said: Youre going to see the Centers for Disease Control, at the end of all this, is going to say this percentage of people who died from the virus, also had other things that killed them.

On his Twitter page, OReilly defended himself on Thursday while lashing out at his critics.

The pandemic is extremely deadly but not the Black Plague, the former Fox News host, who now has his own subscription site where viewers can pay for his commentary, tweeted.

Far-left wants chaos and carnage so President Trump will lose re-election.

They are not interested in facts and will try to punish people who provide perspective.

OReilly on Wednesday tweeted: More far left propaganda. The virus death rate for folks WITHOUT preexisting conditions is below one percent.

With health problems much, much higher.

I pointed that out and the nuts objected, also claiming the health systems in Italy and Spain are better than USA.

Bull.

Hundreds of Americans under the age of 50 have died after contracting coronavirus, according to The Washington Post.

Out of more than 15,600 deaths nationwide, at least 759 were below the age of 50, according to an analysis by the Post.

The CDC on Wednesday released data showing that just over 25 per cent of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were under the age of 50.

Most of these cases were of patients who suffered from underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

A small fraction of those cases involved people who had no underlying health issues.

OReilly also mentioned what he believes are positive developments in the coronavirus fight including revised estimates of the death count as well as the decision by Senator Bernie Sanders to end his presidential campaign.

But were making little steps, OReilly said.

He continued: Bernie Sanders, you know - hes gone, thats really good for everybody.

'The [US death] projections that you just mentioned are down to 60,000, I dont think it will be that high. 13,000 dead now in the USA.

OReillys comments sparked outraged on Twitter.

Molly Jong-Fast, a journalist, called him a f*****g ghoul.

Tim Wise tweeted: Bill O'Reilly says many COVID victims were "on their last legs" anyway.

First, how ghoulish for a "pro-life," "all lives matter" guy, and Second, its a good time to remember that Bill O'Reilly once choked & dragged his wife down the stairs bc he's a violent a*****e...

In May 2017, it was learned that O'Reilly's ex-wife claimed in an affidavit filed during the couple's divorce proceedings that the disgraced host physically assaulted her when she found him having phone sex.

Maureen McPhilmy filed a notarized account of the incident in which she alleged that O'Reilly 'flew into a fit of rage' back in December 2009 when she found him in the middle of an intimate conversation with another person while in a partial state of undress in their bedroom.

She claimed in the court filing that soon after she walked in on O'Reilly, he slammed her against a wall in their bedroom before wrapping his arms around her body and dragging her around their $2.2million Long Island mansion in Manhasset.

The October 11, 2011 affidavit was submitted as an exhibit in O'Reilly's recent fraud lawsuit against McPhilmy's divorce attorney Michael Klar.

McPhilmy claimed in the affidavit that a one-foot hole was left in the bedroom wall as a result of O'Reilly throwing her across the room at the start of the alleged altercation.

She was then grabbed by O'Reilly, who wrapped his arms around her so she was unable to move and dragged her down the hallway of their home according to the affidavit.

Then, when they reached the staircase, McPhilmy claimed that O'Reilly began dragging her by the neck and he walked downstairs and through the kitchen, where he eventually let go when they ran into one of their security guards.

The affidavit stated that McPhilmy was screaming out in pain as she was being dragged and telling O'Reilly he was hurting her, but refused to file a report or speak with authorities when approached by the security guard who witnessed the alleged incident.

It was also stated in the filing that the man in the kitchen, who had been hired to protect the family, was caught off guard at the sight of O'Reilly naked from the waist down.

Two of the women who received settlements after accusing O'Reilly of harassment, Andrea Mackris and Juliet Ruddy, stated that they believed he was masturbating when he called them up for unwanted phone sex conversations.

O'Reilly successfully sued his wife in 2016, winning a $14million judgment after claiming she 'made false representations and material omissions of existing fact ... for the sole purpose of inducing Plaintiff to agree to a consensual divorce and to obtain money and real property to finance an existing extra-marital relationship.'

The couple separated in 2010 after 14 years of marriage and divorced a year later.

Those papers were filed just one month after McPhilmy was awarded custody of the children following a four-year court battle during which the couple's daughter made her aforementioned claim about witnessing abuse in the home.

O'Reilly (seen above in May 2018) left Fox News in 2017 after a 20-year stint as host of The O'Reilly Factor

The former Fox News host denied this allegation, calling it '100 per cent false.'

He later added in a statement; 'All allegations against me in these circumstances are 100 percent false.

I am going to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect my children and will not comment any further.'

He has also previously denied the claims made by his ex-wife in relation to the altercation at their home, and the phone sex claims of his sexual harassment accusers.

John Lesinski, a Democratic congressional candidate from Virginia, tweeted: Yesterday, Bill O'Reilly, a pundit, sexual harasser, & favorite of Trump's, dismissed the 13k Americans dead from COVID-19 as "on their last legs anyway."

He continued, "I don't want to sound callous about that."

Well, Bill: you're wrong, you failed, and you're a disgrace.

Amy Siskind tweeted: The comments from Fox News personalities past and present and other Trump allies meant to diminish the nearly 15,000 Americans we have lost already is the most despicable display of humanity I have ever seen.

These people have no souls or conscience.

Emily Brandwin tweeted: Its been a while since we heard from Bill O'Reilly, wish we couldve kept it that way.

For more than 20 years, OReilly was one of Fox News Channels highest-rated anchors, hosting a nightly primetime show called The OReilly Factor.

In April 2017, The New York Times reported that five women who alleged inappropriate workplace misconduct by OReilly were paid a total of $13million in settlements.

Days later, Fox News officially cut ties with OReilly, who is said to have walked away with a $25million payout from the network.

It was a stunning development considering that The OReilly Factor was a critical cash engine for the network, generating some $326million a year in advertising revenue.

Later that year, it was reported that OReilly paid $32million to settle sex harassment claims brought by a sixth woman, former legal analyst Lis Wiehl.

O'Reilly was replaced with Tucker Carlson.

In 2016, Fox News was rocked by sex harassment allegations against its then-chairman, Roger Ailes.

In total, some 23 women came forward to allege misconduct by Ailes, including high-profile former personalities Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly.

Ailes eventually left the network. In May 2017, he died of hemophilia.
A ctor Joe Tracini has issued a heartfelt message to anyone who may be struggling with their mental health while in lockdown.

Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on Good Morning Britain, Tracini, who has borderline personality disorder (BPD) and experiences suicidal thoughts, encouraged Britons who may be struggling to hang about.

Wait, thats all we can do, is wait. This will change and all, but were all on pause at the minute, he said.

The Hollyoaks star urged people to stay strong and keep in mind people such as the NHS and key workers who havent been able to stop working.

There will come a point where there have been a lot of people that havent been on pause that will need to stop, and then its our turn, he said.

So just please please hang about, wait, and if youre anything like me and youre thinking about killing yourself, dont. Because the world needs you.

Lorraine thanked Tracini for his words, saying: The world needs you, Joe. Youre a very very special man.

Tracini recently shared a video on his Twitter account explaining what it is like to live with BPD.

"I have Borderline Personality Disorder. He lives in my head and it's difficult to explain the symptoms, so I got him out to show you xx, he wrote.

The split-screen clip features Tracini in dialogue with his BPD, as he explains how the disorder manifests.

Those needing assistance can call or text a free number staffed by more than 1,500 trained volunteers.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please contact:
Garrett Gray had seen videos of graduating recruits at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and before coming to San Antonio, he worried he might stumble through the right-face maneuver while marching past his parents, friends and commanders.

His graduation Thursday was unlike anything Gray could have predicted, though. For the first time, every participant had to wear a mask, and there was no chance of a screw-up in front of his parents, both Air Force veterans. Like all friends and family of graduates in the past month who havent been allowed to attend because of the coronavirus pandemic, they had to watch it on Facebook.

Gray, who was born at Lackland, came to basic training as the coronavirus pandemic exploded, forcing commanders to bar the public and scratch the big outdoor ceremony on its sprawling parade field.

He rose quickly, becoming an element leader and excelling among his peers, and graduated as an Airman 1st Class.

All Gray had to do Thursday morning was move forward, take two steps to the left and salute Col. Michael Newsom, commander of the 737th Training Group, as he was honored as the No. 1 recruit of 1,441 graduates. They then shared an elbow bump and another salute.

A few minutes later, Gray was back in formation.

On ExpressNews.com: New Air Force training routine: COVID-19 quarantine in San Antonio

I didnt imagine that I would be at the front as an element leader, but the picture that comes into my head is when they do the eyes-right movement and everybody except for the fourth element faces right, he said. I was pretty nervous for that, to be honest, messing up in front of all those people  maybe looking to the right, maybe not looking to the right.

Newly minted airmen had never before graduated wearing masks, and had never been part of a ceremony where two classes graduated at once  with one group finishing a week early.

Typically, around 800 or so recruits graduate before a cheering crowd in the outdoor ceremony, but Thursdays 1,441 were brought in batches of about 250 to a large physical training area below a dorm. Each graduation lasted about a half hour..

They wore white masks, standing six feet apart beneath a large American flag. Training instructors wore dark masks.

Yet another development, one of many pushed through over the past few weeks, was that 14 of the recruit flights graduated after 8 weeks of training, while recruits in another 16 flights earned the title airman after spending just 7 weeks at Lackland.

Nearly 18 months have passed since the Air Force lengthened basic training as part of an effort to toughen the experience, but the decision to shorten it and graduate both classes in the same week created more space on the base.

That, in turn, helped facilitate greater social distancing and other health and safety measures.

When were deployed, the enemy always gets a vote in all things, the same with this virus. It gets a vote, Newsom, who leads basic training at Lackland, said in an interview. The flexibility to be innovative in how we can actually counter any type of effects this virus may have is important to us and the priority is the protection of our forces, of our trainees.

On ExpressNews.com: Airmen wear their warrior faces at transformed basic training

A raft of other changes have already taken place as the Air Force has tried to prevent the spread of the virus among the roughly 5,000 recruits on the base at any given time, as well as more than 500 instructors, with entire flights delayed in their training for two weeks if they were in contact with the handful of recruits testing positive for the virus.

There were four sick recruits as of March 30, with 168 more trainees and five of their instructors, all healthy, living in quarantine quarters. The Air Force no longer tells the public about its coronavirus cases on base.

All new arrivals face a 14-day restriction of movement as part of the Air Forces efforts to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

Last week, for the first time in memory, the training command instituted a brief pause in the arrival of recruits to Lackland. No recruits reported to the base on March 31, allowing time to clean dormitories, dining facilities and other infrastructure.

Gary Boyd, an air training command historian, said the Air Forces recruit pipeline has never stopped until now.

For the Air Force, we have always shipped since getting our own recruiting service, the exceptions being the Christmas holiday season and some weather or natural disaster regional issues, he said.

As the week began, Lackland also lost its claim to being the Air Forces sole home of basic training after Keesler AFB launched a boot camp program of its own as a test. Sixty recruits who will enter technical school at Keesler, in Biloxi, Miss., will go through basic training there so they wont have to travel from San Antonio and risk infection. It reduced the weekly number of recruits coming to Lackland to 460, freeing up space to safely house them.

Those and other changes, large and small, are rippling to those in the lowest rank, airman basic.

Recruits are able to phone home at least once a week. Any recruit who is positive for the coronavirus is allowed to keep their mobile phone and call home whenever they wish.

This is a scary time and we want to make sure they are still connected, Chief Master Sgt. Juliet Gudgel, the Air Education and Training Commands command chief master sergeant, said recently.

At Lackland, Newsom and Chief Master Sgt. Learie R. Gaitan, the basic military training superintendent, have cut the training by a week by eliminating nonessential instruction, such as practicing for parade field marching, while emphasizing other areas.

We have increased some of our weapons training. We were already planning to do this, Gaitan said.

One change has affected Tech Sgt. Christopher Cook, a master military training instructor who specializes in drill and ceremony, for centuries a core function.

Theres less of it to do these days, but far more distance between trainees.

Their formation looks very different than what it did in the past, said Cook, 36, and originally from Salem, Utah, adding that recruits had used a normal interval formation where theyre an arms length away from each other, establishing a 40-inch distance.

The new formation that were looking at right now, and were kind of dubbing it an extended interval, or as an extended formation  where theyre establishing a good, solid six-foot social distancing type of distance, he said.

As the ceremony closed, the recruits repeated the oath of enlistment, saying, I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.

They sang the Air Force Song acapella, the lyrics echoing through the PT pad, and a moment later began to march away, making a smart right face as a snare drum rolled.

Wooohooooo! one person wrote on the Basic Military Training Facebook page. So proud of you Jayden Stroup!! We love you lots!! Xoxox.

sigc@express-news.net
Security officers wearing protective face masks check travelers making their way to boarding gates at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 14, 2020.

About 150 Cambodian migrant workers and students urged their government to allow them to return home from Malaysia where they were left stranded after Prime Minister Hun Sen refused to accept them, citing fears they could be infected with COVID-19.

Sobri Salleh, one of the students, told Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, that he and the others learned of Hun Sens decision on Tuesday as they were prevented from boarding planes to Cambodia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Members of the group broke down and cried, he said, as many had already spent hundreds of U.S. dollars on their flights and packed up their lives in Malaysia  where authorities have confirmed 4,228 infections and 67 deaths  with the expectation of returning home for good.

There are students, workers, and tourists  some of whose visas are about to expire, Sobri Salleh said.

Many of the workers no longer have jobs [because of the economic impact of the outbreak], so they want to return home. If they cant go home, they wont have enough money to meet their needs [in Malaysia].

Of the 150 Cambodians, about 10 refused to leave the airport until late Tuesday when officials from Cambodias embassy met with them and asked them to leave. The embassy did not provide food for them and Sobri Salleh said he spent his own money to ensure everyone had something to eat.

Another student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFA that she was willing to submit to a two-week quarantine if she is allowed to return home.

In Malaysia now, there are no jobs  they are only helping their own people, she said.

RFA spoke with an official at the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur who refused to comment about the situation, but the embassy later released a statement saying that the 10 people who refused to leave the airport have been provided temporary shelter until the issue is resolved. The embassy also asked Cambodians in Malaysia to remain patient.

Hun Sen on Tuesday had told members of the media in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh that he would not allow the 150 Cambodian nationals to return home from Malaysia because we dont know who among them has COVID-19, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Dy Thehoya, senior program officer at Cambodian rights group the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, said the government should reconsider banning its citizens from returning to Cambodia, saying that they will face severe hardships if forced to stay in Malaysia.

How much does the government need to spend to bring them home? he asked.

They pay taxes to the government, so when they are in trouble, the government should help them  The government is obligated to protect its citizens. Most governments only ban foreigners [from entering], not their own citizens.
The Central government has directed states to fill up 382 vacancies of medical and other staff across the country to ensure the availability of qualified human resources during the coronavirus pandemic.

A letter, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on April 7, directs the states to fill these vacancies under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

Of the vacancies, the maximum  227  are for epidemiologists. As many as 11 states do not have a state-level epidemiologist.

Epidemiologists study patterns of frequency and the causes and effects of diseases in human populations.

The other vacancies include that of data managers, veterinarians, financial consultants and microbiologists.

The issue of the vacancies was highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual meeting with the chief ministers on April 3, the health ministry letter said. HT has seen a copy of the letter.

The decision to fill the vacancies of epidemiologists and other required posts is to ensure surveillance activities of Covid-19, the letter states.

An epidemiology professor who did not wish to be named said that ideally every district under the lDSP should have at least one epidemiologist along with one state epidemiologist.
M inisters today issued an urgent plea to Britons to stay the course in the battle against coronavirus and not be tempted to break social-distancing rules this Easter.

With London set to enjoy 24C spring sunshine over a four-day bank holiday weekend, the Prime Minsters office begged the public: We cannot give up now.

"You have to stay at home this weekend, no matter how glorious the weather. It is critical.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden hammered home the message, saying nobody should visit holiday homes, go to the seaside or meet friends in the park.

Police during the UK coronavirus lockdown / AP

People really need to stick the course this Easter however tempting it is, however lovely and sunny it is," he said.

"Stay at home, please, in order to help protect the NHS, to help save lives.

This strategy is starting to work, so now is the time. I know how difficult it has been. We are saying to everyone, stick with it.

In key developments:

The Cobra emergency committee was meeting this afternoon to agree a process for a review of lockdown rules next week  but ministers made clear privately that the economic and social shutdown must continue to protect the NHS and save lives. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said there was no possibility of the rules being lifted now.

Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care at St Thomas Hospital, near Westminster. First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will chair Cobra in his place.

The economy shrank by 0.1 per cent in February, which was worse than City expectations and indicated that growth was stalling even before coronavirus closed shops, leisure centres and much of industry. Since the lockdown, almost three in 10 business have cut jobs, the Office for National Statistics said.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the Government to publish their exit strategy and be clearer about what steps will end lockdown.

Care home bosses pleaded with the Government for more personal protection equipment (PPE) for their staff and more medical help to protect the lives of elderly residents. In France, more than 3,200 people have reportedly died from Covid-19 in care homes since early March. Seven residents at the Hawthorn Green care home in Stepney, east London, have died with suspected coronavirus, with another 21 others ill with possible symptoms as of yesterday.

A police chief warned of a get-tough approach to social-distancing rule- breakers. Northamptonshire chief constable Nick Adderley said the three-week grace period is over and people could now face fines or a criminal record. Weve had examples of people sunbathing in the park, having barbecues in the park, weve had large gatherings of family members. To those people, I am saying your time is up.

Economic damage inflicted by lockdown will multiply as time goes on, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned. Paul Johnson told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Its probable that four months will be a lot more than twice as bad as two months, in terms of the economic effects.

Vets have been recruited to fill staffing gaps on intensive care wards ahead of the expected peak of Covid-19 patients, the Health Service Journal reported. Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust is recruiting 150 as respiratory assistants, amid preparations for a 10-fold increase in intensive care patients.

Questions were growing over official daily Covid figures from NHS England after a new analysis by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University said that out of 828 deaths announced yesterday, 135 were from April 7, with the other individuals having passed away in earlier days.

A formal review of the lockdown will be carried out next week, honouring the Prime Minsters promise to take stock after three weeks. But the outcome was seen as a foregone conclusion.

First Minister Ms Sturgeon told Sky News: I dont think there is any possibility, any likelihood, of these lockdown measures being lifted immediately or even imminently.

"Its really important that we stick with it in order to get on top of this virus.

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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will push for a continuation of the lockdown and also use the Cobra meeting to warn that food banks are running out of stocks.

He will also raise concerns about the availability of PPE and testing.

Wales has already announced it will extend the lockdown. Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething said there was virtually zero prospect of experts proposing a relaxation.

Lockdown London 1 /18 Lockdown London

Mr Dowden said the measures were likely to be extended for another three weeks, subject to expert scientific and medical advice. I dont think its very likely these measures are going to be changed given theyre just starting to have an effect, he said.

But the rules face their toughest test this weekend, with temperatures set to reach 25C in some parts of the country.

He said anyone attempting to go on holiday will face police action.

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People should not be visiting their second homes, they should not be going on holidays, he told Sky.

We have been warning off providers who are advertising escapes."

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

"We have been completely clear about this and police are taking necessary measures to enforce it.

Airbnb announced it will restrict bookings to key workers and other essential stays from now until at least April 18.
KRAKOW, Poland, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryvu Therapeutics (WSE:RVU), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology, today reported its annual 2019 financial results and provided a corporate update.



Major Achievements

In March 2019 , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Ryvu's IND application to conduct a Phase 1b study of selective CDK8 inhibitor SEL120 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS). The first patient enrolled in the Phase 1b study of SEL120, was dosed in September 2019 and the clinical trial is currently open at six sites in the U.S.

, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Ryvu's IND application to conduct a Phase study of selective CDK8 inhibitor SEL120 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS). The first patient enrolled in the Phase study of SEL120, was dosed in and the clinical trial is currently open at six sites in the U.S. In April 2019 Ryvu presented data from multiple oncology programs at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting. Poster presentations included SEL120, novel dual A2A/A2B adenosine receptor antagonists and next-generation small molecule direct STING agonists.

Ryvu presented data from multiple oncology programs at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting. Poster presentations included SEL120, novel dual A2A/A2B adenosine receptor antagonists and next-generation small molecule direct STING agonists. In June 2019 posters on the dual PIM/FLT3 inhibitor SEL24/MEN1703 were presented at the 24 th EHA Congress and ASCO Annual Meeting.

posters on the dual PIM/FLT3 inhibitor SEL24/MEN1703 were presented at the 24 EHA Congress and ASCO Annual Meeting. In August 2019 , Setareh Shamsili, M.D., Ph.D. joined Ryvu Therapeutics as the Chief Medical Officer, and in October 2019 was appointed to the Executive Management Board. Dr. Shamsili, a seasoned veteran, brings more than 20 years of clinical oncology and drug development experience to Ryvu.

, Setareh Shamsili, M.D., Ph.D. joined Ryvu Therapeutics as the Chief Medical Officer, and in was appointed to the Executive Management Board. Dr. Shamsili, a seasoned veteran, brings more than 20 years of clinical oncology and drug development experience to Ryvu. The corporate split between Ryvu Therapeutics and the Selvita CRO division has been completed, with both companies trading independently on the Warsaw Stock Exchange as of October 16, 2019 . During the split each Ryvu shareholder received one Selvita share in addition to each Ryvu share they already held. As of April 7, 2020 the market capitalization of spin-off company reached USD 129 million , up from USD 69 million reference level on the day of the split.

. During the split each Ryvu shareholder received one Selvita share in addition to each Ryvu share they already held. As of the market capitalization of spin-off company reached , up from reference level on the day of the split. In November 2019 , Ryvu presented two poster presentations at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 34th Annual Meeting: the novel, dual A2A/A2B antagonist immunometabolism program, and the small molecule, direct STING agonists immuno-oncology program.

, Ryvu presented two poster presentations at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 34th Annual Meeting: the novel, dual A2A/A2B antagonist immunometabolism program, and the small molecule, direct STING agonists immuno-oncology program. In December 2019 , Ryvu presented progress in translational, preclinical studies and introduction to a Phase Ib clinical trials for SEL120, at the 61 st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

, Ryvu presented progress in translational, preclinical studies and introduction to a Phase Ib clinical trials for SEL120, at the 61 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. Also in December 2019 , Ryvu was awarded a grant funding by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development for advancing research on targeted oncology therapies based on the synthetic lethality concept. This provides Ryvu with almost USD 8.3 million of non-dilutive financing. The agreement was signed in February 2020 .

, Ryvu was awarded a grant funding by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development for advancing research on targeted oncology therapies based on the synthetic lethality concept. This provides Ryvu with almost of non-dilutive financing. The agreement was signed in . Early R&D portfolio has matured to advance projects into clinical development in upcoming years. A preclinical candidate for the A2A/A2B project was selected and non-GLP Tox studies initiated. The STING agonist program advanced to the lead stage with planned preclinical stage in 2020.

Most important milestones in 2020, before the report date

On March 5, 2020 Menarini Group announced successful completion of Phase I clinical study of SEL24/MEN1703 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, which entitled Ryvu to receive a USD 1.96 million milestone payment. According to the information from Menarini SEL24/MEN1703 will start enrolling patients in the dose expansion Phase 2 study in the US. and in Europe .

Menarini Group announced successful completion of Phase I clinical study of SEL24/MEN1703 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, which entitled Ryvu to receive a milestone payment. According to the information from Menarini SEL24/MEN1703 will start enrolling patients in the dose expansion Phase 2 study in the US. and in . On March 25, 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an orphan drug designation (ODD) to Ryvu's SEL120, for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Throughout 2019, Ryvu presented at numerous investor conferences including: Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Solebury Trout Access event, JP Morgan Conference, H.C. Wainwright 21st Annual Global Investment Conference, Jefferies 2019 Healthcare Conference, UBS 2019 Global Healthcare Conference, Biotech Showcase 2019, Ipopema Biotech Day 2019, Erste Group  Innovation Conference 2019, GPW Innovation Day, 9th Central European Life Science Investment Conference and BIO-Europe 2019.

"The past year has been very productive for Ryvu Therapeutics. We have achieved numerous corporate, research and clinical milestones which set us on a great path into 2020. After the successful spinning out of the CRO activities and creating significant incremental value for Ryvu shareholders, we are operating now as a pure-play small molecule oncology therapeutics company," commented Pawel Przewiezlikowski, Chief Executive Officer of Ryvu.

"With first patients being treated in our Phase I study of SEL120, successful completion of Phase I by SEL24/MEN1703, exciting data for our STING agonist and A2A/A2B antagonist programs, as well as additional non-dilutive financing from grants, we are ready to continue with our mission to discover and develop drugs that will improve the lives of cancer patients and their families."

Ryvu Annual 2019, Financial Results under IFRS

Operating expenses were USD 5.0 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, a decrease of USD 0.7 million, compared to USD 5.7 million for the same period ended Dec. 31, 2018. Revenues were USD 2.1 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, compared to revenues of USD 3.3 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018. EBITDA excluding IFRS16 impact for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, was USD 2.4 million, compared to USD 2.0 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018.

Operating expenses were USD 20.7 million for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2019, an increase of USD 4.6 million, compared to USD 16.1 million for the same period ended Dec. 31, 2018. Revenues were USD 8.9 million for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2019, compared to revenues of USD 10.2 million for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2018. EBITDA excluding IFRS16 impact for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2019, was USD 10.2 million, compared to USD 5.0 million for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2018.

At Dec. 31, 2019, Ryvu Therapeutics held USD 19.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

About Ryvu Therapeutics

Ryvu Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology. Pipeline candidates make use of diverse therapeutic mechanisms driven by emerging knowledge of cancer biology, including small molecules directed at kinase, synthetic lethality, immuno-oncology and cancer metabolism targets. SEL120 is a selective CDK8 kinase inhibitor with potential for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors currently in clinical development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. SEL24/MEN1703 is a dual PIM/FLT3 kinase inhibitor licensed to the Menarini Group in clinical development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

For more information, please see www.ryvu.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements, including, among other things, statements regarding the guidance from management, financial results, timing and/or results of clinical studies, timing of the corporate split into two companies and interaction with regulators. Ryvu cautions the reader that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which might cause the actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Ryvu, or industry results, to be materially different from any historic or future results, financial conditions, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, even if Ryvu's results, performance, financial conditions, and the development of the industry in which it operates are consistent with such forward-looking statements, they may not be predictive of results or developments in future periods. Among the factors that may result in differences are that Ryvu's expectations regarding development programs may be incorrect, the inherent uncertainties associated with competitive developments, clinical study and projects development activities and regulatory approval requirements, Ryvu's reliance on collaborations with third parties, and estimating the commercial potential of its development programs and Ryvu's plans regarding the corporate split and in particular its timing. Given these uncertainties, the reader is advised not to place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document. Ryvu expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this document to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, unless specifically required by law or regulation.

Contacts:

Natalia Baranowska (corporate)

+48-784-069-418

[email protected]

Julia Balanova (investors)

+1-646-378-2936

[email protected]

SOURCE Ryvu Therapeutics
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Thu, April 9, 2020 19:02 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ea559 1 National blood-donors,Red-Cross,PMI,blood-donation,COVID-19,donor-darah,novel-coronavirus,Medan,North-Sumatra Free

Blood supplies in Medan, North Sumatra, are running low as fewer people participate in blood drives as a result of the social distancing policy and the COVID-19 outbreak.

Medan Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) blood donation unit head Harry Butar-Butar said the unit currently had 500 bags of blood, while normally there should be 1,500 bags.

People are reluctant to donate blood in the pandemic situation. This is alarming as many patients with diseases other than COVID-19, such as cancer and anemia, require the blood, he said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

He urged the public not to ignore the importance of treating diseases other than COVID-19.

Harry encouraged residents not to be afraid to donate their blood during the outbreak as the Medan blood unit had implemented COVID-19 protective measures.

The measures, he explained, included limiting the number of donors entering the room, requiring donors to keep two meters away from each other and regulating inflow and outflow so that donors would not have to come in contact with one another.

Harry emphasized that donating blood would not reduce immunity; it could actually increase the body's immunity, he asserted.

"Blood donation has many health benefits. A healthy body will certainly increase immunity," he said, adding that people who routinely donated blood were less likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes and other illnesses. (aly)
A young man risked his life in a desperate attempt to rescue his girlfriend before she was sucked into a 'cursed' swimming hole.

The search continues for Madison Tam, 18, who vanished while swimming at the notorious Devil's Pool - an off-limits site at Babinda Boulders, south of Cairns in Far North Queensland on Monday.

Ms Tam had been swimming between two rocks with a friend and her boyfriend Sean Holden when she was suddenly sucked into a 'chute' and pulled downstream.

Mr Holden's mother said her son dived underneath the churning water but was unable to find his 'Princess'.

Sean Holden is shattered at the loss of his girlfriend Madison Tam, who is feared drowned

'He nearly lost his life trying to get to her,' Tracey Clarke told the Cairns Post.

'He did everything he could to save her; he just keeps saying, ''Mum, I tried so hard''.'

Madison Tam, 18, disappeared while paddling at Devil's Pool - an off-limits swimming site at Babinda Boulders, south of Cairns

The young couple had been together for a year, and Ms Clarke described her son's girlfriend as a 'sweet, innocent girl'.

She added her son has been left heartbroken by the tragedy.

'The two of them had so many plans together  he was going to ask her to marry him,' Ms Clarke said.

The swimming hole is considered haunted and 'cursed' in Aboriginal folklore and 17 people have lost their lives there in the last 60 years.

Another six people were at the site at the time when Ms Tam vanished.

A search operation involving Queensland Fire and Emergency Services swift water rescue team, SES volunteers and the Rescue 510 helicopter will resume on Thursday.

Police have vowed to continue the search until they can give Ms Tam's helpless family some answers.

Madison Tam, 18, has been remembered by her boyfriend's mother as a sweet, innocent girl

Division 1 Cairns regional councillor Brett Moller described the incident as an 'absolute tragedy' for the family.

'My thoughts are with the family. This was a young girl with everything to live for,' he told Courier Mail.

'This has an impact, not just on the family and friends, but I feel for the rescuers, too.

'This is quite an arduous task and if it is a sad result that will be tragic for them.'

Cairns MP Michael Healy also offered his support to Ms Tam's grieving family and friends.

'It is a tragedy, an absolute tragedy and it would be a terrible time to be going through right now,' Mr Healy told Nine News.

'Obviously anybody swimming in any of these waterholes needs to exercise extreme caution.'

The desperate emergency search to find Madison Tam entered its fourth day on Thursday

A search operation involving Queensland Fire and Emergency Services swift water rescue team, SES volunteers and the Rescue 510 helicopter was launched in hopes of finding the teenager (Police at the scene)

Police have vowed to continue the search until they find Madison Tam (pictured)

The rescue team continued their search on Wednesday morning at Babinda Boulders (pictured) with no luck of finding Ms Tam

The pool was officially declared a no-go zone after Mr Bennett's death with signs telling swimmers about the dangers of the site

The last person to die at Babinda Boulders before Ms Tam went missing was Tasmanian man James Bennett in 2008.

His friends claimed the 23-year-old was swimming in the calm waters when he was suddenly pulled backwards by an invisible force towards the rapids at the end of the pool.

He reached for a branch, which snapped, before his head went under.

Witnesses said he struggled once or twice before he vanished.

His body resurfaced three days later.

The pool was officially declared a no-go zone after Mr Bennett's death with signs telling swimmers about the dangers of the site.

It reads: 'This creek has claimed many lives.

'Wet rocks are extremely slippery. Beware of rapidly rising water levels. Do not swim in main creek downstream of this point. This track leads to lookouts only. For your safety keep to walking track provided.'
As he comes off bagging Rashmi Rocket, backed by RSVP, Priyanshu Painyuli is gearing up for his big release this month. The actor will soon be seen in Netflix film Extraction that was shot in India through the later half of 2019. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, David Harbor, the film also has Indian faces Pankaj Tripathi, Randeep Hooda and Priyanshu.

The film which was earlier titled Dhaka, is produced by Russo brothers and directed by Sam Hargrave. As the title suggests, the film is a kidnap extraction drama that has Hemsworth play a mercenary, Rake, who is hired to rescue the son of a businessman.

This is Priyanshus breakthrough role in an international movie. Speaking about his role, the actor says, Its a very interesting story, I am playing a very special role, in a surprise package. I eagerly waiting to see myself, I havent done anything like this before. I cant wait for people to watch this film. Its an experience I will always cherish. My biggest takeaway from this was the discipline of it. Everyone was so well-prepped and so thorough with their scenes. The research is so well-rounded that theres zero scope for errors when the actor is in front of the camera. Everything is already on the storyboard, discussed and vetted, before the scene. I have been able to inculcate a more methodical approach to work.

Also read: On Jaya Bachchans birthday, Abhishek Bachchan says she is in Delhi due to lockdown: Know that we are thinking of you 

Priyanshu adds that the Thor star is a delight to be around. He goes on, When you work with someone like him, you realise the value of being grounded. He is warm and kind as a colleague. He had this incredible zest to learn more and do better and the fact that the team made me so comfortable that I wanted to give my best.

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Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 12:05 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0cbe73 1 Business Indonesia,BPS,social-restriction,indef,food,distribution,poor-residents,rice Free

The government is distributing food aid to 20 million poor households across the country to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. But large-scale social restrictions may jeopardize the humanitarian effort.

Poor households in regions with insecure food supply chains might not be able to use the Rp 200,000 (US$12.3) in monthly aid to buy eggs, chicken or rice, as logistics might be disrupted because of road closures in some regions, according to the Institute of Development for Economics and Finance (Indef).

The distribution chain could be disrupted, Indef researcher Dhenny Yuartha Junifta told reporters in an online discussion on Wednesday. It will be a problem if there is panic in the eastern part of Indonesia. What will happen to supplies and where will they come from?

Some regions of Papua and West Papua have scored between 41.52 and 59.58 on the 2018 food security index, which measures the availability and accessibility of food.

The index, compiled by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the Agriculture Ministrys Food Security Agency, considers regions with scores below 59.58 to be food-insecure, because the availability of healthy food there is limited.

Some households eligible for the staple food assistance, whose monthly spending on food ranges from Rp 200,000 to Rp 400,000, live in regions categorized as insecure.

The fast-spreading coronavirus has reached at least 32 provinces, including food-insecure regions. As of Wednesday, 2,956 people across the country have contracted the virus, and 240 of them have died of the disease, while 222 people have recovered.

Jakarta, the national epicenter of the outbreak, has introduced large-scale restrictions to minimize the risk of contagion such as by suspending the activities of school and offices and banning religious events and other public activities.

Some regions, including Tegal in Central Java, Bandung in West Java and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, are closing roads to limit the movement of people.

This should be the governments concern: the allocation and distribution of food assistance to meet public needs amid the pandemic and, especially, during Ramadan and Idul Fitri, said Dhenny, who leads Indefs research on food issues.

At the beginning of April, President Joko Jokowi Widodo had asked the home minister to clear the way for staple food deliveries especially in the days leading up to the Islamic holy month, set to start on April 23.

The President has also asked the agriculture minister to ensure supplies of staple food for Ramadan.

According to Agriculture Ministry estimates, the countrys staple food production between March and May will exceed consumption. Rice supply, for example, was estimated to exceed demand by 8.3 million tons at the end of May. With average monthly consumption at 2.5 million tons, the surplus alone was expected to last through August.

But if the outbreak last beyond August, there might be a problem, said Dhenny.

Procuring rice from overseas might prove difficult, partly because Vietnam, a major rice exporter in Southeast Asia, was limiting rice export volumes to secure domestic supplies amid the pandemic.

The government, therefore, should exempt farmers from the large-scale social restrictions to let them continue the production of staple food this harvest season, said Indef senior researcher Bustanul Arifin.

I think they should be allowed to harvest, as long as they comply with the protocol, such as wearing masks and keeping a distance from their partners, Bustanul said during the same online talk on Wednesday.
A man shops for groceries in New York City, March 27, 2020.

Crystal Cox/Business Insider

Related Video: How Long Will Social Distancing Last? It's Complicated.

Most people who get the coronavirus exhibit a dry cough, fever, and difficulty breathing. Between 25% and 50% of infected people might not show no symptoms at all, while other coronavirus patients show less common symptoms like diarrhea or a loss of their senses of smell and taste.

A case study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association describes a coronavirus patient in her 40s whose main COVID-19 symptom was a "sudden and complete" loss of smell. This is also known as anosmia. The woman had previously had a dry cough, but no fever.

The study authors tested the woman's ability to smell five different scents: caramel, goat cheese, fruit, manure, and a rose. She was unable to smell or identify any of them.

The research adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests individuals whose main symptom is a loss of smell could be infected with the new coronavirus, even if they lack other typical symptoms like cough or fever.

If a patient has all three symptoms  smell loss, cough, and fever  that "should alert the clinician" to suspect a coronavirus infection, the study said.

A swollen nasal cavity

An MRI and CT scan revealed why the patient in the case study was unable to detect smells.

The patient's olfactory cleft  a narrow space at the back of the nose into which air that carries scents flows  was swollen. The inflammation prevented odors in the inhaled air from reaching her olfactory epithelium, a mucous membrane inside the nose that detects smells.

Story continues

Further examination showed that the woman's olfactory bulb (the berry-sized extension of the brain that sits above the nose and processes odor information) was normal and unharmed.

A man sneezes into a napkin.

Roberto Pfeil/AP

The woman did not lose her sense of taste, the researchers reported, nor did she have a fever or a runny nose, which can sometimes cause loss of smell.

A symptom in 'hidden carriers' who spread the illness without becoming sick

Other research supports this finding.

Scientists at King's College London used a tracking app to collect self-reported COVID-19 symptom data from 1.5 million users between March 24 and March 29. About 60% of patients who tested positive for the coronavirus had reported losing their sense of smell and taste, the data showed. The research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, revealed that the loss of smell and taste were stronger predictors of a COVID-19 diagnosis than self-reported fever.

An assistant store manager rings up groceries from behind a plexiglass barrier in Los Angeles, California, March 31, 2020.

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

In South Korea, China, and Italy, about a third of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 also reported a loss of smell, according to a statement from ear, nose, and throat experts with The British Association of Otorhinolaryngology.

"In South Korea, where testing has been more widespread, 30% of patients testing positive have had anosmia as their major presenting symptom in otherwise mild cases," they said.

The experts also reported that "there have been a rapidly growing number of reports of a significant increase in the number of patients presenting with anosmia in the absence of other symptoms."

They added: "These patients may be some of the hitherto hidden carriers that have facilitated the rapid spread of COVID-19."

Business Insider
D octors and nurses at Great Ormond Street Hospital have received hundreds of freshly cooked meals from Londons top restaurants through the Evening Standards Food For London Now appeal.

Staff at the childrens hospital can now pick up a meal from some of the capitals most exclusive restaurants, including The Ivy and Scotts, at the end of their shift, instead of having to worry about shopping or preparing food.

Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev delivered 600 meals to the hospital, along with several Felix volunteers including Georgie Czernobay, the central London operations co-ordinator of The Felix Project, our partner in the appeal.

It means Great Ormond Street staff can have a portion of The Ivys famous shepherds pie, a Thai green chicken curry from Bills or a lasagne from Harrys Dolce Vita at the end of a hard day.

The restaurants will also be cooking vegetable soups, fish pie, chicken pie, chilli con carne and macaroni cheese for the hospital staff.

Helping hand: Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev delivers 600 meals to Great Ormond Street staff with other Felix volunteers / Hannah Harley Young

Amy Weild, senior staff nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: It was such a lovely treat to receive these delicious, freshly cooked meals, particularly at the end of a long shift.

Its so heartwarming to see everyone coming together to support each other during these challenging times  gestures like this go such a long way.

Volunteer chefs from Richard Caring restaurants, which also include Scotts, Sexy Fish and 34 Mayfair, are cooking the meals in the kitchens of Ivy restaurants across London.

From now on, volunteers from The Felix Project will deliver more than 600 of the meals to Great Ormond Street Hospital for five days every week.

NHS workers can pick up the free food from a makeshift shop which has been set up within the hospital. Staff can take the food home at the end of a shift or eat it on their break while at work. Mark Curtin, CEO of The Felix Project, said: The staff at the hospital were delighted with the food.

Thanks to the food supplied to us from The Caring Foundation, we are able to provide them with good quality, nutritious meals to help them while they fight the coronavirus. It is wonderful to be able to take some of the burden off their shoulders by providing them with food and we hope it makes their jobs that little bit easier.

It comes as our Food For London Now appeal, in association with The Independent, rose to 1.1 million. The money is being used to help The Felix Project fund the supply of food to children, the poor, the NHS and vulnerable Londoners.

GOSH is one of the most well-loved institutions in the country and it is an honour and a pleasure to be able to help them

Mr Lebedev said: I am delighted that our campaign is able to supply food to the Great Ormond Street Hospital. GOSH is one of the most well-loved institutions in the country and it is an honour and a pleasure to be able to help them.

Mr Caring said: During these very difficult times we must come together, help each other and support those desperately in need.

The fantastic volunteers from across the Caprice Holdings restaurants and The Ivy Collections have been cooking up more than 20,000 meals a week, and this number is increasing each week, to supply in partnership with The Felix Project some of Londons critically vulnerable communities.

Today we have done our first delivery to the amazing NHS staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital and next week, utilising our kitchens and distribution partners across the country, we will start delivering to other key cities across the UK, including Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin.

Together we are strong and together we can make a real difference.

Matthew Shaw, chief executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust, said: I would like to say a huge thank you to The Felix Project and The Caring Foundation on behalf of everyone here at GOSH.

These are challenging times and all of our staff are working their hardest to deliver the best care possible to our patients. To be able to enjoy a freshly cooked meal at the end of or during a hard shift makes a real difference thank you.

Louise Parkes, chief executive of GOSH Charity said: I want to say a massive thank you to The Felix Project and The Caring Foundation for their hugely generous donation of freshly cooked meals for staffl.

As GOSH plays its role in the national response by treating more children from hospitals across London, resources will become increasingly stretched and the wellbeing of staff becomes ever more important.

Being able to provide them with a nutritious and delicious meal is a fantastic way to boost morale and say thank you as they work around the clock to care for seriously ill children.

At GOSH Charity it has been fantastic to see everyone come together at this time and we are so grateful to all the many businesses and individuals who have supported us so far.

One of the latest donations to our appeal was 5,000 from hedge fund East Alpha Ltd.

Eric Armitage, its chief investment officer, said: We are happy to support the magnificent efforts of The Felix Project in reducing food waste by directing precious resources to where they will do the most good.

We know that our donation will be put to work quickly and effectively, making an immediate difference to the lives of Londoners in need.

Donate at virginmoneygiving.com/fund/FoodforLondonNOW
To the Editor:

Re Bernie Sanders Was Right Back When, and Hes Still Right Now, by Elizabeth Bruenig (Opinion, April 9):

Yes, Bernie Sanders was right about most of the wonderful things he was asking for, but in our contentious two-party system just being right doesnt get the job done.

In his years in Congress, the stubbornly independent-minded Mr. Sanders showed no inclination to join the party in which he was most likely to realize his bold ideas.

As his impoverished legislative history shows, as merely an ally of like-minded Democrats rather than as a full-fledged member of their party, he could turn very few of his ideas into legislation.

Frederic Golden

Santa Barbara, Calif.

To the Editor:

Brava, Ms. Bruenig!

At last, a fair perspective on Bernie Sanders, a remarkable human being and dedicated public servant, and his accomplishments. For the many progressives like me, your analysis and depth of understanding were a welcome and long overdue change from what we see as a pervasive bias against Mr. Sanders in The Times.
Facebook has seen a turnaround in usage in Ireland, while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has seen his social media numbers skyrocket during the coronavirus lockdown, a report claims.

Figures researched by Mulley Communications indicate that Facebook's decline has been reversed, with an additional 100,000 users since September, halting a trend that had seen the social media giant lose 300,000 between January and September of last year.

The company's strongest usage gains here are among users between 40 and 50, with all demographics over 40 increasing their engagement. However, it is also holding steady among younger users, with 1.2 million people between 13 and 35 still on the service.

"Because people have Facebook already on their phones, it's a good way of catching up with friends and family when they are socially distancing," said Mulley director Damien Mulley.

Mr Mulley also expressed doubt over recent online speculation about whether 'Twitter bots' have been set up to support the Irish Government's handling of the lockdown. "Maybe we can see that all those bots are actually people from this [older Facebook] demographic using Twitter for the first time," he said.

Meanwhile, Irish political leaders have seen spikes in their social media followings. Mr Varadkar has seen the biggest immediate gains due to his direct public addresses.

Mr Varadkar's Twitter count rose by 60,000 during March to over 300,000 followers. He also tripled his Instagram following to over 80,000.

Health Minister Simon Harris has also seen hefty increases in his following, with Micheal Martin seeing more modest gains. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has seen a steady rise, with gains of between 5pc and 10pc weekly. She has almost double the Facebook followers of Mr Varadkar.

"Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris are the public faces of the current pandemic in Ireland and they are being seen as calming voices during this," said Mr Mulley. "People are going to follow them directly to get information. It's interesting that Fine Gael itself does not seem to have benefited in social media growth from this, with the main focus being on Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris.

"The only party that has seen social media growth is Sinn Fein, but their numbers have been on a steady upward trajectory since before the general election."
Two Portuguese circuits have suddenly emerged as potential stand-in venues amid F1's coronavirus crisis.

We reported this week that the Algarve circuit, located in Portimao, has received FIA certification to host grands prix.

And now, the Portuguese source sportmotores.com claims that the former Portuguese GP venue at Estoril has also received Grade 1 FIA homologation.

"They are saying that Portugal is tackling the Covid-19 outbreak efficiently - the new infection cases are low and deaths also," a source told us.

"They say the circuit is open to receiving a F1 race, as Algarve is, if FOM runs out of options."

Jan Lammers, boss of the Dutch GP at Zandvoort, is hearing the same rumours.

"The Portimao circuit in Portugal has suddenly received a Formula 1 license," he told NOS. "Perhaps a provisional race could be organised there."

(GMM)
'What is proposed is that we tax payers pay Rs 1,000 per month to selected JanDhan accounts of poor families.'

'I am sure there are at least 10 crore Indians for whom Rs 1,000 is no big deal.'

IMAGE: Women stand in painted circles to maintain a safe distance to collect essential food items in Patna, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo

My dear Prime Minister,

We as common citizens cannot ever understand the challenge you have taken up to fight this war against the coronavirus, a war we must win if not just India, but mankind has to survive!

You have lifted the Shiv Dhanushya and all of us are ready to follow you.

But in this difficult time, the nation's need for your leadership is the greatest. So my first appeal as a senior citizen is that you MUST take care of your own health.

As Baji Prabhu Depshpande said to Chhatrapati Shivaji at the famous battle of Pawan Khind, 'Lakhs may die, but the one who looks after lakhs must live.'

The Ramayana has a very interesting tale of Prabhu Ramchandra appreciating the efforts of ever a small squirrel while thousands were working on building the Ram Setu.

Coming to modern times, during Bal Gangadhar Tilak's time, a glass factory was established in Maharashtra by collecting just one paisa from each individual! The glass factory at Talegaon was called 'Paisa fund Factory'.

It is time we used our vast numbers to our advantage.

I am aware that you have started a coronavirus specific fund. Many have donated to it and will continue to do so.

May I suggest that the prime purpose of this fund be to create, run and maintain medical and other facilities as well as help stressed industries.

I seek your help so that individuals can help the poor and needy directly in this hour of need.

This will take away some burden from overworked government agencies.

What is proposed is that we tax payers pay a sum of Rs 1,000 per month to selected JanDhan accounts of poor families.

I am sure there are at least 10 crore Indians for whom Rs 1,000 is no big deal. Many of us spend that kind of money in eating out every month.

With your JanDhan account campaign, virtually every poor family has a bank account.

The government has our details including email address based on Pan Card numbers. This data is available with the income tax department.

On your instructions, the income tax department can send the individual the account number of the JanDhan beneficiary. The citizen can then directly transfer the money to the selected family.

Today, with the vast amount of data available with the government, it is possible to implement this. The selection of beneficiaries should be done by the local people's representative or the member of Parliament.

This process should be all over India so that say a person from Maharashtra could send money to a person in Uttar Pradesh and vice versa.

The beneficiary should know from where the money has come and the name of the donor. This will foster national cohesion if done across the caste and communal divide.

I hope and pray that under your dynamic leadership we win this war. This request is just a small effort to contribute ideas in the national cause.

Optimally if 10 crore Indians respond to your appeal, it will mean a Rs 1.2 lakh crore transfer to the poor in one year.

People have faith and trust in you and many gave up the LPG subsidy on your appeal.

I am sure if you appeal and make available the means, more than 10 crore Indians will respond.

This will greatly ease the burden on the government that can then concentrate on medical infrastructure.

I hope you do consider this favourably.

Yours sincerely

Colonel Anil A Athale (retd)

Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), the well known military historian and long time Rediff.com columnist, is the Chhatrapati Shivaji chair fellow at the United Services Institute of India.
The US Department of State has expressed concern over the safety of the Sikh community in Afghanistan. The State has also appealed to the people of Afghanistan to live together peacefully and ensure the security of religious minorities in their country.

Deeply concerned about the safety of the Sikh community in Afghanistan. Afghan Sikhs have long been an integral part of the multicultural tapestry of Afghanistan, and Afghans must come together now to ensure the security of religious minorities: US Department of State pic.twitter.com/422ygpe8IM  ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2020

This statement of the US comes after the Islamic State imposed a 10-day ultimatum for all Sikhs to leave Afghanistan. Which comes in the wake of a recent attack on a Sikh house of worship in Kabul, which left 25 dead, along with one gunman.

READ | UN Security Council Condemns 'heinous' Terror Attack On Sikh Gurudwara In Afghanistan

Sikhs in Afghanistan

The Sikh population living in Afghanistan remains among the most targeted, forcing many to flee to other countries to seek refuge. Afghanistan has historically been home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs for centuries. Today, the Sikh population has dwindled to barely one thousand, made up of less than 300 families, with only a few operating Gurdwaras across the country, including Gurdwara Guru Hai Rai in Kabul, the site of the most recent attack.

READ | Kabul Gurudwara Attack: Majinder Sirsa Thanks PM For Bringing Back Victims' Mortal Remains

Terror Attack on Gurudwara

As many as 25 people have been killed, and several injured, in the Gurdwara attack in Kabul, Afghanistan after unknown gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the religious place. Later, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, reported an intelligence group. The gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the gurdwara in Shor Bazar area at around 07:45 (local time) when 150 worshippers were inside the Sikh religious premise.

Afghanistans Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian has reportedly said that the defence forces have cordoned off the area and trying to counter-attack. The Taliban denied its involvement and its spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted that they have no relation with the attack in Shor Bazar.

READ | Kabul Gurudwara Attack: EAM S. Jaishankar Assures Safe Return Of Families To Their Homes

READ | Delhi CM Kejriwal Appeals For At-home Shab-e-Barat Observance Amid Coronavirus Lockdown
President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the CCP virus in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 6, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Calls for Resistance to Blanket Mail-In Voting, Cites Fraud Concerns

President Donald Trump has urged Republican lawmakers to resist pressure to legislate mail-in voting across the country, bringing up the attached risk of voter fraud.

Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting, he said in an April 8 tweet. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans.

Several Democrats in the Senate, including former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), have said they plan to introduce a bill that would expand mail-in and early voting statewide in light of the CCP virus epidemic.

The CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, broke out in Wuhan, China, around November 2019 and was allowed to spread around the world due to the coverup and mismanagement by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In the United States, more than 420,000 have tested positive for the virus, and over 14,000 have died, as of April 8.

Congress should ensure that every American has a safe way to participate in our democracy during a national emergency, Klobuchar said in a March 13 release.

The bill would make states send an absentee ballot to any voter who requests it online for any reason. If the voter doesnt get the ballot, he or she would be allowed to print out a special federal ballot thats currently only allowed for overseas Americans and troops.

It would also make states accept any absentee ballots postmarked or signed before the close of the polls on Election Day and received up to the last day ballots must be submitted to the state for an official canvass.

Opponents of the bill have argued that it not only makes elections less secure, but is also superfluous.

Two-thirds of the states already provide absentee ballots to any voter who requests one. The rest require a voter to provide a reason, such as travel, illness, injury, or disability.

As a former election official, I can tell you that theres not a single election official anywhere in the country who would not consider the coronavirus  a sufficient excuse, said Hans von Spakovsky, former member of the Federal Election Commission and manager of the conservative Heritage Foundations Election Law Reform Initiative.

Absentee ballots are a particular fraud risk, he said, since they are the only kind of ballots voted outside the supervision of election officials.

Theres no way to properly supervise and make sure that voters arent being intimidated, their votes arent being stolen, ballots arent being forgedsignatures forgedor otherwise altered, so you have to handle them very carefully, he said.

Election rules should be decided at the state level, as has generally been the case, he said.

We dont need the feds coming in and cutting out all of the security measures that states have put in place to handle these kinds of ballots.

As for resources, the CCP virus relief package passed by Congress has already provided $400 million for additional election-related costs that states may incur due to the epidemic, he noted.

Voter restriction opponents usually argue that voter fraud is so rare its not an issue. Spakovsky said the issue hasnt been investigated well enough to make that conclusion, and pointed to a database of known instances maintained by the Heritage Foundation.
Germany has seen a steep rise in the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus and suffered through its second-deadliest day of the crisis so far.

The country recorded 246 new deaths from coronavirus between Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the total number killed from 1,861 to 2,107.

Scientists from the Robert Koch Institute also recorded another 4,974 cases of the virus in 24 hours bringing the total number of infected from 103,228 to 108,202.

It marks the third straight day that the number of daily new cases has climbed after four days of drops, suggesting the crisis has yet to peak.

A graph showing the number of new infections per day in Germany, with three days of steep rises following four previous days of decline

A graph showing the number of new coronavirus deaths in Germany, which fell slightly on Thursday but are still far higher than where the country was a few days ago

The daily death toll is marginally lower than the 254 people who were reported to have died Wednesday, but still far higher than the 92 who perished Monday.

Health services in other countries including Britain and Spain have warned that Monday figures can be deceptively low because of a backlog in data from the weekend that needs to filter through into the system.

The figures mean that the German infection rate has increased to 4.8 per cent after three straight days of flat numbers.

A falling infection rate is the surest sign that a country has reached or passed its infection peak, a rising rate indicates worse is still to come.

The death figures also mean that Germany's mortality rate is now around 2 per cent - still far below European neighbours such as France, Spain and Italy - but far higher than the 0.1 per cent reported at the start of the crisis.

Experts had said that a highly efficient testing regime meant that German death figures presented as a smaller proportion of overall cases - but the mortality rate has been steadily rising for almost a month, suggesting the system is reaching its limit.

For comparison, Italy has a mortality rate of 12.6 per cent, Spain is at 9.8 per cent and Britain is at 11.1 per cent.

A member of the medical staff treats a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit at Havelhoehe community hospital in Berlin,

A German soldier unpacks boxes of protective masks at an underground armed forces supply depot in the country's east

The low rate is thought to be linked to Germany's regime of mass testing, with 500,000 people being screened for the virus every week.

Vets at a Berlin university have even begun rolling out tests for cats and dogs after virologists found that pets could be infected, although there is no evidence they can pass the disease to humans.

An interior ministry document has drawn up plans for a partial lifting of the lockdown if the infection rate remains low enough.

Under those plans, life could begin to return to normal if the contagion rate is below 1.0, meaning that each patient is infecting less than one other person on average.

But the head of the Robert Koch Institute, which collects the official figures, warned yesterday that it was too early to say whether the epidemic was definitely slowing.

Germany is assembling a 1.1trillion spending package to ease the impact of the economic standstill, including guaranteed loans to businesses.

Ministers are also planning a new law to restrict foreign takeovers of German companies, aiming to keep critical production within its borders.

Angela Merkel said on Monday that Europe needed to develop 'self-sufficiency' in manufacturing of medical gear such as masks.

'Regardless of the fact that this market is presently installed in Asia... we need a certain self-sufficiency, or at least a pillar of our own manufacturing' in Germany or elsewhere in the European Union, she said.

People queue outside a test centre for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Havelhoehe community hospital in Berlin, Germany,

At a cabinet meeting today, ministers will discuss a new law to make it easier for Berlin to block foreign takeovers.

Instead of demonstrating that the acquisition presents a real danger to German security, officials would only have to prove a 'likely impact'.

Takeovers will be placed on ice while the government makes such assessments, preventing the new owners laying hands on any of the firm's intellectual property.

'Recent weeks have shown that supplying the German people with items vital for life, like vaccines, can depend on a single company,' a government source told German media.

'Information or technology seeping out during an ongoing investment check can have serious consequences.'

Elsewhere, Germany is planning to accept 50 young people from Greek migrant camps where conditions have worsened because of coronavirus.

Germany has also accepted hospital patients from neighbouring countries including Italy and France in a show of European solidarity during the crisis.

But Berlin has maintained its opposition to joint European debt instruments, despite pleas from Italy.
Amid the nationwide 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, Lufthansa group's SWISS airline on Thursday said it is conducting a special flight from Delhi to Zurich to repatriate Swiss citizens and other European nationals.

SWISS airline's wide-body A330 aircraft from Zurich landed at Mumbai airport on Thursday morning at 5.15 am. After picking up some passengers from Mumbai, it will head to Delhi to pick up the remaining passengers.

The flight will depart at 1.35 am from Delhi on Friday morning for Zurich "carrying Swiss and other European nationals home at a time when no international flights are operating to and from India due to the global air traffic lockdown", a press release by the SWISS airline stated.

India has imposed a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this time period.

However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator DGCA are allowed to operate during this lockdown.

George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales South Asia Lufthansa Group, said, "As a responsible corporate citizen, we are tasked with the duty and privilege to bring people back to their homes in this time of unprecedented global crisis.

"We are thankful to be able to help the government officials in India and Switzerland with this special flight," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SPRINGFIELD  An appeal by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno for masks for city police officers and firefighters, to help protect them from the coronavirus, has spurred additional donations of masks.

Sarno said Thursday he is deeply thankful for all of the outpouring of support in private donations of N95 and KN95 masks, one day after he was critical of not getting masks from state and federal agencies.

Sarno, in a Wednesday press conference, said a request for masks for Springfields first responders had been denied. Sarno said the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to states and cities was bogged down by bureaucratic red tape while cannibalizing and bidding against each other for limited supplies.

Donations came in later Wednesday from MassMutual of Springfield and Holyoke Medical Center, and the city has continued to receive additional donations, Sarno said.

Sarno said he received a new donation of 300 N95 masks through the efforts of a Springfield native, Timothy Murphy, and one of his students.

Murphy teaches at the Fessenden School in West Newton, and lives in that area, but learned about the appeal for masks in Springfield. One of his students, Sandra Zhang, called her family in China for assistance, resulting in the 300 masks, delivered Thursday, the mayors office said.

In addition, Merrill Lynch of Springfield contacted the mayors office and donated 140 N95 masks, according to the mayors announcement.

Combined with Wednesdays donations, the city has now received nearly 950 masks, Sarno said.

I am truly humbled and deeply thankful to the outpouring of support from our Springfield community," Sarno said.

The city continues to explore all public and private means to secure additional PPE for police and firefighter.

At this point in time, I could care less where these vital and much needed lifesaving PPEs are coming from. Sarno said. As long as I receive them so that I can provide our brave and dedicated police, fire and frontline personnel with the proper and lifesaving PPEs, such as the N95 and KN95 masks, they need to do their job. As first responders they are more often than not the first point of contact for any potential coronavirus exposure and as such they need to be equipped with these protective measures.

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Prudentials fiscal year 2019 results showed strong growth across all key financial metrics

Last year also marked Prudential's 20th year of operations in Vietnam and serving the protection needs of local people. The company has continued to maintain its industry leadership and contribute to the socio-economic development of the country with the commitment to take action for a healthier and wealthier Vietnam.

Prudentials fiscal year 2019 results showed strong growth across all key financial metrics. Along with this, the company reported total revenue of VND27.537 trillion ($1.2 billion) with revenue from insurance operations generating VND21.952 trillion ($954.43 million), an on-year increase of 15.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Annual Premium Equivalent, a measure of new business revenue, reached VND5.04 trillion ($219.13 million), an increase of 12.5 per cent compared to 2018. Pre-tax profit also increased, rising to VND2.688 trillion ($116.87 million), thanks to Prudentials ongoing digital transformation and operational optimisation.

In 2019, Prudential continued to deliver on its commitment to providing financial protection for Vietnamese families, paying out VND6.257 trillion ($272 million) in insurance benefits. The company remained highly solvent with a solvency margin above 131.4 per cent, underscoring its ability to safeguard customers finances.

Prudential also reported total assets of VND103.819 trillion ($4.5 billion), an increase of 15.3 per cent from 2018, demonstrating the continued strength of its insurance business and a solid performance on investment returns. Its total investment in the economy was VND93.937 trillion ($4.1 billion), an increase of 15.2 per cent against 2018.

In addition, Prudential continued to support the governments efforts to develop the national economy by investing in 20-year and 30-year government bonds, bringing the total investment in government bonds to VND66.489 trillion ($2.9 billion).

The company is also a pioneer in applying modern technology to simplify the process and enhance the customer experience as well as support the community on their healthcare journey.

Besides its core business, the company continued to give back to the community. In 2012-2019, the company contributed VND191 billion ($8.3 million) through a wide range of community investment projects under the three pillars of healthy living, education, and safety.

As demand for healthcare continues to rise in Vietnam, I strongly believe insurers should play a supporting role alongside the governments efforts to help Vietnamese individuals and communities on their healthcare journey, says Clive Baker, CEO of Prudential Vietnam.

Through 2019 and indeed over the course of our 20-journey in Vietnam, Prudential has continuously strived to provide all Vietnamese with comprehensive healthcare solutions while contributing to the countrys development. By applying more advanced technologies, Prudential is proud to be making it easier than ever for Vietnamese to protect their health and grow their wealth.

Throughout 2019, Prudential Vietnam continued to underscore its commitment to the Vietnamese society while marking its 20th anniversary by introducing a series of innovative universal life products, combining with health and protection features such as its protection plan PRU-FlexiProtect (PRU-Chu Dong Cuoc Song), critical illness plan PRU-SafePlus (PRU-Bao Ve Toi Uu), and healthcare rider PRU-Hanh Trang Vui Khoe.

Together with its market-leading unit-linked product PRU-FlexInvest, Prudential not only helps narrow the health protection gap in Vietnam but also grow customers asset and empower them to protect their health and well-being from unexpected risks in life so they can pursue and achieve their life goals.

In addition, with Pulse by Prudential, Asia's first all-in-one digital app for health management based on AI, Prudential continues to reaffirm its We DO Health commitment to communities across Asia.

Pulse, soon to be launched in Vietnam, is a breakthrough solution that highlights Prudentials strategy to bring greater simplicity, convenience, and excitement to customers. In doing so, Prudential encourages both individual customers and communities to proactively manage their health anytime and anywhere so they lead full and rewarding lives.

Continuously delivering sustainable values to generations of employees, agents, customers, partners, and the whole community, Prudential was honoured to receive the Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Finance for its outstanding contribution to the development of Vietnam's life insurance industry over the past 20 years.

Moreover, Prudential's pioneering activities are not only recognised in Vietnam but are acknowledged by leading industry experts from all across Asia. The insurer also garnered the International Life Insurer of the Year  Vietnam, Claims Initiative of the Year  Vietnam and Digital Insurance Initiative of the Year  Vietnam by Insurance Asia Awards 2019.

A subsidiary of Prudential Plc  a leading global financial group headquartered in the UK  Prudential Vietnam has been operating in Vietnam for over 20 years. To date, in Vietnam, the company has helped over 1.5 million Vietnamese people achieve their protection needs and wealth aspirations in life.

Prudential Vietnam offers products focused on protection, saving, and investment via over 200,000 financial consultants, an expansive network of over 360 offices as well as a nationwide network of partnerships with eight reputable banks and 366 hospitals and clinics as of March 2020.

The company is also a pioneer in applying modern technology to simplify the process and enhance the customer experience as well as support the community on their healthcare journey.
An Bord Pleanala has given the go-ahead to Patrick Creans Marlet Group for contentious "fast track" plans to build more than 500 apartments in Howth, Co Dublin.

The appeals board has given the plan the go-ahead in spite of widespread local opposition where over 80 objections were lodged against the proposal.

The proposal includes 512 mainly one- and two-bed apartments in blocks totalling eight storeys in height.

The application is the fourth attempt to redevelop the derelict former Techrete factory site near the villages Dart station.

The decision now gives the Marlet Group planning permission to construct 689 apartments in Howth as the decision follows the company securing planning permission last month from the appeals board to demolish the Bailey Court Hotel in Howth and replace it with 177 apartments.

In giving the Techrete plan the go-ahead, the appeals board found that the proposed development would respect and enhance the historic and architectural character of the area and would be acceptable in terms of urban design, height and quantum of development.

The appeals board also found that the proposal would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not damage the natural heritage of the area and would support the commercial role of Howths town centre.

The appeals board acknowledged that the plan could materially contravene the allocation of 498 homes to Howth.

However, the appeals board found that the plan would be justified having regard to the Governments policy to ramp up delivery of housing from its current undersupply.

The board also cited other national policies which support denser residential development consisting of apartments on public transport corridors within the built-up area of Dublin City and its suburbs.

The Howth Sutton Community Council lodged a comprehensive objection against the plan.

It told the appeals board that the proposal represents an unacceptable form of development and should be refused.

Former TD, Tommy Broughan also objected to the plan. He told the appeals board that the increased height and density compared to earlier plans for the site and the certain traffic gridlock are all concerns of local people opposed to the plan.
Published on:

8 April 2020



The Four Questions (Ma Nishtana) from the Sarajevo Haggadah, c.1350. Wikimedia Commons The Four Questions (Ma Nishtana) from the Sarajevo Haggadah, c.1350. Wikimedia Commons

On April 8, Jewish families and their friends will be celebrating the first night of the week of Passover, with the most convivial gathering of the year: the Seder meal.

The Seder celebrates the memory of Exodus, when a people bound to labour in Egypt for centuries gained its freedom. So profound was this experience that survivors and future generations were instructed to retell the story annually to their sons and daughters. They were meant to narrate the marvel of Exodus  from slavery to freedom  keenly, as if they had lived it themselves.

My research as a historian of religious culture has led me to investigate attitudes to Passover in medieval and early modern Europe.

Christianity was the dominant religious culture, but Passover had become part of the Christian story too. Not only did Jesus celebrate it with his disciples in Jerusalem on what became Maundy Thursday, but the meal  its unleavened bread (matza), wine and roast lamb  symbolised the new covenant he heralded.

History and memory

The Passover meal was understood by Christians as the first mass, when at the altar was transformed into Christs flesh and blood.

From Maundy Thursday, the Christian story looked on to the Crucifixion on Good Friday and Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Christian calendar diverged from the Jewish one, but Passover and Easter were never too far apart.

At the core of the Christian experience was a devotional reliving of the last days of Jesus on earth  and identifying with his sacrificial death  for which many Europeans believed Jews to have been be guilty. Hence Easter was a time of great tension, when Christians viewed their Jewish neighbours through a damning historical lens, especially on Good Friday. To avoid violence, medieval communities often ordered Jews to stay indoors during Holy Week.

Rumour and libel

It is not surprising that Holy Week became the backdrop to the cruellest libel against Jews  the accusation of child murder. My research has followed the development of the first known accusation, from Norwich around 1150.

On Easter Saturday 1144 the body of a 12-year-old boy was found in a shallow grave outside the city. A rumour blamed the local Jews of murder.

Several years later, a new monk of Norwich Cathedral, Thomas of Monmouth, revisited the story and composed a compelling account which ascribed the childs death to the Jews as part of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. He invented the narrative of how the Jews enticed the boy to their house during Passover 1144, which began four days before Easter. He described how the boy was fed, then tortured with sharp instruments, and finally was hung from the doorposts of the Jewish house.

Steeped in scriptural language and allusion, the narrative called for punishment of the Jews and established a cult of the boy as a martyr. When the story reached the European continent it acquired further bloody layers and became what is known as the blood libel  the accusation the Jews used the blood of Christian children in ritual.

In England, a similar account emerged in Lincoln in 1255 and 19 Jews were killed in the aftermath. It became sufficiently embedded in English culture to be mentioned in Chaucers Canterbury Tales. It hovers in the background of Shakespeares Merchant of Venice.

The Seder meal itself evokes a difficult history. Pungent herbs stand for the bitterness of slavery. The matzah reminds of the unleavened bread the Israelites made in haste, in fear of recapture by Pharaohs men.

But it is an occasion of conviviality and joy. The meal is punctuated by inducements, to keep the children interested: sweet foods, the promise of gifts, and most thrilling of all, the singing of a chant reserved for the youngest participant: Mah Nishtana? (How is this night different from all others?)

It is a dinner at which reading is not only allowed, but required. Its script is the Haggadah, a book made up of biblical verse, blessings, chants and scholarly commentaries. The modern Seder preserves the words, the customs and many of the foods that were customary in medieval Europe.

This year the Seder will be different. There will be fewer family members gathering together though some of us are already experimenting with Zoom. And yet it must be a refection on freedom  personal and collective. We may better understand the yearning of those who sang Let My People Go, or the anxious attempts at festivity in ghettos, medieval and modern.

As doctors and nurses of all faiths and none work together to save lives while endangering their own, there has never been a better time to re-examine our rituals, finding in them strength and hope, and ridding them of division.

This opinion piece was originally published in The Conversation on 8 April 2020.
SALT LAKE CITY - All five of Utahs national parks are closed after Capitol Reef officials said Thursday they are shutting their gates to prevent further spread of the new coronavirus.

The park known for its sandstone cliffs was the last national park still open in Utah after Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches and Canyonlands had previously closed under pressure from local government and health officials.

Capitol Reefs decision comes after Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday urged people to stay close to home even though it is Easter week and spring break for many state residents. Park officials referenced Herberts motto of stay home, stay safe in a posting on the Capitol Reef website explaining the decision.

The goals of the directive are to flatten the curve, reduce potential impacts to local communities, reduce the strain on hospitals and the healthcare system, and minimize the impact on medical resources for those with highest need, park officials said.

Many of Americas most popular parks have closed, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains and Glacier, even after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in mid-March waived entrance fees to make it easier for people to enjoy outdoor spaces. Bernhardt authorized park superintendents to make their own decisions about whats needed to adhere to recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also on Thursday, the Bureau of Land Managements Utah office reminded residents to heed Herberts order to only visit state parks still open that are in their own counties.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An initiative announced Thursday aims to ensure some of Staten Islands most vulnerable people stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 10,000 Calls initiative is encouraging physicians offices to reach out to patients or their caregivers prioritizing those 65 and older who live alone, according to a media release from the office of Borough President James Oddo.

The Richmond County Medical Society (RCMS) is leading the initiative in partnership with the borough president and Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI) in an effort to provide Staten Islanders with emotional and social support, according to the media release.

We want to make sure that people have what they need during this trying time, which is why I am grateful for Richmond County Medical Society and Community Health Action of Staten Island for partnering with us to bring this 10,000 Calls Initiative to Staten Island, Oddo said. We will get through this crisis, but we have to continue to work together to do so.

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Multiple patients contacted in the initiatives initial rollout phase needed medication refills, some asked for follow-up calls, and most had caregivers checking in on them, according to the release.

If a physicians call results in a patient requesting further assistance, the physician will offer to connect them with CHASI, which will then work to provide the person with what they need.

Community Health Action welcomes this innovative collaboration with Borough Hall, the Richmond County Medical Society and the Staten Island provider community, CHASI Executive Director Diane Arneth said. We stand ready to support their efforts to connect people to critical services.

New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians has supported similar statewide initiatives, according to the media release.

Dr. John Maese, who chairs an RCMS subcommittee on disaster preparedness, said bringing primary care physicians into these sorts of efforts lends a level of familiarity and trust for patients.

We believe patients will be honest about their needs and that the physicians office recommendations will be perceived as secure and safe by patients, he said. This is an easy social outreach that brings caring for the individual to a new and more meaningful level.

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If the Trump administrations goal is to bring the economy to something resembling its normal state as quickly as possible, expanded coronavirus testing should be a priority, as it will help determine just how high mortality and hospitalization rates really are  two variables that, because they remain in the dark, have required countries to implement all-systems shutdowns. Most likely, increased testing and serology testing  which determines if coronavirus antibodies are in patients blood, showing theyve been exposed to the virus  would prove that hospitalization and mortality rates are far lower than originally anticipated. That good news, if proven by comprehensive testing, could then help determine a date to safely open the economy.

Instead of pursuing such a plan that is in line with its political goals, the White House will end federal support for coronavirus-testing sites on Friday, days before the crisis is expected to peak in the middle of next week. While the program providing resources was intended to serve as a stopgap measure, states have relied on it to help prop up their own testing efforts in the absence of a national coordinated testing strategy.

While a FEMA spokesperson told NPR that the program of Community-Based Testing States are transitioning to state-managed sites, some health providers arent thrilled by the switch. I am understandably disappointed that the supplies and federal contract for lab testing is ending just as we are heading into the surge here in southeastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, chair of the health commission in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia, told NPR.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stumbled in the weeks leading up to the mass outbreak in March, states have been largely left to determine their own course of coronavirus testing. While New York has tested 1,645 of every 100,000 people and Utah 1,043 of every 100,000, Texas has tested just 297 of every 100,000. Unfortunately, states really are on their own, Partners in Health medical director Joia Mukherjee told the Washington Post. The Boston-based health-care nonprofit is working with Massachusetts to create a comprehensive contact-tracing network, which would track coronavirus patients interactions. Its problematic at best and egregious at worst, because some states have more resources than others; some states have more leadership than others.

According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration is quite aware of the importance of testing to bring the economy back online:

The White House is developing plans to get the U.S. economy back in action that depend on testing far more Americans for the coronavirus than has been possible to date, according to people familiar with the matter.

The effort would likely begin in smaller cities and towns in states that havent yet been heavily hit by the virus. Cities such as New York, Detroit, New Orleans and other places the president has described as hot spots would remain shuttered.

However, there appears to be a gap between planning and providing on-the-ground funding, which is becoming a theme of the crisis. Both individuals and small businesses are having trouble accessing the overloaded relief programs designed to provide aid in this moment of historic unemployment. And despite the unprecedented step of a $1,200 universal income payment, it may not reach those who need it most until September.
Rockets Hit Major US Air Base in Afghanistan

Five rockets hit a major U.S. air base in Afghanistan on Thursday but there were no casualties, Afghanistans NATO-led force said, in an attack claimed by the ISIS terrorist group.

The attack comes weeks after Taliban militants and the United States reached a deal on the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees. ISIS has not been included in the pact.

Five rockets were fired at Bagram airfield early this morning, the NATO-led mission, Resolute Support, said on Twitter, referring to the main U.S. air base in Afghanistan, north of Kabul.

There were no casualties.

Five rockets were fired at Bagram airfield early this morning. There were no casualties or injuries. Our #ANDSF partners are investigating the incident.  Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) April 9, 2020

ISIS said in a statement on social media that their fighters had targeted a helicopter landing pad at Bagram.

A Taliban spokesman said on Twitter that his group was not behind the attack.

The Afghan affiliate of ISIS, known as ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region, first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, and has since made inroads into other areas, particularly the north.

The U.S. military estimates their strength at 2,000 fighters. Some Afghan officials estimated the number is higher.

ISIS, who battle foreign and Afghan government forces as well as the Taliban, have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistans urban centers in recent years.

The Taliban, as part of their agreement with the United States, have promised to open peace talks with the U.S.-backed Afghan government but little progress has been made.

The Afghan government has begun the release of Taliban prisoners from a jail near the Bagram base, as step to build confidence for the Taliban talks.

A hundred Taliban members are scheduled to be freed on Thursday from detention at a jail near the base, following the release on Wednesday of 100 Taliban members.

The prisoner exchange deal provides for the government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, with the Taliban releasing 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces in exchange.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Cuts to Tripoli's water and power supply on Tuesday and Wednesday aggravated conditions for civilians after days of intensified fighting that have undermined preparations to cope with the novel coronavirus.

TUNIS (Reuters) - Cuts to Tripoli's water and power supply on Tuesday and Wednesday aggravated conditions for civilians after days of intensified fighting that have undermined preparations to cope with the novel coronavirus.

Nader Mohamed, a taxi driver and father of three in Tripoli, said the situation had grown much worse. He lives on the fifth floor and must carry the family water supply up to their flat each morning.

They cannot afford a private generator and he sits in the evenings with candles, telling the children stories from memory.

"Besides the war, we now suffer from a virus, and if it spreads, God only knows what will happen," he said.

The latest surge in warfare since mid-March has shown no signs of slackening, with fighting and bombardment on several fronts, but no decisive gains by either side.

Libya's main split is between the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar and the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which holds the capital Tripoli and some other parts of the northwest.

The LNA, backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, has set up a parallel administration in Benghazi, in the east, and launched an offensive a year ago to capture Tripoli frequently bombarding the capital.

The escalation is in defiance of pleas from the United Nations and international aid agencies to cease fire to allow Libya's war-tattered health system to prepare for the coronavirus, with 21 cases confirmed across the country.

On Monday, projectiles struck al-Khadra hospital in Abu Salim, an area held by the GNA near a frontline, causing damage and prompting the U.N. humanitarian coordinator to denounce "a clear violation of international humanitarian law".

Turkish-supplied drones have in recent days targeted LNA supply lines, both sides have said, striking trucks. On Sunday they targeted a plane, which the GNA said was carrying arms and the LNA said was carrying medical supplies.

Drone use "changed the balance", GNA deputy defence minister Salahedin Ali Namroush said in a phone interview. The drones were being used to target "especially the supply lines," he added.

The electricity company said a technical fault was behind intermittent supply on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the water provider, the Great Man Made River Project, said on Facebook that gunmen stormed a control room on Tuesday, cutting the flow.

"The situation is miserable. Heavy fighting, coronavirus, and now we have electricity and water cuts," said Aynoor, an English teacher who asked not to use her family name.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall; additional reporting by Hani Amara in Istanbul; editing by Barbara Lewis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
(Photo : www.pxhere.com)

The art of scamming dates a long way back, usually it preys on the weak and weary and manipulates them into getting into something they typically wouldn't under different circumstances. Now on the deep web, they are thriving, among those are the ones who are selling blood and saliva from coronavirus survivors.

Read More: How to Protect Your Lungs Amid COVID-19? Use Harry Potter Author's Technique

Here's What You Should Know

The pandemic has given many hackers, scammers, and con-artists a good profit. Giving people what they want to hear in the time of need.

The ad on Own Shop, which is a famous dark web market, claims that the vendor has been infected by the coronavirus and has survived, in which he or she is now selling her blood and saliva in hopes of a quick buck.

The theory that once you survived the coronavirus, you will be immune to the effects of the coronavirus.

The post says, "I do this to provide for my family financially," and is being sold off at a hefty price of 1,000 USD. This hoax is part of many which surged from the COVID-19 pandemic scams out there on the deep web. This is a thriving place for criminals to exploit people and use their fears against you to purchase things you wouldn't normally do.

Other scams such as rapid COVID-19 test kits, temperature detectors, as well as going as far as the coronavirus vaccine itself.

A report given from global intelligence firm IntSights that was published just on Tuesday morning said, "The limited availability of coronavirus testing - especially in countries like the United States - leads to demand for such products in black markets," which also added, "In all likelihood, however, these 'products' are in no way real, and buyers would be scammed out of their money."

Read More: 'Stopping This is Critical': UK Mobile Carriers are Politely Asking People to Stop Burning 5G Towers Due to Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories

What You Should Be Wary Of

All types of people from hackers, cybercriminals, scammers, and even state-sponsored groups are all taking advantage of the pandemic to gain dominance inside secure government networks. They do this to exploit people's money, letting you buy fake items, and of course, getting your personal information.

The most popular tactic out there for cybercriminals is to register and create websites using names like "covid" or "corona" to trick people into thinking these are legitimate websites and official domains.

According to IntSights data, from the whole of 2019, only 190 domains were registered with words like "covid" or "corona." Fast forward to March; there are over 38,000 domains registered.

Some of the sites are indeed legitimate, but most of them are for mischievous purposes. IntSights query led to ransomware used by cybercriminals, and one of them even wrote this, "If I want, I could even infect your whole family with the coronavirus, reveal all your secrets. There are countless things I could do,"

It may not be the most harmful threat, but people would still buy it, again relying on the fear within you.

Even the World Health Organization is not safe from those cyberattacks and has since doubled during the coronavirus pandemic.

The report said, "Hackers are relentlessly targeting healthcare networks, endpoints, and Internet of Things devices in hopes to make [money]," and also added, "Ransomware is still running rampant in the industry, shutting down entire hospitals and disabling life-saving medical devices."

Read More: Coronavirus makes Work-From-Home The New Norm

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Before the pandemic banished them from meeting in person, hundreds of people had packed Scrantons school board meetings. The Pennsylvania communitys distrust of the board had been mounting ever since the state auditor discovered years of neglect and fiscal mismanagement, landing the district in more than $200 million of debt.

So when the Scranton board moved its meeting online March 6 to discuss how to close its deficit, more than 350 people logged on, overloading the YouTube video conference tool it was using. It forced the district halfway through the seven-hour meeting to split guests among Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook.

Weve been dealing with a lot of hot-button issues, said Katie Gilmartin, the president of Scrantons school board, referencing potential layoffs, asbestos and lead poisoning in some school buildings, and next years budget. Every meeting, a new challenge emerges, but were working through them.

Scranton is one of thousands of school boards struggling to govern districts in a virtual environment just as the timing for their most consequential decisions has arrived: budget season. Board members must figure out how to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars while maintaining social distance and community trust. Getting meaningful public input and maintaining transparencyas required by lawis especially challenging.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

School board meetings have been hacked, journalists have been virtually bumped out of meeting rooms, and public-comment sessions have been cut short.

Governors and state attorneys general have loosened the traditionally stringent rules that govern how school board meetings should be conducted and how budgets are approved.

School board associations, district lawyers, and community advocates have rushed to help set new virtual norms, a clumsy and frustrating process for everyone involved.

The whole point of public school boards is that they answer to the public, said Francisco Negron, the chief legal officer for the National School Boards Association. Gathering public input now can be quite cumbersome.

Blunders and Do Overs

Indianapolis school board had to repeat an entire meeting after it banned people from attending for health and safety reasons, but where members were making fiscal decisions.

Philadelphias school board last month voted to hand over sweeping powers to the superintendent to make purchasing and hiring decisions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

That move angered some community advocates.

School board members say they have struggled to access and comb through hundreds of purchasing requests, traditionally provided to them in a board packet weeks before a meeting but now provided electronically, if at all.

Other major challenges: making live meetings publicly accessible to residents with and without social networks or internet service and providing a public-comment period for constituents while also maintaining social order.

Financial decisionmaking always breeds mistrust among the public, said Daniel Bevarly, the executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, who has fielded dozens of complaints from community advocates in recent weeks regarding the accessibility of school board meetings. Theres already enough friction as it stands now. We need more information from these public institutions, not less.

After the coronavirus outbreak, Indianas governor last month allowed boards to meet virtually as long as the chairman of the board was in the same room as the superintendent.

In Lafayette, Ind., several hourly employees gathered six feet apart in the board room with board Chairman Robert Stwalley and Superintendent Les Huddle as other board members, via conference call, voted on whether to continue to pay the hourly workers through the pandemic. The board agreed to continue their pay.

They were so darned happy with the outcome of the meeting, they probably wanted to hug us, said Stwalley.

Virtual Public Participation

But for other school boards, especially the ones overseeing districts in fiscal distress with major decisions on the line, virtual turnout to school board meetings has become a problem.

Scrantons school board made its first attempt at meeting online on March 30. The meeting was set up so that board members could hear a presentation from Candis Finan, the state-appointed administrator who is overseeing spending after the district ran a deficit for several years that led to the ouster of several administrators and school board members.

But just minutes into the board meeting, conducted on Zoom, the session was hacked, sending pornography and racial epithets to board members and the 70 participants who managed to log into the meeting. Some parts of the meeting had to be postponed.

In its second meetinghosted on YouTubethe board was set to hear from Finan on whether to phase out the districts pre-K program. Nearly 150 people initially logged on.

Halfway through the meeting, Youtube kicked the district off its platform, apparently after exceeding a cap on numbers of participants for live meetings, said Gilmartin, the board chairman. The meeting garnered more than 450 comments.

We need to move toward solvency, and the only way were going to do that without intervention from the state is to tighten our belt and make difficult choices, she said.

Were trying to balance reacting to the current climate with the pandemic and moving through the process of fiscal recovery. Its very hard to pay for the sins of the past, but I think were all willing to do the hard work. I really want the public to know, we are hearing what you say, we hear it, were taking it all in.
Military medics make the bed at wards of Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital to make preparations for the treatment of patients infected with the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, capital of Chinas Hubei Province on Feb. 3, 2020. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Fan Xianhai)

By Yuan Hua

Editor's note: The author Senior Colonel Yuan Hua is the political commissar of Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, which is a military emergency specialty field hospital constructed within ten days in February of 2020, responding to the CONVID-19 outbreak, and still in operation on the frontline of fighting the disease.

BEIJING, April 9 -- The COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health emergency with the fastest spread, the widest infection range, and the most difficult prevention and control measures since the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC). For the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the battle against the pandemic is a test of its emergency response capability.

The outbreak is a test of the military capability of emergency preparedness management (EPM). Whether the PLA medical team to Hubei can effectively assist in the disease prevention and control is essentially a comprehensive test of the troops' combat readiness and training.

The outbreak is a test of the military capability of emergency delivery. The personnel and materials of the PLA medical team to Hubei arrived in Wuhan almost at the same time from different cities across China through emergency deliveries by military aircraft and high-speed rail. In particular, multi-type military transport aircraft were tested in actual combat situation during this emergency delivery mission.

The outbreak is a test of the joint support capability. Under orders, more than 1,400 military medics from different services and arms, quickly assembled to Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan. They were reassigned in a mixed manner according to the medical disciplines, devoted to work on the very next day of the arrival, and started treating the first batch of patients on the third day. The hospital soon entered normal operation.

The rapid integration of multiple arms and services, and the immediate entry into combat condition are the manifestation of the Chinese militarys new system's preliminary results of strengthening "joint operations, joint training and joint support."
Like a phoenix, Wuhan reemerges from dark coronavirus lockdown in warm spring

Global Times

By Zhao Yusha in Wuhan Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/8 21:48:40

Right time for city to open up as number of patients drop

Those who had been staying in Wuhan since the city's lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic keep asking themselves for more than two months: What do I want to do the most after the lockdown is lifted and life returns to normal?

That day finally came on Wednesday.

When traffic police began pushing aside the highway roadblocks that had cut off the city's link to the outside world for the past two months; when the first train from Wuhan took hundreds of stranded passengers to their homes; when hundreds of cars crowded the city's highways during the morning rush; when crowds jammed Wuhan's famous commercial spots, Wuhan woke up after two months of lockdown.

For many Wuhan lovebirds, getting married became their greatest motive to celebrate the city's phased victory in its hard-fought battle against the virus, as couples-to-be rushed to the marriage registration.

An employee from the Wuhang district marriage registration office told the Global Times that newlyweds were spared the traditional ritual to avoid contagion. "It does not matter, as today is a special day, a new start for me and for Wuhan," said Xu Lin, a Wuhan resident who got married on Wednesday.

Long lines also emerged in front of Wuhan train stations, where stranded people took the train home, and Wuhan locals were eager to return to work outside the city.

"During the past 80 days, I promised myself I would never come back to Wuhan again," said Cao Lin, a Guizhou local who has been stranded in Wuhan since January. "But I cried when I saw the live broadcast of the lifting of Wuhan's lockdown today, and I decided to come back when Wuhan returned to normal. My heart will always be there with this strong, brave and heroic city."

Media reported that around 55,000 people had booked train tickets out of Wuhan for the first day the lockdown was lifted.

Cao Guangjing, deputy governor of Hubei Province, said at a Wednesday conference that the lockdown lift in Wuhan marks a decisive progress in the city's battle against the virus.

Reasonable timing

But the city's lockdown easing, unavoidably, ignited suspicion from foreign media, such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, as they questioned whether it is too early to lift the ban, as some feared a second outbreak may engulf the city, or even other parts of China, after it re-opens. And they repeated the old line that Wuhan under-reported its real infection numbers.

Wuhan's health commission reported that Tuesday only had 331 patients, a sharp drop from more than 15,000 at its peak in January.

Wuhan reported zero new COVID-19 patient on Tuesday.

An employee from the disease control center in Wuhan's Donghu hi-tech district told the Global Times that they are now focusing on screening asymptomatic patients. "We asked factories and companies in our district to conduct health checks for returnees. Once confirmed, the investigators will ask about the patient's travel history, give each one a report, and analyze their possible contagion origin."

The employee said that until now, the district has only recorded a very small number of asymptomatic patients.

Many Wuhan residents said it is about time for government to lift the ban.

"Wuhan is one of the safest places in China, as the pain still lingers in Wuhan people's hearts, which propelled the people and government to remain on high alert to avoid contagion. And the hospitals have formed a relatively mature test and treatment mechanism for patients, not mention the number of COVID-19 patients dropping drastically in the city," said a doctor from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University.

Doctors and nurses in Wuhan's No.7 hospital were on alert on Wednesday when increased number of workers came to receive CT and nucleic tests before they were summoned back to work in recent days. Long lines for CT scans and nucleic tests were spotted in front of the hospital.

A nurse in the hospital told the Global Times that people who came to test was three times more on Wednesday than the previous day, and many voluntarily came.

One of the testers who lives in Wuhan surnamed Xiao told the Global Times that she chose to do those tests out of responsibility for herself and others. "I am about to go to work tomorrow. It is better to know if I am the virus carrier before I go. I don't want to cause cluster contagion in my workplace, nor do I want to ruin Wuhan's hard-fought victory."

One doctor surnamed Huang from the hospital's fever clinic said that she receives about 30 patients with fever symptoms (which is usual for COVID-19 patients) on a daily basis. "Once patients with fever symptoms are discovered, we immediately conduct nucleic tests on them and report them to the district health commission."

Another doctor from Wuhan's Zhongnan hospital also said they receive 30 feverish patients a day, which also includes recovered COVID-19 patients, who come forward for re-examination.

As more and more Wuhan people travel outside the city, other Chinese cities also ramped up tests for returnees from Wuhan to prevent further contagion. For example, Beijing requires anyone from Wuhan to the capital to undergo nucleic tests twiceonce before they leave Wuhan and another after they arrive in Beijing. Anyone with a positive or no nucleic test is forbidden from getting on the train.

Caution remains

Taxi driver Liu Qi started to work for the first time after the city was ordered sealed off in January. "I received 30 rides today, half of my normal rides per day before the pandemic."

Liu said many Wuhan people remain on high alert, so they prefer to stay in. "Some of my colleagues refused to start work today. They preferred to wait another 14 days after the easing of the situation," said Liu, noting that asymptomatic patients are a real pain.

The COVID-19 prevention task is still arduous in Hubei as it faces increasing pressure from imported cases, and the number of asymptomatic carriers has risen recently, Cao Guangjing said.

"Easing of the lockdown means that Wuhan has been catching up with the pace of other Chinese cities' virus battle. But it does not mean we can catch a breath now," said Zeng Guang, an expert at China's National Health Commission.

He suggested that asymptomatic patients have become the new concern in our virus battle, but it should not be a source of excessive concern as the scale of patients, severity and contagion ability of the virus are not serious, and are controllable.

Despite the easing of traffic in and out of Wuhan, residential communities in the city also enforced strict measures. Most communities only let people enter after showing their green health code and temperature tests. Some residential communities remain under lockdown, letting no one enter or exit.

Blue and yellow barriers can be seen around most residential compounds. They were erected in an attempt to wall off virus transmission.

Residents in those communities rely heavily on deliveries and stores nearby. A woman wearing pajamas was seen directing a delivery guy from her window. After getting him where she wanted, she lowered a clothes hook and snagged her order without ever leaving her window sill.

Guards in Wuhan's commercial places also urged "Finnish lining up habits," which requires a certain distance to avoid contagion.

"We've been raising our guard against contagion for the past two months. It won't hurt to remain vigilant for another two months. Pollyannas will make the city's hard-won battle go up in smoke," Liu said.

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U.S. Army National Guard members walk through the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattans West Side in New York City on March 23, 2020. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images)

One Week Window Left for New Field Hospitals, Says Army Engineers Chief

The window of opportunity is rapidly shrinking for mayors and governors to green light field hospital construction, said the head of the armys engineering corps.

A final total of between 40 and 50 hospitals will probably be built by the army Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, told reporters on April 8.

The Corps is compressing time frames and aggressively pushing contractors, he said, to get hospitals up in hotspots before the virus peak hits.

Were beginning to run out of time, said Semonite. What we used to have is a month to build this, and maybe a week or two for a mayor to make a decision.

But now, with the virus progressing rapidly, that has changed, he said.

I think we will be done starting new builds, probably, in a week. Now that depends on what the curve is This virus gets a vote. This virus is deciding where it is going faster than normal.

The Army Corps of Engineers is running point on the conversion of stadiums, convention centers, and dormitories into field hospitals to help tackle the crisis caused by the CCP virus.

An improvised hospital room is seen during a daily CCP virus press conference by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on March 27, 2020. (Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

The conversion of the Javits Center in Manhattan into a 2,100-bed facility is almost complete, and in Chicago the conversion of Americas largest convention center, McCormick Place, is 70 percent of the way toward its 3,000-bed capacity.

As of April 8, 17 facilities are currently under construction directly under the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers, with a total bed capacity of 14,759.

A further 23 facilities totaling 8,571 beds are pending construction. Weve only got a couple of days left to be able to turn [those] on and still get it done in time, said Semonite.

Beyond that, another 22 facilities with 15,997 beds have been identified but not yet given the green light for construction.

States are also directly building 17 facilities with 5,869 beds that are designed by the Army engineers.

Semonite estimates that in the end, the Army will directly oversee between 40 and 50 facilities.

He said that they are very aggressive in taking lessons from the hospitals built so far as they try to adapt to handle the demands of a highly infectious disease.

We are evolving every single day, said Semonite.

The engineers use models to predict the spread of the virus and when different areas will be hit by peak bed demand, working with local authorities. They have to constantly adapt on a daily basis, with the occasional facility being canceled as the virus fails to grow as predicted.

Every city is different, some are spikes, some are flat, some are moving to the right, said Semonite.

The Army Corps checks in with the local state authorities that have their own plans.

Sometimes we are favorably impressed, where there actually is a great plan, said Semonite, but I still lay awake at night worrying about a couple of places.

Semonite said that they are having to resolve all kinds of problems on the fly. For example, he said, when a piece of equipment was missing from a site, they suddenly had to figure out how to get a plane to fly in the part.

We dont have time to deal with red tape and bureaucracy, he said. We have to be focused like a laser beam to be able to support the mayors and the governors.
The number of Covid-19 infections rose sharply in Maharashtra on Thursday and shot past 1,300 on a day the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) notified 140 new containment zones in Mumbai, the states biggest hot spot, in an attempt to arrest the spread of the contagion.

For seven straight days, more than 100 new daily cases have been reported in Maharashtra, which is the worst affected state in India. Authorities also reported 25 deaths on Thursday  the highest so far  taking the toll to 97 in the state.

Mumbai now has 876 cases and 54 deaths.

But state health officials indicated that the administration was confident of containing the infection.. Going by the trend in other countries, the rise in cases was expected. It is likely to increase for a few more days and then the graph will slowly come down, said a senior health official, wishing not to be named.

In Asias largest slum cluster of Dharavi that has reported 17 cases and three deaths, the BMC announced it will test the entire estimated 800,000 population of the area. The government will soon deploy State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) contingents to enforce total lockdown in Dharavi and other slums, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday.

While the Mumbai Police is already doing a good job, there is a need to further tighten the lockdown in Dharavi and other congested localities (slums) to arrest the spread of coronavirus, he added.

The civic body said it had identified 200 red zones that would have curfew-like restrictions for the next 14 days. In these red zones, there will be no movement in or out, enforced with police help and ward assistance to prevent further spread to other areas,said municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi.

School education minister and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad said, Barring medical shops, everything else would be shut in the hotspots we have identified in Mumbai. It would not be possible to contain the spread in areas like Dharavi without imposing stricter restrictions as next eight days are crucial.

Tope said the authorities had decided to conduct rapid tests on frontline staff including health workers, police personnel and sanitisation workers. He said the tests will begin once 100,000 kits arrive.
Joe Biden will duel with Donald Trump for the presidency, barring unexpected developments (AP)

Bernie Sanders suspension of his presidential campaign effectively has set the stage for a November duel between President Donald Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden for the keys to the White House.

Mr Biden will represent the Democratic Party against President Donald Trump this autumn, assuming there are no unexpected developments in what will be a contest between two men in their 70s.

Mr Biden will probably not secure the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination until June.

But without any Democratic rivals left, a campaign that will almost certainly be the most expensive and among the nastiest in US history is under way and Mr Biden is now effectively the presumptive nominee for the party still licking its wounds after Mr Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, a result that stunned most pundits.

If we come together, we will defeat Donald Trump. And when we do that, we will not only do the hard work of rebuilding this nation  we will transform it.  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 9, 2020

It wont be easy. Nobodys confused about that. But we are ready for the general election. We are ready for our standard-bearer, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said.

Im confident because Joe Bidens values reflect the values of the majority of the American people that we can win.

In Mr Biden and Mr Trump, voters will choose between two white septuagenarians with dramatically different prescriptions for health care, climate change, foreign policy and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship.

At 77, Mr Biden becomes the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history.

And having spent most of his life as an elected official in Washington, no nominee has had more experience in government.

Expand Close Joe Biden (right) served as vice president under Barack Obama, seen here welcoming the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to the white House (Chris Radburn/AP) / Facebook

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But in Mr Trump, Mr Biden is up against an adversary the likes of which he has never faced in his decades-long political career.

The 73-year-old Republican president opens with a massive cash advantage and a well-established willingness to win at any cost.

Mr Trumps campaign is moving forward with a multi-pronged attack that mixes legitimate criticism with baseless charges and, in some cases, outright conspiracy theories.

It is similar to the tactics Mr Trump used against Mrs Clinton four years ago with unexpectedly devastating success.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Mr Biden will be portrayed as too liberal for most Americans, weighed down by questions about his sons overseas business dealings and about questionable mental acuity at his age.

Brad Parscale, Mr Trumps campaign manager, predicted Mr Trump would destroy Mr Biden, whom the president and his allies have nicknamed Sleepy Joe.

President Trump is still disrupting Washington, D.C., while Biden represents the old, tired way and is continuing to coddle the communist regime in China, Mr Parscale said.

Mr Trumps team also believes he can win over disaffected Mr Sanders supporters who see Mr Biden as a consummate insider.

Shortly after Mr Sanders announcement, the president charged without evidence that Democratic leaders were plotting against Mr Sanders.

The Republican National Committee has already assembled an extensive research book and devoted 10 researchers ton Mr Biden who served as vice president to Barack Obama.

Before Mr Biden can shift his entire focus to Trump, the former vice president is tasked with winning over Mr Sanders sceptical far-left supporters, who have trashed Mr Bidens record on trade, criminal justice, corporate America and foreign policy.

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The partys most progressive wing also fears that Mr Bidens policies on health care and the environment, among others, do not go far enough.

For example, Mr Biden supports universal health care, but unlike Mr Sanders, he would preserve the private insurance system and offer Americans a government-backed public option instead of Mr Sanders signature Medicare For All.

Mr Bidens advisers note that he had already begun reaching out to Mr Sanders aligned progressive organisations, including those focused on young people like the Sunrise Movement and the March For Our Lives.

Sanders suggested that any full-throated endorsement of Biden would come with strings attached. We are talking to Joe and we are talking to his team about how we can work together, he told CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert.

In a sign of what he hopes will come from those talks, Mr Sanders said: I hope to be able to work with Joe to move him in a more progressive direction.

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Mr Obama has not yet spoken on his former deputys effective coronation as presumptive nominee but he and former first lady Michelle Obama are ultimately expected to help rally the party behind Biden, who served for eight years as Mr Obamas vice president.

Mr Trump tried to raise suspicion about why Mr Obama had yet to endorse Mr Biden, saying: When is it going to happen? Why isnt he? He knows something that you dont know.

Former presidents typically do not interject themselves in the primary process, and Mr Obama had long maintained he would not get involved until a nominee had been selected.

Mr Bidens new status as the presumptive nominee affords him the freedom to move forward more openly with selecting his own running mate.

He has already started vetting potential vice presidents.

Mr Trump received three million votes fewer than Mrs Clinton 2016 but won a comfortable victory in the Electoral College after campaigning strongly in key states, winning over many working class voters who had previously been Democrats.
Express News Service

BENGALURU: As April 15 inches closer, Bengalureans are left wondering what the best way to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic is. While some are firm in their belief about the extension of the initial three-week lockdown, others wonder if a plan based on every districts progress with containing

the outbreak is better. City residents speak to City Express and weigh in with their thoughts.

Dr KR Venugopal, Vice-Chancellor, Bangalore University

It depends on the situation on April 14. In our country, it is best to look into the situation in phases. We have to see how the situation is in certain districts. If a particular district is highly affected, then they should go for a further lockdown. And if a particular district is not that affected, maybe we can lift the lockdown and see what the situation is like there after. It would be great if we can take more regular tests on people and isolate the people who are infected. That way we can curb the spread of the virus.

Reshmi Nathan, teacher

Though the lockdown was able to slow the spread of the infection, it couldnt contain it. Hence it is a difficult decision for the government to remove the lockdown. The question is whether India can bear the burden of economic disruption. Can the fragile healthcare system respond adequately to spike in cases? A proactive prevention strategy is needed. Continuing the lockdown in worst affected areas and lifting it in others is an option. Resumption of flights and trains should be on a case to case basis. Schools, colleges, malls, theatres must remain closed, and the ban on gatherings should continue.

Nisha Millet, sportsperson

The lockdown should be extended because the number of cases is still going up. But they should make more provisions to get more groceries. As long as they can ensure that essentials are supplied regularly, trucks are not stopped at the border, farmers dont have to dump produce, we will be good. The lockdown should be continued because it is the safety concern of the community. People like us who are privileged should be grateful that we are safe and indoors.

Shashank Purushotham, actor

Going by the increase in the number of cases, the lockdown should be extended. But certain services, like plumbing, or tech services, basic repair services, should be made available in a staggered way, keeping social distancing in mind. Because right now its a little too harsh to cut off all services. Certain services should be opened.

Amit Ahuja, Restaurateur

We have done a good job so far with the lockdown. In order to contain the spread of the virus, we will need to continue to maintain the social distancing. This is going to have a direct negative impact on the economy but if we dont do this now, the impact is only going to be much larger.

Dr Sudarshan Ballal, chairman, Manipal Hospitals

I believe the lockdown will have to be extended but maybe it could be in a partial manner. Obviously, essential services should continue to be exempt, and we should look at the best way to provide for the daily workers to earn a living while maintaining social distancing. The further extension would depend on the trend of COVID-19 in the next few days. When the lockdown is lifted, it needs to be done in a phased manner so that there is no sudden spurt in cases again.

Sridevi Ramesh, student

The lockdown should definitely be extended until a permanent solution to the virus is found because it is still dangerous. The government should come up with schemes to help migrant and daily wage workers. Our exams have been postponed and it is really uncertain right now if we will be having them. But it is better to wait for the situation to normalise before any decisions about exams are taken.


Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:32:27|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Iran reached 66,220 on Thursday, with an increase of 1,634 in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education said.

With 117 new deaths, the death toll has reached 4,110 as of Thursday, said Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the ministry, during his daily brief on state TV.

A total of 32,309 have recovered and left hospitals, while 3,918 are still in critical condition, Jahanpur added.

So far, 231,393 tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in the country, he noted.

The Iranian health official urged people to adhere to the principles of social distancing, particularly when the low-risk businesses are scheduled to reopen on Saturday.

With a population of 82 million, Iran announced the first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19, so far recording the highest number of confirmed cases and death toll in the Middle East region.
US President Donald Trump threatens to withhold funds to the WHO in a press conference on 7 April, 2020: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has hit back at Donald Trump after he threatened to stop US funding to the body as he seeks a scapegoat for the disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, saying the WHO had "missed the call" -- despite himself ignoring a memo from trade adviser Peter Navarro in February warning of the coming storm.

Mr Trump doubled down on his attacks of the WHO during the White House press briefing on Wednesday, saying his administering would "study" if it should pull funding from the group. The US is the largest contributor to the WHO's budget.

When responding to questions about Peter Nevarro's memo alerting the administration to the threat of Covid-19, the president said he was not briefed in January or February about the warning. "Peter sends a lot of memos," he said.

Reopening the country has been a continuous topic between the president and his advisers.

The president was asked if he would readjust when his administration might lift restrictions given how much social distancing regulations have worked to curb the spread of the novel virus.

"We can say we have to be on that down side of that slope," Mr Trump said, referencing the coronavirus curve experts use to show when and how the virus will impact parts of the country.

"We can do it in phases, go to some areas where - you know, some areas are much less affected than others," he added. "But it would be nice to be able to open with a big bang and open up our country, or certainly most of our country."

With the US now suffering 423,135 infections and 14,390 deaths, Mr Trump has said he is sending 200 ventilators to the UK to assist with the British recovery. But assistance has also been sent to states across the US including Colorado, which was set to receive 100 ventilators from the national stockpile.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also attended the White House press briefing to update the public about his office's work to return Americans home amid the pandemic.

He said his department has helped more than 50,000 US citizens return from over 90 countries across the globe.

"We're gonna be done when people can travel on their own again," he said. "We are gonna keep it up as long as we have resources to do it and there is a need."

In New York, the state posted its largest single-day jump in death toll with 779 New Yorkers dying from the novel virus. Hospitalisations are on the decline in the state, but Governor Andrew Cuomo reaffirmed for residents to not grow "complacent" and that social distancing rules would continue for the near future.

Other states like Minnesota, California, and Washington have reported a flattening of their own curves after implementing strict guidelines.

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Photographer Aaron Chokbengboun captures families in quarantine as he conducts photo shoots of a Pearland neighborhood while practicing safe social distancing.

"I got the idea from another photographer I saw during a live news feed from Jupiter, FL," said Chokbengboun. "I thought it was a great idea! I had the camera and Im a photographer, so why not?"

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Pastors and mayor urge Houstonians to stay home on Easter Sunday: 'It's not about the building'

Chokbengboun wanted to let his community know they weren't alone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"My goal was to use my platform to spread the love and joy throughout the community and to show that there is hope in this world and we can all come together and fight it."

Chokbengboun offered free photo shoots for 15 families and ended up shooting about 60 families throughout Pearland.

He captured the photos while social distancing and shooting from his car or standing 20 feet away from families.

QUARANTINED FAMILIES: Funny quarantined couples memes show life amid stay-at-home order

When asked what message he hoped to share with these families Chokbengboun said the following: "These are the moments families are able to reconnect and be with one another while being quarantined. As I say it over and over Pearland, well get through this together as one."

Chokbengboun also said that due to COVID-19 he has postponed these shoots because of the shelter-in-place order but his offer is still free to the community once this is over.

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The gravity of this question was apparent Wednesday in Mr. Sanderss announcement that he would be suspending his campaign. As I see a crisis gripping the nation, exacerbated by a president unwilling or unable to provide any credible leadership and the work that needs to be done to protect others, I cannot in good conscience continue a campaign that I cannot win, Mr. Sanders said during a Wednesday morning conference call with his staff.

Embedded in the statement was an acknowledgment that the events of recent weeks had turned the 2020 primary race into less of an ideological contest. The movement that Mr. Sanders would frequently liken his campaign to had been rejected by Democratic voters and, then, usurped by events.

In early March, after Covid-19 had grounded him back in Vermont, Mr. Sanders would become less direct in his critique of Mr. Biden and more so of Mr. Trump. He adopted an increasingly disdainful tone against the president. The first thing we have to do, whether or not Im president, is to shut this president up right now, Mr. Sanders said last month in what would be the final Democratic debate of the 2020 primary race. It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with un-factual information that is confusing to the general public.

In a sense, the clear and present threat of the coronavirus softened the debate that had raged for much of 2019 and early 2020. This virus thing makes it very hard to be political, said Harry Reid, the former Democratic Senate majority leader. It has focused attention on Mr. Trump in a way that highlights the presidents shortcomings, Mr. Reid added. It also served to minimize the policy differences that were apparent during the Democratic primary race.

That divide is literally now a matter of life and death, said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and a national co-chairman of the Sanders campaign. Mr. Khanna said he believed progressives would eventually win the day and would become the dominant force inside the Democratic Party. Not yet, though.

Maybe that moment will be in 2024, maybe that moment will be in 2028, Mr. Khanna said. But the choice in this election is about as clear as can be right now.

For much of the primary race, the challenge of Democratic unity had been treated as something that could be put off; or at the very least, as a nuisance that would resolve itself through shared aversion to Mr. Trump. But there had also been signs that the split between rank-and-file supporters of Mr. Sanderss and any eventual nominee not named Bernie might be too wide to fully reconcile.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will provide more than 20 billion euros for countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Balkans to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the EU's top diplomat said on Wednesday, as aid groups pressure rich countries to help. While the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies have pledged to inject huge sums into the global economy, aid charities including Oxfam and Caritas say the world's poorest countries also need emergency support.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will provide more than 20 billion euros for countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Balkans to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the EU's top diplomat said on Wednesday, as aid groups pressure rich countries to help.

While the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies have pledged to inject huge sums into the global economy, aid charities including Oxfam and Caritas say the world's poorest countries also need emergency support.

"The global pandemic can only be solved globally, it will not be defeated anywhere until it has been defeated everywhere," Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said after a video conference with EU foreign and development ministers.

Most of the money is being reallocated from other, less urgent EU foreign aid schemes in the EU's common budget, but Borrell said the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Commission and EU governments were working together to maximise EU funding.

Borrell said more than 5 billion euros in loans from the European Investment Bank will be made available more quickly and that no country would see less development aid.

"This is a first step in the right direction but it needs to be complemented with strong and concrete measures," said Caritas Europa's secretary general, Maria Nyman. Oxfam has also called for international action to shore-up public health systems while making testing free for all.

In a separate statement, the European Commission said the money would go to immediate emergency response, medical research, healthcare equipment and longer-term budget support.

Borrell also said the European Union supported a call this week by charities for G20 governments, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cancel debt payments to help the world's poorest countries through the crisis.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Ken Ofori-Atta

09.04.2020 LISTEN

The Finance Committee of Parliament has granted the multi-million-dollar relief package by government to respond to the disruption of economic activities by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will allow the government to access the $219 million (GH 1.2 billion) from the Contingency Fund requested on Wednesday by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, in the name of the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) to provide economic stimulus to businesses and food and water for households as well as reliefs for health sector workers.

Government indicated that it would spend GH 40 million on buffer stock company, GH 200 million on water and sanitation, and use GH 241 million for tax waiver for health personnel and GH 80 million as allowance for health staff.

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah told DGN Online his office had written to authorize the Finance Minister to withdraw the money for spending, explaining that Article 177(1) of the 1992 Constitution gives the committee the power to grant approval of such nature without plenary endorsement.

On Wednesday, Speaker Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye recalled Members of Parliament (MPs) for the House to admit a policy statement by the Finance Minister under Standing Order 70(2) after he indefinitely suspended sitting of the House on Saturday, April 4, 2020.

Mr. Ofori-Atta, in a paper presented to the House, asked the Finance Committee to approve $219 million transferred from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) into the Contingency Fund for the CAP.

The stated amount came about as a result of approval by Parliament for government to lower the cap of the GSF from $300 million to $100 million after the Finance Minister apprised the House on the economic impact of the COVID-19 on the economy.

The Minister explained that the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme would primarily support provision of food and water for households, reliefs for health sector workers, and soft loans for micro, small and medium-size businesses.

---Daily Guide
A 44-year-old man was arrested allegedly assaulting two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital after accusing them of 'spreading coronavirus

New Delhi: A 44-year-old man was arrested late on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital after accusing them of "spreading coronavirus", said Delhi Police.

Police said the person was arrested after an FIR was registered in the case.

Earlier Dr Manish, President of the Resident Doctors' Association, Safdarjung Hospital told ANI that the incident took place around 9:30 pm when both the doctors had stepped out from their house to buy fruits.

"A neighbour started shouting at them for spreading COVID-19 in the locality. When the doctors responded, they were physically assaulted," Manish said.

Dr Manish had earlier said that both the doctors are posted at the Emergency Department of the hospital and they had marks of bruises on their bodies.
LIMERICK has suffered a devastating blow after it emerged department store Debenhams is to liquidate its operations in Ireland and close all its stores.

A reported 110 jobs will be lost locally after the firm, whose store operates from a prime location at the OConnell Street/Sarsfield Street junction, wrote to staff members this morning confirming an application will be made for its Irish arm to be placed in liquidation under the Companies Act 2014.

The store had already suspended trading in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus.

"In these unprecedented times, Debenhams is having to make exceptionally difficult decisions," the company said in the letter.

"Unfortunately, our Irish business has had trading challenges which were exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19. In the UK, Debenhams has entered into administration in order to protect its business. Regrettably, due to the challenges facing Debenhams Retail (Ireland) Ltd, it is anticipated that an application will be made to appoint a liquidator to the Irish operations."

"As you know Debenhams has already suspended trading in the Republic of Ireland stores and we can confirm that these stores are not expected to reopen. "

"In ordinary circumstances, communication about this process would have been done face to face, however, due to the Pandemic you are receiving this message via email, and we apologise for that."

It's a devastating blow to the city, with Debenhams considered one of the flagship retailers in the centre trading in a spot which was once Roches Stores.

Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler said: "My thoughts have to go to all the staff. It's an historic location and this development is of huge concern to the city centre."

"The reality is in the coming weeks and months, we are going to see further closures due to Covid-19. We need to see quikc action taken on this from the government. Nationally, a liquidity injection needs to be put into small companies so they can return to trading when these measures are removed."

However, Cllr Butler warned there will have to be a high level of investment nationally to see businesses through this.

Labour councillor Conor Sheehan said the first job of the city centre's new retail manager Celia Larkin must now be to find an anchor tenant for the Debenhams site.

"This is terrible news for the hard working staff and for the people of Limerick who shop in Debenhams," he said, "Debenhams and before that Roches Stores are part of the fabric of Limerick life for generations."

Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan added: "It is very stressful for workers to lose their jobs at any time, but right now during a pandemic when people are really struggling, is a double blow. I have contacted the Minister for Business to ask what measures the government will put in place immediately to help these workers and their families at this difficult time."

The struggling retailer is to enter administration in Britain, and there were initial hopes earlier in the week that the Irish stores would stay open. Then, a spokesperson for the company said that Irish stores were unaffected by the British measures.

Along with Limerick, the department store also has branches including at Newbridge, Dublin, Galway, Tralee, Waterford and Cork.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-07 22:09:57|Editor: xuxin

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Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, president Ibuka, an umbrella body of genocide survivors' associations of Rwanda, lays the wreath at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis, in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, on April 7, 2020. Rwandans on Tuesday started the commemoration to mark the 26th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis with a low key ceremony at Kigali genocide memorial site as part of preventive measures to contain COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Rwandan president Paul Kagame and first lady Jeannette Kagame and other dignitaries laid wreaths at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the genocide, in the capita city Kigali. (Kigali Genocide Memorial/Handout via Xinhua)

KIGALI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Rwandans on Tuesday started the commemoration to mark the 26th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis with a low key ceremony at Kigali genocide memorial site as part of preventive measures to contain COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame and first lady Jeannette Kagame and other dignitaries laid wreaths at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the genocide, in the capita city Kigali.

Later, Kagame, and first lady jointly lit the flame of remembrance at the memorial which will burn for 100 days until July 4, the date when the genocide was stopped by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), now Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF).

"As we join together to remember for the 26th time, as we have always and will continue to do, I thank you for participating in these unusual measures that are necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda and around the world," said Kagame earlier in a televised message.

He added that this year's commemoration for survivors and families and for the country is not an easy thing to do, because Rwandans cannot be together physically to comfort one another.

"But the current unusual circumstances will not prevent us from fulfilling our obligation to commemorate and console survivors. The only change is the way we commemorate," said Kagame.

According to him, Rwandans are used to coming together in solidarity and collective strength through national ceremonies and activities such as walk to remember, night vigils and group discussions in our communities.

"Today, we pause to reflect on the tragedy we experienced and what we lost both individually and as a nation," said Kagame.

"We will continue to educate our generations of Rwandans about what happened in our country and what we have learned from it," he added.

Due to COVID-19 outbreak in Rwanda, and the current lockdown, there were no gatherings, speeches, and survivors' testimonies during this years' launch of the genocide commemoration mourning week at the Kigali memorial site.

There was only a brief ceremony that involved the laying of wreaths, bowing in silence to pay respects to more than 1 million people killed during genocide, and lighting of flame of remembrance.

The brief event attracted a limited number of people including few goverment officials, United Nations representatives and Ibuka, an umbrella association of Rwanda genocide survivors representative.

"This year's commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi will be observed from our homes as we battle to contain the spread of COVID-19 outbreak in our country," Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, president of Ibuka, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

He said that Rwandans will follow all genocide commemoration ceremonies and discussions from their homes on different media platforms.

Genocide survivors will remember and mourn their loved ones from their homes, added Dusinginzemungu.

Rwandans in the countryside will not gather for ceremonies marking the 26th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi on April 7, a government body, National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) said last week.

According CNLG, remembrance ceremony for Rwandan politicians killed in the genocide, which normally takes place on April 13, at Rebero memorial site in Kicukiro district, to mark the end of the mourning week has been cancelled.

The cancellation was in line with a COVID-19 lockdown extended by the cabinet until April 19 to further contain the spread of the virus, according to CNLG.

Other commemoration events that have been suspended include the Walk to Remember, which normally takes place in the afternoon on April 7, and a night vigil, which normally follows the Walk to Remember.

This year's genocide commemoration is observed under the theme "Remember, Unite and Renew."

Throughout the mourning week, the Rwandan flag will be flying at half-mast in honor of the victims.
Finance Minister Rod Phillips is calling on insurance companies to lower auto rates while motorists are driving less due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Phillips  who was tapped by Premier Doug Ford on Thursday to lead a new cabinet committee on economic recovery strategies  met last week with executives from the major insurance companies and their industry association.

The point I made to all of them ... that we are in an unprecedented times and theres unprecedented pressure on Ontario families, the treasurer said Thursday during a Queens Park teleconference.

And the reality, which I hear all the time from my riding in Ajax and from people around the province, is that people just arent driving as much. Theyre obviously are fewer accidents, said Phillips, noting millions of people are staying home to stop the spread of the virus.

So Im looking forward to seeing fully what it is that the auto insurance sector does, he said. But I think the initial response has to be one that reflects the challenges people are facing.

The opposition New Democrats have been urging the governing Progressive Conservatives to give all Ontario drivers a 50 per cent break on auto insurance payments for three months.

The NDP would also like to see insurance payments deferred for anyone who has lost their job or much of their income due to the pandemic.

As Ontarians listen to public health experts and stay home as much as possible, theres little driving and few accidents happening in the province, said NDP MPP Tom Rakocevic (Humber River-Black Creek).

Drivers should get the benefit of that, not insurance companies, said Rakocevic said. Drivers shouldnt have to pay full-price auto insurance while they do their part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

That message may be getting through to the insurance giants.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), the umbrella group for the major firms which represents about 90 per cent of the industry in Canada, said its members are offering substantial relief to their customers.

For consumers whose driving habits have changed significantly, IBC member companies are offering reductions in auto insurance premiums to reflect this reduced risk, the group said in a statement on Wednesday.

IBC expects this could result in $600 million in savings to consumers. The reductions will continue for the next 90 days. Additionally, insurers have supported Canadians and businesses who are most adversely affected by honouring requests to defer premiums. Thousands of Canadians have had their premiums deferred.

IBC president and chief executive Don Forgeron said his organizations members appreciate the stress people are feeling.

This is an incredibly challenging and uncertain time for many Canadians, and insurers want to help alleviate some of the financial burden for the most vulnerable, said Forgeron.

Insurers understand that many drivers are no longer commuting or using their vehicle as regularly, which could result in savings.

Phillips said Queens Park expects insurers to do more.

I do think that they should be proactive and were seeing some initial signs of that from it. I reminded these CEOs  the people who they are dealing with now have been their customers for the last five years and probably their customers for the next five years, he said.

Its very important and were all going to remember how people were treated. But obviously  the government will watch  and I will watch  their response. It needs to reflect the really devastating impact that many people are feeling right now.

With Ontario accounting for 402,800 of the more than 1 million jobs lost nationwide last month due to the coronavirus, Ford launched a new committee of cabinet on Thursday to focus on the recovery.

Chaired by Phillips, the 13-minister panel is charged with developing a plan to stimulate economic growth and job creation.

While we focus our energy and resources on defeating COVID-19, todays job numbers highlight why we also need to plan for an economic recovery, said Phillips.

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie
New Delhi, April 9 : Delhi has a total of 3,734 beds for COVID-19 patients at both government and private hospitals, Lt. Governor's office said on Thursday.

These 3,734 beds are available at LNJP, RGSSH, GTB, DDU, BSA as well as private hospitals (including Max Super Specialty Hospital, Sir Gangaram Hospital and Apollo Hospital).

In a statement, the Raj Niwas said 20 Containment Zones (CZ) have been identified, "based on COVID Hotspots", to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi.

"Cordoning of all CZs has already been done. Sanitization of all the CZs is being done by local municipal authorities. Doorstep delivery of all essential commodities is being ensured with the support of Food and Civil Supply Department or Market Associations," the statement said.

It says mapping of the CZ and house-to-house survey is being conducted for the identification of suspected patients with influenza-like symptoms.

Also, the Delhi government has secured the supply of 3,500 Personal Protective Equipment per day and 28,000 N-95 masks per week for frontline health workers and professionals.

"Mass mechanized disinfection is being carried out by local bodies using one per cent hypochlorite solution spray in public and residential areas, bus stops, public toilets, markets, DMS/Mother Dairy booths and at taxi stands." The DUSIB is taking measures for the care of homeless people in the shelter homes, the statement said. Free lunch and dinner are provided to the homeless at all the shelter homes in Delhi.

"Adequate arrangement of soaps, hand sanitizers, protective masks and medical screening is being made in all shelter homes." As of April 8, 11,100 people are housed in shelter homes in Delhi and over 8 lakh people served free meals twice daily.

"In addition, the state-level hunger helpline for Delhi '1031' has been established." Further, the government is also distributing PDS ration items at over 2,000 Fair Price Shops where increased monthly ration is given free, benefitting 71 lakh persons across Delhi.

"As many as 5,995 ASHA workers and 1,278 ANMs have been trained as the second line of support in the fight against coronavirus." As per the Centre's direction, a list of retired government and private medical professionals has been circulated among all hospitals with instructions to engage them as per the requirement.

The Raj Niwas also said that the Delhi Police was asked to use technology to track mobile phones of those under home quarantine. "The Delhi Commissioner of Police has said that 23 violators of home quarantine have been booked under Section 188 of the IPC and sent to quarantine centres." Delhi has so far reported 669 coronavirus positive cases.
As part of the governments Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that offers financial support to United States airlines, the airlines must continue to serve the airports they did before March 1, as long as it is reasonable and practicable, but routing can change, international destinations are not included, and exceptions are granted. Airlines serving different airports within one metro area can consolidate service to one of those airports.

The frequency of the required flights is determined by the airlines schedule before March. If an airline was providing at least one flight a day at least five days per week, it now is required to provide at least one flight per day, five days per week, for that area. If the area was served fewer than five days per week, the airline needs to service it once a week. But if too few passengers book tickets on a flight or no one shows up at the gate, the flight can be canceled.

The airlines can change routing, so cities that may have only recently gained nonstops are losing them, and passengers hoping to travel from those cities may have to fly circuitous routes that go through an airlines hubs.

United changed about 130 nonstops to connecting flights through one or even two of its hubs. Appleton, Wis., a small city in the northeast part of the state, got its first nonstops to Denver in June 2018. Now, fliers are being offered a route that goes from Denver south to Atlanta, back north to Chicago, and then on to Appleton. The short United Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Palm Springs will now go through San Francisco or Denver. Deltas former nonstop between Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Seattle now flies through Detroit, Minneapolis or Atlanta.

Some of the suspended nonstop flights may still appear on the companies websites, but these will be updated soon.

Kathy Osborne decided on March 30 to leave New York for Fort Myers, Fla., where her parents own a home, and purchased a ticket for April 4. We wanted to get out of there, said Ms. Osborne of her attempt with her fiance to leave town. It was truly scary because people in our neighborhood didnt seem to be taking the quarantine seriously at all, she said.

Her first reservation with United Airlines was canceled the day after she purchased it, and the airline said she wouldnt be able to fly for two weeks. The airport at Fort Myers has dropped to about 85 arrivals per day, down from about 230 per day, over the last month, according to Flightradar24.
(by Francesco Tedesco)

NAPLES - Economic growth has halted abruptly in Egypt and Morocco, two of the most dynamic countries in North Africa while declining oil prices have harmed the Arabic peninsula. The coronavirus pandemic is heavily impacting the MENA (Middle East and north Africa) area, as explained by a study carried out by the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global association of bank and financial institutes.



The study, quoted by the website ecomnewsmed.com, had forecast a general GDP growth in the area of 1.8% in 2020 but has inverted its outlook, forecasting a 0.3% drop in GDP and a high increase in the unemployment rate.



The drop in oil prices, the downturn in the demand for raw materials and agricultural produce, together with the decline of tourism, were the reasons cited by the study.



Egypt's growth forecast has been cut from 5.4% to 2.7% in 2020. The study quoted two main reasons: the crisis of tourism, which impacts 8% of Egypt's GDP, and a drop in the transit of merchant ships in the Suez Canal, as well as the diminution of remittances of Egyptians working abroad.



The other dynamic economy of North Africa, Morocco, is experiencing a significant decrease in growth, which was expected to be around 3.2% this year and has been reduced to 1.1% of GDP. The kingdom will suffer from a drop in tourism and the service sector, which is very developed in the country that had become over the past few years the top African destination.



Tourism affects 8% of the national economy, concerning all services such as air transport, hotels, craftsmanship and the food sector.



The Tunisian economy is also expected to suffer after it had been forecast to record its highest growth since 2011, an estimated 2.5%, which is now only expected to reach 0.5%, further weighing on the poverty of a country which in 2019 had reached record tourism.



Dropping oil prices are also weighing on Algeria's economy, which was expected to grow by 1.6% of GDP in 2020 and will now shrink by 1.5%, according to forecasts.



Oil concerns 95% of Algerian exports, the institute said.



The economy of Gulf countries, which also relies on oil, will also be heavily affected with the financial markets of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait losing one-third of their value since the beginning of March.



The IFF research stressed that in Saudi Arabia the financial market lost 18% in March, with oil giant Aramco leaving on the market 12% of its share value. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman launched measures to support the economy worth 85 billion dollars, but for example rating agency Moody's has estimated that Abu Dhabi's package worth 27 billion will only succeed in limiting damages for Emirati banks which will also be affected in their assets like the real estate sector.
The Saudi-led coalition said it began observing a unilateral ceasefire in war-wracked Yemen on Thursday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but Huthi rebels dismissed the initiative as political manoeuvering. The coalition said a two-week pause in the five year-conflict took effect from 0900 GMT, but a spokesman for the Huthis alleged air strikes continued to pound targets in Yemen after that. "The aggression didn't stop... and until this moment there are tens of continuous air strikes," Huthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera news network some five hours after the truce began. "We consider the ceasefire a political and media manoeuver" to bolster the image of the coalition "in this critical moment when the world is facing" the coronavirus pandemic, he added. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in support of an internationally recognised government in 2015, pitting it against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. If the ceasefire were to take root, it would be the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered truce in the port city of Hodeida during talks in Sweden in late 2018. The truce offer was welcomed by the United States, key Saudi-led coalition partner the United Arab Emirates, UN chief Antonio Guterres and the Arab League. "The announcement is a constructive response to the UN Secretary General's call for the parties to focus on countering the COVID-19 pandemic", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. "We urge the Huthis to respond in kind to the coalition's initiative," he added. The UAE, which drew down its troops in Yemen last year as the conflict became increasingly intractable, said the Saudi move was "wise and responsible". "Hope the Huthis rise to the occasion. The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. - Wider solution - Yasser Al-Houri, secretary of the Huthis' political council, poured cold water on the coalition's declaration, saying that the Saudis "are dishonest and violate every truce they announce". "The announcement of this truce is to evade the true national vision that offers real solutions," he said, referring to a roadmap for peace unveiled by the rebels on Wednesday. The declaration of the ceasefire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties. Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that the truce, which may be extended, could pave the way for a wider political solution. Officials indicated they are keen for a UN-sponsored face-to-face meeting with the rebels to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Hours before the announcement, the Huthis released a document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end of the coalition's blockade on Yemen's land, sea and air ports. The rebels also demanded that the coalition pay government salaries for the next decade and hand over compensation for rebuilding, including homes destroyed in air strikes. Guterres, who has called for an "immediate global ceasefire" to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones, welcomed the truce offer, urging the government and Huthis to enter negotiations. "Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict," he said. - 'Rare opportunity' - The declared ceasefire comes as Saudi Arabia, reeling from plunging oil prices, seeks to extricate itself from the costly conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Yemeni people and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen's broken healthcare system has so far recorded no cases of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit hailed the ceasefire offer as a "rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen". Fighting had recently re-escalated between the Huthis and Riyadh-backed Yemeni government troops around the strategic northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Marib, after a months-long lull. Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, noted that "the Huthis have currently opened multiple battlefronts they cannot afford to close." Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and the border city of Jizan in March, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital, state media reported. It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Huthis offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil installations. Last week, the coalition carried out multiple air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in retaliation for the missile strikes. A Yemeni volunteer sprays disinfectant in a poor district of the capital Sanaa amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak Yemen has not recorded any cases of coronavirus but aid groups have warned it would be catastrophic The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have not yet commented on the unilateral ceasefire by the Saudi-led coalition
The Novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 will have a far-reaching impact on higher education. "Entrance tests for engineering and architecture will be delayed," says Dr Swati Mujumdar, Pro-Chancellor, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune. She has noted some changes that may occur as a result of the COVID-10 crisis worldwide and how it will impact the Indian education sector.

ETS Offers At-Home Solutions For TOEFL And GRE Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

"Students are likely to confused about the eligibility for admissions to various courses because of absence or delays of entrance tests and related decisions of the government. Payment potential shall get affected due to jobs getting lost, pay cuts, layoffs, and sectors getting closed. Students taking bank loans for funding education may increase, with affordability going down.

Students and parents may be more inclined towards low-fee courses, short-term courses, or online learning for quick re-skilling options. Hostel admissions may go down, as out of city students may not come back due to the Coronavirus threat and affordability. Parents will prefer their children staying at home and studying locally. Placements will see a huge dip but free internships may increase.

On the positive side, the number of students going abroad for masters or higher education may decline and therefore may look at options in India. Working professionals who may lose jobs or are likely to lose job may look at re-skilling through short-term courses.

New-age technologies will emerge significantly. Thus, the demand for courses in these technologies will rise. For universities, being equipped to run these courses at own premises will be the dire need of the future. Institutes like the Symbiosis Skills and Professional University who are running such skill-based courses is gearing up to meet the requirement of parents, students and society at large."

NEET MBBS 2020 Postponed Due To Coronavirus Outbreak
The Bhilwara model of ruthless containment is being lauded nationally. The Rajasthan medical and health department is facing challenge to contain the spread of Covid-19 in other hotspots such as Ramganj neighbourhood in Jaipur and Jhunjhunu.

In an interview with Hindustan Times Rakesh Goswami, Rajasthans additional chief secretary of medical and health department Rohit Kumar Singh said that the model needs to be tweaked for other hotspots.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Q: How do you plan to use the Bhilwara model of containment in other hotspots such as Ramganj?

Rohit Singh: The Bhilwara model is a typical containment strategy. It starts with lockdown, and lockdown means lockdown - no movement, no exemptions. Of course, you have to make arrangements for the essentials. For other hotspots, it needs to be tweaked. The principle will remain the same but will have to be adapted to local situation. For example, in Ramganj, social distancing is physically not possible because of population density. You need to quarantine a far larger number of people. As compared to Bhilwara, we are putting 10X more people from Ranganj in quarantine.

Q: Why did Ramganj go out of hand?

Rohit Singh: This happened because of the way the locality is structured, in term of population density, in terms of how people engage socially. Social distancing is culturally difficult to implement. The square feet of the houses is so low that if you advise someone home isolation, they cannot practice social distancing. Its very cultural. So we decided to quarantine people en mass. If you compare with Bhilwara, we are putting 10 times more people in institutional quarantine facilities. After the police imposed a stricter curfew from Tuesday, we are now changing our strategy for testing. Now, we are going for cluster sampling for tests. We will collect around 500 samples from different clusters in Ramganj for testing from today (April 8). Until yesterday, we were testing 90-100 samples, so this is a 5X increase in testing to check if transmission is gone to the third stage of community spread. Besides Ramganj, we know that there are similar places outside the walled city such as Hasanpura and Jalupura where probably the cases are there but we dont know. So we will also take samples from these areas as well.

Q: Is there any similarity between Bhilwara and Ramganj?

Rohit Singh: Yes. In both cases, negligence of one person caused the outbreak. In Bhilwara, this doctor continued to see patients despite having influenza-like illness. From him, the disease got transmitted to so many people. Similarly, in Ramganj, this gentleman comes from Oman and doesnt tell anyone. When a local doctor advises him home isolation, he roams around the town with a friend. Out of 100-odd cases from Ramganj, almost all are because of him.

Q: Centre has called for three-tier Covid-19 health facilities. What is the status in Rajasthan?

Rohit Singh: In Rajasthan, every district has a dedicated Covid-19 hospital. In Jaipur, for example, SMS Hospital has a capacity of 1,000 Covid-19 beds - 650 beds are ready and the remaining can be readied in a matter of 24 hours. The government of India is very rightfully saying you plan for any eventuality, so that when it spreads only serious patients are handled in tertiary care. As advised by government of India, we will have different facilities for different types of patients.

Q: As the cases rise, the need for more PCR tests will be felt. Are you prepared for that?

Rohit Singh: Because of our advanced planning, and an early case - the first case was reported on March 2 - we have enough PCR kits. We are sourcing them from ICMR while Vaibhav (Galeria, secretary of medical education department) and his team are parallelly talking to private suppliers. We have PCR machines at eight medical colleges. One more machine has been installed at Bhilwara for which permission from ICMR is awaited. We are testing more people than most states. Our testing per million population is only behind Kerala. In statistical terms, if you plot number of cases against number of tests, we are in good quadrant - less positive and more testing.

Q: What are newer challenges?

Rohit Singh: Newer and emerging hotspots such as Pokaran in Jaisalmer and a small cluster in Kota are new challenges. Jhunjhunu is also a challenge. The good thing is that most of the patients are below 50-55 years, which is a very good thing because they have better immunity and the likelihood of them recovering is very high.

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President Donald Trump has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to allow the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which could be used in the possible treatment of hundreds and thousands of coronavirus patients in the US.

Trump, during a phone call last week, asked Prime Minister Modi to lift the hold on American order of the anti-malarial drug, of which India is the major producer. India lifted the hold on Tuesday.

India agreed to lift the ban on export of hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it, Trump told reporters at his daily White House conference on coronavirus on Wednesday.

In a tweet, hours earlier, Trump praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! he said.

Thank you, Prime Minister for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! Trump said.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans had lost their lives due to coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease.

Scientists and the medical fraternity are racing against time to find a vaccine and a therapeutic solution to it.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

Indian Americans have welcomed the decision.

President Trump is graceful and grateful. He is honest when he says that he will not forget India's gesture. He is a True Friend of India, said Al Mason, a Trump supporter.

Thank you President! I think you are well orchestrating the compulsion of history and demand of destiny that we and India be the best of friends, joined at the hip and yet as family, free hearts and minds to love across a spectrum of emotions, but always together, tweeted Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Tory MP was blasted today for demanding that strict coronavirus distancing rules be relaxed to allow churches to open at Easter.

Jack Lopresti wrote to ministers asking for a 'temporary relaxation of restrictions' across Britain to allow worshippers to engage in 'private prayer' at the holiest festival in the Christian calendar.

He argued that if people can visit a take-away, off-licence or 'local shop' on Easter Sunday they should be allowed to pray.

But Downing Street has warned that there must no easing up of coronavirus restrictions over the Easter weekend.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters today: 'The Church of England have themselves spoken about what they will be doing this weekend.

'The guidelines which were published three weeks ago were very clear that places of worship shouldn't open.

'The reason those guidelines are in place is to protect the public from the spread of this disease and to save lives.'

Jack Lopresti (centre) wrote to ministers asking for a 'temporary relaxation of restrictions' across Britain to allow worshippers to engage in 'private prayer' at the holiest festival in the Christian calendar

He said: 'I firmly believe a temporary relaxation of restrictions, allowing for people to attend church to engage in private prayer whilst observing social distancing would be an appropriate compromise'

In his letter to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Mr Lopresti, 50, said: 'It is approaching Easter, one of the most important events in the Christian calendar, where Christians celebrate renewal and hope for a brighter future.

Queen breaks with centuries of tradition to send Maundy money by post instead of handing it out personally The Queen has been forced to break with centuries of tradition by sending her Maundy money to the elderly by post amid the coronavirus outbreak. Every year on the day before Good Friday, the Monarch presents elderly members of the Church of England with special 'Maundy' coins. These specially minted pieces are almost always handed out to worshippers over 70, nominated by local dioceses for their contributions to the church and the community. But today they have been delivered by Royal Mail instead of by the Queen herself, who is isolating at Windsor, to protect them all from the deadly virus. The eldest of this year's 188 recipients is Thomas Brock, from Sunbury-on-Thames, who holds the title of oldest active bellringer in the world. Advertisement

'I firmly believe a temporary relaxation of restrictions, allowing for people to attend church to engage in private prayer whilst observing social distancing would be an appropriate compromise.

'If the Government allows me to go to an off licence, a takeaway, or a local shop on Easter Sunday, provided I observe social distancing or take other necessary precautions why can I not go to church and say a prayer, providing I do the same?'

The Church of England has already told parishioners to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus at home.

On its website it says that 'gatherings, whether indoors or outdoors, cannot take place'.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is to deliver his Easter Sunday sermon, traditionally delivered to around 1,500 people at Canterbury Cathedral, from his flat in London, having recorded it on an iPad.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will call for 'a resurrection of our common life,' during his Easter Sunday sermon. The message, which will be delivered from the kitchen of the Archbishop's flat in London, is part of the Church of England's first national digital service for Easter Sunday. It was recorded on the Archbishop's iPad.

The Queen waves to the public as she leaves the Easter Mattins service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle last year.

The Archbishop's sermon will highlight the astonishing courage of those on the front lines of the battle against Covid-19, saying: 'After so much suffering, so much heroism from key workers and the NHS, we cannot be content to go back to what was before as if all is normal.

'There needs to be a resurrection of our common life.'

The Government is due to carry out the first review next week of the lockdown measures announced last month to curb the spread of the disease.

However, the Prime Minister's official spokesman did not contradict a warning by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that there was no possibility of any relaxation of the restrictions at that point.

"What we absolutely need to do now is keep bearing down on the rate of transmission which will mean continuing with social distancing measures to ensure we are protecting the NHS and saving lives," the spokesman said.

"We are at a critical point in this. That is certainly the case as we approach the Easter bank holiday weekend."

The spokesman added: "The public response to this has been brilliant. People have made very big sacrifices in the way they live their lives. You are beginning to see the impact that is having but people really do need to stick with it at what is a critical juncture."
Expected pressure on NHS in Wales will be significant and visible  now 369 critical care beds in Wales with 50% available

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 9th, 2020

Community transmission has been much more visible in the South East of Wales, an area that the First Minster last week said had seen testing taking place more vigorously and more widely.

Andrew Goodall , Chief Executive of NHS Wales, kicked off his briefing today by telling the public, By staying at home, youve helped to limit the demands on our health and our care system but we are still planning for the pressure on our health care system to be significant and visible as the virus continues to spread.

Please stay at home. Protect the NHS and help us to save lives.

Mr Goodall gave an update to the capacity of the NHS in Wales, with all but one hospital reporting status of green or Level 1 (out of four). About 47% of acute hospital beds, around 3250 beds, are currently empty with 816 people with confirmed Coronavirus in hospital today, and a further 344 with suspected cases.

Mr Goodall noted that there are many more people at home with Coronavirus do not need to be in a hospital bed.

Weve increased our critical care capacity further to 369 beds, and this will continue to increase even over the next week. Around 50% of our critical care beds are available, one in three are occupied by people with confirmed or suspected Coronavirus.

And the greatest pressure on critical care beds remains in southeast of Wales.

With the very quick spin up of field hospitals the NHS in Wales are close to having an extra 7000 hospital beds, with a number of these are already in place. The Principality Stadium expects to receive patients from Sunday onwards.

In a range of data given in the brief it was revealed one in four calls to 999 are coronavirus related, however despite recent warnings people are still not advising the ambulance service they have coronavirus symptoms thus exposing crews to an avoidable risk.

Mr Goodall said, I want to thank our health and social care staff, all those involved in frontline care, and those working in the background to ensure services continue. Youre doing an extraordinary job. Finally, please help the NHS and care service continue to work for you. We will continue to prepare for Coronavirus and we will respond to your needs when you need it. But by staying at home, you will protect the NHS and you will help to save lives.

I think we need to thank people for what theyre doing. But we need to have their ongoing support for that even during an Easter weekend, no matter how difficult, by staying home they will help us with our preparations.

We put forward three questions today, and are asked to submit them in the order that we would like them to be addressed.

We asked, A few miles away in England the public can get death data per hospital. That has brought home the reality of the problem on their doorstep to the community. We just see references to very low confirmed cases, and some people acting with that in mind. Is it a political decision to not publish the data, and what is your personal view and advice on the topic?. That was not put forward to the podium.

Two questions were asked and answered, the first being At launch the new Public Health Wales dashboard showed the single Cardiff council area has 65% more tests than the entire of the health board that covers North Wales and its six councils. How are the distribution of tests decided?

The current dashboard data shows there has been 337 tests in Wrexham (up from 303 on Monday when the dashboard was released) and a total of 1,479 across all council areas in North Wales. Cardiff council area shows 2,346 tests. The dashboard does show population comparisons, with 644 tests per 100k of population compared to 247 per 100k for Wrexham or 144 per 100k for Anglesey.

Mr Goodall replied, Just to comment on the distribution of the tests, clearly where tests are actively being put in place they will follow the level of transmission that was occurring within the community. Its very clear to us in Wales, that the start of our community transmission has been much more visible in the South East Wales area of Wales. Whilst there are cases of course that happening across Wales, it varies by geographical area, so our approach is to ensure that we have a clear and consistent approach about how people are tested and the appropriateness of that testing.

Those criteria will apply wherever the volume of cases that will be required to be seen to be positive or negative occur, and that will be true whether it is North Wales, West Wales, or the South East of Wales.

On the 30th of March the First Minister said that a possible hotspot in Gwent could be put down to testing more vigorously and more widely there and it looks like theres more there, because weve tested more people there than elsewhere.

We also asked, We have had concerns raised about the expiry dates of PPE being supplied. Is it possible to confirm all the PPE being distributed is within its use by date?

Mr Goodall explained, Weve had to really increase very very significantly the amount of PP equipment being provided across Wales to sectors. I was outlining just last week about how the focus is on the hospital setting, the care home setting, GP areas and pharmacies and we have to make sure that we have the volume and the scale of supplies that are available,

The majority of PPE does not have issues with expiry or use by dates, but there will be a technical issue with some face masks that they will have a certain shelf life. Therefore, we have to be quite careful on the expiry dates.

What I can say is that any equipment that is in use will have been through a technical process to ensure that it is fully appropriate to be used. Whether that is about expiry dates that have been reviewed, at the Welsh or the UK level, or whether that is about new supplies, we will be ensuring that they continue to be compliant.

You can view todays brief along with the Q&A in full via the below video:
SANILAC COUNTY  The Sanilac County Health Department reported the county's second death from the coronavirus April 8.

According to the health department, a woman between the ages of 65-85 years old from the Applegate area was hospitalized at McLaren Port Huron since the onset of her conditions.

"Our condolences go out to the family who have lost their loved on," Health Officer Bryant Wilke said in a press release. "Our community feels your loss. There are no words that can ease the pain or lessen this family's grief. Her death is an urgent reminder to all of us to practice social distancing, close non-essential businesses and limit access to essential businesses. We must all come together as a community to act now in protecting everyone's health.

The health department is urging residents to protect the community by utilizing proper mitigation and prevention measures, which are the only tool to stop the spread of the pandemic.

"It's up to you to protect each other by social distancing," the release reads. "We will just prolong this pandemic if we don't act responsibly."

With the upcoming Easter holiday, the health department is recommending the following alternatives to celebrate with extended family and friends:

Send Easter cards to family and friends

Celebrate Easter dinner via Zoom conference

Watch an Easter service on TV or via social media

Make an Easter inspired donation to a charity of your choice

Share your favorite Bible verse, hymn or your favorite Easter pictures on social media

Call a friend or relative to see how they are doing

For more information on social distancing and the coronavirus, visit the Sanilac County Health Department's website at www.sanilachealth.com.

*This story has been updated to reflect the correct information.
President of the Arab World Institute (IMA) Jack Lang has hailed the swift actions taken by King Mohammed VI to prevent the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.

In a message addressed Wednesday to Mehdi Qotbi, president of the National Foundation of Museums of Morocco, Mr. Jack Lang said King Mohammed VI will be remembered forever in the annals of history for his quick and firm actions against Covid-19.

Your Sovereign reacted quickly and the authorities lived up to the expectations of Moroccans, he stressed in his message.

It is s true that King Mohammed VI reacted quickly to contain Coronavirus pandemic with the appearance of the first confirmed cases long before covid-19 turns into global health crisis, said Mr. Qotbi in response to Jack Lang.

The measures taken, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, to contain the virus show once again that Moroccans are capable of bringing out their best when the worst befalls.

Moroccan Kings swift response and comprehensive socioeconomic relief measures taken to mitigate the fallout of covid-19 were hailed worldwide.

According to Spanish El Pais daily, Morocco topped the list of countries to quickly introduce tightened measures, including the lockdown. The combined exceptional precautionary and relief measures adopted by Morocco make all the difference for those cooped up in their homes to protect themselves, their families, entourage and society.

Morocco can be a model for many European countries thanks to its fast covid-19 response package, said on Thursday French website myeurop.info.

To protect Moroccan people from coronavirus infection, the authorities continue to supply market with masks and advanced test kits in addition to the social and economic aid package to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic on SMEs, low-income workers, and poor families.

These measures are unique in Africa, said the French news outlet, hailing Moroccos decision to close schools and universities on 16 March and enforce lockdown 4 days later.

Moroccan factories backed the countrys response efforts by churning out facemasks daily production to 4 million. Wearing these masks has become mandatory starting April 7 in the North African country where the authorities have made them available at an affordable price, underlined the French MyEurop outlet, noting that Morocco will launch shortly mass testing after receiving 200,000 test kits from South Korea.

What makes Morocco unique and even exemplary in the Maghreb and throughout Africa are the support measures deployed to cope with economic and social consequences of Covid 19, said Daniel Vigneron, co-founder and director of the french news website.

The former editor-in-chief of La Tribune daily recalled in this regard decision of the Moroccan Monarch to set up a special Covid-19 fund, which has collected more than 3 billion in donations from public and private companies.

He also explained that the collected funds will be used to help companies overcome these difficult circumstances by granting them additional loans, waiving mortgage payments to people affected by coronavirus, and paying to workers, who are affiliated with the social security fund (CNSS) and who lost their job after the lockdown, a $200 monthly allowance until June.

Workers of the informal sector are also being assisted with monthly allowances ranging from $80 to $120, according to the size of their families.

Meanwhile, hundreds of French nationals took to social media to express their admiration for Moroccos response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many said they have been impressed by the Moroccan governments efforts to boost domestic production of face masks and enforce their use in public space, making comparisons with the moves made in France and highlighting the superiority of Moroccos measures.
Nurses have shared their harrowing stories of fighting coronavirus on the NHS frontline - while others complained bosses were 'gagging' them from speaking out.

One medic revealed she missed her grandfather's funeral to go into work, while another shared a photo of her bruised face after a gruelling 11-hour shift.

Meanwhile, other NHS staff complained threats of disciplinary action were preventing them from speaking out, including about the lack of vital protective equipment.

It came as the daily death toll in the UK yesterday surged to nearly 1,000 as government sources indicated the national lockdown is set to extend into May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains 'stable' in intensive care.

One Twitter user shared a photo of a frontline NHS worker who had sent him a photo of her bruised face

Shannon Jane Finan said she had to miss her grandfather's funeral to look after patients in hospital

Today, nurse Shannon Jane Finan described her own distressing experience on Twitter

'Today I should be at my grandad's funeral but due to covid I can't attend to hold my dad's hand while he mourns his dad,' she wrote.

'Today I am going to make him and my grandad proud working again on the front line.'

Another Twitter user shared a photo of a frontline NHS worker who had sent him a photo of her bruised face.

'She'll absolutely murder me for posting this but working the long hours in intensive care and wearing full PPE for 11 hours of her shift is causing Katie so much pain,' he wrote.

'Her face is so swollen and bruised but she never moans and still smashes in them shifts. Ma warrior.'

Last month, the GMB trade union was forced to promise to 'protect and defend whistleblowers' over claims employees had been threatened with the sack for speaking out against a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).

NHS staff today told The Guardian they still feared being disciplined for sharing their stories from the frontline, with some saying they also feared their social media accounts were being monitored.

The nurse who was left with a bruised face pictured in her full protective equipment

Medics at one hospital trust received an email from the chief executive forbidding them from speaking to the media, while others have had requests to talk to the press turned down by PR departments or even been sent home for doing so.

One nurse who wanted to talk about his work received an email - later recalled - from his trust to all staff banning public communications.

When he spoke to the press office, he was told in a 'threatening' saying he was not allowed to speak to the media.

'As healthcare workers I think we feel generally quite secure  there's always work for nurses,' he said.

'But in my correspondence with the communications department I felt quite powerless all of a sudden. It makes me so sad.'

Not all NHS staff have banned their staff from speaking to the media and NHS England have sought to clarify the situation.

A spokesman said: 'No such threats should ever be made to NHS staff, and NHS staff remain free to speak in a personal capacity about their work.

'Once a major incidents occurs it is vital that the public receive fast, authoritative, open, clear and consistent information from their NHS, which is why in line with longstanding EPRR protocols, official communications are therefore always co-ordinated nationally.

'But staff continue to speak in a personal, trade union or professional body capacity, and it is self-evident from print and broadcast media coverage throughout this incident that staff are able and do in fact speak freely.'

At some hospitals, staff have complained about a lack of protective equipment. Three nurses at Northwick Park Hospital who posed in bin bags are believed to have tested positive for coronavirus

Last night it was reported that three nurses at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow who were pictured wearing bin bags because of a lack of protective gear have tested positive.

Speaking last month, one of the nurses said they had no choice but to use bin bags because of the shortage of PPE in the hospital.

She said: 'We could catch the virus ourselves. We need proper PPE kit now, or nurses and doctors are going to die. It's as simple as that.

'We're treating our own colleagues on the ward after they caught the virus from patients. How can that be right?

'There are so many younger people here on ventilation - many with asthma or diabetes. They can't stop coughing, they just cough and cough and cough and they can't help it.'

Yesterday, the Royal College of Nursing warned the lack of PPE in health care settings is 'fundamentally compromising' the care being delivered to patients.

Nurses' safety is also being put at risk, the union warned.

Despite repeated assurances that more personal protective equipment (PPE) is on the way, the RCN said that the kit is not reaching the front line.

Nurses are still being forced to share equipment, buy their own or reuse kit, according to the RCN's chief executive and general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair.

In a letter to the parliamentary Health Committee chairman, and former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, Dame Donna said that nurses are being forced to choose between their sense of duty and the safety of themselves and their families.

'Nursing staff are at the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic,' Dame Donna wrote in the letter, dated April 6.

'Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) and the slow and small-scale roll out of Covid-19 testing.

'Our members are facing impossible decisions between their own or their family's health and their sense of duty.

'The distribution and adequacy of PPE has led nursing staff to share equipment, buy their own supplies or to reuse single-use PPE. Although there are announcements that millions of pieces of PPE are being distributed, they aren't reaching the front line across all health and care settings.'

Earlier this week, a demonstrator wore a face mask outside of St Thomas' Hospital in London, where Boris Johnson is being treated, and called for more personal protective equipment for NHS staff

Global shortages of PPE have led to shortfalls on the NHS front line as medics try to care for the rising tide of patients with Covid-19.

Officials have said that millions of pieces of kit have been distributed and a hotline has been established to help frontline staff get PPE where it is needed most.

But in a submission of evidence to the Health Committee's Covid inquiry, the RCN added: 'Actions to mitigate PPE distribution is regarded by our members to have been too slow and not transparent.

'Public commitments have not translated into increases in consistently deployed and accessible stocks of adequate PPE.

'Without adequate and proper PPE, nursing staff are putting their own lives, the lives of their families and patients, at risk. This situation is unconscionable.'

A lack of PPE and hand sanitiser is particularly acute for nurses in GP surgeries and care homes, the RCN added.

The RCN said that insufficient and inadequate PPE means health and care employers are breaching statutory obligations.

The union said it had written to the Health and Safety Executive calling for intervention.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'We are working around the clock to give the NHS and the wider social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak.

'Every single hospital, community pharmacy and ambulance trust has now had a PPE delivery. Yesterday we delivered over 30 million items of PPE to NHS Trusts in England, and over the last few weeks, over 600 million items of PPE have been delivered, including masks, gowns, aprons and gloves.

'The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we continue to work closely with industry, social care providers, the NHS, NHS Supply Chain and the Army so all our NHS and care staff have the protection they deserve.'
(Photo : Image by David Mark from Pixabay )

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A cargo plane originating from Wuhan was welcomed into Sydney. The Boeing 747 aircraft owned by Suparna that touched down in Sydney just today and is considered as the first flight from Wuhan to arrive in the country since January. Airlines in China also retrofit passenger planes to carry goods.



A Suparna-owned Boeing 747 landed in Sydney last night from Wuhan, China. The flight was considered as the first-ever trip welcomed in Australia since January when lockdowns were imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.



The flight's Cargo would unload in the freight terminal along with its crew after the 14-day quarantine period lapses. The measure is imposed by law in Australia as a preventive method since the pandemic shocked global economies. Wuhan, being the center and the start of contaminations, recently lifted its lockdowns last Wednesday.



Last Tuesday, the Chinese government announced that Wuhan had no new cases and just after midnight from the announcement, Beijing lifted stringent lockdown laws that confined 11 million Chinese residents in the region for 76 days. Wuhan's roads and bridges were also reopened and its airports reverted to normal operations.



Superna has also been delivering medical supplies to Europe through flights from airports in China not affected by the total lockdown. The Transport Workers Union, however, is currently in dispute with Qantas over a crew employee who blew the whistle on workplace practices that put cleaners working on aircraft maintenance from Wuhan at risk of contamination.



Qantas operated chartered flight for Australians stranded in Wuhan and SafeWork NSW ordered the company to provide staff with sufficient protective gear by March 30, 2020.



In China, holiday shortened-work week began since Monday when no new COVID-19 deaths were reported. Funds were raised through special treasury bonds to replenish capital in China's financial system.



Some Chinese and international airlines also managed to retrofit their commercial flights and allow these aircraft to carry goods. Among the companies imposing the method is China Eastern Airlines who increased its freight capacity last Month.



To implement the method, the company modified the internal structure of its aircraft scheduled to carry electronics and Tesla automotive parts in April. China also allowed other passenger planes to cater to goods to compensate for a sharp drop in air-freight capacity. Before the implementation, China imposed limitations on the number of flights of domestic and international airlines operating in March. The imposition came after the companies raised issues that they could not maximize the carriage capacity since only passenger flights were allowed before freight flights were considered.



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A new space-themed comedy starring Steve Carell is set for lift-off on Netflix .

As well as taking the lead on screen, Carell helped to create the series alongside Greg Daniels, who masterminded the hugely popular American remake of The Office.

Ahead of the series launch later this month, here is everything you need to know about the programme...

Carell teams up with Hollywood superstar John Malkovich / Netflix

When is the Space Force release date?

Good news, people: It'll be here in a matter of weeks.

The series launches on Netflix on Friday, May 29.

Carell plays Mark R. Naird, a four-star general who has dreams of running the Air Force but is instead tasking with leading the newly-formed Space Force.

Kudrow will star as his wife Maggie Naird, who is described as "a Washington Air Force wife who has sublimated parts of herself to her husbands career for two decades."

"But as he takes on his biggest challenge, she is growing in a different direction," Netflix teases.

The best movies coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime and more this May 1 /8 The best movies coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime and more this May What's new on Netflix? All Day and a Night is one of the most interesting movies to watch out for on the streaming service this month. The Netflix original was written by Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole and stars Moonlights Ashton Sanders and Westworlds Jeffrey Wright. It tells the story of a man who finds himself in prison with his father. Also arriving on May 1 is the French thriller Get In, which sees a family return home from holiday to find their home has been occupied by squatters. Netflix / Matt Kennedy What's new on Amazon Prime? The big news for fantasy fans this month is that Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings films arrive on Amazon Prime this month  perfect for a lockdown movie marathon. Stephen Spielbergs Ready Player One also arrives on May 1. The Oceans trilogy lands on May 7, before Mad Max: Fury Road (May 24), Passengers (May 24) and Sherlock Holmes (May 30) later in the month. The Assistant The Assistant, a new drama inspired by the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal, has been received as one of the most powerful films of the year. Directed by Kitty Green, the movie takes a look at workplace harassment, toxicity and bullying, starring Julia Garner as Jane, an assistant working at a film production company. The movie appeared at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and itll be available on plenty of platforms this month. Available from May 1 on Curzon Home Video, BFI Player, Mubi, iTunes, Amazon & Microsoft The Whistlers More people than ever before are broadening their horizons and discovering foreign language cinema, and theres another gem to check out this month on Curzon Home Cinema. Romanian drama the Whistlers follows a police officer acting as an informant working for the mob, who must head to a remote island to learn an ancient whistling language in order to communicate without avoiding detection. It looks like a real gem, this one. Available from May 8 on Curzon Home Cinema Jojo Rabbit It divided critics straight down the middle last year, but Taika Waititis Hitler comedy Jojo Rabbit was heralded as one of the best movies of 2019 by some, and bagged Waititi an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It centers on a young boy living in Nazi Germany, who discovers a Jewish girl hiding in his home. Waititi, Starlet Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson all star. Available on most major download services Little Women Greta Gerwigs acclaimed take on Louisa May Alcotts Little Women is arriving on streaming services this week, and it could be the perfect antidote to lockdown blues. The joyous adaptation of the coming of age novel follows the lives of the March sisters  played Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen  as they grow up in Civil War era Massachusetts. It won over audiences after it was released on Boxing Day, and now its ready to revisit on Amazon Prime Video from May 11. Available from May 11 on Amazon Prime Video Columbia Pictures

Hollywood superstar John Malkovich will play Space Force scientist and chief science advisor Dr Adrian Mallory, while Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz as media consultant F. Tony Scarapiducci.

The series also stars Fred Willard, Jessica St Clair, Tawny Newsome, Don Lake and Diana Silvers.

What is the plot?

First look: Jean Ralphio actor Ben Schwartz in his role / Netflix

Space Force is inspired by on Trump's newly-established branch of the military, which in real-life is described by the President as "separate but equal" to the Air Force, and is responsible for a range of space-based military capabilities.

Carell's character is a decorated pilot who has always dreamed of running the Air Force but suddenly found himself heading up the new branch of the US Armed Forces.

Netflix explains: "Sceptical but dedicated, Mark uproots his family and moves to a remote base in Colorado where he and a colourful team of scientists and 'Spacemen' are tasked by the White House with getting American boots on the moon (again) in a hurry and achieving total space dominance."

Is there a trailer?

Yes! A clip featuring music from 2001: A Space Odyssey was shared on Twitter in January.

It explains: On June 18, 2018 the federal government announced the creation of a 6th major division of the United States Armed Forces.

The goal of the new branch is 'to defend satellites from attack' and 'perform other space-related tasks' or something.

"This is the story of the men and women who have to figure it out."
NHS workers are facing the agonising dilemma of whether to send their children away to keep them safe from coronavirus or keep them close as at a time when everyone needs their loved ones most.

Some are sending their children to live with relatives in a bid to protect their loved ones from Covid-19.

Staff caring for Covid-19 patients on the front line are fearful of catching the new coronavirus themselves and potentially passing the infection on to their loved ones.

In a bid to protect their families, some NHS workers have taken steps to isolate themselves outside of work.

Sending children to stay with grandparents, aunts and uncles is one step some NHS staff have chosen to take.

Ashleigh Linsdell (pictured) sent her child away as a precaution as the pandemic continues

Ashleigh Linsdell (pictured) is one of the many nurses who had to send her children away in order to protect them

The situation has been likened to children being evacuated from big cities during the Second World War to protect them from bomb raids.

Other NHS workers have started living in hotels, hostels and other temporary accommodation as they care for coroanvirus patients.

Frontline nurses say they have sent their children away for weeks on end while they deal with the crisis.

One nurse said: 'My daughter is staying with her dad, I'm working on a Covid ward. It's really hard but I can't take the risk of bringing it home.'

Another said: '[My daughter] had to go and live with my sister unfortunately as the risk is just too great.'

Other medics have also taken precautions including moving out of the family home or ceasing physical contact altogether.

One Glasgow GP described how he is still sharing a roof, but is isolating himself from his wife, son and newborn baby in order to protect them.

Sandesh Gulhane's baby girl is just one week old but he has only held her once - after she was born by caesarean section in a sterile operating theatre.

He told PA that he wanted to do 'everything' he possibly can to keep his family safe.

'I am basically socially distancing myself from my family,' Dr Gulhane said.

'I say hello, but I don't hug my six-day-old child, my six-year-old son, I don't go near my wife.

'I sleep in a separate room, I use a separate bathroom, I eat separately to them.'

He urged people to stay at home, adding: 'I am sacrificing my family life and people can't sacrifice having a BBQ.'

Meanwhile, Ashleigh Linsdell, who works as a nurse at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, has taken the step to send her daughter away in order to protect her from the virus. The nurse told The Sun of her painful decision to separate from her four-year-old.

Ashleigh Linsdell (centre) is one of the NHS workers who has sent her children away amid the pandemic

She said: 'My four-year-old daughter is 300 miles away with her grandparents. I sent her away last Thursday for her own safety. It was an awful decision to have to make.

'The day before she left, she was in floods of tears thinking I was going to be sick and I was sending her away to make sure she doesn't get ill. She sobbed to me: "You'll get sick".'

Meanwhile, a consultant anaesthetist in South Wales said he has removed himself from the family home in order to protect his wife who had a kidney transplant seven years ago.

Dr Craig Williams, who donated his kidney to his wife, now only sees his wife and 15-year-old daughter in person through the window when dropping off supplies.

'It is the reality of what people are going through and it is hard,' said Dr Williams, who is living alone in a holiday cottage. 'We're envisaging this for another 11 to 12 weeks.'

Myka Alex, 31, sent her son Kade to live with his grandparents because she feared she could pass the deadly illness onto him, due to her job as a practice nurse at a GP surgery.

The mother-of-two, who also works as a nurse in a care home, took the heart-breaking decision to take Kade away from her home in Devon on Mother's Day, after she realised she couldn't promise him that her job wouldn't put his life at risk.

NHS nurse Myka Alex, pictured, has taken the agonising decision to send her son Kade to live with her parents in Devon due to the coronavirus pandemic as he suffers from asthma

Ms Alex, pictured with her two children, Elodie, centre, and Kade, right, was forced to make the agonising choice because of her son's medical condition

Ms Alex and her partner are both key workers. She is a nurse in a nursing home and he is employed in a pharmaceutical company

Liam Barnes, chairman of the Laura Hyde Foundation, which provides mental health support for medical and emergency services personnel, said: 'Rising numbers of nurses are sending their children away to live with grandparents, relatives and friends in fear of catching or exposing Covid-19 to their loved ones.

'The scenes we are witnessing evoke memories of the wartime evacuations - but this is the reality facing frontline emergency workers.

'To carry on working and to protect others they are making the ultimate sacrifice. What more powerful message could there be - than the isolation nurses now face - for staying at home.'

Dr Trevor Pickersgill, treasurer for the British Medical Association and consultant neurologist, added: 'The tremendous effort that doctors and NHS staff across the UK are making in the battle against Covid-19 does not always stop at the front line.

'As well as working tirelessly to protect and save the lives of patients, many are having to make the incredibly difficult sacrifice of not seeing their families and loved ones.

'We know that doctors are more likely to come into contact with the virus in the course of treating patients, and as such, many are having to make significant changes to how they live and interact with their families in order to limit the spread of the virus.

'Not enough can be said of the incredible effort and sacrifice that doctors and NHS staff throughout the UK are making during these trying times. Their contribution is massively valued and appreciated.'

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said on Wednesday that a lack of protective gear has led to nurses 'facing impossible decisions between their own or their family's health and their sense of duty'.

The college has heard from nurses who have isolated themselves away from their loved ones in order to keep them safe.

Susan Masters, the director for nursing, policy and practice at the RCN, said: 'We have called on the Government urgently to increase staff testing so that nurses who test negative can come out of isolation and return to work. But it is no surprise that nursing staff are taking the instruction to self-isolate when they exhibit symptoms extremely seriously.'




Zhou Pingjian, Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria

The Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian has revealed the mission of the 15-man COVID-19 medical team that arrived in Nigeria on Wednesday.

He said the team came to reciprocate the gestures demonstrated by Nigeria during Chinas trying times in fighting Coronavirus.

He also said that the COVID-19 medical experts are expected to stay in Nigeria for a month.

Pingjian said this while speaking to newsmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Wednesday afternoon after a chartered Air Peace aircraft arrived with the doctors and medical supplies.

We received the support of all means from Nigeria, and it is time for us to reciprocate the friendship and kindness, Pingjian said.

We appreciate the support from the Minister of Health and the Government.

We want to share the China experience and see what we can do for Nigeria.

The Government, trans-business, private, public, and what we are trying to do is to address the concern of the Nigerians friends.

He added, Preliminarily, I think the Chinese doctors have a month to stay in Nigeria.

As the Minister assured Nigerians, the doctors for the first two weeks will put themselves in self-quarantine, though they can work through video conferencing.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria is 276, according to NCDC.
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Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | April 9, 2020

Two tornadoes strike in western Pennsylvania. Meanwhile the state secures the power to seize unused medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. Prisons continue to release inmates in a bid to lower the jail population and the Philadelphia Shipyard is ready to add 1,200 new jobs. Finally, police will be rocking masks that look like Philadelphia Phillies jerseys thanks to a new donation.

Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa, a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Julia Hatmaker. Today in Pa is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories in the state.

Todays episode refers to the following articles:

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Mervyn Taylor, the executive director of Sage Advocacy, the support and advocacy service for older people, has warned that the nursing home sector will have to change following the Covid-19 crisis.

Nursing homes affected by Covid-19 clusters have jumped in number from 40 to 86 in just three days, a 51% jump.

Mr Taylor told Newstalk Breakfast that fundamentally there is a need to know how many nurses there are in the nursing home sector and he called on Hiqa to set minimum nursing staff levels and standards.

"There is no point of moral outrage if no one was going to follow up and make changes," he said.

Quoting from a Nursing Homes Ireland survey which found that 37% of nursing homes had lost senior nursing staff, Mr Taylor said there was an immediate issue of access to nursing staff, rapid testing and access to PPE.

Mr Taylor paid tribute to staff in nursing homes who continue to care for patients who are very anxious. For some with dementia the sight of staff in full PPE gear can be a terrifying experience.

He said: We see situations where there is not enough medical support for nurses or not enough nurses in nursing homes.

Mr Taylor also pointed out that congregated settings extends beyond nursing homes, it also includes care homes for the handicapped.

He added: There are 3,000 in religious orders who are now very old and living in congregated settings.

Between nursing homes and congregated settings and institutions there are 35,000 people, he said.

Mr Taylor said this all highlighted the need for a properly funded and supported agreement for nursing homes and greater efforts to keep people at home with the proper supports. The Fair Deal agreement should end with more focus on keeping people at home, he said.

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According to the results of the first quarter of 2020, the level of gasoline and diesel consumption in Ukraine has decreased

Open source

The fuel consumption in Ukraine will fall by 20-30% due to the introduction of quarantine measures, this conclusion was made by experts of the consulting group "A-95" that has analyzed market trends of the first quarter of this year.

The report noted that the balance of the oil market in Ukraine began to decline in the first quarter of 2020, According to the experts, "this will progress due to the introduction of quarantine."

Thus, the diesel fuel balance in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 1.387 million tons, which is 1.5% less than in the same period of 2019 (1.408 million tons). It is emphasized that this is the first time that the quarterly market balance has decreased since 2015.

As we reported earlier, Ukrainian wheat exports from seaports almost fell by half to 138,000 tonnes in the week of March 28 - April 3 from 277,000 tonnes a week earlier.

Nevertheless, the overall grain exports in that period rose to 1.021 million tonnes from 845,000 tonnes due to higher corn shipments.

Active growth in wheat prices was caused by... tightening of quarantine measures, as well as by introduced restrictions in a number of exporting countries, the report reads.
A 42-year-old interior designer was arrested late on Wednesday night for allegedly molesting, assaulting and threatening two women doctors of a government hospital after an altercation over maintaining social distancing at a fruit shop in south Delhis Gulmohar Enclave, the police said.

The man, who is a resident of south Delhi, feared that if the two women could get infected and spread the coronavirus disease (Covid19) if they did not maintain social distancing, and ended up abusing and harassing them, the police said.

A case of wrongful restrain, voluntarily causing hurt, molestation, criminal intimidation, and sexual harassment was registered under sections 341, 323, 354, 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code at the Hauz Khas police station, said deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur.

Thakur said the two doctors, who are sisters, were off duty and gone to buy fruits at the shop close to their rented accommodation when the incident took place. One of them, who is 29 years old, alleged that the man, who was present at the fruit shop, asked them to maintain social distancing even as they tried telling him that they are doctors and aware of the guidelines.

An argument ensued and the man slapped the sisters, a colleague of the two doctors said.

HT is withholding the names of the hospital and doctors as sexual harassment charges have been added in the case.

As the women tried to leave, the man blocked their way, assaulted them and touched them inappropriately. He then left the place. The women approached the police and got themselves medically examined. A case was registered and the suspect was arrested, a senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said.

Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain said on Thursday that legal action will be taken against those who discriminate against doctors, paramedics and healthcare workers.

There have been several reports from across the country of people misbehaving with health care workers and doctors over apprehensions that these frontline workers were carrying the disease and could infect others.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:44:41|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region plans to install a video monitoring system in the Qiangtang Nature Reserve, a move to step up wildlife protection, People's Daily reported Thursday.

The system will provide 24/7 all-weather monitoring of Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals, to bring down poaching and smuggling in the region with an area of 298,000 square km, said the newspaper, citing sources from the local forestry police.

With an average altitude of more than 5,000 meters, the Qiangtang Nature Reserve is a habitat for Tibetan antelopes, donkeys, yaks and snow leopards.

The population of wild animals in the state-level nature reserve has increased in recent years thanks to effective protection efforts. In January, local police carried out a 22-day joint winter patrol in the region, traveling more than 7,800 km, according to the source.

This year's migration season for Tibetan antelope will begin. Between the end of May and early June, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes will migrate to Hoh Xil in the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to give birth, before returning to their habitats with their offspring in early July.
Situated on a (usually) busy London street, a small print-and-copy shop is 3D printing face masks for health workers at its local hospital.

It isnt alone.

3D printers are being pressed into use to churn out equipment for medical staff worldwide, and while its a drop in the ocean in terms of meeting demand, its remarkable how the technology is rising to the challenge.

Can 3D printing support health emergency?

3D printing hasnt become as mainstream a process as people had hoped. This may be because of the cost of the equipment, the time the process takes, the expense of raw materials or even the current limitations of the technology.

It does have its uses, of course: NASA used 3D printing to create small spare parts on the space station, major enterprises use the technology to build fast product prototypes, and youre seeing larger businesses use it for a little component manufacturing.

Now, as we fight a pandemic, everyone in possession of a 3D printer may be able to make some kind of contribution. Universities, schools and other places of education in countries across the planet are switching over to face mask production.

Manufacturers including Airbus in Spain and Germany, Infinite Electronics, Adidas, Nike and Apple are also manufacturing face shields by the thousands. I'm sure there are other big names involved.

Unleashing innovation with 3D

"One of the reasons I love my job is the capability we have for advanced design and quick manufacture. Overnight, we have gone from making aerospace concepts to medical equipment, said Alvaro Jara, Head of Airbus Protospace, in Getafe, Madrid. This genuinely makes a difference in the fight against the pandemic and I couldnt be prouder of our teams working day and night on this.

3D printing enthusiasts are also stepping up. In Moray, Scotland, one group is already churning out face visors for National Health Service (NHS) staff. Schools and students are also getting involved.

If youve been wearing a mask, youll know how uncomfortable they can become for your ears. In Canada, a Boy Scout made headlines with his innovative 3D-printed ear guards, which help make face masks more comfortable to wear for hard-working frontline staff.

This uses an innovative design thats been made available for 3D printers everywhere at MakerBot. MakerBot has a host of 3D design patterns that may be of use, including nuts, bolts, vacuum replacements, face shields and more.

The need for components exceeds demand

Components are invaluable to medical staff who are struggling to keep machines in action as they fail under the workload and official spare components become harder to source.

Even where replacement parts are available, closed borders, logistical and supply issues mean they may not reach you in time. 3D printing has already saved lives in Italy by replacing such components.

In Paris, the University Hospital Trust has invested in 60 industrial-grade 3D printing systems that are situated inside the hospital where they print vital equipment on demand.

The equipment they are being called on to make includes protective face shields and masks, electrical syringe pumps, intubation equipment and respirator valves.

Can 3D printing replace missing equipment?

Beyond face protection, hospitals are also grappling with a severe shortage of ventilators, forcing them to find alternative ways to get air into desperate patients.

3D printing firms may offer some way to mitigate the lack of this essential equipment. Belgian 3D printing company Materialise has developed a 3D-printable device that transforms standard hospital equipment into a mask that can help coronavirus patients breathe.

The idea is that the solution helps get sick people off ventilators faster and provides  literal  breathing space before they need to be intubated. Another group called BCN3D has designed something similar.

In the U.S., work on using 3D print to create an emergency ventilator system based on a U.S. Army design from 1965 is being led by a group called Helpful Engineering.

We have partnered with medical professionals to know what would help them the most in this crisis, rapidly trying to design and arrange the production of pragmatic devices to move life-saving air, extend existing tools, or organize volunteers on the ground to bolster medical workers, says Helpful Engineering on its website.

The truth is, ventilators are so essential that where 3D printing seems to be helping most today seems to be in terms of replacement parts.

Challenges to 3D for medicine

Thats not to say there arent challenges. MIT professor Martin Culpepper warns that the complexity of face masks means 3D-printed alternatives my not deliver whats required in technological, hygiene or capability terms.

He also warns on the scale of the problems we face  calling it unwise to foster a perception that medical services are fully equipped, when they simply are not:

Some hospitals need thousands of pieces of PPE each day, 3D printing just cannot keep up with that demand, he said. However, if you can come up with a great idea for PPE that can be fabricated in a high-rate way that meets demand, then we encourage people to use 3D printing as a means to prototype.

But governments need help

Governments are taking notice and actively encouraging innovation in this space. Portuguese authorities are working with Lisbon University, Fan3D and others to develop templates and administrative systems to bring citizen-led 3D printing into medical provision.

Elsewhere in Europe, the European Commission is working with the European Association for Additive Manufacturing on projects to produce medical equipment for hospitals tackling the COVID-19 outbreak.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is making similar investigations.

(As I see it, it is likely that some regulatory and patent hurdles will simply be relaxed to enable this, given some medical centers have been targeted by IP enforcement action for printing spare parts.)

Up next

If theres any good news in the tragedy of COVID-19, it may be that 3D printing has had an opportunity to prove itself as a solution for fast production of essential components for life-saving machines.

This seems to be good for health provision, but its also important in that it gives people who own 3D printing solutions an opportunity to feel that they are doing something to help in the struggle against the disease.

Its empowering communities, creating stories of local heroism, and proving the value of the technology at the same time.

I'm doing as much as I can to find useful stories to empower readers through this time. Please explore what I've managed so far:

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
A young Fremont man is happy that his park cleanup plan was approved.

But in light of COVID-19, Rowan Mitchell is looking to see what volunteers he can get for the project.

On Tuesday, members of the Fremont Parks and Recreation advisory board approved an amendment of Mitchells request to do some cleanup work in Hormel Park.

The project is part of Mitchells contract with AmeriCorps, which lasts until the end of June. He is also project and volunteer coordinator for Rebuilding Together, Platte Valley East.

In his request, Mitchell said he and a group of volunteers previously cleaned up some debris in Hormel Park.

But Mitchell has been planning a major project in which he would organize volunteers for more extensive cleanup.

Mitchell submitted his request which the park board was set to review in March, but a meeting didnt take place due to lack of a quorum.

He was pleased to learn Wednesday that the board OKd his request.

Im very excited to hear the board has approved the project, Mitchell said in an email to the city. But given our current circumstances, I may have to do a little reassessing. Most of my volunteer force were students from the high school and university, and they are no longer available.

I would have to do some outreach to see if I can gather volunteers at all. Once I get a better idea of what sort of workforce I have, then I will be able to give a start date. I will definitely keep you informed on my progress.

Mitchell must follow the states restriction of no more than 10 people in a gathering and make sure volunteers stay 6 feet apart.

He told the Tribune that he feels peoples willingness to come out for community events will not be as strong now, but hes going to see if he can get a group together.

Im still putting effort into making it all happen, but now it just might be a little more difficult to get enough volunteers to complete the scope of work, he said.

Park board members discussed Mitchells request Tuesday night.

In his request to the park board, Mitchell had said he planned to lead volunteers to make minimal, but necessary cutbacks to widen trails and to rake and tamp areas to help increase their durability.

With the parts of the trail that have been washed away along the river, I will assess and mark small reroutes over more durable ground and ensure that the trail is built with proper grade and drainage to promote trail longevity, he said.

Mitchell also said he planned to use a small group of skilled volunteers for larger tree removal. Mitchell said he spoke with people who might donate gas-powered chainsaws for the project.

However, Mitchell thought the citys saws would be ideal and sought their use, adding that he had all the personal protective equipment needed for the project.

Kim Koski, director of the Fremont Parks and Recreation Department, said she spoke to park superintendents about the request.

Theyre completely fine with removing trash and clearing the trails with loppers and rakes and brush cutters, but as far as volunteers using chain saws and using city chain sawstheyre not in favor of that, Koski said.

So the city will do that work when it has more manpower and time.

Park superintendents are in favor of Mitchell and volunteers clearing logs by hand, where possible.

Koski recommended that a board member make a motion to allow Mitchells request with the park superintendents stipulations.

The board approved the proposal, amending it to not include the chain saws.

In his Hormel Park Trail Maintenance Proposal, Mitchell provided project background.

He said the park has served as one of the few natural areas in Fremont where community members could escape the hustle of the city and spend time in nature.

Mitchell pointed out flood-caused problems.

With the flooding of the Platte River in March 2019, the park and trails were in some of the hardest hit areas, Mitchell said. Trash and debris from fields and homes have been washed into the wooded areas, trees have been uprooted and fallen over the path in many areas, and sections of trail that follow the riverbank have been washed away completely.

Mitchell has experience in trail building and said he has worked directly with park and forestry services in reviving old trails, planning and building new ones and maintaining existing trails in state parks across Maryland, California, Washington, Wyoming and even subsections of Zion National Park in Utah.

His experience has included:

Dispersing fallen trees to open blocked sections of trails.

Removing hazardous snagged trees and branches that could fall and create more blockages and possible injury to hikers.

Clearing overgrown sides of trail to reduce risk of ticks latching to clothes, reducing potential fire fuels.

Re-routing small sections of trail that have washed away to a more sustainable path.

Mitchell said he and volunteers from the National Lutheran Youth Gathering already removed multiple refrigerators, piles of car tires, lawn furniture, mattresses and other items from Hormel Park after the flood.

But the trash was pulled only from the area closest to a parking lot and old camping space.

Mitchell said in his proposal that planned he planned to have volunteers go deeper into all of the trails.

Removing overgrown brush greatly reduces the risk of fires spreading and climbing up into the canopy by taking away the fires fuel sources, Mitchell said in his request. Doing so also encourages healthier growth of older trees and plants, as well as reduces the risk of picking up ticks while hiking in the summer.

Mitchell said there are a couple areas of the trail where trees have fallen and blocked the trail.

Or some places where trees have fallen and been caught up in other trees around them.

Those are still kind of at risk of falling and blowing out of the trees and potentially falling on somebody or causing more damage to the trail, he said.

The risk depends on how a tree fell and what other trees its leaning on.

As long as people are kind of aware of where theyre walking, its not a huge risk, but its still definitely something you want to remove if at all possible, he said.

Mitchell said volunteers need not only be high school or college students.

He said anyone whod like to volunteer for the project may contact him via email at americorps@rebuildingtogetherpve.org/ .

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Irans supreme leader suggested Thursday that mass gatherings in the Islamic Republic may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic, Arab News reports.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comment in a televised address as Iran tries to restart its economic activity while suffering one of the worlds worst outbreaks.

In the absence of public gatherings in the Ramadan month including praying, speeches and so on, that we are this year are deprived of them, we should create the same senses in our lonesomeness, Khamenei said.

Ramadan is set to begin in late April and last through most of May. Public officials had not yet discussed plans for the holy month, which sees the Muslim faithful fast from dawn until sunset.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:08:23|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China's assistance to other countries in the global battle against COVID-19 boosts international cooperation, an Ethiopian scholar said on Thursday.

The Chinese role in the fight against COVID-19 stands in particular contrast to that of certain country "which has disdained international cooperation and invested more political capital in criticizing China," Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, who served as an economic advisor to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, told Xinhua.

The Chinese government and companies have so far donated several batches of medical supplies to all 54 African countries as the continent is grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Africa has registered over 10,692 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Noting that the coronavirus pandemic is raging on in many countries, Costantinos called on the public to strictly adhere to health guidelines to end the global crisis.

"It will depend on the degree to which people follow social-distancing and hygiene guidelines, the availability of quick, accurate, and affordable testing, as well as the availability of antiviral drugs and a vaccine," said Costantinos.

While commending the Chinese shipments of medical supplies to European and African countries hard hit by the pandemic, Costantinos also said the pandemic is a wake-up call for international action.
Spain recorded a second successive daily rise in Covid-19 deaths at 757, lifting its total toll to 14,555 on Wednesday, as European Unions disease monitoring agency said there is no sign yet that the peak of the regions outbreak has been reached.

As the pandemic continued to infect and kill large numbers of people across the continent, EU plunged into a scientific policy squabble and its finance ministers failed to agree on an exit strategy for their battered economies, while individual countries announced plans to end their lockdowns.

Finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro haggled into the night for 16 hours by videoconference starting Tuesday which ended without a deal. Talks will resume on Thursday.

A blistering row erupted after Mauro Ferrari quit as the head of European Research Council, EUs top science funding agency, and attacked the blocs handling of the crisis. The ERC hit back with a lengthy statement accusing Ferrari of being economical with the truth.

France reported fewer new cases though deaths rose sharply. The total cumber of cases rose by 3,777. Deaths rose by 1,417 to 10,328 .

Frances central bank estimated its first-quarter gross domestic product to shrink 6% from previous quarter, the biggest quarterly contraction since World War 2. Similarly, experts warned that German economy, Europes biggest, would shrink by nearly 10% in the second quarter, twice as big as the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
Two sunbathers who were caught flouting the government's lockdown rules to enjoy a barbecue on the beach amid the coronavirus pandemic complained that the police had 'ruined their day'.

The oblivious pair, who were seen sitting along the coast near Hove Lawns, in Brighton, were urged by police  who were compared to 'part-time teachers'  to move away from the site amid the government's social distancing measures.

Footage which was shared on social media showed the officers urging the 31-year-old man and 48-year-old woman to vacate the site before the woman told the police: 'You've just ruined our fricking day!'

During the video, two officers, dressed in high-vis jackets, are seen approaching the pair sat on the beach and asking them to move, telling them: 'You need to take your alcohol or we'll move it swiftly away from you.'

The pair had been having a barbecue near Hove Lawns, in Brighton, when they were spotted by police officers

The two officers urged the pair to swiftly leave the spot as the pair continued to remain seated

The woman is unhappy after one officer suggests he is 'educating' them, saying: 'Hes a teacher, a part-time teacher as well now.'

One officer tells the man and woman: 'The sooner you move away from us the better day you'll probably have. Just go and enjoy yourself somewhere else.'

Frustrated with the officer's warning, the woman replies: 'You've just ruined our fricking day!'

The officers reminds the pair that they have been asking everyone on the beach to vacate the spot and adds: 'We're telling everybody. Look who empty the beach is.'

Following the incident, one witness, who asked not to be named, told The Argus: 'She seemed to be horrified that they were being asked to move along.

'There was a lot of support for the officers and members of the public were shouting at her to move along and listen to the police.'

After several minutes, one officer extinguished the beach barbecue by filling his helmet with water and pouring it onto the flames.

Following the incident Sussex Police said that the pair had been summoned to court after beaching the Coronavirus Act 2020.

CONVERSATION BETWEEN POLICE AND THE COVIDIOT COUPLE Police officer I: You need to take your alcohol or we'll move it swiftly away from you. Woman: I didnt know it was Police officer I: Im just educating you Woman: I know, you just told me. Thank you for educating me. Hes a teacher, a part-time teacher as well now. Police officer II: The sooner you move away from us, the better a day youll probably have. Just go and enjoy yourself somewhere else. Woman: Youve just ruined our fricking day. Police officer II: Yes, because were telling everyone. Look how empty the beach is. Advertisement

The officer reminded the man and woman that they have been asking everyone on the beach to leave

Members of the public were seen enjoying the warm weather in Brighton yesterday despite the government's lockdown guidelines

Police officers in Brighton speak to sunbathers amid the government's social distancing rules

Officers in St James's Park, London, stop to speak with a sunbather as the country remains in lockdown

A Sussex Police spokesperson said: 'Two people have been reported for summons to face charges of breaching Schedule 21 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 after becoming abusive to PCSOs and police officers on the beach at Hove on Saturday afternoon (April 4).

'The pair, a 31-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, both from Hove, were spotted having a barbecue on the beach, but despite repeated requests to leave, allegedly refused to so.

'The man was initially arrested after allegedly refusing to provide his details. He had a cough and asked officers for a mask so that he didn't cough on them. He was eventually de-arrested and returned home to self-isolate.

'Both will be summonsed to attend court in due course.

'While the warm weather encouraged people to get out of their homes, Sussex Police has thanked the majority who have observed the government advice and stayed local while maintaining social distancing and travel guidelines.

'Where it has been necessary for officers to engage with them, they have been very co-operative with their requests to return home after completing their daily exercise.'

In a tweet the forces added: 'Thank you to everyone that stayed away from beauty spots and beaches today. We know it isn't easy.

'We are disappointed that two people will be summonsed to attend court after breaching the Coronavirus Act 2020 by having a BBQ on #Hove beach.'

As the country continues to grapple with the rising number of coronavirus cases, people have continued to breach lockdown rules in order to enjoy the country's sun-soaked beaches and parks.

On April 4 Sussex Police said two people had been summoned to court after breaching the Coronavirus Act 2020

The continuing defiance among some Britons comes after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock backtracked on a threat to ban outdoor exercise if people do not comply with the coronavirus lockdown.

On Sunday, the Health Secretary blasted sunbathers for flouting the rules and warned the government would ban 'all forms' of public exercise if a 'small minority' refuse to stay at home.

However he later updated his comments while speaking at the daily Downing Street coronavirus press conference and said he did not want anyone to think that any changes to the social distancing rules are imminent.

Mr Hancock said the end of lockdown will be determined by 'how much people follow the rules on social distancing' and 'the more people follow the rules then the faster we will all be through it'.

He then issued a direct plea to people who are 'breaking the rules or are pushing the boundaries', telling them: 'You are risking your own life and the lives of others and you are making it harder for us all.'

The scenes come after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock blasted sunbathers for flouting the rules

He concluded: 'We have included exercise as one of the things that you can leave your house to do because exercise is good for our physical and our mental health but please do not bend or break this rule.

'We can't rule out further steps but I don't want anyone to think that any changes to the social distancing rules are imminent because the vast majority are following the rules.'

The latest scenes come as the nation continues to control the surge in coronavirus cases which has now hit 55,242.

Yesterday health officials also confirmed that 7,095 people in the country have now died from Covid-19.
A two-month-old baby who was believed to have been Italy's youngest COVID-19 patient has been released from hospital after overcoming the disease, media reports said Thursday.

The baby was no longer running a temperature or fever and was released with her mother, who has recovered from a bout of pneumonia, the reports said.

The two were hospitalised in the southern city of Bari on March 18.

Italy has officially attributed 17,669 deaths to COVID-19, more than any other country. The government is now weighing how and when to ease social distancing measures that have helped see daily death tolls slowly come down from a high of 969 last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), and the challenges that it has presented, have made it clear that any comprehensive and effective response must be based on the three pillars of prevention, testing and economic fortification. While the first two can be contained through uniform international practices, the third requires a solution that addresses Indias unique and diverse economic terrain. It is for this reason that the Congress has been pushing the Centre to come out with a roadmap that reassures the most vulnerable that their concerns are paramount.

In this piece, we provide the government with a ready catalogue for those at risk. These are the key stakeholders in the development, publication and execution of, what we call, a Common Minimum Relief Programme.

Those at the bottom must be at the top in the order of priority. This includes daily-wage earners, labourers and migrant workers. The last few weeks have attested to the fact that they are the most affected in terms of economic and social insecurity. We have witnessed the scale of economic upheaval and displacement, with millions of migrants trudging across states to get home. There is no longer any alternative but to prepare a targeted social security programme for these individuals and their families.

These concerns were brought out by eight major national trade unions in a letter to the central government last week. Their suggestions provide an insight into the real cost paid by these workers who face evictions, food shortages and lack of access to basic facilities. The government must use these recommendations as a template to identify key areas to tackle. This must be done on a war-footing, given that the overwhelming majority of our population is currently employed and engaged in the unorganised sector.

This brings us to Indias annadatas (food providers). Sixty per cent of India is engaged and occupied, in some form or the other, with the agricultural sector. For farmers, this year has had a greater-than-normal set of challenges. First, they were impeded by unseasonal rains and inclement weather. Now, given the absence of agricultural labour and transportation facilities, how can they harvest the standing crop? Make no mistake, a shortage of wheat and other rabi crops will have adverse consequences for every citizen. Clarity, information and guarantees must be provided by the Centre on procurement and prices.

The next in this sequence, and right in the eye of the storm, is the middle class. The longer economic activity remains dormant, the greater the erosion of the middle class. Employers in the private sector have begun slashing salaries, and will continue to do so. Large numbers of mid-level and blue-collar jobs have been lost. Every single index suggests that this trend will intensify in the near future.

The governments response has been to offer delayed payment of EMIs, disingenuously enough, without interest subvention. This, in turn, leads to a greater cost in the long-run. At the same time, it has lowered the rate of interest on all small savings schemes. This has directly hit senior citizens, pensioners, farmers and women especially hard. This is a catch-22 situation in which the cost of the obligations go up in the long-term, while the value of the savings goes down sharply. How is this in the interest of the middle class, which is already seeing its savings ravaged by the high cost of petrol, diesel and gas? These are the same people who gave up their subsidies when Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked, without a second thought or hesitation. It is now time for the government to reciprocate and secure their interest.

Not so long ago, medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) were recognised by the government as the backbone of the economy. This is a fact, given that MSMEs contribute close to 30% (~61 lakh crore) to the GDP. The same government is yet to provide a plan that bails out these 42.5 million entities that employ several times as many citizens. Unless there is a plan for protection, followed by a strategy for revival and growth, this sector will be irreparably diminished. This will devastate the spirit of entrepreneurs, who, in the words of the prime minister, are the growth ambassadors of the economy. Governments and the people that elect them are judged by their response to crises and catastrophes. Indians have demonstrated unshakeable resolve, patience, optimism and fortitude in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. For the Modi government, the litmus test starts now.

Randeep Surjewala is the AICC communications incharge and an advocate

The views expressed are personal
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The Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation system, or ECMO, which replaces the blood oxygenation function of the lungs and heart, was used on a patient with coronavirus pneumonia.

ECMO is a rescue treatment used when medics have already tried to stabilise a patients breathing by other means but it hasnt worked," says Dr Miguel Rodriguez from Son Espases Hospital.

The first hospital transfer took place during the first week of April and it was a complicated procedure.

"We were called from the ICU of another hospital for critical patients, we intubated the patient, connected them to a respirator and give them oxygen, explains Dr. Rodriguez.

In the Balearic Islands, only the referral hospital has this service and the multidisciplinary team involves ICU Staff, Doctors, Nurses and SAMU 061 Emergency Technicians and we always collaborate with the team of the Centre that requests help, explains Dr Rodriguez.

When trying to rescue a patient infected with COVID-19 the team is faced with the added difficulty of isolation measures and must wear personal protective equipment of the highest security.

"We have complied with all the recommendations of the health Authorities this week and saved the life of the patient who is still being treated at Son Espases Hospital, said Dr Rodriguez.

The ECMO mechanical ventilation equipment performs the respiratory function and the blood is cleansed while the lungs remain less active.

"The extra-corporeal technique oxygenates the blood with a membrane," said the Doctor.

The equipment was installed in Son Espases in 2016 and has been used during the course of the coronovirus epidemic in the Balearics.

"We participate in the transfer of patients when the final therapy is not available in our hospital, for example in childrens cases or organ transplants, which are highly complex."

The increase in critically ill patients with acute pulmonary injury and the increase in organ donors revealed the importance of having this type of equipment in the referral hospital.

The portable ECMO equipment that was used last week was bought by the Government last October and facilitates the inter-hospital transfer of patients when needed.

Until recently, IB-Salut had a portable ECMO equipment, reserved for Transplant Coordination, and a fixed ECMO team, which was uninstalled in order to perform the first airborne transfer of a paediatric patient using the extracorporeal oxygenation technique in Spain.

A 14-month-old boy with severe lung involvement and months later it was used for an adult.
On April 7, the official spokesperson of the external affairs ministry (MEA) discouragedspeculation or politicisation, inter alia, of the governments decision to allow the exports of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and paracetamol through licenses.

Specifically, he said, With regard to paracetamol and Hydroxychloroquine, they will be kept in a licensed category and their demand position will be continuously monitored. However, their stock position could allow our companies to meet the export commitments that they had contracted.

The spokesperson also clarified that temporary restrictions on the exports of a number of pharmaceutical products were placed to ensure that there were adequate stocks of these products for the requirement of our own people. Following these restrictions, a comprehensive assessment was made of all possible requirements under different scenarios. The spokesperson emphasised that the decision of the export of drugs was made after having confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible contingencies.

This statement is reassuring, but it would have been more so if it was backed with statistics of current and projected HCQ requirement, availability, proposed export, production capacity, and if active ingredients for it are needed from China. This is particularly because of apprehensions that India made the decision under pressure from the United States (US).

Currently, HCQ is allowed to be used in India as a prophylactic for frontline health workers in the fight against Covid-19 and household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.

Ill-informed criticism of governments decisions should always be avoided, particularly so in these difficult times. However, an examination of the HCQs decisions timing can neither be speculative nor its politicisation.

Government documents are revealing in respect of HCQ decisions.

On March 25, the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) prohibited the export of HCQ through a formal notification. However, despite the prohibition, under the notification, Indian pharmaceutical companies were permitted to fulfil their existing export HCQ contracts. Exports could also be made on humanitarian grounds, on case to case basis, on the recommendation of the Ministry of External Affairs.

On April 4, the DGFT issued another notification on HCQ exports in which it withdrew the exceptions made to the prohibition on export of HCQ in its March 25 notification. Clarifying the effect of this step, the April 4 notification stated, The export of Hydroxychloroquine and formulations made from Hydroxychloroquine, therefore, shall remain prohibited, without any exception.

On April 4, US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the same day, at a press briefing, after the call, Trump said I called Prime Minister Modi of India this morning. They make large amounts of hydroxychloroquineAnd I said they  had a holdAnd I said Id appreciate it if they would release the amounts that we had ordered. And they are giving it serious consideration.

The External Affairs Ministry statement of the Modi-Trump telephone conversation did not mention Trumps request. It did, though, note, Stressing the special relationship between the two countries, the Prime Minister reiterated Indias solidarity with the USA in overcoming this global crisis together. The two leaders agreed to deploy the full strength of the India-US partnership to resolutely and effectively combat Covid-19.

At a press briefing on April 6, Jonathan Karl, the White House correspondent of ABC News asked Trump Are you worried about retaliation to your ban of medical goods like Indian Prime Minister Modis decision to not export hydroxychloroquine to the United States and other country (sic)? The question was asked in the context of Trumps decision of April 3 to disallow US companies from exporting personal protective equipment required by health care workers attending to Covid-19 afflicted patients. Canada was particularly enraged with the decision.

In a rambling response, Trump made several points some of which require interpretation  that he did not like Indias decision to ban HCQ exports to the US; that he had not heard that Modi had personally taken the decision for the US; that he knew Modi had stopped it for other countries; that he had a good talk with Modi (comment: but he got wrong the day of the talk by mentioning Sunday, though the conversation happened on Saturday); that he would be surprised if Modi did not accept his request, for India has for many years taken advantage of the US on trade. At the conclusion of his remarks, he said there may be retaliation.

This is obviously an indication that other countries may retaliate to his medical goods export ban.

On April 6, the Indian government decided to set aside its April 4 HCQ decision, and to revert to some aspects of the March 25 notification. The real issue is the basis on which government changed its mind. Did the concerned authorities not look at the HCQ situation fully before taking the April 4 decision? If they did, then why did the government take a different view on April 6? The external affairs ministry needs to clarify to prevent speculation that India came under Trumps pressure when he has banned export of essential medical goods himself.

Vivek Katju is a retired diplomat.

The views expressed are personal
ALTON  Hirams Bar in downtown Alton advertised that it would remain open, despite stay-home-orders, more than a week before police shut it down, finding Mayor Brant Walkers wife dancing atop a DJ table.

The information is included in a police report detailing Sundays incident, released Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information request.

News of the bust, which occurred about 1 a.m. Sunday, was picked up by global news outlets with headlines touting the quirky story of a mayor caught in an awkward situation with his significant other. Mayor Walker described it as embarrassing. Shannon Walker issued a lengthy, emotional apology on Wednesday.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued stay-at-home orders to prevent coronavirus spread on March 20.

The police report says Hirams Bar, 210 W 3rd St., advertised on its Facebook page March 27 that the bar would remain open every Thursday through Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

We had been watching them for about 10 days, Alton Police Chief Jason Jake Simmons said on Wednesday. We had several other bar owners saying, Hey, this guy is open for business.

On March 28, police received a tip that patrons were using a side door to drink and socialize in a dance floor area that couldnt be seen from the outside.

Officers had driven by to scope out the place on several evenings, but didnt see enough evidence to investigate further.

Just after midnight on April 5 police again received the report of a large party at Hirams.

Simmons responded after completing another late-night call, noticing Shannon Walkers car parked outside.

I didnt want the officers to just drive by it, look in the front windows and not see anybody, and just drive on, Simmons said. This guy was pretty adament that I talked to, that, Hey, theyre in the back room. Theyve got a dance floor in the back.

While watching the business, he saw a door open inside, which revealed dance lights in the rear of the building.

Simmons and other officers entered through an unlocked door on the side.

Upon making entry, I immediately observed Shannon Walker standing atop a DJ Booth, looking over the dance floor, dancing in place and apparently controlling the music that was playing, Simmons says in his report. She was drinking an unknown beverage.

They were shocked that I walked in with three or four other policemen, Simmons told The Telegraph.

Seven people inside the bar were given citations for misdemeanor reckless conduct; Shannon Walker, bar owner Hiram Y. Lewis, Anthony C. Griffie, Mathew N. Coolbaugh, Deven M. Fair, Nathan D. Stoeckel and Jennifer A. Helgen.

If convicted, the crime carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Lewis also had an outstanding warrant for domestic battery.

One of the individuals told police several people had left the bar just before police arrived.

The report says that Simmons called Brant Walker following the incident and mayor instructed not to give his wife any special treatment.

Simmons confirmed that Walker did not ask police to investigate the bar.

The report also noted that Shannon Walker attempted to call Simmons several times after the shutdown, attempting to apologize.

I again informed her not to contact me again about the incident and I abruptly ended the telephone call, Simmons said in the report.
The Texas attorney generals office is calling a Colorado mountain resort areas call for all non-residents to leave the county -- including those who own ski homes in the area -- unconstitutional.

While the order contains other laudable measures aimed at protecting public health, its patent discrimination against non-resident homeowners -- including Texans who own homes in Gunnison County -- runs afoul of the United States Constitution, the office wrote in a letter to the director of countys Department of Health and Human Services.

Resort areas have struggled with the coronavirus as those with second homes flee cities to ride out the pandemic in a less populated setting. Gunnison County, which includes ski resort town Crested Butte, argued that people flocking to the area were straining the rural county's infrastructure.

"The Public Health Director also finds that non-residents, regardless of whether they own a residence in Gunnison County, are imposing unnecessary burdens on health care, public services, first responders, food supplies and other essential services," its order said.

DISTANCE: In the age of the coronavirus, Houston real estate appraisers are keeping their distance

Gunnison County said its public health director had found that non-residents, visitors and non-resident homeowners from lower altitudes were at a greater risk of complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, than those who are acclimatized to the county's high altitude.

The Texas Attorney General's office cited the U.S. Constitution, which says that "citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunit9ies of citizens in the several states."

"This is not to say that non-resident homeowners should not abide by other restrictions, such as limits on social gathering and essential services, applicable to all residents of Gunnison County," David J. Hacker, special counsel to the Texas Attorney General, wrote. "But as we face this challenge on behalf of our constituents, we as public servants must be careful to do so within the boundaries drawn by our Constitution."

A previous version of this story called Powderhorn a ski resort town. Powderhorn Ski Resort is located in Mesa, Colo.
The anxieties were there, like every Passover.

Usually, its things like will the house get cleaned? Will the food get cooked in time? Will the guests get along? And can the kids be threatened into passable behaviour?

This year, with less cleaning, less time, almost no matzo available and a seder sponsored by Zoom involving extended family in Toronto, Montreal and Washington, it was hard to even know what to expect.

The first bit of good news came mid-afternoon, as my wife informed me of the Montreal host familys technological coping strategy for this usually joyous exercise in mass participation.

Shes going to put everyone on mute.

It wasnt a good sign when two of the plagues came early.

Yes, there was COVID-19. And as if to mock, the night before the first Passover seder, a hailstorm rattled Toronto. (Can your God do that?)

At our house or especially my parents place, the seder  a ritual meal whose origin goes back 2,000 years  is a loud, happy three-and-a-half hour affair preceded by weeks of cleaning, cooking and stress, mainly by my mother. Anywhere from 10 to 18 people, plus some who show up for dessert.

Passover commemorates the biblical Exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. At the seders we retell the story of liberation, which was led by Moses and aided greatly by miracles including the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. The matzo commemorates the unleavened bread our ancestors had to make in haste as they fled.

At this years gathering, we were 19 people, ranging from Orthodox to non-Jewish. The first half-hour was entirely spent connecting my parents, somehow, to the Zoom seder but using WhatsApp. (Dont ask, I had a better understanding of the Aramaic incantations.) It occurred to me much later that it was no different than the usual half-hour confusion over seating arrangements and who knocked over whose grape juice.

This year, the politicians and health experts urged people to stay home. The rabbis urged people to stay home. Common sense said the same. Its no wonder Zoom seders quickly became a thing, though for strictly religious people who dont use electricity or computers on the holidays, they werent an option. And at our seder, some guests werent able to join because they only use their cellphones for talking.

In the lead-up, Passover shopping during a pandemic proved difficult. After calling a few supermarkets whose delivery dates were booked, we realized we couldnt get matzo  not sold at our local stores  let alone many of the usual holiday foods and wines.

Our special provisions amounted to one box of matzo, a favour from someone down the street, who delivered it to our porch.

A kind gesture, and much appreciated. But I have to admit that in this household, having to rely on a neighbours kindness for matzo was unnerving.

Were healthy and holding up, though, and tried to focus on sharing the Passover feast. I decided to strictly ration the matzo: just serve a symbolic bit, and tuck away the rest.

The geographically scattered seder had a few charming moments involving little kids. Some were lost in cacophony and audio feedback. When other families joined in, prayers and songs were often sung on mute, then repeated unintelligibly.

My children spent a lot of time making faces at the camera, even though by now videoconferencing is how they take classes every day or crash our Pilates/physiotherapy sessions.

After an hour or so, we said goodbye blessed the matzo and logged off to eat the main course. (Roast beef for the past 47 years. This year, salmon. Long story.)

Later in the evening I realized what we missed: No one raged on about right-wing conspiracies, made inappropriate jokes, yelled at a minor (at least on the videoconference) or got noticeably drunk, though you really couldnt tell on a tiny screen.

Id have to say, amid the global disaster, our not-so-little seder was a success.

If only I could remember where I hid that matzo ...

Jon Ohayon is an editor at the Star.
Googles high-tech Duplex AI calling service has quietly made its way to the UK, Australia and Canada. The tech giant originally launched the feature in the US back in 2018 before it started a pilot testing for it in New Zealand a year later. With Duplex, you can ask Google Assistant to call, say, restaurants or car rentals for you, so you can make a table reservation or book a vehicle.

VentureBeat has spotted a change on a Help Center page that shows the phone numbers Google will use to call business owners per country. The updated list now includes the UK, Australia and Canada in addition to the US and New Zealand.

According to the publication, though, those countries arent getting the full Duplex experience yet. Google told VentureBeat that this rollout is part of the companys efforts to confirm businesses operating hours using the Duplex AI. The tech giant is taking steps to include businesses status and hours in search results, so that people dont go out unnecessarily while the world is still trying to flatten the coronavirus curve.
SAGINAW, MI  A man accused of having a stolen handgun was not admitted to the Saginaw County Jail after he displayed signs of having COVID-19.

About 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, Saginaw police and Michigan State Police troopers responded to reports of gunshots near the intersection of Cornelia and McCoskry streets on the citys East Side. Dispatchers provided police with a description of the gunman, who reportedly ran south from the intersection, according to MSP Special 1st Lt. David Kaiser.

A short while later, troopers located a 28-year-old man matching the suspects description on East Holland Avenue near Sheridan Avenue. The man had a pistol on him, which had previously been reported stolen, Kaiser said.

The man also did not have a concealed pistol license, Kaiser said.

Troopers identified the man via a fingerprint scanner. Troopers confiscated the stolen pistol but released the man from the scene, as he was displaying COVID indicators and, due to that, the Saginaw County Jail was reluctant to take him, Kaiser said.

Kaiser added that police could not determine if a shooting had actually occurred, as they could not locate a victim, nor did they find any shell casings at the scene.

Police reports are to be forwarded to the Saginaw County Prosecutors Office for review and issuance of possible charges.

Saginaw County Sheriff William L. Federspiel said the previous week that his staff have been working to reduce the jail population to prevent coronavirus from spreading throughout the facility.

The doors are still open for violent offenders, but weve drastically reduced the number of people coming through here to get booked, Federspiel said on April 1.

At that time, the jail had 317 inmates in its 513-bed facility. As of Thursday morning, the jail has 285 inmates.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took action on March 29 by signing an executive order designed to protect vulnerable populations in jails and juvenile detention centers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The order gives local officials uniform flexibility in releasing inmates in a vulnerable population nearing their release date, such as those who are aging or have chronic health conditions, who do not pose a threat to public safety.

Related:

Jails in Saginaw and Bay counties see drop in inmate population amid coronavirus

Jails in Bay and Saginaw counties consider approaches to coronavirus threat

Genesee County Jails population drops below 500 during coronavirus emergency

More doors, fewer bars: A look inside the new $35 million Saginaw County Jail
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (front) in the House of Representatives on April 8, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

$130 Billion JobKeeper Scheme to Help 6 Million Australians

Up to 6 million Australians are set to benefit from a $1500 (US$935) fortnightly wage subsidy starting from May, after the governments historic $130 billion JobKeeper package passed both houses of Parliamentwith opposition supporton the evening of April 8.

The package, announced on March 30, aims to keep Australian workers connected with their employers during the economic downturn induced by the (Chinese Communist Party) CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. It also brings the governments total economic stimulus support to $320 billion or 16.4 percent of GDP.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is confident that the extraordinary action will provide Australians with hope and more certainty to get through one of the toughest times in the countrys history.

This unprecedented level of financial support will save millions of jobs and keep families together, businesses in business, and preserve the productive capacity of the Australian economy, he said in a statement on April 8, after the bill passed the Senate.

The $1500 fortnightly payment is the equivalent of around 70 percent of the national median wage and represents a full median replacement wage in some of the most heavily hit sectors, including retail, hospitality, and tourism.

The speedy ratification of the package displays rare bipartisanship. The opposition Labor Party backed the legislation even after the partys proposal to expand access to the program to more casual workers and temporary visa-holders were voted down in the House of Representatives.

This package isnt perfect, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said on Twitter on April 9.

He said that Labor had spent weeks arguing for the amendments but made it clear that we arent going to stand in the way of support that millions of Australians need right now.

This package isn't perfect. Labor would have done more and sooner  for casuals, visa holders and other vulnerable workers. But Labor has spent weeks arguing for a wage subsidy  and we aren't going to stand in the way of support that millions of Australians need right now. pic.twitter.com/SPxLTC6Cgm  Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 9, 2020

The pre-tax subsidiary, calculated from March 30, will be paid to employers from the Australian Tax Office starting the first week of May. It will last a maximum of six months, for each eligible employee who has been engaged by March 1, either full-time or part-time.

Casuals who have been with their employer for more than a year, sole-traders, as well as New Zealanders on 444 visas are also eligible.

Eligible employers include businesses (including companies, partnerships, trusts, and sole traders), as well as non-profits that meet the criteria below:

A turnover of less than $1 billion that have lost 30 percent or more of their revenue since March 1 over a minimum one-month period.

A turnover of $1 billion or more that have seen at least a 50 percent reduction in revenue since March 1.

By April 8, more than 700,000 businesses had registered for the program.

A new Senate select committee, led by the Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher has been established to scrutinise government policy and spending.
Some 80 Labour MPs led by Luton MP Sarah Owen have backed a letter to Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, asking that those who are risking their lives should have outstanding debts cancelled

The Government was urged to wipe the student debts of thousands of trainee nurses who have dropped their studies to help the NHS save lives.

More than 5,000 student nurses from 35 universities across the country are believed to have so far answered a plea for help from the health service and taken up paid-jobs on the front line.

Now 80 Labour MPs have backed a letter to Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, asking that those who are risking their lives should have outstanding debts from their studies cancelled.

Early in March it was announced that thousands of final year students would be 'invited' into clinical practice.

The letter, organised by Luton North MP Sarah Owen, says: 'In future it would be a real sign of permanent change from the government if we could see that every nurse left their training and education without any debt.

'But right now, student nurses are risking their own health to help care for people during this crisis in really difficult circumstances, managing unprecedented demand and often without the correct protective equipment.

The letter, organised by Luton North MP Sarah Owen, says: 'In future it would be a real sign of permanent change from the government if we could see that every nurse left their training and education without any debt

'Cancelling this debt, as a first step, for this group of hardworking nurses, would be an important signal to those starting their careers during this crisis that they are valued, not just by the public and their patients, but by the government as well.'

Responding to the letter, a Government Spokesperson said: 'We are grateful to all students who choose to support our NHS during this extremely difficult time and will be ensuring all students who do opt in are rewarded fairly for their hard work.

'We urge others to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.'
An artist's impression of the Long Thanh International Airport to be built in southern Dong Nai Province. Photo courtesy of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked Dong Nai Province to disburse VND17 trillion ($720 million) for the Long Thanh Airport project by the end of this year.

At an online meeting with the southern province's authorities Wednesday, Phuc noted that despite the government allocating over VND17 trillion to the province for construction of the Long Thanh Airport, only about VND1.8 trillion ($77.59 million), or 10 percent of the allocated amount, had been disbursed.

"The province must pledge to make efforts to disburse this capital within this year," he stressed.

The PM also found the airport project's site clearance work lagging behind schedule, and instructed Dong Nai to speed up this task so that the project could be implemented on schedule and meet the 2025 deadline.

"The province must perform well the tasks of determining the compensation level, establishing resettlement areas, especially building social infrastructure. The basic construction and investment procedures need to be deployed soon," he noted.

All relevant ministries and sectors were also asked to assist Dong Nai in speeding up progress, completing capital disbursement and ensuring the projects standards and quality.

Under a National Assembly resolution, the compensation payment and construction of a resettlement area for those relocated by Long Thanh Airport's construction were split into a separate project managed by the Dong Nai People's Committee. The government has approved a budget of nearly VND23 trillion ($991.37 million) for this project.

The province has cleared 1,810 hectares (4,470 acres) of land for the first phase of the Long Thanh Airport, as well as finished tallying 1,028 households affected by the project. Site clearance compensation is also expected to be completed by the second quarter of the year.

The Long Thanh International Airport is expected to begin operations with a capacity of 25 million passengers a year at the end of the first phase, and this is envisaged to reach 85 million by 2020, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The airport is to be built in three phases over three decades. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2025, and the next two in 2030-2035 and 2040-2050, respectively.

The new airport is expected to take overflow from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, which is currently operating at far above its designed capacity.
A newly-confident Dominic Raab has asserted his authority to make crucial decisions while Boris Johnson is in hospital, saying: We have got this covered.

The stand-in prime minister revealed he had still not spoken with the nations elected leader  despite him improving and sitting up in bed  and suggested he had no immediate plans to do so.

I think its important, particularly while he is in intensive care, to let him focus on recovery. We in the government have got this covered, Mr Raab told the daily coronavirus press conference.

And, asked if he had the power to decide when the lockdown should be lifted, he added: I have all the authority I need to make the relevant decisions.

Although the foreign secretary added that it was a team effort, it was a strikingly more assertive performance than Mr Raabs initial public appearances after Mr Johnson was struck down.

It appeared designed to dispel fears of a power vacuum in the prime ministers absence, after suggestions Mr Raab will merely be a first among equals, lacking real clout.

Despite the positive news about Mr Johnsons condition, he is likely to stay in hospital for some days  and possibly out of action for a lengthy time after that.

It came as he all-but confirmed the tough restrictions will continue past the initial three-week timeframe  expiring next week  when he said: Its still too early to lift the measures we have put in place.

Earlier, Mr Raab had chaired an emergency meeting of the Cobr committee with leaders from Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, in the first big test of his stand-in leadership.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

I chaired the Cobr meeting that I have just come from, we are pursuing all the different strands of our strategy to defeat the coronavirus and I'm confident we'll get there. He said.

Mr Raab also hinted at a pay boost for the NHS staff leading the life-saving effort, saying: There will be a moment when we look at how we formally recognise all of those on the frontline who have done so much to pull us through this very difficult period for our country.

Elsewhere, Priti Patel, the home secretary, emerged from apparent hiding to tell Talk Radio that it was clear last Tuesday  five days before he went to hospital  that Mr Johnson was quite frankly unwell and needed rest and recuperation.

In her first public appearance for many weeks Ms Patel also said ministers were absolutely not considering stricter lockdown measures.
This obituary is part of a series about people who died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

As a young university graduate in the Philippines, Aileen Baviera was among the first foreigners to receive a Chinese government scholarship to study in Beijing. She arrived in 1981, five years after the end of the Cultural Revolution and as the country was beginning to open up.

It was at the start of a 40-year academic career in which she became a formidable expert on China and one of the Philippines leading scholars. She became a professor at the University of the Philippines, where she served for several years as the dean of its Asian Center.

Dr. Baviera died on March 21 at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila from complications of the coronavirus, the university said. She was 60.
The Talented Harvard Scholar, Charles Lieber

Why did China recruit the nanotechnology researcher? Answer: Nanochips in the brain.

Commentary

Professor Charles Liebers arrest on Jan. 28 made headlines on all the major U.S. media. After all, he was not only a Harvard professor, he was a world-class researcher in nanotechnology, working on highly sensitive research projects for the U.S. government.

The FBI complaint alleges that he had been secretly participating in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan since 2011, paid some $600,000 a year plus expenses to open and operate a lab at the Wuhan University of Technology (yes, that Wuhan).

We know that China contracts with American experts in this way in order to steal their research and gain commercial and military advantages over the United States. In fact, over 7,000 U.S. scientists and other experts have been recruited in this way over the past decade, according to a Senate report made public last Nov. 18. But few were as well compensated as Prof. Lieber.

What was it about Prof. Liebers research that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was willing to pay millions for? Ive looked up some of his research in nanotechnology, and was startled by what I found.

To begin with, the two-timing professor was doing cutting edge research in nanotechnology. Nanotechnologywhich is science, engineering, and technology conducted at a molecular or even atomic scaleis key to several of the 11 areas identified in the Made in China 2025 plan to dominate the hi-tech high ground of the future. Robotics, IT, and medical devises, for example, would all clearly benefit from nanotechnology.

But there is more to it than that. Over the past decade and a half, Lieber has been working to develop nanoelectronics-enabled cellular tools in order to record and modulate neuronal activity in the brain. Lieber called his early work in using nanowires to connect neurons revolutionary. He suggested that it can be used to record and influence brain activity and opens the possibility for hybrid circuits that couple the strengths of digital nanoelectronic and biological computing components.

That is exactly what he went on to do with his new Chinese colleagues from the Wuhan University of Technology over the past decade: integrate electronics in a minimally-invasive manner within the central nervous system. Over the years, they have injected macroporous electronics by syringe into chosen regions of the brain. They have proven that these injectable electronics can be integrated with the brain and continue to function for at least a year.

In other words, Lieber and the Chinese researchers he was training were implanting microchips in the brains of lab animals to monitor and affect their behavior.

Now all of the research that Prof. Lieber has been involved with has involved rats and mice, not humans. But given the lack of ethical controls on research in Communist China, one wonders if in the nanotechnology lab that he set up, that parallel research is being done on humans there, or soon will be.

Are you beginning to see why the Chinese regime would pay a great deal of money for the privilege of, shall we say, picking Charles Liebers brain?

After all, it was the CCP which, back in the 1930s, invented what has become known as brainwashing. This is a literal translation of the Chinese term, xi nau, or wash brain.

I still recall the anguish in a former political prisoners voice as he described being brainwashed by Communist Party officials. They mess with your mind until you have no opinions whatsoever, he said ruefully. Once your will to resist has been ground away, reality is defined not by your senses, or by your intellect, but by the Party. You have no opinions either, except those that the Party wants you to have.

In other words, the CCP has long been engaged in a kind of crude kind of mind control, and perhaps saw in Liebers work an opportunity to take brainwashing to the next level.

We are not yet at the point where a chip can be implanted in someones brain to read their thoughts, or affect their behavior. But even the possibility must be tantalizing to a political party bent on total control. It is not hard to imagine even a primitive version of Liebers devices serving as a kind of mental taser, capable of lashing people into submission remotely.

Lieber faces up to five years in prison for selling his U.S. taxpayer-funded research to China on the cheap. If convicted, he will have plenty of time to reflect on the consequences of handing over to a one-party dictatorship the ability to invade their very minds.

Steven W. Mosher @StevenWMosher is the President of the Population Research Institute and the author of Bully of Asia: Why Chinas Dream is the New Threat to World Order.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Nsawam Prisons and Nsawam Government Hospital have taken delivery of hand sanitizers and Antibacterial hand washing soap from Paridox Cosmetics, a subsidiary of Tiwajo Industries.



The donation of the Paridox Alcohol sanitizing gel and Cleansafe antibacterial hand wash according to the company is to augment Governments effort towards the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.



The company made the first stop at the Nsawam Prisons to hand over the items to authorities at the facility. DSP Abdul Latif, PRO of Nsawam Prisons who received the donation on behalf of the Prisons Service thanked Paridox Cosmetics for the gesture and urged other corporate entities and individuals to follow suit in ensuring the Prison also stay safe throughout this Covid-19 pandemic.



The next stop was at the Nsawam Government Hospital where the donation was received on behalf of the hospitals administration by Mr. Konlan, Head of Administration. In his acceptance remarks, Mr. Konlan admitted that in this era of the Covid-19 global pandemic, alcohol base hand sanitizers and hand washing soap were the most essential commodity in the fight as such the donation was timely and appropriate.



Speaking in an interview with the Press, Mr. Kwadwo Appiah, Business Development Manager, Paridox Cosmetics who led Management of the company to donate the items noted that being in the Cosmetology industry, they were concerned about the health and wellbeing of the public AND as such deemed it appropriate to lend support to inmates at the Nsawam Prisons and the Nsawam Government hospital who are the most vulnerable so they can stay clean and safe in this period.



Mr. Appiah commended the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo and his team for taking giant steps to prevent the spread of the disease and seized the opportunity to urge the market to target the quality Paridox Alcohol sanitizing gel and Cleansafe antibacterial handwash to stay safe from the Coronavirus.

Source: peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro defended once again defend his response to the new coronavirus.

In a recorded message broadcasted on national television on Wednesday, Bolsonaro insisted that in addition to the virus, the other big problem of Brazil is unemployment which causes "poverty, hunger and death".

He quoted the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) saying that "each country has its own peculiarities, that is, the solution is not the same for everybody" adding that the consequences of the treatment for coronavirus "can't be more harmful" than the disease.

Bolsonaro criticized the decisions taken by local governors and mayors across Brazil to apply some restrictive measure to avoid the spread of coronavirus, saying that the federal government was not asked about the length and extend of those measures.

The Supreme Court decided on Wednesday that the federal government has to respect the decisions taken by the local authorities to combat COVID-19, and can't revoke the measures.

The Brazilian president said that the country will receive raw material from India to produce hydroxychloroquine and treat the patients affected by COVID-19 as well as others with malaria, lupus and arthritis.

While the message of President Bolsonaro was broadcasted, people on the streets in Rio De Janeiro were shouting "Bolsonaro Out", protests of this kind have been taking place almost every night for more than two weeks across the country,

Brazil has the largest number of coronavirus cases in Latin America.

On Wednesday, it registered 822 deaths and more than 16,000 cases.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to record oil production cuts in an effort to revive the market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump.

Attention now turns to the Group of 20 energy ministers meeting on Friday. Contribution from major producers including the U.S. and Canada could boost efforts to revive prices after the OPEC+ historic agreement failed to push crude higher on Thursday.

Oils spectacular price crash this year has threatened the stability of oil-dependent nations, forced major companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. to rein in spending and risked the very existence of small independents. OPEC and its allies have been put under intense pressure by President Donald Trump and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch.

OPEC+, meeting by video conference, tentatively agreed to cut production by about 10 million barrels a day in May and June, delegates said. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, will each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23%, one delegate said.

The alliance is seeking reductions of as much as 5 million a day from the G-20, but will reduce output even if the bigger group doesnt join in, delegates said.

Both Saudi and Russia were going to have to cut anyway, and these cuts allow them to win political points too, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd.

While the headline cut equates to a reduction of about 10% of global supply, it makes up just a fraction of the demand loss, which some traders estimate at as much as 35 million barrels a day.

Brent dropped 2.5% at $32.01 a barrel as of 8:10 p.m. in London. Prices have tumbled by half this year as the spread of the coronavirus coincided with a bitter price war that saw producers flood the market.

Covid-19 is an unseen beast that seems to be impacting everything in its path, Mohammad Barkindo, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a speech at the online gathering. The supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying and the expected oversupply, particularly in the second quarter, is beyond anything we have seen before.

Barkindo urged action to tackle the growing surplus, which he estimated at 14.7 million barrels a day in the second quarter. And he wants action not only from OPEC+ producers but from nations beyond the alliance.

Russia has insisted that the U.S. in particular do more than just let market forces reduce its record production. Trump, meanwhile, has said Americas cut will happen automatically as low prices put shale in dire straits, a sentiment reiterated by his energy secretary on Thursday.

America welcomed the OPEC+ cuts, saying it would send a signal that all major oil-producing countries will respond in an orderly manner to market realities caused by the virus, a senior administration official said.

Tapering Off

OPEC+s tentative plan would see the output curbs tapering off after two months, depending on the evolution of the coronavirus. The 10 million-barrel-a-day cut may shrink to 8 million a day from July and then 6 million a day from January 2021, according to one delegate.

Saudi Arabia will apply its reduction to a production level of about 11 million barrels a day, a delegate said. Thats lower than recent output levels, which rose above 12 million a day in early April. Russia would curb its supply by a similar level.

The oil price war, which started in March after the collapse of previous OPEC+ talks, lasted exactly 31 days, far fewer than similar feuds in 1986, 1998 and 2016. But in that short period, it has forced companies from Big Oil giants to U.S. shale independents to slash spending, fire workers and cancel projects. Meanwhile, oil-rich countries have gone cap-in-hand to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for help, hobbled by low prices.

The curbs agreed on Thursday dwarf any previous market interventions, and are urgently needed to boost the physical market for crude -- trade in actual cargoes rather than futures contracts -- but they wont match losses from the deep slump in consumption.

For oil markets, the massive oil-demand contraction is unprecedented, OPEC said in an internal document circulated to ministers and seen by Bloomberg. The current outlook looks extremely bleak, with oil markets anticipated to be severely tested on many fronts.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has announced a temporary ceasefire amid concerns the coronavirus outbreak could ravage the war-torn country, raising hopes of fresh peace talks.

Colonel Turki al-Maliki, the Saudi military spokesperson, said that the truce would last two weeks and would pave the way for all parties to discuss proposals, steps, and mechanisms for sustainable ceasefire in Yemen ... for a comprehensive political solution in Yemen.

In a statement published by Saudis official state news agency, Colonel al-Maliki added the decision came in response to a United Nations call for a halt to hostilities amid the deadly pandemic.

There was no immediate reaction from Houthi leaders or Yemens internationally recognised government.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesperson of the Houthi movement, said earlier his group had sent the UN a comprehensive vision which includes an end to the war and to the blockade imposed on Yemen.

(Our proposal) will lay the foundations for a political dialogue and a transitional period, Mr Abdulsalam said on Wednesday.

Yemen, the Gulfs poorest country, has been ripped apart by the five-year civil war which first erupted when Houthi rebels swept control of the country, ousting the recognised government and president, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

In 2015 Saudi Arabia and its regional allies including the UAE, Egypt and Sudan launched a bombing campaign to reinstate Mr Hadi fearing the encroachment of Iranian influence in the region.

Five years on, there is little hope to the end of the conflict that has sparked the worlds worst humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers.

Eighty per cent of the population  or 24 million people  require some form of humanitarian assistance to survive, according to the UN.

Two-thirds of the country is reportedly one step away from famine.

So far, the country has yet to record a coronavirus case but there are fears that when the deadly disease arrives it will quickly spread through the country. The fighting has all but destroyed the health care system.

The UN says that only half of all hospitals and medical centres are functioning, and even those that are open are facing severe shortages of medicines, equipment and staff.

According to Oxfam, 17 million people  more than half the population  have no access to clean water.

Fearing the devastating impact Covid-19 could have across all the worlds war zones, Antonio Guterres, UNs secretary-general, called for a worldwide ceasefire earlier this month.

He welcomed Thursdays announcement saying: This can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the countrys response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Guterres called on the coalition-backed Yemens government and the Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities and to engage with each other without preconditions.

Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures, Mr Guterres said in a statement.

Human rights groups also welcomed the news.

Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in Yemen, said a ceasefire would be a huge step towards bringing safety to millions of children and families in Yemen.

He added: With the threat of coronavirus growing every day, it is now more crucial than ever for all sides to implement a ceasefire so health workers and the humanitarian community can prepare for what would be a devastating outbreak in a country where only half of health facilities are still functioning.

Despite attempts at peace, heavy fighting erupted recently in Yemen killing more than 270 people over the past 10 days alone.

The two sides are currently fighting over the key border province of Jawf and the oil-rich central province of Marib.

The flare-up in hostilities appears to have been triggered by a cross-border Houthi missile: Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a missile targeted at their capital, Riyadh, late last month.

The Houthis frequently launch missiles across Yemens border into Saudi Arabia, but it is rare that they reach the capital.
The United States agrees with the recent assessment of a global chemical weapons watchdog that found the Syrian regime used banned weapons against its own people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

In a statement, Pompeo called the report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) the latest in a large and growing body of evidence that the [Bashar al-Assad] regime uses chemical weapons attacks in Syria as part of a deliberate campaign of violence against the Syrian people.

No amount of disinformation from Assads enablers in Russia and Iran can hide the fact that the Assad regime is responsible for numerous chemical weapons attacks, he added.

The OPCW report released Wednesday focused on three separate aerial attacks that dropped chlorine and the nerve agent sarin on the opposition-held village of Ltamenah in March 2017. The investigators concluded they had reasonable grounds to believe the Syrian air force was responsible for each of the chemical attacks.

The report went on to say that the attacks, carried out by Su-22 military airplanes and a helicopter, would have only taken place under the orders of high-ranking Syrian military officers.

Why it matters: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied using chemical weapons during the countrys nine-year war despite a body of evidence from rights organizations, journalists and witnesses documenting otherwise.

Wednesdays report, in the face of objections from Syrias key ally Russia, marks the first time the OPCW has assigned blame over chemical weapons use in Syria. Previously, the watchdog could only say whether such attacks happened, not who was behind them.

A separate United Nations inquiry submitted this week to the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a member, refrained from explicitly naming Moscow as a perpetrator in attacks on hospitals and other civilian targets. Russia has provided military support to the Syrian government since 2015 and has shielded the regime from sanctions at the Security Council.

Whats next: The OPCWs findings Wednesday pave the way for countries to impose new sanctions on Syria and its allies. The groups director-general, Fernando Arias, said it is now up to the United Nations secretary-general and the international community as a whole to take any further action they deem appropriate and necessary.

The watchdog has also asked to investigate several other alleged chemical attacks, including one in the town of Douma, east of Damascus, that killed at least 40 civilians on April 7, 2018. The attack prompted punitive, but limited, missile strikes from the United States, UK and France against Syrian military targets.

Know more: In Syrias northeast, Amberin Zaman and Dan Wilkofsky investigate a possible campaign of intimidation against activists at the hands of the US-led coalition. Elizabeth Hagedorn also has this in-depth report on health care workers bracing for the coronavirus in northwest Syria.
You've probably been hearing a lot about a video conferencing app called Zoom ever since the Coronavirus lockdown came into effect in multiple countries.

It has become the video conferencing app of choice for people who're stuck inside their homes, trying to find a way to communicate with others online.

Zoom, however, seems to be having a hard time keeping up with its security issues. We recently discovered that it's actually not that safe to use it anymore. You can learn more about Zoom's security concerns right here.

 Reuters

Well, it looks like Google has had enough with Zoom's security and privacy scandals. The company has apparently asked its employees to stop using Zoom on their work laptops.



Yes, Google doesn't want any of its employees using Zoom for business purposes. The folks over at Buzzfeed News managed to acquire an email sent to Google employees last week.

Google's email to its employees is citing "security vulnerabilities" behind the ban. The email also noted that the app would stop working on the company laptops and the employees can continue using Zoom on either the web browser or the mobile app if they want to catch up with their friends and family through the app.

According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, Google doesn't allow its employees to use apps unapproved apps for their work. Casteneda further noted that Zoom doesn't meet Google's security standards to continue allowing their workers to use it.

 Reuters

Honestly, we're not really surprised by Google banning the app for its employees. Given the fact that Google has its own services like Meet and Duo, we wonder how it even allowed Zoom at all, really.



In case you're worried about Zoom's privacy and security vulnerabilities, you can also check out Google Meet for business calls.

Source: Buzzfeed News
Weve been putting natural, healthy ingredients in our bodies for hundreds of years. Now you can put them on you too, with deodorants from Fresca Natural. Frescas healthy alternative will affect your everyday life and have a positive environmental impact as well.

Blended with pure essential oils, free from chemicals, and pH tested, Fresca Naturals deodorants are so natural, you could eat them. Fresca Natural deodorants don't contain any aluminum. Their unique formulation of essential oils and aerated salt create an environment on your skin in which bacteria cannot thrive and therefore no body odor occurs. Formulated to last all day, Fresca Natural deodorants allow your body to cool itself the way nature intended and they dont block your pores or sweat glands. Theyre also available in a variety of different scents.

My mission is to help people reduce the chemical load on their bodies with safe, natural deodorants that really work, says Elda Kingston, Founder of Fresca Natural. I want to help people help themselves and make better choices for their health  naturally, of course! Thats why were proud to be working with AsSeenOnTV.pro and expand our audience.

Its never too late or too early to start using natural deodorants, and I cant think of a better brand than Fresca Natural, says Lisa Vrancken, Executive Vice President of Business Development at AsSeenOnTV.pro. Theyre amazing and their products smell phenomenal!

As part of its DRTV campaign with AsSeenOnTV.pro, Fresca Natural will be appearing in 60 second spots set to air nationwide and feature the original Shark himself, Kevin Harrington. AsSeenOnTV.pro is comprised of an award-winning team of producers, writers, videographers, and editors as well as industry veterans dedicated to finding the latest, most innovative products and ideas, and putting them on the DRTV map.

About AsSeenOnTV.pro

Headquartered in South Florida, AsSeenOnTV.pro is a full-service production, branding, and marketing company that specializes in direct response television, short- and long-form commercials, and brand building. Based out of a 25,000+ sq ft, state-of-the-art studio, the companys creative team handles every aspect of production from script to screen to airing. For nearly two decades, AsSeenOnTV.pros veteran staff of writers, producers, videographers, and editors has amassed more than 50 Telly Awards, thousands of prestigious clients, and over $20 million in television placements.

About Kevin Harrington

As the inventor of the infomercial, founder of As Seen on TV, and one of the original Sharks on Shark Tank, Kevin Harrington has worked with some of the worlds biggest celebrities and launched some of the best-selling DRTV campaigns in history. Since producing his first 30-minute infomercial in 1984, Harrington has been involved in over 500 product launches that have resulted in over $4 billion in sales. Now, in his latest venture with AsSeenOnTV.pro, Harrington is on the hunt for the best new products and ideas, bringing them to homes everywhere through personalized DRTV campaigns featuring the Shark.

For more information on Fresca Natural, please visit http://www.frescanatural.com.au.
[April 09, 2020] BenchPrep Named SIIA Business Technology Product CODiE Award Finalist for MCAT Official Prep Hub

Comprehensive, digital solution earns prestigious industry recognition CHICAGO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BenchPrep , the provider of the configurable cloud-based learning platform for corporations, training organizations and nonprofits, today announced that the Association of American Medical Colleges MCAT Official Prep Hub was named a 2020 SIIA CODiE Award finalist in the Best Corporate/Enterprise Learning Solution category. Finalists represent the best products, technologies, and services in software, information and business technology. The AAMC is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. To help pre-medical students prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), the AAMC worked with BenchPrep and leveraged their industry-leading platform to develop the MCAT Official Prep Hub, a comprehensive, omnichannel learning solution that is self-paced and interactive. The Prep Hubs practice tools closely mirror the format of the actual exam to help better prepare learners. Examinees can take full practice exams, receive score reports that detail opportunities for improvement, and focus on subjects where remediation is needed by using subject-specific question packs. Further, the Prep Hub directly connects learners to essential free planning and study resources, such as the trackable How to Create a Study Plan tool. Acknowledged as the premier awards program for the software and information industries for 35 years, the SIIA CODiE Awards are produced by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software, education, media and digital content industries. The MCAT Official Prep Hub was recognized as one of 150 finalists across the 40 business technology categories.



The 2020 CODiE Award finalists join a long and distinguished history of innovative products and services destined to transform the way we do business. We congratulate all of our finalists and look forward to seeing their impact across the B2B market for years to come, said Jeff Joseph, President of SIIA. It is a tremendous honor to be distinguished as a CODiE Award finalist for such an important learning program, said Marlon Davis, VP of Product, BenchPrep. The need for quality, accessible medical education has never been greater. Were thrilled to be recognized for developing a high-impact learning solution that supports the careers of pre-medical students.

The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry's only peer-recognized awards program. Business technology leaders including senior executives, analysts, media, consultants and investors evaluate assigned products during the first-round review. Their scores determine the SIIA CODiE Award finalists which accounts for 80% of the overall score. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products and the scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners. Business Technology category winners will be announced May 18, 2020 during an online winner announcement ceremony. Details about each finalist are listed at https://www.siia.net/codie/2020-Finalists . About the SIIA CODiE Awards

The SIIA CODiE Awards is the only peer-reviewed program to showcase business and education technologys finest products and services. Since 1986, thousands of products, services and solutions have been recognized for achieving excellence. For more information, visit siia.net/CODiE . About BenchPrep

BenchPrep is a configurable cloud-based learning platform that delivers the best learning experience and drives revenue for corporations, training companies and nonprofits (credentialing bodies & associations). With an award-winning learner-centric platform, BenchPrep increases learner engagement, improves long-term learner retention, and reduces dropout rates. Many of the largest credentialing bodies, associations, and training organizations in the world now deliver learning programs through BenchPrep, including ACT, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), CFA Institute, CompTIA, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HR Certification Institute, Richardson Sales Training, Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), American Institute of Architects (AIA), Relias, National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), ProLiteracy, Hobsons, McGraw Hill Education, and OnCourse Learning. More than 6 million learners have used BenchPreps platform to attain academic and professional success. To discover more about BenchPrep, please visit benchprep.com . Media Contact:

Jon Aderson

Director of Marketing

BenchPrep

312-650-5135

[email protected]

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Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has directed officials to provide rations to needy Pakistani migrant families living in the state.

The decision will benefit the needy migrant families living in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Barmer, Pali, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi districts, an official statement issued here on Thursday said.

Around 7,000 Hindu migrant families from the neighbouring country live in these eight districts. Jodhpur-based activist Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangthan, had written to the chief minister to draw his attention to the plight of these families.

Subsequently, the chief minister sought a report from the district collectors and on the basis of those, the decision was taken to provide ration kits to the needy migrant families, the statement said.

In Jaipur, ration kits are being distributed to 500 families living in Jamdoli, Govindpura and Mangyawas areas, while in Jodhpur, 618 families are being covered, it said.

Similarly, rations are being distributed to nearly 200 families in Sheo and Chohatan panchayat samiti of Barmer, 92 families in Pali and 93 families in Poogal and Bajju tehsil of Bikaner, the statement added.

Migrant families in Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi districts are also being provided relief, it said.
Enterprise Ireland announced yesterday that it will operate and administer a number of these new funding supports, including a new 180 million scheme for businesses impacted by Covid-19.

The new Sustaining Enterprise Fund was recently approved by the European Commission in line with EU State aid rules, to provide financial support to Irish companies affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.

The scheme which was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, is available to assist companies in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors who have suffered, or expect to suffer, a 15% or more reduction in turnover or profits or an increase in costs as a direct result of Covid-19.

Enterprise Ireland say funding of up to 800,000 will allow eligible businesses to access the necessary liquidity and funding to sustain their businesses in the short to medium term and contribute to the recovery of the Irish economy.

The Sustaining Enterprise Fund will be available to companies who are unable to access adequate funding from the market, financial institutions or the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).

Enterprise Ireland also announced three new supports available including:

 The new 2 million Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme will be open to retailers employing over 10 people to develop a more competitive online offer. Successful applicants will receive funding support of up to 80% of project costs, with a maximum grant of 40,000.

 A new Business Financial Planning Grant to the value of 5,000 to assist companies to develop a Business Sustainment Plan and to engage the services of an approved Financial Consultant when applying for funding.

 A new 2,500 LEAN Business Continuity Voucher to help companies quickly access expertise in reviewing and optimising operations at a time of crisis to identify the key measures needed to ensure continued operations.

Speaking yesterday, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon said, "Enterprise Ireland client companies have already seen a significant impact on their businesses from Covid-19. While their immediate focus has been on dealing with the welfare of their employees, they are also being impacted by a collapse in demand in certain sectors, supply chain disruption and cashflow challenges. I am pleased to say that the new Sustaining Enterprise Fund, which provides up to 800,000 in repayable funding is now open for businesses who are unable to raise adequate funding from the market."

She added, "My strong advice to companies is, if you havent already done so, to prepare an assessment of your financial requirements and progress funding applications to the banks and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) immediately. Enterprise Irelands new Business Financial Planning grant will help companies to prepare a Business Sustainment Plan."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
A Reno, Nevada, man is accused of stealing around 200 surgical masks from a Veterans Affairs medical center last month, prosecutors said.

Peter Lucas, 35, of Reno stole at least four boxes of masks  each containing 50 masks  from the Ioannis A. Lougaris VA Medical Center from March 19 to March 23, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada said in a statement.

He is charged with one count of theft of health care property, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Image: Peter Lucas (Washoe County Detention Facility)

Nicholas A. Trutanich, the U.S. attorney for Nevada, said in a statement that military veterans served on the front lines and now health care workers are doing the same in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

"We will not allow the theft of personal protective equipment to go undeterred, endangering the safety of doctors, nurses and other health professionals protecting our communities," Trutanich said.

Lucas was not a VA employee but was a veteran who was a "compensated enrollee" in a vocational rehabilitation program there, representatives from the U.S. attorney's office and the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System said Thursday.

Prosecutors described the cart that the masks were taken from as being under his care.

According to a criminal complaint, Lucas was seen on surveillance video taking the masks and admitted the theft to a VA police detective.

He initially said he took the masks for a friend who also works in the medical field but then said he took them to give to the homeless, officials said.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

An emailed request for comment to a federal public defender who records show was appointed to represent Lucas was not returned Wednesday evening after business hours.

Lucas appeared in court Wednesday via video conference and was released on his own recognizance, according to federal court records. A video status conference is scheduled for April 17.
The British Pound to Euro exchange rate is seen range-bound as the UK head into the stay-at-home Bank Holiday weekend.

1 currently buys 1.13855 euros at the inter-bank rate.

"The pound may also be getting a modest boost from the absence of news on EU-UK trade talks; each passing day suggests that the UK might request an extension to the transition period, although the PM is strongly opposed to such a move" says Shuan Osborne, Chief FX Strategist at Scotiabank ahead of the UK Bank Holiday weekend. "Monthly GDP figures released this morning showed that the UK economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% in Februaryprior to the lockdownwhich suggests that maybe the country was not faring all that well after peak Brexit and electoral uncertainty. The GBP will be bound by the market mood and is likely looking to a move higher if the PM is transferred out of the ICU, though optimism over his health may very well be fully priced in now."

The Pound Sterling Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate remained largely flat on Thursday afternoon, leaving the pairing trading at around 1.1400.

The Bank of England (BoE) agreed to temporarily lend the British government money if needed in order to finance its huge coronavirus spending plans.

The bank revived the measure used during the global financial crisis in 2008, and stressed that this was a short-term measure, and any money borrowed would be repaid by the end of 2020.

In a joint finance ministry statement, the BoE stated:

As a temporary measure, this will provide a short-term source of additional liquidity to the government if needed to smooth its cashflows and support the orderly functioning of markets, through the period of disruption from COVID-19.

However, this had little impact on Sterling and according to Andrew Mulliner, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors:

We see this step as more sensational at a headline level than any significant step into the sort of monetary financing that invites comparisons to Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, markets are going to focus on todays meeting between Eurozone finance ministers.

On Monday, finance minister failed to come to an agreement on an EU-wide fiscal stimulus plan. The start of the week saw ministers fail to come to an agreement after a 16-hour meeting.

This prompted European Central Bank (ECB) chief, Christine Lagarde to call for members of the bloc to put their differences aside and come together.

Investors will be focused on this afternoons meeting between ministers to see if they can put their differences to one side to agree on a coronavirus plan.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the coronavirus pandemic will cause global growth to turn sharply negative this year.

This could cause the sharpest contraction in growth since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a slight recovery seen in 2021.

Speaking today, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said:

Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020. Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.

I stress there is tremendous uncertainty about the outlook: it could get worse depending on many variable factors, including the duration of the pandemic.

Pound Euro Rate Outlook: Will EU Ministers Unite Over Coronavirus?

Looking ahead, the coronavirus pandemic is going to continue to be the main driver for movement of both the Pound (GBP) and Euro (EUR).

Traders will be focused on the results from todays meeting between Eurozone finance ministers. If ministers are able to reach an agreement on an EU-wide fiscal stimulus plan, the single currency will receive an upswing of support.
JOHANNESBURG - African officials objected Thursday to the global jostling to obtain medical equipment to combat the coronavirus, warning that if COVID-19 is left to spread on the continent the world will remain at risk.

We cannot be neglected in this effort, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. The world will be terribly unsafe, and it will be completely naive, if countries think they can control COVID-19 in their countries but not in Africa.

South Africa acknowledged the challenges as it extended its lockdown by two weeks, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying, This is a matter of survival, and we dare not fail.

Equipment in Africa is scarce. The World Health Organization says fewer than 5,000 intensive care unit beds are available across 43 of the continents 54 countries: This is about 5 beds per 1 million people in the reported countries compared to 4,000 beds per 1 million people in Europe. Functional ventilators in public health services across 41 countries number less than 2,000, a severe shortage for patients in respiratory distress.

While Africas 1.3 billion people had a head start in preparing for the pandemic as the virus spread in China, Europe and the United States, Nkengasong warned that the very future of the continent will depend on how this matter is handled as cases, now over 11,000, quickly rise.

The worst is still to come, he said, and pointed to the global Spanish flu pandemic of a century ago when cases came in waves.

Africa is also competing with the developing world for testing kits that will help give a clear number of cases, as well as protective equipment that front-line health workers desperately require. Already, anxious workers have gone on strike or gone to court in places like Zimbabwe over the lack of gear.

We may not actually know how big is the size of the problem without scaling up testing, Nkengasong said.

While 48 of Africas 54 countries now have testing capability, that often is limited to countries capitals or other major cities, WHO officials told reporters in a separate briefing.

There is an urgent need to expand testing, the WHO Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said, noting that clusters of community transmission have emerged in at least 16 countries. That means the virus has begun spreading beyond the initial cases imported from abroad.

Some countries might face a huge peak very soon in cases, said the WHOs emergency program manager, Michel Yao.

Even if testing kits and other equipment are found, another challenge is delivering them amid the thicket of travel restrictions. Cargo space is rare because many airlines have stopped flights to African destinations, Yao said.

Close to 20 African countries have closed their borders, and several are now under lockdown to try to prevent the virus spread. Now millions of people are bracing for lockdown extensions after regional leader South Africas announcement Thursday night.

If the countrys lockdown ends too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease, Ramaphosa said.

In the two weeks before the lockdown began two weeks ago, the average daily increase in South Africas new cases was around 42%, but since the start of the lockdown the average daily increase has been around 4%, he said.

South Africa has the most confirmed cases in Africa with more than 1,900. We are only at the beginning of a monumental struggle, Ramaphosa says. We cannot relax and we cannot be complacent.

The economic toll, however, has been harsh. The World Bank in a new report said sub-Saharan Africa is expected to fall into recession for the first time in a quarter-century. Growth should fall this year from 2.4% to minus 2.1%, with countries that depend heavily on oil exports and mining hit especially hard.

Africa has had some of the worlds fastest-growing economies. The World Bank said African nations will require a debt service standstill and other financial assistance as millions of people, many who survive day-to-day, cant go out to work.

I am aware that some of you have been saying, We would rather die from COVID-19 than from hunger, Zambias President Edgar Lungu told the nation Thursday. But I advise you to choose life. Please choose life.

And, joining a growing number of African nations, he encouraged all Zambians to wear face masks at all times.

In Uganda, 75-year-old President Yoweri Museveni tried to boost morale after outdoor exercise was banned, releasing a homemade video of him running laps barefoot in his office and doing 30 push-ups  proof, he said, that one can stay fit indoors.

___

Noel Sichalwe in Lusaka, Zambia contributed.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to carry out its safeguards activities in Iran and elsewhere, the Agency told Trend.

It continues to carry out its safeguards activities in Iran and elsewhere, ensuring the effective implementation of its mandate while also taking all appropriate measures to protect the safety and security of its staff, whose work is crucial for international peace and security, and of the national officials they are interacting with, said IAEA.

The IAEA said it is continuously monitoring the situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak but  as Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a recent video message  Agency inspections safeguarding nuclear material all over the world will not stop for a single minute.

While there have been widespread travel disruptions and other logistical hurdles due to the outbreak, the IAEA is taking all necessary steps to overcome such challenges, said the Agency. These safeguards activities are conducted by IAEA inspectors, who also have a range of sophisticated technical tools at their disposal. They are continuing their important work in a highly professional and dedicated manner during these extraordinary times.

In January 2016, the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA) was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran in November of the same year.

In order to preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal stated in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.

On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories having not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.

On Sept. 5, Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. Iran no longer faces any restrictions on its nuclear program.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
[April 09, 2020] Sustainability Thematic Report 2020: Global Framework Insights Into Environment, Social and Governance Factors

DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Sustainability - The Most Important Theme for 2020 - Thematic Research" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report provides an overview of sustainability, the most important theme for 2020.



It includes a comprehensive sustainability framework, covering environment, social and governence factors, to help CEOs identify all potential sustainability risks and implement mitigating actions that can improve their company's ESG performance. Also, it highlights some of the leading ESG rating agencies and ESG consultancies that can help CEOs measure and improve their ESG performance.



Yesterday's business leaders focused on beating quarterly profit targets. Tomorrow's successful business leaders will focus on sustainable profits. Public anger at the lack of action on climate change, corruption, income inequality, tax avoidance, and other social ills makes it harder for CEOs to ignore sustainability.



The public is, after all, a company's customer base.



The reluctance of many CEOs to fully engage with sustainability can be attributed to the age-old view that it will hurt profits. However, according to this research, companies that embrace all three elements of sustaiability will outperform their peers. CEOs that are too slow to improve their company's approach to sustainability will see an exodus of customers and a drop in profits far sooner than they ever imagined.







Key Highlights In 1970, economist Milton Friedman proposed that the best way that businesses could help society was to focus entirely on maximizing profits. He suggested that successful companies created wealth that trickled down through society, benefitting everyone. The doctrine caught on, particularly in the 1980s, when politicians and CEOs began to follow the mantra slavishly.

proposed that the best way that businesses could help society was to focus entirely on maximizing profits. He suggested that successful companies created wealth that trickled down through society, benefitting everyone. The doctrine caught on, particularly in the 1980s, when politicians and CEOs began to follow the mantra slavishly. However, The financial crisis of 2007 cast a shadow over the free market doctrine that had previously governed the corporate world. The public began to question profiteering by big business and put pressure on regulators to tighten controls. At the same time, the consequences of climate change have become more apparent, leading many to demand companies are more transparent about their environmental impact. Reasons to Buy

In 2020, sustainability will be the most important theme discussed in corporate boardrooms worldwide.

Over the coming decade, it will transform the way that business is conducted.

Customers, voters, and politicians will demand greater action is taken on environmental, social, and governance issues.

Companies that take sustainability seriously now will be better placed to succeed in the future.

This reports sets out a framework for sustainability that CEOs can use to identify their sustainability risks and understand mitigating actions that can improve their sustainability performance. Companies Mentioned

Arabesque S-Ray

Bain

CDP

CSRHub

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

McKinsey

Mercer

MSCI

PwC

RobecoSAM

Schroders

Sustainalytics

Trucost For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pd0ciq Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sustainability-thematic-report-2020-global-framework-insights-into-environment-social-and-governance-factors-301038243.html SOURCE Research and Markets

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Strikes and other job actions are continuing as workers demand the closure of non-essential workplaces and protection against the coronavirus pandemic. The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 1.5 million, with nearly 90,000 deaths as of this writing.

In the US, the daily death toll hit a new record for the second day in a row. Total deaths have neared 15,000. The staggering loss of life includes an increasing numbers of grocery store, warehouse, delivery, public transit and health care workers, along with teachers and school employees. In New York City alone, 41 transit workers and at least 25 teachers and other Department of Education employees have died from COVID-19, while 500 firefighters have tested positive.

Although there were more than 30,000 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the US total to well over 430,000, President Trump, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the news media are pushing the narrative that the curve is flattening and the worst will soon be over. This is part of a new push for an orderly return to work, regardless of the threat to workers and their families.

A worker, wearing a protective mask against the coronavirus, stocks produce before the opening of Gus's Community Market, Friday, March 27, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

On Wednesday, Trump tweeted, Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner rather than later...Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!"

Supermarket and delivery workers have joined the ranks of frontline and essential workers protesting unsafe conditions and the lack of protective gear. At least four grocery store workers have died in recent days, including a Trader Joes worker in Scarsdale, New York; Leilani Jordan, a 27-year-old greeter at Giants Campus Way South store in Largo, Maryland, and two Walmart workersPhillip Thomas, 48, and Wando Evans, 51at the same Chicago-area store.

On Tuesday, grocery store workers in Boston from a number of chains, including Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Stop & Shop, demonstrated. After nine Barnes & Noble workers at a Monroe, New Jersey warehouse tested positive, workers staged a protest Tuesday to demand the closure of the warehouse for two weeks, paid time off, and full disinfection of the facility.

Were putting our life on the line for $10 an hour, one Dollar General worker told NBC News. Essential really means were exhausted and dispensable.

Although a supervisor from UPSs giant Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky died Saturday, the giant package delivery company and the Teamsters union are keeping more than 1,000 workers on the job. There is growing sentiment among UPS workers to take matters into their own hands. Three workers at the Chelmsford UPS warehouse near Lowell, Massachusetts tested positive, and at least two UPS workers died in the Chicago area.

Last month, Fiat Chrysler workers conducted a wave of wildcat strikes and other job actions after management, the United Auto Workers and the Unifor union in Canada resisted workers demands to close the plants.

When we walked out of the auto plants it was a clear sign that we can take charge over what is going on, Ryan, a young second-tier worker from the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit, told the World Socialist Web Site.

This was a great, Id say, revolutionary movement but it was tarnished by the claims of management and the UAW that they decided to close the plants for our safety. This was a movement against the union. They were keeping the plants open and we said, No, we dont want to get sick and die, lets get the people out of there.

We have to have the right to withdraw our labor until we have safe conditions. They cant just cast us aside like our lives arent worth anything. Before we walked out, some people were working sick because they didnt have any sick time and were just trying to make a living. It cant be a choice between dying at work or being homeless.

Detroit has become one of the epicenters of the pandemic. The state of Michigan ranks third in the country behind New York and New Jersey, with 959 deaths. In addition to the conditions of poverty in the city, which has been ravaged by decades of plant closings, a contributing factor to the spread is the fact that workers were kept on the job while the contagion was spreading.

The death toll has risen to 18 autoworkers. With the backing of the UAW, the automakers are now pushing for a restart of production in early May. The efforts to continue parts operations in Mexico to feed plants in the US and Canada, however, have encountered opposition from maquiladora workers in the border city of Matamoros, who have launched a wave of wildcat strikes .

While Honda announced that it was extending the shutdown of its US and Canadian plants through May 1, Toyota announced that it would resume production on April 20, Hyundai will restart its Alabama plant on Friday, and Volkswagen will resume production in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Sunday.

A worker at the Ft. Wayne, Indiana General Motors plant told the WSWS, I do not want to suddenly risk getting sick or getting my family sick. Im a single mother for my teenage son and couldnt imagine what to do if either of us were to get sick. Returning to GM could be a death sentence to anyone in my orbit.

There are over 4,500 employees at my plant and most of us touch the same truck that goes by. Its impossible to stay away from the virus working shoulder to shoulder with people from all over Indiana and Ohio. Its impossible to disinfect every single truck that goes by every 53 seconds. I know more time off would mean working 7 days a week the rest of the year, but my familys health is more important than [GM CEO Mary Barra] making $6 million a year.

The corporations, with the full assistance of the UAW, are seeking to exploit the economic distress of workers to force them back into the plants. At GMs CCA (Customer Care and Aftersales) parts warehouse in Flint, Michigan, the UAW has recruited a voluntary workforce by dangling health insurance over our heads, as one worker told the WSWS. There have now been four confirmed COVID-19 cases at the facility, including one second-shift worker who has been absent since March 28.

The pandemic and the response of the ruling class is radically changing the outlook of workers. Building cars right now is not essential work, Ryan, the Sterling Heights Assembly worker said. We should be building ventilators and lifesaving equipment. Every day I see the infection and death numbers rising, and I want to know what we are doing to save lives.

This is a 100 percent capitalist system. The people in power want to defend their interests and oppose anything that would really help us. People are dying and the news cameras are focusing on the stock markets going up.

Workers are not just going to give up. It is inevitable that this movement is going to spread to all workers. The workers at Amazon, Starbucks, in the supermarkets and hospitals, everybody in the working class should come together to combat the corporations and the government, Ryan said, so we can be the masters of society, and over our own lives.
A recap of key events in Sudan one year after mass protests toppled its president Omar al-Bashir from power, ending three decades of iron-fisted rule.

 Bashir rule ends 

On April 11, 2019, four months after mass protests sparked by a hike in bread prices morph into wider demands for freedom, Sudans military authorities announce they have removed Bashir from power.

He is replaced by a transitional military government.

Defying a curfew, thousands of demonstrators remain camped in front of army headquarters as the protest movement demands a civilian government.

 Talks impasse 

Negotiations between ruling generals and protest leaders end abruptly on May 20 without a deal on the makeup of a joint civilian-military council to govern during a transition.

 Bloody crackdown 

On June 3, armed men in military fatigues move in on the protest camp outside army headquarters and disperse thousands of protesters.

Dozens are killed in the ensuing days-long crackdown.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a feared paramilitary group which sprang from the notorious Janjaweed militia accused by rights groups of committing war crimes in Darfur, is blamed for the violence.

Army chiefs announce a probe.

The military scraps all previous agreements with protest leaders for a transition and calls for elections within nine months.

Protesters denounce a putsch.

After both sides signal they are ready to talk again, Ethiopia and African Union mediators in late June present new proposals for a transition.

 Power deal agreed 

On July 5, after two days of negotiations, the two sides agree in principle on an accord providing for power-sharing before transition to civilian rule.

On August 17, the military and protest leaders sign the hard-won constitutional declaration and the sovereign council is formed three days later.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who will head the council for 21 months, is sworn in on August 21 and economist Abdalla Hamdok is confirmed as prime minister.

The first post-Bashir government is sworn in on September 8.

 Peace talks 

In October the government and rebel groups enter peace talks in Juba, South Sudan.

Sudan on October 16 announces a permanent ceasefire in the countrys three war zones and green-lights the provision of humanitarian aid.

In late November Bashirs party is dissolved.

 Bashir convicted 

On December 14, a Sudanese court convicts Bashir of graft and sentences him to serve two years in a correctional centre. He also faces separate charges in Sudan over the deaths of protesters and the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

 Darfur probe 

On December 22, Sudan opens an investigation into crimes committed by Bashir in Darfur from 2003. He has long been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict.

On January 24, 2020, a coalition of nine rebel groups from the Blue Nile and Darfur regions sign a preliminary agreement with the government.

On February 11, a top Sudanese official says Bashir will be handed to the ICC.

Prime Minister Hamdok survives unharmed an attack on his convoy in Khartoum on March 9 that underlines the fragility of the transition.

 Coronavirus 

Sudan announces a state of emergency and a near-total closure of its borders on March 16, to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 25, Defence Minister Lieutenant General Jamal al-Din Omar dies of an illness during peace talks in Juba.
The World Bank has warned of the growing risk of a recession in Armenia while saying that the Armenian economy could still grow modestly this year despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the baseline scenario, envisaging the start of a gradual recovery [of economic activity] in mid-summer of 2020, the real GDP growth rate in 2020 is expected to moderate to 1.7 percent, the bank said in its Europe and Central Asia Economic Update released on Thursday.

At the same time, a prolonged [coronavirus] outbreak scenario would result in stagnant GDP or even an economic contraction, it warned. The probability weight on that happening is rising due to worsening health, economic, and financial outcomes across the world.

The Armenian economy grew by 7.6 percent last year and continued to expand robustly in the first two months of this year. However, the situation changed dramatically last month as the Armenian government put the country under lockdown to fight against the spread of coronavirus.

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) forecast last week a 0.7 percent GDP growth rate for 2020. Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian agreed with that projection.

The World Bank noted that the pandemic has already shut down the Armenian tourism sector, caused a major drop in international prices of copper, one of the courts main exports, and will increasingly cut multimillion-dollar remittances from Armenians working abroad and Russia in particular.

Efforts to contain the spread will dampen demand further, reads its report. A dollarized economy and undiversified exports add to the challenges of managing the shock. However, a relatively healthy banking sector, a precautionary [loan] arrangement with the IMF, as well as some fiscal buffers partly mitigate the risks.

A wide-ranging stimulus package approved by the Armenian government late last month calls for one-off cash payments to a large part of the population, financial assistance to businesses and loan subsidies for farmers. In particular, many creditworthy firms and individual entrepreneurs are due to receive grants worth $500 million ($1 million).

The government on Thursday decided to extend the cash handouts to the owners of microbusinesses with annual revenue of up to 24 million drams. They will be eligible for up to 136,000 drams in compensation.

The government has a clear strategy of how to overcome the crisis, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted during a cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

The government has already spent 3.7 billion drams on coronavirus relief, he said, adding that the sum makes up less than 10 percent of emergency spending planned by it.

Pashinian went on to praise Armenian banks for honoring their pledge to suspend loan repayments for some 290,000 individual borrowers and 5,300 businesses. He also noted that the Armenian national currency, the dram, has rallied against the U.S. dollar in recent days after losing more than 4 percent of its value in March.

The World Bank report warns that falling remittance inflows from Russia may lead to stronger depreciation pressures on the dram in the months ahead.

The bank offered a far more positive outlook for the next few years. GDP growth is forecast to recover over the medium term, to around 4.5 percent in 2021-22, supported by stabilizing external conditions and catch-up of delayed activities, it said.

The Ministry of Health reported on Thursday morning that the number of coronavirus cases in Armenia rose by 28 to 921 in the past 24 hours. The latest official figures suggest that the virus, which has killed 10 people so far, continued to spread considerably more slowly than it did in the second half of March.

Pashinian again stated that the government is cautiously optimistic about containing the COVID-19 epidemic. He said a government task force will meet on Friday to decide whether to extend or ease the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 24.
I-T raids entities linked to SP's Pushpraj Jain, others involved in perfume trade in UP

All pending IT refunds up to Rs 5 lakh to be released immediately

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: The Income Tax Department said that it will release all pending income tax refunds up to Rs 5 lakh immediately. This will benefit 14 lakh taxpayers.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The government will also issue pending GST and customs refunds of Rs 18,000 crore to provide relief to the business entities. The Department of Revenue said that all GST and custom refunds will also be released. This will provide relief to 1 lakh business entities including the MSMEs.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

The decision was taken owing to the COVID-19 situation. This is also aimed at providing immediate relief to the business entities and individuals, a statement from the department said.
Iraq's caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi chaired a cabinet meeting Wednesday to discuss the American troops presence in Iraq.

Early this year, the Iraqi parliament voted to end an agreement that allows U.S. troops in Iraq.

Abdul-Mahdi said circumstances have changed, and the current situation required a reconsideration of that decision, "to include Iraq's interest, the region's interest, the world interest and even the United States of America as a partner and a friend in fighting Daesh (ISIS) and in supporting the Iraqi government."

Meanwhile, U.S. officials will hold a "strategic dialogue" with the Iraqi government mid-June to discuss the future presence of their troops on Iraqi soil, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said Tuesday.
Prince Andrew stepped back from royal duties after the Newsnight interview. (Getty Images)

Emily Maitlis has said she tried to channel Line of Dutys Kate Fleming when she interviewed Prince Andrew over his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Maitliss BBC Newsnight interview resulted in the Duke of York stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future after he said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, who had been charged with sex offences.

Epstein killed himself in prison when he was awaiting trial.

Speaking about the interview on Table Manners with Jessie Ware, Maitlis, 49, said she tried to channel the TV detectives calm and unemotional ways as she interviewed the royal.

She said: I am quite adrenaline driven, I have realised that, I am fascinated by adrenaline. Thats what I said to him when he said oh I must tell you why I dont sweat.

I was like Im fascinated by adrenaline and he told me all about the no sweating thing.

Read more: US lawyer targets Prince Andrew in post-birthday stunt

Emily Maitlis addresses students at the Cambridge Union Society in 2015. (Getty Images)

Andrew claimed he could not sweat because he suffered an overdose of adrenaline when he was shot at during service in the Falklands War.

On the podcast, Maitlis continued: I kept thinking what on earth am I doing here?

He didnt have to do this interview, he was incredibly candid, he was really open, I didnt think at all oh what a frustrating thing to say, I just thought what an extraordinary thing to say.

Literally everything that came out of his mouth was just extraordinary, as a journalist trying to piece the story together.

You know DCI Kate Fleming has done all her homework

I got slightly, trying to channel DCI Kate Fleming. Not in terms of him a being a crook, but theres something so calmly forensic about the way she does it, its really unemotional, really calm, really quiet, but you know shes done all her homework.

I would have shown myself up if Id got the dates wrong, if Id got the names wrong, if Id said something he had to contradict - that was all it was to me.

Story continues

DCI Fleming is played by Vicky McClure in BBCs Line of Duty, and is a consummate professional, unmoved by emotional considerations according to the network.

Vicky McClure plays DCI Kate Fleming in Line of Duty. (Getty)

Read more: How Prince Andrew or Prince Harry could be called on if the Queen gets coronavirus

Asked by the hosts if she was dancing when he gave his jaw-dropping answers, Maitlis said none of the dancing came during the interview, because she was focused on following everything up correctly.

Prince Andrew was friends with Epstein during the late 1990s and 2000s, having met him through Epsteins then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

The pair attended several events and parties together, including a birthday party thrown for Maxwell by the duke at Sandringham House in 2000.

Their friendship continued even after Epstein had served time in prison for procuring prostitution of girls under the age of 18.

In the interview, Andrew denied allegations made against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims she had sex with the duke several times when she was trafficked by Epstein.

He claimed he has no recollection of meeting her, and provided an alibi of being at a childrens birthday party at Pizza Express in Woking on one of the occasions he allegedly had sex with her.

Read more: Why are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping back as senior royals?

After the interview, in November 2019, Andrew released a statement which expressed regret at his ill-judged association with Epstein, and said he hoped the victims would be able to rebuild their lives.

He has rarely been seen in public since then, but did attend church with the Queen in January, shortly after a deal was reached between Her Majesty and Prince Harry and Meghan, allowing them to step back from their roles as senior royals.

Andrew promised to co-operate with law enforcement in the USA, but lawyers in New York have said they have not heard from him.

---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK---
BUCKS COUNTY >> Police in Northampton, Lower Southampton and Upper Makefield townships report the following incidents and arrests: Lower Southampton THEFT >> In the early morning hours on Monday, Jan. 10 two individuals made off with the entire change machine from the Feasterville Laundromat along Bustleton Pike. The male appears to be "cracking himself up" while he hatches his scheme...
Kuwait National Petroleum Corp (KNPC) has announced the completion of its biofuels project after the successful launch of the last two production units coming on-stream, reported the state-run Kuwait News Agency.

The two new coal and naphtha hydro treating units will produce 37,000 and 8,400 barrels per day (bpd) of oil equivalent respectively, stated the report, citing a top KNPC official.

"The two refineries are undergoing upgrades and expansion as part of the Clean Fuels Project (CFP) with a focus on producing higher-value products such as diesel and kerosene for export," remarked its CEO Waleed Al Badr.

Upon completion, Al Ahmadi refinery, which consists of 31 units, will have a production capacity of 364,000 bpd, KUNA quoted Abdullah Al Ajmi, the deputy CEO for projects, as saying.

The cost of the biofuels project has reached 4.6 billion dinars ($14.7 billion), said Al Ajmi.

After the units in Mina Abdullah come on-stream, the biofuel project will have a capacity of 800,000 bpd, he added.
Her official title is chief health improvement officer at MaineHealth, which operates eleven hospitals throughout the state. As a member of the senior management team overseeing MaineHealth's response to the coronavirus pandemic, shes working to ensure patients, health workers, and communities remain as healthy as possible through this pandemic, which she compares to a months-long noreaster blizzard.

Mills describes a typical day.

Early mornings, I'm usually at home in Portland, where I participate in 6:00 a.m or 7:00 a.m. conference calls, often with clinical leaders from across the state and/or other partners. It seems to be the easiest time to connect with those outside of MaineHealth.

My daughter, Julia (Mills Fiori), is a senior in high school and a member of Bowdoin's Class of 2024. Since she is finishing her high school online, I try to stay at home until she's up, to at least say "good morning." I miss driving her to school! But I guess in some ways this is getting me used to her departure for Bowdoin in the fall.

Im typically in the office from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., sometimes later. MaineHealth's corporate headquarters usually houses 350 employees, but that all changed around March 12, when they were abruptly moved to work from home. There are now ten of us on the senior team who work in the building. We all are fortunate to have private offices, and when we meet, either with others or each other, its all online.

A central part of our day is the HICS meeting (HICS stands for Hospital Incident Command System and is the emergency governance structure for health systems). These meetings include leaders from across our system, such as the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, head of supply chain, and others. We review our data, identify challenges (and appoint a subgroup to solve them off line), and obtain updates on progress. It's an efficient way to manage during an emergency. Challenges we have to deal with between HICS meetings include lab testing issues, developing protocols for matters like who needs to be tested for COVID-19 and who needs to wear what kind of mask, isolation procedures, addressing supply chain issues, and determining where we might next see a surge in patients.

Most of the rest of my day includes problem-solving and monitoring the situation. As a medical epidemiologist, I feel like one of my main jobs is to try to predict what our needs will be two or three weeks from now. (I like to use the Wayne Gretzky philosophy of keeping one's eye on where the puck is going, not just on where it is!) I also stay connected with colleagues from outside the state. We're all learning how to build the plane and fly it in these unprecedented times, so learning what is working elsewhere and sharing ideas help a great deal. There is simply no time for the peer-review processwe're all peers, and we're simply trying to learn and work together.

On the bright side, I get to work with a number of Bowdoin College colleagues, such as Dr. Erik Steele 79, who is at Martin's Point, a large physician practice in Maine; Dr. Scott Mills '79 (no relation), who is also at MaineHealth; and Bill Whitmore 82, vice president of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for Maine. I also find myself regularly being interviewed by another classmate, Keith Shortall 82, senior editor at Maine Public Broadcasting.

One of my main jobs is to try to predict what our needs will be two or three weeks from now. I like to use the Wayne Gretzky philosophy of keeping one's eye on where the puck is going, not just on where it is!

The other silver lining for me has been working with companies and organizations to plow through this storm together. One of the first calls I received was from Stephen Smith, CEO of LL Bean. He and his team wanted to know how they could help, and they are now making masks for us. Leon Gorman 56, H83, longtime CEO of LL Bean, would be very proud. Adjunct faculty member George Isaacson 70 also got in touch to connect me with Flowfold, a company in Westbrook that makes sports wallets. Within days, Flowfold was able to make face shields for us. Bowdoin faculty and staff have also helped us, using the College's 3D printer to make personal protective equipment. Interesting partnerships have evolved during this pandemic, and they all exemplify one message: Together we are stronger; together we will get through this.

Dora Anne Mills 82 was a biology major (magna cum laude). She also took classes in Russian! She earned a medical degree from the University of Vermont in 1987. In 1996, she graduated from Harvard University School of Medicine with a degree in public health.
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Bajaj Auto and its Austrian partner KTM have included mopeds in their multi-product line-up that will be made in India and exported to other markets.

These light-weight mopeds will be powered by low power electric motors, with commercial production expected to begin in 2022 from Bajaj's plant in Pune. Electric scooter and electric bicycles are already part of the project.

While the two partners plan to sell these products in India, the timeline is not yet known.

During FY20, the Pierer Mobility Group (earlier called KTM Industries) and Bajaj Auto started a development project for Powered Two Wheeler (PTW) electric vehicles in the power range between 3 and 10 kW.

The platform will support various product variants  scooters, moped and motorized bicycles  under the brand of both the partners, Pierer Mobility said in its annual report.

TVS Motor Company is the only company in India to make mopeds powered by a 100cc engine, selling 50,000-65,000 units on an average every month. These mopeds attract the lower income households or small entrepreneurs and are mostly favoured for their utility purpose.

"As part of the series development project for PTW electric vehicles in the low voltage range (48 volts), which was developed together with Bajaj, various product variants in the segment of electroc scooters will be produced from 2022 under both the brands of both partners," said Stefen Pierer, Chairman of the executive board, Pierer Mobility, in an address to shareholders.

The two companies have been in an alliance since 2007 and have continuously expanded the boundaries of their partnership. From joint development and production of performance motorcycles for KTM the alliance now makes products under other brands as well.

The entire production of entry level Husqvarna motorcycles have been moved to Pune by KTM. Bajaj in return will start exporting the electric Chetak to KTM to be sold in Europe.

Besides low power electric vehicles the two companies are working on high-power electric motorcycles as well. KTM has started series production of two electric motorcycles  KTM SX-E 5 and Husqvarna EE 5  in Europe.

KTM closed 2019 with 7 percent rise in sales at 280,099 comprising 234,449 KTM motorcycles and 45,650 Husqvarna motorcycle. Almost 24 percent (66,206 units) of all KTM units sold last year were manufactured by Bajaj Auto. Production volume at Pune for KTM is expected to increase to over 200,000 units over the next years, KTM declared.

Despite the production and demand disruption caused due to the coronavirus outbreak Pierer Mobility AG has confirmed its sales target of 400,000 motorcycles for the 2022 financial year. In addition, KTM has set itself the goal of developing Husqvarna Motorcycles into the third largest European motorcycle manufacture.
Social distancing in birds

Social distancing in the sky: An example of three-dimensional social distancing within a cormorant colony. Nests are spaced along individual limbs and are also staggered between upper and lower limbs. Such spacing is forced by aggressive interactions. Photo by Bryan Watts Photo - of - Hide Caption

One of many things that the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered for is the introduction of the term social distancing to the global lexicon. The term is being used to describe a collective behavior designed to maintain distances between individuals that are beyond the expected range of the normal person-to-person virus transmission.

Distancing is one of several strategies being employed to dampen the rate of contagion, blunt the peak of active cases and hopefully reduce the overall number of people that will contract the disease. As a highly social species, the concept of behavioral spacing is foreign to most people and the term is unfamiliar.

For bird behaviorists, the term social distance and its variants (territoriality, individual space, social spacing) are familiar and have been in use for over a century. Social distancing was initially used to describe the common observation that birds often exhibit a uniform distribution with incredibly even distances between individuals.

Although the underlying benefits of spacing to birds and the mechanisms that maintain spacing are not always apparent to the observer, the spacing itself can often be visually stunning. Swallows perched on telephone lines exhibit amazingly precise and consistent spacing.

Seabird nests are often uniformly spaced within breeding colonies. A flock of starlings foraging across a lawn appear to march in formation with all individuals, maintaining their personal distances. Grasshopper sparrow nesting territories are evenly spaced across a grassland. We see examples of spacing in birds all around us.

Why is social distancing so common in birds and how is it maintained? One of the most common forces shaping social distancing is the availability of resources. Spacing ensures that consumer density is matched to available resources.

Although not all birds defend territories, those that do defend patches of resources that are critical to the survival of themselves or their young. Territory spacing is maintained by individuals aggressively defending resources. Whether a foraging territory during the winter or a nesting territory during the breeding season, defending space from interlopers results in the social distancing that we observe from afar.

Another common force that shapes social distance is the need to reduce interference of an important activity. Most seabirds and other bird groups that nest in dense colonies place nests equidistant from one another. For some species, inter-nest distances may be consistent throughout the colony down to a fraction of an inch  everyone in their cubicle like a New York apartment building.

Such distancing allows the birds to raise their young without intrusion from neighbors. The incredibly precise inter-nest distances are set by how far birds can lean over and peck their neighbors (if you get pecked by your neighbor, you are building your nest too close).

The same mechanism maintains order and discipline within foraging flocks. The benefit of maintaining distance between flock members is to reduce the interference of one member on the foraging rate of another. Shorebird flocks spread out evenly over a mudflat because if every bird moved randomly over the surface it would disturb prey and reduce the foraging rate for all of them.

While there is no question that many diseases are spread through bird populations via bird-to-bird contact and that distance between individuals influences the likelihood of an individual being infected, it is not clear at all that disease has been a driving force for the evolution of social distancing in birds.

This is not to say that it may not be a factor in some species and in some circumstances as has been shown in the transmission of certain parasites. Much work remains to be done on the role that disease has played in the evolution of bird spatial behavior.

The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) is a research group within William & Mary. The Center conducts primary research with applications to the management of land and bird species of conservation concern. The Center is dedicated to discovering innovative solutions to environmental problems that are both scientifically sound and practical within todays social context. Click here to learn more.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Tukur Buratai, has tasked troops in the north east theatre of operation to brace up for the final defeat of insurgents.

Mr Buratai, a lieutenant general, gave the charge while addressing troops of Operation Harbin Kunama IV at Army Special Forces Super Camp Ngamdu in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State on Thursday.

The troops are training at the army special super camp at Ngamdu.

He directed them to take their training seriously in preparation for the speedy conclusion of the war against insurgency in Nigeria.

The COAS directed the troops to take advantage of their new additional equipment and platforms to hasten the final defeat of insurgency in Nigeria.

He further enjoined the officers and men to ensure that the recent setback experienced does not deter them from defeating the terrorists.

He said with more commitment, courage and resilience insurgency will soon be history in our country.

As you all know, we have been on this ground for long and I expect us to remain resolute, selflessly committed and push for the total defeat of the Insurgents in the coming days.

I assure you that what is remaining is very small but it will require us to put more effort, more determination and more courage to complete the remaining part of the battle soon.

Recall that recently, we had setbacks which must not be allowed to happen again. We will not allow any further casualties both in men and equipment, he said.

Mr Buratai however assured the troops of the provision of additional military hardware and platforms to enhance the speedy completion of the ongoing war against insurgency in the North East.

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He said the Nigerian Army had taken delivery of more equipment and platforms that would be deployed to various theatres of operations across the country.

Mr Buratai has been on an operational tour to various troops locations in the North East theatre of operation since on Monday.

He also visited Army Super Camp 1 at Molai and the Special Forces Super Camp 12 in Chabbol near Maiduguri on Wednesday.

The COAS was also at the Forward Operating Base at Alau Dam, outskirts of Maiduguri and also personally led the troops on reconnaissance around Mairimari Forest located southeast of Tamsu Ngamdua in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Similarly, the COAS went round Maigilari Forest in the east of Tamsu Ngamdua in the southwest of the same Mafa Local Government Area.

These areas are generally seen as the routes and directions of approach into Maiduguri by the Boko Haram/ISWAP Criminals.

(NAN)
Voters line up at one of just five polling places open in Milwaukee for Wisconsin's primary election. The U.S. Supreme Court forced voters to cast their ballots in person, despite the state's coronavirus stay-at-home orders. (Morry Gash / Associated Press )

The Supreme Courts intervention in the Wisconsin election this week  last-minute, avoidable and slapdash  was disquieting, not least as a sign of the courts potential role in the upcoming presidential election.

The unsigned opinion on behalf of the five-justice conservative majority evoked future dangers, but it also harked back to the past, specifically to the infamous opinion in Bush vs. Gore, which wrestled the 2000 presidential election to the ground.

As in Bush vs. Gore, the events in Wisconsin proceeded in madcap fashion, bouncing from state officials all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and at each stop, favoring the party affiliation of the particular decision maker. That's toxic for our perceptions of an apolitical rule of law, but it doesnt necessarily mean the court got it wrong, or acted injudiciously. If you take a closer look at the decision and its surrounding circumstances, however, that conclusion is inescapable.

First, some background: Wisconsins Democratic governor wanted Tuesdays election postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. The states Republican-led Legislature and its conservative Supreme Court said no. Groups of voters then brought suit in federal district court, where a judge decided that the bedlam on the ground  a scramble for absentee ballots, election workers quitting in droves, vanishing polling places  violated Wisconsinites constitutional right to vote. The court ordered the state to accept absentee ballots for an extra six days. When the order stood on appeal, Republicans turned to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With hours to go before the polls were to open on April 7, the high court majority upended the absentee ballot order. It didn't reverse  indeed it didn't even address  the district court's determination of a constitutional violation. Instead, the conservative justices fastened on what they took to be the sole question before the court, a narrow, technical issue about whether voters' ballots could be postmarked after election day. They said no: Ballots would be received up to six days later, but they had to be postmarked no later than April 7.

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It's a perverse decision. The electoral problem created by the coronavirus crisis wasn't that the Post Office needed more time to deliver the mail, but that voters needed more time to execute what in normal circumstances would be a straightforward exercise.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her (signed) dissent for the courts four liberals, didnt mince words: The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic. Under the District Courts order, they would be able to do so. ... With the majoritys [decision], that will not be possible. Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own.

We watched the outcome on Tuesday  voters in masks waiting hours in long, long socially distant lines to get into a handful of polling places across the state. Its impossible to quickly calculate the cost in disenfranchised voters and public health, but it is almost certainly substantial.

And those costs undoubtedly fell disproportionately on Wisconsins African American voters. Milwaukee, with a large black population, had just five open polling places instead of the usual 180. Its black residents constitute 40% of the states virus fatalities, and we know their rate of return of absentee ballots in elections lags well behind that of predominantly white counties. For these voters, the courts insistence on a legal technicality displayed a callousness and a judicial myopia worthy of Mr. Magoo.

By overlooking the viral lightning and thunder raging all around, and approaching the Wisconsin case as if it concerned a trivial procedural issue, the court echoed what was the most notorious, and shameful feature of Bush vs. Gore: its insistence that its politicized decision was completely one-off, with no precedential value for any other case. Similarly, the court chose to reframe the case in such picayune technical terms that its decision also has virtually no broader legal import; the ruling simply ensured that this particular election would take place on terms favorable to Wisconsin Republicans. (The GOP hoped lower turnout would give them an edge in a down-ballot state Supreme Court contest.)

Monday's decision is a sobering illustration of Justice Robert Jacksons adage about Supreme Court rulings: We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final."

Any number of issues and disputes could set up harrowing legal battles over the November presidential election, all of them magnified by the unknowns of a global pandemic. If the Supreme Court were to jump in unnecessarily again, and decide the nations fate on what appears to be primarily partisan political grounds, it would be apocalyptic for the political process, if not the fate of the American experiment.

The court's actions in Wisconsin are a reminder that the worst can happen. The country has to do everything it can  beginning with legislative action establishing widespread voting by mail  to ensure that that possibility is never even in play.

Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and host of the podcast "Talking Feds." @harrylitman
A couple who have had a 'crazy' love story after finding each other online didn't meet in person until four days before their wedding.

Just six months after first contacting each other on a dating app, Lisa Mrad, 36, flew out to Tunisia via Manchester to marry Yusef Mrad, 30 after he accepted her proposal three months prior.

She travelled to his home in the country and tied the knot within four days, before jetting back to her Nottingham residence a few days later.

Lisa Mrad met her husband Yusef for the first time four days before marrying him in Tunisia

The couple fell in love on online dating app Tagged just six months prior to marrying

'On the plane I thought, Oh my God, what am I doing here?', Lisa said in regards to flying out for the wedding.

'But as soon as I saw Yusef, all my worries melted away. I love him so much. Ours is a love story and a crazy one at that.'

Customer service worker Yusef contacted Lisa, who has a 12-year-old son Justin from a previous relationship, on the dating site Tagged back in August.

But she admitted wanting to marry him as soon as she saw his pictures, before they swapped messages and spent hours on the phone.

They wed in front of Yusef's family at a registry office on February 25.

'When we first spoke and I saw his photos, I was like, "Ill make him my husband"', she added.

'As weeks went by, my feelings got stronger. He makes me feel like Im the only woman in the world and makes me feel loved everyday, he has shown me what real love and respect is.

Yusef smiles for the camera during the ceremony at a registry office back in February

Lisa, from Nottingham proposed to Yusef just three months after their initial contact

'I was over the moon [when he accepted the proposal]. It might seem crazy that we got engaged before we ever met in person but it just felt right.

'I knew Yusef was The One. Wed spoken before about how we were looking to get married and have children.'

Yusef added: 'Lisa is a good woman. She is beautiful, kind, warm, and very mature in her mind.

'I decided to marry Lisa because she is funny, clever, beautiful and so much more. We get on so good like we have known each other all our life.'

After staying a little while longer in Tunisia, Lisa flew back to the UK on March 6 without Yusef who is still looking to be able to afford to move to Britain permanently.

Lisa admits not telling her family beforehand about the wedding having left her son, who has ADHD and autism, with her mother before flying out.

She admits that they were left stunned when she broke the news to them.

'I didnt tell anyone. I just surprised them with the news when I got back.'

'When it came to the day of me leaving, I did feel ready to go home and I was really craving a proper brew back in England but it really hurt saying goodbye to Yusef.

'Yusef isn't bothered whether we live in Tunisia or the UK, he just wants us to be together, but I would like to stay here as my son is settled at a specialist school.'
Xiao Hou has pictures of cuisine stored in his smart-phone's photo library, like, a bowl of spicy noodles with a fried egg, two roasted chicken breasts, dumplings and stuffed buns.

The snapshots are not of highly recommended restaurants in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, but rather reminders of his unforgettable experience in the city where he received those homemade foods, which were shared by locals during his stay in Wuhan that began with the city's lockdown on Jan. 23.

After arriving in Wuhan on Dec. 28, last year, on a business trip, Hou, a 24-year-old Shandong native and also a staff member of Chengdu Meihua Food and Catering Company, planned to head to Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, on Jan. 27, the third day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

"I have never experienced a lockdown in my life before. It has lasted for so many days," he recalled.

On the sixth day following the lockdown, when people could still go for walks in their communities, Hou burst into tears when he unexpectedly heard the Chinese National Anthem on the street while residents roared out of their apartment windows:"Wuhan, stay strong!"

"At that moment, I decided not to stay at the dormitory any longer, as I was eager to do something for the city," the young man said.

Between Feb. 7 and 29, Hou, at the recommendation of his friend in Wuhan, was brought on as a volunteer at the Global Logistic Properties (GLP), which is owned by the Alibaba conglomerate in the city's suburban Caidian District. Since all transportation was suspended during the lockdown, the man pedaled for three and a half hours to reach the park, traveling 35 kilometers.

With free accommodation and two meals a day, he was tasked with categorizing packs received for the urban supermarkets of Tmall, Alibaba's major retailing sales channel for both online and offline businesses.

The food provided, usually consisting of Chinese cabbages and carrots as well as some meat every other day, didn't make Hou feel uneasy. And he wasn't overwhelmed by loneliness and fear either, because, as he said, he lived for more than just himself.

"I serve others, helping them to feel less frightened and get accustomed to being isolated at home. That is why I sent them pictures of food through a WeChat group chat," he explained.

According to Hou, people in Wuhan are hospitable and warm-hearted. On many occasions, they spoke to the medical personnel whom they are deeply indebted to.

"However," he recalled, "I can still remember a nurse telling a local man that every Chinese person belongs to one big family. Of course, the family members should help each other; otherwise, how could a person call themselves Chinese."

On March 7, Hou returned to the Wuhan community he had lived in and volunteered again to work as a nightshift gatekeeper.

"The residents immediately thought of me when they had any problems," he recalled, "and in return, they sent me noodles and dumplings, probably knowing I'm a northern man [who is used to staple foods made of flour rather than rice]."

On April 8, Wuhan lifted outbound travel restrictions, putting an end to the lockdown. However, Hou said he would continue to work as a volunteer. Volunteer numbers have dropped sharply since the city opened back up, but Hou does not plan leave until late April.

"My grandfather encouraged me, saying that a volunteer is only good so long as they find a way to contribute to their country," the young man said, adding that he wanted to assure his family not to worry about him as he has been well in Wuhan.
A 40-year-old policeman was



injured when he was dragged for around 50 metre by a motorcyclist, who tried to evade checking at Wadibunder in south Mumbai on Thursday amid the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said.

The incident took place at P D'Mello Road, where motorcyclist Khajabi Shaikh Naim (42) dragged assistant police inspector Vijendra Dhurat, who tried to intercept the two- wheeler, the official said.

A team of policemen where screening vehicles at the entrance of Eastern Freeway, when Dhurat found something suspicious about the motorcyclist and tried to stop him, he said.

The injured was rushed to a hospital and is presently out of danger, he said.

Naim was arrested under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A few days after the PM asked Indians to thank doctors, nurses, cops, cleaners, etc.  I talked to a nurse. She was in tears, not because she was scared to get COVID-19 - she knew she could - but because she had little means to minimize the chances. Not only did her hospital not have PPEs but they told staff that if they got the virus, they were on their own as treatment was expensive.

I was aghast. Because in many developed nations, the protocol for COVID-19 treatment is that hospital staff would get preference. It wasnt about gratitude but because while a normal person goes home after recovering, a healthcare worker gets back to work, saving more lives.

Scared for this nurse (every nurse I talked to, asked not to be identified), I said I could try to fund her Personal Protective Equipment. But, she said having her own PPE was not only not permitted in the hospital but could cause conflict with those who didnt. In short, she was caught in a life-threatening stalemate.

A nurse in Mumbai had a similar story, adding that the society she lives in, has given her family a clear choice  she could quit the job or find another accommodation.

Lack of PPE, unreasonably low salaries for the threat they face, working overtime without extra pay, rude patients, unresponsive - often antagonistic  bosses, sexual harassment; most nurses across India face tremendous odds. During a pandemic when we need them to be focussed, they have been put under needless pressure. Without PPE and hospitals refusing to fund their treatment, they are playing a game of Russian roulette: most of them getting COVID-19 is not a matter of if but when.

Add to that the haphazard lockdown protocols in the country where not just patients but entire localities are stigmatized by authorities and people themselves, and you realise why we might be sitting ducks not just for a medical but also a social disaster. India too seems to have a pistol over her head, being forced to press the trigger by the behaviour of her own children.

Things need not be this way. COVID-19  as we have seen in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and many other countries, is manageable without panic or fear. For that to happen, I believe the government and every single citizen have to do three things, quickly and precisely.

1. Guarantee treatment, physical safety and social wellbeing of healthcare workers

This is where both government and citizens will have to pitch in. The PM asked citizens to clap for those working during lockdowns to make people focus on the sacrifices being made by these people. But if you are someone who understands bravery only in terms of soldiers, know that doctors and nurses without PPE are like soldiers walking through a hail of incessant bullet fire unarmed.

The central and state governments will have to ensure that no life is put at risk for lack of PPE. And it isnt too tough to procure PPEs either. Since January when the extent of the pandemic became clear, opportunistic businessmen worldwide ramped up production and are sitting on a stockpile of millions. Whats needed is to think out of the box as these Silicon Valley venture capitalists did, to source millions of masks and PPEs from across the world. Businesses in America are helping. In the UK, Mercedes Formula One copied a breathing aid device within a week.

Corporate India has stepped up efforts to help. Individuals like businessman and film producer Manish Mundra reached out via twitter to source, fund and deliver PPEs to needy hospitals. Laudable as these measures are, this is not the job of individuals but governments who not only have equipment stockpiles but have better financial and political leverage.

Additionally, state governments can pass legislation like the Delhi government did where they promised one crore to every worker who dies fighting COVID-19. What Delhi and other governments should also do, is ensure treatment protocols for healthcare workers who get sick.

In many parts of the world, hotels have been acquired by governments to accommodate doctors and nurses during the crisis. This is not just to protect families of healthcare workers, but also to leave them free  physically and emotionally  to focus on nothing but work.

In India the Taj Hotel Group in Mumbai has offered their premises to doctors and nurses. Again there can be an institutional policy regarding this that should be implemented nationally.

2. Enforce kinder lockdown protocols and implementation

Indians were late to wake up to the effects of the virus. On the day the PM asked people to entertain voluntary lockdown with Janta Curfew, they came and had street parties in the evening beating the whole purpose of the curfew. Lockdown saw people initially checking out what was happening. Temples in many parts of the country continue to allow large congregations.

The result is that the virus has spread, faster than it should have with cases and deaths doubling in 4 days instead of 7 as in most other countries. This has spread fear and panic amidst the masses and worse, authorities. In Mumbai where I live, videos of authorities physically locking up areas  in one case the lone path into a catchment was nailed shut with boards, is being shared widely on social media spreading panic and hysteria.

It is true that places that have been identified as hotspots need to be quarantined better than others, but brutality in doing so is uncalled far. It stigmatises patients creating so much fear that people will be hesitant to report cases. This can have dangerous implications for the nation.

The central government needs to formulate and continuously update standard protocols for what needs to be done when a case is reported in an area, and to ensure that it is followed without authorities unleashing unnecessary mayhem on an already suffering populace. In times like these, clear, precise and scientific communication  from the center to the state, states to their districts, districts to individual towns, villages, and municipalities  would be key to fighting this.

3. Fight COVID-19 with knowledge rather than fear

Horror stories of how doctors and nurses and people having or suspected of having COVID-19 have been treated are emerging from across a nation already reeling under multiple, deep-set problems, especially casteism, communalism, xenophobia, and patriarchy. The novel coronavirus seems to have accentuated these with many Indians helping out yes, but many more busy parading their vilest cruelty, crudest prejudice and abject stupidity including on national television.

The truth is there is no need for cruelty or fear. The virus is unpredictable and dangerous and we got to take every precaution we can, but cruelty is not one of the recommended measures to fight it. Indeed, its just the reverse  this is the time to unleash our best, kindest side. This, I dont say merely with the goodness of my heart, but for practical reasons.

Depending upon who you choose to listen to, you have up to 70% (this is the highest, German figure) chance of contacting the COVID-19 virus in your lifetime. Yes, you heard it right  YOU might get the virus. Because of the ease with which it transmits, no matter what we do, it will spread. Why we are taking these quarantine and lockdown measures is to slow it, ensure infections dont peak at the same time overwhelming our medical infrastructures capacity to deal with it.

Hence, this is the first thing you need to remember: you are likely to get COVID-19, many people you love are likely to get it as well. Hence, do not discriminate with those who have it today for they are just ahead of you in line. Tomorrow if and when you get it, you would need them to take care of you, just as they need you today. Treat healthcare workers with respect because theres a good chance they might be instrumental in saving your life tomorrow.

Whats happening is unprecedented. Most governments, beginning with China, Italy, Spain, USA and to an extent even India, have been slow to react. This is understandable given the unprecedented and sudden nature of the pandemic. If you had told me 6 months ago that over 50% of the world would be under lockdown at the same time bringing the global economy to a halt, Id have had a good laugh.

Hence we need to cut each other a bit of slack  not too much  for our fear, our delayed reaction, and panic. What we should not tolerate is the addition of the fuel of prejudice and injustice to the raging fire of COVID-19. Because if we do, the problem will only compound.

In China, over 3,300 nurses, doctors, and hospital staff were infected with COVID-19 mostly because of a lack of PPE. We cannot afford that in India. You know why? Because we have a shortage of 600,000 doctors and 2 million nurses in normal time.

Thus, during a pandemic, the loss of even a handful in the wrong place and wrong time could have a cascading effect on the nations medical system, and by extension its social and political structure. This, India can least afford, as much inside a pandemic, as outside it.

(Satyen K Bordoloi is a scriptwriter, journalist based in Mumbai. His written words have appeared in many Indian and foreign publications.)

Read more by Satyen K Bordoloi:

Should GoI press the Coronavirus panic button and put India under lockdown?

From Assam Agitation to CAB - What keeps rebellion brewing in Assam

CAB and the unheard protests of Assam

Kathua, Unnao prove Bhakt- achar worse than Bhrashtachar

Forgetting the most influential non-political Indian on his 100th birthday

How Sardar Patel stopped the greatest riot in the history of the world

Want a war? Go fight one yourself

The symptoms and remedies for a true Indian patriot

Valentine's Day - Why Bhagat Singh would have approved
It's unknown when Boeing Co. will start building its 787 Dreamliner again, with production in North Charleston and Washington state on hold indefinitely.

But when that day comes, some industry observers anticipate fewer of the widebodies will be rolling off the assembly lines.

After announcing an extended shutdown in Washington state and closures in the Philadelphia area, Boeing said Monday that it would stop making jets in North Charleston, too, after Wednesday's second shift.

Well before the spread of COVID-19 started disrupting supply chains and dampening demand for new aircraft, the Dreamliner program was facing a significant slowdown.

After announcing the production rate would drop from 14 jets a month to 12 by the end of 2020, Boeing made further cuts earlier this year, saying it would go to 10 per month in early 2021, split between the factories in North Charleston and Everett, Wash. The company has not said how that will affect employment levels at either plant.

Multiple aerospace experts have predicted that additional 787 cuts are likely this year as demand falls for wide-body jets favored for international travel.

Jeffries analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu wrote in a March 31 report that she estimates just four Dreamliners will be built a month as work resumes, with a slight recovery to six per month early next year, according to a report in Forbes.

Last week, Reuters news service reported Boeing's wide-body production rate "could fall by at least half," citing an unidentified industry source.

Boeing declined to comment on the report, and it hasn't provided an update for its Dreamliner production rate since January. During the assembly line shutdown, the planemaker is planning "enhanced cleaning activities" across its North Charleston operations, the company said in a statement.

"When the suspension is lifted, the 787 program will take an orderly approach to restarting production with a focus on safety, quality, integrity and meeting customer commitments," it said.

News of the shutdown came within minutes after Gov. Henry McMaster issued a statewide stay-at-home order this week. The new restrictions would not apply to Boeing workers since the company is considered essential, but both moves were clear signs of how wide-reaching the pandemic's disruptions in South Carolina have become.

Aside from some closures due to severe weather like hurricanes, the production suspension marks the first time the 787 line in North Charleston has been halted indefinitely since Boeing launched its South Carolina outpost more than a decade ago.

The company employs about 6,900 workers in South Carolina, making the aerospace giant the largest private-sector employer in Charleston County and one of the biggest manufacturers in the state. It is not disclosing how many of those employees will not be able to work during the temporary shutdown, said Libba Holland, spokeswoman for Boeing South Carolina.

Some have been working remotely since mid-March and will continue to do so throughout the shutdown, Holland said.

Those who can't work offsite will be paid for 10 working days, and employees will retain all of their health and medical benefits throughout the duration of the shutdown, Holland said.

If the suspension, which will be in effect "until further notice," extends beyond the two weeks that would end April 22, workers will have to tap into their paid time off, vacation or sick leave.

They may also be able to file for unemployment, as the company's idled workers in Washington state can. Production shutdowns in the Evergreen State were initially supposed to last two weeks, ending this Wednesday, but those closures have been extended indefinitely.

During the production shutdown, Boeing South Carolina employees will still be encouraged to notify the company if they test positive for COVID-19. If additional cases are reported, that information will be share with other workers.

As of Tuesday, there were eight confirmed cases of the coronavirus among Boeing's employees in South Carolina.

The company's local workforce could also be affected by another cost-cutting move: a voluntary layoff program announced last week.

In an internal letter, CEO David Calhoun told workers the company's leadership wants to address its "new reality" of declining demand during the pandemic through "natural turnover and voluntary employment actions to the extent we responsibly can."

Calhoun wrote that the actions the company is taking now will carry it through to recovery  "as long as we're not confronted with more unexpected challenges."
He said the onslaught of patients has not been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so far. About 18,000 people were hospitalized, well short of the 90,000 hospital beds statewide, many of which were hurriedly lined up at a convention center and a Navy ship docked in the city.
New Delhi: Actress Zoa Morani, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this week, has shared her health update on Instagram with an extensive note thanking the doctors and other healthcare professionals at the hospital where she is being currently treated. In her post, she initially wrote that she, her sister Shaza and father-film producer Karim Morani have been tested positive for the virus and added that though she has a few symptoms, the other two dont have any.

"My father, sister and I have been tested COVID-19 positive. Papa and Shaza have no symptoms, I have a few.. will be sharing the experiences soon so that others get an idea and I can be of some help, read an excerpt from his post.

She went on to describe her situation and how she is coping up with the disease. It feels like a flu with a bit of uneasiness in the chest.. very bearable if one rests it out, pranayam and hot water have been helping a-lot, Zoa added.

She shared the post on Instagram with the thank you message for the doctors: "Feeling so overwhelmed watching the doctors, nurses and hospital staff taking care of us fearlessly! No words can describe.

Take a look at her post here:

On Monday, Shaza had tested positive for the virus and later, Zoa too got infected. Karim Moranis reports came in on Wednesday. All of them are being treated at different hospitals in Mumbai.

Shaza had returned from Sri Lanka in the first week of March. However, she showed no symptoms but tested positive while Zoa came back from Rajasthan around mid-March, had a few symptoms. She initially tested negative but was found positive for the virus later. The rest of the family members are under quarantine.

Several Bollywood celebs, including Varun Dhawan, Salman Khans sister Arpita Khan Sharma, Ayushmann Khurrana and others have sent their best wishes to the Morani family.

Karim Morani is a well-known name in the industry. He has produced many Bollywood films, including Shah Rukh Khan's 'Ra.One', 'Chennai Express', 'Happy New Year' and 'Dilwale'. Zoa debuted as an actress in 2011 with Always Kabhi Kabhi.
The trans-Atlantic cruise ship Costa Luminosa is moored at Marseille harbour, France, on March 20, 2020. (Clement Mahoudeau/AFP via Getty Images)

Costa Cruises Passenger Sues Over Companys Alleged Mishandling of Virus Response

A former passenger of the Costa Luminosa filed a class-action lawsuit against Costa Cruises on April 7, claiming the cruise line failed to warn passengers about a potential exposure to the CCP virus and placing them at risk.

The plaintiff, identified as Paul Turner of Wisconsin, claims in his lawsuit (pdf) that the cruise line did not inform passengers about an individual who was previously aboard the vessel for a former voyage, who disembarked after displaying symptoms consistent with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Turner was a passenger aboard the Costa Luminosa which left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 5 on a two-week cruise destined for Venice, Italy. By the time it docked in the French port of Marseille, just weeks later, 36 people on board had been infected with the CCP virus.

In his lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, by the law firm of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, the plaintiff alleges the cruise line made an intentional decision to push ahead with the cruise while knowing at least one passenger disembarked with potential symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

The lawsuit also alleges Costa Cruisesowned by the Carnival Corporationdeliberately attempted to conceal this information from passengers aboard the cruise which departed from Florida.

In so doing, Costa subjected over 2,000 passengers to the highly contagious coronavirus, and exposed passengers to actual risk of immediate physical injury and death, court papers state.

Three days after the cruise departed, an elderly couple disembarked at its first stop in Puerto Rico, displaying potential CCP virus symptoms. They were later hospitalized and tested positive for the virus. Four other unwell passengers later disembarked on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife.

The prefecture said that before docking in Marseille, the Costa Luminosa had declared to authorities that 75 people had symptoms of the respiratory disease or had been in contact with people with it.

Turner alleges that the cruise line pushed ahead with the cruise despite being aware of a travel advisory issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 8 recommending Americans avoid all cruise travel.

Instead, they were dragged across the Atlantic in a ticking coronavirus time bomb, the suit alleges.

Put simply, Costa recklessly and intentionally put thousands of its passengers through a living nightmare so it could protect its bottom line.

The plaintiff is seeking all damages available under the law, including punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.

Costa Cruises said in an emailed statement: Costa Crociere confirms that the case has been filed. According to its policy the company does not comment on open judicial cases but places the utmost confidence in the judicial authorities.

Reuters contributed to this report.
DHFLpromoters Kapil and Dheeraj



Wadhawan were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid lockdown, police said.

Police found 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at their farmhouse, an official said.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said a probe will be conducted into this.

"Will probe how the 23 members of the Wadhawan family got permission to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar," Deshmukh tweeted.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases.

They were spotted at their 'Diwan farm house' by civic authorities, officials said.

All 23 people will be booked under section 188 of IPC (disobedience of lawful order of public servant), said a senior official of Mahabaleshwar police station.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States' history and culture can be described using three words: risk-taking, entrepreneurial, and adventurous. Indeed, no other nation can beat the US when it comes to these traits! Since the discovery of the US, it has made a name as the land that always welcomes those who look forward to realizing their dreams.

We will tell the truth here: the US is not perfect, but its systems make it the best for entrepreneurship. It provides freedoms and a strong business culture that make it easy for foreign investors from all over the world to succeed.

If you are looking forward to investing in the US, we are going to look at expert tips and offer you useful information to make the process easy and fast. Furthermore, we will give you helpful economic data that will come in handy when opening a bank account.

A Perfect Place to Live in

Today, the US is one of the most visited nations in the globe, only coming behind France and Spain. But this is not surprising because the US has diverse attractions such as multiple landscapes because of its big surface area. Also, the US is the third-largest country in the world. Forming a company in the US is simple, quick and transparent.

If you take the example of a cross-section, running from California to East Coast, there is everything that you can anticipate for an enthralling experience. You will get canyons, coniferous forests, large rivers, mountains, deserts, green plains, tropical vegetation, and even swamps. Therefore, the US is a paradise that no tourist would want to miss.

In addition to the lovely landscape, the US is also home to major cities that have cut their names in history. These include Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Miami and New York, among others.

In the US, all touring activities are possible. Whether you prefer visiting the cities, hiking, or practice winter sports, they have the best. Simply put, you cannot get bored in the US because there is so much to do for everyone.

And we cannot forget to mention that the US is a nation of excesses. The most notable in this case is the Las Vegas image. Today, the US is the leader in exporting almost everything in different niches.

The US is also known to enjoy one of the most developed infrastructures, together with an enviable living environment. Notably, the gap between the rich and poor that is remarkably high in most developed nations do not prevent people in the US from enjoying the highly developed infrastructure.

Experience the Best Economic Power in the Globe

The US is a known economic power. Well, this might look obvious, but wait until you look at the numbers. In 2018, the US GDP was a breathtaking 20.5 trillion dollars, which is far ahead of China that recorded 13.407 billion dollars. Indeed, even the GDP of the European Union trails the US well with 18.750 billion dollars.

Moving ahead to the GDP per capita, the US is still one of the best in the world. The country has a high GDP per capita of $62,000, which only comes second to the rich and sparsely populated nations.

With the above numbers, it is clear that even the people who try to highlight China as the economy of the future are totally wrong. Indeed, we should not just rely on GDP when evaluating economic progress, but also focus on all the indicators.

Turning to industries, the US is still far ahead of its peers. Think of the largest multinationals, the most innovative, and the most advanced - almost all of them are American.

In the US, the foundation of its firm economic stability is the remarkable freedom for all to run their businesses, just like in China. Starting a business in the US is pretty straightforward. Also, the country's corporate culture is very advanced, and investors can compare the positive image to what they experience in France.

If you want to open a business in the US, there are diverse economic fields to take advantage of. Well, even if 79.5% of GDP comes from service-based enterprises, the industry contributes 19.4% of GDP, which is still significant. Furthermore, the United States is among the major exporters of agricultural products.

New technologies, automotive, financial services, health, consumer goods ... this list of available opportunities is endless. You can also invest your money in real estate in several US estates for fast growth and success. Well, no matter what your investment goals are, there is no doubt has the US has a perfect option for you.
Vexing Nemo: motorboat noise makes clownfish stressed and aggressive

Hormonal changes caused by motorboat noise cause clownfish to hide, skip meals and attack their neighbours  putting damselfish in distress.

Working on the reefs around Moorea in French Polynesia, an international team of scientists  including researchers from the University of Exeter  exposed 40 pairs of clownfish to recordings of natural reef sounds or motorboat noise for up to two days.

Motorboat noise caused clownfish to hide in the protective tentacles of their host anemone, move less into open water to feed and to be more aggressive towards domino damselfish that also reside in the anemone.

The researchers  from France, Chile and the UK  also found that noise-affected anemonefish were unable to respond appropriately to a second stressor, likely putting them at greater risk from threats such as predators and climate change.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, found noise-exposed fish had elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol and the reproductive hormones testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone, which corresponded with observed behavioural changes.

These measurable hormones offer a window into complex behaviours and could be used to develop new noise-mitigation tools.

Lead author, Associate Professor Suzanne Mills at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) PSL Universite Paris, CRIOBE, France, said: The high cortisol levels after two days of exposure suggest that clownfish become chronically stressed by motorboat noise.

This compromises the stress response system, leaving clownfish unable to mount appropriate responses to further stressful events.

If these stressful events include a predator, motorboat noise could have grave implications.

Ricardo Beldade, Associate Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and previously with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at CRIOBE, said: Clownfish defended their anemone territory aggressively during motorboat noise, which requires more energy.

However, as the fish hid more and moved less to feed, even after the motorboat noise had passed, they may be unable to compensate through more foraging, with potentially detrimental impacts on growth and even survival.

Andy Radford, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Bristol, said: Experiments that consider behaviour of wild animals in natural conditions  as we have done in this study  are crucial if we are to understand fully the impact of anthropogenic noise.

Our results highlight that behavioural changes caused by anthropogenic noise are likely underpinned by alterations in the stress response (cortisol) and certain steroid hormones.

Dr Sophie Nedelec, University of Exeter, said: Now we know that hormonal responses are the mechanisms driving behavioural changes to motorboat noise, they can be a useful tool in regulation.

We might be able to predict the duration and/or interval times of motorboat noise exposure that allow individuals to return to normal behaviour.

Steve Simpson, Professor of Marine Biology & Global Change at the University of Exeter, added: Hormonal responses to different boat engines, propeller designs and spatial management of boating activities can be compared to reduce the impact of this globally prevalent pollutant.

Hormonal responses are currently under-utilised as a tool for measuring biological impacts when developing best approaches for managing the noise of the 100,000s of motorboats used around the world.

Mills summarised: Our new findings highlight the need to control man-made noise in marine protected habitats.

Date: 9 April 2020

Read more University News
Kosovo's outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti says he will not immediately respond to President Hashim Thaci's request to nominate a new candidate to form a government because he is busy fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

Kurti was toppled on March 25 and his Self-Determination (VV) party, the largest in parliament, was supposed to renominate him or find a replacement within 15 days.

The no-confidence vote was called by the VV's coalition partners, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), amid disagreements over the government's approach to the coronavirus crisis.

Kurti and the VV insist that no new coalition is possible during the crisis and that early elections must be held as soon as possible.

Thaci, Kurti's main rival, is calling for a government of national unity to tackle the crisis.

Thaci and Kurti have stepped up their attacks on each other since the coronavirus outbreak began, even challenging the measures proposed or put into place to suppress the spread of the disease.

"We will respond to the president at an appropriate time, but I cannot say that we will do so now. We will not leave the president without an answer, but the country can't be left without good governance," Kurti said in a telephone interview with RFE/RL from Pristina on April 9.

"The emergency was to fight this pandemic, not to overthrow the government, and pulling the strings to get a new government the way the president is doing, is even less urgent," Kurti said.

He added that even if Kosovo gets a new government, "there could be no priority other than fighting the pandemic."

Kosovar authorities have reported 224 cases so far, including six deaths.

Kurti said that once his outgoing government has brought the outbreak under control, Kosovo must hold early parliamentary elections.

Disagreements Over Curfews

However, all the political parties, except Kurti's VV, support the creation of a new government rather than organizing snap polls.

Kosovo's Constitutional Court on March 31 ruled that curfews ordered by Kurti to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country violated the constitution.

The court, acting on a motion filed by Thaci, ordered the government to repeal the measures within two weeks. According to the court's ruling, the measures will become invalid as of April 13. Thaci also urged citizens not to respect Kurti's curfews, saying such measures can only be declared under a state of emergency.

Asked if he will declare a state of emergency after April 13, Kurti said, "there is no need to declare a state of emergency because the state system has not collapsed, and the institutions are carrying out the tasks they were given by the government."

"There is no system failure so that we need to declare a state of emergency," Kurti said.

After April 13, each municipality will decide by itself on the movement limitations, Kurti said.

Pristina recently lifted the 100 percent tariffs on Serbian goods and services imposed in November 2018 in response to Belgrade's continued lobbying for countries to reverse their recognition of Kosovo, a former province of Serbias. But Kurti's government replaced the tariffs with reciprocal measures.

The tariffs' imposition was initially supported by Kurti but has angered the United States and European Union. The United States has also opposed the reciprocal measures introduced by Kurti.

Asked about Kosovo's relationship with the United States, Kurti said, "I am convinced that the alliance and partnership between the Republic of Kosovo and the United States of America is inseparable and does not depend on the Kosovo governments or presidents."

"I believe that the United States needs a strong Kosovo, a Kosovo that protects its own interests and thus strengthens the alliance with the United States."
Vietnamese universities have devised flexible plans to ensure final-year students can graduate despite the extended school closure due to COVID-19.

HUTECH University holds an online thesis defence session amid the pandemic.  Photo thanhnien.vn

Bui Hoai Thang, head of the HCM City University of Technologys Training Department, said though the graduation ceremony, which was initially scheduled to take place in April, would be delayed, final-year students who defended their theses in November 2019 could receive their degrees before the ceremony.

Other students who were in their last semester at the university can choose to defend their theses in July or September.

Instead of handing over physical copies of theses like in previous years, the HCM City University of Transport (UT) has allowed students to email them to professors.

Therefore, students who have received enough credits can graduate as planned, Tran Thien Luu, head of the universitys Department of Training, told Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

The HCM City University of Food Industry asked all final-year students to work on their theses instead of choosing to take alternative modules as in previous years.

Hoang Thi Thoa, deputy director of the schools Admissions Office, said they would receive online guidance from professors to complete their work and only need to take practice tests whenever they returned to school.

The adjustment will allow them to graduate in July or August.

Final-year students who are eligible to graduate can receive their temporary degrees and transcripts from April 1 to 10 despite the delayed graduation ceremony.

Meanwhile, other universities have announced the suspension of graduation due to the pandemic.

The University of Finance  Marketing postponed its graduation ceremony from March 24 until further notice.

The university extended the deadline for the submission of theses and other supporting documents to August 3 and July 14, respectively.

HUTECH University said they had not set a final plan for students to receive their degrees. However, it had organised online theses defence sessions for final-year students.

If the university opens on May 4, graduation will be delayed by two months compared to previous years, said a university representative.

Since March, the University of Water Management has been granting temporary diplomas and transcripts online for final-year students who earned enough credits.

Some 23.5 millions of Vietnamese students have been studying from home since February following the complicated developments of COVID-19.

The national high-school examination, a major event that decide whether students get into the universities of their choice or not, has been rescheduled to take place in August instead of July.  VNS

Two Vietnamese universities listed in global rankings The Hanoi National University (HNU) and the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) have found a place in the World University Rankings by Subject 2020 compiled by British education company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
Australia has recorded fewer than 100 coronavirus infections in 24 hours for the first time in three weeks in an apparent sign strict lockdowns are working.

However, people are being strongly urged to follow social distancing rules over Easter to make sure there is no resurgence in cases.

More than 6000 Australians have had the coronavirus and 51 people have died, but Health Minister Greg Hunt says the low rate of new cases is an 'exceptionally important development.'

The daily infection rate has dropped below two per cent, with 85 new cases recorded on Thursday, the lowest since 79 on March 17, compared to a peak of 469 new cases on March 28.

However, Australia still has a long way to go, Mr Hunt said, with concerns remaining about the 10 per cent of cases contracted from an unknown source.

Australia has recorded fewer than 100 coronavirus infections in 24 hours for the first time in three weeks thanks to strict lockdown measures (medical professionals are seen preparing COVID-19 tests for members of the public at the Bondi Beach drive-through COVID-19 testing centre in Sydney, Monday, April 6, 2020)

Lockdown and social distancing measures have been shown to significantly reduce the number of COVID-19 infections

'Very significantly, the curve continues to flatten. Fewer cases, fewer risks, fewer lives at risk  but we still have a huge way to go,' Mr Hunt said on Thursday.

'The virus does not take a holiday. Therefore, none of us can relax in what we do.

'This, in many ways, is the most important weekend we may face in the whole course of the virus.

'This weekend there is good news for Australia, but there is a warning that we can either lock in the gains or lose those gains.'

METHODS TO STOP CORONAVIRUS SPREADING Infected people can spread a contagion to others via direct or indirect exposure. An outbreak will continue to expand if the average number of people infected by each carrier is greater than one. SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES Prohibiting group gatherings, closing borders, advising people keep 1.5 metres apart, and confining people to their homes has been shown to halt the spread of coronavirus. In this method the public does not gain immunity in large numbers and the virus could re-surge dramatically if controls are lifted. HERD IMMUNITY People who recover from COVID-19 develop antibodies and immunity. As the virus spreads through the population and more people develop immunity there are less people the virus can infect. If enough people have immunity the outbreak will die away. It is estimated about 30 per cent of people who catch the virus will not show symptoms and for many more the symptoms will not be serious. This method produces a spike in infections which can overwhelm the healthcare system resulting in large numbers of fatalities. VACCINES A COVID-19 vaccine would be the safest and most effective way of controlling the outbreak. There are several vaccines currently in development though they need to be tested which can take many months. If a vaccine is rushed without proper testing there may be side-effects and complications. Advertisement

The government has inked a $31.3 million deal with an Australian company to produce thousands of extra ventilators onshore to ensure adequate supply.

Meanwhile, the national cabinet decided on Thursday to end an exemption on quarantine requirements for airline crews.

Those on planes arriving in Australia will now have to quarantine themselves at home or in a hotel for 14 days or until their next flight out of the country.

It came as the federal government announced three rescue flights from Peru, Argentina and South Africa for Australians stranded by the pandemic.

Those flights are expected next week while a separate government rescue flight returned about 280 Australians from Peru on Thursday.

More than 6000 Australians have had the coronavirus and 51 people have died, but Health Minister Greg Hunt says the low rate of new cases is an 'exceptionally important development'

A morning walker passes a closed off entrance to Surfers Paradise Beach on Gold Coast

Police work with customers at Sydney Fish Markets to maintain social distancing and staff at the markets are seen hand sanitising and temperature checking every customer

The cabinet also agreed on a national approach to giving households and businesses hit by the virus relief on their water, power and rates bills.

After several weeks of discussion every few days, the cabinet comprising the prime minister and state leaders isn't planning on meeting again until next Thursday.

It was expected to have decided on the way forward for students in their final year of school, but made no mention of the issue in the meeting statement.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan earlier in the week promised Year 12 students wouldn't face an extra year of study to complete school and rejected suggestions of mass repeating.

The Australian National University has decided to offer final year school students places for 2021 based on their 2019 Year 11 academic achievements.

Medical experts insist schools are safe, but governments are still urging parents to keep their kids home if they can.

For the majority of students, term two will involve online learning.

Federal parliament on Wednesday night passed a $130 billion scheme to provide wage subsidies for up to six million Australian workers.

Barricading is seen at The Spit car park on the Gold Coast, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. The Gold Coast City Council is closing all car parks to beaches on the Gold Coast in a deterrent to travellers heading to the beach over the Easter weekend

A man has his temperature checked outside the Sydney Fish Market in Sydney, Thursday, April 9, 2020

Employees working for coronavirus-affected businesses will get $1500 fortnightly payments designed to keep people linked to their jobs during the crisis.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the debt will last for years, but made no apology for spending what's necessary in the circumstances.

'When it comes to our spending we don't want to have it going for one day longer than is absolutely necessary,' he told ABC radio.

'That's why we put sunset clauses in place and we'll continue to assess the situation as it goes on.'

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the government could have spent less in some areas by ensuring business can't double up on employees taking leave as well as the new payments.

He expected parliament to sit before its planned August return to fill in unforeseen gaps in the legislation, including in relation to child care and temporary workers.

Early childhood educator Josephine wipes down tables and bench tops with disinfectant at the Robertson Street Kindy Childcare Centre in Helensburgh south of Sydney, Friday, April 3, 2020
Its the classic Michigan weather pattern today of wait five minutes and it will change. Whats even more interesting is all of the different precipitation types falling from the sky. So its also the proverbial every thing but the kitchen sink falling out of the sky.

As I warned you yesterday, the current upper-air pattern is prime for making this on again, off again weather.

One interesting type of precipitation that many have been sharing on MLives Michigan Weather Facebook page is called graupel.

Freeland now Posted by Nancy Gagnier on Thursday, April 9, 2020

Nancy Gagnier of Freeland, Michigan shot this video of the graupel falling.

Graupel looks like tiny snowballs, and is different from hail and sleet. Graupel forms when falling snowflakes collide with raindrops. The snowflakes get sticky and stick together in a clump of snowflakes. The falling motion rounds off the flakes, and makes a tiny, slightly bouncy snowball.

source: NOAA

Hail and sleet are not graupel. Hail is a chunk of precipitation totally made of ice and falling from a thunderstorm. Hail can become much larger than graupel. Monday nights severe weather outbreak was a great example of hail. Hail is formed when raindrops in thunderstorms are sucked into the central updraft in the storm. The liquid drops are shoved higher in the atmosphere and then freeze. Larger hail stones can make several trips up and down in a storm, getting coated with water at low levels and re-freezing at higher levels. Finally the hailstones grow so large they cant be held up by the central updraft, and the stones fall to the ground.

Sleet can also be called ice pellets. Sleet is a raindrop that entirely freezes as the raindrop falls to the ground. Sleet will bounce high when it hits the ground. Sleet will look like a mini ice cube.

Convection is common when graupel is forming. This means you could have lightning and thunder during a graupel shower.

Keep your eye on the window. You will see everything but the kitchen sink falling out of the sky today through Friday. With this crazy weather you might even see a kitchen sink falling.
In 2015, Volkswagen came under fire for cheating emissions standards with their diesel vehicles.

Around 100,000 claimants will now be compensated in Germany following a lawsuit, with individuals to receive between 1,400 and 6,200 depending on the model and age of their vehicle. However, Luxembourger Laurent Kneip, who participated in the class action, will not be compensated. RTL spoke to Kneip about his case.



Kneip, along with around 35,000 other Luxembourg residents, was affected by the diesel scandal. He joined the class action in Germany, but was told he could not receive compensation as he is not a German resident. In Luxembourg, the absence of the relevant laws meant no class action could take place. However, four other VW owners in the Grand Duchy are currently taking legal action against the car manufacturer.

In Germany, more than 260,000 clients will receive compensation, as long as they purchased the vehicle prior to 31 December 2015 and registered for the class action. Compensation will be begin to paid from May onwards.

Volkswagen recently lost the first stage of a High Court case in Great Britain, after a judge ruled the manufacturer had installed illegal software in diesel cars. Around 91,000 clients have the right to compensation.

In the USA, customers were compensated in the wake of the scandal in late 2016. EU member states have expressed the desire to allow class action to take place across borders, which could positively impact those affected in Luxembourg, for example.
[April 09, 2020] Benchmark Plays Crucial Role With Engineering and Manufacturing Services in the Global Fight Against COVID-19

TEMPE, Ariz., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE), a global provider of engineering, design, and manufacturing services, is a major contributor to essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The customers Benchmark serves are key players in the global effort to keep communication channels open, build and maintain computing infrastructure, and manufacture and distribute essential products around the globe. These include medical devices that allow healthcare professionals to prevent, test, and treat the coronavirus. This is in addition to products needed for transportation, energy, semiconductor capital equipment, information technology equipment, communications, food and agriculture, chemical manufacturing, nuclear facilities, and the defense industrial base. "We are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for our employees while they help us do our part in the fight against COVID-19," said Jeff Benck, president and CEO, Benchmark. "While following the WHO and CDC guidelines to determine the best operating status for each global site, it's imperative that Benchmark continues to support essential providers by maintaining high quality prodction of products and infrastructure that people rely upon when it matters most during these unprecedented times."



Since its inception over 40 years ago as a medical device manufacturer, Benchmark has been partnering with some of the largest medical companies in the world. These customers are now focusing their efforts on developing solutions which directly contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Benchmark has joined them on the front lines to help solve their most advanced challenges and supply healthcare professionals with the technology they need. Some of the critical products Benchmark is helping to design, test, or manufacture for its medical customers include ventilators, portable x-ray units, chest scanning devices, nitric oxide treatment systems, diagnostic equipment, and infusion pumps for temporary hospitals. Additionally, Benchmark is manufacturing two transformational COVID-19 PCR testing products that yield results within an hour, one for COVID-19 and one for sepsis, a common condition in COVID-19 patients.

"One of the major challenges the medical industry is facing during the COVID-19 pandemic is ensuring there are enough resources available to test and treat patients," said Todd Martensen, vice president of Benchmark's Medical Sector. "Benchmark is leveraging our global facilities to meet the production needs of our medical customers so they can provide life-saving devices to healthcare professionals on the front lines." To learn more about Benchmark's contributions to the fight against COVID-19 as well as its commitment to personnel safety, please visit www.bench.com/covid19. About Benchmark Benchmark provides comprehensive solutions across the entire product life cycle; leading through its innovative technology and engineering design services; leveraging its optimized global supply chain; and delivering world-class manufacturing services in the following industries: commercial aerospace, defense, advanced computing, next generation telecommunications, complex industrials, medical, and semiconductor capital equipment. Benchmark's global operations include facilities in seven countries and its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHE.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benchmark-plays-crucial-role-with-engineering-and-manufacturing-services-in-the-global-fight-against-covid-19-301038266.html SOURCE Benchmark Electronics, Inc.

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UK Blocks Sabre Acquisition of Farelogix as Anticompetitive

A few days after a U.S. federal court refused to stand in the way of Sabres pending $360 million acquisition of rival Farelogix, the UK Competition and Markets Authority blocked the merger on the grounds that it would stifle innovation and competition.

We recognise that our decision in this inquiry comes at a time of uncertainty and disruption in the global travel industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Martin Coleman, chair of the UK competition bodys inquiry group in a statement. It remains important that we protect competition among businesses that provide services to airlines and the benefits such competition can bring for airlines and passengers. We never take decisions to block mergers lightly and in this case the evidence of harm is clear.

A Sabre spokesperson, responding to the ruling, said the company would mull its next steps.

We are disappointed by the CMAs findings, particularly in light of the U.S. federal courts ruling, which found that Sabres acquisition of Farelogix is not anti-competitive and should not be prohibited, the Sabre spokeswoman said. We are reviewing the CMAs findings and will carefully consider our options.

Before the April 7 decision in the United States, Sabres legal team had pressed the federal court in Delaware to hasten a decision on the competition litigation between Sabre and the U.S. Department of Justice because the UK decision was due this week. Sabre argued  incorrectly, it turns out  that the UK would be unlikely to go against a U.S. court decision favorable to Sabre, especially because Farelogixs business is relatively small in the UK.

Get the Latest on Coronavirus and the Travel Industry on Skifts Liveblog

The UKs competition authority looked at the issue from a different lens than the U.S. Department of Justice, which opposed the merger as anticompetitive, and the U.S. federal court in part because the UK body gauged the impact for UK consumers alone.

Story continues

The UK markets authority found that Sabres proposed acquisition of Farelogix would reduce competition because both companies are investing heavily in developing airline ancillary services for distribution to travel agencies, and Sabre would be unlikely to continue to develop its own solutions if the deal goes through. These optional services for airline passengers include the ability to purchase in advance seats with extra legroom, Wi-Fi, and meals, for example.

Following its in-depth Phase 2 investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Sabres purchase of Farelogix could result in less innovation in their services, leading to fewer new features that may be released more slowly, the UK competition authority stated. Fees for certain products might also go up. As a result, airlines, travel agents and UK passengers would be worse off.

The UK competition authority found that airlines, and ultimately their passengers, will lose out from both this lack of innovation and the insufficient competition between the remaining companies in the market.

In addition to developing airline ancillary service solutions for third-party distribution, both Sabre and Farelogix provide connectivity for travel agencies, including large travel management companies. The UK competition body found that Farelogix provides airlines with an attractive connectivity alternative to Sabre.

The CMA considers that Farelogixs continued independence will likely help motivate Sabre to innovate further, giving airlines more choices in connecting to travel agents that will allow tickets and extra products to be sold through travel agents in more innovative ways, the authority stated.

The UK ruling leaves Sabres proposed acquisition of Farelogix hanging with its fate a question mark. The U.S. Justice Department still has the option of appealing the adverse April 7 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Delaware.

In reaction to the Delaware ruling, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said Wednesday: At trial, the Antitrust Division argued that Sabres acquisition of Farelogix would extinguish a crucial constraint on Sabres market power and would result in higher prices and less innovation. While we are disappointed with the courts decision, we appreciate the courts thoughtful consideration of this important case. We will closely review the courts opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of the American consumer.

It likely that Sabre will enter into additional dialogue with the UK Competition and Markets Authority, or mull new litigation.

Some had argued prior to these developments in the United States and United Kingdom that given the duress that the entire travel industry, including Sabre and Farelogix, faces because of the coronavirus pandemic that perhaps Sabre would back out of the merger. That remains a possibility, although there have no such signals to date that Sabres taste for the acquisition has soured.

Note: This story has been updated to include a statement about the U.S. Justice Department about the adverse decision in the Delaware federal court.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois health officials are giving their daily update on the state's response to COVID-19.

Pritzker said this is the 32nd straight day that he has given the updates, and he wanted to spend time highlighting positive developments and people who are working to help others.

The governor said case numbers and the death toll are still growing, but there are signs that Illinois is beginning to "bend the curve" so that the numbers grow more slowly.

"It's all of you, the families and individual residents of Illinois, who are making the biggest difference in our fight against COVID-19," the governor said.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said there have been 1,344 new cases and 66 additional deaths in the last 24 hours. That brings the state's total cases to 16,422, with a total of 528 deaths.

She said state labs are working around the clock, seven days a week, to process tests.

"This pandemic is certainly testing the public health system," Ezike said, praising the state's health workers for their tireless efforts.

"We are all making sacrifices and I'm asking you to stay the course.," she said. "We are headed in the right direction because of all the tremendous efforts by all of you."

Pritzker initially closed schools and restaurants and bars on March 13, then issued the stay-at-home order March 21. The period was to end April 7, but on March 31, he extended it until the end of April.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

This story will be updated.

Contact Allison Petty at (217) 421-6986. Follow her on Twitter: @AllisonAPetty

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New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.

The majority is clearly European, said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review.

A separate team at N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine came to strikingly similar conclusions, despite studying a different group of cases. Both teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.
Over the next few weeks, as the Coronavirus pandemic continues, we will shift from dining out at restaurants to dining at home with takeout. Our intent is to reflect the diversity of dining options, including cost and cuisine, in the Syracuse area just as we do with Dining Out reviews.

The enormous white box and a bottle of Forge Cellars Seneca Lake dry riesling was set on the childrens picnic table sitting on my front porch, a contactless delivery so ever present amid the coronavirus pandemic. A simple wave between the driver and me was as close as I would get to anyone involved with the Social  From a Distance virtual dinner party on April 3.
A police constable was attached to police lines here on Thursday for allegedly physically assaulting two resident doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said Deputy Inspector General of Police Irshad Wali.

Police officers are usually attached with lines when they are divested of all important works pending an enquiry against them.

The decision comes after the Resident Doctors' Association at AIIMS Bhopal wrote a letter to the Director of the institute earlier today demanding strict action against the policeman.

According to the association, two of PG Residents from Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology were returning from the Emergency duty from hospital at about 7 pm on April 8 when a few policemen tried to hit them with lathis and stopped their two wheeler.

"Both residents then showed their ID cards and informed them that they are returning from their emergency duty. Still the policemen snatched and threw their stuff away and hit the doctors on their hands and legs with lathi and simultaneously abusing both of them and saying that doctors are the reason for spreading of coronavirus to common men," the letter read.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As in other countries, the people of Gibraltar are in lockdown and have to stay at home unless essential. However, this does not mean they are remaining passive in the fight to stop the Covid-19 virus.

Health minister Paul Balban announced this week that the Gibraltar Health Authority had received over one million pounds in donations from individuals, companies and associations to enable it to continue its vital work and invest in necessary equipment. This was not a government initiative - in fact, at the start of the crisis they reassured the community that they were able to fund the measures that were necessary - but people began asking how they could make a contribution and so a process was set up. The minister said he had "no words" to describe their generosity.

Also on the subject of money, it appears that staff at Morrisons will benefit from a UK scheme to give them a larger bonus than usual, which in many cases will total over 1,000, in thanks for their efforts during the crisis. The money will be paid in quarterly stages over a year, and also applies to staff who are off sick or in self-isolation.

Others are playing their part on a different front, helping to ensure supplies of equipment. One local company, Spirit of the Rock, is normally known for its gin which is sold to bars and restaurants under the brand name Campion, but for a few weeks now it has been producing hand sanitiser instead, in the same way as similar distilleries in the UK.

On the medical side of dealing with the coronavirus a Gibraltarian doctor, Nick Cortes, is part of a team in the UK which has developed new tests for the virus which can give results in five minutes, instead of up to a day.

Gibraltar's Director of Health, Sohail Bhatti, has welcomed the news, as it will speed up the testing process considerably, and says the GHA is now waiting for antibody tests which will enable the authorities to find out whether somebody has had the virus.

This week the results came through of a swab test which had been taken from a local man in his fifties, who was taken ill and died. At the time it was feared that he was the first person in Gibraltar to die from the disease, but the tests proved negative and it was confirmed that he had died from cardiac arrest.

The figures in Gibraltar have been encouraging all week, but the government insists that it is too soon to assume that the illness has peaked.
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I have been writing columns for physicians for twenty years. And year after year, I have had physicians say this: Im glad you said what you did. If I said it, Id be fired. There are variations on the theme, but theyre much the same. Twenty years, and far more than 20 years, during which the alleged health care leaders in America have been routinely muzzled because they arent supposed to speak the truth. Open discussions shut down because they might embarrass someone or upset an administrator. Because it might, heaven forbid, shine a light on a genuine problem.

Some years ago, as the mental health crisis was gathering steam across the emergency departments of the land, I was contacted by a news show in France. The producers wanted to come to South Carolina and follow me on some shifts in my ED. They wanted to see how mental health was working out here. We have socialized care, but mental health is also a huge problem in our country, the producer said.

I dutifully, and appropriately, went to administration. No, we cant do that, I was informed. I was given this explanation when everyone knew the mental health system was at the breaking point: What if they uncover a problem? Here was a chance for publicity, for potential grant money or to demonstrate that a political solution was in order. How dare we let in fresh air? How dare we suggest that things were not perfect?

The same thing is happening in the midst of the pandemic. Physicians, nurses, and other assorted health care professionals are being threatened for wearing masks. Administrators say, They make the patients nervous. Also likely, administrators have realized they dont have adequate equipment. Facilities and systems with enormous budgets caught unprepared in a pandemic.

I see the stories of these professionals as I follow online forums. Physicians, nurses, and others, threatened with firing because they dared to speak out on the issue of PPE (personal protective equipment).

Like police officers without ballistic vests, these physicians dont want to go into the rooms of COVID-19 patients without the masks and respirators, gloves, gowns, and face shields that will keep them safe. The equipment that will allow them to return home to their loved ones and prevent them from infecting their families. This isnt a good look. A hospital that refuses to acknowledge the concerns and safety of its professionals is a hospital that ultimately doesnt deserve them.

The same veil of silence pervades dialogue on the treatment of coronavirus. When I follow discussions, I see a lot of shaming. There just isnt enough evidence to try hydroxychloroquine, Zithromax, convalescent plasma, an untried vaccine, HIV drugs, etc. Those who suggest we might try are considered reckless or ignorant. As the battle rages and lives are lost, innovation and risk are viewed with disdain. And our medical establishment is locked into the paradigm of double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies involving tens of thousands of people and lasting years. Heres a view of the same from the U.K. Unfortunately, to suggest that we may need to react faster is only met with ridicule, and often tied to political views instead of expediency. Worse, it ignores the deep, fundamental need to offer hope, any hope, to hundreds of millions of professionals and citizens who are living in fear.

There is a tragic irony here; a painful coincidence. Physicians silenced. Lets see. Where did we see that sort of thing resulting in a worldwide pandemic? Does China come to mind? The Chinese Communist Party threatened (and who knows what else) physicians who dared to speak out about coronavirus, even when they knew its danger. Even when they knew how easily and widely it spread.

They continued to soft-peddle numbers about total cases and case fatality. The party continued to allow travel to and from China long after the problem was known. They even suggested that Italians have a hug a Chinese person campaign to combat alleged racism; a charge delightfully accepted and repeated by gullible Western journalists in pursuit of a narrative.

Truth dies in silence. Sadly, so do people. And certainly when we tell dedicated health care professionals to keep their mouths shut when they have identified problems, offered solutions and simply asked for help. Whether its a private business, a totalitarian government, or anything in between, we should insist that the truth be spoken; freely and without fear of punishment.

Because, for the foreseeable future, lives will depend on it.

Edwin Leap is an emergency physician who blogs at edwinleap.com and is the author of the Practice Test and Life in Emergistan. This article originally appeared in Greenville News.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer at Google LLC, speaks during the Google Cloud Next '19 event in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

Google has received clearance from federal regulators to operate a sub-sea level cable system after saying it needs more connectivity capacity.

The company applied for the clearance on April 2, saying it had an "immediate need" as it saw a potential for its systems to reach maximum capacity in the Asia-Pacific region within the next six months, according to a Wednesday decision by the U.S. Department of Justice and backed by the departments of Homeland Security and Defense. Without the clearance, Google told regulators, it would likely have to seek alternative capacity at "significantly higher prices."

Pending final documents with the FCC, the subsea cable network, which Google calls the Pacific Light Cable Network System, will run from the United States to Taiwan for the next six months.

The recent filing comes after executives said it has plenty of capacity to meet the higher demand for products like YouTube as consumers stay home in coronavirus quarantines. Addressing an outage in late March, Google's Senior VP of Technical Infrastructure Urs Holzle chalked it up to a software bug in a third party router. Shortly after, he wrote in a blog post that "peak traffic levels are well within our ability to handle the load."

Google announced in late March that it would temporarily default all videos on YouTube to standard definition as it sees increased usage. Recent brief outages on Google's Cloud Platform led to failures at Gmail, Snapchat and Google's smart home division, Nest, according to several reports.

The company operates cables both on land and undersea to ensure speedy and reliable access to its services. Last year, the company launched Equiano, a cable network from Africa to Europe.

"We recognize the importance of Google services at a time like this and are committed to adding capacity to stay ahead of demand," A Google spokesperson told CNBC. "Our dedicated global network deployment and operations team is continually increasing capacity to meet the needs of our users, and that includes our subsea cable system."
Kamal Haasan, the veteran actor has recently made headlines with his open letter to the honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. In the letter, the actor-turned-politician had criticised the implementation of the 21-days lockdown which was imposed to control the spread of novel coronavirus, calling it 'ill-planned'. Kamal Haasan's open letter had created a huge stir among the netizens.

As per the latest reports from the believable sources, Lyca Productions, the banner which bankrolls Kamal Haasan's upcoming project Indian 2, is upset with the actor's open letter. If the reports are to be believed, the production banner feels that the actor is inviting trouble for their prestigious project, by going against the government in the period of crisis.

The relationship between Kamal Haasan and Lyca Productions had hit a rough patch after the unfortunate accident that had happened on the sets of Indian 2, in February 2020. The shooting of the movie was discontinued after the accident that resulted in the death of three technicians. It was also rumoured that the Shankar directorial might get dropped, as Kamal and the production banner are in loggerheads.

However, the latest reports suggest that Indian 2 is not shelved yet, and Lyca Productions wants to revive the project once the all Indian lockdown comes to an end. That is the reason behind the production banner's displeasure over Kamal Haasan's stand against the government. As per the updates, the Lyca team feels that this row will add an unnecessary political angle to the Shankar directorial.

Indian 2, which is a sequel to the duo Kamal Haasan-Shankar's 1996-released blockbuster Indian, is unarguably one of the most anticipated upcoming projects of Tamil cinema. The Ulaganayakan of Tamil cinema is reprising his highly celebrated character Senapathy in the second installment, which is said to be a mega-budget venture.

Also Read:

Kamal Haasan Trolled For Criticising PM Narendra Modi's Decision Of 21 Days Lockdown For COVID-19
More than 3,380 of the states 75,000 residents of long-term care, dementia and assisted living facilities have tested positive for coronavirus in New Jersey as officials continue planning a coordinated response to help those centers, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Thursday.

During the states daily coronavirus press briefing, Persichilli said 262 long-term care facilities, which includes nursing homes and veterans homes, are reporting at least one COVID-19 case.

Health officials are requiring facilities to isolate positive patients on separate units or floors, but some do not have the space, Persichilli said. Select facilities will soon be designated only for coronavirus patients, she said.

We continue to work on a statewide plan to assist long-term care facilities that do not have the sufficient physical space to be able to cohort COVID positive patients on a separate floor or a separate wing, Persichilli said. Ive been in contact with several facilities who are preparing to accept COVID positive patients only in locations in the North, Central and Southern regions."

Persichilli said inspection teams have been in contact with all facilities with positive cases and plan to visit some of them.

In total, New Jersey has at least 47,437 coronavirus cases, with 1,700 deaths, but long-term care facilities, with their elderly and vulnerable populations, have been hard hit. Of the 198 new coronavirus deaths reported Thursday, 20 were residents of long-term care facilities.

As the outbreak races through New Jersey, families have reported being unable to get timely, accurate information from nursing homes caring for their loved ones.

The state Department of Health recently issued a directive for nursing homes to notify staff, residents and their families about COVID-19 cases, with notices being sent out within 24 hours of learning of an infected person.

Understaffing at nursing homes has also become an issue, with employees either forced to call out with symptoms or afraid of bringing the virus home. Some facilities are using agency nurses are to fill staffing gaps amid massive call outs.

The ability of the facility to be flexible and adapt is all strained right now, said New Jersey Long-Term Care Ombudsman Laurie Brewer. We had a report from one facility where just one nurse showed up for a whole shift. She was providing care, administering meds and serving meals all by herself for one entire unit.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Another person tested COVID-19 positive on Thursday here taking the total confirmed coronavirus cases in Assam to 29, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The patient was in contact with a man, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, the minister said.

Both of them are from Dhubri, however, it is not yet confirmed whether the new case had attended the relied patient attended the Jamaat event.

Meanwhile, the condition of the 65-year old retired BSF personnel from Hailakandi district, is alarming and he has been shifted to the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Sarma said.

The patient's other "parameters are stable but his oxygen saturation is decreasing and has been shifted to ICU of SMCH for better monitoring", he said.

The patient was confirmed COVID-19 positive on Tuesday night and had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event, with a travel history to Saudi Arabia.

There was no new case reported in the state on Wednesday and 27 of the 29 confirmed cases are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the minister said.

Sarma on Thursday visited the people who were stuck along the Assam-West Bengal border at Sriramour as they were in transit the day lockdown was imposed.

"They have completed their 14-day quarantine and we have initiated the process to send them back home after check up. I visited and enquired about their health with my colleagues," the minister said.

All people who arrived here from coronavirus affected countries or other states should remain under strict home isolation for 28 days from the date of arrival in Assam, irrespective of whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, the first batch of doctors, nurses and health workers attending to COVID-19 patients and quarantined patients, who completed their first week of duties, have proceeded to the mandatory 14-days of quarantine to designated places, including a five-star hotel, whose expenses will be borne by the state government, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amazon.com Inc. is testing the use of disinfectant fog at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York starting on Tuesday, the company told Reuters, following worker protests over the risk of coronavirus infection at the site.

The measure shows how the worlds largest online retailer is aiming to increase safety cleaning without closing facilities essential to its operation, as some workers and elected officials have demanded.

Amazon said it is trying out disinfectant fog as used by airlines and hospitals to further sanitize its facilities. The pilot program follows an announcement last week that the company would check workers temperature and make masks available at all U.S. and European sites in its operations network.

We continue to explore even more preventative measures to support the health and safety of employees, who are providing a critical service in our communities, Amazon said in a statement.

The New York warehouse, known internally as JFK8, is one of several locations where small groups of Amazon employees have walked out to highlight the risks they face from working where colleagues have become infected with the virus, which causes the sometimes deadly COVID-19 respiratory illness.

The virus has led to at least 80,000 deaths globally and infected more than 1.4 million people  including workers at more than 50 Amazon facilities, according to a New York Times report. New York is currently the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with by far the most confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths.

The company has said it is requiring staff to keep safe distances from each other.

The Staten Island warehouse drew particular attention after Amazon fired an employee on paid quarantine for participating in a protest last week that he helped organize.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union called on company executives to resign after an internal document leaked, in which Amazons general counsel described that employee as not smart, or articulate.

The general counsel then issued a statement saying frustration over the health risks created by the employee had clouded his judgment.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot)

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance New York Amazon
Two planeloads of Eastern European farmhands arrived on Thursday in Berlin and Duesseldorf amid strict precautions to protect the country from the new coronavirus as an ambitious German program to import seasonal workers to help work the fields got underway.

Seasonal workers had been caught up in the country's ban on travel after the outbreak of the coronavirus, leaving a massive deficit in personnel available to pick asparagus, which has already sprouted, and plant other crops in German fields, which employed some 300,000 such workers last year.

Most of those workers came from Eastern European countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Hungary, where wages are much lower than Germany, Europe's largest economy.

Under the new program, workers need to fly in to the country in controlled groups to prevent the possible infection of others en route and are subject to medical checks upon arrival. They then have to live and work separately from other farmhands for two weeks, and wear protective gear.

Ahead of time, interested workers have to register online and have their information checked by federal police. Farmers needing help register online with Eurowings, the airline contracted to bring the workers in, saying when they're needed and where.

So far, 9,900 people had registered for April and another 4,300 for May.

Flights are then organized to bring in groups, and the first group of workers, 530 people from Romania, arrived on Thursday in Duesseldorf and Berlin, Eurowings said. Further flights were already planned to Duesseldorf, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Frankfurt.

The global pandemic that has sickened at least 1,490,790 people, killed more than 88,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
Enock Benjamin, a union leader at JBS Beef plant in Souderton, died of respiratory failure from Covid-19, the family said. Read more

Cargill Meat Solutions, a 900-worker plant in Hazleton, Pa., that packages meat in plastic for supermarket shelves in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, shut down temporarily on Tuesday as 130 hourly workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and a rash of employees called out sick, a union leader said.

And on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Medical Examiners Office confirmed to the family of a 70-year-old union steward at the JBS Beef slaughterhouse in Souderton, now shut down for a second week for sanitizing, that he died on April 3 from respiratory failure brought on by the pandemic virus.

The man, Enock Benjamin of Oxford Circle, had checked with a doctor but was not tested for COVID-19. He thought he had a bad case of asthma, and was using a nebulizer as he coughed and lost his appetite, son Cabo said.

By the time the family realized how sick he was, they couldnt transport him to the hospital and called paramedics. He died soon afterward at home, in his bed. Im screaming in the street because nobody is there, his son said of waiting for about 20 minutes for the ambulance. He broke down while being interviewed by phone.

Meat-processing plants across several states  Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska along with Pennsylvania  are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks. A federal food inspector in New York died from the disease last month. And at least four meat plants in Pennsylvania have recently closed due to concerns related to the pandemic, said Wendell Young IV, president of the 35,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents workers at all four plants.

The four are Cargill in Hazleton, on the I-80 corridor connecting eastern Pennsylvania with New York, and JBS Beef in Souderton, along with the CTI Foods hamburger-grinding plant in King of Prussia and Empire Kosher Poultry Inc. in Mifflintown, in central Pennsylvania, Young said.

These environments are almost impossible for workers to adhere to safe-distancing protocols," Young said. "We want our folks back to work, but we want them back safely. Safe is more important than fast.

Young said the number of COVID-19 cases among Cargill hourly workers had risen to 164 by Thursday morning.

Some companies are temporarily closing to sanitize facilities while also boosting hourly pay and offering bonuses to workers in an essential industry. Cargill said it would reopen its Hazleton plant as soon as it is safe. In late March, Cargill and the United Food and Commercial Workers negotiated a $2 per hour raise for shifts worked between March 23 and May 3. JBS Beef employees will be eligible for a one-time $500 bonus on May 15.

Meat-packing plants present unique safety issues. Workers stand elbow to elbow wielding cutting tools and jostle each other in crowded break rooms. Temporary workers, transported in vans, can bring in the disease.

Keeping such workers healthy is part of the pandemics complexity, as U.S. companies and government officials seek a smooth-flowing food-supply chain without causing panic over potential shortages and worker safety.

Everybody has to understand that there is food out there. We dont see any shortages, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said Thursday. We are concerned, but we are not alarmed yet, he added of the difficulties facing food-processing plants.

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say COVID-19 cannot be spread through food, said Martin Wiedmann, a professor in food safety at Cornell University. Its an unstable virus that is mostly spread through sneezing and person-to-person contact. Stomach acids also mostly neutralize the virus if its eaten, he added.

Wiedmann described the risk of the virus spreading on food packaging as extremely low, virtually nil, because of the time between packaging and when its stocked in supermarkets. But he added that grocery shoppers should always wash their hands after returning from the store.

Experts say workers might avoid food plants fearing they could be exposed to the virus, leading to labor shortages.

Young said he has encouraged workers to be honest when they test positive for COVID-19, but "its almost like the AIDS virus. People really want to be private about it.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew rapidly in Hazleton, Young said, adding that it crept up on us. The plant supplies an estimated one million families a day with meat, he said.

Cargill spokesperson Daniel Sullivan said Wednesday that the Hazleton employees who had tested positive for COVID-19 were receiving appropriate medical care.

Cargill has met all food shipments to date," he said, adding that we will shift production to other facilities within our broad supply-chain footprint to continue to meet demand for our products.

Neither CTI Foods nor Empire Kosher could be reached for comment. CTI closed its operation, with about 100 employees, on March 26. Its expected to reopen next week, Young said. Empire closed early last week and would have been closed anyway for part of this week for Passover. Its expected to reopen next week, Young said.

JBS USA spokesperson Cameron Bruett said Wednesday night that the Souderton plant shut down when several managers displayed flu-like symptoms. We have decided to close the plant for two weeks to ensure we have the appropriate management leadership in place before resuming operations, he added. The plant is expected to resume operations on Thursday.

Among the precautions the company plans to take when the Souderton plant reopens: promoting physical distancing by staggering starts, shifts, and breaks, and increasing spacing in cafeterias and break and locker rooms; dedicating staff to continuously clean facilities; temperature-testing team members when they enter the complex; providing extra personal protective equipment, including protective masks; removing vulnerable employees from the plant with full pay and benefits; and relaxing attendance policies so people dont come to work sick.

The Souderton plant had four or five confirmed COVID-19 cases among its hourly workers when it closed about two weeks ago, Young said. Now there are 17, he added.

Cabo Benjamin said on Thursday that his father, a 70-year-old Haitian immigrant, planned to retire in two or three years ago from the Souderton plant, but found so much satisfaction in working there. Over 12 years, he never missed a day, and he was never late, Cabo said.

His father spoke Haitian Creole, but learned Spanish to interact with the workers. Hed help Haitians get jobs there, too. For a while, he drove a van to transport workers to the plant, which was 40 minutes from his home. In the Haitian community, he was a huge figure, Cabo Benjamin said. Everybody thought that my dad was like their dad.

Local 1776s Facebook posting on Benjamins death garnered 132 reactions, 55 comments and 62 shares. It did not mention COVID-19.

One reaction said that Enock Benjamin "was not a worker. He was a life lover. He didnt love his life for himself. But through others, he watched his own life. He dreamed about seeing his colleagues, coworkers become better and better every day. [Enock] was a huge facilitator. For him no problem is difficult. He always try to solve peoples hardships. When HR is between 2 difficult mountains, that['s] just because [Enock] doesnt talk yet. This handyman, this lawyer, this fighter will never rest in peace because his wont stop being cited everywhere and everyday.

Cabos sister, Debbie, had traveled to Philadelphia from her home in Mississippi. Cabo and his mother, Mireille, called the doctor on Thursday to ask what they should do after learning the cause of death on Wednesday. The doctor said there was nothing he could do and did not test them but told them to self-quarantine. Thats what theyre doing, Cabo said, as they make funeral arrangements.
A month ago, I detailed 19 critical gaps in our knowledge of how we can best respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. This past month, we have learned an amazing amount and have made progress answering 13 of these important questions. We urgently need answers to the other six questions, although we already have many of the answers we need to start putting a halt to the pandemic.

Here is the status of what we currently know about these 19 questions, and where we still need more information, as we see it from the Resolve to Save Lives team. As we learn more, we can strengthen our ability to do what's needed to reduce the spread of infection, improve patient survival, and mitigate societal harms.

Sneak preview of the four most important questions we still need to answer (in addition, of course to finding an effective treatment and vaccine):

 Do kids spread the virus commonly? -- if not, opening schools will be easier;

 How are health care workers getting infected? -- so we can protect them;

 Is infection protective against future infection? -- so recovered people can help society recover;

 What interventions work best to reduce spread while minimizing social and economic disruption? -- a question to which the answer will be different in different places.

Transmissibility

1. How is the virus spreading?

In terms of transmission, Covid-19 is a super-SARS -- it spreads in all the same ways SARS spreads, and more. It is spread primarily from symptomatic people to others who are in close contact through respiratory droplets, by direct contact with infected persons, or by contact with contaminated objects and surfaces (fomites). Covid-19 can sometimes spread from asymptomatic people, and this is an area we need to learn much more about. Spread by aerosolization appears limited to medical procedures and unique settings which can create superspreading events such as choir practice.

2. How contagious is the virus (the R0, or basic reproductive rate)?

High. It was 14 (a single infected person infecting an average of 14 others) on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The best current estimate is that that the R0 is between 2-2.5, roughly twice that of seasonal influenza. Some studies have reported higher estimates, including this look at 11 countries in Europe which had initial reproduction numbers of 3.8. Even with physical distancing measures, the R0 was still 1.4, indicating continued spread. It appears very difficult to get this below 1, although several countries have done so. This is what it will take to end the pandemic.

3. How common is spread from contaminated surfaces?

We know contact transmission is possible, as documented in this description of transmission via a seat in church. It is probably more common in health care facilities (as was the case with SARS) and cruise ships, which have more frequently touched surfaces.

4. How effective is increasing ventilation at reducing risk?

We don't know how effective this is, but it is not likely to be high. Still, the World Health Organization recommends increased ventilation in all phases of a pandemic because simulation studies show that increasing the ventilation rate would reduce influenza transmission, specifically aerosol transmission and perhaps to a lesser extent, large respiratory droplet transmission or indirect contact transmission.

5. How much spread is from asymptomatic cases?

There is some, but most Covid-19 infections are not spread this way. Studies have shown that between 6% and 13% of cases were attributed to presymptomatic or asymptomatic transmission. This means it will be harder but not impossible to control (though may make complete elimination virtually impossible until there is a vaccine), and we need to adapt control measures to account for presymptomatic and asymptomatic spread.

Testing

6. How sensitive are PCR assays -- what is the false-negative rate from properly collected nasopharyngeal, or NP, samples?

This is one area where we don't yet know the answer. A lot depends on how well the sample was taken, how much virus the patient was shedding at that time, and the quality of the test. An FDA document for LabCorp's Emergency Use Authorization of RT-PCR boasts near 100% "positive agreement" and "negative agreement" for both upper respiratory and lower respiratory samples. In literature from China's experience, sensitivity for NP swab PCR-based testing has been as low as 60% and as high as 85% testing. Specificity has been higher than sensitivity. The CDC's fact sheet for health care providers that accompanies testing kits does contain information about false negative tests; however, it does not report a sensitivity or specificity. CDC guidance for labs states: "FDA Sensitivity Evaluation: The analytical sensitivity of the test will be further assessed by evaluating an FDA-recommended reference material using an FDA developed protocol if applicable and/or when available."

7. Is serology accurate, and what is the time course of antibody response?

Serology for Covid-19 is likely accurate if done well. The median time for seroconversion (antibody response) has been shown to be around 11 days for total antibody, 12 days for IgM (generally the first antibody made in response to infection), and 14 days for IgG (the most common and generally long-lasting antibody that fights off viral infection). Antibodies were present in less than 40% of patients within one week of symptom onset, and in almost 100% of patients after 15 days. At eight days after symptom onset, the sensitivity of serology may rise above that of PCR. In samples from patients during days 8 to 14 after onset, the sensitivities of antibody (90%), IgM (73%) and IgG (54%) were all higher than that of RNA test (54%). Among samples from patients in later phase (day 15-39 since onset), the sensitivities of antibody, IgM and IgG were 100%, 94% and 80%, respectively.

More importantly, we still don't know whether antibodies protect against repeat infection, whether they reflect a lack of the potential to infect others, and, if they are protective, how long that protection lasts.

8. Can an accurate, rapid point-of-care test be developed?

Many rapid point-of-care tests which detect IgM/IgG have been created and are starting to be used. These tests take between 2 and 20 minutes to obtain results. The first approval for this type of testing in the United States was for Cellex Inc.'s rapid serology tester, approved on April 1. In addition, rapid RT-PCR tests (e.g., Cepheid GeneXpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2) provide rapid (30 minute) PCR RNA testing where the GeneXpert Xpress machine is available and if test kits are available. The Abbott ID NOW test is a rapid test that can provide positive results in as little as 5 minutes and is most suitable for office and urgent care clinics which need timely results but don't require high throughput, but is not yet widely available. (This machine is approved for use outside of clinical laboratories). Shortages of sampling and laboratory supplies are one of the many limiting factors to expanding testing in the United States.

Severity

9. How deadly is the virus?

Reported case fatality rates vary greatly from country to country (range 0-17%), but are strongly age dependent in all settings. Using data available on April 6, mortality starts to rise sharply in those aged over 60 years (globally) and over age 65 in the U.S., which hasn't reported 60-65 year-olds separately (6.5%), and is highest in those over age 80 (>20%). China, which initially saw a case fatality rate greater than 10%, now has a CFR of 0.7% as its epidemic winds down. Most models anticipate that the global case fatality rate will ultimately be determined to be to near or just below 1%.

10. Which are the most vulnerable groups we need to protect? Which underlying diseases increase risk the most?

Groups at highest risk include the elderly (beginning at age 60) and people with the following conditions: chronic lung disease (including moderate or severe asthma); serious heart disease; immunocompromised status (including HIV); chronic kidney disease (especially those dependent on dialysis); liver disease; diabetes mellitus (type 1 or 2); and severe obesity (BMI greater than 40). Also at higher risk are people living in congregate settings (e.g., nursing homes, prisons). There are concerns about the risk level of pregnant/peripartum women and newborns as well as the homeless; however, there is currently insufficient data to determine risk.

11. Do different types of virus cause different levels of severity?

SARS-CoV-2 is mutating at a rate as expected for similar RNA viruses. None of the mutations detected so far are associated with significant change in virus behavior or virulence, but information continues to emerge, and it is possible that some of the differences seen in different areas could reflect subtle genetic changes in the virus.

12. Is the virus changing genetically in important ways as it spreads?

This requires a more in-depth evaluation -- stay tuned.

Treatment

13. What treatments work to decrease the severity of Covid-19 disease?

We are still trying to find out. If there are effective anti-viral treatments, not only can patients' lives be saved, but the duration of intensive care stay can be reduced. This would allow more patients to be treated and reduce the risk to health care workers, and contacts and health care workers could potentially receive preventive treatment to reduce spread. There are multiple ongoing trials to evaluate several classes of therapeutics, including the Solidarity clinical trial coordinated by the World Health Organization, with preliminary results expected by early May. The Solidarity trial is assessing four different treatment options, including antivirals (remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir), antimalarials (chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine), and Interferon beta-1a (used to treat multiple sclerosis).

14. Can a preventive medication be identified to be given to contacts of patients with Covid-19 as is done for influenza with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in nursing homes and other areas?

As with potential treatments, there is yet no conclusive data to report, but effective prophylaxis would help greatly until a vaccine is developed. More than 60 clinical trials for Covid-19 preventive medications are registered on the NIH ClinicalTrials.gov website and are currently recruiting or planned among household and community contacts, health care workers and rheumatology patients. Some candidates include chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, zinc, vitamin D, inhaled nitrous oxide, and intranasal IFN.

15. Is there any role for steroid treatment of patients with severe pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2?

One recent study in February 2020 found that Covid-19 patients would obtain minimal if any benefit from corticosteroid treatment, and might more likely be harmed by it. An Expert Consensus Statement from the Chinese Thoracic Society cited in The Lancet calls for individual risk benefit consensus and consideration of low-dose short courses in severe Covid-19 pneumonia (except those already using corticosteroids for another chronic condition). A non-randomized comparison of 26 pneumonia patients given low-dose methylprednisolone had faster improvement in lung function and resolution of chest computed tomography findings. Six clinical trials registered ClinicalTrials.gov are currently planned or recruiting participants.

Control

16. What works to change behavior, including hand-washing and cough hygiene? Telling people what to do gives leaders a sense they are doing something, but does it actually work?

We can only know and improve our messaging by objectively monitoring how people respond, but there is limited evidence of what is happening today. A 2017 Cochrane Review of interventions to improve handwashing among health workers found moderate evidence to support placement of alcohol-based hand rub and providing performance feedback; there was low certainty of evidence for multimodal strategies including increasing the availability of alcoholbased hand hygiene products, education for staff, reminders, performance feedback, administrative support and staff involvement. A 2012 systematic review of community handwashing was associated with reduction of influenza and respiratory infection in both wealthy and low/middle-income countries, but there was no impact shown within households where an index case was already present.

17. What works to limit spread? For example, will school closures make a difference?

We don't know. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are important given the lack of pharmaceutical interventions or a vaccine, but we lack understanding of the effectiveness of individual measures, which makes balancing benefits against potential harms difficult, particularly in resource-limited settings. Combined home, school and workplace interventions might have the biggest impact on transmission dynamics. Since most children don't appear to get seriously ill if infected (unlike with influenza), they may not be common sources of infection -- and school closures may (or may not) have limited value. Early travel restrictions are useful in the early stages of the epidemic but other measures are needed to mitigate later local spread. The situation in the US may prove to be a place to learn in order to provide measure-specific data, as different communities are enacting different policies at different times.

18. What are the most important ways to protect health care workers and patients in health facilities?

This is a crucial area where we must learn more. As evidence on environmental and airborne transmission and transmission from pre- and asymptomatic people accumulates, measures to prevent transmission in healthcare settings that differ from current recommendations are being called for. Although suggested approaches largely based on experience during other epidemics and studies on other pathogens are likely relevant to Covid-19, concrete data on the relative importance of measures that recognize the unique features of this pathogen and this pandemic, including resource limitations, are lacking.

19. How can creation of a safe and effective vaccine be accelerated?

Safety concerns from experiences with other coronavirus vaccines necessitate rigorous safety monitoring and multiple time, cost, scale and distribution issues must be overcome, multiple vaccine candidates are being investigated concurrently. A globally collaborative system can absorb the increased financial risk associated with using a pandemic paradigm to rapidly develop multiple vaccines; this approach has been used to launch the first phase I trial of a candidate vaccine in the US.

We need to get good data from everywhere on what is being done and what works. As we continue to get better answers to all of these questions, we'll be better able to fight World War C against our viral enemy
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in ASM International NV (AMS:ASM).

What Is Insider Buying?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.

See our latest analysis for ASM International

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At ASM International

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Chairman of the Management Board Charles del Prado bought 420k worth of shares at a price of 54.13 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of 97.44. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid 631k for 11.66k shares. But insiders sold 6047 shares worth 327k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by ASM International insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

ENXTAM:ASM Recent Insider Trading April 9th 2020

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Story continues

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. ASM International insiders own about 83m worth of shares. That equates to 1.7% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The ASM International Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded ASM International shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think ASM International insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with ASM International and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Amid the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, many Bollywood stars are contributing in whichever way possible, to aid the Indian government in combating this highly contagious disease. The latest we hear is that, Sonu Sood has offered his six-storey hotel in Juhu as a residential facility to doctors and medical staff treating COVID-19 patients.

A Bombay Times report quoted the actor as saying, "It's my honour to be able to do my bit for the doctors, nurses and para-medical staff of our country, who have been working day and night to save people's lives. They hail from different parts of Mumbai and need a place to rest. We have already approached municipal and private hospitals and informed them about the facility."

Earlier last week, Sonu's Happy New Year co-star Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri opened the doors of their personal office space in Mumbai as a quarantine facility to BMC. Actor Sachiin Joshi also offered his 36-room Beatle Hotel in Powai to BMC to quarantine COVID-19 positive patients coming from abroad.

Meanwhile, many celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli, Sara Ali Khan, Kartik Aaryan, Vicky Kaushal, Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor Khan, Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas and others, contributed to PM-CARES fund for COVID-19 relief work. Salman Khan pledged to support 25000 daily wage workers of the film industry, who have been affected by the nationwide lockdown.

Besides this, celebrities like Sunny Leone, Sonu Sood and others are also sharing their immunity boosting mantras on social media, to fight the Novel Coronavirus.

Ajay Devgn Gets Witty Reply From Mumbai Police After He Lauds Their Work Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

Priyanka Chopra Rewards 0000 To Women Heroes Working Selflessly During COVID-19 Crisis" title=" Priyanka Chopra Rewards 0000 To Women Heroes Working Selflessly During COVID-19 Crisis" /> Priyanka Chopra Rewards 0000 To Women Heroes Working Selflessly During COVID-19 Crisis
An Australian couple was evacuated by the Uruguayan Navy on Wednesday from a cruise ship that had previously not been allowed to dock after more than half of the people onboard have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The Uruguayan Navy said that the couple, a 60 year old man and a 59 year old woman were confirmed cases of COVID-19 and were evacuated to receive medical treatment.

According to the Uruguayan Navy the man is in grave condition.

Six people that were previously evacuated from the ship are in stable condition and being treated in Montevideo.

217 people have been tested on the vessel, 128 were positive for the virus and 89 tested negative said the operators of the Greg Mortimer ship, that departed on March 15 to Antarctica.

Australian passengers, and possibly those from New Zealand, are likely to fly home on Thursday or Friday on an Airbus 340 that has been refitted by the Aurora Expeditions.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
 Flash

Silent, devastating and moving freely  diseases have no borders and viruses don't carry passports. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 11, the new coronavirus had infected more than 118,000 people in 114 countries and regions, leaving 4,291 people dead. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference held in Geneva on the same day that COVID-19 could now be termed a pandemic. He called on the international community on several occasions to unite to overcome this new health crisis facing humanity.

In China, the curve of coronavirus infections seems to have waned over the last several weeks.

In response to the virus' threatening advance in many countries, also on March 11, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that China was ready to contribute to the global fight. In fact, the battle fought in China from the very start of the epidemic opened a window of opportunity for the rest of the world.

Open source data

On December 30, 2019, the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic in China, submitted the first samples taken from infected patients to the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Only 72 hours later, the complete sequencing of the new virus genome had been completed. Soon after, a genomic comparison confirmed that Wuhan was dealing with a completely new coronavirus. Having the genome sequence is like having access to the virus' Big Data, which makes it possible to understand its development and track its possible mutations.

The institute was quick to share this key information with the rest of the world. On January 12, it submitted the data to the WHO before publishing it on the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) portal. The WHO praised the speed with which China detected the epidemic and sequenced the genome before sharing it with the world, calling it "very impressive." On January 30, at a press conference held in Geneva, the WHO chief hailed "China's commitment to transparency and support for other countries."

But the research doesn't stop there. To better understand the characteristics of the virus, Chinese researchers still had to isolate the viral strains. As explained by Li Lanjuan, an epidemiologist and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, this process will form the basis for future vaccine development, detection of antiviral drugs and the development of reagents for rapid detection. Researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention managed to isolate the virus as early as January 7, just five days after receiving the samples.

On January 24, information related to this first isolated viral strain, its image taken by an electron microscope, as well as the primers and probes for the detection of COVID-19 through nucleic acid testing were made public on the website of the National Microbiology Data Center (NMDC). Through a service system on novel coronavirus science and technology resources launched on the same day on the website, people can get related information freely. Just three hours later, CNN reported this information. The next day, Reuters asked for the right to reproduce the electron micrograph of the virus. According to Ma Juncai, Director of the NMDC, who is also one of the designers of the service system, people can now take advantage of this platform, to track the progress of Chinese research on the virus.

"It shows just how open our studies are," he told China Science Daily. Within 10 days of its launch, the system had already received 6.25 million visits, many of which came from international research institutes.
Air New Zealand is planning to lay off 1,460 cabin crew as the nation tightens its coronavirus lockdown.

An internal email sent to staff on Thursday revealed that the jobs are at risk.

The job cuts are on top of an earlier proposal to lay off almost 400 pilots at the airline.

'We know time is not on our side as we burn through just under $14 million a month in crew salary costs,' the email obtained by the New Zealand Herald stated.

More job cuts have been proposed by Air New Zealand as the coronavirus crisis deepens. Pictured is a grounded plane at Wellington Airport

Airline cabin crew general manager Leanne Langridge added: 'Despite all the measures we have taken it saddens me to say we still need to make significant full time equivalent reductions.'

'If we can do that now we will be able to look at building our numbers back up as the operation ramps up again.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Air New Zealand for comment.

From Friday, New Zealand will enforce compulsory quarantine for citizens returning from overseas as the country ramps up its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus midway through a four-week nationwide lockdown.

Almost 1,500 Air New Zealand cabin crew could be made redundant. Pictured is a stewardess pictured on the airline's Ingram page

The latest job cuts come two days after it was revealed 387 pilots would be laid off by Air New Zealand as part of its plan to slash its workforce by 3750 employees to survive the coronavirus crisis.

New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association has vowed to fight for every pilot job.

The union claims it was told by the airline this week that the proposed pilot job cuts was the most economically efficient surplus resulting from its amended flight schedule.

'We have been very clear with Greg Foran and the Air New Zealand executive team from the beginning of this process: If we cannot save every job, NZALPA would fight to ensure there is a clear and transparent path back to Air New Zealand for all pilots who chose to return,' union president Andrew Ridling said in a statement.

Now we continue the robust and thorough consultation process required under the Employment Relations Act and our specific Collective Agreement.

Air New Zealand would not comment on pilot redundancies specifically but said it had entered into a consultation process with staff to reduce the size of the workforce by up to 3500 roles.

'It's expected Air New Zealand will be a much smaller airline for some time even beyond the initial impact of Covid-19,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

'We understand that this is a very difficult time for many Air New Zealanders.

The New Zealand government loaned the airline $900m to continue operating after the national carrier appealed for assistance.

Virgin Australia also confirmed this week it was closing its New Zealand base with the loss of around 550 jobs.

It follows an email Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran sent to staff last week warning that the airline's workforce would be reduced by 30 per cent over the next 12 months.

He said redundancies would be actioned on a last in, first off basis.

From Friday, New Zealand will enforce compulsory quarantine for citizens returning from overseas. Pictured are travellers at Christchurch International Airport this week

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Air New Zealand had about 12,500 staff worldwide, but many employees are now inactive as the company has reduced its international capacity by around 95 per cent and grounded almost half of its fleet.

Similar redundancies have been carried out across the Tasman sea, as Virgin Australia grounded its entire fleet of 125 planes last month and stood down around 8,000 of its 10,000 staff members without pay.

Meanwhile, Qantas sent two thirds of its 30,000 workforce off the tarmac, with NZALPA also holding concerns 127 Qantas pilots and 81 Jetstar pilots could lose their jobs.

On March 18, the Australian government announced a $715million relief package would be given to the airline industry following news the country's flagship carrier, Qantas, could completely collapse.

Virgin Australia, which had been struggling before the outbreak, appealed to the government for a $1.4billion bail out last week but it was denied.
(Natural News) One in 10 people have reported a near-death experience, or NDE, new research says.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) and other European institutions, pooled responses from over 1,000 study participants across 35 countries and found 289 people who reported some kind of psychological or spiritual experience. Of the 289, 106 claimed to have stared death in the face. The respondents reported a variety of experiences, ranging from the mundane to the horrifying.

One respondent, a 32-year-old woman, said she had an NDE when she was just eight years old  a result of a drowning incident. According to the respondent, the incident was peaceful and she can still clearly remember the incident twenty years later.

Another respondent, however, had a more frightening experience.

The 28-year-old woman, who survived physical violence, said she would sometimes wake at night and see strange things like spirits or demons. The respondent said she would first see the entities at her door before they approached her to sit on her chest.

Another respondent, a 28-year-old male who survived a near-drowning, described his experience as akin to his soul being sucked. He allegedly met his deceased relatives before crashing back into his body.

 I felt like I was in an enormous tunnel of darkness, and at its end, there was the brightest white light I have ever seen. I remember that my dead relatives were at the gate, including my maternal grandmother. I dont remember what we talked about. But then I felt that I was sucked out of the tunnel and I fell, crashing into my body again, the respondent said.

The researchers, led by Daniel Kondziella, a neurologist at UCPH, used an online crowdsourcing platform in order to find respondents who were then asked if theyd ever had an NDE. Respondents who answered yes were then asked to provide more details using a questionnaire assessment tool called the Greyson Near-Death Experience Scale, which asks about 16 specific symptoms. (Related: Improve sleep quality by increasing your intake of these 8 vitamins and minerals.)

As previously mentioned, 289 people reported an NDE, of which 106 reached a threshold of 7 on the Greyson NDE Scale. This confirms a true NDE. In addition, 55 percent of the respondents perceived the NDE as truly life-threatening, while 45 percent perceived the phenomenon as not truly life-threatening.

Kondziella presented the findings at the 5th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress.

Based on insight gained from previous studies on the phenomenon, the researchers said they found an association between NDEs and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep intrusion into wakefulness.

REM sleep is defined as a phase of the sleep cycle characterized by intense brain activity, vivid dreaming and  as the name suggests  rapid eye movement. According to the researchers, when REM sleep intrudes into wakefulness, it results in visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as other symptoms like sleep paralysis. During sleep paralysis, people are conscious but remain unable to move.

The researchers reported that REM sleep intrusion into wakefulness was more common in people with scores of 7 or above on the Greyson NDE Scale than in people who scored 6 or below.

Our central finding is that we confirmed the association of near-death experiences with REM sleep intrusion, Kondziella said, adding that while the association does not immediately mean causality, identifying the physiological mechanisms behind REM sleep intrusion into wakefulness might advance peoples understanding of near-death experiences.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Independent.co.uk

Eurekalert.org.pub
FLINT, MI - An alternative care site for COVID-19 patients may be set up in Genesee County.

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist announced that the National Guard is considering setting up an alternative care site in Genesee County as its number of cases climb to 755. An alternative care site was set up in Detroit, the states epicenter for COVID-19 cases.

The offsite care facility will protect our healthcare workers," Gilchrist said. We are also working to get more testing capacity into the state and into our minority communities.

Gilchrist joined Mayor Sheldon and State Rep. Cynthia Neeley in a town hall on Thursday, April 9. He is chairing a task force to address the disproportionate cases of COVID-19 among black people.

TCF Center alternate care facility to include 2 floors, 900 beds once completed, officials say

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said data in the state and across the country continues to show that black people are being significantly impacted when it comes to the spread of the virus. In Michigan, black people make up 14% of the population but represent 33% of confirmed cases and 40% of the deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus.

One of the things that has become evident is that its particularly dangerous for black communities, Gilchrist said. Were looking to see what executive action can be taken to shrink those disparities.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson also announced that plans for people with COVID-19 who are homeless to stay at Holiday Inn Express have been cancelled. The hotel cannot house people due to health regulations it must abide by, Swanson said.

It was a huge blow to find out that one of the sites we were narrowing down had to pull out, Swanson said.

Flint hotel could be emergency quarantine for homeless with coronavirus

Cynthia Neeley also announced a clinic will be opened at First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in mid-May and will address healthcare disparities among black people. The city didnt immediately respond to The Flint Journals request for more information on the clinic.

The governor came down a few months ago to talk about the clinic, Cynthia Neeley said. Black people are losing their lives in this critical time.

Gilchrist mentioned the state is working diligently to get COVID-19 testing in communities.

Were trying to get testing that works faster and is more reliable in our communities of color, Gilchrist said. This is critical because we need to test people who may be asymptomatic. We havent been able to test people who arent showing symptoms because of our limited testing capacity.

With the help of the National Guard, Gilchrist hopes resources like tests and personal protective equipment will be brought to Genesee County.

Were not holding back right now because communities need these resources. This is an all hands-on-deck moment to respond to COVID-19, Gilchrist said.

Gov. Whitmer announces task force to study impact of coronavirus on African Americans, minorities

Sheldon Neeley said partnerships with the citys faith community are important in getting the stay at home order across to residents.

We need to observe the best social distancing practices, Neeley said. We need to protect the most vulnerable.

Neeley announced that Flint is shifting around $74,000 to help residents with their water bills on Monday. The Water Payment Assistance Fund will use Community Development Block Grant dollars to aid with peoples water bill. Residents with moderate-to-low incomes are eligible for the program as well as people currently receiving unemployment because of the pandemic.

People enrolled in the program will get a $75 credit toward their water bill. The credit can be reapplied to three water bills.

Flint offering $75 water credit to eligible residents during pandemic

The program was developed alongside the Flint City Council. Applications for the program can be found here. Residents can also call (810) 410-2020 to apply over the phone. Applicants can also be requested by emailing navigators@cityofflint.com.

After applying for the program, people will work directly with the citys public health navigators. More information on the program can be found here.

Flint stops pipeline replacements to mitigate spreading coronavirus

Contractors replacing Flints lead and galvanized pipelines were ordered to stop work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on April 2. The program creates an ideal environment for the virus to spread because contractors must go door-to-door asking residents permission to dig up their pipelines, according to the city.

Flint has dug up 25,400 water service lines and has less than 5,000 homes left to check. Water quality in Flint is stable, according to the city.

The city is also putting off its water meter replacement program until further notice because it too requires in-person interaction with residents.

Flint mayor announces city-wide curfew effective Thursday

All emergency services, even those that require in-person interactions, will continue with precaution. Included are service line repairs and reconnecting residents to the citys water. Neeley allowed residents to be reconnected to the citys water on March 12 to ensure all residents have access to running water during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February 2020, the Israeli government issued emergency rules to contain the spread of COVID-19, ordering individuals considered as exposed to COVID-19 to self-quarantine. This regulation was extended in March to include almost the entire population. In enacting the rules, the country's health officials hoped that the public would comply with the orders. However, one potential obstacle to compliance is concern over loss of income. Moran Bodas and Kobi Peleg, both with the Gertner Institute's Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine, report the results of a poll of a randomized sample of Israeli adults to ascertain their willingness to self-quarantine. The survey was conducted during the last week of February 2020, as COVID-19 cases began appearing around the globe. The authors found that when survey respondents were told that compensation for lost wages would be provided, 94 percent said they would comply with a self-quarantine order. However, when lost wage compensation was not provided, the compliance rate dropped to less than 57 percent. "This study demonstrates that providing people with assurances for their livelihood during self-quarantine is an important component in compliance with public health regulations," the authors conclude. "Continuous earning is a crucial factor in determining public compliance with public health regulations, in particular self-quarantine."

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Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Stay Up To Date With Health Affairs' COVID-19 Resource Center: We've gathered blogs and journal articles--along with relevant content from our journal archive: lessons from previous pandemics, including school closures during the Spanish flu; public health preparedness; and communicating risk.

Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
A 52-year-old man tested positive



for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 11, officials said on Thursday.

The man had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in Purani Basti area of Katghora town, he said.

A 16-year-old boy from among these Islamic organisation members earlier tested positive for coronavirus on April 4, and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur, he said.

"The 52-year-old man had taken part in a namaaz (prayer) with these Tablighi Jamaat members in the mosque and lives in the same locality," he said.

Korba Collector Kiran Kaushal said samples of 52 people who had come in contact with these Tablighi Jamaat members were collected for testing, of which one came out positive on Wednesday night.

The patient was shifted to AIIMS Raipur in the wee hours of Thursday, she said.

The Katghora town has been put under complete lockdown and its border has been sealed as a precautionary measure, she said.

Family members of the infected person along with other 234 families living in the area have been kept under quarantine, she added.

With this, total three COVID-19 cases have been detected in Korba district so far.

So far, nine out of the total 11 patients in the state have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease, another official said.

A religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Taran in conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Esper: Ukraine's military reform course toward NATO standards irreversible

Taran in conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Esper: Ukraine's military reform course toward NATO standards irreversible

KYIV. April 9 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Ukraine's Defense Minister Andriy Taran during a telephone conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper assured him of the irreversibility of the defense reform according to NATO standards and thanked for the significant assistance that the United States provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"The heads of the defense departments confirmed the strategic nature of the partnership and the comprehensive support of Ukraine from the United States in countering Russian aggression, the invariance of the policy of ensuring sovereignty and restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, both at the political and military levels," Ukraine's Defense Ministry website said on Thursday.

Particular emphasis was placed on military-technical cooperation and the implementation of the first direct purchases of weapons and military equipment in the United States by Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

In addition, Taran informed Esper of the activities of the Ministry of Defense and state authorities of Ukraine in the context of the implementation of agreements on the receipt of the second tranche of security assistance from the United States.

As part of the implementation of defense reform, Taran noted the importance of advisory assistance from the United States at a strategic level in the field of human resources management and reforming the defense industry of Ukraine.

Taran emphasized the continuation of the Euro-Atlantic integration policy, and also outlined the priorities of the defense department.

During the conversation, the parties discussed the need to adjust, in a pandemic, key measures of bilateral cooperation in the defense sector, which are of paramount importance for maintaining the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces.

They emphasized that the key to the spread of the COVID-19 virus is the preservation of the health and life of personnel, which is currently one of the factors ensuring the country's defense capability.

In turn, Esper expressed support for Taran in the implementation of defense reform and reaffirmed unwavering support for the sovereignty of Ukraine.

The defense ministers of Ukraine and the United States agreed to maintain a constant dialogue of a strategic level, both at the ministerial level and at the level of their deputies.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 05:19:30|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition announced on Wednesday a two-week cease-fire in Yemen, starting from Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki said in a statement that the cease-fire could be extended as part of efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

It is also a recognition of Yemeni government's decision to a cease-fire following a call by UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths for warring parties to lay down their weapons.

The cease-fire aims to create the appropriate conditions to implement the invitation of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen to hold a meeting between the Yemeni government and its rival Houthis, he said.

The coalition supports all efforts in reaching a comprehensive and lasting cease-fire in Yemen, and a comprehensive and just political solution agreed by the Yemenis, the spokesperson concluded.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders bump elbows before their debate in Washington on March 15. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

To the editor: With several news articles plus an editorial, the Los Angeles Times' coverage of Sen. Bernie Sanders' departure from the 2020 Democratic presidential race rivaled that of a fallen commander-in-chief.

When he first ran for president four years ago, several of Sanders' ideas, like "Medicare for all," were characterized as wildly radical by many Democrats and Republicans. Now, single-payer healthcare will probably be one of the issues former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and President Trump debate.

With his campaign, Sanders proved is more than just a politician; he also is a mensch. No matter how you define the Vermont lawmaker, one thing is certain: His shadow will loom large over the 2020 presidential election this fall.

Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach

..

To the editor: Your editorial states, "We also believe that it's vital that voters bring to an end the incompetent and corrupt administration of Donald Trump." You call the president an "odious incumbent."

What is your justification for labeling the Trump administration as "incompetent and corrupt"? Was it redoing our trade agreements to improve the balance between us and our partners? Was it destroying Islamic State? Was it presiding over an economy that generated the lowest unemployment rate in decades?

Was halting travel from China on Feb. 2 and from Europe on March 13 to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic incompetent? Is the team he put together to fight the coronavirus incompetent?

I could go on, but hopefully you get my point.

Larry Hart, Tarzana

..

To the editor: Sanders is an honorable man. I disagree with him on important issues but I respect his decency and love of all. He serves us well in putting our greater needs first.

Hopefully we will have more like him as we reexamine our values during this crisis.

Paul Malykont, Los Osos
Maninder Singh, 31, who was arrested on January 14 from a news channel studio in Chandigarh while confessing on live television to have murdered a Sangrur nurse at a hotel in the Industrial Area around the New Year eve, could face capital punishment as Chandigarh Police have charged him with Section 303 (punishment for murder by life convict) of the Indian Penal Code in the 2,000-page challan filed in court on Wednesday.

Initially, police had booked him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It has also been retained besides other sections of cheating and forgery.

Before murdering Sarbjeet Kaur, 27, Maninder had killed another woman, with whom he had a relationship as well, in Karnal in 2010, and was awarded life sentence in 2012.

Section 303 of the IPC states that when a murder convict sentenced to life imprisonment commits another murder, he can be punished with death. Maninder was currently out on bail after he filed a review petition against the Karnal court ruling in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The investigating officer, sub-inspector Sarita Roy, in the chargesheet has described how on January 1, 2020, Sarbjeet was found murdered in a hotel room, with her throat slit.

Sarbjeet, who had previously worked in a private hospital in Mohali, had checked into the hotel room along with Maninder on December 30. He had left the premises the same evening.

Victim Sarbjeet Kaur. (HT PHOTO)

Maninder had studied till Class 12 at Government Senior Secondary School in Sector 27. He used to work as a driver at a factory in the Industrial Area, till about three months before the crime, and had visited the same hotel along with Sarbjeet a number of times.

After committing the crime, Maninder had been on the move  staying in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Sangrur and Jalandhar  to avoid being traced. His Hyundai i20 car, which was abandoned in Patiala, was recovered two days before he surfaced.

PREMEDITATED

According to the chargesheet, the murder was premedidated and did not happen in the spur of the moment after a heated argument in the hotel room, , as claimed by the accused.

To corroborate their claim, police have attached the video footage of Maninder buying a knife from Big Bazaar in Zirakpur on December 13. The same knife was used to kill Sarbjeet, it is claimed.

Police have given two reasons behind the murder.

First, Sarbjeet was gradually stepping back from her promise to marry Maninder.

Second, Sarbjeet had given 6 lakh to Maninder in September 2019 to make arrangements for their runaway wedding. Maninder had spent it on a car and clothes for himself, and feared Sarbjeet might demand the money back if they parted ways.

EVIDENCE ATTACHED

I killed her because she was having an affair with her sister-in-laws brother, Maninder had said during his interview to the Punjabi news channel.

Police have also attached the footage from the news channel office, though its forensic report to establish veracity is awaited. Likewise, reports of biological evidence, including hair samples and viscera of the deceased, are awaited as the work has been suspended amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

Maninder had duped Sarbjeet into coming to Chandigarh by creating a fake email ID of PGI Recruitment Cell and writing her on December 24 that she had been selected for a job at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, and has to join training at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) from December 26.

Believing the email to be genuine, Sarbjeets brother and sister-in-law dropped her at thePGIMER on December 26, from where Maninder picked her up.

Police have attached the PGIMERs response, denying that any such results were declared. In all, 50 witnesses have been named in the chargesheet and around 100 statements have been attached.
haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday announced that his government will double the salary of the medical personnel deployed on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle.

"As long as the COVID-19 pandemic lasts, those who are involved in care, treatment or testing of COVID-19 patients, will be paid double the amount of their salary" the Chief Minister said.

The state government has further decided to provide Rs 30 lakh cover, in case of death, to the police personnel directly engaged in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.Earlier, even the Punjab government had announced special health insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh each for the police personnel and sanitation workers in the frontline of the fight against COVID-19

So far 169 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed from Haryana, as the country's total cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 5,865 cases, 5,218 are active COVID-19 cases, and 477 patients have been recovered or discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Needless to say there are lots of unanswered questionsor questions with a range of conflicting answers based on incomplete information or speculationabout the nature and extent of the COVID-19 virus. One of the most curious questions concerns why the virus hit some people very very hard, and others with mild or no symptoms at all. While the majority of deaths are among the elderly, there are plenty of reports of seemingly healthly younger people, and even some young healthy children, who are succumbing.

Some familiar explanations include the wide variance of the robustness of immune systems from person to person, along with underlying conditions, possible mutations of the virus, the possibility that the virus actually operates differently from pneumonia by attacking hemoglobin, and that the load or dosage of the virus individuals experience is a key variable. (Additional background on all these factors here.)

Science magazine offers another curious possibility: genetic differences. Right now this is a hypothesis only, but several studies are under way:

The projects range from ongoing studies with DNA for many thousands of participants, some now getting infected with the coronavirus, to new efforts that are collecting DNA from COVID-19 patients in hard-hit places such as Italy. The goal is to compare the DNA of people who have serious cases of COVID-19 (which stands for coronavirus disease 2019)but no underlying disease like diabetes, heart or lung diseasewith those with mild or no disease. We see huge differences in clinical outcomes and across countries. How much of that is explained by genetic susceptibility is a very open question, says geneticist Andrea Ganna of the University of Helsinkis Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM). . . [T]here are obvious suspects, such as the gene coding for the cell surface protein angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which the coronavirus uses to enter airway cells. Variations in the ACE2 gene that alter the receptor could make it easier or harder for the virus to get into cells, says immunologist Philip Murphy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose lab identified a relatively common mutation in another human cell surface protein, CCR5, that makes some people highly resistant to HIV. . . Other researchers working with Gannas initiative are recruiting COVID-19 patients directly within hospitals for such genomics studies. Italian geneticist Alessandra Renieri of the University of Siena expects at least 11 hospitals in the nation to give ethics approval for her team to collect DNA samples from willing patients. It is my opinion that [host] genetic differences are a key factor  for susceptibility to severe acute pneumonia, Renieri says.

Woe unto the researchers if they find any racial differences emerging from the data. The New York Times is already coiled and ready:
Singletons should keep dating virtually during coronavirus lockdown. (Getty Images)

When PM Boris Johnson put the UK on coronavirus lockdown, singletons might have expected that the enforced social distancing would put an end to their dating lives.

But in fact, it seems the opposite is true.

Recent stats by Match have revealed that dating in these COVID-19 times is still very much on peoples minds with almost half (47%) of all participants still hoping to meet a partner during the pandemic.

Whats more, single Brits are pretty dedicated to the cause spending an an average of seven hours a week online dating.

And instead of lockdown putting the brakes on finding a mate, it seems its actually ramped it up with Match reporting a 12% spike in direct messages on the day the government declared it will be at least six months before life in the UK returns to normal.

So, it seems, singles are definitely still hoping to mingle in the these coronavirus-laden times!

Do you wish that you'd met someone before coronavirus hit or maybe you were just getting psyched up to date again? Well, whilst social distancing doesn't sound like it will be good for your love life, there's some great reasons why you should still date (safely) during lockdown, explains Matchs dating expert, Hayley Quinn.

Read more: The ultimate virtual pub quiz guide

But theres no getting round the fact that dating as people know it has changed. And, of course, dating virtually is pretty different to meeting someone IRL.

You don't get the physical contact or the excitement of a date in person. However, this may not all be bad news for your love life, Quinn explains.

And despite new challenges to meeting people, in times of crisis our need for connection is often stronger.

Now were not suggesting you break quarantine or succumb to a, wanna meet up quick? I can bring hand sanitiser... style message. However, learning how to date virtually can have some pretty surprising benefits.

Virtual dating has its benefits, according to dating experts. (Getty Images)

Reassess your type

First things first, DONT meet in person. Follow the government guidelines and stay home and stay safe, advises Quinn.

Story continues

But DO use this time to change your dating patterns and build new connections. A big snag with modern dating can be that it encourages us to make very quick decisions about who we are and arent feeling it with.

So if youre guilty of meeting someone for all of one minute and thinking, not for me... or being put off by their use of emojis, now could be a good time to do a hardcore reset on what your expectations of dates are.

Plus as we heard above online dating sites are booming right now, which means the dating pool may have just got a little bigger.

There will be A LOT of new people joining sites and investing more time into dating than ever before, explains Quinn.

Embrace slow dating

Rather than jumping to conclusions about the people you meet, being under lockdown is going to force some seriously slow dating. But there are some definite advantages to that.

This means that you have the chance to really get to know someone and build a more genuine connection, explains Quinn.

Read more: How to make homemade takeaways

Look for I like you indicators

Whilst how you feel when youre physically with someone is very important, a lot of relationship check boxes can be ticked off via how someone communicates with you, advises Quinn.

She believes how people behave in their lockdown communication could offer an indication of what they could be like as a partner IRL.

Are they consistent or insistent to chat with? Do they seem super keen one minute, but then cold the next? Do they make time to speak to you on a video call, or do they say they'd love to chat but then never create the circumstances to do so? Do you find communication with them easy, or is it a struggle to understand one another? Do they leave you feeling secure and comfortable, or just down right confused?

Switch up your video dates

It can be fun and affirming to take your online chat to the next level with video dates. Not only will virtual dates help break up your day, they also provide a great opportunity to get to know someone.

Make your video dates as good as possible by combining a good technical set up and some date creativity, advises Quinn. Lighting and sound are important so if you have a daytime date make sure that you sit facing a window. If it's a nighttime date get some desk lamps going.

Quinn also suggests position your laptop at eye level, not actually on your lap, for a more flattering angle and use headphones to create some privacy if others are around.

If your first few chats go well, try mixing up future dates by playing virtual charades or drinking games to help you to get to know one another, she adds. You could even do a mock dinner date by ordering the same takeout!

And you can always switch up a Netflix and Chill for a Netflix and Chat!

Switch up your virtual 'dates.' (Getty Images)

Read more: The best BBQs for every budget

Keep the the virtual spark alive

While you might not be together, there are plenty of ways you can encourage someone to feel engaged with your life, and the mutual back and forth should feel supportive to you too.

Keep building your connection in-between dates with voice notes, pictures and videos, suggests Quinn.

Reboot your dating mindset

Rather than sit on the sidelines for the coming months, Quinn advises singles to really think about what they can and should do to set themselves up for dating success on the other side.

If you started this year thinking that this was going to be your year to meet someone, it still can be if you can embrace finding love under lockdown, she explains.

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The World Bank has warned that the rapidlyspreading coronavirus outbreak is expected to push sub-Saharan Africa into recession in 2020 for the first time in 25 years.

The International lenders Africas Pulse report released on Tuesday said the regions economy will contract 2.1% to 5.1% from growth of 2.4% last year, and that the coronavirus will cost sub-Saharan Africa $37 billion to $79 billion in output losses this year due to trade and value chain disruption, among other factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the limits of societies and economies across the world, and African countries are likely to be hit particularly hard, World Bank Vice President for Africa Hafez Ghanem said.

The bank said the spread of the flu-like respiratory disease also had potential to lead to a food security crisis on the continent, with agricultural production forecast to contract 2.6% and up to 7% in the event of trade blockages.

There are now more than over 11,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.

According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, only two countries are holding out as of April 8.

Last month, the World Bank announced a $12-billion package to help poorer countries confront the diseases health and economic effects, while the IMF announced a rapid credit-facility of $50 billion for similar purposes.

The Breton-wood institutions have also called on China, the United States and other bilateral creditors to temporarily suspend debt payments by the poorest countries so they can use the money to halt the spread of the disease and mitigate its financial impact.
So it makes sense that math, which he sees as a tool to understand an invisible enemy, plays a key role in his new book. Epidemics are mathematical emergencies, he writes. Each outbreak, he explains, has at its heart a basic reproduction number, or R0 (pronounced R-nought), the number of susceptible individuals that are expected to contract the virus from each infected. When R0 is greater than one, and when most individuals are susceptible, we have an epidemic.

We have the power to change that number by staying home and practicing social distancing, Giordano adds. Lowering R0 is the mathematical reason behind our self-sacrifice.

Self-sacrifice, or the idea of putting someone elses needs ahead of our desires, is also a central theme in the book. In times of contagion, the young and healthy must protect the old and the weak, he writes. What we do or dont do is no longer just about us. This is the one thing I wish for us never to forget, even after this is over.

The quick publication of some of these books has prompted criticism that its too early for coronavirus literature or that the authors are exploiting tragedy. Burioni in particular was called out on social media, even though proceeds from his books, like those of Giordanos and the Garzanti anthology, are going to hospitals and medical research.

But Burioni said that books about the epidemic are needed now. They provide people with the cultural means to understand something that is uprooting their existence, he said. Gnone, the childrens author who contributed to the Garzanti anthology, added that stories have a healing power, for those who read and for those who write.

The urgency behind Giordanos book is of a different kind, stemming more from the need to preserve the present than to explain it.

He is afraid of the coronavirus, like everyone else, and of what it can change in our society. He is even more afraid of the opposite, that everything were learning will be forgotten, he said in an interview. Some thoughts need to be written down now, from within the emergency, otherwise they will get lost in the desire to go back to normality as soon as possible.
Channel Seven has received less-than-positive feedback for its new coronavirus campaign titled All in This Together.

In the promo, Seven stars including Sam Armytage, David Koch, Manu Feildel and Sonia Kruger share words of encouragement from their homes.

'A message from our family to yours in this difficult time. Remember, we're in this together,' the network wrote on social media while launching the campaign on March 23.

Backlash: Channel Seven has received less-than-positive feedback for its new coronavirus campaign titled All in This Together. The promo features Seven stars including Sam Armytage, David Koch and Sonia Kruger (pictured) sharing words of encouragement from their homes

However, several Reddit users were left unimpressed and described the saccharine promo as condescending, cheesy and tone-deaf.

'We're all in this together, they say. With their jobs, and their five-bedroom houses, and their uninterrupted supply of disposable income,' one person complained.

Another added: 'It would make me feel better if the celebs were actually donating money to organisations and people in need instead of sitting on their wealth and saying, "We're here for you."'

Heartfelt? Reddit users were left unimpressed and described the saccharine promo as condescending, cheesy and tone-deaf. Pictured: Sam Armytage (left) and Manu Feildel (right)

Others pointed out that many television industry professionals are losing their jobs or being forced to work in unsafe conditions due to COVID-19, while presenters remain at home on big salaries.

Viewers also challenged the celebrities to put their money where their mouths are.

'Actions speak far louder than words!' one raged. 'Saying empty platitudes to be seen to be doing the right thing without backing it up with action is very transparent.'

A fair point? 'We're all in this together, they say. With their jobs, and their five-bedroom houses, and their uninterrupted supply of disposable income,' one Reddit user complained

Some even compared the ad to Gal Gadot's infamous rendition of Imagine.

On March 20, Gal and her celebrity friends were labelled 'out of touch' for releasing a video of themselves singing John Lennon's popular song while in self-isolation.

While the A-listers were aiming to pull at fans' heartstrings, social media users slammed the stars for their cringeworthy display.

'I don't know how millionaires singing about "no possessions" from their mansions is supposed to ease my anxiety,' one person tweeted at the time.

As of Thursday afternoon, there are 6,104 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, including 51 deaths.

Imagine that! Some even compared the ad to Gal Gadot's infamous rendition of Imagine
Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Manitoba 27 days ago, Dr. Brent Roussin has been consistent in his daily message to Manitobans: Wash your hands, keep your distance.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Manitoba 27 days ago, Dr. Brent Roussin has been consistent in his daily message to Manitobans: Wash your hands, keep your distance.

It seems his social distancing mantra in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic may be having an impact.

CELEBRATION OF 150TH BIRTHDAY POSTPONED To no ones surprise, Premier Brian Pallister has pressed the pause button on Manitobas 150th birthday celebrations. The premier, accompanied by the co-chair of the Manitoba 150 Host Committee, Monique LaCoste, announced Wednesday that all planned events would be postponed until next year due to the pandemic. click to read more To no ones surprise, Premier Brian Pallister has pressed the pause button on Manitobas 150th birthday celebrations. The premier, accompanied by the co-chair of the Manitoba 150 Host Committee, Monique LaCoste, announced Wednesday that all planned events would be postponed until next year due to the pandemic. This is not the time right now for celebration, Pallister said. This is a time to stay home. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Manitoba joining confederation, and many activities and events to commemorate the milestone were planned. Organizers had previously announced that the Unite 150 Concert, featuring Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman and other Manitoba artists, would be postponed. It was to have occurred on June 27, but will now be rescheduled for 2021. Currently, gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited in Manitoba, and its not known when physical distancing rules will be relaxed. LaCoste said funding will remain in place to support community projects and events. Questions about Manitoba150 programming may be emailed to aimee@manitoba150.com. For organizations cancelling events supported by the provinces Community Festivals and Events program, the province will cover 50 per cent of eligible funding. Pallister said there will be jubilation when the pandemic is over. And, boy, we will have something to celebrate at that time. Close

On Wednesday, Roussin announced just four new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total in Manitoba to 221. He also revealed that a total of 69 persons are now listed as recovered from the coronavirus, an increase of 48 from the previous day.

In each of the last five days, the number of new cases reported in Manitoba has been 12 or less. The picture elsewhere in Canada is grimmer. On Wednesday, Ontario experienced its biggest one-day jump with 550 new cases, while Quebec now has the most fatalities among the provinces with 175 deaths from its 10,000 cases.

Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, isn't prepared to read too much into the daily fluctuations, but there was a hint of optimism.

"These numbers may be a reflection of the benefit of our enhanced social distancing strategies and the hard work Manitobans put towards that," he said at his daily media briefing.

But Roussin said the positive signs could easily vanish if the public doesn't remain vigilant, and he warned that the next two weeks will be crucial in the pandemic fight.

"Manitobans should not interpret the current case numbers to mean our risk is reduced," he said. "I need to make this clear -- now is not the time to let our guards down."

That's particularly true during the looming long weekend. he said.

As of Wednesday, there were 149 active cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, compared with 185 on Sunday and 127 on April 1. Active cases are the total number of persons who have tested positive, minus the number who have recovered or died.

Roussin praised the efforts of the vast majority of people following Public Health Act orders and urged them not to stop now.

"We can't let up. We can't miss our opportunity," he said. "Our actions this weekend are critical to our numbers in the next week or two."

Three Manitobans have already succumbed to the virus -- two men and a woman, all from Winnipeg. As of Wednesday, 12 people were in hospital with six in intensive care.

The perils of Manitobans letting down their guard was evident this week when a respiratory outbreak at Health Sciences Centre turned out to be COVID-19.

Ten workers and four patients in a medicine unit at the HSC tested positive for the coronavirus, said Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer for Shared Health. The patients are in isolation and are being cared for, she said.

Health officials were able to trace contacts back to the initial case of COVID-19 in the unit, and none of the staff who tested positive has worked since April 1, Siragusa said.

Any staff who had close contact with any of the positive cases -- including those who spend the majority of their day working in the affected unit -- are self-isolating at home, she said.

Those who worked only intermittently on the unit, had indirect contact with the positive cases and are asymptomatic were able to return to work wearing universal PPE and monitoring their symptoms.

The infected unit has undergone a deep cleaning to prevent further spread of the virus and staff screening measures are still in effect, said Siragusa. Eight other health-care workers in Winnipeg and two in the Interlake-Eastern region have also tested positive for COVID-19.

"Manitobans should not interpret the current case numbers to mean our risk is reduced. I need to make this clear  now is not the time to let our guards down."  Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer

Premier Brian Pallister announced the government would recall the legislature on April 15 to approve measures  some already announced  to fight the pandemic, including the freeing up of "billions of dollars" to bolster the health system.

Pallister said the plan is to convene one-third of members from each party to adhere to social distancing rules within the chamber. While details are being worked out with the two Opposition parties, the premier said he expects legislators won't have to sit for more than a day.

MLAs will be asked to consider new rules allowing retired health care workers to rejoin the workforce. They will also consider legislative changes regarding enforcement of public health orders.

While the Public Health Act allows for fines against individuals and corporations that break the rules, Pallister said it wasn't written with a pandemic such as COVID-19 in mind. On Wednesday, he wouldn't detail the perceived shortcomings in the current legislation, but said the government would have more to say on the issue in the coming days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?rel=0&wmode=transparent" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Pallister said he is proud that the majority of Manitobans are obeying physical distancing rules and avoiding gatherings, but further action is necessary "to discourage the profoundly small minority of people who aren't thinking properly."

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan government said anywhere from 3,075 to 8,370 could die in that province during the course of the pandemic. Several other provinces have also made grim projections in recent days.

Pallister said Manitoba health officials continue to work on projections for this province, and he hinted that the forecast might be coming soon. But he would not provide a precise date.

The premier repeated concerns that such projections are largely guesswork and that he does not want to add to Manitobans' stress. He said he hopes they would give the public confidence that the province is prepared for various scenarios.

Meanwhile, with the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations expected to rise in the coming months, there continues to be a pressing need for personal protective equipment, especially gowns, gloves and high-level N95 masks.

"We are continually being challenged by the supply-chain changes," Siragusa said.

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Issues with 3M, the N95 mask maker in Minnesota, and federal decisions about how to make sure personal protective equipment gets to Canadians when they need it is having an impact on Manitoba. "It's affected our ability to access, order and receive supplies," she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?rel=0&wmode=transparent" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

"Our supply stockpile has been significantly impacted by these pressures," she said.

The directive for all front-line health-care workers with close, prolonged patient contact to be outfitted with a full set of personal protective equipment will still be met during the week of April 13, she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders

Legislature reporter After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020. Read full biography
This is a story about betrayal.

About how one night not long ago, while I was sheltering in place, Netflix suggested a film that presumably was watchable. It was called "The Assignment" and starred Michelle Rodriguez (of "Fast & Furious" fame) as a male contract killer who, after taking the wrong "assignment" (i.e. murder job) is subsequently forced to have gender reassignment surgery as punishment. Under better circumstances, most people would have kept scrolling, but Sigourney Weaver and Tony Shalhoub were in it, too. How bad could it be?

Bad. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad.

Wildly problematic premise aside, "The Assignment" lacked all of the redeeming qualities that make even God-awful movies entertaining in a "but the costumes!" sort of way. The plot wasn't just off the rails; it was a train wreck. The acting wasn't just cheesy; it was unpalatable. Case in point? Rodriguez's parting lines: "I used to be a guy. A real bad guy. Then things changed." This was no "Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby." Netflix had gotten it so very wrong.

All across America, countless couch potatoes are feeling that cramp you get from zooming past sleek thumbnails promising two hours of escapism - let's call it Netflix wrist - because the very thought of clicking on the wrong choice can be crippling. The fear is real. And no one should have to suffer through Rodriguez's stupid beard and Weaver's straitjacket without warning.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of movies on Netflix (and other streaming services) masquerading as time well spent. A completely unofficial poll turned up "Kings," "Aftermath," "6 Underground" and, of course, "The Assignment," among them. Here's what they have in common.

- Never heard of it? There's a reason for that.

Turns out "The Assignment" is old bad news. It came out in 2017 to reviews that didn't hold back. The New York Times called it "ridiculous even by its own nonsensical standards." The Los Angeles Times wrote, "There's howlingly awful and then there's 'The Assignment.' " Uncovered cinematic gems are certainly a thing, but a truly amazing Shalhoub vehicle that somehow flew under your radar? Unlikely.

- A former A-lister climbs into a serious vehicle.

In "Aftermath," Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Roman, a construction worker built like a boulder trying to cope with the loss of his wife and pregnant daughter in a plane crash. Loosely based on a true story, the film toggles between Roman's saga and the equally depressing tale of the air traffic controller whose mistake caused the midair collision. The plot just keeps getting slower and sadder and darker until the final scene, when two people joined by tragedy have nothing for each other or the viewer. Basically the whole thing is like if over-steamed Brussels sprouts were a movie.

- And in hops Daniel Craig.

"Kings" is such a sleeper bomb. With Halle Berry playing a put-upon mother of eight foster kids living in '90s-era South Los Angeles and Daniel Craig as her cantankerous neighbor-turned-lover, the movie looks at first glance like it could be bad-good. Nope. "Kings" uses the tragedy of Latasha Harlins' senseless slaying and Rodney King's savage beating to establish itself as a serious take on the cultural unrest that lead to the L.A. riots. Berry and Craig team up to find some of her kids during the first night of unrest, and the pair inexplicably spend a good chunk of the film falling in love while chained to a streetlight. Halfway through the film, a co-sufferer remarked, "This is insulting." Save yourselves.

- Adam Sandler is in it, and it's not "Uncut Gems."

As one friend put it when asked about which bad movies to avoid: "Adam Sandler Netflix vehicles numbers one through N." No other explanation necessary.

- It looks an awful lot like another good movie you saw, but something's off.

For weeks, Netflix has been trying to convince viewers that "6 Underground" is worth their time. Don't fall for it. With Ryan Reynolds at its helm, the movie is a two-hour-long trailer for the half-dozen better films it steals from. It takes the best of "Fast & Furious," "Ocean's Eleven," "The Italian Job," "Mission Impossible" and basically every other "let's get the gang back together" movie and throws it into a blender. It took multiple personal attempts to watch Reynolds and co. boom and bang across the globe in expensive cars trying to save ... something. It's impossible to follow, so don't.

- The premise looks dumb.

"Why would an actual assassin write a book about being an assassin? It's beyond stupid," a character prophetically remarks in the Kevin James clunker "True Memoirs of an International Assassin." In it, the former "King of Queens" star plays a cubicle jockey with visions of Tom Clancy dancing in his head. He writes a low-budget spy novel that is marketed as "nonfiction," and instead of canceling him, the global bad guy community falls for it. It's beyond stupid. If "6 Underground" is stroke-inducingly fast, "True Memoirs" is comatose-level slow, with James playing a limp fish out of water. My Washington Post colleague Travis Andrews called it possibly "the worst thing on Netflix."

- Forest Whitaker is in it. (We kid. Sorta.)

These days, you may be tempted to watch a disaster movie because why not lean into, you know? There are fine offerings out there for all your apocalyptic pandemic cinema needs, but "How it Ends" ain't it. It's a twist on the buddy movie starring Forest Whitaker as the overbearing dad and that one guy from "Divergent" (Theo James) as the hated future son-in-law. There's an "event" on the West Coast (earthquake? war? aliens?), and Whitaker and James team up to save the day. The banter is bad, the action is predictable and the actual ending of a movie called "How it Ends" is so ambiguous and lazy you will yell at the screen. Cathartic, this chaos-movie is not.
Aggressive campaign launched to trace hiding Tablighis

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: An aggressive campaign has been launched and special teams been formed to trace those Tablighi Jamaat members who are hiding.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has sought the help of Central intelligence agencies to trace the hiding members, who had attended the Nizamuddin congregation last month.

The decision was taken after the deadline granted to these persons to surrender ended. They are hiding in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir and this campaign is aimed at flushing them out.

Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad will join probe after quarantine period is over

The campaign was intensified after six Tablighi activists tested positive on Tuesday. The special team tracking the hiding Tablighis comprise the civil and police officers along with officials of the Intelligence Bureau.

Fake News Buster

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

All the cases that tested positive on Tuesday were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. Out of the total six positive cases, five are from Jammu district and one from Udhampur.
Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic explosions in the Universe, beaming out huge jets of light-emitting plasma, which travel through space at 0.99 times the speed of light, as a giant star collapses into a spinning black hole. When a jet points towards Earth, the afterglow can be detected from ground and space-borne telescopes. Many astronomers favor an explanation for gamma-ray bursts based on the baryonic jet model, which states that repeated violent collisions between material blasted out during the explosion and material surrounding the star produce the gamma-ray flash and the subsequent fading afterglow. A second hypothesis, called the magnetic model, posits that a huge, primordial magnetic field in the star collapses within seconds of the initial explosion, releasing energy to power the blast. Now, a research team led by University of Bath astronomer Nuria Jordana-Mitjans has found evidence backing the magnetic model.

In the study, Jordana-Mitjans and colleagues examined data from the collapse of a massive star in a galaxy 5 billion light-years away.

The researchers were alerted to the stars collapse after its gamma-ray flash, named GRB 190114C, was detected by NASAs Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory on January 14, 2019.

They noted a startlingly low level of polarization in GRB 190114C in the moments straight after the stars collapse, indicating the stars magnetic field had been destroyed during the explosion.

From previous studies, we expected to detect polarization as high as 30% during the first hundred seconds after the explosion, Jordana-Mitjans said.

So we were surprised to measure just 7.7% less than a minute after the burst, followed by a sudden drop to 2% soon after.

This tells us that the magnetic fields collapsed catastrophically straight after the explosion, releasing their energy and powering the bright light detected across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Seconds after the Swift observatory identified GRB 190114C, robotic telescopes located in the Canary Islands and South Africa received NASAs discovery notification and repointed.

Within one minute of the discovery, the telescopes were gathering data about the emissions.

Our innovative telescope systems are entirely autonomous, with no humans in the loop, so they slued very quickly and began taking observations of the GRB almost immediately after its discovery by the Swift satellite, said University of Baths Professor Carole Mundell.

It is remarkable that from the comfort of our own homes, we were able to discover the importance of primordial magnetic fields in powering a cosmic explosion in a distant galaxy.

The teams paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal.

_____

N. Jordana-Mitjans et al. 2020. Lowly Polarized Light from a Highly Magnetized Jet of GRB 190114C. ApJ 892, 97; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab7248
Earlville, N.Y.  A 39-year-old Earlville man has been charged with setting a fire that destroyed the Lighthouse Community Church in Earlville overnight.

Brian C. Carver, 39, was charged with third-degree arson, a class C felony, New York State Police in Norwich said in a news release today.

The church was fully engulfed in flames when troopers and firefighters arrived at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Troopers said they located Carver not far from the church on South Main Street in Earlville, where he was taken into custody. He was transported to Chenango Memorial Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

Carver was arraigned remotely via computer from the Norwich state police barracks.

Carver was released and is ordered to appear in the village of Earlville court on May 13, 2020.

Pastor Mark A. Monroe Jr. said in a video he posted on social media early this morning that the fire burned into the early morning hours. The church was destroyed, he said.

He said the fire was set, but he went on to call for love and forgiveness."

We will rise from the ashes, he said in the video. This is not the end. This is the beginning. We will not be shaken by this."

"The church is not a building. The church is the people,'' he said.

In addition to the state police, the following responded to the fire: Chenango County Sheriffs Deputies, Earlville Fire, North Norwich Fire, Sherburne Fire and EMS, Smyrna Fire, Hamilton Fire, the Chenango County Bureau of Fire Investigation and NYSEG.
Ranking Member on Health Committee of Parliament, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, believes timely action is the only medication and possible cure for the treatment of the novel coronavirus as it will help stop the spread of the virus to other uninfected communities.



He accused President Akufo-Addo of engaging in lip-service instead of acting proactively by providing the needed support for the health workers and other frontline workers to contain the spread of the COVID-19.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Moring Show, the Juaboso lawmaker was emphatic that the confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached this height simply because President Akufo-Addo did not have any actionable plan to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before he announced that 100 million dollars has beenset aside to combat the pandemic.



I have told you that the medication for this sickness is time; because no matter the measures you put in place if you dont act on the measures on time, and you only engage in rhetoric, by the time action is taken, the situation would have blown out of hands and it will be better if those measures were not put in place at all...," he chided.



What Do You Expect?



He also blamed President Nana Akufo-Addo for some frontline health workers getting infected as reports indicate that some doctors and nurses at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, LEKMA Hospital, Tema Polyclinic and other health centres have contracted the virus due to lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).



 . . if you have a President who has engaged the nation not less than 4 times and whenever he addresses the nation he says they are putting measures in place to get enough PPEs and as soon as he is done talking, we receive reports from health professionals that they are without these PPEs at their various health centres, what do you expect to happen? he chided.



 . . what we need the most is PPEs because those frontline health workers must first protect themselves in order to protect us and so if they dont have the confidence to protect us then that is dangerous. For now, what we are saying is that there should be provision of more PPEs for the health workers and again we should conduct mass tests, he pointed out.



Cheapest Social Intervention



Touching on the measures announced by President Akufo-Addo in the wake of the partial lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19, especially absorbing three months water bills of Ghanaians, which received plaudits from several quarters, the NDC MPs described it as the cheapest social intervention.



According to him, even though the free water supply forms part of many suggestions made by former President John Mahama and the Minority in Parliament, the current administration deliberately ignored other social interventions such as the free electricity supply, and the talk tax.



Every intervention even if it is Ghc1, it is important and it can bring relief to some people but you see all the suggestions that came, which former President Mahama made some of them as well as Parliament through the Minority . . . all the suggestions, it looks like the President adopted the cheapest of the many social interventions. He is picking and choosing those that he can easily implement, he analysed.



We said that as people are locked down in the house, water bill will go high as many people will use water as we have been asked to wash our hands regularly, and again the consumption of electricity will be high and so it will be better for the government to for the next three months take care of these bills for Ghanaians.



 . . people in the house due to the lockdown will use a lot data as they use the internet and make phone calls sitting at home and since the government does not have 100 percent control over the data, the government should liaise with the telecommunication companies to reduce the numerous taxes in order for the companies to reduce the charges for the consumers. We made these suggestions available for the President and he decided to rather opt for the free water supply, he stated.





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Farnek, a leading UAE-based technology and sustainability-driven facilities management (FM) company, has installed a sanitisation gateway which will disinfect all staff, upon leaving and returning to their accommodation centres.

The disinfectant system works via a Fog Gate, or disinfection tunnel, which sprays staff with a highly efficient, non-toxic, pH-neutral and durable disinfectant, said a statement from Franek.

The mist is completely harmless and dries in seconds, after employees pass through. The gateway is regularly sterilised and cleaned by a team of highly trained specialists from Farnek.

CEO Markus Oberlin said: "These sanitisation gateways are highly effective, extremely efficient and very practical. It literally takes seconds to walk through and the disinfectant dries almost immediately, ensuring that our teams will be protected from the virus and will not inadvertently spread the virus should they become exposed."

Farnek will implement a Dubai Municipality-approved environment-friendly and non-toxic disinfectant solution, which kills over 99.99 per cent of all bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores.

"If successful, the pilot scheme, the first to be employed in a commercial capacity, will be rolled out across all of Farneks staff accommodation centres in the UAE," noted Oberlin.

A similar sanitisation system has already been installed at Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station to protect essential workers, using the bus transport system. It too is expected to be rolled out at other transport hubs around the country, he added.

Farnek is Dubai Municipality-approved to clean and disinfect hotels, malls, offices, public buildings and residences.

The company currently has over 8,000 employees supporting business in all emirates by offering a range of disinfection and sterilisation services using world-class, technologically-advanced cleaning products, which through a physical bond, create durable and self-sanitising surfaces and long-lasting protection.

Kelvin Varghese, the Director of Farnek and Hitches & Glitches, responsible for the implementation of the new sanitisation system and the rollout across Farneks entire accommodation portfolio, said: "During these unprecedented times, the safety and well-being of our customers as well as employees, is of paramount importance to us and, as such, all necessary sanitising and precautionary measures are being undertaken to make sure we contain the spread of the coronavirus."

The fight against viruses and bacteria has never been more critical than it is today, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:02:33|Editor: huaxia

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KIGALI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Remains of 83 victims of 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda have so far been exhumed from mass graves in a valley dam in Ruramira sector, Kayonza district, Eastern Rwanda, local official said Thursday.

"We started the exhumation exercise last year after a tip-off from one of the genocide survivors in Ruramira sector that there is a mass grave in a valley dam, so far we have exhumed 83 bodies," Aaron Agaba, executive secretary of Kayonza district told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

"The exercise to exhume all the human remains continues until we have exhausted all mass graves in the valley dam," said Agaba.

According to him, initially, the exercise was quite challenging since the valley dam was full of water. This year, the government deployed machines to pump water out of the dam to make it easy for excavation process.

"We have started removing water, and the whole dam will be drained by Friday before we embark on searching for more human remains buried under the mud," said Agaba.

He pointed out that an estimated 30,00 Tutsis in Kayonza and neighboring districts of Rwamagana and Ngoma were dumped in the water dam during the genocide.

Agaba said that once all human remains are exhumed, they will be accorded a descent burial in designated genocide memorial sites in Kayonza district.

"Remains of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are still being discovered in many parts of the country 26 years after, due to people who continue to hide information regarding undisclosed mass graves across the country," Jean-Damascene Bizimana, executive secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) told Xinhua in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Bizimana appealed to all Rwandans with information which could help in identifying undisclosed mass graves in the country to come forward.

In 2018-2019 fiscal year, remains of 118,049 genocide victims were discovered in 17 districts countrywide, according to CNLG.

Rwanda on Tuesday started a week-long mourning of more than a million victims, majority ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu, who were killed in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi which lasted 100-day spell.

Due to outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, this year's genocide commemoration saw many memorial events cancelled and people told to commemorate genocide from their homes and as well as follow discussions on different media platforms.

This year's genocide commemoration is observed in the country under the theme "Remember, Unite and Renew."

Throughout the mourning week, until April 13, the Rwandan flag will be flying at half-mast in honor of the victims.
An amphibious aircraft AG600 is displayed for the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 30, 2016. The AG600 is by far the world's largest amphibian aircraft, about the size of a Boeing 737. (File Photo/Xinhua)

The AG600, China's large amphibious airplane that will be capable of covering all of the South China Sea, is preparing in Hubei Province to conduct its first maritime test flight this year as planned, despite the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic.

The AG600 is undergoing status adjustment and design optimization in Jingmen, Hubei, as all members of its development team at state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) have returned to work after the epidemic in the province began to ease, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.

"The aircraft is ready to start test flight subject training," Lu Yang, deputy head of the Zhuhai base test flight center under AVIC's subsidiary China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co, told CCTV.

It is scheduled to make its maiden flight at sea this year, CCTV reported.

Sea-based test flights are more challenging than those conducted over land, lakes or rivers because of factors like the complexity of the sea situation and the corrosive ocean environment, a military expert told the Global Times on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

The AG600 conducted its land-based maiden flight in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, in December 2017 and its first water-based test flight over a reservoir in Jingmen in October 2018, reports said.

A sea-based test flight will be another milestone in the plane's development, and the COVID-19 outbreak does not seem to have had any major impact on the project, the expert said.

The amphibious aircraft is expected to be delivered by 2022, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

About the size of a Boeing 737, the AG600 can fight forest fires, undertake water rescues, monitor the maritime environment and carry out patrol missions, Xinhua reported in 2019.

When deployed from Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, the AG600 can reach any location in the South China Sea thanks to its endurance of 12 hours and ability to take off and land on water, reports said.

As of March 31, all arms producers in Hubei had resumed operation, with about 65 percent of workers returning to their positions, the Hubei Daily reported on Friday.
Northern Ireland's Health Minister has warned that the majority of people here could end up suffering for the selfish actions of the minority.

With Easter weekend approaching and warmer weather on the horizon, Robin Swann has highlighted the danger of "dropping our guard".

His comments come as the current lockdown, originally scheduled to last three weeks to Easter Monday, looks set to be extended for several more weeks.

Mr Swann has also warned that more stringent restrictions could be introduced if the current rules continue to be flouted.

"My focus is firmly on getting us through this surge and if I have to bring in additional restrictions to that, then so be it," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"This is not something I will do lightly, so I am asking everyone to adhere to the restrictions."

He added: "I am hearing anecdotal evidence that a minority continue to flout the rules.

"That selfishness will have an impact in the coming weeks and it could be you, your neighbour or your loved one that feels that impact.

"Do not let the minority ruin it for the majority."

Both a doctor and a professor of molecular virology said Northern Ireland's current clampdown "probably" does not go far enough.

Dr George O'Neill said people must not be allowed "to drive to second homes, beaches or parks" and he also voiced concerns about people browsing in supermarkets.

"We want people to stay within a short radius of their homes," he said.

"People should stick to a given area and not move out of it and realise that they're saving lives.

"They're also ensuring that the capacity is there in the health service to deal with this onslaught that we're going to face."

Dr O'Neill said browsing in supermarkets is a problem.

"People are concerned about people lifting items off shelves and putting them back - that is a risk to others," he said.

"Another complaint being made is stacking of shelves - maybe they should close aisles while that is being done."

He added: "There's an etiquette we have to develop. There's a learning curve. Lots of stores have a system which offers some degree of protection to their staff and their customers and they should be commended for that."

Dr Ultan Power, who is based at Queen's University Belfast's School of Medicine, raised concerns that a lot of people still appear to "moving about the place".

"I'm a bit concerned there might be a little bit of breakout," said Dr Power.

He also said he believes the isolation period for those infected with Covid-19 should be extended to 14 days.

"I know the recommendation is seven days," he said.

"I have great concerns about that because we have evidence to indicate that people are still infectious after eight.

"The evidence is telling us that going back to work on day eight is taking a big risk."

He added: "I absolutely think it should be longer, the recommendation for most other countries is 14 days."

Dr Power said the key to beating coronavirus is "all about stopping people from interacting with one and other as much as possible".

"What everybody can do is respect social distancing and stay at home," he said.

"They can make a huge difference to the transmission of the virus.

"Every single person in Northern Ireland can take this responsibility personally to avoid that surge and make sure the most vulnerable people don't end up in hospital."

Dr Power said there is a valid argument for more severe lockdown restrictions if the current rules are being flouted.

He added: "If reasonable numbers of people are not respecting the recommendations that are there, it obviously puts the most vulnerable people at greater risk of infection and therefore of dying from the disease, but it also means the virus itself will keep circulating for a much longer period of time within society."

When asked how long the lockdown will last, Dr Power said statistics are key.

"We have to follow the data," he said.

"What is the level of infection? How many people are dying?

"Then you can starting making decisions on easing restrictions.

"But it has to be based on what's actually happening on the ground."

Meanwhile, Dr Anne Carson, chair of the BMA NI consultants committee, asked people to help medical staff by staying at home over Easter.

"Doctors across Northern Ireland, from the most junior doctor to the most experienced consultant, will be working over Easter to care for patients, not only those with Covid-19, but with other illnesses as well," she said.

"Please help us to help your families by staying at home.

"Celebrate with just those in your own household.

"If you are out for a walk or cycle, observe social distance."


Authier Approval Process on Track

Brisbane, April 9, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( FRA:DML ) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) announced today it had received feedback from Quebec's Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) concerning the environmental impact study (EIS) submitted for the Company's flagship Authier Lithium Project.Highlights- Feedback received from Quebec's Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) concerning Authier Lithium Project's environmental impact study (EIS)- MELCC response received on time and as per schedule; Sayona advancing project in accordance with planned timelines for benefit of Quebec.The EIS was lodged in January in accordance with the environmental impact assessment and review procedures under Quebec's Environmental Quality Act (refer ASX announcement 22 January 2020).The Ministry's feedback was received on time and as per schedule. The Company will now prepare its response, addressing queries concerning a range of categories including flora and fauna, impact on air quality, roads and traffic and water management, among other issues. Sayona continues to advance the project in accordance with planned timelines.Sayona Quebec's Environment Director, Yanick Plourde commented: "It is normal for mining projects of the scope and value of the Authier project to receive various questions and comments from the MELCC and this is no exception."This feedback is welcome as it will allow us to further fine-tune the project to ensure it satisfies not only the Ministry, but the community of Abitibi, Quebec and all other stakeholders as we work to earn a social licence to operate."Hydrogeologist Yves Leblanc said: "It is pleasing to note the very few questions relating to the study undertaken by Richelieu Hydrology Inc. and that the framework of the study on groundwater was clear and met the Ministry's expectations."The study by Richelieu Hydrology concluded that the Authier project would have no impact on the St-Mathieu-Berry esker where the esker is used to pump drinking water.Sayona Quebec CEO Guy Laliberte said: "The protection of the St-Mathieu-Berry esker has been a key focus of the EIS and Sayona as we recognise its importance to the people of La Motte and Abitibi."We are proud to present a project that will make Quebec greener by removing gasoline vehicles from our roads and replacing them with electric vehicles with lithium from Abitibi."Sayona is currently bidding for North American Lithium (NAL), which it plans to integrate with Authier to deliver a significant improvement in plant performance and economics.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch said the Company remained confident of success, both at NAL and Authier, as it advances its expansion plans in Quebec."Sayona's strategy remains on track and we are very confident of delivering a successful turnaround at NAL with the backing of our world-class support team. Authier is crucial to our plans and we look forward to securing the necessary approvals to support its development, delivering new jobs, investment and a sustainable future for Quebec," Mr Lynch said.About Sayona Mining Ltd

Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia.

Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for facilitating the export of raw materials to Brazil for production of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight coronavirus infection.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Bolsonaro said Brazil will receive ingredients from India for the production of hydroxychloroquine on Saturday.

"We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis," he said.

"I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," the Brazilian leader said.

Parts of the transcript of his speech were made available by a diplomat from the Latin American country.

Modi and Bolsonaro had a telephonic conversation on April 4 during which the Brazilian leader requested Modi to allow export of the drug as well as raw materials for its production in Brazil.

Separately, in a letter to Modi on Tuesday, Bolsonaro mentioned that two Brazilian laboratories, EMS and Apsen, have been importing raw materials from India for several years to produce hydroxychloroquine and that Brazil's internal supply of the drug depends on its production by the two firms.

Bolsonaro requested Modi to ensure that Brazil gets the supply of the raw material ordered prior to the imposition of the ban on hydroxychloroquine.

On March 25, India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19.

India is the largest exporter of the drug.

The ban was partially lifted on Tuesday.

In the letter to Modi, the Brazilian leader invoked ancient Indian epic, Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought a holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Laxmana.

Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has recorded close to 14,000 coronavirus cases and over 660 deaths due to the infection.

Globally, the virus has killed over 75,000 people and infected more than 13 lakh.

Bolsonaro said Brazil hoped that the use of hydroxychloroquine would help in the treatment of coronavirus-infected people in his country.

"Like many other countries, Brazil places hope in the use of hydroxychloroquine as an effective means to treat patients who have contracted COVID-19," the Brazilian leader wrote in the letter.

He also referred to the partnership between the two countries in the pharmaceutical sector, adding that leading Brazilian pharmaceutical laboratories have a "solid and long" partnership with Indian laboratories.
In the absence of clear leadership from the federal government, states and private companies are pursuing their own plans to help Americans cope with the coronavirus pandemic. But while there are many examples of public and private officials working cooperatively, underlying political battles are also taking place, particularly when it comes to how to distribute funding already provided by Congress and funding that may be provided in the coming weeks and months.

This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

Among the takeaways from this week's podcast:

The HHS inspector general's hospital survey released this week showing that equipment shortages have not been resolved hit a sore spot for the Trump administration. The president criticized the inspector general and suggested that the results were politically motivated, but the hospital officials' comments to HHS indicate that the federal response is a step behind as hospitals battle thousands of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Federal and state officials are not yet able to give Americans good guidance on what the future looks like. There are too many unanswered questions about the virus, its transmission and testing options.

Some of the programs implemented to help consumers during the crisis  things like reduced prices for insulin and insurers' guarantees of coverage for testing and treatment  may be too popular to ditch after the epidemic ends. That will leave health care providers, drugmakers, insurers and others looking for new profit options.

Although Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has pulled out of the race to be the Democratic presidential nominee, his platform still highlights many of the problems in the health care system, such as affordability and access to care, that have gained greater attention with the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal officials are looking for an equitable way to divvy up the $100 billion earmarked for hospitals in the relief bill signed by President Donald Trump last month. Hospitals in the pandemics hot spots think they should be rewarded first, but others, which may not have been hit as hard, note that they have also given up moneymaking elective procedures to prepare for the crisis and are in need of aid.

A federal court in Texas on Monday will consider new arguments on the state's decision to declare abortion an elective procedure that must be prohibited during the coronavirus crisis. Reproductive rights advocates hope to get an exemption for nonsurgical abortions and for women who are close to the state's time limit on abortions.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The Washington Post's "Flushing Out the True Cause of the Global Toilet Paper Shortage Amid Coronavirus Pandemic," by Marc Fisher

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico's "How Public Health Failed Nursing Homes," by Joanne Kenen, Rachel Roubein and Susannah Luthi

Paige Winfield-Cunningham: The Washington Post's "The Dark Side of Ventilators: Those Hooked Up for Long Periods Face Difficult Recoveries," by Carolyn Y. Johnson and Ariana Eunjung Cha

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Pocket Casts.








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There has been no advisory issued by either the Trudeau government in general or Health Canada to support the need for "border controls" regarding Canadians travelling into Quebec.

Yet, Quebec Premier Francois Legault backed by Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin has seen fit to spend huge amounts of Quebec public taxpayer money on two levels of Quebec Police Departments having border controls against traffic coming into the province of Quebec from Ottawa. These two levels of police departments are the Gatineau Police and the Surete du Quebec.

Do you have any idea the huge of money such an ongoing operation like this costs in terms of police salaries and other administrative costs?

I would like to know how many additional healthcare workers could have been saving lives in Quebec hospitals while the Premier Legault and Mayor Pedneaud-Jobin have been indulging their separatist egos and passive aggression against other Canadians? These apparent two political clowns are completely irresponsible on this matter.

How many Quebec lives could Legault and Pedneaud-Jobin have saved during the coronavirus crisis of they weren't spending the money on stupid cops from two different departments?

Premier Francois Legault denies the Outaouais needed money for hospitals. But Quebec City seems to have plenty of cash for wasteful border controls!

But alas, just about every motorist in Ottawa knows that one of the favourite pastimes of the Gatineau Police and the Surete du Quebec is harassing drivers with Ontario license plates.

Now that there's a pandemic, these corrupt cops now get to harass Ontario drivers under the pretext of the pandemic.

But it's more than apparent that these cops have no fear of getting COVID-19 from any of these motorists. I have yet to see any wearing protective gear!

It's apparent that all of these cops know that coronavirus is not the real reason that they are on duty at the expense of Quebec taxpayer dollars which should be allocated to the province's public healthcare system on saving more lives in Quebec.

Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin is flexing his political muscles with his Premier at the expense of saving lives and expediting the health of Quebecers.

Quebecers need more doctors on duty along with more nurses, healthcare workers and public health staff ensuring that all Quebecers are educated on COVID-19.

Quebecers do not need stupid cops asking stupid questions and wasting time and money on the fight against COVID-19.

The mis-allocation of precious resources under the auspices of Premier Legault and Gatineau Mayor Pedneaud-Jobin in such a pandemic where there is so much human suffering is a Crime Against Humanity.

Fortunately, wisdom prevails on the Ontario side.

We dont believe on this side that its necessary, Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson stated during the conference, adding, "I think this has gone one step too far."

Watson confirmed that Ottawa would not support putting municipal police resources on the five bridges for "24 hours a day" at this stage, describing it as a "complete waste of resources."

While Ontario's Premier Rob Ford is lifting boxes the vitally needed medical supplies, Premier Legault is grandstanding in his $1000 suits portraying himself as the champion of Quebecers backed-up by his ex-colleagues in Quebec's propaganda-makers in the clique that runs the Quebec "mainstream" media.

It is this kind of flawed decision-making that has not worked in favour of Quebecers. Indeed, Quebec has become Canada's new epicentre of COVID.

British Columbia's provincial government has comparatively been able to level-off their experience of the pandemic without putting police on its borders with Alberta.



It's up to Quebecers to hold Premier Legault accountable for the continued waste of their money on such an apparent political activity as "border cops" which is neith endorsed by the federal government nor more more sensible political leaders at the City of Ottawa..





I invite you to read my book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst if you want to explore the world of corruption and manipulative aliens as background to the so-called "coronavirus".





The manipulate aliens I cite my book appear to be connected with the current "coronavirus" pandemic simulation.
Robert Scheinberg, the rabbi at Hobokens United Synagogue, is preparing to violate more than a 100 years of Jewish tradition.

Except in the case of emergency, observant Jews are not supposed to use electricity while celebrating Passover, which begins at sundown tonight. But this year, Scheinberg will be monitoring his phone for calls and texts.

I think that it is so important that people that are isolated have someone to talk to, he said. That actually rises to the level of emergency, for which is it appropriate for me to observe the holiday differently from how I otherwise would.

With large gatherings prohibited under New Jerseys social distancing measures, religious leaders across Hudson County are breaking with tradition this month to celebrate holidays remotely.

Rev. Joseph Mancini, the pastor at St. Stephens Catholic Church in Kearny, has been live-streaming services in front of an empty cathedral. To make things less lonely for Sundays Easter Mass, Mancini has asked parishioners to email him photos of themselves, which he plans to print and tape to the vacant pews.

Some people might think its a little hokey, a little cheesy, but I miss the people, he said, adding that hed gotten the idea from a church in Italy. The pictures are obviously not a stand-in for the real thing, but they remind us of who is there.

With an empty cathedral, the church is also unable to perform many of the rituals of the Christian Holy Week, such as Thursdays washing of feet or Good Fridays kissing of the cross.

For Christians, this week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter and everything in between is the highlight of our faith, Mancini said. To celebrate it remotely, he said, was strange, to say the least.

Rev. Gregory Perez, the rector at Bayonnes Episcopal Trinity Parish, said he was encouraging his parishioners to do as much from their homes as possible. During church services held via the video-sharing app Zoom, Perez has encouraged parishioners to designate worship places in their homes, and improvise when it comes to Holy Week rituals.

For Palm Sunday, I encouraged them to go out into their yard and find something that resembled a palm," Perez said. He recommends that parishioners anoint their hands with regular olive oil and replace communion with pita bread, but cautioned that it was not a sanctioned stand-in for the churchs communion.

Ahmed Shedeed, the president of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, said that the mosque would be providing meals to those in need but was closed for prayers. Services are being broadcast via Zoom, he said.

Shedeed said the virus would not significantly affect the month of Ramadan, which begins on the night of April 23. Typically, Ramadan includes communal prayers and meals, but Shedeed said it could be observed alone with family.

What are you going to do? he said. Its heartbreaking.

Synagogues throughout the county are also altering traditions. Instead of hosting community dinners for pesach, or Passover, some, like United Synagogue and Chabad Hoboken, are distributing hundreds of pesach-to-go kits, said Chabads Rabbi Moshe Schapiro. The kits contain traditional components of a Passover dinner, including matza, herbs, and eggs.

Because of the family-centered nature of the holiday, Schapiro said holding a dinner remotely would make things a little bit harder.

Its a real family time, said Schapiro, who does not plan to use his phone or computer after sundown. Its the first time in 3322 years that Jewish people are not going to be with family for Passover.

Many noted that, among the stress and isolation of the coronavirus, they had seen attendance at virtual services grow. The Palm Sunday services at St. Stephens had drawn about 400 people, Mancini said, and Perez said even some former parishioners whod moved away had rejoined Zoom services.

They really need spiritual comfort right now, Perez said. Were all scared, were all very anxious, were feeling very alone.

Some compared the quarantine to historical times. Mancini noted that the quarantine reminded him of early Christianity, when the religion was illegal and had to be observed in the secrecy of the home, where parents passed religious practices to their children.

Theres this idea of what is called a home church, he said. Were going back to that, were going back to that sense of parents being teachers of the faith.

And Schapiro noted that, in the Old Testament narrative that forms the basis for Passover, the Jews endured quarantine while the plagues ravaged Egypt.

It comes full circle, he said. Were not stuck. Almighty God is with us.
Reuters

Climate change could trigger sudden, potentially catastrophic losses of wildlife in regions around the world over the coming decades, and the first waves could already be unfolding, according to a study published on Wednesday.

With human activity from pollution to habit destruction putting a million species at risk of extinction, according to a global research effort published a year ago, the new study homed in on the possible impact of rising temperatures.

We found that climate change risks to biodiversity dont increase gradually, said lead author Alex Pigot of the Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research at University College London.

Its not a slippery slope, but a series of cliff edges, hitting different areas at different times, he said.

With governments battling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, campaigners hopes that a series of landmark summits would turn 2020 into a pivotal super year for galvanising environmental action have faded.

Plans to hold a major wildlife summit in China in October and a U.N. climate summit in Scotland in November have been pushed back to 2021.

Even as the novel coronavirus has eclipsed the ecological crisis, a series of studies have underscored the risk that seemingly slow-moving processes brought about by climate change could suddenly accelerate, spelling disaster for people and wildlife.

The latest paper, published in Nature, predicts when and where severe disruption to ecosystems could happen this century as the burning of fossil fuels envelops the Earth with more heat-trapping gas.

The study crossed-referenced climate data from 1850 to 2005 with the geographic ranges of 30,652 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and other animals and plants, divided into 100 by 100-kilometre grid squares across the globe.

The authors found that species can often adapt to a certain amount of warming before most members of a given ecosystem are forced out of their comfort zone at about the same threshold.

Once temperatures in a given area rise to levels that the species have never experienced, we would expect there to be extinctions, but not necessarily  we simply have no evidence of the ability of these species to persist after this point, said author Christopher Trisos at the University of Cape Town.

The study found that tropical ocean species could face new temperature regimes before 2030, as evidenced by mass coral bleaching on Australias Great Barrier Reef. Higher latitudes and tropical forests are seen as at risk by 2050.
Clinicians in many countries are using what's known as the Growth Assessment Protocol (GAP) to monitor fetal growth in pregnant women. Some reports state that the program may be linked with reduced rates of stillbirth, but rigorous studies have not been conducted. A study published in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology calls these claims into question.

By studying more than 11 million singleton pregnancies in UK regions with similar healthcare systems, the study's investigators demonstrated that the stillbirth rate in Scotland declined faster than in England and Wales between 2010 and 2015, despite a significantly lower uptake of the GAP program in Scotland. The findings suggest that the reduction in stillbirth rate in England and Wales cannot be attributed solely to implementation of the GAP program.

"The greater decline in the stillbirth rate in Scotland, despite the low uptake of the program, suggests that other beneficial public health measures common to both systems are responsible," the authors wrote.
When South Africa shut down its mining industry to contain the coronavirus, more than 450,000 workers were sent home in 24 hours. Getting them back will take much longer for the nation's gold and platinum miners.

Ramping up production at the world's deepest mines could take three to four weeks as thousands of returning employees are screened for covid-19, according to Johan Theron, a spokesman for Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. Workers will need to be checked for high temperatures, while social distancing and other measures are introduced to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.

"Its going to take time to get going again," Theron said. "The queue is going to be 40 kilometers long."

President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the 21-day mine closure as part of a nationwide lockdown. Mineworkers are particularly vulnerable, toiling in cramped shafts more than two miles underground, before returning to overcrowded hostels and shanty towns. The situation is exacerbated by South Africa having the largest number of people with HIV in the world and widespread tuberculosis.

"Everybody in the industry is considering how to manage the situation around vulnerable workers," said James Wellsted, a spokesman for Sibanye Stillwater Ltd., the No. 1 platinum miner.

People infected with HIV, which damages immune systems and causes AIDS, are more likely to die if they contract covid-19, according to the assumptions of medical professionals. People with HIV make up a large proportion of the 300,000 South Africans with tuberculosis, a disease that diminishes lung capacity. In addition, there are gold miners with lungs shredded by silica shards.

Some mining companies plan to give vitamins and flu vaccines to HIV-positive workers and those with tuberculosis to boost their immunity.

While vulnerable workers can be identified, the inability to test for covid-19 will make it impossible to know who is infected, making it difficult to curb the spread of the virus. South Africa is two weeks into a national lockdown and has sealed off its borders in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 1,840 people and claimed the lives of 18.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. said the use of face masks and other protective equipment will be made compulsory in many parts of its operations, while surfaces will be sprayed with disinfectants and hand sanitizers made available. Implats will limit the numbers of workers entering the cages that are lowered to the operating shafts.

"Its very complex because the mines are big and deep and there are lots of people," Theron said. "There is a real risk of people contracting the virus, which is the last thing anybody wants."

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, a key labor union, has proposed working with mining companies and government officials to draw up a new code of practice for covid-19, before production is restarted.

"We can simply not afford to let mineworkers die to due to a lacking and uncoordinated approach to this pandemic by the individual mines," AMCU said Wednesday in a statement.

South Africa's precious metals industry generates about $12 billion in sales annually and is one of the nation's biggest exporters. While the country produces about 75% of the world's platinum and 38% of palladium, its gold mines have become more costly and dangerous as they extend deeper underground.

Delays in reopening operations risk eroding the viability of marginal mines, adding to South Africa's already high unemployment rate. While the lockdown exempted more mechanized mines, such as the open-cast iron ore and platinum pits run by Anglo American Plc, it's hurting deeper, labor-intensive operations. An extension of the shutdown could impact the ability of producers to pay wages, Theron said.

Mining output is expected to drop 4.5% this year, assuming activities resume smoothly on April 17 at the end of the planned shutdown, according to the South Africa Minerals Council, which represents the biggest producers.

With some migrant workers returning to other provinces in South Africa, or other countries in the region, producers could also initially struggle with staffing, said Wellsted.

"The longer you don't generate cash, the more difficult its going to be to get back to normal," he said. "We need to ensure safety for all, but if we are unable to resume, everybody is going to be without jobs."
WASHINGTON - Congress is rushing headlong into a conflict over the next coronavirus aid package as the White House wants to pump $250 billion into a small business fund but opposes Democrats' proposal to tack on billions for protective gear, food stamps and support to state and local governments.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., walks together as they head to a lunch with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON - Congress is rushing headlong into a conflict over the next coronavirus aid package as the White House wants to pump $250 billion into a small business fund but opposes Democrats' proposal to tack on billions for protective gear, food stamps and support to state and local governments.

An attempt for a Thursday vote in the Senate will pose a first test.

Despite the urgency to act, it's a sudden breakdown over what all sides agree is the need for federal help as the pandemic crisis roars through communities large and small, and Washington prepares to go beyond the $2.2 trillion package approved just two weeks ago.

President Donald Trump urged passage of the small business funds ASAP.

Still, signs of potential progress emerged Wednesday in Washington's effort to push cash out the door to suddenly out-of-work Americans and shuttered businesses.

The first tranche of $1,200 direct payments to Americans are set to begin next week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told House Democrats during a conference call with the administration's coronavirus task force.

Mnuchin also told the lawmakers that $98 billion in loans for small businesses has been approved under the program which the Trump administration wants Congress to bolster in Thursday's vote, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the private call and granted anonymity.

President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in Washington. Trump wants to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure projects to create jobs and help the collapsing economy rebuild from the coronavirus' stunning blows. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that seems about right. Sounds like the prelude to a bipartisan deal. Except that when it comes to trying to upgrade the country's road, rail, water and broadband systems, Washington frequently veers off the tracks Ai usually over the bill's contents and how to pay for it. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

But the White House opposes a proposal from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to add another $250 billion for other needs, according to a senior administration official unauthorized to discuss the situation and granted anonymity.

The White House prefers quick passage of infusion for small business payrolls, the official said.

That leads to the standoff because without bipartisan co-operation, no proposal is likely to be approved as Congress is all but shuttered amid the virus outbreak.

Pelosi said flatly the Republican-only proposal would face objections in the House.

"We have to spend what we need, Pelosi told NPR, when asked if there were limits on federal aid.

Vice-President Mike Pence convened private conference calls Wednesday with House Republicans and Democrats, in separate sessions with Mnuchin and the task force, to brief far-flung lawmakers on the response to the crisis.

Lawmakers heard from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and other task force officials who outlined the difficult week in the U.S. with the rising number of coronavirus cases and deaths.

In the morning call with Republicans, Pence and the GOP leaders made a push for boosting the small business Paycheck Protection Program , according to a Republican aide unauthorized to discuss the call and granted anonymity.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Donald Trump listen to a question during a conference call with banks on efforts to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, at the White House, Tuesday, April 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The GOP leaders were in agreement about quickly approving more funding for the program, the aide said.

Part of the sweeping $2.2 trillion package that became law just two weeks ago, the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program has been swamped as businesses rush to apply for up to $10 million in forgivable loans to keep paychecks flowing amid the stay-home shutdown.

In the call with Democrats, Mnuchin appeared to address head-on concerns that the small business aid was riddled with problems and not getting into the hands of those who need it most.

He told them that the loans have been approved so far by 3,600 lenders. It was not clear, however, how much of that money was now actually out the door.

But Democrats want assurances the small business funds go to minority-owned and other companies that may be under-banked without easy access to financial institutions.

We cannot solidify the inequality to access to capital that exists in our economy at a time when we are address the coronavirus crisis, Pelosi said.

It's an issue that has been raised by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and others who said millions of small business owners struggled to access the aid.

Lawmakers have raised concerns that the $1,200 direct payments to Americans could be delayed for months for those who do not have direct deposit through Treasury.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells decision to rush Trump's request for small business aid to a vote without input from Democrats threatened a fragile alliance for bipartisan action.

I hope none of my colleagues object to my request for these urgently-needed funds, McConnell said on Twitter late Wednesday. There is no reason why this bipartisan job-saving program should be held hostage for other priorities.

The Democrats say they support the $250 billion in assistance to small businesses.

But theyre also calling for an additional $100 billion for hospitals and community health centres to provide testing supplies and protective equipment like masks and gowns. They are seeking another $150 billion for state and local governments to manage the coronavirus crisis

They also want a 15 per cent increase to the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamp benefits.

Mnuchin also spoke by phone Wednesday to Schumer, who told the secretary about Democrats very reasonable and needed proposal, said Schumers spokesman, Justin Goodman.

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Republicans swiftly countered that Democrats were blocking fast action on the small business aid. Many of the Democratic requests revisited behind-the-scenes battles from the round of talks that produce the CARES Act two weeks ago.

Senate Democrats should drop their shameful threat to block this funding immediately," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of GOP leadership.

With Congress adjourned except for procedural pro-forma sessions, the House and Senate could deploy procedures that would allow a simple voice vote, without a roll call, or leaders could try to approve the package with unanimous consent.

Consent, though, seems unlikely, as Democrats push for add-ons and fiscal hawks criticize the cost. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., objected to the earlier package, forcing lawmakers to return to Washington for a vote.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.
China demands unremitting containment efforts as Wuhan lockdown lifted

Global Times

Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/4/8 13:06:03

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has demanded no lax efforts in the COVID-19 response to prevent a resurgence of the outbreak as the hard-hit city of Wuhan lifted its 76-day lockdown.

Sun, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Tuesday inspected railway and bus stations, shopping malls, supermarkets and restaurants in the central China city a day before the lifting of travel restrictions imposed on Jan. 23 to stem the outbreak.

Sun said people should not drop their guard or lower the containment standards to guarantee that nothing goes wrong.

She ordered bus and train stations as well as airports to make emergency plans and prevent crowds or large-scale gatherings. Disinfection and ventilation should also be maintained on public transportation and in transport hubs, she added.

Health conditions of the people on the move should be monitored at exit and entry points to leave absolutely no loopholes, Sun said.

In malls, supermarkets and restaurants, Sun told operators that they should keep high alert, do regular temperature checks, manage flows of customers, and keep a safe distance from each other.

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I welcome you all - priests and lay people who have joined with us for the celebration of the Chrism Mass. Because of the Covid-19 crisis and its impact on movement and gathering, most are confined to their own homes this year. This circumstance should not prevent us, however, from being in communion with one another through Gods word and spirit. We may be at home, but we are not alone. Although we are physically separated from each other, we are one in Christ. As we participate in this Eucharistic celebration, there is an in-breaking of God into our lives as we join together in a universality of prayer. Our Catholic imagination empowers us to connect to this annual sacramental celebration in a way that is very different from watching just another programme on television.

After his testing in the desert (Matt 4:111; the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent), Jesus began his public ministry by reading his mission statement as proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah: The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison, to comfort those who mourn (Isa 61:12). This passage speaks plainly to us. We are still sent by God; the mission is still the same. We are called continually ask ourselves: What does the Spirit of the Lord demand of us at this time? Like Jesus, we are called to look with compassion into the eyes of the sinful or suffering woman or man.

In the context of this Liturgy - the Mass of Chrism, when priests renew their priestly commitment, these words of Isaiah cast light not only on Jesus and on the mission of the Church, but they are a particular call to those who have been anointed with holy oil, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord has been invoked, and who are sent by the Father to continue Christs mission - by embodying his way of life and making him visible among the people of God they serve. In short, priests, act in the person of Christ as they proclaim the Gospel to the faithful - and we do well to remember that this is our first responsibility - to celebrate the sacraments, to respond to peoples needs, as well as taking initiatives in the community that leadership requires.

The role of the priest as a religious leader in the community is still very important, but the manner in which it is exercised in these days is changing in harmony with the demands of this silent but vicious virus that is finding its way into every part of our world, and every corner of our lives. Priests are close to their people: just as the Lord remains with us, we remain with the people we serve. Let us all 'play our part' in keeping each other safe and secure, and let us 'pray our part' as we live each of these days in trust and hope.

No corner of the world is untouched by this deadly virus, no life unaffected. In our common vulnerability in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are more aware of our need for a shared solidarity. As the current crisis reveals, communion with one another is a deep reality. In fact, it is the struggle of our lives. As priests, it requires of us to be with our people, to find creative ways to reach them, especially at the time of a death of a loved one. More than ever we are called to be the eyes and ears of the Risen Lord. Furthermore, our closeness to those in need is also a mandate that challenges us to interpret the newness we face and to engage in new and creative ways of being Church. Where some churches are closed, or Masses are celebrated without a congregation, this should prompt us to reflect constantly, and ever more deeply, on what constitutes the true essence of the Church and priesthood. Many, including some clergy are overjoyed with the use of modern technology that allows people to watch Mass in their homes, and they do not see any issue!

Over time the perception of the Church has been reduced to something sacramental with very little pastoral activity to nourish the faith and life of the people who are after all the Body of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is hardly adequate for the priest to consider being pleasing to God to be sufficient (see Letter to the Hebrews). From the beginning of the biblical story, God has asked about our response to the needs of our sisters and brothers. Responding that we were not our brothers keeper was never deemed acceptable. Lent draws to a close today and we enter the Easter [Paschal] Triduum. Our Lenten journey has been punctuated by the constant call to compassion and justice: as Isaiah calls out, is not this the sort of fast that pleases me: to break unjust fetters, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break all yokes? Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin? (Isa 58:67)

The state of emergency forcefully reminds us that the Church cannot remain isolated from the parish around it, but also has to assist those who are suffering in mind or body. While the Church building may be closed or empty, the words of the Easter Gospel are ringing in our ears: He is not here. He has risen. He has gone ahead of you to Galilee (see Matt 28:6). The question we must face up is: Where is Galilee today?

Our people still look to us who have been with them in the faith throughout their lives - in good days and in difficult days. In some ways, our experience in ministry and in handing on the faith permits us to accompany people in a manner which is only possible for those who have been in ministry over many years.

These changed circumstances bring home that the renewal of our priesthood must start and end in our prayer. If we're too busy doing other things, Pope Francis asks that we put those aside; we pray, and we preach, and we serve our people." Prayer is many things, it has many dimensions, but prayer is nothing if it is not honest. In prayer, we experience honest self-examination. Prayer awakens us to the fact that we dont have our own priesthood, but the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Each one of us has been chosen for this great calling by the Father: we can refresh our lives only in his presence, awaiting his touch. In our prayer we are sustained by hope, nourished by faith and love.

As we renew the priestly promises of our ordination, we pray that we will realise that we are chosen, anointed and sent to minister to all the people in our pastoral care. We are not alone, however, as "the Risen Jesus accompanies us on our way and enables us to recognize him, as the disciples of Emmaus did, in the breaking of the bread (Lk 24:35). May he find us watchful, ready to recognize his face and run to our brothers and sisters with the good news: We have seen the Lord! (Jn 20:25). (Saint Pope John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, par 59).
By Ange Aboa and Aaron Ross

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The use of child labour on cocoa farms in top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana has risen over the past decade despite industry promises to reduce it, according to a draft of a U.S. government-sponsored report seen by Reuters.

More than 2 million children worked in the sector last season in the West African countries that produce about two-thirds of the world's cocoa, according to the draft of a report funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. It is expected to be published later this month.

The level of child labour is higher than in 2010 when companies including Mars, Hershey, Nestle and Cargill [CARGIL.UL] pledged to reduce the worst forms of child labour in their West African supply chains by 70% by 2020.

In terms of the proportion of children from families working in the cocoa sector that are engaged in child labour, that increased to 46% in the 2018/19 season from 44% when the last survey was conducted in 2013/14, the U.S. report showed. The proportion engaged in hazardous labour, such as using sharp tools, stayed steady at 42%.

Those figures are more than 10% higher than when the first survey was conducted during the 2008/09 season and reveal the difficulty of eradicating child labour from a growing and sprawling sector that provides much-needed livelihoods for thousands of poor communities.

It may also add to pressure on cocoa traders and chocolate companies, who have faced criticism from U.S. lawmakers for failing to root out child labour from their supply chains.

"This report makes a strong case for understanding child labour and hazardous child labour in cocoa production as a complex problem requiring multiple complementary solutions," said the report.

Ghana cocoa regulator Cocobod spokesman Fifi Boafo rejected the report's findings.

"Cocobod has registered its disagreement with the findings of the report," he said. "We believe the methodology used (was) wrong just as how some questions were framed."

Story continues

The Ivorian government committee responsible for child labour issues said the numbers in the draft shouldn't be considered final because there were some issues with the methodology that have yet to be resolved to the government's satisfaction.

Richard Scobey, the head of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), an industry group that represents companies including Nestle and Hershey, acknowledged that the industry was not on track to meet its target set in 2010. But he said the report was not complete and he could not yet comment.

"Government and company programmes to reduce child labour have shown significant success," he said, pointing to one initiative - the International Cocoa Initiative - that is backed by the chocolate and cocoa industries and civil society and says it has reduced child labour by half where it operates.

"The challenge now is to scale up these interventions," Scobey said.

Nestle referred Reuters to the WCF. Mars and Hershey both said it was too early to discuss the report. Cargill did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report, conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, is the third in a series of surveys of cocoa farmers called for by an agreement between the industry and U.S. lawmakers first struck in 2001. It was based on a survey of more than 2,000 households.

It estimated that approximately 2.1 million children in the two countries' cocoa sectors are engaged in child labour, which includes work by under-12s and by older children that is hazardous or exceeds a certain number of hours.

That is similar to the estimate from the 2013/14 survey, but the report said those two numbers could not be compared because of methodological differences.

It said rises in the proportion of children working in the sector could be due to increased cocoa prices and production, which have pushed farmers to grow cocoa.

Cocoa output in Ivory Coast and Ghana rose to about 3 million tonnes last season from around 2.65 million tonnes in 2013/14.

(Reporting by Ange Aboa and Aaron Ross; Editing by Edward McAllister and Susan Fenton)
"This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companiesDuPont and FedExand our friends in Vietnam. Thank you," Trump tweeted on Thursday morning (GMT+7).

Vietnam sent the first shipment from Hanoi Wednesday, according to the government portal.

The U.S. is expected to receive a total of 4.5 million such suits, made by DuPont in the northern city of Hai Phong, in over a month, said the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

The second shipment of 450,000 suits will be sent on Friday, it said.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Dan Kritenbrink said in a public statement Wednesday: "This shipment will help protect healthcare professionals working on the frontlines against Covid-19 in the United States and demonstrates the strength of the U.S.-Vietnam partnership."

Since the onset of the national epidemic, Vietnam has been working closely with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to monitor and respond to the escalating disease.

The United States, now the worst hit nation with more than 435,000 infections including almost 14,800 deaths, is among countries that have received support from Vietnam in the ongoing global health crisis.

On Tuesday, Vietnam handed over 550,000 antibacterial cloth masks to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. to support their Covid-19 fight.

In early April, Vietnam sent Germany 6,000 test tubes to aid the country in finding a cure for the Covid-19 disease.

Vietnam has also given medical equipment, including specialized protective clothing, medical masks and Covid-19 test kits worth over VND7 billion ($296,000) as gifts to Laos and Cambodia.

In early February, Vietnam donated $500,000 worth of goods and medical supplies to help China deal with the fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak.

As of Thursday morning, Vietnam had not recorded any new infection for 24 hours, the first time in over a month. The country's Covid-19 tally stands at 251. Half the number of patients, 126, have been discharged from hospitals.

The pandemic has affected 209 countries and territories, killing more than 88,500 people.
The Affirmative Action Bill Coalition on Wednesday congratulated Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and her three other male counterparts for their nomination to the Supreme Court.



The coalition has also applauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his commitment to recognising the relevance of promoting women in different spheres of life.



A statement signed by the Convener of the Coalition, Mrs Sheila Minkah-Premo, said: It was significant that Prof Mensa-Bonsu was nominated in the month of March when we celebrated the International Womens Day with series of activities to draw attention to equality.



The Coalition reminded the President that the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill has not been passed into law.



The passage of this Bill into law will accelerate Ghanas effort at meeting the Sustainable Development Goal Five target of Gender Parity in decision making by 2030 and the African Union Gender Agenda of 50-50 representation of both men and women in decision making.



The coalition further reminded President Akufo-Addo of Ghanas commitment to Affirmative Action and endorsing the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action, the SGD and the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender Equality, which set a minimum target of 30 per cent of women in decision-making positions.



It appealed to the President to appoint more women to the superior courts and other decision making positions in government.



Additionally, the Coalition urged the President to double his efforts as the African Unions Gender Champion and Co-Chair of the SGDs by ensuring the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill was laid in Parliament to be passed into an Act as soon as possible.



The Coalition said the President should also ensure the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at redressing civil, political, cultural, social, economic and education imbalances in the society, as stipulated in the Constitution.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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No matter what happens with the coronavirus pandemic, Ill be one of the roughly 60 million patriots voting for Donald Trump in November. Will 50,000 American coronavirus deaths change my mind? No. One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? More? Nope, nope, nope.

Dont try to convince me otherwise. Ive heard all of the arguments. Dont email me. Dont tweet angry at me. Dont send me links to videos of syrupy (and sleepy) Joe Biden, now the Democrats presumed nominee, showing compassion during the coronavirus crisis.

Compassion is for loooosers.

As a former member of The Star-Ledger editorial board, I know all about Trumps shortcomings. Ive seen the crazy coronavirus briefings. Im not blind. But I want you to see my reasoning, so lets go point by point. Im a pretty rational guy. Im not a Trump supporter who will simply fire off an email to a journalist that says, Your a idiot. I spend a lot of time thinking.

Experts estimate that 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die on Trumps coronavirus watch. Every death is awful, really, but he isnt the first president to have Americans die on his watch. How many wouldve died under President Hillary Clinton? Have you forgotten Benghazi? Pizzagate? People say the Clintons have had people knocked off. How many killings did Killary admit to in those 30,000 emails she deleted? Well never know.

Trumps delays made the pandemic worse. Sure, Sure, the CDC warned us , but those types cry, Pandemic! when someone in Sweden gets the sniffles. Trumps HHS Secretary Alex Azar sent a memo in January warning of massive deaths, but why would you send a long memo to someone who doesnt like to read? If Azar wanted to get the presidents attention, he shouldve gone to a Trump rally and held up a sign, or caught up with him on the back nine.

Trump said the number of coronavirus patients would soon be down to zero. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. He also said it would magically disappear . That was optimism. We want optimism in our presidents.

He has recommended unapproved and possibly dangerous drugs to fight the coronavirus. But he admitted he wasnt a doctor. We still sell cigarettes as long as theres a disclaimer on the pack. That was his disclaimer.

Trump appointed his son-in-law to spearhead the fight against the coronavirus . Give Jared a chance. Remember that time you called a friend and asked him to pull a few strings and hire your son or daughter? Plus, two words: know that? I mean Ukraine is a shady place. . Give Jared a chance. Remember that time you called a friend and asked him to pull a few strings and hire your son or daughter? Plus, two words: Hunter Biden . And before you say that Hunter Bidens appointment didnt threaten lives, do we reallythat? I mean Ukraine is a shady place.

Trump promised to hire the best people, but he has surrounded himself with sycophants. Dont we all want people we can trust around us? Besides, who would he hire? After Larry Kudlow and Kellyanne Conway, there arent many really smart people left in the world outside of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Dinesh DSouza ... and theyre already working for the administration.

Hes narcissistic. We all have egos, buddy.

He doesnt have empathy. If he were a liberal snowflake, we wouldnt have a wall at the southern border, and wed still be fighting disease-carrying caravans of MS-13 gang leaders coming from South America. Nice-guy presidents get steamrolled. Theres a reason Mr. Rogers was never nominated, even by the Democrats.

Trump is to blame him for everything thats wrong with our coronavirus preparation. Did he disband the National Security Councils pandemic department personally ? I doubt it. You have a boss. Is he or she responsible for everything you do? Of course not. The president said, I dont know anything about it. I totally believe him.

He insults people, even as Americans are dying. Youve never mocked a colleague at work with a limp or a lisp or a stutter? Suck it up. Its just a tweet.

He promised widespread testing, but months into the pandemic, we still dont have it. Is it his fault that the scientists are s-l-o-w? I sat next to a brainiac in science class in high school. While the rest of us copied answers off each other and finished quizzes in minutes, he took forever. The teacher kept praising him for showing his work. I think that kid was Dr. Fauci.

Trump is vindictive. Youve never tried to get even with people who screwed you? Youve never slashed a neighbors tire because he pissed you off? Never kicked his cat? Peed over the fence? Sure, you havent.

He waited too long to invoke the National Defense Act and force companies to fight the pandemic. Have you ever tried to get Ford or GM to do something? Have you ever tried to get Ford or GM to do something? We never shouldve saved their asses to begin with. That was another big Obama mistake, probably while he was wearing that disrespectful tan suit. You think a president can snap his fingers and get them to make ventilators? Have you ever tried to order a part from GM? Give me a break.

He hates women. Ive had a female boss. They ARE nasty. (Even women will support me on this.) He shouldnt have to take that crap, especially Ive had a female boss. They ARE nasty. (Even women will support me on this.) He shouldnt have to take that crap, especially from female journalists who are lucky they have a credential to cover him. People mock Trump because he brags about models and has slept with porn stars. Its envy, pure and simple.

He was impeached. Yeah, and he beat the rap.

He doesnt take responsibility. Every good lawyer will tell you to plead not guilty.

This is an important moment in history, and Im willing to overlook a hundred thousand or so American deaths (but hopefully no one in my family) so that we can keep our way of life here. Im willing to make those sacrifices 

So we can build that wall.

So we can make sure only registered black people get to vote  in person, not by mail, with a voter ID!

So we can replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Ivanka (designer robes for the Supreme Court!) and overturn Roe v. Wade.

You call it racism, we call it keeping America great. You call it sexism and misogyny, we ask: Who is fighting to protect us white men? Weve clawed and scraped to get and keep the upper hand (which weve occasionally used to grab women in certain places). Were not going to simply surrender.

Im sorry so many Americans will have to die, and Im sure the president  although he doesnt always show it  is sorry, too. Im sure deep down he regrets not acting sooner. I forgive him.

Because after all the dying is over, we have to go back to living.

And while you whine on Twitter about lies and corruption and nepotism, and principles and morality and the Constitution and blah, blah, blah ... the rest of us will be living in the United States of America  behind a nice big wall -- where Donald Trump is still president.

(This is satire.)

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Kevin Manahan is a former member of The Star-Ledger editorial board. He can be reached at kmanahan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinCManahan. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:18:42|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Thai government's 5,000-baht (about 152.34 U.S. dollars) monthly grant for each Thai national, affected by the COVID-19 situation, might not be provided for a six-month period as largely expected, said Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana on Thursday.

The government has earlier planned to give the money for a maximum of six consecutive months to the Thai nationals nationwide but it might be finished sooner than planned, depending on the future COVID-19 situation in Thailand, the finance minister said.

Though the grant has been initially projected to cover three consecutive months, beginning this month, as earlier declared by authorities, it might be terminated as soon as the pandemic situation ends up, Uttama said.

The grant is primarily designed for self-employed, independent earners without Social Security coverages such as taxi cab drivers, taxi motorcyclists and small-time vendors, among others.

Though the government has initially targeted to give away the money to an estimated nine million Thais, more than 24 millions have applied online to get it.
Latest News CoreLogic data shows new listings on the rise in early 2022 First data of the year suggests supply is already entering back into the market, cooling hot property market

Business NSW calls for support as pandemic bites Staff shortages and customer falls causing severe problems in recovery

The mortgage titles at Key Media have banded together to launch Broker Connect, Australasias first and only virtual event dedicated exclusively to mortgage professionals.

Its been a challenging period for the industry, as normal business practices have had to be adapted, the rules seem to shift every day, and chasing down answers has become nearly impossible with the mass cancellation of events and introduction of social distancing regulations.

Thats why the teams at Australian Broker, Mortgage Professional Australia and NZ Adviser have created this opportunity for mortgage professionals to be able to connect and transact directly with banks, non-bank lenders and aggregators in real-time and in one place.

Rather than host another webinar or livestream an event, this experience has been crafted to enable people to gather and have conversations with the countrys leading banking executives and BDMs.

Whether from ones home, phone, tablet or desktop computer, this online expo provides unparalleled access to banks, lenders and aggregators at a time when that 'face-to-face' interaction has never held more weight.

Attendees are able to live video call or chat with the participating banking representatives as they stroll down the virtual exhibition hall, just as one could walk up to the table for answers and advice on client scenarios and pending applications at a physical event.

We understand that your passion for the industry isnt on pause just because the country is on lockdown. We firmly believe we can still connect, continue to grow, and find creative ways to thrive despite the unique challenges presented by COVID-19.

If youd like to participate in this free event, register your interest here.
Nairobi city dwellers who lose loved ones and have to travel out of the Metropolitan Area will be allowed to leave provided they have the relevant documents.

This comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a partial lockdown of Nairobi and Coastal counties  Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa for 21 days.

During the daily briefing on Covid-19 Wednesday, Health CAS Dr. Mercy Mwangangi said in the eventuality that Kenyans living in Nairobi lose a loved one and the need to travel arises, they should get relevant documents through the Ministry of Interior.

These documents include a death certificate and a pass that shall be presented at police checkpoints.

Through the Ministry of Interior, get your documents which include a death certificate and you will get a pass to enable you to travel and perform last rights, said Ms Mwangangi.

On Tuesday, President Kenyatta said Kenyans with valid reasons such as doctors appointments in Nairobi will be allowed to travel into the capital city.

He noted that the measures taken by the government are not intended to oppress Kenyans but rather protect them from the coronavirus.

The president said he had instructed relevant authorities to ensure no one is oppressed during the 21-day period of cessation of movement.

Anyone with a very valid reason I have told government officers including the police not to oppress anyone. If for example its someone from Nyeri who has been coming to the Kenyatta National Hospital or anywhere else in Nairobi, dont stop them from proceeding with the journey, said Uhuru.

He added: Actually such a person should be helped to come to Nairobi, see the doctor, and then they be facilitated to return back home.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan has exceeded 7,000 as of Sunday.

As of 11:30 p.m., 500 new cases had been reported across the country for the day, bringing the total to 7,399. The figure includes people found positive in airport quarantine checks, as well as those who returned to Japan on chartered planes from China.

Adding 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship brings the tally to 8,111.

Six people were confirmed dead on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths to 149, including 12 from the ship.

Tokyo tops the list of prefectures with the most infections, at 2,068. Osaka is second with 811, followed by Kanagawa with 544, and Chiba with 467.

Health ministry officials say 125 people were in serious condition as of Friday, including eight from the cruise ship.

The officials say 1,353 people had recovered and left hospital. Of these, 714 were diagnosed in Japan, while 639 were infected on the ship.
Simon Ritzmann/Getty Images

Working from home is supposed to be great and remove sources of daily stress. For workers fortunate enough to have jobs that can be completed at home, the days of long commutes and sitting in traffic, too close for comfort cubicles where everyone is in each others' business, at the business, can increase the desire for more remote days on the calendar. Now, 42% of U.S. workers who did not telecommute previously are doing so now, according to a CNBC All America Survey released this week. And as the coronavirus creates a massive shift to remote work, it is an increasing source of stress, and that has implications for employee and business productivity. "We are frazzled when we are exhausted, it's super hard to be empathetic. And it's very hard to be creative and deal with the growing stresses of living in this very uncertain time," said Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, on the recent CNBC @Work livestream event, Leadership & Management Amid Crisis. Coronavirus outbreak curve charts and death rates, as well as stock market volatility, add to what Huffington says is a "generic atmosphere of stress."

The stressful stages of working from home

Work from home is now a societal experiment on a scale never before tested. And Huffington's company, along with SAP and its experience management company Qualtrics, are tracking the stages of working from home amid a pandemic. The survey software is now being used by over 7,600 companies. Many employees across the country are now well beyond the first week of working from home and that's when the problems start to surface, Huffington says. "The second week is when a lot of the problems start setting in, ranging from aches and pains because you've been working from your couch, to the COVID-19 you know, putting on weight because you are stress eating and a refrigerator is too close." In week three, workers start to create new structures. Huffington says part of those new structures should be "micro steps" to help build physical immunity and mental resilience. "We have all the data that shows that building immunity is going to be critical in dealing with a virus if we're exposed to it, and in determining how serious it's going to be. And unfortunately, all the same things that we've been talking about that are important in normal time sleep, avoiding sugar, moving and avoiding a barrage of negative thoughts, are now more important than ever and harder than ever," she said.

Stress is unavoidable in the best of times, and especially so now. Huffington said it takes 60 seconds to course-correct from stress, and that is an important micro step. "All of us are getting stressful news throughout the day. Instead of just going from one [virtual] meeting to another, take literally 60 seconds to breathe deeply and consciously and course correct. It sounds very simple, it's meaningful, and it makes a real difference and it takes 60 seconds, so it's not too long." Movement really matters, too, Huffington says. "People are having a super hard time moving. So create an alarm, where you get up every hour. And even if you just move around your desk or take, make some of your calls, while walking. Some strategies that actually help you move." Huffington said because remote work is solitary it is important to create an accountability buddy at work so you can support each other and check in on each other. "Have you moved today? How many Oreo cookies have you had? And have you thought of swapping some of your sugary favorites with something else. ... micro steps and support," she advised during the CNBC @Work livestream event.

Take time to disconnect

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said his best ideas came after meditation. Many of us, according to Huffington, even if we don't meditate, can testify to the fact that our best ideas come in the shower, or while drinking wine, or fly fishing. "Basically, once we're disconnected from our screens, and all the ways in which we are hyper connected in our modern life," Huffington said. "One of the fundamental delusions that has been driving us all, which is that in order to be successful, we basically need to be on all the time, I think that's going to be completely sacrificed. Because we are all saying much more clearly the price we pay for that." This is a message she said needs to be communicated to all employees. "We need to give all employees cultural permission to speak up and tell us what they need. And that means, if your child suddenly needs you, and because of what happens in your life under or because they are not feeling well, then that employee needs to feel that they have the permission to reach out to their manager and say that they will be offline for whatever reason."

One of the fundamental delusions that has been driving us all, which is that in order to be successful, we basically need to be on all the time, I think that's going to be completely sacrificed. Arianna Huffington founder and CEO Thrive Global

Leaders are now more stressed than ever, too, and need just as strongly as their employees to disconnect. "A lot of the things that we hear in normal times like, 'I'm working 24 /7, I'm always on, I can't disconnect, there's so much on my plate,' are now almost universal. So we need a new playbook of leadership," she said. She says the first step for leaders is to stop believing that in order to be a great leader, we need to be on 24/7. "That's almost always a recipe for not being a great leader because the first thing that disappears, when we are depleted, is our creativity and our ability to innovate in moments of crisis. Remember, everything may appear urgent, but not everything has the same urgency. ... Prioritize between what is truly important for the business, for your employees, and what appears incredibly urgent."

The alarming science of stress

Harvard psychologist Luana Marques, who is director and founder of Community Psychiatry PRIDE at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, said from a scientific perspective when there is a real threat  and the coronavirus qualifies  our body goes into fight-or-flight mode. There is a fear response that happens naturally. "And quite quickly, immediately, our limbic system goes on, the emotional part of our brain, and it gets us ready for fight, flight or freeze." The consequences are that thinking in the brain decreases. "We really can't focus," Marques said on the @Work livestream event. "So one of the things that we're seeing right now is a lot of us working from home. A lot of our workforce is hitting against this wall when they're trying to be productive. They're trying to do a lot, and really, they don't have as much brain capacity, as much thinking capacity as they had before." Former Google performance guru Bill Duane, who now runs his own consulting firm with a focus on organizational well-being, said on an individual level the biological predisposition toward a stress response in the face of threat or perceived threat is the reality for every individual, not a character flaw. Historically, the workplace has viewed emotions like anxiety and fear or anger as complexity that has to be removed. That's the wrong approach, according to Duane. What's needed to deal with this complexity is clear: calm thinking, empathy, innovation, creativity. Duane said we have an opportunity to not only get through a crisis but also the possibility of making real, positive systemic change.

"In order to do that, we actually need to accommodate these challenging emotions and not suppress them," Duane said. "If you've been feeling anxious, you're not doing this poorly. You're having a natural and reasonable response to economic stress, to health stress, to relationship stress." Whatever makes an individual feel more calm needs to be a focus, and that can be exercise, sleep, or meditation, and many other activities. "The list is really, really long about what works. The key is to find what works for you," Duane says. "Find something that uplifts you. And then do it. ... And in the context of the workplace, realize that this is not optional." Marques said in the current situation, the stress is becoming chronic rather than acute, and that keeps our bodies on a heightened response level, which reduces our brain's productivity. "We need to bring that response down. That's one of the things we have to control," she said. Creating a new work-from-home norm based on existing baseline of what individuals did previously is important. Simple things, like getting dressed, are anchors for a new norm. "You really need to anchor on the things that you know, small things that you can do every moment that brings more dopamine into your brain that gets you feeling happier." She added that these individual changes are key to reducing household stress as well. "We need to be able to regulate ourselves so that we can regulate those around us."

The end of endless office meetings

Company culture is under threat as more workers go remote. Recreating the actual office at home is not easy. It is, in fact, a mistake to even try, says Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of organizational platform Basecamp. "That's what people are struggling with right now. They're not really transitioning; they're scrambling to figure out how to do this." Fried expects more of a hybrid situation to become a permanent fixture of work, with more flexibility for employees to be remote, and that will require even more effort to maintain a single company culture. Work tool use should be consistent whether in the office or remote. "You want to make sure everyone's using the same thing and communicating the same way." Basecamp is already a hybrid company. It has an office, but most people work remotely, and as a result, Fried said the company does not hold in-person meetings. "In-person meetings favor the people who are there," Fried said. "It's really awkward to have like three people in one place and one person on the video. So we write things up instead. And we distribute information to everybody the same way, regardless of where they are. So I think that's going to be a really important thing to get used to," he said during the CNBC @Work livestream event. "People are pretty adaptable," Fried said. "Everyone right now is being thrown into a brand new situation, and they're going to adapt, and in a few weeks, it's going to feel normal, and when we go back to the old way, or the other way, or the hybrid way, or whatever new way comes out of this, that'll be an adjustment as well."

Laszlo Bock, co-founder and CEO of Humu and a former senior vice president of people operations at Google, said he knows of firms where overnight adoption of remote tools has gone from 20% to 90%, with even the workers who long resisted it finally having no choice but to embrace it. That sudden shift will require organizations to step back and think about what distance means to work. There are various kinds of distance: physical distance, emotional distance, operational distance, and what psychologists call affinity distance, which refers to a sense of trust and compassion and connection. Accessibility of information is part of that, Bock said. "That's actually the thing that is the most powerful driver of performance, of innovation, of retention, of all kinds of goodness. And that's the thing that's most missing today," he said. Technology can fill the gap on the operational side of distance, but the affinity needs to come from human beings actually finding new ways to interact. He says small interventions, what his firm calls nudges, can make people generally happier and more productive at work. "It's just simple reminders that come at the right time, to help you show up better in this incredibly stressful time," Bock said. His firm offers these reminders, which can arrive by email and text messages, to help improve employee well being, and perform better as team members and collaborators.

Set up a meeting, and have it run on Zoom or Google Hangouts on whatever platform you want, forever. ... Set up a three- month long meeting. So anyone can just pop in when they need support.
The death of a 16-year-old female who was shot by a Winnipeg police officer Wednesday evening has been connected to two Liquor Mart thefts.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The death of a 16-year-old female who was shot by a Winnipeg police officer Wednesday evening has been connected to two Liquor Mart thefts.

Around 5:25 p.m. on Wednesday, a police patrol unit was near the Sage Creek Liquor Mart when a robbery occurred at the store, Police Chief Danny Smyth reported at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Eishia Hudson (Facebook photo)

Several suspects had stolen alcohol and threatened to harm staff, before fleeing in an SUV that had been reported stolen from a home in the Whytewold area of Manitoba on Tuesday.

Officers had begun to follow the stolen vehicle when the SUV rammed into a police car, sparking a "full blown pursuit" in which the SUV struck several other vehicles, Smyth said.

At this point an officer discharged their weapon, striking the 16-year-old driver of the SUV. Police provided medical treatment and she was transported to the Health Sciences Centre, but the young womanidentified by her mother on Facebook as Eishia Hudson passed away as a result of her injuries.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Officers provided medical treatment on scene and the young woman was transported to the Health Sciences Centre in critical condition, but was pronounced dead, police said.

"Fly high my babyMay you rest in peace baby," Hudsons mother Christie Zebrasky posted to her Facebook page.

Smyth was unable to tell media whether the pursuit was high speed, or whether any of the suspects appeared to be armed or inebriated, but said he is not aware that anyone other than the 16-year-old shooting victim was harmed.

The same SUV had been the vehicle used in an additional robbery at the Transcona Square Liquor Mart theft earlier Wednesday, at about 10 a.m., and was later involved in a hit and run with a fence in the area of Keewatin Street and William Avenue West, police said.

"Certainly the retail theft issue in our community has been going on all alongand that includes liquor thefts as well," Smyth said.

"This kind of theft-slash-robbery where suspects are swarming into the establishment and stealing and then leaving, this is not the first time we've encountered an event like this."

Four teens have been charged with several offences in connection to the thefts and stolen vehicle; a 15-year-old male, a 15-year-old female, a 16-year-old female and a 16-year-old male have been detained in custody facing charges including robbery, disguise with intent, theft of a motor vehicle and numerous failure-to-comply charges.

The man exited a house on Anderson Avenue to confront the police, Smyth said, and an officer fired his gun, striking the man. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press)

Smyth noted some of the youth had been charged previously.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, a second fatal police-involved shooting took place around 4:30 a.m. Thursday after officers responded to a call regarding an armed male in a domestic conflict in the 300 block of Anderson Avenue.

Officers attended to the address, which they found locked, and forced their way in when they heard a female screaming and in distress, Smyth said Thursday. There police encountered a man with a firearm, as well as an adult woman and a teenaged female.

Police exited the residence in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, and the female youth was able to escape out the rear entrance, Smyth said.

Shortly after, the man exited the residence to confront police, Smyth said, and an officer fired his gun, striking the man.

The 36-year-old man was transported to hospital but later died as a result of his injuries, police report.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Police investigate an officer-involved shooting on Lagimodiere Boulevard at Fermor Avenue on Wednesday.

The adult woman was also transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries sustained prior to police arrival, Smyth said.

"This has been a tragic 12-hour period of time for all our communitytwo unrelated event in separate parts of the city," Smyth concluded.

"I can tell you that the police officers involved did not come to work expecting to be involved in shootings, especially shootings that resulted in fatalities."

As a result of both these fatal incidents, Smyth said he expects more than a dozen officers will be relieved of their usual duties in the coming days.

"The vast majority of these officers have never been involved in anything like this," he added.

The Independent Investigative Unit of Manitoba (IIU) will investigate both officer-involved incidents.

When asked whether police have noticed an increase in violent crime since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing measures, Smyth said crime rates have remained consistent.

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"A series of events like this is going to overshadow the news in the community for a little bit," he said. "This is anomaly, I certainly hope."

A WPS release Thursday morning reported two other shootings  not involving officers  overnight.

An adult male was brought to the Health Sciences Centre after suffering a gunshot wound around 10 p.m. Wednesday. He would not cooperate with police regarding how, when or where he was shot, and is reported to be in unstable condition.

A second adult male arrived at the doors of the Misericordia Health Centre just before midnight Wednesday with a gunshot wound. He was transported to the Health Sciences Centre and is reportedly in stable condition, police said. An investigation into the shooting led to the arrest of an adult male, though no charges have been laid.

Investigations into all four shootings are ongoing.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca
Another horror day of the coronavirus pandemic saw the global death toll pass 94,000, although there were tentative signs of hope that the crisis was peaking in the United States and Europe. The picture of the unfolding economic catastrophe also became clearer with the IMF warning of a Great Depression and data showing 17 million Americans lost their jobs, but a European Union financial rescue package agreement offered some relief to the barrage of bad news. Another 1,700 people died in the United States on Thursday, while there were hundreds more deaths across Europe, driving the confirmed global toll above 94,000. Nearly half of all pandemic fatalities have occurred over the past week. But authorities in worst-hit Europe and the United States said a slight decline in daily deaths and infections gave reason to hope the worst could be over. "The fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, where fatalities inched down to 683 from 757 a day before, pushing that country's total above 15,000. "Our priority now is not to turn back, especially not to return to our starting point, not to lower our guard." France also reported that 82 fewer people were in intensive care for COVID-19 -- the first fall since the pandemic broke out. And Anthony Fauci, the US government's top pandemic expert, said the United States was "going in the right direction". The US recorded 1,783 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 0030 GMT Friday, lower than the previous day's record toll of 1,973. The US has seen more than 16,500 confirmed deaths, the second-highest tally in the world after Italy, and more than 460,000 confirmed cases. In New York, the epicentre of the virus in the United States, only 200 more people entered hospitals, the lowest number since the pandemic struck, even though 799 people died over the last day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We are flattening the curve by what we are doing," Cuomo said, adding, "We have to keep the curve flat." But he declined to predict how New York would fare in the coming weeks, telling reporters bluntly: "I have no idea." Further lifting spirits, the health improved of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the highest profile of the 1.5 million people infected by the virus, and he ended three days of intensive care. However Britain announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total to nearly 8,000. - 'A Europe that protects' - On the economic front, Europe attempted a fightback with EU finance ministers agreeing in late-night talks to a 500 billion-euro ($550 billion) rescue package aimed at reducing pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially hardest-hit Italy and Spain. "Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted after the talks. He warned earlier in the day that France's economy was expected to shrink six percent this year, even with the country's own 100-billion-euro relief plan. The US Federal Reserve threw its own fresh lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing a $2.3 trillion financing measure "to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity." The International Monetary Fund said 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year -- just a few months after predictions that nearly all would enjoy growth. "We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike. - Developing world fears - And despite hopeful signs in Western nations as well as in China, where the virus was first detected late last year, there are fears the worst is still to come in much of the developing world. War-torn Yemen, which has been experiencing one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, on Friday reported its first case. Brazilian authorities Thursday confirmed the first deaths in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where crowding and poor sanitation have raised fears of a catastrophe. There are similar fears in India, where hundreds of millions of poor people are becoming increasingly desperate. "I keep hearing that the government will do this and that. No one has even come to see if we are alive or dead," Rajni Devi, a mother of three, told AFP in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi. In a move to build international solidarity over the crisis, Germany on Thursday led a videoconference session of the UN Security Council on the pandemic. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by calling the pandemic "the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself." Guterres appealed for a global halt to conflicts to concentrate on the COVID-19 fight. Saudi Arabia embraced the call by announcing a unilateral pause in its brutal offensive against rebels who control much of Yemen. US President Donald Trump said he spoke Thursday to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and thought they were near a deal to end an oil price war that has thrown further uncertainties into the global economy. OPEC announced Friday that major oil producers except Mexico had agreed to cut output. burs-kma/mtp
In its response filed with the court on April 7, attorneys for Georgia State University claim they are the prevailing party in a long-running lawsuit over digitized course readings, and argue that a proposal for injunctive relief sought by the plaintiff publishers is unwarranted and should be denied.

The filing comes after Judge Orinda Evans last month delivered her third opinion in the now 12 year-old GSU e-reserves case, once again finding fair use in the majority of infringement claims lodged by three academic publishers. In a 241-page written opinion, Evans found 10 infringements, while finding 38 of the 48 claims considered by the court to be fair use. The 10 findings of infringement is double the number Evans found in her first ruling in the case, back in 2012.

Of the Plaintiffs initial 99 allegations of copyright infringement brought to trial, this Court found only ten of those, or 10%, were not fair uses, GSU attorneys told the court. Ten instances of infringement are not a sufficient number to indicate that Defendants are encouraging an ongoing misuse of the fair use defense. Thus, Plaintiffs request for an injunction should be denied. A number of the initial 99 claims presented for trial in case were thrown out for technical reasons, leaving just 48 claims making it all the way to a fair use analysis.

The GSU brief comes in response to a March 23 filing in which the publisher plaintiffs claimed that the 10 infringements are sufficient to declare the publishers to be the prevailing party in the suit, and enough to merit a permanent injunction that would, among its provisions, require GSU to maintain records of unlicensed copying from the plaintiffs' works and would give the plaintiff publishers the right to "audit" GSU's future e-reserve practices for their works. The publishers are not seeking monetary damages in the case.

 After 12 years of litigation, both sides are claiming victory. 

As expected, GSU attorneys claim they are in fact the prevailing party, and reject the publishers proposed injunction as unwarranted. In addition, GSU attorneys asked that the courts declaratory judgment in the case acknowledge that GSU prevailed on the bulk of the claims in the suit, which the publishers' proposed declaratory judgment does not mention.

Defendants believe that it is appropriate for this Court to issue a final judgment stating that it has found Sage to prevail in eight infringement allegations and Oxford to prevail in two infringement allegations, and Defendants to prevail on the remaining 89 infringement allegations brought to trial (including all of those brought by Cambridge), the GSU brief argues, asserting that "a declaratory judgment strictly about past violations is not permissible under the law."

The plaintiff publishers have already indicated to the court they are not seeking to have their legal fees and costs paid. However GSU is seeking an award, which previous claims in the suit suggest could run upwards of $3.3 million.

The closely-watched copyright case was first filed against four administrators at Georgia State University on April 15, 2008 by three academic publishers (Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Sage) supported by the Association of American Publishers and the Copyright Clearance Center.

The AAP has called the litigation a test case designed to inform the application of fair use in the academic setting. But as the latest filings suggest, after three verdicts and two reversals on appeal, the contentious case appears to have yielded little clarity on the question of fair use for those in the classroom: following 12 years of litigation, both sides are claiming victory.
Ha, a nurse infected with Covid-19, is treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, March 24, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Ha, a nurse at Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital, spent the first five days after being diagnosed with Covid-19 saving her little energy to breathe.

The 34-year-old works at the Center for Tropical Diseases Covid-19 quarantine zone in her hospital.

On March 18 she had felt fine in the morning, but by 8 a.m. she had fatigue, fever and pain in her eye sockets, and a cough and a severe headache followed soon.

She called her boss at the hospital to ask for a Covid-19 test.

She knew that despite having worn protective clothing at work anything could happen, but was shocked when her test returned positive.

She lives with her parents-in-law, both in their 70s, her children and other family members, a total of 12 people, and so thought fearfully to herself, "Im infected, what about them?"

That evening personnel from Hanoi CDC went to her house, took samples of the remaining family members and disinfected the house and its surroundings.

The family was quarantined at Thanh Nhan Hospital, while she was sent to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for treatment.

Having been in the health industry for over a decade, Ha had been to hospitals countless times, but the trip to the hospital that day caused her great anxiety since "I didnt know when Ill be going back."

A day after she was admitted her condition worsened, with extreme fatigue setting in. She was transferred to the emergency room.

"Seems like all my energy was needed just for breathing," she recalled.

"I couldnt breathe normally, I felt like a fish out of water, on top of the cough."

Ha was Vietnams "Patient 87". After her first test result came positive, Bach Mai Hospital suspended inpatient care at the Tropical Diseases Department, and the following day also shut its Covid-19 examination and screening rooms. Has second test came back positive that evening.

For five days she did not move from her bed. Her family called, but she could not muster the energy to speak. The medical staff taking care of her told her they wanted to tell her to "hang in there" and "dont be too worried."

When she felt better Ha found out that not just her family but also her colleagues and the hospitals board of directors sent her their best wishes.

"Although the epidemic situation was getting complicated and everyone was busy, I did not feel abandoned. Professor Ngo Quy Chau, deputy director of Bach Mai Hospital, even chaired a meeting to discuss my treatment when my condition worsened. I am really grateful for that."

Doctors check on Ha at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, March 24, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Gradually her condition stabilized, and then a test showed she was negative for the virus for the first time. She immediately called her family to inform them.

Ha also got messages from former patients, making her even more appreciative of the years she had put in working in medicine.

Ha was transferred from the emergency room back to a quarantine room on March 30 where her treatment continued. Since then time has been passing slower; her family is always on her mind.

"I wonder when this fight will end."

Ha knows better than anyone else the risks at her workplace and how it is difficult to avoid all of them. Sometimes she asks herself how she contracted the disease, but has no answer.

The thought of possibly infecting others weighed heavily on her conscience, and she heaved a sigh of relief when her family members and colleagues all tested negative.

"When I work as a nurse, I often ask my patients about their condition and encourage them to have faith in fighting their illness. When Im a patient myself, I understand how precious those pep talks are and how they can boost ones morale even in the most desperate of times. Thank you everyone."

Has condition is better though she still coughs and feels a pressure on her chest. As of Thursday she has been in hospital for 21 days.

When asked what is the first thing she will do when she gets home, Ha bursts into tears.

"I hope to see my family to get some motivation, and then return to work to eliminate this disease."
Bianca Escamilla got her last paycheck almost a month ago. Her boss at the Los Angeles restaurant where she waits tables promised to call when business picked up. But there's no telling when that will be, with California still locked down.

Escamilla has been living with her aunt, so she used that last check to pay $500 to help with food and utilities for March. But what about April? What happens if her manager doesn't call? And now that her aunt can no longer clean houses, how will they get by?

"It's a lot to process," said Escamilla, a 20-year-old studying behavioral and social science at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. "I've been trying not to think about the things I need to pay for. . . . I'm healthy, and that's the most important thing, but it's been tough."

The coronavirus pandemic has left college students from low-income families facing further financial insecurity, threatening not just their educations but their ability to meet basic needs. They are among the millions of Americans who have been laid off or furloughed. Turning to parents is not an option. And the federal government's $2.2 trillion aid package offers little hope, since students whose parents claim them as dependents on their taxes don't qualify for relief checks.

Congress did earmark nearly $7 billion for emergency grants to college students, but it's unclear when schools, tasked with disbursing that aid, will receive the money from the Education Department. And some schools are lobbying to take a cut for themselves.

"The response from the administration has been . . . hang tight. Students can't hang tight if landlords are still collecting rent. Groceries are not free," said Tiffany Jones, senior director of higher education policy at the nonprofit Education Trust. "There isn't a sense of urgency."

The Education Department says it is "moving as quickly as possible" to allocate the emergency aid, but it has not provided colleges with a timeline or guidelines. Congressional aides say the money will probably reach schools by the end of April, but pressure from policymakers and higher-education groups could speed things up. First, though, the department is tasked with resolving questions about how the funding will be allocated and how it can be used.

About 6,000 colleges and universities stand to benefit from the bailout funding, but it's unclear how much each school will get. Congress set aside the most amount of money for colleges with a large portions of Pell Grant recipients, a federal aid program for low-income students. That should ensure that the neediest students receive help, but not every low-income student is eligible for or takes advantage of financial aid. It's unclear whether students who don't get federal financial aid would be eligible. It's also unclear how much money colleges can provide students who do qualify.

Student advocates want every dollar of the money to go toward food, housing, health care or child care, some of the expenses outlined in the bill. They are fending off attempts by college lobbyists to redirect some of the funding to reimburse schools that have refunded housing and meal-plan costs to students.

The American Council on Education and other higher-ed groups last week wrote Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for clarification on whether they could use the bailout money to reimburse themselves for unforeseen expenses incurred during the shutdown, including money they've reimbursed to students for housing. Activists cried foul.

"College students are already receiving such little benefit from the CARES Act," said Maxwell Lubin, founder of the advocacy group Rise. "Altering the $7 billion in emergency financial aid would be devastating."

Advocates are also worried grants will be limited to students who are eligible to receive federal student aid. That would shut out undocumented students such as Escamilla, who was born in Mexico and receives immigration benefits under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program for people who immigrated to the United States when they were young. DACA recipients are ineligible for federal aid.

"We're talking tens of thousands of students in our district. . . . They're left out. They're the most vulnerable," said Francisco Rodriguez, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, which includes Escamilla's school and eight others and serves a large number of undocumented students. "Food insecurity . . . and homelessness among our students continues to be pervasive and has only been exacerbated by" covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

While they wait for federal money to be released, colleges and universities are trying to help students on their own, relying on donations and reserves that are stretched thin.

L.A.'s community colleges are connecting students in need to state and local resources for help with food and housing. Schools have also been supplying refurbished laptops to students since moving classes online. And a $150,000 donation from grocery chain Kroger is helping the district provide $50 gift cards to students as the closure of campus food pantries threaten to leave many hungry.

The University of Maryland at College Park is calling on alumni to support its Student Crisis Fund, with grant requests spiking from three a week to 50 a day.

Towson University, the public university in Baltimore, has made $194,000 available for student emergencies, after digging into institutional funds, soliciting donations from faculty members, staffers and alumni and releasing unrestricted money from its foundation account. Nearly 200 students have asked for help. Townsend started this week disbursing money for food, housing, technology and transportation costs.

Wanderly Vargas, 21, is a Townsend senior who lived and worked on campus. Two months before graduation, he lost his job, left his dorm and returned home to Prince George's County, Maryland, with his parents and 12-year-old brother.

"I was spiraling downward really fast," the psychology major said. "Usually I'm the type of person who has a plan set, and I had no plan."

Vargas has since been rehired to work remotely, but his hours in the office of Student Success Programs have been cut in half. And his parents need help. His father was laid off from his construction job, and his mother has been furloughed from her position in a school district. He has asked Townsend to help pay bills.

"I'm grateful that the university was watching out for the students," Vargas said.

Escamilla is relying on savings to make it through the month. Her parents, who live in Alabama, are in no position to help. Although her father is still working a few hours at a restaurant, her mother lost her job as a school janitor.

"They can't really help me financially," Escamilla said. "I have two younger siblings that both need computers and assistance now that school has [gone] online."

Her DACA work permit made it easier for Escamilla to get her job and pay for college. It may also help her survive if her manager doesn't call soon: California is one of a few states that allows DACA beneficiaries to file for unemployment. But like many college students, she's also hoping that the federal aid comes through - and that it includes students such as herself.
Nay Myo Lin, editor-in-chief of Voice of Myanmar, is driven away from Chanmyathazi Township Court in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, April 9, 2020.

Myanmar police on Thursday evening released the top editor of a Mandalay-based news agency arrested last month on terrorism-related charges for publishing an interview with the Arakan Army after the Rakhine rebel group was blacklisted by the government as an unlawful association and terrorist organization.

Police arrested Voice of Myanmar (VOM) editor-in-chief Nay Myo Lin at his home in Mandalay on March 31 for the earlier publication of reporter Khine Linn Sans interview with Khine Thukha, spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA), which is battling Myanmar soldiers for greater autonomy in western Myanmars Rakhine state.

The government declared the AA an unlawful association and terrorist group on March 23, four days before the article was published. Nay Myo Lin faced up to life in prison had he been found guilty of charges filed by police under two sections of Myanmars Counter-Terrorism Law.

His second hearing was held earlier on Thursday at Chanmyathazi Township Court.

Nay Myo Lin later said that police informed him that prosecutors could not proceed with the case against him, so they had to free him.

The prosecutors for the case decided that I had not violated Sections 50(a) and 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law this evening, and CID [Central Intelligent Department] officers immediately came to my cell to tell me about my rights and release me, he told RFAs Myanmar Service.

But I had to sign a petition to obey any summons if there is any further investigation regarding the case, he added.

The Counter-Terrorism Law prohibits organizations and individuals from associating with outlawed organizations. The two sections of the law Nay Myo Lin had been charged under carry jail terms of 10 years to life in prison and three to seven years in jail, respectively.

Nay Myo Tun maintained that journalists have the right to publish interviews with those deemed terrorists, and said in an earlier report following his arrest that VOMs interview with the AA spokesman had been conducted according to established media practices and ethical principles.

We have the right to interview, report, and publish as basic principles of free press and freedom of expression, he said on Thursday. These charges are not relevant to us.

[The] interview was done with the intention of how we could move on for peace in the country  not in support of a terrorist organization, he added. So I told them that I was not guilty of these charges.

RFA was unable to reach Mandalay CID police for comment.

Solitary confinement

Nay Myo Lin said he had been held in a three-door prison cell reserved for death-row inmates.

He was put in a death-row inmate cell for security reasons, said Bo Kyi, cofounder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a nonprofit human rights organization based in Mae Sot, Thailand, that advocates for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

In the past, political prisoners were held in death-row inmate cells so they could not come into contact with other prisoners, he said.

But he [Nay Myo Lin] shouldnt be in a death-row inmate cell because he should have not been arrested, Bo Kyi said.

Nay Myo Lins wife, Zarni Mann, a reporter for the online news journal The Irrawaddy, requested that her husband be moved out of solitary confinement so she could visit him more often.

We can only see him once every 14 days with the reason being that is is a preventive measure against COVID-19, she said earlier Thursday. He has been separated from others and can go out of the cell only to take a shower.

Lee condemns arrests

Yanghee Lee, an independent human rights expert who monitors Myanmar for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the arrests of Nay Myo Lin and two other journalists apprehended and charged under the same law for interviewing the AA spokesman.

I condemn the terrorism charges that have been laid against Khaing [Khine] Myat Kyaw, Thar Lun Zaung Het, and Nay Myo Lin for doing their job as journalists, she said in a statement issued Thursday.

These journalists were reporting on the escalating armed conflict in Rakhine state, where the government has imposed a mobile internet shutdown, she said. As such, their reporting was of the highest public interest value and should be protected.

In 2019, the government ordered mobile internet services to be suspended in nine townships in northern Rakhine and neighboring Chin state where the AA and Myanmar forces were fighting.

On top of that, the government in late March ordered mobile network provides to block 221 websites, including news agencies based in ethnic minority states.

London-based Amnesty International on Wednesday issued an open letter to Myanmar President Win Myint to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, activists, and journalists imprisoned in the country for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.

The group said that such politically motivated arrests and imprisonments are made possible by Myanmars legal framework that comprises laws that arbitrarily restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.

To end politically motivated arrests and imprisonment in the long term, Myanmar needs to repeal or amend repressive laws and bring those laws in line with international human rights standards, said the letter signed by Julie Verhaar, Amnestys acting secretary general.

In the interim, we urge the Myanmar authorities to stop using the laws to arrest, prosecute, or imprison anyone simply for exercising their human rights, she wrote.

The letter did not mention Nay Myo Lin or any other arrested individuals by name.

Reported by Khaymani Win for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar and Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Black Rhinos are alerted to danger by eavesdropping on the tweets of a bird species that perch on their backs - known as 'the rhino's guard', a study found.

Scientists from Victoria University, Australia found black rhinos carrying red-billed oxpeckers were better at avoiding humans than those without a bird.

The rhinos are 'as blind as a bat', according to researchers, but the birds - known to feed on ticks on the rhino's body - could help make up for their poor eyesight.

While conservation efforts have rebounded the black rhino's numbers, the species remains critically endangered and under constant threat from poachers.

Scroll down for video

Scientists from Victoria University, Australia found black rhinos carrying red-billed oxpeckers were better at avoiding humans than those without a bird.

In Swahili, the red-billed oxpeckers are called Askari wa kifaru, or the rhino's guard which served as inspiration for the study.

Study author Dr Roan Plotz, from Victoria University in Australia, said: 'Although black rhinos have large, rapier-like horns and a thick hide, they are nearly blind.'

'If the conditions are right, a hunter could walk within five meters of one, as long as they are downwind,' Plotz said.

To study the role that oxpeckers might play, Dr Plotz and his team recorded the number of oxpeckers on two groups of rhinos they encountered in Africa.

About eight inches long with distinct red beaks, these birds are essentially hitchhikers, clinging to big-game animals such as rhinos to remove ticks, flies, and maggots from their hides.

The first group of, tagged with radio transmitters which allowed researchers to track them without being noticed by oxpeckers, carried the birds on their backs more than half the time.

While the untagged black rhinos they found carried no oxpeckers most of the time.

This suggests that other untagged rhinos that carried the birds might have avoided encountering the researchers altogether.

While conservation efforts have rebounded the black rhino's numbers, the species remains critically endangered and under constant threat from poachers.

Dr Plotz said: 'Using the differences we observed between oxpeckers on the tagged versus untagged rhinos, we estimated that between 40 and 50 per cent of all possible black rhino encounters were thwarted by the presence of oxpeckers.'

WHY IS THE BLACK RHINO POPULATION IN DECLINE? Black rhinos have been killed in increasing numbers in recent years as transnational, organised criminal networks have become more involved in the poaching of rhinos and the illegal trade in rhino horn. Uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era was historically the major factor in the decline of black rhinos. Today, poaching for the illegal trade in their horns is the major threat, according to the WWF. Powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses  from hangovers to fevers and even cancer. The recent surge has been primarily driven by the demand for horn by upper-middle class citizens in Vietnam. As well as its use in medicine, rhino horn is bought and consumed purely as a symbol of wealth. Advertisement

Even when researchers were able to locate the tagged rhinos, the oxpeckers' alarm calls still seemed to play a role in predator defense.

The team ran a human approach experiment where one researcher would walk towards the rhino from crosswind while a colleague recorded the rhino's behaviour.

They recorded the number of oxpeckers carried, the rhinos' behaviour upon approach, and the distance of the researcher when either the rhinos became vigilant or, if undetected, it became unsafe to get any closer.

Dr Plotz said: 'Our experiment found that rhinos without oxpeckers detected a human approaching only 23 per cent of the time.

'Due to the bird's alarm call, those with oxpeckers detected the approaching human in 100 per cent of our trials and at an average distance of 61 meters - nearly four times further than when rhinos were alone.'

The team say that the more oxpeckers the rhino carried, the greater the distance at which a human was detected - with multiple birds amplifying the warning.

'These improved detection and distance estimates may even be conservative, because they don't take into account the untagged rhinos carrying oxpeckers that the team could not detect,' said Plotz.

Researchers found when a rhino heard the oxpecker alarm call, it nearly always reoriented itself to face downwind, to their sensory blind spot.

'Rhinos cannot smell predators from downwind, making it their most vulnerable position. This is particularly true from humans, who primarily hunt game from that direction,' Plotz added.

Findings suggest oxpeckers are effective companions that enable black rhinos evade potentially dangerous encounters with people.

Some scientists even believe oxpeckers may have evolved this adaptive behaviour as a way to protect their source of food - the rhinos.

'Rhinos have been hunted by humans for tens of thousands of years, but the species was driven to the brink of extinction over the last 150 years,' said Plotz.

'One hypothesis is that oxpeckers have evolved this cooperative relationship with rhinos relatively recently to protect their food source from human overkill.'

Despite this closely tied relationship, oxpecker populations have significantly declined, even becoming locally extinct in some areas.

As a result, most wild black rhino populations now live without oxpeckers in their environment - potentially putting the rhino population at greater risk.

Researchers found when a rhino heard the oxpecker alarm call, it nearly always reoriented itself to face downwind, to their sensory blind spot

Based on the study's results, reintroducing the bird back into rhino populations may bolster conservation efforts.

Dr Plotz said: 'While we do not know that reintroducing the birds would significantly reduce hunting impacts, we do know oxpeckers would help rhinos evade detection, which on its own is a great benefit.

Dr Plotz says that these findings, inspired by the Swahili name, also highlight the importance of local knowledge.

He added: 'We too often dismiss the importance of indigenous people and their observations.

'While western science has been incredibly useful, there are many insights we can learn from indigenous communities.'

Black rhinos are native to eastern and southern Africa and are classed as 'critically endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

A recent report from the organisation found the black rhino population to be gradually rising at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent.

Despite the increase in numbers, poaching remains a major threat for the animals.

The research has been published in the journal Current Biology.
The World Health Organization has declined to criticize President Trump, whose country has nearly three times the number of confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus cases as the next country on the list (Spain), but Trump seems eager to pick a fight with the WHO. After going after the United Nations health agency at Tuesday's White House coronavirus briefing, Trump returned to the theme at Wednesday's briefing, complaining at length about how much the U.S. contributes to the WHO versus China's contribution.

"The World WHO, World Health, got it wrong, I mean they got it very wrong, in many ways they were wrong," Trump said. "They also minimized the threat very strongly and, not good."

President Trump: "The WHO got it wrong...In many ways they were wrong. They also minimized the threat very strongly...not good." Full video here: https://t.co/z42TJyteNI pic.twitter.com/iva6Ur2GuF  CSPAN (@cspan) April 8, 2020

The WHO did say Jan. 14 that "preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus," but it reversed course by Jan. 30, saying "there has been human-to-human transmission in three countries outside China" and calling it a global health emergency.

There is plenty to fault in the WHO's response to what it finally declared a pandemic on March 11, but Trump may not be the best person to offer such criticism.

We can take that as a concession that minimizing the coronavirus threat was harmful. https://t.co/OnYliMV8uE  George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 8, 2020

Trump's "shifting assessments of the seriousness of the virus over recent months have been well documented," Peter Baker writes in The New York Times. "Initially, he likened it to an ordinary flu that would 'miraculously' go away, then he later called it 'the worst thing that the country has probably ever seen' and declared 'war' against the virus," declaring a national emergency on March 13. Trump's presidential daily briefing had detailed warnings of the threat from the virus spreading through China by early January, ABC News reports. His trade adviser was warning about the dire threat to the U.S. economy and U.S. lives in late January.

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The Daily Show reminds us how Trump and his allies discussed the coronavirus, and when:

"What remains unclear," Baker writes at the Times, "is whether Mr. Trump does not remember saying things that he later denies saying or is trying to impose his own reality."

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Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan attends the "Star Trek" stamp launch at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 2, 2016 in New York City.

Noam Galai/WireImage

The US postmaster general had a dire message for lawmakers on Thursday.

In a video to the House oversight committee, she warned of falling revenues to the point the agency could run out of cash by October.

Mail volumes might not ever recover, she said, and is causing post office revenue to plunge.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One of the most steadfast of government services could soon be in jeopardy because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US Postal Service expects a $13 billion decline in revenue, roughly 18% of the agency's annual budget, that could leave it completely out of cash by the end of September, Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan warned lawmakers on Thursday.

In a video briefing to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Brennan said that mail volumes have dropped significantly as Americans are forced to stay at home. Over ten years, the lingering impact of the revenue decline could total more than $50 billion, according to a press release from the committee.

A spokesperson for the committee declined to share the postmaster general's full remarks, which were not public. However, sources familiar with the meeting told The New York Times that the agency could be delivering less than half its usual volume by June.

That's even despite an uptick in package deliveries as Americans turn to Amazon and other e-commerce sites to avoid going outside and risking further spread of the virus.

In order to keep the lights on  and continue paying its more than 650,000 employees  the post office and its Trump-appointed Board of Governors is asking Congress for a $50 billion bailout to make up for losses and fund modernization projects, as well as $25 billion in loans from the Treasury Department.

In a statement, the postmaster general said the agency was at a "critical juncture" and the mounting losses could eventually threaten its ability to operate.

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"At a time when America needs the Postal Service more than ever, the reason we are so needed is having a devastating effect on our business," she said. "The sudden drop in mail volumes, our most profitable revenue stream, is steep and may never fully recover."

As part of the $2 trillion economic stimulus passed by Congress in March, the post office will receive about $13 billion, far short of the $25 billion lawmakers had asked for in negotiations.

"The Postal Service is holding on for dear life, and unless Congress and the White House provide meaningful relief in the next stimulus bill, the Postal Service could cease to exist," Carolyn Maloney, the Democrat from New York who chairs the committee, said in a press release.

Read the original article on Business Insider
With an absence of fanfare amid coronavirus safety protocols, an upgraded Russian Soyuz rocket making its first piloted flight blasted off from Kazakshstan Thursday carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut on a speedy four-orbit trip to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz 2.1a booster's first and core stage engines ignited on time at 4:05 a.m. EDT (1:05 p.m. local time), throttled up to full power and lifted the rocket smoothly away from its firing stand at the sprawling Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The Soyuz MS-16/62S spacecraft roars away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Thursday, boosting a three-man crew into space for a six-hour flight to the International Space Station. / Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

Strapped into the Soyuz MS-16/62S command module's center seat was veteran cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin, joined by rookie flight engineer Ivan Vagner on the left and Navy SEAL-turned-astronaut Chris Cassidy on the right. Like Ivanishin, Cassidy is making his third space flight.

The climb to space went smoothly and eight minutes and 46 seconds after liftoff, the booster's third stage engine shut down and the Soyuz spacecraft was released to fly on its own. A few seconds later, its two solar arrays snapped open and antennas deployed as planned.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted congratulations.

"No virus is stronger than the human desire to explore," he wrote. "I'm grateful to the entire @NASA and @roscosmos teams for their dedication to making this launch a success."

Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner are safely in orbit. No virus is stronger than the human desire to explore. Im grateful to the entire @NASA and @roscosmos teams for their dedication to making this launch a success. https://t.co/LX36JhD5Fp

 Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 9, 2020

The countdown and launch were carried out without the usual cheers and encouragement from the crew's families, friends and space agency personnel. Non-essential personnel were barred from the launch site under coronavirus travel restrictions.

The relatively small group of support personnel that was present wore face masks and kept their distance during crew walkout for the bus ride to the launch pad.

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But the lack of fanfare made no difference to the launch team, and the 2.1a booster chalked up a flawless climb to space. It was the rocket's first flight with a crew on board after a series of unpiloted missions to prove its reliability.

The space station passed directly over the launch site about three minutes before takeoff and the booster climbed directly into the plane of its orbit. Six orbits after that, at 10:13 a.m., the Soyuz docked at the station's upper Poisk module.

After tests to verify an airtight seal, hatches were opened and the crew was welcomed aboard by Expedition 62 commander Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and physician-astronaut Drew Morgan.

All six gathered in the Zvezda module for a brief chat with flight controllers in lieu of a more traditional family video conference, ruled out by the coronavirus travel restrictions.

The combined Expedition 62 crew spoke with flight controllers shortly after the Soyuz MS-16/672S spacecraft docked. Front row, left to right, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Soyuz MS-16/62S commander Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. Back row, left to right: NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, Expedition 62 commander Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. / Credit: NASA TV

"For Chris, it was a stunning launch and docking and while we wish we had everyone to see you off from Baikonur, we know your family and friends and your NASA family were watching the whole way and couldn't be more proud," Jessica Watkins, the spacecraft communicator, or CAPCOM, radioed from mission control in Houston.

"It really means a lot to be back here, representing all of the Johnson Space Center and all of NASA, really, to get this mission going," Cassidy replied. "It's going to be a really exciting year in our manned space history for all the obvious reasons."

The combined six-member station crew will only have eight days together aboard the station. Skripochka, Meir and Morgan plan to return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-15/61S spacecraft next Friday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan near the town of Dzhezkazgan around 1:17 a.m. EDT on April 17.

"We are self isolated here on the station, we are ready for handing over and after that, we're going to leave the station in good hands," Skripochka said.

From that point forward, Cassidy will be the only U.S. crew member aboard the station until SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first piloted mission in the late May timeframe.

But NASA's commercial crew program, already running two years behind schedule, has been repeatedly delayed by funding shortfalls and technical problems and the current launch target is far from guaranteed.

With the Kennedy Space Center closed to all but essential personnel to minimize possible exposure to the coronavirus, NASA and SpaceX must get through a battery of remotely conducted reviews to verify the readiness of the spacecraft, astronauts and ground systems to support launch.

SpaceX is not subject to the same work rules as NASA civil servants and it's not yet known what impact the coronavirus might have on the hardware processing schedule, but the company is pressing ahead with launch preparations.

NASA managers had expected to already be launching astronauts aboard SpaceX and Boeing commercial crew ships by now, ending the agency's sole reliance on the Soyuz. Equally important, the new crew ships are needed to ensure the presence of three to four U.S.-sponsored astronauts aboard the station at all times to carry out a full slate of scientific research.

Anticipating the advent of U.S. commercial crew ships, Russia scaled back production of its three-seat Soyuz spacecraft and only two will be launched this year: the Soyuz MS-16/62S vehicle on Thursday and the second on Oct. 14.

The business end of the Soyuz 2.1a rocket with all engines at full thrust powering the booster off the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. / Credit: Roscosmos

NASA currently only has one Soyuz seat -- Cassidy's -- under contract with Roscosmos. The agency is negotiating for a seat aboard the October flight and possibly a second seat next spring, but no contracts have yet been signed.

Uncertainty about the commercial crew schedule prompted NASA last year to put Cassidy on the Soyuz MS-16/62S crew in place of Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. A space veteran, Hoshide was expected to serve as space station commander during the Tokyo Summer Olympics, a prestigious assignment for JAXA, the Japanese space agency.

But at least one U.S. astronaut is required to be aboard the space station at all times to operate and maintain NASA systems. Given delays in the commercial crew program, NASA put Cassidy on the Soyuz crew in Hoshide's place as a precaution to ensure a U.S. presence on the station in the event of additional commercial crew delays.

"We're good buddies, fortunately," Cassidy said of Hoshide. "He's a true professional. Any astronaut wants to be on a rocket with their name on it, and I'm sure he's no different. But it ultimately wasn't about any person, it was about protecting U.S. presence in space."

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Vexing Nemo: Motorboat noise makes clownfish stressed and aggressive

Hormonal changes caused by motorboat noise cause clownfish to hide, skip meals and attack their neighbours - putting damselfish in distress.

Working on the reefs around Moorea in French Polynesia, an international team of scientists exposed 40 pairs of clownfish to recordings of natural reef sounds or motorboat noise for up to two days. Motorboat noise caused clownfish to hide in the protective tentacles of their host anemone, move less into open water to feed and to be more aggressive towards domino damselfish that also reside in the anemone.

The researchers - from France, Chile and the UK - also found that noise-affected anemonefish were unable to respond appropriately to a second stressor, likely putting them at greater risk from threats such as predators and climate change.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, found noise-exposed fish had elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol and the reproductive hormones testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone, which corresponded with observed behavioural changes. These measurable hormones offer a window into complex behaviours and could be used to develop new noise-mitigation tools.

Lead author, Associate Professor Suzanne Mills at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) PSL Universite Paris, CRIOBE, France, said, "The high cortisol levels after two days of exposure suggest that clownfish become chronically stressed by motorboat noise. This compromises the stress response system leaving clownfish unable to mount appropriate responses to further stressful events. If these stressful events include a predator, motorboat noise could have grave implications."

Ricardo Beldade, Associate Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and previously with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at CRIOBE, France said, "Clownfish defended their anemone territory aggressively during motorboat noise, which requires more energy. However, as the fish hid more and moved less to feed, even after the motorboat noise had passed, they may be unable to compensate through more foraging, with potentially detrimental impacts on growth and even survival."

Andy Radford, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Bristol, said: "Experiments that consider behaviour of wild animals in natural conditions--as we have done in this study--are crucial if we are to understand fully the impact of anthropogenic noise. Our results highlight that behavioural changes caused by anthropogenic noise are likely underpinned by alterations in the stress response (cortisol) and certain steroid hormones."

Dr Sophie Nedelec, University of Exeter, said, "Now we know that hormonal responses are the mechanisms driving behavioural changes to motorboat noise, they can be a useful tool in regulation. We might be able to predict the duration and/or interval times of motorboat noise exposure that allow individuals to return to normal behaviour."

Steve Simpson, Professor of Marine Biology & Global Change at the University of Exeter, added, "Hormonal responses to different boat engines, propeller designs and spatial management of boating activities can be compared to reduce the impact of this globally prevalent pollutant. Hormonal responses are currently an underemployed tool for managing the noise of the 100,000s of motorboats used around the world."

Mills summarised, "Our new findings highlight the need to control man-made noise in marine protected habitats."

###

Paper:

'Hormonal and behavioural effects of motorboat noise on wild coral reef fish' by Mills, S.C., Beldade, R., Henry, L., Laverty, D., Nedelec, S.L., Simpson, S.D., & Radford, A.N. 2020 in Environmental Pollution.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Bhubaneswar, April 9 : The Odisha government on Thursday decided to extend the lockdown period till April 30 to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. It also decided to keep the educational institutions closed till June 17.

Odisha is the first state in the country which extended the lockdown period by another 15 days.

"In view of the situation arising out of COVID-19, the state government decided to extend the lockdown period till April 30," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in a video message.

While extending the lockdown period, the state cabinet, which met on Thursday, decided to recommend the Centre to extend the national lockdown till the period.

The government has also requested the Centre to stop rail and air communication during the period.

He clarified that the essential services will remain unhindered during the lockdown period.

"There will not be any problem in transport of goods. We are leaving no stone unturned in scaling up the COVID testing and treatment facilities. We propose to do one Lakh rapid testing in the state at the earliest possible time," he said.

Activities related to agriculture, animal husbandry and MGNREGS will be facilitated during the lockdown period following social distancing norms whereas all educational institutions will remain closed till June 17.

He thanked the 4.50 crore people of Odisha for all the support and cooperation extending in this serious crisis situation.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The U.K.'s fintech's response to the coronavirus pandemic so far might best be described as "move fast, [and] make things," as multiple and sometimes impromptu teams roll out financial technology solutions to help combat the crisis.

Last month, I reported on "Covid Credit," a project that saw dozens of volunteers from the wider U.K. fintech community build a working prototype to enable freelancers and sole traders to self-certify lost income, in a bid to help the government administer potential compensation.

Since then, a U.K. government grant scheme for self-employed has been announced, prompting employees at Countingup to build a handy "Coronavirus Calculator" that lets you see how much support you could be entitled to and help with financial planning.

Similarly, for U.K. companies -- including startups -- that need to furlough employees in a bid for survival, Pento's team created a "Coronavirus Furlough HMRC Claim Calculator" to help you work out how much will be covered by the U.K. government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for each employee.

Meanwhile, SeedLegals, though not technically a fintech, has made legal documentation available to ensure you furlough employees legally.

And just launched this morning, Starling Bank has rolled out the "Connected card," a second debit card connected to your existing Starling current account that you can give out to friends, family and carers to shop on your behalf if you are self-isolating. Astutely, the card is protected with a balance limit of 200 and can be tracked and administered within the Starling mobile app.

Save My Local

Lastly comes a gigantic effort from another group of fintech volunteers designed to help save local businesses. Dubbed Save My Local, the free website aims to help local businesses generate much-needed cash flow by selling vouchers to loyal customers that can be used for future purchases.

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A tweet from entrepreneur Jason Bates (11:FS, Starling, Monzo) inspired Mike Kelly (CEO of Curl.app) to take action and make the idea a reality. Within a week, a team of 20+ volunteers had formed and a first version of the product was "designed, built, and shipped; with businesses signed up and processing orders," say the group.

The idea is that the vouchers will be redeemable when the coronavirus U.K. lockdown is over, and in the interim will enable small business owners to generate enough cash to stay afloat. Of course, for those purchasing vouchers, there is some risk that a business could still go bust, so it's best to see this as a somewhat altruistic endeavour, even if in many instances it is a desperately needed one.

The Save My Local group say they are currently recruiting small businesses to test the free voucher platform and if successful can scale to meet demand. They have already had requests for collaboration from groups in Australia, Israel and other countries to see if the solution can be shared more broadly.
Home testing, a COVID-19-fighting virus and new applications for treatments designed to mitigate inflammation, could be on the horizon as Connecticut bio-technology companies scramble to meet the demands brought on by the novel coronavirus.

Representatives from a group of innovative biotechs from throughout the state convened Wednesday for a teleconference hosted by BioCT and AdvanceCT to provide updates on solutions aimed at curbing the pandemic that has killed more than 300 people in Connecticut as of Wednesday.

This is not a surprise and well known that COVID-19 has posed a major global challenge, impacting nearly everyone, everywhere, and in response to that, there are a multitude of activities, in a number of sectors, said panel moderator Dr. Mostafa Analoui, executive director of venture development for the University of Connecticuts Office of the Vice President for Research & Technology Incubation Program.

The panel included representatives from biotechnical companies like The Jackson Laboratory and CaroGen Corporation, both of Famington, 4Catalyzer, of Guilford, NanoViricides, of Shelton, and Thetis Pharmaceuticals, of Branford.

Dr. Anil Diwan, executive chairman and president of NanoViricides, described his companys efforts to develop a vaccine and treatment for the virus. Diwans laboratory had particular experience with the coronaviruses, after being approached in 2014 by Englands Department of Public Health to examine the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), another type of coronavirus that was first reported in humans in 2012.

We had done a lot of molecular modeling around coronaviruses at that time, Diwan said.

Based on the viral samples already at its disposal, work began in January on the development of several drug candidates to be tested. Diwan said his company specializes in creating nanoviricides, which unlike antibodies and vaccines, bind, encapsulate and destroy viruses without the help of a patients immune system. While the search for an effective vaccine could be a year to 18 months away, Diwan said he hoped to quickly advance the potential treatment to the clinical stage of testing in the coming weeks.

Dr. Bijan Almassian, president and CEO of CaroGen, which creates immuno-therapies for infectious diseases and cancer, said his group was working on a similarly innovative solution, drawing on the experience of Yale University School of Medicine Professor Dr. John Rose, who in the early-2000s, developed a vaccine for the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related conavirus (SARS).

Basically, our approach is very different than many other approaches,Almassian said. Here we are fighting a virus with another artificial virus.

Using that technology, a vaccine has been created, Almassian said, and testing could begin within the month.

"I'm very pleased to report to you, in a very short period of time, we have already built a vaccine, Almassian said. We have tested in terms of the quality control of this vaccine to make sure it does what it's supposed to do.

Gary Mathias, co-founder and CEO of Thetis Pharmeceuticals, said his company had been focusing on the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which is the leading cause of death in COVID-19 patients. According to Mathias, 42 percent of COVID-19 hospitalized patients develop ARDS and of those, 50 percent die. Independent of coronavirus, there are nearly 250,000 cases of ARDS each year in the U.S., and no available treatment, which provides an additional, overarching need.

Mathias work also assumes that a vaccine will not be available by the fall, when experts predict a second wave of the pandemic. Without preventative measures, treatment will become paramount.

It is expected that there will be a rebound in COVID-19 in the fall and winter before a vaccine is likely to be developed, Mathias said. And, therefore, the urgency around treating acute respiratory distress syndrome will continue.

Strides are being made in testing, too.

Were developing a test that can be run completely in the home setting by untrained users with no special equipment, said Eric Kabrams, of 4Catlyzer, a biomedical incubator for startups.

The test could be conducted by users and then would either return results on the spot or the sample could be shipped to a lab for interpretation. Results would then be digitally recorded and reported to relevant state and federal agencies.

According to Kabras, the at-home test came in response to what the company identified as the need for a massive scale-up of our testing capabilities, which several panelist said was crucial to preventing the spread of the disease.

That need is especially pronounced, said Dr. Mark Adams, professor, director and general manager of Microbial Genomic Services at the Jackson Laboratory, as the result of the Centers for Disease Controls botched initial diagnostic tests of the virus.

That initial misstep led to delays and since, thanks to the relaxation of federal guidelines governing who can process tests, increasingly more providers have entered the ring, Adams said.

He warned that while the number of infections might soon peak, the amount of needed tests will continue to rise, even as cases fall. His lab is processing roughly 2,000 samples a week and is working diligently to increase its capacity.

I think that certainly as we make attempts to come back to normal in terms of the economy, in terms of health care, in terms of a wide variety of personal interactions, theres going to be a large and continually increasing demand for testing to identify people who may have been exposed, who have symptoms and get the appropriate treatment and isolation, Adams said. I think this is an aspect of the coronavirus world that were going to be living with, an evolving landscape, for quite a long time to come.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586

Correction: An early version of this story incorrectly stated the Jackson Laboratory was processing 200 test samples a week. The laboratory is processing roughly 2,000 samples a week.
The Minority in Parliament have raised concerns over the Finance Committee of the House authorising government to spend some GHS1.2 billion from the Contingency Fund without presenting the approval report on the Floor of the House.

The Committee granted the authorization on Wednesday after the Finance Minister made the request to help government boost its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Speaker of Parliament subsequently referred the request to the Finance Committee of the House.

The Committee however granted the request despite the Minoritys concerns of lack of details in the financial estimates presented.

Prior to the approval, the Minority MPs on the Finance Committee indicated that it would not support the request by the Finance Minister if a provision is not made to absorb electricity bills of residential consumers in these trying times.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi said the refusal of the Finance Committee to present its report on the Floor of Parliament for further debate is a major source of worry.

Our proposal [for domestic consumption of electricity power] was made clear to the committee, we expect that the Chairman will incorporate our recommendations into the report that the committee will have to generate. But they are raising Article 177 (1) of the Constitution where they think that the committee is not supposed to issue any report to the House. We didnt agree to that because this is not the first time this is happening. But they think that they dont want to go by that, they think that the Finance Committee alone can just look at it and approve it and write the communication to the Ministry of Finance that they have approved it. That is what they want to do but I think that posterity is going to judge all of us. I think that there is nothing wrong if the Finance Committee communicates its approval in the form of a report for the entire House to debate and adopt it for the Minister to go and spend. They decided to use a different way and we do not support that at all, the Ketu South legislator remarked.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has been given the green light to spend about a billion Ghana Cedis from the Contingency Fund to implement the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP).

It followed a statement he presented to the House on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister has already indicated that the cumulative effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Ghana GHS9.505 billion.

CAP measures

As part of other measures, the government has put in place a GHS600 million soft loan scheme with a two-year repayment plan for micro, small and medium scale businesses.

This is in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries, Business & Trade Associations and selected Commercial and Rural Banks.

Persons who access these loans will have a one-year grace period before beginning repayment.

Mr. Ofori-Atta is also seeking the support of Parliament to amend the relevant laws to lower the cap of the Stabilisation Fund from US$300 million to US$100 million.

This is to enable the government use the excess funds to bridge the gap created by the economic impact of the pandemic.

Among other interventions, the government will be taking care of the water bills for all Ghanaians for April, May and June 2020.

Seven regions have so far recorded cases of the novel coronavirus with Ghana's count standing at 313.

---citinewsroom
Secretary Esper highlighted the need for European allies to enhance their support to the Ukraine security assistance mission.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper spoke by phone on April 8 with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Andriy Taran to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine and exchange perspectives on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Read alsoU.S. committed to Ukraine and Georgia to become future members of NATO

"Secretary Esper congratulated Minister Taran on his recent appointment as Minister of Defense and reiterated U.S. support for building the capacity of Ukraine's forces to defend more effectively against Russian aggression. Secretary Esper also highlighted the need for European allies to enhance their support to the Ukraine security assistance mission," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a readout on April 8, 2020.

Taran reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to transforming Ukraine's defense sector in line with NATO principles and standards.

In turn, Esper praised Ukraine's recent progress on defense reforms and encouraged his counterpart to maintain Ukraine's momentum in support of a more secure and democratic Ukraine.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian lawmakers appointed Taran as the country's new defense minister on March 4, 2020.
SpiceJet will operate a second freighter flight on Friday carrying medical supplies from Singapore to Bengaluru.

Gurugram (Haryana): SpiceJet is operating its first cargo freighter on the Chennai-Singapore-Chennai route on Thursday carrying critical medical equipment and COVID-19 related medical supplies.

SpiceJet operates its first cargo freighter to Singapore to bring critical medical equipment to India, to land in Chennai today evening to operate another cargo freighter to carry medical supplies from Singapore to Bengaluru on April 10 @flyspicejet @CNBCTV18Live #COVID pic.twitter.com/BBNCmSRbPF  Anu Sharma (@awnusharma) April 9, 2020

The Boeing 737 freighter aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Chennai at 5.30 pm.

SpiceJet said it has transported over 1,500 tonnes of cargo carrying essential supplies since the nation-wide lockdown began and has been extending all possible support to the government, medical and pharma companies, and international retailers to fight this war against the global pandemic.

The airline will operate a second freighter flight on Friday carrying medical supplies from Singapore to Bengaluru.

"SpiceJet's freighters have been flying non-stop carrying vital supplies to and from Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and host of other places including Southeast Asia," said chairman and managing director Ajay Singh.

The carrier operated the country's first cargo-on-seat flight carrying vital supplies in the passenger cabin on 7 April.

Since then, the airline has been regularly using its Boeing 737 aircraft to carry cargo in the passenger cabin.

SpiceXpress, SpiceJet's dedicated cargo arm, has been regularly transporting surgical supplies, sanitisers and face masks, and providing doorstep deliveries of essential supplies, medicines and medical equipment in Bengaluru, Patna, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Raipur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Kochi, Guwahati, Jammu, Lucknow among other cities.
Two of the 151 fines relating to COVID-19 issued so far by NSW Police have been handed out in Waverley, which has the highest number of confirmed cases in the state and where crowded beaches have previously drawn strong criticism.

Police have handed out more than $165,000 worth of fines and dozens of court attendance orders related to public health orders aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, with about one-third of all fines issued in just four areas - Sydney City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool and Fairfield.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says he will personally check every fine issued. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Health Minister Brad Hazzard also announced a new fine of $5000 and up to six months in prison for people who spit or cough on frontline workers on Thursday.

The announcement comes as unions say they have received dozens of reports of workers in a range of fields, including health and justice, being abused, spat and coughed on.
Foreigners with residence are also eligible for repatriations.

People arrived to state facility in Gabcikovo to spend the obligatory quarantine there. (Source: TASR)

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When Slovak student Denis Dufala arrived in Latvia in January for his Erasmus student exchange, he did not know his experience was going to be much shorter than he expected.

He decided it was time to leave Riga when he remained one of only five students remaining in the dorms. It was the second half of March. By then, some commercial flights had been suspended and European countries started closing their borders. Dufala applied for the repatriation flight organised by Slovakia's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

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As of April 8, 2020, the ministry has assisted more than 4,000 citizens in returning to their homeland, the new Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok stated after he was appointed on that day. His appointment was three weeks after the rest of the ministers received theirs, because he too first needed to return home from the United States where he had been serving as Slovakia's ambassador, and wait out the two-week compulsory quarantine after his return.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry stopped accepting new state-organised repatriation requests on April 2, for several reasons, as they stated.

Among other things there is also the fact that many citizens did not use the possibility of organised repatriation or only requested it formally, as their usual residence is abroad, ministry stated.

There have been cases of citizens who were repatriated and have since returned to the country they come from.

Slovak citizens and foreigners with exceptions may still return home on their own.

Heading to the state quarantine centre

Who are the foreigners that can enter Slovakia? 1. A close person to a Slovak citizen  husband/wife, a small child who enters Slovakia from Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland. They should have a birth certificate or marriage certificate with themselves (copy of the document is enough, if the document is not in Slovak, it should be translated, at least unofficially). 2. Foreigners with valid residence in Slovakia 3. Foreigners who live in border areas of the neighbouring state up to 30 kilometres from the inner border of Slovakia (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria) who have work within 30 kilometres from the border and they have confirmation from the employer. 4. Workers of diplomatic mission accredited in Slovakia and their close people (wife/husband and small children) 5. Foreigners who have an exception granted by the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic. 6. Foreign drivers of lorries who have CMR confirmation on loading and also unloading of vehicles for the purpose of loading goods and transit through an area of the Slovak Republic to another state without CMR document. 7. Drivers and crew of personal bus transport who conduct transport of repatriated people to Slovakia. 8. Drivers and crews of the healthcare service who transport patients and organs meant for transplants of blood and blood replacement. 9. Employees of the burial service who conduct international transport of human remains for purposes of burial and cremation.

They are required to fill in the due documents at navraty.mzv.sk (English version available).
Calcutta University has started



free online counselling service as a number of students are under stress due to the lockdown in force to control the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior varsity official said on Thursday.

The online counselling service will be available for 12 hours every day, the official said.

The 'Psychological counselling service' was being run by 13 teachers of Psychology and Applied Psychology department and will be available for students of post-graduate and under-graduate courses of Calcutta University only, the official told PTI.

"Many students are reeling under different types of stress in the present situation, for 247 confinement within their homes, which may lead to a swing in moods and tiff with family members.

"There can also be concern related to career with all academic schedules delayed. Teachers of the two departments will be listening to the problems of each caller with patience and seek to address their concern," the official said



The counselling service which was launched on Wednesday, have already received a couple of calls, the official added.

The university has put up a notice on its website where the names and mobile numbers of the teachers have been given mentioning the different time slots when they will be available for giving tips to the youngsters and help them cope with the crisis situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 05:10:43|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic in Iran continued its week-long downward trend on Wednesday as less than 2,000 new cases were reported. Meanwhile, Turkey's tally of infections with the novel coronavirus was poised to pass 40,000.

Iran reported 1,997 new COVID-19 cases and 121 more deaths from the infectious disease, bringing the tally of infections to 64,586 and the death toll to 3,993.

Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, expressed the hope that Iran would be able to control the pace of the virus spread in the following days.

Mohammad Nahavandian, Iranian vice president for economic affairs, said the United States cannot block Iran's request for a loan of 5 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for fighting the novel coronavirus.

"The IMF policy should be fair in assessing and approving loan requests" for its members, Nahavandian said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed a recent proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift global sanctions and create green trade corridors as the world grapples with COVID-19 pandemic.

In Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed 4,117 new COVID-19 cases and 87 more deaths, bringing the tally of confirmed cases to 38,226 and the death toll to 812.

The minister noted that 1,846 patients have recovered since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, while 1,492 patients are being treated at the intensive care units.

Koca said that a new mobile app will be launched to track novel coronavirus patients to see if they are isolated or leaving home.

In Israel, another hard-hit country in the region, the Health Ministry announced 156 new COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 9,404 and the death toll to 73.

Israel imposed a nationwide curfew from 3 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday to curb the spread of the disease.

Israeli scientists have developed a portable inexpensive ventilator, costing around 500 U.S. dollars per unit, local media reported.

The new device, "AmboVent," was developed by scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the countries that suffer shortage of ventilators amid the coronavirus pandemic. It has already been purchased by 20 countries.

Saudi Arabia announced 327 new coronavirus cases, raising the tally of infections to 2,932, which include 41 deaths and 631 recoveries.

The Saudi Social Development Bank announced the launch of a health care fund with a budget of 2 billion Saudi Riyals (533 million U.S. dollars) to support 12 health specialities and establishments that are licensed by the Health Ministry.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 300 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases to 2,659. The tally of the recoveries in the UAE rose to 239, after 53 more patients made full recovery from the virus.

Qatar confirmed 153 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,210, of whom 178 have recovered after 28 more recoveries were added on Wednesday.

In Iraq, the Health Ministry confirmed 80 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total cases to 1,202, of whom 69 have died and 425 have recovered.

Egypt reported 110 new COVID-19 cases and nine more deaths, raising the total number of cases in the country to 1,560, including 103 fatalities.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced extending the nationwide nighttime curfew that started on March 25 for another two weeks until April 23.

Morocco reported 91 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,275, while the death toll reached 93.

Oman's Ministry of Health announced 48 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 419, including 72 recoveries.

In Lebanon, the total number of COVID-19 cases increased by 27 to 575, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19.

Algeria reported 12 new deaths from COVID-19 and 104 more confirmed cases, raising the death toll to 205 and the tally of infections to 1,572.

In Jordan, Health Minister Saad Jaber confirmed five new coronavirus cases, raising the tally of COVID-19 infections to 358.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said a two-day full curfew will be imposed on the upcoming weekend lasting from Thursday night until Saturday midnight, in a bid to curb the coronavirus spread.

The minister also voiced appreciation to China's world-renowned billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma for donating much-needed medical equipment to Jordan.
Seventy-five New Jersey Army National Guard medics have been deployed to two veteran homes struggling with depleted staffs and mounting deaths from the coronavirus, state officials said Thursday.

The medics started to arrive Wednesday evening. Forty were dispatched to the Veterans Memorial Home, Paramus and 35 to a memorial home in Menlo Park, Kryn Westhoven a veterans affairs spokesman said.

Eight residents at Paramus and two from Menlo Park have died from the COVID-19 virus since March 28.

In recent days, staffing of nurses and support staff at has been at about 75 percent, Westhoven said.

The ten deaths at Paramus are part of 23 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among residents. The staff there has also been hit hard. There are 17 confirmed cases and 47 pending test results, Westhoven said. There have been no reported deaths of staff.

In Menlo Park 15 residents are confirmed to have the virus. Three employees are positive with four test pending.

The state Department of Veterans Affairs also operates a third nursing home in Vineland. There have been no positive COVID-19 cases among residents or staff there, state officials said.

At least 47,437 New Jersey residents have tested positive for the coronavirus with another 52,979 testing negative. An estimated 80-85% of cases involve mild or moderate symptoms, according to health officials.

Of the more than 7,000 people hospitalized for the coronavirus around the state, 1,576 are on ventilators, officials said. An unknown number of people have recovered in New Jersey.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body's chief.

President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide since emerging in Wuhan, China late last year.

Critics say that Trump's sudden threats against the WHO amount to a political ploy to find a foreign scapegoat as he comes under fire for not doing more to prepare for and control COVID-19, which has killed about 15,000 people in the United States.

Trump himself said in January that the United States had the coronavirus "totally under control" and predicted it may go away in April as temperatures rise.

Elaborating on Trump's case against the WHO, the State Department said the WHO was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19 and overly deferential to China. It questioned why the Geneva-based body did not pursue a lead from Taiwan.

The United States is "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHO's January 14, 2020 statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission," a State Department spokesperson said.

"The WHO once again chose over public health," she said, criticizing the WHO for denying Taiwan even observer status since 2016.

The WHO's actions have "cost time and lives," the spokesperson said.

Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting the virus to just five deaths despite the island's proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said.

Chen, an epidemiologist, told the Financial Times that Taiwanese doctors had learned that colleagues in Wuhan were falling ill but that the WHO did not work to confirm the finding.

China considers Taiwan -- a self-ruling democracy where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949 -- to be a province awaiting reunification and has sought to exclude it from all international organizations.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in an appeal Wednesday for unity, said that he had been subjected to insults including racial slights since the public health crisis began.

The Ethiopian doctor turned diplomat did not mention the United States -- the largest donor to the WHO at more than $400 million last year -- but singled out non-member Taiwan.

"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan," Tedros told reporters in Geneva, referring to online criticism and insults.

"Taiwan, the foreign ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care," Tedros said.

The comments sparked anger in Taiwan, which described Tedros' comments as "baseless" and said it was seeking an apology for "slander."



"Our country has never encouraged the public to launch personal attacks against him or made any racially discriminatory comments," foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters on Thursday.

In a Facebook post, President Tsai Ing-wen invited Tedros to visit Taiwan and learn from its handling of the epidemic, challenging him to "resist pressure from China."



"We have been blocked from international organizations for many long years and we know what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else," she said.

Beijing responded that Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party, which emphasizes Taiwan's separate identity, has engaged in "political manipulation" over the WHO.

"Its true aim is to seek independence through the pandemic. We are firmly opposed to this, and their scheme will never succeed," a foreign ministry spokesman said in Beijing.

Critics of Tedros have accused the WHO under his leadership of being too close to Beijing and complimentary of China's response to the coronavirus.

But some public health experts say that the WHO had little choice but to cooperate with China to preserve access in Wuhan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chattanooga State Community College has published their annual report highlighting achievements and impact within its six-county service area during fiscal year July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019.



Setting a new record in 2019, Chattanooga State awarded 1,339 graduates and 1,049 technical certificates and diplomas. Jim Fry, who returned to college at age 57, was awarded the first ever Tennessee Community College Student of the Year Award and inspired fellow graduates as commencement speaker.



Programs like Focus on Completion and Achieving the Dream helped to increase the number of graduates from low-income households by 19 percent over the past four years. Chattanooga State ranked second statewide in awarding the highest number of short-term certificates to low income and academically under-prepared students.



The College provided robust financial assistance beyond grant programs like Pell, HOPE, TN Promise and TN Reconnect to qualified students by awarding more than $1.2M in institution and foundation scholarships to 865 students.



While 72 percent of Chattanooga States student population is under 25, adult students over the age of 25 ranked second statewide in the number of associate degrees awarded. Degree-seeking graduates enjoyed a low student-to-teacher ratio of 16:1 and a 97 percent job placement rate.



As home to the only full-embedded technical college on a community college campus in the state, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) reported an impressive number of students involved in the national SkillsUSA program, which celebrates the dignity of work for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. During 2019, ninety-one percent of participating students earned medals at the annual statewide SkillsUSA competition while also receiving the coveted James D. King award. At the national competition, TCAT-Chattanooga won the Gold Presidents Volunteer Service Award.



Serving the community is a significant part of Chattanooga States mission. The Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) division provided 61,763 workforce training hours serving 193 local and regional businesses. Under the umbrella of the EWD, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) ranks #1 statewide in terms of serving the most small business clients, most jobs created/retained, and in the highest capital infusion of more than $25M.



Chattanooga States 2018-2019 Annual Report is available to the community here.
STAMFORD  Authorities have indicted on federal charges three New York men they believe were involved in the robbery-homicide of Stamford jeweler Mark Vuono on March 28.

Thomas Liberatore, 62, of White Plains, Paul Tony Pro Prosano, 59, of Brooklyn, and Robert Rallo, 56, also of Brooklyn, have been charged with federal robbery offenses in connection with Vuonos jewelry store robbery.

The announcement was made Thursday by U.S. Attorney John Durham, Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo, acting Stamford Police Chief Tom Wuennemann, Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey and FBI Special agent in charge David Sundberg.

Federal authorities also announced they are taking over prosecution of the case.

Greenwich police said Thursday morning that Liberatore also is a suspect in a Greenwich jewelry store robbery 10 days earlier.

We want to acknowledge the cooperation and teamwork of all of the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation that made these arrests possible, said Stamford Police Captain Richard Conklin. During this crisis within a crisis, which created many logistical obstacles, federal and local agencies worked hand in hand and got this job done.

Vuono, 69, was shot and killed sometime before 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, which is when a customer who entered Marco Jewelers, the store Vuono owned on Sixth Street in Stamford, found Vuono lying on the floor in front of an opened safe, according to a statement released Thursday.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Vuono was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Police say investigators believe that Vuono was shot with his own gun. Vuonos family said he was just about to retire and turn the business over to his son before he was killed.

The federal criminal complaints charge Rallo, Liberatore and Prosano with Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Authorities said they expect to make additional charges.

According to a joint statement from authorities, video evidence reveals that Prosano drove Rallo and Liberatore in a black Jaguar to Marco Jewelers on the day in question. Rallo and Liberatore then entered the store.

Rallo, armed with a handgun, engaged in a physical altercation with Vuono, according to the statement, while Liberatore stole items from the display cases. Vuono, who also possessed a firearm, and Rallo struggled next to a large open safe, authorities said. During the struggle, Rallo reached into the safe and pulled out a third firearm, a .357 Magnum revolver. Rallo allegedly shot and killed Vuono with the .357 revolver, according to authorities.

The black Jaguar was soon found in Staten Island and was watched by authorities. Two days after the robbery, a black BMW driven by Prosano pulled up beside the Jaguar. Rallo got out of a rear door and got into the Jaguar and drove away, authorities said. Police gave chase, and after he crashed the Jaguar, apprehended Rallo on foot, authorities said.

Authorities said they apprehended Prosano after he, too, crashed and tried to flee.

A search of the BMW located 63 rings, eight bracelets, two tie pins, an earring and a cuff link, according to authorities. A search of Prosanos Brooklyn residence turned up 23 pairs of earrings and three rings, they said. It is alleged that those items were robbed from Vuono, law enforcement authorities said.

Liberatore also was arrested on March 30.

Authorities said Liberatore on March 18 drove a Honda Civic he had stolen from a car dealer in Yonkers, New York, to Byram Jewelers in Greenwich, where he pointed a gun at an employee and stole rings before smashing a display case with the pistol and taking other items.

The Greenwich Police Department is pleased that its investigation of a jewelry store robbery in Greenwich, involving one of the three suspects in the Marco Jewelers robbery/homicide, was able to assist Stamford Police and the FBI in bringing to justice the suspects in these heinous crimes, said Greenwich Police Chief Heavey. We continue to emphasize collaboration in our law enforcement efforts and are proud of all of the detectives and investigators involved in this case. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of Mark Vuono, owner of Marco Jewelers.

The defendants have been detained in New York on state parole violation charges. The arrest warrants issued in this case have been lodged as detainers.

The complaints allege that each defendant has an extensive criminal history and the three men met while serving sentences within the New York State Department of Corrections, the release said.

These three defendants are alleged to have committed a brazen, violent robbery that left an innocent victim dead, said U.S. Attorney Durham. The FBI, Stamford Police, Greenwich Police and our other law enforcement partners have conducted an extraordinary investigation that resulted in the quick apprehension of these three men before they could wreak any additional havoc. I thank them for their efforts during what has been, due to this pandemic, an especially challenging time for law enforcement. This investigation is ongoing and, in coordination with our state counterparts, additional charges are expected.

This investigation and resulting prosecution is a great example of cooperation between the U.S. Attorneys Office, Stamford/Norwalk States Attorneys Office, FBI and the Stamford and Greenwich Police Departments, said Chief States Attorney Colangelo. We could not have moved as quickly as we did to apprehend the individuals alleged to be responsible for these offenses without the cooperation of all parties working together.

Our hearts go out to the victims family and our praise to the men and women of the Greenwich and Stamford Police Departments, as well as the NYPD and New York Office of the FBI, for their skill and professionalism throughout this investigation, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sundberg. It is our expectation that justice will be served through the arrest of these three individuals.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

Trend:

On the initiative of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States Ilham Aliyev, an extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council will be held on April 10 through videoconferencing.

The Summit will focus on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
States are pleading for help from the Trump administration as they struggle to handle a torrent of unemployment claims that continues to swell as businesses remain shuttered across the country.

In the three weeks since President Donald Trump signed legislation allocating $1 billion to help states process jobless claims, the number of laid-off Americans applying for benefits has already surged past 16 million.

Less than half of the money for administrative costs in the most recent stimulus bill has been distributed to states, according to Department of Labor officials. But even once they have the full amount in hand, states say they will need even more money to overhaul antiquated filing systems, and they also require more details and guidance from the Department of Labor to allow them to streamline claims and cut benefit checks faster.

For now, unemployed workers are left waiting for checks as the states struggle to handle a volume of unemployment applications unprecedented since the U.S. started tracking jobless claims in 1967.

Can we get federal help for that? The answer is no, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week, discussing the mass of calls flooding the states Department of Employment Security. We cant get federal help. Were barely getting federal help for everything else we need for personnel, and right now, its all focused on the medical staffing and health care professionals.

A DOL spokesperson said in a statement the department is supporting our state partners as they deliver traditional unemployment and expanded benefits available, and has quickly released new rules and guidance for states, businesses, and individual Americans to help those in need of relief.

States have tried so far to make do with the resources and guidance they have. Illinois and Maryland have extended hours, reassigned workers and hired new employees to help answer the phones. Connecticut and New Jersey are scrambling to find the few remaining computer programmers who are familiar with a 60-year old coding language. California has waived typical waiting periods and is allowing state officials to "exercise flexibility by awarding benefits in some cases before making a final determination of a person's eligibility.

Story continues

Issues with processing unemployment claims and doling out benefit checks are just the latest evidence that the trillions of dollars Congress spent to help workers and businesses have yet to reach many of those who need it the most. Bankers have been pleading directly with Trump to fix problems with a Small Business Administration system holding them back from issuing $350 billion in government-backed loans designed to avert major layoffs. Other banks and financial firms are highlighting more work that needs to be done to quickly get $1,200 stimulus checks to Americans and warn that sending paper checks through the mail could become a major source of fraud.

The $1 billion allocated under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which took effect on Friday, was meant to help states modernize their filing systems and handle the onslaught of claims. But the money still trickling out to states amounts in many areas to too little, too late for systems that have been neglected for years and cant be overhauled overnight.

Three weeks ago, a billion dollars seemed like a lot, said Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst with the National Employment Law Project. But this is a spike in claims processing like weve never seen before.

The frantic calls for volunteers trained in a decades-old computer programming language called COBOL is perhaps the starkest example of how neglected state unemployment systems have been. Rob Asaro-Angelo, the New Jersey Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, told reporters over the weekend that IT workers are working nonstop to make the states 40-year-old systems continue to perform under such atypical circumstances.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy put a call out for volunteers who are trained in the antiquated program, and said its something the state will review in the aftermath of the pandemic. In New Jersey, just over 362,000 residents filed for unemployment in the past two weeks. Benefits surged by about 1,600 percent during the first week of the outbreak.

We have systems that are 40 years-plus old, and therell be lots of postmortems. And one of them on our list will be, how did we get here where we literally needed COBOL programmers? Murphy said over the weekend.

Even so, Murphy said that New Jersey is in a better position than most states, and the states Department of Labor has taken several actions to improve processing, like adding phone lines and training additional staffers to field calls from the constantly jammed phone lines. But the governor also said on Wednesday that the state would welcome any additional money to improve its infrastructure.

Weve got an overwhelming demand, weve got legacy systems, Murphy said. We can use anything we can get.

In Wisconsin, officials handling unemployment insurance benefits said theyre eligible to receive $9 million under one of the federal bailout bills. They said theyll use it mostly to hire new employees and beef up staffing to administer unemployment programs. Wisconsin received nearly 310,000 claims in the two weeks ending April 4, up from roughly 78,400 over the same period last year.

That sum isnt even going to begin to address our issue of modernizing our system, said Mark Reihl, the unemployment insurance division administrator at Wisconsins Department of Workforce Development. He estimated that overhauling Wisconsins system, which also uses COBOL, would cost somewhere between $40 million and $60 million.

Around the country, untold numbers of workers still find themselves battling jammed phone lines, crashed websites and even long lines that threaten exposure to the coronavirus.

Ryan Yeates, 26, a Navy veteran, said he has called the New York state unemployment line repeatedly for the past week but has yet to reach a live person. Yeates said he tried to apply online but was turned away because he is a first-time applicant.

They give you a busy message saying all the claims specialists are taken right now, call back at a later time, and then they hang up on you, Yeates said. That only happens about two percent of the time. About ninety percent of the time the call doesnt even go through and it just says busy.

On Wednesday, Yeates tweeted a screenshot of his smartphones call log. He had called 200 times in six days.

Its like our ongoing joke at this point, how many times we call that day, said Yeates.

In Florida, hundreds of people lined up outside a library, violating social distancing guidelines to get paper applications after the states website and phone lines became overloaded. Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week he added 72 servers, reassigned 2,000 state employees and would hire 750 more to help process claims.

States also complain that the Trump administration was slow to give guidance on how to distribute unemployment benefits to self-employed people and gig workers. The Labor Department finally published a fact sheet on Sunday, nearly two weeks after Trump signed the provision into law.

Theres been a lot of frustrated people trying to sign up for that, said Mike Ricci, the communications director for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

Like many states, Maryland is still struggling to upgrade its infrastructure  specifically to allow federal workers, many of whom commute to Washington, apply online. Maryland has been fielding 1,000 calls every two hours, Ricci said, with some applicants never able to get through. Officials are training more state employees to process claims, but that cant be done remotely.

Were trying to keep narrowing the list of the people who need to call in, Ricci said.

Reihl, the Wisconsin administrator, added that simply having the Department of Labor answer questions faster would help the state move more quickly through processing its claims. The guidance documents are out, but they are far from complete in answering all the questions, he said. We really would like to have our questions answered sooner.

The Department of Labors rollout of new benefits and programs without a comprehensive explanation detailing who is eligible also sparked confusion that further deluged states, some officials said. In Colorado, labor officials said a significant proportion of the 200,000 daily calls they fielded last week were from people asking about stimulus checks and other issues that needed to be directed elsewhere.

So, information before we announce programs would be really helpful, said Joe Barela, executive director of Colorados Department of Labor and Employment. It really, I think, set us back as we tried to filter people to the right entities, agencies at the state level.

Lawmakers are demanding answers this week from the Department of Labor. Thirty-seven Senate Democrats wrote to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia Tuesday asking his agency to do everything in its power to support states  including offering technological support, expanding the capacity of online systems and providing as much operational flexibility as possible.

The Trump administration needs to do more to help states get money out the door, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement emailed to POLITICO.

For workers who have been hit by an economic wrecking ball and are struggling to put food on the table, every day without benefits matters, he said. Were going to keep pressing the administration to do all it can.

Shia Kapos and Katy Murphy contributed to this report.
Islamic State group jihadists on Thursday killed at least 18 regime fighters in an attack in central Syria, a war monitor said.

Pro-government fighters backed by Russian air strikes were battling off the jihadists on the outskirts of the desert town of Al-Sukhna in Homs province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The air raids and clashes killed 11 IS fighters, the Britain-based monitor said.

"The Russian aviation intervened to stop the jihadists from advancing and retaking the town," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian regime forces recaptured Al-Sukhna from IS in 2017.

Thursday's attack was the deadliest in the area since December, when IS fighters attacked an army garrison in a gas facility east of Homs city, killing four civilians and 13 troops or militiamen, Abdel Rahman said.

IS proclaimed a "caliphate" in parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014. After years of various offensives against it, US-backed forces finally expelled the jihadists from their last patch of territory in eastern Syria a year ago.

But IS fighters still retain a presence in the vast Badia desert stretching across the country through Homs province and eastwards to the Iraqi border, and continue to carry out deadly attacks.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Australia now has the foundations to withstand a long shock to its health and economy, but the road out of the crisis is easier to describe than navigate. Parliament has set a legislated deadline in the fight against the coronavirus by approving a six-month sunset clause for the new $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy.

Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Credit:

The boost to confidence is significant when the economic support is combined with the sharp fall in new infections. But this virus sets its own timetable. While the politicians offer reassurance, the scientists urge vigilance. And it is worth heeding the science. The medical experts who advise the government expect this threat to continue in waves for years.

Even if we eradicate the disease in Australia, says James McCaw of the Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne, the virus will spread around the world and easily return.

That epidemic in some places may also go locally extinct after a small or a large wave, he says. But its almost implausible to imagine this virus going extinct globally, which means that it will be here to stay. It will become a part of our everyday life and the transition to it not being a huge driver of complete societal change is a very difficult thing to work through.
Italy has grappled with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with more than 139,000 people infected and more than 17,000 people dead. In the first week of March, the number of cases in Italy skyrocketed before the lockdown was set in place. Prior to the country shutting down its border, many people had already left, flocking to other countries in an attempt to escape the virus.

A new study shows that Italy was the primary origin of people who first brought the novel coronavirus to Brazil, which has sparked the spread of the disease starting between February and early March.

"In contrast with China and other countries, where the outbreak began slowly with a small number of cases, it was started in Brazil by more than 300 people, most of whom came from Italy. The virus spread very quickly as a result," Ester Sabino, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP), said.

The first cases

Most of the individuals who came from Italy and traveled to Sao Paulo City were the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Brazil. Some of these individuals went traveled onto other destinations, such as the Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Fortaleza, Vitoria, and Florianopolis, triggering the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus, now officially called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Somma Lombardo, Italy, 03/27/2020, Terminal 2 Malpensa airport during the coronavirus covid-19 outbreak. Image Credit: Marco Solbiata / Shutterstock

The first case in Latin American was confirmed on Feb. 26 in the Sao Paulo metropolis, the most populated city in the Southern hemisphere, where about 11 million people live. This first case, based on the self-declared travel history and subsequent genetic analyses, was traced to Northern Italy, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. As of writing, Italy's death toll has reached 17,669, and the case toll has surpassed 135,000, although it now appears to be slowing down.

The researchers of the study, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, estimate that about 54.8 percent of all patients who are infected in Brazil came from Italy by Mar. 5. Only 9.3 percent came from China, where Wuhan City Hubei Province, where the virus first emerged, and about 8.3 percent came from France.

The team also said that about 24.9 percent of all infected people going to Brazil traveled from Italy to Sao Paulo. Further, Italy was the origin of five of the ten main routes for travelers infected with the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 coming to Brazil, via France, China, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland.

Identifying main routes

The researchers wanted to determine the main routes that could have brought the infection into the country. To arrive at this finding, the team studied the data between February and March 2020 for travelers going to any airport in Brazil from 29 countries with COVID-19 cases.

The team used travel data on all air travel that had a Brazilian city as their final destination between February and March 2019. The researchers focused on 29 countries that had reported cases of COVID-19 by Mar. 5. To land to their findings, the team collated the total number of passengers going to any airports in Brazil during the period, including other details, such as country population size for 2019 from the United Nations World Population Prospects database, and the WHO-reported number of COVID-19 cases.

The estimates were validated by the Brazilian Ministry of Health's official data on notified cases, revealing that 14 of the first 29 COVID-19 positive patients in Brazil had just been to Italy. Six of them or 23.1 percent were notified on Sao Paulo, making the city as the epicenter of the outbreak in Brazil.

"It was very clear that Sao Paulo would be the epicenter of the epidemic in Brazil because it was the final destination for the largest number of infected people coming mainly from Italy," Sabin said.

COVID-19 global status

Italy is one of the hardest-hit countries during the COVID-19 global pandemic. It records the highest death toll, while the United States has the highest number of infections, with over 432,000 confirmed cases.

Other countries reporting high infection rates include Spain, with nearly 150,000 cases, France with 113,982 cases, and Germany with about 113,296 cases. China, Iran, and the United Kingdom have 82,867, 64,586, and 61,474 cases, respectively.
A heartwarming image captured the moment an Ohio mother threw a clean sheet over her daughter, an ICU nurse, so they could share a hug.

For the last month, Cheryl Norton and her daughter, Kelsey Kerr, have been social distancing due to the coronavirus.

But last Friday, 64, Norton desperately wanted to hug her 28-year-old daughter when she stopped by her mom's house to pick up prayer squares for her patients.

When her daughter arrived, Norton put a light blue sheet over Kerr so that they could hug as safely as possible, and that moment was captured by family friend, Liz Dufour, who also works at The Cincinnati Enquirer.

A heartwarming image captured the moment Ohio mother, Cheryl Norton, 64, threw a clean sheet over her daughter, Kelsey Kerr, 28, who is an ICU nurse, so they could share a hug

In an interview on Good Morning America, Norton explained her urge to hug her daughter in that moment. 'I see on social media that all these healthcare workers are feeling very isolated and I didn't want that to happen her,' Norton (pictured) said

In an interview on Good Morning America, Norton explained her urge to hug her daughter in that moment.

'I see on social media that all these healthcare workers are feeling very isolated and I didn't want that to happen her,' Norton said.

'I just want to know she's okay so when I got that one opportunity to see her, I just had to throw that sheet over her.

'I thought I want to hug her and if she has a sheet around her maybe I can do it,' Norton added.

Kerr, who was wearing a face mask at the time, said the spontaneous hug was 'so nice'.

'We've always been big huggers and its been pretty unusual to do these drop-offs and not get out of the car and be able to hug her,' Kerr, who is quarantining with her husband and their dog, told GMA.

Kerr has been working about four 12-hour shifts per week at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati as the city prepares for a possible surge in patients.

In Cincinnati, there are more than 400 confirmed cases and at least 13 deaths. In Ohio, there are more than 5,100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 193 deaths.

Kerr (right, with her mother), who was wearing a face mask at the time, said the spontaneous hug was 'so nice'
THE Duhallow farmer who died after being attacked by a bull on the family farm has been described as a fantastic neighbour and a highly respected member of the local community.

It is believed that father of four Paddy Curtin (64) was attacked by a bull as he tended to cattle in a shed on his farm at Knockscovane, Meelin last Thursday evening.

A neighbour who discovered Mr Curtin in an unresponsive state lying by a shed alerted emergency services who rushed to the farm. Despite their best efforts to stabilise Mr Curtin's condition, he was tragically pronounced dead at the scene and his remains taken to the Cork University Hospital for a post mortem examination.

Gardai are treating Mr Curtin's death as a tragic accident and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is due to undertake an investigation in to the incident.

A file on the matter will also be prepared for the coroners office

Local county councillor Bernard Moynihan said Mr Curtin's death has stunned the tight-knit local community as well as the wider farming community across Cork.

"Paddy was known as a great businessman, a very hard worker and a leader within the farming community for the innovative way in which he managed his farm," said Cllr Moynihan.

"Paddy had a very upbeat, warm and positive nature that endeared him to people. He was a highly respected and well-liked member of the local community who had a lifelong involvement with Meelin GAA Club. He he will be greatly missed by all who knew him."

In a message posted on their Facebook page, Meelin GAA expressed their sincere sympathies to the Curtin family on the death of the man they described as 'our esteemed vice-president'.

The message asked people to remember Mr Curtin in their thoughts and prayers by lighting a candle in his memory and observing a minutes silence last Saturday night.

In accordance with current government guidelines on public gatherings Mr Curtin's funeral took place privately, with only 10 mourners allowed to be present due to social distancing measures currently in place.

However, those wishing to leave messages of condolence to the Curtin family can do so by following the link at www.rip.ie.
A historic production cut agreement between OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, hit a roadblock after Mexico refused to agree to its share of the cuts after a marathon meeting between the oil-producing nations that lasted more than nine hours.

The other members of OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, earlier in the day agreed to cuts that would take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude.

A statement released by OPEC following the meeting outlined details of the cuts but notes the measures were "agreed by all the OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation, with the exception of Mexico, and as a result, the agreement is conditional on the consent of Mexico."

The extraordinary meeting kicked off around 10:30 a.m. ET and stretched into the evening.

Following the meeting, Mexico's Secretary of Energy Rocio Nahle said in a tweet that the country would be willing to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day for the next two months. OPEC+ had reportedly asked for a cut of 400,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters.

Tweet

OPEC said in a statement that the initial 10 million barrels per day cut would last in May and June, before tapering to 8 million barrels per day for the rest of the year. Beginning in January 2021, the cuts would decrease to 6 million barrels per day, which would continue through April 2022, according to the statement.

The agreement was not contingent on nations outside of OPEC+ curbing production, which some had suggested might be a stipulation for Saudi Arabia and Russia to scale back production. The group did, however, call on other major producers to cut production in a further bid to prop up prices.

Despite the record size of the potential cut, oil prices moved lower on Thursday as investors feared it would still not be enough to combat the unprecedented demand loss from the coronavirus.

"Although 10 million bpd will help the market on the short term to not fill up storage, it is a disappointing development for many, who still realize the size of the oil oversupply," said Rystad Energy's head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 9.29%, or $2.33, to settle at $22.76 per barrel. Earlier in the session, the contract had been up more than 12% to trade at a session high of $28.36. International benchmark Brent crude slipped 4.14% to settle at $31.48, after earlier hitting a high of $36.40.

"Covid-19 is an unseen beast that seems to be impacting everything in its path," OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said at the meeting. "For the oil market, it has completely up-ended market supply and demand fundamentals since we last met on 6 March," he added.

Tweet

Earlier WTI spiked more than 12% on reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia were discussing cuts that could have taken 20 million barrels per day of global production offline.

"The market has been underwhelmed by the proposed 10m/bd production cut, perhaps because of early expectations of a massive 20m/bd reduction," said Helima Croft, RBC's global head of commodities research. "However we contend that it is crucial to turn off the tap off the tap in the midst of colossal demand crash and bring the price war to a swift conclusion," she added.

Ahead of the meeting, the Street had been watching for cuts in the 10 million to 15 million barrels per day range after Trump said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and expected them to announce a deal of that size.
[April 09, 2020] Ezkoms Evolves Conversational Technology for Crisis Communication

Ezkoms has adapted its conversational offering to provide the ultimate solution for crisis communication to keep the citizens of Aalter safe and informed during the COVID-19 pandemic LONDON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ezkoms, a Zoovu company, today announced that it has evolved its conversational capabilities to respond to the immediate need to help the public sector efficiently communicate with citizens during unprecedented times of crisis. Ezkoms has worked with the municipality of Aalter for more than two years, helping them communicate with citizens regarding vital services. The municipality of Aalter recently approached Ezkoms for additional support in keeping citizens safe and informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. During times of crises, information is rapidly changing. The traditional communication channels employed by governments are fundamentally unable to provide citizens with up to date and accurate information 24/7. Communication departments are not staffed or equipped to handle this type of situation, creating a need to automate communication across channels such as websites, applications and social media channels. The Ezkoms platform has enabled the municipality of Aalter to keep its' citizens informed 24/7 with additional dat sources of approved information to protect lives and ease anxiety, while simultaneously alleviating pressure from help desks and human-led teams.



The latest research shows that 50% of citizens will abandon a search within a number of minutes if they are unable to find answers. The public sector must acknowledge this reality in their communication strategies. The Coronavirus crisis has acted as a wake-up call for the public sector to invest in solutions which provide citizens with access to information and remove complexity, stress and worry. It is especially vital that governments fulfil their civic duty and find a way to deal with the elevated need for information during a crisis. "Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments have struggled to effectively assist and support their citizens," said Maarten Verschuere, CEO, Ezkoms. "Many have cited a 100% increase in inquiries, putting an enormous strain on civil workers to offer the most up-to-date assistance and advice. At Ezkoms, we have responded by quickly adapting our technology for crisis communication. Our solution delivers always-on, real-time guidance, chatbot or click-based interactions, at a fraction of the operational cost and effort required to train and enable a customer service agent to respond."

Ezkoms has been developed by Zoovu, the global leaders in conversational technology, and leverages proprietary language modelling enabling Ezkoms' crisis assistants to understand intent and offer immediate assistance, in a way that was previously impossible. Rob Mullen, CEO, Zoovu said, "I am incredibly proud of what the Ezkoms team have achieved throughout our two year partnership with the municipality of Aalter, but am truly humbled by how quickly the team has responded in an unprecedented pandemic to keep citizens informed - and ultimately save lives." The Ezkoms solution has been designed to act as an invaluable resource for governments and public agencies to earn the trust of their citizens through efficient communication both immediately and in the future. To find out more about Ezkoms, visit www.ezkoms.com About EZkoms Ezkoms , a Zoovu company, works with local governments to help provide conversational solutions developed to significantly reduce pressure on help desks while citizens rely on an always-available source of truth that eases their anxiety. We will support you through these challenging times with best practices and guidance to ensure your assistants are constantly up to date to keep your citizens informed. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1143249/EZkoms_Logo.jpg

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April 09 : Bollywood actress Namrata Shirodkar just took to her social media profile and shared a throwback picture with superstar husband Mahesh Babu and daughter Sitara, during One shooting in London, and calls it a Memory Therapy.

Vaastav famed actress Namrata Shirodkar is an actress, producer and former model known for her works in Bollywood. She married Telugu actor Mahesh Babu on 10 February 2005, and the couple has a son and a daughter.

Sharing the picture, Namrata wrote, Rummaging through my albums... Memory therapy for the soul! Just decided each one for each day to make me happier and look at life more positively in these trying times...Love makes our world go around...everyone who believes that photographs make you happy and heal your soul should give it a try! Stay home stay safe

Major throwback to when @urstrulymahesh was shooting for ONE in London...My son is missing in the picture, wonder what he was up to @gautamghattamaneni @sitaraghattamaneni #ThrowbackThursday

Namrata Shirodkar is best known for her works in films such as Kachche Dhaage, Pukar, Astitva, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar and the crossover cinema Bride and Prejudice.
A pregnant woman, who was crying out for help on a city road here, got ferried to a hospital by Himachal Pradesh police after complaining of pain during curfew hours on Thursday morning.

Dhalli station house officer (SHO) Inspector Raj Kumar took the woman, who was waiting for half an hour near Dhalli cemetery tunnel, along with her husband in his official vehicle to Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) in the city, Shimla Superintendent of Police Omapati Jamwal said.

Inspector Raj Kumar told PTI that he had got two calls one after the other from Constable Meena and ASI Surender Mehta who were on duty near the cemetery tunnel around 10.30 am that a pregnant woman is in need of help there.

"At that time, I was also patrolling in my official vehicle in a nearby area. I reached there within few minutes and saw the woman, Manisha, in need of immediate help. Her husband Virender had called the ambulance about half-an-hour ago but it did not arrive till then," Kumar said.

On seeing the pregnant woman's condition, the Inspector realised that waiting for the ambulance would be of no use.

He ferried the woman in his vehicle to the hospital located around four kilometres away from the spot for emergency medical care.

Her husband heaved a sigh of relief when her wife was dropped by the inspector at KNH without any further delay. The doctors there provided her the required treatment to relieve her from the pain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union to track the virus

FLAGSTAFF and TUCSON, Ariz. -- April 8, 2020 -- The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University, and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona have formed a union dedicated to tracking the COVID-19 coronavirus, it was announced today.

Harnessing the power of state-of-the-art technology and "big data" analysis, researchers at the newly formed Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union (ACGU) want to better understand how this virus may be evolving, how it is transmitted, and how it is moving through the general population. This molecular epidemiological approach combines traditional epidemiology methods with evolutionary modeling based upon high-resolution analysis of the virus' genome.

ACGU will sequence samples from COVID-19 patients to analyze the virus' genetic codes, track its different strains, show where each sample originates from, where it may have been transmitted, and -- possibly -- reveal details that could provide critical information for diagnostics, anti-viral drug targets, and vaccine development.

"Only by using genomic sequencing and advanced analyses, can we begin to fully understand this disease at the molecular level, looking for keys to unlock its mysteries," said Dr. David Engelthaler, Co-Director and Associate Professor of TGen's Pathogen and Microbiome Division, the infectious disease branch in Flagstaff known as TGen North, "We have the ability to sequence the genome of every strain from every patient -- that's what we are working toward."

Dr. Engelthaler is Arizona's former State Epidemiologist and State Biodefense Coordinator. He was formerly with the CDC, and has led investigations of local, national and international disease outbreaks for over 25 years, starting with Arizona's 1993-94 hantavirus outbreak. He will coordinate the new ACGU's genomic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

The Union's other co-founders are two of Arizona's leading infectious-disease scientists: Dr. Paul Keim and Dr. Michael Worobey.

Dr. Keim is a world expert in pathogens such as plague and anthrax. He worked with the FBI to crack the "anthrax letters" case in the wake of 9/11. At NAU, he is a Regents Professor of Biology, holds an endowed chair in Microbiology, and is Executive Director of the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI). He is a Distinguished Professor at TGen, Co-Director of TGen North, and will serve as Director the ACGU.

"Genome sequences are ideal for distributed scientific research efforts and the Arizona Union will rely heavily on national and global studies to track the disease. Nevertheless, it is critical that regional experts engage in this process to maximize the benefits for Arizona citizens," said Dr. Keim.

Dr. Worobey is the head of University of Arizona's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and is world-renowned for his work on viral pandemics. Using genomic epidemiology, he has definitively tracked the origins and worldwide spread of HIV, and also determined why the 1918 "Spanish influenza" pandemic killed millions of young adults.

"Molecular analysis of viruses provides crucial clues about how pandemics begin and how to fight them," said Dr. Worobey. "We will be capitalizing upon Arizona's wealth of talent and infrastructure in this endeavor."

The Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union is similar to other groups across the globe, working to gain a foothold on this new coronavirus. Rapid sharing of data and analysis has been, and continues to be, critical to scientific, medical and public health understanding of the pandemic. Ironically, the first U.S. epicenter of COVID-19, Seattle, is also home for NextStrain, the internet home for genome tracking of this and other pathogens.

The consortium of Arizona scientists hope that their regional sequencing will give Arizona healthcare providers and public policy makers an edge in responding to this pandemic.

Like NextStrain, ACGU will make its findings public; openly available to epidemiologists and virologists worldwide.

###

Additional COVID-19 information

Dr. Engelthaler explains TGen's work on COVID-19 in the latest TGen Talks podcast; click here.

NAU sponsored a community forum on COVID-19, which featured Dr. Keim and other public health leaders; click here.

University of Arizona scientists, led by Dr. Worobey, outlined their views on how to take the offensive in the fight against COVID-19 in a recent op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star; click here.

About TGen, an affiliate of City of Hope

Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life-changing results. TGen is affiliated with City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases: http://www. cityofhope. org . This precision medicine affiliation enables both institutes to complement each other in research and patient care, with City of Hope providing a significant clinical setting to advance scientific discoveries made by TGen. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases through cutting-edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research toward patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and complex rare diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities worldwide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For more information, visit: http://www. tgen. org . Follow TGen on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @TGen. Please visit: tgen.org/covid19.

About Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a higher-research institution providing exceptional educational opportunities in Arizona and beyond. NAU delivers a student-centered experience to its 31,000 in Flagstaff, statewide and online through rigorous academic programs in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment. Dedicated, world-renowned faculty help ensure students achieve academic excellence, experience personal growth, have meaningful research opportunities and are positioned for personal and professional success.

About University of Arizona

The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2018 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $687 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 65 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually. For the latest on the University of Arizona response to the novel coronavirus, visit the university's COVID-19 webpage.

Media Contacts:

Steve Yozwiak

TGen Senior Science Writer

o. 602-343-8704

c. 602-620-4749

syozwiak@tgen.org

Diane Rechel

NAU Communications Officer

c. 928.225.0483

Diane.Rechel@nau.edu

Daniel Stolte

University Communications

The University of Arizona

c. 520-954-1964

stolte@arizona.edu

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Easter is April 12, and typically that means church in the morning and families getting together for a meal and maybe an Easter egg hunt. But this year, coronavirus has changed the way the Christian community is able to celebrate.

As a solution, many local churches have gotten creative by hosting virtual masses and even some drive-in ones.

>> Click through for information on some of the virtual Easter services in Connecticut.

CT Insider took an in-depth look at how religious communities in Connecticut are coping with the coronavirus pandemic. Local religious leaders spoke about their Easter initiatives.

First Congregational Church in Guilford has been calling every single member to check in, according to Rev. Ginger Brasher-Cunningham. The churchs director of children and youth ministries will lead virtual games on Easter Sunday.

>> Click here for our CT Insider story on how faith communities in Connecticut are coping with the pandemic.

In Milford, the Christ Presbyterian Church will hold a Drive-By Easter Egg Hunt. Participants are asked to make an egg large enough to be visible from the street and place it in a window of a home, business, yard, tree or post. Then, according to the church, participants should take a photo of the egg and post it as a comment on a Facebook video.

And in Ansonia, the Reclaim Christian Church is inviting people to experience their Easter service sitting in their cars parked in the Ansonia High School lots.

Rev. Dr. Robert A. Jackson Jr. of Stamfords Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church told Hearst the act of physically being in a church is not what's important.

We believe that the church is not the building, the church is within us, Jackson said.
FILE PHOTO: The Zoom Video Communications logo is pictured at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has told its members to not use Zoom's video conferencing app due to data security concerns, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, even as the company attempts to stem a global backlash against its fast-growing app.

Senators have been asked to find an alternative platform to use for remote working, the Financial Times reported citing a person who had seen the warning, adding that the Senate had stopped short of officially banning Zoom Video Communications Inc's service.

The use of Zoom has soared after political parties, corporate offices, schools, organizations and millions across the world started working from home after lockdowns were enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

However, the huge influx of users on its platform has raised concerns ranging from its lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting sessions, routing of traffic through China and "zoombombing," when uninvited guests crash meetings.

To address those concerns, the company has hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser and formed an advisory board to look into its privacy and safety practices.

On Wednesday, Alphabet Inc's Google banned the desktop version of Zoom from its corporate laptops.

Taiwan and Germany had already put restrictions on Zoom's use, while Elon Musk's SpaceX has banned the app over security concerns. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit.

Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

(Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
A global pandemic of the novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 16,672 people in the United States and at least 95,699 people worldwide.

In New York state, over 160,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The number of cases in New York alone is now higher than in any single country.

In the U.S., over 465,000 people have been diagnosed.

Worldwide, more than 1.6 million people have been diagnosed since the virus emerged in China in December. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

Today's biggest developments:

UK Prime Minister out of intensive care New York may be reaching its peak in outbreak, Dr. Fauci says Michigan creates task force to look at racial disparity

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.

9:05 p.m.: Trump says he'll help out dairy farmers

President Donald Trump said tonight he had discussed helping out dairy farmers with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

"I have directed @SecretarySonny to expedite help to our farmers, especially to the smaller farmers who are hurting right now," the president tweeted. "I expect Secretary Purdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe."

....We will always be there for our Great Farmers, Cattlemen, Ranchers, and Producers!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2020

Shutdowns in the food service industry due to coronavirus has caused a surpluses of many items produced on farms. Milk price futures have dropped from $18 per hundredweight (cwt) in January to nearly $13 per cwt in March and beef prices have gone down 25%, according to the National Farmers Union.

Story continues

MORE: Despite coronavirus grocery buying spree, farmers fearful for the future

8:58 p.m.: CDC extends 'No Sail' order for cruise ships

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the extension of the "No Sail" order currently in place for all cruise ships.

The order ceases the operations of cruise ships in waters in which the United States has jurisdiction, according to the CDC.

It also sets stringent guidelines for the handling of COVID-19 on the approximately 100 cruise ships remaining at sea off the East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast of the U.S.

At least 10 of those ships have reported crew or passengers that have tested positive or experienced respiratory symptoms or influenza-like illness in recent weeks, the CDC said, and the CDC is aware of 20 cruise ships in port or anchored in the U.S. with crew members who have known or suspected cases of COVID-19.

"We are working with the cruise line industry to address the health and safety of crew at sea as well as communities surrounding U.S. cruise ship points of entry," said CDC Director Robert Redfield. "The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic."

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

8:12 p.m.: 2 more NYPD employees die

There have now been 2,204 uniformed members and 408 civilian members of the New York Police Department who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

More than 500 officers who had tested positive have now returned to duty, Police Commissioner Shea said Thursday.

The NYPD announced two additional deaths.

Traffic enforcement agent Richard Austin, who had worked with the NYPD for 35 years, and Police Officer Eric Murray, assigned to the 25th Precinct, both died from complications related to the coronavirus. Murray had been with the department for over 14 years.

Austin and Murray are the 16th and 17th NYPD employees to succumb to COVID-19.

6:54 p.m.: Trump doesn't push for nationwide coronavirus testing

President Donald Trump said the country doesn't need nationwide testing for COVID-19 before reopening it. Although he called the move a "nice thing," he said it would be too impractical with the country's population.

"Were talking about 325 million people, and thats not going to happen, as you can imagine, he said. "Its not necessary, but it would be a good thing to have.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, April 9, 2020, in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence listens. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Trump, who spent a shorter time than usual in the daily task force briefing, reported that the U.S. has now completed 2 million tests.

"There are certain sections of the country that are in phenomenal shape already," Trump asserted. "What we're going to be doing in the very near future is going to certain areas of our country and doing massive testing."

5:27 p.m.: Georgia woman arrested for selling phony anti-coronavirus products: Feds

Rong Sun, aka Vicky Sun, 34, of Fayetteville, Georgia has been charged with selling an illegal pesticide as a coronavirus protective product, according to the Justice Department.

Sun sold "Virus Shut Out" and "Stop the Virus" on eBay claiming it provided an "extra layer" of protection from the virus, the criminal complaint said. In reality, the products were an unregistered pesticide known as "Toamit Virus Shut Out," which were allegedly smuggled from Japan, according to the complaint.

In one picture from the criminal complaint, it shows a packet of "Virus Shut Out" sitting next to a sleeping baby with the caption, "Mothers no longer have to worry about children's exposure to various bacteria."

4:40 p.m.: More than 1,200 dead in NY nursing homes

The coronavirus has spread through nursing homes in New York, infecting more than 4,100 residents and killing more than 1,200, new figures show.

There are positive COVID-19 cases in more than half of the states 613 licensed nursing homes, which collectively are home to about 100,000 people.

Faces of the coronavirus pandemic: Remembering those who died

There have been 1,231 deaths among nursing home residents, which is more than 1% of the total nursing home population in New York, according to state health department data.

The state has declined to identify which nursing homes have confirmed cases. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday there were no plans to put all positive cases into select nursing homes.

SLIDESHOW: Coronavirus outbreak sparks global health emergency

Meanwhile, 39 patients have died from the coronavirus at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, a home in Richmond, Virginia, the center said Thursday.

Six of the deaths were in the last 24 hours.

Eighty-four residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and are being treated at a hospital or at the Canterbury center, the center said.

All staff members were tested; 25 tested positive and some results are outstanding, the center said.

4:15 p.m.: Michigan creates task force to look at racial disparity of COVID-19

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she's creating a task force to examine the racial disparity of COVID-19 cases in the state.

PHOTO: People wait for a bus as they wait on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, April 7, 2020. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Although African Americans make up 14% of Michigan's population, they account for 40% of the coronavirus deaths.

"This virus is holding up a mirror to society and reminding us of deep inequity in our country," Whitmer said.

PHOTO: An empty downtown on April 8, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Elaine Cromie/Getty Images)

Michigan is not alone.

Coronavirus is disproportionately killing the black community in many states across the U.S., including Maryland.

PHOTO: Customers practice social distance guidelines while waiting in a line to enter a Whole Foods Market store in Silver Spring, Md., April 7, 2020. (Michael Reynolds/EPA via Shutterstock)

About 30% of Marylands population is African American and about 60% of the population is white, The Baltimore Sun reported, citing census data.

African Americans make up at least 2,064 of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state, and at least 55 of the deaths.

Coronavirus is disproportionately killing the black community. Here's what experts say can be done about it

Whites make up at least 1,540 of those who have tested positive in Maryland, and at least 39 of the fatalities.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted Thursday that this data "shows troubling disparities and points to a persistent public health challenge that we must address."

Louisiana also recently released data showing that while African Americans make up roughly 32% of the population, they account for 70% of the deaths in the state.

2:30 p.m.: UK prime minister out of intensive care

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is in a London hospital battling the coronavirus, was moved out of the intensive care unit Thursday evening local time, a spokesman for his office said.

Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources

Johnson, 55, "is in extremely good spirits," and is now back in "the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," a spokesman said.

Johnson has been hospitalized since Sunday evening due to "persistent symptoms" of the novel coronavirus. He was transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his condition "worsened," according to a statement from his official residence and office, 10 Downing Street.

The U.K.'s death toll has reached 7,978.

PHOTO: A soldier walks back to a hut after testing a NHS (National Health Service) worker for Covid-19 at a drive-through testing centre, in Manchester, northern England, April 9, 2020. (Jon Super/AP)

Besides the prime minister, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, was also diagnosed with the coronavirus, and has since ended his self-isolation.

2 p.m.: 702 deaths in Louisiana, ventilator usage drops

In Louisiana, the death toll has climbed to 702 as the number of confirmed cases reaches 18,283.

Only one of Louisiana's 64 parishes does not have a confirmed case.

PHOTO: Workers from the Louisiana Department of Health transport medicine for Covid-19 patients to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, April 6, 2020. (Claire Bangser/AFP via Getty Images)

Last week, nearly 18% of those diagnosed were in hospitals in the state, and now just 11.6% of those with coronavirus are in hospitals.

While nearly a quarter of those in hospitals are on ventilators, according to Nola.com, ventilator usage has fallen for five-straight days.

The rate of new deaths has also gone down each day this week. On Monday, there was a 38.3% increase in the amount of new deaths but on Thursday it was 7.6%.

12:20 p.m.: Death toll reaches daily record of 799 in NY state

In New York, the state hit hardest by the pandemic, the hospitalization rate is down and the change in ICU admissions is the lowest since March 19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

PHOTO: Ambulances are lined up outside The Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital in Central Park, in Manhattan, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, April 8, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Statewide,18,000 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, far below the worst-case projections, he added.

A timeline of Cuomo's and Trump's responses to coronavirus outbreak

"We are flattening the curve by what we're doing," Cuomo said, adding, "you can't relax."

The 1918 Spanish flu hit in 3 waves. We are only in the first wave. We cant assume that because we are seeing some positive signs this will be over soon or that additional waves wont hit. NYS will not underestimate this enemy.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 9, 2020

Despite the improvements, 799 lives were lost in New York state on Wednesday -- a daily record during the pandemic, Cuomo said.

PHOTO: Hospital employees and funeral service employees transfer a body from a temporary mobile morgue into a funeral home vehicle outside of the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in Brooklyn, New York, April 8, 2020. (Alba Vigaray/EPA via Shutterstock)

To put the striking death toll into context, Cuomo said New York state has lost 7,067 lives to the coronavirus, while the state lost 2,753 lives at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

As data shows higher fatality rates among African Americans and Latinos, Cuomo said the state will be launching new testing sites in primarily African American and Latino communities.

New York City, the most hard-hit part of the state, is among the areas seeing some improvement, which Mayor Bill de Blasio says shows sheltering in place and social distancing are working.

PHOTO: Paramedic Patricia Rodriguez fills out reports on a laptop after her 12-hour shift, on April 06, 2020, in Yonkers, New York (John Moore/Getty Images)

"If we continue to make progress," the mayor said, for the dense city of 8.6 million residents, the month of May "might be easier than what I originally feared it would be."

"Let's double down" on social distancing and sheltering in place, he added, stressing that New Yorkers "have to earn our way out of this horrible situation."

11 a.m.: Pennsylvania schools closed for rest of year

Pennsylvania schools will stay closed for the rest of the academic year, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday.

PHOTO: Parked school buses are idled during school closings due to the COVID-19 and coronavirus outbreak, March 30, 2020, in Zelienople, Pa. (Keith Srakocic/AP)

Learning will continue online and families can still pick up meals at designated sites.

10:40 a.m.: Georgia's primary postponed until June 9

Georgia's primary will now be postponed until June 9, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Thursday.

This is the second time the state's presidential primary has been pushed back (it was originally scheduled for March 24).

"I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances," Raffensperger said in a press release. "Just like our brave healthcare workers and first responders, our county election officials and poll workers are undertaking work critical to our democracy, and they will continue to do this critical work with all the challenges that the current crisis has brought forth."

9:43 a.m.: New York cases primarily from Europe, not Asia

Though the first positive coronavirus case in New York was on March 1, the virus probably circulated in and around the city at least two weeks earlier -- and most cases were transmitted from Europe, not China, where the virus originated, according to new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

PHOTO: Subway riders step off a train, April 7, 2020, in New York City. (John Minchillo/AP)

The research shows the pandemic in New York City and surrounding area was predominately set off through untracked transmission between the U.S. and Europe, with limited evidence supporting direct introductions from China or other locations in Asia.

7:19 a.m.: New York may be reaching its peak in outbreak, Dr. Fauci says

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top medical expert on the coronavirus pandemic, said Thursday he thinks the U.S. death toll will end up being far less than the original projection and that New York may be reaching its peak in the outbreak.

A revised model by the University of Washington, often cited by the White House, now predicts that 60,000 people will die from the novel coronavirus in the United States by Aug. 4. The White House coronavirus task force previously projected 100,000 to 240,000 deaths, even if the current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

"Even though it's good news and encouraging, we got to make sure, as I always say, we keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to mitigation," Fauci told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Thursday on "Good Morning America."

PHOTO: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appears on 'Good Morning America,' April 9, 2020. (ABC News)

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there's "some indication" that parts of the country are beginning to see a bend in the upward curve of the virus outbreak, particularly New York, the U.S. epicenter, which in recent days has seen a drop in the number of patients being hospitalized and needing intensive care.

"You never want to, you know, claim victory prematurely," he said. "But when you see those kinds of trends, you hope that we'll see that curve go down and then can start to think about gradually getting back to some sort of steps towards normality."

New York recorded its largest daily death toll from COVID-19 on Wednesday, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state's outbreak appeared to be stabilizing based on the recent decline in hospitalizations.

PHOTO: A body is removed from a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on April 8, 2020. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

When asked whether he thinks New York has hit its peak, Fauci said "it's tough to tell" but "we may very well be there."

Fauci warned that people shouldn't assume warm weather will drive the virus away, and he urged everyone to continue practicing social distancing and regularly washing hands, even when things return to normal.

"There's precedent with other infections like influenza and some of the common more benign coronaviruses that when the weather gets warmer, that the virus goes down, its ability to replicate, to spread, it doesn't like warm, moist weather as much as it likes cold, dry weather," he said. "But having said that, one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing."

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

7:01 a.m.: Washington inmates cause disturbance after learning 6 tested positive for COVID-19

More than 100 inmates caused a disturbance at a men's prison in Washington state on Wednesday night, after six prisoners tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The demonstration erupted in the recreation yard at Monroe Correctional Complex. The inmates set off fire extinguishers within two housing units within the prison's minimum security unit, according to a press release from the Washington state Department of Corrections.

All measures to bring the individuals into compliance were initially ignored, officials said, including verbal directives, pepper spray and sting balls, which release light, noise and rubber pellets.

An emergency response team was deployed and gave verbal directives, which were obeyed by over half the inmates. Sting balls were then discharged into the area and the other inmates stopped the destruction of two housing units and came into compliance, officials said.

There were no injuries to staff or the incarcerated men, officials said.

"It is believed at this time that the incident was caused by recent positive test results of COVID- 19 among six men within the Minimum Security Unit," the Washington Department of Corrections said in a statement. "Those six men were transferred from the Minimum Security Unit on Sunday to the facilitys isolation unit. The facility health care team is providing clinical monitoring and supportive care for the individuals in the isolation unit."

6:02 a.m.: Pandemic drives sub-Saharan Africa toward 1st recession in 25 years

The global pandemic of the novel coronavirus is driving sub-Saharan Africa toward its first recession in 25 years, according to a World Bank report published Thursday.

Economic growth in the region is forecast to fall sharply from 2.4% in 2019 to as much as -5.1% in 2020, according to the report. An analysis shows that the pandemic will cost sub-Saharan Africa "between $37 billion and $79 billion in output losses for 2020 due to a combination of effects," the World Bank said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the limits of societies and economies across the world, and African countries are likely to be hit particularly hard," Hafez Ghanem, World Bank's vice president for Africa, said in a statement Thursday.

PHOTO: A health worker sprays sanitizer on a man's hands as people undergo screening and testing for the novel coronavirus in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 8, 2020. (Themba Hadebe/AP)

The World Bank also warned that the pandemic could spark a food security crisis in Africa due to a potentially substantial decline in agricultural production and food imports.

A number of African nations have reacted "quickly and decisively" to curb the spread of the virus, the World Bank said. However, the report notes several factors that could hinder the containment and mitigation measures, in particular the region's fragile health systems, poor access to safe water and sanitation facilities, and the large and densely populated urban informal settlements.

5:32 a.m.: 'We have reached the peak,' Spain's prime minister says

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday that the government would soon start relaxing the national lockdown measures that were put in place to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We have reached the peak and now the de-escalation begins," Sanchez told Spanish Parliament, noting that the process would be "gradual."

PHOTO: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the plenary session at the lower chamber of Spanish Parliament in Madrid on April 9, 2020, amid a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Mariscal/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"The climb has been difficult, as the descent will also be," he said.

Spain is among the worst affected countries in the global pandemic, with more than 148,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19. At least 14,792 people have died from the disease there, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

3:58 a.m.: USNS Mercy crew member tests positive for COVID-19

A crew member aboard the USNS Mercy hospital ship moored in Los Angeles has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

U.S. Navy Lt. Andrew Bertucci told ABC News the crew member "is currently isolated aboard the ship, and will soon transfer to an off-ship isolation facility where they will self-monitor for severe symptoms."

PHOTO: The USNS Mercy hospital ship arrives at the Port of Los Angeles to assist area medical facilities during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Los Angeles, California, on March 27, 2020. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

"This will not affect the ability for Mercy to receive patients," Bertucci said in a statement late Wednesday. "The ship is following protocols and taking every precaution to ensure the health and safety of all crew members and patients on board."

After docking in the Port of Los Angeles last month, the USNS Mercy began treating non-coronavirus patients from area hospitals to help free up resources for COVID-19 patients.

ABC News' Nancy Anoruo, Dee Carden, Guy Davies, Jenna Harrison, Aaron Katersky, Whitney Lloyd, Kelly McCarthy, Matthew Mosk, Cammeron Parrish, Quinn Scanlan, Terrance Smith and Elizabeth Thomas contributed to this report.

With unemployment skyrocketing, an unprecedented number of Americans need help feeding their families. Today is ABC's Day of Hope, in partnership with Feeding America, to share food resources with Americans who need it. Learn more here and get involved at FeedingAmerica.org/FeedTheLove.

More coronavirus cases in New York than any single country originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: New orders in manufacturing 2021, November

Published: 9 April 2020

New orders in manufacturing fell by 4.9 per cent year-on-year in February

According to Statistics Finland, the value of new orders in manufacturing was 4.9 per cent lower in February 2020 than twelve months earlier. During January to February, orders declined by 3.2 per cent year-on-year.

Annual change in new orders in manufacturing (original series), % (TOL2008)

Enterprises received more orders than twelve months ago in February in the metal industry, where orders increased by 1.8 per cent year-on-year. In other manufacturing sub-industries orders declined. In the chemical industry, orders declined by 4.0 per cent and in the manufacture of paper and paper board products by 23.8 per cent from one year ago.

When interpreting these statistics, it should be borne in mind that they typically show strong fluctuations by month. Even new orders of substantial value are not examined over extended time periods but for the statistical reference month only.

Change in new orders in manufacturing 2/2019 2/2020

The index of new orders in manufacturing describes development in the value of new orders received by enterprises for commodities and services that are meant to be produced by establishments located in Finland. These statistics are based on non-probability sampling, in which the basic observation unit is an enterprise or a kind-of-activity unit. The sample comprises monthly 400 to 450 enterprises or their kind-of-activity units. Index point figures and annual change percentages are published monthly for four industry categories. The time series start from January 2005 and their base year is 2015 (2015=100). The index figures may become slightly revised as new data accumulate and enterprises report changes to their data. Due to supplementations, the latest 12 months are revised in the releases. A detailed description of the statistics and the calculation method are included in the quality description on the home page of the statistics.

Source: New orders in manufacturing 2020, February. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jussi Haavisto 029 551 3341, Maarit Makela 029 551 3324, volyymi.indeksi@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko

Publication in pdf-format (251.5 kB)

Updated 9.4.2020

Referencing instructions: Statistics: New orders in manufacturing [e-publication].

ISSN=1798-6737. February 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 11.1.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/teul/2020/02/teul_2020_02_2020-04-09_tie_001_en.html
The Berejikilian government is under renewed pressure to release the entire business case for the metro rail line it is building under central Sydney, the cost of which has blown out by up to $3 billion.

A parliamentary inquiry into the project found the "case and rationale" for converting a 13-kilometre stretch of the Bankstown Line, which will form part of the Sydney Metro City and Southwest project, has "not been adequately made out".

The government has released a summary of the final business case for the 30-kilometre rail line from Chatswood to Bankstown via the CBD, leading to accusations the project lacks transparency.

The plans to convert a section of the Bankstown Line to carry single-deck metro trains have been controversial. Credit:Simon Alekna

The inquiry's report, released on Thursday, recommended the full business case be released immediately, and that the government end the metro line at Sydenham, instead of continuing it on to Bankstown.
With the ceasefire deal in place, thousands of Syrians have started to return to their homes and businesses, despite both sides building up military forces reports Zaman Al-Wasl.

Around 73,000 Syrians have returned to the Syrian governorate of Idleb following the ceasefire agreement reached between Turkey and Russia in early March.

The Director of the Syrian Response Coordinators, Muhammad Hallaj, said that some of the displaced civilians returned to their homes immediately after the Syrian regime and its allies stopped their military operations in the area.

Hallaj explained that many of the displaced people preferred to stay in the camps near the Syrian-Turkish border due to the regime forces control over their villages and towns. Civilians started to return from densely populated camps to fix their houses and shops.

According to Hallaj nearly one million Syrians have been displaced since October 2019, as a result of the Syrian regimes bombardment of the area.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and a ceasefire deal reached last March, the death toll of Syrian civilians has recorded the lowest figure in nine years with 175.

Idleb province is home to 3.5 million civilians, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the regime army has also sent new reinforcements from the First Division in southern Damascus to the Jabal Shahshubo area near Idleb, activists said.

More than 100 Syrian military trucks carrying 400 troops, ammunition, tanks and canons headed the eastern countryside of Idleb.

Regime forces on Tuesday hit Sarmin town with heavy artillery fire near a Turkish observation point, such a provocation may undermine the fragile ceasefire that halted the bloodshed in Idleb province.

The artillery also targeted the villages of Hazarin, al-Ftira and Sfouhen.

In turn, Turkish forces have set up four new observation points in the Jisr al-Shughour area, bringing the total number to 56, as heavy reinforcements continue to pour into the last opposition stronghold in Syria.

The new outposts have been established in the villages of Frika and Bakseryah west of Jisr al-Shughour city.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Lakhimpur : , April 9 (IANS) A 48-year-old man and his 25-year-old son were shot dead on Wednesday when they were on way to purchase grain in Mankipura village under Fardana police station of the district.

According to the police, Ramesh Shukla, his son Bholu Shukla, along with a friend were on way to purchase grain in Mankipura village when unidentified persons shot at them.

The assailants also stabbed Bholu with sharp object after opening fire. Bholu died on the spot. The father succumbed to injuries at a hospital.

Station House Officer of Fardana police station Vimal Gautam said, "The deceased had enmity with someone and the family is suspecting their role. Ramesh was also accused of murder some years ago, but he was acquitted." Four days ago a man was shot dead in Allahabad.
Police are set to be enforcing the stage 3 restrictions in Victoria over the Easter weekend with "much more intensity" as authorities urge people to stay home and not to travel over the long weekend. In the past 24 hours, police did 1065 spot checks and handed out 78 fines, taking the total fines issued to 569. Some of the fines issued by police in the last 24 hours A man intercepted driving in South Melbourne who claimed he was out to buy a bottle of water, despite living in Wantirna South.

Two men watching a movie in their car in a public place.

Six people "just chilling" together, having been previously warned by police.

A group of five people gathering, having been warned by police earlier this week.

Four people driving around aimlessly. Some occupants of the car tried to hide when they saw police. Police have issued 110 alleged criminals with fines of $1652 for breaching coronavirus restrictions over the past week and a half. As well as Operation Sentinel - which has deployed 500 officers to carry out spot and compliance checks - police ran Operation Nights Watch from April 1 to 8 after concerns there could be a rise in commercial burglaries.

While they were committing offences, 110 offenders were found to also be in breach of the directions of the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and were issued a $1,652 penalty notice. Acting Superintendent Kelvin Gale said police were intent on preventing theft and property damage during the pandemic. We know a lot of commercial premises - shops, bars, factories and other businesses  across Victoria are currently closed or running with reduced operating hours during this challenging time for the community, he said. Offenders often consider commercial burglaries a victimless crime and see stealing from businesses as not personally affecting anyone. We know this is not the case with many business owners and operators suffering significantly when theft occurs, having adverse implications economically but also emotionally. This is even more particularly true during these financially challenging times.

The operation will continue in the CBD and the Yarra. Loading Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said a lot of fines were being issued to people who were also allegedly committing criminal offences, including drug offences or burglary. Young groups of people are also being fined for "aimlessly" driving around, while others have been caught hosting dinner parties, parties at Airbnbs, and drinking in the streets or in parks. Police revoked two fines issued earlier this week amid complaints from people that the coronavirus laws are unclear, including a learner driver who was fined $1652 for going for a driving lesson with her mother.

The police union has defended its members against criticism that unnecessary fines are being issued and say their officers have been given a difficult task in enforcing new restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. Police visit a woman who recently returned from Bali to ensure she is self-isolating. Credit:Victoria Police Wayne Gatt, the secretary of the Police Association Victoria, said police had not written the rules and criticism of them was misplaced. Our members have the difficult task of enforcing new rules that have been rightfully introduced to protect the community in a time and circumstance like no other," he said. "Criticism of them for doing so is misplaced. They have not written these rules, they are simply enforcing them.

We hope that everyone in the community asks themselves: do I need to be out? before our members do. It shouldnt be a hard question to answer. On Thursday Mr Patton said the restrictions were "new to everyone" and it was difficult to be prescriptive when issuing fines, urging a commonsense approach for officers as they work through different scenarios. "A key message that I sent to members was when issuing infringements is to make sure they are thinking about, 'Would I be comfortable if this infringement was issued to a family in these circumstances? Or would a warning apply'," he said. When police are giving out infringements they should be looking for deliberate, blatant and obvious breaches of the rules, he added. Hundreds of warnings are also being issued each day.
Tunnel City Coffee roasts specialty whole bean coffee in the Norad Mill of North Adams, Mass., and currently offers free home delivery for all local customers with 01267 and 01247 zip codes during the COVID-19 crisis.

Biz Briefs: Tunnel City Coffee Offering Coffee Care Packages

Coffee Care Packages

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, Tunnel City Coffee has seen more online orders coming in every day from customers sending coffee care packages to friends and family as a way to stay connected while social distancing. By sending something familiar and comforting like a pound of coffee, they are able to share the experience of having a cup of coffee together, even when they can't be together in person.

Tunnel City Coffee's two shops in North Adams and Williamstown, Mass., are also witnessing love and support from their local community, with customers ordering coffee for takeout and continuing to purchase store gift cards. "A coffee shop provides something so important in a community a necessary human connection," Tunnel City Coffee owner Paul Lovegreen said. "Even though we are all keeping at least six feet of distance between each other at our shops during this time, we think it is important to continue providing people with the sense of community we all need, especially right now."

Tunnel City Coffee roasts specialty whole bean coffee in the Norad Mill of North Adams, Mass., and currently offers free home delivery for all local customers with 01267 and 01247 zip codes during the COVID-19 crisis.Tunnel City Coffee's cafe locations are open for takeout and visitors are asked to please respect social distancing guidelines. To order whole bean coffee for home delivery, visit the website.

Greylock Annual Report

Greylock Federal has released its 2019 Annual Report and committed to using the credit union's financial resources and expertise to help the community respond to the coronavirus pandemic. "We are committed to using the financial knowledge and strength we have built over the past 85 years to help our community confront this enormous challenge," said President/CEO John L. Bissell.

While Greylock has postponed its annual meeting due to public safety concerns, the credit union released its annual report to its membership on March 29. "Fortunately, we started this year in a rock-solid financial position with the highest capital levels in our long history," Bissell said. "Our members will benefit from the strong investments we have made in technology to provide full access to services under all kinds of circumstances."

Greylocks 2019 annual report, accessible online, shows a 5.3% rise in deposits and an increase of regulatory capital to 10.7%. Other 2019 results included: 87,722 Member/Owners; $1.25 billion in total assets; $1.07 billion in total loans; $1.08 billion in total deposits and $7.6 million in total net income. Greylock posts the latest news on resources for personal and business services online.

EforAll Online

EforAll Berkshire County has gone full-on virtual to help start-up and existing businesses. Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) is a nonprofit organization that partners with communities nationwide to help under-resourced individuals successfully start and grow a business through intensive business training, mentorship and an extended professional support network. EforAll programs are offered in eight Massachusetts communities: Cape Cod, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford/Fall River, Berkshire County and Roxbury as well as in Longmont, Colo.

A Gala & Showcase for Winter Accelerator Cohort will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, on Google Hangouts. How Were Coping in the Berkshires panel discussion with BCC & 1Berkshire will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 23, at Zoom; registration is here. A pitch contest will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 13; the link to apply is here and the link to attend is here. Also, coping webinars will be held Wednesdays at 11 a.m. via Zoom here.

EforAll Berkshire County is a sustainable public-private partnership of a diverse group of funders including the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 1Berkshire, the City of Pittsfield and the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation (PERC), Greylock Federal Credit Union, Mill Town Capital, Feigenbaum Foundation, Berkshire Bank Foundation, Callahan Dee Family Foundation, Jill & Niraj Shah and Mass Development.

Common Folk on the Web

Since the temporary closure of many North Adams restaurants, shops and establishments in mid-March, Common Folk Artist Collective has been diligently working behind closed doors to transition sales from its brick and mortar store to the web. Common Folk Artist Collective is a formal group of creators sharing resources led by a volunteer leadership team. In order to continue to support just under 50 members  a majority made a name for themselves in the retail space  the collective moved items from its physical store to the online store at commonfolk.org/shop.

The store includes: Community Supported Art (CSA) boxes curated by theme; cabin fever, date night, North Adams, etc.; member curated art boxes; limited edition screen-printed clothing and tote bags; and member-written books. Other initiatives include reopening membership and hosting a virtual Common Ground public meeting about how creators are living their day-to-day with the impacts of COVID-19. The meeting can be joined through Google Hangouts on April 10 at 3 p.m.

The collective and the North Adams community share a sense of resilience in helping to support each other. While many creators have lost their day jobs they can still be supported through the collective. Common Folk is a part of the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition, a larger group of cultural organizations intended to combine efforts in order to better serve area artists. The group hosts the regular Northern Berkshire Artist Meet-Up, they created an artist survey for the North Adams census and they frequently share resources to support creators.

Members of the collective include various independent artists who lost their day job, musicians who have canceled tours and took to live streaming performances, and even staff from MASS MoCA who have been laid off. Membership is now open until April 30 and while shared resources are slimmer with the lack of a physical space, it pays to be part of a supportive community and have access to the collectives website and social platforms for self-promotion. To donate or become a regular sponsor of Common Folk visit the website here.

Job seeking site

Lever has launched Berkshire Entry, a new site that focuses on placing recent college graduates in full-time entry level positions at leading Berkshire companies. Job seekers can search listings and prospective employers can find out more on the website here.

In addition to providing curated listings for entry-level employees, Levers new program helps Berkshire employers access new talent ready to enter the workforce. Graduating students who seek career opportunities in the Berkshires are encouraged to browse and apply for jobs on the site.

Recent college graduates will be employed directly by the companies and organizations listing jobs on the Berkshire Entry site. Lever's Workforce Programs staff will work with companies and organizations to develop opportunities that will be attractive to recent grads. Berkshire Entry will also help organizations with onboarding, including a two-day orientation that will help new employees prepare for success in their new jobs.

Berkshire Entry is designed to extend Levers impact on the regional economy by attracting the young talent necessary for Berkshire companies to innovate and adapt. Berkshire Entry is built on the success of Levers popular Berkshire Interns program, which brings college students and recent graduates to the Berkshires for 10-week, paid summer internships. Berkshire Interns is recruiting now. Interested students and recent graduates can browse internship opportunities on the website here.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke to economic leaders and business owners during a virtual conference hosted by the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Texas economy and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security Act (CARES) recently passed by Congress.

Here are a few of the key takeaways from the meeting:

The three crises

To start the nearly hour-long question and answer session with attendees, Sen. Cruz outlined his concerns with what he called the three crises plaguing the nation: the COVID-19 Pandemic, the economic fallout of infection prevention and the oil price ware affecting Texas oil and gas companies.

Cruz said the fight against the virus was still ongoing and would hopefully be bolstered by aid from the CARES act passed at the end of March, but believed the pandemic was starting to come under control. As the curve begins to flatten he said his most pressing concern was the impact to the economy.

Yes, this crisis is serious and we should be taking it serious, but the damage we are doing to the economy cant last forever and honestly cant last much longer, Cruz said.

He said he had made the discussion of options for returning the young and healthy to daily work life while protecting the vulnerable a top priority in his conversations with President Donald Trump and his colleagues in the Senate.

Impact to Texas oil industry

Cruz also addressed the looming cloud of Texas oil and gas industry from the rapid drop in demand for petroleum products and a price war with Saudi Arabia and Russia.

He said he was worried about the impact on the nations energy independence and the fallout to communities like Beaumont if and when the pressure finally bankrupts large swathes of the industry.

In response to Saudi Arabias spike in production during the early days of the outbreak, Cruz said he and 12 other Senators penned a letter to the Saudi ambassador and spoke with representatives from the kingdom.

It was as candid and bare knuckle a conversation that I have ever had, he said. These were senators that have historically been a national security ally to Saudi Arabia. We were pointed to say that they were waging a war against jobs in America and American workers.

Whats next for Congress

Lindsay Lanagan, a spokesperson with Legacy Community Health, asked Cruz the chances of the next version of aid from Congress containing more funding for clinics

That depends on where this crisis goes and what the economy looks like at the time, Cruz said. Spending over $2 trillion is unprecedented, thats 10% of the national debt, but these are extraordinary times.

Cruz said the Senate will take up supplementary aid for the Small Business Administration next week, but another aid package wouldnt likely surface until the end of the month or beginning of May.
The federal government has refused an attempt by United States lawmaker, Chuck Grassley, to block the repatriation of $320m laundered by the late military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Mr Grassley, who is the highest ranking senator in the US, had questioned the Department of Justice why the US was returning such funds to Nigeria.

The senator had said the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has a high record of human rights violations and thus such funds should not be returned to Nigeria.

In the letter dated April 1 and addressed to Deborah Connor, who is Chief Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr Grassley made reference to a Bloomberg report which exposed Nigerias arrangement with the governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, who helped Mr Abacha launder billions of naira.

Part of the letter reads; In 2014, the Isle of Jersey, a British dependency seized more than $320m laundered by the corrupt former dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. After a long legal battle, the Isle of Jersey and the United States have entered into an agreement to repatriate this money back to Nigeria in the coming months.

Yet, according to a recent Bloomberg article, the current Nigerian government is refusing to help the US Department of Justice finalise a second forfeiture action against a separate $100m in Abacha loot.

In addition to this lack of cooperation, if Nigeria did receive the second batch of funds, it intends to return the money to an official who DOJ says was involved in corruption with Abacha.

The senator also said the Buhari-led government also perpetrated the abuse of human rights.

There are also serious human rights concerns. Under President Muhammadu Buharis government, Nigerians face violations undermining freedom of religion, freedom of speech, due process, and the rule of law.

In late December, the US State Department labelled Nigeria a severe violator of religious freedom.

The Buhari governments own agencies have also abused the civil liberties of innocent Nigerian citizens. Last Decembers re-arrest and detention of a US green card-holding journalist is just the latest high profile example.

The re-arrest and detainment of New Jersey resident, Omoyele Sowore, just one day after he was released by a judicial court, is a clear testament to its glaring contempt of judicial opinion and the rule of law. Mr Sowore, an activist journalist and former political opponent of President Buhari, is still being detained, a blatant transgression of international norms.

Mr Grassley accused the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Chairman, Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, of being agents of oppression of Mr Buharis political opponents.

Denial

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, the AGF said the accusations were baseless.

Mr Malami said, The evidence on the ground establishes that the Federal Governments operations in the fight against corruption are carried out without fear or favour.

The AGF also added that members of the ruling or opposition parties and otherwise are in no way spared in view of numerical data of recorded judicial convictions.

The justice minister further noted that the federal government has not entered into any agreement to concede any fund to any individual in relation to over $300m to be repatriated to Nigeria from the Island of New Jersey.

Mr Malami stated that the federal government was exclusively bound by the tripartite agreement entered into and signed by the Federal Government of Nigeria, United States of America and Island of Jessy for the repatriation of over $300m funds referred to as Abacha III.

He added that no individual was named to be a beneficiary of any amount in the tripartite agreement.

Malami said the international community has developed confidence in the present administration in view of the fact that looted funds recovered by the President Muhammadu Buharis led administration, before now, were judiciously utilized for high-impact public oriented projects.

He said in the document of the agreement, it was clearly spelt out that the monies will be utilized in the Abuja-Kano and Lagos  Ibadan Express ways as well as the 2nd Niger Bridge only and the insinuation of third-party beneficiary outside the scope of the agreement is, therefore, baseless and unfounded.

The Minister said Nigeria has no reputational issue over enforcement of agreements and treaties and it is, therefore, an impossibility and unimaginable for Nigeria to hand over some amount of money to a third party not expressly mentioned in the agreement after the three countries concerned signed an agreement on what to do with the repatriated funds.

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Attorney General Bill Barr lashed out at the news media for skeptically reporting on the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which President Trump has been heralding as a coronavirus treatment.

'The media has been on a jihad to discredit the drug,' Barr said in a sit-down with Laura Ingraham that was broadcast Wednesday night on Fox News Channel. 'It's quite strange.'

While Trump has been stockpiling the drug and calling it a 'game-changer,' Swedish medical professionals in the Vastra Gotaland region have reported seeing patients suffer from side effects, including cramps, peripheral vision loss and migraines.

Attorney General Bill Barr pointed a finger at the White House press and said reporters were waging a 'jihad' to discredit the drug hydroxychloroquine

President Trump has called malaria drug hydroxychloroquine a 'game-changer' and even said he might take it, despite the medical commmunity still not having firm evidence that it treats COVID-19

There are concerns about administering the drug hydroxychloroquine and its sister drug chloroquine because of the laundry list of side effects the medications produce - though hydroxychloroquine is supposed to have fewer

It's unclear if the patients were receiving chloroquine, sold under the brand name Aralen, or hydroxychloroquine, which is sold as Plaquenil - but doctors in that region have stopped administering the drug to COVID-19 patients.

The two drugs are close relatives of each other.

Both are synthetic versions of quinine, a product found in the bark of cinchona trees.

Hydroxchloroquine is supposed to give patients fewer side effects, but it still has quite a few including slowing the heartbeat, arm, leg and back pain, symptoms of heart failure, hair loss, worsening of skin conditions, stomach and abdominal pain.

The mental health side effects alone include anxiety, depression, rare thoughts of suicide and hallucinations.

The medical community hasn't studied hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine enough to be able to say whether it truly has an impact on coronavirus infections.

But that hasn't stopped Trump from saying that he might even 'take it,' as he told reporters during Saturday's press briefing.

The president had made a claim that people with Lupus, who use hydroxychloroquine, are not getting the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci explained that the subject is being studied and 'we don't have any definitive information to be able to make any comment on that,' he told reporters.

'It's an obvious good question because it might be a way for us to get some interesting and potentially important data to the role of those medications,' the doctor added.

Skepticism and fact-checking by the press hasn't been appreciated by the president and his allies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

'It's very disappointing because I think the president went out at the beginning of 'the pandemic] and really was statesmanlike, trying to bring people together, working with all the governors,' Barr said on Fox. 'Keeping his patience as he got these snarky, gotcha questions from the White House media pool and the stridency of the partisan attacks on him has gotten higher and higher.'
The discovery helps date the transatlantic migration to about 34 million years ago, around the time a major drop in sea level would have made the ocean voyage shorter

Four fossilized monkey teeth discovered deep in the Peruvian Amazon provide new evidence that more than one group of ancient primates journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa, according to new USC research just published in the journal Science.

The teeth are from a newly discovered species belonging to an extinct family of African primates known as parapithecids. Fossils discovered at the same site in Peru had earlier offered the first proof that South American monkeys evolved from African primates.

The monkeys are believed to have made the more than 900-mile trip on floating rafts of vegetation that broke off from coastlines, possibly during a storm.

"This is a completely unique discovery," said Erik Seiffert, the study's lead author and Professor of Clinical Integrative Anatomical Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC. "It shows that in addition to the New World monkeys and a group of rodents known as caviomorphs - there is this third lineage of mammals that somehow made this very improbable transatlantic journey to get from Africa to South America."

Researchers have named the extinct monkey Ucayalipithecus perdita. The name comes from Ucayali, the area of the Peruvian Amazon where the teeth were found, pithikos, the Greek word for monkey and perdita, the Latin word for lost.

Ucayalipithecus perdita would have been very small, similar in size to a modern-day marmoset.

Dating the migration

Researchers believe the site in Ucayali where the teeth were found is from a geological epoch known as the Oligocene, which extended from about 34 million to 23 million years ago.

Based on the age of the site and the closeness of Ucayalipithecus to its fossil relatives from Egypt, researchers estimate the migration might have occurred around 34 million years ago.

"We're suggesting that this group might have made it over to South America right around what we call the Eocene-Oligocene Boundary, a time period between two geological epochs, when the Antarctic ice sheet started to build up and the sea level fell," said Seiffert. "That might have played a role in making it a bit easier for these primates to actually get across the Atlantic Ocean."

An improbable discovery

Two of the Ucayalipithecus perdita teeth were identified by Argentinean co-authors of the study in 2015 showing that New World monkeys had African forebears. When Seiffert was asked to help describe these specimens in 2016, he noticed the similarity of the two broken upper molars to an extinct 32 million-year-old parapithecid monkey species from Egypt he had studied previously.

An expedition to the Peruvian fossil site in 2016 led to the discovery of two more teeth belonging to this new species. The resemblance of these additional lower teeth to those of the Egyptian monkey teeth confirmed to Seiffert that Ucayalipithecus was descended from African ancestors.

"The thing that strikes me about this study more than any other I've been involved in is just how improbable all of it is," said Seiffert. "The fact that it's this remote site in the middle of nowhere, that the chances of finding these pieces is extremely small, to the fact that we're revealing this very improbable journey that was made by these early monkeys, it's all quite remarkable."

###

About this study

In addition to Seiffert, the study's other authors are Marcelo Tejedor and Nelson Novo from the Instituto Patagonico de Geologia y Paleontologia (CCT CONICET - CENPAT); John G. Fleagle from the Department of Anatomical Sciences, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University; Fanny Cornejo and Dorien de Vries from the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University; Mariano Bond from CONICET, Division Paleontologia Vertebrados, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata and Kenneth E. Campbell Jr. from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The study was supported by J. Wigmore, W. Rhodes, and R. Seaver, who helped to fund the 1998 expedition that led to the recovery of the Ucayalipithecus partial upper molars; the Leakey Foundation, Gordon Getty, and A. Stenger who supported the fieldwork in 2016; and the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the U.S. National Science Foundation (BCS-1231288) which supported micro-CT scanning.
VALERIE MACON

An actor who once performed at Universal Studios Hollywoods Walking Dead attraction has sued the park, claiming that visitors, often drunk, punched cast members on multiple occasions and groped female performers. He is now the fourth former employee from the attraction to sue the park since March.

Kurt Logan filed his lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Variety reports. Universal actually incites its guests to fight the employees, the lawsuit states, citing marketing materials that urge visitors to prepare to fight for survival.

Logans lawsuit cites three occasions on which parkgoers allegedly assaulted Logan personally.

Variety notes that when he reported the assault to a superior, the suit states he was told to take a short break and then go back to work.

In early March, Melinda Molenda, Lisa Molenda, and Josiah Steele filed a lawsuit that alleged theyd been assaulted and harassed while on the job, and that park management did not do enough to protect them from discrimination and harassment.

Universal actually creates a volatile situation in which employees and guests are placed in dark, loud, closed, confrontational hallways and mazes in which the guests, often intoxicated by alcohol sold at the park, feel free to harass and assault the employees, the suit said.

Lisa and Melinda Molenda both reported sexual assaults they experienced while working at the attraction, the lawsuit claims. Lisa, who had been performing in a cage when a visitor groped her breast, was told there were things she could have done to better protect herself, the suit alleges.

When reached for comment, a representative for Universal Studios Hollywood told Variety, We dont comment on pending litigation, however, the safety and security of our employees and guests is always our top priority. A representative provided the same statement to The Daily Beast.

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A zoning amendment that is expected to ease obstacles for developers in Northampton was passed by the communitys city council last week following a series of public hearings where residents expressed their concerns about the potential change.

The Northampton City Council Committee on Legislative Matters voted last month to give a positive recommendation to the amendment. If signed into law, it will loosen restrictions for people seeking to develop on non-conforming properties, a term that defines parcels of lands with no legal frontage.

I do think we all agree we need infill in Northampton, but we need smart infill," said City Councilor Rachel Maiore during the April 2 meeting, which was broadcast online.

The ordinance was introduced by Northampton Mayor David Narkewiczs office in November 2019 after a proposed apartment complex on a non-conforming lot at the end of Dewey Court hit roadblocks posed by residents concerned about the developments impact on the neighborhood.

Under current municipal law, those seeking to develop on a non-conforming property in the city need a finding from the Zoning Board of Appeals that the new use of the land will not prove any more substantially detrimental to the neighborhood than its previous use.

Developers must also receive a positive permit approval from the Northampton Planning Board and the Conservation Commission before they go ahead with a project.

The mayors office has previously stated the law is antiquated and does not fit into the citys larger strategy of adding more smart housing."

The amendment to the ordinance will make it so an affirmative finding from the ZBA is required unless a Planning Board review is triggered, essentially making it so non-conforming properties do not need approval from both boards.

Seven city councilors voted in favor of the zoning change, while only one - Michael Quinlan Jr. - voted against. The vote was one of two required by the legislative body. A second city council vote will take place on April 16.

Im afraid this decision to vote yes will greatly disappoint constituents around Dewey Court," said City Councilor James Nash, whose ward includes Dewey Court. "I want to state that my oath of office is to our city, and in my mind, it would be a violation of this oath for me to vote against an improvement such as the one before us tonight.

"Choosing to keep confusing, unproductive language in place because it is helpful in a particular instance but an obstacle overall is not good governing.

6 Residents near potential apartment complex in Northampton express concerns over project

Developers in the summer of 2019 proposed putting up a three-story, 15-unit apartment complex on the southeast corner of 34 Dewey Ct. The property currently includes a single-family home, a detached garage and a shed.

Mark Moggio, a nearby resident and landlord in the city, filed a lawsuit against the developer of the complex and the ZBA after the board approved the developers permit application. The suit will likely prove null if the zoning amendment is signed into law by the mayor.

Dewey Court residents have argued a large apartment complex at the end of the quiet street would increase traffic and parking problems, destroy some of the lands rare trees and negatively alter the character of the neighborhood.

John McLaughlin, a Northampton resident and Moggios attorney in the suit against the ZBA, has spoken out several times at public meetings against the zoning change. He has said Northampton would be a strange anomaly and a developers heaven if it passes the amendment.

The lawyer noted the change would impact the entire city, not just Dewey Court, and that officials in the community may be focusing too much on adding housing and not enough on existing residents concerns.

They want as many apartments and condominiums in downtown as possible, McLaughlin told MassLive earlier this year. Its very unusual.

Both Nash and fellow City Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge, who voted in favor of the ordinance, expressed concern during last weeks meeting for those living on Dewey Court.

I am concerned there may be other legal vulnerabilities that the city council cannot fix if greater scrutiny is not applied in the special permit process," Nash said.

LaBarge added that seven apartments would have been adequate enough" on the lot at 34 Dewey Ct.

Im a little concerned like on Dewey Court, with 15 apartments in that area, and I think we should have some kind of control," she said.

Related Content:
The head of the World Health Organization warned that politicizing the pandemic would result in many more body bags.

New York State alone now has more confirmed coronavirus cases than Italy.

Dont count on the coronavirus fading in hot weather the way some other viruses do, the National Academy of Sciences said.

Get the latest news on the outbreak: World | U.S. | Business | New York

Why N.Y. has so many cases: Everything was slow

The coronavirus struck the U.S. first on the West Coast, but hardest in New York, where at least 6,268 people have died since the states first positive test on March 1. The bad news isnt just bad, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday. The bad news is actually terrible.

Its likely that nothing could have completely prevented Americas biggest and densest metropolis from being walloped. But early on, when swift action might have made a big difference, the official response was hampered by confused guidance, unheeded warnings, delayed decisions and political infighting, a team of Times reporters found.

The virus was spreading widely in New York City before anyone knew it, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former head of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York City Health Department.

Dr. Frieden said that if the state and city had acted a week or two earlier to order social distancing, close businesses and tell people to stay home, the outbreak might have claimed half as many lives, or even fewer. But New York was days behind California and Washington State in taking those measures.
Its hardly surprising, but many business leaders, economists and journalists are looking ahead to the post-pandemic economy and asking what one asks during a bracing recession: sharp rebound or long slog?

But the premise of the speculation is incorrect: this isnt just an especially nasty downturn.

In recessions, the goal is to limit the economic downturn by stimulating demand. This time, governments and communities are actively aiming to reduce non-essential transactions, telling people to stay home. Active suppression of demand is happening faster and across more industrial sectors than in any previous recession.

Were into something else entirely, and the sooner Canadas decision-makers and news-shapers recognize the contours of this new landscape the sooner we will be able to make sense of the world on the other side.

The first key take-away: while the pandemics economic impact will be felt globally, each country will experience it differently.

Consider this your map of the landscape, complete with the you are here arrow.

The first service-driven downturn in history: Historically, whether triggered by a financial crisis, a price shock, or a war, recessions first took their toll on the goods-producing sectors. This time, the service sector is being hit first, and hard. While this sector includes essential services (such as health care, food and retail), many service-providers are idling.

Its a big space. Services accounted for 71 per cent of GDP and 79 per cent of jobs in Canada before COVID-19 hit. Goods-producing businesses will be engulfed soon, but the shock troops are in the service economy and their numbers and networks will produce a bigger cascade of effects, faster.

Thats because most service workers have less ability to withstand financial shocks than most in goods-producing industries. They are paid less, are more likely to have part-time or temporary work, and are less likely to have or be able to enforce protections like sick leave and sick pay.

The first she-cession: Because they hit goods production first, all 20th-century downturns started by taking out jobs held by men. These he-cessions were historically followed she-coveries as women upped their labour force participation rates and hours of work to stabilize household incomes

But, over time, the ranks of the reserve army of women thinned. In response to the 2008 global financial crisis only women 55 and older upped their employment rate initially in Canada. Men bounced back faster than usual because Chinas demand for goods like oil, copper, fertilizer and pork hardly dampened.

This time its different. The service sector  particularly sectors hit first like education and child care, retail, personal services and restaurants  is more female-dominated. Usually paid less than men, and more like to hold part-time jobs and work for multiple employers than men, the service sectors gender-skew challenges governments to improve existing income supports to prevent desperate and counter-productive economic survival plans.

Lower for longer: The pace of growth was declining for decades before COVID-19. Slowth  slowing or no growth  was the reality going into the pandemic, due to population aging, climate chaos, and mounting geopolitical uncertainty. The upshot: starting from slow, COVID-19 will drag GDP down hard, perhaps rivalling the Great Depression.

We dont know how long it will last or what parts of the economy will survive. Yet none of the pre-COVID-19 influences  aging, climate and instability  will disappear. After decades of reliance on export-led growth, future growth strategies will be more inward-focused than has been the case for decades.

Times are uncertain, yes; but we shouldnt lose sight of the fact that we are in control. The depth and duration of the downturn will reflect our individual behavioural choices  how we self-isolate, limit ourselves to essential transactions, and protect each other, especially those providing health care, childcare for essential workers, emergency services, cleaners, groceries and meds, and delivery.

In Canada, we are free to choose whether we view this crisis as a period of personal inconvenience or a moment of grave personal and social threat that can only be contained by acting together, swiftly.

Health care workers arent the front lines of this war on COVID-19. We are. They are our heroic last line of defence. Lets not make their job harder than it already is.
Freixenet Copestick secures new warehouse and reveals raft of NPD for off-trade

Freixenet Copestick has said its online wine retailer Slurp has taken on a new warehouse and more staff to deal with the continued increase in demand, while alongside this the wine producer is rolling out a number of new products for the off-trade.

Freixenet's managing director, Robin Copestick, told DRN: All online wine retailers recorded an increase in demand just before and over the lockdown period. Slurp was in a good position when this happened because it did have its own warehouse and it did its own packing so that made it able to cope with demand in the short-term, but demand is continuing so that led to the decision to take on a new warehouse and seven new members of staff.

Slurp gained 3,500 customers over the last few weeks, which is more than our yearly target for customer acquisition.

On the evening of March 24, when Boris Johnson addressed the nation, we took more than 120,000 whereas a normal daily turnover would be more like 5,000, so it is not normal at all.

People dont really want to go out food shopping very often and the on-trade is shut, so they cant go out, which means online businesses are in a good position.

For the overall Freixnet Copestick business, Copestick said it has been a very challenging few weeks, although he confirmed the company is doing well.

He said: Obviously the global situation is incredibly serious and I dont want to downplay that, but I think we can do our bit by helping to make nice wine, bring new ideas and a bit of fun to everybody

"It is interesting the way the UK market has evolved and I think brands are becoming really important again. We had a stage where it was all about own-label and when half-price promotions were all over the place. But I think that when we moved on from all of those promotions we started to see branded lines - particularly ones that can really excite the consumer - actually started to do really well and retailers are now understanding that as well."

The company decided not to put a hold on NPD and in recent days it has launched an Italian still wine collection under its Freixenet label, which has already secured a few listings, and also an I Heart Superheroes concept.

Referring to the latter, he said: It was meant to just be a giveaway for the NHS and that was the original idea. And then we thought yes, the NHS is doing an incredible job but so are all the other key workers and the mums and dads, and so we extended the concept. The I Heart Instagram page has just gone mad. We had 1,300 nominations just on the first day, and we are giving away 2,500 bottles.

Tesco and Sainsburys saw the design and they want it on their shelves as well so we have 100,000 bottles now to be made with that label. It will be on shelves early May. So despite the crisis and despite the retailers being really up against it, they still really want these ideas to come, and so that has been incredible.

The company is also set to launch a Care For Wild wine and partnership with Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary in South Africa.

Copestick said: I have really high hopes for this one. South Africa makes some really good wine but for whatever reason none of the South African wines are engaging the consumer, but I think this can do it and it has a great story too.

We are going to do as big a marketing push as we possibly can with some advertising and we are doing to bring in enough wine so that we can sell it to some indies as well.

We are in a lucky position to be able to use Slurp as a test case and that is where we will launch it first. We can then go to the multiple retailers and say we launched it at this price point and consumers loved it. And all the while providing some good business for Slurp too.

"The retailers I have shown it to so far are very interested.

Freixenet Copestick also plans to add to its I Heart brand over the coming weeks.

It is about to launch a French Mediterranean Provence-style rose, which is just being bottled. It will also add a Malbec to the varietal range. The brand already has a Reserve Malbec and now it is adding one in the 6 bottle range, which will launch in Morrisons in the summer.

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She's a woman of faith and science. Sister Angel Bipendu, a nun and doctor, is battling on two fronts against Italy's coronavirus pandemic, both treating and comforting patients.

Sister Angel -- whose native country of Democratic Republic of Congo suffered its own epidemic two years ago with the Ebola virus -- tries to remain optimistic in light of Italy's crisis, which has killed nearly 18,000 people, most in the northern region of Lombardy.

"I think of my Congo, where sick people will also die of hunger," said Sister Angel, who for the past few weeks has substituted her nun's veil for a protective suit, gloves and a surgical mask.

The 47-year-old makes home visits within Zogno, a commune of 9,000 inhabitants in the province of Bergamo, where the coronavirus has killed about 2,000 people.

"I'm afraid of not being able to do everything I have to do," she told AFP.

"Fear of being infected? Absolutely not."



Roughly 100 doctors and nurses have died caring for coronavirus patients since the start of the pandemic, and she says they "didn't back down an inch".

Sister Angel, who arrived in Italy 16 years ago, decided late in life to embark on medical studies and graduated from Palermo's medical facility in Sicily.

Last month, she took a leave from her convent of Canossian nuns and joined a unit designed to care for patients suspected of having the coronavirus inside their own homes.

The patients -- many of them older retirees -- first greet their doctor with surprise, recognising she is "not their usual doctor".

"Then I introduce myself and explain to them that I'm not just a doctor, that I'm also a nun and then everything changes -- the doors open," she said.

Sister Angel takes temperatures, checks blood oxygen levels and monitors chronic illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension. When a patient is critical they are hospitalised.

"We're on the right path," she told one woman during a home visit on Tuesday after the patient's slightly elevated temperature had gone back to normal.

The coronavirus has forced into quarantine many general practitioners who ordinarily would have done the work Sister Angel now performs, and many older patients live alone.

"The support is also psychological, it's necessary to boost morale, to break the solitude." Sister Angel still finds time to go to church -- sporting a facemask but swapping protective gear for her nun's attire.

Between 2016 and 2017, Sister Angel was involved in another human drama, helping migrants in the Mediterranean on a rescue ship of the Order of Malta's Italian Emergency Corps (Cisom).

On board, she helped deliver babies, treated hypothermia and chemical burns, she said.

The vicar of the neighbouring parish of Alme, Giorgio Carobbio, told AFP it was an advantage to have a combination doctor and nun within the community.

Sister Angel helps not only older people but also the young.

"She's a nun who is full of energy," Carobbio said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rivians electric pickups are some of the most hotly anticipated EVs in the US, but potential buyers will have to wait to get their hands on one. After shutting down its plant last month due to the coronavirus crisis, the startup has announced that production will be delayed until 2021, according to the Chicago Tribune. Rivian had aimed to deliver its first EV pickups and SUVs later this year, but it cant get its facility (a former Mitsubishi plant), retooled quickly enough.

Rivian planned to hire thousands of employees in a push to start producing the fully electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV, but the pandemic has interrupted that process. It has been forced to furlough many of its full-time and hourly workers (with full pay), but now it only has a skeleton crew of maintenance workers and contractors. There are 11 Rivian employees there in 2.6 million square feet, spokesperson Amy Mast told the Tribune. Other automakers, including Ford, Telsa and GM, have also been forced to stop production due to COVID-19.

Unlike other EV startups, Rivian is being taken seriously and has even attracted financing from another automaker, Ford. On top of building its own pickups, Rivian will build vehicles for Lincoln based on its skateboard EV platform. The company recently announced that it would be able to sell its EVs for less than it expected, saying that a mid-range R1T with 300 miles of range would sell for $69,000 with a comparable R1S going for $72,000.
(Photo : REUTERS/Amit Dave) A doctor wearing a protective gear prepares to take a swab from a girl to test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a residential area in Ahmedabad, India, April 8, 2020.

The United States has tested more than 1.2 million Americans for coronavirus, but some have acquired adverse effects regardless of being infected.

The coronavirus usually forms in the lungs and affects your respiratory system. The virus strain also sits in a hollow space between the nose and throat, where the swab couldn't reach.

Swab test could produce inaccurate results if samples not taken correctly

Although the RT-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) detection is the 'gold standard' for testing, it can produce an inaccurate result if the sample isn't taken correctly.

Experts agree with that because hospitals and drive-through testing sites are crowded, healthcare workers are dashing to cater as many people as possible and aren't collecting the samples properly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the acclaim for the RT-PCR test in February for patients who meet precise criteria for coronavirus testing.

Jeff Pothof, the chief high-quality officer at UW Health, told Slate.Com that the test is 'actually good.'

"So good that if we can capture a single strand of RNA, we can get a result," Pothof said.

The coronavirus is known to develop in the lungs and convey fluid in air areas that cause heavy breathing - a common symptom of the virus.

Coronavirus testing is done by using a protracted swab that enters the nose to acquire samples from the uppermost a part of the throat.

One TikTok user told DailyMail the process 'felt like I'm being stabbed in the brain.'

However, the coronavirus might not sit in the same spot for everyone, once in a while it forms in a deep cavity between the nostril and the throat -- a place swabs are not able to reach.

Nam Tran, an associate scientific professor at the University of California, Davis, told Slate.Com there's a false impression that the virus strain is all around the place if someone has COVID-19.

"That's no longer true," he said.

ALSO READ: 'Achilles Heel' of Coronavirus Discovered that Could Lead to a Potential Vaccine

Healthcare workers could not reach that certain cavity

Pothof and Tran both agree that one of the reasons for the fake negatives is because healthcare workers aren't capable of reaching that far back performing a nose swab.

In addition to not gathering samples properly, the experts assume that with the pandemic sparking fear across the country, centers are overflowing with people hoping to undergo testing.

This causes healthcare workers rushing from one test to another, which leaves room for error.

Because there are have been many reports of false negatives, medical doctors at the moment are calling for chest CT scans to be used as a way to determine if a person is infected.

These X-rays show that the lungs are full of fluid, allowing professionals to see the virus in place to rely on secretion samples.

Numerous scans of patients with coronavirus show white patches in the lower corners of the lungs, which suggests what radiologists call ground-glass opacity or the partial filling of air areas.

Such abnormalities identified by doctors in the scans of coronavirus sufferers are much like those observed in sufferers suffering from SARS and MERS.

The coronavirus started in China in December 2019 and has now infected nearly every country in the world.

However, the U.S. is feeling the brunt of the pandemic and has more instances and deaths than any other different nation.

There are now some 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world as of writing. More than 88,500 people have died, and nearly 330,000 have recovered.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus and Anxiety Has a Common Denominator: Shortness of Breath--Here's How to Know the Difference and Cope with COVID-19 Threats

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Mumbai police's crime branch



seized at least 95,000 masks worth Rs 1.35 crore at Sewri here and arrested one person in this connection, an official said on Thursday.

The authorities have launched a crackdown against persons involved in black marketing of masks and sanitisers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Acting on a tip-off, unit-3 of the crime branch raided a shop at Devidayal compound in Reay Road on Wednesday, where they found a large consignment of N-95 and 3 ply surgical masks, the official said.

The police arrested Muruga Tayyab Attari (36), who was allegedly planning to sell the stock at an inflated price in the black market, he added.

Attari was booked under relevant sections of the Essential Services Act and Disaster Management Act, the official said, adding that further probe is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 : With the coronavirus pandemic striking hard, Kerala churches have taken a sound beating in all respects, financially and religiously.

Even as Churches are allowed to conduct their rituals, not more than 5 people, including the priests and his associates can participate, as many of them have opted to go for live streaming.

According to the Census report, of the 33.4 million Kerala population, Christians number 61.41 lakhs (29.94 lakhs males and 31.47 lakhs females), of these the Catholics account for 50 per cent.

For the Churches the passion week starting from Palm Sunday (April 5) the entire week till Easter Sunday (April 12), even for the not so devout ones, this is a time when non-vegetarian food disappears from the dining table and many arrive at the churches.

Starting Palm Sunday, there are three important days, Monday, Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday and on these days most of the churches were overflowing.

This is the same for all the various denominations of Churches - Catholics, that has three divisions in Kerala besides the Anglican (two sections) and at least 10 home grown churches.

Churches in Kerala, (barring the exception of the Catholics - they do receive funds from abroad), are mostly dependant on faithfuls for running the day-to-day activities.

And with the Covid pandemic striking very hard and the 21-day lockdown also coming in, those churches which were expecting to raise an additional corpus has been left high and dry, during the passion week.

According to estimates, any major church in the state capital during the passion week would have fetched a minimum of Rs one lakh as offerings and when it comes to towns and villages this figure would be around Rs 20,000.

Incidentally, the number of people visiting churches had started to come down from the first week of March and from March 22, the lockdown restrictions were announced.

The pattern of sharing the 'revenue' of most churches across denominations, is a portion of the revenue collected, has to be deposited in the local diocesan office, another portion to the main headquarters of the church and the local church is allowed to retain the rest.

"This is a sort of cross subsidising, as the richer churches have to take care of the smaller ones. The salaries of the priests have to be met. This sharing of revenue is also there if some churches own educational institutions and other assets," said a Christian who is closely associated with the daily running of a leading church.

And what came as a double whammy for the authorities here, hitherto, be it tsunami, ockhi waves, the two floods (2018, 19), it was only Kerala specific and at those trying times, the leadership of all the churches when pleaded for help, it came from all across the globe, but this time their plea is going to fall on deaf ears, as it's a pandemic.

"You wait and see, the first announcement that's going to come from our churches, as normalcy returns, would be frantic calls to contribute freely, what one would have done during the passion week and don't be surprised, they would ask for even more," said a believer, who knows precisely how church higher ups operate.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Island Wide Text Alert Sent Out: STAY AT HOME



The text message sent out today.

Mobile Operators have sent a text message to phone users on the Island appealing for people to stay home this Easter.

Manx Telecom and Sure delivered the text on behalf of the Isle of Man Government to reinforce the Stay at Home message during the coronavirus crisis.

This is the second such message that has been delivered to mobile phone customers and this time the focus is on key workers.

It reads: If you arent a key worker, stay home this Easter weekend. Save Lives. Protect the Health service. Stay Home. IOM Gov




Most Christians around the world are observing Holy Week, a period of great importance to the religion. The faithful are finding new, safe ways to share in the event as many churches around the world are closed because of the new coronavirus.

Peace Lutheran Church serves a Christian community around Baldwin, Wisconsin. On a recent Sunday, its leader Pastor John Hanson spoke to his church members in an open area where people could listen from their cars.

People really enjoyed seeing each other from their little bubbles Hanson said, meaning members cars.

The 60 year-old has led Peace Lutheran for 28 years. At the beginning of Holy Week, a day Christians call Palm Sunday, Hanson used electronics to broadcast his words. His followers listened to his message over their car radios. The congregation also sang songs together from a safe social distance.

In North Carolina, people in more than 200 cars gathered for a service led by Pastor Chris Griggs of Denver Baptist Church. Griggs said, A lot of people had taken for granted what it means to get together for worshipBut when its taken away, you realize, its a really important part of my faith.

Worship in a time of social distancing

But not every religious act is possible under the coronavirus closures. Leonard Blair is an Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He informed local Church officials that Catholics could not receive the sacrament of confession by telephone. The sacrament of confession is a followers declaration of personal wrongdoing for which they may receive forgiveness.

In Vatican City, Pope Francis observed Palm Sunday in an empty St. Peters Basilica. The coronavirus has hit hard in Italy. The country has reported more deaths from COVID-19 than any other nation.

For many in clergy service, carrying out important duties during Holy Week from a safe distance has been tricky.



In Warsaw, Poland, Catholic clergyman Mateusz Kielarski has started taking confessions from people in the parking lot of his church. He told Reuters news agency, From the safety of their cars, they can take care of their soul while protecting their bodies from germs in this special time.

Kielarski said that confession from a car can be private although it takes place outside in public. There is enough distance, he said.

Szymon, a 23-year-old Catholic from Warsaw, was happy to confess from his vehicle.

He said, Whats important is the moment, not whether it takes place in a beautiful church, within nature or in a car.

Holy Week ends Saturday. The next day is Easter, the day Christians believe Jesus, the human form of their God, returned to life from death.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Mario Ritter Jr. adapted Associated Press and Reuters reports for this VOA Learning English story. Caty Weaver was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

preach v. to make a speech about religion in a church or other public place

congregation n. people who regularly attend religious services

take for granted phrasal verb to fail to appreciate that something is important to you

worship n. to honor and show love and respect for God

sacraments n. a Christian religious observance that is believed to be ordered by Jesus Christ

confession n. the act of telling a cleric your sins to be forgiven

soul n. the spiritual part of a person beyond their physical selves

discretely adv. separately
BRIDGEPORT  The leaders of the citys two hospitals said, as of now, they are handling the influx of COVID-19 patients well, and both reported a high recovery rate. But they also said theyre bracing for a day when that could change.

Both Bridgeport Hospital President Anne Diamond and Vincent DiBattista, who leads St. Vincents Medical Center, joined Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim at his daily briefing Wednesday on Facebook Live. Ganim spoke to the hospital officials via video chat, and asked what challenges they were facing.

Diamond and DiBattista were both cautiously optimistic, stating that their results are good so far, but they are planning for a possible hard road ahead.

At Bridgeport Hospital, Diamond said there are 160 COVID-19 patients, 52 of whom are in the intensive care unit and 35 of whom are on ventilators. The good news so far, she said, is that the majority of patients theyve treated have recovered.

We are seeing people get better, she said.

Diamond also said the hospital has installed a mobile hospital  basically a 32-bed tent to accommodate patients with less severe illness  across from the main hospital parking garage. The tent went up Wednesday, and Diamond said the facility was provided through the Yale New Haven Health System, of which Bridgeport Hospital is a member.

You have to come over and take a look at it, she told Ganim.

Meanwhile, DiBattista, whose official title is senior vice president for Hartford HealthCare and president of the Fairfield Region, said St. Vincents has also fared well to date during the outbreak. He said there were 60 patients at the hospital who had tested positive for COVID-19 and 23 that were under investigation for the disease. Of the COVID patients, 30 were in the ICU.

The numbers are starting to climb, DiBattista said, pointing out that, in the past 24 hours, there had been 14 new admissions related to the outbreak, which is the highest number to date in such a period for the hospital. However, the hospital should be able to handle an increase, at least for a while.

We believe we have the capacity to see more patients assuming we are continuing on the upturn on this, DiBattista said.

He said 31 discharges to date of COVID patients with no issues.

Both Diamond and DiBattista are looking ahead to a time when they will need more space, and both are looking to Webster Bank Arena as a place to set up beds for non-critical patients if space is tight at the hospital. The city initially thought hospital overflow space would be set up at Webster Bank as early as March 31, but the plans were put on hold when the state readjusted their strategy to focus on universities. Ganim, at the time, said the lower number of patients in Bridgeport compared to other municipalities was a factor and use of the arena was still in discussions with the governors office.

On Tuesday, Bridgeports total number of COVID-19-positive cases climbed to 346 with 8 deaths.

During the Wednesday briefing, Diamond and DiBattista said the hospitals are looking for donations of masks and other equipment for workers.

As for any other actions people can take, Diamond and DiBattista both encouraged hand-washing, sanitization of high-touch areas and continued social distancing.

The social distancing is working, Diamond said. Weve got to keep doing it. You cant just say OK, were there.
Lucknow, April 9 : Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday, lauded a 'Corona warrior' - Ram Krishna of Telangana who has travelled almost 1,500 km to reach Lucknow and contribute to the fight against coronavirus.

Ram Krishna is a research scholar and is helping at KGMU in taking test samples.

Though Ram Krishna could not be contacted since the KGMU is out of bounds for journalists at the moment, another doctor said that people like Ram Krishna were "god-sent" in this crisis.

"Every person, every extra hand is welcome in this crisis," the doctor said.

Priyanka, in her tweet, said, "There are lakhs of soldiers in India fighting corona, let us respect them."
Hotels setting up for post-pandemic boom, illustration photo

Owners of hospitality establishments throughout the country are suffering increasing losses, especially in the coastal cities and provinces.

Many hotels in the central cities of Nha Trang and Danang have been closed, with a part of them going up for sale because their owners cannot bear the losses any more. On the website alonhadat.com.vn, hundreds of hotels are on offer, ranging from VND10-350 billion ($435,000-15.2 million).

A 4-star, 200-room hotel located in An Thuong street in Danang  a popular area among foreign visitors  is on sale for VND570 billion ($24.78 million).

I cannot stand it anymore. I also want to restructure our finances and decided to sell the hotel to pay our loans which are coming due, the owner of the hotel told VIR.

He added that he has a chain of five small-scale hotels in Danang, Nha Trang, Quang Binh, Quy Nhon, and Dalat. This transaction would help him keep the other four hotels which he also had to close temporarily due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, in a previous interview with VIR, Raymond Clement, managing director of Savills Hotels Asia-Pacific, said that while long-term investors will not be deterred by short-term hurdles, sellers could face more significant challenges as cash flows are negatively impacted by COVID-19.

These cash flow shortages could put some owners, especially those investing in highly-leveraged projects, under the financial pressure, which will result in higher incentives to sell assets or to look for co-partnerships, Clement commented.

As a result, Vietnam and its neighbouring countries might witness a larger number of offerings this year, especially in the coastal destinations where the drop in arrivals is more severe.

According to STR, a global provider of data on hotel performance, all destinations across the Asia-Pacific reported significant drops in hotel occupancies in February, compared to the same period in 2019 and Vietnam experienced one of the largest drops worldwide with approximately 26 per cent in February.

A recent report released by Savills Vietnam in March 2020 stated that big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, despite the slowdown, still managed to clinch acceptable occupancy of 48 and 60 per cent, respectively.

However, due to the new ban on international travel and rising concerns domestically, occupancy in the first three weeks of March dropped dramatically to a single digit in many destinations across Vietnam.

Among coastal destinations, Danang and Hoi An are the most affected areas due to a strong reliance on foreign guests as well as a significant number of new hotel openings in 2019.

Numerous properties have occupancy below 10 per cent and are considering temporary closures. The situation is similar in Cam Ranh, albeit owing to Russian groups and local travellers, some properties in the area are still able to operate.

Phu Quoc Islands occupancy was just below 40 per cent in February, however the upcoming suspension of new flights will likely lead to a further large drop.

In March, big cities received several cancellations, resulting in single-digit occupancy for Ho Chi Minh City and slightly higher levels for Hanoi, as a result of existing corporate contracts with companies providing some hotels with a stable base of business.

On a positive note, resorts that rely on local clientele and can be reached by car from large cities have been less affected and are still able to perform better than the market average.

Mauro Gasparotti, director of Savills Hotels Asia-Pacific commented that hospitality in Vietnam has taken a hit and the impacts will likely continue into the foreseeable future.

However, whilst the expectation is that an entire year will be affected, as was the case with previous epidemics, at the first light of recovery, the hospitality industry is likely to see the fastest and strongest turnaround compared to other sectors.

Vietnams high reliance on local travellers (82.5 per cent of arrivals in 2019), particularly the Chinese and South Korean markets, could turn out to be an advantage, as these groups are expected to be some of the first who are able to travel again.

We should all stay positive and look to the long term. From a different perspective, investment in commercial and hospitality projects, especially within the hotel and resort segment, is usually made with long-term goals in mind, said Gasparotti.

Therefore, short-term difficulties and market fluctuations will help screen out investors who have real management experience and the strong financial capabilities to succeed in the hospitality industry of Vietnam  a potential market which has caught the attention of both domestic and foreign investors around the world.
Ride-hailing major Uber on Thursday said it will provide grants totalling Rs 25 crore to its driver-partners in India to support them amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The US-based company is also looking at raising an additional Rs 25 crore through employee and third-party contributions.

Uber India and South Asia President Pradeep Parameswaran said thousands of driver-partners have started receiving the grants under 'Uber Care Driver Fund' (created in partnership with giving India and Samhita) by direct transfer into their accounts to look after their urgent and essential family needs.

He, however, did not comment on the number of driver-partners that will benefit from this grant and the amount being disbursed to each person.

"Supporting driver communities has never been more important. We hope this first financial relief package for driver-partners helps them and their families cover their immediate and urgent daily needs. We expect the Rs 25 crore grant to be deployed in the next one week," he said.

With the implementation of the lockdown across the country, the government has allowed only people in essential services like healthcare, banking and media to commute. Restricted mobility has left driver-partners of cab services like Ola and Uber with no source of income.

UberMedic, UberEssential and Uber's delivery service driver-partners are also eligible for grants. These services have been started recently for transporting frontline workers, providing essential rides to the elderly and moving everyday supplies across



India amid the nationwide lockdown. Parameswaran said, Uber aims to raise an additional Rs 25 crore through employee and third-party contributions.

"We aim to raise an additional Rs 25 crore to reach a combined target of Rs 50 crore via contributions from employees, riders, CSR funds and citizens through a partnership with Milaap," he said.

Over the next few days, Uber is also rolling out a Hospital Cash Insurance policy that will benefit driver-partners, and cover COVID-19 and other illnesses which require hospitalization, for up to 14 days.

Both Uber and Ola have taken a number of steps to support their driver-partners. Ola Group on Thursday said it has pledged a sum of Rs 5 crore to the PM CARES Fund and Rs 3 crore towards the Chief Minister's Relief Funds of various states.

It has also been offering interest-free credit of up to Rs 3,600 to driver-partners to help them meet immediate household expenses amid the coronavirus pandemic. Ola Foundation, the social welfare arm of the company, had recently launched the Drive the Driver Fund'.

The Ola Group and its employees have already contributed Rs 20 crore towards this cause, while Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has forgone one-year's salary towards the fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five stray cats caught from



a COVID-19 ward of the general hospital here have died, prompting officials to send the vital organs of the animals for detailed examination in Thiruvananthapuram.

Officials on Thursday said a preliminary postmortem carried out here did not detect any "trace of COVID-19" and experts opined stress could be the reason behind the death of the cats, which were kept in a crate with little aeration after being caught.

The animal husbandary department officials decided to send their vital organs of the cats -- two male, a female and her two kittens -- to the State Institute of Animal Disease Centre in Thiruvananthapuram for detailed examinations, they said.

"Since the cats were caught from the COVID ward, the postmortem was conducted. No trace of COVID-19 could be detected... we decided to send the internal organs to Thiruvananthapuram," Dr Tito Joseph, who conducted the postmortem, told PTI. If needed, the organs would be sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) lab in Bhopal for further examination, Joseph, who is the Kasargod district coordinator of animal disease control project, said.

The cats were found loitering in the COVID-19 wards before being caught on March 28 by dog snatchers engaged by the Department of Animal Husbandry following a directive from the District Collector based on complaints.

They were then kept in a crate with little aeration. The female cat died two days after it was put up in the crate kept at the Animal Birth Control Centre in Kasaragod. Later, two more cats and the kittens died, officials said.

Thomas said the workers engaged by the department had provided food, including milk, to the cats while being kept in the crate.

Experts, including Joseph, said they believe that stress could be the reason for the death of the cats.

"The stray cats were caged immediately. It is certain that they could not adapt to the situation in the crate. So we believe stress could be the reason for their death. But since it happened during COVID-19 scare we cannot take a chance. That is the reason why a detailed examination of the internal organs of the cats was decided," Joseph said.

The Animal Husbandry Departments epidemiologist M J Sethulakshmi, part of the team of doctors who conducted the postmortem, said "no signs" of COVID-19 could be detected during the procedure.

The death of the cats come at a time when the government has put zoos in the country on highest alert and asked them to collect samples fortnightly in suspected cases after a tiger at a US zoo tested positive for coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
70 percent of fake COVID-19 news from China: Investigation Bureau

ROC Central News Agency

04/08/2020 03:15 PM

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) Taiwan has detected a growing number of cases of disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic since late February, of which more than 70 percent originated from China, according to a recent Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) briefing.

This rise in disinformation was likely sparked by Chinese netizens who were displeased by Taiwanese criticism of how China had managed the outbreak, MJIB official Chang Yu-jen () said at a briefing in the second half of March.

Of the 271 fake news cases the MJIB was investigating, 196 originated from China, and 35 suspects have been handed over to prosecutors, according to Chang.

The Chinese netizens craft messages catering to a Taiwanese audience, coordinate how they are to be spread, and then use fake accounts to share them in Taiwanese Facebook groups, Chang said.

One kind of format they use involves short paragraphs based on the same template, Chang said, such as one that claimed, "My father is a city councilor, and he was told by another city councilor that Taiwan actually has over 500 COVID-19 cases and 200 related deaths."

Pieces of information may be switched out  such as saying one's aunt was a councilor instead of one's father, or changing the identity of the political figure providing the information  but the main purpose is the same: to sow panic and mistrust, Chang said.

Other forms of fake news include photoshopped images of Taiwanese news channels, as well as fake government announcements, Chang said.

Local media, including CNA, have zeroed in on one specific example of these different strategies  a group of accounts on Facebook and Twitter all using the name Sun Xiaochuan (), a controversial social media personality from China who rose to fame through video game streaming.

One Facebook account with the name posted a poorly photoshopped image of a fire in front of the Presidential Office Building, with the caption, "The military has taken control of Taipei. Tsai's administration is burning people who have contracted the disease."

Another account created a fake announcement from the Taipei City government, claiming that Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je () had canceled the rest of his plans that day because he had symptoms of COVID-19.

On Twitter, "Sun Xiaochuan" has shared fake photos of dead COVID-19 patients, saying that the situation in the southern city of Tainan was so dire that there were corpses floating in the river.

Though it is yet unclear how, or if, these accounts are connected, a report by ProPublica in late March said China is coordinating a "propaganda machine" on Twitter, which it is now using to push COVID-19 messages.

The report, which tracked "more than 10,000 suspected fake Twitter accounts involved in a coordinated influence campaign with ties to the Chinese government," found that these accounts focused mostly on criticizing anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

They then switched gears in late January when the COVID-19 outbreak exploded in China to focus on the disease and become "cheerleaders for the government" with the goal of projecting an image of Chinese competence.

Their activities were "consistent with the timing of the government's handling of the epidemic and the themes it was publicly pushing," the report said.

The report also uncovered evidence linking a portion of these accounts to a marketing company in Beijing, and found that other "advertising agencies" had propositioned prominent overseas Chinese Twitter users to post videos that paint China's COVID-19 response in a positive light.

Puma Shen (), an assistant professor at National Taipei University, would likely categorize this form of disinformation as "capitalist", one of the four categories of Chinese disinformation he has found in his research.

In a "capitalist" form of disinformation, Chinese forces reach out to social media users or administrators of social media pages and ask them to post content in exchange for money; in some cases, they offer to buy the page outright, Shen said at a lecture on March 28.

The other forms of disinformation are state propaganda, an "organic" form in which messages are spread organically by Chinese citizens on social media, and a "regional" form spread through regional channels such as local media, celebrities or politicians.

Shen considers the "regional" form of disinformation most threatening because those involved can tailor their messages to a Taiwanese audience due to their understanding of local culture.

(By Miao Zong-han, Lai Yen-hsi and Chiang Yi-ching)

Enditem/ls

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As medical professionals race towards the COVID-19, many people are now hoping that the cure will be coming in far more than ever. What about the next best thing to a treatment that is safe for human consumption and is already widely available?

Read More: Experiencing Anosmia or Loss of Smell? You Have COVID-19 Experts Say

What Treatment And Why Now?

Prazosin is a drug that is already safe for humans to use, and it might unlock the potential to be the cure for what people need right now.

People are sick and tired of unproven and ineffective treatments that are being promoted online with no definitive proof that it's going to work against the coronavirus, except maybe for this drug.

The thing is, a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which are led by Maximilian Konig, has described the potential of prazosin to slow down and maybe prevent one of the worst effects that COVID-19 has to offer, the cytokine storm.

We recently published an article about the terrible effects cytokine storm has to offer along with COVID-19 and believe you me; it is fatal.

What Can You Expect From Prazosin?

Prazosin may be the next best thing as it prevents the need to go to use a ventilator and again, which is in very short supply right now and as expensive as it is. It would greatly benefit the entire world for sure, and even as many more companies are converting their production to churning out more ventilators still, they are in short supply.

It can save patients who have a severe case from COVID-19 from dying because of it. Several scientists are now involved in this new study, and prazosin, or technically known as alpha-1AR antagonists, can prevent cytokine storm in mice.

Of course, mice are way different from us humans. So what the scientists did is they collected a medical database of over 13,125 men who had acute respiratory distress or ARD from a variety of causes over the years of 2007-2015. ARD is not the same as COVID-19, although they share some similarities. If cytokine storm occurs in ARD, patients almost always are put in a ventilator, or they would die.

Read More: COVID-19 Update: Cytokine Storm Making Deadly Waves Along With Coronavirus

What Did The Study Prove?

Prazosin is often widely used by men, and thus they were able to compare the outcomes of the men who took the drug to those who didn't.

The results showed that over 22% of men who took the drug has a lower risk of either needing a ventilator and, of course, dying. Knowing 22% is not a huge percentage, it could be a game-changer for the already overwhelmed hospitals amid the growing pandemic. Even a small reduction of patients who need ventilators are a welcome sight to those who need it more.

Prazosin has already been used medically since 1974 and again is already widely available but, more importantly, inexpensive. It is by far one of the most promising treatments that are out there. Far more promising than the use of hydroxychloroquine. Regardless of the small percentage, it still removes the need for some patients to use ventilators, and this needs more study to be as effective as it can be to the general public.

Read More: Coronavirus Update: Gas That Brought Viagra to Us Could be Key to Ventilator Shortage and Possible Cure for COVID-19 Patients

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
April 09 : After Shah Rukh Khan and Ratan Tata offering their homes and personal space to help Covid-19 patients, actor Sonu Sood has makes a generous contribution to fight the corona-virus pandemic.

Known for his philanthropic nature, Sonu Sood has opened his Mumbai hotel in Juhu for the occupancy of healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of combating the virus.

Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh dropped the confirmation on the news. He shared a statement from the actor, captioned, Actor #SonuSood opens his hotel at #Juhu, #Mumbai for healthcare workers... OFFICIAL STATEMENT... #COVID19Pandemic #CoronaVirus #Covid_19 #COVID19 #COVID

The statement read, In the tough times that we have been living and to support the national heroes who have been tirelessly working day and night, I open my hotel in Juhu for all the healthcare workers. Considering the mammoth duty these heroes are doing right now, this is the least we can do for them. We are all in this together, let's all come forward and support them - Sonu Sood Jai Hind.

On professional front, Sonu Sood, who will next be seen onscreen in the big-budget period drama "Prithviraj" with Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chillar.

The forthcoming historical action drama film is directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and produced by Aditya Chopra under his production house Yash Raj Films. It is about the life of Chauhan king Prithviraj Chauhan. It will be theatrically released in India on 13 November 2020 during the Diwali festival.
President Donald Trump took a swipe at the compensation of the Tennessee Valley Authoritys president during his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday, suggesting the executives pay was too high.

In response to a reporters question, who said the head of TVA made $8 million last year, Trump said it is ridiculous, I agree. Its ridiculous."

Trump, who as president appoints the TVA board, suggested he could reduce the TVA president's salary as part of a coronavirus-related infrastructure bill being considered by Congress. The quasi-federal utility that serves 10 million ratepayers hired president and CEO Jeff Lyash in November.

Reducing it by a lot," Trump said, never mentioning Lyash by name. Thatd be the greatest job in the history of government almost, certainly if youre into money...

Trump got pushback on the comments from a member of his own party, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who noted that TVA doesn't receive federal taxpayer subsidies or federal appropriations.

Attacking TVA doesnt do one thing to solve the pandemic and has no place in federal COVID-19 response legislation, Alexander said in a release.

The TVA, created during the New Deal, is the nation's largest government-owned electric power supplier, serving seven southern states. All of its revenues come from electricity sales.

Lyash received a compensation package upon his hiring in November that included millions to relocate, and a base salary of nearly $1 million. The total package amounts to about $8 million and includes deferred compensation, but Lyash must stay in the job three to five years, according to a report last year from the Times Free Press in Chattanooga.

TVA spokesman Scott Gureck said Wednesday night that the TVA's CEO compensation is in the bottom 25% of utility peers and TVA must also post detailed annual reports that include total compensation and deferred compensation. He said TVA must pay salaries comparable to other utilities who are competing for the same talent.

TVA CEO total compensation numbers compared to other federal workers do not represent an equal comparison, Gureck said in a release.
SAGINAW, MI  Extradited from Kentucky, a Tawas man is facing numerous life offenses due to prosecutors alleging he sexually assaulted a preteen girl.

A mother in October contacted police on learning her daughter accused Traymond E. Baldwin of sexually assault in the city of Saginaw in 2019, prosecutors said.

He was known to the girls family, said prosecutors, who declined to elaborate. The girl is now 13, prosecutors added.

Police interviewed Baldwin in October, though he was not arrested at that time.

Authorities issued a warrant for Baldwin on Feb. 26. The 24-year-old left the state for Kentucky, though prosecutors said they did not know if he did so before or after the warrant was issued.

Police in Radcliff, Kentucky, on March 8 received a call of suspected drug activity outside a business, said Police Chief Jeffrey A. Cross. Officers responded to the area and encountered Baldwin. On running his name, police learned he was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Michigan, Cross said.

He was held in the Hardin County Jail in Kentucky until he could be extradited north.

Baldwin was back in Michigan by April 7 and that night he was lodged in the Saginaw County Jail. The next day, he was arraigned in Saginaw County District Court on three counts of first- and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, with one of each degree having the additional description of the victim being younger than 13.

The arraigning judge ordered Baldwin held without bond. His next court date is pending.
And then there was one: Out of the once-crowded Democratic field for the presidential nomination, Joe Biden emerged. Remember not so long ago when there was talk of a brokered convention? Its not going to happen. Sen. Bernie Sanders announcement that he was dropping out of the race assured that Biden, the former vice president, ascended to the title of presumptive nominee. Its over, as should have been apparent to anyone paying attention after Bidens big win on Super Tuesday.

As our editorial states, Sanders did not exactly come out empty handed from his second presidential candidacy. He clearly moved the Democratic party to the left, and showed an ability to attract younger voters, with an expansive agenda that included Medicare for All, free college tuition and an increased minimum wage.

The big question is whether Sanders devoted supporters will support Biden or  in an ominous replay of 2016  substantial numbers will leave the top of the ballot blank or support a third-party candidate. The outcome may well determine whether President Trump will be re-elected in what is expected to be another excruciatingly close race.

Those who have been impressed by the leadership of two governors, Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York, will just have to wait for another election.

November is now set: Its Trump vs. Biden, for better and for worse. The talk that impeachment may dominate the campaign seems so long ago. The coronavirus crisis, and its effect on public health and the economy, eclipses all. At least for now.

What else were saying in editorials

Signe / Ohman

The California factor: The state has lagged in testing for the virus, undermining a relatively encouraging trajectory and threatening its ability to combat the contagion over the long term.

Higher education, lowered expectations: Higher education institutions are conforming to the ivory tower stereotype in another way by insisting that amid global tumult that is unprecedented in the postwar era, their prices, no matter how exorbitant, remain eternal and sacrosanct. Our editorial asks: Why are they insisting on getting full tuition when students are getting a less-than-full college experience?

Guest opinions

Protect those who protect us: Nurses and other health care workers are the new expendables. They, too, have been abandoned by many leaders who have the power to make sure they are safe.

The prison paradox: Though significant, the measures the CDCR has promised to implement would still not produce big enough reductions to achieve meaningful social distancing. To make a difference, Gov. Newsom would have to dig deeper and thereby undertake additional risks, writes William Drummond, a UC Berkeley journalism professor who has worked with the San Quentin News.

Faucis Faustian bargain: Despite Anthony Faucis best efforts, his authority is inevitably being deployed to help burnish the Trump brand and shield the president from legitimate criticism of his handling of the crisis.

Poetry in a pandemic

The coronavirus crisis has brought out the rich talents of poets in the Bay Area, and their works have been appearing on our editorial page, including this one from Dean Rader, a professor of English at USF. Keep those submissions coming!

The map on my

tv reddens the

way a wound

might spread

across skin,

here, the earths

blue body brutally

infected, its slim

shape shrunken

somehow huddled,

like a child waiting

to be picked up,

held, carried to its

bed and sung to sleep,

in its dreams, death

comes dressed as a

doorknob, a handle

on a bus, a button,

a bowl of nuts,

the sun-stroked

sky, a whisper, a kiss,

and it says breath

of my breath, and it

says take me inside

you, and it says,

teach me to multiply,

and the earth

says, Look, I am

living, and the

earth says, holocene

and the earth

says, if something

isnt burning, it is

incubating, and

the waters do

not part, and

the sun does

not slide into

its black box,

and the stars

do not switch

off their light,

the rain does

not ask the

ocean for

water and yet

above a

chorus of

clouds bristles

with birds about

their work

reminding

not everything

moving through

the air destroys.

Letter of the Week

The treatment of Capt. Brett Crozier, who issued a red alert to the Navy brass about a coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a story that broke in The San Francisco Chronicle, was the subject of numerous letters, including this one by Arthur Leibowitz of San Francisco:

First, its both shocking and disgraceful that former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly berated Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, as being too naive or too stupid to be at the helm of his ship right in front of the very crew that highly respected him. Second, Modly (like his paranoid boss in the White House) claimed that the media has an agenda and the agenda that they have depends on which side of the political aisle they sit. ... They use it to divide us and use it to embarrass the Navy. Actually, not all of the media has a political agenda. Reliable news sources, like this newspaper, simply endeavor to investigate and present truthful information: the good, the bad and the ugly.

And please check out our other letters of the day responding to this and other matters. You can send us a letter via this form.

Where to follow us

We have a Twitter channel, Opinion Central (@sfc_opinions). Please add it to your stream. Youll catch our editorials and opinion pieces, as well as our drive-by comments on assorted subjects in the news. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnDiazChron

Just a reminder

The Chronicles editorials represent the collective judgment of our Editorial Board, which includes the publisher as well as the writers and editors from the opinion team. Our editors and reporters on the news side are not involved in those decisions (including election endorsements). They are charged with reporting fairly and objectively without regard to our editorial positions. It is one of the core values here at Fifth and Mission streets.

Opinion Central is a thrice-weekly newsletter from John Diaz, The Chronicles editorial page editor, and the rest of the Editorial Board. Follow along on Twitter: @sfc_opinions
d

COVID-19 is known to be transmittable through person-to-person contact. Still, it was discovered that the virus can stay active on several different surfaces, and those include food packaging according to a recently published health article.

Panic buying became one of the most significant concerns across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. People go to different stores and touch food items that were previously touched by other people. This behavior is one of the reasons there has been a spike in COVID-19 cases.

The following are recommendations and suggestions from experts on how to limit your exposure to COVID-19 while you are in a grocery store:

LIMIT YOUR TRIPS AND GO WHEN STORES ARE LESS CROWDED

Grocery stores are one of the most crowded places today. It would be safe to consider that there might be at least one person, or a couple of people, who are asymptomatic and have not yet visited a doctor.

Experts advise that a person should limit going to the grocery stores to once every two weeks. When you go the grocery stores make sure that you buy foods that are more than enough for two weeks. Put at the top of your list dry goods, frozen foods, canned fruits, and vegetables.

They also advised avoiding shopping during peak-hours to prevent a large number of persons. Try also to check if the grocery stores scheduled a time for older people and immunocompromised. Most of all, always observe stringent social distancing or six feet from other shoppers.

CLEAN YOUR HANDS AND DISINFECT YOUR CART

Always consider that the one who previously used the cart could be COVID-19 positive. Through this, you will be conscious to always observe cleanliness most, especially in going to grocery stores.

Elizabeth Eckstrom, Professor and chief of geriatrics at Oregon Health and Science University, said: "As soon as you get there, use hand sanitizer, and only touch what you need to touch. Wipe down your cart handle, and then use the hand sanitizer again."

Julia Marcus, an infectious disease epidemiologist, and professor in the department of population medicine at Harvard Medical School, also added that shoppers should avoid touching their phones while in the grocery stores or to wipe them immediately to prevent possible contamination.

Is it necessary to use gloves inside the grocery store?

Marcus answered: "Generally, when we use gloves outside of the healthcare setting and just in the community, they tend to become like a second skin. We end up touching our faces, and they may actually make us feel like we're not at risk, but they can become contaminated and may actually be a better surface for the virus to persist on than our own skin."

YOU DON'T NEED TO SANITIZE YOUR FOOD

Recent research shows that the virus can survive on cardboard for 24 hours and 72 hours on plastic. However, these viruses quickly decline as time goes by.

It is not recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to disinfect food packaging. Instead, it is best to wash your hands thoroughly after handling any items.

For this reason, Marcus said: "At this point, there's no evidence that transmission is happening through food packaging. That said, we know the virus can remain viable on surfaces for hours or even days, so there's a possible risk of transmission through touching a contaminated surface and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Better than disinfecting, the thing we keep saying over and over again is just to wash your hands."

However, Donald Schaffner, a food microbiologist at Rutgers University, had this to say regarding Marcus' statement:

"Right now, there's no evidence that [the virus is] spread through food. There's no evidence that it's spread through food packaging. That doesn't mean that we might not learn new evidence tomorrow that would change our thoughts on that, but right now, that's what we believe."

Moreover, experts advised that food like fresh fruits and vegetables should only be washed thoroughly by water and not with soap or any other disinfectants.

Check these out!
Assistance to small businesses in Ukraine: gov't presents first two programs

18:40, 09.04.20 5576

They are aimed at ensuring that businesses preserve almost the entire wage fund and the number of employees, as well as minimizing unemployment and creating conditions for a quick restart of the economy once quarantine is over.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

A new type of school will launch for Albuquerque Public Schools students on Monday after the novel coronavirus uprooted the education system.

Students will wrap up the 2019-20 academic year from a distance and focus on critical instruction until May 21. Seniors will finish their high school careers with a pass or fail grades and modified requirements.

APS completed a 57-page continuous learning outline that guides schools and teachers during this shift as everyone adjusts to what education will look like during a pandemic.

Late last month, the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called for the closure of schools for the rest of the school year to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The New Mexico Public Education Department directed the states 89 school districts to come up with alternative ways to teach students for the rest of the school year.

Organizations like APS had to turn on a dime. Everything was changed, APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy said during a virtual news conference.

On Monday, April the 13th, all students will begin distance learning via computer, with teachers teaching the curriculum, Reedy said.

Associate Superintendent Madelyn Serna Marmol said the district submitted its plan to the PED on Wednesday morning.

Its a strategy that has general protocols, such as grade-specific instructional time, ranging from 30 minutes in prekindergarten to three hours for high school students.

It also outlines the key curriculum that each grade should focus on. A main intent for the rest of the school year is to solidify what kids have already learned.

We recognize the plan is in no way an adequate replacement for the rich learning experience schools provide, district officials wrote in the planning document. It also says the district is looking at how to recover lost instructional time next school year.

School-specific plans

Day-to-day specifics will be determined at the school level.

Individual schools will create a plan tailored to their unique populations, deciding on such issues as expectations for communicating with parents and how much learning will take place online versus other resources, according to Serna Marmol.

Every single school is writing its own individual CLP plan and the leadership team, as well as the Instructional Council  which is made up of teachers and parents  are outlining what it is that they want to do, Reedy said.

This week, principals and teachers have been working on this, as well as training.

Serna Marmol said schools had roughly a week to prepare their plans  about the same time the district had for its outline.

While the state said instructional hours for the school year are waived for districts if they create and adhere to their continuous learning plans, Reedy stressed the importance of attendance during the closures.

Attendance is as important as it ever was.  (Students) really have to be engaged in their learning, and they have to take their own responsibility for being where they need to be at the time they need to be, Reedy said.

Grades will not be recorded for K-8 students, but there will still be feedback on their work.

Teachers will be expected to check in with every student and communicate with parents.

APS continuous learning plan asks educators to designate online or telephone office hours, too.

High school

At the conclusion of the spring semester, high school students will not receive A-F grades. Rather, they will pass or not pass courses.

Basically, what it came down to was a pass or no-credit grading option doesnt penalize any students or lower anyones grade point average, said Amelia Milazzo, executive director of curriculum and instruction for APS.

If students arent passing a class, they will have other options to earn credit, including completing an end-of-course exam.

Serna Marmol said the expectations for seniors are designed to be more flexible and give students more time for their coursework than usual, given the pandemic.

For instance, the district will adjust the end-of-course exam passing scores lower due to the loss of instructional hours.

Also, the PED has waived the minimum instructional hour requirement for seniors.

No ceremonies

The APS continuous learning plan prioritizes at-home technology for high school seniors who dont have devices to keep them on track to graduate.

This week, the district started passing out Chromebook laptops to families who otherwise wouldnt have the necessary technology during school closures. Students will be expected to return them at a safer time.

Reedy said the district is also working with the city to establish internet hot spots for families.

While seniors can still earn a diploma, commencement ceremonies that would have been held in mid-May have been postponed.

The class of 2020 is also the class who can boast they finished high school in the midst of a world pandemic, Reedy said.
Jose Secundino, foreground, joins Second Harvest Food Bank employees as they pack boxes of food for the needy. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

As the number of coronavirus cases in Orange County continues to grow, public health officials on Thursday issued a recommendation "strongly encouraging" employees at businesses open during the pandemic to wear face coverings while at work.

The new guidance, which is in line with recent recommendations by state and national health officials, is intended to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by those who are infected with the virus, but are not yet showing symptoms, said county health officer Dr. Nichole Quick.

Face coverings are an additional tool that may help protect staff and patrons from COVID-19, but they are not a substitute for proven protective measures like frequent hand washing, keeping your hands away from your face, practicing social distancing and staying home, Quick said in a prepared statement.

The county previously suggested that residents wear some type of face covering while in public, but officials continue to urge residents to refrain from purchasing N95 and surgical masks, which are in short supply among healthcare workers.

The county's recommendation comes a day after public health officials announced one of the region's largest single-day increases in confirmed coronavirus cases. The 91 COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday were the second most in one day in the county since the pandemic began, data show.

On Thursday, the Orange County Health Care Agency announced 67 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the countywide total to 1,079. No additional deaths from the virus were reported, leaving the county's toll at 17.

Officials also reported that 127 people are currently hospitalized for the virus and of those, 63 people are in intensive care. So far, more than 12,000 people countywide have been tested for the virus.

The recommendation on face coverings stopped short of an official order requiring the masks for workers and the public, similar to orders put in place in other parts of Southern California in the past several days.

Story continues

Quick said she opted not to issue such an order based on the number of infections countywide.

"I'm hopeful we're seeing a flattening of the curve in Orange County," she said. However, she added that there "may be a time in the near future that a mandate may be more appropriate."

In Los Angeles, effective Friday, all residents will be required to wear a mask, bandanna or other type of covering over their noses and mouths when in grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, coin-operated laundry services, restaurants, hotels, taxis, ride-hail vehicles and several other essential businesses.

The city's order also mandates that workers at most essential businesses wear face coverings, which business owners must either provide or reimburse workers for buying. If a business refuses to provide face coverings for its workers, it could be fined, but the hope is that businesses and customers will follow the order without issue, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

San Diego County also requires employees who regularly interact with the public to wear face coverings.

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do pushed earlier this week for the county to require workers who interact with the public  including those at pharmacies, grocery stores and restaurants and other businesses that serve food  to cover their faces while on the job.

We are in a phase in the crisis where community transmission is the main mode of transmission now, he said Tuesday. We are way beyond containment at this point  and this would definitely be a mitigating measure because of how important food service is in our life.

Some of his board colleagues, however, said those in the medical field  such as Quick  should instead make the call.
Jaipur, April 9 : He came to the state capital from Oman on March 19, violated with impunity all the guidelines issued to check the spread of Covid-19 infection.

The result: A chain of over 106 coronavirus cases in the Ramganj area of Jaipur.

That's not all. People of the area are giving the government officials harrowing time. While they are striving to implement the 3T -- tracing, testing and treatment -- strategy in the fight against Covid-19, the Ramganj residents are refusing to cooperate with them in any manner.

And yet to top that all, they are misbehaving with the government officials when they visit the area to survey the situation and implement anti-coronavirus guidelines.

Describing the situation, Rajasthan Chief Secretary D.B. Gupta told IANS: "We have been successful in rolling out the Bhilwara model. But following social distancing is difficult in Ramganj. Thus, we decided to shift people to other spacious places where they can be isolated.

"But there is resistance from a particular community. They are refusing to cooperate with the administration in any manner. Hence, we are trying to rope in local religious and political leaders to help in making them understand the importance of cooperation in fighting Covid-19." The Chief Secretary said the government was acquiring spaces, like university hostels, dharamshalas and hotels, for isolation purposes. 15,000 such beds hade been identified, he added.

Elaborating he said, "We first started quarantine facilities in SMS and then in RUHS (Rajasthan University of Health Services). Now we are using the NIMS University and the Mahatma Gandhi university facilities." The attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizammudin of Delhi too contributed to the deterioration of coronavirus situation in the state, he said. The government had appealed them to come out from the areas they were hiding or tough action would be taken against them, the Chief Secretary added.

Pointing to the role of the coronavirus super-spreader, he said on return from Oman, he continued to roam around with his friends. He also shared his residence with 24 others.

Of the 24 family members and equal number of members of his friends' family, 46 tested Covid-19 positive. Several of their contacts have also tested positive, who must have spread the infection to newer locations of the city.
Recently my wife and I stayed in Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace Road, that is. Although Buckingham Palace was just up the road our interest was not in the British Royals but in the young Egyptian royal in nearby Kings Road, Chelsea, where the Saatchi Gallery was hosting: Tutankhamun, Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh.

Familiar as I was with the name Tutankhamun, as I strolled around the Saatchi Gallery, I realised how little I actually knew about him.

Firstly, Tutankhamun, who reigned in Egypt almost 3,300 years ago, was a boy king and ruled the greatest civilisation on earth at the time, when he was just nine years of age. Furthermore, his reign was brief as he died aged 19 years.

Initially it was thought that Tutankhamun may have been murdered, but it is now believed that his death was the result of a fragile constitution (he had club feet, scoliosis and malaria) and a serious infection from a fracture to his thigh after a fall from his chariot while hunting.

Equally intriguing was the fact that the tomb of the boy king, Tutankhamun, was discovered by a boy! Howard Carter, an English archaeologist, is synonymous with the discovery of Tutankhamuns tomb.

Carter was funded by the wealthy Lord Carnavon. At the beginning of 1922, after years of digging, they had not found any trace of Tutankhamuns tomb which Carter firmly believed existed. Carnavon who was losing patience and haemorrhaging money financed one final dig.

Each day, in 1922, while excavating in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Carter hired a young boy named Hussein Abdel-Rassoul to bring jars of water to the workers. As Hussein was digging holes in the sand to secure the jars he uncovered the first step in a staircase that led down to Tutankhamuns tomb.

Carter had a photograph taken of Hussein wearing a gold breast plate excavated from the tomb. That photograph of Hussein Abdel-Rassoul provided the water boy with an income for life. He posed with the photograph near Tutankhamuns tomb, explaining to visitors how he discovered the site. After Hussein died, aged 70, his son took his place. Standing with a framed copy of his fathers photograph, he continues to tell his story.

Over 5000 artefacts were discovered in the tomb including the mummy of Tutankhamun which lay peacefully, and undisturbed, for over 3,000 years.

What is truly ironic about Tutankhamun, however, is that he was meant to be forgotten. Egyptians firmly believed in the afterlife; they also believed that a person whose name was forgotten had no life after death. When Tutankhamun died his name was deliberately omitted from the royal lists by his political rivals. Some 3,300 years later the name of Tutankhamun is known throughout the world while the names of those rival pharaohs have long been forgotten. The Tutankhamun exhibition is the Final World Tour and the last time artefacts from Tutankhamuns tomb will be seen outside of Egypt before they return to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, on the outskirts of Cairo; at 650,000 square feet it will be the worlds biggest museum dedicated to a single civilisation.

What a wonder-full world!

A class of students were asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the world. Though there was some disagreement Egypts Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St Peters Basilica and Chinas Great Wall received the most votes.

The teacher noticed that one student hadnt handed up her paper and asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.

Yes, the girl replied. Well tell us what you have and well chat about it.

She hesitated and said: I think the seven wonders of the world are: 1. to Touch; 2. to Taste; 3. to See; 4. to Hear; 5. to Feel; 6. to Laugh and 7. to Love.

The teacher was astounded. The girl reminded us that the simple and ordinary things that we overlook are often the most wonderful and we dont have to travel far and wide to experience them.

Perhaps Covid Time is a good time to slow down.to touch, to taste, to see, to hear, to feel, to laugh and to love.
Three years ago, beverage company Frucor Suntory began a journey to start digitising its business and move away from analogue methods of communicating with its customers by fax and telephone.

Frucor Suntorys sales reps across Australia and New Zealand lacked the tools they needed to provide the best service to customers such as dairies, petrol stations and supermarkets.

To modernise its business-to-business sales process, the organisation used a raft of technology platforms from an ERP system at the back end to an online store front under its digital for growth programme.

We had fantastic people going out there and selling every day, but we were not supporting them with great tools. They were doing it on their own, says Fernando Battaglia, value manager, customer and consumer at Frucor Suntory. We want them to be able to transact with our customers using the new system, and direct them to our existing ERP so they can get delivery that they would normally get, as if they ordered from a sales rep.

The digital for growth team includes people with experience in agile practice and business analysis especially in customer experience. Battaglia joined Frucor Suntory as part of that team, initially as digital solutions manager. The team had to work fast. If we took too long to get these in peoples hands, the enthusiasm, the desire to get there, was going to go away very quickly.

In the first three months, they gathered information on all of the mechanisms, learned more about the platforms, and focused on some very specific use cases.

The online store was the MVP (minimum viable product) under the new programme. Before this, Frucor Suntory had never sold online directly to a customer. The company launched the online store with 10 pilot customers who could place orders, and receive deliveries without the need for a sales rep.

We started at the end of 2016 with pilot customers and beginning of this year, we are at 3000 customers in New Zealand and Australia, says Battaglia. We are one company across two countries, so when we delivered the online store, we delivered the capability for both countries.

Digital transformation and business continuity at Frucor Suntory

Frucor Suntory Fernando Battaglia

The platform allows sales reps to quickly respond to customer queries. It provides instant reports on breakdowns and other issues on their connected devices, like the chillers provided to customers.

Analytics capabilities are available in one dashboard, which means sales reps have the needed information at their fingertips, doing away with manual reports. Reps can instantly upload and analyse shelf-space photos to show how products are displayed in-store. The marketing team also has access to more customer data, and these are used for more targeted and personalised campaigns.

The digital tools they set up have been important in ensuring business continuity when New Zealand moved to alert level 4 due to the pandemic.

Obviously, certain stores and businesses have been closed due to the COVID-19 situation, says Battaglia. But the ones that are open continue to order through the online store, or through the sales reps.

The reps get up to date information on the business which means that they have an effective visit  through a phone call or another digital channel  without being physically present.

He says even before the national lockdown, both the customers and staff found that online ordering was beneficial. Social distancing was implemented in alert level 2. Systems like the online store certainly helped.

Battaglia stresses that the sales representatives chose the customers for the pilot programme. We brought the sales reps in from the beginning. We had our sales director in the project, we had people nominated within the business who worked with us to establish the right sales process. They also advised the additional developments needed for these customers to order online.

This was a very important element, he states. We have never tried and will never try to replace the people that go out there and sell the products. They are the heartbeat of our company.

He says the online store is to be complementary to the sales representatives, who fundamentally manage the relationship with the customers. He notes that when a sales representative walks into the store, taking an order is just one of the many tasks they have to do. They need to make sure, among others, that they are executing on Frucor Suntorys contractual requirements, talk about promotions and see if products are in the right place.

Digital brings critical customer insights to Frucor Suntory

Before the launch of the online store, Battaglia says people were absolutely certain customers will not place orders in the middle of the night or on a weekend.

Since then, we have taken orders from the online store every single hour, every single day, on Sunday morning, and lunchtime at any day, which is the busiest time for a lot of our customers, he says.

The impact on the sales representatives was two-fold. Before, when the customer ran out of products, the only option they had was to call the sales rep or the contact centre, which was only available during business hours.

The biggest concern for us was no disruption, he says. If we capture the orders here and let the reps do other activities, that was a win.

The other thing is we incentivise our reps, says Battaglia. They get credit for all the orders within their region that go through the online store. If we hadnt done that, every time we take an order online, we would have taken money out of the pocket of our sales reps and that is something we will not do.

He says they are seeing some interesting insights from the two years of the online store.

The traditional thought is whatever you do online has to be quick and efficient, he said. Today, they found every single visit by a customer to the online store was about the same length of the visits of the sales representatives to their premises.

From our point of view, the customers are getting twice as much time looking at our products and interacting with us. It doesnt mean they are taking a long time to order, not at all. It means they are being exposed to more information on our products. Those are things we did not understand until we actually saw people going there, he said.

Insight is not just data sitting there, says Battaglia. You start to learn about your customers, but it is still up to you to ask the right questions. What is the information and behaviour of our customers telling us, and how do we use that to better customise our experience and to better focus our sales force to react to that?

If you are a customer, who has never purchased this product but you browsed it online, we can see that and provide information to the rep, he says. We are learning more every day. We have only scratched the surface, to be honest.

Lessons learned from Frucor Suntorys digital transformation

Battaglia says an important lesson from the success of the online channel was a holistic approach to any digital initiative.

You need to look at the whole business, he points out. If you bring a platform or a system, ask, how does that exist in your whole ecosystem? There are a lot of companies that are trying new things. It might work for a few months until you decide you now want to start reporting on that activity, to link the data they have. That is when everything falls over. So we considered that from the beginning.

He explains one of their options for the online store was to continue to build on existing tools that they developed in-house. The other option was to go with SAP as the technology provider was already in its core ERP system. They opted for the latter.

If we are going to do anything quickly it has to plug into SAP which is our business record. Youre never truly going to know ahead of time what is going to work and not work for your customers, he states. You have got to get out there and try it, and see what comes back.

For Frucor Suntory, this was getting the answer to a critical question businesses ask in the age of the customer: How do we increase touch points with customers without having to double the size of our workforce? Digital, that is how.
By Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury officials have asked airlines seeking government payroll support to provide additional detailed information on capital structure, liquidity and loyalty programs, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

By Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury officials have asked airlines seeking government payroll support to provide additional detailed information on capital structure, liquidity and loyalty programs, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Airlines' daily cash burn rates, when they expect to run out of cash and their best estimates for projected wages and benefits between April 1 and Sept. 30 are among details Treasury has requested as it reviews applications for government aid, they said.

Treasury has also requested information on the value and historical cash flow of airlines' loyalty programs, as well as an overview of all unencumbered assets such as aircraft, engines and spare parts.

On Friday, U.S. airlines applied for a share of $25 billion in cash under a government relief package to help cover payroll and avoid layoffs until Sept. 30.

Airlines had hoped the money could arrive as soon as this week. As of late Tuesday, there was still no clarity on the timing or terms of the support, airline officials said.

Under the law, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin can demand equity, warrants or other financial instruments to "provide appropriate compensation to the federal government," a condition that has caused pushback by some airlines, unions and Democratic lawmakers.

Every day airlines are burning through their cash reserves and looking at fresh ways to save costs while maintaining critical service even as passengers continue to dwindle as people remain homebound due to the new coronavirus.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration screened just 97,130 travelers on Tuesday, down from over 2 million a year ago, according to data on its website.

JetBlue Airways Corp, which is among the airlines seeking government aid, said on Wednesday it is consolidating flights in five U.S. metropolitan areas into just one or two airports until June 10.

It also asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to exempt it from flying at other airports where current demand does not support its service.

"We face new challenges every day and cant hesitate to take the steps necessary to reduce our costs amidst dramatically falling demand so we can emerge from this unprecedented time as a strong company for our customers and crew members, JetBlue head of revenue and planning Scott Laurence said in a statement.

JetBlue has already reduced flying across its network by 80% per day in April.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has called for attitudinal change amongst Ghanaians ahead of this years Easter.

CPP made the call in a statement issued by Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim, its Acting Chairman and Leader.

It says last Sunday marked the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

According to the statement, We are told that His death preceded Victory. Something must give way for better things to emerge in our world of nature and its never-changing forces (of nature).

Let Ghana give up negativity for positivity, it added.

The statement noted that we in Ghana realize how this situation has exposed our many inherent weaknesses regarding governance, development, environment, research and above all, attitudes. No matter how grievous the situation, we can still build on Hope.

In as much as the COVID-19 is a war situation and thus portend the scare of disintegration that is threatening and ravaging all nations, at the same time, it presents us with the opportunity to mobilize ourselves for a positive difference, it stated.

The year 2020 has presented the world with the very difficult task of managing and living with the crisis of a pandemic in the Easter season of the Christian Calendar, it added.

A daring duty to Hope in the midst of despair and uncertainty, it says.

Easter, it noted , reminds humanity that Christ did not only hope but endured the suffering and pain that came along the pursuit of that Hope for redemption. Ghana must work towards a redemptive process by cleansing our thoughts and acts.

Love must underpin every step of the Leadership of our country towards the reconstruction of Ghana. Dedication to duty and diligence in all matters is needed. Then, can the citizenry do more and be able to check leadership in line.

While wishing members of the Christian faith a Happy Easter in this solemn period, we equally urge the people of Ghana to continue and remain hopeful and abide by the strict directives in the fight against COVID-19.

We can fight and win this battle too, it added.

Ghana, by this Easter, must come out of this pandemic renewed and better poised to fight our battles against poverty, disease, illiteracy, unemployment, corruption, moral decadence and willful dissipation of resources, it urged.

---Daily Guide
London, April 9 : Ministers were said to be preparing to extend the UK lockdown into May, with advisers insisting the coronavirus peak could still be 10 days away, a media report said on Thursday.

In Wednesday's Downing Street briefing, Indian-origin Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused to give any hints on if the restrictions would be eased, adding there would be a Cobra meeting to review the situation on Thursday, chaired by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is currently deputising for the coronavirus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said the Metro newspaper report.

Johnson was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to have a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

The Prime Minister was given oxygen before being taken to intensive care on Monday. He was currently "responding to treatment" and remained clinically stable.

The government has reportedly been told that the country's deadliest day could be April 18, meaning that Britons will be told to stay inside until at least next month, according to the newspaper.

The news comes after the UK death toll jumped by 938 people in just one day, taking the total number of fatalities to 7.097, while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased to 61,474.

In the press briefing on Wednesday, Sunak claimed that the government was currently focusing on the "here, the now and the present" rather than when the restrictions will end.

When pressed on the issue by journalists, he responded: "What really matters is that people stay at home." Also On Wednesday, the Downing Street said a review of lockdown rules would go ahead next week, but the public must "stick with" the measures at what was a "critical time", the BBC reported.

A ban on public gatherings of more than two people and the closure of shops selling non-essential goods were among the series of restrictions announced by Johnson on March 23 to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

Downing Street said a relaxation of the rules would be considered "on or around" the three-week mark on April 13.

Speaking to the BBC, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "I think we're nowhere near lifting the lockdown.

"We think the peak - which is the worst part of the virus - is still probably a week and a half away."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The world is currently in the middle of the fight against coronavirus. While many countries are in lockdown, binging on TV series is one of the ways you enjoy doing at home. Korean dramas in March are a mix of everything. You can enjoy the stories about family, friendship, career, and betrayal.

Let's take a look at the dramas that ranked and continues to set the bar high in cable television streaming. We took the basis from Good Data Corporation, which thoroughly publishes rankings from dramas and actors each week. We'll cover the least to the highest-ranking 5 drama series.

This ongoing drama is JTBC's first-ever series that continuously gains high ratings on the first two episodes. Currently, the show remains in the first spot for the past three weeks, thanks to its intense, dramatic, gasp-worthy scenes.

The World of The Married tackles marriage and the struggles behind the oh-so-perfect life. The drama series got R-ratings from episodes 1 to 6 as the producer explained to have covered sensitive issues. Actress Kim Hee-ae's performance depicts a strong and intelligent woman. Betrayal from her husband and friends ignites a fighting persona within her. The show had just started a few weeks ago, yet it's already generating a buzz for its real-life portrayal from the lead roles down to support characters.

Lawyers are tough and smart, but seeing them solve cases and cracking mysteries on your screen will take your breath away!

Hyena tackles elite lawyers and how they find ways to win their cases. The lead roles are played by Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon. It's refreshing to watch the series with bickering and intelligence at it's finest. Watching the flow of the plot gives insight into what legal actions you may consider in the future. (Peak position number 3 on its broadcast for the 1st week)

The Netflix show only broadcasts once a week, yet you won't have enough with the joy it brings. It tackles friendship that helps your emotional strength as you face family and career problems. The drama revolves around five doctors who have been good friends since their freshman year at the university. It also gives the viewers the lives that doctors try to cope up with their patients and family. Each episode provides a glimpse of humor, drama, romance, and struggles of a doctor and patients to their loved ones. (Peak position remains number 2 for the 2nd and 3rd broadcast week)

The story will certainly melt your heart once you get to know Kim Tae-hee's life in this series. It reflects the love of a mother towards her daughter and her family. Though it is mixed with comedy and drama, it takes your smile and tears in each episode.

Cha Yu-ri wishes to be with her daughter and express her love even in the shortest time. She was granted 49 days to complete what she wants, and after that, her human body will vanish. The pain again runs with the people around her. (Peak Position is number 2 in the 1st and n the 4th week)

March has been the best month so far for 2020 for all the actors cast in this series. They reached a new level of popularity because of the show's plot and scenes that talk about hardship, family, and friendship. Park Seo-Joon brought a man of despair to believe in his strength and determination.

The show ranked as one of the six top-rated Korean drama shows gathered under cable television. (Peak position is number 1 for the first three weeks)
At least three terrorists gunned down by Indian special forces in the intense close-quarters encounter on April 5 in the Keran sector belonged to Jammu & Kashmir and were missing since 2018, according to people familiar with the investigations who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The three had gone across the border in Pakistan for training, the people added.

Five terrorists and five commandos from 4 Para (SF) were killed along the Line of Control on Sunday after a daring operation launched by the Indian Army.

Five AK-47 rifles, grenades, and GPS and wireless sets were recovered from the encounter site at Shalbatoo, in the Jumgund area of the Keran sector in Kupwara in north Kashmir. The terrorists infiltrated across the LoC on April 1 from Qasim-II post in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and were headed to the Gulab Post of army, according senior Indian security agency officials.

The three terrorists were identified as Sajjad Ahmad Hurrah of Daramdora, Shopian; Aadil Hussain Mir of Mallapora, Liver, Anantnag; and Umar Nazir Khan of Liver, Anantnag. Jammu & Kashmir Police records show that missing reports had been filed about Hurrah and Mir at local police stations.

Security officials said that the two left for Pakistan separately via the Attari-Wagah border; Sajjid crossed over on April 12, 2018, and Aadil on April 27, 2018. The travel history of Umar Nazir Khan, who belonged to the same village as Aadil, is being probed. The investogators suspect that the three were radicalised by Ghulam Nabi Khan, the deputy leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) based in PoK. Nabi Khan also belongs to Anantnags Liver village.

The identities of the other two terrorists were yet established.

Though the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) spread is growing in Pakistan, with cases in the Punjab province crossing to over 2,000 according to some estimates, a recent spike in incidents across the LoC suggest that the operation to fomenting trouble in Kashmir -- by first radicalising locals in Valley; then getting them to cross over for weapons training with terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and HM; and then sending them back to wage war in India. Security officials also said there are attempts to smuggle assault rifles across LoC to supply to foreign and local terrorists in the Valley. On March 23, 13 AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and ammunition were seized by Indian security officials in Keran sector. The moves, which security officials say include propping up smaller indigenous armed groups, are linked with retaliating against India for the August 2019 nullification of Article 370.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shishir Gupta Author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (2011, Hachette) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (2014, Hachette). Awarded K Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and the 2011 Ben Gurion Prize by Israel. ...view detail
Dr. Stanley Plotkini

Stanley Plotkin, dubbed the "Godfather of Vaccines," has worked on vaccines for anthrax, polio, rabies and rotavirus. In the 1960s, at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Plotkin invented the rubella vaccine, which is credited with eradicating the disease in the United States. Plotkin, a pediatrician and vaccinologist, is consulting for pharmaceutical companies on vaccine development to halt the COVID-19 pandemic. Rubella, also known as German measles, resulted in mild illness for the adults that contracted it but caused major birth defects for fetuses in utero. The '60s saw "a rubella pandemic swept across the United States and Europe and left some 12,000 infants deaf, blind, or with both impairments," according to Wistar Institute. Plotkin's vaccine is the "R" in the MMR vaccine that children get worldwide. CNBC interviewed Plotkin at his home outside of Philadelphia. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to the rubella pandemic? Rubella infected all kinds of people, but the danger was mainly to pregnant women. We have the current coronavirus, and it can kill people, so everybody is at risk. Going back to rubella, there was a lot of panic among women, and I was able to calculate that 1% of all of the pregnancies in Philadelphia during the epidemic were affected by rubella. So women were very upset. Today, of course, everyone is upset because coronavirus can infect anyone and is particularly lethal for the elderly. Is today's effort appropriate? I think so. The question is whether one can stop the spread of the virus the way it has been successful in China. Our societies are not like Chinese society, and so it remains to be seen.

Obviously, the social disruption, the economic disruption, is considerably greater than it was with rubella, so how long can we continue? I'm not the person to judge that, but I think it's appropriate what we're doing today to stop the spread of the coronavirus and therefore to ultimately decrease the number of infected people. If we don't [socially isolate], then probably 70% to 80% of us will get infected. Everyone is talking about "flattening the curve." What does that mean? The point is to decrease the number of people who get infected, because obviously it's the infected people who transmit [the disease] to other people. If you decrease the number of people carrying the virus, you decrease the propagation of the [pandemic], and that's what the [social] isolation is attempting to do. The question is, will there be a reservoir of virus which will cause the virus to return? The results in China suggest that at least, at the moment, you can stop the spread of the virus. Whether that will happen here or not remains to be seen.

What do you think of the US government's response to rubella vs. the coronavirus? Although there was a lot of anguish in the '60s and research was launched by grants through the government, [the response to rubella] was not nearly the same kind of response as with the coronavirus. It wasn't the same panic. There wasn't the same investment of money. There wasn't isolation. This is a much bigger response than [with] rubella. We're in a big rush to develop vaccines against this coronavirus. In the '60s there were multiple efforts to develop vaccines, including my own, but it wasn't the same all-hands-on-board as it is now. How do you develop a vaccine? I had worked a lot on the oral polio vaccine, and so I had learned how to weaken a virus. When I launched the project to develop a rubella vaccine, essentially it was to weaken the virus to make it into something that immunizes people but [doesn't] cause the congenital malformations that the natural virus causes.

This is a much bigger response than [with] rubella. We're in a big rush to develop vaccines against this coronavirus. In the '60s there were multiple efforts to develop vaccines, including my own, but it wasn't the same all-hands-on-board as it is now.
New Jerseyans who are unable to pay insurance premiums for health benefits, homes, and cars because of the coronavirus pandemic will receive a bit of reprieve, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday.

Murphy signed an executive order that extends the grace period for residents who cant pay their health or dental insurance premiums by 60 days.

Home and auto insurance, renters insurance, life insurance, insurance premium-financing arrangements and others will have a 90-day grace period, Murphy said.

No New Jerseyan should lose their insurance during this emergency, Murphy tweeted.

BREAKING: Im signing an Executive Order extending the grace period for residents who may be unable to pay their insurance premiums because of the financial hardship caused by #COVID19.



No New Jerseyan should lose their insurance during this emergency.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 9, 2020

Murphy announced the measure after he revealed New Jersey now has at least 51,027 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,700 deaths.

Only New York state has more cases among U.S. states.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

The governors new order prohibits insurers from demanding a lump sum payment after the grace period, Murphy said. Instead, policyholders will be allowed to spread out repayments over time.

Insurers must also continue to pay out all claims filed during the grace period if policyholders take advantage of the grace period, Murphy said.

Many residents have been financially effected by the crisis. To help slow the virus spread, Murphy has ordered residents to stay at home, banned social gatherings, closed schools, and mandated non-essential retail businesses close until further notice.

That has caused a rash of business closings and layoffs. Nearly 577,000 New Jersey workers have filed for unemployment benefits over the last three weeks, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

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Its been well-documented that Harvey Weinstein had spies profile his accusers and critics in an effort to discredit them  and Rosanna Arquette was one of the people targeted. In a new TV special, the actress sees the investigation documents about her for the first time.

Why would you spy on me, Harvey, unless you were worried because of what you did to me, Arquette said after reading the paper on camera for the Investigation Discoverys Harvey Weinstein: ID Breaking Now documentary, which premieres Sunday.

The report said Weinstein suspected Rosanna is involved in the campaign being waged against him by disseminating fictitious allegations about him to media sources.

Arquette went on to call out Seth Freedman, the man who put together the report as Weinsteins spy for the private Israeli intelligence company Black Cube.

What a piece of sh**, she said. Seth Freedman is a piece of sh**.

Rosanna Arquette shared a glimpse of her write-up on social media last month. (Screenshot: Rosanna Arquette via Instagram)

Arquette claimed Weinstein tried to make her touch his erect penis after summoning her to his hotel room in the 90s  and when she refused, he blackballed her in Hollywood.

She isnt the only accuser featured in the documentary. Rowena Chiu  Weinsteins former assistant who alleged that he tried to rape her at a hotel in the 90s  also appears on-camera, no longer silenced by a non-disclosure agreement that was in place. Additionally, Tarale Wulff and Katherine Kendall, two aspiring actresses who testified at Weinsteins recent trial gave interviews in addition to Ambra Gutierrez, who said Weinstein groped her during a business meeting in 2015 and wore a wire to record him for an NYPD investigation.

More than 90 women have accused the former filmmaker of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault. Earlier this year, he was convicted in NYC of forcibly performing oral sex on former Project Runway assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping hairstylist Jessica Mann. Now in prison with a 23-year sentence, he also faces sexual assault charges in California.

Story continues

For the doc, Freedman gives his first U.S. TV interview, revealing the hit list of people Weinstein wanted silenced. The London-based former spy for hire was unrepentant for his role in silencing Weinstein accusers.

Im not ashamed of anything I did, no, Freedman said. Other people want me to be ashamed of what I did but thats a very different thing.

Freedman said he was first approached to do work on Weinsteins behalf in 2016 when the filmmaker thought his brother, Bob Weinstein, was trying to oust him from The Weinstein Company. His job was to investigate if there was a plot hatching. Freedman said he wasnt initially told of sexual misconduct allegations, but was given a list of men and women who were allegedly smearing Weinsteins name.

This list gradually grew and grew to what weve got here which is a list of 91 names, Freedman said. And when it grows to 91 people, you realize this is a guy with raging paranoia.

According to the network, the documentary also features interviews with Weinsteins lawyers.

A spokesperson for Weinstein didnt immediately have a comment  as Weinstein is incarcerated in Upstate New York  but we will update this story if one is provided.

Harvey Weinstein: ID Breaking Now premieres Sunday, April 12 at 10 p.m. on Investigation Discovery.

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President Bacow, now recovered, shares own experience having COVID-19

Harvard President Larry Bacow announced in an email to the Harvard community on March 24 that he and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow, had been exposed to the spreading coronavirus. More than a week after they began working from home and limiting their outside contacts, both started experiencing the symptoms of COVID-19. Now recovered, he shared their experience with the Gazette.

GAZETTE: How are you and Adele feeling?

BACOW: We are feeling much better. We were very fortunate. We never experienced any of the respiratory problems that sent so many people to the hospital. For us, this felt a lot like the flu. Not fun, but certainly not life-threatening, at least in our case.











GAZETTE: What were your symptoms?

BACOW: We both started off with a cough and then that progressed to having a fever and chills. I also had whole-body muscle aches. Everything hurt. I felt like I was 120 years old almost overnight. And then lethargy  just how you feel when you have the flu.

GAZETTE: What was going through your mind when you learned you had both tested positive?

BACOW: Well, wed been very, very careful, and I was a little bit surprised, in truth, because Adele and I had not seen anyone except each other for close to 10 days before we started experiencing symptoms. We were completely isolated in the house. One reason we had taken such precautions is because I live with an autoimmune condition that makes me very susceptible to any kind of infection. In fact, some people questioned why I actually got tested. Its because Im immunosuppressed. So I was at risk. And when we tested positive I thought, This is going to be interesting.

I was also worried about being able to discharge my responsibilities. When I was at Tufts, I had gotten quite ill in 2004 when my autoimmune condition was first diagnosed, and I had had to take a month off of work. I realized that I needed to look after my own health. I wasnt good to anybody if I wasnt healthy. But beyond that, I realized I also had to give others permission to take the time they needed to recover if they got sick. So when I tested positive, I tried to model the behavior I would hope to see in others by being a good patient and doing what I was supposed to do. And Im fortunately blessed with a great team. They didnt miss a beat and filled in behind me and just kept everything moving forward in my absence.







GAZETTE: Were you able to do any work at all, or were you off the grid entirely?

BACOW: As president, you are never completely off the grid. I was looking at email, although not terribly responsive to it. I would have one call a day with Patti Bellinger, my chief of staff, and with Bill Lee, senior fellow of the Corporation. And I would receive daily reports from both Katie Lapp, [executive vice president and chief administrative officer] and [Provost] Alan Garber. And if I needed to, I would talk to them by phone as well.

GAZETTE: What kind of response did you get when you let the Harvard community know in an email that you and Adele were sick?

BACOW: We must have received a thousand responses, from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, in some cases from all over the world. We were both quite touched by the response.

What was a little strange was lying in bed sick watching CNN, if I recall correctly, and having them report on me being sick. That was a bit of an out-of-body experience. Once it made the national news, we started hearing from old friends and family from around the country and around the world.

GAZETTE: What are you doing to keep yourself occupied during this social isolation? Have you been binge-watching anything or reading anything in particular?

BACOW: Its a struggle just to keep up on email. I havent really had a chance to read anything for pleasure. In the irony department, our son and daughter-in-law and two granddaughters called us up a few weeks ago. They live in New York City. They were working remotely and wanted to know how we would feel if they came up and lived with us during this experience. We said, Of course, wed love to see you. Well, they literally drove up here the day the two of us came down with our first symptoms. They have been in the house and weve been FaceTiming them and engaging in social distancing. The big distraction is having our 2-year-old granddaughter and our now 8-week-old granddaughter with us. We hope as we emerge from the other side of this in a few days that well actually be able to play with them. That will be our distraction.

GAZETTE: Now that you are feeling better, what is a typical day like for you working from home?

BACOW: Since Im just recently recovered, Im not sure I have a real routine yet. I have not started exercising again, but that is something I hope to do in the next week. Im still trying to take it easy because Im getting my strength back. So, for a typical day, the first thing I do is look at email that came in overnight. And then usually I have a series of phone calls and Zoom meetings, like everybody else. Sometimes those are calls with my direct reports. Im checking in with the deans and the various vice presidents. Im also talking to public officials. Ive had phone calls with the governor, and officials in Cambridge, Boston, and in Washington, D.C.

Ive also been talking to my presidential peers. The Ivy League presidents have been in close touch largely via email, and I have also spoken to a number of them by phone. I make a point of speaking to MIT President Rafael Reif regularly, and I have spoken to a number of other presidential colleagues in the area. Ive also been in touch with [former Harvard presidents] Drew [Faust] and Larry Summers. So, I try to reach out to people who either have previously dealt with situations like what were dealing with now, or because theyre dealing with them in real time.

Ive been on calls with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, and the American Council on Education. Last weekend we had the governing boards meeting on Zoom. We had a full meeting of the Board of Overseers and a meeting of the Corporation.

With spring break coming up we were concerned that if we did not act quickly our students would disperse and likely come into close proximity with other young people in various parts of the world, and that when they returned to campus we could face a full-blown outbreak here.

GAZETTE: Looking backward, when did the University start monitoring the coronavirus?

BACOW: In early January, Harvard University Health Services started paying attention to what was going on in China. We have students from China, and we have a fair number of faculty and staff who travel to China for their own scholarship, so we started monitoring what was going on there. We also started issuing advisories to members of our community who were returning to campus from China on the steps they should take to ensure that they remained healthy. Then we started issuing advisories discouraging travel, first to China and then broadening that to other hotspots throughout the world as they became apparent.

We were very, very attentive to what was going on. We were also in close contact with the members of our own faculty and staff, some of whom are among the worlds foremost experts in infectious disease, virology, epidemiology, public health. And they themselves were in contact with their colleagues in China and in other parts of the world, and started advising us on the risks we were facing going forward. We very quickly started convening a crisis-management team to follow these events and to start doing some preliminary planning. Katie Lapp convened that team, which engaged the administrative deans, the vice presidents, and others from environmental health and safety throughout the University to start planning and thinking about what we might do if we saw this virus, both in the Boston area and especially if we saw it on our campus. Giang Nguyen, the director of Harvard University Health Services, also quickly put together a scientific advisory group. We have also been blessed to have Alan Garber, a physician as well as an economist, as our provost. Alan has published scholarly papers on the management of pandemics. So we drew upon a tremendous amount of expertise in trying to prepare for this virus and to make some intelligent decisions along the way.

GAZETTE: Harvard was one of the first institutions to de-densify its campus and transition to online learning, and there was some pushback at first. Can you talk about that decision-making process?

BACOW: Our thinking was driven almost entirely by a handful of considerations. One was just looking at the spread of the coronavirus, both in China and then in Italy and Spain, and trying to learn from the experiences of those countries. Second, it was driven by modeling, which we and others did, which suggested that, if this virus was as infectious as we thought it was and as dangerous as it appeared to be, we could face a very real crisis going forward. At that time, we believed that young people were less at risk than the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions. More recent data suggests, at least in the United States, that youve got a higher incidence of severe illness in young people than in some other countries. So we were looking at that. We were observing what was going on with a few cruise ships near Japan which function effectively as petri dishes and imagining what would happen if we got an infection in our dormitories where students live in close proximity to each other.

With spring break coming up, we were concerned that if we did not act quickly our students would disperse and likely come into close proximity with other young people in various parts of the world, and that when they returned to campus we could face a full-blown outbreak here. So we thought it was important to act before students went on spring break and we mobilized resources very quickly. Our Harvard University IT department under Anne Margulies [vice president and University chief information officer] quickly geared up to be able to get everybody on Zoom, to start educating faculty on Zoom, and to make sure that we had the IT infrastructure to sustain teaching in large numbers and having meetings on Zoom. Similarly, our vice provost for advances in learning, Bharat Anand, and his colleagues started to assemble resources to quickly educate faculty in online teaching. Each of the deans worked tirelessly with their faculty and staff to prepare. They are the real heroes of this process. And then we issued a notice to students that we were going to ask those who could move out to do so and not to return to campus after break, and that we were going to move all teaching online.

I knew that we would be criticized by some for possibly acting prematurely. But there was a point in this process where we watched the incidence of cases in Massachusetts over a four-day period go from, I believe, 13 to 28 to 42 to 91, which is clearly an exponential growth rate, albeit from a small base. It was a growth rate that had been repeated in almost precisely the same pattern in every other country that was a week or two ahead of us. So there were flashing red lights. And I quickly realized that the cost of being wrong was asymmetrical. What I mean by that is that if we acted prematurely, as some thought we were, then we would inconvenience many, and we would probably squander a lot of resources. But if we waited too long to respond, that cost was likely going to be measured in human life. And so the decision actually wasnt that difficult. Implementing it was. But the decision to tell students to leave and to not return and to transition to online learning seemed pretty clear. We also recognized that by acting quickly we might make it easier for other institutions that were faced with similar decisions, but without access to the same expertise that we were blessed with, to act quickly as well.

GAZETTE: How do you feel the University went about supporting students and others in the transition?

BACOW: Obviously, we were asking a lot of students and others in our community to move so quickly, and people across the entire University pitched in to help. It was a mark of the strength of our community that individuals volunteered to assist students as they moved out. We also tried to provide financial support to help students with travel, storage, and other expenses. Staff in the College worked day and night, literally, to implement this decision and to address issues as they arose. They had thousands of questions to answer and problems to solve. Around 6,000 of our undergraduates moved out in five days or so.

We have had to quickly make a transition to online teaching and learning, and its also a transition for everybody working remotely from home, with very few exceptions. Were so grateful for those members of our community who are looking after the students still in residence. We are really grateful to our employees who are continuing to make sure that our buildings are safe and secure. Everybody has been touched by this crisis. Ive been really encouraged by the willingness of both our faculty as well as our students and all the people who are supporting them to, almost on a dime, master the technology necessary to teach online. Theres been so much goodwill on the part of people willing to learn new ways of teaching and learning.

GAZETTE: In your experience as Tufts president, is there anything you can compare this to?

BACOW: I lived through the 2008 financial crisis, and there are certainly some similarities between this crisis and that one, but also some important differences. The big similarity is that each one affected the economic environment in which we operate. And, in each case, we saw a decline in our endowments. In each case we are seeing a likely decline in philanthropy in the short-term and a decline in corporate and foundation support.

We will also see an increase in the demand for financial aid for our students. Weve seen great anxiety among our employees, faculty, and staff, as well. And in each case weve also seen the community really respond positively, with people working hard to help out others less fortunate. Thats been very heartening.

This crisis is much harder than 2008 because it affects our ability to deliver on our core mission. We are a residential research University, and right now we basically cannot have students in residence. And the capacity of our faculty to deliver on our research mission is at the moment compromised because weve had to shut down our libraries and archives, and most of our laboratories and facilities that actually support our scholarly work, so there are challenges here that we never faced in 2008.

I recognize that Im not going to get everything right. But rather than try to do everything perfectly and be paralyzed by uncertainty, I think its important to be able to act, and act decisively.

GAZETTE: Even amid those challenges, there are efforts happening across the University to address the pandemic. Can you speak to some of the collaborations and work happening with Harvard scholars and experts from around the world to try to tackle the coronavirus?

BACOW: One of the very first things we did, well before it was clear that the coronavirus was going to be this extraordinary crisis for our nation, was to develop a collaboration with our colleagues at the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health. This is a major scholarly collaboration based at Harvard Medical School and run by Dean George Daley that engages all of our teaching hospitals, along with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, faculty in other parts of the University, and our colleagues at MIT, BU, the Broad, and the Ragon Institute. It also engages people in the life sciences industry here in Massachusetts. Harvard is at the center of this activity, focusing on developing rapid diagnostic tests, which are critical for how we manage this crisis going forward, and new vaccines and therapies. Im incredibly proud of the way that our faculty, our graduate students, our research staff, our colleagues in industry and in the hospitals have all come together so quickly to focus all of the resources that Harvard and its neighbors can muster to try to address the challenges created by COVID-19.

GAZETTE: What has Harvards engagement with Cambridge, Boston, and the state been like through this process?

BACOW: Weve been working with the city of Cambridge, the city of Boston, and the state to try to be helpful in a variety of ways. A number of our individual Schools, for example, tried to make resources available to assist in homeschooling. I cant say enough good things about what our Graduate School of Education has done in this area. We also made the Harvard Square Hotel available to first responders and health care workers who may not be able to travel easily back and forth to their homes, in part because they fear infecting their own families. And we have made additional facilities available in Boston and Cambridge for the same purpose. Weve collected personal protective equipment from our laboratories and made it available to area hospitals for health care workers who are still trying to take care of sick people in an environment in which personal protective equipment has proven scarce.

There was a recent article in the Harvard Gazette that details the variety of other ways that we have been trying to work with the state and our local communities.

Our alumni around the world have also been terrific in offering their assistance. Weve had a number of them help to arrange shipments of personal protective equipment from different countries thats now being distributed and made available through the governors good efforts to ensure that the supplies go to where theyre needed most.

GAZETTE: With the economy in such disarray, how are you thinking about the endowment and future payouts?

BACOW: We are looking at literally every expenditure within the University. The deans and the vice presidents are all working with us at the moment to limit spending and to ensure that that we are coming into alignment with what we know are going to be diminished sources of revenue. Weve already spent a lot of money that we would not have otherwise in helping students go home. We are rebating room and board for students throughout the University. We have seen a decline in continuing and executive education revenues  a precipitous drop. So the immediate effects are significant already. And then well see what the market delivers to us in endowment returns going forward.

The good news is that we anticipated that at some point we would face a recession. We were cognizant of the fact that we were already in the longest peacetime economic expansion in history. Several years ago, we began planning for the next recession. We didnt know when it would come, but we knew that it would arrive at some point, and so we created a recession playbook, produced by our financial planning staff under (chief financial officer and Vice President of Finance) Tom Hollisters guidance, with the participation of all of Harvards deans and vice presidents. We also tried to make sure that we understood the lessons of 2008 so that we could be better prepared the next time around. We took measures to ensure that we had more liquidity than we had going into 2008. We built reserves. All these things will help cushion the impact, but the impact will still be felt. The city of Cambridge and the city of Boston have already put restrictions on construction projects right now, so construction on the campus is on hold at the moment. Lots of things are going to be delayed, and there will be belt-tightening across the board.

GAZETTE: Challenging times demand tough decisions. What is it like, as the leader of Harvard, to have to make such difficult calls? Are there examples from history that you draw on?

BACOW: This is a time when I actually think its helpful to have been through some things like this before. At one point during my 10 years at Tufts, I made up a list of about a dozen crises of different sorts that I had to deal with, ranging from 9/11, which occurred 10 days into my presidency, to a major power failure in Medford that forced us to operate the university for eight days without any electricity, to the financial crisis of 2008, to getting sick myself in 2004 and being hospitalized multiple times in a six-month period.

I think having been through all that gives me some perspective. I sometimes say that one of the challenging things about being a university president is that all the easy decisions get decided before they get to you. That means that almost every decision I get to make is a 51/49 decision  if Im lucky. Sometimes its 50.0001 versus 49.9999. The no-brainers have all been decided previously. So Im used to having to make tough calls.

It helps to have been through challenging circumstances in the past. Im also blessed with fabulous colleagues who help me understand the consequences of different choices. And then, like any other person, I just try to do the best that I can do. I recognize that Im not going to get everything right. But rather than try to do everything perfectly and be paralyzed by uncertainty, I think its important to be able to act, and act decisively. And when you need to engage in error correction, to do that quickly as well.

GAZETTE: What are the implications for higher education as a result of the pandemic? Are there any silver linings?

BACOW: Even the darkest clouds have their silver linings. Weve seen a lot of wonderful work on behalf of so many people from across the University trying to help others less fortunate. These efforts dont surprise me, but its still wonderful to see. Weve also seen both faculty and students experiment with new ways of teaching and learning, which I suspect will have long-term consequences for us. I suspect many of us have realized that we dont need to travel nearly as much as we once did to attend meetings. Many of those meetings can now be held using technology  that will help us reduce costs and also reduce our carbon footprint. I also think we have realized people are immensely flexible. And while we all miss the social environment of being together and working together, people are still finding ways to be very, very productive from home. As we look forward, I hope we can build more flexibility into how people work at Harvard. Thats going to have long-term benefits as we think about how we organize work, not just within the University, but throughout society.

I also think some of the relationships that have been forged between institutions that are collaborating now to address the challenges posed by the coronavirus will prove durable as well. I just look at how were working with some of our colleagues in China right now, not just at Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, but at other Chinese universities. I suspect well build off those relationships going forward. So I think that there are going to be many positive benefits. That said, I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy.

GAZETTE: Is there a message youd like to convey to the Harvard community, recognizing that the full impact of the crisis is yet to be felt?
More health care workers are testing positive for COVID-19, area officials reported Wednesday.

Albany Medical Center said 67 employees have now tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, up from 50 reported Friday. Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen, meanwhile, said roughly 30 percent of the countys confirmed cases have affiliations with health care work.

That may not come as a surprise. Following the suspension of widespread community testing several weeks ago, area hospitals began reserving low test supplies for sick health care workers and inpatients. The opening of a new test site at the University at Albany, which can handle 1,000 tests a day, will paint a wider picture of who is falling ill with the virus in the Capital Region.

Were looking at those numbers, Whalen said, referring to sick health care workers. Were looking at numbers around age. Were looking at who has preexisting conditions. What age groups do the different cases fall into? And well be able to share all of that with you.

The county hopes to publish a database of demographic information within the next week about the spread of the virus. It will include ZIP code, age, race, pre-existing conditions and other information for residents who have tested positive for the disease.

Albany Med hospital general director Fred Venditti said roughly two-thirds of the 67 employees who tested positive acquired the infection out in the community.

So they were not exposed here in the hospital, he said.

Only four have required hospitalization, he said, and none required ventilator support or transfer to an intensive care unit. One-third have recovered and returned to work, he said.

Hospitalizations slowing

Hospitalizations of local residents with COVID-19 appear to be slowing, said Albany Med president and CEO Dennis McKenna.

The hospital was treating 66 people for the virus as of Wednesday, up from 60 a day earlier. One of the new additions was a local resident. The other five were downstate transfers, which area hospitals continue to accept from overwhelmed New York City hospitals.

Venditti said the hospitals doubling time  or the time it takes for new admissions to double  has increased from around four days last week to around seven days this week.

Its going up, which means the spread of the virus is slowing, he said.

He and McKenna urged the public not to become complacent, however. The slowing spread means social distancing measures are working, and people should continue to follow them, they said.

A larger doubling time number suggests that what we are doing as far as social distancing and all the steps that people out there are doing is working, so were glad about that, McKenna said. But againone or two data points is not enough information. We need to keep watching that very carefully.

County officials also urged against reading too much into local statistics right now. The lack of widespread testing has suppressed case counts. Results from the new test site were not expected to start coming in until later in the day Wednesday.

That information is expected to help inform the county if it has reached a plateau like New York City appears to be reaching. The county has not seen the same high-level surge of cases that afflicted New York City hospitals and county officials said they're unsure if and when that might come.

"We're a week or two behind them," Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said. "Just because they've plateaued doesn't mean we're going to."

Rising cases, deaths

The virus impact continues to be felt in communities across the Capital Region.

Albany County announced its ninth death from COVID-19 on Wednesday. That person, a woman in her 70s with underlying medical conditions, died Tuesday evening, McCoy said.

McCoy offered his condolences to the woman's family and lamented the fact that many of the disease victims who die in the hospital are alone when they pass because they're in isolation.

"This is the most difficult time," he said. "Unfortunately these people when they're in the hospital setting have no one around them. At least they have the love and support of the staff that works at the hospital."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Rensselaer County, meanwhile, announced its fourth and fifth deaths due to the virus on Wednesday. One was a 59-year-old Brunswick woman who died Wednesday at Samaritan Hospital in Troy. The other was a 77-year-old resident of the Diamond Hill adult care facility in Schaghticoke, who was only tested for the virus after he died Tuesday.

"We are very saddened to report the passing of another two county residents from the COVID-19 outbreak," County Executive Steve McLaughlin said. "All of us at Rensselaer County extend sincere condolences to the family and friends of those who passed, and anyone affected by these losses."

The 77-year-old Diamond Hill resident is one of five positive cases associated with the adult-care facility. On Saturday, the county alerted the state Department of Health to visit Diamond Hill and conduct testing, officials said Wednesday.

Both county and state health departments are continuing to monitor the facility and the county will provide updates on Thursday or as needed, officials said.

A Fulton County resident has also died from the virus, according to the states newly published COVID-19 tracker. County Public Health Director Laurel Headwell said Wednesday the county could not confirm the death.

We have reached out to the state for more information as the individual was not in the county at time of death nor reported to our county health department, she said. Fatality is based on daily surveys that the hospitals and nursing homes statewide are completing, but it does not give the local health department any specifics. We are currently working with New York state on this issue.

Confirmed cases across the Greater Capital Region are nearing 1,000.

Albany County continues to report the most with 330 cases confirmed as of Wednesday, and 37 individuals in the hospital, including 13 adults in intensive care units.

McCoy said that he had been in conversations with Sheriff Craig Apple and District Attorney David Soares about a possible crackdown on people who were still having large parties and restaurants that were serving people who were waiting to pick up food. The county is expected to provide more information on that later this week.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized local governments to fine people who violated social distancing guidelines or rules on large gatherings up to $1,000.

"You're adults, we shouldn't have to tell you every day to stay home," McCoy said. "Please, please stay home."

The county was also trying Wednesday to trace exposures that may have occurred at a local Burger King. Anyone who visited the restaurant at 663 Loudon Road in Latham  or who used its drive-through  on March 26, 30, 31 and April 1 and 2 between 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. is being asked to self-quarantine for two weeks after they were last there.

Elsewhere in the Capital Region, Saratoga County reported 176 confirmed cases to date, followed by Schenectady County with 150, Rensselaer County with 96, Columbia County with 76, Greene County with 31, Warren County with 29, Montgomery and Washington counties with 22 each, Schoharie County with 15 and Fulton County with 13.

Kenneth Crowe II contributed.
Lori and Russ Lindemann moved to the Gunbarrel Estates neighborhood in 1994 with their two children and niece in tow. For the past two and a half decades, they have called Boulder County home and have done a huge part in making it a terrific place to live for its variety of residents.

The Lindemanns are no strangers to hard work and have spent much of their free time volunteering throughout the community. Lori has volunteered with the St. Vrain Valley School District, the VA in Denver, the DA's office in Boulder as a victim advocate, and CASA.

Lori and Russ were first introduced to Habitat for Humanity through their daughter, Kristen, who previously volunteered with the organization through Flatirons Church. At the time, Lori was donating her time and talents to the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center off Highway 52 and Russ was working full time.

When Russ retired in 2018 from a long career in the medical device industry, the duo began volunteering with the St. Vrain Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter. They worked in Lyons, building duplexes for people displaced by the September 2013 floods. The Lindemanns moved Russ's parents to Dacono in August 2018 and learned of a neighborhood revitalization grant, recently awarded to The Glens neighborhood, in Dacono. Lori and Russ now had even more of a reason to dedicate their time to Habitat and shifted their efforts to assisting the nonprofit with work in Dacono.

The work that Lori and Russ performed throughout The Glens consisted of many types of "critical repair" including plumbing, roof repair, paving, window replacement, and more. Through this work, Lori and Russ became even more involved with the St. Vrain Valley chapter's Habitat International, which supports water and sanitation projects around the world. The Lindemanns currently sit on the group's international committee and help vet potential affiliate countries for future projects. They also assist with fundraising activities and hold scholarship interviews for candidates who want to volunteer overseas but lack appropriate funds.

Once or twice a year, Lori and Russ travel to an affiliate country to assist with builds and community projects. They returned from Lesotho, South Africa, in February with even more dedication to the cause and inspiration for the work.

Lori said, "Both Russ and I agree that the best part of working in Lesotho was working side by side with not only our nine-person group of volunteers from USA and Paraguay, but the 25 or so men and women from the community that came out to help every day."

In addition to building alongside one another, the Lindemanns were able to share their culture and learn more about South African language and life. "We did our best to learn words to communicate," she said. "Good morning, please, thank you, and goodbye go a long way to get through a day."

Lori noted the dedication and attitudes of Lesotho community members. "The community members had very strong work ethics, were always smiling, and the women sang when energy needed to increase." Both Lori and Russ were sad to leave this engaging, inspirational project.

When they aren't busy volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, the Lindemanns enjoy 4-wheeling in their Jeep Rubicon. They love getting outside and embracing Colorado's fantastic outdoor culture by hiking, dispersed camping, and snowshoeing. You can also find them sampling craft beers at new breweries, spending time with friends and family, or working on a home renovation project.

While we often take for granted our warm, safe homes with a stable, secure roof over our heads, the Lindemanns have reached out to help those who don't have stable housing.

Now, more than ever, it's important to give back and provide for others who have less. Everyone is spending more time indoors, being frustrated with the "shelter-in-place" order and yearning for a break in the monotony. However, many people don't have a place to shelter or even have access to clean running water to wash their hands.. Through Habitat for Humanity, the Lindemanns are working to provide the neediest of our community and abroad with something so simple yet so profound  a safe place to land at the end of each day.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley or to donate, visit their website, https://www.stvrainhabitat.org/.
Our sites support many of the occupations that are in high demand as a result of the pandemic.

As organizations hire workers to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Get.It today announced its participation in Appcasts Recruitment Advertising Grant Program. The initial launch was worth $100,000 and continues to grow with the involvement of industry leaders, including Get.It. As of April 2, 2020, the program had raised $368,000 and awarded 26 grants.

The program is open to organizations in the U.S. and Canada that are hiring workers to treat patients and slow the spread of COVID-19. Grants are being awarded to organizations including healthcare systems, senior living communities, facilities management companies, pharmaceutical research and development firms and other health services companies.

Get.It is prepared to participate in this initiative and lend its network of 600+ occupational job sites to this cause. Our sites support many of the occupations that are in high demand as a result of the pandemic. We are truly proud to be part of this grant program to help fill the most critical job needs as quickly as possible said Get.It CEO, Jacob Peebles

Chris Forman, CEO of Appcast, shared, Given the nature of the pandemic, the situation is changing rapidly, as are the hiring needs of front-line organizations. Appcast is eager to contribute how and where we can and grateful to our job site partners for mobilizing around this cause.

Additional information is available by visiting

https://info.appcast.io/appcast-covid-19-recruitment-grant. Job sites interested in supporting the initiative can contact Matt Molinari of Appcast at

matt.molinari@appcast.io.

About Get.It

Get.It has been connecting employers and job seekers on the internet since 2006. Weve built 600+ niche websites that reach millions of people each month. Each of these websites is powered by simple design, effortless functionality, and personalized options that ensure our members find what theyre seeking. Get.It provides 100% free unlimited job postings (no free trials, no credit cards required) on its network of job sites as well as its flagship site, Get.It. To learn more, visit https://www.get.it.

About Appcast

Using real-time data and programmatic technology, Appcast is advancing the recruitment advertising industry, enabling employers, agencies, recruitment firms, and job boards to improve recruitment outcomes, ROI, and attract high-quality job seekers. To learn more, visit https://www.appcast.io.

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Democrats were able to block on Thursday the GOP-proposed interim emergency funding for the paycheck protection program after negotiations between the parties fell off as Democrats demanded more measures be included in the bill expansion.

'Senate Democrats just blocked urgent money for a popular, bipartisan job-saving program which they themselves literally coauthored with us two weeks ago,' McConnell tweeted. 'I complimented both sides and asked to increase the dollar amount without changing anything else. But they blocked it.'

'We just found out that 16 million Americans have been laid off in three weeks,' he continued. 'A staggering 10% of the labor force is now out of work. This is a crisis. No time for partisan maneuvering or politics as usual. I hope Democrats reverse course & let us increase paycheck support soon.'

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed ahead of the vote Thursday morning that Democrats are preventing an expansion of the paycheck protection program (PPP) for small businesses because they want to force negotiations on other measures for coronavirus relief.

'I was surprised to see this simple proposal met uneasily by the Democratic leadership. The distinguished Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House sought to use this crucial program to open broader negotiations on other topics,' McConnell said during his Senate floor remarks.

The Senate Majority Leader says Republicans only want to change the number on the $2.2 trillion CARES Act from $350 billion for the PPP to $600 billion  an increase of $250 billion.

He asserted that no other language from the bill, signed into law by Donald Trump at the end of last month, would be changed in the interim emergency relief provision.

'The Democratic leadership has suggested they may hold Americans' paychecks hostage unless we pass another sweeping bill that spends a half-a-trillion-dollars doubling down on the CARES Act  including parts that have not even started to work yet,' McConnell said in his remarks.

The Kentucky Republican asked for unanimous consent Thursday to get the bill through to the House, but the fast-tracking measure requested by the president was blocked by Democrats.

Senate Democrats were able to block Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's request for unanimous consent to pass a $250 billion expansion of the paycheck protection program for small businesses to keep employees on the payroll

McConnell accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats oh trying to 'hold Americans' paychecks hostage' to negotiate for other provisions to be included in the emergency relief bill

McConnell spoke to reporters at the Capitol after the vote while maintaining social distancing guidelines

'To my Democratic colleagues: Please, please do not block emergency aid, you do not oppose just because you want something more,' McConnell plead before the vote.

The block came as 6.6. Million more Americans filed for unemployment in the last week, bringing the new all-time-high unemployment levels upwards of 15 million.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also has claimed that the measure would have failed in her chamber should it have reached her desk without the provisions she outlined included.

'I have said very clearly: What they are proposing will not get unanimous consent in the House. There is no reason why they cannot come to the table and see the value of what we are offering,' Pelosi told The Washington Post Wednesday, lamenting that Republicans will not negotiate to add more relief to the emergency bill.

'You cannot expect us to ossify inequality in access to capital as we try to fight the coronavirus,' she continued, referencing the rejection of Democrats' counter proposal.

Pelosi said she would avoid meddling in the affairs of the Senate, but added: 'I'm just telling you what the House will do.'

Republicans are proposing allocating another $250 billion on top of the $350 billion passed in the CARES Act last month for small businesses to pay essential costs, like rent and keeping employees on the payroll.

Right after the application for the loans opened up last week, nearly all the money was dried up from the fund.

The money also will act as a grant for businesses who use the funds to avoid laying off any employees during the coronavirus crisis.

Republicans want the interim emergency funding to focus on keeping people in the payroll at small businesses as unemployment claims expanded by 10 million in the last two weeks  and funds from the first round of PPP dried up in less than a week

'In just a few days, this program has become overwhelmingly popular,' McConnell said. 'Thanks to the hard work of small businesses and lenders, billions of dollars have already landed and tens of billions more are already in the pipeline.'

'Jobs are literally being saved as we speak,' the Kentucky Republican continued. 'But it is quickly becoming clear that Congress will need to provide more funding or this crucial program may run dry. That cannot happen.'

Unemployment levels reached an all-time-high as nearly 10 million Americans filed for benefits in the past two weeks after losing their jobs or being furloughed in the midst of the pandemic.

Trump said at his Tuesday coronavirus task force briefing that banks had already processed $70 billion in taxpayer-backed loans for 250,000 small businesses since applications opened on Friday.

He did not say how many of those loans had been approved or how many firms had received any of the money.

Pelosi and Democrats, however, want the emergency bill to include more relief to minority-owned companies, help fund food stamp programs and provide economic assistance to states, hospitals and other health care centers  including producing and distributing more personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and gloves.

Democrats are proposing upwards of $250 billion additional funding to go towards those efforts as part of the interim emergency relief package.

McConnell claims the administration is prioritizing funding for the PPP this week since it is running low on funds, and that it will then move forward with a CARES Act part two as programs and provisions from the first package are still getting up and running.

Pelosi shot down Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's proposal to solely focus on the small businesses payment program.

Democrats demand that the bill include more money for hospitals and medical centers, including the production of distribution of more personal protective equipment (PPE) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted that the measure would have ultimately failed in the lower chamber because it does not include Democrats demands  like billions more in funding for food stamps and more for hospitals and medical centers

Attempts to pass the emergency relief package come as coronavirus deaths in the U.S. near 15,000 and there are more than 435,000 confirmed cases  more than any other nation has reported

Mnuchin, a former Democrat who has a close working relationship with Pelosi, has worked as the liaison between the White House and Capitol Hill on coronavirus mitigation efforts.

During a conference call with House Democrats Wednesday, Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer suggested a deal could be reached with Republicans by Friday.

But Pelosi, a devout Catholic, also made it clear that she would not work on Easter, meaning if a deal is not reached Friday the emergency measure could be stretched well into next week.

'Easter is a glorious occasion  the article of faith, Christ is risen,' Pelosi told the Post. 'I don't intend to spend Sunday on something that should be so evident to them  to respect everybody in this country and how they aspire to meet their financial needs.'

'They have a couple  several hundred billions of dollars to get through this, if they don't do it by Easter Sunday,' she said, referring to the $349 billion PPP fund, a key element of the $2.2 trillion economic rescue package.

'Friday to Monday, or Tuesday, is not dispositive of whether this works or not,' Pelosi said.
Social Security Department punch card sorters. (Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com)

The time has come to invest in the federal government's IT infrastructure. Over the last five years, government has taken significant steps intended to modernize federal IT, spearheaded by passage of the MGT Act in 2017 and the 21st Century IDEA in 2018. These bills and others were intended to drive IT modernization across the federal government and encourage agencies to embrace digital tools over antiquated paper-intensive processes. But despite our best efforts, we've learned over the last five weeks that more needs to be done to modernize government technology now and for the future.

This past weekend, news broke out of New Jersey that Governor Phil Mattingly was in dire need of COBOL programmers to help keep the state's four-decades old unemployment system from crashing due to the surge of claims coming as a result of the economic impact of coronavirus. New Jersey's problems are not all that different from some key federal agencies, including the IRS, which is currently faced with a need to get cash payments out to hundreds of millions of people in record time while relying heavily on outdated systems, including some that are COBOL-based.

With nearly the entire federal workforce and a vast majority of contractors forced to work from home as a result of the coronavirus, our IT infrastructure has been pushed to the limit over the last five weeks. We've all heard the stories about employees not being able to access agency virtual private networks, or looking for workarounds due to network latency because there are just too many people trying to access the network at the same time from remote connections. Needless to say, working around IT security controls runs the risk of leaving federal networks vulnerable in this time of crisis and should be avoided whenever possible. However there remains a need to balance security, with the need for people to get access to the tools necessary to do their jobs.

I was impressed with Congress's response to the telework needs of federal employees, with the recently enacted CARES Act having provided additional funding for telework, remote access and bandwidth upgrades for more than 15 agencies, including major investments at DOD and VA. This investment, while critical at this time, is likely just a down payment toward addressing the needs of remote federal workers. The coronavirus response is likely to forever change the way all of us, including federal employees and contractors work. More needs to be done to ensure that federal employees have access to the tools they need to work remotely, in a crisis and beyond.

With that said, Congress is now considering "phase 4" of their coronavirus response and thus has an opportunity to build on the down payment made in the CARES Act, setting federal and state and local information technology on a better path forward. When developing this next phase, I believe Congress must consider these three principles for IT modernization.

Support the needs of remote workers

Congress must provide federal agencies with additional funding for the acquisition of technology needed to support remote work. This should go beyond telework as it has been traditionally defined to include: IT infrastructure, adoption of cloud computing and cloud-based collaboration tools, an embrace of online training, including cybersecurity training, and the transition of in-person and paper-intensive processes to digital, allowing for better connectivity, workflows and the electronic approvals necessary to support a remote workforce.

Provide states with IT funding to enable program implementation:

What we are seeing in New Jersey is likely to be repeated across the country as it is the state governments that are charged with disbursing the vast majority of the more than $2 trillion provided by the federal government through programs like Medicaid and Unemployment Insurance. Congress must provide a mechanism by which states can use a small percentage of the funding provided to upgrade their IT systems and infrastructure.

Address cybersecurity and secure connectivity needs

No agency should have to choose between cybersecurity and connectivity. Congress must provide additional funding for the cybersecurity needs to remote federal employees, including investing to provide increased bandwidth, enhanced VPN, and cloud-based security. Expanding the capacity of and funding for FedRAMP, the gateway to secure cloud in the federal government, would also help address these needs.

Congress has a unique opportunity to make a critical investment, at a critical time to set government information technology on a strong path forward. By getting out ahead of what we now know will be a dramatic change in the way people work going forward, they can ensure we not only continue to respond effectively to the current crisis but are more prepared for the next one.
The coronavirus pandemic is revolutionising Australian spending habits with more than $1billion tap-and-go transactions in just one month.

The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest bank, has released data showing a 17 per cent surge in digital wallet spending levels in March - most likely at the expense of cash.

That was more than double February's growth pace of eight per cent, as the value of tap-and-go payments soared from $884million to $1.035billion.

Many businesses are also refusing to accept banknotes in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic is revolutionising Australian spending habits with more than $1billion tap-and-go transactions in just one month. Pictured is a customer using tap-and-go at Waterloo in Sydney's inner south

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are still accepting cash but are strongly urging customers to use their plastic cards instead, preferably with a tap-and-go payment so they don't have to enter their PIN on a keypad.

Grocery chain Harris Farm last month put up signs telling customers they would no longer accept cash.

The average digital transaction in Australia last month was $28, a Commonwealth Bank data analysis of CBA Tap & Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay.

The number of transactions grew at a slower pace last month rising by nine per cent to 36million.

The Commonwealth Bank's executive general manager of everyday banking, Kate Crous, said customers were increasingly shunning cash to minimise their risk of contracting coronavirus.

'It's now evident that even more people regard it as a safe and secure way to pay in this environment,' she said.

The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest bank, has released data showing a 17 per cent surge in digital wallet spending levels in March. Pictured is a Harris Farm store sign declaring cash would no longer be accepted

The Commonwealth Bank's executive general manager of everyday banking, Kate Crous, said customers were increasingly shunning cash to minimise their risk of contracting coronavirus

'In the current environment, paying without cash is an important way to protect yourself and others against the spread of coronavirus.'

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Ms Crous said CBA was encouraging its customers to use tap-and-go payments instead of cash.

'They have the added safety of not needing to enter a PIN on the PIN pad no matter how much they spend, as it instead leverages touch ID or Face ID,' she said.

Last month, the Superpharmacy discount chemist chain stopped accepting cash payments from their customers.

General manager Christian Todd revealed some customers refused to respect the new policy.

'We already have put in place an EFTPOS only policy,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'As I am sure you are aware previous studies have shown cash to have more bacteria on it than a toilet door handle.

'This EFTPOS-only policy has angered quite a lot of customers and we have had some heated incidents at this site and our other sites around the country for people who prefer to deal in cash.'
Skamokawa News

STARTING OFF--As this week began, we actually had a pretty nice day this last Sunday. At least it was decent enough here to get the lawn mowed and do a lot of other outside things, so that certainly helped with our cabin fever and kept us occupied during this time when everyone is being asked to stay home. From the looks of it, we may actually have a pretty dry week, although I always expect that forecast to change without warning! At any rate, very warm temperatures during the week, so let's hope this nice forecast comes true, as it was a tadbit nippy last week, like with night time freezing; brr! We are all ready for the sunshine and warmth.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from April 9-15 are Andrew Emlen, Brent Mahitka, Bryan Ledtke, Kael McKinley, Wendy Westover, Rafael Gilbertson, Janna Doumit, Pat Dennis, Trygve Gilbertson, Patrick Thacker, Nikki Danker, Sara Brown, Mike Crouse, Chris Doumit, Hudson Heiner, Aspen Cothren, Savannah Burdick, Stephanie Olsen, Phil Doumit, Sean Miller, Janine Helms, Sylvia Blix Link, Misty Shook, Carolyn Pedersen and 67'er Sherrolin Mace Powell.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Greg Parker, Mr. and Mrs. Tim Parker and Mr. and Mrs. Mike Johnson.

Here's hoping all your special days are able to be made special in spite of the current conditions. Thank goodness for social media, Skype and Facetime, etc., as connections from afar can still be made during this "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" time! It's not the same as being together but for now, it will have to do.

NEW ADDITION--Our family added a new member to our list last week, as Ty and Kendra (Kincaid) Finkas welcomed a new baby boy on April 2. Yay! The little guy wasn't all that little, as he was eight pounds and one ounce and was 20 inches long, and his name is Barrett. He joins his older brother, Jensen at their home in Longview. The baby being born on this day, meant that my brother and his wife, Frank and Carolyn Pedersen, not only have a grandson who was born on April 2, Nathan Pedersen, but now they have a great grandson born on the exact same day; double celebration indeed! Congratulations to Ty and Kendra and "Welcome to the Family" little guy! We can hardly wait to meet you first hand.

HOLIDAY--If you're reading this on Thursday, then you know that today is Passover, and tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. Beings we are supposed to be practicing "social distancing," this means our Easter dinners are only to include those that live in our house, which could mean a pretty small group for dinner this year. On the bright side, that would mean no massive amounts of cooking, house cleaning or kitchen cleanup will need to be done, so while we may miss our big family gatherings, it's the best Easter gift you could give yourself right now; distance and good health!

NEW POSTMASTER--I understand that we have a new Postmaster in Cathlamet with over 20 years of experience and we'd like to welcome her to our area. If you happen to be down at the Cathlamet post office, we hope you will say hi to Patty Palmer, and we hope she enjoys her job here in our little county!

NEED HELP?--Some folks are afraid to go out to the grocery stores right now, or maybe they have no way to get there, so if you or somebody you know needs a bit of help, there's a solution for you. The Wahkiakum Lions Club is offering Helping hands for free grocery delivery to your home. You can call them at 971-278-1495 or email them at wahkiakumlionsclubhelpinghands@gmail.com for the details. Here's hoping they can be your "legs" and "wheels" when it comes to getting you the groceries that you need.

CURBSIDE SERVICES--Also, don't forget that you can contact the Cathlamet Market (36-795-3511) or the Cathlamet Pharmacy (360-795-3691) and arrange to have your needed items brought right out to your vehicle. That's definitely a good way to get the your neccesary items and not have to go inside either store during this time of social distancing.

MOTHER ASKS FOR HELP--Jonnie Lawson Knowles has asked me to spread the word about providing masks for her daughter, Kristi, who is a paramedic and firefighter in Florida. It seems that they could use some of those homemade masks and so if you or your group can sew, Jonnie would surely appreciate the help. I know that my neighbor, Amy Hone has already donated some but hopefully others can do so as well. You can contact Jonnie by phone at 360-795-3946 or by email: jonnik47@hotmail.com and you can talk things over about what she needs, how to get them picked up, mailed, etc. Thanks to all those who are helping!

DEVASTATING NEWS--We were so shocked and saddened by the news that a former Island girl, and former Wah. Co. dispatcher, Kelly Nettles Recupero passed away in Australia this last week. Our hearts just ache at the loss of this sweet, much loved and wonderful daughter to Mary, sisters to Terri and Kim, wife of Louis in Australia, mother to Kristina and Bryce and grandmother, not to mention a real jewel to all her many other family members and good friends. There are no words to express how sad we all are, but we offer our sincerest condolences to all of Kelly's family during this extremely difficult time.

MORE LOSSES--Not only did we get the sad news about Kelly but we also found out that long time resident, Cora Irving, passed away this past week as well. According to daughter, Sheryl, her Mom passed away on April 2 and she would have been 94 in September. She and her husband Tom have been here "forever" and Tom, who is now 97 plus, survives her at home. We send our sympathies to their entire family.

ANOTHER LOSS--April 2 was also a sad day for the Good family, as Harvey Good of Kelso, passed away that day as well. Harvey would have been 86 years old a little later on this year and leaves behind his wife, Shirley, of almost 58 years, as well as several daughters and many other family members, including a brother, Arnold of Lexington. Our deepest sympathies go out to Shirley and the rest of the family.

CHALLENGING TIMES--These are challenging times and I'm sure none of us had any idea that our lifestyles would change so drastically and oh so quickly from just a month ago. Many folks are comparing our "Stay Home/Stay Healthy" order to a quarantine, but I hate to tell you, they are vastly different. If you are a person who is truly quarantining yourself in your home, then kudos to you, but for the most part, there are still many people who are going out and about. Trust me, under a strict and true quarantine, that would not be allowed.

Currently all of us non-essential people are allowed to go to the store and go to get our medications, etc., but we are encouraged to make these shopping times as brief and as infrequent as possible. It helps by planning ahead for at least a week and buy what you need but if you do go inside a store, it's not a time to wander around "shopping." Just buy what's on your list and leave. More and more of the bigger stores are beginning to limit the amount of people they allow in at one time, so the others will be waiting outside for their turn, so please be considerate and get your things and leave so someone else can come in. This is not the time to use the store as a place to socialize and this certainly shouldn't be the time or place for a family outing.

With a second person being diagnosed with COVID-19 in our county, I would implore you to rethink some of your habits and change them in order to keep you and your family safe. If we do have to go out, we are being advised to wear a mask, and be sure to wash our hands often and use hand sanitizers in between. C'mon folks, we can do this!
(TNS)  After a string of people gave offensive statements during a recent Kalamazoo City Commission meeting hosted on the Zoom platform, Mayor David Anderson asked the citys attorney what the options were to move the meeting forward.If were gonna sit here as 100 people take advantage of the opportunity to anonymously spew some venom out there, Im not gonna be comfortable with that, Anderson said, as people with screen names including Harry Potter waited in a virtual line to comment.The commission cut off comments at the first part of the meeting, but still had to deal with another round of disruptions later in the meeting, as a city staff member muted any that became inappropriate.As Kalamazoo and other local governments across the state push to hold meetings online instead of traditional in-person meetings because of coronavirus, theyve also learned of the dark side of Zoom meetings as Zoom bombers have dropped in to cause chaos.The trolls, invited in to comment along with the rest of the public as required by Michigans Open Meetings Act, are spewing hate speech during the public meetings required for local municipalities to get work done.Michigan is looking for a way to move public meetings forward without opening them up to a firestorm of comments from anyone, including anonymous and unverified Internet trolls. Meanwhile, police are warning pranksters that Zoom bombing can get you arrested.On Wednesday, March 18, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued recommendations advising against gatherings, and soon after opened the door to allow municipalities to hold virtual meetings instead.Less than two weeks later, Zoom bombers disrupted a Grosse Ile Township Board meeting during the public comment portion at the end of the session.No member of the public whom I could identify offered to comment, but two anonymous intruders essentially injected derogatory comments about people of Chinese ancestry," Supervisor Brian Loftus said. "I would not tolerate any such commentary in a public meeting were the speaker physically present, I attempted to silence them as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, not quickly enough.He could not control the anonymous intrusions and asked for a motion to adjourn, which the board quickly approved, Loftus said. All other business at the meeting had already been concluded before the adjournment, and officials advised anyone still listening they we would respond to any and all commentary provided via email or a phone call, he said.During a virtual Kalamazoo City Commission meeting on March 31, Zoom bombers seemingly took turns with the virtual mic to offer comments, many laced with profanity, and some referenced killing people of certain races, and included racial slurs.A city official muted each comment as quickly as possible once they became inappropriate, but not before the words were potentially heard on speakers in living rooms in Kalamazoo and beyond. City officials asked the people to stop and criticized them for hampering the ability of citizens to comment by derailing the process. The next day, a video conference about Detroit water hosted on Zoom on April 1, was shut down after a complete takeover by trolls that injected pornographic images and racial slurs into the virtual meeting space, Jill Ryan, director of the group Freshwater Future said.Organizers scrambled to remove meeting participants for a few minutes before closing the call and canceling the video conference. The call was organized by Michigan activists that have successfully pushed to restart water service to low income people with unpaid bills.The incidents highlight some of the virtual meeting pitfalls that have to be solved if the government wants to continue to use online platforms for public input.Our communities have essential work that requires a public meeting and opportunity for public comment," Michigan Municipal League Director of Communications Matt Bach said in an email message He said the governor understands communities have essential work that requires public meetings and requires the opportunity for citizens to comment, referencing the order allows meetings to be held electronically instead of in-person, as normally required under the Open Meetings Act.Unfortunately, even during these difficult times some people put their own amusement above the public good," Bach said. The First Amendment protects that speech even if it is distracting from local governments work for the greater good."The city of Kalamazoo and other municipalities are giving input to the MML for talks the group is having with the Michigan Governors office about ways to address the troll issue while still allowing public input, Kalamazoo Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said.The MML is working on the issue, Bach said.The Michigan Municipal League is aware that communities have encountered Zoom bombers and we are hoping to work with state leaders to address the issue in a way that best meets the needs of the public and local governments attempting to conduct essential business," Bach said. He declined to give further specifics about the MMLs work on the issue.The behavior, apparently a joke to the culprits, has also caught the attention of federal and state authorities.They arent laughing.You think Zoom bombing is funny? Lets see how funny it is after you get arrested, Matthew Schneider, United States Attorney for Eastern Michigan said in a prepared statement. If you interfere with a teleconference or public meeting in Michigan, you could have federal, state, or local law enforcement knocking at your door.Charges may include  to name a few  disrupting a public meeting, computer intrusion, using a computer to commit a crime, hate crimes, fraud, or transmitting threatening communications. All of these charges are punishable by fines and imprisonment, the statement said.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warned consumers of potential hijacking and cybersecurity breaches after an MLive reporter contacted her office about the Detroit water conference on Zoom that was hijacked.In Michigan, Zoom bombing could result in criminal charges under several statutes relating to Fraudulent Access to a Computer or Network (MCL 752.797) and/or Malicious Use of Electronics Communication (MCL 750.540), Nessel said.The FBI has received multiple reports of teleconferences set up through Zoom being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. Schools using the technology to conduct classroom exercises have also reported interruptions in video-teleconferencing sessions, according to the agency.Andrew Birge, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Michigan, advised that anyone running a videoconferencing, be it a business, a law enforcement meeting, a classroom or video chatting with family, you need to be aware that your video conference may not be secure and information you share may be compromised.Be careful, Birge said. "If you do get hacked, call us.Robert Stevenson, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, asks people to report any incidents of hacking or any other type of fraud to a local, state or federal law enforcement agency.It is a shame that during a pandemic which is causing fear and anxiety across the globe that there are wrongdoers seeking to disrupt virtual environments which have become essential to communication, teleworking and online learning, FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven M. DAntuono said, urging people to practice good cyberhygiene. People can visit fbi.gov or ic3.gov to learn more about tips they can take to keep their devices secure, he said.The FBI recommends taking the following steps to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to Host Only.Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated its software. In the security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.Ensure that your organizations telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.The FBI asks victims of teleconference hijacking, or any cybercrime, to report it to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center.Despite the delays and offensive language, the disrupted city of Kalamazoo meeting achieved its purpose, to designate $2 million to help small businesses in a partnership with the United Way.Chris Sargent, the president and CEO of the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region who attended the Kalamazoo virtual meeting, said it was offensive and unfortunate but not surprising to hear racist comments.I think what it does, though, creates an opportunity its out in the open. Nobody can hide from it. Nobody can be surprised from it. Now its important that we continue to work tirelessly to change that outcome, and to eliminate it from happening again in the future, he said.Kalamazoo City Commissioner Chris Praedel said he was angered by the despicable hatred spewed at the citys public meeting.I feel horrible for the people who waited to speak about real topics that matter to them during this crisis and even worse for those who had to listen to the disparaging comments at home. Im so grateful to those individuals who held on, Praedel said.He doesnt want officials to be intimidated or deterred in serving the people of the community, Praedel said, and the commission has important work to do.I think its so important the community hear from us as leaders, especially young people. This is not who we are. This is not Kalamazoo. These anonymous trolls do not represent our shared values and it wont be tolerated. Its simply not in our DNA. I believe we will rise above this hate. We need the help of our community to serve as vocal allies and find ways to make it abundantly clear moving forward that hate has no home here. We need to all speak up when we hear and see it," Praedel said. The Grand Rapids City Commission took a different route at its April 7 virtual meeting, by banning all public comments, which also kept troll comments out. However, city leaders likely violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act by not allowing public comment during its virtual public meeting Tuesday, April 7, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.Jennifer Dukarski, deputy general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, said the governor has made it clear in her executive order that the general public must be able to continue to participate in government decision making.The closure of public comments goes against the spirit of the Open Meetings Act and is improper and appears to be a violation of the Act itself and the Governors Executive Order, Dukarski said.Disturbances also happen in traditional meetings, she said, but holding them in a virtual space just makes it easier for people to do.Were going to have these situations crop up whether its on a virtual platform or in or real open a live meeting, and the best we can do is just be prepared to respond to it, Dukarski said. The the muting of that individual in the Kalamazoo example was absolutely appropriate. Just like in a public meeting trying to quiet them and escorting them out of the room would have also been an appropriate measure to take if they were screaming hate speech and causing that type of commotion.Governments should be careful to ensure their response is appropriate to the level of speech, she said, and not to allow it to become a way to silence critics or used to overreact to comments given, or to otherwise keep the public out of the process. She is hopeful officials can learn from the sudden shift to digital allowed under the governors temporary order.Hopefully well be able to emerge from this COVID-19 world and be in a situation where were returned to a more normal style of public meeting, and we will just have learned some very good computer skills in the interim," Dukarski said.
Just a month ago, Donald Trump was still insisting that COVID-19 was a trivial issue, comparing it to the common flu. And he dismissed economic concerns; after all, during flu season, he tweeted, nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.

But pandemics come at you fast. Since Trumps blithe dismissal, something like 15 million Americans have lost their jobs  the economic implosion is happening so quickly that official statistics cant keep up.

In our last economic crisis, the economy shrank around 6 percent relative to its long-run trend, and the unemployment rate rose around 5 percentage points. At a guess, were now looking at a slump three to five times that deep.

And this plunge isnt just quantitatively off the charts; its qualitatively different from anything weve seen before. Normal recessions happen when people choose to cut spending, with the unintended consequence of destroying jobs. So far this slump mainly reflects the deliberate, necessary shutdown of activities that increase the rate of infection.

As Ive been saying, its the economic equivalent of a medically induced coma, in which some brain functions are temporarily shut down to give the patient a chance to heal.

While a deep slump is unavoidable, however, good policies could do a lot to minimize the amount of hardship Americans experience. The problem is that the U.S. political landscape has long been dominated by an anti-government ideology that left us unprepared, intellectually and institutionally, for this crisis.

What should we be doing? Serious economists have already reached a rough consensus over the appropriate policy response to a pandemic. The bottom line is that this isnt a conventional recession, which calls for broad-based economic stimulus. The immediate mission, beyond an all-out effort to contain the pandemic itself, should instead be disaster relief: generous aid to those suffering a sudden loss of income as a result of the economys lockdown.

Its true that we could suffer a second round of job losses if the victims of the lockdown slash spending on other goods and services. But adequate disaster relief would address this problem, too, helping to sustain demand.

So its all about helping the economic victims of the coronavirus lockdown. How are we doing?

The good news is that thanks to Democratic pressure, the CARES Act, the $2 trillion not-a-stimulus bill that became law less than three weeks after Trump dismissed the notion that COVID-19 might pose an economic problem, is mostly focused on the right things. The core provisions of the legislation are aid to hospitals, the unemployed and small businesses that maintain their payrolls; these are exactly the kinds of things we should be doing.

Whats especially remarkable is that we got mostly sensible legislation even though the president was talking nonsense, pushing for  what else?  tax cuts as the solution for the economys problems. Actually, I cant think of any other recent example in which Republicans agreed to major fiscal legislation that mainly involved spending to benefit the needy, without any tax cuts for the rich.

The bad news comes in two parts.

First, the bill falls far short of whats needed on one crucial dimension: aid to state governments, which are on the front line of dealing with the pandemic. Unlike the federal government, states have to balance their budgets each year. Now theyre facing a surge in costs and huge revenue losses; unless they get a lot more aid, theyll be forced to cut spending sharply, which will directly undermine essential services and indirectly deepen the overall slump.

And its not clear when or whether that hole will be filled. Senate Republicans are hostile to the idea of another rescue package; White House officials are reportedly still talking about tax cuts.

Second, decades of hostility to government have left us poorly positioned to deliver even the aid Congress has voted. State unemployment offices have been underfunded for a long time, and red states have deliberately made it hard to apply for benefits. So the surge in unemployment is overwhelming the benefits system; Congress may have voted disaster relief, but the money isnt flowing.

The loan program for small businesses is also, by all accounts, off to a shambolic start. And those $1,200 checks everyone is supposed to get? Many Americans wont get them for weeks or months.

It doesnt have to be like this. But decades of conservative attacks on the idea that government can do anything good have left America with a unique case of learned helplessness. And this is combined with utter lack of leadership from the top.

We know what we should be doing in terms of economic policy, and Congress passed a relief bill that, while flawed, was better than I expected. But right now it looks as if our response to the economic emergency will fall far short.

@paulkrugman
Art from home  10 of the best virtual museum experiences in Europe

How the British Museum, the Louvre, the Uffizi and more are bringing their treasures into your home

1

British Museum, London Take a virtual tour of the museum Much of the British Museums collection of around eight million objects, spanning over two million years of human history and culture, is available to explore online. The Google Arts & Culture virtual tour is perhaps the most enjoyable and glitch-free way of discovering it.

The Reading Room in the Great Court of the British Museum. Photo:  Trustees of the British Museum

Highlights on virtual display include the Lewis Chessmen, a remarkable group of 12th-century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory and whales teeth, and the decorated wooden coffin of an ancient Egyptian named Pasenhor. The Museum of the World timeline, curated by category, continent and century, is a brilliant alternative for those in search of a whistle-stop tour of star exhibits.

The 12th-century Lewis Chessmen. Photo  The Trustees of the British Museum

For teachers and parents on home-schooling duties, the museums comprehensive bank of free learning resources covers everything from Ancient Egypt and Japanese Printmaking to drawing and critical thinking activities for toddlers to teens. Dont miss The British Museums series of downloadable podcasts. Browse the archive of 13 episodes to hear more about the museums activity, from exhibitions to accessibility programmes. Find out more about our updated online sales calendar

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Uffizi Gallery, Florence Enjoy a virtual stroll around the Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi houses one of the worlds outstanding collections of sculptures and paintings from the Middle Ages to the Modern period, including ancient statues and busts once in the collection of the Medici family.

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, circa 1485. Tempera on canvas. 172.5 x 278.5 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Bridgeman Images

Take a digital stroll through the galleries to marvel at such masterpieces as Leonardo da Vincis Adoration of the Magi (1480-81) and The Birth of Venus (1483-85) by Sandro Botticelli. In addition to the Google Arts & Culture virtual tour, you can explore four online exhibits, each of which is dedicated to an outstanding work in the museums collection. Elsewhere on the museums homepage you can find links to the browsable digital archives and its online magazine.

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio),Venus of Urbino, before 1538. Oil on canvas, 119 x 165 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo:  Raffaello Bencini / Bridgeman Images

Dont miss Titians Venus of Urbino (1532-34), bought by the Duke of Urbino as a gift for his young wife in 1538. The painting  which depicts a nude young woman traditionally identified as the goddess Venus in a domestic interior  is widely considered one of the most sensual paintings of the 16th century.

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Louvre, Paris Look up close at Apollos Gallery Although the worlds most visited museum is now temporarily closed, you can still explore a part of its remarkable collection of approximately 380,000 objects online. Each of the museums four virtual tours (Adobe Flash Player is required) features an interactive map and detailed explanations of key works.

The Louvre, Paris. Hall Napoleon under the pyramid of the Louvre, by Ieoh Ming Pei in association with Michel Macary and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Photo:  Collection Artedia/ Artedia / Bridgeman Images Pink granite Great Sphinx from Tanis, Musee du Louvre, Paris. Egyptian civilization, Old Kingdom. Photo: D. Dagli Orti / De Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images

Discover the history of the Louvre as a palace and museum on the Medieval Tour, or take the Egyptian Antiquities tour for a walkthrough of the eastern wing of the Louvre (Sully), home to the magnificent Tanis Sphinx (2600 BC). Dont miss The virtual tour of the Apollo Gallery, the first Royal Gallery for Louis XIV. Rebuilt after a fire in 1661, it features 41 paintings, 118 sculptures and 28 tapestries, including The Triumph of Neptune, Evening or Morpheus and Night or Diana by Charles Le Brun.

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Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Discover the secrets of Rembrandts Night Watch In response to the current health crisis, the Rijksmuseum has launched Rijksmuseum From Home, a brilliant multi-media initiative offering visitors 10 ways to engage with the collection online. Highlights of the new digital programme include the #Rijksmuseumfromhome short video series, which sees museum curators discuss their favourite works in the museum, and Masterpieces Up Close.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Jewish Bride, c. 1665-c. 1669. Oil on canvas. 121.5 x 166.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest)

The latter slickly recreates the experience of browsing the works on display in the Rijksmuseums Gallery of Honour, home to Vermeers Woman Reading a Letter (circa 1663) and Rembrandts The Jewish Bride (circa 16651669), among others. As you walk through the gallery, click on works to zoom in and see them up close. Of those on display, around 20 have accompanying audio descriptions.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Night Watch, Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, 1642. Oil on canvas. 379.5 x 453.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam

Dont miss Operation Night Watch, a comprehensive dive into Rembrandts most famous painting: The Night Watch (1642). The intuitive multi-media presentation unpacks the paintings secrets, history and composition in entertaining style.

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Guggenheim, Bilbao Watch Bending Gravity now Designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry and built between 1993 and 1997, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a landmark of 20th-century architecture. Organised around a central atrium, the three levels of the museum can now be explored at the click of a button.

View of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Photo: Courtesy of Museo Guggenheim Bilbao

To look at the outside and inside of the museum, take a leisurely digital stroll through the permanent collection, featuring works by modern and contemporary artists, such as Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer and Yves Klein. For something faster paced, watch Bending Gravity, a thrilling short video (in English) that explores the museum building as seen through the eyes of urban photographer Trashhand and free-runner Johan Tonnoir. Spanish-speakers can also enjoy a series of curator-led video tours as part of the Guggenheims initiative to bring the museum and its collection to your home. Dont miss The short introduction to Maman (1997), a gigantic bronze spider by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Originally conceived for Tate Moderns Turbine Hall in 2000, the sculpture is now one of the artists most recognisable works.

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Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid Take a virtual tour of Rembrandt and Amsterdam portraiture, 1590-1670 Madrids Thyssen-Bornemisza has unveiled an enjoyable virtual tour of its blockbuster exhibition, Rembrandt and Amsterdam portraiture, 1590-1670. Charting the Dutch artists activities as a portraitist, it features around 40 of Rembrandts paintings alongside works by his most talented peers.

Installation view of Rembrandt and Amsterdam Portraiture, 1590-1670. Photo: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid



For more information about Rembrandts life and art, take a short guided video tour of the exhibition (in English with Spanish subtitles) with curator Norbert E. Middelkoo, or leaf through the exhibitions accompanying interactive publication. Beyond Rembrandt, theres a virtual tour of the museums permanent collection, which spans more than eight centuries of art history and includes works by artists such as Paul Cezanne, Franz Marc and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, among others. Online, you can also find links to a wealth of thematic tours of collection highlights.

Paul Cezanne, Portrait de paysan,1905-1906. Oil on canvas. 64.8 x 54.6 cm. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franzi vor geschnitztem Stuhl, 1910. Oil on canvas. 71 x 49.5 cm. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Dont miss The museums curated edit of Spotify playlists to soundtrack your days at home.

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8-1543), The Ambassadors, 1533. Oil on panel. 207 x 209.5 cm. National Gallery, London. Photo: Bridgeman Images

In 2016 the museum teamed up with Google Street View to offer 360-degree tours of the Central Hall and Rooms 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15. Although the interactive arrows on these tours are frustratingly fiddly to navigate, persevere and youll come face to face with Renaissance masterpieces from northern Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, including works by Titian, Veronese and Holbein.

Titian (circa 1488-1576), Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-23. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London. Photo: Bridgeman Images

Also offered is a 3D-tour of the Sainsbury Wing, home to the Gallerys collection of Early Renaissance paintings, and an additional 2011 Adobe Flash virtual tour of a further 18 galleries. The latter is integrated with the museums information pages, so that you can quickly and easily find out more about the paintings and the artists who painted them. Dont miss The Gallerys remarkable collection of 10 works by Italian Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese, all of which are on virtual display in either Room 9 or 11d.

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Vatican Museums, Rome Marvel at the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel On the Discover the Museums webpage, youll find links to 360-degree virtual tours of the Vaticans seven most popular sites, including the Sistine Chapel, Raphaels Rooms and the Chiaramonti Museum. Theres also one of the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis, an outstanding example of an ancient Roman burial ground.

In addition, there are short online videos of other popular Vatican sites, including the Christian Museum and the 17th-century Chapel of Pope Urban VIII Barberini.

The Sistine Chapel. On the vault the Stories of Creation are framed by membrature with Prophets and Sibyls painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1508 to 1512. On the altar wall the Last Judgement executed by Michelangelo himself between 1536 and 1541. Photo:  Mondadori Portfolio / Bridgeman Images

Dont miss The opportunity for a closer look at the magnificent painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which continues to host the most important services of the Papal Calendar. Completed in 1512, Michelangelos masterpiece spans over 5,000 square feet and features more than 300 figures.

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The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg Admire the only Michelangelo work in Russia In a bid to share its remarkable collection with audiences around the world, the State Hermitage has launched a new series of video broadcasts on YouTube about works in the collection (currently only available in Russian). Online, you can also find a selection of educational articles in English, charting everything from the museums history and architecture to key patrons.

The 19th-century Jordan Staircase, Winter Palace, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Photo: Tarker / Bridgeman Images Michelangelo Buonarroti, Crouching Boy, circa 1530-34. Marble, height 54 cm. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Photo: Bridgeman Images

Highly recommended is the excellent 360-degree Virtual Visit of the museums galleries, complete with an interactive floorplan and text descriptions of standout works. If you have five hours to spare, settle in to watch The Hermitage Shot on an i-Phone Pro, a one-take film (with audio but no voiceover) that takes you languidly through the museum  no clicking required. Dont miss The Italian Cabinet (Room 230), which is home to Crouching Boy (1530-1534), the only work by Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo (1475-1564) in Russia.

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Pergamon Museum View the Pergamon Altar Berlins Pergamon Museum is home to one of the worlds most important collections of Greek and Roman art, as well as a remarkable collection of Islamic and Middle Eastern art. The library of online activities and resources includes a browsable digital database of the collection, a 360-degree virtual tour of museum galleries, and, most impressively, a 3D model of its star exhibit, the Pergamon Altar.

Overall view of the Pergamon Altar, built in first half of 2nd century BC. Photo:  Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung / Photographer: Johannes Laurentius

Built during the reign of Eumenes II, king of Pergamon (in the west of what is today Turkey) in the first half of the 2nd century BC, the altar depicts the Gigantomachy, the battle between the Olympian Gods and the Giants. The hall that contains the altar is closed for refurbishment until at least 2024, so make the most of the 3-D model tool which allows you to explore the Hellenistic masterpiece up close.

Detail of the Pergamon Altar. Photo:  Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung / Photographer: Johannes Laurentius
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:03:22|Editor: huaxia

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LISBON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced on Thursday the enforcement of a decree approved by the parliament a day earlier, granting partial pardon and easing the execution of sentences for convicts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The law will come into force on Friday. Portuguese Justice Minister Francisca Van Dunem said the decision could mean the release of between 1,700 to 2,000 prisoners.

According to the president, the decree addresses "ethical, humanitarian and public health reasons, as well as the recommendation coming from the United Nations and the Portuguese Catholic Church."

The law grants partial pardon of prison sentences for less serious crimes (convictions of up to two years), release for temporary leave and even anticipation of parole.

The law does not apply to anyone who has committed crimes such as homicide, rape, domestic violence or child abuse, nor crimes committed by politicians, militaries or magistrates during the course of their duties.

The minister said early this week in the parliament that one confirmed case of COVID-19 in prison would lead to 200 infections among the inmates.

As of Thursday, Portugal had reported 409 deaths and 13,956 coronavirus cases. A total of 815 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, according to the Directorate-General of Health.
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

MUMBAI, IndiaIn the weeks since India announced the worlds largest lockdown to protect its 1.3 billion people from the spread of COVID-19, millions have participated in government-instigated shows of unity and solidarity, from collectively banging on pots and pans to lighting candles.

Unfortunately, but perhaps predictably, as criticism of aspects of the lockdown has grown, so has Islamophobia. Across cable television and Indias ubiquitous WhatsApp groups, the countrys 200 million Muslims have become a useful scapegoat for the spread of the virus. As the centerpiece of this campaign, government and media figures have implied sinister intent behind a peaceful religious gathering that was held in the nations capital, New Delhi.

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Between March 8 and March 10, two weeks before the lockdown was announced, members of the Muslim missionary organization Tablighi Jamaat gathered from across India and Southeast Asia in the Nizamuddin neighborhood of Delhi for a long-scheduled event. Many of the missionaries then left from Delhi to visit villages and towns around India to preach a form of Sunni Islam, some of them carrying the coronavirus with them. Now the Indian government is engaged in a large-scale effort to locate and test anyone who may have recently visited the societys global headquarters. Officials says that more than 1,400 coronavirus patients are linked to Tablighi Jamaat across 17 states. Some prominent outlets have claimed a majority of new cases in India are linked to the event, but those numbers are almost certainly distorted by the lack of widespread testing.

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Angry messages have exploded across Twitter via hashtags like #CoronaJihad, #Biojihad, and #TablighiJamatVirus claiming Muslims intentionally spread the virus. These same conspiracy theories have been disseminated through the countrys ruling party officials, national television channels, and journalists asking whether Indian agencies should seriously probe if #CoronaJihad is a ground reality. Meanwhile, a slew of fake videos are being shared purporting to show Muslims conspiring to spread the coronavirus, including one allegedly capturing Muslim men intentionally sneezing on others to infect them. In fact, the video was filmed months ago and had no connection to the coronavirus whatsoever.

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Tablighi Jamaat is a nonpolitical organization that has existed for nearly 100 years and currently operates in 150 countries. It aims to promote religious reform and instill purist Islamic values in other Muslims. It furthers this goal through preaching missions, in which members of Tablighi Jamaat connect with other Muslims in their own communities. For many of the organizations members, it has been a challenging time. Just days ago, a tea seller in the state of Himachal Pradesh committed suicide after facing a social boycott from his community over his connection to the group, and in Delhi a man who attended a Tablighi Jamaat gathering was brutally beaten because of suspicions that he was intentionally spreading the coronavirus. Shahid Ali, the organizations spokesperson, says they are definitely very worried about the lives of the people and what may come next for the group. Shame on the media, says Shaikh Mohammed Saeed, a Tablighi Jamaat member. To connect the organization, which works for the welfare of society, to terrorism and to #coronajihad  Im very shocked about it all.

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Authorities have filed police reports against several people from the organization for violating lockdown rules and not maintaining social distancing. The government has also blacklisted 960 foreign nationals who came to India for the event. However, Tablighi Jamaat officials point out that as late as March 13, days after their event in New Delhi, the central government said the coronavirus was not a national emergency. In the immediate aftermath of the lockdown, the group asked for police support for the 2,000 people stranded at their premises, and the request went ignored until new incidents of the coronavirus began popping up in other states with links to Tablighi Jamaat.

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Joshua Castellino, the executive director of the London-based Minority Rights Group International, says many Indian government leaders appear to be focusing on assigning blame rather than channeling their energy into responding to the crisis. If your house is on fire, you need to put it outnot figure out if it was the neighbor in house 3 or house 10 that started it.

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Its clear that Tablighi Jamaat was hardly alone in failing to immediately halt large gatherings: Multiple large-scale religious, political, and personal events were taking place in Delhi and all across the country until the lockdown came into effect on the night of March 24. Some Hindu temples in the state of Gujarat saw upward of 10,000 visitors between March 18 and March 19. In the second week of March, Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated an electoral victory in the state of Madhya Pradesh with a massive rally in the streets. And in Punjab, 40,000 people were quarantined after the death of a man who attended a Sikh religious festival.

These events have not attracted a fraction of the vitriol now faced by members of Tablighi Jamaat. Castellino, who is originally from India, says the anti-Muslim narrative is simply a knee-jerk reaction for the current government. Since the election of Modi and the BJP in 2014, Hindu-Muslim tensions have steadily escalated. Most recently, the country has been embroiled in protests due to the passage of the anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act, which codified a religious requirement for new citizens for the first time in the nations history. Tensions reached a breaking point in February, when more than 50 people were killed during anti-Muslim riots in New Delhi.

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The coronavirus outbreak shifted national attention toward containing the spread of the virus, but after the government faced criticism in late March for the unintended consequences of the sudden lockdownincluding the thousands of migrant laborers abandoned far from their homes without food or sheltergovernment leaders began publicizing the events at Tablighi Jamaat. More than a week after the onslaught of negative attention directed toward Tablighi Jamaat, however, the central government now says that it is concerned about polarization along religious lines. But ironically it was the governments own minister of minority affairs who recently described the groups actions as a Talibani offense.

Some Indian Muslims are bracing for long-term consequences of being blamed for the spread of the coronavirus in India. Currently, a group of Muslim families are camping in a riverbed after being driven from their homes in North India. One of the women interviewed said that their Hindu neighbors accused them of being sick Muslims spreading virus.

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Javed Khan, a septuagenarian watchmaker who lives and works in Nizamuddinthe neighborhood where Tablighi Jamaats headquarters is basedpredicts that it could take a year for his community to recover. Until recently, the Nizamuddin community had been mainly associated with its abundance of flower sellers, a reputation for pluralism and peace, and an important 13th century Sufi shrine.

Professor Tanweer Fazal, who studies nationalism, identity, and collective violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, says that Tablighi Jamaat probably made an error in judgment in going forth with its event and accepting a large flow of visitors in March. But given the relentless pace at which the coronavirus is being connected solely to the gathering, Fazal says one dire outcome may be that the entire responsibility of the spread of coronavirus in India will be put on Nizamuddin and the Muslim community itself.

These feelings are unlikely to recede quickly once the lockdown lifts.
By AFP

GENEVA: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday urged leaders to stop politicizing the coronavirus pandemic following stinging criticism of the WHO from US President Donald Trump.

The WHO director-general urged the US and China to join forces in fighting the disease rather than indulging in a blame game.

Tedros hit back after Trump took aim at the UN health body, accusing it of taking US money but favouring China, where the outbreak emerged in December.

"The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look," Trump said on Twitter.

"Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

Tedros issued a stern defense of the WHO's handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 80,000 people, while more than 1.4 million people have tested positive.

"The United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy," Tedros told a virtual press briefing in Geneva.

"The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicize this virus. If you want to have many more body bags -- then you do it. If you don't want any more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it."

"Quarantine, politicising COVID... we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers," he said, adding: "It's like playing with fire."

"We will have many body bags in front of us if we don't behave. When there are cracks at the national level and global level, that's when the virus succeeds.

"For God's sake, we have lost more than 60,000 citizens of the world."

"What are we doing? Is this not enough?"

Despite Trump's tweet, Tedros also said that he expected US funding for the WHO to continue.

He thanked Washington for its "generous support" thus far, adding that the "US will continue to contribute its share".

Tedros said there would be worse to come from COVID-19 if countries did not unite to stand up to its spread.

"Let's fight like hell to suppress and control this virus. It's dangerous," he said.

"Otherwise, with the way we are doing now, I think we will regret it."
Albany, N.Y.  Daily coronavirus deaths reached another new high in New York on Wednesday as 799 more people died, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

A total of 7,067 New Yorkers have now died due to the virus, Cuomo said during a press briefing in Albany. He said experts had warned him deaths would lag other indicators of the virus effects, but that doesnt make it easy to see.

I understand the scientific concept, he said. But youre talking about 799 lives.

Just over a week ago, single-day coronavirus deaths totaled 253 and just two weeks ago, the statewide total death toll was 157. The state was setting new high points for single-day deaths much of last week and did so again the last three days in a row when new deaths topped 700.

The state is being forced to call in extra funeral home directors to manage the mounting death toll, Cuomo said.

New York now has 159,937 confirmed cases of the virus. Thats more than any entire country outside the U.S. except for Spain.

Cuomo noted the state lost 2,753 people in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a toll now long surpassed by the virus.

That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I dont even have the words for it, he said. 9/11 was so devastating, so tragic and then in many ways, we lose so many more New Yorkers to this silent killer. There was no explosion, but it was a silent explosion that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.

But broader trends remain positive. Cuomo said earlier this week that the virus appears to be reaching a plateau.

Net new hospitalizations fell to 200 on Wednesday, down from 586 the day before and a high of 1,427 a week ago. Its the lowest level of new hospitalizations since March 18.

Net intensive care unit admissions, intubations and the running average of new hospitalizations have all declined since last week.

The more positive trends in recent days are the result of the states social distancing measures, Cuomo said. The good news shows the restrictions are working and must remain in place for now.

You cant relax, he said. The flattening of the curve last night happened because of what we did yesterday and the day before and the day before that. If we stop acting the way were acting, you will see those numbers go up.

Cuomo extended the closures of schools and nonessential businesses until at least April 29 on Monday.

All New Yorkers should only go out for exercise or needed errands like grocery shopping or medical care.

Cuomo said the worst-case projections on how many beds and how much equipment the state might need continue to worry him.

When does NY coronavirus shutdown end? I have no idea, Cuomo says

Despite New York boosting its count of hospital beds to 90,000 from 53,000 in the last few weeks, the state still couldnt handle the most severe scenarios, which could require 136,000 beds for coronavirus patients.

The current trends point to a total need of about 18,000 beds, Cuomo said.

But he also noted some areas in Asia saw resurgences of the virus after relaxing some restrictions.

Were on the first wave, he said. "Everybody is assuming Well, once we get through this, were done.' I wouldnt be so quick to assume that.

Now is not the time to misunderstand whats happening.

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Dr. Alex Garza, head of the newly formed St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said Wednesday that the disparities were tracking along with what has been reported in other cities.

In Chicago, for example, cases with racial data indicated about 72% of the citys deaths were black people, though they make up just 30% of the population.

Garza said the issue isnt necessarily about race, but about inequity. We know that populations that are socioeconomically challenged that dont have access to good health care, that dont have access to nutritious food, are victims of many diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure  its an indication of social inequities that existed before this pandemic came around.

Garza said 586 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday across the area, an increase of just one from the day prior. The number of people in intensive care decreased by six, to 233, and the number of people on ventilators was 186, the same as Tuesday.

But he cautioned against taking any relief from those numbers. We know there are going to be days like that, but, make no mistake, were still on the steep part of the curve.
Northern Ireland MPs have defended an additional 10,000 allowance to help them work from home during the coronavirus epidemic.

The money, which can be spent on laptops and printers for members and their staff, or to pay for additional electricity, heating and phone bills, is in addition to the existing 26,000 a year that MPs can each claim to cover their office costs.

New guidance published last month by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which polices the MPs' expenses regime, said this is "an uncertain and challenging time".

It added: "Ipsa is committed to supporting MPs and their staff to carry on with their work as far as possible."

The decision to offer all MPs an additional 10,000 allowance has drawn criticism. But local representatives told the Belfast Telegraph the money will only be used if absolutely necessary.

DUP Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the rise to expenses, which applies to all eight party members, was indicative of the exceptional circumstances.

"Parliamentary authorities have made provision for MPs to avail of additional office costs to be incurred so that staff may continue to safely continue their work," he said.

"It allows for the purchase of any additional IT equipment for staff to work from home or for telephone systems to be amended so that important queries from constituents can still be dealt with.

"The support is not given directly to MPs, but enables them to purchase equipment from a central facility.

"The increase is obviously an exceptional measure and it was a decision taken quickly by Ipsa to assist during this exceptional time of crisis."

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A spokeswoman for the SDLP, which has two MPs including party leader Colum Eastwood, said the cash will be a welcome boost if needed.

"The allowance is designed to allow MPs and staff to work effectively from home," she said.

"If we need to access it to enable us to provide an effective constituency service we will."

Stephen Farry, who is the Alliance Party's only representative at Westminster, said he did not think he would need to access the additional coronavirus fund.

"This is a decision taken independently from MPs and its purpose is to facilitate remote working," he said.

"I am committed to ensuring Parliament can function and meet virtually during this crisis, with constructive scrutiny and accountability more important than ever. However, I don't anticipate drawing down much, if any, of this money."

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A Sinn Fein spokesman said the guidelines on social distancing had created the need for additional IT equipment.

"This proposal is not an increase in MP or staff salary, " he said. "It is an uplift in office cost allowance for ensuring a constituency service can continue to operate remotely in these times of crisis and to meet the needs of constituents.

"Given the increased demand on constituency services at a time of public health emergency, constituency workers should be able to work safely from home or adhere to strict social distancing guidelines - this inevitably creates a need for additional IT equipment.

According to The Times, the extra funds will be available until March 2021 and come with a relaxation of the rules on evidence of purchases.

In addition to increasing the money available for MPs' office costs, the authority is also suspending the 90-day limit for claiming costs and relaxing the requirements on producing evidence of money spent.

The monthly credit limit on MPs' payment cards has been increased to 10,000 and the single transaction limit has been increased to 5,000.

The authority says it will provide additional funding from the staff absence budget for workers who are unwell or cannot be in work.

Responding to the announcement, Labour MP Andrew Gwynne said: "Casework has exploded (understandably too) so it's right that our offices remain open - remotely - at this time."

But he added that it would have been better if Ipsa had done "an equipment loan scheme instead".

And Conservative MP Julie Marson said: "No MP will see an extra penny of this in their bank accounts.

"Ipsa increased the office budget to provide staff who primarily work from the office the ability to work from home, and to produce and distribute Covid-19 information."

Ipsa was established in the wake of the 2009 MPs' expenses scandal. It sets and regulates MPs' salaries, pensions, business costs and expenses.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Thu, April 9, 2020 15:07 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d7c05 2 Art & Culture Tate-Modern,tate-britain,Britain,Andy-Warhol,artist,arts,digital-tour,London Free

"Andy Warhol" was on view in London when the Tate group of galleries closed their doors through at least May 1 in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Tate Modern later announced that the retrospective will be on display until April 2021, giving visitors the opportunity to discover the first major show dedicated to the American Pop artist at the museum in nearly 20 years.

In the meantime, the cultural institution has released a virtual tour of "Andy Warhol" to offer audiences the chance to step inside the gallery's blockbuster exhibition from the comfort of their own home.

The film, now available on Tate's website and YouTube channel, follows curators Gregor Muir and Fiontan Moran as they share behind-the-scenes insights into the retrospective and Warhol's decades-long career.

"Andy Warhol" features over 100 works by the American Pop artist, including 20 erotic drawings from the 1950s that made their debut in the Tate Modern's blockbuster show.

Warhol tried to exhibit his artworks during the 1950s in New York City, but encountered homophobic rejection from gallery owners.

Read also: 15 minutes not enough to get lost in Andy Warhol Museum

"Andy Warhol is mostly known as a Pop artist but in this exhibition, we really wanted to return to the man, and think about all the desires, the fears that may have driven him to create art. We wanted to take him out of the hype and start to look at Andy Warhol through the three lenses of the idea of the immigrant story, his queer identity and the idea of death and religion," Muir and Moran explain in the seven-minute video.

The film is accompanied by a wealth of new exhibition-related content available on Tate Modern's website, allowing visitors to delve even further into Warhol's life and practice.

Among them are "The Art of Persona" podcast, in which artists, performers and DJs discuss the role personas can play in life and art; and "How To" video that teaches audiences how to recreate Warhol's printing methods used to make masterworks such as "100 Campbell's Soup Cans".

Later this April, Tate Britain will also launch another digital tour of its "Aubrey Beardsley" exhibition.

The video will be led by curators Caroline Corbeau-Parsons and Alice Insley, who will provide insights about the career of the English illustrator who tragically died at the age of 25 years old.

The online tour will be completed by further exhibition-related content available on Tate's website, including an illustrated exhibition guide and a video in which historian Stephen Calloway and drag performer Holly James Johnston discuss Beardsley, gender and the joy of being a dandy.
Staff wearing personal protective equipment help a patient into an ambulance at St Thomas' Hospital in London on March 24, 2020. Daniel Leal-Olivas | AFP via Getty Images

Britain will be hit harder by the coronavirus crisis than any other European country, researchers have predicted, with the U.K. expected to see more than 60,000 deaths from COVID-19. New research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), published Monday with a correction issued on Tuesday, forecast a total of 151,000 deaths across Europe during the "first wave" of the pandemic, which scientists predict will end on August 4.

It compares to a total of 81,766 deaths expected to occur in the U.S. by the same date, according to IHME analysts. The European analysis was based on data from various sources, including national and local governments, the WHO, and individual countries' social-distancing policies. For many countries, death tolls would be influenced by the demand for hospital resources being "well in excess of what it available," researchers said.

"For example, peak demand in the U.K. is expected to total 102,794 hospital beds needed compared to 17,765 available, 24,544 ICU beds compared to 799 ICU beds available, and 20,862 ventilators needed," they explained, noting that data on the availability of ventilators in Britain was currently unavailable. According to the analysis, Britain was expected to reach its peak daily death rate on April 17, when researchers predicted there would be a total of 2,932 deaths in one day. The country was on a trajectory that would result in a total of 66,314 deaths by August 4, scientists concluded.

However, the IHME's prediction model has been disputed, with Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London telling The Guardian newspaper that its figures on hospital bed use and deaths were twice as high as they should be. Imperial College London, which has helped shape the U.K. government's response to the pandemic, estimates that the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Britain will be between 7,000 and 20,000. To date, more than 7,000 people in the U.K. have died after contracting the virus. But at a press briefing on Tuesday, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor, Patrick Vallance, said it was possible the number of new cases in Britain "could be moving in the right direction."
Karan Patel is one of the most fashionable contestants on the reality stunt show Khatron Ke Khiladi 10. Sources revealed that Karan Patel, who was seen in the most fashionable outfits on the show, spent most of his time off-set shopping around the city. The reality stunt show churns out a fresh episode every week consisting of 10 participants who are assigned a task each and are expected to complete it within a given time slot.

Karan Patel is an avid shopaholic

The episodes of this show were shot in Bulgaria in 2019 and the entire cast had a jolly time shooting for the show. The actors have been sharing throwback pictures of themselves enjoying sightseeing to shopping around the city. Karan Patel is known to have great taste when it comes to shopping for clothes and shoes. In fact, a few sources revealed that the actor's shopping skills took his contestants by surprise.

Also Read: Khatron Ke Khiladi 10: Harsh Limbachiyaa Says Bharti Singh Is Blocked On His Phone

Also Read: Khatron Ke Khiladi 10: Bharti Singh Pulls Amruta Khanvilkar's Leg In Rohit Shetty Style

While the other thought Karishma Tanna or Tejasswi Prakash would be the ones helping them in shopping. They were surprised with Karan Patel's shopping skills. According to reports, Karan Patel was the only contestant who would visit the maximum number of malls and designer stores. The star also knew about the shops that had the best deals and helped the contestants with their shopping too.

Karan Patel was a part of the show Yeh Hai Mohabbatein but quit the show to be a part of Khatron Ke Khiladi 10. He made a comeback on the show before it concluded in December 2019. Karan Patel has so far been one of the most promising contestants on the show and is one of the top four contestants of Khatron Ke Khiladi 10.

Also Read: Khatron Ke Khiladi 10: Will Karishma Tanna Emerge As Ultimate Winner Of The Show?

Also Read: 'Khatron Ke Khiladi' Fame Karishma Tanna's Lockdown Diaries Includes Productive Activities

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Run, which begins Sunday, hurtles through a number of hairpin twists that it would be wrong to spoil. But the real twist of the series, created by Vicky Jones, is that Ruby and Billy arent really running off with each other. They are trying to run off with the 19-year-old versions of themselves, to rediscover the unencumbered youths they once were (the sort who would come up with an escape pact that sounds like the premise of a high-concept cable show).

The actual, adult quasi-strangers they encounter are much more dented with age. Billy has a career as a lifestyle guru that has taken a wrong turn; between that and his slick, easy charm, he may as well be wearing a Do Not Trust sign on his forehead.

Rubys domestic boredom seems more ordinary, but she proves to be as full of secrets and cons in her own low-key way. (She has a husband at home, played by Rich Sommer, who with his roles as a cheating spouse in Mad Men and GLOW had already become Hollywoods designated Bad Marriage Guy.)

Yet when the two meet for the first time, the charge is electric and potent  enough, at least, to get them booked in a roomette on an Amtrak chugging toward Chicago. (This is unforgivable, Ruby says, as much from the thrill as from guilt.)

Its when they hit the rails that the second thoughts hit, and the secrets, and the conspicuous holes in their back stories. Soon the two realize that theyre each on the lam  not with a fantasy partner but with the reality of a person theyve spent years idealizing. Before Sunrise this is not. Acid-tongued and mordant, its more like before the fall.
The city of Chelsea has become a hotspot of coronavirus cases and local leaders say theyre desperately in need of assistance to provide their residents with basic necessities as the health crisis deepens.

We need money, Chelsea City Council President Roy Avellaneda said.

The federal government also needs to give communities direct assistance in order to help pay for food and shelter, the councilor added.

Chelsea had 315 COVID-19 cases on April 7 which, with a population of 40,000, means they are seeing roughly 79 cases per 10,000 residents  four times the rate of surrounding neighborhoods.

Officials on Thursday said that number has grown to 387 confirmed cases, which translates to 96 cases per 10,000 residents. Thirty-eight Chelsea residents have recovered from the virus and 10 have died, officials said.

The city is calling on state and federal leaders to better triage financial aid to diverse, low-income communities like Chelsea, where residents do not have the resources needed to stay afloat during the outbreak.

We need leaders who are going to push for prioritized funding, testing and facilities for communities based on the rates of infection, Chelsea City Council Vice President Judith Garcia said on Thursday during a video conference with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III. So were talking about communities like Chelsea, were talking about communities like Lawrence and Brockton who are leading the charts in terms of confirmed cases and the spread.

Garcia said many Chelsea residents do not qualify for stimulus help due to their immigration status. The city is roughly 67% Latinx or Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data.

Earlier this week, Massachusetts General Hospitals Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Joseph Betancourt said that up to 40% of patients being treated for coronavirus at MGH are Hispanic or Latinx.

In Chelsea, there are 96 COVID-19 cases per 10k residents.



Next highest in Massachusetts is 60 cases per 10k. All of which are disproportionally communities of color.



We need real action to fix this  to provide relief. https://t.co/pFit5uhKVM  Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) April 9, 2020

An ACLU of Massachusetts analysis showed that neighborhoods like Chelsea and neighboring Greater Boston communities that are seeing the highest rate of infection are also the parts of the city with the greatest concentration of essential workers. Those other sections of Boston, like Mattapan, Dorchester and Hyde Park, are also seeing extensive community spread.

Unfortunately this pandemic will leave a huge imprint on our community, Garcia said.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the White House COVID-19 task force would release data in the coming days about the impact the pandemic is having on African American communities across the country.

Sign up for free text messages about important updates on coronavirus in Massachusetts

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After backlash for his decision to reopen Liberty Universitys campus amid the coronavirus pandemic, Jerry Falwell Jr., the schools president, said arrest warrants had been issued accusing two journalists who covered the controversy of trespassing.

Falwell  who has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus, going so far as to characterize the response to the pandemic as an attempt to undermine President Donald Trump  lambasted articles in The New York Times and ProPublica as false and misleading.

Falwell told conservative radio host Todd Starnes on Wednesday he intends to sue both publications for defamation and had gone to a local magistrate to swear out misdemeanor warrants against Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer for the Times, and Alec MacGillis, a ProPublica reporter, accusing them of trespassing on the Libertys campus in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Elizabeth Williamson, the author of the Times piece, was spared a warrant, Falwell said, because the magistrate determined there wasnt enough physical evidence to charge her.

Both outlets reported last month that some students and faculty members at Liberty, an evangelical Christian school, were concerned about their health and safety following Falwells decision to reopen the campus last month.

The Times, citing a physician who runs Libertys student health service, said at least a dozen students at the school were sick with symptoms that suggested the coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Falwell said on the radio that keeping Libertys campus open was the Christian thing to do to provide international students and students with high-risk relatives at home with somewhere to go. He claimed that there were no students on campus with symptoms of the coronavirus, and that the university had put several measures in place to protect the well being of students and staff, including strict social distancing restrictions  assertions that defied the facts...

Continue reading on HuffPost
It's well known that Prince William has a sweet tooth, and it seems he can't wait until Sunday to devour the Easter chocolate, according to wife Kate Middleton.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 38, revealed how her husband 'keeps eating' all the treats during the couple's first royal engagement via video call.

Dialling in from their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, William, 37, and Kate spoke to staff and youngsters from Casterton Primary Academy in Lancashire.

The school are helping to look after the children of key workers in frontline services including the NHS and social care, as well as supermarkets and delivery drivers.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 38, revealed how her husband Prince William 'keeps eating' all the Easter treats during the couple's first royal engagement via video call (pictured)

When the staff wished them a lovely Easter, William replied: Therell be a lot of chocolate being eaten here thats for sure.

Before a cheeky Kate quipped: You keep eating it!

The royal couple are both known for having a sweet tooth, with the pair serving two cakes at their wedding on April 29, 2011.

One was William's favourite chocolate biscuit cake, which is made from a special recipe involving Rich Tea biscuits and dark chocolate and is set in the freezer rather than baked in an oven.

Dialling in from their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, William, 37, and Kate spoke to staff and youngsters from Casterton Primary Academy in Lancashire (pictured)

The couple also had a multi-tiered fruit wedding cake which was decorated with fresh fruit and flowers.

During their video call, the Duke and Duchess were keen to thank staff for all they were doing during the Covid-19 epidemic as well talk about the effect it is having on the youngsters.

But there was also time for a spot of fun as the pupils showed off their Easter arts and crafts, including a felt collage they had made, with rainbows and hearts saying 'Thank you NHS'.

'I like your bunny ears,' smiled William. 'They look like the real deal.'

The Duke and Duchess were keen to thank staff for all they were doing during the Covid-19 epidemic as well talk about the effect it is having on the youngsters

Several children showed William and Kate portraits of their key worker parents and explained why they were proud of them

One child, who had been doing a history project told the duke that the 'first William was called William the Conquerer'.

They asked: 'What do you want to be called in 1,000 years time?'

However the current Prince William laughingly said he didn't think he could answer that.

Anita Ghidotti, Chief Executive of the Pendle Education Trust, said the children also asked them who 'the best famous person was that they had met'.

'I bet they don't get asked very often,' she laughed. 'The Duchess said that Prince George has been watching lots of David Attenborough's Blue Planet so that would probably be hers. The Duke said his favourite people weren't actually famous.'

Kate, dressed in a spring-appropriate yellow Zara jumper with puff sleeves and gold fern drop earrings costing 165 from Zoraida London, was also given a virtual bouquet by Lloyd, aged nine.
MONTREAL, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL:TSX and NYSE) today announced that it has joined forces with various business partners to leverage its manufacturing facilities to produce non-medical face masks and isolation gowns in support of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.



Gildan is working with one of its customers in the imprintables channel to support a cooperative consortium of major apparel and textile companies to help produce non-medical face masks to be distributed to support hospitals, health care workers and others battling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Both the design and textile fabric to be used in the production of these masks are being provided by partners of the consortium who are working in collaboration to lessen the major shortage of face masks. Gildan is also working with a retail partner to produce non-medical face masks primarily intended for healthcare organizations worldwide. This initiative includes manufacturing the required textile for the production of these masks. Moreover, the Company is also working with another retail partner to manufacture isolation gowns to be distributed to the health care sector to help address the current shortage of personal protective equipment in fighting COVID-19.

Gildan has received authorization from the Honduras government to partially reopen one of its textile facilities to produce the fabric needed for the masks and gowns, and one of its sewing facilities in Honduras for the assembly of these products. To ensure the health and safety of its people, Gildan has mobilized a team of experts and is developing and implementing stringent processes to protect employees who have chosen to come back to work on this effort. The facilities that will be reopened for the production of personal protective equipment will all operate under a strict biosecurity protocol developed following government mandated guidelines and industry best practices.

Story continues

As an organization we are committed to playing a proactive role in supporting the shortage of personal protective equipment needed in the global fight against this pandemic, said Glenn Chamandy, President and CEO of Gildan. I want to thank our partners and everyone at Gildan who have been working diligently to get the required authorizations and plans in place to start the production of these much-needed items, and especially the facility workers who have volunteered to work to produce these products, he added.

The Company is also having discussions with other partners in the retail and imprintables industry interested in distributing personal protective equipment. Finally, the Company has also communicated with other governments in the countries where it operates, including Canada and Honduras, and has offered to supply non-medical masks and isolation gowns as needed.

About Gildan

Gildan is a leading manufacturer of everyday basic apparel which markets its products in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of Company-owned brands, including Gildan, American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Gildan Hammer, Prim + Preux, GoldToe, Anvil by Gildan, Alstyle, Secret, Silks, Kushyfoot, Secret Silky, Therapy Plus, Peds and MediPeds, and under the Under Armour brand through a sock licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in the United States and Canada. Our product offering includes activewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and legwear products sold to a broad range of customers, including wholesale distributors, screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce platforms, and to global lifestyle brand companies.

Gildan owns and operates vertically-integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America, and Bangladesh. With approximately 53,000 employees worldwide, Gildan operates with a strong commitment to industry-leading labour and environmental practices throughout its supply chain in accordance with its comprehensive Genuine Responsibility program embedded in the Company's long-term business strategy. More information about the Company and its corporate citizenship practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildancorp.com and www.genuineresponsibility.com, respectively.

Investor inquiries:

Sophie Argiriou

Vice President, Investor Communications

(514) 343-8815

sargiriou@gildan.com
1.0 Background to the research

Since 1992 when Ghana returned to multiparty democracy, parliamentary elections have very important in our political discourse. This is because the number of seats a political party wins in an election to a large extent determines the political future of the party. In view of this, political parties attach seriousness in the selection of candidates. Most often than not, candidates selected are those who in the view of the party appeal not only to the rank and file of the party but also to the constituents as a whole. But beyond popularity, other factors also come into play. In recent times, what has been the determining factor in who becomes a parliamentary candidate of a party is money and in some cases ones connection with party executives. Ironically, these last two factors have always been the bane of the political parties. This because being rich or having a strong links with party executive does not necessarily make one popular among voters in general elections.

In view of this, political parties, media houses, aspiring parliamentary candidates and even sometimes, individuals conduct opinion polls to assess the strength of competing candidates since the choice of a bad candidates does not only affect the fortunes of the party in a parliamentary but also in a presidential election.

It is against this backdrop that the current opinion poll is being conducted to assess the popularity of the two competing candidates among the delegates of NPP in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for 25th April 5, 2020.

2.0 Profile of the candidates

The Dormaa Central Constituency parliamentary slot is being contested for by two candidates who incidentally are all coming from the health ministry- the minister for health and the board chairman of Ghana Health service.

2.1 Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu

He is synonymous with the Dormaa Central Constituency. He has been politically active since the late 90s. He is seen as a grass root politician. He has been an Assembly man; party chairman; deputy minister at the Ministries of Finance, transport, Trade and Industry; a three-time MP and currently the minister for health. He boasts of over two decades experience in politics. Professionally, he is a chartered accountant.

2.2 Dr. Yao Yeboah

He is an accomplished academician. He holds a PhD in Public health and has many publications to his credit. In terms of Dormaa politics, he is not a stranger. This is the third time he is vying for the seat. He contested for the seat in 2008 and 2015. Though he lost to the incumbent MP in these two primaries, he continues to help the party in diverse ways. He is a man of strong religious belief. Professionally, he is a health administrator and has worked in many health establishments. He was one-time administrator of Dormaa and Agogo Presbyterian hospitals, Director of Pentecost Social Services. He has also lectured in the Pentecost University College. He is currently, the Board Chairman of Ghana health service.

3.0 Objectives

To find out which of the two candidates is more popular amongst NPP delegates in Dormaa Central Constituency.

4.0 Research Tool

This investigation is quantitative and qualitative in nature and as such, the researchers used questionnaire and interviews to gather data for the analysis.

4.1 Sample Size and Technique

The Dormaa Central Constituency has a total of six hundred and thirty-eight delegates (638) comprising, five hundred and eighty (580) polling station executive, eighteen (18) constituency executive, thirty (30) electoral area coordinators, five (5) council of elders and five (5) patrons. In all 380 respondents were selected through random sampling technique. 130 were interviewed whilst anther 250 respondents were given questionnaire. Those who answered the questionnaire were those with at least basic level of education or were unwilling to grant oral interview. Those given the questionnaire were given three weeks to complete and submit to the researchers. In all, 207 respondents returned their forms with seven being blank. All the questionnaires were returned in sealed envelopes. The questions were two- both close and open ended. The respondents were supposed to indicate their choice of a parliamentary candidate by ticking agaist the name of one of the two candidates and provide not more than two reasons for their choice.

4.1.1 Results of Questionnaire Data

Out of 200 respondents who answered the questionnaire, 82 indicated that they would vote for Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu. This represents 39.61%. Those who said they would vote for Yao Yeboah were 118, representing 57%. Seven respondents did not indicate their preference. This represents 3.3%.

4.1.2 Results of the interview

The results of the interview were as follows. Out of 130 people interviewed, 60 subjects representing 42.15% said they would vote for Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu while 67 respondents, representing 51.54% said they would vote for Dr. Yao Yeboah. Three of the respondents said they were yet to decide on who to vote for. This number represents 2.31%.

4.1.3 Summary of Results

Both the questionnaire and the interview data show that most of the delegates prefer Dr Yao Yeboah to Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu. Out of the 337 respondents who were either given questionnaire or were interviewed, 142(42.13%) respondents indicated their preference for hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu while 185 (54.90%) said they would vote for Dr Yao Yeboah. Ten (10) people representing 2.97% did not show their preference.

5.0 Conclusions

The major concern of the research was to find out which candidates is a better appeal to the delegates in the Dormaa Central Constituency and by extension, more popular with the general voting public. Consequently, the respondents were asked to indicate their preference between the two contending candidates- Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu and Dr Yaw Yeboah. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data show that Dr. Yao Yeboah is more popular amongst the delegates (see sec.4.13 above). Chiefly amongst the reasons given for the choice of Dr. Yao Yeboah instead of Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu is his longevity in the politics in Dormaa. The delegates fear he might be rejected by the voting populace when he is presented especially at this time when the NDC candidate is a grass root politician. Some made reference to 2008, 2012 and 2016 election results. In 2008 and 2012 elections, he garnered more votes than the president. This was not so with the 2016 elections in which the presidential candidate had more votes. They argued that presenting Hon. Agyeman -Manu will endanger the chances of the party as the people will vote what has become known in our local parlance as skirt and blouse. For Dr. Yao Yeboah, the delgates think he has committed no political sin to warrant the delegates voting against him.

Besides the argument that the people are fed up with him, most of the delegates accused Hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu of cronyism. They said that all those he has helped to secure jobs in the civil and public sectors are people in his inner circle. They also accuse his followers of corruption. They cited instances when they charge people various sums of money in order to get them jobs.

Again, the respondents think Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manus lack of recognition for the local party executive will spell political doom for the party if he is elected. The delegates therefore prefer a neutral candidate, and this they find in Dr. Yao Yeboah.

However, some delegates think that Hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu is resourceful, has projected Dormaa well in a national discourse, is eloquent, has few projects to point and therefore, marketing him will not be difficult.

6.0 The Way forward

There seem to be a serious political tension within Dormaa Central NPP and therefore the winner of the primaries should do to reach out to the loser in order to bring about unity within the rank and file of the party.

Source :

Research desk

Constituency Elections Watch Organization

0507692529
Frances competition authority has ordered Google to negotiate payments with publishers and news agencies to display extracts on its news, search and discovery pages. The interim ruling comes after France implemented the EUs Copyright Directive law that forced Google to pay publishers to use snippets of articles in searches. Googles practices... were likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position and caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector, the ruling states.

In a statement, Google told Engadget that it would comply with the order. Since the European Copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news. We will comply with the FCA's order while we review it and continue those negotiations.

After the law came into effect last year, Google said that it would simply remove snippets altogether unless publishers granted it the right to do so. However, the ruling body (called lAutorite de la Concurrence) said that the the vast majority of press publishers have granted Google licenses to use and display their protected content... without any remuneration from Google.

The Autorite believes that Google may have abused its dominant position in the market for general search services by imposing unfair trading conditions on publishers and news agencies.

The publishers were forced to give away the content for free, it suggested, because Google has a 90 percent share of the search market in France. As such, publishers would suffer lost business (a 26 to 90 percent decline in traffic) if their article extracts didnt appear in Googles results. At the same time, Google gained the benefit of providing better search results for its users without having to pay anything.

The authority decided to make the interim ruling following complaints by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) and several unions representing publishers. During the negotiations, Google must continue displaying snippets, photos and video according to its current (non-paid) agreements with publishers. Once remuneration has been decided, Google will need to pay publishers retroactively going back to October 2019.

Google has previously said that it sells neither searches nor clicks. "We sell ads, not search results, and every ad on Google is clearly marked, said Google's VP of News, Richard Gingras last year. That's also why we don't pay publishers when people click on their links in a search result."

Google told Engadget that it has been working with publishers in Europe to drive more traffic to their sites, while also investing in partnerships and subscription tools. At the same time, it is reportedly in talks with publishers to pay for content via a possible subscription service similar to Apple News+.

However, Frances competition body believes that Google has violated the new law and caused a serious and immediate harm to the press sector. The interim ruling will remain in effect until the Autorite has completed its investigation and made a final decision on the merits of the case.
Gwalior, April 10 : At a time when Madhya Pradesh is facing acute shortage of doctors, 50 doctors appointed on contractual basis at Jayarogya Hospital of Government Gajra Raja Medical College here resigned on Thursday.

Their resignations followed an order from state Medical Education Department seeking their consent for renewal of contract beyond three months. Of the 82 doctors on roll, 50 have resigned refusing the offer.

Dr. S.N. Iyenger, Dean Gaja Raja Medical College, said: "The contractual appointment was temporarily given for three months to 82 doctors who had completed MBBS and internship at Jairogya Hospital. A new order from the state government sought the doctors' consent for continuation of contractual appointment. 50 said they did not want to continue working." Dr. Iyengar said these resignations have nothing to do with the order pertaining to enforcing Essential Services Maintenance Act that was invoked on Thursday.

He said one year's service is mandatory in government hospital as a medical officer after completion of the MBBS course and internship. A three-months temporary contract appointment was given to these doctors. Now while 32 of these doctors are still working. Currently patients suffering from corona are being treated at Jairogya Hospital and most of the doctors have been dedicated to corona cases.

One of the doctors on the condition of anonymity said that once they accepted the new contract, they would not be able to quit. ESMA could be a new deterrent. The scare of corona had forced them to rethink on continuation.
With a one-day increase of 100 cases, Fort Bend County rose to sixth among the states 167 counties reporting confirmed positive COVID-19 cases with a total of 417, according to statistics provided by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. The total number of Fort Bend County COVID-19-related deaths related now stands at seven with five men and two women between the ages of 67 and 77 years-old with underlying medical conditions. County officials said the one-day increase is partially due to delayed test results with more than half the 100 new cases having been testing over a week ago.The statewide total of COVID-19 cases currently stands at 9,353 with Harris County accounting for the largest number of cases reported with 2,146. Dallas County is second with 1,261 cases, followed by Travis County with 554, Tarrant County 517 and Bexar with 503. Of the 417 Fort Bend County cases, people between 50 and 59 years-old comprise the largest number with 21 percent. Precinct 4, which includes the Sugar Land area, has the largest number of cases with 35 percent of the overall total.

SUGAR LAND COVID_19: Long lines at Sugar Lands Smart Financial Centre drive-thru COVID-19 testing site
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Joe Biden has become the presumptive Democratic nominee for US President after his last remaining opponent leftist Senator Bernie Sanders ended his campaign, clearing the former Vice President's path to nomination and a showdown with President Donald Trump in the November elections.

Hours after becoming the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party on Wednesday, Biden held a virtual fundraiser with Kamala Harris as special guest, fuelling speculation that the Indian-origin US Senator may be his running mate in the presidential elections.

Biden, 77, emerged as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party after Senator Sanders withdrew from the race and endorsed the former Viice President for the November presidential elections against Trump.

Indian-origin Senator from California, Harris, 55, withdrew her bid from the presidential race last early due to low poll ratings. While in race, she and Biden had bitter political fight. But, she later endorsed Biden after the former vice president made substantial gains in the Democratic primary.

Hours, later Biden invited Harris as a special guest for his virtual fundraiser. In view of the social distancing measures being enforced across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, Biden campaign has resorted to innovative virtual fund raising.

In his remarks, Biden expressed how "lucky" he felt to have a "partnership" with Harris going forward.

"The idea, Kamala, that you ran a hell of a race and you endorsed me means a lot. It's not an easy thing to do, but, you know, thanks for making the time and for being so loyal,' Biden said.

"And I'm so lucky to have you as part of this, this partnership going forward, because I think we're going together we can make a great deal of difference, and the biggest thing we can do is make Donald Trump a one-term president. So I'm coming for you, kid," Biden said.

The former vice president said that Harris shared admiration for his late son Beau Biden.

According to the Biden campaign, there were 52 people in attendance, including some folks who received a shout out during the fundraiser - TV writer and producer Norman Lear and former White House Press Secretary for the Clinton Administration Dee Dee Myers.

The fundraiser was hosted by former US Ambassador to Germany John Emerson, and Kimberly Marteau Emerson, a Principal at KME Consulting. Emerson said that while the fundraisers goal was USD 100,000, the group exceeded it, raising USD 150,000.

Harris, in her remarks, slammed Trump for the "vacuum of leadership" that currently exists in the United States and praised Biden for his record of leadership.

"Joe Biden has a way of working on these issues, not only to improve the lives of all Americans, but to improve their ability to believe that everything is going to be okay. And that's one of the things I think we all who have known him for a long time love about Joe Biden," Harris said.

"He sees people. He understands their pain, He understands their dreams. And what we need is a president who has a proven track record of leadership, and also who has the ability to lift people up. That's what people need right now," she said.

In his remarks Biden addressed Sanders' departure from the presidential race.

"He's a powerful voice for a fairer and more just American, and I want Bernie and his supporters to know: I see you. I hear you. I understand the urgency of what you've done, and I hope you'll join us because we need all of you. We need all of you," he said.

The former vice president then addressed the ongoing coronavirus pandemic gripping the country and the anxious time it has brought about while all Americans are facing the situation together but in isolation simultaneously.

"This disease is not only tearing through the nation and devastating families and wrecking the economy, we're starting to see and magnifying some of the worst systemic inequities that exist, amplifying some of the most unjust gaps in our society," Biden said, noting that counties with a majority black population have infection rates three times greater than majority white counties.

Biden said he had reached out to former President Barack Obama for advice on the selection process of his running mate.

According to some media reports, Biden has shortlisted nine individuals as his potential running mate. Among them, include Harris and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Biden has said that he will pick a woman as his running mate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
She's currenting isolating with her boyfriend of just under a year, Rye Dag Holmboe, 32, during the global crisis.

And Helena Bonham Carter opted for a solo outing as she queued at her local Budgens supermarket in London on Wednesday afternoon.

The screen star, 53, followed the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's social distancing advice amid the UK's coronavirus lockdown as she appeared to stand roughly two metres apart from her fellow shoppers.

Off she goes: Helena Bonham Carter opted for a solo outing as she queued at her local Budgens supermarket in London on Wednesday afternoon

Wrapping up against the breezy weather, The King's Speech actress cut a typically quirky figure in a longline navy trench coat, teamed with a bright pink maxi skirt.

The TV, film and stage thespian styled her outfit with thick grey tights and black trainers, while accessorising her look with cat-eye shades.

With her tresses worn in a relaxed updo, Helena displayed her youthful-looking complexion, which was enhanced with light strokes of make-up.

The Crown star appeared locked into her mobile phone as she waited to purchase some essential groceries.

Sticking to the rules: The screen star, 53, followed the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's social distancing advice amid the UK's coronavirus lockdown

Standing out: Wrapping up against the breezy weather, The King's Speech actress cut a typically quirky figure in a longline navy trench coat, teamed with a bright pink maxi skirt

Keeping her distance: Helena appeared to stand roughly two metres apart from her fellow shoppers

In the zone: The Crown star appeared locked into her mobile phone as she waited to purchase some essential groceries

All in the details: The TV, film and stage thespian styled her outfit with thick grey tights and black trainers, while accessorising her look with cat-eye shades

In the romance department, Helena gushed in late 2019 that her relationship with writer Rye has been 'a bit of unexpected magic in my life'.

The brunette shares son Billy, 16, and 12-year-old daughter Nell with her former partner Tim Burton, 61.

The Cinderella star had a famously unconventional 13-year relationship with the director, which ended in 2014.

Brief break: At one point during her outing, the Islington native sat on a park bench

Radiant: With her tresses worn in a relaxed updo, Helena displayed her youthful-looking complexion, which was enhanced with light strokes of make-up

In good company: She's currenting isolating with her boyfriend of just under a year, Rye Dag Holmboe, 32, during the global crisis

Measures: Social distancing was first advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which classed coronavirus as a pandemic last month

On finally moving on from Tim, the Enid actress - who previously dated Irish actor Kenneth Branagh between 1994 and 1999 - admitted she grew tired of 'grieving' their split, and now leads a 'happy' life with her new boyfriend.

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar UK, the thespian shared: 'You break up, you grieve, you get bored of grieving. And then you finally move on.

'I'm very happy with someone else. It's been a bit of unexpected magic in my life.'
The coronvirus pandemic's punishing impact on employment continues to mount across the country, with new furloughs and layoffs at CarMax and Yelp affecting thousands of employees.

On Thursday, used car giant CarMax said that it would place 15,000 employees on furlough effective April 18, most of them working at stores now closed under government mandates.

'This has been a very difficult decision. Each and every one of our associates are incredibly important to us. We will not rest until we can start pulling our team back together,' said Bill Nash, CarMax president and CEO, in a statement.

'I believe that these steps will help our company withstand the current environment and successfully emerge from these difficult times,' he continued.

A CarMax dealership in California is seen in a file photo. On Thursday, the used car giant said that it would place 15,000 employees on furlough effective April 18

Meanwhile, Yelp announced Thursday it is laying off 1,000 employees and furloughing about 1,100 more due to impacts from the pandemic.

'To help Yelp get through this period of great uncertainty, we have had to make some incredibly hard decisions to reduce our operating costs,' Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in an employee email that was posted on the company's website.

'In all of our nearly 16 years, I've never seen a crisis of this magnitude and impact on our business,' he added.

The popular directory site for restaurants and other local businesses has been hard hit by widespread shutdowns, Stoppelman said.

He said that interest in restaurants has dropped 64 percent since March 10, and the nightlife category is down 81 percent. Gyms and similar businesses are down 73 percent, and salons and other beauty businesses are down 83 percent.

Many businesses in those categories have been forced to shutter around the country due to mandatory lockdowns, and the effect on jobs has been staggering.

Yelp's New York offices are seen in a file photo. Yelp announced Thursday it is laying off 1,000 employees and furloughing about 1,100 more due to impacts from the pandemic

A record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have now lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounds the country to a halt.

The real number is likely to be even higher because many states are still clearing out backlogs of unemployment claims after people reported lengthy delays trying to lodge applications online or via the phone.

The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

Weekly new claims topped 6 million for the second straight time last week as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly ground the country to halt. Authorities in Florida started handing out applications for jobless benefits this week

More cuts are still expected with economists predicting that more than 20 million Americans may lose jobs this month. The unemployment rate could hit 15 percent when the April employment report is released in early May.

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 261,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.606 million for the week ending April 4, according to the report. Data for the prior week, ending March 28, was revised to show 219,000 more applications were received than previously reported, taking the tally for that period to 6.867 million.

The states with the largest increases in new claims last week were California (up 871,992), New York (up 286,596), Michigan (up 176,329), Florida (up 154,171), Georgia (up 121,680), Texas (up 120,759) and New Jersey (up 90,438).
Description

Join us via the magic of Zoom for a live Q&A with Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren. Mayor Warren will be answering questions from local residents. To attend please RSVP on our website where you will be able to submit your questions. Also, if you would like you can record a video of yourself asking your question for us to play live, just email the video to cflanagan@southamptonhistory.org with the subject line MAYOR Q&A. Hope to see you all there! Co-Sponsored with the Rogers Memorial Library.
Karnataka may look at relaxing the lockdown in most of the districts which remain unaffected by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) soon, and will have to relook at its budget programmes and come out with changes in policy to soon start a revival of the economy, chief minister BS Yediyurappa says. Speaking to News18.com, he said now that the state has been able to contain the spread of COVID-19 reasonably well, he will "101 per cent" look at how to revive the industry while talking to experts. He also plans to review the state budget presented in mid-February, to rejig some programmes and put some others on hold.

Q: How has the lockdown implementation been so far? Do you feel it has been successful in Karnataka?

A: As you know, so far, the situation on the corona front in Karnataka has not gone out of control. The situation turned worrisome when Nanjangud factory workers and Tablighi Jamaat volunteers tested positive. Now we have quarantined all factory workers they are more than 1,000 in number and all the Jamaat volunteers who attended the Delhi congregation. Now I think things will turn positive on April 14, when the lockdown hopefully ends. It all depends on how people cooperate with us. We requested them not to come out. All essential things are available in their areas. If people cooperate, then after April 15 we will sit and discuss. It all depends on the PM's decision. On the 11th (of April), he will have a discussion with all chief ministers. What suggestions he is going to give, on that basis we will decide. Just today, Dr Devi Shetty and other experts have given a report and we have discussed in detail all their suggestions.

Q: But do you feel it has worked? What's your assessment; have people cooperated?

A: More than 90 per cent are cooperating. That's why this control is there. The remaining people are going around... for that, in Bengaluru alone, we have seized 10,000 vehicles and so many FIRs are lodged. If they cooperate with us, we can move out of this.

Q: Is there an exit policy on how to come out of the lockdown?

A: In border areas, we have strictly given instructions. No one is allowed. We have stopped it. Other things, we are trying our level best to control. I'll tell you something... our preventive steps are yielding results. Earlier we were in the top three states. Now we have come down to ten or eleven (eleventh spot). That's good. In eleven or twelve districts, there is no corona at all. In about four districts there are just one or two cases.

Q: Will inter-state travel be permitted after the 14th, or that will take a few more days?

A: Definitely. We don't know, according to experts more corona incidents will be there (in coming weeks). Anyway on the 11th, we will discus with the PM and then with our experts also.

Already in border areas, they can move for commodities. For that we have given permission. For everything else, it depends on the situation after the 14th. About Bengaluru and other things, we will take a decision later.

Q: Already the state is in a financial crunch. How are you going to improve finances? Will you look at asking for a better share from the Centre?

A: You know the Centre also has a financial crisis. And in the state also, we are facing difficult days. We will discuss with financial experts... We have already presented the (state) budget. But which programmes to be taken up or not, it is yet to be decided.

Q: So you will come out with a policy to revive the economy?

A: 101 per cent. There is no doubt about it. Tomorrow also cabinet is there. We will sit and discuss.

Q: Some states have looked at cutting government employees' salaries. Will Karnataka take the same route?

A: Only MLAs', MLCs' 30 per cent salaries are to be put in state treasury. As for employees, we have not yet taken any decision. It depends on the situation.

Q: There has been a controversy over MPLAD funds, because they are usually used in activities that actually help revive the economy at the constituency level.

A: But the PM has discussed with his Cabinet colleagues, and taken a decision in the interest of the country. Anyway, it will be used for corona activities only. So I don't want to comment on that.

Q: Many have given a religious or communal tint to spread of the virus.

A: I've given clear instructions to (BJP) workers and people: Hindu, Muslim, Christian go together in this crisis. If anyone goes against this, I will speak to them today only and warn them not to speak like this in future.

Q: More have died of alcohol withdrawal than COVID in Karnataka.

A: More than 10-12 people have died because of this. After the 14th, we will think on this.

Q: The capital Bengaluru is notified as a hotspot?

A: Yes, naturally, Bengaluru is the number one place... you know, so many people are there. In such places, we won't allow movement. In other places, we will allow after the 14th.

Q: You talked about warning your party colleagues. But your own MLAs, MPs are not supporting you. We are seeing on social media that even opposition parties are supporting your stand but not your party men.

A: No. One or two persons are the exception... they may have made statements. I will warn and speak to them.

Q: Is this your biggest challenge till now?

A: Definitely. Not only me. The entire world is facing this problem.
London, April 9 : The iconic rock band Black Sabbath's guitarist Tony Iommi has decided to auction personal belongings to raise money for the UK's National Health Service (NHS) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the items he is auctioning is his guitar, which will be signed by the rock legend, reports bbc.com.

The money raised by the auction will go to University Hospitals Birmingham in his home city.

The 72-year-old said coronavirus was "difficult for everyone" but showed the "great work" of the NHS.

"It's horrible but in some ways it's bringing people together more and realising what we do have in this country with the NHS and the great things they do," Iommi said.

Iommi, who is a patron of the specialist cancer ward at Heartlands Hospital, had the idea for the auction while clearing out his studio during self-isolation.

The guitar, "a lefty because I'm left-handed", has attracted nearly $4946.40 (A4,000) in bids since the auction went live on Monday but he said he is "hoping to make a lot more on that".

The rocker is also auctioning signed collectable DVD box sets, CDs and vinyl discs.

University Hospitals Birmingham said it was "incredibly grateful" for Iommi's support "at this difficult time".

"The money raised will help us to support our NHS superheroes who are working tirelessly to provide care to our patients," the trust's head of fundraising, Justine Davy, said.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Rebekah Boulos parents packed their bags. One suitcase each.

They hugged the kids goodbye and left.

Their trip was 10 miles and a world away at the same time.

Dr. Fouad Boulos and his wife, Karen, moved into their sons Armory Square apartment two weeks ago. Their college-aged kids took over the couples four-bedroom house in Fayetteville.

Boulos is a doctor in Crouse Hospitals Emergency Department. His wife, Karen, is a neurosurgical nurse practitioner at the hospital. The two met at Crouse more than 30 years ago.

They moved out to keep their kids safe from the coronavirus that could hitchhike home with them from their shifts at the hospital.

Families everywhere are weighing similar choices. What risk is too much? Should medical workers leave home until this is over?

For the Boulos family, the realization came as the empty-nesting parents drove through deserted New York City streets to get their youngest daughter and bring her home. The COVID cases had begun to spike. The deaths were escalating. The hospitals were running out of supplies.

If were removing her from this place, for safety, our going to the frontlines and bringing the virus home was not a logical thing, Boulos said. It doesnt make sense to put your family at risk when you dont need to.

Both of the couples daughters were in New York City until three weeks ago. Rebekah, 23, is in her second year at NYU Law School. She had come home on spring break. Sarah, 20, is a student at Syracuse University but had an internship at Goldman Sachs in the city. She had break, but then went back to the city.

Sarah, Rebekah and Benjamin Boulos moved back home, into their parents' home. Their parents, a doctor and nurse practitioner at Crouse, moved into Ben's apartment to keep the kids safe from COVID-19.

Boulos said if his son didnt have the apartment, Boulos and his wife would have rented a hotel room.

Everything is upended now. The girls want to get back to school. Ben, the couples son, wants to get back to his job. He had been working selling medical devices, but since elective surgeries have been canceled, he has no work.

In the days before her parents moved out, the family had a final dinner together.

It felt like we were getting ready to send them to war, Rebekah said.

And they did.

The hospital is a different place now. The virus is a constant danger. Everyone wears masks all the time.

When Boulos examines a patient who has tested positive for COVID or is suspected of having it, he must suit up  a gown, n-95 mask, gloves. One misstep putting them on or taking them off could leave him exposed.

It is so easy to make a mistake with technique, he said.

As he suits up each time, it feels to him like something he had not seen since he treated AIDS patients during his residency in the 1980s.

Hed suit up each time he went into the HIV patients room. He still remembers the blood pooling when they were putting in an IV. I am looking at death right here. If I prick my finger, I could die, he thought then.

This is the first time he has felt that same sense of danger. Only the coronavirus hides in the air, on the surfaces around him. The cafeteria tables at the hospital have only one chair so no one sits too close. Workstations are spread out. People remind themselves not to lean in to hear, to touch.

This novel coronavirus has a silent superpower  the prolonged incubation period where people are spreading it and have no symptoms. Some people carry the virus, spread it, yet never show any sign of having it.

If you wanted to create a really good virus, this is it, Boulos said. Youve got a recipe thats frightening and deadly.

Boulos spends some of his spare time journaling as he looks out of his sons apartment window onto empty Armory Square. He knows history is being made.

People have come together in ways he couldnt imagine. That should not be overlooked.

I think about whats happening now. The only thing that could have brought the world together like this is an alien invasion, he said.

It is separating people in alien ways, too. When Boulos and his wife had to go home to get some more belongings, they waited on the lawn while their daughter brought out what they needed.

They stayed a bit and chatted, six feet apart.

At work, Boulos said, it is slower than he has ever seen. Its the same at all of the hospitals. There are no elective surgeries. And many people who would come to the ER for more minor problems have decided to stay home.

There is a sense of impending doom, Boulos said. Were thinking the tidal wave is going to hit. We just dont know.

Its restless. Doctors and nurses sometimes run up and down the 10-flight-staircase, Boulos said.

And they know that as they wait, the number of cases is already far more than we realize.

Theyre testing so few people, Boulos said.

If the rapid tests were widely available, the virus could be reined in.

We need to be able to test everybody and get a handle on the number of people infected, Boulos said.

For now, most of the tests are still reserved for people who have all the symptoms, including a fever.

When Boulos returns to his sons apartment, he is careful not to bring the virus inside. He leaves his shoes and clothes at the door and immediately showers.

Then he explores the city he hasnt had much time with since he as a resident more than 30 years ago. He and his wife walk downtown and take in the history. Theres no place to go, so they read the plaques on the monuments to the past that shaped Syracuse. They stand in empty Clinton Square.

Boulos has made videos on some of his walks.

He wonders what his kids will think decades from now.

Are my kids going to look back on this and say this was terrible, or will they go through something worse in the future? he said.

For now, their three 20 somethings  Rebekah, Sarah and Benjamin  feel like life has frozen as it tries to move forward. Rebekah is doing law school online. Sarah is still going to her internship at Goldman Sachs, but remotely. Ben is trying to keep busy while he waits for work to pick up.

Dr. Fouad Boulos, his wife, Karen, and their children Rebekah, Sarah and Benjamin, in a photo from Christmas. The parents moved out to keep the kids safe from COVID-19.

They try to make normal moments out of what they have.

Rebekah and her mom FaceTime while they walk, so they are together while theyre miles apart.

Today is Sarahs birthday. She will be 21.

This weekend her parents will venture home for a tiny party.

Rebekah will try her best to cook something nice in her mothers kitchen.

Then shell bring it outside to her parents on the lawn. The chairs will be six feet apart.

When they are done, Fouad and Karen Boulos will leave again for that war that is all around.

And there will be no hug goodbye.

For now.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Potential coronavirus exposure at Syracuse store, laundromat in Liverpool

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Hospitalized, critical patients at record highs; 422 total cases

Mixed emotions as new NY coronavirus deaths surge to 779, but hope remains, Cuomo says

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Marnie Eisenstadt is a reporter who writes about people and public affairs in Central New York. Have an idea or question? Contact her anytime: email | twitter| Facebook | 315-470-2246
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A Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 recommended monitoring of public places like religious centres and malls through surveillance drones.

A meeting of the GoM chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among other ministers, was held on April 7.

Drones have been put to different use by many states, like the civic authorities in Delhi have carried out mass sanitisation and disinfection drives in Nizamuddin area in the last few days using drones and other measures.

Coronavirus LIVE updates

Thousands of Tablighi Jamaat members gathered at its headquarters in Nizamuddin last month, ignoring warnings by the government against large gatherings. A number of people who attended the congregation were found to be coronavirus-positive. A sizeable number of people among them travelled to different states, spreading the infection.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The East Coast Railway headquartered at Bhubaneswar has also deployed drones to guard its assets lying idle in yards due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.

Also read | Coronavirus state-wise tally

In the meeting, the GoM concluded that religious centres, shopping malls and educational institutions must not be allowed to resume normal functioning at least for four weeks from April 14 when the current lockdown ends. They recommended that activities of all religious organisations should not be allowed till May 15 as a precautionary measure to check the spread of coronavirus infection, said a PTI report citing sources.

The GoM also briefly discussed possible scenarios after the end of the current spell of the lockdown.

Also read | WHO addresses questions on pregnancy, childbirth and newborn babies

The GoM has been tasked with monitoring the overall situation in the country arising out of the coronavirus pandemic and make recommendations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(With inputs from PTI)

Follow our full coverage here
An explosion at a hydrogen fuel plant in North Carolina has damaged nearby homes but left workers without any serious injuries.

News outlets report that the explosion occurred at the OneH2 Inc. hydrogen fuel facility in the town of Long View on Tuesday. The plant is about an hour northwest of Charlotte and provides hydrogen for fuel cells that power machines such as forklifts.

Terri Byers, fire education coordinator for the Hickory Fire Department, told the Hickory Daily Record that there were no serious injuries.

The plants building was damaged. So were some nearby houses that suffered broken windows and had doors blown out of their frames.

Johnathan Wilson, who lives nearby, said things fell off the walls of his home and dishes broke.

It shook the entire house from left to right, he told the newspaper. Ive been in earthquakes before, and I thought it was an earthquake.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Energy Oil Gas North Carolina Homeowners
New Jersey Reports Highest Single-Day Virus Death Toll

'Were not at any plateau,' said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at a briefing Wednesday that the state suffered 275 additional CCP virus-related deaths, the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 fatalities.

This brings New Jerseys total number of deaths from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, to 1,504.

Murphy said there were 3,088 new cases Wednesday, a drop from Tuesdays tally of 3,361 cases, raising hopes that after hitting a peak, the number of new daily infections would steadily fall.

Even if the rate of our increase is lessening, which its hard to argue it hasnt over the past week, we have two realities that we cannot escape. One is it is still increasing, Murphy said. So with all due respect to this notion that weve found some plateau, were not at any plateau.

Murphy on Tuesday announced the closure of state parks and forests, saying the move was meant to flatten the curve, referring to the projected rise, peak, and fall of COVID-19 cases.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Murphy said the drop in the number of new daily cases is cause for optimism, but called for more federal support to fight the outbreak.

Murphy said at Wednesdays briefing he would be tightening social distancing requirements, ordering retailersincluding grocery stores still allowed to operateto limit customers, and ensure that customers and employees wear face coverings and regularly sanitize the premises.

New Jersey has been hard-hit by the virus, with its number of cases second only to New York, the hot spot of COVID-19, the disease the CCP virus causes. The New York metropolitan area, which includes northern New Jersey, Long Island, and lower Connecticut, accounts for about half of all virus deaths in the United States.

Murphy and other officials on Wednesday toured a new 550-bed field hospital in Edison at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center.

The governor said the field hospitals are critical as the state battles two lines: trying to break the back of the virus spread and build up hospital capacity.

These are huge, quantum steps for us in terms of capacity, Murphy said. So I thank everybody associated with this. It means more than you know.

For most people, COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
We are pleased to have Angel Romero join our growing sales team in Mexico, Angel is very knowledgeable in electronics manufacturing. We have no doubt that he will be a strong asset to the northeastern regions of Mexico and we look forward to his contributions.

AIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Angel Romero to the position of Sales Manager for the Monterrey and Reynosa regions of Mexico.

As an electronics and communications engineer with over 20 years of experience in sales and electronic assembly processes, Angel Romero has supported a multitude of world-class electronic assembly businesses throughout Mexico. His extensive knowledge in SMT electronics assembly process development and management experience in both the technical field and customer support, has given Angel the insight and ability to provide solutions for major electronic manufacturing lines.

We are pleased to have Angel Romero join our growing sales team in Mexico, said AIMs National Sales Manager of Mexico, Oscar Lopez. Angel is very knowledgeable in electronics manufacturing. We have no doubt that he will be a strong asset to the northeastern regions of Mexico and we look forward to his contributions. Angel may be reached by phone at +52 81 2354 1689 or by email at aromero@aimsolder.com.

About AIM

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, AIM Solder is a leading global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution and support facilities located throughout the world. AIM produces advanced solder products such as solder paste, liquid flux, cored wire, bar solder, epoxies, lead-free and halogen-free solder products, and specialty alloys such as indium and gold for a broad range of industries. A recipient of many prestigious SMT industry awards, AIM is strongly committed to innovative research and development of product and process improvement as well as providing customers with superior technical support, service and training. For more information about AIMs complete line of advanced solder products and global technical services, please visit http://www.aimsolder.com.
To recover from the CCP virus, as she did, Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighboring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the super oldpeople who are at least 100. As the nation with the worlds highest number of COVID-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Im well, Im well, Zanusso said on April 7 during a video call with The Associated Press from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont. I watch TV, read the newspapers.

Zanusso wore a protective mask, as did her family doctor of 35 years beside her, Carla Furno Marchese, who also donned eyewear and a gown that covered her head.

Asked about her illness, Zanusso is modest: I had some fever.

Her doctor said Zanusso was in bed for a week.

We hydrated her because she wasnt eating, and then we thought she wasnt going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting, Furno Marchese said.

One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before, Furno Marchese said. The doctor recalled when Zanusso was able to sit up, then managed to get out of bed.

What helped her get through the illness? Courage and strength, faith, Zanusso said. It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also give yourself courage, have faith.

COVID-19 can cause mild or moderate symptoms, and most of those who are infected recover. But the elderly and those with existing health problems can be at high risk for more serious illness.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and over 88,000 worldwide. The World Health Organization says 95 percent of those who have died in Europe were over 60 years old.

Under Italys five-week-long lockdown, which is aimed at containing the spread of infections that have overwhelmed hospitals, visitors arent allowed at homes for the elderly.

Her doctor asked Zanusso what she would like to do when they open the doors.

Id like to take a lovely walk, she replied. And your three great-grandchildren? Watch them play together.

Deaths, hospitalizations, and new infections are leveling off in Italy, and Premier Giuseppe Conte is expected to announce in the coming days how long the lockdown will remain in place, with expectations that some restrictions could be eased.

For now, Zanusso is isolated from other residents as she awaits a follow-up swab test to confirm she is negative for the CCP virus.

She grew up in Treviso, in the northeastern Veneto region, where she worked for many years in the textile industry. Zanusso, who turns 104 on Aug. 16, had four childrenthree of whom are livingand has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Shes old, but healthy, with no chronic illness, her doctor said.

This week, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera devoted an entire page to the stories of super-old survivors, called healing at 100 years old. The inspirational portraits are a counterpoint to news of large numbers of deaths among elderly people living in Italian nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities.

Of the victims, most elderly werent tested for COVID-19 if they died in nursing homes, so the numbers dont figure into Italys overall CCP virus death toll.

Medical staff went through a very hard time, said Furno Marchese, the doctor. It was a great emergency with so many residents ill, so to see a positive outcome was very rewarding, not only for me, but for all the people who worked hard here nonstop.

Outside the nonprofit, 61-bed Maria Grazia Residence, the Italian flag flies at half-staff in tribute to those who died of the CCP virus.

By Paolo Santalucia

NTD contributed to this report.
China has excluded dogs from farm animals in a drafted directive, which could see canine meat being barred from the dinner plate across the country.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said it recognises dogs as 'companion animals' and 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock in the document released yesterday.

Only the animals officially listed as livestock or poultry can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China, according to China's Animal Husbandry Law.

This means the proposal can potentially prevent around 10 million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the country.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said it recognises dogs as 'companion animals' and 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock in a drafted directive. The picture shows butchered dogs being sold at a market in the Chinese city of Yulin at a festival on June 21, 2016

The news comes after the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Wednesday published a tentative version of the country's Directory of Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry.

But in a sharp turn of the event, a worker from the Ministry denied that the proposal was aimed at banning the eating of dogs.

The unnamed official told Chinese news outlet The Paper the exclusion of dogs in the directory only means they cannot be 'managed' as livestock, and 'it has nothing to do with the eating or breeding of dogs'.

Nonetheless, animal welfare activists are considering the proposal 'a game-changer moment for animal protection in China'.

The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival is one of the most controversial food festivals in China and sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals. The picture shows dog meat being served at the festival on June 21, 2017

Last week, the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen became the first city in China to ban the eating of dogs in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

In late February, China banned all trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the global crisis.

The Ministry's catalogue lists 18 types of 'traditional livestock', including pigs, cows, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, camels, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons and quails.

It also covers 13 types of 'special livestock', including sika deer, red deer, reindeer, alpacas, guinea fowls, pheasants, partridges, mallards, ostriches, minks, the American red fox, the Arctic fox and raccoon dogs. The last four species can be traded, but not for their meat.

The proposal comes after Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to ban the eating of dogs in the wake of coronavirus. The picture shows a woman and her dog in Shanghai on April 06

In a separate explanation sheet, the Ministry said it drafted the directory to show its support of the wild animal ban by Beijing.

In particular, it stressed the importance of treating dogs as companion animals, not livestock.

The authority said: 'In the wake of the progress of human civilisation and the attention the public give to animal protection, dogs have evolved from livestock to companion animals and are generally not considered as livestock internationally.

'It is not suitable for our country to list (them) as livestock for management purpose.'

The Ministry's list has 31 types of livestock, which can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China. It says dogs are 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock

The Ministry said it compiled the list after seeking advice from 36 organs of the central government, 31 regional governments as well as experts from institutes and universities.

It is seeking feedback from the public on the proposal until May 8.

Animal welfare groups have expressed their support for the proposal.

Charity organisation Humane Society International has called it a 'game-changer'.

Its spokesperson Wendy Higgins said: 'Although this draft proposal isn't in itself a ban, it could signal a game-changer moment for animal protection in China.

'Coming so soon after Shenzhen's dog and cat meat ban, this is the first time the national government in China has explicitly explained why dogs and cats are excluded from the official livestock list, stating that these are companion animals and not for eating.

A woman with her pet dog, both wearing face masks, is pictured walking on street amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang on March 6

Activists and legal experts have in the past proposed animal protection law to ban the eating of dogs and cats. The earliest such campaigns can be traced back to 2009.

What is the Yulin Dog Meat Festival? Some claim that the consumption of dog meat has been observed in Guangxi Province, China, for hundreds of years. However, the activity was not promoted and encouraged until around 30 years ago - first by the dog meat traders, then by the Yulin government for driving tourism. The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival can be traced back to 2009. The event has drawn waves of criticism from media and animal lovers, with influential figures leading campaigns around the world in a bid to stop it. The local government has stopped organising the festival under pressure, as it is understood, but vendors continue selling dog meat and residents carry on eating it on the summer solstice. Advertisement

But so far, no national legislation has been released to officially forbid people from consuming pets.

The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival is one of the most controversial food festivals in China and sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals.

Explaining the significance of the proposal, Ms Higgins said: 'We have never had the national government say that before.

'Dogs and cats have never been on the livestock list, so that's not new, but an explicit explanation for why they are not listed has never been seen before and I do think that could encourage other cities after Shenzhen to progress bans.

PETA Asia has billed the proposal 'a significant step in the right direction' for the Chinese leaders.

A spokesperson said: 'After Shenzhen's ban on eating companion animals, it's more excited to hear voice from China authority discussing the animal right of companion animals.'

He added: 'Right now China is taking a significant step in the right direction.

'For decades, PETA Asia has released investigations showing how dogs and cats in China are at risk from all sorts of horrors  from the dog-meat trade and festival to even being bludgeoned and killed for the leather industry.'

'We hope in the future China will extend the discussion to more animals as the vegan population there is increasing rapidly.'
Downing Street has denied claims that schools could reopen before the end of the month.

The Cabinet had reportedly been mulling over plans to allow teaching to resume for the summer term.

The Times had quoted a senior minister saying, 'If we can reopen schools after the Easter holidays things could begin to get back to normal'.

But asked about the report yesterday, a No 10 spokesman said: 'It's too early to say when the peak [of the contagion] is going to be.

'Our focus for now needs to be relentlessly on stopping the transmission of this disease while building capacity in the NHS. That is how we will save lives.'

A classroom lays dormant at Oldfield Brow Primary School during the coronavirus lockdown

The school bell sits dormant on a window sill at Oldfield Brow Primary School

Schools have been shut except for the children of key workers and those in a vulnerable situation, and GCSEs and A Levels cancelled.

Pressure has been growing on the Government to plan for when schools will reopen. Research has claimed school closures do not have a significant impact on the virus death toll.

Asked when schools could reopen, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said yesterday: 'In all these instances, we are driven and basing our decisions on the science and what is best for controlling the spread of this virus.'

Researchers found that school closures alone were predicted to reduce deaths by around 2% to 4% amid the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK, which is less than other social distancing measures.

Oldfield Brow Primary School, as children of key workers take part in school activities

UCL academics analysed 16 studies - which included articles on severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), as well as a report on Covid-19 in the UK.

The study in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal suggests that school closures did not contribute to the control of the Sars epidemic in China, Hong Kong and Singapore in 2003.

It also found that school closure, as an isolated measure, has a limited impact during a Covid-19 outbreak, whereas other control measures, such as case isolation, are more effective.

Researchers added that the 'economic costs and potential harms' of mass school closures are very high - especially for the most disadvantaged children.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'These findings demonstrate that the Government must keep the decision to close schools under review.

'It is certainly the case that a prolonged shutdown will damage the education of children and it is likely that those from disadvantaged backgrounds will suffer the most.'

Children of key workers take part in school activities at Oldfield Brow Primary School

But Professor Neil Ferguson, author of the influential report which warned of mass deaths if the UK did not introduce strict controls, said closures play 'an important role in severing remaining contacts between households and thus ensuring transmission declines.

'While this new paper reviews some of the modelling our group undertook of school closure for less intensive mitigation, it did not include our results for school closure in combination with other lockdown measures.'

Schools have been shut except for the children of key workers and those in a vulnerable situation, and GCSEs and A Levels cancelled.

Pressure has been growing on the Government to plan for when schools will reopen.

Research has claimed school closures do not have a significant impact on the virus death toll.

Asked when schools could reopen, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said yesterday: 'In all these instances, we are driven and basing our decisions on thescience and what is best for controlling the spread of this virus.'
By Express News Service

RANCHI: A 72-year-old man died of coronavirus in Bokaro district, the first COVID-19 death reported in Jharkhand, a health official said on Thursday.

The patient died on Wednesday night, Bokaro District Chief Medical Officer Ashok Kumar Pathak said.

The man was kept in the isolation ward of a hospital after he showed symptoms of the virus on April 5.

He was later tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

The state on Wednesday witnessed a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases as nine new patients were tested positive in which five were from Ranchi and four from Bokaro.

Notably, all the nine cases were found to have come in direct contact with the first and fourth woman in Ranchi and Bokaro respectively.

Principal Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni confirmed that nine new cases of COVID-19 were found in Ranchi after the test results came late in the night on Wednesday. Second COVID-19 case, however, was found at Vishnugarh in Hazaribagh after a man returned from Asansol in West Bengal.

Five are from the same family from which a 54-year old woman was tested positive in Hindpiri of Ranchi on Monday, while four others also came in direct contact with the woman who was found positive in Bokaro; three are close relatives of the woman, said Kulkarni.

Remarkably, a 54-year woman of Hindpiri had come in direct contact with the Malaysian woman, who was tested positive for the first time in Jharkhand after attending Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin. The Bokaro woman also has a travel history of Bangaladesh who had gone there to take part in a religious congregation.

Official records from the State Government claimed that a total of 15, 186 persons have been quarantined at quarantine centres all over the State while 1, 31, 942 people have been home quarantined in their respective homes.

(With PTI Inputs)
Referencing a slogan used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover AIM HIGH! Challenge contains a multidisciplinary curriculum comprised of Home Front-themed lesson plans that meet multiple standards for respective grade levels and content areas. Weekly features include primary sourced stories at two reading levels, video, photos, podcasts, lesson ideas, and lesson plans with activities and assessments.

"We are excited to share the creative approach in providing educator grade material dedicated to the Arsenal of Democracy," said Chris Madrid, National Director. "It is a cooperative effort with educators and organizations to provide unique content and an online experience that is beneficial for educators and ultimately students."

The curriculum developed by Education Partner Judy Stanford Miller, editor and co-founder of Student News Net, is available to educators at no cost through the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

The latest lesson plan, "COVID-19 pandemic response, an echo of the WWII Home Front and Arsenal of Democracy" delves into the science of bacteria, viruses, and molds. Penicillin production is taught as an example of the "great arsenal of democracy" and how the current COVID-19 pandemic is an echo of the past as private companies transform their production to meet urgent needs of America and the world.

Upcoming lesson plans include "Meet Irene: from Holocaust to Hope and her trip to America on a Liberty Ship", "Rosie the Riveter", "Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)", and "The Jeep Story".

Instrumental in bringing about the resource is the Commemorative Air Force, well known for its educational events and efforts. Founded in 1957, the group currently maintains the largest World War II flying museum in the world.

"The Arsenal of Democracy is a timely metaphor to solve national problems in the midst of a crisis that can provide powerful examples for educators and their students in achieving aspirational goals," said Commemorative Air Force President Hank Coates. "Our mission is to Educate, Honor, and Inspire; our hope for this program is to have another avenue to introduce young people to the inspirational lessons and triumph of the Greatest Generation."

About Arsenal of Democracy Flyover AIM HIGH! Challenge

Our mission: Connect K-12 educators to the stories and history of America's Arsenal of Democracy and help students develop academic and non-academic skills for success in learning, career and life.

Contact

Chris Madrid

National Director - Arsenal of Democracy AIM HIGH! Challenge

Iberian Consulting

[email protected]

770-655-3315

SOURCE Arsenal of Democracy Flyover AIM HIGH! Challenge

Related Links

https://arsenal-of-democracy-flyover-aim-high-challenge.com


Donald Trump rose to political power waving the bloody shirt of Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico, one who already had been convicted of a raft of felonies and deported five times. Donald Trump promised he would put a stop to that.

He hasnt.

The outrage over Steinles death was understandable  and, worse, the man who killed her, Jose Inez Garcia Zarate, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges and, incredibly enough, even (on appeal) of the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, though he indisputably 1) is a felon, and 2) was in possession of a gun at the time he shot it and killed Kathryn Steinle. Expect to hear a good deal less about the death of 16-year-old Franklin Mercado, who was stabbed to death in what police believe was a gang retaliation and dumped in a park in Dallas.

Among those charged in his death is 25-year-old Jonathan Alexander Gonzalez-Rosales, a gangster from El Salvador, a member of something the U.S. government designates a transnational criminal organization, illegally present in the United States, known to law enforcement, and under a removal order.

See if you can spot the weak link: In 2017, Gonzalez-Rosales appeared in a San Antonio court on unrelated charges and came to the attention of ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). They filed an immigration detainer and issued him a notice to appear. He was released from ICE custody in February 2018 after posting bond, and his hearing was set for July. Of course, he did not show up for his hearing. Of course, the authorities lost track of him. Of course, nothing was done until he had murdered a 16-year-old.

He was picked up Tuesday in Dallas on the murder warrant. Hell be in ICE custody until he is turned over to Dallas. In theory, he will be deported after the murder case is resolved. Dont be surprised if he is right back in the middle of another mess on our side of the border.

Story continues

The Trump administration cannot be blamed for a judge letting Gonzalez-Rosales out on bond. But the director of ICE works for him  or would, if there were one. Like so many positions in the Trump administration, the director of ICE  the agency charged with implementing was what supposed to be Trumps top policy priority  is only there in an acting capacity. The Trump administration finds it hard to keep good help, in part because it expects its senior officials to put on a Vegas-lounge-act version of The Death of Stalin every time they appear in public, ritually praising His Excellency the Big Kahuna, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas, etc., nervously looking around so as not to be the first who stops applauding.

These things matter. The acting secretary of the Navy has just resigned after the unseemly spectacle of his flying all the way to Gaum in order to throw a hissy fit, getting on the loudspeakers of a Navy ship, and screaming out a profanity-laced denunciation of that vessels recently dismissed captain, Brett Crozier, who was canned after complaining about the fact that his superiors were sitting on their thumbs while coronavirus raged through his ship, needlessly endangering his sailors  who cheered him heartily as he was led away. The new guy called the former commander stupid and naive. On loudspeakers, this was, for the benefit of the crew. The Navy took the captains advice but fired him, anyway, for shaming them into action.

Captain Crozier recently has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The acting secretary of the Navy, Thomas Modly, had his job because the previous secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, was pushed out after he criticized the Trump administration for soliciting special treatment for a former SEAL demoted after grotesque misconduct but, happily for him, acquitted on the murder and attempted murder charges he was brought up on. That was the double sin of criticizing the president and contradicting the Fox News line.

(Former ICE director Thomas Homans retirement gig? Fox News.)

Trumps apologists often speak and write as though the complaints against him were only a matter of etiquette  the tweets and the boobishness and the boorishness and the endless stream of petty lies (and non-petty ones, too), but the real complaint is that Captain Chaos is a lot better at Twitter than he is at governance. That is apparent in big, headline-grabbing issues, most prominent among them his administrations beef-witted response to the coronavirus epidemic. It is a truly epic collection of blockheads indeed among whom Peter Navarro, as witless a crank as American public life has to offer, stands out for his foresight on the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak.

But it is apparent in the small print, too, including a little police item about a dead teenager in Dallas.

Theres a pattern: Trump can snipe and troll about the Chinese virus, but he still feels obliged to suck up to Chairman Xi at every opportunity. He can keen and sniff about the bad hombres illegally present in our country, but they slip through the fingers of his administration as easily as they did Barack Obamas. Trumps is a rhetorical presidency.

There are show horses and there are workhorses. Trump is a show horse.

Some show.

More from National Review
A number of colleges and universities in Pune have introduced psychological counselling and support for their students to cope with the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

One of the major educational hubs in the country, Pune has been hit hard by the pandemic and figures among the top cities to be affected by the crisis. More than 16 clusters have been sealed in the city even as the death toll due to Covid-19 touched 16 on Wednesday.

Deemed to be universities such as Symbiosis International University (SIU), MIT World Peace University, College of Engineering Pune (COEP), St Miras College for Girls, Flame University and Sri Balaji University have introduced counselling facilities.

Dr Girija Mahale , consultant psychiatrist and head of Symbiosis Centre for Emotional Wellbeing, said, the sudden and long lockdown has confined students to their homes with no socialisation with their friends which is an important aspect of students lives. Besides this, students are worried about the uncertainty around almost all aspects of life, especially academics and placements.

The student population at Symbiosis which falls in the late adolescence to early adulthood category has numerous psychological challenges due to this pandemic, she said.

Dr Mahale said the Symbiosis Centre for Emotional Wellbeing has a team of well-qualified and trained psychological counsellors and is headed by a psychiatrist with experience in youth mental health. Counsellors assigned to every campus have been offering counselling sessions online for all students who are experiencing mental health issues she said.

Students have also been provided with emergency contact numbers to get in touch with the counsellor 24/7. Those stranded at various hostels at different campuses are been individually contacted to check on their well-being, she said.

Rajdeep Nath, an MBA student and a hostelite from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) Pune said, the constant communication and online webinars were helping students like him.

Similarly College of Engineering Pune (COEP), one of the foremost engineering colleges in the country has introduced a dedicated helpline for their students.

Besides, the COEP Mitra (friend) and ICareWeCare initiatives have planned online sessions for students and a survey on the mental health of COEP students, faculty and staff members, said Kshipra Moghe, centre head of COEP Wellness Centre.

St Miras College for Girls launched a Mental Well-being Program from March 22, an online support group for their students who are feeling distressed due to the pandemic.

On this online platform, students can share their needs, challenges and personal distresses associated with stringent preventive measures such as quarantine and social distancing.

Students are also filling-in an online survey to assess their mental health needs and readiness for online support groups and sessions. Nearly 275 students said they were looking for online support, said college principal Prof Gulshan Gidwani.

In times like these, mental health can be easily neglected and unseen. It is possible to sometimes lose ourselves in news, constant anxiety and fear. But we need to remind ourselves that everyone has the ability to survive and fight. This programme here is to build an emotionally resilient student community, she said.

Prof N T Rao, vice chancellor, MIT World Peace University said, the deemed university has initiated changes in its processes for the benefit of students. To help students who may have difficulties in accessing online lectures, all the lessons, lecture notes and video recordings have been uploaded to the Universitys student portal.

Professional counsellor and teachers are regularly talking to students and parents to give comforting assurances that they should utilize the current situation not only to come back strong on the academic front but also return to the campus as much stronger individuals, he said.

Flame University has reached out to all students extending support through personal counselling and offering a stress-free virtual learning experience.

The universitys Well Being Department has urged students to come forward, open up and share their psychological concerns, besides setting up a Behavioural Health toll-free helpline.

Students can schedule a session with the concerned faculty via telephone or video conferencing. In case they want to seek any external intervention, we will help them with the relevant information on mental health support facilities and professionals that are available in their respective cities, said University registrar Virender Sharma.

Biju G Pillai, senior director- IT and admissions at Sri Balaji University said the graduating students were looking forward to starting their careers with new jobs and the juniors were looking forward to their internships. Now it is important to keep the students engaged, he said.

Apart from faculty interactions, students are being given tips to spend quality time with their families and be emotionally rooted, he said.

Advice to students

Educational institutes in Pune have urged students to practice self-care by doing activities such as exercise, yoga and meditation or mindfulness.

* maintain a routine with regular, balanced meals and fixed time of sleep.

* connect with family members and friends at home or via telephone

* Use the available time to engage in a favourite hobby

* minimise watching or reading news relating to Covid-19

* expand their knowledge by reading different books

* contribute to household chores.
Realtors' body Naredco on Thursday demanded a stimulus package of at least USD 200 billion to revive the Indian economy from the adverse impact of COVID-19 as well as suspension of insolvency law provisions for six months to prevent companies from becoming bankrput and acquired by foreign entities.

Pointing out that real estate sector will incur a loss of at least Rs 1 lakh crore because of the lockdown to control the coronavirus pandemic, Naredco President Niranjan Hiranandani said the government must allow one-time debt restructuring of the real estate industry and extra liquidity to kickstart business activities.

Hiranandani said property prices will fall by 10-15 per cent and there could be lay-offs and salary cuts in the absence of any relief package. He sees labour shortages till June because of harvesting of winter crops and sowing of summer crops.

"This is probably the worst recession I have seen in my 40 years of career. There is real demand erosion that has taken place," Hiranandani told reporters through a video conference.

Citing examples of the United States and many European nations that have announced a package to the tune of 10 per cent of their GDP, he said the government should come out with a " strong stimulus package of at least USD 200 billion" to revive the Indian economy.

"We have cancer in the economy. We need chemotherapy. Crocin tablet will not help," Hiranandani said, while pitching for the need of an whopping USD 200 billion package to support the economy.

He did not specify the amount required to revive the Indian real estate sector.

He also sought a 50 per cent cut in the GST rate for a period of six months for all the sectors. "Every company, barring pharma and some food companies, has been negatively affected".

Hiranandani also strongly demanded that the provisions of the insolvency law should be suspended for at least six months to prevent "wholesale takeover" of Indian companies.

Otherwise, he feared that good Indian companies will be acquired by foreign firms at a cheaper valuation through bankruptcy proceedings. "We need to protect our companies, banks and NBFCs".

Speaking at the conference, Naredco Vice Chairman Parveen Jain said the construction work should be allowed at the sites where workers have stayed put and not moved to their villages.

Jain demanded that the government should send advisories to all regulatory authorities under RERA to extend the timeline of completing projects by one year. The timeline for other compliances with RERA should also be extended.

The vice chairman demanded that states should provide moratorium on different payments to be made to development authorities.

Since real estate accounts for 6-7 per cent of India's GDP and employs nearly 10-11 per cent of the population, Naredco urged the government to focus on the demand of the developers.

Rajeev Talwar, Chairman Naredco, said in a statement, we urge the government to provide us with a stimulus package to deal with the current situation while we take care of our labour force to ensure that their health and safety is not compromised.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran's Rouhani Calls on IMF to Provide Nation With $5Bln to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Sputnik News

10:47 GMT 08.04.2020

TEHRAN (Sputnik)  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide Tehran with $5 billion worth of support to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are members of the IMF and the World Bank, we are paying our share, and part of our assets and resources are in their hands. Maybe over the past 50 years we have not asked anything from the IMF, [but] under the current tough circumstances, if they do not discharge their responsibilities, then the world will charge them differently", Rouhani said during a meeting with the government.

In early March, the country's authorities had already requested the IMF to provide financial assistance but has received none so far.

Rouhani also accused the United States of practicing economic and medical terrorism, and violating international conventions on global health.

As of Wednesday 12:52 pm, the total number of COVID-19 patients in Iran has reached 62,589 with 3,872 fatalities and 27,039 recoveries.

Iran has repeatedly claimed that the US sanctions have hindered the country's efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 and prevented the imports of essential medical goods to respond to the crippling epidemic.

A Sputnik

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As cars sit unused and household budgets tighten, drivers may have new ways to save money on their car insurance policies. Personal vehicle travel in the U.S. is down nearly 50 percent compared with typical traffic volume, according to Inrix, a provider of traffic data. That means decreased risk for insurance companieswhich should translate to lower premiums for consumers.

Already, some insurers, including Allstate, Geico, and USAA, have started giving rebates of up to 15 percent on insurance premiums. Most have relaxed their payment and cancellation terms as well. But what other relief is available?

Many consumers are reeling from sudden job loss and the resulting loss of income, including extended furloughs and layoffs," says Chuck Bell, programs director for advocacy at Consumer Reports. "State insurance commissioners can help by issuing industry-wide guidelines to make sure all auto insurers are treating their customers fairly.

Consumer Reports contacted 20 of the top-rated auto insurance companies in our rankings to ask what relief theyre putting in place during the pandemic and economic crisis. We found that all of them are willing to help consumers, but some are being more proactive than others.

Some insurers are automatically delaying cancellations and deferring premiums, but others require consumers to contact their agent or company to request help. These policies are usually prominently displayed on insurance company websites, along with contact information. We also found that changes are being made quickly, so its best for consumers to call their insurance company or agent directly to get the latest information.

CR contacted insurance industry analysts and state insurance commissioners to ask what new consumer relief programs are in place. We also asked personal finance experts ways for policyholders to cut their monthly bills if theyre not driving very much right now.

Story continues

Here are some steps you can take to reduce your car insurance premiums, and more information about what insurance companies are doing.

Is a Refund Available?

Because fewer accidents are happening, the insurance industry as a whole could end up saving $100 billion from claims that wont need to be paid, says Dan Karr, founder and CEO of ValChoice, a service that rates insurance companies.

At press time, multiple insurance companies said they planned to automatically pass a portion of those savings to consumers. Details about these programs are displayed on insurance company websites, most of which have a specific section dedicated to their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Depending on their insurer, customers will likely see these refunds applied automaticallyeither as premium reductions or account credits. Policyholders don't have to take any action or make any requests. CR expects to see more companies follow suit.

 Allstate promises that most customers will see a 15 percent rebate on premiums for April and May.

 Amica, a CR recommended insurer, says its customers will see a 20 percent credit on their auto premiums for April and May

 USAA, a CR recommended insurer, says its policyholders will receive a 20 percent credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks.

 American Family Insurance is providing a onetime, $50 payment for each vehicle insured under a personal auto insurance policy.

 Liberty Mutual and Safeco are providing a 15 percent refund for two months of policyholders personal auto premiums.

 GEICO is offering a 15 percent credit to auto and motorcycle policyholders as their policies comes up for renewal.

 Nationwide says it is offering a one-time premium refund of $50 per policy

 Auto-Owners Insurance told CR that it plans to announce a premium refund program in the near future.

 Farmer's and 21st Century policyholders will receive a 25% reduction in their April premiums



 NJM, a CR recommended insurer, has announced it will refund 15 percent of the equivalent of three months of premium payments to policyholders.

 Chubb, a CR recommended insurer, says that when its policyholders renew their policies, they will receive a credit reflecting a 35 percent premium reduction for the months of April and May, with additional discounts for subsequent months, as the situation warrants.

 Mercury says it plans to return 15 percent of monthly auto insurance premiums to customers in April and May

Call Your Agent or Insurance Company

If you're having trouble right now paying your premium, your first step should be a phone call.

Just call your company, call your agent, and see how they react, says Karr.

Indeed, many insurance companies CR contacted have not instituted across-the-board customer assistance policies, but told us they'd work with policyholders facing hardship.

Remember that its in these companies best interest to work with consumers, says Penny Gusner, senior consumer analyst for Insure.com, an insurance quote comparison website.

For the most part, insurance companies are looking to do right by their customers, which in turn should help their retention rate, she says. The ones holding back may see their customers shopping around in a few months when the world is back to a more normal state.

Get Help With Premiums and Cancellation

CR asked our top 20 recommended insurers what they are doing to assist customers. We also examined the coronavirus policies of some major insurers that might not be CR recommended. All of them had some form of payment or cancellation deferral in place. That doesnt mean policyholders wont have to pay their monthly premiums later. Instead, insurance companies may pause payments for a month or two and then spread those payment amounts out over the remaining months of a policy.

Steve Manders, Georgias deputy insurance commissioner, said that over 90 percent of our auto market has voluntarily done something, he told CR. A lot of them are doing a premium deferral and some of them are doing premium credits. In addition, many insurers are no longer requiring commercial insurance for drivers who are using their cars to make deliveries or giving rides to healthcare workers or patients.

Because each insurer has its own guidelines, its important for customers to read the fine print and see how long payments or cancellations are deferred, and when theyll have to pay those premiums back. For example, Shelter Insurance and NJM Insurance are currently offering relief through April 30, Travelers and Progressive are offering similar benefits through May 15, while Wawanesa General Insurance is offering case-by-case payment and cancellation deferrals through May 25. Many of the companies CR interviewed said these dates could be extended, depending on the crisis.

The policies can change from day to day and vary from company to company, so it's best to check your insurance company's website. Because insurance is regulated at the state level, these relief policies may also change depending on new rules and regulations.

State commissioners are currently working together on these issues, according to Alana LaFlore, spokeswoman for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The state commissioners are engaged in calls with each other and the NAIC on a variety of issues to share best practices and discuss important topics, she told CR.

Don't Let Your Insurance Lapse

If you arent driving and your bills are piling up, it may be tempting to stop paying your car insurance bills and allow your policy to lapse. But that's a bad idea because it could result in a fine or higher premium, experts tell CR.

Most states will penalize you for having a registered car without insurance. In some states, the penalties start after a one-day gap in insurance, says Gusner. Insurance companies may also charge policyholders a higher rate after they reinstate their policy. Beyond being in trouble with the state, insurance companies will charge you more if you have a lapse in coverage. So any money you may save in the month or two will likely be lost when you put insurance back on your vehicle at higher premiums.

Most insurance companies are delaying cancellations due to non-payment during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, if you do get a notice of cancellation, or if you know you're unable to pay your monthly premium, call your insurance company.

Many insurance companies are trying to work with their customers to make it so that they can delay payments at this time without fees or other penalties, Gusner said. If you cant update the registration on your vehicle because the DMV is closed, insurance companies will work with you on that as well.

Review Your Coverage

There are additional steps you can take to save money on your car insurance:

 Ask for a mileage discount. Insurance companies usually provide discounts to drivers who dont use their cars very often. Call your insurer and tell them how many miles you used to drive before the pandemic started, and then let them know how thats changed. Typically, insurers would make you wait for any discount until the next policy term started, but some insurance companies seem to be saying theyll reduce rates for less mileage now, Gusner said.

 Adjust your coverage. For example, changing your deductible (how much you have to pay out of pocket if you file a claim) can save you money. Maybe over time your needs have changed. Maybe in some places your limits should be higher, says Glenn Shapiro, president of Personal Property-Liability at Allstate. If your car is older, you may not need comprehensive and collision coverage on it. Those types of things can be a factor, he said. Note that if your car is leased or financed, you will likely be unable to drop certain coverages.

 Get a pay-per-mile policy. These insurance policies may also help cut premiums by up to 50 percent, a CR analysis showed. These programs only charge based on how much you drive, but may increase your rate if your driving is riskier than average. Because they keep track of drivers, they also raise some privacy concerns.

 Cancel coverage on the cars you arent driving. This is a drastic step, but if you own multiple vehicles and are only driving one, you can choose to cancel the coverage on the vehicle(s) you arent driving. Note that you may not be covered for vandalism, theft, or other damage to the vehicle. And remember to keep an eye on your car while its parked, so it isnt damaged by stale gas or other problems that can occur when a car sits without being driven.

If Your Provider Isn't Helping, Switch

If you dont like how your insurance company is treating you during a time of hardship, you can always switch providers.

How they react is probably a good indicator of how theyre going to react when you have claim, Karr told CR. Its a good testwhen things arent going well for me, how are they going to react? If your company isnt performing well, switch.

In a recent survey of Consumer Reports members, 62 percent of those who had switched car insurance providers in the past five years said theyd found a better price.

If you are looking for a new provider, be sure to take advantage of CRs comprehensive ranking of top-rated insurance companies to choose from.

Keep Premiums From Piling Up

If you've deferred payments, prepare for slightly higher bills in the future. At some point, obviously, we have to collect premiums, so we cant have that go forever, Allstates Shapiro said.

Allstate and others told CR that theyd spread those back payments out over multiple months to make it easier for policyholders to make them upbut consumers should still make a plan.

All of a sudden were two to three months down the road, and you get two to three months premium due and that creates a hardship in itself, Manders, the deputy commissioner in GA, told CR.

In addition, if youve reduced your coverage, asked for a mileage discount, or if you've taken a car off the road, remember to change your policy back if you start driving more miles.

When somebodys driving returns to the way it was before, its their responsibility to call an insurance company and tell them that, said Karr. If you are taking a car off the road entirely, he recommends putting a note on the dashboard as a reminder not to use the car until the insurance has been reinstated.

And if you do have to file a claim during the pandemic, you should expect some leeway for issues that arent under the control of the insurance company, vehicle owner, or repair shop, says David A. Sampson, president and CEO of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, an insurance industry trade group.

Auto insurers are prepared to be as flexible as possible within the terms of the policy, he said. This includes using video inspections to assess claims, and being more forgiving of delays when repair shops are closed or operating at reduced capacity.





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Top pick tires for 2016

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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2020, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Fake: Government has not closed down all its ministries

COVID-19: To revive growth govt working on bailout package of Rs 75,000 crore

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: The government is likely to set up a corpus fund of about Rs 75,000 crore to revive industries that are particularly labour intensive small and medium units.

This is part of an economic stimulus package that is currently under consideration aimed at reviving growth amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

The corpus is yet to be finalised and would be party funded by a cess proposed to be levied on certain commodities such as fuel and partly from budgetary support.

Last month, the government announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package in the form of food grains and cash transfers for the poor and vulnerable section of the society to help them deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Now, the government is working on a stimulus to be given to hard-hit sectors of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, sources said, adding, an announcement is expected in the next few days depending on the severity of the pandemic.

Besides, further relief measures are being worked upon to mitigate the hardships faced by citizens, especially the poor and vulnerable section of the society, sources added.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

The finance ministry along with the empowered group constituted by the Prime Minister's office (PMO) is working tirelessly on this aspect, sources said.

Last week, the PMO constituted a seven-member empowered group headed by economic affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty, who is monitoring the situation on a daily basis.

The empowered group is not only looking at the pain points of the economy but also the distress and misery being faced by a large section of the society who have been rendered jobless due to the outbreak.

Besides Chakraborty, the other members of the panel are expenditure secretary T V Somnathan, labour secretary Hiralal Samariya, rural development secretary Rajesh Bhushan, department of financial services additional secretary Pankaj Jain, joint secretary in Prime Minister's Office Arvind Shrivastava and deputy secretary in the Cabinet secretariat Amrapali Kata. The panel is also looking at rural distress.

Decoded: Which type of lung cells does the novel coronavirus attack

Since top officials of three departments of the finance ministry are part of the group, it can be construed as the finance ministry itself.

According to sources, the group is looking at the stress in various sectors including MSME, hospitality, civil aviation, agriculture and allied sector and based on the inputs working on the stimulus package.

The comprehensive package once prepared will be vetted by the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announcement would be made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the source added.

The announcement is expected to be made towards the end of lockdown so that the industry can be put on track and the economy can be reinvigorated as soon as possible.

Last month, the finance minister announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrains and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown.

As per the announcement, 80 crore poor ration cardholders will each get 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free of cost every month for the next three months, while, 20.4 crore women having Jan Dhan bank accounts would get cash help of Rs 1,500 spread over three months.

Over 8.3 crore poor women, who were handed out free cooking gas connections since 2016, will get free LPG refills for the next three months, while poor senior citizens, widows and disabled will get an ex-gratia cash of Rs 1,000.

Sitharaman had hinted at more announcements if need arises.

No CM asked me to lift lockdown says PM Modi at all party meet

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet on Monday approved a 30 per cent reduction in salary and allowances of members of parliament for one year to fight against Covid-19.

President, Vice President and governors voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a gesture towards concerted effort to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

At the same time, the government has decided to suspend MPLADS and funds would be directed towards improving medical infrastructure.

An MP gets Rs 5 crore every year as part of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

With 693 new coronavirus cases reported since Sunday, the total number cases has crossed 4,000 in the country.
Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and Im proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis, Biden said in a post on the website Medium. He said he would release more details in the future.
In the middle of H-E-B's heralded response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is also celebrating the birthday of the man who turned H-E-B into what it is today.

Howard E. Butt was born on April 9, 1895. Though the Butt family is one of the most well-known Texas names, Butt was born in Memphis, Tenn. The family moved to the Texas Hill Country, finding a home in Kerrville, where Howard E. Butt and his siblings grew up. His parents, Charles Clarence Butt and Florence Thornton Butt, decided on relocating in hopes that the dryer climate would be therapeutic for the father's tuberculosis, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

When Howard H. Butt was 10, the first grocery store in the family history was started by Florence in Kerrville. The mother started C.C. Butt Grocery Store in November 1905 with a $60 investment, H-E-B's online timeline says. The store, which sold bulk food, started young Howard E. Butt on a path which would lead to generations of customer loyalty. At 16, Howard E. Butt became manager of his mother's store. After graduating as valedictorian of his Tivy High School class in 1914, he spent some time in California, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve in World War I.

By 1919, Howard E. Butt had returned to Kerrville to help his mom with the store. In 1921, he transitioned the store, which was based on deliveries, into a cash-and-carry, which was a move that was considered risky at the time.

After a few failed attempts to expand the store in Texas, he opened a store in Del Rio in 1926 and then in the Rio Grande Valley. San Antonio welcomed the first H. E. Butt Grocery Company in 1942, before the stores were officially named "H-E-B" in 1946. In 1971, as the founder celebrated his 76th birthday, he gave the role of president to his son, Charles C. Butt. A few years later, H-E-B's headquarters moved to San Antonio. Howard E. Butt's successor also implemented changes like staying open on Sundays and starting the sale of beer and wine, according to San Antonio Express-News archives.

Howard E. Butt died on March 12, 1991. He was 95.

Charles C. Butt remains at the helm of the grocery giant as CEO. The chain, which remains privately owned, now has hundreds of stores in Texas and Mexico.

In January, H-E-B took the top spot in a consumer survey of more than 60 grocery stores nationwide. Now, H-E-B is earning national acclaim for its crisis response during the pandemic, including protective measures and increased pay for employees and community relief like a new program which allows local restaurants to sell their meals in the grocery stores. The partnership program gives restaurants in-store display space, as COVID-19 emergency orders restrict food establishments to take-out and delivery only. Participating restaurants are able to keep all of the proceeds from sales of the heat-and-serve meals, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Longtime H-E-B employee Eddie Garcia, who helped launch the company's annual Feast of Sharing dinner, said helping communities they're part of is ingrained in the Butt family values in a 2015 San Antonio Express-News interview.

The Butt family has always tried to address hunger in the community, Garcia said.

He said Florence donated all surplus from the original Kerrville store to the poor.

All of this builds customer loyalty, he added. For H-E-B, its not just about raking in money. Its about doing the right thing.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
The USS Nimitz sails north of Oahu, July 18, 2012.

REUTERS/Hugh Gentry

After the Pentagon said Thursday morning "there's been a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz," the Navy told Insider that there are currently zero active cases aboard the aircraft carrier.

There were two USS Nimitz sailors who were quarantined over coronavirus concerns, a Navy official told Insider. One tested positive but was on leave and never set foot on the ship. The other was a presumptive positive whose tests were inconclusive. Both sailors have either recovered or are recovering.

The Navy official told Insider that no other concerning developments have been detected aboard the Nimitz.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a senior Pentagon official said Thursday morning that there have been a "small number of breakouts" on the USS Nimitz, the Navy told Insider that there are currently zero active coronavirus cases aboard the ship.

There have "been a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz, and we are watching that very closely before the Nimitz goes out," Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten said during a Pentagon press briefing.

"It's not a huge breakout. It's not a big spike at this point," Hyten said.

The Navy clarified that while no sailor who has been aboard the carrier has tested positive for the coronavirus, the situation is a little confusing.

A Navy official explained to Insider that there were two USS Nimitz sailors who were quarantined over coronavirus concerns. One tested positive but was on leave and never set foot on the ship. The other was a presumptive positive who took two tests that were inconclusive.

The last time the sailor who was treated as a presumptive positive "out of an abundance of caution" was on the ship was over two weeks ago. There have been no other concerns since then.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt and its carrier strike group January 25, 2020.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kaylianna Genier

The Navy is currently dealing with a coronavirus outbreak aboard the deployed aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, where 416 sailors have tested positive. The service revealed Thursday morning that one sailor who was found unresponsive in isolation has been hospitalized in an intensive care unit.

Story continues

The number of cases aboard the ship jumped more than 45% from Wednesday to Thursday. Hyten revealed that almost the entire crew has been tested, but the Navy is awaiting 1,164 test results. Among those that tested positive, 187 were symptomatic, while the remainder had no symptoms.

Talking to the press at the Pentagon, Hyten suggested that the Navy needs to prepare for the possibility that what is happening on the USS Theodore Roosevelt could happen again. "It's not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue," Hyten said.

"We have too many ships at sea. We have too many deployed capabilities. There's 5,000 sailors on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan."

"What we have to do," he continued, "is we have to figure out how to plan for operations in these kind of COVID environments."

Update: This piece has been updated to reflect the Navy assessment that there are currently no active coronavirus cases aboard the Nimitz. Earlier comments from Pentagon leadership had suggested otherwise.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Investment Association (IA) has written a letter to the chairs of all FTSE 350 companies insisting that if they cut dividend payments, workers' salaries or both, this should be reflected in bosses' pay packets.

The trade body for fund management firms says it wants the level of executives' pay to echo company performance, and that it would support company boards and remuneration committees that took this approach.

It also stated in the letter that if firms are cancelling their dividend payments, they should recommence them 'as soon as it is prudent to do so.'

Andrew Ninian: 'As custodians of long-term capital, we favour companies that can demonstrate they are well run and take a long-term view of how they treat their employees, communities, suppliers, pension savers and customers'

Andrew Ninian, the Director of Stewardship and Corporate Governance at IA, who composed the letter, wrote:

'As custodians of long-term capital, we favour companies that can demonstrate they are well run and take a long-term view of how they treat their employees, communities, suppliers, pension savers and customers.

'Our industry's role is to cut through economic uncertainty and market volatility, to work with and support good businesses that produce sustainable long-term value for savers and investors.'

They write that companies should prioritise taking long-term decisions that value individual investors and savers more than executives.

IA recommends that decisions over dividend payments should enable businesses to withstand financial problems, but that shareholders would show concern if firms' unnecessarily reduced or rebased' dividend levels.

Mr Ninian said that dividends are an essential income for many small investors, as well as pension funds and charities.

On one day this week, thirteen major companies either scrapped or called off payouts totalling 636million. These include Rolls Royce and the Daily Mirror's parent company Reach plc

A large number of companies have decided to postpone or cancel dividends in recent following rising financial distress as a result of the coronavirus. Many have also furloughed or fired staff and cut wages.

On one day this week, thirteen major companies either scrapped or called off payouts totalling 636million. These include Rolls Royce and the Daily Mirror's parent company Reach plc.

Some listed firms that have performed strongly in recent weeks though such as property investment company CLS and supermarket giant Tesco are going ahead with dividends though.

Tesco received massive criticism for its 900m shareholder payout because it expects to save about 585million from the government's 100 per cent business rates holiday

Tesco's annual pre-tax profits were 1.3billion last year, and it announced today that it was giving 900million to shareholders. But it received massive criticism for the payout because it expects to save about 585million from the government's 100 per cent business rates holiday.

IA chief executive Chris Cummings said: 'Businesses in the UK and around the world are facing unprecedented challenges. The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has caused real strain across the economy, and so it is right that investors help steady the ship.'

The IA's members collectively own a third of publicly-listed companies' shares in the UK.

It also said it would back efforts by companies who need more money from their shareholders to help them through the pandemic.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing efforts to bring parks to people digitally, the National Park Foundation (NPF) is releasing a new collection of Instagram stickers this coming Thursday, April 16, timed with the #FindYourPark Twitter chat at 1:00 PM ET.

"Parks inspire all of us," said NPF President and CEO Will Shafroth. "From the comfort of your home, wherever you are, we want you to feel connected to these treasured places. The National Park Foundation and our partners are excited to continue engaging people with parks digitally in new and innovative ways."

The National Park Foundation and its Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque premier partners share great ideas for connecting with the beauty and wonder of national parks digitally, from wherever you are. (Imagery courtesy of the National Park Foundation)

In partnership with its Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque premier partners Budweiser, HanesBrands, L.L.Bean, Nature Valley, Subaru, and Union Pacific Railroad, NPF is sharing three great ideas for celebrating National Park Week wherever you are:

Come chat with us  Join NPF, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and Find Your Park partners for a Twitter chat on April 16 at 1:00 PM ET . Join the conversation about celebrating national parks using the hashtags #FindYourPark and #NationalParkWeek.

Join NPF, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and Find Your Park partners for a Twitter chat on at . Join the conversation about celebrating national parks using the hashtags #FindYourPark and #NationalParkWeek. Bring your tweets to life  From April 16 through 26 , a special limited-time park ranger emoji will appear alongside #FindYourPark, #EncuentraTuParque, #FindYourVirtualPark, and #NationalParkWeek on Twitter. It's a crowd favorite that is only available for a short time, so use it while you can!

From , a special limited-time park ranger emoji will appear alongside #FindYourPark, #EncuentraTuParque, #FindYourVirtualPark, and #NationalParkWeek on Twitter. It's a crowd favorite that is only available for a short time, so use it while you can! Get stuck on national parks  Beginning April 16 , search for National Park Week or National Park Foundation in the stickers function of Instagram Stories to find brand new national park-themed digital stickers, the perfect companion when sharing national park memories.

But the fun doesn't end there. Nature Valley, Subaru of America, and Union Pacific Railroad have some additional tips for national park champions across the country.

"Rediscover the joy of nature in your own backyard," said Nature Valley Director of Marketing Scott Baldwin. "Tune into the PARKTRACKS soundtrack while engaging in a fun nature-inspired scavenger hunt or game of I Spy!"

"Challenge your friends to come up with the most creative way to promote the Leave No Trace principles and #DontFeedTheLandfills initiative," said Subaru of America, Inc. Senior Vice President of Marketing Alan Bethke. "Keeping our parks pristine is an important job that we can all help to support and making these practices a habit is beneficial to parks and the people that love them."

"Experience what it's like to have park ranger knowledge with National Park Service's free downloadable Junior Ranger activity booklets," said Union Pacific Railroad Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations Scott Moore. "And, stay tuned because soon they'll be releasing a new booklet all about trains and railroads!"

Visit www.nationalparkweek.org for more information and additional ideas for celebrating.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help protect more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts and connect all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org.

SOURCE National Park Foundation

Related Links

http://www.nationalparks.org


Jodhpurs first Covid-19 patient, Himanshu Uttamchandani, walked out of hospital this week after being declared infection free. But the same day, thousands of miles away in Madrid, his uncle Mohan breathed his last after battling the same infection for nearly a week.

Himanshu, 37, and his uncle last met in Turkey, where the entire family had gathered in the second week of March for a wedding. When Himanshu came back to India on March 18, accompanied by his mother, wife, daughter, uncle and aunt, he was examined at the airport but was cleared.

Three days later, he went to the local hospital with his wife after a throat infection and submitted a throat swab. Later that night, the report came back positive for Covid-19 and his entire family was quarantined at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Jodhpur.

He was discharged on April 6.

But Mohan, 71, was less lucky. Mohans health check or screening was not done when he returned to Spain from Turkey. After 4-5 days, seeing symptoms like illness, the doctor came, said Mohans brother and Himashus father, Shankar.

The doctor asked Mohan to stay home instead of admitting him in the hospital and gave him medicines, but his health deteriorated. On March 31, Mohan was taken to a hospital where he was kept in the ICU, but his condition didnt improve. Patients are not being admitted unless the condition is very critical. Mohans funeral may have to wait for a month, said Shankar.
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For updates from inside the Capitol dome, read the State Bar of Wisconsin's monthly e-newsletter, the Rotunda Report.





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Brazil's Supreme Court has ruled to bar President Jair Bolsonaro from loosening measures taken by state authorities in a bid to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

Bolsonaro has been criticized at home for ignoring the Health Organization's advice to limit public life. He has proposed a plan to get the nation back to work after mayors and governors unilaterally imposed quarantines.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday partly granted a motion by the Brazilian bar association to prevent Bolsonaro from lifting quarantine and other social distancing guidelines adopted by regional and municipal authorities.

He added that the judiciary cannot force the president to adopt any extra measures. Brazil is the worst affected country in Latin America, with over 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 800 virus-related deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wilmar Africa Ltd has presented cash and products worth GHs 1,000,000 to support the governments efforts to check the spread of COVID-19 and also alleviate the plight of the less privileged families in our society.



The donation comprised of a GHs 100,000 cheque to the Covid-19 fund and GHs 900,000 worth of their products: Viking Rice, Frytol Vegetable Oil, Frytol seasoning, Largo soap, Jamaa soap & Alife soap.



The donation was made to the Ministry of Information and received by the sector Minister, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on behalf of the government of Ghana during the press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, April 7th, 2020.



The team from Wilmar Africa was led by the General Manager, Kwame Wiafe. In presenting their support, he said the GHs100,000 cash is intended to support the COVID-19 fund established by the government, while the products go to help the vulnerable in society who are the most hit by the partial lockdown.



He said Wilmar Africa appreciates the effort and plans the Government continues to put in place to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Ghana. As a socially responsible company, we are delighted to be partners in assisting the vulnerable especially during this lockdown period.



Receiving the donation, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Senior Minister, Yaw Osaafo Marfo, thanked the team for their kind gesture and reaffirmed the governments commitment in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. He also assured them that the products will go a long way to alleviate the plight of the underprivileged in our society.



Wilmar International is the worlds leading integrated multinational Agribusiness group with head office in Singapore and operates 850 factories in 35 countries across 5 continents including Asia & Africa and generates in excess of $ 40 Billion annual turnovers.



In Ghana, Wilmar operates an integrated business model in the agriculture sector withholding interest in Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP)  a leading oil palm plantation business and which is listed on Ghanas stock exchange. Wilmar Africa Ltd, which its manufacturing arm in Ghana is one of the largest manufacturing business entities and is the producer of Frytol Cooking Oil and importers of Fortune Rice brands among others.



Wilmar directly employs over 3,000 staff in Ghana and is one of the largest taxpayers with annual tax contribution of over Ghc200 million into the national coffers.



The company continues to sensitize the public using various media platforms on making personal hygiene a habit and the need to stay safe during this COVID-19 season.

Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
If the comic book industry was a person, it would be an 87-year-old geezer coughing ominously and taking fever shits every ten minutes. In case we're being too subtle there, what we're saying is: not content with threatening Tom Hanks and Idris Elba, the year from hell might end up killing comics as we know them.

You might have heard that Diamond Comics, the company that distributes around 99% of all comic books in America and the UK, decided to stop doing that for the first time ever because of COVID-19. On April 1st, comics stores (the ones that are still open) just didn't receive any new issues from Diamond, which handles DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Archie, Valiant, and basically everything that isn't Christian pamphlets, unlicensed My Little Pony erotica, and crossovers between the two. Publishers are also telling artists to put down their pencils and limiting the number of comics they put out digitally due to the very real fear that, if most fans figure out how to read Batman online, comics stores will instantly go bankrupt.

You might be thinking, OK, so comic stores go away and everyone has to buy their comics digitally and maybe print them out themselves if they live in a no-phones-in-the-toilet household. What's the big deal? The big deal is that most of the publishers' revenue these days comes not from the comics themselves but from stuff like toys and t-shirts, and no one's better at moving those than your friendly (if you catch him in a good mood) neighborhood comic book guy. The publishers need the stores to stick around, at least until someone figures out a way to download novelty Hulk hands and such.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday announced new restrictions aiming at curbing the spread of the coronavirus in New Jersey, ordering all employees and shoppers at the businesses allowed to stay open to wear face coverings.

Businesses must also limit the number of customers allowed inside stores to a max of 50% of their capacity. The governor previously ordered a widespread shut down of businesses in the state, among other sweeping measures to combat the contagious pathogen. Some stores, including supermarkets, were deemed as essential and permitted to keep open.

Also on Wednesday, officials announced the state has at least 47,437 cases and at least 1,504 deaths from COVID-19.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Heres a roundup of coronavirus news:

Retired president of 5 ShopRite grocery stores in N.J. dies from coronavirus, family says: Steve Ravitz, the patriarch and retired president of Ravitz Family Markets, which operates several ShopRite stores in South Jersey, has died from the coronavirus, according to his son. He was 73.

DWI driver coughed, said she was happy to infect troopers with coronavirus, authorities say: Officials on Wednesday announced charges in separate cases of New Jersey residents allegedly violating state orders put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

N.J. orders all non-essential construction to stop in latest coronavirus lockdown restriction: Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all non-essential construction in the state to stop by Friday at 8 p.m.

Coronavirus deaths increase to 1,504 with 47,437 total cases in N.J. Another 3K new positive tests announced: New Jersey now has at least 1,504 deaths from the coronavirus and at least 47,437 total cases. State officials on Wednesday announced 275 new deaths and 3,088 new positive tests in the last 24 hours.

The deaths reported Wednesday marked highest single-day increase since the outbreak. The total death toll is higher than the number of New Jersey residents  1,487  killed during the Vietnam War.

Were not at any plateau, the governor during his daily coronavirus press briefing. We need to be absolutely vigilant.

N.J. unemployment claims are processed by a 40-year-old computer system as demand soars: The coronavirus outbreak has forced businesses in New Jersey to close, with more than 300,000 state residents putting in for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, eclipsing all previous records for claims.

Top aide to Gov. Murphy tests positive for coronavirus: Matt Platkin, chief counsel for Murphys administration, recently tested positive for the virus, a governors spokesman said in a statement.

He is currently asymptomatic and has been in quarantine since last Saturday while continuing to actively work from home, communications director Mahen Gunaratna said.

Where is the coronavirus in N.J.? See the latest map with updates on county-by-county cases as of April 8, 2020

Coronavirus cases in the United States: There were 424,945 cases reported in the country as of Wednesday afternoon, according to information from the the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The center logged 14,529 deaths nationwide. At least 23,292 people have recovered in the U.S., according to the centers tally.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco, Rebecca Everett, Brent Johnson and Sophie Nieto-Munoz contributed to this report.
New Orleans has created a 'death care task force' as the city battles one of the highest coronavirus fatality rates in the nation.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the task force on Tuesday, along with a grim set of new safety guidelines for managing, preparing and burying COVID-19 victims.

'The COVID-19 outbreak has created a tragedy within a tragedy: Compromising the way our residents prepare their deceased love ones to be laid to rest, and share in their grief the way we're accustomed to. And it won't get any easier,' Cantrell said in a statement.

'That is why weeks ago I convened a Death Care Task Force to engage funeral home directors, coroners, cemetery directors, hospital officials, faith-based leaders and other stakeholders.

'They are working to ensure that this process is respectful but also mindful of the regulations we must follow to ensure safety for all involved in this somber process.'

The announcement came as the number of New Orleanians infected with COVID-19 climbed to 5,070 on Wednesday, including at least 208 deaths.

New Orleans has formed a 'death care task force' to ensure safe handling and burial of coronavirus victims as the city battles one of the nation's highest fatality rates (file photo)

Mayor LaToya Cantrell (pictured) announced the task force on Tuesday, along with a grim set of new safety guidelines for managing, preparing and burying COVID-19 victims

Cantrell said New Orleans is following official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for processing human remains that might contain COVID-19 because the virus can travel postmortem.

Officials handling the bodies are required to wear an N95 mask, eye protection such as a face shield and goggles, double surgical gloves and an impervious gown with full sleeve coverage.

Coroners and funeral home staff must wipe down each body with antiseptic solution and follow other strict rules regarding body bags when transporting the remains.

The guidelines also stipulate that bodies should be buried within three to five days after death to reduce back-ups in funeral homes.

The 'death care task force' was convened to ensure that the guidelines are followed to the letter as New Orleans braces for an expected influx of people dying from coronavirus.

'We'd like to thank Mayor Cantrell for her leadership in gathering all of the key stakeholders, not just in New Orleans but across the region so that we can work collaboratively to inform our residents on the best practices during this outbreak,' the task force said in a statement.

New Orleans is following official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for processing human remains that might contain COVID-19 because the virus can travel postmortem. Anyone handling bodies is required to wear extensive personal protective gear

Dr Gerry Cvitanovitch, the coroner for Jefferson Parish, was one of the officials named to the task force, according to The Times-Picayune.

He told the outlet that it was put together so leaders could agree to a regional approach for how to deal with the sudden influx in bodies.

Cvitanovitch on Sunday said that he'd rented a refrigerated truck to free up body storage in hospitals because some funeral home directors and drivers didn't have proper personal protective equipment until recently, and therefore couldn't handle remains.

He said some directors were still reluctant to take in coronavirus victims - while others at larger funeral homes scramble to keep up with demand for services.

EMS personnel bring a patient into Ochsner Baptist Medical Center in New Orleans

Cantrell's announcement on Tuesday also included new regulations for funerals.

Services will be limited to immediate family based on social distancing guidelines which restrict the size of gatherings.

Because bodies will need to be processed within five days of death, families have been urged to plan small funerals prior to burial and schedule larger ones for a later date.

The mayor's office recommended that loved ones use social platforms and live-streaming technology if they want to include people outside of the immediate family in funeral events.

A field hospital for COVID-19 patients was set up inside the Ernest N Morial Convention Center

Staff work inside the Morial Convention Center as they prepare for coronavirus patients

New Orleans remains one of the main hotspots for coronavirus in the US, which has seen more than 435,500 cases and at least 14,831 deaths as of Wednesday.

Figures released last week found that the Big Easy's death rate - 37.93 per 100,000 people - is more than double the rate in the US epicenter of New York City, which is 18.86, according to University of Louisiana at Lafayette economics professor Gary Wagner.

Obesity has been cited as a possible explanation for higher than average per-capita COVID-19 death rates in New Orleans.

Nearly 40 percent of residents have high blood pressure, 36 percent are obese and about 19 percent have diabetes - higher rates than the general population.

Louisiana has recorded more than 17,000 cases and at least 652 deaths to date.
The Takoradi Central Church of Christ has donated hand sanitizers worth Ghc40,000 to Kwesimintsim Hospital, Sekondi Central Prisons and other places to support the fight against coronavirus pandemic in the Sekondi-Takoradi and the region as a whole.

The donation forms part of the church's social corporate responsibility towards the fight against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Takoradi Central Church of Christ over the years has been donating several items to support government, orphanages, hospitals, prison service and other entities as part of their belief in the gospel to give back to society.

At a separate donation, the preacher, Brother Dan Owusu-Asiamah, presented some of the items to Kwesimintsim Hospital, Sekondi Central Prisons, Apremdo Market and other transport terminals.

Brother Dan Owusu-Asiamah after the presentation explained that the church were not only mandated to preach but to also give back to society especially the less privileged.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Kwesimintsim Hospital, the Administrator, Mr. Felix Osei Kesse commended the church for their kind gesture, adding that the move by the church has motivated them in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

At Sekondi Central Prisons, the Operations Officer of the Sekondi Central Prisons, DSP Samuel Amarfio who received the items also thanked the church and appealed to other organizations to support them position themselves well in the fight against coronavirus.
Financial services conglomerate IIFL group has donated Rs 5 crore to Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) towards efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in India.



#PMCARES India Dares.. IIFL Group @IIFLCorporate @IIFLWEALTH makes humble contribution of 5 crores to PM CARES fund to help #IndiaFightsCorona under your leadership @narendramodi We shall engage our 18000+ employees as well to mobilise more support for this cause @PMOIndia



In a tweet on March 30, Nirmal Jain, the founder and chairman of India Infoline Group, committed Rs 5 crore to PM-CARES Fund.

On March 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM-CARES Fund which allows individuals and institutions to make micro-donations in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

"People from all walks of life expressed their desire to donate to India's war against COVID-19," PM Modi tweeted, adding the fund has been constituted respecting that spirit.

"It is my appeal to my fellow Indians, kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations, if they occur in the times ahead," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Since the fund was set up, thousands of Indians answered to PM's war cry and Rs 6,500 crore have been collected, as on April 6.

Industry giants such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Group, Adani Group, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Sons, Infosys, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Group among others, have made major contributions to the fund.

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic has spread across 184 countries and territories.

As of the time of writing this article, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India were at 5,274. The Union Health Ministry has said that 149 people have died due to the disease.

Globally, there have been over 15.1 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 88,400 people have died so far.
World powers scrambled on Thursday to build a global response to the human tragedy and once-in-a-century economic collapse caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as death tolls in the US and Europe soared higher.

In a locked-down New York, the UN Security Council was to meet on the pandemic for the first time. And, by video conference, EU finance ministers are wrangling over how to bail out their worst hit members Italy and Spain.

New York State recorded its single day record for COVID-19 deaths, with 799, although the rate of new hospitalisations fell, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. In neighbouring Canada, the government forecast that between 11,000 and 22,000 could die.

We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression, said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, warning that all but a handful of countries will see incomes fall and urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike.-

The US Federal Reserve threw out just such a lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing financing facilities of $2.3 trillion to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity.

He warned, however, that the US economy is moving with alarming speed towards very high unemployment. Nearly 17 million Americans have lost their jobs since mid-March.

It is a similar picture in Europe, where French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he expected GDP to fall by six percent over the year, despite a planned 100-billion-euro ($109 billion) relief plan.

Pope Francis was preparing to celebrate Maundy Thursday with The Mass of the Lords Supper, but he was to be unable to perform the tradition of washing the feet of the faithful in case of infection.

Meanwhile, the number of worldwide cases of the novel coronavirus since it spread from China earlier this year topped 1.5 million, according to an AFP tally. More than 88,981 people have died.

 Italys nun-doctor 

Alongside the personal tragedies and the pressure on overburdened hospitals, there has been a stark economic toll, with the World Trade Organization warning of the worst recession of our lifetimes.

The worst-hit countries in Europe  the worst-hit continent  are Italy and Spain, where daily death tolls are now down from their peaks but still running high, despite strict lockdowns.

Spains daily fatalities fell to 683 on Thursday, down from 757 the day before, while its total passed 15,000.

In Italy, the countrys youngest COVID-19 patient, a two-month-old baby girl, was reportedly released from hospital, a moment of hope in a country with 17,669 dead.

Italys epidemic has turned life in the country upside down, but also brought out acts of generosity from the likes of Sister Angel Bipendu, a nun and a doctor who distributes medical care alongside spiritual succour.

She tries to remain optimistic, despite the ravages of the coronavirus reminding her of earlier epidemics in her former central African homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I think of my Congo, where sick people will also die of hunger, the 47-year-old told AFP as she made home visits in Bergamo province, epicentre of Italys outbreak. Im afraid of not being able to do everything I have to do. Fear of being infected? Absolutely not.

One hundred Italian doctors, Sister Bipendus colleagues, have died in the outbreak, according to their health association.

 European project at stake 

Madrid and Rome are seeking assistance from EU partners to rebuild their economies in the wake of the disaster, but Germany has rejected the idea of joint borrowing and the Netherlands is blocking a compromise solution.

EU finance ministers were to meet later Thursday by videoconference for the second late-night crisis talks of the week to try to agree terms to allow hard-hit members to access funds.

If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC, suggesting the very future of the EU was at stake.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, said it was vital the ministers hatch a plan big enough to meet the challenge, warning: If not all countries are cured, the others will suffer.

European companies are also suffering under a public lockdown, which health experts say is vital to slow the virus spread but has effectively frozen economic life.

In one example, German airline Lufthansa warned it was losing one million euros an hour and would need state aid.

The coronavirus slump has also fed the instability in world energy markets, and on Thursday top oil producers from OPEC like Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ partners, including Russia, met to discuss cutting production to boost prices.

Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits in a volatile market.

 UK PMs condition improving 

The virus has travelled around the whole world, and confined more than a third of humanity to their homes, but there has been a marked lack of international solidarity. Thursdays videoconference meeting of the UN Security Council will be the first on the crisis since it began.

Led by Germany, nine of the councils 10 non-permanent members requested the closed-door meeting last week, fed up with the bodys inaction over the unprecedented global crisis.

It has also been a tough week in Britain, where 881 new deaths were recorded on Thursday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a fourth night in intensive care, his condition said to be improving.

Under the leadership of Johnsons cabinet, the British government  which has already pledged a stimulus of billions of pounds  expanded its overdraft with the Bank of England by an undisclosed amount, to temporarily cover the cost of emergency measures.

And the pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected. Africa faces vast economic damage, with the World Bank warning that sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter of a century.

SOURCE: AFP
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House coronavirus expert, has said antibody tests that will determine if a person has had the virus and recovered it will become available on a mass scale in a matter of 'days or weeks'.

Dr Fauci, appearing on Today on NBC on Thursday, said the tests were being developed by private companies that the government had partnered with.

They will be crucial to restarting the economy and may even become a requirement for some people before they can get back to work.

The test will identify if a person has antibodies in their blood which suggests they have successfully recovered from COVID-19 without ever knowing they had it.

However, similar tests being done in Europe have failed to identify a single person who has the antibody.

How long a person can stay immune from the virus is not yet known, and it is also not clear if the tests are sensitive enough to nail down whether or not a person ever had COVID-19.

Dr Anthony Fauci on the Today show on Thursday talking about antibody tests he says will be widely available 'very soon'

Watch @savannahguthries full interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who talks about efforts to control the spread of coronavirus, and how much longer social distancing will last. pic.twitter.com/GLZAy5Ox39  TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 9, 2020

The other method of testing is a swab test to determine if a person currently has COVID-19

'We are told by the companies that make [the tests] that [it will be] very soon they're talking days to weeks, that we'd be able to have a large number of these tests available.

'They don't tell you if you're infected, they tell you if you have been infected. That answer is very important.

'There may be many people out there that were infected and asymptomatic and didn't know it.

'It is likely, but we need to prove it, once you've been infected... that you are very likely protected against subsequent challenges to the same virus, which means you may have a cohort of people who are actually protected,' he said.

How and where the tests will become available to the general public remains unclear.

In New York - by far the worst hit state in the country - the state department of health has approved its own antibody test that it is now trying to bring to a mass scale.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier this week it would be crucial to restarting the local economy.

It is unclear where and when those tests will become available but he is also asking private companies to partner with the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to bring them to mass market.

Dr Fauci also appeared on CBS This Morning where he warned that getting back to 'normal' life will be a gradual process.

Speaking about what we can expect to see come the summer Dr Fauci said: 'You know, it looks like things are going to be improving.

'If you look at the curves that we talk about, we often talk about flattening the curve, and then getting around the corner and coming down. If, in fact, we see that - and it will be differential in different parts of the country.

'I mean, New York City, the terrible ordeal that they've gone through is very different from some of the places in the middle of the country or the mountain regions. So when you say get back to normal, it's not going to be a light switch that you turn on and off. It's going to be differential and gradual depending upon where you are and where the burden of infection is.

Asked if people can expect to be taking vacation or attending functions come the summer he said: 'It can be in the cards, and I say that with caution because as I said, when we do that, when we pull back and try to open up the country as we often use that terminology, we have to be prepared that when the infection starts to rear their heads again, that we have in place a very aggressive and effective way to identify, isolate, contact, trace, and make sure we don't have those spikes that we've seen now. So the answer to your question is yes, if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence.'

He added: 'But the bottom line of it all is that we see looking forward, it is very likely that we will progress toward the steps toward normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days. And I think that's going to be a good time to see how quickly can we make that move to try and normalize. But hopefully by the time we get to the summer, we will have taken many steps in that direction.'

Dr. Fauci also told Today that New York City - the epicenter of the crisis - was the first hit because so many cases arrived from northern Italy, likely months ago, before the US even knew it was a threat.

The country had focused its attention on China, where the virus originated, and Trump closed the border to all flights from there early but the virus had already spread to Europe and exploded there.

'Europe became the epicenter pretty quickly after China and it really exploded with their cases.

'We cut off travel from China early and we were seeded with relatively few cases from China but quickly, it switched to Europe, particularly northern Italy, given the air traffic from there.

'It's just not surprising that New York was seeded before they really knew what was going on and that's why they're in the very unfortunate situation they're in now,' he said.

FAUCI: WARM WEATHER WON'T STOP THE VIRUS Fauci said there's a precedent with other infections like influenza that 'when the virus gets warmer that the virus goes down in its ability to replicate, to spread.' But Fauci added 'having said that, one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing. 'If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But I dont think we need to assume that.' Advertisement

New York has now seen more than 6,000 deaths across the state, including at least 4,000 in New York City.

The death toll is expected to keep rising as people who entered the hospital 10 days or several weeks ago fail to recover or come off ventilators, but the rate of hospitalization and ICU admissions is decreasing which suggests the peak has arrived.

'It's tough to tell. We very well may be there. It's looking like it's going to make a turn, but you know, I am cautiously optimistic. I think that is what's going on,' Fauci said.

Later, he told Today: 'The number of deaths and the cases that we're seeing right now are really validating what we said that this was going to be a very bad week

'On the other hand, there are some glimmers of hope particularly when you look at the situation in New York.

'So even though we're seeing that increase in deaths... but what feeds that is the number of new cases. Mitigation is starting to have an effect.

'I think that is the case. You want to see several steady days. I'm always very cautious of jumping the gun but I think we're really looking at the beginning of that.'

A map based on genome sequences shows have different strains of coronavirus have spread around the world, with at least eight strains being tracked

He added that on a national scale, the data is showing that fewer people than projected are dying from the virus.

The White House initially warned that as many as 200,000 Americans could die from coronavirus, based on projections.

That number has since reduced to 100,000 and is now sitting at around 60,000.

The decrease is 'good news', Fauci said, and is down to the fact that the projections are based on assumptions which are near impossible to get right.

'You get models to try to help you project such as the need for beds, ventilators.. but the models are only as good as the assumptions you put into the model.

'One of the assumptions was the efficacy of the mitigation that New York is doing intensely.

'The data always trumps the model so you take the data and refashion the model,' he said.

He added: 'What we need to do is make sure we don't let up on the physical separation programs.

'We got to make sure we keep our foot on the accelerator.'

Dr. Fauci said he 'hopes' April 30 will be the date the country can start to look at 'gradually' getting back to normal but that it depends on the data. '

'We hope when we get to the extended 30 days, I do hope by the time we get there, we will see the curve in that bending, which we've been talking about now.

'You should not assume that the virus will diminish because of the coming of warm weather,' he went on, adding: 'One should not assume that we'll be rescued by a change in the weather.'

Even when society resumes, Fauci said people should still be vigilant about touching one another - specifically shaking hands.

'I think at least for a while, I think we should refrain from that right now, we need to concentrate on the physical separation,' he said.
President Moon Jae-in is briefed by a researcher at the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



The government will increase its investment in companies developing vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.



Moon made the commitment at a conference with relevant experts at the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. "We will invest 210 billion won for vaccine development against COVID-19," Moon said at the beginning of the meeting, according to press pool reports.



"To start with, we will establish new virus institutes and increase investment into research and development of treatments."



Experts including doctors and CEOs participated in the meeting, including Institut Pasteur Korea CEO Ryu Wang-shick, Celltrion CEO Seo Jung-jin, Genexine Chairman Sung Young-Chul, SK bioscience CTO Kim Hun, and National Institute of Health chief Kwon Jun-wook, among others.



"The government will step up cooperation with the private sector to ensure the development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines," Moon added. "Because the development of infectious disease vaccines and treatments takes a long time and a huge amount of money, efforts by the private sector alone will not be enough to produce results in a short period of time. The government's R&D investment and shorter approval procedures among other support measures will be crucial to speeding up the development of COVID-19 treatments and a vaccine."



He said that compared to global pharmaceutical companies and advanced countries, Korea lacks resources and experience in drug development. "But the 2015 MERS infection pushed us to seek technological advances in this area. We hope that our treatments and vaccine will set an example for the world and save human lives," Moon said.



The President also underlined the importance of international cooperation. "We have already agreed to share our quarantine experience and clinical data with the G20 countries, and work together to develop treatments and a vaccine. Through a cooperative system led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, we will actively participate in the international community's efforts to overcome COVID-19," Moon said.


People burning themselves while cooking are taking up intensive care beds that may be needed for gravely ill coronavirus patients.

Associate Professor Heather Cleland: "People are ending up in intensive care beds with these injuries at a time when those beds are going to become very precious." Credit:Vince Caligiuri

Specialists at The Alfred hospital have reported a surge in severe burns since Victoria's stage-3 lockdown came into effect last month.

Many of the injuries being treated at the hospital's burns unit have been caused by hot oil with others resulting from people cooking while intoxicated.

Associate Professor Heather Cleland, director of the Victorian Adult Burns Service at The Alfred, said the hospital had noted a significant increase in patients with severe cooking-related burns.
Mirage fighters based in Northern Taiwan to be temporarily relocated

ROC Central News Agency

04/08/2020 07:24 PM

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) Most of the Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets based at the Hsinchu air base will be temporarily moved to another location for about two years due to scheduled runway maintenance, Defense Minister Yen De-fa () said Wednesday.

The Hsinchu base in northern Taiwan, home of the 2nd Tactical Fighter Wing, which is composed of Mirage 2000-5s, will undergo a two-year runway maintenance, Yen told reporters in an interview before a legislative session.

During the two-year period, most Mirage 2000-5s based in Hsinchu will be redeployed to Taichung Ching-Chuan-Kang Air Base in central Taiwan, Yen said.

The transfer of the France-made fighters, relevant personnel and equipment began on Tuesday and is expected to be completed in three days, he said.

"The air defense capabilities for northern Taiwan will not be compromised," Yan stressed, adding that four to six Mirage 2000-5s will be left in the Hsinchu base, which has a contingency runway should any emergency arise.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force currently has five tactical fighter wings, one combined wing and a flight tactical wing, which is a training unit.

Meanwhile, Yan denied media reports that unscrupulous military officers at the ROC Army Aviation and Special Forces Command have colluded with gangsters and forced rookie soldiers to invest in a pyramid scheme.

"There are no gangsters involved," Yen said, adding that the main suspect is a security guard, surnamed Liu, who was affiliated with an airline company who happened to work in the base.

Local news report said the suspect, through military officers in that command, forced rookie uniformed men to invest in second-hand cars and antiques via the pyramid scheme since January 2018.

Liu has gone into hiding after running away with at least NT$6 million (US$197,460) from more then 10 victims, according to news reports.

The case was uncovered by political warfare officers at the camp and nine military officers involved are being investigated and will be dealt with in accordance with the law, Yen said.

(By Matt Yu and Emerson Lim)

Enditem/J

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Speaker of Nigerias House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has shared details of his meeting with the two Ministers in charge of Health in country, following concerns expressed by indigenous medical practitioners and many Nigerians on the engagement of Chinese Doctors and Nurses for the management of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Recall the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had rejected plans by the Federal Government to invite an 18-member Chinese medical team to help Nigeria in her fight against the deadly Coronavirus.

NMA President, Francis Faduyile had described the move as a misplaced priority and a thing of embarrassment to the membership of the Association and other health workers, who are giving their best in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic under deplorable working conditions.

Gbajabiamila who met with the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanie and Minister of State for Health, Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora after some Nigerian doctors rejected the plan, stated that he extracted the following commitments from them;
(Newser)  The Federal Reserve is taking additional steps to provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy, per the AP. The money will target American households and businesses, as well as local governments besieged by the coronavirus outbreak. The Fed said Thursday that it's activating a Main Street Business Lending Program authorized by the CARES Act, the largest economic relief package ever passed by Congress. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed's role was to "provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity." In in a webcast from the Brookings Institution, Powell said there was "every reason to believe that the economic rebound, when it comes, can be robust" because the economy was doing well before the virus hit.

story continues below

Among the actions taken Thursday, the Fed activated a loan program for municipal governments, as well as additional support for the Paycheck Protection Program, which the Small Business Administration rolled out last week. The program provides loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The moves "take the Fed well beyond the lender-of-last-resort functions it played in 2008 to prevent a financial panic from deepening the economic downturn," per the Wall Street Journal. The government's pay protection plan for small businesses is off to a rocky start: Businesses have had difficulty getting banks to provide the loans. The banks have said that the government hasn't made clear how they should process such loans, including on what forms businesses are required to use.

(Read more Federal Reserve stories.)
Democrats blocked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's attempt Thursday to ram through coronavirus relief legislation to infuse a new small business loan program with an additional $250 billion, saying Mr McConnell's maneuver was a "political stunt" that shut them out of the negotiating process.

Mr McConnell's new legislation to add money to the Treasury Department's new payment protection program (PPP) "will not address the immediate need of small businesses in the legislation that we have [previously] passed," said Senator Ben Cardin of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate small business panel.



Mr McConnell said in his opening Senate floor remarks Thursday that PPP is the only program in the $2.2trn coronavirus stimulus package passed in March that has run out of money. Cardin said that's not true, naming multiple funds that have already dried up, including an emergency disaster relief funds program for small businesses.

Democratic leaders have spent the last two weeks outlining their priorities for the next coronavirus relief package, while Republicans adopted a wait-and-see approach and were mostly quiet in the media about the contours of a fourth phase of legislation.

That changed this week when Mr McConnell and the White House announced, apparently to the surprise of Democrats, that they wanted to limit the next bill to adding more money for small businesses  and nothing else.

"This unanimous consent request was not negotiated. There was no effort made to follow the process that we could get this done. So it won't get done. It's not going to be enacted. The majority leader knows that," Mr Cardin said.

More follows
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: The tally of COVID-19 positive cases started escalating in Bihar at an alarming rate with seven new cases being reported on Thursday evening in Patna taking the total to 58 in state.

This includes five females, aged between 11 to 25, and two males, aged between 19 and 60 from Siwan district.

According to principal health secretary Sanjay Kumar, seven new tested positive belong to the same family of a village in Siwan district. On of the person has a recent travel history to Oman.

Till Thursday evening, total COVID-19 count in the state was 51.

In Bihar, Siwan has emerged as the hotspot of COVID-19 positive cases.

Alarmed by the number of positive cases, the state health department directed the local administration to seal the areas where cases were being reported.

Director-General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey, meanwhile, rushed Bihar Military Police to Siwan isolating hundreds of residents within 3 km radius of Siwan.

A drone has been also made available to monitor the lockdown and keep strict vigil in and around the sealed areas as the Siwan has emerged the hotspot of Bihar with a maximum number of cases.

The borders of Siwan with East Champaran and Gopalganj and Saran were sealed in order to prevent further infection of COVID-19 in community.

From Siwan, 589 samples were collected for testing at RMRI, IGIMS and PMCH between April 2 to 8.

As per official figures, Siwan has now 27 positive cases followed by Munger with seven, each Gaya and Begusarai with five and Gopalganj with three besides other districts.

At different transit points, more than 4.52 lakh passengers have been screened so far since April 9.


Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in his national address, extended his gratitude to PM Modi and India for helping the South American country in its battle against Coronavirus. This comes after India reversed its former stance to ban the export of Hydroxychloroquine.

"We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of Lupus, Malaria, and Arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," Jair Bolsonaro said.

President of #Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro in his address to his nation thanks PM @narendramodi and people of #India for helping Brazil with Hydroxychroloquine to treat patients of #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/zI5cCKXk3l  PIB India  #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 9, 2020

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking supply of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on April 8 invoked ancient Indian epic Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought a holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lakshman. "Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight to Bartimeu, India, and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all peoples," Bolsonaro said on Tuesday.

Besides the Ramayana, the Brazilian leader also referred to Jesus Christ, while exuding confidence that the two countries will overcome the global crisis by joining hands. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has recorded close to 14,000 coronavirus cases and over 660 deaths due to the disease. Globally, the virus has killed over 75,000 people and infected more than 13 lakh.

India lifts Hydroxychloroquine ban

On March 25, India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19. India is the largest exporter of the drug. The ban was partially lifted on Tuesday. In the letter, Bolsonaro requested Modi to ensure that Brazil gets a supply of the drug ordered prior to the imposition of the ban on it.

Bolsonaro also said he was convinced that joint efforts by India and Brazil will help both the countries in overcoming these "strenuous moments". PM Modi and Bolsonaro had a telephonic conversation on Saturday during which they discussed ways of cooperation in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

(With PTI inputs_
Experts call on Ukrainian leaders to urgently intervene in situation around Energoatom

13:20, 09.04.20 20132

They warn against a possible deterioration in the country's nuclear energy sector.
A shared global concern arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic has done little to bring arch-enemies Iran and the United States closer together. Instead, it appears to have further ratcheted up the already bitter war of words.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is now accusing Washington of waging medical terrorism against his country by denying it access to much-needed medical supplies. This will linger as a historical disgrace for the American ruling elites, who continue to mount pressure on the Iranian nation under the current circumstances, Rouhani told a cabinet meeting in Tehran April 8.

With its economy already creaking under financial strains imposed by the US maximum pressure policy, Iran has complained that its battle against the coronavirus has been unequal and much tougher than that of other nations. To catch up with the pace of the outbreak, which has killed nearly 4,000 Iranians, Tehran put in a request with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion in emergency loans. While Iran says the request is still being processed, Al-Monitors Bryant Harris has been told by a US State Department spokesperson that the White House opposes the loan for Tehran, which is seeking cash to fund its adventurism abroad, not to buy medicine for Iranians. US law requires that Washington oppose financial assistance from international financial institutions to countries listed as state sponsors of terror, including Iran.

In his televised address, Rouhani pressed the IMF on resisting US pressure to stonewall the loan. Neither Iran nor the world public opinion will tolerate discrimination against our country regarding the emergency loan, he warned, suggesting that as a member state of the international body, Iran is entitled to such loans, the last one of which it received 50 years ago. Rouhani also criticized the United States for violating World Health Organization regulations on aiding other states in pandemic preparedness and response planning.

Washington has vehemently denied it is imposing restrictions on Iran-destined medical supplies. President Donald Trump and other White House officials have also spoken of openness if the government in Tehran reaches out for aid. The US State Department released a fact sheet this week under the title "Iran's Sanctions Relief Scam," denying Iran's claims regarding the restrictions on medical aid. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has hit back, however, stressing that his country is in no need of charity and that all it wants is access to global markets, where it can sell oil and other products and use the income for what it needs.

Seven weeks after its outbreak was officially recognized in Iran, COVID-19 continues its deadly march across the country. Throughout the fight against the pandemic, Rouhani has been accused of minimizing and underestimating its magnitude and rejecting calls for all-inclusive restrictions. His governments social distancing project, according to his critics, has not been robust enough to flatten the curve. Rouhani has now issued a directive on reopening much of the countrys economy as of March 11. And only a week after, the capital Tehran, which has posted the highest mortality and infection rates, will see a significant resumption of pre-pandemic life.

The containment measures are being lifted despite serious cautions from the countrys medical community about a second wave of infections. Alireza Zali, who chairs the Tehran branch of the Committee to Combat Coronavirus, has described fresh jumps in the number of confirmed cases in the past few days as worrisome. Zali has warned the Iranian authorities and the public to brace for the consequences of unheeded quarantine precautions over the next two weeks.
Prince Frederik of Denmark briefly left his home to welcome a delivery of masks and person protective gear for the country's frontline medics fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, 51, has been isolating with his wife Princess Mary and their four children at Fredensborg Palace.

But the heir to the Danish throne revealed on social media yesterday that he had temporarily left isolation to witness the arrival of a million face masks and 170,000 protective suits, ready to be delivered to doctors and nurses.

Denmark has reported 218 coronavirus-related deaths and a total of 5,386 infected out of a population of 5.6 million.

Prince Frederik of Denmark briefly left his home today to welcome a delivery of masks and person protective gear (pictured) for the country's frontline medics fighting the COVID-19 pandemic

Taking to the royal household's Instagram account, Prince Frederik shared a selfie of himself in front of an aeroplane.

He captioned the image: 'A big help to all of us landed early this morning from a cloudless sky at Copenhagen Airport.

'I was invited to attend the landing of the world's largest cargo aircraft, where the cargo of 1,000,000 face masks and 170,000 protective suits and other protective equipment will be a major help to the home care system in the coming years in the fight against COVID-19.

'I would like to extend a huge thank you to all involved who have made flights with protective equipment from China possible.'

The Danish royal family have been sharing regular updates from isolation as they encourage others to stay at home.

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, 51, has been isolating with his wife Princess Mary and their four children at Fredensborg Palace (pictured)

In one snap, Prince Frederik appeared alongside his Australia-born wife, Princess Mary and their four children, Prince Christian, 14, Princess Isabel, 12, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, nine.

They revealed that in light of the latest announcement from the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that a ban on large gatherings will be maintained until August, the Royals have chosen to follow all guidelines and cancelled all of their events for the summer months.

Prince Frederik shared a statement to say that his annual Royal Relief Run will no longer take place in June, but in September instead.

'We've been looking forward to running with the whole family at the Royal Run,' the statement read.

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, previously shared this photo of his FaceTime call with volunteers at a local Red Cross centre, thought to have been taken at Fredensborg Palace where he is isolating

'But unfortunately, due to the current situation with COVID-19, we have had to postpone it until September 6 in Denmark and August 30 in Greenland...

'We all hope that the Royal Run can become a big gathering point after the summer holidays, and that everyone will take care of themselves - and each other.'

The royal family have been very vocal about the need to stay home during this time, especially Princess Mary, who is the patron of the World Health Organisation's Office for the European region.

The mother-of-four reminded people that we 'all have a role to play' in helping others who might be struggling with isolation at this time.

'By being more open and tolerant we can each make a difference for the many who stand alone,' the Princess said in a statement via The Mary Foundation.

The royal family have been very vocal about the need to stay home during this time, especially Princess Mary, who is the patron of the World Health Organisation's Office for the European region (the Danish royal family pictured in 2018)

'... Severe loneliness can have serious consequences both mentally and physically. Therefore, as long as it stands, we must make a special effort to help each other out of solitude - even if it is at a distance.'

Last month, the Princess pulled her children out of boarding school in Switzerland to return home to Denmark, after their homeland went into coronavirus lockdown.

The 48-year-old mother-of-four and her family released a statement in March, sharing their decision to 'return home and stand with the Danes at a time that requires a lot of everyone'.

'In the light of the increased situation in Denmark in connection with the handling of the spread of COVID-19, the Crown Prince family has decided that the family should return home from Switzerland,' the statement said.

'The Crown Prince family finds it most natural to return home and stand with the Danes at a time that requires a lot of everyone and where there is a common responsibility to look after each other.'
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A second inmate in a Michigan prison has died after testing positive for COVID-19, the state Department of Corrections said.

The inmate, who tested positive at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, died Tuesday, April 7.

The inmate was hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The first inmate died April 1 at Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson. The prisoner had not been tested for COVID-19 and had not told health officials that he was feeling sick.

After he was found unresponsive in his cell, he was taken to a hospital where he died.

The hospital tested him for coronavirus and the results were positive.

Two staff members of the Department of Corrections have also died.

As of Wednesday night, 305 inmates in Michigan prisons have tested positive for COVID-19. There are 137 Department of Corrections staff members with the virus.

Also on MLive:

First Michigan prison employee dies from coronavirus, 24 others test positive

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I need help:' In pain, dying woman with COVID-19 pleaded with Alexa while at nursing home, sister says
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is depicted putting on a mask reading "coward" in Rio de Janeiro. (Associated Press)

Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stood by him as he insulted women and racial minorities, praised the countrys former military dictatorship and defended the use of torture.

But more and more are drawing a line at his stance on the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro has dismissed COVID-19 as a little flu and has criticized media coverage of the pandemic as "hysteria." Twitter recently deleted two of his tweets that it said spread misinformation about the disease.

He has brazenly contradicted the social distancing guidelines of his own health officials, urging Brazilians to attend large protest rallies and to return to work to prevent economic fallout.

It is costing him politically, isolating him from several influential governors who once embraced his policies, and even members of his own Cabinet.

"Don't follow the president's directions," Joao Doria, the governor of Sao Paulo, urged Brazilians, accusing Bolsonaro of putting people's lives at risk.

Voters are also angry.

For weeks, residents of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have leaned out their windows each night to bang pots to protest against Bolsonaro. A recent poll shows a majority of citizens believe he is impeding the fight against the virus.

"I think he's becoming more isolated by the minute," said Sergio Praca, a political scientist at Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank in Rio de Janeiro. "Bolsonaro's strategy is alienating people."

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro puts on a mask during a news conference in Brasilia. (Associated Press)

A right-wing nationalist and close ally of President Trump, Bolsonaro won power in 2018 by positioning himself as a straight-talking political outsider who would stamp out crime and corruption.

His response to the pandemic echoes his skepticism about climate change and his rejection of global efforts to mitigate damage to the Amazon rainforest.

It also calls to mind the early reactions of other populist leaders to the coronavirus, including Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, both of whom initially insisted that widespread quarantines were unnecessary and not worth the risk to the economy.

Story continues

But unlike Trump and Lopez Obrador, who have both come around to recognize the severity of the crisis, Bolsonaro has continued to lambaste social isolation efforts, even as the death toll in Brazil nears 700 and health experts warn it will soar when the virus takes hold in poor, densely packed neighborhoods.

Brazil's governors have imposed strict isolation measures, suspending schools, public transportation and closing restaurants, shops and beaches. Twenty four of Brazils 27 states have enacted similar restrictions.

Their defiance is striking, because traditionally governors, especially in remote states, have stayed out of national politics.

Bolsonaro has criticized their efforts, dismissing the governors as "job killers."

He has also publicly clashed with his own health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who has implored Brazilians to ignore the president's advice.

"Please follow the directions of your state governors," he said in a recent televised address.

"None of my ministers are unfireable," Bolsonaro warned in response. "Mandetta has to listen to the president more."

Bolsonaro backed away from his threat after senior military figures intervened, according to media reports. On Monday, Mandetta said he expects to keep his job.

Mandetta, who delivers daily updates about the progression of the virus, has become a well-liked political figure. His approval rating shot up by 21 points to 76% since the onset of the crisis, a survey by polling firm Datafolha showed over the weekend.

The same poll put Bolsonaro's approval rating at 33%.

Gabrielle Oliveira, a 25-year-old sales consultant who lives in Rio de Janeiro's north zone, said she voted for the president in 2018 but has been gradually become disillusioned with his policies.

"During this crisis, I made up my mind," she said. "Finally, I can say I made a mistake with my vote."

"The attitudes that he's assuming during this crisis have made me think, 'What's going on in his head?'" she said. "He prefers to enter into controversy through unnecessary debates rather than doing something like other countries are doing."

Still, some of his most loyal supporters gathered across Brazil over the weekend, demanding the end of social isolation and the reopening of businesses.

In some cities, fewer than a dozen people showed up. But much larger groups, clad in the yellow and green that have become synonymous with Bolsonaro's base, gathered in Sao Paulo and in front of the seat of government in Brasilia.

Marcus Almeida, a 33-year-old soldier from Rio de Janeiro, said he continues to back Bolsonaro even though he wishes the leader would take the coronavirus more seriously.

"I believe there's massive polarization in the country," Almeida said. "In this polarization, the one who I support the most is Bolsonaro. He's the one sitting in the president's chair ... even though there's a lot of garbage coming from his mouth."

Brian Winter, vice president for policy at the Council of the Americas think tank, said that Bolsonaro has been following the patterns of populist leaders.

They all have a general anti-establishment streak that says that if the media is saying one thing, the truth must be the opposite, he said. That can be really dangerous during a global pandemic."

He said it is too soon to know the long-term impact of COVID-19 on Bolsonaro's bid for reelection in 2022 or the future of populism around the world.

Depending on how things go it may enable a new generation of autocrats who promise greater security and therefore health by encouraging people to sacrifice their freedoms, he said. Or this may help prove to a new generation why good leadership is important and why having good leaders who embrace democracy and science is a path to success.

Special correspondent Ionova reported from Rio de Janeiro. Times staff writer Linthicum reported from Mexico City.
An elderly man died and 47 new coronavirus cases surfaced in Rajasthan on Thursday, taking the COVID-19 count to 430 as the state goverment made masks compulsory in urban areas and agricultural mandis.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also directed officials to install more CCTV cameras, beginning with Jaipur's walled city, to monitor the movement of people in coronavirus-hit areas.

At a video conference with officials, he also urged them to apply the Bhilwara model of aggressive containment of the disease in other parts of the state.

The 76-year-old man died in Jodhpur, the seventh person in the state so far to succumb to the infection.

Rajasthan has now joined states like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi that have made wearing face covers or masks mandatory when people step outside their homes.

Gehlot asked officials to ensure compliance of the decision in all 196 urban local bodies, and in mandis where procurement of foodgrain is scheduled to begin on April 15.

The decision was taken to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the state, a press release quoting him said.

The 47 fresh cases include a Jodhpur doctor engaged in a door-to-door survey.

Eleven of these cases are from Jaipur district, seven each from Tonk, Jhalawar and Jhunjhunu, five from Jaisalmer, three from Jodhpur, two from Banswara and one from Barmer, an official said.

Gehlot asked officials to identify educational institutes, hotels, hospitals and other buildings which can be used for quarantining people.

Asking them to install cameras to monitor the movement of people in coronavirus hotspots, the CM suggested that the initiative should begin from Jaipur's walled city.

Jaipur has reported 140 coronavirus cases so far, most of them from the walled city's Ramganj area.

Depending on the result, the measure would be implemented in other hotspot as well, the government statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra recorded 162 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases on Thursday, taking the total count in the state to 1,297  the highest in the country. Of the 162 new cases, 143 have been reported from Mumbai, three each in Pune and Aurangabad, two in Pimpri Chinchwad and one each in Vasai-Virar, Yavatmal, and Sindhudurg.

On Thursday morning, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also released an updated list of the containment zones in the city. Mumbai, the epicentre of Covid-19 outbreak in Maharashtra, tops the list with 381containment or no-go zones. The state capital has reported 857 Covid-19 positive cases and 45 deaths to date.

So far, the state has reported 72 Covid-19 related deaths, including eight more on Wednesday alone. Of the eight fresh deaths, five were recorded in Mumbai, two in Pune and one in Kalyan-Dombilivili.

The densely populated Dharavi, considered to be Asias largest slum, recorded its second death on Wednesday and has also reported 13 Covid-19 positive cases. Maharashtra crossed the 1,000-mark in 30 days and also the mortality rate at over 6% in the state is double than the nationwide death toll rate.

The Covid-19 related death toll in Pune district has risen to 20 after two more patients died over the last 12 hours.

One of the deceased was a resident Pune city, while the other was from Baramati tehsil in the district, according to the state health department officials.

The Baramati residents death is being attributed to comorbidity, as he was both diabetic and paralysed. He tested Covid-19 positive during a door-to-door screening by the authorities. His other family members, including wife, son, and daughter-in-law, have also tested Covid-19 positive, said Bhagwan Pawar, district health officer, Pune.

The second person was undergoing treatment in the state-run Sassoon General Hospital. So far, 20 people have died in Pune district because of Covid-19, said Shekhar Gaikwad, commissioner, Pune Municipal Commission.

On Wednesday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that Covid-19 positive cases have seen an uptick as the government has launched a door-to-door drive for people suspected to have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease.

We arent waiting for patients to come to us. Besides, weve been aggressively conducting tests in both Mumbai and Pune, the CM said.

On March 9, Maharashtra reported its first Covid-19 positive case after a couple in Pune, who had returned from Dubai, was found to be infected. The following day three more people tested Covid-19 positive, as they had come in contact with the couple.

The state government is maintaining that Maharashtra is still in stage-2, where transmission of the disease is limited to those with travel history and those who have come in contact with the infected people. On Wednesday, state public health minister Rajesh Tope said that Maharashtra hasnt entered Stage 3, which leads to community transmission. He claimed that the number of Covid-19 positive cases might have increased but it isnt multiplying. Also, 117 patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals to date, he added.

On Wednesday, the BMC made it mandatory for Mumbaikars to wear masks in public places. The civic body has warned that those who fail to wear masks in public places would be arrested under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
While Nigerian shoppers have been stockpiling essential goods and food, sex toy sellers in Lagos and Abuja say their sales have also shot up.

Findings by PREMIUM TIMES have shown that in most online stores where sex toys are sold, the items are either in short supply or sold out.

A cross-section of sex toy sellers told this newspaper on Wednesday that sales began to pick up two weeks before President Muhammadu Buhari announced the 14-day lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the nations capital, Abuja.

They also said they are overwhelmed by the demand for their products amid the Coronavirus lockdown.

The pandemic has been challenging generally but it has not affected the sex toy market. Pre lockdown in Lagos and Abuja, the weekend before it started, sales really skyrocketed. I was getting orders, left right and centre, said Lami, owner of Sextoysnaij.

It felt like people knew there was going to be a lockdown and they had to be ready. The lockdown started on Tuesday, on that day and Wednesday, I had just four orders. By Thursday, sales increased again. I sold out on half of my stock. My vibrators and wands were sold out.

It went above average and beyond.

Hannah Jonathan, a sex toy store owner popularly known as Soulspice the Sex goddess, said she exhausted her supplies as early as 10.00 a.m. two weeks ago.

Ms Jonathan also said she has witnessed an over 50 per cent increase in sales since the lockdown was enforced, a development, she said, she never saw coming.

Before the lockdown came into full effect, the sex toy retailer said she ships out an average of about 100 sex toys to online customers in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Delta, Edo and Akwa-Ibom States. She said in Lagos State alone, the orders were triple the amount that she ships outside the state weekly.

The boom in sex toy sales is a good one for us because Nigerians dont rest. Most low and middle-class citizens dont even go on vacation, so this has been the best time for us all, she noted.

Hannah Jonathan

A lot of people now have better sex lives now because they have time to explore and be adventurous with one another. The lockdown has helped reduce stress, which is a major problem,  and this would boost peoples libido as well as boost fertility in women.

Married couples too

The sex toy merchants sampled by this newspaper admitted that in particular, the demand for sex games and toys by couples has spiked.

It makes me happy that Nigerians are satisfying their urges at this difficult time when people feel vulnerable, said Mathew Okon, co-owner of Hot Pleasurz, an Abuja-based sex toy shop.

Im happy that many marriages will be strengthened at a time like this because hopefully, they are having more sex while side chics are left lonely.

The Sexgoddes also said she has recorded an increase in patronage by married couples, especially men who live far away from their wives. She said patronage has risen more than fourfold since mid-March compared with the same period before the lockdown.

Trust me, married people buy from us more. Men buy for their wives, especially when those who are not always home to sexually please their wives, she said.

Couples have also been making good use of the opportunity of the lockdown to spice up their sex lives and rediscover their bodies. Apart from toys suitable for single people and couples that live apart, couples have also been purchasing sex toys to help make their sexual relationships more interesting.

Ms Lami of Sextoynaij also said her patrons outside of Nigeria are mostly married women.

Theres a particular state, I dont want to be specific, only one of my customers there is single, she noted.

Another sex toy seller, Adeola Badmus, owner of Sextoy9ja said she has also experienced a very high increase in sales in the past weeks. She ascribed the boost in sales to two factors.

The first thing is people being alone right now, especially the single ones that cant have access to their significant others, so they resort to more self-love(Masturbation).

Secondly, because we have a strong presence online and people spend more time online now, more people have been seeing our social media pages and reaching out to get these toys.

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Jonathan Hannah, a sex toy store owner popularly known as Soulspice the Sex Goddess

Ms Badmus added that people (men) order more of female toys in recent times, specifically 80 per cent of her clients.

She said there has been a balance in the gender of people who order her products. According to her, most of her male clients buy female sex toys for their female friends and wives because people are more open to using sex toys.

The Sexgoddes also added that a lot of sex toys are actually designed for couples and not singles. According to her, people, religion, culture, and traditional beliefs have made it impossible for most Nigerian couples to accept them.

Ms Badmus said one of the sex toys designed for married couples is the finger vibrator.

She said, Men can use this by wearing it on their fingertips and gently caress her breasts, clitoris, and labia. It can also be used to stimulate her G-spot and do body massage.

There are others like the wand and clitoral massagers that allow the woman to pleasure herself while the man pumps in using a sex position that allows the couple to look into each others eyes.

Shortage of sex toys

However, despite the boost in sales, the lockdown has also affected the sex toy business in Nigeria negatively, as sellers have been unable to bring in new toys because of the Coronavirus lockdown.

The Sexgoddes, who said she ships her sex toys from China and the United States, lamented the shortage of sex toys, not only at her store but in other sex toy shops as well.

Bullets have been selling fast because most sex-toys sellers are out of vibrators. Those who have had to increase their prices because of the scarcity now dont have much to sell.

People are now sticking to what is available which are bullets and dildos, she said.

According to Lami of Sextoynaij, people order more wands.

I dont know why but wands are selling like fire at my store, she revealed.

Delivery challenge

The major challenge, according to the sex toy sellers is how to match delivery with teeming demand for their products.

The major challenge now is how to send people their orders. The dispatch riders are only allowed to deliver essentials, like food. However, I feel like the lockdown has not been bad on our sales because the orders have been tremendous.

Like Nigeria like Denmark, France

The Coronavirus lockdown has also fueled the sex toy sales in Denmark and France.

Danish biggest sex toy review website has also experienced a massive surge in traffic during the lockdown.

Sex experts in Denmark say the sales of sex toys in the country have more than doubled after Danes were told to stay at home to limit the spread of the virus.
Concerns around the fate of the Small Skipper and Marsh Fritillary butterflies have delayed An Bord Pleanala making a ruling on plans for a large scale solar farm for Co Kildare.

An Bord Pleanala was due to make a decision on the Bord na Mona and the ESB application in recent days.

The two are planning the solar farm project across a 494-acre site 6.5km north of the village of Allenwood.

150 people are to be employed during the 25-month construction phase and the solar farm will be operational for 35 years if the scheme secures the green light.

However, the appeals board has delayed making a decision on the plan after receiving an objection from Butterfly Conservation Ireland against the scheme.

The organisation was formed 12 years ago in response to the alarming decline of most of our butterfly species which it states has accelerated in recent years.

In the objection drawn up by butterfly expert, Jesmond Harding, he stated that the solar farms site at Drehid is the only known breeding site for the Small Skipper butterfly in Ireland.

Mr Harding states that Butterfly Conservation Ireland is concerned that a great deal of loss and damage to the Small Skipper habitat will take place arising from the construction of a planned access road for the solar farm.

Mr Harding stated: There is no measure to safeguard the population in advance of any new habitat developing.

Mr Harding also states that there is a population of Marsh Fritillary butterfly breeding on the embankment on the site of the proposed access road.

Mr Harding states that the Government has a legal obligation to protect its breeding sites.

The objection adds: Butterfly Conservation Ireland is still of the view that the proposed location of the access road and the solar farm is poorly chosen.

The organisation states that it believes that the development should not proceed in the areas the permission is sought for.

In response to the Butterfly Ireland objection, the board has written to the applicants and told them in the interests of natural justice that they may make submissions on the Butterfly Conservation Ireland objection and they have until April 16 to do so.

The solar farm will have the capacity to power 30% of all households in Co Kildare each year and last year, Kildare County Council refused planning permission over concerns for the EU protected habitat, wet heath.

The energy companies have told the appeals board that no wet heath has been recorded on the site of the proposed solar farm project.

The appeal contends that the decision of the Council is of national significance as it, in effect, rules out the development of a potentially significant renewable energy development which will contribute to achieving national targets and objectives.
Kabul: The Afghan government has freed 100 Taliban prisoners as a first step in a peace process with the hardline Islamists, despite the group earlier walking out of talks on a planned prisoner exchange crucial to moving to a plan to end years of war.

Jailed Taliban members are seen inside the Pul-e-Charkhi jail in Kabul, Afghanistan late last year. Credit:AP

Differences over the prisoner release question have been complicating US brokered attempts to create a lasting peace agreement to end more than 18 years of conflict in Afghanistan. The plan called for up to 5000 Taliban prisoners to be swapped for 1000 members of the Afghan security forces and government employees in Taliban custody.

"The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan released 100 Taliban prisoners today based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence, as part of our efforts for peace," said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, which has been negotiating with the Taliban.

A February pact between the United States and the Taliban, under which US-led international forces would withdraw in phases in exchange for Taliban security guarantees, is the best chance to reduce US military involvement in Afghanistan.
Their public face is smiling and helpful. Greeting passengers and offering words of assurance at a time when things are frightening and uncertain.

But in their off-hours, via text messages and in private Facebook groups and interviews, the anxiety and fear of flight attendants pour out.

"I am 27 weeks pregnant and a FA," a flight attendant wrote in a private Facebook group where she and thousands of her colleagues are sharing stories about covid-19. "On Sunday I started coughing and a sore throat, my body and chest aches, but I don't have any fever and still breathing ok, so that's my only hope. I got tested yesterday for covid-19 and I'm praying it comes back negative. So scared for my baby. What a difficult time to be pregnant and being a FA."

A 25-year industry veteran wrote of an incident in which a man refused to ride an elevator with her.

"I feel like a leper now, like people look at us like the nastiest things that walk the earth while other ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES get praise (which is VERY MUCH DESERVED!) I'm Not feeling so great today emotionally and not feeling ver proud to be a Flight Attendant. I think a break from flying may be an option I probably should take."

From Jacksonville to Boston to Denver to Los Angeles, flight attendants say they are increasingly fearful and anxious. They have watched as the number of coronavirus cases has skyrocketed, first overseas and now in the United States, which last month reached the grim milestone of having the most confirmed cases in the world.

And now with news that one of their own - an American Airlines flight attendant based in Philadelphia - died of covid-19 last month, that fear has deepened.

Paul Frishkorn, 65, who according to news reports died March 23, had been a flight attendant since 1997, starting his career with US Airways.

Lori Bassani, past presidentof the Association for Professional Flight Attendants, which represents those who fly for American Airlines, called Frishkorn a "tireless advocate for the flight attendant corps."

On Monday, Transport Workers Union announced the death of a second flight attendant from covid-19. He was Ralph Gismondi, 68, a JetBlue flight attendant based at John F. Kennedy International Airport who had been with the airline for more than a decade. No other details were immediately available.

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health declined to provide details about Frishkorn's case, saying the agency does not comment on individual cases.

"Paul's death sheds a solemn light on our profession as front line workers," Bassani said, noting that in the weeks before his death, Frishkorn had spent time in the crew room at Philadelphia International Airport answering others' questions about the virus.

"It underlines the risk to our members who continue to work as 'essential workers' in the airlines," Bassani said, adding that it is a reminder that during this difficult time, "no precaution is too much to take."

Airlines have drastically reduced service due to the pandemic. Southwest announced it would fly 2,000 fewer flights this month, a roughly 40% decrease. United has cut its overall schedule by 60%, with many flights carrying only a few passengers. After a crush of travelers rushing to return home from overseas and around the country, many airports have become ghost towns. In some cases, flights are operating at only 10 to 20% full. That leaves some wondering why airlines are flying at all.

"Very clearly if you look at the maps, it's spread through air travel and that's one thing they're not stopping and until they do, they're going to continue spreading [the coronavirus] around the country," said a New York- based flight attendant.

She, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retribution from her employer.

It is not clear how many flight attendants have been infected. Airlines declined to release numbers. However, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents those who fly for United, Alaska, Spirit and other airlines, said more than 150 members have reported testing positive for covid-19 and an estimated 300 suspect they have contracted the virus.

Separately, officials at the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents those who fly for American Airlines, said at least 100 flight attendants have tested positive.

But the industry has adamantly opposed any shutdown of domestic traffic, saying that service needs to be available for medical professionals and first responders.

"Our elected officials want us to continue to provide safe air travel through this crisis," American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker said in a video message to employees. "And they want us to be up and flying when demand for travel picks up again. And that's what we're going to do."

Meantime, many flight attendants remain torn. One flight attendant shared a Facebook post that he said summed up where many of them are today.

"Some of us are stuck between being thankful we still have jobs to go to and terrified we still have jobs to go to."

- - -

The very nature of flight attendants' jobs puts them in constant contact with members of the public. In ordinary times, they enjoy these interactions. But it also makes the social distancing recommended by health officials nearly impossible and they worry that even the briefest of exchanges put everyone at risk.

"I can tell you this is the first time after 9/11 that I'm scared," said the veteran New York-based flight attendant. "It's comparable to that."

The fear is also mixed with guilt. Some worry they could have the virus and not know it. In Facebook posts, they tell stories of trying to get tested but being turned away because they weren't in a high-risk group or didn't show symptoms.

"Just statistically speaking there's bound to be people, flight attendants, pilots and passengers who have it but are asymptomatic," said an Oakland-based flight attendant, who is still working.

He feels fine now, but knows that if he continues to fly, he risks contracting the virus.

"It's spreading like wildfire at this point," he added. "It's unrealistic to think that flight attendants, pilots and passengers don't have it. Somebody has it on somebody's plane."

In a video shared by one of her friends with The Washington Post, another flight attendant had a blunt message for her colleagues: stop flying.

From her hospital bed, she recounted how she worked a nearly two-week stretch last month and felt fine. But on her day off, she began feeling congested. She thought it was allergies. Now she's hospitalized with covid-19.

"I'm asking all of my flight attendant friends to stop flying," she said. "It's not worth it. Forget your mortgage. Forget your bills. Stay home."

Some flight attendants have stopped going home between trips, worried that they might infect their families. Others are meticulous about changing out of their work clothes before going into their houses and bathing before even getting near their loved ones.

"All of us on the front lines - we are scared," said a Boston-based flight attendant who has flown for 26 years. "We have families. I am scared - scared I'm going to bring it home."

They say the airlines have been slow to respond when they've raised concerns.

Take masks. It was only recently that most carriers allowed flight attendants, not just those flying internationally, to wear masks during flights.

- - -

Airlines said they are deeply concerned about the health and safety of their crew members and passengers and are using guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to set policy. The recommendations however are constantly being revised as health officials learn more about the virus and how it spreads. That has sometimes put carriers in conflict with their crew members.

Take the issue of masks.

Flight attendants pushed for several weeks to be allowed to wear masks while on board, but airlines initially rebuffed those requests noting that the CDC had recommended only certain people, such as health-care professionals, needed to wear them. In late March, however, most major carriers relented.

"Southwest recognizes and empathizes with the level of unease among some of our Flight Attendants, and their safety and peace of mind are important to us," the airline said in a statement outlining its decision.

Just over a week later, the CDC changed its recommendation, saying that all individuals should consider wearing masks in public to help stem the spread of the virus.

Airlines said they are taking other steps to protect passengers and crew members. Delta Air Lines began putting special kits on international and now some domestic flights that include masks, wipes, hand sanitizer and thicker gloves. Other carriers are providing gloves, soap and hand sanitizer - though they acknowledge that those items are in short supply. All say they have stepped up cleaning of their aircraft. Even so, some flight attendants say thorough cleanings aren't always done.

Airlines said they also have taken steps to reduce interaction between passengers and crew members.

Southwest eliminated all snack and beverage service on its flights, though passengers can request cans of water. American did the same on short-haul flights though it still offers meals on longer flights.

And they maintain they have made changes to facilitate social distancing on flights.

JetBlue and American now block off two rows of seats near where crew members sit and seating assignments are made with the goal of maximizing distance between passengers. American Airlines is leaving half the middle seats empty on most flights.

Even with the changes, just the prospect of flying still puts many flight attendants on edge.

"When I'm not working, I can manage it," said a Jacksonville-based flight attendant. "But when I'm going to work, I get super anxious."

Adding to the anxiety, flight attendants may not know they are flying with someone who is sick or have flown with someone who later became sick. Airlines are not required to report when a crew member or passenger contracts the novel coronavirus. That responsibility falls to state or local health officials, who follow guidelines from the CDC recommending who should be notified and what steps should be taken to protect others who may have been exposed.

Some say they feel like they inhabit parallel universes: At home in New York City, one flight attendant said she follows strict rules that have been imposed on residents. She never leaves the house and doesn't interact with anyone outside her immediate family.

But her work life is the opposite: hours spent confined in an enclosed space with strangers.

"I'm trying to do all the things I'm supposed to," she said. "I live in New York City, so I don't go out - except to go to work because I don't have a choice."

Passengers have changed their habits as well, some said.

Another New York-based flight attendant said she worked on three flights to Europe before restrictions imposed by the Trump administration led to mass cancellations. On the first two, both to London she watched as one or two passengers wiped down their seats. By the time she left Barcelona, "everyone was doing it."

She, too, became more cautious: after landing in Barcelona, she headed straight to the hotel and didn't leave until it was time to fly home.

- - -

Airlines do say they have changed policies so that flight attendants don't feel pressured to work if they are sick - something that unions have pushed them to do.

Some like JetBlue are offering additional paid time off for those with confirmed cases of covid-19. The airline is offering flight attendants the ability to take paid time off in advance if they haven't banked enough, but that time will have to be made up in the future.

Southwest instituted an emergency time off program that allows flight attendants to take May or June, or May and June off at half pay with full medical benefits. Others like American are offering extended leaves with medical benefits.

Still, many flight attendants say they aren't sure they can afford to take time off. One New York-based flight attendant said she's worried if she takes time off, she'll have to pay more for company-provided health benefits that cover her and her family.

The Oakland-based flight attendant said even with full medical benefits, he can't afford his company's offer of time off if he's only receiving half his salary.

The reality is that as long as the airlines are flying, flight attendants and others must work.

In an internal memo to staff, Ed Baklor, vice president of flight services at JetBlue, acknowledged that these are difficult times.

"Your notes express the gamut of emotions we're all feeling - everything from well-wishes, frustration, gratitude, anxiety and uncertainty," he wrote. "Many of the questions you've asked are the big ones Is it safe for me to do my job? Why are we still flying? These questions are complex and none of them have perfect answers."

"However with the critical nature of our work comes inherent responsibilities and yes, risks Jet Blue must continue to fly because our industry has been included in the government's list of critical businesses needed to operate during these extraordinary times."

The New York-based flight attendant called the pandemic her worst fear come true.

"I don't want my job to be done, but on the other hand I don't want to die from this either."

Added the Jacksonville flight attendant: "Honestly, I don't know what the right answer is. Should I fly? Should I not fly? I still don't know."

Still every so often, in the Facebook group where flight attendants share their fears and anxieties, there is a bit of good news.

Three days after the pregnant flight attendant first shared her worries, the 27-year-old posted an update. "Hello group! I want to take a moment to say thank you for the amazing support i [got] from every one of you. This is the first time I realized the amazing family we are in this industry. My results came back today NEGATIVE thanks God."
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Linkedin Tim Lindsey and Tim Mann (The Jakarta Post) Melbourne  Thu, April 9, 2020 15:12 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d8ac1 3 Opinion COVID-19,coronavirus,Indonesia,Jokowi,Terawan,pandemic,COVID-19-in-Indonesia Free

Almost no one thinks Indonesia is handling the COVID-19 pandemic well.

Until early March, the government claimed it had no cases of infection, something the eccentric health minister, Terawan Agus Putranto, attributed to prayer. The home affairs minister urged the public to eat more bean sprouts and broccoli, while President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) sang the praises of jamu, traditional herbal remedies.

The government had been in denial. Terawan dismissed as insulting a report by Harvard University researchers saying Indonesia must have unreported cases. As recently as last Friday, another minister was still arguing the virus cannot survive in tropical climates.

Jokowi was apparently more concerned about the threat the virus posed to trade, investment and tourism. In February, when many countries were imposing tough travel restrictions, he planned to offer discounts of up to 30% to attract tourists. His government even allocated almost A$8 million to pay social media influencers for tourism promotions.

On March 2, Indonesia finally acknowledged COVID-19 had reached the archipelago. Jokowi admitted, as many suspected, his government had withheld information from the public to avoid panic.

And then it finally began to act. The government banned mass gatherings, imposed so-called large-scale social restrictions and barred foreigners from entering the country. It announced it will release 30,000 prisoners from the countrys notoriously overcrowded and unhealthy prisons and will spend an additional A$40 billion on medical needs, social support and relief for small and medium businesses

Last week, Jokowi even toyed with the idea of declaring a civil emergency (similar to martial law) before quickly backtracking.

Just how bad is the situation?

It is not hard to see why Jokowi finally admitted what most Indonesians guessed long ago, but we still dont have all the facts.

Indonesia has recorded more than 2,400 infections and 209 deaths, but these figures are based on just 11,500 tests, a tiny sample in a nation of nearly 270 million.

There are indications many cases and deaths are going undetected. Reuters examined data from Jakartas Department of Parks and Cemeteries and found 4,400 burials were conducted in the province in March, an increase of 40% above normal levels.

But even by the conservative official figures, the mortality rate of 9% is one of the highest in the world, although this could be because of insufficient testing.

In any case, scientists at the University of Indonesia have predicted that if stricter measures do not start immediately, the situation could spin out of control, with up to 240,000 deaths by the end of April.

Tragically, widespread testing, proper treatment and tough and effective social isolation measures are unlikely to happen soon.

The government is scrambling to prepare its health system to cope, but this looks like an impossible task. Indonesia has just four doctors and 12 hospital beds per 10,000 people, and less than three intensive care beds per 100,000. These levels are way below World Health Organisation or Asia-Pacific standards.

An extreme shortage of ventilators will likely result in many avoidable deaths, especially in regional areas.

A specialist COVID-19 hospital has been opened in Jakarta, and the old Vietnamese refugee camp on Galang Island is being refurbished to create another.

But it will take a lot more than this if hundreds of thousands are infected  not least because Indonesia is a respiratory disease tinderbox. It has one of the highest proportions of male smokers in the world, and its five leading causes of death are all tobacco-related. The bad relations between the Ministry of Health and doctors wont help either.

There is also a serious lack of protective equipment for health care workers. Some have been told they can turn up to work in raincoats. At least 24 doctors have died so far, about 11% of all recorded deaths.

Even social isolation will be extraordinarily difficult in such a densely populated country with a laissez-faire attitude to rules and a tradition of bribing police. Moreover, up to 70% of the workforce is employed in the informal sector and many live hand-to-mouth. Working from home may simply not be an option for them.

To make matters worse, millions have been preparing for mudik, the traditional visit home for Muslims in the lead-up to the Idul Fitri (Eid) celebration on May 23. Last year, more than 18 million Indonesians travelled during this time. It is hard to imagine an event more likely to trigger a catastrophic outbreak.

Jokowis many balancing acts

Jokowi has warned of the dangers of mudik, but seems reluctant to take tough measures to prevent it.

He is in no-win situation. If he does ban mudik he will be a target for criticism from political enemies who like to portray him as an insincere Muslim. If he doesnt, he will be attacked for exposing millions to the virus.

Already, Anies Baswedan, the high-profile governor of Jakarta, has criticised Jokowis handling of the crisis, calling for much tougher measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

But Jokowi appears to have again put economic considerations before public health, opting instead for large-scale social restrictions rather than quarantines or banning mudik outright.

Stricter regional quarantines or lockdowns would undoubtedly depress economic activity. Whats more, under the 2018 Health Quarantine Law, the government would then incur the huge costs of being responsible for all the basic needs of citizens in those areas.

It would also concern Jokowi that the virus has triggered an outburst of anti-Chinese hate speech, never far below the surface in Indonesia. Online trolls are accusing the Chinese of introducing the virus to Indonesia and wealthier Chinese of fleeing to the safety of Singapore. There have already been violent protests against Chinese workers in a number of locations.

Jokowis close association with former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, coupled with the presidents determined courting of Chinese investment, will make Jokowi vulnerable if anti-Chinese sentiment escalates further.

Jokowi has now brought in the police, armed forces and national intelligence agency to help manage the crisis. This is in line with the creeping securitisation that has marked Jokowis rule, and these agencies will take any opportunity to gain a greater foothold.

But it also suggests Jokowi is aware of the political dangers COVID-19 may create for him. Worryingly, the police seem more concerned with chasing down the presidents online critics than taking actions that might help to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Indonesian government has a mess on its hands  one largely of its own making. Sadly, its people will likely pay a very high price for the months its leaders spent denying the obvious.

Correction: this story has been amended since publication to correct the number of doctors and hospital beds per people in Indonesia.

---

Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne and Tim Mann, PhD candidate and Associate Director, Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
[April 09, 2020] Labelbox Awarded Artificial Intelligence Grant by Department of Defense

SAN FRANCISCO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labelbox, the worlds leading training data platform, is among an elite selection of artificial intelligence companies to receive a grant from the Department of Defense to support national security as the U.S. scrambles to stay ahead of its rivals.

While some in Silicon Valley balk at working with the government, Labelboxs founders are vocal about their belief that technology companies have a responsibility to help the U.S. maintain its technological advantage in the face of competition from nation states. I grew up in a poor family, with limited opportunities and little infrastructure said Manu Sharma, CEO and one of Labelboxs co-founders, who was raised in a village in India near the Himalayas. He said that opportunities afforded by the U.S. have helped him achieve more success in ten years than multiple generations of his family back home. Weve made a principled decision to work with the government and support the American system, he said. Labelbox is a software platform that allows data science teams to manage the data used to train supervised-learning models. Supervised learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that uses labeled data to train algorithms to recognize patterns in images, audio, video or text. After being fed millions of labeled pictures of mobile missilelaunchers from satellite imagery, for example, a supervised-learning system will learn to pick out missile launchers in pictures it has never seen.



For data science teams to work better with each other and with labelers around the world, they need a platform and tools. Without those things, managing large sets of data quickly becomes overwhelming. Labelbox solves that problem by facilitating collaboration, rework, quality assurance, model evaluation, audit trails, and model-assisted labeling in one platform. The platform is tailored for computer vision systems but can handle all forms of data. The platform also helps with billing and time management. Labelbox is an integrated solution for data science teams to not only create the training data but also to manage it in one place, said Sharma. Its the foundational infrastructure for customers to build their machine learning pipeline.

The company won an Air Force AEFWRX Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research grant to conduct feasibility studies on how to integrate the Labelbox platform with various stakeholders in the Air Force. Labelbox recently hired a representative in Washington, D.C., to manage the process. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research and Development. The United States Department of Defense is the largest of 11 federal agencies participating in the program. Air Force Innovation Hub Network (AFWERX) is a United States Air Force program intended to engage innovators and entrepreneurs in developing effective solutions to challenges faced by the service. About Labelbox

Founded in 2018 and based in San Francisco, Labelbox is a collaborative training data platform for machine learning applications. Instead of building their own expensive and incomplete homegrown tools, companies rely on Labelbox as the training data platform that acts as a central hub for data science teams to interface with dispersed labeling teams. Better ways to input and manage data translates into higher-quality training data and more accurate machine-learning models. Labelbox has raised $39 million in capital from leading VCs in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit: https://www.Labelbox.com/ Editorial Contact

Lonn Johnston for Labelbox

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Police are appealing for information from the Orewa community after a woman in her 60s was assaulted while out walking, last Sunday night.

Area Commander, Waitemata North Police, Inspector Mark Fergus, says at around 9.15pm on Sunday April 5, the victim was walking along Puriri Avenue.

She had just turned left into Puriri Avenue from Hibiscus Coast Highway.

As she walked down Puriri Avenue in the direction of the Kensington Park subdivision, she suddenly noticed a man behind her. She quickened her pace and continued walking but the man continued to follow her, for at least 350 metres.

At the corner of Parkside Drive and Puriri Boulevard, the victim was assaulted on a grass park area.

The woman managed to push the offender away and fled, running down Parkside Drive.

The victim was uninjured but is understandably shaken. It was a very frightening situation, Inspector Fergus says.

This appears to be a random attack on a woman out simply getting some exercise and there is no place for this in our community. I want to reassure the Orewa community, particularly the many elderly residents of the Kensington Park area, that we are determined to find the person who has done this.

The victim describes the offender as aged in his early 20s, tall and slender with a slim face, dark-skinned complexion and possibly of Asian/Indian/Middle Eastern ethnicity with short dark hair. He was wearing a dark long-sleeved top, long pants and sneakers.

CCTV footage has been obtained from several areas and is currently being reviewed.

We would like to hear from anyone else who lives in the area of Puriri Avenue, Centreway Road, West Hoe Road and Elizabeth Street and who has a CCTV camera and hasnt yet been spoken to by Police, Inspector Fergus says.

Anyone who was in the Puriri Avenue area at around 9.15pm on Sunday night is also asked to contact Police.

Residents can also expect to see increased Police patrols of the area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Beth Bates of the Orewa Police by calling 105.
A leading US airline has warned that, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is set to carry an average of fewer than 10 passengers on some of its flights.

JetBlue, like other US carriers, is seeking support from the American government after passenger numbers collapsed.

The aid rules require airlines to maintain a minimum service obligation to cities on its network.

But carriers are able to appeal for exemption from this obligation in cases where it would prove too onerous.

JetBlue, and indeed the entire US, airline industry, is facing an existential, unprecedented crisis, the carrier said in a filing to the Department of Transportation in Washington DC.

Last April JetBlue earned approximately $22m each day in revenue, whereas this April it is only $1m.

JetBlue is issuing cash refunds of more than $2m each day along with millions more in travel credits for cancelled bookings.

In cities served by more than one airport, carriers are allowed to end flights to all but one.

So JetBlue is suspending operations at Baltimore-Washington, San Jose, Providence and New York La Guardia from 15 April.

The airline is based in New York, and will continue to serve the citys JFK and Newark airports.

But it wants to suspend all services to another 11 airports, including Albuquerque, Dallas-Fort Worth, Minneapolis-St Paul, Portland (Oregon), Reno and Sacramento, between 15 April and 10 June 2020.

JetBlue respectfully requests an emergency exemption to abandon some cities  and provides painful evidence of why it is necessary.

It has been well-documented that travel nationwide is down more than 90 per cent. In some metropolitan areas, including New York, the reduction is closer to 100 per cent.

A rigid interpretation of the service obligation will only threaten to unnecessarily diminish JetBlues liquidity, with no commensurate public interest benefit.

On one route, from Long Beach in California to Bozeman, Montana, the airline says: Booked load factors are below 5 per cent for the month, making the 900-mile route unsustainable for JetBlue to operate.

The sub-5 per cent figure means that fewer than 10 people are booked on the average flight.

Even on routes between major hubs where the number of flights has been cut right back, the vast majority of seats are unsold.

From Boston to both Minneapolis-St Paul and Dallas-Fort Worth, less than 20 per cent of seats have been sold  with actual flown load factors even lower, according to the airline.

Other carriers have made similar submissions, though none appears to have bookings as low as 5 per cent.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:18:26|Editor: xuxin

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BISHKEK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan reported 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 280, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

Deputy Health Minister Mademin Karataev told a news briefing on Thursday that two of the newly infected are medical workers. So far, a total of 34 doctors in the country have been infected.

Karataev said 10 patients are in serious condition, among which five are in intensive care.

In Kyrgyzstan, 30 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Four have died.
New Delhi, April 9 : The VC funding is drying up for startups in the wake of the nationwide lockdown and the result is seen in several startups laying off employees at their various India offices.

According to data compiled by career marketplace BigJobs, VC-funded startups are the ones doing most of the layoffs. The data revealed that 32 per cent of the 640 companies which are VC-funded are letting go of their workers, reports Inc42.com.

The result is that several young and mid-level startups are sacking their staff.

At least 300 employees of US-based travel platform Fareportal in Gurugram have been asked to resign. App-based bus aggregator service Shuttl has also reportedly laid off employees.

Some other startups like Bounce, Zomato, Curefit and HealthifyMe have gone for salary cuts which makes sense in such grim situations where there is no or little business.

"Online insurance firm Acko has reportedly laid off around 50 employees across customer service, operation sales and marketing teams," reports Inc42.com.

The layoffs are happening even as the government has asked companies not to sack people.

"Seed funding has witnessed decline across categories, mostly those into consumer facing sectors -- travel, tourism, retail, restaurants and events," Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder and President, Venture Catalysts, an incubator for startups, told IANS.

"These are the sectors that are likely to be hit the most since consumers are likely to hold onto their spends for at least 2-3 months now on the back of a deteriorating global economy that is likely to impact jobs and overall spends," Sharma said, adding that no one can predict when the situation is likely to stabilise.

The current situation is affecting the economic activity of startups, which is definitely expected to elongate funding cycles of seed stage companies.

"However, most early stage VCs we are interacting with continue to be open to new investments," said Esha Tiwary, General Manager-India at Entrepreneur First, which is a leading UK-based global talent investor.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The father accused of murdering his family inside their Disney town home allegedly drugged his wife and kids with Benadryl, stabbed them and left their bodies to mummify, the final autopsy has revealed.

Anthony Todt, 44, could face the death penalty after he allegedly brutally slaughtered his family at their home in Celebration, Florida, a gated community designed and developed by Disney, and lived with their bodies for at least two weeks.

The father-of-three is suspected of carrying out the killing rampage shortly after New Year's Day before holing up in his home with their rotting bodies for around two weeks before they were discovered.

The autopsies have now revealed that his wife Megan, 42 and their three children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and four-year-old Zoe were killed by 'unspecified violence' combined with overdoses of the drug Benadryl.

Anthony Todt, 44, was arrested on January 13 and charged with murdering his wife Megan, 42 and their three children Alek, 13, Tyler, 11, and four-year-old Zoe (pictured)

The official cause of death for the four victims was 'homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity,' more commonly known as Benadryl, said the autopsy report released Tuesday.

Megan was stabbed twice in the stomach either before or during her death based on their being blood in her abdomen, the report said.

Alek and Tyler both had single stab wounds to the stomach but did not have any blood inside their abdomens unlike their mother.

In all three, the autopsy did not point to the stabbings as the clear cause of death.

The autopsies have now revealed that Megan and their three children (pictured) were drugged and stabbed and their bodies left to mummify

The official cause of death for the four victims was 'homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity,' more commonly known as Benadryl, said the autopsy report released Tuesday

Megan (with Todt) was stabbed twice in the stomach either before or during her death based on their being blood in her abdomen, the report said

Four-year-old Zoe had no evidence of trauma to her body, the report said, but homicidal violence and a Benadryl was still listed as cause of death.

Because the victims' bodies were heavily decomposed when they were found, they had to be identified using dental records and their blood could not be used for toxicology testing.

It is still not clear when exactly the mother and her children were killed in the brutal attack.

Earlier reports stated that the debt-riddled physical therapist had first suffocated his wife and two children but stabbed his teenage son with a kitchen knife when he fought back, before then slicing his wife and other son to make sure they were dead, DailyMail.com revealed back in January.

A source close to the investigation said the family man had first suffocated his family members one by one.

But when Todt got to Alek last, the teenager fought back by scratching and biting him, leading Todt to stab him with a kitchen knife.

Todt then went back and stabbed his wife and second son to make sure they were dead.

Medical examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany refused to confirm or deny on Tuesday that the 'unspecified' violence discovered in the autopsy was suffocation, Channel 9 reported.

Todt could face the death penalty after he allegedly brutal slaughtered his family at their home in Celebration, Florida, a gated community designed and developed by Disney, and lived with their bodies for at least two weeks

The father-of-three is suspected of carrying out the killing rampage shortly after New Year's Day before holing up in his home with their rotting bodies for around two weeks before they were discovered by cops

Todt was arrested on January 13 and charged with four counts of murder for the killings.

Authorities believe they were killed shortly after New Year's Day.

Officers had entered the home and found the rotting bodies of his wife and three children wrapped up in blankets after concerned relatives told police they hadn't heard from them for some time.

Todt allegedly confessed to murdering his family and their dog to sheriffs, as it emerged he had been grappling with spiraling debts.

Authorities had been called to the property numerous times in the two weeks leading up to the discovery of their bodies but officers failed to enter the property until January 13 when the victims' bodies were found in the early stages of decomposition.

DailyMail.com revealed in January that the local sheriff's department were called to the Orlando-area home at least five times after family members grew concerned when they had not heard from or seen them since before Christmas.

Todt previously confessed to sheriffs to the killing of his wife, three children and their dog inside their home (above), as it emerged he had been grappling with spiraling debts

Authorities had been called to the property (above) numerous times in the two weeks leading up to the discovery of their bodies but failed to enter the property where the bodies lay

Deputies drove to the Celebration house at least five times between December 31 and January 13 but didn't notice the smell of decomposition

Documents show that Todt's sisters were calling the Osceola County Sheriff's Office from Connecticut, where the Todts lived part-time, sometimes daily to ask deputies to check on the family because they suspected something wrong.

Deputies drove to the Celebration house at least five times between December 31 and January 13 but didn't notice the smell of decomposition.

Reports show a sheriff's deputy first knocked on the door on December 31 to serve an eviction notice. He reported no answer and left his card in the door.

On January 9 and January 10, another deputy alerted by Tony's sister in Connecticut knocked on the front and back doors, then headed to an apartment the couple owned less than a mile away and knocked there too.

He canvassed the neighborhood, noting the family's only car was parked in the backyard and found the neighbor with the key.

Another deputy returned the next day, arriving at the house at 12:39pm and leaving at 12:52pm after the Todts' landlord asked for a 'wellness check,' according to the reports.

According to the reports, a neighbor even offered a deputy a spare key to the Todts' home on January 11 but the deputy declined to use it.

And again, yet another deputy returned January 12, but he took no action.

Todt was scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing later this month, but it has been delayed due to stay-at-home rules amid the coronavirus pandemic

Finally, on the morning of January 13, federal agents on surveillance spotted Todt entering the house shortly after 9am.

The agents and several deputies knocked on the door. No one inside responded.

One deputy grabbed the door handle and saw the door was not locked. Agents and deputies entered and called for Tony to come to the door.

There was 'a foul odor emitting from inside the residence,' one deputy noted on his report.

Todt was first spotted walking down the staircase from the second floor with difficulties, holding on the railing, the report said.

He needed to be assisted after telling authorities he tried to kill himself with a high dose of Benadryl and was shaking uncontrollably, the report noted.

At first, he told deputies his wife was asleep upstairs.

'I went upstairs and observed a bedroom door to the right that was open,' a deputy wrote. 'I could see inside the bedroom that one person was laying on the bed covered with blankets. I pushed the door open further and observed two persons laying on mattresses on the floor covered up.'

On the bed, the deputy uncovered the body and found Megan, 'deceased for a fair amount of time.'

Florida state attorney Aramis D. Ayala (above) said in February that prosecutors now plan to seek the death penalty for the murders

Tyler and Alek were on the mattress on the floor.

It took a while longer for the deputy to find little Zoe but found her wrapped in a blanket at the foot of her mother's bed.

At the time of the murders, Todt had racked up $100,000 in debt and was facing eviction from the family home.

Eviction proceedings were also pending against his physical therapy office in Colchester.

He was charged and indicted with four counts of first-degree capital murder and a charge of animal cruelty for killing the family's dog, Breezy.

It is not clear how Breezy was killed.

Todt was indicted by a grand jury in February.

Prosecutors are now seeking the death penalty for the murders.

Todt was scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing later this month, but it has been delayed due to stay-at-home rules amid the coronavirus pandemic.
(Newser)  Former acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's trip to Guam to lecture sailors who gave a roaring sendoff to their fired captain cost taxpayers a whopping $243,151.65. Modly, who resigned Tuesday, flew 35 hours on a C-37B at a cost of $6,946.19 per hour, USA Today reports. Once in Guam, he used a loudspeaker to insult the former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in front of the crew. Days earlier, Modly had fired Brett Crozier over a letter, leaked to the media, in which he asked for assistance in containing a coronavirus outbreak on his ship. While Modly later apologized for the speech, he did so at the request of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, reports Reuters.

story continues below

"The president should turn his ire on the brain trust that allowed Modly to travel to Guam at the cost of nearly $250,000a trip that only made the situation aboard the USS Roosevelt exponentially worse while still failing to address the needs of the crew, and the fleet, to protect itself amid the COVID-19 outbreak," says Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., per USA Today. This week, Trump praised Modly as someone "who places the greater good above all else." Modly is in quarantine after visiting the ship, where at least 286 personnel have tested positive for COVID-19, per Reuters. Per USA Today, it's unclear if the five crew members who flew with him are in quarantine also. (Read more Navy stories.)
While dressing up to work is one way of maintaining discipline and a routine while working from home, the focus on LOOKS, DRESS, and MAKEUP is absolutely unnecessary.



Stop this sexist messaging @KPWKM and focus on #domesticviolence survivors who are at higher risk now! https://t.co/mU7nBqbkgk  All Womens Action Society (@AWAMMalaysia) March 31, 2020

A recent campaign released by the Malaysian government advising women to not nag during the lockdown has been panned widely for being highly sexist. The advisory issued by the Malaysian Womens Affairs Ministry is part of a series of campaigns with the hashtag #WomenPreventCOVID19 which focuses on avoiding domestic conflicts. One poster advises women to avoid using sarcasm while asking men to help with housework, suggesting that women use humour or a cartoon tone like Doraemon, instead. It also advises women to wear makeup and dress up while at home.

The Ministry has since issued an apology for the advisory, however, this brings to light the sexism and gender disparity that comes to play, especially at times of crisis such as now. While it is true that the virus has hit men the hardest  as per data released by the Ministry of Health, India, 76 per cent of the coronavirus patients in India are men and 24 per cent are women, the fact is that, socially, women have been hit harder.

In India, COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has brought life as we know it to a standstill  with schools and educational institutions shutting down and offices adopting work from home policies, nurseries and childcare facilities have also ceased to work, hence moving aspects such as childcare from the paid economy to the unpaid economy.

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For a number of women, life has never been this gruelling  along with office work, women are also required to take on the majority of child care work, homeschooling since schools are shut, cleaning and laundry, cooking and keeping up with the constant demands made by family members.

A disproportionate burden

Across the world, women take on the burden of unpaid work  as per an Oxfam report, unpaid care work done by women aged 15 and above, globally, is at least USD 10.8 trillion annually  three times the size of the tech industry. The country where this gap is the largest is India, where women do as much as 10 times more unpaid work than men. As per a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), women spend as much as 352 minutes per day on unpaid work  as opposed to men who spend only 52 minutes  amongst the least.

This is even more so in the situation that we are faced with today. In India, especially for the middle class and those who can afford it, daily lives run with the support of our helpers  the maids, cooks, nannies and people who provide service at our doorsteps  these have been curtailed, and in the case of domestic help  been stopped completely. The lockdown, therefore, apart from having medical and economic implications, is taking a toll socially. This is a time where inequalities show glaringly - in many families, even if both partners are at home, it is often the woman who has to take on the bigger share of responsibilities.

It is not just in terms of excessive workload that women are suffering  across the world, helplines for victims of domestic violence have been flooded with calls. Movement restrictions that are aimed at reducing the risk of transmission are proving to be dangerous for many women who are locked up in their homes. That they face violence at the one place where they should be safe  their homes  is the irony of the whole situation. The United Nations has warned of a horrifying global surge in domestic violence cases, as more women remain trapped in abusive relationships with their partners.

In France, calls on the helpline have increased by 32 per cent, while in Malaysia calls have doubled since the lockdown. To counter this sudden surge of domestic violence cases and an increase in women calling in, countries are trying to ramp up their support services. However, the healthcare providers, police and other support staff are already overstretched, fighting the virus. Further, as per a report by the United Nations, women are not just faced with violence - those who are suspected of carrying the virus are also being thrown out into the streets by their partners without any support.

The pandemic, and subsequent lockdown, has also impacted womens reproductive and sexual health. Women are finding it increasingly difficult to access contraceptives and healthcare services such as abortions. International reproductive health provider, Marie Stopes International has warned that travel restrictions placed during the lockdown period could lead to 3 million unintended pregnancies, 11,000 pregnancy-related deaths and 2.7 million unsafe abortions.

In the midst of all this, women have been at the frontlines of fighting the virus  70 per cent of the healthcare workers globally, including doctors, nurses and aides, are women who are working tirelessly to save lives, often leaving behind their little children and putting their own lives at risk. This is the time when they and everyone else who has been working relentlessly over the past few weeks, need our support and empathy.

This support should also be extended to the women who are working relentlessly to keep their homes running. Families should work together to ensure that every able-bodied member does an equal share of the work so that the burden does not fall on women, alone. This is also a good time to teach children about responsibilities and the need to share work, irrespective of gender. This will help mould children into considerate and humane adults, while also keeping them occupied at home, post their play and study time.
Rob Lowe donned a blond wig, camo hat and a gun belt for an Instagram photo shoot spoofing Joe Exotic of the popular Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder Mayhem and Madness - and teasing a possible scripted project.

Lowe completed the gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet look with appropriately trimmed facial hair, tiger-tooth necklace, cat print shirt, sunglasses, worn-out jeans, a knee brace and lots of earrings. He even used the family dog as a prop.

While there is no mistaking who Lowe was emulating, he was missing Joe Joe Exotic Maldanodo-Passages dangling eyebrow ring.

The Instagram post also came with this caption to tease audiences: Rob Exotic. UPDATE: Ryan Murphy and I will be developing our version of this insane story. Stay tuned!

Murphy is a screenwriter known for creating successful shows Glee and American Horror Story, among others. He also has director and producer credits.

Maldonado-Passage has said he wants either Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him in a movie. While not on the list, Lowe - an actor, producer and director - certainly pulled off the look.

The post generated hundreds of comments, including from celebrities encouraging the endeavor.

Oh YES!! Chris Pratt said.

INCREDIBLE. Gwyneth Paltrow wrote.

Maldonado-Passage is serving 22 years in federal prison. In January, he was sentenced on multiple charges, including a murder-for-hire plot against Big Cat Rescue operator Carole Baskin.

The seven-episode series has been trending on Netflix since it dropped in mid-March.

READ MORE:

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'Tiger King star Joe Exotic in prison isolation for coronavirus observation

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Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.
MANZINI  Government needs to approach the IMF and World Bank for a E1 billion loan as the economy goes into meltdown due to the partial lockdown.

The IMF is the International Monetary Fund.



The Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, needs to approach IMF in order to deal with the wider domestic and global fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rijkenberg has to present a carefully and thorough move set to deal with the fiscal implications of the partial lockdown that came at a time when his ministry was treading strategically in resuscitating an economy that had been on its knees for almost a decade.



With a mandate to harness an economic growth of five per cent per annum, the novel virus halted trade globally, setting Cabinet aback in its quest.

In a mission to understand the implications brought about by the pandemic that has seen over 1 million cases confirmed in recent weeks, this publication sought the input of the minister on what options he had.



This was because some economists had proposed that Rijkenberg approach financial institutions and seek about E1 billion to fund the fight against the coronavirus and also sustain the economy during this period of fiscal turbulence.



To this, the minister acknowledged that the country was already engaging some of its financial partners in seeking assistance. He said some of the financiers that government was engaging with were the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).



Institutions



Weve approached the financial institutions seeking broad amounts, but nothing is final yet as Cabinet will meet on Easter Monday wherein we shall present our proposal as a ministry.



The minister said the actual figure would be available after engagements with Cabinet. Rijkenberg explained that this was a route he would have not pursued given that it would send the country into more debt, which would be expensive to repay.

The debt ratio of the country is said to be over 34 per cent.



However, worth noting is that the need for financial assistance has grown drastically since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.

The Senator Lizzie Nkosi-led Ministry of Health sought a supplementary budget of E100 million to combat the spread while, according to the minister, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) presented a E230 million budget.



He said government gave E26 million to NDMA last week and would be offering another E30 million next week. In addition to that, to date, contributions made to the Eswatini Resource Mobilisation Committee, led by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Masuku, amount to over E24.7 million.



The money raised by the task team is for it to procure medical supplies, equipment and food according to the minister. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the country faces numerous challenges including chronic food insecurity. It states that 63 per cent of people live below the national poverty line, which tallies about 159 000 people being food insecure.



Lockdown



On the other hand, when Rijkenberg was asked how the partial lockdown was affecting the National Budget, which he presented on Valentines Day  February 14, 2020, he said: The partial lockdown and the lockdown in neighbouring South Africa are having a big negative impact on the budget. It is going to be worse if the partial lockdown is prolonged.



Worth noting is that South Africa is on a full lockdown with only essential goods being allowed to be transported into the country.

Given this challenge, Rijkenberg said the major impact imposed by the partial lockdown in the country was that there was no major trade going on in the country, which would result in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) having to deplete their capital as there was no activity in the markets.



An economist concurred with the minister and said: Look at it this way, if a second-hand clothing hawker is allowed to sell her clothes in town, she gets profit and uses part of that to get basic amenities while reserving a portion for stock. Now that they are home, they have no revenue getting into their coffers and they will end up spending their capital to sustain themselves. So when everything has calmed down, they will have no resources to buy stock.



This, he said, was a major challenge as there was minimal cash flow which would result in the loss of capital, sending the SMEs into a dungeon of poverty.

Meanwhile, African Finance Ministers met last month in a virtual conference to exchange ideas on the efforts of their respective governments in dealing with the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and they agreed that financial relief was needed to deal with the virus.



They noted that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa was already experiencing a huge financing gap in funding measures and programmes aimed at realising SDGs and Agenda 2063 targets and goals.



The ministers emphasised that without coordinated efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic would have major and adverse implications on African economies and the society at large. Original economic forecasts in most economies are on average, being downgraded by 2-3 percentage points for 2020 due to the pandemic.
Eighth-grader Kyree Williams holds his new Chromebook outside Universal Alcorn Charter Middle School in Philadelphia on April 2. Schools will remain closed through the end of the school year under Gov. Tom Wolf's announcement. Read more

Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered Pennsylvania schools to stay closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus outbreak  setting a clearer timeline for school leaders but signaling to students, teachers, and parents that the pandemic will prevent normalcy from returning for the foreseeable future.

We must continue our efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus during this national crisis, Wolf said. This was not an easy decision, but closing schools until the end of the academic year is in the best interest of our students, school employees, and families.

The school closure order applies to all public, charter, private and parochial schools, career and technical centers and intermediate units, as well as early learning program classrooms, including Head Start and Pre-K Counts. With current closures already stretching into April, theres no way schools would be able to prepare to reopen this year, Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said.

The announcement comes as coronavirus cases and deaths in Pennsylvania keep growing, and as the virus has prompted states from Oregon to Virginia to shutter schools for the year.

Prior to Thursday, 17 states had taken or recommended such a step. Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, believes every other state will follow in the next few weeks.

The talk is going on: Never mind about this school year. Will we be able to come back in the fall?" Domench said. "The reality is beginning to dawn on people that this pandemic is not going away.

He also said online instruction is not a substitute for in-person teaching, and predicted a loss in learning between now and the end of the school year.

For school leaders, the order wasnt unexpected. Candidly, Im kind of glad the governor pulled the trigger," said David Baugh, superintendent of the Centennial School District in Bucks County. Now we can plan."

But the news stung some parents, who had braced for a long shutdown but held out hope schools would reopen.

Its going to be five months at home, said Brooke Forry of Media, the mother of 7- and 4-year-olds. Thats unfathomable.

Explaining to her first grader why he couldnt go back to see his friends and teachers this year was tough, said Forry, a self-employed graphic designer.

The governor on March 13 had ordered schools closed for two weeks, then extended the shutdown indefinitely.

Since then, schools statewide have grappled with how to teach students at home. Some districts began remote learning immediately, while others have yet to launch online instruction.

Philadelphia is just now distributing Chromebooks to students, who will begin reviewing work with teachers next week and start learning new material on May 4.

While the state has not mandated that school districts continue to instruct the 1.7 million public school students, parents should absolutely expect them to do so, Rivera said. Districts have been required to produce plans for continuing education remotely; so far, Rivera said, about 300 of the states 500 districts have done so.

Though instruction has begun virtually in many districts  and schools have continued to provide meals and other resources to students  Thursdays order reinforced the upheaval the virus has inflicted.

I knew it was coming, but it still hurts to hear it for real, said Greg Kauriga, a music teacher at Loesche Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. It was a gut punch.

When school closed, teachers and students were in the midst of preparing for a production of Frozen Jr. We were starting to hit our stride, and now all that work is down the tubes, said Kauriga.

Andrea Rees, a parent of 14- and 12-year-olds, a school board member in the Methacton district, and a teacher in the Spring-Ford Area District, teared up while thinking about what the closure means for her children and students.

School is such a big part of most of our lives, Rees said. Learning will continue, but its not the same when its not in a classroom.

The state is letting districts decide how to grade students, but is not recommending that students, including graduating seniors, be held back due to the disrupted school year. Rivera said school leaders are determining how to show students have demonstrated mastery of subjects.

In Philadelphia, assignments will be graded starting in May. Students "will have the opportunity to improve grades, to stay on track for graduation or promotion, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Thursday. But it will not be 100% based on what we would have been able to do if students had not lost all of the days from school.

Some teachers are worried that students will fall behind outside of classrooms. Colleen Citrino, a special-education teacher at Julia de Burgos Elementary in the Fairhill section of Philadelphia, wonders whether all of her students got a Chromebook  and whether they have internet access.

"These are the kids who need us the most, Citrino said.

Hite acknowledged that certain students will be affected more than others  including students with special needs and English language learners. The district will have to create a more robust extended school year program for those populations," he said.

The closures felt like a particular loss to high-school seniors and their parents, including Amanda Johns, whose daughter is a senior in the Pennridge School District.

Shes going out of this without any sort of closure from her senior year, said Johns.

Rivera said districts will have to abide by social distancing requirements for any graduation ceremonies.

Baugh, the Centennial superintendent, said his district is considering alternatives, including a parade or drive-through event.

Hite said Philadelphia will plan an event to recognize the Class of 2020, though the details are uncertain. He has directed high school principals to make sure students current addresses are on file, so diplomas can be mailed to those who earn them.

Tamiah Francis, a South Philadelphia High School senior, was crushed by the news that the final months of her school career were swept away.

Twelve years of school, and no real graduation, no prom: its very disappointing, said Francis, 18. We all went through so much and persevered, and we just wanted our parents to see us get our diplomas.

Beyond the current year, Hite warned that the districts finances will be hard hit. In addition to property tax revenues, Philadelphia schools benefit from the citys liquor tax, for instance, and with restaurants closed, theyre losing $2 million monthly, Hite said.

"Its going to be substantial, Hite said of the expected losses. .

Rivera said the department has not provided guidance to districts yet on preparing budgets for the next school year.

He noted that while schools must remain closed, they could offer summer programs if the states social distancing order is lifted by then.

But with the online programs districts are putting in place, Rivera said, school may never be the same.

This is going to change the educational landscape in Pennsylvania, he said, "for generations to come.

Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA contributed to this article.
by Melani Manel Perera

Sri Lankan doctors call on the government to exert control, test people and quarantine positive cases. So far, 186 people have been infected with six deaths 42 healed. But the number of positive cases could reach 2,500. Traditional medicinal substances  coriander, ginger, turmeric  are in high demand, pushing up imports. So far 168,92 people have been arrested and 4,313 vehicles seized for breaking the curfew.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) is urging Sri Lankan health authorities to implement prompt preventive measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, specifically that every person showing coronavirus symptoms be tested, and in case of positive results, treated.

In parallel, alongside western medicine, there is a growing demand for substances, like herbs, used in Ayurvedic medicine. Their sale is considered an essential service; for this reason, all Ayurvedic hospitals and shops are open.

Many people are also failing to heed isolation advisories and respect the curfew imposed on the country.

As of 1 pm today, Sri Lanka had 186 confirmed COVID-19 cases with six deaths and 42 people healed, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva reported.

Some 3,415 people have left quarantine centres after the mandatory 14 days but were asked to spend another 14 days in quarantine at home.

Out of 1,262 people still in quarantine, 44 are foreigners. The others are Sri Lankan residents who have had or might have had direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

According to the GMOA, If health authorities fail to address this alarming situation forthwith, during the next fortnight it will be difficult to curb the spread of the virus across the country.

The association expects the number of coronavirus cases to rise until the end of April, up to 2,500 people.

For GMOA secretary Dr Haritha Aluthge, Those who are infected with the COVID-19 should be forced to undergo the mandatory quarantine process at their homes till repeated tests are conducted on them to prove whether they are positive or negative to the virus.

For these people, isolation from the rest of society is necessary and PCR[*] tests should be streamlined in hospitals.

At present, we have not found that that Rapid Test is not up to standard, said Dr Anil Jasinghe, director general of the Health Services. As soon as we get test kits that are acceptable, we will begin to use them.

In parallel, Ayurvedic hospitals and shops have been classified as "essential services" and thus open. Substances used in Ayurvedic treatments, like coriander, ginger, and turmeric, are in high demand, driving imports upward.

The President Task Force on Essential Services has decided to authorise at least one registered Ayurvedic shop in each divisional secretariat to conduct mobile services locally.

Ayurvedic medical doctors are also allowed to visit and treat patients, especially those who are receiving long-term treatments.

Against this background, it is clear that many people are still not heeding medical advisories nor following orders from the government and the security forces.

For this reason, positive cases continue to increase, a woman told AsiaNews. The government should be tougher; otherwise we will soon have to face an unfortunate and sad situation.

According to police sources, as of 6 April, 16,892 people have been arrested for violating the curfew imposed on 20 March. Some 4,313 vehicles have been seized.

It must be said that isolation and curfew have left many people without work and in deep poverty.

[*] Polymerase chain reaction.
Calaveras Community Foundation and Manzanita Arts Emporium View Photo

Angels Camp, CA  Nonprofits serving on the COVID-19 front are getting some financial relief via grants from a local foundation that is fueling essential efforts.

Calaveras Community Foundation (CCF) Treasurer Brent Harrington, who spoke Wednesday with Clarke Broadcasting while out of the office, estimates that since the nonprofit philanthropic group began offering funding and soliciting donations two weeks ago, its board has approved seven or eight grants totaling between $20,000 and $25,000 out of an applicant pool of 18 to 20 queries.

He specifies that while needs are expanding, CCFs focus is not on trying to make an organization whole but to cover extra, immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

While unfulfilled requests have involved covering staff salaries, rents and utilities, those that have received monies include nonprofit food banks and organizations that have stepped up and are preparing and/or delivering food to shut-ins and others who cannot get their own, and those providing child care services. Among the groups funded to date are the Arnold Women of the Moose and the Resource Connection.

Harrington says CCF is encouraging more queries geared to fulfilling essential equipment, supplies and service needs, adding that the turnaround time is quick  about two days  for checks to be cut funding requests that get at least six votes from the ten-member board.

Simple Process, Direct Instructions

Email is the best way to initiate communications via info@calaverascommunityfoundation.org. The process is simple, he says with award letters sent containing specific instructions. Basically, Heres your grant  you have three months to spend it and send us a report. If you dont spend it, send it backif you do, send us a request if you need more.

As far as incoming donations to expand CCFs funding pot, Harrington says two donations totaling $1,250 have so far come into the office. He acknowledges fundraising will probably be a difficult prospect since unlike the Butte Fire emergency, which drew a huge amount of donations  many from out-of-state, the COVID-19 crisis is impacting just about everyone, everywhere. For that reason the board is beginning outreach efforts to existing larger donors.

With the country, state and region moving into the recovery process in the months ahead, Harrington says the foundation is beginning to discuss what its role might be and that it will undoubtedly follow the process. We look at this as a long-term situation and going to have to do a lot more studying, he says.

In the meantime, he shares that the foundation, now in its 20th year serving Calaveras County, has sufficient funds to provide a good deal of assistance, partly due to monies put away after the Butte Fire. We anticipated some kind of disaster at some point but did not think it would be like this, he acknowledges dryly.

Asked how he hopes residents will continue to locally cope with the crisis, he confides, I always like the British phrase stay calm and carry onwe will get through this  and it is important to stay positive. More information about CCF, including how to help address essential local needs through the foundations auspices are available on its website by clicking here.
Ukraine imposes 65% duty on coal imports from Russia

18:00, 09.04.20 817

The relevant resolution was adopted on March 18.
The Baker administrations latest guidelines make the aisles at supermarkets less crowded in hopes of preventing these stores from becoming hot spots for the coronavirus.

Perhaps the biggest change is that most grocery stores will only be allowed to operate at 40% of its maximum occupancy, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said on Tuesday when she first spoke of the guidance. But the state made other recommendations for coordinating with local boards of health and monitoring lines outside of a store.

We put additional guidance out to ensure the safety of our grocery stores for both employees and customers, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday afternoon during a news conference at the Massachusetts State House.

The original guidelines for grocery stores that the Baker administration issued last month remain in place, according to the guidance issued on Tuesday by Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel.

As of Wednesday, 16,790 people in Massachusetts tested positive for the coronavirus, and 433 people have died, according to the latest DPH figures.

Grocery store workers, considered essential workers, are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic as people continue to shuffle through the aisles in search of food, cleaning supplies and other necessities. A Market Basket employee in Salem died after contracting the coronavirus, and other employees from that store tested positive.

Some grocery store employees are calling to be designated as first responders so they can get greater access to personal protective equipment, arguing they put themselves at risk of falling ill by showing up to work.

How does the guidance reduce crowding?

The guidance issued on Tuesday limits grocery stores to 40% of their maximum occupancy levels, and it applies to both customers and grocery store workers.

There is an exception for stores that have a maximum occupancy of 25 people or fewer, according to the guidance.

Grocery store employees are expected to monitor how many customers enter or leave the store at one time.

Under the guidance, local boards of health are expected to consult with retailers to make sure theyre following the guidelines.

Can I wait outside?

Yes. Customers are allowed to wait outside as long as they keep their distance from each other. If lines form outside the grocery store, workers should monitor the line to make sure customers are adhering to social distancing measures, according to the guidance.

The guidance states that grocery store workers can call police if they encounter security concerns with the lines.

What about grocery deliveries?

The state does not require grocery stores to offer groceries through curbside pickup or delivery. Instead, the guidance states customers should use those methods in lieu of shopping in-person if those options are available.

What else is different?

DPH encourages local health officials to consult retailers about what products may be restricted (think toilet paper, hand sanitizer and masks). The state also recommends local boards of health to work with grocery stores to make sure food and essential products are available to the public without disruption, according to the guidance.

If a board of health spots health problems at a retailer, the state advises local health officials to try to work with the store managers or owners instead of punishing them.

What were the old rules?

The old guidelines, which remain in effect, instruct grocery stores to set aside an hour in the morning for people age 60 or older, set up a social distancing line 6 feet from checkout counters and close salad bars, self-serve food stations and free-sample stations.

Those guidelines also advise grocery stores and pharmacies to allow immunocompromised and older workers to stay home or take on a lower-exposure assignment.

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There are big advantages to 5G networks. In addition to faster speeds, 5G offers greater bandwidth and network capacity, paving the way for a future of driverless cars, connected devices and more high-definition connections for virtual meetings and telemedicine. But the rollout in the United States and elsewhere has been stymied by gaps in available technology that could operate at the high frequencies required by 5G.

An electrical engineer at the University of Houston is creating a roadmap toward that 5G future, using a $1.7 million grant to design and build a system capable of supporting 5G infrastructure.

Harish Krishnamoorthy, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working on the Department of Defense-funded project with New Edge Signal Solutions, a Massachusetts company which builds high-speed broadband radio frequency systems.

Krishnamoorthy, whose lab focuses on power electronics, said successful adoption of 5G networks will require adapting software to support the demands. "But first, we need hardware that is fast enough and capable of supporting 5G."

That's where he comes in, charged with developing a higher power 5G envelope tracking power supply that can operate with a bandwidth of 100 megahertz (MHz) or higher; current state-of-the-art envelope bandwidth in commercial applications is about 20 MHz for a peak power of greater than 65 watts, he said. The higher bandwidth allows 5G systems to offer better speed, resolution and clarity.

Envelope tracking is a type of power supply modulation technique that continuously adjusts the converter voltage used by the radio frequency power amplifier in order to keep it running at peak efficiency. Boosting both frequency and power at the same time is technically challenging, in part because of the excess heat produced. The continuous adjustment via envelop tracking can significantly reduce the amount of waste heat produced by the system, despite the higher power output.

4G systems, by comparison, typically operate on established frequencies at lower peak power and at a lower bandwidth. One hundred MHz is just a starting point for 5G, Krishnamoorthy said. "Even getting to that point is hard with current technology. We will need to advance power electronics to support that." The goal over the five-year life of the project is to exceed 100 MHz at close to 200 watts peak power.

Krishnamoorthy said the work will proceed in steps, "through the use of better device technologies, paralleling power converters and including a smart error correction technique, without which we would be unable to achieve the efficiency as well as linearity targets of the project."

###
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 7.30 am ET Thursday, the European Central Bank is set to publish the account of the monetary policy meetings of the governing council held on March 11 and 12. Ahead of the release, the euro traded mixed against its major rivals. While the euro held steady against the yen, it retreated against the rest of major rivals. The euro was worth 118.23 against the yen, 1.0860 against the greenback, 0.8743 against the pound and 1.0550 against the franc as of 7:25 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on April 9 that the partnership between Indian and the US was stronger than ever.

He was replying to US President Donald Trump as he thanked India for allowing the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to the country.

In a tweet on April 8, Trump praised PM Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis would not be forgotten.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten!" he said.

"Thank you, Prime Minister for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in his tweet that went viral. It was re-tweeted for more than 83,000 times and liked by over three lakh people.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Coronavirus LIVE updates

In response, PM Modi said that he fully agreed with the US president.

Fully agree with you President Donald Trump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever, PM Modi tweeted.



Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever.

India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19, said Modi, adding that We shall win this together.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19. It is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Also Read: Explained | Is hydroxychloroquine really effective against coronavirus?

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Also Read: How IPCA Labs is best suited to reap the hydroxychloroquine opportunity

India manufactures 70 percent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain. The drug is typically used to prevent or treat malaria.

Follow our full coverage here
Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, says there is no need for social distancing as long as people put on face masks. In a video circ...

Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, says there is no need for social distancing as long as people put on face masks.





In a video circulated on social media, Ayade said the use of face masks automatically protects people from getting infected with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.





Because Im a professor of science and I know how this virus moves; I know its etiology, I know it transmissibility, I know its antigenicity; because I do, I know that once you put on this mask, you have already been protected, he said.







You dont need social distancing when you are properly protected because your mucal glands that secrets the mucus and the musins already forms a network of coats to attack the virus.

Ayades assertion comes days after he had ordered security agencies in the state to arrest anyone who moves about without the use of face mask.





The governors claim has further ignited debate on whether people should use face masks in public places to prevent spread of the virus or just maintain social distancing.





The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had urged people to wear face masks when visiting places like pharmacies and grocery stores.





The CDC said such measure could halt the spread of the novel disease in such places where social distancing is difficult to maintain.





The World Health Organization (WHO), however, warned that while face masks may help curb the spread of the novel disease, they were insufficient on their own.





Nigeria currently has 276 confirmed cases while Cross River is yet to record any case of COVID-19  as of the time this report was filed.








Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi on Thursday as the country's third prime minister-designate this year, moments after his predecessor ended his bid to form a government. Kadhemi, the 53-year-old head of the National Intelligence Service, has ascended to the role as Iraq faces a budget crisis brought on by the collapse in world oil prices and the spread of the novel coronavirus. "This is a huge responsibility, and a difficult task," Saleh said in his nominating speech, describing Kadhemi as someone with integrity and reason. His nomination was attended by ministers, political rivals and even the United Nations' representative in Iraq, indicating widespread support for Kadhemi that neither of the previous PM-designates had enjoyed. Moments before the ceremony, his predecessor Adnan Zurfi announced he was withdrawing his candidacy due to "internal and external reasons," without elaborating. Zurfi had been staunchly opposed by hardline Shiite factions with close ties to Iran, which enjoys vast political and military influence in Baghdad. Any candidate for the premiership, observers say, must have approval from Iraq's Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni communities -- as well as Iran and its rival, the US. - Balancing Iran, US support - Kadhemi was able to secure that support after weeks of lobbying that peaked in a flurry of meetings in Baghdad over the last week, sources close to him told AFP. Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Ismail Qaani, who has headed Iran's powerful Quds Force foreign operations unit since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed his predecessor Qasem Soleimani in January. One hardline Iraqi faction accused Kadhemi of conspiring with Washington to carry out the strike, but the spy chief was able to repair his ties to Iran, several political sources close to the talks told AFP. "Kadhemi recently travelled to Beirut to overcome this obstacle," said one source close to Lebanon's pro-Iran movement Hezbollah. That paved the way for Qaani to endorse Kadhemi in his meetings with top Iraqi Shiite leaders in Baghdad last week, a second source confirmed. Iraq has long feared being caught in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which has blamed the Islamic republic and its allies for dozens of rocket attacks on American troops and citizens in Iraq in recent months. Washington has also imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, granting Iraq a series of temporary waivers to allow it to keep importing vital Iranian gas to feed its dilapidated power grid. The latest waiver will expire in late April. David Schenker, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, accused Iran of still "trying to influence and interfere in the Iraqi political process" and called Zurfi's failure "a sad defeat." He signalled support for Kadhemi, calling him "competent" and an "Iraqi patriot." "If Kadhemi is an Iraqi nationalist dedicated to pursuing a sovereign Iraq, if he is committed to fighting corruption, this will be great for Iraq and this will be great for our bilateral relations," Schenker told reporters in Washington. - Third time's the charm? - With ties to both Washington and Tehran, and particularly close links to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kadhemi may be best equipped to steer Iraq through the brewing political storm, observers say. "It's a win for Iraq, especially in this difficult economic phase, as he could ensure the renewal of Baghdad's waiver to the US sanctions imposed on Iran," a senior political figure in the Iraqi capital told AFP. But first, he must submit a cabinet lineup to Iraq's 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence by May 9. That will require a long process of consultations with various political parties, as top positions in Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system are typically doled out through horsetrading and consensus. Neither of the previous candidates for prime minister -- Zurfi or former communications minister Mohammad Allawi -- had been able to reach that step. If he succeeds, Kadhemi would replace Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who came into power in 2018 when political blocs opted for him over Kadhemi. Abdel Mahdi resigned in December following months of anti-government protests, becoming the first prime minister in the country's post-2003 order to step down. But if the intel leader fails, political sources close to the talks told AFP, Shiite blocs would struggle to find another consensus candidate -- leaving Abdel Mahdi in place for the foreseeable future.
With the lives of 13 Ridgefielders already lost to COVID-19, First Selectman Rudy Marconi assured townspeople Tuesday that he had turned the corner in his personal struggle with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

And the towns COVID-19 case count reached 111 Wednesday. And the cancelation of the Memorial Day parade until 2021 was announced.

I want to thank you for the outpouring of get-well wishes I have received as I recover from COVID-19, Marconi said. I assure you I am doing well and feel like Ive turned the corner, Marconi said Tuesday night. So, thank you again.

Marconi said Wednesday that he wanted to reassure Ridgefielders that he has complete confidence in the dedicated team he leads while he recuperates from COVID-19.

Marconi had announced Monday that he had tested positive and was among more than 100 Ridgefielders with the disease  the count of confirmed cases in town was 107 when Marconi made his announcement Monday, had reached 110 on Tuesday, 111 Wednesday middday, and was expected to continue rising.

Health Director Ed Briggs confirms that we have 110 COVID-19 cases reported with the expectation that these numbers will continue to climb, Marconi said Tuesday night. Sadly, our death toll has climbed to 13 and this is a reminder of how diligent we must remain in keeping our most vulnerable population safe.

The 13 deaths now include: one that is the first fatality of a resident of Laurel Ridge Health Care Center, a nursing home; 11 from the Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossings, an assisted living facility that shares a Route 7 campus with Laurel Ridge; and one from elsewhere in town.

Marconi made Mondays announcement that he had the disease into a warning.

Because I have been extremely careful in following all the directives, this is a reminder of how aggressive this virus is, he said. Please stay home.

Face masks

Marconi echoed the CDCs instruction that people should make their own face masks for any necessary trips out, and reiterated his pleas  and those of countless authorities  for people to avoid making any nonessential trips out.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission, Marconi said through a release from the towns emergency management office Tuesday.

We ask that all Ridgefielders to follow CDC guidelines and wear face coverings in public settings even if you do not have symptoms, Marconis message said. There are many recommended homemade options that can be fashioned from household items or common materials. This adds an extra measure of protection. However, continue to practice social distancing if you must go out.

If you must go out, it is critical that you maintain six-feet social distancing, the only tool we have to slow the spread of the virus, Marconi said. Group gatherings are prohibited by the Governor of Connecticut. If you have gathered in a group recently, please self-quarantine for 14 days before entering any public areas.

Manners on deck

After Marconis announcement, members of the Board of Selectmen confirmed that his fellow Democrat and 20-year veteran of the board, Barbara Manners, would assume his duties in the event he needed a break from them  although reports were he was working from home and overseeing town operations.

Because Marconi had been working daily in town hall through the end of last week, precautions are being taken by others who worked in the building.

Everyone who was in close contact with Rudy last week has been asked to self-quarantine, said Manners. Rudys office is shut down, though people continue to work remotely.

The phones at town hall are still being answered and the tax collector and town clerk are, I believe, available by appointment only, she said. Town Hall is locked.

Skeleton crews

Employees had already been on reduced shifts in the building, and have been notified of Marconis condition, according to town officials.

We have been working on skeleton crews and altering days in versus out and many working from home, said town Human Resources Director Laurie Fernandez. People with private offices have been working more regularly.

We have discussed with those employees who may have had more direct contact about quarantining and working from home, she said Monday, April 5, in an email response.

We have sent notice to all Town Hall employees this afternoon as well.

The town hall was closed Tuesday for a deep cleaning and the Town Hall Annex in the Venus Building would be deep cleaned Wednesday, Fernandez said.

Its difficult to know all the people who may have been exposed.

As you know, the problem with the coronavirus and its long incubation time is that it is impossible to know where one has gotten it, said Gerri Lewis, public information officer for the town emergency management effort during the COVID-19 crisis.

...Rudy continued to go to his office every day, in spite of the health risks of leaving his home, because of his immense sense of obligation to the town he loves. Lewis said.

That said, the entire town hall staff has taken extreme precautions from the very beginning, most working from home since the close of the doors to the public.

Lewis added, The town is being efficiently taken care of, as the first selectman has put into place, by the designated task force: The police, fire, health department and emergency management all continue to work on the front lines.

Department heads

Controller Kevin Redmond is among those who have been working some days in town, and some days from home.

Weve been on a skeleton staff for probably a week or two weeks, Redmond said in a telephone conversation Monday afternoon.

There havent been too many people here, mostly department heads. Weve been rotating on and off for coverage, he said.

Department heads, you should be able to run your department on your own, anyway. We look to Rudy for guidance and kind of the big important things and his knowledge of the town, but the day-to-day running of every department, I assume every department can do that.

While Marconi had been going to his office in town hall, Redmond said contact among workers there had been limited.

I know hes been very careful, he said of Marconi.

Redmond hadnt heard of any other employees whod reported symptoms.

Not that I know of, Redmond said Monday. I just stay in my office, which has proven to be helpful. Its good to be an introvert in situations like this.

Phone call

Marconi spoke to townspeople in a CTAlert telephone call received in homes around the town about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Good evening. This is First Selectman Rudy Marconi, he said. I want to thank you for the outpouring of get-well wishes I have received as I recover from COVID-19. I assure you I am doing well and feel like Ive turned the corner, he said. So, thank you again.

Marconi then proceeded with updates on the situation in Ridgefield.

The Ridgefield Police Department warns that residents should be alert to the many scams that are reaching out via phone, text and email. Please do not give out any personal information to unsolicited callers, emailers or texters. If you have any questions, call the Ridgefield Police Department non-emergency number: 203-438-6531. Please share this information with friends, family and neighbors.

To sign up to receive messages pertaining to Ridgefield, sign up for CTAlert.gov. For those without an email use: noemail@ridgefield.com. Be sure to put the town in the relevant field and check off how you would like to receive the message. Prioritize how to receive your messages or check phone only.

Please, Marconi ended his call, stay home, stay safe, stay healthy. We will get through this.

Council of towns

Matt Knickerbocker, president of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns and first selectman of Bethel, said to his knowledge Marconi is the first municipal leader in the state to test positive for the disease.

I certainly hope he is able to have a mild case, said Knickerbocker, who said he has been friends and colleagues with Marconi since Knickerbocker won his seat as Bethels top elected official in 2009.

Marconi previously served as president of the organization, which represents 110 smaller municipalities throughout the state.

Knickerbocker said he sent Marconi a message Monday afternoon wishing him a speedy recovery. Hes a great guy, great leader, Knickerbocker said. Im sure he will be modeling the right behavior to his citizens on how to handle this.
[April 09, 2020] New Data Shows Cell Phones are Consumers' Lifeline to the World During Coronavirus

Zipwhip, the first company to enable texting on existing business phone numbers, today released the findings of a survey of 1,000 businesses and consumers in New York, California and Washington state; the first regions in the nation to issue comprehensive shelter-in-place orders. The study found that not only are consumers in those states spending more time on cell phones during the coronavirus crisis and relying on them more for news and information, but they're changing their communication habits as a result. In a crisis, consumers use cell phones - and texting - as their main source of information While sheltering in place with access to computers, television and/or radios, consumers are committed more than ever to their mobile devices. The majority (55%) of consumers are getting their news and alerts from their cell phone, followed by their laptop or computer (21%), television (20%), radio (3%) and print media (2%). And more specifically, 38% of consumers report getting more of their news and information through texting than they did before COVID-19. Furthermore, when asked how they prefer to receive alerts and important notices from businesses during emergencies like the one we're currently in, 48% of consumers said they prefer text, compared to 45% who said they prefer email, and just 7% who prefer phone calls. Beyond wanting texts from businesses, consumers also report a desire for local public agencies to adopt texting. During a crisis, 77% of people report wanting to receive texts from local health officials, 59% want texts from police and fire departments, 57% want texts from government leaders and 48% want texts from relief agencies like the Red Cross. Texting and screen time are up The majority of people (56%) have been using their cell phone more since COVID19 began, and of those people, 46% said they're using their phone for four or more additional hours each day than before COVID-19.



In addition, the majority of people (62%) are responding more quickly to text than they were before COVID-19. "This data shows that in a time of crisis, consumers want to simplify their communication channels and use what they know best, which is texting," said John Lauer, CEO of Zipwhip. "Businesses across the country are struggling right now to reach their customers and maintain a revenue stream, especially when they have to close their doors. But this data confirms what we already suspected - your customers are at home and spending more time than ever on their cell phones. If you want to stay connected and continue to engage your customers, you need to use their medium of choice."

Consumers are also using their time to proactively reach out to the businesses they frequent. A spike in customer outreach has resulted in longer wait times for people reaching out by phone - 42% of businesses say call volume has increased and 70% of consumers say they're waiting on hold longer than usual. These data points address why consumers are likely to turn to texts, with 37% of people reporting proactively texting a business since COVID-19 began. Businesses are increasing their texting as well - 42% of consumers reported receiving a text from a business asking to reschedule an appointment due to COVID-19. In the absence of in-person collaboration with coworkers, employees turn to text With shelter-in-place orders closing most businesses and requiring employees to work remotely, people have had to find other ways to communicate with their teams, including texting; 41% of people are texting coworkers more frequently since COVID-19 began. And of businesses surveyed, 72% said they have used texting as a way to communicate with their employees and staff. Another 64% of businesses reported that their employees are communicating with customers while working from home. For more information on this research, visit the Zipwhip blog: https://zipwhip.com/blog/coronavirus-business-and-consumer-trends. Methodology Zipwhip surveyed 500 consumers and 500 businesses for this report. We surveyed each participant individually and blind from a purchased panel sample through SurveyMonkey. All respondents are from either New York, California or Washington state and followed a census breakdown of gender and age. The survey was run in April 2020. No participants were compensated for their participation. About Zipwhip Zipwhip was the first company to enable texting on existing business phone numbers, and today is the world's leading business-texting software and API provider. More than 35,000 companies use Zipwhip to increase customer engagement and drive growth through texting on their existing landline, VoIP or toll-free phone number. Intuitive cloud-based software, an enterprise-grade API and direct network connectivity mean businesses can use any computer or mobile device to securely and reliably reach their customers, every time. Your customers are only a text away: https://www.zipwhip.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005200/en/

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The Leadership of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), has called for a quick re-look at who qualifies to be called a frontline health worker and therefore qualifies to benefit from the 50% of basic salary as allowance announced by President Akufo-Addo as an incentive to boost the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.



A statement issued by the group Wednesday said GHOSPA members are not satisfied with interpretations being given to the term frontline health worker by some high-ranking state officials, and recommended that the definition should include all health staff in all regions of the nation, and not only those at the designated 56 treatment centres.



The association warns that failing this, the incentive package may turn out to become a disincentive to other health workers in the other facilities to reduce their vigilance, which could spell doom for the entire nation.



President Akufo-Addo on Sunday announced a wide rage of incentives for various categories of the public to mitigate the socio-economic hardships engendered by the pandemic and subsequent disruptions to life in general.



Among other packages he announced:



An insurance package, with an assured sum of three hundred and fifty thousand cedis (GH350,000) for each health personnel and allied professional at the forefront of the fight, has been put in place, with a daily allowance of one hundred and fifty cedis (GH150) being paid to contact tracers. Government has also decided that all health workers will not pay taxes on their emoluments for the next three months, i.e. April, May and June. Furthermore, all frontline health workers will receive an additional allowance of fifty percent (50%) of their basic salary per month, i.e. for March, April, May and June. The March allowance will be paid alongside that of April. The Ministry of Transport is also making available, for free, Aayalolo buses to convey health workers in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Kasoa to and from work, along specific routes, for the entire duration of the restrictions.



Various definitions being given the term of frontline health workers saw the President on Tuesday serving notice that the term was yet to be properly defined and that government was making efforts to arrive at an acceptable definition.



The associations statement commended various segments of the society, especially the president for the support in the fight against the diseases.



Read the groups statement below.



PRESS STATEMENT



The Leadership of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) has observed and followed the efforts and participation of its members in the fight against the spread of the Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country with keen interest, and states as follows:



1. Acknowledgement: We acknowledge the great effort of the Government of Ghana, especially the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, in showing good leadership to inspire the nation in this difficult moment.



2. Gratitude: We express our gratitude also to the President for the incentive package to the Health Sector Workers, announced in his 5th speech to the nation on the pandemic, on Sunday, 5th April, 2020. That included, among many others, 3 months tax-free emoluments for all health workers from April to June; free bus rides to and from the workplace for all health workers in the locked-down areas; and 50% of basic salary as additional allowance for all frontline health workers over the next 3 months.



3. Interpretation of Frontline Health Worker: We are not satisfied with the interpretations being given to the term frontline health worker, who is to benefit from the 50% allowance, by some high ranking state officials, according to media reports monitored. We recommend a quick re-look at that definition to include all health staff in all regions of the nation, and not only those at the designated 56 treatment centres. Otherwise, this incentive package may turn out to become a disincentive to other health workers in the other facilities to reduce their vigilance. And that could spell doom for the entire nation.



4. Assurance to the General Public: We would like to assure the general public that, as the motto of our mother Association, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH), states: Amicus humani generis, pharmacists will remain friends of the human race. And as such, we will continue to provide the needed medications like the hand sanitizers (to help prevent the spread of the pandemic) and extemporaneous paediatric preparations (to alleviate the suffering of nursing mothers), as well as the other critical drugs required to help improve the health of our unfortunate brethren who have contracted the virus.



5. Assurance of Patients With Chronic Diseases: Pharmacists are still available at all the chronic disease centres across the country to serve our numerous patients who are battling with various diseases and require regular supply of their medications, including anti-retrovirals, anti-hypertensives, anti-diabetics, etc. They are assured that their pharmacists will always be available to provide their pharmaceutical needs.



6. Assurance to Pharmacists in Hospitals and other State Institutions: We want to finally assure our colleague Pharmacists, working in both the private and public hospitals across the country and those in all state and quasi-government institutions, who constitute GHOSPA, to continue to keep their calm, as the leadership seeks solutions through dialogue with key stakeholders at the highest levels in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in order to bring finality to our pressing challenges. All must continue to put in our best in the fight against this pandemic.



Once again, we thank the President and all the donors, both corporate and individuals, who have contributed into the National COVID-19 Trust Fund to help curb the spread of the pandemic.

Together, we will win this fight; and this too shall pass.



Long live GHOSPA, long live the Ghanaian Pharmacist! Long live Ghana!!



And may God make this Nation Great and Strong!!!



Thank you.



Nathan Coompson National Chairman, GHOSPA) Samuel Owusu (General Secretary, GHOSPA)

Source: Daily Graphic









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This year, amid the health crisis of Covid-19, rising unemployment and near-nationwide quarantine, Pasek and Kantor knew they needed to dip into their creative circles of colleagues, friends and friends of friends (of friends) to help share the story, with all its modern resonances, with a much larger audience. And to raise money while doing so.

At the Seder table, we ask ourselves, What can you do for people who are suffering because you once suffered? Pasek said. We want to amplify that message because it is one of hope and also one that asks people to give of themselves however they can.

Kantor, whose sister-in-law is a new mother and a nurse practitioner caring for Covid-19 patients at Bellevue Hospital in New York, helped write songs and wrangle actors, and he is overseeing the fund-raising drive to benefit the C.D.C. Foundation. We want to support the front lines, he said.

The Saturday Night Seder team, including the writers Alex Edelman and Hannah Friedman; musical arrangers like Charlie Rosen and Ben Wexler; and the composer Shaina Taub, among many others, had about two weeks to put it together, using Slack, Dropbox, Zoom and a color-coded Google Sheet full of Talmudic detail that producers like Talia Halperin used to manage the rehearsal and taping availability of rabbis, writers and Fran Dreschers.

Everyone is doing every job. At one point, Bergen said, I found myself writing a letter to Oprah to see if she could participate, and then a minute later I was editing a video of a drag queen saying, Yas, Passover! so it runs the gamut. If we pull it off  and thats an if  it will be a miracle.

The first week of April, the creators met in a Zoom writers room for about 18 hours a day, piecing together a program that would have elements of awards shows, television variety specials and Broadway revues. This week, they worked directly with the talent, watching them rehearse and film the various elements while providing tech support to some people whose many gifts dont include knowing how to upload files to the cloud.

Most every recording session brought one technical glitch or another. The actor and singer Josh Groban was relying on his iPad both to communicate with the producers on Zoom and to listen to the instrumental version of the track he was singing to. He needed to quit the Zoom app to make his recording.
Odisha took the lead on Thursday by extending the lockdown for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic by a fortnight until the end of the month, shrugging aside its economic impact, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that his government isnt inclined to lift the emergency protocol in its entirety when it lapses on April 14.

Human life is more important than the economy, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik remarked after presiding over a meeting.

Patnaik requested the Centre to not to order a resumption of commercial flights and train services to Odisha until after the extended lockdown ends. Schools and colleges in the state of 46 million people will remain shut until June 17, he said.

Coronavirus is the biggest threat that the human race has faced in more than a century. In a powerful nation like the US, corona cases have jumped from 3,000 to 400,000. More people have died of coronavirus in the US than all those killed in the 9/11 attack and subsequent wars.Yet, a lockdown could not be implemented entirely there, said the Odisha CM.

Patnaiks announcement, without waiting for the Centre to take a final call, could set an example for other states that favour a prolonged lockdown to follow. To be sure, most state governments said they were waiting for the Centre to set the direction.

Covid-19 has claimed 230 lives in India since a 76-year-old man from Karnatakas Kalaburgi on March 10 became the first person in India to die of the infection after returning from a visit to Saudi Arabia. The number of coronavirus infections as of 11p.m. on Thursday had reached 6,701. Odishas toll is 44 infections and one death.

Prime Minister Modi on March 24 announced a nationwide lockdown with effect from the following day,calling it an effective curfew. All offices and factories, schools and colleges have been shut, and flights,train services and public road transport suspended as part of the lockdown.

Modi is due to discuss extending the lockdown with state chief ministers on Saturday via a video conference. On Wednesday, in a video conference with floor leaders of political parties in Parliament, he indicated that he was averse to lifting the lockdown abruptly.

Nobody is saying that lockdown should be lifted. I will talk again to CMs. But as of now the mood is that the entire lockdown lifting is not possible. For us, lockdown is the only way to save our people, Modi said.

Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka have informed New Delhi that the threat of Covid-19 would be easier to handle if the lockdown is prolonged, HT reported on Wednesday, citing an official who requested anonymity. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, too, have favoured an extended lockdown.

Here is a snapshot of some states stands on the extension.

Assam

As of now, the Assam government has decided not to pass any separate Odisha-style directive and to follow the Centres guidelines on the lockdown. The state cabinet will meet on April 12 after receiving guidelines from Centre on the lockdown.

The Assam government has suggested to the Centre a conditional relaxation of the lockdown in some areas and strict enforcement in other, more vulnerable regions, beyond April 14, state finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Jharkhand

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren told reporters after meeting experts that the state government would take a timely call on the lockdown, and listed out the factors to consider . We know the impact of this pandemic if it spreads further. We lack health care facilities. We have sought the Centres help. We have made adequate arrangements for providing social security, especially providing food and rations to the needy. But we also need to factor in the impact lakhs of migrants who are stuck in other states would have once they return when we lift the lockdown...

Kerala

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state will take a decision on extending the three-week lockdown after the video conference with the Prime Minister on Saturday. The Indian Medical Associations Kerala chapter and many health experts have called for the lockdown to be prolonged.

An expert committee constituted by the state government has suggested that the government lift the lockdown in three phases. It said the time was not ripe for a complete withdrawal after April 14.

Haryana

The Haryana government is likely to go along with the central governments decision on the lockdown. Indications that the state government is expecting an extended lockdown became apparent on Wednesday when chief minister ML Khattar held a video conference with leaders of opposition parties as well as religious denominations, seeking the latters help in persuading people to practice social distancing and abide by stay-at-home orders.

Officials said that they were also working on an exit plan in case the lockdown is relaxed after April 14. At the least, the four worst affected districts , Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal and Nuh, which account for 114 of the 134 active Covid-19 cases in Haryana, are certain to face an extended lockdown.

Maharashtra

Senior officials said the government could decide after Modis meeting with chief ministers on Saturday. State health minister Rajesh Tope indicated that the lockdown could continue and that people should not expect things to go back to normal after April 14. The state has seen a sharp spike in cases in urban areas, many of which are densely populated, and the administration might decide to continue the lockdown in these areas, the officials added.

Madhya Pradesh

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has dropped hints that the lockdown will be extended. Covid-19 positive cases in Madhya Pradesh are increasing by the day and 13 districts are in the grip of the virus. Whether or not lockdown period has to be extended will depend on the circumstances in the next one week. The situation in Indore and Bhopal is a matter of grave concern. If need be, the lockdown period can be extended but a decision on the same will depend on the circumstances. Life of people is more important to me. The economy can be revived, but t if we lose a life it cant come back.

Karnataka

In Karnataka, chief minister B S Yediyurappa said an expert panel of doctors has unanimously recommended that the lockdown be extended for another fortnight to contain the spread of Covid-19.

A final decision on the matter will be taken only after consulting PM Modi and experts on what to do he added whether to extend the lockdown across the state or to selectively de-escalate it in districts where no Covid-19 cases have been reported as yet . Twelve of Karnatakas 30 districts are free of the virus.

Bihar

Senior health professionals last week advised Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar against lifting the lockdown fully, cautioning that it would defeat the purpose of containing the fast-spreading contagion. Additional chief secretary (home) Amir Subhani said it was up to thecentral government. We will abide by the direction of the Centre, he said.

Punjab

Punjab has not taken any decision on the extension or relaxation of the lockdown so far. Chief minister Amarinder Singhs media adviser Raveen Thukral said a decision would be taken after a cabinet meeting on Friday, April 10. Punjab was the first state to impose a curfew on March 23 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Uttar Pradesh

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday that the state the government will begin lifting the lockdown from April 15, but in a staggered manner. The next afternoon, in the backdrop of a rise in Covid-19 cases, additional chief secretary Awanish Awasthi said lifting the lockdown may not be possible when it ends.

On Wednesday, Adityanath said: The state government--in consultation with the Union government--will decide, -may be on April 11-12, on the lockdown. On Wednesday,the state government sealed 105 areas in 15 UP districts until April 15 to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease.

West Bengal

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with various chambers of commerce and representatives of micro, small and medium enterprises on Thursday to chalk out future plans on the lockdown.

The state has already relaxed restrictions on sweet shops, flower traders, the beedi industry and betel leaf traders.

I will put across my views if the Prime Minister consults the states before announcing anything. If the Centre takes a decision we will abide by it, Banerjee said on Wednesday. Banerjee has also advised people to maintain social distancing for at least 49 days.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand cabinet, which met on Wednesday, decided that state government will recommend to the Central government to extend the lockdown , given a sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.

Madan Kaushik, a cabinet minister and government spokesperson, said that until about a week ago, Uttarakhand had only seven cases of Covid-19 and the situation was under control. But after several jamaatis (those who attended the March meting of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi) tested positive, the total number of cases has surged to 35. Hence, we have decided to suggest that the Centre increase the lockdown period

Telangana, Andhra Pradesh

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has already pitched for an extension of the lockdown period for at least for two weeks and has instructed state officials to prepare for it.

The Andhra Pradesh government has not yet taken a decision on extending or exiting the lockdown.
Health Minister Simon Harris urged people not to be tempted outside over the Easter weekend (Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie/PA)

Health Minister Simon Harris said new laws preventing unnecessary travel are not about snitching on your neighbour, as he appealed to people to stay at home this weekend.

Mr Harris signed beefed-up regulations on Tuesday night that will give Gardai the power to arrest and detain individuals flouting the Covid-19 restrictions.

The laws are due to expire at midnight on Easter Sunday, but there are concerns people are more likely to make unnecessary trips with sunny weather forecast for the weekend.

Mr Harris told Virgin Media News that enforcement of the laws will be used sparingly.

Wednesday update - meeting with @INMO_IRL, work of @HIQA with nursing homes, letters from children around the country, North South telephone call, wellbeing programme & why we need you to #stayathome #coronavirus #Covid19 https://t.co/moZCTZmaVR  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) April 8, 2020

It is important that the guards have it as a last resort but they do have powers to ask you to return home. We have got to remember why theyre doing this; theyre doing it because theyre trying to keep you safe, he said.

On Wednesday, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said people should contact Gardai if they are aware of people flouting the new laws.

Mr Harris said: I think we have got to be clear here, I mean this is not a police state. The people are already working really hard in really difficult and stressful circumstances. People have been cooped up at home for a number of weeks trying to keep the kids occupied and people are trying their best.

I think what were asking the Irish people this weekend is to show common sense and were all in this together.

If I decided to break the public health rules this weekend, Im putting your family at risk. Its not about snitching on the neighbour. Its about basically realising the seriousness of this. We have lost 235 Irish people to coronavirus, we have seen more than 200 people through our ICU so far, and sadly actually the majority of people in the ICUS arent just older people that are being referred to.

Everyone seems to think this is just a virus that affects older people, and its also affecting many younger people at different ages as well so this is a virus that doesnt discriminate on age, doesnt discriminate gender, and it could not be more serious.

So this Easter weekend we are asking you to stay at home. The alternative is so much worse.

When asked what advice he would give to someone who has a neighbour flouting the law, he said: The first thing you should do is drop the neighbour a text and say come on now  youre putting us all at risk here.

Of course if you feel that the public health advice isnt being supported then the law of the land is clear and of course you should contact Gardai, but I dont think were in that space.

There will always be the few people who think they know better, and there will always be a few people that will flout whatever laws are in the country, but there has been a huge level of compliance in this country.
Actor Maanvi Gagroo has opened up about how she was recently propositioned by a web series producer. The Four More Shots Please actor said she was asked to compromise if she wanted the budget of a web series to be bigger.

Speaking to Koimoi.com, she said she got a call from a man about a new project. A year ago, I got a call from a random unknown number. They were like were doing a web series and we wanted to cast you. They told me the budget and I said, nai nai yaar, this is too less and why are we talking about the budget? Tell me the script, only if Im interested and you are interested in roping me, we can discuss about money, dates and all. So hes like were asking people if they are okay with the budget. When I said nahi, its less, he tripled the budget just in his next sentence. He said, I can give you this much also, but aapko compro (compromise) karna padega, she said.

Also read: AR Rahman takes a dig at Masakali 2.0, recalls creating original with 365 days of creative brainstorming, no short cuts

Maanvi was shocked to hear his words. This words compro, compromise I was hearing after 7, 8 years. Suddenly I dont know what triggered me, I started abusing him. Told him aap phone rakho, how dare you? Mai police ko complaint kar rahi hu. I was really mad because in this pro imposed #MeToo era, I was baffled at how things like this still happen, she added.

Maanvi plays Siddhi, a woman with body image issues who gets blackmailed by a family friend for sexual favours in Four More Shots Please. The show released on Amazon Prime Video last year and was a hit with fans. The new season will be out on April 17.

The bond between the girls will become stronger. You will also see new themes and new issues. So there is a fresh set of all of this. Maanvi told PTI and said the show will continue the unabashed and unapologetic celebration of female friendship.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
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Editor's Note: updating earlier story to include more details from report.

(Kitco News) - Droves of Americans once again filed for first-time U.S. jobless claims in the week to Saturday, with government data on Thursday putting the tally at 6.6 million.

After the report, spot gold extended its early rise to a gain of $26 to $1,672.50 an ounce as of 8:43 a.m. EDT.

Consensus expectations compiled by news organizations called for initial jobless claims to be around 5 million to 6 million. The previous weeks 6.65 million claims were revised up to 6.87 million.

This was the third straight week that new claims topped 3 million after the previous all-time high had been 695,000 back in October 1982, according to Labor Department figures. The report has become the most widely watched U.S. economic data as market participants try to gauge the economic impact of lockdowns and social-distancing measures across the country to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many businesses temporarily closing their doors.

This was the fourth straight week the Labor Department issued a statement attributing a rise to layoffs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The increase was especially pronounced the last three weeks, with a total of 16.78 initial claims filed during this time period.

The COVID-19 virus continues to impact the number of initial claims and its impact is also reflected in the increasing levels of insured unemployment, said the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims  often viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it smooths out week-to-week volatility  rose by 1.6 million to 4.27 million.

Continuing jobless claims, which counts the number of people already receiving benefits and reported with a one-week delay, increased by 4.4 million to a seasonally adjusted 7.46 million during the week ending March 28, the government said.

The jobless-claims report came out at the same time as the Producer Price Index for March.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned that the situation due to coronavirus pandemic "can further deteriorate" and "hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients, as authorities on Thursday reported 340 new cases, taking the tally to 4,414.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that the number of patients in worst-hit Punjab province was 2,171, Sindh 1,128, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 560, Gilgit-Baltistan 213, Balochistan 212, Islamabad 102 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 28.

According to the ministry, 63 people have died due to the infection, including five in one day. A total of 572 people have recovered. Thirty one people are in critical condition.

The government is concerned over the steady rise in the cases despite more than two weeks of partial lockdown in the country that has badly hit the poor as well as affected the nation's economy.

Prime Minister Khan on Wednesday expressed concern that the situation "can further deteriorate" and "our hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of patients.

Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic.

Khan has again warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further.

He, however, defended his decision to not impose a total lockdown, saying over 50 million people were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such a step is taken.

On Thursday, Khan launched the "Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme" to transfer a total of Rs 144 billion cash to 12 million poor families hit by the coronavirus crisis.

The monetary assistance would be distributed among the poor families during the next two-and-a-half weeks after biometric verification.

The government has extended partial lockdown till April 14 and constantly asking people to stay indoors and follow social distancing.

Khan said the decision about easing the countrywide lockdown will be taken after seeking inputs from all the provinces on April 14.

Addressing the to members of Balochistan's Provincial Cabinet and Parliaments in Quetta on Thursday afternoon, Khan said federal and provincial governments are working jointly to cope with the situation arising out of the coronavirus crisis.

He said that the National Command and Control Centre is minutely observing the situation across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 20:36:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities have initiated a national crackdown campaign targeting online pornography and illegal publications to create a healthy social and cultural environment.

Cyberspace will be the focus of the campaign this year, according to the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, stressing the clean-up of vulgar and pornographic content in live-streaming platforms, short videos, online literature, games and social media.

The campaign will also clear up illegal and harmful publications for children, blackmailing by fake journalists and unauthorized news outlets and copyright infringement.

The campaign will run from April to November.
Carissas Bakery began with a simple idea of baking bread, but quickly evolved into a hub in the Hamptons community. Their restaurant has grown over the years and become so impressive that they won the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Award in 2020. Carissas offers a varied menu with wholesome ingredients at their counter-service all-day bakery. They have two locations in East Hampton on Pantigo Road and Newtown Lane (the Newtown Lane location will reopen in the spring of 2022), and they have an exciting new location coming to Sag Harbor in 2022! At Carissas...
Face masks, once thought of as an unnecessary precaution for healthy people during the coronavirus pandemic, are now being mandated in cities and counties across the United States.

Late last week, the federal government reversed its position on face coverings, issuing guidance that urges people to wear them in public places. President Donald Trump stopped short of saying it should be required, but some local officials have taken enforcement into their own hands.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday ordered all residents to wear face coverings when visiting grocery stories, pharmacies and other essential businesses, as well as when entering ride-hail vehicles. This law is enforceable with a fine, imprisonment or both. Miami has issued a similar order.

Montgomery County, Maryland, a District of Columbia suburb of 1 million people, is poised to introduce a regulation next week that would require facial coverings for all essential employees by April 16 and all patrons of essential businesses by April 23.

Under the proposed regulation, anyone who enters an essential business in the county - such as a supermarket, bank or liquor store - without a facial covering could risk being turned away or found guilty of a civil violation and penalized with a fine.

Some lawmakers say such a mandate is necessary in the county that has been designated a hot spot for the virus, with more than 1,000 known infections and 26 deaths as of Wednesday night. Others warn that it may be difficult for businesses and residents to comply in the short time frame given that masks - even cloth ones - are in short supply.

"The [CDC] suggestion is inadequate," said County Council member Hans Riemer, a Democrat and one of the lead sponsors for the regulation. "Just suggesting that people use this option is not protecting the workers."

Jupiter Pastor, a manager at local grocery store Grosvenor Market, said about five of his employees have stopped coming in for shifts, fearful of contracting the virus.

"They're scared; they don't want to bring it home," he said. "Who can blame them?"

Pastor added that a county-enforced mandate on facial coverings would be "awesome." All employees at Grosvenor started wearing cloth masks and gloves two weeks ago, and customers who enter the 8,000-square-foot store are asked to use plastic gloves when handling produce.

Clark Construction, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, said it has procured cloth masks for all employees and is in the process of distributing them to job sites across the country. Safeway, which has 1,559 employees in the county, said reusable and disposable masks are being transported to all front-line associates at its grocery stores.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, said he is "not opposed" to regulation but is unsure whether it would be plausible for every resident to procure masks.

"Even the hospitals are struggling," he said.

Garcetti said when announcing his order in Los Angeles that he waited to introduce the mandate until he was confident that there was an adequate supply of cloth masks in the city.

"Our capacity, thanks to the amazing apparel industry here, has expanded, and people can buy them online," he said.

Riemer noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance on how to make cloth masks at home out of T-shirts and hair ties, adding, "This is not something that requires money or effort. . . . It's not difficult to do."

Following the new federal guidelines on face coverings, some black Americans expressed concern that covering their faces may cause them to be treated with suspicion.

County Council member Will Jawando, a Democrat, said he is concerned that the enforcement of this mandate may create opportunities for racial profiling.

"We need carrots, not sticks," said Jawando, one of two lawmakers who did not co-sponsor the regulation, along with council member Andrew Friedson, a Democrat.
A further 28 deaths related to the Covid-19 virus have been confirmed in the past 24 hours.

In total, there has now been 263 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.

According to the latest briefing from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), 500 new cases of the virus have been confirmed bringing the total confirmed cases to 6,574.

The increase of 500 is the single largest daily increase yet recorded.

Officials said that if no measures had been taken, the country would have been facing 100,000 cases of Covid-19 within the next two weeks.

They said at a briefing that while eliminating the virus is not possible, the aim is to suppress it as much as possible.

We are seeing a day-on-day reduction in the growth of the epidemic. The growth in cases is slowing down but, frankly, that number needs to be zero, Prof Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG), said.

Of the 28 deaths, 22 of those were in the east of the country, 2 in the north-west, 2 in the south and 2 in the west.

Officials said 15 of the deaths were male and 13 were female and the median age of those who died was 84.

Of those who lost their lives, 19 of the 28 reported as having underlying health conditions.

The latest data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Tuesday 7 April (6,444 cases), reveals:

That 45% are male and 53% are female, with 317 clusters involving 1,391 cases

The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years

1,521cases (24%) have been hospitalised

Of those hospitalised, 230 cases have been admitted to ICU

1,765 cases are associated with healthcare workers

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 3557, (55% of all cases) followed by Cork with 472 cases (7%). Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 66%, close contact accounts for 24%, travel abroad accounts for 9%

The National Public Health Emergency Teams modelling data has revealed that Irelands effort to date has greatly reduced the transmission of the virus.

The growth rate has reduced from 33% daily in the early weeks of this outbreak, to 9% this week. The number of people, on average, that someone with Covid-19 is likely to infect was high at the beginning of the outbreak at 4.5. We now see this R (reproduction) number reduced very significantly.

Prof Nolan said; When an R number increases by even a fraction above 1, the number of new cases per day will rise, slowly but inexorably.

We are at a very delicate and critical point in our response to this pandemic.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; The virus is still sustaining itself in our community. If we do not stay at home and practice physical distancing then we are not stopping the spread.

It is crucial that each one of us take seriously the risks this virus poses, follows the guidelines and limit the opportunity for this virus to spread.

We must follow the public health advice as closely as we possibly can so that we can limit the spread of the virus.

"Stay at home, practice physical distancing, practice hand hygiene, protect eachother."

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE said; I would like to acknowledge the enormous efforts of healthcare workers caring for patients in hospitals and the community. The best way people can show support for them is by staying at home and observing the guidelines. This keeps everyone safe.
"Ram Naam Satya Hai," chant the mourners in a funeral procession as they solemnly carry the mortal remains of a man through the meandering lanes of Malda in West Bengal.

At another funeral, some 2,000 kilometres away in Mumbai, another group of pallbearers carry a bier to the crematorium, again chanting "Ram Naam Satya Hai".

Nothing unusual about the two funerals, but for the fact that the pallbearers wore skull caps and sported flowing beards--they are Muslims, and chanting the name of a Hindu God is akin to sin for them.

Binay Saha died at a ripe old age of 90 in Loyaitola in Malda district of West Bengal. His is the only Hindu family in the locality of 100 odd Muslim households.

His two sons--Kamal and Shyamal--were distraught, and also worried about how will they perform the last rites of their father during the lockdown with no Hindus around.

"Our father died of old age ailments. We were anxious about how to cremate him during the lockdown. None of our relatives would be able to come. Actually, we should not have worried. Our neighbours came forward and everything was carried out smoothly," said a visibly moved Shyamal.

Help for him was just a door away. At the home of Saddam Sheikh.

"I was the first to know about his death on Tuesday. We are neighbours...and we did our duty as neighbours," said Sheikh.

"No religion is greater than humanity," said the man, his furrowed face betraying pathos and calm satisfaction at a good deed done.

"Irrespective of our faith, we stay together," said a proud Razia Bibi, the panchayat chief.

Premchandra Buddhalal Mahavir, a resident of Gareeb Nagar locality of Bandra in Mumbai, also died during the nationwide lockdown.

After the death of his 68-year-old father, his son Mohan made frantic calls to his relatives and friends who could not come down to his home for the last rites.

"I could not contact my two elder brothers residing in Nalasopara area of neighbouring Palghar district. I informed my uncles in Rajasthan about my father's death but they too could not step out of their house because of the lockdown," Mohan told PTI.

Plunged in abject despair, Mohan got help from his Muslim neighbours, who not only carried on their shoulders his dead father but also helped with legal documentation.

"We knew Premchandra Mahavir quite well. In times like these we should show humanity transcending religious barriers," said Yusuf Siddique Sheikh, a neighbour of Mahavir, apparently mindful of the tear in the country's secular fabric. And probably thinking 'no religion is greater than humanity', as an obscure Saddam Sheikh of Malda put it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has rejected the reference to J & K in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations.

In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs said: "We reject the reference to J & K in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) further said that China is well-aware of India's position on Jammu and Kashmir.

"China is well aware of India's consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J & K are internal matter to India," said the MEA.

India has warned the other countries to refrain from talking about Jammu and Kashmir as it is Indi's internal matter.

"It's our expectation that other countries would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We expect China to recognise and condemn cross-border terrorism that affects people of India including in J & K," said the MEA in the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A thriving food pantry, Blessed Hands Outreach Ministry has been feeding families in need for over 20 years.

During most normal weeks, it feeds 50-100 over a two-day period in the Cumberland County area.

But in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, theres a new normal and the ministry has stepped up its game. It has fed over 1,000 families in recent weeks and continues to do anything it can to provide assistance.

"With the pandemic, we evolved even more and want to do more to feed our community during this crisis," said assistant director Artya Allen. "We really want to help. This is what we do and we're good at it. We're here to help in any way we can during the crisis and after it. This is a lifestyle for us.

"In a way, this jump-started us. Before it was once a week on a random day. Now we have to be more precise, more pin-pointed. We're driven by the community to go harder and do more."

The Blessed Hands Outreach Ministry has helped feed families in need for over 20 years.

The ministry has found that the struggle has no boundaries. People of various income levels have been affected and it is determined to be there for them.

"Since the pandemic happened, we didn't realize just how many people have been struggling. We didn't know how many struggling people have been going under the radar," Allen noted. "People have been telling us their stories ... without our help they wouldn't be able to afford things.

"We're all struggling in some areas, we're all in the same boat. Without some help, it's sink or swim and we're teaching people how to swim. We all need a little hope, some sunshine. We're here for our community."

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Pastor Wayne Slaughter, ministry director and senior pastor at True Vine Pentecostal Church of Restoration & Deliverance Inc. in Millville, refers to those who have gone under the radar as the working poor.

"They're working but just to pay the bills, barely making it," he said. "Sometimes pride prevents people from coming to get in line for assistance, some free food. They don't want to be looked at as needing assistance."

Blessed Hands Outreach Ministry plans t feed close to 500 people on Easter Saturday that are serving on the frontlines in Cumberland County.

While the ministry continues to make a major impact in its community, it plans to dive even deeper on Sunday. According to Allen, it intends to feed hot meals on Easter to those essential workers on the front lines - doctors, nurses, EMTs, first responders from the Bridgeton, Millville and Vineland areas.

"We're just trying to be impactful during this time," Pastor Slaughter added. "The main focus is to let the world know that the church is still present even though we can't physically be in our building.

"I did a Facebook live for people to donate and I was surprised with the donations that came in. I got more donations than Sunday mornings in my church. I was able to buy name-brand items because of the donations that came in from the community. The community has joined in and helped push the vision, help the goal."

The Blessed Hands Outreach Ministry has fed over 1,000 families in the Cumberland County region over the past few weeks.

Some of the donations have come from other area churches as well as local businesses and church members. Regardless of their origin, the ministry has been thrilled with how communities have come together.

Its been an experience, said Pastor Slaughter, whose ultimate goal is to have his ministry become an agency with Philabundance - an agency in Philadelphia leading the fight against hunger - to get more food and do more.

When this pandemic hit, it pushed me to do more and seek more avenues of assistance for the community. The responses did something emotionally to me to do more and help more.

Subscribe to the #TogetherNJ newsletter to get a weekly dose of these uplifting stories right to your inbox.

Have you seen an inspiring story in your community during this troubling time? Tell us about it. See more uplifting stories in #TogetherNJ.

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Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Kevin Minnick focuses on South Jersey and can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kminnicksports.
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Mahoning Countys coronavirus deaths jump to 28, most in Ohio for hard-hit Youngstown area (cleveland.com)

Ohio legislation would give AG Dave Yost power to limit purchases of in-demand items, fight price-gouging during coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

193 Ohioans have died of coronavirus, 5,148 confirmed infections: Gov. Mike DeWines Wednesday, April 8 briefing (cleveland.com)

Mapping Ohios 5,148 coronavirus cases, updates and improving trends (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus in Ohio

Here is the daily change in confirmed coronavirus cases in Ohio from the first three on March 9 to 5,148 on Wednesday, April 8.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

How will coronavirus social distancing restrictions end in Ohio? Officials say slowly, starting with businesses (cleveland.com)

Gov. Mike DeWine seeks to give $1.6 billion in workers comp dividends to Ohio employers to ease coronavirus impact (cleveland.com)

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urges religious leaders to consider coronavirus concerns, discourages gatherings as Easter and Passover approach (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus vaccines are moving to clinical trials. So why are they still so far away? (cleveland.com)

Discussing how the coronavirus crisis is hitting Ohios state budget: Video (cleveland.com)

Ohio prison staffer dies from coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Whos hiring during coronavirus crisis? See the list (cleveland.com)

Apple donates 100,000 N95 masks to Ohio for coronavirus response (cleveland.com)

Record Ohio walleye run, huge crowds lead to fishing license restrictions, Sandusky and Maumee river closings during pandemic (cleveland.com)

How are you celebrating Easter and Passover during the coronavirus pandemic? (cleveland.com)

How do I improve air quality in my home to protect against the coronavirus? (cleveland.com)

Crime

Cleveland man abused girlfriend, then killed her father during shootout when confronted, police say (cleveland.com)

Man charged in deadly random shooting of 81-year-old man at Cleveland gas station (cleveland.com)

Man fatally shot in Akrons Firestone Park neighborhood, police say (cleveland.com)

Police hope to identify man who stole cases of energy drinks from Lakewood gas station (WOIO Channel 19)

Cleveland / Cuyahoga County

The city of Cleveland and the operator of Cuyahoga Countys largest homeless shelter refuse to say whether confirmed cases of coronavirus have been found among shelter residents. (Gus Chan, Plain Dealer file photo)The Plain Dealer

State confirms 4 new coronavirus cases in Cleveland, the smallest increase in more than 2 weeks (cleveland.com)

22 dead in Cuyahoga County due to coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Greater Clevelands air pollution could push up regions coronavirus death toll, Harvard research suggests (cleveland.com)

Has coronavirus hit Cuyahoga Countys homeless shelters? City of Cleveland, shelter operator wont say (cleveland.com)

Cleveland schools still stuck in planning stages for ungraded online enrichment, during coronavirus closure (cleveland.com)

Cleveland pharmacy closes for cleaning after shoplifting suspect said he had coronavirus (cleveland.com)

National arts groups establish $10 million fund to provide $5,000 emergency relief grants to artists needing help during pandemic (cleveland.com)

Cleveland musicians thank University Hospitals doctors in new song (cleveland.com)

Local news East

University Heights council again tables move to give mayor greater spending authority during coronavirus emergency (cleveland.com)

Local news West

Olmsted Falls financial adviser group providing small business owners and employees with free coronavirus guidance (cleveland.com)

Lakewood resident completes father-son bonding experience by running every street in city (cleveland.com)

Akron / Canton area

67 Storm damage caused by overnight storms, April 8, 2020

Tornado touched down in Summit County, 3rd confirmed by National Weather Service (cleveland.com)

National Weather Service confirms tornado hit Stark County early Wednesday (cleveland.com)

Medina residents describe early morning F-1 tornado, storms that wreaked havoc on neighborhoods (cleveland.com)

Akron Childrens Hospital asks all patients, visitors to wear masks or cloth face coverings due to coronavirus concerns (cleveland.com)

Temporary water shut-offs make washing hands more difficult for some Summit County residents during coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

University of Akron to hold all summer classes online to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Medina family sues United Airlines over European trip scuttled by coronavirus (cleveland.com)

State

Sherrod Brown wants essential workers to get up to $25,000 in hazard pay during coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

Navy veteran running for Ohio congressional seat turns coronavirus-related firing of ships captain into campaign issue (cleveland.com)

H2Ohio fund to save Lake Erie from harmful algal blooms may be cut in Ohios coronavirus budget crunch (cleveland.com)
Death is in the air. No, I am not referring to the coronavirus. The pathogen I mean is a cultural pandemic, the embrace of doctor-prescribed suicide and of administered homicide as acceptable responses to human suffering.

Lets call it the Jack Kevorkian Plague, after the late pathologist who in the 1990s became world-famous by assisting the suicides of some 130 people. Before Kevorkian, the euthanasia movement was mostly a fringe phenomenon. After Kevorkian, although certainly not because of him alone, assisted suicide had been made legal in Oregon, and large swaths of the American public accepted the practice.

Now, a mere 20 years later, lethal-injection euthanasia is legal and popular in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Doctor-assisted suicide is legal in Germany, Switzerland, the Australian states of Victoria and Western Australia, and nine U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Pressure to legalize euthanasia is increasing in Australia, France, India, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The media report stories about euthanasia and assisted suicide generally through the limited prism of compassion. Kevorkian attempted to justify his campaign likewise. But compassion was never his true motive. As he wrote in his book Prescription Medicide: The Goodness of a Planned Death, helping suffering or doomed persons kill themselves was merely the first step, an early distasteful obligation . . . that nobody in his right mind would savor.

So, if it wasnt about compassion, what was the real point? Kevorkian saw euthanasia as the perfect means to steer culture in a sharply utilitarian direction. Indeed, his great insight was that once society embraced that distasteful first step, the sanctity-of-life ethic  which he disdained, seeing it as an irrational religious belief  would be obliterated, and the door would be opened to using the bodies of people who commit suicide as natural resources available for utilitarian purposes.

Story continues

Kevorkian gave several examples of what he meant. He thought that euthanasia clinics should be established that make the quantum leap of supplementing merciful killing with the enormously positive benefit of experimentation and organ donation. After all, he argued, if we are going to help people die, we might as well derive benefit from their deaths.

In 1998 he assisted the suicide of Joseph Tushkowski, a former police officer with quadriplegia. After Tushkowski died, Kevorkian ripped out the mans kidneys  the medical examiner called it a bizarre mutilation  and then at a press conference offered them to the public, first come, first served.

Today, three countries Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands  have legally effectuated Kevorkians idea to join euthanasia to organ harvesting, although they dont do it in such a crude fashion. Rather, suicidal persons go to the hospital to be killed, and immediately afterward their bodies are moved to a surgical suite for organ procurement. Canada has gone so far down the road that organ-donation organizations are advised in advance so that suicidal persons can be solicited for their organs.

Kevorkian also advocated child euthanasia. In 1988, in an article in Medicine and Law, he argued that babies born with disabilities such as severe spina bifida, paraplegia, and hydrocephalus should be candidates for euthanasia (and experimentation), provided that proper consent were given. Today, under a bureaucratic euthanasia checklist known as the Groningen Protocol, the Netherlands permits, although it has not explicitly legalized, infanticide for conditions of the kind that Kevorkian referenced. Netherlands law permits euthanasia more broadly for children twelve years of age and older.

In Belgium, there is no lower age limit for euthanasia. According to official euthanasia reports, in the past few years at least three children in Belgium have been euthanized, including a nine-year-old. Children in Canada cannot be euthanized, but that restriction may soon be repealed. Some pediatricians there have volunteered to euthanize minors once it becomes legal, perhaps even without parental consent, if the children are mature.

Kevorkian believed that access to assisted suicide and euthanasia is a fundamental human right that should be available to any competent person wanting to die. Canadas Supreme Court has partially agreed. In 2015 it established a right to medical assistance in dying (MAID), as it is euphemistically called, for all competent patients with a medically diagnosed condition that causes irremediable suffering, including psychological pain. An Ontario court has ruled that this right to be killed is fundamental and that it trumps Canadas Charter right of freedom of religion and conscience. Under the provinces rules of medical ethics, physicians who by religion or conscience are opposed to lethally injecting a sick patient must do so anyway or refer the patient to a doctor they know is willing to kill. If they dont want to be complicit in such deaths, the court sniffed, they should get out of medicine.

Canadas broad euthanasia license still requires an underlying medical diagnosis. Kevorkian opposed any such restriction. In Prescription Medicide he wrote that optional assisted suicide should be available for individuals, sometimes in good physical and mental health who choose to be killed, for whatever reason, including physical (the end stage of incurable disease, crippling deformity, or severe trauma), mental (intense anxiety or psychic torture inflicted by self or others), or doxastic (religious or philosophical tenets or inflexible personal convictions).

The Federal Constitutional Court in Germany recently ruled that such death on demand is a right. From the decision (my emphasis):

The right to a self-determined death is not limited to situations defined by external causes like serious or incurable illnesses, nor does it apply only in certain stages of life or illness. Rather, this right is guaranteed in all stages of a persons existence. . . . The individuals decision to end their own life, based on how they personally define quality of life and a meaningful existence, eludes any evaluation on the basis of general values, religious dogmas, societal norms for dealing with life and death, or consideration of objective rationality.

Kevorkian, too, thought that individuals should have a right to assisted suicide and that the decision should not belong only to medical professionals who would assist in the act. True to his vision, the German court has ruled that not only do citizens have a fundamental right to commit suicide or to be assisted in their suicide but that others have a concomitant right to assist.

Kevorkian advocated the establishment of regional euthanasia centers where people could go to be made dead. Switzerland allows the operation of suicide clinics that people from around the world attend  that, indeed, they pay to attend. The Netherlands permits a mobile euthanasia service that makes house calls when a suicidal persons own doctor refuses to participate in euthanasia.

Kevorkian thought that mental illness should be no impediment to assisted suicide. In practice, that boundary has been crossed repeatedly, with the hastening of death made legal. For example, as reported in The American Journal of Psychiatry, Michael Freeland, an Oregonian, obtained a lethal prescription after being diagnosed with cancer. Subsequently he became psychotic and was committed to a hospital for depression with suicidal and possibly homicidal thoughts.

He was hospitalized for a week. The discharging psychiatrist noted with approval that, while Freelands guns had been removed from his house, the lethal prescription remained safely at home. In a further slap at true compassion, Freeland was permitted to keep the prescribed overdose even though the psychiatrist reported that he would remain vulnerable to periods of delirium. (Freeland died of natural causes more than two years after receiving the initial prescription.)

Meanwhile, in Belgium, a transsexual was euthanized legally after becoming distraught by a botched sex-change surgery. In another case there, a psychiatric patient, taken advantage of sexually by her psychiatrist, was euthanized by his replacement because she was so distressed over the victimization. Elderly couples who dont want to be widowed have received joint euthanasia killings. The list of the mentally ill and distraught people who are not otherwise sick but who have died by euthanasia or assisted suicide goes on and on, not just in Belgium but across the Western world.

About the only policy that Kevorkian advocated that has not yet been implemented somewhere in the world is what he called obitiatry. What is that, you ask? Human vivisection on living patients before euthanasia. He wrote in Prescription Medicide:

If we are ever to penetrate the mystery of death  even superficially  it will have to be through obitiatry. Research using cultured cells and tissues and live animals may yield objective biological data, and eventually perhaps even some clues about the essence of mere vitality or existence. But knowledge about the essence of human death will of necessity require insight into the nature of the unique awareness or consciousness that characterizes cognitive human life. That is only possible through obitiatric research on living human bodies, and most likely concentrating on the central nervous system.

Will we ever conduct experiments on patients before they are euthanized? I hope not. But the question must be asked: How can it be forbidden logically, once we embrace Kevorkian values?

In his day, Kevorkian believed that human life was expendable. Increasingly, so do we. He advocated a radical definition of personal autonomy, countenancing suicide as a right. Increasingly, we do too. He promoted a naked utilitarianism according to which human body parts could be deemed more important than the principle that the life of a suicidal person should be preserved. His view on this matter now prevails in three major Western countries: Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands. In that light, why not allow lethal experiments on people who want to die and to benefit society in the process, by becoming research subjects?

Let me conclude this depressing essay with a few simple questions. Did it shock you? Were you outraged by the extent to which Kevorkians twisted vision is being implemented? Did it at least make you queasy? If not, that fact alone demonstrates how thoroughly the Jack Kevorkian Plague permeates our culture.

Kevorkian was convinced that he was leading society into what he considered a more rational future, one in which the value of life would be relative and the bodies of the suicidal commodified. At the time, most observers rolled their eyes and assured us that it could never happen. But it has happened and is happening. Listen carefully and you may just be able to discern Kevorkians ghostly voice gloating from the Great Beyond: I told you so.

More from National Review
The Government yesterday announced 1bn of extra support for firms hit by Covid-19 but admitted further measures will be needed to nurse businesses through a recovery.

Almost half of the package to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involves expansion of two loan schemes managed by the State-run Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).

The SBCI will provide an extra 250m of lending for working capital and 200m of longer-term loans.

In addition, manufacturing and internationally traded SMEs with 10 employees or more will be eligible for advances of as much as 800,000 each from Enterprise Ireland, up to a fund size of 180m.

On a smaller scale, retailers hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns can avail of a 2,500 grant under the trading online voucher which can be used to develop online trading, though only if the retailer already has some online operation.

Microfinance Ireland, a lender to very small businesses, has been given 13m of extra funding and will slash interest rates from 7.8pc to 4.5pc. Business Minister Heather Humphreys promised further measures for the "reboot stage" when the Covid-19 crisis is over.

"When the time comes, we will come forward with another suite of packages. But it's about providing the right suite at the right time," she said.

Difficulties faced by road hauliers collecting goods had been brought to her attention and the Government would deal with them to ensure continuity of the supply chain, she added.

Enterprise Ireland chief executive Julie Sinnamon said that liquidity was the major issue for businesses, but the agency does not have figures for the number of companies that will not survive.

"There are some sectors that are more challenged than others but I believe the package of supports is very significant in terms of the issues that have been raised by companies to us on a daily basis," she said.

Ms Humphreys said there was support for businesses who do not have any online presence through the trading online voucher for 2,500 that companies can already access from their Local Enterprise Offices.

The newer retail online scheme will be open to retailers employing over 10 people who already have a website to sell their goods.

"It's about deepening their online presence," she said.

Business groups including Ibec welcomed the rollout of new supports.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) earlier said Government needed to provide quick access to cash flow supports, VAT and rates holidays, and new debt forgiveness options to allow small firms "to survive and to bounce back".

SFA chairman Graham Byrne said small businesses' most urgent need was "a cash grant to enable them to meet current outgoings, 100pc relief on business rates for the remainder of 2020, and VAT deferral for the next two quarters".

Mr Byrne said the SBCI should provide 2bn of low-interest investment and working capital loans to small firms.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday chaired a meeting, via video conference, with the state agriculture ministers and appreciated their efforts and proactive role in agriculture activities even during this challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Tomar told the states to sensitise field agencies about exemptions to farming-related activities and allow movement of farm produce, farming products, fertilisers, farm implements and machinery.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tomar spoke to state agriculture ministers, through video conferencing, to discuss the problems of farmers in the wake of the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Tomar had asserted that farmers will not face problems during the lockdown with relaxation given to them by the government.

"Government has given relaxations, farmers will not have to face problems during the lockdown. Shops of agriculture machinery and equipment and garage for trucks will remain open at highways," he said in a tweet.

An official release said that the Union Government has granted a slew of exemptions and relaxations for agriculture and allied sectors with respect to the 21-day lockdown to ensure that the farmers do not suffer from any adverse fallout.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the UK on Wednesday criticized the Britain House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee for stigmatizing China, ignoring basic facts, and dispersing fake news on COVID-19.

The spokesperson's remarks came after a report about the epidemic released by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.

The report ignores the huge contributions, sacrifices, and efforts of China in the battle against the virus and groundlessly referred to China as a source of the virus.

Positive efforts are needed in promoting jointly cooperation against the virus between the two sides and in the international community, instead of a Cold War mentality, the spokesperson criticized.

China has always been responsible and transparent in information sharing on COVID-19 and has immediately provided anti-epidemic assistance to more than 120 countries and four international organizations, including the UK, which was fully recognized and positively evaluated by the international community, the spokesperson noted.

Virus respects no borders and it is a common enemy of mankind. Politicizing the virus and creating conflicts among nations would only undermine the global response in the battle against COVID-19.

Traceability of the epidemic is a serious and complex scientific issue and requires scientific and professional judgment based on facts, the spokesperson stressed.
A nursing home patient in Michigan with the coronavirus asked Alexa on an Amazon Echo device for help before she died, her sister said.

IMAGE: LouAnn Dagen (via WOOD-TV)

LouAnn Dagen died Saturday, shortly after she was transferred to a hospital in Grand Rapids. She was 66.

She was one of 31 residents and five staff members who tested positive for the virus at the nursing home, Metron of Cedar Springs, which is now called Mission Point, according to the facility.

Paul Pruitt, director of operations at Metron, said Dagen was a resident at the nursing home for 10 years and "had never been transferred to the hospital prior to the complications that rapidly developed as a result of COVID-19."

Pruitt said that she was getting "excellent care" and that staff members were following both her advance directives and clinical practice guidelines to manage her pain and symptoms.

"Once those symptoms progressed rapidly, and at the advice of her medical team, she was immediately sent to the hospital," Pruitt said.

Residents with the coronavirus are quarantined away from the rest of the facility's population, Pruitt said.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

The medical examiner's office said Dagen's death was caused by diabetes, hypertension and COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to her sister, Penny.

Dagen had two strokes in 2008, which left her paralyzed on her left side, her sister said.

"She was a very talented girl. She played the piano and the organ. She sang," Penny Dagen told NBC News. "She was a ventriloquist. She played the guitar."

Penny Dagen was unable to visit her sister in person after the nursing home, like others around the country, restricted visitors because of the pandemic. So Alexa became LouAnn Dagen's primary way to communicate with her sister.

Pruitt said: "She could call her sister through the device, and they communicated often. It was a very positive part of her life, which we supported fully."

Story continues

It wasn't until Monday that Penny Dagen discovered the recordings from the Amazon device in her sister's room at Metron.

Penny Dagen, who lives in Sparta, about 15 miles north of Grand Rapids, said she believes the nursing home could have taken preventive measures sooner to slow the spread of the virus, but she said she doesn't fault the facility.

"That's all in the past now," she said. "There's nothing you can do about it now. What's done is done."

There were 40 or so recordings on the Amazon device over the last three to four days of her sister's life, Penny Dagen said.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

In one of the exchanges, LouAnn Dagen said: "Alexa, help me."

In another, she said: "I am in pain. I have to find a way to relieve it."

She also asked Alexa: "Can you help me cope with pain?" and said: "Oh, Alexa, I'm going to hurt."

Penny Dagen said Thursday through tears: "I just felt bad because I couldn't help her."

She said she finds some peace in knowing that her only sibling is no longer suffering.

"She's up there with my mom and dad, and she's not in pain anymore," Penny said. "That's the only thing that keeps me going."
Death, a cruise ship, a homicide investigation. While the fateful events unfolded slowly and quietly in the cabins, passengers continued to party, enjoying their holiday of a lifetime and, until the end, the cruise company ensured it was business as usual, and life on board went on.

While the scale of the disaster that is the Ruby Princess is far greater, and its global context unprecedented in modern times, there are striking similarities with another cruise ship death  that of Brisbane mother Dianne Brimble, who died alone in September 2002 on board the Pacific Sky.

Dianne Brimble: A cruise ship tragedy that provides a cautionary tale about leaping to conclusions before a thorough investigation of the Ruby Princess case.

Brimble died from respiratory failure after consuming a mixture of alcohol and the drug GHB. It was a sad and sordid tale, and eight young men from Adelaide were cast in the role of the villains. The case made headlines across Australia for months because of a high-profile coroners inquest; significant media attention caused police to call in the homicide squad for a second, more thorough investigation.

Then, as now, police confronted a difficult task: a large number of witnesses, conflicting versions of events, the passage of time, an inaccessible and contaminated crime scene (quite literally, in the current case).
Ambulances in London took more than an hour to reach heart attack, stroke and sepsis patients in March, on average, amid the capital's coronavirus crisis.

The Category 2 patients, who are life-threateningly ill and lower priority only than someone whose heart or breathing has stopped, waited an average of one hour, one minute and 22 seconds after phoning 999 last month.

This was almost three times as high as any given month in the past year - the highest to date had been an average 26 minutes 42 seconds in December.

It comes as London faces the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Britain with around 13,400 officially diagnosed cases and 1,907 of the country's 7,097 fatalities.

The city, home to around nine million people, is the first to start using a temporary overflow hospital - the NHS Nightingale - to help medics cope with the number of coronavirus patients.

Figures show ambulances are getting busier but paramedics also said they may be slowing down because they must now stop to put on protective clothing and clean the vehicles more thoroughly between patients.

It was not clear whether regional variations are directly linked to coronavirus hotspots, nor whether patients in certain conditions are more affected than others.

Separate data today also revealed A&E departments in NHS hospitals were in March the quietest they had been in a decade, with a 22 per cent drop in visits in a month.

Ambulances in London took more than an hour to reach heart attack, stroke and sepsis patients in March, on average, amid the capital's coronavirus crisis

An ambulance is seen in Trafalgar Square in London

Statistics published today by NHS England revealed an almost three-fold rise in a month of the average ambulance response time for Category 2 patients.

Category 2 patients are people who need emergency help because they have a life-threatening illness, but are still breathing on their own and have a pulse.

This includes people who have had strokes, heart attacks, have major burns or are thought to have sepsis, which can kill in hours.

All ambulance trusts in the country are supposed to aim for an average 18-minute response time and to get to 90 per cent of category 2 calls within 40 minutes.

The average response time for the London Ambulance Trust rose from 22:02 in February to 1:01:22 in March.

For Category 1 patients, those whose heart or breathing has stopped, response times got slightly longer but remained low - in London the average response time rose from 6:48 to 9:52.

This came as the number of coronavirus patients in the UK spiralled uncontrollably from just 23 on the last day of February to 25,150 on the last day of March.

The surge piled unprecedented pressures on NHS hospitals, which have been forced to cancel all non-urgent operations and turf out any patients able to go home.

HOW DID AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES CHANGE IN MARCH? Ambulance response times for Category 2 patients, who are those who have had heart attacks, strokes and suspected sepsis, rose across England by an average 9 minutes 59 seconds between February and March. This was the regional picture: London: 1:01:22 (up from 22:02 in Feb) East Midlands: 28:14 (>26:16) East of England: 31:25 (>27:46) Isle of Wight: 26:03 (<28:11) North East: 27:22 (>23.08) North West: 37:37 (>24:25) South Central: 19:21 (>18:00) South East Coast: 21:26 (>19:15) South West: 27:53 (>26:46) West Midlands: 14:46 (>13:06) Yorkshire: 23:52 (>18:49) Advertisement

London Ambulance Service attended almost 8,000 more incidents in March - its number of jobs rose from 58,518 to 66,492.

Paramedics have become more busy, whether a direct result of the outbreak or not, but new infection control procedures may also be slowing them down.

A spokesman for the College of Paramedics, Richard Webber, told MailOnline: 'Paramedics on the frontline are now having to don additional, personal protective equipment, theyre having to clean their vehicles more thoroughly and contend with staff shortages as between 20 and 30 per cent of staff are currently either off sick or self-isolating, all of which has impacted the response times.'

Mr Webber added 'Paramedics and ambulance staff are working exceptionally hard at the moment and we are very grateful for all of the support staff are receiving across the UK. Its really appreciated.

'Above all, we would ask that people stay safe and stay at home. Call 999 if you are seriously ill and need an ambulance but if you have mild symptoms please stay at home and use 111 online or call 111.'

Nationwide, the average ambulance response time for Category 2 patients rose by 10 minutes, from 22:07 to 32:06.

Data from the Cabinet Office shows London has more people in hospital with COVID-19 than anywhere else in the UK, with more than 4,000 inpatients as of Tuesday this week

NUMBER OF BRITS SEEKING HELP FOR HEART ATTACK SYMPTOMS DROPS BY HALF Data from Public Health England showed the number of people seen in hospital with a suspected heart attack has halved since the beginning of March. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said thousands of people with heart attack symptoms may be fearful of visiting A&E amid the coronavirus outbreak. But it warned they were at greater risk of suffering long-term heart damage, needing intensive care, or even dying as a result. The number of people attending A&E with heart attack symptoms dropped from 300 per day at the beginning of March, to 150 by the end of March. According to the BHF, this 50 per cent drop is the equivalent to approximately 5,000 people every month - or more than 1,100 people every week. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, consultant cardiologist and associate medical director at the BHF, said: 'Heart attacks don't stop for a global pandemic. 'Don't delay because you think hospitals are too busy - the NHS still has systems in place to treat people for heart attacks and they are still a top priority.' Advertisement

Some areas were worse affected than others but all regions except the Isle of Wight saw an increase in their response times.

For North West England the increase was the largest outside of London, rising from 24:25 to 37:37, while it rose from 18:49 to 23:53 in Yorkshire.

This may have been linked to rising numbers of patients - across England, ambulances attended 404,110 incidents in March compared to 373,869 in February.

The average national response time for Category 1 patients, who need resuscitation, rose by just 40 seconds, from 7:19 to 8:07.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: 'We are working extremely hard, while receiving more emergency calls than ever before, to keep Londoners safe during this unprecedented challenge.

'We are bringing in 200 extra ambulances and recruiting hundreds of volunteers, student paramedics, and former members of staff to help us.

'As we tackle the coronavirus and continue to face significant challenges, it is important the public only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and visit 111 online for urgent medical advice.'

Ambulance data comes as the NHS has revealed March was the quietest month in A&E since NHS records began.

Casualty departments in England recorded just 1.53million attendances last month, down 430,000 (22 per cent) from February.

The number is also 630,000 lower (29 per cent) than March 2019, when 2.17million visits were made to A&E for urgent care.

February 2011 held the previous record for the quietest month in A&E, with 1.6million attendances, according to NHS England data.

Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: 'We are concerned that this drop in attendance may mean that people with serious health problems are avoiding going to their emergency department for fear of getting coronavirus.

Casualty departments in England recorded just 1.53million attendances last month, down 430,000 - 22 per cent - on February and 630,000 - 29 per cent - on March 2019

'While this is the lowest number of attendances since 2010, it is the highest ever level of admissions as a proportion of attendances.

'This of course reflects the high acuity of patients presenting with COVID-19 problems but in fact is something that has been increasing for some time.

'Even before COVID-19, we knew that patients were getting sicker  people are living longer and acquiring more health problems.

'The response to the coronavirus outbreak by the NHS has been superb; capacity has been ramped up at pace and weve seen an increase in staff.

'Our staff continue to give their all throughout this incredibly difficult time and the warmth and recognition of their efforts by the rest of the country has been heartening.'
Judge denies Christian college 'ministerial exception' to ex professors discrimination lawsuit

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A judge has barred Gordon College from using a ministerial exception defense in a lawsuit brought by a former professor who claims she was denied a promotion over her opposition to the evangelical institution's policies on sexuality.

Judge Jeffrey T. Karp of the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled last week that Gordon College cant avail itself of a legal doctrine that exempts religious institutions from employment discrimination laws.

The college, which was founded in 1889, was sued by former associate professor Margaret DeWeese-Boyd in 2017. Deweese-Boyd began working as an assistant professor with Gordons Social Work Department in the fall of 1999 and was later promoted to associate professor.

She claims that Gordon College Provost Janel Curry and President D. Michael Lindsay denied her promotion to full professorship in February 2017 even though the promotion was recommended by the faculty senate. She claims the denial came because of her advocacy against school policies related to LGBT individuals and extramarital sex.

In her lawsuit, the former professor argues that the school committed associational and gender discrimination in violation of the states Civil Rights Act in addition to breaching the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. DeWeese-Boyd claimed that Lindsay and Curry aided and abetted interference with her civil rights.

The college filed a motion seeking a summary judgment from the court to determine whether the ministerial exception clause  as affirmed by the Supreme Court in its Hosanna-Taborruling from 2012  barred Deweese-Boyd from suing on the basis of employment discrimination.

The ministerial exception is an affirmative defense grounded in the First Amendment that prevents the government from interfering with employment relationships between religious institutions and their ministerial employees.

The parties appeared before the court in November 2019 for a hearing on the motion and the college argued that Deweese-Boyd was responsible for integrating faith-based beliefs into her teachings as a professor and qualified as a ministerial employee.

But DeWeese-Boyd, who received a masters degree from Covenant Theological Seminary and has served as a missionary in the Philippines, denied the claim that the ministerial exception applied to her position of employment since she has never worked as a minister. Karp agreed.

DeWeese-Boyd argues she was not a ministerial employee because her title did not suggest any ministerial or religious role, she did not hold herself out as a minister, and she did not perform any religious functions of a minister, Karp wrote.

The Court concludes the strict application urged by DeWeese-Boyd is misplaced and inconsistent with how the ministerial exception has been applied before and after Hosanna-Tabor. Nevertheless, as discussed below, the Court finds that, when applying the proper framework, DeWeese-Boyd is not a minister for purposes of the exception.

According to the Gordon College handbook, faculty members are expected to be fully prepared in all facets of their tasks as Christian teachers and advisors as well as engage students in their respective disciplines from the perspectives of the Christian faith and to teach with accuracy and integrity.

Although Gordon College does not require faculty members to have a seminary degree, the college requires employees to sign a document stating that they will support the goals and objectives of Gordon College as a distinctively Christian Institution of higher learning and abide by Gordon college statement of faith and conduct.

As part of its Statement of Life and Conduct, Gordon College requires faculty members to [r]ecognize the Bible to be the Word of God and hence fully authoritative in matters of faith and conduct and [h]ave a sincere desire for that commitment to mature both in insight and behavior.

The statement requires faculty members to refrain from words and actions which are expressly forbidden in Scripture.



President Lindsay testified that all Gordon employees must be committed to the evangelical mission of the institution, and that journeys of faith are evaluated . . . when employees are hired and through the performance review process, the judge wrote in his ruling.

He testified further that, when he interviews faculty applicants, he emphasizes the importance of taking seriously signing the Statement of Faith and the Statement of Life and Conduct and being able to embrace the Christian mission and purpose of the institution.

DeWeese-Boyd not only publicly spoke out about her opposition to Gordon Colleges policies related to LGBT students and staff, she also organized meetings and events to call for the safety and inclusion of LGBT students.

According to the ruling, Curry maintained that DeWeese-Boyd was denied the application for full professorship because her scholarly productivity did not reach acceptable levels for a Gordon faculty member.

Curry also questioned DeWeese-Boyds professionalism and follow through on institutional projects about which she may not feel passionate was lacking.

Karp ruled that although the Supreme Court ruled in Hosannah-Tabor that churches and religious institutions have the right to select their own ministers, the court identified four considerations relevant to determining if ministerial exceptions apply.

Those four exceptions are: the employees formal title, the substance reflected in that title, the employees use of that title, and the important religious functions [the employee] performed.

In sum, although DeWeese-Boyd had a seminary degree when hired, she did not have a religious title at Gordon, Karp stated. [S]he did not represent herself as a minister, she did not play an integral (or any) role in religious services, she did not convey Christian doctrine to the Gordon community, she did not lead her students in prayer, and she did not perform any religious functions.

As the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly observed, Superior Court Judge Salim R. Tabit in 2018 ordered the case to be bifurcated to allow for the ministerial exception issue to be settled individually. With Karp ruling against the ministerial exception claim, the case will proceed to determine the merits of DeWeese-Boyds lawsuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court was slated to hear two cases brought against California Catholic schools sued for terminating religion teachers. Advocates believed those cases could determine how far ministerial exceptions go when it comes to protecting religious institutions from employment discrimination lawsuits. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, hearings have been postponed.
HOUSTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) ("Cabot" or the "Company") announced today that it plans to release its financial and operating results on Thursday, April 30, 2020, after market closes. The Company will host its first quarter 2020 earnings conference call on Friday, May 1, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

To access the live audio webcast, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.cabotog.com. A replay of the call will also be available on the Company's website.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent natural gas producer with its entire resource base located in the continental United States. For additional information, visit the Company's website at www.cabotog.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Matt Kerin (281) 589-4642

SOURCE Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation

Related Links

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At a time when most business



schools of the country are finding it difficult to safeguard students' placements and summer internships in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta claimed to have weathered the blow with minimal rescinding of job offers.

Out of the 442 students successfully placed in 2020 with close to 10 per cent rise in pay packet over 2019, only six offers have been revoked by a recruiter amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global headquarter of one recruiter has rescinded six job offers. Another recruiter has taken the internal business decision to postpone the joining date from May to July," IIM-C Placement Committee Chairperson, Abhishek Goel, told PTI.

One startup has communicated business difficulties, but "our latest information is that its job offers to our students are firm", he claimed.

Apart from these, almost all recruiters are moving ahead as per their hiring plans, Goel said, adding, some have already enabled virtual joining.

Joining typically takes place between April and August depending on a recruiters hiring plan.

"Given the quality of recruiters, the impact on IIM-C students is negligible, but the situation for other management schools of the country is not that comfortable," an official of a recruitment agency said.

IIM-C Director Anju Seth said the institution has taken a host of measures in view of the coronavirus crisis, including changing the academic calendar for various programs.

"We have also expedited successful transition to new models of online teaching in our programs. We are watching the emergent situation closely and are ready with action plans for various scenarios to facilitate effective outcomes," Seth said.

IIM-C took a policy decision to allow a mix of virtual and on-field modes of internship to allow digital onboarding of students, due to the lockdown, she said.

Four recruiters have so far rescinded their summer internship offers owing to the changed business scenario, affecting 12 students out of 480.

"Nine of these students have already been provided with new internships. The institute is making all efforts for the remaining three students to find an alternate opportunity," Goel said.

Several recruiters made alternate arrangements to start the internship as per their original commitment via digital media, leveraging their IT capabilities. Some others deferred the joining dates to April 13 or April 20 to deal with emerging challenges of the lockdown.

At this time, 90 per cent of the employers are expected to start their internships by April 20.

While almost all recruiters are giving their promised stipend to the students, two have asked for a cut in it, officials said.

In the summer placements, finance and consulting firms accounted for 43.2 per cent of the offers with several firms also opening international roles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A further 20 people in County Kildare have been diagnosed with Covid-19, according to figures released this evening by the National Health Protection Service. That brings the number of confirmed cases in the Lilywhite county to 253, as of midnight on Tuesday, April 7, the latest date for which county breakdowns are available.

A further 28 people diagnosed with the disease have died, according to today's figures. Some 22 of those deaths were located in the east of the country, and the deceased had a median age of 84.

Another 500 cases were confirmed today nationwide, bringing the total number diagnosed in Ireland to 6,574. There have been 263 deaths.

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG) and President of Maynooth University said: We are at a very delicate and critical point in our response to this pandemic.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; The virus is still sustaining itself in our community. If we do not stay at home and practice physical distancing then we are not stopping the spread.

It is crucial that each one of us take seriously the risks this virus poses, follows the guidelines and limit the opportunity for this virus to spread.

We must follow the public health advice as closely as we possibly can so that we can limit the spread of the virus.

"Stay at home, practice physical distancing, practice hand hygiene, protect eachother."

Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE said; I would like to acknowledge the enormous efforts of healthcare workers caring for patients in hospitals and the community. The best way people can show support for them is by staying at home and observing the guidelines. This keeps everyone safe.
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A travel blogger had a unique experience when she was joined by giraffes at breakfast.

Sofya Phillippova, 24, was pictured enjoying a breakfast spread at Giraffe Manor in Naoribi, Kenya, one of the prestigious Safari Collection properties.

She captured a series of incredible photographs that show the giraffe leaning in to say good morning - and even giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

The blogger has travelled the world extensively and said that staying at Giraffe Manor has been a key highlight of her trips.

Founded and run by fourth-generation Kenyans Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, Giraffe Manor is home to a herd of Rothschild's giraffe who often turn up at breakfast time and poke their necks through windows in the hope of a treat from guests.

Pucker up! A giraffe pokes its head through the window and gives travel blogger Sofya Phillippova a friendly peck on the lips

The Rothschild's giraffe sneaks a quick lick of a coffee cup for a morning pick-me-up. Giraffe Manor also runs a breeding centre to help boost numbers of the endangered species

The boutique Giraffe Manor is set in 12 acres of private land within 140 acres of indigenous forest in the Langata suburb of Nairobi

Giraffe Manor's extraordinary appeal harks back to the 1930s, when European visitors first flocked to East Africa to enjoy safari. Sofya said that building a rapport with the giraffe was essential when capturing the perfect shot

Photos show the giraffes clearly at ease around Sofya, pictured above with two of the herd
Ranchi/ Hyderabad/Lucknow/Pune/ Bhopal/ Bhubaneshwar: On Wednesday, 62-year-old Vandini Devi walked five kilometres from her village in Bokaro, Jharkhand to the bank in order to check if money had been credited to her Jan Dhan account. She was disappointed to learn that it hadnt. A resident of Chargi village, Devi said that she had not received her widow pension since February, either. We were promised two months free food grain, but I was given 5 kilograms of ration for only one month. My younger son, who lives with me, works as a daily wager and he has had no work due to lockdown. I am in big distress, Devi said.

In view of the 21-day national lockdown which began on March 25, Indias rural population has been central to most relief measures announced by states. On March 26 itself, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that Rs 500 will be credited into Jan Dhan accounts held by women for three months, starting April. There are more than 20.39 crore such accounts. Separately, many states have also allocated funds to keep the Public Distribution System (PDS) flush with supplies so that ration-card holders can receive their dry rations, even as daily wage, manual and agricultural work dries up. At the other end of this are the nearly 4 crore rural women who are the purported recipients of these benefits. Hindustan Times spoke to some of these women across Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Jharkhand has 1.33 crore Jan Dhan accounts; close to 73 lakh women are expected to receive the sum of Rs 500. According to state level bankers committee senior manager Bibhaw Kumar, the money has already been credited for April. A similar amount will be paid for May and June, he said.

With no money in the bank account, and government assistance awaited, 55-year-old Shahjahan in Lucknows Asti village has only 15kg wheat and 10kg rice left for her family of five. On March 30, UP chief minister Adityanath announced relief worth Rs 611 crore to all Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme beneficiaries, following which Shahjahan visited her bank. She said she waited for over an hour as there was a long queue of the people keen to withdraw money.

A few other women like me did not receive any amount in the account. We asked the bank official but he could not give us a satisfactory answer, said Shahjahan, who is a daily wage worker registered under MNREGS. Shahjahan is the head of the family in the ration card. She said she had to struggle to get the ration due to long queues. I could not send my children like many other women as we had to go through the biometric process, she added. No one followed any social distancing at the ration shop, she said. We were given 10 kg of wheat and 15 kg rice free of cost, she said. The government had also assured us pulses and oil too, but I didnt receive any.

In many parts of the country, work under MNREGS has come to a halt. Crop harvesting too has been affected leading to a break in supply chains, as farmers are unable to send their produce to mandis. In Maharashtra, for instance, the lockdown is being implemented rigorously, with police patrol cars preventing farmers from engaging labour to harvest the produce and farming activities.

Sulekha Naba, a 40-year-old tribal woman in Badipalli village of western Odisha district of Bargarh queued up like other villagers to get the Rs 1000 assistance that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced for cardholders under the national food security act. She also queued up to receive the Rs 500 deposited in her Jan Dhan account. Naba, a landless daily labourer, has been without work since the lockdown. While she did receive three months ration  90 kilos of rice for her family of six, which she lugged back to her home a kilometre away  she worried that the cash assistance would hardly be enough to sustain her family. Odisha has 7.4 million households covered under Jan Dhan yojana scheme  thats 99.85% of the total number of households in the state.

Long queues of women to withdraw Rs 500 from their Jan Dhan bank accounts have been witnessed in almost all rural areas in Maharashtra. Yogesh Warkhede, a bank friend appointed by Bank of Baroda at Nampur village in Nashik district of Maharashtra said almost 200 people have visited his home to enquire about the deposits. The rush in the branches of nationalised banks is almost three to four times more than a normal day in Nampur village (it has a population of 10,000), he said. Satish Bairagi who works for a primary co-operative society at Nampur in Nashik district and distributes food in the PDS ration shop said that crowds were normal.

To an extent, the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu have been able to manage such crowds through an innovative token system: Each family is given a token with a specific date and time to pick up their rations at the Fair Price shops. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh completed the first phase of distribution of rice and other essential commodities, as well as cash assistance in the first week of April itself. Telangana has also authorised local Self Help Groups to help distribute the cash to women. In Narayanraopet, nobody had to go to the banks. The bank authorities themselves authorised the local self-help group women in the villages to distribute the money to the beneficiaries. Most of the villages have Stree Nidhi (women banks), said K Yella Reddy, a resident. These banks are operated by the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas. The state has 95.9 lakh Jan Dhan account holders.

In Kerala, ration holders are classified on the basis of their economic vulnerability. The state did away with biometric identification on April 1 to aid the process of distribution. It has now started supplying the ration based on SMSes in order to control the rush. To ease cash distribution, it began to offer tokens to residents, based on whether their account number is odd or even.

Not all states have been able to use technology seamlessly, however. In Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, Guddi Bai Lodhi, 58, went to the branch of Gramin Bank to collect her Rs 500. When my turn came after more than an hour the bank clerk said the link of the computer was not working. Then I proceeded to another branch of the bank where there were already 50 people waiting for their turn to withdraw the amount.

She managed to withdraw the amount and purchase a few grocery items.
NEW DELHI: Zee Media, which is one of the countrys biggest media houses, has appealed to all Indians to download the newly-launched AarogyaSetu app for the latest updates related to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

As a responsible media channel, with millions of viewers across the globe, Zee Media has been providing accurate and timely updates on the coronavirus-linked cases in the country and abroad.

Through its regular news broadcast, Zee Media has voiced its full support to all such initiatives taken by the Centre with regard to the coronavirus outbreak in the country and appealed to the countrymen to abide by them in order to contain the further spread of the pandemic.

The Centre on Thursday (April 2, 2020) launched a mobile application - AarogyaSetu  for tracking cases of coronavirus COVID-19 infections. The app has been launched for Android and iOS users. Developed by the National Informatics Centre that comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the app will tell the user if they came near a COVID-19 infected person.

According to the App's description, it is aimed at "augmenting" efforts to "proactively" inform the citizens about the "best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19." Both Cntre and state governments have launched a host of coronavirus-related apps over the last few weeks to curb the spread of the pandemic in the country.

AarogyaSetu App will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the coronavirus infection. It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts are tested positive.

The App will help the Government take necessary timely steps for assessing the risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection and ensuring isolation where required. The Apps design ensures privacy-first. The personal data collected by the App is encrypted using state-of-the-art technology and stays secure on the phone until it is needed for facilitating medical intervention.

Available in 11 languages, the App is ready for pan-India use from day-1 and has highly scalable architecture.

''This app is a unique example of the nations young talent coming together and pooling resources and efforts to respond to a global crisis. It is at once a bridge between public and private sectors, digital technology and health services delivery and the potential of young India with a disease-free and healthy future of the nation,'' a release from the government said.
BCF is establishing a temporary fund, the COVID-19 Response Fund, for Branford, CT citizens and workers. Individuals who live or work in Branford who have been negatively impacted as a result of this pandemic and seek temporary financial assistance are encouraged to reach out to W&FLC at (203) 458-6699.

In response to the significant impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the community, the Branford Community Foundation (BCF) announces the following:

COVID-19 Response Fund for Branford

BCF is establishing a temporary fund, the COVID-19 Response Fund for Branford, to benefit the Women & Family Life Center (W&FLC). The Response Fund is to enable W&FLC to make grants to provide immediate, short-term financial relief to individuals who live or work in the Town of Branford.

Individuals who live or work in Branford who have been negatively impacted as a result of this pandemic and seek temporary financial assistance are encouraged to reach out to W&FLC at (203) 458-6699. Examples include but are not limited to: an individual tested positive for the virus and cant work, loss of work or reduced work hours, loss of childcare, need to care for a loved one, etc.

W&FLC will provide one-time grants to individuals of up to $500 to provided immediate, short-term relief. This should provide stopgap support as local, state and federal programs ramp up to address this crisis on a broader scale.

BCF has secured a donation of $5,000 from a local citizen to seed this new fund, and we are encouraging donations to this fund through our website http://www.branfordcommunityfoundation.org. Our goal is to secure at least $20,000 for Branford. All funds raised through this effort will support those impacted in our community by COVID-19.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support those who work and/or live in Branford who face hardship due to the pandemic.

Extension of 2020 Competitive Grant Application Deadline & Reprioritization

BCF will extend its 2020 competitive grant making application deadline to May 1, 2020 and will re-prioritize its 2020 grant review process toward addressing the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

Organizations that submitted a grant by the original March 12, 2020 deadline are asked to consider whether to submit a new proposal based on BCFs reprioritization to the urgent needs presented by the impact of COVID-19 on Branford. Organizations who did not apply by the March 12, 2020 deadline are encouraged to apply by the May 1, 2020 deadline under the new priorities.

Limited emergent funds are available to apply for by qualifying organizations immediately. Contact Jennifer Mullett at jmullett@branfordcommunityfoundation.org for more information.

Guilford Savings Bank Commits $25,000

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, Guilford Savings Bank announced a $25,000 commitment to the Branford Community Foundation to support efforts that respond to the needs of those negatively impact by COVID-19. BCF will apply these funds to the initiatives described above.

For more information about these efforts and how to support our community during this unprecedented time, contact Liza Janssen Petra at lpetra@branfordcommunityfoundation.org
Demand for Affordable Emergency One-to-One Childcare for Americas Essential Workforce Answered by Expert Childcare Consortium Parents need a safe, quality, affordable solution that decreases possible exposure to coronavirus. One to One can help ease employee anxiety around childcare and serve as a partner to a wide range of businesses during this turbulent time.

Americas essential workforce is facing an urgent and unprecedented need for childcare that allows them to work while also keeping their family as safe as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. A collective of women-owned small businesses from across the country in the childcare staffing industry now offers safe, custom, cost-efficient childcare solutions to employers and parents in 20 major U.S. markets.

The consortiums One to One campaign provides essential in-home childcare for Americas workforce while minimizing the risk of infections for families. One consistent caregiver is paired with one family on a regular schedule, to create the safest solution possible under the circumstances. The companies will work directly with employers to offer affordable backup care, without excessive markups and management fees, as a "give back" to the community.

With an estimated 49 to 62 million essential workers still reporting to work each day to perform the vital services communities rely on, and over 55 million K-12 students now at home due to school and daycare closures, essential employees must first ensure their own children are being cared for. The situation leaves critical industry leaders scrambling to provide these resources for their employees. For many essential workers, employer childcare benefits are running out or are not currently offered.

COVID-19 has created an urgent and unprecedented need for short-term, heavily vetted, in-home childcare providers, said Stacie Steelman, CEO and Founder of Crunch Care, a consortium member based in California. Parents need a safe, quality, affordable solution that decreases possible exposure to coronavirus. One to One can help ease employee anxiety around childcare and serve as a partner to a wide range of businesses during this turbulent time.

The One to One industry professionals, all mothers, have decades of combined experience providing corporate-sponsored backup childcare to Fortune 500 companies. One to One services are currently offered through these consortium members in the following markets:



For more information on One to One Essential Childcare and to connect with a participating agency in your region, please visit: http://onetoonechildcare.com/.
Night Curfew in Maharashtra: Check guidelines, rules; what is allowed, what is not allowed

Coronavirus: Why COVID-19 cases are high in Mumbai compared to other cities in India

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Apr 09: The number of COVID-19 positive cases in Maharashtra has breached the 1,000 marks. However, several people believe that the increase in testing capacity has revealed the right numbers.

Taking Mumbai into consideration, the civic body called in the private labs to conduct tests and increase government testing laboratories in the state capital.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The second reason for the increase in number of cases is continuous contact tracing and clinics testing all asymptotic contacts, which are helpful in clusters, such as Worli Koliwada and Dharavi where the chances of community spreading his high.

In Mumbai's Worli Koliwada, an area with a population of 40,000 has seen around 51 cases, taking the tally of G-South ward to 135.

Also, the 52 positive cases at Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central played a major role in the increase of COVID-19 cases. The hospital was declared a containment zone by the MCGM as its staff members tested positive after they came in contact with coronavirus-hit patients.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Out of 106 cases that were reported in the state capital on Wednesday, as many as 51 cases were from G-South ward and most of them were cases of contact transmissions from patients who have already tested positive.

Fake News Buster

The registered COVID-19 positive cases also includes six fresh cases from Dharavi and Mahim, including a 43-year-old man and a nurse working at Breach Candy Hospital.

Also, the Mumbai civic body has made it compulsory for the civilians to wear masks at public places. Issuing a circular, the BMC has also warned of arresting violators under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) if they fail to follow the rules.
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Linkedin Bryce Baschuk (Bloomberg)  Thu, April 9, 2020 10:23 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c1e29 2 Business recession,economic-growth,GDP-growth,WTO,COVID-19,coronavirus Free

The evidence is mounting that March marked the start of a global recession. And according to the World Trade Organization, that might be the optimistic scenario.

The breadth of the collapse is beginning to appear in the initial trickle of economic data across the world, revealing a cratering of trade, reined-in business investment, cowering consumers and surging unemployment thats sparing few industries.

The hit to demand is visible on the worlds oceans, where a measure of US export volumes in the first two full weeks of March showed shipments abroad at less than half the year-earlier level, IHS Markit data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The damage is acute for autos: The number of anchored ships used to transport vehicles has jumped to 19 percent of the fleet, up from 11 percent a year ago, according to Bloomberg data.

After the US on Friday reported a higher-than-expected job losses, other figures for March have illustrated how the Covid-19 pandemic is extending the paralysis from producers to households, from big trading powers to more insulated economies and emerging markets.

Read also: Indonesia braces for recession, activates crisis protocol

In Germany, new-car registrations in March  usually a peak month  plunged 38 percent from a year earlier, and a reading in the UK tanked 44 percent. Three of the biggest Arab economies buckled, a services index in Brazil was the lowest since 2016 and vehicle sales in South Africa slid 30 percent. In Australia, which has dodged recession for three decades, job advertisements plummeted by the most since 2009, even though the nation didnt go into a strict lockdown until late in the month.

Roberto Azevedo, the director-general of the WTO, said of its just-revised outlook for global trade and economic growth: These numbers are ugly  there is no getting around that.

The Geneva-based arbiter of international commerce predicted a range of scenarios, from an optimistic 13 percent drop in global merchandise trade that would rival the Great Recession of 12 years ago to a pessimistic plunge of 32 percent rivaling the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The optimistic view would mean a 2.5 percent contraction in global GDP this year, the WTO said, while the worst-case scenario would see an 8.8 percent decline.

The wide variance reflects much uncertainty over the WTOs forecasts, and the ultimate outcome will depend on how quickly the virus is contained and supply chains rebound. Azevedo urged countries to work together rather than adopt export barriers in fighting the outbreak.

If countries work together we will see a much faster and robust recovery than if each country does it alone, he said.

Read also: Coronavirus drives record US job losses amid economic shutdown

The bleak outlook echoes projections from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are both expecting a major downturn this year, as well as the increasingly gloomy projections of private economists.

The already-receding global economy is losing steam faster than in the early days of the financial crisis, according to Bloomberg Economics new global GDP tracker. The reading for March shows the global economy contracting at an annualized rate of 0.5 percent, compared with 0.1 percent in February.

From India to Italy, coronavirus lockdowns have closed businesses and kept billions of people homebound for weeks, provoking a simultaneous supply and demand shock thats snarled global production and logistics networks built without sufficient capacity to absorb a jolt of this magnitude.

Economic disruption

Companies including Airbus SE in Europe and FedEx Corp. in the US have cautioned in recent days that its too early to estimate the length of the slump or assess the damage  displaying a level of uncertainty that stretches into supplier networks of small firms, often located in rural areas and developing economies. Thats spurred governments in Europe and the US to rush aid to small businesses to prevent more from closing permanently.

Airbus, with about 135,000 workers, told employees in a letter sent late last week that a return to full operations isnt feasible in the short term because of parts shortages and the inability of struggling airlines to take delivery of new aircraft.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, FedEx warned that an extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption could materially and adversely affect our business and an extended global recession would add even more strain. International sales make up more than half of the revenue at FedEx, which employed 177,000 last year.

Read also: Five more months to business as usual: Business players

The parcel-delivery company added that its taking steps to manage cash flow and liquidity, including review and consideration of opportunities and strategies for capital expenditure reductions and deferrals.

Vicious cycle

With investment set to slide and more people out of work, global GDP rates could dip lower depending on how long governments maintain their lockdowns  many of which are expected to last into May or June. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that for each month of containment, there will be a loss of 2 percentage points in annual GDP growth.

Unless the virus is contained within several weeks, declining output and falling demand for trade may provoke a vicious cycle that only worsens the outlook for corporate investment and employment, compounding the labor markets problems.

Signs arent yet pointing to a quick end and recovery. On Tuesday, Honda Motor Co. said it will stop paying furloughed workers at all of its 10 factories in the US for three weeks.

More than 10 million Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last month, and the International Labour Organization warned almost 25 million jobs will be lost if the virus isnt quickly contained.

Getting this right is predicated on social dialogue between governments and those on the front line  the employers and workers, said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in a statement, so that the 2020s dont become a re-run of the 1930s.
Taliban recall negotiators after breaking off prisoner swap talks

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 6:12 AM

The Taliban militant group has called back its negotiating team from the Afghan capital, Kabul, after breaking off talks with the government on a prisoner swap.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's office in Qatar, said in a tweet on Tuesday that the move was due to Kabul's alleged delay in releasing imprisoned militants.

"[Taliban] Prisoners... should have been released long before as per the signed agreement and paved the way for intra-Afghan negotiations. But, the relevant sides are deliberately delaying our prisoners' release and thus violating the peace Agreement. Therefore, the... [Taliban group] recalls, with immediate effect, its technical team from Kabul," he said.

Shaheen was referring to a deal the militant group struck with the United States in February under which a prisoner swap was planned between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Taliban had broken off talks with the Afghan government on the prisoner exchange, announcing that the group's technical team would not participate in what they described as "fruitless meetings."

The agreement with the US also envisages a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The Afghan government was not a party to the negotiations or the deal, but it had agreed to free the Taliban prisoners.

A spokesman for the Afghan government had said earlier that Kabul would maintain work on the prisoner release plan. But there was no immediate reaction from the government or Washington to the newer announcement by the Taliban.

The Afghan government was required to ultimately release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, in exchange for 1,000 government captives to be released by the Taliban. Afghan officials said last week that they would release 100 Taliban prisoners who were sick or over the age of 50 in an apparent first phase.

Officials also said that the Taliban were demanding the release of top commanders involved in some of the most violent attacks in recent years, an issue that had proved an irritant. But it was not clear what exactly led to the collapse of the talks.

The prisoner swap was supposed to be a prelude to peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The intra-Afghan dialog would have been aimed at restoring peace and stability to Afghanistan.

Pompeo says 'progress made'

Despite the Taliban's pullback, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said also on Tuesday that progress had been made in the talks in Afghanistan.

"We've made some progress, but we see them posturing in the media, we see statements that come out," Pompeo told a State Department news conference.

Last month, Pompeo flew to Kabul and later to Doha  where the Taliban have an office  to urge all sides to move forward with the process, which at that point was deadlocked.

Pompeo also called on all Afghan sides to begin negotiations on a political settlement that ends decades of war.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 to overthrow a Taliban regime in power at the time, accusing it of harboring the al-Qaeda terrorist group. The invasion did topple the regime, but the Taliban then emerged as formidable militant enemies to the US.

Over 100,000 Afghans have been killed or injured since 2009, when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

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Chickens and brown hares were introduced to Britain in the 5th century AD and were worshipped as gods rather than eaten, archaeologists claim.

Instead of being seen as food, the creatures were associated with deities, and buried with care and intact, found experts from the University of Exeter.

Archaeological evidence shows no signs of butchery on recently unearthed bones, and the research suggests the two animals were not imported for people to eat.

The study, which also included researchers from Oxford and Leicester universities, looked at how brown hares, rabbits and chickens were introduced to Britain.

The team also wanted to find out exactly how the originally non-native species became incorporated into modern British Easter traditions.

In the earliest days of hares, chickens and rabbits in Britain 2,500 years ago the creatures were treated as gods - buried in individual graves rather than thrown away as rubbish. This is a skeleton of a hare found in Winklebury, Hampshire

The team also wanted to find out exactly how the originally non-native species became incorporated into modern British Easter traditions. Stock image

Bones found at sites in Hampshire and Hertfordshire suggest brown hares and chickens were originally brought to Britain between the 5th and 3rd century BC.

This is much earlier than originally thought. Previous studies had placed their introduction to between the first and second century AD - hundreds of years later.

Researchers say the discovery of buried skeletons fits historical evidence that neither animal was eaten until the Roman period.

Professor Naomi Sykes, from the University of Exeter, said: "Easter is an important British festival, yet none of its iconic elements are native to Britain.

'The idea that chickens and hares initially had religious associations is not surprising as cross-cultural studies have shown that exotic things and animals are often given supernatural status,' the lead author said.

"Historical accounts have suggested chickens and hares were too special to be eaten and were instead associated with deities.'

Chickens were originally associated with an Iron Age god akin to Roman Mercury, and hares with an unknown female hare goddess.

'The religious association of hares and chickens endured throughout the Roman period,' said Sykes.

She added that archaeological evidence shows that as their populations increased, they were increasingly eaten, and hares were even farmed as livestock.

The animals' remains were then disposed of as food waste, rather than being buried as individuals - suggesting much less respect over time.

During the Roman period, both species were farmed and eaten, and rabbits were also introduced, researchers say.

In AD 410, the Roman Empire withdrew from Britain causing economic collapse.

Chickens were originally associated with an Iron Age god akin to Roman Mercury, and hares with an unknown female hare goddess

Rabbits became locally extinct, while populations of chickens and brown hares crashed, and due to their scarcity they once again regained their special status.

After the Romans had left Britain, people stopped hunting hares and this may explain why archaeologists have found few remains of the animal until the medieval period.

But chicken populations increased after they were introduced during the Roman period - likely due to sixth century Saint Benedict.

Benedict forbade the consumption of meat from four-legged animals during fasting periods such as Lent - making birds a popular food source.

His rules were widely adopted in the 10th and 11th centuries, increasing the popularity of chickens and eggs as fast-day foods.

Historical and archaeological evidence show rabbits were reintroduced to Britain as an elite food during the 13th century AD.

According to experts, they were increasingly common in the 19th-century landscape, likely contributing to their replacement of the hare as the Easter Bunny when the festival's traditions were reinvigorated during the Victorian period.
Islamabad, April 9 : Pakistan has decided to allow movement of cargo trucks and containers to cross-over into Afghanistan thrice a week starting from Friday onwards on the neighbouring countrys request amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported on Thursday.

The decision was taken following consultations and coordination between the two countries as per agreed upon protocols, The Express Tribune quoted Aisha Farooqui, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

"Responding to Afghanistan government's special request, and based on humanitarian considerations, it has been decided to facilitate the movement of cargo trucks and containers to cross-over into Afghanistan through Torkham and Chaman border crossing points thrice a week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from April 10 onwards," she said.

Pakistan had sealed its borders both with Iran and Afghanistan earlier this month as part of its measures to control the spread of coronavirus.

The government however, allowed the movement of goods at Chaman border.

Later, it also decided to allow the exit of Afghan nationals, wishing to go back to their country, on the request of Afghanistan government.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has reached despite the country being under lockdown for the third consecutive week.

The virus has claimed 61 lives while at least 467 patients have recovered.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives an update to the state's response to the CCP virus at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on March 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool)

Trailers to House Transients With COVID-19 Begin Arriving in Orange County

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS)  Orange County has begun receiving trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help house transients afflicted with COVID-19, officials said on April 8.

Orange County was assigned 78 trailers from the state, with Anaheim taking 39 and Santa Ana accepting 22. They began arriving on the night of April 7.

The remaining 17 were given to the county, with officials expected to use them where needed.

Officials were connecting the trailers to services on April 8.

So far, Anaheim has received 10, spokesman Mike Lyster said.

Some of Anaheims trailers will be sent to its Salvation Army-run Anaheim Emergency Shelter on Lewis Street, south of Ball Road. Last month, two staff members were diagnosed with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirusbut tests of 34 residents came back negative, Lyster said.

Ten of the transients at the shelter who have heart or respiratory conditions have been placed in a hotel, where the city has rented rooms for them, Lyster said.

Some of the FEMA trailers will be sent to the hotel, and some will be stored at the citys convention center until they are needed, he added.

City officials were also working to set up temporary shelter space at the Salvation Armys thrift store near La Palma Park, Lyster said.

The city plans to house 49 women at that shelter, and the trailers may be used there as well to isolate anyone who falls ill to the virus, he added.

Santa Ana officials intend to utilize the trailers for isolation units for those homeless in our shelter that test positive for COVID-19, said Paul Eakins, a spokesman for Santa Ana. The city has not had a transient test positive for the virus so far, he added.

The city plans to place the trailers in the parking lot of its homeless shelter, The Link. Fifteen of the trailers arrived on April 7, and the rest are due soon, he added.

County officials are planning to rent rooms in area hotels and motels to house ailing transients, because it is too difficult to deploy social distancing techniques in the countys shelters, officials said.

So far, the county has rented rooms in hotel-motels in Orange and Stanton. Another one in South Orange County is expected to be set up soon.

The program is a lockdown one that restricts transients from coming and going from the hotels and motels.

Face Coverings

In addition, Orange Countys chief health officer on April 9 issued a recommendation strongly encouraging face coverings for workers at essential businesses which remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Nichole Quickwho has the authority to mandate the actionstopped short of doing so.

Her order was issued two days after the Orange County Board of Supervisors rejected Supervisor Andrew Dos motion to make face coverings mandatory for at least food industry workers. On April 9, Do declined to comment on Dr. Quicks recommendation.

Quick said the recommendation follows guidance from the California Department of Public Health issued on April 1.

Residents can make their own face coverings at home from a variety of materials and should refrain from purchasing personal protective equipment that is critical and in short supply for our healthcare workers, such as N95 and surgical masks, Quick said.

A face covering should be worn over the nose and mouth, she said. Any sort of ties or straps should be used to secure it to the head. They can be factory-made, folded, sewn, or improvised from common household items such as scarfs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, or towels, she said.

Face coverings are an additional tool that may help protect staff and patrons from COVID-19, but they are not a substitute for proven protective measures like frequent hand washing, keeping your hands away from your face, practicing social distancing, and staying home, she said.

Officials, meanwhile, are awaiting guidance from the countys chief health officer about requiring face coverings for food industry workers amid the pandemic.

Beginning on April 10, Los Angeles will make face coverings for workers mandatory. The city of Irvine issued an order on April 8, making them mandatory, with the City Council expected to ratify it on April 10. San Diego County adopted a similar policy during the week ending April 3.

Orange County now has 1,079 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HeroX , the leading crowdsourcing platform that solves global problems, today launched the crowdsourcing competition " Honey I Shrunk the NASA Payload " on behalf of the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The challenge calls on the global community of solvers to develop miniature payloads that could be sent to the moon in the next several years to fill strategic lunar knowledge gaps.

HeroX

In the future, NASA could send rovers the size of a Roomba to explore the moon's surface. These small rovers would provide greater mission flexibility and allow NASA to collect key information about the moon's surface including its resources potential, the environment and effects on humans, and how to live and work on the moon. This intel is valuable for NASA's Artemis program, which will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 and establish a sustained lunar presence a few years later. Existing science payloads are too big, too heavy, and require too much power for these small rovers and new, miniaturized payload designs are needed.

"We are calling on innovators to be ready and willing to think outside the box," said Niki Werkheiser, program executive of NASA's Game Changing Development Program. "This is an opportunity to contribute ideas to advance our understanding of the moon and its resources, which will be helpful for future missions."

"Solvers around the world are understandably enthusiastic at the opportunity to contribute to a NASA mission," said Christian Cotichini, CEO, HeroX. "The ability of our community to solve such incredibly complex problems is a powerful case study for the capacity of crowdsourcing."

The Challenge: NASA is calling on the global scientific community to develop miniaturized payloads that could be sent to the moon. The data collected by these payloads could help support sustained human lunar presence, enable further scientific discoveries, demonstrate and advance the use of resources found on the moon. To meet the size, weight, and power constraints of these micro-rovers, new scientific payloads have to be designed, built, and tested in time for the different launch opportunities. This means successful payload proposals will be ones that can demonstrate near-term technical readiness, high impact, and the ability to integrate with micro-rovers. The payloads need to be similar in size to a bar of soap (100 mm x 100 mm x 50 mm).

The Prize: The challenge will award $160,000 in prizes across several categories. This ideation challenge is expected to be followed by new challenges to prototype, test, and possibly even deliver these miniaturized payloads. This will generate a maturation pipeline of next-generation instruments, sensors, and experiments that can be used for lunar exploration over the next few years.

How to Become a Solver: The prize is open to anyone aged 18 or older participating as an individual or as a team. Individual competitors and teams may originate from any country, as long as United States federal sanctions do not prohibit participation (some restrictions apply).

To accept the challenge, visit https://www.herox.com/NASApayload

ABOUT HEROX

HeroX is a social network for crowdsourcing innovation and human ingenuity, co-founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur, Christian Cotichini and XPRIZE Founder and Futurist, Peter Diamandis. HeroX offers a turnkey, easy-to-use platform that supports anyone, anywhere, to solve everyday business and world challenges using the power of the crowd.

Explore the latest challenges at www.herox.com

Media Contact:

Alexandra Pony

[email protected]

250.858.0656

SOURCE HeroX

Related Links

http://www.herox.com


USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed testing of vital combat systems while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. These tests, conducted during Fords post-delivery test and trials (PDT&T) phase, are designed to stress the ships combat system capabilities and demonstrate the successful integration of new technologies, which the crew employs to defend the aircraft carrier.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed testing of vital combat systems while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. These tests, conducted during Fords post-delivery test and trials (PDT&T) phase, are designed to stress the ships combat system capabilities and demonstrate the successful integration of new technologies, which the crew employs to defend the aircraft carrier.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conducts high-speed turns in the Atlantic Ocean (Picture source: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Connor Loessin)

Cmdr. Ron McCallister, USS Gerald Fords combat systems officer, noted the testing was a collaborative effort between Naval Sea Systems Command along with the greater technical community and the ships force: The tests exercise the combat systems suite as a complete unit and ensure maximum availability to meet combat and self-defense mission requirements, said McCallister. In the end, the combat systems suite achieves maximum readiness and the sailors develop more operational and technical competence.

USS Fords first certification of integrated combat systems tested the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon (ATCRB) and Identification of Friend or Foe (IFF). The tests, conducted over several days, evaluated the ATCRBs ability to track air and surface contacts and to identify friendly and enemy aircraft using an advanced identification system. IFF is used not only for positive, secure, friend identification, but also to control aircraft. We use an interrogator system to challenge aircraft transponders for identification, said Operations Specialist 2nd class Juannietagrace Okeli, from Moss Point, Mississippi. The interrogator, cooperative engagement capability, and the Ships Self-Defense Systems (SSDS) work together to provide us the combat identification.

USS Ford also recently completed sea-based developmental testing (SBDT) of vital combat systems. This was the first full test of the integrated combat system against tactical adversaries. Testing was conducted with Kfir and Hawker Hunter jet aircraft from the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company. Ships crew tracked the aircraft, using Fords Dual Band Radar (DBR). SBDT is a stepping stone towards Fords Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial (CSSQT), and follow-on operational tests by the Navy, said Cmdr. William Buell, Fords combat direction center officer. Our SBDT operations ran very smoothly, which is a good indicator of future success on CSSQT.

As part of the SBDT, Sailors in USS Fords combat systems department conducted an up-load of simulated munitions for operators in the ships Combat Direction Center (CDC) to simulate engaging the aircraft. It was encouraging to see the results of our collective labor pay off and prove the warfighting capability of the class, said Fire Controlman 2nd class Sam Lantinga, from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Without these self-defense systems, Gerald R. Ford wouldnt be able to deliver lethal effects to our nations adversaries.

USS Gerald R. Ford is a first-in-class aircraft carrier and the first new aircraft carrier designed in more than 40 years. The USS Ford is underway conducting carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean.
[April 09, 2020] HF Markets (Europe) Ltd Supports Efforts of the Republic of Cyprus to Fight the Covid-19 Crisis

In line with its commitment to social responsibility, award winning broker HF Markets (Europe) Ltd has expressed its determination to support the Government in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. LARNACA, Cyprus, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HF Markets (Europe) Ltd, the award-winning forex and commodities broker on CFDs, has proceeded with the donation of personal protective equipment "Face Shield" worth of 20, 0000 Euros to healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus in Cyprus. HF Markets (Europe) Ltd CEO George Koumantaris said: "When human life is at stake, the protection of public health should be a collective responsibility. We are proud to be able to make this donation to healthcare professionals fighting on the front lines of this terribl battle." The company also urges its employees to work from home and abide by all precautionary measures by the government against the spread of the coronavirus.



On behalf of the State Health Services Organization, the Chief Financial Officer Mrs. Terpsithea Christou welcomed the gesture of HF Markets and thanked the company for lending assistance to the Cyprus healthcare system in what is an unprecedented situation. To find out more about the company please visit the HF Markets (Europe) Ltd website.

Notes to Media: About HF Markets HF Markets is the brand name of HF Markets Group which encompasses global and regulated entities which are operating as multi-asset brokers offering both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. HF Markets Group is continuously establishing its position as a market leader, a fact affirmed by: Over 2,000,000 Live Accounts Opened

More than 35 International Awards

Client Support in 27+ Languages

Top Fund Security Measures Risk warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72.82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with HF Markets (Europe) Ltd. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Please read the full Risk Disclosure.

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The Kolhapur District Central



Cooperative Bank and its employees on Thursday contributed over Rs 2 crore to the Chief Minister Relief Fund for COVID- 19.

Maharashtra's Rural Development Minister and the bank's chairman Hasan Mushrif handed over separate cheques worth Rs 2,22,75,000 crore raised by the bank to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the state secretariat here, an official release stated.

As per the release, the bank raised the money after Pawar urged organisations and individuals to fund the state's fight against the coronavirus.

Bank employees raised Rs 22,75,000 by donatingtheir one-day salaries, the statement said.

Maharashtra has till now reported 1,364 COVID-19 cases and 97 deaths due to the infection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump attacks WHO over coronavirus, threatens to withhold funding

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 5:37 AM

US President Donald Trump has blamed the World Health Organization for getting every aspect of the coronavirus "wrong," threatening to pull back funding from the international organization.

Speaking at a White House press conference Tuesday, Trump said that "they did give us some pretty bad play calling ... with regard to us, they're taking a lot of heat because they didn't want the borders closed, they called it wrong. They really called, I would say, every aspect of it wrong."

He criticized the organization as being "very China-centric" for condemning his Jan. 31 travel ban, which led to foreign nationals, who had traveled to China within the last 14 days, being barred from entering the US.

"Take a look, go through step by step. They said there's no big deal, there's no big problem. There's no nothing, and then ultimately when I closed it down, they said I made a mistake in closing it down and it turned out to be right."

The WHO, the United Nations' health agency, began to sound the alarm on the outbreak of a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China in mid-January.

Later on January 30, it designated the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency after there had been only 8,200 cases in 18 countries across the world.

WHO officials declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, when there were only 121,000 confirmed cases globally.

So far, the virus has affected over 1,430,000 worldwide and killed more than 82,000, according to worldometers.info. In the United States, more than 400,000 people have tested positive and 12,000 have died.

The US president also said on Tuesday that Washington would put a "very powerful hold" on money it sends to the WHO. However, when asked if it was the right thing to do amid the ongoing crisis, he said, "I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but we will look at ending funding."

According to the WHO's most recent notice of assessment, the United States was expected to pay $115,766,922 to the agency for the biennium of 2020-2021.

Trump's criticism of the WHO came while the agency itself disapproved of some of his policies and practices surrounding the virus.

The organization has urged people against calling COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" as Trump has done, arguing that it could unintentionally result in racial profiling.

"Viruses know no borders and they don't care about your ethnicity, the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank. So it's really important we be careful in the language we use lest it lead to the profiling of individuals associated with the virus," Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO's emergencies program, said on March 18 at a news conference when asked about Trump's remarks inciting violence against Asians.

Trump removes top coronavirus watchdog

President Trump has removed, Glenn Fine, the inspector general tasked with overseeing the government's $2 trillion in emergency coronavirus funding.

Fine was named last week to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, a committee acting as a sort of uber-watchdog over the federal government's response to the new coronavirus, including health policy and the largest economic relief package in US history.

The decision to remove Fine, the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, from his post fueled concerns in Congress about oversight of the relief package.

Congressional Democrats said Fine's removal reinforced their determination to strictly oversee the massive spending package.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the move as "part of a disturbing pattern of retaliation" by Trump.

"We will continue to exercise our oversight to ensure that this historic investment of taxpayer dollars is being used wisely and efficiently," she said in a statement.

Trump has designated the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general to be the new acting Pentagon IG.

Trump slams US watchdog's report on shortages at coronavirus-hit hospitals

Trump has attacked the US Health Department's inspector general Christi Grimm over a report that shows American hospitals are suffering shortages on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak.

The president described as a "fake dossier" the findings that confirmed hospitals nationwide had insufficient capacity to handle the surge of coronavirus patients as reported by governors, mayors and local health officials.

Trump accused the inspector general of being politically motivated, asking why she had not spoken to admirals, generals, the vice president or other relevant authorities before working on the report.

According to an HHS OIG spokeswoman, the office "approached this survey with the same integrity and quality standards as we have in previous work."

The spokeswoman also said that staff had interviewed "knowledgeable professionals at more than 320 hospitals across 46 states."

Hospitals have complained about major challenges in testing and treating patients, reporting having sufficient capacity to handle the increase in needed care, the HHS inspector general said in the report which is based on 323 hospitals surveyed from March 23 to 27.

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Chambers Ireland and its nationwide network of chambers has today published the results of a survey of its members, which seeks to quantify and highlight the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses in towns, cities and regions right across the country.

The survey which has over 1,100 responses (1,149) was conducted between 3 April and the morning of 6 April 2020. Eighty four percent of businesses expect revenue to decline by in excess of 25% in the next three months, which is up from 73% in its last survey published on the 24 March.

Approximately 25% of businesses expect their revenue to decline by more than 90% over the next 3 months and smaller firms are more concerned about loss of revenue and are more likely to expect a 100% reduction in revenue

The survey shows that 42% of businesses have closed entirely, and 30% of businesses having closed the public facing offices and are now working from home. Of those that have closed, most expect to be closed for 12 weeks.

Furthermore, 47% of businesses have laid off staff, with over half of those laying off in excess of 30% of staff. It is estimated that 20% of all businesses have laid off their entire staff.

Worringly, 76% of businesses owners/operators believe that the 2-month deferral of Commercial Rates payments will not be enough to have any meaningful impact on their business. Most believe that it would need to be a six-month holiday to be of use, with a significant minority believing that the extension would need to be for 12 months.

Speaking this morning, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive, Ian Talbot said, "Measures already introduced, while critical in the first response to support business, will need to evolve in scale and scope. For example, the Governments earlier announcement of a two-month deferral for commercial rates is found to be insufficient by three quarters of businesses responding to our survey."

He added, "If a deferral is to have any meaningful impact, it will need to last at least 6 months, if not a full year, as was introduced in the UK. To ensure that Local Authorities can continue to serve communities, this short-fall in funding must be replaced by central Government."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is seen while entering into the port in Da Nang, Vietnam, on March 5, 2020. (Kham/Reuters)

US Sailor From Virus-Stricken Aircraft Carrier Moved to ICU

WASHINGTONA sailor from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Guam after testing positive for the CCP virus last month, the U.S. Navy said April 9, as the number of virus cases on the ship jumped to more than 400.

In a statement, the Navy said the sailor was in a 14-day isolation period when admitted to the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the sailor was found unresponsive and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The sailor is in critical condition.

The number of positive cases on the nuclear-powered ship is now 416, up from the 286 positive cases that the Navy reported April 8.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that the military needs to plan for the possibility of more virus infections on the level of the Theodore Roosevelt.

I think it is not a good idea to think that the (Theodore Roosevelt) is a one-of-a-kind issue.  To think that it will never happen again, is not a good way to plan, Hyten said.

The general added that there had been a small number of cases aboard another aircraft carrier as well, the nuclear-powered Nimitz. Sailors assigned to four aircraft carriers have now tested positive for the CCP virus, the U.S. official told Reuters.

The CCP virus outbreak on the ship led to the resignation on April 7 of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, following backlash related to Modlys firing and then ridiculing the commander of the Theodore Roosevelt, who had pleaded for Navy officials to urgently evacuate the ship to protect the health of its sailors.

Modlys resignation occurred as a result of comments he made about the carriers former skipper to the ships crew, and followed Trumps own suggestion on April 6 that he might get involved in the crisissaying the Navy captain whom Modly fired was also a good man.

Capt. Brett Crozier, who Modly relieved of command last week, had urged more dramatic steps to safeguard his sailors aboard the Theodore Roosevelt in a four-page letter that leaked to the public last week. Crozier is later believed to have tested positive for the virus.

Modlys controversial trip to Guam over the weekend, when he ridiculed the commander of the aircraft carrier, cost taxpayers at least $243,000.

During the trip, Modly questioned Croziers character while addressing the crew of the Roosevelt, saying at one point, he was either stupid or naive. After audio of his speech leaked, including expletives, Modly initially said he stood by his remarks. But he later apologized at the request of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
When production came to a screeching halt after news of COVID-19 broke, Chispa House decided it needed to figure out a way to continue to pay creatives and entertain the self-quarantined.
Earlville, N.Y.  One person has been arrested and charged with setting fire to the Lighthouse Community Church in the village of Earlville, according to New York State Police.

Firefighters and state police were dispatched at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to the church, 53 S. Main St., Earlville. The village is on the Madison County and Chenango County line.

Police have not yet released the identify of the individual arrested in connection with the fire.

Pastor Mark A. Monroe Jr. said in a video he posted on social early this morning that the fire burned into the early morning hours. The church was destroyed, he said.

He said the fire was set, but he went on to call for love and forgiveness."

We will rise from the ashes, he said in the video. This is not the end. This is the beginning. We will not be shaken by this."

"The church is not a building. The church is the people,'' he said.

The pastor thanked all the people who helped fight the fire and said he was happy no one was injured.

In addition to the state police, the following responded to the fire: Chenango County Sheriffs Deputies, Earlville Fire, North Norwich Fire, Sherburne Fire, Hubbardsville Fire, Morrisville Fire, North Brookfield Fire, Smyrna Fire, Hamilton Fire, the Chenango County Bureau of Fire Investigation and NYSEG.

A fire destroys the Lighthouse Community Church in the village of Earlville. The fire started Wednesday night (April 8, 2020) and was put out early Thursday morning.Photot courtesy of Kerri Tracey-Mikalunas and Scott Schroer.

This is a breaking news story, and will be updated as more information is released.
Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

For the last seven years, hundreds of local residents and officials gathered each spring to Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, in support of the Center for Family Justice.

But this years walk  the eighth annual  will be held virtually as the state continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hackers are using known tactics to target, manipulate and spoof entities like the WHO  and other trusted sources like government agencies, employers and so on - to trick society while guards are down and theres general preoccupation, anxiety and concern over the coronavirus.

Whats happening on the cybersecurity side is that peoples guards are down, said Asaf Lifshitz, CEO of Sayata Labs, an Israel and Massachusetts-based firm with a solution for processing cyber policies. Cybersecurity almost always comes at some degree of conflict with productivity, and all of a sudden [as a result of the coronavirus] theres this massive shortage of productivity. Companies need to be able to transact business, now that their employees are working from home and theyre already taking a hit.

In times like these, IT managers have to make compromises. Ideally, wed like our employees to log in via a VPN, or to conform to whatever standards we put in place before. Now, its much harder to enforce. If we insist on doing it, productivity will take a bigger hit, and so those constraints are relaxed a little bit - and thats what I mean when I say guards are down from a pure cybersecurity perspective. Another interesting point is that guards are down in peoples minds a little bit. Thats a combination of there being so much information going around, and maybe peoples emotional stress levels are a little bit higher.

There are certain areas where our lowered guards can manifest into problems, according to Lifshitz. For example, an office setting is much more open to dual-factor authentication than remote working. If an employee receives a suspicious email or an instruction from a senior staff member via email, theyre much more likely to check in for in-person dual factor authentication in an office setting than they are from home. But the reality is, as more people are forced to work remotely, its more important than ever to alert people of suspicious items and double check things youre not certain of.

Of course, companies can purchase cyber insurance to mitigate some of these risks, but, right now, as many businesses transition to working from home, and many business owners face the grim reality of reduced operations or even closure, buying more insurance is not necessarily top of mind.

Lifshitz commented: For the clients, its a mixed bag, and there are two forces in play. One is that they understand, because of whats going on, that maybe they should strongly consider cyber insurance. At the same time, theyre busy right now with working from home, they still have a business to manage, and some of them are probably more concerned about their cash position.

Cyber is one exposure for them to consider, but maybe that was bumped a few levels down because theyre more concerned about their cash position overall. So, Id say that there are two forces pulling in opposite directions a little bit, and the jurys still out in terms of what will happen. The answer is probably different for different timescales. The moment youre transitioning to work from home, thats not when youre going to buy cyber insurance. Maybe you will sometime after that, or maybe not, depending on how your business is doing as a business and as this coronavirus situation evolves.
Samaritans Purse eyeing partnership with St. John the Divine Cathedral on second NYC field hospital

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NEW YORK CITY  Samaritans Purse, the Franklin Graham-led evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, said Tuesday that they were looking at partnering with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the worlds largest Gothic cathedral, as a field hospital site to help treat coronavirus patients, if necessary.

Samaritans Purse, in partnership with Mount Sinai Health System, is currently looking at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine as an expansion site to increase our capacity to treat patients with COVID-19. Our goal is to do all that we can to prepare for an upsurge in cases, but we continue to pray that the virus subsides so that this additional site is never needed. We continue to stand with the people of New York in the fight against this vicious disease, the organization said in a statement to The Christian Post.

The statement comes after The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Graham confirmed Samaritans Purse would set up a field hospital under the churchs 124-foot-high stone nave.

Dean of the cathedral, the Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel III, told The New York Times, which first reported on the story Monday, that nine climate-controlled medical tents capable of holding at least 200 patients will be erected inside the cathedral by the end of the week.

The last thing like this was the flu pandemic in 1918, but the world was different then and I dont think they used the cathedral in this way, Daniel said in an interview inside the empty church. But traditionally, in earlier centuries, cathedrals were always used this way, like during the plague. So this is not outside the experience of being a cathedral, it is just new to us.

The field hospital was also reported by the Episcopal News Service as a partnership between the cathedral, Mount Sinai hospital network and Samaritans Purse, which already has a field hospital running on the East Lawn of Central Park.

Lisa Schubert, the cathedrals vice president of programming and external relations, said details of the partnership are expected to be finalized in a few days. The Washington Post reported that Franklin was expected to fly to New York City on Tuesday and meet with officials at the cathedral.

Samaritans Purse would not confirm these details beyond what they said was their latest and only statement on the plan that will tentatively see the addition of another 400 hospital beds in the city.

Schubert said it had not yet been decided if the cathedral would handle coronavirus cases, but said Monday that within 10 days they would start accepting patients.

Everything is happening in real time, Schubert told Episcopal News Service. What we knew a week ago is very different from what we know now.
China on Thursday unveiled a new trial protocol warranting re-testing of the recovered coronavirus patients besides intensifying the screening of asymptomatic cases as concerns grew over the second wave of virus infections in the country.

IMAGE: Travellers line up with their belongings outside Hankou Railway Station after travel restrictions to leave Wuhan were lifted. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters

The move comes a day after China lifted the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday reported 63 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 61 imported ones taking the total to 1,104 cases.

Two more persons were killed due to the disease, taking the death toll in the country to 3,335. The overall coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in the country.

After nearly three months of grim battle against the coronavirus, China is fast returning to normalcy with factories and business humming back to activity amid concerns over coronavirus rebound due to a steady rise of new infections, especially coming from thousands of Chinese returning from abroad.

As the 76-day lockdown of Wuhan was lifted on Wednesday, tens of thousands of people in the city, the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic, began travelling out by road, rail and air.

China on Thursday released a new trial protocol on recovered COVID-19 patients' quarantine which included return visits by doctors, re-testing and their health monitoring.

As of Wednesday, China has 77,370 people who had been discharged after recovery, most of them were from Wuhan and Hubei province which bore the brunt of the virus.

According to the protocol, recovered Covid-19 patients should stay in quarantine for 14 days either at home or in an isolation centre for medical observation, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

During the isolation period, those having recovered from the disease should take their temperatures daily and be on the lookout for fever and respiratory symptoms including cough and breathing difficulties, the protocol said.

Designated hospitals should make plans for patients' return visits and re-testing for the next two to four weeks following their discharge, it said, adding that sputum samples are more reliable and should be the first choice for re-testing.

Those who have been discharged from hospitals will be categorised as confirmed cases if they test positive, show symptoms including fever and cough, and CT scan results show their lung conditions have worsened. In such cases, the patients should be hospitalised for further treatment, the protocol said.

A high-powered committee headed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang which was leading the efforts to contain the virus since January has also called for intensified detection and prompt response to asymptomatic case meaning people infected with coronavirus but showed no symptoms.

As of Wednesday, a total of 1,104 asymptomatic cases, including 364 imported from abroad, were under medical observation on the Chinese mainland, the NHC said.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat an official circular said noting that they are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

Screening of asymptomatic infections should be stepped up, targeting close contacts of confirmed patients, people involved in cluster outbreaks, those exposed to Covid-19 and travellers from areas with high risks of infections, it said.

The regulation required nationwide hospitals and disease control departments to take prompt actions once asymptomatic carriers are detected.

Once verified, asymptomatic carriers will be put under concentrated medical observation for 14 days and can only be released from quarantine upon two consecutive negative nucleic acid test results, with a sampling interval of more than 24 hours, it added.

Close contacts of asymptomatic cases should also be put under concentrated medical observation for 14 days.

Since April 1, the NHC has started to incorporate information on asymptomatic cases in its daily report to timely respond to social concerns.

China also denied any cover-up in reporting the initial information of the outbreak in December last as it put up a staunch defence of World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, refuting United States President Donald Trump's allegation that he was 'very China centric'.

"China was the first country to report the COVID-19 to the World Health Organisation (WHO), (and) that doesn't mean the virus originated from Wuhan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here, dismissing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's charge of China hiding the COVID-19 data.

"Epidemic may break out first anywhere in the world. But its origin is a matter of science and we should leave it to science and medical community," said Zhao, who earlier created a storm by alleging on March 12 that the US Army may have brought the virus to Wuhan, leading to a diplomatic protest by Washington.

While he didn't revisit his allegation, Zhao, in a detailed reply to Pompeo's charge, referred to Wuhan lifting its 76-day lockdown on Wednesday which, he said, boosted the confidence of other countries.

"More and more people have come to realise that Chinese solution is viable and Chinese experience is of great value. Any responsible country will stand firmly against labelling the virus," he said.

In an official timeline of the coronavirus released on April 6, China said the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in 'late December 2019' where the infection was listed as 'pneumonia of unknown cause', but skirted the key question about its origin.

Wild animals sold in the Huanan Seafood Market in China's Wuhan city are believed to be the source of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly 90,000 lives worldwide so far.

"Accusation of China covered up the epidemic and lack of transparency is groundless," Zhao said, adding that China had informed WHO of the genetic sequence of the virus which was used by American labs in their efforts to develop a vaccine.

A US specialist was also part of the WHO team which visited Wuhan.

To another question about local officials in Wuhan concealing the information and not acting in time to contain the virus, Zhao said, "As to the initial stage of the outbreak, it is a new virus. There is a process before we can get to know it fully, there is no such thing as (cover-up) as you claimed."

'The US had open access to information and data' on the virus, he said, referring to Chinese research group publishing the details.

"So, China has done what we should and could do. As to whether the US made good use of the precious time we bought, the information we provided and whether it took effective preventive control measures, we believe history will give a fair judgement," he said.

"Stigmatising China will prove deeply to unpopular. Virus respects no borders," he said.

Zhao also refuted Trump's allegation of the WHO chief being 'very China centric', saying the UN health agency under his leadership has 'fulfilled its due role and upheld a science-based objective and played an important role in helping countries to fight the virus and coordinating international cooperation'.

Besides the UN, many countries have spoken openly to endorse WHO and its call for greater cooperation in the world, he said.

The G20 Summit released a statement stressing full support and committing further support for WHO in coordinating the international response, he said.

"China will continue to support WHO in playing a leading role to control the pandemic," he said.

About Trump's threat to withhold US funding to WHO, Zhao said on Wednesday that 'as the COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the world, the US putting a hold on its funding to WHO will seriously undermine the organisation's normal functioning as well as international anti-pandemic cooperation'.

"We hope countries can work together, help each other amid difficulties and jointly contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus," he said.

President Trump threatened to put a "very powerful" hold on US' funding to the WHO, accusing the UN agency of being 'very China centric' and criticising it for having "missed the call" in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Geneva-headquartered agency receives vast amounts of money from the United States.
Cottagers coming to Peterborough County are using up local residents resources.

The big problem weve got right now is to try and get the summer people to not come, because theyre using up all the resources, Trent Lakes Mayor Janet Clarkson said.

There have been a lot of cottagers coming up, she said.

One guy came to the grocery store in Buckhorn yesterday who was from Brampton and he bought $1,500 worth of groceries, she said Wednesday.

You take $1,500 worth of groceries out of Foodland in Buckhorn, thats already stretched to the limit to try to maintain the local population, because they cant get food either.

The roads in Buckhorn right now are already as busy as they get in July, Clarkson said.

Were normally 10,000 people in the summer and 5,000 people in the winter, she said.

Buckhorn is our only metropolis. For the most part, were a pretty isolated group.

Clarkson thinks cottagers are endangering local residents.

People are flocking to the country and theyre not self-isolating. Theyre visiting the drug store, the food store and the liquor store, she said.

We dont have the infrastructure to handle them if this thing goes sideways.

Peterborough County Warden, J. Murray Jones said this its a county-wide problem.

I think its a general issue, people coming from out of town, right across the county. Particularly in townships that have lakes, where cottages are, Jones said.

While he respects individuals who have properties in the county, they should stay home, he said.

We certainly respect them and every right that they have to come to their property, Jones said.

Its not about whether we want them there. Its not about whether we respect their ability to come here, its all about saving people from dying.

Were following the provincial and federal rules, and asking everyone to stay at home in their principal residences because we just cant handle the extra load up here.

Clarkson said theyre not trying to make cottagers feel unwelcome.

Thats not part of it. Its simply not safe. Were trying to protect ourselves, she said.

Its very difficult to get the psychology to change. People have this idea of lets go to the country, its safer there, and we can do everything we cant do in the city.

If cottagers do come, Clarkson said they should come prepared.

However, Jones is urging cottagers to just stay home.

If they can stay home and it means that one person lives, I think its worth it, he said.

Earlier this week Curve Lake First Nation restricted access to permanent members through a checkpoint at the entrance.
Food, Wine, & Dining

By Ls Cohen Published: April 09 2020

The contested history and five shots makes this drink famous and infamous.

The Long Island iced tea is a popular drink among us Islanders as well as non-Islanders alike, but very few know how to make it correctly. Click here to learn how to make the best Long Island Iced Tea.

Below we list some crazy facts and controversial history of the famous drink.

Recipes call for at least five shots in a Long Island Iced Tea

Ingredients include gin, tequila, vodka, white rum, Triple Sec, Gomme sugar syrup, lemon juice, and a splash of cola.

Bob Rosebud Butt is credited with inventing the Long Island Iced Tea in 1972.

Butt invented it working at the OBI East in the Hamptons for a friendly contest

He says they put a bottle of Triple Sec on the bar and challenge 20 bartenders to make a drink

There is a 2013 mini documentary by PBS in its Inventors series about Butts drink

In the video Butt shows you how to make a Long Island Iced Tea

Watch the documentary about Long Island Iced Tea and Bob Rosebud Butt below

Video: PBS Digital Studios/YouTube
For Graham Lancaster, the owner of a real estate agency in the English county of Kent, the alarm will go off in three months.

Britain is headed into its peak of the coronavirus outbreak, and companies and households are busy doing the math to see how long they've got before the money runs out, just as they are across Europe. The difference is that the U.K. economy, vaunted by the government and Bank of England as flexible and resilient, already entered a new era of uncertainty after the country left the European Union just weeks before the pandemic hit.

Everywhere, businesses are closed, lockdowns are in place and governments are announcing eye-watering sums to try to mitigate the fallout from coronavirus. The U.K.'s compensation plans are slowly kicking into gear as people steel themselves for weeks, or even months, of virus-related disruption.

Lancaster's calculations are being repeated up and down the country. A survey from the British Chambers of Commerce published on Wednesday found that 6% of firms had already run out of cash, while 16% had less than a month in reserve and 41% could make it potentially to three months. Meanwhile, a poll by Opinium of 2,005 adults showed half of workers don't have savings that can be accessed if they lose their job.

"We don't know how long this is going to go on, and we don't want to go into debt to survive," said Lancaster, 65. "And it is about survival at the moment."

The virus spotlight is firmly on Britain with cases expected to rise over the next week after they started to decline in Italy and Spain, Europe's hardest-hit nations. Since the government unveiled more than 400 billion pounds ($493 billion) of aid and loan guarantees in March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was struck with the disease and remains in the hospital and the country has struggled to expand testing and get a grip on the pandemic.

Financially, unlike the bailout of Greece or U.K. banks during the financial crisis that started in 2008, nobody knows the scale of the challenge. The eventual bill isn't quantifiable as thousands of people die and the authorities are worried about easing restrictions too soon. A report on Thursday showed the British economy shrank in February, putting it on an unsteady footing even before the lockdown, which is all but certain to be extended.

What is known is that Britain's response to the pending economic crisis was quick. The country won praise compared with the rest of Europe, while its public health response faced criticism. The government's measures include a pledge to pay 80% of the wages of temporarily laid-off employees and offer some support for those who run their own businesses.

But the cracks are already beginning to show, and even Chancellor Rishi Sunak admits he can't save every firm. According to the British Chambers of Commerce survey, just 1% of companies have successfully managed to access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Bloomberg Economics expects the U.K. economy to contract 2.7% this year, with unemployment jumping to as high as 6% in the summer, from under 4% currently. Others see a far gloomier picture, with analysts at bank Nomura predicting the jobless rate will hit 8.5%-the equivalent of nearly 3 million people.

The uncertainty and political deadlock surrounding Brexit had already cost the economy 130 billion pounds, leaving it 3% smaller than it might have been had the U.K. remained in the EU, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Indeed, the crisis has also come at particularly bad time for U.K. workers. While employment is at a record, real pay has only just recovered to levels seen before the financial crash.

In a speech in Oxford in February, Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said that the nation has seen the "scourge of job insecurity" replaced "by the scourge of income insecurity"-a problem now exacerbated by coronavirus. The U.K. has seen the biggest drop in job listings among major economies since the crisis began, according to Indeed, the world's largest employment website.

Haldane also pointed out that the rise of flexible jobs in the gig economy has made work more precarious, citing TUC figures showing that one in nine people-the equivalent of about 3.8 million workers-is in insecure work, similar to the number of unemployed during the early 1980s.

More than 1 million people in the country have applied for welfare since mid-March, and the expected probability of losing a job in the next four months is more than 30%, according to research from the University of Oxford. Radio phone-ins and helplines since the U.K.'s lockdown started on March 23 are jammed with people caught between the cracks.

David, a 53-year-old painter and decorator from Buxton, central England, has back problems that had left him unable to work since last year. Now, his wife's job as a child minder has been severely disrupted by the pandemic. That's left them worried about covering the mortgage and essential bills, forcing him to borrow money from family members and ask existing creditors for a payment extension.

"I'll be honest with you, my head's been spinning that much lately, I just don't know what to do," said David, who declined to be identified by his full name. "When this blows over, the first people who will be knocking on the door is the bank wanting the money. That will be the pressure, afterwards."

Debt charity Stepchange, which fielded the equivalent of one call every 49 seconds in 2019, has warned that the crisis could push many others into financial difficulties.

Lancaster, the realtor in Kent, has already furloughed five of his seven staff members via the government's scheme because the housing market is effectively frozen. Until that money comes through, Lancaster is still on the hook to pay those salaries, which he is voluntarily topping up to 100%.

Even then, a number of his workers are largely commission-based, meaning they've taken a large hit to their incomes. When the government money comes through, it won't do anything to help the lost commission, which accounts for about half of take-home pay for some staff.

For Lancaster, who has been in the business since 1982 and set up his own firm in 2007, the challenge isn't even comparable with the financial crisis.

"It's a much worse situation because 2008 was a purely financial recession, whereas now, it's an actual lockdown," he said. In terms of his workers, Lancaster says he's trying to "keep in touch with them, and how their family are doing. It's difficult, they're suddenly without an income."
Korea's exports of gold rose to a seven-year high in February with the price of gold at historic highs.

The Bank of Korea said Wednesday that the country's gold exports for non-monetary use amounted to US$290 million in the month, the highest since September 2012. In terms of volume, more than half of them were shipped to Hong Kong.

The bank attributed the rise to the fact that investors are turning to safer assets like gold due to stock market volatility caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Bollywood celebrities have been standing up to fight the spread of Novel Coronavirus in India in every way they can. From urging people to follow the lockdown to donating large amounts to relief funds, they have been doing it all.

Many B-town celebs such as Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arjun Kapoor and others took to their social media profiles to thank the Mumbai Police for doing an incredible job and sacrificing their personal needs to keep people safe during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Sharing a video by Mumbai Police about how they are not as lucky as the rest of the citizens who get to sit at homes during the lockdown, Alia Bhatt tweeted, "Thank you @MumbaiPolice Words cannot express our love and gratitude. Let's stay home for them. #TakingOnCorona," (sic).

Thank you @MumbaiPolice Words cannot express our love and gratitude. Let's stay home for them. #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/mO6yjmIZlM  Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) April 9, 2020

Akshay Kumar posted a video in which he talks about how much the police are putting on the line and wrote, "There's an army of people working day and night to keep us safe, our families safe. Lets together say #DilSeThankYou to them because that's the least we can do. @my_bmc #MumbaiPolice," (sic).

Theres an army of people working day and night to keep us safe, our families safe. Lets together say #DilSeThankYou to them because thats the least we can do. @mybmc @MumbaiPolice pic.twitter.com/ANf1ynTP09  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 9, 2020

Shahid Kapoor tweeted, "Giving up on their dreams for keeping the city of our dreams safe. Thank You @MumbaiPolice We owe you a lot and staying at home is the least we can do! #TakingOnCorona #MumbaiFirst," (sic).

Giving up on their dreams for keeping the city of our dreams safe. Thank You @MumbaiPolice We owe you a lot and staying at home is the least we can do! #TakingOnCorona #MumbaiFirst  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) April 9, 2020

Tiger Shroff wrote on Twitter, "So so grateful and lucky we are to have you all @MumbaiPolice can't thank our real heroes enough," (sic).

So so grateful and lucky we are to have you all @MumbaiPolice  cant thank our real heroes enough  https://t.co/ZZIBEP5liE  Tiger Shroff (@iTIGERSHROFF) April 9, 2020

Arjun Kapoor tweeted, "We cannot thank the @MumbaiPolice enough in words! Still would like to appreciate the fact that they have been out there everyday, making sure everything goes smoothly and have always been there to protect us. A thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Stay safe. Jai Hind," (sic).

We cannot thank the @MumbaiPolice enough in words! Still would like to appreciate the fact that they have been out there everyday, making sure everything goes smoothly and have always been there to protect us. A thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Stay safe. Jai Hind.  arjunk26 (@arjunk26) April 9, 2020

Kareena Kapoor instagrammed a video of citizens vowing to do the job of Mumbai Police by not letting their family members go outside. She wrote as caption, "Gratitude and respect for each and every Police officer. Working tirelessly to help get the situation under control. Let's help them now.... Saif, Taimur and I pledge to stay home... can you?

#MainBhiMumbaiPolice #MumbaiPolice"

ALSO READ: Ajay Devgn Gets Witty Reply From Mumbai Police After He Lauds Their Work Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Aamir Khan Contributes To PM CARES, Doesn't Announce Contribution
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-09 13:06:07

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LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Quantum Genomics recently announced a financing agreement with Negma Group, a London-based specialist financing institution that has provided 500m in capital to companies since inception. As part of the agreement, Negma will provide an 8m interest-free loan, which will be repaid with warrants by Quantum Genomics. The agreement can be renewed two times so Quantum Genomics has access to 24m in total.We have adjusted our valuation from 909m or 51.80 per share to 963m or 51.74 per share. The total value increased due to rolling forward our NPVs, while the per share value falls due to a higher number of shares. Additionally, 5m warrants will be issued to Negma Group to cover the initial 8m loan, which would lead to 27% more shares if fully exercised.Click here to view the full report.Subscribe to Edison's content to receive reports by email.All reports published by Edison are free-to-access and available on the website.About Edison: Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world-renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise. At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisers and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.Edison is not an adviser or broker-dealer and does not provide investment advice. Edison's reports are not solicitations to buy or sell any securities.For more information please contact Edison:Maxim Jacobs, +1 646 653 7027Wiktoria O'Hare, +1 646 653 7028healthcare@ edisongroup.com Learn more at www.edisongroup.com and connect with Edison on:LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/edison-group- Twitter www.twitter.com/Edison_Inv_Res YouTube www.youtube.com/edisonitv SOURCE: Edison Investment Research Limited
[April 09, 2020] COHHIO Pandemic Fund Helps Homeless Shelters Save Lives

The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio issued grants this week sending a total of nearly $500,000 to help local homeless shelters limit the spread of COVID-19 among their residents, staff, and the broader community. Homeless shelters throughout Ohio are scrambling to obtain masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, staffing, and food. Even more critically, they need to reduce the population density within these congregate facilities to enable social distancing, and immediately move high-risk residents - seniors, people with medical conditions, pregnant women and young children - out of harm's way. COHHIO's recent report Double Jeopardy found 79 percent of Ohio's shelters lack the funding they need for interventions to reduce overcrowding in shelters, and 71 percent lack sufficient sanitation and hygiene supplies to prevent transmission of the disease. Even more alarming, 87 percent don't have enough space to isolate and quarantine clients who show symptoms of COVID-19. COHHIO created the Pandemic Emergency Fund with $500,000 from the organization's rainy day fund and quickly raised over $400,000 in additional donations toward the initial goal of $1.5 million to support local homeless programs' coronavirus response efforts through the next 30 days. One-hundred percent of the money - with no fees or administrative costs - goes to help local shelters obtain the space, staffing and supplies they need. Executive Director Bill Faith urged concerned Ohioans to donate directly to their local shelters or contribute to the COHHIO Pandemic Emergency Fund at: https://cohhio.org/covid-19/ "This is a critical moment. The coronavirus isn't waiting for us to get vulnerable Ohioans out of crowded shelters into safer locations," he said, noting that a few shelter residents have already tested positive. "We are thankful so many donors have stepped up to help those who have no place to stay hom during this crisis. But we still have a long way to go. We need donations from individuals, churches, businesses and foundations - philanthropy is key to bridging the gap between now and when federal assistance reaches the front lines."



Congress's recent coronavirus relief package included emergency funding for homeless programs, but it will be at least six to eight weeks before it is available to shelters. "Hotels around the state are welcoming people who have no place to stay home during the pandemic, but they can't house thousands of people for several months without getting paid," Faith said. "Shelters operate on a shoestring budget even during normal times, and they need lots of extra help to be able to book hotel rooms for their most vulnerable residents."

Ohio has approximately 300 homeless shelters that house over 10,000 Ohioans in overcrowded, congregate settings where the coronavirus can spread quickly. COHHIO is assessing the programs' readiness and coordinating with regional homelessness systems to direct grants to the most critical agencies throughout the state. A majority of the donations to the COHHIO Pandemic Emergency Fund have come from individuals. Institutional support comes from: Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing; The George Gund Foundation; The Sisters of Charity of Cleveland Foundation; National Low Income Housing Coalition; The Columbus Foundation; The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation; Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield; UnitedHealthcare; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; PNC (News - Alert); CareSource; Nationwide Children's Hospital; Buckeye Community Hope Foundation; Affordable Housing Trust; Wallick Communities; RiverHills Bank; and the Tidwell Group. In addition, COHHIO's "Maskateer Brigade" is rallying churches and hobbyists to make and collect facemasks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment to distribute to shelter residents and staff. For those who would like to donate desperately needed PPE, please contact your regional homeless system. Faith said the pandemic has highlighted a fatal flaw in America's approach to homelessness. "This plague has shown that homeless shelters are a public health crisis waiting to happen. In fact, they always have been," he said. "The lesson here is that we should not just warehouse people who have no decent place to live because mass homelessness is hazardous to everyone's health." COHHIO's Pandemic Emergency Fund has so far issued grants totaling $497,600 to dozens of agencies throughout Ohio battling the twin crises of homelessness and COVID-19. COHHIO Pandemic Fund grantees to date include: Community Action Agency of Columbiana County, Lisbon

Urban Mission Ministries, Steubenville

Butler County Housing and Homeless Coalition, Hamilton

The Salvation Army, Bellaire

Liberty Center of Sandusky County, Freemont

Heart of Ohio Homeless Shelter, Marion

Family Promise of Delaware County, Delaware

Community Action Commission of Fayette County, Washington CourthouseScioto Christian Ministry, Inc., Portsmouth

Ecumenical Shelter Network of Lake County (Project Hope), Painesville

Humility of Mary Housing, Cuyahoga Falls

Clermont County Community Services, Batavia

West Ohio Community Action Partnership, Lima

Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission, Defiance

Stark Housing Network, Inc., Canton

Ross County Community Action Commission, Inc., Chillicothe

YWCA of Greater Cleveland

Northeast Ohio Coalition for Homeless, Cleveland

Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, Cleveland

Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center, Cleveland

Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services, Cleveland

Integrated Services for Behavioral Health, Nelsonville

OneEighty, Inc., Wooster

Neighborhood Alliance, Lorain

Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County, Ashtabula

Home is The Foundation, Eaton (News - Alert)

The Cocoon, Bowling Green

YMCA of Central Ohio, Columbus

Community Shelter Board, Columbus

Strategies to End Homelessness, Cincinnati

Montgomery County Homeless Solutions, Dayton

Toledo-Lucas County Homelessness Fund

Mahoning County Homeless Continuum of Care, Youngstown

Continuum of Care for the Homeless of Summit County, Akron

Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County, Canton View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005704/en/

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A Fairfield County legislator is asking Gov. Ned Lamont to reopen businesses.

State Rep. Dave Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, owns a group of seven restaurants throughout Fairfield and New Haven County, tweeted what he later called an emotional plea Thursday afternoon, shortly after Lamont announced it is unlikely that bars and restaurants will be able to reopen before May 20.

@GovNedLamont its time to open up, thus is crazy, he wrote while sitting in his car in the parking lot of his friends restaurant  explaining that the spelling errors were the result of his angry, spur-of-the-moment response.

Im not saying were supposed to open up tomorrow, Rutigliano said. What Im saying is I dont think he should have said May 20. That is a full six weeks from today. We have no idea what the world will look like by then ... it may end up being true, but lets re-evaluate on April 30.

Rutigliano received sharp criticism online and has since deleted the tweet.

In an interview last week, Rutigliano seemed exasperated when he described how the coronavirus crisis has affected him as a business owner.

Ive been in business 23 years, and Ive never laid anybody off, Rutigliano said. Ive laid off like 300 people ... What are we going to do? Some of these people have been with me a long time. Im not really an emotional guy, Im not a weeper or anything. But Im upset. This has been gut wrenching.

Rutigliano said hes kept about 20 full-time employees on staff to handle take-out services across his seven restaurants, which include Southport Brewing Company and Local Kitchen and Beer Bar, and has brought in part-time staff at times when those employees have needed a break. I am so happy when I call up my hourly guys and tell them we need them.

Like many restaurants, his company is matching customer tips and distributing the tip pool across the employees who havent been able to work. Hes also allowed employees and their families to eat for free, which has also helped use up excess inventory that would have gone to waste.

Still, he said revenues across the board were down about 92 percent last week. At his restaurants in Fairfield and Norwalk revenues had dropped 70 percent before Lamont ordered restaurants to close.

If we could get a date certain of when Im going to be able to start operating that would help, Rutigliano said last week. You might say a date I hate, but at least we could plan.

Lamont, like other governors, has said the state must focus totally on keeping infection exposures to an absolute minimum. He has extended closures and distancing orders based on the predicted trajectory of the COVID-19 disease. Also Thursday, he announced schools will remain closed until at least May 20.

Every single decision that has been made under the governors emergency powers has been carefully considered for any and all consequences, said Lamont spokesman Max Reiss. The most important consideration for all decisions has been and will continue to be the public health of all Connecticut residents. The administration has worked diligently with our partners in business to try to ensure there are ways for them to conduct business during this unprecedented public health emergency.

Rutigliano said hes reevaluating every week how to proceed, and may be forced to temporarily close some locations if the closures last much longer.

The worst part about it is it has taken Connecticut 10 years to get going again, Rutigliano said. Last year we finally saw new movement. And then bang this stops us in our tracks.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
Wayne Pelaggi lies awake at night listening to inmates' coughs bounce off the prison walls. He sees fellow inmates collapse, then disappear with medical staff on an electric cart. His own aches and exhaustion make him fear he will not make it to his release date in a year.

"They've got us cooped up," Pelaggi, 54, who is serving time at the Oakdale federal prison in rural Louisiana for drug offenses, wrote to his sister last week. "We are going to die here."

As the coronavirus pandemic seeps into the 122-facility federal prison system, the Oakdale prison has become the deadliest. In the last three weeks, eight inmates in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons have died of covid-19; five of them were imprisoned at Oakdale. More than 100 Oakdale inmates are under quarantine, and four staff have tested positive for the disease.

The virus is festering at Oakdale as older inmates and prisoners with serious medical conditions live among the general population. Prisoners, fearing they may be abandoned in an isolation cell and left for dead, are not reporting their symptoms. Prison staff walk the grounds, often without masks and gloves, failing to observe social distancing with either inmates or themselves.

In interviews, emails and text messages with The Washington Post, 57 correctional officers, inmates and family members said they fear the U.S. Bureau of Prisons' mishandling of the pandemic at Oakdale and in prisons across the nation will lead to a massive death toll that extends outside the prisons and into the community.

Inmates say fellow prisoners at Oakdale - assigned to clean sinks, toilets and showers - are ignoring their job assignments because they fear the work will kill them.

Inmates must have a fever and other covid-19 symptoms to be placed in isolation, staff and inmates say. Once they are there, bureau officials acknowledge that only those ill enough to be taken to a hospital are tested for the coronavirus. Thus, a full accounting of how many inmates have contracted covid-19 might never be known.

"They are keeping us in the dark; they are keeping the community in the dark about what is happening here," said Corey Trammel, a correctional officer at Oakdale who is union president. "The bureau needs to be educating our staff more on what to do. I don't have any answers for my staff. I'm going on the Internet to figure out what to do."

Prison workers across the country say wardens are forcing staff who have had sustained contact with infected inmates to report to work - even when they have a doctor's order telling them to self-quarantine. In one case, The Post reviewed an email from an associate warden showing that he ordered correctional officers who had been exposed to an infected inmate to return to work.

The union representing the officers filed a complaint Monday with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration against the Bureau of Prisons, saying officials were "proliferating the spread of a known and deadly contagion both within our prison system and to our surrounding communities. The agency's actions and inactions are expected to result in death and severe health complications and/or possible life-long disabilities."

In less than a month, the Bureau of Prisons has gone from having one case of covid-19 to, as of Wednesday afternoon, having at least 253 federal inmates and 85 prison staff sick with the disease.

In response to the mounting panic, U.S. Attorney General William Barr last week directed federal prison officials to accelerate and expand early release programs for the sickest inmates.

The initiative is narrowly focused. Barr asked prisons officials to prioritize three prisons with the highest infection rates, including Oakdale. Inmates who are released will be confined to their homes for the rest of their prison terms.

The Oakdale prison is a major employer in a city with fewer than 8,000 residents about 200 miles northwest of New Orleans. Inmates are housed in two cream-colored buildings. Both are low-security facilities; one includes a minimum-security camp where offenders live in an area without fencing or barbed wire.

Inmates say correctional officers are ordering them to stay six feet apart, but most of them are living in dormitory-style settings with 100 or more men. A handful of sinks, showers and toilets are shared by all. Bunk beds are set about three feet apart.

"You can't tell us to social distance and throw six men in a 15-by-15-foot cubicle," a 49-year-old inmate said in a phone interview from the prison. The inmate at first spoke on the record, but called back, asking to remain anonymous, fearing retaliation from prison staff. "They won't let us outside. People are sick, coughing, not able to breath, and we are piled on top of each other. I can't believe the crap I have to witness each day. I'm mad; I'm terrified."

In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons defended its response to the pandemic at Oakdale, saying it "moved swiftly" to "mitigate exposure and spread of COVID-19 at the facility" by placing sick inmates in quarantine, limiting movement of inmates inside the prison and suspending inmate visits with friends and family.

"We are deeply concerned for the health and welfare of those inmates who are entrusted to our care, and for our staff, their families and the communities we live and work in," the statement said. "It is our highest priority to continue to do everything we can to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities."

Inmates across the country say staff is bringing the disease to them. Officers say working in proximity to sick inmates has caused them to carry covid-19 home to their families and communities.

Joe Rojas, southeast regional vice president for the Council of Prison Locals, said prison staff are being denied the most basic forms of protection.

Masks are not being provided in a majority of facilities, Rojas said. Every day, he receives text messages, emails and calls from officers who say they have purchased masks on their own, but when they attempt to wear them, prison officials are ordering them to remove the protective gear.

"I informed him that I have an elderly mother (74 years old) with respiratory issues [as] well as my sister who had an organ transplant six months ago both living with me," an officer wrote in one of eight messages Rojas shared with The Post.

In another note sent to Rojas, an officer said his supervisor told him to remove his mask because it "may incite panic among the inmates and other staff."

The bureau disputed officers' accounts in a statement provided to The Post last week, saying "an ample amount of supply is on hand and ready to be distributed or moved to any facility as deemed necessary."

However, on Monday the bureau acknowledged in a memo to executive prison staff that masks have not yet been distributed at all facilities, but that staff and inmates would soon receive masks.

A thousand miles from Oakdale, another wave of coronavirus illnesses and deaths is spreading in the federal prison system at a facility in northern Ohio that houses over 2,400 male inmates.

Since last week, three inmates at Elkton prison have died and nine are on ventilators at local hospitals. Prison staff say the rapid spread of the virus has jammed prison phone lines with panicked relatives calling to check on their loved ones.

Fueling the alarm was a 20-minute profanity-laced video shot by an unidentified Elkton prisoner that was posted online Sunday, in which he repeatedly pleaded from his crowded prison cell for outside intervention.

"Pray, whatever you all got to do. Whatever you all got to do," he said, shooting video from the bottom level of a metal-framed bunk bed. "I need you to help - spread the word. People shouldn't have to die like this."

The inmate wore a white paper mask; others prisoners at Oakdale and Elkton have received similar masks. He periodically pulled back brown bedding that was tucked over the heads of several fellow inmates in his cell. He said they were sick with coronavirus symptoms but had not been placed in quarantine. Similar claims have been made by prisoners at Oakdale.

"Everybody in this unit is sick with this s---. There is no protection for the inmates; they are literally going to let you die," he said.

Joseph Mayle, union president for officers at Elkton, disputed the inmates' claims, saying prisoners with symptoms are pulled from the general population and that 80 inmates are in isolation.

However, Mayle said Elkton is one of the prisons where staff is being told to report to work, even after they been exposed to the virus on the job, and even after staff secure doctor's orders telling them to self-quarantine.

"We are professional law enforcement officers, we want to come to work," Mayle said. "We knew when we took this job it would be dangerous, that we could get stabbed or killed, but at no time did we think we could bring something home that could kill our family members. That wasn't part of the deal."

At an old military hospital in Fort Worth - which now functions as one of seven medical centers in the Bureau of Prisons - 61-year-old Kimberli Himmel is worried about her odds.

Of the eight inmates who have so far died of covid-19, the Bureau of Prisons says each had "long-term, pre-existing medical conditions."

Himmel - diagnosed with kidney failure and stage 2 breast cancer - is an inmate at Carswell Federal Medical Center, where the sickest women in the federal prison system are serving time. Barr's directive to expand early release programs does not yet directly apply to Carswell, or to any of the other six medical centers.

In the unit where Himmel lives, she said there are about 65 women. More than half of them are 55 and older. Almost all of suffer from kidney failure or cancer, or like Himmel, they are sick with both

"If this virus is introduced into this unit it will kill over half of us," Himmel, who was convicted of bank fraud, wrote in an email to The Post.

The next day, Himmel learned through local media reports that a 30-year-old pregnant woman from her prison had been rushed to a hospital, where an emergency C-section was performed. A covid-19 test on Saturday revealed she is positive for the virus.

The next day, Himmel emailed her attorney: "GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!" He has filed a petition for early release, which is pending with the bureau.

Regina Warren, the union president for correctional officers at the prison, said the incident has exposed how "reckless" the bureau is being during the pandemic. Although the Bureau of Prisons says exposed staff are being told to self-quarantine at home, that is not what happened to the officers who accompanied the pregnant inmate to the hospital.

Warren said they were ordered to report back to work two days later - before the covid-19 test was complete - and pointed to an internal email as proof.

"After thorough review, the clinical director has determined these staff do not need to be quarantined and subsequently has advised their direct supervisor they are able to return to duty immediately," Raul Campos Jr., the associate warden at Carswell, wrote in an email obtained by The Post.

Warren said the two officers refused to return to work and on Saturday - once the positive test result was known - the bureau notified them that they should instead remain in quarantine. "The bureau is not following the guidelines they have sent out to the public," she said.

Sue Allison, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, said she could not comment on specific cases involving officers who may have been ordered to return to work after being exposed. She said the bureau is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which says the need to self-quarantine will depend on how long a staff member was exposed and how close their contact was with infected person.

In interviews and emails, dozens of inmates and staff at nine prisons in the system said that although the Bureau of Prisons has announced "lockdowns" in facilities with outbreaks and "modified lockdowns" in prisons not yet affected, inmates continue to come in close contact with one another every day.

Prisoners are confined to their units or cells for most of the day, but in most facilities they continue to line up to pick up meals and medication.

Inmate visitation has been stopped. But prison staff continue to cycle in and out.

Kirk Brannan, a 66-year-old former inmate at Oakdale who was released Friday, said officers who work in the building where inmates developed fatal covid-19 illnesses frequently walked through and sometimes worked in the camp, where he was serving a 36-month sentence for bank fraud.

"There was cross contamination across the entire facility," said Brannan, who has high blood pressure and was one of the first to be sent to home confinement due to the covid-19 outbreak. "There is no way, at this point, that everyone hasn't been exposed."

Brannan said few of the covid-19 safety protocols Oakdale put in place prevented or limited contamination and some might have caused its spread.

When Oakdale was put on a modified lockdown two weeks ago, Brannan said the "chow hall" was closed. He and other inmates at the minimum security camp were put to work, packing sack lunches of peanut butter and bologna sandwiches for the rest of the prisoners so they could be served the meals in their cells to limit contact.

Brannan said about 20 inmates stood shoulder-to-shoulder. No one was wearing a mask. No one had been tested.

"People are coughing, but they can't cover their mouth in time because it is an assembly line," he said. "Everyone is moving fast, throwing carrot and celery sticks into a bag, or condiments into a bag. It was crazy. It was very efficient, but was it sanitary? No way."

- - -

The Washington Post's Julie Tate, Alice Crites and Dalton Bennett contributed to this article.
"Frederic embodies all of the qualities we were looking for in a COO," said Sean Parker, PICI founder and chairman. "His operational expertise, deep industry knowledge and focus on revenue generation are the perfect complement to the esteemed scientific leadership we have in place. Frederic has a proven track record of building and launching global businesses for more than 25 years, and I look forward to seeing how PICI will thrive and evolve with his leadership."

The addition of the COO to PICI's current leadership team will be instrumental in supporting future growth and innovation. Pla will drive operational excellence to position PICI for future collaborations and revenue diversification, all to support PICI's goal to bring immunotherapy treatments from bench to bedside to market to benefit cancer patients across the globe.

"My passion and strengths are building high-impact organizations in health care technologies through innovative combinations of science, technologies and business models," said Pla. "I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to become a part of PICI's vision, boldness and expertise as we take the institute to the next stage and continue to improve cancer care for all patients."

Pla has helped organizations navigate change and transformation as they grew both in size and revenue. He most recently served as COO at Genomic Health, a company that transformed care for early breast cancer patients. Under his leadership, the company implemented "Genomic Health 2.0," putting in place new operating processes, tools and workstreams to support its rapid growth. In 2019 Genomic Health served its one millionth patient, reaching over $450 million in revenue with more than 900 employees.

His previous experience also includes leadership roles at Life Technologies, GE Healthcare and NASA. He holds an engineering degree from the Universite de Technologie de Compiegne, an M.S. in Sound and Vibration Studies from University of Southampton and a Ph.D. in Acoustics from Penn State University.

In another recent leadership transition, Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D., stepped down from his role as president and CEO. He remains committed to PICI's mission and has joined its board of directors as vice chairman and a member of the executive committee. PICI is actively looking for his replacement.

About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is radically changing the way cancer research is done. Founded in 2016 through a $250 million gift from Silicon Valley entrepreneur and philanthropist Sean Parker, the San Francisco-based nonprofit is an unprecedented collaboration between the country's leading immunotherapy researchers and cancer centers, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The institute also supports top researchers at other institutions, including City of Hope, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Institute for Systems Biology and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. By forging alliances with academic, industry and nonprofit partners, PICI makes big bets on bold research to fulfill its mission: to accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies to turn all cancers into curable diseases. Find out more at www.parkerici.org.

SOURCE Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Related Links

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Coronavirus lockdown day 16: US President Donald Trump thanks Modi for helping the US during the time of crises, later he also described him as terrific. Further, the total number of COVID-19 cases reach 5,734.

Coronavirus lockdown day 16: The coronavirus outbreak has not just affected India, it has led the entire world at a standstill. Recently, Donald Trump, the President of the US has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lifting the ban over the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Donald further described Modi as terrific for allowing the export to US. Not just this, he also praised PM for his strong leadership and also said that Indias help during this time will not be forgotten.

Further, responding to Trump on Thursday PM said that the partnership of India and US has now become stronger. The US Food and Drug Administration has discovered that hydroxychloroquine is the possible treatment for all coronavirus patients. Predicting that the drug will work positively, Trump has bought 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine.

Talking about the current scenario of India, on the 16th day of lockdown in India, a total of 5,734 cases have been recorded with 5,095 active cases. As per the data shared by the Health Ministry, a total of 472 people are discharged from the hospital with 166 deaths. Further, a new COVID-19 scare has emerged in the national capital where 35 workers were found working on the rooftop of the Bengali Pastry shop. Though the Bengali Market has been sealed, three patients were COVID-19 positive out of 35.

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020

Odisha government has become the first state to extend the lockdown for avoiding the transmission of coronavirus, till April 30. Further, the Chief Minister of Odisha has also requested the center not the begin the air and the train services till April 30. Apart from Odisha CM, many other states and experts have also suggested the extension of the lockdown considering the increase in the number of cases in the entire country.

Odisha Cabinet headed by CM @Naveen_Odisha decided to extend the state lockdown till April 30th & recommended Union Government to extend the national lockdown till then. CM requested the GoI not to start train & air services during the lockdown. #OdishaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/2hjTGqR0y6  CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) April 9, 2020

Increase of 540 new COVID19 cases and 17 deaths in last 24 hours; India's total number of #Coronavirus positive cases rise to 5734 (including 5095 active cases, 473 cured/discharged and 166 deaths): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pic.twitter.com/ooymN0Bb7U  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2020

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) As the country celebrates Araw ng Kagitingan, or Day of Valor, Filipinos are encouraged to play their own "heroic" part and contribute to the fight against COVID-19.

The Joint Task Force COVID Shield said even a simple act like staying at home will have a huge impact in the country's battle to contain the spread of the infectious disease.

"A simple act of obedience by staying at home is already a big contribution to contain and eventually defeat this virus," the group, composed of officials from the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fire Protection, said in a statement on Thursday.

"And a simple act of optimism by turning the home quarantine as a precious time to bond, to pray and to reflect for the Lenten season is a potent weapon to show to the world what Filipinos are really made of," it added.

The Philippines has recorded 3,870 cases of COVID-19, where 182 have died while 96 have recovered.

For its part, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) urged Filipinos to continue clinging to hope and take inspiration from our hero-ancestors who, even in fear, have risen to every challenge.

"The same history shows us that many nameless Filipinos during the Second World War, while in fear, rose to the challenge of their day with hope," the NHCP said in its Araw ng Kagitingan statement.

"Just as we had 78 years ago, with verve and optimism in bracing new solutions, we hold on to the collective strength of our national character, our innate compassion, our faith, and our bayanihan spirit," it added.

Other government officials also paid tribute to the countrys "modern-day heroes" manning the frontlines of the war against COVID-19.

We owe them so much for bearing the brunt of the crisis on our behalf, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in his message, while also calling for unity in the light of the crisis.
Inside the narrow alleys of the basti, two CRPF companies -- around 150 armed guards -- have been deployed to keep a check on any unnecessary movement, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.

IMAGE: Forensics and crime branch officials arrive at the Nizamuddin Markaz for investigations, during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

The historic site of the Nizamuddin dargah resembles a fortress these days.

Days after the Markaz mosque, which became Delhis epicentre of the coronavirus disease, was evacuated and sanitised, an eerie silence hangs over the area, with armed men wearing protective masks dotting the perimeter and barricades all over.

All entry and exit points of the dargah leading up to the basti have been sealed.

The tent pitched by a team of doctors outside the Markaz mosque -- to test people at the site where a religious meeting was held last month and multiple persons who attended the meeting tested positive for COVID-19 -- still stands, abandoned.

Just a couple of days ago a team of doctors geared up in personal protective equipment and a battery of Central Reserve Police Force jawans were escorted into the back alleys of the dargah.

After what happened in Madhya Pradesh with the doctors, we dont want to take any chance, one of the policemen posted at the Mathura Road entrance said.

Last week, healthcare workers and civic officials were attacked by a mob in Indore when they went to survey residents for COVID-19 symptoms.

Nearly 1,500 houses in the area have been surveyed in the past few days, Mukesh Walia, Nizamuddin station house officer said.

The questions posed in the survey are simple: How many people live in the house? Does anyone have symptoms of cold and fever?

We are maintaining law and order and implementing the lockdown strictly...There are no specific instructions to us for after April 14 yet, Walia said.

So far, there has been no positive case.

However, CRPF and police personnel do not want to leave anything to chance.

Inside the narrow alleys of the basti, two CRPF companies -- around 150 armed guards -- have been deployed to keep a check on any unnecessary movement.

Inka koi bharosa nahi hai, one of the officers on duty said, suggesting that the people might not be disciplined enough to follow lockdown in the cramped area.

The law enforcers arrive every day around 8 am and stay till late evening.

They come with complete gear, including tear gas munitions.

When asked about the tear gas, a CRPF jawan simply points towards the basti and shrugs while he says, Who knows what can happen?

However, police know arms and ammunition are not enough in this war against COVID-19.

Many on duty at the local police station even shaved their heads after they heard that hair can also be a carrier for the virus.

Several of those guarding Delhis hotspot are staying away from their families.

We stay back at the police station...We dont want to put our families at risk. For us this is our duty, Ravinder Kumar, a junior police officer said.

The neighbouring housing society of Nizamuddin West is also complaining of how online delivery services are being cautious and most have refused to cater to the area.

The local vegetable vendor manages to enter with a curfew pass.

I get vegetables from the Okhla mandi, which is so crowded that it is impossible to maintain any distance with people... But what else to do, said Surender Sharma, vegetable vendor.

The divide between rich and poor in the south Delhi neighbourhood is apparent.

The dargah has become home to more than a hundred people who lived outside its campus, as they were booted out of their shanties into a park adjoining the religious site.

We have enough supplies for the next two days. My husband is a rickshaw puller and now there is no work. I dont know how I will manage, said Noor Jehan, a mother of six children, who is living at the dargah.

She said sometimes the CRPF personnel share their leftover food with them, which gets them by for a meal or two.
Some five Members of Parliament in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region has donated a number of items valued at 40,000 cedis and physical cash of Ghc10,000 to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital to aid them in the fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

The MPs are; Hon. Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament for Essikadu-Ketan and Minister for Railways, Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Member of Parliament for Tarkoradi who doubles as the Western Regional Minister, Hon. Joseph Cudjoe, Member of Parliament for Effia and the Deputy Minister for Energy, Hon. Joe Mensah, Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim and Member for Sekondi, Hon. Andrew Agyapa Mercer.

The items donated to the hospital includes: 20 Veronica Buckets, 100 pieces of PPEs, 100 pieces of disposable aprons, 100 boxes of nose masks, 100 pieces of headnets. The other items are 100 boxes of groves, 100 pairs gumboots, 100 pieces of safety medical goggles, 580 bottles of hand sanitizers and 20 cartons of bottle water.

Presenting the items to the management of the hospital, the MP for Takoradi said that the decision to donate to Effia-Nkwanta equip the facility become more resourceful to the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

He stressed that apart from the donation to the hospital, the individual MPs have made similar donations in their various constituencies.

The Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Hon. Joseph Mensah in an interview indicated that they earlier decided to donate to the entire region and later changed that decision to concentrate on Effia-Nkwanta because it is the last stop hospital in the region where referrals are taken to.

He exhorts the public not to downplay the danger COVID-19 poses to our life but rather adhere to the directives of the president to stay home as well as observing hygiene protocols.

On behalf of the management and staff of Effia-Nkwantal Regional Hospital, the Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Kojo Tambil who received the items thanked the MPs for the kind gesture and promised to use the items for its intended purpose.

He said a lot of thinking and discussion has gone into the selection of the items, adding that each of the items are very useful to the fight of COVID-19 pandemic.

He therefore commended government for instituting certain measures and incentives to motivate the health professionals in the discharge of their duties.
In New York City, the number of deaths due to coronavirus has now exceeded the count of people who perished in the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001 (9/11). While the deadliest terror attack on the US soil 19 years ago had killed 2,753 people NYC, the citys Covid-19 death toll now stands at 5,489, including an addition of 731, the most since the start of the outbreak, on Tuesday alone.

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National Institutes of Health

Willacy County Judge Aurelio Guerra issued an order on Tuesday that will penalize any resident if they are caught without something covering their face while in a public building.

According to the order, all persons over the age of 5 are required to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth at all times when entering a building such as a grocery store, pharmacy or convenience store. A person can be fined up to $1,000.
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Linkedin Vivien Lim (The Star/Asia News Network)  Thu, April 9, 2020 16:03 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0de038 2 Entertainment Shah-Rukh-Khan,COVID-19,coronavirus,India Free

In a pledge towards Indias ongoing fight against COVID-19, Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri Khan have offered their personal offices to help expand quarantine facilities for the infected.

The four-story building, located in the Khar West suburb of Mumbai, has been equipped with essentials aimed towards women, children and the elderly.

The municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai took to social media to thank the couple for their thoughtful and timely gesture.

When we say mybmc then its with a sense of ownership and pride in all the efforts your teams are putting up to fight covid 19. We both are thankful that we could be a part of your attempts to help and care for Mumbaikars.

 Mumbai  BMC https://t.co/wpY5NFlr10  Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 4, 2020

Read also: Shah Rukh Khan congratulates 'Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku' actor for award-winning role

This is not the first time the 54-year old Bollywood star contributed to initiatives against the pandemic. Earlier this month, Khan pledged donations to the state governments of Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal.

He also announced initiatives on several other fronts, including the contribution of 50,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits to frontline workers, daily food provisions for 5,500 families in Mumbai, lakh meal kits for 10,000 people and essentials for 2,500 daily-wage workers.

At a time when the human race is facing an immense crisis, there can only be one true response. This is a moment for all of us to come together in a collective effort to make each other kinder, stronger and braver to face the days ahead,  the actor posted on Twitter.
It is highly beneficial during the present Coronaviruses pandemic. During the current scenario, when every city is under lockdown. The telepresence solution will help you in getting contact with doctors from your home.

The importance of Telepresence solution in Healthcare industries amidst COVID-19 pandemic Ecosmobs Telepresence solutions are built with the mission to help various stakeholders of the healthcare industry, including doctors, patients, and health insurance providers, to connect through audio, text, and video conferencing from any location.

Ecosmob Technologies is one of the prime names in the VoIP development domain. It is assisting businesses and enterprises to get connected with the team from any remote location and make on-spot decisions. Ecosmob has now come up with a Telepresence solution for the Healthcare sector to accelerate the growth of healthcare industries.

Maulik Shah, the CEO, and Founder of Ecosmob Technologies, said, Our telepresence solution is built on the VoIP solution that we offer to the Healthcare industries. We have come up with a Telepresence solution to remove communication gaps in the healthcare sector because of COVID-19 pandemic and to help Healthcare industries to deliver high customer satisfaction and generate more revenue.

Technological innovations have always been a helping hand for humans to fight from any epidemic. It has always brought a solution to faded off any sort of obstacles. It is also assisting us during the Coronavirus pandemic. Two innovative gifts of technology, video conferencing software and Telepresence solutions are helping businesses and several sectors to be less affected by this catastrophic situation.

Coronavirus is turning the graph of the world economy. Lockdown in several parts has saturated the dynamic economy. The businesses of several sectors are declining and are facing financial crises. Cease in physical gatherings has resulted in the communication gap. However, the telepresence solution is assisting in filling this gap and helping people and businesses to be in contact with each other.

The telepresence solution is playing an essential role in the healthcare industry. It is transforming the traditional way of medication and is bringing innovative ways to handle patient problems. It is also making the operation of hospitals more flexible.

Scope of Telepresence solution in the Healthcare industry

Telepresence solution has wide scope in the Healthcare industry. However, before knowing about its importance in the healthcare industry, let us know what a telepresence solution is?

A telepresence solution is a software that can be installed on your mobiles, computers, and laptops. It uses microphones, speakers, cameras, monitors, and high-speed internet. It makes a person virtually present at any remote location.

Role of Telepresence solution in the Health industry

Several sectors are making use of telepresence solution software. Several stakeholders of the Healthcare industry including doctors, patients and health insurance providers are making use of Telepresence solutions. Latest advancement in technology has made it much easier to use telepresence solutions wisely in the healthcare sector. Now doctors can use telepresence solutions to connect with patients and business partners. Patients can use it to consult with doctors and get expert advice from their homes. Health insurance providers can use it to do meetings with clients and discuss with them the benefits of health insurance.

Telepresence solution software is highly important in the present coronavirus pandemic because now all streets are locked down. People are advised to stay at their home. In this situation, getting physically in touch with the surgeon or medical specialists is impossible. Therefore, the Telepresence solution is the best companion of yours because it makes you have video conferencing with doctors located in any part of the world and assists you in curing yourself and your family from adverse effects of the virus.

Features of Telepresence solution

1. Recording patient data - The telepresence solution is highly secure. You can save personalized information of your patients and clients, and use them whenever required. It also helps in keeping the record of accomplishment of the performance of hospital staff and taking appropriate actions against persons not performing well.

2. Recording and scheduling - Telepresence software helps in recording the conversation between the two parties. It also provides a reminder about appointments with clients and helps in scheduling meetings.

3. Remote management - Remote management is one of the most important features of telepresence software. It helps in managing the complete workforce from a remote location. Doctors can handle their various clinics located at different places. They can advise patients at any location by being present virtually.

4. Data sharing - Telepresence solution also assists in sharing data and important reports at any remote location.

5. One to one chat - Telepresence solution provides a platform where various Healthcare industry professionals can do one to one chat in various modes including audio, video, and text.

Why to prefer the Telepresence solution over a normal phone call?

Telepresence solutions are better than normal phone calls in several ways. By using telepresence solution, you can get connected to several users at a time and do video conferencing. It also assists you in recording the meetings and scheduling meetings. It also offers an opportunity to connect doctors with patients by using various modes including text, audio and video calls. It is more secure than normal phone calls and cannot be hacked easily.

Benefits of telepresence solution in the Healthcare industry

There are a plethora of benefits which telepresence solutions are offering to the healthcare sector. These Benefits include-

1. Maintaining patients history and client records

2. Conducting meetings from remote locations

3. Recording conversations with clients

4. Scheduling meetings with patients and clients

5. Improving the quality of services

6. Gives competitive advantage

7. Saving time, money, and resources.

8. Helping physically disabled persons in getting contact with doctors from their home.

9. Bringing a smile on the faces of patients who are hospitalized for a long duration.

10. Making the healthcare industry more technologically sound.

The Healthcare industry has started making use of telepresence solutions to make medical facilities reach people at ease. If you are also interested in implementing the telepresence solution in your hospital or clinic, then feel free to contact us at Ecosmob Technologies Private Limited. We provide customised telepresence solution software according to your needs and help in setting up software at your workplace.

For more information and enquiries on Ecosmobs Telepresence Solution for Healthcare Industry, reach our experts at +1 303 997 3139 or email: sales(at)ecosmob.com, or visit our website https://www.ecosmob.com/

About Ecosmob Technologies:

Ecosmob Technologies was founded in 2007 to provide its enterprise customers high-quality, enterprise-grade IT solutions and services. The company uses cutting-edge technology to deliver a range of services including VoIP Development, Mobile Application Development, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing and more.

Since inception, Ecosmob has adopted a customer-centric approach to serve its global clientele and has successfully addressed various business requirements with premium quality VoIP, Mobile and Web solutions. https://www.ecosmob.com/
Italy's Prime Minister has warned the EU could collapse if the bloc fails to come up with a way to help countries that were hardest hit by coronavirus.

Giuseppe Conte said the European Union needs to rise to 'the biggest challenge since the Second World War' or else risk being consigned to history itself.

He spoke as stalled talks on a Europe-wide financial rescue package were due to resume Thursday, having broken down earlier in the week.

Giuseppe Conte, the Italian Prime Minister, has warned the EU faces collapse if it fails to come up with a rescue package to help countries hardest-hit by coronavirus

Europe is expected to suffer a deep recession this year after tough lockdown measures were put in place to curb the world's worst coronavirus outbreak.

Diplomats have begun piling pressure on the Netherlands - the sole hold-out on a plan to release half a trillion euros of economic support.

There is friction between more frugal northern European states, which have been less-affected by coronavirus, and liberal-spending southern states such as Italy and Spain which have been hardest hit.

The 27-nation bloc is readying measures to help governments, companies and individuals through the recession.

A 16-hour video call on the package from Tuesday afternoon had to be suspended until Thursday because the ministers got stuck on the details linked to how the debt will be shared out.

'It's a big challenge to the existence of Europe,' Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC.

'If Europe fails to come up with a monetary and financial policy adequate for the biggest challenge since World War Two, not only Italians but European citizens will be deeply disappointed,' he said.

Ministers are meeting in Brussels (pictured) to try to hammer out a half-trillion euro spending package, amid a rift between frugal northern states and the more liberal-spending south

The package, which would bring the EU's total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros - the biggest in the world - includes steps that can be taken now and plans to support a recovery later.

Both have controversial elements that expose deep divisions among EU countries in their approach to financial burden sharing in a crisis, bringing back bitter debates and mistrust from the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012.

The main problem for the ministers' talks, starting at 1500 GMT, is the conditions under which euro zone governments should have access to cheap credit from the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Italy is ready to accept very light conditions, saying the money, if drawn, should be spent on health-related issues now and that later the government should observe general EU budget rules that aim to make public finances sustainable.

The Netherlands, alone in its tough stance, wants stricter conditions, including country-specific economic criteria, that are politically unacceptable for Rome, because they would make it look as being under EU economic supervision, even though the pandemic is not Italy's fault.

While officials said the differences were mainly over language, they were still key for all ministers to sign up to the final report on the package that would be sent to leaders.

Italy and Spain (pictured, a funeral in Malaga) have been the two countries hardest hit by the virus, with more than 30,000 deaths between them

'We were not very far,' one euro zone official involved I the talks said. 'The Netherlands will need to move a bit, otherwise it won't work again. That will be critical. There are many calls going on, at all levels.'

In a rare example of open pressure on the Netherlands, a French official from the President Emmanuel Macron's office called the Dutch position incomprehensible and German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said France and Germany would push the talks forward on Thursday.

'It's important that we take this decision today on the 500 billion euros that is in discussion - that's an incredibly large sum of money that we could use to help a lot of people, especially in the hardest hit countries, Spain and Italy,' Altmaier told a radio interview.

'I have confidence that (German Finance Minister) Olaf Scholz, together with his colleague (French Finance Minister) Bruno Le Maire, can push this forward today and we are all working on that together,' he said.

The largely agreed part of the package is guarantees for the European Investment Bank to back up companies and a scheme for the EU to help subsidise wages across the bloc so that firms can cut work hours, not jobs.

But a plan to finance the recovery after the epidemic raises more questions, because France wants the money, which could be up to 3% of EU GDP, or more than 400 billion euros, to be borrowed jointly on the market by all EU governments.

This is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria which strongly oppose joint debt issuance, even in such an emergency as the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said the ministers were likely to side-step the problem by noting the need for a recovery fund, on which there is consensus, and asking leaders to give guidance on how they want it to be financed so the ministers can work it out later.
Lucknow, April 9 : Prashant Jagdish Kanojia, a Delhi-based freelance journalist, has been booked for posting objectionable remarks on social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

A case was registered by the Aashiana police on Tuesday on the complaint of BJP leader Shashank Shekhar Singh.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cantonment, Beenu Singh, said that the FIR was registered on the charges of defamation, printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory, circulating mischievous comments, and obscenity under the Information and Technology Act.

The complainant is the son of late SP MLC Ajit Singh.

Shashank Shekhar Singh stated in his FIR, that while browsing through tweets on coronavirus, he noticed the comments made by the scribe which were defamatory in nature.

Kanojia had posted photo of the Prime Minister and made a derogatory comment. In another tweet on March 25, the scribe had posted a derogatory comment against Adityanath.

Incidentally, Kanojia was arrested by the Lucknow Police last year too for objectionable posts against the Chief Minister. However, he was given bail by the Supreme Court in that after a journalists and Kanojia's supporters held protests in the various parts of the country.
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in Vietnam fell from 49 points in February to 41.9 points in March.

The latest report of HIS Markit showed the sharpest PMI decline in the last nine years since the day the firm began conducting market surveys and collecting data in Vietnam.

The decline is even sharper than the record decrease in July 2012.



The index may see a further decrease as more and more businesses have had to halt production activities in the first half of April as per the governments request in an effort to prevent the coronavirus spread.





Covid-19 had strong adverse impact on Vietnams manufacturing sector in March 2020 with the output, number of orders and jobs in the month seeing record decreases. The optimism about business also dropped to a low when manufacturers showed concerns about the tile period for the epidemic to be contained.



Forty-two of polled businesses said the output fell by the end of Q1. The sharp decreases occurred in all three fields  consumer goods, intermediate goods and basic investment goods.



Andrew Harker from HIS Markit said it is not a surprise that Covid-19 has had a serious impact on Vietnams manufacturing sector.



Because of the input material shortage, the input production cost increased slightly in March. Meanwhile, the prices of finished products saw a sharp decrease, the sharpest since July 2012.

More than one quarter of businesses predicted an output decrease in the year to come. However, less than 39 percent of businesses think the output will be higher than the current level.

More than one quarter of businesses predicted an output decrease in the year to come. However, less than 39 percent of businesses think the output will be higher than the current level.



Many of the surveys parameters have dropped to record lows and business optimism has decreased. The key issue is when the international community can control the pandemic. When this happens, the output will increase again, Harker said.



According to Vitas, the countries which consume large proportions of Vietnams textiles and garments, including the US (which consumes 50 percent of export turnover) and the EU (12 percent), have fallen into crisis because of the pandemic.



Big brands in the world have cut orders and closed their shops in March and April, while some brands have announced closure until June.



Tuoi Tre cited a report of MOLISA (the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) as showing that 10 percent of businesses had to scale down production in February, while the figure was 15 percent in the first two weeks of March.



Meanwhile, the Hanoi Taxation Agency reported that more than 9,000 business households in the city shut down or suspended business in the first two months of the year. Of this, 3,000 business households said they gave up or suspended business because of Covid-19.

Mai Lan

NA Standing Committee discusses support to those hurt by COVID-19 The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee convened an unscheduled meeting in Hanoi on April 8 to discuss support to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (April 8) said that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was admitted to intensive care unit after getting infected by coronavirus COVID-19, seems to be doing better.

"I just spoke with the representatives of the UK and I think that their great prime minister is doing much better today, or at least better. But certainly he has had a tough bout and he is still going through a tough time, but he seems to be doing better, and that`s good," Trump told reporters.

Johnson, 55, who was admitted to hospital on Sunday (April 5) due to persistent COVID-19 coronavirus symptoms, was taken into intensive care unit (ICU) on Monday (April 6), Downing Street had said.

Johnson was moved to the ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in London and UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab has currently taken Johnson's charge to run the affairs of the government.

A spokesperson for No 10 Downing Street had said: "Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary."

On Tuesday (April 7), President Trump had asked leading US companies working on coronavirus drugs to "contact immediately" Johnson's doctors. "We'll see if we can be of help. We've contacted all of Boris' doctors, and we'll see what is going to take place, but they are ready to go, but when you get brought into intensive care that gets very, very serious with this particular disease," the president had said.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2020 - 19:02 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Drive-through services in Japan, once limited mainly to take-out meals, have begun to include tests for the new coronavirus and face-mask distribution as the country battles the virus pandemic.

For food service operators, meanwhile, drive-through offers hope for retaining customers as people increasingly practice social distancing and avoid conventional outlets.

Japan has yet to introduce nationwide drive-through testing for the virus that causes COVID-19, but the cities of Niigata and Nagoya adopted the method in March. Doctors and medical staff in protective gear stand outside cars to check people, going through a list of diagnostic questions and taking swabs from their throats.

The western prefecture of Tottori will also introduce the drive-through testing at public health centers and hospitals later this month, Gov. Shinji Hirai said Thursday.

Around 260 people in the prefecture have taken the virus test so far and none of them tested positive. As of Wednesday, the prefecture received over 3,800 phone consultation requests regarding the virus.

"We need to take measures before things get worse and stop the spread (of the virus) at an early stage even if we start to see infections here," the governor said.

(Supplied photo taken in March 2020 shows a demonstration of drive-through coronavirus testing in the city of Niigata.)

[Photo courtesy of Niigata city]

The speed of the process and the advantage that cars offer to avoid crowds has drawn attention.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on a television program Tuesday he would consider introducing roadside testing hubs as he pledged to double Japan's virus testing capacity to 20,000 samples a day, shortly after declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures.

South Korea has been aggressively conducting drive-through testing since February, followed by such countries as the United States, Brazil, Britain, Italy, Malaysia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

Japan has been criticized domestically and internationally for not broadly conducting virus tests, which makes it difficult to accurately assess the COVID-19 prevalence rate.

In Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, the town of Sakai and the city of Joso delivered face masks to local residents through a drive-through system.

"People can't help but congregate if they have to get in line (physically). We were able to provide masks quickly and there was no disorder," said a Joso official in charge of the distribution.

With people asked to refrain from unnecessary outings to curb the coronavirus spread, the food industry has made greater effort to retain customers with drive-through services.

Mos Food Services Inc., the operator of the Mos Burger chain, already improved buns and packaging for drive-through customers in October, when Japan's consumption tax hike made it more expensive to dine in than take out.

The percentage of takeaway customers including those who buy meals from their car windows rose to 70 percent after the coronavirus hit the country from 60 percent, according to the company.

"We don't foresee an increase in the number of people eating at our stores, so we'd like to focus on take-outs," said an official of the burger chain.

High-end food is taking a similar route. A restaurant of Hotel Happoen Shika no Yu at the Fujimi Kogen highland resort in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, has started a lunch drive-through.

Many orders have been made from residents of nearby villas and the hotel said it wants to deliver "the chef's taste."

The coronavirus is also changing ways people enjoy Japan's "hanami" cherry-blossom viewing. Many people have posted pictures of blossoms on Twitter, with the hashtag "Drive-through hanami."

One popular spot is a 20-kilometer drive lined with 6,500 cherry trees in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Aomori, considered by people there as "the world's best" for cherry-blossom viewing. The blossoms have yet to appear in the region.

"There's no hint of a festival, and no one will be physically congregating there," said Shinkichi Oyama, a senior official at a local tourist association.

Related coverage:

Tokyo Disney parks to extend closure again over coronavirus

BOJ lowers assessments of all 9 regional economies over coronavirus

Japan's Aichi Pref. asks gov't to place it under state of emergency
CDU Embarks on Bringing Historic Medical School to Watts-Willowbrook

Charles R. Drew University has embarked on one of the most historic and ambitious projects ever attempted in South Los Angeles: the development of a four-year, fully accredited independent medical school dedicated to eradicating local health care disparities. The effort will build on the original McCone Commission Report published in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts Rebellion that called for an aggressive, proactive approach to providing the highest level of local resident health care.

Completion of the project, identified as the CDU Independent Medical Education Program (IMEP), will fulfill the hopes and dreams of many people who lobbied and attempted to persuade decision-makers for decades. From the pioneering physicians of the Charles R. Drew Society to beloved community activists such as Mary Henry, Lillian Mobley, and Ted Watkins, many committed people helped lay the groundwork for the Universitys mission and vision.

Since its rebirth as a top-tier medical training program under the leadership of President/CEO Dr. David Carlisle, the University has compiled a very impressive track record. CDUs Graduate Medical Education programs have continuously achieved high honors in accreditation renewal. Its program initiatives, under the heading The CDU Advantage, are nationally recognized.

Even prior to the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the need for such a dedicated medical education program was overwhelming. This occurrence of this mysterious virus, with all of its attendant dangers and complications, only heightens the demand to offer a full range menu of protective services to vulnerable people as soon as possible.

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The opportunity for this region to be a major training center for young physicians is an innovative game changer. Clients endure many health challenges that often go unmet because there has not been an adequate supply of professionals trained and equipped to meet their needs. According to the 2017 needs assessment commissioned by Martin Luther King Community Hospital, there is a shortage in excess of 1,200 physicians in SPA 6 where the Hospital and the University are located.

Beginning in 2018, Family Medicine and Psychiatry, two new residency programs operated in partnership with the County of Los Angeles, have become high demand stops for newly credentialed physicians seeking experience treating vulnerable populations. That success has served as a gateway for establishing two additional residencies, Internal Medicine and Surgery, over the next two years while the IMEP is completed.

According to Dr. Kelsey Martin, dean of the UCLA/David Geffen School of Medicine, Theres clearly a need for more physicians in Los Angeles, as well as California, and beyond. I believe that the independent medical education program at Charles R. Drew University has the potential to contribute positively to solving that need, she noted.

Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, dean of the College of Medicine, is the senior administrator charged with day-to-day project management. Her core team of staff and consultants continually deliberate on myriad elements including the institutional response to the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) self-study requirements that are essential to pushing the project forward. The LCME is a national entity that approves an applicant institutions operational capacity and ability to manage and operate such a program.

Since 1978, CDU has operated a concurrent medical degree-granting program with the UCLA/David Geffen Medical School. The fifth ten-year agreement between the universities was signed in 2018, thus ensuring the continued future of the joint Medical Education Program alongside the new IMEP.

The CDU IMEP has the full backing of the University Board of Trustees, the governing body of stakeholders who represent a wide variety of interests within the medical profession; and community leaders who hold prime decision-making roles. Most notably, outgoing 2nd District County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has championed numerous CDU initiatives throughout his tenure.

President Carlisle and Provost Dr. Steven Michael have ensured that senior CDU administrators are fully involved in IMEP project implementation. Faculty leaders and residents with close ties to the university are likewise engaged and energized. The timing for this project is opportune.

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Fulfilling the requirements laid out in the LCME guidelines is essential to greenlighting the project long term. Currently, there is an eighteen-month window for institutional self-study. The formal LCME review is intensive, granular, and entails hard scrutiny of a variety of important details.

The self-study is completed with the input of the LCME subcommittees. Comprising key CDU faculty members and staff, these teams compile information and then plan every phase of developing the IMEP from mission and vision to curriculum, faculty development, and identifying and securing the funding for project execution and sustainability.

Tripp Umbach, a nationally recognized medical school development consultant team skilled in feasibility and economic impact studies, has been advising the College of Medicine for four years on the IMEP. Architectural design consultant SLAM, with experience building state of the art medical school facilities across the country, has created a variety of renderings that put a visual face on the facility to be erected. CDU recently hired Brakeley Briscoe, a 100-year old project management and fundraising firm, to consult on the IMEP capital campaign.

The project scale is momentous. The building is projected at 100,000 square feet, with an ambitious $100 million targeted fundraising goal. The IMEP will be housed on the university campus. The project was kicked off with nearly $2 million in planning grants from the Cedars-Sinai Foundation and the California Endowment. Key relationships with the County of Los Angeles, private sector donors, foundations, the National Institutes of Health, and state and local funders, will spur the effort.

Dean Prothrow-Stith summed up the prevailing sentiment on campus. We are working enthusiastically, and hard, to add the Independent Medical Education Program to accept a class of 60 students to matriculate in 2023. The University and COM are in full gear. What an exciting time!

Added UCLAs Dr. Martin: Im certain that all of the medical schools in the region, like us, will be rooting for this program to be successful and will be helpful. We all share a mission of really improving our community and we all need to work together and support each other.
Hanoi's suburban village sterilised after COVID-19 cases reported

Health workers sprayed disinfectant in Ha Loi village roads in the night of April 8

Sterilisation work in Ha Loi village in Hanois outlying district of Me Linh was completed on the morning of April 9, according to the Military High Command in the capital.

A resident of the village was confirmed as infected with SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 on April 6, becoming the countrys 243rd patient. The source of his infection, however, remains unclear.

The Ministry of Health has issued an urgent notice to track all people who had close contact with the 47-year-old man.

His neighbour was confirmed as the countrys 250th patient on April 7, after testing positive for the virus.

The village started a 28-day quarantine period on April 8. It is home to 2,973 families with 10,872 people in total.

The Hanoi Centre for Disease Control and the Chemistry Corps began disinfecting the area on the night of April 8.

Vietnam had reported 251 COVID-19 cases as at the morning of April 9, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Of these, 156 entered Vietnam from overseas, accounting for 62 percent.

Two more COVID-19 patients recover, total at 128

Two more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital in HCM City Thursday morning.  Photo courtesy of the hospital

Two more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital in HCM City Thursday morning, bringing the countrys total of recovered patients to 128.

Patient numbers 203 and 234 recovered this morning.

Patient 203, a 35-year-old female Vietnamese national, returned from Greece to Viet Nam on March 17. She was admitted to the hospital on March 27.

During treatment, the patient tested negative twice for SARS-CoV-2 on April 5 and 6. She is currently in a stable condition and has no cough or fever.

Patient 234 is also a female, 69, Vietnamese nationality, living in Buon on District, the Central Highlands province of ak Lak. She returned from Paris to HCM City on March 13 and was quarantined upon arrival. The patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 30, then was transferred to the Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital for treatment the same day.

During treatment, the patient had two tests and both test results were negative for SARS-CoV-2 on April 5 and 6.

The two patients will continue to be isolated and monitored for the next 14 days.

In HCM City, there are only 17 COVID-19 patients currently being treated in three treatment facilities, including the HCM City Tropical Diseases Hospital, Cu Chi Field Hospital and the Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital.

As of Thursday morning, the health ministry has confirmed 251 COVID-19 patients. No deaths have been recorded so far.

German institute lauds Vietnams prompt actions in tackling COVID-19

German political institute Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) has posted an article praising Vietnams efforts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the key to success lays in the prompt action and resolve of the Government, relevant agencies, and the Vietnamese people.

Peter Girke, Chief Representative of KAS in Vietnam, said the rate of COVID-19 infection in the country has remained quite low since the first local case was confirmed in late January.

He noted that the number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam and Germany on February 17 was the same, at 16. Four weeks later, however, it was 61 in Vietnam and 7,272 in Germany. As of March 30, Vietnam had only 194 cases, while Germany had 66,885.

The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has also taken actions since the early stages of the crisis, he said, adding that the Vietnamese people have been aware of the battle since early February.

Vietnam closed its schools within the first few days, initially in major cities and then nationwide. Universities were shuttered soon after, and events of all types were suspended or cancelled.

He commended other measures taken by Vietnam in combating COVID-19, such as tightening border control, mobilising the army, suspending visa waivers for tourists from many European countries, quarantining passengers entering Vietnam for 14 days, restricting gatherings of more than 10 people, and closing restaurants and entertainment venues.

Vietnam has yet to impose a widespread curfew, Girke noted.

He also highlighted the degree of public support for the Governments measures and the effective communications seen throughout the country.

He suggested Vietnam continue with measures introduced, saying they will help the country contain the epidemic until specific treatment drugs and vaccines are produced.

Indonesia borrows 7 billion USD to support COVID-19 fight

Indonesia will receive loans worth about 7 billion USD from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance its fight against the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo has said that the funds will be spent on financing the countrys widening budget deficit of 5.07 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to prevent a greater health crisis and economic meltdown from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Perry told the House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing financial affairs that the three banks planned on around 7 billion USD in loans during an investor teleconference. He added that the Finance Ministry will also maximise the governments budget.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently announced additional state spending worth 405.1 trillion Rp (25 billion USD) to finance the countrys battle against the pandemic. The new allocation will be used specifically for health care, the social welfare safety network and business-recovery programmes.

In funding the extra budget, the government has resorted to debt issuance, international institution loans and state budget reallocation./.

Police quarantined after contact with 243rd COVID-19 patient

The High Command of Chemicals together with the Ha Noi Capital High Command spray disinfectants in the lockdown village of Ha Loi, Ha Nois Me Linh Commune on Wednesday night.

All 19 police officers of the ong Ngac Wards Police Station, Bac Tu Liem District, Ha Noi have been quarantined after it was discovered the stations deputy head had eaten a meal with Viet Nam's 243rd COVID-19 patient.

Chairman of the Peoples Committee of the district Tran The Cuong announced on Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of the citys Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control that authorised agencies had sprayed disinfectants in appropriate areas and took samples of the officers for tests.

Cuong said a total of eight people had close contact with the 243rd patient, including the deputy head of the police station and three flower sellers who live in the district. All samples of the closely-contacted people were sent to the citys Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for tests.

Cuong also asked the centre to provide rapid testing for flower sellers in the market.

In a related move, the High Command of Chemicals under the Ministry of National Defence together with the Ha Noi Capital High Command sprayed disinfectants in the locked-down village of Ha Loi, Ha Nois Me Linh Commune, Me Linh District on Wednesday night.

The village, where the 243rd patient lives and contacted many people, was locked down on Tuesday afternoon.

The Peoples Committee of the district will provide food for all 2,973 households in the village during the lockdown, which will run from April 8 to May 5.

The 243rd patient is a 47-year-old man, from Me Linh Commune. He took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day. The couple had lunch at a restaurant opposite the hospital and did not return to the hospital.

Last Friday, he took his wife to the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital for an examination without declaring that he and his wife had visited Bach Mai Hospital on March 12 as per the requirements of the Ministry of Health.

This failure to declare resulted in 63 doctors and nurses from the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital being put in quarantine at the hospital on Monday.

On Wednesday morning, a neighbour of the 243rd patient in Ha Loi Village was confirmed as the 250th patient after having tested positive for the disease.

Vietnam reports no new COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours

A medical worker sprays disinfectant in Ha Loi village, Me Linh district, Hanoi, after a resident tested positive for COVID-19.

Vietnam reported no new COVID-19 cases on April 9 morning, keeping the national count at 251 over the past 24 hours, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Of the cases, 156 entered Vietnam from overseas, accounting for 62 percent, while 95 others got infected from local patients.

Five patients are receiving oxygen support. Twenty-five tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 for the first time, while 17 others got negative results for their second tests.

On April 9, two patients are expected to be discharged from Can Gio hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Ho Chi Minh City.



As of 6:00 on the day, a total of 77,292 people have been quarantined in Vietnam, of whom 642 have been in concentrated quarantine areas in hospitals, 27,790 people have undergone concentrated quarantine in other establishments and the remainders have been self-quarantined at home.

Health ministry urges more reliable COVID-19 test kits for mass production

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has urged domestic research institutes and producers to focus their resources on developing more reliable COVID-19 testing kits for mass production to meet the countrys increasing need.

The call was made at a meeting held by the ministry in Hanoi on April 8.

Vietnam has used different diagnostic testing kits, including those imported from foreign countries like Germany and the Republic of Korea.

As the pandemic has spread globally, Vietnam should not rely on foreign supplies but instead develop more test kits for its own use, according to the ministry. The country must also produce enough biological materials to test the products, it said.

The ministry said it welcomes all studies and efforts to produce testing kits and it is looking for a product that is fast, affordable, sensitive and convenient for an expanded response to the COVID-19.

The ministry has placed an order for 200,000 testing kits developed by the Military Medical University and Viet A Corporation which can detect the SARS-CoV-2 in specimens of droplets from the respiratory tract and blood samples. Its accuracy rate is over 90 percent.

A number of research institutes in Vietnam have also joined the race to develop COVID-19 test kits that are not only reliable but also suitable for the actual conditions in the country.

Some studies have shown quite promising results. For example, the rapid test kit developed by the School of Biotechnology and Food Technology at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology is in line to get approval for production.

The participating research institutes said they hope to successfully create new test kits this month.

Vietnam shows willingness to assist others in COVID-19 fight: The Diplomat

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung (R) hands over the assistance to German Ambassador Guido Hildner

An article in the US-based magazine The Diplomat on April 8 highlighted Vietnams recent assistance to five European nations, saying it illustrates the continued willingness to assist other countries on a bilateral and multilateral basis to the best of its abilities, even as the country continues to remain vigilant about managing its own challenge at home.

Vietnam donated 550,000 face masks to five European countries on April 7 to support their fight against COVID-19. The masks, made of antimicrobial fabric, were handed to the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK in Hanoi.

The development itself is in line with Vietnams broader diplomacy amid COVID-19 thus far, which has seen it make offers of assistance to other countries as well, including neighbouring countries Cambodia and Laos as well as individual European countries such as Italy, the article said.

It also laid stress on Vietnams recognition that strengthening international cooperation and unity is an important factor in minimising the impact of COVID-19.

The author remarked that the countrys assistance put the spotlight on relations between Vietnam and key European nations during the global pandemic.

Both sides have also been working to share information on the security of their citizens and continuing with key developments such as the final steps in ratifying the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, which is expected to receive approval by Vietnams lawmakers in May so it can go into effect this summer.

Thus far, Vietnam has reported over 200 COVID-19 cases but no deaths, and it has taken additional measures including restrictions on movement and stepping up the production of masks, the article noted.

Military Hospital 175 helps German counterpart in COVID-19 fight

Vietnams Military Hospital 175 sends an aid package to Saint Georg Hospital in Germanys Leipzig city to assist its partner in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Vietnams Military Hospital 175 on April 8 sent an aid package to Saint Georg Hospital in Germanys Leipzig city to assist its partner in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aid package, comprising 10,000 medical face masks, 500 face shields and 1,000 protective suits, was raised by staff at the Vietnamese hospital in support of their German colleagues.

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has offered free transportation of the package.

Leipzigs mayor and the German Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City have sent letters of gratitude to Military Hospital 175 for the meaningful gifts.

No new cases of COVID-19 reported in Vietnam on April 8 evening

No new cases of COVID-19 infections were reported on April 8 evening in Vietnam, leaving the national total at 251, according to the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The committee said two new COVID-19 patients were confirmed on the same day morning. One is a 50-year-old woman who lives in Ha Loi village, Me Linh commune, in Hanois Me Linh outlying district. She is a neighbour of the 243rd patient, and the two had been in close contacts.

The other is a 64-year-old man who lives in Binh Nghia commune, Binh Luc district in the northern province of Ha Nam. Since March 20, he has been treated at the Department of Gastroenterology in Ha Nam General Hospital where his son and daughter-in-law, who live in Hanoi, had been taking care of him.

The man tested positive for COVID-19 on April 7. The source of his infection is under investigation.

There are currently 74,626 people in quarantine.

Also on April 8, four more COVID-19 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals, lifting the countrys total number of recoveries to 126.

Two of the discharged patients are South Africans, while the other two are Vietnamese nationals.

German, European media highlight Vietnams support in COVID-19 fight

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung speaks at the ceremony to hand over 550,000 antibacterial face masks to the embassies of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in Hanoi

German and European media have reported high appreciation for Vietnam's donation of face masks to European countries to help them fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The German electronic newspaper DW ran an article, saying the Vietnamese Government had handed over 550,000 antibacterial face masks as gifts to the embassies of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, Euronews reported that in addition to the above-mentioned countries, Vietnam has also donated masks and medical equipment to Cambodia, Laos and China.

The German Embassy in Vietnam, through its facebook page, thanked the Vietnamese Government for giving the German Government 110,000 face masks.

According to Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung, Vietnam wants to support its European partners which have shown their solidarity and friendship with Vietnam in the past.

The German Embassy said that the Vietnamese community in Germany has also joined hands with local authorities in the fight against the pandemic.



Thousands of medical face masks, cloth masks, and protective gloves have been mobilised among overseas Vietnamese in Germany to present to local hospitals, nursing homes, health centres and police stations.

Many Vietnamese restaurants in the European country have offered thousands of free meals to doctors and nurses at COVID-19 treatment centres, the embassy added.

The German Embassy expressed its gratitude to the Vietnamese communitys determination to combat the disease, as well as the strength of the German-Vietnamese friendship.



It said that research institutions, scientists and the governments of the two countries are closely cooperating in the COVID-19 combat.

Accordingly, the Vietnamese-German Centre of Excellence in Medical Research (VG-CARE) in Hanoi recently delivered 6,000 test tubes to Germany for COVID-19 drug development research.

In an interview with Berlin-based daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung on April 7, Regine Hengge, a prestigious microbiology professor from Humbolt University, recommended that German authorities and people follow Vietnams face mask wearing rule to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four more COVID-19 patients recover

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Among the four patients, three were treated at the Can Gio hospital for COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City. Two of them are South African nationals, and one Vietnamese.

The fourth patient, a Vietnamese, was treated at the Cu Chi acute respiratory disease hospital, also in Ho Chi Minh City.

Those newly-cured patients will continue to stay in quarantine and have their health monitored for the next 14 days.

Vietnam had confirmed 251 Covid-19 cases as of 6pm on April 8.

Viet Nam must remain vigilant in face of COVID-19 community transmission risks

A man has his temperature taken at a quarantine checkpoint in My Loc District, northern Nam inh Province.

Despite early, drastic measures to prevent COVID-19 from further spreading, community transmission had fueled the spread of the disease, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said on Wednesday, urging the whole system to remain on alert.

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), as of Wednesday morning, 156 of 251 infections recorded nationwide had been imported cases, accounting for 62.6 per cent. The remaining 95 people contracted the disease from other patients in Viet Nam.

The national steering committee for COVID-19 control and prevention urged localities to keep a close watch on the disease, strengthen management over patients showing symptoms similar to COVID-19, and come up with solutions to trace people who had contact with carriers.

The committee said it would keep a tight control on the outbreak using a strategy of preventing, reporting, isolating, zoning and containing, especially with more infections expected in the coming days.

Tran ac Phu, former head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, said the source of infection remained unclear for cases 243, 247 and 251.

The 243rd patient, a 47-year-old Vietnamese man from Me Linh Commune, Me Linh District in Ha Noi, took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day, but might not have contracted the disease at the hospital. Phu said his test results showed he had just recently contracted the virus. The patient was reported to have visited different places before testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.

It is important we identify the sources of infection. However, in the case of community transmission, the priority is to implement quarantining, zoning and containing to prevent the disease from spreading, Phu warned.

He also stressed that social distancing was an essential solution to stop small community outbreaks.

Nguyen Van Son, deputy minister of public security, said the police would continue working closely with the healthcare sector to trace people in contact with COVID-19 patients.

After a week of nationalwide social distancing since Prime Minister's order, people had started to go out again, he said.

Participants shared the view that although Viet Nam has introduced strong measures, COVID-19 continues to spread in the community, as before midnight on March 22, when the entry of foreigners into the country was suspended, hundreds of thousands of people, including many from coronavirus-hit nations, had already entered the country.

Deputy Health Minister o Xuan Tuyen asked to expand the list of people to be screened, including foreigners staying at hotels, expat communities, Vietnamese nationals working with foreigners who had been to epicentres, and foreign tourists.

The percentage of recoveries compared to infections had exceeded 50 per cent, said Luong Ngoc Khue, head of MoHs Department of Medical Examination and Treatment.

Our current priority is to develop and complete the most efficient treatment regime to prevent patients with mild infections from becoming severely ill, while minimising deaths, he said.

Khue also urged medical facilities to upgrade mechanisms to protect their patients, staff and communities from the risk of infection.

Four more patients with COVID-19 had recovered and been discharged from two treatment facilities in the south as of Wednesday morning, lifting the countrys total number of recoveries to 126.

Health Ministry seeks people in contact with 243rd COVID-19 patient

The 243th COVID-19 patient's travel report from March 8 to April 4.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued an urgent notice to trace all people who had close contact with Viet Nam's 243rd COVID-19 patient, a 47-year-old man, from Ha Nois Me Linh District.

The man went to Quang Ba Flower Market in Ha Noi on many mornings, including 3.55-6.30am on March 8, 2.30-5am from March 14, 1-5am on March 22 and 23, 3-6am on March 25, 2-6am on March 26 and 2.30-6am on March 27.

He visited the Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology of Bach Mai Hospital from 8.30-10.30am and 11-12pm on March 12.

He had lunch at a restaurant at number 31 on Lane 75, Giai Phong Street, opposite Bach Mai Hospital, from 10.30-11am on March 12.

He went to Me Linh Flower Market on National Highway 23 in Ha Noi from 3-5.41pm on March 12, 11am on March 15, 2.30-3pm on March 18, 10-10.30am and 3-4pm on March 22, 5-6pm on March 26, 11pm on March 27 and 11-12pm on March 30.

He visited Phuc Yen Obstetrics Hospital in Vinh Phuc Provinces Phuc Yen District at 8am on April 4.

He visited Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital at 929 La Thanh Street in Ba inh District at 11am on April 4.

The Ministry of Health requested all people who were at these areas during the mentioned time frames immediately contact local centres for disease control and prevention for guidance on health monitoring.

The patient was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on Monday and the source of his infection is still unclear.

He took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day. The couple had lunch at a restaurant opposite the hospital and did not return to the hospital.

Last Friday, he took his wife to the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital for examination without declaring that he and his wife had visited Bach Mai Hospital on March 12 as per the requirements of the Ministry of Health.

This failure to declare resulted in 63 doctors and nurses from the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital being put in quarantine at the hospital on Monday.

On Wednesday morning, a neighbour of the 243rd patient in Ha Loi Village was confirmed as the 250th patient after having tested positive for the disease.

The village was subsequently quarantined.

HCM City offers financial relief to the poor, unemployed

Le Minh Tan, director of the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs speaks at a meeting on a relief package for the poor on Tuesday. Photo laodong.vn

As many as 9,000 poor and near-poor households in HCM City that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will receive monthly relief payments of VN1 million (US$42) per household for three months, starting in April, according to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

A total of 15,000 families who have made great contributions to the nation will receive monthly cash payments of VN500,000 ($21) per household for three months to overcome difficulties due to the pandemic, said Le Minh Tan, director of the department.

A total of 600,000 workers who were laid off or put on leave without pay due to the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be provided VN1 million a person a month, Tan said at a meeting on Tuesday.

The city is home to 32,000 poor and near-poor households and 43,000 families who have made great contributions to the nation, he said.

Around 3.2 million workers are employed by 415,000 enterprises in the city.

About 75 per cent of enterprises have cut capacity or suspended production, resulting in 600,000 workers laid off or put on leave without pay.

Nearly 12,000 lottery ticket sellers have been affected as the issuance of lottery tickets was halted for 15 days starting April 1. They will receive financial aid of VN750,000 ($32) a person.

Cambodia thanks Vietnam for medical support in COVID-19 fight

At the hand-over ceremony

Vietnam handed over medical supplies to Cambodia on April 8 to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hand-over ceremony in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh was attended by Minister of Health Mam Bunheng, other ministry officials, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh, among others.

In his remarks, Mam Bunheng thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for their regular support and stressed that cooperation between the Vietnamese and Cambodian health ministries has been fruitful.

For his part, Ambassador Minh said the aid is a result of recent phone talks between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who committed to enhancing cooperation in the fight.

He described the aid as a symbol of the heartfelt sentiment among Vietnamese towards Cambodia, adding that some Vietnamese firms in the neighboring country are also assisting its health ministry.

On April 3, on behalf of PM Phuc, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung presented the token of the medical equipment from the Vietnamese Government and people to Lao and Cambodian officials.

Worth 7 billion VND (297,140 USD), the equipment included protective gear, face masks, and COVID-19 test kits.

Vietnamese, Lao provinces enhance coordination in fighting COVID-19

Leaders of central Quang Tri province and the Lao province of Salavan attended a working session on April 8 to discuss coordination in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Vice Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial Peoples Committee Hoang Nam, it has quarantined 12,000 Vietnamese citizens returning from Laos and Thailand in Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

Authorities in Quang Tri, nestled on the Vietnam-Laos border, have deployed more than 80 border guard posts, of which 25 are located along the border with Salavan province.

They have strictly controlled entry and exit through border gates, trails, and paths, while organising campaigns calling on people on both sides to not pass through, Nam said.

The province has also facilitated import and export activities between the two sides in line with strict regulations on disease control, he stressed, adding that all the 120 Lao students pursuing studies in Quang Tri have received support and health care.

Nam expressed his hope that authorities in Salavan will continue to provide health care to Quang Tri locals in particular and Vietnamese citizens in general who are working and living in Laos.

For his part, Salavan's Deputy Governor Phuthong Khammanivong said it has taken drastic measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including coordinating with the Vietnamese side in controlling entry and exit at the La Lay International Border Gate and managing the import and export of goods at all border areas.

He thanked Quang Tri for the assistance given to Lao students, pledging to support and ensure health care is provided to Vietnamese workers still in Salavan.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quang Tri authorities also presented medical supplies and equipment to Salavan on the same day.

Vietnamese in Egypt stay united amid COVID-19 pandemic: ambassador

A quiet street in Cairo, Egypt

The Vietnamese community in Egypt has shown strong unity and provided mutual support to overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Tran Thanh Cong has said.

According to the diplomat, no Vietnamese in Egypt have been infected with the COVID-19.

Amid the complicated and unpredictable developments of the disease in the host country, the embassy has actively given relevant recommendations and instructions to those Vietnamese living and working there.

It has also regularly disseminated medical regulations and guidelines of the host country to the community. A hotline was established to support Vietnamese citizens in case of need, Cong said.

For those still stuck in Egypt, the embassy has also regularly exchanged information and worked with local authorities to ensure visa extension for them while they wait for flights to return home.

The embassy has organised charitable activities to help the Vietnamese community in the country, he added.

So far, Egypt has reported 1,450 cases of COVID-19 infections, including 94 deaths./.

Singapore reports 142 new COVID-19 infections in biggest daily jump

The Singaporean Ministry of Health confirmed 142 new COVID-19 infections on April 8 for a total of 1,623, the biggest daily increase yet, and said a seventh person had died after testing positive for the disease.

Forty of the new cases were linked to foreign worker dormitories. The Southeast Asian country has quarantined workers in three dormitories after they were linked to several cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease, Reuters reported.

The city state also announced that a 32-year-old male had died in his home after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Singapore was one of the worst-hit countries when the virus first spread from China in January, but a strict surveillance and quarantine regime helped stem the tide. Recent spikes in locally transmitted cases have, however, raised fresh concerns.

Bangladesh media laud Vietnams COVID-19 fight

An American patient is discharged from hospital in Da Nang city on April 3.

Bangladeshs dhakatribune.com has published an article on Vietnams fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the country could offer valuable lessons on how to curb the diseases spread amid a poor healthcare system and low budget funds.

Vietnam has reported only more than 250 COVID-19 cases and no fatalities. More than half of those infected have recovered.

During Tet - the lunar new year and the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture, held at the end of January this year - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a government meeting declaring war on the coronavirus, the article stated.

Rather than embarking on mass testing, Vietnam focused on quarantining infected people and tracking down those they had been in contact with.

Apart from this aggressive tracing, other measures adopted include compulsory quarantine and the conscription of medical students and retired doctors and nurses.

And from very early on, anyone arriving in Vietnam from a high-risk area was quarantined for 14 days. All schools and universities were closed at the beginning of February.

Vietnams success in containing COVID-19 depends in part on the mobilisation of medical and military personnel, and surveillance, according to the article.

Security officials can be found on every street, every neighborhood, and every village. The military is also deploying soldiers and material in the fight against the coronavirus, it said. About 800 people found sharing fake news on the virus have been fined.

The article also quoted Carl Thayer, a professor at the University of New South Wales Canberra, as saying that Vietnam is a mobilisation society and the Vietnamese Government is good at responding to natural disasters.

Thailand: Bangkok offers SARS-CoV-2 testing at home

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is offering testing at home for people who suspect they may have caught the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the acute respiratory disease (COVID-19).

As of April 8, Bangkok has reported the highest number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand, with 1,223 patients out of 2,369 confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country.

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said on April 8 that the BMA, together with staff from the Mor Lab Panda Facebook page, have been sending mobile teams to conduct COVID-19 testing at the residences of people who had completed an online questionnaire and were at-risk.

Those who tested positive would be taken to treatment facilities. This would quickly contain the disease and relieve the worries of people living nearby, the governor said.

The units would go to see people who completed an online screening questionnaire, which is in Thai, at bkkcovid19.bangkok.go.th and learned they were at risk of having caught the disease, Aswin said.

The website was launched on April 3 and more than 20,000 people had completed the form by April 8 afternoon.

The governor asked people in Bangkok to try their best to stay home, regularly wash their hands, practise social distancing, wear face masks and refrain from sharing personal items, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19./.
It is not the first time that Whangaparaoa has seen isolation measures in place for health reasons.

Councillor and keen historian John Watson says he found out about the local connection with the 1925 Polio Epidemic when he interviewed Joan Zinzan, a long time resident who was then in her late 90s.

She talked about the Polio Epidemic, which saw schools closed.

Children from Auckland with holiday homes on the Coast were effectively quarantined on Whangaparaoa Peninsula, along with the handful of local kids who went to the original Whangaparaoa Hall for their schooling.

Here is what John recorded about those days from his interview with Joan:

Whangaparaoas isolation wasnt always a bad thing. In 1925 there was an infantile paralysis (polio) epidemic across the country. This meant that no children were allowed to attend schools, or indeed any other places such as swimming pools or cinemas where children might otherwise congregate. For Joan and her sisters this meant an extended holiday on Whangaparaoa Peninsula. In 1925 Joan and her sister, and all the other kids, would get their schoolwork from the NZ Herald, which provided written instruction for the children of the nation. A number of the kids down at Manly would congregate on the front veranda of the Maxwells house and do their work together.

This quarantining could go both ways, however. One year, Joans sister Marcia contracted diphtheria while they were on holiday at Manly. Dr Cooper from Stanmore Bay placed her in quarantine and the family had to go back home to Auckland with the strict instruction not mix with any other people.

There were polio epidemics every five years from 1916 right through to 1961. An average of 800 cases would occur on each occasion. The unfortunate children affected would often have a badly withered leg as a result and would have to wear a leg brace for life. It was only in 1961 that a mass vaccination campaign immunised 97 percent of children in NZ and put an end to the epidemics.




Haiti - Health : The Minister of the Interior and representatives of religions launch an appeal to the citizens





Audain Fils Bernadel, the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivities and the Representatives of different sectors and religious denominations including: Mgr. Pierre Andre Dumas (Catholic Church), Pastor Clement Joseph (Protestant sector), Manbo Euvronie Aguste (voodoo sector) and Mgr. Oge Beauvoir (Anglican Church) gave a joint press briefing on concerted efforts to combat the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic in Haiti.



These emissaries members of "Religions for Peace" launched an appeal to the faithful, to the practitioners and followers of all religions and professions of faith combined, in order to respect the hygienic instructions and to slow down the stigmatization of people presumed or suffering from Covid-19.



They pleaded in favor of solidarity between Haitians, in a fraternal neck and neck, necessary to fight effectively and lastingly against the spread of this disease which is wreaking havoc in the world, even in countries with health and economic structures and modern social.



For his part, Minister Bernadel praised this synergy against the Covid-19 and said to count "on the strength and the great listening available to members of the various religious denominations of Religions for Peace with their followers, to strengthen awareness."



Bernadel also intends to act through the various structures of the Ministry in order to bring the population throughout the territory to apply the instructions necessary to avoid contracting the disease and transmitting it. In this sense, he announced a strengthening of security systems at the central level to enforce the measures adopted in the proclamation of a state of health emergency by the Government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30311-haiti-flash-president-moise-declares-a-state-of-health-emergency-text-of-the-order.html



In addition, the Minister asks in particular the Departmental Delegates, the Vice-delegates of boroughs and the local elected representatives, to be firm in spite of the traditions and to make respect the provisions against the gatherings during the Easter period.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30481-haiti-flash-2nd-death-of-covid-19.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30479-haiti-covid-19-daily-bulletin-april-8-2020.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30311-haiti-flash-president-moise-declares-a-state-of-health-emergency-text-of-the-order.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The city of Port Arthur has released more information about individuals in the southern part of Jefferson County who have tested positive for coronavirus.

The majority of the individuals who have been infected across Port Arthur, Nederland, Port Neches and Groves are in their 40s, followed closely by individuals in their 60s.

However, when looking only at cases in Port Arthur, none of the cases have been confirmed in individuals older than 70, according to the information provided by the Port Arthur Health Department.

>> Related: Public info varies in SE Texas coronavirus response

The numbers, combined with those already released by the city of Beaumont's health department, which is responsible for investigating cases in the northern part of the county, provide a clearer overall picture of the Southeast Texas county with the most cases.

The majority of cases in the county have been confirmed in individuals in their 50s. However, the 10-year age ranges from 20-80 all have at least 10 cases each.

Northern Jefferson County has logged two cases in adolescents younger than 20, and one has been confirmed in Port Arthur.

The northern part of the county is the only section with confirmed cases in individuals 80 or older -- two of whom are 90 or older.

Jefferson County has confirmed 92 cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday evening. The six-county region working together to respond to the pandemic has recorded 174.
UPPER THUMB  The Huron County and Tuscola County health departments are asking everyone to bend the curve, not the rules this Easter.

For many, this weekend is an important time to continue family traditions and to gather with loved ones, said Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Katie Alexander in a press release. This year however, we are facing an unprecedented threat that is still spreading rapidly. We are asking all families to celebrate in your home with the loved ones you live with and avoid traveling to see others or gathering in large groups.

Alexander said the lives of your loved ones are not worth an egg hunt and there will be time, hopefully sooner rather than later, that people will be able to resume their regular lives and visit with family members.

Compared to elsewhere in the state, the positive coronavirus cases seem relatively low. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, the health departments and other health officials have reminded residents that the numbers are not representative of the actual number of cases, due to testing challenges such as shortages, accuracy and processing timeframes.

In communities like ours, where the numbers may seem low, its not because COVID-19 is not circulating or not here, the release reads. We are all aware of the limited testing and the cases in our communities are growing. The action we are taking is what is needed to stop the exponential growth of the infection in our communities.

Public health officials continually report that people have the ability to be asymptomatic  showing no signs of a sickness but carrying the coronavirus. Also, people who do develop symptoms could have been carrying the virus for up to 14 days before showing signs.

Many children have extremely mild symptoms and can easily infect individuals without even knowing they are sick, the release reads. Even if we reach out to our loved ones, and ask to see if they are sick, we truly dont know. Please do not risk the lives of your families for one weekend of traditions. We can get through this, but only if we all do our part.

Alexander asks parents to assure their children the Easter Bunny is still able to visit, and celebrate with the people within your household but find new ways to celebrate with extended family and friends.

Utilize technology and find unique ways to connect with the friends and family that you cant travel to see, and plan for better days ahead, she said. We know that these times are hard, and that changing so much of our everyday lives so quickly is difficult, but we need to continue to stay home and to avoid all nonessential travel to save lives. Together we can continue to bend the curve down. Lets not bend the rules, even for a weekend.
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President Yoweri Museveni has banned outdoor exercise to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has released a video to encourage people to keep fit at home under lockdown, after banning outdoor exercise in a bid to halt the spread of the new coronavirus.

In a two-minute and 25-second video published on Thursday, the 75-year-old appears barefoot in a spacious office with a plush red carpet, wearing a grey tracksuit.

Its good to go outdoors when there is no problem, but when theres a need you can go indoors, he tells viewers.

This is just an office. Because I dont have time, I always do my exercises here or even in my home, in my room.

So you start by warming up, he says, before jogging from one end of the room to the other, increasing his pace and making an effort to keep his knees up.

Yesterday, I discouraged people who have been jogging in groups, exposing themselves to risk amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. You do not have to go outdoors to exercise. Here is my demonstration of how you can exercise indoors and stay safe. pic.twitter.com/Ulbj6vGOYQ  Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) April 9, 2020

The head of state then begins to do push-ups, placing his hands on a white towel laid on the floor.

In the background, aides are heard counting 30 push-ups, although the camera cuts away at one point.

Sweating and out of breath, Museveni ends the video by urging people to run in their home compounds.

However, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 71 percent of people living in the capital, Kampala, share a one-roomed home with several others.

On Saturday, the government began food distribution to up to 1.5 million people directly affected by coronavirus lockdown measures.

Uganda has recorded 53 cases of the coronavirus. It has implemented a 14-day lockdown with transport banned and a nighttime curfew. However, people are still allowed to move around on foot in groups of less than five.

The ban on all private and public transportation even applies to medical emergencies, and some mothers in labour have died trying to reach hospitals to give birth.

Museveni has given almost daily briefings on the virus, telling landlords they can demand their money later, complaining about security officers who like beating people and urging that this is not the time for exams.

The president will seek a sixth term in office next year, when he is expected to face a young challenger with his own public pedigree: Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, a musician-turned-politician popularly known as Bobi Wine.

Last month, Bobi Wine  known for his politically pointed hits  released a popular reggae song warning about the dangers of coronavirus.
Allison Brown hadnt been feeling well, but life carried on for the Cincinnati mother of four. Thats what mothers do. Bills must be paid and dinner doesnt cook itself.

So, Brown's daily routine continued until her body ordered her to stop.

On March 20, Brown had an earache and an unrelenting fever. She called and met with her doctor, who diagnosed her with an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics. She thought her condition would improve in a day or so. It didnt.

Four days later, Brown wrapped her hair, put on a plaid shirt and leggings and called her doctor again, this time about her shortness of breath and the fever that still refused to retreat.

Her doctor set her up with an X-ray appointment at Mercy Health Jewish Hospital. The visit triggered a 12-day battle that now defines her life, one that she says is explainable only through faith.

Jonathan Curtis, 40, hugs his longtime girlfriend, Allison Brown, 37, from the balcony of their Hartwell home, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Both were diagnosed with COVID-19. Brown, who has lupus, was hospitalized for 12 days and was released April 5 and put under home quarantine. Curtis only experienced mild symptoms.

About five minutes after I took the X-ray, the radiologist came out and said I needed to go straight to the emergency room because I had viral pneumonia in both lungs, Brown said.

Nobody said COVID-19. But she and her boyfriend, Jonathan Curtis, 40, headed nonetheless to the ER.

There, doctors ran additional tests and diagnosed Brown, 37, with pneumonia, which couldnt be treated for antibiotics. She also needed testing for influenza and coronavirus.

Im almost certain you do have COVID-19, the emergency room doctor told her, she recalled.

'OK, am I going to make it?' Brown asked, fearing she was far more ill than expected.

I cant tell you if youre going to make it or not, but it doesnt look good, she recalled the doctor telling her.

A positive coronavirus test: 'They wheeled her back and wouldnt let me go'

The following day, there was more bad news: She was positive for coronavirus.

Doctors treated her with hydroxychloroquine, but her oxygen levels that had fallen the previous day still didnt improve. The hospital staff recommended putting her on a ventilator and drew a conclusion: They needed to find out her next of kin.

Story continues

Despite being with her live-in boyfriend of five years, those duties went to her firstborn  in this case, her 21-year-old son.

The hydroxychloroquine debate: Donald Trump has advertised it as a coronavirus treatment. Here's what we know about the malaria drug.

Allison Brown in Mercy Health Jewish Hospital in Kenwood.

The doctors said to get my family prepared for do not resuscitate, Brown said. I was so scared. I know when you put people on ventilators, they dont make it out, and I just really want to make it to see my kids, my boyfriend and my family.

On the other side of the hospital, Curtis worried about the love of his life.

They wheeled her back and wouldnt let me go, he recalled.

What now? All I could do was send her 'I love you text messages'

But, Curtis had an issue of his own: PHed lost his sense of smell and taste and had a slight cough.

When the waiting at Jewish became exhaustive, Curtis drove to his personal doctor, where he was tested for COVID-19, and eventually returned to the couple's apartment to care for their children.

I cried myself to sleep. I had so many thoughts in my head. I wanted her to come back home to us, Curtis said. All I could do was send her 'I love you' text messages. I listened to scriptures and sermons.

Jonathan Curtis, 40, hugs his longtime girlfriend Allison Brown, 37, from the balcony of their Hartwell home Tuesday, April 7, 2020, both were diagnosed with COVID-19. Brown who has lupus was hospitalized for 12 days and was released April 5 and under home quarantine. Curtis only experienced mild symptoms.

Curtis leaned on his faith. Browns condition was yet to be determined.

The familys troubles worsened days later when Curtis COVID-19 results came in positive. By then, he said, his symptoms had subsided and his cough was gone.

Still, Curtis self-quarantined in his bedroom to keep the children from becoming infected.

Family dropped off food and cleaning supplies to disinfect the apartment, he said.

She survived coronavirus: 'I was spared by a higher power'

Inside the Jewishs ICU, Brown said her doctors werent making any promises.

The medical staff said being young and resilient was in her favor for beating COVID-19. What wouldnt help was lupus. Brown was diagnosed in 2003 with the long-term autoimmune disease in which the bodys immune system attacks normal, healthy tissue. People with autoimmune diseases are among those most vulnerable to coronavirus.

The first few days (in the hospital) werent looking great, but let me tell you about God, Brown said, acknowledging her faith. A deeply spiritual woman, she said she studied multiple religions before settling on Christianity.

Allison Brown on venitilator at Mercy Health Jewish Hospital as she battled COVID-19.

I was spared by a higher power," she said. "God definitely blessed me. So many people dont make it back from COVID-19.

While sleeping one night, Brown said she accidentally, or maybe while half-conscious, pulled out her ventilator.

I excavated myself, she said.

The next time she awoke, Brown said, I was not on a ventilator anymore and my oxygen levels were coming up. My throat had no damage. The doctors hadnt seen anything like it.

That was the first inclination she was beating the odds. Each day thereafter, her conditioned improved.

Its a testimony. God sent his angels around me, Brown said.

After 12 days in the hospital, she returned home last weekend.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Coronavirus: Ohio woman goes from it doesnt look good to recovery
Uncle Joe gives thanks. Photo: Samuel Corum/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

With Bernie Sanderss decision to suspend his presidential campaign, Joe Biden is not just the presumptive Democratic nominee, but the putative nominee: Its in the bag unless something extremely weird happens. So we can now begin to look at his successful campaign for this designation in the rearview mirror.

Looming in the foreground, of course, is COVID-19 and its drastic effect on the remaining primaries and the overall political climate. But recalling that Biden really won the nomination in an amazing sprint in late February and early March, after a dismal beginning to the cycle for the former veeps campaign, its pretty clear in retrospect that he owes everything to African-American voters. Let us count the ways:

1. Elevating Him Over Cory and Kamala

There were two highly credible African-American candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential field, Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. Both of them hoped to replicate Barack Obamas 2008 path to victory with a strong early showing in lily-white Iowa followed by a breakthrough in majority-black (among Democratic primary voters) South Carolina. But Joe Bidens strength among black voters in and beyond the Palmetto State  far more durable than Hillary Clintons in 2008  remained an immovable object.

Booker never caught fire much of anywhere, and despite spending a lot of time in South Carolina, never showed any signs of cutting into Bidens black support there. Harris had one moment of hope after politely brutalizing Bidens record on school desegregation in a June 2019 debate, and even saw a spike in black support in South Carolina. But it wasnt impressive or enduring: A late-July Monmouth poll in that crucial state showed her being crushed by Biden among South Carolinas African-Americans by a 51/12 margin.

Both these promising black candidates dropped out before voters began voting, and its hard to avoid the conclusion that the preference of black voters for Biden did them in.

2. His Saving Grace in Nevada

After finishing fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, Bidens campaign was on deaths door. But then he finished second in the Nevada caucuses on February 22, and in conjunction with a terrible debate performance by Michael Bloomberg, the former veep was back in the discussion heading toward the last early-state primary in South Carolina a week later and then Super Tuesday on March 3.

Had Biden slipped behind Pete Buttigieg in Nevada, where the former mayor put on a strong and well-financed effort, he might have been written off for good. And according to entrance polls, Biden trailed Mayor Pete by four points among white voters (two-thirds of the total) in the state, and didnt beat him that badly among Latinos. But among the 11 percent of Nevada caucusgoers who are African-American, Biden trounced Buttigieg 38/2 and nailed down the runner-up position behind Sanders.

3. His Big Win in South Carolina

The whole narrative of the 2020 nominating contest flipped on February 29 when Biden won a big victory in South Carolina, winning nearly half the vote against what was then still a large field, and beating second-place Bernie Sanders by nearly 30 points. Sixty-one percent of the states African-American voters, well over half the primary electorate, went for Biden, who not only eclipsed Sanderss support among young voters of all races but limited Tom Steyer  who made a last-gasp bid for black voters via heavy advertising and a big retail campaign presence  to 13 percent of the African-American vote.

The fact that Biden finally won a state was crucial to his shadow battle with Bloomberg, who for a time was close to supplanting Biden entirely as the candidate of Democratic centrists  and was becoming a threat to win black voters as well. As I noted at the time, Biden had some crucial momentum after South Carolinas black voters saved him again:

Between centrists looking for a champion against Bernie and regular Democrats wanting a viable alternative to either career non-Democrat, the former veep has a strong potential coalition and  if he can strongly outperform Bloomberg on Super Tuesday  a good shot at his own two-candidate race against Bernie.

4. Croaking Pete n Amy

Its generally recognized that the last-minute conjoined endorsements of Biden by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar on the eve of Super Tuesday had a lot to do with his performance not only in beating Bloomberg but in winding up with more delegates than consensus-favorite Sanders. What is less well-understood is that black voters made the departure of these two centrist candidates from the field inevitable.

Buttigieg famously worked hard to overcome an antipathy toward his candidacy among African-Americans. Klobuchar had her own problems in this demographic, which she never even began to resolve. When black voters became a factor in the primaries, the inability of either candidate to show any traction with them became an obvious sign they werent going anywhere as the primary electorate grew more diverse. In Nevada, Pete n Amy each got 2 percent of the African-American vote. In South Carolina, Buttigieg won 3 percent of the black vote and Klobuchar won one percent. It was time for them to go, and they did so at the perfect time for Biden.

5. Vaulting Him Into the Lead on Super Tuesday

On March 3, Biden began putting together the coalition of minority and white-suburban supporters that made him the nominee via wins in ten of the 14 states holding contests that day. Again, though, African-Americans were his base: According to exit polls he won 58 percent of black voters across this vast landscape. The example set by South Carolinas electorate, and amplified by high-profile endorsements from black opinion-leaders like Jim Clyburn, appeared to boost Biden into the coveted position of leading a multiracial coalition that looked like the Democratic Party as a whole.

6. Sealing the Deal in March

Before the coronavirus put a halt to the 2020 primaries (except for the botched, Republican-engineered April 7 event in Wisconsin), black voters again were crucial to Bidens drive to presumptive-nominee status. In the March 10 Michigan primary that Sanders supporters thought he might win, Biden won comfortably, in no small part because he won two-thirds of the black vote. On March 17, where three states (Arizona, Florida, and Illinois) held virtually all-voting-by-mail contests, Biden won a sweep, with even higher margins among African-Americans, joined increasingly by white working-class and suburban college-educated voters.

All in all, its very clear that Joe Biden would have never survived the tough early going in 2020 without his base of African-American support, particularly if his rivals had managed to take away a significant share of that same support.

To the extent that black support for Biden is attributable to the power of his electability credentials among an element of the electorate determined to get rid of Donald Trump, its a good start for him in building an enthusiastic general election coalition. But it also suggests a political debt that may go deeper than Bidens constant proclamations of loyalty to his great benefactor Barack Obama.

In choosing the woman who will serve as his vice-presidential nominee, the pressure on Joe Biden to thank African-Americans with a running mate from their ranks  a reciprocal gesture to the one Obama made in choosing him in 2008  could be considerable. If, of course, theres anyone else who tangibly could help improve the odds of beating Trump, black voters will likely again go with the winning formula.
US President Donald Trump thanked India for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to allow the export of malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine to the United States.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Trump said in a tweet, a day after India lifted the hold on export of the drug to the US.



Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!

 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Thank you Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! he said.

President Trump has been pushing for the use of Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. United States has emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The dreaded disease has inflicted more than four lakh Americans, claiming lives of over 14,000 of them till Wednesday.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible line of treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of the COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19 pandemic LIVE updates

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Trump had requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of Hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer.

"I bought millions of doses (of Hydroxychloroquine). More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it (Hydroxychloroquine) comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was Great. He was really good," Trump told Sean Hannity of the Fox News on Monday night.

"You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India, Trump said, responding to a question on the usage of Hydroxychloroquine. India allowed on Tuesday the export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US, which has emerged as the global hotspot of COVID-19.

Explained | What makes hydroxychloroquine popular? Is it really effective against coronavirus?

During the interview, Trump described Hydroxychloroquine as a powerful malaria drug, saying the drug is being tested on hundreds of coronavirus patients in New York.

But there are a lot of good things coming from that, he said.

Lot of people are looking at it and saying, you know I don't hear bad stories, I hear good stories. And I don't hear anything where it is causing death, said the US President.

Hydroxychloroquine, an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria, is seen as a viable therapeutic solution by President Trump to coronavirus.

Last week Trump had said he sought help from Prime Minister Modi to allow the sale of Hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.

India has received similar requests from several other countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal. India has said that it is reviewing its export ban order. Notably, India's decision to ban the exports of Hydroxychloroquine is driven by its desire to take stock of the domestic requirements and ensure that the country has enough of the drug.

"I would be surprised if he would, you know, because India does very well with the United States," Trump told reporters during a press briefing at the White House on Monday.

Trump and Modi enjoy a personal friendship as reflected in the president joining the prime minister at the "Howdy, Modi!" event in Houston last September. This February, Trump made a rare India-specific solo trip to Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

India produces 70 per cent of the world's supply of Hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
LONDON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Footwear brand Crocs has donated over 200.000 pairs of shoes to hospitals globally to support frontline workers during the COVID-19 crisis across multiple territories including its home market the US, as well as Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands and the UK.

Crocs President and CEO Andrew Rees stated: "Like everyone, we've been closely monitoring the news and working hard to map out a way to most effectively help where we can. Over the past few weeks, we have spoken to healthcare workers, their facilities and even their family and friends, and they have specifically asked for our shoes in an effort to provide ease on their feet, as well as ease of mind as they need the ability to easily clean up before they go home to their families."

Crocs is providing its iconic shoes which are easy to clean, lightweight and provide all-day comfort.

"The healthcare industry has always embraced Crocs, but our mantra of 'be comfortable in your own shoes' applies now more than ever, and we want to do more to help these heroes," said Rees.

The first donation of Crocs in the UK arrived with the NHS last week, with additional pairs earmarked for distribution across NHS hospitals nationwide.

Additionally, starting today, Crocs is inviting its online customers to join us in further supporting healthcare workers in one of two ways: by giving 10 with a purchase of Classic Clogs, or by simply contributing 10 to give the gift of Crocs footwear to a healthcare worker. For every contribution made, Crocs will send a pair of shoes directly to those frontline workers who need them most. https://www.crocs.co.uk/programs/shoes-for-healthcare-workers-1.html

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1143121/CROCS_HEALTHCARE_DONATION.jpg
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital with coronavirus and is making steady progress, Downing Street has said.

The 55-year-old was shifted to the ICU of St. Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday night as his condition worsened over 10 days after he had tested positive for coronavirus and went into self-isolation. He has since received "standard oxygen treatment" but has not been diagnosed with pneumonia or required a ventilator to aid his breathing.

The prime minister continues to make steady progress. He remains in intensive care, a Downing Street spokesperson said in the latest health update on Wednesday night.

"He's stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff. I've known the Prime Minister for a long time and I wish him well in this difficult time and I think things are getting better for him," added UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden on Thursday morning.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the UK prime minister while he continues treatment for Covid-19, will chair a virtual Cobra emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss a review of the UK's coronavirus lockdown to consider whether the strict social distancing measures should be extended beyond the 21-day period initially announced by Johnson on March 23. The measures are set to end next Monday but indications are that they would have to be extended.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething  who will take part in the Cobra meeting  said there was "virtually zero prospect" of government experts advising that it was safe to lift the lockdown, adding the measures would continue for "a number of weeks".

"I think rather than speculate about the future, I think we should focus very seriously on the here and now and the present," said Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer who led the daily Downing Street briefing on Wednesday evening.

The senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who announced a new 750-million pound fund to support frontline charities across the UK through the pandemic, stressed the importance of the British public continuing to follow the government's stay-at-home guidance especially during what is a usual holiday travel period over a long Easter weekend.

Sunak, who is the next in line in the government's chain of command after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, also gave his own update on the UK PM's health to confirm that he was sitting up in bed and engaging with his clinical team.

"The latest from the hospital is the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving," he said.

The prime minister is not only my colleague and my boss but also my friend, and my thoughts are with him and his family," he said, adding that the UK PM's illness is a reminder how indiscriminate this disease is.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK registered another record daily jump of 938 fatalities on Wednesday to hit 7,097. Deputy chief scientific adviser, Dame Angela McLean, said the number of new cases was not "accelerating out of control" in the country and warned against complacency and breaking the lockdown norms.
The Interim data showed that 3 out of 9 evaluable patients on BBT-401 responded with more than 30% reduction in Total Mayo Score or 25% reduction in Partial Mayo Score

Safety and tolerability profiles remain consistent with results from Phase I trial in healthy volunteers

SEONGNAM, South Korea, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biotech company headquartered in Seongnam, Republic of Korea, announced the interim data from the first cohort in the phase 2a study of BBT-401, an experimental drug for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC).

In the first cohort from the exploratory Phase 2a trial, 12 patients with active ulcerative colitis with Total Mayo Score of 5 or higher and Mayo Endoscopic Score of 1 or higher were randomized to and administered for 8 weeks with BBT-401 or placebo. Patients in treatment with second line therapies such as steroid injections, rectal suppositories or biologics were excluded from the enrollment.

Data analysis with 11 evaluable patients showed that 3 out of 9 evaluable patients on the experimental drug were respondents in Total Mayo Score or Partial Mayo Score, while none on placebo was a respondent.

In addition, data analysis confirmed that BBT-401 is well tolerable to the patients and most of the adverse events were mild with no case of serious adverse event (SAE). Only one possibly drug-related adverse event reported was mild flatulence. BBT-401 is confirmed to be gut-restricted without systemic exposure after oral administration, which is consistent with results from preclinical experiments and Phase I trial in healthy volunteers.

The company plans that the doses in the next cohorts will be escalated to further assess safety and efficacy profile at higher doses.

"With the data from the first dose group in the phase 2a study, our team is encouraged to advance the clinical trial to higher doses. We will continue working to deliver this novel compound to patients with active ulcerative colitis," stated James Lee, CEO of Bridge Biotherapeutics.

Sengho Jeon, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, the company which was sublicensed the right of BBT-401 in 22 Asian countries, commented: "Along with the interim results, Daewoong Pharmaceutical will further accelerate research and development of BBT-401, closely working in a collaboration with Bridge Biotherapeutics."

BBT-401, an experimental drug discovered by SKKU (Sungkyunkwan University) and KRICT (Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology), is a GI-tract restricted small molecule Pellino-1 inhibitor. Bridge Biotherapeutics was licensed the worldwide exclusive right to the compound in 2015 and sublicensed the right in 22 Asian countries to Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in 2018.

About Bridge Biotherapeutics

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc. (KOSDAQ 288330), based in South Korea, US and China, is a publicly-traded clinical stage biotech company founded in 2015. Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, focusing on therapeutic areas with high-unmet needs, such as ulcerative colitis, fibrotic diseases, and cancers. BBT-401, the first-in-class Pellino-1 inhibitor for treatment of ulcerative colitis, is currently in Phase II in the US, and BBT-877, an autotaxin inhibitor to treat various fibrosing interstitial lung diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), was licensed to Boehringer-Ingelheim for further development in July 2019 with potential license value more than 1.1 billion euro. BBT-176, a potent targeted cancer therapy for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is also in development. Bridge Biotherapeutics is a resident company of JLABS @ Shanghai.

www.bridgebiorx.com

About Pellino Proteins

Pellino proteins are a family of E3 ubiquitin ligases which are highly conserved across species in mammal. Pellinos also serve as scaffold proteins that bind to proteins in inflammatory signaling pathways, including IRAK4, MyD88 (myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88) and to RIPK1 in various physio-pathological conditions.

SOURCE Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bridgebiorx.com


A K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer / Courtesy of Hanwha Defense



By Kang Seung-woo



Defense companies are among the many industries that have been hit hard by the global coronavirus pandemic, as factories around the world have had to close down, leading to delayed deliveries and incomplete contracts.



While the Korean government is striving to cushion the virus shock, the country's defense manufacturer Hanwha Defense remains undaunted by the COVID-19 global impact, according to the company, Thursday.



One such example is the planned delivery of K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers to Norway. The European country signed a contract with the firm in 2017 to acquire 24 K9s and six K10 automatic ammunition resupply vehicles by the end of 2020.



"The main production facility for the K9, located in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, has been operating as normal without any delay to deliveries," a Hanwha official told The Korea Times. "The artillery is in full production and the first batch of the K9s is set to be shipped to Norway in May."



Since last November, two K9 guns have been undergoing test trials, along with one K10 vehicle, he added. Starting in May, the remaining vehicles on order are scheduled to be handed over to the Norwegian Army by October.



A couple of Hanwha's artillery experts were dispatched to Europe to help train Norwegian technicians to use the advanced artillery system.



"We are pleased that the construction of the artillery and the rest of the project is still going according to plan," Nils Inge Tren from the Norwegian Defense Material Agency was quoted as saying by a local engineering magazine on April 6.



Hanwha Defense has exported about 600 K9 guns to foreign countries, including Turkey, Poland Estonia and India. The K9 accounts for nearly 50 percent of the self-propelled howitzers being operated in the world.


Coronavirus tests are carried out at a drive-through centre. (PA Images)

The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in the UK has risen today to 7,097, an increase of 938 and the biggest daily rise yet.

The government posted the update this afternoon, which was larger than Spain reported today  though the UK is believed to be approaching its peak of infections while the Mediterranean country is hoped to be moving past it.

Health authorities across all four nations reported a combine increase of 936 deaths today, and the Health Departments figures vary from the combined totals because of differences in accounting methods.

Globally, there have been more than 1.4 million confirmed cases, 82,000 deaths and 307,000 recoveries from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

A billboard van is seen outside St Thomas' Hospital in Central London where Boris Johnson is in intensive care as his coronavirus symptoms persist. It comes as England recorded its highest increase in COVID-19 deaths (PA Images)

The Prime Minister has spent a second night in intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened on Monday (PA Images)

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, who is in intensive care suffering from coronavirus, is clinically stable and responding to treatment, Downing Street said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson said: He continues to be cared for in the intensive care unit at St Thomass Hospital. Hes in good spirits.

Elsewhere, focus has turned to when the UKs lockdown measures will be relaxed.

The restrictions, designed to massively reduce the viruss opportunity to spread through the population, are due to be reviewed on Monday.

Dominic Raab is deputising for Boris Johnson. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Dominic Raab, first secretary of state and foreign secretary, who is deputising for Johnson while he remains in intensive care, said yesterday the measures will not be reviewed until the government is sure the lockdown has worked.

The critical thing is to take evidence-based decisions and so weve said that we will take any review once weve got the evidence that the measures are working, he said.

And having the kind of impact taking us past the peak which means that they can be responsibly done. Were not at that stage yet.

Story continues

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said the country needed to be past the peak in infections before decisions about relaxing the lockdown can be made.

London mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: When the prime minister announced the lockdown just over two and a half weeks ago he said he would review it in three weeks time, which is this Monday.

Sadiq Khan has been criticised after public transport workers died having contracted coronavirus. (Kirsty O'Connor / PA via AP)

He added: We think the peak  which is the worst part of the virus  is still probably a week and a half away.

Khan said London was not close to being let out of lockdown and that his thoughts and prayers are with public transport workers who have died after being infected with coronavirus.

These include nine bus drivers, including 36-year-old Emeka Nyack Ihenacho. His mother Anne Nyack has criticised the lack of protective equipment for bus drivers.

[Khan] needs to get out there and have a look at the buses and see what condition the drivers are operating in, she told Good Morning Britain on ITV.

They are at risk, my son was at risk  sadly he died.

Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the World Health Organizations director-general, said the key to stopping this is through testing, isolation and contact tracing.

We are in the middle of a war, here  a very, very serious war that we are only beginning to understand, he said.

We have to accept we are in a situation and we have to do everything we can to save lives, reduce transmission, and get societies back to the new normal way of functioning.

Coronavirus: what happened today
Botswana's 57 MPs will be put in mandatory quarantine for 14 days after a parliamentary nurse tested positive for Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus.



The order to quarantine the lawmakers was made by Director of Health Services Malaki Tshipayagae, according to a tweet from the government.



The country on Thursday confirmed seven new coronavirus cases, including a health worker who was on duty during parliament's session on Wednesday.



President Mokgweetsi Masisi also attended the session in which lawmakers debated on extending the state of emergency to six months.



The president recently concluded his 14 days in quarantine after he returned from Namibia in March.



Botswana now has a total of 13 confirmed coronavirus cases.



The country is on a 28-day lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.

Source: BBC









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Featured Video
Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made a surprise visit to an Amazon fulfillment center and a Whole Foods store as workers have called on the company to better protect them against the coronavirus.

The visit on Wednesday comes as Bezos and Amazon have faced criticism from warehouse workers, Whole Foods employees, union officials and legislators about a lack of protective measures for employees who continue to work during the coronavirus outbreak.

The company tweeted a video of Bezos visiting the facilities, donning a face mask. Bezos is shown getting his temperature checked as he enters the fulfillment center, then chatting with warehouse workers as he walks through the facility. He also tours a Whole Foods location where he thanked employees throughout the store, joking that he couldn't shake their hand.

Bezos tweet

It's unclear where the Amazon warehouse and Whole Foods store are located. Representatives from Amazon weren't immediately available for comment.

Bezos has maintained a relatively low profile amid the heightened criticism. Last month, he sent a memo to employees in which he praised them for continuing to work amid the outbreak and said he was working to obtain additional face masks for workers.

Whole Foods workers staged a nationwide "sick out" last week to call for paid leave for workers in quarantine and health-care coverage for part-time and seasonal workers, among other demands.
After Life fans have been eagerly-awaiting the arrival of the second season.

And ahead of the release on April 24, a new trailer for the show will leave hearts warmed as bitter and grieving Tony - played by Ricky Gervais - begins to have his spirits lifted by his adoring support network.

While he is still seen yearning for his late wife Lisa, Tony begins to perk up and vows to help his loved ones to improve their lives.

Here it is: The official trailer for Netflix's After Life was released on Thursday

As well as Ricky, the cast includes Penelope Wilton, Ashley Jensen, Bill Ward, Tom Basden, Joe Wilkinson, Kerry Godliman, Roisin Conaty and Diane Morgan.

Tony is seen saying: 'People think all things I miss doing with Lisa, I could do anyway. They're missing the point. I miss doing nothing with her'.

After a now-famous scene from the first season, Tony's foul mouth returns as he brands a yoga teacher a 'c**t'.

Speaking ahead of the release of the show, Ricky said: 'I was blown away by the reaction to season one. I've never experienced anything quite like it!..

On the up? While he is still seen yearning for his late wife, Tony begins to perk up and vows to help his loved ones to improve their lives

Checking in: The uplifting trailer gives promise to fans of Tony's story

Throwback: Tony watches throwback videos to happier times with Lisa

'It's been truly heart-warming to see how the show has resonated with so many viewers on an emotional level. I can't wait for everyone to see season 2 where hope is everything'.

Six new episodes of the show will be available from April 24 - and continue the story of Tony, a writer for the local newspaper whose life is upended after his wife dies from cancer.

The show is set in the small fictitious town of Tambury and continues to explore Tony's struggle with immense grief for his wife. The plot sees Tony try to become a better friend to those around him - who are each grappling with their own problems.

Uh oh! After a now-famous scene from the first season, Tony's foul mouth returns as he brands a yoga teacher a 'c**t'

Things intensify when the threat of the local newspaper being shut down rears - sending everyone into a panic at the prospect of unemployment. The characters turn to Am-Dram as a way to lift spirits - with undoubtedly hilarious results.

Back in October, Ricky, 58, posted a picture of himself in character as the provincial journalist with his late on-screen wife Lisa, [Godliman], and on-screen dog Brandy.

He cryptically captioned the photo, which is clearly from a flashback scene, with: '#AfterLife2 Have a great day.'

Inevitably, the Instagram snap sent Ricky's 1.9 million followers into meltdown as they shared their excitement over the new series.

AFTER LIFE returns to Netflix on 24th April 2020 with 6 brand new episodes

Touching: The throwback scenes added haunting touches
Police forces are stepping up patrols and road checks to prevent people flocking to beauty spots over the Easter weekend.

Officers fear that the warm and sunny weather forecast for much of the UK over Good Friday and Saturday will tempt people out of cities into the countryside.

With the current coronavirus lockdown likely to be extended, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) warned that officers may have to ask people about their circumstances if theyre outdoors.

During this long weekend, please help the NHS and those most vulnerable in our communities by staying home unless your journey is essential  even when good weather or sheer frustration could tempt us outside, said its chair, Martin Hewitt.

We will engage with the public, explain the social distancing regulations and the responsibilities we all share, and encourage those who are out without good reason to go back home.

Where people dont comply, we will direct them to go home, and if necessary we will issue a fine.

Forces that police popular walking spots including the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Snowdonia are among those telling tourists not to visit.

British Transport Police, which wrongfully prosecuted a woman under the Coronavirus Act last week, said officers would patrol railway stations popular with daytrippers.

Superintendent Glen Alderson said: Only those making essential journeys should be using the rail network.

Devon and Cornwall Police will be conducting vehicle checks on the M5 and A30 to prevent visitors from entering the area, and issue fines to motorists violating coronavirus restrictions.

Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew said: Essential travel does not include visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks or similar, whether for isolation purposes or holidays.

Cumbria Police issued a frank message on social media, saying: If you are thinking of coming to the Lakes this weekend for a holiday  dont.

The Lake District is among areas where the owners of Airbnbs and holiday homes are accused of continuing to allow visitors.

Chief Constable Michelle Skeer said: This is not a time for tourists to be travelling to the county. My officers will be on patrol, in all areas across the county, particularly in popular areas and gathering spots.

She said people travelling into the county or ignoring social distancing guidelines could be fined and arrested.

Hampshire Police cautioned people against taking advantage of the expected upturn in weather and visit green spaces, beaches and national parks.

We may need to ask you about your circumstances if we see you out and about or travelling so please continue to consider if your journey is essential, said Assistant Chief Constable Scott Chilton.

The Traffic Wales authority said police were patrolling the countrys entire road network and if your journey is not deemed essential then you will be told to return to your home address and may be fined.

A police officer moves a member of the public off Brighton Beach on 4 April (Getty)

North Wales Police said officers had spoken to people travelling miles for a ride in the car or to go kite surfing on the beach.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison added: Our advice is do not travel into north Wales illegally. Moving around can easily accelerate the spread of the virus.

Gwent Police said officers would be carrying out enhanced patrols over Easter, engaging with motorists and questioning behaviour that does not follow government guidance.

Police Scotland have appealed for people not to flock to the Highlands and ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, which runs services to the Hebrides and other islands said people on non-essential journeys will not be allowed to travel.

Director of operations Robert Morrison added: Only essential travellers are currently being allowed to board which includes food and medical supplies, utilities workers, transport and the emergency services.

Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley said that if people continued to flout restrictions, his officers would set up roadblocks and could even start searching peoples shopping trolleys.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, he added: If things dont improve, and we dont get the compliance we would expect, then the next stage will be road blocks and it will be stopping people to ask why they are going, where theyre going.

The warnings came after police forces across the UK introduced dedicated online tools for people to report alleged lockdown breaches.

Officers are encouraging people to use the forms rather than dialling 101, which was inundated with calls after the restrictions were announced.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary said it would not be dispatching officers for minor infringements but would respond to mass gatherings.

Police have been given the power to arrest and fine people for breaking the new Health Protection Regulations, although leaders say officers must only use enforcement as a last resort after encouraging people to comply voluntarily.

The standard penalty is 60, reduced to 30 if paid promptly, but the amount can be increased for repeat offences up to 960.
Police, University Authorities Enforce Ban on Large Gatherings After 100-Student Party Busted

The University of Clemson is working with the local police force to enforce its social distancing policies off campus, after police officers broke up a birthday party last Friday where at least 100 students were gathered.

Police officers were dispatched to a rental home of a Clemson student near downtown Clemson, South Carolina, on April 3 evening, after receiving multiple complaints from the neighborhood about large gathering. The off-campus party, which involved over 100 Clemson students, was promptly dispersed and no charge was issued.

Clemson City Police Chief Jeff Stone said any more large gatherings will be broken up, including those on private property, reported Anderson Independent Mail. He added that the police has reached out to Clemson University to help enforce social distancing regulations among students.

Clemson University on Wednesday released a statement, saying school administrators were aware of the incident that contributed to unsafe conditions in excess of the numbers permissible under current state regulations.

The university said any student found responsible for gatherings larger than three people might face disciplinary measures according to the schools own code of conduct, as well as possible misdemeanor charges by local police.

In an email to Clemson City Attorney Mary McCormac, the student who hosted the party apologized and explained that he didnt expect that large of a crowd to show up.

I understand the China virus is a very real and dangerous thing that is effecting (sic) everyone, the student wrote, reported Anderson Independent Mail. I thoroughly apologize for my negligence and not being mature enough not to follow government protocol.

McCormac wrote to the students father, who owns the property where the party was held, saying his sons poor decision might undermine the communitys effort to limit the spread of the virus. She also urged the father, the son, and the partys more than 100 attendees to self-isolate for 14 days.

Given the amount of people present in the houseyou should consider the property to be contaminated with the virus and your son to have been exposed, McCormac wrote.

An executive order signed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster went into effect this Tuesday. Dubbed Work or Home, the order requires all residents in the state to remain at home or work unless visiting family, exercising, or obtaining essential goods or services.

We hope that this order today will reduce the rising rate of infection and also reduce the rate of non-compliance, McMaster said.

As of Thursday, April 9, South Carolinas health department reported 2,792 confirmed cases and 67 deaths associated with the virus.
As the coronavirus pandemic has spread all over the world, the medical staff is playing the crucial role as a warrior fighting against the outbreak. But they are most at risk due to absence of adequate personal protection equipment. (Image: Reuters)

However, to save the life of frontline soldiers, many countries are opting for robots to help medical staff communicate freely with COVID-19 patients without coming in close contact with them. (Image: Reuters)

A coronavirus patient under treatment in the intensive care unit interacts with a robot at 'Ospedale di Circolo' hospital, in Varese, Italy. Six robots will help healthcare professionals assist COVID-19 patients, one robot for every two patients to maximise monitoring and assistance. (Image: AP)

A robot is placed in front of a coronavirus patient under treatment in the intensive care unit at 'Ospedale di Circolo' hospital, in Varese, Italy. (Image: AP)

A health worker looks at the screen showing images taken by a robot helping medical teams treat patients suffering from COVID-19 in the Circolo hospital, in Varese, Italy. (Image: Reuters)

A patient interacts with a robot helping medical teams treat patients suffering from the coronavirus outbreak in the Circolo hospital, in Varese, Italy. (Image: Reuters)

Deputy Head of the intensive care unit Flavio Tangian prepares a robot at 'Ospedale di Circolo' hospital, in Varese to help medial staff attend COVID-19 patients from a distance. (Image: AP)

Research assistant Maitai Dahlan from the Regional Centre of Robotics Technology at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University demonstrates a mobile robot to help with the care of hospitalized COVID-19 patients by reducing the contact between them and hospital personnel in Bangkok, Thailand. (Image: AP)

Medical workers walk by a police robot at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after travel restrictions to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, were lifted. (Image: Reuters)
After being unable to do the required testing, one of the largest nursing homes in western Pennsylvania is operating under the assumption that all of the facilitys nearly 800 patients and staff have been infected with COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, three patients had died and at least 42 patients and 10 staff members at the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center have tested positive for COVID-19. The center has also stopped listing the number of patients and staff infected along with the number of deaths on their daily posting.

Family and friends of those in the nursing home are distraught as they are unable to see their loved ones and are now unable to find out whether they are infected or not.

Keri Boyer, the daughter of 73-year-old Earl Denbow, who died Monday from COVID-19, told Channel 11 news how fast her father died. They called me last Monday to say that he wasnt feeling well, and they started him on an IV and he had a slight fever. They tested him Thursday. They got the (positive) results on Friday. They called hospice in on Sunday, and he was gone yesterday ... that quick.

Nurses and other staff at the facility were outraged at the speed the infection was growing inside the home and the lack of action by management to stop the spread and provide staff protective gear. Nurses report that they have been sent to work with patients with COVID-19 and were denied N95 masks.

On Thursday, nurses and other health care workers at the facility walked off the job demanding management provide them with protective equipment as the coronavirus spread through the 589-bed facility.

Tamera Witherspoon, a nurse, told WTAE-TV that she was sent to work with COVID-19 patients, but was denied access to even a face mask. I cant believe I was denied as a health care worker, from another health care worker, to work in unsafe conditions, Witherspoon told the Pittsburgh TV station.

I was livid, but I was also on duty, she said. There are patients that need to be cared for so Im in a predicament. Witherspoon told the station that she was angry but continued to care for her patients, but was outraged when she saw administrators wearing the protective gear.

Youre not doing patient care and Im at the bedside doing patient care, and I have three kids at home and I ask you and youre denying me to have an N95? I just think thats deplorable, she said.

Union officials worked quickly to end the walkout and get staff to return to work, promising workers would receive N95 masks and frontline workers hazard pay.

In a contemptuous press release, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania President Matthew Yarnell said, This crisis has highlighted how vulnerable our health care system is and that caregivers input and voice is absolutely essential if we want to provide high-quality care in this country.

Rather than fighting for full protective gear, universal testing and emergency action to stop the spread and protect the patients and workers, the union works as a second level of management to ensure the nursing home remains running with enough staff.

On Monday, unable to test all the patients and staff that showed symptoms, management at the nursing home, along with local health officials, decided to designate anyone with symptoms COVID-19 positive and assume that all 450 patients and 300 staff members are also infected.

While local news is treating this as management finally recognizing the severity of the crisis, in reality they are accepting the possibility that scores of patients and staff will die while taking no action to further stop the spread of the virus.

No attempt is being made to isolate and remove those who are not yet infected. No additional equipment is being brought into the home to treat the sick, no facilities are in place to house the staff and protect their families and the community from its spread.

The virus continues to spread through Pennsylvania. State health officials reported that there was a surge in deaths, climbing 48 percent on Tuesday, with 78 new deaths bringing the total to 240. The total number of cases has climbed to 14,669.

We assume that the true rate of [COVID-19] is much higher than the one were reporting, State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, said.

Throughout Pennsylvania, 664 health care workers have been infected; 674 people living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities outside the Beaver nursing home have also been infected.

A nurse who works at a long-term care home near Pittsburgh, a sister facility of the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, told the World Socialist Web Site that the company only cares about profits and not the patients or the staff.

To think that they are not providing staff with masks and other personal protective gear is criminal, said the nurse, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing her job. They say they dont want to scar the patients, but without protection you are spreading the virus.

She explained that about a month ago, they had to move one of their patients to the Brighton facility to get her away from another patient who was bullying her. We were all sickened when we learned that she was one of the ones who died, she said.

This is a long-term facility. You get to know all the patients here and they become like family. It is very hard when something like this happens that didnt have to.

This wouldnt have happened if we had universal health care, the nurse said. We could send a patient to a facility that best suited them. But because this company only wants to make money, she was sent to one of their facilities.

The nurse also explained that the lack of support for staff helps to explain the rapid spread of COVID-19 inside the nursing home. Nurses dont get any sick days until theyve worked a year.

Aides and other staff in nursing homes are some of the lowest paid and overworked workers in the country. In many facilities, aides dont even make $15 an hour, with some paid as low as $10, $11 and $12 with little or no benefits.

Being an aide was the hardest job I ever had, the nurse said. You are constantly working and in direct contact with patients, feeding them, taking them to the bathroom, cleaning them, bathing them, getting them dressed.

Without proper protection and training, workers can unwillingly transfer COVID-19 from one patient to another. The center says that they have only 600 masks and 2,500 surgical gowns on hand, meaning staff will be forced to reuse masks. The cloth-type surgical gowns will not protect an employee from COVID-19 and can even transfer the virus from one person to another.

Following the line of the Trump administration to downplay the danger, as the pandemic spread throughout Pennsylvania and the US, neither the local nor state Departments of Health laid down guidelines to protect nursing home patients and health care workers from COVID-19.
Were honored to help this charity support families facing serious health issues, says Tom Stiles, Executive Director of the ISG.

The Identification Systems Group (ISG), the nationwide network of local identification system integrators, announced that it has donated $39,000 to Hearts and Hands Minnesota, a charity that provides resources and comfort to families whose children with serious or terminal medical conditions. The funds were raised at the ISGs Annual Spring Meeting where Members and Partners made cash and check donations, as well as purchasing items in a charity silent auction.

Were honored to help this charity support families facing serious health issues, says Tom Stiles, the Executive Director of the ISG. Many of these families face financial difficulties taking care of their children with medical needs, often making it hard for them to keep working full-time jobs. The catch is that they either need support to care for their children while they work or need additional funds to cover the lost wages from missing work to care for their kids themselves. Charities like Hearts and Hands Minnesota help fill that resource gap, helping these parents and kids with paying bills, medical transportation, and providing childcare services. And special thanks to our Partner, Identiv, for donating $10,000 of the total through their product promotion campaign.

About Hearts and Hands Minnesota

Our mission is to provide non-medical support services to families from across Minnesota who have, or have had, a child with a life-threatening illness. While they may not be able to change the prognosis of a seriously ill child, they offer support to families during these difficult times. Learn more at http://www.heartsandhandsmn.org.

About the ISG

The Identification Systems Group (ISG) is a nationwide network of local identification card system integrators, providing high quality, cost-effective solutions backed by the local support and strength of its Professional Services Certification program. Each company works together to provide seamless nationwide support in the USA and Canada. For more information, please visit http://www.identificationsystemsgroup.com.
Afrika Umoja, an initiative initiated by Cape Town temporary architecture specialists, HOTT3D and pan-African energy event organiser Africa Oil & Power (AOP), is tackling the Covid-19 threat in its home city and across Africa. Afrika Umoja aims to build temporary hospitals, clinics and homeless shelters to combat the coronavirus, in partnership with government, the private sector and local entrepreneurs.

1662222 via Pixabay

The venture applies HOTT3Ds design, construction and project management expertise to building medical facilities within days, in potentially any location across Africa. AOP is supporting Afrika Umoja through marketing, communications and outreach to its network of partners."The coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on companies in the events industry globally, but these highly skilled people and organizations can be redeployed. Instead of designing and building complex exhibition and conference infrastructure, we are now able to very quickly design and build temporary emergency medical infrastructure" says Liam Beattie, managing director of HOTT3D.Afrika Umoja is in discussions with provincial authorities and is ready to build at short notice in South Africa and internationally."Its exciting to be able to work with HOTT3D, as we have done for exhibitions and conferences in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan and South Africa for years, on providing national and provincial governments with solutions for the challenge of building high quality medical facilities and accommodation, wherever they are on the continent," notes James Chester, acting CEO of AOP.Afrika Umoja invites provincial and national governments and firms interested in building or funding temporary medical buildings and shelters to contact the team. The organisation is also keen to welcome more vendors and suppliers to join the project, whether they are based in Cape Town or further afield
In the past week, Latin American carrier Gol Linhas GOL reported a massive decline in March traffic and occupancy rate as coronavirus persistently paralyzed air-travel demand. Meanwhile, this U.S. based Delta Air Lines DAL expects its second-quarter 2020 (Apr-Jun) revenues to shrink as much as 90% in the face of plummeting passenger revenues induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, Alaska Air Groups ALK wholly owned subsidiary Alaska Airlines announced further capacity cuts for April and May to combat the extremely bleak air-travel demand scenario. Due to the coronavirus-caused turbulence in the airline space, capacity-cut updates were also available in the previous week.

Across the pond, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings RYAAY reported a 48% year-over-year decline in March traffic to 5.7 million with widespread travel restrictions in place due to the pandemic.

Summary of the Past Weeks Key Headlines

1. Due to the coronavirus-led uncertainty, Gol Linhas suspended its guidance for 2020 and2021. Moreover, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company announced cost-cutting measures like tax deferrals to drive its bottom line in the face of dwindling revenues. Meanwhile, its March consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, declined 29.7%. With Gol Linhas trimming capacity to compensate dwindling demand, consolidated capacity (measured in available seat miles) contracted 22.2%.Occupancy rate fell to 71.6% from 79.3% in March 2019.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

2. Delta expects its second-quarter 2020 performance to be worse than the first as coronavirus pandemic concerns are on the rise. Meanwhile, Delta is burning more than $60 million in cash each day but hasnt seen the bottom yet. With crumbling air-travel demand, the airline will continue to slash capacity while maintaining a network of only essential services. In April, the carrier will reduce capacity by at least 80% with 115,000 flight cancellations. Meanwhile, Delta submitted its application for the coronavirus relief grant.

Story continues

3. Alaska Airlines plans to lower April and May capacity by 80% as the carrier continues to experience more than 80% decline in demand amid the coronavirus crisis. With the health hazard continuing unabated, the airline expects to make sizeable cuts in June and beyond as well. Previously, Alaska Airlines was expected to lower capacity for April and May by 70%.To cope with this deep crisis, the carrier took several cost-reduction initiatives.

4 American Airlines AAL aims to cancel more flights to and from New York City area airports due to rapidly evaporating" travel demand as COVID-19 cases increase in the region. Notably, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory warning against all non-essential travel to and from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. American Airlines will now operate only 13 daily flights from New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports and New Jersey's Newark airport between Apr 9 and May 6.

5. As a result of the coronavirus-triggered difficulty, Ryanair expects its fiscal 2020 Profit After Tax in the 950-1,000 million band(which is at the lower end of the earlier guided range). The company will release its fiscal 2020 results on May 18. With flights mainly operating for emergency purposes, Ryanair currently runs less than 20 flights a day, reflecting an enormous 99% reduction from the 2,500 plus flights that took to the skies daily prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the past six months.

The table above shows that most airline stocks have traded in the red over the past week, inducing a 5.8% decline in the NYSE ARCA Airline Index to $42.63. This downtrend was due to the coronavirus-induced fast-vanishing air-travel demand. Over the course of past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has tanked 56.7%.

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YEREVAN, 9 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 9 April, USD exchange rate down by 3.48 drams to 493.10 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.84 drams to 536.59 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 6.66 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.74 drams to 612.97 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 207.51 drams to 26123.45 drams. Silver price down by 1.85 drams to 238.83 drams. Platinum price down by 82.90 drams to 11747.47 drams.
Charities in Northern Ireland are to get over 10million as part of a government support package, it has been announced.

Across the UK, charities struggling during the coronavirus pandemic will be given a 750m bailout to keep them afloat, the Chancellor said.

Rishi Sunak confirmed that charities, including those supporting domestic abuse victims and hospices, would receive cash grants to ensure they can meet increased demand as a result of the virus.

Some 360million from government departments will go to charities providing key services, while smaller ones will benefit from 370million, including through a grant to the National Lottery Community Fund.

Welcoming the news, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said: "I am delighted to announce that Northern Ireland charities will receive at least 10million under the Barnett formula as part of the multimillion-pound package of coronavirus funding unveiled by the Chancellor today.

"I encourage the Executive to use this funding to support vital organisations as they continue to provide key services at the heart of local communities during this challenging time.

"The charity sector delivers key support to the most vulnerable in our society, and this initiative will help to ensure that they can continue to assist those who are most in need."

The Government has also pledged to match the public's donations to the National Emergencies Trust, guaranteeing a minimum of 20million.

It will match whatever the public decides to donate to the BBC's Big Night In charity appeal on April 23.

Mr Sunak said: "Our charities are playing a crucial role in the national fight against coronavirus, supporting those who are most in need.

"It's right we do everything we can to help the sector during this difficult time, which is why we have announced this unprecedented 750million package of extra funding.

"This will ensure our key charities can continue to deliver the services that millions of people rely on."

Tens of thousands of charities are expected to benefit, including hospices, St John's Ambulance, vulnerable children and victims services and Citizen's Advice.

Announcing the funds for frontline charities at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Sunak said: "For them, shutting up shop at this moment would be to contravene their very purpose, their entire reason to exist.

"Those charities have never been more needed than they are now, and they have never faced such a sudden fall in their funding."

"At this time, when many are hurting and tired and confined, we need the gentleness of charities in our lives.

"It gives us hope, it makes us stronger and it reminds us we depend on each other."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "delighted" that up to 200m would go towards hospices.

Mr Hancock added: "Hospices have suffered a huge challenge to their funding due to the outbreak of coronavirus, but at the same time they have continued to play a vital role in delivering compassionate, quality end-of-life care for many people."
China has stated that dogs should be treated as pets, not livestock, for the first time  a move campaigners hope could signal an end to the countrys brutal cat and dog meat trade.

It comes after Chinese authorities imposed an immediate ban on eating and trading wild animals in response to coronavirus, which is believed  but by no means conclusively proven  to have first spread to humans at a wet market in Wuhan.

With the progress of human civilisation and the publics concern and preference for animal protection, dogs have changed from traditional domestic animals to companion animals, Chinas Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said.

Dogs are generally not regarded as livestock and poultry around the world, and China should also not manage them as livestock and poultry.

The announcement was published on Wednesday alongside a draft document of the National Catalogue of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources  a list of which livestock can be legally traded for meat, fur and medical purposes.

While the official list has never included dogs or cats, it is the first time Chinese authorities have explained their omission. The document is open to public consultation until 8 May.

An estimated 10 million dogs a year are killed for Chinas dog meat trade, which is thought to be consumed infrequently by less than 20 per cent of the population, according to Humane Society International (HSI).

A nationwide survey in 2016 suggested a majority of Chinese citizens think the dog meat trade should be completely banned, with nearly 70 per cent of those polled having never eaten it  despite efforts by traders to promote it. Last week, Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to explicitly ban their consumption and production.

This draft proposal could signal a game-changer moment for animal protection in China, said HSI director Wendy Higgins.

Coming so soon after Shenzhens dog and cat meat ban, it is incredibly encouraging now to see a draft on the table in mainland China that could effectively ban the eating of dogs and cats.

Tens of millions of dogs and cats every year, mostly stolen pets, suffer the agonies of the brutal meat trade, and there is no greater desire to see it end than among Chinese animal groups and animal lovers themselves.

Not only does it cause enormous animal suffering, but it is also almost entirely fuelled by crime and, perhaps most significantly right now, poses an undeniable human health threat with the risk of diseases such as rabies and cholera.

The announcement signals a major shift in government policy, said Ms Higgins, adding: We have to await the outcome of the consultation phase but this draft could effectively pave the way for China to officially take dogs and cats off the menu.

But the draft ban already faces opposition from dog-related business owners, particularly in Guangxi, where thousands of people are reliant upon the trade.

One business owner from Guangxi told the state-affiliated Global Times that the government's draft should take local living conditions into consideration, warning it could be difficult for many to change profession.

Dogs are eaten infrequently in Nigeria, Togo and across most of South East Asia, according to the Poynter Institute. Campaigners also say they are eaten in Switzerland.

China's draft livestock catalogue was published as a new study found cats and ferrets are highly susceptible to contracting Covid-19.

The paper, published on the website of the journal Science, found dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus.

The results prompted the World Health Organisation to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets, Reuters reported.
(Reuters) - Eric Cohn used to wear a respirator mask, goggles and gloves only to protect against mold and asbestos as he restored homes in Tucson, Arizona.

(Reuters) - Eric Cohn used to wear a respirator mask, goggles and gloves only to protect against mold and asbestos as he restored homes in Tucson, Arizona. Now he dons the same gear in his new job - shopping for quarantined customers.

"People ask me where I get this mask every day," the 34-year-old said. "They say: you look good! I say I'm not trying to look good. I'm trying to be safe."

With over 90% of the U.S. population under orders to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Cohn is among a new class of front-line workers delivering food to people's houses.

These workers risk their own health every time they touch doors to enter supermarkets and restaurants, or approach homes where someone inside could be sick. But - with a record 10 million Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March - many feel they have little choice if they want to pay their bills.

Cohn said he often feels vulnerable in the supermarket checkout line as other customers get closer to him than the recommended 6 feet (1.8 meters). Once safely back in his car, he disinfects his gloved hands, steering wheel, door handles and phone. He often works 14 hours with a goal of making $200 a day.

"If I didn't have my own PPE, I don't know if I would be OK with doing this," he said, referring to personal protective equipment.

Concerns about staff safety led a family in New York's Brooklyn neighborhood to decide to close their three restaurants. Last week, Ix (pronounced "eesh") made its last free deliveries of Guatemalan food to police, firefighters, doctors and nurses.

"This was our baby. It was the dream come true. It's hard to say goodbye to that," said Ana Prince, one of the owners of Ix, which opened over three years ago.

"I feel like I want to cry because you never want to see your business closing," she said. "But everyone is healthy and we don't want them to get sick. It could get worse. So for the health of everybody, we made the decision (to close), but it wasn't easy at all," said Prince.

With restaurants closing and so many people ordering food from their homes, many Americans have found delivery slots at grocery stores evaporating.

Some providers have tried to get around that by going direct to the consumer.

In Lodi, Ohio, farmers have created a website offering weekly deliveries of vegetables, meats, cheeses and other fresh items.

"It's nice for us using the online order forms," said Jimmy Myers, 33, one of the owners of Front 9 Farm. "We know that everything we harvest is going to be sold. There's very little waste... We sell out of eggs within about two hours of loading the order form."

In California, Jordyn Kastlunger, who fishes commercially with her father Martin Kastlunger, sometimes sells the catches at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in San Diego. About 300 people recently lined up to buy fish at the market, standing on tape markers 6 feet apart. Police later asked them to increase the spacing to 12 feet.

"My dad fishes for a variety of things so the only thing that's really been impacted is crab, since processors don't have as much bait to give," Kastlunger said. "We've been doing OK. It's definitely slower and harder."

(Reporting by Cheney Orr in Tucson, Arizona; Bing Gaun in San Diego; Dane Rhys in Akron, Ohio and Anna Watts in New York; Writing by Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
All bars in Seoul have been ordered closed for the next 12 days since Wednesday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government made the snap decision because a hostess in a large bar in upscale Gangnam came in contact with some 100 people after she was infected with coronavirus.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced the ban in a press briefing Wednesday. It is effective till April 29, the provisional last day of strict social distancing.

On Tuesday, the hostess, who worked in a bar in Yeoksam-dong, tested positive for the virus, and according to the city government she had been in contact with a total of 118 people, including other hostesses, waiters, customers, and her roommate.

Unless bars are ordered shut, "It's virtually impossible for anyone to comply with quarantine guidelines, since there is almost always close contact in such places," Park said.
South Korea confirmed its first coronavirus case only 11 days before the United Kingdom did, but the two nations are now living in very different worlds.

The UK has reported a total of 60,773 confirmed cases  almost six-fold that of South Koreas. The death toll in the UK stands at nearly 8,000, after 938 died overnight, compared to South Koreas death toll of just 204.

In late February, South Korea had reached what looked like breaking point with a peak of 909 daily cases  a majority connected to the secretive Shincheonji Church in Daegu. The citys population of 2.5 million were told they had to stay at home and both the government and WHO called for an investigation.

However, within weeks, number of daily cases plummeted.

Experts suggest that the key to South Koreas successful strategy lies in three components: mass testing, real-time tracking and self-isolation.

According to Dr Lee Hyuk Min, who serves as the director of infection control affairs at the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine, by the time the fourth person in South Korea had tested positive for Covid-19, medical experts had already conducted a series of emergency meetings.

It was 27 January and we were in a room asking the testing companies when they could develop kits, Lee recalled. When they told us next month, we said no. We rushed them to prepare everything in one week.

Within a couple of weeks, thousands of test kits were being shipped out. The country is now producing more than 100,000 kits daily.

It was this sense of urgency during the calm, blindly preparing for a war that could not be seen, that equipped South Korea to take on the coronavirus.

While the UK hesitated on mass testing, South Korea was quick off the mark. By 10 February, when there were only 27 confirmed cases, the country had already reported its findings on the first 2,776 people to be tested.

To date, it has conducted more than 350,000 tests, free of charge, and was one of the first countries to set up drive-through testing booths. The UK government has said it has tested more than 230,000  but critics say this increase came too late.

Countries like the United States and the United Kingdom missed their golden time, Lee added. While theyve recently started ramping up testing efforts, they cannot keep up with the rate at which new cases are emerging.

The UK government recently purchased 17.5 million antibody tests, but was forced to admit that none of them work well enough to be used.

South Korean experts found that this test, while fast, was not accurate to combat Covid-19, and theres been a push towards new forms of testing.

Only when someone is fully recovered can they take this test, Lee said. Theres a danger because someone may take the antibody test too early, test negative, then go around interacting with others while unconsciously infecting them.

Given this limited testing capacity, South Korean medical experts advise the British public to push mass masking as antigen tests are prepared  a phenomenon that became normalised in South Korea in mid-February.

Masks are usually worn to protect oneself from contracting the virus, Lee explained. But weve seen many asymptomatic cases. People should wear masks assuming that they may be carrying the coronavirus to prevent further spread.

Questions have, however, been raised over the effectiveness of such masks.

Countries like the United States and the United Kingdom missed their golden time. While theyve recently started ramping up testing efforts, they cannot keep up with the rate at which new cases are emerging Dr Lee Hyuk Min, Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine

South Korea has avoided a nationwide lockdown, and instead focused on the isolation of people thought to have contracted the virus, coupled with real-time tracking.

Anyone with symptoms is required to self-isolate and download an app that alerts officials if the patient moves outside of the quarantine, a policy which has raised privacy concerns. Citizens cannot opt-out of alerts, and anyone found to be breaking quarantine could be fined up to $2,500. People also receive automatic alerts when they are near a confirmed case of the virus.

South Koreas facilities prioritise the most vulnerable, while also keeping tabs on thousands by using real-time tracking and mobile apps, Kim said.

By the time the lockdown ends, South Korean experts project that the UK will be more capable to expand testing and have broader access to ventilators. But they caution that a more normalised social distancing thats being practised in South Korea now will have to continue long afterwards.

If Britons are diligent with social distancing, they will begin to see a decrease in the overall number of cases, especially among younger populations, said Lee.

On the streets of Seoul, masked faces continue to occupy the streets, as bottles of hand sanitiser spray are neatly placed in front of almost every public store. People are trying to regain a sense of normality while also refraining from becoming too careless; the cost of complacency is far too precarious.

The scars from South Koreas battle in 2015 with Mers still protrude like a sharp nail today, said Kim. But its because of those scars that we knew exactly what to do this time and why we have not let down our guard yet.
Holy Week pilgrimages to El Santuario de Chimayo involving thousands of worshipers walking for hours, even days, have made it one of the most prominent Catholic pilgrimages in the nation. And the pilgrimage to Tome Hill south of Los Lunas in which Christians make the trek to offer special prayers is another Good Friday tradition. The pilgrimages  along with sunrise services, egg hunts, seders and family get-togethers  are quintessentially spring in New Mexico. And because of COVID-19, they need to be put on hold.

Church leaders have canceled the pilgrimages and the New Mexico Department of Transportation wont provide assistance along the routes to either shrine. State Police and sheriff deputies will instead ask walkers to go home.

Archbishop John Wester advises Christians to make their homes their holy places during Holy Week. Many churches will stream Holy Week services online, and synagogues have also canceled in-person community seders and shifted to online services, such as Albuquerques Nahalat Shalom and Congregation Albert. These and other changes too many to mention put the health and safety of followers first.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has prohibited all gatherings of groups larger than five people, and while she acknowledges staying home is a terrible hardship for the faithful, she says the public health risk of large gatherings is her top concern. As we learn more of asymptomatic community spread of COVID-19, and of social distancing being key to limiting infections and thus deaths, it is essential every New Mexican embrace the simple idiom better safe than sorry. Dont put yourself or anyone you care about in the position of having to live with the question what if we had just stayed home?

The governor and the state Department of Health said this week that New Mexicos faith-based organizations play an important role in slowing the spread of COVID-19, especially among high-risk populations. An advisory encourages religious groups to live-stream or post pre-recorded services on social media, consider holding drive-in services at which attendees remain in their vehicles, videoconference regular small group meetings, and mail newsletters and daily teaching guides.

And, God bless them, faith-based groups have stepped up and put together innovative ways to worship remotely.

Wester will live-stream Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter services. Calvary Church in Albuquerque, which normally hosts a sunrise service at the UNM football stadium with more than 20,000 people, is planning online-only Good Friday services, hosting drive-in Easter morning services in its parking lot and broadcasting Good Friday and Easter services on TV. Sagebrush Church in Albuquerque is presenting the Stages of the Cross on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and the church app. Congregation Bnai Israel in Albuquerque will live-stream its Second Night Community Passover Seder on Thursday and is promoting seder to go take-out meals.

Worshipping and fellowship are communal. And houses of worship, like private businesses, need patrons to keep the lights on. But as Pastor Vince Torres of Blaze Christian Fellowship in Santa Fe says, we can be spiritually faithful and socially responsible citizens. Those that keep their doors closed while offering alternatives, and parishioners who limit in-person contact, are performing a public service in helping to contain the coronavirus while spreading hope across a beleaguered world that needs it badly. And they are literally helping ensure a rebirth for all when this pandemic abates.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Former Secretary of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Ravi Malik on Thursday said that people should avoid sharing objects like pen, page, phone, newspaper etc to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"People should avoid community sharing to prevent the spread of coronavirus, be it pen, page, phone or a paper. It is very difficult to identify how a patient is infected, whether the virus entered the body through air, something they touched or ate," Malik told ANI.

He advised that person should always wear a mask when out in public places as the virus might also infect people through air.

"If a coronavirus patient sneezes or coughs on a file, paper or pen and somebody else uses it, they might also get infected from the virus. How long the virus can survive depends on the surface, temprature and humidity of the area," Malik said.

"Coronavirus can survive for only around an hour on metals but it can survive for up to eight hours on a cardboard. That is why people should avoid community sharing of objects to prevent the spread of coronavirus," he added.

Dr Malik said that along with wearing a mask, people also need to take other measures including washing their hands, maintaining hygiene etc.

"ICMR has recommended that Hydroxychloroquine can be used to treat COVID-19 patients and their contacts. It is a medicine that we use a lot in our tropical country for treating maleria, etc. However, this medicine should not be taken without a doctor's supervision," he said.

However, he added that the medicine cannot be given to children below the age of 15 years and those who are hypersensitive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Lagos State Government has come out to deny claims that it has relaxed the lockdown order in the State ahead of the coming Easter celebration.

Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known on Thursday on his official Twitter handle.

Also Read: Lockdown: Cherubim And Seraphim Church Delivers Gods Message To Sanwo-Olu

Akosile, in a short statement, urged Lagosians to disregard the report and treat such claims as another fake news, being spread by some persons to undermine the good work of the Governor in his fight against the novel coronavirus.

See his tweets below:

FAKE NEWS: Gov. @jidesanwoolu HAS NOT lifted the Lockdown order in Lagos State for Easter Celebration. The Information going round on some media platforms stating otherwise is FALSE and should be disregarded totally. #ForAGreaterLagos #Covid19Lagos pic.twitter.com/8cN5Lp3etn  Gboyega Akosile (@gboyegaakosile) April 9, 2020
Hollyoaks star Joe Tracini has bravely opened up about his personality disorder, admitting his his brain 'told him to kill himself on Tuesday'.

The 31-year-old actor, best known for playing Dennis Savage in the Channel 4 soap, called into Good Morning Britain on Thursday to discuss his mental health battle and how he's coping with the COVID-19 lockdown by sharing funny videos online.

A person with a personality disorder thinks, feels, behaves or relates to others very differently from the average person.

Battle: Hollyoaks star Joe Tracini has bravely opened up about his personality disorder, admitting his his brain 'told him to kill himself on Tuesday'

Quizzed by host Lorraine Kelly about his current mood, Joe replied: 'It depends what day you catch me.

'I have a high-end personality disorder. On Tuesday, my brain kept telling me to kill myself, but I waited.

'I appreciate I make you laugh, all I can ever do is wait. I can't change how I feel or how I think.

'If I hang about, however, how I feel changes. I stopped watching the news (no disrespect to you [Lorraine])!'

In conversation: The 31-year-old actor called into Good Morning Britain on Thursday to discuss his mental health battle and how he's coping with the COVID-19 lockdown by sharing funny videos online

Asked about his mood, Joe said: 'It depends what day you catch me. I have high-end personality disorder. On Tuesday, my brain kept telling me to kill myself, but I waited'

Joe revealed that while his girlfriend Holly has been a fantastic support to him, he's found it easier to manage the current lockdown situation because he is used to self-isolating from the world.

He explained: 'If I feel negative, I don't stop myself feeling negative. That doesn't go anywhere. If I feel something, eventually it will change.

'Having Holly does help, but I've been self-isolating since 1994. It's good for me, but I do continually think about people who don't have anyone.'

Speaking directly to viewers who might be suffering from a mental health related illness, he said: 'If you're anyone like me then don't kill yourself, the world needs you.'

Uplifting content: Joe has been posting dance videos in leotards to uplift the nation, which he joked his mother is thrilled about

Comedic touch: Joe performed a beautiful dance alongside his girlfriend in a leotard, putting a funny spin on things by inventing moves called 'rusty seduction' and 'press-on-my-face' and 'vegan relative'

What is a personality disorder? A person with a personality disorder thinks, feels, behaves or relates to others very differently from the average person. Borderline personality disorder: The individual typically displays disturbed ways of thinking, impulsive behaviour and difficulty controlling emotions. They may have intense yet unstable relationships and worry about being abandoned by others. Antisocial personality disorder: The person typically gets frustrated quickly and has trouble controlling their anger. They may blame others for problems in their life, and be aggressive and violent towards others. Personality disorders often come hand-in-hand with other mental health problems like depression and substance abuse. (Source: NHS) Advertisement

Joe has been posting dance videos in leotards to uplift the nation, which he joked his mother is thrilled about.

He chuckled: 'Can you tell I don't have much on during the videos? I can't do actual dance moves.

'I've done some awful things in my life, so it's nice this is the thing my mother is the most proud of.'

In a video shared earlier this week, Joe and Holly perform a beautiful choreography as they self-isolated together at her family home.

Introducing the viral clip, Joe jokes it's 'about a couple that are arguing over the last of the Haribo Tangtastics'.

Joe performs the beautiful dance alongside his girlfriend in a leotard, putting a funny spin on things by inventing moves called 'rusty seduction' and 'press-on-my-face' and 'vegan relative'.

The actor revealed he has been forced to isolate with his prospective in-laws - the very first time he's ever met them.

'I'm with Holly's family at the moment, this is the first time I've actually met them', he explained.

'I came over to say hello then the lockdown started so I've stayed here. It's like I've booked a B&B for free!'

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details.

Amusing: Introducing the viral clip, Joe jokes it's 'about a couple that are arguing over the last of the Haribo Tangtastics'
To stanch the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, Washington may need a radical departure from its China policy of the past few years " starting with a rollback in punitive tariffs that have been in place for nearly two years, former US government officials said.

Calls for cooperation between the US and China have grown in tandem with the rising estimates of how much economic damage the Covid-19 epidemic will cause. Those seeking to renew engagement, though, are up against American nationalists who argue that the global health crisis supports their calls to further disengage from China.

Last week, a coalition of almost 100 former high-ranking US officials and scholars issued a joint statement calling on Washington and Beijing to freeze hostilities while working together to fight the pandemic. Some of those signatories are pushing for more definitive action.

"We are not doing our own economies or the global economy any favours by having a trade war in place after this pandemic is over," said Carlos Gutierrez, who served as US commerce secretary in the Bush administration from 2005 to 2009 and is now chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a Washington consultancy.

"We're looking at a second quarter that, I've seen estimates ranging from 20 to 30 per cent down, so to have a trade war in the middle of that, the jobs that it would cost, the unemployment that it would create, it just doesn't make sense."

A phase-one trade deal that US President Donald Trump's administration reached with China in January dropped threatened tariffs on around US$155 billion worth of Chinese imports and halved tariffs to 7.5 per cent on another US$120 billion in goods.

But the deal kept in place the 25 per cent import taxes on US$250 billion worth of Chinese products, mostly intermediate goods used in manufacturing.

"Before the pandemic, our economy was down to about 1.9 per cent GDP growth, and I attribute that in part to the trade war," Gutierrez said. "Anecdotally we have all heard of how much the farming and agricultural community has been hurt, how much manufacturing has been hurt, so even without the pandemic, we would have had a softening economy."

Story continues

The 1.9 per cent growth Gutierrez cited compares with 2.3 per cent for the full year 2019 and 2.9 per cent in 2018, according to US government data.

And in a December report, the US Federal Reserve highlighted the negative effect on manufacturing.

"We find that tariff increases enacted in 2018 are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices, the report concluded.

"In terms of manufacturing employment, rising input costs and retaliatory tariffs each contribute to the negative relationship, and the contribution from these channels more than offsets a small positive effect from import protection."

Nicholas Lardy, senior researcher at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, agreed that tariffs should be shelved at least for the time being, but said that even more important was recognising that the coronavirus pandemic has sapped China's demand for goods it pledged to buy as part of the deal.

"The phase-one deal is not going to be achievable in the current environment, and [Washington] ... should give China more time to ramp up their imports of US goods," Lardy said.

"I'm not thinking this is likely, but if you're talking about potential things that might be done to improve the relationship I think that would be near the top and suspending the tariffs would be on the list, certainly near the top."

James Steinberg, US deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011, said that a tariff reprieve would need to be part of a broader rapprochement.

A tariff rollback "would make sense, but I don't think it will work if the framework is, we're suspending them till January, while we try to get [the two economies stabilised], and then we're going to put them back in again", Steinberg, now a professor of international relations at Syracuse University's Maxwell School, explained.

"If you go back to the fundamental insights of what happened in the 1930s at the outset of the depression, it wasn't just a temporary halt in trade protectionism that came about as people realised what the crisis was; it was a fundamental rethink towards a much more open cooperative liberal trading regime," he said.

Steinberg and Gutierrez both signed the statement urging cooperation, along with foreign policy luminaries from both US parties including Madeleine Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration.

Also signing were critics of China's development under President Xi Jinping like Elizabeth Economy, a senior fellow of Asia studies at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Proponents of engagement, though, are up against a rising tide of anger among US lawmakers and some members of the Trump administration who instead are looking to bear down on China further.

Last week, Peter Navarro, the White House director of trade and manufacturing policy and one of the Trump administration's leading China hawks, used the daily White House coronavirus briefing to revive rhetoric that had been heard during the trade war with Beijing.

"The key here is having advanced manufacturing on US soil that can leapfrog other countries so we don't have to worry about competing against cheap sweatshop labour, lax environmental regulations, different tax regimes and massive subsidies of foreign governments who are actually directly attacking our industrial base," Navarro said, without specifically mentioning China.

On Monday, Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, speaking of the World Health Organisation, said on Fox News that the "WHO should be held accountable for helping Communist China lie about the coronavirus".

Last week, Senator Marco Rubio, also a Florida Republican, released a statement condemning the "WHO's current leadership, who have regularly demonstrated their servility to the Chinese Communist Party".

Steinberg noted that Trump had pulled back from some of his more strident anti-China rhetoric, especially his use of "Chinese virus" to describe the coronavirus" a sign, Steingberg said, that some in his administration are inclined to be more cooperative with Beijing in trying to halt the pandemic.

Steinberg said that Trump's more recent positive tone towards Xi showed the influence of the less dogmatic officials in his orbit, including Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and Trump's son-in-law and special adviser Jared Kushner.

"To the extent there are different views in the administration," Steinberg said, "the seriousness of this crisis allows you to move off some of the ideological posturing to a much more realistic understanding that we have a shared fate here".

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

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  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
The security webinar was part of Yuans mea culpa campaign to rebuild trust with the more than 200 million users whove turned to Zoom amid the covid-19 pandemic. Zoom was sued by a shareholder Tuesday who alleged the company fraudulently concealed its lack of end-to-end encryption and its data transmissions to Facebook, just one of several lawsuits that have sprouted during the revelations about the software makers privacy problems.
SPRINGFIELD  Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order represents only a fraction of the power he could bring to bear in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor, through the Illinois Department of Public Health, has "supreme authority" to declare and enforce quarantine or isolation. To defy an order is a Class A misdemeanor, which can come with a $2,500 fine and up to a year in jail.

The department can impose an immediate quarantine on entire areas or businesses, though they must obtain a court order or permission from those affected within two days. The state can also order testing for coronavirus. Anyone who refuses to comply could be subject to quarantine or isolation.

If people don't adhere to stay-at-home guidelines, the number of coronavirus cases could increase, and the government could take stricter action.

"If people don't stay at home, they can expect to see numbers climb," said Herb Simmons, director of St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency. "If we're not careful, what is the governor going to do? Well, he could say, 'Nothing's going to operate.' People would not like that."

The chances of Pritzker making such a declaration are close to zero  even if compliance with stay-at-home guidelines deteriorates. The reasons are political, financial and cultural. Pritzker has said as much.

"To be honest, we don't have the resources, the capacity or the desire to police every individual's behavior," Pritzker said on March 20. "Enforcement comes in many forms and our first and best option is to rely on Illinoisans to be good members of their communities."

Quarantine culture

Quarantine laws in Illinois date back to 1918, when Spanish Flu killed thousands across the state. That was the last time the United States government quarantined entire areas to stop the spread of influenza.

But implementing a statewide quarantine in the 21st century would be a last resort because of the immensely complicated logistics, said Wendy Parmet, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston who specializes in public health law.

One of the most difficult logistical hurdles would be cultural.

"Could you imagine if March 1 your governor had said, 'OK, total lockdown. If anybody leaves the house, we're going to arrest them'? I think there would have been an outcry."

Instead, Parmet said, state governments "tiptoed" through the steps of closing schools, then bars and restaurants, then non-essential businesses.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said troopers "haven't had to get to that level" of arresting and charging citizens for reckless behavior or violating a doctor's order.

The state instructed police to first educate citizens. If that doesn't work, police issue a verbal warning, then a written warning, followed by a cease and desist letter and then a court-ordered command to comply. The final option is arrest.

"Usually you're able to get people into compliance by just having a discussion," Kelly said. "There are signs that the curve is being bent, but now is not the time to let up. That process of education and gradual increasing measures of enforcement, we're going to keep doing that. We'll go as long as is required."

The incremental approach to enforcement is what Americans expect, unlike in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the government implemented a total lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"We are not set up like the Chinese government to have the army come in," Parmet said. "The way they did things in Wuhan would be sort of hard to imagine here. If we're going to really enforce a stay-at-home order in a strict and stringent way, the government has to make it feasible to (stay at home)."

That would mean both consequences for breaking the rules, and a social safety net that allows people to stay at home. It would have to include generous unemployment benefits, paid leave, reliable access to supplies and drug prescriptions with more than a 30-day supply.

Because those nets were not in place, the crisis laid bare the inequality of a health care system based on employment, said Dr. Karen Joynt Maddox, a public health expert for Washington University and cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

"Some people have said (coronavirus) is the great equalizer," Joynt Maddox said. "It's not equal. It's not at all equal. It's going to hit the most marginalized communities hardest. It really exposed some of the fault lines in our society."

Logistics of quarantine

Mass quarantines would be difficult for the government to pull off practically and legally, Parmet said. Federal and state governments have been daunted by the challenge of supplying protective equipment and ventilators to hospitals. How could they manage to deliver food and prescriptions?

"The government cannot constitutionally detain someone without providing for them," Parmet said. "Are they going to go to the drug store and get your insulin? And get your food? We could go on and on and on. But we're not set up for this."

Legally, quarantine laws tend to apply on smaller, individual scales rather than for an entire state or area. The state's powers are broad and powerful, but courts historically have established "a general principle of the least restrictive alternative," Parmet said.

While regional models show cases might peak in the St. Louis area in late April, prematurely lifting or ignoring stay-at-home orders could prove devastating, said Maddox.

"If we just stick with it for a few more weeks, hopefully we will have crested the hill, and we'll be able to start thinking about getting back to normal," she said. "But if we let up too soon, we'll be staying home for months and months more."

THURSDAY UPDATE: The latest on COVID-19 in Central Illinois and beyond
Heres how you use c19oregon.com, the new Oregon-based online triage tool for coronavirus symptoms.

It evaluates the likelihood of whether you have COVID-19 through the symptoms you report.

If you need emergency care, then it helps direct you to a hospital with room to treat you if hospitals in the Portland metro area experience a surge of patients.

If you dont have severe symptoms, itll encourage you to stay home.

On the home page, hit the blue Get Started bar.

The site is accessible in 15 different languages, including English.

The next page describes the terms and conditions for the use of the site, cautioning users that the guidance provided depends on the accuracy of information that users enter. It also urges the public not to disregard professional medical advice because of something read on the website.

Once you accept the conditions, the next page asks for your age.

The 'Getting Started' page is the first page where the user enters information.

The next screen asks for your country of location and ZIP code.

This will give local emergency medical and public health workers the ability to track where people are reporting COVID-19-like symptoms and where hospitals and doctors may expect to be seeing more patients arriving.

The site seeks the user's location by zip code.

The next page asks users to check the symptoms theyre experiencing: from fever, couch, shortness of breath, to fatigue, body aches, headache, diarrhea, sore throat or none of the above.

The site asks users to check the symptoms they are experiencing.

Based on the symptoms you identify, the next screen distinguishes if you are either at green, or low risk, of having coronavirus, yellow or medium risk, or red or high risk.

Each risk level recommends different steps be taken.

The site recommends those at green, or low risk, to stay home, avoid close contact with others, wash hands regularly and not your face.

Low risk is green, based on symptoms or lack of symptoms identified on the online triage tool.

If you report some symptoms, such as fever and a cough, the site may request more information, such as whether youre experiencing of any of these life-threatening symptoms: gasping for air, continuous pressure in the chest, cant keep food or drink down for last 12 hours, feeling as if they might faint, or altered speech.

Site may seek additional information once a user identifies the symptoms they're experiencing.

If youre experiencing life-threatening problems, the site will encourage you to call 911 or go to an emergency room.

If theres a point where Oregon is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitals are getting full, Oregon emergency medical and public health workers who have access to the data from the site will be able to add details on the website, directing you based on your ZIP codes which hospital to go to that has open beds.

High risk, or a red result on the site will direct a user to call 9-1-1 or go straight to an emergency room.

Or the site may send you to a screen to identify what pre-existing medical conditions you have.

Those could include: diabetes, emphysema, heart disease or failure, liver disease, or chemotherapy treatments.

The site asks users if they have any pre-existing medical conditions.

If you have have few symptoms but no prior medical condition and youre young, you may be characterized as medium risk.

If so, the site recommends that you stay at home and isolate yourself unless your symptoms worsen. It also recommends that you avoid contact with others and wear a face mask to prevent spreading the illness to others.

But youre still worried about your condition, the site may recommend you contact a nurse triage line run by Oregon Health & Sciences University Hospital. Local authorities are in continuing discussions with the hospital to provide that phone line.

You also are encouraged to try the symptom checker again if your symptoms worsen.
Sri Lanka's President has thanked the Indian government for sending essential medicines at this crucial time after a 10-tonne consignment was sent from India to Sri Lanka through a special charter flight.

READ: India To Allow Hydroxychloroquine & Paracetamol Export To Neighbours In Need Amid Covid

India steps up

The medicines were requested by the government of Sri Lanka. India has sent a huge consignment of essential medicines to Sri Lanka to help in fighting Coronavirus. The Sri Lankan government had requested India to help with what is called ''essential life-saving medicines'' which India honoured and sent a 10-tonne consignment to Colombo. An Air India special charter delivered the medicines. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka took to Twitter to thank the Indian government for helping with those essentials sent. He termed India's contribution as a ''warm gesture'' especially in view of the necessity and the challenges thrown by Covid19.

I wish to convey my heartfelt appreciation to Hon PM @narendramodi, Govt & people of #India for your warm gesture in sending medicines to #LKA on a special chartered flight. Your kind & generous support is deeply appreciated in this hour of need #TogetherWeCan #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/XpcUw9xK6d  Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) April 7, 2020

READ: Brazil Cites 'Sanjeevani Booti' From Ramayan In Request To India For Hydroxychloroquine

Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka released a statement for the same and reiterated its formidable support for its neighbour. It said that India was committed to stand with Sri Lanka during testing times like this. ''This is yet another manifestation of Indias unwavering commitment to stand with Sri Lanka, in rain and in shine. Despite its own domestic challenges and constraints, India has always believed in sharing its resources and expertise with its friends and partners'', said the statement. Last month Prime Minister Modi had initiated a video conference meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders. The focus of the meeting was to discuss the measures to tackle the deadly virus spread.

READ: 'Not Just Helping India But Humanity': Trump Thanks PM Modi For Hydroxychloroquine Supply

India was the first country to pledge an initial $10 million to what is called SAARC Covid Emergency Fund. This contribution by India was not mandatory however other countries followed India and announced their contributions. Sri Lanka had announced $5 million for the Emergency Fund whereas Bangladesh pledged $1.5 million followed by $1 million from Afghanistan. Countries like Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal too had announced their shares for fighting Coronavirus.

READ: COVID-19: No Shortage Of Hydroxychloroquine; 80% Cases Show Mild Symptoms, Says Health Min
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told floor leaders of political parties in Parliament that the lockdown will not be lifted in its entirety after April 14 in order to contain Covid-19. His government may also set up a fund with a corpus of about 50,000 crore to 75,000 crore to revive industries as part of a stimulus package under consideration to revive growth in the post-Covid-19 era.

Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.

Abrupt end to curbs not possible, says PM Modi

Its not possible to lift the lockdown abruptly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a meeting with the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament in the strongest message yet from the government that the nationwide, three-week lockdown it clamped to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will not be lifted in its entirety when it ends on April 14. Read more.

Masks must in Delhi, 23 zones sealed fully

Authorities in Delhi announced on Wednesday a hard lockdown of 23 neighbourhoods with large number of Covid-19 cases and ordered all citizens to wear masks while stepping out of their homes, tightening curbs to combat the outbreak even as 93 new cases took the total number of infections in the national capital to 669. Read more.

12 hot spots in GB Nagar, 13 in Ghaziabad to be under intensive lockdown till April 14

With the Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday announcing the sealing of 105 Covid-19 hot spots across 15 districts, 25 such clusters in the NCR -- 13 in Ghaziabad and 12 in Gautam Budh Nagar  will be under intensive lockdown measures for a week, with residents confined indoors, all shops and banks shut, and all vehicular movement completely curtailed. Read more.

Covid-19: What you need to know today

On Wednesday morning, some TV channels that use the health ministrys data on Covid-19 put out an alarming number  that the number of cases had increased by 773 in the previous 24 hours, after increasing by only 354 in the 24 hours prior to that. This wasnt entirely accurate, simply because, while the number of cases did increase by 773, not all cases were discovered in the previous 24 hours.

Less testing, delayed screening led to Maharashtras Covid-19 toll: Experts

Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 117 more cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), taking the number of infected people in Indias worst-hit state to 1,135 (72 of them have died). The state crossed the 1,000-case mark in just 30 days, from March 9 to April 7, with a 5.98% mortality rate, at least twice the overall mortality rate of 2.66% across India. The past five days have accounted for 56.8% (645) of the states cases. Read more.

Millions in migrant camps battle despair about uncertain future

A truck driver, Mahto was in Punjabs Ludhiana city when sweeping restrictions were announced to stop the spread of Covid-19. On the second day of the lockdown, he and some other stranded workers hitched a ride on a truck to get back to their villages in Bihar. But the vehicle was intercepted in Patna the next day, and the workers sent to a government school that was turned into a migrant shelter. With no friends or family around, and bland food every day, Mahto spends his days in a small room with strangers. Read more.

Supreme Court directs private labs to conduct tests free of cost

The Supreme Court on Wednesday made tests for the coronavirus disease Covid-19 in government and private laboratories free, and asked the government to pass the necessary orders so as to make this possible. The tests are already free in government laboratories. Read more.

No dearth of anti-malaria drug, say states amid local concerns

A day after India said it will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine, officials across several states insisted there is no shortage of the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has emerged as the most sought-after medicine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease. Read more.

Where relief falls short, groups of volunteers step in, plug gaps

Utpal Basumallik was on one of the last international flights to land in India, arriving in Kolkata on March 19 from New Jersey with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, three days before India suspended all inbound flights to stop the spread of the coronavirus infection (Covid-19). Read more.

Mumbai, UP, J&K, and Ladakh make mask-wearing mandatory

The city of Mumbai, Indias commercial capital, Uttar Pradesh state and the newly created Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Wednesday made it compulsory for people to wear face masks in public places, warning that action shall be taken against those who dont follow the rule imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. Read more.

Indias 5000 cases in 37 days

New 75,000 crore fund to boost small industry in post-Covid world

The government may set up a fund with a corpus of about 50,000 crore to 75,000 crore to revive industries, particularly labour-intensive small and medium units, as part of an economic stimulus package currently under consideration to revive growth in the post-covid-19 era, two officials aware of the plan said. Read more.

18,000 crore released as tax refunds

The finance ministry on Wednesday released 18,000 crore of tax refunds to 1.4 million income-tax payers and 100,000 businessmen awaiting Goods and Services Tax (GST) and customs refunds and asked government departments to restrict their expenditure in the fiscal first quarter (April-June) -- the first to improve the cash position of individuals and businesses in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more.

Coronavirus pandemic could push 400mn Indians deeper into poverty, says ILO

As many as 400 million Indians, including migrant workers and daily wage earners, are at risk of being pushed deeper into poverty because of the covid-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organisation said, terming the crisis as the most severe since the Second World War. The pandemic is likely to impact 2.7 billion workers, or 81% of the worlds workforce, the Geneva-based body said on Wednesday.Read more.

Newspaper Society opposes suggestion to suspend govt ads

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and the Association of Radio Operators (AROI) for India strongly opposed on Wednesday a suggestion by Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the government and public sector undertakings should not issue any print or electronic media advertisements for two years in order to save money. Read more.

Govt issues advisory to stem social stigma

The backlash against health care and sanitation workers and police personnel at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has prompted the government to release a set of guidelines for the general public titled Addressing Social Stigma Associated with Covid-19. Read more.
New Delhi, April 9 : RSS labour wing, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has called the lockdown "an emergency like situation where 10 per cent of the unorganized and migrant workforce is being driven towards starvation.

Coming under the RSS umbrella, BMS raising the plight of stranded workers and seeking a package from Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumes significance.

The letter to the PM by BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay flags the issue of lakhs of workers who are hungry, out of work and many are now starving.

It also brings to light that while some packages for relief have been announced by central and state governments, lakhs of these workers in the unorganized sector are not registered in official records and therefore ineligible for cash or food aid.

The labour union said that lakhs of workers have run out of work because of the lockdown. A vast number of them are daily wage earners, contractual workers, migrants, construction workers, all kinds of scheme workers, handloom workers, agricultural workers and others.

"Chances are that lakhs of them are not even registered with the government/welfare boards. The workers of the unorganised sector, which constitutes around 93 per cent of the country's workforce, are the worst hit. The government must come up with additional steps to identify those in need," BMS said.

It pointed out that while state governments have announced relief packages but barring a few like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala and Tripura most of the states have not yet transferred any amount. In Tamil Nadu the situation is worse.

BMS said that almost 10 per cent of the population is being pushed towards starvation. "It is an emergency like situation and the Centre must intervene", it added.

Migrant workers who are stuck in different parts of the country must be provided relief packages. They are one of the worst-hit groups.

"Once the lockdown is over and industries restart, they will face labour shortage. Keeping this in view, lockdown should be lifted in phased manner and migration back to the workplace must be facilitated", the union demanded.

The pandemic has had worse effects on the world economy including India, BMS said. "Once the pandemic ends we will rush to revive the economy. It can't be ruled out that investors will try to run out, be fearful of investing, migration will be slow and labour may not be available immediately after the lockdown is lifted", BMS said while expressing concern.

"Therefore lockdown must be lifted in a phase wise manner, giving enough time and confidence for industries and workers to return to work. A tripartite/tripartite plus committee should be formed to monitor and direct the economic revival and re-growth", it added.
An entire ward-level police unit in Hanoi has been quarantined after its deputy chief announced that he had been in close contact with a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient.

All 19 members of Bac Tu Liem Districts Dong Ngac Ward police unit are currently being isolated in a centralized camp where they are awaiting the results of their COVID-19 tests, Tran The Cuong, the districts chairman, said at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

The quarantine was enforced after the units deputy chief admitted that he had met with the countrys patient No. 243 for a meal and some drinks before returning to the ward police station and participating in a unit-wide meeting.

Patient No. 243, a 47-year-old man from Ha Loi Village in Me Linh District, most likely caught the disease when he took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital  Hanois largest COVID-19 cluster with over 40 related cases  for a health check on March 12.

He was sampled on April 4 and the result came back positive on April 6.

Prior to his diagnosis, the man had attended a wedding ceremony and a death anniversary, both held in Ha Loi Village.

He also visited Phuc Yen General Hospital in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Quang Ba Market in Tay Ho District, and Me Linh Flower Market in Me Linh District.

All 10,872 Ha Loi Villiage residents are currently under lockdown, while the Ministry of Health attempts to track those who may have had close contact with the patient.

According to Cuong, authorities have identified 269 individuals in Bac Tu Liem District who had contact with patient No. 243.

Eight of the 269 have been designated as F1 cases, a label given to those who have had direct contact with a COVID-19 patient.

Sixty-four of the 269 are F2 cases  people who had contact with the F1 individuals  and 197 are people who had contact with the F2 individuals, Cuong elaborated.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.5 million people and killed more than 88,500 globally as of Thursday afternoon, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Almost 331,000 people have recovered from the disease.

Vietnam has confirmed 251 total COVID-19 cases, with 128 having recovered.

The country has yet to record a death from the disease.

No new cases have been recorded in the Southeast Asian country in the past 24 hours.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic has put on hold a controversial plan to cut medical billets in the Military Health System and transfer retirees to outside providers, according to the Defense Health Agency.

"We are shifting our focus to support the nation ... and devoting all available resources to combat COVID-19," DHA officials said in a March 31 statement to Military.com. "We are assessing all available medical facilities, services and personnel that can be used to provide assistance to our nation's health care providers."

The plan approved by Congress for the DHA to take over management of the service branches' Military Treatment Facilities was meant to be "conditions based" to put more focus on treating the active-duty force, officials said.

The changes, when they come, "are being made in a deliberate, phased fashion, in some cases over a period of up to five years, ensuring every one of our beneficiaries continues to have uninterrupted access to outstanding health care," according to the statement.

Related: DHA Director: Freedom to Switch Health Plans Makes it Harder to Plan for the Future

However, "the location of that care may change in the future" for retirees, it added.

DHA officials did not dispute that the plan, if fully implemented, could result in cutting as many as 18,000 medical billets, but said, "The medical billet reductions are being undertaken by the services, not by the Defense Health Agency."

In addition, the changes would not impact all retirees and result in a rush to outside providers, officials said.

"In fact, 98% of our beneficiaries will see no change in where they receive their care," DHA officials said. "The changes affecting the remaining 2% will be carefully phased in during a three-to-five year period, and patients will receive a warm hand-off from MTF providers to [Tricare] network providers."

In response to the DHA's statements, the Military Officers Association of America said the conditions-based policy for implementation of the plan is reassuring, but "MOAA believes simply pausing the current MHS reform strategy is not enough."

"The COVID-19 pandemic will yield many lessons learned for the whole of government and national medical systems [DoD, Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicare and networks] and, potentially, a new vision for DoD's role in any future nationwide medical emergency," Karen Ruedisueli, director of health affairs at MOAA, said in a statement.

"When this crisis has passed, we can't just move ahead with reform designed around pre-COVID evaluations of the MHS and medical readiness requirements," she added. "The current situation demands all plans to reduce medical provider billets and military hospital and clinic capacity be reconsidered once a full evaluation of the COVID-19 national response has been conducted."

In a Feb. 19 report to Congress, the DHA said that, of 50 facilities ultimately designated for restructuring under the plan, 37 outpatient clinics currently open to all beneficiaries will eventually see primarily only active-duty personnel.

"Active-duty family members, retirees and their families who currently receive care at those facilities will transition over time to Tricare's civilian provider network," it said.

The DHA's plan for a major overhaul of the MHS has raised concerns in Congress and within the DoD itself.

In a December memo to DoD Deputy Secretary David Norquist, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy questioned the "lack of performance and planning with respect to the transition" by the DHA.

In a Jan. 15 Defense Writers Group breakfast with reporters, McCarthy cautioned that in moving "too fast, you can make a mess" in implementation of the plan.

Editor's Note: The DHA statements above were provided by Kevin J. Dwyer, the chief of media relations at DHA, who died last week of an as-yet undetermined cause. Dwyer served in the Marine Corps and was a dedicated professional whose assistance on complex health care issues was valued by reporters. Military.com joins in mourning his passing.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read more: Military Services Wanted Major Health Care Personnel Cuts, New DHA Director Says
Watch and jewellery maker Titan Company on Thursday said its January-March quarter revenue growth has been "impacted severely" following disruptions on account of Covid-19.

The company said its revenue from its jewellery division declined by 5 per cent due to "lost sales" in March. It had a revenue growth of 16.5 per cent in January and February.

Consequent to the serious disruptions in operations in March, revenue growth for the quarter and consequently for the year has been impacted severely," Titan said in its quarterly update.

The company further said it is working out its strategy to manage this crisis with particular focus on ensuring adequate liquidity is available till normalcy returns.

"Cost will be another major focus area for the company in these trying times," Titan said.

The company said sales of jewels division was picking up till the disruption on account of Covid-19. The company had closed all stores from March 22, following a nation-wide lockdown announced by the government.

The company further said the wedding jewellery sales were good till Covid-19 disruption.

Its 'Watches & Wearables'division reported a growth of one per cent, despite the significant loss of sales in the month of March.

"E-commerce was the fastest growing channel for both Q4 and full year. Retail sales in Large Format Stores or LFS (Shop-in-shops) also grew well aided by valentine activation sales and new product introductions, it said.

While, its eye wear division reported a decline of 20 per cent in revenue in the January-March quarter.

However, its other businesses segment, which is relatively small, witnessed a strong growth of 42 per cent during the quarter over the same period last year.

"In fragrances, Fastrack perfumes continue to increase its distribution reach and is now available across over 1,800 outlets and e-commerce channels. "Taneira" opened two stores during the quarter, one each in Mumbai and Bangalore, taking the total store count for the business to twelve covering five cities, it said.

India is presently going through an unprecedented complete lockdown of three weeks, ending on April 14, to prevent the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have registered a case against the people, who assembled at Saidpora during the funeral of a local Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant killed in Sopore in south Kashmir during an encounter on Wednesday, on charges of violating the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administrations order to enforce a ban on social gathering in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

The villagers took out a big funeral procession after the body of the 23-year-old JeM militant, Sajjad Nawab Dar, a resident of Saidpora, was handed over to his family members. The pictures of the funeral went viral on social media and many questioned about the violation of social distancing norms during the viral outbreak.

Sopore police authorities registered a case late Wednesday evening against the people who participated in the funeral, ignoring the government advisory about the ban on social gathering due to Covid-19 outbreak.

A police spokesman said that a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the people who attended Dars funeral in violation of the ban on social gathering, but it was unclear whether any arrest was made for flouting the order.

Dars next of kin had given a written undertaking to adhere to social distancing when his body was handed over to them. An investigation has started and the offenders will be dealt with strictly as per the law, the spokesman said.

The J&K administration has been laying emphasis on social distancing amid growing Covid-19 cases in the Union Territory.

Altogether 158 people tested Covid-19 positive in J&K and four people have died so far. Two persons have tested Covid-19 positive in Sopore town as well.

Dar was killed during an encounter at Gulabad, which is located about 4km away from his native village, Saidpora. Dar joined militancy in 2018 and he was active in Sopore and adjoining areas as a local JeM commander, the police said.

Three encounters took place in Kashmir in the past one week, where 10 militants and five militants were killed.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Toilet paper and hand sanitizer have been highly valued commodities during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and thats caught the attention of state legislators and Attorney General Dave Yost.

You can listen online here.

Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn says there is legislation in the State Senate, written with Yosts input, that would give the attorney general the power to order limits on how much customers can buy of various in-demand items during the coronavirus crisis. It also would ban price-gouging by retailers. On a positive note, it appears social distancing might be working: The peak projections for coronavirus cases in Ohio have been reduced from 10,000 per day to about 1,600 per day. And there are discussions on how we will begin to emerge from the stay-at-home order and slowly resume normal activities.

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Linkedin Sophie Davies (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Barcelona, Spain  Thu, April 9, 2020 07:00 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0b8533 2 World Spain,illegal-migrants,unemployment,COVID-19-joblessness,COVID-19-lockdown,coronavirus,Harvesting,fruit-picking,labor Free

Spain will temporarily allow thousands of illegal migrants to pick fruit to address labor shortages caused by the new coronavirus outbreak, in a move closely watched across Europe.

The European Union's biggest fruit and vegetable exporter will also allow unemployed Spaniards to continue to receive state benefits while working as fruit pickers in a bid to find 300,000 seasonal workers as it approaches the May harvest.

"It's an opportunity for lots of people, otherwise they're just trapped at home," Lorenzo Ramos, general secretary of the Union of Small Farmers, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The countryside can be a refuge," he said, adding that workers were needed from across Spain and abroad to harvest everything from strawberries, blueberries, oranges and grapes to prunes, tomatoes and courgettes.

Spain is the first European country to make legal changes, but others are exploring solutions to agricultural labor shortages as travel restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic prevent cross-border workers travelling to their jobs.

With the prospect of fruit rotting in the fields, France has called for a "shadow army" of laid off workers to step in, while Germany is flying in eastern European farm helpers to stave off poor harvests and higher food prices.

The highly contagious COVID-19 respiratory illness could push 195 million people into unemployment globally, the International Labor Organization said on Tuesday.

As one of the world's worst-hit countries, Spain has declared a state of emergency and a strict lockdown until April 26, with only essential staff - which includes agricultural workers - free to travel to and from work.

Spain's agricultural ministry said the decree, which was issued on Tuesday, would remain in place for just under three months to guarantee food supplies and give an income to those "that need it the most", with unemployment rising steeply.

Afrucat, the Catalan association of fruit producers, warned last week that the agricultural sector in the wealthy northeastern province faced total collapse if 40,000 seasonal workers were not found urgently.

Unemployed foreigners aged 18 to 21 will also be granted temporary work visas, the agriculture ministry said in its Tuesday statement.

Salomo Torres, a spokesman for Unio de Pagesos, Catalonia's largest farming union, said employing foreign workers  who are normally given accommodation  would be complicated due to social distancing rules.

"With the state of alarm, lots of smallholding farmers could find laborers among their own family members, their neighbors or in their own town," he said.

"It's not necessary to find a workforce from abroad."
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Smartphones are a daily necessity, weddings will still go ahead, and enterprises will embrace digital upgrades.

Those are just some of the justifications that Chinese technology companies such as Xiaomi Corp., Baidu Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. have for telling us that the worst may be behind them as the country gets through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thats a risky tone to take. A global recession is upon us, and theyre not fully taking it in.China is looking at the reopening this week of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, after months of lockdown and seeing it as a sign that things are getting better. The messaging is obvious: China is back in business, and its domestic companies are in the clear.

But the rest of the world sees a different picture: New York and Milan resemble ghost towns, Tokyo is facing a state of emergency, Manila is under curfew, and Singapore just banned gatherings.

Smartphone demand is resilient; its a daily necessity so demand will rebound quickly, Xiaomi Corp. Chief Financial Officer Chew Shouzi said in a media teleconference March 31. We are cautiously optimistic about smartphone demand in overseas markets when the epidemic is controlled.

Overseas markets are not OK. Millions of consumers around the world will be left without the ability to pay rent or buy food. Smartphones arent likely to remain on the must-have list.

All told, more than 1 billion workers are at risk of a pay cut or losing their jobs, the International Labor Organization warns. In the space of just two weeks, the U.S. stunned economists with a record 10 million people filing for unemployment benefits. That may not seem like much in a world of 7.8 billion, yet America remains the worlds largest economy and each of those now jobless is a consumer who carries a lot more spending power than most global citizens.

In China, its going to be difficult for even domestically focused enterprises to avoid any impact. While Xiaomi sounds optimistic, its biggest competitor is more cautious. Huawei Technologies Co., which gets more than half its revenue from handsets and mostly at home, recently told reporters that 2020 will be a challenging year but that its too early to make a forecast.

Story continues

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has a taken a pragmatic approach to preserving its bottom line as revenue declines: cutting costs. Still, every yuan its not spending on marketing is one not flowing to other internet and media companies that depend on advertising sales to run their businesses. The social-media and online-games company is confident it can offset any short-term weakness with a push into new services, like cloud computing.

Chinas coronavirus outbreak helped boost demand for Tencents enterprise products, part of a long-term trend, President Martin Lau told investors last month. While that may be true, it wont help much if thousands of companies cut staff or even cease to operate.

Thats a real possibility. Chinese gross domestic product growth could slow to 1.5% for 2020, pushing the labor market to its toughest situation in 20 years, Wang Tao, chief China economist for UBS AG, said in a note to clients this week. Instead of urban employment growing by 10 million annually as in recent years, the figure may decline by a few million. Downward pressure is likely to continue for Chinas international trade, pushing exports down 12% for the full year, she wrote.

China remains at the center of global technology manufacturing, and the outlook has deteriorated markedly. Researcher IDC Corp. just cut its 2020 forecast for global information technology spending growth to minus 2.7% from 5.1%. Beyond the drop in economic activity, many purchases will be delayed or cancelled purely due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemics conclusion.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. posted a 12% drop in first-quarter revenue. The Taiwanese company employs up to 1 million people in China to churn out smartphones, games consoles, servers and consumer electronics. If demand for gadgets like Apple Inc.s iPhones falls, the need for those workers disappears, and with it their spending power. That same scenario will play out for auto workers, garment makers, and machinery operators.

The flow-on effect from declining exports will be unavoidable. As my colleague Anjani Trivedi wrote last week, the countrys stimulus measures are paltry compared to whats being meted out in the rest of the world.

That means domestic consumer markets may not be a haven. Millions fewer people will have the disposable income to shop on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s Taobao marketplace, or JD.coms online outlets. They wont be able to afford games or the products advertised on them, and many will need to tighten their belts when it comes to home delivery or eating out.

Chinese technology companies have spent the last few months adjusting to consumers who are stuck spending their money from home. Theyll soon need to grapple with the reality of customers caught with no money to spend at all.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Authorities in Lamu County have destroyed at least 70 sacks of miraa estimated to be worth Sh25 million.

Kenya Navy soldiers on patrol on the Indian Ocean intercepted two boats ferrying the consignment to Somalia at Barakuda area on Tuesday.

Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia said the navy officers then handed the consignment over to the Kenya Coast Guard Service, who then ferried it to Ras Kitau beach on Manda Island, where the stimulant was set ablaze.

The culprits claimed they were transporting the herbs to Kiunga Town which is on the border of Lamu with Somalia. But were aware of their secret businesses of ferrying it into SomaliaPeople should know that we have an active ban on miraa across Lamu County as we try to curb the spread of coronavirus to this region, said Mr Macharia.

The commissioner maintained that the ban on miraa in Lamu will be in place until Covid-19 is contained the country.

We are grateful for the hawk-eyed efforts of our Kenya Navy soldiers who were able to stop such a huge consignment from crossing our borders into Somalia, Macharia said.

Coronavirus is not a joke and so I dont understand why people cant do as they are told so we can all stay safe and alive.

Mr Macharia banned the entry and sale of miraa in the county on April 1, 2020 as part of measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Why we made this:

We know these are unparalleled and challenging times for so many. This video is the second in a three-part series of taking care during tough times. This week, Im joined by Rhonda Hotard, President & CEO of Louisiana FCU, Brian Schools, President & CEO of Chartway FCU, and Bill Cheney, President & CEO of SchoolsFirst FCU for a quick discussion on taking care of your staff.

Leadership is always a heavy burden, but perhaps at no time is it harder than when managing your people during a crisis. These experienced leaders share their top tips for inspiring and leading staff, in person and remotely. They talk about how to communicate effectively, and their own strategies for dealing with tough times. Catch up on part one of the series here, and stay tuned for part three coming soon.

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Listen to The CUInsight Experience Podcast featuring Rhonda Hotard  Find your why (#58)

Listen to The CUInsight Experience Podcast featuring Bill Cheney  Lead with the heart (#45)

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A man has been fined after a group of Orthodox Jews were caught breaking social-distancing laws by gathering to pray.

The group - believed to have been made up of ten members - were praying in an apartment above an IGA in Ripponlea, in inner Melbourne, at 11am on Thursday.

Police then escorted the group onto the street and questioned them.

Video footage showed police with masks on speaking to two members of the group.

The group - believed to have ten members - were praying in an apartment above an IGA in Ripponlea, in inner Melbourne, at 11am on Thursday

The officer could be heard asking for one of the men's name, address and driver's licence.

A woman walking by with her children could be heard saying: 'That's what happens when you have a party'.

One witness told The Age there were 'heaps and heaps of police'.

A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia officers went to the street.

'Officers attended the same location the previous day and issued several warnings to a person around organising and holding gatherings,' the spokesman said.

'The man was fined $1,652 today for failing to adhere to directives designed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

One man from the group was fined $1,652 for failing to adhere to directives designed to slow the spread of coronavirus

'Police are currently investigating to ascertain the identities of all other attendees before determining whether further infringement notices are issued.'

Victoria Police have conducted a total of 17,104 spot checks since March 21 to ensure compliance with social distancing guidelines.

In the 24 hours leading up to 11pm on April 11 there had been 1,065 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services.

A total of 78 fines for breaching social distancing were issued.
[April 09, 2020] Arizona School of Real Estate and Business Transitions Classes to Live Stream

Arizona School of Real Estate and Business (ASREB), the leading real estate educator for both online and classroom learning in Arizona, has transitioned classroom real estate pre-licensing courses to an online synchronous live stream format, to minimize risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19) to students, staff, and community. Synchronous live stream means the instructor and students are separated only by distance and not time, allowing for real-time interaction between students and instructor. These courses are now available immediately for students that would prefer to take instructor-led courses rather than the traditional online courses that ASREB also offers. ASREB began working to transition real estate pre-licensing courses to the online live stream format when the Arizona Department of Real Estate granted education providers permission to hold live stream courses. ASREB went live with this new format in late March. These courses provide the same materials, instructors, and classroom participation as in-person courses, just in a safe and distant environment. "We recognize this is a difficult time for many people, and we want our students and communities to know that we are here to support them," said Greg Muir, Executive Vice President of ASREB. "We have extended ou virtual hours that our team is available to help students and real estate licensees. We have added virtual instructor office hours, virtual open houses, and student support available six days a week to help individuals who are looking to complete licensing or continuing education during this time. We believe it is important to continue to be able to connect instructors with individuals to share real-life experiences, answer questions, and help apply concepts regarding the practice of real estate."



ASREB also offers live streaming courses for contract writing, real estate broker licensing, and continuing education. "Providing a safe environment where students can pursue career education remains our top priority at Arizona School of Real Estate and Business," said Greg Muir. "Whether students choose to get their education online at their own pace or learn from an instructor in a virtual classroom, our students can expect the same quality course material developed and delivered by leading industry experts and a community that truly cares about our students and their well-being."

For more information on current regulations and guidance directed by the Arizona Department of Real Estate, please visit https://www.azre.gov/. For more information on Arizona School of Real Estate and Business' response to Covid-19, visit https://www.asreb.com/helpful-information-about-coronavirus/. About Arizona School of Real Estate & Business Arizona School of Real Estate & Business has offered licensing courses for the real estate, mortgage, home inspection, appraisal, and insurance industries for the past 50 years. The school also supports a leading industry publication, featuring national and local expert writers and columnists. For more information, visit www.asreb.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005582/en/

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The medical mask emblazoned with Louisiana's state seal was a simple gift from a bitter political rival.

But the gesture was enough to help Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards pound home a bipartisan plea for people to stay at home and avoid spreading the new coronavirus.

The token from Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry marked a jaw-dropping truce in a state known for cantankerous politics.

Landry has also pledged to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Edwards in the fight against the pandemic.

The rare show of unity comes in an era of deep, political divides nationwide that have persisted, and in some cases, worsened amid the virus pandemic.

It seems to be having a positive effect: The growth in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Louisiana appears to have slowed, and the number of patients on ventilators was down as of Tuesday afternoon.

Before his recent demonstrations of support, Landry had been at odds with the governor over policy and political turf since both took office in 2016.

Edwards' more than four years in office had been marked by ugly budget battles with a Republican-dominated Legislature.

Even President Donald Trump, who called Edwards "a disaster" while campaigning for a Republican to replace him in last year's state election, had rare words of praise for the governor.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy, a frequent cable news talking head and critic of Edwards, is on board as well.

The current atmosphere of bipartisanship marks a striking contrast to 2005.

Back then, the response to catastrophic levee failures after Hurricane Katrina was marked by disagreements between the late Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Republican President George W. Bush's administration.

Pearson Cross, an associate dean and political science professor at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, said bipartisan unity in the age of COVID-19 may be due to the virus's broad scope.

The pandemic affects Republican-led states as well as Democratic ones, making it harder to try to single out a Democratic administration for problems with the response.
Brazils health minister said Wednesday that authorities should hold talks with drug gangs and militia groups in impoverished favela neighborhoods on how to contain the new coronavirus.

Brazil, the country hardest hit by the pandemic in Latin America, is bracing for potential devastation if big outbreaks erupt in its favelas, crowded neighborhoods that often lack basic sanitation and health care infrastructure.

Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said the government had to be realistic about who holds power in many such neighborhoods.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

We have to understand that these are areas where the state is often absent and the ones in charge are drug traffickers and militia groups, he told a news conference.

How do we build a bridge to them? By talking, yes, with drug traffickers, with militias, because they are human beings, too, and they need to help. He said the authorities had just launched a pilot project in one favela on managing coronavirus risk, but did not say where.

Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak

An estimated 11.5 million Brazilians live in favelas, around six percent of the population.

They are frequent scenes of street battles between armed gangs and police.

Mandetta advocates strict social distancing measures to contain the virus, in line with World Health Organization recommendations.

He has clashed with his boss, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who argues that closing businesses and telling people to stay home is unnecessarily damaging the economy.

Brazil has confirmed nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases, with 800 deaths so far. (AFP) AMS AMS
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Linkedin Natsuko Fukue (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo, Japan  Thu, April 9, 2020 13:04 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d31df 2 Food Women,Chefs,sushi-chef,Japan,food,Mizuho-Iwai Free

Women have warm hands, their periods alter their sense of taste and they can't work long hours -- just some of the claims from those in Japan who believe women can't be sushi chefs.

But a growing number of women in the country determined to shatter those myths are training and working as sushi chefs in some of Japan's most revered restaurants and institutions.

Mizuho Iwai is a trainee at the upscale Onodera restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza, a ritzy neighborhood home to some of the world's top-ranked sushi restaurants.

In an industry where women are still rarely seen, she knew she would be an anomaly.

"I think there are a few (female) chefs but it's rare. But I wanted to challenge things because of that," the 33-year-old apprentice told AFP.

"I thought: this is my mission."

And at Onodera, she's not totally alone, there was one other woman among the 10 apprentices training at the restaurant before it closed temporarily in April over the coronavirus outbreak. All 10 of the restaurant's chefs are men.

The work can be gruelling and requires years to master. Apprentices must learn everything from the names of different types of fish to removing scales and slicing properly.

They are even instructed on how to correctly enter through the traditional drapes inside Onodera, by lifting and parting them with an elbow.

"My colleagues have accepted me," said Iwai, who decided to become a sushi chef after cooking in small Japanese restaurants.

"They don't treat me specially just because I'm a woman," she added, after learning how to slice Japanese horse mackerel.

"They teach me as a person."

Read also: Why do women chefs keep missing out on Michelin stars?

'Strong resistance' to women

The world of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, has long been dominated by men, more so than Italian or French cuisine, according to Fumimasa Murakami, a 54-year-old teacher at Tokyo Sushi Academy, which was still running a scaled back schedule of classes in early April.

There is no official data on the gender breakdown of sushi chefs in Japan, but Murakami estimates women make up "less than 10 percent."

"(Resistance) against female chefs remains strong in Japanese cuisine, including sushi," he said.

"Customers who don't want a female chef at the counter do exist," he added.

"Older customers in particular have difficulty accepting it."

But even sushi chefs have been known to repeat claims that women's hands are too warm to keep raw fish fresh, or that their periods alter their sense of taste.

Others say the job is unsuitable for women because of the long and late hours.

"In Japan, it is still strongly believed that it is women who take care of family. But sushi chefs work in the evening so it's difficult for women," said Yuki Noguchi, a 32-year-old former primary school teacher who finished her eight-month sushi chef training at the academy in December.

"That's why I think the number of women who want to become a sushi chef is small in the first place," she said.

'Physically tough'

Onodera's head chef Akifumi Sakagami said the sushi world's reputation for punishing training drove away women but also young people of both genders.

"I think women need a lot of courage to jump in," the 46-year-old said.

Sakagami started as an apprentice more than 30 years ago in the northern city of Sapporo, when female chefs and trainees were essentially nonexistent.

"When I joined the industry, the working conditions in the washoku world were tough," he said, as he showed Iwai how to thinly slice tuna and taught her how to properly peel freshly steamed shrimp.

"It was long working hours with low pay. It was physically tough."

"But the work environment is changing along with other changes in society. I think it's getting better for both men and women," he said.

He welcomes those changes and says being a chef depends not on gender but "competence, talent and how much effort people put in."

Fuka Sano, the other female apprentice at Onodera, said she didn't think too much about the lack of women in the field when she decided to become a sushi chef.

"I guess women think a sushi chef is a man's job because there are so few women," the 18-year-old said.

But she was determined to enter the profession, after a formative trip to London.

"I'm sorry to say this but sushi at chain restaurants in Britain didn't seem appealing!" she laughed. She hopes to improve the standards of Japanese food overseas.

And Sano wants her food to be judged on its own merits, without regard for her gender.

"I want them to come (to the restaurant) for food," she said, not "because I'm a woman."

Her fellow apprentice Iwai hopes women like her are helping change the industry.

"It doesn't matter whether the chef is a man or woman," she said.

"I hope the fixed image will disappear and there will be more options for women."

"It's really a fun job."
Emergency medical staff wearing protective suits, sit in an ambulance while transferring a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to Masih Daneshvari Hospital, in Tehran

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 3,036, with 138 deaths in the past 24 hours, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV on Wednesday, adding that the country had 47,593 infected cases.

"We had 2,987 new cases of infected people in the past 24 hours and 15,473 people have recovered from the disease," Jahanpur said.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
TICKERS: RMI

Source: Ron Struthers for Streetwise Reports (4/9/20)

Ron Struthers of Struthers' Research Report takes a look at the investment thesis for Ridgestone Mining.



The correction in gold ended with the drop to the $1,460/ounce area. We see these spikes up of higher highs. It is like the gold market is a pressure cooker, trying to explode upward, and soon it will.

Ridgestone Mining Inc. (RMI:TSX.V)

New, well-structured deal with strong shareholder base;



Strong management team with recent success in Mexico;



Rebeico project is in prolific Sierra Madre belt (80 million [80M] ounces Au and 4.5 billion [4.5B] ounces Ag);



Four targets with numerous historical workings (veins, IP [induced polarization] anomaly and breccia zone);



Initial high-grade drill results from the Alaska vein, up to 36.1 g/t gold over 1.5 meters;



Attracted the likes of Dr. Steven I. Weiss, PhD, CPG, as adviser; Glamis Gold Inc. (GLG:NYSE) and Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NEM:NYSE) Mexico



Project has very little modern exploration; was acquired based on vendor's expertise and past success;



March 23: commenced a 10-hole, 1,500-meter phase 1 diamond drilling program on breccia target;



You will be familiar with some of the management team because they discovered the mines now run by Argonaut Gold Inc. (AR:TSX) in Mexico;



Recent price: $0.21/share;



Shares outstanding: 42.2 million;



Fully diluted: 58.1 million;



9.3 million warrants, all exercisable at $0.25m expire June and October 2023

Management

Ridgestone is headed up by Jonathan George, CEO and director. George is a geologist and mining entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in mineral exploration, development and financing of projects globally. From the Ridgestone website: "Mr. George cofounded Creston Moly and served as president and CEO, where he spearheaded over $40 million in equity financing to acquire and advance the El Creston project in Mexico. Under his leadership, the El Creston project advanced to become Mexico's largest molybdenum deposit, advancing through to prefeasibility in under two years, and was subsequently acquired by Mercator Minerals for $195 million.

"Mr. George also previously served as president and CEO of ESO Uranium, which subsequently became Alpha Minerals, and was instrumental in both assembling and exploring one of the largest land packages in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. This land package was where Alpha Minerals and its partner, Fission Energy, made one of the basin's most significant uranium discoveriesthe Patterson Lake South project.

"Mr. George also founded Dynasty Gold Corp., serving as president and CEO, where he and his team secured the largest land package of exploration rights held by a foreign company in China, conducting gold and base metals exploration in Xinjiang, Gansu and Qinghai provinces."

Ridgestone is partnered with YQ Gold de Mexico S.A. de C.V. for their exploration expertise. YQ Gold was founded by three accomplished geologists to acquire and explore promising projects in northern Mexico [also from the website]:

"Alfonso Daco, BSc. Geology, President, has had a long and illustrious career in mineral exploration since graduating from the University of Philippines in 1967. After working for Nippon Mining and Metals exploring for copper and gold in the Philippines, Alfonso immigrated to Canada and was hired by Ned Goodman's Campbell Resources and sent to Chibougamou, Quebec. While with the Goodman Group of companies, Alfonso was instrumental in the discovery of the El Castillo Gold Mine (more than 1 million ounces gold), the La Colorado gold Mine (more than 2 million ounces gold and 18 million ounces silver) and the Lluvia de Oro/Jojoba Gold mine (more than 500,000 ounces of gold).

"Francisco Navarro, BSc. Geology, Country Manager, received his BSc in Geology from the University of Sonora in 1986 and has been actively involved in mineral exploration and project management since then. Born and raised in Hermosillo, Sonora, Francisco has held senior management positions with numerous subsidiaries of Canadian junior resource companies, including Creston Moly Corp., Morgain Minerals Inc, Valdez Gold and Columbia Metals. Francisco's extensive network within the Mexican mining community, particularly Sonora, is invaluable to all aspects of the Company's endeavors in Mexico."

In early March Ridgestone appointed Dr. Steven I. Weiss, PhD, CPG, is chief independent technical adviser for its Rebeico gold and copper project. From the website: "Mr. Weiss has worked as an exploration geologist since 1979, in roles from generative through to senior project management. Mr. Weiss began work in Mexico in 2003 when he joined Glamis Gold to lead their exploration team at the El Sauzal gold mine (total of 1.7M oz gold produced) and in the surrounding Sierra Madre Occidental. He continued working in Mexico for Goldcorp, following their acquisition of Glamis Gold in 2006, where he built and led the team at its Camino Rojo gold-silver deposit, which proved up an initial 1.6M oz gold in reserves and more than doubled its gold resource from 3.4M oz to 7.5M oz gold. Steve held the position of Mexico Exploration Manager when he departed Goldcorp in 2013. Since 2014, Mr. Weiss has been a senior associate geologist with Mine Development Associates, headquartered in Reno, Nevada."

Projects

Ridgestone has a lot of experience, success and connections in Mexico, and that is where they are focused with an exceptional property. I have little doubt that this will be another significant discovery.

Rebeico Copper-Gold Project [from the company website]

The project is located in Mexico's famed Sierra Madre Gold belt, one of the world's largest and most prolific mineral districts, credited with production of over 80 million ounces of gold and over 4.5 billion ounces of silver. It is located 115 kilometers east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and is easily accessed by paved and all-weather roads.

Rebeico is the site of numerous, historical, small underground mines that were developed along a one-kilometer, steeply dipping vein referred to as the "Alaska" vein. Old workings along the Alaska vein were developed to depths of approximately 70 meters over widths of 1.5 meters and occur intermittently along strike. The mines were developed to extract gold, copper and silver ores during the early 1940s, and were sent for refining to El Paso, Texas

Since that time, little activity took place on the properties until they were consolidated in the mid-2000s by a local Mexican geologist, Ing. Francisco Navarro, who founded YQ Gold de Mexico S.A. de C.V. with two other accomplished geologists, to further explore and develop the promising prospect. YQ Gold undertook a compilation of all available historical data and determined that the property had exceptional potential for the discovery of multiple styles of gold, copper and silver mineralization.

In June last year the company acquired a significant land package adjacent to the original property to enhance the project. The new acquisition area is 3,292 hectares to the west of the original claims and in green on the next graphic. Initial reconnaissance encountered numerous artisanal workings and mineralized outcrops which were sampled and tested for copper and gold. Based on a review of government records, little to no modern exploration has been undertaken in recent years.

I am going to use the graphics from their presentation to highlight the three main targets before the land acquisition. [Here is] the Alaska vein, breccia zone and the IP anomaly.

Financial

The company is well structured and has strong shareholder support. They just raised funds ahead of the recent market turmoil, which did not seem to affect the share price much at all. In late February, Ridgestone closed a $1.05 million private placement at $0.15 per share with a half warrant exercisable at $0.30, good for one year.

Summary

YQ Gold de Mexico originally acquired the claims containing the known Alaska vein, a high-grade gold and copper vein bearing similar characteristics to their past discoveries.

Surface sampling and prospecting has demonstrated continuity of the Alaska vein over one kilometer. An initial eight-hole drilling program in 2018 returned several good intersects on the Alaska vein, including 8.31 g/t Au, 17.7 g/t Au and 36.1 g/t Au, and up to 2.41% copper.

The project is in the prolific Sierra Madre gold belt, which has produced over 80 million ounces of gold from dozens of mines. There is excellent infrastructure including paved highway access, power and water.

Alfonso and Francisco (YQ Gold) are confident about reproducing past successes with this project. They have determined that there are likely parallel veins associated with the Alaska vein, and possibly a large, deep-seated mineralized source. Their recent success at La Colorada began with two veins, but in between was a large area of disseminated gold that enabled a successful low-cost heap leach mining operation.

Now, Ridgestone Mining has the opportunity to reap the benefits of Alfonso and Francisco's expertise by earning 100% in the Rebeico Copper/Gold Project.

In addition to the well-defined Alaska vein, a newly discovered mineralized zone to the south presents a significant new form of mineralization. This new style of mineralization, identified as an oxidized breccia zone, has been identified on surface over an area of 150x150 meters, and with surface sampling ranging from 1.0 to 26.0 g/t gold and 0.2 to 0.7% copper. A recently completed geophysical survey has indicated this structure could be part of a significantly larger mineralized structure at depth.

On March 23, Ridgestone commenced a 10-hole, 1,500-meter, phase 1 diamond drilling program at the newly discovered gold-bearing and copper-bearing New Year zone at its Rebeico gold-copper project. From the press release:

First-ever drilling at the New Year Zone will be focused on the potential continuation at depth and sub-surface geometry of high-grade gold-copper mineralization discovered with 2019 surface sampling that returned up to 12.95 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) and 0.65 per cent copper (Cu);



Drilling will also test the southern portion of the nearby Alaska vein, south of hole 18REB10, which in 2018 returned 36.10 g/t Au over 1.5 meters at 103.64 to 105.14 meters;



Specifically, the potential subsurface junction of the New Year Zone with the southern part of Alaska vein will be targeted.

On April 7, RMI put out a news release about progress on the first the holes and all of them showed mineralization in the core. We will have to wait for assays, but there could be a discovery hole in the making. The first three diamond-core holes in the New Year Zone completed for a total of 435.7 meters with visible sulfide mineralization observed in all three holes. From the release:

Drill hole 20REB014D was drilled vertically and initially planned for a depth of 100 meters but was extended to 170 meters due to the continued presence of visible sulfide mineralization.



Drill hole 20REB015D was collared at the same site as 20REB014D and drilled due west at an inclination of 55 degrees. The hole was initially planned for a depth of 150 meters but was extended to 167 meters due to the continued presence of visible sulfide mineralization.



Drill hole 20REB013D was drilled vertically and reached a total depth of 98 meters with sulfide mineralization observed in the core.

I believe the odds are very high that this drilling, and future drill rounds can prove up a significant discovery. The stock is tightly held and not much volume until the past month. It has been mostly in a trading range between $0.20 and $0.26, and I would be accumulating up to $0.30. A move above $0.30 would mark a clear breakout, and the stock could then make a significant move higher, which means more aggressive buying at that point could be a good strategy.

And one last key point, someone like Steven Weiss does not just join any project or company.

I participated in the last financing and currently own 82,000 shares. I may also aid the company in future finance rounds.

Ron Struthers founded Struthers' Resource Stock Report 23 years ago. The report covers senior and junior companies with ample trading liquidity. He started his Millennium Index of dividend stocks in 2003 - $1,000 invested then was worth over $4,000 end of 2014 and the index returned 26.8% in 2016. He retired from IBM after 30 years in customer service, systems and business analyst, also developing his own charting software. He has expertise in junior start-ups and was a co-founder of Paramount Gold and Silver.

[NLINSERT]

Disclosure:

1) Ron Struthers: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Ridgestone Mining. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company currently has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: I helped Ridgestone Mining raise funds in last financing and may do so in future ones. Additional disclosures below. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees.

3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy.

4) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases.

Charts and images provided by the author.

Author's Disclosures: Copyright 2020, Struthers' Resource Stock Report. All forecasts and recommendations are based on opinion. Markets change direction with consensus beliefs, which may change at any time and without notice. The author/publisher of this publication has taken every precaution to provide the most accurate information possible. The information & data were obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but because the information & data source are beyond the author's control, no representation or guarantee is made that it is complete or accurate. The reader accepts information on the condition that errors or omissions shall not be made the basis for any claim, demand or cause for action. Because of the ever-changing nature of information & statistics the author/publisher strongly encourages the reader to communicate directly with the company and/or with their personal investment adviser to obtain up to date information. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Any statements non-factual in nature constitute only current opinions, which are subject to change. The author/publisher may or may not have a position in the securities and/or options relating thereto, & may make purchases and/or sales of these securities relating thereto from time to time in the open market or otherwise. Neither the information, nor opinions expressed, shall be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any stock, futures or options contract mentioned herein. The author/publisher of this letter is not a qualified financial adviser & is not acting as such in this publication.
On its Facebook page, the Embassy of Armenia in Russia has posted the updated list of citizens of Armenia located at Domodedovo Airport, accommodated in hotels by the Embassy and waiting for the upcoming possible flight to Armenia.

The Embassy has added that it is releasing the list at the request of the citizens and that the list includes the citizens, most of which have arrived in Moscow from other Russian cities and havent been able to leave for Armenia due to cancelation and absence of flights.

The Embassy has also stated that priority will be given to these citizens in case there are flights.
Above, soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with the 1918 Spanish flu.

By Eric Felten, RealClearInvestigations

April 8, 2020

The last time the United States faced a worldwide pandemic  the Spanish flu of 1918 and 1919 -- cities rolled up the sidewalks, closed theaters, and shuttered saloons. Firemen, policemen, nurses and panicked citizens covered their faces with gauze masks.

Woodrow Wilson returning from the Versailles peace conference, 1919. Frankly, I dont think Wilson gave much attention to the flu, says the leading Wilson scholar.

The virulent influenza emerged in the last year of World War I, incubated in American army camps and spread overseas on troop ships. By the time the influenza finally burned itself out, over 45,000 Americans in uniform and some 600,000 American civilians were dead of the disease. Its estimated that the Spanish flu killed 50 million worldwide.

When the crisis hit, the country was led by a president viewed by many as among the most capable of American leaders, Woodrow Wilson. A favorite of progressives, Wilson has been hailed for expanding the federal government and celebrated for his commitment to international institutions. He has regularly been in historians polls of the top 10 presidents, an assessment that has only slipped in recent years as Wilson's unreconstructed racism has been publicized. Still, one would expect a skilled advocate of federal authority to have used every power of his office to confront a scourge that was killing Americans by the hundreds of thousands. Surely his response would be a model of presidential leadership.

Not quite.

Frankly, I dont think Wilson gave much attention to the flu, John M. Cooper, emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tells RealClearInvestigations. From going through his papers, there just isnt much there, says Cooper, the dean of Wilson scholars.

President Woodrow Wilson had been extraordinarily close-mouthed about the epidemic from the first, writes Sandra Opdycke in The Flu Epidemic of 1918: Americas Experience in the Global Health Crisis. Historians have been unable to find a single occasion on which he mentioned it in public.

Flu ward at U.S. Army Camp Hospital No. 45, Aix-Les-Bains, France, 1918.

Wilson had made no public statement about influenza, John M. Barry wrote in The Great Influenza. Wilson would not shift his focus, from the war, not for an instant. With the Germans back on their heels, that focus was keeping the pressure on by racing American soldiers to the battlefields of Europe  even if it killed them.

Cooper tells RealClearInvestigations that The military and civilian leadership were hell bent on getting troops to France. Those troop ships were even worse than today's cruise ships, but they wanted to get doughboys across the Atlantic, and they don't seem to have worried about whether a lot of them arrived sick or dead. Many were infected before they embarked: The army camps were petri dishes too, Cooper says. Indeed, its likely the pandemic influenza was born in an overcrowded American training base. The spreading contagion notwithstanding, the overriding push was to get the men trained and dispatched.

Theres no arguing that President Wilson was somehow unaware of the unfolding catastrophe. He knew very well the price that was being paid in sickness and death. [P]eople he trusted spoke to him of the disease writes Barry, and they spoke particularly of useless deaths on the transports.

As a measure of the useless deaths, just two days into its Atlantic crossing in September 1918, the transport ship George Washington already had over 500 soldiers sick with influenza. By the time the ship reached France, 77 were dead.

Seattle cops, December 1918.

Wilsons closest adviser, Cary T. Grayson, happened to be a medical doctor. Barry suggests that Grayson is the one who convinced the president to confront his army chief of staff about the disease felling the ranks. In early October 1918, Wilson met with Gen. Peyton March at the White House. The president said, General March, I have had representations sent to me by men whose ability and patriotism are unquestioned that I should stop the shipment of men to France until the epidemic of influenza is under control.

The general responded, Every such soldier who has died [of influenza] just as surely played his part as his comrade who died in France.

That may not have been the soundest military practice. For every soldier who showed up in France debilitated by the flu, others had to care for him. Sending more troops when many of those troops were sick only reduced the power and readiness of American forces in Europe. The epidemic rendered hundreds of thousands of military personnel non-effective, Carol R. Byerly wrote in the journal Public Health Reports. During the American Expeditionary Forces' campaign at Meuse-Argonne, the epidemic diverted urgently needed resources from combat support to transporting and caring for the sick and the dead.

Peyton March: Wilson's Chief of Staff assured the President, Every such soldier who has died [of influenza] just as surely played his part as his comrade who died in France.

Wilson let General March have his way.

Some 16,000 American troops died of disease in Europe, on top of the 30,000 who succumbed in stateside training camps.

Scholars have debated for decades whether Wilson, who fell ill at the Paris peace conference in April 1919, was suffering from a stroke, the Spanish flu, or a bout of seasonal influenza. Cooper says the best current scholarship has concluded that Wilsons Paris illness was due to a common flu, not the pandemic strain.

Back home, the president didnt do any better by civilians than he did by the troops. The great advocate for federal power neither involved himself nor said a word about the rampant deaths in major American cities such as Boston, San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia. They didnt even bury the people, one Philadelphia survivor told historian Charles Hardy in 1984. How could they, when in as many as 528 flu victims died in Philadelphia in one day? They found them stuck in garages and everything.

Far more than today, state governments a century ago were expected to handle disasters and disease. And yet Wilsons silence on the influenza pandemic remains strange given his belief that public rhetoric is at heart of presidential power and influence. The president is the only national voice in affairs, Wilson wrote. If he rightly interpret the national thought and boldly insist upon it, he is irresistible. Where was Wilsons oratorical presidency when the nation needed the sort of unified action it promised?

Ambulance duty, St. Louis, October 1918.

Its not that there wasnt a federal public health service. It just did very little for the public. Wilson had signed an executive order in 1917, putting the health service under military control. Resources that might have mitigated the suffering on the home front in 1918 went to the army. Perhaps the most important resource, nurses, were in short supply when the influenza epidemic began to spread. Barry writes that hospitals had been stripped of their most essential workers and that many private hospitals around the country [were] so short staffed that they closed, and remained closed until the war ended.

One might argue that Wilson had a war to win and couldnt afford to get distracted by anything so pedestrian as the flu. But other wartime leaders recognized the threat diseases pose. On July 4, 1775, George Washington, newly made commander of the Continental Army, instituted a regime of social distancing to keep smallpox from spreading among his soldiers. There was a quarantined smallpox hospital near a pond near Cambridge, Mass. Washington made the pond off limits. No person is to be allowed to go to fresh-water pond a fishing or on any other occasion as there may be a danger of introducing the smallpox into the army. It was one of the first orders Washington issued, and he never lost sight of the threat epidemics posed to soldiers and civilians alike. The man who would become the first president urged his fellow Founders to have the utmost vigilance against this most dangerous enemy.

If that enemy talk sounds more like the anti-pandemic rhetoric of Donald Trump than that of Woodrow Wilson, it may be because Wilson had no anti-pandemic rhetoric. As coffins piled up in garages in major cities, the president stayed focused  first, on winning the war, and then on securing his internationalist dream, the League of Nations.

Wilson would indeed shape the postwar world -- primarily by way of the disease his decisions did so much to ship abroad. In the face of such epic suffering, President Woodrow Wilson -- erudite rhetorician, progressive statesman, and eminent world leader -- had no comment.
VANCOUVER, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Chemistree Technology Inc. (CSE: CHM and CHM.wt) (USOTCQB: CHMJF) (the "Company" or "Chemistree"), wishes to provide stakeholders with an update on the Company's current investment portfolio and the recent launch of an internal strategic review.

The Covid-19 pandemic is creating unprecedented challenges to the global economy and stock markets. Chemistree is dependent on the formation of capital for our liquidity. Our board and management are taking actions to maintain the solvency of the Company as long as possible during this period of uncertainty. In addition, management continues to monitor the negative headwinds of capital markets related to the cannabis industry. Company valuations have severely retreated over the last 11-months largely due to negative investor sentiment, and failure of operators to deliver on performance guidance. Chemistree believes that capital markets will improve for US operators, however, caution is warranted as the industry deals with the large quantity of 'unregulated' product that is still widely available in the marketplace. The industry's "miss" of financial performance targets has been due to many factors, including slowness and uncertainty of the licensing/regulatory process, higher than expected costs associated with testing and taxation, and inability to access capital on an as-needed basis.

During March, the Company continued the Washington State expansion and reconfiguration of the Sedro Woolley facility operated by Sugarleaf. The expansion will add approximately 30% to the cultivation area and will allow for significant streamlining of pre- and post- production facilities. Unfortunately, in late March due to Covid-19 the State of Washington deemed "construction" a non-essential service. The expansion of the facility has thus ceased at approximately 60% complete, pending inspections for building and electrical work. At this time the Company cannot estimate when the project will be ready for handover to the operator. The Company's Washington assets are performing well on a turnkey basis, as provided to the Washington licensee.

In California, Chemistree continues the development process for its 9.55-acre Desert Hot Springs land package. The capital markets headwinds facing the cannabis industry combined with the Covid-19 pandemic have stymied managements' efforts to put-in-place the necessary construction/real estate financing to commence construction. The engineering and permitting work has been completed to make the project "shovel ready", however, capital markets uncertainties related to cannabis, and particularly to California cannabis, have stalled the project. In calendar Q4 2019, and Q1 2020 the Company engaged two cannabis finance consultants, respectively, to assist with placement of the construction debt  neither was successful in delivering a term sheet.

In November 2018, the Company entered into a strategic collaboration ("Arcata") with a Humboldt County-based cannabis processing company ("Processor") located in Arcata, California. Pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, the Company agreed to loan the Processor US$450,000 (the "Arcata Loan") by way of a secured Note, for the purposes of the expanding the Processor's business, including to, among other things, purchase additional equipment and complete tenant improvements to the Processor's facility. The Note is secured by 50% of the equity of the Processer and matured on March 14, 2020. The Note is in default, the Processor has refused to retire the principal and interest and has blocked the Company from realizing on its security. The Company has retained California counsel to advise on remediation through arbitration and/or through litigation. The outcome of recovery efforts is unknown at this time.

The Company's investee, Applied Cannabis Sciences of New Jersey ("ACS"), continues to report to management regarding the changing regulatory landscape in New Jersey. ACS filed its medical vertically integrated license application in August 2019 in the latest New Jersey Request for Applications (RFA), which was released Monday, July 15, 2019, by the New Jersey Department of Health. Unfortunately, New Jersey lawmakers voted late last year to pose the question to voters on the November 2020 ballot. No further advance in that state is expected until the end of the year at best.

Investment Policy Review

The Company's investment objectives are to seek investment opportunities in the cannabis sector, initially the western United States and potentially other jurisdictions where cannabis-related activities are permitted and to achieve an acceptable rate of return by focusing on opportunities with attractive risk to reward profiles. Investments by the Company will be made in accordance with and are otherwise subject to the its investment policy (the "Investment Policy"), which may be amended from time to time at the sole discretion of the Company without shareholder approval unless required by applicable laws or Exchange policies. The key elements of the Investment Policy are summarized and included below.

The proposed investments will generally be companies in the cannabis sector, but may include a range including but not limited to service providers to the cannabis industry, to licensees, to bare land packages for development. Preference will be given initially to the western United States, but other jurisdictions, including potentially outside of North America, may be permissible depending on the risk-reward relationship associated with the particular jurisdiction, including legal and tax considerations.

Currently, the Company is completing an internal strategic review of its investment policy. The Board of Directors is considering a broadening of the mandate to include investment opportunities unrelated to the cannabis sector. To date, in excess of 50% of the Company's asset base has been deployed in cannabis-related initiatives. In order to deploy remaining investment capital with a more diversified approach, management is recommending an expanded investment policy that may include other opportunities in the healthcare, biotechnology, medical technology or related consumer-products fields.

Stock Option Grant

Pursuant to the Company's stock option plan  Chemistree has granted options to purchase 1,450,000 common shares at $0.06 per share to certain eligible directors, officers and consultants. The options expire in five years.

About Chemistree Technology Inc.

Chemistree Technology Inc. is an investment company dedicated to the U.S. cannabis sector, endeavoring to provide turn-key solutions for the regulated cannabis industry. The Company's corporate strategy is to acquire and develop vertically integrated cannabis assets, leveraging management's decades of expertise in the cannabis industry and corporate finance to own and operate licensed cultivation, processing, distribution and retail facilities.

For more information, visit www.chemistree.ca.

Advisory

The Company wishes to inform shareholders that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in both Canada and the United States.

Cannabis-related Practices or Activities are Illegal Under U.S. Federal Laws

The concepts of "medical cannabis" and "recreational cannabis" do not exist under U.S. federal law. The Federal Controlled Substances Act classifies "marihuana" as a Schedule I drug. Under U.S. federal law, a Schedule I drug or substance has a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use in the United States, and a lack of safety for the use of the drug under medical supervision. 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 the Company of liability under U.S. federal law, nor will it provide a defence to any federal proceeding which may be brought against the Company. Enforcement of U.S. federal laws will be a significant risk to the business of the Company and any such proceedings brought against the Company may adversely affect the Company's operations and financial performance.

Further information regarding the legal status of cannabis related activities and associated risk factors, including, but not limited to, risk of enforcement actions, risks that third-party service providers, such as banking or financial institutions cease providing services to the Company, and the risk that Company may not be able to distribute profits, if any, from U.S. operations up to the Company, are included in the Prospectus, the Company's annual information form and other documents incorporated by reference therein and in the Company's Form 2A listing statement filed with the CSE and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

"Karl Kottmeier"

President

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release includes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "budget", "scheduled" and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to future capital market conditions; the expansion and reconfiguration of the Sedro Woolley facility, including the expected increase in the size of the cultivation area, the streamlining of pre- and post-production facilities and the expected completion date of the expansion and reconfiguration; the outcome of the Arcata dispute; the status of ACS' medical vertically integrated license application and the timeline for the New Jersey RFA; the potential for the future amendment of the Investment Policy; the mandate and nature of the Company's future investments and investment strategy, including the jurisdiction and industry classification of such investments; and the considerations taken into account by the Company when making investments.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks identified in the Company's reports and filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by applicable law.

SOURCE Chemistree Technology Inc.

Related Links

http://chemistree.ca/


Life after the lockdown would depend on which phase your district falls under

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told floor leaders of the Opposition that the nation wide lockdown will not be lifted in one go.

There have been many suggestions and recommendations that have been given to the government on this issue, but there is still no clarity on how the restrictions would be lifted.

During a recent meeting chaired by Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, it was suggested that the restrictions post the lockdown on April 14 be lifted in a staggered or phased manner.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

A task force assigned to study the post lockdown scenario in Kerala suggested that the restrictions be eased in a phased manner. It was suggested that the lockdown be eased in three phases.

A district falls under Phase 1 when on the date of review it has not seen any new cases for a week and there has been not more than 10 per cent increase in the number of persons under home surveillance and there are no hotspots in the district.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Phase 2 would involve a district which should have reported no new cases in a fortnight or not seen more than 5 per cent increase in those under home surveillance and have no hotspots.

A district which has not reported new cases for a fortnight and having no hotspots and has seen a decrease of more than 5 per cent in the number of persons under home surveillance will fall under Phase 3.

Ensure strict implementation of rural lockdown: Gujarat DGP

In districts falling under Phase 1, no person will step out without wearing masks. Only one person from a household will be allowed outside for a specific purpose and not for more than three hours. Those above the age of 65 and also persons who are unwell, will not be allowed to step out. Further the movement of private vehicles will be restricted under an odd-even scheme. Airlines and railway services will remain suspended.

In districts under Phase 2, people will be allowed to go for morning walks within 500 metres of their homes before 7.30 am. Autos and taxis would ply with a maximum of three people. Local buses can have only one person per seat and no standing passengers.

In the Phase 3 districts, inter-district bus transport will be allowed with a 2/3rd capacity.

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Domestic flights will operate with 50 per cent seating capacity. All new entrants would have to go through a 14 day home quarantine.

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Story first published: Thursday, April 9, 2020, 9:58 [IST]
Landlords are threatening to throw tenants and residents out of their businesses and homes despite national cabinet agreeing to a moratorium on evictions, as the states struggle to legislate protections in time.

Bitter disputes have broken out across the sector as thousands of residents plan a rent strike and owners fear they will lose thousands of dollars in rent, with no government guarantees to ensure repayment when the economy comes out the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sydney business owner Kyara Coakes outside the warehouse for her property-styling business. Credit:James Brickwood

Federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar has called for at least a 50 per cent waiver of all rent for businesses in financial distress, warning they will be saddled with debt if they come out of hibernation without some of their rent dismissed altogether.

But landlords say they are being forced to act as guarantors for businesses and would have no way of recouping deferred rent payments if their tenants went bankrupt during the crisis.
Democrats are in no rush to furnish additional funds for the Treasury Departments new small business paycheck protection programme (PPP), which received more than $350 billion from Congress last month.

They still have two-thirds of it left. So we have time to negotiate how or when or where we need money there, speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the initial funding for PPP, which has already lent out more than $100bn to help small companies deal with the coronavirus pandemic, roughly 30 percent of its initial allotment from Congress.

The last time Ms Pelosi spoke to Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been the Trump administrations lead negotiator on coronavirus response legislation, was Tuesday.

No, I have not spoken to the secretary today, the speaker said.

Ms Pelosi has acknowledged that Congress next bill responding to the health crisis will not include more wide-ranging Democratic priorities such as a sweeping infrastructure package. It may not immediately extend some provisions from the $2.2trn CARES Act that will provide direct cash payments of $1,200 to most American taxpayers. Negotiations for those Democratic wish-list items will come down the line.

This is not CARES II. ... Its about responding to the secretarys request for a quarter of a trillion dollars for small business payroll relief, Ms Pelosi said. No, we need more data.

Ms Pelosi, a Roman Catholic who often publicly references her faith, said she does not intend to spend Easter Sunday negotiating.

I dont have intention of spending any one second on Sunday trying to convince anybody that its necessary for us to address the needs of everyone in our society. If they dont know that, if we dont share that value, theyre not going to get it on Easter Sunday, Passover or Ramadan, she said.

Ms Pelosi reaffirmed Democrats stance that any additional money to the small business lending programme must include a certain amount set aside for minority, women, military veteran, and tribal small business owners who dont have as easy access to the traditional banking institutions that Treasury has channelled its loans through so far.

Of the proposed $250bn re-up for the small business lending programme, the speaker has asked Congress to set aside $60bn for community development financial institutions that facilitate capital to businesses in distressed and historically poor communities.

There is a disparity in access to capital in our country. We do not want this tragedy of the coronavirus to exacerbate ... or ossify that disparity, Ms Pelosi said.

Earlier on Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a measure from Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell that would have authorised the additional $250bn for PPP without the earmark for funds for the financial centres that help provide funding to businesses in poor communities.

Mr McConnells attempt to fast-track his bill through the Senate was a political stunt, Ms Pelosi said, echoing sentiments expressed by her Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor who objected to Mr McConnells request for quick passage.

The bill that the Senate Majority leader brought to the floor would never pass the House by unanimous consent. It is a basis for some negotiation but it would never pass the House by unanimous consent, Ms Pelosi said.

Republicans, meanwhile, have accused Democrats of stalling much-needed legislation to ensure American workers continue getting paychecks. The PPP is designed to forgive up to 100 percent of its loans to small businesses that meet certain payroll benchmarks.

Washington liberals must stop playing this reckless game with the livelihoods of millions of families who are struggling, House Minority whip Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, said in a statement.
Ukraine's hryvnia weakens to UAH 27.20 to U.S. dollar on April 9

10:20, 09.04.20 7170

The official forex rate against the euro for Thursday is fixed at UAH 29.58 per euro.
West Air, a Chinese budget carrier owned by the HNA Group, has persuaded some creditors to postpone receiving their bond payments, getting much-needed breathing space as its indebted parent company struggles for financial survival amid a national lockdown that has grounded all but a handful of weekly flights.

The carrier, operating 35 aircraft from its base in Chongqing in central China, persuaded bondholders to withdraw 292 million yuan (US$41.3 million) of put options, according to West Air's statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where the bonds are traded. The 13-year old carrier eventually paid 235.9 million yuan of bonds on April 7, according to the statement.

The deferment is a relief for West Air's parent HNA, one of China's biggest global asset acquirers to emerge in the past two decades. China's largest private-sector aviation conglomerate, HNA is under de facto state ward by the local authorities of Hainan province to trim its debt burden, as the government tries to prevent its financial collapse from hurting the broader banking system while the nation's economic growth slows to its slowest pace in four decades.

HNA agreed in December to sell its stake in West Air for an undisclosed price to Chongqing Yufu Assets Management Group, a state-owned company based in the megacity and a minority partner in the budget carrier, giving Yufu at least 70 per cent of the airline. The deal, when completed, would give the municipal authority of Chongqing, with a population of 31 million, its first hometown carrier.

A buyout behemoth's billions in pledged shares. SCMP Graphics alt=A buyout behemoth's billions in pledged shares. SCMP Graphics

HNA's sale to Yufu is a crucial step for the Chongqing municipality to help repay West Air's debt, said a financial source familiar with the plan, declining to be named. West Air did not respond to requests for comment by South China Morning Post.

West Air is not the sole unit facing financial problems at HNA. Hainan Airlines, China's biggest private carrier and the HNA Group's flagship, has called a meeting of bondholders on Friday to delay payments on 750 million yuan worth of 270-day, 4.35 per cent notes that mature on April 17.

Story continues

A HNA Group logo on the building of HNA Plaza in Beijing on February 9, 2018. Photo: Reuters alt=A HNA Group logo on the building of HNA Plaza in Beijing on February 9, 2018. Photo: Reuters

The airlines' struggles to repay debt reflect the wider financial woes faced by China's aviation industry, as the coronavirus pandemic has forced regulators to ground flights to deter air travel. The no-fly order has hit the industry hard, leading to 24.6 billion yuan in losses in February alone, of which 21 billion yuan was a direct loss by the country's carriers, according to data by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Worldwide airlines stand to lose a collective US$252 billion in passenger revenue in 2020, making it the biggest annual slump in civil aviation history, according to a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global industry guild.

West Air had 12.42 billion yuan in assets as of June 2019, little changed from a year earlier, while liabilities fell 1.5 per cent to 7.4 billion yuan, according to Wind's data. Its debt-to-asset ratio fell by 1 percentage point to 59.58 per cent, while gross profit margin climbed 0.2 percentage point to 11.5 per cent.

China Chengxin International Credit Rating (CCXI) at the end of March lowered its ratings for West Air to AA- from AA.

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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  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
OTTAWACanada is facing the grim prospect of multiple COVID-19 outbreaks rolling in waves across the country from now until December and beyond, killing anywhere between 4,400 and 44,000 Canadians, federal data suggests.

The numbers are stark, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday. Our health-care systems across the country are coping for the time being, but were at a fork in the road between the best and the worst possible outcomes.

Trudeau and his top public health officials conceded the federal government is looking at whether tougher public health restrictions on movements and travel will be necessary.

He would not say what options are under consideration, nor when Canadians might see any relaxation of measures if best-case scenarios play out, but he said there may be slight lifting of restrictions once the intense first wave passes.

Normality as it was before will not come back full on until we get a vaccine, Trudeau said, adding, that could be a very long way off.

Canada is still in the early stages of the epidemic, according to Dr. Theresa Tam, the countrys chief public health officer, and she says it is too early to say when the peak will hit.

If the initial peak of the first wave comes in late spring, with the end of the first wave in the summer, Trudeau said it will still take months of continued determined effort to beat back the disease.

He underscored that if Canadians follow guidelines for physical distancing and cough shielding, the numbers could improve dramatically.

Trudeau acknowledged COVID-19 is taking a brutal toll on Canadians and the economy. New data shows more than 1 million people lost their jobs in March.

Another 2.1 million workers who kept their jobs worked only half their usual shifts or no hours at all.

Trudeau said repeatedly that Ottawa will support workers and businesses for as long as it takes to emerge from the crisis, and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland insisted the federal government has the necessary fiscal resources to do so.

The Liberal minority government has so far pledged $105.5 billion in budgetary measures to backstop workers and the economy.

The Parliamentary Budget Office said Thursday that spending on that order will jack up the federal budget deficit to a whopping $184.2 billion, up from about $27.4 billion that it had forecast for the fiscal year that just ended  and it said more spending may well be needed.

The forecasts for coronavirus infections and deaths that Ottawa released Thursday provide a range of projections based on many variables, such as how the disease has behaved elsewhere, the impact of infection control measures like physical distancing, cough hygiene, and the health resources available to patients.

The best-case scenario foresees 4,400 deaths, with tough control measures and one per cent of the population becoming infected; a more moderate scenario, based on weaker adherence to control measures, would see some 22,000 Canadians perish.

A worst-case scenario would result if no effective control measures were taken, resulting in a 10 per cent infection rate and some 44,000 deaths over the pandemics span, said Simon Lucas, Canadas deputy minister of health, at a news briefing in Ottawa.

Canada is currently seeing a 2.2 per cent fatality rate among those stricken with the disease.

Tam said a best case infection rate of one per cent is aspirational but achievable. That still means about 376,000 people could get COVID-19.

The forecasts say that by April 16, a week from now, Canada could see a case range of 22,580 to 31,850 people infected, with anywhere from 500 to 700 deaths.

Tam reported that on Thursday morning there were 19,774 COVID-19 cases in Canada with 461 deaths, numbers that would change throughout the day as provinces report new infections.

She said tests have been completed for more than 373,000 people, with more than five per cent confirmed positive.

Tam said the government is scrambling to ramp up testing, and acknowledged a shortage of ingredients for domestic testing concoctions is bedevilling that effort.

To date, she said the rate of growth here is slower than seen in many other countries, with confirmed cases doubling about every three to five days.

Susan Bondy, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said Canadians will see lot of different modelling studies released as COVID-19 plays out.

She said one goal of communicating those studies is to make the case that our behaviour can change the extreme outcomes possible from ridiculously devastating to merely devastating.

Bondy said there should be one important takeaway: Canadians must urgently take action to turn the tide on our rates of transmission among vulnerable populations including the frail, elderly, homeless, Indigenous and addicted populations. If they fail to do so, the result will swamp the acute care system as it did in Italy, she said.

And if intensive-care units are overwhelmed, the proportion of infected people who die will grow because the system will be unable to turn around serious cases that might otherwise recover.

Tam said the numbers already show the global pandemic showing up disproportionately across the country, with Quebec hardest hit.

That may be because its citizens had an earlier March break, many people vacationed outside the country before travel restrictions hit, returned and mingled among their communities, said Tam. She noted Quebecs rate of testing for the virus is also, like Albertas, the highest, so it is detecting more cases as well.

Given the clusters of outbreaks in long-term care homes, deputy public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo said the federal public health agency is looking at changing directives or guidance for care in nursing homes and seniors residences, which come under provincial regulation.

Tam said the modelling projections are not a crystal ball that represent exactly what will happen, yet are useful to drive public actions and government policy choices.

We cannot prevent every death, but we must prevent all the deaths that we can, she said.

Read more about:
SINGAPORE  Parents are no longer allowed to drop their children off with their grandparents on a daily basis, the government said on Thursday (9 April) while clarifying a ban on social gatherings which came into force on Tuesday.

All stadiums, previously opened for individuals to exercise within safe social distances, will also be closed after people continue to disregard circuit breaker rules by exercising in groups.

Speaking at a COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce virtual press conference, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong stressed that the authorities will step up enforcement to ensure the public abide strictly to the measures.

While the crowds have thinned in town and central business districts, there are still some social gatherings taking place close to people's homes in our heartlands, noted Gan, who is also the taskforce co-chair.

Some people are also not observing safe distancing measures when they have to go out for essential purposes such as to buy food, he added.

As such, more than 10,000 advisories have been issued by enforcement officers over the last two days, said Gan.

This cannot continue, he stressed. The circuit breaker measures will only be effective if all of us abide by the rules and bear the collective responsibility of keeping one another safe.

Gan reiterated the authorities plea for people to stay home and only go out for essential activities such as to buy food or seek urgent medical attention.

These can include visiting elderly parents who lived alone and need assistance with their daily needs.

But interaction with them should be kept to a minimum and strictly hygienic, Gan said.

As such, he added that the government will disallow parents from dropping their children off with their grandparents every day.

Children should be left with their grandparents throughout the entire circuit breaker period if need be, Gan noted.

Because every time you bring your children to their grandparents, we expose them again and again to potential infection, he explained. I know these measures are very painful, but they are necessary to protect our seniors.

Story continues

However, parents working in essential services may appeal to the government to allow them to leave and pick up their children with grandparents daily.

The government will consider allowing it on a case-by-case basis, stressed Gan, only if the workers have exhausted all other caretaking avenues.

Dont exercise, jog, cycle in groups

Venues, such as stadiums, were kept open during the circuit breaker period to give people an avenue to exercise without bunching together, National Development Minister and taskforce co-chair Lawrence Wong said.

The basic point is this  we are not stopping people from going out to exercise, but if you want to exercise, do it by yourself or do it with a family member (who) is already living with you; and do it in your own neighbourhood, he added.

Do not exercise in groups, do not jog in groups, do not cycle in groups  any such activities would be an offence.

However, people have been gathering together to exercise in stadiums, defeating the purpose of the current circuit breaker measures.

We have decided, from henceforth, to close stadiums altogether, because if there is no compliance and if these venues continue to be used for congregation of groups, then we cannot allow that to continue, Wong explained.

He said that the authorities will continue to enforce the measures strictly and that they may have to tighten them up, including closing more premises, as they monitor movement over the next few days.

For instance, while authorities currently allow people from driving out or going further away from their neighbourhood to exercise, this may come under review and further tightened.

Wong also noted that there are more than 2,500 enforcement officers actively monitoring on the ground thus far.

Authorities are going all out to enforce the rules, with efforts focused on hotspots here, including wet markets and parks, he added.

We do know that many Singaporeans are used to going to wet markets on weekends, particularly in the morning. So, now we are controlling the entry (and) exit...There will be queues building up, said Wong.

If that is not sustainable and people refuse to change their shopping habits, authorities may have to take more drastic measures, he added.

This also applies to parks. I can't close a park, but what we can do, and will do, is control access where its feasible, said Wong.

Access will be strictly controlled in some parks, he added, without naming them. If the numbers build up, then we will stop people from entering the park altogether.

The COVID-19 Temporary Measures Act, passed in Parliament on Tuesday, gives authorities the power to ban events and gatherings, or impose conditions on how they are conducted. This new regulation also prohibits private parties or gatherings of any size with families or friends not living together, and applies both to private and public spaces.

Those caught flouting these regulations will first be given a written warning and subsequently face a $300 composition fine or prosecution for repeated offences.

A first-time offender who is prosecuted under the Act can face a maximum fine of $10,000, or a jail term of up to six months, or both. A second-time or subsequent offender can face a maximum fine of $20,000, or a jail term of up to a year or both.

I appeal to everyone during this long weekend to stay at home. If you want to connect with your friends, your relatives, call them or have a virtual meet-up with them over the Internet or video calls, said Gan.

Each of us must take the circuit breaker measures seriously...The health of all depends on each of us.

To date, Singapore has 1,910 cases of the virus, including 460 who have fully recovered and six who have died.

Shaw Lodge Dormitory was identified as the 10th and latest cluster linked to a foreign worker dormitory on Thursday. Some 460 cases, nearly one-quarter of the overall count here, have been linked to such places of residence.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Other Singapore stories:

COVID-19: New record of 287 cases, mostly linked to foreign worker dormitories

COVID-19: Singapore begins active case-finding in foreign worker dormitories, swab-testing started

COVID-19: LTA to install safe-distancing stickers, thermal scanners in public transport network

COVID-19: Sungei Tengah Lodge declared fourth isolation area

COVID-19: 10 businesses ordered to stop after providing non-essential services
DEPUTY Niall Collins has called on gardai to use their new powers to target the minority of the community in Rathkeale who are flouting HSE guidelines.

He welcomed the gardai's new powers. They are now able to arrest people who refuse to comply. A 2,500 fine or six months in jail are the penalties.

"There is massive concern among the wider Rathkeale community that the actions of the few could spread Covid-19 to the many. We have all seen the open air barber video. People are angry and incensed over it.

"Now there is a video of a party bus driving around. They are stocking up on alcohol and are sat closely together on the bus. One even shouts up the coronavirus. It beggars belief," said Deputy Collins.

The video which is doing the rounds on WhatsApp shows the bus full of people stocking up on beer and ice cubes at a supermarket in County Limerick.

"We're on lockdown in the bus," said one of the passengers.

The video was sent to the Fianna Fail TD by a constituent who said: "This is nothing short of disgraceful. Something needs to be done and fast."

Deputy Collins said: "I am calling on gardai to have a very heavy presence in the Rathkeale area and use their new powers to the full force of the law to prevent people travelling 2kms from their homes without a valid reason.
Overwhelmed with gratitude and joy, a car crash survivor recovering with a broken leg in southeast Texas has finally found her dog Grace in Conroe thanks to the communitys help.

So many people came together during a pandemic to search for a dog for a stranger that lived a little bit father down the road, but thats how small-town Texas people are, Graces Owner Kristi Hinds wrote in a message to The Courier. Theyre kind, honest, and so willing to help because theyre great people.

Grace darted away on Saturday while three people pulled Hinds out of her smoking car that she said hydroplaned and crashed into a tree near Texas 105 East at New Bethlehem Baptist Church at 14630 Millmac Road in Conroe.

Out of the hospital and back in her hometown of Orange, located between Beaumont and Lake Charles, Hinds remained devastated and worried. Before the crash, she said Grace was always at her side and even used as a service dog. Exhausted, she continued to search nearly three hours away from the crash site, including by putting the call out on social media on Tuesday asking for anyone and everyones help.

A flood of notifications came pouring in with words of encouragement, positivity and prayers from the community, including some who had spotted the water-loving dog near Caney Creek.

A search party formed with more than six people who finally spotted her on Wednesday morning after being notified by the owners of a vacant house several miles away across from Austin Elementary School.

So many people that knew the area well called, texted or messaged about Grace, Hinds said noting two posts had over 1,000 shares. This accident of tragedy turned into a miracle and message from God. I cant explain how much this community has come together for someone they dont know, only passing through on my way home to Orange.

While Grace was found, there was still a struggle.

Anyone that would spot her shed bolt into the field behind the house, said Hinds who shared members of the search party left food out and gave Grace space to eat, which helped them get close enough to verify.

Once the search party confirmed it was Grace, her co-owner Jason Core, who owns Scapes Environmental Design in Porter, headed out to the address to help.

He was able to walk behind the house, whistle twice and Grace ran out from the field and jumped into his pickup truck, Hinds exclaimed with a laugh that she hopped in like she was ready for landscape work with Core. He got her home and bathed her. Her back has a mark, (shes) licking her swollen paw, but she is running around, he said.

Core will be taking care of Grace for Hinds, who shared she still has 3-6 months of recovery for her broken leg. She plans to get Grace microchipped and a new collar that has a GPS locator.

In the meantime, as Grace sleeps peacefully under Cores desk in her new welcome home special bandana, Hinds wants to share a thank you the size of Texas to the community and search party, including Amanda Seidel, Lisa Watkins, Kim German Cruz, Mr. Goldmam, Shannon Gleave, Kathy Sue Johnson Long, Danielle Burns, Jose Alvarado, Aldo Mendoza, Jamie Nash, Scott Engle and Kim Scott.

Thank you to this wonderful community and network of people that have blessed me and helped me with Saving Grace, Hinds said.

mellsworth@hcnonline.com
At the massive Detroit Medical Center Sinai-Grace Hospital on Sunday the night-shift emergency room nurses came in, went to the break room, and staged a sit in. This wasnt about pay; it was about mismanagement. After four hours of bantering back and forth, the sit-in nurses were told either get to work or get out!

The nurses got out. And why? We had two nurses the other day who had 26 patients with 10 on ventilators. And nobody to help out, said one, who should have added  as if it would have made a difference  that all 26 patients were on drips (IVs) that had to be monitored, meds to be given, charts to be kept, doctors ordering necessary changes, food to be served and this, on top of patient hygiene that with a vicious infection is now more critical than it has ever been. Thats right -- two nurses for 26 critical-care beds.

Right now, Detroit is a coronavirus epicenter. There are over 20,000 cases of the coronavirus in Michigan (no. 3 in the country), and this was before 3,125 new cases were reported yesterday. Michigans death rate jumped to 959, with 232 more in the last 24 hours, and Detroit is the hardest hit. Located in Wayne County, Detroit has 9,180 cases (1,536 new) and 446 dead (100 new).

Understand this -- in a city of 675,000 people, Detroit is a powder keg surrounded by a relentless fire. Detroit Medical Center Sinai-Grace Hospital, with 2,000-plus licensed beds, is already bulging.

Weve had over 110 new patients every day for three weeks. We have an average of 12-14 nurses during the day but at night that drops to eight, said one shattered RN. Weve been accepting that, and have worked hard, but weve reached our breaking point. We cannot safely take care of peoples loved ones, he added with tears in his eyes, his devastation yielding the truest understatement of a now raging pandemic. It is a scene that is playing out across the country where, as of early last night, the United States had 428,901 cases (34,755 new) and 14,600 dead (1,973 new.)

When the six nurses were ordered out, the ERs day shift, already worn to a frazzle, was forced to work another 12-hour shift, which equates to 24 straight hours of chaos. Who among us can bear that? Every nurse knows somebody will die. Every nurse working at breakneck speed wonders if a lack of care  in this case their personal, individual care  will result in a death because of what they were physically unable to do. The horrible truth is that every doctor and nurse in America shares that same curse at this very minute. And there is nobody who can help.

At Vanderbilt, Nashvilles biggest hospital, a manpower command center is frantically recruiting travel nurses and nursing-school students close to graduation. The new problem is that in order to hire RN temps, Vanderbilt is confronted by a very competitive marketplace. The salaries they must offer are astronomical  in one case $5,500 a week  whereas the veteran ER nurses at Vanderbilt and other level one trauma centers are paid much, much less.

There is a rumor, unsubstantiated mind you, that CHI-Memorial Hospital is paying emergency nurses of upwards to $4,000 per day. This is a desperate staffing situation and hospitals are furloughing their non-necessary to obtain front-line help. Memorial is also offering RNs sizable sign-on bonuses, according to sources.

One Vanderbilt ER registered nurse, speaking with anonymity, told the Nashville Tennessean, My starting pay is less than $24 per hour, she said, explaining that overtime (pushing her to 48 to 60 hours a week) is how she makes ends meet. With her normal 36-hour week, she takes home less than $1,000 a week. We are nurses. We understand the risks. But we are putting our families at risk. Kroger is offering their workers more pay right now  other places are, too. I think financial compensation for how hard we are working would be a good way to say thank you. We appreciate you.'

Nationally the average pay for a RN is $37.37 an hour. In Tennessee the average is $29.48, this from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to other national statistics, in the United States the average annual salary for a registered nurse is currently $73,550 which breaks down as an average of $35.36 per hour, $1,414 per week and a monthly salary of $6,129.

After a rash of calls from the news media, Vanderbilt announced on Monday it would immediately give pay increases to all registered nurses but didnt specify any amounts, saying direct-care nurses would be informed by their supervisors. An email obtained by the Nashville newspaper revealed an increase for experienced nurses would be $3 per hour, while those with less than three years experience would get a $2/hour increase. To wit, an ER nurse with 10 years experience at Vanderbilt who works three 12-hour shifts per week will now make $108 more a week.

Hospitals in New York are offering temporary RNs $10,327.80 a week in addition to travel and housing stipends. But it comes with a heavy threat; in New York the infectious disease doctors have told front-line staff that, statistically, there is a 100 percent chance you will become infected.

Last month COVID-90 related jobs for nurses jumped to over $3,000 per week in hot spot cities in the United States and some hospitals are paying nurses over 100 percent more than before the virus. Several hospitals are also providing housing for at-risk medical professionals who fear they may take the virus home with them.

One Vanderbilt nurse told the Tennessean, I hear people talking about hazard pay and I kinda go back and forth on that. We knew what we signed up for when we became nurses. I think if we were working anywhere else where the pay was equitable, I dont think COVID should necessarily mean extra pay (for all nurses) if we were already fairly paid. The problem is we are not.

* * *

15 DIRECTIONS EVERY SINGLE MINUTE

I have to call uncle. Its too much. Too much. I need help, said I.C.U. nurse Linda Barton. She works at Norwood Hospital in Boston and said this past weekend was the busiest and scariest of her career. This weekend was beyond difficult, Barton said. I kept asking and telling them we needed more help. We needed more hands, we needed more RNs, we needed more aids.

Whats shocking to veteran nurses is the degree of illness they see. Theyre very, very sick. These are people who were living their lives normally two weeks ago, and now are on life support, and Im extremely worried about their survival, she said.

Another nurse, Kelly Williams, told a reporter, The number of patients that are presenting to our hospitals right now is something that we have never had in our entire careers, have never even thought of or heard of, and the patients that are coming in are much sicker.

Barton added, This weekend I did not feel safe  When youre so busy and being pulled in 15 different directions every single minute of a 12, 13, 14, 15-hour day, mistakes are going to be made, and Im really worried about that for myself and my colleagues.

* * *

IF NEW YORK STATE WAS A COUNTRY 

New York State now has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any single country in the world outside of the United States, At 8 oclock last night, the USA had 428,901 cases (34,755 new) with 23,229 (1,861 new) recovered and 14,600 (1,973 new) deaths. The worlds totals were 1,500,830 cases (67,949 new), with 317,855 (19,466 new) recovered and 87,706 (6,506 new) deaths.

New York had a record numbers of deaths on Wednesday, with 149,316 cases (9,291 new) and 779 more deaths in the last 24 hours pushing the fatality numbers to 9,219 dead. No. 2 Spain has 148,220 cases (1,465 new), and No. 3 Italy has 139,422 (1,737 new). Germany, now 4th, has 113,296 (4,251 new).

Comparatively, in the United States, No. 2 New Jersey has 47,437 (2,907 new), No. 3 Michigan has 20,346 (1,376 new), No. 4 California has 17,674 (1,311 new), and No. 5 Louisiana 17,030 (746 new). Georgia is No. 10 among the states with 9,901 (1,083 new) and Tennessee is at No. 18 with 4,362 (98 new) cases, 592 (126 new) recovered, and 79 (7 new) deaths.

royexum@aol.com
The Bombay High Court on Thursday



refused to grant temporary bail to an accused, saying it can not allow him to be released and put him at the risk of contracting coronavirus.

The situation in jail was much better than that in the city of Mumbai, Justice G S Patel observed while hearing a bail plea filed by Jitendra Mishra, a murder accused who is lodged in Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai for the last 18 months.

Mishra, a resident of suburban Ghatkopar, had sought temporary bail citing the pandemic.

Justice Patel, who heard the plea through video conference, told Mishra's lawyer Shailendra Singh that the applicant was "better off in jail".

"You (applicant) have no idea what is happening in the city. The jail authorities are better equipped than the municipal authorities outside, especially in Worli Naka (central Mumbai).

"Worli Naka is in a mess," the judge said.

Worli Koliwada in central Mumbai has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the city.

The high court further said that it was aware of the direction given by the Supreme Court that wherever possible prisoners should be released, but it also needed to consider the situation in the city.

"The situation in the city does not warrant the release of the applicant. Several areas in the city are under severe lockdown. Hence, I cannot let a man leave Taloja jail and go to Ghatkopar and risk getting infected with coronavirus and also endanger others," Justice Patel said.

Refusing to grant bail to Mishra, the court said the application be listed for hearing before a regular court which will resume after lockdown is over.

As of Wednesday, Mumbai had reported over 700 coronavirus cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.

The majority is clearly European, said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review.

A separate team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine came to strikingly similar conclusions, despite studying a different group of cases. Both teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.

On Jan. 31, President Donald Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks.

It would not be until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities, and March 11 when Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries. But New Yorkers had already been traveling home with the virus.

People were just oblivious, said Adriana Heguy, a member of the NYU team.

Heguy and van Bakel belong to an international guild of viral historians. They ferret out the history of outbreaks by poring over clues embedded in the genetic material of viruses taken from thousands of patients.

Viruses invade a cell and take over its molecular machinery, causing it to make new viruses.

The process is quick and sloppy. As a result, new viruses can gain a new mutation that wasnt present in their ancestor. If a new virus manages to escape its host and infect other people, its descendants will inherit that mutation.

Tracking viral mutations demands sequencing all the genetic material in a virus  its genome. Once researchers have gathered the genomes from a number of virus samples, they can compare their mutations.

Sophisticated computer programs can then figure out how all of those mutations arose as viruses descended from a common ancestor. If they get enough data, they can make rough estimates about how long ago those ancestors lived. Thats because mutations arise at a roughly regular pace, like a molecular clock.

Maciej Boni of Penn State University and his colleagues recently used this method to see where the coronavirus, designated SARS-CoV-2, came from in the first place. While conspiracy theories might falsely claim the virus was concocted in a lab, the viruss genome makes clear that it arose in bats.

There are many kinds of coronaviruses, which infect both humans and animals. Boni and his colleagues found that the genome of the new virus contains a number of mutations in common with strains of coronaviruses that infect bats.

The most closely related coronavirus is in a Chinese horseshoe bat, the researchers found. But the new virus has gained some unique mutations since splitting off from that bat virus decades ago.

Boni said that ancestral virus probably gave rise to a number of strains that infected horseshoe bats and perhaps sometimes other animals.

Very likely theres a vast unsampled diversity, he said.

Copying mistakes arent the only way for new viruses to arise. Sometimes two kinds of coronaviruses will infect the same cell. Their genetic material gets mixed up in new viruses.

Its entirely possible, Boni said, in the past 10 or 20 years, a hybrid virus arose in some bat that was well-suited to infect humans, too. Later, that virus somehow managed to cross the species barrier.

Once in a while, one of these viruses wins the lottery, he said.

In January, a team of Chinese and Australian researchers published the first genome of the new virus. Since then, researchers around the world have sequenced over 3,000 more. Some are genetically identical to each other, while others carry distinctive mutations.

Thats just a tiny sampling of the full diversity of the virus. As of April 8, there were 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the true total is probably many millions more. But already, the genomes of the virus are revealing previously hidden outlines of its history over the past few months.

As new genomes come to light, researchers upload them to an online database called GISAID. A team of virus evolution experts are analyzing the growing collection of genomes in a project called Nextstrain. They continually update the virus family tree.

The deepest branches of the tree all belong to lineages from China. The Nextstrain team has also used the mutation rate to determine that the virus probably first moved into humans from an animal host in late 2019. On Dec. 31, China announced that doctors in the city of Wuhan were treating dozens of cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness.

In January, as the scope of the catastrophe in China became clear, a few countries started an aggressive testing program. They were able to track the arrival of the virus on their territory and track its spread through their populations.

But the United States fumbled in making its first diagnostic kits and initially limited testing only to people who had come from China and displayed symptoms of COVID-19.

It was a disaster that we didnt do testing, Heguy said.

A few cases came to light starting at the end of January. But it was easy to dismiss them as rare imports that did not lead to local outbreaks.

The illusion was dashed at the end of February by Trevor Bedford, an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, and his colleagues.

Using Nextstrain, they showed that a virus identified in a patient in late February had a mutation shared by one identified in Washington state on Jan. 20.

The Washington viruses also shared other mutations in common with ones isolated in Wuhan, suggesting that a traveler had brought the coronavirus from China.

With that discovery, Bedford and his colleagues took the lead in sequencing coronavirus genomes. Sequencing more genomes around Washington gave them a better view of how the outbreak there got started.

Im quite confident that it was not spreading in December in the United States, Bedford said. There may have been a couple other introductions in January that didnt take off in the same way.

As new cases arose in other parts of the country, other researchers set up their own pipelines. The first positive test result in New York came on March 1, and after a couple of weeks, patients surged into the citys hospitals.

I thought, We need to do this for New York, Heguy said.

Heguy and her colleagues found some New York viruses that shared unique mutations not found elsewhere. Thats when you know youve had a silent transmission for a while, she said.

Heguy estimated that the virus began circulating in the New York area a couple of months ago.

And researchers at Mount Sinai started sequencing the genomes of patients coming through their hospital. They found that the earliest cases identified in New York were not linked to later ones.

Two weeks later, we start seeing viruses related to each other, said Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, a member of the Mount Sinai team.

Gonzalez-Reiche and her colleagues found that these viruses were practically identical to viruses found around Europe. They cannot say on what particular flight a particular virus arrived in New York. But they write that the viruses reveal a period of untracked global transmission between late January to mid-February.

So far, the Mount Sinai researchers have identified seven separate lineages of viruses that entered New York and began circulating. We will probably find more, van Bakel said.

The coronavirus genomes are also revealing hints of early cross-country travel.

Van Bakel and his colleagues found one New York virus that was identical to one of the Washington viruses found by Bedford and his colleagues. In a separate study, researchers at Yale found another Washington-related virus. Combined, the two studies hint that the coronavirus has been moving from coast to coast for several weeks.

Sidney Bell, a computational biologist working with the Nextstrain team, cautions people not to read too much into these new mutations themselves. Just because something is different doesnt mean it matters, Bell said.

Mutations do not automatically turn viruses into new, fearsome strains. They often dont bring about any change at all. To me, mutations are inevitable and kind of boring, Bell said. But in the movies, you get the X-Men.

Peter Thielen, a virologist at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, likes to think of the spread of viruses like a dandelion seed landing on an empty field.

The flower grows up and produces seeds of its own. Those seeds spread and sprout. New mutations arise over the generations as the dandelions fill the field. But theyre all still dandelions, Thielen said.

While the coronavirus mutations are useful for telling lineages apart, they dont have any apparent effect on how the virus works.

Thats good news for scientists working on a vaccine.

Vaccine developers hope to fight COVID-19 by teaching our bodies to make antibodies that can grab onto the virus and block its entry into cells.

Some viruses evolve so quickly that they require vaccines that can produce several different antibodies. Thats not the case for COVID-19. Like other coronaviruses, it has a relatively slow mutation rate compared to some viruses, like influenza.

As hard as the fight against it may be, its mutations reveal that things can be a whole lot worse.

Of course, the coronavirus will continue to mutate as long as it still infects people. Its possible that vaccines will have to change to keep up with the virus. And thats why scientists need to keep tracking its history.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
PowerHouse Energy Group plc

("PowerHouse" or the "Company")

Issue of Equity

PowerHouse Energy Group plc (AIM: PHE), the UK technology company commercialising hydrogen production from waste plastic, announces that the Company is issuing 2,500,000 ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") further to the exercise of warrants at 0.5p per Ordinary Share.

Application has been made for the admission of 2,500,000 Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission") and it is expected that this will occur on or around 16 April 2020. These shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing issued Ordinary Shares.

Subsequent to the issue of Ordinary Shares, the Company will have 2,059,006,914 Ordinary Shares in issue. PowerHouse has no shares in Treasury, therefore this figure may be used by shareholders, from Admission, as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

For more information, contact:

PowerHouse Energy Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 368 6399 David Ryan, Chief Executive Officer WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 1666 James Joyce / Lydia Zychowska Turner Pope Investments Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 203 657 0050 Andrew Thacker / Zoe Alexander Ikon Associates (Media enquiries) Tel: +44 (0) 1483 271291 Adrian Shaw Mob: +44 (0) 7979 900733

About PowerHouse Energy Group plc

PowerHouse has developed a proprietary process technology - DMG - which can utilise waste, unrecycleable plastic, end-of-life-tyres, and other waste streams to efficiently and economically convert them into syngas from which valuable products such as hydrogen, chemical precursors, electricity and other industrial products may be derived. The PowerHouse technology is one of the world's first proven, modular, hydrogen from waste (HfW) process.

The PowerHouse DMG process can generate up to 2 tonnes of road-fuel quality H2, and more than 58MWh of exportable electricity per day.

The PowerHouse process produces low levels of safe residues and requires a small operating footprint, making it suitable for deployment at enterprise and community level.

PowerHouse is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market under the ticker: PHE, and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.

For more information see www.powerhouseenergy.net
More than 800 Alberta doctors signed an open letter to the provinces hard-right United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government last week to protest cuts to doctors fees. The changes, which came into force April 1, will result in reduced services being offered at rural clinics across the province as physicians struggle to cope with increased costs and lower funding levels amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, Jason Kenneys UCP government terminated the existing master contract with physicians and imposed changes to billing and compensation fees, resulting in some rural physicians losing between 20 and 60 per cent of their gross income.

Changes include the imposition of a daily patient cap and service fee cuts for doctors who cover hospital expenditures. In a particularly brutal move, doctors will also no longer be able to file so-called good faith claims, which were used by physicians to bill for services provided to people who could not provide a provincial health-care number, like the homeless.

In addition to the more than 800 registered Alberta physicians, the open letter was signed by up to 1,700 doctors and medical personnel from across Canada and worldwide.

There are two particular funding changes that doctors say are forcing them to withdraw service: the amount doctors who work in hospitals are paid is being reduced by about 20 percent on a fee-for-service basis; and the province is reducing its reimbursement of medical liability insurance premiums. Dr. Christine Molnar, president of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), warned these changes will force service cuts that will be horrible for pregnant womenparticularly those who live in rural communities.

According to the open letter, at least 400 community clinics across Alberta have either been forced to close or have laid off staff. This is going to be a low estimate, commented Dr. Julian Gudgeon, a family physician in Red Deer. These are just the ones weve been able to reach out to.

In just one example of the impact of the governments funding cuts, eight physicians at the Sundre Moose and Squirrel Medical Clinic announced April 1 that they could no longer afford to deliver babies or work in the emergency ward at the local hospital.

The doctors held a live Facebook meeting, attended virtually by hundreds of people from the community 100 kilometres northwest of Calgary, to announce the withdrawal of their services from 4,000 patients in the Sundre/Caroline area and at the Sundre Hospital and Care Centre effective July 1. The absolute last thing were intending to do here is leave our community in its greatest time of need, during the COVID pandemic, said Dr. Carly Crew. We will continue to work in hospital for 90 days.

We have come to the conclusion that the only way that we can continue to be in the community as your medical clinicis to give up that part of our practice that we can no longer afford to do, said Dr. Vesta Michelle Warren. In 2016, Dr. Warren was the recipient of the Rural Alberta Physician Award of Distinction for bringing superior medical care to her community. Were devastated that it has come to this, but this is the consequences of the governments decisions, the governments cuts. If we dont react and change, we wont be here at all.

Dr. Tobias Gelber, a general practitioner who runs the emergency department in Pincher Creek and does everything from anesthesiology to emergency medicine and delivering babies, says the UCP governments fee changes have had a compound effect. Its been blow after blow after blow, he said. Gelber added that before March 31 he was paid C$38.03 for every patient he saw in the emergency department at the Pincher Creek Health Centre. That has been cut to C$31, an 18.5 per cent reduction. The governments rationale is the province should not pay the cost of overhead to the physician, when they are working out of a public building. But as Gelber pointed out, he still has his clinic where he has to pay for staff, and office expenses. Those costs dont stop once I walk out of my clinic and step into the emergency department, said Gelber. Im being penalized for going to see the most acute and ill patients during a pandemic. It makes no sense.

Even prior to the Kenney governments latest round of cuts, Alberta was one of the worst equipped provinces to deal with the pandemic. According to statistics published by the Globe and Mail, Alberta has just 10.1 ventilators per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to a Canada-wide average of only 14. Ventilators are critical for the treatment of serious COVID-19 cases, since they allow patients who can no longer breathe independently to be intubated.

Earlier this year, the Kenney government tabled a review it had commissioned of Alberta Health Services that outlined up to C$1.9 billion in annual cost savings and a plan for sweeping privatizations. After releasing the report conducted by global private consultancy firm Ernst & Young, the government gave Alberta Health Services until mid-May to draft a proposal for implementing its recommendations. They include outsourcing certain medical procedures and hospital services, cutting wages, and optimizing staff levels.

While it cuts back on essential health care spending, the Kenney government is providing billions to big business. It has already announced more than C$1 billion in support to help the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, with billions more in loans and subsidies promised to prop up Albertas big oil companies.

The UCP governments utter contempt for the health and well-being of the population under conditions of the rampant spread of COVID-19 is fully in line with its broader austerity agenda. Since coming to power last year, Kenneys government has taken the axe to public spending. In its first budget, the government announced a four-year, real-terms per capita public spending cut of 10 percent or more, and it is pushing for wage cuts of up to 5 percent from the provinces 180,000 public sector workers. The spending cuts are resulting in thousands of layoffs, including hundreds of nurses and other health workers. Last month, the government seized on the coronavirus crisis to lay off over 25,000 education workers, including teaching assistants, cleaners, and school bus drivers.

The government is determined to use the full force of the state to enforce its unpopular measures. The MacKinnon report, which was released last year and provided a blueprint for the austerity measures now being imposed, also included suggestions on anti-democratic steps that could be taken to suppress public opposition. These included the invocation of the notwithstanding clause, which allows governments to disregard basic rights contained in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in order to pass strikebreaking legislation and other draconian anti-worker measures.

Government ministers are also resorting to more direct methods of intimidation. In violation of privacy rules, Health Minister Tyler Shandro obtained from the Alberta Health Service the private telephone numbers of several physicians who had expressed concern about the governments fee changes, then called them up after hours to berate them for their stance.

It felt intimidating, said one female doctor contacted by Shandro. The Health Minister tracked me down. It is a concern that people in positions of authority can reach down through the organizations that theyre supposed to be leading in moral and ethical ways in order to gain information to promote their own personal intentions, added Gudgeon, who was also contacted by Shandro.

In another vindictive move, Shandro ended coverage for 46,000 dependants under the Alberta Seniors Benefit Drug Program on March 1. Seniors enrolled in the program used to receive premium-free coverage for prescriptions and other health-related services for themselves, their spouses and dependants. Seniors spouses and dependants have now been forced to seek other private insurance plans to cover those medical expenses. Many will no doubt be refused coverage due to chronic health conditions.

Conveniently for Shandro, he and his wife are part owners of Vital Partners, a private health care firm that specializes in securing new customers for private health insurance plans. CBC News obtained e-mail exchanges between Shandro and private citizens, which included a threat to send the legislatures security services after one person who wrote to Vital Partners to complain about the health ministers conflict of interest.
When showbiz celebrities talk, people listen, lending a special ear to the men and women they have elevated to demi-god status, every comment from them in these pandemic days standing out in the deluge of COVID-19 information.

And there lie the perils of stardom, warn experts.

As anxiety levels spiral and millions of people confined to their homes grapple with an overload of coronavirus information on various social media platforms, showbiz and other stars have to weigh each word they say or write, they said. Not doing so can have life threatening consequences.

"There is a lot of awe and respect for celebrities. People really worship them. But when big names who have so much social capital put out misinformation, it can be dangerous, especially in these times when misinformation can mean more deaths, Pratik Sinha, editor of the fact checking website AltNews, told PTI.

The issue is under the spotlight again with Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Mohanlal, among India's biggest stars with millions of followers on social media, in various controversies over misinformation and fake

All three were featured in the short film Family, which talks about the importance of social distancing and the need to protect the daily wagers who prop the film industry.

Compared to many countries in the West, in India, there is far less scepticism towards celebrities. The lack of criticism of celebrities relates to the more general valourisation of hierarchies. This means that misinformation propagated by celebrities is more likely to lead to very serious consequences," sociologist Sanjay Srivastava told PTI.

Bachchan, who has more than 40 million followers on Twitter, was subjected to a lot of flak for retweeting a post that showed an illuminated India following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to people to switch off lights at their homes and light lamps, candles, diyas and mobile phone torches on Sunday.

But it turned out to be a fake post.

Bachchan was earlier called out for another tweet when he shared an opinion claiming vibrations from clapping, blowing conch shells as part of the Janta curfew' on March 22 would have reduced or destroyed coronavirus potency as it was 'amavasya', the darkest day of the month.

He also shared a video as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign where he cited a Lancet study claiming that Chinese experts believe COVID-19 spreads through flies.

The now-deleted video shared from the actor's page on March 25 read: "A study in the @TheLancet shows that coronavirus lingers on human excreta much longer than in respiratory samples. Come on India, we are going to fight this! Use your toilet: Everyone, Everyday, Always. Darwaza Band toh Beemari Band! @swcrbrt @narendramodi @PMOIndia Pickvitrkcom/VSMUHdjXKG."



Twitter recently removed a video uploaded by actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth on the one-day Janta curfew, two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's March 24 announcement of a three-week nationwide lockdown.

"To prevent community transmission, the virus needs to be curbed totally for 12 to 14 hours. With the prime minister calling for Janta curfew' on March 22, India prepares to avoid crucial Stage 3 community transmission of coronavirus in the country," the Tamil cinema icon said in a video message shared on March 19.

The video was reportedly pulled down as it violated Twitter's rules on misinformation.

On March 21, a day ahead of the Janta curfew' when many people in India came out on their balconies banging plates as a tribute to healthworkers fighting the pandemic, Malayalam star Mohanlal told Manorama channel that doing so may kill the virus.

Clapping together is a process. The sound produced is like a mantram (chant) and there is a possibility that many bacteria and virus will be destroyed. Let it all get destroyed. I urge everybody to cooperate, the actor had said.

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi was also trolled on Twitter for sharing a video of chickens, which she claimed had hatched from eggs discarded due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Misinformation is being shared by all sections of the society, and this issue of "information illiteracy" is even more visible with respect to the COVID-19 outbreak, said Sinha.

Sharing Sinha's sentiment, Srivastava said such personalities are frequently taken to be both deeply caring of their fans as well as possessed of expert knowledge.

WhatsApp, a private messaging app owned by Facebook, has decided to place new limits on the forwarding of messages in its attempt to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Twitter also has certain rules in place to take down tweets that spread misinformation but fake news, like the coronavirus, is hard to contain.

When noteworthy names add to misinformation with unscientific claims, it gives a false sense of security to a huge part of the population, Sinha said.

"The messaging wasn't clear and the added misinformation gave the people a false sense of security. It makes the citizens go easy, that's why they came on the streets with the lamps," he added, referring to the light up India campaign' on Sunday, April 5.

"The WHO has prescribed certain guidelines which includes social distancing and regular washing of hands. Those are the things that need to be promoted and the government must use the celebrity clout to share that, but the exact opposite is happening. It reaches millions of people when these stalwarts with crazy fan following share such fake "



According to Srivastava, the root of the problem lies with the uncritical reverence of both tradition and celebrities.

"One of the most problematic aspects relates to how 'ancient Indian knowledge' and remedies can help ward off the virus.

"As both tradition and celebrities are revered uncritically, when the latter promotes completely unverified information positive effects of the former, it can lead to serious consequences as well as deepening of illogical ways of thinking and acting. Sadly, the current political atmosphere also promotes this," he said.

Sharing misinformation or fake news is more about ignorance on the part of these personalities than motivated agenda, like the trolls on social media, Sinha said.

"These celebrities, such as Amitabh Bachchan and Kiran Bedi, they never use vitriolic language. It's more seemingly well-meaning but not well-informed. You can check the presence of motivation with the language used.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

Georgieva made the remarks during her address on "Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy" here ahead of next week's annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"Today, the world is confronted with a crisis like no other. COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory," she said.

The virus is causing a tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people. What was normal just a few weeks ago -- going to school, going to work, being with family and friends -- is now a huge risk, she said.

Observing that the world is faced with extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this crisis, she said that it is already clear, however, that global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020.

"In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," Georgieva said.

"Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020. Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year," she said.

The Great Depression was the worst worldwide economic downturn that lasted for 10 years from 1929, beginning in the US when the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street crashed and wiped out millions of investors.

The IMF chief said that given the necessary containment measures to slow the spread of the virus, the world economy is taking a substantial hit.

This is especially true for retail, hospitality, transport, and tourism. In most countries, the majority of workers are either self-employed or employed by small and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses and workers are especially exposed, she added.

Of the view that emerging markets and low-income nations -- across Africa, Latin America, and much of Asia are at high risk, Georgieva said with weaker health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option.

With fewer resources to begin with, they are dangerously exposed to the ongoing demand and supply shocks, drastic tightening in financial conditions, and some may face an unsustainable debt burden, she said.

In the last two months, portfolio outflows from emerging markets were about USD 100 billion, more than three times larger than for the same period of the global financial crisis.

"Commodity exporters are taking a double blow from the collapse in commodity prices and remittances, the lifeblood of so many poor people, are expected to dwindle, she said.

The IMF, she said, estimates the gross external financing needs for emerging markets and developing countries to be in the trillions of dollars, and they can cover only a portion of that on their own, leaving residual gaps in the hundreds of billions of dollars. They urgently need help, she said.

However, encouraging news is that all governments have sprung into action and, indeed, there has been significant coordination.

Countries around the world have taken fiscal actions amounting to about USD 8 trillion. In addition, there have been massive monetary measures from the G20 and others, she said.

As such, Georgieva said that there is need to continue with essential containment measures and support for health systems, shield affected people and firms with large, timely, targeted fiscal and financial sector measures, and reduce stress to the financial system and avoid contagion.

"Even as we move through this containment phase, we must plan for recovery," she added.

Covid-19, which originated in China, has globally claimed 88,538 lives and infected nearly 1.5 million people.

Also Read: India's industrial output grows 4.5% in February

Also Read: Coronavirus 'spectre' hangs over India's future, says RBI
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday urged churches to provide relief packages to the poor during the Easter period to ease the effect of the lockdown.

The CAN president, Samson Ayokunle, made the appeal in a statement issued in Lagos.

There is no other time the hope of victory over circumstances of life which Easter brings is more relevant to humans than now when we are forced to celebrate Easter in lockdown.

Let all local churches remember to make relief packages available to the poor among them at this time.

This is the time we would know the true church of Christ and those that are just commercial outfits, he said.

Mr Ayokunle said though the pandemic has disrupted human activities, it should not however deter the church from the joy and victory over all evils.

Beloved and fellow Nigerians, we shall see the end of all evils challenging us in the name of Jesus including COVID-19.

We commend the federal and state governments for rising up strongly to confront the evil called coronavirus pandemic.

We urge them not to deter in confronting it headlong until we kick out the evil from our nation completely.

We urge the governments to be transparent and inclusive of all regions and religious persuasions in the identification of the poor to which relief materials and payments are being made available, he said.

He said the church would continue to pray for the government for right and inclusive decisions always for the general good.

I wish you happy Easter and pray that Hallelujah songs shall continue to be our portion in Jesus name.

I am fully persuaded that very soon, coronavirus will become history and we shall all have victory over it, Mr Ayokunle said.

(NAN)
LONDON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) today announced that its report of drilling rig status and contract information has been updated as of April 9, 2020. The report, titled "Fleet Status Report," can be found on the Company's Website www.noblecorp.com, under the "Investor Relations" section of the Website.

In addition, the Company expects that the decline in oil prices resulting from the substantial increase in production by Saudi Arabia and the decrease in demand for crude oil resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic will negatively impact the Company's business and results of operations for its full year 2020, but, given the uncertainty surrounding the disruptions, cannot yet predict with reasonable accuracy the magnitude or duration of the impact, or the magnitude or pace of any recovery. As a result, the Company is withdrawing its full year 2020 financial guidance that was provided on its February 20, 2020 conference call. Though the Company has not yet completed its review of results for the recently completed first quarter of 2020, it does not expect that its results of operations will differ materially from its previously announced financial guidance for the quarter.

About Noble Corporation plc

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The Company owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 25 offshore drilling units, consisting of 12 drillships and semisubmersibles and 13 jackups, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high-specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Noble is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 08354954 and registered office at 10 Brook Street, London, W1S 1BG England. Additional information on Noble is available at www.noblecorp.com.

Forward-looking Disclosure Statement

Statements regarding financial guidance, future performance, our financial position and expectations regarding results for the first quarter of 2020, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts in this release, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to operating hazards and delays, risks associated with operations outside of the U.S., actions or claims by regulatory authorities, customers and other third parties, legislation and regulations affecting drilling operations, compliance with regulatory requirements, factors affecting the level of activity in the oil and gas industry, supply and demand of drilling rigs, factors affecting the duration of contracts, the actual amount of downtime, factors that reduce applicable dayrates, violations of anti-corruption laws, hurricanes and other weather conditions, public health threats including the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic, completing our review of our results of operations for the first quarter of 2020 and finalizing and closing our accounting records for such quarter, market conditions, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q's and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

SOURCE Noble Corporation

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Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 17:34 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e3aa1 1 Business data,traffic,telecommunications,Communications-and-Information-Ministry,Johnny-G-Plate,COVID-19,coronavirus,Idul-Fitri,ramadan Free

The Communications and Information Ministry is expecting national data traffic to rise by up to 40 percent during Idul Fitri, set to take place on May 24, as people may be staying at home to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus.

Since the government issued the stay-at-home order in March, the ministry has recorded a 5 percent to 10 percent increase in data traffic compared to normal levels.

We are working with cellular operators to anticipate an increase ranging from 30 percent to 40 percent in data traffic during Ramadan and Idul Fitri, Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The estimated increase this year was slightly higher than the 20 percent to 30 percent increase seen in the corresponding period last year because of large-scale social restrictions to curb the COVID-19 outbreak, with school and offices temporarily closed and many religious and public events banned.

The fast-spreading coronavirus has infected people in at least 32 provinces of the country. As of Wednesday, 240 patients have died of the disease while 222 people have recovered.

Read also: Telkomsel reports 16 percent jump in broadband traffic as people follow physical distancing rules

Even with more and more people expected to stay at home, the minister said, the bandwidth currently offered by cellular operators should be able to sustain the rising demand.

Between February 16 and March 29, Indonesians' length of stay at home increased by 15 percent, according to data released on April 1 by American multinational tech giant Google. Their movement to transit stations correspondingly declined by 54 percent, to parks by 52 percent, to retail and recreational places by 47 percent, to grocery and pharmaceutical stores by 27 percent as well as to offices by 15 percent.

We are ensuring the availability of adequate bandwidth with the operators, said Johnny, a NasDem Party politician. We have yet to see any extraordinary increase. It is still under control and the capacity of existing bandwidth [is sufficient].

Johnny added he was concerned about hoaxes related to the novel coronavirus circulating on the internet as people spend more time online.
[April 09, 2020]

Linux Foundation, LF Networking, and LF Edge Announce Rescheduled Dates and Full Agenda for Open Networking & Edge Summit North America 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, along with co-hosts LF Networking , the umbrella organization fostering collaboration and innovation across the entire open networking stack, and LF Edge , the umbrella organization building an open source framework for the edge, announced today the rescheduled event dates for Open Networking & Edge Summit North America (ONES, formerly Open Networking Summit) and the complete session line-up.

ONES North America 2020 will take place September 28-30 at the JW Marriott LA Live in Los Angeles, California. The summit line-up features prominent speakers from AT&T, eBay, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Rancher Labs, Red Hat, Toyota Motor Corporation, Verizon, VMware, Wells Fargo, Yelp, and more. The full event agenda is available here .

ONES is the industry's premier open networking event now expanded to comprehensively cover Edge Computing, Edge Cloud, and IoT. It gathers technologists and executives from enterprises, telecoms and cloud providers for technical, architecture and business discussions that will shape the future of networking and edge computing. ONES enables collaborative development and innovation with a deep focus on both Open Networking and AI/ML-enabled use cases for 5G, IoT, Edge and Enterprise deployment, as well as targeted discussions on Edge and IoT frameworks and blueprints across numerous industries including Manufacturing, Retail, Oil and Gas, Transportation, and Telco Edge cloud.

"We have an impressive roster of experts lined up to present at Open Networking & Edge Summit North America," said Arpit Joshipura, General Manager, Networking, Edge & IoT, The Linux Foundation. "With expanded content focused on open source Edge, this year's event is the place to be for the latest in open innovation and knowledge-sharing across adjacent technologies such as 5G, cloud native, AI/ML, IoT, and more."

ONES North America 2020 conference session tracks include: Carriers - Core, Edge & Access, Enterprise Networking & Edge, Cloud Networking & Edge, and Business Critical & Innovation.

Content is delivered in a variety of presentation formats including deep-dive technical tracks, panel discussions, tutorials, and case studies.

Featured Keynote Speakers Include:

Andre Fuetsch , Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Services, Inc.

Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Dan Kohn , Executive Director, Cloud Native Computing Foundation

, Executive Director, Alex Choi , Senior Vice President of Strategy and Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom AG

, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Technology Innovation, Farah Papaioannou , Co-Founder and President, Edgeworx, Inc .

, Co-Founder and President, . Anders Rosengren , Head of Architecture & Technology, Ericsson

, Head of Architecture & Technology, Justin Dustzadeh, Chief Technology Officer, Equinix

Aparna Sinha , Director of Product Management, Google Cloud

, Director of Product Management, Bill Ren , Chief Open Source Liaison Officer, ICT Infrastructure Open Source GM, Huawei

, Chief Open Source Liaison Officer, ICT Infrastructure Open Source GM, Marisa S. Viveros , Vice President of Strategy and Offerings, IBM

, Vice President of Strategy and Offerings, Arpit Joshipura , General Manager, Networking, Edge & IoT, The Linux Foundation

, General Manager, Networking, Edge & IoT, Heather Kirksey , Vice President, Community and Ecosystem Dvelopment, The Linux Foundation







5G Slicing is a Piece of Cake! - Alla Goldner , Director, Technology, Strategy & Standardization, Amdocs

, Director, Technology, Strategy & Standardization, Injecting Security to the Cloud - Susan Hinrichs , Software Engineer, Verizon Media

, Software Engineer, Architectural Patterns & Best-practices to Avoid Lock-ins with Serverless - Murali Kaundinya , Group CTO and Managing Director, Wells Fargo

, Group CTO and Managing Director, Securing a Network Virtualized with Containers and Kubernetes: Example Solutions and Current Gaps - Samuli Kuusela , Security Architect, Ericsson & Amy Zwarico , Lead Member of Technical Staff, AT&T

, Security Architect, & , Lead Member of Technical Staff, Multi-Cluster Federation: Should Networking Impact The Solution? - Anil Kumar Vishnoi , Principal Software Engineer & Thomas D. Nadeau , Technical Director of NFV, Red Hat

Conference Registration is $950 through July 19, 2020 with additional registration options available including $300 Hall Passes, $575 Academic Passes, and $300 Student Passes. Non-profit and group discounts are available as well; see details on the event registration page. Members of The Linux Foundation, LFN and LF Edge receive a 20 percent discount on all registration fees; contact [email protected] to request a member discount code. Applications for diversity and needs-based scholarships are currently being accepted; for information on eligibility and how to apply, please click here . We are continuously monitoring the COVID-19/Novel Coronavirus situation and are committed to converting ONES North America 2020 into a virtual experience should it not be safe to bring attendees together in person. Please continue to visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Open Networking & Edge Summit North America 2020 is made possible thanks to our sponsors , including Platinum Sponsors Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Ericsson, and Huawei, Gold Sponsor IBM, and Silver Sponsor Red Hat. For information on becoming an event sponsor, click here .

Members of the press who would like to request a press pass to attend should contact Jill Lovato at [email protected] .

Additional Resources:

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and industry adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org .

The Linux Foundation Events are where the world's leading technologists meet, collaborate, learn and network in order to advance innovations that support the world's largest shared technologies.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage .

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact:

Jill Lovato

The Linux Foundation

[email protected]

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SOURCE The Linux Foundation
Cardinal George Pell will spend the rest of his retirement in Sydney where he feels more comfortable and can move around more freely, according to reports.

The 78-year-old travelled from Melbourne to Sydney on Wednesday stopping briefly at a servo to buy a phone charger and newspapers.

He arrived at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush, in Sydney's inner west, at around 9pm on Wednesday.

It is understood that he will spend the rest of his retirement at the seminary, where he has briefly lived before.

Pell had hoped to return to Rome but there has been no job offer from the Pope and his previous role has been filled.

Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Seminary Of The Good Shepherd in Sydney on Wednesday

The Good Shepherd Seminary where Cardinal George Pell is residing in Sydney

He had been appointed at head of the Secretariat for the Economy to fix the church's finances following a number of financial scandals.

But the role was handed over to Spanish priest Fr Juan Antonio as Pell continued to fight child sex abuse charges.

Cardinal Pell was freed from jail on Tuesday after Australia's top court ruled he had not been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

In 2018, a jury convicted him of abusing two choirboys in the 1990s. The cleric has maintained his innocence.

Pell was released after spending 405 days in Barwon Prison, in regional Victoria.

He spent his first day of freedom driving up to Sydney where he is expected to spend the rest of his retirement.

During a pit stop at a petrol station on the Hume Highway in Victoria, the Cardinal told media he was 'very pleased' to be free.

He apologised for not dressing better, saying he wasn't expecting company on the trip.

'Before you arrived, it was better here,' he told media at the service station when asked about life behind bars, before adding his prison experience was 'not too bad'.

He also asked reporters to adhere to social distancing and not get too close to him.

A pit stop at a petrol station on the Hume Highway in Victoria for a phone charger and a newspaper, the Cardinal told media he was 'very pleased' to be set free

A child's tricycle is seen on the gate of the Carmelite Monastery (pictured) where Cardinal George Pell stayed on Tuesday night after being released from Barwon Prison

Cardinal George Pell leaves Barwon Prison on Tuesday after his convictions were quashed

One of George Pell's accusers accepted the high court's decision to overturn his child sex abuse conviction - saying the law is 'weighed in favour of the accused'.

Known as Witness J, the former choirboy came forward after another accuser died in 2014 and claimed he too was abused by the cardinal.

He said he understood there must be 'due and proper process' in a civil society, but feared the system was flawed - leaving many child sex offenders unpunished.

'I respect the decision of the High Court. I accept the outcome,' Witness J said in a statement released by his lawyer, Vivian Waller.

'It is difficult in child sex abuse matters to satisfy a criminal court that the offending has occurred beyond the shadow of a doubt.

'I understand why criminal cases must be proven beyond all reasonable doubt.

'No-one wants to live in a society where people can be imprisoned without due and proper process. This is a basic civil liberty.

'But the price we pay for weighing the system in favour of the accused is that many sexual offences against children go unpunished.'

But Witness J said he hoped the outcome wouldn't discourage child sexual abuse survivors from coming forward, and reassured them 'most people recognise the truth when they hear it'.

'I am content with that,' he said.

Cardinal George Pell leaves Barwon Prison near Geelong, Victoria, on April 7 after his child sex abuse convictions were overturned

The High Court ruled on Tuesday there was insufficient evidence to convict Cardinal Pell, quashing five convictions. He was freed from Barwon prison within hours (pictured)

In a statement on Tuesday, Cardinal Pell said he bears no ill-will toward the man, now in his 30s.

The decision has been divisive and police are now investigating the vandalism of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral.

'Rot in Hell Pell' was emblazoned on the doors of the cathedral where he was alleged to have abused the two choirboys.

Before leaving Melbourne, Pell wanted to visit family and friends but decided against it due to the coronavirus restrictions.
ROME - The novel coronavirus has forced Pope Francis to scrap his public appearances and postpone his first overseas trip of the year, to Malta. He now recites his Sunday Angelus not from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, but from a Vatican library. This week, he'll conduct the ceremonies leading up to Easter largely via live stream.

But as Francis guides the global Catholic Church through the pandemic, he has made it clear he has no interest in full-on papal social distancing.

He continues to hold in-person meetings, sometimes sitting almost knee-to-knee with guests. He eschews wearing a mask, according to photographs and people who have met with him. He has tried to maintain a near-normal daily schedule even as the virus has reached closer - with one positive case discovered in late March in Santa Marta, the residence hall where Francis lives.

Among world leaders during the pandemic era, Francis - 83 years old and missing part of a lung - has faced one of the most delicate calculations about how much to pull back. He has groused in recent weeks about feeling "caged," and his sociable, off-the-cuff personal style runs counter to the best guidance about how to contain the virus.

Vatican insiders say the pope has indeed reduced his interactions but is also trying to appear present - and not self-concerned - during a dark period of global grief and mounting social tensions. They also suggest he is seeking to set an example to priests around the world of how to find creative ways to stay involved even as their churches are shuttered.

Still, some worry the pontiff is taking too many chances with the virus.

"Let's hope he doesn't catch it," said one Vatican official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to be publicly critical of the pope. "Can you imagine a conclave in a time of epidemic? It would look like a sci-fi Vatican novel."

"Quod Deus avertat," he added, switching to Latin. God forbid.

The Vatican did not respond to questions about how Francis is safeguarding himself. According to Italian media outlets, he has been tested twice for the virus, both times with negative results.

Another official who spoke anonymously said the pope now eats alone. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who has met twice in person with Francis in recent weeks, said that during his visits the two maintained a "a certain distance, but it's not as if there were particular measures." He said he washed his hands before the meetings.

"There is a sort of ordinary quality, which is surprising," Paglia said.

Paglia said Francis had no interest in discussing his own health and was instead preoccupied with planning for the aftermath of the crisis.

"Huge social problems will emerge," Paglia said, summarizing the pope's remarks to him. "He believes that the world will entirely change and that the church will have to change, too."

According to his publicly released schedule, Francis has met with more than 80 people since the beginning of March, when the virus was already spreading across Italy and other places in Europe. On March 9, he hosted a group of French bishops, including one who tested positive for the virus soon after. Francis appears to have since stopped large-scale meetings but has kept up more intimate gatherings: one-on-one sit-downs at a desk, as well as audiences with a dozen or so priests and prelates, each seated roughly six feet apart from one another in a circle, none wearing masks.

At the most recent such event, on Wednesday, one attendee stood at Francis' side during a concluding blessing.

Fabrizio Pregliasco, a virologist at the University of Milan who examined video and photos of the pope's recent meetings, said the protocols in place were "terrible."

"It is crowded, too close," he said. "They should find stricter ways, also so as to set an example."

Francis offered some insight into his approach during an interview with the British papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, alluding to a cardinal portrayed in a famed Alessandro Manzoni novel who rode through a plague-stricken village "with the window of his carriage closed to protect himself."

"This did not go down well with the people," Francis said in the interview, which was conducted with written questions and recorded audio answers and released Wednesday. "The people of God need their pastor to be close to them, not to overprotect himself. The people of God need their pastors to be self-sacrificing."

Despite the pope's refusal to go into a bunker, the virus has nevertheless upended life inside the Vatican, where eight employees have tested positive. The city-state lagged behind Italy in enforcing a stringent lockdown but said on March 24 that it was encouraging remote work "as much as possible." Critical offices are operating with drastically reduced staffing.

That has led, now, to a subdued Holy Week, one of the most important annual periods in Catholicism. For Francis, the week usually means appearances before enormous crowds in St. Peter's Square, as well as a Good Friday procession at the Colosseum. Last year, he celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper at a medium-security prison and washed the feet of 12 inmates.

But this year, in a move unprecedented in the modern church, the ceremonies have been closed to the public. Francis will preside over Easter Mass - but pilgrims will see him only via WiFi.

In recent weeks, the pope has already been streaming his daily Masses, which he celebrates in his private chapel in the company of a nun and a priest. Morning after morning, Francis has talked about the virus, praying for health-care workers, for detainees in overcrowded prisons and for the elderly, who he said are "suffering now in a particular way, with greater interior solitude and sometimes great fear."

Amid the crisis, Francis has also ventured outdoors, in areas where he would normally be pressed by crowds, in moments likely to stand as among the most iconic of his papacy. In mid-March, he walked down Rome's normally packed Via del Corso, flanked only by a small security team, with a biker coming in the opposite direction, en route to a church housing a crucifix used during the plague era.

On March 27, under an eerie blue light, with ambulance sirens blaring in the background, Francis stood almost alone in St. Peter's Square to deliver a special blessing. With the coming of the pandemic, he said, a "thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities."

In parts of the world that have banned large-scale gatherings, Catholics have especially struggled this week with the suspension of public Masses and other liturgical events.

"To go through [Holy Week] without darkening the door of a church, without reciting with a congregation the prayers that we always do, it's strange," said John Garvey, president of Catholic University, who was diagnosed in mid-March with covid-19.

The ban on church gatherings has drawn pushback in the United States, with some raising concerns about a violation of religious liberty. Others have said churches have a duty to keep their doors open during a time of severe need.

But Francis, on several occasions, has described a different vision for a church beset by crisis - one in which it transcends strictures with creativity and flexibility. In his latest interview, Francis referenced a phone call from an Italian bishop who had been told by canon lawyers that he couldn't offer absolution, or forgiveness of sins, to people in covid-19 hospital wards, because he was in the hospital hallway - not in direct contact with those patients.

"What do you think, Father?" the bishop had asked Francis.

"Bishop, fulfill your priestly duty," Francis recalled saying.

"That doesn't mean that canon law is not important," Francis went on to say in the interview. "But the final canon says that the whole of canon law is for the salvation of souls, and that's what opens the door for us to go out in times of difficulty to bring the consolation of God."

- - -

Bailey reported from Washington.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:06:52|Editor: xuxin

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TOKYO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed essentially flat on Thursday as the market extended its winning streak to a fourth day, although concerns over a spike in the COVID-19 cases in Tokyo weighed on the market mood.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged down 7.47 points, or 0.04 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 19,345.77.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 8.49 points, or 0.60 percent, to finish at 1,416.98.

Trading got off to a lackluster start with shares remaining weak throughout the day as investors were reluctant to chase the market's upside higher after the Nikkei added more than 8 percent during its past four-day winning streak, brokers here said.

They added that amid a lack of clear direction, investors seemed content with their holdings after a recent spree of buybacks with profits locked in after issues recouped ground following routs prior to the market's upswing.

"The market today lacked clear trading cues. Investors took a break following recent buybacks on hopes that the spread of the COVID-19 is slowing in Europe and the United States," Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, was quoted as saying.

A comparatively weak yen gave some exporters a lift and energy-related shares got a boost from rising prices for crude oil, equity strategists said.

But caution was prevalent throughout the day as official figures showed that Japan recorded a new record of daily COVID-19 infections a day earlier, with Tokyo also recording a new single-day record at 144 cases, with the record renewed Thursday with more than 180 new cases confirmed in the capital, adding to fears of the virus' continued spread in the metropolis.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency over the virus earlier in the week, but not a lockdown, in Tokyo and six other prefectures, with concerns heightening that the world's third-largest economy is heading for a recession with corporate earnings likely to take a battering owing to the effects of the pandemic, analysts said.

They added that investors were waiting for some positive news on the issue.

"While markets are getting away from the worst period, shares won't gather steam without good news such as that the pandemic's impact on the real economy isn't worse than expected," Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at the NLI Research Institute, said.

Higher prices for crude oil, nevertheless, sent energy shares higher Thursday, with exploration giant Inpex Corp. adding 1.6 percent, while Japan Petroleum Exploration ended the day 2.6 percent higher.

In terms of individual issues moving, heavily weighted Nikkei component SoftBank Group Corp. rose 1.1 percent after one of its startups announced cost cutting measures to cope with the impact of the coronavirus.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., meanwhile, accelerated 1.4 percent, after reports the automaker is seeking a 500 billion yen (4.59 billion U.S. dollars) credit line from megabanks amid a slump in sales owing to the virus.

By the close of play, securities house and land transportation issues led notable decliners, while mining and marine transportation issues comprised those that gained the most.

Issues that rose outpaced those that declined by 1,098 to 1,007 on the first section, while 64 ended the day unchanged.

On the main section on Thursday, 1.368 billion shares changed hands, dropping from Thursday's volume of 1.681 billion shares.

The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,299.7 billion yen (21.13 billion U.S. dollars).
In the wake of a blaze that destroyed their home early this week, the Venn family is learning just how caring a community Brandon can be.

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This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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In the wake of a blaze that destroyed their home early this week, the Venn family is learning just how caring a community Brandon can be.

Mbaku Venn said Wednesday that she was able to smile, and was doing much better. Thats in no small part due to the people of Brandon, for whom the family is grateful.

The Venn family home on Braecrest Drive, before a blaze ripped through early Monday morning, as the family wants to remember it: three years ago when they first moved in. (Submitted)

She said she, husband David and their four children are doing well, and getting organized.

One particular joy since the early morning Monday fire came when they learned the beloved family cat was found. The cat went missing during the blaze, but was at a clinic Wednesday being cared for.

Also on Wednesday, the Venns received a message from Mike Sanderson of Direct Wholesale Furniture via The Brandon Sun. The furniture store is a small family business Sanderson and his wife have owned for two years. Hard hit by COVID-19-related health and safety measures, the Sandersons are tight for cash like most businesses, but they have beds. The couple offered some to the Venns for when they settle into a new place.

"We definitely try to help here and there," Sanderson said about reaching out when such misfortunes happen in the community. "Im a big supporter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, as well. We try and do what we can, but were a small business."

The Sandersons also happen to live near the Venns.

"I see the house every day when I drive by. I saw the story, that they had kids. At least we can give them something to sleep on when they get to another residence."

The Venns told him they were open to his offer, Sanderson said.

Andy Venn, Davids brother, started a GoFundMe page to help them start over  not an easy feat with twin babies about to turn one and two teenagers. Andy hoped to raise $10,000 and, by 5 p.m. Wednesday, had raised almost $7,000.

"They were barely able to make it out with the clothes they were wearing," Andy stated on the GoFundMe page he created.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

To check out the GoFundMe page, visit the gofundme.com page titled "Dave and Mbaku Venn."

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
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Licaris Sicilian Pizza Kitchen, home to Michigans Best pizza, is celebrating their 8th birthday today, April 9 2020, with specials on take-out, and prize giveaways on social media.

Today, we are celebrating these past 8 years of this entrepreneurial ride, amidst all of this craziness happening in the world, owner Lisa Licari said. She and husband Gianni opened the restaurant in 2012. The past 8 years have been a rewarding struggle, Lisa said. We have had such an amazing show of support from the community since day one and that keeps us going every day. Its a crazy industry for sure, but here we are, 8 years later. We are fortunate to have some awesome and dedicated staff members.

Licaris has expanded into two locations, one on the north side of Grand Rapids, and one in Hudsonville. Both locations are still offering take-out to their customers, daily from 4-8pm. Today, in honor of their birthday, they are offering 25% off any take-out order, as well as 50% bottles of wine, to-go.

Our safety measures right now are top priority. We have put many measures in place to solidify the safety of our staff and guests at all times, and we are very proud of these efforts, Lisa said.

In 2016, we named Licaris the best pizza in Michigan, after tasting over 200 pies all across the state. Heres what we thought of their pizza:

"Visiting Licaris is like having your very own Sicilian nonna, one who loves you through her delicious, traditional creations. The pizzas features daily made dough and a homemade sauce that tastes like real, fresh tomatoes. Owners Lisa and Gianni Licari believe that simple is best, and consistency is key to a quality product. Featuring fresh ingredients, ranging from classics like green pepper and onion (and an absolutely standout pepperoni) to slightly more exotic, like turkey meatballs, the pizzas at Licaris are just downright delightful.

We were particularly taken with their traditional Sicilian offerings, which offered the flavors of pizza in a whole new way. Dont miss the Sfinciuni, a family recipe that consists of a half sheet pan of airy dough, studded with real chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano (the king of cheeses), and topped with a thick sweet sauce, simple and amazing.

Also on a must try list, the Schiacciatas (pictured), which is a stuffed, sandwich style pizza. Get the Polpetta one, with meatballs, salami, pepperoni and creamy ricotta for a trip back to Italy. Open for four years, with friendly service, located just on the northern Grand Rapids border, Licaris was a great find, and simply the best."

The Capone pizza from Licari's.

Michigans Best Pizza winner moved to tears.

We asked Lisa what its been like to still be serving take-out during the coronavirus outbreak, and ban on dine-in restaurants. The times we are in are definitely uncharted territory but we are all in, and we are fighting the good fight, she said. There are surprises and battles every day at this point, but we are facing them head on.

See our top 12 picks for Michigans Best Pizza 2016.

Each Michigans Best Pizza nominee is special and heres why.

Lisa stressed how important it is to continue to support local restaurants during this time. Thanks to the community for the support, she said. We have such an amazing stable of stellar local, family owned restaurants here in Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas. They are the heart of our city. These local places give the vibe and the pulse of the city. Support all of your favorite local businesses that you can during this time. Lets make sure the beat is still alive when we are finally able to socialize again.

Follow Licaris social media accounts today to enter to win some of their free giveaways, including gift cards. Comment on a picture, and you will be entered to win.

Licaris Grand Rapids Facebook

Licaris Hudsonville Facebook

Licaris Instagram

If youd like to get take-out from Licaris, there are two locations to serve you. Both are offering take-out from 4pm to 8pm.

Licaris Sicilian Pizza Kitchen

2869 Knapp St NE Ste B

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525

(616) 608-6912

Licaris Sicilian Pizza Kitchen-Hudsonville

3627 Baldwin St.

Hudsonville, Michigan 49426

(616) 777-3100

You can find Licaris food and wine menu here.
Amid the rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases across the globe, the United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday (April 9) to hold discussions over measures to control the coronavirus pandemic.

It may be recalled that on April 2, under the new President of UNSC Dominican Republic had requested 9 elected members of the top UN body for the meet. These members are Belgium, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also join the meet via video conference and talk about his appeal for a global ceasefire, the impact of COVID-19 on UN including peacekeeping operations and humanitarian responses.

In March, UNSC had issued an appeal for an immediate global ceasefire and had described the COVID-19 pandemic as the greatest test the world has faced since the formation of the United Nations.

The meet could not happen last month under the presidency of China since the country was not very enthusiastic about the meet. UNSC sources told WION, that China believes that it can lead to the politicization of matter.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Chinese city of Wuhan and since then it has spread across the world killing thousands of people and infecting lakhs. Bejing has been accused of hiding information and initial goof-ups that led to worsening of situation.
Annie Grant, 55, had been feverish for two nights. Worried about the coronavirus outbreak, her adult children had begged her to stay home rather than return to the frigid poultry plant in Georgia where she had been on the packing line for nearly 15 years.

But on the third day she was ill, they got a text from their mother. They told me I had to come back to work, it said.

Ms. Grant ended up returning home, and died in a hospital on Thursday morning after fighting for her life on a ventilator for more than a week. Two other workers at the Tyson Foods poultry plant where she worked in Camilla, Ga., have also died in recent days.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)  Nine Northern Californians who were on the Grand Princess cruise to Hawaii sued Princess Cruise Lines and its parent company, Carnival Corp., in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday for alleged negligence in exposing them to the coronavirus.

One of the plaintiffs, Pamela Guisti of San Mateo County, became infected with the virus and was treated in an intensive care unit, according to the lawsuit.

The others, who live in San Francisco, San Mateo County and Stanislaus County, were "traumatized by the fear of developing COVID-19" while quarantined aboard the Grand Princess and then at Travis Air Force Base after they disembarked, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit is one of at least a dozen filed against the cruise companies by passengers on the ship, which sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii on Feb. 21, began returning on Feb. 29, and was stalled off the California coast for several days before being allowed to dock in Oakland on March 9.

The other lawsuits were filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

While on board the Grand Princess on March 5, 19 crew members and two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus. Since then, the number testing positive increased to 103 as of March 26 and two passengers and one crew member have died.

Before sailing to Hawaii, the ship made a 10-day round trip to Mexico, and 62 passengers and more than 1,000 crew members continued on the voyage to Hawaii. On Feb. 25, a Placer County man who had been on the Mexico cruise died of the coronavirus, becoming California's first fatality from the disease.

The lawsuit alleges the cruise companies were negligent in failing to inform Hawaii passengers that several passengers on the Mexico trip had shown coronavirus symptoms, failing to disinfect the ship thoroughly and failing to screen passengers and crew before departing for Hawaii.

It also alleges the companies were negligent during the cruise in not informing passengers about the previous traveler's death and not quarantining passengers in their cabins until about March 5.

The lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive financial awards for lost earnings, medical expenses and emotional distress.

It seeks to be certified as a class action on behalf of all of the more than 2,000 passengers on the Hawaii trip.

Mary Alexander, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, stated, "Carnival and Princess Cruise Lines negligently put thousands of passengers at risk of serious harm, which risk will continue for some time.

"Well over a thousand potentially infected individuals were allowed to share confined space with another nearly 2,000 uninfected passengers, casually and callously exposing all to COVID-19," she said.

Princess Cruise Lines, headquartered in Santa Clarita, said in a statement, "We do not comment on any pending litigation."

The statement said, "Princess Cruises has been sensitive to the difficulties the COVID-19 outbreak has caused to our guests and crew. Our response throughout this process has focused on the wellbeing of our guests and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness."

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Anybody who has a radical social position or the progressive social positions that the Democratic Party has espoused and that Joe Biden has embraced, I dont see that candidate really being able to speak to those swing voters in Pennsylvania that the Democrats are going to need to win, said David Urban, a political adviser to the president and his campaign, who led Trumps Pennsylvania effort in 2016. I think he will be defeated just like Hillary was.
A British Sikh cardiologist is back on the coronavirus frontline at a west London hospital after being struck down by the deadly virus himself last month.

IMAGE: A health worker wearing protective suit collects sample from a resident for COVID-19 test at a camp set up in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, in Ranchi, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Dr Harmandeep Singh, 36, spoke of how he and his wife shut themselves out of all social contact last month as soon as he started experiencing extreme tiredness and fever -- some of the symptoms of COVID-19.

They focussed on monitoring each other's breathing through their speech to assess the seriousness of their condition.

"If you can't talk in full sentences that's when your lungs are being affected, that's the time you need to seek medical help," Singh told My London.

The doctor is now back working at Ealing Hospital after a nearly 12-day spell of Covid-19, which ranged from a high heart rate to no energy and breathing difficulties to sudden improvement.

"That does reflect with patients that we are seeing, sudden deterioration or sudden improvement in 24 hours," he said.

"I know most people will get a mild disease and get over it. But for those who are getting severe disease it can be life changing for the families and it is extremely hard for us to see that suffering in those patients as well," said the doctor with 12 years' experience behind him.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Ealing Hospital where Singh works, has registered one of the highest number of coronavirus deaths in England.

However, the focus of the hospital has been on highlighting some of the positive progress each morning and look at the number of patients they have been able to discharge.

Singh said: "We've had people in their 90s who we thought were at the end of their lives and will not make it, we made the phone calls, explained to the families, and three days later they were at home.

"So it's not all bad, we've had good success in sending people home."

The hospital has also extended its focus on non-coronavirus related cases to ensure those with other health problems receive the critical care required.

Meanwhile, Singh reiterated the United Kingdom government message for people to stay at home and follow the social distancing rules to help frontline National Health Service (NHS) workers do their job.

"This essentially is a war, it's what we are in, so people need to understand and take it seriously. The NHS is up for the fight, but what the NHS really needs from the general public is they need to stay indoors," he said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkeys export of steel to Turkmenistan increased by nearly 174 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of the last year, making up $29.1 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on April 9.

According to the ministry, Turkeys export of steel to Turkmenistan in March 2020 exceeded $15.6 million, which is 284.6 percent more compared to March 2019.

From January through March 2020, Turkey exported steel worth $3.1 billion to world markets, which is 15.1 percent less compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkeys export of steel was 7.3 percent of the countrys total export for the first quarter of 2020.

In March 2020, Turkey exported steel worth $984.1 million to world markets, which is 24.4 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of steel in March of this year was 7.3 percent of the countrys total export.

In the last 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkey exported steel in the amount of $13.2 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
In a bid to warn customers against fraudsters who may attempt to exploit the EMI moratorium scheme, leading banks are reaching out to their customers to caution them against 'EMI moratorium frauds' and strongly advising them not to share sensitive information like OTP and PIN with imposters.

Over the past few days, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and other banks have sent out SMSs and e-mails to their customers informing them about new modus operandi being adopted by fraudsters and cyber criminals, to gain access to banking details.

Asking customers to protect their financial details, Axis Bank said in an e-mail to customers said fraudsters have started a new modus operandi to gain access to banking details.

Imposters may contact you to help postpone your EMI payments and request you to share OTP, CVV, password or PIN related to your banking accounts, it said.

"Stay aware! If the details are shared, the fraudster can have unwarranted access to your banking information leading to financial loss. Beware of EMI Moratorium Frauds!," Axis Bank said.

In a tweet on April 5, country's largest bank SBI had said a new style of cybercrime has been started by fraudsters and warned people to "Be Alert & Be Aware". "In such frauds customers get calls asking them to share their OTP in order to postpone their loan EMIs. Once the OTP is shared the amount is immediately siphoned away by fraudsters," it said.

To give relief to borrowers hit by COVID-19 lockdown, the RBI last month announced that all term loans, including retail and crop loans and working capital payments, will be covered by the three-month moratorium on EMI payments offered.

Earlier, State Bank of India (SBI) had also cautioned people against fake UPI IDs doing rounds in the guise of Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance & Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES).

"Make sure your monetary donation to fight against the global pandemic is going into the right hands," SBI said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
International community must press Moscow to grant access to international humanitarian organizations

While the whole world has united in the fight against coronavirus, Russian-occupied regions of eastern Ukraine continue to ignore the global pandemic. To make matters worse, the self-proclaimed authorities have barred various humanitarian organizations and media from entering the temporarily occupied territories.

The poor condition of the local health system and the age of many residents make the region almost the perfect place for the spread of Covid-19. The uncontrolled outbreak of the disease also endangers Ukrainian military personnel serving along the contact line. In an article for the Atlantic Council, Mark Temnycky calls on the international community to immediately pay attention to this dangerous problem.

April 2020 marked the six-year anniversary of Russias ongoing military incursion into eastern Ukraine. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 14,000 and the displacement of nearly two million people. With the war still far from over, Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine now has the potential to become a hotspot in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The humanitarian situation in and around occupied eastern Ukraine has been deteriorating ever since 2014, with over three million residents thought to be in need of aid. Moscows local proxies have consistently complicated the efforts of international aid agencies operating in the region by imposing a range of restrictions.

Things have deteriorated further since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks. Following the first confirmed coronavirus cases in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government announced it would restrict movement in areas near the contact line. The situation worsened significantly when the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic and the Luhansk Peoples Republic closed their borders.

While Ukraine has imposed a range of precautionary measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, the Kremlin-appointed authorities in the separatist republics have failed to take appropriate action and continue to deny any cases of the pandemic in the occupied regions. To make matters worse, they have barred various humanitarian organizations from entering occupied eastern Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations have denounced this decision and warned that it could lead to a public health emergency.

Due to the restrictions in place, there is no way of accurately assessing the true scale of the coronavirus situation in occupied eastern Ukraine. Nevertheless, the available information gives sufficient cause for concern. While Ukraines healthcare system is both underfunded and outdated, six years of war have left the healthcare infrastructure in occupied eastern Ukraine even less prepared to deal with a major medical emergency such as the coronavirus crisis. Hospitals themselves lack the equipment and facilities to treat potentially large numbers of patients, while many doctors and medical professionals have left the war-torn region.

The separatist authorities have also failed to impose major restrictions on public life in order to reduce the spread of the virus. Whereas the rest of Ukraine has been in an effective lockdown since the middle of March, many restaurants, shopping centers, and forms of public transport continue to operate as normal in the occupied east. Meanwhile, local media has downplayed the coronavirus threat, with a number of recent deaths attributed to other causes such as pneumonia.

This somewhat cavalier approach to the pandemic is particularly dangerous given the strikingly high percentage of pension-age residents living in occupied eastern Ukraine. Since the onset of Russian aggression in spring 2014, the region has experienced a mass exodus. The vast majority of those who chose to leave were of working age or younger, with the bulk of the remaining population falling into the pensioner category.

Although exact statistics are unavailable, anecdotal evidence suggests this population includes large numbers of people with preexisting health conditions who are unable to change location comfortably. In other words, Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine has all the prerequisites for a catastrophic coronavirus outbreak, including limited anti-pandemic measures, crumbling healthcare infrastructure, and a vast pensioner population with the kind of medical conditions that place them in the highest risk categories.

Any outbreak in eastern Ukraine will not remain isolated in the occupied zone. Beyond those living in the areas under Russian control, the group most at risk is the Ukrainian military. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops currently serve along a frontline in eastern Ukraine stretching hundreds of kilometers. According to recent reports, there is a scarcity of masks and gloves for soldiers on the front. The Ukrainian military also lacks coronavirus tests and other vital kit to monitor and protect against the pandemic. Poor living conditions on the front leave these soldiers especially vulnerable. They occupy cramped quarters and spend days at a time in trenches, with close physical contact and a lack of washing facilities creating a potentially ideal environment for the spread of the virus.

With the OSCE and other international organizations facing heightened restrictions on access to occupied eastern Ukraine, there are limits to what the international community can do to reduce the risk of a deadly outbreak in the region. One avenue is to increase calls on Moscow to intervene and either impose stricter anti-pandemic measures itself or accept medical aid from outside. Ukraine can also use existing channels of communication such as the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk to raise the subject of greater cooperation with both Kyiv and international organizations in order to combat the pandemic.

Such cooperation is likely to prove vital if Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine is to avoid becoming a regional hotspot in the global coronavirus outbreak. Ever since 2014, the Kremlin has shut the region off from the outside world, with the international media and aid agencies increasingly denied access. This has created a perfect storm of conditions for the spread of the virus, and now threatens to pave the way for a healthcare emergency that Ukraine alone is ill equipped to deal with.

The international community must now press Moscow to provide an accurate picture of the situation in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine and grant access to international humanitarian organizations. The grim alternative is an unchecked coronavirus outbreak that could cost thousands of lives among a population that has already suffered immensely due to Russias imperial ambitions.

Mark Temnycky is an AIPS accredited journalist who covers European politics and sports. He has been published by Forbes, EurActiv, and EUobserver.
Q. What is common to the following states/UTs: Karnataka, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi

A. All these states have now restricted public gathering to prevent spread of Coronavirus

Q. As most New Yorkers try to avoid public transportation, they have taken in one of the most healthy options . They cannot beat Amsterdam though , which has 4 times these as compared to the number of cars . What healthy transportation option have the New Yorkers resorted to ?

A. Biking

These are a series of hotels opened up in collaboration with the Pestana group. They are present in Lisbon, Marakkech and Madeira. Recently, as a temporary measure to counter coronavirus, the owner of these hotels has agreed to convert them into hospitals to allow for isolation and treatment of patients . Who is this benevolent owner?

Cristiano Ronaldo

NIOSH is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. One of the ratings given by NIOSH, has, off late, been in the news. Which one?

A. NIOSH's classification of filtering respirators; its certification and approval process for respiratory protective devices. The popular N95 masks, which are the only ones able to stop and filter Coronavirus are rated by NIOSH.

Q. Many news agencies have opened up parts of the news they are producing from their paywall for the general benefit of the public. News papers like NYTimes and Wired both have removed the paywall from this specific type of news and is allowing all users live updates on this category . What is it?

A. They are providing all users access to the Coronavirus related news for free, without the requirement to pay anything.

Q. This is a law which was first enacted in 1897 to tackle bubonic plague in Bombay state in former British India. The law is meant for containment of epidemics by providing special powers that are required for the implementation of containment measures to control the spread of a disease. It has recently been invoked in India to prevent the spread of coronavirus. What is it?

A. Epidemic Diseases Act 1897

Q. This term is generally used to describe a boundary created around an area experiencing an epidemic or an outbreak of infectious disease, or along the border of two nations. Once established, people from the affected area are no longer allowed to leave or enter it. In the most extreme form, it is not lifted until the infection is extinguished. The term dates back to 1821, when the Duke de Richelieu deployed French troops to the border between France and Spain, allegedly to prevent yellow fever from spreading into France. What is it?

A. Cordon Sanitaire

Q. This behaviour, which has led to an artificial shortage across the world, was rightly summed up in a video by an agency called The Feed, where the lead character sums up his intentions as I am gonna kick your ass and then I am gonna wipe mine . The artificial shortage of what are we describing ?

A. Toilet paper

Q. Sometimes , despair also has a silver lining as this question shows . In 1665 , when the Great Plague had struck London, this young genius was in his early 20s . His alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge, sent its students back home to continue their studies, and he went back to his home, Woolsthorpe Manor. During the year that he stayed away from college, he wrote the papers that went on to become early calculus and also sprung his theories on optics.It was also the time when he propounded the theories of gravity and motion. Who are we talking about ?Newton (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

A. Isaac Newton (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Q. Which company backed by Prem Watsa has brought out this COVID-19 Insurance in India?

A. Digit Insurance

Q. What is the name of this antagonist from the 2017 Asterix novel  Asterix and the Chariot Race?

A. Coronavirus

Q. Why has this place been in the news?

A. It is one of the quarantine camps set up for the evacuees from Wuhan. (Image: ANI)

Q. A new fund named as COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator has been launched by X, Wellcome and Mastercard. The $125 million fund has been launched to accelerate technologies to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. ID X, the well known philanthropic entity.

A. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Q. In the days of yore which business entity came up with this ad to showcase that the users of their product were rarely affected by Influenza ?

A. Dunlop

Q. The US health regulators have approved a new coronavirus test that will speed up by tenfold the ability to test patients, helping solve a significant obstacle in American efforts to contain the virus. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorisation to the test, which runs on Cobas 6800/8800 systems. The 8800 system is capable of testing 4,128 patients a day, and the 6800 version can test as many as 1,440. Which company makes these machines?

A. Roche

Q. The term describes any inanimate object that, when contaminated with or exposed to infectious agents (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi), can transfer disease to a new host. For humans, skin cells, hair, clothing, and bedding are common sources of contamination of these objects. It has been identified as one of the major sources of spread of coronavirus. The Italian scholar and physician Girolamo Fracastoro appears to have first used the Latin word 'Y' meaning "tinder", in this sense in his essay on contagion, 'De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis', published in 1546: "By Y I mean clothes, wooden objects, and things of that sort, which though not themselves corrupted can, nevertheless, preserve the original germs of the contagion and infect by means of these.

A. Fomite; Y = Fomes

Q. One of the outcomes of the Coronavirus situation , has been that the medical system in most countries got overwhelmed with the number of patients who required hospitalization and intensive care . In such a situation it was the doctors and the nurses who had to take a call on which patient gets to have the Intensive care and which does not based on the probability of survival. What is such a sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors called ?

A. Triage

Q. One of the criticisms that this country, currently with 200+ coronavirus cases, is that it has refused to stop incoming flights from China. The burden of labour to declare visit to Hubei in China is also with the travelers as can be seen in the accompanying picture. Which is this country, that also has some very high profile cases of coronavirus ?
Logical thinking is one of the first casualties in situations of great stress, which must be the explanation for the way dividends are being demonised in the pandemic.

An idea has taken hold that companies must take an axe to executive pay and to dividends as if the two could be bundled together under the category of Bad Things.

Yes, executive pay should be reined in, now more than ever. But dividends are different: if companies can afford to make a payout, having taken a prudent and responsible view, then they should.

If companies can afford to make a dividend payout, having taken a prudent and responsible view, then they should

It seems to have passed critics by that dividends  which give investors their twice-yearly slice of the profits a company has made  are one of the big motivations for investing in shares in the first place. That income often represents a large proportion of the total returns investors make.

Many boards are at pains to put in place a policy of stable and preferably rising dividends and will go to great lengths not to cut them.

Quite right too. Unless a company has a use for the money that will produce superior value in future, it should hand cash back to shareholders.

It oughtnt to be necessary to give a basic lesson on dividends, but it feels as though it is, in the current climate where companies like Tesco, which made a generous distribution, are being castigated, not congratulated.

Paying any sort of dividend at all requires a level of bravery: as one City asset manager noted in the Financial Times, it has come to be seen as almost unpatriotic.

That is absurd. It is certainly selfish, and arguably unpatriotic, for bosses to line their own pockets and handbags with huge executive bonuses at a time when their employees are suffering.

Dividends are different. If they are stopped, ordinary pensioners and savers get hurt, as do employee shareholders.

So how have we got here? Well, the anti-dividend brigade seems to have extrapolated from the pressure from the Bank of England on banks and insurance companies not to dish out millions to shareholders but to conserve their capital instead.

Thats perfectly sensible. Number one priority for banks is to make sure they have enough resources to support families and firms throughout the pandemic.

That rationale, however, does not apply to every other type of business. To move from banks to the notion its unacceptable for anyone to pay a dividend is quite a leap.

There are legitimate concerns about companies making handouts to investors at a time of such great uncertainty for the economy.

A whole list of companies, from Rolls-Royce to Taylor Wimpey, has decided they are not in a position to make a payout, which only makes it more important that those who can still prudently pay a divi, do so.

There are also objections to largesse to investors by firms taking government assistance, as Tesco has with its business-rates holiday  though it insists all of that concession and more is eaten up by the extra costs of employee sick pay and other virus expenses.

Fortunately for any of us with a pension, a handful of companies are still making payments including Standard Life Aberdeen and drinks giant Diageo.

There is no virtue in turning the whole of UK plc into a dividend desert. It wont help beat the pandemic, but it will inflict more pain on savers and pensioners.

Les Miserables

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has an impressive line in cultural references.

In a speech ahead of the spring meetings next week  conducted virtually because of the virus  she quotes from Victor Hugos novel Les Miserables: Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.

Its a noble hope, but the virus could as easily lead to isolationism, protectionism and xenophobia as a new brotherhood of man.

We can see the risks already with demands from some in this country for a reckoning with China and President Trumps characterisation of Covid-19 as the Wuhan Flu.

A big test will be how we respond not only to the needs of our own vulnerable citizens but also to developing nations. Poor countries, where billions live in overcrowded cities, in unsanitary conditions with poor healthcare systems, will be hit the hardest. Helping them is in our self-interest  if we are to defeat the virus it has to be done everywhere.

Ms Georgieva is suggesting that generosity of spirit is not only morally right but a potent economic weapon. Particularly when, to quote another of her references, the rock band REM, Everybody hurts.
The European Union will allocate EUR 190 million in aid for Ukraine to prevent the coronavirus spread; funds will be used for strengthening the healthcare system and social-economic sector.

The Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration wrote about this on Facebook.

"The European Union will allocate EUR 190 million to Ukraine to tackle the coronavirus... Funds will be used for the following needs: the immediately respond to the healthcare crisis, to strengthen the healthcare system and soften the adverse impact of the pandemic on the social and economic sector, reads the report.

As part of the global coronavirus outbreak response, the European Commission has mobilized an emergency assistance package for the Eastern Partner countries. The EU will allocate EUR 962 million to the countries of the Eastern Partnership, including Ukraine. In total, Ukraine will receive over EUR 190 million in aid.

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Russia and the armed formations it backs must provide safe and unimpeded access for the OSCE, international non-governmental and humanitarian organizations to the territories in Donbas, which are temporarily beyond control of the Ukrainian Government, especially amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said this during a press conference following the informal meeting of EU development ministers held via videoconference, answering questions from an Ukrinform correspondent.

The European Union has always strongly supported the work of the OSCE in eastern Ukraine. In the context of coronavirus pandemic, it is even more important that the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) be fully respected by Russia and the armed formations it backs. This mission should gain safe and unimpeded access throughout Ukraine, including, of course, those parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are now beyond the control of the Ukrainian Government, the High Representative of the EU stressed.

He recalled that not only the OSCE, but also international non-governmental organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross should be given full and safe access to these territories in order to provide humanitarian assistance to people.

"We continue to contact all actors to resolve the situation. I emphasize that all of these missions must gain safe and unimpeded access throughout Ukraine, including parts of it that are currently beyond control of the Government, Borrell said.

ol
She has landed on the May cover of Vogue magazine to promote her new film Wonder Woman: 1984 which was supposed to open in June but has been moved to August due to the coronavirus crisis.

And inside the fashion magazine, the star - who got mixed reviews when she shared a celebrity packed version of Imagine on Instagram to lift the spirits of her fans in self-isolation - talked about COVID-19.

'Obviously the circumstances are horrible and frightening, but were home and were trying to make the best of itto enjoy the quality time,' the 34-year-old star told the magazine from her home in Los Angeles, California.

Statuesque: Wonder Woman superstar Gal Gadot graces the May 2020 cover of Vogue

She was referring to her family, consisting of her husband Yaron Varsano, 45, and their daughters Alma, eight, and Maya, three.

Vogue was quick to point out that the article about Gadot was written 'before COVID-19 began to take hold in the U.S.'

And the publication made sure to reach out to her once more in mid-March to reflect on the 'profound changes to daily life [that] were being seen across the country.'

On the pandemic: 'Obviously the circumstances are horrible and frightening, but were home and were trying to make the best of itto enjoy the quality time,' Gadot told the magazine; Gal and her husband seen in February

'Ive never been through times like these,' Gal also said about the current situation in the world. 'But Im also full of hope for when it will be behind us.'

In the glamorous cover image, Gal stands in all her statuesque glory, sheathed in a fabulously textured silver metallic Louis Vuitton dress.

The 5ft10in Israeli film star has her raven dark hair whisked back away from her minimally made up face, with Tiffany & Co. earring studs in her ears.

On her Instagram, the Fast & Furious actress posted the gorgeous cover shot and identified the shoot location, in the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northern Los Angeles County, in the caption.

Can't wait: One of the big topics in the article itself, of course, was the highly anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984, a film that has now been delayed from June until August

Iconic: 'It meant something to them. And just because of that, I care for them, and I want to hear what they have to say,' Gal said of Wonder Woman

'This was shot at Vasquez rocks a few months back,' Gadot wrote. 'Who could have imagined what was coming? Thank you @voguemagazine for having me. Taken by the extraordinary @annieleibovitz '

One of the big topics in the article itself, of course, was Gal's highly anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984, a film that wrapped production well over a year ago but has now been delayed for release from June until August as movie theaters around the world remain shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Gadot observed how profoundly the first Wonder Woman film, released in 2017, affected fans.

Imagine this? The star got mixed reviews when she shared a celebrity packed version of Imagine on Instagram to lift the spirits of her fans in self-isolation

'It meant something to them. And just because of that, I care for them, and I want to hear what they have to say,' she said.

'Often its about a profound effect that its had on their life. Usually its that it triggered them to make a change, to do something they would never do, to be courageous.'

At the end of last month, Gal helped break the news of WW1984's delayed release, taking to her Instagram to announce the new August date: 'In these dark and scary times, I am looking forward to a brighter future ahead. Where we can share the power of cinema together again. Excited to redate our WW84 film to August 14, 2020. I hope everyone is safe. Sending my love to you all. '
Coronavirus claimed 1,973 lives in the U.S. on Wednesday, the largest one-day death toll in the country since the start of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

With over 432,000 Americans infected, almost 15,000 Americans have died in total as of Thursday morning.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, indicated that, while deaths may continue to rise, there actually may be reason to hope the outbreak in the U.S. is slowing.

At the same time as were seeing an increase in death, like typically what we are seeing now from New York, over the last few days, theres been a stabilization and a decrease in the hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care and of the requirements for intubations, Fauci told Fox News. That means that, as we get further on beyond this week we should start to see the beginning of a turnaround which is a good sign.

New York City and the surrounding area is currently the nations largest coronavirus hotspot, while Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned on Wednesday that Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., may see a spike in cases in the upcoming weeks.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo hailed the slowing number of hospitalizations in the state since the weekend as a sign that mitigation efforts were slowing the spread of the disease.

There is good news in what were seeing, that what we have done and we are doing is actually working, Cuomo said.

More from National Review
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 9 (ANI): After an increase in the number of coronavirus cases, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday ordered three major cities Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain to be sealed completely.



The state government also invoked the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) in the state with immediate effect to combat COVID-19 to ensure essential supplies and services are operational during this crisis.

"The district administration should ensure the supply of essential commodities in these areas. No person will be able to go in and out of these areas. Services of all government departments and their resources should be taken in coronavirus related work," Chouhan said.

In other districts also, the infected areas should be completely sealed, he said.

The Chief Minister announced this after a review of the situation and control arrangements of the coronavirus in the state with senior officials.

The number of coronavirus positive cases in Indore is 173, 96 in Bhopal, 13 in Ujjain, 12 in Khargone and 12 in Morena.

Urging people to take additional precautions, Chouhan said that every person should come out of the house wearing a mask to avoid infection.

Chief Minister Chouhan said, "No person should hide coronavirus disease. Coronavirus is death if you hide it and life if you inform about it."

Chouhan directed that an FIR should be registered against those who hide their travel history it and said after treatment, punitive action should be taken against them.

"The best treatment regime should be ensured for the coronavirus patients so that the death rate can be minimised," Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, the former chief minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath questioned Chouhan's decision. He took to Twitter to post in Hindi that during a time when the government doctors, medical staff and officials are performing their duties with utmost responsibility, the state government's decision to invoke ESMA across the state was beyond comprehension.

Indore reported 40 new positive cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total number of infected patients in the city to 213.

The total number of cases in the capital city of Bhopal is 94, while Ujjain has reported 13 cases so far. (ANI)


Washington  When former vice president Joe Biden becomes the Democratic nominee for president in August, it will mark the first time that a Syracuse University graduate will lead a major partys ticket for president.

Biden clinched his bid to win the Democratic nomination on Wednesday when U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential bid, conceding he was too far behind in the partys primary elections.

Biden, a 1968 graduate of SUs College of Law, will formally become the Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump when the party holds its national convention the week of Aug. 17 in Milwaukee.

Biden has maintained strong ties to Syracuse and Central New York throughout almost five decades in public office. Heres why the region is special to Biden:

Family ties

Biden married Neilia Hunter, an Auburn native, at St. Marys of the Lake in Skaneateles in 1966. The couples first home was on Stinard Avenue in Syracuse.

While Joe attended Syracuse University law school, Neilia worked as a teacher at the old Bellevue Heights School in Syracuse.

Joe was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware at age 29. Weeks later, Neilia and the couples infant daughter, Naomi, would later die in an auto accident in Delaware. Their two sons, Beau and Hunter were injured.

After the accident, Biden and his sons would return to Central New York each year to visit Neilias parents and family.

As vice president in 2014, Biden made one of his many unannounced visits to the region. Biden attended the wedding of his niece, Marren Hunter, in Auburn.

Syracuse University

Biden has maintained a fierce loyalty to Syracuse University. He has returned to SU five times to give commencement addresses and other speeches while serving as a senator from Delaware and as vice president.

His late son, Beau, also graduated from SUs law school.

In 2009, Biden explained why he will always have a special affection for SU. He invited the national champion SU lacrosse team and a reporter for Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard into his ceremonial office at the White House for a private reception.

The reason why I love that school so much is because Ive never, ever, been part of an institution that has been as loyal to me as they have, an emotional Biden said at the reception.

He said SU stood by his side when he was accused during his 1988 presidential campaign of cheating on a law school paper. He dropped out of the race. He offered his political comeback as a lesson for the team.

Vice President Joe Biden shows off a tie with his school colors before leading a discussion on college access and affordability inside Goldstein Auditorium at Syracuse University in this September 2009 file photo. John Berry | The Post-StandardJohn Berry

As vice president in 2015, Biden chose SU as the college campus where he would launch the Its on Us campaign, a White House initiative to combat sexual assault on college campuses.

Central New York friends

Biden maintained lifelong friendships with his Syracuse classmates and friends, regularly checking in with them or visiting for special occasions.

While vice president in 2012, he attended the funeral of one of his closest friends, John D. Covino, a law school buddy from Manlius.

Covino was among Bidens closest friends who talked him out of ending his political career after the deaths of his wife and daughter.

In 2009, Biden made sure Covino was at Barack Obamas presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., where Biden took his oath of office as vice president.

Biden has also remained close with elected officials in the Syracuse area, volunteering to campaign for them over the years.

In 2014, Biden invited Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner to a St. Patricks Day breakfast at the vice presidents residence in Washington to welcome Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to Washington.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
NHS staff in North Wales urged to hide ID in public as criminals target key workers

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 9th, 2020

NHS staff across North Wales are being urged to hide their ID badges in public after reports of criminals targeting key workers during the coronavirus crisis.

The forces Community Safety Team has issued the advice following incidents in other parts of the country.

Although health staff have to carry ID and may be asked to produce it on the way to work, they are being told to hide it in a pocket or a bag.

This reduces the chances of criminals being able to identify you as an NHS worker. If you do lose your ID or its stolen, report it immediately.

Officers have strongly also suggested people should not where clothes or uniform which identifies their occupation.

While everyone else is at home, key workers are also being encouraged to safeguard their houses against burglars.

Advice issued to help keep your property safe, includes:-

 Always close and lock your doors and windows when you are not at home

 Remember to set your intruder alarm when going out, if you have one

 Close and lock doors of rooms you are not using while at home

 Dont leave patio or conservatory doors and windows open or unlocked

 Make sure your regular bedtime routine includes locking up the house

 Dont hide spare keys under flowerpots or doormats  these are places burglars will check

 Keep keys out of sight and out of reach  dont leave them in their locks

 Good lighting on the outside of your property is a great deterrent  we recommend LED lighting that stays on from dusk till dawn, controlled by a photocell

 Display warning signs that your house has anti-burglary measures in place, as a deterrent

 Consider using Tech  Alexa and Google can be set to play low level radio. Radio with lots of talking, similar to Radio 4, gives the perception that the house is occupied.

In a press release, the force said: North Wales Police Community Safety would like to thank you for your hard work throughout these unprecedented times.

We dont want to add to any feelings of worry or stress at this time, but would like to provide you with some security advice following some isolated incidents from other areas in the country.

We are taking precaution in order to prevent any such actions happening in North Wales.

We also want to reassure you that we are patrolling your neighbourhoods and communities keeping an eye on suspicious behaviour and challenging members of the public to ensure people are only out for essential reasons.

If you receive any abusive comments or other issues then you should report it to us and we will deal with people who are not respecting our frontline workers.

We assure you that we are #InThisTogether and will support you as you protect us during this pandemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:41:51|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Interior Ministry on Thursday announced that three more provinces have imposed partial lockdowns in a bid to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thailand's northern province of Chiang Rai and southern provinces of Krabi and Trang, have become the latest provinces to apply partial lockdowns with the orders by their respective provincial administrations and public health commissions.

The move came after Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had earlier imposed a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Prayut also has given provincial governors the power to impose stringent measures to cope with the outbreak including shutdown of provinces' borders.

Chiang Rai Province has announced that from Thursday to April 30, only four highways are open for motorists travelling in and out of Chiang Rai to adjacent provinces, Chiang Mai and Phayao.

Traveling in Chiang Rai is also restricted as nine police checkpoints are set up in the province.

Chiang Rai has reported only 6 cases of COVID-19 with no new cases reported in the last seven days.

Meanwhile in Trang, the southern province has also announced a partial lockdown beginning on Friday to April 30 as it has seen higher number of COVID-19 cases arriving from other provinces.

Surveillance measures have been tightened including 14-day health quarantine for all travelers arriving in Trang.

There are seven reported COVID-19 cases in Trang, five have recovered.

In Krabi Province which is home to several tourist attraction, higher number of infections has prompted the governor to step up preventive measures.

Krabi has also prohibited people from travelling to other districts until the end of April.

Krabi has reported 16 cases of COVID-19, and most of the cases were found at touristic spots including Koh Lanta island and Phi Phi island.
Hyderabad, April 9 : The police in Hyderabad on Thursday booked a grocery supermarket manager and its two security personnel after two persons from the northeast were allegedly denied entry for 'looking like foreigners'.

The police swung into action after a common friend of the duo from Manipur tweeted about the incident tagging Union minister Kiren Rijiju and Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao.

While Rijiju asked him to send details of the location, Rama Rao requested the Director General of Police to take action.

Subsequently, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat tweeted that a case against the store manager and two guards of Star Market has been registered at the Vanasthalipuram police station.

"The accused persons are in custody. We regret the incident. The police will not tolerate such act," he said.

The accused were booked under IPC Sections 153 (wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc of any particular group or class), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) and 341 (wrongful restraint).

Earlier, Rama Rao had called for stern action in the matter. "This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Racism in any form should be dealt with sternly," Rama Rao tweeted.

He requested the DGP to instruct all police commissioners and superintendents of police to take up these issues seriously and send out a clear message.

"Two of my friends were denied entry today to buy groceries at Starmarket Vanastalipuram, Hyderabad. Reason? They look like a foreigner and not an Indian. Even after producing their Aadhaar Card, they were denied entry and were sent back home empty handed," tweeted one Jonah, along with a video showing the security guard stopping his friends from entering the store.

"My questions to my fellow Indians: 1. Is this the new India? 2. Why are we required/forced to prove our citizenship to gain access to basic necessities? 3. Is Aadhaar card not enough to prove an Indian citizenship," Jonah asked.

"Racism against NE people has become a common occurrence and we do not feel safe anymore being in our own country," he said in one of his tweets.

Star Bazaar India in a statement posted on its Twitter handle said that discrimination of any kind is totally against its principles. "We are dealing with this incident sensitively and also on priority," said.

It also replied to Jonah about the incident. "Hi Jonah, we are extremely sorry & we are truly disappointed with what happened. Assure you that we consider all customers equal & your safety is our priority. We are investigating this on high priority," it said.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-09 16:42:03

Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

April 9, 2020 at 17:40 (CET +1)



Correction to Nokia Corporations stock exchange release published on March 5, 2020 announcing the filing of the Form 20-F for 2019 and publication of the Nokia in 2019 annual report and Remuneration Policy

Correction to Nokia Corporations stock exchange release published on 5 March 2020 announcing the filing of its annual Form 20-F for 2019 and publication of its Nokia in 2019 annual report and Remuneration Policy. The previously published stock exchange release included a link to the website where the reports can be downloaded but did not include the annual report as an attachment.

Please find below the original stock exchange release with both attachments.

***

Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

March 5, 2020 at 20:00 (CET +1)

Nokia has filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and published its Nokia in 2019 annual report and its Remuneration Policy

Espoo, Finland  Nokia has today filed its annual Form 20-F for 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Nokia has published its Nokia in 2019 annual report, which includes audited financial statements, the annual review by the Board of Directors and Nokias corporate governance statement.

The Form 20-F and Nokia in 2019 reports will be available in PDF format at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/reports-filings , along with Nokias past quarterly and annual financial reports. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the reports free of charge through Nokias website. The corporate governance statement is available also at https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/corporate-governance .

In addition, Nokia has published its Remuneration Policy applicable to the Board of Directors and the President and CEO. This policy will be presented to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting 2020 and is available at www.nokia.com/agm as well as attached to this release.

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Katja Antila, Head of Media Relations

Attachments
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) today announced that the Company will release its first quarter 2020 financial and operating results on Thursday, May 7, 2020, after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call on Friday, May 8, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to review first quarter results, discuss recent events and conduct a question-and-answer period.

Live conference call

Toll free number: (877) 451-6152 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (201) 389-0879 (for international callers) Passcode: Not required Simultaneous audio webcast link: www.americanhomes4rent.com under "For Investors"



Conference call replay

Toll free number: (844) 512-2921 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (412) 317-6671 (for international callers) Passcode: 13701430# Webcast link: www.americanhomes4rent.com under "For Investors" Date accessible through: May 22, 2020

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high-quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of December 31, 2019, we owned 52,552 single-family properties in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Contact:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

Related Links

https://www.americanhomes4rent.com


The Missouri-Arkansas Region of the American Red Cross has continued to monitor and stay vigilant around the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) pandemic. We actively stay aligned with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), along with our State Health Departments.

We're standing together in the eye of this very unpredictable pandemic, and the American Red Cross is urging everyone to stay safe and healthy. COVID19 cases continue to rise precipitously in the United States, surpassing all other countries around the world. Social distancing protocols have the potential to reduce a catastrophic surge into our healthcare systems. Our American Red Cross is an important partner in our region's response to this pandemic. Every aspect of our mission contributes to the overall fight against COVID19.

We are confident in extraordinary health care and publich health workers who are working tirelessly on the frontlines to support our communities.
Stay in and order out: that's the message behind a national campaign to help struggling restaurants by getting take-out meals on Wednesdays.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Stay in and order out: that's the message behind a national campaign to help struggling restaurants by getting take-out meals on Wednesdays.

Still open and ready to serve: Directory of Winnipeg restaurants, shops and businesses Click to Expand Posted: 4:08 PM Mar. 27, 2020 In a bid to help restaurants, mom-and-pop shops and other local businesses hurting during these trying times, the Free Press launched a directory service to help our community connect with companies still open for business. Read Full Story

Starting April 15, the campaign, called Canada Takeout, will encourage Canadians to order meals  either to pick up or to be delivered  to support restaurants that have experienced a deep drop in business during the pandemic.

The #TakeoutDay campaign will kick off with a Facebook live show on 8 p.m. next Wednesday with musical guests and celebrity appearances.

Chef Tyrone Welchinski, who works at Nonsuch Brewery, was approached to be part of the social media campaign.

"Weve been doing OK with take-out orders and deliveries, but I dont think theres a lot of awareness right now that restaurants are still operating and that we still need this business to survive the storm," he said.

Even outside of the campaign, there are ways for people to support food-service workers.

"Even if the restaurant is closed, a great thing customers can do is just leave them a positive review on Google. That can go a long way."

Try our Dish The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Dish arrives in your inbox every other Friday. See sample. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Nonsuch Brewery Chef Tyrone Welchinski hopes people support restaurants to help businesses survive. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Some restaurants have been forced to completely shut down, which, Welchinski said means, while support from diners was crucial, government intervention was necessary as well.

"If the restaurant is closed, and in many cases theyve had no choice but to close there isnt really anything you can do to help them at this point I think, its up to the government to bail these businesses out," he said.

"Its not loans or anything that we need. Its a bailout."

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_
Montana banks have issued roughly $500 million in the paycheck protection loans to the small businesses since the federal program rolled out five days ago.

Interest in the newly created, $349-billion program has been high in Montana as businesses look for way retain employees, rather than sent them to the unemployment line. Businesses can receive federal loans to cover up to eight weeks of payroll and related overhead. The loans will be forgiven as long as 75% of the money borrowed is used to keep employees on payroll and the other 25% is spent other expenses like rent, mortgage interest and utility bills. Money spent outside of those restrictions has to be paid back at .5% interest.

The U.S. Treasury announced Tuesday that it was asking Congress to appropriate another $200 billion for PPP as state-level orders for people to stay at home shut down non-essential businesses. Roughly 90% of the United States is under state-level stay-at-home orders, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Montana, roughly 5,000 businesses had qualified for the PPP through Tuesday, at which point state-level numbers for the program were still available through the Small Business Administration. Those numbers have since been taken down.

SBA is being a little bit guarded about numbers, but just based on what I know, I would say that Montana Banks have made several thousand loans, PPP loans. Im going to say in the range of a half-billion dollars, plus or minus, and its increasing by the hour, said Cary Hegreberg, Montana Bankers Association CEO.

A new directive issued Wednesday requires banks to close the loans and issue disbursements within 10 days of approval, a change thats come as PPP progresses.

Friday could bring a new wave of Montana businesses into lenders as the Paycheck Protection Program is made available to independent contractors for the first time. Those borrowers will have to decide which rescue program is best for them. Earlier, unemployment was extended to independent contractors, for the first time. The U.S. Department of Labor says that up to 39 weeks of unemployment coverage is available through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. However, unemployment doesnt cover things like mortgage, lease or utility payments as PPP does.

Independent contractors should go to the Small Business Administration website to see what information theyll need to bring to lenders if PPP is the right option for them, Hegreberg said.

Whats going to be important for independent contractors is their tax information, said Brent Donnelly, SBA Montana district director.

A lot of them, its going to be their 1099. Thats the low-hanging fruit as far as documentation, Donnelly said. The 1099 tax return forms are used to report payments for things like services, and other compensation to nonemployees like independent contractors and freelancers.

Lost revenue covered by PPP for independent contractors and sole proprietors could include wages, commissions, income or net earnings from self-employment or similar compensation. Donnelly said those broad terms would likely raise questions for people interested in PPP.

The Paycheck Protection Program nationally was cruising, Donnelly said. Almost 400,000 loans approved for more than $100 billion.

The money available is first-come, first-served. No state has been appropriated a specific amount.

There are no requirements of collateral or personal guarantees.
The World Health Organization has pleaded for global unity in fighting the coronavirus, following US President Donald Trump's stinging attack on its handling of the pandemic, as director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hit back at accusations that it had been too close to China.

As the WHO marks 100 days on April 10 since it was first notified of the outbreak in China, the UN's health agency has faced criticism in the past both for overreacting and for moving too slowly in fighting epidemics.

But rarely was it as much scrutinised as with the current Covid-19 pandemia.

On April 8, US President Donald Trump accused the WHO having "called it wrong" and months too late, while taking US money but favouring China.

US and Hong Kong media claim that the virus was known already in mid-november 2019 and that China, knowingly, withheld information that could otherwise have prevented the global nature of the pandemic.

Too close to China

The US also sharply criticized WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for being too close to China.

"The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look," Trump said on Twitter.

Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

Since an early stage, Tedros has been an outspoken advocate for the Chinese government's response to the outbreak of the epidemic.

On January 28, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing where he said that China was setting a new standard for outbreak control while praising the country's top leadership for its openness to sharing information with the WHO and other countries.

"Spreading rumours"

But that didn't go down well with Beijing's critics. in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese officials were busy arresting and punishing citizens for 'spreading rumors' about the disease, while online censors controlled the flow of information, writes Michael Collins, a research associate with the US Council for Foreign Relations. But, he says, it didn't prevent Tedros from continuing his praise.

Don't politicise the virus

But he hit back. In a stern defence of the WHO's handling of the pandemic, which has by now killed more than 90,000 people, while more than 1.5 million people have tested positive, Tedros said that "the United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy."

"The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicise this virus.

"If you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it, he said.

Disaster

Withdrawal of US funding would be a disaster for the WHO.

According to its 2018 financial statement, the organisation received a total of 2,74 billion US$ in funding.

Largest member states contributors are the US (281 million US$), the UK (205 million US$), Germany (154 US$), and Japan (86 million US$). From the African countries the DRC stands out with a contribution of 24 million US$.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation stands out as the largest non-institutional donor with a massive 228 million US$.

Meanwhile, China contributed only 6 million US$, and two Chinese vaccine manufactures, Beijing Tiantan Biological Products and Sinovac Biotech Ltd, both based in the Chinese capital, contributed a combined 92,000 US$.

Generous support

After Trump's outburst, World Health Organization chief on Wednesday thanked the United States for its "generosity" in funding global health initiatives like the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the US for its generous support so far," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in a virtual briefing, adding he believed the "US will continue to contribute its share," despite Trumps threat to have a good look at US funding.
LEHI, Utah

April 9, 2020

Misty Frost

Infection Control and Barrier Protection Standards

Cleaning Disinfection and Sterilization (CDS)

Awareness, Prevention, and Control of Infectious Disease

Needle-Stick and Sharps Safety (NSS)

Bloodborne Pathogens Prevention (BBP)

Personal Protective Equipment in Healthcare (PPE)

Hand Washing and Glove Requirements for Health and Safety

Sepsis Awareness and Education

CDC Guidelines Regarding COVID-19/Coronavirus

New York State

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The Arthaus condo site at the corner of Broad and Spruce is among construction projects now closed per Gov. Wolf's order due to the spread of the coronavirus, but contractors throughout Philadelphia are still requesting permits for existing or future projects. Read more

Philadelphias Department of Licenses and Inspections launched its long-delayed system for accepting online permit applications on March 16. Days later, the city closed its buildings to the public.

The rollout of the eCLIPSE system right before the coronavirus pandemic shut the city down was fortuitous. Before the online system, all permit applications had to be submitted, paid for, and picked up in person.

So without eCLIPSE, the permitting process in Philadelphia would have ground to a halt, Karen Guss, spokesperson for L&I, said in a statement.

Although much of the citys construction has stopped due to Gov. Tom Wolfs order shuttering nonessential business, contractors want to make sure they have what they need to work after the ban is lifted, and some of those granted waivers need permits to be able to keep working. Contractors also depend on securing permits to get paid.

 READ MORE: Philly courts civil e-filing, docket searches restored nearly 6 weeks after computer shutdown

Permitting is still happening during the pandemic, albeit at a little slower pace. But in the first couple of weeks, some contractors and real estate agents complained that the system wasnt working as advertised.

There have been, and will continue to be, bumps in the road, Guss said. It was expected that online permitting would grow over time, with many people continuing to rely on in-person processes. Now the transition has happened very suddenly. That increases the impact of the inevitable bugs and technological hiccups that arise in deploying a brand-new system.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

Since March 16, L&I has reviewed more than 900 online permit applications and more than 800 permit applications filed in person before the shutdown. Examiners are reviewing these applications from home, and payment is accepted and permits are issued online.

But some permits require approvals from several other departments, some of which are not doing that work during the pandemic.

As L&I launched eCLIPSE, it also started using an automated phone system, so contractors can request inspections at any time, day or night, without having to reach the specific inspector assigned to their projects.

During the construction shutdown, L&I has shifted its focus to enforcing the governors stop-work order. But the department is continuing to inspect and monitor dangerous properties and demolitions, which remains a high priority, Guss said. The department is responding to hundreds of requests per week for construction inspection.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus quiets the boom of Philly construction

Before the health crisis, the department was having trouble recruiting and retaining inspectors, a problem agencies across the country are facing because of fewer young people entering the profession, building codes becoming more complex, and employees retiring. The city had high hopes it would be able to fill positions by changing recruitment methods, including the possibility of partnering with Community College of Philadelphia to train inspectors, but those talks are on hold while the city deals with the health crisis.

The president of the union that represents L&I workers did not respond to requests for comment. In an interview last month, union officials said they hoped the system would lighten workers loads as the department said it should.

"The department talks about eCLIPSE like its the be-all, save-all, and we hope thats the case, said April Gigetts, vice president of AFSCME Local 2187.
The intensifying Covid-19 crisis has triggered a tsunami of layoffs in metals-consuming sectors, including automotive, energy, food-service equipment and other manufacturing in the United States, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARNs) filed to state labor departments.

At least nine of the companies reported that the locations were permanently closing, although not all of those shutdowns were attributed to impacts from the pandemic.



The United States had lost 18,000 jobs as of the March report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.



Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, noted that the bureau's tally took place in mid-March, before the height of the job-loss warnings that followed the suspension of production at non-essential businesses. Paul said the nation's manufacturers will need wide-ranging support, including a large government infrastructure investment and further protections against import competition.



"There will be no easy way out of this crisis for millions of Americans, and this jobs report reflected just the very start of the collapse," Paul said in a press release on Friday April 3. "The relief package passed by Congress may allow some businesses and families to tread water for a while, but much more needs to be done."



Many of the most severe job losses have come from companies that supply the automotive industry, after most major North American automakers suspended production until at least mid-to-late April.



Energy has been another hard-hit sector, after a price war broke out between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Americans slowed gasoline consumption because most were staying home. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell to below $20 per barrel in March, and the US rig count plunged by 108 in just two weeks to 664 as of Friday, according to Baker Hughes.



The following layoff announcements - totaling at least 11,416 nationwide - were specified in publicly accessible WARN letters to state labor and work-force agencies over the past month.



Automotive



Benteler Automotive, a producer of chassis and exhaust systems, stated that as many as 1,018 employees in Michigan and 162 in Indiana could be temporarily laid off.

Kirkhoff Automotive, a stamper that produces frames, bumpers, cross beams and floor assemblies, said it would temporarily lay off 338 employees in Tecumseh, Michigan; 300 at Manchester, Tennessee; 225 at Waverly, Ohio, and 148 in Dallas.

MasterGuard, which makes motor vehicle bodies, reported that it is temporarily laying off 680 people in Veedersburg, Indiana.

General Aluminum Manufacturing has laid off 531 workers at three Ohio plants. The plant produces cast and machined knuckles, pump housings, transmission components, oil pans and engine covers.

Busche Performance Group, a provider of casting and machining for chassis, powertrain and other components, said it would lay off 450 people at three Indiana plants.

Spartan Light Metal Products, a die-cast provider, announced the temporary layoff of 404 employees at two locations in Missouri.

Piolax, which makes metal and plastic fasteners, warned that it would lay off 359 employees at its Canton, Georgia, plant.

A furlough of 339 workers was announced at Keystone Powdered Metal in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. The company is a machine shop that produces bearings, sprockets and gears.

Engineered Sintered Components, which machines and heat-treats powdered-metal components, said it initiated a temporary layoff of 292 employees at Troutman, North Carolina.

BWI Group, which produces original-equipment suspension and brake systems and powertrain mounts, shut down its operations at Greenfield, Indiana. A total of 336 workers were affected - 172 permanent employees and 164 temporary help. The company said it hopes to recall the employees when its customers are operating again.

Autoform Tool & Mfg, a maker of stainless steel fuel injectors, manifold and piping components, was scheduled to temporarily lay off 240 workers at Angola, Indiana, as of April 3.

Taiho Corp of America, a provider of engine bearings, bushings and shoes, said it would lay off 229 at its plants at Tiffin, Ohio. Two plants will have no production this week, according to daily Covid-19 updates on the company's website.

Metal forming specialist Matsu Ohio, a producer of light-weight assemblies, said it laid off 170 workers at Edgerton, Ohio.

Ross Casting & Innovation, which produces aluminium components including turbocharger compressor wheels, temporarily suspended production at Sidney, Ohio, idling its 167 employees.

Fuel pump maker Carter Fuel Systems said it planned to lay off 128 employees at Logansport, Indiana, around April 1, but it may begin calling people back starting on Monday April 13.

Aludyne, which casts and machines aluminium knuckles, said it would lay off 115 people at its Warren, Michigan, facility.

Aftermarket fuel pump maker ASC Airtex laid off about 88 employees in North Canton, Ohio, on April 1. The company may start recalling workers beginning on Monday April 20.

Ohio Star Forge in Warren, Ohio, said it temporarily stopped production on March 30, affecting 88 employees. The company supplies cold-roll-formed items for automotive suppliers and fasteners, sleeves, collars and bushings for oil-and-gas customers.

Busche Performance Group, which provides casting and machining, is temporarily layoff off 75 people at Edon, Ohio.

Findlay, Ohio-based GSW Manufacturing, which makes wire harnesses, said it would temporarily lay off 55 employees.

Consolidated Metal Products, the world's largest manufacturer of high-strength, cold-formed U-bolts, said it would lay off 52 workers until Friday April 17.

Murotech Ohio, a St. Marys, Ohio, provider of stamping and grinding, announced a "temporary and possible permanent layoff" of 52 people.

Kemper Valve & Fittings, a supplier of pressure pipe items, is downsizing at Island Lake, Illinois; 110 employees will be laid off starting in June.

Houston machining and coating shop Watson Grinding & Manufacturing said it will lay off 88 people.

Veritas Shop Fabrication, which assembles midstream processing equipment, is laying off 67 workers in Smith County, Texas.

Northrop Grumman, which makes products ranging from satellites to cannons in Arizona, warned of 240 layoffs in that state.

Universal Aerospace said it would temporarily lay off 150 people at Arlington, Washington. The company provides precision machining, sheet metal and turning work.

HII San Diego Shipyard in California announced a permanent layoff of 67 people scheduled for May.

Aircraft parts provider Wencor Group said it would lay off 54 people at Waycross, Georgia.

Quality Air Heating and Cooling, a producer of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, temporarily furloughed 112 workers at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

MDavis, a provider of mechanical construction and fabrication, said it is laying off 105 employees at Wilmington, Delaware.

Cornerstone Building Brands, a maker of metal panels, roofing and other accessories, announced a permanent closure in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. One hundred jobs will be lost.

M&M Manufacturing, which produces sheet metal for HVAC usages, said it would lay off 43 in Tarrant County, Texas.

Sub-Zero Group, a producer of luxury refrigerators and other appliances, said two plants in Wisconsin would shut down for about a month, affecting 1,046 employees.

Refrigerator manufacturer Norcold laid off a total of 345 people at two Ohio plants, with plans to recall "the majority" after that state's stay-at-home order is lifted.

Crescent Metal Products in Mentor, Ohio, temporarily laid off 92 people. The company produces metal cabinets, ovens, racks and dollies for food-service end uses.

Chapter 2 Inc, a machine and tool shop in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, serving agriculture and food service, announced a brief layoff of 26 people.

Toolmaker Western Forge in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said it will close its doors after existing customer orders are completed, with the loss of 182 jobs.

Castwell Products, an iron foundry in Skokie, Illinois, since 1905, said it will permanently close, with 149 employees being let go in June.

Barberton, Ohio, hand-tool forge Wright Tool said 140 were laid off in March. At the time, the return date was expected to be April 7.

Screw machine shop T&L Automatics in Rochester, New York, announced a temporary layoff of 111.

Stroh Die Cast said it will permanently close two facilities in Mauston, Wisconsin, in May. Seventy-one full-time employees will be affected. The company was founded in 1903.

Global Gear LLC, a machine shop in Downers Grove, Illinois, specializing in gears and pulleys, has laid off 49 employees.

Reynolds Machine Co in New Berlin, Wisconsin, laid off 36 of its 82 employees at the end of March. The company said it expected the furloughs to be temporary.

Haynes International announced a temporary layoff of 392 out of its total of 765 at two plants in Kokomo, Indiana. The company produces nickel- and cobalt-based alloys for high-temperature applications in aerospace, gas turbines and chemical processing.

Rexnord Industries, a maker of metal conveyors, roller systems and related parts, said it will permanently close a manufacturing plant in Grafton, Wisconsin, by the end of the year. It will result in the termination of 140 employees.

Littelfuse said about 125 jobs would be eliminated in Rapid City, South Dakota, between July 2020 and February 2021. The provider of circuit protection products and electronic switches said it is shifting its manufacturing operation to Mexico.

Steel and aluminium pressure-vessel and cylinder producer Manchester Tank & Equipment stated that it will permanently close its facility in Bedford, Indiana, with the loss of 117 jobs by September.

Metal Matic, a producer of mechanical, drawn-over-mandrel, hydraulic and boiler tubing, is temporarily laying off 87 workers at Bedford Park, Illinois.

Columbus McKinnon, a maker of hoists and other material handling components, plans to permanently close its plant in Lisbon, Ohio, by November. The total number of workers is 69, with layoffs beginning in May.

Precision Resource, which provides fineblanking to diverse industries, said it would lay off 51 people at its Shelton, Connecticut, plant for two weeks in April.

Haven Manufacturing, a tube-cutting and finishing shop in Brunswick, Georgia, laid off 11 people.

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Thursday April 9 to clarify the status of Global Gear's operations following a clerical error in Illinois' WARN system. The company is not shut down.
Medical staff work at a station set up for rapid Covid-19 testing in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Vietnams Covid-19 count remained at 251 Thursday morning, the first time the country has stayed clean for 24 hours in over a month.

Half the number of patients, 126, have been discharged from hospitals.

Of the active ones, 25 have tested negative once and 17 twice, the latter qualified to be discharged soon under Health Ministry regulations.

Until now, Vietnam has not recorded a single Covid-19 death.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday the pandemic has entered the third stage in Vietnam with the reporting of community transmissions.

The first stage, which began late January, saw the nation record 16 cases by mid-February, with many cases linked to Wuhan in China, where the novel coronavirus broke out. Then the country went 22 days in a row without any new cases before the second stage began March 6, with a wave of infected people returning from abroad, particularly Europe.

The third stage, as defined by the Health Ministry, is the community transmission stage when more than a few locals have got infected and the source of transmission is yet to be identified.

To deal with this, more drastic social distancing will be needed to curb infection, track down the source and locate the stricken areas for isolation, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son said.

"The central government, related agencies and local authorities have taken strong measures to prevent the spread of infection. If everyone strictly follows the social distancing rules, we can totally slow down the epidemic and even bring it under control," he said.

Vietnam is still in a 15-day social distancing campaign launched April 1. During this period, people have been told not to venture outside their homes except for "essential" reasons like buying food and medicine or other emergencies.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected 209 countries and territories, and claimed more than 88,300 lives.
A dispute over an alleged agreement to purchase a commercial premises in Cork for 4.1m has been admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court list.

The action has been taken by Cathy Murphy against Urban Green Private Ltd, with a registered office at Lee Road, Cork, who it is alleged had agreed to purchase Cleve Quarter, Monahan Road, Cork from the applicant, but have failed to complete the deal.

In High Court proceedings against the company Ms Murphy claims that Urban Green Private had signed a contract with her for the sale of the premises she owns, which was due to close in November of last year.

However the sale has not closed.

Represented by Martin Hayden SC Ms. Murphy of Rochestown Road, Cork seeks various orders from the court including an order requiring Urban Green Private to specifically perform the contract to purchase the property.

Mr Hayden, appearing with Ross Aylward Bl, said that his client needs the sale to go through so she can discharge a liability she has to charge holders, on foot of a personal guarantee she had given.

The failure by the defendant to close the sale has caused her to suffer damage, and almost resulted in the risk of a receiver being appointed over the property, counsel said.

The case, following an application by Ms Murphy's lawyers, was admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court list by Mr Justice Senan Allen. There was no object to the application to admit the case.

The judge however said he was not prepared to make a temporary order sought by the applicant effectively freezing funds held by the defendant's solicitor which it is alleged were to be used by Urban Green to purchase to property.

The defendant, represented by Jerry Healy SC, had opposed the application for the freezing order.

The matter will return before the courts later this month.
Farmers have asked the European Commission to take 'urgent action' as many are faced with 'rapid market breakdown' due to Covid-19.

The spread of the virus and the measures implemented by governments to contain it have resulted in an abrupt closure of the majority of the continents food services.

This in turn has had a marked effect on the suppliers of these services across the agricultural sector, EU farming cooperative Copa and Cogeca warned.

It has gathered data from their members showing the impact that the Covid-19 crisis has on the dairy, beef, sheep and goat sector.

Based on this information, several letters have been sent to the European Commission calling for specific measures to be put in place and to be financed outside the CAP budget.

Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General of Copa and Cogeca, said the co-op has urged the need for additional 'targeted market measures' for the livestock sector.

We are disappointed that no decision in support of the agricultural sector," he said, "In these times that are trying for all of us, the agricultural sector is ensuring food security for every EU citizen.

"At the same time, the sector is currently facing unprecedented circumstances caused by factors beyond agriculture."

At present, there is a 'negative sentiment' on the dairy market, which is weighing prices down at a time of year that represents peak season, the co-op said.

The prices of several dairy products have dramatically decreased, with SMP prices sharply falling to the intervention level.

This is already creating a huge amount of pressure on farm prices. Thierry Roquefeuil, Chair of the Copa and Cogeca Working Party on Dairy Products, said the EU dairy market cannot 'deteriorate any further'.

"Dairy farmers and their cooperatives cannot bear the consequences of another crisis so soon after the previous crisis and they cannot be left alone," he said.

"The European Commission and the member states, have the responsibility to act now. Copa and Cogeca are calling for timely action to trigger the necessary measures and for private storage to be activated for all dairy products.

"Ensuring private storage for SMP, all types of cheeses, butter, including for frozen storage of buffalo milk and/or buffalo curd would have a beneficial impact on ensuring year-round food security

"It is also important to assess the impact that the closure of schools has had on the delivery of milk and dairy products to children in schools and to avoid unnecessary restrictions stemming from competition law in this force majeure situation.

Copa and Cogeca said it 'sincerely hopes' that the European Commission will consider measures needed to safeguard 'high-quality' European livestock sectors.
Regulatory News:

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) will host a live audio webcast at www.pmi.com/2020Q1earnings on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss its 2020 First-Quarter results, which will be issued at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET the same day.

During the webcast, Andre Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer and Martin King, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss PMI's results and answer questions from the investment community and news media. The webcast will be in a listen-only mode.

Please note that due to administrative and workplace-related precautions related to COVID-19, PMI has adjusted its planned 2020 quarterly earnings results release dates -- which now reflect a similar number of working days after period end as in prior years -- to the following:

Tuesday, April 21, 2020 (previously: Thursday, April 16th)

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 (previously: Thursday, July 16th)

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 (previously: Thursday, October 15th)

These dates are published on www.pmi.com.

The audio webcast may also be accessed on iOS or Android devices by downloading PMI's free Investor Relations Mobile Application at www.pmi.com/irapp.

An archived copy of the webcast will be available until 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, at www.pmi.com/2020Q1earnings.

Slides and script will also be available at www.pmi.com/2020Q1earnings.

Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States. In addition, PMI ships a version of its IQOS Platform 1 device and its consumables authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the United States under license. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of December 31, 2019, PMI estimates that approximately 9.7 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI's heat-not-burn product available for sale in 52 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005491/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations:

New York: +1 (917) 663 2233

Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4666



Media:

Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4500

Email: Iro.Antoniadou@pmi.com
A ustralian police have seized the "black box" of a cruise ship which disembarked hundreds of passengers infected with the coronavirus in Sydney last month.

The move on Thursday came as part of a homicide investigation into the incident, which saw 2,700 passengers get off the vessel and is believed to be the country's deadliest infection source.

Investigators boarded the ship at an industrial port south of Sydney, interviewed the captain and took electronic logs as evidence, New South Wales (NSW) state Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.

They spoke to the captain of the ship, who was extremely helpful, Fuller said in a televised news conference on Thursday.

Ships have a black box very similar to that of international planes, and that and other evidence has been seized for further investigation.

Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /20 Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A medical worker from China's Jilin Province, in red, embraces a colleague from Wuhan as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A pilot leans out of the cockpit window to wave goodbye before the China Eastern airlines flight, the first domestic flight from Wuhan that resumed service after travel restrictions to leave the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak were lifted, takes off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to Sanya Reuters A medical staff member from Jilin Province tears up during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk past a display screen at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport i AP A passenger wearing a face mask is seen in the counter at the Tianhe Airport after it was reopened today AFP via Getty Images People wearing protective clothing and masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Travellers wearing protective gear ride an escalator at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan Reuters Medical staff from Jilin Province (in red) hug nurses from Wuhan after working together during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Medical workers from China's Jilin Province react as they prepare to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A man wearing protective gear gets through security check at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak are lifted Reuters A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan AP Bullet trains at a station in preparation for resuming operations after authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters A train staff member stands on a high-speed train at Wuhan's Hankou Railway Station Reuters People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters

At least 15 Covid-19-linked deaths are tied to the Ruby Princess vessel - owned by Carnival Corporation & PLC - while hundreds of the passengers who disembarked have since tested positive for the virus.

Some 1,000 crew of various nationalities remain on board the ship. About 200 of them are reportedly displaying flu-like symptoms and 18 have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

In total, Australia has recorded roughly 6,000 coronavirus cases and 51 deaths linked to the pandemic to date.

In the past day, Australia recorded 96 new coronavirus infections, its first increase of less than 100 cases in three weeks, Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Canberra.

The curve continues to flatten, we are consolidating the gains, Hunt said in a televised news conference.

While we have been cautious over the last two weeks as we have seen the early data, what were seeing now is a genuine consolidation.

In pictures | Australia's empty stadiums | 19/03/2020 1 /26 In pictures | Australia's empty stadiums | 19/03/2020 Getty Images AFL Photos via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AFL Photos via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AFL Photos via Getty Images AFL Photos via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images

Authorities are imploring people to stay home and cancel trips to traditional vacation spots over the upcoming long Easter holiday weekend, saying tight restrictions on movement could need to stay in place for at least six months.

The restrictions include a broad order for people to stay home except for essential work or to exercise and buy food, and police have said they will use the threat of on-the-spot fines to stop people travelling or socialising over Easter.
Facebooks support for the fight against COVID-19 now includes a simple but important addition: keeping people in touch. Its partnering with the UKs National Health Service to offer up to 2,050 free Portal video calling devices to the countrys hospitals, care homes, hospices and other medical settings. The hardware will help patients contact friends and family at a time when they cant see each other in person.

About 50 Portals are already in use at pilot locations in Surrey, with London, Manchester and Newcastle cities coming soon. Wired shared leaked details on April 6th. While this will initially be useful only to locations with sufficient WiFi connections, the NHS is looking at options like LTE hotspots and cellular-equipped tablets to enable chats in areas where WiFi isnt an option.

The project will only cover a small slice of the NHS facilities, and theres no doubt that this could serve as a way to market Portal to would-be customers. At the same time, it may also help the healthcare industry evaluate the impact of video chats on patients wellbeing. The NHS digital division, NHSX, also believes video calling like this could help staff work remotely when possible, improve communication between teams and move both consultations and outpatient check-ups to video chats.
An Indian-born beauty queen, who has put her pageant life on hold to return to the National Health Service frontlines as a doctor at a hospital in eastern England, is petitioning the UK government to address the housing concerns of medics fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bhasha Mukherjee, who competed in Miss World 2019 as Miss England last year, was in India as part of a charity mission but decided to return to her job as a junior doctor to join her colleagues at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, to help with the coronavirus workload pressures.

The 24-year-old, currently in self-isolation for the stipulated 14-day period after flying back from India last week, launched an online petition calling for at least a 50 per cent discount on hospital accommodation.

"I speak not only for myself but also all the medical staff that are being forced to choose such accommodation when they're working 13 hour shifts a day almost seven days a week, hardly using the living spaces and paying prices comparative of cities like London, in a place like Boston, a small rural town in Lincolnshire," said Mukherjee.

"I am not asking for a freebie. All I ask is for hospital accommodation providers like Progress Living and others around the country to match the market! Give us a 50 per cent discount for the 50 per cent of every 24 hours we're slogging at the frontline, risking a 50 per cent chance of contracting COVID-19 and 50 per cent of losing our lives," she said.

Mukherjee, from the town of Derby in the East Midlands region of England, would have to move miles away from her family home to return to her junior doctor post next week.

She said that previously whilst working at the same hospital she was living in a shared house with affordable rent. Now with the constraints of the pandemic, she would be potentially risking non-medical housemates and the community if she opted for similar living conditions.

"Thus, I am left with no choice but to opt for hospital accommodation which is an extortionate 605 pounds minimum for doctors of my pay grade. This is double the market price for a tiny room with an uncomfortable single bed, en suite bathroom and has been reported frequently for pests and bed bugs," she notes.

"Why when there are countries like India, who are putting staff up in the empty hotels for free to incentivise and reward their hard work?" she asks.

Her petition, addressed to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Progress Living, has attracted over 300 of the 500 target signatures within days.

Progress Living, a charitable organisation part of the UK's Progress Housing Association, said it has worked closely with the hospital's United Lincolnshire Health Trust (ULHT) to provide much needed hospital accommodation for nearly 15 years and that its rents are set in line with independent market valuations.

Bernie Keenan, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director (Services and Growth), Progress Housing Group, said: "Like our colleagues in the NHS, our own staff are working incredibly hard, night and day, seven days of the week, to keep our accommodation available, clean and properly maintained for the increased numbers of medical staff requiring places to stay.

"We will continue to work closely with the Trust and with the NHS to respond to any additional requirements they have during this very difficult period," Keenan said.

In her petition, Mukherjee also highlights the UK-wide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and aprons for frontline NHS staff, including at her particular hospital.

"Those of us still going to work/returning to work are choosing to do so knowing the risks. Junior doctors like myself are being given additional responsibilities, beyond our training and not even being offered a pay raise to match the new job role and responsibility,"she said.

"Our mandatory training has been compromised, our teaching hours have been almost zeroed and same with opportunities for us to do rotations at different specialties that we had opted for. Junior doctors are having to purely focus their time on shift work," she said.

Mukherjee, who spent her early childhood in Kolkata and moved to the UK with her parents aged 9, speaks five languages and has a Bachelor's degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nottingham.

She believes her Miss England and Miss World participation connects with her medical profession as a platform to spread the message of healthy living, especially within the UK's Indian community.

"I want to take this platform of Miss England and empower people to take control of their own health and stay well in the community," she said at a charity fundraiser last year for Hope Foundation, a UK charity working with street-connected and slum children in Kolkata, which she supports as part of her beauty with a purpose mission.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alameda Health System nurses, doctors, and workers wear personal protective equipment (PPE) during a protest asking for better working conditions and PPE in front of Highland Hospital in Oakland, Calif., on March 26, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Nurses Band Together in Hard Times, and Thats the Best Medicine

It was an emotional night at a nurses home in Southern California in early April. The nurse, in her 20s, lives with her parents and she made the difficult decision to leave home for their safety as she works closely with COVID-19 patients.

She cried as she packed her bags that night. Not knowing when I can come back is a little bit rough, she said.

The nurse, who prefers not to be named, was assigned to care for COVID-19 patients in late March. She could provide them with some care they needed, but she didnt have the training to work with intubated patients on ventilators.

When she was told recently she would receive that training, it really put into perspective what the next few weeks might hold, she said.

Others at her hospital have also decided to quarantine themselves, and being in the same boat helps them support each other.

Ive talked to a lot of doctors and nurses who are in the same situation, she said. One doctor stays in his room the entire time he is at home. His wife takes food to him and leaves it outside the door.

She often stays late after work to talk to other nurses about their experiences on the job.

We let each other vent, she said. Sometimes having someone who can truly relate and understand is the best medicine.

Although she will miss her family, the kinship with other nurses is a blessing, she said. It brings us closer, because its hard to be so isolated from the world right now.

Calm Before the Storm?

The hospital where she works is eerily quiet.

It has far fewer patients than normal, about 30 percent of capacity. Normally, the occupancy rate is about 90 percent, she said. Almost all elective surgeries have been postponed, and visiting hours have been cancelled.

Are people just taking better care of themselves, right now? Like, these stroke patients, where did they go? Are people not having strokes anymore? Its just a little weird, she said. Like, what is going on here?

Recently adjusted predictive models used to track the COVID-19 pandemic are showing the curve may be flattening, and the pandemic may not be as catastrophic as originally thought. California has fared much better than New York and countries such as Italy, where the health care system was overwhelmed by a sudden surge in patients.

Theres still the reality that could happen, she said. So, she hopes for the best, but her job is to prepare for worst-case scenarios.

A file photo of healthcare professionals screening people entering the emergency room at Highland Hospital in Oakland, Calif., on March 26, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Severe Cases

So far, she hasnt been asked to care for a seriously ill COVID-19 patient in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) setting, but she has seen what some of her more senior coworkers have experienced.

When Ive gone to those floors, I see a lot of the things my co-workers struggle withjust a lot of heart-breaking things, the nurse said.

Often patients come to the hospital with no need for supplemental oxygen, and within eight hours they end up on ventilators, she said. They just deteriorate that quick. Thats definitely very scary. And, theres no standard of what kind of medication to give them.

Medics intubate a gravely ill patient with COVID-19 symptoms at his home in Yonkers, New York, on April 6, 2020. (John Moore/Getty Images)

But, she is encouraged as international medical research teams race against time to develop new medications, treatments, and vaccines.

One of those treatments is convalescent plasmathe liquid component of blood containing antibodies taken from someone who has recovered from COVID-19.

Since March 28, some critically ill COVID-19 patients at hospitals in New York City and Houston have received experimental plasma treatment, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now authorized for emergency use.

Right now, theyve kind of gotten a lead on things that have really helped, said the nurse.

President Donald Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force have frequently mentioned hydroxycloroquine in daily press briefings. They say this anti-malaria drug has had some early success in treating symptoms. As in the case of the plasma treatment, the FDA has approved the drug for emergency use only.

Ethical Decisions

She worries about the ethical dilemmas nurses and doctors could face if there arent enough beds, or ventilators, to go around if the pandemic continues to spread rapidly.

Then were going to have to make a lot of tough decisions like that, she said.

She has heard and read about doctors having to choose who lives and who dies, and that terrifies her.

In places that are hit by COVID-19, ICU doctors are forced to make difficult ethical decisions based on their knowledge of the progression of the disease. They have to choose which patients theyre going to intubate and which ones theyre not, the nurse said.

Patients with severe symptoms may need to be hooked up to ventilators for more than two weeks, which may eventually cause a shortage of ventilators. Doctors are sometimes forced to choose which patients have the best chance of recovery as opposed to assigning ventilators to all patients, the nurse said.

Weve seen a little bit of that alreadydoctors being hesitant because they think that an older patient that is over the age of 80 might not have the best outcome, even if they are intubated. So, they just dont want to go through with it, she said. Its really heartbreaking, because you never want to be the nurse who has to have that conversation with a family when youre advocating for that patient.

Even in ordinary circumstances, she said, theres often a dialogue between nurses and doctors about the best treatment, with nurses more emotionally attached to the patients and acting as strong advocates for them.

Because nurses spend more time with patients, they often get to know their patients better as people and become more attached. We can see a patient more holistically than just a patient on paper, she said.

A lot of times nurses kind of fight with doctors about the best treatment moving forward, because I think we can see things in a different lightnot that were any smarter than the doctors but we both have different types of knowledge.

Fortunately, for now, it appears California has enough beds and ventilators, she said.

Dealing With Panic

When patients and their families fear the worst, its a nurses job to calm their fears, but that is not always possible.

For even the most experienced nurses, there have been situations sometimes our words just fall flat. And, all we can do really is just be present in the room, and be someone who can hold their hand, try to get them on Facetime with their families, call their families to give them updates, and just try to be involved without actually knowing how to address their feelings, the nurse said.

I feel Im trying to meet a need, calming a person down and giving them a sense of hope when you dont really have the right words to say, she said. I cant imagine what goes on in these patients hearts and in their families hearts.

It does push you to go above and beyond to be the best nurse you can be.

Mask Shortages

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Trump Administration have promised health care workers that more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is on the way, including tens of millions of masks which are in short supply nationally.

The nurse said she has been offered and given much of the PPE she needs, but masks are still in short supply for a full-blown outbreak.

Homemade masks that have been sent to the nurses hospital.

We are asked to re-use masks. We use the same mask essentially the whole day, and only take it off if its visibly soiled or if we feel like it needs to changed. But, were still trying to ration the masks because of the shortage, she said.

For now, nurses are wearing simple surgical masks, and the hospital has set up times for nurses who want to volunteer to make face shields, she said.

On the COVID-19 floor, nurses wear different masks than they do in the rest of the hospital.

The nurses have plastic bags with their names on them, where they store their masks for that area of the hospital, she said. If you enter the room then you put on the mask just for that room.

They are wearing two pairs of gloves, and covering every inch of their face and bodies, she said.

Recently, there has been some debate in the medical community as to how contagious COVID-19 really is. They dont think the virus is airborne. They think it is [spread through] droplets, she said.

Theories about how the disease is spread and directives on PPE requirements constantly change, and its unnerving for nurses who want to ensure theyre fully protected on the front lines in the battle to save lives, the nurse said.

They are kind of going back and forth on what we should wear, right now. Thats one of the most frustrating things.

Community Appreciation

People from all over the community have really stepped up to show their gratitude for health care workers, she said. Recently, a bakery donated hundreds of cookies to the hospital staff, and they have received boxes full of homemade masks.

Those are really amazing things people have been doing.

Hospital personnel display a thank you card after U.S. businessperson Michael BigMike Straumietis donated masks to the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., on April 7, 2020. (Frederic J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

What Gives Her Hope

I have a lot of anxiety moving forward with all of this, and I think for me, personally, [its about]  trusting in my faith, and trusting in God that there is light at the end of this, and during it too, she said. One of things that gives me hope is how people have come together and really stepped up.

For me, its holding on to my faith. This is all going to end, and well come out stronger.
Dairy farmers across the UK have been dumping thousands of litres of milk after demand from cafes, restaurants and offices plummeted following the coronavirus lockdown.

Now they say they must receive government support  or the sector faces collapse.

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) said that without financial assistance some farmers may have to cull thousands of cows and could struggle to survive the pandemic  meaning a shortage of milk when restrictions are finally lifted again.

The association has asked for its members to be reimbursed for a reduced value of unsold milk throughout the lockdown.

The push comes after it emerged some farmers had been pouring away milk they could not sell.

Robert Mallett, a dairy farmer in Wiltshire, revealed he had dumped 17,000 litres down the drain in a tweet on Monday, while Winterdale Cheesemakers, based in Kent, posted a video online showing discarded milk flowing from a pipe.

Rough times for artisan cheesemakers, the post read. Now the devastation continues  our milk was not collected today and sadly ends up down the drain.

Cows must continue to be milked even when there is no market for the product, to ensure they stay healthy.

It is estimated around 300 dairy farms, which produce around 1 million litres of milk a day, are being affected by the ongoing crisis.

Peter Alvis, chair of RABDF, said: This scheme will ensure both short term and longer-term food security and ease the stress on the industry.

Removing the excess distressed milk from the marketplace will help to stabilise the current spot price without causing long-term market distortion.

It will also allow those affected dairy farmers to continue to pay for invoices for farm inputs to the wider local and rural supply industry beyond the farm gate.

He added the proposed scheme would prevent cows being culled  which, in turn, could drive down beef prices, causing issues for farmers specialising in meat.

It is understood ministers and officials are looking into ways the discarded milk could instead be sent to supermarkets and shops, which are themselves seeing a slight increase in demand.
Global mass political protests reached a historic high at the end of 2019 but the Covid-19 pandemic virtually eliminated street protests that had, for a decade, increased globally at an annual rate of 11.5 percent, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The CSIS reports in its article Will Covid-19 End the Age of Mass Protests? that while social distancing has doused the flames of tens of millions taking to the streets, the embers that ignited protests in 114 countries last year are still glowing hot.

There is strong reason to believe that once the health crisis ebbs, there will be a new surge of global protestsperhaps even greater in scale and political consequence. These protests could play a determining role in setting national and global agendas post-Covid-19. Or they could simply deepen the disorder now gripping the world.

The Covid-19 crisis and its growing economic fallout have further illuminated many of the core grievances that drove mass protests over the past decade. It is important to note that the global uptick in protests in the last 10 years appears in many cases to have been rooted in the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, which exacerbated lack of economic opportunity and dissatisfaction with governments. Foremost on protesters minds the world over has been lack of economic opportunity, perceptions of rising inequality, and corruption by elites. With social distancing and quarantine measures just beginning, divisions between workforces and households are being laid bare. In addition to uneven access to health care, concerns are growing about economic shocks leading to hunger and homelessness.

In the near term, there has been a rise of walkout-style protests by frontline pandemic responders, from health care workers in Colombia to grocery store and on-demand delivery drivers in the United States. Across Brazil, millions of protesters have already taken to banging pots and pans out the window of their homes to signal rising discontent with what they believe is inept handling of the response by President Bolsonaro, who has refused to institute social distancing measures and insisted people need simply to go to work. And across Africa, protests related to Covid-19 are beginning to flare over food prices and availability. As governments elsewhere in the world stumble in their health and economic responses, popular discontent will grow.

The Covid-19 crisis is also likely to accelerate the triggers of the protests of 2019: pushback against authoritarian governments. Hong Kong was hit early by Covid-19, and its protest movementthe beating heart of global movements and an inspiration to demonstrators in Chile, Spain, and elsewheremoved online once it was no longer safe to be in the streets. Hong Kong protesters fury at their government seemed to increase over what they characterized as a clumsy and inadequate reaction to the health threat. Though Hong Kong now appears to be one of the first territories to successfully emerge from a first wave of the pandemic, a recent poll indicated that 70 percent of respondents credited the people of Hong Kong and not the government for the success. In online forums, protesters are now discussing when the time will be safe to go back on the streets and whether they should seek police permission before doing sobut they are steadfastly committed to regaining momentum. The question in Hong Kong is when, not if.

Another notable protest vector over the past several years has been climate action and the global environmental movement. Having scaled rapidly over the past two years to orchestrate transnational protests larger than any seen since the Iraq War, key groups in the movement, including Extinction Rebellion, the Sunrise Movement, and Fridays for Future (headed by Greta Thunberg), had major plans to increase protests this year ahead of the now-postponed UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). Instead, theyve had to regroup in a virtual setting. Stephen OHanlon, co-founder of the U.S.-based Sunrise Movement, recently said, Our generation was built for this. Weve spent our entire lives online. Environmental protesters are watching closely how governments respond to Covid-19, including rapid and unprecedented changes to the economy and societychanges these same governments considered unachievable when posited by environmental protesters arguing that governments are responding too slowly to an existential threat. In a recent op-ed, an 18-year-old climate activist wrote, My generation is giving up our youthour schooling, our fun and our freedomso that you can see next year. When this [Covid-19 crisis] is over, you may have to keep giving something up so that we can see the next century. Global youth are at the center of the global protest movement across countries and issues and are indeed the first generation of digital natives, in some ways far more comfortable with social distancing than the rest of us and adept at the tools to build networks and exchange ideas.

But in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, many country governments are actively taking steps that could curtail individual citizens data privacy and civil liberties, including tracking phone data to help contain the virus. This will intensify what we described in our report as the offense-defense race between protesters and governments. Governments also have the ability in the midst of the pandemic to collect greater biometric data on citizens as they track health at the individual level. This could provide authoritarian regimes greater ability to control leaderless movements by continuing to strip away the relative anonymity and security that encrypted communications have granted them. It is also important to note that many governments in countries that experienced protests in 2019Lebanon, Iraq, and Chile, among themwere quick to seize on the health emergency to ban public protests but slower to implement broader social distancing measures. And in one extreme example, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte authorized a shoot-to-kill order for any would-be protesters, including those in slum areas taking to the streets amid food shortages.

The course of Covid-19 is uncertain, but it is clear the pandemic will put unprecedented strain on societies and governments. This will exacerbate existing tensions and create new ones, with continued protests around the world a certainty in coming months. Covid-19 is rewriting our history and challenging the relationship between citizens and their governments. It is important that U.S. policymakers actively support protest movements that seek to move the world in a more democratic, open, and transparent direction as they shelter and sustain themselves virtually and prepare for future action. In the midst of this domestic and global crisis, articulating democratic norms and values in support of the kind of world we hope reemerges from this crisis is more important than ever. Global technology companies also have a special responsibility to ensure that the tools they are creating are not abused by governments and politically extreme groups, upholding values that in turn nurture free markets and a return to economic growth.
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A bipartisan group of senators is demanding that President Donald Trump explain why he fired the intelligence communitys top watchdog, writing in a letter late Wednesday that the presidents stated reasoning was not sufficient.

The letter, signed by eight senators from both parties, represents Congress clearest denunciation yet of Trumps decision to sack Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general.

Congressional intent is clear that an expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the statute, the lawmakers, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), wrote in the letter to Trump.

The senators cited a 2008 law mandating that the president provide Congress with a detailed explanation of his decision to fire Atkinson, who defied Trump last year when he turned over to lawmakers a whistleblower complaint that led to the presidents impeachment.

Last weekend, Trump defended the firing of Atkinson, calling him a total disgrace over his handling of the whistleblower complaint, which detailed Trumps conversations with Ukraines president. Atkinson was required by law to transmit the complaint to the House and Senate intelligence committees.

In his letter informing lawmakers of Atkinsons termination, Trump said only that he had lost confidence in Atkinson. That wasnt enough for the senators.

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2019, file photo, Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, arrives at the Capitol in Washington for closed-door questioning about a whistleblower complaint that triggered President Donald Trump's impeachment. Trump has fired Atkinson. Trump informed the Senate intelligence committee Friday, April 3, 2020, of his decision to fire Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

As supporters of the Inspector General community, and as advocates for government transparency and accountability, it is our responsibility to confirm that there are clear, substantial reasons for removal, the senators wrote, asking for an explanation no later than April 13 and citing a 2008 Senate report about ensuring that watchdogs are not removed for political reasons.

The lawmakers also accused Trump of going around Congress when he placed Atkinson on administrative leave when he fired him, effectively sidestepping the mandatory 30-day notice to the congressional intelligence panels.

Story continues

By placing the IG on 30 days of administrative leave and naming an acting replacement, the administration has already effectively removed that IG and appears to have circumvented Congresss role in this process, the senators wrote.

They added that the purpose of the 30-day requirement was to provide an opportunity for an appropriate dialogue with Congress in the event that the planned transfer or removal is viewed as an inappropriate or politically motivated attempt to terminate an effective inspector general.

Democrats have condemned the firing as a dangerous abuse of power and act of political retribution, while some Republicans have criticized the move as unwarranted.

Trump has adopted an aggressive posture toward inspectors general, most recently criticizing the Health and Human Services Departments watchdog over a report that revealed medical supply shortages and coronavirus testing issues across the country. The president also removed the acting Pentagon inspector general, Glenn Fine, from his post shortly after he was named to lead a watchdog panel overseeing implementation of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that Congress approved last month.

In their Wednesday letter, the senators said inspectors general should only be removed when there is clear evidence of wrongdoing or failure to perform the duties of the office, and not for reasons unrelated to their performance, to help preserve IG independence.

In addition to Grassley, two Republicans signed the Wednesday letter: Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, who both criticized Trumps posture toward Ukraine. Romney was the only Republican to vote to convict the president in his impeachment trial.

The Democratic signers were Gary Peters of Michigan, Mark Warner of Virginia, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Dianne Feinstein of California and Jon Tester of Montana.


Stores are scrambling to protect their workers from the CCP virus.

Some have begun taking employees temperatures to keep sick workers home. But that doesnt keep employees safe from sick customers.

Thats why a number of stores are considering taking customers temperatures before they enter. Public health experts say it is a prudent step: Grocery stores are one of the few public spaces still open. Millions of Americans are visit them every day and come into close contact with stores employees.

If they decided to roll such a program to their workers, under the assumption that it would prevent infected individuals from being at their stores, I do not see a reason why that wouldnt be rolled out to customers as well, said Dr. Luciana Borio, former director for medical and biodefense preparedness at the National Security Council under President Donald Trump and former acting chief scientist at the FDA. Even a modest benefit can be of value when our public health options are so limited in the absence of diagnostic tests, capacity for large scale contact tracing or a vaccine.

Matthew Freeman, associate professor of environmental health and epidemiology at Emory Universitys Rollins School of Public Health, said it makes sense for businesses to take the temperatures of shoppers to protect employees and patrons, but what would be the response if someone did indeed have a fever? A plan of action is critical.

Only a few stores in the United States are taking customers temperatures, including a chain in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

To protect our customers, employees and community, we will begin screening for temperature using non-invasive thermal cameras at our entrances, said City Famers Market in Atlanta.

Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be discreetly informed by a trained member of our staff, and we will find an alternative for your shopping.

However, experts acknowledge this policy comes with its own challenges, including how to get groceries to shoppers with a fever and how to help them get care if they are sick.

Borio said it would be an imperfect method and cautioned that it has limitations, especially as some people may have the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus but not exhibit any symptoms or fever, and people can take anti-fever medicine to pass through screenings.

John Logan, professor and director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, said it would be logistically challenging to implement.

Checking the temperatures of shoppers would help protect both grocery workers and shoppers, but its likely that not all shoppers would agree to this and it would require a major effort on the part of the chains when you consider the huge surge in numbers many of them are experiencing, he said.

Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart, told reporters last week that the government would have to direct the company to begin taking customers temperatures.

That obviously is a step into a whole realm of public policy privacy issues that would have to come with clear guidance from the government, he said. Thats not for us to solve, in my opinion.

Health Screenings

Big retailers and grocers have been criticized by some workers and safety experts for being slow to take aggressive steps during the crisis. At least five grocery store workers have died from the CCP virus so far in the United States.

They have been reluctant to take any actions, even if they make sense from a public health perspective, that risk scaring shoppers, Logan said. For example, many chains were initially reluctant to allow employees to wear masks, but most have relented on this.

Companies have stepped up safety measures as the crisis has worsened, adopting measures such as plexiglass at cash registers, signs reminding customers of social distancing and one-way aisles to reduce crowded lanes.

Some are limiting the number of customers that can be in a store at a time. Grocery chains are also lobbying public officials to designate grocery store workers as emergency personnel, which would give them priority access to personal protective equipment like masks and tests for the CCP virus.

Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, and grocery chain Bi-Lo have announced they will begin checking workers for fevers at stores and warehouses. Kroger said on April 6 that it started temperature checks in its distribution centers several weeks ago and is beginning to expand associate temperature checks to its stores. Walgreens will conduct temperature checks for employees at distribution centers and other facilities, but not all of its stores.

The Americans with Disabilities Act generally prohibits medical examinations. While measuring workers temperature is generally considered to be a medical exam, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said employers may measure workers temperature to protect against the community spread of the CCP virus.

Neither the Centers for Disease Controls or the Labor Departments Occupational Safety and Health Administration have issued guidance to employers on whether they recommend screening employees temperatures.

At Walmart, any employee with a temperature above 100 degrees is sent home to seek medical treatment, if necessary, but will be paid for showing up. Walmart is in the process of sending infrared thermometers to all its stores and warehouses, which could take up to three weeks. Walmart managers and team leaders who have gone through HIPAA training will take workers temperatures, a spokesperson said.

At Amazon, including its Whole Foods stores, anyone registering a temperature over the CDC-recommended 100.4F will be asked to return home and only come back to work after theyve gone three days without a fever, the company said in a blog post last week.

The National Retail Federation, which represents the industry, did not say whether companies should take their customers temperatures. It said companies doing everything they can to keep their associates and customers safe.

Screening workers temperatures is one of the most draconian policies companies have implemented. But experts say even this precaution is not stringent enough as the CCP virus spreads and more workers get sick.

The-CNN-Wire

 &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

NTD staff contributed to this report.
Karnatakas health and family welfare minister B Sriramulu hinted that lockdown might be relaxed in those areas of the state which are not affected by coronavirus disease Covid-19. The minister made the statement after discussion with officials. Eighteen of the 30 districts in the state have Covid-19 positive cases but the rest 12 dont.

Sriramulus statement came after primary and education minister S Suresh Kumar, briefing the media at a separate event, said that an expert panel of doctors had submitted its recommendations to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on the lockdown and related issues. The task force formed by the Karnataka government to combat Covid-19 as well as the state cabinet will meet on Thursday and is expected to take a decision on whether to extend the lockdown, and if yes, how to go about it.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI quoted Chief Minister Yediyurappa as saying that he intends to relax liquor sales stopped during the lockdown (after it ends on April 14), especially to increase revenues. There have been reports of suicides, allegedly due to non-availability of liquor, and incidents of robbery at locked liquor outlets across Karnataka.

A 65-year-old fruit vendor died of Covid-19 in Kalburgi on Thursday, bringing the death toll in the state due to coronavirus to five. Also, six more people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the states tally to 181. Among the six new cases, two were associated with the event held by Tablighi Jamaat at its markaz (centre) in Delhis Nizamuddin area.

After a video of a child of a nurse pining and crying for its mother went viral, the chief minister personally called the nurse and thanked her for services rendered.

In the video, three-year-old Aishwarya is seen crying for her mother Sunanda who works as a nurse at Belgavi Institute of Medical Science and because of working in the Covid-19 section has not been able to go to her residence for the last 15 days. Government appealed to the people saying that they should respect the lockdown and stay at home to contain the spread of Covid-19 as thousands of medical and emergency staff are working round the clock to fight the virus.
While the Covid-19 death toll continues to rise in Ireland, numbers are nowhere near what they were expected to be, government officials have confirmed. And thats all down to the Irish people doing what they can to flatten the curve.

At the time of going to print, there were 174 reported deaths in the Republic of Ireland, as a result of the coronavirus.

The most recent figures as of yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) also revealed that Ireland has had 5,364 confirmed cases of the virus - 21 of which are based in Longford.

The most recent figures from the HPSC can be found daily on the Longford Leader website.

The number of contacts associated with each confirmed case has dropped dramatically, said local GP and president of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr Padraig McGarry.

That shows that isolation is having a significant effect. Hopefully that will be what will change the course of this virus.

Read also: Special hubs to be set up for patients with Covid-19, says Longford GP

And, while GPs across the country are sticking to the advice that any ailment or symptom - Covid-related or not - should be reported and assessed via a phone call to your doctor, there has been a noticeable drop in the number of patients presenting with common ailments such as colds and other bugs.

Possibly what has happened is, because of isolation, a whole range of other illnesses have dropped because people arent circulating, said Dr McGarry.

But the worrying thing is theres a whole raft of things out there that people arent talking about. Covid is not the only illness out there at the moment. Patients may feel apprehension about contacting their GP but you need to have that assessment done one way or another.

Self-isolation, reducing contacts and proper hygiene are still the most important factors when it comes to flattening the curve, though, and Dr McGarry believes that people are following that very important advice.

The actions of the public are what will turn this disease around. Its in the hands of the public now, he concluded.

Read also: Do not ignore other ailments, says Longford's Dr Padraig McGarry
We know that our dividend program provides an economic boost for the state and will help many of our policyholders in a critical time, said Rich Gergasko, president and CEO of Texas Mutual. Our mission to build a stronger, safer Texas is more important now than it has ever been, and we are proud to deliver these funds to our policyholders who count on us.

We serve an important role for Texas businesses and their employees, said Ron Simmons, chair of Texas Mutuals board. Like every business in Texas, we dont yet know the full economic impact of COVID-19, but we do know that we have built a financially string company and are in a good position to distribute this dividend during such a critical time for our policyholders.

Texas Mutual recently announced a $2 million donation to non-profit groups that are providing support during the outbreak.
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

On Monday, as he does most weekday nights, Sean Hannity went on television to inform his viewers that the mainstream media are a bunch of dirty liberal liars. On Fox News, the reason why they are liars is always moving target, but the current one is a real corker: hydroxychloroquine.

For much of the past week, Hannity has insisted over and over again that the media is downplaying the promise of the anti-malarial drug in order to damage Donald Trump, who has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment. That hydroxychloroquine is effective is not anecdotal anymore, Hannity said Monday. We are now beyond that point, in spite of what the mob and the media is telling you. Hannity went on to cite a selection of anecdotal evidence in support of his point. He disparaged the very idea of rigorously testing whether hydroxychloroquine was safe and helpful before prescribing it to patients.  Hold on, virus. We need a clinical trial. That doesnt work that way, Hannity sneered. He went on to repeatedly brandish a testimonial from a lupus doctor who said that hydroxychloroquine is a very safe drug, as per his years of experience prescribing it for the treatment of lupus. He noted that Dr. Mehmet Oz, of Oprah fame, is a big hydroxychloroquine fan. That should settle it!

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Except that there have been no large-scale, randomized, controlled studies that show hydroxychloroquine to be effective against COVID-19. Though some small studies have provided reason for optimism, others have found hydroxychloroquine to have neutral or negative health effects in study subjects. The risks inevitably rise when desperate people decide to self-medicate without first consulting their physicians; officials in Nigeria, for instance, reported two cases of chloroquine overdoses soon after Trump first started praising the drug, while in Arizona a man died after mistaking chloroquine phosphate, which is aquarium cleaner, for hydroxychloroquine. In any event, there simply isnt enough data yet for anyone to claim that the drug indisputably works against the coronavirus, and most credible news outlets have reported this, which is what made Hannity so mad. Trump has spent weeks now assuring the world that hydroxychloroquine may well be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine, and Hannitys sole purpose these days is to serve as the presidents loudest lickspittle.

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Trumps recent fixation on hydroxychloroquine has bordered on the monomaniacal, even as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the immunologist who has emerged as the administrations most credible voice on the coronavirus pandemic, has gone out of his way to urge caution. Still, Trump has continued to hype hydroxychloroquine at every possible opportunity. He has mentioned it in most of the press conferences he has given since mid-March, issuing wildly speculative statements like a huckster trying to convince you to lose money on penny stocks.

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Perhaps the president just wants the quickest way out of a crisis he can barely pretend to manage. Whatever it is, this whole dumb gambit is just the latest iteration of something that Trump and his allies do all the time. For the duration of his presidency, and indeed long before, they have taken half-baked ideas from dubious sources, laundered them through pliant news outlets, and crowded out all dissent until those ideas either become policy or at least dominate the news cycle and shift the terms of debate. They have spun these ideas into fly-by-night miracle cures to complex social problemsbuild that wall!and through sheer force of repetition convinced millions of Americans that these slogans are actual solutions. Fox News is the key to the whole operation, and its output during the pandemic has shown that the network will follow Trump into even the darkest corners.

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The American coronavirus crisisin which governmental inaction and avoidance now threatens millions of lives and positions us to have the worst response to this pandemic of any developed countryis the inadvertent product of a concerted, decadeslong right-wing media effort to empower useful idiots and ideologues who will commit to policies that further enrich a coterie of plutocrats while rendering threadbare the fabric of middle-class society. For almost 25 years, Fox News has promoted risibly easy answers to big questions while waging war on legitimate expertise. The network has systematically given prominent platforms to fringe theorists and hacks who present as respected experts and pragmatists. It has weaponized its viewers latent anti-intellectualism into active distrust of all sources located outside of the right-wing mediasphere. It has profited by airing commercials intended to convince gullible old people to sink their retirement savings into specious investments. It has consistently characterized government bureaucracies as hotbeds of conspiratorial intrigue, and an expansive federal system as the unequivocal enemy of liberty, thus tacitly sanctioning the sorts of paranoid ideologues who would preemptively decimate Americas public health infrastructure and interpret stay-at-home orders as intolerable and illegitimate signs of government overreach. It has spent decades setting the stage for the maddening, unnecessary tragedy that is now playing out all around us.

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When Fox News was founded in 1996, the ostensible goal was to create a conservative-leaning cable news network that would counteract the perceived left-wing bias in existing televised news sources. The creator of Fox News was Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul and billionaire, who, like most rich people, wanted to keep his money instead of giving it to the government. Fox News, in part, was borne out of a moguls desire to help advance policies that would work to that effect.

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The man in charge of Fox News from 1996 until his harassment-related departure two decades later was Roger Ailes, a television executive and former Republican campaign operative. Ailes came by his conservative leanings honestly, but he was also a propagandist par excellence. As a young man, he had worked on Richard Nixons 1968 presidential campaign, producing TV spots designed to make the fulminating, beetle-browed Nixon seem not just palatable but benevolent. Over the course of his tenure at Fox News, Ailes worked to perform the same magic trick on countless conservative policies and personalities that primarily served the interests of a very wealthy few.

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By fusing televisions power to conjure feelings of anger and resentment to an ideology of cultural populism that demonized liberal elites, Ailes set forth the methods and the message that would help conservative politicians win and maintain power for decades, historian David Greenberg wrote for Politico Magazine in 2016. These methods have been perfected during the Trump administration, as the least capable and trustworthy president in American history has made his right-wing media enablers work overtime reframing his bad decisions as good ones, his mistakes as triumphs, his combative demeanor as leadership, and his personal enemies as enemies of the state. Fox News has risen to this challenge, elevating intricate talesBurisma! Uranium One! Page and Strzok!designed to convince viewers to reject the reporting and judgment of all other credible sources, and instead choose to believe a series of conspiratorial fables that exonerate the president from any wrongdoing while accusing his opponents of all of his misdeeds.

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There has long been a mild schism at Fox News between the news and opinion divisions, and it is fair to acknowledge that my criticisms are primarily directed at the opinion side. Though Foxs news division leans to the right, its work is still fundamentally rooted in the news, and sometimes, as in breaking news situations, that work legitimately shines. (More often it does not, but credit where its due.) The networks opinion division manifests different priorities. Sometimes these anchors merely shade the truth, but these days they frequently just tell the opposite of it. When the world first started to freak out about the novel coronavirus, it was only natural that Fox News personalities would claim that the crisis was nothing much to worry about, perhaps even a Democratic hoax. And it is only natural, now that it has been forced to acknowledge that the crisis is real, that the network has shifted to touting the presidents preferred quick fix while casting aspersions on all those who would disagree with Trumps unqualified opinions.

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According to researchers at Media Matters, Fox News reported favorably on hydroxychloroquine 275 separate times between March 23 and April 6; during that same span, network contributors raised doubts about the drug a mere 29 times. On March 23, for instance, on the Fox Business channel, Lou Dobbs called into his own program while out on self-quarantine to announce that hydroxychloroquine was just amazing. And that is now being prescribed, it now holds great hope. And the president was right and frankly Fauci was wrong.

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Lou Dobbs claims Trump was right and Fauci was wrong about several unproven medications, claiming Trump is not a layman but thinking as the President pic.twitter.com/0IXf7UmJpU  Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) March 23, 2020

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During Mondays episode of The Five, soft-handed co-host Jesse Watters noted that there is a lot of stuff floating around about the hydroxychloroquine, and the media seems to almost be rooting for it not to work.  This is a media that is supposed to believe in science and is supposed to believe in progress, and is supposed to believe in the doctor-patient relationship, and they go crazy when the president says, Hey, the drug is showing signs of hope. 

Classic. Throughout the Trump era, Fox News has parried almost every single story that reflects poorly on the president by flipping the mirror around so that those stories instead appear to indict the media and the presidents critics. When other outlets lead with tales of presidential misbehavior, dishonesty, and unreadiness, Fox often leads with the ways in which those other outlets are unfairly attacking the president, rather than engage on the substance of those other outlets stories. The trick is to make the story a meta-story, to ground coverage in those feelings of persecution and resentment that Ailes was so skilled at stokingto cover every pandemic, so to speak, as if Donald J. Trump were its one and only victim.

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On Tuesday night, Foxs prime-time hosts made it seem as if the coronavirus tide was turning. They touted a death rate that has underperformed worst-case projections as a sign that America was on the verge of winning this anti-viral war and would soon be lunch-pailing its way back to work, regardless of what you might be hearing from such dubious characters as Dr. Fauci. They insinuated that, perhaps, the mainstream media had actually cheered for those worst-case projections to come true as a means of undermining the presidentconcomitant with their ongoing efforts to diminish the ostensible effects of hydroxychloroquine. Sharing the screen with a graphic reading Lies, Hysteria & the Media, Sean Hannity announced that, even in the midst of a pandemic, the mainstream media will not stop their engagement in [a] never-ending smear campaign and attacks against the president. Hannity deemed the medias political agenda and hatred of the president as the reasons why they continue to claim that a potentially lifesaving treatment, hydroxychloroquine, they are telling the American people it is dangerous. And it is reckless. And that the president talks about it. Now, because the president touted its benefits, well, theyre now on a mission to seek and to destroy.

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Hannitys program finished out with a long interview with Trump, who praised hydroxychloroquine and himself while repeatedly ripping the media. The lamestream media has been extremely dishonest and its a shame. Its very sad, the president said, additionally bashing journalists as bad people who hate America. Also on Tuesday, according to the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 1,943 Americans died of COVID-19, bringing the nations ongoing death toll from the pandemic up to 12,704. The number has risen since then and will assuredly continue to rise by the thousands each day for the near future.

There was never any way to avoid American lives being lost to the coronavirus. But the death toll didnt have to be this high. The blame rests with the anemic early federal response, as supervised by Trump, Americas foremost comorbidity. The president sat on his hands while the outbreak made its way to America, mocking and minimizing and refusing to engage with the threat until a surfeit of American deaths forced his hand. Now he is dissembling and digressing and blustering his way through the pandemic, and Fox News is doing its best to deceive its audience into thinking that Trump was on top of things all along. Hannity and most of his Fox News opinion colleagues have long maintained that to challenge, contradict, or report accurately on the president is to smear the president, and they are not about to change their tunes just because millions of American lives are on the line. The network has spent 25 years perfecting its malign rhetorical sleight of hand, inducing its viewers to suspend their collective disbelief and succumb to its brand of magical thinking, to believe in MAGA phantasms while averting their eyes from whats actually there, and to swallow the pills that are bad for them as if doing so will save their lives.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks Political Gabfest.
Chandigarh, April 9 : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday asked the Deputy Commissioners to prepare containment plans as well as set up committees to implement them to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has prepared district containment plans as a precaution, an official statement said.

A spokesman said 36 villages in Nuh district, which reported 36 positive cases, have been declared as containment zone and its 104 villages as buffer zone so that people can be investigated.

The movement of residents in the containment zones is restricted and all these areas will be sealed by the police.

In Palwal district, another coronavirus hotspot, nine villages have been ordered to be sealed, declaring their area as containment zone as well as 27 adjacent villages as buffer zone.

Similarly in Panchkula town, the Nada Sahib area, Civil Hospital in Sector 6, Command Hospital and bus stand have been declared as containment zones, while Moginand, Sector-7, MDC-4 and Sector-10 have been declared as buffer zones.

Thirteen areas in Faridabad district have been declared as containment zone, including Sectors 11, 37, 16, 3 and 28, Badkhal village, Green Field Colony, A.C. Nagar, Fatehpur Taga, Khori, Chandpur Aura, Mohana and Ranheda villages.

The spokesman said that no positive cases of corona have been reported so far in Rohtak, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Sonipat and Rewari districts.

Three cases were reported in the state on Thursday, taking the total number of active cases to 136.

Fourteen Italian patients were admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, out of which 13 have been discharged, the state's Health Department bulletin said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has compared the state's death toll from the coronavirus to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as he implored residents to not relax social distancing measures despite the curve flattening.

The 9/11 terrorist attack devastated New York state with 2,753 people losing their lives.

But the novel virus has become a "painful and breathtaking" situation with the number of people who've died in just 39 days since the first case was detected in New York.

"9/11 was supposed to be the darkest day in New York for a generation," Mr Cuomo said during his daily press briefing on Thursday. "We lost 2,753 lives on 9/11. We've lost over 7,000 lives to this crisis. That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don't even have the words for it."

He compared the virus to a "silent explosion" that has overtaken society with its destruction.

"There was no explosion, but it was a silent explosion that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11," he added.

New York state posted its largest rise in its death toll for the third day in a row after 799 people died from Covid-19 on Wednesday. The death toll increased to 7,067.

The state will now bring in more funeral directors to assist in with the number of people who have died.

"If you would've told me as governor I would have to take these actions ... I can't even comprehend where we are at now," Mr Cuomo said.

But the curve was flattening in the state, and it showed with the lowest number of hospitalisations and people admitted into the ICU on Wednesday since "this nightmare started".

The governor told residents, though, that now was not the time to relax what they were doing.

"Well, we're flattening the curve, that's good news. It is good news. Well, 'now I can relax.' No, you can't relax," he said. "This is all a direct consequence to our actions. If we stop acting the way we're acting, you will see those numbers go up."

Currently about 18,000 people are hospitalised with the virus. On Wednesday, the hospitalisation rate experienced a net increase of only about 200 patients.

"We are saving lives by what people are doing today. Every day that we are New York tough, we are saving life," the governor said.

Mr Cuomo said social distancing was important for the near future to avoid underestimating the virus again.

Hospital bed capacity in New York has increased to handle 90,000 patients after different institutions presented a number of scenarios for how the virus could impact the state.

Even though efforts have been made to increase bed capacity, the state would be unable to handle the worst case scenario, or even the moderate scenario of the virus, so officials were focused on keeping social distancing rules in place to help admittance rates stay down.

"It is essential that we keep that curve flattened because we don't have an option of handling the curve if it goes higher," he added.
The administration in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, urged people on Thursday to cooperate with the authorities in defeating the COVID-19 pandemic and appealed to those hiding their travel history to come forward voluntarily to get tested for coronavirus.

"I can say that 90 per cent of people are cooperating while 10 per cent are not. But I want to emphasise the fact that even if there is a one-per cent loophole, it will create a lot of problems in the recovery from this situation (lockdown)," District Magistrate (DM) Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary told reporters here.

As the number of COVID-19 cases saw a spike in the city over the past few days, Chaudhary said officials of the departments dealing with the pandemic were working tirelessly to ensure that no lives were lost to the disease.

"I want to assure the people of Srinagar that we are 100 per cent committed to ensuring that no life is lost. There has been an increase in the number of cases but all of their contacts have been traced. There is only one case where we only have an indirect link," he added.

Chaudhary said while there was a lot of criticism on putting people with a travel history to foreign countries in quarantine, the move has paid dividends as 15 cases detected in the city on Wednesday were already among those in the isolation facilities.

There are 49 positive COVID-19 cases in the city so far.

"We have to understand that each positive case entails a contact list of around 150 people and we have to trace all of them. Those who tested positive included five from a group of eight who had travelled to a foreign country," Chaudhary said.

He said the authorities had identified 648 high-risk contacts of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and all of them have been put under surveillance.

"There are another 6,800 low-risk contacts who are being watched with teams checking on them twice a day," Chaudhary added.

The DM said 14 areas in the city have been declared as red zones and teams have been formed to make sure that these areas get the essential items without any problem.

He added that the district administration has set up a call centre, which will start functioning from Friday, for addressing the concerns and grievances of people.

"This call centre will be in addition to the zonal control rooms that are already in place. There will be a dedicated line for psychological and social trauma cases, where 12 experts will be rendering their services," Chaudhary said.

He urged people not to resort to rumour-mongering and share the details of COVID-19 patients or suspects on social media.

"There was a rumour about the government imposing emergency and taking away the money from the banks. A small branch in interior Srinagar recorded 720 transactions within three hours due to this rumour," the DM said.

He said the district administration has delivered ration at the doorstep of 75 per cent ration ticket-holding households in the city, while the remaining will get it in the coming days.

"We have also delivered 69,000 LPG cooking gas cylinders in the city as part of our efforts to make people stay at home during the lockdown," Chaudhary said.

He asserted that there was no shortage of medicines, including life-saving drugs, in the city, and said, "The stocks are being replenished regularly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It remains unclear what the novel coronavirus pandemic's impact will be on Middle East wars, but a first consequence seems to be a unilateral ceasefire starting Thursday in Yemen.

The United Nations has appealed for ceasefires in all the major conflicts rocking the planet, as COVID-19 has killed tens of thousands and placed half of the world population in confinement.

Here is an overview of the impact so far on the conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq:

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Huthi rebels has declared a two-week ceasefire in the Arab world's poorest nation from Thursday at 0900 GMT.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Iran-backed rebels, but the announcement is a rare glimmer of hope for the five-year-old conflict.

It is the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered ceasefire in the port city of Hodeida in late 2018.

"The coalition is determined... to support efforts towards combatting the spread of (the) COVID-19 pandemic," coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said.

Despite all sides initially welcoming the UN call for a halt in violence, fighting spiked late last month.

It was feared more flare-ups in Yemen could compound a humanitarian crisis often described as the worst in the world and invite a coronavirus outbreak of catastrophic proportions.

In a country where the health infrastructure has collapsed, where water is a rare commodity and where 24 million people require humanitarian assistance, the population had feared the worst without a ceasefire allowing for adequate aid.

The COVID-19 outbreak turned into a pandemic just as a ceasefire reached by the two main foreign power brokers in Syria's nine-year-old war -- Russia and Turkey -- was taking effect.

The three million people living in the ceasefire zone, in the country's northwestern region of Idlib, had little hope the deal would hold.

Yet fears the coronavirus could spread like wildfire across the devastated country appear to have given the truce an extended lease of life.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the month of March saw the lowest civilian death toll since the conflict started in 2011, with 103 deaths.

The ability of the multiple administrations in Syria -- the Damascus government, the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast and the jihadist-led alliance that runs Idlib -- to manage the coronavirus threat is key to their credibility.

"This epidemic is a way for Damascus to show that the Syrian state is efficient and all territories should be returned under its governance," analyst Fabrice Balanche said.

However the pandemic and the global mobilisation it requires could precipitate the departure of US-led troops from Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

This in turn could create a vacuum in which the Islamic State jihadist group, still reeling from the demise of its "caliphate" a year ago, could seek to step up its attacks.

The main protagonists in the Libyan conflict initially welcomed the UN ceasefire call but swiftly resumed hostilities.

Fierce fighting has rocked the capital Tripoli in recent days, suggesting the risk of a major coronavirus outbreak is not enough to make guns fall silent.

Violence since the start of the year has displaced 200,000 people from their homes, most in the capital, the International Organization for Migration says.

Hostilities on Monday damaged a Tripoli hospital where COVID-19 patients are being treated, it said.

Turkey has recently played a key role in the conflict, throwing its weight behind the UN-recognised Government of National Accord.

Balanche predicted that accelerated Western disengagement from Middle East conflicts could limit Turkish support to the GNA.

That could eventually favour forces loyal to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar, who launched an assault on Tripoli one year ago and is backed by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Western countries have been hit hardest by the pandemic, which could prompt them to divert both military resources and peace-brokering capacity from foreign conflicts.

The International Crisis Group has reported European officials as saying efforts to secure a ceasefire in Libya were no longer receiving high-level attention due to the pandemic.

Iraq is no longer gripped by fully-fledged conflict but it remains vulnerable to an IS resurgence in some regions and its two main foreign backers are at each other's throats.

Iran and the United States are two of the countries most affected by the coronavirus but there has been no sign of any let-up in their battle for influence that has largely played out on Iraqi soil.

With most non-US troops in the coalition now gone and some bases evacuated, American personnel are regrouped in a handful of locations in Iraq.

Washington has deployed Patriot air defence missiles, prompting fears of a fresh escalation with Tehran, whose proxies it blames for a spate of rocket attacks on bases housing US troops.
South Africa: A 100 days since the first COVID-19 notification

The 9th of April 2020 marked 100 days since the World Health Organisation (WHO) was notified of the first cases of pneumonia with unknown cause in China which would later be termed COVID-19.

Since then the world has changed dramatically, said WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday.

Giving an overview of the global efforts to fight this pandemic, Ghebreyesus mapped out a timeline of the work WHO has done in the past 100 days, and what the organisation will be doing in the near future to alleviate suffering and save lives.

On the 1st of January 2020, just hours after being notified of the first cases, WHO activated its Incident Management Support Team to coordinate its response at headquarters, regional and country level.

On the 5th of January, WHO officially notified all member states of the new outbreak and published a disease outbreak news on its website.

On the 10th of January, we issued a comprehensive package of guidance to countries on how to detect, test and manage potential cases, and protect health workers.

On the same day, we convened our strategic and technical advisory group on infectious hazards to review the situation, said Dr Tedros.

On the 22nd of January, WHO convened an emergency committee.

Again a week later, the committee reconvened after the first cases of human-to-human transmission were reported outside China.

It was at this second meeting, on Thursday 20 January 2020, that WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on  its highest level of alarm. At the time there were 98 cases outside China, and no deaths.

In February an international team of experts from Canada, China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, Singapore and the United States of America visited affected provinces in China to learn more about the virus, the outbreak and the response, and to glean lessons for the rest of the world.

In early February the United Nations Crisis Management Team was activated, to coordinate the entire machinery the UN to support countries as effectively as possible.

Through WHOs network of six regional offices and 150 country offices, weve worked closely with governments around the world to prepare their health systems for COVID-19, and to respond when cases arrive.

We issued a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which identified the major actions countries need to take, and the resources needed to carry them out.

Governments and partners rose to the challenge. More than US$800 million has been pledged or received for the response, said Ghebreyesus.

That includes more than US$140 million from more than 229 000 individuals and organisations raised through the Solidarity Response Fund, exceeding all expectations, and showing true global solidarity.

So far, WHO has shipped more than two million items of personal protective equipment to 133 countries.

Were preparing to ship another two million items in the coming weeks. Weve sent more than one million diagnostic tests to 126 countries, in all regions, and were sourcing more. But we know much more is needed. This is not enough, said the WHO Director General.

To ramp up the production and distribution of essential medical supplies, WHO has roped in the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum and others in the private sector to meet the demand.

Health workers are being trained and mobilised to fight the pandemic.

More than 1.2 million people have enrolled in six courses in 43 languages on the OpenWHO.org platform.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
SAGINAW, MI  Easter weekend for Taylor Stockton was supposed to finalize her conversion to Catholicism, a process the Gaylord resident planned to complete before her marriage in July.

She looked forward to the event set for Saturday, April 11.

The importance of that Easter vigil is you get baptism and youre able to receive the host in the whole communion, Stockton said. "So, at that point you are fully accepted and initiated into the Catholic Church.

Shell have to wait for now. Church gatherings throughout Michigan are on pause due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Though sanctuaries are closed, Stockton is hopeful she can finalize her conversion sometime shortly before her marriage to Jonathan Bartosiewicz this summer.

For other Christians, the pandemic will impact them in other ways as they celebrate their biggest holy day of the year on Sunday.

Faith online

Many churches are getting creative to meet the religious needs of their congregations.

They are using platforms such as Facebook Live and YouTube to deliver messages since Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay safe, stay home order.

Life Church in Saginaw Countys Kochville Township, 5200 Tittabawassee Road, plans several drive-in services on Saturday and Sunday. To see all the drive-in times, visit here.

Its an opportunity for people to get out of their house safely, said Pastor Jonathan Herron. They turn on the radio and theyll broadcast it into their cars, and its going to be 60 minutes of encouragement and enthusiasm for Easter weekend.

In addition to tuning into the service via radio, attendees will be able to see the sermon right from their cars as Herron plans to deliver it from a stage in the parking lot. The church band will also perform using social distancing guidelines.

The nondenominational church also plans to live stream the service through Facebook Live and YouTube as well.

Weve seen our viewership just spike in the last few weeks, said Herron. Were averaging about four - or 5,000 live viewers now, which is nuts. But people are hungry for a little bit of laughter and a little bit of hope.

The church sought approval from local law enforcement about the drive-in setup before pursuing the arrangement, Herron added.

At Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, located in Flint at 1417 Stevenson St., the church also is seeking a drive-in arrangement, weather permitting, said Pastor Jeffrey Hawkins.

About 20 cars can fit in the churchs parking lot and more could attend if they park along the street.

Hawkins plans to preach from the church steps and set-up a speaker system to reach the ears of the church-goers.

It keeps people safe, said Hawkins. Theyre in their own car, its obviously social distancing, but the other part is that people sometimes just want to get out of the house.

If it does rain, the sermon can be accessed through Facebook Live, he said.

Hawkins said hes still praying over the message for Sunday's service.

Bishop Robert D. Gruss of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw said the diocese started live streaming services prior to Easter because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Easter mass live streams will start on Holy Thursday, April 9.

We start the Triduum liturgy on Holy Thursday, which lasts three days, he said. All of our services will be live streamed and linked through Facebook.

Gruss said Easter service will be very much so out of the norm, since members will not be congregated in a church for Mass. Although no members will physically take communion, they are invited to partake in a spiritual communion.

We in the Catholic Church believe in spiritual communion, Gruss said. So those who cannot physically take the sacraments can be with us in spirit still.

The Palm Sunday mass on April 5 had around 11,000 live stream participants.

Its been amazing how many people have live streamed with us, Gruss said. People are hungry for the spirit of the Lord. They are seeking answers, comfort and light.

Gruss believes the church is doing what it can to make members still feel connected to the Catholic community. Nonetheless, he said he still understands some members disappointment at not physically entering a church for Easter communion.

We have to make that sacrifice now, just as our Lord had to sacrifice," he said. "God will give us the best Easter service we can, given the circumstances.

Although the pandemic may be keeping people from congregating during the most important holy day in the Christian religion, it has raised an opportunity for some.

Members of the New Apostolic Church of Portage, based in Kalamazoo County, will experience a once in a lifetime opportunity on Easter.

Hes going to hold an international webcast for every church in our denomination across the globe, Pastor Peter Cook said of the chief apostle, based in Europe.

Cook explained the only other time an international webcast such as the one planned for Sunday occurred on Pentecost day, which is celebrated 50 days after Easter. The day commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ.

People can tune into the sermon at 10:30 a.m. Sunday via Youtube.

In Detroit, churches like Jesus Lives Here Church of God in Christ are seeing benefits to moving services online.

There havent been any major challenges, outside making sure that everyone is connected to the services... It has actually been a help! Weve been able to expand our Bible study classes, and have been seeing growth (more than usual) biblically, said evangelist Trynae Austin, assistant first lady.

Sundays service will be live streamed at 11:30 a.m. via Facebook and Skype.

We are thankful that, in this time, God has yet blessed our local assembly, even during this time of crisis, Austin said.

Where to eat on Easter?

In Frankenmuth, Easter dinner is one of the biggest events for restaurants such as Bavarian Inn. The restaurant is closed this year, but plans to fill takeout orders it has already received.

The business stopped taking new orders sometime on Wednesday, April 8.

Were trying our best to provide them with a hot meal for Easter, said General Manager Amy Zehnder-Grossi.

To make sure there is no contact with others, there is reduced cooking staff, meals are prepaid, pick-up times have been scheduled and customers will be able to snag their dinner from the front of the restaurant.

So far, the restaurant has prepared 170 meals, and some people have purchased several of the meal for their families, Zehnder-Grossi noted.

Midland First United Methodist Church, 315 W Larkin St., is hosting a grab and go-style friendship lunch at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Anyone in need of a meal can stop and grab something to eat, said receptionist Marsha Payne.

The church is planning to prepare 120 meals.

In the same neighborhood, Midlands Open Door soup kitchen will have hot dinners at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 12.

The dinner is also grab and go and can be picked up from the organizations porch. Over 100 meals will be prepared.

Related news:

Michigans Jews mark a very different Passover celebration during coronavirus

Saginaw Catholic Diocese suspends public Mass until April due to coronavirus
Royron Adams, President (Ag) of the Vincentian Transportation Association (VINTAS), says the withdrawal action is in keeping with supporting the national effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus and not about money.

Public Transport here was thrown into a quandary last Wednesday when minibus operators withdrew their services.





The decision to do so was taken at a meeting of the Vincentian Transportation Association (VINTAS), supposedly the successor to the National Omnibus Association (NOBA), held last Sunday at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex





A release following that meeting noted that its members had agreed that because of the nature of their job, they face a higher than normal exposure to COVID-19, so they thought it wise to suspend their services to support the efforts of Government to prevent community spread.





The decision to suspend the service will be reviewed on or before April 20, VINTAS said.





But not all minibuses have vacated the roads.





On Wednesday, a minibus operator/driver, who plies the Campden Park to Kingstown route, told THE VINCENTIAN that only three minivans were operating that route.





He said he decided to work because "bills have to be paid, but he noted that even though he chose not to withdraw, the passengers were not coming and the police were still enforcing nine passengers in a van.





"Police still a come on the scene and say nine in a van and the people them walking to town, said the omnibus operator.





The operator/driver was reacting to the recently enforced requirement that minibuses carry only nine passengers, and not 18 for which they would have been licensed, in keeping with the appeal to practise social distancing.





Additionally, some minibus operators, claiming that VINTAS does not speak for them, have taken umbrage with governments offer of $250.00-$$300.00 a month for two months as compensation for lost earnings occasioned by the reduction of passenger capacity.





But acting President of VINTAS Royron Adams reiterated that the decision to withdraw services has nothing to do with money, but rather about health, as there are now seven active cases of COVID-19 in SVG and over 400 quarantined persons.
President Trump warned us that America was in for a rough week of deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus. He was right.

On Monday, according to Worldometer, there were 1,970 reported deaths in the U.S. from the virus. Yesterday, April 8, there were 1,940. This followed a period of several days in which deaths averaged around 1,200.

The total U.S. death count stood at just under 15,000 at the end of yesterday. As of now, it stands at just under 16,000. At the rate we are going, it might well exceed 50,000 by the end of the month.

The University of Washingtons IHME model is projecting that the virus will kill approximately 60,000 Americans by August  down from around 80,000 a few days ago and more than 90,000 shortly before that. Its forecast for April is no more optimistic than what I suggested above. However, it predicts a steep decline in deaths in May and thereafter.

But, as I understand it, this steep decline assumes that strict social distancing measures remain in place well into the summer. I doubt that they will, or that they should.

The prediction of steep decline apparently is also based in significant part on numbers from China. The accuracy of those numbers is subject to question.
A lucky Irish punter was left celebrating on Wednesday night after a stunning Lotto coup landed them a mouth-watering sum of cash from four numbers.

The County Leitrim customer placed a 1.50 four-fold bet via their BoyleSports account and picked out seven numbers for the Irish Lotto Plus 2 draw that evening.

The numbers selected were 3, 8, 11, 25, 33, 35 and 43 and they had the safety net of the bonus ball included in the wager. However, the Dubliner didnt have long to wait long to pop the champagne open as four of the seven numbers landed for the lucky punter to defy the mammoth odds of 3,800/1.

The customer was able to log back into their account and see their balance boosted by a stunning total of 5,701.50 from a stake of 1.50.

Sarah Kinsella, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: Congratulations to our customer in Leitrim who was aiming high with their stake, but their ambition has been rewarded handsomely with a whopping amount of 5,701.50. We hope our client enjoys splashing out with their winnings.
Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday (local time) defended the organisation's handling and response to the coronavirus pandemic, a day after UN health body came under stinging criticism from US President Donald Trump.

"Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland by CNN.

The organisation has faced criticism over handling the coronavirus situation which originated in China's Wuhan last year and has infected more than a million people worldwide so far."If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it. My short message is: Please quarantine politicizing Covid. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus," said Tedros.

He also dismissed the US President's criticism of organisation being China-centric saying WHO was close to every nation and was "color-blind" as well as "wealth-blind."

"For us small and big is the same. For us people in the North or in the South, East or West are the same," he was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the WHO accusing it of being "China-centric" and said he is considering a "very powerful hold" on funding to the global health body, which is leading the world's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're going to put a hold on money to the WHO, we're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see," Trump said at the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House.

However, later in the briefing, the US President told media persons "I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but we are going to look at it."

Earlier in the day, Trump had taken to Twitter to post: "The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look".

"Fortunately," Trump wrote, "I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
So far none of them are showing any symptoms of the virus and they were screened and tested as they came into the centre, he said.
[April 09, 2020] Bumble Bee Seafood Donates $1 Million in Products to Feeding America for COVID-19 Relief Efforts

The Bumble Bee Seafood Company announced today that it will donate $1 million worth of its shelf-stable, healthful seafood products to Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks. The organization will distribute the much-needed supplies to Feeding San Diego, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. All three food banks are in communities where the company continues to operate daily. The donation is part of the company's initiative to ensure that everyone has access to delicious, affordable and pure nutrition inspired by the ocean. "We are a people-first organization and that's why it is so important for us to give back to the communities in which we do business," said Jan Tharp, President and Chief Executive Officer for Bumble Bee. "It is our sincere hope that our product donations will mean that people in need will gain access to a nutritious and delicious ocean-inspired meal that they may not have otherwise had access to during this time." Tharp said the safety and health of the company's employees is always a top priority and that the same people-first approach is keeping their operations up and running during this crisis. In addition to following all CDC protocols at their manufacturing facilities, the company is also implmenting mandatory temperature scanning of all employees before they enter the plants and has increased the use of PPE for all employees. Bumble Bee has allotted $1.2 million in increased hourly wages for their factory workers who are playing a critical role in producing products to feed families across the country.



"We have an incredibly dedicated and talented employee base worldwide that is reflective of the epitome of what this company stands for and believes in," said Tharp. "There is so much uncertainty in the world right now and we know people are counting on the food industry to come through. At Bumble Bee, we're taking our role and responsibility seriously." Tharp said the company has deep experience and expertise in sales and supply chain management and she is confident in their ability to navigate through and meet consumer needs in the weeks ahead. Bumble Bee has ramped up its purchase of raw materials, added production days at its facilities, expanded its sourcing efforts and narrowed its immediate focus on delivering its most in-demand products to market.

For more information about The Bumble Bee Seafood Company, visit www.BumbleBee.com. ABOUT THE BUMBLE BEE SEAFOOD COMPANY

The Bumble Bee Seafood Company is on a mission to create a new generation of seafood lovers by delivering delicious, healthy and sustainable seafood options in innovative ways. As an industry leader in sustainability, Bumble Bee works to protect the health of our oceans, marine life and the fishing community through multiple efforts, including the development of dolphin-safe fishing practices, partnerships with organizations like World Wildlife Fund, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, and as a founder of the?International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), a global partnership of scientists, tuna processors. Bumble Bee's full line of seafood and specialty protein products are marketed in the U.S., Canada and over 50 markets globally under leading brands including Bumble Bee, Brunswick, Clover Leaf, Snow's, Wild Selections?and Beach Cliff. For more information, visit?www.BumbleBee.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005137/en/

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Unlike most retailers, Maxi Zoo remains open for business today - but the Covid-19 crisis has placed an unlikely restriction on its operations.

The one thing that Ireland's biggest pet store chain won't sell right now is pets.

It's an irony on the mind of Noelle Long, Maxi Zoo's national manager for purchasing and marketing.

"The entire business has been turned on its head in regards to what we would normally do. At the moment, everything is focused on how we can continue to work," Long said in a phone interview from her home in Blarney, Co Cork, where she has relocated her office from Maxi Zoo's headquarters in Ballincollig.

Together with country manager Enrico De Luca and chief financial officer Tim Cummins, Long drives business at 20 outlets nationwide, employing 180 staff.

Five of Maxi Zoo's biggest branches - in Clonmel, Midleton, Waterford and Dublin outlets in Finglas and Leopardstown - normally feature sales of live animals, including tropical and salt water fish, rodents, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits. Finglas and Clonmel showcase reptiles too.

But now the aquariums are roped off from customers, the display pens are bare and terrariums empty, and the staff have banded together to care for unsold animals in their own homes.

By her reckoning, there are only two guinea pigs left in one store and a lone corn snake in another, none for sale.

"It is a strange time for any business but particularly so for pet stores, which are very social and chatty spaces. Normally, we love having customers bring in their own pets and stay as long as they like in the shops. We want them to enjoy the animals we have in stock. Customers will happily chat with staff about their pets all day long. But these aren't normal times," she says.

"The Government is asking essential retailers to do what they can to encourage customers to get what they absolutely need for their pet, pay and leave - and not to spend any extra time inside the store. That is not ideal for pet sales.

"When you're selling an animal, it requires consultation. Do you have the correct bedding at home? Do you have the correct food? It takes time to choose the animal, the fish.

"But that means encouraging customers to stay in the store longer, and we don't want to be seen to be encouraging that. So for that reason, we decided to take the animals off sale."

Guided by its parent firm in Germany, Maxi Zoo stopped taking new orders of live animals in early March, after the first Covid-19 cases were confirmed here, but before the Government started ordering schools, public events and - eventually - most retail premises to close.

For a tense few hours, Maxi Zoo managers couldn't be sure whether they would be forced to shutter operations too.

"The night the Government made the announcement that only essential stores would remain open, there were mumblings that it was only going to cover supermarkets, fuel and medicine," Long says.

"We felt we weren't in any of those categories. We couldn't tell staff for certain what would happen. Social media exploded with customers wanting to know if we were opening the next day. So we all had something of a sleepless night waiting for the full list to be released."

When that more detailed breakdown was published, Maxi Zoo found its salvation sandwiched between heating oil providers and laundries: "Retail sale of essential items for the health and welfare of animals, including animal feed and medicines, animal food, pet food and animal supplies including bedding."

"It didn't say 'pet store', but we were covered to keep going," she says.

While Maxi Zoo is significantly larger than its sector rivals Petmania (12 stores) and Pet Stop (seven stores), Long says its real competition is supermarkets.

More than two thirds of its sales are for dog food and dog care, and the big grocery chains stock dog products of their own. "The Tescos, Dunnes, Aldis and Lidls are the biggest competitors that we would have," she says.

Maxi Zoo's most recent accounts show it's a tight-margin business in the best of times. It posted net profits of less than 650,000 in 2018 on sales of 20.5m; the year before it netted 573,000 from 19.4m in sales.

Long says trading over Christmas 2019 and into the new year was strong. "The economy was doing quite well, the business was thriving. Prior to all this kicking off, we were in a really good position."

Now, she estimates sales are 20pc down on this time a year ago. "The second half of March was busy with a lot of customers stocking up. But this month is quieter, because of the restrictions in place, the guards out checking and questioning people. There's still a steady flow of people coming in, but it would be a lot quieter."

But Long says Maxi Zoo's liquidity is strong, it has no current need to seek any payment holidays from Bank of Ireland or Deutsche Bank, and has the added reassurance of having a strong parent firm, Fressnapf.

Founded 30 years ago by a young German entrepreneur seeking to replicate American pet superstores in Europe, the first Fressnapf launched a franchise model in 1997.

Today, the Fressnapf Group employs about 12,000 people at 800 outlets in Germany and 700 in 10 other countries from Denmark to Italy. It brands its franchises as Maxi Zoo in most non-German-speaking countries, while in the Netherlands it's known as Jumper.

In normal times, Fressnapf holds regular European-wide planning summits at its base in the North Rhine-Westphalia city of Krefeld. For Long, that means a three-hour drive to Dublin Airport, a flight to Dusseldorf, a 20-minute taxi to Fressnapf, a day-long meeting with more than two dozen fellow executives, and an evening return to Cork.

The next face-to-face gathering is still on the corporate calendar for May, but Long doubts it will go ahead. "I'm OK with the break from those trips, if I'm being quite truthful. It can be quite tiring. You have a long day and a late flight and then another three-hour drive home; they're long enough days," she says.

While the mobile signal in her Blarney home seems to disappear whenever she dials, Long finds Fressnapf's teleconferencing using Microsoft Teams and a laptop to be a remote working revelation.

"So many of our calls now are through Teams. It's really handy for bringing our team together throughout Europe.

"We do it by audio if there's 30 people and video if there's fewer than six. It's working great. I would consider myself a little bit of a technophobe with these types of things, but I'm becoming a fast learner."

Long is one of the longest-serving members of the Irish division, which opened its first outlet here in 2006 in Ballincollig. She had left her previous job at Blarney Woollen Mills to backpack in Australia, but returned home in 2007 and took what she thought was going to be a six-month maternity cover role in office admin.

"I thought at the time I'd gather some money and head on my travels again. I'm really passionate about pets. So I saw this job for Maxi Zoo and thought, 'that sounds lovely for me'. And 13 years later, I'm still here."

She's recently won recognition for her work, receiving the Rising Star Award at the Irish Women's Awards in January. Colleagues lauded her "as hard-working, dedicated, kind-hearted and an all-round go-getter".

Long says the goal for this year is to keep Maxi Zoo growing despite the crisis. While it has 10 outlets in the greater Dublin area and none on the west coast, it hopes to keep expanding around the capital.

"We were planning on opening three more stores this year. In the current environment, we won't be opening anything this quarter. Hopefully that will change towards the end of the year when things settle down. Trying to get landlords at the moment to do deals - it's just not possible. But our plan is to expand and that hasn't changed."

Finding the correctly situated premises is the biggest challenge. Maxi Zoo typically wants open-plan units of at least 600 sq m with easy parking outside, so that customers can load even bulkier items into their car boots.

"It has proven to be a big challenge to get the right units in the right locations. That will probably change with units becoming available," she says.

For this month, the focus is on sourcing masks and gloves for staff and erecting plexiglass shields at the tills.

Long says Maxi Zoo is thankful to be permitted to stay open. Most of its outlets are flanked by firms ordered to close indefinitely. "We're often the only business in the retail park still open," she says.

"I would be very grateful that our doors are still open. That's the sentiment from the staff as well. Everybody's very grateful to still be working. We all know somebody at home who's just getting the Government's salary, the 350 euros.

"That won't be never-ending. There's a cap of 12 weeks on that. And we don't know how long this pandemic is going to go on for," she says.

"So the general consensus at Maxi Zoo is that everybody's very grateful to have a job and that we can still pay people."
(Bloomberg) --

Even as New York and New Jersey posted their worst daily death toll from Covid-19, President Donald Trump was casting blame elsewhere for the response to the pandemic and developing plans to get the economy back in action.

The White Houses economic strategy, which is in its early stages, depends on virus testing far more Americans than has yet been possible, in an effort to better identify and contain areas of infection, Mario Parker reports.

The economic restart would likely begin in smaller municipalities that havent been heavily hit. Hot spots like Detroit, New Orleans and New York City, where there are at least encouraging signs on new infection rates, would remain shuttered.

Were looking at the concept where we open sections of the country, and were also looking at the concept where you open up everything, Trump told Fox News.

The president, whos faced criticism for downplaying the virus threat, warned yesterday hes considering putting a hold on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, which he said blew it by failing to sound the alarm sooner.

With partisan tensions growing over the makeup of a further round of stimulus, Trump is also drawing fire from Democratic lawmakers for his ouster of the official set to oversee $2 trillion in already-passed aid. While Trump didnt directly explain the decision, hes acted against other inspectors general he considers insufficiently loyal.

Trump only last month suggested Easter Sunday as the time to re-open the country. His target for a return to normalcy may still be running on an unrealistic time frame.

Global Headlines

Facing the peak | While Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care, deliveries of U.K.-made hospital ventilators are weeks away, even as the country faces the prospect of a peak in infections in a matter of days. The National Health Service is relying on imports and loans from the armed forces and the private sector.

Read here about Johnsons unexpected stand-in, Dominic Raab. And click here for how the outbreak is squeezing the finances of ferry companies that bring the bulk of trucks and their key freight into the U.K.

Story continues

Rinse, repeat | European Union finance ministers failed after 16 hours of talking to agree on a coordinated strategy to manage the economic hit from the pandemic  but will try again tomorrow. France and Europes hardest-hit south are pitted against Germany and other northern states over whether to issue joint debt, as the Netherlands and Italy argue over conditions for the potential use of credit lines from a central bailout fund.

Evidence is mounting that March marked the start of a deep global recession, and the French central bank estimates its economy shrank the most since World War II in the first quarter. Read here about Europes trial-and-error economic shutdowns.

Uncharted territory | No U.S. president in decades has dared drive up the cost of oil. But the Russia-Saudi price war and the virus have sent prices plunging, putting Trump in the awkward position of asking countries he once chastised for the high cost of crude to turn off the taps. As Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Javier Blas report, the U-turn could reverberate for years.

Shutting doors | Since coming to office in 2015, Justin Trudeau has pursued a pro-immigration agenda to drive growth in both Canadas economy and its population. But as Kait Bolongaro and Shelly Hagan report, the coronavirus pandemic could curtail that as the economy teeters into recession and demand for labor dries up.

The mask debate | The WHO may be questioning the effectiveness of masks as a defense against the coronavirus, but theyre being pushed by an increasing number of governments worldwide. From Asia to Europe, authorities are advising  and sometimes ordering  they be worn. One leader who isnt convinced is Trump, who has said he doesnt plan to use one.

What to Watch

Texas struck a blow against abortion rights when a federal appeals court ruled it can ban most procedures while the governors emergency decree to save medical supplies for fighting the pandemic is in effect. The U.K. plans to restart talks as soon as this month with the EU over their future relationship after delays caused by the coronavirus. Italy is likely to keep its schools closed until September under a plan the government is working on to gradually ease restrictions aimed at containing the virus, John Follain reports.

Tell us how were doing or what were missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

And finally ... Caught for 76 days in the lockdown of Wuhan, Zeng Xiao took the first train out today  the 12:50 a.m. to Guangzhou in Chinas south. Shes one of tens of thousands who rushed for an exit as travel restrictions were lifted in the city where the pandemic first emerged. With Wuhans economy crushed, Beijings priority is getting people back to work, but the risk of a further wave of infections is an ever-present concern.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Todays meeting confirms that Liberty Mutual has not yet reversed its reckless decisions to insure the highly controversial Trans Mountain and Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, said Randi Mail, insurance organiser at Rainforest Action Network. More than 50,000 people are calling on the company to drop its coverage for these pipelines and rule out the dangerous tar sands sector entirely, particularly as fossil fuel corporations plow ahead with pipeline construction in the midst of a pandemic. Insurers like Liberty Mutual must protect society against climate risk, not exacerbate it.

Facing increasing pressure from environmental groups, Liberty Mutual adopted a policy in December that reduced its business with coal companies. However, the company continues to insure new coal projects and has no restrictions on business with the oil and gas sectors, the campaigners suggest. The Rainforest Action Network also accuses the insurance giant of being a key backer of the tar sands sector, a particularly carbon-intensive form of oil production.

The companys policies have drawn the ire of both climate-change action groups and indigenous rights groups.

Insurance companies like Liberty Mutual are backing dirty energy corporations that are responsible for desecrating and contaminating our ecosystems and our food sources, ultimately destroying our inherent and treaty rights as Indigenous peoples, said Nigel Henri Robinson, a member of the Cold Lake First Nations in Alberta, Canada, and youth engagement lead at Indigenous Climate Action.

Many policyholders have also called on the insurer to drop fossil-fuel industries, Stand.earth said.

Liberty Mutual has knowingly become a threat to life as we know it, said Sarah van Gelder, a Liberty Mutual policyholder from Bremerton, Wash. Because of what Ive learned about this company, I am dropping a decades-long relationship with Liberty Mutual. Im calling on fellow policyholders to join me and concerned citizens everywhere in insisting that the company exits the tar sands sector, stops insuring fossil-fuel expansion, and adopts policies that support Indigenous rights and a livable future for generations to come.
When a factual issue is unembellished by any violence of gesticulation, it becomes an albatross around the necks of individuals who had wanted to massage same for their own selfish desires.



Failure to win the argument sometimes leads to a deliberate twisting of events and illogical juxtapositions when the facts do not jell with the happenings on the ground.



Coming to the realization that the so-called Mahama Bank of Ghana Hospital mantra has been deflated with indisputable facts, the likes of Cassiel Ato-Forson, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu and their zombie pals on social media have started a line of argument that can only be described as strange.



The central bank of the Republic, the Bank of Ghana, through funds generated internally, took upon itself to put up a hospital for its staff and the general public. Not a penny of the taxpayers money was spent on the project. In fact, the project never found its way to Parliament for approval since the funds to be used were not from the state or would not be on the books of the state.



The NDC, in their Green Book of lies, captured the edifice as one of the hospitals supposedly built by Mahama. Ato-Forson intimates that it is a Mahama legacy because the central bank is a public entity.



However, when the facts were pulled out to disclaim that notion, they are trying to shift the argument to a point of absurdity.



Felix and his troops ask whether the banking sector clean-up would be credited to Akufo-Addo since the Bank of Ghana, an independent body, is part and parcel of the exercise and cannot be subjected to the dictatorial hands of any government or regime.



They conclude that as long as the banking sector cleanup can be credited to Akufo-Addo, then the Bank of Ghana Hospital should be given to Mahama as well.



This line of argument is not only lame but mind-numbing as it fails to create a direct relationship between the two scenarios. The two issues are diametrically parallel to each other.



In the construction of the hospital, the state did not commit any money to it but in the banking sector clean-up, it was the state that supplied all the funds needed to bail out the suffering banks.



In fact, the budgetary statements for the past three years have contained sources of the funds to clean up the banking sector. The Finance Ministry actually provided the money. The debt is sitting on the books of the state unlike the money used to build the hospital.



How can the two scenes provide similar outcomes when their parameters differ substantially?



In effect, Akufo-Addo can take credit for the banking sector cleanup because the administration, through the Ministry of Finance, made monies available for the exercise whereas in the case of the hospital, no ministry or agency of the state provided financial assistance to the central bank.



These facts make nonsense of the argument being advanced by the NDC. Mahama cannot appropriate to himself projects he doesnt know how they came into being. They have lost this debate before it begins.



P.K. Sarpong, Whispers from the Corridors of the Thinking Place.

Source: P.K. Sarpong









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The University of Limerick (UL) will produce over 100,000 face visors for medical staff treating patients during the Covid-19 outbreak.

A research and design unit set about the project after a request from Professor Paul Burke, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group and Vice Dean of Health Sciences at UL.
A leader steps up at time of war. Seen by many as the countrys savior, he is decried by others as the nations doom. The object of unquestioning devotion or unwavering hostility, he tends to be petulant and a prima donna. He depends on his family and suffers most everyone else. Easily angered at meetings, he listens carefully to his advisors, but usually ignores their advice. He also loves a parade  he loves being at its head even more  and directs the destiny of a hotel.

These qualities belong to Donald Trump  a man who often reminds us that he sees himself as a wartime president. These same traits, however, also apply to Charles de Gaulle  a man who led his country in a different kind of war and led the provisional government after its liberation. But whereas these qualities are largely the sum of The Donald, they reflect only a small part of The General. Nowhere are their differences made starker than in the way they each managed, well, hotels in time of war.

Seventy-five years ago, nearly two million Frenchmen and women were free to return home. Along with the soldiers imprisoned in stalags and the youths forced to work in factories, there were some 90,000 resistance fighters and political leaders who had been arrested and deported to concentration camps. As for the more than 70,000 French and refugee Jews who had also been deported, the handful that had survived the death camps also returned.

For a country emerging from four years of occupationan occupation described by the novelist Albert Camus as a plagueit was no easy task to welcome so many people. A government facing an economy that had collapsed and was subject to stringent rationing was now tasked with the reintegration of these returnees into society. The challenged was especially great with those consigned to the concentration and death camps. Traumatized by their experience, weakened by disease and deprivation, these men and women required particular attention.

Three prominent members of the Resistance  Andre Weil, Maxime Bloch-Mascart and Marie-Helene Lefaucheux  met with de Gaulle in order to solve this problem. Remarkably, the General followed their suggestion that he requisition hotels in order to help house and nurse the returning political and Jewish prisoners. Less remarkably, he ignored their advice on which hotels and decided to seize, among others, the Hotel Lutetia. Opened in 1910, the Lutetia was one of the glories of the Left Bank. Guests entered a lobby with frescoes sweeping across ceiling, marble floors gleaming below, and a bank of ornate elevators connecting the seven floors and more than 200 rooms. The hotel boasted what businesses now call a brand: the motto Fluctuat Nec Mergitur: Beaten by the waves, but never sinks.

Come 1940, however, sinking never seemed more imminent. The hotel frequented by Charlie Chaplin and Pablo Picasso, Josephine Baker and Ernest Hemingway was now filled by the Abwehr, the German counter-intelligence service. This military unit transformed the hotel into a hell as they pursued resistance fighters, interrogated suspects and outsourced their torture, deportation or death to the SS.

Yet history is cunning: some of the same men and women interrogated in the Lutetia returned to it a few years later to be integrated back into society. Aware of the hotels symbolic value, De Gaulle also thought its decor was suitable for its new role as a haven and hospital. While luxurious, he said, it was also subdued. Arriving first at the Gare de lEst, the liberated prisoners, shocking Parisians by their gaunt and green-hued faces, were bussed to the Lutetia. They were welcomed by a staff of doctors, nurses and social workers who, working around the clock, tended to their medical and material needs. Not surprisingly, these former prisoners, one of them recalled, could not accustom themselves to the luxuryby which she meant the hot and cold water that ran in all the rooms.

Fast-forward seventy-five years and we again face what we are told is a war. We have a leader who does share certain traits with Frances leader. Among these common characteristics is an interest in hotels. The leader who is suddenly calling upon his fellow citizens to make sacrifices for the common good might take a leaf from the Gaullist playbook. Requisition an ornate hotel  the Old Post Office Hotel in Washington D.C., for example  and turn it into a hospital.
Companies in Ukraine are responding to the coronavirus challenges. Their readiness to help demonstrates their ability to rise to this unprecedented threat to public health and economic well-being. They are a showing a deep sense of responsibility for the common good. In addition to financial support, professional help and expert advice are in high demand.

Building on Ukraines huge potential in the sector, agribusiness companies are leading the effort. The EBRDs long-term client and major grain trader Nibulon called upon fellow companies to transform their laboratories, normally guaranteeing the quality of agricultural commodities, into Covid-19 testing centres. Nibulons main shareholder and Managing Director Olexiy Vadaturskyy encouraged the industry to join the initiative. In addition to transforming its own business to cater the needs of the national healthcare, the company also acquired specialised equipment and Covid-19 tests for hospitals in the Mykolaiv region of south Ukraine, where the company is headquartered.

Another major agricultural producer Astarta, which has been working with the EBRD for more than a decade, followed suit: specialised equipment used at its laboratories in the Poltava region in central Ukraine will be at full disposal for regional health workers and l play an important role in testing. The company also channelled hundreds of tests to hospitals countrywide.

The EBRD client and major meat processor Nyva Pereyaslavschiny is offering its expertise and experience with over 22 years in food production biosafety for the provision of advanced sanitary measures in hospitals in the Kyiv region. In addition, the company is providing protective gear to paramedics and free food parcels to people in need in all regions, where the company operates.

Ukraines leading petroleum retailer Galnaftogaz, where the EBRD holds a stake, is funding 20,000 Uber transfers of medical personnel in the capital city of Kyiv and 6 other key municipalities working to contain the Covid-19 infection spread.

Nova Poshta, Ukraines largest privately owned postal company and an EBRDs client since 2018, launched a specialised delivery service. Medicines will be supplied to Nova Poshta offices, pick-up and drop-off points or by couriers across the country. It is also offering a food delivery service to promote contactless take-away service from local restaurants.

During the last decade, the EBRD invested over 100 million in projects with Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors as well as research and development companies. Companies like Farmak, Ukraines major pharmaceuticals manufacturer, are now supporting the governments initiative to develop a comprehensive pharmaceutical safety programme designed to prevent drug deficiency during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the production of essential cardio, diabetes and anti-viral medicines, Farmak is working to develop new medicines, which will be effective against the disease. Farmaks charitable foundation donated protective gear and specialised equipment to 17 hospitals in different regions of Ukraine.

Yuria-Pharm , the countrys leading manufacturer of intensive care medicines, medical devices and antiseptics, is providing key hospitals , identified by the Ukrainian Healthcare Ministry, with infusion drug sand equipment for nebuliser therapy.

In the city of Odessa, MV Cargo (TIS), Brooklyn Kiev and Risoil Ukraine, EBRD clients and leading private sea terminal operators and stevedoring companies, joined forces to set up a Covid-19 anti-crisis headquarters. In a short period of time, it collected private charitable donations worth almost US$ 4.3 million which were used to purchase protective gear and specialised equipment for regional healthcare establishments. More local businesses join the initiative every week

These are selected examples of businesses helping the country when it matters most. Many other businesses in Ukraine are contributing to the cause. The EBRD is proud to be associated with them and to make its own contribution through its Solidarity Package of financial support for clients as they face this unique challenge.
Restrictions for travel and public gatherings due to Covid-19 have led to a surge in Internet demand in Vietnam as people study and work from home. Photo by Shutterstock.

Internet service providers in Vietnam have increased bandwidths for free amid rising demand as more people stay home amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

FPT Telecom said it would increase its bandwidth by 60 percent from Wednesday until the government announces the pandemic is over.

Bandwidth describes the maximum data transfer rate of a network or Internet connection. It measures how much data can be sent over a specific connection in a given amount of time.

Military-owned Viettel Telecom said it has doubled the bandwidth using its high-speed fiber optic Internet services since April 1 and would keep it at those levels until the outbreak ends.

State-owned VNPT said it would increase the speed for all customers with packages of below 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 50 Mbps for three months from April 9.

As Covid-19 began to spread in Vietnam, schools have let their students study online and companies have allowed employees to work from home. Internet traffic increased by 40 percent in March, according to data from the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority.

Last month Saigon and Hanoi ordered "non-essential" businesses such as bars, cinemas and restaurants to close temporarily to combat the spread of Covid-19.

A two-week nationwide social distancing campaign came into effect on April 1, requiring people to stay home and not allowing public gatherings of more than two. People can only leave home for emergencies, buying food and medicines and working in factories, production facilities and businesses that involve trade in essential goods and services.

Vietnam has reported 251 Covid-19 cases so far, of whom around half have recovered. There have been no fatalities.

The pandemic has hit 209 countries and territories and claimed more than 88,000 lives.
Barely 24 hours after a presidential aide, Maryam Uwais, lashed out at the leadership of the National Assembly, the latter has responded, saying its comments were misinterpreted.

Ms Uwais, had in a lengthy statement, described some claims made by the leadership of the national assembly as false and dangerous.

She went further to accuse lawmakers of repeatedly trying to manipulate the list of the beneficiaries of the governments social investment programme (NSIP).

This was in reaction to a meeting between the leadership of the national assembly and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq.

At the meeting, both the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, faulted the method of distribution of the stimulus package to the most vulnerable during the lockdown. They also called for legislative measures to be put in place to ensure that the poorest of the poor benefit from the programme.

The duo also charged the minister to change the system for good.

However, in a statement by the media aide to the Senate President, Ola Awoniyi, the leadership of the National Assembly said although the official press statement issued at the end of the meeting clearly conveyed the deliberations and resolution of the meeting, some misrepresentations appeared in some reports.

Specifically, there was nowhere in the statement that NSIP was described as a failure or a scam as reported by some papers and there was no mention of two trillion naira or any amount, the statement read.

He also said the comments at the meeting were not made to denigrate any official but to make the scheme more effective in the delivery of its critical mandate and the comments were well taken by the minister and her delegation.

According to the statement, the minister was honest enough to admit that the NSIP had some challenges and also bedevilled with intrigues which she was yet battling with. And the leadership of the National Assembly would not have suggested an enabling legislation for the NSIP if it does not believe in the relevance of the scheme.

We believe this misrepresentation misled the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais to issue a rejoinder containing unfortunate insinuations which were totally extraneous to the discussions at the meeting and the contemplations of the National Assembly.

It is true that the leadership of the National Assembly pointed out gaps in the implementation of NSIP. As the representatives of the people, it is a key constitutional mandate of the Legislature to oversight, review and make recommendations for better implementation of important programmes of Government.

The observations made by the Senate President and the Speaker captured the views of many Nigerians. These observations also reflect feedback from the people they represent who are the targeted beneficiaries of the scheme.

We, therefore, take strong exception to the innuendo by the presidential aide that her rejoinder was issued towards safeguarding the entitlements of the poorest of Nigerian citizens, whose benefits are likely to cease because they are not known or connected to NASS members or any other person of influence. That insinuation is unfair to the members of the National Assembly and entirely baseless, part of the statement read.

The leadership of the national assembly also urged public office holders to be receptive to constructive ideas and suggestions expressed to enhance service delivery and to improve the performances of public projects and institutions.

While it pledged commitment to sustaining a cordial working relationship with the other arms of government, it said the commitment will never deter or discourage it from asserting its considered views in promotion and defence of good governance.

It also urged officials and agencies of government to exploit their access to the legislature in making clarifications before reacting to newspaper reports on its deliberations.
Phyllis Lyon, a lesbian activist who was relentless in her push for LGBTQ and womens rights, and was rewarded for 50 years in the fight when she and her partner became the first same-sex couple to be legally wed in California, in 2008, died of natural causes Thursday morning at her San Francisco home.

Her death was confirmed by Kate Kendell, a close friend and former director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Lyon was 95.

Lyon and partner Del Martin co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis at their home on Duncan Street during the years of enforced invisibility for gay couples. The couple began publishing the Ladder, a typed newsletter produced monthly at their kitchen table and circulating nationally, which gave other groups the foundation on which to build a national movement.

In 1972, they published Lesbian/Woman, one of the first nonfiction books on the subject, also written at their kitchen table, in the same house where Martin lived until she died in 2008 two months after their marriage, and where Lyon died Thursday.

We lost a giant today, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. Phyllis Lyon fought for LGBTQ equality when it was neither safe nor popular to do so. We owe Phyllis immense gratitude for her work. Rest in power.

In a 2010 interview in The Chronicle, the 85-year-old Lyon told reporter Meredith May that she and Martin never intended to be the first gay couple married in San Francisco, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom declared it to be legal in 2004.

We thought marriage was a bad deal for women, she told May. But Kendell had recruited them as the symbolic couple and they went along with it. It meant so much to so many people that we decided it was what we were supposed to do, Lyon said. We only had two days to get ready.

Four years later, they were recruited to be the first couple again, when the State Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage to be legal.

We wore the same suits, but we had to get the pants shortened. Wed shrunk, Lyon told May. Also by then, the benefits became obvious, like when Del died, there was no question about her insurance and inheritance. It all came to me, so thats important.

To Kendell, there could have been no other choice than for them to be the first gay people to be married  twice.

Her life was marked by courage and the tenacious belief that the world must and could change, she said. Few individuals did more to advance womens and LGBTQ rights than Phyllis Lyon.

Phyllis Ann Lyon was born Nov. 10, 1924, in Tulsa, Okla. Her family moved to Sacramento, where she grew up, attending Sacramento High School. She graduated in 1946 from UC Berkeley, where she studied journalism and was editor of the Daily Californian student newspaper. After stints as a police reporter in Fresno and at the Chico Enterprise Record, Lyon was working at a magazine in Seattle when Martin got a job there.

I peeked out of my office and saw her walking down the hall in a dark green suit, and she was carrying a briefcase, Lyon told May. I had never seen a woman with one before. I was impressed.

Lyon left that job and was traveling when she met up with Martin, who had come to San Francisco to visit her parents. Martin took Lyon to a lesbian bar. They became partners in 1953 and bought a wood-and-glass house up a steep set of stairs in Noe Valley in 1955.

So began their lifes work in activism. They were Phyllis and Del, inseparable for the next 55 years. Lyon adopted and helped raise Martins daughter from her first marriage, Kendra Mon.

They were very funny and they never interrupted each other like some couples do, May said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Lyon kept Martins ashes in a urn close at hand and told May that she still read out loud to her. There was plenty to read from. There were bookcases everywhere, books packed in with the overflow piled on the floor.

When the Rev. Cecil Williams arrived in 1963 as the minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, Lyon was his first administrative assistant. Over the years, she helped bring the gay community to Glide, where they became a major part of the culture.

She inspired Cecil to conduct same-sex unions in the 1960s, said Glide co-founder Janice Mirikitani, noting that it was one of the first churches in the country to do so.

Lyon and Martin also became active in San Franciscos first gay political organization, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, which was a major factor in outlawing discrimination in hiring.

Phyllis changed countless lives for the better, Mayor London Breed said in a statement. Through decades of organizing, activism, and writing, Phyllis helped advance civil rights protections, created robust support networks for LGBTQ people, and established political and advocacy organizations that continue her work to this day.

Survivors include her sister, Patricia Lyon of Berkeley; daughter Kendra Mon of Santa Rosa; granddaughter Lorri Mon; and grandson Kevin Mon. A public memorial is pending.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
Its been a tough month for many families across Florida: Thousands already living on a shoestring have lost paychecks, kids are cooped up and there are constant worries about the threat of potentially deadly illness.

But, in Miami-Dade County at least, domestic violence arrests actually were down in March and petitions for restraining orders have decreased significantly. That trend stands in contrast to some regions are the world, where the stress of severe restrictions to combat the spread of novel coronavirus have produced a surge of abuse cases.

Experts and advocates hope its not just a case of the calm before the storm and also believe that official numbers dont necessarily reflect reality. COVID-19 isnt the only thing to worry about for many victims of abuse.

It doesnt surprise me that domestic violence arrests have gone down. Victims are scared to make the call because they dont know what will result from it, said Miguel De Grandy, the chairman of the Miami-Dade County Domestic Violence Oversight Board. What will happen to the children? Many women are taking the abuse in order to minimize the risk to their children.

The threat of being literally stuck at home with an abuser may make some women more afraid to report violence, experts say. And venturing to a courthouse or police station is now an uncertain process that could mean catching a deadly disease.

But as pandemic restrictions in Miami stretch into April, advocates believe reports of domestic violence will indeed rise, along with the demand for services.

So far, shelters for battered women remain open and a crucial lifeline for victims like Josseline, who arrived to one facility in early March, just before the stay-at-home restrictions escalated. For months beforehand, she endured a controlling and violent husband who refused to let her have friends, save money or go to school.

Hopes of getting on her feet have been quickly dashed by the coronavirus. Shed planned to leave The Lodge shelter in Miami within a few weeks, once shed saved enough money for an apartment. But now, her hours clerking at gas stations have dried up to only about 15 per week and public buses have cut routes.

Story continues

The available shelter space has allowed her to stay longer, which is a blessing.

I was only supposed to stay 45 days, but I havent been able to save any money for my own place, said Josseline, 40, who asked her last name not be used to protect her identity. But theyve extended me because of everything going on.

Bad trend globally

As the coronavirus has largely shut down the worlds economy, infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands, officials have cautioned that domestic-violence victims are particularly vulnerable.

In hard-hit countries such as a China and Spain, calls for domestic-violence services have surged since the pandemic struck, the New York Times reported. In South Africa, there were almost 90,000 reports of violence against women during the first week alone of the countrys strict lockdown.

Domestic-violence reports in France have increased by at least 30 percent, according to the countrys interior minister; a campaign has now been launched to help non-French speakers get help.

I urge all governments to put womens safety first as they respond to the pandemic, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

U.S. officials have echoed those same concerns. The head of the National Domestic Violence Hotline told Forbes that calls citing COVID-19 have surged since the week of March 16, when many cities across the country began issuing shelter-in-place orders.

There hasnt been an overwhelming increase in reported domestic-violence cases in Miami-Dade, and in some cases, the numbers have dipped  although that doesnt mean domestic violence isnt happening.

In the City of Miami, there were 237 domestic-violence calls in March, actually down 11 from the same month in 2019, police reported.

In unincorporated Miami-Dade, police said, calls for domestic assaults went down slightly in March from the same month the year before. But calls regarding domestic disturbances went up to 1,830, a jump of nearly 20 percent from March 2019.

Across Miami-Dade, felony and misdemeanor arrests were down significantly in March: 543, down nearly 17 percent from the previous 12-month average, according to the State Attorneys Office.

Calls to Miami-Dades domestic-violence hotline have so far stayed steady, according to Ivon Mesa, who runs victim services and the countys two SafeSpace shelters.

Court orders way down

Petitions for domestic-violence restraining orders, however, have gone down significantly since the pandemic shut down South Florida society.

Last week, only 39 petitions were filed, said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Caroll Kelly, the head of the domestic-violence division. Thats low for us. Normally, we have about 60 or 70 per week, Kelly said.

The drop didnt surprise Kelly. She said many victims, primarily women, fear their abusers may not have a place to stay if they are arrested  and even going outside to file a petition is a gamble.

People are terrified of going out in public and contracting COVID-19, Kelly said. Victims are unable to leave the house. Many are stuck in a home with an abuser able to monitor whether theyre making a phone call, monitor their computers, who theyre talking to.

Its not like the self-isolation orders have somehow stemmed domestic violence.

Last weekend, a Hialeah man shot his ex-girlfriend and two of her relatives inside a Hialeah aprtment. He also wounded a Hialeah Police SWAT officer during a standoff. The gunman, Julio Mederos, 59, was killed in the standoff after he took a 9-year-old boy hostage; the child was unharmed.

The coronavirus quarantines have also sparked clashes.

Domestic violence survivor Sherry Hunt raises her arm in Miami to celebrate a new Florida law, which went into effect July 1, 2019, that provides unemployment benefits to domestic abuse survivors whove been forced to quit their job and/or relocate to avoid an abusive situation.

One Homestead man was arrested in late March after police said he strangled his longtime girlfriend, and the mother of his three children, because she left to visit family in Orlando during the pandemic. I was in fear for my children, he said of his girlfriends venture that could have infected her; his case was dropped.

In Coral Gables, a woman got into an argument with her husband because he kept going to work and would not stay home. The wife tried to kick him out because he might be contagious, according to a police report. Their 25-year-old son emerged from his bedroom and pushed the father, police said. For that, he was jailed on a charge of misdemeanor battery. The court case remains open.

People have to stay home with each other. Theyre losing their jobs. Financial problems arise. Now, the children are home, and some dont know if theyll have food or medication, said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. And theyre stuck at home  thats always a formula for stress.

For some domestic violence victims, stay at home means being trapped with an abuser

Still, the court and support system set up for Miami-Dade domestic-violence victims is still operating, although procedures have changed significantly.

Victims are still showing up to the downtown Miami family courthouse, and branch courts, to file for restraining orders. But petitions are sent to an on-call judge working remotely.

This week, hearings started on Zoom, the videoconferencing service. For victims who dont have Internet access, Miami-Dade Countys Coordinated Victims Assistance Center is providing space and technical support for victims to appear virtually for their court hearings.

Melissa, a 37-year-old woman who is living at The Lodge for the time being, got a restraining order against her estranged husband after she said he hit her in a jealous rage and stole her phone in February. He was arrested for witness tampering and strong-armed robbery.

After the incident, Melissa gave a statement to a domestic-violence prosecutor, but not in person but via video teleconference. Her ex is awaiting trial.

Ive been very grateful for all the services, said Melissa, who did not want her last name used.

Shelter funding uncertain

The pandemic also could pinch funding for shelters at a time when they may be most needed.

Construction has continued on a second facility for The Lodge, which is funded by a government food and beverage tax. The tax numbers arent in yet for March, but the collection of the revenue likely plummeted because so many restaurants were forced to shut down, said De Grandy, the oversight chairman.

The April numbers are going to be much worse, said De Grandy, who this week urged the Miami-Dade County Commission to provide relief to the countys shelters.

The Lodge shelter, which will soon be taken over by Miami-Dade County, has been operating fine for now. No clients or staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. The shelter is getting masks and more disinfectant as counseling sessions with victims have moved to an open courtyard in the facility, said chief operations officer Angela Diaz-Vidaillet.

The 49-bed facility has lost bed space because residents must be spaced out to avoid crowded rooms that make for easier viral transmissions. Only two women are allowed in the kitchen at a time.

We continue to do counseling with victims over the phone, Diaz-Vidaillet.

SafeSpace, which encompasses two county-run shelters, is taking similar precautions. Mesa, the executive director, acknowledged that many women may be apprehensive about leaving their homes for a shelter filled with other people.

But Mesa said staff and residents are doing their best to keep the shelters clean and maintain social distance.

The message is were open and available, Mesa said. We are not overwhelmed.
POTTSTOWN  Borough council unanimously approved site plans Monday night for a proposed $208 million sustainable energy facility on Keystone Boulevard that is expected to generate more than 100 jobs. Now called the Pottstown Sustainable Energy Park, or PSEP, the project is being proposed for 11 acres at 405 Keystone Blvd. The company uses a new process called "gasification" to...
By Trend

It is possible to consider the issue of extending the term of the special quarantine regime given the ongoing situation in Azerbaijan, Spokesman for the Cabinet of Ministers Ibrahim Mammadov said.

Mammadov made the remark in Baku during the briefing at the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8.

The quarantine regime term may be extended in the country while the requirements may be tightened, the spokesman said.

"In accordance with the information, the requirements of the special quarantine regime are not observed by many people, Mammadov added. Today's statistics show that there are cases of sale of fake certificates and permits. If the conditions of this regime are observed, this will contribute to the positive statistics and it will not be extended. However, today's data shows that requirements may be tightened. This decision is extremely difficult for us."

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Chartered accountants' institute ICAI on Thursday said it will contribute a total of Rs 21 crore, including contributions from its students, to the government in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) endeavours to collect Rs 6 crore through voluntary contributions and out of that amount, Rs 1.72 crore has been deposited in PMNRF on March 31, 2020 as contribution by the institute's membership, students and officials, according to a release.

"The balance Rs 4.28 crore will be deposited in the newly constituted PM-CARES Fund by April 20, 2020," it added.

Further, the institute would contribute Rs 15 crore to the fund.

"The total direct financial contribution of ICAI will be Rs 21 crore in addition to the financial and community support extended by ICAI member and student community at individual level," the release said.

ICAI has around 3 lakh members.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi on Thursday as the country's third prime minister-designate this year, moments after his predecessor ended his bid to form a government. Kadhemi, the 53-year-old head of the National Intelligence Service, has ascended to the role as Iraq faces a budget crisis brought on by the collapse in world oil prices and the spread of the novel coronavirus. "This is a huge responsibility, and a difficult task," Saleh said in his nominating speech, describing Kadhemi as someone with integrity and reason. His nomination was attended by ministers, political rivals and even the United Nations' representative in Iraq, indicating widespread support for Kadhemi that neither of the previous PM-designates had enjoyed. Moments before the ceremony, his predecessor Adnan Zurfi announced he was withdrawing his candidacy due to "internal and external reasons," without elaborating. Zurfi had been staunchly opposed by hardline Shiite factions with close ties to Iran, which enjoys vast political and military influence in Baghdad. Any candidate for the premiership, observers say, must have approval from Iraq's Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni communities -- as well as Iran and its rival, the US. - Balancing Iran, US support - Kadhemi was able to secure that support after weeks of lobbying that peaked in a flurry of meetings in Baghdad over the last week, sources close to him told AFP. Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Ismail Qaani, who has headed Iran's powerful Quds Force foreign operations unit since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed his predecessor Qasem Soleimani in January. One hardline Iraqi faction accused Kadhemi of conspiring with Washington to carry out the strike, but the spy chief was able to repair his ties to Iran, several political sources close to the talks told AFP. "Kadhemi recently travelled to Beirut to overcome this obstacle," said one source close to Lebanon's pro-Iran movement Hezbollah. That paved the way for Qaani to endorse Kadhemi in his meetings with top Iraqi Shiite leaders in Baghdad last week, a second source confirmed. Iraq has long feared being caught in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which has blamed the Islamic republic and its allies for dozens of rocket attacks on American troops and citizens in Iraq in recent months. Washington has also imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, granting Iraq a series of temporary waivers to allow it to keep importing vital Iranian gas to feed its dilapidated power grid. The latest waiver will expire in late April. David Schenker, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, accused Iran of still "trying to influence and interfere in the Iraqi political process" and called Zurfi's failure "a sad defeat." He signalled support for Kadhemi, calling him "competent" and an "Iraqi patriot." "If Kadhemi is an Iraqi nationalist dedicated to pursuing a sovereign Iraq, if he is committed to fighting corruption, this will be great for Iraq and this will be great for our bilateral relations," Schenker told reporters in Washington. - Third time's the charm? - With ties to both Washington and Tehran, and particularly close links to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kadhemi may be best equipped to steer Iraq through the brewing political storm, observers say. "It's a win for Iraq, especially in this difficult economic phase, as he could ensure the renewal of Baghdad's waiver to the US sanctions imposed on Iran," a senior political figure in the Iraqi capital told AFP. But first, he must submit a cabinet lineup to Iraq's 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence by May 9. That will require a long process of consultations with various political parties, as top positions in Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system are typically doled out through horsetrading and consensus. Neither of the previous candidates for prime minister -- Zurfi or former communications minister Mohammad Allawi -- had been able to reach that step. If he succeeds, Kadhemi would replace Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who came into power in 2018 when political blocs opted for him over Kadhemi. Abdel Mahdi resigned in December following months of anti-government protests, becoming the first prime minister in the country's post-2003 order to step down. But if the intel leader fails, political sources close to the talks told AFP, Shiite blocs would struggle to find another consensus candidate -- leaving Abdel Mahdi in place for the foreseeable future. Kadhemi's nomination was attended by ministers and political rivals Iraqi women hold portraits of Iran's late top general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad in January 2020 Iraqi policemen stand behind barbered wire during anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on March 1, 2020
Gardai are investigating the source of threatening posters that were apparently displayed at different locations in a popular West Clare resort town.

The A4 printed pages were posted at various locations in Kilkee including outside mobile home parks and holiday homes. It has also been claimed that the posters were dropped in the letter boxes of local holiday homes in the town.

The posters told holiday home owners to f**k off or they might have no holiday homes to return to when the Covid-19 crisis is over.

The page, headed Kilkee Residents Health Defence, read: Holiday home owners. Stay at home does not mean your holiday pad. We would like you to return to your home.

"Do the right thing, F**k out of Kilkee NOW! If you do not leave, when the crisis is over, you may not have a holiday home to return to this summer.

Kilkee Chamber of Commerce has said it utterly condemns such nonsensical, counter productive and criminal behaviour.

A spokesperson said: We urge anyone who has received this letter or has any other information about this to contact the gardai immediately and we would ask anyone with CCTV cameras to have a look and see if they have footage of this being posted.

This is not indicative of the attitude of the overwhelming majority of people in Kilkee. This is the action of one or two idiotic and attention seeking individuals.

"We urge everyone to stay safe, follow the official advice from the HSE and An Garda Siochana and we look forward to welcoming you all back to Kilkee once this crisis is over.

Local Fianna Fail Councillor and tourism consultant Cillian Murphy has described it as a reprehensible cowardly act.

I havent seen a physical copy of this so can only go on what people are telling me. This is shocking and not reflective of the majority of people here in Kilkee.

"Ive been told they were also dropped in some letterboxes and I would ask those people to take them to the garda station and make a formal complaint."

Gardai in Kilrush are investigating the incident and have asked anyone with information to contact them on 065 9080550.

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Katelyn P. Sandfort Katelyn brings with her a decade of complex litigation experience and trial work. We feel incredibly fortunate to have her and know our clients will benefit from her addition to the team, Lonergan elaborated.

Prior to joining Herrling Clark, Katelyn handled a variety of complex and transactional litigation cases at a Northeast Wisconsin law firm. She has also tried cases throughout the State of Wisconsin, from Milwaukee County to Eau Claire County as well as Outagamie County. Katelyn is intimately familiar with the practice of Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, and Subrogation.

Katelyn is a member of both the Wisconsin Defense Counsel and the Wisconsin Association for Justice in addition to various local bar associations. Katelyn received her Bachelors degree from the University of Minnesotas Carlson School of Management and earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin.

Senior Personal Injury Attorney and Herrling Clark Past-President Kevin Lonergan said that Sandforts addition to the firm is like hitting the jackpot. Katelyn brings with her a decade of complex litigation experience and trial work. She also brings not only a sharp legal mind but an incredibly outgoing and tenacious personality to our firm. We feel incredibly fortunate to have her and know our clients will benefit from her addition to the team, Lonergan elaborated.

About Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd.

Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd. has more nationally board-certified trial attorneys located in northeast Wisconsin than any other law firm. Their skilled legal team has handled some of the largest and most complex civil litigation cases in the area.

Utilizing the latest trends and technology, Herrling Clarks skilled attorneys remain abreast of any changes to the laws as they pertain to their relevant practice areas. By providing personalized service to their clients, they successfully represent their best interests and protect their rights in a court of law.

To learn more about Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd., visit https://www.herrlingclark.com/ or call 920-739-7366 to schedule a consultation.
China on Thursday denied any cover-up in reporting the initial information of the novel coronavirus outbreak in December last as it put up a staunch defence of WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, refuting US President Donald Trump's allegation that he was "very China centric".

"China was the first country to report the COVID-19 to the World Health Organisation (WHO), (and) that doesn't mean the virus originated from Wuhan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here, dismissing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's charge of China hiding the COVID-19 data.

"Epidemic may break out first anywhere in the world. But its origin is a matter of science and we should leave it to science and medical community," said Zhao, who earlier created a storm by alleging on March 12 that the US Army may have brought the virus to Wuhan, leading to a diplomatic protest by Washington.

While he didn't revisit his allegation, Zhao, in a detailed reply to Pompeo's charge, referred to Wuhan lifting its 76-day lockdown on Wednesday which, he said, boosted the confidence of other countries.

"More and more people have come to realise that Chinese solution is viable and Chinese experience is of great value. Any responsible country will stand firmly against labelling the virus," he said.

In an official timeline of the coronavirus released on April 6, China said the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in "late December 2019" where the infection was listed as "pneumonia of unknown cause", but skirted the key question about its origin.

Wild animals sold in the Huanan Seafood Market in China's Wuhan city are believed to be the source of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly 90,000 lives worldwide so far.

"Accusation of China covered up the epidemic and lack of transparency is groundless, Zhao said, adding that China had informed WHO of the genetic sequence of the virus which was used by American labs in their efforts to develop a vaccine. A US specialist was also part of the WHO team which visited Wuhan.

To another question about local officials in Wuhan concealing the information and not acting in time to contain the virus, Zhao said, "as to the initial stage of the outbreak, it is a new virus. There is a process before we can get to know it fully, there is no such thing as (cover-up) as you claimed."



"The US had open access to information and data" on the virus, he said, referring to Chinese research group publishing the details.

"So, China has done what we should and could do. As to whether the US made good use of the precious time we bought, the information we provided and whether it took effective preventive control measures, we believe history will give a fair judgement," he said.

"Stigmatising China will prove deeply to unpopular. Virus respects no borders," he said.

Zhao also refuted Trump's allegation of the WHO chief being "very China centric", saying the UN health agency under his leadership has "fulfilled its due role and upheld a science-based objective and played an important role in helping countries to fight the virus and coordinating international cooperation.

Besides the UN, many countries have spoken openly to endorse WHO and its call for greater cooperation in the world, he said.

The G20 Summit released a statement stressing full support and committing further support for WHO in coordinating the international response, he said.

"China will continue to support WHO in playing a leading role to control the pandemic," he said.

About Trump's threat to withhold US funding to WHO, Zhao said on Wednesday that "as the COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the world, the US putting a hold on its funding to WHO will seriously undermine the organization's normal functioning as well as international anti-pandemic cooperation.

"We hope countries can work together, help each other amid difficulties and jointly contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus," he said.

President Trump threatened to put a "very powerful" hold on US' funding to the WHO, accusing the UN agency of being "very China centric" and criticising it for having "missed the call" in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Geneva-headquartered agency receives vast amounts of money from the United States.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Farm-to-table  the term has become a fixture in the culinary lexicon  started in the 1970s, when Chez Panisse and a handful of other restaurants hatched what then seemed like a radical notion: Build menus from food grown by nearby farmers who are thoughtful about everything from the seeds they select and the soil they grow them in to the communities they feed.

That idea grew into a pipeline connecting farmers, ranchers and chefs that in 2019 had generated $12 billion in income for small-scale producers including cheesemakers and vintners. Governments, hospitals and schools have come to see the value in buying locally grown food. No Silicon Valley tech company worth its stock price would dare to design a cafeteria without local food.

Since the pandemic hit, that conduit has shut down. The loss in sales could run as high as $689 million, with much higher costs in jobs and other businesses that make up the farm-to-table economic ecosystem, according to a report compiled in March by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

For the first few weeks, farmers scrambled to find other ways to sell their crops. Some turned to online sales or tapped a renewed interest in community-supported agriculture, or C.S.A.s, in which farmers sell subscriptions for boxes of produce. Others delivered food to restaurants that had turned into pop-up grocers, or doubled down on the farmers markets that remained open. Many sent what they could to relief kitchens.
On Wednesdays episode of Late Night, host Seth Meyers delivered another edition of A Closer Look from the attic in his house. This time, Meyers went in on Donald Trump from acting as though the coronavirus pandemic was some kind of unknown threat that came completely out of nowhere, despite the Trump administration fielding warnings about this exact scenario numerous times over the past three years.

Seems like almost every day we get more and more evidence that the Trump administration knew well in advance of the very real threat of a pandemic, and that they both ignored it and lied to the American people about it, Meyers said early in his monologue, after starting with the now-daily series of jokes about the tiny door in his attic. Despite the fact that the president keeps saying stuff like this

Late Night then showed a series of montages in which Trump claimed the pandemic was impossible to have seen coming. For example: Nobody knew thered be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.

Also Read: Bernie Sanders Tells Colbert He Hopes to Move Biden 'in a More Progressive Direction' (Video)

Its very telling about his psychological state that when he means I he says nobody,' Meyers said as he slipped into his Trump impression. Folks, nobody could have kept a casino open in Atlantic City. Nobody really blew it. Nobody sucks.

So nobody could see this coming. Yeah, Taiwan and South Korea and New Zealand and Singapore were all surprised. Thats why they have a combined total of 12,000 cases and we have a total of 400,000 cases. Although in fairness, New Zealand had a huge advantage because they could call in those eagles from the end of Return of the King.'

Meyers then dropped a solid minute of jokes about the well-worn rhetoric about how if those giant eagles could have carried Frodo and Sam out of Mount Doom then they probably could have carried them there in the first place. And then, for good measure, he added some jokes about how Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien named the town where the hobbits live Hobbiton. This is a comedy show, remember.

Story continues

Also Read: Colbert Has Had it With Trump's 'Hissy Fits': 'Grow Up and Do Your Damn Job' (Video)

Eventually, however, we got back to the point.

And yet despite Trumps repeated claims that no one could have foreseen this, it turns out a lot of people foresaw this. Including people in the Trump administration, Meyers quipped as he began to run down a lengthy list of times when Trump was specifically warned about the threat of a pandemic, citing news reports.

Heres just a quick list. First, Obama officials walk Trump aids through a global pandemic exercise in 2017. Then, in 2017 and 2018, threat assessment intelligence analysts even mentioned a close cousin of coronavirus by name saying it had pandemic potential. Then in 2018, the director for medical and biodefense preparedness at the National Security Council told a symposium that the threat of pandemic flu is our number one health security concern. Then top administration officials said last year that the threat of a pandemic kept them up at night. Then, White House economists warned in 2019 a pandemic could devastate America. Then, intelligence reports warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November. And then, US intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic. Well, you know, the saying: 8 strikes and youre out. Seriously, how many incredibly specific warnings do you need?

As Meyers approached the end of the A Closer Look segment, he segued into Trumps obsession with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that many conservatives have pushed as a cure for COVID-19.

Also Read: Bill Maher Says Trump Has Handled Coronavirus About as Well as Bush Handled 9/11 (It's Not a Compliment)

Trump is desperately hoping this will all just go away, and thats why hes pushing an unproven miracle cure, Meyers said as he closed out the segment. This morning he tweeted that once this deadly pandemic that cratered our economy is over, it must be quickly forgotten. But it shouldnt be forgotten. Our government, led by our sociopath president, ignored repeated warnings that a major public health and economic disaster was headed our way.

You can watch all of the A Closer Look segment from Wednesdays Late Night with Seth Meyers in the video embedded up at the top of this post.

Read original story Seth Meyers Runs Down the List of Pandemic Warnings Trump Completely Ignored (Video) At TheWrap
An appeals court in Iran has sentenced a civil rights activist to six years in jail for signing a letter last year asking Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down, human rights groups reported March 10.

Reza Mehregan is one of the fourteen signatories to the letter published last June and all signatories have been targeted by law enforcement.

Earlier in January, an Islamic Revolution Court sentenced Mehregan to five years for "assembly and collusion against national security," one year for "disturbing public order," and one-year prison and 74 lashes as "supplementary punishment."

Furthermore, the court sentenced the civil rights activist to two years forced exile in the province of Southern Khorasan, northeast Iran.

The signatories to the letter had called for Khamenei's resignation and fundamental change in the Islamic Republic's constitution.

In a statement addressed to the "thoughtful, intellectual, and considerate people of Iran," the signatories had urged their compatriots to leave any "tendency toward discreetness" aside, audaciously step in and demand Khamenei's resignation and fundamentally amending the country's constitution.

"Herald a new national movement," the activists encouraged the Iranian people in their letter, "by demanding Khamenei's resignation", since he is continuously increasing his "unfair" power and authority, they said.

All the signatories to the letter were arrested last August by Intelligence Ministry agents when they gathered in Mashhad in northeast Iran to support Kamal Jafari-Yazdi, also a signatory of the message, who was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for "insulting the leader."

Days after the letter was published, fourteen prominent Iranian women followed suit and signed a similar statement, calling on the 80-year-old Supreme Leader to step down.
Lockdown: Church in Kerala donates money meant for renovation to help fishermen community

April 09,2020 | Source: Daijiworld Media Network

From individuals to organizations stepping out to help people in need during this lockdown, a church in Alappuzha in the south Indian state of Kerala decided to donate money to the fishermen community who were worst affected. Technically, the money was being collected for the church renovation.



Fr Thomas, a priest of the church said, "There are 530 families here and with the money collected for church renovation I will be able to support each family with Rs 500. I thought at this time supporting them is more important than renovating the church."



Solomon, a fisherman said that they were solely surviving on the free ration provided by the government since the lockdown was imposed.



"Since last month we have no work and the lockdown has made the situation difficult for us. At this time getting Rs 500 is like getting Rs 5 lac," said another fisherman Yousheph, indicating the sufferings of the families without work.



The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday asserted that India has 5,194 cases with 4,643 cases reported to be active while 401 people have either recovered or discharged.



In the last 24 hours, the ministry reported 10 new deaths taking the death toll to 149.

 2001 - 2020 Daijiworld Media Pvt Ltd., Mangalore

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
The head of Ontarios public health agency is stepping aside temporarily for personal medical reasons in the midst of the fight against COVID-19  a second shakeup in recent days for the provincial pandemic hierarchy.

Dr. Peter Donnelly, the president and chief executive of Public Health Ontario, wasnt a public figure until last Friday when he did a live televised briefing on an anticipated surge of cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus.

He earned plaudits for detailing a series of sobering numbers in a calming tone with candour and confidence.

I think Dr. Donnellys an absolute champion. Hes amazing, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday, a day after going public with concerns that Ontario is testing far below its laboratory capacity to process potential COVID-19 samples and get a better picture of the virus.

Unfortunately he had to step aside for medical reasons but I cant wait to have Dr. Donnelly back and have him part of the team.

Public Health Ontario spokeswoman Janet Wong said Donnelly is ill and on medical leave which is not related to COVID-19. Its not known how long the doctor  a cross-country skier, cyclist and runner whose research has included the impact of violence on public health  will be away.

Ford told reporters he didnt mean to point fingers out with his critical remarks about the provincial testing effort, which came as the Star revealed former Toronto public health chief Dr. David McKeown has come aboard to lead a table of experts scrutinizing major public health measures to fight the virus.

Theres no doubt I was frustrated. Lets make it clear. Im not frustrated at any individual or any group, Im frustrated at the system, said Ford.

His government has been under pressure to fix critical shortages of masks, face shields, gloves and gowns for health-care workers to protect themselves from the highly contagious virus, along with an anticipated shortage of ventilators to keep COVID-19 patients alive when they can no longer breathe on their own.

When a crisis happens, you see where a lot of systems are broken down or systems where there hasnt been a playbook to get through a crisis like this, Ford added.

I believe in our people, I believe in the Ontario Public Service, every single person. But were going to get through it and were going to have better systems moving forward.

As first reported on thestar.com, Donnelly will be replaced on an acting basis by Colleen Geiger, who is Public Health Ontarios chief of strategy, stakeholder relations, information and knowledge.

Two other executives  Dr. Vanessa Allen, chief of medical microbiology, and Dr. Shelley Deeks, chief health protection officer  will have larger roles at the agency during Donnellys absence, the government source said.

In the early days of the COVID-19 scare, when the virus was limited to China, Allen was called upon to give briefings to the media with Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer, on how testing was conducted.

Details on a new testing regime will be revealed Friday.

Williams cautioned that testing will not be population-wide because there is not enough lab capacity for that. Rather, it will be aimed selectively at nursing-home residents and staff, health-care workers and other priority or high-risk groups.

Ford signalled that his patience has worn thin after the province cleared its testing backlog COVID-19 last Friday but failed to take advantage of the unused capacity to test more people, particularly nursing-home residents, front-line health-care workers and first responders.

Ontario can now process 13,000 samples a day but on several days has done just one-third or one-quarter that number, leaving health experts puzzled at the missed opportunity to get a better sense of how the new coronavirus is spreading.

As well, tests being completed lately have been revealing a larger percentage of positives in the past, indicating the virus is taking a broader hold, making the importance of testing even more crucial.

Ford said he called Ontario Health chief executive Matt Anderson to talk about the issue, which insiders said is a signal that Anderson is now a go-to person for the premier as the provinces case load has topped 6,000 and the death toll has surpassed 200. Ontario Health is the umbrella agency in charge of all elements in the provincial health system.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom with Bloom Energy Chief Executive KR Sridhar, right, during a tour of the company in Sunnyvale. Bloom Energy has switched over to refurbishing ventilators to fight COVID-19. (Associated Press)

Gov. Gavin Newsoms decision to lend 500 state-owned ventilators to New York and other coronavirus hot spots outside California has caught some local officials in his own state off guard as they scramble to acquire the much-needed medical equipment, particularly in Riverside County.

Riverside County officials said the state recently denied their request for an additional 500 ventilators, even though the county expects demand for the breathing machines at county hospitals and medical centers to exceed the supply in less than three weeks.

Santa Clara County, another area hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, is offering a $1,000 bounty for each device it receives and has ordered companies with the devices to report their inventory to the county.

"I understand and respect what the governor is doing. But are we going to be able to get the assistance that were going to need in a week or two weeks out?" Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said Wednesday. "I think we were all a little surprised. Were all trying to prepare so were not like New York."

Newsom on Thursday said the state was able to lend the 500 ventilators to other states because California had an excess supply of the devices and those areas were in desperate need.

The governor said California hospitals reported that they are currently using only 31% of the ventilators they have, meaning 8,000 of the breathing machines are available for future COVID-19 patients who might need them. That number does not include the ventilators in the state stockpile, he said.

The governor defended his decision, saying it was the right thing to do and emphasizing that the ventilators will be returned to California when needed.

We cant just sit on assets when we can save lives and help our fellow Americans, so I just want to clear up any anxiety in that space or any ambiguity or any misinformation, Newsom said during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Sacramento on Thursday.

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Hospitals throughout California have procured thousands of ventilators in the last few weeks, increasing their total inventory to 11,747 from 7,587. An additional 1,000 refurbished ventilators are expected to become available in coming days and weeks, the governor said.

Newsom said that one reason California can afford to spare ventilators, at least for now, is because the vast majority of Californians have heeded orders to stay at home and, when they go out for essential purposes, they have also maintained the recommended social distancing from others.

That has helped slow the spread of infections as well as the number of hospitalizations and deaths, he said, allowing California to avoid the paths of hot spots such as New York and Italy. State health officials expect the coronavirus peak to hit the state sometime in May.

These are lent. They are not given, Newsom said Monday.

Jeffries said Riverside County had an agreement to purchase 300 new ventilators from a medical supply company for $12 million, but the deal has since been canceled. He said he was told that the Federal Emergency Management Agency instead acquired those ventilators to add to the Strategic National Stockpile.

"As far as we know, we're dead in the water," Jeffries said.

A FEMA spokesperson said the agency does not directly purchase ventilators, but does does help the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense acquire the medical devices.

The governor said the California Emergency Medical Services Authority constantly monitors the availability of ventilators statewide and has positioned stockpiles of the medical devices strategically around the state so that they can be rapidly delivered to hospitals and medical centers that need them.

Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the state also keeps a close eye on rural hospitals that have only a limited number of ventilators, knowing that even a small increase in coronavirus patients might push the facilities past capacity.

State officials are checking in with them continuously, making sure that we prioritize their needs so that every hospital has enough to be able to serve the surge that we anticipate, Ghaly said.

Although Riverside County expects to need ventilators when a predicted surge of coronavirus patients hits in late April, 305 of the 512 ventilators currently in the county were not in use as of Wednesday morning, according to county spokeswoman Brooke Federico.

County heath officials estimate that all the ventilators will be in use by April 26.

Federico said the county had initially requested 500 ventilators from the state, which was denied. The county later submitted a separate request for 1,000 ventilators that is pending.

Testifying before the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Riverside County Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton said the state did not explain why it denied the county's first request for ventilators.

"I just want people to know that we have been working on it," Supervisor Karen Spiegel said at the meeting. "It's beyond our control."

Riverside joins counties across the state also scrambling to acquire ventilators and protective gear for healthcare workers.

Santa Clara County issued an order Wednesday asking individuals and businesses to report any large inventories of personal protective equipment and ventilators in anticipation of a forthcoming shortage as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. The county has a sufficient supply of equipment, but officials are preparing for an imminent need for more supplies beyond what the state and federal governments may be able to provide in the future. The order came a day after the county confirmed 1,380 COVID-19 cases and 46 deaths.

The intent is to ensure we have comprehensive collective information about what PPE exists across the community, said Dr. Sara Cody, the county's public health officer.

Officials anticipate that most people would not need to report any equipment. The personal information of those who do will remain confidential, County Counsel James Williams said.

Individuals and businesses that have more than a minimum supply of equipment are expected to report to the county by April 15. That includes anyone with more than 5,000 nitrile or vinyl gloves; more than 500 N95 masks; more than 500 surgical masks; more than 100 safety goggles or face shields; more than a gallon of hand sanitizer; and any ventilators.

The order is about protecting the people who protect us, Williams said. Were sheltering at home. These people are out there on the front lines protecting people who are infected. We need to protect the protectors.

Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said the county isn't in need of more ventilators at the moment, but we cant predict what were going to need in the weeks ahead. In Santa Clara County we have to make sure that we have ventilators for every person in our community who may need one.

Newsom said Tuesday that California had secured a monthly supply of 200 million N95 respiratory and surgical masks to help protect healthcare workers. Delivery of the masks should begin in about a month, spokesman Nathan Click said.

The new effort will cost the state $495 million, according to a budget document that the Newsom administration submitted to the Legislature. In all, according to the document, the state has committed to purchasing medical safety gear that will cost $1.4 billion.

Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, said Wednesday that supplying personal protective equipment to Santa Clara and Riverside counties  along with Los Angeles, Orange, San Joaquin, San Francisco, Alameda, Sacramento and San Mateo counties  is considered the state's top priority.

"It's not just random," he said. "This is closely coordinated with where we're seeing the greatest number of cases that we have to manage, and that doesn't mean that the rest of our counties in the state are not going to get" personal protective equipment.
Pakistan on Thursday asked Afghanistan to hand over the chief of the Islamic State's Khorasan unit, Aslam Farooqi, the mastermind behind a deadly terror attack on a prominent gurudwara in Kabul last month.

The Foreign Office said that the demand was conveyed to the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad who was called at the foreign ministry.

A heavily armed Islamic State-Khorasan suicide bomber stormed the gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistan's capital on March 25, killing 25 Sikhs and injuring eight others.

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security earlier this month said Farooqi, also known as Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested along with 19 other commanders in a "complex operation".

"The ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed Pakistan's views with regard to the arrest of ISIS-K leader, Aslam Farooqi, by the Afghan authorities on April 5, 2020," a statement issued by the Foreign Office said here.

"It was underscored to the ambassador that since Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigations," the statement added.

It said that Pakistan had been expressing its concerns over the activities of the group, which were clearly detrimental to the country.

Pakistan's position was being regularly shared with the government of Afghanistan and others concerned, it added.

Pakistan also said that the two sides should coordinate actions against terrorism through established mechanisms between them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Repeats story published on Wednesday without changes to text)

By Roslan Khasawneh

SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Supertanker freight rates have fallen from last week's highs as industry participants await the outcome of a meeting of oil producers on Thursday before making further bookings, industry sources said.

Freight rates could drop further if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers decide to cut output sharply, reducing transport and storage demand for oil, they said. They could jump again if producers fail to reach an agreement.

"From a freight standpoint, therefore, we would expect an immediate scale down of Saudi seaborne exports," Anoop Singh, head of tanker research in Asia at Braemar ACM Shipbroking, said. The financial incentives for storing crude in ships would also be eliminated, further weighing on freight rates, he added.

The threat of a big production cut combined with lower demand has dampened sentiment in the VLCC (very large crude carrier) market this week, pushing freight rates along the Middle East-China route lower to about $125,000 per day on Wednesday, down by nearly half from about $235,000 a day last week, according to ship broker data and sources. <DFRT-ME-CN>

By comparison, VLCC freight rates were at about $30,000 per day at the start of March before Saudi Arabia pledged to unleash its vast crude supplies following the collapse of supply talks with Russia.

Despite doubts over the role of the United States in any production curbs, the prospect of a coordinated production cut has already caused a surge in front-month crude prices, narrowing crude oil's contango structure.

Floating storage is incentivised by a structure of the forward price curve, known as contango, whereby future supplies are more expensive than those for immediate delivery.

Since the beginning of March, freight rates have surged following a spike in Saudi crude oil exports and an increase in floating storage demand driven by the widening of crude's contango structure.

Story continues

"Absent the two, and we expect dirty freight rates to correct to near early March levels supported only by a gradual recovery in China's refinery runs and eventually in its crude buying," Singh said.

But if OPEC and its allies fail to strike a deal, tanker rates may quickly resume their ascent as participants scramble to secure ships for transport or floating storage.

"If the free for all vis-a-vis oil production continues, a continuation of the storage-driven rally is on the cards," Ashok Sharma, managing director of shipbroker BRS Baxi in Singapore, said. (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. In addition to our traditional advice, every Thursday we feature an assortment of teachers from across the country answering your education questions. Have a question for our teachers? Email askateacher@slate.com or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

My daughter is in first grade and has struggled with learning to read. She has made slow but steady progress under the guidance of a fantastic teacher this year. However, given the onset of remote learning, which is likely to continue until the end of our school year, I am growing very concerned about her being so behind at the beginning of second grade that it will be impossible to be even close to grade level again.

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While many of her classmates report reading Magic Treehouse books in their living room forts during their time at home, we are so far from that that it worries me. I understand the incredible burden and pressure our teachers are under to switch to online teaching, especially in younger grades that need so much support, that I am hesitant to ask my childs teacher about my daughters specific needs right now.

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So far her reading homework is a book online that the students can read or have read to them (these books are too advanced for my daughter so she listens to them), but there is no information for her small group that outlines specific phonics help. I am more than willing to work with her during this time and through the summer on basic reading skills, but I dont know where to start.

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Should I wait a bit and then ask her teacher for a recommendation, or is there a straightforward reading program that a mom could use to do lessons at home (I would work best with clear steps and processes)? We were to have conferences when the shutdown happened, and I was going to bring up the possibility of testing for a learning disability, but now all that will be delayed by six months at least. I want to do all that I can for her in the meantime.

Lets Read!

Dear Lets Read,

I have a lot to tell you. Lets start with the good news: The Magic Treehouse series is written for kids in Grades 34, so your daughter is either surrounded by extraordinary children who are reading two to three levels above their grade level, they are rereading books that have already been read to them many times, or they are reading some of the words in the books but not really reading the books for meaning.

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In other words, try not to compare your daughter to these kids. What parents see and what is actually happening with childrens learning are often two entirely different things. Ive had students in third grade who had all of their multiplication facts memorized on the first day of school but still couldnt subtract or even grasp the concept of subtraction. The initial assumption of their classmates was that these students were gifted in math, but in reality, these kids were often gifted memorizers who couldnt yet explain that multiplication is repeated addition.

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I have never worked harder as a teacher in my 21 years in the profession, and yet I have never felt so ineffective.  Mr. Dicks

Its hard to know what a student really knows.

That said, your daughter may indeed be struggling with reading at her grade level, and if this is true, I encourage you to first take a deep breath and relax a bit. We have entered an unprecedented time in our country, and our primary concern as educators at the moment is the physical and emotional wellbeing of our students. There will always be time to help a student catch up on their learning, but the trauma that children could potentially suffer as a result of fear, anxiety, illness, and even death that this pandemic is causing can be long lasting. While I want your daughter to get the best education possible, I strongly encourage that you to proceed cautiously, making sure she is feeling happy, safe, and anxiety-free first and foremost. This is not the time to increase the pressure on her.

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Having said that, I do have some specific suggestions:

Yes, you can ask your teacher for guidance, and theres nothing wrong with asking now. Its true that distance learning has been a challenge to launch on a moments notice. Teachers and administrators are in the process of building an airplane while its already in the air. I have never worked harder as a teacher in my 21 years in the profession, and yet I have never felt so ineffective. Most of my colleagues feel the same. The opportunity to assist an eager and able parent with some specific strategies to help a struggling learner is something I would love to do. At the moment, many teachersmyself includedare spending enormous amounts of time helping students who havent seen their parents in weeks because they are health care workers, counseling students who have loved ones battling COVID-19, assisting students and families who lack the technology or expertise needed to access distance learning, and even ensuring that students arent suffering from food insecurity and inadequate housing. These daily challenges are immense and unprecedented for most teachers. Being able to help a student with reading sounds almost old-fashioned and quite lovely, and I suspect most teachers would feel the same.

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Next, one of the best things you can do for your daughter at this time is read to her as much as possible. The research is clear: Reading to a child is nearly as beneficial as the child reading herself. Reading aloud is an excellent way to improve your daughters reading skills while also spending some quality time with her. The time spent curled up with her and a book could be enormously helpful on so many levels.

Testing your child for a learning disability probably cant happen right now, since these tests often require one-on-one interactions and observation. Also, reading is a highly developmental skill, so we tend not to test students in kindergarten and first grade if they are struggling with reading. In many cases, it simply takes some kids longer than others to figure out reading, but once they do, they are quickly able to read on level or above.

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I wish you the best of luck and deeply appreciate the concern you clearly have for your daughter and her teacher. This is a difficult time for all of us. Your thoughtfulness is to be admired.

Mr. Dicks (fifth grade teacher, Connecticut)

Im a public high school teacher. Our campus has had several tragedies over the last three years, including a student death by suicide and two recent-graduate deaths, not to mention parent suicides and two helicopter crashes. A student of mine was just killed in a traffic collision this last week. Every time the campus seems to get back on an even keel, something terrible happens.

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The pandemic has complicated this. With schools canceled for at least three weeks, if not more, I find myself at a loss about what to do for my students, who have lost a classmate and cannot even mourn together. Our move to distance learning at the end of the week was going to be difficult enough, but in this shocking and terrible moment, school itself seems almost cruel.

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Theres a lot to unpack here, but could you offer some perspective?

No Respite

Dear No Respite,

Im so, so sorry. This is awful. Ive been thinking a lot about people who are going through their own individual tragedies unrelated to the collective tragedy were all living through right now. In my experience, one of the most painful aspects of grieving is how the wider world continues on in the face of it, unmoved by your personal devastation. I cant imagine how much thats compounded in the face of a global crisis like thishow lonely it must feel. My sincere condolences to you and your community.

In terms of how to move forward with your students, I think youre absolutely right that tending to their mental health right now is criticalbut best practices right now are, to say the least, unclear. You cant rely on the cues youd typically be observing in a classroom setting, you cant have a quick hallway chat to touch base with your colleagues about how students are doing  its a very difficult situation. Theres no playbook here, but if I were you, I would prioritize transparent, compassionate, and consistent messaging that you recognize how painful and scary this is, whatever they can offer right now is OK, and their well-being is paramount. If youre doing any videoconferencing, I would always begin with a check-in where students can simply share how theyre doing, and you can, too. If youre just posting work online, Id always preface it with a warm reminder that you hope theyre well, you want them to take care of themselves, and they can always reach out to you with concerns. Id also reach out to parents with the same message.

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That said, it sounds like youre hesitating on whether to make schoolwork available at all, and I think you should. A lot of studentsa lot of peoplestruggle in the face of unstructured time, let alone vast, endless amounts of it, and being alone with your thoughts all day in a climate like this can get really dark, really fast. You might find that there are plenty of kids craving the sense of normalcy and the opportunity to focus on something productive that schoolwork will provide, so I would go forward with those kids in mind, while offering ample caveats to those who arent in that mindset. I would not dump something like the remainder of the AP U.S. History syllabus on Google Classroom, but the kids for whom learning would be a comfort should have access to that, I think.

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Good luck. This has got to be so hard, and I really feel for you. Dont forget to take care of yourself, too.

Ms. Bauer (middle and high school, New York)

I teach a mixed-grade elementary class, and like most, were doing digital learning for the foreseeable future. Ive been trying to put together screen-free options for my class, and last night came up with what is either a brilliant or terrible idea. Could my students send one another letters or postcards? My physical materials need to be ready for parent pickup in a few days, and I could easily provide some stamped envelopes or blank postcards. I think my class would love getting and sending things to their classmates, but I dont want to turn my homework into a disease vector!

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Pen Pals or Pandemic Pals

Dear Pen Pals or Pandemic Pals,

The most recent reporting indicates that the virus cannot be passed via U.S mail. That said, this virus has only existed in humans for about four months, and there are still so many unknowns that personally, I dont think its worth the risk. I also strongly suspect that there will be parents who want no part in pen pals right now. My wife and I take in the mail wearing gloves and microwave the mail (and the gloves) just to be sure, and I know other families doing the same thing. Ill admit that these may be unnecessary measures and possibly an overreaction, but I always feel its better to be safe than sorry when you have kids. The last thing I want is to be spending time in an ICU unit right now.

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I dont think the idea is bad, though, and an alternative could be for kids to write a letter, take a photo of that letter, and send it along to their pen pal digitally. Your students could even create videos for one another, inviting friends into their home to share the books they are reading, the blanket forts they are building, and exercise routines they have adopted, and all the other ways that they are spending their time.

Probably best of all, though, is some digital face-to-face contact using services like Google Meet or Zoom to bring the kids together. Ive been using both platforms for a week, and the kids have been so excited to see and talk to one another.

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Honestly, I think our students would much prefer this kind of connection right now more than physical letters anyway.

Mr. Dicks (fifth grade teacher, Connecticut)

A bit over a year and a half ago, I took over the care of my 17-year-old younger sister under less than ideal circumstances. She currently attends the public school near our house. We are both mixed-race Hispanic, and we speak fluent Spanish because our family lived in our home country for several years when we were children. For her language credits, the school offered her a spot in their Spanish for native speakers class.

The teacher of that class is not Hispanic. She was born and raised in the U.S., and she has only been to Latin America as a tourist. She downplays the poverty found in much of Latin America. When my sister spoke up in support of organizations that help rural areas gain access to clean drinking water and hardy food crops, she told my sister that she needs to stop viewing our experiences in Latin America from a colonialist perspective. We lived in an area of Latin America where it isnt safe to drink or cook with tap water. Our grandmother earns roughly $200 per month, and she would not be able to make ends meet if my parents didnt provide substantial financial assistance. My sister got in trouble for mentioning this in class.

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My sister is white-passing. This teacher has a fairly consistent history of humiliating white-passing students for sharing their experiences in Latin America and for criticizing them for supporting colonialism. The other students in the class are second- or third-generation and, for the most part, have never been to Latin America. This teacher has also taught these kids that some notable Latin American dictators and revolutionaries were merely strong leaders that the world cant understand. My sister was shouted at because she asked about the homophobic and racist policies that one of those dictators put in place.

Im really tired of seeing my little sister come home in tears because of this lady, but she doesnt want me to say anything to the teacher or to the administration because shes worried about retaliation. My sister, who was very enthusiastic about school at the beginning of the year, has come to dread showing up every morning. Shes been skipping her first couple classes of the day to avoid having to go to that class. In all her other classes, shes fine, and shell show up on time and ready. I have no idea how to address this. Shes nearly an adult, so I feel she should get a say in what I do about this, but we cant continue on like this.

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What is your recommended course of action?

Troubling Teacher

Dear Troubling Teacher,

Wow. This situation reminds me of the old Dave Chappelle sketch, When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong, except in this case, its When Being Woke Goes Bad. Because I think (?) thats what the teacher is trying to do: be woke. Thus, her admonishments about viewing Central and South America from a colonialist perspective, but  it seems like she totally misunderstands what your sister is saying. Your sister is hardly promoting colonialismshes advocating for improvements to infrastructure. And shes standing up for other progressive values, anti-homophobia and anti-racism. Im so confused.

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You said your sister doesnt want you to interveneand theres part of me that says you should respect her wishesbut given that shes missing classes and other students are having similar experiences, I think its worth inquiring about. I understand that your sister may fear retaliation from her teacher, but in my experience, its rare. Plus, what is the teacher going to do thats worse than whats already happening?

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Id call or email the teacher to request a videoconference. At the meeting, Id recount, as dispassionately as possible, your sisters experiences and ask for clarification. It may be that the teacher misunderstands Latin American history or how her comments are landing.

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If you dont feel comfortable having a discussion, write an email, again in as flat a tone as you can, outlining your concerns, and if you dont get a satisfactory response, this is an issue thats worth taking up with the administration.

I really hope you get the matter sorted out. Your sister deserves a positive school experience.

Ms. Scott (eighth grade teacher, North Carolina)

More Advice From Slate

My daughters high school recently had a theme week, where students dressed up each day. Tuesday was -er dayas in painter, teacher, lawyer, doctor and a male student chose to come dressed as a transgender female. This was not his way of coming out; it was done for laughs. I think the school mishandled it. Should I address it, and if so, how?
B oris Johnson's girlfriend Carrie Symonds has tweeted clapping emojis as the UK hailed its NHS heroes for a third straight week.

She accompanied her post with a painted picture of a rainbow.

The Clap for Carers initiative returned again on Thursday evening as it emerged the PM was out intensive care as he battles coronavirus.

Emergency services joined in the applause with police officers and firefighters clapping on Westminster Bridge in London to salute local heroes.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the Prime Minister who remains in hospital, joined Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Office staff for the weekly Clap for Carers.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted a picture of himself clapping, adding: A huge THANK YOU to our incredible NHS & social care staff. We can never thank you enough for all that you are doing for the nation #ClapForCarers

New Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also took to Twitter saying: Another fantastic tribute to our NHS staff and care workers. Thank you. #ClapForCarers.

Dominic Raab and Rishi Sunak take part in the Clap for Carers / PA

Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a picture of herself clapping, adding: Made it home in time tonight to join my neighbours in the #ClapForOurCarers #ClapForTheNHS #StayHomeSaveLives

Gary Lineker joined in with the applause and called for the NHS to be appreciated in this way "long after this nightmare is over".

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted a video of Bethnal Green firefighters applauding NHS workers, and said: We stay at home for Londons heroes We follow the rules for Londons heroes We clap for Londons heroes #ClapForOurCarers #LondonTogether.

Blue-lights from a row of fire engines and police vehicles on Westminster Bridge lit up the outside of St Thomas Hospital during the national round of applause for healthcare workers at 8pm.

More than 10 emergency vehicles, including several boats on the Thames, one spraying jets of water, performed the display as dozens of police and firefighters applauded.

It was visible to staff at the London hospital, which faces Parliament, and where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to spend a fourth night as he receives treatment for Covid-19.

Staff from the Royal Liverpool University Hospital joined in with the national applause / PA

One firefighter, who gave her name as Mo, from Lambeth, told PA the display was an act of solidarity with our fellow workers, adding: Were all one family.

She added: Theres a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, so its nice to do something all together, everyone up and down the country.

Fire fighters applaud on Westminster Bridge in London to salute local heroes / PA

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

Earlier today celebrities including Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Tom Hiddleston paid tribute to the NHS with a special video.
The actual coronavirus positive cases in the country will be at least four times the reported count, biotech entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said on Thursday, citing large number of people under quarantine without being tested.

IMAGE: Medics during their visit to Adarsh Nagar to conduct COVID-19 tests, in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Pitching for random testing, she also wanted making wearing of face masks mandatory in public space.

The country's death toll due to the coronavirus rose to 169 and the number of cases to 5,865 in the country, according to the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.

A total of 1,30,000 samples had been tested for COVID-19 so far in country.

"I am sure the number (of positive cases) is much larger.

"It has to be much larger. If you look at the numbers in quarantine itself who have not been tested, I would say at least four times that number it will be, minimum," Mazumdar-Shaw told PTI.

Testing only those with symptoms is not such a great idea. A lot of asymptomatic people are also positive. Its also important to do some amount of random testing in the clusters. You need to do lot more testing. The more you test, the more positives you get. Only redeeming feature is that the number of those getting into ICU or dying is not huge, she said.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Ltd said she personally believes that schools and colleges -- high risk areas where the virus can easily spread -- should be shut till June end.

"Large gatherings should not be allowed while malls and cinema halls should continue to be under lockdown.

"Social distancing has to be continued. One of the most import thing is you have get people to wear masks. That's a very important thing when you lift the lockdown."

Everyone should wear mask in the public space, and it should be made mandatory.

"In fact, you have to fine people who are not wearing masks. You don't know who's infected. Today, there are so many asymptomatic carriers. You don't want them to be going around and spreading it (coronavirus)," Mazumdar-Shaw said.

She also said that it is 'impractical' to implement the Supreme Court's order to make all coronavirus tests free, expressing concern that it will lead to plummeting of tests as private labs cannot run their business on credit.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that COVID-19 tests in approved government labs or private laboratories should be conducted free of cost and that the Centre should immediately issue directions in this regard.

The apex court had also said private hospitals, including laboratories, have an important role to play in containing the scale of the pandemic by extending philanthropic services in the hour of national crisis.

Mazumdar-Shaw, however, offered a contrarian view to that of the apex court through her tweets.

'Humanitarian in intent but impractical to implement - I fear testing will plummet,' she said referring to the order of the apex court.

She described the order as 'a judgement that will severely affect testing. Pvt labs simply cannot be expected to run their businesses on credit'.

On Wednesday, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat, which heard the matter via video conferencing, said that tests relating to COVID-19 or coronavirus must be carried out in NABL accredited Labs or any agencies approved by World Health Organisation or Indian Council of Medical Research.

VS
Omans national carrier, Oman Air, will fly out Friday citizens stranded in Tanzania because travel restriction because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The foreign ministry of the sultanate will send an Oman Air flight to both Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar to fly out Omanis willing to return home.

The Embassy informs all citizens in Tanzania who desire to return to Oman to book their seats with the Omani Aviation Office on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, by contacting the number 0685 082 540, the Omani diplomatic mission in the eastern African country said in a statement.

The national carrier will also bring home Tanzanians could not return to their country after the Gulf country imposed a ban on all flights as part of measure to fight the outbreak.

The Tanzanian foreign mission in Muscat, The Citizen, reports, urged Tanzanians stuck in the Gulf country and willing to return home to register not later than April 8.

Both countries enjoy good relations taking back to the days of Sultan Sayyid Said. The ruler moved to Zanzibar and controlled the coastal strip in the 19th century which was a major hub of the Indian Ocean trade, the Tanzanian media notes.
San Francisco now plans to lease 7,000 hotel rooms to provide shelter for homeless people as well as first responders and health care workers battling the spread of the coronovirus, city officials said Wednesday.

This would more than triple the rooms now under contract. The city already has committed $35 million for the next three months to lease the first batch of units. The overall effort would cost San Francisco roughly $105 million  some but not all of which would be reimbursed by the federal and state governments.

Though sizable, the 7,000 rooms fall short of the 8,250 sought by progressive members of the Board of Supervisors. And unlike the emergency ordinance introduced Tuesday at the board, homeless men and women eligible for hotel rooms would need to be COVID-19-positive or be classified as vulnerable because of age or underlying medical conditions.

That difference could stoke tensions among the citys elected officials, who so far have shown a unified response in dealing with the pandemic. But while supervisors and homeless advocates say leaving people on the street could cause COVID-19 cases to surge, Mayor London Breed said that moving homeless people into private hotels cant be done without preparation.

The fact is, this comes with so much more than opening up doors and giving people a hotel room, Breed said Wednesday at a briefing on the citys response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Breed and other city officials at the briefing made the case that support workers must be well-equipped to oversee people quarantined or vulnerable  and those workers must have the proper supplies and support.

We are not only providing places for people to be during this crisis, Breed said We are providing protection for those we are expecting to put their lives on the line.

As of Wednesday, 184 vulnerable people had been placed in private hotel rooms, along with 67 first responders. The individuals being approached to move into hotel rooms are determined by data on age and health status that already have been compiled by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

At the briefing, city officials also confirmed that the Palace of Fine Arts is being readied to provide space for as many as 160 homeless people to reduce crowding elsewhere.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Were currently not planning to move individuals into that shelter at this time, said Trent Rhorer, the head of the citys Human Services Agency. But it makes sense to have a relief valve should the need arise.

As with all of Breeds press briefings, which have tended to occur three times a week since shelter-in-place orders were issued on March 16, this one started with a statistical look at COVID-19s toll on the city. As of Wednesday morning there were 676 recorded cases of the coronavirus in San Francisco, as well as 10 fatalities.

Breed and Public Health Director Grant Colfax took note of evidence that sheltering in place has helped slow the spread of the virus. But they also sounded a now-familiar note that such hopeful signs  as well as forecasts of pleasant weather for Easter weekend  shouldnt make stir-crazy residents shrug off the potential for exposure and infection.

We need to be mindful that this virus is out there, Breed said. We cannot be complacent.

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
According to media reports, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signalled that the 21-day lockdown his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government imposed to break the chain of coronavirus infection will have to be extended beyond the originally planned April 14 end-date.

Modi, who only a few weeks ago was boasting that India was a model for the South Asian region and the world in successfully containing the pandemic, yesterday told a government-convened all-party leaders meeting that the worlds second most populous country confronts a situation akin to a national emergency.

The virtual meeting was meant to be closed-doors. However, an audio clip was leaked to the media in which Modi can be heard saying, I have been talking to (state) chief ministers and the feedback from them and the district magistrates ... is unanimous that lifting the lockdown all at once is not advisable. I will talk to (the chief ministers) again. But the sense as of now is clear that lifting the lockdown is not going to be possible. We have to take tough measures to enforce social distancing.

Prior to yesterday, Indias far-right BJP government had been indicating that it would lift the lockdown, at least partially, in much of the country starting next week.

However, confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths have surged in recent days. There are now over 5,700 confirmed cases, more than three times the 1,637 reported on April 1. During that same one-week period, the number of COVID-19 fatalities has risen from 38 to 198, with 26 people dying on Wednesday alone.

Moreover, although New Delhi continues to publicly insist that there is no evidence of community transmission, most health experts in India and internationally believe that the real number of infected is far higher, and that the relatively low number of confirmed cases is a function of the failure to test widely. Since late January when the first Indian coronavirus case was identified, authorities have conducted no more than 100,000 tests in a country that is home to 1.37 billion people.

India is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic because of endemic mass poverty, poor to non-existent sanitation, the high density of its population, and the lack of public health facilities and personnel.

Yet the governments response to the coronavirus has been characterized by criminal negligence, including sudden, ill-prepared policy reversals.

Modi announced the unprecedented nationwide lockdown in a March 24 national broadcast less than four hours before it went into effect. Nor were the states or opposition parties consulted in advance.

The consequences of the governments reckless improvisation have been calamitous. As a result of the lockdown, hundreds of millions of workers and rural toilers, with little to no savings, were deprived overnight of their jobs and all income, with the government offering them no more than a promise of a coming package of relief measures.

Announced two days later, the governments relief package proved to be thin gruelthe equivalent in per capita terms of around 1,200 rupees, or US$16. Much of it consists of recycled, previously promised money, or of handouts of basic foodstuffs that will only be made available weeks and even months hence.

In the meantime, millions of migrant workers with no means of sustenance, and often deprived of their lodgings along with their jobs, fled Delhi and other urban centres, setting out to return on foot to their native villages. Tragically, this mass migrationfor which the government bears sole responsibilityhas likely spread the coronavirus deep into Indias countryside, where health facilities are virtually non-existent.

Ultimately, the BJP central government intervened to block the migrant workers return to their villages, instructing state governments and security forces to prevent them from crossing state borders. Millions of migrant workers are now housed in makeshift internal refugee camps, which are likely to also serve as disease transmission centres.

Tens of millions of other workers are also facing unprecedented hardship. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the urban unemployment rate has leapt to more than 30 percent, and rural unemployment is now above 20 percent.

Because they fear the socially explosive consequences of the pandemic and its impact on an economy that was already in the midst of a pronounced slowdown, Indias opposition parties have rallied round a BJP government that till recently many of them were denouncing as fascist, and which continues to assault basic democratic rights, as in last weeks attempt to impose censorship on the medias coverage of the pandemic. (See: Amid Indias calamitous lockdown, Modi seeks to censor coronavirus reports)

All the main opposition parties, including the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), dutifully participated in yesterdays all-party meeting. While they reportedly made certain criticisms, including urging the government to do more to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical workers and relief to the poor, all offered the government their collaboration and agreed to leave it to Modi to decide the timing of the easing and ultimate lifting of the lockdown.

The prime minister normally fulminates against his establishment opponents, attacking them in vile communalist terms for appeasing Muslims and portraying them as anti-national, if not treasonous. Yesterday, in a further sign of the crisis now roiling his government, he lavished praise on them. The country, said Modi, has witnessed constructive and positive politics through the coming together of all sections of the polity to present a united front in this battle.

While the government employs the rhetoric of national unity, it has responded with repression to mounting protests from health care workers over the authorities failure to provide them with PPE, thereby putting their lives, their families and the public at grave risk.

Health care workers who have sought to draw attention to their plight on social media have faced reprisals and threats of legal action. Healthcare workers are being targeted for raising their voice against the non availability of PPE or substandard PPE, Dr. Srinivas Rajkumar, general secretary of the Resident Doctors Association at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMC), told NewsClick. Referring to several such incidents, he reported, One doctor was issued a transfer order, another was taken for questioning by the police in Kolkata. Doctors from Haryana were taken for questioning as well.
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man with protective mask walks on an underpass Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency last Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR

 Japanese leaders press prime minister to hasten emergency measures.

 South Korea reports 27 new cases, 9th straight day below 100.

 China reports 42 new cases of coronavirus.

 California has first daily decrease in ICU hospitalizations during outbreak.

 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson out of intensive care.

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TOKYO  Aichi, home to Toyota Motor Corp. in central Japan, has declared its own state of emergency, saying it cannot wait for a slow-moving decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abes government to add the prefecture to an ongoing emergency declared this week.

Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said one-third of about 300 new coronavirus cases in the prefecture have been confirmed in the past week as the infection spreads rapidly in the region, making it the fifth-most infected prefecture in the country.

The situation is critical, Omura said. We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents lives and health.

Omura issued a request to all residents to stay home and work remotely until May 6, when the government-issued state of emergency is to end. Omura, however, did not request closures of non-essential businesses and facilities for now.

His announcement came just as Tokyos outspoken governor, Yuriko Koike, was to request closures of non-essential businesses and facilities in the city after agreeing with Abes government that had asked her to wait two weeks, apparently to avoid impact on the economy.

Earlier on Friday, leaders of Kyoto, Japans ancient capital, urged Abe to add that prefecture to part of the state of emergency to allow them to issue stricter social-distancing measures. Such actions by local leaders are unusual in Japan and come as Abe faces criticism for slow and lax measures.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that additional state of emergency declarations in Aichi and Kyoto are not immediately planned.

Japan as of midday Friday had 5,246 confirmed coronavirus cases, as well as 712 from a cruise ship, with 99 deaths.

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SEOUL, South Korea  South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, marking its ninth consecutive day below 100, as infections continue to wane in the worst-hit city of Daegu.

A health worker hands over surgical gloves to a woman, whilst queuing to undergo screening and testing for COVID-19, in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. South Africa and more than half of Africa's 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other restrictions to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Figures released by South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought nationwide totals to 10,450 cases and 208 virus-related deaths.

While the countrys caseload has slowed from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new cases per day, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong has raised the possibility of a broader quiet spread, pointing to recent transmissions at bars and other leisure facilities that could indicate eased attitudes toward social distancing.

Theres also concern over a steady rise in infections linked to passengers arriving from overseas and at least dozens of cases where patients who had been diagnosed as recovered from COVID-19 test positive for the second time after being released from hospitals.

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Friday urged health authorities to thoroughly investigate the possibility of re-infections, saying the 74 patients who tested positive again so far account for more than 1% of national recoveries.

Health authorities have been cautious about discussing whether people could get re-infected after making a full recovery.

They say the countrys standard RT-PCR tests, designed to amplify the genetic materials of the virus so that even small amounts are detected, may not reliably distinguish between remains of dead virus and infectious particles.

They also say infections could be re-activated after initially fading in patients whose bodies hadnt fully developed immunity after experiencing mild symptoms.

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BEIJING  China on Friday reported 42 new coronavirus cases, 38 of them imported, along with one additional death in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan.

Another 1,169 suspected cases or those who tested positive but were not showing symptoms, were being monitored under isolation. China now has reported a total of 81,907 cases and 3,336 deaths from the virus.

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California saw its first daily decrease in intensive care hospitalizations during the coronavirus outbreak, a key indicator of how many health care workers and medical supplies the state needs, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.

The rate of all virus hospitalizations has slowed this week. Those in the ICU need the highest level of care, and so it was particularly encouraging that the number of patients in those rooms actually dropped 1.9% on Wednesday to 1,132.

The virus can cause severe breathing problems, and ventilators are a key tool in keeping the sickest patients alive.

Newsom has been building the states stockpile and earlier this week was confident enough of the supply to send 500 to other states.

California hospitals have more than 11,000 ventilators, and two-thirds arent being used, he said.

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LONDON  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care, his office says.

In a statement Thursday, a spokesman at 10 Downing Street said Johnson has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.

A sign on the Smolensky Metro Bridge reads "Keep a distance - 1.5 - 2 meters from others" with the Russian Government Building in the background, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. The Russian capital has woken up to a lockdown obliging most people in the city of 13 million to stay home. The government ordered other regions of the vast country to quickly prepare for the same as Moscow, to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Johnson has been in intensive care for three days after his symptoms for coronavirus worsened. He tested positive for the virus two weeks ago and at first had only mild symptoms.

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SEATTLE  The city of Seattle will close its largest and most popular parks this weekend, fearful that sunny weather will draw crowds and expose people to COVID-19.

Mayor Jenny Durkan said Thursday the city will close 15 parks Friday at 11 p.m. through Monday morning. The parks with gates will be locked, and Seattle Parks and Recreation employees will be present.

The citys more than 400 neighbourhood parks will remain open, with social distancing regulations in effect.

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.  The president and vice-president of the Navajo Nation were self-quarantined Thursday after coming into proximity earlier in the week with a first responder who later tested positive for COVID-19.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice-President Myron Lizer said in a news release that they have been wearing gloves and masks as they visit Navajo communities afflicted by the pandemic and they showed no obvious symptoms of infection. Confirmed coronavirus infections climbed to 558 with 22 related deaths as of Thursday across the sprawling Navajo Nation that overlaps portions of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

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WASHINGTON  Men are not getting tested as much for the coronavirus as women.

Yet, when men do get tested, a higher percentage test positive for the virus.

Dr. Deborah Birx used the numbers to remind men about the importance of health care during a briefing Thursday at the White House.

So far, Birx says, 56% of the people tested for COVID-19 are female, and 16% of them tested positive for the virus.

But for men, 23% tested positive.

Birx made a plea for men experiencing symptoms that could be a result of the virus to get tested, saying we appreciate you engaging in that.

Birx serves as the White Houses coronavirus response co-ordinator.

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NEW ORLEANS  Warner Thomas, CEO of the New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System, and Ochsners chief medical officer, Robert Hart, said they expect antibody testing to be available in a couple of weeks.

We look forward to being one of the first centres in the country that will be doing antibody testing, Thomas said during a telephone news conference Thursday.

In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2020. Iran's supreme leader suggested Thursday that mass gatherings in the Islamic Republic may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Which basically will allow us to test without someone necessarily having symptoms. Well be able to tell whether they have or have had COVID-19.

Thats going to be a huge benefit, Hart said. Its going to tell us if someone has had the disease in the past and already has immunity to the disease.

Hart said its of major importance given that some never suffer symptoms after being infected.

Were having everyone take precautions right now, and there is a subset of people who already had the disease that do not have to be worried about contracting the disease again, said Hart, although he added the length of time such immunity would last is uncertain.

Such testing will help ease the minds of any Ochsner employees found to have already had the disease as they continue to work with patients, Hart said.

Weve been told it may be the middle of the month, a couple of weeks before we have that available, Hart added later. Thats going to help us, certainly, as we think about our population and the social distancing, to begin to do other things, Hart said, while stressing that social distancing must continue for now.

It was not immediately clear how many tests would initially be available.

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UNITED NATIONS  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning the U.N. Security Council that the coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security  potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.

He said that especially pressing risks to global security range from the pandemic hindering efforts to resolve conflicts, to terrorists seeing an opportunity to strike and groups seeing how a bioterrorist attack might unfold.

The U.N. chief spoke at a closed council meeting on COVID-19  the first by the U.N.s most powerful body which has made no statement on the pandemic.

Gutteres, whose remarks were released by the U.N. spokesman, said the engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that a signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time.

But diplomats said the 15 council members could not immediately agree on a statement to the media.

The secretary-general reiterated that the United Nations faces its gravest test since the organization was founded 75 years ago and concluded saying: This is the fight of a generation  and the raison detre of (the reason for) the United Nations itself.

Other threats to global peace cited by Guterres were: the erosion of trust in public institutions, economic instability, political tensions from postponing elections or referenda, uncertainty leading parties in some countries to promote further division and turmoil, and the pandemic triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges.

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NEW YORK  As New York City deals with a mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried in the citys public cemetery.

Under the new policy, the medical examiners office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before theyre buried in the citys potters field on Hart Island.

Normally, about 25 bodies a week are interred on the island, mostly for people whose families cant afford a funeral, or who go unclaimed by relatives.

Big Ben's clock tower and the London Eye ferris wheel stand in the distance as the area around Royal Festival Hall is very quiet in London, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In recent days, though, burial operations have increased from one day a week to five days a week, with around 24 burials each day, said Department of Correction spokesman Jason Kersten.

Aerial images taken Thursday by The Associated Press captured workers digging graves on the island, a one-mile, limited-access strip off the Bronx thats the final resting place for more than a million mostly indigent New Yorkers.

About 40 caskets were lined up for burial on the island on Thursday, and two fresh trenches have been dug in recent days.

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BATON ROUGE, La.  Gov. John Bel Edwards said hes likely to keep Louisianas K-12 public schools shuttered for the rest of the school year due to the coronavirus, in response to calls from state education leaders not to reopen them because of public health risks.

Edwards school closure order remains in place through the end of April. Louisianas top education board, school superintendents and school boards have sent requests to the Democratic governor, asking him to extend the closures through the end of the school year, which runs until the final weeks of May.

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UNITED NATIONS -- The head of the United Nations childrens agency says 99% of children and young people under the age of 18  totalling 2.34 billion  live in the 186 countries which have imposed some form of movement restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic.

And UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement Thursday that according to the agencys analysis 60% of them  1.4 billion  live in the 82 countries with a full or partial lockdown because of COVID-19.

She said not only are children and young people contracting COVID-19, they are also among its most severely impacted victims.

Fore urged governments at a time of potential global recession to resist the temptation to deprioritize investment in our future.

She urged increased investments now in education, child protection, health and nutrition, and water and sanitation.

Fore said UNICEF is launching a global agenda for action this week to protect the most vulnerable children from harm.

Its six pillars are: keep children healthy and safe; reach vulnerable children with water, sanitation and hygiene; keep children learning; support families to cover their needs and care for their children; protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse; and protect refugee and migrant children, and those affected by conflict.

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UNITED NATIONS  More than 60 U.N. agencies and international organizations are urging governments to take immediate steps to address the unfolding global recession and financial crisis wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the worlds poorest countries.

The United Nations-led Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development said: Billions of people live in countries teetering on the brink of economic collapse due to the explosive mix of financial shocks fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, heavy debt obligations and declining official development assistance.

The 207-page report launched Thursday by the task force said before the COVID-19 crisis one in five countries  home to billions of people living in poverty  were likely to see incomes stagnate or decline in 2020 and the pandemic is now likely to affect billions more.

To prevent a debt crisis, the task force called for an immediate suspension of debt payments by the least developed countries and low-income countries that make requests.

FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday, March 17, 2020, Britain's Chancellor Rishi Sunak, left, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrive for a press briefing about the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, inside 10 Downing Street in London. With British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hospitalized and in intensive care Wednesday April 8, 2020, after contracting the new coronavirus, Sunak is among key players in Johnson's Cabinet who will be directing Britain's response to the highly contagious COVID-19 coronavirus, while their leader is being treated. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, FILE)

The task force, which includes the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, called for urgent action to re-establish financial stability including by providing sufficient liquidity and strengthening the global financial safety net, promoting trade, increasing access to international financing, and expanding public health spending.

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MADRID  Spains parliament has endorsed a government request to extend by two more weeks the current state of emergency that allows it to enact confinement rules amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Spain has been under lockdown since March 14. The Congress of Deputies voted Thursday in favour of extending it until April 26. It is the second two-week extension.

Strict rules that keep people at home except for shopping for food and medicine, and the shutting down of all non-essential industry have helped Spain reduce its daily rate of contagion growth from more than 20% two weeks ago to around 4%.

With 152,446 infections and 15,238 fatalities, Spain is alongside the United States and Italy as the hardest-hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers he didnt expect the crisis to end soon.

Im sure that in two weeks time Ill have to extend the state of emergency again, he said.

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CHICAGO  The Illinois county that includes Chicago is setting up new places to store bodies in preparation for a likely surge in the number of coronavirus deaths that could overwhelm hospital morgues.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkles office said in a news release Thursday that a 66,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse located 5 miles from the medical examiners office would be up and running by the end of the day.

The facility, according to the release, will be able to hold more than 2,000 bodies.

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The British governments two chief advisers on the coronavirus pandemic voiced cautious optimism that the countrys outbreak may be near its peak even as the COVID-19 death toll rose sharply to just shy of 8,000.

In the governments daily press briefing, chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance noted signs that the rise in new coronavirus cases and the increase in the number of people going into hospital maybe levelling off as a result of the social distancing measures imposed. He also said the transmission of the coronavirus within the community may now be shrinking.

And Professor Chris Whitty, the governments chief medical adviser, also noted that the time it takes for the number of people in intensive care to double has got steadily longer over the past couple of weeks, from three days to six or more now and extending in time.

However, the number of people dying after testing positive for COVID-19 disease is set to carry on an upward trajectory for a couple of weeks in light of the lags involved, Vallance said.

Government figures earlier showed that the U.K. recorded 881 new coronavirus-related deaths, down from 938 in the previous 24-hour period. In total, 7,978 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

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TORONTO  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians will need to stay at home and practice physical distancing for months as the first wave of cases in the country wont end until the summer and Canada wont return to normal until there is vaccine.

Trudeau says a vaccine could take a year or a year and a half. He made the comments as Canadas top public health officer predicted the coronavirus pandemic could cost at least 4,500 lives and a government agency announced the Canadian economy lost 1,011,000 jobs in March.

Trudeau says the country is in the early stage of the outbreak because the virus came to Canada later and says the first wave wont reach its peak until late spring. Trudeau calls it the challenge of our generation.

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UNITED NATIONS  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the coronavirus pandemic is deepening already existing inequalities and is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls that could reverse limited progress toward gender equality over the past 25 years.

The U.N. chief said in a video message and policy paper that across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex.

While early data indicates that the mortality rates from COVID-19 may be higher for men, Gutterres said nearly 60 per cent of women around the world work in the informal economy, earning less, saving less, and at greater risk of falling into poverty.

He said millions of womens jobs have been lost at the same time that their unpaid work has increased exponentially as a result of school closures and children being at home and the increased needs of older people.

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BERLIN  Germanys national disease control centre says it plans to conduct a series of blood tests to determine how many people in the country are immune to COVID-19 and how many were infected without knowing it.

Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, says starting next week antibody tests will be carried out on blood given by donors around the country. His institute anticipates up to 5,000 samples conducted every 14 days, with results starting in early May.

A second survey will examine blood from about 2,000 people from each of four infection hot spots in Germany. And a third will look at a representative sample of some 15.000 people across the country, with results expected in June.

Germany has confirmed more than 113,000 infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2,300 people have died, a death rate lower than many countries.

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WASHINGTON  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, says dont assume the coronavirus will fade during warm weather.

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Fauci told ABCs Good Morning America theres precedent with other infections like influenza that when the virus gets warmer that the virus goes down in its ability to replicate, to spread.

But Fauci added having said that, one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing. If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But I dont think we need to assume that.

He was asked about the New York Times story that research indicates the coronavirus that began circulating in New York in mid-February came mainly from Europe, not Asia.

I think thats probably correct, Fauci said. He notes that Europe became the epicenter pretty quickly after China really exploded with their cases.

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Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
(Photo : Image by 272447 from Pixabay )

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The top Democrats in Congress will likely see their new $500 billion "interim" emergency coronavirus bill signed quickly into law. President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are indicating their support for it in the wake of news the money set aside for small business in the $2.2 trillion coronavirus emergency law might not be enough.



The Democratic Party, which controls the U.S. House of Representatives, is pushing for the $500 billion interim emergency coronavirus bill to further assist small businesses, hospitals, states, and food assistance programs hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They want the stopgap legislation to go further than the CARES Act (the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or H.R. 748) now addressing the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States even as the COVID-19 pandemic tears through the country.



Of the $500 billion amount, $250 billion will go to small business loans, whose financial needs aren't being met adequately enough by the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package signed into law on March 24. Banks are reporting an overwhelming demand for small business loans and a shortage of cash to lend.



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) both support the $250 billion package. This amount was also requested by the Trump administration and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). McConnell will aim to pass legislation to this effect through the Senate on Thursday.



Pelosi and Schumer want $250 billion in small business loans, with $125 billion going to community lenders. They also want $100 billion to bolster hospitals and community health centers. There will also be funding for the production of coronavirus tests and protective medical equipment and $150 billion for state and local governments. Democrats also want a 15% increase to the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, benefit



Pelosi and Schumer said their new bill is separate from one they aim to pass to expand the provisions of the CARES Act. This new bill is being called CARES 2. On April 4 Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed to CARES 2, another trillion-dollar rescue package. The $500 billion now being pushed by Democrats is meant as a stopgap while CARES 2 makes its way through Congress.



"After we pass this interim emergency legislation, Congress will move to pass a CARES 2 Act that will extend and expand the bipartisan CARES Act to meet the needs of the American people," said Pelosi and Schumer in a joint statement. "CARES 2 must provide transformational relief as the American people whether this assault on their lives and livelihoods."



Pelosi and Schumer pointed out Democrats have said Congress must provide additional relief for small businesses and families, building on the resources provided by the bipartisan CARES Act. McConnell said he'd try to pass the additional small business funding by unanimous consent or voice vote during the Senate's pro forma session Thursday.



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TagsPelsi, Schumer, Interim $500 Billion Emergency Coronavirus Bill
WEST CHESTER  Municipalities are adjusting to life under quarantine in southeastern Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump issued a national emergency March 13 and Gov. Tom Wolf issued a statewide stay-at-home order for Pennsylvanians on April 1.

To maintain key transparency with the public during the coronavirus crisis, local governing bodies across Chester County are holding virtual meetings to keep everyone up-to-date plus move business operations forward and enact emergency procedures as needed.

This platform allows anyone to attend and participate, West Chester Mayor Dianne Herrin said regarding WebEx.

Despite county, state and national emergencies declared last month, the borough remains able to maintain its regular meeting schedule via the platform which is linked to its website, the mayor said. These virtual meetings are streamed live and recorded for future viewing.

Since the crisis began, Herrin said the borough closed its offices, and all non-critical personnel began working from home to maintain social distance. The municipality laid off and furloughed employees who worked in parking, building and housing, public works and administration departments due to reduced revenue. The West Chester Police Department furloughed two employees and instituted many hygiene and mitigation policies to protect law enforcement officers.

Externally, the mayor issued a state of emergency to support the closure of nonessential businesses, enforce social distancing in the borough, and codify an agreement with West Goshen Police Department to share law enforcement services if needed.

She said, This is a way for us to ensure both of our communities will have sufficient police protection.

Herrin added, The borough waived parking meter enforcement for the duration of the stay-at-home order. Her office created a West Chester Shopping Assistant program, whereby volunteers shop for our vulnerable citizens who cannot or should not go to the grocery store.

My office has also created a Together We Can: West Chester Community Meal Fund. The meal fund reimburses local restaurants and food proprietors to make carefully prepared, nutritious meals for our citizens in need, thereby aiding our residents while supporting local businesses through this difficult economic time, Herrin said.

The West Chester Mayors Office is working with the West Chester Business Improvement District to strategize ways to help our local small businesses through this crisis.

This is a difficult time for everyone, but our community is rising to the challenge. We are working together in support of each other, and we will be stronger as a result, Herrin said.

In Downingtown, the government held its fourth consecutive virtual meeting, via Zoom, with the borough emergency management team, including Mayor Phil Dague, Police Chief Howard Holland, Borough Council President Anthony Gazzerro, Fire Chief Jack Law, head of EMS services Fred Wurster and police Lt. Lee Powell.

On April 1, Downingtown held its regularly scheduled first Wednesday meeting at Borough Hall. Council chambers were thoroughly sanitized both before and after the meeting, Dague said. Seven people were in a room that normally can accommodate over 100. We were all wearing masks and gloves. The agenda was limited to just the most essential business needed to keep the borough functioning and the meeting lasted just three minutes.

He added, If a member of the public had wanted to attend, they would have been provided a mask and gloves, but none did.

Dague said Pennsylvania law mandates that all Borough Council meetings throughout the state must be held in person so that any member of the public who wishes to attend may do so.

We sought a relaxing of this rule from the state and did not get it, so we felt it necessary to have a regular meeting, Dague said. There is currently a bill in Harrisburg that would allow us to conduct our meetings remotely, using services such as Zoom, but that bill has stalled in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Unless we receive direction otherwise from Harrisburg, we will have no choice but to have our next council meeting in Borough Hall.

The mayor said Downingtown is handling this crisis very well, for the most part.

This pandemic has been a learning experience for all involved. Im sure that when it happens again in the future, Downingtown will do many things differently, but right now, we are holding up as well as can be expected, he said.

I could not be prouder of our police department and our EMS staff, their professionalism is beyond impressive, Dague said. The local business community has banded together to try to weather this storm, and I believe the community has supported them in their efforts. Overall I believe that the citizens of Downingtown have taken social distancing quite seriously, and we are starting to see results as far as flattening the curve.'

Neil Lovekin, East Marlborough Township manager, said the municipality is conducting its meetings via GoToMeeting. The planning commission met virtually on March 31 and the board of supervisors conducted its business virtually on April 6. The municipality will continue to use this platform moving forward for future scheduled meetings, and on an as-needed basis for other boards, commissions, and committees.

East Marlborough Townships municipal offices are closed to the public due to the crisis, but Lovekin said staff remains available to the public via phone and email during the week.

Lovekin added that the East Marlborough Township Police Department is operating a modified weekday schedule and supplemented with weekend day hours for community presence, with daily supervision provided by the chief of police.

Kennett Square Mayor Matthew Fetick said the borough has been in good shape.

The police, fire and public work departments are all responding to calls as they normally do. We are, however, limiting access to our stations for non emergencies and handling those by phone when possible, he added.

We have a well-thought-out emergency preparedness plan and our team has trained on how to work in these challenging situations. Borough Hall is closed to visitors. However, our staff is working remotely and able to take phone calls and respond to emails and web inquiries, Fetick said. Many of our restaurants are open for takeout. We have many resources for members of our community that are in need.

The Kennett Square mayor said the community is providing food distribution, emergency assistance with rent and utilities as well as micro loans to those in need.

We have found that most residents are complying with the stay-at-home order, and when in public are working hard to be safe, Fetick said.

The next Kennett Square Borough Council meeting is 7 p.m. April 20 which will take place via Zoom. The mayor said the public can join the meeting via Zoom video, or via phone.

Im very proud of our first responders and their dedication to their jobs and our community. Im in awe of the support that many of the nonprofits are providing to our most vulnerable residents, Fetick said.

In Newlin Township, the municipality designated a teleconference line for meetings, and the municipality is still making its monthly agendas available via its website.

We are still managing business as usual, said Gail Honeycutt Abel, secretary and treasurer of Newlin Township.

She added, We look forward to the community getting back to normal.

Kennett Township Director of Public Works Roger Lysle requested that members of the community refrain from approaching his team when they are working.

We look forward to chatting with you when we have beat this pandemic, Lysle said.

Acting Chief of Police, Matt Gordon said that delivery of law enforcement services to the public remains ongoing.

Our responding officers may ask for business to be conducted outside if possible and continue to take all necessary precautions for themselves and the community, said Gordon, noting that the community can continue to rely on the professional police services of the Kennett Township Police Department.

It is important that our government remain available to the public even as we practice social distancing, said Kennett Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Leff.

Government services are still needed, and our staff remains hard at work from the safety of their homes, said Kennett Township Manager Eden Ratliff.

The board of supervisors in Kennett Township plans to hold its monthly public meeting via Zoom 7 p.m. April 15.

Despite being virtual, the meeting will feel very normal as we cover a variety of topics including township finances, land development updates, and a report on upcoming stormwater management projects, Ratliff said.
Instagram's extreme pursuit of the picture-perfect office has been revealed by a former employee who claims the company's founders went to great lengths to keep it looking immaculate.

The book 'No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram' by Bloomberg journalist Sarah Frier chronicles how rubbish bins were banned, posters were torn down and food not deemed Instagram-worthy enough was thrown out.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, who left the company in 2018, explained how he was so concerned about the office aesthetic ahead of a visit from reality star Kim Kardashian, he removed all the small bins from under co-workers desks, Frier claims in the book.

Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom (right) and Mike Krieger (left) who launched the company in 2010

Employees sit next to a bar at the Instagram Inc. office in New York. The book 'No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram' by Bloomberg journalist Sarah Frier chronicles how rubbish bins were banned, posters were torn down and food not deemed Instagram-worthy enough was thrown out

Ahead of a visit from reality star Kim Kardashiant to the office, all the small bins were removed from under employees desks

She says he explained his drastic decision by telling staff the bins did not fit with the 'craft, beauty and simplicity' of Instagram.

This prompted a staff member to dress as a rubbish bin at the next Halloween party.

Mr Systrom once tore down Facebook's motivational posters from the office walls after growing sick of reading the phrase 'Done is Better Than Perfect' every day.

Frier claims chief executive Mr Systrom even threw out a vat of potato salad at the request of staffers, who complained that the food was not 'instagrammable' enough.

The book goes on to tell of the special treatment received by celebrities and other public figures by the company. Employees were flown out to New York to give Lady Gaga a personal lesson on how to use the app.

They also travelled to Taylor Swift's home in Los Angeles to 'film her with her cats'.

Instagram employees travelled to Taylor Swift's home in Los Angeles to 'film her with her cats'

Inside Instagram's picture-perfect office in New York. Instagram was co-founded by Mr Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in 2010

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom (pictured in 2013), who left the company in 2018, explained how he was so concerned about the office aesthetic ahead of a visit from reality star Kim Kardashian, he removed all the small bins from under co-workers desks

Even Pope Francis was provided with a gift from the company when Mr Systrom held a meeting with him in Italy.

The team presented the Pope with a selection of Instagram images they thought he would like, including of the refugee crisis.

The Pope responded by saying it was not up to him before pointing at the sky and saying 'Even I have a boss'.

Instagram was co-founded by Mr Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in 2010.

The video-sharing site was bought for $1 billion by Facebook in April 2012, when the company was just 18 months old. Many were skeptical of the decision but it was to prove very lucrative; Instagram made $20 billion in revenue last year, over a quarter of Facebook's total sales.
The Bihar Foundation, a forum for



the state's diaspora which has Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its patron and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi as its chairman, has been reaching out in a big way to people stranded elsewhere on account of the nationwide lockdown.

The Foundation has set up relief camps in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Surat, Ahmedabad and far-off states like Goa and Sikkim, extending help to as many as 3.17 lakh people since March 28, according to the Chief Minister's office (CMO).

Members of the Bihari diaspora are providing these stranded people with food and medicine.

All the arrangements are being made by the Foundation, while the entire expenditure, which also includes direct cash transfer of Rs 1,000 into the bank accounts of the migrants, is being borne by the Chief Ministers Relief Fund.

On Tuesday, more than 30,000 people got "ration packets" containing five kilograms of rice, three kilograms of wheat flour and 1.5 kg pulses in addition to edible oil, vegetables, spices and a cake of soap which is expected to help a person sustain for 15 days, the CMO said in a statement.

Out of these 30,144 recipients of ration packets, more than half 18,349 were in Delhi, from where a large number of migrant labourers had made a scramble back home late last month triggering anxieties about the spread of coronavirus infection en route.

The Bihar Foundation is also running seven shelter homes six in Maharashtra and one in Tamil Nadu which can accommodate more than 6,500 people. Around 3,000 migrant workers have already taken shelter in those homes.

The CMO statement said more such shelter homes would be set up as and where the requirement arose.

The Bihar Bhawan in Delhi - the office of the resident commissioner - has been maintaining coordination between the state government and those stranded people.

A communication received from the Bihar Bhawan said it is getting positive feedbacks from various parts of the country - Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi-National Capital Region, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Bihar Bhawan has also been involved in helping those having suffered a bereavement in their family to reach their homes by making arrangements for their travel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FOR families across Limerick, this Easter will be like no other, with all religious services being held behind closed doors.

On what is normally one of the busiest weekends in the religious calendar, this year, there will be no Masses or services held in the city with people present due to social distancing rules.

Instead of packing the pews, people will instead be sitting on the sofa to witness celebrations like Stations of the Cross, the Passion Mass and the Easter Vigil.

A number of local churches will be streaming their services on www.churchservices.tv for people to watch on the internet.

Abbeyfeales Church of the Assumption, Glenstal Abbey, the Augustinians Church, St Johns Cathedral, Mount St Alphonsus and the Raheen Church all have plans for streaming Masses on this web site.

Meanwhile, the Limerick Dioceses website, www.limerickdiocese.org has a list of other churches providing audio and screenings of their services.

However, on Holy Saturday evening at around the same time, churches across Limerick will light up, with the Paschal Candle lit in St John's Cathedral between 8.30pm and 9pm.

Along with this, bells in churches throughout Limerick will ring out at 10pm on Saturday evening.

Bishop Brendan Leahy says the promise of Easter can represent a signal of hope.

Meanwhile, RTE News Now will broadcast a service for Good Friday from St Mary's Cathedral tomorrow morning, from 10.30am.

And on Easter Day itself, the service will be livestreamed from the Cathedral at 10.30am through www.churchservices.tv.
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A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Mel Watkins was Canadas most prominent socialist after the era of Tommy Douglas. As an academic in the 1960s, he led a study for the Liberal government on damage done to our economy by foreign control. Then he moved left into the NDP to implement his conclusions, was expelled by party bosses, but never abandoned his principles. Those went into eclipse, yet by his lifes end, last Thursday, theyd re-emerged.

What principles? He was a socialist and a nationalist.

Now the Trudeau government has effectively nationalized the economy and are essentially printing money without limit to do it. Why? Because the only way a society can fill its own urgent needs is through government. All the crap of the last 30 years about business and finance being supreme has withered in weeks. They cant do it, not because theyre sleazy, though they often are, but because theyre not designed for it. Theyre made to profit owners.

Theres nothing noble about the state except: its the only force that can act for all society, in crises and normal times. Mel stayed a socialist in this way: he was one of those who put the social back in socialism.

He was a left nationalist in its heyday: think CanLit, Lightfoot, Russia-Canada 72. Then it declined for decades. By the 90s, he said he was teaching Canadian nationalism as a historical unit in his courses. Now nationalism is back, but on the right: in reaction to the flaws of free trade, globalization etc.

He felt the only response to Trump, Bolsonaro and their ilk was an anti-racist left nationalism, which acted for all citizens, not just the rich.

The Waffle, the dissident NDP movement he co-founded, had been, he said, pretty impressive for its time. But not enough to be smug. In a prescient article last fall, he said it missed environmental, native rights and LGBT issues. It was right about U.S. imperialism in Canada but Canada too was an empire, colonizing Indigenous peoples and plundering abroad, often through mining companies. I find this a pretty impressive level of self-criticism, from an 87-year-old retired prof, whod stubbornly hung onto his early convictions.

How do you pull that off? Here the personal piece enters. He was tough. When the NDP treated him like dogs--t, he didnt react bitterly. He moved to the north and worked with the Dene, expanding his sense of Canada. When he returned to teaching, the north was always among his courses. For the free trade fight of the late 80s, he returned from the U.K., where hed gone to accompany his wife, Kelly, for her journalism, as shed accompanied him north. Eventually he rejoined the NDP and ran twice.

There was no petty ego in him  less than in most influencers probably  though hed been seriously famous in his time. He didnt neglect his family for the grand causes he was committed to. He treated the young as equals and learned from them. And he was funny.

When we lost the free trade election in 1988, and sat over beers explaining how to distract ourselves from our failure, I said I had to finish a book on the election. He burst out: Thats it: one excellent book will justify this catastrophe!  mocking his own academic pedigree.

So consider the present moment. Throughout his career he stressed the need to escape the staples trap  dependence on resource exports and failure to build stuff ourselves. Then last month, the U.S. acted to stop delivery of medical gear  made with our own raw materials! Justin Trudeau asked companies to ramp up production here, evoking an avalanche of offers from manufacturers, engineers and scientists. He sounded like John A. Macdonald introducing the National Policy in the 1870s. Shades of the Watkins Report.

Premier Doug Ford, who loves Americans more than anyone, was devastated by the U.S. betrayal (I told the prime minister this must never happen again.) It was as if the spirit of Mel Watkins had migrated into a bare-knuckled right-winger. The Waffle had been right: no true Canadian independence without socialism, and no socialism without real (economic) independence.

I wish Mel was here to see it. But he did. He foresaw it.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos Getty

Throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trumps decisions and stances have seemingly been influenced by the unofficial advisers he treasures most: Fox News primetime hosts.

After downplaying for weeks the threat of the virus, just as many on Fox News did the same, the president began taking it seriously last month after Tucker Carlson personally confronted him before delivering an on-air monologue calling for action. Elsewhere, Fox stars have been the primary driving force behind Trumps incessant promotion of an unproven anti-malarial drug as the miracle COVID-19 cure.

And in recent days, it seems, the president has been receiving his newest coronavirus intel briefing from Fox News. This time, they say, the pandemic is over and its time to move on.

Throughout Tuesday nights primetime stretch, Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham were in lockstep in telegraphing to Trump a message that the pandemics threat has been overstated, death counts have been inflated, and the U.S. is already on the downside of the curve.

Carlson, who received mainstream plaudits for his admirable early coronavirus coverage, kicked off his show by declaring that the crisis may have passed, noting that health-care systems across the country havent come close to collapsingexcept in a handful of places.

Patients are not dying alone in the hallways of emergency rooms with physicians too overwhelmed to treat them, he asserted. That was the concern. It happens in other countries, it's not happening here. Thank God for that.

There have been numerous reports and testimonials from health-care workers expressing horror over the conditions of overcrowded hospitals and the stress it has placed on both medical staffers and patients. Much reporting has also been done on how many patients are dying alone and away from family members and friends from the disease.

But despite nearly 13,000 U.S. deaths and at least 400,000 confirmed cases, with portions of the country having yet to suffer the worst effects of the outbreak, Carlson called for a quick reversal of social-distancing restrictions in order to jumpstart the economy, citing downward revisions of coronavirus models as the key reason.

Story continues

Before we go ahead and alter our lives and our country forever, it is fair to ask about the numbers, their numbers, the ones we acted on the first time, that turned out to be completely wrong, the Fox star fumed. How did they screw that up so thoroughly? That is a fair question.

Adjustments of expected death tolls in some modelswhich, weeks ago, showed as many as 240,000 American deathshave largely occurred due to the widespread adoption of social-distancing guidelines and the assumption that school and business closures will stay in place through the summer. Even factoring all that in, the models still project roughly 80,000 deaths.

Nevertheless, over the past few days, Carlson has been pushing the president to ignore medical expertise and quickly move forward with economic activity.

Is there a single person who sincerely expects the coronavirus itself will hurt more people in the end than the damage we're causing in our response to it? Probably not, he said on Monday night. Mass unemployment is almost certain to cause far more harm, including physical harm, to the average family than this disease.

Carlson has also railed against top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has urged Americans to embrace social distancing in order to flatten the curve. Calling it bewildering that the U.S. is allowing medical experts to make policy decisions, Carlson claimed last week that Fauci is proposing national suicide by pushing aggressive social distancing. We should never let someone like that run this country, he said.

Fox News senior analyst Brit Hume, who has recently been at the forefront of right-wing medias questioning of coronavirus deaths, has also joined the chorus of Fox stars agitating against medical expertise. The official COVID-19 death count has been inflated, he declared Carlson on Tuesday evening.

Dr. Birx said tonight during the briefing at the White House that all deaths from anyone who died with coronavirus is counted as if the person died from coronavirus, Hume said. Now, we all know that isnt true.

And if everybody is being automatically classified, if they're found to have COVID-19, as a COVID-19 death, were going to get a very large number of deaths that way and were probably not going to have an accurate count of what the real death total is, he added.

Besides the fact that flu deathswhich Trump and Fox figures have constantly used as a comparison point to downplay the pandemicare tracked the exact same way, and coronavirus disproportionately impacts people with pre-conditions, it is actually far more likely that the COVID-19 death count has been understated so far.

Hannity, meanwhile, kicked off his Tuesday evening broadcast by claiming there is a ton of good news surrounding the pandemic, touting revised downward estimates of the death count to suggest that regular economic activity should restart very soon.

In a phone interview with the president, Hannitywho has served as an unofficial Trump adviser and confidantnoted that the cure cant be worse than the problem and nudged the president to reveal when hed roll back social-distancing policies.

Id love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country and just open, Trump declared, adding, Were looking at two concepts. Were looking at the concept where you open up sections and were also looking at the concept where you open up everything.

In a Wednesday morning tweet, Trump further hinted that he is looking to end restrictions sooner rather than later, adding that the horror of coronavirus must be quickly forgotten and predicting that the economy will BOOM going forward.

Laura Ingraham, however, may have been the most aggressive among her primetime colleagues in openly pushing Trump to view the pandemic threat as completely neutralized.

Claiming the experts were wrong with their modeling and that it caused undue panic for Americans, Ingraham echoed Carlson by railing against medical officials, claiming this pandemic should make us less willing to rely on the same experts to help determine when and how we should reopen our economy.

We didnt vote for doctors, exclaimed Ingraham, who recently sat with the president to tout the unproven coronavirus cure hydroxychloroquine. We voted for political leadership that sees the big picture. That means the whole picture of America.

She continued to hammer away at that message Wednesday on her Twitter account.

Tucker Carlson Wants to Have It Both Ways on Coronavirus

At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1, she wrote on Wednesday morning. Give me your best guidance on protocols, but we cannot deny our people their basic freedoms any longer.

America must get back to work, Ingraham blared in another tweet. Experts were wrong on fatalities by a factor of 30 now want to dictate when we reopen.

While Trumps Fox News cabinet is declaring the crisis over, the networks brass is still taking the pandemic seriously, implementing strict social-distancing policies for its employees. In a memo sent last week, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott announced the company would distribute thermometers to all essential workers and suggested the use of face masks for anyone who had to come into one of Foxs offices. Additionally, Scott said that Fox was targeting May 4 as a possible return date for employees currently telecommuting.

And as Fox News biggest stars tried to convince the president to ditch social distancing altogether, one of Trumps own health officials rebuked the networks faux-populist manipulation of the expert data and projections.

Physical distancing is incredibly importantremember the projections, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said Wednesday on Fox & Friends. I have seen people twist that like this was not going to be that bad after all and we didnt need to do it. Thats a complete misinterpretation. The estimate of deaths going down is the result of the fact that we have listened to the president and vice president and task force.

I do want to emphasize the point, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but dont keep your footdont take your foot off the gas, Giroir continued. Because we really need to continue these efforts because we could see another peak, a second peak, a third peak if people dont do the physical distancing or they think its all over.

Its not over yet.

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The COVID-19 crisis is shining a spotlight on employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as 401(k)s. Long-standing rules have been relaxed, and investors have new options for making withdrawals.

These changes were put into law last month as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act.

Financial advisors are also being more proactive in helping clients with these employer-sponsored vehicles, which are usually held outside the investment accounts an advisor manages.

For starters, 401(k) account owners can now access up to $100,000 penalty free if they, a spouse or dependent suffer adverse consequences -- either health or economic -- due to the virus.

Also, 401(k) loan limits have been raised. "Before this crisis, loans were limited to the lesser of $50,000 or half of the vested balance in the participant's account," says Allison Brecher, general counsel at Vestwell, a New York-based retirement plan administrator.

"The CARES Act increased that to the lesser of $100,000 or the full present value of the participant's vested account balance. Loans, even from a participant's own retirement plan account, do need to be repaid, but the repayments (on outstanding loans) can be delayed by up to one year," she says.

Finally, 401(k) and individual retirement account participants turning 72 this year were required to start taking distributions, but the CARES Act allows participants to ignore that requirement. "This could help older workers stay in the plan longer, giving investments time to rebound, hopefully," Brecher says.

[10 Financial Advisor Marketing Tips.]

Financial Advisors' Role

Financial advisors typically don't directly manage 401(k) plans. Instead, advisors, through their brokerage custodians, manage mostly taxable accounts and IRAs. After an employee leaves a firm, either voluntarily or through a layoff or firing, his or her 401(k) is eligible to be rolled into an IRA, which a financial advisor can directly manage.

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However, asset managers and financial planners can and do advise clients on these outside accounts. In fact, it's crucial to include employer-sponsored accounts in a comprehensive financial plan for the highest degree of accuracy.

Dimitry Farberov, an advisor with Miracle Mile Advisors in Los Angeles, says his firm is taking steps to ensure clients are well-positioned in their employer-sponsored retirement accounts. His clients are asking whether they should increase or decrease their contributions during the market turmoil.

"The question of what to invest in rarely comes up. Rather, the conversation stems around whether a client's overall financial situation affords them the opportunity to increase their 401(k) contributions during opportune times like these," he says.

Farberov says his clients tend to invest their 401(k)s in target-date retirement funds, which are diversified investment vehicles that allocate a range of investments automatically, according to a client's risk profile and expected retirement date.

Take Risk Into Account

Asset allocation should be decided with risk in mind. Before an advisor recommends an asset mix for a client, he or she should do some kind of risk assessment, based on factors such as age, estimated retirement date and the client's assets, both liquid and illiquid.

One popular tool that advisors use for risk assessments is Riskalyze, a software application that assigns risk metrics to a client's portfolio. These risk levels are based on factors including the allocation of stocks versus bonds, single stocks versus funds, and even the holdings within funds themselves.

[See: 11 Ways Top Financial Advisors Engage Their Clients.]

Scott Krase, founder and president of CrossPoint Wealth in Lisle, Illinois, requires new clients to take the Riskalyze assessment. He is looking for three specific pieces of information: What risk does a client want to take, what risk he or she currently has, and what risk does the client need to achieve retirement goals?

The answers to these questions help determine a Riskalyze score ranging from 1 to 99, with 1 being the lowest. A risk level of 1 carries its own problems, as a client may not have enough invested in equity markets for the long term. A level of 99 typically means the client is taking too much investment risk.

Krase offers an example of how he might proceed after reviewing a risk assessment questionnaire.

"If a participant has a risk score of 55, then we design the allocation to stay within that score or range. This eliminates large losses in a portfolio," he says. "As for investment advice, we started to de-risk portfolios on Feb. 28. If someone was 80% stocks and 20% bonds, we either moved them or educated them to adjust their portfolios to 70% stocks and 30% bonds."

Guidelines for Allocations

While it's impossible for advisors to give specific investment advice on a broad basis, there are some general guidelines for allocating a 401(k).

Greg Klingler, director of wealth management for the Government Employees' Benefit Association, a nonprofit in Fort Meade, Maryland, says investors should "keep calm and stay invested," even throughout the COVID-19 crisis and market downturn.

Klingler recommends a three-step approach. First, he says, maintain a long-term mindset.

"Based on the measurement of each recovery since 1900, the average recovery time for a bear market in equities to return to bull market levels is about 3.2 years," he says. He points out that the definition of a bear market is a downdraft of 20% or more.

"So while you and your financial advisor should periodically assess and carefully consider rebalancing your portfolio, it's essential to remind yourself that you're not playing the day traders' game. You're investing for the long run and your long-term financial security," Klingler says.

Second, he reminds investors not to make hasty decisions about their 401(k) holdings. "Unfortunately, I've seen a great number of clients make emotional, rash decisions during market turbulence, only to see them quickly backfire, undercutting their long-term financial security and putting them on a very difficult path to recovery," he says.

[11 Things to Know Before Becoming a Financial Advisor.]

Finally, he cautions investors about trying to outsmart the market by shuffling around their holdings in anticipation of what may perform especially well or poorly.

"Market timing -- the use of predictive tools and techniques to predict how the market may move and making investments accordingly -- simply doesn't work," he says. "Every bear market has historically given way to a bull market, and no one can predict when this occurs, so it's pointless to try."





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Speculations that Aditya Puris successor at HDFC Bank will be an insider got intensified after the lender on April 8 intimated stock exchanges that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put on hold the appointment of two key executives on the Board.

The RBI said the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri each as an Additional Director and Executive Director (Whole-Time Director) of the Bank should be put on hold until the new managing director and chief executive officer takes charge.

We are now in receipt of a communication dated April 7, 2020 from Reserve Bank of India stating that since these are important positions in the Bank, the Bank is advised to examine and submit the proposal after a new MD and CEO assumes charge later this year. The Bank shall accordingly ensure compliance with Reserve Bank's instruction as above, said the bank in a filing to exchanges.

Jagdishan and Zaveri will continue as additional directors of the bank till the annual general meeting later this year, the bank said. In November last year, the bank had named both executives as additional directors and EDs. But from now on, they will continue only as additional directors till the AGM. The bank will have to likely approach the RBI again once the CEO comes on board.

The RBI decision is significant considering that both Jagdishan and Zaveri are seen as strong contenders to the post of HDFC Banks managing director after Puris retirement slated in October this year.

HDFC Bank was supposed to send its list of shortlisted candidates to the RBI this month. The speculations on an internal candidate strengthened after Puri, in a recent interview with CNBC -TV18 seemed to suggest he preferred an internal candidate.

"I am rooting for the best candidate. So, I am saying an internal candidate is good because he would know the people, he would know the system etc. and his acceptability will be higher. So, when you go outside you obviously look for that exception," Puri said. Puri is also an adviser to the selection committee to identify his successor and he is perceived to have a significant say in the process.

Till the time of his exit from the bank, Paresh Sukthankar, former Deputy Managing director of HDFC Bank and a trusted lieutenant of Puri was seen as a worthy successor to his boss. But Sukthankar surprised the markets by quitting in August 2018, thereby confirming the ensuing hunt for another candidate. The bank has appointed Egon Zehnder for this purpose.

It is highly likely that Puris successor will be an internal candidate. An external candidate will be less preferred for the bank considering the size and depth of the organization. There are very few examples of external candidates moving to large banks as CEOs and proving to be successful, said a Mumbai-based analyst. He didnt want to be named.

One reason why the RBI put the proposals for board appointment of Jagdishan and Zaveri on the Board could be the fact that both these names could be part of the shortlist for MD post, the analyst said.

Puri took charge as managing director in September 1994. HDFC Bank was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange on May 19, 1995. Between then and now, the market capitalisation of the bank has grown to Rs 505,942 crore from Rs 440 crore. Total deposits grew to Rs 11.46 lakh crore in March 2019 from Rs 642 crore in March 1995 and total advances swelled to Rs 9.9 lakh crore from Rs 98 crore.
Even though the entire country is undergoing a 21-day coronavirus lockdown since March 25, two children from Uttar Pradeshs Hasanpur area set out. Both the boys were on their pocket bikes and had the intention of donating Rs 5,000 to those in need.

The two children run a YouTube channel for which they had to make this video. But soon after venturing out of their house, they were stopped by the police.

In the clip, which has been shared on YouTube, one can see them riding their pocket bikes until the police stop them. On being asked by the police, they replied that they wished to donate the sum for the welfare of those in need. The personnel takes the money and assures them that the money will reach the needy and sends the boys back home.

The video with over 18 lakh views and more than 84 thousand likes has been appreciated for the internet. However, what is being questioned by some is that if everyone steps out like this, the purpose of lockdown will not be served.

Meanwhile, in India, over 4,000 people have been tested positive for the virus and more than 100 people have died due to the same.

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was heckled by people who said they can't get coronavirus tests as he made a speech outside a Bronx hospital on Wednesday.

Desperate New Yorkers were seen shouting at the mayor calling for more tests and 'help in the hood' while he was addressing medical professionals from the US Air Force outside Lincoln Hospital.

Tests have been in short supply in New York City, which continues to be the epicenter of the national crisis.

The Bronx and other poorer neighborhoods have been worse hit by the pandemic than most, with the death toll more than double compared to other parts of the city.

'Yo, de Blasio! I need a test, de Blasio!' a man yelled over railings.

'I need a test brother. My people right here need tests brother.

'I see you're addressing these people. What about these homeless right here?' he shouted pointing to a group of people outside the hospital.

'They're sick, they're sick! You come speak here de Blasio!'

A female bystander called for the mayor to 'come down the block' and said people in the Bronx need more tests for the deadly virus.

'Come down the block de Blasio, come,' she shouted.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pictured addressing medical professionals from the US Air Force outside Lincoln Hospital Wednesday

De Blasio endured the outburst as he was thanking the members of the Air Force who have been drafted in to help the city in its fight against the pandemic

The mayor later spoke to two of the hecklers about the issues they raised and 'discussed ideas about how to better involve the community and educate people on life-saving practices like social distancing,' The New York Post reported

'Get us more testing for the Bronx, people are dying, people are in hoods, people don't know what's going on' she said.

'There are homeless people right here. We need more help in the hood.'

Another man also joined in urging the mayor to do something amid claims that sick people are being turned away from hospitals in the city.

'People are so sick of what's going on they want to kill themselves,' he shouted.

'They refuse to help you. They release you from the hospital.'

De Blasio endured the outburst as he was thanking members of the Air Force who have been drafted in to help the city in its fight against the pandemic.

The mayor later spoke to two of the hecklers about the issues they raised, The New York Post reported.

'They had a very productive conversation where they discussed ideas about how to better involve the community and educate people on life-saving practices like social distancing,' City Hall press secretary Freddi Goldstein told The Post.

Emergency workers move a coronavirus patient at New York South Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center

Bodies are moved by medical staff to refrigerator truck morgues under the cover of darkness at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brooklyn

New York City continues to be ravaged by the outbreak, with the death toll surging to 4,260 and the number of infections reaching 80,204 as of Wednesday night.

Across the state, Governor Andrew Cuomo mourned its darkest day on record as 779 died in 24 hours taking the death toll to 6,268 - more than double the number of people who died in 9/11.

The Bronx, the poorest borough in New York, has been one of the hardest-hit by the outbreak in New York City.

Bronx residents are dying at twice the rate of the rest of the city, according to shock analysis from The City.

A stark New York City map last week revealed that there are higher numbers of cases of coronavirus in poorer neighborhoods than in wealthier zip codes.

In overcrowded areas like the South Bronx and Harlem, residents are still commuting to work, while in places such as Greenwich Village they can afford the luxury of working from home.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out about the disparity between the outbreak in her district which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens and other wealthier areas.

'COVID deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities,' she tweeted Friday.

A map of coronavirus cases by NYC zip code has revealed that the city's poorest neighborhoods are being hardest hit by the pandemic

Poor boroughs like Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx have disproportionately higher numbers of coronavirus cases than Manhattan and Staten Island

NEW YORK'S DARKEST DAY New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered flags around the state to fly at half-mast in honor of those who have died from COVID-19 after recording the state's deadliest 24 hours which claimed 780 lives. Cuomo, speaking at his daily briefing in Albany on Wednesday, said there was a 'mix' of emotions that came with the fact New York has flattened the curve of new infections and new hospitalizations while the death toll keeps ticking up. It will continue to rise, he said, as more people who entered the hospital 10 days ago or two weeks ago and who needed ventilators, fail to recover. The total death toll across the state now sits at 6,268 - more than double the number of people who died in 9/11. The total number of infections is 149,316 - an increase of more than 10,000 in 24 hours. Cuomo said, however, that the rate of hospitalizations is down and continues to decrease which shows social distancing is working. He however said the state was 'by no means out of the woods', and that now was the time to be 'more vigilant'. 'What we have done and what we are doing is actually working and it's making a difference. We took dramatic actions in this state. It is working,' he said. He went on to say that the tragedy was on a larger scale than 9/11 and one he had trouble comprehending. 'I went through 9/11 and thought that in my lifetime, I would never have to see anything like that again. I remember the number of funerals, I remember the grief after 9/11. 'That this should literally eclipse that in terms of the number of dead in this state? It's almost unimaginable to me.' Advertisement

How coronavirus feeds on the poor: US smartphone data reveals high-income earners can stay at home during the pandemic, while low-income workers have travel to work and expose themselves

Staying safe at home during the coronavirus pandemic is a luxury afforded the rich while low-income workers have no choice but to be out and about and travel to work, according to analysis of smartphone location data.

Around 297 million Americans - about 90 percent of the population - have now been ordered to stay home after at least 38 states have issued lockdowns.

But while the rich have holed up in their homes or even fled to their second homes in rural and beachside towns to hideout from the outbreak, poorer people across the US are continuing to move around despite lockdown rules and have an increased risk of catching the killer virus, smartphone location data from Cuebig and analyzed by the New York Times has revealed.

This worrying trend lays bare the mounting evidence that the poorest in society are most at risk of being exposed to the deadly illness.

Analysis of smartphone location data shows people in all income groups are moving around less than they did before the outbreak, but richer people are staying home far more, especially during the working week

Lower-income neighborhoods, such as Queens and the Bronx in New York City, have already been some of the hardest-hit areas by the outbreak.

Wealthy people have been able to escape densely populated cities like New York to flee to their summer oasis in the Hamptons.

They also have more job security and benefits.

And, as the data suggests, they may also be in a position where they can stay at home more easily and practice social distancing.

The data showed that people in all income groups are moving around less than they did before the outbreak, but richer people are staying home far more, especially during the working week.

Esential grocery store workers in Amagannsette (pictured). Staying safe at home during the coronavirus pandemic is a luxury afforded the rich while low-income workers have no choice but to be out and about and travel to work, according to analysis of smartphone location data

Across almost every US state, richer people also started limiting their movements days before the poor, meaning they had a headstart on social distancing practices before the pandemic escalated.

In metro areas under stay-at-home orders which have the greatest difference in wealth between the richest and the poorest, the richest have almost halted movement completely.

People in lower-income neighborhoods in these metro areas also drastically reduced their movement, but there was a renewed spike in movements after the third weekend of March - the start of the next workweek.

In areas where the difference between the richest and poorest is less stark, both groups continued to move around.

The Hamptons, New York: While the rich have holed up in their homes or even fled to their second homes in rural and beachside towns to hideout from the outbreak, poorer people across the US are continuing to move around

'People want to talk about this virus as an equal opportunity pathogen, but it's really not,' Dr. Ashwin Vasan, a doctor and public health professor at Columbia University, told the Times. 'It's going right to the fissures in our society.'

One reason for the disparity in movement is the types of jobs the richest and poorest in society hold.

Many of the jobs classed as essential amid the pandemic are those often held by lower socioeconomic groups, such as grocery store workers, care home workers, warehouse staff and delivery drivers.

If they quit, they will often not be entitled to claim unemployment benefits.

So these workers have no choice but to travel to work - and often on packed subways.

'The people at this income, they're either furloughed and not coming in to work, or they are essential construction, grocery cashiers, workers in long-term care institutions,' Matthew Rae, who directs a program on health care markets at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told the Times.

In contrast, many high-income jobs are either non-essential or desk-based meaning wealthier workers are now either working from home or have been furloughed.

The headstart on the virus among the richest has also put them at an advantage, said Dr. Vasan, the Columbia professor.

He told The Times that just a few days can make a big difference to the spread, said Dr. Vasan, the Columbia professor: 'It's just moving like wildfire through communities.'

Vasan cautions that it is in the interest of both the rich and the poor to enable the poor to stay home.

Pockets of people who are untested or who don't get the appropriate medical treatment can quickly become new clusters, he warned.
CROWN POINT  The corn and soybeans long raised at farms in southern Lake County soon may be joined by a truly 21st century crop  sunlight.

A Chicago-based international energy producer is proposing to construct a 200-megawatt solar farm in a to-be-determined location on 1,400 acres east of Interstate 65 and north of State Road 2.

If built as planned, Invenergy's Foundry Works Solar Energy Center would produce enough electricity to power 40,000 homes using crystalline silicon panels on trackers that follow the sun over the course of the day.

According to Katya Samoteskul, Invenergy manager of renewable development, the anti-reflective panels would sit 20 feet apart and rise to a maximum tilt height of 15 feet, though the panels' tilt usually only would be about 7 feet off the ground.

She said prairie grasses would be planted between the panels and cover about 30% of the entire site  "It's basically a meadow with panels," Samoteskul said.

Invenergy currently is not seeking any subsidies for the solar farm. The company plans to lease the needed land from Lake County property owners over a 35-year period, and property taxes would continue to be paid on the land and its improvements.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday placed on special leave a minister seen lunching at a friends house in violation of the coronavirus lockdown.

Ramaphosa has ordered a three-week national lockdown to try to brake the virus, which has infected 1,749 people, killing 13 of them, according to an official tally.

But a picture posted on Instagram on Sunday showed Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams having lunch with five other people at the home of a former deputy minister earlier that day.

President Ramaphosa has placed the Minister on special leave for two months, the presidency said in a statement.

Ramaphosa has accepted the ministers apology for the violation but was unmoved by mitigating factors she tendered, it said.

The nation-wide lockdown calls for absolute compliance on the part of all South Africans, Ramaphosa was quoted as saying.

None of us -- not least a member of the national executive -- should undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation, said Ramaphosa. No-one is above the law.

Shortly after the presidents statement, the minister issued an apology.

I regret the incident and I am deeply sorry for my actions, said Ndabeni-Abrahams in a statement issued through her ministry. I hope the president and South Africans will find it in their hearts to forgive me.

I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate the Presidents call for all of us to observe the lockdown rules. They are a necessary intervention to curb the spread of a virus that has devastated many nations.

Last month, just two days into the lockdown, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu was forced to issue an apology after she posted a video on her Instagram account, joking about how she was struggling to stay home.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak in the US that has caused thousands of fatalities in the country, President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to reassure the country, saying there are signs that the aggressive strategy to slow the spread is working and the number of new cases is stabilizing. "The numbers are changing and they are changing rapidly and soon we will be over that curve. We will be over the top and we will be headed in the right direction.

I feel strongly about that," Trump told reporters during his daily White House news conference on coronavirus. By Wednesday, ...
P assport workers have reportedly been told to return to work on the "assessment" that 80 per cent of them will get coronavirus either way.

The BBC said that staff at Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) have been asked to return to work next week to process routine passport applications..

Staff were also told by a Home Office scientific adviser that they could not "hide" from coronavirus for "forever".

HMPO has centres in London, Belfast, Glasgow, Newport, Liverpool, Peterborough, and Durham.

Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, previously said 'up to 80%' of Britons could get the virus / REUTERS

In a leaked transcript of a Zoom meeting involving Passport Office (HMPO) managers, reported by the BBC on Thursday, employees were told that staying at home was important but "80 per cent of us, if we haven't already, will get the virus".

"You are no more at risk at the workplace as you would be in your home or at the supermarket. It is about minimising it," he reportedly said. "We are working on the assessment that 80% of us, if we haven't already, will get the virus."

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty previously told a press conference on March 5 that in a worst case scenario "up to 80 per cent" of the UK could catch the virus.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said it has been pressing managers across the civil service to close offices so people can work from home.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: It is absolutely scandalous that HMPO are suggesting our members can go back into work during a pandemic to process routine passports.

Before and during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /44 Before and during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures AP Buckingham Palace AP Piccadilly Line tube AP Big Ben AP Millennium bridge AP Wembley Stadium AP St Pancras International train station AP Downing Street AP Victoria Station AP Regent Street AP The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace AP London's National Gallery in Trafalgar Square PA Edinburgh's Royal Mile PA Barry Island, South Wales PA Bath PA Bath PA London's Waterloo station PA London Bridge PA London's Canary Wharf Jubilee Line platform PA London's Canary Wharf Station PA London's Buckingham Palace PA London's Tower Bridge PA London's Leicester Square PA London's Millennium Bridge with St Paul's Cathedral PA London's Criterion Theatre PA London's Palace Theatre PA London's Phoenix Theatre PA London's Canary Wharf Station PA Bournemouth beach PA Bath PA Bath PA Barry Island, South Wales PA Bournemouth beach PA

The cavalier approach to our members health and safety is shameful and ultimately puts them in greater danger of contracting Covid-19."

He added: "We have already had members die as a result of contracting corona and pressured civil service managers in other departments to shut offices so staff can work from home.

For the deputy chief scientific adviser at the Home Office to suggest that going into work does not put you at greater risk of contracting corona is extremely irresponsible and totally contradicts current Government guidance.

Processing passports is not critical work while we are in lockdown and international travel is practically non-existent due to the corona pandemic.

A spokesperson for the Home Office told The Evening Standard the HMPO is "fully adhering" to Public Health advice but that there is "no advice" saying that you should only go to work if you are a "key worker".

The spokesperson said: Her Majestys Passport Office is fully adhering to Public Health advice across all our offices and adopting social distancing measures to keep both its staff and customers safe.

It continues to operate at substantially restricted staffing levels with a significant number of people working from home where possible, and staff are prioritising emergency cases. Guidance is also available for people who are travelling into work.

It was made clear in the meeting that the Governments priority is slowing the spread of coronavirus and we all have a part to play in order to protect the NHS and save lives.

The spokesperson added: "Government advice has been clear that you may travel for work purposes, if you cannot work from home.
Mumbai, April 9 : Amitabh Bachchan is missing his wife Jaya Bachchan on her 72nd birthday, as she is stuck in Delhi owing to the lockdown. The veteran actor took to his blog to express his feelings.

"Jaya's birthday today and the distance where she is stuck, reduced by the inventions of the day in virtual technology .. she was in Delhi at Parliament when the lockdown happened and she could not come back home, in Mumbai," he wrote.

However, Big B seems relieved because Jaya Bachchan is safe. "She is at home in Delhi, within controlled conditions and of course the entire day never passes without FT 's and sharing of conversations which make it seem as though we are all together,"he blogged.

Amitabh Bachchan also thanked fans for wishing Jaya on her birthday. "Many of you have expressed their greetings to her and I sincerely wish to thank all of you for your remembrance and love .. thank you," he wrote.

Abhishek Bachchan also shared a note on Instagram mentioning how much he is missing his mother on her birthday. He wrote: "Although you are away in Delhi due to the lockdown and we are all here in Mumbai, know that we are thinking of you carry you in our hearts. I love you!"

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Image reconstructed using radio emission data from MeerKAT at 1000 MHz, showing unusual collimated synchrotron threads connecting radio emission lobes of ESO 137-006

An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Rhodes University, has uncovered unusual features present in the radio galaxy ESO 137-006, using MeerKAT.

Launched in 2018, the South African MeerKAT radio telescope aims to answer fundamental astrophysical questions about the nature of objects in the Universe. It is a precursor to the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.



ESO 137-006 is a fascinating galaxy residing in the Norma cluster of galaxies and one of the brightest in the southern sky at radio wavelengths. It is characterised by two very bright lobes of radio emission that are bent in one direction. New features have been uncovered in this galaxy in the form of multiple collimated synchrotron threads (CST) connecting the lobes of the galaxy, explained Dr Mpati Ramatsoku, a Research Fellow at Rhodes University and lead author of the study.



The classical picture of a radio galaxy consists of a core (hosting a supermassive black hole), shooting out two jets of plasma at speeds close to the speed of light. The material within the jets eventually slows down and billows out, forming large radio lobes. What makes ESO 137-006 different is that there appear to be multiple, additional close-by filaments linking the lobes, which could have formed at the same time, but do not seem to be associated with the core.

This is exciting because we did not expect it at all, said Professor Oleg Smirnov, SARChi SKA Chair for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies at Rhodes University. Such serendipitous discoveries are very important for MeerKAT because they highlight its incredible capacity for finding the unknown unknowns in our universe.

According to Prof Smirnov, this is in contrast to many of the big discoveries these days that tend to be planned and almost expected. You have large teams, with a lot of funding, working for many years towards a planned goal (finding a known unknown). This is just the way big science is done.

He cites last years first image of the black hole at the centre of M87 (in which Rhodes University was also involved), the discovery of gravitational waves, and the Higgs boson as examples of such known unknowns.

That's not to say such achievements are any less awe-inspiring, however, he clarified. But I think finding something completely unexpected, like what we see at ESO 137-006, is very exciting, romantic even, and it reminds many of us of the reasons we got into science in the first place.

The nature of these unusual features, said Dr Ramatsoku, is unclear. Although the team, composed of collaborators from South Africa and Italy, do have speculations, further observations and theoretical efforts are required to clarify the nature of these newly discovered features.

It is possible that these features may be unique to ESO 137-006, because of its harsh environment, but it is equally possible that these features are common in radio galaxies but, so far, we have been unable to detect them due to sensitivity and resolution limits, she explained.



If the latter is true, it brings up questions such as: How common are these features in radio galaxies?, Why are they this way?, and Why do they exist in the first place?



According to Dr Ramatsoku, understanding the nature and the physics of these features could open a new science case for sensitive radio interferometers like MeerKAT and in the future, the SKA.

The article based on this study has been published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal.

Rhodes University may be small, but it only goes to show that you don't need to be a big university in a big city to do world-leading science, Prof Smirnov stated.

He credits Rhodes Universitys Professor Justin Jonas, who has been at the University since his student days, for making the MeerKAT happen and for bringing the SKA to South Africa. For his hard work and achievements in radio astronomy, Prof Jonas was awarded the VC's Distinguished Achievement Award in 2019.

Source: Communications

Please help us to raise funds so that we can give all our students a chance to access online teaching and learning. Covid-19 has disrupted our students' education. Don't let the digital divide put their future at risk. Visit www.ru.ac.za/rucoronavirusgateway to donate
Los Angeles, April 9 : "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow will be joining actor Steve Carell in the Netflix comedy "Space Force".

The comedy is co-created by "The Office" fame Greg Daniels. Netflix also revealed that "Space Force", one of the most anticipated scripted shows of 2020, will premiere on May 29, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The series is described as a workplace comedy revolving around the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services -- Space Force. Several sources note that the idea for the project was sparked by Donald Trump's June order to establish a space force as the sixth military branch.

Kudrow will recur in the series as Maggie Naird, the wife of Carell's Gen. Mark R. Naird. She is a Washington Air Force wife who has sublimated parts of herself to her husband's career for two decades.

The show's formal description reads: "A decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force, four-star Gen. Mark. R. Naird is thrown for a loop when he finds himself tapped to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces: Space Force. Skeptical but dedicated, Mark uproots his family and moves to a remote base in Colorado where he and a colorful team of scientists and "Spacemen" are tasked by the White House with getting American boots on the moon (again) in a hurry and achieving total space dominance." Sources claim that Carell's salary for "Space Force", including co-creator and executive producer fees, sets a new overall record for talent, likely topping the $1-million-per-episode paydays that the cast members of "The Big Bang Theory" previously netted.

Carell's "The Office", which airs in India on Star World, ranks as one of Netflix's most-watched acquired series. It is believed that it often collects more viewers on Netflix than some of its originals.
The U.S. Postal Service is investigating the failure to deliver at least 175  and possibly hundreds  of absentee ballots requested by voters in the village of Fox Point and other communities in Milwaukee County. The scrutiny comes as scores of voters across Wisconsin say they never received ballots requested long before Election Day.

Wisconsin voters requested a record 1.28 million absentee ballots, many of them seeking to avoid in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

But news outlets have found numerous voters in Madison, Milwaukee, Appleton and elsewhere who said they waited to receive ballots that did not arrive before Election Day. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that at least 50 people contacted the newspaper to report problems accessing mail-in ballots.

Some of those voters chose to risk infection and vote in person. Others did not vote.

State Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, tweeted Wednesday that he had been informed of a call from a postal worker to the Wisconsin Elections Commission reporting that 3 large tubs of absentee ballots from Oshkosh and Appleton were just located. Feyen said he was working hard to remedy the situation.

State Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, urged the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state Department of Justice to investigate the waylaid ballots, which he said were found in a mail processing facility in Milwaukee. He also called on the Legislature to implement mail-only balloting for upcoming elections if the pandemic continues.

Controversy over absentee balloting in this election made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal court judge had extended the date for Wisconsin voters to send in ballots to April 13  citing the high number of absentee ballot requests and the ongoing pandemic. But the high court reversed that hours before the election, ordering that ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted.

Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolf said Wednesday that the agency heard from several clerks that absentee ballots they had mailed out were bounced back.

Wolfe said state elections officials have been in contact with the postal service to determine the scope of the problem.

I dont know that we have a good handle on that yet, she said.

They just never got mailed

Scott Botcher, Fox Point village manager, said his staff worked hard to quickly send ballots to all 2,877 residents who requested them. But something strange happened ahead of Election Day: USPS repeatedly returned unsent ballots without explanation.

The ballots are not stamped undeliverable or anything. They just never got mailed, Botcher told PBS Wisconsin, which broke the story of the undelivered ballots.

Botcher said he and Assistant Village Manager Michael Pedersen took at least seven trips to the local post office to re-mail mysteriously returned ballots.

Most of the returned ballots were meant for Fox Point voters, but about seven to 10 per day were intended for voters in neighboring Glendale, he said. A smaller share was meant for voters in nearby Whitefish Bay.

Botcher said he did not know how many ballots the village re-sent over that period, nor how many never reached voters. But on Election Day  the deadline for voters to postmark their ballots  he received a white plastic bin filled with 175 ballots that local voters never received.

I don't think it's anything nefarious on the part of the Postal Service, but something just wasnt working right, he said.

Problem all over the state

Molly Collins, advocacy director for the ACLU of Wisconsin, said the group has heard from tons of voters in many parts of the state who did not receive absentee ballots they had requested.

Collins was in Milwaukee Tuesday observing the election as thousands of voters  many wearing face masks for safety  waited in long lines at the citys five polling sites to cast in-person ballots.

I can say from being inside polling places with Election Protection yesterday that I heard so many Milwaukee voters come with that question: I requested a ballot, it never came, so I need to be here to vote, " Collins said, calling the situation very frustrating.

Neil Albrecht, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said delivery delays created an unlevel playing field for voters who tried to vote absentee. He said because of worker shortages, postal officials told him it could take seven to 10 days to deliver a ballot.

Albrecht said the city heard from an extraordinary number of voters on March 22 and 23 who reported to the Election Commission they had not received their ballots. He said he is documenting the problem and plans to report it to the postal service.

Since this election was so reliant on mail-in ballots, many voters were just disenfranchised by waiting for absentee ballots to arrive in the mail, Albrecht said.

Fox Point ballots investigated

Bob Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service region serving most of Wisconsin, said the postal service is aware of the problems with the Fox Point ballots. But he had no information to share Wednesday.

People are investigating it, Sheehan said, adding that local and district administrators were leading the probe.

Sheehan said he knew of no other complaints like those in Fox Point

Not like this  thats for sure. Weve heard scattered reports of people not getting their ballots, Sheehan said. There were just things that I heard on the news. Nobody contacted the Postal Service directly.

Botcher said he and Pedersen took the returned, unopened ballots back to their branch post office seeking an explanation and got none. Village officials asked them to be redelivered  and some were returned to the sender, the village of Fox Point  more than once, Botcher said.

Wed talk to the postal people at the front desk  who were very, very nice people. Nobody was inappropriate with us in that regard  saying Can you look at these, what's wrong with these? And we would get the answer from the front desk people: Scott, we cant see whats wrong with these. 

Would-be absentee voters go to polls

Bobbie Perkins of Milwaukee is one of the voters who did not receive her ballot. She said she was afraid to risk in-person voting because of reports that African-Americans were contracting coronavirus at high rates. But she went to the polling site at Marshall High School on Tuesday anyway.

"I didnt care where I had to go, I was going to vote today, Perkins said. I think it (the election) should have been postponed because of whats going on out here. If they say the black community is dying (of coronavirus), why would they put us in a group like this?

Larry Borth voted at Milwaukees Marshall High School Tuesday. He said he requested an absentee ballot that never arrived, even though he could see online that it was sent March 23.

Tim Lochner of Yuba in Richland County said he and his wife both requested absentee ballots. She got one  but he did not. He called a town official in charge of absentee ballots, and she hand-delivered the ballot to their home the night before the election.

She said she didn't have a record of mine being requested, Lochner said. Literally, she delivered it to my mailbox at 8 p.m. the night before the election.  I guarantee you no other town board in the state of Wisconsin was out hand-delivering these things the night before the election.

Josh Jandrain, from the village of Plover in Portage County, shared a website screenshot indicating that his ballot was mailed March 24  but he never got it.

I ended up risking it today and went to the polls, he said Tuesday. Im so angry about how this went down.

Tristain Thomas, a logistics technician from Appleton, wore a face mask to vote on Tuesday after his absentee ballot did not arrive. It finally did come  the day after the election.

This story was reported by Dee J. Hall and Jim Malewitz of Wisconsin Watch; Frederica Freyberg and Will Kenneally of PBS Wisconsin and Shawn Johnson of Wisconsin Public Radio. The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
Press Release

9 April 2020

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee - Showing further COVID-19 impact, the Canadian hotel industry recorded steep year-over-year declines in the three key performance metrics during the week of 29 March through 4 April 2020, according to data from STR.

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In comparison with the week of 31 March through 6 April 2019, the industry reported the following:

Occupancy: -79.0% to 12.8%

Average daily rate (ADR): -30.5% to CAD105.19

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -85.4% to CAD13.42

Among the provinces and territories, Quebec experienced the largest decline in occupancy (-89.8% to 6.1%), which resulted in the steepest decrease in RevPAR (-92.5% to CAD6.87).

Ontario posted the largest drop in ADR (-34.8% to CAD105.14).

Among the major markets, Montreal recorded the steepest decrease in RevPAR (-92.9% to CAD7.81), due to the largest decline in occupancy (-90.0% to 6.7%).

Vancouver registered the largest drop in ADR (-34.5% to CAD119.12).
(GETTY)

Its been two weeks since Finance Minister Bill Morneau told Canadas battered energy sector that targeted aid was coming in hours, potentially days.

Rank and file oil and gas workers, C-suite executives, and scores of Canadians employed by businesses that rely on a functioning energy industry are anxious to hear Ottawas plan to help mitigate record-low oil prices and COVID-19s crushing grip on demand. Patience is wearing thin.

On Tuesday, at the annual Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) conference, itself a casualty of the pandemic having been reduced to a webcast, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage described energy firms in very, very dire condition. She criticized Ottawa for taking too long to respond to the sectors concerns. Open letters recently signed by Canadas largest oil companies and smaller drilling and service firms share her urgency.

A spokesperson for Morneaus office confirmed on Tuesday that no timeline is in place, and said work is ongoing with provinces and stakeholders to provide credit measures for the industry and support for workers. Savage said the federal aid package could also include measures to hasten the cleanup of abandoned wells.

The finance ministry estimates Ottawas current package to protect the economy from the impact of COVID-19 will cost more than $250 billion. Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights, said the government has clearly fast-tracked policies that apply to the broadest swaths of workers and the economy.

I do think that we will see some targeted support, but the federal governments preference is very much for ways to support a range of linked industries. I think that means that those in the oil patch are not going to see it as sufficient, she said.

Ziemba questions whether Ottawa may attach requirements to liquidity financing, such as maintaining a certain level of staff.

The federal government also has a broader dilemma that it has had from day one, which is how much they care about the green agenda and renewable energy, and the oil and gas sector. Both of which are important to Canada, she said. That continues to complicate the response.

Story continues

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that Canada is in talks with OPEC about cooperation to address the dire state of global oil markets. Savage said she will call into an "OPEC-plus-plus" meeting on Thursday that could include discussion of broadening production quotas beyond OPEC and Russia to include the United States, the world's largest producer, and Canada.

Ziemba said Canada needs to prepare its own supports for the energy sector, even if it plans to participate in a new type of production quota agreement with international partners.

Despite the fact that we might see global measures, no matter what is done, this is going to be a year of a lot of pain for a lot of the fossil fuel industry, she said.

Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments, manages the Toronto-based firms Global Resource Fund. He applauds the Alberta governments recent investment and loan guarantee for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Premier Jason Kenney has touted the move as a way to rescue the future of the energy industry and power the country out of the COVID economic crash. In a televised address on Tuesday, he warned that negative prices for Alberta oil, a $20 billion provincial deficit this year, and 25 per cent unemployment rate are on the table for his province.

The biggest thing would be getting pipeline capacity up. What the Alberta government did by backstopping Keystone XL, I think was a massive step. It would be nice to see the federal government step in to do that or figure out some way to support that, Taylor said. It's probably unlikely.

Taylor is awaiting the outcome of Canadas participation in the upcoming OPEC+ talks. He said a North America-wide energy policy to oversee supply could be one positive outcome on the horizon. For now, he is critical of the timing of the Trudeau Liberals promised energy support.

I think its embarrassing. At the end of the day, it really shows that the federal government is really not doing anything to help the West and the energy sector, he said. This isn't really a good thing in times of crisis. You want to overreact versus underreact.

CAPP president and CEO Tim McMillan estimates Canadian energy companies slashed between $6 billion and $8 billion in planned capital spending in the last three weeks.

This is a time when the energy sector is uniquely damaged by the actions of others as well as the pandemic itself, he said, referring to the Saudi-Russian price war that has intensified COVID-19s downward pressure on oil.

McMillan hopes Ottawa will eventually respond with a suite of measures aimed at improving short-term liquidity, protecting jobs and ensuring natural gas and heating fuel flows smoothly to customers.

We are going to continue to engage with the federal ministers and government to try and ensure that it is effective and timely, he said. There is frustration on the timing right now.

With files from The Canadian Press

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
It seems like everyone at the neighborhood coffee shop (Instagram) is drinking this frothy, photogenic beverage. Dalgona coffee was recently made popular by South Korean influencers, and has since reverberated across peoples social media feeds worldwide, within weeks becoming the unofficial Drink of the Pandemic.

The whipped coffee is made with equal parts instant coffee, sugar and hot water; 2 tablespoons each for one serving is generally recommended, although the amount of sugar can be decreased to suit tastes. The ingredients are whisked together (preferably with a hand-mixer or immersion blender) until the mixture froths up, then is poured over milk and ice.

The result is a very Instagram-worthy two-layer drink with an intense coffee flavor thats balanced out by the sweetness of the sugar and the milk. The thick, frothy, caramel-colored top slowly blends into the rest of the drink as its sipped and stirred. While the coffee drink is not new, it was recently nicknamed dalgona in reference to a South Korean candy that has a similar color and texture.

Now Playing: Society writer Amber Elliott attempts to whip up the dalgona coffee that's been making rounds on the internet. After some trial and error, she finds the perfect balance and taste-tests her creation. What's the verdict? Video: Amber Elliot/Houston Chronicle

Cuc Lam, co-owner of Yelo (opening late summer), had known about the coffee before the social media craze. Then a couple months ago, her sons girlfriend, whos from South Korea, made it and further piqued Lams curiosity. All of a sudden, everyone was doing it, so she set about to try it for herself.

She wasnt immediately successful. First try? Bombed. Second try? Bombed, she says, laughing. She couldnt quite get it to froth up. But on her third try, she got that perfect whipped texture and proudly displayed her creation on Facebook.

Grace Gibson, talent buyer at Live Nation, was so excited to try the beverage that instead of the prescribed tablespoons, she made it with a third of a cup of each ingredient. Still, she and her fiance drank it all. I dont think I slept at all that night, she says.

Dustin Ngo, a personal banker and self-described coffee enthusiast, has made dalgona coffee several times since he first saw it appear on his Facebook timeline two weeks ago. Now hes hooked. The first time he made the drink, he whisked the mixture by hand and quickly realized his mistake. It took him 15 minutes to get the desired consistency. My arm and my wrist were on fire, he says. Now he uses his Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment.

Ngos first job was as a barista at Starbucks and this fun project has scratched an itch for him. Hes considering making the drink a little fancier next time, like by adding shaved chocolate curls or some syrup. Hes seen people dollop the coffee mixture over pastries.

Gibson has also been experimenting: She served the dalgona on a White Russian and highly recommends it. Shes now in two Facebook groups dedicated to food and drink on lockdown, one called Quarantine Cuisine and the other Corona Cooking.

Were all wanting to figure out how we can interact with each other virtually and share these experiences, says Gibson, adding that shes looking forward to having friends over again and showing off her new party trick.

The only way people are truly connected these days is through social media and other technology. Lam says having a cup of coffee is part of everyones routine; making a cool-looking coffee like dalgona and being able to share it with friends and family is just one of the small comforts we have in these times.

There are good things coming out of this horrible crisis were going through, she says.

Lams soon-to-open restaurant Yelo will be a banh mi shop that serves specialty coffees. If she can master the dalgona coffee, she plans to put it on the menu. By the time this is all over and Houstonians can go out to eat and drink again, perhaps theyll appreciate a quarantine throwback?

emma.balter@chron.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The World Bank has published a forecast of the Central Asian economies, according to which the gross domestic product (GDP) of Uzbekistan in 2020 will grow by 1.6 percent, Trend reports citing the World Bank.

Economic growth, according to the bank's experts, will decline sharply in 2020 as a result of a significant reduction in foreign trade and domestic economic shocks.

Lower tax revenues and additional crisis spending are expected to increase the fiscal deficit to 5.6 percent of GDP in 2020, 4.7 percent of GDP in 2021 and 5.5 percent in 2022.

Reduced tax revenues and additional expenditures to mitigate the crisis are expected to raise the budget deficit to 5.6 percent of GDP in 2020 and 4.7 percent in 2021.

The effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the drivers of poverty reduction, such as income growth and remittances, is likely to increase poverty levels in 2020.

"Uzbekistans macroeconomic buffers, safety nets, and community institutions and anti-crisis policy measures,are expected to help mitigate the worst effects of the crisis on the poor", noted WB.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has previously published a more optimistic forecast for Uzbekistan's economic growth. In its flagship annual economic publication Asian Development Review 2020, the ADB forecasts gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Uzbekistan at 4.7 percent in 2020, down from 5.6 percent last year.

ADB forecasts GDP growth to 5.8 percent in 2021, as reforms will stimulate growth in agriculture, industry and services.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
(Natural News) Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists flocked to popular tourists sites all over the country over the holiday weekend as the government finally loosened coronavirus restrictions.

One of the tourist sites is a popular mountain range called the Huangshan mountain park located in the Anhui province in Eastern China. State media Global Times reported that the park put an exemption from the 190 yuan ($26.7) entrance fee for the residents of the province on Saturday, April 4.

This free entrance policy comes in coordination with a two-week tourism promotion activity in the entire province of Anhui, where residents can visit 31 different scenic spots in Huangshan city without paying a fee.

Hangzhou, the capital of the Zhejiang province in eastern China, has also opened 55 scenic spots free of charge, as long as they maintain the daily reception capacity of under 50 percent of the maximum capacity.

Unfortunately, park authorities issued a notice declaring that the park had reached its 20,000 person daily capacity limit and would stop accepting visitors. They also issued a notice suggesting that visitors should adjust their current travel plans to another day.

#Huangshan Mountain, a 5-A tourist attraction in East #China's Anhui Province, closed to tourists on Sunday morning due to an overflow of tourists after it exempted its 190 yuan ($26.7) entrance fee to residents of the province to promote tourism amid #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/DAffe2zhI1  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 5, 2020

Photos and videos circulating on Weibo, the countrys largest social media platform, revealed thousands of mask-wearing visitors crowding around pathways with almost no gap between the tourists. This overly crowded spot has made some netizens concerned over the possibilities of transmitting coronavirus  which originated in the neighboring province of Hubei  despite the last confirmed COVID-19 case reported on February 27.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only just stabilized in China, do you want it to break out again? one netizen commented. Other people put the blame on the free entrance policy that enticed the tourists to flock to area, saying that this policy should not be encouraged as the global pandemic is not even over yet.

Similarly, in Shanghai, the famous Bund waterfront was also swarmed with shoppers and tourists after weeks of being deserted due to stringent lockdown measures. Many of the once-shuttered and closed-down restaurants have also been doing brisk trading, with some even requiring reservations before allowing people to enter.

Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at Chinas CYTS Tours Holding Co., said that, while travel in the province has been recovering at a steady pace, people still need to be cautious and that authorities must establish enough precautionary measures.

Tourists must have self-protective awareness and the scenic spots must be responsible for regulating and arranging the tourists, otherwise it could still be risky, Xu said.

No new coronavirus deaths in China

On Tuesday, China reported no new deaths for the first time since January despite the countrys struggles with dealing with ongoing outbreaks. A report from Al Jazeera revealed that cases of coronavirus in mainland China have slowly dwindled since March. However, the country still faces a new wave of infections brought in from overseas with health officials reporting nearly a thousand cases in total.

According to the countrys National Health Commission, there were 32 brand new cases of coronavirus recorded across China, but these cases were arrivals from another country. Health officials also reported 30 new asymptomatic infections, bringing the national total to 1,033.

The Guardian reported that this promising news came just as Hong Kong and mainland China strengthened their restrictions against foreign arrivals amid the rising number of imported and asymptomatic cases in both nations.

As of writing, China has 82,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 3,335 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins. Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and even the U.S. have each tallied more cases than China. (Related: Could America soon be facing widespread STARVATION due to the coronavirus and a collapsing food supply?)

I think China is keeping a close eye on COVID-19 detections and may need to tune the social distancing measures that are needed to keep COVID-19 contained, Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Hong Kong University.

For now, it may be OK to relax some measures, but those measures should be tightened if case numbers pick up.

In total, there are 1,359,398 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, with the United States at the lead with the most infections. For the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic, visit at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

GlobalTimes.cn

MSN.com

AlJazeera.com

TheGuardian.com

Coronavirus.JHU.edu
A decontamination machine that can sterilize up to 80,000 N95 respirators will soon be up and running in Somerville, and it will be open to hospitals across Massachusetts, state officials said.

Partners HealthCare worked with Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone and Battelle, the Columbus-based nonprofit behind the Battelle CCDS Critical Care Decontamination System, to set up the facility at the site of a former K-mart store near Assembly Row. The Somerville facility is one of at least four sites in the U.S. with a mask decontamination machine.

This innovative partnership will offer hospitals across our region, first responders and medical professionals a new regional resource in the battle against COVID-19, said Dr. Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare.

Partners has more than a dozen hospitals in its network, including Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said the machine is open to hospitals outside of the Partners network, as well as first responders and health care workers across the state.

The machine uses concentrated amounts of vapor phase hydrogen peroxide to kill off biological contaminants, including the coronavirus. The machine can clean an N95 respirator multiple times without affecting its performance, according to Battelles website.

As far as who gets access to the system, Sudders said the process is akin to how a laundromat works. A hospital or organization pays to run a set of respirators through the machine, puts them in special bags and send them to the Somerville site to get sterilized.

Organizations then pay a fee for every mask sanitized, Sudders said.

The launch of the Somerville site comes as health care officials prepare for a surge of cases in Massachusetts. Gov. Charlie Baker, citing models analyzed by state advisors, projects cases will peak between April 10 and April 20. If the projection is correct, the state could get between 47,000 and 172,000 cases and thousands could die.

In Massachusetts, 18,941 people have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday according to the latest figures from the state Department of Public Health. The virus has led to 503 deaths.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers on the front lines have expressed concerns with the low levels of protective equipment available in their facilities. The Massachusetts Nurses Association has repeatedly asked state officials for more protective gear to prevent hospitals from running out or rationing them.

Dr. Paul Biddinger, a chief of emergency preparedness at MGH and a member of the governors advisory group, said last month that MGH already started using its emergency stockpile that had been set aside for the surge.

The machine will prevent some health care providers from having to order new N95 respirators, state officials say. Partners, which has more than a dozen members, requires 13,000 masks a week across all of its hospitals, Klibanski said. That number is expected to go up to 45,000 across the network.

Baker, who has struggled to secure PPE from the national stockpile, said the machine helps extend the shelf life of the current supply. Our N95 mask stockpile will go a lot farther, he said.

Related Content:
The national government has recently unveiled a scheme that seemingly leaves residential tenants out, according to some market watchers.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a new code of conduct that will provide rental waivers and deferrals for tenants affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. This, however, only covers commercial tenants.

"The issues that we've worked on as a national cabinet have been to deal with the commercial issues, because they have that broader national economic impact," he said in a recent press briefing.

Residential tenancies, Morrison said, will be dealt directly by state and territory jurisdictions.

"We have a moratorium on evictions, and then individual measures beyond that they believe are best addressed within each individual jurisdiction," he said.

Adrian Kelly, president at the Real Estate Institute of Australia, said this could lead to Australians being treated differently depending on where they reside.

"This will add to the confusion and most likely there will be the misinterpretation of messaging," he said. "I am disappointed that a uniform approach could not have been agreed to for all Australians."

Read more: Six initiatives to support construction

Responding to Morrison's remark about the commercial sector having a wide economic impact, Kelly said COVID-19 is also taking its toll on residential tenancies.

"For residential it is a social as well as economic impact  after all, we all live in dwellings and not all of us either own or lease commercial property," Kelly said.

Damian Collins, president at Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, urged the state government to provide relief to residential tenants.

Collins said a lack of appropriate support from the state government could impact 250,000 rental properties in Western Australia.

"We need to see emergency residential rent relief for tenants who lose their jobs as a result of coronavirus, to allow them to keep paying rent for the next six months," he said.

Collins said most rental property owners are mum-and-dad investors, who are depending on rents to pay for their mortgages.

"Most property owners are already willing to help tenants who find themselves in financial stress because of coronavirus, but the burden should not fall back entirely on the owner," he said.

In a recent TV interview with ABC News, Housing Minister Michael Sukkar encouraged tenants with the financial capacity to continue paying their rent.

"Unless you have an arrangement with your landlord that takes into account your financial circumstances, you are required to pay your rent. The moratorium applies to make sure that people do not find themselves without a home," he said.
Bangladeshi officials have imposed a lockdown in a southeastern district where more than a million Rohingya refugees live in cramped camps, in a move to contain the coronavirus pandemic, as the nation recorded its highest daily spike in confirmed cases.

Bangladeshi authorities meanwhile on Thursday confirmed 112 new cases of the pneumonia-like disease and one death from it. That took the national tally to 330 cases and 21 deaths since the first case was detected in the country of 165 million people early last month.

For the public interest, Coxs Bazar has been declared on lockdown, Md. Kamal Hossain, the districts deputy commissioner, announced on his Facebook page, referring to the district that borders Myanmars Rakhine state, home of the stateless Rohingya.

He said his office had decided to also seal off the refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf sub-districts a day after authorities announced the lockdown, which restricts movements.

No one, other than the designated persons, will be allowed to enter or come out of the 34 camps, Hossain told BenarNews. We have taken this decision to stop the spread of coronavirus infections at the camps.

Authorities made the move a day after officials sealed off the industrial city of Narayanganj and more than 50 neighborhoods in nearby Dhaka, the capital, to contain the pandemic.

About 740,000 Rohingya from Rakhine state fled their homes, beginning in August 2017, after Myanmars military launched a brutal offensive in response to deadly attacks by a rebel group on government security posts. The Rohingya who crossed the border into Bangladesh joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya at camps in Coxs Bazar who had previously fled Myanmar.

We have been trying to make the Rohingya understand that the coronavirus is fatal, Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader living at the no-mans land in Konarpara along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, told BenarNews.

This can cause death. So, let us stay at home.

Md. Iqbal Hossain, an additional superintendent of police in Coxs Bazar district, said they police had established more checkpoints after the lockdown.

We have intensified patrols and vigils around the camp, so that no Rohingya can get out of the camps or no foreigner or aid workers can enter without permission, he said.

We have reports that a section of the Rohingya refugees, especially those who live closer to the border, maintain back and forth clandestine movement between the camps and Myanmar, Hossain told BenarNews. They can bring in infection, too.

He said about 1.2 million Rohingya were housed in makeshift homes in Ukhia and Teknaf refugee camps.

As of Thursday, only one coronavirus infection had been detected in Coxs Bazar, Kamal Hossain, the deputy commissioner, told BenarNews, without elaborating.

The Rohingya people live in close contact [among each other]. They are very vulnerable to coronavirus infections. They can easily get contracted with the virus if any of the aid workers serving the camps carried the virus. So lockdown is the best solution, he said. We want to keep them safe.

Hossain did not reveal the duration of the lockdown, but said anyone caught violating the order would be prosecuted.

Mohammad Shamsu Douza, an additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told BenarNews on Thursday that health authorities had placed 42 Rohingya refugees under quarantine, but 12 of them had been cleared after showing no symptoms within the observation period.

Rights groups had earlier expressed concern about the possible outbreak of COVID-19 in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

In an April 6 statement, Amnesty International warned that the overcrowded camps were being left behind in the humanitarian response to the pandemic, which could have devastating consequences for the Rohingya refugees, whose extended families jam into tarpaulin shelters with mud floors.

Basic, accurate information about the illness and measures to prevent its spread is failing to reach many people in the camps, Amnesty said, underscoring poor access to information since Dhaka authorities restricted access to telecommunications in the camps in September last year.

Local reports said limited mobile internet access had elevated the sense of panic among the refugees, allowing rumors to flourish.

Saikat Biswas, spokesman for the Inter-Sector Coordination Group, which coordinates the humanitarian agencies serving Rohingya refugees in Coxs Bazar, said that only emergency activities, including deliveries of food, water and medical services, were allowed as a result of the lockdown.

Only the foreigners involved in the emergency services are allowed to go inside the camp, he told BenarNews. The number of both local and foreign workers, serving the U.N. and other agencies, for entry into the camp has been reduced.
Dublin-based Opinions Hires for New MD Role

In Dublin, insight-led business advisory service Opinions has hired Iarlaith Corcoran for the newly created role of Managing Director; and Karen Martin as a Senior Insights Executive.



Opinions offers solutions to a range of business challenges - from innovation and design to brand and communications tracking and public opinion research; and operates online panel and monthly omnibus services. The firm was originally set up by reward and loyalty specialist WIN | WIN and then sold to business advisory firm Bayes & Becker last year.



Corcoran joins with a fifteen-year research sector background, spent in director roles at Kantar (Lansdowne Market Research), OI Research and most recently RED C Research, having begun his career at SPSS Ireland. In addition, he has lectured in research methods and statistics in Athlone Institute of Technology, Marino Institute and NUI Galway. Martin began her career at Ipsos in 2017, where as a Research Consultant she worked on a variety of research and innovation projects for local, national and international clients.



Commenting on the appointments, CEO David Cullen said: 'We are committed to continuing our strong growth trajectory, and believe that there will continue to be a role for quality insight and strategic guidance despite the current economic and social crisis. Moreover, we are confident in the future and are willing to invest now in the best talent so that we emerge strongly when the inevitable recovery arises'.



Web site: www.opinions.ie .




One male is dead and another is in custody after a shooting this morning, according to Mobile police.

Officers were called to Chevalier and Farnell Drives just before 6:30 a.m. on a report of shots fired.

MDP Investigation: At approximately 6:27 a.m., police responded to shots fired at Chevalier Dr. at Farnell Dr. Upon arrival, officers discovered a male victim deceased from gunshot wounds. One male suspect has been detained. pic.twitter.com/yqZ7ofEhsP  Mobile Police (@MobileALPolice) April 9, 2020

Upon arrival, officers discovered a male victim deceased from gunshot wounds. One male suspect has been detained, police said.

The suspect, 21-year old Henry DeAntonio Brown, is charged with murder.

The deceased victim has yet to be identified and is believed to be between the ages of 16 and 21-years old. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
THE government yesterday received more domestic and international donations in support of the countrys fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa received contributions worth 6.226bn/- from various stakeholders in the country, the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania donated medical supplies to support the anti-coronavirus crusade.

The medical kits donated by the Chinese embassy, in collaboration with Chinese businessmen, included face masks, protective clothes and forehead thermometers.

Receiving the donations in Dodoma yesterday, Prime Minister, Mr Majaliwa thanked the stakeholders for supporting the government's efforts to combat the deadly disease.

He called upon Tanzanians to continue cooperating with the government in curbing further spread of the Coronavirus.

As of yesterday, Tanzania had reported 24 cases of Covid-19. Five patients have made full recovery and discharged to join their families. One succumbed to the contagion.

396 people remain under quarantine in various places in the country, including foreigners, in line with the mandatory 14 days quarantine.

The government is continuing with various efforts to fight Covid-19, including enhancing public education on preventive measures.

It is good if members of the public will also pay attention to advices issued by health experts on the matter, he said.

The contributions came from Twiga Minerals Corporation (4bn/-), business tycoon Rostam Aziz (1bn/-), Taifa Gas (100m/-), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) 79m/- and Puma Energy which donated 50,000 litres of fuel. Others are Huawei Technologies, which donated video conferencing tools and Thermal Imaging Temperature Measuring system worth 940m/-.

Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Ms Wang Ke, meanwhile, presented to the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu in Dar es Salaam medical supplies including 100,000 face masks, 1,000 protective clothes and 150 forehead thermometers.

The supplies were organized jointly by the Embassy and two Chinese firms namely Hunan Donfang Jinxi International Corporation Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Speaking at the event, the ambassador revealed that a group of Chinese companies in Tanzania has also funded the construction of isolation and admission centres in Arusha.

She said the donation is in response to the request of the Tanzanian government and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.

One of the important experiences China has obtained from its fight against the Covid-19 is that no matter how vicious the virus is, solidarity stands as the key to our victory against it, she said.

According to the envoy, another batch of supplies including 500 ventilators issued by Chinese businessman Jack Ma through his Alibaba foundation is expected to arrive anytime next week.

Receiving the supplies, Ms Mwalimu said the kits will be distributed with immediate effects to the hospitals as the government focus is to protect health specialists from being contaminated by patients.

We thank the China embassy for the support as it is really helpful for us, this fight of Covid-19 needs collaborative efforts from all stakeholders, she said.

She also instructed all public and private hospitals to allocate isolation centres for suspects of the novel coronavirus, in order to control further spread of Covid-19 in the country.

According to Ms Mwalimu, the Prime Minister Mr Majaliwa will write a letter of appreciation on behalf of the government to the Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma for his gracious and continued support to the country.

With the continued support, now we can start putting thermos scanners at the domestic arrivals as right now, the scanners are at the arrival point of the international passengers, noted the minister.




Health Minister Simon Harris has made clear restrictions will not be lifted tomorrow and will be extended.

Speaking with PJ and Jim on Classic Hits at 9am this morning, Mr Harris said: To be blunt and honest with people, the restrictions that are in place are not going to be lifted tomorrow, we're going to have to keep at it.

He added: "What we're hoping to be able to do is show people what the journey looks like....if we keep at this for another couple of weeks, where does it bring us, what does success look like?".

He also said: "The virus is probably going to be here for a long time, but we need to get to a point where your Mum can see the Grandkids again even if the virus still is in Ireland."

The Minister went on to say that we can save thousands more lives than our doctors can and that if we get things wrong this weekend, we could go back to a very dark place.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has announced further measures to protect and support Direct Provision residents during the Covid-19 crisis.

These new measures will further support offsite self-isolation for residents, where required.

It will also see the introduction of a national clinical telephone service, which will provide public health advice to centre management to help them to better support their residents at this time.

These measures are additional to the 650 new beds announced by the Ministers on 31st March.

We have now procured three additional facilities for offsite self-isolation meaning there can be dedicated facilities in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Dundalk. This brings our total self-isolation capacity to 299 rooms at this time, Mr Flanagan said.

Residents staying in self-isolation facilities will have their own bedroom and their own bathroom. The facility in Dublin opened on Monday (6 April) and the three other facilities will be open by the end of this week, Mr Flanagan said.
In this article:

Interstellar, Bumblebee, Zodiac.

Easter weekend is here, so why not settle back on the sofa, crack open a giant chocolate egg and get stuck into some of these brilliant movies on subscription-free telly?

TopFilmTip has chosen the best films to set your clocks for over the extended bank holiday weekend.

Good Friday, 10 April

A neglected orphan begins marvellous adventure with enormous insect companions in Roald Dahls wondrous tale of friendship James And The Giant Peach 9am Sony Movie Channel

A young girl discovers Its A Hard Knock Life when she stays with a warmonger and seeks out her lost parents in classic musical Annie 1pm Gold Channel

Read more: The best 4K TV deals

Alec Guinness decides to steal three million pounds in gold from his employer in top Ealing comedy classic The Lavender Hill Mob 3:30pm BBC2

James Cromwell with Babe in a scene from the film 'Babe', 1995. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images)

Unlikely sheep-pig befriends animals, learns new shepherding skills, is inducted into secret society of friends and wins childrens hearts Babe 3:45pm Sky1

Booby trap-dodging, tomb-pillaging, swordsman-shooting, artefact-robbing, snake-burner achieves absolutely nothing in iconic adventure Raiders Of The Lost Ark 6:40pm BBC1

Apocalyptic lunatic and self-actualising fems fight fanatical clan convoy in unrelentingly insane explosive mayhem Mad Max: Fury Road 9pm ITV2

Tenacious journalist dedicates decades to discovering cryptic killer's identity in David Finchers obsessive, atmospheric thriller Zodiac 10pm Sony Movie Channel

CoE poet and cosmological genius forge unconventional love in face of MND, fame and temptation in flawless dramatic gem The Theory Of Everything 10:15pm ITV 1

Saturday, 11 April

One-eyed story telling musical origami magician seeks parents legacy in breathtaking myth & mystery fantasy Kubo And The Two Strings 11:35am Film4

Workaholic dad rediscovers childhood adventure and zeal in Steven Spielbergs swashbuckling insult-battling pirate fighting fun Hook 2:05pm Dave

Marmalade munching ear-brushing self-taping furry catastrophe seeks London home in guffaw inducing immigration analogy Paddington 4pm Film4

Story continues

Anything goes as relic robber condescends to child slaving death cult in bug-feasting, mine cart mayhem Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom 5:25pm BBC1

Vapid high school socialite's shidduching reveals her naivete as Jane Austen's Emma gets a 1990s makeover in erudite comedy Clueless 5:30pm Comedy Central

LOS ANGELES - JULY 21: The movie "Clueless", written and directed by Amy Heckerling. Seen here from left, Stacey Dash (as Dionne Davenport), and Alicia Silverstone (as Cher Horowitz). Theyre using cell phones. Theatrical wide release, Friday, July 21, 1995. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

With ambition exceeding ability, indomitable outsider soars til his ability meets his ambition in endearing true story Eddie The Eagle 5:50pm Film4

Teen zombie film makers witness spectacular derailment and alien escape in exceptional, emotive 1980s feel, cubic mystery gem Super 8 5:50pm E4

A lowly Indian clerk forms unlikely friendship with jaded and lonely monarch prompting meaningful cultural exchange and envious resentment of her inner circle Victoria And Abdul 8:15pm BBC2

Amid famine, family's fractious and transcendent love faces relativity for survival of humanity in mesmerising wonder Interstellar 10pm Sony Movie Channel

Easter Sunday, 12 April

Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka and Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket on the set of the fantasy film 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory', based on the book by Roald Dahl, 1971. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Malevolent madman manipulates miniature minority into making memes for malcontent misfits in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory 1:35pm ITV 1

After a friend is murdered Redford and Newman put a long con on the gangster responsible in outstanding crime caper classic The Sting 2:30pm ITV4

Fish farting ogre and friendless donkey free paradigm smashing princess and live ugly ever after in wry, droll meta-comedy Shrek 3pm ITV2

Paternally provoked penitent nazi schtooper/puncher fails to kill Hitler or recover holy grail in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade 3:35pm BBC1

Mechanical misfit and mechanical misfit find friendship between backdrop and subplot of 1980s alt-rock and invading robots in gloriously fun characterful adventure Bumblebee 4:45pm Channel 4

Shy, unappreciated & egotistical unknowns strive to achieve dream of stardom in uplifting anthropomorphic fun Sing 4:50pm ITV2

After 26 years trapped in board game, Robin Williams is freed by curious kids in carnivorous creature comedy adventure Jumanji 6:30pm Comedy Central

Widow seducing mouse threatener uncovers insidious global crime-spiracy in Sam Mendes' trepanning, breathless beauty Spectre 7pm ITV 1

Nic Cage, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo cause criminal chaos on and off prison plane in human message dropping Michael Bey-hem Con Air 9pm 5Star

Exquisitely sharp humour, nuanced characters and accidental dog murdering as four criminals attempt to double cross each other in uniquely wonderful comedy A Fish Called Wanda 10:30pm BBC1

Replicant retiring replicant uncovers world-altering truth in identity questioning, ineffably breathtaking wonder Blade Runner 2049 10pm Sony Movie Channel

Easter Money, 13 April

Redheaded adventurer discovers world of wizardry precipitating magical mayhem in joyously jaw-dropping wonder Mary And The Witchs Flower 10am Film4

Self-educated/reliant infant inflicts poetic punishment upon abusive adults in Roald Dahls magical marvellous merriment Matilda 10:20am Channel 5

David Leans classic PoW epic regarding duty, principles, morale and obsession The Bridge Over The River Kwai 2:20pm Channel 5

Clint Eastwood joins an operation to raid a nazi strong hold as plans within plans start to unravel Where Eagles Dare 4:50pm ITV4

Chris Pratt as Owen Grady in 'Jurassic World'. (Credit: Universal)

Raptor-daddy and high-heels-sprinter save haircut-brothers from psycho-killer-mutantosaurus in monster chomping fun Jurassic World 5:35pm ITV2

Delinquent becomes bespoke suited gadgeting gentleman spy in sword-legged viscerally violent riotous fun Kingsman: The Secret Service 8pm Channel 4

Lude loaded, dwarf tossing, debauched stock market fraudster attains unimaginable heights of wild excess in Martin Scorseses The Wolf Of Wall Street 9pm ITV4

Musically-mused oedipal getaway kid defies his killer colleagues in deviously deft, funk-fuelled frenetic wheel spinner Baby Driver 10pm Sony Movie Channel

Everything new on streaming in April:

Netflix UK: Aprils new releases

Everything coming to Now TV in April

Amazon Prime Video UK: The biggest April releases

Everything coming to Disney+ in April

Follow TopFilmTip on Twitter for daily film recommendations.
Canada Goose is ramping up production of its made-in-Manitoba medical gear with a goal of producing 1.5 million gowns  including 100,000 reusable garments for Shared Health.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada Goose is ramping up production of its made-in-Manitoba medical gear with a goal of producing 1.5 million gowns  including 100,000 reusable garments for Shared Health.

Last month, the Toronto-based outerwear brand announced it was pivoting from luxury parka production to help address the demand for gowns and scrubs because of COVID-19.

The company had initially closed its manufacturing facilities, including three in Winnipeg, to comply with social distancing recommendations.

This morning, it announced all of its Canadian plants will reopen.

Later this morning, the province put out a call for assistance from the garment industry to source non-medical cotton gloves, suits, gowns and other products requiring sewing to be used by social service workers. The province is now seeking medical swabs and non-medical cotton gloves and gowns  in addition to the previous requests for medical gowns, suits, gloves and masks.

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People and businesses able to provide products or services are asked to contact the provincial government "immediately." Shared Health is also accepting personal protective equipment donations that are in their original packaging, clean and in usable condition.

At full capacity, as many as 900 Canada Goose employees will be put to work across the country to produce at least 60,000 gowns per week as the country grapples with supply shortages amid the pandemic response. The federal government has arranged the contract.

"Now is the time for Canada to invest in made-in-Canada solutions," Dani Reiss, president and CEO of Canada Goose, said in a news release. Reiss said the company is uniquely positioned to re-tool its facilities and refocus teams on personal protective equipment.

Canada Goose plans to deliver up to 1.5 million gowns, at-cost. Thats in addition to its previous commitment to donate 14,000 units of gowns and scrubs at no charge.

Approximately 150 Canada Goose workers between two facilities that have already reopened, one in Winnipeg and one in Toronto, are making free gowns. Product shipments to hospitals and health care facilities across Canada began this week.

The company today any "unintentional profits" derived from efficiencies will be donated to national COVID-19 relief efforts.
A group of more than a dozen Australians were fined a total of more than A$11,000 (5,500) for holding a backyard party during the coronavirus lockdown.

The party, which took place on Wednesday in the city of Port Augusta in South Australia, consisted of a group of more than twelve people, all aged between 32 and 57.

Officers had to ask them four times to end the gathering.

Police in Australia have warned that people outside their homes without a valid excuse will receive a heavy fine.

Police said in statement: "On Tuesday 7 April and Wednesday 8 April police responded to noise complaints at a house on Main Street, Port Augusta.

"Police visited the address four times and on each occasion found a group of 13 people gathering in the back yard or inside the house. On the first three visits, police provided advice in relation to social distancing and prohibited gatherings.

"Just after 11.20am on Wednesday 8 April, when police attended the address for the fourth time, they found 13 people inside the lounge room of the house. Police issued a $1,060 fine to 11 of the people for participating in a prohibited gathering."

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged people to stay home when possible and maintain social distancing when outside. Public gatherings have been limited to two people.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australians to stay home unless absolutely necessary / Getty Images

"This Easter weekend will be incredibly important," Mr Morrison said. "Stay at home.

"Failure to do so this weekend would completely undo everything we have achieved so far together - and potentially worse."

The first Covid-19 case in Australia was recorded in Victoria on January 25 2020.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Kelt Exploration Ltd. (TSX: KEL) ("Kelt" or the "Company") announced today that its upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders ("Shareholders Meeting") will now be held at the Company's head office at Suite 300, 311 Sixth Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta. The Shareholders Meeting date will continue to be on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 3:00 PM Mountain Daylight Time.

Due to the unprecedented public health impact of the coronavirus disease ("COVID-19") and the restrictions on mass gatherings implemented by the Government of Alberta, shareholders and guests are strongly encouraged not to attend the meeting in person. Kelt encourages all shareholders to vote in advance of the meeting by mail, telephone or internet in the manner set out in the meeting materials that have been sent to shareholders, copies of which can be accessed on Kelt's website and can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Attendees will be required to sign a confirmation letter that they have not travelled outside of Canada for a period of two weeks preceding the date of the meeting and have no symptoms of illness. In particular, shareholders from demographic groups at greater risk of disease are strongly encouraged not to attend. Additional attendance requirements may be added based on the changing nature of the public health advisories related to COVID-19. In the event that more than 15 people choose to attend in person, the Shareholders Meeting, by necessity, will be rescheduled to a later date.

A live audio webcast of the Shareholders Meeting will be available on Kelt's website at www.keltexploration.com. A recording of the webcast will remain available on Kelt's website following the meeting. Kelt will not be providing a corporate presentation at the Shareholders Meeting.

Cost-Cutting Measures

On March 17, 2020, Kelt announced that it had reduced its 2020 capital expenditure budget by $80.0 million or 36%. In this regard, the Company currently has no immediate plans to start up drilling and completion operations on wells that currently remain in the budget until there is better clarity on future commodity prices which have been negatively impacted by global oil demand destruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kelt has implemented various measures to enhance its financial position in response to the current low oil price environment, in addition to the previously announced 36% reduction in capital expenditures for 2020. Effective May 1, 2020, employee compensation has been reduced by 10% and director fees have been suspended. As part of a continued focus on efficient operations, the Company is reviewing expenses throughout its operations and is working with suppliers and contractors to identify additional efficiencies and cost savings.

Operations Update

During the first quarter of 2020, Kelt completed and brought on production the remaining six wells from its 24-well Montney cube development program at Inga. At Fireweed, the Company drilled a 5-well Montney pad and at Oak, Kelt drilled four Montney wells. The completion operations for all these wells have been put on hold temporarily during the current low commodity price environment.

Major infrastructure projects that commenced construction in 2019 are expected to be fully completed in April 2020. At Inga, construction of the 40-kilometre, 16-inch pipeline that will have the capability to transport 300 MMCF per day of natural gas from the Company's Inga 2-10 facility to the newly constructed AltaGas Townsend Deep-Cut Gas Plant ("Townsend Gas Plant") has been completed and is currently being pressure tested. Kelt expects to commence gas deliveries to the Townsend Gas Plant in late April 2020. At Fireweed, the Company has completed installation of its extensive infrastructure including a pipeline gathering system which connects the 5-well pad drilled during the first quarter of 2020. Kelt has begun to receive recoveries on the $15.0 million credit under the British Columbia Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program that is associated with this infrastructure project at Fireweed. At Wembley, Kelt has completed the construction of a pipeline and related infrastructure that connects the Company's La Glace 14-29 facility to the Tidewater Pipestone Sour Deep-Cut Gas Processing Plant ("Pipestone Plant"). Kelt's production from La Glace that had previously been shut-in due to restricted access to the Ovintiv Sexsmith Gas Plant can now be diverted to the Pipestone Plant.

The Company continues to benefit from its strong hedge position (previously outlined in detail in Kelt's March 17, 2020 press release). However, the Company will monitor actual realized commodity pricing at the field level and may temporarily shut-in high productivity oil wells when the differentials to index prices widen. Kelt has been successful in securing third-party volumes for water injection at the Company's water disposal wells which will add incremental revenue.

Kelt is an oil and gas company based on Calgary, Alberta focused on the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas resources in Western Canada.

Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "plans", "will", "may", "temporarily", "continue", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the following: management's plans to identify costs savings and operating efficiencies; future drilling and completion plans; the commencement of gas deliveries to the Townsend Gas Plant; potential for production shut-ins; and expected commodity pricing. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Kelt's control.

Although Kelt believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Kelt cannot give any assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., commodity pricing, operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses; failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals for planned operations; health, safety and environmental risks; uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; volatility of commodity prices, currency exchange rate fluctuations; imprecision of reserve estimates; and competition from other explorers) as well as general economic conditions, stock market volatility; and the ability to access sufficient capital. We caution that the foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive.

In addition, the reader is cautioned that historical results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless expressly required by applicable securities laws.

For further information, please contact:

Kelt Exploration Ltd., Suite 300, 311 - 6th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3H2

David J. Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer (403) 201-5340, or

Sadiq H. Lalani, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (403) 215-5310.

Or visit our website at www.keltexploration.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54302
Five persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa and their contact tracing is underway, said District Collector Tanvi Sundriyal on Thursday.

Out of the five new cases, while one is a local, the 4 are members of Tablighi Jamaat from Karnataka, who were staying here in Makka Masjid. One of these patients is a 34-year-old man, who had fever for 3 days and his father returned from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on March 12. The man was admitted to the corona care center in Khandwa and his condition is stable.

Speaking to ANI, Sundriyal said that a curfew has been imposed in Khandwa to contain coronavirus spread.

She said out of 17 jamaatis, 4 were tested positive and the report of others was negative.

The residence and nearby places linked to the jamaatis who were tested positive have been declared as "containment zones", where entry and exit are restricted.

"Their contract tracing has been started. The district administration has started survey work in this regard," Sundriyal said.

As per the Union Health Ministry's latest bulletin, 229 people have tested positive in Madhya Pradesh so far, including 13 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man who had returned to his village in Bawana in northwest Delhi after attending a Tablighi Jamaat conference in Bhopal was allegedly thrashed earlier this week after some people accused him of spreading COVID-19, police said.

Three people have been arrested for allegedly beating the 22-year-old, who is recovering from his injuries in a hospital, police officials said.

It was earlier erroneously reported that he had died after being thrashed.

Mehboob Ali, a resident of Harewali village in Bawana, had gone to Bhopal for a Tablighi Jamaat conference, officials said. He was there for 45 days and returned to the national capital in a truck carrying vegetables.

He got off at the Azadpur vegetable market on Sunday where a medical examination was conducted to check for symptoms of COVID-19. He left for his village after that.When he reached there, rumour spread that he had plans to spread COVID-19.

He was thrashed in the fields and later rushed to a hospital, a senior police official said. The official added that Ali's condition is stable. The Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin markaz has become a hotspot for coronavirus not only in the national capital but also across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The states plan to make a rapid new COVID-19 test available to nursing homes and to provide four sites to isolate nursing home residents sick with the virus is a game changer that will save lives, a top health care official said Thursday.

Speedier tests for nursing home patients who had been sent to hospitals for non-COVID-19 issues but are now ready to return to their residential facilities will free up badly needed hospital beds, according to Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities.

Nursing homes have been so worried about allowing potential coronavirus patients back into their facilities that they have been requiring multiple COVID-19 tests for residents before they can be returned from hospitals, Barrett said.

Barrett said allowing nursing homes to use those 45-minute new tests is going to have a measurable impact on substantially reducing cases backing up in hospital emergency departments. Other types of testing for the coronavirus can take up to several days to get results, officials said.

This will free up hospital beds and enable hospitals to better deal with the [predicted COVID-19] surge, Barrett said.

The Lamont administration this week designated four nursing home sites to welcome residents sickened by coronavirus. Lamont also said a new form of coronavirus test that would allow for very rapid results will be made available to nursing homes.

Immediately implementing a strategy to isolate COVID-19 patients in alternative recovery sites will be extremely helpful in the overall plan to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, Barrett said. The health care facility association represents 145 skilled nursing facilities in this state.

State officials and nursing home operators have settled on two existing facilities - Sharon Health Care Center in Sharon and Northbridge Health and Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport, and two vacant facilities - Westfield Care & Rehab Center in Meriden and Torrington Health & Rehab in Torrington.

The vacant facilities are being cleaned and owners are in the process of hiring staff to manage the buildings and care for residents. Sharon and Northbridge already are staffed and ready to go, said Tim Brown, a spokesman for Athena Health Care Systems, which owns all four facilities.

Sharon and Northbridge will each dedicate a floor to people who have contracted the disease, Brown said. Westfield and Torrington will dedicate their entire buildings to those residents.

It was not immediately clear when sick residents would be moved to those sites. Barbara Cass, head of facility licensing and investigations for the state health department, said only that it would be happening shortly.

Collectively, the four buildings will provide more than 500 additional beds for COVID-19-positive residents.

Other nursing homes throughout the state are still equipped to care for residents who contract the virus, Cass said. In those buildings, sick patients will continue to be isolated from the healthy ones.

The COVID-19-designated facilities will help save lives by providing extra beds for ailing residents, proponents of the plan said. By Wednesday, 660 nursing home residents had tested positive for the disease, up from 124 a week ago. Ninety-nine had died, up from 13 a week ago.

Residents of long-term care facilities represent our most vulnerable population during this pandemic, as the virus can spread quickly within the enclosed environment, Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell said. We are committed to doing everything we can to make sure our nursing home residents get the care they need.

State officials said Wednesday that nursing homes will soon require hospital patients to have two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests before they are admitted to those facilities. Some long-term care centers have already adopted that mandate.

The state health department is working with hospitals to get more patients tested before discharge so they can go to the nursing homes. There are more than 2,000 empty beds available across all of the states long-term care facilities.

Officials last week announced a plan to pay Connecticuts 213 nursing homes about $35 million - a 10 percent increase - over the next three months to cover costs associated with the coronavirus crisis. The state also will pay $600 a day per patient to the facilities housing COVID-19-positive residents.

Nursing home ratings

Both the Northbridge and Sharon nursing homes received overall ratings of average - three out of five stars - on the US. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare website.

Northbridge was cited five times for health issues during the latest inspection, reported on Aug. 1. Sharon Health Care Center was cited for six health issues on March 27, 2019.

All but one of the violations was classified as either causing or having the potential to cause minimal harm. One citation against Sharon concluded that a patient suffered actual harm and involved a resident slipping in the shower.

Neither facility was cited for fire or safety code violations.

The average number of citations per inspection for Connecticut nursing homes is 7.1 for health infractions and 0.6 for fire and safety code issues.

Critics of the Nursing Home Compare site say it relies on limited data compiled from a few points in time and doesnt always reflect a facilitys ability to quickly resolve problems.

Both facilities also received average ratings for staffing. Northbridge was ranked above average for quality of care. Sharon was ranked average.

Fines and citations are common for nursing homes, and federal health officials track and post penalties imposed over the last three years. Reasons for the fines are not posted.

Northbridge was fined once in the last three years, and ordered to pay $6,500 in August 2018, according to the website.

Sharon was fined twice: $4,758 in May 2017 and $10,839 in March 2019.
A year after one of Africa's longest serving leaders, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted from power in the face of mass street protests, Sudan is still reeling from daunting crises including deep economic woes.

Bashir was overthrown on April 11, 2019 by the military, which was responding to mounting public anger against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.

He was arrested and detained in a Khartoum jail and in December ordered to serve two years in a correctional centre for corruption.

He still faces separate charges over the killing of protesters and the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

Authorities have also agreed that Bashir should stand trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes committed from 2003 in the Darfur conflict between the Arab-dominated government and ethnic minority African rebels.

Since August last year a transitional government -- comprised of civilians and military officials -- has taken over the reins of power in Sudan.

But the political transition to full civilian rule is fragile in a country where a creaking economy -- its dysfunction largely blamed on Bashir-era policies -- risks a collapse that could spark fresh social unrest.

Unrest broke out in February against a move to force soldiers into retirement after they voiced support for last year's popular revolution. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

The protests against Bashir erupted in December 2018 after the government in effect tripled the price of bread.

"By far the main challenge facing the transitional period is the very same constellation of factors that contributed to the demise of Bashir's rule," said Magdi el-Gizouli of the Rift Valley Institute.

The main problems Sudan's new leaders now face, he said, are the "reconstitution of the political order... the deep and punishing economic crisis and the multiplying costs of maintaining social peace".

'A long road'

Sudan's deposed military president Omar al-Bashir sits in a defendant's cage during his corruption trial at a court in Khartoum on December 14, 2019. By - (AFP/File)

In August, Sudan formed a technocratic government on the back of a power-sharing deal between top military brass and protest leaders.

The cabinet, headed by seasoned economist Abdalla Hamdok, is tasked with steering the country during a three-year transition through myriad obstacles.

Soaring inflation, a huge public debt and tricky efforts to forge peace with rebels are among those challenges.

Sudan's economy, already suffering from long-running US sanctions, was badly hit in 2011 when oil-rich South Sudan broke away in a negotiated divorce with Bashir's government.

The US announced an end to its 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan in October 2017, but kept the country on its state sponsors of terrorism list.

Hamdok's administration is now hoping that the lifting of US sanctions on 157 Sudanese firms in March will help attract foreign investment, but the future still looks grim.

Households still suffer frequent power cuts and some Sudanese still queue up for hours to buy staple foods like bread or to fill up their cars with petrol.

Motorists queue to fill up with petrol in Sudan where the economy is still reeling a year since the ouster of former autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

"Economic recovery in Sudan will be a long road and will require the thoughtful, sustained and coordinated support of traditional donors such as the EU, UK, Japan and the US as well as Gulf states," said Jonas Horner of the International Crisis Group.

"Long-term external technical and financial support is required to pull Sudan out of its economic mire."

Hamdok's government has been pushing to boost the country's international standing and ease tensions with the US, and in December the premier visited Washington.

Authorities in February said they had agreed to compensate families of the victims of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen's Aden harbour, for which Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

The United States said the bombers who had carried out the attack in 2000 were supported and trained in Sudan.

Khartoum had always denied the charges but agreed to the settlement to fulfil a key US condition to remove it from Washington's terrorism blacklist.

"While such measures are important steps in trying to re-establish Sudan's credibility abroad, they are controversial at home particularly with people close to the old regime," said Marina Ottaway, Middle East fellow at the Wilson Center.

Outbursts of violence

Sudan's political transition from military to civilian rule is being tested on many fronts, including security. The prime minister in March survived unharmed after a bomb and gun attack targeted his convoy in Khartoum. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

Sudan's political transition has also been tested by several security incidents in recent months.

In January, five people including two soldiers were killed when Sudanese troops crushed a rebellion by Bashir loyalists at the long-feared security agency who were angered by a retirement plan.

And in March, Hamdok survived unharmed after an unclaimed bomb and gun attack targeted his convoy in Khartoum.

"There is no shortage of possible suspects," said Ottaway, adding however that the most threatening scenario would be "if elements of the military were found to be involved".

And while Sudan continues to face sporadic communal violence in the country's far-flung regions, including Darfur, authorities have started thorny talks with rebel groups over a possible peace deal in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

"We have come a long way with armed rebel groups," information minister and government spokesman Faisal Saleh has said.

"The outstanding issues are not big but they are complicated."
I am delighted that the Richmond Symphony has attracted Valentina Peleggi: her growing international reputation as one of the brightest talents of her generation makes her an exciting new addition to the American symphonic world. - David Fisk, Executive Director, Richmond Symphony

In the midst of this difficult time, the Richmond Symphony is pleased to share some very good news.

We are proud to announce the appointment of award-winning Italian conductor Valentina Peleggi as our next Music Director. Peleggi will begin her role on July 1, 2020, for an initial four-year period conducting at least ten weeks a season, making Peleggi our sixth Music Director, and first woman in that leadership role.

Peleggi's engagement comes after a two year search to replace former Music Director Steven Smith, who stepped down at the end of the 2018-19 season after a distinguished decade of service. The Search Committee, comprised of symphony musicians and board members, unanimously selected Peleggi after she spent two weeks with the Symphony in early March, garnering overwhelming support from the orchestra. Peleggi's repertoire for the masterworks concert included - Rossini's Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie), Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, Opus 32, Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, No. 2, C. Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, Opus 7 and Respighi's Pines of Rome with guest artist Angela Cheng, pianist.

Peleggi will conduct eight weeks of concerts in the 2020/21 Season, including opening the Symphonys season with a Big Tent open-air community festival, four Masterworks concert weeks, and chamber orchestra concerts in the Symphonys Rush Hour and Metro Series. Speaking to her appointment:

The passion, enthusiasm and profound musical sensitivity of the musicians of the Richmond Symphony impressed me enormously from our very first rehearsal. Making music with these wonderful artists is truly a privilege! said Peleggi. I look forward to creating exciting new projects, sharing inspiring music with our community, and working with the Symphonys staff and the orchestras innovative educational and choral programs. We will get through these challenging times as we focus on shaping and imagining the future together. I believe we will be a great team and I can't wait to call Richmond my new home. - Valentina Peleggi

Described by the BBC Music Magazine as "rising star, Peleggi has led orchestras from around the world, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Orchestra of Wales, Norrkoping Symphony (Sweden), Orchestra della Toscana and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and will shortly release her first CD on Naxos.

Originally from Florence, Peleggi was the first Italian woman to enter the conducting program at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and was recently honoured with the title of Associate. Currently a Mackerras Fellow with the English National Opera and Guest Music Director with the Theatro Sao Pedro in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Peleggi previously served as Resident Conductor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Chorus and as Music Director for ten years of the University Choir of Florence, where she now holds the position of Honorary Conductor after receiving a special award from the Italian Government in recognition of her work. She won the 2014 Conducting Prize at the Festival International de Inverno Campos do Jordao, the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Conducting Prize at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California, and the 2015-2017 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship under Marin Alsop.

David Fisk, Executive Director, commented: I am delighted that the Richmond Symphony has attracted Valentina Peleggi: her growing international reputation as one of the brightest talents of her generation makes her an exciting new addition to the American symphonic world. We look forward to her taking the orchestra to new heights, and to all we can do under her leadership to reinforce our commitment to making music - and music education - accessible to everyone, in the many communities we serve.

Elisabeth Wollan, who led the Search Committee, commented: Within hours of Ms. Peleggis first interaction with the Symphony, members of the search committee knew she was very special, and by the time of her Masterworks concerts, there was unanimous agreement that she was the one. We have brought some wonderful and charismatic conductors to the stage this season, but Ms. Peleggi stands out as a superb and passionate leader who brings to the orchestra a remarkable depth of musicianship, a charming connection with audiences, and a deep respect for the RSOs commitment to this community. She is inspiring! We cannot wait to welcome her to Richmond.

Interview opportunities with Valentina Peleggi are available, upon request. High-res photos are available. For more information about Valentina Peleggi, please visit: https://www.valentinapeleggi.com/

About the Richmond Symphony (http://www.richmondsymphony.com)

Launching its 63rd Season in September 2020, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 275 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy live concerts and radio broadcasts. The Symphony also provides educational outreach programs to more than 55,000 students and teachers each year and was one of 21 American orchestras initially selected as a leader in orchestra innovation by the League of American Orchestras through its Futures Fund Initiative. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit http://www.richmondsymphony.com for more information.

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Carrie Thornbrugh, Marketing and Public Relations Manager

804-788-1212, x121,

cthornbrugh@richmondsymphony.com

Frances Sterling, Director of Advancement and Patron Communications

804-788-1212, x120,

fsterling@richmondsymphony.com
The Eurogroup finance meeting continues on Thursday with no sign on an agreement over coronabonds. In fact, with more nations supporting the bonds, the situation has become more complex.

Even a solution to this issue would do little to fix the long-term need for a huge amount of borrowing and a tsunami of debt as ING termed it.

The Euro may get a short-term boost from any resolution, but longer-term will remain under pressure.

Its been a busy week for European finance ministers and the future of debt and lending in the EU, even if the slow-moving Euro has failed to reflect some of the events in the background. EURGBP has settled into a range between 0.87 and 0.9 and the volatility seen in March has faded, for now at least. EURUSD also looks steady at 1.086 and while a re-test of the 1.077 low is not out of the question, the 1.0636 low made in March looks out of reach.

Thursdays session is a busy one with the release of the ECB meeting minutes from March which could be more interesting than usual with so many new actions from the central bank.

The Eurogroup meeting between member state finance ministers is also due to continue and has been dragging on since Tuesday. The main sticking point remains the way sovereign debt will be issued and managed. France, Italy and Spain have been some of the hardest hit countries of the coronavirus crisis and are in favour of issuing EU-wide debt instruments such as so-called coronabonds. With markets due to close for a long Easter weekend, ministers will be keen to announce some progress, although the situation seems to have got worse, not better.

Another nine EU nations have said this new debt instrument, which would combine securities from different countries, is needed to mitigate the vast economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, reported CNBC on Wednesday.

Germany, the Netherlands and Finland are against the idea as they dont want to their debt tied up with other riskier debt, a process called debt mutualization and an issue that has been causing divisions between Northern and Southern European nations for about a decade.

Conservative policymakers in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Austria are often wary of the idea of issuing debt together with highly indebted nations, such as Italy, Greece and Portugal. They had initial discussions on this issue at the height of the sovereign debt crisis of 2011, but certain nations believed it was too risky to join their debt with other countries, which were deemed at a higher risk of default, explain CNBC.

At a time of crisis when people are dying and economies are crumbling, the Southern nations think the situation should finally change. Divisions at a time of crisis can be dangerous as it will fuel anti-EU sentiment, a threat that could also weigh on the Euro if they flare up significantly.

Mountains of Debt

Even if a deal can be reached on coronabonds or something to replace them, the debt problems of the EU would not necessarily be fixed. There is simply too much debt needed. ING call it a tsunami of debt.

The few hundreds of billion euros being discussed are likely to be only a fraction of the additional borrowing that the crisis will require from the eurozone in the coming years. For instance, the European Central Bank reportedly told the Eurogroup that 1.5 trillion of measures in 2020 alone will be needed, and ECB President Christine Lagarde repeated her call for more fiscal easing overnight.

This is already putting stress on the financial system and in a worrying development for eurozone money markets, the Euribor-OIS is spiking.

Any resolution provided by this weeks Eurogroup meeting could help the Euro in the short-term and help unify a fragile EU, but the issue of debt will not be going away so quickly and is likely to keep the Euro weighed down for a long time.
The coronavirus is cutting income and consumption levels for many families and could have a greater impact than the 2008 financial crisis. Many countries could revert to poverty levels last seen in the early 1990s. Up to a billion people would be in "extreme poverty", with another four billion living on just US.50 a day.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews)  The COVID-19 pandemic which started in China, is now truly global with almost 1.5 million cases and 89,000 deaths. Its fallout could be up to half a billion people thrown into poverty, this according to Oxfam, a world anti-poverty advocacy group.

A report by the Nairobi-based charity ahead of next weeks International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meeting looked at the impact of the crisis on global poverty due to shrinking household incomes and consumption.

The economic crisis that is rapidly unfolding is deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis, the report found. The estimates show that, regardless of the scenario, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990.

In light of the situation, some countries could be thrown back to poverty levels last seen some 30 years ago.

The report authors looked at a number of scenarios, taking into account the World Banks various poverty lines - from extreme poverty, defined as living on US.90 a day or less, to higher poverty lines of living on less than US .50 a day.

Under the most serious scenario, a 20 per cent contraction in income, the number of people living in extreme poverty would rise by 434 million people to 922 million worldwide.

The same scenario would see the number of people living below the .50 a day threshold rise by 548 million people to nearly 4 billion.

Women are at more risk than men, as they are more likely to work in the informal economy with little or no employment rights.

In addition, more than 2 billion people are employed in the informal sector with no access to sick pay.

The World Bank last week said poverty in East Asia and the Pacific region alone could increase by 11 million people if conditions worsened.

Large-scale poverty, overcrowding and inadequate healthcare systems complicate the situation further.

In Indonesia, projections have shown that up to 240,000 people could die if no measures are taken to control the coronavirus epidemic. What is more, in this country, the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, experts warn, could be even more severe than the health crisis.

In Indonesia, extreme poverty is not high, but many Indonesians live just above the extreme poverty line. If the economic lockdown continues, they could be overwhelmed.

For Lyn Morgain, the chief executive of Oxfam Australia, whilst a number of countries in South-East Asia had technically reached middle income status, their development was uneven so that they had "profound and deep poverty levels.

To buffer the impact of the pandemic, Oxfam came up with a six-point action plan that would see people and businesses in need get cash grants and bailouts, debt cancelled, additional IMF support, and more aid.

According to Oxfam, the plan would be funded by taxing wealth, extraordinary profits, and speculative financial products.

Overall, governments around the world would have to mobilise at least US.5 trillion to support developing countries.
The US has repatriated more than 50,000 American citizens stranded around the world by various shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Speaking at the daily White House coronavirus task force press briefing, Pompeo on Wednesday said the effort from the State Department to repatriate Americans from more than 90 countries is without parallel in our lifetime.

"Since January 29, we have now repatriated over 50,000 United States citizens back to their homes from more than 90 countries more than 490 flights back to the United States from all across the world, Pompeo told reporters at a White House conference on the coronavirus.

"This worldwide scale of our repatriation efforts is without parallel in our lifetime and we are coordinating with foreign governments, militaries, airport authorities, medical units, transportation companies, hotels you name it we are working with them to make sure the American people get back to be with their families, he said.

While Pompeo did not specifically mentioned India, more than a 1,000 Americans have been repatriated from India as well. Some of the repatriation efforts, he said, have been remarkable stories.

"Our mission in Peru working with the Peruvian military and police forces to send riverboats up the river to get citizens that were stranded deep inside the Amazon forest. Our mission in Nepal make sure there a woman who was running low on medication could get what she needed a pharmacy before boarding an evacuation fight that brought her back here, he said.

In Honduras after the government imposed very strict 24/7 curfew and closed airports, the US embassy sprang into action for stranded Americans, thousands of them.

A three-year-old boy told one of our consular officers just before he boarded the flight thank you for helping me get back home to my dad; pretty neat, he said.

Pompeo said he has received similar messages from lots of people that are proud to know that their country will not leave them stranded.

One woman wrote 'I was in tears when I received an email approving our flight back to the United States God bless the United States of America', and another said 'I felt like I had allies there that actually treated me like a person or family member, not just a number', he added.

The repatriation effort is going to continue, he said.

The vast majority of these 50,000 weren't our officers; these are ordinary citizens who were there travelling for business or for commercial or for their trip of a lifetime, he said.

The State Department, he said, is doing its part to protect the American people from the virus and importantly to get them home.

As you know when many countries shut down their rail lines, their buses, their infrastructure the capacity to get out of those countries they were trapped, they were stranded and the State Department swung into action, Pompeo said.

The virus, which first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, has since spread around the world infecting more than 1.4 million people, killing more than 82,000.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans lost their lives due to the coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that are being talked about today:

1. CHIPOTLE AGREES TO RECORD FINE: The fast food company will pay $25 million to resolve criminal charges that it served tainted food that sickened more than 1,100 people in the U.S. from 2015 to 2018, federal prosecutors say.

2. DEATH TOLL RISES IN MASS SLAYING: Police say there are 22 victims after a gunman went on a rampage in rural communities across Nova Scotia over the weekend. Earlier, authorities had said at least 18 people were killed, including the gunman.

3. COLLEGE ADMISSIONS BRIBERY: Federal prosecutors say a former UCLA mens soccer coach will plead guilty to taking $200,000 in bribes as part of a college admissions cheating scheme.

4. EUTHANASIA ADVOCATES WELCOME COURT DECISION: The Netherlands highest court has ruled that doctors can carry out euthanasia in patients with advanced dementia if the patient earlier made a written directive.

5. WHOS GOT SCOUTS SALIVATING AS NFL DRAFT NEARS: Davion Taylor didnt play high school football for religious reasons. But at the University of Colorado he blossomed into a star safety and linebacker.
At least 80 percent of coronavirus patients in New York City who have been put on a ventilator have died.

As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can.

The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be harming certain patients.

Mechanical ventilators push oxygen into patients whose lungs are failing. Using the machines involves sedating a patient and sticking a tube into the throat.

Deaths in such sick patients are common, no matter the reason they need the breathing help.

Generally speaking, 40 percent to 50 percent of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say.

Higher-than-normal death rates - like those in New York City - also have been reported elsewhere in the US, said Dr Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Association's chief medical officer.

Generally, between 40% and 50% of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators

But some places, like New York City, are reporting death rates as high as 80%. Pictured: Coronavirus patients arrive to the Wakefield Campus of the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, April 6

Similar reports have emerged from China and the United Kingdom.

One UK report put the figure at 66 percent. A very small study in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease first emerged, said 86 percent died.

The reason is not clear. It may have to do with what kind of shape the patients were in before they were infected.

Or it could be related to how sick they had become by the time they were put on the machines, some experts said.

But some health professionals have wondered whether ventilators might actually make matters worse in certain patients, perhaps by igniting or worsening a harmful immune system reaction.

That's speculation. But experts do say ventilators can be damaging to a patient over time, as high-pressure oxygen is forced into the tiny air sacs in a patient's lungs.

In the US, there are more than 435,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 14,000 deaths

'We know that mechanical ventilation is not benign,' said Dr Eddy Fan, an expert on respiratory treatment at Toronto General Hospital.

'One of the most important findings in the last few decades is that medical ventilation can worsen lung injury - so we have to be careful how we use it.'

The dangers can be eased by limiting the amount of pressure and the size of breaths delivered by the machine, Fan said.

But some doctors say they're trying to keep patients off ventilators as long as possible, and turning to other techniques instead.

Only a few weeks ago in New York City, coronavirus patients who came in quite sick were routinely placed on ventilators to keep them breathing, said Dr Joseph Habboushe, an emergency medicine doctor who works in Manhattan hospitals.

But increasingly, physicians are trying other measures first. One is having patients lie in different positions - including on their stomachs - to allow different parts of the lung to aerate better.

Some experts say ventilators can be damaging to a patient over time, as high-pressure oxygen is forced into the tiny air sacs in a patient's lungs. Pictured: Lovely R Suanino, a respiratory therapist at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey demonstrates setting up a ventilator in the ICU

Another is giving patients more oxygen through nose tubes or other devices. Some doctors are experimenting with adding nitric oxide to the mix, to help improve blood flow and oxygen to the least damaged parts of the lungs.

'If we're able to make them better without intubating them, they are more likely to have a better outcome - we think,' Habboushe said.

He said those decisions are separate from worries that there are not enough ventilators available. But that is a concern as well.

There are widespread reports that coronavirus patients tend to be on ventilators much longer than other kinds of patients, said Dr William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

Experts say that patients with bacterial pneumonia, for example, may be on a ventilator for no more than a day or two.

But it's been common for coronavirus patients to have been on a ventilator 'seven days, 10 days, 15 days, and they're passing away,' said New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, when asked about ventilator death rates during a news briefing on Wednesday.

That's one reason for worries that ventilators could grow in short supply. Experts worry that as cases mount, doctors will be forced to make terrible decisions about who lives and who dies because they won't have enough machines for every patient who needs one.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker said Wednesday that officials are looking into other possible therapies that can be given earlier, but added 'that's all experimental.'

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds as well as more serious illnesses.

Health officials say it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. There is no proven drug treatment or vaccine against it.

Experts think most people who are infected suffer nothing worse than unpleasant but mild illnesses that may include fever and coughing.

Experts think most people who are infected suffer nothing worse than unpleasant but mild illnesses that may include fever and coughing.

But roughly 20 percent - many of them older adults or people weakened by chronic conditions - can grow much sicker.

They can have trouble breathing and suffer chest pain. Their lungs can become inflamed, causing a dangerous condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome.

An estimated three percent to four percent may need ventilators.

'The ventilator is not therapeutic. It's a supportive measure while we wait for the patient's body to recover,' said Dr Roger Alvarez, a lung specialist with the University of Miami Health System in Florida.

The dangers can be eased by limiting the amount of pressure and the size of breaths delivered by the machine but some are turning to different methods. Pictured: Healthcare workers assist a coronavirus patient at a library that was turned into an ICU at Germans Trias i Pujol hospital in Badalona, Barcelona, April 1

Zachary Shemtob said he was 'absolutely terrified' when he was told his 44-year-old husband, David, needed to be put on a ventilator at NYU Langone last month after becoming infected with the virus.

'Needing to be ventilated might mean never getting off the ventilator,' he said.

Shemtob said the hospital did not give any percentages on survival, but he got the impression it was essentially a coin flip. He looked up the rates only after his husband was breathing on his own six days later.

'A coin flip was generous it seems,' he said.

But Shemtob noted cases vary. His husband is relatively young.

'David is living proof that they can really save lives, and how incredibly important they are,' Shemtob said.




Shimla, April 9 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said that state-based pharmaceutical majors were manufacturing hydroxychloroquine to meet worldwide demand in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

He said that about 250 pharma units in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh areas of the hill state had resumed production, with many manufacturing the said medicine.

The Chief Minister interacting with representatives of pharma companies through videoconferening and assured them of all possible help to ensure hassle-free manufacturing of life-saving drugs, including hydroxychloroquine.

He talked to representatives of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Alchemist, and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd through videoconferencing from Shimla.

An official statement quoting the Chief Minister said the state would take all necessary steps for the smooth movement of workforce, besides strengthening the supply chain of raw material.

He said a sufficient number of trucks would be provided to facilitate transportation of medicines from these companies.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Syracuse, N.Y.  As recently as a week ago, Mayor Ben Walsh had planned to hire a new class of cops in the next year.

Coronavirus scuttled that plan.

The economic shutdown caused by the virus forced Walsh to make big changes in his budget and his short- and long-term plans. Hell need to make up for an estimated $19 million in losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We had big plans to move things forward, and theres a lot of projected spending on important things that came off the table, he said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

Walsh delivered his proposed 2020-21 budget to the Common Council during an online meeting Wednesday. The budget anticipates $11.1 million in lost revenue over the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The most significant economic damage, however, is happening right now, as the city nears the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year. Non-essential businesses will remain closed until at least the end of April, which has slashed the citys sales tax revenue  its single biggest source of income. The city has also suspended collection of some fees and fines, like parking tickets.

Until a few weeks ago, Syracuse was on pace to end this fiscal year with a $1.5 million surplus. That would have marked Walshs most financially stable year as mayor.

Now, however, Walsh is expecting a deficit of more than $6 million  a net change of about $7.5 million.

That number could change dramatically, up or down. Its broad because there are still many unknowns about the coronavirus pandemic, including when the shutdown will end. Just Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the closure of schools through the end of the month.

By the time you all vote on this budget, the worlds going to be significantly different, Walsh told councilors. Things are going to change and were going to get some things wrong.

Walsh said his staff has been adjusting and readjusting the budget regularly since mid-March. Even Wednesday afternoon the final copy hadnt been delivered in print to councilors.

When he ran for mayor in 2017, Walsh said balancing the budget was one of his top priorities. Hed hoped to have that done by the end of his first term, and was on a promising pace.

The economic tumult, however, upended those plans.

Its disappointing, Walsh said. I would be kidding myself if I thought that the first four years would go exactly as planned. It largely had been until this crisis, from a big picture perspective. So yeah, its frustrating, its disappointing, but its the reality were living in. Like everyone else in the world right now, we need to adjust and pivot.

To make up for the revenue loss, Walsh nixed some of the citys plans for the coming year. One of the major cuts was a planned class of new police recruits. Walsh said he still wants to get the department fully staffed, but a new class will have to wait for a year.

He also suspended plans to take over maintenance of all city sidewalks this year.

That plan still exists, Walsh said, but it just wont go into effect as early as intended. It would involve a frontage fee to property owners to fund sidewalk repairs and snow plowing. Walsh said now didnt seem like the right time to add a new expense to property owners.

That was a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. We didnt feel it would be fair to constituents to bear that burden now ... A lot of people are hurting right now and we just didnt think the timing was right."

The city is also putting a freeze on new hiring and raises. No one is being laid off, Walsh said. He asked every department to look for places to cut costs in an effort to keep spending flat.

There is no increase in property tax rates, but the overall tax levy increased by $1.5 million due to increases in assessments and in overall property value.

Water rates will rise an average of $3 per quarter per homeowner as part of a series of scheduled increases established last year.

Walsh is expecting the economic situation to return to somewhat normal later this year. But hes not sure when, and is planning for the worst.

Certainly we hope this is a blip, he said. But none of us know.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Dr. Mandip Thiara was surprised at how swiftly U.K. health start-up AccuRx was able to set him and his colleagues up with its new remote video consultation software.

The Watford, England-based family doctor said such technology had been talked about in his field for at least four years. Last month, AccuRx built the video chat tool in the space of a single weekend to help general practitioners, or GPs, stay in touch with patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's just funny how, when we're in a crisis situation, over the course of 24 hours they can press a button and turn this thing on for us," Thiara told CNBC. He lamented the slow-moving progress of technological change within the U.K.'s National Health Service.

"With the NHS, everything is slow," he said. "There are all sorts of hoops to jump through in terms of funding." The NHS wasn't available for comment on this story when contacted by CNBC.

Telemedicine software has already been around in Europe for years, with the likes of Britain's Babylon, Germany's Ada and Sweden's Kry providing digital health services across the continent. Such companies have in recent weeks launched new coronavirus-focused features to reduce the burden on physicians.

AccuRx, mainly known for its flagship text-messaging service that connects GPs with patients, itself started life about four years ago. Since it launched video calling, the firm's new feature has been used in almost 400,000 consultations  an average of over 35,000 a day.

But innovation in health care has often been met with resistance from within the industry, not least due to fears over the implication for patients' privacy. One of the biggest obstacles is that the health system is driven by "risk, not opportunity," according to AccuRx CEO Jacob Haddad.

And the biggest risk in a global pandemic? That the health system "is going to collapse" due to the surge in demand, Haddad told CNBC.

"In peacetime, you can have a new innovation, and most people focus on, 'What are all the ways that things could go wrong?,' rather than, 'How can we make this thing more efficient?'"
The coronavirus pandemic is hurting everyone in Israel  rich and poor, Jews and Arabs  but poorer communities face much greater difficulties in dealing with its ramifications, including in education. When the whole education system in Israel  from preschool to high school to higher education  moved to remote learning by means of the internet, the gap between rich and poor grew wider because of the latter's lack of access to technology. This phenomenon is especially notable among the Arab Bedouin population in Israel.

Most of the Bedouin, about 250,000 (2017 figure), live in the south of the country. A fifth of them live in unrecognized villages without infrastructure. They are the poorest group in Israeli society, and as a result, their educational achievement is especially low. According to data of the Council of Higher Education published in February 2019, relating to the academic year that started in 2017, the rate of Bedouins who started studying for a bachelors degree was only 14%, compared to 46% of Jews. The rate of Bedouin students among Arab students was only 28% that year. While this is a large increase compared to the previous decade, this rate is still exceptionally low. According to Knesset data, the rate of matriculation among Bedouin students is 32% compared to 68% among the general population (excluding Bedouins and ultra-Orthodox Jews).

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of Bedouin students who receive a full matriculation certificate, as well as in the number of Bedouin students in higher education. But they still lag behind the entire population. One of the main problems of the education system in the Israeli-Bedouin society is the lack of infrastructure in general and the lack of technology in particular. The internet network is old and thus very slow in many of the more distant villages and especially in those that are unrecognized. The internet is supplied only via cellular networks, and there are hardly any PCs and laptops in residents homes.

According to data by the nongovernmental organization Abraham Initiative, there are about 102,000 school-age children in the Negev. Of those, 36,000 live in unrecognized villages or in the villages of the Neve Midbar or Al-Kasum regional councils, which lack internet networks or other infrastructure. Twenty-thousand students live in neighboring towns, also with no infrastructure. Thirty-thousand pupils live in neighborhoods with infrastructure but are part of families with at least eight children and only one computer at home. From this, we learn that half of the Negevs Bedouin students do not have access to an internet network.

On March 12, it was decided to fully suspend the education system for at least five weeks, until after the Passover break, over the coronavirus crisis. Schools and academic institutions moved to online learning, relying on programs and applications like Zoom. These programs, which integrate video and educational materials sent online, require strong and reliable internet connections  exactly what is lacking in the Bedouin villages in the Negev. As a result, most Bedouin pupils are practically cut off from their schools while their peers throughout the country continue to learn. The Abraham Initiative told Al-Monitor that because of the coronavirus crisis, the Ministry of Education opened a comprehensive educational portal for students in the Hebrew language but made far less material available in Arabic.

Attempts have been made in higher education to deal with this problem. Marah Agbaria, who is in charge of Arab students at the Student Union of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, tells Al-Monitor that the university prepared special computer rooms for Bedouin students so that they could participate in classes. But then restrictions on movement began because of the coronavirus, and these students had to stay home. According to Agbaria, the union got cellular modems for some of them that enable distance learning, but the number is not enough. And there is no solution for students who do not have computers.

Hundreds of Bedouin students also study at Sapir College in the Negev. Regarding distance learning, Haytham al-Nabari  a social work student who lives in Tel Arad  told Sapir student website Spirala correspondent Hasin Aldada, It requires fast internet, and we dont have internet infrastructure like in other places. If I go to an online class with a teacher, I do it through the phone. But the internet is weak or doesnt work.

Rafif Abu Hajaj, a public policy administration student who lives in the village of Al-Furah, told Spirala that homes in the Bedouin villages rely on solar energy, which depends on the sun. But since the weather in recent days has been chilly and rainy and there wasnt much sun, we didnt have electricity for several days.

The Mossawa Center (the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel) has raised the issue of cellular overload in a letter to Minister of Communications David Amsalem. According to a January 2018 report by Asmaa Genaim from the Israel Internet Association, about 90% of Arab citizens in the country use the internet through their cellphones. Now, when most citizens in the country are staying in their homes, theres greater internet use, which overburdens networks that are already weak in Arab towns and villages. In the letter, the center asked that the Ministry of Communications act immediately to strengthen and broaden the internet and cellular networks in the Arab villages and especially the unrecognized villages in the Negev by requiring media, cellular and internet providers to increase their networks in these locations.

Adalah, the Legal Center for the Rights of the Arab Minority in Israel, announced March 12 that it will submit a petition to the Supreme Court along with the Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education and other organizations to ask that internet services and distance learning be made available to Bedouin villages in the Negev. In the announcement, shortly before the petition was submitted, the group wrote, The difficult situation now exposed in this emergency situation is a result of the states systemic negligence of the essential needs of unrecognized villages in regular times. In the realm of education, discrimination is expressed in the low achievements of students, as arises from the stark data that are well known to decision-makers. Despite our requests, we have not received any sign that the authorities are doing anything in order to find solutions to replace the closed education system, which is supposed to serve children in these villages, and it seems that the state is simply leaving them behind. Thus, we must turn to the courts.

The government offices charged with these issues have responded slowly to these requests. The Ministry of Education has increased the amount of digital educational material in Arabic but has not found an immediate solution to the problem of students in the Negev. The Ministry of Communications has said that the problem of infrastructure cannot be solved in the short term.

The bottom line: About 100,000 Bedouin school-age students and about 2,000 Bedouin college students from the Negev will likely lose half a school year, and the gap between them and other Israeli students will only grow.

Proper disclosure: The writer is a lecturer at Sapir College, which is mentioned in the article.
The C.D.C. has said that cloth face coverings should not be placed on children under 2, nor should they be used on anyone who has trouble breathing  but other than that, the agency has offered no advice about how young children should be using them. Further confusing matters, the advice to wear a mask is not a requirement, and President Trump has already said that he probably wont follow the guidelines.

The C.D.C. suggests using face coverings in public where its difficult to stay more than six feet apart from other people, and especially in areas where the virus is spreading rapidly, like in New York City. So, is it crucial for my preschooler to wear one? And if so, could I convince her to wear it safely and properly?

To find out more, I spoke with pediatricians who specialize in infectious diseases and consulted the latest guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics. As I discovered, for parents of children who are 6 or under, much of what you decide will depend on where you live, your childs personality and the places you frequent.

Children are less likely to get severely ill, so why do they need a mask in the first place?

On April 6, the C.D.C. published preliminary findings on pediatric coronavirus cases in the United States. According to the report, 2,572 cases occurred in children younger than 18, and those children were significantly less likely to become seriously ill from the virus than American adults were. They also appeared less likely than adults to develop the main coronavirus symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath.

These findings further bolstered the idea that children who become infected might have mild or undetected cases of the disease and could spread the virus to others in their families and communities.
Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Suresh Kumar on Thursday informed that an official website providing all information related to the coronavirus COVID-19 was launched by the government. He requested the public to rely on the website, covid19.karnataka.gov.in, for clarifications and urged them not to panic on any rumours. Anyone who wants to work as volunteers can also register through this website, the minister added.

Briefing the media on the relief measures taken by the state government, he informed that as of now, there are 197 confirmed cases including six deaths and 30 discharges. 16 new cases have been confirmed since April 8.

He informed that out of 197 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka so far, 6 cases are transit passengers of Kerala who have landed in Karnataka airports and are being treated in the state. There are no international passengers and those under home quarantine are 16,334.

He revealed that first 50 positive cases took 16 days to surface, while 50-100 took 8 days, 100-150 4 days to surface and 150-197 has taken 4 days. He also informed the COVID-19 task force has decided to conduct testing of all secondary contacts.
Telangana government has come out with a series of operational guidelines for all the government and private hospitals in the state for the disposal of bodies of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients.

The government has suggested that every hospital follows a standard operational procedure (SOP) in dealing with the bodies and allocates a separate single room that can operate as a makeshift mortuary, which should be sprayed with disinfectants regularly to ensure its free from infection.

The hospital authorities have been asked to ensure adequate availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for at least six people, including a driver, a helper and four attendants who have been entrusted with the responsibility to dispose of the body of a Covid-19 patient.

The PPE kit should comprise N-95 masks, surgical caps, protective goggles, water-resistant aprons, surgical gloves, knee-high shoes with thigh-level plastic covers and face shield as per the specifications.

Arvind Kumar, principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development, Telangana, said that the hospitals have been directed to buy or hire freezer boxes for preservation and transportation of bodies of Covid-19 patients. Each hospital should keep ready a sufficient number of body bags  at least 10% of the total number of Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment  all the time, he said.

Instructions have been issued to the hospitals to keep in mind the religious practices of the deceased patients before packing their bodies, Kumar said. Steps like giving a shower to the body with a disinfectant liquid, plugging the nasal and oral orifices, wrapping the body with a plastic sheet and followed by a white cotton cloth are all part of the SOP, he added.

Each bag should contain a zip and be leak-proof with a specified thickness. The person who is handling the body should possess a proper PPE kit, as he has to wipe the body and keep it inside the bag before it is taken for the last rites, the principal secretary said.

Besides, the makeshift mortuary should have a glass partition window along with a grill for viewing of the body by the deceaseds next of kin. A maximum of five persons shall be allowed to view the body and these people should not come in direct contact with doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital.

All the materials that would be used to handle the body should be put in a bag separately and sent for incineration. The hospitals should have separate freezer boxes and stretcher trolleys to carry the bodies.

Each hospital must appoint a dedicated liaison officer for the family members of a deceased Covid-19 patient, who will act as the single point of contact. The officer should also liaison with the police for the deceaseds last rites, the SOP added.

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Titan Company in its quarterly update for Q4 March 2020 said that consequent to the serious disruptions in operations in March, revenue growth for the quarter and consequently for the year has been impacted severely. The company is working out its strategy to manage this crisis with particular focus on ensuring adequate liquidity is available till normalcy returns.

Marico said that in the India business, early signs of improvement across categories seen until early March were more than offset by disruptions in the last 12 days, due to lockdowns in some states culminating into a first-ever national lockdown, to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. During the impacted period, the Company could register sales largely in the Edible Oils and Foods portfolio. Overall, the India business posted a low single-digit volume decline in the quarter, with very skewed high growth in the Saffola portfolio.

IDBI Bank said that the Board of Directors, at its meeting held on Wednesday, 8 April 2020, has approved in principle the proposal to sell IDBI Bank's stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company (IFLI) to the extent of 23-27%.

Manali Petrochemical said production of Propylene Oxide, feedstock for Propylene Glycol which is a pharmaceutical input, has recommenced on 7th April 2020 at plant 1. Decision on resumption of production of the other products will be decided in due course.

NLC India informed that the mining operations of Neyveli Mines has resumed from Wednesday, 8 April 2020.

Astron Paper & Board Mill informed that it has received permission from Government of Gujarat (vide Collector of Bhuj, Gujarat) regarding commencement of Unit-2 located at Bhuj, Gujarat.

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A London police officer seen confronting a woman for flouting coronavirus lockdown rules by sitting on a park bench.

Cheeky FE Kerry/YouTube

The police confronted a woman in London for flouting lockdown rules by sitting on a park bench, according to a video posted on YouTube by the woman in question.

The woman said she was "exercising mentally," which she argued should count as the once-daily outdoor activity permitted by UK authorities.

The video ends with the woman being taken to a police van and arrested. She says she was given a fine, which she plans to appeal.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Londoner who said she was "exercising mentally" was arrested by the police after sitting on a park bench for nearly an hour, in apparent defiance of the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown.

This is according to an over-12-minute video the woman posted of the confrontation to YouTube on Monday.

"Arrested for being sat on a park bench! On my own!" the title says.

The woman, identified only by her username Cheeky FE Kerry, could be seen speaking with two officers next to the River Thames in the Richmond district of southwest London.

One officer, Tom, told her he came up to her about 45 minutes earlier and asked her to leave.

"I asked you why you were out, and you said you were exercising mentally," he told her. "I said I don't think that's in the spirit of what's happening."

"Well I'm in the spirit of social distancing," the woman replied. "I'm sat here on my own. I'm not infecting anyone. That's the actual spirit."

The woman went on to say she's not afraid of catching COVID-19.

"I'm not afraid," she said. "To be honest, if I catch something, I catch it. I'm only infecting myself."

The officers asked her if she "would be willing to go home," and she said "I'm willing to go home once the sun sets," which she said was "in about an hour."

They proceeded to get into a protracted argument over what the UK's lockdown rules meant.

Story continues

While the officer said "exercising mentally" was not "a valid reason under the law," the woman countered that the "law doesn't specify what the exercise is."

The UK government's website says the citizens can take "one form of exercise a day." It gives examples of physical exercise, "for example a run, walk, or cycle  alone or with members of your household."

The woman pointed out in the video that no one was in her immediate vicinity.

Cheeky FE Kerry/YouTube

When the officer said he had no choice but to give the woman a fixed penalty notice, she refused to take it "because I'm not breaking the law."

"I won't accept a fixed penalty notice  you can place me under arrest and take me to the station," she said.

The video ends with the officers taking her to a police van nearby, where about three other officers were waiting.

"You've been arrested now, OK," one of the officers said as the video ended.

The woman wrote that the officers "actually gave me a lift home, which I thought was nice."

"I will get a fixed penalty notice which naturally I will contest in court," she said.

The video ended with the woman being led to a nearby police van.

Cheeky FE Kerry/YouTube

Business Insider contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment on the incident Thursday morning. A representative said they were "aware" of the video.

They said officers confronted the woman in Richmond on Sunday around 6 p.m., about an hour after they said they had first spoken with her.

After twice refusing to leave or provide her name and address so she could be fined, she was arrested but "not handcuffed," the police said.

They said she was let go and issued with a fixed penalty notice after she gave her personal details to the officers.

"There are lots of people who need to go out for their essential work in London, particularly key workers such as our incredible colleagues in the National Health Service," a police representative said.

"But if we do see somebody that we think is in a place that they really shouldn't be, then our officers will go and speak to them, we will engage, explain, and encourage them to go home.

"It's what we do, we are very used to speaking to and engaging with people  that is our policing model in this country and something we are fiercely proud of in London. Enforcement continues to remain a last resort."

Read the original article on Insider
Popular Nollywood actress, Halima Abubakar has been accused by an American lady of using her babys picture to announce the arrival of her own baby.

34-year-old Halima announced the arrival, of her baby on Monday, April 6, 2020.

However, the actress has been called out on social media by an American lady Ariel for allegedly stealing her baby photo and pretending to use it as hers in announcing the arrival of her baby.

READ: Halima Abubakar Advices Ladies To Spend Money On Their Men, Buy Everything For Him

Ariel also shared screenshot of her chats with Halima Abubakar where she accused the blogger gistlovers of being a trouble maker.

READ: Halima Abubakar Is A Snake, She Slept With Her Friends Husband For Movie Role  Cossy Orjiakor

ALSO READ: Halima Abubakar Is A Jealous Snake  Cossy Orjiakor Warns Uche Ogbodo

DONT MISS: PHOTOS: Halima Abubakar Shares Photos From Her Sick Bed

Recall that Halima Abubakar has previously shared her story on how her father took her to so many hospitals to check her virginity. Read the story here.
So I represent that legacy of growing up poor and Black in America, and I and many Black Americans are at higher risk for COVID, which is why we need everyone to do their part to slow the spread.

Most weeks my mind is racing with several potential topics I could write about in this space. This week I wanted to write about something other than COVID-19. Not because its not important or top of mind, but because the world keeps spinning, life keeps happening, and there are other issues of concern in our world and community. COVID-19 just added an additional challenge to our daily lives. With that said, COVID-19 is definitely part of this column, but its not the focal point.

That brings me to the quote above. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams recently made this statement when discussing the effect of COVID-19 on Black people. The first part of the statement gave me pause. I had to read it several times because its just that profound. The legacy hes referencing is a legacy of health ailments for Black people. The U.S. surgeon general is a Black man who has asthma, a heart condition that caused him to be hospitalized in intensive care for a week, high blood pressure and prediabetes. Adams is representative of so many Black people dealing with one or all of these conditions right now. Theres so much to unpack in those 13 words.

The U.S. surgeon general is known as the nations doctor and is in charge of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. I assume as a doctor and one of the top doctors in the country, Adams would be in good health and have the best health care at his disposal. My assumption is wrong. Hes probably in a better position than others who have those same conditions, but he made it clear his status doesnt make him immune to the health ailments from which many Black people suffer.

It makes you wonder how and why. Why are Black people disproportionately affected by poor health? The answer is complicated but not really.

Often the message Black people get is the health disparities that exist are our fault. Yes, we have a role to play. I believe we have to do our part to avoid poor health outcomes. Some of us are hard-headed and refuse to make the necessary lifestyle changes that promote good health, but were not alone. This is an America problem. Its like when we say we have to work twice as hard in school or at work to achieve parity with white people, maybe we have to work twice as hard when it comes to our health too.

Our health disparities arent just on us. The stressful lives we lead being Black in America leave us susceptible to health issues. Unconscious bias in the medical field and lack of health care or affordable health care leave us vulnerable. What is our medical community doing to remove bias? It often feels like not much. Health officials in Indiana didnt even think to include race in the demographic data it collected about COVID-19 initially. Officials will say it was just an oversight, but that kind of oversight is why disparities continue. Its why Black people feel as if we dont matter.

Adams also mentioned growing up poor. This is important because poor people tend to forgo medical care because its too expensive. Too often money plays a role in poor health outcomes. As I stated last week 28% of Black people in Marion County live in poverty and are even more vulnerable to COVID-19.

This disease has put health  and socioeconomic  disparities for Black people under a giant microscope. While I wish it didnt take a pandemic to get us here, lets hope this is a call to action to change health outcomes for us.
As the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, South Carolina's Tim Scott walked into the White House painfully aware of the glances he got as he waited to meet with President Donald Trump.

It was 2017, and Scott had spoken out about Trump's recent comments tied to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Now, he was waiting to meet with Trump to discuss what happened.

"Were the black faces looking back at me applauding me? Hoping I would stand up for their invisible pain? Wondering if I would succeed?" Scott writes in the first chapter of his new book, which will be released April 14.

Scott continued, "Did the white faces understand why I had to be there? Did they understand why this was important not only to me, but to all people of color, as well as to the spirit of our country?"

Scott outlines his Oval Office meeting with the president in "Opportunity Knocks: How Hard Work, Community, and Business Can Improve Lives and End Poverty."

It is published by Center Street Books, the same firm that released Donald Trump Jr.'s best-seller "Triggered."

Scott's 304-page account is a blend of policy and memoir. The title is a nod to Scott's signature "Opportunity Zones" legislation, which he introduced to help revitalize economically distressed communities.

"He will teach readers about the principles of hard work and hope, while addressing the dangers of veering too far toward socialist policies," a blurb from the publisher states.

"The book will also not shy away from discussions of racism and racial inequality in the United States, and will recount some of Senator Scotts own brushes with racism as well as the many discussions hes had with people who want to help, including President Trump," it adds.

Scott describes his feelings when he met with Trump after the president initially cast blame on "both sides" for the infamous Unite the Right Rally.

"No matter what happened in this meeting, I could not stand down from my belief that Trumps actual comments had shown a real insensitivity to the racial history of our country. But I knew I had to keep these swirling emotions at bay," Scott wrote, adding that his grandfather taught him to "never let your emotions lead your words."

"You have to be dispassionate if you want others to listen. You must purge the emotional toxicity out of the equation," Scott said.

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The book raises questions about whether Scott has higher political aspirations, since many presidential contenders tend to release an autobiography as a way of signaling their future goals and priorities.

Scott was not immediately available for comment.

This is Scott's second book. In 2018, he teamed up with his best friend, former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy, to write "Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope for a Divided Country" about how unexpected friendships like theirs could be the key to reconciliation during a deeply polarizing time.

Reached by phone Thursday, Gowdy said discussions about this book began years ago when he and Scott met with an agent in Charlotte.

Gowdy was anxious to write another book with Scott, but he said everyone at the table quickly realized the story that needed to be told was Scott's alone.

"It's not a Republican book. It's a book for people who want to be inspired," Gowdy said, confirming he has read portions of it.

Scott is up for re-election in two years. In August, he stunned supporters when he affirmed his 2022 U.S. Senate race would be his last, if he runs at all.

Gowdy has urged Scott to run for higher office, whether it's for governor or president.

"I think he views himself as a preacher trapped in the United States Senate, and I view him as someone whose message is desperately needed in this political environment and the one going forward," Gowdy said.

Scott is a second leading South Carolina Republican to see a concentration of questions about political aspirations. Former Gov. Nikki Haley, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, published her second book last year after leaving the Trump administration.

She continues to be floated as a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
NEW YORK (AP) - New York state reported a record number of coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day with 799, raising the total above 7,000.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that despite the worsening death toll, New York City hospitals have so far stood up under the strain, and the numbers seem to indicate the curve is flattening.

We should all be concerned, especially New Yorkers. Well were flattening the curve, thats good news. It is good news. Well now I can relax. No, you cant relax, Cuomo said, urging people to stay the course even as the number of cases and hospitalizations may decrease. He said that even if things seem to be improving, a second wave could still be on the horizon.

The 1918 Spanish flu hit in 3 waves. We are only in the first wave. We cant assume that because we are seeing some positive signs this will be over soon or that additional waves wont hit. NYS will not underestimate this enemy.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 9, 2020

State health officials now say they support people wearing cloth face coverings when they go out in public, especially in areas of significant community transmission.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city needs continued social distancing plus more testing capacity to reach a point where the loosening of restrictions could be considered.
TDT | Manama

People in Bahrain must wear a face mask or an appropriate face-covering whenever they are out in public, starting from tonight. This has been ordered by the Government Executive Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, as part of a number of new measures that are to come into effect this evening to help curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Kingdom.

All citizens and residents are required to wear face masks whilst in public, it was stated on a list of the measures released as part of the Public Awareness Campaign to Combat Coronavirus.

The campaign stresses that wearing a face mask or face-covering in public not only protects ones self but also the community as a whole. In light of this decision, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism announced yesterday that it has distributed more than one million face masks at supermarkets and pharmacies across the Kingdom.

The ministry said that the supply of masks will help in the implementation of the governments orders for people to protect themselves from possible COVID-19 infection.

Home-made masks are also allowed to be used, but they must meet the standards outlined on the Ministry of Healths website. Among the most basic requirements, face coverings made at home with cloth must fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face.

They must be secured with ties or ear-loops, and must include multiple layers of fabric. These home-made coverings must also allow for breathing without restriction.

Meanwhile, the Ministry also reiterated yesterday that it remains prohibited to export all kinds of protective face masks without their prior permission. This ban is being applied for a period of three months from the date of implementation of the decision.

This regulation will be strictly enforced, and violators will be severely punished. Penalties are also to be handed out to those who manipulate prices on essential goods that help prevent infection, such as face masks and hand-sanitisers.

It has been stressed by officials that wearing face masks in public will help greatly in curbing the spread of COVID-19. This, along with social distancing guidelines and taking care of ones personal hygiene, all help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Russia again tried to use the UN site to obstruct justice over downed flight MH17 but was warned that it would not evade responsibility for that crime.

"Russia initiated on Wednesday the discussion at the UN Security Council on the international investigation into MH17 crash. We could imagine for a moment that Moscow finally decided to inform the Security Council of its willingness to cooperate with the investigation, as required by the Resolution 2166 adopted in 2014. But no miracle happened," Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya said in an exclusive commentary to Ukrinform upon the UN Security Council meeting.

He noted that, as the discussion confirmed, "Russia continues to hysterically abuse the site of the main international security body to discredit the trial that began in The Hague on March 8."

"Moscow cooperates neither with the Joint Investigation Team, which proved the origin of the Russian missile, nor with the Dutch justice system which carries out the criminal proceedings. Such actions are a blatant disregard for the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 2166, which was voted for including by the Russian delegation," Kyslytsya emphasized.

At the same time, he expressed his firm conviction that Russia would not manage to evade responsibility for the crash. "This fact, by the way, was clearly underscored today by Belgium speaking on behalf of other Joint Investigation Team members  the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and Ukraine  and other Security Council members," Ukraines Permanent Representative to the United Nations said.

According to him, the first step has already been taken: charges were filed against four people. "Later on, there will be more people on trial because it is important to establish not only perpetrators but also instigators of this crime," the diplomat stressed.

For its part, Ukraine will continue to render every possible assistance to the JIT and the trial in the Netherlands and to prove Russia's guilt at the UN International Court of Justice, Kyslytsa assured.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

In May 2018, the Netherlands and Australia formally accused Russia of being responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.

On June 19, 2019, the international Joint Investigation Team named four suspects believed to be involved in the transportation and combat use of the Buk missile system, from which MH17 flight had been downed. Three of them are Russians: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service and former so-called defense minister of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic; Sergey Dubinskiy, general (at the time of downing  colonel) of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and head of the so-called Main Intelligence Directorate of the Donetsk Peoples Republic; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The fourth suspect is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian civilian, who fought on the side of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic.

The first hearings in the MH17 criminal proceedings took place on March 9 and 10, 2020.

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There are so many outrageous aspects of Tiger King, its hard to say what the wildest is. Is it that Carole Baskins husband might have been tiger food? Is it that Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, might have hired a hitman? Directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin followed them to uncover the story behind their big cat zoos, and they stumbled into so much more. A reporter even asked President Donald Trump if he would consider pardoning Maldonado-Passage.

Joe Exotic | Netflix

Some of the subjects contest Tiger King. Baskin has spoken out about feeling misrepresented by the show. Maldonado-Passage hasnt seen it because he is in prison.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Goode and Chaiklin by phone and published the interview on April 1. The directors revealed how they persuaded their subjects to participate in Tiger King.

Many Tiger King participants were skeptical of the directors from the start

Goodes reputation preceded him: a conservation activist and founder of The Turtle Conservancy. So some of Maldonado-Passage and Baskins associates were skeptical.

Of course these people would Google me and they would see that I ran this organization, Goode told The Hollywood Reporter. They would see that I obviously knew a lot about animals and they were wary because there is a war going on between animal rights activists and people that want to keep exotic animals in the United States. And they were worried that we were coming in and maybe infiltrating their operation and would portray them poorly.

Kelci Saffery | Netflix

While Goodes conservation work initially put him at odds with Maldonado-Passage and Baskin, it ultimately helped him earn their trust. They were all in the animal world, even if they were on opposite sides.

Fortunately I spoke their language to a large degree and was able to get a level of comfort, Goode said. Oftentimes it just took multiple tries.

Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin said yes to Tiger King

Goode said the two main subjects of Tiger King were the easiest to get. Baskin and Maldonado-Passage both wanted to talk.

Joe and Carole were easy access, Goode said. Joe wanted any attention, all attention. He was an open book, and Carole obviously wanted to get her message out. But people like Doc Antle and Mario Tabraue and Jeff Lowe and Tim Stark and others were very guarded.

They never pitched Tiger King as Blackfish for big cats

Baskins Big Cat Rescue organization posted a blog post refuting the Tiger King documentary. The Hollywood Reporter asked Goode and Chaiklin about the claim that they pitched her a documentary akin to Blackfish, a film that exposed animal abuse at Sea World.

I dont think we said it, Chaiklin said. I think she said it  and to be quite honest, our intention was to tell a story with these colorful characters that focused on the issues that we both cared a lot about. There is a big-cat crisis in this country and we wanted to highlight that there are a lot of incredibly cruel practices that are taking place.

Carole Baskin | Netflix

Goode added that they never intended to make Tiger King a show only about tigers.

We knew that we didnt want to make a film that was strictly advocacy and that was depressing. The bludgeoning or the torture of these animals  people have a low tolerance for that. And in other films that have been successful  even The Cove that won an Oscar  its hard to watch the killing of dolphins. So we wanted to figure out how to make this film interesting and really look at the psychology of the people that were involved but at the same time dive into the issues of the ethics of keeping animals in captivity. Eric Goode, The Hollywood Reporter, 4/1/2020

Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin just happened

Goode and Chaiklin didnt know who they were dealing with. And when the events of Tiger King unfolded, they had stumbled into something they never could have predicted.

We had no idea when we first started filming with Carole that she had the history that she had, Chaiklin said. As we filmed a lot of things unfolded  but we hoped that people walked away from this with a understanding that their big cats dont belong in captivity and they belong in the wild and if we want to protect them thats where we should be focusing our resources to protect them in the wild.

Joe Exotic | Netflix

Goode agreed that he hopes the message of Tiger King remains: dont keep tigers in captivity.

I think the most important thing is that we wanted people to see this series, Goode said. Fortunately, I think thats the silver lining. We have this captive audience in this bizarre time right now and I hope that people come away really understanding that this process of keeping big cats in captivity is exploitative and is something we didnt advocate.
Students learned just as much in online STEM college courses as they did in traditional classroom settings, and at a fraction of the cost, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

The study tracked more than 300 students in Russia, where top universities standardize online classes for use by institutions with fewer resources. It has important implications for the teaching of science, technology, engineering and math -- skills that are in high demand by the international workforce, said Rene Kizilcec, assistant professor of information science at Cornell University.

"Demand for higher education is surging in the digital economy we now live in, but the price of a college education has ballooned and we don't have enough people to teach these courses, especially in more rural areas," said Kizilcec, co-author of "Online Education Platforms Scale College STEM Instruction With Equivalent Outcomes at Lower Cost," which published April 8 in Science Advances. "This new study offers the best available evidence to judge whether online learning can address issues of cost and instructor shortages, showing that it can deliver the same learning outcomes that we're used to, but at a much lower cost."

These online courses cost institutions 80% less per student than in-person classes, the study found, while blended classes combining online lectures with in-person discussions lowered the per-student cost by nearly 20%.

"Online education platforms have a big potential to expand access to quality STEM education worldwide," said Igor Chirikov, the project's principal investigator, director of the Student Experience in Research Consortium and a senior researcher at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley.

"They could also strengthen the instructional resilience of colleges when in-person delivery is not an option, such as right now, when most universities are closed to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak," Chirikov said.

A shortage of highly skilled professionals in STEM fields is slowing down the global economy, according to previous research. But at the same time, many colleges and universities struggle with the costs of attracting qualified instructors. To address this problem, countries including Russia, China and India have introduced national online educational platforms, in which leading universities create online courses that other institutions can integrate into their own curricula for a small fee.

In this study, the researchers developed a controlled, randomized trial to test whether students in Russia learned as much in these online classes, known as OpenEdu, as they did in traditional in-person classes. For two courses during the 2017-18 academic year, the researchers randomly assigned 325 students to one of three versions: the online version through OpenEdu; the in-person class offered by their local university; or a blended version that combined online lectures with in-person discussion groups.

They found that final exam scores did not differ significantly among the three versions. In their in-course assessments, students in the all-online course scored 7.2 percentage points higher, probably because they were allowed to make three attempts on weekly assignments. Online students, however, were slightly less satisfied with their course experience than students in in-person and blended classes.

"Satisfaction might be lower, but learning outcomes are the same," Kizilcec said. "This is a reminder that what students say about instruction quality in course evaluations at the end of the semester might not be so predictive of what students are actually learning."

Though online classes save money in the long run, they have significant startup costs, the study said, which could potentially be covered by states or consortiums of universities. Coordinating course requirements and academic calendars across institutions or states could also improve the effectiveness of this kind of model, according to the researchers.

The paper was co-authored by Tatiana Semenova and Natalia Maloshonok, both of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Russia, and Eric Bettinger of Stanford University. The research was supported by the Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics and Russia's Federal Program for Education Development.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the exercise of intensifying the lockdown by sealing hotspots in 15 districts should be replicated in the remaining 25 districts, where coronavirus positive cases have been found in Uttar Pradesh. However, the state government has not issued any written orders in this regard. Rather, district administration officials have been asked to take suitable steps at their own level.

All hotspots in 15 districts were sealed on Wednesday/Thursday night till April 15 morning.

Barring medical teams, sanitisation workers and those deployed for home delivery, no one is being allowed to move about in these areas.

We have identified hotspots in 15 districts where six or more coronavirus positive cases have been reported. The district administration there has been asked to allow only the teams of medical and health, sanitization and doorstep delivery. Now, 410 Corona positive cases have been reported in 40 districts. All these districts, where even one corona positive case has been found, should cordon off the hotspot and implement the restrictions, the chief minister said.

He was addressing district magistrates and district police chiefs in a video conference on Thursday.

No one should be under any doubt. We have to check the spread of the coronavirus. I have surveyed some areas and got some survey reports from 15 districts, where intensified lockdown was ordered on Wednesday. Officers have been found careless in some districts.This carelessness can be dangerous for you and people in your districts. You need to implement the restrictions in every district, where even a single case has been found, the chief minister said.

Earlier, while reviewing the situation, Adityanath asked officers to ramp up surveillance in hotspots by deploying a magistrate for each sector there.

Do not allow any movement other than those of medical, sanitisation, and home delivery teams, he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.

Increase surveillance in the sealed areas, he said.

Among the 15 districts, Agra has 22 hotspots, Ghaziabad 13, Gautam Buddha Nagar 12, Kanpur 12, Varanasi 4, Shamli 4, Meerut 7, Bareilly 1, Bulandshahr 3, Basti 3, Firozabad 3, Saharanpur 4, Maharajganj 4, Sitapur 1 and Lucknow 12.

Adityanath also said: Establish contact with each quarantined person in the state, using the 1076 helpline and ask about their health and well-being.

Talking to top officers engaged in Covid-19 management, he also asked them to ensure that no one stepped out without a face-mask or face cover, and at the same time encourage people to download Arogya app on their smartphones to help them keep safe from Covid-19.

The chief minister also asked officers to do an audit of ventilators at government hospitals and medical colleges.

Get an audit of the ventilators done, keep them functional. Ensure availability of PPE (personal protection equipment) kit, infrared thermometers, isolation beds, quarantine beds, sanitisers, N-95 masks and triple-layer masks at these hospitals, he said.

The chief minister sought cleanliness drives in cities and villages. He asked for updates on the status of manufacturing of PPE kits, ventilators and masks in the state.

Chief secretary RK Tiwari; infrastructure and industry development commissioner Alok Tandon, additional chief secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi, additional chief secretary (Finance) Sanjeev Mittal and several other officers attended the meeting.

Additional chief secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said the chief minister asked officials to prepare details of the population, as well as all the houses located in the 105 hotspots. Health and police teams would prepare a list of coronavirus positive and suspicious people residing in the hotspots, he said.

The state government has called upon Tabligi Jamaat members to voluntarily come out of the houses in which they have taken shelter. People in whose houses the Jamaatis are staying should inform the administration, the senior bureaucrat said. The Tabligi Jammat members will be sent to quarantine centres, Awasthi said.

The chief minister also directed the DGP and the home department to prepare a list of magistrates and policemen deployed in hotspots. Awasthi said strict action would be taken against people who violated the complete lockdown.

Since the nationwide lockdown was enforced on March 25, the UP police filed 12,236 cases and registered FIRs against 39,857 people, he said. The police checked one crore vehicles across the state and collected Rs 5.61 crore as penalty from the violators, the additional chief secretary said.
An Alabama pastor is being remembered for his resilience and always pushing for better for his church, his congregation and his community.

The Rev. Eddie Lee Hunter, 68, died from COVID-19. He served as pastor of Miracle Missionary Baptist Church and also as the president of the Northeast District Baptist Convention.

Rev. Hunter was a very humble individual. He wasn't too flashy, but you always somehow felt his spirit, said Valarie Oliver, a relative and church member. He was what I would call a silent leader. When he did speak it was powerful and meaningful. He loved his community and his church congregation.

Hunter became ill around March 21. He died Sunday at Russell Medical Center in Alexander City. A private service is being held today, with plans for a larger celebration of life to be held at a later date.

The Rev. Eddie Lee Hunter (Contributed)

Hunter became an ordained minister in 1984. Though born in Ohio Hunter was raised the in Tallapoosa County town of New Site.

He was very dedicated and always strived for elevation. You could always catch him in the community supporting others, Oliver said. He attended sporting events to support the youth, graduations, visited the sick and shut in. He is the type of man that would welcome anyone with open arms.

Oliver said Hunter was also a devoted husband and family man. Hunter was a founding member of the gospel group The Alabama Spirituals. He was also a sharp dresser and he could sing too, she said. As mentioned earlier, never too flashy but he kept his appearance up.

His death has definitely left a void in this community that will not be easy to fill. Many individuals were shocked to hear about his passing, Oliver said. Rev. Hunter knew individuals from many walks of life. He was very active from a clergy and community standpoint.

Honestly, Rev. Hunter was just a special individual that touched the hearts of many. This is a death our community will mourn heavily, Oliver said. It is not just going to be an overnight thing. Our community will have to heal from the death of such a devoted man of God.
The precautions that are necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are at odds with communal and ritualistic life. Hasidic men, reared to pray three times a day with a quorum of 10, immerse in a communal mikveh daily before prayers. Many of those who are now hunkering down at home have never before missed a minyan or a dunk in ritual waters.

A video of the cavernous morgue of a funeral chapel in Borough Park surfaced earlier this week  bodies lined up on the floor outside the morgue, and desperate employees calling for help to transport the corpses piling up. When I see footage of Hasidic funeral processions that have taken place in recent weeks, Im incredulous: Dont you see how a gathering will perpetuate the collective grief?

But then I remember how funerals were conducted in the place I grew up. If you know a friend who knows a neighbor of the deceased, you go to pay your respects. In life and in death, in ritual and in celebration, this community is always interconnected.

While many of my Jewish friends and I are now foregoing our Seder traditions of hosting large numbers of people, it remains to be seen how Hasidic individuals will deal with the challenge of social distancing.

In Hasidic households, preparations for this holiday start as early as the last night of Hanukkah. Every balabusta (homemaker) arrives to the Seder with sore muscles from scrubbing out the chametz and cooking up a storm for weeks  and a twinkle of accomplishment unmatched by anything else she might have achieved the rest of the year.

The Seder starts with the call to all who are hungry, let them come and eat; all who are in need, let them come and celebrate Pesach. Its no wonder my Hasidic relatives tell me lonely Seders will feel like the apex of the pandemic.

The very things that make my former community unique and beautiful  multigenerational families, custom, and tradition  may well contribute to the spread of the virus. I refuse to point an accusatory finger at the community as a whole, because I believe most Hasidim want to do the right thing. Instead, I put the blame squarely at the feet of the rabbis who have largely failed to promote social distancing. While some have insisted that people stay home on Passover and beyond, too many have failed to crack down. They should use their pulpits to demand their followers practice social distancing and protect their sacred lives.

Frimet Goldberger (@FrimetG) is a writer.

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Seyi Makainde, Oyo State Governor says the state will explore home-grown solutions in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

Makinde said this during a briefing after a meeting with the States COVID-19 Task Force, held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

He said: We are looking at local solutions. I know that a lot of people have been calling me all sorts of names on the social media but, from my experience, one thing that I know you have to do to conquer the virus is that you have to boost your immunity. We do have local solutions and, of course, we have to defer to experts opinion as part of the home-grown solution to deal with COVID-19.

People may ask if we have been funding the research institutes very well. They may even ask if we are in a position to bring any kind of solution to the world. My answer is yes. Even chewing something like bitter-cola. When the Western world is having flu season, they have flu shots. But here, we have things like catarrh. When we are crossing over from dry season to rainy season, people almost always fall sick. Cold, cough, catarrh, we have ways of dealing with all of these locally.

Read Also: Governor Makinde Recovers; Tests Negative For Coronavirus

So, except a solution comes from the Western or Eastern world, I wont say that we cannot deal with it. I believe we have the capacity. We have the intellect to look at things that work locally and we will keep encouraging that. We have the capacity to also validate some of the results that we are going to be getting.

They did clinical trials for chloroquine and some other medications but these are things we take normally here. So, we are not ruling out local solution to this pandemic.

We have made arrangement to decontaminate the Oyo State Secretariat and this will take place next week; between Monday, April 13th and Wednesday, April 15th. Thereafter, the secretariat will be opened on Monday, April 20th.

The team in charge of the decontamination are sending letters to religious leaders, traditional rulers, private organisations to decontaminate their facilities, using standardised contaminants. We are also considering rapid testing, two additional centres to enable us map behaviour of the virus as far as the state is concerned.

The NCDC protocol is being followed at the approved virology laboratory in UCH. For those two additional centres, they discussed a protocol to be followed and I believe the experts are working on that. Once we have alignment on the protocol to be followed, we will roll this out, and our aspiration to test up to 10,000 people in Oyo State within the shortest possible time will be realized. The modelling of the state epidemiologist will help us decide the next step regarding the curfew and reopening of schools.
Saudi Arabia said its two-week cease-fire in Yemen was intended as a step toward ending the war, with the more immediate aim of reducing hostilities as the coronavirus threatens the region.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels ordered a truce starting at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing Col. Turki al-Malki, the spokesman for the alliance. The decision was taken to help prevent the spread of covid-19 in the war-torn country and to build confidence between the combatants, the news service said.

In a subsequent Twitter post, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan went further, saying the move would support the efforts of the United Nations, "with the goal of ending the conflict."

The kingdom will contribute $500 million to the U.N.'s humanitarian plan for Yemen in 2020, with an additional $25 million for countering any outbreak of the virus in Yemen. There have been no confirmed cases of covid-19 in Yemen, which has been ravaged by a five-year war.

Since the Saudi-led coalition began its bombing campaign in 2015 in an as yet failed attempt to restore an allied government ousted by the Houthis, tens of thousands of people have been killed and the country has descended into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The Saudi offensive has faced widespread criticism, with the U.S. Congress voting last year to withdraw support for Riyadh's role in the conflict -- a punishment vetoed by President Donald Trump -- and Germany imposing a ban on all arms deliveries to the kingdom. The war is fueled by the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are on opposing sides.

Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi ruling political council, said in a statement on his Twitter account that the group will not accept "partial or patchwork solutions." The Houthis had presented their blueprint to U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths for "a full cease-fire and lifting of the blockade," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres two weeks ago called for a halt to fighting in Yemen to protect civilians from the virus, and he won support from a top official in the United Arab Emirates, which has gradually reduced its role in the war alongside the Saudis.

"The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything," U.A.E. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter Thursday. "The international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people."

Hours after the cease-fire announcement, the Houthis said that the Saudi army had shelled villages in Sa'ada province near the border. Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV reported that there were airstrikes in Amran, Sa'ada and Al-Baidha provinces, but it didn't say if they were conducted before or after the truce took effect.
The ceasefire will go into effect at midday on Thursday for two weeks and is open to extension

Dubai/Riyadh: The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemens Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday it was halting military operations nationwide in support of UN efforts to end a five-year war that has killed over 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease.

The move aims to facilitate talks sponsored by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths for a permanent ceasefire, and was decided in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus, though no cases have been reported so far, military coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said.

The ceasefire will go into effect at midday on Thursday for two weeks and is open to extension, he said in a statement.

The announcement is the first major breakthrough since the United Nations convened the warring parties in late 2018 in Sweden, where they signed a ceasefire in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

But it is unclear if the armed Houthi movement will follow suit. Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said they had sent the United Nations a comprehensive vision that includes an end to the war and to the blockade imposed on Yemen.

(Our proposal) will lay the foundations for a political dialogue and a transitional period, he tweeted on Wednesday.

Hours after the coalition announcement, Yemens information minister said the Houthis had targeted Hodeidah and the central city of Marib with missiles, while Houthi media said coalition strikes hit Hajja and Saada provinces.

Last week, UN envoy Griffiths sent a proposal to the internationally-recognised government, the Saudi-led coalition that supports it, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and most of northern Yemen.

Griffiths welcomed the ceasefire and called on warring parties to utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency, and make progress towards comprehensive and sustainable peace.

Coronavirus threat

The adversaries are expected to convene via video conference to discuss the proposal, which calls for halting all air, ground and naval hostilities.

A senior Saudi official, speaking to reporters in Washington, said Riyadh hoped during the next two weeks that the UN Security Council would help pressure the Houthis to stop the hostilities, join the ceasefire and also to be serious in such engagement with the Yemeni government.

The UN and Western allies have pointed to the threat of the coronavirus to push Yemens combatants to agree to fresh talks to end a war that has left millions vulnerable to disease.

The United States and Britain have provided the coalition with arms, intelligence and logistics support.

Yemen had witnessed a lull in military action after Saudi Arabia and the Houthis began back-channel talks late last year. But a recent spike in violence, including ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh last month and retaliatory coalition air strikes, threatens fragile peace deals in vital port cities.

Yemen, already the Arab worlds poorest country, has been mired in violence since the Houthis ousted the government from power in Sanaa in late 2014.

The conflict, largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and regional arch-foe Iran, has unleashed an urgent humanitarian crisis that has pushed millions to the verge of famine, forced millions more to seek shelter in displacement camps and sparked outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.

Saudi vice defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted that the kingdom would contribute $500 million to the UN humanitarian response plan for Yemen in 2020 and another $25 million to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The United Nations appealed for more than $4 billion in 2019 for the humanitarian crisis and is expected to ask again for several billion dollars in 2020.
CONTROLLED CASH CONSUMPTION OVER FISCAL YEAR 2019

PROMISING PROSPECTS FOLLOWING THE RECENT SUCCESS OF THE PHASE II TRIAL FOR THN102 IN PARKINSON'S PATIENTS

A PORTFOLIO WITH A NEW DRUG CANDIDATE BBDF-101 FURTHER TO THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE BEYOND BATTEN DISEASE FOUNDATION (BBDF)

Lyon, 9 April 2020 - Theranexus, a biopharmaceutical company innovating in the treatment of neurological diseases and pioneer in the development of drug candidates modulating the interaction between neurons and glial cells, today announces its results for the year ending 31 December 2019 and reviews its recent clinical milestones and outlook.

Franck Mouthon, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Theranexus, made the following comments: "In 2019 we pursued our programs, with a Phase Ia clinical trial of THN101 for neuropathic pain, a Phase Ib trial of THN201 in Alzheimer's disease-related cognitive disorders and finally, we announced in late March the positive results of our Phase II trial of THN102 in excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in Parkinson's disease. In a parallel endeavor, we will continue to identify new drug candidates via our platform and we have also presented various papers on the importance of neuron-glia interactions as therapeutic targets. In late 2019, Theranexus signed an exclusive, global license agreement for the drug candidate BBDF-101[1] with American foundation BBDF. In expanding our portfolio with BBDF-101, destined to enter a pivotal phase leading directly to approval, and the signing of an industrial partnership to continue developing THN102, the next twelve months promise to be full of highly value-creating milestones".

2019 full-year financial results

Thierry Lambert, Theranexus' Chief Financial Officer added: "Expenditure for the THN102, THN201 and THN101 developments was kept within the budgets set by the company, which reflects our careful use of our cash. Operational cashflow amounted to 5.0 M over the financial year (compared with 5.5 M in 2018). Moreover, immediately after the announcement of a term sheet with BBDF in July, the company raised 2.2 million in a reserved placement, which helped to increase its cash resources. The company is currently implementing different non-dilutive funding sources (Neurolead PSPC /Development Project for Competitiveness with 2.0 M expected in the coming 12 months, accelerated reimbursement of the 2019 Research Tax Credit for a sum of 2.0 M, government-guaranteed bank loans, etc.) to boost its cash in view of developments planned in the medium term, starting with the BBDF-101 development".

In k (French GAAP) 2019 2018 Turnover 0 0 Operating income 617 175 Other purchases and external charges 5,426 4,969 Wages and social security charges 2,353 2,117 Amortization and depreciation of fixed assets 154 55 Other operating expenses 61 24 Operating expenses 7,994 7,166 Net operating income/(expenses) (7,377) (6,990) Net financial income/(expense) (241) (31) Income tax (credit) 2,038 1,721 Net income/(expense) (5,580) (5,301)

The 2019 full-year results were approved by the Company's Board of Directors on 9 April 2020 and were the subject of a report by the Company's Statutory Auditors.

In k (French GAAP) 31/03/2020* 31/12/2019 Cash available 7,807 9,452

* non-audited

Other purchases and external expenses amounted to 5,426 K in 2019 compared with 4,969 K in 2018. This increase is mainly due to the clinical programs launched in 2018 and finalized in 2019 to treat Parkinson's disease (Phase II), Alzheimer's disease (Phase Ib) and to a lesser extent the clinical program targeting neuropathic pain.

The increase in salaries and benefits, from 2,117 K in 2018 to 2,353 K in 2019, resulted from the recruitment of new employees in the scientific division in connection with the ramp-up of the research and development platform (18-employee workforce as of 31 December 2019 compared with 14 as of 31 December 2018).

Amortization and depreciation of fixed assets are linked to investments in laboratory equipment in connection with the Neurolead research and development platform.

As a result, the operating loss increased slightly from -6,990 K in 2018 to -7,377 K in 2019.

The financial result, mainly reflecting interest on loans and repayable advances, amounted to -241 K in 2019, compared to -31 K in 2018 (most of the current debt corresponds to a bank loan contracted in the second half of 2018).

Tax income, almost entirely composed of Research Tax Credit, amounts to 2,038 K compared with 1,721 K in 2018. This income has grown in line with research expenditure.

The company's cash amounted to 7,807 K at March 31, 2020, against 9,452 K at 31 December 2019. Cash outflows for the financial year (excluding cash flow from financing activities) remained under control: 5,000 K in 2019 compared with 5,539 K in 2018.

In light of the expenditure expected over the coming twelve months, and the resources already secured to date, the company is in a position to meet its financial obligations in the coming 12 months.

THERANEXUS PROGRAMS PROGRESS REPORT

Drug candidate THN102 - Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in Parkinson's disease

On 31 March[2], Theranexus announced the success of its Phase II multicenter trial led in Europe and the United States involving 75 Parkinson's disease patients with EDS.

THN102 met the primary efficacy endpoint as it significantly reduced EDS in Parkinson's patients with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS of 16.5 on average) scored on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)[3]. The ESS score improved by 3.9 points in patients after treatment with THN102-200/2. This improvement is highly significant (p=0.01) compared with that achieved by the placebo. Moreover, the proportion of patients no longer presenting with excessive daytime sleepiness for the duration of the treatment[4] was considerably higher with THN102-200/2 than in the placebo group (p=0.05).

The trial also demonstrated the excellent tolerability of THN102 and the absence of a negative impact on the disease's other symptoms.

It is estimated that roughly 40% of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, i.e. 2 million people, are affected by the EDS symptom which generally manifests itself during periods of inactivity. There is currently no approved treatment for this indication.

In light of these positive results, the company plans to join forces with an industrial partner to continue developing and marketing THN102.

In addition, in 2019 an in-depth analysis of the results of the Phase II trial for THN102 on narcolepsy patients corroborated an over-representation of poorly responding narcoleptic patients, thus rendering the trial inconclusive.

Drug Candidate THN201 - Cognitive disorders in patients with Alzheimer's disease

THN201 (donepezil/mefloquine combination) is a drug candidate designed to treat cognitive disorders in patients with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. The company conducted a Phase Ib clinical trial on 150 healthy volunteers and announced the results in January 2020. The trial revealed an extension of the pharmacological profile of THN201 compared to donepezil, the standard-of-care treatment for this indication. The good pharmacological profile of THN201 has led Theranexus to seek an industrial partner to continue its development.

Drug Candidate THN101 - Neuropathic pain

The Phase I program for safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in patients with neuropathic pain was completed in 2019. The trial established the good tolerability and pharmacokinetic properties of the product. The Phase II program has already been defined. It will include 370 patients suffering from neuropathic pain of diabetic or post-Zosterian origin (following shingles) in 40 to 45 investigation sites in Europe. The primary endpoint of the trial will be based on a regular self-assessment of the patient's pain by patients themselves using a numerical scale. The company will assess the launch of this clinical trial in accordance with upcoming sources of funding, notably from partners.

Drug Candidate BBDF-101 for Batten disease

In late December 2019, Theranexus and the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation (BBDF) announced an exclusive, global license agreement for the drug candidate BBDF-101 in Batten disease, a rare, fatal, genetic pediatric disorder of the nervous system for which there is no treatment. The agreement covers the clinical development of the drug candidate BBFD-101 pending approval and its commercial use. The clinical trial will begin in 2020 and include efficacy measurements comparing the development of various symptoms to natural disease progression documented on the basis of patient cohorts already followed up as well as the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of BBDF-101. To help secure the clinical development program of BBDF-101, Theranexus made a private investment operation raising 2.2 million in July 2019.

Neurolead, a new platform enabling active agent screening of neuron-glia interactions

In early 2019, Theranexus announced that it had secured funding for a new platform called Neurolead developed in partnership with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the College de France. This next-generation drug candidate discovery platform combines the latest innovations in neuroscience and the use of artificial intelligence tools tailored on a project-by-project basis. It aims to extend and systematize the therapeutic concept promoted by Theranexus by increasing its scope of therapeutic applications on neuron-glia interactions. Neurolead will also optimize the medical value potential of drug candidates by integrating the identification and precise qualification of medical needs from design through to development.

BPI France's funding package of over 6 million in support of Neurolead will be split among Theranexus and its academic partners. Two thirds of this amount will go towards financing Theranexus' activities directly (50% in the form of grants and 50% as advances, repayment of which is conditional on the success of the project), with the remaining third financing the activities of the academic partners (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and the College de France) taking part in the platform. Theranexus is currently pursuing preclinical selection and characterization activities for upcoming drug candidates expected to further expand the Company's clinical project portfolio. Further to the signing of the consortium agreement, payment of the first part of the funding amounting to 1 M is expected during the second quarter of 2020.

Moreover, in April 2019, Theranexus signed a research collaboration agreement with IRISA[5] using artificial intelligence technologies to strengthen the therapeutic targeting of neuroglial interactions of its therapeutic platform. The collaboration enhances the selection and qualification capabilities of new active agents targeting neuroglial interactions.

Scientific update

Two scientific papers were published, one focusing on expanding the proprietary library of glial effector cells in the journal ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies in July 2019, and the other on the clinical pharmacological profile of THN102 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in August 2019.

In June 2019, Theranexus established its Scientific Board composed of 4 leading experts, which will assist and guide the Company in its choices, especially the development of strategies for identifying, selecting and qualifying drug candidates targeting interactions between the brain's two cell populations, neurons and glial cells, for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The Scientific Board is composed of Dr Didier Cussac, Dr Jean-Antoine Girault, Dr Philippe Marin and Dr Paul Moser under the supervision of Dr Mathieu Charveriat, Theranexus Chief Scientific Officer and Werner Rein, Chief Medical Officer.

Finally in 2019, Theranexus presented numerous papers at scientific conferences, notably on the role of astroglial connexins in the efficacy of THN201 in neurocognitive disorders linked to Alzheimer's disease[6] at the AD/PD conference[7] and its new scientific data on neuron-glia interactions at NeuroFrance and Advances in Cell Based Screening in Drug Discovery. Recently the company presented the mechanism of action and impact of THN101 on neuropathic pain at the European Pain Congress (EFIC) which was held in Valencia in September 2019.

Next financial publication:

Thursday July 9, 2020 (before market opening): Cash position as of 30 June 2020

ABOUT THERANEXUS





Theranexus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that emerged from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 2013. It develops drug candidates for the treatment of nervous system diseases. Theranexus identified the key role played by non-neuronal cells (also known as "glial cells") in the body's response to psychotropic drugs (which target the neurons). The company is a pioneer in the design and development of drug candidates affecting the interaction between neurons and glial cells. The unique, patented technology used by Theranexus is designed to improve the efficacy of psychotropic drugs already approved and on the market, by combining them with a glial cell modulator. This strategy of combining its innovations with registered drugs means Theranexus can significantly reduce development time and costs and considerably increase the chance of its drugs reaching the market.

The proprietary, adaptable Theranexus platform can generate different proprietary drug candidates offering high added-value for multiple indications.

Theranexus is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris (FR0013286259- ALTHX).

More information at: www.theranexus.com

Contacts



THERANEXUS

Thierry Lambert

Chief Financial Officer

investisseurs@theranexus.fr



ACTUS finance & communication

Caroline Lesage

Investor Relations

+33 (0)1 53 67 36 79 / +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75

theranexus@actus.fr

FP2COM

Florence Portejoie

Media Relations Europe

+ 33 (0)6 07 76 82 83

fportejoie@fp2com.fr











[1] The Beyond Batten Disease Foundation (BBDF) is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research for a treatment and cure for juvenile (CLN3) Batten disease, a severe pediatric neurodegenerative orphan disorder.

[2] https://www.theranexus.com/images/pdf/Theranexus_CP_THN102_Parkinson_FR.pdf

[3] Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS - the most widely used sleepiness scale, ranging from 0 to 24)

[4] The ESS score must be under 11 ( ESS<11, Johns, 1997)

[5] French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Random Systems

[6] Involvement of astroglial connexins in the efficacy of THN201 in neurocognitive disorders linked to Alzheimer's disease

[7] Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and related neurological disorders

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Aviation consultancy CAPA on Thursday said allowing domestic airlines to take advance bookings from April 15 is "unfair" to consumers since a decision on lifting the nationwide lockdown is yet to be taken.

Image used for representational purpose. Photograph: Reuters.

During the lockdown period only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.

While the government is yet to decide on lifting the lockdown, Indian airlines have started taking bookings for travel on domestic flights from April 15. Air India has suspended sale of tickets for domestic and international flights till April 30.

"The decision to allow opening of advance bookings from April 14 without a decision on lifting of the lockdown and likely structure of the transition period post the lockdown needs to be immediately reviewed as this is unfair to consumers," the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in a statement.

Citing the examples of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines and now-defunct Jet Airways, CAPA said the closure of these two carriers has "already resulted in massive losses to passengers as refunds couldn't be processed resulting in crores of losses to passengers".

Kingfisher Airlines shut down in 2012, while Jet Airways ceased operations in April last year owing to liquidity crunch.

CAPA said that as and when the lockdown is lifted and the structure of the transition period is known, the civil aviation ministry should only allow reopening of the bookings on the sectors which would be operated by Indian airlines during the transition and not the entire network.

The airlines are forcing customers to accept credit vouchers with their validity, in some cases, as long as one year.

Giving credit vouchers for all advance bookings prior to the lockdown was expected and is reasonable, but not for bookings post April, it noted.

Most airlines, including domestic players, have refused to refund customers whose flights either got cancelled due to the suspension of all commercial passenger flights in the wake of the 21-day lockdown, or travel restrictions overseas.

There are eight scheduled carriers in India -- IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia India, Vistara, Air India, Air India Express and Alliance Air.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 : Cement dealers in Kerala are now in dire straits as over a million cement bags are lying in shops and godowns, as all sorts of construction activities on account of coronavirus pandemic has come to a standstill.

The cement dealers are now trying to appeal to the cement companies to come to their help.

"The maximum time that a bag of cement remains in powder form is a month and after that it gets hardened and then it becomes of no use. We have approached cement manufacturers to come to our help. If something is not done immediately, it would be a huge loss for us," said a cement dealer.

In Kerala, apart from tourism and IT, the other major sector is the construction sector, which employs the highest number of workers.
President Donald Trump and his campaign greeted the ostensible end of the Democratic presidential primary process Wednesday with two conflicting but revealing messages.

Former vice president Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee, they argued, because he was the choice of his party's embedded establishment that disrespected the populist movement behind rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

"The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party," Trump tweeted, arguing that he is a better fit for Sanders' voters than Biden.

But Biden also pulled it off, they said, because he embraced the far-left policies of the anti-establishment Sanders and is indistinguishable from the self-described socialist.

"They are both the same," tweeted Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.

As an opening salvo for what is certain to be a historically fierce general election campaign, the Trump tactics offered a window into the race ahead, pitting a conventional Democratic campaign against a Republican incumbent still striving to scramble political categories.

The comments from Trump and his campaign Wednesday underscored how they plan to begin the general election by running two distinct campaigns against the presumptive Democratic nominee. One is a competition for the ideological center of the country, run through the tony, tax-skeptical suburbs of key swing states that rejected the GOP in 2018. The second is a fight for the mostly working-class populism of the left, which has rejected the establishment politics of both national parties.

"There is a sizable chunk of Bernie voters who just like the populist appeal," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. "Now that Bernie is no longer in the race, those people may be looking for a home."

Democrats took a long and sometimes painful road to the most predictable result, effectively choosing a well-known former vice president who led national polls for most of the past year after 11 debates, hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign advertising and the candidacies of more than two dozen rivals who have since dropped from the race.

Forty years after he first considered running for the nomination, Biden stands to inherit control of a more unified party than former nominee Hillary Clinton had in 2016, with the ability to take control months before his convention aided by the vocal support of his chief rival, who will nonetheless keep his name on ballots in an effort to influence the party platform.

"Today I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward," Sanders said Wednesday in announcing his decision to suspend his campaign.

For most national Democratic political strategists focused on the general election, Biden's victory was an encouraging result to a campaign that had threatened at several points to go off the rails, following a blown Democratic caucus process in Iowa and fierce interparty warfare over Biden's past positions on issues like school segregation and the best path forward for broadening government-backed health care.

Biden will enter the general election having shown that he can withstand his own uneven campaign performance and an unending torrent of political storms - including largely debunked allegations about impropriety in Ukraine that led to Trump's impeachment - that would have short-circuited the campaigns of less well-established candidates.

An April poll by Quinnipiac University found that 43 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Biden, roughly on par with the 41 percent who had a favorable view of Trump and down six points from Biden's favorability rating last May.

More important for party leaders is the reach of Biden's support. "The vice president has incredibly broad appeal. He won every county in Michigan. He won every county in Florida," Democratic Chairman Tom Perez said Wednesday after Sanders suspended his campaign. "Donald Trump is scared to death of Joe Biden because Donald Trump understands that Joe Biden has the qualities that Americans want."

The Biden coalition in the primaries, which saw large turnout for him in the suburbs, echoes the strategy Democrats used in the last midterm elections, when they took control of the House by winning with big margins and high participation from college-educated women and nonwhite voters.

"I think the Biden campaign has shown that this is their exact same strategy," said Dan Sena, who led Democratic House campaign strategy in that cycle. "This is the exact right strategy."

In the face of those strengths, Trump's campaign still counts several distinct advantages as it steps into the breach: A massive advantage in fundraising and volunteer support, and a candidate who can easily command the nation's attention and is backed by a solid base of support.

"President Trump's voters would run through a brick wall to vote for him," Murtaugh said. "Ain't nobody running through a brick wall for Biden."

But the Trump campaign has also already shown its concern in the enormous energy it put into the Democratic primary season to sink Biden's candidacy, including advertising campaigns against the former vice president in states where he was competing for the nomination. Trump was ultimately impeached by the Democratic-led House for his attempts to pressure the government of Ukraine to issue statements to harm Biden's reputation.

Unlike Sanders, who offered Republicans an enormous opportunity to brand the Democratic Party up and down the ballot as "socialist," Biden enters the contest as a known mainstream Democratic commodity who has resisted many of the demands of the party's left flank to replace private health insurance and radically expand government spending.

That has not stopped Trump advisers from seeking to cast Biden as a socialist sheep in Democratic garb. Several Trump allies said that while Biden was able to secure the nomination in the face of such attacks, he was forced to shift to the left and can now be attacked for embracing liberal positions on things like gun control, environmental regulations and immigration.

The campaign released a digital ad Wednesday comparing Biden to Sanders, describing the former as a "big government liberal" and the latter as a "big government socialist." The ad also attacks the acuity and health of Biden, 77, who is four years older than Trump.

"They're more alike than you think," the narrator says in the ad, which the campaign said it was spending six figures on. "But at least Bernie remembers his positions."

This part of the attack is targeted at the same parts of the country that delivered Democrats their victories in 2018. The Trump campaign has identified about 9 million Trump voters from 2016 who did not turn out in 2018 for Republicans, and it is aggressively trying to contact them.

"Anybody who has a radical social position or the progressive social positions that the Democratic Party has espoused and that Joe Biden has embraced, I don't see that candidate really being able to speak to those swing voters in Pennsylvania that the Democrats are going to need to win," said David Urban, a political adviser to the president and his campaign, who led Trump's Pennsylvania effort in 2016. "I think he will be defeated just like Hillary was."

The idea of trying to continue sowing discord in the Democratic Party by pushing the message that Sanders was forced out of the primary by the party establishment could be effective, according to Trump's supporters. Strategists in both parties believe the contentious Democratic primary in 2016 helped pave the way to Trump's election.

Trump's campaign, which has been regularly intervening in the primary process even amid a pandemic, continued its attempts to inflame party tensions Wednesday.

"It's official: Crazy Bernie is dropping out of the race. Democrats never wanted anything to do with Crazy Bernie - it was RIGGED against him from the start," Trump wrote in a fundraising appeal.

Democratic interest groups have already been spending heavily on attack ads against Trump in key swing states, but now that Biden has sewn up the nomination, their Republican counterparts are preparing to respond in kind.

America First Action, the official super PAC backing Trump, has said it plans to release a torrent of negative ads and opposition research against Biden in the coming months, pointing to the model used against GOP nominee Mitt Romney by pro-Obama forces in the summer before the 2012 election.

"Our focus has been and will continue to be on putting sleepy Joe Biden to bed," America First spokeswoman Kelly Sadler said.

Officials at the super PAC told reporters in February that the group was sitting on a thick binder of opposition research that it could deploy as soon as the Democratic nominee had emerged.

The group's internal polling nonetheless showed Biden with the strongest favorability among top Democrats in the race across key battleground states.
Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: 'People are facing difficulty in staying home in densely populated areas of Mumbai because as many as 15 people live in a 1010 feet room. So, we are planning to accommodate them in schools in order to ensure social distancing,' said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope.

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The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,018, followed by Tamil Nadu at 690 and Delhi with 576 cases.

Going by the health ministry's data, the increase in the number of cases between 9 am on Tuesday and 9 am on Wednesday is the highest in a 24-hour period.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday that 32 people have died and 773 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in India since Tuesday, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to 149 and cases to 5,194 so far.

All 16 Indians, including four females, who have tested positive for coronavirus are in self-quarantine. Coming from diverse background, eight of them are from New York, three from New Jersey and rest from other states like Texas and California. They hail from Indian states like Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

One Indian national reportedly died in Florida because of coronavirus. Authorities are also ascertaining the nationality of some other Indian origin people in the States of California and Texas.

New York City has emerged as the US epicentre for COVID-19 spurt, accounting for more than 6,000 deaths and over 1,38,000 cases of infections. New Jersey accounts for 1,500 fatalities and nearly 48,000 infections.

All Indian citizens who have succumbed to the deadly infection in the US are male, with ten of them from New York and New Jersey area. Four of the victims are said to be taxi drivers in New York City.

At least 11 Indians have died of COVID-19 in the United States with another 16 testing positive for the infection which has claimed more than 14,000 lives and afflicted more than four lakh people in the US, reported PTI.

The two doctors of the central government hospital are not on COVID-19 duty, he said.

According to Manish, Safdarjung resident doctors' association (RDA) president, the incident happened around 9.30 pm when the two doctors had stepped out of their houses to buy fruits in the area.

"We have registered a case and arrested an accused in connection with the incident," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said.

The doctors approached the Hauz Khas police, following which a case was registered and the man was arrested.

Two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted on Wednesday by a 42-year-old man who accused them of "spreading" COVID-19 in Gautam Nagar area, Safdarjung RDA president said.

After investigation, she was found suffering from pneumonia and accordingly referred to the Jammu hospital where she was tested for coronavirus.

Her contacts are being traced, he added. Officials said the woman was initially admitted to a hospital with symptoms of chest pain and fever earlier in the day.

This is the first death in the Jammu region of the union territory as all previous three deaths took place in Kashmir. Government spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted that she was reported to be bedridden and suffering from arthritis.

A 61-year-old woman from Udhampur district succumbed to coronavirus at the Government Medical College hospital here on Wednesday, taking the death toll due to the infection to four in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

"Based on specific information, a raid was conducted at Tank Pakhadi Road in Byculla West and a 32-year-old man, identified as Mohammed Miraj Shaikh, was arrested under sections of the Essential Services Act," he said, adding that a probe is on in this case.

The city police recovered around 57,500 surgical masks worth Rs 17.25 lakh from Byculla here and arrested one person in this connection, an official said on Wednesday. The property cell of Mumbai crime branch seized the masks, which were stocked for sale at a higher price, the official said.

The record-breaking figure of 1,973 deaths (slightly higher than the previous day's toll of 1,939) brings the total number of US fatalities to 14,695. The US death toll now exceeds that of Spain, which has suffered 14,555 deaths, but has not surpassed Italy, whose toll stands at 17,669.

The United States recorded nearly 2,000 novel coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:30 pm Wednesday (0030 GMT Thursday).

The Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) complex is close to Worli Koliwada, one of the coronavirus hotspots in the city.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation would be using the NSCI stadium in Worli as an observation facility for people who may have come into contact with coronavirus patients, officials said on Wednesday.

He was held at the Azadpur vegetable market and released after a medical examination. Police said when he reached his village, rumours spread that Ali had a plan to spread coronavirus.

Police said Ali had gone to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh for a Tablighi Jamaat conference and returned to the national capital in a truck of vegetables after 45 days.

The victim has been identified as Mehboob Ali, a resident of Harewali village in Bawana, they said.

A 22-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in Delhi's Bawana after he was suspected of a conspiracy to spread COVID-19, police said on Wednesday.

The patient had last visited his shop in the masala market on 21 March, he said. At least 30 residents of Navi Mumbai have tested positive for the infection so far. One of them have died due to it so far, the official said.

The trader, a resident of Sion in central Mumbai, had got himself tested at a private lab, the official said. "His test reports confirmed that he was coronavirus positive. After that, he was admitted to a private hospital for treatment," he said.

A trader, who runs a shop at the masala market in the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, has tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.

Six more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Punjab's Mohali, taking the total number of cases to 36. "We are tracing the contacts of the positive cases," ANI quoted Deputy commissioner Mohali, Girsh Dayalan as saying.

He was posted in the Foreign Regional Registration Office at the Indira Gandhi International Airport''s Terminal 3. His test was conducted on Saturday at Baba Sahib Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital and reports came on Wednesday, a senior police officer said.

A 44-year-old Delhi Police head constable tested positive for coronavirus in Rohini area on Wednesday, officials said. According to police, they received information around 3.40 pm that one head constable in Rohini's Sector-16 has tested positive for COVID-19, reported PTI.

"One more COVID-19 positive case in Bihar, taking the total to 39. A 38-year-old man from Nawada city with a travel history to Delhi has tested positive for COVID-19. We are further ascertaining his travel history and contacts," Sanjay Kumar Principal Secretary of Health Department said. The state has recorded one death so far.

With a fresh positive coronavirus case reported in Nawada, the total number of people infected with COVID-19 in Bihar has risen to 39, officials said on Wednesday.

I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and to the Indian people, for this very timely help to the Brazilian people, Bolsonaro said in an address on Wednesday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after New Delhi gave the nod to continue exporting ingredients for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), stressing that the drug could save thousands of lives.

The fund can be used by any of the partner countries to meet the cost of immediate actions. The prime minister had informed that India is assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment, which will be on stand-by, to be placed at the disposal of the countries, if required.

During a video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with leaders from SAARC countries last month had proposed the creation of COVID-19 Emergency Fund based on voluntary contributions from all the countries, with India making an initial offer of USD 10 million for the fund.

A consignment of medicines arrived in Sri Lanka from India on Wednesday, as South Asia battles with the coronavirus outbreak. More than 150 cases of coronavirus have been reported from Sri Lanka. Globally, the virus has infected more than a million people.

"Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to nine. Four new cases are from Ranchi's Hindipiri area and one from Bokaro," said State Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni to ANI. Kulkarni said they are family members of earlier positive cases from Ranchi and Bokaro.

Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to nine in the state, said an official on Wednesday.

ICMR on Thursday reported that there was an increase of 540 new COVID19 cases and 17 deaths in last 24 hours. India's total number of coronavirus positive cases now climbs to 5734, which includes 5095 active cases, 473 cured/discharged and 166 deaths, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Thursday it received reports of 63 new confirmed coronavirus cases on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, of which 61 were imported, taking the total tally to 1,104.

The Chinese health authority said on Thursday that two deaths were also reported taking the total death toll in the country to 3,335. The overall coronavirus cases have reached 81,865 in the country.

China has reported 63 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including 61 imported ones, rasing concern of a second wave of infections as the country on Wednesday lifted more-than two-month lockdown of Wuhan, the origin point and epicentre for the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials said on Thursday.

Health officer Karoria said that Dhan Singh had trouble breathing and had a fever, cough, and cold. Karoria said the samples have been sent for testing, only after the reports are out, we can confirm if the person was infected with the virus.

"A 32-year-old man, Dhan Singh, was admitted to the isolation ward in a district hospital this morning. The patient died after submitting samples for coronavirus test," Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dr AR Karoria told ANI on Wednesday.

A 32-year-old man died at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Wednesday hours after submitting samples for coronavirus testing.

"108 of those who were at the event (at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi) from various countries, we have kept them in quarantine, and 69 people who had attended it from Bengal, they are also in quarantine. The state health ministry is directly monitoring the situation," the Chief Minister said.

As many as 177 people, including 108 from various countries, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, have been quarantined in West Bengal, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday.

The G-South ward includes areas like Haji Ali, Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Worli, Lower Parel, Currey Road, Elphinstone Road and Sat Rasta. Most part of this ward fall under Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray's Worli Assembly constituency.

The latest BMC data highlights that the highest number of 133 positive cases in the city are from G-South ward, which witnessed almost 71 percent rise in the COVID-19 cases on a single day (on 7 April) as there were only 78 cases till 6 April.

The latest infographic released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on 8 April suggests that 282 of the 590 positive cases were detected in D, E, G-South and K- West wards.

Nearly 50 percent of the total 590 COVID-19 patients found so far in Mumbai, which has emerged as one of the hotspots of coronavirus spread not only in Maharashtra but also across the country, are from four of the total 24 administrative wards of the civic body.

The letter addressed to additional chief secretaries Principal Secretaries/ Commissioners (Health) of all states/Union Territories in India said: "The MoHFW is releasing funds (as indicated in annexure) under the immediate response of this Package for your States/UT under the National Health Mission for implementation of phase 1 up to June 2020.

"With the objectives of emergency COVID-19 response, strengthening national and state health systems to support prevention and preparedness, procurement of essential medical equipment, consumables and drugs, strengthening of surveillance activities including setting up of laboratories and Bio-security preparedness," the circular highlighted.

A circular signed by National Health Mission Director Vandana Gurnani, said the 100 percent centrally funded project will be implemented in three phases from January 2020 to March 2024.

The Centre on Wednesday approved a centrally funded 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package' with the objective of strengthening national and state health systems.

Two people in Punjab: a 15-year-old and a 24-year old have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease in Ludhiana. Total confirmed cases in the district are now at 8, said Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Aggarwal, reports ANI.

A doctor, a member of nursing staff and a sanitation worker at Delhi State Cancer Institute test positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, as a total of 21 healthcare workers in Delhi have tested positive. The samples of 19 admitted patients also sent for testing, while 45 hospital staff members are kept under home quarantined, reports ANI.

All sectoral indices were trading in the green, while BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose over 2 percent each.

At 9.17 am IST, the Sensex was up 748.97 points or 2.51 percent at 30,642.93. The Nifty was up 217.45 points or 2.49 percent at 8,966.20. About 764 shares advanced, 82 declined and 25 remained unchanged.

Nine new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district. This takes the total number of confirmed cases in the district to 84, Agra DM Prabhu N Singh told ANI on Thursday.

Four of the new cases are in persons who returned from overseas, two who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Markaz Nizamuddin of the National Capital and the remaining three got the infection from a local contact.

Out of nine fresh cases of the COVID-19 infection, four are from Kannur District, two from Alappuzha district, and one each from Pathanamthitta, Thrissur and Kasargod districts.

"Till date, there are 345 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state with 259 patients currently under treatment in hospitals across Kerala," said the State Health Department.

Nine more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Kerala, taking the tally of coronavirus cases in the state to 345, including 259 active cases and 13 recoveries.

A 16-year-old boy from among these Islamic organisation members earlier tested positive for coronavirus on April 4, and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur, he said.

The man had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in Purani Basti area of Katghora town, he said.

A 52-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 11, officials said on Thursday.

The man was kept in the isolation ward of a hospital after he showed symptoms of the virus on 5 April. He was later tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

A 72-year-old man died of coronavirus in Bokaro district, the first COVID-19 death reported in Jharkhand, a health official said on Thursday. The patient died on Wednesday night, Bokaro District Chief Medical Officer Ashok Kumar Pathak said.

On 6 April, test reports confirmed that she was infected with COVID-19. At 12.55 am on Thursday she died of cardiac arrest." With this, the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 reached six in the state, whereas the total positive cases as on Wednesday evening stood at 181.

According to a senior official in that district, the patient was admitted to a designated hospital a few days ago with severe respiratory problems.

An 80-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with coronavirus after developing severe respiratory problems died of cardiac arrest in Gadag district early on Thursday, taking the toll in Karnataka to six, district officials told PTI.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in Madhya Pradesh is 229. So far, 13 deaths have been reported in the state.

"First coronavirus case has been reported in Dhar; an area of 3-km near the Bhaktiyar Marg has been sealed," said Shrikant Banoth, Dhar Collector.

One person has tested positive for COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar city. This is the first case that has been reported from the area. The COVID-19 patient, who is a resident of Bhaktiyar Marg, has been admitted to the district hospital for the past three days.

The Chief Minister announced this after a review of the situation and control arrangements of the coronavirus in the state with senior officials. The number of coronavirus positive cases in Indore is 173, 96 in Bhopal, 13 in Ujjain, 12 in Khargone and 12 in Morena.

"The district administration should ensure the supply of essential commodities in these areas. No person will be able to go in and out of these areas. Services of all government departments and their resources should be taken in coronavirus related work," Chouhan said. In other districts also, the infected areas should be completely sealed, he said.

The state government also invoked the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) in the state with immediate effect to combat COVID-19 to ensure essential supplies and services are operational during this crisis.

After an increase in the number of coronavirus cases, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday ordered three major cities Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain to be sealed completely.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Trump said in a tweet, a day after India lifted the hold on the export of the drug to the US.

Modi was responding to a tweet by Trump in which the US President had thanked India for the decision on Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) export.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said, "The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together.

At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 76.11, registering a rise of 23 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, rupee had settled at 76.34 against the US dollar.

Forex traders said a higher opening in domestic equities supported the local unit, while concerns over coronavirus outbreak weighed on the local unit.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 23 paise to 76.11 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking positive opening in domestic equities.

So far, Delhi has reported 669 positive COVID-19 cases. 21 people have been cured/discharged or migrated while nine people have died due to the disease.

Kejriwal said that all the government offices have been instructed to stop all expenses except salary and any expense except coronavirus and lockdown related expense will be incurred only after the permission is granted by the Finance Department.

Meanwhile, as the cases across the national capital continue to surge, Kejriwal on Wednesday said considering the current state of revenue, the state government will have to cut its expenses drastically.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting on COVID-19 with senior officials on Thursday.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday announced that "Till now there have been 669 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Delhi, including 426 from the Nizamuddin gathering," reported ANI.

"We are meeting a lot of stakeholders of the society taking their views," the Minister said, adding, the Cabinet would also hold discussions.

He said a task force of specialist doctors on Wednesday submitted its report to the government, giving its recommendations.

"Day after tomorrow we have a VC (videoconference) with the Prime Minister," Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in charge of all matters related to COVID-19, noted when asked about the States strategy.

The Karnataka government is currently engaged in discussions with experts, specialists and other stakeholders to decide on its lockdown exit strategy and would take a final view by 13 April, a key Minister said on Thursday.

"As American industry steps up to help, so are America's doctors and scientists. Ten drugs are now in clinical trials and my administration is taking unprecedented actions to make new therapies and treatments available without delay," Trump told reporters during his daily coronavirus news conference on Wednesday.

In the absence of either a vaccine or a drug, the novel coronavirus has claimed more than 88,500 lives and has infected nearly 1.5 million people globally. The United States alone accounts for 4.3 lakh infections and 14,700 fatalities.

As many as 10 drugs are currently under clinical trial in the US as part of the administration's "unprecedented" effort to find a therapeutic solution to the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has said.

District Magistrate Gautam Budha Nagar took to twitter to realise a full list of fruit and vegetable vendors that will be open to serve hotspots areas.

55 new positive cases of COVID19 reported in Gujarat on Thursday, which includes 50 cases in Ahmedabad, 2 in Surat, 1 case each in Dahod, Anand and Chotta Udepur each. The total number of positive cases in the state went up to 241, said Gujarat Health Department.

In these markets, pangolins find demand both in food and traditional medicine, making them the most-commonly trafficked mammal.

Another recent study had identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2 like viruses in Malayan pangolins smuggled into China to be sold in wet markets.

A recent study, published in the journal Cell, had placed pangolins as a natural reservoir of coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic.

As pangolins come under the scanner as potential intermediate hosts of the novel coronavirus transferred from bats to humans, Indian wildlife conservationists warn that the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand are emerging as the hotspots for the poaching of the endangered scaly anteater mammal.

162 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1297, said Maharashtra Health Department. Maharashtra continues to remain the state with the highest number of confirmed cases in India.

A doctor who tested positive for COVID19 passes away on Thursday, taking the toll in Indore to 22. The total number of positive cases in Indore stand 213, PRO, MGM Medical College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh told ANI.

Only basic minimum supply of essential commodities will be maintained in these localities, Pandey said.

"All the hotspots in the city are already barricaded and are being sealed completely till the morning of April 15. All establishments will be closed in these localities and the media's entry too will be restricted," he said.

Police teams are carrying out patrolling in these localities to ensure that nobody ventures out of their homes, Police Commissioner, Lucknow, Sujit Pandey said.

Police have stepped up vigil and barricades were erected in eight major and four minor COVID-19 hotspots in the Uttar Pradesh capital that have been completely sealed to check the spread of the deadly virus.

"If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus]. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it," Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

The president's fresh allegation comes after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against politicisation of COVID-19 and said that such a move will only result in "many more body bags".

Trump's allegation comes a day after the US President threatened to put a "very powerful" hold on US' funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) and criticised it for having "missed the call" in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump slammed the Geneva-based global health agency for its early guidance aimed at countering the international spread of the coronavirus

US President Donald Trump has fired a fresh salvo at the World Health Organization, accusing its chief of siding with China and "politicising" the coronavirus pandemic while repeating his threat to freeze the UN agency's funding.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state stood at 348, with 335 active cases.

No new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 12 hours since 9 pm on Wednesday till 9 am on Thursday, it said. All the 217 blood samples tested during the period have returned negative, it added.

The blood samples of over 200 people have tested negative for coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh overnight as the total cases remained at 348, a health department bulletin said on Thursday.

Of the 1,502,478 infections, 87,320 people have died across 192 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China late last year.

More than 1.5 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been registered worldwide, according to a tally compiled by Agence France-Presse at 0530 GMT Thursday from official sources.

So far, 26 coronavirus patients have been discharged after recovery.

The man was also suffering from co-morbid conditions, including high blood pressure, principal secretary, (health) Jayanti Ravi said. He died in the morning at SVP Hospital in Ahmedabad.

A 48-year-old man died of coronavirus in Ahmedabad, taking the death toll due to the disease in Gujarat to 17, an official said on Thursday.

12 new COVID-19 cases (including 10 members of a family in Siwan) have been reported in the state on Thursday, said Bihar Principal Health Secretary Sanjay Kumar. This takes the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 51, reports ANI.

According to multiple local reports, the lockdown period in Odisha has been extended to 30 April. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made the announcement through video conferencing and also said that all educational institutions will be closed until 16 June.

Independent scientists questioned research that suggested that the outbreak of coronavirus disease spreading from China might have passed from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins. James Wood, head of the veterinary medicine department at Britains University of Cambridge, said the research was far from robust, Reuters reports

India had been avoiding a casualty so far, even as doctors complained of dearth of standard protective gear. But today Indian Medical Association announced that the country reported its first death of a doctor. Dr Shatrughan Panjwani, MBBS was a physician who expired at 4am at Arvendo hospital in Indore. He was not involved in the treatment of coronavirus patients.

Doctors and healthcare professionals have emerged as one of the most vulnerable groups, and also as the frontline soldiers against the pandemic. There is no substantial data availabke to know the deaths worldwide, but a study in China's Wuhan found that 29% of a random sample of patients were actually healthcare professionals who contracted the virus while treating others. Likewise, Italy has reported at least 61 deaths of doctors till 30 March.

Bangladesh has imposed a "complete lockdown" in Cox's Bazar district -- home to over a million Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar -- to halt the spread of coronavirus, AFP reported. Experts have warned that the disease could spread quickly through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys where the persecuted Muslim minority are housed in canvas and bamboo shacks. No cases have been confirmed in the camps but one infection has been recorded nearby.

The Municipal Corporation has confirmed that they will come up with door to door supply of essentials in the area, later on Thursday or by Friday.

The total number of positive cases in Maharashtra is 1,297 till now. The BMC has also ordered a ban on all vegetable, fruit markets, hawkers and sellers in the containment area and buffer zone in Dharavi, during the lockdown period. However, pharmacies are allowed to remain open.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has marked out 381 containment zones to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the city, which has emerged the worst-hit by the infection nationwide. With 143 cases of coronavirus reported in Mumbai on Thursday, the total number now stands at 839.

"One committee will have experts, including former bureaucrats and officials from the Maharashtra Finance Ministry. The other committee will be of ministers, including Ajit Pawar (Deputy CM), Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Chhagan Bhujbal and Anil Parab."

The state cabinet also approved the formation of two committees for assessing and formulating a revival plan for the state's economy post COVID-19 lockdown.

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal for a 30 percent salary cut for all state legislators for a year starting from April.

With 184 cases of coronavirus in the Worli Koliwada and Prabhadevi areas of the GS ward in Mumbai, it's the worst-affected area in the city, the BMC map showed on Thursday.

News18 Delhi also reported that these tests are likely to happen at these eight private hospitals:

Reports said that the Delhi government is scheduled to begin rapid tests for coronavirus in the hotspots of the city.

State Congress president and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the task force will work under former CM and MLA Prithviraj Chavan and will have 18 other members with former MP Bhalchandra Mungekar as the coordinator.

The Maharashtra unit of the Congress party on Thursday set up a COVID-19 task force under the leadership of former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to assist the state government in tackling the coronavirus outbreak. The task force comprises various sub-committees, which will study different aspects of the impact that the pandemic caused.

Kerala DGP Loknath Behera on Thursday inaugurated a disinfectant bus in Thiruvananthapuram as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state. He said, "This vehicle will be useful for police personnel, doctors, nurses and attendees of patients. We will launch this in other districts also."

The GB Pant Hospital in Delhi was on Thursday removed from the list of designated COVID-19 facilities, PTI reported quoting a Delhi governemnt order.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to hold a meeting with the medical directors and medical superintendents of COVID-19 dedicated government and private hospitals, via video-conferencing on Thursday. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and Health Secretary will also attend, ANI reported.

The total toll is 166 across the country, and 17 deaths have been reported since Wednesday.

The Union health ministry said that the total coronavirus cases in India rose to 5,734, with 549 new cases in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 473 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals so far.

"20 domestic manufacturers in India have been developed for PPEs, orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have been placed and the supplies have begun. 49,000 ventilators have been ordered," he added.

Health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal, in the daily briefing on Thursday, said that the supply of PPEs, masks, and ventilators has begun.

"Their (the railways) chain of 586 health units, 45 sub divisional hospitals, 56 divisional hospitals, 8 production unit hospitals and 16 zonal hospitals are dedicating their significant facilities to fight COVID-19," Joint secretary Lav Aggarwal said.

The Union health ministry said that the Indian Railways has deployed more than 2,500 doctors and 35,000 paramedics staff, and has planned to set up 80,000 isolation beds in 5,000 coaches, of which 3,250 have already been converted.

This is the second death due to COVID-19 in the densely-populated area in Mumbai, which has emerged as the worst-affected city across India, with 839 total cases.

"Positivity rate ranges between 3-5 percent in the last 1-1.5 months. It has not increased substantially. Yesterday we tested 13,143 samples," the statement added.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday said that 1,30,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus so far. Of these 5,734 samples tested positive for the infection till date.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea on Thursday. The leaders discussed the coronavirus pandemic and the challenges it poses to global health systems and economies. They shared information about steps taken in their countries to tackle the pandemic, ANI reported.

Reports said that 67 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, taking the total tally of cases to 410.

AIIMS Raipur was on Thursday quoted by ANI as saying that seven people from the Katghora city of the Korba district have tested positive for COVID-19.

The statement said that the amount will be given to panchayat samitis whose annual income is less than Rs 2 lakhs. Panchayat samiti whose income is over Rs 2 lakh can spend Rs 20,000 on sanitation.

Haryana government on Thursday said that Chief Minister released an amount of Rs 5 crore to 2,588 panchayats in the state to carry out sanitisation work.

The Jammu and Kashmir government said that 24 more coronavirus cases have been reported in Kashmir on Thursday. The total cases in the state stand at 184, of which 32 patients are from Jammu and 152 patients are from Kashmir. All are contacts (of patients), said Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary (Planning), Jammu and Kashmir.

The Karnataka health department on Thursday said that 16 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours, including 10 cases with close contact to other patients and three with travel history to Delhi. Total number of coronavirus cases in the state is now at 197.

Reports said that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 15,000 crore for India's 'COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'.

The Union health ministry, in its daily briefing on Thursday said that there is enough hydrochloroquine available for India's use. The statement added that it should be used as per protocol as it can cause cardiac irregularities. Only those people need to use should use it.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, taking note of the incident when two female doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by their neighbour in Gautam Nagar, said, "I'd like to warn people who misbehave with doctors/nurses that it won't be tolerated. They'll be given strictest punishment."

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to draw his attention to the plight of Indian migrants in UAE."

The Delhi government said that its initiative, 'Operation SHIELD' has been announced for 21 localities of the National Capital to contain COVID-19 and protect citizens on Thursday.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the state governemnt was working to provide free ration to around 71 lakh people, India Today reported.

An increase of 591 new COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Thursday. India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 5,865 (including 5,218 active cases, 478 cured/discharged/migrated and 169 deaths).

News18 quoted Shiv Sena leader and MP Rahul Shewale as saying that a "special plan" has been finalised "under which door to door testing will begin in Dharavi. Maharashtra medical council will chip in the initiative and 150 doctors, along with staffers of BMC will help in implementation," the report said.

The Maharashtra health department said that three more deaths have been reported in Pune on Thursday, taking the toll in the city to 21.

The MCGM on Thursday said that three hospitals in Mumbai  Jogeshwari Trauma Care hospital, Rajawadi hospita, and Kurla Bhabha hospital  shall be used as designated coronavirus centres in the city.

ANI reported that a police constable has been line attached for allegedly physically assaulting two resident doctors of AIIMS Bhopal.

The Resident Doctors Association at AIIMS Bhopal wrote a letter to the director of the institute regarding "abusive behaviour and physical assault by policemen on resident on-duty doctors".

SpiceJet will also operate a second freighter flight on Friday (April 10) carrying medical supplies from Singapore to Bengaluru.

SpiceJet on Thursday operated its first cargo freighter on the Chennai-Singapore-Chennai route carrying critical medical equipment and COVID-19 related medical supplies. SpiceJets Boeing 737 freighter aircraft was scheduled to arrive in Chennai at around 5.30 pm.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh DGP HC Awasthi said, "We are making all provisions to provide necessary items like milk, vegetables at the door steps of people living in the sealed areas. Entry and exit of vehicles and people have also been stopped in those areas. Police patrolling has been increased in those areas."

Uttar Pradesh government said that 12,236 FIRs have been registered against 39,857 people under Section 188 of IPC for violating the coronavirus lockdown. 78 cases have been registered in connection with circulation of fake news related to COVID-19.

"It's sad that all these cases are linked with Jamaat, some of them are those who had attended the Markaz event in Delhi and others are those who had come in contact with the attendees," he said.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur on Thursday said that at present, 21 coronavirus positive cases are in isolation wards.

"We are imposing complete lockdown and curfew like situation in the localities, areas and villages from where cases have been reported. No one can leave their houses in those areas," said Gupteshwar Pandey, DGP Bihar.

Bihar Police said that some cases of coronavirus have been reported from the Siwan, Nawada. and Begusarai updates.

British prime minister Boris Johnson's health 'continues to improve' after he was admitted to the ICU after testing positive for coronavirus earlier, AFP news agency reported.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts, those who are involved in care, treatment or testing of COVID-19 patients, will be paid double the amount of their salary.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Over 2 Lakh migrant labourers and stranded people from 16 Indian states are being housed in 711 camps across West Bengal. They are being directly taken care of by state government along with a few NGOs under its supervision. This arrangement since 1st Apr will continue until the need remains."

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday updated its testing strategy for coronavirus. The revised strategy also states 'asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between days 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact', ANI reported.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said people must continue to cooperate with local authorities over the coronavirus action plan in the union territory.

"We are planning to deploy the State Reserve Police Force in congested areas for effective enforcement of coronavirus lockdown," he said.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope was quoted by ANI as saying that there are 1,346 active cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra out of which 746 patients are in Mumbai.

He and nine others were placed under home quarantine on 30 March. The others have tested negative but he tested positive.

He had travelled to Aligarh on 12 March to attend a Jamaat event in the city. He has no connection to Jamaat event in Delhi, Aligarh District Magistrate CB Singh said.

The first case of coronavirus was reported in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh on Thursday, ANI reported. Reportedly, the patient is a 22-year-old man and is a resident of Firozabad.

He added, "All fishermen in Kerala to be given Rs 2,000 each, while lottery sellers and beedi workers will get 1,000 each as financial assistance."

Of these, 11 contracted the disease through local contact, one had returned from a foreign country. Total positive cases in the state are at 357, he said.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 12 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the state on Thursday, of which Kannur and Kasaragod reported four each, Malappuram reported two, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram reported one case each.

The Odisha government said that the use of masks has been made mandatory from 7 am on Thursday for everyone. Stepping out of homes without masks to be an offence now, Rs 200 to be imposed as penalty for first three instances and Rs 500 for subsequent times, ANI reported.

The total number of cases are 834 in the state.

"84 persons out of the 96 persons who tested positive for COVID-19 today are from "single source" event. 763 cases out of the total 834 cases in the state are from "single source" event," said Beela Rajesh, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary.

The Tamil Nadu government said that 96 people tested positive for coronavirus in the state on Thursday.

She added that three people have been discharged.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that 12 new coronavirus cases were reported in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 80. The COVID-19 toll in the state is five.

A 44-year-old man, who had tested positive for COVID-19 lost his life in Indore on Thursday, taking the total of coronavirus-related deaths in the city to 23, said Rahul Rokade, PRO, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore.

The Mumbai Civic Administration has converted National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Worli into a quarantine facility as a coronavirus facility.

"The move has been initiated as these five prisons are located in affected areas of the state and hold very large number of inmates, way beyond capacity."

Sunil Ramanand, ADG prison of Maharashtra on Thursday said, "I have issued an order to lockdown five central prisons (Yerawada, Arthur road, Byculla, Thane and Kalyan). Medically examined prison staff will lock themselves up until further orders and administer the prisons without stepping out.

Additionally, two deaths also reported on Thursday. Total positive cases in the state now stand at 363 (including 10 discharged people and six deaths).

The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday said that 15 new cases of coronavirus were reported on Thursday. Of which, 11 were reported in Prakasam, two in Guntur, one each in East Godavari and Kadapa.

The Andhra Pradesh government has given permission to Ola cabs for the operation of emergency medical transport services in state. Services will be for urgent medical care (non-COVID related) like dialysis, cancer, heart ailment. Primarily decided to launch pilot project at Visakhapatnam.

Members of the Wadhavan family of the DHFL group have been placed under institutional quarantine by local police in Mahabaleshwar after they visited the town, violating the lockdown. The process to file a complaint has been initiated at the local police station.

"Including stoppage of recruitment and training; freeze on movements and transfers; stoppage of work, except those related to national security, Health, and essential Services."

Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday said, "We all have soon come around to realising that the danger is real, imminent and unprecedented. For the Navy, we have taken certain measures in consonance with Government of India.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that a person from Dhubri, who was in contact with a positive patient (with Markaz linkage) from the same district, has been confirmed as coronavirus positive. The total number of COVID-19 patients in Assam now stands at 29.

A team of Chhatarpur Police and Chhattarpur Nagar Palika have been creating awareness among the people, regarding coronavirus lockdown, through patriotic songs. Police personnel and local artists have been carrying out the drive together in the city.

Delhi Police use drone cameras in Daryaganj area to monitor the situation amid lockdown, in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The Gujarat health department said that 21 new coronavirus cases were reported in Gujarat on Thursday. Total COVID-19 positive cases in the state stand at 262, which includes 26 discharged and 18 deaths. 212 are stable and three are on ventilator. Meanwhile, four are quarantined for surveillance.

The Delhi government said that 51 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the National Capital on Thursday, including 35 with a history of foreign travel, four cases related to Markaz, three deaths and five discharged. Total number of positive cases in the national capital rises to 720 (including 12 deaths and 25 discharged).

The Madhya Pradesh government has issued the list of COVID-19 hotspots in 15 districts that will be sealed as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.

"Cleaning community toilets in densely populated areas in Mumbai is a challenge as around 200 people use a toilet seat throughout the day. So, we are deploying fire brigade to sanitize such community toilets every hour with speed jet pumps," he added.

"People are facing difficulty in staying home in densely populated areas of Mumbai because as many as 15 people live in a 1010 feet room. So, we are planning to accommodate them in schools in order to ensure social distancing," said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope.

The Telangana government on Thursday said, "471 positive reported cases so far, out of these 388 related to Markaz. Today 665 samples were tested and only 18 positive cases were found  indicates a decrease in cases. People related to Markaz,who returned on 25, 26, and 27 March,are also being tested today."

Maharashtra on Thursday reported 25 deaths, which is the highest 24 hour spike in fatalities

In order to provide assistance to those in need during the COVID-19 lockdown in Mumbai, the Indian Navy has provided ration packets consisting basic food items to the State Govt. authorities for distribution amongst stranded migrant labourers on 4 and 8 April.

No positive case was reported in Uttarakhand on Thursday. A total of 35 cases have been reported in the state till date (including 5 discharged), said Directorate of Health Services, Uttarakhand.

"As many as 48 schools across the state have been issued show cause notices for defying govt directions. All district education officials have been asked to keep a tab on private schools and immediately initiate action against the violators," he added.

"All schools to release full salaries to staff and schools can't force parents for books, uniforms and transportation fees. No school can demand fees from students on the pretext of online teaching classes during lockdown period," said Vijay Inder Singla, Punjab education minister.

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits," the statement said.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of the ICU into a general ward as his health gradually improved, a Downing Street spokesman said on Thursday.

Madhya Pradesh government issues the list of #COVID19 hotspots in 15 districts that will be sealed as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/qLeghfgiSf

The Madhya Pradesh government has issued the list of COVID-19 hotspots in 15 districts that will be sealed as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.

"Cleaning community toilets in densely populated areas in Mumbai is a challenge as around 200 people use a toilet seat throughout the day. So, we are deploying fire brigade to sanitize such community toilets every hour with speed jet pumps," he added.

"People are facing difficulty in staying home in densely populated areas of Mumbai because as many as 15 people live in a 1010 feet room. So, we are planning to accommodate them in schools in order to ensure social distancing," said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope.

The Telangana government on Thursday said, "471 positive reported cases so far, out of these 388 related to Markaz. Today 665 samples were tested and only 18 positive cases were found  indicates a decrease in cases. People related to Markaz,who returned on 25, 26, and 27 March,are also being tested today."

Maharashtra on Thursday reported 25 deaths, which is the highest 24 hour spike in fatalities

In order to provide assistance to those in need during the COVID-19 lockdown in Mumbai, the Indian Navy has provided ration packets consisting basic food items to the State Govt. authorities for distribution amongst stranded migrant labourers on 4 and 8 April.

Punjab: Police in Amritsar prepared food for the needy and distributed among them amid #lockdown , in wake of #CoronavirusOutbreak . pic.twitter.com/0kwZIeOjwz

Police in Amritsar prepared food for the needy and distributed among them amid #lockdown, in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

No positive case was found in Uttarakhand today. A total of 35 cases have been reported in the state till date (including 5 discharged): Directorate of Health Services, Uttarakhand #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/pJoy1j3gYS

No positive case was reported in Uttarakhand on Thursday. A total of 35 cases have been reported in the state till date (including 5 discharged), said Directorate of Health Services, Uttarakhand.

"The expenses of the treatment of all govt officials, govt employees and Corona warriors will be borne by the state govt of they get infected while carrying out their duties during Coronavirus pandemic," the statement added.

"Uttarakhand government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 Lakhs each to the next of the kin of the govt officials, govt employees and all Corona warriors who may lose their lives while carrying out their duties during coronavirus pandemic," the Uttarakhand government said on Thursday.

"As many as 48 schools across the state have been issued show cause notices for defying govt directions. All district education officials have been asked to keep a tab on private schools and immediately initiate action against the violators," he added.

"All schools to release full salaries to staff and schools can't force parents for books, uniforms and transportation fees. No school can demand fees from students on the pretext of online teaching classes during lockdown period," said Vijay Inder Singla, Punjab education minister.

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits," the statement said.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of the ICU into a general ward as his health gradually improved, a Downing Street spokesman said on Thursday.

Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: "People are facing difficulty in staying home in densely populated areas of Mumbai because as many as 15 people live in a 1010 feet room. So, we are planning to accommodate them in schools in order to ensure social distancing," said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope.

"Cleaning community toilets in densely populated areas in Mumbai is a challenge as around 200 people use a toilet seat throughout the day. So, we are deploying fire brigade to sanitize such community toilets every hour with speed jet pumps," he added.

Members of the Wadhavan family of the DHFL group have been placed under institutional quarantine by local police in Mahabaleshwar after they visited the town, violating the lockdown. The process to file a complaint has been initiated at the local police station.

The BMC said that nine people who had tested positive for COVID-19 lost their lives in Mumbai on Thursday, all of them had comorbidities and age-related factors. Total number of coronavirus positive people who have lost their lives in the city stands at 54.

The statement also said that 79 more COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Mumbai, taking the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the city to 775.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope was quoted by ANI as saying that there are 1,346 active cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra out of which 746 patients are in Mumbai.

"We are planning to deploy the State Reserve Police Force in congested areas for effective enforcement of coronavirus lockdown," he said.

The first case of coronavirus was reported in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh on Thursday, ANI reported. Reportedly, the patient is a 22-year-old man and is a resident of Firozabad.

He had travelled to Aligarh on 12 March to attend a Jamaat event in the city. He has no connection to Jamaat event in Delhi, Aligarh District Magistrate CB Singh said.

He and nine others were placed under home quarantine on 30 March. The others have tested negative but he tested positive.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts, those who are involved in care, treatment or testing of COVID-19 patients, will be paid double the amount of their salary.

Uttar Pradesh government said that 12,236 FIRs have been registered against 39,857 people under Section 188 of IPC for violating the coronavirus lockdown. 78 cases have been registered in connection with circulation of fake news related to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh DGP HC Awasthi said, "We are making all provisions to provide necessary items like milk, vegetables at the door steps of people living in the sealed areas. Entry and exit of vehicles and people have also been stopped in those areas. Police patrolling has been increased in those areas."

The MCGM on Thursday said that three hospitals in Mumbai  Jogeshwari Trauma Care hospital, Rajawadi hospita, and Kurla Bhabha hospital  shall be used as designated coronavirus centres in the city.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, taking note of the incident when two female doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by their neighbour in Gautam Nagar, said, "I'd like to warn people who misbehave with doctors/nurses that it won't be tolerated. They'll be given strictest punishment."

Reports said that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 15,000 crore for India's 'COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday said that 1,30,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus so far. Of these 5,734 samples tested positive for the infection till date.

"Positivity rate ranges between 3-5 percent in the last 1-1.5 months. It has not increased substantially. Yesterday we tested 13,143 samples," the statement added.

A 70-year-old coronavirus patient in Mumbai's Dharavi passed away on Thursday, ANI reported quoting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

This is the second death due to COVID-19 in the densely-populated area in Mumbai, which has emerged as the worst-affected city across India, with 839 total cases.

The Union health ministry said that the total coronavirus cases in India rose to 5,734, with 549 new cases in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 473 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals so far.

The total toll is 166 across the country, and 17 deaths have been reported since Wednesday.

With 184 cases of coronavirus in the Worli Koliwada and Prabhadevi areas of the GS ward in Mumbai, it's the worst-affected area in the city, the BMC map showed on Thursday.

The coronavirus may be reactivating in people who have been cured of the illness, according to Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 51 patients classed as having been cured in South Korea have tested positive again, Bloomberg quoted Korea's CDC as saying.

Rather than being infected again, the virus may have been reactivated in these people, given they tested positive again shortly after being released from quarantine, said Jeong Eun-kyeong, director-general of the Korean CDC.

The coronavirus may be reactivating in people who have been cured of the illness, according to Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 51 patients classed as having been cured in South Korea have tested positive again, Bloomberg quoted Korea's CDC as saying.

Rather than being infected again, the virus may have been reactivated in these people, given they tested positive again shortly after being released from quarantine, said Jeong Eun-kyeong, director-general of the Korean CDC.

Two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted on Wednesday by a 42-year-old man who accused them of "spreading" COVID-19 in Gautam Nagar area, Safdarjung RDA president said. The man has been booked by the Delhi Police.

Odisha extends lockdown till 30 April, becomes the first state in India to do so. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made the announcement through video conferencing and also said that all educational institutions will be closed until 16 June.

A doctor who tested positive for COVID19 passes away on Thursday, taking the toll in Indore to 22. The total number of positive cases in Indore stand 213, PRO, MGM Medical College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh told ANI.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday announced that 'Till now there have been 669 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Delhi, including 426 from the Nizamuddin gathering.'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said, 'The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together.' Modi was responding to a tweet by Trump in which the US President had thanked India for the decision on Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) export.

Nine more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Kerala, taking the tally of coronavirus cases in the state to 345, including 259 active cases and 13 recoveries.

A doctor, a member of nursing staff and a sanitation worker at Delhi State Cancer Institute test positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, as a total of 21 healthcare workers in Delhi have tested positive.

ICMR on Thursday reported that there was an increase of 540 new COVID19 cases and 17 deaths in last 24 hours. India's total number of coronavirus positive cases now climbs to 5734, which includes 5095 active cases, 473 cured/discharged and 166 deaths, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to nine in the state, said an official on Wednesday.

A trader, who runs a shop at the masala market in the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, has tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday that 32 people have died and 773 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in India since Tuesday, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to 149 and cases to 5,194 so far.

Going by the health ministry's data, the increase in the number of cases between 9 am on Tuesday and 9 am on Wednesday is the highest in a 24-hour period.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country is facing a "social emergency" like situation as well as serious economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After an interaction with Modi via video conference, several political leaders said that the lockdown might not be lifted completely after 14 April.

"Prime Minister Modi made it clear that the lockdown is not being lifted and also that the life pre-corona and post-corona will not be same," Biju Janata Dal leader Pinaki Misra told PTI.

Maharashtra continues to lead among states

New cases were reported from Maharashtra (including in Mumbai's densely-populated Dharavi slums), Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, among other places.

Ladakh's Lok Sabha member Jamyang Tsering Namgyal said the virus spread has been successfully contained in the Union Territory, while Sikkim government said not a single case has been detected so far in the state.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,018, followed by Tamil Nadu at 690 and Delhi with 576 cases.

Telangana has reported 364 COVID-19 cases followed by Kerala at 336. Rajasthan has 328 cases, Uttar Pradesh has 326 and Andhra Pradesh reported 305 coronavirus cases. The novel coronavirus cases have risen to 229 in Madhya Pradesh, 175 in Karnataka and 165 in Gujarat.

Haryana has 147 cases, Jammu and Kashmir has 116, West Bengal has 99 and Punjab has 91 positive patients so far. Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases.

Sixteen deaths were reported from Maharashtra, two each from Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana and Tamil Nadu and one from Andhra Pradesh.

In total, Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 64, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh at 13 each and Delhi at 9. Telengana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported seven fatalities each.

Modi interacts with Opposition leaders, other parties

Interacting with floor leaders of Opposition and other parties via video conference, Modi said states, district administrations and experts have suggested extension of the ongoing lockdown beyond 14 April to contain the spread of the virus.

Modi told the leaders that the country is facing "serious economic challenges as a result of COVID-19, and the government is committed to overcoming them."

After the meeting, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said around 80 percent of political parties suggested extension of the lockdown.

The leaders were told by the prime minister that he is receiving requests for extending the lockdown and will talk to chief ministers and experts before taking a decision in the nation's best interest, Azad said.

Modi is scheduled to interact with all chief ministers on 11 April.

Uttarakhand and Goa joined several other states to favour extending the lockdown, while Punjab Government said it will take a call on 10 April on whether to extend the ongoing curfew in the state beyond 14 April.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa told PTI that his government is in favour of lifting the lockdown in districts which have remained free of the infection, subject to approval from the Centre.

He also said that the state intends to relax liquor sales, stopped since the 21-day lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, after 14 April in a bid to increase state revenues.

Doctors are warriors, have to be protected: SC

Doctors and healthcare professionals are "warriors" in fight against coronavirus and have to be protected, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday even as the Centre assured that it is doing its best by providing them personal protective equipment (PPE) and other facilities.

The apex court suggested that the government should create a mechanism to solicit suggestions from people about how to go ahead on the issues related to COVID-19, including on providing treatment, regulatory mechanism for people working from home and also on lockdown.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat, hearing through video-conferencing three petitions seeking protective kits for doctors and healthcare workers amid coronavirus pandemic, was informed by the Centre that PPE kits and other requisite things are being arranged and it is taking steps in this regard.

Analyst predicts significant economic damage

An adverse impact of the pandemic on economic activities was reported from various segments. Global financial giant Goldman Sachs said the Indian economy might see a GDP growth of just 1.5 percent in the current fiscal.

Indian Railways, which was on its way till February to not just meet but surpass its freight loading target, will end 2019-20 with 15.7 million tonnes less than the previous financial year's 1,212.56 million tonnes, official figures showed.

As business has dried up due to the pandemic with operations having been virtually shut down, earnings from freight loading have also plummeted -- from Rs 1,25,354 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,23,225 crore in 2019-2020 fiscal, a loss of Rs 2,129 crore.

Sizeable chunk of hydroxychloroquine bought by US came from India: Trump

A sizeable chunk of the 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine bought by the US to combat the coronavirus pandemic is from India, President Donald Trump has said as he acknowledged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "great" when he sought his help to allow the sale of the anti-malaria drug to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients in America.

Trump and Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Trump requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

"I bought millions of doses (of hydroxychloroquine). More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it (hydroxychloroquine) comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was Great. He was really good," Trump told Sean Hannity of the Fox News on Monday night.

Late on Wednesday, Trump also tweeted thanking the Indian government.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten!" Trump said, thanking Modi as well.

With inputs from PTI
[April 09, 2020] Flex Logix Discloses Real-World Edge AI Inference Benchmarks Showing Superior Price/Performance For All Models

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Flex Logix Technologies, Inc., the leading supplier of embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP, architecture and software, today announced real-world benchmarks for its InferX X1 edge inference co-processor, showing significant price/performance advantages when compared to Nvidia's Tesla T4 and Xavier NX when run on actual customer models. These details were presented at today's Linley Spring Processor Conference by Vinay Mehta, Flex Logix's inference technical marketing manager, which can be viewed at this link. The InferX X1 has a very small die size: 1/7th the area of Nvidia's Xavier NX and 1/11th the area of Nvidia's Tesla T4. Despite being so much smaller, the InferX X1 has latency for YOLOv3, an open source model that many customers plan to use, similar to Xavier NX. On two real customer models, InferX X1 was much faster, as much as 0x faster in one case.



In terms of price/performance as measured by streaming throughput divided by die size, InferX X1 is 2-10x better than Tesla T4 and 10-30x better than Xavier NX. "Customers expect that they can use performance on ResNet-50 to compare alternatives. These benchmarks demonstrate that the relative performance of an inference accelerator on one model does not apply to all models," said Geoff Tate, CEO and co-founder of Flex Logix. "Customers should really be asking each vendor they evaluate to benchmark the model that they will use to find out the performance they will experience. We are doing this for customers now and welcome more  we can benchmark any neural network model in TensorFlow Lite or ONNX."

The InferX X1 is completing final design checks and will tape-out soon with sampling expected in Q3 2020 as a chip and as a PCIe board. About InferX X1

Flex Logix's InferX X1 edge inference co-processor provides excellent inference efficiency, delivering more throughput on tough models for less $, less watts. It has been optimized for what the edge needs: large models and large models at batch=1. InferX X1 offers throughput close to data center boards that sell for thousands of dollars, but does so at single digit watts and at a fraction of the price. InferX X1 is programmed using TensorFlow Lite and ONNX: a performance modeler is available now. InferX X1 is based on Flex Logix's nnMAX architecture integrating 4 tiles for 4K MACs and 8MB L2 SRAM. InferX X1 connects to a single x32 LPDDR4 DRAM. Four lanes of PCIe Gen3 connect to the host processor; a x32 GPIO link is available for hosts without PCIe. Two X1's can work together to increase throughput up to 2x. About Flex Logix

Flex Logix provides solutions for making flexible chips and accelerating neural network inferencing. Its eFPGA platform enables chips to be flexible to handle changing protocols, standards, algorithms and customer needs and to implement reconfigurable accelerators that speed key workloads 30-100x compared to processors. Flex Logix's second product line, nnMAX, utilizes its eFPGA and interconnect technology to provide modular, scalable neural inferencing from 1 to >100 TOPS using a higher throughput/$ and throughput/watt compared to other architectures. Flex Logix is headquartered in Mountain View, California. MEDIA CONTACTS

Kelly Karr

Tanis Communications

[email protected]

+408-718-9350 Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Flex Logix is a registered trademark and InferX and nnMAX are trademarks of Flex Logix, Inc. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flex-logix-discloses-real-world-edge-ai-inference-benchmarks-showing-superior-priceperformance-for-all-models-301038285.html SOURCE Flex Logix Technologies, Inc.

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ASX-listed biotech CSL is trying to prevent a further drop in blood plasma donations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which risks disrupting production of its medical therapies, while putting some clinical trials on hold to shift its focus on treating COVID-19.

The $147 billion group's chief executive Paul Perreault told investors on Thursday that plasma collections in March dipped below last year's levels, which would cause "lumpiness" in its manufacturing supply chain next year.

CSL has reaffirmed its full-year guidance. Credit:Penny Stephens

"What we collect in April will probably put pressure on the system as you look four to five months out from now," Mr Perreault told investors.

We just cant predict where the ebbs and flows will be through the year at this point until we get a better handle on collection.
Mrs Mavis Kitcher, President of the Association of Women in the Media (ASWIM), has called on government to provide stimulus package for the media to ensure they are not left out in the fight against COVID-19.



She said this was necessary as the media play crucial roles in the dissemination of information and influence people's behaviour within the crisis period.



Mrs Kitcher made the call at a press conference in Accra on the media's sacrifice and response to COVID-19.



"Recently when the announcement went around giving frontline workers some benefit the media was not mentioned but we believe that what we have done so far deserve commendation," she said.



Mrs Kitcher said the media deserved recognition to serve as an encouragement to support governments efforts by getting the message to the people.



"In this period of partial lockdown when newspapers are producing but there is nobody on the streets to buy, how can they ensure that they have finances coming in to continue what they do?" she asked.



"That is why ASWIM is calling on government to ensure that the media is not left out when looking at what to do to ensure everyone is catered for," she said.



In any media organisation one would find a woman, who had been able to rub shoulders with her male counterparts, Mrs Kitcher said, adding that the appeal was for both women and men in the profession to be part of the benefits for those in the frontline of the fight to contain the disease.



She, however, commended government, particularly President Akufo-Addo, for the interventions so far to contain the spread.



She noted that ASWIM, in collaboration with the Information Services Department, would embark on a community outreach programme to educate market women and communities on COVID-19 to dispel the myths and misinformation on it.

Source: GNA









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Part of Cradlepoint NetCloud, E300 Series LTE Router Provides Speed and Security for Pop-Up Clinics, At-Home, Elections, and Emergency Response Networks

BOISE, Idaho, April 09, 2020, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network edge solutions, today announced the first next-generation edge router for Wireless WAN use cases. The Cradlepoint E300 Series Enterprise Router supports the increased performance and advanced LTE, Wi-Fi, security, and management requirements of high-traffic pop-up sites, including quarantine centers, small clinics, and treatment facilities constructed in response to COVID-19. Additionally, the new E300 Series is ideal for distributed voting sites, as well as the Wireless WAN connectivity for enterprise branch sites.



Like all Cradlepoint branch, mobile, and IoT endpoints, the new E300 series is fully provisioned, controlled, and managed by the Cradlepoint NetCloud Service. The first of the next generation of wireless edge routers by Cradlepoint, the E300 Series utilizes the latest system-on-chip technology to deliver exceptional price/performance for advanced Wi-Fi, internet security, and SD-WAN functionality over Gigabit-Class wired and cellular broadband networks. The E300 Series can also support dual Gigabit-Class LTE modems and is 5G Ready so that it can act as a controller for Cradlepoint's 5G Wideband Adapter , announced in February.

For healthcare, public safety, education, and other organizations at the center of the COVID-19 crisis, providing an emergency network response for frontline workers is job one. The E300 Series is ideally suited for rapidly deployable and secure pop-up networks that support high-traffic environments, such as:

Large footprint pop-up sites: As the healthcare response moves from testing to treatment, larger footprint pop-up sites such as tents, convention centers, and other temporary spaces are required. These sites house many healthcare works and connected equipment, require patient Wi-Fi access for virtual family visits, and have greater availability, security, and compliance requirements. Similarly, in response to the pandemic, more polling sites will be required to facilitate social distancing and require non-stop availability and advanced network security for remote access of poll books.



As the healthcare response moves from testing to treatment, larger footprint pop-up sites such as tents, convention centers, and other temporary spaces are required. These sites house many healthcare works and connected equipment, require patient Wi-Fi access for virtual family visits, and have greater availability, security, and compliance requirements. Similarly, in response to the pandemic, more polling sites will be required to facilitate social distancing and require non-stop availability and advanced network security for remote access of poll books. Telehealth: Many healthcare organizations are turning to telehealth to tap into retired doctors and those from other hospitals less impacted by the coronavirus surge. These remote doctors need reliable and secure at-home and remote office connectivity that isolates them from other local networks and provides ample cellular bandwidth to support video and large files, such as chest X-rays.



Many healthcare organizations are turning to telehealth to tap into retired doctors and those from other hospitals less impacted by the coronavirus surge. These remote doctors need reliable and secure at-home and remote office connectivity that isolates them from other local networks and provides ample cellular bandwidth to support video and large files, such as chest X-rays. Mission-critical work from home: Many municipal workers and executives are required to work from home and need mission-critical connectivity that isolates work traffic from at-home networks and supports enterprise security requirements, such as VPN, firewall and IDS/IPS.

To meet the needs of these critical use cases, the NetCloud-powered E300 Series supports Gigabit-class LTE to ensure the fastest possible cellular connection, dual LTE modems with wireless SD-WAN functionality for link redundancy and traffic load balancing, and unified edge security with VPN, firewall, IPS/IDS and internet content filtering.

"We are thankful that our wireless network solutions are playing a role in a wide range of COVID-19 emergency pop-up sites for healthcare, public safety, and other frontline responder use cases," said Todd Krautkremer, Chief Marketing Officer at Cradlepoint. "As the response moves from testing to treatment, more powerful pop-up and remote access networks will be required to support higher-traffic volumes, patient internet access, enterprise-class security, and non-stop availability. The new E300 Series, part of our NetCloud Service, is ideally suited to address these heightened requirements with the rapid, zero-touch deployment and centralized management that IT teams need today."

The Cradlepoint NetCloud Service for Enterprise Branch with the new E300 Series Router is available today, with pricing starting at $899 for a one-year subscription. To support the current COVID-19 emergency network response, Cradlepoint ships directly to the customer's end location within 24 hours; each router is preregistered within NetCloud Manager and with a cellular SIM included for instant activation and installation upon arrival. For more details on the technical capabilities, please visit www.cradlepoint.com/e300 .

For more information on Cradlepoint's COVID-19 emergency network use cases, and to learn how your organization can take advantage of secure and rapidly deployable pop-up and work-from-home networks today, please visit https://cradlepoint.com/covid19-response .

About Cradlepoint

Cradlepoint is a global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network edge solutions for branch, mobile, and IoT networks. Our Elastic Edge vision becomes a reality in NetCloud, a subscription-based service with purpose-built endpoints that delivers a pervasive, secure, and software-defined Wireless WAN edge to connect people, places, and things over LTE and 5G cellular networks. More than 20,000 enterprise and government organizations around the world - including 75 percent of the world's top retailers, 50 percent of the Fortune 100, and first responder agencies in 25 of the largest US cities - rely on Cradlepoint to keep critical branches, points of commerce, field forces, vehicles, and IoT devices always connected and protected. Major service providers use Cradlepoint solutions as the foundation for innovative managed services. Founded in 2006, Cradlepoint is a privately held company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with a development center in Silicon Valley and international offices in the UK and Australia.
All of Botswana's parliamentarians including president Mokgweetsi Masisi will be quarantined for 14 days and tested for the coronavirus, after a health worker screening politicians for the virus herself tested positive.

The health worker had checked the temperatures of some of the MPs on Wednesday during a special sitting of parliament, which was called to debate a proposal by Mr Masisi to extend a state of emergency to six months.

Lemogang Kwape, the Health Minister, told MPs on Thursday that the health worker had tested positive for Covid-19 overnight, one of seven new confirmed cases that brought the total in the southern African country to 13.

The health worker had not shown any symptoms but had just taken a routine test. Unfortunately, the result came late on Wednesday after she was on duty at yesterday's parliament session, Mr Kwape told the assembly, before MPs endorsed Mr Masisi's proposal to extend the state of emergency.

Malaki Tshipayagae, the Director of Public Health, instructed all the lawmakers to quarantine themselves.

Mr Masisi is himself a member of parliament and already had to self-isolate in March after a visit to Namibia.

The politicians have the option to self-isolate at home or be taken to facilities designated by the government.

Separately, regulations published in the government gazette on Thursday banned businesses from laying off staff during the state of emergency.

Trade unions estimate that more than 20,000 workers in the country have lost their jobs or been placed on unpaid leave due to the global pandemic.

Reuters
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the partys establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, acknowledging the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up.
Joe Biden (Photo : Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit !  from Pixabay)

Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit !  from Pixabay



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KEY POINTS

Biden has said he will pick a woman as his running mate

The Democrats are likely to focus on candidates who will do well in the Midwest

It is possible Biden chooses a progressive, but it's unlikely that it will be Elizabeth Warren

Now that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the presidential race, Joe Biden can turn his attention to his vice president. Perhaps no presidential nominee in modern history has faced a more consequential VP pick, as Biden's advanced age and the lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy expressed in polling are electoral weaknesses he will certainly attempt to address with his VP.



He has already declared that his running mate will be a woman, and here are five possible candidates he could select:



Kamala Harris



During a virtual fundraiser this week, Biden ramped up speculation that California Sen. Kamala Harris will be his pick, saying "I'm coming for you, kid." Additionally, Harris set up a joint fundraising committee this week with the Democratic National Committee, which is typically reserved for nominees trying to attract large donations, further fueling speculation that she could be his VP. Sen. Harris's prosecutorial past and history of grilling Trump administration officials in Senate hearings fit the "attack dog" profile that vice presidents typically occupy on the campaign trail.







Amy Klobuchar



Perhaps Biden's closest ideological ally, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a key figure in consolidating support behind Biden on Super Tuesday. Historically, candidates who drop out and endorse their opponents receive jobs in their presidential administration. Klobuchar hails from the Midwest, which in theory could help Democrats recapture states like Wisconsin and Michigan.



Gretchen Whitmer



On Biden's newly launched podcast this week, he praised Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, saying that "she is one of the most talented people in the country in my view." In March, he stated that she "made the [VP] list two months ago." President Trump recently lashed out at Whitmer, which has elevated her profile and provided her with an opportunity to demonstrate what she could bring to the campaign on a national stage. Given that she is also from the Midwest but hails from a state the Dems lost in 2016, she may have a leg-up on Klobuchar if the party is determined to pick someone they are certain could recapture Michigan.



Sara Nelson



If Biden is concerned about losing the votes of Bernie Sanders supporters, he may choose a progressive running mate. Many look to Elizabeth Warren as a logical choice, but she is just seven years younger than him and, with Massachusetts having a Republican governor who would appoint her replacement, her selection could lead to the Democrats losing a seat in the Senate. Sara Nelson is the International President of the Association of Flight Attendants, and she has gained fame in the U.S. as a labor leader over the last two decades. She has some foreign policy experience as well, as she was part of the airline industry's responses to 9/11 and the SARS outbreak. There is likely no other potential progressive VP pick who checks more boxes for both the left and center of the party.



Tammy Baldwin







The Democratic path to victory in 2020 likely goes through the Midwest, which makes Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin another logical choice for Biden. She is the first openly gay person ever elected to the Senate, which should create more enthusiasm for the Biden ticket on the left. Two years after Trump won Wisconsin, she was reelected by a margin of 11 points, proving that she can win over many voters who backed President Trump in 2016.


by Shafique Khokhar

Without his intervention 120 families would starve. The village mosque had refused to distribute aid to Christians. Shakeel Ahmed rescued them by contacting some Catholic organizations. With the coronavirus quarantine, a lot of day workers lose their jobs.

Kasur (AsiaNews) - Without the help of Shakeel Ahmed, a Muslim human rights activist, 120 Christian families in the district of Kasur (Punjab) would have starved.

All of Pakistan is quarantined to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Locked in their homes, unable to work, many Pakistanis - especially day laborers - struggle to survive.

Over 4,000 people have been infected in the country, and 54 have died, but the pace of infections has accelerated in recent days. In this situation, after three weeks of blockade, many Christians were discriminated against in the distribution of aid.

After the case of a Karachi NGO, which refused to help poor Hindus and Christians in the Korangi (Sindh) area, food donations were also denied to Christians in the village of Sanda Kalan.

"Food was only delivered to Muslims," Ahmed tells AsiaNews. The Christians living in this area are almost all wage earners who have lost their quarantine jobs. They are vulnerable and risk hunger without external support. One of them, Zeshan Masihhas, says he hasn't earned a rupee in over two weeks. He is locked up in the house with his wife and children, without food or medicine.

On March 4, aid was distributed to the poor in the village mosque. Sheikh Abdul Rahim Hamid, the local imam, organized the collection and distribution of food rations. Hungry, Christian residents turned up to receive their share, but were rejected. They were told that aid was only for the 500 local Muslims.

At that point, Ahmed came to their rescue. He contacted Christian organizations that brought food to the Christian population of Sanda Kalan. The distribution took place thanks to the collaboration of some local activists. But there is a desperate need for other help for these people.

Ahmed maintains that the treatment received by Christians in his village is inhuman and contrary to the teachings of Islam. Everyone must be helped, regardless of their religious faith.

The Catholic authorities of Pakistan, including Msgr. Joseph Arshad, archbishop of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, asked that every person in the country be protected and helped.
Wisconsin voters on Tuesday gathered by the thousands to cast their ballots despite a deadly global pandemic.

As the new coronavirus spreads across the United States, there is a growing movement towards postal voting ahead of Novembers presidential election.

But as Al Jazeeras John Hendren reports, not everyone supports the idea.
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), a leading telecom services operator in Saudi Arabia, has been ranked ninth most valuable brand in the kingdom, gaining three notches up the scale and increasing in value by 31 per cent to reach $1.1 billion.

The ranking was given by London-based Brand Finance, worlds leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, which issued its annual brand valuation ranking recently.

Brand Finance, which values 5,000 of the worlds biggest brands on an annual basis, explained the methodology it followed to come up with the ranking.

In its press statement, Brand Finance said it assessed the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak based on the effect of the outbreak on Enterprise Value, as of March 18 compared to what it was on January 1, 2020.

"Based on this impact on Business Value, Brand Finance estimated the likely impact on Brand Value for each sector. Each sector has been classified into 3 categories based on the severity of Business Value loss observed for the sector in the period between January 1 and March 18," it stated.

The Brand value is understood as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market, it added.

CEO Salman Al Badran said: "The Brand Finance ranking testifies to our companys hard work and steadfast achievements over the past period."

"Our efforts at all levels and across all departments over the past years translated into more satisfied customers due to ongoing enhancements in the quality of our services, and thus all indicators followed suit," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
ALEPPO, Syria  Humanitarian groups fear catastrophic consequences if the coronavirus reaches overcrowded camps for the displaced in opposition-held areas in northwest Syria, so the organizations are boosting their efforts to raise awareness among the people living there.

From a clinic providing primary health care services in Al-Nour camp, 44 kilometers (27 miles) north of Aleppo city, community health workers have distributed educational brochures, going from one tent to another. The brochures contain drawings and instructions urging people to mind their personal hygiene, wear masks and not leave their tents unless absolutely necessary. The fliers also outline what people should do if they suspect they have COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

Omar al-Hamoud, a doctor and administrative director of the clinic at Al-Nour camp, told Al-Monitor, We are afraid that the coronavirus might reach the camps. It would then be difficult or nearly impossible to contain it.

According to the latest report issued by the Assistance Coordination Unit, a Syrian nongovernmental organization in charge of coordinating donation efforts, the number of displaced camps in November had reached 320 in northern Idlib and northern Aleppo, near the Turkish borders. Nearly 1 million people in Syrias northwest had to leave their homes due to a large-scale offensive waged by the Syrian regime in January. That campaign stopped after a cease-fire agreement was reached March 6 through mediation efforts by Turkey and Russia.

However, a large number of displaced people still live in camps and temporary housing along the Turkish border, and these camps lack care, health and hygiene services. Many people have serious underlying conditions such as diabetes or chronic heart disease.

The Independent Doctors Association  an independent NGO founded in 2012 by Syrian doctors from Aleppo  runs 33 medical centers in opposition-held areas in northern Aleppo, and it provides health services to nine camps. It has also established four rapid-response teams dedicated to temporary shelters.

Bakri Moaz, the association's medical director, told Al-Monitor, If the coronavirus reaches opposition-held areas, it will definitely have dire consequences because of its high rate of transmission. The camps population is massive and jammed in a small space, and there are many camps.

He added, The camps constitute a conducive environment for the spread of the virus, for several reasons. Most camp residents are elderly or children, who are the most vulnerable. Besides, self-isolation in camps is quite hard, because the tents are close to each other, and the economic circumstances are tough. People have to leave their tents to work. Besides, toilets, bathrooms and water tanks in the camps are common [areas]. Therefore, people gather to get the services, and the risk of infection increases.

The Syrian Response Coordination group, a humanitarian NGO working in Idlib, assessed the ability of the health sector in opposition areas to cope with the pandemic by documenting the capacity of hospitals and medical posts relative to the population.

According to statistics the group published March 27, there is one hospital bed for every 2,378 people in the opposition areas in northwestern Syria, and for every 37,549 people, one respirator is available. Respirators are essential for treating advanced cases.

Moaz told Al-Monitor, Health care in Syria is basic and modest. In case of an outbreak, the hospitals will be under great pressure beyond their capacities. The virus has already taken its toll on the most advanced health systems in the world. Imagine what it would do to a country like Syria.

Despite the global panic about the coronavirus, life continues almost naturally in northwestern Syria, with little regard to calls for social distancing and home isolation. The markets are crowded, and people walk the streets without protection methods such as gloves or masks. Shops are open late.

It's difficult to implement [restrictions] under circumstances like the ones in Syria. How can you prevent a person from working and offer them nothing instead? Local authorities in opposition-held areas have no capacity to offer compensation to people and provide them with their basic needs. They are unable to implement a quarantine," Moaz added.

Maram al-Sheikh, health minister of the opposition-led government, told Al-Monitor, We have taken several measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. We have adopted social distancing by suspending classes in schools and universities and adopting online learning. We have also closed the crossings with the Syrian regime and are testing people at the border crossings with Turkey.

He added, We don't have coronavirus cases in opposition-held areas so far. This is simply because of the measures taken and because the area is completely closed. A single laboratory in the opposition-controlled areas, located in Idlib, is able to conduct tests to detect infection with the coronavirus, as it has [diagnostic] devices. Analyses of suspected cases are made in this laboratory, or through sampling and examination in Turkey.

Shaham Makki, director of the epidemiological laboratory in Idlib, told Al-Monitor on April 5 that all 27 cases tested in the laboratory had come back negative. No cases had been reported in opposition-held areas in northwest Syria at the time of this writing.

He said the lab has 300 tests, but the lab can perform only 10 to 20 tests per day.

In all of Syria as of April 7, 19 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed, including two deaths.
Jennifer Garner stepped out of her quarantine to take a stroll with son Samuel, 8, and daughter Seraphina, 11, and their pup around their Los Angeles' neighborhood on Wednesday.

The 47-year-old Golden Globe winner, who also shares 14-year-old Violet with her ex-husband Ben Affleck, wore a cloth face mask and a navy fleece zip-up for her dog walk.

While enjoying the fresh air, the actress' children also wore protective gear amid the Center for Disease Control recommendation for all Americans to cover their faces in public.

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Dog walk: Jennifer Garner stepped out of her quarantine to take a stroll with son Samuel, 8, and daughter Seraphina, 11, around their Los Angeles' neighborhood on Wednesday

Seraphina sweetly held onto her mom's arm, while wearing a cheetah print mask, a blue sweater and navy sweats with stars down the sides.

Her younger brother proudly held onto the leash of an adorable pup, who belongs to Garner's longtime assistant Maureen Grosser.

Grosser has been staying with the family during the lockdown and received a sweet birthday surprise from the star.

Doting mom: The 47-year-old Golden Globe winner, who also shares 14-year-old Violet with her ex-husband Ben Affleck, wore a cloth face mask and a navy fleece zip-up for her dog walk

Two weeks ago, Garner posted a gushing birthday tribute to Grosser and arranged for some of her pals to drive by her house to sing happy birthday from their cars.

'On my good days, people ask if were sisters, but more often than I care to admitthe assumption is mother/daughter. We arent actually related but Ill claim her.' Jennifer began her post.

The Peppermint actress credited Maureen for helping her stay organized and being her travel buddy, as well as helping her with her Instagram content.

Staying safe: While enjoying the fresh air, the actress' children also wore protective gear amid the Center for Disease Control recommendation for all Americans to cover their faces in public

Fresh air: Seraphina sweetly held onto her mom's arm, while wearing a cheetah print mask, a blue sweater and navy sweats with stars down the sides, while her younger brother walked the dog

'People ask what social media company I usewell, I sit in the excellent company of @mogrosser, noodling on ideas, and edits, and captions, playing to our morphed-into-one funny bone.

She ended the gushing tribute writing, 'Mo isn't one to want attention, but she's in lockup with me at my crazy house and it's her birthday. Plus it's time I post something without her approval, for crying out loud. Happy birthday, Mosie, we are lucky to have you here with us, today and always. We love you.'

Until Friday, Jen had previously gone mask-free during afternoon walks with her children as the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) previously recommended skipping masks.

Blended family: Earlier this week, Us Weekly reported that Jennifer and her ex-husband Ben Affleck, 47, have been discussing how best to introduce his new girlfriend Ana de Armas, 31, to their children

Earlier this week, Us Weekly reported that Jennifer and her ex-husband Ben Affleck, 47, have been discussing how best to introduce his new girlfriend Ana de Armas, 31, to their children.

The loved-up Oscar winner has been inseparable from the Knives Out star in recent weeks after meeting her on the set of their upcoming thriller Deep Water.

His ex-wife is reportedly hesitant about introducing the Cuban actress to the children too quickly, which Ben is 'understanding' of.

So far, he has agreed to 'work with Jennifer to prepare the kids' for meeting the Blade Runner 2049 star.
"The graces of Divine Mercy Sunday are so extraordinary that every Catholic should take full advantage of them, especially in these very difficult days," said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw. "Although EWTN viewers can join in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every weekday at 3 p.m. ET, the Network has a long tradition of airing expanded programming about the devotion on Divine Mercy Sunday itself, and during the week leading up to it."

Highlights of EWTN's Divine Mercy programs are noted below. For a complete listing, please go to https://www.ewtn.com/tv/schedule. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/tv/channel-finder. For all the ways to watch EWTN, please go to www.ewtn.com/everywhere.

Ongoing

Novena to the Divine Mercy in Time of Pandemic: Airs approximately 9 a.m. ET (immediately following Daily Mass at 8 a.m. ET).

Daily

Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Airs 3 p.m. ET. From Our Lady of the Angels Chapel Irondale, AL.

Monday, April 13

Chaplet of Divine Mercy from Our Lady of Grace Shrine in Sasse, Cameroon, Africa: Airs 3:45 a.m. ET. Encores 1:45 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday, April 14 through 18. Combines Cameroon's rich native culture and melodies with the beauty and serenity of God's Mercy.

The God of Mercy  Faustina, A Story of Mercy: Airs 5:30 p.m. ET with an encore at 3:30 a.m. ET, Tuesday, April 14. Fr. Bala Udumala shares the life of St. Faustina as permeated with the mission of mercy entrusted to her by Jesus.

Tuesday, April 14

The Face of Mercy: Airs 4 a.m. ET. Encores 8 p.m. ET, Friday, April 17. Documentary on the origins of the Divine Mercy devotion and the personal impact it ha had on the lives of several Catholics.

Saint Faustina: Divine Mercy in Our Souls: Airs 1:30 p.m. ET. Fr. Roesch talks to Bob and Maureen Digen about Maureen's healing at the tomb of St. Faustina, which led to Blessed Faustina's beatification in 1993.

The God of Mercy: The Five Elements of the Divine Mercy Devotion: Airs 5:30 p.m. ET, with an encore at 2:30 a.m. ET, Wednesday, April 15.

Wednesday, April 15

The God of Mercy  Yahweh, The God of Mercy in the Old Testament: Airs 5:30 p.m. ET, with an encore at 3:30 a.m. ET, Thursday, April 16.

Thursday, April 16

The God of Mercy  Jesus, The Incarnation of Mercy in the New Testament: Airs 5:30 p.m. ET, with an encore at 3:30 a.m. ET, Friday, April 17.

Friday, April 17

Divine Mercy  The Canonization of John Paul II: Airs 10:30 am. ET. Newt and Callista Gingrich, along with a cast of scholars, witnesses, and pilgrims share their experiences of the canonization of Pope John Paul II and reflect on his legacy.

The God of Mercy  Mercy Wanted Today: Airs 5:30 p.m. ET, with an encore at 3:30 a.m., Saturday, April 18. Fr. Bala Udumala relates that the message of Divine Mercy is needed today in a violent and godless world, in which mercy is redemptive.

Saturday, April 18

Original Image of the Divine Mercy, The Untold Story of an Unknown Masterpiece. Airs 8 p.m. ET. A look at the history of the original image of Divine Mercy, from the events that led to its creation under St. Faustina's guidance to its current place in the Cathedral in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19

Life and Times of Sister Faustina: Airs 3 a.m. ET. Encores at 3 a.m. ET, Tuesday, April 21. Fr. Seraphin Michalenko, Vice Postulor for the Cause of Canonization for Blessed Fautina for North America, explains this re-enactment of Blessed Faustina's life and the Divine Mercy Novena.

Divine Mercy Celebration from Vilnius, Lithuania: Airs 10 a.m. ET. Celebrated by Archbishop Gintaras Grusas from the Shrine of Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy Preview Show: Airs Noon and midnight ET. Celebrated by Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC, from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy.

Mass and Celebration of Divine Mercy from Stockbridge, MA: Airs live at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Airs 3 p.m. ET.

Divine Mercy Holy Hour With the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word: Airs 4 p.m. ET with an encore at 7 a.m. ET, Monday, April 20. Live from the Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Irondale, Ala.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN's 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 350 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, "The National Catholic Register" newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.

SOURCE EWTN Global Catholic Network

Related Links

http://ewtn.com


CAIRO  With the rapid spread of the coronavirus in many countries around the world, and at a time when the Egyptian government urges citizens to stay at home, imposing several measures to fight the outbreak, many people still wander around in the streets without caring about the virus, preoccupied with more important matters.

These people are the most affected by the crisis, but they do not have the luxury of staying at home. They are irregular workers, a segment of society that amounts to 12 million to 14 million people, according to figures Al-Monitor obtained from Secretary-General of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation Mohamed Wahballah.

An irregular worker is a person who works without benefitting from insurance or social security and gets paid by the day.

Despite the government warning citizens about the country entering the third stage of the outbreak of the pandemic  which is when the source of the infection becomes untraceable and difficult to control  thousands and even millions are yet to realize the seriousness of the virus and are struggling to secure a livelihood.

Mohammed Jaber, who works in construction, told Al-Monitor, I have to work to feed my family. If I do not work every day, who will feed my children? I heard about the coronavirus, but what can I do? I must work every day; health is the least of my worries. We are basically dead already.

On April 4, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had instructed that activities and inaugurations of major national projects that were supposed to be carried out during 2020 be postponed until 2021, including the move to the new administrative capital and the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, given the circumstances.

However, Minister of Housing Assem El-Gazzar had decided April 2 that construction companies should return to work at full capacity, which many believed to be inconsistent with the state's plan to limit the spread of the virus.

Many major construction companies had decided to halt work on project sites, fearing for the lives of their workers, but work on some small projects never stopped.

Jaber noted, The foreman gave us face masks; some of us wore them, others gave them to their children. For me, my children are more important than anything else. Before the coronavirus crisis, I used to get paid 150 Egyptian pounds [about $9.50] a day. Now I work less, and some days I do not even work. But I have to be on the streets every day just in case I find some work in exchange for any amount of money. It is not like I'm a bank employee.

On April 8, the Ministry of Health confirmed 1,560 coronavirus cases, including 305 people who were discharged from isolation in hospitals and recovered, and 103 deaths. The situation took an even more serious turn April 3 after 17 medics at the National Cancer Institute turned out to be infected.

The Egyptian authorities are taking several measures to prevent gatherings in order to limit the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Schools and universities are closed, flights are suspended, mosques and churches are closed, in addition to a curfew that lasts from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., as well as a partial closure of some stores, which greatly affected daily labor workers who fear a total curfew will be imposed in the coming days.

In addition to these preventive measures, on April 8 Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly announced that Egypts cabinet decided to deduct 20% from cabinet members salaries for three months to support irregular workers.

Furthermore, the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower and Immigration announced March 17 the disbursement of an exceptional grant of 500 Egyptian pounds ($31.75) to be paid monthly over the next three months to irregular workers. They were asked to promptly register on the ministry's website to apply for the grant.

Hussein Mohammed, a microbus driver, told Al-Monitor, I applied online [on the first day of the ministrys announcement] for a government grant, but nobody has called us. Yet still, what can 500 pounds do for a family of five? We cannot survive on 500 pounds.

Speaking about the preventive measures that he takes, such as disinfecting himself and his vehicle, he jokingly said, Coronavirus who? Disinfect what? Our lives were halted with the curfew and should a total curfew be imposed, many people will die of hunger.

Public transportation is particularly crowded in the few hours leading up to the curfew, prompting the Ministry of Transport to operate additional trains in an attempt to contain the crisis.

The vegetable and fruit market in a street next to Faisal neighborhood, one of the largest and busiest neighborhoods in Giza governorate, is packed with vendors and customers who seem to care more about securing a livelihood and food supply than staying healthy.

Social distancing is nonexistent in these streets, and so are preventive measures  only a few people wear masks.

Umm Sid, a bird seller who travels twice a week from Fayoum governorate to Giza governorate to sell her domestic birds, told Al-Monitor, God is our protector. We do not think about the coronavirus. What keeps us up at night is gaining our livelihood. I'm afraid a lockdown will be imposed and traveling between governorates becomes impossible.

She added, I heard about the government grant on TV, but I did not know how to apply for it. Maybe 500 pounds can help us if a total curfew is imposed.

Spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower Haitham Saad El-Din told Al-Monitor, Around 1 million people have applied for the grant as of the end of last week [April 2]. The committee  formed for this purpose and headed by Prime Minister Madbouly  is examining the data and setting up mechanisms to disburse the grant.

Several initiatives were launched to help the families of irregular workers. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif announced a grant for irregular workers of 500 pounds from the Zakat and Charity House, while the Egyptian Food Bank launched a campaign to distribute half a million food boxes to irregular workers, in addition to many other community contributions that try to help the groups that are mostly affected by the preventive measures taken by the Egyptian state to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Attention donors: Your well-intended offerings to charity clothing donation boxes may no longer be the right thing to do.

And for those of you who plug bags of clothing into pirate boxes, operated by unlicensed fly-by-nighters that are definitely not charities, theres a good chance they wont be coming to pick up your donation.

This pandemic is really cramping peoples style  nobody looks better with a face mask  and is also upending things we take for granted, such as donating clothes or household items to charities.

A lot of charities have stopped donation box pickups for now and sealed them, to prevent people from stuffing bags of clothing into them when it will no longer be collected.

I was reminded of it when I saw a huge pile of donated garbage recently heaped around a pirate box on Milner Avenue. Donation boxes serve as a handy way for the inconsiderate to get rid of junk while pretending to be charitable.

Often, the shady types responsible for pirate boxes do not pick up the junk surrounding it, leaving the cleanup to whoever owns the property where the box is located.

Diabetes Canada, which operates drop boxes and sends trucks to collect household donations, appealed to the public this week to stop donating until the crisis abates.

As part of Diabetes Canadas ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of our valued donors, staff, partners and communities, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to temporarily suspend all collection activities, it said on its website.

This means that the collection of all textile donations from homes and bins across Canada has stopped, effective immediately. Please do NOT to drop off items at our donation bins as we are unable to collect them at this time. As life gets back to normal and we resume service, please keep us in mind.

A news release issued Tuesday by the City of Toronto noted that another emerging concern is the accumulation of donated goods, as well as garbage surrounding clothing drop boxes.

Right now, in response to COVID-19, many charities are not accepting donations or emptying boxes, said the release, adding that for now, the city will be picking up donations and trash left around the bins.

The city urges all residents who want to make a donation to confirm with charities whether or not they are currently accepting donations.

I did a tour of drop boxes in my area and found that Childrens Wish boxes had also been sealed, as were those operated by OASIS Addiction Recovery Services. The boxes of both are licensed by the city.

Not one of the unlicensed boxes I looked at, which seem to be more plentiful than the legitimate ones, were sealed. Its not clear if the stuff in them is being picked up.

But the citys advice to hold onto your donations for now is a good idea.
While the race for the COVID-19 is still on, the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine seems to have had an advantage with its competitors since U.S. President Donald Trump called it a "miracle durg." Trump also continued to push for its usage despite the fact that experts have expressed their contradiction and skepticism about the drug.

Last Sunday, in a rare appearance in the Situation Room while his coronavirus pandemic task force was meeting, Trump expressed a determination to talk about using the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for COVID-19. He also mentioned that the federal government has already stockpiled at least 29 million hydroxychloroquine pills and has distributed millions of it to the labs and military bases all over the U.S.

Moreover, Trump has posed the question of what more could the country lose if they try the drug, adding that he is not looking at it in any other way, rather than the possibility that it might work. He also said that if it does work, people may regret not using it as early as possible, even saying that he is not a doctor but he does have common sense.

One of the people who have openly expressed doubt about the drug is the country's top infectious diseases expert, who is also a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Fauci has repeatedly warned against the testimonies of those who said that they have experienced the positive effects of hydroxychloroquine in battling COVID-19.

Read also: US and China Reach a Truce as COVID-19 Continues to Cause Chaos

How will Trump benefit from promoting hydroxychloroquil?

Thus, people keep questioning why the president is very insistent on using the drug. The president's aggresiveness on the topic has also sparked theories about his possible financial benefits if hydroxycholorquine is used due to his connection to the company that manufactures the drug.

In a report by The New York Times, it stated that Trump is somehow connected to a French drug company, Sanofi, who manufactures a branded version of the drug called Plaquenil and that he has a "small personal stake" with them. This is said to be because of the investments of his three family trust in a Dodge & Cox mutual fund who has 3.3 percent invested in Sanofi which is its largest holding.

However, according to MarketWatch, the said benefit that Trump may gain from the investment is negligible on his part, stating that his financial stake with Sanofi may only be worth between $99 and $1485 which isn't worth much for a president who has a $3 billion net worth.

This is also supported by a post from Washington Post which pointed out that Trump's Sanofi investment is only about 0.000003 to 0.00005 percent of his net worth. Saying that even for someone whose net worth is only $100,000 it would only be like worrying about a nickel in his pocket.

Thus, they noted that the president may benefit from promoting the drug more on the political side is his gut about the "miracle drug" is correct.

Related article: Hydroxychloroquine Saved Democrat Representative's Life After President Trump Endorsed It

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Barack and Michelle Obama will come off the sidelines and get involved to support presidential candidate Joe Biden, according to Mr Obamas former campaign manager.

Jim Messina told MSNBC on Wednesday that the withdrawal of senator Bernie Sanders from the 2020 race would allow the former president and first lady support their former vice president in a way that was a very, very big deal.

This move by Bernie Sanders allows the two big powers in the democratic party, Barack and in some ways as importantly Michelle Obama, to now come off the sidelines and get involved, Mr Messina said.

I mean people forget that Michelle Obama is the most popular political figure in America by far. Having Barack and Michelle Obama on the trail talking to both the base and the swing voters. Especially these swing women voters who abandoned the Democrats in 2016, came back big time in 2018 to give Nancy Pelosi the House of Representatives.

Mr Sanders ended his bid for the presidency on Wednesday, telling supporters he saw no way forward following the Wisconsin primary and in good conscience could not remain in the race.

His withdrawal opens the way for Mr Biden to become the presumptive Democratic nominee and face Donald Trump in November.

During the Democratic primaries, the Obamas have refrained from endorsing any one candidate. But Mr Messina said he expects both to now enter the public eye in the lead up to the general election.

Having the two of them out there in a full-throated manner is a very, very big deal, Mr Messina said.

And Joe Biden will do what Joe Bidens always done in these moments. He will sit back and he will be very classy he will congratulate people and he will unite the base.

I think Bernies language was really important today. When he said united we stand together to defeat Donald Trump. He and Joe Biden are personal friends. And the base will be united to beat Donald Trump who is, in Democrats estimation, the most serious threat of our lifetime.
Much of the research involving the coronavirus transmission has concentrated on contact between members of the same households, medical professionals and clusters within communal living facilities, such as hospitals, nursing homes and jails. But the Chicago case study, highlighted in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions weekly mortality report, explains how gatherings  large or small  can lead to a proliferation of coronavirus cases between households in a community. The patient identified as the original carrier in the cluster didnt live with any of the patients hes believed to have spread the contagion to.
The Queen has been forced to break with centuries of tradition by sending her Maundy money to the elderly by post amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Every year on the day before Good Friday, the Monarch presents elderly members of the Church of England with special 'Maundy' coins.

These specially minted pieces are almost always handed out to worshippers over 70, nominated by local dioceses for their contributions to the church and the community.

But today they have been delivered by Royal Mail instead of by the Queen herself, who is isolating at Windsor, to protect them all from the deadly virus.

The eldest of this year's 188 recipients is Thomas Brock, from Sunbury-on-Thames, who holds the title of oldest active bellringer in the world.

The Queen has been forced to break with centuries of tradition by sending her Maundy money to the elderly (2019 ceremony pictured at Windsor) by post amid the coronavirus outbreak

A letter from the Queen sent to 188 recipients along with the Maundy Gift of a purse of specially-minted money which is more usually given in person at the Royal Maundy Service in St. George's Chapel

He began ringing at his local church, St Mary's at the age of just seven and has only ever missed services during the Second World War, when he was a prisoner of war.

Another centenarian getting their special coins today is Bill Allen, aged 100, from Chelmsford in Essex.

He was a dispatch rider with General Montgomery during the Second World War and is still an ambassador for the Royal British Legion.

The eldest of this year's 188 recipients is Thomas Brock (pictured), from Sunbury-on-Thames, who holds the title of oldest active bellringer in the world at the age of 101

Jim Byers (pictured) was among the 188 recipients of the Maundy Gift of a purse of specially-minted money

Queen Elizabeth II with Princess Eugenie leaving St George's Chapel in Windsor after the annual Royal Maundy Service last year

Jane Armstrong, 76, from Durham, was recommended by her local diocese for her work with crisis support groups and foodbanks in the area.

The Queen said she was 'deeply disappointed' at not being able to meet the 188 in person.

The monarch has written to those she would have presented with symbolic money during the annual Royal Maundy service.

The Queen said in her letter that 'unfortunately' she was unable to distribute the money this year during the service which was due to be held at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle today.

Reverend Hilary Murphy (left) and Jane Armstrong also received the letter from the Queen

Pictured: Bill Allen, 100, who was among the recipients of the Maundy Gift of specially-minted money

The Queen said she was 'deeply disappointed' at not being able to meet the 188 in person (Pictured: two recipients)

What is Maundy Money? Maundy Thursday is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter, commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the apostles. It is marked by a church service in which the Queen distributes Maundy money to a group of elderly members of the Church of England. The men and women are nominated each year by their local diocese for their outstanding contributions to the church and local community. The specially-minted coins are not for everyday use as they are made just for Maundy Thursday. The tradition stretches back as far as the 1600s and has been observed every year since - with King George VI or the Archbishop of Canterbury still carrying out the duty during war time. Advertisement

She added: 'This ancient Christian ceremony, which reflects Jesus's instruction to his disciples to love one another, is a call to the service of others, something that has been at the centre of my life. I believe it is a call to service for all of us.

'It is one of my most rewarding duties as Sovereign to observe this highly significant ceremony at such an important point in the Christian calendar.

'I know that you, as a recipient of this year's Maundy Gift, will be as deeply disappointed as I am that it is not going ahead, while understanding the necessary decision in the current circumstances.

'However, this should not mean your invaluable contribution within the community goes unnoticed, and I am sending this Maundy Gift to thank you for your Christian service.

'My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families at this difficult time.'

The tradition stretches back to the 1600s and has been observed every year, even in times of war.

During the Second World War, either the Queen's father King George VI or the Archbishop of Canterbury did the honours.
ALBANY  To deal with billions of dollars in revenue loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York is deferring pay raises for about 80,000 state workers for at least for 90 days.

State officials Thursday confirmed that the 2 percent raises negotiated for thousands of employees set for mid-April would be postponed and reevaluated in 90 days, a move criticized by state union leaders who say many of those workers are putting their lives at risk on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.

Its inexcusable to require our workers to literally face death to ensure the state keeps running and then turn around and deny those very workers their much-deserved raise in this time of crisis, said Mary E. Sullivan, president of the state Civil Service Employees Association.

Michael B. Powers, who heads the New York Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, also criticized the administration.

Todays news is yet another slap in the face to the brave men and women in law enforcement and those on the front lines of keeping order in our states prison system and our mental health facilities," Powers said. "Our members are working day and night and are subject to some of the most dangerous conditions in the state. With hundreds of our members testing positive for COVID-19 and hundreds more quarantined, the risks are real."

New Yorks fiscal leaders have estimated the state could lose up to $15 billion in annual revenue as a result of the pandemic, which has shuttered businesses and left millions out of work.

The postponement of raises is expected to save the state $50 million during the 90-day period and will impact about 80,000 employees, said Robert Mujica, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's budget director.

State Division of the Budget spokesman Freeman Klopott said the anticipated revenue loss and the lack of federal government assistance have left New York in financial uncertainty.

The New York state workforce is dedicated, hardworking, and puts the public first everyday  no more so than in the midst of the ongoing public health crisis," Klopott said. "Given this uncertainty, we are delaying pay raises for state workers scheduled to go into effect this month by 90 days, at which point we will reassess the status of state finances and whether they can be implemented.

Mujica asserted there is language in the labor contracts approved by the Legislature that allows the state to withhold the payments. Union leaders say the state has an obligation to honor the contract.

Its really disturbing to see the state not honor their commitments when our members are honoring their commitment to public service, CSEA communications director Mark Kotzin said.

The labor unions represent many workers who are in health care or working in facilities such as mental health centers and prisons where the virus has reached.

"People are failing to recognize the value of our state workers during this crisis and what they are going through to keep providing public services throughout the state," Sullivan said. "We literally have workers sleeping in their workplaces to make sure essential services are delivered around the clock. Theyre at the front lines keeping this epidemic from spreading further, caring for our most vulnerable and ill residents, helping people in our communities suffering from job losses, and keeping our state from wholesale economic and social collapse."

Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Plattsburgh, pledged to work with the Cuomo administration to ensure employees receive the negotiated raises and noted how many of the workers have been on the front lines battling the pandemic.

There is never a good time to stop pay raises, but especially now in this time, when we are depending on these employees, who have been working tirelessly and knowingly in harms way, Jones said in a statement. I will actively work to take steps to retroactively see these pay raises instituted and I call on the governor to give these workers the raise that they deserve.

Sullivan also called on New York's congressional delegation and the White House "to act now to help New York survive the economic crisis this pandemic caused and make sure we have the ability to continue the vital public services New Yorkers rely on."

Union leaders say they recognize the fiscal stress the state is under and have encouraged members to reach out to federal delegation to urge for financial assistance, but employees deserve the raises negotiated. The deferment does not impact step increases, officials said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"We understand the economic realities and hardships the state faces," said Kotzin, the CSEA spokesman. "At the same time, we recognize that people are putting their lives on the line to keep the state functioning shouldnt be asked to sacrifice" promised wages as well.

E.J. McMahon, research director for the Empire Center for Public Policy, said freezing state employees wages can help avoid furloughs and layoffs.

The fiscally conservative think tank based in Albany had urged the state to do a wage freeze in mid-March as the economic picture for the Empire State continued to become more bleak.

Weve advocated for this for years in times of crises, McMahon said. If you dont give pay hikes, then you can save more jobs because they are going to have to cut payroll.

McMahon said the fiscal impact of the public health crisis to the state will be felt for years, and job cuts are likely. He noted the measure does not postpone any contract raises for public employees in local government, public authorities or school districts, which the center estimates could cost $1.5 billion.

The way (Cuomo) is doing it, moves him into uncharted territory and it seems pretty clear, whatever basis he thinks hes using here only applies to state workers, McMahon said. The bigger, broader issue is going to be local government and schools.

Budget officials said other avenues, including a freeze on new hires, are being considered to reduce costs.

Mujica said it's still unclear what New York's fiscal picture will look like in the coming weeks and months due to the pandemic's impact on the economy.

"We're trying to prioritize those resources right now to fund the health care crisis," Mujica said. "Between now and then, let's see if the federal government is going to step up and provide the state with more resources to deal with the revenue shortfall, and then we can deal with those commitments."






Australian police have raided the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seized its black box, they said Thursday, as part of a criminal investigation after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney and 15 later died of the illness. Police wearing protective suits and masks boarded the vessel in Port Kembla, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Sydney, on Wednesday night, New South Wales Police said on Thursday. "Police officers entered the Ruby Princess to gather evidence... ships have a black box very similar to international planes and that and other evidence has been seized," NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told media. The Ruby Princess berthed on Monday after weeks stranded at sea to allow doctors to assess sick crew members and take the most serious cases ashore for medical treatment. Police have launched a criminal investigation into operator Carnival Australia over the circumstances that led to thousands of passengers disembarking in mid-March despite some exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Hundreds of passengers were later diagnosed with coronavirus and at least 15 have died, accounting for nearly a third of Australia's death toll of 51. The country has recorded over 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Over a thousand crew members remain on the vessel and the majority wanted to stay onboard, Fuller said, adding: "They feel safe on the ship." The Ruby Princess could remain at port for up to 10 days to refuel and restock before leaving Australia, but authorities said crew would not be allowed off unless it was an emergency. Cruise liner Ruby Princess sits in the harbour in Port Kembla, south of Sydney, on April 6, 2020
A truck driver who stabbed four women, three fatally, was shot and killed by a sheriffs deputy in Tennessee on Tuesday.

Idris Abdus-Salaam, a truck driver from Durham, North Carolina, attacked the four people at the Pilot Travel Centre store near Knoxville.

When officers arrived at the scene just after 7am, they found one of the stabbing victims outside the store and a man armed with a knife in the parking lot.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said: Officers confronted the individual who refused to drop the weapon. At some point during the encounter, one of the officers fired shots, striking the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities identified those who were killed as Joyce Whaley; Patricia Nibbe; and Nettie Spencer. They all worked for Pilot at the store, which offers fuel, food, and parking to truck drivers and other motorists.

The injured customer has now been released from hospital.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has yet to offer a possible motive for the attack and is reviewing both the stabbings and the subsequent shooting of the suspect.

WBIR reports a source close to the investigation saying that the graphic contents of a notebook that law enforcement officers recovered from Abdus-Salaam's truck may indicate that he was not mentally well.

Tributes have been paid to the victims by members of the community. Ms Whaley was a faithful and steadfast member of The Crossing Church in Kodak. Pastor Kermit McPeek described her as: One of the most caring people I've ever met.

Pastor Joshua Moore at Grace Community Church said that Ms Nibbe was a woman you could count on: She was one of the most giving people, willing to help in an instant in any situation.

Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam said in a statement: We are devastated to confirm the loss of three team members and the injury of a guest after an act of violence at our Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, location this morning.

It is with heavy hearts that we extend our deepest sympathy to the families and loved ones of the victims. We are providing support and counselling to the families and our team. We are working closely with local authorities. Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.

The attackers mother, Walidah Abdus-Salaam, says such a heinous act is completely out of character for her son.

He's not a violent person, she told Knox News. The picture they painted is ugly. That is not my son.

She adds: I don't believe it, and I refuse to believe it until they can prove otherwise to me.
With 229 people testing positive on Thursday, the number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra reached 1,364, a health official said.

IMAGE: 'Corona is on road, stay at home' written in Marathi all along the road inside the Jija Mata Nagar, Worli, which is a COVID-19 hotspot in Mumbai on Thursday. All photographs: Sahil Salvi

The state also reported deaths of 25 COVID-19 patients, taking the death toll so far to 97, he added.

The bulk of new cases were reported in Mumbai.

"Both the number of new patients and that of deaths are highest for a single day so far," the official said.

As per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 79 persons tested positive for COVID-19 during the day, taking the number of such cases in the country's financial capital to 775.

So far 125 persons have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals in the state, the state health department official said.

Earlier in the evening, health minister Rajesh Tope had described the situation in the state as 'worrisome'.

Out of 25 deaths (15 men and 10 women) reported in the state on Thursday, Pune reported 14 deaths followed by nine in Mumbai and one each from Ratnagiri and Malegaon, the state health official said.

However, as per the authorities in Pune, only six coronavirus patients died in the district since Wednesday night.

IMAGE: Policemen in protective gear control traffic at Western Express Highway in Mumbai.



A 101-year-old woman in Mumbai, who had tested positive for coronavirus, died on Thursday, becoming the oldest coronavirus casualty in the state.

"12 of 25 persons who died today were above 60, while eleven were in the 40 to 60 age bracket. Only two were less than 40 years old," the state health official said.

Most of them suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or cardiac ailments.

So far 54 persons have died in Mumbai and 24 in Pune, the official said. However, as per the Mumbai civic body, the death toll in the state capital was 65.

Out of 1,364 COVID-19 patients 876 are from Mumbai and 181 from Pune, the state health official said.

The number of patients in other cities was as follows: Pimpri Chinchwad (19), Pune Rural (6), Thane city (26), Kalyan-Dombivli (32), Navi Mumbai (31), Mira Bhayandar (4), Vasai Virar (11), Panvel city (6), Satara (6), Sangli (26), Nagpur city (19), Ahmednagar city (16), three each from Thane rural and Palghar rural, Buldana (11), Ahmednagar rural (9), Aurangabad city (16), Latur city (8), Akola (9), Malegaon and Kolhapur (5) each, 4 each from Ratnagiri, Yavatmal, Osmanabad, Amravati city, one each from Ulhasnagar city, Nashik city, Nashik rural, Jalgaon city, Jalgaon rural, Aurangabad rural, Jalna, Hingoli, Washim, Gondia, Beed and Sindhudurg.

Eight people from neighbouring states are also undergoing treatment in Mumbai, the official said.

Besides Mumbai and Pune, Thane city has recorded three deaths, two each have died in Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai and Vasai-Virar, one each in Palghar, Satara, Nagpur, Buldana, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Amravati city, Ratnagiri and Jalgaon, he said.

So far, 30,766 samples have been sent for testing of which 28,865 tested negative while 1,364 tested positive.

As many as 36,533 people have been home quarantined while 4,731 are under institutional quarantine, he said.

IMAGE: Volunteers from a political party fogging an area where policemen are conducting checks near Tardeo in Mumbai.

Mumbai is one of the hotspots of COVID-19 as large number of people tested positive on the city and the civic body has created 381 containment zones to contain the spread of the virus.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said the number of COVID-19 positive cases have dropped after witnessing a rise for two days.

"It is due to the door-to-door screening of people from areas, where COVID-19 patients were found, that the number of positive cases has gone down at Koliwada and other areas of the city," she said.

A senior BMC official said the city will soon get 13,000 new personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, which will be brought in a flight.

The BMC sources said that a nurse at Sion Hospital and a doctor tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Four new positive cases, including a 70-year-old patient who died at KEM Hospital, tested coronavirus positive from Dharavi, taking the tally of such patients from the slum to 17, a BMC official said.

Meanwhile, the civic body has decided to keep all the shops, excluding medical shops, shut in the 10 containment zones spread over Dharavi, Dadar and Mahim.

The BMC claimed that it has surveyed more than 15 lakh people through health teams so far and identified 2,806 high risk contacts, which are referred for testing and also 1,500 samples collected through five teams by home visits.

"Because of vigorous action in a containment zone and timely quarantine of contacts, reduction in cases in these areas is seen," the BMC said.

It said that clinics have been set up on the periphery of the containment zones, where doctors, nurses and lab technicians, are deployed.

"40 Such clinics have been set up till April 8 and 442 swabs have been collected from the suspected cases," the civic body said.

Overall in Maharashtra, 125 persons have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals so far, the official said.

Earlier in the evening, health minister Rajesh Tope described the situation in the state as 'worrisome'.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 04:58:35|Editor: huaxia

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PRAGUE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Thursday urged people to adhere to social distancing measures during the Easter holiday, when addressing the nation in a televised speech before the holiday.

"I want us to ...lift all prohibitions and regulations as soon as possible, but not before we can protect the most vulnerable of us, our seniors," the prime minister said during his Green Thursday speech, reminding people of the dangers of getting the elderly infected.

Babis reiterated a point made earlier on Thursday by Interior Minister and head of the Central Crisis Staff Jan Hamacek, who urged residents to forego traditional Easter celebrations in order to adhere to social distancing.

"Let's promise now that even on the long weekend, when we have four days off and the weather will be pretty nice, we will not let go of what we are proud of, be it Easter or our daily life," he said, noting that some have started not to wear masks in public and begun congregating in groups due to the spring weather.

In his speech, the prime minister also stressed the promise of a so-called smart quarantine strategy currently being rolled out in several parts of the country that could help ease blanket restrictions.

"The next four days will be crucial. We won the first half of the fight against the epidemic 1: 0. But the overall victory will be decided now," he concluded.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids small business owners weathering the coronavirus shutdown can now call 311 to get help navigating state and federal assistance.

In addition to the phone service, owners can alternatively fill out a quick form on the citys website to be connected with that help.

City officials promise to get back within two business days.

The navigation services went online Wednesday, April 8, and are an attempt by the city to shoulder the burden of staying up to date on rapidly changing information about new assistance programs, both governmental and otherwise.

Even once a program gets rolled out, it changes almost on a daily basis, application processes are changing, said Jono Klooster, the citys acting economic development director. Let us do the work of staying up to date and providing that information to you, helping you understand whats available and then connecting you to the right resource to make sure you can take advantage of the programs that are out there.

Related: The online form for small businesses to get in touch with the city

In March, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all non-essential businesses to either close or have their employees work remotely from home in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Businesses in Grand Rapids are feeling that hurt, and while Klooster says he doesnt have an estimate of how many shuttered businesses there are in the city, its too many.

Some businesses, Klooster said, will likely not reopen.

To expect that every single business is going to be able to make it through and survive on the other side, particularly in the same way, shape and form, I think thats unrealistic, he said. But again, there are businesses that with the right assistance and the right delivery of the right programs at the right time, that will make the difference for some of those businesses whether they survive or not.

Related: Michigan sees another 26 percent increase in unemployment claims amid coronavirus crisis

Klooster urged all small businesses to call 311 or fill out the form, whether they think theyre eligible for assistance or not.

But businesses arent required to call, especially if they have an established working relationship with an entity that can connect them with the right resources. Klooster said the city doesnt want to get in the way of that.

A group of area non-profits, economic development agencies and governments, dubbed the West Michigan COVID-19 Business Coalition, has also put together an online resource guide for businesses navigating the pandemic. That website is covidwm.org.

The collaborative nature of Grand Rapids and West Michigan in terms of the economic development partners that exist is dialed up to 10 right now, Klooster said.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops ) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Michigan senator proposes $13 per hour increase for frontline workers during coronavirus crisis

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.
Courtesy Tim Tutt

Others are adopting cyber services as a way to adapt group celebrations.



At Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, a theologically progressive church in Bethesda, Maryland, they've found creative ways to worship during the time of COVID-19. They're even holding online communion services.

"We have a symbolic approach to the bread and wine, anyway, says the Rev. Tim Tutt, Westmoreland's senior minister. So, we're just asking people to bring their own bread and wine, or snack and beverage of their choice for the blessing.

Each day this week, they've had online platforms for people to participate.

"I would say that when you have a 101-year-old church member who is on that Zoom call listening to that musical meditation, and at the end of it saying, This is wonderful. I'm so glad to be in touch this way, you're like: The world is a pretty cool place.'"

But it has also added duties for staff.

"I guess everyone's contract in any job always has other duties assigned as necessary,' Tutt says. And so, my staff and I, we're like, I can do a funeral, I can officiate at your wedding. I can baptize your baby  and I can provide tech support for Zoom.'

Technology is bringing higher attendance than in-person services, he says, partly because people who otherwise couldn't come or who have moved way can connect.

Yoga and quaran-tivities'

At Grace Cathedral, a popular Episcopal church in San Francisco, the church has adapted in other ways online. Things like live-streaming and podcasts and have become the new norm  for everything from morning prayers to Bible studies and even yoga. On Easter, streaming will include a quartet of men from the cathedral choir singing beloved hymns.

At Abundant Life, a Southern Baptist megachurch in Lee's Summit, Missouri, with a weekly attendance of 2,000, pastors are hosting church at home videos with quaran-tivities for teaching, worship and prayer during this time of COVID-19. The church also has a robust social media presence on Facebook and Instagram in addition to live-streaming weekend services.

The strategy is similar at Bayside Community Church, a nondenominational megachurch in Bradenton, Florida, where Facebook church campus groups have grown into virtual watch parties.

"COVID-19, it's kept all of us glued to our TVs, our computers and our devices, and I want to continue to ask you, whatever the CDC and our government, local and national, are saying, just adhere to those regulations, and let's be safe, Lead Pastor Randy Bezet told his followers in a video this week.

"God is opening up ways for us, he says, and I think that through all this, in this very difficult time, our church is really going to grow and thrive.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG attends the Europe Aviation Summit in Brussels

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Lufthansa <LHAG.DE> will seek state aid in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria as the coronavirus crisis that forced it to ground almost all of its planes will persist longer than feared, the German airline's chief executive said.

"I am optimistic that the talks in Bern, Berlin, Brussels and Vienna will lead to good and positive results," CEO Carsten Spohr said in a video message to staff that was posted online.

People close to the matter told Reuters last week that Germany was in talks to provide Lufthansa, which has grounded 95% of its fleet due to the pandemic, with billions of euros in state aid and could take a stake in the airline.

Spohr added that Lufthansa was lucky to have a liquidity buffer of more than 4 billion euros ($4.35 billion), but some of that was owed to customers that have paid for now-cancelled flights and the carrier was currently losing cash at a rate of 1 million euros per hour, possibly for months to come.

"This crisis will take much longer than we could have imagined just a few weeks ago," Spohr said.

Lufthansa, which also owns Swiss International, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has previously said it was considering requests for state support.

Peers including IAG <ICAG.L>, easyJet <EZJ.L> and Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> have all but halted operations in the face of the pandemic.

($1 = 0.9205 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
I have said very clearly: What they are proposing will not get unanimous consent in the House. There is no reason why they cannot come to the table and see the value of what we are offering, Pelosi said, speaking by phone from San Francisco and referring to the Democrats counter to Mnuchin. You cannot expect us to ossify inequality in access to capital as we try to fight the coronavirus.
KAMPALA  All the 338 samples have returned negative for Corina virus in Uganda, the Ministry of Health has announced on Thursday April 09.

No new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the Uganda stand at 53, with all of them still active.

338 samples tested at @UVRIug and all are Negative for COVID-19. Confirmed number of cases still stands at 53, the ministry of health Twitted.

In a separate tweet Health Minister Jane Ruth said: Uganda, we can do this- wash hands with soap and water frequently, maintain a safe social distance and stay home. God bless.

According to the health ministry, a cumulative total of 3,862 samples have been tested for COVID-19.

The number of individuals under institutional quarantine has reduced from the original 1,040 to 613 as of Thursday.

A total of 427 individuals have been discharged from institutional quarantine. In addition, 855 contacts of the confirmed cases are under follow-up.

All the 53 people confirmed to have coronavirus are said to be in stable condition at Mulago National Specialized Hospital (21), Entebbe Grade B Hospital (30), Adjumani (1) and Hoima (1) hospital

The President during a the Wednesday address said the fight against the new coronavirus is easy as a collaborative effort involving the adherance to the general countrywide measures as well as individual initiative.

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To say that Anatoly Zaya-Ruzo is a man of many talents would be, to put it bluntly, an understatement.

A native of Ukraine, Zaya-Ruzo has lived in Cheshire for approximately 30 years and has made a local name for himself crafting an assortment of musical instruments  lutes, harpsichords and virginals, hurdy-gurdy, rebecs, fiddles, woodwinds, and drums.

For more than a decade, he used his skills to make automata musical dolls  large figurines that utilize a mechanical movement similar to a clock in order to move along with music. One of his dolls  Don Quixote in his library  was put on display at the Cheshire Public Library.

Now, you can add author to his business card.

Late last month, Zaya-Ruzos first novel, The Fourth Dimension, was officially made available to the public. The book, published by Austin Macauley Publishers, is billed as an adventure story for young readers. The characters weave their way through an intricate plot that combines treasure hunting, time travel, mutiny aboard a military tall ship, and much more.

I started on this eight years ago, Zaya-Ruzo explained to The Herald. I always dreamed of writing a book. I love books. I read hundreds when I was a child, and (they) formed my romantic vision.

The idea for The Fourth Dimension started innocently enough. One night, while on the phone with his friend, the two began to speak about possible business ventures. Zaya-Ruzo joked that his friend should simply go looking for treasure, to which his friend quipped that he was looking for more unusual ideas.

Zaya-Ruzo retorted that, if he wasnt interested in searching for treasure, then he could simply bury treasure himself and then sell the maps, which elicited a laugh from both men.

But then I began to think, (the idea) could be like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, only if they lived in our time, explained Zaya-Ruzo. Thats really where the plot for the book (took shape).

While this is Zaya-Ruzos first novel, it is not his first book. However, writing that piece  The Notes of Music Instrument Makers  was very different from tackling a novel, where the characters and settings had to come alive.

The process of writing was actually finding new links between heroes and time periods, he stated. Most of the inner plots and relationships came to me in the middle of the night. I would wake up at 5 a.m. and let my thoughts work by themselves.

An avid fan of puzzles, Zaya-Ruzo looked at the plot of his book as exactly that, and all the pieces of it, I create myself, he said.

That was the most beautiful part of writing this book, he continued.

While some authors may stick to a rigid story outline, Zaya-Ruzo approached his in a more organic fashion. I guess I was a child dreaming of traveling through time  seeking the thesaurus  walking on the desert islands  The more I dreamed, the more heroes and situations appeared.

Connecting the mini-plots into one continuous story proved the most challenging aspect for Zaya-Ruzo, though once the pieces fit, the chapters came together within hours. Then, with his tale almost complete, Zaya-Ruzo rented a home in Vermont for two weeks, left his family and friends behind, and put the finishing touches on his work.

I read the book every couple days, and then decided to change this or that to make the story more logical and interesting, he said. For instance, I tried to make the end of every chapter quite intriguing so that the reader would want to start the next chapter as soon as possible.

With his work complete, Zaya-Ruzo began the process of trying to get it published. First, he had to get it translated.

Since his native language is Russian, Zaya-Ruzo wrote the entire first draft in his preferred tongue and then sought out a woman in Arizona who agreed to translate it into English. Then, he published the book on the self-publishing site LULU.

I always wanted to be published by a real publishing house, admitted Zaya-Ruzo, but it was very hard, right from the beginning.

First, Zaya-Ruzo attempted to enlist the services of an agent who could market his book, but found that trying to succinctly explain the plot of his novel was difficult. So, he decided to go directly to publishing houses themselves, sending his work to approximately 12 major publishers. Only two initially replied, informing Zaya-Ruzo that they only worked with agents.

However, one publisher did show interest in Zaya-Ruzos novel and, before long, Austin Macauley had agreed to publish The Fourth Dimension.

The book has only been out for a short period of time, so feedback has been scant. However, a few people who received early copies have already reached out to Zaya-Ruzo to offer their opinions.

One very famous Russian writer, Yuz Aleshkovsky, has admitted that when he started to read the story, he could not stop until it ended, remarked Zaya-Ruzo. And one adult reader said she read it twice in a row, even though the book was written for younger readers.

With his first book in print, the local author is already thinking about his second. There are plenty of twists and turns circulating in his mind, and Zaya-Ruzo is itching to reenter the world of The Fourth Dimension.

I love my book, and the heroes. They are real for me, and I have a productive idea of their next adventures, he said.  but I have to wake up at 5 a.m. much more to make the plot (come together.

You can purchase The Fourth Dimension through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores throughout the country.
Just as the coronavirus outbreak has boxed in society, its also squeezed high-flying tech companies reliant on peoples freedom to move around and get together.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2019, file photo an Uber office is seen in Secaucus, N.J. Just as the coronavirus outbreak has boxed in society, its also squeezed high-flying tech companies reliant on peoples freedom to move around and get together. Uber has tried to reassure investors that it has enough cash to weather the fallout from the global pandemic and is turning to deliveries to make up for lost income after ride-hailing screeched to a halt. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Just as the coronavirus outbreak has boxed in society, its also squeezed high-flying tech companies reliant on peoples freedom to move around and get together.

Since the beginning of March, for instance, Uber shares have lost a quarter of their value. Rival Lyft is down 28 per cent. Over the same period, the S&P 500 has fallen just 10 per cent, even with wild swings along the way. The picture is even less clear for other, still-private unicorn companies once valued at more than $1 billion, such as Airbnb and WeWork.

What market pressure will mean for all companies is survival of the fittest, said Allen Adamson, co-founder of the marketing firm Metaforce and a business professor at New York University. If you are going into this storm in a bad shape, its not going to be pretty.

Just few weeks ago, Airbnb was poised to cash in on a soaring stock market with its highly anticipated public offering. But with the market now reeling and few people looking to anywhere but home, Airbnb is reportedly racking up millions of dollars in losses while fending off a backlash from hosts who rely on its service to survive.

Hosts were furious when the company told guests they could cancel their stays without penalties. Last week, Airbnb agreed to pay hosts $250 million to make up for some of the money lost to cancellations.

In this Feb. 12, 2020, photograph, a sign for the car sharing service Lyft stands near a pickup zone outside the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver. Just as the coronavirus outbreak has boxed in society, its also squeezed high-flying tech companies reliant on peoples freedom to move around and get together. Lyft and rival Uber are turning to deliveries to make up for lost income after ride-hailing screeched to a halt. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

AirDNA, a data firm that helps property owners set rental rates, says the impact on U.S. Airbnb hosts has been mixed. In New York City, bookings dropped 66% in March, but in outer suburbs they were up as people fled the city. Bookings in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., jumped sixfold. Similarly, bookings in the city of Chicago fell 11% last month, but in St. Joseph, Michigan  a lakeside community within driving distance  they were up by a factor of four.

Cary Gillenwater, who has an attached guest suite in Amsterdam listed on Airbnb, said 20 guests have cancelled reservations between March and June, costing him nearly $11,000. He had hoped for compensation from the company, but was told that only reservations cancelled through Airbnb that specifically mentioned the coronavirus would qualify. Several of his would-be guests contacted him directly to cancel; he refunded their money, but may be out of luck when it comes to reimbursement. Airbnb said it was looking into the case..

The company got a lifeline of sorts on Monday, when two private equity firms  Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners  invested $1 billion in debt and equity in the company. The firms say the expect Airbnb to emerge from the crisis in a stronger position.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, however, that the company will pay interest of more than 10% on those loans and that it has made a "verbal commitment" to reduce fixed costs and to bring in supplemental management  terms that often mean layoffs and other cost-cutting. Airbnb didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the Journal report.

Uber, meanwhile, is trying to reassure jittery investors than its aggressive expansion plans for ride-hailing remain on track. Like its rival Lyft, it has seen ride demand hit a wall as states ratchet up stay-at-home orders. Both companies are trying to conserve cash so they can weather the pandemics fallout, in part by emphasizing deliveries of food and other goods.

Even in its worst-case scenario -- an 80% decline in ridership through 2020 -- the company said it would end the year with $4 billion in cash. That would still mean burning through almost $7 billion this year, which could create problems for Ubers larger ambitions such as self-driving cars and air taxis.

Analysts, however, remain largely bullish. We believe both Uber and Lyft will come out the other side still well placed to capture growth and opportunity, said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives.

Drivers are another story. San Diegan Christopher Chandler, who's been driving for both companies for two years, said he's lost more than 80% of his income since riders all but vanished. Im going to have to make some hard choices about what bills I wont pay this month," said Chandler, who has switched to deliveries that don't come close to covering his former ride income.

Other lesser-known companies, however, have benefited from the pandemic. Zoom, the video conferencing provider, has seen its stock soar to new highs in recent weeks; shares have nearly quadrupled compared to their IPO price just 11 months ago.

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Not so long ago, the meal-kit maker Blue Apron was threatened with delisting from the New York Stock Exchange after its shares fell below the exchange minimum of $1. Since the beginning of March, however, company shares have more than tripled after it reported a sharp increase in consumer demand fueled by stay-at-home orders.

CB Insights lists more than 450 startups worldwide valued at $1 billion or more. While it can be hard to paint these unicorns with a broad brush because of their variety of business models and leadership styles, co-founder and CEO Anand Sanwal said that what COVID-19 is doing to the economy will be tough for any company to weather, startup or not.

Sanwal said hes already seeing a decline in early-stage seed investments that help launch new tech startups. But he said investors who have poured big sums into unicorn startups will likely try to do what they can to help keep them healthy, at the very least by grooming them for sale rather than standing by as they collapse.

Investors are going to make some hard decisions about whether this is a temporary downturn, or a company that doesnt have a shot, he said.

__

AP Technology Writer Matt OBrien contributed to this story.
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Prosecutors this week charged a second man in connection with an alleged kidnapping and robbery that involved an attempt to make the victim withdraw money from an ATM.

Zachary Bryan, 27, faces a single felony count of aiding and abetting kidnapping, a felony count of aiding and abetting robbery and a count of misdemeanor battery. He has not yet had an opportunity to enter pleas in the case.

Court documents filed in support of the charges allege that Bryan assisted Lucas Sanchez, 29, earlier this week as he ambushed another person in a Paradise Valley home. The alleged victim in the case had arrived in order to meet a woman, with whom Sanchez was romantically involved, according to the documents. After a TV broke during the altercation, the documents state, Sanchez demanded money, took the mans phone and forced him into a pickup. When they arrived at a Casper bank, the alleged victim took off, making his way to the Wyoming Medical Center, where he talked to police.

Bryan, according to the court documents, contacted police by phone on Friday afternoon following local media publication of law enforcement allegations in connection with the case. He said that the alleged victim had broken electronics in the Paradise Valley home and offered to pay to replace them. Bryan told a detective that the people alleged to have kidnapped the man had offered him a ride to the ATM, according to the documents.

Sanchez should not have been charged in the case, Bryan said.

At a later interview, the documents state, Bryan told police he struck the alleged victim multiple times with an open hand.

Although the documents identify another person as a suspect  and indicate another two unnamed people were involved in the alleged robbery and kidnapping  jail records available Wednesday morning indicated that nobody else had been arrested in connection with the case.

On Tuesday afternoon, police in a social media post indicated that detectives are still searching for the late 2000s Ford-150 pickup that the agency says was used in the alleged kidnapping. The vehicle is red with running boards and after-market decals on the bottom of the cab that are black and either silver or gray. The police department asked people with information about the alleged crimes to contact Detective Justin Hatcher at 307-233-6622.

Bryan on Wednesday remained in custody in lieu of a $15,000 bond.

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Massachusetts legislators are among government officials nationwide calling for more specific data on what communities and populations are being most affected by coronavirus disease 2019.

Preliminary reports indicate in some cities, like New York, rates of infection and deaths from the novel virus are disproportionately higher among African Americans and Hispanics.

In Massachusetts, the county with the second highest number of deaths from COVID-19 and third highest mortality rate is Hampden which ranks eight in population among the states 14 counties. Its 65 deaths confirmed from the virus include 20 residents of the Holyoke Soldiers Home.

Early data from China, where the virus was first identified at the beginning of January, indicated that those at higher risk for severe respiratory complications are the elderly and anyone with an underlying medical condition.

Hampden has consistently ranked as the least healthy county in the state according to markers ranging from rates of smoking and obesity among adults to access to primary care physicians, among others.

Baystate Medical Centers 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, a report produced every three years, highlights the health inequities, in particular for Latinos and blacks, the largest communities of color in the county. It also highlight conditions - such as the need to rely on public transportation - that make people more vulnerable to exposure to COVID-19 that spreads easily in close contact with someone who might not even know they are infected.

Among the findings in the CHNA:

Nearly 14% of Hampden County residents and 23% of Springfield residents do not have personal transportation or rely on public transportation.

Hampden County residents experience limited access to healthy foods. Springfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee in particular have high rates of food insecurity experienced by over 20% of residents in some areas of these communities.

Seventeen percent of Hampden County residents have incomes at poverty levels and the median household income is one-third lower than the rest of the state.

Springfield experiences poor ambient air quality due to multiple mobile and point sources, making the risk of cancer from breathing air toxins 80% higher than that of the state. Air pollution impacts the morbidity of several chronic diseases that have a high prevalence in Hampden County, including asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, which recent studies have suggested is associated with air quality. Exposure to lead is also heightened in Springfield and Holyoke.

Hampden County residents also experience challenges accessing care due to the shortage of providers.

An estimated 29% of adults in Hampden County are obese with 37% obese in Springfield. Four out of five adults over 65 have hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. An estimated 11% of county residents have diabetes. Emergency department use due to asthma for adults is 78% higher than the state. Pediatric asthma ranges from 10% of children in Westfield and West Springfield to up to 20% in the urban core cities of Hampden County.

Available data indicates that children and youth, older adults, and Latinos and blacks experience disproportionately high rates of some health conditions or associated morbidities when compared to that of the general population in Hampden County. Children and youth experienced high rates of asthma and are particularly impacted by obesity and sexually transmitted infections. Older adults had higher rates of chronic disease and hypertension. Latinos and blacks experienced higher rates of hospitalizations due to some chronic diseases, mental health, and substance use disorders.

As the report notes, Health is largely determined by the social, economic, cultural, and physical environments that people live in and the health care they receive and disparities make those who face them particularly vulnerable to the pandemic caused by virus.

In the commonwealth, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is currently highest in Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex counties. Middlesex has the largest population of the states 14 counties, Suffolk is second and Essex, fourth.

Two other counties in Western Massachusetts - Franklin at 30 deaths per 100,000 population, and Berkshire, 16 per 100,000 population, rank first and second in terms of mortality rate in the commonwealth.

Hampden Countys rate is 14 deaths per 100,000 population.

Franklin and Berkshire, in terms of population size in the state, rank 11 and 12, respectively, and Hampden, with a population of 469,116, is eighth.

Massachusetts rate of mortality from the COVID-19 is 6 deaths per 100,000 population.

The current rate of mortality from the disease at the national level is estimated to be 4.39 deaths per 100,000 population.

Related:

Coronavirus: 2 more Holyoke Soldiers Home veterans died of suspected COVID-19, 68 staff test positive

Coronavirus data: What do Mass. residents know beyond deaths and cases? Lawmakers call for more information to be released

Coronavirus in the US: President Donald Trump wants to find reasons COVID-19 disproportionately kills African Americans
AP

A 16-year-old is using his skills as a budding pilot to bring desperately needed medical equipment to rural hospitals.

TJ Kim carries a variety of supplies including gloves, masks and gowns to small hospitals during his flying lessons, The Associated Press reported.

The teenager undertook his first delivery on 27 March to a 25-bed hospital in Luray, where he was overwhelmed by the gratefulness at his efforts, AP said.

They kind of conveyed to me that they were really forgotten about. Everyone was wanting to send donations to big city hospitals, he told the outlet.

Every hospital is hurting for supplies, but its the rural hospitals that really feel forgotten.

According to the report, Kim was an avid lacrosse fan and was severely disappointed when school closures meant his lacrosse season was forced to end early.

The Maryland sophomore came up with a creative solution to keep active and give something back to the community amid the crisis with the help of his family from McLean, Virginia.

Kim and his family called their efforts Operation SOS  Supplies Over Skies.

In his most recent flight, TJ carried 3,000 gloves, 1,000 head-covers, 500 shoe covers, 50 non-surgical masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 concentrated bottles of hand sanitiser to a hospital in Woodstock, AP reported.

After I landed, all I could think about was going back up, TJ said.

TJs flight instructor, Dave Powell, was over the moon at his students idea, especially after he was so disheartened by the lacrosse cancellations.

For TJ to be more concerned with the needs of others in his melancholy state just reiterated to me how amazing this young man is, Mr Powell said.

The teenager eventually hopes to attend the Naval Academy and become a fully-fledged pilot.

According to TJ the hardest part of the project was securing the supplies for the trips, with medical resources and protective equipment stretched out around the country amid the pandemic.

However, his father, Thomas Kim, told AP he was glad to see his son turn his earlier disappointment into something positive: something that combines serving the community and his love of flying.

Story continues

The stars really aligned here, Mr Kim said.

Read more

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[April 09, 2020] Economic Transformation Technologies and Give Life Foundation Launch Alliance to Spur Immediate Action on a National COVID-19 Immune Registry

Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT) and Give Life Foundation today announced an alliance to support the rapid deployment of an Immune Registry to help combat COVID-19. This partnership is the result of collaboration between ETT and Give Life Foundation, which began based on their collective interest in the development and operation of national registries and further encouraged by President Donald Trump and members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate advocating for a national registry in order to preserve life and get the nation back to work. The ETT team has world-class experts not only in healthcare, government policies, innovative business growth, but also in responding to this type of national challenge. Bart Fisher, chairman and co-founder of Give Life Foundation also co-founded the Nation Marrow Donor Foundation in response to the absence of a donor registry in the U.S. and has worked on establishing large bone marrow donor registries around the world. The online registry would log recovered COVID-19 patients who have likely developed immunity to the coronavirus, and this would help the effort to speed up the return to normal life in the U.S. This is similar to the immunization registries for children currently in place in the U.S., where all vaccines received as a baby and young child up through high school are recorded online in an immunization registry. In a recent op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La) and Christopher Mores, global health professor at George Washington University urged "to restart the economy, the government needs to set up coronavirus-immunity registries.Recovering from a known coronavirus infection or having a positive antibody test is likely to indicate imunity lasting for at least some time. Those who so demonstrate that they are immune can be allowed to return to work. The whole community is freer when herd immunity is established."



There are several efforts already underway to establish a registry, including the Convalescent Plasma Program recently launched by the American Red Cross at the request of the Food and Drug Administration. The American Red Cross collects less than 30 percent of the nation's blood; however, while blood banks and other health care providers collect the remaining amounts of blood. The state of New York has also launched a registry, which is intended for use primarily if not entirely by New Yorkers. "ETT feels a sense of urgency in our partnership with Give Life Foundation to lend our capabilities and support to this national, and ideally swift moving, initiative to stand up a national COVID-19 registry to save lives and spur economic recovery," said Shahal Khan, board member for ETT. "Our BioDatAi platform is available today, and we know that a registry can be actualized in a matter of weeks, which will make a huge difference in the lives of the American people."

"We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic requires a federal response to coordinate the various disparate efforts that have been launched," said Bart Fisher, chairman and co-founder of the Give Life Foundation. "The proposed registry would manage the distribution of convalescent plasma to hospitals, other health care providers, and blood banks to assure rapid access to patients in need." Fisher also assisted with The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, which established federal registries for solid organ transplants and bone marrow transplants. Other countries have already turned to high-tech surveillance systems in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus. China rolled out a mandatory smartphone app that asks citizens questions about their level of exposure to people who have demonstrated symptoms, and automatically orders certain users to quarantine themselves. Singapore has issued a similar app that uses Bluetooth to detect people's proximity to those who have been exposed to coronavirus and warns them to get tested if they come in close contact. Taiwan is using big data to contain the spread of coronavirus. Due to its proximity to China, Taiwan could have hit hard by the COVID-19. It is said that over 400,000 of its citizens work in mainland China. However, the country's use of big data analytics and cellphone tracking assisted officials to control the spread of the virus, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "The United States is behind in applying advanced technology into dealing with this global crisis," said David Smith (News - Alert), chief technology officer for ETT. "Much as we learned from 9/11 the data and interoperability can make a significant difference. It's time for us to apply the lessons from 9/11 and subsequent events to create this national federated repository and to apply the systems of systems approach at all levels from the federal, state, local government, the commercial sector, all the way down to the individual citizens the power and data to make significant advances against this pandemic." About ETT Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT) is a data-centric, multi-disciplinary tech holding company formed to bring a Systems of Systems approach to solving sovereign nations and large commercial problems. The centerpiece of its approach is its BioDatAi Platform, a central interoperable, intelligent, collaborative and secure hub that streamlines the development of innovative applications that deliver value across clinical and business aspects of healthcare. The Platform is MU and MU 3 compliant, HIPAA and HiTrust certified at the platform level, and built to the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard. For more information visit https://ett.world/ About Give Life Foundation Give Life Foundation's mission is to increase the awareness of the chronic shortage of the U.S. blood supply encourage the donation of blood, blood products, organs and tissues. It supports the work of not-for-profit organizations to include the American Red Cross, National Marrow Donor Program, Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, United Network for Organ Sharing and Whole Kids Foundation. For more information visit http://give-lifefoundation.org/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005734/en/

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The Nigerian economy is beginning to feel the pinch of the lockdown imposed in late March in Lagos and Abuja to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Millions of people working in the informal sector have been particularly affected; we tell you more. Meanwhile in Madagascar, thousands rush to travel back to their hometowns and flee the capital - our correspondent reports. And in Senegal, musicians from a pro-democracy political movement are trying to encourage people to do their bit in the fight against coronavirus; we check out their new song.
Ms. Jacobs and Mr. Shelley have made careers of their nontraditional jobs, meaning both have spent the bulk of their later earning years forgoing benefits. According to the Boston centers study, that lands them among the group of future retirees likely to see the highest rate of lost income: Their peers are apt to be 26 percent richer because they wont have pulled from their own pockets to pay for health coverage or have interrupted the accrual of money in their 401(k)s or pensions.

Making a career of these jobs also puts them among the majority of workers in those positions, who stay put rather than using them as stopgaps between jobs with benefits or bridges to retirement. Workers who bounced among mostly traditional jobs, with stints at nontraditional jobs in between, had about 6 percent less retirement income, the study found.

Some people do use these jobs to tide them over between one traditional job and another, Dr. Munnell said; those workers make up only about 25 percent. Fifty-four percent of the 4,174 respondents in the centers study stay in their no-benefits jobs for years. Among them are people whose lack of a high school diploma prevents them from securing traditional jobs. Others are in Ms. Jacobss position, with a spouse to fall back on.

For those two groups, theres some logic in working nontraditional jobs, Dr. Munnell said. But a third group  theyre as well educated as the average worker, but theyre solo earners. We dont understand why theyre there.

Regardless, they will likely feel the pinch later. Its important in the later years of your life to be participating in a retirement program, because typically those are the years when accrual is most significant, said Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security. Its really your last chance to build up a nest egg.

A January report from the institute found that 40 percent of Americans over 60 draw income from Social Security alone, while only 7 percent pay their bills through a combination of Social Security, a defined-benefit pension and a contribution plan such as a 401(k).

That may be because only about half of U.S. workplaces offer their employees retirement plans, Mr. Doonan said. Access has been a challenge, he said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for global unity and solidarity to stop the coronavirus pandemic and said it is not the time to look back and assess how organisations and nations have reacted to the coronavirus crisis.

This comes a day after US President Donald Trump accused the WHO of being "China-centric" and criticised its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak. "Once we have finally turned the page on this pandemic, there must be a time to look back fully to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the ...
GPs have warned people with even mild Covid-19 symptoms should now be self-isolating.

The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has this morning issued the warning because a large majority of confirmed virus cases are now coming from community transmission.

The ICGP has also urged people to stay at home this coming weekend.

And, echoing earlier concerns about the fate of people who have stopped seeing their GP or attending hospital emergency departments, the body has also urged anybody with non-Covid-19 conditions to see their GP if they need treatment.

Dr Nuala OConnor, the ICGPs Lead Adviser on COVID-19, said: People may have only mild symptoms, so they dont realize how dangerous this could be for vulnerable people in their family home.

These are the elderly, those with chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, or those with underlying conditions.

They must self-isolate for 14 days.

She stressed this means they cant go out, they must not share utensils or towels with family members and they must stay two metres away from people.

I know this can be difficult in a family environment but this is the only way we can avoid spreading the virus further, she added.

Dr Mary Favier, President of the ICGP, said: We cant afford to become complacent at this stage in the pandemic.

While 80% of people get a mild illness, we know that the virus can be deadly for some, including young people.

We urge people to stay at home and limit the spread of the virus as much as possible.

Dr Favier reminded the public that General Practice is open for all illnesses, and urged people worried about any aspect of their health to pick up the phone to their GP.

We are very concerned that a lot of illness, including early stage cancers, could be missed because people are afraid to go to their GP, she said.

We have set up systems to enable consultations for patients without being put at risk of getting Covid-19.

So please do remember: GP is open.
Horse racing is often seen as a preserve of the wealthy but charity Racing Welfare is working overtime to deal with huge demands from those working in an industry in dire financial straits. The charity's mission is to look after the British horse racing workforce and the coronavirus pandemic has put staff under immense pressure, with the sport in shutdown. Racing Welfare, created in 2000, provides housing for working and retired staff at rates well below market value as well as occupational and mental health services. They rely on charitable donations and fundraising. Funding also comes from the Racing Foundation, who are custodians of the charitable funds that the sport received from the government's sale of the Tote (Horserace Totalisator Board) to betting company Betfred in 2011. However, with a staff of just 48, chief executive Dawn Goodfellow said their resources had never been so stretched. Racing Foundation trustees agreed a substantial donation on Wednesday which they can use to plug a financial gap for those who come to them in desperate need. "We need a hardship grant for people with no access to funds and who need to put food on the table and pay utility bills," she told AFP by phone. Goodfellow said there had been an exponential rise in calls to their helpline since the outbreak of the pandemic, with both stable and stud staff laid off. "Housing is an issue," she said. "A fair amount of housing is tied to jobs in racing. So we are tackling the issue with staff being laid off by stud farms or trainers and having to find somewhere to live." - 'Mental pressures' - Trainers are also suffering, according to Goodfellow -- the reality of their jobs is often at odds with the glamorous image at high-profile race meetings such as Cheltenham or Royal Ascot. "Trainers themselves are an area of big concern," she said. "They are mainly micro-enterprises. They are under a great deal of pressure as they are already operating on marginal returns. "The mental pressures are already big but will pile up." "It is a lonely role," she added. "Either they or their wives are running the business side which involves financial management, horse welfare and personnel welfare." Racing in Britain is suspended until the end of April and this week the first four of England's five annual Classic races, including the Epsom Derby, were postponed. Goodfellow fears if there is no limited resumption of racing in May, the situation could spiral. "May 1 is pivotal as already we have had genuine cases of hardship but if it does not resume it could become a torrent," she said. "There will be many more businesses in distress and that will impact on their employees who will also seek help from us. "Owners may take their horses away from trainers to reduce their costs in training fees, and staff who are hanging on in there just for the moment may well be let go." The figures are stark. "Those eligible to apply to us for help are 13,000 on the horse racing side. There are a further 7,000 from racecourse administration, more than half of whom have been placed on the government's furlough assistance scheme," she said. "Eighty percent of those could be at risk, with 75 percent of them coming to us," said Goodfellow. At the moment the number one issue for those seeking help is financial problems followed by enquiries about benefits, with mental health sixth on the list. "I would expect the mental health issue to grow in the coming weeks due to those other problems," she said. "We are in a bit of a lull at the moment." Racing in Britain is suspended until the end of April Horse racing in Britain is at a standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic Organisers will attempt to reschedule the Epsom Derby for later in the year Racegoers at Royal Ascot
Hungarys hospitals are required to continue performing urgent procedures, the human resources ministry said.

Under a ministerial decree issued on March 16, hospitals must perform during the state of emergency any examination, treatment or operation without which a patients condition could turn critical or suffer lasting damage.



Urgent cases are handled accordingly all over the country, the ministry said in its statement.



MTI Photo: Csaba Bus
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How prevalent and how deadly is the coronavirus? The straight answer is that nobody knows for sure. In Ireland, as is the case in every country in the world, too few tests are being done to know for certain.

As a way of making up for this critical information deficiency, this column last week suggested looking at all of the deaths in the country in 2020 so far to see if there had been a spike in mortality, as seems to have happened in some of the worst-affected countries, such as parts of northern Italy.

Because official death statistics are published with a lag of many months, this is harder to establish than one might think.

To get some idea I contacted RIP.ie. They kindly shared the number of death notices they receive over time. Reassuringly, their death notice numbers for the past few months certainly don't point to the virus having spread earlier and faster than suggested by unavoidably patchy Government figures on confirmed cases of the virus and confirmed deaths. The number of death notices on RIP.ie in January, February and March this year were not out of line with those of the past three years. So far, so reassuring.

On a daily basis more recently, however, there has been a sharp and accelerating increase in death notices over the past two weeks compared to the same days in previous years. That said, while the Government's figures on the number of daily deaths from the virus may be missing cases, the RIP.ie figures do not point to Ireland being in the early stages of a northern Italy-type situation, for the moment at least.

At a time of so much uncertainty and bad news, this gives tentative cause to believe that things are not very much worse than the official figures are suggesting.

If what can be established about lives lost is somewhat reassuring, the news over the past week about livelihoods lost is much less so.

The number of people who have become dependent on the State for their incomes is as staggering as it is unprecedented.

As of last Friday, according to the Department of Social Protection, more than three-quarters of a million people were on jobless benefits or wage subsidies of some kind. That represents a more than four-fold increase in the space of just a few weeks.

With jobs still being lost by the day, most of which will be only temporary - we all hope - the number of people on benefits by the end of this week is likely to have easily passed the 800,000 mark.

The State is borrowing massively to pay for these income supports. That is the correct course of action. Benefit payments will alleviate hardship and provide some security in these difficult times. From a wider economy perspective, the cash will support consumer demand at a time when it is on the floor. That will help businesses preserve jobs.

A third important function of these payments is to slow the pace of bankruptcies. 'Cash burn' is a term that many people involved in managing businesses are now using all day long. Cutting costs to match reduced revenues has become a survival imperative for many companies. The social welfare system is helping them to do this.

But the State may have to do more to save businesses. Across Europe, one of the main measures governments are using to support companies is something that sends a shiver down the collective spine of this nation: the public guaranteeing of private liabilities.

Almost a dozen years ago, the State guaranteed the liabilities of Irish banks. Had it not done so, the banking, credit and payments systems would have collapsed at a time when the economy was already in a state of collapse. That would have made the recession much deeper than it turned out to be. Unemployment would have been even higher. The public finances would have plunged even deeper into the red. The bailout troika may have arrived sooner than they did.

The costs of not saving systems which are critical to the functioning of the economy will never be known. The costs of saving them, which amounted to around 40bn, were borne directly by taxpayers.

Far too many people remain convinced that the bank guarantee was the source of all our ills in the last recession. That is simply wrong. Guarantees can be costly, be they can also be the least bad option in a crisis.

Governments across Europe are now taking the sort of risk that the Irish government took in 2008 by giving mass guarantees to private companies across their economies. There is no doubt the direct cost to taxpayers will be big. But without such guarantees, the ongoing recession will be even deeper and longer than it looks set to be.

Fears of a repeat of the bank guarantee have meant the Irish Government has been slower to do what has become common across Europe. We need to collectively overcome these fears, and accept that public guarantees of private liabilities may be the least bad option now if we want to preserve the productive capacity of the economy and, ultimately, hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Europe's finance ministers have been, and will continue to be, the main players in the design of business guarantee schemes. Working under war-like conditions means that time is short.

Lamentably, the 19 finance ministers in the eurozone spent a staggering 16 hours on a conference call this week. They wasted their time.

They spent these hours talking about bailout mechanisms and common borrowing to address the fallout from the pandemic. These discussions, which failed to agree on anything, have been a waste of precious time because these issues do not need to be addressed urgently.

That is primarily because the European Central Bank, which took further radical measures to support the eurozone economy on Tuesday, continues to do its job as the eurozone's lender of last resort.

As long as it continues to do so, bailouts and common eurozone borrowing won't be needed, at least in the short term.

Eurozone finance ministers should focus on alleviating the economic effects of the crisis right now.

They should stop talking about non- urgent issues.
As another day of battle between the coronavirus COVID-19 and humanity came to an end, the total number of cases across 184 nations reached 1,447,412 and the death toll stood at 91,783 at 11.45 pm (IST) on Thursday.

The US continues to record the highest number of cases at 3,63,851, followed by Spain at 152,446, Italy at 143,626, Germany at 114,257, and France at 83,080. So far, Italy has witnessed the highest death toll across all the nations at 18,279, followed by the US at 15,774, Spain at 15,238, France at 10,887 and the UK at 7,111.

France on Thursday reported its first fall in the number of patients in intensive care suffering from COVID-19 since the coronavirus epidemic began, with 82 fewer people in intensive care units compared with the day earlier. There are now 7,066 patients in intensive care, top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters, adding that the total combined death toll in hospitals and nursing homes had now risen to 12,210. Urging people to keep on observing a nationwide lockdown, he said: "Thanks to these measures, we are in the process of putting the brakes on the epidemic."

The Italian government is planning to extend its lockdown to contain the country`s COVID-19 outbreak until May 3, two trade union sources told Reuters on Thursday after meeting ministers. The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people leaving their homes for all but essential needs, has been in place since March 9 and was due to end on April 13.

However, the union sources and an industry source said the closure of all industries not essential to the supply chain could be slightly eased before the end of April, with a few factory sites allowed to reopen if health conditions permit. Data from the Civil Protection Agency earlier on Thursday showed that deaths from the coronavirus and new infections both accelerated over the past 24 hours compared with the day before.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 610 on Thursday, up from 542 the day before, and the number of new cases also came in higher at 4,204 from a previous 3,836. The daily tally of cases was the highest since April 5 and comes as a disappointment to a country in lockdown since March 9, anxious for clear signs that the illness is in retreat.

Spain`s prime minister warned on Thursday that nationwide confinement would likely last until May even though he said the worst should soon be over and the death toll slowed from one of the world`s most devastating outbreaks of the coronavirus. Speaking to a near-empty parliament as more than 300 lawmakers participated remotely, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said latest data showed Spain was close to the start of a decline in the epidemic. "The fire starts to come under control," he said.
Modern Family finished up its eleventh and final season on Wednesday night, but there's already talk of a spin-off among the show's creative team.

Co-creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd weighed in on the subject in an interview with Deadline posted the same evening.

Though both executive producers weren't ready to move forward with a spin-off, they though Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet's couple seemed the most likely to work on its own.

Just an idea: Modern Family co-creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd said they were considering a spin-off for Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet), according to Deadline

The two were asked about Mitchell (Ferguson) and Cameron (Stonestreet) moving to Missouri at the end of the series, and whether that gave them an opportunity for their own show.

'Im personally not thinking about that,' Levitan said, after rejecting the idea that Cameron and Mitchell had long been considered for a spin-off.

But even if Levitan wasn't on that beat, other Modern Family writers were.

'I think that there are a couple of writers who are thinking about well, is there a Mitch and Cam spinoff, but theyre literally just thinking about it. Theyre using this time that we have now to think about it, if theres something there.'

That's all, folks: Modern Family ended its eleventh and final season Wednesday night with Mitchell and Cameron moving to Missouri to be closer to Cameron's family

Taking time off: 'Im personally not thinking about that,' Levitan said of a Mitchell and Cameron spin-off, though he said the show's writers were considering the idea

'Im not driving this but Im a huge fan of Jesse and Eric, and those characters are of course near and dear to me, and I certainly think that theyre strong enough to carry a show,' he continued.

Even if he was interested in their spin-off, Levitan had trouble concentrating on the same batch of characters.

For me, I really felt that what I needed creatively was to work on something new after working on Modern Family for 12 years and pretty much exclusively.'

Lloyd also seemed to be a fan of a possibly Mitchell and Cameron series, and he explained the choice to have the married couple moved to Missouri at the end of the show.

Levitan (L) and Lloyd (R) were both cautious about the possibility of a spin-off, though they were in agreement that Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet would be the best candidates

'We wanted to have them off on a new journey, and it seemed symmetrical to have Mitchell follow Cam some place and maybe be around Cams family because Cam had played that role in Mitchells life for the last 11 years.

'Cam had this opportunity to do something wonderful and exciting, Mitchell felt okay, that makes my obligation to let him chase his dream, and I will go with him and see what that life is like for me,' he said.

Though he was pleas with the idea of a Mitchell and Cameron spin-off, Lloyd was as cautious as his partner.

'Will that happen? Im not sure but we would be probably dumb to not explore it. However, doing a spinoff is fraught in a lot of ways and we wont do it unless we feel confident theres something there, I dont want to say its a long shot, its under discussion but well see. We dont want to jump into something like that, particularly because Modern Family is a tough act to follow, but that is a possibility,' he said.

On the brain: 'We would be probably dumb to not explore it,' Lloyd said of a potential spin-off. Ferguson and Stonestreet have been on the series since the beginning as a gay couple that adopted a child and later got married

Astounding: Modern family ran from 2009 to 2020 and earned 22 Emmy awards from 75 nominations

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet play Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker, a gay couple who adopt a daughter at the beginning of the series and later get married.

Mitchell was the son of series patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) and the brother of Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen).

Stonestreet won two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a comedy series, Ferguson was nominated for the same award five times.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said that coronavirus came to India "through international flight" and the Centre should have ensured that all passengers coming to the country through such flights were quarantined.

Addressing a presser through video-conferencing, Baghel said the state had taken comprehensive measures to check the spread of coronavirus including testing of those who returned from abroad during which they came across a case in which a person was found positive almost two months after his return.

Raising questions on the way the central government had handled international passengers, he said if they had been quarantined, the disease would not have spread to so many states.

"This disease has come through international filght.Those who came by such flights should have been quarantined whether they went Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad or Chennai," he said.

"If international flights had been stopped or those who came kept in quarantine and tested, the disesase would not have spread to the entire country," he added.

The Congress leader said that states could have been told that international passengers reaching in their areas should be quarantined and checked properly.

"We did it. We quarantined 2100 people who had returned from aborad and we started testing from there. That is why we were able to stop it," he said.

The Chief Minister said party leader Rahul Gandhi had given directions on ways to combat COVID-19 in the first week of March.

Baghel said they moved early to contain the spread of virus and 11 cases had been reported in the state of whom nine have returned home.

He said the state enforced a lockdown on March 21 and the first case was reported on March 18 and the concerned area sealed. .

The Chief Minsiter said three more cases were reported after two days and the case histories revealed that maximum patients found positive had returned from United Kingdom. He said people who had returned from aborad were home quartined and 90 people who had returned from UK were tested.

Baghel said that normally it is said that effect of coronavirus is visible in 14 or 21 days but positive cases were found in asymptomatic people also.

"There is a case that a person stayed in quartaine for 18 days and was asymtopatic but turned out to be coronavirus positive in investigation. There is a case of a person who returned from abroad in February. He was tested and found positive after two months. We have seen that there are people without symptoms who are coronavirus carriers," he said.

Referring to Chhattisgarh model of fighting COVID-19, he said the state took early decision to close all schools, colleges, theatres and multiplexes and deferred school examinations.

He said the central government should take responsibility of bearing the entire cost of free coronavirus testing by private and government hospitals.

Asked about extending lockdown after April 14, he said that the chief ministers of all states will have a meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11 and he will give his suggestions in the meeting if asked.

Baghel said that all state governments must be taken in the loop on any decision on inter-state travel.

Noting that the state government has decided to purchase PPE and testing kits to do rapid testing, he said arrangement had been made for migrant labour from other states in 2100 rooms and halls with adequate facilities.

Baghel said he had suggested that Rs 1,000 per month to be transferred to MNREGA and unorganized sector workers' accounts for the next three months and 750 should be transferred in accounts of Jan Dhan beneficiaries for the next three months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtras coronavirus case count and toll on Thursday went up to 1,364 and 97 with the addition of 229 cases and 25 deaths, the highest 24-hour jump for both, according to state data.

Thursday was also the sixth consecutive day the state saw more than 100 cases, even as Mumbai recorded 162 new cases. Of the 25 deaths, 14 are in Pune, nine in Mumbai and one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri.

As of April 9, Mumbai has 876 cases and 54 deaths, which has forced the government to take further stringent measures to prevent the state from slipping in to phase three  community spread  of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

State health officials indicated that cases will continue to rise for a few more days before coming under control. Going by the trend in other countries, the rise in cases was expected. It is likely to increase for a few more days and then the graph will gradually come down. Our preparations have started much in advance and we are ready to face any situation, said a senior health official, on condition of anonymity. The state has tested 30,766 people and has kept 4,731 in government quarantine facilities, while 36,533 are quarantined at home, said health officials.

The state cabinet has decided to impose strict implementation of lockdown rules in 381 containment zones  where at least one person from the area has tested positive for the virus  across Mumbai. It has also decided to deploy the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in Mumbai and use drones to monitor crowd movement.

Mumbais red zones

The civic body has identified more than 200 hotspots or red zones (areas with higher concentration of Covid-19 cases), where there will be curfew-like restrictions. In these red zones, there will be no movement in or out, enforced with police help and ward assistance, to prevent further spread, said municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi.

Aslam Shaikh, textile minister and guardian minister of the island city, said they are imposing curfew in 21 hotspots in the island city with immediate effect. The supply of essential services will be taken care of by the state administration, compelling the residents to stay home during this period, he said.

School education minister and Dharavi member of legislative Assembly (MLA) Varsha Gaikwad said, Barring medical shops, everything else will be shut in the hotspots identified in Mumbai. It will not be possible to contain the spread in areas like Dharavi without imposing stricter restrictions as the next eight days are crucial, she said.

SRPF to be roped in

State health minister Rajesh Tope said the rising number of cases in Mumbai is worrisome. To curb the spread in Mumbai, we have decided on stricter implementation of the lockdown. Mumbai police are doing a great job, but we have decided to rope in SRPF for the effective implementation of the lockdown. Besides, we have also decided to use technology to ensure social distancing. CCTV and drones in containment zones will be used for monitoring to ensure there is no crowding in these zones, he said.

Tope said that they have been emphasising on sanitisation in densely populated areas such as Dharavi.

We have decided to sanitise public toilets there every hour with the help of power jets used by the fire brigade and also to sanitise congested slums through drones, he said.

The daily spike in cases has become a cause of concern for the state. Ministers, during the cabinet meeting on Thursday, demanded mass rapid testing and strict implementation of lockdown, especially in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

We keep people in quarantine facilities, but dont test them. In case they are tested, the reports come after three to four days, which delays the entire process. If we come to know about the cases in advance, then prevention can be done more effectively, said a senior minister, requesting anonymity.

Demanding strict implementation of the lockdown, a minister said the army should be called in as the numbers are rising rapidly and they need to be contained. Another minister demanded sanitisation of slums and public toilets wherever patients are found.

Tope said authorities have decided to conduct rapid tests on the frontline staff, including health workers, police personnel and sanitisation workers. He said the tests will begin in a couple of days once they receive the one lakh test kits that have been ordered.

To regulate vegetable markets

The state cabinet also deliberated on regulation of vegetable markets, where people are seen to be crowding. The state administration has been asked to find alternative arrangements for the supply of vegetables. The government may ask local administrations to shut down large markets and restrict the selling of vegetables at stand-alone shops. In fact, people should make up their minds to give up on vegetables for the next few days. Farmers have made up their minds to not grow vegetables, said revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat.

Meanwhile, traders of Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) market, a wholesale market that supplies food essentials to Mumbai and surrounding areas, has decided to shut shops from April 11 till further orders. The market administration has asked APMC to ensure that Mumbai will not face shortage of essentials by selling them directly to wholesale traders in the city.

Health insurance cover

The state rural development department has decided to provide health insurance cover of 25 lakh for three months to all gramsevaks, rural development officers (local officer at village level), and computer operators working at Aaple Sarkar centres formed to provide notified services to the citizens under the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Act.

The decision was declared by rural development minister Hasan Mushrif. On March 31, the department has declared to provide insurance cover of 25 lakh to anganwadi workers, accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers, helpers and gram panchayat employees.
Covid-19 survivor Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith to vanquish the illness, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.

Italy, along with neighbouring France, has Europes largest population of what has been dubbed the super old  people who are at least 100.

As the nation with the worlds highest number of Covid-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its super-old survivors for inspiration.

Im well, Im well, Ms Zanusso said from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont.

I watch TV, read the newspapers.

Ms Zanusso wore a protective mask during an interview, as did her family doctor of 35 years beside her, Carla Furno Marchese, who also donned eye wear and a gown that covered her head.

Asked about her illness, Ms Zanusso is modest: I had some fever.

Her doctor said Ms Zanusso was in bed for a week.

We hydrated her because she wasnt eating, and then we thought she wasnt going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting, Dr Furno Marchese said.

One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before.

The doctor recalled when Ms Zanusso was able to sit up, then managed to get out of bed.

What helped her get through the illness?

Courage and strength, faith, Ms Zanusso said.

Ada Zanussi eats a meal at the nursing home (Giampiero Brisotto/AP)

It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also give yourself courage, have faith.

Covid-19 can cause mild or moderate symptoms, and most of those who are infected recover.

But the elderly and those with existing health problems can be at high risk for more serious illness.

The virus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and over 88,000 worldwide.

The World Health Organisation says 95% of those who have died in Europe were over 60 years old.

Under Italys five-week-long lockdown, which is aimed at containing the spread of infections that have overwhelmed hospitals, visitors are not allowed at homes for the elderly.

Story continues

Her doctor asked Ms Zanusso what she would like to do when they open the doors.

Id like to take a lovely walk, she replied, adding she enjoys watching her three great-grandchildren play together.

Deaths, hospital admissions and new infections are levelling off in Italy, and prime minister Giuseppe Conte is expected to announce in the coming days how long the lockdown will remain in place, with expectations that some restrictions could be eased.

Ada Zanusso says she enjoys watching her great-grandchildren play (Giampiero Brisotto/AP)

For now, Ms Zanusso is isolated from other residents as she awaits a follow-up swab test to confirm she is negative for the virus.

She grew up in Treviso, in the northeastern Veneto region, where she worked for many years in the textile industry.

Ms Zanusso, who turns 104 on August 16, had four children, three of whom are living, and has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Shes old, but healthy, with no chronic illness, her doctor said.

This week, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera devoted an entire page to the stories of super-old survivors, called healing at 100 years old.

The inspirational portraits are a counterpoint to news of large numbers of deaths among elderly people living in Italian nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities.

Of the victims, most elderly were not tested for Covid-19 if they died in nursing homes, so the numbers do not figure into Italys overall coronavirus death toll, which is the highest in the world.

Medical staff went through a very hard time, said Dr Furno Marchese.

It was a great emergency with so many residents ill, so to see a positive outcome was very rewarding, not only for me, but for all the people who worked hard here nonstop.

Outside the 61-bed Maria Grazia Residence care home, the Italian flag flies at half-mast in tribute to those who died of the virus.
The City of San Antonio has issued more than 3,900 warnings and 351 citations for violating the emergency declarations, according to an enforcement report.

Officials had received over 21,100 calls reporting violations as of Thursday.

READ ALSO: Here's how to get an emergency mail-in ballot if you contract COVID-19 after the deadline

The social distancing orders, intending to slow the spread of COVID-19, first went into place on March 18. The most recent, a third addendum to the eighth emergency health declaration, went into effect on June 26.

Multiple city departments  Code Enforcement, Parking Enforcement, Metro Health and the San Antonio Police Department  are enforcing the order.

Here are the citations issued so far:

January 9

- At Dollar General, located at 3350 S.W. Military, the manager told inspectors that health and safety signs had been removed "per corporate." A citation was issued.

- At Dollar General, located at 8718 S Zarzamora, the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at QuikTrip, located at 4710 Fredericksburg. Inspectors found that health and safety signs were not posted and two customers were not wearing masks. Two citations were issued.

- At Dreamers, located at 2376 Austin Hwy., the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- At Streetfare SA, located at 1916 Austin Hwy., the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- At Big Bang and One Pocha Live Lounge, located at 4408 Walzem, the health and safety signs were not posted and the tables were too close to each other. A citation was issued.

January 8

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at the EZ Wash laundromat, located at 6101 S. Flores. Inspectors saw individuals not wearing masks and issued a citation.

- At Little Sam's convenience store, located at 3215 Roosevelt, the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- An email reported that masks were not being worn at Planet Fitness, located at 207 N. General McMullen. Inspectors found the business was allowing customers to walk around without masks or social distancing. Employees were wearing masks, but members were not. A citation was issued.

- At Sir Winston's Pub, located at 2522 Nacogdoches, customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

January 7

- At My Bar, located at 6402 Callaghan, employees were wearing masks but social distancing features were not enforced. A citation was issued.

January 6

- A caller reported that employees at C.D. Division Tire-Muffler Shop, located at 730 Division, were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw employees not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

January 5

- A caller reported that people at Lowe's, located at 1200 N. Loop 1604 W., were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw people inside the store without masks. A citation was issued.

- At Guzman's Barber Shop, located at 414 N. General McMullen, employees and customers were not wearing masks. Social distancing was not being enforced. A citation was issued.

January 4

- At Roy's Taco Hut, located at 246 Enrique Barrera, there were no social distancing features in place and social distancing was not being enforced. A citation was issued.

- At Koo Kutz Barbershop, located at 10029 San Pedro, customers and staff were wearing masks but health and safety signs were not posted at the entrance. A citation was issued.

December 29

- Inspectors provided security support at the Alamodome for the Alamo Bowl between Texas and Colorado.

Ten people were cited for repeatedly refusing to wear masks or wear masks correctly after receiving warnings. Seven more people were issued warnings or were escorted out of the stadium for violating the mask rules.

December 28

- A caller reported that My Bar, located at 6402 Callaghan Road, was not following the guidelines. Inspectors saw employees and customers not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that LA Fitness, located at 5803 Babcock Road, was over capacity. Inspectors found the gym was within the 75 percent capacity limit but employees were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

December 23

- A caller reported that Taqueria Nuevo Vallarte, located at 3451 Roosevelt, was over capacity. Inspectors found there was no social distancing between groups of customers. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that A's Up Sports Lounge, located at 5520 W. Military, was not following guidelines. Inspectors saw multiple people consuming alcohol at the bar. They spoke to the owner, who confirmed he had not reclassified as a "blue tag" restaurant with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. A citation was issued.

December 21

- At Easy Stop, located at 423 N.W. 24th, inspectors found that employees were wearing masks but customers were not. Social distancing features were in place but not enforced. A citation was issued.

December 18

- A caller reported that employees at H&H Insurance Agency, located at 70 N.E. Loop 410, employees were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw employees not wearing masks where required. A citation was issued to the owner.

- At Quick Stop Food Mart, located at 311 N. Hamilton, one employee and two customers were not wearing masks. Social distancing features were in place but were not being enforced. A citation was issued.

- At the N.W. Food Center, located at 1213 N.W. 24th, an employee and vendor were not wearing masks. Social distancing features were in place but were not being enforced. A citation was issued.

- At Black Clover, located at 3030 Thousand Oaks, employees and customers were wearing masks and social distancing. However, the pub should not be offering on-premises service per the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

December 17

- At Big Frog Custom Shirts, located at 15058 U.S. Hwy 281 North, employees were not wearing masks when required. A citation was issued.

- At Circle K, located at 1203 Roosevelt, customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

December 16

- At Delicious Tamales Factory, located at 3500 S. Presa, employees were not wearing masks when required. There were no safety signs or social distancing features present. A citation was issued.

December 15

- A caller reported that employees at Circle K, located at 1503 S.W. Military, were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw an employee not wearing a mask when required. A citation was issued.

December 12

- At Basement Bar and Lounge, located at 244 Losoya, some customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

December 11

- At Zarzamora Street Gym, located at 1402 N. Zarzamora, employees did not identify themselves and refused to allow inspectors inside. Staff gave inspectors a printout to contact the gym's attorney.

The building's permit did not reflect some work that had been done to the building, including the installation of security doors. Inspectors posted a notice of violation on the front door and issued a citation for refusing to allow inspectors inside.

- At Purgatory, located at 1010 N. Main, customers sitting at the bar were not practicing social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Burnhouse Cigar & Martini, located at 4553 N. Loop 1604 W., customers were seen not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

December 10

- Oak Hill Lanes, located at 7330 Callaghan, was having a bowling league night. Several barriers had been placed between the seating areas, but they did not meet the guidelines. Bowlers were not wearing masks as they walked throughout the building. A citation was issued.

- At Frida Mexican Restaurant, located at 18740 Stone Oak Pkwy., a plexiglass divider was under 6-feet tall. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that Little Em's Oyster Bar, located at 1001 S. Alamo, was over capacity. The restaurant was following the occupancy guidelines but the safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

December 8

- A caller reported that Crunch Fitness, located at 8715 Marbach Road, was over capacity and not enforcing the mask requirements. Employees and customers were seen not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

December 7

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks properly at 7-Eleven, located at 14702 Blanco. Customers were wearing masks but an employee was not wearing a mask properly.

The employee did not correct the issue when officials explained the protocols. The owner arrived and a citation was issued.

December 5

- A caller reported violations at The Block San Antonio food truck park, located at 14530 Roadrunner Way. Employees and some customers were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At Attagirl, located at 726 East Mistletoe, employees and customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. The establishment did not have a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission license. A citation was issued.

- At Pegasus, located at 1402 North Main, employees and customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Knockout, located at 1420 North Main, the safety signs were not posted. Employees and customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

December 4

- A caller reported that staff at Las Pinchanchas Cafe, located at 450 Fredericksburg, were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw staff not wearing masks and tables not properly distanced. The issues were addressed. A citation was issued.

- At Regia's Cocina, located at 1701 West Martin, employees were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At Speedy's Taco, located at 1823 West Martin, employees were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At Taquitos West Avenue, located at 2818 West Ave., the safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

December 3

- At Stanley's Ice House, located at 2442 West Southcross, an employee and vendor were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At El Azteca Mexican Restaurant, located at 2800 Guadalupe, customers were eating at tables that were not 6 feet apart. A citation was issued.

- At The Nail Spa, located at 555 East Basse, the safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

December 2

- At Botanica Miracle Hands, located at 2600 South Flores, employees and customers were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Subway, located at 8002 Callaghan, the safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that South Texas Guns, located at 15120 U.S. 281 North, was not enforcing mask requirements. The safety signs were not posted and employees were not wearing masks or social distancing. Two citations were issued.

December 1

- At Total Wine, located at 125 N.W. Loop 410, people were wearing masks and the establishment was following occupancy requirements. However, the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

- At Valle's Flowers, located at 1315 Cupples, people were wearing masks but the safety signs were not posted at the entrance. A citation was issued.

- At Kaotric Barber Shop, located at 1414 Cupples, the safety signs were not posted and employees were not wearing masks. A customer entered the shop with no mask and said he forgot it. He went to his vehicle to retrieve his car. A citation was issued.

November 27

- At Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, located at 5809 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors saw that the restaurant was closing and no customers were inside. However, the required signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

November 22

- An attendee at an Alamodome event received numerous warnings from on-site security about wearing a mask. After San Antonio police helped identify the individual, officials with the Development Services Department issued the person a citation.

Other attendees who were not wearing masks properly were told to correct the issue.

November 21

- A proactive inspection at XTC Cabaret, located at 2023 Sable Lane, found that people in the dance area and in the women's locker area were not social distancing or wearing masks. A citation was issued.

November 19

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at the Mission Event Center bingo hall, located at 5614 S. Flores. Inspectors found that employees and customers not seated were wearing masks, but the health and safety signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

November 18

- A caller reported that employees at Burger King, located at 4520 W. Commerce, were not wearing masks properly and coughing on customer's orders. Inspectors saw the general manager not wearing a mask properly. A citation was issued.

November 14

- At The Good Kind, located at 1127 S. St Mary's, inspectors saw employees and customers not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Elsewhere Garden Bar & Kitchen, located at 103 E. Jones Ave., inspectors saw customers and employees not wearing masks. There were groups larger than 10 people not social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At The Aquaduck Beer Garden, located at 9214 Espada Road, inspectors saw customers and employees not wearing masks. Tables were too close to the stage for social distancing. A citation was issued.

November 7

- At XTC Cabaret, located at 2023 Sable Lane, inspectors found customers in the locker room not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

November 6

- At XTC Cabaret, located at 2023 Sable Lane, inspectors saw customers and employees not wearing masks on the stage, in the dressing room, and in the VIP area. Tables were not spaced enough to allow social distancing. A citation was issued.

November 2

- A caller reported that Stanley's Ice House, located at 2403 East Commerce, was not enforcing the mask requirements. Inspectors observed an employee with a mask hanging from his ear and staff not enforcing the mask mandate. A citation was issued.

October 31

- A caller reported people were not wearing masks at Overstock Furniture Store, located at 8327 Texas 151. Inspectors saw employees, customers and a manager not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At The Social Spot, located at 930 Broadway, inspectors saw mask and social distancing violations. A citation was issued.

October 30

- A caller reported excessive noise coming from Deco Pizza, located at 1815 Fredericksburg Road. Inspectors saw violations of the mask and social distancing requirements. A citation was issued.

- At Hidden Tavern, located at 11407 West Ave., inspectors saw mask and social distancing violations. A citation was issued.

- At Ricky Bobby Bar, located at 2335 N.W. Military Hwy., inspectors saw mask and social distancing violations. A citation was issued.

October 28

- A caller reported that employees were not wearing masks at Wok Inn, located at 2230 S.E. Military Dr. Inspectors saw two employees not wearing masks properly or social distancing. A citation was issued.

October 24

- A proactive inspection at Texas Roadhouse, located at 6616 West Loop 1604 North, found patrons sitting back-to-back in booths without a partition. A citation was issued.

October 21

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks or social distancing at Crunch Gym, located at 8725 Marbach Road. Inspectors saw multiple employees, guests and a manager who were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported people not wearing masks at Midas, located at 11000 Interstate 10 West. Inspectors saw two people, one without a mask, interacting within 6 feet. A citation was issued.

October 17

- At Anchor Bar, located at 4553 N. Loop 1604 W., inspectors saw tables not adequately spaced out to maintain a 6-foot distance. A citation was issued.

- At The Lost Bar & Grill, located at 12730 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors saw tables not adequately spaced out to maintain a 6-foot distance. A citation was issued.

- At Elsewhere Garden Bar, located at 103 E. Jones Ave., inspectors saw violations of the mask and social distancing requirements. A citation was issued.

- At Social Spot, located at 930 Broadway, the business was operating over the maximum allowable capacity. There were also violations of the mask and social distancing requirements. Citations were issued.

- A Boneheadz Sports Bar, located at 9503 Console Drive, patrons were close to one another, violating the social distancing requirement. A citation was issued.

October 16

- A caller reported employees were not wearing masks at Hernandez Tire and Muffler Shop, located at 1514 Bandera Road. Inspectors saw employees in the bay area not wearing masks or social distancing. Two citations will be filed in municipal court.

- A caller reported social distancing violations at Circus Bingo SA, located at 3307 Wurzbach Road. Inspectors saw several players sitting back-to-back with no masks on. A citation will be filed in municipal court.

- At Pueblo Hall, located at 3315 Northwestern, inspectors saw the establishment hosting a mixed quinceanera. The tables were not adequately spaced out. A citation was issued.

October 10

- After an email complaint regarding Weathered Souls Brewing, located at 606 Embassy Oaks, inspectors found two employees not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported people not wearing masks at El Canelo Mexican Grill, located at 1003 Culebra Road. Inspectors found six employees talking at the counter without masks on. Customers were not socially distanced. A citation was issued.

- At Thirsty's SA, located at 8902 S. Presa St., people were not social distancing or wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At The Aquaduck Beer Garden, located at 9214 Espada Road, customers were not social distancing. A citation was issued.

October 9

- At Chili's, located at 5790 W. Loop 1604 N., inspectors found the restaurant was under the 75 percent capacity limit but violating the social distancing requirement. A citation was issued.

- At Cowboys Dance Hall, located at 3030 N.E. Loop 410, inspectors found people not wearing masks or social distancing. There were groups larger than 10 people. Two citations were issued.

October 8

- Paperwork from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission indicated that Mainland Sports Complex, located at 8002 Sand Pebble, was considered a bar and should remain closed. A citation was issued.

- At Boneheadz Sports Pub, located at 9503 Console Drive, inspectors saw the bar was in violation of the social distancing requirement. A citation was issued.

October 6

- A caller reported Rising Phoenix Vape Shop, at 8015 Bandera, for employees not wearing masks. Inspectors saw the owner not wearing a mask while speaking to another person. A citation was issued.

October 3

- A caller reported Taqueria La Perla La Jalisco, at 2255 S.E. Military, was over capacity and customers were not socially distanced at tables. Inspectors found customers were sitting back-to-back in booths with no partition.

They counted 86 patrons, over the 75 percent maximum of 75 patrons. Two citations will be filed in municipal court.

- At Texan Icehouse, located at 4518 West Ave., inspectors found signs were not posted and the bar remained open despite a red tag classification with the TABC. Two citations were issued.

- At The Republic of Texas, located at 526 Riverwalk, inspectors found signs were not posted and proper social distancing was not maintained. Two citations were issued.

- At XTC Cabaret Center, located at 2023 Sable Lane, inspectors saw one violation of social distancing. A citation was issued.

October 2

- A caller reported El Tequila Mexican Restaurant, at 7628 Marbach Road, was not enforcing the mask rules.

While an inspector was speaking with the owner, an employee walked by several customers with her mask around her chin. Then four customers entered with no masks and no one enforced the policy. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported an employee was suspected of testing positive at Manheim San Antonio Transportation, located at 2042 Ackerman Road. The general manager said the cleaning crew constantly sanitize the building and employees who test positive quarantine for 14 days and test negative before returning to work.

While inspectors were speaking with the manager, they saw four employees less than six feet apart talking without face masks. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported employees at Big O Tires, located at 13080 N. US Hwy 281, were not wearing masks. Inspectors saw employees inspecting a vehicle with no masks on and other employees enter without masks. A citation was issued.

- At El Bocanero, at 8300 Marbach Road, inspectors found tables were not spaced enough to maintain social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At E&E Entertainment, at 7616 Culebra Road, inspectors found no signs posted, people not wearing masks, and people not practicing social distancing. Two citations were issued.

October 1

- A caller reported Damasco Mediterranean Buffet, at 4841 Fredericksburg, for unsanitary food and serving from the buffet. Inspectors found the restaurant was allowing customer to serve themselves from the buffet. A citation was issued.

September 30

- At Jiffy Lube, located at 7862 Callaghan, inspectors found employees were not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

September 26

- A caller reported employees were not wearing masks at Reyna's Cafe, located at 227 Aransas Ave. Inspectors found the cafe did not have safety signs posted and an employee was speaking with a seated customer while not wearing a mask.

They explained the violations to the owner, who put on her mask after learning of the violations. A citation was issued.

September 25

- A caller reported a mask violation at The Magnolia Pancake Haus, located at 606 Embassy Oaks. Inspectors met with the general manager and saw three employees not wearing masks. The general manager became upset over the violation.

A citation will be filed with the municipal court.

September 24

- At Landry's, located at 517 N. Presa St., inspectors found customers seated less than six feet apart and not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At Mad Dogs, located at 123 Losoya St., inspectors found tables less than six feet apart and customers not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

September 18

- Inspectors found Bentley's Beer Garden, located at 802 N. Alamo St., to be in violation of guidance on masks and social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Cowboys Dancehall, located at 3030 N.E. Loop 410, inspectors saw large groups of customers clustered around the railing of the dance area. There was only one small sign for social distancing and a person was sitting in front of it.

The manager said he had posted many signs along the railing but people removed them. The staff were not enforcing social distancing between the large groups and some people did not have masks. A citation was issued.

- At Lucy Cooper's Texas Ice House, located at 16080 San Pedro Ave., inspectors saw customers at the bar not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Half Moon Saloon, located at 308 N. Presa St., the required signs were not posted. A citation was issued.

September 17

- At Elsewhere Garden Bar & Kitchen, located at 103 E. Jones Ave., inspectors saw employees in the kitchen not wearing masks. The employees said they were all family members who lived together.

Two customers ordering food and a man taking out trash were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- Southtown 101, located at 101 Pereida St., was operating as a bar/restaurant without changing its status to restaurant. The owner said he had not finished the application. A citation was issued.

September 16

- A caller reported people were not wearing masks at Bobby's Cafe, located at 6728 S. Flores St. Inspectors found staff, including cooks in the kitchen, not wearing masks or social distancing. A citation was issued.

September 12

- At Ojos Locos, located at 5809 N.W. Loop 1604, inspectors found social distancing violations in the bar area. A citation was issued.

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September 11

- At XTC Cabaret, located at 2023 Sable Lane, inspectors found people without masks and no social distancing. Tables were overcrowded. Two citations were issued.

- At Thirsty's Spot SA, located at 8902 S. Presa St., inspectors found social distancing violations. A citation was issued to the owner.

- At The Rustic, located at 17619 La Cantera Pkwy., inspectors found tables too close to each other. A citation was issued.

- At Bob's Steak and Chop House, located at 5815 Rim Pass, inspectors found booths seated back-to-back without the required partitions. A citation was issued.

September 7

- A caller reported kids swimming in the San Pedro Park pool while others sat in closed areas of the park. An officer saw three people swimming in the closed pool area and issued three citations.

September 6

- Six people were cited for skating while Pearsall Park was closed. One person was given a warning.

September 5

- At Ojos Locos, located at 5809 N.W. Loop 1604, a citation was issued for customers at the bar sitting within six feet of each other.

- At Pockets, located at 5819 N.W. Loop 410, a citation was issued for people playing pool and congregating within six feet of each other while not wearing masks.

- Las Islas Marias, located at 522 S.W. Military, was cited for booths filled with customers eating back-to-back with no partitions.

- Stray Grape Urban Winery, located at 16630 U.S. Hwy 281 North, was cited for employees not wearing face masks. The manager refused to comply.

- The San Antonio Event Center, located at 8111 Meadow Leaf, was cited for customers and vendors not wearing face masks and the line not socially distancing.

- At the Mission Del Lago Golf Course, located at 1250 Mission Grande, two customers in the pro shop were not wearing face masks. A manager with no mask approached an officer and stood less than six feet away. A citation was issued.

September 4

- At Vallarta Grill & Bar, located at 6810 N.W. Loop 410, a mariachi band walked table-to-table singing and not practicing social distancing. Booths were side-by-side. A citation was issued.

- At Chicken N Pickle, located at 5215 UTSA Blvd., people were walking around without masks and not maintaining six feet from other groups. A citation was issued.

- At 210 Sports Bar, located at 1946 S.W. Military Dr., officials counted 58 people. The maximum allowed was 52. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that Wing Daddy's, located at 10730 Potranco Road, was not social distancing. A citation was issued because no health and safety policy was posted.

- A caller reported that Ojos Locos, located at 5809 N.W. Loop 410, was over capacity. The property was not over capacity but a citation was issued for multiple people walking around without face masks.

- A caller reported no face masks at Alex Tire Shop, located at 2150 Basse Road. The owner and two employees were not wearing face masks while speaking with customers outside. A citation was issued.

September 3

- At Amore Bistro, located at 4553 N.W. Loop 1604, employees were not enforcing social distancing of tables. A red placard was given to the employee in charge because the managers and owners were out of town.

- At El Canelo Restaurant, located at 1003 Culebra Road, people were not practicing social distancing or wearing face masks. A citation was issued.

- At Smashing Crab, located at 8910 Bandera Road, tables were less than six feet apart. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that Discount Tire employees, located at 12850 Interstate 10 West, were not wearing masks while assisting customers. Officials saw employees not practicing social distancing or wearing masks. A citation was issued.

September 2

- Park police patrolling San Pedro Park saw 10 to 15 people swimming in the pool. All but two of them got out of the pool when officers told them it was closed. Citations were issued to the two that stayed.

September 1

- A caller reported that employees at Mega Food Mart, located at 9385 Marbach, were not wearing masks. Officials saw an employee assisting a customer without a mask or practicing social distancing. The business was cited.

- A caller reported that employees at Paul's Pizza Romo, located at 5137 Fredericksburg, were not wearing masks. Officials saw employees not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. The business was cited. Employees did put their masks on when told to.

August 31

- Three people were seen swimming in the pool at San Pedro Park. An officer told them the pool was closed and issued each of them a citation.

August 29

- A proactive inspection at Cowboys Dancehall, located at 3030 N.E. Loop 410, found that mask and social distancing requirements were not being met. Two citations were issued.

August 28

- At Perfect Score Sports Bar and Grill, located at 6420 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors found that all customers and employees were wearing masks and the bar was below the occupancy limit. However, a citation was issued because the bar did not have COVID-19 signs posted.

- At Ojos Locos, located at 5809 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors found that the establishment was practicing social distancing and under the occupancy limit. However, customers were walking around without masks. A citation was issued.

- At Pockets, located at 5819 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors found that the establishment was practicing social distancing and under the occupancy limit. However, customers were walking around without masks. A citation was issued.

- At Vallarta Grill and Bar, located at 6810 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors found that while the bar maintaining social distancing, it was over the occupancy limit and customers were walking around without masks. Two citations were issued.

- At 54th Street Grill and Bar located at 7735 N.W. Loop 410, inspectors found that while the bar was under the occupancy limit, the COVID-19 guidelines were not posted on the door. A citation was issued.

- At Charlie Brown's Neighborhood Bar and Grill, located at 11888 Starcrest Dr., inspectors saw employees in the kitchen not wearing masks. Customers at the bar were not social distancing. Two citations were issued.

- At Grand Tequila, located at 8723 Texas Hwy. 151, inspectors found that while employees and customers were wearing masks, the restaurant was violating the social distancing requirements. A citation was issued.

- At Willie's, located at 8739 Texas Hwy. 151, inspectors found that while employees and customers were wearing masks, tables were not spaced out. A citation was issued.

- At Tejanitas, located at 10704 Perrin Beitel Road, inspectors found the restaurant in violation of the social distancing requirements. A citation was issued.

- At Chili's, located at 131 S.W. Loop 410, inspectors saw employees not wearing masks. Two citations were issued.

- At Buffalo Wild Wings, located at 115 S.W. Loop 410, inspectors did not see social distancing. A citation was issued.

- At Twin Peaks, located at 103 S.W. Loop 410, inspectors saw that tables were not spaced out. A citation was issued.

- An officer saw three people skating in a fenced-off area of Old Pearsall Park. Citations were issued to each of them.

August 27

- At Amore Cafe, located at 4553 N.W. Loop 1604, the COVID-19 guidelines were not posted at the entrance. A citation was issued.

- At Midnight Swim, located at 2403 N. St Mary's St., the COVID-19 signs were not posted and social distancing was not maintained. Two citations were issued.

- At The Yard House, located at 15900 La Cantera, cooks and line servers were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- At Kona Grill, located at 15900 La Cantera, servers and bartenders were not wearing masks. A group of 14 adults were sitting together at a table. Two citations were issued.

August 26

- An officer saw 20 people skating in a fenced-off area of Rosedale Park. All but two complied when told to leave. Those two returned and started skating again. Citations were issued to each of them.

August 24

- An officer saw a person swimming in the closed pool at San Pedro Park. The person left the pool. A citation was issued.

August 22

- A proactive inspection at The Sandbox, located at 7280 UTSA Blvd., found that the bar was operating under 50 percent capacity but did not have proper social distancing. A citation was issued.

- A proactive inspection at Hills and Dales Ice House, located at 15403 White Fawn, found that the bar was operating at 50 percent capacity and the required signs were posted.

However, the bar did not have proper social distancing and was allowing customers to order drinks at the bar. A citation was issued.

- A proactive inspection at Pick's Bar, located at 4553 Loop 1604 West, found that the bar was operating under 50 percent capacity and everyone was wearing masks. A citation was issued for individuals not practicing social distancing.

- A caller reported that people at Brown Coffee Company, located at 1800 Broadway, were not wearing masks. Officials saw an employee serve customers without wearing a mask. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that people at the leasing office of Charleston Apartment Homes, located at 14555 Blanco Road, were not wearing masks.

Officers did not see any signs posted on the front door of the office. The community manager told officers that her company does not allow the signs to be posted. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that Taqueria La Tapatia, located at 538 Fair Ave., was not social distancing. Officials saw customers eating in booths seated back-to-back. The manager said once people started to leave the restaurant would close every other booth. A citation was issued.

August 21

- A proactive inspection at Chicken N Pickle, located at 5215 UTSA Blvd., found kitchen staff and guests not wearing masks. Tables were too close together and customers were allowed to order at the bar. Four citations were issued.

- A proactive inspection at Lucy Cooper's Texas Ice House, located at 16080 San Pedro Ave., found inadequate distancing between tables. Customers at the pool table were not wearing masks. Two citations were issued.

- A caller reported that Texas Roadhouse, located at 2893 Cinema Ridge, was not social distancing. Officials counted 181 customers, over the 50 percent limit of 150. Customers seated at a table were not wearing masks. Three citations were issued.

- A caller reported a mask violation at Precious Angels Early Learning, located at 13134 Independence. Officials saw two employees and two individuals congregating in a small area without masks. Two citations were issued.

August 20

- A proactive inspection at The Hanger, located at 8203 Broadway St., found the proper signs and everyone wearing masks. However, tables were less than 6 feet apart. A citation was issued.

- A proactive inspection at Luther's Cafe, located at 1503 N. Main, found the proper signs and everyone wearing masks. However, tables were less than 6 feet apart. A citation was issued.

- A proactive inspection at Tucker's Kosy Korner, located at 1338 E. Houston St., found the bar was in compliance with social distancing and mask requirements but had failed to post the proper signs. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at El Canelo Mexican Restaurant, located at 1003 Culebra. Officials found that the tables were not spaced out and customers were sitting too close together. A citation was issued.

August 19

- A proactive inspection at H-E-B, located at 108 N. Rosillo St., found employees interacting with other employees within a 6-feet distance without wearing masks. A citation was issued.

August 17

- Two citations were issued to the owner of The Well, located at 5539 UTSA Blvd., after videos showed customers not social distancing or wearing masks. The owner admitted the videos were true. Two citations were also filed against the promoter.

August 14

- A proactive inspection at Discount Tire, located at 14822 Blanco Road, found employees in the bay area not wearing masks. One employee had the mask sitting on his chin after receiving a warning. The business and employee were cited.

August 13

- An officer on patrol saw six people skating in an area of Martinez Park that has been closed for many months. The Parks Police has issued numerous warnings that the area remains closed. Each individual was issued a citation.

- A caller reported that Asian Star Buffet, located at 9919 Colonial Square, was allowing customers to serve themselves. The location had previously been warned to not allow self-service at the buffet. A citation was issued.

- An officer on patrol saw five people skating in a fenced-off area of Old Pearsall Park. Each person was issued a citation.

- A proactive inspection at Flores Tire and Muffler Shop, located at 586 Enrique M. Barrera, found five employees not wearing masks. An official spoke with the manager.

Two citations were issued, one to the the business for employees not wearing masks and one to the owner for not wearing a mask after a warning.

August 10

- A proactive inspection at San Pedro Springs Park around 7:50 a.m. found an individual swimming in the closed pool. The officer told the person the pool was closed due to COVID-19 and issued a citation.

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at San Pedro Springs Park around 2:20 p.m. saw an individual swimming in the closed pool. The person told an officer that he was homeless and rinsing off his clothes. The officer told him such services can be received at Haven for Hope and issued a citation.

August 8

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at CD Front Tire Shop, located at 5104 W. Military Drive, saw two employees interacting without masks on. They also saw five customers without masks. The business was cited.

August 7

- Officials conducting a proactive inspections at Rent-A-Tire, located at 827 S.E. Military Drive, found that several employees were not wearing masks  even though few were able to practice social distancing. The manager was also not wearing a mask. A citation was issued.

- A caller reported that an employee at Satex Plumbing, Inc., located at 313 N. Park Road, was suspected of testing positive for the virus.

Officials found no health and safety policy posted. They spoke with an employee, who did not wear a mask, and other employees were not wearing them either. Citations were issued for not wearing masks and not having the policy posted.

August 6

- A caller reported that employees at Camila's Mexican Restaurant, located at 15311 Lookout Road, were not wearing masks. Kitchen staff were not wearing masks at the time of inspection. A citation was issued.

August 4

- A caller reported that employees at Undefeated Barber & Beauty Shop, located at 12726 Nacogdoches Road, were not wearing masks.

Officials found employees cutting hair with no masks on. They spoke with the owner, explained the orders, and cited the business.

August 2

- An officer saw seven people skating in area of Old Pearsall Park that was clearly fenced off. A citation was issued to each individual.

August 1

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at Party Planet, located at 6450 N.W. Loop 410, found several adults walking around or playing games without masks. Some did not even have their masks with them.

There were over 40 guests in the facility. Two citations were issued for not wearing masks and allowing a party with more than 10 people.

July 28

- A caller reported that Hernandez Tire Shop, at 1514 Bandera, was not practicing social distancing or following COVID-19 guidelines.

The owner told an officer they were unaware of the mask requirements. Customers were wearing masks but the owner and staff were not. A citation was issued to the owner.

July 25

- A caller reported that an employee was not wearing a mask at the Pollo Loco drive-thru at 11820 Bandera Road. A manager, working alone and not wearing a mask, went to talk to another employee within six feet. A citation was issued.

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at Cambridge Auto Center, located at 9823 Fredericksburg Road, saw two mechanics standing less than six feet apart while not wearing masks. The owner stated that he doesn't believe in the facemask policy. A citation was issued.

July 24

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at QuikTrip, located at 2707 NE Loop 410, saw an employee walk into the store without a mask on. The store's manager said he also walks into the store at the beginning of his shift without a mask. A citation was issued.

July 23

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at Ken's Tire Shop, located at 1346 Fair Ave. Officials found that the manager and employees were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

July 22

- A caller reported that people were not wearing masks at North Star Dodge, located at 7242 San Pedro Ave. None of the customers and few employees were wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

Customers put their masks on upon the officers' request. Police spoke with the manager about the staff violation and issued a citation.

July 20

- Inspectors found that staff at Life Time Recover, located at 10290 Southton, were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

July 18

- Officials conducting a proactive inspection at Brake Check, located at 8650 Marbach Road, found seven employees congregating in the bay area without masks. One employee was within two feet of a customer without a mask.

Officials spoke with the manager about the violation and issued a citation.

- Officials were called to Brake Check, located at 13495 Interstate 10 West, for people not wearing masks. They found that the proper signs were posted but two mechanics were not wearing masks. A citation was issued.

- Employees in the kitchen at Las Palapas, located at 23725 Interstate 10 West, were not wearing masks and crossing one another. A citation was issued.

- Officials were called to North Star Mall for people not wearing masks. They saw six employees from three different stores  Daniels Jewelry, Aman's Jewelry, and American Cookie Factory  not wearing them.

All of the employees corrected the issue immediately, except for an American Cookie Factory employee who was not willing to wear a mask correctly. The employee was cited along with the three store owners.

July 17

- Officials conducting a follow-up inspection at Sushiholic, located at 11619 Bandera Road, found that the proper signs were posted but the owner was preparing food without a mask. He put his mask on when asked to do so. A citation was issued to the owner.

- Officials were called to La Perla Del Pacifico, located at 7911 Culebra Road, for a violation of CDC guidelines. They found that signs were not posted as required and tables were not separated by six feet for social distancing.

The restaurant was allowed to have 44 people inside. There were 33 patrons eating and no one was taking count when more patrons walked in. A citation was issued.

July 11

- Police conducted a follow-up inspection of Highlanders Bar and Grill at 5562 Fredericksburg Road to verify compliance with the guidelines. Officers saw two people drinking on the premises.

They told the owner that the bar could only serve to-go and curbside with food. The owner was asked to wear a mask when interacting with the officers but refused to do so. He also refused to provide his identification. Two citations were issued to the owner.

July 10

- Police received a call reporting that people were not wearing masks or social distancing at Taqueria La Tapatia at 4731 Rigsby Ave. Officers saw one employee not wearing a mask and two others with masks around their necks. A citation was issued.

- Police received a call reporting that people were not wearing masks at an MG Building Materials Millwork Division construction site at 4825 Rittiman Road. Officers saw two employees congregating without masks and spoke with the manager who was not wearing one.

A citation was issued to the business.

July 8

- Police received a call reporting that the Smitty Motorcycle Clubhouse bar at 1850 E. Houston St. was open for business with loud music. An officer found the bar operating in violation of the declaration and a citation was issued.

- Police received a call reporting that people were not wearing masks at the O'Hanna Academy gym at 15062 US 281 North. Employees adjusted their masks once they saw the officers and a warning was issued.

However, the employees were not wearing the masks despite the warning, police said, and citations were issued to both employees.

- Police received a call reporting that people were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing at Alamo Distilling Company at 2030 E. Houston St. Officers made contact with the person in charge over the phone and were denied entry to the building. The individual refused to provide his identification.

Officers saw that a health and safety plan was not posted and a citation was issued to the property owner.

- Police received a call reporting that employees were not wearing masks at Anderson Garage at 7560 Bandera Road. An officer found that the proper signage was posted but there was no screen between customers and the person at the counter.

The owner at the counter was not wearing a mask and refused to do so upon request. A citation was issued.

July 7

- Police received a call reporting that no face masks were being worn at Brown Coffee Shop at 812 S. Alamo St. An officer found no signs displaying the instructions for social-distancing and face masks. A stop work order was posted and a citation issued.

July 4

- Police received a call reporting The Drink bar at 200 Navarro St. was open for business. An officer had warned the owner that he was violating the emergency declaration orders but the owner refused to close.

The SAPD Vice Unit found 10 to 15 people drinking inside the bar. A citation was issued to the owner.

July 2

- Police received a call that Web House Cafe and Bar at 320 Blanco Road was allowing customers to drink inside. The manager said the establishment was making most receipts from food, not alcohol, so they could be open. He said they had applied to TABC for an exemption and had not heard back.

Officers advised that the bar must shut down the dining room but could do take out and delivery of alcohol with food orders. A stop work order was posted and a citation was issued.

July 1

- At Wetmore Family Dentist, officers found customers and staff not wearing masks and no signs posted. A citation was issued to the dentist's office, located at 13499 Wetmore Road.

June 30

- Officials checking for proper signs at a Northside gym called The Pit, located at 8506 Speedway, found that the signs had not changed. They posted a placard to file a case and issued a citation.

June 27

- Police were called for a Brown Coffee Company employee allegedly not wearing a mask. Officers saw the server without a mask and a municipal court case will be filed. The coffee shop is located at 812 S. Alamo St. in Southtown.

- Police were called to 809 Riverwalk for a river barge company allegedly not requiring passengers to wear masks. Based on an officer observing employees and customers not wearing masks, an official warning was given and a municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 2711 Treble Creek for people at Gold's Gym allegedly not wearing masks. An officer explained the mask ordinance to a manager as they observed some members not wearing their mask in the gym. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 4319 S. New Braunfels for employees at Sonic allegedly not wearing masks while serving food. An officer watched a server approach vehicles and deliver orders with no mask on. The manager was told to have servers put on masks within 6 feet of customers. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 6059 La Cima for employees at La Michoacana allegedly not wearing masks. An officer saw one cashier with a mask around her neck and another worker with no mask. A patron also had no mask. Everyone complied when the officer enforced the mask rule.

The manager said he had several incidents of patrons cussing him out over a facemask. The officer suggested he contact SAPD to escort belligerent non-compliant customers off the premises. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 1560 Bandera for an employee at Walgreens allegedly testing positive for COVID-19 and not sanitizing store. Officers observed all employees wearing masks but not wearing them properly. Social distancing practices were in place. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 1003 Culebra for Quintanilla's Restaurant allegedly operating over capacity and staff not wearing masks. An officer found that the location was maintaining capacity just under 75 percent.

Several employees were not wearing masks. The manager said masks are provided to them but they take them off as soon as he steps out. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 2838 N. Loop 1604 E. for people at El Chaparral allegedly not wearing masks. An officer saw two employees in the kitchen not wearing masks. A municipal court case will be filed.

- Police were called to 5138 Blanco for employees at Los Angeles allegedly not wearing masks. An officer saw all employees wearing masks.

The restaurant's mask rules said they were "preferred." The officer told the manager it should say "required" and the manager said she would have the signed changed by the end of the day. A municipal court case will be filed.

May 5

- Police found the Cantina Sports Bar, located at 6565 Babcock Road on the Northwest Side, open for business. Approximately 50 people were inside the crowded bar, none of whom were social distancing or wearing a mask  including the owner.

The bar was selling alcohol and police did not observe anyone eating food. The owner told police he could no longer afford to remain closed. He would rather fight a citation in court than close the bar. A citation was issued to the owner.

- Police received a call reporting that Porta Rosa Bar at 1221 Broadway St. was hosting an opening night party. The caller said a large number of people were inside the bar and on the patio, failing to social distance or wear masks. Officers found the location open for business.

Advised to close the bar, the manager said he would comply. Police received two more calls and an officer responded for the second time in an hour. The bar was still operating with a large number of people inside. A citation was issued.

May 2

- Police officers, responding to a call for a shooting, found a large group of people conducting an illegal 8-liner gambling operation at a South Side home. They found that no one was shot or injured at the residence, located on the 700 block of Grosvenor St.

The officers cited 34 individuals for violating the emergency declaration.

April 27

- Police received a call reporting that the Planet K at 1015 E Mulberry was open. Officers saw customers inside the store and posted a stop work order.

April 26

- Police received a call reporting that the Planet K at 1015 E Mulberry was open for business. Officers observed customers inside the store. An employee told police the store would not comply with the curbside-only requirement. A stop work order was posted.

April 22

- Police received a call reporting that Firme Copias Tattoo Shop was open. At the business, located at 10520 Culebra Road, officers observed a customer in a tattoo chair with an artist next to him. The artist was not wearing a mask.

Officers told the artist that the business was not allowed to be open.

The artist admitted he was allowing private sessions and did not indicate whether he would stop work. He told police he would fight the citation in court.

April 18

- Police received a call reporting 10 people inside the Smoke Shadowz store at 1429 W. Hildebrand Ave. Officers watched two individuals enter the store separately. The owner said the customers were picking up wholesale orders. Officers told the owner no customers were permitted the enter for any reason. A stop work order was posted at the entrance. The owner secured the entry door and gate.

April 15

- Police received a call reporting an open barber shop at 10223 Ironside Dr. The owner told officers that he was only cutting employee's hair. The owner had been previously informed that the business must be closed. A stop work order was posted on the door.

April 10

- Officers received a call reporting a vendor selling Easter baskets and pinatas in a parking lot at Nacogdoches and O'Connor roads. The man had been given a warning the previous day for the same violation. Officers cited the man and advised him he had to close down. He packed the items and left the location.

April 9

- Police received a call reporting an open barber shop at 114 N. Ellison Dr. An officer observed an employee cutting hair and asked the owner for identification. The owner refused, became irate, and removed a stop work order from the door.

April 7

- A fourth citation was issued to the Mega Vape on S.E. Military Drive. The owner refused to close, so the city revoked its certificate of occupancy.

April 6

- The Michaels store at 415 W. Loop 1604 South was open. Police cited the store and issued a stop work order.

- The Mega Vape on S.E. Military Dr. was cited for being open with customers.

April 5

- The Michaels arts and crafts store at 17700 U.S. 281 North was cited for operating. The store was told they could only be curbside and issued a stop work order.

- The city revoked the certificate of occupancy for the Planet K on Austin Hwy.

April 4

- The Planet K on West Ave. was cited for being open. The manager told police the store was restocking items while closed and turning away customers.

- The Planet K on Evers Road was cited for being open. A sign said "curbside only" but police advised employees the store should be closed.

- The Planet K on Austin Hwy. was cited for being open for business. Police met with the manager and a stop work order was posted.

- The Mega Vape on S.E. Military Dr. was open with employees present. The store was cited and a stop work order was posted.

- Police cited the Planet K on Goliad for being open and posted a stop work order.

April 3

- The Planet K on Evers Road was cited for being open and refusing to close.

- Officers spoke to an employee at the Planet K on Goliad. The employee called the manager, who refused to allow the employee to close the store. The owner arrived and also refused to close.

- Mega Vape at 2603 S.E. Military Dr. was cited for operating.

April 2

- Officers cited a Planet K store at 11202 West Ave. for defying the emergency declaration and operating on April 1 and April 2.

- A caller reported the Planet K at 2803 Goliad was open. When police responded, employees said the owner was forcing them to work and called the owner. The owner refused to close, saying he was within his rights to be open, and a citation was issued.

- After a seventh notification to the Planet K at 5619 Evers Road, a citation and closure was issued.

- A Planet K at 2130 Austin Hwy. was cited for being open with customers inside.

April 1

- Officers responded to a reported shooting-in-progress at Towering Oaks Apartments (7710 Oakdell Way). Police discovered a BB gun and issued citations to three men for public intoxication and violating the public health order.

- Police visited the Texas Vape Stores location at 1518 Austin Hwy to see if the store was complying with the order. The "open" light was on and officers took that as evidence of a violation.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy

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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 17:55 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e5be9 1 City COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,coronavirus,Jakarta-administration Free

The Jakarta administration has started distributing social aid to those in need to mitigate the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the capital on Friday.

Aid distribution began on Thursday in Penjaringan subdistrict, North Jakarta. The aid packages consisted of staple foods, cloth masks and soap. They were prepared beforehand by city-owned market operator Pasar Jaya.

Jakarta Social Affairs Agency head Irmansyah said the office had cooperated with security personnel to distribute the assistance door to door to comply with physical distancing rules.

Residents don't need to gather around to get social aid. We will come door to door so we will not cause a crowd that could potentially lead to wider transmission of COVID-19, Irmansyah said in a statement on Thursday.

The distribution of social aid is in line with President Joko Jokowi Widodos recent order to hasten aid distribution to 3.7 million low-income families across Greater Jakarta affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Read also: Govt to give cash aid to 4.1 million people affected by COVID-19 in Greater Jakarta

In addition to staple food packages, the government has promised to distribute social assistance funds. The President has instructed the Social Affairs Ministry to work with the Jakarta administration to that end.

The city administration collected data from all of Jakartas subdistricts and decided that Penjaringan was the priority to receive social assistance due to its population size.

Penjaringan has among the highest number of people under monitoring (ODP) and patients under surveillance (PDP) for COVID-19 in the city, according to Jakarta Health Agency data.

Irmansyah said the aid distribution would be carried out in two phases, with the first phase lasting from Thursday to April 18 and targeting 1.2 million underprivileged and vulnerable families affected by COVID-19.

The next phase will start from April 19 to April 23 for poor and vulnerable residents who have not been registered, he said, adding that those in phase two would need to report to their community unit heads for further verification.

As of Thursday, the Health Ministry had confirmed 3,293 cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia and 280 deaths. Jakarta, the country's outbreak epicenter, has confirmed 1,706 cases and 142 fatalities.
A section of Noida residents alleged on Thursday that the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration was not able to ensure doorstep delivery of essential commodities in 22 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hot spots, but authorities tried to allay concerns and appealed to citizens not to panic.

In these places, which were sealed by the authorities on Wednesday midnight, people are not allowed to go out on even to buy groceries or vegetables even as the administration says all essentials will be home-delivered.

On Thursday morning, the district administration released a list of dedicated suppliers of milk, vegetables, fruits, and medicines to each of the 34 localities where the 22 hot spots are located.

In neighbourhoods adjacent to the district magistrate (DM)s camp office, which included upscale Sectors 27 and 28, chaos reigned supreme on Thursday. Vinod Kumar, a resident of Sector 27, said he was unable to contact the vendor assigned for his locality. I have run of out of milk and fruits at home. My six-year-old son is crying for bread and cheese. The vendors mobile phone number is switched off since morning, he said.

Similarly, Dinesh Sharma, a resident of Sector 28, said he couldnt get any green vegetable for his diabetic father. I was worried about how can my father eat his lunch, as only potatoes were left at home. Fortunately, my neighbour gave me some bitter gourd and capsicum, he said.

HT tried to verify the Sectors 27 and 28 residents complaints and called up the vendor on his mobile phone, which was switched off till the time of filing this report.

Sanjay, who goes by his first name and has been assigned by the district administration to supply goods to high-rises in ATS Dolce Zeta-1 (Greater Noida), started speaking even without listening to the queries. Hum doodh nahin sabji supply karte hain. Kam se kam char ghante lagenge (I dont supply milk. I only supply vegetables and itll take at least four hours for me to deliver).

The designated supplier for Logix Blossom County and Paras Tierea in Sector 137 and Wazidpur village in Sector 135, didnt answer calls.

Supreme Court advocate Abhinav Ramkrishna, who lives Omaxe Grand in Sector 93B, said, Weve been told by our supplier that we can buy fruits and vegetables from our apartment complexs main gate at 5pm. Our society has 1,300 families and there will be just one seller. Imagine the inconvenience faced by hundreds of residents, as they will be queuing up to buy at the main gate within a stipulated time frame. The idea of social distancing will go for a toss if few hundreds of people gather near the gate to buy vegetables together.

High-rises apart, the situation was equally bad in Wazidpur village, another hot spot area in the district. Sushil Kumar, a carpenter and a resident of Wazidpur village, said his family has run out of rice, as the last stock was exhausted during Thursdays lunch. When my seven-year-old son asked me what will be there for this evenings dinner, I asked him to have faith in God. Were left at the mercy of the district administration since were holed up here, he said.

The plight of 130-odd workers families, living in Harijan Basti in Sector 37, is even more deplorable. Their hutments are located around the hotspots of Sectors 27 and 28, and the residents have chosen the Gandhian way of protest to go on a mass fast, albeit for half-day, while pinning the blame on a callous district administration.

Nitish Modi, who was working as a painter in Arun Vihar society before the ongoing nationwide 21-day lockdown started on March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19, said both the district administration and the police authorities didnt pay any heed to their entreaties. To make matters worse, most of the vendors said that it would take up to seven hours to get the orders delivered, he added. All 75 workers living in this colony were on fast for half a day. Women and children, however, didnt take part in this token protest against the district administration, he said.

Dilkhus Pandit, a plumber living in the same colony, questioned the district administration. How can we get these vendors to deliver essential suppliers to us when they never answer their calls? he asked.

In non-hot spot areas such as Shahdara village in Sector 142, workers engaged in unorganised sectors also didnt have any access to groceries and vegetables. Were fast running out of cash. Unfortunately, none of the administrative officials has come to our village to take stock of the situation. Weve no ration left at home. I dont know how long will we survive amid this crisis, said Jyoti Sahu, who works as a domestic help in a neighbouring high-rise in Sector 137, a Covid-19 hot spot.

We called and gave our family details on the Noida Authoritys hunger helpline on Monday, but no one came to deliver food till now. On Wednesday, we called emergency number 112, the police took the details and promised to visit, but no one has come yet, she said.

The newly appointed DM, Suhas LY, however, allayed the harried residents concerns. There is nothing to be worried about. Were looking into the discrepancies. Additional chief executive officer of Noida Authority is identifying the spots, where meals will be delivered soon, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:05:07|Editor: huaxia

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DAKAR, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a millennial legacy of centuries-old ties between Africa and Asia, Senegalese academic and historian Mamadou Fall told Xinhua in a recent interview.

According to Professor Fall, who also teaches in the history department of University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, this initiative did not come out nowhere, it is a long-standing heritage which has linked China to Africa for millennia.

He indicated the BRI is "a return to a past of cooperation, support and friendliness that stands the test of time".

For him, "it is a thousand-year-old heritage of secular ties between Africa and Asia" that China seeks to consolidate through a program that is at once economic, financial, cultural and even institutional.

By bringing the peoples of the whole world to join hands for a good distribution of financial, economic and technological resources as part of a win-win cooperation, the Senegalese historian considered the BRI is a multidimensional cooperation program different from the unilateralism.

"The BRI is not a wishful thinking. It is a legacy of history, something that stands on its own, a principle of deeply egalitarian cooperation," said Fall.

This cooperation is no longer in "the asymmetry where there is a center trying to take advantage of a periphery", said the Senegalese academic, adding that it is "several peripheries that work in the direction of a globalized world where everyone with their potential will benefit from the experience of the other."

"It is a model of cooperation which leaves no room for the development of underdevelopment. A country which adheres to this program benefits from an immense financial program and from technological, economic, commercial and cultural experience", he noted.

For him, cultural cooperation and that of the education sector can lead to boost the educational potential of a country like Senegal.

"It is an initiative that is the heir to a long tradition of cooperation between Africa and Asia that the Chinese are seeking to consolidate within the framework of a more open and more massive program," he said.

This program, according to him, "mobilizes energy, science, capitals to allow itself to be at the service of a win-win cooperation where Africa can find its place on an egalitarian basis."
rarrarorro/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- As small businesses across the country are crushed by the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus pandemic, and as unemployment claims skyrocket to a historic 16 million in just the last three weeks, the Senate on Thursday failed to approve an emergency funding infusion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a federal plan designed to extend loans to keep those ailing businesses afloat and workers getting paid.



Democrats blocked a request from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to unanimously approve a $250 billion PPP replenishment to the original $350 billion fund, demanding more aid for hospitals and other needs be included.



Just a few days after the program opened for business, $100 billion in loans have already been committed. That is 30 percent of the total funding, spoken for in just the first few days, said McConnell, calling the Democrats' blockade political maneuvering.



This does not have to be, nor should it be, contentious. We dont have to divide along the usual lines so soon after we came together for the country, added McConnell. To my Democratic colleagues, please, do not block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more.



But Democrats, represented Thursday by Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, decried McConnells move as a political stunt, claiming that the GOP leader knew beforehand that the measure would fail, particularly as his Democratic counterpart, Chuck Schumer, had unveiled a $500 billion relief package earlier this week, $250 billion of which would aid small businesses, half of that for minority-owned ones, and the other $250 billion earmarked for hospitals, first responders, and those in dire need of food assistance.



Yes, we need more money, Van Hollen said, But for goodness sakes, let's take the opportunity to make this program work better for the very businesses it is designed to help.



Cardin, who sits atop the Senate Small Business Committee, noted that Democrats were all for more funding for PPP, but that other emergency funds, designed as grants, for small businesses had already run out of money and desperately needed more.



You dont have to have a banking relationship with a commercial bank in order to get these loans. Very, very popular. Three point eight million requests have come in...representing $372 billion of loans. But heres the problem - weve only authorized $7.3 billion of loans under the program, said Cardin, adding, Thats why were suggesting, if you add another $50 billion, you could authorize another $300 billion of loans.



As Democrats tried to get their proposal through the Senate Thursday, McConnell objected.



Afterward, the GOP leader pointed out to reporters that much of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief aid, including $100 billion in emergency funds for hospitals, had not yet been disbursed. The GOP leader indicated a large portion for hospitals would go out Friday, and he signaled he was open to a bipartisan negotiation for more funding at some point, not closing the door on what Democrats proposed.



No one is necessarily against additional assistance, said McConnell, adding, Much of the rest of the money has not gone out yet. So its hard to measure the effect of that and the additional need. This is the one program that was running out of money, needed assistance now, and all my proposed amendment would do, at the request of the Administration, was to simply change one number.



It seems certain that Congress will increase PPP, but under what circumstances it remains unclear. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is talking to Democrats, but where those discussions will land is anyone's guess at this point.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Hum Paanch is among the many TV shows that have been re-telecast on TV amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Amid a growing trend of TV reruns during the coronavirus lockdown, Zee TV has decided to telecast Hum Paanch, one of its most popular shows from the '90s.

The family comedy is written by Imtiaz Patel and was produced by Ekta Kapoor. With its captivating and humorous storyline, Hum Paanch was a regular feature from 1995 to 1999.

Zee TV posted a message on its Twitter page asking fans if they are ready to experience the funniest ride from the 90s again. The channel shared three images that hinted at popular characters from the show in its tweet.

Here is the tweet

Iss baar fun x 1 nahi, fun x PAANCH hoga!

Are you ready to experience the funniest ride from the 90s again ? #ReliveTheFunpic.twitter.com/pGtEoOej4v  ZeeTV (@ZeeTV) April 9, 2020

Hum Paanch revolves around a middle-class family of a husband-wife and their five daughters. The man also converses with the ghost of his late first-wife through a photo.

The cast of Hum Paanch included Ashok Saraf, Priya Tendulkar, Shoma Anand and Amita Nangia among others. Actress Vidya Balan was also part of the show and had replaced Amita Nangia.

In an interview with Pune Mirror, Saraf had expressed his delight upon knowing that the show will be made available on TV again. "People loved the show at that time. It's good that it is coming back on screen again," he said.

According to a report by MidDay, the re-telecast of Hum Paanch will commence from Monday, 13 April.

Several popular shows from the 90s, including the Ramayan, Mahabharat and Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Circus, are being telecast again on television these days bringing back a sense of nostalgia.
A day after becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former vice president Joe Biden sought to appeal to liberal supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday with a pair of new proposals to expand access to health care and curtail student loan debt.

Biden proposed lowering the eligibility age for Medicare coverage from 65 to 60. He also came out in favor of forgiving student loan debt for people who attended public colleges and universities and some private schools and make up to $125,000 a year.

The announcements came after private conversations between Biden's team and aides to Sanders, I-Vt., who announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign. While they do not put Biden in line with Sanders on two pillars of the Democratic socialist's sweeping agenda, they represent concessions that bring the two sides closer together.

"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I'm proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis," Biden said in a post on the website Medium. He said he would release more details in the future.

The moves marked the latest olive branch that Biden, more centrist than Sanders, has offered to the party's left wing. It remains to be seen whether the gestures will be enough to overcome considerable skepticism many liberals have about his candidacy - or how much further left Biden would feel comfortable moving if they are not.

Sanders lauded Biden's shifts, calling his new posture on health care a "step in the right direction" during an interview on MSNBC.

"I think what you will see is the vice president beginning to move in a more progressive direction," he added.

The senator has long advocated enacting a Medicare-for-all system in which the government is the sole provider of health insurance. He has suggested phasing in the plan by gradually lowering the age at which Americans can enroll in the program.

In contrast, Biden supports expanding the Affordable Care Act with an optional public insurance program similar to Medicare. Disputes between Biden and Sanders over health-care policy made for heated exchanges during televised debates over the past nine months.

Sanders has promoted his own plan as a means of providing universal health coverage, including for the many younger people who lack insurance. A majority of uninsured adults between the ages of 19 and 64 were younger than 50, according to a 2018 study by Commonwealth Fund, a health-care research group. Biden said that his new health-care plan was based in part on the tough consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs," he wrote.

On student loans, Sanders presented a plan last year to erase all existing debt, going well beyond what Biden and other Democratic candidates embraced. Biden said Thursday that his new proposal would apply not just to public university attendees but also to people who attended private historically black colleges and universities as well as underfunded minority-serving institutions.

"The federal government would pay the monthly payment in lieu of the borrower until the forgivable portion of the loan was paid off," Biden wrote. He said there would be "appropriate phase-outs" in the program based on income, "to avoid a cliff."

In another peace offering to liberals, Biden proposed paying for his student debt plan by repealing a provision in the recent coronavirus legislation that Congress passed and President Donald Trump enacted.

"That tax cut overwhelmingly benefits the richest Americans and is unnecessary for addressing the current COVID-19 economic relief efforts," he wrote, referencing the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Last month, Biden nodded to Sanders by endorsing a plan to make public colleges tuition-free for families making less than $125,000 a year. At the time, Sanders responded with a tepid statement.

"It's great that Joe Biden is now supporting a position that was in the Democratic platform four years ago," said the senator, who favors making public colleges and universities tuition-free for everyone. "Now we have to go much further."

On that same day, Biden endorsed a bankruptcy reform plan put forth by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., another rival who ran to his left.

In announcing Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign, Sanders ended a push for the White House that started five years ago when he announced a run against Hillary Clinton. His decision removed the last barrier standing between Biden and the nomination to run against Trump.

The senator from Vermont pledged to support the former vice president if he became the nominee and has hinted that a formal endorsement may be in the offing. At the same time, he said he will stay on the remaining primary ballots in an effort to collect enough delegates to influence the party's platform in negotiations this summer.

In an interview Wednesday on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Sanders was asked if he was making a "full-throated endorsement." He replied that his team was in touch with Biden's to work on "how we can best go forward together."

In the conversations between the two camps, Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn and Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver have been the main points of contact, and they have interacted fairly regularly, according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. The two sides engaged on a range of topics, with the goal of incorporating some of Sanders's policy ideas into Biden's existing proposals.

Many Sanders backers feel the senator deserves recognition for changing the national political conversation, even as the party shifts into general election mode and rallies behind Biden.

"When we do see the dawn of a new progressive era that allows American to become a multiracial democracy with dignity for all, people will ask what led to this period. Historians will answer simply: It all began with Bernie Sanders and the movement he built," said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a national co-chair of the Sanders campaign.

At the same time, some Sanders supporters - including at least one member of his campaign's senior staff - have continued to be critical of Biden.

"Bernie was too kind to go after Biden, but it's coming," Briahna Joy Gray tweeted early Thursday morning. The national press secretary on the Sanders campaign, she added: "Either Dem leadership cares more abt maintaining a corporate status quo than getting rid of Trump, or they're planning to replace Joe - adopting a pretty fast and loose relationship w/ representative Democracy. Lose lose."

- - -

The Washington Post's Matt Viser contributed to this report.
For nearly four decades, Seaboard Marine has played a pivotal role in facilitating trade between Latin America and the United States. As the year-round demand for fresh produce in the U.S. has steadily risen, we have continually upgraded, expanded, and reinvested in services, equipment, and infrastructure. These investments have allowed our most loyal customers, such as J&C Tropicals, to also expand their offerings as demand adjusts due to the COVID-19 situation.

Headquartered in Homestead, Florida, J&C Tropicals is a major importer and distributor of quality tropical roots, fruits, and vegetables throughout the United States. Luis Cintron, Director of Sales and Procurement at J&C Tropicals, said, "A key part of our supply chain is supported by refrigerated containerized shipping. We rely heavily on Seaboard Marine's direct, weekly services throughout Latin America to provide a steady supply of quality produce. They have continued with reliable sailings and available equipment. Amid this crisis and from a public health perspective, the increasing availability of nutritional year-round fruits and vegetables is of great benefit to consumers in these stressful times."

Jose Concepcion, Seaboard Marine's Vice President of Central America, said, "The reality that we expanded the size of our container fleet and continually reinvested in our services really registers in times like these where perishables must be quickly delivered. At our PortMiami terminal alone, we have increased our refrigerated power capacity to 430 container plugs while adding a cold chamber for inspections and transfers. These improvements, along with the commitment of the dedicated staff at CBP, help fresh produce reach consumers faster."

Mike Stamatis, President of Red Hook Container Terminals, said, "The situation locally here in New York is tragic, but we are determined to keep moving cargo to supply stores in the region with bananas, pineapples, and other fruits and vegetables. Walking into a supermarket can be a bit nerve-wracking for folks these days, but it comforts people to always see ample fresh produce on the shelves. Seaboard Marine continues to deliver on its commitment to maintaining reliable services. Their vessels consistently arrive on-time with essential cargoes. Our team at Red Hook is proud to unload them and safely work with the local truckers to get food where it is needed promptly."

One benefit of difficult times is the deepening of partnerships. We've partnered with our customers on schedule adjustments, strategy, even the development of new standard operating procedures, which, in the end, helps customers, such as Exp. Group LLC, keep stores throughout the U.S. stocked with healthy produce.

Exp. Group LLC is a multinational group of importers and distributors of tropical fruits and vegetables from Central and South America. Anthony Serafino, Vice President of Exp. Group LLC, said, "Seaboard Marine has shown to be a great partner. Over the years, and never truer than in these past few weeks, we've really seen a difference in the increased importance of our supply chain, starting at the farms in the Caribbean and Latin America through delivery to stores in the U.S. These are unfortunate times for so many people, but along with Seaboard Marine we are proudly doing our part to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to U.S. consumers reliably."

Concepcion added, "We're an essential business; however, the term essential has provided some new perspective for us in this difficult time. Yes, we provide transportation, but we're humbled to be working with all of our dedicated partners -- even those we don't work with directly. From the farms, exporters, and overseas governments, to customs brokers, customers, U.S. government agencies, and grocery stores, both large and small. Thank you for continuing to do your part so that we can do ours."

Contact:

Chris Concepcion

786-660-8684

[email protected]

SOURCE Seaboard Marine Ltd. Inc.

Related Links

http://www.seaboardmarine.com


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The Bombay high court on Thursday refused to grant bail to a murder accused who sought to be released from Mumbais Taloja jail due to the Covid -9 outbreak.

The prisoner claimed that as there were allegedly two cases of inmates being infected with the virus hence sought bail and cited the Supreme Courts direction to decongest jails.

But the court said that due to the rising cases of Covid-19 infections in the city, the man was safer in the jail as the virus could be better contained there and the jails were well equipped to deal with the same.

Also read: Covid-19: Mumbai identifies 21 hotspots, imposes curfew-like restrictions

Justice Gautam Patel while hearing the bail application of Jitendra Mishra lodged in Taloja jail was informed by advocate Shailendra Singh and advocate Aashish Shukla that bail was being sought based on the directions of the Supreme Court to decongest jails and not on merit.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

Singh submitted that Mishra had been in Taloja jail for the last 18 months. After a prisoner was released based on the SC directions, Mishras family got to know that there were two cases of Covid-19 persons in the jail and hence wanted Mishra to be released on bail for his safety and well-being.

However, chief public prosecutor Deepak Thakeray refuted the claims about the infected persons and said that there was no communication from the jail authorities regarding the same and opposed the application.

After hearing the submissions justice Patel observed, You are not aware of the situation in the city where entire areas have been sealed to contain the spread of the virus.

While referring to the G-South ward and Worli Naka that had been sealed after cases of coronavirus infected persons surfaced, Patel told Mishra, You are safer in the jail than in your home in Ghatkopar. The jails are better equipped to contain the spread of the virus and there is no point in coming out on bail and becoming more susceptible to the virus or spreading it in the family.

Patel, however, said that further hearing could take place before the regular court after the lockdown ends.

Maharashtra recorded 162 new Covid-19 cases since Wednesday night, taking the count in the state to 1297 Thursday morning. Mumbai has reported the majority of the case at 857.
Since Amy Schumer welcomed her first child, son Gene, in May of 2019, she has used social media to document his evolution.

So, the 38-year-old comedian took to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon to share candid footage of the darling 11-month-old enjoying his 'first movie' with dad Chris Fischer.

In the clip, shared with Schumer's nearly 10million followers, Gene can be seen looking on in amazement during a viewing of Wes Anderson's 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox.

First movie: Amy Schumer took to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon to share candid footage of her 11-month-old son Gene enjoying his 'first movie' with dad Chris Fischer

With mom Amy behind the camera, Gene can be seen sucking on an orange binky, while donning a tiger patterned onesie.

Fischer, laying in the couple's bed, had his arm around his son while Gene kept his fingers latched onto his nose.

The video, which has since amassed over a million views, followed a posting made by Schumer on Sunday celebrating Gene's 11-month mark.

The Trainwreck star had shared a photo of her son dressed as a little chef, while sucking on a pacifier.

Focused: In the clip, shared with Schumer's nearly 10million followers, Gene can be seen gazing in amazement during a viewing of Wes Anderson's 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox

Daddy and me: Fischer, laying in the couple's bed, had his arm around his son while Gene kept his fingers latched onto his nose

'11 months and sneaky as hell,' captioned Amy, who has been in quarantine with her family in their New York City.

And Schumer returned to Instagram on Tuesday to give fans a look at how she has been coping with being holed up at home.

'Quarantine is like,' the mother-of-one captioned the post, while she cuddled with her fluffy pooch Tati on her couch.

Documenting: Since Amy Schumer welcomed her first child, son Gene, in May of 2019, she has used social media to document his evolution; Schumer pictured in 2019

Sneaky: On Sunday, Schumer took to Instagram to celebrate her son's 11-month mark with a hilarious photo of him dressed as a tiny chef

Though most of their time has been spent indoors in wake of the growing coronavirus pandemic, Schumer and Fischer have been taking regularly scheduled walks with their son at a park near their residence.

Schumer married her 40-year-old husband in February 2018 during a ceremony held in Malibu.

She revealed in January that she is eager to give her little boy a sibling and is undergoing IVF treatments.

Taking a breather: Though most of their time has been spent indoors in wake of the growing coronavirus pandemic, Schumer and Fischer have been taking regularly scheduled walks with their son at a park near their residence; the family pictured on April 1

She shared a photo of herself at the doctor's office to her Instagram and explained in the caption: 'We are gonna freeze embryos hopefully.'

On Valentine's Day, she gave her fans an update.

'They retrieved 35 eggs from me. Not bad for the old gal right? Then 26 fertilized! Whoah right? For all of those we got 1 normal embryo,' Schumer wrote alongside a selfie.

'We feel lucky we got 1. But what a drop off right?' she added.
[April 09, 2020] Couche-Tard Wishes to Thank You All and Invites Quebecers to Pay it Forward

"Les petits mercis de Couche-Tard" will bring little moments of joy to Quebecers during these difficult times. LAVAL, QC, April 9, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Following March 19th's offer of free coffee and tea to healthcare workers and first responders, to which Polar Pop was later added, Couche-Tard is launching today a new initiative to recognize all those who are keeping our communities going and help us get through the crisis, the ones we call our hard working heroes. This initiative is moved by a desire to pay it forward. "Les petits mercis de Couche-Tard" will highlight the contribution of all the workers providing essential services: truck drivers, delivery drivers, volunteers, convenience store employees, etc. Available on the company's mobile application and microsite, the initiative will give Quebecers the opportunity to say thank you to these important people by sending them a virtual coupon redeemable for a free drink (coffee, tea, Polar Pop, Sloche or Favourites water) or snack (Favourites nuts or chips).



The process for "Les petits mercis de Couche-Tard" is simple: The person visits Couche-Tard's application or website and enters the contact information of the person to whom they wish to send the thank you. The person receives a text message from Couche-Tard with a clickable link to redeem a free product from the available options.

The products must be claimed in store and the offer will remain valid for 14 days (each virtual coupon has an expiry date).

The offer is also available in participating Circle K stores across the country. The company is launching this special initiative to build stronger bonds between Quebecers in these difficult times, when recognizing each other is precious and much appreciated.

About Couche-Tard Alimentation Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Ireland, and has an important presence in Poland. In addition, under licensing agreements, more than 2,380 stores are operated under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, China, Egypt, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings the worldwide total network to more than 14,800 stores. https://www.couche-tard.com/ SOURCE Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

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Tens of thousands of people rushed to leave Wuhan, the worlds first virus epicenter, as soon as the city lifted a 76-day quarantine on April 8.

The reopening saw crowds unseen since Jan. 23, when China ordered a lockdown of the city and its 11 million residents. Drivers had already queued up on expressways well before the clock reached midnight when officials were set to relax travel controls.

People also flocked to trains and airports, with many wrapping themselves in full protective gear, awaiting their first opportunity to get out of the city.

Footage from the border showed locals honking their car horns as they drove out of the city in celebration of their regained freedom of movement.

Chen said he regretted not listening to his bosss advice to leave Wuhan before the lockdown, leaving him stuck for more than two months. If you want to leave, you leave fast, he said.

Liu, whose parents live in Hanyang District, had similar concerns.

You never know what directions the policies are going, she told The Epoch Times as their car, heading toward Mongolia, arrived in Xinyang City, Henan Province. We leave as soon as we can. Changes happen every day.

The family of three arrived to line up at the highway entrance one hour before the travel restrictions were lifted. In no time, over a hundred cars were lined up behind her.

Around 55,000 people were expected to leave Wuhan on Wednesday by raila number that is expected to nearly double by the next day. An airport official estimated that they would fly out 10,000 passengers from Wuhan by the end of the day.

Hidden Risks

For weeks since March, Wuhan has recorded few to no new cases in their daily case count. Over the past three weeks, officials have only reported three new confirmed cases.

Yet the presence of an unknown number of asymptomatic patients, who may spread the virus while showing no immediate symptoms, suggest that the outbreak is far from over.

A classified Chinese government report showed that such patients could account for up to one third of those who have been detected, according to South China Morning Post. The report also said that over 43,000 patients who tested positive for the virus in China by the end of February were asymptomatic, and that official government data listing around 80,000 confirmed cases did not included these patients.

Yang Jiong, a respiratory expert at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, recently said there may be 10,000 to 20,000 asymptomatic carriers in Wuhan, and urged residents to stay vigilant, according to the state-affiliated Health Times.

After China began publicly reporting asymptomatic cases on April 1, more than 70 residential compounds previously designated as virus-free were found to have carriers. For the same reason, 87 neighborhoods, two villages, and 11 towns in Wuhan also lost their virus-free titles.

Guinea Pigs?

In a news conference the day before Wuhan reopened, Hu Shuguang, deputy head of the epidemic control group in Wuhan, warned that combating the outbreak remains the top priority at the moment.

According to a notice sent days earlier, officials will continue to exercise strict lockdown management on a community level, including checking each persons identity and temperature, mandating face masks, and advising residents against going out.

Fang, a resident from Wuhan, said that people who go to work today are the first batch of guinea pigs.

I dont know where the enemies are, where the virus is, and who has been infected. Id get anxious if my family goes out the door, he told The Epoch Times sister media NTD. They are not using scientific methods to cure the disease, and often act out of political need.

Multiple regions across China are screening people who arrive from Wuhan.

Beijing, which is anticipating around 11,000 residents to return from the Wuhan lockdown, requires two virus test: one a week before their trip to prove their health, and another after they complete a mandatory two-week quarantine at home or in a quarantine center, according to an April 8 news briefing.

In the far northern province of Heilongjiang, a surge of virus cases has led the city of Suifenhe to close its border with Russia.

In a measure reminiscent of Wuhans lockdown, the local government has ordered citizens to stay inside their residential compounds. They have also started building a makeshift hospital. Only one person from each household can leave every three days for essential items, and they must return home on the same day.

From The Epoch Times
Striker Gin Company (1 Africa Industries Limited), has donated some relief items to the Tema General Hospital to fight the rising numbers of coronavirus in Ghana.

Among items donated to the hospital includes 50 boxers of hand sanitizers, 30 boxes of protective medical gloves and a Cheque of Ghc10,000 to support the fight against COVID-19.

Mr. Suneel Kumar. N, General Manager of the company and his partner, Mahesh Reddy. K, together with some staff presented the items to the hospital on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.

Dr. Richard Anthony who is the Medical Director of Tema General Hospital received the items on behalf of the facility.

We are very grateful for the kind gesture. This will go a long way to support us because these are things we use on a daily basis but due to the pandemic, their uses have increased because even visitors to our facility need to use it too as well as our staff and patients. But this shouldnt be the end of it; we would love to have more of you guys come to visit us and support us even after COVID-19 is over. Lets all work together and support each other because health is key and we all need to keep healthy, Dr. Richard Anthony added.

According to Dr. Richard Anthony, Tema General Hospital has an isolation Centre for patients diagnosed of the pandemic (Corona Virus).

1 Africa Industries Limited are producers of Striker Gin, Choice and other alcoholic products. They are located on the Spintex Road in Accra, GHANA. The company also made other donations to LEKMA Hospital and Ga East Hospital, respectively.
New graphs show how Tennessee has reported three times as many coronavirus cases as neighboring state Kentucky - and it may be because its governor took an extra week to issue stay at home orders.

In Kentucky there are over 1,100 cases of the virus and there have been 65 deaths so far.

In Tennessee, which sits just below Kentucky, the outbreak three times as large, with over 4,300 cases of COVID-19 and 79 deaths reported.

Despite their proximity, Kentucky's early orders to lockdown, practice social distancing and stay at home may have saved the state from a more severe outbreak.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on March 6, the same day the state reported its first confirmed case of the virus. On March 16 he further shut down all bars and restaurants for in-person dining.

Conversely, Tennessee reported its first COVID-19 case on March 5, but Governor Bill Lee did not issue a state of emergency until a week later on March 12 when the number of cases spiked to 18.

Dramatic graphs show how Tennessee's coronavirus outbreak - with 4,300 cases and 79 deaths - is three times as bad as Kentucky's - with 1,100 cases and 65 deaths - despite being neighboring states. Kentucky's governor declared a state of emergency on March 6, the same day it reported its first case. Tennessee declared a state of emergency on March 12 when it had 18 COVID-19 cases. The delay in declaring the emergency state and ordering locals to stay at home may have contributed to the spike in cases in Tennessee

This graph by Stephanie Jolly shows COVID-19 cases in Kentucky and Tennessee per showing the number of cases per 1,000 residents according to test results and how many people have been tested in each state

A tale of two states: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (left) has been praised for his early action to slow the spread of COVID-19 which may have contributed to its low number compared to neighboring state Tennessee. Lee issued a 'safer at home' order on March 30 instead of a 'shelter in place' order saying 'it remains deeply important o me to protect personal liberties'

While both states are grappling with a shortage of tests and medical supplies, Tennessee is seeing over 3,200 more cases than Kentucky.

Kentucky resident and educator Stephanie Jolly, who is currently based in New York awaiting thyroid cancer surgery, has created graphs comparing the COVID-19 outbreaks in the two states to show the public how social distancing is flattening the curve.

'This infographic has encouraged thousands to stay at home who otherwise wouldn't have. I make a version with the actual counts because it is more easily understood by those seeking simple visuals -- especially when sharing with older relatives,' she wrote on Twitter sharing updated graphs on Sunday.

Her graph shows key dates - when the two governors declared states of emergency and stay at home orders.

And they've made a major impact - particularly among disgruntled Tennesseans.

'Ive had a lot of people from Tennessee telling me they wished they were taking the same steps as Kentucky,' Jolly said to Buzzfeed.

In Kentucky, Beshear ordered all nonessential business closed on March 25 and a 'healthy at home' mandate, which is effectively a shelter in place order.

Data shows that Tennessee declared a state of emergency, encouraged social distancing, and placed stay at home orders all a week after Kentucky did. Kentucky declared a state of emergency on March 6 followings its first case. Tennessee did on March 12 when there were already 18 cases in the state. A woman demonstrates how air filters can be turned into face masks in Memphis, Tennessee on March 29

While both states are grappling with a shortage of tips and limited testing supplies, Tennessee is seeing over 3,200 more cases than Kentucky. Emergency medical personnel transport a patient into a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky

Pastor Chuck Salvo prays with congregants after the drive-in service at On Fire Christian Church on April 5 in Louisville, Kentucky

A view of the empty downtown area of Nashville, Tennessee during the COVID-19 pandemic pictured on March 31

Beshear said the key difference in phrasing was to not stress out his constituents.

'[Shelter in place] says "get in our house and board it up until we call you." Thats not the way that we will address this coronavirus. Our way is healthy at home  that any type of steps, initiatives, restrictions that we put into place will always allow you to be healthy at home,' he explained at the time.

Lee followed suit on March 30 by closing all nonessential businesses and issuing a 'safer at home' order instead of a mandated shelter in place order, 'because it remains deeply important to me to protect personal liberties,' he said at the time.

Communication also played a role in the trajectory of the virus.

Beshear started holding daily 5pm briefings on March 7 to keep the public updated on the advance of the coronavirus. Lee lagged behind starting daily public briefings on March 23.

Tennessee has a population of 6.8million compared to Kentuckys 4.5million  however even correcting for that population difference, Tennessee has more than double the number of cases per resident.

Nationwide there are over 435,000 cases of the virus and 14,000 deaths

Gov. Beshear has turned into an adored celebrity much like New York Gov. Andrew Como has, for his 5pm daily updates on the virus and early action.

Beshears actions have also won him popularity among Kentucky health workers as hospitals were given extra time to prepare for the influx of patients.

Kentuckys projected date of peak deaths is estimated for April 24 with 33 deaths. Tennessees predicted peak date is April 18 with 25 deaths, according to Bloomberg data.

This projection shows that Kentucky bought itself time with its early action.

'I do wish our governor had acted faster, and had done more,' Vanderbilt University School of Medicine infectious disease expert William Schaffner said on the state's outbreak.

However, experts warn that the data is variable and Tennessee's numbers could be greater because the state may have actually had a much earlier outbreak of the illness than reported.

Now the states are bracing for continued COVID-19 cases.

In Nashville, Tennessee, where over 1,000 cases were reported Monday, part of Vanderbilt Universitys parking garage is being transformed into a place for new hospital beds.
COVID-19 expected to bring unemployment of 5% to 85% in some areas  what does that mean for Canada?

As the days and weeks go by, the numbers illustrating how paralyzed the country's economy has become because of the coronavirus pandemic are getting bigger.

One of those figures arrived Tuesday, when Alberta's premier, Jason Kenney, unveiled projections for the province's unemployment rate on pace to reach 25 per cent.

It's a shocking figure in a country accustomed to single-digit unemployment, but that's what happens in a pandemic when a country deliberately shuts down its economy. The situation is unprecedented, and records will no doubt be broken.

When faced with these daunting figures, though, the most important aspect is how long the situation lasts.

Looking at the past year, the national economy and job market were relatively healthy. In February, the country's unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent, and 245,000 jobs had been created in the previous 12 months. In Alberta, the jobless rate was 7.2 per cent.

WATCH | Federal finance minister unveils easier revenue tests for Canadian businesses to access financial aid:

Economists suggest Canada's unemployment rate right now is likely around 20 per cent. Statistics Canada said Thursday that the country lost one million jobs in March, but that only provides a glimpse since the data is based on surveys in the week that started March 15.

The economic situation continues to be volatile as businesses and governments adapt to conditions that can change daily.

Air Canada, which operates in one of the hardest-hit sectors of the economy, is a good example. On March 30, the airline announced layoffs for 16,500 employees, but then on Wednesday, it said it would re-hire all of them.

Watch: 'This will be the new normal until a vaccine is developed,' says Trudeau:

Alberta hit hard

Alberta is likely going to be the hardest-hit province in the coming months because it's hampered not only by the pandemic but also by record low oil prices.

Manitoba's premier said Wednesday he expects his province will fare better economically than Alberta.

Story continues

In Banff, the unemployment rate is believed to be about 85 per cent, a baffling situation considering the mountain resort community typically has "Help Wanted" signs hanging in the front window of just about every store, hotel and restaurant.

Alberta will easily surpass and possibly double the previous unemployment record, which was 12.4 per cent in 1984.

The unemployment rate might not actually hit Kenney's forecast of 25 per cent  or the province might far exceed it.

"It's sadly realistic," said Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, which oversees the province's credit unions. "It's the state of the economy at the moment given the sharp drop in economic activity in Alberta, but in Canada in general, too, with all the measures to stop the spread of the virus.

"We are seeing everywhere a lot of layoffs in various industries."

Some provincial leaders are beginning to talk about when some measures could be relaxed, allowing some more businesses to open. They are starting to also talk about what the economic recovery plan could look like.

St-Arnaud will be watching how many people won't have a job to return to because their businesses can't survive. Those people will remain stuck in the pool of unemployed Canadians until they find a new job.

Similarly, he says he'll be focusing on whether people can stay afloat financially in a country that ranks among the highest in the world in household debt.

Those two situations will be more important, he said, than how high the unemployment rate peaks.

Based on various indicators of indebtedness, St-Arnaud said Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario are the most vulnerable to the economic shock of the pandemic, while P.E.I., Quebec and Saskatchewan are the least.

Ed Middleton/CBC

The situation in B.C. and Ontario, where housing costs have escalated significantly in recent years, is particularly worrisome because many households have no financial buffer.

"So, what happens when they lose their jobs? Could we get to a point where you have to sell your assets, i.e. your house, since this is a big part of their wealth?" St-Arnaud said.

'Drastic and dramatic'

There have already been over three million employment insurance claims over the past month, and the Conference Board of Canada expects Canada to lose around 2.8 million jobs in March and April.

"The situation is drastic and dramatic. It's nothing like what we've seen before, certainly in the modern survey data that we have. But it will be short-lived," said Pedro Antunes, the Conference Board's chief economist.

"The impact is self-imposed  we're looking out for our health first. We're shutting down the economy purposely."

WATCH | Economist Pedro Antunes on sky-high jobless rates and how long they will last

Job growth will begin to pick up in May and accelerate over the second half of 2020, according to the Conference Board, assuming social distancing measures are gradually relaxed.

With health as the top priority, the economy remains in hiatus. That's why the negative job market figures will only escalate.

While shocking at first glance, the real scare is how long they stick around.
By McKenna Oxenden, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

BALTIMORE  Authorities found the body of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsends missing grandson in the Chesapeake Bay, two days after finding her daughters body.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police said they found 8-year-old Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKeans body around 1:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, about 2,000 feet away from where authorities found his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, on Monday.

The two were both submerged 25 feet, and about 2 1/2 miles from the former lieutenant governors residence in Shady Side in Anne Arundel County, police said.

Maeve McKean, 40, and son were last seen Friday afternoon about 10 miles south of Annapolis near Herring Bay. Authorities said the pairs canoe was found overturned around 7 p.m. Friday, east of Rockhold Creek in Deale.

The two were playing kickball near a cove on Townsends property when one of them kicked the ball into the cove. While trying to retrieve it in a canoe, they somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay, McKeans husband wrote in Facebook post.

The search for Maeve and Gideon McKean spanned five days and involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology. The Charles County Dive and Rescue team and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department also assisted in the search.

Maeve McKean was the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, the former U.S. attorney general and New York senator, and the grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy.
Senior White House adviser Anthony Fauci said Thursday the death toll from the coronavirus could be closer to 60,000 Americans, assuming full social distancing, rather than the previously projected 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

"The real data are telling us that it is highly likely that we're having a definite positive effect by this mitigation things that we're doing  this physical separation  so I believe we are gonna see a downturn in that, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC's "Today" show.

And it looks more like the 60,000 than the 100,000 to 200,000, he said.

Fauci did not say which model he is using to come up with the estimate, but his comments came as a leading model from the University of Washington that experts in the White House have been using also predicted fewer Americans may die from coronavirus than previously thought.

That model now projects 60,415 people will die in the U.S. by Aug. 4, compared to previous projections that approached 100,000. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia will have fewer deaths than previously thought, under the model.

A key CoronaVirus Model is now predicting far fewer deaths than the number shown in earlier models, President Donald Trump said Thursday on Twitter. Thats because the American people are doing a great job. Social Distancing etc. Keep going!

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said social distancing seems to be working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the model also shows five states with projected increases: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Dakota and Rhode Island.

New Jersey is likely to see 5,277 deaths from coronavirus, compared to 2,117 previously estimated. The state also may not see a peak in deaths until April 12. The model previously predicted a peak in deaths on Thursday.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called the situation an unprecedented crisis, in a tweet Wednesday. The state, which was among the first to issue a stay-at-home order, is now coordinating with local and federal officials to set up field hospitals to treat the surge of patients.

Story continues

By following the facts on the ground and consulting closely with medical experts, we will break the back of the #COVID19 curve, Murphy tweeted from his official Twitter account.

Changes to the University of Washingtons model reflect a massive infusion of new data, said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the schools Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The university began its projections on March 26. To date, its model is the most comprehensive state-by-state rundown of the number of resources each state will need to combat the coronavirus.

After more than a week of new data, including peaks in seven locations in Spain and Italy, the impact of social distancing is much clearer, the University of Washington stated in a news release.

It is unequivocally evident that social distancing can, when well implemented and maintained, control the epidemic, leading to declining death rates, Murray said.

New health data from states such as New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Pennsylvania, for example, helped lead to some of the downward revisions.

But Massachusetts and Connecticut are both projected to see thousands more deaths than originally projected.

Massachusetts is now forecast to see 5,625 total deaths by early August  up from the 1,506 initially projected  with a peak on April 18. Connecticut is forecast to see 4,003 deaths, an increase of more than 3,500 over the original projection.

The University of Washington's latest projections use averages to account for "variable data collection or reporting practices" from states.

Additionally, the numbers assume Americans practice full social distancing similar to what happened in China through May 2020.

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Tuesday, March 31, 2020, in Washington.

We are making those forecasts based on the effects of social distancing and other mitigation efforts we saw in other countries  especially China, Abraham Flaxman, a member of the team, told the science magazine Nautilus. We are assuming it will happen here in much the same way.

Not all Americans have heeded the guidelines. A few states, like Arkansas, have yet to enact strict stay-at-home orders. And even people in hard-hit states like New York continue to pack into the limited subway system to get to work or buy groceries.

It's pretty hard in New York to try to keep the social distancing, said Bessie Liu, a New York University student who lives in Brooklyn.

Liu said she rode the train to get groceries two weeks ago, but there were too many other riders to maintain the 6-foot social distancing rule. She said she worried about exposure to the virus and ended up taking an Uber back home.

"It wasn't packed, she said, but it was like you couldn't keep 6 feet apart."

In Ohio, where state officials were early to enact social distancing measures, the updated model projects 489 deaths, a decrease from an earlier projection of 1,671 deaths.

You have squashed this and stretched this curve, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tweeted on Wednesday. But please know that if you start going out, well go right back up. You have to keep doing what you're doing.

Murray cautioned the evidence shows that social distancing is crucial and that trajectories could still change for the worse.

Those nations hit hard early on implemented social distancing orders and may have the worst behind them as they are seeing important progress in reducing their death rates, Murray stated.

Any lifting of the measures could push the epidemic to go longer, Murray told the USA TODAY Network in late March. Trajectories could change for the worse if people ease up on social distancing or relax precautions.

"We know now for sure that the mitigation we've been doing is having a positive effect, but you dont see it until weeks later, Fauci said Wednesday in the daily White House briefing. Those efforts need to continue. We know that this is something that is a strain on the American public, but its just something that we have  not only the only tool, its the best tool.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. could be closer to 60K, new model shows
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) predicts a tough macroeconomic scenario without signing a new EFF program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including in terms of falling GDP, the regulator reported on Facebook.

"The National Bank will present an updated macro forecast on April 23. We expect that, given the signing of the program of cooperation with the IMF, Ukraine will not repeat the 2009 scenario when it was in the lead in terms of GDP decline ... At the same time, macroeconomic scenarios without the program with the IMF are quite tough," the board of the central bank said during an online meeting with the members of the American Chamber Commerce in Ukraine.

At the same time, the board members of the regulator emphasized that thanks to the reforms of the previous years, the country's economy is more balanced and prepared for the crisis. In addition, Ukraine is less dependent on international tourism and production chains than many other countries.

They also added that the crisis reduced the cost of energy imports for the country, while the demand for Ukrainian exported goods, primarily food, decreased slightly.

During the online meeting, the board members assured of their readiness to flexibly introduce the requirements of the new "anti-laundering law," which will enter into force on April 28.

"In general, this law is extremely necessary. It comprehensively addresses two issues: the first one is the introduction of a risk-based approach in banks, the second one is the possibility of remote identification," the report said.
Vietnam, as ASEAN 2020 Chair, has been proactively promoted joint efforts of the 10-member group in the fight against COVID-19 with the spirit of "cohesive and responsive", said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Vietnam

Dung said after consulting ASEAN leaders, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued the ASEAN Chairman's Statement on February 14, affirming the blocs high determination and political commitment to control and prevent the pandemic.

The ASEAN Coordinating Council, composed of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, held two sessions on March 20 and April 9 under the chair of Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh to discuss measures for stronger collaboration within the bloc and with its partners.

Emergency response mechanisms in ASEAN and its partners namely China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN 3) have been launched right after the disease outbreak.

The ASEAN Defence Ministers, Economic Ministers, and Ministers in charge of tourism have issued statements and agreed on action measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

As ASEAN 2020 Chair, Vietnam pushed the establishment and organisation of the teleconference of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies on March 31 to take steps to implement intra-bloc coordination against COVID-19 in the coming time.

Specific recommendations included containing the spread of the pandemic; supporting affected people in ASEAN countries, including those living, working and studying in each other's member states and in the third countries; and mitigating the diseases impact on socio-economic development.

The ASEAN countries also pledged to strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, share efforts, and enhance resilience to cope with the pandemic.

At the meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council, ministers agreed to hold the ASEAN Special Summit and the ASEAN 3 Special Summit on COVID-19 Response online on April 14. The events will be presided over by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is Chair of ASEAN and Chair of ASEAN 3.

The countries leaders are expected to adopt a joint statement of ASEAN Special Summit and another of the ASEAN 3 Special Summit on COVID-19 Response reaffirming their strong commitment and determination in preventing and eliminating the risks of the pandemic that threathen people's lives and socio-economic stabilisation of the member states.

In response to reporters queries about evaluating the cooperation of the US and China with ASEAN in the COVID-19 fight, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, who is head of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Vietnam, said Vietnam supports the two powers in promoting their role in the world, adding that the country has also cooperated with the two countries since the beginning of the combat.

Within the framework of ASEAN, China was the first country, then the US and the European Union (EU), to have first meetings with the bloc in this joint effort. This is the hope and endevour of the ASEAN countries to strengthen partnerships with these countries.

We have received very strong commitments from China and the US in supporting and uniting with ASEAN in fighting the pandemic, he said.

Regarding the organisation of meetings under the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020, Dung said the complicated developments of COVID-19 forced the postponement of the 36th ASEAN Summit and ASEAN-New Zealand Leaders' Summit from April 8-9 to the end of June in the central city of Da Nang.

Since it is impossible to predict the end of the pandemic, Vietnam has to prepare backup plans such as conducting online meetings, he added.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The pandemic has spread to all ASEAN member countries with a total of more than 14,000 infection cases, including 493 deaths.VNA
With 21 COVID-19 cases, Jawaharpur village of Dera Bassi in Punjab's Mohali district has become a new coronavirus hotspot, officials said on Thursday.

Of the 36 COVID-19 casehali district, 21 have been reported from Jawaharpur village, they said.

Health authorities in Mohali district have been conducting extensive tests of the contacts of COVID-19 patients. The district administration has completely sealed the entry points to the Jawaharpur village -- located near Delhi-Ambala national highway -- and deployed police personnel to stop the movement of people in and out of the village to contain the spread of the deadly disease, the officials said.

On April 4, a 42-year-old Panch of the village contracted the infection and since then, 20 more people have been infected with the virus, the officials said.

Out of the total 21 cases in the village, 14 are part of the Panch's extended family, they said.

The officials suspect that the Panch contracted infection after coming in contact with some workers who had met Tabligh-e-Jamaat members.

The patients don't have any travel history, they said.

Mohali district topped the COVID-19 tally in Punjab with 36 coronavirus cases, surpassing Nawanshahr district which reported 19 cases.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan said health workers have been conducting extensive tests of the contacts of the positive cases.

For each positive contact, we have been tracing and testing 25-55 people. We are not hiding behind numbers, he said.

Dayalan said 629 samples have been collected from the village for tests.

There is no need to panic, but I will stress the need to take all precautions as mandated by the government, the deputy commissioner added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UM graduate student Elijah Fisher performs TIRED | T1RED. (Photo by William Munoz)

The University of Montana School of Theatre and Dance bolstered its standing as one of the nations most decorated institutions with another extraordinary showing at the recent American College Dance Association Northwest Regional Conference in Spokane, Washington.

A highlight was second-year Master of Fine Arts acting candidate Elijah Fishers stunning solo TIRED | T1RED, which was selected to represent the entire region at the esteemed National College Dance Festival in May. (That event has since been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.)

The regional conference, which attracted students, artists and educators from throughout the Northwest, offered dance programs the opportunity to showcase original works and receive constructive feedback from nationally and internationally renowned adjudicators.

Fishers solo received raves from the adjudicators, who wrote TIRED | T1RED is an outstanding, fierce, musical and nuanced performance that combines virtuosic physicality, haunting laughter and silent screams to channel the pathologizing of the Black male. The work has a powerful message that needs to be heard.

UMs Dance Program is no stranger to performing at ACDAs national festival. The national conference is a biennial event, and in 2018, Every^Man (Alright), an original solo by MFA acting graduating student Tsiambwom Akuchu, was celebrated on the national platform.

In 2012, MEAT, an original work by Icelandic choreographer Steinunn Ketilsdottir and UM Dance alumnus and Missoula native Brian Gerke, featured 11 dancers who were enthusiastically received at the Kennedy Center that May. In 2010, the National College Dance Festival featured UMs performance of Prey, a piece created by internationally acclaimed choreographer Bebe Miller.

This years adjudicators also recognized another UM dance piece, Void, which was choreographed by Visiting Assistant Professor Brooklyn Draper. The ensemble of 12 student dancers was described as striking, captivating, breathtaking  visually compelling. While the choreographer expertly organizes bodies in space, there is a strong use of timing, energy and dynamics to provide a beautiful scaffolding for the epic work.

Our dance students are committed to the practice of making meaningful, relevant and empowering works of art, said Nicole Bradley Browning, a UM dance professor currently on professional leave and the ACDA northwest regional director. ACDA affords students an unmatched opportunity to discover how their choreography and performance translates to diverse audiences. We stand affirmed, knowing that our dance program continues to cultivate a space for our students to create important and valued work.

The UM School of Theatre and Dance is one of the few programs in the Northwest, and the only in Montana, to offer Bachelor of Fine Art and Bachelor degrees specializing in choreography, performance and dance education. The program also offers a dance minor, as well as a diverse array of dance classes open to students of all abilities, backgrounds and levels of curiosity.
A bus driver from Guayaquil  Ecuadors most populous city  was told by his landlady that there was a bad smell coming from one of the apartments. With the other tenants, he knocked down the door and found a dead body. Due the state of decomposition, a few days must have passed ... no one has returned to that house. Not even the relatives of the deceased man, the driver  who wishes to remain anonymous  says.

Ecuador has nearly 4,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with most of the countrys deaths located in the Guayas province. With an exhausted healthcare system, people are dying outside of hospitals in their homes  both from coronavirus and other conditions  forcing families, neighbours and friends in this crowded city to leave bodies on the streets.

Tatiana Bertolucci, regional director of the international NGO Care, tells The Independent at least 100 bodies have been collected by police in the last week, with activists on the ground telling her it could be as many as 300. Bertolucci says the regions health systems are collapsed and there are not enough resources to collect the dead, or even enough coffins. People are scared that having the bodies inside of the houses could contaminate them ... Guayaquil is a hot city so you might imagine what that means for decomposition and the seriousness of it.

Lenny Quiroz, national secretary of the National Union of Domestic Workers, knows of many, many cases of bodies being left for days in houses and on the streets. I know a case of someone very close. They had him for five days at home, and since we live in a condominium, people already wanted to take him out on the street due to the fear and smell that flowed from him. Quiroz says she knows of other instances where bodies have been left for up to eight days. It is a nightmare from which we do not finish waking up.

The problem has become so severe Guayaquil city officials have begun distributing cardboard coffins to provide a decent burial to people who died during this health emergency. As many other cities have been forced to do, temporary morgues are being set up, with city mayor Cynthia Viteri announcing that crates are being supplied to contain some of the dead.

 Coronavirus: Refrigerated containers used as morgues in Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil

The idea of your dead relatives and neighbours being left in the street seems almost medieval, but this is not the first time the 21st century has dealt with such horror. Former White House advisor Dr Saralyn Mark, who is working with various departments of health around the US to fight Covid-19, says the case of Ecuador reminds me of some of the scenes we saw in the early days of Ebola when cadavers were being left on the street. As the world races to deal with the pandemic, with many nations now managing to flatten the curve, others are left asking not only how to prevent and treat, but also what to do with the dead.

Although the death rate in Ecuador remains between 200 and 300, activists warn of a worrying domino effect emblematic of a viral pandemic. Lia Burbano, an LGBT+ activist from Guayaquil, says: Each time those killed by the virus are closer to you and your family. This has unleashed a social panic, a general fear of not wanting to touch corpses and leave them abandoned outside the houses.

Burbano is among those frustrated at the lack of support given to the struggling community. We feel annoyed with our local authorities and abandoned by the central government. They have made us feel guilty of this horror and this has generated even greater resistance among the people by not wanting to submit to the governments provisions to stop the contagion.

Union secretary Lenny Quiroz says: For me, as a leader, it is much more because I cannot go out, I cannot help. Its like being tied up and it gives me a lot of despair. No one wants to live in this city... you fight between terror and your commitment.

Guayaquil had the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Ecuador on 29 February, with measures of social distancing being enforced more than two weeks later. The densely populated city has high levels of poverty; in many instances multiple people live in a very small space. More than 50 per cent of the population work in informal jobs, Ms Bertolucci of Care says, meaning many of those being told to stay at home are losing their livelihoods. Even being able to wash your hands is a luxury for many, with 30 per cent of the city having no access to clean water. If current measures continue, people will be faced with the decision of whether to go back to work and risk infection, or stay at home and risk having enough money and food to survive.

Access to adequate healthcare is a huge issue, with queues and queues in hospitals to remove the bodies, according to Ms Quiroz. Sometimes you get sick waiting ... Everything is mixed. There is a total collapse. Such chaotic health systems put not only patients at risk, but also already strained medical workers.

People queue with the remains of deceased loved ones outside Jardines de la Esperanza Cemetery to hold burials in Guayaquil (AP) (AP/Luis Perez)

In such uneasy times and because the curve is still going, there is the possibility of social unrest and conflict, Ms Bertolucci says.

A retired man living in the city, who wishes to remain anonymous, says people have begun burning tyres to alert authorities to dumped bodies. One instance happened a block away from his house. After the incident, with strict curfews in place in the area, he says he was told that army soldiers shot rubber bullets at people from Ciudad de Dios, because they were on the street.

Among the most vulnerable in the city are Venezuelan migrants, who fled the ongoing political crisis of their own country. As coronavirus spreads, shelters are having to close their doors. Many Venezuelans arrived in Ecuador with poor health, and dire financial circumstance is leaving a lot of this population out on the streets. These people are in a crisis where they didnt choose nationalities, Ms Bertolucci says.

Empty cardboard boxes are piled in a truck outside a cemetery in Guayaquil, as a shortage of coffins begins to bite (Reuters) (Reuters/Vicente Gaibor del Pino)

Tensions run high, with the possibility of unrest exacerbated. Explaining there are issues of inherent discrimination, Dr Mark says: Sometimes people are concerned that people that come into their land are bringing infection, so that generates fear.

This is one city, in one country, in a very large and diverse continent, but Ecuador is not alone in many of the hurdles it faces in beating Covid-19. Ms Bertolucci warns what we are currently seeing in Guayaquil could soon happen in other Latin American countries, such as Honduras and Guatemala. As soon as the curve starts increasing we are going to see the failure of the basic services in other countries. It is a window to the future.

Although local activists and organisations operating in the region are calling out for support from the international community, they remain hopeful in the fight. The only thing that sustains me and gives me strength is when I can help people who are sick and their families, when we can get someone out, when we manage to give strength to fight, Ms Quiroz says. We see people recovering, and that injects me with energy. You have to keep fighting, give yourself the strength.
Foreign Ministry informs rights advocates of Russian inmates jailed abroad

 flickr.com/ changTing

16:53 09/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI)  The Foreign Ministry submitted information on the number of Russian convicts serving sentences in foreign prisons to the Presidential Council for Human Rights, the advisory bodys member Alexander Brod told RAPSI on Thursday.

According to the data, there are Russian inmates in USA, Spain, Germany, i.e. in the countries with the most serious coronavirus outbreak. It is now important to monitor the situation and supervise the conditions they got themselves to, Brod said. He believes it necessary to apply to the embassies, ombudsman and contact with relatives in order to provide jailed Russians with all required medical aid and essential goods, he stated.

On Wednesday, Brod turned to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seeking information on the measures the body undertakes to ensure health and safety of Russian citizens serving jail terms in foreign countries.

The Human Rights Council, Brod informed the Minister in a letter a copy of which RAPSI had, received calls from relatives of Russian convicts abroad, who found themselves in a situation of danger because of the coronavirus pandemic and encounter problems due to worsening incarceration conditions and catering.

There is a growing risk of infection because of unsafe epidemiological environment of some Russian convicts in United States prisons, the letter of the rights activist read.

Brod asked Lavrov to present relevant statistics so rights activists could stand up for Russians serving terms abroad in cooperation with their home and foreign partners.




A third of Australian mortgage holders are going into the coronavirus economic downturn less than a month ahead in their loan repayments with warnings many of these people are at risk from a sharp fall in income.

A third of Australian households are going into the coronavirus economic downturn less than a month in front of their repayments, putting them at severe financial risk. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

As the Reserve Bank revealed there had been a surge in people hoarding cash through March with some customers withdrawing more than $1 million from local banks, it warned there were hundreds of thousands of Australians facing extreme financial pressures.

Analysts, the RBA and Treasury expect a deep economic downturn as efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus weigh on the economy. Job advertisements have collapsed while unemployment has started rising as firms lay off staff.
(Photo : Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay )

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Niki J.P. Alsford, University of Central Lancashire



North Korea continues to insist that it is completely free of coronavirus. The World Health Organization's representative to the country said that 709 people had been tested with no confirmed cases as of April 2.



Observers are naturally sceptical, particularly given the 10,000 cases and 200 deaths from COVID-19, the disease linked to the new coronavirus, in neighbouring South Korea.



North Korea has taken some of the most draconian measures since the virus was first reported in January. It was among the first countries to seal its borders in February. It automatically quarantined all foreign diplomats in Pyongyang for one month and controlled the movement of its population. Compared to North Korea's response to SARS in 2003 and Ebola in 2014, it's clear that the leadership in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is now being much more assertive - and this may have helped.



However, officials in North Korea have begun to ask for humanitarian assistance. To benefit, North Korea must navigate a range of sanctions. Aid organisations have had to secure emergency exemptions from the UN to allow specific shipments of aid to arrive in recent weeks. However, getting the shipments in also proves difficult because of strict border controls.



It's still unclear whether the closure of the North Korean border has also stopped the state-sanctioned smuggling across the country's border with China that the government uses to bypass certain sanctions.



If the border is now closed to these smuggling routes, then this is an opportunity to understand the full brunt of the sanctions. But if the smuggling continues, then the chances of COVID-19 spreading into North Korea are greatly increased.



Getting ready

The DPRK's official stance is that North Korea is clear of infection. This, however, is beginning to look unlikely.



In early March, South Korea's Daily NK news reported that as many as 200 North Korean soldiers had died from COVID-19 with a further 4,000 in quarantine.



While reporting of the coronavirus is controlled in North Korea, information on the global pandemic is not being suppressed in the country. However, there are no specific public discussions taking place on whether there is an outbreak in North Korea.



The Rodung Shimun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea has reported on the country's readiness to tackle COVID-19. On April 1, as well as an article that outlined the increase in reported cases in South Korea, it also reported that nurses are beloved and respected by the North Korean people. The cogs of the propaganda machine are beginning to turn.



Meanwhile, Chongnyon Jonwi, a daily paper in North Korea, has focused primarily on recent missile testing. The only reference given to any health issues was the construction of the Pyongyang General Hospital. Another paper, the Minju Choson, didn't report on coronavirus directly either. It did discuss the construction of the hospital, but also referenced efforts by the Supreme People's Assembly to improve general infectious disease prevention - without mentioning COVID-19 specifically.



Tight control

North Korea's secretive response to coronavirus is no surprise, given its long history of isolationism, which reinforces the North Korean ideological concept of Juche, or self reliance.



However, the country's leadership has not suggested that it won't have any cases, but is focusing instead on its preparedness and the proactive measures being taken.



It's possible that pride may be a factor in concealing an outbreak. The new round of missile testing in March could be seen as a strategic diversion technique. North Korea faces significant public health challenges, with aid workers clear that the past few decades have seen an increase in malnutrition.



Emphasis on the construction of the hospital - due to be finished by October in time for the 75th anniversary of the Worker's Party of Korea - is a key part of the government's domestic information strategy. But to complete the hospital ahead of schedule would require the work of thousands of North Koreans living, working and eating side by side. This would leave no space for social distancing in the country's efforts to prevent an epidemic.



But then controlling the spread of information - and avoiding any panic - is a central part of how the regime's leader, Kim Jong-un, holds onto power.



Niki J.P. Alsford, Professor in Asia Pacific Studies, Director of the Asia Pacific Studies Institutes, University of Central Lancashire



This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.



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Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Colonial Coal International (CVE:CAD) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for Colonial Coal International

How Long Is Colonial Coal International's Cash Runway?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. In January 2020, Colonial Coal International had CA$4.5m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was CA$1.5m. Therefore, from January 2020 it had 2.9 years of cash runway. That's decent, giving the company a couple years to develop its business. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

TSXV:CAD Historical Debt April 8th 2020

How Is Colonial Coal International's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Because Colonial Coal International isn't currently generating revenue, we consider it an early-stage business. Nonetheless, we can still examine its cash burn trajectory as part of our assessment of its cash burn situation. Over the last year its cash burn actually increased by 20%, which suggests that management are increasing investment in future growth, but not too quickly. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but investors should be mindful of the fact that will shorten the cash runway. Colonial Coal International makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.

Story continues

How Hard Would It Be For Colonial Coal International To Raise More Cash For Growth?

While Colonial Coal International does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Since it has a market capitalisation of CA$39m, Colonial Coal International's CA$1.5m in cash burn equates to about 3.9% of its market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

How Risky Is Colonial Coal International's Cash Burn Situation?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Colonial Coal International's cash burn. In particular, we think its cash runway stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Although its increasing cash burn does give us reason for pause, the other metrics we discussed in this article form a positive picture overall. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. Readers need to have a sound understanding of business risks before investing in a stock, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Colonial Coal International that potential shareholders should take into account before putting money into a stock.

Of course Colonial Coal International may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
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Linkedin Alya Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 17:35 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e475f 1 City anies-baswedan,PSBB,ojek-driver,ojol,social-restriction,health-ministry,COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,Jakarta-administration Free

Even though the Health Ministry has prohibited app-based ojek (motorcycle taxis) from picking up passengers as part of efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is calling for exceptions for drivers that follow stringent health measures.

The governor said the provincial administration had coordinated with ride-hailing service providers over transporting passengers, with the latter claiming to have already put in place the necessary measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Drivers should be allowed to take passengers and goods as long as they follow the measures, Anies said during a press briefing at City Hall on Wednesday.

Health Ministry Regulation No. 9/2020 on the guidelines for large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) stipulates various restrictions, including the ban on ojek services for passengers. However, ojek drivers are still permitted to transport goods.

Read also: Jakarta will impose stronger mobility restrictions on Friday. Heres what you need to know.

Anies said the administration was discussing the matter with the central government prior to the issuance of a gubernatorial decree on the PSBB, which is scheduled to take effect on Friday.

The forthcoming decree is meant to formalize the new quarantine status and sanctions for violators.

The decree is almost ready. Were asking for the governments permission to allow ojek drivers to transport passengers.

The nations app-based ojek services association demanded on Wednesday compensation from the government for their projected losses from the PSBB, as 70 percent of their income comes from transporting passengers.

A Statqo Analytics report said the two ride-hailing service providers in the country, Grab and Gojek, had experienced a 16 percent and 14 percent downturn, respectively, among its active users in the last week of March.

Grab Indonesia managing director Neneng Goenadi said the company hoped drivers could transport passengers to select destinations such as hospitals, markets and minimarkets.

She said that Grab Indonesia would adhere to the governments regulation, and had instructed its drivers to wear masks, wash their hands, disinfect motorbikes and practice physical distancing.

Read also: Satellite cities to follow Jakartas lead on large-scale social restrictions

Meanwhile, Gojek is conducting studies and having discussions with the government regarding the regulation, with plans to comply with the governments decision.

We have made various efforts to help our partners do their jobs safely during the COVID-19 outbreak, Gojek corporate affairs chief Nila Marita said in a written statement.

According to data compiled by the Jakarta administration as of Thursday noon, there were 1,632 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the capital with 149 fatalities. Nationwide, there are 3,293 cases and 280 deaths.
By Akbar Mammadov

The European Union has allocated 14 million to Azerbaijan to assist the countrys fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union's Eastern Neighborhood announced in its official website on April 8.

The aid to Azerbaijan is part of the emergency support package for Eastern Partnership countries as part of its global response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the official information of the organization. Namely, 80 million have been allocated for immediate needs and up to 883 million for the short and medium term to support the social and economic recovery of the region.

Under the emergency package, Azerbaijans neighbour Georgia has been allocated 183 million, while Armenia received 92 million. Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus received 87 million, 190 million and 60 million respectively.

The EU funds will assist Azerbaijan meet its immediate and short-term needs. It will also help the Vocational Education Schools in several regions (Ganja, Mingachevir, Jalilabad, Gaxh and Ismaelly) purchase equipment to produce personal protection garments for medical staff.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The authorities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, issued a one-page standard operating procedure (SOP) on Wednesday a day after urging the doctors to reuse their masks four times, as personal protective equipment (PPE), against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

The SOP said that after using the mask for a day, it has to be numbered and kept in a correspondingly numbered big brown bag for four days before reusing it.

On day one, wear mask number one when you step out for duty. On day two, use mask number two. After you return home, place the used N-95 mask in paper bag number two and let it dry out for the next four days. Do the same for day three and day four, said the SOP.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

The fifth mask is a reserve. After the masks have been reused over 20 days, they have to be brought back in the paper bags and discarded like medical waste in the hospital, the SOP said, citing the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Similar guidelines for reusing masks have been issued by the US authorities because of the acute shortage of the PPE units due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the crisis has deepened after several American hospitals reached near-capacity. The US has topped the list in the number of Covid-19 positive cases at over 435,000. In comparison, India has reported 5,885 Covid-19 positive cases until Wednesday night.

Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak

The World Health Organisation (WHO) rules do not address the issue of how many times an N-95 mask must be worn but advises against wearing one respirator for more than four hours, as it could lead to discomfort. At last 35 hospital staff members in Delhi have tested Covid-19 positive so far.

The AIIMS authorities, however, clarified that only the staff, who are working in the non-infectious areas of the hospital, has to reuse the N-95 masks.

This is a new virus. The doctors and staff members are naturally scared. The N-95 masks have been issued to allay the psychological fears and give them confidence while working in the general patient-care areas of the hospital. The masks will also protect the staff in case there is an asymptomatic patient, who tests Covid-19 positive later, said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent, AIIMS, Delhi.

The doctors, who are working in high-risk areas such as the screening kiosk, the wards for suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases and the intensive care unit (ICU) will get different PPE units, he said.

Weve created three levels of kits for those working in the screening area, the wards, and the ICU. The staff will be allotted kits in line with their duty areas. These masks dont need to be reused but carefully removed and thrown away as medical waste, Dr Sharma added.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anonna Dutt Anonna Dutt is a health reporter at Hindustan Times. She reports on Delhi governments health policies, hospitals in Delhi, and health-related feature stories. ...view detail
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In addition to the states stay-at-home order, the village extended its closure of Oak Parks playgrounds, fields and courts through May 5. Police chief LaDon Reynolds said the department does not plan to arrest people violating those safety measures, but intends for officers to have positive interactions with community members.
T ourism is worth an estimated 127 billion to the UK economy. The tourist guiding industry has been decimated by the impact of the pandemic. It is likely that our Blue Badge Tourist Guides will lose most of their work this year. However, we continue to take a positive view and many of our guides have launched virtual tours, blogs and talks via social media platforms #LondonTogether.

We pride ourselves on being the best guides and well bounce back, introducing a resurgent tourist market to all that our wonderful island nation has to offer.

Marilyn Collis, President, Institute of Tourist Guiding

Editor's reply

Dear Ed

Tourism is badly hit by Covid-19. The World Travel & Tourism Council has warned that without government intervention 75 million jobs could be lost globally. But, like the Blue Badge Tourist Guides, the industry is keeping the spirit of travel alive. From hotels giving away future stays for Coivd charity donations, to digital wellness retreats, virtual safaris and classes with hotel chefs, the industry is fighting back.

Well shortly be relaunching Travel on standard.co.uk, talking to hoteliers, giving destination inspiration and offering bucket-list ideas. Because, when its safe, well all be back out there again.

Suzannah Ramsdale, Travel Editor

At 84, Keir relief

Keir Starmer / PA
The government on Thursday exempted crucial medical equipment required to fight the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from basic customs duty and health cess for six months, the revenue department said in a statement.

The decision will make import of ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, personal protection equipment (PPE), Covid-19 test kits and inputs required for manufacturing of these items cheaper by 11% to 22%, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

In the context of Covid-19 situation, considering the immediate requirement of ventilators and other items, the central government has granted exemption from basic customs duty and health cess, on their import, with immediate effect, the official said.

The exemption from the basic customs duty and the health cess, wherever applicable, shall be available up to the September 30, 2020, the official said.

Currently, there is a 10% duty on ventilators and test kits, and 7.5% on face and surgical masks. It ranges from 7.5% to 10% on PPE. Health cess is flat 5% on all these goods.

India has restricted exports of diagnostic kits to discourage outbound shipments. The government has also banned exports of all kinds of ventilators, sanitisers, and textile raw materials for masks and coveralls. These all moves are aimed at maintaining the availability of these goods in India.

Reacting to the move, Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, EY told PTI: This was a much anticipated and a welcome exemption given the dire need of these goods to fight COVID 19 in India.

The move came even as some political leaders protested the Centres notification that said states cant procure their own PPE.

In a notification sent to principal secretaries of the health departments of states on April 2, the Union ministry of health and family welfare asked them not to procure crucial medical equipment such as PPE, N95 masks and ventilators on their own, as they will be procured by the Centre and then distributed to the states. The decision was taken at the third meeting of the Empowered Group formed to look at procurement of medical equipment that took place on April 1, the note said.

DMK MP from Tamil Nadus Dharmapuri Senthilkumar S condemned the move to make health care centralised.

Former Lok Sabha MP from Kerala MB Rajesh said: The first case was detected on January 30 and the lockdown was announced on March 24; the government had 54 days to act, but it wasted time. One cannot eradicate COVID-19 by lockdown, so every state has to prepare.
[April 09, 2020] Intrado Social Responsibility Outreach During COVID-19

OMAHA, Neb., April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intrado Corporation (the Company or Intrado), a global leader in technology-enabled services, today announced a series of initiatives the Company has implemented to support the global community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solutions for Remote Learning Needs With many schools moving to remote learning due to COVID-19, Intrado is providing remote classroom technologies to ensure students remain safe, engaged, and productive. The Company is offering free collaboration tools to help with distance learning. Over 500 free licenses have been provided to date with many more schools in the evaluation stage. Expanded Health Advocate Access to COVID-19 Resources Intrados Health Advocate is providing access to COVID-19 resources and materials to the public via a dedicated page on its website. Health Advocate is providing resources to help employers and their employees during this uniquely challenging and stressful time. Personal Health Advocates, including doctors, nurses, behavioral health and other experts, are also assisting members and their families in navigating the healthcare system, improving their health, and managing the stress associated with concerns around COVID-19. Mass Notifications Setup Fees Waived With Intrados Notification Solutions, employers, healthcare organizations, and schools can send time-sensitive updates to employees, patients, or students in any language on multiple devices through voice, SMS text, or email. Th Company is waiving all setup fees through June 30, 2020.



Some of the top healthcare organizations in the world have been quickly deployed on the new Intrado Patient Messenger platform. Intrado has delivered millions of messages on their behalf, everything from large scale public awareness campaigns to micro-targeted API-driven messages (e.g. at pop up testing sites where patients get a text message instruction to wait in their car and then another when it is time to report for their test). The Company has also recently rolled out a secure SMS/portal delivery of COVID-19 test results for a few large hospitals with plans to deploy it more broadly nationally. Expanded Work from Home Support

In partnership with Cisco, current Intrado Webex clients can temporarily expand their Webex usage for a 90-day period, while new and non-Webex Intrado clients may request a free 90-day license, including unlimited full-featured meetings for up to 200 participants, toll dial-in and VoIP audio, and unlimited messaging through Webex Teams to keep remote workers connected. For on-demand audio meetings, Intrados Unified Meeting 5 is available for a 90-day free trial providing a toll dial-in number or VoIP for up to 150 people at a time. Intrado Foundation Donations Intrado is committed to corporate social responsibility and continuing efforts to provide charitable support where it is needed most. The goal of the Intrado Foundation is to further health, wellness, and education in the communities in which Intrado staff work, live, and serve customers. Given the COVID-19 Crisis, the Foundation is financially supporting organizations that are dedicated to combating pressing issues such as food insecurity, education inequality, and is supporting first responders across the globe. The Foundation has also asked Intrado employees to nominate worthy organizations in their local communities for future COVID-19 related donations. FCC Chairmans Pledge to Keep Americans Connected Intrado was one of dozens of telecoms to sign the FCC Chairmans Pledge to Keep America Connected, ensuring uninterrupted service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intrado is trying to do our part to support our communities during the COVID-19 crisis, said John Shlonsky, Chief Executive Officer and President. We are proud that our technology is being utilized to benefit the public during a period of significant uncertainty for the country and the world. For more information about Intrados response to COVID-19, please visit: intrado.com/response-to-covid-19 . About Intrado Intrado Corporation is an innovative, cloud-based, global technology partner to clients around the world. Our solutions connect people and organizations at the right time and in the right ways, making those mission-critical connections more relevant, engaging and actionable - turning Information to Insight. Intrado has sales and/or operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and South America. Intrado is controlled by affiliates of certain funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO). For more information, please call 1-800-841-9000 or visit www.intrado.com . Contact Dave Pleiss Investor and Public Relations [email protected] 402.716.6578

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The Alameda County judge presiding over the Ghost Ship fire case has decided to release defendant Derick Almena while he awaits a new trial, requesting he instead be placed in a community monitoring program.

Judge Trina Thompsons action comes after California judicial leaders on Monday eliminated bail for defendants charged with misdemeanors and most nonviolent felonies, their latest round of emergency orders intended to stem the threat of coronavirus outbreaks behind bars.

Almena, who turns 50 next week, is scheduled for a court teleconference Friday and could be released as early as this weekend, said Vincent Barrientos, one of Almenas defense attorneys. Almena has spent nearly three years at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, after he was charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 2, 2016, Ghost Ship fire that killed three dozen people during a warehouse party.

Barrientos said Santa Rita Jails in-house medical staff produced a report that said Almenas psychological, physiological and physical health were in jeopardy while the defendant remained behind bars.

Meaning that if there was a COVID outbreak in the jail, Mr. Almena would be in big trouble, Barrientos said.

Teresa Drenick, a spokeswoman for the Alameda County district attorneys office, said prosecutors will seek a specific order that Almena have no contact with the victims of the case or any witnesses.

The district attorneys office has consistently sought to have Mr. Almena remain in custody pending trial, and we have opposed every effort to release Mr. Almena to date, Drenick said. We strongly disagree with the courts decision to release Mr. Almena from custody on electronic monitoring.

Jail officials on Wednesday announced eight new coronavirus cases among its inmates, for a total of 11 cases. Seven tests are still pending.

In response to the pandemic, officials have already released hundreds of inmates from Santa Rita and other jails, where close quarters put inmates at greater risk for infection.

Thompson is requesting that Almena be placed with Leaders in Community Alternatives, an Oakland-based company that provides services for electronic monitoring and house arrest.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Barrientos said Almena would essentially be placed on house arrest if he is freed, meaning that he could only leave home to attend court proceedings. His attorneys on Friday will request Almena be given additional access to visit with his lawyers.

Almena is currently incarcerated on $750,000 bail.

Thompsons request is a reversal from another order last week, when she declined to grant the defenses emergency motion to release Almena due to coronavirus concerns. Thompson has postponed Almenas retrial until July 6, also in response to the growing pandemic.

A new trial was originally scheduled for April, after a jury in September deadlocked over the charges against Almena. Co-defendant Max Harris, who faced the same three dozen charges of involuntary manslaughter as Almena, was found not guilty and released from jail.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Jubilant Generics on Thursday said it is actively coordinating with authorities for test of raw materials imported from China for a Karnataka plant, where some employees had tested positive for coronavirus, and asserted it is taking full care of all its staff and the community around the facility.

The raw materials to the Nanjangud plant in Mysore had come from China and their samples were taken by authorities after some of the employees were found to have coronavirus infection.

On March 29, health officials along with microbiologists visited the plant -- where operations have been temporarily suspended and all personnel have been put under self-quarantine -- for sampling of the raw materials, according to the company.

Citing evidence available in the public domain, the company said it would be premature for any conclusions to be made on the role of raw materials in spread of the virus.

"The company is awaiting the results of the samples taken by the government authorities," it said in a statement.

Regarding the raw materials, the company said it had taken more than three weeks for them to reach the plant by sea route from China and that they came in normal containers with no cold chain.

"The storage area for the sampled raw material is also under normal temperature and not in cold conditions and the temperature was above 32 degree celsius as was taken by the authorities on the day the samples were drawn," it said.

As per the statement, no country has put any import or export restriction on raw material for pharmaceuticals as there is no evidence that the virus survives beyond 72 hours at any temperature.

"India continues to import 70 per cent of its raw material for pharmaceuticals from China," it added.

On March 26, the company was informed by the district administration that one of the employees at the facility tested positive for coronavirus.

The statement said the employee did not attend office from March 21 to 26 till he was detected with having the infection.

While noting that the employee is recuperating well, Jubilant Generics said that subsequently, the local administration informed that "some more employees from the facility have tested positive and were admitted to different hospitals".

Since the incident of infection of a staff employee came to light last month, Jubilant Generics said its management has been in "continuous real time communication with all its employees and would continue to address their concerns".

The company is focused on taking care of the community around the plant and its employees, it said.

After the incident, the company set up committees and action groups for employees' welfare as well as to communicate with them to address their concerns.

"The multiple committees formed are responsible for welfare of employees and their families and the community around our plant. They are ably serving the needs in time with active help and support from the local administration," the statement said.

Further, the company said that while all the basic needs of the employees are being met, some of them had requested for cash and that has been arranged.

Part of Jubilant Life Sciences, Jubilant Generics is into manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

APIs like Azithromycin Dihydrate and Azithromycin Monohydrate, which are needed to fight coronavirus, are manufactured at the facility in Mysore. These have been identified as a front line treatment for the infection, the statement said.

The country has more than 5,700 cases of coronavirus infections and at least 166 people have died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
London, April 10 : Britain's coronavirus lockdown is to continue as the country heads towards one of its biggest holiday weekends of the year while the death toll keeps growing.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Thursday announced the decision after chairing a meeting of Britain's emergency COBRA committee, reported Xinhua news agency.

He announced there had been a further 881 hospital deaths linked to the virus in the previous 24 hours. It brought Britain's death toll to 7,978.

The good news was that Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of intensive care after nearly four days in an intensive care unit, but remained in hospital.

A No. 10 spokesperson said the prime minister will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. "He is in extremely good spirits," the spokesperson said.

Johnson introduced the lockdown on March 23, telling all citizens to stay at home, with outside journeys limited.

The fear was that a relaxation of the lockdown could risk seeing millions of people heading to seaside resorts and tourism hotspots during the four-day Easter holiday which starts Friday and lasts until Monday.

Raab urged people to stay at home during the holiday rather than heading out. There had been speculation that the lockdown could have been made more stringent.

"At this stage, the government continues to gather data to determine the effects of the lockdown and physical distancing measures," he said.

He said it was too soon to say conclusively whether the measures were working.

But Raab said most people were following the instructions to limit their activities and to practice social distancing.

He said until the pandemic reaches beyond its peak in Britain it is too early to lift the lockdown measures. "We're not done yet, we must keep going," Raab said at a Downing Street briefing.

He said the government would carry out a further review in a week's time. "There will be no decision on whether to extend the lockdown until the end of next week," he said.

A relaxation is not expected until after scientists are convinced Britain has reached its peak.

In a plea to the British public, Raab said: "Let's not ruin it now, let's not waste the gains we've made. I know its tough going but this is a team effort and we will only beat the virus if we all stay the course." Although most people are adhering to the instruction, there are fears that with hot and sunny weather, and a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius forecast, some families may break the lockdown rules and leave home to enjoy the Easter Holiday.

Media reports in Britain said some police forces say officers will arrest people who break the lockdown rules.

Extra police patrols will be visible on motorways and major roads leading to tourism destinations.

Usually, around 10 million people head to visitor destinations in Britain during an Easter weekend, generating several billion U.S. dollars for the tourism industry.

The current rules stipulate occasions when people are allowed to leave their homes, covering shopping for essentials to heading outdoors close to home to exercise, with a requirement to stay at least two meters away from other people at all times.
As part of efforts to decongest Nigerian prisons, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, granted presidential pardon to 2,600 inmates nationwide.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said this at a press conference on Abuja. He said after the release of the first phase, the committee would continue to meet regularly to consider those who deserve the benefit.

He said the criteria for the release include inmates that are 60 years old and above, those suffering from ill-health that are likely to terminate in death, convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve, inmates with mental health issues, and inmates with options of fines not exceeding N50,000 and have no pending case.

Using these criteria, a total number of 2,600 inmates spread across our various custodial centres qualify to benefit from the amnesty, he said.

These include 885 convicts who could not pay their fines, totalling N21.4 million, which the government will pay on their behalf to enable them get their freedom. From this number, 41 inmates are federal convicts, two of which have been granted pardon, he said

Out of the said number, 70 inmates will be released on Thursday from Kuje maximum custodial centre.

We will proceed from here to Kuje custodial centre to release the 41 in a symbolic gesture of the freedom that have been given to 2,600 inmates across the federation. The governors of the 36 states under whose jurisdiction the inmates were incarcerated will complete the exercise in line with our federal principle, he said

Mr Aregbesola also announced that Mr Buhari also pardoned late Ambrose Ali, late Anthony Enahoro, Moses Effiong, E.J. Olanrewaju, and Ajayi Olusola Babalola.

Mr Ali was the governor of the old Bendel State in the Second Republic (1978-1983) and a progressive while Mr Enahoro was a foremost nationalist who moved the motion for Nigerias independence.

Social distancing

Also speaking, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the United Nations had called the nations of the world to reduce the number of inmates in custodial centres in view of social distancing attitude.

While describing the flag off of the 2020 presidential pardon as historic, Mr Malami said the process of selecting benefiaries started in 2018.

He warned the beneficiaries to desist from crimes.

Mr Malami also urged the community to open their hands and receive the boundaries with stigmatisation.

He lamented that 70 per cent of inmate in Nigeria prison are awaiting trial.

Mr Malami explained that the process of coming up with the list of beneficiaries commenced in 2018 when, on August 28, 2018, sequel to Mr Buharis approval, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) was inaugurated.

He said the committee was to advise Mr Buhari on granting pardon/clemency to deserving inmates and ex-convicts in line with the provisions of section 175 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

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In carrying out the assignment, he said that the Committee adopted the use of interviews, observations, consultation and relevant documents called for and received from each of the Correctional Centres in Nigeria.

He said the Committee visited a number of correctional centres in the six geo-political zones of the country to interact and identify those eligible for Presidential Pardon/Clemency.

Mr Malami said that upon conclusion of the assignment, a report of the Committee, containing the list of beneficiaries considered and recommended for Pardon or Clemency was submitted for the information and necessary action by the President.

Out of the 176 persons interviewed, Presidential Pardon has been granted to two inmates. Mr President granted clemency to 39 inmates as recommended by the PACPM, out of which four inmates are from Kuje Correctional Centre, he said.

In addition, Mr President has also graciously granted Pardon to five Ex  Convicts. My office will take necessary steps to publish the names of these beneficiaries in the Federal Gazette in line with extant laws and Regulations, he said.

He said that in furtherance to the efforts to put COVID -19 under control, Mr Buhari requested appropriate authorities to embark on a visit to all correctional/custodial centres within their respective States to identify and release deserving inmates.

The Controller General of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Jaafaru Ahmed, said so far, the service has not recorded any case of COVID-19.

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He said the exercise would go a long way in reducing the number of inmates in the service nationwide.
A Victorian coroner has referred police for criminal investigation in a landmark decision on the 2017 death in custody of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day.

Deputy state coroner Caitlin English stopped short of saying racism was a factor in the way police treated Ms Day, but she has referred the police involved to the Office of Public Prosecutions to assess whether criminal negligence had occurred.

Tanya Day, Yorta Yorta mother and grandmother.

It's believed to be the first time police have been referred to prosecutors for criminal investigation.

The children of the 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman, who was arrested in December 2017 for the soon-to-be abolished offence of public drunkenness, said it was a historic and bittersweet day for Aboriginal people.
The European Stroke Organisation (ESO) cautions against the consequences of the Coronavirus-Crisis on stroke care.

Each year, 1.5 million Europeans have a stroke. Two to three of every 10 patients die as a consequence of stroke, and about one third remain dependent on the help of others. The likelihood of a favorable outcome is critically dependent on patients presenting promptly after symptom onset and on hospitals providing immediate access to optimized stroke care. This includes treatments for vessel recanalization, securing brain vascular malformations, specialized stroke unit care, secondary prevention, and rehabilitation.

In a survey among 426 stroke care providers from 55 countries, only one in five reported that stroke patients are currently receiving the usual acute and post-acute care at their hospital. The lack of optimal care is likely to lead to a greater risk of death and a smaller chance of a good recovery.

There is no reason to assume that the incidence of stroke declined since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, but in many countries, fewer people with symptoms suggestive of stroke present to the hospital. This may be due to a range of factors, including fear to become infected with COVID-19 in the hospital or the assumption that doctors are too busy treating patients with COVID-19 to treat patients with stroke.

ESO supports the efforts to manage to COVID-19 pandemic and to treat patients with COVID-19, but emphasizes that patients with stroke symptoms should still present to hospital as soon as possible and that efforts should be made to maintain the usual level of stroke care, including intravenous and endovascular reperfusion strategies, irrespective of the patient's COVID-19 status, to avoid unnecessary 'collateral damage' through inadequate treatment of this often disabling or life-threatening condition.
School buildings may be closed across Pennsylvania for the rest of the school year, but teachers are still working and students will continue to learn, Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said.

That may include a graduation ceremony for high school seniors. If districts can follow the most-current requirements and recommendations for social distancing, they can hold commencement ceremonies, Rivera said during a media call Thursday morning.

These times are absolutely unprecedented, Rivera said of Thursdays announcement that schools K-12 would be closed for the rest of the spring. This is going to change the educational landscape for generations to come.

Gov. Tom Wolf said the continued closure was necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus.

This was not an easy decision but closing schools until the end of the academic year is in the best interest of our students, school employees and families, Wolf said in a news release.

One of the biggest challenges districts face is connecting students to resources they need to continue learning, Rivera said, including building infrastructure for online learning.

Districts are applying for about $5 million in equity grants earmarked for districts that may not have the resources to provide services to their kids, Rivera said. As for the CARES Act funding, Rivera said the department has not heard when the funding is being released.

In order to keep as many Pennsylvanians as possible safe, schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.



Special thank you to everyone who is doing their part to ensure our kids continue to learn and grow, even during these tough times. pic.twitter.com/2nv1MbXDA0  Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) April 9, 2020

School districts have put forth outstanding efforts in providing students with as optimal a learning experience as possible, in the current circumstances and utilizing the resources available," said Nathan G. Mains, CEO of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Numerous challenges of technology and connectivity gaps have created larger issues for some districts, and in the face of it all, the resourcefulness and creativity of educators and their district leaders is apparent.

Rivera stressed that districts must move beyond review/enrichment programs, and the expectation is that schools provide instruction going forward.

This is absolutely not a day off for students, he said.

More than 300 school districts have submitted their continuity of education plans, and must post those for the public, and parents, to see.

Schools are still operating, although they dont look the same as a month or two ago, Rivera said. Schools and many of the professionals within those buildings are still functioning and serving their community. They are working in new and innovative ways."

Superintendent Joseph Roy said Bethlehem Area School District will continue to make decisions based on the guidance of public health experts and based on the facts.

Todays new order from the Governor does not change how we are currently operating. All of our operational plans for running the district and distributing meals will continue as planned, Roy said in a prepared statement. Our teachers will continue to do the amazing job they are doing caring for our kids and teaching in the brave new on-line world.

Speaking specifically to graduating high school seniors, seniors should not fear being held back because of this pandemic, Rivera said.

For all students "the pandemic should not or will not be the factor in making (the) decision, about whether they move on to the next grade, he said. The education department is working on guidance for districts on how to maintain and meet expectations for seniors to graduate high school.

Asked about Pennsylvania school districts planning graduation ceremonies at a drive-in theater -- Hanover Area School District in Luzerne County is planning one -- Rivera said districts may plan ceremonies if they meet social distancing requirements.

He mentioned other options, including online commencements or broadcasts.

Roy tweeted that district officials, parents and teachers will figure out how to honor the Class of 2020. More to come soon.

Allentown Superintendent Thomas Parker said the district will ensure seniors have a seamless transition through this period and find a way to celebrate all that they have achieved.

Thursdays decision applies to all public K-12 schools, cyber charter schools, private and parochial schools, career and technical centers and intermediate units.

Colleges and universities may not resume in-person instruction or reopen their physical locations until the governor permits them to open or lifts the closure of non-life-sustaining businesses.

Asked about summer sessions, Rivera said if the state orders are lifted by that time, everything will be back to normal.

I'm so proud of our @BethlehemAreaSD teachers - I received this email from a teacher today, "I want you to know that the kids will ok...we won't give up...Your staff loves these kids. They are ours in person or virtually...always" #BASDProud  Joseph Roy (@BASDSUPT) April 9, 2020

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Eight Indonesians



were arrested here on Thursday for alleged visa violations after they participated in various religious meetings in the country, police here said.

A local person who facilitated their stay has also been picked up, even as the arrested Indonesian nationals have been quarantined and their blood samples taken for coronavirus tests, police added.

The foreigners had arrived on March 22 and attended various religious meetings here and in Delhi.

They were also arrested for violating Section 144 of Cr.Pc. imposed in Tamil Nadu to implement the ongoing lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus in the state.

The police arrested the foreigners based on a complaint from the Kenikarai Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and booked them under the Passport Act and Disaster Management Act among others, they said.

Judicial Magistrate Radhakrishnan remanded them to custody till April 23, police said, adding, they have been lodged in Paramakudi prison and isolated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a COVID-19 review meeting with senior administrative officials at his official residence on Thursday.

The Chief Minister and officials were seen wearing masks and maintaining social distancing during the meeting.

Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, Additional Chief Secretary, Awanish Awasthi had announced that as per the decision taken by the Chief Minister, hotspots in 15 districts which have six or more cases of coronavirus will be sealed.

So far, Uttar Pradesh has reported 361 positive COVID-19 cases. 27 people have been cured/discharged or migrated while four deaths have been reported in State.

With an increase of 540 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,734, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Out of the 5,734 cases; 5,095 are active COVID-19 cases and 472 cases have recovered or discharged, while one case has migrated.

The death toll has also risen to 166 after 17 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When this photo was taken on April 29, 2003, the world was in the midst of what threatened to become the first pandemic of the 21st century. SARS was a mysterious new coronavirus that killed some 10 percent of people it infected, mostly as a result of patients lungs clogging with fluid.

In late 2002, SARS began its deadly spree after a coronavirus that is thought to have thrived in bats infected a civet cat, which in turn infected a person in southern China. Viruses can be passed from animals to people through inhaling an animals breath, eating food contaminated with animal feces, or exchanging bodily fluids -- as might happen when a butcher works with a cut hand.

Such spillover infections between species are commonplace, but the coronavirus that infected SARS patient zero in 2002 developed a trick that could wreak global havoc: the ability to jump easily between humans.

As dozens, then hundreds, of people in China were stricken down by the frightening new disease, the countrys ruling Communist Party began a Chernobyl-like cover-up of the unfolding crisis. Doctors were muzzled, and travel continued unchecked.

On February 21, 2003, mainland Chinese doctor Liu Jianlun, who had secretly been treating patients of the disease that would become known as SARS in Guangdong, traveled to Hong Kong to attend a wedding. After he checked into a room on the Metropoles ninth floor, a fever Liu had been struggling with worsened. By the time he admitted himself into a nearby hospital with advanced symptoms of the new virus, several tourists staying at the Metropole had been infected, possibly as a result of Liu vomiting in a corridor. He died on March 4 after admitting to doctors that he had been dealing with the strange viral outbreak in mainland China.

Hong Kong authorities moved swiftly to attempt containment of the outbreak, but by the time the alarm had been raised, several infected Metropole guests had checked out and unwittingly carried the coronavirus to their respective home countries.

One elderly woman left the Metropole and flew home to Canada on February 23, greeting her son with a hug. In less than three weeks, both were dead and Canada had become one of the worlds SARS hot spots.

Metropole hotel guests from Vietnam and Singapore also carried the virus back to their home countries, sparking fresh SARS outbreaks and further global spread, as well as some drastic containment measures. By June 2003, at least 774 people had been killed by the virus. And then it stopped.

Virology Professor John Oxford tells RFE/RL the reason the 2003 SARS outbreak fizzled out with less than 1 percent of the deaths of the COVID-19 outbreak so far is largely down to luck. "I think the two viruses are very different," Oxford says. "We were very lucky in this regard with SARS in 2003. It was nothing like as spreadable as [the COVID-19 coronavirus]." And with strict containment measures enacted in most of the countries where it appeared, he says, "in the end it ran out of people to infect, it just ran out of steam."

Oxford says its difficult to know yet why the coronavirus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic is able to spread so easily: Why do daschunds have short legs, why do greyhounds have long legs? Its evolution. [The new coronavirus] has turned out to be a fast spreader, causing a lot of asymptomatic infections, causing some deaths and so on. It has different characteristics.

A recent Chinese study suggests the new viruss terrible success may be down to its ability to leap from person to person before symptoms are felt, or as Professor Oxford points out, from people unknowingly infected who never suffer its symptoms. In contrast, SARS patients in 2003 were most contagious only once they were suffering under the full misery of the disease, giving health workers time to isolate the infected patient.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has heard the cries of Kamulu area residents who lamented that they were unable to get to their workplace in Nairobi county.

In a video that has been shared widely on social media, Kamulu residents filmed themselves taking shortcuts to escape a police blockade while going to their places of work in the Capital city.

On Tuesday night, Matiangi visited the police blockade in Kamulu area and ordered police to extend it by ten kilometres.

We have decided to move it a bit further to enable the residents operate freely. This was too close to Nairobi, Matiangi said.

Kamulu area had been locked out of the Nairobi Metropolitan area boundaries despite being home to many city dwellers who commute to Nairobi for work.
(Newser)  Pepper spray and "sting balls" were used to quell a disturbance involving hundreds of inmates at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington state Wednesday night. The state Department of Corrections says the disturbance in a recreation yard, in which inmates allegedly set off fire extinguishers and threatened to take guards hostage, was apparently sparked by the positive COVID-19 test results of six inmates in the minimum-security unit, who have now been moved to isolation, NBC reports. Five staff members have also reported coronavirus infections. Inmates and their families have complained that the dorm-like setting in the unit makes it impossible to practice social distancing, reports the Seattle Times. Monroe is the first prison in the state to report coronavirus infections.

story continues below

Authorities confirmed the first infection in the unit Monday, followed by two on Tuesday and three on Wednesday. State Trooper Heather Axtman says police set up a perimeter around the prison while the disturbance was ongoing. The DOC says inmates "came into compliance" after officers fired "sting balls, which release light, noise, and rubber pellets." KIRO-7 reports that from a nearby hillside, dozens of handcuffed inmates could be seen on the ground in the rec yard. Nick Straley, an attorney for Columbia Legal Services, which is seeking the release of thousands of inmates, says the group plans to ask the state Supreme Court to address the "inadequate COVID-19 response" at the prison. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Retired star slugger Josh Hamilton could be facing 2-to-10 years behind bars after being indicted Tuesday by a Tarrant County, Texas grand jury on one count of injury to a child, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Hamilton, 38, is accused of beating his 14-year-old daughter last Sept. 30.

Hamilton, who battled substance abuse problems during his playing career, was arrested last Oct. 30 on the felony charge. After turning himself in to authorities, the five-time All-Star and 2010 American League MVP was released on $35,000 bond.

According to arrest warrant affidavit, the daughter claims that Hamilton hit her in the chest with a water bottle, then threw her on a bed, pinned her face down, punched and slapped her legs, ripped her shirt and left scratches on her back.

The girl alleges when Hamilton stopped hitting her that he yelled, I hope you go in front of the (bleeping) judge and tell him what a terrible dad I am so I dont have to see you anymore and you dont ever have to come to my house again.

No date has been set for a trial.

The Morning News reported Hamiltons ex-wife, Katie, obtained a protective order in October on her daughters behalf. She previously had protective orders against Hamilton in 2005 and 2015, the latter while the couple was divorcing.

Hamilton hit .290 with 200 home runs during his nine-year major league career with the Cincinnati Reds (2007), Texas Rangers (2008-12, 2015) and Los Angeles Angels (2013-14). He was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in May 2019.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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Irene Hirano Inouye receives a folded flag at the memorial service for her husband Senator Daniel Inouye as then-President Obama looks on. (Jim Watson /AFP via Getty Images)

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Irene Hirano Inouye, who led the Japanese American National Museum for 20 years and later worked to preserve the legacy of her late husband U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, died Tuesday in Los Angeles.

She was 71 and had been fighting an extended illness, according to the U.S.-Japan Council, which she had been leading.

Hired as CEO and president of the Japanese American National Museum in 1988, Inouye oversaw the institution's metamorphosis from a warehouse near Little Tokyo into a world-recognized affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

"She was a genuine leader," said the actor George Takei, who chaired the board of trustees from 2000 to 2004. "She had this vision and she was able to get people to share that vision with her."

Inouye raised tens of millions of dollars and attracted 65,000 members, according to a 2008 feature in the Honolulu Advertiser.

Under her leadership, the museum hit milestones like the 1999 opening of the 85,000 square-foot Pavilion and held popular exhibitions that examined everything from the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to the art of Giant Robot, the pop culture magazine.

Norman Mineta, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, is the current chair of the museum's board of trustees.

"What [Inouye] accomplished and what she meant to all of us will not be forgotten," Mineta said.

It was during her tenure that she met her future husband, Hawaii's iconic politician, Sen. Daniel Inouye, who chaired the museum's board of governors.

Irene Hirano Inouye meets former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in 2008, as her husband Sen. Daniel Inouye looks on. (Photo by Shizuo Kambayashi-Pool/Getty Images)

When they married in 2008, she stepped down from leading the museum and began to split her time between Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Honolulu.

That year she started serving as founding president of the U.S.-Japan Council, which promoted strong ties between the two countries from its headquarters in D.C.

Takei said after the incarceration they experienced during WWII, Japanese Americans were skittish about showing they were anything but American.

Inouye, who is sansei, or third-generation, had no such qualms, Takei said, and worked closely with the Japanese government to arrange cross-Pacific exchanges with budding leaders from both countries.

"She played a key role in connecting Japanese Americans with the Japanese heritage that we have," Takei said. "She helped bring us pride in our heritage."

Only recently had Inouye begun to slow down, announcing her plans to retire this year from the council.

"Irene was a singular figure in U.S.-Japan relations, respected by leaders on both sides of the Pacific," the council's board chair Phyllis Campbell wrote in a letter to membership. "She infused the organization with her wisdom and entrepreneurial spirit... and managed to approach every challenge with fearlessness and determination."

After her husband died in 2012, Inouye stayed active in championing his pet causes such as leadership development. She also publicly butted heads with then-Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie when he opted not to appoint her husband's protege to fill his vacant seat.

Inouye attended the University of Southern California as an undergrad and later earned a master's degree in public administration from the school.

The U.S.-Japan Council said a memorial service would be announced after the current coronavirus pandemic is over.

April 9, 2020: This story has been updated.
It's a new trend on social media challenging couples to post the first photo of themselves as 'officially' dating.

And the latest celebrity to join in is actor Mark Wahlberg.

The 48-year-old posted a throwback snap to Instagram on Wednesday of himself with wife Rhea Durham at the start of their relationship in 2001.

Social media trend: Mark Wahlberg joined in the #FirstPhotoChallenge on Wednesday by sharing a sweet snap of himself with wife Rhea Durham from when they first started dating

In the sweet photo, Wahlberg is seen planting a kiss on the side of Durham's head as he poses with one arm around her shoulders.

When they met, she was a successful model and he had a bona fide Hollywood acting career with starring roles in Boogie Nights, Three Kings and The Perfect Storm.

They tied the knot in 2009 and they share four children together - Ella Rae, born in 2003, Michael born in 2006, Brendan Joseph born in 2008 and Grace Margaret born in 2010.

Happily married: The couple in 2009 and they share four children together - Ella Rae, born in 2003, Michael born in 2006, Brendan Joseph born in 2008 and Grace Margaret born in 2010

Meanwhile, Wahlberg has been sharing some insights into his family life during the coronavirus lockdown.

A week ago, he shared funny video of his daughter Grace, 10, doing his nails and makeup.

He playfully teased her as she set about giving him the full glam treatment in the family kitchen.

'15 days into quarantine now, I'm getting pedicure with manicures and apparently a full make-up,' Wahlberg explained to his social media followers in the Instagram clip.

'She's got her whole kit there, and yeah, this is what's happening right now.'

Grace giggled a lot, sharing: 'I'm doing horrible makeup.

'I thought you said you were good at makeup?' her famous dad responded. 'Alright, that's enough!'

Getting through quarantine: A week ago, Wahlberg got his nails and makeup done by his ten-year-old daughter Grace as he attempted to stay entertained amid self-isolation

'I don't know if you're going to have a career in this': Wahlberg jokingly criticized his daughter's manicure work
GREENWICH  Federal authorities have charged three men in connection with the robbery of a Stamford jewelry store and the shooting death of its owner in late March. And one of those suspects was behind the armed hold-up of a jewelry store in Byram just 10 days before.

The U.S. attorneys office announced Thursday that Robert Rallo, 56, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Thomas Liberatore, 62, of White Plains, N.Y., and Paul Prosano, also known as Tony Pro, 59, of Brooklyn; have been charged with federal robbery offenses in connection with the March 28 robbery of Marco Jewelers in Stamford. During the robbery, the owner, Mark Vuono, was shot and killed.

Liberatore committed the armed robbery of Byram Jewelers on Mill Street in the Byram section of Greenwich on March 18.

In Stamford, Vuono was killed by a bullet wound to the head at his store on Sixth Street. The 69-year-old businessman was found by a customer on the afternoon of March 28. The federal complaint said he was found lying on the ground in front of an open safe.

According to the federal prosecutors, Prosano drove Rallo and Liberatore in a black Jaguar to Marco Jewelers, and Rallo and Liberatore then entered the store.

Rallo, armed with a handgun, engaged in a physical altercation with Vuono, while Liberatore stole items from the display cases, the federal complaint said. Vuono, who also carried a firearm, and Rallo struggled next to a large open safe, prosecutors said.

During the struggle, Rallo reached into the safe and pulled out a third firearm, a .357 Magnum revolver, prosecutors said. Rallo subsequently shot and killed Vuono with the .357 revolver, the complaint states.

Law enforcement officials later located the black Jaguar on Staten Island and maintained surveillance on it, the federal prosecutors said.

According to the account from the U.S. attorneys office: Rallo exited the rear door of the BMW and entered the drivers door of a black Jaguar. The two vehicles then left the area and rapidly accelerated. The Jaguar crashed on Tompkins Street. Rallo attempted to flee on foot, but was quickly apprehended. The BMW crashed into a tree and parked car at the intersection of Daniel Low Terrace and Corson Avenue. Prosano also attempted to flee and was apprehended.

Authorities said they recovered from the BMW a large amount of jewelry from the Stamford store: 63 rings, eight bracelets, two tie pins, an earring and a cuff link. A subsequent search of Prosanos residence turned up 23 pairs of earrings and three rings, the federal authorities stated  all items stolen from Marco Jewelers on March 28, as well.

Police said that Liberatore, the suspect in the Greenwich robbery, was taken down with an FBI tactical-response unit, with Greenwich police officers taking part. He was arrested March 30.

According to the federal complaint, Liberatore stole a Honda Civic from a car dealer in Yonkers, N.Y., and drove to Byram Jewelers. He entered the store at approximately 4:45 p.m. and asked a store employee to show him engagement rings. He then pointed a pistol at the employee, stole several rings, smashed a display case with his pistol and stole other items before exiting the store, the complaint said.

No one was injured in the robbery at Byram Jewelers.

Greenwich police said the arrests came as a result of a wide-ranging investigation.

Mutual efforts by several police agencies resulted in all of the suspects being taken into custody and bringing justice to the victims of these crimes. Greenwich Police Detective Carlos Franco was crucial in obtaining early evidence, which led to the identification of the Greenwich robbery suspect and provided critical information for both investigations, police Capt. Robert Berry said.

We hope that these efforts provide some solace to the victims and we want to assure the public that we will aggressively pursue any criminal who targets our community.

Stamford police last Saturday announced a major break in the homicide case. On Thursday, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said, During this crisis within a crisis, which created many logistical obstacles, federal and local agencies worked hand in hand and got this job done.

The suspects were cited with federal charges of robbery involving interstate conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. They were detained in New York on state parole violations.

Authorities described the three suspects as having extensive criminal histories. The three men met while behind bars within the New York State Department of Correction, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Vuono was a married father of two.

He believed in treating everyone fairly and took pride in his work, according to his family. Vuono was an excellent craftsman and good with his hands. He enjoyed traveling and visits to Latin America.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

We continue to emphasize collaboration in our law enforcement efforts and are proud of all of the detectives and investigators involved in this case, Greenwich Police Chief Heavey said. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of Mark Vuono, owner of Marco Jewelers.

U.S. Attorney John Durham noted that the multiple agencies deserved extra credit due to this pandemic, an especially challenging time for law enforcement.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
Alyssa MacKenzie, 32, rarely used her smartphone to make phone calls, apart from the occasional conversation for her work as a disability rights advocate.

But when the lockdown for the coronavirus set in, Ms. MacKenzie could no longer pop by her mothers house a few minutes away in New Canaan, Conn. So she has called her multiple times a day, including once recently to get a recipe for pasta e fagioli.

A couple of hours later, she said, they were still talking.

We started with the recipe, then talked about my younger brother, then my work, then her day, and next thing I knew, the soup was done, Ms. MacKenzie said. I needed to hear the familiarity of her voice.

Phone calls have made a comeback in the pandemic. While the nations biggest telecommunications providers prepared for a huge shift toward more internet use from home, what they didnt expect was an even greater surge in plain old voice calls, a medium that had been going out of fashion for years.
The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Harris Countys stay-at-home order, though the legal fight is set to continue in state district court.

The Wednesday ruling came at the request of the suits plaintiffs, including longtime conservative activist Steve Hotze and the pastors of three Houston-area churches.

Earlier this week, Jared Woodfill, the groups attorney, filed a new case in Harris County that similarly claims County Judge Lina Hidalgos stay-at-home order violates the plaintiffs First Amendment rights because it allegedly continues to restrict church services even after Hidalgo revised it to align with Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order deeming churches essential businesses.

The governors March 31 directive, akin to the stay-at-home orders issued by counties across Texas, came one day after anti-LGBTQ Republican activist Hotze and pastors Juan Bustamante, George Garcia and David Valdez filed a petition arguing that Harris Countys order violates the Constitution by ordering the closure of churches and failing to define gun shops as essential businesses.

The four original plaintiffs remain on the new lawsuit, and they are joined by Tom DeLay, the former House Majority Leader who represented a district in the Houston area until 2006. The plaintiffs also have challenged Montgomery Countys stay-at-home order in a different state district court.

Under Abbotts executive order, which supersedes local stay-at-home orders, houses of worship may remain open, though they must conduct their activities online or through remote audio or video services when possible. Abbott later issued more detailed guidance in a joint statement with Attorney General Ken Paxton, adding that churches should cancel in-person gatherings or limit the number of congregants, depending on how substantial community spread of COVID-19 has been in their area.

Paxton also issued a separate opinion saying local governments cannot shut down gun stores or otherwise restrict sales or transfers.

The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Hotze and the pastors motion for a voluntary dismissal of their petition. The court previously had asked both parties to weigh in on whether Abbotts executive order rendered the lawsuit moot.

Last Friday, Hidalgo revised her order to permit in-person religious services that comply with the CDCs guidelines, according to a court filing by the county attorneys office. The plaintiffs are continuing to challenge Hidalgos order in state district court, Woodfill said, in part because it imposes penalties  up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine  that Abbotts does not.

Hidalgos amended order says: Per the Texas Attorney Generals guidance on this topic, if religious services cannot be conducted from home or through remote services, then religious services may be conducted in churches, congregations and houses of worship.

Woodfill said he interprets that language to bar most churches from meeting in person, because most are capable of holding services remotely.

Just about every church has the ability to do that, Woodfill said. Maybe there are some small churches that dont. That doesnt mean your parishioners have internet or the ability to access the service. We think thats clearly government coming in to the church and issuing edicts and mandates that are an infringement on religious liberties.

DeLay, who represented a district in the south Houston-area suburbs from 1985 to 2006, lists a homestead exemption in Sugar Land, in Fort Bend County. Woodfill said DeLay has standing to sue the neighboring county because the order infringes upon his right to go to church in Harris County. He cant attend his church if it is closed due to the order and if it is opened and he attends, he will be fined $1,000 and is looking at 180 days in jail.

City and county officials have said they do not intend to fully enforce the penalties and are first seeking voluntary compliance, before resorting to a criminal charge. Most businesses will first receive warnings if they are out of compliance, then could be hit with fines or arrests if their refusal to comply becomes egregious, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriffs Office said last month.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

robert.downen@chron.com
A team has set a new speed record while competing in the Cannonball Run from New York City to Los Angeles, but people have accused them of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic that has cleared roadways across the country.

The unnamed team successfully traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast in 26 hours and 38 minutes - beating the last record set in November 2019 by more than 45 minutes.

Little is known about the new Cannonball Run champions, but Road & Track report that the group of at least three people traveled from Red Bull Garage - the traditional race start point - in New York City around 11:15pm on April 4.

Just a little over one day later, the team arrived at the traditional finish line a the Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, California. They have not publicly disclosed which route they took.

The Cannonball Run, created in 1971 under the name 'Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shinning Sea Memorial Trophy Dash', is a cross-country race that involves people driving nearly 3,000 miles in the shortest amount of time possible.

An unnamed team used this route to travel from the East Coast to the West Coast in 26 hours and 38 minutes - beating the last record set in November 2019 by more than 45 minutes

Similar to other modern Cannonball Runs, the crew left from Red Ball Garage in New York City and drove some 3,000 miles to he Portofino Hotel & Marina in Los Angeles County, California

Creator Brock Yates, a former editor at Car and Driver magazine, would organize the illegal cross-country race four times throughout the 1970s.

David Diem and Doug Turner set a record of 32 hours and 7 minutes before Yates disbanded the races. The record remained untouched until 2006.

In November of last year, Arne Toman, Doug Tabbutt, and Berkeley Chadwick broke the previous Cannonball Run record with a time of 27 hours and 25 minutes.

Photos shared to Facebook showed a 2019 Audi A8 sedan with two plastic marine fuel tanks strapped into the trunk said to be the car used.

A photo shared to Facebook showed the teams car, a 2019 Audi A8 sedan (pictured), with two plastic marine fuel tanks in the trunk

The team's record run was shown displayed on an iPad taped to the driver seat head rest

'Word on the street there's a new cannon ball record yesterday at 26:38. Damn that's fast, wrote Rehv Mark, who has since deleted the post.

Meanwhile, a small group of people who had competed in the C2C Express and the 2094 races - Cannonball Run spin-offs from recent years - planned to have a Cannonball run on April 4 as well.

But as COVID-19 emergency orders increase across states and the national death toll continues to rise daily, the event was called off.

While such a feat is normally a cause for celebration, some social media users and Cannonball Run fans have labeled the latest run 'scummy' amid the pandemic.

As of Monday, the United States has 435,553 confirmed cases and 14,831 deaths. Shelter-in-place orders have confined millions to their homes and social distancing guidelines leave small room for gatherings.

As a result, some believe the newest record holders may have unfairly used the near-empty streets and sudden drop in traffic to their advantage.

Arne Toman, (right), Doug Tabutt, (left), and Berkeley Chadwick, (seen in the backseat), broke a record for competing a Cannonball Run which involves driving cross-country from New York to Los Angeles in the shortest amount of time possible

Some Cannonball Run fans called out the team for exploiting the pandemic -which has curbed daily traffic and cleared highways - during their attempt

'This is the scummiest s*** I've heard in a few weeks that hasn't directly come from the oval office,' one Twitter user wrote.

Another called the crew 'self-aggrandizing' and urged media outlets to ignore the controversial new record.

'To my friends in the automotive media: you're apparently going to be hit up soon by some attention seekers claiming a new Cannonball Run "record,"' they wrote.

Gluckman: 'You have a choice to make: aggrandize undeserving a**holes, or give the exact amount of attention they deserve, which is none'

'You have a choice to make: aggrandize undeserving a**holes, or give the exact amount of attention they deserve, which is none.'

Alex Roy, who set the first modern record in 2006, said the latest Cannonball Run could have ended in a bigger consequence.

Roy said: 'If you hit a truck moving medical supplies and people die because of it, that's on you.'

'People are counting on those trucks moving around right now. It's not funny.'

Some people suggested the new record not be formally recognized by the community due to the current national crisis.

But others pushed back against the naysayers who claimed the trial run was tone deaf and even pointed out the race is illegal anyway.

'How do you tarnish something that's illegal and that the general public already hates?' asked John Ficarra, the founder and organizer of The 2094.

Ficarra added that there is no sanctioning body for the illegal Cannonball Run.

'If we come together as The Council of Cannonball or whatever and say, 'No, we forbid this,' who really gives a shit? This whole Cannonball thing is small potatoes. It'll blow over.'

Ed Bolian, a Cannonball driver who set a 28 hour and 50 minute record in 2013, agreed.

'Do I think this is the best use of time while the country is staying in during a pandemic?

'Probably not, but for me to say it's awful is like a cocaine dealer saying a heroin dealer is awful.'

The C2C Express founder and organizer Ben "Charlie Safari" Wilson admitted that he understood why some would see this as the perfect time to attempt a Cannonball Run, but explained it was irresponsible.

'It's never completely responsible to drive across the country fast without stopping, but now is completely the wrong time,' Wilson said.

A handful of users pointed out that the Cannonball Run - which breaks several road rules - is illegal in the first

A handful of users questioned why people were debating over the Cannonball run record when the entire event is illegal.

'I find it hilarious that former Cannonball run record holders are calling this pandemic run 'grossly irresponsible' when the whole f****** idea is grossly irresponsible,' one person wrote.

The Cannonball Run has resulted in a couple of non-life threatening injuries in years past, but according to Ficarra, accidents are inevitable.

'I pity the team that's unprepared and gets someone hurt, but eventually it's going to happen. It's a law of averages,' he said.

The newest Cannonball Run record still has time to win over skeptical aficionados, but both Bolian and Wilson said it may never be fully accepted.

Wilson said: 'What Brock Yates wanted to prove back in the Seventies was that you could drive quickly across the country in normal traffic without disrupting anyone or being unsafe, and that isn't what this was.

'Even if you list it as a record run, it'll always be the run during the time of quarantine. There will always be an asterisk next to it.'
H undreds of parties have been broken up by police during the coronavirus lockdown as people flout social distancing measures.

Britain is into its third week of restrictions, with people told to only go out for a select number of essential reasons.

Police in Greater Manchester have now revealed officers have been called out to nearly 500 house parties during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Between March 25 and April 7, officers also had to deal with 166 street parties, 122 group gatherings for sporting activities and 173 gatherings in parks.

TODO: define component type apester

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: We understand the desire people will have to spend time with family and friends over the Easter period.

However it is vital that we follow the Government guidelines.

We must do this to protect ourselves, our families, our communities and the NHS by preventing the spread of this highly contagious infection."

He added that officers were trying to engage with the public to avoid the use of powers, but said action will taken where necessary.

Please dont participate in other social gatherings inside or outside, no matter how big or small," he said.

We are trying to engage, explain, and encourage everyone to follow the Government guidance.

However where people do not comply with the guidelines, we will use the legislative powers.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

Police in Newham last week said they had to break up an 18th birthday party with 25 guests in attendance.
Hotels in Abu Dhabi reported year-over-year declines in the three key performance metrics for the month of March , reflecting the circumstances around the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to STR's preliminary March data, occupancy was down 32.9 per cent to 55.1 per cent, with average daily rate dropping 32.6 per cent to Dh 333.92 and revenue per available room dipping 54.7 per cent to Dh183.86.

Daily data for the month showed 31 consecutive days of double-digit decreases in each of the three key performance metrics.

STR continues to monitor the COVID-19 impact on the hotel industry. - TradeArabia News Service
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which promotes the constitutional principal of the separation of church and state, wrote a letter today asking Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth to stop using his state office to promote Christianity.

The letter came in response to Ainsworths announcement today asking Alabamians to participate in a Ring for the Resurrection campaign to recognize Easter. The lieutenant governor asked people to join him and his family in ringing a bell at noon on Sunday.

Ainsworth announced the campaign in a press release from his office email on state letterhead.

We are writing on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and our Alabama membership to object to the egregious misuse of your office to promote Christianity, the letter from the Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization says.

In announcing the campaign, Ainsworth said his intent was to unite Alabamians in spirit at a time when church services and other traditional ways to commemorate Easter are unsafe because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The foundation wrote a similar letter to Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday objecting to what it said was the governors promotion of her religious briefs during a press conference last week announcing a stay-at-home order because of the pandemic. Ivey quoted scripture during the press conference and invited a pastor who spoke and closed the event with prayer.
The African Development Bank Group on Wednesday announced the creation of the COVID-19 Response Facility to assist regional member countries in fighting the pandemic.



The Facility is the latest measure taken by the Bank to respond to the pandemic and will be the institution's primary channel for its efforts to address the crisis. It provides up to $10 billion to governments and the private sector.



Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, said the package took into account the fiscal challenges that many African countries are facing.



"Africa is facing enormous fiscal challenges to respond to the coronavirus pandemic effectively. The African Development Bank Group is deploying its full weight of emergency response support to assist Africa at this critical time. We must protect lives. This Facility will help African countries to fast-track their efforts to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19," Adesina said, commending the Board of Directors for its unwavering support.



The Facility entails $5.5 billion for sovereign operations in African Development Bank countries, and $3.1 billion for sovereign and regional operations for countries under the African Development Fund, the Bank Group's concessional arm that caters to fragile countries. An additional $1.35 billion will be devoted to private sector operations.



Commenting on the Facility, Acting Senior Vice-President Swazi Tshabalala said: "The setting up of the Facility required a collective effort and courage by all our staff, Board of Directors and our shareholders."



Two weeks ago, the Bank launched a record-breaking $3 billion Fight COVID-19 Social Bond, the world's largest US dollar-denominated social bond ever on the international capital market. Last week, the Board of Directors also approved a $2 million grant for the World Health Organization for its efforts on the continent.



"These are extraordinary times, and we must take bold and decisive actions to save and protect millions of lives in Africa. We are in a race to save lives. No country will be left behind," Adesina said.

Source: Daily Graphic









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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / There are certain barriers when it comes to success, some falter in the face of these challenges, but it takes a certain decisiveness, hard work, and grit to overcome whatever challenges one might face. Van Dennis is one such individual, rising over adversity despite coming face-to-face with it several times in his own career and even in his upbringing.

In spite of these challenges, Van developed a next-level work ethic, putting all of his efforts into meaningful pursuits of knowledge and skill, becoming one of the most respected Google Ads experts in the industry, working with 7 & 8 figure brands. Van has become the go-to guy for all things Google.

Though it wasn't always easy and he had his ups and downs, but through sheer determination and hard work, he took his simple fascination with Google Ads and used it as a strength to push him forward in his ubiquitous career. He as always so fascinated with Google Ads and Google in general, citing its massive dominance as a global search engine, he realized he was always going to google for literally everything that he could think of. It was then and there that he started to think of advertising at Google and creating a business model around it to serve other people.

Van Dennis was born in Florida on the 12th of January back in 1994. He had a rough start growing up, but he never let it get him down, he faced adversity head-on and triumphed over it like a true champion. Now he owns his very own digital marketing company called "Blck Label Digital." Working hard towards creating his own reality, he faced all the trials that were thrust upon him and greatly succeeded.

Despite living in an underrepresented sector of modern USA, Van Dennis has strived to become part of the small percentage of minorities that have their own business. The data speaks for itself; minority-owned business only comprises such a small percentage of businesses across the United States. For most black communities, there is a strong force of opposition that is stacked against them due to the societal norms of the country.

Story continues

Most members of the black communities have given up hope and think that they will never become successful because the odds are stacked against them. Much of that is true, but Van's work-ethic, hard work, and ambition helped him succeed against all the odds. With a steady host of clients for Blck Label Digital, Van is proving to his community that there is hope, and he is inspiring others to

Not only are entrepreneurs and business owners their primary clients, Van Dennis and Black Label Digital also look into partnering with people that are into fitness because Van acknowledges that these kinds of people can relate with his work ethic, ambition, focus, and drive.

With his difficult upbringing and the many challenges that he has faced, the countless failures that he overcame, Van Dennis is humbled and appreciative of what he has now and what he has become, a man that is well-rounded in culture and diversity in the face of the trials of this modern world.

You can connect with Van Dennis through sending an email at van@blvcklabelmedia.com.

SOURCE: Van Dennis





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/584528/Van-Dennis-Finding-Success-in-The-Face-of-Adversity




The challenges facing Zoom continue to mount, as the company now faces an investor lawsuit and more organizations ban the use of the video meeting app due to privacy and security concerns. The company also upped efforts to improve its security and privacy practices by hiring Facebooks former CSO as a consultant.

Zoom has seen a surge in use in recent weeks as self isolation in response to the pandemic ramps up the demand for video software. As its popularity has boomed  both for business and personal use  and the companys stock price rocketed, Zoom has come under pressure on a number of fronts.

On Tuesday, shareholder Michael Drieu filed suit in a California federal court, alleging that Zoom significantly overstated the degree to which its platform is encrypted, failing to disclose these deficiencies to shareholders.

Zoom admitted on April 1 to a discrepancy in its definition of end-to-end encryption from the commonly accepted definition. Drieu claims he and other shareholders have suffered significant losses and damages due to a drop in Zooms share price after the admission.

It is the second recent lawsuit Zoom faces; the company is also being sued in California for allegedly sharing user data with Facebook. Zoom said in a March 29 blog post that it has never sold user data in the past and has no intention of selling users data going forward, and would remove the Facebook SDK (software development kit) from its iOS client. That SDK, it said, was responsible for collecting device data.

More organizations ban Zoom

The list of organizations that have banned use of Zoom on security and privacy grounds has also grown.

The U.S. Senate has reportedly directed members not to use the app, according to the Financial Times, while the German Foreign Ministry has banned its use on mobile devices to protect confidential conversations, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. And Taiwans government warned against using Zoom, instead highlighting rival options from Microsoft and Google.

Google, which has its own video app  Hangouts Meet  has also reportedly banned Zoom due to security vulnerabilities, according to an internal email cited by Buzzfeed, as has Elon Musks Space X.

The FBI last week warned of unauthorized access to virtual classrooms and recommended that users change security settings to protect meetings; the app has been blacklisted by schools in New York.

Zoom had previously drawn criticism over its security practices  even before the COVID-19 crisis  because of a flaw in its Mac desktop app, discovered last year, that let hackers take control of a users webcam.

in response, Zoom has recently upped efforts to improve security and privacy, with CEO Eric Yuan promising last week to put Zoom feature development on hold for 90 days while the company directs resources to better identify, address, and fix issues proactively.

Yuan acknowledged in an interview with CNN on Monday that the company moved too fast as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded and should have enforced tighter security to protect users. The company also acknowledged in response to research from the University of Torontos Citizen Lab that its encryption efforts need more work.

Zoom hires Alex Stamos

On Wednesday, Zoom announced that former Facebook CSO Alex Stamos has joined as an outside advisor to improve security controls and practices. In a post on his personal blog, Stamos said he was hired to advise and help the company build up its security, privacy and safety capabilities as an outside consultant.

Zoom has also formed a chief information security officer (CISO) Council to discuss security and privacy best practices; CISOs from HSBC, NTT Data and Procore are among those involved.

One measure to improve security and privacy, put in place by Zoom on Wednesday, is to hide Meeting ID numbers from the onscreen title bar. This will prevent users from leaking meeting details if they share a screenshot on social media and is likely to reduce occurrences of Zoom-bombing, where uninvited users disrupt video meetings.

Despite its challenges, Zoom is making the right moves to improve security and its reputation among enterprise customers, said Raul Castanon, senior analyst for workforce collaboration at 451 Research / S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Zoom has been in the spotlight given its meteoric growth, even more since it stepped up to the challenge scaling its platform to help millions of users during the current crisis, he said. Given its success, it makes sense that the company will be under intense scrutiny and become the target of malicious actions.

Castanon said Yuan is skillfully navigating challenges that in many ways are unprecedented, and that these efforts should be acknowledged.

Despite the lawsuit, the actions outlined in Yuans recent blog post, plus bringing in Alex Stamos as a consultant, should help Zoom improve its security and privacy practices and restore confidence to enterprise users and investors, he said.
The economist who covers Ireland for the Organisation for Cooperation and Development said the Government will need to plan for further economic costs should restrictions need to be re-imposed if the Covid-19 pandemic were to flare up again later this year.

Senior economist Ben Westmore also said he was watching the spike in the claimant counts under the pandemic payment schemes and urged the Government to continue to be flexible with business supports to meet the challenges of an evolving crisis in the coming months.

In an interview with the Irish examiner, he praised the Government for ushering in appropriate measures to protect the economy and for it having costed its Covid-19 claimant payments and business supports over the current 12-week period of restrictions.

However, he said that if it becomes clear towards the end of the 12 weeks that further restrictions were required then the Government should take a very flexible approach to roll out new measures to help businesses.

There will be permanent damage to the economy and the only question is how much and that will depend on what happens with the virus, but it also depends on what policymakers are doing. The Irish Government is trying to do all that is possible to protect the economy from the shock and to insulate it from long term damage, Mr Westmore said.

He said that the forecasts by the Central Bank and others that unemployment could peak at 25% before falling back again following restrictions of 12 weeks were feasible.

However, the Government will also need to plan for second-wave effects and for scenarios such as restrictions that were first lifted having to be put back into place again should the pandemic re-flare in the second half of the year.

The health situation is very serious and no country has been immune and no country has been immune from the huge economic fallout, Mr Westmore said.

He said Ireland was among the first countries to close its schools and to embrace containment measures and has seen the success of its efforts in the flattening in the rise of new virus cases.

In terms of the economic impact, it will be huge in all European countries. The scale of the effects will depend on how long the restrictions go on and whether there is a confinement period and [if there were] a second wave of infections and that the restrictions needed to be put in place again, he said.

The rise in the claimant count -- which had jumped to over 710,000 by last week -- highlighted the severity of the crisis in Ireland but the figures were nonetheless in line with the huge increases posted in the US, he said.

On the public finances, he welcomed the progress Ireland had made to lower its debt burden and that other European countries will be more fragile if the crisis is prolonged.

The Irish banks also were in much better shape since the financial storm of a decade ago and were better recapitalised with strong capital ratios.

He said Irish banks in stress tests came out well under a scenario of a Europe-wide recession but if the crisis continues to reverberate for a long period of time banks in all countries will be under pressure, Mr Westmore said.
Altia-ABM, a UK-based group specialising in investigation and covert management software, today announced significant expansion of its global operations.

The group, which develops software used by law enforcement organisations, tax authorities and government agencies, posted annual results showing growth in revenue, profit and its customer base. Altia-ABM now has customers in 16 countries worldwide.

Altia-ABM has expanded its sales and support office in Melbourne, Australia, and its operations in Canada, Colombia and Peru.

John Boyle, chairman of Altia-ABM, said: "We are very encouraged by the performance of the group. Our solid financial growth has enabled us to develop our offering across the world. This has been particularly evident in Australia where we now have fully functional in-country operation and a subsidiary group company serving the needs of government and law enforcement agencies.

"We are acutely aware of the technological and logistical challenges facing organisations during the Covid-19 pandemic and, in particular, we are helping our customers around the world as they address these challenges and adapt to remote working."

Ian Watson, CEO of the group, said: "Our financial performance improves year by year and this reflects the demand from national and regional police forces, government and other investigating authorities for robust investigation software that is totally reliable for day-to-day work and will stand up to scrutiny during court proceedings. We are forecasting continued sustained growth across the world during 2020 and beyond.

"We continue to invest in staff, knowledge growth and training, product enhancements, together with research and development. We are focused on meeting changing cloud-focused customer IT requirements at a time when there are increasingly complex challenges for investigations."

Revenues for the year ending December 2019 increased by 17 to 5.9m due to organic growth across the world. Group EBITDA increased by 92 to 1.4m.

-ENDS-

Note to editors:

Altia-ABM

The Altia-ABM group, which is based in the UK with operations in Scotland, England, Canada and Australia is a global leader in the development and provision of innovative software to support financial and fraud investigations. Police forces, national and regional governments, tax authorities, forensic accountants and insolvency practitioners use and trust Altia-ABM technology and services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005384/en/

Contacts:

Ramsay Smith Media House

+44 (0) 7788 414856

e: ramsay@mediahouse.co.uk
BBC presenter Emily Maitlis has hit out at claims that coronavirus is a 'great leveller' for society as she said the poorest Britons are less likely to survive the pandemic.

The 49-year-old Newsnight host claimed those most at risk of catching the infection are in low-paid jobs such as bus drivers, nurses and care home workers.

In a speech on BBC Two last night which has received widespread praise, she said people 'do not survive the illness through fortitude and strength of character'.

But others were left unimpressed, with Matt Kilcoyne of the Adam Smith Institute saying her comments breached impartiality guidelines. He said: 'All of this in my view breaks the BBC's editorial guidelines on impartiality and I'm making a complaint.'

BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis (pictured last night) claimed those most at risk of catching the infection are in low-paid jobs such as bus drivers, nurses and care home workers

In her speech last night, Maitlis said: 'The language around Covid-19 has sometimes felt trite and misleading. You do not survive the illness through fortitude and strength of character, whatever the Prime Minister's colleagues will tell us.

'And the disease is not a great leveller, the consequences of which everyone, rich or poor, suffers the same. This is a myth which needs debunking.

'Those on the frontline right now - bus drivers and shelf-stackers, nurses, care home workers, hospital staff and shopkeepers - are disproportionately the lower paid members of our workforce.

'They are more likely to catch the disease because they are more exposed. Those who live in tower blocks and small flats will find the lockdown tougher. Those in manual jobs will be unable to work from home.'

A BBC spokesperson said: 'We dont believe there has been any breach of editorial guidelines.'

City worker who lost job due to coronavirus says she is 'now poor' A City worker who lost her job due to coronavirus says she is 'now poor' with just 30 a month left after mortgage payments. Under the pseudonym Alice, the woman revealed how she used to shop at Waitrose and Marks and Spencer but was forced to seek out food banks. 'I was used to having extra money being able to save being able to do my shopping at Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and then all of a sudden going from that to not earning anything - you're now effectively poor,' she told the BBC's Today show on Radio 4. She was terrified of going to pick up free food parcels for fear that she would be perceived. Alice said that the mere thought of visiting the charity gave her heart palpitations as she feared that the volunteers would question why somebody who sounds and looks affluent needed their vital services. She was relieved when the volunteers came to her aid without any question, as foodbanks now expect people who were previously well-off to be visiting due to coronavirus job losses. Advertisement

Just days after the broadcast, a City worker who lost her job due to coronavirus said she is 'now poor' with just 30 a month left after mortgage payments and is now relying on foodbanks.

The presenter added that she was concerned about the consequences of a recession for Britain following a stark warning from the World Trade Organization.

She said: 'This is a health issue with huge ramifications for social welfare and it's a welfare issue with huge ramifications for public health.

'Tonight as France goes into recession and the World Trade Organization warns the pandemic could provoke the deepest economic downturn of our lifetimes, we ask what kind of social settlement might need to be put in place to stop the inequality becoming even more stark.'

Her comments received widespread praise on social media, with one Twitter user saying: 'The opening statement from Emily Maitlis is one of the greatest I have ever heard on UK television.'

Another tweeted: 'Emily Maitlis making some very sensible points. Not everyone is affected by the pandemic equally. Economically marginalised sections face the worst of it. So do the people who are at the frontlines in underpaid jobs.'

And a third said: 'What she said. Its tough for any of us to swallow, but some people need to listen to this.'

But another, Charlotte Gill, said that Maitlis was sat on the wrong side of the Newsnight table to be making such comments.

Maitlis' comments echoed those in a column by John Humphrys in the Daily Mail on March 27, who wrote: 'The Government may have acted swiftly to protect most incomes, but there will be many who slip through the net or are defeated by bureaucracy. There always are. And theyre almost always the poorest.

'We must hope that the current mood of national solidarity lasts long enough to see us through this crisis and beyond.'
Retail workers say they are "scared and desperate" and are begging for businesses to stop in-store trading amid fears for their health during the COVID-19 crisis.

Employees have told of customers openly coughing in store, coming too close to a pregnant worker, and revealing that although they were meant to be in quarantine, they were out shopping because they "needed a break".

JB Hi-Fi stores still remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, causing angst for a number of its employees. Credit:Patrick Durkin

The retail workers' union said it had been in contact with major stores nationwide as they fielded concerns from staff working during the outbreak.

A JB Hi-Fi employee, who didn't want to be named, described the company's decision to keep its doors open as "crazy".
Directed by Robert Eggers, The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson is a psychological horror story set in the 1890s about two lighthouse keepers on a mysterious remote island somewhere in New England. The film focuses on the gradual descent into madness due to confinement during the harsh stormy weather. Also known as cabin fever.

What garnered attention mainly was the look and feel of the film. It was unique. Not something people were used to. The film looked vintage. Black and white with a boxy aspect ratio. And to top that off the brilliantly executed method acting by the two individuals and the beautiful haunting music.

The making of this movie was not as easy as just filming it, editing a grayscale filter on and changing the aspect ratio to make it look vintage. It had to look and feel genuine. Robert Eggers was already fixated on how the film should look. He had already decided that the film would be shot on a 35mm negative film, black and white format, a 1.19:1 aspect ratio and a mono audio mix. The Lighthouse was shot on the Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 on a KODAK Double-X 5222 Filmstock. The filmstock came out in 1959 and has not changed since. It has a much more aggressive grain structure and contrast. Amongst other popular movies, the Panaflex Millennium XL 2 was also used to shoot the Oscars 2020 Best Picture Nominee, the ninth film from Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

Jarin Blaschke is the cinematographer for this movie and is best known for his work in the previous Robert Eggers movie, The VVitch. In an interview with Musicbed, Blaschke revealed that originally the movie was going to be shot in 1.33:1, which was the standard academy ratio. However, since it was a two-hander movie with a dark and ominous atmosphere, in a confined space, Blaschke suggested that the confinement would be expressed in a way better way, if the movie was shot in a 1.19:1 aspect ratio. Although he was not necessarily being completely serious, Robert agreed that it was a good idea. With this film, Blaschke wanted to go for an orthochromatic look.

Orthochromatic Look and the Custom Filter

Early photographic materials were only sensitive to ultraviolet and blue light. When comparing earlier black and white photography to the current generation, you notice a significant difference. Things emitting ultraviolet and blue light ended up looking very bright. This is why skies ended up looking hazy, bright and plain white. The skin tones of the subjects in photographs taken back in the day looked dark and had a lot of texture. This was due to the reflection of the colour red and a little bit of green. The 1870s saw the expansion of the spectrum of film to include green light. Those emulsions were called orthochromatic, which meant all wavelengths. However, the nomenclature was inaccurate since it really only meant blue and green.

Achieving this look in the film was difficult. In the same interview with Musicbed, Blaschke revealed that he wanted to prevent the red light from coming into the camera. After switching through multiple blue and blue-green filters to no avail, Panavision came to Blaschkes rescue. Mike Carter from Panavision introduced Blaschke to Rob Engvaldsen at Schneider Optics, a US subsidiary of acclaimed German lens maker Schneider Kreuznach who offered to make a custom filter for the crew. Blaschke had to draw and send a spectrograph indicating what colour wavelengths he did not want. The team received the custom filter within a months time. All costs were handled by Panavision.

Going through this lengthy procedure brought out more texture. Slight changes and fluctuations in light or facial expressions would be pronounced. Skin texture, pores, blemishes and blood vessels are predominant. This made the weathered, beaten-down look of the lighthouse keepers more prominent. More red equals darker texture. This custom filter also emphasized on the blue and ultraviolet light. This made the skies blindingly white, to the point where clouds would blend or fade into the sky. For someone with blue eyes, the eyes would look whiter and brighter and more pronounced compared to the pupil.

Lenses

To go along with the Panaflex Millennium XL 2 camera and the old black and white filmstock, Blaschke wanted to go with some rare vintage lenses. The lenses that were used to film were the Bausch & Lomb Baltar, Petzval lenses and a Pathe-Goerz Triplet lens.

Pathe-Goerz Triplet lens

Based on an interview by No Film School, Blaschke visited Panavision and asked them as to what lens they had which was off the menu and no one knew about. They brought out one lens about the size of a thimble - an early triplet lens. According to IndieWire, it was the 50mm Pathe-Goerz Triplet lens. This lens is a compound lens that uses three single separated lenses. Two convex lenses made of crown glass with a high refractive index and low dispersion, separated by a biconcave lens made of light flint glass of high dispersion which flattened the image surface.

Bausch & Lomb original Baltars set

In the same interview, Bauschke revealed that the people over at Panavision then brought out a set of lenses called Baltars. Not to be confused with Super Baltars, these original classic Baltars were used in filmmaking in Hollywood for years. From films like Citizen Kane, all the way through to films like The Godfather were all shot using the classic Baltars. Upon comparing these lenses with the Cook Series Ones used primarily in England, which were from the 40s, Blaschke took a liking to the Baltars. According to him, the Baltars had a shimmery quality which made the highlights glow and was one of the most stunning portrait lenses he had ever seen. When the lens is wide open, it has a halation that highlights and gives a glow on the face, rather than a cheap gauze.

Petzval Lenses

Going back to 1840, a Petzval lens is characterized by its swirly bokeh and sharp central focus. The lens swirls backgrounds that are out of focus in a distinctive way. The effect gets heavy towards the edges. This lens was only used for heightened moments and flashback sequences in the movie. In the interview with Musicbed, Blaschke revealed that Panavision had to optically adjust the 35mm, 58mm and 85mm Petzval lenses in order to work with a modern film camera. Blaschke thought that it was an impossible task. However, Dan Sasaki, the VP of Optical Engineering at Panavision made it possible.

Lighting

In the interview with Musicbed, Blaschke revealed that the crew had to use a lot of light since the black and white filmstock that he was using had low sensitivity to light at 80 ASA which was the standard for older films. It was blindingly bright. He also stated that he felt bad for the actors as they kept seeing spots and were barely even able to see each other during the shoot.

According to the Hurlbut Academy, for night scenes like the heightened dinner scenes, the lanterns were lit with an 800-watt halogen bulb which would flicker and were only a few feet from the actors face. Closeups were further amplified, with a China Ball. For daytime scenes, the ARRI M-series 9K and 18K HMIs were bounced through giant panoramas of muslin cloth outside the windows.

Moonlight exteriors were created by perching two Arrimax 18K lights on a 125 feet crane 500 feet across the bay. With a fully extended arm we could swing over the ocean and get right down to the waves without submerging the camera., said Robert Pattinson. These shots had to be scheduled with respect to the tides.

Aspect Ratio

With respect to films, an aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between the height and width of the image that is seen on screen. Differences in aspect ratio are subjective. It depends upon a number of factors such as the time period in which a movie takes place, the director, the deeper meanings or feelings in the story to name a few.

In the Musicbed interview, Blaschke said that the 1.19:1 aspect ratio meant that the sets would be confined. The actors had to be scrunched into the frame by putting the heads of the actors low in frame with a lot of headspace above in order to feel the ceiling. Since the lighthouse was a vertical object Blaschke felt it was an intriguing task, since one only rarely gets to work with the vertical aspects in a movie. The sets had to be built in a way that would accommodate the boxy aspect ratio. This included building the lighthouse from scratch. The walls of the lighthouse could be moved around in order to accommodate the camera and the crew. The 8 feet diameter made it difficult to fit the two actors and move around the camera. The smaller aspect ratio also meant that movements were restricted. Most of the rehearsals that took place were not for acting or dialogue purposes. But instead, to understand the geography and limit the movement from going out of the frame.

Cinematography will always be an integral part of cinema, whether it is shooting on film, digital or CGI. In the case of The Lighthouse, the tight aspect ratio, use of lenses and filters, the black and white film, the harsh weather conditions and the cramped set, all contribute to the feeling of confinement, intimacy, dampness, claustrophobia and eeriness in the film.

Director: Robert Eggers

Cinematographer: Jarin Blaschke

Sources:

Musicbed, No Film School, Hurlbut Academy
It's a brutal time for marijuana startups. I'm hearing some are raising at 1/5th of their 2019 valuation amidst rampant competition, tall taxes, and slow legalization. The struggles for marijuana's best-known startup, delivery service Eaze, continue as today it's losing one of its top partners. $75 million-funded weed brand empire Caliva has dropped Eaze in favor of launching its own delivery system.

By partnering with Hypur banking to solve the marijuana payments legality issue, Caliva will be able to accept contactless mobile payments unlike Eaze, which Hypur's PR presentative claims usually requires customers pay in cash. [Update: Eaze claims the majority of payments come via debit cards]. Caliva buyers won't have to worry about trips to the ATM, especially now during COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, which the startup expects will boost their average order volume. Combined with verticalizing delivery in-house plus its retail and wholesale operations, Caliva hopes it can grow its margins and survive this long winter for weed startups.

"Our mission at Caliva has always been to provide safe and easy access to plant-based solutions for health, happiness and healing, said Caliva CEO Dennis OMalley. Together with Hypur, we are proud to offer our customers safe, compliant and convenient cashless payment options to improve and modernize their purchasing experience." It hasn't been so easy for Eaze, though.

Back in January, we reported that Eaze was in trouble, having suffered unannounced layoffs and executive departures. It burned cash on billboards, and never launched the services of a startup it acquired. There were questions about data security, and weed brands dropped Eaze due to delayed payments. It was almost out of money and in danger of vaporizing. It luckily managed to secure a $15 million bridge round to keep it alive plus a $20 million Series D in February just before the COVID hit the fan, though I dread to think of the terms of that funding.

Story continues

The plan for Eaze was to verticalize, buying and developing brands that it could sell through its existing delivery service to up its margins. Now it's seeing former partner Caliva do the reverse, launching a delivery service to sell its own Fun Uncle, Deli, and Caliva brands as well as distribute other vape, edible, and flower brands like Dosist and Kiva. Its menu breadth to attract customers and in-house brands to drive profits could be a winning combo. After limited pilots in SoCal, Caliva delivery is launching in LA and the Bay Area.

Unfortunately, traditional payment processors usually refuse to work with marijuana companies for fear of legal repercussions. That's why most delivery services can't accept credit or debit cards, or do so through sketchy legal workarounds that have led payment providers to be sued. Others like CanPay only offer ACH transfers, while Square only works with CBD sellers. "We spent time researching and evaluating all platforms that accept cannabis payments in the U.S., and found that Hypur has the best security, compliance and consumer experience" O'Malley tells me.

400-person Caliva is now trying to raise a Series B, but may experience tough headwinds with shelter-in-place orders in effect in states where marijuana is legal. Stiff taxes on marijuana have meanwhile helped the black market continue to thrive, as California's $3.1 billion in legal 2019 sales were overshadowed by an estimated $8.7 billion in illegal sales. Faster delivery and simpler payments could help. But enthusiasm for the industry has dwindled following the initial flood of entrants sought to exploit the end of prohibition. Is the Green Rush over?

[Update: This news was first reported a day earlier by Forbes' Javier Hasse. We were misled to believe this story was exclusive to TechCrunch by Hypur's PR firm Riff City Strategies.]
Apartment hunting on a budget can be . So what does the low-end price on a rental in Forest Crest look like these days  and what might you get for your money?

Per Walk Score ratings, the neighborhood requires a car for most errands, isn't particularly bikeable and offers limited transit options. It also features median rents for a one bedroom that hover around $1,114, compared to ann $828 one-bedroom median for San Antonio as a whole.

A look at local listings in Forest Crest via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide paints a picture of what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in this San Antonio neighborhood.

Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

23910 W. Interstate 10, #651A

This one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, situated at 23910 W. Interstate 10, #651A, is listed for $1,050/month for its 719 square feet.

The apartment includes hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet. Amenities offered in the building include an elevator and a swimming pool. Pet owners, take heed: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There's no leasing fee required for this rental.

(See the complete listing here.)

17803 La Cantera Terrace

Here's a studio apartment at 17803 La Cantera Terrace, which, at 523 square feet, is going for $1,055/month.

Building amenities include a swimming pool. The unit also has hardwood flooring, a walk-in closet and a dishwasher. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly.

(See the full listing here.)

Rim Drive

Check out this 689-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at Rim Drive, listed at $1,068/month.

Building amenities include assigned parking. In the unit, expect to find a renovated kitchen, a dishwasher and in-unit laundry. Pet owners, take heed: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(Here's the listing.)

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, get free local real estate marketing ideas and tools for agents, brokers and more.

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Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association has written to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, requesting them to shift a quarantine centre, holding 120 Tablighi Jamaat members, situated at a government school inside Gulabi Bagh area in the capital to a location with less population.

The Association appealed to the LG and the chief minister to "issue necessary directions to the authorities to shift the quarantine centre from Gulabi Bagh to a locality with less population".

The letter states that at present 120 members of the Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined at the school located at Gulabi Bagh. "They have been quarantined here ignoring the fact that most of the staff residing here, is on emergency duty to contain 'Novel Coronavirus," the letter said.

The letter pointed out that Gulabi Bagh was the biggest Delhi government employees residential colony and there are 2500 flats in the colony. "At present, 2500 officers and officials are residing there along with approximately 15,000 family members," the letter added.

The Tablighi Jamaat event, that took place in Nizamuddin Markaz in March, has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 in India with several positive cases linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

The capital on Wednesday reported 93 COVID-19 positive cases in 24 hours, taking the total number of persons diagnosed with deadly virus to 669.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seventeen policemen were placed under quarantine in Ludhiana on Thursday, two days after a thief they arrested tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The station house officer (SHO) of the local Focal Point police station was among those quarantined after the vehicle thief, Saurav Sehgal, 25, was caught and produced in a court on April 5. He was put in jail for a day at the Jeevan Nagar police post.

Two local residents who had helped the police in arresting Sehgal and 11 of the thiefs family members were also quarantined in the citys Ganesh Nagar locality.

On April 6, the duty magistrate found Sehgal had a fever and cough and asked the police to put both the accused through a medical examination before sending them to judicial custody.

The duty magistrate and court staff have now been asked to go into self-isolation as a preventive measure.

SEARCH ON FOR ACCOMPLICE

The police are searching for Sehgals accomplice, Navjot Singh, 25, of Jhabewal village, who was also involved in snatchings, and escaped from the civil hospital when they were taken for the medical examination.

Assistant sub inspector Gurmeet Singh said Sehgal was unwell but Navjot looked fit. The thief was sent to the isolation ward but the moment I opened Navjots handcuffs, he pushed me and fled, the ASI said.

A case was registered against him under Section 224 of the Indian Penal Code.

CONTACT TRACING

Ten police personnel, including three ASIs, two head constables, two constables and two home guards of Jeevan Nagar police post, had come in contact with Sehgal on April 5 and 6.

The thieves were brought to the Focal Point police station for clicking a picture to be released with the press note. It was here that they came in contact with inspector Mohammad Jamil and a head constable.

The accused were taken to court and the civil hospital by three police personnel, including two ASIs and a home guard. Two constables, including a policewoman, came in contact with the accused while recording their fingerprints.

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LONDON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rise in outbreak of airborne diseases contributed to the growth of the masks market. Airborne transmission of infectious agents refers to the transmission of disease caused by dissemination of droplet nuclei that remain infectious when suspended in air over long distance and time. Precautions that create a barrier and procedures that decrease or eliminate the microbe in the environment or on personal belongings, form the basis of interrupting transmission of direct contact diseases. The spread of airborne diseases like seasonal influenza kills 200500 thousand people annually; influenza A (H1N1) caused 17,000 deaths worldwide, many among whom were healthy adults. In 2002-2003, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) killed more than 700 people and spread into 37 countries causing a cost of $18 billion in Asia. These recent outbreaks remind us of the potential for a pandemic such as the Spanish flu of 19181920 which killed 50100 million people, and now the recent outbreak of Covid-19. This is expected to drive the masks market by several folds in the short term.

The global masks market was valued at about $1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $1.2 billion at a CAGR of 4.6% through 2023.

Read More On The Business Research Company's Masks (N95 Respirators And Other Surgical Masks) Market Report:

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/masks-(n95-respirators-and-other-surgical-masks)-global-market-report

The market for N95 respirators and other surgical masks (face masks) consists of sales of N95 respirators and other surgical face masks used as personal protective equipment to protect the wearer from airborne particles and from liquid contaminating the face.

Shift Towards Disposable Masks By Consumers

The shift towards disposable devices in developed countries is one of the major trends in the global masks market. Disposable masks eliminate the need for product sterilization and reduce cross-contamination with other reusable products. They are also cost-effective, prevent contamination, and reduce hospital stay, whereas reusable non-woven masks need to be decontaminated, washed, sterilized for every reuse. Reusable surgical face masks can be sterilized and laundered for reuse but are less protective and more time-consuming in terms of production as well as washing and sterilization for reuse. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), surgical masks are not intended to be used more than once. This can increase the adoption of disposable respiratory masks. Disposable surgical face masks are often perceived to have protective advantages over reusable surgical face masks as they must be immediately discarded as bio-hazardous materials.

Non-Woven Disposables Restrain The Masks Market Growth

Concerns regarding the disposal of non-woven disposables has always been a major challenge. Non-woven disposable surgical masks are made up of poly propylene, which is a non-biodegradable material and cannot be decomposed by natural means. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, containers and packaging are a huge portion of solid waste in the United States. 77.9 million tons of packaging waste was generated in 2015 alone. These factors are expected to have a negative impact on the disposable surgical masks market as Environmental protection Agencies will take stringent actions regarding the disposal of these non-biodegradable masks.

Request A Free Sample Of The Masks (N95 Respirators And Other Surgical Masks) Market Report:

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Masks (N95 Respirators And Other Surgical Masks) Market Segments And Key Players

The masks market is segmented by type into N95 respirator, common grade surgical mask, and others (comfort masks/dust masks). By end-user, it is segmented into hospital and clinics, individual, industrial, and others.

Major players in the masks market are 3M Company, Smith and Nephew, Molnlycke Healthcare, Medline Industries, Johnson and Johnson, DUKAL Corporation, Key Surgical, DYNAREX, CM, ZHONGT, Winner, CK-Tech, Piaoan, Pitta Mask, Ammex, Tianyushu, Rimei, and Gofresh.

Here Is A List Of Similar Reports By The Business Research Company:

Respiratory Devices And Equipment (Therapeutic And Diagnostic) Global Market Report 2020

Ventilators Global Market Report 2020-30: Covid 19 Implications And Growth

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The two youngsters with staff of Ernakulam medical college hospital after being discharged

Noted Malayalam filmmaker M. Padmakumar, known for big budget period movie like Mammootty starrer 'Mamangam', touted as most expensive movie produced in Malayalam and investigative thriller Joseph, hailed Keralas healthcare system.

His son, working in Paris, who was infected with coronavirus on March 23 has been recovered and discharged from Ernakulam government medical college hospital.

In a Facebook post, Padmakumar expressed love and gratitude towards the doctors, nurses and all other health workers who are dedicated to fight against the deadly disease.

My son Akash and his colleague Eldho Mathew has been discharged from the government medical college after the successful treatment for Covid 19. Thanks and love to the doctors, nurses and all other health workers who are dedicated to fight against the disease. And my love to the Captain of the team our Honourable CM, Pinarayi Vijayan, our health Minister Shailaja teacher, district Collector S. Suhas and all... This is not just an expression of gratitude, also my pride about my state, my government which is number one among the world for leading and caring people very sincerely. A BIG SALUTE, he said in FB post.

The youngsters were doubtful over the possible contraction of virus as they interacted with a virus suspected person in Paris.

They returned from Paris to Kochi on March 15. They reached Delhi on March 16 and landed in Kochi on March 17. Being asymptomatic they were allowed to go home. But they took extreme care to prevent chance for virus spread, in case if they are infected.

They didnt even use the service of a driver or taxi car to reach home. Their relatives parked the car outside the airport parking area and the youngsters drove themselves to a separate house arranged for them.

The duo went into self isolation and stayed in the house till March 23 when they developed fever and shifted to medical college where they tested positive.

Since the youngsters didnt have a single contact, there was no need to prepare the route map and trace contact list. The district collector and top health authorities complimented the imitable behaviour of the students.
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Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 11, 2020 09:01 640 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ba985 1 National #COVID19,COVID-19,#coronavirus,coronavirus,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,economic-stimulus-package,#economy Free

Antigraft activists have called on the government to be transparent in the disbursement of the recently unveiled Rp 405.1 trillion (US$24.68 billion) COVID-19 economic stimulus in order to avoid the pitfalls of past corruption cases in 2008 and in 1998.

The government issued a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on March 31, allowing policymakers to take extraordinary measures to cushion the economy from the negative impacts of the outbreak. The regulation gives Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) members legal protection to carry out their respective duties as long as those are done in good faith and with respect to existing law.

The KSSK is a forum chaired by the Finance Minister, with members including the Bank Indonesia (BI) governor and the heads of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS).

Article 27 of the Perppu stipulates that the funds spent by the government in carrying out such policies are part of the economic costs to save the country from economic crisis and will not be counted as state losses.

Submitted to the House of Representatives on April 2, the legislation is still awaiting lawmakers approval.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Kurnia Ramadhana called on the government to exercise prudence in making any future decisions under the Perppu mechanism, given the impunity provision.

If there is potential for corruption, dont allow the economic stimulus be a pretext for such offenses, Kurnia said. Dont be hasty in taking any decisions that might potentially become corruption offenses.

He said that past corruption cases relating to government interventions to save the economy should be taken as a lesson by President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration.

During the 1998 financial crisis, BI provided liquidity support (BLBI) to commercial banks to restore public faith in banks as they suffered massive runs, but most of the money was later found to have been embezzled.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) brought former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Syafruddin Arysad Tumenggung to a corruption court in September 2018 for his involvement in the BLBI embezzlement case.

Syafruddin was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for discharging Sjamsul Nursalim, the owner of Bank Dagang Negara Indonesia (BDNI), from repaying the government. He was found guilty of causing Rp 4.58 trillion in state losses.

In a July 2019 in a cassation trial at the Supreme Court, Syafruddin was acquitted of all the charges.

The bailout of Bank Century in 2008, meanwhile, turned into a political scandal with lawmakers questioning the ballooning cost of bailing out the bank, which amounted to Rp 6.76 trillion. The House launched in 2010 a legislative inquiry into the Century case that almost led to former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being impeached.

In July 2014, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former BI deputy governor Budi Mulya, the first suspect in the case investigated by the KPK, to 10 years in jail. The investigation, however, has since moved at a snails pace, prompting the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Community (MAKI) to file a pretrial motion against the KPK, which was accused of being slow in its handling of the case.

Transparency International Indonesia's (TII) Wawan Sujatmiko said the two past cases showed that Jokowis administration should start to draft guidelines detailing mechanisms to ensure any future economic stimulus-related policies are in line with prevailing laws before implementing the Perppu.

The government must ensure that amid the extraordinary conditions caused by the [COVID-19] pandemic it doesnt become unaware or neglectful of potential corruption when it begins implementing the economic stimulus, he said.

Policymakers appeared to be determined to avoid any moral hazard in implementing the Perppu.

We are very aware that we must be very careful to avoid moral hazard, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told reporters last week. We will formulate a safeguard so that policymakers that are taking measures to improve public health and the economy cannot be criminalized because of the acts of others.

Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Piter Abdullah said a much better oversight mechanism offered by the KPK, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the ministrys inspectorate general today would leave little wiggle room for policymakers to play foul.

Piter said that unlike in the 1998 crisis, in which the BLBI funds came from the central bank, or in the 2008 scandal when the LPS funding was used to bail out Bank Century for fear of the systemic risks it posed to the financial system, the 2020 crisis playbook used a much safer route by leveraging state spending through the issuance of bonds.
There are many differences between the Soviet Unions dissolution and our own coronavirus-induced freeze. But there are obvious similarities, too. Trade links have been torn apart by the economic downturn. Transport has been obstructed by the cancellation of flights and shipping. Companies such as Apple, which has been a leader in establishing cross-border supply chains, are rethinking reliance on manufacturing in China.

If companies dont change their globalized way of doing business, governments may force them to. Many countries are limiting exports of masks and other medical supplies. Sometime in the next year or so, the world will likely acquire its first vaccine against the virus. It is easy to imagine whatever country that creates the vaccine prohibiting exports until its citizens have been vaccinated first.

Indeed, President Trump is not the only person questioning the wisdom of international trade. Ideas about national self-sufficiency championed by his advisers, like the trade skeptic Peter Navarro, are beginning to look more mainstream. The European Union has seen debates about whether medical goods can be exported beyond the bloc  or even to other countries within it. China hypes its supplying of medical equipment to countries in need, but it kicked off the trend of hoarding masks. Almost everywhere that the coronavirus has spread, it has brought not only lockdowns, but trade restrictions, too.

When the Soviet Unions economy splintered, catastrophe resulted. As businesses closed and workers lost jobs, the Russian economy shrank by 14 percent in 1992  a staggering decline that the United States and Europe may well replicate this year. (By comparison, in 2008, in the depths of the financial crisis, Americas G.D.P. declined by only 3 percent.) For Soviet citizens, the human costs of the crash were severe, with life expectancy falling so fast that it appeared that a new disease was ravaging the population.

Today, we have no alternative to lockdowns if we want to survive. Still, countries like Russia that experienced double-digit declines in G.D.P. have found that the results werent healthy. Terrible recessions come with human costs. In the United States, 6.6 million people filed for unemployment claims in just one week. Throwing up barriers to trade and to business is tough medicine  not a cure all.

Chris Miller (@crmiller1) is an assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the author of Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia.

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As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have devastating impact, #FirstRespondersFirst has announced a partnership with Marriott International to support frontline healthcare workers with essential protective equipment, accommodations, child care, food, mental health support and other essential resources.

As people are being asked to serve the public health by stepping back, frontline healthcare workers are being tasked with stepping forward, putting their own health -- and that of their families -- at risk. Beginning this week, Marriott and #FirstRespondersFirst will provide healthcare workers in New York City with accommodations starting with The Renaissance New York Times Square and The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection which are both in close proximity to hospitals. Accommodations will be provided at no cost to the healthcare workers.

#FirstRespondersFirst will work initially with Mount Sinai Health System to provide accommodations for its healthcare workers, including those who have travelled to New York from other parts of the country to meet the urgent need for caregivers there. Mount Sinai Health System is New York Citys largest academic medical system and has been at the epicentre of the efforts working tirelessly to save lives and develop testing and treatments to stop this pandemic.

Our #FirstRespondersFirst initiative takes a whole human approach to supporting frontline healthcare workers, said Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global. Healthcare workers are navigating the challenges of this moment with courage and compassion. Theyre taking care of us, so we need to help take care of them. Thats why we are not only raising funds for critical equipment but also for essential resources for first responders and their families, including child care and food. And now we are thrilled to be partnering with Marriott to provide hundreds of hotel rooms in one of the hardest hit cities in the country. As these first responders care for others during this unprecedented crisis, Marriott and #FirstRespondersFirst are supporting them by providing peace of mind in the form of a comfortable place to sleep and recharge.

We are all in this together as we work to overcome Covid-19 and its devastating impact around the globe, said Stephanie Linnartz, president, Consumer Operations, Marriott International. #FirstRespondersFirst recognises the needs of healthcare workers who are on the frontlines in this fight. Were grateful for the opportunity to take care of these heroes by providing them a much-needed place to rest after their shifts.

Our physicians, nurses, trainees, students, scientists and other health care professionals on the frontline of this fight are heroes. We will win this fight thanks to the efforts of many, said Kenneth L. Davis, managing director, president and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System. "Thank you to Marriott and #FirstRespondersFirst for your support of our community during this challenging time.

#FirstRespondersFirst is an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation to provide first responder healthcare workers with physical and psychological resources they so desperately need as they serve on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic. - TradeArabia News Service
A 35-year-old man who fired several shots from the back of his house in Shelby Township on Wednesday night was taken into police custody early Thursday morning after about a six-hour standoff.

Shelby Township police received multiple 911 calls from neighbors at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday after the man, who lives in the 56000 block of Summit Drive, reportedly fired about four to five shots. The home is located in a subdivision between 26 Mile Road and 25 Mile Road, west of Van Dyke Avenue. Police said it appears none of the surrounding homes were hit, and it is unclear what the man may have been shooting at.

According to Shelby Deputy Police Chief Mark Coil, who was on the scene, the suspect had been in a dispute with his mother inside the house, which they both reside in. Alcohol was a factor in the dispute, he reported. As a result of the dispute, the mother left the scene, and the man started shooting shortly afterward. Coil said the suspect was known to police through prior contact and other family related issues. There was no one else in the home.

Police set up a perimeter around the home and attempted multiple ways to make contact with the suspect, including the crisis negotiating team, but were unsuccessful.

The Metro Macomb SWAT team was brought to the scene, which included officers from Warren and Sterling Heights, as well as the SWAT armored personnel carrier.

Coil said several distractionary devices and tactics were deployed before officers ultimately made entry into the home by breaking a front window in the front door. At that time, Coil said the man engaged the officers verbally. He was taken from the home without use of force at about 2 a.m. Thursday morning. As of Thursday afternoon, no weapons were found at the home. But Coil said multiple 911 callers were very articulate about what they heard, describing shots that sounded like they were fired from a handgun. There had been reports of fireworks being shot off in the area, but Coil said the fireworks went off about 6 p.m., more than two hours before police started receiving the 911 calls.

The man is currently lodged in the Macomb County jail and awaiting arraignment, which could happen Friday.

Were thankful for the help of the consortium, even in this time of the COVID crisis, Coil said. Were glad it ended peacefully and without the loss of life.
SAN DIEGO, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income,NYSE: O), The Monthly Dividend Company, today announced the company will release its operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 after the market closes on May 4, 2020. The company will host its conference call on May 5, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. PT to discuss the operating results.

Additionally, the company recently borrowed an additional $1.20 billion under its revolving credit facility, as to further strengthen its liquidity position and to enhance its financial flexibility. The total capacity of the revolving credit facility is $3.0 billion, of which, as of April 9, 2020, after giving effect to the recent borrowings, approximately $1.2 billion of capacity remains, excluding the revolving credit facility's $1.0 billion accordion feature. Under the revolving credit facility, the company's current A- / A3 credit ratings provide for a borrowing rate of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) plus 77.5 basis points. As of April 9, 2020, giving effect to the recent borrowings, the company has a cash balance of $1.25 billion.

Given the economic uncertainty and rapidly-evolving circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is withdrawing its previously issued 2020 guidance and is not providing an updated outlook at this time.

To access the conference call, dial (877) 701-6180. When prompted, provide the conference ID 2238836.

A telephone replay of the conference call can also be accessed by calling (800) 585-8367 and entering the conference ID 2238836. The telephone replay will be available through May 19, 2020.

A live webcast will be available in listen-only mode by clicking on the webcast link on the company's home page or in the investors section at www.realtyincome.com. A replay of the conference call webcast will be available approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live broadcast. The webcast replay will be available through May 19, 2020. No access code is required for this replay.

About the Company

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company, is an S&P 500 company dedicated to providing stockholders with dependable monthly income. The company is structured as a REIT, and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 6,400 real estate properties owned under long-term lease agreements with commercial tenants. To date, the company has declared 597 consecutive common stock monthly dividends throughout its 51-year operating history and increased the dividend 106 times since Realty Income's public listing in 1994 (NYSE: O). The company is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. Additional information about the company can be obtained from the corporate website at www.realtyincome.com.

SOURCE Realty Income Corporation

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Evidence suggests the new variant may be more transmissible than Delta, but there are still many unknowns at play.
Representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other oil-producing countries are set to meet to try to agree to cut output to stabilize the global oil market.

The meeting comes as oil prices have dropped to a level not seen in decades, with travel restrictions and lockdowns issued amid the coronavirus pandemic drastically reducing demand for energy.

Oil prices before the pandemic were already weak, owing in part to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's largest oil producers, over a previous pact on curbing supplies.

Recent efforts to address the glut and decline in prices have been complicated by the reluctance of the United States to agree to participate in a cut over fears that it would violate U.S. antitrust laws.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he brokered a deal with Saudi Arabia and Russia that could lead to cuts of as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels per day, an unprecedented amount.

Such a cut would require the participation of producers outside OPEC and its allies, and Saudi Arabia and Russia have yet to indicate any agreement on reducing output.

The Trump administration has shown no desire to mandate cuts in domestic supply, saying the country's output has already dropped without government action.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 8 there was a difference between a natural decline in output and a reduction.

"You are comparing overall decline in demand with cuts aimed at stabilizing global markets. These are different concepts and they could not be compared," Peskov said.

The meeting on April 9 of OPEC, Russia, and other producers will be a video conference in keeping with guidelines to avoid large gatherings amid the pandemic.

On the eve of the meeting, nearly 50 Republican members of the U.S. Congress told Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in a letter that economic and military cooperation between Washington and Riyadh is at risk unless the kingdom helps to stabilize oil prices by cutting output.

The message is the latest U.S. move to pressure Saudi Arabia to cut production.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
By Bilal T. Abbas

On the one hand, we have entire neighborhoods in Italy quarantined, standing in solidarity and supporting each other from their balconies. They put on brave faces, and are united and defiant in the face of the novel and deadly coronavirus, setting an example for international communities to emulate.

Worldwide, entire communities are refraining from acting on whims, rich and poor, old and young alike. Personal pleasures are sacrificed to protect the more vulnerable among us, so they may have a fighting chance of surviving this pandemic.

During the same time, French doctors are suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines be tested in Africa, despite the fact that Africans have hardly been impacted in comparison to the French scale. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, has issued shoot them dead orders to police and military for islanders found violating national curfews for any reason. And after American leaders used strong-arm tactics to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) by diverting shipments from other nations, do we expect any different behavior from our citizens? In classic modeling behavior, it is only logical that we bear witness to supermarket fist-fights over rolls of toilet paper; it is dog eat dog, survival of the fittest and classic Darwinism on all levels.

I am a social worker and mental health professional and naturally advocate for at-risk and underrepresented communities, including those who are oppressed. I also volunteer at a national nonprofit, American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP), which seeks to improve the health of all Americans through increasing mental health awareness.

On April 4th, AMHP collaborated with the Muslim American Society of Boston (MASBOSTON) and sponsored a virtual and interdisciplinary webinar using Zoom that focused on the publics mental and physical well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar was inclusive, free, open to all Americans and featured an interfaith panel. The program was hacked, and ironically, this happened when we were discussing how to address spikes in xenophobic and racist attacks that Asian communities are enduring currently.

Some obviously hateful and disgruntled individuals joined the webinar. At first, they made racist remarks toward Muslims and African Americans, ranting about how much hate they have for us, and how they would like to see us all die. The repulsive diatribe escalated to even more depraved behavior when they started broadcasting pornographic videos over our monitors. Eventually, the individuals were ejected from the webinar and blocked, and the program resumed.

But it is what took place next that serves as another glimmer of hope, and defines us as at our core. A diverse and heterogeneous audience stood in solidarity and vociferously condemned the actions of these degenerate few, who were clearly in the minority.

In the tribal times of today, we chose not to be divided.

It is not easy to make sense of all we are experiencing. In the midst of the world being brought to its knees, developed and developing countries alike, there is only one truth: the virus does not discriminate between age, race, color, creed, or ones net worth.

During times when there are few role models to look up to, we took the more difficult path and set an example through demonstrating unity, high moral and ethical standards, and with fortitude.

Bilal T. Abbas, MPA, MSW, CADC, is a Rutgers graduate and chapter development director of American Muslim Health Professionals.

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MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Thursday health risks for younger people returning to work are limited considering almost all Quebecers who have died of COVID-19 are over the age of 60.

And if those younger workers  particularly in the provinces important construction sector  can keep away from their parents and grandparents, then we can start to reopen, Legault told reporters during his daily news conference.

But the premier was guarded about when that will be and which businesses outside the construction sector will be allowed to operate when the province-wide shutdown ordered in March is eased.

What is becoming increasingly clear, Legault said, is that the COVID-19 infection rate in the province is expected to peak in the next few days. Government projections released Tuesday estimated the peak would arrive around April 18.

We need to ensure that is true, Legault said, but the numbers are holding up. Its been a few days now.

Legault and the provinces director of public health, Horacio Arruda, say their number one priority is to control the spread of COVID-19 in order to reduce the number of deaths.

But in recent days, they both have begun talking about a need to balance economic growth with an acceptable rate of infection.

Figures released Thursday show Quebec had the largest unemployment rate increase in Canada in March, rising by 3.6 percentage points to 8.1 per cent. Legault said hundreds of thousands of Quebecers are in financial difficulty, and Arruda added that Quebecers cannot expect to eliminate all new infections.

We will finish by accepting a certain level of transmission in society so that (the virus) burns itself out in time, Arruda said. We will always evaluate the balance of risks of reopening versus the potential pandemic context.

He said his medical team will evaluate each sector of the economy, region by region, and make recommendations to the premier. Legault said he will focus on opening businesses where people can keep a distance of two metres.

Legault had shut down all businesses deemed non-essential in March and after initially considering a reopening in mid-April, extended the order until May 4.

The premier has recently suggested that key sectors, including construction, could open sooner. Construction alone employs hundreds of thousands of people and generates annual investments in the province of around $40 billion, according to the provincial agency that oversees the industry.

Yves-Thomas Dorval, president of Quebecs main federation of employers, said Thursday he is happy with the optimistic tone shown by the premier. Dorval said his organization, the Conseil du patronat du Quebec, will have a concrete list of proposals for the government by the end of next week on how to reopen the provincial economy.

Dorval said the business community is concerned authorities want to restart the economy sector by sector, as opposed to taking a broader approach.

All businesses that are able to protect their workers and limit the spread of COVID-19 among their customers, he said, should be able to begin operating at the same time, to avoid the most disruption.

The government wants to go by sector, by task, by job  we wont get out that way, he said in an interview. I think we can move into a context of relaunch or reopening of the economy, with general principles on public health.

Dorval says businesses that cannot always ensure workers and clients maintain a distance of two metres should still be able to open  under certain conditions. Those include equipping employees with protective gear, limiting contact with clients and ensuring all customers maintain adequate distance between themselves, he said.

Quebec reported 41 new deaths linked to COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the total to 216 in the province. Provincial health authorities said there are 10,912 confirmed cases of the virus, with 679 hospitalizations and 196 patients in intensive care.

Nearly half the deaths have come from long-term care facilities, but Legault stressed that not all such facilities have been seriously impacted by COVID-19. Most of the deaths are tied to six long-term care centres.

Ninety per cent of those who died were 70 years old or older and another nine per cent were aged between 60 and 69 years old, Legault said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.
Walkers have been told to keep dogs under control while exercising on farmland this Easter break as farmers feel pressure due to the coronavirus crisis.

Following reports from farmers, there is concern that walkers taking dogs unfamiliar with livestock into the countryside may not be aware that their pets could instinctively attack sheep.

Recent attacks have included sheep killed and injured across the UK at a time when ewes and their new-born lambs are particularly vulnerable.

Rebecca Davidson, NFU Mutual Rural Affairs Specialist, said sheep worrying causes 'appalling suffering', and during the coronavirus crisis the threat of attacks is 'adding to farmers anxiety'.

These horrific attacks have left a trail of dead and seriously-injured sheep and new-born lambs," she said.

"We are urging dog walkers to keep their pets on the lead at all times when exercising them in countryside where livestock are reared.

"Walking dogs on a lead also ensures people can safely keep two metres away from others."

Even if a dog doesnt make contact, the distress and exhaustion of the chase can cause a sheep to die, NFU Mutual points out.

Many walkers also fail to clear up after their dog which can spread disease to livestock, such as neosporosis and sarcocystosis.

Ms Davidson said some farmers are having to spend additional time patrolling flocks to try and prevent attacks, hindering food production.

There are real concerns that high numbers of people using farmland footpaths for exercise are putting older farmers in particular at risk," she said.

"Together with the farmers unions, we are urging people to maintain social distancing of two metres apart and not put others, including farmers, their families and other rural dwellers at risk.

NFU Mutuals claims figures show that livestock worth 1.2 million were attacked by dogs last year.

A survey of over 1,300 people also revealed that 63% of owners let their pets roam free in the countryside, despite half admitting their dog doesnt always come back when called.
When Chris Smalls was fired by Amazon for protesting unsafe conditions at a warehouse during the COVID-19 pandemic, he made apparent a usually hidden human infrastructure: the front-line workers that make our quarantined world function. (Update, April 9, 2020, 4:45 p.m.: Amazon disputes this characterization of events. It says that Smalls was fired for violating social-distancing rules and for not remaining at home after having contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.) Warehouse workers, delivery drivers, hospital staff, and grocery checkers all face near-constant exposure from customers, patients, and one another.

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It may be tempting to believe that the best way to protect such workers would be to have drone delivery, grocery stores without checkers, and increased automated decision-making across fields as diverse as content moderation and medical diagnosis. But automation will not keep front-line workers safe for the simple reason that automation requires people to fix, repair, and work alongside machines.

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During this pandemic, when we are expected to keep 6 feet of space between us, it is easy to imagine a world with grocery shopping entirely by self-checkout and everything else delivered to our doorsteps with a click of our trackpads.

Globally, robotics and tech industry professionals appear to be claiming that such a world would be safer for us all. In Calling All Robots, the Wall Street Journals CIO Journal section describes an acceleration toward automation, reporting that 50 percent of businesses in an industry survey of large companies are using automation to help front-line workers cope with the pandemic. An editorial published in the journal Science Robotics suggests that during the COVID-19 outbreak, robots could be used for disinfection, delivering medications and food, measuring vital signs, and assisting border controls, taking over from humans these and other dirty and dangerous jobs. Ran Poliakine, founder of a robotics firm called SixAI, told the publication IndustryWeek that, in light of the pandemic, it was more important than ever for companies to use automation to keep workers safe. Content moderators at Facebook and other social media platforms who were working in close quarters have already been sent home to keep them safe while their decisions on the appropriateness of posts, images, and videos are made with the help of an A.I. that automates content removal. Meanwhile, the management consulting firm Bain & Company advises banks to protect their front-line employees by shifting to working from home and increasing digital banking solutions to customers who have been resistant (even while they recommend scaling up customer service support operations to make these changes effective). Drone delivery companies in Canada and China are experimenting with medicine delivery, and researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati are developing robots to carry food to and remove waste from hospital isolation wards.*

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Certainly, venture capitalists and Wall Street firms will put more money behind online, distributed, and robotic applications going forward. While most companies stocks are tanking, those supplying automated delivery and checkout, like Walmart and Amazon, are trending upward. Amazon stock is up nearly 20 percent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, and Walmart stock is at an all-time record high. Some automation efforts may yield protections for workers, especially in hospital settings. Robots can, for instance, take patient temperature readings and help with disinfecting surfaces. Tech companies often promise to eliminate the dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs through machine learning and automation. But they will not protect workers by themselves, because its workers who will provision, fix, and train humans to use machines properly. The best way to describe what automation means today might be: machines upfront, people in the back.

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Self-checkout at grocery stores, for instance, requires cashiers to stand by to help customers and recalibrate the machines. Self-checkout machines reliably misrecognize bar codes, and people just as equally become frustrated when they dont quite know how to give the machine the information its asking for. As Alexandra Mateescu and Madeleine Clare Elish show, at each of these moments, a self-checkout attendant steps in to help. If drone delivery were to become a reality, it would still require human workers to pack and load the delivery boxes. For each box delivered to the doorstep and each online meeting taken from home, there will babysitters and house cleaners who make the home a presentable office and keep children occupied. There will be customer service workers sitting in cubicles ready to answer product questions. There will be content moderators working under similar conditions in the United States, the Philippines, and India, ensuring that our socially distanced worlds run smoothly and without interruption.

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Rather than creating safe barriers around all people, such a drive toward automation would simply hide the people who are at risk. Susan Leigh Star, a scholar of technological infrastructures, has made the important point that in times of crisis, the true natures of infrastructures reveal themselves.* During this pandemic, it has become abundantly clear that the workers who labor alongside the screen are some of the most vulnerable to contracting and spreading the virus. They cannot afford to stay home, and their employers classify them as independent contractors rather than employees who would have access to benefits. But the social distancing the rest of us can engage in depends on them continuing to work at packing boxes and reviewing what we see online. This human infrastructure was already in place; COVID-19 made its extent and the risks associated with this type of work incontrovertible. Taking in the international scope of this labor force, it is also clear that the effects of the pandemic will disproportionately fall on Black, Asian, and Latinx workers, many of whom are immigrants. In New York City, 75 percent of front-line workersin grocery stores, warehouses, cleaning, transit, child care, food, health care, and moreare people of color, and 50 percent were born in a different country.

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Perhaps one day we will see more machine learning applications for diagnosing sick patients, allowing doctors to spend time making decisions about proper treatment without unnecessary exposure. Maybe artificial intelligence will be used to help track and stem pandemics. But even as we pursue these options, we should not believe that reduced exposure for all will be achieved through these means. Instead, there will be people in all of these spaces, part of an automation infrastructure but at the same time partially hidden.

What is needed now and on the other side of this pandemic is increased protections for these workers. There are several initiatives currently underway to achieve this. In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has passed an emergency sick leave bill, and the Department of Labor waived the seven-day waiting period for unemployment benefits. The system that takes unemployment insurance applications, however, is so overloaded that a de facto waiting period seems to be in effect anyway. Some unions are also negotiating relief packages for their workers. While these measures are important, unemployment benefits extended to independent contractors and freelancers, many of whom provide food delivery and other services for those social distancing, are stopgap measures. In general, these workers have to rely on the largesse of their employers to provide sick leave benefits, a precarious proposition when these companies are not normally bound by employment law. Meanwhile, workers in fulfillment centers and food distribution warehouses may have to continue working in unsafe conditions.

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Even the best of these crisis measures are only temporary. They will disappear once this pandemic is behind us. Future visions of automation need to recognize humans as partners up in front with the machines, rather than hiding the people who make automation work at the back. There are many ways to do this. Two of the most important are including freelance and gig workers in state protections and preventing tech companies from presenting themselves as exceptions to corporate regulations in the U.S. and abroad. Beyond these practical regulatory levers, we should not be lulled into believing that introducing more automation will keep all of us safe. We need a different story about automation, one that subverts the narrative that robots operate in the absence of people and instead gives equal weight to the people who make what seems automatic work.

Correction, April 9, 2020: This piece originally misspelled Guwahati and Susan Leigh Stars last name.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
ALBANY  Debbie's Kitchen, a Lark Street-area institution for sandwiches, soups and baked goods since 1985, minus a hiatus or two, is closing for good after business on Saturday.

On Thursday morning, founder Debbie Klauber said, "It just got so hard" after the COVID-19 crisis forced restaurants to adapt to takeout and cast a general sense of uncertainty over the hospitality industry and society as a whole. Klauber stayed open for several weeks, closed for a few days last week and returned for three final days.

"It started to give me pause," said the 63-year-old Klauber. "Was I doing a service by staying open or a disservice by not being as safe as I could be?"

Hours through Saturday will be 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Fare includes Klauber's signature sandwiches and soups, brownies and other sweet baked goods, quiches and additional goodies, as dictated by whim and ingredient availability.

"My offerings are abundant but not to be pinpointed," said Klauber. (A creation for the final days is a salad of lentils, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.) Visit the business' Facebook page, facebook.com/debbieskitchenalbany, for details.

"The fat lady is really singing this time," said Klauber. Continuing with the music theme but switching references, Klauber said, "What did Kenny Rogers say? 'You gotta know when to fold 'em.' You should go out with a sense of dignity and pride."

Klauber started on Lark Street, from 1985 to 1995, then moved around the corner to the present location, 456 Madison Ave., where she held court for a total of 15 years before selling, in 2010. Another operator ran the business as Debbies Kitchen for five years, and the building then housed Timmys Chinese Cuisine, which closed abruptly after a short run.

While she was away from the bakery-cafe, Klauber spent most of her time in Belize, returning to the Capital Region and her home base in Ravena, where she made desserty things under the name Pirate Girl Treats and worked some summers at Siros in Saratoga Springs.

She reopened Debbie's Kitchen in October 2018, partnering with Patrick Noonan. He owns El Loco Mexican Cafe, directly across the street from 456 Madison, and is chairman of the the Lark Street Business Improvement District.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"With the world in the state it is, he really needs to focus on other things, and I know that now is right: It's time to end Debbie's Kitchen," said Klauber. She said she expects to take time off, then revitalize Pirate Girl treats and ramp up cakes, pies and other baked goods for private clients and, possibly, another storefront business. Maybe.

"I was roaming independently and entrepreneurially for all the years I was away," said Klauber. "But now, with things as they are, this space has become too hard to maintain, labor is expensive, food has skyrocketed. I will re-emerge; I'll be around. I'll keep doing my shtick and conjuring up orders, the way I always have."
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin went clothes shopping during one of two trips to Sydney from his Pearl Beach holiday home, where he says he was holed up for three weeks during the height of the state's coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Harwin has been under pressure since it emerged on Wednesday night that he had been commuting to the Central Coast property despite the Berejiklian government urging the public to delay non-essential travel.

Arts Minister Don Harwin photographed shopping at Eastgardens Westfield in South Sydney on March 22.

The Sydney Morning Herald has confirmed he was shopping at Westfield Eastgardens shopping centre in Sydneys south-east on March 22 - about 20 mins drive from his Sydney home in Elizabeth Bay.

A spokesman for Mr Harwin confirmed the Minister relocated to his Pearl Beach home on March 13, but returned to Sydney less than a week later on March 19th for "essential meetings".
Firefighters in Florida used a fire truck ladder to visit a coronavirus-stricken lieutenant on the fourth floor of a local hospital.

Members of a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue squad visited a beloved, unnamed lieutenant last week during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Good Morning America reports that lieutenant was hospitalized three times since March 19 because of complications with the disease.

Kenneth Wood, the battalion chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue 13, said he helped organize the event with the help of three other stations and the hospital.

Members of the Miami-Dada Fire Rescue used a fire truck ladder to visit a colleague sick with the coronavirus on April 3

'The lieutenant [in the hospital] is one of mine that Im responsible for,' Woods said, adding that he'd been working with him for around 16 years.

'I set up a text group so that we could see how everybodys feeling during the day and to keep the [camaraderie] going throughout the whole process. We mess around with each other, to keep things light.'

Footage from the sweet moment was taken by the lieutenant inside his hospital room as he watched his co-workers set up the surprise near a parking garage on April 3.

'There they are. All this for me,' he said, adding that his colleagues came with get well soon cards and a sign that read 'Your New Firehouse.'

The lieutenant was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love.

'This is love. This is the only kind of love you can get from the brother and sisterhood at the fire house. There is just no other way to explain how this makes me feel,' he said.

Woods said the firefighters visited the lieutenant because of his ongoing struggles with COVID-19.

He said: 'You cant really go visit [the sick firefighters], youre not allowed to go visit them  [We visited] this lieutenant because hes been the most sick.

Firefighters surprised the lieutenant with get well soon cars and a sign that read 'Your New Firehouse'

'I made the appropriate phone calls and we set it in place and set the time and then went out and did it.'

Firefighters from each of the three stations took turns using the fire truck ladder to visit their friend at his hospital window.

Emotions ran high at the reunion and it was palpable how touched the lieutenant was by the gesture.

'I think that [visiting him] really put things in perspective for everybody just how serious this whole thing is. He was short of breath the entire conversation and it was chilling the emotion in his voice,' Woods said.

'[Hes] been cooped up there with stress and hes been isolated.'

Pictured: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Station 37, Station 36, Station 13 setting up the fire truck ladder outside the Miami-area hospital

Woods: 'Everythings just been so negative lately. So I think it was nice to finally have a good feeling, opposed to all the bad stuff thats been happening'

The visit, Woods said, was a bright spot for firefighters who have been overwhelmed with coronavirus-related calls and stressed during the health crisis.

'Everythings just been so negative lately. So I think it was nice to finally have a good feeling, opposed to all the bad stuff thats been happening,' he said.

In Florida, the disease has infected 15,698 residents and 323 deaths. Across the country, around 435,553 Americans have contracted the coronavirus and at least 14,831 have died.

As the pandemic continues to spread through epicenters like New York and other areas nationwide, law enforcement, medical workers and other personnel on the front lines have taken the brunt of the pandemic.

CNN reports that as of Monday, 6,974 members of the New York Police Department - or 19.3 percent - fell ill with COVID-19.

At the moment, 1,935 uniformed members and 293 civilian members are diagnosed with the disease. 12 have died so far.

An EMT wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), prepares to unload COVID-19 transfer patients at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus in the Bronx on Monday

Doctors and healthcare workers have also been hit-hard by the influx of patients and shortage of supplies.

Photos taken in New York City, where there are more tan 81,000 cases and 4,500 deaths, showed infected patients being stacked in evacuation buses to be driven to one of the city's busy hospitals.

Gov Cuomo, speaking at his daily briefing in Albany on Wednesday, said there was a 'mix' of emotions that came with the fact New York has flattened the curve of new infections and new hospitalizations while the death toll keeps ticking up.

'What we have done and what we are doing is actually working and it's making a difference. We took dramatic actions in this state. It is working,' he said
The Mumbai police, which has been



tirelessly working to enforce the COVID-19 lockdown, used a heart-warming video to appeal to people to remain indoors during the health crisis.

In a video posted on Twitter, police personnel, overworked with several patrolling and bandobast duties, are seen speaking about what they would have done if they were forced to remain at home for 21 days.

The video, which garnered 477k views, 19.2k likes and 5,334 retweets, earned the appreciation of several celebrities and sportspersons, who thanked the police for their service during these unprecedented circumstances.

The two-minute video on the police's official Twitter handle @mumbaipolice shows personnel of every rank, responding to the question what they would have done if they were forced to stay home.

From spending more time with their families, watching movies to reading, police personnel, including female staff, say they would make the most of their time at home.

Deputy commissioner of police Pranay Ashok, who was also featured in the video, said he would have spent time with his wife, pets and caught up on sleep.

The video ends with a message to Mumbaikars that while policemen stayed out and let citizens live their dreams, won't people let them fulfil their wish to keep the city safe from evils, including coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK -- New York state, epicenter of Americas coronavirus crisis, set another single-day record of COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, as veteran doctors and nurses voiced astonishment at the speed with which patients were deteriorating and dying.

The number of known coronavirus infections in New York state alone approached 150,000 on Wednesday, even as authorities warned that the official death tally may understate the true number because it omits those who have perished at home.

Every number is a face,  said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ordered flags flown at half-staff across New York in memory of the victims.

This virus attacked the vulnerable and attacked the weak, and its our job as a society to protect the vulnerable.

Doctors and nurses say elderly patients and those with underlying health conditions are not the only ones who appear relatively well one moment and at deaths door the next. It happens to the young and healthy, too.

Patients look fine, feel fine, then you turn around and theyre unresponsive, said Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the center of the nations worst outbreak.

Im paranoid, scared to walk out of their room.

A van carrying the body of a deceased person exits Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., April 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Nearly 430,000 cases of COVID-19, the highly infectious lung disease caused by the coronavirus, were confirmed in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, including more than 14,700 deaths.

For the second straight day the virus killed at least 1,900 in a 24-hour period.

Cuomo said 779 people had died in the past day in his state. New Jersey reported 275 had died there.

Both totals exceeded one-day records from just a day earlier.

Despite the grim figures, Cuomo said overall trends still appeared positive.

Cuomo cited a drop in new hospitalizations and other data as evidence that New Yorks social-distancing restrictions were bending the curve, helping to gain some control over the infection rate.

New York is one of 42 states where governors have issued stay-at-home orders and closed all non-essential workplaces.

While public health experts say such measures are vital for controlling the contagion, the restrictions have strangled the U.S. economy, leading to widespread layoffs, upheavals on Wall Street and projections of a severe recession.

Cuomo said the loss of life would likely continue at current levels or increase in days ahead as critically ill patients die after prolonged bouts hooked up to ventilators.

A health worker in protective gear hands out a self-testing kit in a parking lot of Rose Bowl Stadium during the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pasadena, California, U.S., April 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Scaling back toll

U.S. deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,700 on Wednesday, the second highest reported number in the world behind Italy, according to a Reuters tally.

New York state accounts for over a third of the U.S. total.

Officials have warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected U.S. pandemic death toll by 26% to 60,000.

We are in the midst of a week of heartache, Vice President Mike Pence said during a White House briefing on Wednesday, but added, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope.

Dr. Craig Smith, surgeon-in-chief at Presbyterian Hospitals Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan, heralded encouraging numbers that suggested a turning tide in Wednesdays edition of his daily newsletter to staff.

There were more discharges of patients than admissions for two days running, he said, adding: Hosanna!

A homeless man sits next to a shopping cart with a sign which reads 'Exit' as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters

But that comes as cold comfort to some healthcare workers on the front lines, who told Reuters they have treated patients while experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus themselves without being able to get tested.

In Michigan, one of the few hospital systems conducting widespread diagnostic screenings of staff, found more than 700 workers were infected - over a quarter of those tested.

The continued test kit shortages - even for the workers most at risk - is scandalous and a serious threat to the patients they treat, said Dr. Art Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

'Big bang'

At the White House on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the U.S. economy with a big bang but not before the death toll is on the downslope.

Trump did not offer a time frame, but his chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said on Tuesday a resumption of commerce was possible in four to eight weeks.

Mannequin are seen with face masks at a local shop as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Louisiana is beginning to see the flattening of the curve with the number of new coronavirus cases reported in the past 24 hours - 746 - lower than recent days, Governor John Bel Edwards said.

Louisiana had been one of the nations hot spots.

California, like New York, had one of its highest single-day death tolls with 68 people dying of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

The state may not see its infection curve flattening until the end of May, requiring weeks more of social distancing, officials say.

New York City officials said a recent surge in people dying at home suggests the most populous U.S. city may be undercounting the loss of life.

I think thats a very real possibility, Cuomo told his daily news briefing.

So far New York Citys announced death toll has reflected only laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses, mostly at hospitals.

At least 200 people are believed to be dying at home in the city every day during the pandemic, authorities said.

Pence warned that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were cities of particular concern as a possible future flash points in the epidemic.
84 more people tested positive for the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Thursday informed the state Health Secretary.

"84 persons out of the 96 persons who tested positive for COVID-19 today are from "single source" event. And 763 cases out of the total 834 cases in the state are from "single source" event, " said Beela Rajesh, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary.

Meanwhile, India's total COVID-19 cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, with 591 new cases reported in last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


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Bansy Kalappa By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Its a long war against coronavirus, and the economic convulsions have already begun with the State under lockdown. Growth is likely to further decelerate in these tough times. Last week, the Union finance ministry released the first instalment of the Centres share of the State Disaster Response Mitigation Fund (SDRMF).

Out of Rs 11,067 crore to be shared among 27 States, Karnataka got Rs 395.5 crore as its share as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted that the funds were disbursed to enhance the states financial resources during the COVID crisis.

The funds may not be enough, but come at a time when Karnataka, much like the rest of the country, is struggling to deal with the corona crisis. While the government needs massive amounts to buy emergency medical facilities, testing kits, PPEs, ventilators etc, the state revenues have never been so bad and the tap has virtually run dry with the lockdown.

RS Deshpande, economist, said, There is no fresh revenue but the State can use what was allocated earlier to other sectors, it could divert it. The spending in other sectors will stand postponed. The Karnataka resource position is in a precarious state, said Prof. M Govinda Rao, former member of the 14th Finance Commission. He said, While the State needs funds to battle this emergency, it is fighting without sufficient resources. The tax revenues from the contributing departments  excise, motor vehicles, stamps and registration  and other important contributors have come down.

Considering the reduced share from the tax devolution and given that the 14th Finance Commission had suggested Rs 5,495 crore special grant and that it had not been accepted, the situation is indeed grim, he said.

Taking this into account, the central government should allow states to borrow more. As a thumb rule, a state can borrow not more than 3 per cent of GSDP. But as they say the principle in wartime is `not to follow any principle, so the Centre should consider allowing states to borrow up to 4 per cent of the GSDP, he suggested. Entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said, We need to be in a state of preparedness in a crisis. This is something no one imagined.
Crates of masks snatched from cargo planes on airport tarmacs. Countries paying triple the market price to outbid others. Accusations of modern piracy against governments trying to secure medical supplies for their own people.

As the United States and European Union countries compete to acquire scarce medical equipment to combat the coronavirus, another troubling divide is also emerging, with poorer countries losing out to wealthier ones in the global scrum for masks and testing materials.

Scientists in Africa and Latin America have been told by manufacturers that orders for vital testing kits cannot be filled for months because the supply chain is in upheaval and almost everything they produce is going to America or Europe. All countries report steep price increases, from testing kits to masks.

The huge global demand for masks, alongside new distortions in the private market, has forced some developing countries to turn to UNICEF for help. Etleva Kadilli, who oversees supplies at the agency, said it was trying to buy 240 million masks to help 100 countries but so far had managed to source only around 28 million.

There is a war going on behind the scenes, and were most worried about poorer countries losing out, said Dr. Catharina Boehme, the chief executive of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, which collaborates with the World Health Organization in helping poorer countries gain access to medical tests.

In Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia, many countries are already at a disadvantage, with health systems that are underfunded, fragile and often lacking in necessary equipment. A recent study found that some poor countries have only one equipped intensive care bed per 1 million residents.

So far, the developing world has reported far fewer cases and deaths from the coronavirus, but many experts fear that the pandemic could be especially devastating for the poorest countries.

Testing is the first defence against the virus and an important tool to stop so many patients from ending up hospitalized. Most manufacturers want to help, but the niche industry that produces the testing equipment and chemical reagents necessary to process lab tests is dealing with huge global demand.

Theres never really been a shortage of chemical reagents before now, said Doris-Ann Williams, chief executive of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which represents producers and distributors of the lab tests used to detect the coronavirus. If it was just one country with an epidemic it would be fine, but all the major countries in the world are wanting the same thing at the same time.

For poorer countries, Boehme said, the competition for resources is potentially a global catastrophe, as a once-coherent supply chain has rapidly devolved into an arm-twisting exercise. Leaders of every country are personally calling manufacturing chief executives to demand first-in-line access to vital supplies. Some governments have even offered to send private jets.

In Brazil, Amilcar Tanuri cannot offer private jets. Tanuri runs public laboratories at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, half of which are stuck doing nothing instead of testing health workers, he said, because the chemical reagents he needs are being routed to wealthier countries.

If you dont have reliable tests, you are blind, he said. This is the beginning of the epidemic curve so Im very concerned about the public health system here being overwhelmed very fast.

Brazil is Latin Americas hardest hit country, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and a testing backlog of at least 23,000. It is also the regions most controversial player in the pandemic, with a president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has been an outspoken skeptic of the risks posed by the coronavirus.

But below the political noise, the countrys scientists began trying to ramp up testing hours after the countrys first case was announced.

Yet within weeks, Tanuri was left to frantically call private firms on three continents, trying to source the chemical reagents needed for the 200 testing samples his labs receive every day  only to be told that the United States and Europe had already bought up months of production.

If we purchase something to arrive in 60 days, its too late, he said. The virus goes faster than we can go.

The situation is similar for some African countries.

After reporting its first death March 27, South Africa moved swiftly, introducing a strict lockdown and announcing ambitious house-to-house canvassing that has already seen 47,000 people tested. South Africa has more than 200 public labs, an impressive network that surpasses those in wealthier countries like Britain and was developed in response to past outbreaks of HIV and tuberculosis.

But, like Brazil, it is reliant on international manufacturers for the chemical reagents, and other equipment, needed to process the tests. Dr. Francois Venter, an infectious diseases expert who is advising the South African government, said the struggle to acquire the reagents was endangering the countrys overall response.

We have the capacity to do large testing, but weve been bedevilled by the fact the actual testing materials, reagents, havent been coming, he said. Were not as wealthy. We dont have as many ventilators. We dont have as many doctors. Our health system was in a precarious position before coronavirus.

The country is terrified, he added.

To address the problem, South Africas National Health Laboratory Services has set up a war room of around 20 people who are continuously calling different suppliers  yet running into problems sourcing the test kits and protective equipment they need.

The suppliers are basically saying their production output does not meet the needs, said Dr. Kamy Chetty, the director of the agency. They are working flat out.

Experts say that the industry that produces test kits is quite small. Williams, the industry representative in Britain, said that there was no shortage of chemical reagents but that delays were arising in the production process, including the necessary checks and approvals, because the huge demand was overwhelming the system.

Manufacturers dont just want to sell to rich countries, said Paul Molinaro, head of supply and logistics for the WHO. They want to diversify, but theyve got all this competing demand from different governments.

He added: When it comes to the sharp end of a hypercompetitive environment with price rises, these low- and middle-income countries are going to end up at the back of the queue.

Last week, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to prohibit the export of face masks to other countries and demand that American firms increase production of medical supplies.

One U.S. company that makes masks, 3M, responded by warning of significant humanitarian implications if it stopped supplying masks to Latin America and Canada. This week, the company and the Trump administration reached a deal that allows 3M to continue exporting to developing countries while also providing the United States with 166 million masks over the next few months.

Last month, Europe and China introduced their own export restrictions on tests and protective equipment.

Some private firms, however, are putting profit aside to help developing countries with more fragile health systems.

A British testing manufacturer, Mologic, has received government funding to develop a 10-minute home coronavirus test in partnership with Senegal that, if approved, would cost less than $1 to produce. It would not be reliant on labs, electricity or the sourcing of expensive supplies from global manufacturers.

Mologic agreed to share its technology with Institut Pasteur de Dakar, a flagship lab in Dakar, to help produce the kit at cost. While the goal is to make it widely available, it is predominantly aimed at slowing the spread of the virus in Africa.

For poorer countries, the supply problem is bigger than just testing.

Zambia is at the very beginning of its epidemic curve with only one death so far, but it is already struggling to source masks, as well as testing materials like swabs and reagents, says Charles Holmes, a board member of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia and the former chief medical officer for the Obama administrations Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR.

When Zambia tried to place an order for N95 masks, Holmes said, the broker tried to sell them for five to 10 times more than the usual cost, despite checks revealing the masks had expired in 2016.

Its difficult for countries or governments having those conversations with manufacturers when much wealthier countries are having those same conversations, he said. The private sector is likely to respond to the highest bidder for many of these supplies. Thats just business.

He said manufacturers have told Zambian officials that they cannot guarantee a delivery date for supplies because most of them are being snapped up by the U.S. and Europe.

While few would criticize governments for looking out for their own people, health experts believe that it is in everyones interest to help poorer countries get the supplies they need.

An infection with a highly transportable respiratory virus anywhere in the world puts all countries at risk, Holmes said. Wealthy nations not only have an obligation to look out for countries that are going to struggle, but they should also have some self interest in ensuring that the pandemic is contained in developing countries.

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Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama says 200 Nigerians residing in the US have signified interest to be evacuated to Nigeria following the global Coronavirus pandemic.

The US is the highest risk country at the moment.

Mr Onyeama disclosed this on Wednesday during the daily Presidential Taskforce against COVID-19 press briefing.

According to Onyeama, the government made the announcement for willing Nigerians to register for evacuation after it had ensured there are isolation centres and other logistical arrangements to attend to any emergency when they arrive.

READ ALSO  Coronavirus: Nigerians React To Arrival Of Chinese Doctors

The presidential task force under the chairmanship of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) has actually been engaging with this when there was a closure of the airport. So, the response was not as a result of letters coming in from Nigerians in the diaspora as has been mentioned in some media houses.

At that time, we did not have all our isolation centres in place and all the other logistical arrangements in place. So for that reason, weve kept it in abeyance while we were putting all those things in place and hence now, we have sufficient beds and so forth and protocol is no well established, and we now feel much stronger and in a better position to undertake this herculean task of trying to see how we can bring Nigerians outside the country back into the country.

In that context, weve now started to get great numbers of Nigerians especially in the United States where almost 200 have now indicated and are willing to return. We are engaging with our embassies in China and the high commission in London and also in France to work out all the logistics. Things are now falling in place, and we are getting a sense of what needs to be done.

READ ALSO  Coronavirus: Chinese Doctors Cant Attend To Our Patients  NMA, NARD

The minister also said 67 Nigerians, travelling through land from neighbouring countries were on their way to Nigeria.

Onyeama, however, said the travellers would be isolated before allowing them freedom.

We have 67 Nigerians including children and women. They were in Cote Divoire and we needed to engage with the government of Togo, the government of Benin for them to be able to go through. And they are now at the Nigerian border and we got the authorisation for them to come into the country and they would be in isolation for the mandatory 14 days, he said.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday, said he has received death threats and racist insults while running the global efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNBC, he said I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months.

He told reporters on a conference call from the organisations Geneva headquarters about abuses, racist comments and name-calling.

Im proud of being black, proud of being Negro, he told reporters I dont care, to be honest  even death threats. I dont give a damn, he said

Mr Tedros was responding to a question about whether criticism from world leaders such as President Donald Trump in the midst of a global pandemic makes it more difficult to operate the WHO.

Mr Tedros commented specifically on insults that he said came from Taiwan.

Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan, he said.

And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also,  they know the campaign. They didnt disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didnt care.

He referenced remarks made by scientists on French TV that he had condemned on Monday as artifacts of a colonial mentality.

The scientists were discussing the potential of moving a vaccine trial in Europe and Australia to Africa. According to the BBC, he said on Wednesday that the remarks insulted the whole black community.

Mr Tedros pleaded for world leaders and politicians to put aside differences and focus on the fight against the pandemic, which has now infected more than 1,452,378 people around the world and killed at least 83,615, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Please quarantine COVID politics. Thats what we want. We dont care about personal attacks, he said.

We care about the life passing every single minute unnecessarily because we couldnt unite to fight this virus, he said.
CHICO, Calif.  Chico State billboards originally purchased to promote a spring musical have been repurposed and set in place around the city Wednesday morning, promoting positive words amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The billboards feature the messaging, Community, Compassion, Resilience, Chico State spokesperson Sean Murphy announced Wednesday. The message is meant to represent the bedrock values that both Chico State and Butte County communities lead with.

Through the first week of May, the billboards will be displayed at the corners of Esplanade and Cohasset, as well as Park Avenue and 20th Street, Murphy said.

Murphy said the billboards were originally purchased to be used for promotion of its 2020 Spring Musical, the Tony Award-winning hip-hop musical, In the Heights. The ads were already paid in full and without an option to cancel, in November 2019.

Once Governor Gavin Newsom issued Californias stay-at-home order, Chico State was forced to cancel the musical. However, Murphy said instead of leaving the billboards blank, the university decided to utilize them as an opportunity to acknowledge and show their appreciation for all that the local community is going through in responding to the current COVID-19 crisis.

Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson saw this occasion as a way to share the Universitys gratitude, Murphy said in a press release.

Our regions response to COVID-19 is the same as it was for the historic Camp Fire, Oroville Dam disaster, and other challenges weve faced together in the past, Hutchinson said. Not only did we survive those adversities, we also emerged with a greater commitment to one another and a belief in our own resilience as a community.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday said it has lined up a slew of measures, including buyback of unsold BS-IV stock, in order to supportits sales partners during the unprecedented nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The two-wheeler major said it plans to buy back the BS-IV inventory lying unsold with few dealers, majorly in Delhi-NCR area, and provide advanced payments of incentives and reimbursements across the three functions -- sales, service and spare parts.

The company will also entirely bear the interest cost of BS-VI inventory (physical plus transit) with the dealers for the 21 days of the lockdown, it added.

"The support package will effectively provide immediate liquidity to our dealer partners and we are confident that it will comprehensively ease their business continuity anxiety and improve cash flow," HMSI Director Sales & Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said in a statement.

Providing yet another major support, Honda shall also bear the interest cost of the BS-VI vehicles inventory at all its dealers for the entire 21-day lockdown period, he added.

The company's support comes at a time when the unprecedented nationwide lockdown has severely impacted the dealer partners who were already under immense pressure due to the 16-month-long industry slowdown.

HMSI has already extended the timeline by two more months to customerswhose free service ad warranty was scheduled during the lockdown period.

The company said it has alsoreleased payments of around Rs 1,700 crore to its suppliers, dealers and service providers on time.

The initiatives have led to easing ofliquidity crunch for the company's business partners amid Covid-19 lockdown situation, it added.

HMSI currently has over 6,000 sales and service outlets across the country, including more than 1,000 dealerships.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Officials at KIPP Texas and YES Prep Public Schools announced Wednesday that all of their schools across Texas, including those in the Houston region, will not reopen their campuses for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

Kris Cheung, chief operations officer of KIPP Texas, said his team looked at the rising numbers of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state and realized there were no signs of those increases slowing. He said with new hot spots of large infected populations popping up in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, he worried Texas metropolitan areas also soon could be swamped with people becoming ill.

We wanted to shift the narrative from this wait-and-see period and give some answers to our families so they can focus on their health and safety, Cheung said.

The decision came nearly a month after the two charter school groups campuses and almost every other local school district announced they would close temporarily to slow the spread of COVID-19.

School leaders at KIPP, YES Prep and elsewhere announced early on they would remain closed until April 10, but were forced to extend that timeline to May 4 after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all Texas schools to remain closed until then.

KIPP and YES Prep are not the only large charter school operators to announce they will not reopen their buildings this school year. IDEA Public Schools, which serves more than 49,000 students at 91 campuses across the state, said last week that it would keep its campuses closed for the remainder of the school year.

KIPP Texas external communications manager Saki Indakwa said in a statement the schools would continue to provide distance learning for their more than 28,600 students statewide. Its Grab & Go meal program also will continue.

KIPP operates 35 campuses in the Houston area, and YES Prep has 15 local schools.

Districts have been reluctant to cancel school and make up the time later for a myriad of reasons. Chief among them: Texas Education Agency officials told district leaders that they would not receive their regular funding if they did not provide some type of instruction.

Cheung said officials at KIPP are considering summer school to make up for the lost time, whether it is on campus or continued online learning. He said the TEA is expected to give guidance on that soon. Until then, teachers will remain focused on making sure their students are healthy and progressing with distance learning.

If we make decisions based on data and do whats best for our families, our KIPPsters and our staff, he said, hopefully, it means we make the right decisions.

shelby.webb@chron.com
Oh Young-jun cares for critically ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus in a negative-pressure isolation ward. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Oh Young-jun traces the outlines of superheroes.

The stoop of a nurse's shoulders as she carries buckets brimming with biohazard waste. The tangle of a towel holding up hair dripping wet from a shower after hours in a hazmat suit. The momentary reprieve of a nurse sitting upright and nodding off in a desk chair, her hand propping up a face bandaged in spots where protective equipment has chafed her skin.

Oh knows these details well. They are images that take shape during the days and nights of his shifts as an ICU nurse at a hospital in Incheon, a South Korean port city about an hour west of Seoul.

Those hours have become more harrowing with the arrival of the novel coronavirus that's plaguing hospitals around the world. Earlier this year, Oh volunteered to be one of the nurses staffing an isolation ward for those stricken with COVID-19. He has since been caring for critically ill patients in cumbersome protective gear that has made unwieldy many of the tasks he once did with ease in his eight years as a nurse.

And on his days off, the 34-year-old art school dropout-turned-nurse picks up his stylus and sketches intimate scenes of life and death as seen through his goggled eyes and felt through his gloved hands.

Left, a nurse whose face is bandaged where her skin was chafed by protective gear gets brief shut-eye in between shifts. Right, nurses work on entering patient information, their hair still wet from having showered after shedding protective equipment. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

His trench in this fight is removed from the front lines of the battle  the hardest hit in South Korea was the city of Daegu and surrounding areas in the southeast of the country, where hospitals were overwhelmed by a surge of several thousands at the height of the country's outbreak in late February.

Some of those patients were transferred to Oh's hospital to relieve hospitals at the epicenter. Among Oh's charges were a 93-year-old woman with dementia who was one of the country's oldest infected with the coronavirus, and a 57-year-old man with chronic renal failure who'd been receiving dialysis for 25 years before the virus ravaged his lungs.

Caring for those patients has meant spending his days off away from friends and family, mostly cooped up in his apartment, for fear of spreading the virus.

Story continues

Hence, more time to draw.

Oh sketched nurses working on disposing biohazard material from coronavirus isolation wards. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

It was around the time of South Korea's last major epidemic that Oh began drawing scenes from his work as a nurse and posting them on social media.

In early 2015, Oh was a couple years out of nursing school and feeling settled in the rhythm of his work at Gachon University Gil Hospital. He decided to capture the day-to-day lives of nurses. In Korean television dramas and other media, nurses were often shown as overly feminine, subordinate, sexualized characters; menial assistants helping doctors rather than professionals in their own right.

That was reflected in the way many patients and family members spoke to and treated nurses  addressing them as "miss" or "you there," raining them with demands and abuse without the deference shown to physicians.

He wanted people to see what he saw, the grueling hours, the humanity, the sacrifice, the hushed toll at shift's end.

Left, a sketch from 2017, shows a nurse giving herself an IV drip, working through an illness. Right, a sketch from 2016 of a nurse working on a cart. Oh wanted to show the humanity and sacrifice with which he and his colleagues work, despite long hours and tough conditions. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Oh had loved to draw since he was young but realized a couple years into art school how few make it as successful full-time artists. He decided to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero Florence Nightingale and enrolled in nursing school.

Because he majored in Korean paintings and primarily focused on landscapes, drawing people and the intricate medical equipment populating the ICU took time to master.

In sparse drawings, as if whispers on a page, he used rough strokes and few colors. He began chronicling a sporadic series titled "Nursing Story" on Facebook  part work diary, part medical notes and part personal journal exploring the woes, joys and everything in between of life as a nurse.

He portrayed uncontrollable patients with alcohol withdrawal delirium who wreak havoc at the hospital and need to be restrained. Young children peering through the doors of the ICU for a glimpse of their mother because kids under 13 aren't allowed to visit. Abuse from patients, working through nights, holidays and illnesses, and quiet cries in the laundry room where the whirring of machines mask the sobs.

He quickly gained a following, comments flooding in from fellow nurses who saw their lives reflected in his drawings. They chimed in with their own stories.

In May, 2015, the Middle East respiratory syndrome, a deadly illness caused by another coronavirus, began spreading in South Korea.

A sketch from June 2015, when South Korea was in the midst of a MERS outbreak, shows a nurse in protective gear walking through a darkened hallway. At the time, Oh volunteered to work in a isolation ward with suspected cases of MERS, as he did earlier this year for COVID-19. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Many hospitals, including Oh's, weren't prepared to handle the outbreak, lacking isolation beds and protective equipment. A doctor was infected in Seoul, putting medical workers on edge. Oh's hospital asked for volunteers to staff a ward for patients showing symptoms of the virus.

Oh was as scared as anyone. But as a young, single person living alone, he thought better him than other colleagues with families. He was the first to volunteer. Two others, a shift chief and a section head, said through tears they would step up too.

"Wearing protective suits, N95 masks and goggles, enduring CO2 retention, moisture, sweat and dehydration  MERS or not.... we nurses are always by the patient's side," he wrote in a post accompanying a drawing of a nurse walking down a darkened hallway in head-to-toe protective gear.

When cases of the novel coronavirus began cropping up outside China earlier this year, he didn't hesitate to volunteer to work in the isolation ward, emboldened by that experience. If anything, it felt like a welcome departure from his normal ICU routine.

South Korea, too, was ready. Many hospitals had set up negative pressure isolation wards and separate departments to handle infectious disease outbreaks. Protective equipment, of which there had been a shortage in 2015, was in ready supply for medical professionals. Despite an early surge that made South Korea the largest cluster outside of China, the country appeared to get a handle on local transmissions that brought societies elsewhere to a halt and caused staggering numbers of deaths.

In mid-March, Oh, who has a wry humor, warned his followers, whose numbers have swelled to some 85,000 between Facebook and Instagram, that he'd be posting more from his days off in isolation.

"Apologies, you may get corona fatigue from frequent updates," he wrote.

Oh Young-jun has been caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients with COVID-19 for the past few months after volunteering to staff the isolation ward at his hospital. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

In his dispatches, he portrayed himself and others trying to insert an IV line with layers of gloves, nervously monitoring X-rays of a gravely ill patient's fogged-up lungs, rushing to intubate a patient from whom phlegm spewed "like rust-laden water from a water spout."

To minimize the number of people going in and out of the isolation ward, nurses were having to take on many more tasks, including sterilizing surfaces and equipment, disposing of biohazard waste and catering to patients' every need, he wrote.

"Nurses do all of it. They're remarkable beings," he wrote. "I'm not grumbling about this situation. It's all corona's fault."

He knows nurses and other medical professionals elsewhere are fighting tougher battles, overwhelmed by large numbers of critically ill patients with limited ventilators and scant protective equipment, many of them becoming infected and, increasingly, dying. In South Korea, at least 241 medical workers had been infected with the coronavirus.

A former colleague of Oh's who moved to the U.S. to work as a nurse there  something many South Korean nurses aspire to because of better pay and working conditions  told him of dire shortages of protective equipment at her hospital in Chicago.

It sounded like us during MERS  pandemonium, he said in an interview.

Nurses don protective equipment before caring for COVID-19 patients in Oh Young-jun's sketches from this year. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

In South Korea's coronavirus fight, Oh's patients have brought a degree of hope. The 93-year-old patient with dementia and the 57-year-old long-term dialysis patient have, after much sweat and tears from Oh and his colleagues, recovered from COVID-19 and been discharged. South Korea's daily coronavirus infections this week dipped below 50 for the first time since late February, after surging by more than 900 a day at its peak.

Oh knows from experience, there is always the next patient, the next crisis, the next epidemic. He goes on doing his part in his corner of the medical profession  lately, long night shifts during which he refrains from water or caffeine because of the time it takes to shed his protective equipment to use the bathroom.

When his shift is over, as the city whirs to life, he shuts his eyes and does his best to invite the sleep that never comes easily after years of switching from days to nights and back again.

And on his days off, he sketches.
The ruling CPI(M) in



Kerala on Thursday suspended six party members for allegedly pelting stones at a house where one person was under home quarantine for suspected coronavirus.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Wednesday lashed out the act of certain people who had indulged in social media shaming of a girl's family for being under home quarantine.

"The house of a student who was under observation was attacked. There was a social media campaign against the student and her family members. Her father had even received a death threat. The girl had filed a complaint with me on Tuesday seeking protection for her life. It is reported that the attack was in retaliation to this complaint. Strong action will be taken," Vijayan had said.

The district committee of the CPI(M) on Thursday said the attack on the student's family was an "inhuman act".

"It was found that certain party members were also involved in this attack. The party members Rajesh, Ashokan, Ajesh, Sanal, Naveen and Jinson were suspended from the party pending enquiry," the district committee said.

There was a social media campaign against the student, who was under observation, and her family and they had approached the chief minister against this on April 7.

The police had on April 8 arrested three of the accused and let them off on bail.

"We had arrested three of them. We are also looking into the allegation regarding the social media campaign," police told 'PTI'.

Vijayan had said strict action would be taken against anyone "irrespective of political party affiliation" and "such acts will not be tolerated".

He had also urged the people to remain vigilant against such acts.

"The people, along with the police must come out strongly against such acts. We must also isolate those who do engage in such activities and remain vigilant during the pandemic," Vijayan had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police said someone fired eight rounds a few blocks west of where she was, but it was not clear if it was connected. Detectives were trying to recover surveillance photos from businesses in the area. A motive was not known, and no arrests have been made.
A Chilean man accused of murdering a Japanese student in a French city in 2016 has appealed a court decision to extradite him to face trial in France, his lawyer said. Santiago's Supreme Court agreed last week to French requests to hand over Nicolas Zepeda, 29, who is suspected of murdering ex-girlfriend Narumi Kurosaki in the eastern city of Besancon. Kurosaki, 21, vanished from her university after eating with Zepeda, who returned to Chile by the time her disappearance was reported days later. Investigators believe Kurosaki was killed by Zepeda in a jealous rage but her body was never found despite extensive searches. On Tuesday, Zepeda's lawyer Joanna Heskia called the judgement to be cancelled and for the extradition to be revoked as they were not valid under Chilean law. The defense claims there is a lack of convincing evidence to say a homicide was committed. The judgement in particular did not acknowledge suggestions "mentioning the possibility that Narumi was alive at least several days after the alleged facts," according to Heskia. Chile's Supreme Court will hear both parties before coming to a final decision on an unspecified date.
BELLEVUE, Wash., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Icertis, the leading enterprise contract management platform in the cloud, today announced it has brought the power of the Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform together with industry-leading SAP Ariba solutions for spend management to help transform the source-to-contract process. By connecting ICM's advanced contract management capability with SAP's acclaimed spend and supplier intelligence, customers of SAP Ariba solutions will be able to streamline procurement processes, reduce supply chain risk and optimize supplier relationships.

The ICM platform is now available on SAP App Center, the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. ICM provides enterprises with an intelligent and flexible contracting platform, now integrated with SAP Ariba Strategic Sourcing solution, for execution in the SAP Ariba procurement workflow. The Icertis platform enables customers of SAP Ariba solutions to speed the creation, approval, negotiation and execution of sourcing contracts while remaining tightly integrated with the end-to-end procurement process. The integration improves visibility and reduces risk by establishing a single source of truth for all supplier contracts while improving efficiency and enhancing spend management with a complete view of supplier relationships.

"We're thrilled to work with SAP Ariba on reimagining the source-to-contract process to meet their customers' challenges in today's fast-moving and ever-changing markets," said Peter Boit, Chief Alliances Officer, Icertis. "Leading companies are looking to more effectively connect their commercial opportunities with their supply chain by building speed and agility into procurement. To achieve this, companies must reinvent their commercial foundation and put contracts at the center of their supplier relationships."

ICM's easy-to-use, intelligent contract management software transforms the foundation of commerce by turning contracts into valuable corporate assets. ICM is the born-in-the-cloud, enterprise-wide platform that supports all contract types. Using the new Icertis integration for SAP Ariba solutions built on the ICM platform, enterprises can synchronize supplier data and contract details during a sourcing event to easily create requisitions, purchase orders and invoices, helping to ensure cash flow complies with corporate plans.

AI-Powered Digitization

The integration of ICM with SAP Ariba solutions helps eliminate the need for duplicate data entry across multiple applications, helping to improve adoption and limit maverick contracting. ICM also helps identify and assess contract risk across supplier and sell-side agreements by automatically tracking commitments, expiries, deviations and other contract obligations.

By leveraging ICM's embedded artificial intelligence (AI) tools and AI applications that transform contracts into strategic assets, customers can digitize legacy supplier contracts, import third-party contracts at scale and analyze past vendor negotiation history to gain insights for improvement. Once digitized, data can then flow between the two systems, allowing buyers to optimize contract performance.

Icertis is a partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program. As such, it is empowered to build, market and sell software applications on top of market-leading technology platforms from SAP. The SAP PartnerEdge program provides the enablement tools, benefits and support to facilitate building high-quality, disruptive applications focused on specific business needs  quickly and cost-effectively. The program provides access to all relevant SAP technologies in one simple framework under a single, global contract.

Learn more about the Icertis integration for SAP Ariba solutions at https://www.icertis.com/contract-management-software/integrations/sap-ariba/. For more information about Icertis, visit www.icertis.com.

About Icertis

Icertis, a leading enterprise contract management platform in the cloud, solves the hardest contract management problems on the easiest to use platform. With Icertis, companies accelerate their business by increasing contract velocity, protect against risk by ensuring regulatory and policy compliance, and optimize their commercial relationships by maximizing revenue and reducing costs. The AI-infused Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform is used by companies like Airbus, Cognizant, Daimler, Microsoft and Sanofi to manage 6.5 million contracts in 40+ languages across 90+ countries. Today, the analyst-validated industry leader serves 5 of the top 10 most valuable companies, 5 of the top 8 pharmaceutical companies, 4 of the top 7 software companies, 3 of the top 5 manufacturing companies and 4 of the top 8 consulting services companies.

SAP, PartnerEdge and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Icertis Media Contact:

Haley Flanagan

Manager of Corporate Communications, Icertis

[email protected]

+1 (425) 869-7649

SOURCE Icertis

Related Links

https://www.icertis.com


Barmer: Rajasthans Barmer district reported its first Covid-19 case on Wednesday when a 58-year-old man posted here tested positive for the disease after returning from Jaipurs Ramganj, a hotspot of the pandemic, 700 km away on Sunday despite the lockdown imposed to check the spread of the disease, a top health official said.

The man tested positive even as the state government has said it was replicating the strict Bhilwara model of containment in hotspots like Ramganj, where a 45-year-old man become a super spreader and transmitted the virus to his at least 19 family members after returning from Oman via Dubai on March 13. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said the model adopted in Bhilwara has set the standard in fight against the pandemic and involved complete sealing of the area for mass screening involving six lakh houses after a doctor tested positive for Covid-19 last month.

Barmer district collector Vishram Meena said that all the four are government teachers. All the four have shown their identity cards at the check posts in the way from Jaipur to Barmer while saying them that they are going to join their duty.

Barmers chief medical and health officer Dr Kamlesh Choudhary said a curfew has been imposed in the districts Chohtan block and his department has started a screening in the area after the 58-year-old government school principal tested positive.

The man, who is from Ramganj, travelled with three others to Barmer on April 5. After reaching Barmer, the man complained of coronavirus symptoms. His samples were sent for Covid-19 testing on April 7. On Wednesday, he reported positive, Dr Choudhary said.

He said one of the three, who travelled with the principal, has tested negative for Covid-19 while the results of the other two are awaited.

The principal, who is reported corona positive have taken a meeting on next day after reaching Barmer. District administration has put all the six under observation. While another three who have traveled with him were put to isolation.

The 58-year-old, who was kept in isolation in Barmer on April 6, was referred to the Jodhpur government hospital on Thursday early morning, Dr Choudhary said.

He travelled in a private vehicle from Jaipur via Jalore even as Barmer districts borders have been sealed as part of the lockdown to ensure social distancing.

Officials said three medical teams deployed for screening people at Gandhav check post through which the vehicle entered into Barmer have been removed. Till April 5, three medical teams were deployed at Gandhav checkpoint. Following the district collectors directive, the three teams were removed. The decision was taken after the borders were completely sealed, said Choudhary.
Learning from previous health crises such as the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, life insurance companies tightened policies, Photo: Le Toan

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began at the end of 2019, Hanwha Life Vietnam has been performing well, driven by the rising demand for health insurance. Specifically, in the first two months of 2020, its new premium income rose by 33 per cent on-year, which is higher than the industrys average growth rate of 23 per cent. The insurer has also seen a sharp rise in the number of new agencies in February, fulfilling 138 per cent of its yearly plan.

Another life insurance company, Prudential Vietnam, is also experiencing robust performance during the outbreak. Prudentials agencies have recruited over 5,000 new consultants in February, contributing to its surge in new premium revenue.

On February 27, Prudential launched its new signature healthcare rider Pru-Hanh Trang Vui Khoe. The new product provides customers with comprehensive financial protection, helping reduce individuals healthcare spending and empowering them to take control of their health and wellbeing. After three days of launching, the product earned Prudential over VND30 billion ($1.3 million) in revenues.

Likewise, AIA Vietnam has introduced several new products to the meet the rising local healthcare demand. On February 19, the company launched Healthier 100, which provides financial support to customers from the early stages of cancer to 100 years of age. After one month of launching, the package has been subscribed by 1,000 customers.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is causing issues around the world, a foreign insurer is still pouring capital into Vietnam to capitalise on the market potential. On March 30, FWD Vietnam announced a plan to increase its charter capital from VND3.68 trillion (nearly $160 million) to VND13.94 trillion ($606.1 million) and become the largest life insurance company in Vietnam. The increase in charter capital demonstrates FWDs strong commitment to sustainable and long-term operations with the vision of changing the way people feel about insurance.

The coronavirus crisis is causing major concerns for people and businesses  and insurance companies continue to roll out new products and innovative solutions to help them overcome these difficult times and achieve their annual targets.

In addition, the pandemic has prompted insurance companies to speed up digital transformation to cope with the unique challenges of this prolonged crisis. Manulife, for example, encourages customers to use cashless payment services and lodge compensation claims online as the nation is directed to go into self-isolation and follow social distancing. The company also provides virtual training sessions for new consultants nationwide.

Other insurers have released new insurance products specifically targeting the epidemic. PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI) introduced the Corona++1 and Corona++2 packages, stretching from VND195,000 ($8.50) to VND300,000 ($13) per year.

Post and Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI) entered into a co-operation with Sacombank to roll out its Anti-COVID-19 kit with competitive fees from VND30,000 ($1.30) to VND300,000 ($13) based on different tenures.

Other insurers such as Bao Viet Insurance, Military Insurance Corporation, Vien Dong Insurance, and Saigon-Hanoi Insurance Corporation also followed suit with a variety of disease-specific measures. However, these insurance products have sparked a controversy about their feasibility.

Insure or not insure?

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said last week that insurers would not be permitted to offer exclusive COVID-19 packages since patients are provided free medical examination and treatment by the Vietnamese government.

Experts believed three major insurance areas which are most likely to feel the full impact of coronavirus includes travel, business, and life insurance.

Tran Nguyen Dan, director of the Institute of Insurance and Financial Risk Management, said it is common across the globe that non-life insurance companies eliminate disease risks as the government frequently bears the cost for citizens. Furthermore, many insurers cannot offer disease-specific products because they are unable to reinsure nor control risks.

Most insurers learned these lessons during the SARS outbreak of 2003 and introduced exclusion clauses for communicable diseases and epidemics/pandemics into most non-life products such as business interruption and travel insurance, said Laura J. Hay, global head of insurance at KPMG International.

On the other hand, during times of pandemic, moral hazards also increase, with policy holders (especially young and healthy ones) increasing their exposure to infection risk because they do not have to bear the full cost of medical treatment.

These so-called moral hazards came to the spotlight in 2016 when a 30-year-old Vietnamese woman was accused of defrauding two insurance companies for a potential VND3.5 billion ($152,000) by hiring a young man to assault her at a railway station and cut her arms.

With quite affordable premiums for COVID-19 insurance packages, moral hazards could become an acute problem for the insurance system.

Avoiding responsibility

The rapid spread of the contagion has forced companies and individuals vulnerable to its knock-on effects to read through their insurance policies to see if they are covered against costs.

At the same time, some insurers have begun adding exclusionary riders on new policies to avoid payout on related deaths.

Despite being criticised for sticking to a tough line since the crisis began, insurers in the United Kingdom are rushing to close any loopholes in the terms of their policy coverage to explicitly exclude the pandemic.

In Australia, TAL  a subsidiary of Japanese insurance giant Dai-ichi Life which also operates in Vietnam  has moved to cut off payouts to customers who die from COVID-19, including frontline doctors fighting the deadly virus, according to newswire ABC. No benefit will be payable under this cover for any claim resulting directly or indirectly from COVID-19, any related condition or infection or any complication thereof, TAL wrote in a statement.

Chu Quang Minh, general director of Best Life JSC, said that it is not surprising that customers are worried as some insurance products do not cover pandemics, not only in Vietnam but throughout the world.

PVI also stated that a related infection falls under the companys default insurance exclusion clause, which is specified in the insurance policy.

While local insurers have partnered up to deploy COVID-19-specialised products, foreigners are adopting a more cautious stance.

We have realised a handful of unpredictable factors in these pandemic-centred insurance packages and neither explicit documents nor official permission from Vietnamese authorities has been released regarding these exclusive products. Hence, we decided to stay on the sidelines, a representative of one overseas insurer told VIR.

Many customers who have previously purchased COVID-19 packages are now confused and concerned about what sort of protection their insurance gives them.

Some experts said they might be entitled to benefits from signed contracts even after the governments directions not to issue specific insurance policies for this particular outbreak, but there has not been an official document released yet.

The Ministry of Finance is spelling out its expectations for insurers, discussing the cover that best suits customers needs as well as treat them fair and square. Further details and specific solutions are slated to be issued soon.

According to the General Statistics Office, insurance business activities in Vietnam reached a record high in the first quarter of 2020, with an estimated increase of 16 per cent compared to the same period last year. Life insurance premium revenue increased by 21 per cent while non-life insurance rose by 8 per cent. Life insurers have provided more timely product packages, increasing support packages to attract customers with appropriate insurance policies.
The Yerevan court of general jurisdiction is aware that the term of the sheet for temporary incapacity granted to Judge Anna Danibekyan expires on April 16, and if the doctor does not extend the term, the judge will be at work on April 17, as reported the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia.

Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyans attorney Aram Vardevanyan had addressed the Human Rights Defender and Supreme Judicial Council and presented the situation regarding examination of the motion for release of Robert Kocharyan through the personal pledge that has been filed with Judge Anna Danibekyan of the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction.
Some 16,500 Air Canada employees who were laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic will be rehired under a government relief package for businesses, the airline said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during his daily conference that the program would now be open to companies that suffered a drop of more than 15 percent in their revenues in March, against 30 percent previously.

Air Canada furloughed nearly half of its Canada-based workforce of 36,000 on March 30 after seeing business abruptly dry up by more than 90 percent as country after country imposed travel restrictions and people stopped flying.

The Canadian government stepped in April 1 with the emergency wage subsidy plan designed to help employers keep their workers or bring back ones that were laid off because of the pandemic.

It is retroactive to March 15 and the government will pay 75 percent of hard-hit companies' payrolls through June 6.

Air Canada said that under the "CEWS" relief package it will bring back the people it had furloughed.

"Subject to its adoption into law substantially as announced, Air Canada intends to adopt the CEWS for the benefit of its 36,000 Canadian-based employee workforce," the company said in a statement.

Trudeau also warned Canadians to brace for painful monthly unemployment figures to be released Thursday.

"It's going to be a hard day for the country," he said. "But I know that if we pull together, our economy will come roaring back after this crisis."



More than four million people have applied for emergency aid offered by the government since mid-March, about one fifth of the country's active population.

The figures point to an explosion in the unemployment rate for March from 5.6 percent in February.

Canada on Wednesday had more than 19,000 officially declared cases of coronavirus, and 456 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday pledged to contribute USD 3 million to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

The Foreign Office in a statement said Pakistan's perspective on the utilisation of fund was conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and SAARC Secretary-General Esala Ruwan Weerakoon.

"While communicating Pakistan's decision to the SAARC Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the SAARC Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the SAARC Charter," it said.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million and Sri Lanka pledged USD 5 million to the fund.

Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Apart from Modi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, had participated in the video conference.

The Foreign Office in the statement said being a founding member, Pakistan considers SAARC an important platform for regional cooperation.

"Pakistan remains committed to the SAARC process and will continue working with the Member States to strengthen regional cooperation," it said.
Kolkata:

The authorities in West Bengal are exploring the feasibility of installing sanitising gateways and disinfecting walkways to keep SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at bay, as markets, hospitals and some government offices are still open, despite the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown enforced since March 25 to contain the pandemic.

Scientists from a government research institute  the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) - have built prototypes of two sensor-based disinfecting walkways, which could help people to get sanitised in less than 40 seconds. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has started a pilot project, where sprinklers have been installed at one of the entry points of the century-old Hogg Market, one of the busiest markets in the city.

The Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) has shown interest in the prototypes developed by the CMERI.

A person needs to enter the chamber-like walkway and stand inside it. The embedded sensors will detect the persons presence and trigger a mist of disinfectant. This would kill the virus and disinfect you. It could take any time between 20 and 40 seconds depending on what type of disinfectant one is using, said Harish Hirani, director, CMERI.

The walkways can be deployed at the entry and exit points of isolation and quarantine facilities, hospitals, metro stations, shopping malls, and offices among other places where social distancing is few and far between and the chances of getting infected are abnormally high.

The CMERI is Indias apex research and development institute for mechanical engineering under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Two variants developed by the institute have been installed on its campus -- one at the main gate and another at its medical centre.

Weve developed two variants. While the Hydraulic Variant Disinfection Walkway is rather simple and less costly, as it uses a pump, the Pneumatic Variant Disinfection Walkway uses a compressor and is costlier. The wastage of disinfectant is, however, less in the latter, said Ajoy Roy, one of the scientists of the institute.

The Hogg Markets contraption is basic. The moment a person passes through the markets gate, sprinklers spray disinfectant to sanitise the passerby. Were using diluted hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant, said a KMC official.

The KMC is planning to install more such sanitising corridors after the lockdown is lifted, as all the markets will open.

The CMERI scientists had approached us. Our technical experts would visit their campus to get a sense of the two variants installed, said Dilip Kumar Agasty, mayor, DMC.

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An investment company is donating thousands of meals to hospital staff who have been working on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fisher Funds will deliver frozen food packages to health care workers across NZ for the first 1000 people who register online.

Each package will consist of three ready to heat meals by New Zealand based food company Jess's Underground Kitchen and will be delivered by Freightways.

Fisher Funds Chief Investment Officer Frank Jasper says medical staff and emergency service workers often find it difficult to get to the supermarket during the pandemic, especially for those on shift work.

"We wanted to do something to say thank you to those people who are doing a tremendous job - nurses and other hospital care staff are continuing to put themselves at risk by keeping hospitals running.

"We know it's hard for nurses, health care assistants and ward clerks to juggle shift work with the lockdown restrictions and getting a nutritious meal so we're making a small gesture to ease that pressure."

If you're one of our essential front-line hospital workers - here's how you can claim your free meals:
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Ministers will commit the UK to weeks more coronavirus lockdown today as Dominic Raab chairs a Cobra crisis meeting for the first time with Boris Johnson still in intensive care.

Hopes of the curbs being eased this month are set to be dashed after experts warned the UK has not yet reached the peak of the killer outbreak. The daily death toll surged to almost 1,000 yesterday.

Amid alarm that Britons could take to beaches and parks over a sunny Easter weekend, police are even urging tighter restrictions such as barring people from driving long distances and making it illegal to exercise more than once a day.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that a legally-required review of emergency measures will take place next week.

But while insisting that will be the 'formal' decision, he gave a clear sign the lockdown will stay despite mounting evidence that it is wrecking havoc on the economy.

'It is essential we stay the course,' he said. 'The guidance very much remains in place and will continue to remain in place over the Easter weekend.'

One Government source said there was 'no prospect' of any easing of the lockdown next week. Another said: 'Look at the death toll. That puts the question of whether we'll be lifting restrictions into context.'

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the PM while he is in intensive care, will chair a meeting of the Cobra national emergency committee today to discuss the lockdown. But no final decision will be made until next week.

Some ministers were hoping for no more than a two-week extension from the initial end date of April 16. But a minimum of three weeks is much more likely and other experts predict the end of restrictions deeper into May.

Armed police walk past the boarded up Silver Cross on Whitehall near Parliament on Wednesday as the coronavirus lockdown continues across Britain

A police officer speaks with a gentleman enjoying the pleasant sunshine on a beach in Brighton this week

Rishi Sunak confirmed last night that a planned review of the emergency measures will take place next week

There were growing concerns last night over the economic impact of coronavirus as the World Trade Organisation warned of the 'deepest recession in our lifetimes'.

The British Chambers of Commerce warned that furloughing staff could cost taxpayers 50billion over the next three months.

As Boris Johnson was heading for a third night in intensive care:

Downing Street said his condition was improving and he was sitting up in bed and 'engaging positively' with medics;

The total death toll hit 7,097, with 5,491 new cases  the most for three days;

Mr Sunak announced a 750million bailout for struggling charities;

The Alzheimer's Society warned that dementia sufferers were being 'abandoned to coronavirus' in care homes;

Ministers launched a study of the health impact of the lockdown  covering issues such as cancelled operations, mental health and economic distress;

Just 2,500 government-backed loans have been approved for firms, despite 300,000 enquiries;

Doctors warned of 'collateral damage' amid fears patients are avoiding seeking help for cancer, strokes and sepsis;

Vets warned that cats should be kept indoors if their owners have the virus;

The National Trust took the 'sad' decision to urge people to stay at home over Easter and not visit its properties;

The Government is considering a further 12 sites for NHS Nightingale hospitals;

Just 14,000 virus tests were conducted on Monday;

Devon and Cornwall Police warned that holidaymakers and second home owners would be fined and sent home if they tried to visit this Easter.

There can be a time lag of more than three weeks between someone becoming infected with coronavirus and dying. Symptoms take days - if not weeks - to become life-threatening. The death has to be recorded and reported, and the family notified, in a process that takes days

The number of patients in intensive care with coronavirus has stabilised in the past week, in a sign the outbreak is slowing

Charts show how the UK's coronavirus death toll compares to counts in other nations, including Italy

VACCINE 'COULD BE READY BY AUTUMN', SAY OXFORD SCIENTISTS Oxford University researchers are confident they can roll out a vaccine for coronavirus within the next eight months. This 'best case scenario' is much sooner than was previously touted. Britain's chief scientific adviser said it would be at least 2021 until a vaccine was ready. But the Oxford team, one of hundreds worldwide racing to develop a COVID-19 cure, warned it will be 'challenging' if the outbreak peaks before a jab is ready for trials. With no tests available to identify who has already been infected it could be difficult to find unexposed people to take part in the trial, the researchers say. More than 500 volunteers aged between 18 and 55 have signed up to the trial and will begin tests towards the end of the month. Modelling by researchers at the University of Washington predicts Britain will hit its peak on April 17. So far the virus has killed 7,100 and infected 55,000 in the UK. The researchers told The Telegraph: 'The best-case scenario is that by the autumn of 2020 we have the results about the effectiveness of the vaccine from a phase III trial and the ability to manufacture large amounts of the vaccine.' They admitted that this time frame was 'highly ambitious' many things could get in the way of that target. 'At the moment it is not possible to identify who has already been infected,' they added, 'and if the virus is spreading quickly throughout the population it might be difficult to find unexposed people to take part in the trial. 'Conducting trials after the peak subsides presents another problem, because so many people will have developed a natural immunity by then, and the amount of transmission will have dropped so that those who are still not immune will take longer to be exposed to the virus.' Advertisement

Mr Sunak said a UK-wide decision would not be taken until next week when the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies reports. He also admitted there would be economic 'hardship ahead'.

Professor Stephen Powis of NHS England said the lockdown was working. But he added: 'We have to continue following instructions, we have to continue following social distancing  if we don't, the virus will start to spread again.'

Polling by King's College London and Ipsos Mori showed nine out of ten people support the lockdown.

Sung-Il Cho, professor of epidemiology at Seoul National University, told The Daily Telegraph that cases ought to drop below 50 per fortnight before moves towards a 'gradual recovery.'

Modelling by the newspaper found that for the UK that would mean waiting until the middle of next month.

The South Koreans have been able to bring the virus to heel by a stringent testing regime, contact tracing and quarantines. They have recorded just 200 deaths without imposing a lockdown and record 53 new cases each day.

Professor Chis Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, echoed Mr Sunak, saying that there would be no talk of an exit strategy until 'we are confident we are beyond the peak.'

However, experts have warned that returning to life after lockdown won't be a return to normality. Many anticipate that there will be a vicious resurgence of the disease in the autumn.

Prof David Alexander, of University College London's institute for risk and disaster reduction, told The Telegraph: 'Britain and other countries should hold themselves ready to return to lockdown, possibly with more stringent conditions than before. In the autumn, a second wave of Covid-19 could occur and could be devastating.'

Another option is to allow the young and healthy to return to work, while others continue with the strict 'stay at home' guidance.

But the majorities of scientists believe the government will opt for the strategy of beating the numbers of cases down to a tiny level before proceeding with any liberation of the populace.

Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, is standing in for Boris Johnson and said it is too soon to consider ending the UK's lockdown and that the country must keep its foot on the pedal

BORIS JOHNSON 'RESPONDING TO TREATMENT' IN NHS INTENSIVE CARE UNIT Boris Johnson is 'stable and responding to treatment' after his second night in intensive care, it was revealed today. Downing Street delivered slightly more positive news about the PM's condition amid claims his fever has finally dropped. Mr Johnson's official spokesman said he continues to receive 'standard oxygen treatment' and is 'breathing without any other assistance' - making clear he is not on a ventilator. 'The Prime Minister remains clinically stable and is responding to treatment,' the spokesman said. 'He continues to be cared for in the intensive care unit at St Thomas's Hospital. He's in good spirits.' No10 confirmed the PM has not been doing any work, although they said he has been in contact with aides. There are fears that even the best outcome from his coronavirus struggle will see him out of action for weeks, with experts warning he could need a 'phased return' to work. There are also questions about the PM's care while he was in isolation, amid suggestions he was not physically monitored and only consulted a doctor by video link. Tory MPs are calling for a review of the premier's medical arrangements, saying the lack of protection has been 'exposed' by the latest crisis. The UK leader has starkly different health support than in the US, where the president has a dedicated medical team and emergency facilities constantly on standby. Advertisement

And even if that were achieved, life would not suddenly resume as it was before the draconian measures were placed upon us. Dr Joe Grove, of UCL's department of infection and immunity, told The Telegraph: 'Once the current epidemic peak has passed, simply returning to life as usual would likely trigger another epidemic.

'Ultimately, the only way we can shake off the shackles of Covid-19 is widespread immunity and the only safe way to achieve that is through vaccination. In the meantime, testing gives us a route to some semblance of normality.'

Downing Street has meanwhile expressed grave fears that people will defy its regulations to go out and enjoy the Easter Monday bank holiday sunshine.

The Government is to formally set down its extension at the start of next week after processing three weeks' worth of figures.

Opinion polls show the public still backs the lockdown after the coronavirus claimed a record 938 deaths on Wednesday.

The WHO also agreed with the Government's position yesterday, Dr Hans Kluge warned: 'Now is not the time to relax measures.'

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance, will tomorrow meet to discuss how the current regulations on public freedoms have affected the infection and death rates.

Italy, which has recorded the highest number of deaths in the world, extended their lockdown (which started on March 9) until mid-May. Officials have often reminded us that we are two weeks behind the Italians.

Britain's highest daily death toll on Wednesday (938) can be compared to Italy's highest of 919 on March 28 (12 days ago), and Spain's 950 fatalities on April 3.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak warns ministers 'can NOT save every UK job' as World Trade Organisation says coronavirus will spark the worst global recession of our lifetimes

By Darren Boyle

Chancellor Rishi Sunak today warned some the job losses caused by the coronavirus crisis will be permanent.

Mr Sunak, addressing the daily Downing Street press conference warned the public that the lockdown was likely to continue further.

He said: 'I've been very clear and very honest that this will take a significant impact on our economy.

'In spite of what are unprecedented measures in scale and scope, I can't stand here and say I can save every single job, protect every single business or indeed every single charity. That's just simply not possible.'

Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned he would not be able to save every job threatened by Covid-19

Earlier, the World Trade Organisation warned the global pandemic is likely to spark the 'deepest economic recession of our lifetimes', with international commerce set to fall by up to a third during 2020.

Pressed about the lockdown, Mr Sunak said: 'There will be a Cobra meeting tomorrow chaired by the First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab), involving the devolved administrations to talk about the approach to the review.

'We committed there would be a review in and around three weeks, that review will be based on the evidence and data provided by Sage, which will only be available next week.

Piccadilly Circus was virtually abandoned this evening as Britons continue the lockdown

'But I think rather than speculate about the future, I think we should focus very seriously on the here and now and the present.'

Mr Sunak said the priority is to stop the spread of the virus and insisted people should follow the advice to stay at home.

On the prospect of different parts of the country emerging from the lockdown at different times, Mr Sunak said: 'I don't want to start speculating about the future.'

'We are out of lockdown, but sneeze and you're shunned': Briton living in Wuhan reveals how the joy of freedom after 76 days is tainted by China's draconian security measures on the streets

As lockdown in Wuhan is finally lifted, a 32-year-old British expat who has been working in the city for several years sends this vivid despatch on the realities of freedom.

At midnight on Tuesday, I was woken up by whoops and cheers of 'Come on Wuhan' as my neighbours in this city of 11 million that spawned the coronavirus pandemic celebrated the formal end of quarantine after 77 long, frustrating days.

For a week, I'd been permitted to leave my compound on specific errands for up to two hours, but yesterday was the first day that I could come and go as I pleased.

The shops are reopening so I can buy razors and give myself a proper shave  re-using the same razor for almost three months has been a nightmare. I can finally get a haircut, too.

The 32-year-old British expat said: 'Freedom after so long is welcome but nerve-wracking.' Pictured: Workers wearing facemasks make a barbecue at a market in Wuhan

And some restaurants have resumed service.

The first thing I did was to go to my favourite noodle restaurant for its beef special that is so delicious I've had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same day.

The local Starbucks is busy and a nearby bar has just had its first beer delivery for more than two months. Before the virus hit, life in China was all about convenience. If you wanted to get a toothbrush delivered at 4am, then you could.

But under lockdown we'd wait three days for a community delivery of specific goods: fresh vegetables, meat  mostly pork  rice and flour.

If you fancied something different, tough. I went out early yesterday morning and was surprised by the number of people and cars on the streets.

But it was rush hour and the crowds were an indication of a widespread return to work.

Roadblocks on highways leading in and out of the city have also been removed.

Life is being breathed back into the city, which is the capital of Hubei, a province that has suffered 67,803 cases of Covid-19 and 3,213 deaths, according to official figures.

Citizens can now travel between cities again and the local airport is back in business.

There were no fewer than 200 flights scheduled to depart Wuhan yesterday, carrying 10,000 passengers.

Tens of thousands more left on 100 high-speed trains. Day care centres, schools and colleges remain shut dependent on a ruling from Beijing on when they can reopen, but it surely won't be long.

Yes, normality is returning but darker undertones persist. Freedom after so long is welcome but nerve-wracking.

Every few days, security guards come banging on my door  it can happen early in the morning or late at night  and three people in full protective clothing, visors and masks will come and have a look around my apartment and check me for signs of fever with a 'thermometer gun'.

Another person records the procedure on a mobile phone.

Out on the streets it's the same story  security guards armed with thermometer 'guns' to do spot checks maintain a highprofile presence, while trucks cruise the streets spraying disinfectant.

And many people are continuing to wear facemasks. There is still tension and wariness here.

Cough or sneeze on the street and people will cross the road to avoid you. Anyone who looks sick is treated like a leper.

To Western eyes, the mass surveillance and monitoring is draconian.

Each citizen is allocated a unique QR code, via the WeChat app, that serves as proof they are healthy.

The QR code is linked to an individual's government ID card and includes details of a blood test and health check that show they are virus-free.

No one is allowed to leave a gated community, use public transport or visit shopping malls or buy food without having scanned their code.

Foreigners like me are not entitled to a QR code. I carry a letter from my doctor testifying to my virus-free status which I show along with my ID card.

Life is being breathed back into the city, which is the capital of Hubei, a province that has suffered 67,803 cases of Covid-19 and 3,213 deaths, according to official figures. Pictured: Passengers wait to enter the railway station after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, China

This is the reality that has replaced lockdown now. To be checked and checked again.

Will it be enough to stop a second wave of infections? I hope so.

Wuhan is paying a high economic price for the lockdown.

The seafood market identified as the most likely source of this new strain of coronavirus outbreak remains sealed off by blue police tape, and is heavily patrolled by officers.

Walk down any street and you will see stores that have been abandoned because retailers can no longer afford to pay the rent.

Clothing shops, speciality restaurants, and even some banks are still closed with trash piling up outside.

No wonder many of the people who came to Wuhan from the countryside to find work left at the first opportunity yesterday. But people are returning.

The Wuhan quarantine was put in place during the Spring Festival, as the Chinese New Year celebration is known, a time when many people had left the city to visit family in their hometowns.

From my window I see young couples laden with luggage moving back to homes they have not lived in since January.

And this brings me to a problem that many here might rather stayed hidden.

Some of those who left Wuhan to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Rat elsewhere, left their cats, dogs and other pets behind with enough water and food for a few days.

After all, theyd be back very soon...

'New cases are NOT accelerating out of control... and that's good news': Official charts show UK's coronavirus curve IS flattening, despite grim record of 938 new deaths  more than Italys worst daily tally - taking toll to 7,097

By Sam Blanchard

'New cases are NOT accelerating out of control... and that's good news': Official charts show UK's coronavirus curve IS flattening, despite grim record of 938 new deaths  more than Italys worst daily tally - taking toll to 7,097

The UK's coronavirus outbreak is slowing, Government experts say - despite the death toll jumping by a record high of 938, overtaking Italy's worst-ever day (919) during the COVID-19 crisis.

Number 10's deputy chief scientific adviser Professor Angela McLean reassured Britons that the outbreak was not 'out of control', pointing to the figures showing the deceleration of hospital admissions and cases and calling it 'good news'.

The numbers suggest the lockdown is working, with the drop in hospital admissions for the virus expected to lead to reduced death tolls in the next week or two.

However, today's record death toll is expected to be repeated or even surpassed in the coming days, as the peak of the virus hits Britain.

The number of Britons who have died in hospital after testing positive for the life-threatening illness is now 7,097 - more than double the tally of China, where the pandemic began in December.

Department of Health data shows the number of cases increased by 5,491 today, meaning at least 60,733 Britons have been infected since the outbreak began spreading between humans on UK soil in February.

But the huge jump is largely down to the Government yesterday testing around 3,000 more people than it usually does, swabbing almost 13,000 suspected patients for the killer virus compared to 9,740 the day before.

Today's surge in deaths saw Britain surpass Italy's deadliest day on March 27, when officials in Rome recorded 919 new fatalities among hospitalised patients. Spain recorded 950 deaths in hospital on April 2. But the numbers are dwarfed by the US, which is being hammered by the virus with more than 400,000 cases. It recorded 1,799 deaths yesterday.

However, the drop in hospital admissions and the cautious optimism of Prof McLean, suggests there is light at the end of the tunnel for Britain, with the effects of the lockdown expected to be seen in death tolls after next week.

UK's lockdown IS working: Symptom-tracking app says 500,000 FEWER Britons have tell-tale coronavirus symptoms this week The number of people with coronavirus symptoms has plummeted since the UK's lockdown started two weeks ago, according to scientists. A team of researchers at King's College London, who developed the COVID Symptom Tracker app, say the number of people reporting symptoms has dropped. Latest analysis from the app, which has been used by more than two million people, estimates that there are now around 1.4million with symptomatic coronavirus in the UK. This is a drop from a projected 1.9million on April 1 and the scientists called it 'really encouraging'. And its first analysis on March 26 had suggested around one in 10 people were ill with, or had already had, COVID-19 - which could have worked out as some 6.6million people. The significantly lower estimate since then suggests that people staying at home, after the Prime Minister's speech on March 23, is starting to slow the outbreak down. But officials in all corners - including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and the World Health Organization - have said it is too soon to even think about lifting the social distancing measures. Advertisement

As the NHS and Government battle to maintain their grip on the outbreak, stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains on an intensive care unit in a central London hospital, where his spokesman says he is in a stable condition and 'responding to treatment'. The PM was admitted on Monday night after suffering a fever for 10 days.

Attention has now turned to Mr Johnson's vow to evaluate the progress of the UK's lockdown next week, which it looks like he will be unable to do. Downing Street says it will delay the evaluation, and there are no signs the stay-at-home measures will be lifted soon. London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the UK is 'nowhere near' the end.

This sentiment was echoed by the World Health Organization's director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, who said it would be 'dangerous' to try and ease the rules too soon. Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic started, has only today started to let its citizens travel again, 73 days after its prescient lockdown was enforced in January.

NHS England today confirmed 828 more people have died in its hospitals, with patients aged between 22 and 103 years old and of whom 42 had been otherwise healthy. The other 110 deaths were recorded across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Italy issued official death toll figures of 919 for March 27, but, the same day, one region revealed it had missed off 50 deaths.

These extra 50 deaths were added to the daily total by most media outlets around the world including MailOnline, the BBC, CNN and AFP among many others.

However, Italy added the 50 'missing' deaths to the previous day's figures (March 26), so the official March 27 figure (Italy's highest) is 919.

Speaking at today's daily coronavirus briefing, Professor McLean said: 'This count of new cases in the UK, day by day over the last few weeks, is not accelerating out of control.

'Yesterday, there were 5,492 new cases and the spread of the virus is not accelerating and that is good news.'

When the death tolls of all four UK countries are combined the total number of fatalities is 7,172.

The deaths of two more NHS nurses were announced today - Alice Kit Tak Ong (left) and Rebecca Mack (right)

But because the statistics are recorded differently in each nation, numbers announced by the Department of Health each day are lower.

Experts warn that people should take the daily death tolls announced by governments as a guide rather than a concrete number for each day.

Many of the fatalities announced each afternoon happened days or weeks ago, and many of the people who have actually died in the past 24 hours will not be counted in the numbers for days or weeks to come.

This means that each day's death count does not represent the date on which it is announced - it includes almost entirely deaths which happened more than 24 hours ago, and all the fatalities which actually happened on that day are announced officially in dribs and drabs in the days and weeks that follow.

University of Oxford's Professor Jim Naismith said yesterday: 'The current methods of reporting... has become unhelpful and distracting in evaluating the progress of the pandemic.

'The swings in numbers that we are seeing are emotionally draining; hope one day and despair the next.'

He said the numbers of new positive tests and hospitalisations were a more accurate picture of the day-by-day situation, because there is no time delay on those.

Medical staff are pictured practicing loading and unloading a stretcher from an ambulance outside the NHS Nightingale Hospital in East London

A total 704 new cases were diagnosed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours.

In recent days they have been reasons to be cheerful, with the 3,634 cases diagnosed yesterday the lowest for a week. For the past seven days the number has remained relatively stable at around 4,000 per day.

Today's statistics come as Downing Street confirmed that the Government will not consider when it ought to bring an end to the UK's lockdown next Monday. Officials pledged to review the situation every three weeks.

Next Monday will mark three weeks since Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the entire country to stay at home.

Downing Street merely said there will be a review 'on or around' the three-week mark - with the law requiring a technical extension by April 16.

A woman was pictured sticking a drawing of a rainbow to the window of 10 Downing Street today, with the caption 'We are in this together'. Similar images have appeared in households all over the country to pay tribute to the NHS

Chief scientific adviser to the Government, Sir Patrick Vallance, said last night that official statistics were starting to show 'the beginning of change' for Britain but it would still be at least a week until a clear picture of the epidemic emerged.

Mr Raab stressed at the daily Downing Street briefing last night that authorities could not consider easing the lockdown restrictions until it was clear the peak of the epidemic had passed and it could be 'responsibly done'.

However, emergency legislation laid before Parliament three days after the PM's announcement states that a review must take place every 21 days, with the first deadline being April 16.

Pressed on when the review will happen, health minister Edward Argar told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'When the scientific advice is such that we appear to have gone over the peak and it is safe to do so.'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that an easing of the restrictions could be a long way off. 'I think we are nowhere near lifting the lockdown,' he told the BBC.

'We think the peak, which is the worst part of the virus, is still probably a week and a half away.'

WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, said in an update that relaxing lockdown too early would be 'dangerous'.

'We still have a long way to go in the marathon and the progress we have made so far in fighting the virus is extremely fragile,' he said.

'To think we are coming close to an end point would be a dangerous thing to do. The virus leaves no room for error or complacency.

'Any shift in our response strategy, relaxing of lockdown status or physical distancing measures requires very careful consideration.'

But a minister told the Times that reopening schools should be one of the first moves in easing then lockdown.

Experts have said the closures are likely only to have a limited effect on the spread, and mean much of the workforce are tied up with childcare.

'We need to be led by the science, of course,' the minister said.

'But if we can reopen schools after the Easter holidays things could begin to get back to normal. It could kick-start the economy.'

While the country is anxious to know when the tough new living restrictions will start to be relaxed, it is only today that Wuhan, the Chinese city home to the livestock market where the entire global pandemic began, has allowed its citizens to travel again.

The railways and airport reopened and people are no longer on effective city-wide house arrest. The city had been under total lockdown for a total of 73 days since mid-January when officials realised the disease outbreak was out of control.

The rest of China quickly followed suit and now most of Europe is enduring similar conditions after global travel during the Chinese crisis spread the virus to almost every country on Earth.

At the height of the city's epidemic Wuhan, a city of 11million residents, saw citizens forced into their homes by authorities and transport hubs and streets were deserted except for police patrols and emergency workers.

But restrictions in the city have dropped off in recent days as new infections significantly fell. For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, mainland China reported no COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday.

Wuhan reported just two new infections in the past 14 days but Chinese authorities must now tread a very fine line between granting more freedom of movement to citizens, and guarding against a second wave of infections.

Tall barriers remain in place around housing compounds and people are only permitted to leave if they have a green health code or are carrying documents stipulating a valid reason.

In the UK last night there was cautious optimism from chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance,that the fight against COVID-19 'could be moving in the right direction'.

Sir Patrick said there were signs that the rates of new infections and new hospital admissions for COVID-19 were 'flattening off' and that reductions in these statistics would eventually lead to death rates falling in the coming weeks.

Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser for the Ministry of Defence Angela McLean speaking during a remote press conference to update the nation on the COVID-19 pandemic

But he added it would be another 'week or so' before they could be sure, indicating lockdown measures would not be eased before then, and said day-to-day figures do not present an accurate picture of the situation.

Current death rates in Britain suggest someone is dying of COVID-19 roughly every two minutes and Birmingham is the local authority at the epicentre of the UK's crisis.

Yesterday saw a further 786 deaths reported and statistics show the NHS trust with the most victims in England is University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), followed by several trusts in London.

Although London is being hit harder by the disease, it is broken into more local councils and NHS boards than Birmingham is, spreading the pressure out over a greater area and number of staff.

As of yesterday, UHB had recorded 263 deaths, 37 of which were announced on Tuesday. Birmingham has also consistently had the most coronavirus cases throughout the outbreak in comparison to other local authorities.

Almost 1,400 of the UK's total 55,242 cases have been in Birmingham, higher than any single borough in London or elsewhere in England. At the other end of the scale, Rutland has recorded just six cases.

Nationwide the number of people saying they have symptoms of the coronavirus is falling, according to scientists at King's College London.

The researchers developed an app called COVID Symptom Tracker which has been downloaded by more than two million people. They self-reported data from people across the UK suggests lockdown could be working.

Calculations suggest that around 1.4million people are currently suffering from symptomatic coronavirus infection, down from around 1.9m on April 1. On March 26, three days after Boris Johnson introduced lockdown, the team predicted more than six million people could be ill or recovered.

The significantly lower estimate since then suggests that people staying at home, after the Prime Minister's speech on March 23, is starting to slow the outbreak down.

But officials in all corners - including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and the World Health Organization - have said it is too soon to even think about lifting the social distancing measures.

It will take at least another week for any effects of the lockdown to filter through to hospitals, Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK's chief scientific adviser, said yesterday.

The COVID Symptom Tracker app works by members of the public filling out forms which describe their health and ask about possible coronavirus symptoms.

Healthy people, those who think they might have COVID-19, and those who have been officially diagnosed are all encouraged to take part in it.

One of the app's developers, Professor Tim Spector, said: 'It is really encouraging to see that the rate of new symptoms being reported is beginning to fall.

'Even though hospital admissions and deaths are still on the rise, we hope that these figures offer a much needed light at the end of the tunnel.

'The altruism of the UK public combined with modern technology is allowing us to rapidly collect huge amounts of invaluable data to help us better understand this deadly virus.

'We would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person who is already participating and would urge everyone else to download the app and check in every day, whether you are experiencing any symptoms or feeling fine.'
By Gina Lee

Investing.com  Gold prices in Asia were down in Asia on Thursday morning despite the continuing economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 virus.

The yellow metal could not hold onto its steady gains from the previous session as gold futures dropped by 0.11% at $1,82.45 by 9:50 PM ET (2:50 AM GMT).

For the third day in a row, prices for the yellow metal were in sync with stocks. The two prices usually move in the opposite direction.

Asian stocks were mixed as investors await the release of U.S. jobless data later in the day.

Gold prices gained earlier in the day in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserve release of its minutes from its unscheduled meeting on March 15 overnight. The minutes indicated that officials were aware of COVID-19's potential impact as they voted to cut the benchmark rate to nearly zero and restart bond-buying programs.

Some investors struck a positive note for gold as the pandemic is expected to peak in the U.S. and the United Kingdom next week.

The U.S. and Europe are hoping the models suggesting the next week will be the worst, regarding new virus infections, are correct, and that the curve will have then peaked for them, Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff told CNBC.

Technically, the gold bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage amid a price uptrend in place ...that strongly suggests the path of least resistance for prices will remain sideways to higher for at least the near term and probably longer, he added.

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THUMB AREA  Good Friday and Easter Sunday will look a little different from years prior, as they will be celebrated by many church congregations online.

This weekend will be less about the Easter Bunny hiding colorful candy filled eggs and more about the holiday's meaning.

In his life, Jesus had been asked what the greatest commandment was and the Jewish people counted over 613 laws, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Port Austin Michael Goforth said.

The pastor referenced Christs answer from the book of Matthew  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."

Goforth explained how Jesus summarized the answer by loving God and your neighbors.

We didnt cancel services out of fear, Gorfoth said. We did it out of love for our neighbors. We are unable to love God and others perfectly. Jesus didnt just tell us to love God and others; he did it perfectly by showing us.

Whether one identifies as non-religious, Christian, or another religion, the holiday has traditionally served as an opportunity for families to come together. This weekends households will likely range from single person isolation to small immediate family groups, as people sacrifice their desires in defense against a dangerous pandemic.

Area church leaders are respectful and obedient to government orders aimed at the mitigation of coronavirus.

Lets abide by the rules the best we can, Goforth said.

The pastor sent a request out to caregivers and parents, asking them to send in videos of their kids telling the Easter story. He expects to post the videos early next week. Sundays service will be live streamed at 10:30 a.m., accompanied by live music. A chat platform is accessible on the churchs website, where people can socialize and ask questions.

Devotionals have been posted on Facebook daily and are scheduled to start back up as early as Monday. Goforth explained that they are celebrating the best they can under the circumstances. He asked that people pray for the government, world, healthcare workers and all those in suffering.

The Community Wesleyan Church of Elkton will continue to live-stream services on its Facebook page and website. Easter service will be at 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning. Pastor Ean Green is calling it "An Empty Celebration."

We will talk about how Jesus filled empty spaces and the focus will be that Jesus came to fix and fill empty lives, Green said. We will have special songs and music.

Rivers Edge of Caseville invites people join in on its Facebook page for a live Holy Week celebration. Good Friday service will be at 7 p.m. and Easter service will be at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

The Free Methodist Church of Bad Axe will have a prerecorded Easter service up on its website at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.

WLEW will broadcast the Bad Axe Christian Ministerial Associations Good Friday service at 1 p.m. on station 1340 AM. Multiple area pastors will be speaking.

The radio station will then broadcast Easter service for the First United Methodist Church of Bad Axe at 10 a.m. Visit the churchs website for prerecorded Good Friday and Easter services.

Catholic daily mass can be streamed online Monday through Saturday at 8 a.m., including Easter Sunday. To watch the mass, viewers can visit www.saginaw.org/how-watch-live-video-cathedral-mary-assumption or turn the station to WNEM.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent out a message to Facebook users stating that it's everyones responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19. People are asked to avoid large gatherings and stay up to date with CDC public health guidelines. This includes Easter gatherings.
Being in the house all day is not normal, said Tracey Robinson, of Bronzeville, whose children attend Fuller Elementary and Dyett High School. You have been quarantined sitting in the house for weeks at a time, your body and your mind needs air. They cant sit in the house all day and you put a piece of paper in their face and expect them to focus. I think parents should push them to wanting to do the work, but they shouldnt be graded off of that."
Bengaluru, April 9 : The Karnataka Cabinet is in favour of extending the 21-day nationwide lockdown by two weeks to fight the coronavirus scare, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Thursday.

"All the ministers are in favour of continuing the lockdown for two more weeks to contain Covid-19 spread in the state, which has recorded 191 positive cases and 6 deaths till date," Yediyurappa told reporters after an emergent Cabinet meeting here.

Though a panel of eminent doctors on Wednesday recommended continuing the lockdown -- set to end on April 14 -- till April 30 only in hotspots like Bengaluru and Mysuru, the Cabinet did not want to take any chance by lifting the lockdown in districts not affected by the virus.

"The lockdown should continue for two more weeks to ensure that the number of coronavirus cases do not spike as was the case in some states and to prevent community spread," said Yediyurappa.

The panel, headed by eminent doctor Devi Shetty, and C.N. Manjunath, Nagaraj, Ravi and Sudarshan as members, was set up by the state in March to assess the pandemic and advise measures to contain its fallout across the southern state.

"The lockdown should not be lifted in the hotspots or relaxed in the districts with less or zero cases so as to contain the virus and control the situation, especially physical distancing," asserted the Chief Minister.

Of the 30 districts in Karnataka, 18 districts have reported corona cases, including two hotspots.

"A final decision on the lockdown will be taken on Sunday or Monday after our videoconference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and as per his advice for the welfare of all," added Yediyurappa.

Modi had advised the states to suggest if the nationwide lockdown should be extended beyond April 14 or eased with curbs in areas that were free from the infection so far.

Though the 21-day lockdown was clamped on March 24 midnight across the country, nine districts of Karnataka have been under shutdown since March 14 on the panel's advice to contain the virus fallout.

In a related development, the Cabinet decided to deduct 30 per cent from salaries and allowances of all legislators, amounting to Rs 15.3 crore, for fiscal 2020-21 through an ordinance, as the Assembly is not in session.

Governor Vajubhai Vala and Yediyurappa have already pledged their salaries for this year to the CM relief fund for spending on tackling coronavirus.
The Goa government on Thursday



decided not to allow around 100 seafarers to enter the state in view of the coronavirus threat after they requested for disembarkment from their ship.

The government said the seafarers from Goa will have to follow coronavirus-related quarantine protocol before they are allowed entry into the state.

Ports Minister Michael Lobo on Thursday discussed the matter with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant after his department received a request from the 100-odd Goan seafarers to enter the state.

It has been decided not to allow the crew of the ship to land in Goa. Instead, they will have to return to Mumbai where they will be kept in a quarantine facility before allowing them in Goa, he said.

This is a protocol to be followed. We cannot allow the ship (now off Goa coast) to come to Mormugao Port Trust or any other Goa port, he said.

Lobo said the seafarers will have to undergo 14-day quarantine in Mumbai before arriving in Goa.

Once they arrive here, they will be checked for COVID-19 and then kept in home quarantine for another 14 days, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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In a move aimed at bolstering the government's efforts of tackling the COVID-19 outbreak, Kotak Mahindra Bank on April 9 said the bank's leadership team has opted to take a 15 percent cut in compensation for the financial year 2020-21 while CEO Uday Kotak has personally opted to forego his salary and will take only Re 1 as compensation.

"We are in the midst of a battle to protect both lives and livelihoods. The revival of the economy will depend on a healthy and robust financial sector. The bank is committed to work alongside the government, private enterprise, civil society and individuals in the tough times that lie ahead," the bank said in statement.

This is the first time Kotak Group's top management is taking a salary cut to contribute to a relief work, an official said.

Also Read | Coronavirus impact: Why layoffs and pay cuts are short-sighted tactics to beat the virus

To support the governments relief work, on 30th March, Kotak Mahindra Bank contributed Rs 25 crore to the PM Cares Fund and Rs 10 crore to the relief efforts in Maharashtra. Uday Kotak has also made a personal contribution of Rs 25 crore to the PM CARES fund.

Also Read | Will honour all job offers, no salary cuts: Flipkart tells staff

Most public sector banks, including countrys largest lender State Bank of India, have asked their employees to contribute one day's salary to the PM Cares Fund. In SBI's case, this is one day's salary and one PL encashment.

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

"At the request of our employees and their representative federations, it has been decided that an amount of encashment of 1-Days Privilege Leave and deduction of 1-days Salary of every employee (payable in the month of April 2020) of every staff member will be collected by HRMS Department and contributed to the PM CARES Fund'," according to a circular issued across all branches of SBI. Moneycontrol has reviewed a copy of the circular.

PM CARES Fund is a corpus formed by the central government to use for the Covid-19 relief operations. Several corporate houses and HNIs have contributed to the fund.
The disbursement of $150 million (about N52.5 billion) from the Stabilisation Fund to augment the monthly statutory Federation Account allocation to the three tiers of government would not take more than 72 hours of the request, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) said on Wednesday.

The Managing Director of the agency, Uche Orji, told PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview in Abuja that the NSIA does not require more than three days to make the money available to government to meet that emergency.

The Federal Government is not asking us (NSIA) to make the money available now, but in June. But, the beauty of our system is that even if the government needed the money urgently, all that we will require will be a formal notice as short as three days, to activate our processes to call the money and make it available to the government.

Although the money is invested in various financial instruments around the world, it is so liquid that it could be recalled at very short notice and made available, Mr Orji said.

Augmentation to FAAC

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced on Monday in Abuja that President Muhammadu Buhari gave approval for $150 million to be drawn from the Stabilisation Fund to support the June 2020 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursement to the three tiers of government.

The Fund is a special account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and managed by the NSIA on behalf of the Federation as a pool of funds the government can draw from to cushion serious economic emergencies occasioned by a drastic collapse in crude oil prices.

The minister said the money would henceforth augment FAAC allocations until the end of the current economic crisis caused by the deadly global coronavirus pandemic.

Balance

Mr Orji said between 2013 and 2018, the three tiers of government, consisting of federal, state and local governments, contributed a total of $300 million into the Stabilisation Fund ($200 million in 2013; $50 million in 2016, but received in 2017, and another $50 million in 2017, but received in 2018).

He said apart from the total contribution, the NSIA invested and earned an additional $51 million, bringing the balance in the Fund to date to about $351 million.

So, even after the $150 million is disbursed to government in June, about $201 million would still be left for us to continue to invest and generate more earnings. What we are giving to the government is actually $100 million of capital they gave us and another $50 million of the returns we earned, he said.

In its 2018 annual report, the NSIA said, as at the end of 2013, all capital in respect of the Stabilisation Fund had been deployed in allocation to three fund managers: UBS (US Treasury mandate), Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse (Corporate Bond mandates).

NSIA Act

He said the way the management of the Stabilisation Fund is structured is such that the fund should be readily available to the government if the request is in compliance with Sections 42, 43, 47 and 48 of the NSIA Act.

The sections, he said, states that the financr minister, upon demonstration of the urgent need for stabilisation in the economy, may call for the fund for support.

He said in the circumstance the country has found itself as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the countrys economy, and the unprecedented drop in crude oil prices at the international market, the minister is acting within her powers to call for the money.

Therefore, the NSIA is ready and able to make that Fund available accordingly, to enable the country to meet that urgent national emergency.

The beauty of the Fund is that when it is drawn, it is used for the benefit of the three tiers of government, which are the contributors to the Fund in the first instance. That is the reason the government is drawing the money to use in augmenting the FAAC allocations to the three tiers of government, Mr Orji said.

The NSIA is owned by the federal government (45.83 per cent), state governments (36.25 per cent), local governments (17.76 per cent) and the Federal Capital Territory (0.16 per cent).

Other Funds

On the performance of the other Funds (Future Generations and Infrastructure) also managed by the NSIA, Mr Orji said they were doing well, despite a considerable impact on the agencys investments in the equity market during the year.

2020 is a very unpredictable year. We were very lucky that we did not expose ourselves too much in the equity market. We reduced our exposure significantly last year, although we still suffered some harsh conditions. But, we have done much better than our peers.

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I am still very optimistic that the market will recover before the end of the year. This is the worst pandemic the world has seen in terms of impact and stress on the global economy.

We are glad we are in a position to support the government in a time of crisis. That is why it is important that the country must continue to build such strategic financial buffers in the future to provide the cushion in terms of emergencies like this.

The recent approval of another $250 million by the Federal Government in November last year has not been received yet by the NSIA. It is still in process, he said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has directed employees who have been close to others with coronavirus symptoms to report to work without regard for the 14-day, self-quarantine guidance promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the labor organization. It also accused the department of not providing all staffers with the personal protective equipment they desperately need to protect themselves, their peers, and patients from COVID-19 exposure.
Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus outbreak started, has reopened after a strict lockdown.

People were able to move about and leave the city for the first time in 76 days, with thousands opting to board trains, planes and buses to return to their homes or jobs.

The lockdown was announced with no warning during the Lunar New Year holiday as the virus, which killed more than 2,500 in the city, spread.

Expand Close A railway worker holds a sign reading Hankou Station welcomes you! as passengers board the first high-speed train to leave Hankou train station after the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A railway worker holds a sign reading Hankou Station welcomes you! as passengers board the first high-speed train to leave Hankou train station after the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close A worker directs travelers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A worker directs travelers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Travelers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk past people holding a celebratory banner at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Travelers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk past people holding a celebratory banner at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Passengers wearing face masks and rain coats to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk outside of Hankou train station after of the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Passengers wearing face masks and rain coats to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk outside of Hankou train station after of the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Passengers wearing face masks to protect against the spread of new coronavirus pass through security checks at Hankou train station after of the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Passengers wearing face masks to protect against the spread of new coronavirus pass through security checks at Hankou train station after of the resumption of train services in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close A security officer wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of new coronavirus stands guard at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A security officer wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of new coronavirus stands guard at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close A medical worker from Chinas Jilin Province reacts as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A medical worker from Chinas Jilin Province reacts as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Residents walk along the Yangtze River on a ferry in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Residents walk along the Yangtze River on a ferry in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Residents eat on the streets of Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Residents eat on the streets of Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Expand Close Chinese youths record a dance routine on the streets of Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Chinese youths record a dance routine on the streets of Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long lines formed at the airport, train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. (OTCQB:IPCIF);(TSX:IPCI) ("Intellipharmaceutics" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of novel and generic controlled-release and targeted-release oral solid dosage drugs, is providing an update on timing of the release of its first-quarter financial results for the three months ended February 29, 2020.The Canadian Securities Administrators have recently announced temporary relief from certain regulatory filings required to be made on or before June 1, 2020 by reporting issuers in Canada, in view of the recent COVID-19 developments and the impact on market participants. The blanket relief provides a 45-day extension for periodic filings, including financial statements and management's discussion and analysis.Intellipharmaceutics will be relying on the 45-day extension period provided under the blanket relief for the filing of its interim financial report for the three months ended February 29, 2020 and the related management's discussion & analysis (collectively, the "Q1 Disclosure Documents"). The Q1 Disclosure Documents, which would otherwise have a filing deadline of April 14, 2020, are expected to be filed on SEDAR on or before May 29, 2020.Until such time as the Q1 Disclosure Documents are filed, management and other insiders of the Company will be subject to an insider trading black-out consistent with the principles in section 9 of National Policy 11-207 Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions.Since the date of the Company's annual audited financial results and its Annual Information Form, there have been no material business developments other than those disclosed in prior press releases or in Intellipharmaceutics' annual report (on Form 20-F) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 30, 2020.The Company expects to furnish to the SEC a Report on Form 6-K in respect of the Q1 Disclosure Documents promptly after the Q1 Disclosure Documents are made public and filed on SEDAR.About IntellipharmaceuticsIntellipharmaceutics International Inc. is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of novel and generic controlled-release and targeted-release oral solid dosage drugs. The Company's patented Hypermatrix technology is a multidimensional controlled-release drug delivery platform that can be applied to a wide range of existing and new pharmaceuticals. Intellipharmaceutics has developed several drug delivery systems based on this technology platform, with a pipeline of products (some of which have received U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approval) in various stages of development. The Company has abbreviated new drug application ("ANDA") and new drug application ("NDA") 505(b)(2) drug product candidates in its development pipeline. These include the Company's abuse-deterrent oxycodone hydrochloride extended-release formulation ("Oxycodone ER") based on its proprietary nPODDDS novel Point Of Divergence Drug Delivery System (for which an NDA has been filed with the FDA), and Regabatin XR (pregabalin extended-release capsules).Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking InformationCertain statements in this document constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and/or "forward-looking information" under the Securities Act (Ontario). These statements include, without limitation, statements expressed or implied regarding our expectations regarding our plans, goals and milestones, status of developments or expenditures relating to our business, plans to fund our current activities, risks associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including its impact on our business and operations, and statements concerning our partnering activities, health regulatory submissions, strategy, future operations, future financial position, future sales, revenues and profitability, projected costs and market penetration and risks or uncertainties related to our ability comply with OTCQB Venture Market and TSX requirements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "appear", "unlikely", "target", "may", "will", "should", "expects", "plans", "plans to", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "confident", "prospects", "potential", "continue", "intends", "look forward", "could", "would", "projected", "set to", "seeking" or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. We made a number of assumptions in the preparation of our forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which are subject to a multitude of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, future circumstances or events to differ materially from those stated in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties relating to us and our business can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of our latest annual information form, our latest Form 20-F, and our latest Form F-1 and Form F-3 registration statements (including any documents forming a part thereof or incorporated by reference therein), as amended, as well as in our reports, public disclosure documents and other filings with the securities commissions and other regulatory bodies in Canada and the U.S., which are available on www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov . The forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on what we believe are reasonable assumptions as of the date of this document and we disclaim any intention and have no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Trademarks used herein are the property of their respective holders.Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to "we," "us," "our," Intellipharmaceutics," and the "Company" refer to Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. and its subsidiaries.CONTACT:Intellipharmaceutics International Inc.Isa OdidiChief Executive Officer416.798.3001 ext. 102investors@ intellipharmaceutics.com %0
New Delhi: A second stimulus package India is poised to announce in the coming days will be worth around 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) and focus on help for small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus outbreak, two senior officials said on Wednesday.

Last month, India outlined a 1.7-trillion rupee ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor hit by an ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.

"The second package could be focused largely on MSMEs," one of the senior government officials, with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters, using an acronym for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The official said a separate package could be announced for bigger companies after assessing the extent of the hit they have faced due to the lockdown imposed to fight the outbreak.

Small businesses account for nearly one-quarter of India's $2.9 trillion economy and employ more than 500 million workers, according to government estimates.

India has so far recorded 5274 cases of the coronavirus, which has also killed 149 people in the country. The country is now considering narrowing its lockdown to coronavirus hotspots after the nationwide lockdown ends on April 14.

Indian media have been speculating that the government would soon announce more relief to help the struggling economy.

The new package aimed at MSMEs could include increases in the limits of bank loans for working capital needs, hiking threshold limits for availing tax exemptions and relaxing rules for deposits of income tax and other dues, the sources said.

A finance ministry spokesman declined to comment.

The second government source said that the government was also planning to partially clear tax refunds owed to small businesses within one month to provide some immediate relief.

The Indian government on Wednesday said it will also release 180 billion rupees in tax refunds to small businesses and individuals immediately and impose expenditure curbs on a host of departments for the April-June period.

K.E. Raghunathan, former president of All India Manufacturers Association (AIMO), said the government should also clear long-pending dues for the sale of their products to federal and state governments, as well as state-run firms.

Federal and state governments and state-owned companies owe more than $66 billion to small businesses, the government told parliament last month.

"We do not know how long we will be able to survive if our dues are not cleared," said Raghunathan, a small-time manufacturer of solar parts in the Southern Indian city of Chennai.

Hundreds of thousands of cash-starved Indian small businesses have either deferred or cut their workers' wages this month while trade union leaders said more than five million workers, mainly on contract, have suffered wage losses.

Industry body AIMO, which represents some 100,000 small manufacturers, has said more than two-thirds of its members faced problems in paying salaries.
Blackmagic Design has released a series of updates for some of its most popular products including new software for the Pocket Cinema Camera that gives it studio camera capabilities, updates for Da Vinci Resolve and updates also for Blackmagic Video Assist.

Blackmagic Designs new software update for its Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and 6K models gives the cameras added studio camera capabilities.

With the update, users can connect to an ATEM Mini switcher and get control of the camera parameters, lens and tally light. ATEM Mini can control up to 4 cameras via the HDMI video connection and ensure all cameras are matched for a live studio workflow.

Blackmagic Camera Update 6.9 is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design web site.

Also released is DaVinci Resolve 16.2, a new update to the edit, colour, vfx and audio post production software that includes major Fairlight updates for audio post production. The new update also includes improvements for colour correction, editing and more.

DaVinci Resolve 16.2 is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design web site.

This new version has major new updates for editing in the Fairlight audio timeline when using a mouse and keyboard. The new edit selection mode unlocks functionality previously only available via the audio editor on the full Fairlight console. In addition, the edit selection mode makes adding fades, cuts and moving clips possible with a mouse click. New scalable waveforms let users zoom in without adjusting the volume. Bouncing lets users render a clip with custom sound effects directly from the Fairlight timeline.

Other updates from Blackmagic include Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and Blackmagic RAW 1.7 which add support for Blackmagic RAW recording from Panasonic EVA1 and Canon C300 MK II cameras on the new Blackmagic Video Assist 12G models.

The update lets users take advantage of Blackmagic RAW workflows. Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 also adds support for metadata entry allowing shots to be logged and tagged on set for better management of media for large productions.

Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1 and Blackmagic RAW 1.7 is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design web site.

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Washington: China is willing to work on a bilateral basis with low-income countries facing economic challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic and may approve delays in some debt service payments, a Chinese official told Reuters on Tuesday.

A pedestrian walks past a construction site in Sihanoukville, Cambodia as yet another Chinese-funded building goes up. Credit:Bloomberg

The official said China, a major creditor, was still considering a push by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for it and other official bilateral lenders to immediately suspend debt payments from the poorest countries.

"Developing countries, especially low-income countries, are facing greater challenges. We are willing to maintain communication with relevant countries through bilateral channels," said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

"We agree that some countries should not be forced to make payments during the crisis."
The Bombay High Court on Thursday



granted interim relief to a first-year law student who was rusticated from a law college in the city for allegedly smoking cannabis in classroom.

Hearing her plea through video conference which was livestreamed, Justice G S Patel allowed the student to appear for her internal exams.

As per the student's petition, she was suspended with 17 others by the college authorities on March 4 pending inquiry for 'misconduct'.

On March 18 she and another student were rusticated.

She was not given hearing by the authorities before taking the action, the petitioner claimed.

Advocate Manorama Mohanty, who represented the college, said the authorities came across social media pictures where the petitioner and some other students were seen smoking cannabis in a classroom.

Petitioner's lawyer Mohit Bhardwaj argued that the college did not provide her the material on the basis of which action was taken.

The high court said it would not go into the merits of the case but the college should have followed some "formality" in the decision-making process.

"Were the rusticated students given a hearing? It is a rustication order. This is disastrous for the students. The college ought to have followed some formality while conducting the inquiry," Justice Patel said.

The court allowed the student to attend lectures and appear for internal examinations. "This interim order shall continue till the petition is heard when the court opens for normal hearing," the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some 13 persons who came into contact with the first COVID-19 patient in the Central Region have so far been traced.

This is according to the Regional Director of Health, Dr. Akosua Owusu Sarpong.

She said the 13 contacts are being observed in isolation as the patient receives treatment.

The Ghana Health Service announced the confirmation of a case in the Central Region on 8th April 2020.

According to Authorities in the Central Region, the patient is a 57-year-old male who returned from the United Kingdom on March 17, 2020, before the government announced the closure of the countrys borders.

He showed symptoms of the virus and his specimen was taken to the Noguchi Memorial Research Centre for testing where it was tested to be COVID-19 positive.

Dr. Akosua Owusu Sarpong told Citi News that a secondary school in the region has been identified to serve as an isolation centre to host the contacts whose private homes are not conducive enough to help them self-isolate.

She added that samples have been taken from all the contacts for testing.

So far we have identified 13 contacts that we are tracing and some would need self-isolation. Others will need isolation in an area. We have identified a Secondary School within the region that we are going to hold those who are living with their families in small apartments and therefore will be difficult for them to self-isolate. We are isolating them in that facility and the metro health directorate and the metro chief executive assembly are going to support in the feeding of those isolated. We will continue to monitor them daily and quickly move in if they have any condition. Initial specimen had been taken and we will continue to review them, she said.

The Central Region is the seventh region in Ghana to confirm a case of COVID-19.

The other regions are the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

Regional breakdown of cases

Greater Accra Region  274

Ashanti Region  25

Northern Region  10

Eastern Region  1

Upper West Region  1

Upper East Region  1

Central Region  1

313 cases

As at 1530GMT on 8th April, 2020, 313 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the country.

The number includes six deaths and 3 recoveries.

A number of patients have also been discharged from hospitals and being managed at home.

Those people are pending further tests to confirm their COVID-19 status to determine whether they will be deemed totally recovered or will require extra care.

---citinewsroom
Sanaa, April 9 : The Saudi-United Arab Emirates (UAE) coalition battling Houthi rebels in Yemen said that it would cease hostilities for two weeks.

The halt to military operations is set to take effect at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki, who said the aim of the move was "to create the appropriate conditions" for the truce proposed by UN special envoy Martin Griffiths amid fears that the coronavirus pandemic will take hold in the war-torn nation, reports Efe news.

Yemen is the poorest nation in the Arab world and after five years of conflict, around 80 per cent of its 30 million people depend on humanitarian aid for their survival.

Once the ceasefire is in place, Al-Malki said, the door will be open to talks among the Houthis, the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi and the Saudi-UAE coalition to be chaired by Griffiths.

Al-Malki said that the Saudi-UAE coalition also acted in response to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal on March 23 for a global ceasefire in the face of the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 73,000 people around the world.

In a statement posted on his Twitter account, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi political council, said that the rebels would not accept "partial or patchwork solutions".

The council has already conveyed to Griffiths a comprehensive proposal that envisions "a full cease-fire and lifting of the blockade", Al-Houthi said.

A spokesman for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Twitter on Wednesday that the rebels' plan would "lay the foundations for a political dialogue and a transitional period".

Hailing the decision by the Saudi-UAE coalition, Griffiths urged all sides to "utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency, and make progress towards comprehensive and sustainable peace".

Also responding to the announcement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said: "This can help to advance efforts toward peace as well as the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic." Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict, said Guterres.

March 25 was the fifth anniversary of the Riyadh-led military intervention to re-instate the Hadi government, ousted by the Houthis in December 2014.

More than 100,000 people have perished in the conflict, many of them civilians, and the UN describes the situation in Yemen as the world's most acute humanitarian crisis.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 08, 2020 | 05:39 PM | WESTERN KENTUCKY





Just one day after Comer sent his letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for relief for cattle farmers that have been hit hard by the pandemic, the agency has announced a plan to expand their investigation into beef price fixing and the effects of the virus on prices.







"Given the current market volatility caused by COVID-19, it is critical that our leaders examine any potential market manipulation hurting our farmers and then provide appropriate relief," Comer said. "I applaud USDA and Secretary Perdue for looking into this issue, which is very serious based on conversations I've had with Kentucky cattle farmers. We must ensure that cattle farmers share in increased demand brought about by their own hard work to keep the grocery shelves stocked, especially during this uncertain time for our economy."







After a 2019 fire at a beef processing facility, the USDA had announced an investigation into beef pricing margins to review the potential evidence of price manipulation, collusion, or restrictions on competition. Lately, retailers and meat packers have seen increased profits, while farmers are reportedly seeing a decrease in the value of their cattle. The issue has been exacerbated due to the virus, as cattle prices have continued to decline, even during a time of high demand for beef.

Congressman Comer applauds the USDA investigation into the impact COVID-19 has had on cattle prices.
Program Part of Company's Overall $10 Million Commitment to COVID-19 Relief

RACINE, Wisconsin, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With a goal of enabling this generation of children to better protect themselves and their communities, SC Johnson and Save the Children are partnering to educate and enable children worldwide to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This new partnership will focus on helping children and their loved ones respond to this and future public health threats.

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8713051-sc-johnson-save-the-children-covid-19/



SC Johnson is donating $1 million to help vulnerable and marginalized children around the world. This donation will support Save the Children programs that shine a light on the importance of personal hygiene and handwashing with the goal of slowing the rate of transmission and limiting the impacts of the pandemic on children and their families globally. SC Johnson will support Save the Children's global response to this pandemic, including efforts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, India and Mexico.

"We all must work together to equip our younger generations with the information and tools they need to protect themselves," said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. "I am incredibly grateful the teams at SC Johnson and Save the Children were able to quickly form this global partnership, with our shared goal of safer and healthier children and families now and in the future."

"Save the Children is proud to partner with SC Johnson in helping ensure the world's most vulnerable children have access to hygiene information, education, nutrition and social-emotional support amid the COVID-19 pandemic," said Janti Soeripto, President and CEO of Save the Children. "The new world we're living in reinforces the importance of powerful partnerships like this one, which bring us together as a global community for the safety and well-being of children and families around the world."

In addition to promoting the importance of good hygiene habits, this partnership also provides much needed support to help manage and overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by:

Supporting children's emotional needs with educational and psychological support as children struggle to deal with the stress and anxiety during these challenging times.

Addressing food insecurity by providing meals and food vouchers to families.

Educational support by providing books and other materials to support learning at home.

The partnership will also launch a joint social media campaign that allows parents and caregivers to engage children to share and amplify personal hygiene tools, tips and techniques. Details of this campaign will be announced shortly through both organizations' social media channels.

SC Johnson Doubles Commitment to COVID-19 Relief

The partnership, announced today, coincides with a doubling of SC Johnson's contributions - from $5 million to $10 million - to support pressing public needs and those battling the virus on the front lines. Efforts taken by the global manufacturer of household and professional cleaning and disinfectant products to date include:

$1 million donation to the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund.

donation to the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund. 80,000 SC Johnson product care packages donated to hospital workers and first responders in the United States , distributed by the CDC Foundation.

, distributed by the CDC Foundation. $1 million to support various COVID-19 response efforts in Asia , Europe and Latin America .

to support various COVID-19 response efforts in , and . Support for the local medical response to COVID-19 in the company's backyard by providing meals, snacks and books to school children and care packages to first responders.

SC Johnson continues to assess ways to address the needs of people around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 134-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding 100 years ago, we've changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
The Swanson Group is laying off 300 workers from its plywood mill in Glendale and cutting the pay of those still working due to a shortage of orders, as businesses grind to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The layoffs will be indefinite, said Steve Swanson, president and CEO of the Swanson Group. The mill has been shutting down operations gradually over the last few weeks and laying off workers accordingly, as well as some administrative staff, he said.

The plant was producing plywood yet had no buyers for it, and had built up a severe over-supply, Swanson said.

We simply cannot afford to store that much plywood, he said. We made the difficult decision to go dark on that facility on a week-by-week basis.

Swanson Group also runs a mill in Roseburg and a facility in Springfield. The Roseburg mill, which has about 150 employees, has cut production back by about 20%, Swanson said. The Springfield facility has about 250 employees and it is likely there will be some layoffs there, he said.

In a letter sent out to employees March 25, Swanson said the company is in unchartered territory due to events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Business was strong in February and early March, Swanson wrote, but then circumstances outside of our control changed the markets quickly.

As Americans watched the current pandemic spread from China to Europe and then into the United States the country has made many changes to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Swanson wrote. As a result, many businesses including our customers are waiting to see what the next several weeks will bring. We have seen a dramatic decline in our order file.

In addition to the layoffs, employees who remain working will take a 10% pay cut beginning April 16, he said. This is an indefinite curtailment because we just dont know how long the markets will be stagnant, Swanson said in the letter.

On Tuesday, Swanson said he worries about the possible long-term economic effects of the pandemic, and the measures taken to stop its spread.

The cure could end up being worse than the disease, he said. If we get thrown into a multi-year depression its going to be catastrophic for us. This is a serous pandemic, but the economic disaster were facing is real, its every bit as real as the virus.

Matt Hill, executive director of the Douglas Timber Operators, said these are difficult times for the forest products industry, with no immediate end in sight.

In terms of the broader COVID-19 impact on the forest products economy, we can expect to see additional tightening as long the American economy is effectively placed on hold, Hill said. This is a demand side problem and it is rippling through the supply chain: first with the mills, then loggers and truckers and so on.

The federal CARES Act provides some relief for employers but not all of that is available to Oregon mills. Some programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program, are only available to businesses with fewer than 500 employees. That will help some but not all of our mills.

Hill said other plants across the state are experiencing similar cutbacks. They include:

Seneca Sawmill Co., which employs 470 in Eugene and Noti, which is cutting hours at its three mills in Eugene and closing down its log yard. The company is trying to get employees 30 hours a week, Hill said, but in some cases that means bringing crews in to power wash and paint, not process logs. It has handed out bags of groceries to employees and is paying all health care premiums for April and May.Timber Products Co. in Medford, which confirmed last week that it has temporarily shut down a facility in Medford after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Company officials say they have down their mill in Medford while the facility is deep cleaned. They plan to re-open the mill sometime next week.

This has been a tough year for the Swanson Group. Last March, Swanson Group announced the permanent closure of its sawmill in Glendale due to a lack of timber supply.

Despite that, Steve Swanson said he remains optimistic about the fate of the company and that of the workers who are temporarily getting laid off.

The minute this thing breaks I believe were going to have a robust market, he said. We expect to bring every one of them back if and when we come out of this thing. Were doing all we can do.

--The Associated Press
Chinese authorities have reportedly started kicking out Black foreigners from the Guandong province following a spike in imported coronavirus cases in the country.

A Ghanaian, Mary Frempong living in Shenzhen who is distressed at the development taking place in that jurisdiction told Kasapa 102.5 FM that black foreigners have taken shelter in the streets since local police began throwing them out from their homes.

The situation here is very sad. Landlords have been sternly warned by authorities to eject black foreigners from their flats. Just yesterday, some two Ghanaians called to inform me about this same matter as they had spend the night in the vehicle of their friend whos a Chinese. He was kind enough to provide shelter for them in his car because he couldnt host them in his home. We dont know where to turn to or lay our heads. Weve become outcast overnight. Life is really becoming difficult. You cant enter any shop neither can you patronize any social service just because youre a foreigner, she told host Kweku Owusu Adjei.

Imported coronavirus cases in China outnumbered cases of location transmission for the fifth straight day as infected travellers passed through major Chinese transportation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Mainland China had 13 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the countrys National Health Commission said, down from 21 cases a day earlier. Of the new cases, 12 involved infected travellers arriving from abroad.

In contrast to the current wave of imported cases, mainland China had only one case of locally transmitted infection on Tuesday, in Wuhan, capital of Central Hubei province where the flu-like disease surfaced in humans late last year. The capital Beijing accounted for three of the imported new cases, down from nine a day earlier. Shanghai had three new cases, unchanged from the day before.

Imported cases in southern Guangdong province rose to five from three, due to people arriving from Thailand, Britain and the Netherlands. One infection emerged in Sichuan in southwest China.

The overall number of imported cases of the virus in mainland China reached 155 as of Tuesday, up 12 from a day earlier. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80,894, the health authority said in a statement on Wednesday.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,237 as of the end of Tuesday, up by 11 from the previous day. In Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, there were 11 new deaths, with Wuhan accounting for 10 of the fatalities.

---kasapafmonline
New Delhi, April 9 : A thick layer of dust on vehicles parked on deserted roads, police patrolling units deployed at almost every junction of roads, nothing similar to the famous scenes of Delhi's posh Defence Colony.

But such has been the impact of deadly COVID-19 that most of the residents of the colony remain indoors, rest are forced to be indoors with continuous monitoring by Delhi Police. The scenes emerged after three members of a family in the colony, whose private security guard had attended the congregation at the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Nizamuddin in March, were found Covid-19 positive.

"For someone who would have come here earlier, Defence Colony never looked so dull. But then it is essential to be in quarantine especially after four people are already confirmed to be affected," Prakash who has lived in the colony for over 8 years told IANS. The fear of the pandemic was such that many residents have told their domestic helps to not return to work until the lockdown is lifted completely.

"Private guards or domestic help in most of the houses have been instructed to stay at home during these times. Most of the houses in the colony are following the trend. Only the colony guards are being called in for work and they are also being given proper protection kits," Punkaj Malhotra, a former RWA member said.

Many also claimed that they have told their domestic help to take 2 months of paid leave so social distancing can be followed strictly.

"I made sure both of my domestic helps were at home and also paid them 2 months of salary in advance," Geeta Bhargava, General Secretary of Defence Colony RWA said.

She added that the RWA has not advised all residents to follow the same.

Meanwhile the locality has closed all its entry and exit gates, except for two which can be used to enter or exit the colony after due checking by private security guards and policemen.

"We have taken up the sanitation work, and the colony residents led by the RWA President Major Ranjit Singh have decided to make sanitation their priority," Bhargava said.

The Delhi Police has also started to make announcements of COVID-19-related guidelines and precautions on a regular interval.

"Announcements to follow lockdown and COVID-19-relatedadvisories are being made by our patrolling parties. We are also making sure that anyone who steps out of their residence has proper mask and gloves," Atul Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Southern district, told IANS.

The police has also registered an FIR against the guard for withholding the information from his employers, Thakur added.

"The family lived on the ground floor of a building. They have been admitted to a private hospital. Other members of the family and those living on other floors of the building have been asked to remain in home quarantine," the DCP said.
Srinagar, April 9 : Spread of coronavirus in the Srinagar district was described as alarming by the administration, here on Thursday.

Addressing the media, Srinagar District Magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary termed the coronavirus scenario worrisome but also assured that the administration was doing its best to contain the infection.

"There are 14 red zones, here. We have 1,000 teams with 4,000 people on job in these zones. We have to ensure that there is no leakage from the red zones. 800-900 people who hid their travel history had been traced by control room through crowd-sourcing of information and were quarantined or put under isolation," Choudhary said.

He urged people to cooperate in contact tracing and reveal travel history voluntarily. "Our fight is not only against coronavirus outbreak. We are also focusing on patients suffering from other terminal illnesses," he said.

Denying any shortage of medicines, Choudhary said, two aircrafts full of drugs arrived on April 6 and 7 and one more was expected on Thursday.

"We will ensure to get the required medicine from any place across the country. We have stock of life-saving drugs for 6 weeks. We are open to inspection if anybody has doubt," he said.

As doctors and para-medical staff were risking their lives in the line of duty, supplies of PPE kits and masks were being streamlined. "During the lockdown, 9,000 counter transactions and 19,000 ATM transactions are happening a day," he said.

SSP Srinagar Haseeb Mughal told the media, aerial surveillance were being conducted through drones and CCTVs were being monitored. "Deployment on ground is also there," Mughal said.

"This is not usual law and order lockdown, but 24x7 lockdown. Don't come out in the evening like you did during other days.

"Passes will be valid from the place of stay to the place of work from now onwards. The inter-district movement has to be restricted. Family and friends would not be entertained on one pass," the SSP said.
US-India Business Council President Nisha Biswal believes once the economic activity and demand resumes, India could hold the potential for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing.

IMAGE: The scene outside the RML Hospital in New Delhi as people line up to be tested for coronavirus. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo.

While many analysts have raised a red flag on the economic impact of an extension of the 21-day lockdown in India due to the Covid-19 outbreak, an American business chamber said that businesses are adapting in ways they can to ensure the continuity of essential businesses.

The 21-day lockdown is set to end next week but several state leaders have called for an extension or only a partial lifting of restrictions, which they say is the only way to avoid a coronavirus epidemic that will be difficult to tackle.

US-India Business Council President Nisha Biswal, in an interview, told ANI that under the present circumstances, businesses are looking at boosting work-from-home capabilities and taking measures to allow safe operation of essential businesses and supply chains.

"We'll follow the decisions and guidance of government authorities on any extension of the social distancing measures in India. Judging by what is happening in the US, Europe, we anticipate and are prepared for these measures to be necessary for a while longer," Biswal told ANI.

She further added that a safe and sustainable availability of migrant labour to keep supplies flowing to the "at home" population will be important for a more enduring lockdown.

Biswal believes once the economic activity and demand resumes, India could hold the potential for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing.

"It's an opportunity for India to play a more robust role in the manufacturing of many different product lines in the near term," said Biswal.

Even as the immediate focus for the government is pandemic mitigation, Biswal said she was confident that India could be an attractive place for more production to be housed.

"Companies are increasingly thinking about diversifying their manufacturing and supply chain, not just to have it housed in one country but to think about more regional production," Biswal said.

The American Business chamber chief praised the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Biswal also added that the Government of India moved very quickly to announce the first round of economic measures that were geared towards supporting the most vulnerable, by expanding the social safety net and ensuring that people who are going without a paycheck are supported.

Going forward, the chamber has recommended a "second round" of measures to be put in place by the Government of India to support businesses.

"The second round of economic measures really should focus on what do businesses need to get through this time period. We suggested that the government should think about some strong stimulus measures that can really help keep Indian businesses afloat, through this time," Biswal added.

While lauding India's move on enforcing the 'Janata curfew", Biswal insisted that there is a need to look into the provision of providing some waivers to the BPO industry and services in India, which are providing crucial support to America's critical cell centres including hospitals, insurance and banking sectors. Also, in India, the service sector accounts for a huge per cent of India's GDP.

In order to maintain business continuity, India needs to help companies adapt their operations so that they're able to function better from work from home ecosystem, she said.

"We have a relationship in the US-India corridor between our two governments and between our two countries that we can have a more collaborative approach and maybe we can in that process also have that stronger example for the rest of the world as well, Biswal further added.

The chamber has made it clear to all governments, including India, that they have got to create an open global trading system.

"Whether it's a drug, medical equipment or PPE. There are several components and ingredients that are coming from different places, there is a global supply chain and value chain. And if every country starts putting export controls and stops goods from moving out of their country or moving into their country, it is going to affect the ability to meet demand in every country," Biswal explained.

Biswal added: "We are seeing that happen if every country starts talking about trying to nationalise supply chains, products and inventory, I think it's going to become very difficult. And I think India has understood this."
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and members of his family on Thursday received results of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) tests conducted for them and they all came out negative.

The result was disclosed in a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Makut Macham, on Thursday in Jos.

The statement said the samples of the governor and members of his family were taken two days ago by health officials and forwarded to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) laboratory in Abuja for examination.

It noted that the governor said he took the test with his family in order to help in addressing the rising stigma gradually building up on the disease, which was making people reluctant in reporting the issue even when they noticed any symptoms.

Coronavirus is not a death sentence and if we are not careful, people can die out of fear and stigma.

I call on all our citizens, particularly those who notice any symptoms of the disease, including difficulty in breathing, fever, cough, sore throat, headache and general fatigue, or have had contact with any infected person to report to health officials and submit themselves for examination, the statement quoted him saying.

It said Mr Lalong assured that the Plateau State Government would continue to take proactive measures including a one-week total lockdown beginning midnight Thursday, April 9, to prevent movements that could expose the state to the disease.

The release informed the people that NCDC had already approved the establishment of a Coronavirus testing centre in the state which would take off soon, to reduce challenges associated with taking samples to Abuja for testing.

It assured residents that the Mr Lalong administration would not subject them to any unnecessary hardship and losses, while thanking them for their cooperation and compliance to government directives in curbing COVID-19 pandemic.

(NAN)
Pakistan on Thursday termed as "reprehensible' India's decision to change the domicile law for Jammu and Kashmir when the international community's focus is on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

It also expressed concern over what it said was a lack of medical supplies in Kashmir to help the local people fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that six international human rights organisations in a joint statement recently underscored that measures to combat Covid-19 must respect human rights of every individual and urgently release all political prisoners, human rights defenders and all those arrested in Kashmir after August 5, 2019.

The spokesperson also condemned the new domicile law introduced in the region.

Under the new law, anyone who has resided for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10 and Class 12 examinations in an educational institution located in the Union Territory is a domicile.

The [law] is another illegal step by India, she said. Farooqui said that the changes made in the laws at the time of global health crisis was a reprehensible act as it seeks to take advantage of the international community's focus on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic."



Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5 and bifurcating it into two Union territories.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Haiti - Security : Assassination of a member of CASEC of the 3rd section of Tiburon





In a note, Audain Fils Bernadel, the Minister of the Interior and of Local Authorities said he was dismayed by the tragic death of Brenord Dorismond, member of the Board of the 3rd Communal Section of Tiburon. He strongly condemns this barbaric act against Councilor Dorsimond assassinated with stabbing in the afternoon of April 5 in the locality of "Gran Bouchi".



According to the first information, the local elected official was killed in the exercise of his functions, while intervening in his capacity as municipal authority, in an altercation opposing residents of "Nan Sab" and the locality of "Gran Bouchi". At least one other person was reportedly injured in this incident



Minister Bernadel urges the judicial authorities to establish the share of responsibility of each actor in the context of this drama. The Departmental Delegation of the South and municipal officials from Tiburon are urged to play their full role in order to address the grievances of the groups present and to curb the development of this conflict without delay.



The Ministry offers its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the deceased. His condolences also extend to the National Federation of CASEC of Haiti (FENACAH), to the remaining members of the CASEC Cartel of the 3rd Communal Section of Tiburon and to all the constituents afflicted by this loss.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















In a bid to contain the spread of



coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh, the state government on Thursday issued an order making the use of masks mandatory for citizens while stepping out of their houses.

Violation of this will attract legal action, the order by the state Public Health Department said.

"The department has made it mandatory to wear face- masks while stepping out. Action will be taken against the violators under various laws, including the Madhya Pradesh Epidemic Disease COVID-19 Regulation-2020," it said.

The order said that in the absence of masks, people can use towel or dupattas to cover their faces.

Home-made masks or towels can be used again after washing, the order said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Here is what we know about the drug:

What is hydroxychloroquine?

Hydroxychloroquine is a prescription medicine that was approved decades ago to treat malaria. It is also used to treat autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It is sometimes referred to by its brand name, Plaquenil, and is closely related to chloroquine, which is also used to treat malaria.

Why has hydroxychloroquine been considered as a possible treatment for the coronavirus?

There are several reasons. A promising laboratory study, with cultured cells, found that chloroquine could block the coronavirus from invading cells, which it must do to replicate and cause illness. However, drugs that conquer viruses in test tubes or petri dishes do not always work in the human body, and studies of hydroxychloroquine have found that it failed to prevent or treat influenza and other viral illnesses.

Reports from doctors in China and France have said that hydroxychloroquine, sometimes combined with the antibiotic azithromycin, seemed to help patients. But those studies were small and did not use proper control groups  patients carefully selected to match those in the experimental group but who are not given the drug being tested. Research involving few patients and no controls cannot determine whether a drug works. And the French study has since been discredited: The scientific group that oversees the journal where it was published said the study did not meet its standards.

A study from China did include a control group and suggested that hydroxychloroquine might help patients with mild cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. But that study had limitations: It was also small, with a total of 62 patients, and they were given various other drugs as well as hydroxychloroquine. The doctors evaluating the results knew which patients were being treated, and that information could have influenced their judgment. Even if the findings hold up, they will apply only to people who are mildly ill. And the researchers themselves said more studies were needed.

Another reason the drug has been considered for coronavirus patients is that it can rein in an overactive immune system, which is why it is used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In some severe cases of Covid-19, the immune system seems to go into overdrive and cause inflammation that can damage the lungs and other organs. Doctors hope hydroxychloroquine might calm the condition, sometimes called a cytokine storm, but so far there is no proof that it has that effect.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said the UN Security Council should play a key role, working with national governments, in alleviating the worst effects of the coronavirus crisis, especially in lesser-developed countries. In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Power said the failure of a coordinated global response has compounded the disaster, and as long as the virus rages anywhere in the world none of us is safe. Power served as UN ambassador during the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama. Her book, The Education Of An Idealist, looks at the global response to the Ebola crisis during that period.
The February 1970 issue of Fortune magazine, published shortly before the first Earth Day. (Cover photographed by Dave Harp)

"We know that our high-technology society is handling our environment in a way that will be lethal for us. What we don't knowand had better make haste to testis whether a high-technology society can achieve a safe, durable and improving relationship with its environment."That statement haunts me, for it is timelybut written 50 years ago, in an extraordinary issue of Fortune magazine, a leading journal of American capitalism. Fortune's February 1970 issue, just before the first Earth Day that April, recognized a "national movement bursting with energy, indignation and new members." Environmentalism.We're 50 years out from Earth Day One now, and it's been 42 years since we began a study of Chesapeake Bay's systemic decline that led to today's way-unfinished business of restoring it.I recommend finding that old Fortune. It's a chuckle to read the slick ads of the time: A full page, gorgeous sunset silhouetting a bathing beauty on a beach, with text, WE DIG JAMAICA. It's an ad for Anaconda Aluminum, bragging about expanding its Caribbean ore pits. And a sweet union-buster ad from Virginia's government"Working is a privilege. Not a backache. I've worked in Virginia ever since Anne and I got married, and I've never been involved in anything like a strike." Also, the latest in fashion from "McCalls, the Magazine for Desirable Women."But the issue's text, in article after article on the environment, is anything but dated, even after half a century:The automobile is a "major menace" to the environment, from human health to suburban sprawl, to the quality of urban life. Public transit needs attention. Coal burning is going to make us sorry and unhealthy. Taxing pollution is worth considering. Sewage treatment plants had better start removing nitrogen and phosphorus that are sliming our waterways with algae. Agricultural runoff of the same nutrients is a well-recognized spoiler of Midwest waterways. Business leaders see a need for stronger federal leadership on pollution control. (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would soon be formed.) Pollution control was good for the economy if one looked beyond short-term profit.The issue featured side-by-side pro-environment statements from President Nixon and Edmund Muskie, who would author the powerful Clean Water Act of 1972 and run against Nixon. Nixon had been advised not to let Muskie "outgreen" him.Nixon would soon appoint a blue-ribbon Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, which would conclude that the U.S. population might stabilize around 226 million, and that would be a good thing. (It is at 326 million and climbing toward half a billion, and apparently that is now a good thing.)Coincidentally, plant geneticist Norman Borlaug in 1970 was awarded the Nobel Prize for the Green Revolution, which did a lot to feed the world's hungry.Those who tout his achievement as proof we can "invent" our way out of crises forget the caution of his Nobel acceptance speech: Higher-yielding crops had bought some breathing room, but unless agencies working on feeding us began to work with those trying to control population, we would not be sustainable.So you look back and you think, how did environmentalism not better deliver on such a promising beginning? How did we blow Chesapeake cleanup deadlines in 2000 and 2010 and quite likely in 2025?There was a lot of pushback by a lot of powerful and monied interests, from the fossil fuel industry to agriculture (the latter was mostly exempted from clean water laws). A politics that was bipartisan on environment has bitterly split now.President Trump, with his seemingly pathological need to repeal environmental protections, is the deserving bogeyman of the moment. But I'd be writing this column even with "President Hillary Clinton" in the White House.And there have been plenty of successes. Nationally, the air and water are cleaner. Around the Chesapeake, sewage pollution plummeted even as the population doubled. Crabs and rockfish are managed sustainably, and close to 10 million acres of the 41-million-acre Bay watershed is protected.Where we have succeeded, common ingredients include leadership, good science that translated into accountability, enforcement and adequate funding. Where these laggedwell, think oysters, shad, agriculture, Pennsylvania.Some days, I'm tempted to say we have about the environment we deserve, the Bay we deserve, though that sounds harsh.But we vastly favor cure over prevention, treating symptoms rather than dealing with root causes. Fortune in 1970 said pay more attention to the environmental impacts of new technologies and products before bringing them to market. Say it again, Sam.Similarly, it is considered enough to focus on the impacts of people already on the planet while ignoring and even encouraging population growth.Or is our problem rooted in capitalism itself? Looking back at the 1970s, the enthusiasm, the wide buy-in, the good economy, the passage of strong laws, you can understand why environmentalists believed they could get where they wanted by working within the system. Certainly, the editors of Fortune believed that devoutly.I think capitalism as now practiced in the United States, with its powerful "endless growth" bias and our outgunned environmental regulators, will not likely produce a healthy Chesapeake. I also think environmentalists are in denial about how radical a shift is needed to co-exist durably, safely, "improvingly" with the rest of natureand to embrace limits.So we go on, endeavoring earnestly to return a Bay with 18 million citizens back to something like the water quality and abundance it enjoyed with 8 million peopleeven as we push toward 24 million.In an essay some 40 years ago, called Saving the Bay, I wrote this: "Will we save the Bay? I know we will always be trying, but 'saving the bay' can become almost a state of grace, like tithing, allowing us to proceed comfortably with business as usual in the rest of our lives."I guess you could do worse. I still hope we can do better.
Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Mail-in voting is horrible. Its corrupt, declared President Trump earlier this week. When a reporter asked how he could reconcile that position with the fact that he had personally voted by mail in the last election, Trump replied, Because Im allowed to. This perfectly circular logic  if more voters were permitted to vote by mail, they would also be allowed to  seemed not to satisfy him. Trump has refined his view, explaining that casting a ballot by mail is fine for members of the military and senior citizens, but is ripe for fraud when used by others:

Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Trump is not even attempting to formulate a facially neutral principle. He is simply asserting that members of the military and senior citizens  constituencies that lean Republican  can be trusted not to commit voter fraud, but that constituencies that might vote Democratic cannot. He is willing to support accommodations to allow Republican-leaning voters to vote without risking their health, but refuses to support any such accommodations for Democrats. (Trump campaign officials already confirmed this to Politico  they will allow mail voting for senior citizens, but not others.) The travesty that was Tuesdays election in Wisconsin is his plan to win in November.

Its not clear if Democrats have fully grasped the gravity of what Trump and his party are attempting to do. The coronavirus poses a threat to elections in general, but a special threat to urban voters, who tend to face more crowded polling stations. Republicans are very willing to take active measures  like strict voter ID, or the poll tax Florida Republicans have tried to impose  but the virus makes active measures unnecessary. Republicans have calculated that the public-health threat of the virus will suppress the urban vote for them. All they have to do is block any changes to the election system and allow nature to run its course.

While Trumps justifications for this policy are the crudest and most transparent, he has plenty of support. The simplest way for Republicans to justify allowing a pandemic election is to hide behind proceduralism. National Reviews David Harsanyi explains that, if Wisconsins legislature refuses to provide safe voting options, it simply isnt a federal concern:

Many states have contingencies in place for emergencies. Wisconsin  while it had plenty of time to pass new guidelines  does not. Thats a Wisconsin problem, not a Supreme Court problem, not a democracy problem, and definitely not a federal problem. If Wisconsinites dont like their laws, if theyre disappointed in legislators, if theyre furious at the states high court, and theyre bothered by the governors ineptitude, there will be plenty of future elections to right those wrongs.

If Wisconsin voters want the chance to vote without risking death, they simply need to elect a new legislature that will provide those options. The Wisconsin legislature is itself gerrymandered so heavily that, even though Democrats won more votes in the 2018 statewide elections, Republicans controlled 63 of 99 seats. Wisconsins vote was a travesty because the minority-rule Republican legislature calculated that the travesty would benefit Republicans. Without the intervention of the Supreme Court or the federal government, legislatures in Wisconsin or elsewhere will continue blocking any measures to allow safe voting.

If the state most likely to determine the outcome of the election denies opposition-party voters the chance to safely vote, that is definitely a democracy problem. But Republicans will be able to justify it as necessary localism, allowing their state-level co-partisans to hold the whip hand, and declaring themselves helplessly bound by the principles of federalism.

Democrats have generally recognized that Trump has deep authoritarian ambitions. They have identified the tendency in his many Nixonian maneuvers to eliminate oversight and turn the justice system into a partisan weapon. But his most overt scheme to maintain power in the face of popular opposition is to use the pandemic to suppress the vote. This is the red-line moment when democracy might actually give way to authoritarianism.

The Democratic congressional leadership seems to believe it can continue dealing with the economic crisis as usual, handing over their leverage in small pieces and hopefully dealing with the election later. They would very much like to work to save the economy and leave the partisan spat of saving the election for later. What they seem not to realize is that, if they give Republicans the thing they most want now, there may not be a real election to save.
Graham Sawyer remembered with love

Tributes have been paid to Graham Sawyer, a much-loved former manager at the RSC, who died last week.

Graham, of St Gregorys Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, died on 31st March aged 76, at Myton Hospice after a long battle with cancer and after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Here his friend, Stewart McGill, consultant director at Playbox Theatre, pays tribute: When I was very young living in Bristol I was in bed with flu for two weeks and planned to be Artistic Director of the RSC. I wrote to the manager for some advice and programmes to read whilst Ill. A superb reply came from an assistant manager, Graham. We have remained friends ever since.

Graham was the perfect Theatre Manager at the RSC... he shunned new impersonal styles and ensured he was Front of House to meet, greet and say goodnight to his audiences. His familiar presence could be spotted in the auditorium giving the OK signal seconds before the house lights lowered.

Graham loved his RSC and theatre, opera ,art, musicals, indeed all art forms. After he left the RSC first the first time, we would meet up in London at the National Theatre lounge and gossip for hours. His knowledge was immense. His laughter infectious.

Only a few weeks ago we met for a final time in Stratford... we were planning for a Playbox to stage some of Julian Slades musical repertoire. It was shaping up to be cabaret and that will happen later in the year. My regret is that Graham wont be there to see it and hear those gorgeous numbers from his beloved Salad Days, Free As Air and more.

He was a true gentleman, arts connoisseur and friend to my family for so many years. I shall miss the laugh and the gossip.

Another friend, Michael Rolfe, the Stratford mayors consort, and TV and theatre director, recalled: Graham and I joined the Teddington Theatre Club in the early 60's and together won a drama prize at the Richmond Drama Festival. We have known each other and kept in touch ever since, especially in these last 30 years when we have both lived in Stratford. He will be much missed.

To read Graham Sawyers full obituary and other tributes, see this weeks edition of the Stratford Herald (digital and print).
The U.S. Agriculture Department will investigate why a surge in beef prices because of coronavirus hoarding did not translate into higher cattle prices for farmers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Wednesday.

The investigation adds scrutiny on the small group of meat companies like Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc that dominate U.S. beef processing.

"This is a good decision to address potentially unfair practices," Republican U.S. Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska said on Twitter.

The investigation will expand a probe the USDA launched into the beef market in August after a fire that shut a Tyson Foods plant in Holcomb, Kansas, sent beef prices soaring and tanked cattle prices. The agency has not released the results of the investigation that began last year.

Tyson Foods said it would cooperate with the USDA.

"During the current pandemic and following the fire at our Holcomb, Kansas, facility last August, we have taken steps to minimize the impact each situation had on our producers, production volume and our ability to cover customer needs," the company said in an emailed statement.

Cargill did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company said previously it had been a committed buyer in the cash market for cattle, to the benefit of farmers.

U.S. senators asked the Justice Department last month to investigate whether beef processors engaged in price-fixing during the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, an industry group, separately called for the USDA to work with the Justice Department to investigate whether "inappropriate influence occurred in the markets." The association also asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to assess speculation in CME Group Inc's cattle futures to determine whether they "remain a useful risk-management tool" for farmers.

"USDA's Packers and Stockyards Division will be extending our oversight to determine the causes of divergence between box and live beef prices, beginning with the Holcomb Fire in KS last summer and now with COVID-19," Perdue said on Twitter.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge loves animals.

When the 38-year-old comes across dogs, cats, or other animals in her role as a senior member of the British royal family, shes been known to really take to them. Ahead, check out eight sweet moments Catherine has shared with animals.

Shes fed multiple baby animals

During a royal tour of India and Bhutan in 2016, Catherine (and her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge) got the opportunity to feed wildlife at a rehabilitation and conservation center.

She fed a baby elephant and took to it like a pro.

Kate Middleton feeding a baby elephant | Arthur Edwards  Pool/Getty Images

If that wasnt enough, the Duchess of Cambridge got to repeat the adorable experience once again with a baby rhino.

Kate Middleton feeding a baby rhino | Samir Hussein/Pool/WireImage

On another occasion in 2017, Catherine bottle-fed a lamb.

Kate Middleton and a lamb | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Kate Middleton loves dogs

Fitting right in with the rest of the royal family, Catherine really likes dogs. When she and William, Duke of Cambridge were still only dating, she showed up to a polo match with a dog. See her standing with Harry, Duke of Sussexs then-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, and the adorable canine, below.

Kate Middleton and Chelsy Davy at a polo match | Indigo/Getty Images

Catherine and William got a dog of their own, Lupo, who remains a treasured part of their family. An English Cocker Spaniel, Lupos breed is a departure from Queen Elizabeth IIs known affinity for Corgis. Below, see Catherine and a very well behaved Lupo at a polo match in 2012.

Kate Middleton and Lupo | Indigo/Getty Images

The adorable dog has even made appearances in Cambridge family photos. Royal watchers might remember William and Catherines oldest son, Prince George of Cambridge, offering Lupo ice cream in a portrait released in honor of the young royals birthday.

Just because the royal family is known for being made up of dog people, that doesnt mean cats dont get some love too. In 2016, Catherine attended the premiere of the movie, A Street Cat Named Bob, where she sported an ear-to-ear grin while meeting Bob the cat.

Kate Middleton and a cat | Richard Pohle  WPA Pool/Getty Images

She visited a farm to promote her survey on children

As part of her tour of the U.K. to promote her 5 Big Questions on the Under-Fives survey, Catherine made a visit to Ark Open Farm on Feb. 12, 2020, where she encountered a number of animals.

She met an Alpaca and, judging by her face in this photo, really enjoyed the experience.

Kate Middleton and an Alpaca | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

On the same visit, she got up close with a snake.

Kate Middleton and a snake| LIAM MCBURNEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

She looked much more relaxed compared to a similar situation William had with a much larger snake during a 2010 visit to Africa with Harry.

Clearly, Catherine has come across all kinds of animals in her life and shes very fond of them. Whenever she meets animals in her role as the Duchess of Cambridge she appears relaxed and right at home. Heres hoping well see more photos of Catherine with animals in the future!
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) ("PSH") today announced that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's Public Shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Trading Venue: London Stock Exchange Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 9 April 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 29,096 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,526 pence 19.01 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,526 pence 19.01 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,526 pence 19.01 USD

PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 28.35 USD 22.97 GBP which was calculated as of 7 April 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 200,089,883 Public Shares outstanding, or 205,824,141 Public Shares calculated on a fully diluted basis (assuming that all Management Shares had been converted into Public Shares at the Relevant NAV). Excluded from the shares outstanding are 10,866,867 Public Shares held in Treasury. The prices per Public Share were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the one special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) have not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005766/en/

Contacts:

Media

Camarco

Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk
Millions of hidden home-based garment workers in India who help prop up the global fashion industry risk missing out on aid during the coronavirus pandemic, labour rights campaigners said.

From cutting sleeves and stitching shoes to putting the finishing touches on clothes, home workers are increasingly being used by factories to sub-contract work but have no right to a minimum wage, social security or healthcare from employers.

Lacking proof of employment, home workers could struggle to access support pledged for the countrys poorest during its 21-day COVID-19 lockdown, according to two workers rights groups.

India - which has about 4,070 confirmed cases and at least 107 deaths - has pledged a $23 billion stimulus to provide food and cash to millions of its poorest citizens, along with $4 billion drawn from a welfare fund for construction workers.

It has also asked companies not to fire workers or cut pay.

Home workers are last in line to benefit from any help being provided by brands, manufacturers or governments, said Janhavi Dave, international coordinator for HomeNet South Asia, a network of home-based worker organisations.

There is no focus on them in this crisis and they remain hidden, she added. The sense of fear ... among the workers ... has been growing. Many have not been paid since February and they are not expecting work for at least six more months.

Indias garment sector employs at least 12 million people in factories, but millions more work from home - mostly women and girls from minority or marginalised communities - according to a 2019 study by the University of California.

About 85% of home workers exclusively work in supply chains that export to the United States and European Union, it found.

HOMEWORKERS LEFT IN LIMBO

Indias garment factories closed suddenly last month after the government announced a lockdown to run until Apr. 14, and officials have hinted at an extension until the end of April.

Home worker Anitha Nandakumar has been calling her factory agent every other day to find out when she will be paid for the work she completed in February stitching leather shoe uppers.

Initially, he answered and told me to wait, Nandakuamr said by phone from her home in Ambur, a town in southern Tamil Nadu state where home working is particularly prevalent.

Now he has stopped taking the calls.

Despite the poor pay and long hours, several women said they had seen little choice but to work from home as their familal responsibilities meant they were unable to travel to a factory.

For those who were widowed or had a sick husband, the work provided the familys only source of income, said Sonia Wazed, head of programme for the Society for Labour and Development.

In this situation, homeworkers are not a priority for brands or manufacturers, who may only try and sustain factory workers. The rules for aid need to be relaxed to include them.

The central labour ministry was not available for comment but a senior official last year said exploitation of home garment workers was rampant and that the government planned to provide them with benefits and assistance by the end of 2019.

Yet such aid has yet to materialise, leaving home workers like 18-year-old Indumathi Rangasamy in a struggle to survive.

The mother-of-one was awaiting a payment of 1,000 rupees ($13) and fresh work when the virus struck, and does not even have a ration card to receive free groceries from the state.

I cant even take an advance (on wages) because I am not a factory worker, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from her home in Tirupur, a garment manufacturing hub in south India.

I am unable to feed my child properly, she added. If this continues, we will not be able to live.

(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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- Kilifi deputy governor Gideon Saburi was forced into quarantine after he tested positive for COVID-19

- The county leader was discharged from hospital on Friday, April 3, after he recovered but was arrested later on for failing to self-quarantine

- Saburi appeared in court and denied charges of exposing himself to the public and failing to self-quarantine as per the government directive

- His lawyer argued the deputy governor had not tested positive for the virus and there was no evidence tabled by the prosecutor to show he had suffered from COVID-19

Kilifi deputy governor Gideon Saburi's lawyer has added a new twist to the ongoing case against the county leader after telling the court his client never tested positive for the dreaded COVID-19.

Saburi was arrested on Friday, April 3, for failing to self-quarantine after coming back from Germany in early March 2020.

READ ALSO: Comedian Eric Omondi leaves fans in stitches after mimicking Health CS Mutahi Kagwe

Kilifi deputy governor Gideon Saburi when he appeared in court on Monday, April 6. Photo: Citizen TV

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Kenyans call out William Ruto for repeating Uhuru, CS Kagwe's updates in his speech over pandemic

Appearing before magistrate Rita Amwayi, Saburi was charged that on diverse dates between March 6 and March 22, 2020, while suffering from COVID-19, he willfully and unlawfully exposed himself in public without taking any precautions.

Saburi pleaded not guilty to the charges.

His lawyer, George Kithi, told the court the suspect was tested on March 23 and 26 and tested negative for the coronavirus and there was no evidence that the DG ever tested positive for the disease.

We do not have evidence that the suspect ever contracted the disease or infected anyone, Kithi told the court.

READ ALSO: Raila Odinga to donate KSh 15 million worth of food to Kibra residents

The court noted that the prosecution had not presented evidence showing that Saburi had tested positive for COVID-19 or had travelled to a coronavirus affected country and directed to go on self quarantine.

The prosecution wanted him to be detained at Manyani Maximum Prison but the request was turned down on grounds that he would pose a health risk to the inmates.

Instead, magistrate Amwayi directed that Saburi be detained at Porte Police Station until April 15 when the court is expected to rule on his bail application.

On Thursday, April 2, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said Saburi had recovered after spending over 3 weeks in quarantine. Photo: Ministry of Health

Source: Depositphotos

READ ALSO: Local manufacturer donates comfortable mattresses to coronavirus patients in isolation

The court also directed the Ministry of Health to avail test results to prove the county leader was indeed diagnosed with COVID-19.

On Sunday, March 22, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said Saburi had tested positive and was taken into quarantine as he received medical attention.

On Thursday, April 2, Kagwe said the deputy governor had recovered and was released on Friday from Coast General Hospital where he had been admitted before he was arrested outside the facility.

Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Follow us on Telegram: Tuko news

Source: TUKO.co.ke
It remains to be seen how many of their aims this coalition can achieve. City and state leaders are trying to triage while responding to the economic and health fallout from the disease, and broader policy changes such as an end to the state ban on rent control will be difficult to pull off in this climate.
The Central Reserve Police Force is all geared to 'fight the invisible and invasive enemy' in the form of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the chief of the force said on Thursday.

In a communication to his troops on the occasion of the 'Valour day' of the force, CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari asked them to be strong and fit for serving the country during these tough times.

"Dear friends, when going gets tough, the tough gets going. Toughness is our trademark..."

"Today, the entire nation is facing a tough time due to COVID-19. I am happy that being tough yourself, you all have geared up to help people fight the invisible and invasive enemy," he said.

The DG said 'all programmes related to the day are for the time being suspended' in view of the viral outbreak.

"However, we in our thoughts and ethos uphold the dignity of the day," he said.

It was on April 9,1965 at Sardar Post in Gujarat that only two companies of CRPF heroes proved tough enough for a full brigade of Pakistani army, making them bite the dust, Maheshwari said.

"We are and will always be proud of their valour and sacrifice for the motherland," he said.

President Ram Nath Kovind said the CRPF men, who were killed in action, wrote a 'golden history' on this day with their extraordinary bravery, patriotism and sacrifice.

He also paid his tributes to the martyrs in a message issued over Twitter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded the bravery of the force.

'The courage of @crpfindia is widely known. On CRPF Valour Day today, I salute this brave force and remember the bravery of our CRPF personnel in Gujarat's Sardar Patel Post in 1965. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten,' the PM tweeted.

Union home minister Amit Shah wished the force, saying a small contingent of the force created history by defeating the invading enemy army that was several times larger than them.

'Congratulations to everyone and salute to our brave martyrs of CRPF. 'Shaurya divas' is a symbol of indomitable courage, valour and sacrifice,' Shah said on Twitter.

The fight-back by the force, which was posted for border guarding duties that time, is mentioned as one of the glorious chapters in military history of the nation when only two companies (about 150 personnel) of the force stood their ground and repulsed the Pakistani attack.

The force was tasked to secure Sardar post seeing the aggressive posturing of the other side and the location was at a flat area which was tactically disadvantageous.

On the intervening night of 8-9 April (1965), 3,500 men of 51st Infantry Brigade of Pakistan and comprising 18 Punjab battalion, 8 Frontier Rifles and 6 Baluch battalion stealthily launched simultaneous assault on the Sardar and Tak Posts under an operation codenamed 'Desert Hawk'.

The fight lasted 12 hours during which the enemy made three attempts to overrun the post but was repulsed with heavy casualties by some dare-devil action by the paramilitary men.

The retaliation by the CRPF men saw the numerically and armament superior Pakistan retreating the areas and leaving behind 34 bodies of their soldiers including two officers.

Four Pakistani soldiers were taken as hostages while six CRPF men made the supreme sacrifice and the post was saved.

The about 3.25 lakh personnel strong force remembers its martyrs by observing 'Valour day; on April 9 every year.
Gabriel Matzneff never tried to hide what he was. And why should he? In Frances highbrow intellectual circles, sexual deviancy has always tended to be something that right-thinking liberals celebrate.

The writer and philosopher, now 83, was therefore elevated to fame in 1974 when he published a highbrow defence of child sex called Les Moins De Seize Ans [The Under Sixteens] which argued that sleeping with a girl or a boy is a  baptismal challenge, a sacred adventure.

His book was widely admired in literary Paris, where it was then fashionable to regard paedophiles as a sort of oppressed minority, seeking to rebel against traditional middle-class values.

Matzneff became a regular on TV, as a studio guest on a famous arts programme and was granted a column in newspaper Le Monde.

Gabriel Matzneff, 83, who wrote openly defending child sex in is break-through book in 1974, was once the toast of Paris. He appeared on television shows and even had a newspaper column. His views were not only accepted by celebrated by some, until attitudes shifted

One of Matzneff's accusers, British journalist Francesca Gee, now 62, sits at a cafe in Paris where she used to go with him

He signed lucrative book deals with prestigious publishers Gallimard and built friendships with a host of establishment figures, from designer Yves Saint Laurent to the future President Francois Mitterrand, who declared him a hedonist inspiration. The nations great and good continued to celebrate this self-confessed paedophile after the publication in 1985 of his explicit diaries Un Galop dEnfer [A Hellish Gallop], in which he not only spoke of seducing young schoolgirls but also recalled regular visits to child prostitutes in the Philippines. On these trips, he wrote: Sometimes, Ill have as many as four boys, from eight to 14 years old, in my bed at the same time.

Far from being chucked in jail, this candid admission saw Matzneff likened by the countrys intellectual elite to Vladimir Nabokov, the author of Lolita. He was garlanded with major state honours, becoming an Officer of Arts and Letters and Knight of the Order of National Merit.

On a highbrow talkshow in the 1990s, the studio audience chuckled warmly as host Bernard Pivot joked with balding Matzneff about his fondness for child sex, dubbing him a veritable professor of sexual education.

Mr Pivot is a former president of the Academie Goncourt, one of Frances most famous literary institutions.

In 2002, Matzneff was given a valuable lifetime stipend  in effect an annual salary  from the National Book Centre, for his services to Gallic culture. As recently as 2013, he was presented with the Renaudot Prize, one of the countrys most prestigious literary awards.

Were it not for the pesky #MeToo movement, which in France is called #Balance TonPorc [denounce your pig], there is every chance this elderly man of letters would now be spending his teatime years in genteel retirement, still writing for eminent journals and accepting invitation to highbrow literary events.

But the wheels of justice have an unfortunate habit of turning when you least expect it.

Today, Matzneff belatedly finds himself shunned by the French establishment, under police investigation for child rape and facing trial next year for promoting sex crimes.

This recent development comes thanks principally to the bravery of two women who, after decades of silence, have come forward to publicly claim appalling abuse they say they suffered as teenagers at the hands of the respected intellectual  explaining how, far from being harmless love affairs, the relationships scarred them for life.

One is Francesca Gee, a 62-year-old British journalist who has just identified herself as the subject of La Passion Francesca, a notorious book in which Matzneff chronicled their exploitative relationship.

Gee told the New York Times how Matzneff, 37 at the time, seduced her in the early 1970s, when she was 15, and went on to abuse her for three years. She described the experience as a cataclysm that shattered me and that changed the course of my life, telling how she was left ashamed, bitter and confused.

The second whistleblower is Vanessa Springora, the 47-year-old head of a French publishing house. In January, she published a memoir called Consent, in which she alleges she was groomed and abused by Matzneff, who was then 50, from the age of 14.

This man was no good, she wrote. He was, in fact, what we are taught to fear from childhood: an ogre.

Their claims have raised serious questions about the perverse cultural elitism that for decades has seen Frances intellectual establishment tolerate, and even promote abusive sexual practices, provided the perpetrator can come up with a suitably fashionable philosophical justification for them.

They have also raised serious questions about the moral compass of the nations chattering class.

Gee, for example, told how Matzneff was able to charm her late father, a Paris-based Reuters journalist called Jack Gee (who often attended highbrow dinner parties with the writer and was desperate to be seen as a friend of his), into approving of the relationship.

He then pulled political strings to have her transferred to a high school near his home called the Lycee Montaigne, where he would meet her daily outside the school gates.

He came every day to make sure that everyone understood that no one was supposed to try anything with me, she recalled. It was a very specific place where he was just standing there waiting for me.

Scandalously, Matzneff found a gynaecologist called Dr Michele Barzach who would prescribe contraceptive pills to his teenage lover without parental authorisation, a practice that was then illegal.

Gee said she saw Dr Barzach a half-dozen times over three years. He calls her and makes an appointment, and we go, she recalled. Hes in the waiting room while Im with her. And then he comes in, and they talk and he pays her.

Dr Barzach, who was also a psychoanalyst, happens to have been Frances health minister from 1986 to 1988 under Matzneffs chum Francois Mitterrand. Astonishingly, from 2012 to 2015, she was French head of UNICEF, the UNs child protection agency. She has yet to comment on Gees claims.

Gee says she suffered further torment when Matzneff chose to publish love letters shed sent him some of which were sexually explicit  in a book called Les Passions Schismatiques, in which he argued they were evidence that a relationship of love between an adult and a child could be for the latter extremely rich, and the source of a fullness of life.

His publishing house Gallimard even refused Gees requests to remove a black-and-white photograph of her from the cover of his novel Ivre du Vin Perdu (Drunk On Lost Wine).

These evil books  theres no other way to describe them  for years helped provide intellectual cover for predatory men to abuse prepubescent children.

Matzneff, pictured here in 1990, is now facing allegations from two women, has been shunned by the French establishment, is under police investigation for child rape and facing trial next year for promoting sex crimes

Although the age of consent in France is 15, prosecutions were rarely pursued against men who had sex with under-age girls, particularly when the perpetrators were well connected.

Springoras recent book, meanwhile, tells that she initially met 50-year-old Matzneff after her mother, who worked in publishing, dragged her to a dinner party. Soon, he was meeting her after school and taking her for sex at a hotel where he kept permanent rooms.

At 14, youre not supposed to find a 50-year-old man waiting for you at the school gate, youre not supposed to live in a hotel with him or find yourself in his bed, she wrote.

The hotel room, which Matzneff kept for two straight years, turns out to have been paid for by one Christophe Girard, who was then working as an aide to designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge. Mr Girard is now the powerful deputy mayor of Paris. Asked why, for years, he helped a child sex offender carry out his abuse, he told reporters hed never realised that his chum was a practising paedophile, despite the contents of his various books.

Maybe Im a little naive, he declared. He told the New York Times he paid the hotel bills because he was acting as an intermediary for Berge.

Be that as it may, Girard has nonetheless been questioned by police, who, following the publication of Springoras book in January, launched a formal investigation, raiding his publishers offices and home.

Although the statute of limitations has run out for Matzneff to be charged with sexually abusing Springora, Pariss public prosecutor has asked for other potential victims and witnesses from more recent times to come forward.

In a separate private prosecution, brought by a victims network organisation, a Paris court has set a trial date in September on allegations that Matzneffs work is an apology for paedophilia. Gallimard have withdrawn the books from sale.

The man himself, meanwhile, high-tailed it to Italy, where he was recently tracked down by a French TV crew. In an interview, Matzneff described his relationship with the underage Springora as a love affair, saying: We were happy together. I have marvellous memories. We lived a lasting and marvellous love story At that time, nobody thought of the law. We did things that werent allowed ... nobody spoke of a crime at that time.

Though hes now something of a social pariah, Matzneff still boasts the odd friend in high places.

In court, hes being represented by a lawyer and longstanding supporter called Emmanuel Pierrat, who is also president of the French branch of PEN, a charity that campaigns for free speech on behalf of writers. Its sister organisation in the UK, also called PEN, boasts a host of British literary titans as honorary vice presidents.

There can be no suggestion that any of these people condoned Matzneffs behaviour, of course.

Whatever the outcome of his case, there are signs that laffaire Matzneff may finally herald a long-overdue shift in French attitudes to the exploitation of children, which (as his career demonstrates) have historically been appallingly relaxed.

For years, France has for example refused to extradite the film director Roman Polanski to the U. S., where hes been wanted since 1978 after doing a runner having pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

As recently as January, his film An Officer And A Spy was nominated for 12 Cesars, the French Oscars.

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the man tipped as Frances next president, was arrested in New York and charged with sexual assault and attempted rape of a hotel maid in 2011, public figures queued up to defend him, with one eminent magazine editor saying he was guilty of nothing more than un troussage de domestique, the practice of a master having his way with a domestic servant.

(Criminal charges were eventually dropped, though Strauss-Kahn settled a civil case against the woman for around $1.5million.)

As recently as 2018, when the #MeToo scandal broke, a hundred French women, including actress Catherine Deneuve, signed an open letter defending mens freedom to bother women, which they argued was indispensable to sexual freedom.

Sexual freedom was of course one of the ways Matzneff for decades sought to justify his abuse. But the women he bothered are now striking back.
Regulatory News:

Seche Environnement (Paris:SCHP):

In light of the COVID-19 epidemic and the administrative measures prohibiting mass gatherings for health reasons, the conditions under which the Combined Annual General Meeting of April 30, 2020 is being held and shareholders are participating have changed.

In accordance with Article 4 of French government order #2020-321 of March 25, 2020, the Board of Directors has decided to hold this Annual General Meeting without the shareholders or other eligible attendees being present, whether physically or by teleconferencing or videoconferencing.

This Combined Annual General Meeting will be held in a closed-door session on April 30, 2020 at 10 a.m. The prior notice for the Annual General Meeting, including the Meeting's agenda, the text of resolutions submitted for the Meeting's approval, and the Meeting's primary participation and voting conditions, was published on March 23, 2020 in the Bulletin of Mandatory Legal Announcements (BALO). The letter of invitation will be published on April 10, 2020 in the BALO and in a legal announcements newspaper. Those letters can be viewed on the company's website: www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting.

Given that shareholders are unable to attend and be physically represented at the Meeting, they may only vote or grant proxy to the Chair by mail, using the form provided for that purpose. This form can be downloaded from the company's website (www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting).

These voting conditions, which are detailed in the appendix, replace those which appear in the aforementioned letter of invitation.

As a general matter, it is wise to regularly check the Annual General Meeting section at the website: www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting.

Appendix: Conditions for participating in the Combined Annual General Meeting of April 30, 2020

The meeting is composed of all shareholders no matter how many shares they own.

Shareholders who wish to vote remotely or grant proxy to the Chair of the meeting must demonstrate that their shares are registered in their own name or that of the intermediary registered on their behalf on the second business day prior to the meeting, namely April 28, 2020, at midnight Paris time:

either in the registered accounts held by the company,

or in the registered bearer accounts held by the qualified intermediary.

Warning: New method for handling abstentions

Law #2019-744 of July 19, 2019 amended the rules that apply to calculating votes cast in General Meetings of shareholders: Whereas abstentions had previously been considered "no" votes, at the next meeting, they will be excluded from the votes cast and therefore will no longer be taken into account when calculating the majority required to adopt resolutions. As a result, the paper and electronic remote voting forms have been amended in order to enable shareholders to separately cast a "no" vote or an abstention on each resolution submitted to the meeting.

Special conditions for holding the Annual General Meeting during the health crisis

In accordance with Article 4 of French government order #2020-321 of March 25, 2020 issued under the authority granted by the COVID-19 pandemic emergency response law #2020-290 of March 23, 2020, the company's Combined Annual General Meeting on April 30, 2020, based on a decision by the Board of Directors, will be held without the shareholders and other eligible attendees being present, whether physically or by teleconferencing or videoconferencing.

Consequently, the shareholders will not be able to attend the meeting physically, nor be physically represented by another person.

Shareholders may vote or grant proxy to the Chair by sending in the voting form provided for that purpose. These remote voting methods provided to the shareholders are now the only ones permitted.

The sole mail-in voting or Chair proxy form will be online at the company's website at www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting as of the twenty-first day prior to the meeting.

Shareholders of bearer securities can request the form by sending a letter to the intermediary with whom their shares are registered, at any point following the date when the meeting was called. That letter must arrive at CACEIS Corporate Trust Service Assemblees Generales Centralisees 14 rue Rouget de Lisle 92862 Issy-les-Moulineaux Cedex 9, no later than six (6) days before that meeting is to be held.

The remote proxy and voting forms are automatically sent to shareholders with pure or administered registered shares by regular mail.

In order to be counted, the sole remote voting or Chair proxy form, which for shareholders of bearer securities must be accompanied by their participation certificate, must be received by mail at CACEIS Corporate Trust Service Assemblees Generales Centralisees 14 rue Rouget de Lisle 92862 Issy-les-Moulineaux Cedex 9, or by e-mail, stating the name of the company and the date of the meeting in the subject line, to the address ct-assemblees@caceis.com, no later than three (3) days before the meeting, i.e. no later than April 27, 2020.

Shareholders' right of communication

The Meeting preparatory documents set out in article R. 225-73-1 of the French Commercial Code will be online on the company website www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting as of the twenty-first day prior to the meeting.

It is specified that all of the meeting documents set out in particular in articles L. 225-115 and R. 225-83 of the French Code of Commerce are also on the company website www.groupe-seche.com/en/investors/meeting or upon request sent to CACEIS Corporate Trust.

Written questions

In accordance with article R. 225-84 of the French Commercial Code, any shareholder can send the Chair of the company's Board of Directors written questions until the special deadline of Monday, April 27, 2020 at 8 p.m. This period has been extended in light of the present circumstances. Those written questions must be sent, preferably electronically, to the following address: actionnaires@groupe-seche.com (or by recorded delivery letter sent to the head office). They must be accompanied by a registered shares certificate.

Calendar

Revenue at March 31, 2020 April 28, 2020 after market close

About Seche Environnement

Seche Environnement is one of France's leading players in the recovery and treatment of all types of waste, from both industry and local communities.

Seche Environnement is the leading independent operator in France. It is uniquely positioned as a specialist in highly complex waste, operating within regulated waste recovery and treatment markets with high barriers to entry, and develops cutting edge hazardous and non-hazardous waste recovery and treatment solutions.

Its facilities and expertise enable it to provide high value-added solutions to its industrial and public authority clients, targeting the challenges of the circular economy and sustainable development requirements, such as:

material or energy recovery from hazardous and non-hazardous waste;

a comprehensive range of treatment solutions for solid, liquid and gaseous waste (thermal, physical-chemical and radiation treatment, etc.);

the storage of final hazardous and non-hazardous waste;

eco-services such as decontamination, decommissioning, asbestos removal and rehabilitation;

the global management of environmental services under outsourcing agreements.

Leveraging its extensive expertise, Seche Environnement operates in more than 15 countries around the world and is developing rapidly internationally through organic growth and acquisitions. Already operating in Europe (Spain and Germany, and now Italy) Seche Environnement has recently taken a leading position in Latin America (Peru and Chile) and in South Africa.

The Group currently employs around 4,500 people worldwide (including about 2,000 in France).

Seche Environnement has been listed on Eurolist by Euronext (Compartment B) since November 27, 1997.

It is eligible for equity savings funds dedicated to investing in SMEs and is listed in the CAC Mid&Small and Enternext PEA-PME 150 indexes.

Important notice

This press release may contain information of a provisional nature. This information represents either trends or targets as of the date of publication of the press release and may not be considered as results forecasts or as any other type of performance indicator. This information is by nature subject to risks and uncertainties which are difficult to foresee and are usually beyond the Company's control, which may imply that expected results and developments differ significantly from announced trends and targets. These risks notably include those described in the Company's Registration Document, which is available on its website (www.groupe-seche.com). This information therefore does not reflect the Company's future performance, which may differ considerably, and no guarantee can be given as to the achievement of these forward-looking figures. The Company makes no commitment on the updating of this information. More detailed information on the Company can be obtained on its website (www.groupe-seche.com), in the Regulated Information section. This press release does not constitute an offer of shares or a solicitation in view of an offer of shares in any country, including the United States. Distribution of this press release may be subject to the laws and regulations in force in France or other countries. Persons in possession of this press release must be aware of these restrictions and observe them.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005289/en/

Contacts:

Seche Environnement

Manuel Andersen

Head of Investor Relations

+33 (0)1 53 21 53 60

m.andersen@groupe-seche.com
(Newser)  With hospitals around the country desperately short of ventilators as the COVID-19 crisis intensifies, some doctors are calling for a rethink of how they are used, arguing that a new disease might require a new approach. Skeptics, who note that studies show more than half of coronavirus patients placed on ventilators do not survive, fear they may be doing more harm than good for some patients, Yahoo News reports. Officials in New York City say up to 80% of COVID-19 patients placed on machines died. Doctors say that with ventilators in short supply, they are trying new treatments to keep patients off ventilators for as long as possible, including less invasive nose tubes and placing patients in different positions to aid breathing. More:

Ventilation "is not benign." Mechanical ventilation, which forces oxygen into a patient's lungs after they are sedated, can damage lung sacs over time. Some doctors believe it can also trigger a dangerous immune system reaction. "We know that mechanical ventilation is not benign," Dr. Eddy Fan, an expert on respiratory treatment at Toronto General Hospital, tells the AP. One of the most important findings in the last few decades is that medical ventilation can worsen lung injuryso we have to be careful how we use it."

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A "baffling observation." STAT reports that doctors have made the "baffling observation" that some COVID-19 patients have blood levels so low "they should be dead" but are now showing other symptoms associated with respiratory distress. Doctors say this suggests some patients are being placed on ventilators too early because of protocols developed for other illnesses. But "its hard to switch tracks when the train is going a million miles an hour, said New York City critical care physician Cameron Kyle-Sidell.

STAT reports that doctors have made the "baffling observation" that some COVID-19 patients have blood levels so low "they should be dead" but are now showing other symptoms associated with respiratory distress. Doctors say this suggests some patients are being placed on ventilators too early because of protocols developed for other illnesses. But "its hard to switch tracks when the train is going a million miles an hour, said New York City critical care physician Cameron Kyle-Sidell. Long-term effects . Doctors are warning that even those who survive after spending a long time on ventilators are likely to suffer lingering effects including muscle atrophy and cognitive decline, Science reports. "As we learn the faces of the disease, were seeing our practices shift, says C. Terri Hough, a pulmonary critical care physician at the University of Washington, Seattle. If were putting more people on ventilators than maybe we need to, that certainly is going to affect the population health after recovery.

. Doctors are warning that even those who survive after spending a long time on ventilators are likely to suffer lingering effects including muscle atrophy and cognitive decline, Science reports. "As we learn the faces of the disease, were seeing our practices shift, says C. Terri Hough, a pulmonary critical care physician at the University of Washington, Seattle. If were putting more people on ventilators than maybe we need to, that certainly is going to affect the population health after recovery. Rapid declines . Doctors have limited time to make decisions about placing patients on ventilators because of what some call the "insane" speed at which some patients decline, reports Reuters. Patients with strong oxygen levels can end up on ventilators within hours because of a "cytokine storm" caused by an immune system overreaction to the virus. "The scary thing is there are no rules to it," says a resident emergency doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He says doctors have resorted to using unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine. "We're throwing the kitchen sink at these patients," he says.

. Doctors have limited time to make decisions about placing patients on ventilators because of what some call the "insane" speed at which some patients decline, reports Reuters. Patients with strong oxygen levels can end up on ventilators within hours because of a "cytokine storm" caused by an immune system overreaction to the virus. "The scary thing is there are no rules to it," says a resident emergency doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He says doctors have resorted to using unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine. "We're throwing the kitchen sink at these patients," he says. Sometimes, there is no alternative. Doctors are experimenting with less invasive alternatives like the masks sometimes used for sleep apnea, but with some seriously ill patients, ventilators are their only chance of survival. Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, says the acute respiratory distress seen in some COVID-19 patients is "uniformly fatal" without mechanical intubation. "Doctors are on the front lines to save lives, not to allow patients to suffer a horrible death," she tells USA Today. "A death that comes via slow painful suffocation for minutes, hours, perhaps days."

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
A man has his temperature taken at a quarantine checkpoint in My Loc District, northern Nam inh Province.  VNA/VNS Photo Van at

HA NOI  Despite early, drastic measures to prevent COVID-19 from further spreading, community transmission had fueled the spread of the disease, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said on Wednesday, urging the whole system to remain on alert.

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), as of Wednesday morning, 156 of 251 infections recorded nationwide had been imported cases, accounting for 62.6 per cent. The remaining 95 people contracted the disease from other patients in Viet Nam.

The national steering committee for COVID-19 control and prevention urged localities to keep a close watch on the disease, strengthen management over patients showing symptoms similar to COVID-19, and come up with solutions to trace people who had contact with carriers.

The committee said it would keep a tight control on the outbreak using a strategy of preventing, reporting, isolating, zoning and containing, especially with more infections expected in the coming days.

Tran ac Phu, former head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, said the source of infection remained unclear for cases 243, 247 and 251.

The 243rd patient, a 47-year-old Vietnamese man from Me Linh Commune, Me Linh District in Ha Noi, took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day, but might not have contracted the disease at the hospital. Phu said his test results showed he had just recently contracted the virus. The patient was reported to have visited different places before testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.

It is important we identify the sources of infection. However, in the case of community transmission, the priority is to implement quarantining, zoning and containing to prevent the disease from spreading, Phu warned.

He also stressed that social distancing was an essential solution to stop small community outbreaks.

Nguyen Van Son, deputy minister of public security, said the police would continue working closely with the healthcare sector to trace people in contact with COVID-19 patients.

After a week of nationalwide social distancing since Prime Minister's order, people had started to go out again, he said.

Participants shared the view that although Viet Nam has introduced strong measures, COVID-19 continues to spread in the community, as before midnight on March 22, when the entry of foreigners into the country was suspended, hundreds of thousands of people, including many from coronavirus-hit nations, had already entered the country.

Deputy Health Minister o Xuan Tuyen asked to expand the list of people to be screened, including foreigners staying at hotels, expat communities, Vietnamese nationals working with foreigners who had been to epicentres, and foreign tourists.

The percentage of recoveries compared to infections had exceeded 50 per cent, said Luong Ngoc Khue, head of MoHs Department of Medical Examination and Treatment.

Our current priority is to develop and complete the most efficient treatment regime to prevent patients with mild infections from becoming severely ill, while minimising deaths, he said.

Khue also urged medical facilities to upgrade mechanisms to protect their patients, staff and communities from the risk of infection.

Four more patients with COVID-19 had recovered and been discharged from two treatment facilities in the south as of Wednesday morning, lifting the countrys total number of recoveries to 126.  VNS




In France, a strong belief that the French would culturally reject the practice  and confidence that masks could be imported quickly if needed  has contributed to a desperate shortage. In the past decade, Frances formidable national stockpile of masks shrank from 1.7 billion to 150 million at the outset of the current pandemic.

The debate over the simple face mask has sometimes evolved into a larger discussion over the role of the individual in society, pitting the Wests individualism against Asias collectivism.

President Trump appeared to embody that ambivalence when, even as he announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now endorsed widespread mask-wearing, he said he would not wear one himself.

Frederic Keck, a French anthropologist specializing in pandemics, said that, in the West, mask-wearing was seen through an individuals perspective.

Theres a virus outside, so I wear a mask only to protect myself, Mr. Keck said, whereas collective reasoning, in Asian societies, is to say, I wear a mask to protect others.

The difference in mind-set is a crucial one given the nature of all but the highest-grade masks: Masks are believed to have some effectiveness at protecting the wearer, especially in crowded spaces, but are most effective at reducing the risks that the virus will be spread through coughing or talking.
Conservative lobby group the US Chamber of Commerce will reportedly back a primary challenger to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In a proactive move against the freshman New York congresswoman, the Chamber will support former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, according to reports on Wednesday.

The US Chamber of Commerce usually supports business-aligned Republican candidates. Representing more than 3 million businesses, it is one of the worlds largest business organisations advocating for pro-business policies including tax relief, legal reform and trade promotion.

Ms Caruso-Cabreras campaign has reportedly raised $1m for her challenge against the progressive squad member. The campaign is expected to report having $800,000 in cash plus expenses for the first quarter when it officially files financial disclosures with the Federal Elections Commission on April 15.

A spokeswoman for Ms Caruso-Cabreras campaign told The Independent that the strong support was no surprise.

The Bronx and Queens need jobs now. Michelle Caruso-Cabrera supports keeping and creating jobs while her anti-jobs opponent AOC kicked out Amazon and drove away more than 25,000 good paying jobs with benefits, spokeswoman Katy Delgado said.

Its no surprise that organisations who want jobs for the Bronx and Queens support Michelle.

While the campaign would not confirm its backers, sources said that the Chamber would fundraise for Ms Caruso-Cabrera and mobilise the local Queens business community to turn out at the 23 June primary.

Michelle is one of the most qualified and competent candidates we have met with this cycle. Her communication skills on jobs and growth will create a clear contrast with AOC, Scott Reed, the senior political strategist at the US Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday. We plan on using our national network to get her the financial resources to win this race.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez is acutely aware of the primarying tactic used to replace candidates in safe seats before the general election; a process that elevated her to the congress after she defeated incumbent Joe Crowley with only 15,897 votes in the 2018 primary.
UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's UN ambassador on Wednesday wrote to General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and all permanent representatives and permanent observers to the United Nations to introduce China's fight against COVID-19 and its cooperation with the international community.

The letter by Ambassador Zhang Jun outlines major actions and important experience of China in the fight against the pandemic, according to China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, and with tremendous sacrifice, 1.4 billion Chinese people have united together in the fight against the pandemic, and achieved important periodic results in 83 days, says the letter.

China introduced "early detection, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment" as the guidelines for prevention and control, and the approach of admitting patients in severe conditions to facilities where the best resources and professionals are pooled, the effectiveness of both have been proven, it says.

China mobilized medical workers across the country to support Hubei Province. A total of 346 medical teams of more than 42,600 medical workers were sent. Two special hospitals were built within 10 days separately and 16 temporary hospitals converted from public venues were built in Wuhan, demonstrating China's speed and effectiveness.

With tenacious efforts, no new confirmed cases in the mainland of China were reported for the first time on March 18, it says.

The letter illustrates in detail China's open, transparent and responsible attitude toward the virus, according to the Chinese Mission.

After cases of pneumonia of unknown cause were first detected in Wuhan City on Dec. 27, 2019, China immediately conducted an investigation and pathogen identification. As from Jan. 3, 2020, China has been giving timely updates about the pneumonia outbreak to the World Health Organization (WHO) and foreign countries, including the United States, and sharing the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus.

China received a field visit by the China-WHO joint expert team. China's National Health Commission updated the epidemic information on a daily basis. Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council of China, 65 press conferences had been held on a wide range of topics, including epidemic prevention and control, treatment, and scientific research. The Foreign Ministry held briefings and provided updates to diplomatic missions in China.

China is sharing all of its experience with the international community, says the letter.

Technical documents such as prevention and control protocols and diagnosis and treatment protocols have been shared with more than 100 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations. China has established an online knowledge center on COVID-19 and a pool of experts for international cooperation, and held more than 40 virtual technical meetings with over 100 countries and regions.

China has decided to donate 20 million U.S. dollars to the WHO to support its international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, it says.

The letter also demonstrates the enormous contribution China has made to international cooperation against the pandemic, according to the Chinese Mission.

As of March 31, the Chinese government had provided material assistance, including surgical face masks, N95 face masks, protective suits, nucleic acid testing reagent, ventilators, to 120 countries and four international organizations, says the letter.

Chinese local governments have donated medical supplies to more than 50 countries. Chinese businesses have donated medical supplies to more than 100 countries and international organizations, it says.

As of April 7, China had sent 11 medical expert teams to Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Venezuela and the Philippines. Some Chinese provinces also sent medical expert teams abroad, it says.

Defeating COVID-19 requires all member states to strengthen confidence, take concrete action in a responsible manner, respect science and facts, and address the challenge with solidarity and collaboration. China resolutely rejects any discrimination or stigmatization against states, peoples or individuals, says the letter.

In the face of this tremendous test on humankind, the international community must collectively fight the pandemic and work toward a community of shared future for mankind, says the letter.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 05:45:55|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed government on Thursday announced three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 24.

The National Center for Disease Control of the UN-backed government said in a statement that 106 suspected cases were tested in a hospital in eastern Libya, 103 of which were negative.

Libya also announced the first death from COVID-19 on Thursday, an 85-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the disease after she passed away.

UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj in mid-March declared a state of emergency and mobilization against the virus.

His government has taken a series of measures against the coronavirus pandemic, including closing airports, border crossings, mosques and educational institutions, banning mass gatherings and movements among cities, and imposing a curfew.

The government also stipulated daily working hours from 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) to 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) local time.

On March 24, Libya announced its first COVID-19 case, a 73-year-old man who returned from Saudi Arabia.
As the Prime Minister battles coronavirus in St Thomas Hospital, the woman who changed the course of Boris Johnsons life has issued a heartfelt, personal plea, urging him to recover soon  for the sake of the nation.

He has great inner strength. We need him, Tessa Pritchard-Gordon tells me from her home in Suffolk, speaking about Boris for the first time.

He was always a leader. He was his own person. He could always make people do it his way.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured as a young boy with his father, Stanley Johnson

Astonishingly, this conviction stems not from encountering Boris in adulthood  but from when he was just 11 and Tessa, 21, was personal assistant to Clive Williams, headmaster of Ashdown House prep school in Sussex.

The school took only boys at the time, but Stanley Johnson, Boriss father, called from Brussels to say that, while he wanted to send his son there, he would only do so on condition that his daughter, Rachel, could go there, too.

It was June and he wanted them to start in September. I rang round a number of parents to see if there were any who wanted to send their daughters, recalls Tessa. She managed to find four who did. So the blond-haired new boy arrived with his sister a few months later. He was very much in his own world, not one of the sporty chaps running around in a gang.

Each morning he would come to me to collect his copy of The Times, delighted to get it, looking at me from underneath his fringe.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Eton School, September 1979

I still see the same person. He has the same hairstyle and the same walk as he does now  and the same little grin Tessa tells me.

I used to get their rail tickets to London. Then he and Rachel got to Exeter by themselves. They were very close to each other and very self-sufficient. I never remember him being ill. He was a bookworm, loved learning. He went straight into the scholarship class.

But he was really popular. He had a presence, right from the beginning. He shone in the debating club and whenever he had an acting role he became another person.

The headmaster was similarly impressed. Clive Williams had a first in classics from Cambridge. He was teaching him Greek and Latin, but he said that he couldnt teach him much more by the time he was 12.

Ashdown House prep school, East Sussex

Williams, Tessa adds, had made an even more startling remark at the beginning of his proteges second term. He said: He will be Prime Minister.

An incredible statement, he was always meant to lead, remembers Tessa, who concludes with a direct appeal to the boy she helped nurture. We know youre giving it your best shot to get better and you will and you must, because we need you.

Why Mary Beard is not about to lose her Marbles

Dame Mary Beard, finally installed as a Trustee of the British Museum after a tussle with Downing Street, is cautious over the vexed question of the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

I have no doubt that during my time at the Museum, the Trustees will be engaging with all these questions (indeed they already are), and I hope I can add a useful perspective of my own, the classicist says.

But dont lets imagine that debates like this are new in the history of museums across the world.

Museums have always been controversial. Who should be allowed in? And on what terms? What should they put on display?

Who has the right to choose? And many more. I guess that one job of a Trustee is to ensure that those debates continue  constructively. A sphinxish answer worthy of any politician.

Blenheim heir and his wife starting new flock

George Spencer-Churchill with wife Camilla Thorp taking in some sunshine

The future Duke of Marlborough, who completed a 3,000-mile row across the Atlantic Ocean last year, is now preparing for uncharted waters of a rather different kind.

I can disclose that George Spencer-Churchill, the 27-year-old heir to Blenheim Palace and a 100 million fortune, is to become a father.

His wife, interior designer Camilla Thorp, 32, is pregnant with their first child who, if male, would be second in line for the Marlborough dukedom after insurance broker George.

Having teased friends with a picture of herself and George feeding lambs with bottles of milk  claiming they were getting some practice in  Camilla confirms they have a baby on the way.

Parents-to-be - George and Camilla feeding lambs with bottles of milk, getting some practice in

Cressies weedy tip for sleepless nights

Prince Harrys ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas admits she has turned to cannabis after struggling with anxiety and a fear of failure for several years.

The 31-year-old actress, who dated Harry for two years before he married former Suits star Meghan Markle, uses cannabidiol  aka CBD  which is a legally sold compound derived from the marijuana plant.

CBD has always helped me sleep, it makes me feel calmer and seems to soften those racing thoughts  especially in uncertain times like these, she explains.

CBD pillow mist is up there with my favourites . . . the ingredients of CBD, lavender and chamomile are wonderfully relaxing.

Indias washing workout

Prince Charless goddaughter India Hicks knows how to lift her spirits. Stuck at home in the Bahamas with her partner, David Flint, and their five kids, India is putting her laundry basket to good use in lieu of weights. India posted a video of herself raising and lowering the basket as she crouches into a squat. Dont let corona stop you, even on a month-long lockdown, she said.

TVs Andrew Marr is the latest convert to the popular Houseparty app. I am keeping in touch with friends through Houseparty and it seems to be working very well, he says. At the moment Im doing my exercise just before 6am and taking a walk through the park, which is at that point empty. Its lovely and Ive noticed that before you had to dodge runners coming at you in clusters. But now everyone is taking really meticulous attempts to avoid each other.

Happy - Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory

He is known for his smouldering looks but it was Homeland star Damian Lewiss sense of humour that won the heart of his future wife actress Helen McCrory when they first met in in 2003  and it was love at first sight for her. He just made me laugh a lot and he still does, Helen, 51, recalls.

She has even forgiven him for giving her the dreaded surprise party for her 50th birthday. We were in a hotel and I was in bed with a really bad cold and said, Lets just get a burger and a bottle of red wine and watch telly, and he said OK. But then I thought No! Im 50! and went downstairs  and there was everybody waiting for me.

Tilda Swinton never wanted to be an actress despite going on to win an Oscar. The Chronicles Of Narnia star says her acting success was an accident and a mystery. I never set out to do most of the things that Ive done and Im doing, she says. I certainly never set out to be an actor. I still find it embarrassing when I hear myself referred to as an actor. I expect real actors to stand up and protest.

Gordon Ramsay, who is facing criticism for moving to his 4.4million mansion in Cornwall amid the coronavirus outbreak, says he has done more cooking in the past two weeks than in the past two years. It is mayhem, says the potty-mouthed chef who is in lockdown with five children. The kids look at me in the morning and say Dad whats for breakfast? And what about lunch, I like those sort of quesadillas, can we have butter chicken for dinner? Its insane. Whats wrong with Coco Pops and a sarnie?
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Thursday said that he had asked the territorial police to act tough against people from neighbouring Villupuram and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu entering Puducherry during lockdown.

Talking to reporters after holding discussions with his ministerial colleagues and officials reviewing the implementation of steps to contain COVID-19 spread here, he said the state borders have been sealed. This was to prevent movement of people from Villupuram and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu and their intrusion into Puducherry.

The chief minister said he had asked police to invoke stringent and deterrent provisions of the state laws and central legislations and take action against those entering Puducherry from Tamil Nadu and other states during lockdown.

Presently, the two neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu were registering a good number of COVID-19 cases and Tamil Nadu notched the second position after Maharashtra in the country as a whole in the number of COVID-19 cases.

"The Tamil Nadu government is struggling. The Puducherry government cannot remain slack and should take stricter measures to prevent the spread of infection," he said asking people to keep up their response and ensure successful operation of the ongoing lockdown during the next few days.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have a meeting with chief ministers of all the states on April 11 and take stock of the situation.

"Our concern is that both the economy of Puducherry should be strengthened and the lives of people protected. We are prepared to do any sacrifice in protecting the precious lives of people of Puducherry. I have been enlisting the views of ministers and others on the lockdown's continuance," he said.

Narayanasamy did not come out with clear indication as to whether the lockdown would be lifted on April 14 or extended beyond that date.

He claimed that the government was struggling hard with the Centre not coming forward to provide financial help to meet the requirements of hospitals to battle the spread of COVID-19.

"However, from out of the state resources funds had been provided to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College Hospital here to strengthen its infrastructures to rise to any exigency as this hospital has been designated as an exclusive institution to treat patients with COVID-19 complaints.

"Presently, four persons in Puducherry and one in Mahe region (an enclave in Kerala) had tested positive for the infection and were under close monitoring at the government hospitals," he said.

Meanwhile, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi held a meeting with officials on Thursday through video conference from her office and said later in a WhatsApp message to mediapersons that "random test and door-to-door survey by medical teams would be done from Monday to identify COVID-19 cases in all the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, April 9 : Delhi Police Commissioner on Thursday held a video meet with more than 50 IPS officers to chalk out strategy to deal with the situation arising out of the lockdown.

S.N. Shrivastava held the meet through video conferencing from his office at Jaisingh Road in New Delhi, while others were at their respective offices.

The meeting was held to devise strategy to deal with the situation arising out of the lockdown which has been imposed to check the spread of coronavirus, sources said.

The video meet was necessary to maintain social distancing which is the need of the hour, an officer present in the meeting said.

Deputy commissioners of all the 15 districts, joint commissioners of all ranges, heads of crime branch and special cell were present during the meet.
A wind advisory is in effect for noon to 5 p.m. Thursday across an area including the Lehigh Valley and northwestern New Jersey, the National Weather Service said Wednesday night.

West winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts of 45 to 50 mph are expected across portions of central, northern, northwest and southern New Jersey; east central, northeast and southeast Pennsylvania; and northeast Maryland and northern Delaware.

"Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects," the advisory states. "Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result."

 A windy afternoon is expected for Thursday in the wake of a passing cold front. Westerly winds with gusts of 40-50 will blow around any unsecured outdoor objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. #PAwx #NJwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/v2zAcwO4YK  NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 9, 2020

At Lehigh Valley International Airport, the weather service's forecast for Thursday calls for showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 3 p.m. then a chance of showers with a high temperature near 62.

The overnight low into Friday is forecast around 37, with 15 mph winds gusting as high as 35 mph, followed by a breezy day Friday under partly sunny skies with a high near 50.

The normal high this time of year at Allentown is 59, and the normal low is 36.

Visit lehighvalleylive.com/weather for the complete forecast.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
An employee of a Pearland-area H-E-B has tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a news release.

The H-E-B where the employee worked is at 2710 Pearland Parkway. The employee was last seen in the store on April 6. The store has been deep cleaned multiple times since that date and all staffers in contact with the employee have been notified, per the release.
What Ails Lost Boys Of South Sudan In The West?

"In Dimma, Panyudu, and Tharpam, they were also segregated and not allowed to mingle with adults. Remember, they were ages between 7 and 15, a critical time children need adults the most."

By Willy Mayom Maker

The so-called "Lost Boys" are increasingly becoming victims of Western countries. Some of them have already succumbed (may their souls rest in peace!). Others are in jails or mental institutions. Unknown numbers are languishing on the streets or abusing substances.

Many of my close friends and comrades are in these situations. The mighty Jesh el Amerthe ultimate survivorsare slowly but surely giving up the fight for survival.

"How can people, who had endured the hardest conditions imaginable during the liberation struggle, suddenly become hopeless in America?" the judgmental society may wonder. The answer to this question is a long story. But in short, the psychological injuries obtained during the liberation struggle have finally resurfaced.

Children learn facts of life (through observation) from parents, relatives, and any adults. But Jesh el Amer, who had trekked to Ethiopia during the liberation struggle, had left their parents and communities.

In Dimma, Panyudu, and Tharpam, they were also segregated and not allowed to mingle with adults. Remember, they were ages between 7 and 15, a critical time children need adults the most.

But they were not even allowed to visited residential areas where adult lived. Even boys who had relatives in the residential areas must seek written permissions (which were not issued) to visit for an hour or two. This social isolation has hurt them because children can't learn appropriately without seeing and copying from adults.

I'm speaking from experience. In Dimma, Ethiopia, we were about 7000 boys, all quarantined in the middle of the mountains, far away from residential areas where men, women and children lived. Adult commanders, who commanded us, lived in the residential areas with their families, only visiting once or twice a week for inspection.

We had no adults, no radios, televisions, computers or phones, and no social media. Nothing! Completely cut off from the outside world, we only shot the Kalashnikovs and sang "Shalla abui, adiu talga (even if it's my father, I'll give him the bullet)."

This prolonged isolation explains why many of us lack decent social skills. So, to those who keep insulting us by saying, "Lost Boys act like boys instead of men," the reason why we lack typical behaviours is not our fault. Instead, we had sacrificed our childhoods for the sake of our country so that you can have the freedom to insult all you want. Your insults only validate our ultimate sacrifices; keep doing it!

Without adequate social skills and no adults to learn them from either, we depended on each other for survival. We made decisions, wrong or right, collectively. We all learned all facts of life through trial and error, often the latter.

The isolation and vulnerability had bonded us together. Like a shoal of fish or a herd of wilder beasts, we pooled together for survival. We dodged bullets and bombs together, leaped over landmines together, and endured hunger and thirst together.

But our downfall began when we migrated to the Western world, where we scattered in different countries, states, cities, and apartments. For the first time in our lives, we started to live and make the decision individually. How terrifying!

The separation anxiety and the lack of social skills, coupled with culture shock, are the primary sources of stress among the Jesh el Amer. In concrete terms, it is hard to navigate through in this part of the world individually.

A Jesh Amer goes to work. A supervisor yells at him, but he is not used to being yelled at, so he yells right back. "Who cares?" he says and quips the job. "I will find another job."

He takes his little savings to South Sudan to look for a wife. Without social skills and he marries the first girl he seesbig mistake! As soon as he returns to America, his wife becomes a play toy for Juba boys. "Who cares? I will get another wife."

He finds another job. And like the first job, he does not like the way he is treated. "Who cares?" He quits.

In the apartment, the landlord is driving him nuts. He does not have a penny to pay the rent. "Who cares?" he leaves the apartment.

Now he is homeless. He needs help so badly, but no one to help him. His friends and comrades are dealing with their shits too! Some of his comrades are in a similar station. Others are doing well, but they are swamped, working two jobs and studying at the same time. They are trying to keep their shits together and have no time to babysit their fallen comrades.

The absence of social skills, separation anxiety, and culture shock, linked to the previous war exposure and trauma, are the leading causes of stress and other mental health disorders among the Jesh el Amer in the Western countries.


Andy Cohen, Billy Porter, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Platt, Billy Eichner, and more stars are hosting a (virtual) Passover Seder for a good cause.

The star-studded event is going to raise money for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions emergency response fund.

Cohen recently had coronavirus and spoke out about what the symptoms were like. On his SiriusXM radio show, Andy Cohen Live, he said he suffered from a fever, a cough, tightness in his chest, chills, loss of smell and appetite and an achy body.

The Watch What Happens Live host has since recovered and now, he's hosting a Saturday night Passover Saturday at 8pm that will be streamed free on YouTube.

The Jewish meal involves multiple glasses of wine, as well as Matzoh Ball Soup. And now, it will include music and comedy performances from some of Hollywood's most famous faces.

Other celebrities joining in include Debra Messing, Nick Kroll, Fran Drescher, Tan France, Ilana Glazer, Henry Winkler, Busy Philipps, Beanie Feldstein and Idina Menzel, with more stars set to stop by as well. Cohen is quite close with Anderson Cooper and John Mayer, so perhaps they'll make appearances via Zoom. 

"In a time of confinement and uncertainty, a rag-tag team of Jews and non-Jewish Passover enthusiasts felt it was more important than ever to channel creative energies and gather community," head writer Alex Edelman said in a statement. "Were thrilled to be reinterpreting the timeless story of liberation and renewal while raising money for those on the front lines enduring  and fighting  an actual plague."
Former PSNI temporary deputy chief constable Stephen Martin has ruled out taking legal action against the force after he was overlooked in the recruitment process to fill his position permanently.

He said taking action against the police - which he served for over three decades - "would not sit comfortably with him".

Mr Martin announced he would retire in February after it emerged he was not shortlisted to be interviewed for the role, despite acting in a temporary capacity since August 2018.

At the time Mr Martin said he felt he had "a number of years" left to serve in the force, however "regrettably this did not work out".

He said he was weighing up his legal options.

In a statement to the BBC on Thursday he said he reached the decision not to go to the courts after considering the negative and personal toll a case would take.

He added: Also, taking legal action against my former employer of 34 years would not sit comfortably with me.

The Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers, who was to be one of five politicians on the interview panel for the position, withdrew from the process raising concerns about fairness.

He wrote to the Policing Board to voice his concerns saying his confidence in this recruitment process was "far short of where it needs to be".

Mr Martin (51) began his policing career as a cadet at the age of 16 and was previously responsible for the PSNI's Crime Operations Department.

He was among the final candidates who was interviewed for the role of chief constable last year, missing out to Simon Byrne.

Mr Martin was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in the 2013 Birthday Honours list and received an OBE in 2018.

In his final tweet as a police officer, Mr Martin said he loved every day of his 34 years of service.

"Often challenging, at times heart breaking but always a privilege," he posted alongside a picture of him as a young officer and as temporary deputy chief constable.

It is understood four out of eight applicants for the deputy chief constable post were not called for interview on the basis of their application forms.

Mark Hamilton was later appointed as the new Deputy Chief Constable for the PSNI.

The position comes with an annual salary of 168,000.

The Policing Board said it had no further comment to make.

The Boards recruitment process for the Deputy Chief Constable position was based and progressed on the principles of merit, fairness and openness, it said in a previous statement.

The Board was satisfied that the process was rigorous, fair and lawful at all stages.




Hyun Bin looks better with some meat, he looked great. He looked fit af lol. He made that hairstyle work, at least it wasn't the stupid parted curtain hairstyle lol.



They were fabulous, and a 180 from their roles in Parasite. The mom for one was excellent comedic foil.



[ Spoiler (click to open) ]

I liked Dan a lot, she was super cool and beautiful. I loved that she began anew as an independent woman. Sad about Seung-Joon and his sleepy eyes being dead, but I admire that they went that direction b/c it gave more gravity to the situation.



Crash Landing On You was a sweet drama, I liked that they humanized the North Korean civilians too. They had a few deflectors to help with the accuracy of the NK countryside.Hyun Bin looks better with some meat, he looked great. He looked fit af lol. He made that hairstyle work, at least it wasn't the stupid parted curtain hairstyle lol.They were fabulous, and a 180 from their roles in Parasite. The mom for one was excellent comedic foil.

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He looks much much much better with meat. He was very skinny in Memories of Alhambra and he looked so... angular (strange word to describe but that's all I can think of). It also helped that the character is so endearing.

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Agreed that Crash was the first Kdrama I enjoyed in a long time. I thought to finally watch Goblin but omg it's such trash.

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watch Coffee Prince, queen

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i watched it during its original airing and was so in love with it. now it's one of the shows i watch on Netflix during quarantine alongside Community (which is really funny on rewatch)

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I love Coffee Prince so much.  Gong Yoo. When I went to Seoul, we needed to go to the Coffee Prince cafe lol

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coffee prince is my fav kdrama of ALL TIME

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Yaaaas 

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I did not watch Crash Landing Into You. Im about to start The World Of the Married however, which is a remake of Doctor Foster which starred Jodie Comer. So its a circle I guess.

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Also I fully expect Killing Eve to become a kdrama

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Tbh, I'm shocked that they haven't yet??! It's prime material. Although the International scope is what makes Killing Eve.



I was actually imagining a K-drama version of the show recently lol. Plus it'll be done in 16-20 episodes!

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They buy the weirdest properties like Leverage but not the obvious ones like KE, Scrubs, and the Office. But I also used to think korea could do a teen Wolf adaptation lmfao so maybe I shouldnt pick what gets made lmao.

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I just want them to do justice to the wardrobe



and please keep kdrama Eve's hair curly!

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tvN can remake it tbh

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I love her and she deserves a bigger career to match her talent

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She's top notch and I am lowkey salty that KE hasn't led to a renaissance for her like it has for her co-star.

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Ugh i know

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i love her so much, you have no idea. ever since i saw her in under the tuscan sun, i legit fell in love with her.

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really enjoyed Crash Landing on You! Such perfect casting and the OST is soooo good.

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i love this woman so much

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Trying to make my way through When the Camellia Blooms.

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i'm so happy she's getting the acclaim (and career) she truly deserves <3

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I recommend Sassy, Go Go and Reply 1997 to anyone who likes teen dramas (Reply has the bonus of lots and lots of 90s kpop because its heroine is neck-deep in fan culture of that era)



Also I'm Not A Robot, which has an absurd premise but the couple are adorable and have great chemistry even if he thinks she's literally a machine at first.

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Did you hear about A Piece Of Your Mind being cut down to 12 episodes :( ?



I didn't watch it but I hear it's a nice and calming drama. Sucks that other shows (Ahem Melting Softly) got to 16 but this show didn't. And similar ratings too :(

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Yeah I heard about that!



It's not totally surprising though, I meant to try watching it too but everyone I asked said it was nice for a slow watch and the cast was good but it was REALLY low-energy, like the writer's previous drama also had that slowness issue but this one was weirder.



Also my guess is it's at least partly terrible timing, the Melting drama was godawful but at least didn't air during corona time when advert budgets are prob getting slashed(even if South Korea isn't under lockdown).

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I really like Reply 1997. The Sechskies vs H.O.T. drama and the World Cup! And I liked the basketball in 1994 (the Sampoong department store collapse stands out the most, but it's also not the best distraction rn :/)

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I Am Not A Robot was so cheesy but I loved how much the lead actors character was into the lead actress. It was a good ol cheese fest in the best way.

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I was watching Touch on Viki and loved it until the relationship / romance aspect came into play  I ended up dropping it. I tried watching Weightlifting Fairy after that but couldn't get into it.

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I was annoyed when the girl fell in love with her boss ughhhh. All I ask for is age-appropriate romances.

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I'm taking my time with Lookout (The Guardians). I was gonna watch D-Day but Kim Young-Kwang's hair is better in Lookout lol.



Also it got me hooked and is just what I've been wanting to watch. Let's hope it keeps its momentum.



Speaking of hair, Sandra Oh's hair is absolutely divine. I am constantly in awe of it's (her) perfection.

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I loved Lookout! If you want something similar, I recommend Mad dog! I liked Mad Dog a bit more than Lookout

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Im surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. Its been a minute since a kdrama had me hooked.



Ooh I've been debating on Mad Dog. Adding it to my list to watcb after Lookout.

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Ok maybe I'll watch. I rarely finish kdramas though.

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Here to pimp Save Me, now on Netflix. If you enjoy shows with high tension, religious cults, and very little romance subplot. +Taecyeon and Woo Dohwan





and my forever fave Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bokjoo, which is not on netflix.

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Yes!! It's so well written and I love that it's female driven where her main objective is just to be awesome at her sport and the guy/love plot just sews in nicely to that.

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Global stock markets rose Thursday as investors welcomed data suggesting the coronavirus outbreak may be close to reaching its peak. Crude futures were up, but well off session highs, as traders awaited the outcome of a top producer meeting they hope will agree to cut oil output as COVID-19 slashes global demand. "Pretty much everywhere you look in financial markets there is renewed optimism," said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. "Signs that the number of new daily coronavirus cases is plateauing is driving expectations that social distancing measures will be lifted soon in parts of the world," he said. That meant investors were happy to take out new positions going into the long Easter weekend. "Despite some pretty awful coronavirus statistics traders are optimistic that the outbreak is nearing its peak and that governments would roll out more stimulus," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. Top crude producing nations were holding a crucial teleconference after a collapse in oil demand caused by the coronavirus and a damaging Saudi-Russia price war sparked a crash in the market. The talks between OPEC and its non-member allies, notably Russia, are seen as the best chance to provide support to crude prices. As they got underway, oil prices surged to post gains of more than 10 percent, but then settled down to much more modest gains. - Fed 'steroids' - Europe's equity markets were solidly higher at the close, although off the day's best levels, while Wall Street also posted solid gains in the late New York morning, helped by a massive Federal Reserve stimulus plan announced Thursday. "Stocks are rallying after the Fed showed markets their stimulative measures just took some steroids," said Edward Moya, an analyst with OANDA. But the dollar weakened at the prospect of ever more cash sloshing around the economy. Earlier, most Asian stock markets had closed solidly higher, except Tokyo. While the Vix "fear index" has halved from its levels seen in mid-March there was still caution among observers, with health experts stressing that any premature loosening of restrictions could accelerate the spread of the virus. The economic toll of the crisis is becoming glaringly apparent, with France now in recession after suffering its worst contraction since 1945 and European powerhouse Germany expected to shrink by a tenth in the second quarter of the year. Despite this, EU leaders are struggling to agree on a bailout plan to support the region, with a major sticking point being so-called coronabonds that would pool debt among nations. - Key figures around 1545 GMT - London - FTSE 100: UP 2.8 percent at 5,837.09 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 2.2 percent at 10,564.74 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 4,506.85 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.5 percent at 2,892.79 New York - Dow: UP 1.9 percent at 23,878.62 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 19,345.77 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.4 percent at 24,300.33 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 2825.95 (close) Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.5 percent at $33.34 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.3 percent at $25.91 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0942 from $1.0850 at 2050 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 108.38 from 108.90 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2468 from $1.2375 Euro/pound: UP at 87.75 pence from 87.66 burs/jh/rl
Chinese Tycoon Under Investigation for Challenging Top Leader's Authority, Observers Say

By Joyce Huang, Verna Yu April 08, 2020

Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, who went missing last month after criticizing top leader Xi Jinping for what he said was the government's mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak, is being investigated by the Communist Party's disciplinary watchdog.

In a statement released late Tuesday, the party's Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing's Xicheng district announced that Ren  a party member and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group  is under investigation for what it called "serious violations of law and discipline."

The statement gave no further details.

Analysts argue, the investigation is meant to send a clear message that any challenge to Xi's authority will not be tolerated. They say it also indicates the top leadership's division and unease about growing domestic and international calls for holding the Communist leadership accountable for the global pandemic.

"The message is pretty scary because clearly the Chinese Communist Party wants to silence everyone, any critical voice about the way the government has managed the coronavirus crisis," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, political science professor at the Baptist University of Hong Kong.

"Xi cannot afford having his grip over the country openly questioned, which may generate a buildup of dissonance within the party," said Kenneth Chan, another political scientist at the university.

Wang Dan, former Tiananmen protest student leader, agreed that China's message  Xi's authority is not to be challenged  is clear.

But he said the fact that Ren's case is being handled by the city-level political and legal affairs commission shows Xi's attempts to downplay it.

"Xi dares not go to lengths to deal with Ren, which reflects that his [Xi's] authority was indeed challenged," Wang told VOA in an emailed reply.

Beijing has been criticized for initially downplaying the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. Government data indicates the virus, which originated in Wuhan province, now appears to be subsiding in China. Some experts say Beijing's move to lock down areas where the virus was widespread may have contributed to its decline.

An Outspoken Critic

In a scathing essay, Ren called Xi Jinping "a clown" in his handling of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Ren referred to a teleconferenced address made by Xi on 23 February to party officials nationwide. State media used the teleconference to showcase Xi as a capable leader battling the epidemic on the front line while public anger simmered at the initial government cover-up.

Ren, who refrained from naming Xi, wrote that after reading the speech, he "saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his 'new clothes', but a clown stripped naked who insisted on continuing being emperor," according to a translated version posted by China Digital Times, a US-based website.

He blamed the initial spread of the disease on the lack of free speech, citing the police detention of Dr Li Wenliang and other medical professionals who warned friends against the mysterious virus in January for spreading "rumor."

"Maybe simply trusting the people with freedom of speech could have already achieved a great victory in preventing and managing this epidemic, and there wouldn't be such a huge price to pay!" Ren wrote in the essay that was initially shared with a few people he knew, but later distributed widely.

"Without a media representing the interests of the people by publishing the actual facts, the people's lives are being ravaged by both the virus and the major illness of the system," he charged.

Calls for Xi's Resignation

Already, an open petition, led by Wang, has garnered endorsement from more than 20 dissidents overseas to call for Xi's resignation over his responsibility in mishandling the outbreak.

The petitioners have proposed four other demands including the creation of an independent investigation to uncover truth about the pandemic and hold officials accountable, a relief fund for victims, a mechanism to safeguard speech freedom and an end to China's "whitewashing" global propaganda campaign.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Apollo 13's best known quotes originated not in space or Mission Control, but in Hollywood.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this April 21, 1970 file photo, Apollo 13 commander James A. Lovell Jr., left, opens the astronauts televised news conference at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, by saying "I'm not a superstitious man" alluding to the number 13 and the trouble that befell the flight. With Lovell are his fellow crew members, command module pilot John Swigert, center, and lunar module pilot Fred Haise. With their moon-bound spacecraft wrecked by an oxygen tank explosion on April 13, 1970, the astronauts urgently radioed, "Houston, we've had a problem here." Screenwriters for the 1995 film "Apollo 13? wanted to punch that up. Thus was born "Houston, we have a problem." (AP Photo)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Apollo 13's best known quotes originated not in space or Mission Control, but in Hollywood.

Their moon-bound spacecraft wrecked by an oxygen tank explosion on April 13, 1970, the astronauts urgently radioed, Houston, weve had a problem here.

Screenwriters for the 1995 film Apollo 13? wanted to punch that up. Thus was born Houston, we have a problem.

Even more artistic license was taken with NASA flight director Gene Kranz mobilizing speech to his team in Houston.

Kranz never declared, Failure is not an option.

Ask Kranz what he actually told flight controllers, and he rattles it off without a moments hesitation a half-century later.

I have never lost an American in space, sure as hell arent going to lose one now. This crew is coming home. You got to believe it. Your team must believe it. And we must make it happen.

Kranz said the moviemakers came up with Failure is not an option.

Does he wish hed said it? No  Im satisfied with what I said.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Kranz constantly finds himself setting the record straight  in fact, every time I speak.

I try not to plagiarize, he said with a laugh.

He did borrow the phrase for the title of his 2000 autobiography.

Director Ron Howard's film starring Ed Harris as Kranz and Tom Hanks as mission commander Jim Lovell was based on Lovells 1994 autobiography, Lost Moon. Actors Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon portrayed Apollo 13 astronauts Fred Haise and Jack Swigert.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Businesses involved in labour exports are at a standstill due to the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trainees at ICO International Manpower JSC at a session in northern Bac Giang Province. Photo Baobacgiang.com.vn

Le Quoc Hung, deputy general director of Hanoi Investment General Corporation (HANIC), said the corporations contracts to send employees to key markets like Taiwan and Malaysia had been serious affected since the outbreak of the disease in China's Wuhan City in late November last year.

Wuhan is a centre which supplied input materials for production at factories in Taiwan and Malaysia. This affects the supply chain in markets where we send laborers to work," he told Thoi bao kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Times) newspaper.

Hung said that the company had stopped sending workers to Taiwan since late last year. It stopped sending labourers to Malaysia at the end of February.

Sending workers overseas was particularly dangerous at present as the risk of being infected was high at airports, he said, adding that HANIC's partners had taken the initiative to suspend bringing in workers from overseas under contracts signed earlier due to the lack of jobs.

Normally, demand in Japan, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea is quite robust from the beginning of the year but the number of orders has sharply decreased this year due to impacts of the pandemic.

A number of labour export companies had reportedly suspended the departure of workers although they had received the orders in February.

The director of a labour export company, which sent about 700 labourers overseas last year, said orders from some countries and territories including Japan and Taiwan had decreased after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

In March, some markets stopped accepting workers and a number of international airlines also stopped their flights.

International flights have been cancelled so foreign partners can not come to Vietnam to interview workers while many labourers can not fly to their designated countries, even though they have completed visa procedures he said on condition of anonymity.

In related news, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) on April 5 asked the Department of Overseas Labour to order businesses to suspend sending workers abroad until the end of April.

It has also requested leaders of agencies under municipal and provincial Departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to step up urgent measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overseas Vietnamese labour management boards should encourage Vietnamese labourers to stay calm, observe host countries regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control, and avoid trips to disease-hit areas, while ensuring the rights and interests of labourers who are affected by the epidemic.

In case labourers are laid off or lose their jobs due to COVID-19, they will have their brokerage fees and other fees reimbursed. They will also receive assistance from the overseas employment support fund.

Pham Do Nhat Tan, deputy chairman of Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS), said due to labour contract expiring, nearly 5,000 labourers had returned to the country in the first quarter of this year.

He said it was time for enterprises to restructure their operations and apply information technology in training and recruitment activities.

Currently, there are more than 560,000 employees working overseas under limited employment contract in 36 countries and territories, according to MOLISA.

Of these, over 10,000 Vietnamese workers are in European markets.

There are more than 230,000 Vietnamese trainees and workers in Japan, 48,000 labourers in the Republic of Korea and over 224,700 in Taiwan.  VNS

Vietnam to suspend labour export until end of April The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) on April 5 asked the Overseas Labour Management Department to order businesses to suspend sending workers abroad until the end of April.
Having an underlying health condition raises the risk of being admitted to ICU or dying by almost 80 per cent, a study has found.

The odds are even higher for those with two conditions, according to research of almost 1,600 hospital patients in China.

Overall, 20 per cent of patients with any health condition ended up either in ICU, needing ventilation or dying compared to five per cent of healthy people.

Scientists identified cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as the riskiest pre-existing conditions to have prior to catching the life-threatening coronavirus.

Half of the patients with COPD in this study were moved into intensive care or died. In comparison, the rate was a fifth for those with high blood pressure, diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

The findings are the result of a global scientific effort to understand who are the most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19.

Having just one underlying health condition raises the risk of being admitted to ICU, needing ventilation, or dying by almost 80 per cent, a study has found. The risk is 250 per cent times higher for those with a cancerous tumour compared to those without

Scientists identified lung disease as the most unfavourable pre-existing condition to have prior to catching coronavirus. Each of these outcomes is broken down in the graphic. For example, a quarter of all patients with COPD died. Three in ten were admitted to ICU, which may or may not have included patients who died, as the outcomes cross-over each other

The risk of severe outcomes for total patients (left), patients without a condition (centre) and patients with a condition (right). The number in brackets is the percentage. The 'composite endpoint' consists of the number of patients who were admitted to intensive care unit, or had invasive ventilation, or died

The clinical characteristics of patients with one (left, 269 people) or more than two health conditions (right, 130 people). The number in brackets is the percentage

OUTCOMES FOR EACH HEALTH CONDITION The following figures are a percentage of the total patients in that category: Cancer Died: 17 per cent ICU: 28 per cent Ventilation: 11 per cent Any end point above: 39 per cent COPD Died: 25 per cent ICU: 29 per cent Ventilation: 21 per cent Any end point above: 50 per cent Heart/cardiovascular disease Died: 14 per cent ICU: 14 per cent Ventilation: 10 per cent Any end point above: 22 per cent Diabetes Died: 10 per cent ICU: 15 per cent Ventilation: 9 per cent Any end point above: 24 per cent High blood pressure Died: 10 per cent ICU: 14 per cent Ventilation: 8 per cent Any end point above: 20 per cent Advertisement

The research was the work of the China Medical Treatment Expert Group for Covid-19.

Lead study author Wei-jiie Guan, of Guangzhou Medical University, and colleagues analysed information for 1,590 hospitalised patients between December 2019 and January 2020.

The patients, with an average age of 49 years, were being cared for across 575 hospitals in 31 provinces or regions in mainland China. It means the study did not look at people with mild symptoms who recovered at home.

Findings show 16 per cent of the patients ended up with severe COVID-19, and 8.2 per cent reached composite endpoints, which was either intensive care, ventilation, or death.

Fifty patients died, giving a mortality rate of 3.1 per cent for patients hospitalised.

But the odds of death were clearly higher among those with a health condition - 8.8 per cent compared to 1.3 per cent in those without.

Patients with two or more comorbidities had significantly escalated risks of becoming critically-ill, compared with those who had a single comorbidity, and even more so as compared with those without.

The likelihood raised by 160 per cent for those with two or more conditions, and 80 per cent for those with one.

Patients with COPD - a type of lung disease that causes chronic breathing problems  also had a 170 per cent increase in risk of serious outcomes, affecting half of the group.

Another study from China published in February found similar results, showing that heart disease particularly put patients at a disadvantage if they caught coronavirus

This chart shows how most Italian coronavirus victims had pre-existing health conditions, with almost half of them suffering from three or even more illnesses before they were infected

WHY ARE THERE SUCH LOW NUMBERS OF SMOKERS GETTING ILL WITH CORONAVIRUS? A nationwide Chinese study looking at nearly 1,600 hospitalised coronavirus patients found just 7 per cent were current or former smokers. Researchers from the Guangzhou Medical University analysed patients from 575 hospitals in 31 provinces. It found that out of 1,590 COVID-19 sufferers, just 111 currently or used to smoke cigarettes. More than a quarter (27 per cent) of the Chinese population smoke, according to a 2015 survey. More than half of male adults (52 per cent) smoke, whereas just 3 per cent of women have taken up the habit. The finding suggests smokers are less at risk of falling seriously ill with the bug. The study was published in the European Respiratory Journal. One study in Wuhan - where the pandemic began - actually discovered smokers were more likely to see their disease progress. Researchers at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University made the conclusion that only 1.4 per cent of 140 hospitalised patients were smokers. Ya-dong Gao and colleagues wrote in the journal Allergy: 'Interestingly, there were only two current smokers and seven past smokers.' Of the nine patients classed as smokers, three had non-severe symptoms. The other six were classed as having severe symptoms. Writing in the journal, the researchers added: 'The relationship between smoking and coronavirus infection is not clear. 'The exact underlying causes of the lower incidence of COVID19 in current smokers are still unknown.' British researchers say they have no idea why the NEJM study had such low rates of smokers, especially given 28 per cent of patients were between 50 and 64 and around 60 per cent were men. One reason they suggested was that it could be down to the demographic of the patients analysed - 43 per cent lived in Wuhan. Advertisement

ICU, ventilation or death risk rose by 60 per cent for patients who had diabetes or high blood pressure.

But it was cancer that put patients most at risk. Those with a tumour had a 250 per cent increase in adverse outcomes.

Overall a quarter of the hospitalised patients had at least one underlying health condition, the most common of which was high blood pressure (17 per cent).

Its unclear if this means those with hypertension are more likely to catch the coronavirus, are more likely to be hospitalised, or simply because the condition is more common.

Eight per cent had two or more conditions. Sometimes conditions co-exist together, with the authors noting diabetes and COPD specifically.

The team broke down how many people got seriously ill or succumbed to the disease for each health condition, but not by age bracket.

A quarter of all patients with COPD died. Three in ten were admitted to ICU, which may or may not have included patients who died, as the outcomes cross-over each other.

99% OF ITALIAN COVID-19 VICTIMS HAD A HEALTH CONDITION 99 per cent of coronavirus deaths in Italy are patients with existing medical problems, a study by the country's health service revealed in March. Research into 355 deaths found that only three of the victims, 0.8 per cent, had been clear of illnesses before they were infected. Nearly half of them - 48.5 per cent - already had three or even more health conditions before they were diagnosed with Covid-19. Another 25.6 per cent had two other 'pathologies', while 25.1 per cent had one. The research by Italy's National Institute of Health is consistent with previous findings that people with existing illnesses are more likely to die from coronavirus. According to the study, the most common of these problems in Italy include high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Some 76.1 per cent of the patients who died of Covid-19 had previously had problems with high arterial blood pressure, the study found. More than a third - 35.5 per cent - had diabetes, while 33.0 per cent had suffered from ischemic heart disease. Nearly a quarter, 24.5 per cent, had suffered from atrial fibrillation. Less common examples included dementia and liver disease. Scientists have not yet established why people with high blood pressure are more vulnerable to the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. says it needs 'more data to become available' to investigate the link properly. Advertisement

Following COPD, 14 per cent of heart disease patients died, and 14 per cent were admitted to ICU.

Diabetes and high blood pressure had similar outcomes. One in ten patients died, while 14 per cent were admitted to ICU.

The study didn't assess whether smokers are more or less likely to suffer adverse outcomes, amid growing concerns for those with the habit.

It did show, however, that smoking - either in the past or currently - was more common in those with health conditions.

Writing in the European Respiratory Journal, the authors said: Among laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, patients with any comorbidity yielded poorer clinical outcomes than those without. A greater number of comorbidities also correlated with poorer clinical outcomes.'

The patients with at least one comorbidity showed more symptoms than those who did not, which suggests the virus is attacking their system more rapidly as their body tries to fight back.

Shortness of breath, nausea and abnormal chest X-rays were particularly more common than those who are typically healthy.

The team theorised that the coronavirus infection may cause prolonged inflammation in those with pre-existing conditions, based on evidence from the SARS epidemic.

They also said those with conditions already have a 'poorer baseline well-being'. It means their immune system isn't quite as prepared to fight an infection as someone who is healthy.

Depending on what condition they have, it can hamper the ability of their immune cells' function in some way.

It takes longer for the cells to acknowledge a virus is in the body, and a delay in reaching it and attacking it.

For example, diabetics may have weakened immune cells as a result of the high amount of sugar in their blood.

Meanwhile, those with high blood pressure have damaged or narrow arteries, making it difficult for blood to travel effectively throughout the body.

But the exact mechanisms linking the coronavirus and poor outcomes in people who suffer health conditions warrants more research.

Overall the findings have echoed other recently published studies. One of the first studies to indicate the risk of serious COVID-19 in vulnerable groups was in February, using data from more than 72,000 patients.

Its findings included that 10.5 per cent of COVID-19 patients with heart disease died, and six per cent of high blood pressure patients.

The fatality rate was 7.3 per cent for diabetics and 6.3 per cent among people with chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma.

It looked at cases more broadly than the study published today, including those that were confirmed, suspected, clinically diagnosed, and asymptomatic.

American health chiefs have also attempted to decipher who is most at risk in the US, where almost 435,000 cases have been diagnosed.

Among 7,162 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 38 per cent had a health condition.

Among 457 ICU admissions and 1,037 hospitalisations, 78 per cent and 71 per cent respectively occurred among people with one or more reported underlying health condition, according to their report.
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke shared in a Thursday thread that her partner has coronavirus while saluting the New York City doctors who helped walk her through the steps to best ensure his recovery.

In a detailed Twitter post, the 46-year-old activist and author described the last two weeks of her life as some of the 'scariest' - echoing the stories shared by other New Yorkers battling COVID-19.

'Ive read so much information but the most informative has been first person accounts of folks with it,' Burke said while explaining her reasoning for sharing her story.

In a detailed Twitter post, Tarana Burke described the last two weeks of her life as some of the 'scariest' - echoing the stories shared by other New Yorkers battling COVID-19.

'Ive read so much information but the most informative has been first person accounts of folks with it,' Burke said while explaining her reasoning for sharing her story.

The activist's testimony comes as 4,260 people have died from coronavirus in the city and more than 80,000 have been infected.

Burke said that she and her partner had been exposed to the coronavirus in 'Mid-March' but added that her significant other had been exposed again because 'he was deemed an essential worker because he works with the homeless.'

The couple knew they were dealing with something serious when in the span of three days, Burke's partner went from 'feeling a little weak' to having a fever of 101.5.

Burke shared that her partner had the symptoms commonly associated with the virus, but noted that they hadn't heard of one that he wound up having: sensitive skin

By Day 5, Burke and her partner were admitted to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital and were administered COVID-19 test

Burke shared that her partner had the symptoms commonly associated with the virus, but noted that they hadn't heard of one that he wound up having: sensitive skin.

'His skin felt like it was burning - even when he barely had a fever of 99+,' she continued. 'We literally used aloe gel for sunburn to soothe it.' The activist added that a nurse practitioner later told her that others had experienced similar.

By Day 5, Burke and her partner were admitted to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital and were administered COVID-19 test.

The Bronx native's came back negative while her partner's came back positive.

Burke described days six through nine as bad, sharing that her partner's 'fever would level off in the day time and spike at night'

Burke described days six through nine as bad, sharing that her partner's 'fever would level off in the day time and spike at night.'

She began giving him various vitamins and Dayquil, while also giving him other home remedies like tea but added that her partner 'hardly ate.'

'The worst was day 8 when his fever went to 102.9 and he began to have convulsions,' she said, adding that she had to call the telemed doctor to get instruction on what to do.

'I have still not had any real symptoms,' Burke shared. 'Ive had headaches and body aches that are likely exhaustion but no real fever. Im operating as if Im asymptomatic though just to be safe. And we are trying to keep some distance just in case'

The activist continued: 'The doctor said I needed to get his fever down. I put him in the shower (a whole other story) and gave him Tylenol cold & flu extra strength (he took that at night) and it started to come down in about two hours.'

'Just have to say this was the SCARIEST night because the pressure of making the wrong decision was overwhelming. Felt like one wrong move could kill him. I didnt sleep at all. But by morning his fever was at 101+ again and he was calmed. This was the peak I believe.'

Burke shared her story on what she said was 'day 3' of the three days doctors instructed that she had to see no fever in her partner, nor could she give him medicine.

She shared that he now had a 'horrible cough' and headaches but added that 'he's much, much better'

The activist noted that people would experience different symptoms but advocated that folks stock up on medicine and other supplies. Burke ran out at one point and had her brother deliver some to her door

She shared that he now had a 'horrible cough' and headaches but added that 'he's much, much better.'

'I have still not had any real symptoms,' Burke shared. 'Ive had headaches and body aches that are likely exhaustion but no real fever. Im operating as if Im asymptomatic though just to be safe. And we are trying to keep some distance just in case.'

Burke's testimony comes as 4,260 people have died from coronavirus in the city and more than 80,000 have been infected

The activist noted that people would experience different symptoms but advocated that folks stock up on medicine and other supplies. Burke ran out at one point and had her brother deliver some to her door.

Burke also advocated for the Heal app, an app that's $79 - without insurance - that lets customers get in contact with doctors via phone or video call.

'I dont know if our story is helpful. I hope so. I just want folks to know its not just like a *bad flu* or cold,' she stated.

'I worry about folks who live alone or couples who both get it because you might very well need to be cared for but not qualify to be hospitalized.'
A Missouri City nursing home confirmed 28 residents and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday. Officials from Park Manor Quail Valley say they requested facility-wide testing from local health authorities after a resident tested positive March 30.

Due to the lack of availability of test kits, we were turned down, Derek Prince, President and CEO of HMG Healthcare, LLC said in an emailed statement. The facility was able to purchase test kits from a private contractor on Tuesday, April 7th, and all patients and clinical staff were tested.

Tests results showed a total of 16 residents and 12 staff members were COVID-19 positive. Park Manor Quail Valley is the first of Fort Bend Countys nursing homes to report staff or resident who have tested positive for COVID-19. However, the Richmond State-Supported Living which has roughly 320 residents and over 1,300 full-time employees, became the focus of an investigation by the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services after two residents there tested positive on March 30. County officials have so far not released any additional information about the Richmond facility, which is the second largest of the states 13 residential facilities for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

COVID-19 INVESTIGATION: Two test positive for COVID-19 at state-funded disability living center in Richmond

The Denton State-Supported Living Center, the largest of the 13 facilities, has approximately 90 residents and staff members who have tested positive in recent weeks. Of Park Manor Quail Valley residents, ten are in the hospital and six are being treated at the facility. All 12 team members are recovering at home.

We began specific measures to reduce the risk of this virus spreading through the facility on March 9th. Those measures included no visitors, no group activities, no communal dining, as well as increased employee monitoring including a travel ban, Prince said. We remain committed to keeping our residents safe and protected during this novel virus and have been in contact with Dr. Jacquelyn Johnson-Minter, with Ft. Bend County Health and Human Services, as well as the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. We will continue to work with local and state health officials as this situation progresses.

RELATED: Fort Bend County rises to top six counties in COVID-19 cases

When contacted earlier this week, Fort Bend County Health and Human Services spokesperson Yaneth Calderon released a statement via email.

We are aware of the COVID-19 situation at Park Manor Quail Valley. We are working closely with the staff to implement appropriate infection prevention and control measures to protect the residents and staff, Calderon wrote. The facility has been very cooperative in following the CDC guidance and is taking the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of infection at the facility.

knix@hcnonline.com

.
Stacker looked at various news articles and government updates to find out how hospitals in each state are adapting to the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic.

This article was first published on theStacker.com
Beijings iconic Summer Palace tourist resort is the home of a huge new ice rink thats opened just ahead of the Winter Olympics. The rink measures 300,000 square meters and consists of two areas designed for different types of activities. The city has opened seven municipal ice rinks and four snow resorts to the public. Since 2014, ice and snow activities in municipal parks have attracted nearly 2 million visitors, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Center for Parks

Jan 11, 2022 07:26 PM
Despite the fact that fawning Hillary-supporter Dr. Fauci himself admitted regular influenza is a bigger threat than the coronavirus in an article he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine, he had the temerity to suggest at an April 1 press conference that America will not be allowed to come out of lockdown until there are no new cases of coronavirus.

The unelected CDC official then began checking off a wish list of highly suspect totalitarian power grabs  like the right to track citizens, involuntarily quarantine them, and so forth.

"I think if we get to the part of the curve that Dr. Birx showed yesterday when it goes down to essentially no new cases, no new deaths at a period of time. I think it makes sense that you will have to relax social distancing," Fauci said.

"The one thing we hopefully would have in place, and I believe we will have in place, is a much more robust system to be able to identify someone who was infected, isolate them and then do contact tracing," he added.

Just who does this guy think he is? And why aren't more Americans demanding that President Trump stop him?

Fauci is fond of making sensationalist coronavirus death toll projections. Fauci told CNN that America could expect around 100,000 to 200,000 deaths but went on to say 1 million to 2 million Americans dying from the coronavirus is "very unlikely" but "not impossible." Well, which is it? Fauci's claims are definitely indeterminate and  some feel  deliberately deceptive.

What Fauci told CNN and MSNBC is vastly different from what he wrote in February, containing stunningly candid admissions about the actual scope of the coronavirus  most importantly, that the coronavirus is no more serious than regular flu. Little has changed since then.

Fauci admits in the NEJM article, "If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%" (emphasis added).

He continues: "This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza[.]"

Translation? Dr. Fauci's 15 minutes of fame is coming at the cost of America's future.

That's because Dr. Fauci is now apparently in charge of when businesses can reopen, saying we shouldn't relax social distancing until "no new cases" are reported. In other words, Fauci is just fine with lockdowns until all has decayed and Jesus comes back.

With any disease or illness, such a standard is without precedent, and untenable in a free-market economy like ours. The Wall Street Journal reports that 29 percent of the U.S. economy is "offline."

The Federal Reserve projects that 47 million Americans will lose their jobs in coming weeks as a result of Dr. Fauci's dire and disingenuous warnings. Over 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits so far.

Fauci's exaggerations have arguably caused more panic and guaranteed disaster in the lives of American citizens than seen in several generations. And, adding insult to injury, Fauci is the reason 30 days were added to America's 15-day tour of the Twilight Zone.

Despite the absence of concrete evidence to justify pandemic panic and MSM sensationalism, plenty of evidence suggests that the coronavirus is being used to justify global martial law clampdowns, forced vaccinations, the roundup of political dissidents, and mandatory subdermal human RFID.

The Democrats have been uncharacteristically and paradoxically begging President Trump to institute martial law from the outset of the coronavirus.

"I would call out the military now," former vice president Joe Biden said at a Democratic primary debate. "They have the ability to provide this surge that hospitals need. They have the capacity to build 500 hospital beds and tents that are completely safe and secure."

"At this point, our best hope is to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to leverage its expertise, equipment and people power to retrofit and equip existing facilities  like military bases or college dormitories  to serve as temporary medical centers," New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrote at the New York Times. "Then we can designate existing hospital beds for the acutely ill."

Only months ago, Democrats tried to convince Americans that President Trump was a Putin puppet and would-be dictator. And yet, many on the left are the biggest advocates now for totalitarian police state powers in response to coronavirus hype. Why?

Coronavirus is very possibly the final attempt to defeat Trump by burning down the house and giving away the store.

Despite the MSM's unjustified alarmism, unelected bureaucrats like Fauci have managed to seize more power and trample more civil liberties in the current so-called "crisis" than any other time previously in American history, save maybe the Great Depression ("New Deal"). Here's a comprehensive list of civil liberties trampled since the beginning of COVID-19.

Now, more than ever, American concepts of constitutional limits on government power and civil liberties need to be defended and re-asserted; if the Constitution doesn't matter right now, when will it ever matter?

History proves that Americans are able to be pragmatic during a crisis; the Civil War and Great Depression are great examples of our constitutional elasticity.

We are willing to accept that at times, the rules must be bent in order to protect the "rule of law" in the long term. But now is not that time. Pres. Trump couldn't have said it better: "America isn't designed for this. The cure shouldn't be worse than the virus."

It's time to get back to business as usual.

It's time to get back to work.

It's time to "re-open" America.

File photo from YouTube screen grab (cropped).
Actor Atul Srivastavas approach of taking long breaks to select projects is coming handy during the lockdown. Quarantined in his house with wife, son and mother-in-law in Mumbai, the Lucknowite is keeping himself busy with his second favourite thing after acting  reading!

Its for my son and others like him that this lock down period is a big issue. Padhne-likhne walon ki liye koi taklif nahi hai, (there is no problem for those who love reading and writing). I am enjoying reading books that I was longing to complete since a long time. I have collected a lot of books over the time but was not able to read them as had no me time because of shoots. So currently, I am all into reading most of the time, he said over phone.

Besides, he is catching up with old classic movies and digital shows on OTT. With hectic shooting schedules and travelling health takes a backseat but these days I am following a strict timetable to be keep fit. Staying home has regulated my exercise routine and I myself have started feeling good about myself, he says.

The Stree, Luka-Chuppi and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, actor did shoot for a digital show Mannphodganj Ki Binni two years back in Lucknow that was recently released. Where he plays father to the protagonist, talking about the show, he says, We shot 95% of the show between Lucknow, Kakori and Malihabad. Only, a small portion has been shot in Allahabad as Mannphodganj is a very popular locality in the Sangam city. Its a very interesting family-oriented story and is being well received. I enjoyed shooting every bit of it in my hometown.

Before the shooting came to a halt in the wake of the coronavirus spread, he was scheduled to go Badayun near Bareilly for the last leg of his next. We have shot Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai last year. The shooting of the film is nearly only over. There is some patchwork left to be completed. But everything has been put on hold. Lets see when things get back on track. I hope this phase gets over soon. Srivastava has also shot for Partho Ghoshs Pyar Main Thoda Twist in Lucknow last year.
Kim Chong-in, cente, head of the main opposition United Future Party's election committee, apologizes with other party members at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, for inappropriate remarks made by two candidates against a 'certain age group' and bereaved family members of the Sewol ferry disaster. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) has apologized for a series of inappropriate remarks made by two of its candidates, who disparaged bereaved families of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster and specific age groups, respectively.



The party also decided to expel them from the party, a decision the candidates strongly protested against.



Kim Chong-in, co-head of the UFP's election committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly, Thursday, to apologize over the incidents.



"I am so sorry for disappointing and angering the public over indiscreet remarks by two candidates of the UFP," he said. "This is not a matter of whether their remarks were true or not. They used words that should not come from a candidate of a political party."



Kim promised that such incidents would not happen again, saying if his party wins the election, it would not disappoint the people.



One of the two candidates is former lawmaker Cha Myung-jin, who is running in the Bucheon-C District in Gyeonggi Province. During a televised debate recorded Wednesday, he claimed bereaved family members of victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster engaged in "promiscuous conduct" with a volunteer in a tent that had been set up at a Sewol memorial space on Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.



Cha referred to the occurrence of "a threesome" citing an online news outlet's report about the unconfirmed incident.



He made the remark in response to a related question about his previous disparaging comments about the Sewol victims and their families. A day ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster last year, Cha wrote on Facebook that the bereaved family members were "taking advantage" of the people's sympathy over their children's deaths for too long a period of time.



The then Liberty Korea Party (LKP), the predecessor of the UFP, suspended Cha's party membership for three months, which was seen as far too light considering the public anger at his remarks. With his fresh disparaging comments over the Sewol issue, criticism is now rising even among party members that it was wrong for the party not to impose a harsher punishment at the time, and to nominate him to run in the general election.



Prior to this, another UFP candidate caused a stir over remarks on people in their 30s and 40s. Kim Dae-ho, who is running in the Gwanak-A District of Seoul, said during a campaign committee meeting Monday that these age groups lacked logic and did not support the conservative party because they did not know the history of how the country grew into its current position,.



A day after the controversy, he made another comment that could be seen as disparaging the elderly. When talking about facilities for the disabled, he said, "Everybody becomes disabled when they get old."



The party's ethics committee expelled Kim from the party, and will review punitive measures for Cha, who is also likely to be expelled after Kim Chong-in said he should be. Expulsion from a party during the election period strips the individual of their candidate status according to the Election Law.



The two candidates are opposing the decision. They both said they had been trapped by media "framing," which distorted their intention.



"I offer a hundred apologies to those who lost their precious children due to the Sewol ferry disaster for hurting them with my remarks in the past," Cha said on Facebook. "But those who behaved inappropriately in their self-dubbed sacred tents at the Sewol memorial site should be the ones apologizing  I was simply quoting the obvious fact I saw from a media report."



Kim Dae-ho applied for a court injunction of the party's decision, Thursday. "I'll talk with the National Election Commission after the court makes a decision (in my favor)," he said.


The cuts hurt

The outcome of the Australia Council's four-year funding applications has left a number of literary publications that missed out reeling at the decisions. Four years ago it was Meanjin that was knocked back by the council. This time Australian Book Review, Overland and the online Sydney Review of Books all missed out, much to their chagrin.

Credit:Andrew Dyson

As ABR editor Peter Rose put it bluntly in a statement on the magazine's website: "The Council and its peers demonstrate an unfortunate disregard for the magazine sector, little understanding of its contribution to the literary ecology and no appreciation of the dire consequences for readers, authors, contributors and publishers."

And he continued thus: "Non-funding imperils the work and the future of magazines around the country, already battered by the unique threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems extraordinary that the Australia Council, at such a perilous time, will not fund seasoned, proven, innovative magazines that so strongly promote Australian writing and publishing."

It is hard to disagree with him. Rose was due to hold talks (along with outgoing chair Colin Golvan and incoming chair Sarah Holland-Batt) with Wenona Byrne, director of literature this week. He told Bookmarks he would be questioning the whole process "and we will be seeking answers".
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexicans have substantially reduced their travel to restaurants, grocery stores and parks amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to mobility data analyzed by Google.

In fact, theyve generally cut their travel more substantially than people in Arizona, Utah and Oklahoma.

But New Mexico still trails the nation as a whole in limiting trips outside the home  well behind Colorado and just a touch worse than Texas, Google data shows.

The mixed grade comes as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham continues to tighten requirements for social distancing in New Mexico and pleads with residents to stay home for all but essential outings.

We all have to do more to protect families and to protect New Mexicans, Lujan Grisham said in a public briefing last week.

Altogether, the Google data estimates that people in New Mexico have reduced their trips to restaurants, theaters and retail sites by 44% and their visits to grocery stores and pharmacies by 18%. The data compared a day in late March to a baseline of activity for similar days earlier in the year, before the pandemic triggered stay-at-home orders in the United States.

The data shows New Mexicans trips to parks and workplaces are also down.

I do think people here in New Mexico have taken this seriously, said state Sen. Liz Stefanics, a Cerrillos Democrat whose district covers parts of six counties, spanning from Pecos to Capitan. People out here are pretty good in terms of watching out for each other.

The Google data is based on consumers who use Google Maps or share their location history through their Google accounts. The company says the data is aggregated and anonymous.

The movement data represents just a sample of its users, Google said, depending on their account settings and internet connectivity. It may not exactly reflect the broader population.

The baseline is built on data from Jan. 3 to Feb. 6. The more recent data is based on a day in late March.

A closer look

New Mexico health officials are working with a Santa Fe-based firm, Descartes Labs, on their own analysis of how well people in the state are adhering to instructions to stay home.

Dr. David Scrase, secretary of the state Human Services Department, said health officials need access to the underlying data to draw meaningful conclusions, rather than just looking at what Google released.

A particular concern, he said, is evaluating whether the movement data is picking up people driving through the state  a trip that isnt useful for examining how New Mexicans are responding to the stay-at-home instruction. Google didnt address in its report how it would handle such trips.

Scrase said the early data from Descartes Labs shows the state is still short of its goals.

What we think were seeing is that about 60% of New Mexicans are doing a great job limiting their mobility, he said, and the other 40% are not doing as well. In order to limit the spread of the virus, we need 85% to be significantly limiting their mobility.

The Google data, in any case, shows enormous differences in the mobility changes throughout the state.

Torrance County, for example, had a 24% dip in travel to restaurants and retail sites, according to Google, while Los Alamos had a 70% reduction.

But researchers cautioned against drawing firm conclusions based on individual counties. The Google data for small counties is likely to be less reliable because it involves fewer people and tracked locations, said Jeffrey Mitchell, director of the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at the University of New Mexico.

Mitchell estimated New Mexico ranks 33rd nationally in reduction in mobility, based on the Google data he reviewed.

Torrance County Manager Wayne Johnson, for his part, said hes pleased with the way Torrance County residents have responded to the pandemic. Calls for emergency services are down, he said, a sign that people arent panicked.

Social distancing is kind of built into our way of life to begin with, Johnson said in an interview.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said she isnt surprised Los Alamos would reduce travel substantially. The community  site of Los Alamos National Laboratory  is home to experts happy to explain the importance of staying home, she said.

It has to do with the acknowledgment that facts and scientific information matter, Chandler said, and people pay attention to that.

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat and former health secretary, has aggressively urged people to limit their contact with others to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Since declaring a public health emergency March 11, the Lujan Grisham administration has ordered the closure of schools and nonessential businesses, limited restaurants to takeout and delivery, and banned public gatherings of more than five people.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:03:53|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with community workers, police officers, medical workers, officials and volunteers at a community in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping praised community workers for their important role in the battle against COVID-19, urging them to continue their solid efforts in containing the epidemic and whole-heartedly serving the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a Wednesday letter to community workers at a neighborhood in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

"I am so glad to know that lives in communities of Wuhan, including your neighborhood, are gradually returning to normal," he said.

Xi pointed out that community workers in urban and rural areas have been fighting the battle against COVID-19 without fear and with solidarity.

In the letter, he cautioned against any slackening in epidemic control despite the fact that outbound travel restrictions have been lifted in Wuhan.

Community worker Mu Tianxiang (R) visits a resident at Xiaojingchang Hutong in Dongcheng District of Beijing, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

"Communities remain an important line of defense against the importation of cases from abroad and epidemic rebound at home," read the letter.

Xi urged community workers to carry on with their solid epidemic control work and make new contributions to thoroughly winning the people's war against COVID-19.

Communities are the front line of the anti-virus battle. Across the country, more than 4 million community workers have been sticking to their posts in around 650,000 urban and rural communities since the outbreak, making great contributions to containing the epidemic and ensuring the supply of people's daily necessities.

Attaching great importance to community-based epidemic control, Xi has made relevant instructions, praised community workers and visited communities in Beijing and Wuhan.

Community workers at the Wuhan community that Xi visited recently wrote him a letter to express their gratitude toward him and the CPC Central Committee, as well as their strong determination to fulfill their duties. 
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  More than 200 Indiana cities, towns and counties have been awarded a combined $126.5 million in state matching funds to help them tackle local road and bridge projects.

Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indianas transportation commissioner announced the funding for 214 municipalities on Tuesday.

The money comes from fee increases on heavy-duty commercial vehicles that use the Indiana Toll Road. To date, a transportation funding program created by a 2017 state law has provided more than $738 million in state matching funds for construction projects.

Holcomb said that funding program is allowing Indiana communities to take on more needed road work and do it in record time."

The Indiana Department of Transportation accepts applications for the funding in both January and July, with a $1 million cap annually per community. An estimated $100 million will be available for communities that apply during the July 2020 call for projects, INDOT said.

To qualify, local governments must provide local matching funds, 50 percent for larger communities or 25 percent for smaller communities, from a funding source approved for road and bridge construction.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 07:38:11|Editor: Lu Hui

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Meng Juanjuan, a member of medical team supporting virus-hit Hubei Province from Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, kisses her daughter in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 8, 2020. A medical team comprised of 330 members from Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital have returned home after a 14-day quarantine and rest. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)
Indian-origin doctors in the UK have begun putting in place processes to conduct in-depth research into the role of ethnicity in greater susceptibility of some patients of South Asian origin to develop more severe symptoms of the novel coronavirus and die of the disease.

A report by the UK's Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) this week revealed that the country's ethnic minority population is more likely to require intensive care admissions, nearly triple the 13 per cent proportion in the UK population as a whole.

"We have a team of researchers on this because it is important to analyse the factors behind these differentiating factors so that communities can put additional preventive measures in place, said Dr Ramesh Mehta, the President of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the main representative group for Indian doctors in the UK.

"The reasons behind this trend will not be any one thing but a complex set of factors, be it Vitamin D deficiency, the lack of social distancing measures within a large Indian family household set up or a genetic predisposition. We will know only once we have the relevant data to analyse, he said.

BAPIO has written to the Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Chris Whitty, and Medical Director of NHS England Stephen Powis, this week requesting all the official data available on COVID-19 hospital admissions for its research.

"The most recent ICNARC data of UK intensive care unit attendance is some of the first signals of the concern that COVID-19 has a more severe (lethal) phenotype in BAME [Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic] groups, with more than 25 per cent being Black or Asian, and more than a third being non-Caucasian, notes the letter.

It adds: We need a better understanding of the issues of BAME mortality in the context of the general population, particularly if it helps us manage sick and vulnerable groups, and so that we can be accurate in our messaging.

"We are therefore asking that the data for COVID cases, and most certainly those who have died as a result of the illness, incorporates ethnicity and profession, as well as the usual demographic data."



The concern around the limited data available so far is also linked to hundreds of Indian-origin retired doctors answering the National Health Service (NHS) call to arms for them to return to the hospital frontlines to assist during the mounting workload as a result of the pandemic.

"There is very limited evidence and there are so many variables hence a proper study needed. Meanwhile, we propose that irrespective of ethnicity, senior and retired clinicians should be redeployed preferably away from frontline duties, said Professor Parag Singhal, one of the doctors on the NHS frontlines.

"BAME doctors should discuss their underlying health issues with their employers to assess the risk," he said.

Indian-origin doctors, who make up a large chunk of the NHS workforce, are already among the victims of the deadly virus in the UK, including cardiac surgeon Wales-based Jitendra Kumar Rathod, 58, originally from Gujarat, and Birmingham-based Hamza Pacheeri, 80, from Kerala.

"Just as there is uncertainty about future predictions for the population, we don't fully understand the COVID-19 related impact on the workforce, and their safety is paramount," notes BAPIO in its letter, a copy of which has also been sent to NHS England and Public Health England.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Harare, Zimbabwe  Health professionals in Zimbabwe have sounded the alarm over the countrys limited capacity to test people for the new coronavirus, warning that a lack of critical equipment and infrastructure shortages may result in many cases going undetected.

Zimbabwe reported its first case on March 20 and so far, it has tested only 392 people for COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The country  which has only one COVID-19 test centre, in the capital, Harare  has confirmed 11 cases, including three deaths.

Among the fatalities confirmed to date has been a 79-year-old man in Bulawayo, Zimbabwes second-largest city.

Health authorities confirmed he had been infected with the new coronavirus on Tuesday, three days after his death. The man had initially been diagnosed with pneumonia late last month, but when his condition deteriorated, doctors decided to have him tested for virus.

However, Bulawayo does not have a treatment facility.

As it is, there are only 500 test kits we got from World Health Organization (WHO) and we have used close to 400 of those. Apart from that, we only have one testing centre countrywide. All specimens have to come to Harare, Norman Matara, secretary of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.





He warned that the government, which has imposed a 21-day lockdown, was ill-prepared to cope with the pandemic and underlined the need for medical staff to be trained to deal with COVID-19.

We think the case of the late Bulawayo patient could have been handled better. Instead, the late patient took too [long] to get tested. He reported to his GP on March 23 and only got tested on April 2. His results only came on Tuesday, three days after his death and almost two weeks after he got sick, Matara said.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa warned the lack of testing kits could spell disaster.

A disaster is loading in Zimbabwe. Lives are at risk. We must invest in testing and tracking. A lockdown without testing, tracking and isolation is useless, Chamisa said in a Twitter post.

Rwanda has tested 1,500 people in two days and South Africa has tested 68,000 so far. Zimbabwe has tested 392 people only over the past month.

Government spokesman Nick Mangwana had not returned calls and messages for comment at the time of publication.

As part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the government has declared a state of national disaster and banned all public gatherings of more than 50 people for 60 days. Some of the banned gatherings include church services, weddings and all international sporting fixtures.

President Emmerson Mnangagwas government has also ordered the closure of schools and designated three hospitals as quarantine facilities for COVID-19. Authorities in Harare, meanwhile, have installed hand-washing basins in the capitals central business district and began sterilising public places with both hand-held fumigation tanks and water tankers.

Elbowed out

Years of underfunding and a deepening economic crisis emanating from mismanagement has brought the countrys health sector to its knees. Doctors and health workers have filed a lawsuit against the government over the lack of personal protective equipment that front-line medical staff desperately need.

But Zimbabwe is one of a number of African countries facing a dire shortage of medical equipment needed to combat the pandemic.

On Thursday, African Union officials said the continent is being elbowed out by rich countries in the global race for testing kits and other necessary gear to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

That has to stop, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.

The cornerstone to preventing any disease is to test. Only when were able to test will we be able to trace contracts and administer treatment if needed, Kwesi Quartey, deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, added.

Owing to testing challenges in many African countries, concerns have been raised that cases are going undetected. Nkengasong, however, expressed confidence that the tally was fairly accurate, saying it would be difficult to hide a large number of unreported cases because hospitals would be flooded with people.

But Farai Maguwu, a human rights defender and founding director of the Centre for Research and Development, said the lack of testing kits in Zimbabwe meant that the coronavirus outbreak in the country is much worse.

People are being fed with daily dosages of propaganda by the Minister of Health when the pandemic is spreading like a wildfire, he alleged. The fact that coronavirus patients visit GPs on several occasions before a proper diagnosis is done means the pandemic is now beyond control.





The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has strongly denied claims that it is underplaying the numbers of those infected.

Zimbabwe received 20,000 testing kits from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, last month but they are said to be faulty.

The kits from the Chinese are not functional and government has had to rely on the donated kits from the World Health Organisation, Matara said.

As of Thursday, there were about 11,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the continent  a rise of more than 4,000 from just a week ago, and 572 deaths.

According to the WHO, there are fewer than 5,000 intensive care unit beds available across 43 of the continents 54 countries: This is about five beds per one million people in the reported countries compared to 4,000 beds per one million people in Europe, it said in a statement.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 1.5 million people as of Thursday, with a death toll of some 93,000 people.
CGG Provides First Quarter 2020 Financial Update

Positive Net Cash Flow of $25 million

Cash Liquidity at the end of March 2020 around $622 million

Group Segment Revenue Expected at $273 million

PARIS, France  April 8, 2020

First quarter 2020 update:

CGG anticipates first quarter 2020 figures as follow:

Group Segment revenue around $273 million , down 3% year-on-year. Geoscience first quarter 2020 segment revenue around $93 million, up 2% year-on-year Multi-client first quarter 2020 segment revenue around $104 million, up 17% year-on-year, with after-sales around $47 million Equipment first quarter 2020 segment revenue around $76 million, down 25% year-on-year



Positive Net Cash Flow around $25 million during the first quarter 2020

Groups Cash Liquidity around $622 million at the end of March 2020

Net Debt at around $583 million at the end of March 2020

Geoscience backlog as of April 1, 2020 at $278 million, up 7% year-on-year



Sophie Zurquiyah, CEO, CGG said: In the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis, our absolute priority remains on the health and safety of our employees, stakeholders and the communities where we work. I would like to thank all our teams around the world for their dedication and professionalism in these difficult circumstances. Following a solid first quarter of 2020 and a smooth transition to working virtually, we enter this environment with around $622 million of cash, a more resilient asset-light business profile, no bond debt to reimburse before April 2023 and no refinancing required. Generation and preservation of cash, meeting our clients needs and maintaining our technology differentiation remain our key focus.



Full Year 2020 financial guidance suspended:

The recent and significant economic uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting volatility in global financial markets, combined with the large increase in oil supply and the expected decline in oil demand resulting from an economic contraction, leave CGG and the oil and gas sector as a whole, unable to reasonably estimate the future at this point in time.





As of today, the vast majority of our employees are telecommuting and are productive. In Geoscience, we continue to deliver projects on time and our data centers are all operational. Multi-client programs in Brazil, UK, US and Australia are ongoing. Equipment manufacturing plants in France and the US were shut down on March 19, while our plant in China resumed normal production after closing for two weeks in January.

Story continues

However, given the current uncertainties on the duration of the confinement around the world and the magnitude of economic impact to our businesses, the financial objectives communicated on March 6, 2020, which were based on a US$55-65/bbl Brent oil price, are no longer effective. CGG is currently monitoring the situation and its clients activity closely to evaluate the impact on its 2020 financial performance, and is revisiting its 2020 and 2021 financial objectives, which are no longer valid.

We believe that our strategy based on high-end technology, services and data and products that support our clients reservoir development and production optimization efforts is the right one to take us through a lengthy period of depressed activity, should that situation occur.

The Company intends to release updated 2020 financial guidance on May 12, 2020 during its Q1 2020 financial presentation.

Forward-looking statements:

The Company provides this information based on a preliminary revenue review. The Company has not completed its financial reporting and related consolidation, review and control procedures, including the review of all sales against the established revenue recognition/cut-off criteria. The estimates provided in this release are therefore subject to change and the Q1 2020 financial statements finally approved and released by the Company may deviate materially from the information herein.

About CGG:

CGG (www.cgg.com) is a global geoscience technology leader. Employing around 4,600 people worldwide, CGG provides a comprehensive range of data, products, services and equipment that supports the discovery and responsible management of the Earths natural resources. CGG is listed on the Euronext Paris SA (ISIN: 0013181864).

Contacts:

Group Communications & Investor Relations

Christophe Barnini

Tel: + 33 1 64 47 38 11



E-Mail: christophe.barnini@cgg.com

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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Quito, Ecuador  Thu, April 9, 2020 09:56 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c00f7 2 World ecuador,lenin-moreno,president,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-death-toll,pandemic,health Free

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno on Wednesday called for an investigation into how local authorities handled the bodies of coronavirus victims in Guayaquil, the epicenter of the country's outbreak that has overwhelmed health and sanitary authorities.

Family members have complained via social media that public hospitals have failed to quickly locate the bodies of their loved ones and in some cases misidentified the remains.

"We will not allow anyone to be buried without being identified. They deserve a goodbye with dignity!" Moreno wrote via Twitter.

The tweet included a copy of a formal complaint over alleged irregularities filed by Jorge Wated, the state official tasked with handling corpses during the crisis.

The speed of the outbreak in Guayaquil left corpses uncollected in homes and even in some cases in the streets, forcing authorities to store bodies in refrigerated containers and later to open a cemetery to begin burying the dead, residents said.

As of Wednesday Ecuador had about 4,450 cases of the disease, with 242 confirmed deaths and another 240 who are suspected to have died from the virus.

Of those, 3,047 cases and 144 deaths were in the province of Guayas, where Guayaquil is located.

Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said on Tuesday he had sacked an official who requested money in exchange for handing over the remains of a victim in a Guayaquil public hospital.

"Shameful, outrageous and intolerable. I have ordered the removal of this individual and the start of relevant legal actions so that this case does not go unpunished," he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appears at the White House, in Washington DC, April 1, 2020.

Alex Brandon/AP

The coronavirus outbreak in US cities could start to level off in the next week, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke with with Howard Bauchner, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, on Wednesday in a livestreamed interview. He said he expects the US to soon start reaping the rewards of lockdowns and social distancing efforts.

"I think we're going to start to see soon, within the next week or so, kind of a plateauing out and a turning around," Fauci said. "We've got to be cautiously optimistic, not be overconfident. But I think we're going to start seeing that."

Other experts also think the US's coronavirus outbreak will likely peak in the next week or two, after which the country could start to see declines in the daily number of new cases. President Donald Trump has warned that this could be the "toughest week" yet.

"It's going to be the peak hospitalization, peak ICU week, and unfortunately, peak death week," Admiral Brett Giroir, a physician on the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

The same day, the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Louisiana said that rates of growth in case counts and hospitalizations appeared to be slowing in their states.

As of Wednesday, the US had documented nearly 425,000 cases and more than 14,500 deaths from COVID-19.

Story continues

"While none of this is good news, the possible flattening of the curve is better than the increases that we have seen," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in his daily briefing on Monday, according to Reuters. "If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a high level."

After the plateau

Doctors test hospital staff for coronavirus at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx, New York City, on March 24, 2020.

Misha Friedman/Getty Images

While the US could wind up on the other side of the coronavirus peak by the end of April, that's not quite the light at the end of the tunnel.

"The real challenge is if we do then try  which everybody is talking about  to get back to some degree of normality," Fauci said.

Experts have warned that easing stay-at-home restrictions too much too early could lead to a second wave of the virus' spread. Some countries and territories in East Asia have reimposed restrictions shortly after lifting their lockdowns and seeing case counts grow again.

"We've got to make sure that we very aggressively and vigorously do not allow the resurgence of a case, or two or three or 10 or 20, get out of hand. We've got to jump all over that so that we don't have recurrent peaks," Fauci said.

If the US enters the fall unprepared for this possibility, especially given that the virus could make a seasonal resurgence, he said the country could be in the same position it's in now.

"If we do that we're just going to be playing a sawtooth game," Fauci added. He drew a multi-peak graph in the air with his finger.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:17:37|Editor: Liu

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WELLINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Renowned New Zealand dairy enterprise, Milk New Zealand Dairy Ltd, said on Thursday that as long as airfreight operates, Milk New Zealand remains committed to the export of fresh milk to China.

"Even it costs more than usual, we will not increase the product price," said Roy Van Den Hurk, general manager of product of Milk New Zealand Dairy.

At present, airline use has been dramatically reduced due to very limited airfreight capacity during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Although dairy manufacture is an essential work industry, the production capacity has been reduced due to health and safety to minimize interaction. Therefore, the trade volume has been significantly impacted, Hurk said.

New Zealand entered a four-week lockdown, or epidemic response Alert Level 4, from midnight March 25. During this period, production of all non-essential industries has been halted to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

"Currently we have a new product in its final development stages which will improve the immune system. We aim to make this available to New Zealanders and to export to other countries," he said.

Hurk said the company is also working on a live-stream project showcasing New Zealand farms, the beauty of this country and the friendly Kiwi culture to Chinese consumers.

"We want more and more consumers to understand Pure New Zealand and why the country has the best dairy industry in the world," he added.

"We appreciate the contribution of every member of the Milk New Zealand Dairy team and will not be reducing any salaries or making any positions redundant. As a company and as a country we will get through this," Hurk said.
Global Brands Wary Amid Reports of Forced Labor in China's Xinjiang

By Asim Kashgarian April 08, 2020

As global criticism widens about the alleged forced labor of Uighurs by the Chinese government, several international companies say they are taking measures to ensure their goods from the Xinjiang region are not produced by coercive employment of the minority.

New reports, including by the U.S. Congressional Committee on China and Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said in early March that major brands such as sportswear's Adidas, fashion firms H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie and Fitch, and outdoor clothing company The North Face, were implicated in the alleged forced labor.

Representatives from those companies, however, told VOA that they were working with their representatives in China to prevent sourcing from suppliers that are suspected of using forced labor.

"After the allegations were made in spring 2019, we immediately and explicitly instructed our suppliers not to source any products or yarn from the Xinjiang region," said Rich Efrus, a spokesperson for Adidas.

China's northwest region of Xinjiang is home to more than 13 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic Muslim groups. The region produces 84% of China's cotton production, making it a key hub for China's cotton products, which supply about 22% of global needs, according to a report by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Hennes & Mauritz AB, a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company, told VOA that it was "deeply concerned" by reports of discrimination of ethnoreligious minorities in Xinjiang, reiterating that they are not working with any garment manufacturing factories based in the region.

"We have conducted an investigation at all the garment manufacturing factories we work with in China and can conclude that none of them are employing workers from Xinjiang through what is reported on as labor transfer programs or employment schemes," Ulrika Isaksson, the company's spokesperson, told VOA.

Molly Cuffe, the spokesperson for American outdoor recreation product company The North Face, told VOA that her company considered forced labor "modern slavery." The company, she said, was committed to upholding internationally recognized human rights throughout its global supply chains, including in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang campaign

Since 2017, Chinese authorities have been accused of arbitrarily detaining more than 1 million Uighurs at internment camps, while imposing strict surveillance on those outside. Rights organizations say those in detention are put into indoctrination programs and forced to denounce their Islamic practices. The organizations say Beijing in recent months has moved to a new phase of its campaign in the region by sending thousands of Uighurs from camps to industries where they are used as cheap labor.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in early March released the report, "Uyghurs for Sale," which claimed that as many as 80,000 Uighurs have been forcefully sent from their homeland in Xinjiang to work in factories across China.

Chinese officials have called the reports "simply baseless," arguing their policies in the region are aimed at countering "the three evils of terrorism, extremism and separatism." The officials say Xinjiang camps are merely "vocational training centers" set up to "reeducate" the Uighur community members and teach them "new skills."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in a press briefing March 11 said that "there's no 'forced labor' alleged by some with ulterior motives." Urging the U.S. to "stop politicizing bilateral economic exchange," Geng said coerced labor reports were a part of a campaign to distort the country's image.

US legislation

U.S. lawmakers in early March proposed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill that requires companies to obtain certification from the U.S. government to prove that any products imported into the U.S. and sourced from Xinjiang are not made with forced labor. The bill would also demand the U.S. president to "identify and designate" for sanctions any foreign person involved in the forced labor of the minority groups in Xinjiang.

Sophie Richardson, the China director of Human Rights Watch, told VOA that the bill was unprecedented and could put pressure on companies seen as having some sway with Chinese authorities.

"We share the concerns particularly about the inability in that environment for companies to do human rights due diligence that are required of them under the U.N. guiding principles," Richardson said.

The Better Cotton Initiative, a global cotton farming standards group, on March 11 said it was suspending its licensing activities in Xinjiang for the upcoming cotton season. The decision, it said was "based on the recognition that the operating environment prevents credible assurance and licensing from being executed."

Peter Irwin, a senior program officer of Uyghur Human Rights Project, said the U.S. move could encourage more countries to take similar actions, particularly those concerned about human rights. The international community's response to the Uighur plight has been "disturbingly mild" because of Beijing's economic influence, according to him.

"The bill is significant because it takes an approach that has the potential  if replicated more broadly by concerned states  to serve as the foundation for levying a real cost on China's already delicate economy for continuing to flout international norms," Irwin told VOA.

Vanessa Frangville, a professor of China Studies at Universite libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, told VOA that European countries have been particularly criticized for not addressing human rights abuses against Uighurs.

"China works so hard in isolating states and forcing concessions during bilateral meetings," said Frangville, adding that the current coronavirus pandemic makes European countries more dependent on economic relations with China.

"As China has heavily invested in several European countries  and might soon present itself as the new savior in the economic crisis that will follow the lockdown in most EU countries  I don't really see opportunities for the EU to stand as one against China," she said.

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A Housing charity which asked elderly residents to move out of a building, only to replace them with foreign students paying much higher rents, is being investigated by the Charities Regulator.

The move was announced just weeks after Dublin City Council (DCC) requested that Cabhru Housing Association Services (CHAS) surrender the lease on the property.

The council has also withdrawn funding approval for the proposed redevelopment of James McSweeney House on Berkeley Street in the north inner city as a housing facility for older people and will take over the project itself.

The council has been examining several issues at the charity, including allegations former CHAS chief executive Miceal McGovern lived in an apartment at its Gardiner Street complex for a period and he or a family member also lived in a vacated unit.

Mr McGovern, who resigned in February, rejects the claims.

"As far as I am concerned, I haven't done anything wrong," he told the Irish Independent.

In a statement, the Charities Regulator said it received a concern in relation to the use of CHAS's charitable assets in January and, having made inquiries, determined a statutory investigation was warranted. The statement said the opening of an investigation was not in itself a finding of any wrongdoing.

City Councillor Mannix Flynn, who first raised concerns over CHAS, said an independent inquiry was needed to establish what due diligence the council carried out in relation to the charity.

"Tenants were pulled out of their homes and scattered to the four corners. They suffered deep trauma," said Mr Flynn.

The charity has been in existence for 50 years and until recently was known as the Catholic Housing Aid Society.

Its main housing development comprises 99 units at Fr Scully House on Gardiner Street. It also has 41 units in Ballinteer, south Dublin.

Fr McSweeney House on Berkeley Street was acquired on a 99-year lease from Dublin Corporation in 1984 and provided 21 units for the elderly.

According to a report to a council committee by DCC deputy chief executive Brendan Kenny, this arrangement "worked well" until the end of 2016 when it was agreed no more new tenancies would be created pending a full re-development of the property. Planning permission was granted in July 2019 and CHAS was to source alternative accommodation for all existing residents.

However, the report said concerns were raised that CHAS was not dealing adequately or with sufficient sensitivity or flexibility with elderly residents who needed to be re-housed. Mr Kenny said he had to personally intervene and got a "positive" response from CHAS, including written confirmation all tenants would have the option of returning to the re-developed property in the future.

But he said the charity, without notifying the council, installed a number of students on short-term leases into some of the vacated units.

The report said Mr McGovern informed him the charity's board was aware of this and the rationale behind it was that the students would bring greater security to the property and their rents would help pay for the sourcing of suitable alternative accommodation for the remaining residents.

Mr Kenny said the charity's board had indicated it would carry out "a full investigation of all the issues and claims raised" and report back to the council.

In a statement, the charity said it would provide "wholehearted cooperation" to the regulator and its inspectors.
Harrisburg, Pa.  With many schools transitioning to virtual learning to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Discover Dairy has launched a virtual learning library for elementary and middle school teachers and students.

Discover Dairy is an interactive, cross-curricular lesson series that meets Pennsylvania state education standards and incorporates science, math, reading and social studies concepts to show students how dairy farms contribute to our community.

The virtual learning library includes interactive videos, e-books and worksheets for students to complete at home. Assessment options, including quiz questions, writing enrichment and drawing activities, are available for teachers. Visit youtube.com/channel/UCwlfuq6IOlPY3r2c9o7KyWA to join the virtual chat.

Additional instructional resources, including webinars, infographics and videos, can be found on discoverdairy.com. Visit discoverdairy.com/virtual-learning-library to access the free virtual learning activities, or contact Brittany Snyder at 717-346-0849 or by email at bsnyder@centerfordairyexcellence.org.
The level of traffic on some of Irelands most scenic routes has halved since Covid-19 lockdown measures were introduced but is still higher than traffic volumes seen on Christmas Day.

Thats according to official traffic data collected by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which monitors traffic flows on roads throughout the country.

As the country prepares for an Easter weekend like no other, doctors, patients, and government ministers are urging people to stay at home and abide by restrictions aimed at bringing the Covid-19 outbreak under control.

The appeals follow reports of individuals and groups flouting the restrictions on movement and continuing to travel beyond the two-kilometre limit from their home to visit scenic areas.

An analysis of popular routes around the country shows that traffic volumes have halved since lockdown measures were introduced but remain, for the most part, higher than traffic seen on Christmas Day last.

The Irish Examiner analysed data from traffic counters in counties Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Meath, Galway, Clare and Donegal to gauge changes in traffic flow since Fri, Mar 27.

In Wexford, where there were anecdotal reports of people flocking to the coast or to holiday homes, traffic volumes were twice that seen last Christmas Day on the N25 southwest of Rosslare harbour.

Before the lockdown, typical daily traffic flow on this stretch of road was more than 5,000 movements. While traffic levels fell off after Mar 27 (3,097 movements on Mar 30) they remained higher than levels seen on Christmas Day (1,474 movements)  one of the quietest days on our roads.

Similar trends were evident on other scenic routes. On the N22 Killarney Northern Ring Road the volume of traffic was down significantly since the lockdown measures (from 19,163 on Mon, March 2 to 7,037 on Mon, Apr 6) but remained higher than that observed on Christmas Day (5,256).

In Galway, the N59 between Recess and Clifden also looked busier this week than on Christmas Day. On Mon, Apr 6 there were 1,002 traffic movements on this stretch of road compared to 616 last Christmas Day. Before the lockdown, around 1,800 traffic movements per day were recorded on this road.

By contrast, traffic on one stretch of road in Meath fell below levels seen last Christmas Day. The R132 south of Julianstown had less traffic on Monday last (9,239 movements) than on Christmas Day last (10,688). Up to 20,000 traffic movements were recorded per day on this stretch of road in Dec.

The figures come as Gardai were this week given new powers to arrest and fine people caught flouting the Covid-19 restrictions on movement and travel.

Travel is only permitted for essential work, to attend medical appointments, to shop for essential food, medicines or household supplies, or to provide vital care for family members.

The new Garda powers mean that anyone caught flouting the rules can face a fine of up to 2,500 or six months in prison.

Meanwhile, there were reports of British-registered vehicles arriving into the country to go to holiday homes this week.

Dr Gabriel Scally, a former regional director of public health in England, said, if true, the movement of people from the Britain needs to stop because of the lack of community Covid-19 testing there.

The author of the report into the CervicalCheck controversy told RTE radio on Thursday that there cannot be any lifting of restrictions in either the North or the South of Ireland unless both are done simultaneously.
Each day this month, an employee at the Atrium Post Acute Care of Matawan nursing home notices fewer workers present to take care of the facilitys nearly 100 patients.

In total, the employee estimates 30 people are absent. Those left are taking on duties beyond their normal roles, while being given one N-95 to use indefinitely, the staff member said.

I look to my left and I look to my right, and theres so few of us left, were just waiting for us to get it. Jobs are blurred with everyone doing everything to keep the facility functioning. The PPE is less everyday, said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. Multiple patients and staff have tested positive for COVID-19, the employee said, though the facility declined to share that information.

As the pandemic sweeps across New Jersey, understaffing at nursing homes has become an issue statewide, with employees either forced to call out with symptoms or afraid of bringing the virus home. In some facilities, the few workers who remain say they are left juggling multiple responsibilities as communication with families takes the backseat.

The state has said that of New Jerseys 375 long-term care facilities  a bottom-line figure the state had been referencing during daily press conferences  231 have at least one resident who has tested positive for the coronavirus. However, on Wednesday, the total number of facilities in the state was changed to include 230 other assisted nursing facilities and congregate homes, for a total of 605.

Now, officials said they are working to identify which facilities were too overwhelmed and need to transfer residents out to slow the spread of the virus.

Massive call outs at long-term care facilities are a deep concern, said Laurie Brewer, New Jerseys Long-Term Care Ombudsman, who investigates allegations of abuse and neglect at nursing homes. At St. Joseph Senior Home in Woodbridge, residents were evacuated after three nuns were left taking care of nearly 100 patients due to sick employees forced to quarantine.

Since last month, Brewers office has fielded about 800 calls from loved ones and staff at nursing homes, a portion related to low staff levels. The situation, she expects, will only get worse as outbreaks among the elderly populations continue.

We had a report of one nurse who showed up and she was the only person on the unit, so she was doing meals, meds and care by herself for at least some period of time. Call outs are going to happen, Brewer said. "They are a fact of life pre-COVID. But the ability of the facility to be flexible and adapt is all strained right now. Agency nurses are being used to fill staffing gaps but that is not an infinite resource.

Over the past month, there have been multiple incidents in which staff say their facilities lack PPE and are not adequately staffed either because workers are sick themselves, or they were exposed to someone with coronavirus and must quarantine.

At an Essex County nursing home, one asymptomatic employee expressed guilt as she debated whether to call out herself. On one hand, she views the patients as family.

But going to work could also mean bringing the coronavirus home to her own relatives.

I really want to go because I feel so bad for my residents. Its making me teary eyed. But I dont want to expose myself to this or my own family. Its a difficult decision, said the Family of Caring at Montclair employee last month, where at least five with coronavirus have died and 10 more were tested.

Elderly patients arrive at CareOne at Hanover in Whippany during coronavirus pandemic.George McNish | For NJ Advance Media

Some nursing homes are relying on staffing agencies to hire much-needed nurses. One nurse who works for such an agency said she filled in at a South Jersey facility before she knew a staff member and residents had coronavirus. That facility, she said, is now offering to pay time-and-a-half to nurses. She spoke anonymously because she fears retaliation.

On her shift last week at Lions Gate Skilled Nursing in Voorhees, her supervisor told her there was only one certified nursing assistant for 39 patients, when a normal night shift would have three.

I asked him if he could pull [CNAs] from other floors and he said, No one wants to come to the floor.

The scarcity of protective equipment has made staff afraid to work, she said.

She wore her own mask and said it was only halfway through her shift that a supply worker found additional PPE supplies so she could wear a gown while near isolated patients awaiting COVID-19 test results.

The nursing home has said that all its staff wear masks, are screened each shift for symptoms and follow infectious disease protocols as directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health.

Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said the lack of PPE exacerbates the already high turnover for CNAs.

Every nursing home worker must be given the appropriate personal protective equipment. This isnt happening in what is the most extraordinary event of our lives. The job is extremely difficult, both physically and emotionally, and burnout is a very real problem, Silva said. Staffing was skeletal to begin with and now its at a breaking point in many facilities.

New Jersey nursing homes have staffing level requirements determined daily by a formula based on the number of residents and type of assistance they need. The type of assistance factored into the formula includes the provision of oxygen and tube feedings, wound care, assistance with eating, bathing, transferring, toileting and dressing. The minimum baseline is 2.5 hours of care for every patient per day.

Late last month, Gov. Phil Murphy issued an order waiving nursing staff standards and is instead simply requiring facilities to document attempts to meet the standards.

Silva fears the order could put staff in an unsafe position.

Officials are also allowing the states 57,000 home health aides, who perform basic medical tasks for in-home patients, to work in nursing homes as CNAs.

Jonathan Dolan, president & CEO of the Health Care Association of N.J., which represents long-term care providers, said the states waivers have helped. Nursing homes are under financial strain now and will also need federal aid as soon as possible, he said.

Staffing is at an absolute crisis level at many facilities, Dolan said. Were doing more hours and were doing more pay and were working with more facilities, more agencies to get anyone we can.

Brewer said the low pay of some nursing home employees has always made retaining them difficult, even before the coronavirus crisis.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for nursing assistants in New Jersey is $15 an hour. CNAs handle a significant part of the nursing home workload, including cleaning, changing and regularly checking on patients.

The people who are showing up for work are overloaded, and the ground is shifting under them every day. Add to that, we are fielding anonymous complaints from nursing home staff who are complaining about a lack of personal protection equipment. They are terrified, Brewer said.

Dolan said some long-term care facilities are offering staff hazard pay, bonuses for completed shifts and child care as incentives to continue returning to work.

To meet appropriate staffing levels, Atrium Post Acute Care of Matawan has temporarily stopped admitting patients, said Spring Hills Senior Communities, which manages the facility and other nursing homes across New Jersey. The facility normally cares for 120 or more residents, but now has 93 residents.

In a statement, the company said they are also offering bonus pay to all CNAs and associates as a show of appreciation for their hard work and dedication during these challenging times.

Dolan said one nursing home administrator is paying for temporary housing for workers, so they dont spread the virus between family members and nursing home residents.

He said long-term care workers in New Jersey are also on the frontlines of the virus  like hospitals  but nursing homes are "feeling like the forgotten member of the healthcare team.

We are praying so hard for our hospital brethren and we want to do our part, but you cant forget the vulnerable souls we have and that no one has a bigger rate of death than were going to have, he said.

If staffing shortages continue to increase with the virus, Dolan said more relocations like St. Josephs Senior Home are likely.

Were staying in the fight, he said. We need PPE, we need staff and we need prayers.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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An amazing time-laspe video over Rhode Island shared to YouTube shows just how fascinating the brightest supermoon of the year was those who witnessed it, last night.

The brief clip of the pink supermoon - the biggest and brightest of the year - was filmed from Saunderstown, Rhode Island and shows the Newport Pell Bridge.

Mike Cohea, who filmed the clip, shared that he was nearly four miles away from the bridge when he captured the stunning visual.

In the footage, the moon can be seen flying over the bridge before it quickly disappears. The clip then repeats.

Scroll down for video

The brief clip of the pink supermoon - the biggest and brightest of the year - was filmed from Saunderstown, Rhode Island and shows the Newport Pell Bridge

On April 7, the pink supermoon, sometimes called a Paschal full moon, filled the night sky with a bright and luminous tribute to the spring season, shining above some of the most famous landmarks in the United States including the Empire State Building and the Washington Monument.

The name comes from the Greek word for 'passover', chosen because the pink supermoon is the first full moon to take place after the Spring Equinox, which occurred on March 19.

Even though it's called a pink supermoon, the moonlight isn't actually pink.

The Supermoon rises behind the Empire State Building while it glows red in solidarity with those infected with coronavirus

A 'pink' supermoon rises over the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday night

It is set to be the largest lunar event of the year, captured here over the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment in New York

The super moon rises in the sky in front of a fountain at Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday

A supermoon rises behind the artwork titled Seven Magic Mountains by artist Ugo Rondinone in Las Vegas on Tuesday night

The biggest supermoon of the year appears large over the Luxor Hotel and Casino, Delano Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and the under construction Allegiant Stadium on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada

The 'pink' label was chosen in part as a reference to a type of wildflower native to North America called 'phlox subulata,' which has a vivid pink hue and is a common sign of spring, according to a report in Newsweek.

As the moon rose to prominence at about 10:30 PM EST, amateur astronomers grabbed pictures of the event and posted them to social media.

It was photographed shining bright above New York as people gathered along the waterfront in Brooklyn and New Jersey to capture it hanging above the Manhattan skyline.

The moon, seen here behind the 200 Clarendon Street, formerly know as the John Hancock Tower, in Boston, is not named a 'pink' supermoon because of the light is gives out but is named after a North American flower

A supermoon such as this one seen over the Long Island Expressway in New York on Tuesday occurs when the moon is at the closest point of its orbit with the Earth. This is the supermoon after the Spring Equinox which occurred on March 19

The name for the supermoon, seen here in Boston, comes from the Greek word for 'passover', chosen because the pink supermoon is the first full moon to take place after the Spring Equinox, which occurred on March 19

The moon rose to prominence at around 10.30pm on Tuesday but was seen all over the world

The Super Pink Moon rises behind the Empire State in New York City where eager photographers were out to see the event

Stunning photographs showed it in the sky side by side with the Empire State Building which was illuminated in red and white in tribute to the city's healthcare workers battling on the frontlines against the coronavirus pandemic.

It was also pictured shining bright as it rose above the Washington Monument and in states across the east coast from Florida to Massachusetts.

Shots of planes passing in front of the moon highlighted how large it appeared in the sky as a relatively cloudless night in many east-coast cities set up a perfect viewing opportunity for the year's largest lunar event.

The pink supermoon, seen here over New York, is one of the largest lunar events that will take place in 2020

The supermoon is pictured here rising above the Empire State Building in Manhattan on Tuesday night

A plane flying over Florida highlights how large the supermoon appears in the sky on Tuesday night

As night fell on more states across the country, social distancing guidelines were abandoned by some eager to record the majestic moon.

Las Vegas proved a popular viewing spot for many as the moon stood out against iconic attractions such as the Seven Magic Mountains.

In Oregan, the remarkable lunar event appeared over the snow-covered Mount Hood, appearing large in the sky over the state's highest mountain.

The supermoon rising over the watertower in the town of Nunn in Colorado. The spectacular event was seen across the U.S.

The largest supermoon of the year rises over Mount Hood as seen from Sandy, Oregon, on Tuesday night

The beautiful event framed in the artwork titled Seven Magic Mountains by artist Ugo Rondinone in Las Vegas

Photographers prepare to watch the largest supermoon of the year rise over Mount Hood at Jonsrud Viewpoint, Oregon

A supermoon typically only occurs once a year, when a full moon coincides with the moon also being at the closest orbital point to Earth, called a perigee.

Compared to standard full moons, supermoons can appear between seven and 14 percent larger and up to 30 percent brighter.

Supermoons are relatively rare because the moon's orbital path around the Earth is elliptical instead of circular, meaning that full moons rarely occur when the moon is also at its perigee.

Rather, most full moons occur when the moon is further away from the Earth, making it seem dimmer and not quite as big as it does during a supermoon.

On Tuesday, Scientist Noah Petro of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland encouraged people to take advantage of the phenomenal lunar event even if they could only look out their living room window.

'If you cant get out safely  then fine,' Petro told Time.

'Go out next month or whenever its safe again. Use the full moon as an excuse to get out and start looking at the moon.

'Use this as an opportunity to not physically distance yourself, but emotionally connect with something that is physically far from us.'

The pink supermoon is also the first full moon to take place after the spring equinox. It's called pink not because of the color of its light, but after the 'phlox subulata,' a species of North American wild flower with a vivid pink hue that are a common sign of springtime
KMBC: Kansas adds 146 cases of COVID-19 to reach 1,046 mark -- On Wednesday, Wyandotte County passed Johnson County to become the biggest outbreak of coronavirus in the state.

Kansas City Coronavirus Survivor Story Inspires

COVID-19 survivor shares experience as KC metro sees more than 1,000 cases KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As of Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metropolitan area, and one woman who has recovered from the virus believes she might have contracted it while on the job. "This is serious.

Kansas City Public Television Teachable Moment

KCPT Shifts Daytime Programming to Support Kansas City's Students KCPT, Kansas City PBS, has announced a shift in programming to better serve caregivers, educators and home-bound students during the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. Beginning Monday, April 13, 2020, all previously announced weekday, daytime schedules will change to educational programs and lessons featuring social studies, math, and literacy favorites.

Kansas City Working-Class Confront Coronavirus

Social distancing, working from home isn't so easy for all in the KC metro KANSAS CITY, Mo. - We've all heard it by now: Stay home and when you have to go uot, social distance. But this advice isn't as easy to follow for everyone in the metro. "The fact that we've got minority populations that are more susceptible to particular diseases is not a new story," said Franklin [...]

Golden Ghetto Transmission

Wife of man who was Joco's first COVID-19 death finally gets tested and it's positive "I called them twice after Dennis died to see if I could get tested because I was his caregiver, and they said no. Now I'm sitting home with symptoms, and I have the disease," Joanna Wilson said of the health department.

Kansas City Fights Cavity Creeps And Coronavirus

Some local dentist offices remain open, hoping to avoid strain on hospitals KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The American Dental Association has instructed dentist's offices to remain closed through the end of April in most cases as part of the effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19. But some dentist's offices are opening their doors under certain circumstances for the very same reason.

Senior Moment In The Burbs

Lee's Summit meal delivery service now face challenges while dropping off meals to senior citizens LEE'S SUMMIT, MO (KCTV) - A Lee's Summit based meal delivery service says their program is more important now than ever but delivering in a pandemic presents many challenges. "It's very rewarding to give back. That's what it's all about," One Good Meal volunteer Hershell Spurlock said.

Worker Healthcare Privacy Vs. COVID-19 Public Health Data

What rights do you have when a coworker gets COVID-19? Privacy takes precedence KANSAS CITY, Mo - There's a lot of fear surrounding the coronavirus, especially among those who still have to work at companies where someone has contracted the virus. FOX4 has been inundated with people writing and calling, upset they're not being told more about co-workers who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Golden Ghetto Courthouse Catches Coronavirus

Johnson County Courthouse employee tests positive for COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Johnson County Courthouse employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the Johnson County District Attorney's Office confirmed Wednesday morning. Some staff continues to work inside the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe and Johnson County District Court remains operations, though it went to 100% remote hearings last week.

JoCo Plan To Flatten Curve

Johnson County asks residents to report symptoms then announces random COVID-19 testing plan OLATHE, Kan. - In the first 24 hours that a community health survey was available, 1,600 Johnson County residents logged on to tell health officials they have symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. Then on Wednesday, the director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment announced its first drive-thru testing.

Harsh Times Hit Heartland

Unemployment claims skyrocket in Kansas, Missouri KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New numbers show both Kansas and Missouri unemployment insurance claims are skyrocketing as the economic impact of COVID-19 spreads through communities. Kansans are being asked to use the state labor department's website to file new claims, and it's getting a lot of traffic.

Show-Me Legal Risk Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Missouri Health Care Workers Lack Legal Protections For Potential Life-Or-Death COVID-19 Decisions With COVID-19 cases yet to peak locally, health care workers on the front lines of the growing outbreak face the possibility of having to make excruciating decisions about who gets care and who doesn't. And in Missouri at least, doctors, nurses and others working under these crisis conditions currently lack any legal protections for such life-and-death decisions, worrying health experts and bioethicists.

Missouri COVID-19 Prison Death

Missouri DOC inmate with COVID-19 dies in hospital KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Missouri Department of Corrections inmate who was being treated at a Kansas City-area hospital for COVID-19 died last week. The man, who was held in isolation for two weeks before being transferred to the hospital on March 19, died April 2, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.

Kansas Grave Convern

Kansans Can't Gather For Funerals, Further Complicating Grief During COVID-19 Times WICHITA, Kansas - Open the newspaper to the obituaries and you'll read a reflection of our times. Private family graveside services planned. ... Celebration of life at a later date. ... The memorial service will be live-streamed.

Show-Me Coronavirus Missouri Field Hospital Coming Soon

Parson announces National Guard has begun work on state's first alternate care site (From Gov. Mike Parson) In today's COVID-19 briefing, Governor Mike Parson announced that Missouri is moving forward with its first alternate care site to assist hospitals in the St. Louis region treating an increased number of COVID-19 patients.

Kansas Confronts EPIC Layoffs

COVID-19 outbreak leaves grim unemployment picture in Kansas KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas spent nearly $15 million last week on unemployment, but that barely scratches the surface of the need amid the COVID-19 outbreak. During a typical week from January to March in the past two years, Kansas provided unemployment benefits for roughly 8,500 workers.

KCFD Adapts To Coronavirus

Local firefighters and their families divided by COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - The Kansas City Fire Department is recommending firefighters and EMS professionals socially distance from their own families. Which can be hard, especially for those with young children. Kim Prentice's husband Adam is a KCFD firefighter. For now, he's living in the basement of their home.

Celebrating Community Fabric Amid Coronavirus

Quilting guild making face masks for first responders Members of the Olathe Quilter's Guild are focused on making face masks for health care workers and first responders."It is analogous to rolling bandages in the Civil War," quilter Mary Ellen Winter said. Winter is currently off from her day job, but she has not had much down time these past few weeks.

Conversation With Bird Lady Of Kansas City

Staying Home On COVID-19 Lockdown Has Turned This Kansas City Woman Into A Serious Bird Watcher Now that we're spending more time at home, you might find yourself looking out your window more. It's unlikely you'll get as lucky as one Kansas City woman did, though. Shannon Lindgren was a little nervous when she and her husband had to start working from their 5th floor apartment on the Plaza.

Tamale Lockdown Time

The Tamale Kitchen cooking for workers who've lost jobs The secret to delicious tamales is in the ingredients, says Gigi Aguirre. Spices added to the dough and meat add flavor, but they must also be made with love and patience because they take a lot of work. Aguirre has been cooking with other immigrant women as part of The Tamale Kitchen for six years, since its inception.

Coronavirus Clears Downtown Kansas City Streets

Photos show downtown Kansas City streets, parks deserted during 'stay-at-home' order KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The streets of downtown are much quieter after Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a "stay-at-home" order that went into effect March 24. Photos taken on Thursday, March 31 between 6:30 and 8 p.m. show streets largely devoid of cars. Caution tape is wrapped around a chair and park equipment in an effort [...]

Kansas City Nonprofit Repurposed To Help Community Recover From COVID-19

New nonprofit switches gears to serve those in need KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Village KC, Inc. is a new nonprofit that just launched in late February. It is housed at DeLaSalle Education Center and their focus is to provide a safe space and resources for middle and high schoolers to grow and learn.

Locals From Every Demographic Join Coronavirus Fight

Local Chinese community helps fight COVID-19 in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - For many in Kansas City, the severity of the novel coronavirus didn't hit home until February or March. But for some, the dismal future in the U.S. was clear before that, because they saw it in their native country of China.

KC Drive-Thru Pandemic Help

Food bank serving drive-thru style because of COVID-19 Hide Transcript Show Transcript REALLY GOING STRONG. WE SPENT SATURDAY MORNING WATCHING THEM IN ACTION. ON THIS CHILLY SATURDAY IN APRIL, PEOPLE PATIENTLY WAIT IN THEIR CARS FOR BARE NECESSITIES. WE GIVE YOU THANKS FOR EACH AND EVERY DAY. LARA: INSIDE, TURNING POINT VOLUNTEERS PRAY BEFORE THEY SERVE THOSE WAITING OUTSIDE.

Kansas City Coronavirus Support For The Troops

Kansas City VA Medical Center staff get morale boost as they start shift KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As nurses, doctors, volunteers and other workers entered the Kansas City VA Medical Center parking lot Wednesday morning, a group of people cheered them on. The group held signs with encouraging words to recognize the selfless and courageous work these medical employees do every day.

At the end of the day, here are the metro coronavirus totals as the Greater Kansas City Area endures more than 1,000 cases reported so far . . . Here's a quick breakdown of the numbers:After the jump we're sharingconcerning the pandemic and local life . . .Developing . . .
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 09.04.2020:

 The total number of COVID-19 cases in Armenia has reached 921.

According to Armenian health ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan, 28 new cases have been confirmed as of April 8.

We also have a new death case as of April 9. An 80-year-old patient had the coronavirus disease, severe pneumoniacomplicated by the respiratory distress syndrome of the lungs. The man had concomitant chronic illnesses, including arterial hypertension, cachexia, senile sclerosis, she noted.

In the meantime, according to the Artsakh health ministry, the health condition of the Karabakh resident infected with the coronavirus is stable. According to the ministry, samples were taken from three other persons and were sent for tests. [UPDATE] Two out of three citizens that have been tested for coronavirus in Artsakh have positive results.

 Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Armenian authorities keep organizing the returns of Armenians.

According to the Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, Armenian colleagues have asked them to transport 35 Armenian students from the US on board the flight for 79 Georgian students.

In the meantime, Armenian MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan noted that nearly 100 Armenian citizens in Turkey have contacted the MFA. According to her, the MFA is providing funding to transport 70 Armenian citizens through Georgia, and they will be under mandatory 14-day quarantine in Armenia.

We reported yesterday that about 100 Armenians of Istanbul are returning to Armenia by four buses. According to one of the returnees, the Armenian government has solved her and the other Armenians financial issues.

 Armenian National Security Service officers were at a Yerevan police precinct. The officers did not let out the head of the department, his deputy, or senior detective of the criminal investigation department from the building.

According to Armenian police spokesperson Ashot Aharonyan, NSS officers and the Armenian police have carried out a joint investigation at the Davitashen district precinct of the Yerevan police.

 Armenian parliament inquiry committee for examining the circumstances of April 2016 war has met the condition posited by third President Serzh Sargsyan. Earlier, Serzh Sargsyan said he was ready to take part in the hearing, but provided that the hearing be recorded.

According to the committee, video recording of the hearings section with Sargsyans participation will be provided to him without any preconditions.

 Sarkis Tatigian, who began his Navy career at the age of 19 during WWII, passed away earlier this week in the US aged 96, taskandpurpose.com reported.

His 78-year career sets the record for the longest serving civil servant in Defense Department history, according to Naval Sea Systems Command, the source noted.

 After careful consideration of the Coronavirus pandemic, the United Armenian Council of Los Angeles (UACLA), the Unified Young Armenians (UYA), and the Armenian Genocide Committee (AGC) have decided to suspend all of their April 24 commemoration related activities.

 Armenian PM ex-advisor Hakob Chagharyan has been summoned to NSS, his spouse told Armenian News - NEWS.am.

Earlier, Hakob Chagharyan told about the destructive policy of the country's authorities over civil aviation. In an interview with Lragir.am, commenting on the decision of the international authority to ban the Civil Aviation Committee from issuing flight licenses,Chagharyan noted that the aviation authorities of Armenia have issues.
Thae Yong-yo, a former North Korean diplomat who fled to the South in 2016, holds his book while speaking to journalists during a press conference in Tokyo Thursday, June 20, 2019 file photo. /AP-Yonhap



For decades, Thae Yong Ho served the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, rising to become Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to London before defecting. Now he is standing for election in South Korea's multi-party democracy.



If he wins his constituency in Gangnam, the wealthy Seoul district made famous by rapper Psy, Thae will become the first former Northern official ever to be directly elected to South Korea's parliament.



And he believes it would send an unmistakable message to the upper echelons of which he was once part  that abandoning Kim Jong-n's regime could open up a different path for the country.



"I want to tell them that there is a new way for their future," Thae said. The general assumption in Pyongyang, he explained, is that "if Korea is reunited under the concept of freedom or democracy", those who have previously served the Kim family "must be the target of the purge".

"I'm sure once we can change the minds of the elite group in North Korea, we can easily bring down the Kim system." Voting styles are radically different on either side of the Demilitarized

Zone that divides the neighbours  which are technically still at war.



In the isolated, nuclear-armed North, citizens line up to cast ballots pre-printed with a single candidate's name, under the watchful gaze of portraits of the country's founder Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il.

In the South, a plethora of parties compete in a rambunctious, sometimes ferocious, contest for power, deploying everything from social media campaigns to squads of party members bowing to commuters to seek support.



The April 15 vote will elect a new parliament through a mix of first-past-the-post constituencies like Thae's and proportional representation. President Moon Jae-in's position is not at issue as he is directly elected, but the vote is largely a referendum on his performance.





In this file photo taken on March 11, 2019, a commuter stands before a copy of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showing an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un casting his ballot at the 14th Supreme People's Assembly elections, on display at a subway station in Pyongyang. For decades, Thae Yong-ho served the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, rising to become Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to London before defecting. Now he is standing for election in South Korea's multi-party democracy. / AFP-Yonhap



Thae comes from a family with good revolutionary credentials but fled his post in London in August 2016 after becoming disillusioned with Kim Jong-un's regime.



Thae said he defected to prevent his children  who had lived in both Pyongyang and Europe  living "miserable" lives in North Korea. "Once in the outside world, you can't endure that kind of slavery," he added.



About 33,000 North Koreans have fled to the South in the past two decades, but it is rare for high-level officials to change sides.

Thae has since become a prominent and outspoken critic of North Korea and the engagement approach pursued by the South's Moon. He joined the conservative United Future Party (UFP)  the main opposition  and has been rewarded with the candidate's nomination for a seat in Gangnam, one of its electoral strongholds.



In a bright pink jacket  the color of his party  he has been out canvassing among its designer boutiques and luxury apartment complexes.



In South Korea's "bottom up" democracy, he said, each individual voter's support had to be secured "one by one".

"If you want to win, you have to go to the streets, you have to bow all the time, you have to say hello," he said.



There is no such campaigning in North Korea, he says.

The ruling Workers' Party has an iron grip on power and every five years holds an election for the rubber-stamp legislature, known as the Supreme People's Assembly.



Turnout at the last poll in March 2019 was 99.99 percent, the official Korea Central News Agency reported, and "one hundred percent of them cast their ballots for the candidates."



The exercise has all the trappings of democracy elsewhere, from electoral rolls to sealed ballot boxes, but in keeping with Pyongyang's enduring slogan of "single-minded unity," there is only one approved name on each paper.



The authorities, Thae said, "want to show the world that North Korea is a republic system. But actually it is a dynasty system."





In this file photo taken on March 10, 2019, voters queue to cast their ballots at the '3.26 Pyongyang Cable Factory' during voting for the Supreme People's Assembly elections, in Pyongyang. /AFP-Yonhap
New Delhi: The government has given the go-ahead to order for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)from 3 countries. These 3 countries are the US, Spain and Australia which had placed an order earlier. The Administration of President Donald Trump terms hydroxychloroquine as a game-changer drug to deal with the COVID crisis though there is still no consensus in the medical community on its use. India is the largest producer of Hydroxychloroquine.

President TruUS mp has reacted to India giving a go-ahead to US order for HCQ. In a tweet, he said, "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends." Thanking "India and the Indian people" for the decision on HCQ he said, the action "will not be forgotten!" Lauding PM Modi, he said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!"

PM Modi and US President Donald Trump had spoken on 4th April and discussed the issue. It was followed by conversations between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary of State Pompeo on 6th April and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and US Deputy Secretary of State, Stephen E Biegun on 8 April.

Both sides discussed ways to increase counter COVID cooperation and ensuring the availability of essential medicines & medical equipment and the sharing of best practices/information.

EAM Jaishankar spoke to the Foreign Minister of Australia Marise Payne and Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez on Wednesday on the COVID crisis including on HCQ. Spain had placed an order 2 months ago from India.

Earlier this week, India had announced that it will give licensed HCQ to neighbouring countries and nations badly impacted by the pandemic. On the export commitments that have been contracted, the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, "stock position could allow our" companies to meet them.

India has got requests from 30 countries for HCQ from every part of the globe including from the Gulf and Malaysia.
A food service worker from the Austin Independent School District has died after contracting coronavirus, district officials announced.

Known by colleagues and friends for her sense of humor and laughter, Patricia Pati Hernandez, 51, a cook at Casis Elementary School, tested positive for coronavirus and died at an area hospital last week. The district announced her passing to local media on Monday.

Hernandez had worked in the Austin schools since 2002, and at Casis Elementary School for the last 10 years.

In a letter to parents, Casis Principal Samuel Tinnon said, Pati was considered a loyal, faithful, and hardworking individualwho found great joy in serving the students of our school and district.

Ms. Hernandez will be greatly missed, and our prayers and heartfelt condolences go out to her family and loved ones, Tinnon wrote, according to a copy of the letter posted on the local ABC television affiliates news website.

District officials have said they cannot confirm Hernandezs cause of death, but the Austin American Statesman reported that local health officials declared Hernandez as the fourth victim in Travis County to die from coronavirus.

Austin school district officials did not return requests for comment.

Hernandezs friends remembered her spirit and passion for her job in a digital eulogy.

Ruth Ann Garza, food services manager at Casis elementary, recalled starting her workday for about seven years every morning over coffee with Hernandez. The two would talk about family, friends and things we wanted to do while we prepared food at school.

Patricia was my teacher, I learned a lot of things from her, she had a great sense of humor, she would laugh at my jokes if they werent that funny but always laughing. Patricia was an amazing cook, everything she made was great, she made a great chicken salad!

We were co-workers but most of all we were friends.

Another person who commented on the digital eulogy said Hernandez was always smiling and laughing and telling jokes.

She loved all of her kids equally and was kind enough to let me into her home and accept me without question. She was a beautiful person and I know she will be missed.

Laura Copeland, a lunchroom monitor at Casis elementary, said in the remarks posted online that Hernandez had a contagious laugh that I looked forward to every day.

I am going to miss seeing her once school starts; always smiling. Miss you, Patricia! Youre looking down on all of us.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 07:06:10|Editor: Liu

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NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- African Americans and Latinos are more affected by novel coronavirus in the U.S. state of New York compared with other ethnic groups, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

Part of the reason could be that a large portion of public workers are African Americans and Latinos, who have no choice but to keep doing essential works such as driving a bus, and they often live in dense communities, said Cuomo at a press briefing.

"It always seems that the poorest people pay the highest price," said Cuomo, vowing the state would do more research on the issue and conduct more testing in minority communities.

Similar racial disparities are seen in New York City, said Mayor Bill de Blasio at his briefing on Wednesday, citing preliminary statistics released by City Hall.

Latinos, who make up 29 percent of the city's population, account for 34 percent of the coronavirus deaths, the data showed.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of deaths occurred in the African American community, which make up 22 percent of the city's population.

"It's sick. It's troubling. It's wrong," said the mayor. "The pain it's causing, the death it's causing, tracks with other profound health care disparities that we have seen for decades in this city."

"We have to fight in new ways what is now a documented disparity," he added.

President Donald Trump also noted on Tuesday's White House briefing that evidence shows African Americans have higher rates of COVID-19 infection in the United States.

Trump said his administration is actively engaging on the increased impacts on the African American community, and doing everything to address this challenge.

A total of 779 people died of COVID-19 in New York state from Tuesday to Wednesday, the highest single day death toll yet since the COVID-19 outbreak, Governor Cuomo said.

The number broke the record set just one day ago, which was 731 deaths statewide from Monday to Tuesday.

"The number of deaths will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away. The longer you are on a ventilator, the less likely you will come off the ventilator," said Cuomo.

The governor said he's going to direct all flags to be flown at half mast "in honor of those who we have lost to this virus."

There are also encouraging signs, as numbers including the daily hospital admissions and incubations are down, which means that social distancing protocol and businesses and school closures have been working.

"We have to remain disciplined going forward, but there's no doubt that we are now bending the curve and there's no doubt that we can't stop doing what we're doing," said the governor.

As of Wednesday afternoon local time, New York state recorded over 150,000 cases, more than the total number of any country or region in the world except the United States.
The Maharashtra government on



Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that food and other essential commodities are being supplied to the people living in the tribal belt of the state.

Justice G S Patel was hearing a petition filed by Vivek Pandit, in which the latter raised concerns over the condition of impoverished tribal people in various districts across the state amid the lockdown announced by the government due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The court was hearing urgent matters via video conferencing, which was live-streamed on Zoom app.

The petitioner's counsel Niteen Pradhan told the court that the government should also continue providing food and other facilities to students in ashram shalas (residential schools for tribal children).

Government pleader P Kakade told the court that milk, eggs, cooked meals and other essential goods are being supplied to every person in the tribal belt across the state.

"The supply may not be at the same scale as earlier, but there is no stoppage of supply," Kakade said.

He further told the court that in some ashram shalas, the students have gone back to their homes and these schools are now being used to shelter migrant workers who are stuck in various parts of the state due to the lockdown.

The court accepted the statement, but said the situation would have to be monitored. It posted the petition for further hearing on April 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Realtors Think Sales are Deferred, Not Lost

Realtors don't expect the 2020 "spring market" is going to happen, but they are optimistic there will be a post-pandemic rebound driven by delayed demand. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found, through an Economic Pulse Flash Survey, that 59 percent of its members feel buyers are merely delaying home purchases for a few months while a similar number (57 percent) said sellers are doing the same with listings.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, "Home sales will decline this spring season because of unique economic and social consequences resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, but much of the activity looks to reappear later in the year. Home prices will remain stable because of a pandemic-induced reduction in inventory coupled with less immediate concerns over foreclosures."

The survey, the latest in a series, was conducted April 5-6, 2020. NAR asked members questions about how the coronavirus outbreak has impacted the residential and commercial real estate markets. A large majority of respondents (90 percent) said buyer interest has waned during the crisis while 80 percent said there had been a decline in homes on the market.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said sellers are holding prices firm while 63 percent said buyers are expecting prices to fall with less competition from other buyers.

Respondents cited the important role technology is playing in real estate's new normal. The most common tools that are helping them manage deals are e-signatures, social media, messaging apps and virtual tours.

Both landlords and property managers confirm that many residential tenants are facing rent payment issues, but 46 percent of managers and 27 percent of individual landlords say they have been able to accommodate their tenants delayed payment requests. NAR said the recently enacted CARE Act with its eviction prevention provisions and financial support for individuals and small businesses should help keep the rental market steady.
(Reuters) - The number of confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus were reported to have exceeded 1.5 million globally and the death toll rose above 89,400, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

EUROPE

* Spain's prime minister warned that nationwide confinement would likely last until May even though he said the worst should soon be over and the death toll slowed.

* Italy may start lifting some restrictions by the end of April provided the slowing trend continues, its prime minister told the BBC, but the easing can only be gradual.

* Germany's health minister said restrictions are flattening the curve showing new cases.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is getting better but remains in intensive care as his government reviews the most stringent shutdown in the peacetime history.

* Russia reported a record one-day rise in cases, pushing its tally to more than 10,000, a day after President Vladimir Putin said the coming weeks would prove decisive in the fight against the virus.

* The Czech Republic plans to roll out a system of quickly tracking and isolating contacts of people with the virus to eventually allow the lifting of blanket restrictions.

* Slovakia closed off several Roma settlements in the eastern part of the country after reports of virus clusters in five of them.

* Bulgaria's prime minister said the country's Orthodox churches and temples will be open for traditional Palm Sunday and Easter services despite the outbreak.

AMERICAS

* The top U.S. infectious disease expert warned against reopening the economy too soon after a downward revisions in the projected death toll.

* The White House is expected to announce soon formation of a second coronavirus task force, this one devoted to getting the economy going again when the time is right.

Story continues

* The U.S. Senate failed to pass an additional $250 billion of aid intended to help small businesses as Democrats and Republicans blocked each other's proposals.

* Canada's death toll is set to soar from the current 435 to as high as 22,000 by the end of the pandemic, while the economy lost a record 1 million jobs last month.

* Brazil's health minister said the country's attempts to purchase thousands of ventilators from China fell through and the government is now looking to Brazilian companies to build the devices.

* Mexico has reported more than 3,000 cases, but many who are infected likely did not have symptoms or were not diagnosed, with the actual number estimated at 26,500.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

* China will allocate more resources to prevent the spread of the virus from its land borders, as the country still faces risks of a comeback after new clusters are identified in some regions.

* The total number of infections in Japan hit more than 5,300 on Thursday, showing no signs of slowing despite a state of emergency being imposed on Tokyo and six other areas.

* India claimed initial success in its fight against the epidemic, saying it would have been hit with 820,000 cases by next week had it not imposed a nationwide lockdown.

* Vietnam said more than 1,000 healthcare workers and 14,400 others linked to an outbreak at a Hanoi hospital have tested negative.

* Singapore confirmed 287 new infections on Thursday, its biggest daily increase yet, with more than 200 of them linked to outbreaks in dormitories for foreign workers.

* Indonesia reported its biggest daily jump in deaths on Thursday, while neighbouring Malaysia had its second-lowest daily increase since a partial lockdown was imposed on March 18.

* Australian police said they have taken the "black box" of a cruise ship which disembarked hundreds of infected passengers in Sydney, as part of a homicide investigation into the country's deadliest infection source.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* All Botswana's parliamentarians including the president will be quarantined for two weeks and tested, after a health worker screening lawmakers for the virus tested positive.

* Lebanon extended its almost month-long shutdown by another two weeks until April 26.

* Political and physical divisions in the West Bank and Gaza have induced two very different responses, with a strict lockdown in the first and crowds milling about freely in the second.

* A South African public sector union withdrew a court case against the government over shortages of protective gear for frontline health workers.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Global equity benchmarks gained on Thursday following signs that governments and central banks are taking additional steps to bolster their economies as measures to slow the spread of the pandemic appear to be working.

* The pandemic will turn global economic growth "sharply negative" in 2020, triggering the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.

* The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits in the last three weeks has blown past 15 million, with weekly new claims topping 6 million for the second straight time.

* The U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out a broad, $2.3 trillion effort to bolster local governments and small and mid-sized businesses.

* U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that aid for airlines will be the "next big thing" to be rolled out.

* The European Union faces an existential threat if it cannot come together to combat the crisis, Italy said on Thursday as the divided bloc sought to salvage talks on a rescue package.

* The Bank of England has agreed temporarily to finance government borrowing if funds cannot immediately be raised from debt markets, reviving a measure last widely used during the 2008 financial crisis.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland, Milla Nissi, Aditya Soni and Uttaresh.V; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Arun Koyyur and Anil D'Silva)
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Pakistan pledges USD 3 million to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Apr 09: Pakistan on Thursday pledged to contribute USD 3 million to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

The Foreign Office in a statement said Pakistan's perspective on the utilisation of fund was conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and SAARC Secretary General Esala Ruwan Weerakoon.

"While communicating Pakistan's decision to the SAARC Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the SAARC Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the SAARC Charter," it said.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million and Sri Lanka pledged USD 5 million to the fund.

Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Apart from Modi, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, had participated in the video conference.

The Foreign Office in the statement said being a founding member, Pakistan considers SAARC an important platform for regional cooperation. "Pakistan remains committed to the SAARC process and will continue working with the Member States to strengthen regional cooperation," it said.
TOPEKA, KAN.Kansas Republican leaders on Wednesday revoked Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people, paving the way for churches to meet on Easter Sunday  a scenario health officials fear will further spread the deadly coronavirus across the state.

Leaders of the state house and senate  meeting as a body called the Legislative Co-ordinating Council  voted along party lines to throw out the directive as the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to more than 1,000 and the death count ticked up to 38. Church gatherings have produced three case clusters across the state.

Kelly denounced the decision at a late afternoon press conference, calling it shockingly irresponsible and one likely to cost Kansan lives.

She said she instructed her legal counsel to explore a court challenge.

There are real-life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today, Kelly said.

But the order had sparked strong backlash among Republicans and religious-liberty advocates, who condemned it as a violation of foundational freedoms and an overreach by the governor. One GOP congressional candidate, Adrienne Vallejo Foster, went as far as calling on sheriffs to ignore the order and urging churches to meet while practising social distancing.

Opponents were aided by Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who issued a memo calling the order likely unconstitutional and urging law enforcement not to enforce it. Violations of the order would have been a misdemeanour offence.

Susan Wagle, senate president and a Wichita Republican also running for U.S. Senate, called the order an overreach by Kelly. Most people had already decided not to go church.

I think they were just very upset with the fact that the government was going to tell them that they couldnt practise their religion, Wagle said.

Asked if she was concerned more people will contract the virus and die, Wagle responded that behaviours wont change much. She said most people are aware the virus is highly contagious and are protecting themselves and want to limit its spread, but dont tell us we cant practise our religious freedoms.

The vote to revoke the order followed more than an hour of discussion and debate, as lawmakers quizzed officials from Kellys administration. Kellys chief of staff, her chief counsel and Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, all stressed the importance of limiting gatherings.

Chief counsel Clay Britton argued the order could withstand strict legal scrutiny  an exacting standard that restrictions on fundamental rights are required to meet.

This just puts churches on the same footing as secular groups that want to meet, Britton said, noting that it actually gave churches more freedom because individuals putting on the service, such as pastors and choirs, were exempt from the 10-person limit.

Richard Levy, a constitutional-law professor at the University of Kansas, pointed to a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which held that laws not specifically targeting or singling out religions for adverse treatment are generally deemed valid, even if they incidentally burden religious freedoms or practices.

In an interview, he said if Kellys order prohibits any public gatherings of more than 10 people, but does not target religious groups specifically, then it likely would be deemed lawful.

Lifting an exemption for religious groups from a prior order limiting gathering size is also probably not a problem, Levy said.

If its possible to document that small religious gatherings had led to the spread of the coronavirus in a way that other gatherings have not, then there is a chance that the court would say singling out religious gatherings satisfies even strict scrutiny, he added.

In cases like that, its not about suppressing religion. Its about the realities of the coronavirus.

Churches must now decide whether to hold in-person gatherings on Easter. At Central Community Church in Wichita, the churchs board was expected to meet Wednesday night to decide if the church will hold in-person services this Sunday.

Easter services at least double in size at the church, senior pastor Bob Beckler said. Beckler said his main concern is making sure the elderly members feel safe. The church of roughly 3,000 members has been live streaming services for a few weeks.

But we dont look at it as a time where we can get more funds, Beckler said. We actually look at it as a time where we can do more things, where we have Easter egg hunts and we just ... give people the truth of what they need to know.

Matthew Vainer, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, said revocation of the governors order wont change the dioceses plans to livestream Holy Week and Easter Sunday services to parishioners staying at home. The diocese had previously suspended in-person masses at all of its parishes, he said.

At some point, the diocese will discuss how and when to begin holding services again and whether its safe for parishioners, Vainer said. But it hasnt done that yet and likely wont until after Easter.

We would figure out whats best for all of our parishes, he said.
Apart from myriad life lessons the coronavirus lockdown is teaching the world, theres a more disturbing realisation thats dawned upon ussome humans just dont seem to have boundaries and are utterly apathetic. We hear of people dying every single day, yet there are some who think its just fine to treat these dark times as a joke.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, some people who thought they were invincible decided to start a coronavirus challenge where they licked toilet seats. And yes, it had to go wrong, 21-year-old American, who goes by the screen name Larz who followed the weird trend actually ended up contracting the virus!

Now again, a woman hailing from California went on a grocery licking rampage and destroyed product worth Rs 1,37,236. A spokesman for the South Lake Tahoe police department, near the border with Nevada, told AFP that officers were called to the Safeway store on Tuesday following reports of "a customer licking groceries" at a time of heightened fears over the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.

AP

"When officers arrived on the scene, a Safeway employee informed them that the suspect put numerous pieces of jewellery from the store on her hands," he said. "The suspect licked the jewellery then began to load her cart with merchandise from the store."

Officers identified the woman as Jennifer Walker, inside the store with a shopping cart full of items, including meat and liquor, to purchase which she had neither the means or the intention it seems.

Reuters

Walker, 53, was arrested for felony vandalism and the merchandise had to be destroyed for fear of contamination.

In a similar incident that took place on March 25, a man named Cody Lee Pfister deodorant at a Missouri Walmart, and then asked, Whos scared of coronavirus? in a revolting viral video. Horror ensued soon after he posted the footage.





Pfisters tongue appeared to touch several products during the quick video, which included the caption: Im a nasty moths fker!!! Through the entire video, Pfister remained disturbingly amused and nothing seemed to matter to him.

The Warrenton Police Department said in a Facebook post that it received calls from local residents, as well as people overseas in the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom, to report the video.

A criminal complaint states that Pfister "knowingly caused a false belief or fear that a condition involving danger to life existed," reported NBC news.
Since the launch of the regional initiative there have been 30 businesses who have reached out, with half of them here in Dodge County, said County Administrator Jim Mielke. We support this effort, and are pleased that some of our businesses are receiving service that hopefully will help them through this crisis and position them for growth.

Thrive ED is reaching out to its chamber of commerce partners, municipal partners and others to help spread the word. Tracy Propst, who took over as Beaver Dam Chamber Director on April 1, is thrilled to have this resource available.

Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

Downtown Development Coordinator Mary Vogl-Rauscher and I have been making calls to the most impacted businesses of Beaver Dam  the ones that were forced to close, said Propst. Most of them are struggling already, but theyll be okay if this lasts a month or two. If we get into three months or more its going to be a bigger issue. Right now a lot businesses have no income, so they may not be around without community or other kinds of support. With this Business to Business effort I can now say that there are some options available.
ALTON  In the first of its kind for the area, people on Thursday paid their last respects to Randy Garrett, 56, of Brighton, with a drive-by visitation at Gent Funeral Home in Alton.

Garrett, a long time employee of Sanders Waste Systems, died Sunday. His wife, Melody, died Feb. 8. They had two daughters, Miranda and Malayna, who are under the care of their aunt.
DOVER, Del., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As of today, Delaware is one of many states that has yet to release demographic data on the race or ethnicity of people who've tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Per a recent ProPublica study, early data is already showing a staggering disparity in the mortality rate for African Americans that have contracted the illness compared to their white counterparts. A significant cause being that preexisting conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease are far more prevalent in black communities, putting them at significantly greater risk of having complications because of the virus.

Said Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Campaign Manager Chris Coffey, "While some states have already begun releasing critical racial data showing how communities of color are at higher risk of being infected, it's not surprising Delaware has lagged behind. In cities like Chicago, statistics showed that African Americans have already accounted for 70 percent of the deaths from COVID-19, despite being just 30 percent of the population. In these trying times, information is power. The more we have, the better equipped we'll be as a state to fight this virus, which is why we're calling on Governor Carney to follow other Democratic-led states in releasing this crucial information to address how the virus is affecting communities of color. Right now, it's not even clear that information is being collected. The state needs to step up, and fast, as every day that goes by without this critical information lives are lost."

"We know that historically, African American communities have limited access to health resources, testing, prevention and treatment," said Pastor Dale Dennis of Hoyt Memorial CME in Wilmington. "We need to ensure that more is being done to combat this illness, especially in communities that are more gravely impacted. We call on Governor Carney to protect communities of color and those that are most vulnerable to this disease. Without the data, an information gap is likely to continue and prevent states like Delaware from providing equitable services to communities with existing health disparities."

Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 5,000 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the issue. While their primary goal of saving the company has been accomplished, they continue their efforts to fight for more transparency in the Delaware Chancery Court. For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware or to join the cause, visit DelawareForBusiness.org .

Contact: Chris Coffey, [email protected]

SOURCE Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware

Related Links

http://www.delawareforbusiness.org


American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. March 23, 2020.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he hopes to begin offering "preliminary information" to airlines about their applications for government assistance starting Friday to help stem the pain from the coronavirus pandemic.

"We hope to get to a lot of the airlines starting tomorrow and over the weekend with preliminary information," Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC.

Major airlines last Friday, including Delta, JetBlue, American, United and Spirit, said they had applied for federal aid aimed at covering payroll, as instructed by the administration. Those grants were approved as part of a more than $2 trillion relief package passed by Congress late last month. The bill also offered $29 billion in loans to passenger and cargo airlines, but grants have taken first priority as the government hopes to save jobs and airlines hemorrhage cash.

"It is our objective, to make sure that I've said this is not a bailout, but airlines have the liquidity to keep their workers in place. So that's the next big thing we'll be rolling out," Mnuchin said.

Already, the government has missed the Monday deadline set by the $2 trillion bill to send out initial payments to airlines and cargo carriers.

The ongoing negotiations risk being held up further as airlines fight for better terms, and the Treasury looks to avoid the appearance of giving a hand out to big companies. The relief package negotiated by Congress said the Treasury may demand financial instruments, like warrants, along with the grants. Lawmakers, unions and others have warned against the Treasury making any equity demand that airlines deem unsustainable.

Friday's grant applications included airlines' proposals for the amount and structure of the requested relief, which are now being assessed by the Treasury and its financial advisors. The Treasury has also sought additional information after initial uncertainty from among airline executives and their advisors about the level of detail the department would demand around issues like capital access and business plans.

Those additional requests were criticized by Democrats.

"Treasury's preliminary guidance failed to provide applicants with clear direction on a number of critical items, including application procedures for employers that operate a parent company with subsidiaries," wrote Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrats, to Mnuchin on Wednesday.

"Given the lack of clear direction early in the process and because many stakeholders must now submit corrected applications that comply with the instructions they received late on Friday, we would like your assurance that evaluation of these applications will not be delayed," they wrote.

On Sunday, leading Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote Mnuchin to urge him to eschew any demands that may delay coming to a deal, putting jobs at risk.

-- CNBC's Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
By MSU Public Relations Apr. 08, 2020 | 07:01 PM | MURRAY

Multiple units across Murray State University are banding together to assist others during the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including donating essential personal protective equipment (PPE), 3D printing face shields for healthcare workers in the area and offering additional support.

Various areas across the University, including multiple academic departments, have offered gear and other resources from N95 masks, gloves, three-ply masks to shoe covers and more.

Examples include the School of Nursing and Health Professions donating PPE, College of Humanities and Fine Arts faculty creating face masks for local groups, and University Libraries and the Institute of Engineering 3D printing face shields for local healthcare providers. The Institute has donated 600 shields thus far to multiple regional hospitals and medical facilities. University Libraries is producing 200 additional shields a week.

Additionally, the Murray State University Breathitt Veterinary Center is working with the Jennie Stuart Medical Center Laboratory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to provide space, equipment and other assistance for COVID-19 testing.

The Murray State Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Development continues to assist businesses around the region with navigating the pandemic's economic impact, offering free consulting and planning services.

"Murray State University is very grateful for the hard work of our healthcare professionals, all of whom are alumni, friends or supporters," said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. "We are pleased to assist in this small way as we work together through this unprecedented crisis."

"In a situation like this, it's critical that we all come together and do our part," said Dr. Tim Todd, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "I'm proud of each of our academic departments for stepping up to the plate and offering their available resources to confront this pandemic. We are all in this together."
WASHINGTON -- The surge of job losses continued last week with 6.6 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said Thursday.

More than 17 million new jobless claims have been filed in the past four weeks, a rapid and unprecedented escalation in unemployment in the United States since the week that President Trump declared a national emergency because of the novel coronavirus.

The 17 million figure includes new reporting from the Labor Department that even more people filed for unemployment in the prior week, pushing the jobless claims up during the week ending March 28 to a record 6.9 million, up from 6.6 million.

Top government and health officials have ordered a sweeping closure of businesses in an effort to fight the deadly coronavirus by keeping workers and customers at home, but the side effect has been a massive rise in unemployment. Janet L. Yellen, one of the world's top economists, said the U.S. unemployment rate has jumped to at least 12% or 13% already, the worst level of joblessness the nation has seen since the Great Depression.

More for you How today's economic climate compares to Great Depression

"It looks like the unemployment rate is headed to 15%," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Bank, in a note to clients. "This isn't a recession, it's the Great Depression II."

As tens of thousands of businesses closed because of shelter in place orders in more than 40 states, the hospitality sector - hotels, restaurants and amusement parks - weathered the steepest losses. In the week ending March 28, California reported that 872,000 workers from service industries filed for unemployment.

Now, nearly every sector of the economy is shedding workers, including manufacturing, construction and even health care facilities outside of hospitals. In Texas, which reported 121,000 newly unemployed in the week ending March 28, jobs were lost in food services, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, forestry, health care, waste management, transportation and warehousing, among other sectors.

"Today's report continues to reflect the purposeful sacrifice being made by America's workers and their families to slow the spread of the coronavirus," said Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia in a statement.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 400 points Thursday as investors cheered further government actions to combat the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said it's possible the economy could re-open for business in May.

The stock market surge came after the Federal Reserve unveiled over $2 trillion in new lending to businesses of all sizes, as well as struggling city and state governments. Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said that the nation's top priority is fighting the pandemic and caring for the ill, but the central bank is doing whatever it takes to provide economic relief.

"The Fed's role is to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity, and our actions today will help ensure that the eventual recovery is as vigorous as possible," Powell said.

On top of the Fed's historic actions, the federal government has been scrambling to get checks and loans into the hands of workers and companies to buoy employment and keep paychecks flowing, but job losses have continued to build, even after Congress passed a historic $2 trillion relief package. Businesses small and large are struggling to get loans. As companies run out of cash, they are cutting workers and telling them to file for unemployment benefits. But many states have been slow to distribute money.

It takes two to three weeks to process someone's unemployment claim in normal times. Since Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, state unemployment systems have been overrun, causing even longer delays.

Florida started handing out paper unemployment applications this week because the state's jobless claims website kept failing. In New York, laid off workers are having to call hundreds of times to complete their applications.

As unemployment checks are slow to arrive, people are turning to whatever aid they can find. Modern day "bread lines" have started appearing in cities like Orlando, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Cleveland where thousands lined up for free food. The slow release of funds in the United States is a marked contrast from Denmark where the government is paying workers 75% of their salaries during the pandemic, and Canada, which vowed to get money to workers in 10 days or less.

"There were already hurdles to accessing unemployment benefits before the pandemic hit. Many states had done everything they could to reduce access to benefits. Well, now we are seeing the result," said Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project.

Tammy Devitoe was so desperate for money after losing her waitress job on March 11, and waiting weeks for help from the state of New York, that she started a GoFundMe page asking for donations. She applied on March 12 for unemployment, but the online form said she needed to call to complete her application. "That's when the horror began," she said.

She called every day, sometimes dialing a hundred times. She always got a busy signal or recording saying to try again later. Devitoe finally got through on March 31. She expects her first payment on Monday - a month after she started her application.

"How are people supposed to live a whole month without income," said Devitoe, a single mom living paycheck to paycheck. "I've had to resort to begging online to complete strangers just so I can have enough money to eat and pay my bills."

Devitoe was so thankful that more than a hundred people gave money to her GoFundMe, but she also received numerous messages berating her for not saving and telling her to get a grocery store job.

Economists say the millions of workers likely to file for unemployment in April will strain America's safety net programs even more. They are urging companies to furlough workers instead of doing a full layoff. A furlough usually allows workers to keep their health insurance and return quickly when business resumes. But many companies have cut ties entirely, leaving workers with no income and bills piling up in the midst of a pandemic.

Unemployment benefits typically cover less than half a worker's salary, but the $2 trillion relief package passed by Congress directed states to give an extra $600 a week to people out of work, including self-employed and gig workers. The Trump administration issued rules Sunday night for states to begin disbursing that extra money, but state officials say it will take time to process all the applications. Many states have not even set up a process yet to handle applications from self-employed workers like hairdressers and Lyft drivers.

"Understand that it takes approximately 25-30 minutes to file one claim," tweeted Mike Ricci, spokesperson for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). He said staff were working round-the-clock, but there was only so much they could do given the state received more claims in March alone than all of 2019.

Kansas Labor Secretary Delia Garcia urged people to keep calling. She said Kansas, like Maryland, has brought in more staff to help, but it's hard to train new people in a work from home environment.

"No, we are not hanging up on you because we don't like you. We love you. We want to support you," Garcia said on a Facebook Live chat this week.

Labor economists have urged Congress to give more money to states to help strengthen staffing and technology in unemployment offices. States with better websites have tended to move faster, as have states where the revenue department shares data with the unemployment office to make it easier to verify past income.
Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said over the past time, the Foreign Ministry has worked with Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, and domestic and foreign agencies to help nearly 1,500 Vietnamese citizens return home safely.

Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang

She revealed the information while answering reporters queries about help for Vietnamese abroad, including students and workers, to return home, at a regular press conference in Hanoi on April 9.

The spokesperson noted that several Vietnamese citizens are still stranded at international airports due to changes in entry-exit and transit policies of countries and territories; as well as due to cancellation and adjustment of flight schedules of airlines to respond to the COVID-19. In addition, a number of Vietnamese citizens are meeting visa difficulties because they are unable to find flights back to Vietnam.

According to her, Vietnamese representative agencies have been working closely with international carriers and authorities of the host countries to tackle difficulties about visas, ensure medical care and supply of necessities for Vietnamese citizens, as well as help with the search and arrangement of suitable flights to Vietnam for them.

However, she noted that it is impossible for the agencies to remove all difficulties in all cases to help citizens return home.

In the time ahead, under the direction of the Prime Minister, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad will suggest plans to bring a number of citizens home, with priority given to the elderly, the sick and children below 18, while taking into account the capacity of domestic quarantine facilities, she said.

For a small number of Vietnamese lacking personal papers and legal labour contracts, the representative agencies will conduct legal procedures with relevant agencies of both Vietnam and the host countries to verify their identity, and work out suitable solutions, Hang said.

About support for foreign representative agencies in Vietnam to send their citizens home, Hang said Vietnam always creates favourable conditions for foreign representative agencies to conduct citizen protection, and for foreigners meeting with difficulties during travelling to return to their homeland. Vietnam has coordinated with foreign representative agencies in Vietnam to organize some flights to send citizens of some European countries home. In the time ahead, Vietnam will continue to create favourable conditions for foreign citizens to go back to their home countries in accordance with Vietnams regulations and epidemic prevention requirements.

Asked when foreign representative agencies and businesses could resume normal operation, Hang said amid the complicated developments of COVID-19, the Vietnamese Government has adopted temporary measures, including physical distancing, to prevent its spread in the community.

Vietnam will continue monitoring the situation and make adjustments that suit realities, she said./.VNA

Vietnamese citizens stranded abroad to be brought home The Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to draw up plans to bring home Vietnamese nationals stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with priority given to the elderly, the sick and people under 18.
Kosovos caretaker prime minister has assured a European Union special envoy of his commitment to resume dialogue on normalizing ties with neighboring Serbia.

Albin Kurti said in a letter to envoy Miroslav Lajcak on April 8 that a deal should be accompanied by a political, economic, and financial package to "accelerate the convergence of the two countries' standards of living and their integration into the European Union."

But Kurti warned that "under no circumstances or situation will issues of mutual sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internal affairs be discussed."

He added that any deal with Serbia should be guaranteed by the EU and the United States.

Last week Kosovo lifted a 100 percent tariff on imports from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as a confidence-building measure to resume dialogue with Belgrade. The tariff had been a divisive issue in Kosovo and led to the collapse of Kurti's government.

Kosovo imposed the tariff in November 2018 over Serbia's "de-recognition" campaign designed to get other countries who have already recognized Kosovo to withdraw it.

Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008 in a move rejected by Belgrade.

EU-mediated talks between Kosovo and Serbia to settle their differences have stalled.

Separately on April 8, a deadline expired for political parties to come up with a candidate for prime minister.

Kurti was toppled on March 25 and his Self-Determination (Vetevendosje, or VV) party, the largest in parliament, was supposed to renominate him or a replacement within 15 days.

The no-confidence vote was called by the VV's coalition partners, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), amid disagreements over the government's approach to the coronavirus crisis.

Kurti and VV insist that no new coalition is possible during the crisis and that early elections must be held as soon as possible.

Kurti's main rival, President Hashim Thaci, is calling for a government of national unity to tackle the crisis.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa
So when the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 sidelined much of the restaurant industry, limiting service to only carryout and delivery, while simultaneously placing local health care workers on the frontlines in the battle against the deadly disease, he worked with the Northern Indiana Information Sharing and Security Alliance to see what he could do to help.
Leslie Jordan, "everyones favorite quarantine buddy and all-around silly goose," will be doing a bedtime story reading of Jimmy Kimmels The Serious Goose on the Chattanooga Public Librarys Facebook and Instagram pages on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Leslie Jordan, known for his roles on Will & Grace and American Horror Story, is a native of Chattanooga who recently returned to be near his mother.

"While in quarantine, Mr. Jordan started sharing videos of how hes spending his time, and those have gone viral due to the stars lovable, quirky personality," officials said.



Closed to the public since March 14, CPL has sought out ways to stay connected with patrons and continue providing educational programming. One major outlet has been social media, and the library now boasts a regular schedule of videos for all ages. With storytime being the most in-demand program right now, CPL reached out to Mr. Jordan about doing a special storytime. He agreed immediately and selected Kimmels book, which is read aloud through special permission from Penguin Random House.



I am beyond thrilled and gracious that Mr. Jordan has offered to do this for us, said Executive Director Corinne Hill. When we closed our doors, we were concerned about the parents and caregivers who rely on our programs. Im so proud of our staff who have stepped up to produce new videos every week, right from their homes.



CPL is now offering their early literacy programs - Baby Bounce, Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime - every morning Monday through Friday. Fans of the library can also find tutorials on crafting, sewing, STEAM projects and using the recording studio, as well as poetry readings, book recommendations and links to free educational and entertaining websites.



To watch Mr. Jordans bedtime story and keep up with the Librarys virtual programs, visit CPL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
A team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) researchers has made affordable personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for medical staff and others involved in essential services who are working in high risk environment fighting the Sars-Cov-2 outbreak.

These are made of polyethylene (polythene), which is non-porous and commonly used in the industry for packaging and making plastic bags. These kits could be mass produced for less than 100 per piece, said director IIT-K Prof Abhay Karandikar.

Dr Nitin Gupta, professor of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Department, IIT-Kanpur said they and industry partners had developed these kits that could be made in local factories with polyethylene (polythene) material.

These polyethylene-based improvised protective equipment (PIPES) can be produced in large quantities by local factories. These kits are based on thin cylindrical rolls/pipes of polyethylene (polythene) which is a non-porous material and commonly used in industries for packaging and making plastic bags, he said.

Gupta said, Our kit may not be as comfortable or visually appealing as compared to standard PPE kits but it meets the primary goal is protection against contamination.

We have checked the usability of the kit by wearing it for hours in non AC rooms and taking feedback for doctors. People working in outdoor conditions may take another version of the kit called PIPES comfort which has a face shield in place of full face covered, he said.

Design of the PIPES kit is an open source. It is open for all and small and medium factories can independently start making PIPES kit in very large quantities in a very short time. We invite manufacturers from different parts of the country to use our design, Gupta said.

Prof Gupta said, We envision PIPES kits as a different category of protection gear than standard PPE kits. PIPES kits will be useful when standard PPE kits are not available or affordable for mass deployment.

Sars-Cov-2 has resulted in huge demand for personal protection equipment. The standard PPE kits are expensive and in very short supply. To address the growing demand for protection, we have developed a low cost alternative kit, researchers at IIT-K said.

IIT-K director said people like doctors, nurses and nagar nigam sweepers who were engaged in public services needed personal protection kits but at present these PPE kits were expensive and not easily available. To give some relief to them, we have developed these low cost kits, he said.

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South Africa: Johannesburg the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak

The Gauteng province has rolled out its screening and testing campaign to all five districts, screening a total of 26 841 people and testing 440 of those who displayed symptoms of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Addressing a briefing by the Provincial Command Council on Thursday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said healthcare professionals have conducted screenings as of 31 March in Johannesburg, Sedibeng, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and the West Rand.

Johannesburg is the epicentre of COVID-19 in the province and the country with 440 cases, followed by Ekurhuleni 111 cases, Tshwane with 90 cases, West Rand with 12 cases and Sedibeng with six cases. We have an additional 123 cases that are unallocated as of 8 April 2020, Makhura said.

Gauteng has improved and enhanced its capacity to trace contacts using technology and so far 90% of all contacts have been traced.

Being able to trace those who have come into contact with those who have tested positive is one of the key things that the world is battling with this is very important in order to curb the spread of COVIV-19, the Premier said.

Plans are in place for the province to improve contact tracing. There is a national process to assist the province with additional technology to do medical surveillance of those people who test positive, and their contacts.

Self-screening available for members of the public

The Gauteng Department of Health has added a COVID-19 feature to its Mpilo-Healthcare mobile app which offers self-screening to its users.

We urge all those with handsets to use the app to ensure theres seamless and easy screening by the public. We will be able to get that information and communicate with those that we think need to be tested, the Premier said.

Makhura has assured healthcare professionals that there is an adequate supply of Personal Protective Clothing (PPE)

We have been interacting with the trade unions in the public service. We have briefed the trade unions about our work including getting more PPE equipment, he said.

In addition, the provincial government is working on increasing the number of beds, particularly for COVID-19.

In some of our existing healthcare facilities, we are clearing certain sections of the hospitals. We are also working with the private sector. We are identifying additional beds, and our team is at a stage of finalising how many beds we will get from the private sector for different purposes, the Premier said.

Some of the beds will be for hospitalisation, high-care as well as well as intensive care, while others are for quarantine.

The province is working with municipalities to identify various facilities across Gauteng that will be used for quarantine.

Food Security

The Premier expressed gratitude to businesses and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that have worked with the provincial government to provide food to poverty stricken communities.

Since the national lockdown, we have reached 15 000 households, this excludes the homeless people. We have been able to feed 60 000 people excluding the homeless people, he said.

Homeless people have been reached through work that is being done by the NGOs, business and the Department of Social Development.

The Premier said law-enforcement agencies are conducting roadblocks on major roads and secondary roads on a day-to-day basis and are arresting people who are violating the regulations.

We have improved in providing water to various communities in Gauteng. We have been able to reach areas who have problems with water supply. We will be able to reach every community in Gauteng to provide at least through water tanks where there is no other source of water. This will be provided working with the national government, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for Obuasi East Constituency Mr. Samuel Aboagye has donated some items to the Constituency towards the fight against Coronavirus.

The items worth a total amount of Gh 9,650 included 50 pieces of Veronica buckets with stands,50 pieces of liquid soap, 50 pieces of tissue papers and 500 pieces of hand sanitizers.

Donating the items on behalf of Mr. Samuel Aboagye, the Vice- Chairman of the NDC Obuasi East Constituency, Mr. Sulemana Daudu said the items will be distributed to markets and abattoirs in some 15 communities with some of the items going to some hospitals in Obuasi East.

He also reminded the people of the Obuasi East Constituency to adhere to the protective measures put in place such as the regular practice of handwashing with soap, the use of hand sanitizers, etc. to ensure the total reduction and spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

He also on behalf of Mr. Aboagye asked for special prayers from the Muslim, Christian and Traditional authorities to help eliminate the disease completely from Ghana and the world at large.

Speaking exclusively to Bole based Nkilgi from his US base, Mr. Samuel Aboagye said Coronavirus could have been prevented from entering into Ghana if President Nana Addo had consulted former President Mahama as to how he fought Ebola.

He lamented the suffering the entire country is going through because of incompetence from the Nana Addo led administration and therefore urged the people of Bole and Gonjaland to rally serious prayers to end Coronavirus for former President John Dramani Mahama to put himself together to defeat Nana Addo.

Samuel Aboagye said the hospitals built under the administration of John Mahama are serving the purpose for which they were built for after years of neglect by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and concluded by saying that Gods time will remain the best at all times.

Meanwhile, Mr. Samuel Aboagye is in the United States and has promised to make more donations to his constituency and the hospital in Bole and many others in the Savannah Region on behalf of John Dramani Mahama.
Nigeria has announced 22 more cases of COVID-19, the disease that has killed six people so far in the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced that the total number of cases in the country increased from 254 on Tuesday evening to 276 late Wednesday evening.

Fifteen new cases were found in Lagos, four in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), two in Bauchi, while Edo State recorded one case.

So far, 44 patients of the virus have been treated and discharged while six have died.

As at 09:00pm 8th April there are 276 confirmed cases, 44 discharged and six deaths, the NCDC tweeted at about 9.01P.M. For more info- http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng , the NCDC wrote on its Twitter handle.

A breakdown of the cases reported in the country show that Lagos is still the epicenter for the outbreak in the country.

Lagos State has now recorded 145 cases, FCT  54, Osun  20, Oyo  11, Edo  12, Bauchi  8, Akwa Ibom  5, Kaduna  5, Ogun  4, Enugu  2, Ekiti  2, Rivers  2, Benue- 1, Ondo- 1, Kwara  2, Delta  1 and Katsina  1

Contract tracing

The government has intensified contact tracing to check the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have been advised to obey the lockdown directive issued by the government especially in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun.

Olorunnimbe Mamora, Minister of State for Health, reminded health facilities that coronavirus is an extremely dangerous pathogen, which spreads very easily. He said it is not advisable to accept patients with coronavirus symptoms for treatment at their hospitals. Such patients should be referred to the relevant treatment centres.

Also on Wednesday, some Chinese doctors arrived Nigeria to share their experience after making progress in the fight against Covid-19 in their country. They also brought some medical equipment to assist Nigeria battle the disease, officials said.
An Islamic missionary movement is at the centre of a growing controversy in South Asia after it repeatedly held massive gatherings despite warnings about the coronavirus. Hundreds of followers of the fundamentalist Tablighi Jamaat have tested positive for COVID-19 since attending congregations last month, but the group is still sending proselytisers door-to-door -- sometimes without observing social distancing guidelines. The Tablighi movement -- which espouses a return to "true" Islam as observed by the Prophet Mohammed -- held an event outside Lahore in eastern Pakistan with about 100,000 participants. Thousands more congregated at separate meetings in India and Malaysia even as the risks of coronavirus infections were evident. The Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had described the gathering in India -- held at the movement's global headquarters -- as a "grave crime". In recent days, authorities in Pakistan and India have launched massive manhunts for attendees, trying to test or quarantine them to slow the spread of COVID-19. In Pakistan, about 20,000 Tablighis are now in quarantine facilities. More than 600 have tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 10 people from the Indian gathering have died from COVID-19. A health ministry official said that of the country's 4,067 coronavirus cases, some 1,445 were linked to that gathering. Khurshid Naveed, a member of Pakistan's official Council of Islamic Ideology, said Tablighi Jamaat faces mounting pressure because of the gatherings and its missionary work. "They will have to reconsider their policies. Countries like Malaysia had been very sympathetic towards them. But they won't be in the future," he said Around 40 percent of Malaysia's COVID-19 infections have been linked to the Tablighi event, which was held near the capital Kuala Lumpur. Along with local Tablighis, the Pakistani, Indian and Malaysian events had participants from other countries too. Infections in a number of other locations -- including Gaza, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei -- have been linked to the congregations. - 'In the hands of Allah' - Founded in northern India in 1927, the movement has grown since the death of founder Mohammed Ilyas Kandhlawi in 1944, and has millions of followers. The group -- which follows Sunni Islam -- is generally considered apolitical, but its social and cultural influence has grown in recent decades. Moussa Khedimellah, a French sociologist who specialises in the Tablighis, said adherents -- like the pious of many religions -- put "their faith before science". Jaffar Ahmed, a researcher based in Karachi, said authorities should have done more to stop Tablighi gatherings. "It could have been prevented by the government," he told AFP. "They should have been stopped at their place of arrival. They shouldn't have been given visas -- they are not the kind of people who would have protested." This week, a group of five Tablighis knocked on an AFP journalist's door in Pakistan. Two were not wearing masks, and one offered a handshake. "Then they told me to come and pray at the nearby mosque," the journalist said. "They told me that life and death are in the hands of Allah." Tablighi preacher Naeem Butt said the Pakistani gathering ended early after authorities raised concerns, though at the time of the March 12 congregation, organisers had blamed rainy weather for the closure. "We stopped our rally when the authorities asked us," he said. "The virus is everywhere, so why accuse us." Hundreds of followers of the fundamentalist Tablighi Jamaat have tested positive for COVID-19 since attending congregations last month Pakistani authorities are searching for tens of thousands of worshippers who attended an Islamic gathering in Lahore last month just as the novel coronavirus was taking root in the impoverished nation, officials told AFP on April 4, 2020. Authorities in Pakistan and India have launched massive manhunts for attendees of Tablighi Jamaat events
S hocking footage has been released showing people coughing, spitting and threatening to use coronavirus infection "as a weapon" against others, including police.

West Midlands Police shared shocking audio and video footage of officers being threatened during arrests.

The force said they were issuing it as a "stark warning" to those using coronavirus "as a weapon".

It comes as three men have been jailed for coughing, spitting or threatening to infect people with Covid-19 - including police officers.

West Midlands Police shared shocking audio and video footage of officers being threatened during arrests / West Midlands Police

On Monday, a teenager was jailed for six months after threatening to spit in a female officer's face as she detained him over an alleged road rage incident in Coventry, police said.

Officers arrested Thomas Wilson, 19, at 12.30pm on March 31 in London Road after it is claimed he spat at a lorry driver and brandished an axe during an altercation in Brinklow Road.

Thomas Wilson, 19, who was jailed for six months at Warwick Crown Court after it is claimed he spat at a lorry driver and threatened to cough and spit at a police officer. / PA

He resisted arrest and suggested he had Covid-19 symptoms before threatening to cough and spit at the officer.

Wilson, from Hepworth Road, Binley, was charged with possessing an offensive weapon, a public order offence, assault by spitting at the lorry driver, and assaulting an emergency services worker.

Most charges were deferred to be dealt with at a later date but Judge Andrew Lockhart jailed Wilson after he admitted the spit threat.

The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /60 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA

On the same day another man, Bevan Burke, was jailed after he spat at a shopkeeper who had banned him from the store for shoplifting.

Police said Burke stormed into Allen's Croft Post Office in Northfield, Birmingham, on April 3 and spat at the victim, shouting: "I have corona ... you're going to die."

Bevan Burke, 22, who was jailed for 42 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court after after he spat at a shopkeeper who had banned him from the store for shoplifting. / PA

The 22-year-old was arrested later that day, and while being transported to police custody began coughing and blowing towards officers and again said: "I've got confirmed coronavirus and now you've got it. I hope you and your family die."

He was jailed for 42 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court having admitted assaulting emergency workers and the shopkeeper, as well as shoplifting at the convenience store on January 10.

Meanwhile, a 54-year-old man was also given a prison sentence on Monday for spitting in the face of a West Midlands Police officer in Birmingham city centre.

Anthony Evans, 54, who was jailed for 16 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court after he spat in a police officer's face. / PA

Officers attended a petrol station in Corporation Street at 9.45pm on April 4 following reports of a drunk man causing problems, pouring fuel on the floor and obstructing traffic.

Anthony Evans, of no fixed address but originally from Atherstone in Warwickshire, tried kicking out at them and, as they detained him, spat in an officer's face.

He was jailed for 16 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court, police said.

West Midlands Police Chief Constable Danny Long welcomed the tough stance by the courts.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

He said: "It's completely unacceptable for people to behave in this way against officers, other emergency services staff, key workers or indeed any member of the public.

"At a time of heightened concern across the whole country, a minority of people are using the threat of coronavirus as a weapon.
The Trump administration is planning to end federal funding for coronavirus testing sites across the country on Friday.

As a result, more than 40 Community-Based Testing Sites (CBTS) in states such as Pennsylvania and Colorado are in danger of, or planning to, shutter their doors.

It comes as models project that the pandemic will peak in the US in just a matter of days - when as much testing as possible is more necessary than ever.

On Friday, the federal government is ending funding for coronavirus testing sites across the US, including at UC Health. Pictured: A health worker carries a biohazard bag at the drive-through coronavirus testing site opened by UCHealth in Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 13

More than 40 of these sites, in states such as Colorado and Pennsylvania, are either in danger of closing or planning to close. Pictured: Empty queues for COVID-19 testing at Elmhurst Medical Center in Queens, New York, April 9

An HHS spokesman said many sites won't close but are 'transitioning to state-managed sites.' Pictured: Cars line up for COVID-19 testing at a drive-through test site in the parking lot of Citizen Bank Park in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 26

'Many of the CBTS are not closing, but rather transitioning to state-managed sites on or about April 10,' a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told NPR.

While the program was intended as a stopgap, many states with inadequate resources have heavily depended on it to test more people.

'The transition will ensure each state has the flexibility and autonomy to manage and operate testing sites within the needs of their specific community and to prioritize resources where they are needed the most,' the spokesperson said.

Among the sites that will close is one at Citizens Bank Park, where the MLB team the Philadelphia Phillies play, in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Philly Voice reported that the site focused on testing health care workers and Americans aged 50 and older.

Also in Pennsylvania, the site at Montgomery County, a suburb of Philadelphia, will also permanently close.

'It has been a very successful site,' Dr Valerie Arkoosh, chair of the commission in the county, told NPR.

'We are hoping by the time it closes Friday afternoon that we will have tested a little over 5,000 individuals.

'I am understandably disappointed that the supplies and federal contract for lab testing is ending just as we are heading into the surge here in southeastern Pennsylvania.'

Many models project that the peak of the coronavirus pandemic is less than a week away. Pictured: Empty queues for COVID-19 testing at Elmhurst Medical Center in Queens, New York, April 9

Another is a site run by UCHealth that prioritized testing healthcare workers, first responders, health care workers and the elderly.

Lisa Powell, El Paso County Public Health emergency preparedness and response program manager, told the Colorado Springs Gazette it was running about 250 tests each day.

Powell said the county is trying to negotiate a deal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the HHS to keep testing.

In the US, there are more than 435,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 14,000 deaths.
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U.S. President Donald Trump responds to a question about the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General's report on the shortage of novel coronavirus tests for hospitals during the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2020.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump is using the fog of the coronavirus pandemic to wage an all-out assault on oversight, consolidate his own power, and send a message to his base that they're right to believe he's infallible.

He fired the newly-appointed lead inspector general overseeing the $2 trillion coronavirus aid bill, as well as the intelligence community's IG last, and he's attacked the Health and Human Services' IG for releasing a report detailing the perilous state of the US' hospitals.

And this week Trump dismissed the State Department's IG Steve Linick, who had been investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over allegations he improperly used government resources for personal matters.

Trump has encouraged his base to believe he's infallible, and his base has largely bought-in. So it's not surprising to see Trump go headlong at the institutions who hold the government accountable.

No president should be able to bully the watchdogs into submission. And the public  however much they're overwhelmed with the terror of the current moment  shouldn't stand for it.

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Donald Trump isn't about to let a good crisis go to waste. The president is using the fog of the coronavirus pandemic to wage an all-out assault on oversight, consolidate his own power, and send a message to his base that they're right to believe he's infallible.

This week, Trump dismissed the State Department's inspector general Steve Linick, who had been investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over allegations he improperly used government resources for personal matters like having his dog walked.

Trump in April fired Glenn Fine from his role as the Defense Department's acting inspector general, sending him back to his previous role as principal deputy inspector general. Fine had been selected by a group of fellow IGs to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

Story continues

The committee was created as part of the recently-passed CARES Act  better known as the coronavirus aid bill  and will oversee where $2 trillion in federal money designated to contain the healthcare and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic ends up.

By stripping him of his IG title, Trump made it impossible for him to serve on  much less lead  the important oversight panel.

Trump's meddling with the newly-created committee comes after it already took a pitched fight by Democrats to even get the administration to agree that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shouldn't be the sole watchdog on the historic aid package.

With Fine out, the panel will have to select another leader.

We don't know why Trump did it, he hasn't given a reason. But according to The New York Times, Fine has a "a reputation for aggression and independence in scrutinizing the F.B.I.'s use of surveillance and other law-enforcement powers."

That sends a message to the panel: Make sure your top watchdog isn't too much of a bulldog. The boss doesn't like it.

Or, as Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island put it to The Times: "This appears to be part of an alarming trend by the Trump Administration to remove independent inspector generals and replace them with the president's loyalists."

Trump is trying to take out oversight itself

Last Friday, the president fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community's inspector general. Atkinson had informed Congress last September of a whistleblower's complaint accusing Trump of soliciting the president of Ukraine's help in digging up dirt on a political rival.

Trump was impeached for that phone call. When he survived his Senate trial, Atkinson's fate was sealed.

As Atkinson wrote in his resignation letter, "it is hard not to think that the President's loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial Inspector General."

It's hard not to think Atkinson hit the nail on the head.

Trump reportedly was talking about firing Atkinson as far back as last November. And this is, after all, a president who has publicly talked of putting conditions on governors to act sufficiently nice to him if they want their states to receive desperately-needed federal assistance to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump has also gone on the attack against Christi Grimm, the Department of Human Health and Services inspector general.

She had gotten under Trump's famously thin skin for releasing a report detailing what's painfully obvious to everyone but the most myopic of Trump loyalists: that hospitals are experiencing "severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results limited (their) ability to monitor the health of patients and staff."

True to character, Trump immediately suggested a political motive because Grimm had worked in the inspector general's office during the Obama administration.

This ignored the fact that Grimm had also worked in the IG's office during the George W. Bush administration and started there during the Clinton administration. Grimm is the definition of a career non-partisan government watchdog.

Trump, for his part, tweeted that her report was "Another Fake Dossier"  an apparent reference to the Steele dossier, the document produced by a former British spy which contained both salacious and unverified stories about Trump's involvement with the Russian government, but also a substantial amount of verified, damaging information about the dealings of people in Trump's inner orbit.

The two reports, obviously, have nothing in common. But Trump knows how to play the hits to his audience.

By smearing Grimm's report as "Another Fake Dossier," he's undermining public confidence in the watchdogs who are vital to the public during every administration to keep tabs on what the government is doing. And he's sending a message to his base: inspectors general are just Deep State leftists out to take down all that is MAGA.

The IGs of these semi-independent entities serve at the pleasure of the president. He has every right to fire any of them for pretty much any reason.

At the same time, Trump has encouraged his base to believe he's infallible. He wants them to accept the premise that everything from the phone call that got him impeached to his administration's botched reaction to the coming pandemic was "perfect." And his base has largely bought-in.

So it's not surprising to see Trump go headlong at the institutions that exist precisely because no one is infallible, and those who hold tremendous power should never go without vigorous scrutiny.

In attacking the people tasked with calling balls and strikes during a pandemic when much of the public is worrying about literal life-and-death issues, Trump is exploiting the crisis for his personal ends. He shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

Trump can't fire all the IGs, and he can't dismantle their offices. But he can sow enough chaos to render them impotent, and he can instill enough fear to keep them cowed when selecting leaders among their ranks.

It's a shameful and dangerous game the president is playing. No chief executive should be able to bully the watchdogs into submission. And the public  however much they're overwhelmed with the terror of the current moment  shouldn't stand for it.

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Princess Eugenie has thanked NHS staff at Royal London Hospital emergency department for all they do - after delivering them fresh fruit and vegetables.

Taking to Instagram, the royal, 29, re-posted a photo first uploaded by @drfrankiejs, which shows a delivery driver wearing a high vis yellow jacket, holding a large box of healthy food - including pineapples, potatoes, peppers and cauliflower.

The doctor penned: 'Massive thank you from everyone at Royal London Hospital Emergency Department to the York family @sarahferguson15 and @princesseugenie for donating us lots of lovely fresh fruit and veg,' to which the royal replied:

'Thank you for all you are doing for us and our families.'

Princess Eugenie, 29, has thanked NHS staff at Royal London Hospital emergency department for all they do (pictured)

The royal re-shared a photo first posted by @drfrankiejs, showing boxes of care packages stacked up one on top of another (pictured)

It comes just days after it was revealed Princess Eugenie had secretly been delivering boxes of food and essentials to those working for the NHS. Pictured, Princess Eugenie arriving or a visit to Westminster Abbey, London

Princess Eugenie then went on to share another photo on her Instagram story, showing NHS staff in protective face masks, holding up various products from Baylis and Harding.

Alongside the photo of front line workers at Thames Hospice in Windsor, she penned: 'Thank you @baylisandhardingplc for delivering your santizer, hand wash and creams all across the UK.'

In a final snap shared to her social media page, staff can be seen holding up bars of chocolate in the hospital corridors.

The royal commented: 'Just before Mother's Day, mum partnered with @lovecocoa to get their chocolate to our front line workers. So happy they received all your wonderful donations.'

Princess Eugenie also went on to thank Baylis and Harding for delivering their sanitizer, hand wash and creams all across the UK (pictured)

The royal also shared this snap (pictured) and explained how her mother, Sarah Ferguson, partnered with @lovecocoa to get their chocolate to our front line workers

The post comes just days after it was revealed Princess Eugenie had secretly been delivering boxes of food and essentials to those working for the NHS.

The royal shared images of boxes filled with the likes of fresh fruit and vegetable that she delivered to Hammersmith Hospital in West London.

Alongside one of the photos, which shows Eugenie standing next to the 'heroes' who are currently putting their lives on the lines to help others, she penned:

'I'm so happy to have been a part of getting fresh fruit and vegetables delivered to all those working on the front line of this pandemic.'

She then went on to thank the NHS for every thing that they do, and added: 'And thank you to all those who are delivering the produce. You're all heroes.'
New Delhi, April 9 : In the frontline of a grim battle against coronavirus are over nine lakh Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers -- mainly women. Their primary task is to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. Plus, there are over 3.5 million Anganwadi workers -- again, mainly women -- whom the state governments have enlisted to fight the virus.

These workers carry the power of persuasion and their conviction of putting the nation first to take the fight deep inside villages where they, at times, encounter hostile villagers and feel insecure in the absence of any security.

"We have to first convince ourselves and then the people we are interacting with, that after all, humanity is bigger than an individual's life", says Renu Sharma, an Anganwadi worker, as she tirelessly knocks every door in rural colonies of Greater Noida, near the national capital, and collects inputs from villagers about their recent travel history and symptoms of the COVID-19 disease from each family in the areas assigned to her -- regardless of the risk of contracting the infection.

States across the country have directed ASHA and Anganwadi or rural child care workers to speak to families in their areas, check for symptoms, and advise them about precautions in dealing with Covid-19.

The purpose is clear: Not a single COVID-19 infected person should be left unaccounted in the attempt to contain the spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 170 lives in the country with over 5,000 confirmed cases.

Renu was earlier involved in counselling married couples and pregnant women, and gathered food and medicines for the children. Tasked only a fortnight back in the anti-corona fight, she, along with Devwati -- known as Asha didi -- has visited hundreds of houses to ascertain whether there is any infected person in the hinterland of the country.

Aren't they scared in their limited personal protective gear? "It's an occasion to serve humanity. We are scared of the disease, but who will come forward if everyone thinks only for oneself? asks Devwati.

"There is a possibility of us getting infected as we visit so many houses every day. We try to follow the instructions on how to avoid infection," says Renu. They wear white gloves, face masks and use sanitisers frequently.

Carrying a chart provided by the district hospital in Bisrakh in Greater Noida, Renu says Anganwadi and ASHA workers are sent in groups to gather details on people's travel history and whether all is well in houses they visit. "When we get any relevant information, we note the name and all details on the chart. We are told to cover at least 200 houses every day." Devwati says over 100 ASHA and Anganwadi workers report to the district hospital from where they along with a doctor are sent to different areas in a bus.

"We are left at some particular place and assigned a task to cover some specific areas," says Renu.

Many like her earn between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 per month. They don't expect anything extra.

As the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday announced plans to seal some specific hotspots in 15 districts of the state, the work of these warriors has increased manifold.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)--IANS
Madagascar will carry out tests on a plant-based 'remedy' to tackle coronavirus, its president has said.

President Andry Rajoelina, 45, revealed in a televised programmed on Wednesday that: 'I received a letter saying that Madagascar possesses the remedy which could - could' because it still has to be proved - cure the coronavirus.'

He said the letter claimed the plant could 'completely cure coronavirus' but did not provide details about the plant or the author of the letter.

Tests were being lined up and the country's scientists and laboratories were willing to take part, he said.

President Andry Rajoelina (pictured) attends a mass screening of patients suspected of being infect with coronavirus in Antananarivo on March 31, 2020

Rajoelina added: 'We are going to carry out tests, and I am convinced that Madagascar will find this remedy.

'We are going to change the history of the entire world.'

Rajoelina has previously made claims about alternative treatments for the virus that have triggered words of caution from the UN's World Health Organization.

The pandemic has triggered a rush for herbal formulas, lemons and ginger in the belief that they can protect against the virus

Official figures show that 93 people in Madagascar are known to have been infected with the virus.

There are no deaths on record.

The pandemic has triggered a rush for herbal formulas, lemons and ginger in the belief that they can protect against the virus.

Above, health workers collect blood samples from resident to detect Covid-19 in Antananarivo. Madagascar health authorities decided to carry out rapid diagnostic tests for Covid-19 and to disinfect streets in the neighbourhoods where cases were found

Rajoelina last month encouraged the use of alternative remedies as a way of 'strengthening the antibodies' to coronavirus.

At the time he said: 'We will make patients inhale ravintsara essential oils and provide them with high-calorie foods... in conjunction with medicine.'

Street vendor Tiana Nirinarova, 40, sells Ravintsara and kininina fotsy - reputed to boost the body's immune systems - at the Ambodivona market in Antananarivo

The Ambodivona district market closes every day at noon as part of lockdown measures. Some vendors have stopped selling their usual products and are now selling ingredients for natural remedies they claim will boost the body's immune system

However, the UN's health body urged scepticism over claimed cures for COVID-19.

WHO country representative Charlotte Faty Ndiaye said: 'The novel coronavirus is not a flu (and) ancient grandmother remedies must be seen with doubt.

The WHO website says some medicines, including western and traditional ones, 'may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms' of COVID-19.

It adds: 'There is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease' and warns that people should not self-medicate.

Addressing claims that herbal or tea remedies can cure coronavirus, The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said: 'There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure the illness caused by COVID-19.

'In fact, some of them may not be safe to consume.'

Ministry of Health staff measure passengers' temperatures (above) while several hundred people have gathered at the Maki bus station to take take buses to Madagascar's main cities, in Antananarivo, on April 7, 2020. Despite the area's lockdown, authorities allowed the population two days to move around between April 7 and 9 by taxi or plane

Earlier this week the Madagascan government announced that the nationwide state of emergency which was due to end on April 5 was to be extended for a further two weeks.

It included the close of all non-essential businesses, the suspension of public transport and a nationwide curfew from 8pm-5am.

Schools, universities, churches and concert halls remain closed and gatherings of more than 50 people are banned.

Lockdown measures in Antananarivo and Toamasina will also be extended and Fianarantsoa will also impose a lockdown throughout the duration of the two-week extension.
A US Border Patrol agent wouldn't let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus.

That confrontation in Texas came just days after the Trump administration quietly shut down the nation's asylum system for the first time in decades in the name of public health.

The agent told us about the virus and that we couldn't go further, but she didn't let us speak or anything, said Reyes, 35, who was shuttled to a crossing March 24 in Reynosa, Mexico, a violent border city.

She tried to get home to crime-ridden Honduras despite learning her brother had been killed there and her mother and 7-year-old daughter had fled to the Nicaraguan border. But she was stuck in Mexico as the virus closed borders in Central America.

The U.S. government used an obscure public health law to justify one of its most aggressive border crackdowns ever. People fleeing violence and poverty to seek refuge in the U.S. are whisked to the nearest border crossing and returned to Mexico without a chance to apply for asylum.

It eclipses President Donald Trump's other policies to curtail immigration which often rely on help from Mexico by setting aside decades-old national and international laws.

Mexico is again providing critical support. It's accepting not only Mexicans, but people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras who accounted for well over half of all U.S. border arrests last year.

The Trump administration has offered little detail on the rules that, unlike its other immigration policies, have yet to be challenged in court. The secrecy means the rules got little attention as they took effect March 20, the same day Trump announced the southern border was closed to nonessential travel.

The administration is able to do what they always wanted to do, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel for the American Immigration Council, which has criticized the administration. I don't see this slowing down."



The administration tapped a law allowing the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ban foreigners if their entry would create a serious danger to the spread of communicable disease.

The U.S. has the most cases in the world by far. CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield issued a 30-day order but said he may extend the rules.

Mexico won't take unaccompanied children and other vulnerable people, including people over 65 and those who are pregnant or sick, said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mexico's consul general in San Diego.

The U.S. also is returning Central American children who travel with grandparents, siblings and other relatives, said a congressional aide who was briefed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not intended for public release.

Previously, children who weren't with parents or guardians were considered unaccompanied and automatically put into the asylum pipeline.

The health risks of holding migrants in crowded spaces like Border Patrol stations is "the touchstone of this order, Redfield wrote. He said exceptions to immediately expelling someone can be considered but didn't elaborate.

An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica said an agent who determines that a migrant claims a "reasonably believable fear of being tortured can be referred for additional screening under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, a lesser form of asylum that's harder to qualify for.

Under the rules, agents take migrants to the nearest border crossing in specially designated vehicles and avoid stations, minimizing the risk of exposure to the virus.

Matthew Dyman, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, declined to comment on the internal memo or provide guidance about the new rules.

Obtaining and posting leaked information is a great way to degrade trust and communication between CBP and the media, he said.

In less than two weeks, the U.S. has expelled more than 7,000 people, according to the congressional aide who was briefed last week.

Those not sent to Mexico are flown to their home countries. CBP had about 300 people in custody last week, down from a peak of more than 19,000 during last year's surge of border crossers.

March's border enforcement numbers were expected to be released Thursday and may offer a closer look at the impact of the virus.

Ten Senate Democrats sent a letter to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who oversees border agencies, saying the Trump administration appeared to have granted itself sweeping powers to summarily expel large, unknown numbers of individuals arriving at our border.

A public health crisis does not give the Executive Branch a free pass to violate constitutional rights, nor does it give the Executive Branch permission to operate outside of the law, they wrote this week.

For Reyes and others sent to Mexico, they don't know what's next. Reyes said she joined dozens who entered the Guatemalan mountains illegally in a bid to reach Honduras but was stopped by soldiers and returned to Mexico, where she was quarantined in a migrant shelter.

She said Mexican authorities questioned her about her health, but U.S. authorities didn't.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NSW Teachers Federation has suggested a staggered return to school once health authorities and governments start lifting social distancing restrictions, beginning with year 12 and kindergarten.

As schools prepare to deliver term two online, federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said leaders needed to think about how to ensure an "orderly return" when circumstances changed, avoiding a deluge of students when older or vulnerable teachers were unable to return.

The NSW Teachers Federation says year 12 and kindy should be given priority when schools reopen.

"An option could be a staggered return to our schools," he said. "I've advanced a proposition that part of an orderly [process], we could consider a return of year 12 and kindergarten, followed by year seven and year six, and progressively pad that out."

Educators cautiously welcomed the idea, although they said the process would be complicated and schools would need to be consulted.
The Rittenhouse hotel in Center City, right. The owners of the hotel are looking to lease rooms in its properties across the country to government and police agencies during the coronavirus pandemic response. Read more

The owner of the Rittenhouse Hotel and other Philadelphia hotels is looking to government agencies and police departments to lease space at its properties, as it joins other lodging groups seeking a financial lifeline from responders to the coronavirus crisis that has wrecked their business.

Hersha Hospitality Trust is seeking alternative sources of hotel revenue through government agencies, law enforcement, and military personnel, and universities, the Philadelphia-based company said in a release this week.

Hersha also owns the Westin Philadelphia in Center Citys Liberty Place high-rise complex and the Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City-Convention Center. To keep the lights on at otherwise emptied properties, it and other hotel operators are recasting their guest rooms as barracks for work-fatigued doctors and nurses, and overflow wards for coronavirus-swamped hospitals.

Theres no other demand, said Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association. Its their only option. If no one is traveling, thats pretty much it.

The stay-at-home orders that have been issued throughout much of the country to stem the virus spread have severely restricted business and personal travel, leading to the cancellation of conferences and a halt to tourism.

The consequences for the hospitality industry have been devastating: Almost four million employees who work in or for the hotels are projected to lose their jobs in the coming weeks, or had already been furloughed by the end of March, according the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the industrys largest trade group.

Those numbers include 105,340 job losses in Pennsylvania, about 45% of the states total hotel-supported workforce.

Hotel owners like Hersha are currently operating in a climate of extreme uncertainty, analysts with the Bank of Montreals BMO Capital Markets unit wrote in a research report this week.

So hotel owners are turning to government agencies, hospitals, and other organizations that need space for pandemic response.

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a plan late last month to rent thousands of hotel rooms to quarantine patients infected with the illness and other coronavirus-related purposes.

Up to 1,100 of those rooms will be at five properties owned or operated by Chicago-based Oxford Hotels & Resorts, which signed on to house and feed first responders and people requiring isolation, the Chicago Tribune reported.

California, meanwhile, is getting a cash grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a plan to secure up to 15,000 hotel rooms for tens of thousands of people now in homeless shelters and encampments, where the virus can easily spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week.

In Los Angeles, officials told the Los Angeles Times that they aim to separately secure an additional 15,000 guest rooms at dozens of hotels to house members of that citys homeless population. A hotel on the outskirts of the upscale Century City district that charged almost $400 a night in better times was among the first properties to take check-ins under the program.

And in New York, which has seen more confirmed cases of the virus than any other U.S. city, officials have secured 10,000 beds in 20 hotels to ease hospital loads by providing medically supervised housing to coronavirus patients who dont require intensive treatment, Mitchell Katz, chief executive of New Yorks city-run hospital system, said during a new conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio last week.

Im very, very sorry for what the hotel industry has been through in this crisis," de Blasio said. "But what it has meant at the same time is a huge number of hotels have become available. We can go in and lease an entire hotel building and we can do that dozens and dozens and dozens of times until we get to the point that we have all the beds we need.

In Philadelphia, Managing Director Brian Abernathy said Thursday that the city is close to signing leases with five hotels, in addition to its deal with the Holiday Inn Express in Center City, which is being used to house homeless people who test positive for the virus.

The city hopes to have a total of 750 hotel rooms available for quarantine and isolation space, Abernathy said. That would equate to about 6% of the citys total guest-room inventory.

Other hotels are already being heavily used  in one case through an act of charity  by medical crews and first responders who are either pulling long shifts at nearby hospitals or who want to steer clear of family members at home after potential exposure.

In West Philadelphia, rooms at the Inn at Penn and at the Sheraton Philadelphia University City have been booked by Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvanias hospital and research arm, to house staffers at nearby hospital buildings involved in the coronavirus response, the hotel associations Grose said. Penn owns those hotel properties.

Elsewhere in University City, Campus Apartments LLC has been providing free guest rooms at its Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel to medical personnel and other emergency crews involved in the response to the health crisis.

Doctors and nurses at Penn, Childrens Hospital, and Jefferson University are currently staying at the property, Campus Apartments chief executive David Adelman said.

We want to support our neighbors and those on the front lines at [area hospitals] in any way possible during this unprecedented time, Adelman said.

Hersha Hospitality chief executive Jay H. Shah said his company has room bookings with responders and health-care providers in Philadelphia, but that its working more intensively with organizations and agencies in other cities where it has a presence, such as New York and Miami.

The company has not been approached about housing patients, Shah said.

Hershas plan to seek business from pandemic responders was presented in its statement this week as one in a series of actions to mitigate the pandemics impact on its business.

It also increased its borrowing capacity by $100 million, negotiated a year of waivers on its financial-performance benchmarks with lenders, known as covenants," and canceled agreements with outside venders and service providers.

The company said it has already closed 19 of its 48 hotels across the country, reducing its on-property staff by 80%. In Philadelphia, only its Hampton Inn property was taking reservations for upcoming weeks.

Demand for rooms, even for responders and health-care providers, appears to be shallow, Shah said. But we are here to support.

Staff writer Laura McCrystal contributed to this article.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

Three months into a new decade, no one could have foretold that we'd be in the midst of a crisis and such unprecedented times. An unknown virus that has created a macro-shock to the global environment, disrupting all industries to their core, creating fear and panic, world-wide economic downturn and its associated social impact with a sense of uncertainty on the African continent and across the world.

The higher education sector has been one of the sectors most visibly impacted by the domino effect of this crisis; with schools and universities closures and cancellations of major examinations, it leaves a huge question of progression of students to the next level, especially those in the final year looking to attend university in the next academic year.

It is in this state of uncertainty that a number of universities in Ghana, including Academic City made a strategic decision to transition our core business of teaching and learning online.

In times like these, the resolve and agility of educational institutions are pushed to the boundaries in recognising the new ecosystem presented to us and how the related challenges are supported. The action of innovation, creativity and nimbleness quickly become key to business as usual. The art of leadership which requires one to motivate, influence and maximize the efforts of others to achieve a common goal, as defined by Forbes, comes out to the test. Additionally, the notion of employees make the organisation becomes a reality. Flexible organisations with responsive and engaging teams are the ones most likely to adapt quickly to limit the disruption in order to survive.

At Academic City, the nebulous situation we found ourselves in during the second week of March 2020 required the right attitude from all faculty, staff, students and parents.

The attitude to be cooperative, to collaborate and to trust. This mindset is what supported the transition of operations from the physical classroom to the online classroom in just 7 seven days after the closure of the university, and took the team through a rigorous process of researching, shortlisting, testing, selecting and procuring the relevant online tools to deploy.

All stakeholders received immediate training on the online tools deployed, putting into consideration creative ways of delivering a subject to make it relevant. A seemingly linear process but in reality an organized chaotic period. Access to much-needed equipment and online connectivity was addressed by providing stakeholders with what was required. After a week of complete shut-down, Academic City was fully operational online with students attending classes according to their timetables, notwithstanding a few glitches which were resolved.

The future rise in popularity of online learning platforms cannot be overemphasized, as this experience has led educational institutions reconsidering what the future in the sector could look like. Thus, it is worth examining lessons learnt from this crisis and ensuring that we translate these experiences to co-create value that catapults our future operations.

We should be able to cross-pollinate to our advantage  cultural expectations; new collaborations and partnerships; smarter working environment and value for time; become and remain agile; communicate effectively with stakeholders; document processes better; consider logistics and access solutions; recruit the right people with the right mindset and cultivate and nurture clear institutional values.

No doubt, the impact of COVID-19 is devastating, but in the long-term, there is hope for higher education institutions who position themselves for longevity and sustainability to ultimately present a positive social impact to communities.

Whilst we navigate the current challenges to limit the immediate damage of this crisis, a post-COVID-19 recession could potentially be a growth opportunity for the higher education sector in Ghana and on the African continent, in terms of giving our youth the platform to be future-proof with relevant skills for careers during a time of underemployment and unemployment which is inevitably ahead of us.

Are we ready?
Immigration issues automatic visa extensions for all visa types

PHUKET: The Immigration Bureau has announced that all foreigners in Thailand staying on any type of visa that did not expire before Mar 26 have been granted automatic extensions until Apr 30.

tourismimmigrationCOVID-19Coronavirus

By The Phuket News

Thursday 9 April 2020, 11:07AM

The notice was posted on the Immigration Bureau website yesterday.

The Ministry of Interior dated April 7 grants permission to foreigners of all nationalities resideing in Thailand an automatic visa extension for ALL visa types including Visa on Arrival, P.30, PP.14, PP.30, and PP.90 which have not expired prior to 26 March 2020, the notice explains.

You will be able to reside in Thailand until 30 April 2020 without having to apply for an extension, the notice added. (See here.)

In posting the notice, the Immigration Bureau explained, The person whose visas has expired from 26th of March 2020 will be automatically extended to 30th of April 2020. There is no need to apply for a visa extension at Immigration Office for this period and will not be fined THB 500 per day for this case.

Aliens who are due for 90 days reports between 26th of March 2020 and 30th of April 2020 are temporarily exempted from reporting in this period until further notice, the Immigration Bureau also announced.

Aliens who are holding Border Passes will be allowed to stay in Thailand for now. However, Aliens with Border Passes must depart Thailand within 7 days of the border crossing points opening date, the bureau added.

Foreigners were advised to follow announcements regarding Immigration measures closely for updates.
Borrowing heavily from movies like The Thing and Alien, Sea Fever doesnt have much thats distinct about it, save for a vivid sense of place. Hardiman (who also wrote the script) imbues her story with strains of Irish folklore and the nitty-gritty of the fishing trade. The saturated visual palette  all greens and browns and neon blues  evokes a hint of fantasy, but the director grounds the movie in a kind of spatial realism, carefully deploying the crust and claustrophobia of the ship to atmospheric effect.

Unfortunately, this rigor doesnt extend to the plot. In real life, the most fearsome pathogens are those that defy prediction, but contagion movies work best when the threat abides by some consistent rules that can give structure to the stakes. The monster in Sea Fever mutates haphazardly to accommodate the storys dramatic shifts: in one scene, it goes swiftly from predatory leech to a benign wisp, batted away easily by the heroine. The film also seems unsure about its own shape, switching indecisively between creature feature, epidemic thriller and environmental drama without articulating any meaty ideas.

Sea Fever

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. Rent or buy on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
A HENLEY tailors which makes bespoke rowing blazers is to manufacture 840 sets of surgical scrubs for doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients.

Collier & Robinson, which has stopped its regular production since the outbreak because it is a non-essential business, will be delivering the protective tops and trousers to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading within the next few weeks.

Kristie Shemilt, who founded the business with her husband Mark in 2002, launched a crowdfunding appeal which reached its 8,500 target for the cost of the materials in three days, so she has increased the figure to 10,200.

She and about a dozen volunteers, many of whom live in or near Henley, will be sewing them together at home free of charge.

The project has grown so much she is now seeking more machinists who can cut the fabric before it is sent for sewing.

Mrs Shemilt had the idea a few weeks ago, when she was approached by several friends whose loved ones work in medicine and werent being issued with enough protective clothing.

She considered taking individual orders but decided she could help more people by producing a big consignment.

She asked around her suppliers and one mill in Yorkshire was able to offer 2,600m of a suitable material at a discount. This is a polyester and cotton blend which can be washed at high temperatures and also has a sterile coating.

Mrs Shemilt then emailed local hospitals and medical trusts to ask if they needed help and heard back from the Royal Berks on Saturday.

She immediately launched her online appeal, which she named HOT Scrubs, and it raised thousands of pounds in its first 48 hours.

She spent the rest of the weekend drawing up the outlines for the garments at home while her husband and children Toby, 13, and twins Ottillie and Amelie, 11, built a dispenser for the material.

The cloth arrived at Collier & Robinsons workshop at Henley Enterprise Park, off Greys Road, on Tuesday.

Mrs Shemilt and three colleagues, who remained 2m apart at all times, unloaded it and cut out the patterns in bulk using machine tools.

These were dropped at the homes of volunteers, whom Mrs Shemilt recruited through her social media contacts and friendship groups.

Its hoped that the first of several batches will be presented to the hospital this week. They will be washed before delivery and volunteers will be asked to handle them as little as possible to reduce the risk of transmission.

Once they have finished the order, Mrs Shemilt hopes to continue raising money to sew protective clothing for the Henley district nursing service.

She may also support the Wycombe Hospital in High Wycombe as her girls attend nearby Godstowe School and many of her donors live in that area.

She said: The Royal Berks confirmed they were desperate for scrubs and when I told them how many I could make, they said it would go a long way towards meeting their needs. They were extremely grateful but were delighted to help.

I was pleased to hear from them as it was a shame that our workshop was empty when we could have been using it to make a difference. I wanted to make the biggest possible impact rather than just helping a nurse here and a doctor there.

Id heard repeatedly how many medical professionals were low on clothing. Theyre just wearing thin plastic sheets for protection and some have had to continue wearing their scrubs for new patients after getting blood on them.

It was very important to find the right fabric as I could have imported something from China at half the price but it wouldnt have lasted.

As soon as I appealed for help I was overwhelmed with offers, not just from people who can sew but drivers willing to make deliveries. Many whove been in touch are friends of friends and I dont even know who some of them are.

People have been so generous and supportive. It has all gone a bit crazy but Im moved and incredibly grateful.

Theres so much more we can do when weve finished this project and my regular customers have been understanding because they know we cant work on their orders until the outbreak has passed.

This will be very much a team effort and something I could never accomplish it alone. Its a big task but its nothing compared to the risk that NHS staff face every day while fighting this virus.

Its the least we could do because any one of us could need their help over the coming weeks.

Mrs Shemilts usual clients include Henley Rowing Club, Upper Thames, Shiplake College and the Oratory School as well as Cambridge University Womens Boat Club and others in America, Hong Kong and across Europe.

This week she was due to be in Tokyo showcasing her wares for the Olympic Games but these have been postponed until next year.

She said: This is a very different project from what Im used to and I certainly didnt imagine being in this position at the start of the year. However, the coronavirus has changed many peoples plans and you just have to adapt.

I had orders cancelled when it was announced that Henley Royal Regatta wasnt going ahead but thats entirely understandable and those clients are still interested in next year.

To volunteer for the campaign, email hotscrubs20@gmail.com or visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kristie-shemilt to make a donation. Alternatively, visit the Facebook page HOT Scrubs  RBH needs you.
Nazma aapi is back and this time with a suggestion for US President Donald Trump who warned India of retaliation for not exporting Hydroxychloroquine, deemed a possible cure against Coronavirus, to the US.

Who had asked you to build a wall? You should have made a wall instead, says Nazma Aapi in her signature Old Delhi Urdu accent.

Nazma Aapi is a comic character played by Saloni Gaur and has recently risen to fame for her satire on several issues like anti-CAA protests, Delhi Polices action against the protesters, etc. Gaur is a 20-year-old undergraduate student of Political Science at Delhi University.

The video on Trump comes days after the US president warned India of retaliation if it did not supply the anti-malarial drug to them. It has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for Covid-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Trump, in a phone call last week, had requested Prime Minister Modi to release the hold on American order of the malaria drug, of which India is the major producer. India lifted the hold on Tuesday. India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US.
Industry body Ficci on Thursday suggested the government to open more procurement centres to buy winter crops like wheat that are ready for harvesting, and sought relief package for poultry farmers who have been hit badly because of COVID-19 pandemic.

"The number of procurement centres need to be increased in the states where arrivals are expected to start in a few days. Farmers should not have to transport more than 3 km to offer their produce for MSP operation," Ficci said.

The number of trucks for lifting the procured stocks from procurement centers should be increased substantially, it said, adding that sufficient storage space needs to be created at warehouses of Food Corporation of India and state agencies.

"APMC regulations should be relaxed which prohibit sale and purchase outside mandi jurisdiction. Farmers of perishable produce (vegetables, fruits, milk, fish, meat etc.) should be allowed to sell their produce outside the regulated markets," Ficci said.

The industry association said mandis should be allowed to operate smoothly after ensuring appropriate protection and hygiene measures.

"Food processing units should be allowed to function without any artificial distinction between essential and non-essential," it said.

Stating that the poultry sector has been hit badly due to the coronavirus outbreak, Ficci demanded a relief package for the sector.

"Government may also consider giving direct assistance to poultry farmers through direct benefit transfer so that they are compensated to some extent for the losses incurred by them," it added.

Eggs should be purchased for conversion into powder for consumption by army, para military forces, police as well as health workers engaged in COVID-19 related duty, it suggested.

"Eggs should be included in mid-day meals and also to pregnant and nursing mothers attached to Anganwadi centres," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 09, 2020] Global HNW Offshore Investment Drivers & Motivations, 2020 - 32.5% of HNW Wealth is Invested Outside One's Country of Residence - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "HNW Offshore Investment: Drivers and Motivations" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report draws on survey results to analyze the drivers behind offshore investments in the HNW space. It examines and contrasts offshore HNW investment preferences across 27 jurisdictions, providing readers with an in-depth understanding of what is motivating HNW investors to look for new homes for their wealth. Key Highlights At a global level, 32.5% of HNW wealth is invested outside one's country of residence.

North American investors offshore the largest proportion of their wealth to achieve tax efficiencies (19%), but only 62% of European providers are able to advise clients on the taxation of their international assets.

32% of global HNW wealth is held via equities, 15% via bonds, and 18% via property.

Economic and political instabilities are driving 16% of global HNW wealth offshore.

Political and economic uncertainties as an offshore driver are becoming more important, now accounting for 13% of offshore investments. The proportion of HNW individuals who invest offshore has been on the rise despite the scandals that have shaken the industry. While the reasons are diverse and differ from country to country, an expectation of better returns abroad, international business interests, and local political and economic instability top the list. However, we are seeing notable differences between regions, suggesting that one strategy does not fit all. For example, tax efficiencies as a driver for offshore investments are of particular importance in Europe and North America. This means assisting HNW investors in minimizing their tax liabilities is key in these regions. Meanwhile, in Asia Pacific business interests are a significant driver, so a well-designed business and investment banking proposition neatly integrated with standard private banking services is a must. Reasons to Buy Understand the global trends that are driving offshore investments in the HNW space.

Compare how HNW offshore investment drivers differ across 27 countries.

Learn why certain HNW offshore drivers are more relevant in some countries than in others and how this affects your business.

Understand how to react to the constantly changing tax environment and adjust your offshore proposition accordingly.

Learn how political and economic instability affects client references and how global markets shape investment behavior in the HNW space.



Companies Mentioned UBS

Investec

HSBC

Kendris

Citibank

BNP Paribas Key Topics Covered

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1. HNW offshore investment is driven by a multitude of factors 1.2. Key findings 1.3. Critical success factors 2. GLOBAL TRENDS DRIVING HNW OFFSHORE INVESTMENTS 2.1. Increasingly easy access will drive offshore investments across the globe 2.1.1. A third of HNW offshore wealth is booked abroad 2.1.2. A sophisticated offshore proposition has become a hygiene factor 2.2. An expectation of better returns abroad and business interests account for a third of HNW offshore investments globally 2.2.1. HNW investors are looking for better returns abroad 2.2.2. Already the second most important offshore driver, the importance of international business interests is set to increase 2.2.3. Taken together, tax efficiencies and client anonymity are the number one driver for offshore investments 2.2.4. Other drivers include access to better investment options, local political and economic instability, expatriate money flows, and currency volatility 2.3. Significant regional differences exist in the motivations for offshore investment 2.3.1. Offshore propositions must be tailored at a country or regional level 3. DETAILED DRIVER ANALYSIS 3.1. Local market factors drive the variety in HNW individuals' motivations for offshore investment 3.2. Driver one: HNW investors are betting on better returns offshore 3.2.1. Despite a desire to capitalize on returns abroad, HNW investors are taking a more careful and diversified stance 3.2.2. Investors who look for better returns abroad are biased towards the US 3.2.3. Chinese HNW investors look for returns abroad in the property space, but tensions with the US will affect booking center preferences going forward 3.3. Driver two: Business interests as a driver for offshore investments means offering hedging products is a must 3.3.1. Targeting Japanese HNW entrepreneurs requires a sophisticated offshore proposition 3.3.2. Increasing business dealings with the US will see more Taiwanese HNW wealth flow offshore 3.4. Driver three: Political and economic uncertainty 3.4.1. Economic factors are marginally more important than political ones as an offshore driver 3.4.2. Political instability remains an important driver for offshore investments in Europe 3.4.3. Political and economic instability are also major concerns in South Africa 3.4.4. Providing access to safe havens is paramount in countries where economic and political stability rank highly 3.4.5. Hong Kong seeks to defend its safe haven status amid economic and political unrest 3.5. Driver four: Access to a broader and better range of investments is also an important consideration in the offshoring decision 3.5.1. Domestic market sector concentration bias drives offshore investment in the developed world 3.5.2. Access to a broader range of investment options is also an important driver in markets with limited investment options 3.6. Driver five: The desire for tax efficiency represents an opportunity, but achieving anonymity is becoming increasingly challenging 3.6.1. With a few exceptions, the importance of tax efficiency and client anonymity as an offshore driver go hand in hand 3.6.2. Compliance is becoming an increasingly big headache, but technology can assist 3.6.3. The US and fake residency information are the biggest issues facing CRS 3.6.4. Tax efficiencies are a major driver in the UAE despite the lack of income taxes 3.7. Other drivers: The importance of currency volatility, geographic diversification benefits, and expat money flows vary across markets 3.7.1. Players looking to attract offshore HNW wealth should highlight the benefits of geographic diversification, while smaller companies should promote funds 3.7.2. Expat flows are an important driver in countries with high immigration rates 3.7.3. Currency volatility as a driver for offshore investments is becoming more important 4. APPENDIX 4.1. Supplementary data 4.2. Abbreviations and acronyms 4.3. Definitions 4.3.1. Affluent 4.3.2. CRS 4.3.3. HNW 4.3.4. Liquid assets 4.3.5. Mass affluent 4.3.6. Residency 4.4. Methodology 4.4.1. The 2019 Global Wealth Managers Survey 4.4.2. The 2018 Global Wealth Managers Survey 4.5. Secondary sources For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/iwfwyq View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005440/en/

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There are other hospitals across the city that have been able to step up in this time of need and assist in caring for the sickest patients, said Suzet McKinney, CEO and executive director of the Illinois Medical District and a former deputy commissioner at the Chicago Department of Public Health. But if Rush becomes overwhelmed, its a bad sign. If Rush is overwhelmed, so are many, many other places not just in the city, but in the state.
Jharkhand on Thursday reported its first coronavirus death. A 75-year-old male coronavirus patient from Bokaro passed away early Thursday morning, news agency ANI reported quoting Deputy Commissioner Bokaro Mukesh Kumar.

The death is yet to be confirmed by the Ministry of Health. So far, as per the health ministry, Jharkhand has seen 4 coronavirus cases. However, State Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni on Thursday said that the tally of coronavirus cases in the state has climbed to 13, subject to confirmation from the Centre.

India has reported over 540 fresh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours and 17 deaths. With this, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has jumped to 5734. The figure includes 5,095 active cases, 473 patients who have been cured or discharged and 166 deaths.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday ordered 15 districts with most coronavirus cases to be sealed to contain the virus spread till April 15. Over 20 Covid-19 hotspots have come under a complete lockdown in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi administration has also identified as many as 23 hotspots which have been sealed to contain the spread of coronavirus in the national capital.

Three major cities in Madhya Pradesh - Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain - have also been sealed on CM Shivraj Singh Chouhans orders.

Various states, like Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Odisha, Delhi and Ladakh, have made mask-wearing mandatory for those stepping out of their homes.

India on Thursday entered the 16th day of the ongoing 21-day lockdown announced by PM Modi to break the chain of Covid-19 infection in the country.
Barcelona have reportedly turned down the chance to sign Chelsea star Willian in the summer.

The Brazilian winger is set to leave Chelsea on June 30 after failing to reach an agreement over his contract renewal and will be available on a free.

Willian wanted a three-year contract and walked away from negotiations when Chelsea were only prepared to offer him a two-year extension.

Barcelona have rejected the chance to sign Chelsea star Willian on a free transfer this summer

His agent Kia Joorabchian, who also represents Philippe Coutinho, has already been plotting his next move and according to SPORT, has offered his services to Barcelona.

The Catalan giants like the player and have previously been interested in signing the forward, bidding 50million for him back in 2018.

However, they have other transfer priorities with Neymar and Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez their prime targets ahead of next season.

Barcelona like the winger and previously bid 50m for him but have other transfer targets

SPORT's report says that the 31-year-old has asked for huge wages and a three-year deal, but Barcelona would prefer to build for the future this summer by bringing in younger players.

The move is not completely off the table, though Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham look the more likely destinations for Willian at this moment in time.

Willian has scored seven times and registered six assists in 37 matches for Chelsea this season.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are also planning to pay an extra 3m on top of their 5.2m option to sign right-back Emerson a year before his loan is due to the end following his impressive from for Real Betis this season.
ISTANBUL  During a tumultuous day in court in February, the Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala was unexpectedly acquitted of trying to overthrow the government and then rearrested before he could walk free.

He described it as the best day of his life.

We were acquitted, he told his lawyers, referring to the eight others tried with him.

Never mind that the two years he had already spent in solitary confinement had been extended indefinitely  this time on specious charges of supporting a 2016 coup. He was happy that at least in one case, he and 15 others had been given the chance to show that the original charges against them were baseless.

Nothing can affect that composure and attitude, Murat Celikkan, a campaigning journalist and longtime friend and colleague, said of Mr. Kavala. I would be furious, but in all the procedures he never raised his voice once.
Sweetwater County School District No. 2s lunch program is being expanded to give children lunch over the weekends.

In an announcement to parents, Leah Kenison, director of the districts food service program, said the district received approval to hand out weekend meals. On Friday, three bags will be given to children, one for each day. These meals are available to any child or teen in Green River, free of charge.

This comes after the district started sending meals out on buses throughout Green River, Jamestown and Little America Monday.

Kenison said the buses answer a problem theyv...
A few daring Indians, who remained in Wuhan where the novel coronavirus first emerged and then became a global pandemic, have a word of advice for their compatriots back home: follow the strict lockdown and self-isolation measures to arrest the spread of the deadly disease.

Speaking to PTI, the Indian nationals in Wuhan said they were very happy that their 76-day suffering due to the strict lockdown came to an end on Wednesday when the authorities lifted the restrictions in the central Chinese city of 11 million people.

"For over 73 days, I stayed put in my room, stepped out to my lab close by with permission. Today I struggle to speak properly because I have not spoken much all these weeks as there is no one to speak because everyone stayed indoors," said Arunjith T Sathrajith, a hydrobiolgist working in Wuhan.

India evacuated about 700 Indians and foreigners through two special Air India flights, but Arunjith, who is from Kerala, decided to stay in Wuhan and brave it all because he felt "escaping" from a troubled place was not the ideal thing for "Indians to do".

He is one of the few Indians who chose to stay back in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people and the epicentre of the pandemic.

He also thought his return to Kerala could endanger his parents and in-laws, all over 50 years, besides his wife and child.

A microbiologist-turned-hydrobiologist who is taking part in a research project in the central Chinese city, he said India had done the right thing to go for a nationwide lockdown, but the major problem for the country could surface when the monsoon season arises as people's immunity levels go down.

That is the time virus could turn virulent, Arunjith said.

If there is any lesson Wuhan offers, it is the strict lockdown and people's participation in self-isolation campaign, he said.

Another Indian scientist who also stayed put in Wuhan fully agreed with Arunjith.

"For about 72 days I have shut myself in my room. My neighbour has three very young children. I have not seen them coming out of their flat even once.

"Today I am happy and relieved I survived but still not willing to venture out because I could run into virus carriers," the scientist, who preferred to remain anonymous, told PTI over phone.

He advising Indians to strictly follow the lockdown. The scientist said a lockdown of Wuhan a few days before could have helped prevent the virus from spreading like wildfire.

He preferred to remain in Wuhan and declined the Indian embassy's offer because he was concerned about his family back home.

"Considering the hospitality I enjoyed, I was confident I would be taken care of by my employer and local friends and they did," he said.

Arunjith said he and his fellow researchers began hearing about the spread of a vicious virus in Wuhan from the second week of December and things progressively began deteriorating with fear spreading among people as they began wearing masks.

But even after the lifting of the lockdown in Wuhan, still not many people are stepping out as there is lingering fear about the asymptomatic cases.

Asymptomatic coronavirus cases are those who test positive but do not show any symptoms and have the potential to cause sporadic clusters of infections.

Both agreed that it is very difficult for detecting the virus and its virulence in December and early January until many people started contracting it.

"It is not easy to understand this virus. And it is not going to be easy to understand it until they trace the zero case which is extremely difficult. Chinese took time to act because they had no idea about it early and when they learnt about it, they acted swiftly," the scientist said.

Arunjith, who travelled in China extensively especially in rural areas pursuing his research, said he suspects that the virus was passed from animal to human considering the habits among some of the communities in rural areas to eat wild animal delicacies.

Wild animals sold in the Huanan Seafood Market are believed to be the source of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 88,500 lives worldwide so far and infected nearly 1.5 million people. The Huanan market was closed after the virus outbreak in China in December last year.

Hubei has so far reported 67,803 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,008 in Wuhan.

The death toll due to the coronavirus in China has risen to 3,335 and the overall cases have reached 81,865 in the country.

In India, 166 people have died and the number of cases has gone up to 5,734 till Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Globally, over 88,500 have died and there are nearly 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 infections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Valletta: Malta can no longer guarantee the rescue of migrants or allow their disembarkation during the coronavirus emergency, the Malta government said on Thursday. Corruption scandals have dogged Malta in recent years. It said the decision had been taken because its resources were stretched by the enforcement of measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus, as well as the risk that the migrants themselves may be carrying the virus. The announcement came 24 hours after Italy closed its own harbours, saying its ports could not longer be considered safe because of the pandemic. Nigeria and Morocco watch the sunset aboard the Open Arms rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea in January. Malta says it can no longer allow migrants to enter. Credit:AP

"It is in the interest and responsibility of such people not to endanger themselves on a risky voyage to a country which is not in a position to offer them a secure harbour," Malta's government said. The decision by Italy and Malta came as the German Sea-Eye migrant aid group said its rescue vessel Alan Kurdi had picked up 150 people from two wooden boats off the coast of Libya on Monday. With the two closest European countries closed, it is unclear where they will be taken. The Maltese government said that over the years Malta had been under immense pressure and had rescued thousands of migrants "with little tangible help". The government also published a statement it is sending to the European Commission, explaining the situation.
Bihar was rattled by a spurt in COVID-19 cases on Thursday as 12 persons tested positive and the total number crossed 50, even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged people not to hide their travel history and help his government in its fight against the pandemic.

Of the 12 fresh cases, 10 were reported from Siwan district -- all but one from the same family in Raghunathpur block, which has been sealed by the local administration and from where close to 100 samples have been collected and rushed to the state capital for testing.

The nine cases from Raghunathpur are a 10-year-old boy, two girls aged 12 years, five women aged between 20 and 50 years and a man in his 30s.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, all of them caught the contagion from a COVID-19 patient who had travelled to Oman.

Besides, another 36-year-old male resident of the district with a travel history to Dubai tested positive.

The remaining two cases, both teenage boys, have been reported from Begusarai. Both are residents of the Teghra block and believed to have contracted the infection from two boys in the same age group, who tested positive for the disease on Tuesday.

According to Begusarai District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Verma, none of the four boys was known to have any recent travel history but they were said to have been interacting with clerics at a local mosque. Their samples were collected after the village head informed the police a few days ago that they had developed COVID-19 symptoms.

Verma did not rule out the possibility of a connection with the Tablighi Jamaat, which has been blamed for a large number of COVID-19 cases across the country and the Delhi headquarter of which has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot and therefore, sealed by the authorities.

In Nawada, where a man with a travel history to Delhi tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, District Magistrate Yashpal Meena said information has been sought from the national capital as to whether the 38-year-old had taken part in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation last month.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar issued a fervent appeal to the people of the state not to hide their travel history and said doing so could put coronavirus patients, their near and dear ones, and the society at large at risk.

At a meeting in which he reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state, the chief minister called for an intensive screening of the places coronavirus patients might have come in contact with, and following of full medical protocol in the areas identified as coronavirus hotspots.

He also instructed officials to speed up the process of tracing and testing the contacts of the patients.

Kumar also reiterated the need for maintaining social distancing under all circumstances and hoped that while paying tributes to Jesus Christ on the eve of Good Friday, people would stay at home as far as possible and take necessary precautions.

According to a release issued by the state health department, of the 51 cases confirmed in Bihar so far, 17 have recovered while one patient has died.

Siwan has reported 20 cases so far and tops the list of the affected districts. Munger and Patna have reported seven and five cases respectively but are now left with no active case.

Bordering Uttar Pradesh, Siwan is known for sending a large number of people to middle east for employment.

One patient from Munger, a 38-year-old man with a travel history to Qatar, died of renal failure on March 22, a day before test reports confirmed that he was COVID-19 positive.

Three hospitals in the state -- one each in Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya -- have been dedicated for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

Testing of samples is taking place at four facilities -- Patna-based ICMR centre RMRI, medical college hospitals IGIMS and PMCH and the Darbhanga-based DMCH.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Staff from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust testing health service workers for Covid 19 at the Balmoral MoT Centre in south Belfast. Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 8th April 2020

The coronavirus death toll is likely to be 20% to 30% higher than the official tally, a leading doctor has claimed.

Dr Tom Black, chairman of the local arm of the British Medical Association, issued the warning yesterday after a further five Covid-related deaths brought the local death toll to 78.

The number of people here who have tested positive for the infection increased by 84 over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total of local confirmed cases to 1,339.

A total of 9,564 people in Northern Ireland have now been tested for Covid-19.

Across the UK, meanwhile, 938 more people died in hospitals - the biggest loss recorded in a single day so far.

The UK-wide death toll now stands at 7,097.

The number of Covid-related deaths in the Republic rose by 25, bringing the total to 235.

The latest figures show that England had a further 828 deaths, with Scotland recording 77 within the past 24 hours and Wales suffering 33.

The location of a further two deaths was not accounted for.

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots and Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, who yesterday gave the daily Stormont Covid-19 update, expressed their sympathies to the five local families who recently lost relatives to the virus.

Mr Poots said the daily recording of Covid-19 deaths was reminiscent of the dark days of the Troubles.

Mrs Hargey said there would be no relaxation of the lockdown measures next week, when a UK-wide review is scheduled to take place.

"What we don't want is to lift (the restrictions) too early and then see a sharp rise again. That is a concern, obviously, so these restrictions will be in place for the foreseeable future," Mrs Hargey explained.

The Sinn Fein MLA spoke as Dr Black told this newspaper the official Covid-19 death toll was probably 20% to 30% lower than the true figure.

The Public Health Agency has confirmed that it only records deaths where the patient has tested positive for coronavirus within the past 28 days.

"By definition, therefore, deaths where tests were not taken will not be included," a spokesman explained in a statement.

"This reporting process allows a real-time daily update of trends in Covid-19 deaths within each trust area.

"In this pandemic, public health professionals, policy-makers and the public value an up-to-date daily record of the number of deaths associated with Covid-19."

Dr Black said the daily figures would remain a guide until wider testing measures were introduced.

"The failure to record Covid-19 deaths in the community is because we don't have enough tests. Obviously, we don't use tests to maintain statistics. We use tests to maintain health care," he explained.

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"I think it's reasonable that the Covid-19 testing should be as it at the moment for those in-patients in hospital and to get healthcare workers back to work."

He stressed that in the long term wider testing would be beneficial because it would enable health authorities to conduct contact tracing and isolate those who are infected.

"Overall, we aren't recording all Covid deaths at the moment and the difference is probably between 20 and 30%," Dr Black explained.

"I think the statisticians will be able to work this out retrospectively, but to be frank we have a lot of people dying from Covid infections and we're probably under-recording (deaths) slightly."
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2020) - Benchmark Botanics, Inc. (CSE: BBT) ("Benchmark" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has appointed Paul Haber, CPA, CA, C. Dir as it's new Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Haber comes to Benchmark with a wealth of public company expertise having helped many companies successfully navigate the capital markets to achieve their expansion and growth plans.

William Ying, Chief Executive Officer said, "We are pleased to welcome Paul aboard. We have many exciting initiatives that we look forward to working with him on and believe all of our stakeholders will be interested to learn more about these as we execute on these plans over the coming year."

About Benchmark

Benchmark is a diversified multi-licensed cannabis producer focused on a three-way vertical business model targeting the medical, pharmaceutical, and recreational markets in Canada. The Company's business plan also includes a strategy to become a Canadian licensed producer to pioneer selling medical cannabis and hemp throughout Asia, where it is legal to do so.

Benchmark is focused on producing the highest-quality, indoor-grown cannabis for patients and adult recreational consumers, as well as developing international business partnerships to extend the Company's global footprint.

Benchmark's 100% owned subsidiary, Potanicals Green Growers Inc. is a Health Canada licensed producer under the Cannabis Act and its regulations (formerly ACMPR). The Company is producing at its indoor Peachland Cannabis Complex and is constructing a Phase II expansion of an additional 10,000 square foot extraction facility there. Along with cultivation and production, the company's Peachland BC facility also provides propagation, cultivation, cloning, storage, research and development, genetics and is progressing towards CBD oil extraction and an EU-GMP certification.

As part of its expansion strategy the company with a partner completed a second facility, a 4-acre Greenhouse Operation in Pitt Meadows, BC. The Company through its wholly owned subsidiary and licensed producer Potanicals Green Growers Inc., has received its second cultivation license, effective November 29, 2019, from Health Canada for the Pitt Meadow greenhouse.

Benchmark Botanics has also acquired 51% of a company that holds a cannabis research and development licence issued from Health Canada under The Cannabis Act and its regulations.

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.benchmarkbotanics.com or the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

If you would like to be added to Benchmark's news distribution list, please sign up at this link https://benchmarkbotanics.com/signup/ Investor Relations info@bbtinc.ca

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF

BENCHMARK BOTANICS INC.

"William Ying"

William Ying

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 604-238-0005



The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54301
Hyderabad: Spitting in public places has been banned in Telangana state with immediate effect in wake of potential of this habit by some to contribute to spread of Coronavirus.

The state government on Wednesday, issued orders to this affect, saying habit of public spitting poses a serious threat to the spread of such infections.

The order says that spitting of paan, any chewable tobacco or non-tobacco products, and sputum in public places and institutions is banned.

The government said that Covid-19 pandemic has brought to fore importance of hygiene and cleanliness in both personal as well as public spheres. It is of utmost need to impose restrictions on unhealthy practices that may spread diseases.

Spitting, chewing tobacco, smoking cigarettes, cigars, bidis and hookah are identified as potential hazards at normal times, but during the Coronavirus emergency, they can also facilitate spread of Covid-19.

The oral system of the body is active during these acts.

There is a higher likelihood of large droplets coming out of a person, which will allow the harmful virus to spread. Since Covid-19 spreads through large droplets, these activities in public have now come into focus.

Smokeless tobacco products like gutkha, zarda, khaini, paan masala and areca nut increases production of saliva, followed by a strong urge to spit. Spitting in public places is dangerous during these times, as it can enable the virus to spread faster and more easily.

Dr A. Srikath, secretary, Indian Dental Association, Deccan branch, said, Spit in public places, if it comes in contact with paper, hands or other objects, will allow the virus to spread. Just as we have educated people about hand wash, hygiene and wearing of masks, it is important to spread message about spit too. Those who want to spit cannot do so on corners of roads, outside public toilets, trees or market areas. They have to understand that it is unhygienic, and dangerous.

Similarly smoking in public spaces, hookah in bars, cafes, lounges hotels and restaurants must not be allowed as it is another potential threat. Smokers are immune compromised, and like diabetics, are at a higher risk to Covid-19 infection.

Dr Ramana Prasad, pulmnologist, KIMS Hospital, explained, Covids attack on lungs is very strong. Since smokers are compromised, they are more susceptible. They can also be asymptomatic carriers as they are in immune compromised condition, and contact with them can lead to spread of the disease. Due to this reason, smokers are considered in red zone.

Similarly hookah is simultaneously smoked by several users and same mouthpiece is passed from person to person, which will increase risk of spread of virus.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has asked all states to tell people to not spit and smoke in public places.

Bhavana B Mukhopadhyay, chief executive, Voluntary Health Association of India, said, We now have to create massive awareness about not spitting in public, like we have done with hygiene and hand wash. This awareness will go a long way in tackling not only Covid but also other infectious diseases.

Dr Namrata Motihar Rupani, dentist, Capture Life Dentistry, said, The move of Telangana government to ban tobacco and smoking in public is very welcome. People must use the lockdown to consider long-cherished desire to quit and focus on health. Coronavirus is dangerous, but so are smoking and other forms of tobacco. Smokers must quit now and use the lockdown to become healthier.
Its simple enough to go online and find data about how Indianapolis is struggling with food insecurity, wealth inequality, transportation and any number of issues.

A lot of that data is reliable, certainly not faulty, but most of it is an aggregate view of whats going on.

Needs and concerns in the 46218 zip code can differ from those in 46222, just as they can differ from one street to the next, one house to the next.

Shane Shepherd, founder of B4U Fall, wants to get a clear picture of how communities are handling the COVID-19 pandemic on a house-by-house basis. He and a team of volunteers began surveying households across Indianapolis on March 23, and theyve since been to at least 19 zip codes.

At the time of the interview, Shepherd said they had received about 1,800 responses. Surveys include questions about food access, food allergies and access to transportation, as well as voter registration and the 2020 census.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

We want to ask the little guy, What do you need? so the big guy doesnt just assume to know, he said.

Shepherd, 41, said he isnt fond of the bigger outfits  though his organization did recently receive $75,000 from United Way of Central Indianas Social Innovation Fund to create school curriculum for students on the near west side.

But thats still an example of an organization with more resources giving Shepherd the tools he needs  money, in that case  to actually do the work.

Shepherd started B4U Fall after serving a 12-year federal prison sentence for possession of a weapon. He authored an after-school curriculum, Truth and Change, which teaches African American students how to make positive life choices.

B4U Fall recently helped organize a pop-up food distribution drive.

Its the kind of credibility that makes such a sweeping effort  documenting community needs and concerns  possible in the first place.

We dont come from volunteer pools, Shepherd said. We actually come from the communities that we serve.

Once B4U Fall has the data organized, other organizations can follow up and address those needs.

Kevin Berkopes, founder and CEO of Crossroads Education, has known Shepherd for about a year and a half and said his staff  which normally works in schools  has been repurposed to help Shepherd.

Berkopes trusts Shepherd because he knows the integrity has already been established.

This isnt somebody coming into the neighborhood and trying to save anyone, he said. This is him helping his neighbors.

Other groups cant get the same access to those residents, Berkopes said, or mobilize quickly enough when they do get information.

Shane is extremely intelligent, he said. He has the ear of the community. What hes trying to accomplish is a huge, lofty goal, but its needed.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

Shane Shepherd, founder of B4U Fall, a nonprofit mentoring program, held his son Messiyah, 19 months, as he welcomed visitors to a community violence reduction event at Municipal Gardens. (Photo/Curtis Guynn)
KENT COUNTY, MI -- Newly compiled Kent County data about coronavirus COVID-19 cases shows that the contagious respiratory disease is having an impact on all age groups.

As of Wednesday, Kent County has 216 COVID-19 cases with nine deaths. The deaths increased by two from Tuesday.

Data released on the Kent County Health Department web site shows that, among the countys more than 200 confirmed cases, almost every age group has numbers in the double digits.

Here is what the data shows by age group:

38 cases in the 40-49 age group.

33 cases in the 20-29 age group.

31 cases in the 80-89 age group.

29 cases in the 50-59 age group.

25 cases in the 60-69 age group.

23 cases in the 30-39 age group.

20 cases in the 70-79 age group.

Among people younger than 20, Kent County has recorded just three cases, with one younger than 10 and two in the 11-20 age group.

Related: Michigan coronavirus data will now include recovered cases, state reports 56 so far

The county also has recorded only five COVID-19 cases for people 90 or older.

Kent County began posting new COVID-19 statistics to its web site on Tuesday, April 7 and health officials expect to add more data soon about race and general locations of positive cases.

Health leaders also say they hope to add information about the hospitalization rate for people who test positive.

Related: Michigan becomes 3rd state to eclipse 20,000 coronavirus cases

The countys deaths, so far, have involved people older than 66 with underlying conditions.

But Kent County Health Director Adam London said people much younger have been seriously ill and required hospitalization.

Its not just the 60 and older group, he said.

Among the total confirmed cases in Kent County, the ratio of cases between males and females is close to an even split, with slightly more females testing positive.

About 61 percent of all Kent County people who tested positive live in the more urban areas of Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Wyoming, Walker and Grandville.

Despite some fluctuations in the daily number of new cases -- Kent County had 22 from Tuesday to Wednesday -- London said hes confident that social distancing and Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay at home order is having a beneficial impact.

I think we are flattening the curve, he said.

Muskegon County released data Tuesday that listed its coronavirus cases by age groups and gender, but also by race. The number of positive cases in individual townships and cities were shown.

Muskegon County had 53 cases and four deaths as of late Wednesday afternoon.

In Ottawa County, health leaders there have listed the zip codes where positive cases have been recorded, but no numbers for those areas.

Because Ottawa County only has 56 cases, they are concerned about privacy violations.

Maintaining patient privacy is challenging with connected and smaller communities, particularly with fluid social media conversations. Assumptions can be made about individuals who may have been ill, whether it was COVID-19 or not. Similarly, with other infectious disease investigations--whether its chickenpox, flu or chlamydia-- public health officials share limited information about a case, according to a Wednesday statement from the Ottawa County Health Department.

For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

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A day after India said it will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine, officials across several states insisted there is no shortage of the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has emerged as the most sought-after medicine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease.

The limited exports were allowed after US president Donald Trump requested the supply of the drug from India in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Trump also warned of retaliation if India did not take up his request.

On Wednesday, HT did a reality check across states on the availability of the medicine amid complaints by patients about its shortage. Here, is a summary of reports from various states:

Kerala

The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd, the states medicine and medical equipment procurement agency, managing director Dr S R Dileep Kumar said they have enough stock of the hydroxychloroquine tablets. We have got 1.2 million tablets last week and we placed the order for another five lakh that we will get next week. There is no shortage, he said.

But many retail medical outlets said their stocks have exhausted after people started buying in panic. Worried, the health department has asked medical shops to supply the tablets only to the people who come with prescriptions.

Rajasthan

Jaipur-resident, Ritesh Sharma, 44, who has been having hydroxycholoquinine for 10 years, said local chemists have run out of its stocks for 15 days. Sharma has rheumatoid arthritis. Hydroxychloroquine is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and helps to slow down its progression.

The shortage prompted the Rajasthan government to issue an order to acquire all stocks of hydroxycholoquine from stockists, wholesalers and retailers. It later asked officials to return 25% of the stocks to pharmacists. The state government got 450,000 tablets from the government of India over the last two days. That was also the reason why we returned some of the tablets to be sold to people who have prescriptions, he (WHO) said.

Total allocation of 4.5 million tablets has been made to the state [Rajasthan] and this will be delivered in phases until the end of April, said Union health ministry officer on special duty Sudhansh Pant.

In the last five days, 1.15 million tablets of hydroxycholoquinine have been delivered to Rajasthan, an official said.

Madhya Pradesh

Vikas Sadana, a chemist in Bhopal, said hydroxycholoquinine was unavailable as wholesale dealers have stopped supplying it citing a government restriction. We are unable to provide it to patients, he said.

Madhya Pradeshs additional director (health) Sapna Lovanshi said, We have enough stock of hydroxycholoquinine in government hospitals across the state. There is no complaint from any hospital about shortage of the medicine.

Odisha

Chemists in Odisha said the medicine was in short supply after the government asked dealers not to supply it to retail pharmacies. Dibakar Sahu, a chemist in Bhubaneswar, said they are no longer giving it to people without prescriptions.

Drugs controller Mamina Patnaik said so far the state government has diverted around 8 lakh of hydroxychloroquine tablets to state-owned Odisha State Medical Corporation so that it can be used for Covid-19 patients. Only a small portion of the total stock is available with chemists, Patnaik said.

Goa

Doctors in Goa said the medicine is unavailable even for private practitioners. We have the stock but we are reserving it for those who really need it like doctors and have stopped selling it over the counter as the fresh stock has not arrived, said Albert DSa, the president of the Chemists and Druggists Association of Goa.

Jharkhand

Chemists in Ranchi said hydroxycholoquinine was unavailable at shops. The distributors started refusing its supply since March, citing government restrictions, said Sandeep Rajgharia, a pharmacy owner.

Ranchis Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences superintendent Vivek Kashyap said, We have enough stock of the medicine to meet demand irrespective of requirement.

Assam

Assams food and drugs department officials said there is adequate stock of the medicine as of now. Chemists are allowed to sell the drug to patients based on prescriptions and sale without any doctors advice is not allowed. We have enough stock of hydroxycholoquinine in the state right now, said Harendra Nath Sarma, inspector of drugs, directorate of health service, Assam.

Bihar

Dr Amulya Kumar Singh, an orthopedician in Patna, said though there is no shortage of the drug at the manufacturing level, there are transportation issues during the lockdown, leading to an artificial scarcity, especially with some wholesalers hoarding the drug.

Sanjaya Kumar Singh, managing director, Bihar Medical Services Infrastructure Company Limited, which procures medicines, said there is no shortage of the medicine and the state has enough buffer stock.

Other states

There were also reports of a shortage of the medicine at chemist shops from Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab.
"Thanks to our Vietnamese friends for their support," Petra Sigmund, director general for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Office of Germany, said on Twitter. "We should stay united in solidarity and continue to join hands to fight against the coronavirus." In another post, she shared a photo of herself in a colorful mask thanking Vietnam for its generosity in donating masks to Germany.

Besides donating 500,000 masks, Vietnam has sent medical aid to China, Cambodia and Laos in recent weeks. Hanoi is now in talks with the United States to supply it with protective equipment. Vietnam continues to try to control coronavirus domestically, but the virus has also marked a moment for the communist nation to make overtures abroad. Upending tradition, Vietnam, which historically has been an aid recipient, is showing that it can also be a contributor.

In business attire and surgical masks, five European ambassadors stood on a stage in Hanoi on Tuesday and greeted Vietnamese officials who announced they were donating face masks to Europe.

China is not the only nation coming to the aid of others in the fight against coronavirus.

As hospitals across the United States face big shortfalls in masks and medical equipment, the U.S. Agency for International Development is asking Vietnamese firms what supplies they can manufacture.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said it created an "air bridge" to quickly get medical supplies exported from Vietnam, in addition to nations such as Thailand, India and Honduras.

The Vietnam Embassy in Washington said it created a direct channel of communication to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"This is a very good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to export personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies to European and American markets," Nhan Dan, the official newspaper for the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, said in a web post. The newspaper called on domestic firms to manufacture supplies for export. The post noted that one opportunity is in California, which is asking for 500 million pairs of N95 breathing masks, 10 million goggles and 1 billion pairs of gloves.

While Vietnam is a developing nation with an economy smaller than that of California, a combination of factors allows it to fill some holes created by the coronavirus emergency.

Vietnam responded early to the emergency, keeping its reported numbers of infections under 300 cases as of Wednesday, and giving it the relative stability to aid others. The single-party state ordered a national lockdown and mobilized resources and people, including health workers and volunteers. Last week, it asked firms to increase mask production to 5 million a day.

Besides having a history of citizens wearing masks daily, Vietnam has an export-based economy dominated by manufacturing. Those factories give it a base to switch to making medical supplies in times of emergency.

Vietnam's biggest conglomerate is starting to make ventilators and thermometers for the first time, for instance. "Vingroup has an advantage of having both an automobile factory and an electronics factory, which enable us to manufacture both large and mechanical parts, as well as rare and smaller parts at the same time such as electronic boards," said Le Thi Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of Vingroup. One of her colleagues said the medical equipment will be sent overseas in the future, though the firm will start by selling it to the Ministry of Health at cost until domestic demand is met.

Vingroup CEO Nguyen Viet Quang said the firm will start with 5,000 ventilators delivered to the Ministry starting next week and hopes to be producing tens of thousands of ventilators a month. He said the firm "can support other manufacturers around the world by processing equipment for them or providing part of the demand."
Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said, 'Centre has promised us to provide personal protective equipment (PPEs). We have been told that 13,500 PPEs will be given tonight and 13,500 will be provided by tomorrow. Immediately we need at least 2 lakh PPEs.'

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From making masks mandatory to restricting movement of people in areas identified as COVID-19 hotspots, authorities across several states on Thursday also beefed up surveillance and enforcement measures to contain the deadly virus outbreak even as shortage of protecting gear remained a concern.

India recorded an increase of 591 coronavirus cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours thereby, taking the COVID-19 toll to 169 and the number of positive cases to 5,865 in the country.

"A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time," he said in a text released by his office.

"The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," Guterres told council members in a closed-door video conference on Thursday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged members of the Security Council to put up a united front for its fight against the global coronavirus outbreak, marking the first time the divided 15-nation body discussed the pandemic.

"We're all struggling to absorb unfolding shock, jobs that have disappeared and businesses that have suffered;f undamental and drastic shift to our daily lives," he further said.

"The world faces its gravest test since the founding of this Organization, said Guterres.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a closed-door meeting with members of the United Nations Security Council on the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier on Thursday, Downing Street had confirmed that Johnson continues to improve after he spent a third night in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital with coronavirus.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Johnson while he is in hospital, had told reporters during the daily briefing that the prime minister "continues to make positive steps forwards and is in good spirits".

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care as his condition improves, Downing Street said on Thursday evening.

According to the news agency, the two family members have had contact history with a positive patient who had returned from Oman.

On Friday, two members of a family tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Siwan district, taking the COVID-19 tally in Bihar to 60, ANI reported.

The surge of cases at Cook County Jail marks the latest flare-up of COVID-19 at jails and prisons in major cities across the United States, where detainees often live in close quarters.

As many as 450 inmates and staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at Chicago's largest jail, county corrections officials said on Thursday, representing one of the nation's largest outbreaks of the respiratory illness at a single site so far in the pandemic.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases. They were spotted at their `Diwan farm house'' by civic authorities, officials said.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Police found 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at their farmhouse, an official said.

DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid lockdown, police said.

An FIR has been registered against Kapil Wadhawan of DHFL group and 22 others, including his family members and servants, at Mahabaleshwar police station for violating coronavirus lockdown orders, Satara Police told ANI.

This is the first death of a coronavirus patient in Ramganj and second in Jaipur.

"The woman from Ramganj in Jaipur was admitted to SMS Hospital on Wednesday with a complaint of respiratory distress pneumonia and co-morbidity hypertension. She had tested positive for COVID-19 and was on a ventilator," the official said.

The state also reported 26 fresh cases of the deadly virus Friday morning, taking the total number of COVID-19 patients to 489. The official said the woman was undergoing treatment at SMS Hospital for COVID-19 and she breathed her last Thursday evening.

A 65-year-old woman who had tested positive for coronavirus died here, taking the toll in Rajasthan to eight, an official said on Friday.

So far, six COVID-19 cases have been detected in Bokaro district, seven in Ranchi city and one in Hazaribag district, health department officials said.

The test report came in late Thursday night, he said. The first COVID-19 fatality was reported in Jharkhand on Thursday as a 72-year-old man died of coronavirus in Bokaro district.

The man, a resident of Pipradih village in Chandrapura block, was in the isolation ward at Bokaro General Hospital for the last one week, said district medical officer Ashok Kumar Pathak.

A 35-year-old man, who attended a religious congregation in Delhi last month, tested positive for COVID-19 in Bokaro district, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in Jharkhand to 14, officials said on Friday.

India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic, said Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi on Friday as he replied to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who had thanked the PM for facilitating the export of raw materials to Brazil for production of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching. The pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security -- potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease, Guterres said in his briefing to the UNSC.

Guterres described the battle against COVID-19 as the fight of a generation -- and the raison d' tre of the United Nations itself.

The Secretary-General listed pressing risks to the world due to the pandemic as he addressed the powerful UN Security Council, which for the first time discussed the coronavirus crisis in a closed video-conference session on Thursday under the Presidency of the Dominican Republic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a window into how a bio-terrorist attack might unfold across the world, UN chief Antonio Guterres said, issuing a strong warning that non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.

The undertrial prisoners were released from 11 jails across the state.

Following the apex court's direction, a committee was formed and the interim bail and parole were granted based on its recommendation, they said.

A total of 109 undertrial prisoners have been released from different correctional homes in Nagaland on interim bail in keeping with the Supreme Court's directions to consider decongesting the jails in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Friday.

The positive cases included two grand-daughters, daughter-in-law and a neighbour of the deceased woman, he said. The reports of the son and the husband of the woman are awaited from GMC Jammu, Singla said.

"Ten tests were received in Udhampur. Out of these, four have turned out positive. They have known contacts of a woman who died of coronavirus at GMC Jammu," District Magistrate, Udhampur, Piyush Singla told PTI.

The four are the contacts of a 61-year-old woman who died of coronavirus on Wednesday, they said.

Four people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Udhampur district, taking the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 188, officials said on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh has so far registered 426 coronavirus positive cases and 33 fatalities. Indore leads the tally with 235 COVID-19 cases followed by Bhopal, which has 98 patients of the infection which has now spread to 20 districts of the state.

However, to the satisfaction of authorities, the availability of hydroxychloroquine, a common anti-malaria drug seen as a potential cure for COVID-19, is around 30 tablets per person, according to an analysis of state government data.

As Madhya Pradesh battles with the rising number of COVID-19 cases, burdening its health infrastructure, government data showed the state has just one ventilator, key equipment to treat serious patients, for every 75,000 people and one intensive care unit (ICU) bed for every 47,000.

"ADB is committed to supporting India's emergency needs. We are now preparing USD 2.2 billion in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector," Asakawa said.

In a call, Asakawa commended the Indian government's decisive response to the pandemic, including a national health emergency program, tax and other relief measures provided to businesses and a USD 23 billion (Rs 1.7 lakh crore) economic relief package announced on March 26 to provide immediate income and consumption support to the poor, women, and workers affected by the three-week nationwide lockdown.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa on Friday assured Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of USD 2.2 billion (about Rs 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government announced that the state has provided relief of Rs 1,000 to accounts of over 11 lakh construction workers whose livelihood has been severely affected due to the coronavirus lockdown.

A 78-year-old woman, from Mundi Kharar who died on 7 April after she was rushed to the emergency ward of Kharar Civil Hospital in Punjab posthumously tested positive for coronavirus, reported ANI. Officials said the cremation was conducted as per protocol. Primary contacts have been traced and their samples were sent for testing.

Click here to know about the drug , which reportedly can beat coronavirus

The drug hydroxycholoroquine has been in the news for the past couple of weeks due to its possible use in curing coronavirus. While such world leaders as Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have been seeking Indian exports of the drug to battle COVID-19, concerns are being raised at home about supply and how long stocks will last/can be regenerated.

India, the largest supplier of the drug, had banned its exports in early March. Although it not 100 percent proven that hydroxychloroquine could cure COVID-19, it has generated massive interest after Trump endorsed the drug.

In a tweet to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," he said.

The drug has been cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight the coronavirus infection. "Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times," Modi wrote on Twitter.

Modi made the remarks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro thanked New Delhi for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the raw materials to produce it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Israel and Brazil that India is ready to do whatever is possible to help its friends in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Hungarys confirmed coronavirus cases have increased by 210 to 1,190, the single largest daily increase since the outbreak of the virus, government data showed on Friday.

Twenty three indivuduals are lodged in quarantine facilities and 658 are under home quarantine.

No confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus has been reported in Nagaland till now. Of the 69 samples, 65 of them have tested negative while result of four samples are awaited, ANI reported.

Stressing on the need for ramping up testing facilities, she said for a state with such a big population "increasing testing can prove to be a lifesaver".

"We are with you in this fight against the pandemic. Coronavirus does not see any religion or caste and affects everyone. In this battle, there is need to take steps by keeping our political ideologies away and help bring people together and create a fear-free atmosphere," she said in her letter.

In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, she called for steps that could win over the confidence of everyone by creating a fear-free atmosphere, while keeping aside political ideology, to ensure that people come up voluntarily for testing.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called for ramping up testing facilities to check coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, saying it can prove to be a lifesaver in the big state.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stood at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged and one has migrated.

"Out of these, 22 are in ICUs and seven on ventilators," Jain said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday informed that so far 720 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the National Capital.

"ICMR has recommended use of Truenat beta CoV test on Truelab workstation validated by ICMR as a screening test. Also, use of US-FDA approved closed real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) systems like GeneXpert and Roche Cobas - 6800/800 have been approved under emergency use," The Hindu quoted ICMR as saying.

TrueNat, a diagnostic machine used to test drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting COVID-19 tests.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said five new coronavirus positive patients were found in Dharav.

As per the latest update provided by the health department, Pune reported nine 9 new cases followed by Akola (4), Buldhana (2) and Ratnagiri (1).

With 21 more persons testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra, most of them in Pune and Mumbai, the number of COVID-19 patients went up to 1,385 on Friday, the state health department said.

"There will be selective restrictions, movement and social distancing in these zones. Planning for this is underway," said Murmu.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, GC Murmu on Friday said that restrictions will remain imposed even after Narendra Modi's call for nationwide lockdown ends at 14 April, in "34 red zones" that have been identified in the Union Territory.

"Shushrusha Hospital has also been asked to get all quarantined nurses tested, BMC will take a call on shifting these nurses to some other hospital once their test results come," said the municipal corporation body.

BMC has asked the hospital not to admit any new patient and discharge all admitted patients in 48 hours.

All nurses of Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, in south Mumbai, have been quarantined in the hospital itself after two nurses of the hospital tested positive for COVID19.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will on 15 April participate in the meeting of the G-20 countries to discuss the way forward in supporting the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, PTI reported.

Singh also said the respiratory disease is expected to infect 58 percent of the country's population, PTI reported.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said that experts in Chandigarh have predicted that the novel coronavirus is expected to reach its peak by mid of September.

Spain records its lowest daily death toll from coronavirus in 17 days, with 605 deaths, the government says, AFP reported.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that he had requested the health ministers of all states to ensure that lockdown is followed 100 percent. "If we lag behind in this, it will be difficult for us to win this fight against COVID-19," he added.

The arrested people, who arranged their accommodation in Bhopal have now been moved to a quarantine after FIRs were lodged against them, the report added.

The Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday arrested 64 foreign members of Tablighi Jamaat and 10 Indians linked to the organisation. Additionally, they arrested 13 others who arranged their accommodation in Bhopal, ANI reported.

"We also need the schedule regarding the quantity of protective gear, we will receive from the Centre, so that we can think of arranging the remaining quantity if shortage still persists."

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope, taking stock of the protective gear available in the state, said, "There is an issue of certification and procurement of protective gear. Some companies are producing good quality material but do not have the authorisation from DRDE or SITRA.

"Delhis Air Cargo supply chain has geared up during this lockdown period for handling a significant number of cargo freighters that are bringing essential supplies like Masks, Medicines, Medical equipment, Test kits, Reagents and other supplies," the statement said.

The Delhi Airport said that it was handling 20-22 cargo flights per day (including non-scheduled operations), with freighters arriving from destinations like Doha, Paris, Hongkong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Incheon.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that the Centre has evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals out of India as of Thursday. This is an ongoing process. We are receiving excellent cooperation. This is all government effort, said Dammu Ravi, AS and COVID-19 coordinator of the MEA.

She added, "Home Minister has held a review meeting over security at India-Pak and India-Bangladesh borders with the border security officials. He ordered to tighten security specially in the areas where there is no fencing to allow any cross-border movement."

"In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April 2020, MHA has directed all States/UTs to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures to fight COVID-19," said Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, in the daily briefing.

"Several countries have made requests for this particular item and taking into view the domestic necessities and keeping a sufficient buffer for our own requirement, a decision was taken by a group of ministers to release some of the surplus medicine for export purposes. This is an ongoing process," said Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary and COVID-19 coordinator.

The MEA on Friday, during the daily briefing said that a group of ministers decided to "release some of the surplus hydrochloroquine for export" as requests for the drug were already there.

"On the basis of the samples collected, the infection rate is not high. Rapid diagnostics kits have also been sanctioned," he added.

The Union health ministry said that of the 16,002 COVID-19 tests conducted on Thursday, "only 2 percent cases tested positive", said health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal. Earlier, he had said that '0.2 percent' had tested positive but he clarified that it was '2 percent'.

He also said, "Health workers are on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19 and any type of misbehaviour with them is harmful to us. Incidents of misbehaviour with them negatively affects their morale."

Lav Agrawal, Union health ministry joint secretary, said that India has a domestic requirement of 1 crore hydroxychloroquine tablets while there are 3.28 crore hydroxychloroquine tablets available currently. He was replying to questions about the export of the drug from India.

The Punjab cabinet on Friday took a decision to extend the lockdown over coronavirus till 1 May, reports said. The government said that the decision was taken unanimously by the cabinet and "strict enforcement" of the lockdown will be done.

A 27-year-old COVID-19 patient, a resident of Ahmednagar, died at Sassoon Hospital in Pune on Friday. It was a case of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, said Pune health officials.

"We have been testing over 1,000 samples per day for the past two days which will be increased to 1,500 testing per day in Uttar Pradesh," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh health secretary Amit Prasad said that a total of 40 districts are affected with COVID-19.

A 65-year-old doctor has died due to COVID-19 in Indore. "Three more men have tested positive posthumously, taking total number of deaths to 27 and cases to 235," said Indore chief medical and health officer Praveen Jadiya

The Jammu and Kashmir government said that a total of 207 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the union territory. 39 patients are from Jammu and 168 patients are from Kashmir.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday wrote to the Satara DM and SP, asking them not to release businessmen Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan from a quarantine facility. A CBI court had earlier issued a Non-Bailable Warrant against them in a fraud case.

The Telangana government on Friday implemented the Mask-on' policy. The statement said that wearing masks is being advised for all the people while stepping outdoors and asked all district collectors to implement at all levels.

The police of Kasibugga town in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam are taking the help of artists dressed as 'Yamraj and Chitragupta' to create awareness among the public regarding COVID-19 pandemic in the district.

The report also said that ACS Manoj Saunik will probe Gupta's role in issuing the letter to the Wadhavan family in a time frame of 15 days. Shrikant Singh to take charge as the new Principal Secretary (Special).

The Maharashtra home department has ordered an inquiry against IPS Officer Amitabh Gupta (who allegedly gave permission letter to Wadhavan family to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar), ANI reported. He has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of inquiry.

From the start of the lockdown till now, total 161 cases registered regarding fake news, rumors and hate speech over social media regarding COVID-19. In last 48 hours, total 30 FIR registered in the state. 39 accused are arrested and 33 are identified.

In last 48 hours, about 1487 COVID19 cases reported across the country, the statement added.

The Union health ministry on Friday said that the highest jump in COVID-19 cases had been reported in the last 24 hours, with 896 people testing positive. Additionally, 37 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 206.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday urged the Centre to provide adequate number of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits along with rapid diagnostic kits to the state so that the existing medical facilities could be strengthened to effectively fight COVID-19.

West Bengal chief secretary Rajiv Sinha said that 12 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in the state on Thursday. The total active cases in the state stand at 89.

The Punjab cabinet on Friday approved the Punjab Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Ordinance 2020, to bring the states private hospitals under the umbrella of the COVID-19 battle, reports said

ANI reported, "It's clarified that PGI, Chandigarh isn't aware that any expert/faculty member from Dept of Community Medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute carried out any study that COVID-19 may peak by mid September and can infect 58 percent of countrys population."

A cab driver, who sold four taxis and wife's ornaments to build hospital in sister's memory near Kolkata, offers the 50-bed facility to West Bengal government as a quarantine centre for suspected COVID-19 patients.

"As public health safety measure, we have declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid, Guwahati as self-containment zone and sealed it for 14 days. After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz, eight people stayed there and on 12 March held a congregation of 100. Three of these people are found COVID-19 positive," he added.

The Government of Assam shall provide financial assistance to such patients after due verification, he said.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that patients of cancer, heart surgery, and kidney transplant, stuck outside Assam due to the lockdown, can contact at special helpline  0361 2558955.

Reports said that one more coronavirus positive case was reported in Uttar Pradesh's Noida on Friday, taking the total corona cases in Gautam Budh Nagar to 64 , including 12 patients who have recovered and 52 patients under treatment.

Three ASHA workers in Hubballi, on Friday alleged that few people snatched their documents as they were conducting a health survey of citizens over COVID-19, in Gavaligalli area. Deputy CMO S Dandappanavar said," The police is cooperating, the issue will be resolved".

The total COVID-19 positive cases in Odisha rose to 48 on Friday, of which 38 cases are from Bhubaneswar in Khordha district. Active cases in the state are 45, said Sanjay Singh, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Information and Public Relations Department, Odisha.

The Karnataka government on Friday said that 10 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in the state is 207 including six deaths and 34 recoveries.

AFP reported that the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on Friday registered 50 cases of novel coronavirus among the crew.

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu said, "In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the state cabinet met today for the second time in a month and rolled out several decisions. One among them being reduction of 30 percent salary of CM, DCM, Ministers and all MLAs to be used for fight against COVID-19."

The Tamil Nadu health department said that so far, 833 cases of the total 911 positive COVID-19 cases in the state are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizammudin.

Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb said that one more COVID-19 positive case had been confirmed in Tripura on Friday, taking the total number to two. He added that the patient is 32 years old from Madhya Pradesh and currently staying at Damcherra and had travelled along with the last COVID-19 positive patient in the train.

The Gujarat health department said that 70 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Gujarat on Friday, taking the total number of positive cases to 378, which includes 33 discharge and 19 deaths.

The tally of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai rose to 993 after 218 new positive cases and 10 deaths were reported in the city on Friday. The toll is at 64, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal was quoted by ANI as saying that some people in Ludhiana have a misconception that there is relaxation in the lockdown from 6 am to 9 am daily, "which is totally wrong. Any person spreading such rumours would be strictly dealt with."

The Mumbai municipal corporation said that the vegetable and fruit markets in the K (W) wards in the city will be shut down as people were not following lockdown and social distancing guidelines effectively. The wards include Juhu, Santacruz, Versova, Oshiwara, Amboli, and DN Nagar areas.

Drones were used on Friday to spray disinfectants in Majnu-ka-tilla area, in light of coronavirus outbreak.

The Delhi government said that 183 new coronavirus cases were reported in the city on Friday. Two deaths were also reported on Friday.

Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Friday he would propose next week extending a national lockdown till 1 May as the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose above 15,000, Reuters reported.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "I have discussed with former chief ministers Uma Bharti, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and sought their suggestions regarding our strategy to contain coronavirus pandemic. All of them have given their suggestions."

17 COVID-19 patients who have fully recovered were discharged from a hospital in Kerala's Kasaragod hospital on Friday.

Guawahati DGP said, "There will be additional restrictions on vehicles of essential services that have been allowed to ply. Odd-even rule will be applied, registration number of vehicles ending with even numbers were allowed to ply today and odd number ending will be allowed tomorrow."

The 72-year-old man, the first COVID-19 victim in the state, died on Monday. However, his COVID-19 report confirming that he tested positive for the virus arrived on Tuesday.

The woman and the two girls from the Jharpada area of the state capital are relatives of a man, who died of coronavirus.

Four more people, including a woman and two girls, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the total number of coronavirus patients to 48 in the state, health department officials said on Friday.

The Punjab government on Friday made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places, to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The cabinet extended the lockdown till 1 May on Friday.

News18 reported that the Rajasthan government on Friday announced the extension of the lockdown over coronavirus in the state till 30 April.

The number of 'containment zones' in Delhi rose to 30 with addition of six new areas including Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB enclave, street no 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar.

Ministry of Home Affairs issues 5th Addendum to the lockdown guidelines for aquaculture and fishing industry.

Total positive cases in Kerala stands at 364, of which 238 are active cases.

Kerala health minister KK Shailaja said that seven new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state on Friday. Three were reported from Kasargod, two each Kannur and Malappuram. While the two people from Malappuram had returned from Nizamuddin, others have been infected through contact, she said.

The Andhra Pradesh government said that 16 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state on Friday. Positive cases in the state rise to 381 (including 10 discharged people and 6 deaths).

Only medical, sanitisation and doorstep delivery personnel will be allowed in the hotspot areas, he said and directed officials to ensure that this instruction is adhered to strictly in the sealed areas as those under lockdown.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday stressed on ensuring smooth doorstep delivery of essential items for people in coronavirus hotspot areas of 15 districts of the state which has been sealed.

Guawahati DGP said, "There will be additional restrictions on vehicles of essential services that have been allowed to ply. Odd-even rule will be applied, registration number of vehicles ending with even numbers were allowed to ply today and odd number ending will be allowed tomorrow."

The 72-year-old man, the first COVID-19 victim in the state, died on Monday. However, his COVID-19 report confirming that he tested positive for the virus arrived on Tuesday.

The woman and the two girls from the Jharpada area of the state capital are relatives of a man, who died of coronavirus.

Four more people, including a woman and two girls, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the total number of coronavirus patients to 48 in the state, health department officials said on Friday.

The Punjab government on Friday made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places, to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The cabinet extended the lockdown till 1 May on Friday.

Gandhi held discussions over videoconferencing for over three hours with all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents to chart out a comprehensive strategy to combat and contain the virus.

She also flagged concerns over "massive shortfall" in number of testing centres in the country and demanded a special financial package for MSME sector and labourers working there, besides urging partymen to help farmers.

The Congress on Friday formulated a "Corona Action Strategy" across states to utilise its cadre and organisations to combat COVID-19 on a "war footing", with party chief Sonia Gandhi stressing on ramping up testing to deal with the pandemic.

News18 reported that the Rajasthan government on Friday announced the extension of the lockdown over coronavirus in the state till 30 April.

Number of 'containment zones in Delhi raised to 30 with addition of 6 new areas including Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB enclave, street no 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar & nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar pic.twitter.com/c9oPEfNpJJ

The number of 'containment zones' in Delhi rose to 30 with addition of six new areas including Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB enclave, street no 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar.

Ministry of Home Affairs issues 5th Addendum to the lockdown guidelines for aquaculture and fishing industry. pic.twitter.com/6ujobhJ6Xi

Ministry of Home Affairs issues 5th Addendum to the lockdown guidelines for aquaculture and fishing industry.

Total positive cases in Kerala stands at 364, of which 238 are active cases.

Kerala health minister KK Shailaja said that seven new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state on Friday. Three were reported from Kasargod, two each Kannur and Malappuram. While the two people from Malappuram had returned from Nizamuddin, others have been infected through contact, she said.

Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said, "Centre has promised us to provide personal protective equipment (PPEs). We have been told that 13,500 PPEs will be given tonight and 13,500 will be provided by tomorrow. Immediately we need at least 2 lakh PPEs."

The tally of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai rose to 993 after 218 new positive cases and 10 deaths were reported in the city on Friday. The toll is at 64, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Three ASHA workers in Hubballi, on Friday alleged that few people snatched their documents as they were conducting a health survey of citizens over COVID-19, in Gavaligalli area. Deputy CMO S Dandappanavar said," The police is cooperating, the issue will be resolved".

The Tamil Nadu government said that 77 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Friday. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state is 911.

Tamil Nadu chief secretary K Shanmugam on Friday said that "experts are of the view that ending lockdown before the spread of coronavirus coming to an end will make all our earlier efforts fruitless; but the chief minister to take the final call tomorrow."

The Union health ministry on Friday said that the highest jump in COVID-19 cases had been reported in the last 24 hours, with 896 people testing positive. Additionally, 37 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 206.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rises to 6,761 (including 6,039 active cases, 516 cured/discharged/migrated and 206 deaths).

In last 48 hours, about 1487 COVID19 cases reported across the country, the statement added.

The Punjab cabinet on Friday took a decision to extend the lockdown over coronavirus till 1 May, reports said. The government said that the decision was taken unanimously by the cabinet and "strict enforcement" of the lockdown will be done.

The Union home ministry said that there were no instances of community transmission in the country yet. "No need to panic but remain aware and alert," Lav Aggarwal said in the daily briefing on Friday.

However, according to an ICMR study, 104 of the 5,911 patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) tested positive for COVID-19. Of them, 40 cases (38.5 percent) did not report any history of contact with a known case or international travel. The study was conducted from 15 February to 2 April.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that the Centre has evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals out of India as of Thursday. This is an ongoing process. We are receiving excellent cooperation. This is all government effort, said Dammu Ravi, AS and COVID-19 coordinator of the MEA.

All nurses of Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, in south Mumbai, have been quarantined in the hospital itself after two nurses of the hospital tested positive for COVID-19.

BMC has asked the hospital not to admit any new patient and discharge all admitted patients in 48 hours.

"Shushrusha Hospital has also been asked to get all quarantined nurses tested, BMC will take a call on shifting these nurses to some other hospital once their test results come," said the municipal corporation body.

TrueNat, a diagnostic machine used to test drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting COVID-19 tests.

"ICMR has recommended use of Truenat beta CoV test on Truelab workstation validated by ICMR as a screening test. Also, use of US-FDA approved closed real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) systems like GeneXpert and Roche Cobas - 6800/800 have been approved under emergency use," The Hindu quoted ICMR as saying.

After Bihar health officials confirmed 17 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 60, the administration sealed off Siwan, Begusarai and Nawada districts to curb the fast-spreading virus in the state.

Bihar health department stated that Siwan district alone has 31 positive cases, the highest number of cases in the state's district.

Fourteen more persons, including two women doctors, tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bhopal on Friday, taking the number of COVID-19 patients in the state capital to 112 and overall tally in Madhya Pradesh to 440, a health official said.

"Test reports of these persons came on Friday morning and they were found to be infected with the viral disease," he said, adding, "efforts were on to quarantine them and start their treatment."

Once the lockdown due to the novel coronavirus concludes in India and commercial passenger flights are permitted again, IndiGo will deep clean its aircraft more frequently, stop in-flight meal service for a brief period and will fill the maximum 50 percent seats in airport buses, airline's CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Friday.

"In situations like these, companies do not manage to growth or profitability but to liquidity. That means our singular focus is on cash flow. We are examining all our fixed costs and looking for ways to minimize them," he said.

Dutta said IndiGo's plan post lockdown will be going forward to first start the services and gradually ramp up the capacity.

"We will deep clean our aircraft more frequently, we will be discontinue meal service for a brief period and we will run our coaches at a maximum load of 50% capacity. We will be coming out with the new set of operating procedures very soon," Dutta said in an email to employees on Friday.

Four people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Udhampur district, taking the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 188, officials said on Friday.

An FIR has been registered against Kapil Wadhawan of DHFL group and 22 others, including his family members and servants, at Mahabaleshwar police station for violating coronavirus lockdown orders, Satara Police told ANI.

As many three new cases of the novel coronavirus was reported from Dadar, in south Mumbai on Friday. Two nurses of Shushrusha Hospital and a man from Kelkar road tested positive for COVID-19, ANI reported.

The total number of cases in Dadar is now at six.

Five new cases of the novel coronavirus reported from Dharavi in Mumbai, take the total number of confirmed cases in the congested area to 22 on Friday. Some of the new cases include Tablighi Jamaat attendees and the wife of a medical worker from Wockhardt Hospital, News18 reported.

Amid the mounting pressure, the Maharashtra government has announced door-to-door testing to ensure the7.5 lakh people living in Dharavi be tested for COVID-19 in the next ten days.

The health ministry on Friday reported 30 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll due to the novel coronavirus to 199, whereas, the number of cases climbed to 6,412 in the country.

The 6,412 positive cases include 5,709 active cases, the 504 who have been either cured/discharged or migrated and the 199 casualties, the health ministry reported.

Bihar was rattled by a spurt of COVID-19 cases on Thursday after 19 people tested positive for the infection, taking the total number to 58, even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged citizens not to "hide" their travel history.

Siwan district emerged as a hotspot, accounting for 17 of the fresh cases, all but one of them members of the same family in Raghunathpur block, which has been sealed by the local administration and from where close to 100 samples were collected and rushed to the state capital for testing.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced the death of a 65-year-old COVID-19 patient in Silchar Medical College and Hospital. Sarma further informed the victim hailed from Hailakandi district.

So far 29 persons from Assam have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 8 pm on Thursday, and this was the first case where the condition of a patient had been stated as critical.

With India registering an increase of 591 coronavirus cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, the focus in the fight against the deadly virus was largely towards how to implement lockdown measures strictly across the country.

From making masks mandatory to restricting movement of people in areas identified as COVID-19 hotspots, authorities across several states on Thursday also beefed up surveillance and enforcement measures to contain the deadly virus outbreak even as shortage of protecting gear remained a concern.

While Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown further till 30 April and also announced closure of schools till 17 June, Maharashtra, which saw its tally of confirmed infections crossing 1,300 with at least 97 deaths, announced plans to install forces in hotspots to enforce compliance to lockdown.

Several other states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh said they will take a final decision in the coming days on whether to extend or not the 21-day nationwide lockdown, which entered its 16th day on Thursday.

Toll rises to 169

The health ministry on Thursday reported 20 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll due to the novel coronavirus to 169, whereas, the number of cases climbed to 5,865 in the country.

Fresh cases were reported from Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and West Bengal, among other places.

The number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,218, as many as 477 people have been cured and discharged and one has migrated, the ministry said.

However, a PTI tally of numbers reported by various states and union territories at 10 pm showed as many as 6,640 people having contracted the virus and at least 227 losing their lives so far. Nearly 600 have so far been cured and discharged.

Of the new deaths reported on Thursday, eight were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, two from Jammu and Kashmir and one each from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra tally crosses 1,300 cases

Based on state figures, Maharashtra saw the total number of people having tested positive reach 1,364  the highest in the country on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu had the second most number of cases at 834, followed by 720 in Delhi as on Thursday evening. Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have reported over 400 cases each, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh among other states.

There is a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, as compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to the procedural delay in assigning the cases to individual states.

The health ministry's data put the highest number of confirmed cases in the country in Maharashtra at 1,135, followed by Tamil Nadu at 738 and Delhi with 669 cases.

The number of cases has risen to 442 in Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases and Rajasthan 383. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 cases, while Kerala has 345 COVID-19 patients.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 181 in Karnataka, 179 in Gujarat and 169 in Haryana.

Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal 103 and Punjab has 101 COVID-19 patients.

Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases, 39 people have been infected with the virus in Bihar, while Uttarakhand has 35 COVID-19 patients and Assam 28.

Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each, while Ladakh has 14 and Jharkhand 13.

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Chhattisgarh has registered 10 cases.

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 cases, Puducherry five, Manipur two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the ministry said on its website.

Ministry urges rational use of PPEs

The Union Health Ministry stressed on the rational use of personal protective equipments (PPEs) by healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients amid concerns over their dwindling numbers in the country.

Health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said there is no need to panic as India has sufficient stocks of PPEs and the government is making all efforts to augment their supply further.

At his daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation, he said orders for 1.7 crore PPEs have already been placed with domestic manufacturers and supply has already begun. He also said PPEs should be used rationally on the basis of risk profile. Orders for 49,000 ventilators have been placed too, Agarwal said.

Meanwhile, ICMR has given permission to the Kerala state government to conduct trials on convalescent plasma therapy  a process in which blood plasma from a patient who has recovered from COVID-19 is infused into a critically ill patient so that the specific antibodies present in the blood of the recovered person can help fight the infection.

Odisha extends lockdown, Maharashtra plans complete shut down

Amid rising numbers across states, authorities announced strict measures to enforce the lockdown and further restrictions including complete sealing of areas identified as hotspots of the virus spread.

After extending the lockdown for two more weeks, Odisha government also promulgated an ordinance with provision of imprisonment up to two years for those who violate the epidemic regulations.

The Maharashtra government said that is mulling complete shutdown in certain areas, including of markets, and is also mulling deploying forces in congested areas.

"We are planning to deploy the State Reserve Police Force in congested areas for effective enforcement of coronavirus lockdown," ANI quoted Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope as saying.

Tope also announced a plan to enlist Fire Brigade to sanitise public toilets to minimise chances of coronavirus contraction.

Rajasthan made it mandatory for people to wear masks in urban areas and mandis, while the same was made compulsory for everyone stepping out in Madhya Pradesh as also for people in various cities of Maharashtra besides Mumbai.

Delhi and Uttar Pradesh had announced similar measures on Wednesday.

Also, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh expanded the list of containment zones that would be sealed off completely, after similar steps taken by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh a day before.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said all his cabinet colleagues are of unanimous opinion to extend the lockdown for about 15 days after 14 April, and a final decision in this regard will be taken after consulting the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with all chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the way forward in the COVID-19 fight, including the lockdown.

In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said lifting the lockdown is a "big challenge" and must be given a considered thought. In an interview to PTI, he said the spread of the coronavirus has been kept in check in his state, but things could change if a large number of people return to the state from other parts of the country.

Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami said a decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after getting expert advice and taking into account the increase in the number of coronavirus positive cases.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said he would take a decision only after consulting the state cabinet on 12 April.

In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of strict action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel in the city in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The warning came a day after two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were assaulted following rumours that they are "spreading COVID-19" in the Gautam Nagar area.

The pandemic has also seen a sharp rise in hate crimes.

A Maharashtra cyber police official said they have noted an increase in fake news, hate and communal content over coronavirus on social media in the last few days. The state cyber police have registered 132 cases till Wednesday in connection with fake news, rumours and hate speeches on social media since the lockdown.

US leads in total cases; Japan, UK see spike in deaths

Worldwide, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has climbed to more than 1.5 million, with nearly 90,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The US on Thursday continued to lead in terms of total number of confirmed infections with over 4,30,000 cases, three times the number of the next three countries combined, and around 15,000 deaths.

According to AP, New York state reported 799 more deaths, its third straight day of record-high fatalities. More than 7,000 people have died in the state.

Around the world, authorities warned against travel during the Easter and Ramadan religious holidays.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that even short trips inside Germany, to the seaside or the mountains or relatives, cant happen over Easter.

The Dutch prime minister said border crossings with Germany and Belgium could be closed over the weekend if there is too much traffic.

New Zealand police warned people not to drive to vacation homes over Easter and risk arrest, while Lithuania moved to lock down major cities. Portugal halted commercial flights and set up checkpoints on major roads.

Greece also tightened restrictions ahead of next weeks Orthodox Easter, increasing roadblocks, doubling fines for lockdown violations and banning travel between islands.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested mass gatherings may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which runs from late April through most of May.

Iran has reported over 4,100 deaths, although experts suspect the outbreak is worse that that.

Indonesias president banned civil servants, police officers, military personnel and employees of state-owned companies from returning to their hometowns to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Typically tens of millions Indonesians crisscross the archipelago of 17,000 islands at that time of year.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johonson spent a third night in intensive care with COVID-19. His spokesman said he was continuing to improve. Britain recorded 881 new deaths, for a total of close to 8,000.

Japan reported more than 500 new cases for the first time, a worrisome rise since it has the worlds oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious in the elderly.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency, but not a lockdown, in Tokyo and six other prefectures. Companies in the worlds third-largest economy have been slow to embrace working from home, and many commuters jammed Tokyos streets as usual.

New infections, hospitalisations and deaths have been leveling off in hard-hit Italy and Spain, which together have around 33,000 deaths, but the daily tolls are still shocking. Spain reported 683 more deaths, bringing its total to more than 15,200.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged authorities were caught off guard by the crisis and failed to provide hospitals with critical supplies, including virus tests and protective clothing for medical workers.

Europe reacted late. All of the West reacted late, and Spain is no exception, Sanchez said.

With inputs from agencies
Chinese tourists questioned for illegal spearfishing in protected area

PHUKET: Two Chinese tourists and their guide have been arrested for spearfishing at coral reefs off Nui Beach in Karon after a torrent of outrage online was brought to the attention of Yutthaphon Ankinandana, Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment.

marinenatural-resourcescrimeanimalsChinesetourism

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 9 April 2020, 10:45AM

The fish were protected species and they were hunted in protected waters. Photo: Courtesy of FaenKhawSeRithPhuket Facebook page

The tourists, named as Mr Ning Peng and Mr Shang Hao, were taken to Karon Police Station yesterday (Apr 7), reports the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR).

The two were arrested after photos of the fish they had killed were posted online. The photos were reposted by the FaenKhawSeRithPhuket Facebook page, which showed that a guide had taken the two tourists to the beach.

Officers from DMCR Region 6 with assistance by Tourist Police tracked down the two tourists and the guide, who took the photos, and brought them in for questioning, the DMCR explained in a post on its own Facebook page. (See here.)

After that, the officers invited both tourists and the person who took the photo to send on the online page of Phuket to meet with the Karon police officers to investigate further.

Local Thai reports explained that Mr Yutthaphon, Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, was informed of the incident, and the he ordered the DMCR to take action immediately.

The fish hunted were protected and the area where they were hunted is also protected, Mr Yutthaphon said.

The tourists and the guide are now under investigation for charges under Section 45 of the Environmental Promotion and Conservation Act B.E. 2535.

Investigative officers will report the allegations for further legal proceedings, the DMCR said in its post.

It was not made clear whether the three would face any charges for breach of the Emergency Decree for ignoring the ban on visiting any of the beaches in Phuket.

Mr Yutthaphon thanked the Facebook group for its help in assisting officers in performing their duties and help prevent further behaviours that destroy marine and coastal resources.
CANADIAN DOLLAR FORECAST: USD/CAD PRICE PRIMED FOR VOLATILITY AS EMPLOYMENT DATA RELEASE & OPEC MEETING LOOM

USD/CAD tests a major technical support level around the 1.40 handle after sliding more than 4% from its recent swing high

The Canadian Dollar has rebounded ahead of an OPEC meeting and expected crude oil production cuts

Spot USD /CAD price action looks to high impact jobs data on deck for release and set to reveal the rise in unemployment due to COVID-19

USD/CAD has edged lower by about 650-pips, or 4.4%, since March 18 when the US Dollar surged to a fresh four-year high against the Canadian Dollar. One fundamental development that likely alleviated upward pressure on spot USD/CAD price action was an FX swap line extended by the FOMC to the Bank of Canada that offered access to US Dollar liquidity.

Much-needed stabilization in the price of crude oil, on the back of a rumored OPEC meeting slated for April 09, might have helped steer the recent decline in USD/CAD as well. This is considering the CAD to oil correlation.

USD/CAD & CRUDE OIL PRICE CHART: 4-HOUR TIME FRAME (31 JANUARY TO 08 APRIL 2020)

Chart created by @RichDvorakFX with TradingView

The rebound in crude oil off its lowest level in nearly two decades could be short-lived, however, and potentially be headed for a drop below $20, if OPEC and its allies fail to agree on cutting crude oil output. Also, in light of economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and likely unavoidable recession, oil faces the downside risk that that OPEC+ production cuts will fall short of restoring market supply and demand.

On that note, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently announced how the crude oil supply glut could continue to bulge, even if OPEC+ cuts production by 10-million barrels per day, with demand and global GDP growth in freefall. Correspondingly, the Canadian economy, which is heavily dependent on energy exports and oil prices, may remain under pressure. This has potential to keep the Canadian Dollar supported and spot USD/CAD price action supported.

USD/CAD PRICE CHART: DAILY TIME FRAME (01 JANUARY TO 08 APRIL 2020)

Although, the recent wave of coronavirus optimism, if sustained, might continue to weigh negatively on USD/CAD and the broader US Dollar. Spot USD/CAD price action has meanwhile coiled into a tight triangle pattern as traders wait for these fundamental factors to unfold. On balance, and despite falling more than 4% from its March 18 peak, USD/CAD remains higher by 8% year-to-date.

After compressing between its short-term 9-day exponential moving average and medium-term 34-day exponential moving average, spot USD/CAD now tests a major level of confluence around the 1.4000 price. This area of technical support is underpinned by the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the latest bullish leg printed by USD/CAD.

USD/CAD PRICE CHART: 2-HOUR TIME FRAME (27 MARCH TO 08 APRIL 2020)

At the same time, USD/CAD price action seems to have formed a string of higher lows since Tuesday, which suggests a base may be developing. If USD/CAD sinks back below the 1.4000 handle, however, Canadian Dollar bulls could make a push for a retest of the April 07 and March 27 intraday lows. Nevertheless, conclusions out of the OPEC+ teleconference, as well as the markets net reaction to initial jobless claims and Canadian employment data releases due Thursday at 12:30 GMT, look to serve as the primary catalysts with potential of sparking the next big move ahead in spot USD/CAD.

-- Written by Rich Dvorak, Analyst for DailyFX.com

Connect with @RichDvorakFX on Twitter for real-time market insight
Although the number of coronavirus infected and dead in Germany, Europe and worldwide continues to rise, there are increasing voices urging a rapid lifting of social distancing and a return to work. Journalists, economists, politicians and some medical doctors are preparing the public for the fact that more people will have to fall ill and die from COVID-19 in the interest of the economy.

The abhorrence of the crimes of the Nazis, who destroyed worthless lives and worked millions of forced labourers to death, was previously considered a high moral hurdle in Germany against measuring the value of a human life in euros and cents. But now the media are again openly discussing how much a human life is worth and how many lives should be sacrificed to the interests of the economy.

Ten days ago, the news magazine Der Spiegel published an editorial with the provocative title: Yes, one may weigh the economic damage against human lives. In it, Christiane Hoffmann asks the question, Is it possible to weigh the economic damage of the lockdown against the human lives that would be lost if the coronavirus were to spread? Her answer: Yes, you may. You have to. It is neither immoral nor cynical to state what has to be weighed against each other.

Hoffmann demonstrates how cynical it really is three paragraphs later. She claims that the question of the price of life had also been raised before the coronavirus crisis. Every decision to reduce hospital staff or to equip an emergency room more poorly indirectly decides on life and death; every discussion about expensive cancer drugs at the end of life is about the same question. So she uses the massive cuts in health care that are now forcing nurses and doctors to treat COVID-19 patients in understaffed departments without the necessary protective equipment, at the risk of their lives, as an argument for letting even more people die!

Hoffmann, who has enjoyed a long career as a journalist at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Spiegel, is married to a high-ranking Swiss diplomat and is richly rewarded, so she does not have to worry about adequate treatment if she becomes infected with the coronavirus. She pleads for an open debate on what risks we are taking to get the economy back on track mainly because she fears a revolt against a social system whose blatant social injustice becomes more apparent with each day of the pandemic. There is a danger, she writes, that a wave of rejection, a real hatred of those up there will follow.

The weekly newspaper Die Zeit, whose long-serving editor was former Social Democratic Party (SPD) Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, interviewed economist Clemens Fuest, head of the Munich-based Ifo Institute, and virologist Alexander Kekule of the University of Halle-Wittenberg, to campaign for a quick lifting of social distancingeven if this means additional deaths.

Fuest warns that the costs of the crisis will increase disproportionately over time. Extending the lockdown by one week after one month is expensive, he said, but when it comes after three months, it is much more expensive.

Kekule demands that the question should be asked, How many deaths are we prepared to accept as a result of the pandemic? After all, in some years 10,000 or 20,000 people in Germany die from influenza. And the measures taken against the pandemic also caused damage that resulted in deaths. He could not understand those who say, Health always comes first. It is urgently necessary to weigh up the economic and medical consequences. Too little has happened so far.

It is wrong that we are not prepared to accept that individual people die so that in the end the majority is immune, the virologist thinks. If we keep society in lockdown for another three months or more, we are sacrificing everything we understand by our identity and culture.

The tabloid Bild Zeitung has also found a medical doctor who advocates a targeted spread of the virus. Professor Ansgar Lohse from the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) supports the strategy of so-called herd immunity, according to which, as many as possible from low risk groups must become infected in order to achieve a high level of immunity in society. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson originally advocated this strategy, but then had to back down due to public outrage. Meanwhile Johnson is in intensive care with COVID-19.

We must allow those for whom the virus is the least dangerous to become immune first through infection, Lohse told Bild Zeitung. Although in the meantime, many younger people have also died from COVID-19, and it is by no means certain whether infected people will be immune afterwards, Lohse mainly wants to use children to achieve herd immunity. Both children and the vast majority of their young parents do not belong to the risk group. The faster this group goes through an infection, the better. Therefore, day-care centres and schools should open again soon. He is in discourse with many colleagues from very different disciplines who think similarly.

In his blog, Morning Briefing, former financial daily Handelsblatt editor Gabor Steingart rejoices that in view of the ban on contact, assembly, demonstrations and extremely restricted freedom of travel in Germany, resistance has finally formed uniting lawyers specialising in medical law, writers, cultural workers, business experts and journalists of different stripes in their doubts about the proportionality of this policy.

Among others, he quotes the writer Juli Zeh, who is a member of the SPD and whose novel Unterleuten (Sub-people) was recently broadcast as a three-part series on ZDF. Zeh wrote in the feature section of the Suddeutsche Zeitung that large sections of the professional world agree that so-called herd immunization must take place, that is, at least 60 to 70 percent of the population must be infected until the pandemic subsides.

Right-wing extremist journalist Roger Koppel, who heads the unofficial central organ of the xenophobic Swiss Peoples Party, Weltwoche, and also quotes Steingart, complains that the cure is worse than the disease. Stop this self-immolation of the economy, he demands. Without the economy, we wont have coronaviruseveryone starves to death.

Wolfram Weimer, former editor-in-chief of Welt, Cicero and Focus, demands, Germanys enforced coma must end on April 19! The pandemic control by closing down the economy is misguided, because it could mean in the end, the operation was successful, but the patient is dead.

The demand to weigh human life against the interests of the economy is not limited to Germany. As the WSWS has shown in a recent perspective, this demand is also being made in numerous other countriesby the British Economist magazine, the American magazine Politico and numerous other publications. It means, the perspective argues, nothing more nor less than sacrificing human lives for the profit interests of the capitalists. From the standpoint of the ruling class, the process of class exploitation through production must continue. And those who die can be replaced. The single overriding concern is the growth and expansion of stock market values for the enrichment of the financial oligarchy.

It is significant that Germanys leading stock index, DAX, has jumped by 1,000 points since the beginning of this week and yesterday rose temporarily above 10,500 points. Although there is no end in sight to the crisis, speculators on the stock markets see the opportunities to make a killing. After a decade of cutting social spending and destroying the health care system in the name of balancing the books, the federal government is now opening the financial floodgates to business.

The support packages for the coronavirus crisis now amount to almost 1,200 billion, more than three times the annual federal budget. Most of this huge sum is going into the coffers of the large corporations and banks, with only a fraction being spent on the fight against the pandemic and to alleviate its social consequences.

The enormous sums now being pumped into the financial markets must be compensated for by the intensified exploitation of the working class. This is behind the demand for a return to work at the expense of human lives.
Imported Forest Products to China Dropped by $750 Million in January and February During January and February 2020, the import value of logs, lumber, pulp and wood chips totaled 4.6 billion dollars, down 26% and 14%, from the same periods in 2018 and 2019 respectively. April 9, 2020 (Press Release) - The coronavirus epidemic in China has resulted in sharply reduced importation of forest products in early 2020. During January and February, the import value of logs, lumber, pulp and wood chips totaled 4.6 billion dollars. This was down 26% and 14%, from the same periods in 2018 and 2019 respectively, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). From 2019 to 2020, the biggest percentage declines were seen in softwood lumber (-26% y-o-y) and softwood logs (-20% y-o-y). The import value for wood pulp fell the most (just over 300 million dollars y-o-y) followed by softwood lumber, which was down 190 million dollars. Softwood Lumber Softwood lumber imports to China were estimated to be 1.2 million m3 in February 2020, the lowest monthly volume in four years. The two largest lumber suppliers, Russia and Canada, continued to be the major sources for lumber. While Russian volumes were down 16% the first two months of 2020 as compared to the previous year, this decrease, however, did not have an adverse effect on the market share, as Russia actually saw an increase in their percentage of the market  a small jump from 57% in early 2019 to 59% in early 2020. Canada's share fell substantially, from 24% to 10% during the same period. Another noteworthy change in the past two years has been the expanded presence of lumber coming from Europe into the Chinese market, both in volumes and market share. European lumber accounted for about 18% of total imports in early 2020, up from 8% in 2018. Softwood Logs During January and February of 2020, China imported 5.1 million m3 of softwood logs, down from almost 5.7 million m3 in the same period in 2019 and the total import value fell from 800 million dollars to 640 million dollars. Record high log inventories (over 7 million m3) at Chinese ports, reduced demand for forest products as a consequence of the coronavirus, and labor shortages at ports and wood processing facilities have resulted in sharp declines of log imports in 2020. All log-supplying countries reduced shipments dramatically with the exception of New Zealand (only down 1% y-o-y) and Central Europe (Germany and the Czech Republic were up 200% and 320% y-o-y) where large volumes of beetle-killed timber were available. Total import volumes to China in February 2020 were the lowest since February 2016. Hardwood Chips The only major product that showed increases in import volume from early 2019 to early 2020 was hardwood chips, with a gain of 11% y-o-y. This was driven by higher production of predominantly hygiene paper products in January and February, and the expectation that this sector would continue to be strong into the second quarter, reports the WRQ. Shipments from Vietnam and Chile jumped about 20% y-o-y, while Australia shipped 3% less in the first two months of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019. Wood Pulp The import volume of wood pulp increased by almost 20% y-o-y during the first two months of 2020, with particular noteworthy rises in shipments from Indonesia, Canada, Finland and Sweden. However, the import value fell by 308 million dollars (-14% y-o-y) as a result of substantially lower prices for market pulp in early 2020. Wood Resource Quarterly is published by Wood Resources International, which specializes in evaluations of global forest resources, raw material markets (logs, wood chips and biomass), forest products trade and wood costs worldwide. For further information, visit: www.woodprices.com . SOURCE: Wood Resources International LLC
US ranks second in coronavirus deaths

New York is the state worst-hit by the pandemic with more than 6,200 deaths.

The US surpassed Spain early Thursday to record the second-highest death toll in the world from the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The university's running tally counted 14,817 deaths and 432,132 cases as the US struggles to curb the outbreak. A total of 23,906 people have recovered from the disease.

"IT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY"

The bulk of the US virus-related deaths came two days after President Donald Trump warned this week would be "very painful" for the country for coronavirus-related casualties.

"During this painful week, we see glimmers of very, very strong hope. This will be a very painful weekat least part of next week, probably," Trump said.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams also warned it would be very hard week for the country.

"This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives. This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment and our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country," he told Fox News Sunday.

The US has become the country with the most confirmed coronavirus infections in the world, followed by Spain, Italy and Germany.
The deadly price war and coronavirus cocktail that threw most of the global industry into a panic seems to have missed one of the large national players: Mexicos Pemex. While others are already cutting sizeable chunks of their planned spending, idling rigs, and revising drilling plans, Pemex is sticking with its plan to boost production.

The Mexican state oil company has been fighting a consistent decline in oil production for years now and seems bent on turning things around despite the oil price crash. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, after all, promised that Mexicos oil output would hit 2.5 million bpd by 2024, the end of his term in office. The promise was made long before the surprise industry collapse that no one could anticipate, and it is noteworthy that Pemex has not changed its priorities.

The company plans to double the number of newly drilled wells this year to 423, Bloomberg reported this week, noting that Pemex also planned to speed up the development of 15 new discoveries  a move in stark opposition to what pretty much everyone else in the industry is doing, which is idling rigs and cutting costs.

The Mexican state oil company is on an ambitious mission: it last year said it would aim to discover and develop 20 new oil and gas fields annually. Even though analysts believe this annual rate of discovery would be challenging to maintain, Pemex did, in 2019, identify 20 such projects. Their development, however, is behind schedule, and in January, media reported that only three of these fields would begin production before the end of the current year.

Premium: Oil Market Data Is About To Get Very Ugly

From a certain perspective, this might not be so bad: according to energy consultants from Welligence who spoke to Bloomberg, more than 50 percent of Mexicos existing oil output is unprofitable at oil prices of $30 per barrel. This means the company will keep losing money if it continues to pursue the last two governments production boost plans. And it will pay for it.

Pemex is already the worlds most indebted oil company, dethroning Brazils Petrobras. It is in danger of having its credit rating cut to junk status by a second credit ratings agency after S&P cut it last month. This would hurt Mexicos sovereign debt rating, Bloomberg wrote, and this fact could spur the government into more action to support the company. However, a production plan reversal remains unlikely. Pemex will just redirect some of the oil from export markets to the domestic markets, according to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Obrador said in a tweet earlier this week that 400,000 bpd will be redirected to the domestic market and fed into refineries to produce gasoline. Russias Sputnik noted this constituted about a third of total exports, which, as of December 2019, averaged 1.2 million bpd. The move makes sense: Mexico imports a lot of gasoline, which is more expensive than the fuel would be if it produces it domestically. With oil prices too low to make exports profitable, raising domestic gasoline production kills two birds with one stone.

But there may well be another reason for the government to continue with its Pemex production growth strategy: the notorious oil hedge.

Everything in the Mexican budget that needs to be covered by oil revenues is covered, the countrys Finance Minister, Arturo Herrera, said last month in response to questions about the well-being of Pemex, which has a direct bearing on the well-being of Mexicos finance. The country hedged its oil exports at $49 per barrel this year, in put options worth $1.4 billion.

The hedge is usually not cheap, it is expensive, but it is for occasions just like this. The income part is covered, we will not have a direct impact on the budget, Herrera said.

And there is more: President Lopez Obrador is due to announce an energy industry plan soon, and this plan will include $13.5 billion in public and private investment in the industry, Reuters reported earlier this week. Some of this investment will target an increase in oil production, again despite current circumstances. Mexico is on the path of production growth, and it seems that no oil price collapse can divert it from it. Unless OPEC+, of which the country is part, doesnt ask it to put its production growth plans on hold.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
European Union governments piled pressure on the Netherlands on Thursday to unblock half-a-trillion euros of economic support to fight the coronavirus ahead of a meeting of finance ministers, with Italy saying the very future of the EU was at stake.

The 27-nation bloc is readying measures to help governments, companies and individuals survive the deep recession that the coronavirus pandemic is expected to cause in Europe this year.

But a 16-hour video call on the package from Tuesday afternoon had to be suspended until Thursday because the ministers got stuck on detail linked to a spilt in approach between the more frugal north and the more spendthrift south.

"It's a big challenge to the existence of Europe," Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC.

"If Europe fails to come up with a monetary and financial policy adequate for the biggest challenge since World War Two, not only Italians but European citizens will be deeply disappointed," he said.

The package, which would bring the EU's total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros - the biggest in the world - includes steps that can be taken now and plans to support a recovery later.

Both have controversial elements that expose deep divisions among EU countries in their approach to financial burden sharing in a crisis, bringing back bitter debates and mistrust from the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012.

The main problem for the ministers' talks, starting at 1500 GMT, is the conditions under which euro zone governments should have access to cheap credit from the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Italy is ready to accept very light conditions, saying the money, if drawn, should be spent on health-related issues now and that later the government should observe general EU budget rules that aim to make public finances sustainable.

The Netherlands, alone in its tough stance, wants stricter conditions, including country-specific economic criteria, that are politically unacceptable for Rome, because they would make it look as being under EU economic supervision, even though the pandemic is not Italy's fault.

While officials said the differences were mainly over language, they were still key for all ministers to sign up to the final report on the package that would be sent to leaders.

"We were not very far," one euro zone official involved I the talks said. "The Netherlands will need to move a bit, otherwise it won't work again. That will be critical. There are many calls going on, at all levels."

In a rare example of open pressure on the Netherlands, a French official from the President Emmanuel Macron's office called the Dutch position incomprehensible and German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said France and Germany would push the talks forward on Thursday.

"It's important that we take this decision today on the 500 billion euros that is in discussion - that's an incredibly large sum of money that we could use to help a lot of people, especially in the hardest hit countries, Spain and Italy," Altmaier told a radio interview.

"I have confidence that (German Finance Minister) Olaf Scholz, together with his colleague (French Finance Minister) Bruno Le Maire, can push this forward today and we are all working on that together," he said.

The largely agreed part of the package is guarantees for the European Investment Bank to back up companies and a scheme for the EU to help subsidize wages across the bloc so that firms can cut work hours, not jobs.

But a plan to finance the recovery after the epidemic raises more questions, because France wants the money, which could be up to 3% of EU GDP, or more than 400 billion euros, to be borrowed jointly on the market by all EU governments.

This is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria which strongly oppose joint debt issuance, even in such an emergency as the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said the ministers were likely to side-step the problem by noting the need for a recovery fund, on which there is consensus, and asking leaders to give guidance on how they want it to be financed so the ministers can work it out later. (Reuters)

Source; www.businessworld.ie
A nurse explains details about COVID-19 and ways to prevent contracting it at the Phyongchon District People's Hospital Wednesday, April 1, 2020, Pyongyang, North Korea.

North Korea remains one of five countries that has yet to report a single confirmed COVID-19 case to the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO said Tuesday, but experts told RFAs Korean Service that North Koreas preventative efforts are focused mainly on the capital Pyongyang, so it is likely that the deadly virus is spreading in the provinces.

In email messages to the Reuters News Agency, Edwin Salvador, the WHOs representative in North Korea said that the countrys health ministry has been keeping the WHO updated on the situation weekly, and that it has the capacity to test for coronavirus in a Pyongyang laboratory.

As of 2 April, 709 people - 11 foreigners and 698 nationals - have been tested for COVID-19. There is no report of a COVID-19 case. There are 509 people in quarantine  two foreigners and 507 nationals, Salvador told Reuters.

Since the epidemic flared up in China in January, RFAs Korean Service has reported on Pyongyangs extensive measures to prevent the spread of the virus within its borders, including the quarantine of entire counties near the Chinese border, the cancellation of key cultural events, and the establishment of a quarantine center in a large Pyongyang hotel.

The government also isolated foreign residents and those who recently had been abroad to China, issued mandates that citizens don facemasks while in public, cancelled public meetings in favor of video conferences, closed off its borders with China while suspending legitimate and illegitimate trade, and hastily cremated patients who mysteriously died in what authorities claimed was the flu, RFA has previously reported.

But despite these measures and those reported by other outlets, Pyongyang never reported a single confirmed case of the virus.

Outside experts have publicly expressed their doubts, saying it is very likely that it crossed into North Korea from China in the early days of the epidemic, because the long border is quite porous. North Koreas healthcare system largely collapsed during a 1990s famine and remains rudimentary and resource-starved.

Others say that the preventative measures seem to be reactive, and focused on keeping hereditary leader Kim Jong Un and his inner circle safe from COVID-19.

Focus on Pyongyang only

In impoverished North Korea, only the rich and well connected are allowed to live in the capital, Pyongyang. When disaster strikes, the national response effort is usually directed at protecting the capital, leaving those in the provinces to fend for themselves.

Choi Jeong-hoon, a graduate of North Koreas Chongjin Medical College who is now a professor at Korea University in Seoul, told RFAs Korean Service that North Korea was handling the coronavirus crisis the same way.

Its not that they cant afford to pay attention [to the provinces], they simply dont care, said Choi.

They dont give [protective equipment they received from outside the country] to the provinces. Only Pyongyang has it, and since Pyongyang doesnt have enough, they cant afford to care for the [people] in the provincial areas, Choi added.

Jiro Ishimaru, head of the Japan-based media outlet specializing in North Korea, Asia Press, told RFA March 23 that according to the outlets sources, coronavirus testing is not being conducted in areas close to the Sino-Korean border.

This report contains translation by Leejin Jun for RFAs Korean Service.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Uzbekistan intends to engage leading international consulting and auditing companies to create a road map by July 1, 2020 to improve the operational efficiency of enterprises in the oil and gas industry of the country, Trend reports citing Uzbek media.

This is envisaged by the resolution of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev "On priority measures to improve the financial stability of the oil and gas industry," the report says.

In addition, it is planned to hire highly qualified foreign experts and specialists to work in oil and gas companies, including compatriots living abroad, and to introduce anti-corruption compliance control by October 1, 2020.

The document also provides for increasing the capitalization of Uzbekneftegaz through increasing the state share in its charter capital at the expense of restructuring the principal debt and accrued interest on loans allocated to the company by the Reconstruction and Development Fund (RDF) for the implementation of investment projects, the report says.

From May 1, 2020 the intra-industry prices for oil and gas condensate will be linked to the prices of Brent oil on the world stock exchanges, as well as state regulation of the cost of RON-80 gasoline and diesel fuel is canceled. RON-90 gasoline is sold at market price starting from summer 2019, RON-95 and RON-98 - from the moment of their sale.

According to the statistics of 2019 compared to 2018, natural gas production in Uzbekistan decreased by 1.6 percent to 59.5 billion cubic meters, exports - by 9.4 percent to 13.5 billion cubic meters, oil extraction - by 6.3 percent to 698,600 tons, imports - by 59.7 percent to 183,400 tons.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Get an in-depth analysis of COVID-19 impact on the global dental chair market.

The "Dental Chairs Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. It:

Analyzes the dental chair market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the period 2020-2025.

Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market.

Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the market.

Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage.

The dental chair market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2019-2025. Europe is expected to retain its market dominance during the forecast period. APAC is expected to grow at a fast rate, growing at a CAGR of over 6%.



The global dental chair market is likely to witness considerable growth during the period. The surge in oral diseases worldwide is a major factor influencing the market growth. Over 3 - 5 billion people have oral diseases that are chronic and progressive. The high prevalence of oral diseases such as periodontal disease, dental caries, oral cancer, and teeth loss will increase the demand for chairs.



Oral cancer is another deadliest oral challenge. Lip and oral cavity cancers are among the top 15 most common cancers worldwide, with 500,550 incident cases in 2018. The prevalence of several oral diseases is high in the elderly population, thereby contributing to the growth of oral care products.



As the dental tourism market is flourishing in several countries globally, people from developed countries are either traveling on their own or through travel and medical tourism companies that provide certified or high-quality treatment options. Several developing countries offer affordable quality treatment in a short time to attract patients. The UK patient population receives high-quality, affordable oral care treatment in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. Similarly, most American patients can easily obtain low-cost care in Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru.



The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the dental chair market during the forecast period:

The popularity of Dental Tourism

The emergence of Special Dental Chairs

Favorable Patient Demographics for Dental Care

Acceptance of Cosmetic & Aesthetic dentistry

Dental Chair Market: Segmentation



This research report includes a detailed segmentation by product, application, design, end-user, and geography.



The electric chairs segment is witnessing technological advancements. Vendors are extensively investing in R&D to develop innovative chairs. This segment dominates the dental chair market and is expected to continue its dominant position during the forecast period. Electric chairs are easy to use as they do not require external efforts. They help surgical teams to perform specialized oral surgeries efficiently and precisely. Features such as durability, ergonomics, and precision are increasing the adoption.



The dental prosthetics segment is dominating the dental chair market. The major reason behind the growth is increased awareness of several oral care treatment options and the rise in the elderly population. Moreover, the acceptance of several tooth replacement procedures such as dental implants, crowns and bridges, and root canal treatment is increasing owing to the rising popularity of cosmetic dentistry and the increase in the average oral healthcare expenditure among the general public.



The orthodontic chair segment is expected to grow at an absolute growth of over 24% during the period 2019-2025. The increasing popularity of orthodontic therapy and invisible orthodontic procedures are the major drivers for the segment growth.



The increasing number of oral procedures, maximum mobility, and easy maintenance is contributing to the growth of the chair-mounted segment. Ceiling-mounted chairs offer better assistance to dentists in performing surgeries in medical settings. There has been an increase in demand for appropriate patient monitoring and light settings. These developments are leading to the acceptance of ceiling-mounted chairs is growing. The segment is witnessing decent growth due to the ease of maintenance.



Technological advancements such as the addition of imaging systems, footswitches, operating lights, extended trays, and x-ray viewers have led to the introduction of innovative designs, thereby creating growth opportunities for the players. The mobile independent segment is likely to grow at a faster rate than the ceiling-mounted chairs segment. This can be attributed to the low-cost and portability of these chairs.



Dental clinics are the major end-users of chairs as they perform a high number of procedures. The increasing number of oral care disorders and the growing awareness of several treatment options are fueling the growth of the segment. The rise in the number of public and private clinics and the growing governmental support in developed countries such as Canada, Japan, the US, and the UK have led to the development of private clinic infrastructure.



Market Segmentation by Product

Electrical

Non-electrical

Hybrid

Market Segmentation by Design

Chair-mounted

Ceiling-mounted

Mobile Independent

Market Segmentation by Application

Dental Prosthetics

Orthodontics

Others

Market Segmentation by End-user

Dental Chains

Hospitals

DSOs

Academic Institutes

Insights by Geography



Europe is growing at a slower rate than other regions, however, the region witnessed the highest share in the global dental chair market in 2019. The growing preference for technologically advanced and aesthetically designed chairs is contributing to the increased revenue growth. The region is expected to witness growth during the forecast period as major vendors are expected to launch several new chairs.



North America is another major revenue contributor to the market. The region is witnessing a steady growth due to the growing government and private funding, high awareness of oral healthcare among the general public, and the growing adoption of digital dentistry technologies. China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia are the major revenue contributors in the APAC region. India is likely to grow at a faster rate than all other countries.



Market Segmentation by Geography



Europe

North America

APAC

Latin America

MEA

Insights by Vendors



The global dental chair market is highly dynamic and diverse, with the presence of several global, regional, and local players, offering a broad range of chair solutions to end-users. It is expected that the consolidation will continue as vendors, particularly those with limited financial, operating, and marketing resources, seeks to partner/combine with leading global players that can provide growth opportunities. The attractiveness of the dental chair market continues to stimulate strategic buyers and private equity firms. Several vendors took advantage of historically low-interest rates to make strategic acquisitions.



Key Vendors

A-dec

Planmeca Oy

DentalEZ

Danaher

Dentsply Sirona

Tecnodent

Other Vendors

Guangzhou Ajax Medical Equipment

Braile Biomdica

Aseptico

Belas

Best Dent Equipment

BPR Swiss

CHIRANA Holding

CHIROMEGA

Craftmaster Contour Equipment (CCEI)

Dansereau

DESIGN SPECIFIC

Diaco

DCI

DIPLOMAT DENTAL

E.T.I Dental Industries

FINNDENT

Flight Dental Systems

Foshan Gladent Medical Instrument

J.MORITA CORP

Midmark

OMS

PROMED

Safari Dental

Silverfox

Simple & Smart

Sinol Dental

Summit Dental Systems

TAKARA BELMONT

TPC Advanced Technology

VIC Dental

XO CARE

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rlq1om

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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Part-time work, job interviews and long-awaited internships have all disappeared for post-secondary students who were in the process of updating resumes for the summer break when a pandemic was declared.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Part-time work, job interviews and long-awaited internships have all disappeared for post-secondary students who were in the process of updating resumes for the summer break when a pandemic was declared.

This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a plan tailored to students to alleviate financial strain  an expansion of the annual Canada Summer Jobs Program expected to create as many as 70,000 jobs, with the government offering wage subsidies up to 100 per cent.

Thats in addition to Ottawas emergency benefit plan, which provides Canadians who have lost work due to COVID-19 with $2,000 per month for up to 16 weeks.

But students say gaps in financial aid persist, and in turn, their savings for tuition and living expenses are being drained rapidly.

"This will be the first time in a long time that I cant work  and not because it's my own choice. A lot of places arent hiring or offering jobs," said Mahlet Cuff, a third-year women and gender studies student at the University of Winnipeg.

Cuff, the vice-president of external affairs at the University of Winnipeg Students Association, is the force behind a campaign to encourage her classmates to contact their local MP to demand income security for students.

Her term in student politics is up at the end of the month. With limited summer work opportunities to follow, she worries shell have to take a semester off to try to find some kind of work and save up for school.

She said she's heard from many students in similar situations, with concerns ranging from parents worried about juggling courses and childcare costs without an income to international students fearing job loss will affect their visas.

Micah Doerksen, a fourth-year student at U of W studying education, typically works two part-time jobs throughout the school year  an office job and server position. His restaurant hours were completely slashed when his employer was forced to close last month. He now makes a total of $900 per month from his minimum-wage data entry gig.

"I havent lost my income, but my income has been more than halved. I really hope they support part-time people in my situation," he said.

Also this week, Trudeau hinted at expanding emergency fund eligibility.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In the meantime, Doerksen said hes in an odd position where his prospective summer job interviews have been cancelled so he is somewhat hopeful his office work contract wont be renewed next month due to COVID-19 so he can apply for government support.

"A lot of education students, we either do day camps or we do those types of learning programs or we do vocational things; its really hard because I dont know what to do this summer," he said.

Doerksen added hes been thinking often about a paper he wrote in a Canadian history class this year that was about work camps enacted during the Great Depression. He submitted it during what feels like a very long time ago, when he never could have imagined the entire workforce would soon be facing massive disruptions that have put hundreds of thousands of people out of work  students included.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Theres never really been a shortage of chemical reagents before now, said Doris-Ann Williams, chief executive of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which represents producers and distributors of the lab tests used to detect the coronavirus. If it was just one country with an epidemic it would be fine, but all the major countries in the world are wanting the same thing at the same time.
A Bangladeshi barge ferrying fly



ash capsized in the Hooghly river near Kulpi in South 24- Parganas district on Thursday morning while returning to the neighbouring country, a police officer said.

All the eight crew members of the vessel were rescued and quarantined, said Santosh Kumar Mondal, Additional Superintendent of Police, Sundarban police district.

This is the second such incident in a month after a barge laden with fly ash sank in the river on March 12 while going to Bangladesh.

Mondal said the vessel Tofa Arif 4 was returning to Bangladesh after loading fly ash at Kolaghat in East Midnapore district on Wednesday night when it was caught in a storm.

"The crew members said they anchored the barge at a spot but another vessel collided with it and its anchor was snapped. Water also started gushing in and the ship started drifting," he said.

Early on Thursday, they noticed that the ship has been stuck near the Tyangra 'char' (sandbar) and they took a boat to reach the sandbar, the police officer said.

"The barge sank during high tide," Mondal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies are due to hold talks on Thursday to discuss the biggest coordinated supply production cut in history but they must agree on two major points: the levels from which any cuts should be made and how the United States will respond. U.S.

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies are due to hold talks on Thursday to discuss the biggest coordinated supply production cut in history but they must agree on two major points: the levels from which any cuts should be made and how the United States will respond.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he had brokered a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut 10 million to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, or 10 to 15% of global oil supplies. The coronavirus crisis has slashed demand by 30%.

ALL ABOUT THE BASELINE

OPEC sources have told Reuters a key element to the discussions is reaching a deal on what levels of national production to use to calculate any output cuts.

An OPEC source said discussion were around whether to cut from April levels or whether to use a period before that.

Another source said Riyadh, which hiked output to a record 12.3 million bpd in April from 9.8 million bpd in March, was insisting on cutting production from April levels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he favoured cuts being made from production levels in the first quarter.

"Clearly, cuts taking place from the most recent elevated levels would have less impact on absolute supply," FGE Energy said.

THE PRODUCTION DATA CHALLENGE

But one of the challenges facing OPEC+ - the informal grouping of the Organization Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers - is getting reliable production figures for producers.

OPEC's monthly oil market report on output from its members relies on secondary sources including price reporting agencies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to assess production.

Secondary source data is sometimes at odds with the direct submissions of individual members, which has allowed some members like Nigeria and Iraq to justify lagging behind on compliance with previous cut agreements.

The data usually carries a lag of up to two weeks, so February's production figures were published on March 11 and the March figures are expected to come out on April 16.

Another challenge for OPEC+ has been around how some members assess their production. After much debate, Russia secured agreement among OPEC+ to include oil and condensate - a by product in crude production - in its total output level.

THE U.S. CONUNDRUM

Russia has insisted that it would only accept cuts to its output if the United States joined in with reductions.

The U.S. Department of Energy said U.S. output was already falling without government intervention, in line with the position of the White House that it would not intervene.

U.S. Department of Energy projections now show U.S. oil output averaging 11 million bpd in 2021, which correlates to about a 2 million bpd decline from the late 2019 peak.

But Moscow has said natural production declines were not the same as the voluntary output cuts now being negotiated.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Edmund Blair)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The recent telephone conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also mentioned

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien discussed the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the situation in Donbas and cooperation with the IMF. The press service of the Presidents Office informs.

Yermak expressed condolences to the US side over the great human losses that were caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

They also discussed the recent telephone conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Yermak and Quinn noted the constructive nature of the conversation and coordinated further steps that would allow implementing the agreements that were reached.

The head of the President's Office informed the American diplomat about the situation in Donbas and the state of negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.

Cooperation with the IMF was also discussed. Yermak said that the Verkhovna Rada would adopt all the necessary laws to start implementing the new program of cooperation with the Fund in the near future.

As we reported earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised the recent phone conversation with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

Good to speak with @ZelenskyyUa today. I thanked him for #Ukraine's assistance getting #AmericansHome, including more than 200 @PeaceCorps volunteers. Together we continue to focus on reform and holding Russia accountable for humanitarian conditions in the Donbas, Pompeo wrote.
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / AMPD Ventures Inc. ("AMPD" or the "Company") (CSE:AMPD)(FRA:2Q0) confirms the successful deployment of a high-performance computing environment designed to cater to the requirements of companies in the artificial intelligence ("AI"), machine learning and deep learning sectors, hosted at its DC1 data centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.Further to the news release issued by the Company on February 7, 2020, Variational AI Inc. ("Variational AI" or "Variational") will be one of the first companies to use AMPD's machine learning infrastructure environment. Variational will host with AMPD "Enki", an artificial intelligence-powered small molecule discovery service designed to help discover new molecules for pharma research.AMPD's AI environment is based around the latest graphic processing unit ("GPU") technology, which is a critical component of high-performance computing for artificial intelligence and machine learning. While traditional central processing units ("CPU") are good at handling multiple tasks, GPU's are designed to handle a few specific tasks very fast simultaneously. So far, these tasks have included the processing of the exceptionally high-quality graphics for the latest 3D games as well as real-time visual effects rendering. GPU's are increasingly being used to solve the complex math problems for AI, machine learning and deep learning faster than CPUs."Vancouver has already amassed a critical mass of some 100 to 150 applied AI companies, and as a Vancouver-based company ourselves, we expect that our GPU-based hosted environment will yield positive outcomes for Variational AI and other local AI companies requiring GPU-based compute solutions," stated Anthony Brown, CEO of AMPD."The GPU-based infrastructure that AMPD offers is mission critical in our race to potentially find therapeutics for COVID-19," said Variational AI Co-Founder & CEO, Handol Kim. "Variational AI, like many of our fellow AI for drug discovery companies, is focused on addressing the most urgent needs for fast and safe development of drugs. It is critical for us to have access to powerful, scalable compute resources such as those offered by AMPD." About Variational AIVariational AI offers an early drug discovery service that leverages state-of-the-art generative machine learning to discover novel, efficacious, safe and synthesizable small molecules for customers in biopharmaceuticals. Founded in 2019, Variational AI performs multi-property molecular optimization to dramatically reduce the time to discover high-quality drug-like molecules with a higher probability of success in clinical trials.For more information on Variational AI, please contact:Handol Kimhandol@ variational.ai About AMPD Ventures Inc.AMPD specializes in providing high-performance cloud and computing solutions for low-latency applications, including video games and eSports, digital animation and visual effects, and big data collection, analysis and visualization. For further information concerning the company and its business, please see the long-form prospectus dated October 11th, 2019, supporting its application for listing on the CSE. A copy of the prospectus was filed under the company's profile at SEDAR.For further information please contact Investor Relations:Tel: 604-332-3329 ext. 3info@ ampd.tech ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS/s/ "Anthony Brown"Anthony BrownCEO & DirectorTel: 604-332-3329AMPD Ventures Inc.The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary StatementCertain statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information herein include, but are not limited to, the growth opportunities in our business and industries we work within, use of GPU's, global spending on AI systems, the impact of COVID-19, and opportunities for companies supplying GPUs.Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including the impact of COVID-19, and the demand for GPUs. Although our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include uncertainty regarding the unknown impact of COVID-19, change in demand of for GPUs, new technologies being developed and those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 2A Listing Statement dated October 17, 2019 and "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR.There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information c
Is it like this for you?

I'm doing my work  much of which involves helping sort out the ills and anxieties that more urgently than ever impact the churches for which I have care  and I'm doing just fine, as if "non-anxious presence" were tattooed on my forehead. And then something just  just breaks for a few moments.

Sunday I was watching the St. John's-on-Sand-Creek in Albany's Palm Sunday service, which our musical director and I had taped earlier to be posted on Facebook at our usual gathering time. I mean, this was a service I had taped and previewed already. But when it came time to hear the two classic Palm Sunday hymns that Dan played masterfully  but with no one singing them  I found myself at my desk in tears. I was no longer the critic seeking to objectively assess our work to see where we could tweak it.

Instead I was in the sorrow of it all: There was no one voice or a hundred voices to sing the words: "Ride on, ride on, in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die/bow your meek head to mortal pain."

It's an apt image. The words of that hymn were written to describe the coming fate of Jesus before the crucifixion. But how well they describe those gravely ill and dying now and the many more gravely ill and dying to come in this time of coronavirus.

Hearing that hymn with no voices singing was like watching the riderless horse, saddle empty, boots backward, in a funeral cortege.

The riderless horse in a rudderless nation.

This is holy week. Today is Maundy Thursday, the day when Christians look to the mandate Jesus gave at the last supper he ate with his friends to "love one another as I have loved you." (Though I daresay many do not. But that is another column.)

This is Thursday, the day after the first night of Passover, when normally there would be friends and family gathered at seders to share in the ritual storytelling of the escape from slavery in Egypt.

This year there will be no Maundy Thursday services at which the assembly gathers to share bread and wine, singing and foot washing.

This year there will be no seders, no shared reading of the Haggadah recounting the escape from slavery in Egypt, no drinking of the Four Cups, which summon promise, each cup signaling an aspect of deliverance by God from hardship and oppression.

This year we are sheltering and shivering in place.

We will be doing this for a while.

And I don't know if it is like this for you. But sometimes I am sad for our world.

I am mad, of course, for the all the reasons there are to be mad: sycophants kissing up to people who misuse power, the distortion and suppression of information, the naked and decaying fangs of greed. Being angry is fuel to kick-start the work that must be done to combat venality. Being mad is essential.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

But being sad because we are where we are is simply compassion responding to circumstances. And that, too, is essential  particularly as it is clearly lacking in many of our leaders.

Many people who wouldn't have needed to die will die. Many people will not get the treatment needed. Many people will spread coronavirus unknowingly. Much data will not be gathered because the means of and need for gathering data were minimized, dismissed  unspeakably so.

Is it like this for you?

Do you wake up, sometimes several times in the dark hours of early morning, and feel fearful, lost and sad? Do you find yourself crying over a remembered family dinner, a loved one long gone, an email from a friend or a song you loved?

Maybe you don't. Maybe I'm the only one randomly weeping. But I doubt it.

Let us weep together, many, many feet apart. And with hearts outstretched.

Jo Page is a writer and Lutheran minister. Her email is jopage34@yahoo.com. Her website is at https://www.jograepage.com.
If you missed the Great American Solar Eclipse in 2017, you will get another chance to feast your eyes on the stunning event in just four year  and it will be twice as long.

On April 8, 2024, a total eclipse will sweep across the continent, starting in Mexico and moving through Texas where it will travel up to New England and finish in Canada.

Totality is set to start at 12:38pm ET and end at 3:55pm along the entire path which will be visible to millions of people.

This will be a different path than the eclipse took three years ago, which embarked on its journey from the Pacific Northwest, cut across the Midwest and ended in the Southeast.

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On April 8, 2024, a total eclipse will sweep across the continent, starting in Mexico and moving through Texas where it will travel up to New England and finish in Canada

Michael Zeiler, an eclipse cartographer who launched GreatAmericanEclipse.com said: 'What is most exciting about the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse is that the total phase of eclipse is nearly twice as long as the 2017 eclipse,' according to Forbes.

'Because it is so much longer, the width of the path of totality is also bigger.'

The total eclipse in 2017 was estimated to have been seen by 215 million Americans, but only about 12 million were in the path of totality  Zeiler noted there are already 32 million setup to see the 2024 eclipse.

However, experts are saying the upcoming celestial event will last 139 minutes and consist of a 100-mile wide path of totality.

Totality is set to start at 12:38pm ET and end at 3:55pm ET along the entire path which will be visible to millions of people (stock photo). The 2024 eclipse is said to last twice as long as the 2017 celestial event

Parts of Sinaloa, Durango, and Coahuila in Mexico, and in the US, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada are all on the list to see the magical display.

Not since July 22, 2009 has a total solar eclipse over four minutes in duration been visible to a major population,' said Zeiler.

'There have been several total eclipses since 2009 and before 2024 with a longer duration than four minutes, but only over small islands and remote stretches of ocean.'

The 2017 event was the first to sweep across American in 99 years.

It began in Oregon at just after 9am PDT, and by 10:20am, the sun was completely blocked out except for a halo-like solar corona plunging the area into twilight.

Over the next 90 minutes, the total eclipse traveled through 14 different states until ending in South Carolina.

Parts of Sinaloa, Durango, and Coahuila in Mexico, and in the US, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada are all on the list to see the magical display

The other 36 states were all treated to a partial solar eclipse, where the moon covers only a part of the sun.

The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one, to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet.

But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or Earth's poles.

This is the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area.
(Photo : Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay )

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The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hammer the US economy, and the initial jobless claims data for the U.S. labor market on Thursday is expected to show another brutal week.



After two consecutive weeks of millions of jobless claims, economists expect 5.25 million Americans to file for unemployment benefits for the week ending April 4, as the global health misery continues to pound the U.S. economy.



Jobless claims skyrocketed to a record-smashing 6.648 million for the seven-day span ending March 28, and the previous week's figure was revised up from 3.23 million to 3.30 million claims - bringing the total of two weeks to just under 10 million.



The numbers are so outsized they have become something of a crapshoot to forecast. Michelle Meyer, Bank of America's chief US economist, expects a total of 6.5 million for the latest initial claims Thursday, and JPMorgan Chase forecasts an all-time high of 7 million.



According to Meyer, these digits are off the charts. "It tells us about the pain caused by the virus in corporate America." Meyer arrived at her projection by extrapolating from the 16 states that registered 2,3 million claims last week, which matched the sum of those states for the previous week.



Economists expect that this month's unemployment rate will rise into teens, from the 4.4 percent point in March and the 3.5 percent it was at for February. They also forecast that between 10 million and 20 million would appear as lost jobs somewhere in the monthly employment survey.



The influx of layoffs and furloughs is likely to continue with vast parts of the U.S. economy shut down for at least many weeks. Some states thought the worst was yet to come, Bank of America analysts told clients after evaluating the situation across the region. Many issues often prevent a precise count of new jobless claims.



For the week ending March 28, California had the largest number of people filing unemployment claims, more than Pennsylvania's second-highest number of 405,880. For the week, California's 878,727 claims increased significantly from the previous week's 186,333, totaling 1,065 million.



On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state had seen more than 1.9 million Californian file since March 12. This would mean that as of Sunday, at least 835,000 claims had been processed over four or five days and that two or three more days of claims may have been made.



Cases of coronavirus continue to soar. Based on data from Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 1.45 million confirmed cases and 83.568 deaths globally as of Wednesday morning. With just under 400,000 confirmed cases and 12,912 deaths the U.S. remains the most infected country in the world.



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Dawson Geophysical, Flotek donate hand sanitizer

Midlands Dawson Geophysical teamed up with Flotek and investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. to donate nearly 400 gallons of hand sanitizer to Midland County Emergency Management and Midland Memorial Hospital.

Flotek, a Houston-based oilfield chemical company, redirected some of its chemical productions to blend and package 12,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to donate to communities and organizations in need in Houston, Midland and Oklahoma. The company was joined in this effort by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. and Dawson Geophysical, which transported the first load of 2,500 gallons of hand sanitizer from Oklahoma to Houston and Midland last weekend.

CRMWD closes camping, picnic areas at lakes

Based on directives issued by Gov. Greg Abbott and in an effort to promote public and staff health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, camping and picnic areas at all Colorado River Municipal Water District park areas are closed to the public effective 5 p.m. Thursday. Group shelter pavilions remain closed to the public.

The closure is in effect for all CRMWD recreational areas at Lake J.B. Thomas, E.V. Spence Reservoir and O.H. Ivie Reservoir. Boat ramps remain open at the following locations:

Third party operated park concessionaires located at E.V. Spence and O.H. Ivie Reservoirs are open at their discretion. Concessionaire contact information is available on the CRMWD website at www.crmwd.org/recreation.

For more information, please go to www.crmwd.org or contact us at 432-267-6341.

Grocery store hours during coronavirus

--Albertsons Market

7 a.m.-9 p.m.

1002 Andrews Highway

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

3317 N. Midland Drive

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday

--H-E-B

8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Customers 60+

Orders can be called in 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 833-397-0080. Groceries will be delivered by Favor Delivery.

For more information, go to newsroom.heb.com

--Market Street:

7 a.m.-9 p.m.

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

--Walmart:

7 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
A lawn sign that reads "Any Functioning Adult 2020" is staked outside of a home in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 25, 2020. Stephen Maturen | AFP | Getty Images

The 2020 Democratic primary season featured one of the largest fields ever, with 28 serious contenders competing to take on President Donald Trump in the November general election. The group included a record number of women  six  as well as the first openly gay major candidate and two billionaires. It was a battle of gender, race and age with a range of ideas that pitted progressive agendas and democratic socialism against the moderate establishment. Candidates who qualified participated in 11 debates that provided some heated exchanges on topics such health care, gun control, climate change, immigration reform, race relations, universal basic income, and a wealth tax. Candidates also had to navigate their campaigns amidst an historic impeachment battle that sidelined four senators still in the race during the trial. The coronavirus pandemic across the U.S. forced the last two candidates standing, Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, and former Vice President Joe Biden, 79, to cancel rallies and move their campaigns online for the safety and health of their supporters, and to comply with stay-at-home and social distancing orders. After more than a year of campaigning, Sanders announced he was ending his bid for the nomination on Wednesday, effectively leaving Biden as the apparent nominee. The following are some of the key moments that highlighted the unprecedented primary season.

High hopes

Dozens of candidates entered  but only one could win. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke all launched campaigns with high expectations from pundits and supporters.

Senator Amy Klobuchar waves to the crowd with her husband John Bessler and daughter Abigail Bessler after announcing her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 10, 2019. Eric Miller | Reuters

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke visits with voters on his first day of campaigning for the 2020 nomination at the home of Randy Naber March 14, 2019 in Muscatine, Iowa. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California, gestures while speaking during an event to launch presidential campaign in Oakland, California, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Surrounded by her family, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announces that she will run for president in 2020 outside the Country View Diner, January 16, 2019 in Troy, New York. Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and 2020 presidential candidate, greets supporters as he arrives to speak during a campaign event on April 13, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | Getty Images

A historic kiss

Among candidates thought to face longer odds: Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major Democratic presidential candidate, launched his campaign with a historic kiss with husband Chasten. Buttigieg, then mayor of South Bend, Indiana, went on to become a top contender.

South Bend's Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Buttigieg kiss as they attend a rally to announce Pete Buttigieg's 2020 Democratic presidential candidacy in South Bend, Indiana, U.S., April 14, 2019. John Gress | Reuters

Pete struggles with black voters

Buttigieg faced scrutiny over his record on race back home. The criticism grew after CNBC first reported on Buttigieg's record in April 2019.

Democratic presidential candidate, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg listens to the Sunday service at the Kenneth Moore Transformation Center, October 27, 2019 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Sean Rayford | Getty Images

Feel the Bern 2.0

Sanders, who essentially never stopped campaigning for president after his failed 2016 bid, surprised pundits with the success of his 2020 operation. Sanders outdid the rest of the field in raising money via small dollar donations. His "Medicare for All" health-care proposal became one of the top issues during the primary.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) jokes around as he speaks during a campaign rally at Bonanza High School on February 14, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller | Getty Images

The first debate - Night 1

The first debates had a total of 20 candidates that qualified. The record-breaking number of debate participants was broken into groups of 10 over two nights.

Democratic presidential candidates New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (L-R), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), former housing secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and former Maryland congressman John Delaney look on during the first night of the Democratic presidential debate on June 26, 2019 in Miami, Florida. A field of 20 Democratic presidential candidates was split into two groups of 10 for the first debate of the 2020 election, taking place over two nights at Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Kamala Harris attacks Joe Biden

The first major shakeup of the race came after Harris attacked on Biden over busing and his past work with segregationist senators. The move propelled her into second place in national polling averages, though the California lawmaker failed to maintain her momentum.

Sen. Kamala Harris (R) (D-CA) attacks former Vice President Joe Biden (L) speak as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) looks on during the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Elizabeth Warren surges

Biden faced his next major threat from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren rose to first place in national polling averages for a brief period in early October on the strength of her populist appeal and well-organized campaign operation. The Massachusetts progressive, who made waves going after billionaires and promoting her numerous plans, lost steam after she released a complicated plan to pay for "Medicare for All." She did not gain it back.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks as she visits a picket line of striking teachers in Chicago, October 22, 2019. Joshua Lott | Reuters

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses 2020 democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Health troubles looked likely to doom Sanders's bid. After suffering a heart attack that knocked him off the trail, Sanders re-emerged at a rally in New York with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez that reinvigorated his bid. "I am back," he told supporters.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses 2020 democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a Bernie Sanders campaign rally in Queensbridge Park on October 19, 2019 in Queens, New York City. Bauzen | GC Images | Getty Images

Some cuteness was seen on the campaign trail

2020 Democratic candidate for President Senator Elizabeth Warren does a pinky swear with a little girl while walking through the Iowa voters at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday August, 10, 2019. Melina Mara | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Seven month old Emerson Buckman grabs the nose of Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg during a canvassing launch event on February 03, 2020 in West Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa holds its first in the nation caucuses this evening. Win McNamee | Getty Images

Iowa caucuses fiasco

The first voting of the primary came more than a year after campaigning began in earnest  and did not go as planned. Tech troubles doomed Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses. Buttigieg and Sanders both vied for the lead in the state, but NBC News did not call a winner amid irregularities in the data. The fiasco of the Iowas Caucus resulted in the resignation of Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Participants gather for their preferred democratic presidential candidate during the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus at the Drake University Knapp Center arena in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Officials from the 68th caucus precinct overlook the results of the first referendum count during a caucus event on February 3, 2020 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Tom Brenner | Getty Images

Supporters of democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wait for results to come in at his caucus night watch party on February 03, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Iowa Democrats will finally release most of the much-delayed results from their troubled caucuses by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, hoping to salvage the process after a disastrous night cast doubts on its key role in the presidential nominating process. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Universal basic income candidate Andrew Yang drops out

Andrew Yang brought something different to the 2020 race. While the businessman never sustained a polling average above 5%, his pitch for a universal basic income brought the proposal into the national dialog. Yang attracted a large, engaged online following, and became known for his quirky merchandise, including "MATH" hats.

Then-Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is interviewed outside of Hopkinton Town Hall following a campaign event on February 9, 2020 in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Scott Eisen | Getty Images

Trump's impeachment trial sidelines senators running in the democratic primary

Democratic senators were forced off the campaign trail by a historic impeachment trial in the Senate. Trump, impeached on charges that he coerced the government of Ukraine to open up investigations into Biden's family, denied the allegations and was ultimately acquitted.

Combination showing Democratic Primary candidates: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Michael Bennet and Sen. Cory Booker who all were sidelined from campaigning during President Trumps impeachment trial. Getty Images

Billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg enters the race

The former mayor of New York spent nearly a billion dollars on his presidential campaign  but, in the end, failed to gain traction. He left the race shortly after Super Tuesday.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during a press conference to discuss his Democratic presidential run on November 25, 2019, in Norfolk, Virginia. Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Elizabeth Warren's heated exchange with Bernie Sanders as Tom Steyer looks on

A rift developed between fellow progressives Warren and Sanders after Warren claimed that Sanders told her during a private meeting that he did not believe a woman could beat Trump in 2020. The topic came up during the Democratic debate in January, after which Warren refused to shake Sanders's hand. Billionaire candidate Tom Steyer found himself in the middle of things.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as billionaire activist Tom Steyer listens after the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, January 14, 2020. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

The field narrows

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senator Amy Klobuchar take the stage for the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., February 25, 2020. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders become the frontrunners

Democratic presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) share a moment during the Democratic presidential primary debate in the Sullivan Arena at St. Anselm College on February 07, 2020 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Tulsi Gabbard sticks with flailing campaign

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was the last candidate standing besides Sanders and Biden when she left the race in March, endorsing the former vice president. She garnered just two delegates out of the nearly 2,000 needed to win.

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) holds a Town Hall meeting on Super Tuesday Primary night on March 3, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

James Clyburn, D-S.C, endorses Joe Biden in South Carolina giving his campaign a much needed boost

The most influential politician in South Carolina, Majority Whip James Clyburn, lent his support to Biden just ahead of the state's primary. The endorsement helped Biden carry the state  his first win in three presidential runs  which proved to be pivotal for his remarkable turnaround.

James Clyburn, D-S.C. introduces Democratic nomination hopeful Joe Biden at University of South Carolina in Columbia. Jeremy Hogan | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

Biden picks up more endorsements as candidates drop out

Following his victory in South Carolina, Biden racked up endorsements from vanquished rivals O'Rourke, Klobuchar and Buttigieg, sending him to victory on Super Tuesday, and fueling his momentum.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks into the microphone as his former rival for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Amy Klobuchar, endorses him during a campaign event in Dallas, Texas, U.S., March 2, 2020. Eric Thayer | Reuters

Former 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke endorses former Vice President and Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden for president at a campaign event at Gilley's in Dallas, Texas, U.S., March 2, 2020. Eric Thayer | Reuters

Jill Biden acts as security protecting her husband from protesters

Former Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, right, watches as his wife Jill Biden, center, blocks a protester from arriving on stage during an primary night rally in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coronavirus forces campaigns to go virtual

Biden and Sanders started to move their campaigns online in March over coronavirus concerns, as the toll of the pandemic in the U.S. became undeniable. COVID-19 would reshape campaigns, fundraising, debates and elections.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a virtual press briefing on a laptop computer in this arranged photograph in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders social distance in one-on-one debate amidst coronavirus pandemic

Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders (R) greet each other with an elbow bump as they arrive for the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Wisconsin goes to the polls despite the coronavirus pandemic

Elections Chief Inspector Mary Magdalen Moser runs a polling location in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in full hazmat gear as the Wisconsin primary kicks off despite the coronavirus pandemics on April 7, 2020. Derek R. Henkle | AFP | Getty Images

Bernie Sanders ends his campaign but vows to press his social democratic agenda

On Wednesday, Sanders officially suspended his campaign. "I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour," Sanders said in live-streamed remarks from Vermont. "Let us go forward together, the struggle continues," he said.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont and former 2020 presidential candidate, speaks during a livestream event on a laptop computer in this arranged photograph in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Joe Biden becomes the apparent Democratic nominee

With Sanders out, the head-to-head battle between Biden and Trump  long expected  began at last.
The human body is comprised of billions of cells. Yet it functions and grows as a single organism, because of trillions of interactions that help various cells recognize and respond to each other via different molecules on their surface or inside the cells. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature in April 2020 describes the first-ever interactome map, to help distinguish healthy interactions and disease-producing ones.

What is the interactome?

The human genome consists of all the genes that function in a human being, normal and abnormal. These genes are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), which carries the genetic instructions for protein synthesis to the cell. The sum of all the mRNA in the cell is called the transcriptome. The transcribed RNA is responsible for protein synthesis, and the sum of all the protein translated from the genome is called the proteome.

However, proteins interact with each other to make the body function, whether in health or disease. The human genome project has provided a list of parts, so to speak, for the cell, but it hasn't explained how these parts fit into the whole equation.

This is the motivation behind the current project  to create a reference map of all the ways that proteins act on each other to build and operate the body. This is the interactome.

Says researcher Marc Vidal, "Since the mid-1990s, our collaborative team has pushed the idea that interactome maps can illuminate fundamental aspects of life." The current paper puts down the first-ever interactome map on which people can build, adding on information as and when it comes in. In other words, the map, as described, is the scaffold on which new data can be added.

By charting pairwise interactions between 17,500 human proteins, scientists have created a map, on the left, depicting which proteins work together to sustain cellular function. Proteins with similar interactions profiles fall into discrete colour-coded clusters representing different bioprocesses in the cell. Image Credit: Katja Luck et al. / Shutterstock

How did they build the interactome?

The detailed map has taken almost ten years to fill in, and is the fruit of the devoted labors of a large team, comprising over 80 researchers from several different countries. These include Belgium, Spain, France, and Israel besides the US and Canada. Called the Human Reference Interactome (HuRI) map, it details almost 52,570 ways in which 8,275 human proteins interact with each other. This makes it the most extensive such map.

Some of the researchers in the current team had already done part of the work, depicting about 14,000 interactions between different proteins. The current project took this forward, examining the way almost all the proteins that were encoded by human genes interact. This has made the map at least four times as comprehensive.

They first stimulated the simultaneous expression of both genes, encoding a pair of human proteins within a yeast cell. Such pairs were created to express the interactions between almost every human protein if it occurred. Each such interaction gives rise to a molecular switch that enhances the growth of the cell. Thus, yeast cell growth signaled the presence of an interaction.

Using this as a basis, the researchers looked at all the possible combinations of pairs among 17,500 human proteins, looking for interactions between the proteins in each pair. They tested for interactions in 3 distinct versions of a yeast cell, and each test was repeated three times simultaneously. This amounts to testing 3 billion possible interactions, in all.

In the end, they were left with about 53,000 binary interactions between over 8,000 proteins. Most of these were novel interactions. All of them were then validated using another assay.

Why is the interactome important?

The interactome provides a framework to understand how protein molecules interact, causing a range of diseases such as cancer, viral illnesses, and other conditions. The availability of this basic framework helps reveal the fundamental ways in which abnormal gene structure or function disrupts normal cell function to produce the clinical features of disease. For instance, it could help scientists understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which is the agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic) interacts with the proteins of the host cells to produce the manifestations of the disease.

The advantages of this approach are, according to researcher Mike Calderwood, "Genome sequencing can identify the variants carried by an individual that make them susceptible to disease, but it doesn't reveal how the disease is caused. Changes in the interactions of a protein are one possible mechanism of disease, and this map provides a starting point to study the impact of disease-associated variants on protein-protein interactions."

There are altogether about 20,000 genes that code for proteins, but little is clear as of now about the proteins that they encode. However, scientists are using a "guilt by association" principle, in which they consider that two proteins are likely to take part in similar biological processes if they interact with similar proteins. Thus, even the function of an unknown protein can be predicted using the interactome map.

Another researcher, Frederick P. Roth, says humorously, "People can look up their favorite protein and get clues about its function from the proteins it interacts with."

The limitations

The HuRI is the most complete interactome today, but still represents only about 2% to 11% of all the interactions between human proteins. The reason why the majority of interactions are missed is because of the lack of specific molecules that are essential for proper protein function and are found only in human cells.

Even so, HuRI has multiplied the knowledge on protein-protein interactions in human cells threefold or more. This makes it an invaluable source of knowledge in this area.

In fact, scientists are finding that even familiar proteins are being found to have new roles within the cell, and they are discovering molecular-level changes that lead to disease. In this way, HuRI has been fruitful in uncovering hitherto unknown functions for proteins that take part in apoptosis or programmed cell death, the release of cell cargo, and many other cell processes.

Similarly, the team of researchers has attempted to link the data on the various interactions that take place between proteins to the variable expression of genes in each kind of tissue. This has helped them to find the array of interacting proteins that are essential in the development and maintenance of different tissues. It has also helped them identify novel targets for the treatment of a range of diverse disease conditions caused by genetic factors. These could include several types of cancers, as well as certain infectious conditions.

In still another direction, they compared the interactions between various proteins found in cells under study with those found in the reference map, to find out how abnormal proteins found in different diseases triggered abnormal interactions, in turn. This showed up the things that were going wrong to cause that specific condition at a molecular level.

The online portal, on the open-source online publishing site BioRxiv, has already had 15,000 visits since its inception in April 2019. The researchers say many users have already downloaded the whole dataset. Like the previous paper, covering less than a third of HuRI, which has nonetheless been cited more than 800 times, they expect much heavier use of their data in the future.
RTHK: African leaders rally around WHO boss over US attack

African leaders have rallied around the Ethiopian head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) after US President Donald Trump criticised the United Nations agency and threatened to withhold his country's contribution to its budget.

Trump had on Tuesday accused the WHO of being too focused on China and of issuing bad advice on the Covid-19 pandemic.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union (AU), said in a statement late on Wednesday that WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had shown "exceptional leadership ... from the very earliest stages of this unprecedented global health crisis.

"The AU calls upon the international community to join hands to support the efforts of the DG and the entire WHO family as they lead global efforts to fight this pandemic," Ramaphosa added.

"If there was a time for global unity, solidarity and cooperation, this is that time."

Posting on Twitter, Rwanda's Paul Kagame said the WHO chief "has the full confidence and support of Africa," while AU Commission head Moussa Faki urged leaders to focus on fighting Covid-19 and said the time for accountability would come later.

Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, has rejected Trump's suggestion that the WHO has been "China-centric" in its efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

Africa accounts for a fraction of global cases of the disease, but its countries are feeling the impact with economies expected to contract, putting about 20 million jobs at risk. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has added Jacob Kiley to its San Jose, Calif., office.

Kiley specializes in contractor, hospitality, technology and non-profit accounts.

Kiley has been with One Risk Group LLC for the past seven years.

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers is an independently owned broker with offices throughout the country.

Topics California Agencies
Bhopal April 10 : A group of young doctors, including a woman, returning from emergency duty at the AIIMS here sustained injuries when police beat them up with sticks.

The doctors said they had just emerged from the gate of the AIIMS on Wednesday evening enroute their homes in nearby areas when they were ruthlessly attacked by the policemen who had barricaded the area.

"We showed them our IDs and we had our aprons on. There were some more colleagues. The policemen were abusive and said we were the ones causing the viral infection.

"They threw away our belongings and kept hitting us without any rhyme or reason," said Ritu who was accompanied by her colleagues.

They received first aid from the AIIMS and some friends recorded the version of the doctors in bandage and quavering in trauma.

AIIMS Bhopal Director Sarman Singh downplayed the incident and said "we have no grudge against the police as their officers contacted us and said they have acted promptly against the offenders.

Bhopal City (South) Superintendent of Police Sai Krishna Thota on Thursday took a constable off field duty and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"The police got a call that some vendors were selling vegetables near AIIMS which they were not supposed to. Two constables rushed to the spot to disperse the crowd.

"The people out there ran helter and skelter seeing the police. Near the same place they met these (two) young doctors in civil dress. It was hard to differentiate them from the other crowd," he contended.

These doctors were not buying vegetables and were in fact purchasing milk, he added.

"The doctors have sustained no major injuries or fractures. The doctors and the police are on the same page in fighting the virus and we want cordial relations between the two pillars striving to manage the situation," he said.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath tweeted, "Reports of policemen beating two PG doctors including a lady doctor has come to light. This is extremely shameful. We are proud of doctors who are serving people during the pandemic by risking their lives." He demanded immediate probe and strict action against the guilty to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.
As the world continues to celebrate medical workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, media personality Lindah Ogutu has reserved special praise for Kenyan medics after one of her friends tested positive for the virus.

Through a series of Twitter posts on Wednesday, the KTN newscaster narrated the sequence of events from when her friend developed COVID-19 symptoms.

A friend has just been released from Mbagathi hospital. She is now free of #coronavirus. So, People, this is a happy me and a salute to health workers in Kenya This is why: She had some symptoms and went for a test.

She was told the results will take some time and was told to check the next day So she got up the next day and went to work the following day. Meanwhile, her results came out positive and the guys called in a team from @MOH_Kenya(Ministry of Health), she tweeted.

Ogutu said her friend started getting calls from strange numbers that turned out to be the rapid response team.

They introduced themselves, asked where she was and asked her to stay put (She says they were really nice on phone). They did not tell her why they were looking for her though, Linda tweeted.

Adding: When they finally got to her, they sat her down, told her about her results and reassured herAsked her not to panic. Told her they needed to take her to an isolation centre. They gave her a mask and walked her to the car.

The matter, however, got a bit complicated given that Ogutus friend has a 9 y.o child who was home.

That was her main worry, whether or not the baby was okay. So as the team took her to Mbagathi, another was dispatched to the baby. Meanwhile, she called a friend to take care of the baby. The baby was tested, was okay. So baby was left with the friend. But here is the thing people. Guys from @MOH_Kenya have been checking on the baby EVERYDAYEvery SINGLE DAY peoplesince the mum was picked. And they would tell her baby is okay, recalled Ogutu.

The journalist expressed her gratitude to the team that handled her friend, stating that Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has a good team behind him.

Heres Linda Ogutus full thread:
In address to nation, Brazils President makes a special mention for Prime Minister Modi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation. He thanked the PM and the people of India for helping Brazil with the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine.

He said that he has more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with the Prime Minister of India, we will by Sunday receive raw materials to continue our production of hydroxychloroquine. This will help us treat patients infected with COVID-19.

Like how Lord Hanuman brought Sanjeevani booti: Brazilian President in thank you note to PM Modi

I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help extended to Brazil and its people, he also said.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Bolsonaro had earlier in a letter to PM Modi thanked him for easing restrictions on exports drugs used to fight the coronavirus. Bolsonaro in his letter thanked PM Modi after India lifted the restrictions on hydroxychloroquine.

He compared the move to allow export of hydroxychloroquine to reach his country to Lord Hanuman and Sanjeevani booti. Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshman and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight of Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis, he also said in the letter.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all the people, the letter also said.

India on Tuesday said that in the view of the humanitarian aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been decided that India would licence paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine in appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are dependant on our capabilities.

The Ministry of External Affairs had said that it would supply paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine to countries that are badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fake News Buster

Anurag Srivastava, External Affairs ministry, spokesperson said that India will also be supplying essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic. We would therefore discourage any speculation in this regard or any attempts to politicise the matter, Srivastava further added.

India has decided that orders from other countries would be cleared only after the domestic requirements are met.
CANTON, Ohio, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TimkenSteel Corporation (NYSE: TMST) today announced a change in the format of its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders from in-person to virtual-only. Due to the public health impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and to support the health and well-being of the company's shareholders, employees and their families, the company will hold its annual meeting in a virtual meeting format only, via webcast. As previously announced, the annual meeting will be held on May 6, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.

As described in the company's proxy materials previously distributed for the annual meeting, TimkenSteel shareholders as of the close of business on February 28, 2020 (the record date for the annual meeting), are entitled to join the virtual meeting. Shareholders will be able to listen (or read via closed captioning), vote, and submit questions from any remote location with internet connectivity.

Registered Shareholders: For registered shareholders and participants holding TimkenSteel shares in a 401(k) plan sponsored by TimkenSteel who wish to attend the virtual meeting, go to www.cesvote.com, enter the control number found on the proxy card or notice of the annual meeting received previously to access the voting page and click on the "Click here to preregister for the online meeting" link at the top of the page.

Beneficial Shareholders (those holding shares through a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other holder of record): Beneficial shareholders who wish to attend the virtual meeting must obtain a legal proxy by contacting their account representative at the bank, broker, or other nominee that holds their shares and email a copy (a legible photograph is sufficient) of their legal proxy to "[email protected]." Beneficial shareholders who email a valid legal proxy will be registered for the meeting and will be issued a control number that will allow them to attend and participate in the online-only meeting. If you need assistance obtaining a legal proxy, please contact our proxy solicitor, Innisfree M&A Incorporated, toll-free at (877) 456-3402.

Any shareholder wishing to attend the virtual annual meeting must register for the meeting no later than 6:00 a.m. Eastern time on May 4, 2020. An email with a link and instructions for entering the virtual meeting will be sent prior to the meeting to any shareholder who pre-registers for the meeting.

For additional information regarding how shareholders may access, vote and participate in the virtual annual meeting, please refer to the company's supplemental proxy materials filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About TimkenSteel Corporation

TimkenSteel (NYSE: TMST) manufactures high-performance carbon and alloy steel products in Canton, OH serving demanding applications in automotive, energy and a variety of industrial end markets. The company is a premier U.S. producer of alloy steel bars (up to 16 inches in diameter), seamless mechanical tubing and precision components. In the business of making high-quality steel primarily from recycled materials for more than 100 years, TimkenSteel's proven expertise contributes to the performance of our customers' products. The company employs approximately 2,500 people and had sales of $1.2 billion in 2019. For more information, please visit us at www.timkensteel.com.

SOURCE TimkenSteel Corp.

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As the coronavirus pandemic continues upending society and causing a historic economic downturn in the United States, experts say the country could expect to reopen in time for the summer  but theres a catch.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus response task force, suggested a partial return to normalcy might be possible in the coming months so long as officials prepare for the resurgence.

When we pull back and try to open up the country, as we often use that terminology, we have to be prepared that when the infections start to read their heads again, that we have in place a very aggressive and effective way to identify, isolate, contact, trace and make sure we dont have those spikes that we see now, Mr Fauci said on Thursday in an interview with CBS This Morning.

He added that a reopening would only be possible if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence.

The officials comments came as other analysts estimated how long it might take for American life to resume, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose foundation has pledged billions of dollars towards manufacturing possible vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

Mr Gates predicted on Thursday that school will be able to resume in the fall while noting the rest of the current year would be challenging in terms of school attendance.

I dont think this school year theres going to be any significant attendance, he said in an interview with CNBCs Squawk Box, while acknowledging the added impact Covid-19 has had on lower income communities. Most of the private schools, theyre used to online, they make sure all their students have the device and the connectivity.

Recommended One tenth of US workforce now unemployed amid pandemic

Different school districts have decided...it would be unjust in terms of the kids who dont have access, so thats really a dilemma, he added. In the end, the low income students will be hurt the most by these school closures.

The US has reported more than 429,000 official cases of Covid-19, as the death toll soared to almost 15,000 people. Health officials said those figures are likely higher due to a lack of expansive testing during the initial weeks of the outbreak in the US  a key window of time for testing that may have helped flatten the curve and keep the nations hospital systems within capacity, according to some.

Mr Fauci said on Thursday that he expressed his prediction about the summer months with some caution, as officials have implored Americans to continue adhering to social distancing guidelines meant to slow the rate of transmissions.

The White House coronavirus response task force extended its 15 days to slow the spread initiative for an additional 30 days, extending through April, as states suffering significant outbreaks of the virus issue stay-at-home orders lasting until June in some cases.
New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday (April 9) announced a comprehensive plan named `SHIELD` to control the spread of coronavirus in the national capital while addressing media here. The Delhi CM said, "We have ordered containment exercise in 21 areas of Delhi where COVID-19 cases have been found. We have SHIELD these areas to control the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital."

Kejriwal explained the SHIELD plan in the following way:

-S stands for sealing of localities, wherein, people from a locality will not go to other areas and vice-versa.

-H means home quarantine i.e. people will remain in their homes only.

-I stands for isolation and tracing under which COVID-19 patients will be isolated and people whom they have met will be traced, identified and will be isolated too.

-E means essential supplies under which we will ensure door to door delivery of essential services.

-L refers to local sanitisation under which areas will be disinfected on a regular basis.

-D stands for door-to-door checking under which we will ask every family whether there is any person having symptoms of coronavirus. If any such person is found, their samples will be taken and further procedure will be followed.

I appeal to all living in the containment areas to cooperate with the Delhi govt's Operation SHIELD. These are strict measures but are necessary to protect you and others from COVID-19. https://t.co/3N2UauewWe  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 9, 2020

Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is giving free rations to 71 lakh people in the city, adding "Now, we are also providing ration to those who do not have a ration card. We are facing a few problems but we will soon overcome these."

He also added that the Delhi government has made wearing face masks compulsory.

Kejriwal also spoke on the incident where two female doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by their neighbour in Gautam Nagar. "I'd like to warn people who misbehave with doctors/nurses that it won't be tolerated. They'll be given strictest punishment," he added.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister held a meeting with medical directors, superintendents of Delhi's government and private hospitals, via video-conferencing, to formulate a strategy for COVID-19 patients in the national capital.

We have begun containment of 20 localities in Delhi to protect citizens from COVID-19. Provisions of essential items is being made for people living in these areas. https://t.co/pGUXHxW1kN  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 9, 2020

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that 20 hotspots have been identified in Delhi in the battle to contain coronavirus. The authorities today added the Bengali Market in the list of the hotspot.

There are 669 cases of coronavirus in the national capital at present, including 426 from the Tablighi Jamaat event that took place in Nizamuddin Markaz last month.

With 591 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India`s total count of coronavirus positive cases today climbed to 5,865, according to Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
While efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine have accelerated, there are still safety concerns, according to the director-general of the International Vaccine Institute. "We don't know that a vaccine that's developed in four months  or I guess 12 to 18 months, which is the current estimate  is really safe," Jerome Kim, director-general of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday. Typically, the process of developing vaccines takes five to 10 years, but Kim said there's been "unprecedented speed" in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine as a result of global efforts to stem the pandemic and a "significant amount of funding" given to companies to get vaccines ready for testing. As a result, vaccines can now begin human trials in 4 months  instead of the typical five to 10 years  and that's "really a remarkable thing," he said. His comments come after Inovio Pharmaceuticals pushed out Phase 1 of clinical human testing this week, making it the second potential COVID-19 vaccine to undergo human testing. The first human trial for coronavirus vaccine started in March, and was developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Let's work as quickly as we can ... to try and test those vaccines, to get proof that the vaccine works, hopefully within 12 to 18 months. Jerome Kim director-general at International Vaccine Institute

Currently, more than 70 countries are participating in the World Health Organization's trial to accelerate research on effective treatments, and around 20 organizations are in the race to develop a vaccine, according to WHO. Kim warned that success is not necessarily guaranteed, as vaccine development is characterized by a high failure rate of "often 93%" between animal studies first done and the actual registration of the product.

Interim measures

In the meantime, one of the most important things would be to recognize dependence of age  that older people are more likely to have very severe consequences or even death once infected, and not much can be done about that except to protect the elderly, according to Kim. He said the other thing to recognize is that 98% of those infected get better  and some people do get better on their own, despite others who have to be hospitalized or put on ventilators.

A scientist is at work in the VirPath university laboratory, classified as "P3" level of safety, on February 5, 2020 as they try to find an effective treatment against COVID-19. JEFF PACHOUD | AFP via Getty Images

Moving ahead, part of the measures would be "to maintain the testing, treating, isolating, and social distancing that we've been doing all along  prevent infection," he added. "Let's work as quickly as we can  as we are doing at IVI and others are doing  to try and test those vaccines, to get proof that the vaccine works, hopefully within 12 to 18 months," Kim said. As the race to develop a vaccine intensifies, several drugs  from Fujifilm's Avigan to some controversial malaria drugs  have been claimed by some as being helpful in treating COVID-19. President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine  a drug used to treat malaria and autoimmune disease since the 1950s  as a potential cure and "game changer" for infected patients despite medical experts warning of the drug's potential side effects.
A statue of St. Vincent de Paul at the front of the medical center in Los Angeles. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

After California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra raised objections Wednesday to the proposed sale of a closed Los Angeles hospital, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said he would seek to purchase the medical campus personally rather than use a foundation controlled by him and his wife, Michele B. Chan.

Becerra said in a court filing that the proposed sale of St. Vincent Medical Center by Verity Health System, a nonprofit in bankruptcy, to the Soon-Shiong foundation is subject to review and consent by the attorney general.

Veritys attorneys have argued that the attorney general doesnt need to sign off on the deal, Becerras court filing said.

Becerra also raised the possibility of self-dealing if the sale goes through, because Soon-Shiongs foundation has proposed buying the hospital while a separate Soon-Shiong-controlled company is one of the secured creditors in Verity's bankruptcy proceedings.

Soon-Shiong, who also owns The Times, said in an interview last week that the goal is to create a central command center that would attract doctors and experts on the coronavirus and relieve pressure on other hospitals.

We made a good faith bid to acquire St. Vincent Medical Center, in the hope that it would enable the state to prepare the facility for the surge in COVID-19 cases that is certain to come, Soon-Shiong said in a statement Wednesday. Although our tax attorneys had assured us that the foundations bid complied with all state and federal laws, we have informed those attorneys that I shall fund the purchase personally, instead of through the foundation, so as to avoid the baseless appearance of a conflict.

A court hearing on the sale is scheduled for Friday.

Verity representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Becerras opposition to the hospital sale marked the latest twist in the ongoing saga of St. Vincent Medical Center, in the working-class Westlake neighborhood.

In seeking a review, Becerras office said the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation is a party to the transaction, and Dr. Soon-Shiong and his wife, as its directors, appear to have a material financial interest in the sale. It seems that, through their ownership of NantWorks, they may get paid up to $66 million."

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These facts may not present a problem under bankruptcy law, but, barring some resolution, and subject to review by the Attorney General, they appear to present a problem for the foundation under California laws governing nonprofit public benefit corporations, the filing said.

Veritys six hospitals were originally owned and operated by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. After years of financial struggles, Integrity Healthcare took over management of the hospitals in 2015. NantWorks, Soon-Shiongs Culver City company, purchased Integrity in 2017.

NantWorks-related entities contributed more than $300 million in unsecured and secured loans and investments to the Verity hospital chain as part of Integritys efforts to recapitalize and revitalize the hospitals.

Verity Health filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018. The nonprofit has proposed selling St. Vincent Medical Center to the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation for $135 million.

The attorney generals office declined to comment.

Becerra has the power to review the sale of California nonprofit hospitals, but at issue is whether St. Vincent Medical Center falls under the attorney generals purview.

Attorneys for Verity argued in emails sent last week to the attorney generals office that were included in Becerras filing that the jurisdiction doesnt apply because St. Vincent doesnt currently operate as a medical center.

Veritys attorneys also claimed that Verity no longer operates or controls the hospital, which is now being leased to the state, in an email included in Becerras filing.

Amid the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, state officials moved last month to lease St. Vincent Medical Center for $2.6 million a month to treat COVID-19 patients at the site.

Soon-Shiong's statement made clear he hopes to move forward with the project. "We hope the Attorney General appreciates that this horrific pandemic has already claimed too many lives. Every hour matters," he said.
The Maharashtra Cabinet on



Thursday decided to recommend Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's name for being nominated as member of the state Legislative Council from the Governor's quota.

Thackeray, who is currently not a member of either of the Houses of state Legislature, was not present at the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken.

At present, there are two vacancies in the Legislative Council from the Governor's quota after MLCs Rahul Narvekar and Ram Wadkute quit the NCP to join the BJP before the Assembly polls in October last year.

The term of these two vacant seats is till mid-June.

Maharashtra Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab told PTI that the decision to recommend Thackeray's name as MLC from the Governor's quota was taken at the state Cabinet meeting.

"Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been requested to appoint Uddhav Thackeray from one of the two vacant seats," he said.

Thackeray was not present at the Cabinet meeting which was chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the state secretariat.

Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik told reporters that Thackeray had been advised not to attend the meeting, since the Cabinet was to recommend his name to the governor for appointment as MLC.

Article 164(4)of the Constitution states that a minister, who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister.

The six-month period in Thackeray's case ends on May 28 as he was sworn as chief minister on November 28 last year.

Nine Legislative Council seats from the MLAs' quota are falling vacant on April 24, and Thackeray was set to be elected as an MLC during the biennial elections as one of the candidate.

But, in view of the coronavirus outbreak and the national lockdown, the Election Commission has deferred the polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The sirens seem endless. Even for New York. They cut through the silent streets, reminding us that the crisis we are facing is no longer an abstract idea. No longer contained to TV screens or even the hospital a few blocks away.

Reminders of our new reality now appear all over, and in unexpected places.

In Central Park, residents out for a walk stopped and stood quietly, staring at a field hospital being erected. It felt as if an image from a century ago was materializing in the East Meadow.
Greg Hatala/For NJ Advance Media

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Vintage photos of home delivery in N.J.

Home delivery is one of those things that was taken for granted and then disappeared, for the most part.

In recent years, the service has made a resurgence. And now, with stay-at-home orders in place, the need is great, indeed.

I would say there's one major difference between home deliveries made now and those completed in days-gone-by.

Today, home delivery of goods and food comes after an order is placed online or by phone. A courier brings exactly what was ordered -- nothing more, nothing less (hopefully).

In days not too long ago, businesses stayed competitive by bringing the store  or as much of it as they could  to peoples doors.

Vendors -- at first with horse-drawn wagons and later with trucks -- would certainly deliver what was requested from brick-and-mortar locations, but in many cases drivers would arrive on a regular schedule with an array of additional items from which to choose.

In "the old days," salesmen would visit neighborhoods with varieties of produce, baked goods, sewing items, seafood -- just to name a handful.

Who knows? Perhaps the trend will return.

Here's a gallery of things that were delivered to your home in days gone by in New Jersey. Click on the links in the final slide to see more vintage photos. And if you have vintage photos you'd like to see in our slide shows, send them in an email to greghatalagalleries@gmail.com.

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Courtesy of Lenny Debrango

Scott's Same Day Cleaners was located on what is now Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen. This early-1960s photo shows the company's fleet of Jeep delivery vehicles.

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Courtesy of Curtis Morgan

A bread delivery truck in Elizabeth is having difficulty in the snow in this photo from the 1950s; no one seems terribly eager to give the driver a hand, either.

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Courtesy of the Newark Public Library

A Borden Milk delivery truck in Newark in 1936. The main Borden facility was located at Nesbitt and Orange streets.

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Courtesy of Denise Wirth

Joe Mazzarella of Irvington delivered locally for Annandale Dairy Farms in the 1940s.

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Courtesy of Vintage Bergen County

Otto Lolk stands in the door of his truck for Otto's Delicatessen and Catering in 1966. The business was located on River Road in New Milford.

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Courtesy of Chris Antonik

One of the more unusual New Jersey "home deliveries" was Dziadzi's Merry Go Round, driven around neighborhoods in Belleville and nearby communities in the 1950s.

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Courtesy of Bobby Cole Photo Archives

Unidentified deliverers for Esposito's Market in Newark are shown in the 1940s. Esposito's was located at Bloomfield Avenue and North Fifth Street.

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Courtesy of Trudy Sciurba

This 1959 photo shows Jimmy Garofalo on Stuyvesant Avenue in Lyndhurst with his heating oil delivery truck.

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Courtesy of Donald Moiso

Albert Prosser is shown in his delivery truck in Vineland in August 1935.

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Courtesy of Bobby Cole Photo Archives

Becker's Farm Milk being delivered by a horse-drawn sled in Roseland in the early 20th century.

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Courtesy of Vintage Bergen County

Delivery vehicles for the Fair Lawn Pharmacy are shown in a photo from the 1950s.

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Courtesy of the Gloucester County Historical Society

Woodbury Times carriers Bruce Mills left, and Tommy Wilson are shown in 1970 when paper deliveries were still often handled on bicycles, a job I did from 1971 to 1974.

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Courtesy of Robert Slomick

In an unusual and accidentally historic photo, employees of the Independent Ice Service in Wildwood take a break to watch the Hindenburg pass overhead as it waited out thunderstorms off the New Jersey coast on May 6, 1937.

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Courtesy of the Keyport Historical Society

Snyder's Confectionery in Keyport didn't need a refrigerated truck to make neighborhood deliveries in the 1920s; they strapped barrels of ice cream to the running boards of a car, as seen in this photo.

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Courtesy of Haddonfield United

More than 100 years ago, transportation repair came to your home just as car windshield repair does today; these traveling farriers are shown at shoeing a horse at a home in Haddonfield in 1913.

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The Hunterdon County Library bookmobile brought reading materials to outlying towns and homes throughout the county in the 1930s.

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Courtesy of the Maplewood Historic Preservation Commission

Horse-drawn milk delivery wagons struggle through the snow on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood in 1912.

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Courtesy of the Monmouth County Historical Society

Unidentified employees of the Seaboard Ice Company in Asbury Park are shown with a delivery truck in the 1930s.

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Courtesy of Haddonfield United

Before the advent of disposable diapers, companies like DP Dy-Dee Service did excellent business picking up, cleaning and delivering cloth diapers. This photo of the closed business in Haddonfield is undated.

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Courtesy of Curtis Morgan

Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and their daughter Edyth (seated on Mr. Morgan's lap) are shown with their delivery truck in Elizabeth in the 1930s.

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Courtesy of John Grogan

The Kirchner Brothers, shown with their wagons in this pre-1900 photo, delivered bakery products in and around Jersey City.

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V. Sutera's grocery delivery truck operated in Hackensack in the 1920s and 1930s.

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George Schmidt went to homes in Red Bank to deliver televisions and radios and also to repair them. The photo is from the 1950s.

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Greg Hatala/For NJ Advance Media

Vintage photos of things delivered to your home in N.J.

https://www.nj.com/news/2016/03/vintage_photos_of_things_delivered_to_your_home_in.html

Vintage photos of home delivery and services in N.J.

https://www.nj.com/news/2015/02/vintage_photos_of_home_delivery_and_services_in_nj.html

Vintage photos of post offices and mail deliverers in N.J.

https://www.nj.com/news/2014/12/vintage_photos_of_post_offices_and_mail_deliverers_in_nj.html
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 12:43:36|Editor: huaxia

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CARACAS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese doctors helping Venezuela combat the novel coronavirus visited a leading health facility here on Wednesday, and accompanied their local counterparts in making house calls.

The Chinese medical experts visited the Dr. Alcides Rodriguez Integral Diagnostic Center in the capital Caracas, which serves as the country's main facility for detecting and treating COVID-19 patients.

The visit "was very productive since we were able to learn a lot, because they experienced the virus before we did," Cuban-born Yuderkys Requesens Santana, coordinator of the center, told Xinhua.

The Chinese medics were keen to learn about the field work being done by Venezuelan and Cuban doctors around the city, Requesens said.

"They are very interested in this Venezuelan system of research, in which doctors go out into the communities en masse, visiting 100 percent of the surrounding communities, or more than 50,000 people, house to house," Requesens said.

The Chinese experts found the house-to-house visits valuable "since they allow for early detection" of potential COVID-19 patients, said Jhon Segovia, director of the center's Area for Comprehensive Community Health, adding that they helped by making "recommendations to adopt at our health centers."

"We are seeing about 150 patients a day with some respiratory problems," and an average of 15 suspected COVID-19 cases, mainly in people who came in contact with an infected patient, travelers, or healthcare workers, said Segovia, who oversees two hospitals, one clinic and a network of 20 small and accessible health centers.

However, "we have not had any patient test positive as yet," Segovia said.

Johnny Arnao, a local resident who received a house call, said he appreciated the visit by the Chinese doctors. "We feel safer with them since they have already undergone this difficulty."
At least 50 Nigerian Christians killed by Fulani attacks in March, NGO reports

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A Nigerian civil society organization is reporting that no less than 50 Christians were killed in March and 10 in the first two days of April by radical Fulani herdsmen. Since the start of 2020, estimates suggest that over 400 Christians were killed in the West African country.

In all, not less than 410 Christian lives have been lost in Nigeria to Jihadist Fulani terrorists in the past 93 days of 2020, the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) said in a statement.

Ten Christians were killed in the first two days of April, it added.

This is on daily average of about five Christian deaths. On average, the Jihadist Fulani militants killed 125 Christians in January and February, respectively, and 50 in March.

Intersociety is a nongovernmental organization headed by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi. Through a team of criminologists, lawyers, journalists as well as peace and conflict studies graduates, Intersociety has monitored violence against Christians in Nigeria since 2010.



In addition to Umeagbalasi, the statement released Saturday was signed by lawyers Obianuju Igboeli, Ndidiamaka Bernard and Chinwe Umeche.

Intersociety previously reported that 350 Christians were killed in the first two months of 2020 by Fulani militants, highway bandits and the Boko Haram terrorist group in the northeast.

Since 2015, about 11,500 Christians have been killed in Nigeria, according to Intersociety. The killings are largely a result of increased terrorist attacks from Boko Haram splinter groups and overnight attacks carried out by radicalized Muslim nomadic Fulani herders against predominantly Christian farming communities in Nigerias Middle Belt.

In 2019, between 1,000 to 1,200 Christians were killed by Fulani attackers, Intersociety estimated.

The NGO relies on what it deems to be credible local and foreign media reports as well as government accounts, data from international rights groups, eyewitness testimony and reports from Christian bodies to compile its estimates.

Intersociety argued in its latest statement, which only counts the killings committed by Fulani attackers, that the decline in reported killings in March could be a result of attacks being under-reported due to a shift in local and international media attention during the coronavirus pandemic. The decline is not a result of change of heart or government counter successes," it said.

The groups statement comes as some international advocacy groups, including Christian Solidarity International and the Jubilee Campaign, are pressuring international actors to label the plight of Christians in Nigeria as a genocide.

On March 5, at least four Christians were reportedly killed and three women raped by Fulani attackers in the Guma area of the Benue state, according to Intersociety.

On March 13 and March 14, seven Christians were killed in coordinated attacks in Tyohembe and Tse Ayev communities of the Benue state believed to be carried out by radical Fulanis. The attacks were said to be carried out between 11 p.m. on March 13 and the early-morning hours of March 14.

Between March 26 and March 31, in Southern Kaduna state, a total of 11 Christians, including a district head and his brother, were reportedly killed by Fulani militants.

On March 27, three more Christians were said to have been killed in the Chikun local government area of Kaduna.



On March 30, the district head of the Jemaa local government area of Kaduna Danlami Barde and his brother, Musa Barde, were reportedly killed while the wife of Musa Barde sustained several gunshot injuries.

On the night of March 31-April 1, at least three Christians were killed in the Ancha area of the Plateau state.

According to the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), in its statement dated 31st March 2020, no fewer than six defenseless Christians were hacked to death in Komo Community, Guruku ward in Chikun [local government area] of Kaduna State, Intersociety stated.

On April 1, seven elderly Christians in the Hukke and Nkiedoro communities in the Plateau state were reportedly burned to death during an attack in which at least 23 houses were burned or destroyed.

Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world for Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. It is one of the most deadly countries in the world for Christians.

Because of the Nigerian governments inability to halt societal and extremist violence and hold those accountable responsible, Nigeria was added to the U.S. State Departments special watch list of countries that engage in or tolerate severe violations for religious freedom in December.



We are designating [Nigeria] special watch list for the first time because of all of the increasing violence and communal activity and the lack of effective government response and the lack of judicial cases being brought forward in that country, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told reporters at the time.

It is a dangerous situation in too many parts of Nigeria. The government has either not been willing to or have been ineffective in their response and the violence continues to grow.
Two weeks after the collapse of a first Eurogroup summit of eurozone finance ministers on the COVID-19 pandemic, a second emergency Eurogroup summit collapsed yesterday amid bitter recriminations among leading European states. The European Union (EU), obsessed with saving the wealth of the super-rich, has no policy to address the deadliest pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu.

For workers in Europe and internationally, the pandemic is an unprecedented social and economic crisis. On Tuesday, as the Eurogroup summit failed, 34,487 new cases were diagnosed and 4,599 died in hospital across Europe, bringing the total of 709,125 recorded cases and 57,245 deaths. Restrictions adopted in a desperate bid to slow the contagion cost over 11 million jobs last week, unleashing Europes deepest economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

With the UN estimating that 80 percent of the worlds 3.3 billion-member labor force is now impacted by full or partial work shutdowns, millions more jobs have been lost. Since then a million more jobs were lost in Spain, 1.8 million in France, and millions more Europewide.

Anger is mounting among workers and professionals towards the EU, which has blocked coordination by health authorities and subordinated its medical response to corporations calls to keep workers on the job to make profits for the banks. This policy, which spread the pandemic, led to disaster. While confinement policies were adopted only after mass strikes and walkouts by workers across Italy and Europe, the EU governments pursued beggar-thy-neighbor policies exemplified by the decision of Berlin and Paris to ban exports of key medical supplies to hard-hit Italy.

On Tuesday, European Research Council (ERC) President Mauro Ferrari, the leader of Europes leading scientific institution, resigned in protest at the EUs handling of the pandemic.

I have been extremely disappointed by the European response to COVID-19, Ferrari told the Financial Times of London. I arrived at the ERC a fervent supporter of the EU, but the COVID-19 crisis completely changed my views, though the ideals of international collaboration I continue to support with enthusiasm. Ferrari condemned the EUs complete absence of coordination of health care policies among member states, the recurrent opposition to cohesive financial support initiatives, the pervasive one-sided border closures.

This assessment was echoed by Janez Lenarcic, the EUs crisis management commissioner, who criticized the EUs callous response to the initial outbreak in Italy: There was an inadequate response to the Italian request for assistance from other EU member states.

Despite Lenarcics critique, EU finance ministers were unable to produce a coordinated policy to finance essential health care and assistance to workers and small businesses during the pandemic. The summit devolved into bitter conflicts between the leading EU powers over who would benefit from bank bailouts and who would decide what austerity measure to impose.

The meeting started 90 minutes late, at 4:30 p.m. amid differences over the summit agenda. The ministers canceled a planned 8 p.m. press conference and continued arguing throughout the night. A planned press conference at 10 a.m. was again canceled for lack of agreement. Ultimately, the Eurogroups president, Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno, announced the failure of the conference and that talks would restart today.

In reality, the package proposed by the EU powers is not a recovery package and contains no emergency funding for medical measures or the production of key medical supplies (masks, respirators or key drugs). The 540 billion package contains only 100 billion supposedly earmarked to finance reduced wages paid to workers laid off during the pandemic; the rest consists of subsidies for the banks and big business.

It appears talks failed over demands by the Dutch government, partially backed by Berlin, that countries receiving EU aid, like Italy, agree to budget cuts and other austerity measures dictated externally by the EU via the so-called European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Italian officials refused to agree to such a deal, modeled on the EUs looting of Greece during the euro crisis that followed the 2008 Wall Street crash.

It was left to German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who is working closely with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire, to make an official statement on the talks. In a press statement yesterday morning, Scholz claimed that the deployment of the ESM is not linked to a troika that enters the countries and develops programmes for the future as was the case ten years ago.

This is an obvious lie. Already in his further remarks Scholz left no doubt that the billions are to be squeezed out of the European working class by more brutal austerity measures.

"You can see from the decisions we have made in Germany that it is already possible to develop very clever programmes for the future," Scholz explained, adding: "Our decision is, for example, that we are going to repay the additional debt that we take on through the rules that we have given ourselves in our own constitution from 2023 on to 2043. We can do that and that's how it will work elsewhere.

Such statements must be taken as a warning to workers in Germany and across Europe. The European bourgeoisie insists not only on maintaining austerity policies that caused a social catastrophe across Europe, but to intensify it amid a historic economic collapse. Scholz's reference to the debt brake written into Germanys constitution in 2009 makes that clear. In the past decade the so called "black zero" balanced-budget policy, drawn up by former Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, served to implement massive attacks on the working class.

It speaks volumes about the class character of the EU that Scholz boasts that he already has secured the support of almost all European governments. As a German government, we know that we are in harmony not only with our French friends, but also, for example, with Portugal and Spain and all the others who have spoken out, Scholz claimed.

In fact, the deepest health and economic crisis in a century is shaking the EU to its foundations, revealing intractable, historically rooted contradictions of European capitalism. A group of Italian mayors took out a full-page ad in Germanys right-wing Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, demanding aid for Italian debts and invoking Western Europes forgiveness of Germanys Nazi war debts after World War II at the 1953 London conference.

At the same time, strategists of the financial elite are starting to discuss putting EU countries, which are highly indebted after a decade of bank bailouts to the super-rich, through state bankruptcy amid an upsurge of strikes and protests that has terrified the financial aristocracy. State indebtedness stands at over 150 percent of GDP in Italy, and 100 percent of GDP in France.

Le Monde carried a column proposing to prepare for defaults on sovereign debt by European countries by issuing Senior Corona Bonds (SCB). Investors could buy SCBs, Le Monde wrote, knowing that if a government goes bankrupt, it will pay out first to the holders of the SCBs. Creditors could then try to demand that bankrupt states organize drastic attacks on wages, social spending, health systems and public schools.

EU bailouts, like the individual national bailouts adopted by its member states, are reactionary and must be rejected. Vast measures, essential to stopping the pandemic but opposed by the European bourgeoisie, will cost trillions of euros: supporting wages, jobs and pensions of the workforce and the livelihoods of small businessmen; producing hospitals, respirators, drugs and safety equipment needed to treat the disease; and funding for the development and distribution of a vaccine. Getting the money needed to save lives means taking back the obscene, multibillion-euro fortunes of Europes financial aristocracy.

The force that can expropriate the super-rich is the European working class, mobilized in a common international struggle for socialism and to bring down the capitalist EU, replacing it with the United Socialist States of Europe.
Police said the driver of the vehicle that was shot at drove just across the Maryland border, to the 3900 block of Suitland Road. Police said the injured woman was taken to Prince Georges Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.
TDT | Manama

A doctor was convicted yesterday of abstaining from implementing self-confinement at his home, which was imposed on him to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Low Criminal Court sentenced him to one month in jail with force, fined him BD2,000 and ordered his deportation.

The General Health Directorate reported that the convict arrived in Bahrain from an infected country. After undergoing a blood test, the doctor was informed of a decision to isolate him for 14 days at home, in line with procedures adopted for people who come from coronavirus-infected countries.

Following up on his case, it was found out that he violated the quarantine procedure by reporting to his clinic where he mixed with workers and patients. Testing positive for COVID-19, he had exposed other people to infection.

The Public Prosecution investigated the case and listened to the doctor who examined the convict on arrival in the Kingdom. It also interrogated the convict after recovering from the disease and ordered him to compulsory confinement and to refer him to the specialised court, which issued its aforementioned verdict.
The Apostles Creed is one of the signature statements of the Christian faith. At church services around the world, believers recite it without reservation. But theres one part of the creed thats apt to generate confusion and suspicion. Sandwiched between its rendering of the events of Good Friday (He was crucified, died, and was buried) and Easter Sunday (The third day he rose again from the dead) is a perplexing affirmation: that Christ descended to hell. Because of their discomfort with this language, evangelicals have often neglected the importance of what Christ accomplished on Holy Saturday.

Matthew Emerson, a biblical theologian teaching at Oklahoma Baptist University, wants to refocus our attention on the time frame between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. In his book, He Descended to the Dead: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday, he gives a multifaceted defense of the doctrine of Christs descent and answers some common objections. Brad East, a theology professor at Abilene Christian University, spoke with Emerson about what did (and didnt) happen on Holy Saturdayand what it all means for our faith.

How would you sum up what happened to Christ, and what he accomplished, during his descent on Holy Saturday?

In the book, I argue that Christ dies a human death, as all humans do. His body is buried, and his soul departs to the place of the dead. So he experiences death just like any human being does. But because he is not only a human being but God in the flesh, his descent to the place of the dead is victorious. While he is there, he proclaims his victory over the powers of death. Then, in his resurrection, he achieves victory over death itself.

Another element of Christs victory comes in his releasing of the Old Testament saints from captivity. Its not that they were in torment or separated from Godonly that the object of their hope had finally arrived in the form of the Messiah.

What are some common misconceptions about the doctrine of the descent?

The biggest one is probably the idea that Christ, during his descent, went to hell and was tormented there. A lot of people balk at the language in the Apostles Creed, since it seems on the surface to suggest this. But when you take a closer look at history behind the development of the creed, its abundantly clear that this was never the intended meaning.

There are two other important cautions to make. First, in no way does Christs descent to the dead imply anything like universal salvation. It doesnt provide a way for everybody in hell to escape it. And second, it doesnt speak to the creation or perpetuation of purgatory, as the Roman Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar has suggested. Its not related to the idea of purgatory in any way.

So often, when I hear evangelicals rejecting the idea of Christs descent, what they really want to reject are some of the conclusions and implications that other traditions have drawn. And so its important to emphasize: The descent doesnt mean Christ was tormented in hell, it doesnt mean universalism, and it doesnt mean the Roman Catholic view of purgatory, whether were talking about the traditional view or the innovative way that Balthasar connects the descent to it.

In the book, you critique John Calvins understanding of Christs descent. Where, in your view, did Calvin go astray?

It pains me to say this, because among the three magisterial ReformersLuther, Calvin, and ZwingliCalvin is one with whom I have the greatest affinity. But Calvin is entirely novel, and I think unpersuasive, in his understanding of Christs descent.

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According to Calvin, the descent clause refers to Jesus physical and spiritual torment on the cross on Good Fridaynot to what he accomplished between his death and resurrection. Now, to be clear, as someone who affirms penal substitution as the correct model of atonement, I do believe that Jesus experienced physical and spiritual torment on the cross. He was bearing the wrath of God on behalf of sinners. Im glad, then, to see Calvin affirming penal substitutionary atonement, but I dont believe its what the descent clause is referring to.

In the book, I mention some possible reasons for Calvins innovation in this area, although I admit these are mainly speculative. My hunch is that hes nervous about affirming the kind of cosmology that includes the notion of an underworld, which can lead in the direction of Roman Catholic ideas about purgatory. But I think hes guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Another, more contemporary figure you critique is the theologian Wayne Grudem. Where would you take issue with his understanding of the descent clause?

In 1991, Grudem wrote an article for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society called He Did Not Descend into Hell: A Plea to Follow Scripture Instead of the Creed. From the title alone, you get some sense of his objection. Grudem seems to be saying that the Apostles Creed has something in it that has misunderstood Scripture or masked what it is really saying.

His main concern, of course, is that people have been misled into thinking that Jesus was tormented in hell on Holy Saturday. I agree with Grudem, of course, about this point. There is no biblical basis for supposing that Jesus was tormented in hell on Holy Saturday. I would argue, however, that the creed was never interpreted to mean this until the 20th century, when Balthasars view was influential. Put briefly, Balthasar believes that the descent clause refers to the fact that Christ experienced the visio mortis, the very opposite of the beatific vision. In other words, hes saying that Christ experienced a kind of existential separation from God, above and beyond the suffering he experienced in his human nature on Good Friday as a substitute for sin.

Like Grudem, I find that view biblically and theologically problematic. Where I disagree with Grudem is in matters of historical interpretation. I believe he is wrong to confuse Balthasars 20th-century innovation with the churchs traditional understanding of the Apostles Creed and its descent clause.

Another difficulty I have with Grudems position is his overreliance on 1 Peter 3:1822 in understanding Christs descent. This passagein which Peter states that Christ was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit (v. 18), after which he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits (v. 19)is notoriously difficult to figure out. Some have even taken it to mean that Christ preached in hell, either before his resurrection or afterward.

For what its worth, in my book I say that this passage probably refers to Christs descent in some way, although I admit I could be wrong. In any event, this is hardly the only passage in Scripture attesting to the fact that Jesus actually died a human death. Theres no reason to understand Christs descent through the lens of 1 Peter alone.

Apart from 1 Peter, then, what are some of the passages that help round out the biblical picture of what Christ accomplished in his descent?

The first set of texts to remember are those that discuss Jesus experiencing death as all human beings do. This would include passages like Matthew 12:40 [For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.], Acts 2:27 [Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.], and Romans 10:67 [But the righteousness that is by faith says: Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) or Who will descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).]. You could also include the parable of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16:1931 or Jesus statement to the thief on the cross: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise [Luke 23:43]. In his own statements about his death, Jesus indicates that he will go to the place of the deadspecifically to the righteous portion of it, paradise.

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A second set of verses concerns Jesus proclaiming victory over the powers of death. The main passage in this category is Revelation 1:18, in which Jesus is said to hold the keys of death and Hades. The idea is that Jesus, in his descent to the realm of the dead, has invaded enemy territory and come out victorious, taking possession of the powers that death used to hold. You could also mention Matthew 16, which promises that the gates of Hades will not overcome the church [v. 18].

A third set of verses speaks of releasing the captives. These are probably some of the toughest to interpret correctly. Weve already mentioned 1 Peter 3:1822. Another instance is Ephesians 4:810, when Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18, saying that when Christ ascended on high, he took many captives [v. 8]. He then asks, What does he ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? [v. 9]. In the book, I acknowledge that scholars disagree about the exact meaning of these verses, but I believe theres a strong argument to be made that Paul is talking about liberating these captives from the underworld or place of the dead, rather than the earth itself.

Lets emphasize, again, that this isnt a second chance or a post-death conversion opportunity. Its simply a proclamation that Jesus victory extends all the way to the lowest regions in the place of the dead, so that everyone in heaven and on earth and under the earth might bow before him, as Philippians 2:10 puts it.

As weve discussed already, evangelical unease with the doctrine of descent is often a product of unease with the specific wording of the descent clause in the Apostles Creed. How do you understand the authority of the historic creeds? Is it possible that parts of them could be in error?

Ultimately, creedal authority is derivative. In other words, the churchs creeds have no authority in and of themselves. They are only authoritative to the extent that they are faithful to Scripture itself. The creeds can be wrong. They are not inerrant and infallible. Yet because of their rootedness in Scripture they have stood the test of time, in different places and across different traditions, and so were obliged to give them a certain weight. Theyre not one-off events like a pastors sermons, which, even if they are faithful to Scripture, dont bear the weight of the churchs long history.

We should be very cautious, therefore, about wanting to overturn any particular creedal phrase. The better response is to search the Scriptures again, to make sure were not missing something.

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How does the doctrine of descent help shed light on other essential areas of Christian doctrine?

Christs descent has important implications for our doctrine of Christology. Historically speaking, the descent clause was stated in the creeds most explicitly when the church was facing the threat of Apollinarianism. This is the heresy that God the Son assumed a human body but not a human soul. (Theres more to it, of course, but thats the basic gist.)

But if Christ descended to the place of the dead via his human soul, which is what the descent clause is affirming, then Apollinarianism collapses. When we downplay the descent clause, then, we risk missing out on how the church has understood the human nature of Christ throughout its history. We risk missing out on how the church has understood the Incarnation as a redemption of the whole person, body and soul.

There are implications for the doctrine of humanity as well. If Christ in his humanity is body and soul, then human beings must be body and soul. And if Christs descent reveals what death is like for all humans, then it must involve the cessation of life in the body and the departure of the soul to the place of the dead. Im not necessarily comfortable calling this a separation between body and soul, because I still think there is a connection that remains. But Christs descent tells us that when we die, we enter into an intermediate state, wherein the soul remains conscious.

Speaking of this intermediate state, youve referred before to ancient notions of cosmology that would have influenced people in Bible times as they pondered what happens to the souls of the dead. How do you see Scripture drawing on that cosmology as it depicts where people go when they die?

In the ancient world, around the time the New Testament was written, there was an understanding that the worldor, in our terms, the universeexisted in three tiers: the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. The gods live up in the heavens. Human beings live here on earth. And the dead reside in the underworld.

Theres a lot of spatial language attached to this understanding of the world. Different traditions of ancient thought believed that you could enter the underworld through certain access points. A lot of times we have this impression that ancient people were ignorant and unsophisticated about such matters, whereas we are enlightened and scientific.

But I think its a mistake to draw this conclusion. Im far from convinced that a Jewish person of this period would have believed, for instance, that you could literally dig a hole to the underworld. Both the Old and New Testaments use plenty of figurative language to describe where the underworld exists, and the variety of examples leads me to believe that the Jews in this era werent imagining it as a place in the customary sense of somewhere you can go to by ordinary human means.

Old Testament writers often use metaphorical language to describe invisible spiritual realities. God, who is spirit, is said to have a particular dwelling place, in the heavens or in the temple. In the same way, human souls are thought to dwell somewhere particular after death, even though souls dont take up any physical space. I believe the Scriptures are truthful in how they describe these things, but we need to be careful not to take figurative language as evidence of a belief in physical realms that correspond to the figurative language.

By the time of the New Testament, there is a clear affirmation of an afterlife with different compartments, so to speak, for the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous go to paradise (or Abrahams bosom), while the unrighteous go somewhere variously described as Gehenna, Hades, Sheol, and the abyss. The righteous are separated from Israel and God physically because their bodies are dead. They cant praise God in the temple. But that doesnt mean they are separate from God spiritually. He remains present in the righteous compartment of the place of the dead.

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That place is not yet what it will become, because the Messiah isnt there yet. But thats precisely what happens in the descent. The Messiah descends in his human soul, and then he rises from the dead in his resurrected body, which necessarily changes the nature of paradise. Those righteous saints from the Old Testament are no longer waiting and hoping, because now the object of their hopethe resurrected Messiahis present with them in bodily form.

The Old Testament saints have often been pictured, after death, as languishing in a kind of prison, even if they arent suffering the pains of hell. What do you make of this rendering?

I certainly believe that death is a prison. There is no escape from that prison apart from Christs redemptive work. And so until that work is actually accomplished, the dead remain imprisoned in some sense.

In the book, I tend to play this down somewhat, mainly because evangelicals so often associate Christs descent with Roman Catholic notions of purgatory. Catholics use the term Limbus Patrum (or Limbo, in common usage) to describe a place where Old Testament saints were kept until Christ came to liberate them. But Im somewhat uncomfortable with this concept, because it seems to me that this separates those saints from God in more of an existential sense, as if they are in torment while they await the Messiah.

And so, in the book, Im trying to say, Look, this is not torment. This is not separation from God. But yes, death is a prison. And the Old Testament saints are in bondage in some sense until Christ releases them from captivity.

Is there anything else youd like to say, in closing, about Christs descent?

I want to emphasize that the descent clause is an incredibly pastoral clause. It tells us that Jesus experienced death, just like we do. It tells us that Jesus has walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and that he leads the way for us to the other side. Hes risen from the dead and is victorious over death itself. Death has no hold over us. Death isnt kingJesus is King. When we understand Christs descent, we can see that its an incredibly hopeful doctrine.
The coronavirus death toll among Italian doctors reached 100 today as four more physicians died in the past 24 hours.

The Italian doctors' federation, FNOMCEO, said that the figure could even be as high as 101.

Italian media reports estimate that 30 nurses and nursing assistants have also died of COVID-19.

The toll includes retired doctors who had voluntarily returned to work during the outbreak.

A FNOMCEO spokesman said: 'The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100 - perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately.'

A medical staff member tending to a patient suffering from the coronavirus in the intensive care unit at the Circolo hospital in Varese, Italy, today

They were among some 8,000 medical staff to volunteer last month for an emergency coronavirus task force.

Some hospitals in Lombardy and other badly-hit areas are struggling with half as many staff as needed to treat the number of patients being admitted, Il Messeggero reported.

According to official figures most of these victims worked in and around Lombardy, the region at the centre of the Italian outbreak - although doctors have also died further south in Le Marche, Campania, Sicily and Puglia.

In total 13,121 healthcare workers have contracted the new coronavirus in Italy, according to the latest count by the Italian Higher Health Institute (ISS).

'We can longer allow our doctors, our health workers, to be sent to fight without any protection against the virus,' FNOMCeO president Filippo Anelli said on the association's website.

The Italian doctors' federation, FNOMCEO, said today that the number of doctors in the country who had died of coronavirus could be as high as 101

Rome's ISS public health institute estimates that 10 per cent of those infected with the novel coronavirus in Italy work in health care.

It has emerged the pandemic has a huge emotional and psychological toll on the doctors and nurses working on the frontline.

Already, two nurses in Italy have killed themselves, and psychologists have mobilized therapists and online platforms to provide free consultation for medical personnel.

Yesterday Italian authorities announced they would begin screening doctors for signs of coronavirus immunity.

The northern regions of Veneto and Emilia-Romagna are hoping to issue 'licences' to return to work for people who are shown to be immune, but officials admit that the antibody tests may not work.

Italy's total official death toll is at 17,669 as of Thursday evening.

The country has begun to contemplate an end to the lockdown after a slowdown in new infections.
Gallery owner Cindy Stevens is staying connected to the children in the community with Kids Art Bags filled with supplies to encourage creativity.

The kids are pretty anxious now, too, and it calms their brain and theyre so excited to get them and open it up, which really makes me feel good, said Stevens, of Cindy Stevens Fine Art in Clinton.

For this artist, connecting with the children is an extension of her Kids Art Classes.

People are so supportive of my place, this project  its very overwhelming to me, she said, through tears. I appreciate it all, its so positive. Its nice to know that what you do makes an impact on people and thats really cool for me.

Sketchbooks, watercolors and brushes, pastels, crayons, markers, plus a smaller bag full of unique collage papers along with a glue stick are being assembled by Stevens, along with her husband, Gary, and assistant Isabelle Reina.

Cindy and Gary Stevens have been folding 12-inch-by-18-inch, white sulphite paper and stapling them together to make individual 16-page sketchbooks.

It is this move that has allowed Stevens to keep the cost of the bags at $5.

She is looking to grow the project by adding an adult bag for $10 and possibly creating other, more intricate art projects.

Its pretty loose, she said. They dont have to do it a certain way. Its not like Im doing a video they have to follow.

Yet, if budding artists want some guidance, Stevens does post some videos to her Facebook page with ideas and suggestions.

One very important message Stevens stresses is that these young artists should work without guidance from their caregivers.

Im really hoping its really a calm thing for the kids and the parents, she added.

For local resident Liz Ruggiero, this is true in her house.

Ruggieros two children, Zoe, 12, and Audra, 9, have taken art classes with Cindy Stevens Art Studio and everyone in the family is excited about the art bags.

Its a really cute idea. Shes thought of everything, Ruggiero said, adding that her children were working on an Earth Day project.

They love art and do their own, so just giving them paper and paint, theyre good to go, Ruggiero said of her daughters, who attend Jared Eliot School and Lewin G. Joel Jr. School.

We go over to all our stuff and its now art class, she said. Most of is probably ideas from Cindy or supplies from Cindy, so its fantastic.

For those families unable to afford the cost, Stevens is working with Families Helping Families Inc., a nonprofit organization that assists families in need.

Community members are helping with this part of the project by contributing money.

Since starting the project March18, Stevens has sold more than 400 bags. She never imagined the project would be so popular.

Its all Im doing, she said, laughing. Im packing these in my sleep.

Stevens emphasized that she is very conscious of social distancing and cleanliness, and wears gloves when packing the bags. In addition, she has individuals prepay and the bags are outside her shop for pickup.

While Stevens is doing this project for the children, she admits it is very therapeutic for her, as well.

It gives me something positive to focus on, she said. Its a very positive distraction and I feel like Im doing a good thing and taking my mind off the world.

Cindy Stevens Fine Art is located at 30 E. Main St., Clinton. Email CindyStevensFineArt@gmail.com, call 860-304-1666 or visit cindystevensfineart.com.
No night prayers were held at any major mosque or shrine in Kashmir on Shab-e-Baraat (night of forgiveness) as people stayed indoors due to the lockdown to combat the coronavirus threat, officials said on Thursday.

They said authorities as well as religious organisations had appealed to people not to observe the congregation prayers on the occasion and instead pray at homes.

District Magistrate, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary had issued an order prohibiting all religious congregations and public movement on Shab-e-Barat in the city.

The order issued under Section 144 of the CrPC stated that the decision to prohibit religious gatherings on the occasion was taken based on recommendations of concerned authorities and reports from the field besides taking into account the current precarious health situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jammu and Kashmir's Grand Mufti Nisar-ul-Islam had urged people not to observe the congregational prayers on Shab-e-Baraat, which is observed by Muslims during the intervening night of 14 and 15 Sha'ban -- the 8th month of the Islamic calendar.

However, low-key celebrations and prayers were held at some mosques in the Valley, but the gatherings were small and prayers short, the officials said.

They said most people offered prayers at their homes to seek mercy and forgiveness from the God.

Every year, the biggest congregation on the occasion is held at the revered Hazratbal shrine on the banks of Dal Lake here, where thousands of devotees assemble.

However, no such congregation was held this year there as the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Wakf Board had last month announced suspension of congregational as well as regular prayers in shrines and mosques affiliated to it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When shes running late for Mass, a friend of mine asks her guardian angel to go ahead and stand in for her at the church until she arrives. So she told me once. A canon lawyer would say no. I might lightly mock her sentimentality if it didnt touch on a crucial question. Catholics cherish the real presence, as we call it, of Christ in the Eucharist, the bread and wine consecrated by the priest at Mass, but what about our presence? Is that a mystery too?

It is possible to be at Mass in body but not in spirit. We can park our bones in the house of God while in our minds we wander the valley of the shadow of hell: Maybe we find the music insipid, the homily banal, and begin to murmur mentally about wasted time. We grow resentful as the priest, the lectors, and the music director tacitly conspire to lengthen every syllable, prolong the pauses between words, and make the music slow. The hymns are no less unmemorable for our having to wait as the organ drowns out the handful of congregants pretending to sing all 14 verses.

The sacrifice on the altar is a great brilliant fire. The ceremony in which it is concealed according to the liturgical conventions of mainstream contemporary Catholicism is a dull leaden lump of a furnace. Its an encumbrance. I would blast it away and cut to the chase, the sacrifice, a ritual that the priest can accomplish at a dignified pace in 20 minutes. Granted, the wish to embellish and adorn the Mass may be sweet, but most parish liturgy committees aspire to more than they achieve, unless (would this be worse?) what they do achieve is exactly what they aspire to.

Pardon my grouchiness. The typical Sunday Mass in 2020 pleases most Catholics who regularly attend it. Most Catholics dont regularly attend it. Their reasons for staying away vary. Some dont believe what the Church teaches about the real presence, the resurrection of the body, apostolic succession, the intercession of the saints. Others believe, more or less, but not in the ability of the Churchs leaders to communicate the splendor of the truth of the faith.

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I sympathize with that latter group of nominal Catholics even while joining the regular churchgoers. Practicing Catholics know the drill: On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass (Code of Canon Law, can. 1247). (Note the word participate. Ill come back to it.) The longstanding assumption among Catholics is that what constitutes a violation of our duty to participate is the failure to be physically present in a space where Mass is celebrated. Such a failure is a mortal sin.

You can understand why Catholics would settle on physical instead of mental presence as the criterion of participation. The line between being physically present and not physically present is, if not always indisputable, usually bright enough. How late can we arrive and still say that we went to Mass? (The most common answer, in my experience: No later than the beginning of the gospel.) How early can we leave? (After Communion, but not before? In any case, remember that were discouraged from cutting corners.)

I recently read that, according to the letter of canon law, we fulfill our obligation if were physically present anywhere on church property while Mass is being celebrated somewhere on it. Does that mean that we could spend the hour in the church parking lot, perhaps reading a book? The discussion online was theoretical and hedged with disclaimers: Be mindful that not everything that is lawful is recommended or beneficial. I confess that more than once Ive walked out of Mass and gone to the Adoration chapel, to try to concentrate and pray.

Those who know Christianity only from a distance are often slow to recognize its emphasis on the corporeal: the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the largely biomedical and nutritive miracles that pervade the gospels. Catholics in particular appreciate devotions that are demonstrative and engage the whole body, as when a pilgrim travels to a holy place. We admire the power and the glory of the pious gesture and assume that the depth of the concomitant intention is probably commensurate. We forgive ourselves if it isnt, figuring that by making the gesture weve made at least an act of will.

This Holy Week and Easter, given the pandemic, many of us feel deprived of the incarnational dimension of our faith as we pray the Mass while following it online. Good, if it jolts us from complacency, from an overestimation of the value of our bodily presence alone, from an overindulgence of our habit of mental absence during worship. From the other side of the screen on which I type these words, Ive watched the pope say Mass in Rome. Whether my guardian angel flew there to represent me at the foot of the altar matters less than whether I cared enough to ask him.

More from National Review
T he family of a London prison worker who died with suspected coronavirus today criticised a failure to provide him with protective equipment amid growing concerns about conditions behind bars.

Bovil Peter, 64, a member of the support staff at HMP Pentonville in Islington, died last week while showing symptoms of the virus.

One of his colleagues, Patrick Beckford, has also lost his life apparently suffering from the disease as the number of prison staff and inmates with coronavirus continues to rise.

Ministers responded at the weekend with a limited early release scheme in an attempt to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in overcrowded conditions.

But Mr Peters nephew, Mark Smith, today warned that his uncle had been placed at excessive risk as he described the familys devastation.

The whole family was in total shock when we heard he had died. When I got the news I couldnt believe it, he said from his home in St Lucia.

He was a joyful, hard-working, spiritual man, very, very friendly. He should have had the proper protective equipment where he worked.

Lockdown London 1 /18 Lockdown London

It is very important in the kind of job he was doing. We are hoping to have a memorial for him here in Saint Lucia but we dont know when this will be. This virus is such a horrible thing.

A third prison worker, a 48-year-old based in the kitchen at Wymott Prison in Lancashire, was also reported to have died with suspected Covid-19 symptoms yesterday.

The Prison Governors Association has warned that a lack of protective equipment is making it harder to safeguard staff and prevent the disease spreading among inmates, saying that this is a serious concern. It has also called for the testing of both prisoners and staff.

The Prison Officers Association has also demanded action, adding that the testing of prisoners was also essential to stop those due for release from spreading the virus in communities when they are freed.

Mark Fairhurst, the associations national chairman, added: We really pushed for personal protective equipment because of what staff are facing in our prisons.

"Masks, gowns, gloves and goggles should be in regional hubs today. There should be no shortage.

What we want to see now is the testing of prison staff and prisoners who are being released. It is imperative that prisoners who are released are not taking the virus back to their communities.

Emily Thornberry MP, whose Islington constituency covers Pentonville, said: We are all concerned that these two deaths may be connected to that reported outbreak.

"I hope the possibility will be investigated thoroughly to ensure that any steps required to make prison officers and other staff safe from infection are taken immediately, alongside the ongoing steps being taken to protect inmates and reduce overcrowding.

The Government announced on Saturday that up to 4,000 prisoners in England and Wales, coming to the end of their sentences, would be released early.

Few have been released so far, however, despite an admission this week by Justice Secretary Robert Buckland that some prisons are facing acute problems in controlling the spread of the virus.

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A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said the latest figures show 129 prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19 across 47 prisons, while 24 prison staff have been diagnosed with the virus across 13 prisons.

Five prisoner escort and custody services staff have also tested positive.

He added: We have robust and flexible plans in place to protect prison staff, the public and prisoners, based on the latest advice from Public Health England.
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "HNW Offshore Investment: Drivers and Motivations" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report draws on survey results to analyze the drivers behind offshore investments in the HNW space. It examines and contrasts offshore HNW investment preferences across 27 jurisdictions, providing readers with an in-depth understanding of what is motivating HNW investors to look for new homes for their wealth.

Key Highlights



At a global level, 32.5% of HNW wealth is invested outside one's country of residence.

North American investors offshore the largest proportion of their wealth to achieve tax efficiencies (19%), but only 62% of European providers are able to advise clients on the taxation of their international assets.

32% of global HNW wealth is held via equities, 15% via bonds, and 18% via property.

Economic and political instabilities are driving 16% of global HNW wealth offshore.

Political and economic uncertainties as an offshore driver are becoming more important, now accounting for 13% of offshore investments.

The proportion of HNW individuals who invest offshore has been on the rise despite the scandals that have shaken the industry.



While the reasons are diverse and differ from country to country, an expectation of better returns abroad, international business interests, and local political and economic instability top the list. However, we are seeing notable differences between regions, suggesting that one strategy does not fit all.



For example, tax efficiencies as a driver for offshore investments are of particular importance in Europe and North America. This means assisting HNW investors in minimizing their tax liabilities is key in these regions. Meanwhile, in Asia Pacific business interests are a significant driver, so a well-designed business and investment banking proposition neatly integrated with standard private banking services is a must.



Reasons to Buy

Understand the global trends that are driving offshore investments in the HNW space.

Compare how HNW offshore investment drivers differ across 27 countries.

Learn why certain HNW offshore drivers are more relevant in some countries than in others and how this affects your business.

Understand how to react to the constantly changing tax environment and adjust your offshore proposition accordingly.

Learn how political and economic instability affects client preferences and how global markets shape investment behavior in the HNW space.

Companies Mentioned



UBS

Investec

HSBC

Kendris

Citibank

BNP Paribas

Key Topics Covered



1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1. HNW offshore investment is driven by a multitude of factors

1.2. Key findings

1.3. Critical success factors



2. GLOBAL TRENDS DRIVING HNW OFFSHORE INVESTMENTS

2.1. Increasingly easy access will drive offshore investments across the globe

2.1.1. A third of HNW offshore wealth is booked abroad

2.1.2. A sophisticated offshore proposition has become a hygiene factor

2.2. An expectation of better returns abroad and business interests account for a third of HNW offshore investments globally

2.2.1. HNW investors are looking for better returns abroad

2.2.2. Already the second most important offshore driver, the importance of international business interests is set to increase

2.2.3. Taken together, tax efficiencies and client anonymity are the number one driver for offshore investments

2.2.4. Other drivers include access to better investment options, local political and economic instability, expatriate money flows, and currency volatility

2.3. Significant regional differences exist in the motivations for offshore investment

2.3.1. Offshore propositions must be tailored at a country or regional level



3. DETAILED DRIVER ANALYSIS

3.1. Local market factors drive the variety in HNW individuals' motivations for offshore investment

3.2. Driver one: HNW investors are betting on better returns offshore

3.2.1. Despite a desire to capitalize on returns abroad, HNW investors are taking a more careful and diversified stance

3.2.2. Investors who look for better returns abroad are biased towards the US

3.2.3. Chinese HNW investors look for returns abroad in the property space, but tensions with the US will affect booking center preferences going forward

3.3. Driver two: Business interests as a driver for offshore investments means offering hedging products is a must

3.3.1. Targeting Japanese HNW entrepreneurs requires a sophisticated offshore proposition

3.3.2. Increasing business dealings with the US will see more Taiwanese HNW wealth flow offshore

3.4. Driver three: Political and economic uncertainty

3.4.1. Economic factors are marginally more important than political ones as an offshore driver

3.4.2. Political instability remains an important driver for offshore investments in Europe

3.4.3. Political and economic instability are also major concerns in South Africa

3.4.4. Providing access to safe havens is paramount in countries where economic and political stability rank highly

3.4.5. Hong Kong seeks to defend its safe haven status amid economic and political unrest

3.5. Driver four: Access to a broader and better range of investments is also an important consideration in the offshoring decision

3.5.1. Domestic market sector concentration bias drives offshore investment in the developed world

3.5.2. Access to a broader range of investment options is also an important driver in markets with limited investment options

3.6. Driver five: The desire for tax efficiency represents an opportunity, but achieving anonymity is becoming increasingly challenging

3.6.1. With a few exceptions, the importance of tax efficiency and client anonymity as an offshore driver go hand in hand

3.6.2. Compliance is becoming an increasingly big headache, but technology can assist

3.6.3. The US and fake residency information are the biggest issues facing CRS

3.6.4. Tax efficiencies are a major driver in the UAE despite the lack of income taxes

3.7. Other drivers: The importance of currency volatility, geographic diversification benefits, and expat money flows vary across markets

3.7.1. Players looking to attract offshore HNW wealth should highlight the benefits of geographic diversification, while smaller companies should promote funds

3.7.2. Expat flows are an important driver in countries with high immigration rates

3.7.3. Currency volatility as a driver for offshore investments is becoming more important



4. APPENDIX

4.1. Supplementary data

4.2. Abbreviations and acronyms

4.3. Definitions

4.3.1. Affluent

4.3.2. CRS

4.3.3. HNW

4.3.4. Liquid assets

4.3.5. Mass affluent

4.3.6. Residency

4.4. Methodology

4.4.1. The 2019 Global Wealth Managers Survey

4.4.2. The 2018 Global Wealth Managers Survey

4.5. Secondary sources



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/khsaux

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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For the greatest escape in times of unsettling emotional needs, what embrace could feel more satisfying than that of Starz's romantic, time-hopping drama series "Outlander?"

Fans have been saying as much for years, happily falling into the attentive, 18th-century arms of Scottish highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Or into the arms of his brilliant wife, Claire (Caitriona Balfe), a doctor from the 20th century. Or maybe there's a way to just squeeze in between them  an "Outlander" cuddle sandwich. (I presume fan-fic scenarios of just such an encounter already abound.)

Working its way through Diana Gabaldon's popular novels, the show (airing Sundays) is seven episodes into its fifth season. You have plenty of time these days to start fresh from Season 1 and enjoy "Outlander" at your own pace; the rest of us are in North Carolina circa 1771, where, improbably (but intriguingly), the Frasers are caught up in the early skirmishes of the coming Revolutionary War. You ask: How does a story set in Scotland wind up here? Oh, my dears  it's beyond complicated.

To be entirely honest, the current season reveals that even "Outlander" can occasionally lose some crucial steam, dragging along with a story line in which Jamie has been unwillingly ordered by British authorities to form a militia to aid the redcoats in their dogged pursuit of a revolutionary upstart (Duncan Lacroix) who happens to be Jamie's godfather and sworn protector. All of this is also complicated and overwrought  and, once it finally gets to a battlefield, muskety and macho.

A far more interesting and topically prescient thread can be found, as usual, in Claire's world. A couple of seasons ago, she returned to Jamie from 1969, where she was working as a surgeon in Boston. She was ultimately followed to the 1770s by her adult daughter, Brianna Randall (Sophie Skelton), who was followed by her estranged Scottish fiance, Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin).

They're all now trying to make a peaceful life for themselves in the newly established colonial farming community Jamie has dubbed Fraser's Ridge.

In addition to a thousand chores, Claire has become the village's designated medic, treating injuries and ailments and also performing the occasional tonsillectomy or appendectomy, with only 18th-century technology to assist her.

Although he marvels at her skills, Jamie long ago learned to refer to his wife as a "healer," because no woman in his time can be seriously considered as a doctor. It's now a recurring motif in "Outlander," whenever Claire steps in to cure one of several wretched characters who would have otherwise croaked. She knows so much more than they ever will, yet, for her troubles, she's been accused of witchcraft or, worse, watched helplessly as her diagnoses are disregarded.

"I'll leave you to wage war with your wee invisible beasties," Jamie tells Claire, as he prepares to head out to work the land. A line of coughing villagers are waiting outside the door to see her.

"Bacteria," she reminds him. "It certainly feels like a war."

The people of Fraser's Ridge hold Claire in high esteem, though they laugh off her sound medical advice, preferring superstition, bloodletting and bogus elixirs.

Claire's had enough. She starts cultivating mold samples under glass, in hopes of making an effective dose of penicillin. Under an alias ("Dr. Rawlings"), she circulates a list of good health practices (wash your hands!), which winds up being printed in a local newspaper  and roundly dismissed as the work of a crackpot.

"It's bad enough that I'm fighting the disease," she says at one point. "But I'm also fighting the cure."

Brianna challenges her mother on her willingness to practice modern medicine centuries before its time. "You can't do (this). ... Penicillin isn't invented for another hundred years."

"157 years to be precise," Claire responds.

"Pretending to be someone else and writing lists that go against the accepted wisdom is one thing," Brianna says. "But this? It's dangerous. What if it messes with the cosmic balance? Or breaks some rule of space and time? Isn't this playing God?"

"I play God every time I save a person's life here," Claire says. She's already thought this through. Being that there's no scientific explanation for how she, Brianna and Roger were transported through time by touching the ancient standing stones at Craigh na Dun in Scotland, why stop there? She's made up her mind to use some science in the midst of magic. "Time, space, history? Be damned," she says.

In other words, leave the paradoxes to the sci-fi nerds. In Claire's determination to save the lives around her, "Outlander" viewers can find an unexpected note of solace in the time of the coronavirus, believing that our own Claire Fraser is out there, experimenting with the cure.

So, too, are history's blundering leaders and other charlatans, tossing around bad facts and rumored curative potions (hydroxychloroquine, anyone?). In one recent episode, a rash action by one of the militia's biggest rubes destroyed the syringe containing Claire's only successful sample of penicillin. It's a disappointing setback, but also a fitting reminder that a world that's so in need of healing very often thwarts its saviors.
The Covid-19 restrictions on travel have reduced Kildares main motorways to just a trickle of traffic due to the lack of commuters.

Traffic volumes have remained at a sustained lower level since the Stay at Home notice was delivered by the Taoiseach on March 27.

An analysis of statistics provided by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) show that volumes are down to about one-third of their normal levels due to the reduced numbers of vehicles.



Whittled down

For example, on the N7 at Kill there were over 93,000 vehicles recorded on Wednesday, March 4. However this was whittled down on under 30,000 on Wednesday last, April 1.



Further along the M7 near Kildare Village, traffic dropped from 41,619 to 13,167 between early March and last Wednesday.

The highest number of vehicles per hour usually reaches 3,600 but this barely breached 1,000 last week.

Similarly for the M4, traffic near the Maynooth junction rose to over 47,000 in early March  but this was reduced to just over 15,000 on Wednesday last.



TII spokesman Sean ONeill told the Leader: On all motorways and routes, were down to traffic levels lower than a very quiet Christmas Day or New Years Day but this is every day.

Its probably the longest period of time where traffic has been this low, but of course its very welcome as it proves that people are observing the Covid-19 restrictions apart from essential workers who are allowed to travel.



Traffic counters installed on motorways provide information on the volume of traffic by hour of day and the type of vehicle.

Vehicles are detected by passing over loops embedded in the road surface.



Google statistics

Meanwhile the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on the movement in people across County Kildare has been laid bare in new data published by Google.

The tech giant has gathered information from users of its technology, to examine how travel patterns have altered across the country in recent weeks.

Traffic at retail and recreation sites have plummeted by 84% but grocery and pharmacy locations have seen a smaller drop of 36% as the majority are still open but visited less often.

Workplaces have dropped by 51% reflecting the rules on essential-only employment while numbers in homes has increased by 21%.



M7 upgrade works

Meanwhile the 110m upgrade of the M7 has been temporarily suspended until Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

The 120km per hour speed limit returned to the upgraded section of the M7 in early February after temporary speed limits of 80km per hour and 60km per hour were in force for over two years since works first began in January 2018.

A temporary speed limit had applied for motorists for over two years since works first began in January 2018.



Widening

Key elements of the overall project by SIAC/Colas include the widening the existing M7 motorway from two lanes to three lanes both eastbound and westbound for approximately 14km.

The upgrade concerns the stretch of motorway between Junction 9 Naas North, at Maudlins (Perpetual Motion Ball), and the M7/M9 interchange, at Junction 11.
Oil prices extended gains Thursday after Russia signalled it was ready to cut output before a key producers' meeting aimed at boosting energy markets as the coronavirus pandemic strangles demand. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 4.6 percent to $26.26 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped 2.7 percent to $33.73. Oil exporting group OPEC, led by top producer Saudi Arabia, and others -- including Russia -- will meet via video conference later Thursday and expectations are growing they will agree to reduce output to support prices. Prices are at near-two-decade lows with travel restrictions and lockdowns around the world throttling demand, and Riyadh and Moscow locked in a vicious price war. But Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's second-biggest producer, now look set to draw a line under their dispute to help stabilise battered markets. Moscow said Wednesday it is willing to cut output by about 1.6 million barrels a day, or about 15 percent, Bloomberg News reported, smoothing the path towards a deal. A key question had been whether the US would join any deal, but analysts say a fall in America's crude output forecast released earlier this week is likely enough to satisfy Riyadh and Moscow for now. Another key meeting takes place Friday, when G20 energy ministers hold talks remotely to discuss steps to steady the market. Still, analysts caution that the devil will be in the detail, and an output cut deemed too small could send prices down even further. A cut of just 10 million barrels a day "might not trigger much of rally and probably eventually see selling pressure drive crude back to the low-mid $20s", said Edward Moya, senior market analyst with OANDA. He also cautioned that a "turn for the worse could happen" which derails a deal, adding that "the following 24 hours will be critical for global oil prices".
Irans declaration on April 6 that its coronavirus coordination with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has further improved both countries ties indicates an increasing rift between Abu Dhabis traditional alliance with Saudi Arabia, and shows how the UAE seeks to use the regional coronavirus outbreak to increase its own influence. Such contrasting strategies could further alter the Middle Easts future geopolitical power balance.

Throughout March, the UAE shipped multiple batches of medical equipment to Iran, which suffers the regions worst coronavirus outbreak with over 3,600 reported deaths, along with a worsening humanitarian situation amid ongoing US sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan talked on the phone on March 15 to discuss ways to contain the pandemic.

Such aid and communication efforts were apparently unprecedented, amid the impression that the UAE and Iran are long-standing regional adversaries, in line with the traditional Gulf Cooperation Council stance of opposing Irans regional expansion. As a younger foreign policy actor, the UAE was seen as mostly in step with Saudi Arabias positions. The Saudi-UAE partnership is at the core of GCC security, especially given the rift with Yemen.

However, the UAE is showing an independent course from that of Saudi Arabia and the United States, while continuing to stress its close security relationships with both.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) expressing its sincere gratitude to the UAE for providing a chartered plane allowing the WHO team and medical supplies to travel to Iran will further bolster Abu Dhabis global humanitarian image.

These developments ultimately distinguish the UAE from its ally and fellow geopolitical heavyweight Saudi Arabia, whose relations with Iran have further soured amid the current crisis.

Saudi Arabia cordoned off its eastern Shiite-majority region of Qatif on March 11, after several citizens returned from religious pilgrimages in Iran. Riyadh also accused Irans irresponsible actions of spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 worldwide.

On March 18, it also formally opposed and blocked a statement from the Non-Aligned Movement designed to condemn US sanctions on Iran, which prevented crucial aid supplies reaching the Islamic republic to alleviate the crisis.

Spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Seyyed Abbas Mousavi condemned the Riyadh-led measure as a great pity" that acted "against the people of Iran under such perilous circumstances," showing Tehran's further deteriorating view of Saudi Arabia.

Clearly, Riyadhs prioritization of countering Irans regional expansion and its nuclear program, further driven by Riyadhs ongoing stoking of sectarian tensions, has increased during this fallout.

Such differences between the Emirati and Saudi approaches to Iran are not unprecedented. Over the past year, Abu Dhabi reduced its condemnation of Iran and took a diverging strategy to Riyadh over the Saudi-led Yemen war, waged in the name of defeating the Iran-backed Houthis.

Last October, the UAE released $700 million of frozen funds to Iran, amid their improving relations. Iranian parliamentarian Akbar Torki said, Emiratis have  understood that Western countries and Saudi Arabia cannot provide the country with security in current circumstances, citing an increase in economic relations between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, the UAE reportedly pursued secret talks with the Iran-backed Houthis in northern Yemen, and later in November Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash proclaimed that the Houthis are a part of Yemeni society and they will have a role in its future.

As the UAE seeks an independent southern state of Yemen, to facilitate its influence over the Red Sea and boost its global maritime trade, defeating the Houthis is not Abu Dhabis priority. Rather, negotiating with the Houthis and its Iranian backers would bolster its ambitions.

Riyadhs resuming of its air campaign on Houthi areas in March, which it claimed hit Iranian military targets, indicates its perceived fear of Irans presence in Yemen still drives its continued operations, even though Riyadhs war has failed to achieve its objectives and has seen the Houthis and Iran drift closer together in the last year.

While Saudi Arabia seeks de-escalation with Iran, it still opposes Irans regional influence, which undermines mediation efforts, even though Tehran was more receptive toward restoring ties with Riyadh, as a top Iranian diplomat said in February.

Furthermore, the UAE attempts to secure influence in Syria by improving ties with President Bashar al-Assad, where compromising with Iran is essential due to Tehrans support for Assad and its strong militia presence in the country. Abu Dhabi perceives Assads presence as a bulwark against its current major regional adversary Turkey, along with Islamist forces that it deems hostile  both of whom Assad also seeks to counter.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayeds March 27 phone call with Assad, where the former voiced his support for the Syrian people, indicates how the UAE is also using the crisis to bolster its fledgling ties with Syria.

Saudi Arabia previously backed anti-government rebels in Syrias war; yet Emirati initiatives to reach out to Assad since reopening its Damascus embassy in December 2018 have likewise driven a similar response from Riyadh. Yet Abu Dhabi is arguably taking a more proactive role in bolstering its own relations with Syria.

Amid flaring tensions with Iran, last Septembers attack on Saudi Arabias Aramco facilities, which was blamed on Iran, not only exposed Riyadhs vulnerability but also Abu Dhabis. Concerns over regional stability increased after the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January, where Tehran vowed revenge. The UAE therefore sees improving ties with Tehran as an essential measure for improving its own security  something Riyadh has not yet fully pursued.

As the coronavirus crisis worsens, affected states will increasingly turn to one another for support, and the UAE has already demonstrated it is willing to take this role, while using diplomacy and aid for its own interests.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for facilitating the export of raw materials to Brazil for production of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight coronavirus infection.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Bolsonaro said Brazil will receive ingredients from India for the production of hydroxychloroquine on Saturday.

"We have more good As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis," he said.

"I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," the Brazilian leader said.

Parts of the transcript of his speech were made available by a diplomat from the Latin American country.

Modi and Bolsonaro had a telephonic conversation on April 4 during which the Brazilian leader requested Modi to allow export of the drug as well as raw materials for its production in Brazil.

Separately, in a letter to Modi on Tuesday, Bolsonaro mentioned that two Brazilian laboratories, EMS and Apsen, have been importing raw materials from India for several years to produce hydroxychloroquine and that Brazil's internal supply of the drug depends on its production by the two firms.

Bolsonaro requested Modi to ensure that Brazil gets the supply of the raw material ordered prior to the imposition of the ban on hydroxychloroquine.

On March 25, India banned export of hydroxychloroquine in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19. India is the largest exporter of the drug. The ban was partially lifted on Tuesday.

In the letter to Modi, the Brazilian leader invoked ancient Indian epic, Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought a holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Laxmana.

Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has recorded close to 14,000 coronavirus cases and over 660 deaths due to the infection. Globally, the virus has killed over 75,000 people and infected more than 13 lakh.

Bolsonaro said Brazil hoped that the use of hydroxychloroquine would help in the treatment of coronavirus-infected people in his country.

"Like many other countries, Brazil places hope in the use of hydroxychloroquine as an effective means to treat patients who have contracted COVID-19," the Brazilian leader wrote in the letter.

He also referred to the partnership between the two countries in the pharmaceutical sector, adding that leading Brazilian pharmaceutical laboratories have a "solid and long" partnership with Indian laboratories.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Claire Fuller is one of the first people to be recruited and treated in the Exeter arm of the RECOVERY trial.

First Exeter patients start worlds largest trial of COVID-19 treatments

Patients in Exeter with COVID-19 are being recruited to the largest clinical trial in the world to investigate existing medicines which might be effective against the disease.

The trial, known as the Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial, was set up in just ten days and already fifteen patients have been recruited in Exeter. The trial is being run through a strong partnership between the University of Exeter and the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. Exeter is one of the 157 trial centres being coordinated nationally by researchers from the University of Oxford. There are currently no specific treatments for COVID-19. It is possible that some existing drugs usually used for other conditions may have some benefits  but they may not. As they are already approved for other uses, the trial is able to start more swiftly than for new drugs which would need rigorous safety testing first. The new trial will provide doctors and the health service with information they need to determine which treatments should be used.

The treatments initially included in the study have been recommended by an expert panel that advises the Chief Medical Officer in England. These are Lopinavir-Ritonavir, normally used to treat HIV, the steroid dexamethasone, which is used in a wide range of conditions to reduce inflammation, and hydroxychloroquine, which is mainly used as an anti-malarial drug and the commonly-used antibiotic azithromycin. The safety and side effects of the drugs are well known. The trial has seen research teams at the RD&E uniting to form a single workforce to ensure that patients have the best possible access to the ground-breaking COVID -9 studies being undertaken. The aim is to promote the most positive outcomes for our patients following infection In the future, the RECOVERY trial may be expanded to assess the impact of other potential treatments as they become available.

Dr Ray Sheridan, Consultant at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Exeter, said: This trial is an incredibly exciting development in the battle against COVID-19. In Exeter, the strong and long-standing relationship between the University and the RD&E health trust means our clinicians and scientists work incredibly well together. We dont yet know if the drugs will work, but its heartening to be part of promising research on this international crisis. As a frontline clinician, I beg everyone to do their part to buy us time to develop this research. Stay home, wash your hands and when you must go out, observe social distancing measures.

The trial will be open to adult inpatients at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19, and who have not been excluded for medical reasons. All patients will receive the usual standard of care. Patients joining the trial will be allocated at random by computer to receive one of the medicines being studied in addition to standard care, or standard full usual care n. This will enable researchers to see whether any of the possible new treatments are more or less effective than those currently used for patients with COVID-19.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said last week; We need more patents to volunteer to be part of these trials because the bigger the trial, the better the data and the faster we can roll out the treatment  if, and only if, its proven to work. But for now, the only way to protect yourselves and your family from this disease is to stay at home.

Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and Chief Investigator for the trial, said: There is an urgent need for reliable evidence on the best care for patients with COVID-19. Providing possible new treatments through a well-designed clinical trial is the best way to get that evidence. Adults admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be offered the opportunity to participate in this trial and contribute to improving care for everyone. All patients will receive the standard full medical care, regardless of which treatment group they are placed in.

Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, and Deputy Chief Investigator added: The streamlined design of this clinical trial allows consenting patients to be enrolled in large numbers easily and without compromising patient safety or adding significantly to the workload of busy hospitals and their staff. In this way we can rapidly assess the value of potential treatments for COVID-19 and provide reliable information on the best ways to treat patients with this disease.

The new trial has been classed as an Urgent Public Health Research Study. It is one of a round of projects to receive 10.5 million as part of the 20 million rapid research response funded by UK Research and Innovation, and by the Department of Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research.

The Chief Medical Officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the NHS Medical Director have written to NHS trusts asking them to fully support the new trial.

Claire, 56, among first patients on Exeter arm of RECOVERY trial into COVID-19

At 56 years old, Claire Fuller did not see herself as particularly high risk of developing COVID-19 despite her mild and well-managed asthma  yet she was among the first patients to be recruited and treated in the Exeter arm of the RECOVERY trial.

A healthy and active global manager for a veterinary company, Claire, from Tiverton in Devon, found herself in isolated treatment at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (RD&E), on oxygen and facing conversations about her options for resuscitation.

Claires ordeal started ten days after developing a dry cough, when her breathing deteriorated so severely that she was rushed to hospital by ambulance. Id got to the point where I could barely talk and I could hardly walk across the house without feeling faint, said the mother of two grown-up children It was really scary how it just suddenly turned.

Once in hospital, Claires COVID-19 test was returned positive, and she was offered the opportunity to sign up to the RECOVERY Trial  A national study led by University of Oxford & run locally In Devon through a partnership between RD&E and University of Exeter. I was more than happy to sign up, said Claire. I know about clinical trials through my work, and I felt it was the least I could do.

Claire was assigned the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and experienced a tingling in her lungs, although she said it was impossible to establish whether that was a result of the treatment. Its hard to know whether any change is related to the drug or the virus, she said. It took a couple of days and I started to feel better, but I may never know if that would have happened anyway.

After five days in hospital, Claire was allowed to return home. She said: It was such a relief to get home, but Im still very weak. I need to sleep after having a shower. It may take up to four weeks for my lungs to recover fully.

The staff at the RD&E were absolutely fantastic, but theyre working under very difficult circumstances. Theyre learning with each patient that comes in. Theyre having to treat people in isolation conditions  so they wear masks and gloves and only stay long enough to do observations. Thats difficult for everyone involved.

This virus can strike anyone, and people can deteriorate so rapidly. Please just stay home and do everything possible to avoid catching it Id urge anyone who does end up in hospital to sign up to the RECOVERY trial. The more people who do so, the greater the chance of finding effective treatments.
The coronavirus pandemic has left many Bay Area students, parents and teachers scrambling for ways to find structure and continue education with schools closed.

At the same time, the newly unemployed are looking for training, especially for jobs that can be done remotely.

People are turning to online resources in record numbers, and the education-technology industry  heavily centered, like much of tech, in the region  is trying to keep services online under heavy usage, while supporting a wave of users largely unfamiliar with internet learning.

As human beings, unless needed, we dont want to change too much, but this has definitely catapulted everyone into it, said Jennifer Gu, chief operating officer of IXL Learning. Theres no choice. You have to embrace technology. The traditional paper, textbook, classroom, whiteboard doesnt work. You have to use technology to mitigate the distance.

IXL, a San Mateo firm that offers personalized curricula and real-time analytics for kindergarten through 12th-grade students, poses questions to students in its software. It was serving about 89 million questions a day at the beginning of March. During the first week of April, those numbers jumped to 113 million a day.

Coursera of Mountain View is seeing registrations increase 300% compared with this time last year. Udemy of San Francisco reported a 125% leap in the number of instructors creating courses compared with March 2019.

Khan Academy, a Mountain View nonprofit, has seen online traffic nearly triple, registrations by students and teachers grow sixfold, and registrations by parents grow by a factor of 20.

This is likely just the beginning for local education-tech ventures, as people come to terms with the fact that Californias 1,000 school districts serving more than 6 million students arent reopening anytime soon. Navigating remote learning is moving from novelty to necessity.

Schools are closed but classes are in, Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week. Just because campuses are closed does not mean that we cannot accelerate learning in the state of California.

To help remote learning, San Francisco Unified plans to distribute more than 5,000 digital devices by the start of next week. San Francisco also is installing 25 Wi-Fi hotspots in high-need areas that will serve 100 users apiece, to help those who dont have broadband at home or who lack the bandwidth to serve everyone in the household.

Google will provide thousands of Chromebooks to students and at least three months of free internet access at 100,000 sites across the state.

Every student in San Francisco needs to be able to stay connected to their teachers and classmates and keep learning as they stay home with their families during this time, regardless of where they live or if their family can afford to pay for high-speed internet, Mayor London Breed said.

More Information Top Bay Area online learning companies Coursera, Mountain View Offers online courses from top universities. Khan Academy, Mountain View Provides instructional videos and interactive lessons on a wide range of subjects. IXL Learning, San Mateo Teaches online subjects through curricula structured as a series of questions. MasterClass, San Francisco Features classes taught by celebrities for a monthly subscription fee. Quizlet, San Francisco Teaches common school subjects through interactive tools and games. Springboard, San Francisco Offers part-time online boot camps to prepare people for tech jobs. Udemy, San Francisco Hosts skill-oriented courses for adult learners and students. Source: Chronicle research See More Collapse

Once online, students and teachers are turning to experts in tech ed.

Khan Academy offers free lessons in math, sciences and humanities in multiple languages, as well as free tools for parents and teachers to track student progress.

Before the school closures, Khan Academy served about 18 million students per month. Since the start of the pandemic, the company has created recommended daily schedules for children ages 2-18 and produced seminars for parents and teachers.

In a time like this, its so easy to feel helpless, said CEO Sal Khan, who founded the organization in 2005. We are all helpless on certain dimensions. I feel fortunate, and I believe our team feels fortunate, that we have a role to play to help people through this. The No. 1 concern right now is health. No. 2 is economics. A close No. 3 is: What do we do with these kids who should be learning right now?

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Coursera is dealing generally with an older audience, with 53 million learners mostly seeking professional certificates and post-high school degrees.

Arunav Sinha, head of global communications at Coursera, said the site is seeing an explosion in interest in courses about well-being, mental health and public health. The company is making all college courses free through at least July 31.

A Coursera class on well-being taught by Yale Professor Lori Santos got 1 million registrations last month.

This will accelerate the trend of online learning by many years, Sinha said. It was already heading in that direction, but the acceptance of institutions will increase much more rapidly now. ... What started as a short-term response to the crisis will result into an enduring digital transformation of higher education.

Perhaps no company embodies that trend more than Udemy, which provides a marketplace of more than 150,000 online courses, from challenging business ideas to free-wheeling ukulele lessons. Udemys investors recently valued it at $2 billion.

Shelley Osborne, Udemys vice president of learning, teaches courses on working from home. She also is using the site to learn how to bake sourdough bread and play the guitar.

This is a really important opportunity for individuals to think about how theyre supporting themselves and how they can have success, Osborne said. As we see the shift to people staying home more and going online more, the ability to both teach and learn online is the most important its ever been.

Online learning is truly mainstream now. Its been moving that way for a long time, but based on what were seeing right now, we think its likely that these shifts will remain even after we return to some level of normalcy.

Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
Textron has been awarded a $7,261,214 cost-plus-fixed-fee/cost modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-2480, from the U.S. Navy, for landing craft, air cushion special studies, analysis and reviews under the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) program.

Textron has been awarded a $7,261,214 cost-plus-fixed-fee/cost modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-2480, from the U.S. Navy, for landing craft, air cushion special studies, analysis and reviews under the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) program.

U.S. Navy Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 58 departs the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) during ship-to-shore operations with U.S. Marines and allied partners as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise at sea off the coast of Hawaii July 12, 2018 (Picture source: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Thomas P. Miller)



Work will be performed in New Orleans, Louisiana (80%); Fort Worth, Texas (10%); and Gloucester, United Kingdom (10%) and is expected to be complete by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,421,287 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

The Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), also known as the LCAC 100 class, is a system proposed by the United States Navy as a replacement for the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). It will offer an increased capacity to cope with the growing weight of equipment used by the United States Army and Marine Corps. As of 2015, the program is forecast to cost a total of US$4.054B for 73 hovercraft.Although the design will be broadly similar to the LCAC, there will be several significant differences:

* Two-person fly-by-wire cockpit with joystick controls

* More powerful, more efficient engines

* Extensive use of composites and aluminum alloys[5] for corrosion resistance

* Advanced skirt instead of a deep skirt for less drag and reduced craft weight

The four Rolls-Royce MT7 gas turbines that will be used to power each Ship-to-Shore Connector are derivatives modelled after the design of the Rolls-Royce T406 used in the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. Similar to the interoperability between the engines powering the M1A2 Abrams MBT and the UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter, the cores of the two engine types are identical, which should provide some relief in spare parts storage to those ships that will operate both the (tiltrotor) aircraft and the hovercraft. Top speed will be 50 knts (58 mph; 93 km/h). A simpler and more efficient drivetrain using one gearbox is on each side for fewer parts and maintenance and higher reliability. The SSC has a designed lifetime of 30 years.

The 10th SSC to be delivered will have the capability to launch vehicles into the water rather than need to go all the way to the beach, after which that ability will be retrofitted to the previous nine vessels.
A teacher gives a class online from an empty classroom of Seoul Girls' High School in Seoul, Thursday, as the country finally started the new school year for seniors in middle and high schools after delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak. /Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul





Schools start new semester with online classes







By Bahk Eun-ji







Seniors at middle and high schools began the new school year with online classes, Thursday, while buildings remained physically closed as concerns persist over the spread of COVID-19. The students were able to interact with their teachers remotely, after starting their studies 38 days after schools were originally scheduled to open, March 2.







Kim Woo-young, a homeroom teacher at Seoul Girls' High School, began her first class by checking students' attendance, calling out their names at 8:10 a.m. Through her desktop monitor, Kim also checked the students' faces. Most students answered "yes" when their names were called, in front of their web cameras, and waived their hands to say hello to the teacher and their friends.







Despite concerns over whether students and schools were ready for the online classes, the real-time interactive remote class progressed smoothly as the students were already somewhat used to learning through online platforms. They did not appear to be distracted or lose focus during the class.







Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae described the unprecedented online school opening as a "new challenge" and a desperate measure taken by the education authorities to prevent schools from becoming breeding grounds for the novel coronavirus.







"We believe schools cannot stop teaching students even in the midst of a crisis," Yoo said in a statement to urge students, parents and educators to work together to make the online school opening work.







As it was an unprecedented challenge, there were a few difficulties. Among the total 23 students in the class, 21 participated and checked their attendance through the Zoom video conferencing platform. The remaining two students failed to attend the remote class and didn't notify their teacher. Although Kim kept trying to contact them, she could not reach them until 8:30 a.m., nearly half an hour into the class.







"Some of our students have trouble getting up in the morning. We'll keep in touch," said the school's deputy principal, Choi Sung-hee.







Schools are expected to employ various methods to help students study remotely, such as teachers conducting classes with real-time interaction, using online lectures which were recorded in advance by national educational TV channels like EBS and giving projects or homework to students.







Educators expect that teachers of high school students and lower graders of primary schools will mainly focus on using the pre-recorded lectures and educational content of EBS for the remote classes.







"In high schools, there are not many options for the online classes except using pre-recorded videos as they have to spend more time preparing for the state college entrance exam at the end of the year. In addition, it is difficult to encourage teachers to conduct classes with real-time interaction as the number of schooldays has been reduced due to the repeated delay of the school year," Choi said.







Last week, the education ministry announced its plans to start the new school year with online classes for seniors at middle and high schools, before expanding the remote learning program to lower graders.







Freshmen and sophomores at middle schools and high schools as well as fourth to sixth graders in elementary schools will begin the new semester next Thursday. First to third graders at elementary schools will start taking online classes from April 20, while classes at kindergartens and daycare centers have been indefinitely postponed.


The Delhi government on Wednesday announced that face masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house, including while traveling in personal or official vehicles.

The decision was taken after a meeting of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with the Health Department.



"Wearing of facial masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus substantially. Therefore, it has been decided that facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house. Cloth masks shall be eligible too," the Chief Minister tweeted.



In an order, issued on Wednesday, the District Disaster Management Authority, said the violation of the order will be punishable.



"All persons moving for whatsoever purpose under whatsoever reason or authority in public... must wear a three-ply mask or cloth mask compulsorily."





It also said that even when moving in personal or official vehicles, the masks are important.



"No person will attend any meeting/gathering withoutAthese masks."



It also says that any person working at a site or office or workplace must wear the mask.



The mask, the order said, must be a standard mask available with the chemist or even homemade washable masks and can be "reused after proper washing and disinfecting."
(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) The state of Missouri is waiting and watching for its coronavirus relief checks from the national government.

It's expected Missouri will receive around $2.2 billion.

State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer says most of it will be directed to fighting the coronavirus on the front lines assisting healthcare workers. He says personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and first responders is at the top of the list along with money for the national guard that has been mobilized by the governor.

There is also money for temporary housing for healthcare workers if needed.

"One of the things that we have in the supplemental budget is we've set aside money to rent out hotels, to rent out dormitories on college campuses that are shut down and have a safe place for our medical providers to stay whenever they're on the frontlines treating people with COVID-19," Luetkemeyer said. "So that they are not risking bringing that back into their homes to their loved ones."

Missouri lawmakers at work allocating the federal dollars as well as looking at the $180 million in cuts Governor Parson made last week.
NSW Police personnel in personal protective equipment board the Ruby Princess during the Strike Force Bast raid of the cruise ship at Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia on, April 8, 2020, in this still image from video. (NSW Police via Reuters)

Australian Police Seize Black Box From Cruise Ship Amid COVID-19 Homicide Probe

Police officers in Australia wearing hazmat suits boarded the Ruby Princess cruise ship late Wednesday to seize a black box and other information as part of a homicide probe linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ship is accused of bringing the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, to Australia, which has seen 51 deaths from COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

Fifteen people who were on board the Carnival-owned ship and disembarked in Australia have since died and hundreds of others have tested positive for the illness, which displays symptoms similar to the flu.

Last month, authorities granted the Ruby Princess permission for 2,700 passengers to disembark without any health checks, provoking public anger. New South Wales (NSW) police officials opened the probe to see if Carnival and the ships crew were transparent in reporting symptoms of passengers.

Australian docking laws require ships report illnesses and bolstered measures amid the pandemic mandate ship managers report undiagnosed respiratory illnesses among passengers or crew members that appear similar to COVID-19. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath.

The key question that remains unansweredand a criminal investigation will need to be conductedwas Carnival or crew transparent in contextualizing the true patient crew health conditions relevant to COVID-19, Mick Fuller, NSW police commissioner, told reporters earlier this week.

SW Police personnel in personal protective equipment work during the Strike Force Bast raid of the Ruby Princess cruise ship at Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia, April 8, 2020. (NSW Police via Reuters)

Police late Wednesday seized a black box and electronic logs containing communication between the captain and the ships doctor and other information. They also interviewed the captain, who is still on board along with some 1,000 crew members.

They spoke to the captain of the ship, who was extremely helpful, Fuller said in a televised news conference on Thursday. Ships have a black box very similar to that of international planes, and that and other evidence has been seized for further investigation.

Authorities have also reached out to some of the thousands of passengers to try to glean information about what happened.

The probe is looking at criminal negligence type crimes and violation of border policies, Fuller has said.

It got underway as the Australian authorities said the rate of new CCP virus infections hit its lowest number in three weeks and began arranging more flights to bring home citizens stranded abroad. The country reported just 96 new infections in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Canberra.

Newcastle streets are seen empty as locals isolate in Australia on April 8, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

The curve continues to flatten, we are consolidating the gains, Hunt said in a televised news conference.

While we have been cautious over the last two weeks as we have seen the early data, what were seeing now is a genuine consolidation.

Australians are still being told to stay home and not take trips. Like many nations, Australia is under lockdown, with people largely staying at home in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

Police said they will step up their presence during the Easter travel ban and use helicopters to target anyone who attempts to travel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Minister Marise Payne said she had arranged with Qantas Airways Ltd to run special flights to repatriate Australians stuck abroad.

The flights would carry people in Peru, Argentina, and South Africa home in the next week, with flights also being planned from India and the Philippines.

Reuters contributed to the report.
Click here to read the full article.

The coronavirus has changed just about everything, and using Instagram for brand promotion is no exception.

Weve entered a period that is on the cusp of requiring the regular use of BC and AC (before coronavirus and after coronavirus). As in, posting pretty photos of runway looks or repurposing of an ad campaign featuring groups of frolicking young aesthetes is something a brand could do BC. Depending on the brand, posts like this would typically get a few thousand likes, maybe between 10,000 and 15,000 if follower count is in the millions.

Designer Michael Kors posting a video of himself folding laundry and talking to his cat is AC to a tee. Hes getting hundreds of thousands of likes and views, exponentially more than for typical BC content.

Virginia Nam, Instagrams lead on fashion partnerships, said a number of brands seem to be successfully pivoting to an AC mentality around content. Were seeing brands playing an important role in providing connection, education and a sense of community on Instagram, she said. Video and Live seem to be working particularly well on Instagram, likely as so many people are at home and able to watch any video that comes up during a day they would normally be in an office or work environment.

But each brand needs to find their own approach to repositioning itself. What works for one brand during this time may not work for another, Nam said. Social audiences seem more sensitive than ever to content that strikes them as tone deaf or pretending that nothing is going on in the world. But overall, Nam is seeing a lot of brands have success in promoting good causes, offering support for the health-care community, speaking plainly against racism and a rise in xenophobia, talking about ways to improve general wellbeing and also amplifying messages about the coronavirus from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Story continues

A common thread is the shift toward honest conversations and moments  and with every corner of the fashion and beauty industry being affected by this crisis, its been powerful to see this happening, Nam added.

Here, Nam explains five approaches brands can take to pivot their content strategy on Instagram, as everyone navigates the many changes to life and business caused by the coronavirus.

Acknowledge

Nam suggested that brands not shy away from directly talking about the coronavirus and the state its left the brand and anyone else in. Be honest about challenges and proceed with calls-to-action as appropriate, she said. Also, state your intent for what will be posted going forward. So, if you want to offer moments of levity or beauty, say so, instead of simply flooding a brand page with luxurious images of product as though nothing has happened.

Modify your tone and language and remember candid, thoughtful context inspires empathy, Nam said.

Ask

This is part of being more direct, but simply asking what followers want to see and hear from you as a brand can go a long way in not only engaging your audience, but in aiding a content strategy that needs to evolve. Nam suggested using polls and question stickers in Stories, along with soliciting feedback in comments on regular posts.

Makeup brand Glossier posted a video of a baby goat eating a chair and asked its audience to comment on what they would like to see the brand post about. The video got more than 270,000 views and 850-plus comments, hundreds more than it normally gets on posts.

Entertain and Inspire

This one is best for video and live moments and Nam suggests, if a brand is able, to host intimate conversations and performances. It doesnt have to be Chanel getting Belgian singer Angele to perform, although that announcement alone got almost 70,000 likes and presumably as many or more views. It can be as simple as a designer creating personal videos or having a video/live chat with friends of the brand.

Nam noted that in the U.S., views on Instagram Live have increased by 70 percent since mid-March.

Lean Into the Moment

The coronavirus is first and foremost a health crisis, but it is unique in that it is affecting tens of millions of people that are not actually ill. A majority of people in the U.S. are under lockdown orders, as are most people in Europe and Asia. People are anxious; parents are now full-time teachers in addition to their actual jobs; calls to suicide hotlines are surging. So Nam suggests that brands communicate with their audiences in ways that can actually attempt to improve a persons wellbeing. British Vogue has started posting weekly free workout videos that are getting about 100,000 views, much more than typical video posts.

Do Some Good

Use your voice and platform to support worthy causes and organizations, Nam said.

This is the most important tip of all, not only because a brand has an opportunity to create engagement and positive associations among the viewing public, but because a brand with thousands or millions of followers has reach. Nam pointed to Gucci, which for the last two weeks has posted almost nothing but PSAs regarding the coronavirus, from hand washing to empathy, and the brand has made a donation of 1 million euros to the UNs COVID-19 response fund, which Facebook (Instagrams owner) will match at $10 million.

Many other brands and fashion conglomerates have donated money, like Michael Kors owner Capri Holdings, Armani, Chanel, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and more, but as the coronavirus drags on, so will the need for communications and aid increase.

For More, See:

What Are People Shopping for During Coronavirus Lockdown?

Post Coronavirus, Luxury Brands Must Focus on Culture, Not Products

Marketing in the Age of Coronavirus: The Dos and (Many) Donts

WATCH: Get an Inside Look at How PPE Is Made

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A retired Winnipeg school principal has assigned herself some homework: sewing face masks in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

A retired Winnipeg school principal has assigned herself some homework: sewing face masks in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.

"I think in a time like this, we all have to do something to contribute to the community, if we can," Arlene Skull, 70, who retired in 2018 after 16 years as principal at Gordon Bell High School, said this week.

"I can do that to help people who might be going out and putting themselves in positions where there might be some risk. This can reduce the risk, and give some sense of security to them and their families."

With medical-grade N-95 masks being reserved for front-line health workers, Skull is part of a growing army of nimble-fingered Canadian sewers, quilters and hobbyists taking matters into their own hands and whipping up homemade cloth masks for people in the community.

Such volunteer efforts got a shot in the arm this week, when public health officials  who had previously warned non-medical masks wont filter out airborne particles carrying the virus  did an about-face and said simple cloth coverings can help wearers avoid spreading the illness to others.

On Monday, Canadian chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief provincial public health officer, said the use of non-medical masks, in tandem with social distancing, can limit the transmission of the novel coronavirus.

"Wearing a non-medical mask is an additional measure that you can take to protect others around you," Tam said. "A non-medical mask can reduce the chance of your respiratory droplets coming into contact with others or landing on surfaces."

Skull, a home economics teacher for 25 years before becoming a principal, was surprised public health officials had been reluctant to encourage the general public to make and wear simple cloth masks as a precaution.

"I think they are way better than nothing," she said in a phone interview while self-isolating in her downtown apartment. "I dont understand why doctors on TV were saying dont wear one. Im sure you wear an apron when youre barbecuing. I wear a tuque in winter. Its for protection."

Skull's masks are made from 100 per cent quilting cotton, with elastic ear loops and a "fusible non-woven interfacing."

"I taught clothing and textiles," Skull said. "It gave me the knowledge to know what kind of fabric would be best and what kind of interfacing. To you. it (the backing) looks like thin papery mesh. If its non-woven interfacing, all the fibres are meshed together so things cant penetrate it easily. It acts as a barrier."

JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Some of the recent masks that Arlene Skull has made for members of the community, such as workers delivering food bank items.

The former principal realizes homemade masks arent suitable for health-care workers, but washable and reusable coverings can certainly help others avoid spreading the virus when out in public.

"The benefit is that you put it on and if you sneeze or cough, its not going to go on anybody," she said. "Its captured in the mask. If someone gets close, theres protection. Another thing is it makes people more aware: they see the mask and stay six feet away or think, Maybe I should get one of those.

"Also, it prevents you from touching your face... Youre aware of what youre doing."

The retired educator has been donating her homemade masks to elderly friends and family, volunteers delivering groceries, the Bear Clan volunteer street patrol, and even a parole officer acquaintance who was still meeting with clients.

She also whipped up masks for Tom Rossi  a former principal at Robert H. Smith School turned outreach worker at St. Johns High School  and two colleagues who are delivering hampers from St. Johns food bank to families of students in need.

"I was even able to find some orange cloth and do the stitching in black and put the school initials  SJHS  on them," Skull said, in reference to the North End schools team colours. "You could call them 'designer.' I get a kick out of making unique ones for everybody."

She was inspired to join the growing ranks of home mask makers  Facebook groups have popped up around the country  after reading about a rural woman making them for people in her community.

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"I have the skills, so why not use them?" she said. "I cant make hundreds; Ive made about 30. Ive got eight people waiting for them.

"Im waiting for a delivery of my interfacing material. I hope it comes today or tomorrow. I can pop three masks off in an hour now for sure."

Skull hopes other local sewers are inspired to pick up their thread and needles and join the burgeoning mask-making army.

"A couple of people said, Oh, its a waste of time. But when I was a teenager someone put out a call for winter mittens for children, and my mother looked at me and said, Many hands lighten the load,'" Skull said.

"There arent enough masks; there just arent... Somebody will say, I can do that, too, and then you have another person making masks for another 30 people. My mother was right: many hands lighten the load."

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca
A bizarre glowing tentacle-like 'creature' has been spotted floating in waters off the coast of Australia.

It is believed to be a siphonophore, which appears to be a single animal but is actually made of thousands of smaller organisms known as zooids.

It is known as a 'long stringy stingy thingy' in New Zealand and it is also sometimes called Apolemia or a string jellyfish.

Video of the unusual creature was posted to Twitter by Schmidt Ocean Institute.

It is thought that the siphonophore's outer ring has a circumference of around 150ft (47metres).

An unusual giant creature made up of dozens of stinging tentacles has been spotted off the coast of Australia. The beast (pictured) is believed to be a siphonophore

'The whole thing looks like one animal, but it's many thousands of individuals which form an entity on a higher level,' marine biologist Stefan Siebert of Brown University told Wired.

Each individual zooid acts like an organ in the larger siphonophore body and has a different function.

Some have stinging tentacles while others have red lures to attract food.

A team of researchers on Ningaloo Canyons Expedition were studying the marine environment around Western Australia when they encountered the sea creature.

The region is known to have a diverse range of life but little is known about the area due to a lack of research.

A team of researchers on Ningaloo Canyons Expedition were studying the marine environment around Western Australia when they encountered the sea creature. The region is known to have a diverse range of life but little is known about the area due to a lack of research

The siphonophore is known as a 'long stringy stingy thingy' in New Zealand and it is also sometimes called Apolemia or a string jellyfish

Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and sonar were being used to study the region.

When the ROV was on the way back to the surface its cameras spotted the bizarre beast.

'Everyone was blown away when it came into view,' biologists Nerida Wilson and Lisa Kirkendale from the Western Australian Museum told ScienceAlert.

'There was a lot of excitement. People came pouring into the control room from all over the ship. Siphonophores are commonly seen but this one was both large and unusual-looking.

'Although the ROV pilots made an estimate of its length, it has yet to be formally measured.

'However, it does appear to be longer than any other animal on the planet.'

In January, footage emerged of another siphonophore.

The benthic siphonophore, seemingly a single animal, is dubbed a 'floating city' of many smaller organisms working together.

It's so rarely seen that hardly any information exists for the creature, which is related to corals and jellyfish and thought to live at depths of up to 10,000ft (3,000m).

Scientists stumbled across the rare animal after trawling through shallow waters off the coast of Australia with submerged cameras.
The Bernie Sanders campaign was built on big promises. There was the promise of affordable health care, the promise of free college, the promise of a higher minimum wage

The Bernie Sanders campaign was built on big promises. There was the promise of affordable health care, the promise of free college, the promise of a higher minimum wage.

For voters who didnt need, or want, those promises, he offered something else: That he alone could expand the electorate and win back voters who had turned away from the Democratic Party and embraced Donald J Trump in 2016.

The coronavirus crisis turned everything that Sanders promised he was best equipped to do  fix the health care system, call out the dangers of a Trump presidency  into an agenda that was more urgent than ever for the country.

It was the moment for his message, but he was not the right messenger for the moment.

His promise was inherently risky, one that required, in his words, nothing less than a political revolution. And that is where the Sanders campaign fell short: In a world that had seemed risky enough already, revolution was just too much.

There were some signals that, despite the devotion of a broad coalition of supporters, the promises had always been too much.

Though he finished atop the field in Iowa, then won in New Hampshire and dominated in Nevada, Sanders was always unlikely to win states in the South, where former vice-president Joe Biden had long shored up the support of black voters.

Before the coronavirus outbreak scrambled the rest of the calendar and pushed some races back for months, Biden trounced Sanders in the Midwestern battleground states  first Minnesota, then Michigan and Illinois  that were supposed to prove his case. Instead, Biden emerged as the candidate able to claim that he, not Sanders, could win over the voters that Democrats are counting on the most in November. Results for the Wisconsin primary Tuesday are not expected to be known until next week, but Sanders was poised to lose there, too.

Sanders had expanded his base to include Latino voters, but he struggled with older voters. He struggled with suburban voters.

The promise he was able to fulfil was his promise to win over young people, an accomplishment that continued to be a particular point of pride even as his losses piled up.

Not only are we winning the struggle ideologically, we are also winning it generationally, Sanders said as he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race Wednesday. The future of this country is with our ideas.

Sanders, who has referred to Biden as his friend and on Wednesday called him a very decent man, will need to continue to make a persuasive case to young people  especially on behalf of his former rival, who has had difficulty winning their support.

A Sanders rally was part concert, part sermon  a place for young and old to dance, somewhat perplexed, to a band called the Venomous Pinks opening for the impassioned stump speech about inequality; a travelling road show of constructive grievance that could dip in and out of three or four cities in three or four states in a day. Perhaps above all, it was a showcase for his promise of a country not led by the establishment, and most important, not by Trump.

Last spring, Sanders embarked on a five-state swing through the Midwest. It included stops in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. All were states that Trump won in 2016.

The tour was designed to demonstrate his sustained strength in those key battleground states. And he did, drawing the kinds of enthusiastic crowds and boisterous cheers that presaged his unexpected 2016 primary victories over Hillary Clinton in Michigan and Wisconsin.

He talked about the unfairness of trade agreements  some sentiments sounding similar to the president at times  but with the promise that he could actually do something about them.

He also vigorously attacked Trump.

When we think about somebody setting an example for the children of this country, you dont want somebody who lies all of the time, he said at an April rally in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit.

At another event in Warren, Ohio, he laced into corporations like General Motors, which had closed its Lordstown plant not far away. We are sick and tired, he said, of you shutting down plants in this country and destroying families. Voters in the crowd raised their fists and applauded thunderously.

He would return to the message again and again at rallies over the next year. He lied, he would say about Trump, dropping his voice into a minor key. He lied.

So what now?

Sanders has transformed the left: Policies like Medicare for All and eliminating student debt are not just accepted by many Democrats, they are embraced.

He has changed the way Democrats campaign: Candidates are now meant to be embarrassed by big-dollar donors.

He has inspired an enduring progressive movement: A legion of young politicians like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York now exhaustively champion his message.

And he has exposed a class divide in the Democratic Party: His message appeals to those who know what it is like to struggle; it often confuses those who dont.

At a town hall event in December in Burlington, Iowa, a woman stood to speak, about a healthcare system that was failing to help.

Depending on what doctor you go to, they may not even believe that you have these things, she said.

So what do you do? he asked brusquely.

Cry, she said. Her voice shook.

OK, he said.

His real promise  that life doesnt need to be this hard  was for these people.

On Wednesday, he vowed to continue fighting for his promises as he works to protect the health and economic well-being of the working families of our country during the coronavirus crisis.

But wrapped up in his speech was the concession that he did not need to be a presidential candidate to do so. Nor would he be.

I wish I could give you better news, he said, addressing his supporters officially for the last time. But I think you know the truth.

Sydney Ember c.2020 The New York Times Company
A man accused of deliberately coughing on four nurses in Western Australia while suffering from a respiratory illness has been charged with assault.

Police say the 23-year-old was ordered to isolate in a room at Bunbury Regional Hospital on Tuesday after presenting to the emergency department and undergoing tests.

He allegedly became agitated and approached a nursing station before deliberately coughing and sneezing at the four nurses.

A 23-year-old man has been charged after allegedly coughing and sneezing on four nurses at Bunbury Regional Hospital

The man was charged with four counts of assaulting a person working in a hospital and faced Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

He will return to Bunbury Magistrates Court on Thursday.

WA's parliament last week passed legislation to further protect public officers, including medical staff, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Anyone convicted of assaulting a frontline worker where they know or create a belief, suspicion or fear that they have COVID-19 will face up to 10 years' jail.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson on Wednesday said 10 people had been charged with failing to comply with a direction to self-isolate or quarantine.

Three $1000 fines were issued to people who disobeyed self-isolation and gathering directives, including an Armadale woman who caused a disturbance at a shopping centre
Coronavirus infections and fatalities are on this rise in the country. Several cities in the country have emerged as hotspots for infection. Authorities and medical staff are on their toes in dealing with the situation.

Here is how things stand in some of these cities. Mumbai Maharashtra reported 162 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the state tally to 1,297, a health official said. This is the highest rise so far in the number of coronavirus patients in a single day he said. "Out of the 162 new cases, 143 have been reported from Mumbai," the official ...
Can any government statistics on COVID-19 deaths be trusted?

It is an open question now that we are learning that the highly respected, world-class Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been lying to us.

This revelation comes a few days after I wrote here at American Thinker that New York City was lying about COVID-19 deaths. The normal rules about reporting deaths have been violated by that city in the rush to inflate the body count, presumably to steer more taxpayer money to the Big Apple.

That the CDC isnt telling the truth to Americans is no conspiracy theory: its right out there in the open for everyone to see. The CDC openly admits that it is fudging the COVID-19 death figures.

We know this because, among other truth-tellers, a plainspoken small-town physician from Kalispell, Montana, has pulled back the curtain.

Dr. Annie Bukacek, MD, explained in a presentation how death certificates are made. (See Montana physician Dr. Annie Bukacek discusses how COVID-19 death certificates are being manipulated, YouTube, April 6)

Why should anyone care how a certificate of death is made?

Everyone should care today when governments are making massive changes that affect our constitutional rights and those changes are based on inaccurate statistics, Bukacek says.

The system is deeply flawed, she argues.

Few people know how much individual power and leeway is given to the physician, coroner, or medical examiner, signing the death certificate. How do I know this? I've been filling out death certificates for over 30 years. More often than we want to admit, we dont know with certainty the cause of death when we fill out death certificates. That is just life. We are doctors, not God. Autopsies are rarely performed and even when an autopsy is done the actual cause of death is not always clear. Physicians make their best guesstimate and fill out the form. Then that listed cause of death  is entered into a vital records data bank to use for statistical analysis, which then gives out inaccurate numbers, as you can imagine. Those inaccurate numbers then become accepted as factual information even though much of it is false.

This has been the way it has been done for some time, Bukacek says.

So even before we heard of COVID-19, death certificates were based on assumptions and educated guesses that go unquestioned. When it comes to COVID-19 there is the additional data skewer, that is get this there is no universal definition of COVID-19 death. The Centers for Disease Control, updated from yesterday, April 4th, still states that mortality, quote unquote, data includes both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19. Thats from their website. Translation? The CDC counts both true COVID-19 cases and speculative guesses of COVID-19 the same. They call it death by COVID-19. They automatically overestimate the real death numbers, by their own admission. Prior to COVID-19, people were more likely to get an accurate cause of death written on their death certificate if they died in the hospital. Why more accurate when a patient dies in the hospital? Because hospital staff has physical examination findings labs, radiologic studies, et cetera, to make a good educated guess. It is estimated that 60 percent of people die in the hospital. But even [with] those in-hospital deaths, the cause of death is not always clear, especially in someone with multiple health conditions, each of which could cause the death.

Bukacek refers to a March 24 CDC memo from Steven Schwartz, director of the Division of Vital Statistics for the National Center for Health Statistics, titled COVID-19 Alert No. 2.

The assumption of COVID-19 death, she says, can be made even without testing. Based on assumption alone the death can be reported to the public as another COVID-19 casualty.

There is a question-and-answer section on the memo.

One question is, Will COVID-19 be the underlying cause?

The answer is: The underlying cause depends upon what and where conditions are reported on the death certificate. However, the rules for coding and selection of the underlying cause of death are expected to result in COVID-19 being the underlying cause more often than not.

Another question is, Should COVID-19 be reported on the death certificate only with a confirmed test?

The answer is:

COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death. [Boldfacing in original]

You could see how these statistics have been made to look really scary when it is so easy to add false numbers to the official database, Bukacek says. Those false numbers are sanctioned by the CDC.

The real number of COVID-19 deaths are not what most people are told and what they then think, she says.

How many people have actually died from COVID-19 is anyones guess  but based on how death certificates are being filled out, you can be certain the number is substantially lower than what we are being told. Based on inaccurate, incomplete data people are being terrorized by fearmongers into relinquishing cherished freedoms.

Its hard to argue with what Dr. Bukacek says, but no doubt angry social media mobs will find a way as her chilling words enlighten the populace that has been bullied into submission.

Of course, the diseases body count is not the sole concern we should have about the Chinese contagion, but it is undeniably the primary driver of the rampant mass hysteria that has allowed state and local governments across America to crush our cherished civil liberties.

As they say in newsrooms: if it bleeds, it leads. Deaths are always going to be more sexy than confirmed cases. It is the number that really, really counts, and Americans know this.

The fraudulent death statistics also give ammunition to the legions of snitches and scolds who try to shame their fellow Americans for attending church or playing catch in an empty park or taking a harmless drive in the countryside to prevent themselves from going stir-crazy.

The fake death data from the CDC, coupled with wild guesstimates from experts, and the relentless barrage of fear porn the mainstream media subjects Americans to around the clock, have been getting results, even with a plague that is, so far at least, underperforming.

First, experts told us 2.2 million Americans would die. Then the number fell off a cliff, plunging down to around 200,000.

As of April 8, the number of those expected to die from the disease by August 4 was down to 60,000, or roughly a very nasty flu season. The new figure comes from the influential model produced by the University of Washington that the White House regularly cites.

Has social-distancing, wearing face masks, hosing down packages with bleach, using hand sanitizer that is at least 60 percent alcohol, and washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds helped bring the grim worst-case-scenario body count down?

Probably, Im guessing, but its hard to know for sure.

Maybe those epidemiological modelers can be forgiven for scaring the bejeezus out of Americans. Epidemiology is not, after all, an exact science, as its practitioners sometimes acknowledge.

But those who have force-fed modelers skewed data that led to the terrifying death forecasts that stampeded governors into pushing the nation down the road to totalitarianism need to be held to account.

Let the investigations begin.

Matthew Vadum is an independent investigative reporter in Washington, D.C. and author of Team Jihad: How Sharia-Supremacists Collaborate with Leftists to Destroy the United States and Subversion Inc.: How Obamas ACORN Red Shirts Are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers.
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) says it has made substantial payments to service providers to reduce the outstanding claims due them.

This follows the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Attas announcement that the government had made available an amount of GHS300 million to the Authority as part of measures to provide liquidity to healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical industry to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subsequently, as at 7th April, 2020 barely a week after the announcement, the NHIA has released GHS207,539,276.62 so far to its credentialed service providers, the NHIA Corporate Affairs Directorate said in a statement.

In the order of payments, public health facilities received GHS106,484,179.54 representing 51.3% of the payments whiles the private service providers have been paid GHS57,845,459.99 pegged at 27.9%. Mission health facilities (CHAG) have received Ghs40,227,826.58 representing 19.4% and Quasi-Government service providers have been paid Ghs2,981,810.51 representing 1.4% of the total payments made so far, the Directorate added.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was set up to provide financial risk protection against the cost of basic health care for all residents in Ghana in 2003 with ACT 650 that got revised in 2012 to ACT 852.

Pay service providers now to avoid collapse of NHIS  Minority to government

The Minority in Parliament recently warned of the imminent collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme if the payments were not made to the service providers.

The Minority had said the impact of the law that caps funds that flow into the National Health Insurance Fund and the non-settlement of claims are bringing the health sector to its knees.

The Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, addressing the press, called for the immediate payment of NHIS arrears.

While the industry is getting financially suffocated as a result of a delay in the claims, the President, during the 2020 State of the Nation Address, described the National Health Insurance as working adequately. This is a demonstration of insensitivity to the plight of the service providers and the beneficiaries.

---citinewsroom
An urgent new appeal will today be launched in an attempt to raise millions of pounds to support NHS nurses, doctors, staff and volunteers.

NHS Charities Together hopes the #OneMillionClaps campaign will raise at least 5million.

The appeal will be launched this evening when millions of people are expected to once again step out onto their doorsteps and applaud those risking their lives on the front line.

The appeal will be promoted with a short film voiced by David Walliams and featuring NHS staff and people from across the UK.

In Manchester people are preparing to clap for the NHS by adorning their gardens with special health care scarecrows.

Staff at Royal Liverpool University Hosptial took part in last Thursday's Clap for Carers. Tonight Brits will take part in the third nationwide round of applause for the heroes on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic

This NHS nurse scarecrow has been adorned with its own uniform, protective mask and gloves in Greenfield, Manchester today.

The scarecrows are out in Greenfield, Manchester as part of its annual scarecrow parade.

NHS Charities Together's video features a re-recording of the Queen classic We Will Rock You with the new lyrics: 'NHS, We Love You. We Say, We Say, Thank You.'

#OneMillionClaps is part of National COVID-19 URGENT APPEAL, which was launched two weeks ago by NHS Charities Together - the official umbrella organisation for NHS charities.

The appeal asks people to donate 5 by texting the word 'CLAP' followed by any messages of support to 70507.

Each 5 donation will be used to provide a range of supplies and support for NHS staff and volunteers- including food, travel, accommodation and counselling.

Individual messages of support will be also forwarded to local NHS charities and sent to the donors' local hospital.

The goal is to inspire at least a million people to donate 5 - meaning more than 5million will be raised for NHS staff in just one evening.

Ellie Orton, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together said: 'Every single penny raised for nurses, doctors and NHS staff in this way will go to help those health service workers who are working so hard and risking so much to help us.

Boris Johnson stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street last Thursday to give his thanks to the NHS. It was the last time the PM has been seen in public since he was taken to hospital with coronavirus earlier this week

With Britain in its third week of lockdown, Greenfield residents couldn't help but pay tribute to the hardworker NHS doctors and nurses during its annual scarecrow parade on Thursday

The Greenfield Scarecrow Parade on Thursday is promoting the hard work of the NHS and reminding locals to stay home during a spell of warm spring weather

Not all of Greenfield's scarecrows are inspired by the NHS, some participants have gone for a more traditional look today (Thursday)

'Thousands of staff are risking their lives every day for us and many of them are now sick themselves or at breaking point.

'I really hope #OneMillionClaps inspires those who can to give a donation that will make a real difference to the amazing staff and volunteers who are daily saving lives and battling against this horribly virus on our behalf.

'If we can raise 5 million tonight, it will go a long way to providing them and their families with the support they so desperately need.'

For the past two weeks millions of people across the country have stepped outside their homes or leant out of windows to cheer and clap NHS workers.

Last week the event, organised by the Clap For Our Carers campaign, was expanded to include all key workers, such as supermarket staff, the emergency services and teachers who are working through the coronavirus outbreak.
Jonah Hill and fiancee Gianna Santos matched colors in their outfits as they stepped out for fresh air in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday, as the state remains under lockdown orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Los Angeles native, 36, wore a long-sleeved magenta sweater by Adidas with black pants and a black ball cap.

Gianna, a 31-year-old New York native, wore a long-sleeved magenta top with black bottoms and her brown locks down on the daytime outing, in which they conversed with friends standing at a distance.

Quarantine days: Jonah Hill, 36, and his fiancee Gianna Santos, 31, matched colors in their outfits as they stepped out for fresh air in Santa Monica on Wednesday as California remains under lockdown orders amid the coronavirus pandemic

The Beach Bum actor and the social media influencer confirmed their engagement last fall.

Jonah, who appeared on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm this past season, paid $6.77 million last year for a 3,100 sq. foot home in the Southern California beach town.

The coronavirus has impacted Hollywood heavily, shutting down virtually all productions while stars such as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are among those who have tested positive.

Hill and Hanks shared a memorable moment in a March 2012 episode of Saturday Night Live, as they did a bit in which Hill apologized for behaving arrogantly following his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for 2011's Moneyball.

Relaxing: The Beach Bum actor and the social media influencer, who confirmed their engagement last fall, looked to be in a discussion on the weekday outing

Glam: The couple stepped out in November in West Hollywood, California

At that point, Hanks walked onstage and boasted about his back-to-back Oscar wins for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, respectively.

'After I won my second Academy Award in 1994, I asked my wife to sleep on the couch so there would be enough room on my bed for my Oscars to spread out,' he said, jokingly calling the Oscars 'The Kick a** twins.'

Hill would go on to get another Oscar nomination for his role alongside Leonardo Dicaprio in 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street.

Other notable Hollywood names to test positive for coronavirus include A-lister Idris Elba, Bravo star Andy Cohen, actresses Ali Wentworth, Olga Kurylenko, Debi Mazar and Rachel Matthews; and actors Kristofer Hivju and Daniel Dae Kim. Performers to succumb to coronavirus-related symptoms include Jaws actress Lee Fierro, 91, Aliens actor Jay Benedict, 68, and Nashville actor Allen Garfield, 80.

Linked: Jonah has past worked with Tom Hanks, one of the most notable names to test positive for coronavirus; the actors shared a memorable moment in a March 2012 episode of Saturday Night Live

As of Wednesday, the death total for COVID-19 - declared a public health emergency by World Health Organization - had soared to 14,495 people in the U.S., The COVID Tracking Project reported, with 423,164 total positive diagnoses.

This week saw New York's total death toll surpass the 2,977 overall deaths stemming from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, as more than 6,200 people have died there as result of the virus, as of Wednesday.

Internationally, 88,415 people have died amid 1,513,358 positive diagnoses worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Major banks and health care companies will be the first to reveal how the early weeks of the coronavirus shutdowns impacted their profits, outlook, work force and customers.

Earnings season begins in the week ahead, with JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Johnson & Johnson among the first to release first quarter earnings reports Tuesday. But the stock market that appears to be willing to overlook anticipated bad news for now.

"Most of the slowdown occurred in March," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. "Do we react to the hypernegative economic data we see? What we do react to is any semblance of guidance. There is no clarity about duration of the economic slowdown. You're going to see a preponderance of companies pulling their guidance for the calendar year ... I think it's going to be more companies doing that, than not."

Stocks bounced higher in the four-day pre-Easter holiday week, with the S&P 500 up 12.1%, in the best week since 1974. Investors reacted to signs that new cases of the virus may be peaking in U.S. hot spots and Europe. The stock market also got a boost Thursday from the Fed's announcement of a $2.3 trillion in programs to help the economy.

The market will turn its focus to earnings in the coming week, but there are also some important economic reports, including March retail sales. The virus shutdowns resulted in a rapid closing of many retail establishments, a sudden drop off in gasoline sales, and a steep decline in auto sales. That has resulted in a forecast for a 7% decline in March retail sales.

"People are more interested in news about the spread of the virus than they are about the economic data," said Hogan. "We got another massive increase in jobless claims. That's ignored because we're listening to who is plateauing ... Is New York actually getting better and we see a peak? I get the feeling people are going to look at the first quarter earnings and say, 'we know this and you should pull your guidance.'"

Before March, analysts had expected an increase of several percent in first quarter earnings. According to Refinitiv's I/B/E/S, the forecasts and some actual numbers point to an 8.1% decline. For the second quarter, earnings are expected to decline about 20%, while economists expect an unprecedented 30% contraction in GDP during the quarter.

Weekly claims data will also be important, now with nearly 17 million claims filed in just three weeks. Economists expect millions more to be filed for the week ending April 11.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to the fight for justice for airline workers in federal legislation, thousands of Gate Gourmet workers and workers at other airline catering companies will continue to receive wages and benefits until Sep. 30, 2020. The Teamsters Union worked in coalition with the UNITE-HERE, RWDSU, UFCW and BCTGM unions to fight for airline catering workers to be included in the most recent legislation.

Gate Gourmet, one of the largest airline catering companies in the U.S., has now filed to receive federal aid that will protect Gate Gourmet workers' wages and benefits for at least the next five months. These paycheck protections come from the federal CARES Act (the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act") that was signed into law at the end of March.

While Congress was crafting the CARES Act, including a huge relief package for airlines, airline industry unions held firm with lawmakers that there must be direct assistance to workers, and that any assistance for airline industry businesses should be conditioned on protecting jobs.

The Teamsters and the aforementioned coalition also made the case that airline catering workers need the same economic assistance. When the final bill was passed, it included not only billions for airlines, but $3 billion for workers at other aviation industry companies such as Gate Gourmet as well.

The $3 billion can only be spent on workers' wages and benefits, and the funds come with conditions. In order to receive this money, airline catering companies may not lay off any workers before Sept. 30, 2020.

"Our members at Gate Gourmet prepare the food that airline passengers consume on flights in the U.S. and to other countries," said Teamsters Warehouse Division Director and International Vice President Steve Vairma. "They are just as much a part of the airline industry as those who are direct employees of the airlines, and they deserve protections, too."

"We have seen too many bailouts send money to corporations with no protections for workers. If corporations are going to receive assistance with taxpayer dollars, they must be required to provide paychecks and protect jobs," said Vairma. "This bill also places limits on executive pay and forbids dividend payouts to shareholders, which were union demands as well."

"We also want to thank our allies in the labor movement and in Congress, especially Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, for the solidarity they showed in working with us to get this bill passed," said James P. Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

"We are proud of our members and the work they do every day," said Vairma. "It is the working class of America that keeps the country moving, provides essential services, and creates profits for corporations. Working people should always be the top priority when it comes to protecting our industries and our communities."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information.

Contact:

Galen Munroe, (202) 439-7427

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Related Links

http://www.teamster.org


By Reuters Staff

LONDON (Reuters) - Data gathered from 2 million people in Britain using a new COVID-19 symptom tracker app suggests lockdown measures are slowing the spread of the disease, researchers said on Wednesday.

The rate of new coronavirus symptoms reported in Britain has slowed significantly in the past few days, the King's College London scientists said.

Their latest figures suggest that around 1.4 million people in Britain aged between 20 and 69 currently have symptomatic COVID-19, a fall from 1.9 million on April 1, as some have recovered and fewer people report new symptoms.

The drop in new symptoms suggests that although the numbers of COVID-19 patients being admitted to hospital are rising, as are the numbers dying, these should start to fall in about two weeks if social distancing measures are kept in place.

Official figures show Britain's total hospital deaths from COVID-19 rose by 786 to 6,159 as of 1600 GMT on April 6.

Like many other countries hit by the pandemic, Britain has imposed strict social distancing along with shop and school closures. Introducing the measures more than 2 weeks ago, authorities also asked everyone to stay at home except for essential travel.

Tim Spector, who led the King's team analyzing the symptom tracker data (https://joinzoe.carto.com/me), said the signs were "encouraging."

"Even though hospital admissions and deaths are still on the rise, we hope that these figures offer a much needed light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Spector's analysis comes after preliminary work by researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine published a week ago also showed that social distancing may already be working by dramatically reducing the number of daily contacts between people.

Spector said his data showed, however, that Britain's larger cities like London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool "continue to have very high levels of symptoms in the community."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Wednesday that Britain is in no position to ease the shutdown as the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak is still likely to be more than a week away.
Piramal Enterprises on Thursday said its board has accepted the resignation of SBI's former chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya as independent director of the company from April 16, 2020.

In her resignation letter, Bhattacharya has indicated that the reason for her resignation is her decision to accept a full time role as Chairperson and CEO in another company and accordingly, she needs to discontinue her existing non-executive assignments, Piramal Enterprises said in a BSE filing.

" ... the Board accepted the resignation of Arundhati Bhattacharya and noted that she will step down as an independent director from the board of the company as well as its committees, from April 16, 2020," it added.

She has also confirmed that there is no other reason other than that stated, Piramal Enterprises said.

"I wish to advise that I have decided to accept a full time executive role as Chairperson & CEO for the India operation of Salesforce, a company headquartered in USA. Accordingly the said company has asked me to discontinue my existing non-executive assignments. I sincerely regret that I will have to step down as non-executive Independent Director from the Board as well as from the committees of Piramal Board, from April 16, 2020," Bhattacharya said in her resignation letter.

Shares of Piramal Enterprises closed at Rs 958.15 per scrip on the BSE, up 2.44 per cent from its previous close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seven COVID-19 patients have been discharged in Lagos, after testing negative twice for the disease. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor ...





Seven COVID-19 patients have been discharged in Lagos, after testing negative twice for the disease.





Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state, disclosed the recoveries on Thursday in a statement.





Three of the discharged patients are non-Nigerians, and the seven patients consist of one female and six males.





The statement read: Good people of Lagos, I bring you awesome news from IDH, Yaba, which is as a testament to our resolve to overcome the lethal #COVID19 pandemic ravaging the world.

Today, we discharged 7 more patients who have fully recovered and tested negative twice consecutively for #COVID19. This brings to 39 the number of discharged patients in Lagos. The patients include one female and six males; three of the discharged male patients are foreign nationals; two Ukrainians and one Italian.





 19 by complying with our directives and taking responsibility for yourselves and your community. As we look forward to more great news in the coming days, I implore you all to support our offensive against #COVID19 by complying with our directives and taking responsibility for yourselves and your community.





He also asked for cooperation from residents as tracing of contacts of confirmed cases continues across the state.





In the coming days, some of our health workers will be moving around in pairs to administer an electronic questionnaire at homes and healthcare facilities to make enquiries about some symptoms like cough, cold and fever, he said.





This is in a bid to intensify our search for possible cases of #COVID19 in different communities across the State known as *Active Case Search*. These officials can be identified with a #COVID19 outbreak response tag or a letter from the LGA. I implore you to give them your maximum support by providing accurate information that would help in containing this #COVID19 pandemic quickly.





Lagos currently has the highest of Nigerias confirmed 276 cases with 145 cases in the state.




Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Automakers in China have been gradually beefing up production and stepping up sales efforts to compensate for the outputs and sales drop caused by the COVID-19 spread. According to the data released by four major Japanese automakers, all of them have achieved remarkable sales growth in March compared to February. Notably, the decrease of Toyota was contracted to below 20% with its sales topping 100,000 units.



Toyota

In March, Toyota saw its China sales in March amount to 101,800 units and year-on-year decrease stand at 15.9%, 54.3 percentage points fewer than that of February.

For the first quarter, the automaker sold roughly 270,900 new vehicles in the worlds largest auto market, posting a decline of 22.1%, versus 25.5% drop in Jan.-Feb. sales.

It is visible that Toyota's sales have somewhat rebounded as the coronavirus has abated in China. Such products launched last year as the Avalon, the all-new RAV4 and the refreshed models of the Levin and Corolla are expected to help it rapidly lift sales there.

On the contrary, Toyota's manufacturing operations outside China are significantly disturbed by the increasing severity of coronavirus pandemic. According to Yomiuri Shimbun, Toyota on April 3 suspended seven production lines at five plants in Japan. Besides, it also said it would keep all assembly and component parts plants in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. closed through April 17. Therefore, the sales of made-in-Japan Lexus vehicles might slide during April in China.

Honda

Honda announced there were 60,441 consumers in China took delivery of its vehicles in March, a year-on-year slump of 50.8%. As the coronavirus pandemic has been diminished countrywide, the Japanese automaker saw the March retail sales skyrocket 435.4% compared to February.

With 32,205 vehicles delivered, GAC Honda clocked a 50.1% year-over-year plunge last month. Dongfeng Honda's retail sales were also more than halved from a year ago to 28,236 units.

(Photo source: Honda China)



During the first quarter, Honda handed over a total of 221,984 vehicles in the world's largest auto market, 33.8% fewer than that of a prior-year period. Of those, 116,348 units (-35.7%) were the contribution of GAC Honda; Dongfeng Honda delivered 105,636 vehicles, posting a decrease of 31.5%.

As of March, the Japanese company only achieved 14.3% of the 1.55 million-unit annual sales target it set for China market, but it has not lowered the goal even though the virus influence will continue for some time.

Nissan

Nissan's China businesses sold 206,551 vehicles (including imported complete vehicles) in the first three months, representing a year-on-year decline of 39.9%.

Year-to-date sales of the passenger vehicle (PV) and LCV (light commercial vehicle) arms slumped 40.4% and 38.3% respectively to 169,428 units and 32,354 units.



(Photo source: Nissan China)



Sales in March by Nissan tumbled 44.9% from a year ago to 73,297 units, but recorded a light rebound from February. To be specific, the PV unit (Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Venucia) and the LCV unit (Dongfeng Automobile Co.,Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan) sold 55,424 units (-46.7%) and 16,337 units (-37%) respectively.

Nissan has put business in China on track to recovery despite the continued impact of COVID-19 spread across China, said the company.

As of March, except for a few cities in Hubei Province and in Wuhan, over 90% of Dongfeng Motor Co.,Ltd. (DFL)s dealers and suppliers for Nissan, Venucia, Infiniti and the Dongfeng brands are now gradually back to work throughout China.

Mazda

Mazda delivered a total of 36,351 new vehicles in China during the first quarter of 2020, suffering a plunge of 30.7% over a year ago mainly attributable to the impact of COVID-19 spread.

The retail sales in March reached 12,958 units, dropping 28.3% year over year, while tremendously soaring 433.3% compared to February.



(Photo source: FAW-Mazda)



FAW Mazda saw its retail sales slump 30.3% from a year earlier to 5,314 units in March, making its year-to-date sales total 14,106 units (-28.3%). Although the growth still remained negative, the joint venture surpassed the first-quarter delivery target with its market share rising to 0.47%.

Mazda said the retail sales for Changan Mazda reached 7,644 units in March and 22,245 units for the first three months. After a calculation based on earlier data, we found out that the joint venture's decrease in March and the first quarter stood at 26.8% and 32.1%.

With 5,669 units delivered, the Mazda 3 Axela developed by Changan Mazda was still the best-seller of March. From Jan. to Mar., 17,326 consumers took delivery of the popular car model.
Virgin Australia has re-credited leave to staff forced to take time off when the coronavirus caused the airline to stand down thousands of its workers.

It comes after the federal parliament passed the $1500 fortnightly wage subsidy, which is expected to help pay aviation workers caught in the economic storm.

Transport Workers' Union secretary Michael Kaine has welcomed Virgin's move and called on Qantas to match it.

Virgin Australia has re-credited leave to staff forced to take time off when the coronavirus caused the airline to stand down thousands of its workers (pictured: Airside operations team leader Chris McCullen seen with grounded planes)

'Qantas has recently mortgaged its planes and forced staff to bail it out from their leave balances,' he said on Thursday.

'With the government stepping in to subsidise wages and backdating this to March 1, Qantas should pay this back. We appeal to Qantas to reconsider its stance.'

Last month, Qantas stood down 20,000 staff or two-thirds of its workforce, giving them the option to take paid annual leave or unpaid time off work.

Qantas will this month start paying the JobKeeper wage subsidy early, weeks ahead of receiving the money from the tax office.

'The government has said in cases where employees have been stood down and elect to take paid annual leave, the JobKeeper payment will subsidise part of that income,' a Qantas spokesman told AAP.

'That's exactly how we are applying the payment.'

Around 8,000 staff out of 10,000 were stood down amid the coronavirus crisis.

The airline recently asked the government for $1.4billion to help keep the company afloat until commercial operations return to normal.
A 65-year-old man was shot and another was rushed to University Hospital on Sunday after a double shooting in Irvington, acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II announced Wednesday.

Lawrence Peterson, of Newark, died at the scene after he and another male were shot shortly before 8 p.m. in the area of Lyons of Union avenues, authorities said. Peterson was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:02 p.m.

No arrests have been made, the prosecutors office said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutors Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force tips line at 1-877 TIPS- 4EC or 1-877-847-7432.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
WASHINGTON  Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's trip last weekend to address sailors aboard the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt cost taxpayers more than $243,000 for the 35-hour round trip on a Gulfstream 550, according to a Navy official, who spoke anonymously.

Modly's profanity-laced speech to the sailors, during which he branded the fired captain of the ship as "naive" and "stupid" for seeking aid, prompted Modly to offer his resignation Tuesday.

Thursday, top Pentagon officials defended the trip, saying Modly had a duty to visit troops in crisis.

"I think we want to be very careful about signaling to people that senior leaders shouldn't be getting out in the field and seeing what's going on," Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said Thursday. "I think it is very difficult if you are all the time in the Pentagon."

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said officials need to see situations for themselves.

"If you want to know what's going on in Guam, where I'm standing right now is about the worst place to try to figure that out," Hyten said. "You actually need to talk to folks in the Pacific. And eyes on is always the best way to figure out what's going on."

Modly is in quarantine after visiting the Roosevelt. Defense Secretary Mark Esper accepted his resignation.

Modly did not meet in person with Esper to offer his resignation, according to Jonathan Hoffman, chief spokesman for the Pentagon. Hoffman said he would not comment on Modly's health status; his self-quarantine was confirmed by the Navy official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

A request for comment from Modly through the Navy was not immediately answered.

Navy resignation: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned. What we know.

Thomas Modly is in quarantine after visiting an aircraft carrier where the crew was afflicted by the coronavirus.

Modly flew aboard the C-37B, a Gulfstream business jet modified for military use. The cost of flying it is $6,946.19 per hour, according to the Navy official. Flight time for the Guam trip was about 35 hours for a cost of $243,116.65.

Story continues

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who chairs the Armed Services Committee's panel on personnel, blasted President Donald Trump and Pentagon leadership for allowing the trip.

"The president should turn his ire on the brain trust that allowed Modly to travel to Guam at the cost of nearly $250,000  a trip that only made the situation aboard the USS Roosevelt exponentially worse while still failing to address the needs of the crew, and the fleet, to protect itself amid the COVID-19 outbreak," she said.

Hoffman said he had not spoken to Esper about whether the cost of the trip was justified.

After transcripts and audio surfaced showing that Modly disparaged Capt. Brett Crozier, whom he had fired for sending a letter to Navy officials pleading for help, calls for his resignation mounted.

Modly initially stood by his comments  he said Crozier was "too naive or too stupid" to command an aircraft carrier. At Monday's White House briefing, Trump said Crozier's career should not have to end for what the president described as a mistake. Hours later, Modly issued a statement, apologizing to Crozier.

It was too little, too late. Calls for his resignation intensified, including by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Modly's position became untenable.

It is unclear whether members of the crew aboard Modly's plane have been quarantined as well. The Navy lists the crew as a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, flight attendant and load master.

The Pentagon, when Jim Mattis was defense secretary, cracked down on the use of military aircraft by senior officials. A policy issued by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan sought to limit officials to one plane and one crew per trip to limit cost and burden on flight crews, who have mandated rest periods.

Esper named Army Undersecretary James McPherson to the post of acting Navy Secretary.

Wednesday, the Navy reported 286 cases positive for COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which remains docked in Guam. The Navy has tested 93% of the crew and moved 2,329 sailors to shore to isolate them. The rest of the 4,800-member crew is on board to run nuclear reactors, guard weapons and disinfect the ship.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Navy secretary trip to Roosevelt cost $243,000, leads to Modly ouster
As online streaming replaces screenings dozens of Arab films are free to watch online whether released by individual filmmakers, companies or institutions. One notable initiative is Screens and Streams: Films and Music Online by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), which in view of maximizing reach and circumventing limitations to physical cultural broadcasting dictated by confinement and social distancing provides online music streams as well as Arab films produced in 2011-16, making each available for seven days.

The first weeks programme includes 20 tracks from 10 albums and five films, three of which are shorts: the Egyptian Mohammad Shawky Hassans documentary And on a Different Note (2015), the Egyptian Salma El Tarzis music documentary Underground/On the Surface (2013), and the Lebanese Chadi Aouns animation Silence (2016).The two long films are the Lebanese artist-filmmaker Rania Stephans experimental The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011, nominated for the best documentary award at the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival), and the Egyptian director Ahmed Nours Waves (2012), another experimental piece that combines archival imagery with live footage and animation to tell the story of Suez, Nours hometown, which won the Cinema in Motion Award at the 2012 San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Jury Prize for best sound at the 2015 Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKer and was nominated for best documentary feature at the 2014 Carthage Film Festival and the Muhr Arab Award for best documentary at the 2013 Dubai International Film Festival.Through its Facebook page, Zawya Art House provides a similar service under the slogan Stay Home and Watch, making dozens of films available at a time through links. Current offerings include Zelal (2010), a long documentary by Marianne Khoury and Mustapha Hasnaoui which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Dubai International Film Festival and was nominated for the Venice Horizons Award.Also produced by Misr International Films production house (co-headed by Khoury, who is also the co-founder of Zawya) is the Egyptian filmmaker Dina Hamzas documentary The Past Will Return (2015), which tells the story of the filmmakers late father, the renowned lyricist Mohamed Hamza; it won the Radwan Al-Kashef award for best artistic achievement at the 2012 Luxor African Film Festival. Another film Zawya is offering is the Lebanese director Eliane El Rahebs Those Who Remain (2016), a documentary about a 60-year-old Christian farmer struggling to hold onto his land in picturesque Akkar.

The Cairo premiere of Those Who Remain took place during the Zawya-managed Cairo Cinema Days (that is why Zawya is promoting the film even though it is Raheb who made it available). Another such film is the Lebanese director Hady Zaccaks 104 Wrinkles (2017), the 2018 best cinematography Lebanese Movie Award winner in which the filmmaker documents his grandmother Henriette crossing the centenarian milestone and reaching the age of 104.A third film on Zawyas list, made available by its Egyptian director (who won three 2018 Cairo International Film Festival awards for the related Poisonous Roses) is Ahmed Fawzy Salehs debut short documentary Live Skin (2010, which won awards at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the Luxor African Film Festival and the Tetouan International Mediterranean Film Festival).The Palestinian Film Platform, launched by filmmakers and institutions, features a Palestinian director every week. It opened on 1 April with Degrade (2015), a feature film by Tarzan and Arab Nasser that was nominated for the Critics Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Discovery Award at Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. It won the best film award at the Athens International Film Festival 2015.

The Lebanese house Abbout Productions, founded Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige in 1998 with the remit to produce feature and documentary films and to supports Arabic-language movies with a distinctly Arab voice, expressing the identity of the region streams a new film every three days. The list includes Treve: A Time To Rest (2013), a documentary by Myriam Hage, One of These Days (2017), a fiction film by Nadim Tabet, the sound artist and filmmaker Rana Eids debut Panoptic (2017, nominated for the best film award at Signs of Life Section in Locarno International Film Festival), and Lebanon Factory, an anthology film containing four sections by eight Lebanese and international filmmakers including Shirin Abushaqra, Mounia Akl, Ahmad Ghossein and Rami Kodeih.The initiative also includes two films by and about Lebanese legend Georges Nasser (1927-2019): Ila Ayn (Towards the Unknown, 1957), the first film to represent Lebanon in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and Un certain Nasser (2017), a documentary by Badih Massaad and Antoine Waked that won the Salah Abu Seif Award Special Jury Award at the 2017 Cairo International Film Festival.

The Egyptian production house Red Star is streaming its debut, Hala Khalils Nawara (2015) starring Menna Shalaby, Mahmoud Hemeida and Shereen Reda, which won four awards at the 2017 Cairo International Film Festival. Led by Beirut DC, a group of filmmakers and institutions are offering some of the best, most thought-provoking and independently minded works of contemporary Arab cinema under the title Aflamuna (Our Films), with a new selection every fortnight. It opened with Hala Lotfys Coming Forth by Day (2012), which won the best director award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. The selection also includes One of These Days (2017) by the Lebanese filmmaker Nadim Tabet, and Martyr (2017) by the Lebanese filmmaker Mazen Khaled, which was nominated for the Queer Lion Award at the 2017 Venice Film Festival.

Twenty-Eight Nights and a Poem (2015) by the Lebanese director Akram Zaatari, the winner of a Special Mention at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, is also on the streaming list. So is Semaan Bil Dayia (The One-Man Village, 2008), a long documentary by the Lebanese director Simon El Habre which won the Muhr Arab Special Jury Prize at the Dubai International Film Festival and the Best International Documentary Award at the 2009 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. The short film selection includes Before I Forget by the Egyptian director Mariam Mekiwi, Face A/Face B by the Lebanese director Rabih Mroue, and Cleaning Schaerbeek by Farah Kassem.

Through its own Cinema at Your Home initiative, the Syrian National Film Organisation, which is the main film producer in Syria, is offering Skys Road (2017) by the prolific Syrian director Joud Saeed, SOLO STEREO (2018) by Abelatif Abdel Hamid, and The Confession by Basel Al Khatib. For its part the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has made available its documentary on the life and work of the late film critic Youssef Cherif Rizkallah who was for many years until his death in 2019 the artistic Director of Cairo Festival. Directed by Abdelrahman Nasr, it premiered in CIFFs last round.Arsenal Berlin, the Institute for Film and Video Art, an independent Berlin-based film institute promoting cultural diversity through cinema by showing over 1000 films every year, launched its virtual programme Arsenal 3. We may no longer be able to make use of our physical premises, the press release said, but cinema is also a social space. There will be up to 13 titles every week including many Arab films such as In the Last Days of the City (2016) by the Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El Said, Letter to a Friend (2019) by the Palestinian filmmaker Emily Jacir, and Coming Forth by Day (2012) by Hala Lotfy. The first weeks list also includes three short films by Ibrahim Shaddad, one of the pioneers of Sudanese filmmaking.: The Rope (1985), A Camel (1981), and Hunting Party (1964).

Individual filmmakers offering their work include the Moroccan Hicham Lasri (Headbang Lullaby, 2017), the Algerian Malek Bensmail (Alienations, 2004), the Palestinian Mahdi Fleifel (A World Not Ours, 2012, which won over 28 awards including Berlins 2013 Peace Film Award), the PalestinianKamal Aljafari (entire filmography), the Palestinian Nasri Hajjaj (Shadow of Absence, 2007, which won the Bronze Muhr Award for the best documentary at the 2007 Dubai International Film Festival), the Syrian Ziad Kalthoum (The Immortal Sergean, 2014, nominated for best documentary at Locarno and Torino), the Egyptian Saad Hendawy (Azizas Prayers, 2012, nominated for best documentary at Dubai and Private File, 2008, nominated for the Muhr Arab Award at Dubai), the Moroccan Hakim Belabbes (Sweet Rain, 2017), the Egyptian Ahmed Rashwan (Coptic Island, 2014 and Basra, 2008, the winner of the best screenplay award CIFF).

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Bethel Church shifts to online healing rooms, now majority of calls related to stress from coronavirus

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In a move promoted as faith-filled and wise, Bethel Church, the Redding, California, megachurch of over 11,500 people which also runs a school of supernatural ministry, has shifted their popular healing rooms to online events weeks after suspending their faith healing ministry at hospitals due to the new coronavirus.

Now most of their healing is related to stress from the virus.

As the local and global community come together to address the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Bethel Church is seeking to promote health across the community. In moments like these, we do not partner with fear, but choose to lean into faith and hope, as well as practicing wisdom and safety, the church announced on March 20.

We are actively encouraging health practices and precautions to our whole community. We believe that wisdom, modern medicine, and faith are meant to work together, and express the value for each in the pursuit of on-going health and healing. We continue to remain in close communication with Shasta County Public Health to be aware of their recommendations for Shasta County, the church said.

While all in-person meetings and gatherings at the church have been suspended until further notice to comply with social distancing restrictions in California, Chris Gore, the churchs head of healing, told The Washington Post that their 700 healers are now working seven days a week online from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And the most common ailment among the approximately 100 calls they get daily from around the world are mostly related to stress about the coronavirus, Gore told the publication.

In a post on his Facebook page, Gore promoted Psalm 91 in a message urging Christians not to partner with fear.

Whats happening in the world is just horrible. Its heart breaking to see the loss of lives. So many of these people are the elderly and people with underlying health issues and weakened immune systems. I have written the last few posts mentioning not partnering with fear, he wrote on March 29.

I think we can all agree that fear is a real thing. I personally dont like the words fearless or no fear as we all experience fear but it is a matter of how we respond to fear we experience that counts. This virus has created so much fear in the world. Science tells us that prolonged fear will weaken your immune system and that makes us more vulnerable to this virus. I refuse to partner with fear, Gore added.

I encourage you today, yes we have some facts going on in the world but Jesus is not the spirit of fact or fear, He is the spirit of truth and the Prince of peace. Fact is we have a virus, truth is He is the protector, savior, redeemer, healer, and restorer. Im working hard to stay in and to stay partnered with peace. I pray that you will also encounter peace in this storm. Declare with me today that fear is not my friend I pray that this attack will quickly come to an end and the loss of precious lives would stop. #Shalom#Peace#FearisNotyourfriend#Psalm91, he wrote.

The CDC says fear and anxiety about the coronavirus can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in both adults and children. Some symptoms of stress can include: Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones; changes in sleep or eating patterns; difficulty sleeping or concentrating; worsening of chronic health problems; worsening of mental health conditions, as well as increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

In order to better cope with stress related to the coronavirus, the CDC recommends taking breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media as hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.

Eating healthy balanced meals, exercising and meditation and avoiding alcohol and drugs were also said to help with managing stress.
COLUMBUS, OhioProtesters unhappy with Ohios social-distancing restrictions could be heard in the background during Gov. Mike DeWines daily briefing Thursday at the Ohio Statehouse.

O-H-I-O! Actons got to go!" chanted a group of roughly 70 protesters who demonstrated outside the Statehouse before and during the briefing -- most while still following social-distancing rules.

Some protesters said they are worried about how many Ohioans are out of work because of the DeWine administrations stay-at-home" order, as well as similar directives closing non-essential businesses and banning mass gatherings. (The statewide order banning mass gatherings specifically exempted First Amendment demonstrations).

Demonstrators also said they didnt believe the coronavirus modeling cited by the governor and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton to justify the orders.

The protesters didnt identify themselves. Multiple demonstrators said they were not with an organized group, though some appeared to be associated with a religious organization, as they were carrying a cross.

Acton, during the briefing, acknowledged the protesters and sought to reassure them.

People are worried. They're afraid about things like their jobs, Acton said. And I want you to know that we are working just as rigorously on the recovery from this. ...We have to be redetermined on responsibly recovering.

DeWine said the protesters had every right to demonstrate, although he urged them not to get close to one another. He said that hes as frustrated by the situation as the protesters are, and he guaranteed that his administration is not going to keep these orders on one day longer than we have to.

The governor said earlier in the briefing that in the next week or so, his administration will release a fairly sophisticated plan to ease the states coronavirus restrictions as the crisis subsides.

What Im asking Ohioans to do is hang in there," he said. "All the evidence that we have indicates that if we dont hang in there -- if we dont continue to do what were doing -- its going to cost a lot of lives, and its going to delay our ability to economically recover.

DeWine likened the coronavirus to a monster. "Its sort of on the floor, but its still obviously claiming lives, he said. We cant let it off, and we cant feed it. And the way you feed it is by coming out and exposing yourself and exposing other people.

Cleveland.com reporter Laura Hancock contributed to this story.

Read more Ohio coronavirus coverage:

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(Newser)  By age 7, Charlotte Figi had inspired a movement and changed the way CBD is used for medicinal purposes. On Tuesday, at age 13, she diedlikely as a result of the coronavirus. As the Colorado Sun reports, Charlotte's mom, Paige, had been posting on Facebook for weeks about a serious illness that had hit their family. Though symptoms included fever, coughing, and breathing difficulties, the family didn't meet the criteria to get tested for COVID-19, but as Charlotte's symptoms worsened, she was ultimately admitted to the hospital on April 3. A test for the illness came back negative (though the Sun notes it is known to produce false negatives), but she was treated on a floor for COVID-19 patients using COVID-19 protocols. She seemed to improve and was discharged Sunday, but on Tuesday suffered a seizure, respiratory failure, and cardiac arrest, returned to the hospital as a "likely COVID-19 case," and didn't make it.

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Charlotte started having seizures at 3 months old and was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. She was not expected to survive past age 8, CNN reports. Pharmaceutical treatments didn't work, and she struggled to walk, talk, and feed herself by age 5. Then her parents heard about CBD oil, which is made from the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis, being used to treat seizures in a California child. They found a Colorado Springs medical pot dispensary willing to help, and on CBD oil, Charlotte thrived. Her parents ultimately weaned her off her anti-epileptic pharmaceutical drugs, and she started playing, walking, and feeding herself. The dispensary's oil was renamed "Charlotte's Web" for her, and her story changed the public perception of cannabis, helped change medical pot lawsand helped many other children with medical needs. See the Sun for more of her story. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Five attempt to rob mom and pop produce store in Cancun

Cancun, Q.R.  Four men were taken into police custody after a failed robbery attempt against a small mom and pop produce store.

The four were arrested by Cancun police Wednesday morning in response to an Emergency 911 call of a violent robbery in the San Antonio subdivision in SM 93. When police arrived, one of the men activated his weapon against police, who in turn, fired back, wounding him.

According to preliminary reports, five subjects participated in the robbery attempt, however, one of them managed to flee, leaving his four companions behind. The group were allegedly after the stores cash from sales of the previous day.

The State Secretariat for Public Security confirmed the arrest of 33-year-old Pedro Alberto N, 27-year-old Israel N, 30-year-old Eliobed N and Hugo Alberto N, whose age was not provided. Upon their arrest, police found them in possession of a laptop computer, cell phone and a .38 caliber weapon, among other items. The wounded man, Hugo Alberto N, was transferred to hospital for medical treatment and discharged.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has laid the blame for the chemical attacks that hit Hama province at the feet of the Syrian regime reports Al-Masdar.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a new report on Wednesday that accused the Syrian military of using chemical weapons in Hama in 2017.

The OPCW released today the findings of the first report by the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT). The IIT is responsible for identifying the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) has determined that chemical weapons have been used or likely used in Syria, they reported.

According to the report, the Syrian Arab Air Force allegedly used the chemical weapons in the town of al-Latamnah, which is located just south of the administrative border of the Idleb Governorate. The town was a long-time stronghold of the Free Syrian Armys (FSA) Jaish al-Izza faction.

The report reached the following conclusions:

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Mar. 24, 2017, an Su-22 military airplane belonging to the 50th Brigade of the 22nd Air Division of the Syrian Arab Air Force, departing from Shayrat airbase, dropped an M4000 aerial bomb containing sarin in southern al-Ltamenah, affecting at least 16 persons.

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on Mar. 25, 2017, a helicopter of the Syrian Arab Air Force, departing from Hama airbase, dropped a cylinder on the al-Ltamenah hospital; the cylinder broke into the hospital through its roof, ruptured, and released chlorine, affecting at least 30 persons.

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Mar. 30, 2017, an Su-22 military plane belonging to the 50th Brigade of the 22nd Air Division of the Syrian Arab Air Force, departing from Shayrat airbase, dropped an M4000 aerial bomb containing sarin in southern al-Ltamenah, affecting at least 60 persons.

The report itself concluded that, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the perpetrators of the use of sarin as a chemical weapon in al-Ltamenah on Mar. 24 and 30, 2017, and the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon on Mar. 25, 2017, were individuals belonging to the Syrian Arab Air Force.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.


By James M. Dorsey





Civilizationalist leaders, who seek religious legitimacy, cater to a religious support base or initially discarded scientific advice for expedient political reasons. They may have met their match in the coronavirus.



Science has knocked religion and traditional healing methods out of the ring in the battle between rival approaches towards getting the coronavirus pandemic under control.



Men like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman have finally joined much of the world in imposing science-driven degrees of lockdowns, social distancing, and the search for medical cures and protections after initially opting for political expediency or advocacy of traditional healing methods and/or religious precepts.



Remarkably, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of a kingdom that was founded and shaped by an ultra-conservative strand of Islam, was one leader who was not held back by religion when he suspended the Umrah (the smaller pilgrimage to Mecca), announced that this year's Hajj could be cancelled, and locked down the holy city as well as its counterpart, Medina.



"What if this year's Hajj was under Imran Khan rather than Mohammed bin Salman? Would he have waffled there as indeed he has in Pakistan?" asked Pakistani nuclear scientist, political analyst, and human rights activist Pervez Hoodbhoy.



Hoodbhoy noted that Pakistan has yet to import Saudi dates touted as cure for all diseases by Maulana Tariq Jameel, Pakistan's most popular preacher and a staunch ally of Khan.



He also took note of the fact Modi had not fallen back on Hindutava or Hindu nationalism's advocacy of the therapeutic powers of cow urine, Ayurveda, a medical system rooted in Indian history, and yoga.



Khamenei has similarly dropped his resistance to the closure of shrines in the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad. His government has closed schools and universities and urged the public to stay at home while announcing that "low-risk" economic activity would be allowed to resume next week.



The consequences of science-based approaches for civilizationalists who advocate policies inspired by religion or the supremacy of one religious group over another could go far beyond what should shape public health policies.



They could threaten the foundations of their religious support base as well as their discriminatory policies towards religious or ethnic minorities. Israel is a case in point in terms of both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious support base as well as his policies towards Israeli nationals of Palestinian descent.



With ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and cities emerging as the communities most affected by the coronavirus, some Israeli commentators argue that the pandemic could undermine rabbinical authority on a scale not seen since the Holocaust when large numbers left ultra-orthodoxy after rabbinical advice to remain in Europe proved devastating.



Ultra-orthodox rabbis, including Litzman, the health minister, who together with his wife and an ultra-orthodox adviser to Netanyahu, has tested positive, have had to reverse themselves in recent days as the virus ate its way through their communities in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.



"Torah no longer saves from death. The coronavirus has dealt an unimaginable blow to the rabbinical authority  and worldview  that ultra-Orthodox Jews previously regarded as infallible and eternal," said prominent Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer, who authored an acclaimed biography of Netanyahu.



The non-discriminatory nature of the coronavirus forced the Israeli government last week to ramp up testing in communities of Israeli Palestinians which had been described by public health experts as a ticking time bomb.



The experts warned that Israeli Palestinians were an at-risk group, many of whom suffer from chronic diseases, live in crowded conditions, and are socially and economically disadvantaged.



"In terms of public health, due to the present situation, the Arab communities are likely to become epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak, which will threaten the health of the entire population," said Dr. Nihaya Daoud, a public health lecturer at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.



Increased testing of Israel Palestinians tackles Israel's immediate problem of attempting to stymie the spread of the virus. It doesn't, however, address the longer-term structural threat to public health posed by imbalances in health infrastructure in Israeli Jewish and Israeli Palestinian communities, a lesson many Israelis could draw from the coronavirus crisis.



Drawing that lesson would challenge a pillar of Israeli policy with far-reaching consequences.



By the same token, the return home of some 45,000 Palestinian workers to the West Bank for this week's Passover holiday is likely to create bottlenecks in both Israel and the Palestinian territory after the Israeli government decided that they would not be allowed to return because of health concerns.



The decision threatens to create a labor shortage in Israel, increase economic pressure on an already weakened Palestine Authority, and facilitate the spread of the virus on the West Bank given the administration's inability to test all returnees.



"Because the two populations are so intertwined, curbing the virus only in one society is impossible," said Ofer Zalzberg of the International Crisis Group.



It's a lesson that applies universally, not just to Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel. That is no truer than in Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps that dot the eastern Mediterranean.



The pandemic casts a glaring spotlight on the risks of looking the other way when hospitals and health infrastructure are deliberately destroyed in war-torn countries like in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces deliberately targeted hospitals, and in Yemen, where the Saudi-UAE-led coalition did the same.



No doubt, it is a lesson that anti-globalists and civilizationalists prefer not to hear.



Yet, whether anti-globalists and civilizationalists like it or not, the coronavirus is global and universal. So is the science that will ultimately help get control of the pandemic and eventually stop it in its tracks.





Dr. James M. Dorsey (jmd@jmdonline.org) is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He is also an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg's Institute of Fan Culture in Germany.




Bengaluru, April 9 : Karnataka has recorded its sixth death owing to Covid-19, even as positive cases rose by 10 to 191, an official said on Thursday.

"Till date, 191 Covid positive cases have been confirmed. This includes six deaths and 28 discharges," said a health official.

The official details pertaining to the sixth Covid victim such as age, place, gender and place of death are yet to emerge.

"The official details will be shared in the evening," a health official told IANS.

In two days' time, this is the second Covid death in the state, following a 65-year-old man's death on Tuesday, fifth victim, from Kalaburagi.

Between Wednesday 5 p.m. and Thursday noon, 10 new Covid positive cases surfaced in Karnataka.
BAGHDAD  The Islamic State (IS) is seeking to take advantage of Iraq's preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic and the global coalition's suspension there of military operations against IS.

Accordingly, Iraqi forces have launched a preemptive operation to cut off IS supply routes and weaken its combat capabilities.

Despite the suspension of the global coalitions operations, Iraqi forces are conducting operations to hunt down the terrorist organization on the border with Syria," Iraq Defense Ministry spokesperson Yahya Rasoul told Al-Monitor. "IS has incurred huge losses in recent days as it tried to exploit the coronavirus crisis to expand its terrorist operations.

The global coalition announced in March that it stopped its combat, logistical and training operations in Iraq. The French Defense Ministry said its soldiers there departed according to agreements with the Iraqi government. Meanwhile, Washington withdrew US personnel from some military bases, most notably the Qayyarah air base in northern Iraq, and handed the bases over to the Iraqi side.

The coalition's withdrawal was described as temporary and tactical amid reports that training of Iraqi forces to target IS remnants could resume once the pandemic is under control. However, some Iraqi parties have warned that in the meantime, IS might once again take control of large parts of the country's northwest.

The biggest threat comes from the areas of Jazira and Badia, which are adjacent to the Iraqi-Syrian border  especially considering that Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) monitored armed IS groups entering Iraq from Syria. The groups had escaped March 30 from a prison in Hasakah. Add to this the escalating activity of IS cells in the Hamrin Mountains of Diyala province, as well as in southwest Salahudin.

Rasoul acknowledged that the absence of the coalition's technological support has affected Iraqi forces, but said it won't lead to a major shift in Baghdad's pursuit of IS.

The real battle is an information battle, and the intelligence effort in Iraq has evolved a lot. IS is unable to cause great damage in the country like it did before, he added.

Asked about Kurdish concerns over IS movements, Rasoul pointed out that IS exploits "void areas" between the places controlled by Iraqi forces and those controlled by Kurdish forces to infiltrate and carry out some attacks. But, he said, There is coordination between the two sides to avoid this imbalance.

Meanwhile, some authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan believe there could be a repeat of the 2014 scenario that led IS to dominate large areas of the country.

Jabar Yaro, secretary-general of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in the Iraqi Kurdistan government, told the Russian news agency Sputnik on April 1, The US withdrawal under such circumstances will affect the security conditions and the combat and defense ability of the federal and Kurdistan region forces and will lead IS to grow again in the region. There have been numerous clashes reported, the most recent being an April 7 attack in which two peshmerga members were killed by IS sniper fire in Kolajo in the Garmiyan region, according to a Rudaw reporter in the area.

Sinjar Mayor Mahma Khalil said IS is likely to take control of Mount Sinjar and the surrounding area if the security forces fail to preemptively strike the organization, especially considering that the border between Iraq and Syria is not controlled around there.

He said, "The security conditions in Sinjar and its outskirts are fragile due to the presence of [armed groups], an uncontrolled spread of arms and the failure of the security forces to play their role in maintaining security. These factors lead IS to exploit the situation and reorganize its ranks.

The prospects for a strong IS return are linked to its growing ability to smuggle more of its detainees from Iraq and Syria. Despite tightened security measures in Iraqi prisons, some courts are deciding to evacuate inmates accused of terrorism for fear of a coronavirus outbreak in prisons. There are calls for the release of more prisoners, but Iraqi authorities have yet to announce a plan to monitor and track the released individuals.

Kate al-Rikabi, a member of the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told Al-Monitor that reports about the power of IS and the possibility of its members escaping from prisons in Iraq come from the media war that Washington has waged to achieve specific political goals after its forces withdrew from some military bases. Chief among these goals, he said, is showing the importance of US forces remaining in Iraq.

"The withdrawal of some international coalition forces was a response to the Iraqi parliament's decision in January to end the presence of foreign forces, but coincided with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which accelerated the withdrawal process," Rikabi said.

The Iraqi forces and the Popular Mobilization Units are capable of providing security after the experience they gained during the past years, and IS will not occupy areas of the country, he added.

However, he did acknowledge that there have been changes in some mountainous areas, such as Sinjar, due to the absence of military air cover provided by the global coalition.

At the beginning of this year, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to expel foreign troops from Iraq in protest against the US killing, on Iraqi soil, of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and PMU deputy head Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The decision created a wide political division, as Kurdish and Sunni parties emphasized the country's need for US forces to combat terrorism.

In this context, the partial withdrawal of these forces and the suspension of the global coalition operations due to the coronavirus crisis may reveal the extent to which Iraq is capable of facing its security challenges without seeking foreign support.
A heavily armed gang flew away with a haul of gold-silver alloy bars in an audacious heist from a mine in northern Mexico.

The shocking incident took place Wednesday morning at Minas de Oro Nacional, also known as Mulatos mine, in Sahuaripa, Sonora.

Mine officials said workers were carrying an unspecified amount of bars towards a contracted plane on the desert mine's airstrip when five armed men arrived in a truck at 7:50am and subdued the staff and security personnel.

A Cessna 206 landed within moments after the gang secured control of the mine and took off 10 minutes later, with the gang fleeing into the mountains.

Minas de Oro Nacional, the Mexican subsidiary of Canada's Alamos Gold, said authorities were searching clandestine airstrips in the area for a Cessna plane that was used by an armed gang to steal gold-silver alloy bars during Wednesday's heist at the desert mine in Sonora, Mexico

'They managed to remove a number of these bars which are insured according to company security protocols,' Minas de Oro Nacional said in statement.

'Fortunately there were no injured persons due to these unfortunate events.'

Minas de Oro Nacional, the Mexican subsidiary of Canada's Alamos Gold, said authorities were searching clandestine airstrips in the area for the plane.

Officials with Minas de Oro Nacional, the Mexican subsidiary of Canada's Alamos Gold, said a group of armed men stormed its site Wednesday and loaded a small plane their accomplices landed on an airstrip and jetted off with an unknown amount of gold-silver alloy bars

Minas de Oro Nacional is the Mexican subsidiary of Canada's Alamos Gold

Wednesday's mine robbery is the second one reported in the last two weeks.

Sepsa, a subsidiary of Mexican mining company Grupo Sesnillo PLC, had two of its trucks intercepted in the Sonora municipality of El Diamante by gunmen on March 23.

The gang ambushed two trucks and beat the security guards before fleeing with an unknown amount of gold-silver alloy bars.

In a November 2019 heist, thieves netted almost $21.2million worth of gold-silver alloy bars that were being transported aboard a truck belonging to Grupo Sesnillo PLC truck.
The U.S. and China should work together to show honest leadership or risk transforming the pandemic into a bigger crisis, the head of the World Health Organization said in unusually stern comments on the two superpowers.

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union still came together to fight and eradicate smallpox, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He urged all countries, political parties and the media to stop trying to use the coronavirus issue to divide people.

If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it, Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva Wednesday. No using COVID-19 to score political points.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the WHO blew it and had given bad advice on travel restrictions. He threatened to cut funding, saying that the Geneva-based organization favours China. That countrys foreign ministry has suggested that the U.S. army might have caused the outbreak.

Tedros said the WHO tries to treat everyone equally, and will later assess successes and failures. The organization officially informed all member states of the outbreak Jan. 5 and gave guidance on how to test for it by Jan. 10.

Chinas foreign ministry on Thursday said it hoped all countries would stand together and help each other.

China will continue to support the WHO in playing a leading role in the fight against COVID-19, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

Unity needed

The WHO declared a global health emergency in late January, when the world outside China had reported 98 cases and yet no fatalities. Hours later, the U.S. told Americans not to travel to China because of the risk of infection, and for weeks, Trump referred to the disease as the Chinese virus.

The WHO plans to update its strategy and give an estimate of the financial needs for the next phase in coming days, Tedros said. Financial resources wont be a problem as long as countries are united, he added.

When there are cracks at the national level and global level, thats when the virus succeeds, Tedros said.

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Amid the growing COVID-19 cases in



Maharashtra, health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday unveiled new measures like deployment of SRPF in Mumbai's congested areas and enlisting Fire Brigade to sanitise public toilets here to minimise chances of coronavirus contraction.

He expressed concern over the number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra not coming down despite best efforts by authorities.

As the state continued to lead the nationwide tally in positive coronavirus cases, Tope lamented that some people are defying the ongoing lockdown, enforced to halt the spread of COVID-19, on some pretext or the other.

In a statement issued in the evening after a cabinet meeting, Tope said the state will open some closed schools and use them as temporary shelters for people living in highly congested areas as well for community kitchen for those who have lost jobs due to the lockdown.

"These are the decisions we have taken in the state cabinet, he said.

"Despite our efforts, the lockdown is being defied by people under various excuses. It is worrisome that the number of COVID-19 cases is not coming down.

"We have decided to deploy additional staff from SRPF to strictly implement lockdown in the congested areas identified as containment zones," the minister said.

"During my visits to densely populated areas such as Dharavi (Asias largest slum colony), I noticed that a large number of people are dependent on public toilets, spots from where infection can spread.

"Their are some public toilets, where one seat is used by some 200 people during the day. The state government has decided to use Fire Brigades powerful jet spray to sanitise such public toilets every one hour.

"It would minimise the chances of people transmitting the infection, he said.

Tope said food will be supplied to the homes of daily wagers who are out of job currently.

"Similarly, in high density areas, daily wagers, who had some small scale work at their homes, no longer have any source of income.

"We will use community kitchens as well as local NGOs to cook and supply food to their doorstep every day, he said.

"We have decided to covert school classrooms as temporary shelters for these people so that they can avoid crowding on roads and maintain social distancing strictly, the minister said.

Commenting on use of rapid tests to detect coronavirus, he said, The Centres permission is awaited for rapid tests."



The BMC has placed an order for one lakh testing kits, he said.

"Once we get the permissions, blood samples will be taken from frontline workers such as doctors, nurses, health service providers and police officials to check whether they have developed anti-bodies in their system.

This filtering will enable the state to decide on how to respond to the situation, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The House of Representatives will give legislative backing and monitor the spending of funds donated to the fight against coronavirus in Nigeria, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.

Mr Gbajabiamila said this in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting on the update on COVID-19 between the leadership of the National Assembly and the Presidential Task Force (PTF).

He emphasised the need for legislation on the disbursement of government and private funds against the pandemic.

The House had announced the donation of their two months salary to help in combating the pandemic.

The Senate also announced that they were contributing half of their salaries beginning from March to the cause.

All federal ministers also announced they would donate half of their March salaries.

Banks, private organisations and individuals have donated billions to fight the epidemic in Nigeria.

The United Bank for Africa on Thursday announced a N5 billion donation.

Femi Otedola, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Herbert Wigwe and Segun Agbaje also donated N1 billion each to support the cause.

In a long-awaited speech, President Muhammadu Buhari said the presidential task-force will receive and coordinate all donations made to fight against the pandemic in the country.

NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The speaker said without legislation, coupled with the fact that disbursement of government funds must be as prescribed by law, spending from the COVID-19 funds may become a subject of litigation.

He said disbursement from the fund without the approval of the National Assembly could become controversial.

What we are trying to do is to see if constitutional provision is brought to bear on this issue as stated by Section 80 of the constitution, that disbursement from the coffers of government can only be in a manner prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

What we can do is to convene as soon as possible and give you, even if it is a one line item for you to appropriate this monies, this is because to do otherwise may become a subject of litigation, and the court can say you have no power to disburse from the money that is coming to the coffers of government, Mr Gbajabiamila said.

On the legislation against reneging on pledges of donations publicly made, the Speaker said there is no consequence for reneging on promises made on donations because there is no legislation.

There must be some form of legislation to that effect, an instrument to compel pledges must be in place.

He also expressed disappointment with the disclosure that medical and other personnel at the entry points and hospitals working on the coronavirus pandemic are yet to be paid hazard allowance.

The speaker inquired from the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, about the whereabouts of the Chinese medical personnel and if they were subjected to the laid down protocol of the disease.

This engagement is to see how we can make things better. The Chinese medical personnel, are they coming to upgrade our laboratories, are you accepting them? Who are the technicians that have been running the Kaduna and Kano laboratories before now?

Where are the Chinese personnel as we speak? How are you sure that the Chinese company responsible for this arrangement is complying with your directives?

The speaker also said since the disease is highly infectious, the authorities should test as many Nigerians as possible.

READ ALSO:

My point is, let us begin to test everybody since the disease is highly infectious. We have a problem of contact tracing with people giving wrong addresses. Have you tried tracing them through the Immigration Service and telecommunication companies since there are other details that can be sourced from those windows?

In his response, the Minister of Health, Mr Ehanire, said the Chinese medical personnel were duly tested and quarantined in a facility belonging to the Chinese company that was responsible for the arrangement.

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The minister also said foreign airlines and embassies were cooperating in solving the challenge of tracing contacts of the indexes of the virus.

On his part, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who is also the Chairman of PTF, Boss Mustapha, in aligning with the position of the speaker on the need for legislation, also assured that a comprehensive welfare package is being processed.

Others at the meeting that included the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, were the Ministers of the Aviation, Environment, Information and Foreign Affairs as well members of the PTF on COVID-19.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Assyrian Refugees and IDPs

Sanitation measures underway at Virgin Mary Complex in Baghdad in March 2020. The spread of COVID-19 puts Assyrian and other refugees and internally-displaced peoples (IDPs) at particular risk. The majority of Christian Assyrians in Iraq and Syria have been forcibly displaced due to conflict, religious persecution, and targeted violence over the last two decades. More recently, several hundred thousand were displaced following the rise of the so-called Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria.

Refugee: A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave his or her country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Internally-displaced person (IDP): An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, but they do not meet the legal definition of a refugee.

Assyrian IDPs in Iraq

Hundreds of Assyrian IDPs in Iraq still reside in camps, where it is impossible to comply with World Health Organization recommendations pertaining to social distancing, and where proper sanitation measures are not readily available and access to adequate health care is limited. These factors leave these communities especially vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19.

In Baghdad, Iraq, Virgin Mary Complex currently houses approximately 140 families of Assyrian background. The majority of these persons are inhabitants of the Nineveh Plain who were displaced in 2014, while a few are impoverished Assyrian families from Baghdad who have since been admitted to the camp.

Virgin Mary Complex was established in late 2014 by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), an Iraqi Assyrian political party, in response to the Islamic State's takeover of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain. The camp is located on lands belonging to the ADM and continues to operate despite pressure from the federal government to close. Most camps housing Christian Assyrian IDPs, such as those operated by the Chaldean Catholic Church in Ankawa, were closed in 2017. In August 2019, the Iraqi Government consolidated and closed a number of IDP camps across the country, with a stated goal of all IDPs returning home by the end of 2020; though voluntary repatriation remains unlikely given current conditions. Virgin Mary Complex is the only active IDP camp in Iraq exclusively housing Christian Assyrian IDPs.

In the immediate aftermath of the Islamic State assault on the Nineveh Plain, 45 families were temporarily housed at ADM-affiliated facilities in Baghdad; however, as the number of Assyrian IDPs from Ninewa Governorate arriving in Baghdad increased, the camp was established and these families were relocated. Each family was provided with a caravan containing one room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, including a shower. The camp, which was established with the assistance of Baghdad's Provincial Council and the Ministry of Migration and Displaced Persons, relies on the support of NGOs and private donors to meet the daily needs of inhabitants, including food, water, and medicine. Security is provided by guards employed by the ADM, and the camp is administered in partnership with the Christian Endowment Office.

Despite the liberation of Ninewa Governorate from Islamic State control in 2017, Assyrian return to Mosul has been negligible, and a number of factors continue to prevent repatriation to the Nineveh Plain where roughly 50% of the pre-Islamic State population has returned, primarily to al-Hamdaniya District. Though some of the families previously housed at Virgin Mary Complex have returned home to the Nineveh Plain, many have no plans to return in the foreseeable future. According to camp administrators, the most-commonly cited factors preventing return include concerns about security, lack of livelihood opportunities, and irreparable damage to home/property.

Iraqi Assyrian Member of Parliament Yonadam Kanna told the API, "We will continue to support the needs of displaced persons until we can guarantee the conditions that will sustain their return. We will not force anyone to return home. Security, jobs, and infrastructure are basic needs and many won't return until these things are guaranteed."

The Iraqi Government has imposed a curfew and other restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, Kanna led an initiative to sanitize Virgin Mary Complex in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and says camp administrators will continue to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

Assyrian Refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey

Assyrian refugees residing in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey generally do not seek shelter in refugee camps due to religious discrimination and fear of targeted attacks. Instead, Assyrian refugees are compelled to rent private homes in urban neighborhoods. While they are generally able to practice social distancing in these conditions, various factors may negatively impact their ability to take all precautionary measures against COVID-19 and to receive adequate medical care if infected. Limited access to health care remains a major concern, as the policies and practices of governing authorities often prohibit refugees from accessing proper care. Moreover, medical experts have concluded that the fragile health care systems in these countries generally lack the capacity to respond to an epidemic. Beyond concerns about health care, the cost of living in these countries is very high, and many of these families rely on remittances from relatives and friends abroad in order to meet household needs. Some Assyrian refugees were employed without legal authorization and are now no longer working. These sources of financial support have now been affected, exposing large segments of the Assyrian refugee community to the possibility of economic vulnerability. Many of these communities also depend on the support of NGOs that are now paralyzed or short of funds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though many Assyrian refugees have been resettled to countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States in recent years, tens of thousands remain in displacement. The majority of Assyrian refugees spend years awaiting resettlement with little to do on a daily basis, and in doing so have already adapted to conditions of thwarted mobility. While the long wait for a humanitarian visa is anticipated, there is no guarantee of resettlement. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, countries around the world have taken necessary steps to contain the contagious virus, such as travel restrictions, quarantines, and the closing of borders.

On March 17, 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are suspending resettlement departures. Some countries have also placed their own holds on planned refugee arrivals due to the global pandemic. According to the UNHCR :

As countries drastically reduce entry into their territories owing to the COVID-19 global health crisis, and restrictions around international air travel are introduced, travel arrangements for resettling refugees are currently subject to severe disruptions. Some States have also placed a hold on resettlement arrivals given their public health situation, which impacts on their capacity to receive newly resettled refugees. Refugee families are being directly impacted by these quickly evolving regulations in the course of their travel, with some experiencing extensive delays while others have been stranded or separated from family members.

Though the extreme measures undertaken by countries around the world are necessary to contain the spread of the virus, the suspension of refugee resettlement may exacerbate the existing vulnerabilities of refugee communities and negatively impact their mental health and well-being. For many Assyrian refugees, the uncertainty about the future is often overwhelming and crippling. An Assyrian refugee currently residing in Amman, Jordan told the API by phone, "We have already been waiting for six years for any news on our [resettlement] case. The whole world is on hold, but it's especially hard for us to accept that now we are just stuck here without any idea of what the future holds for us.

An Assyrian refugee in Fuheis, Jordan stated, "I am very worried about our future. We feel now as though we are wasting our time and our money here, because all cases have been suspended, and we don't know how long this will go on."

Jordan has imposed one of the strictest countrywide lockdowns in the world to combat COVID-19. Round-the-clock curfews have been extended indefinitely, barring people from moving except in emergencies. People between the ages of 16 to 60 are permitted to leave their home on foot during designated hours for essential trips, such as purchasing groceries or essential needs. Those who violate the curfew are subject to arrest, up to a one-year prison sentence, and for refugees, possible deportation. While the lockdown aims to limit the spread of COVID-19, it has significantly limited access to vital humanitarian assistance for urban refugee communities such as Assyrians.

In Lebanon, authorities have imposed a partial-curfew and ordered the closure of all nonessential public and private institutions. The Assyrian Support Committee (ASC), a Beirut-based aid group affiliated with the Assyrian Church of the East, recently launched an initiative aimed at spreading awareness about COVID-19 and distributing essential needs. Jack Jendo, a board member of ASC, told the API, "The COVID-19 pandemic has intensively worsened an already devastating economic crisis and exposed the inadequacies of Lebanon's social protection system. As a small minority, the Assyrians are one of the most vulnerable communities in Lebanon, due to the lack of financial and social resources. The only support available to our people here is the church, which was barely able to meet the urgent needs of impoverished families and refugee families from Iraq and Syria before the global pandemic."

With the support of Catholic Relief Services, the ASC is in the process of delivering food baskets and hygiene kits to 511 Assyrian families located in Bauchrieh, Hadath, Zahle, and Ashrafieh. While the assistance targets approximately 70% of Assyrian families in the area, Jendo says the ASC recognizes the unique vulnerabilities of Assyrian refugees at this time. "Our main challenge now is to analyze and handle the cases of needy families in light of this crisis," he says.

Jendo says there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 among the local Assyrian community. He attributes the lack of spread to the ASC's early response to the crisis, which included promoting awareness and canceling all public gatherings and events, including religious services. The ASC has also formed emergency response units composed of volunteers in areas with significant Assyrian populations, and has also created a hotline and online form where families can report symptoms and confirmed cases.
[April 08, 2020] Canada Emergency Business Account: National Bank Encourages SME Owners and NPO Managers to Apply Online Starting Tomorrow

MONTREAL, April 8, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Starting tomorrow, owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and managers of non-profit organizations (NPOs) who are National Bank clients will be able to submit their applications online for the Canada Emergency Business Account. This program is guaranteed by the Government of Canada and aims at helping businesses cope with the economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. It will be used to grant $40,000 loans that are interest-free until December 31, 2022 to SMEs and NPOs. "Being the Bank of entrepreneurs means prioritizing advice based on needs, be it day-to-day or in exceptional situations, such as what we're currently experiencing. Our employees are working tirelessly to assist our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help them obtain support measures to deal with the crisis," stated Stephane Achard, Executive Vice-President  Commercial Banking and Insurance at National Bank. To apply for an emergency loan, you must complete the online form, which will be available tomorrow. Here are a few steps to follow before you apply. 1. Check if you are eligible The Canada Emergency Business Account is for SMEs and NPOs. The conditions of the federal program require that: Organizations have paid $50,000 to $1 million in salaries in 2019, as declared on their T4 Summary

to in salaries in 2019, as declared on their T4 Summary NPOs have submitted a T2 Corporate Income Tax Return for the 2019 tax year

Registered charities have submitted a T3010 Registered Charity Information Return for the 2019 tax year Moreover, to submit your emergency loan application to National Bank, please make sure that: You have an active business account (business current account) at National Bank, in Canadian dollars, opened no later than March 1, 2020

The enterprise was not in arrears on existing borrowing facilities, if applicable, with National Bank by 90 days or more as at March 1, 2020

National Bank is your primary financial institution 2. Have the right information on hand You will need the following information for your application: Your National Bank business account number (indicated at the bottom of your cheques)

The transit number of your branch (5 digits, indicated at the bottom of your cheques)

The sum of salaries paid in 2019 (see box 14 of the 2019 T4 Summary for your business)

Your business number or employer account number (15 characters, see the 2019 T4 Summary for your business



3. Consult our FAQ To learn more about how the emergency business loan works, consult our FAQ.

Additional support measures Some businesses could also already be eligible for the following support measures. We ask that they contact their Account Manager and consult nbc.ca/business where we regularly update information on relief measures and available government programs. Concerted Temporary Action Program for Businesses from Investissement Quebec: This program is only for businesses operating in Quebec and gives access to a working capital loan of a minimum of $71,500 . For more information, go to the Investissement Quebec website.



This program is only for businesses operating in and gives access to a working capital loan of a minimum of . For more information, go to the website. Export Development Canada's Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP): This measure is aimed at direct exporters, indirect exporters, and future direct exporters. It allows them to obtain an operating line of credit or cash flow loan of up to $6.25M in CAD, USD or another currency. For more information, go to the Export Development Canada website. National Bank Insurance Auto | Home: Support measures for retail clients National Bank Insurance Auto | Home would also like to remind clients who are experiencing financial difficulties that they could be eligible for various relief measures, including: Payment deferrals

Premium adjustments to reflect reduced vehicle use

Flexibility offered to clients who use their vehicle for certain types of deliveries

Claims may be submitted online or by phone Clients must call 1-877-871-7500 to find out if they are eligible for relief measures. Further details are available on National Bank Insurance's website. Using the Client Centre or app, policyholders can access documentation, start a claim or obtain proof of insurance. Related links



National Bank  Update on COVID-19

National Bank Announces New Support Measures and a Special Approach for Seniors

National Bank Encourages its Clients to Stay Safe and Use Digital Banking Solutions About National Bank of Canada

With $289 billion in assets as at January 31, 2020, National Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups. It has more than 26,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for its commitment to diversity. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA). Follow the Bank's activities at nbc.ca or via social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE National Bank of Canada

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The majority of Malaysians are not financially prepared for an extended movement control order (MCO), according to a study by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). Only 6.2% of survey respondents consider themselves to be less financially affected by the MCO.

More than half of Malaysians (52.6%) said that they were severely affected financially during the MCO period. 24.8% respondents scored themselves as affected during the MCO, whereas another 16.4% said that they were moderately affected.

Those working in multi-national companies (MNCs) and government-linked companies (GLCs) were considered the most prepared for an extended MCO period, with 63.8% of MNC employees and 55% of GLC employees saying they were financially prepared for an extension. However, only 18.1% of self-employed workers, 28.7% of employers, and 34.9% of private sector employees expressed a similar financial readiness to face an extended MCO.

In the matter of savings, it was found that MNC and GLC workers were also the best off, with 75.2% and 78.9% respectively having enough savings to last up to 4 months. Meanwhile, 71.4% of self-employed workers said that they only had enough savings to last less than 1 month. As for employers and private sector workers, 77.2% and 82.7% respectively said that they only had enough savings to last 2 months.

The study also found that once again, self-employed workers were hardest hit when it came to loss of employment and reduced income. Almost half of the self-employed workers surveyed had lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and almost 95% of self-employed workers reported a loss of monthly income.

A total of 168,182 participants aged 15 years and above participated in the Effects of Covid-19 on the Economy and Individual  Round 1 survey by DOSM.

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High winds and heavy rainfall from Cyclone Harold caused havoc in Fiji on April 8, dramatic footage shows.

According to the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation, people in most parts of the country will be without power during the Easter weekend as the utility Energy Fiji Limited was still carrying out damage assessments on April 9.

The cyclone killed 27 people in the Solomon Islands, before arriving on the Pacific island of Vanuatu on April 6. It progressed to Fiji on April 8, flooding towns and flattening homes, but there were no immediate reports of deaths, according to officials.

This video shows strong winds and rain from Cyclone Harold blowing palm trees from side to side. Credit: Sarah Conrad via Storyful
Senator Bernie Sanders

The Vermont senators announcement makes former vice president Mr Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee

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Larry Sanders, brother of Bernie, told Sean O'Rourke this morning on RTE Radio 1 that his impact on American politics has been "unprecedented" and "is not over."

"He's lost this campaign but the battle for a decent society doesn't end, and he's done more for that than most", he said.

"Bernard will support Biden, he knows how awful the prospect of another term of Trump is."

Today I am suspending my campaign. But while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on. https://t.co/MYc7kt2b16  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 8, 2020

Speaking of his earlier campaign in 2016 and Hilary Clinton, Larry said: 'if the democrats want to win they know how to win....what they have to do is say what both of the people need.

"If they don't do that then they can lose even to a creep like Trump.

"I don't think the blame is on Bernard for pointing out that we can do a whole lot better, the blame is on the people who don't want to do a whole lot better."

Of Bernie's supporters, Larry said that there will be a number of his supporters who won't vote for Biden but, "he has to win because Trump would be a disaster for the world but why would anybody be particularly enthusiastic about Biden."

He concluded: "Bernard's impact on American politics will go on for a very long time".
The economic relief measures for small businesses, announced by the federal government over recent weeks, are not all the same and originally only businesses with employees received assistance.

The original measure, "cash flow assistance for businesses" announced on March 12 and then updated on March 22, in most cases did not result in cash received. The second measure announced on March 30 applies to all businesses and will result in cash being received.

Scott Morrison's government has unveiled a number of small business support measures over the past three weeks but eligibility varies. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

To be eligible for cash flow assistance businesses must have an annual turnover of less than $50 million and have employees. The credits are only available to active eligible employers that had been established prior to March 12, 2020. How small businesses that commenced operating during the March 2020 quarter, that had not registered as a group employer by March 12, will be affected is unknown.

For eligible small businesses the cash flow assistance is as a credit on their March BAS equal to 100 per cent of their total PAYG withholding tax deducted from employees wages, up to a maximum of $50,000 with a minimum credit of $10,000.
Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, Member of Parliament (MP) in the Upper East Region, has called on the government to carry out mass testing for COVID-19 in order to know the real state of the virus in the country.



According to him, the government had delayed in its approach to dealing with the issue, indicating that if the government had instituted stiff measures at the initial stage of the pandemic, Ghana would not have recorded any case of COVID-19.



He said for the government to know the real state of affairs as far as COVID-19 was concerned, there was the need for a scientific approach to deal with the pandemic.



Dr Nawaane made the call when he presented pieces of furniture, Veronica Buckets, disinfectants, and Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Nabdam District Health Directorate to support the fight against the spread of the virus.



The MP, who is a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and Chief Executive Officer of Saint Mark Hospital at Dunkwa and Wassa Akropong, said: The government should make all efforts to get more testing materials for mass testing.



He suggested that an amount of GHC200,000,000.00 which was raised during the previous administration and transferred into the Contingency Fund, be used in the present difficult time to benefit the ordinary Ghanaian.



Please lets not give it to a certain class. That is not good. That money should be used to acquire more testing materials so that if I am not feeling well, am coughing too much and I want to test, I should have a place to test so that we can assess the real extent of the spread, he said.



Dr Nawaane commended government for the initiative to absorb the cost of the water bill for the next three months, saying that is good but we know that for most Ghanaians, the real problem is the electricity bills, we want people to stay at home, why dont we make sure that the electricity bills are reduced so that people can work from home.



He urged government to negotiate with telecommunications companies to ensure a reduction in the cost of internet data bundles so that people could work from home.



Mr James Tobiga Naabil, the Nabdam District Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), thanked the MP for the gesture and appealed to other stakeholders to join the fight against the virus in the District.

Source: GNA









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CAIRO - A cease-fire proposed by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen went into effect Thursday, potentially paving the way for peace talks to end the more than 5-year-old conflict.

Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen and the capital, Sanaa, quickly dismissed the offer as a ploy by the kingdom to boost its international standing while a spokesman for the rebel forces accused the coalition of several attacks on Thursday.

This announcement does not express a genuine intention to achieve peace, said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official. The Saudis are still employing their air, land and naval forces to tighten the siege on Yemen ... this is an announcement only to restore (their positions), to close ranks.

Saudi officials said late Wednesday the cease-fire would last for two weeks and that its in response to U.N. calls to halt hostilities amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the truce could be extended to allow warring parties to discuss a comprehensive political solution in Yemen. He said that the coalition envisions three-way peace talks in which the Houthis, the U.N.-backed government of Yemeni President Abed Rabo Mansour Hadi, and a military team from the coalition would sit down to negotiate a durable settlement.

But the initiative could also be an attempt by the monarchy to pull out of a war that has proved financially and politically costly.

Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted Thursday that it will hopefully create a more effective climate to deescalate tensions and enable the sides to work toward a political settlement.

He also said Saudi Arabia would contribute $500 million to U.N. relief efforts in Yemen this year, and an additional $25 million to combat the pandemic. It is up to the Houthis to put the health and safety of the Yemeni people above all else, the prince wrote.

So far, Yemen hasnt recorded any cases of the new coronavirus but U.N. and international aid agencies have warned of a catastrophic impact on a population with degraded immunity and war-weakened health infrastructure.

After five years of war, vulnerabilities are high and immunities are low across the population as a whole, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande told The Associated Press from Sanaa on Thursday. If the virus enters Yemen and spreads, the impact will be huge, possibly catastrophic.

An International Rescue Committee representative in Yemen said Thursday that more than half of Yemens medical facilities are not functioning and that millions of Yemenis have no access to proper hygiene, water or sanitation.

This (cease-fire) promises to be a much needed respite for the 24 million Yemenis in desperate need of humanitarian aid, said Tamuna Sabedze, IRCs Yemen country director.

She pointed out that an isolation facility outside of the port city of Hodeidah was hit by an airstrike earlier this week. We cannot control a global pandemic amongst bombs and airstrikes, Sabedze said

The Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015 on behalf of Hadis government. The conflict has killed over 100,000 people and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Shortly after the Saudi announcement, residents in the contested Yemeni province of Marib said a suspected Houthi missile struck a security building in the city centre. There was no immediate claim of responsibility or reports of casualties.

Houthi military spokesman Yehia Sarea said the Saudi forces carried out a series of incursions on Houthi-controlled territory near the border on Thursday  an escalation thats bound to failure and defeat.

Meanwhile, Yemens official SABA news agency reported that Hadis vice-president, Lt. Gen Ali Mohsen Saleh, told U.N. chief Antonio Guterres in a virtual meeting that Hadis government had agreed to the cease-fire.

Previous attempts at peace talks and cease-fires have failed to hold but this time, the kingdom faces new realities.

With oil prices hovering just above $30 a barrel, Saudi Arabia has said it will cut government spending as it draws from its hefty foreign reserves to prop up the economy amid a shutdown of businesses across the country due to the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia is one of the worlds top spenders on arms and theres no indication the governments spending cuts will immediately impact its defence budget, but the cost of war in Yemen weighs heavily as government revenues plummet due to low oil prices. The Wilson Center estimates that the price tag to sustain air, ground and sea operations in Yemen can reach up to $200 million a day, though its unclear how much of that Saudi Arabia has paid.

The Saudi-led coalition was also dealt a blow last summer after the United Arab Emirates undertook a strategic redeployment of its troops in Yemen following heightened tensions with Iran in the Persian Gulf, leaving the coalition with a weakened ground presence and fewer tactical options. Also, series of drone strikes targeting Saudis Aramco, the worlds largest oil processing facility, forced the kingdom to briefly shut down half its oil production in September.

The United States, which provides logistical and intelligence support in addition to billions of dollars in arms deals, welcomed the Saudi-led coalitions cease-fire proposal and appealed on all sides to make compromises.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Houthis to respond in kind to the coalitions initiative.

___

Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Matthew Lee in Washington, Maad al-Zekri in Sanaa, Yemen, and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 12:59 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d15dd 1 Business state-owned-enterprises,ventilator,Pindad,protective-gears,LEN-Industri,COVID-19 Free

State-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad and electronics manufacturer PT LEN Industri are developing and planning to mass-produce ventilators to help hospitals handle COVID-19 patients, officials said.

Pindad has developed a ventilator prototype and is currently seeking medical certification from the Health Ministrys Health Equipment Monitoring Agency (BPPK), the companys president director, Abraham Mose, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

We have tested it in our hospital in Bandung and its already operational. Once we receive the green light from the BPPK, we will be able to produce 40 ventilators per day, he said.

Read also: Indonesia looks to China, S. Korea for medical supplies

Pindad, he went on to say, had been developing the ventilators since early March and expected to be able to produce the machines in a matter of weeks.

Indonesia currently has 8,936 ventilators divided between 1,827 hospitals across the country, according to Health Ministry data on March 23. Meanwhile, official data shows the number of COVID-19 cases in the country having reached 2,956, with 240 fatalities, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia, as of Wednesday afternoon. Scientists have estimated that the number of cases could reach 71,000 by the end of April.

Abraham said that while Pindad was independently developing the ventilators, he expressed hope for a collaboration with LEN Industri to improve the ventilators.

Were producing the ventilators by ourselves for now, but I think the machine will work better if its equipped with an oxygen flow sensor, among other things, he said. And for that to happen, I think we need to work together with other electronics companies such as PT LEN.

Read also: PTDI, Indofarma, universities working on ventilator prototypesHospital chains perform well on IDX, thanks to rising awareness about healthy living

Separately, LEN Industri told the Post on Wednesday that the company was also developing a ventilator in collaboration with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). The company declined to further elaborate on the project as their product was still in the trial process, according to its statement to the Post.

Pindad and Len Industri have joined the list of companies working to develop and produce medical equipment to help meet skyrocketing demand for equipment to treat COVID-19 patients.

State-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia told the Post on Tuesday that the aerospace company planned to mass-produce one of five ventilator prototypes currently being tested by the Health Ministry.

State-owned pharmaceuticals firm PT Indofarma is also developing health equipment such as invasive ventilators, hospital beds, IV posts and negative-pressured isolation stretchers.

Read also: Hospital chains perform well on IDX, thanks to rising awareness about healthy living

A sharp increase in demand for masks has also prompted other manufacturers from various industries to produce masks and other personal protective equipment.

Textile companies such as publicly listed PT Pan Brothers and PT Sri Rejeki Isman have switched some of their production lines to make masks and coveralls. Pan Brothers agreed to produce 20 million washable masks and 100,000 jumpsuits by April, as ordered by the government and several retailers.
North Korean researchers have developed a new type of face mask to protect against coronavirus, official media reported Thursday, citing a senior health official

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2020) North Korean researchers have developed a new type of face mask to protect against coronavirus, official media reported Thursday, citing a senior health official.

According to the Korean Central news Agency, the new mask has nano-antibiotic properties and conforms to the technical specifications set out by the World Health Organization.

"It filters fine dust while sterilizing and removing various kinds of germs and viruses in the air so that users can breathe in clean air. It is made of domestic materials, including Kumgang medicinal stone which contains dozens of kinds of essential microelements," Ri Jae Dok, Deputy Director of the Medical Appliances Institute, was quoted as saying.

Although Pyongyang does not officially publish data on coronavirus cases in the country, the state has imposed several measures to avert the spread in the country, including closing schools and building additional hospitals.

Earlier this month, Japanese daily Mainichi reported Pak Myong Su, president of North Korea's State Hygienic Control board, as saying that North Korea does not have any coronavirus cases.
One suspect is in hospital with unspecified injuries and a number of other suspects are in custody after an incident resulting in a officer-involved shooting in the southeastern corner of the city Wednesday night.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One suspect is in hospital with unspecified injuries and a number of other suspects are in custody after an incident resulting in a officer-involved shooting in the southeastern corner of the city Wednesday night.

"At approximately 5:30 (p.m.), or just after that today, our officers were involved in an officer-involved shooting at the intersection behind me, which is Lagimodiere and Fermor," Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jay Murray told a media conference held near the intersection.

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"Theres not a lot of information we can provide at this time. An investigation is ongoing. Its still very early in those stages."

Murray did not have an update on the condition of the hospitalized suspect nor any other details of those taken into custody.

"By tomorrow well be able to provide some more context to what led up to the officer-involved shooting," said Murray. "At this point, what I can tell you is there was an incident again just behind me at Lagimodiere and Fermor where a vehicle was involved in an incident along with a number of cruiser cars, which led to an officer-involved shooting."

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba is investigating, which is standard for an officer-involved shooting.

When asked if any officers had been injured, Murray responded, "Im not sure."

 Mike Sawatzky
Trinity College Dublin and AIB yesterday announced a collaboration to establish a research hub at the University to urgently accelerate the colleges immunology project tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-coronoavirus-2.

The AIB COVID-19 Research Hub, located within the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, will play a critical role in the delivery of the Trinity COVID-19 Immunology Project. The hub will involve immunologists and infectious disease clinicians from St Jamess Hospital in Dublin.

AIB, as foundation partner, has committed 2.4 million to advance the project. The hub will continue to accept contributions from other public and private sources.

Speaking this week, AIB CEO, Colin Hunt said, "This in an ambitious and pioneering project involving skilled researchers and cutting-edge technology that merits every assistance in developing solutions for the short, medium and long-term. The hub will also involve the expertise of Professor Luke ONeill and immunologists and infectious disease clinicians from St Jamess Hospital. Time is of the essence and our support for the Research Hub begins now."

Trinity College Dublin Provost, Patrick Prendergast added, "The solution to the COVID-19 crisis will probably be found in university laboratories in the months ahead following collaboration between leading researchers across the globe. Trinity is one of the worlds leading universities when it comes to research into immunology and immunity and has the research expertise to play a major role. Donations such as this are a generous, practical and timely contribution to the fight against this terrible virus."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
GOP lawmakers in Kansas overturn gov.s restrictions on church gatherings

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Days before Easter, Republican lawmakers in Kansas overturned on Wednesday Gov. Laura Kellys executive order restricting religious gatherings and funerals to no more than 10 people.

The decision was made by Republican House and Senate leaders on the Legislative Coordinating Council who voted 5-2 along party lines to remove the cap on the gatherings, citing First Amendment concerns from members of the Christian community as the nation prepares to mark the holiest day for Christians around the world on Sunday.

Ive received an absolute outpouring of concerns from people of faith. And it's not because they were planning on attending a worship service for Easter, Senate President Susan Wagle said during the panels conference call, invoking religious liberties, KCUR reported. They think its totally inappropriate for the governor to tell them that they cannot worship in a way and in the manner that they choose to on Sunday.

The move came as an outspoken minority of pastors across the country have continued to defend their right to gather and resist calls from federal and local government authorities to close their churches amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Kansas currently has more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, and 38 people have died from the disease so far.

Responding to the decision to overturn her executive order in a series of tweets Wednesday, Gov. Kelly said she was deeply disappointed.

This virus has been hard for all of us. As your governor, all I can do is take decisive steps to mitigate the damage, flatten the curve as quickly as possible, and prevent this virus from reaching its full, lethal potential, she wrote.

Thats why all the difficult decisions Ive made up to this point have been unavoidable, and absolutely crucial. Thats why Im deeply disappointed that Republican leadership isnt putting the health and safety of Kansas families first  including our faith communities, she continued. At the end of the day, we are all in this together. So we have got to work together. Period. If were going to beat COVID-19, we must attack it with the same resolve - united as Kansans.

Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said he was angry and ashamed about the move by state legislators.

Nothing fun, nothing fancy. Whatever Kansas legislators do doesnt reverse what The Public needs to do. Stay home so we can beat this scourge. Despite what the leaders of the Legislature say. We are so close, and they are doing politics. Dont fall for it! I am SO angry! Shame! he tweeted.

Wagle told The Wichita Eagle that most people are aware the coronavirus is highly contagious and want to limit its spread, but dont tell us we cant practice our religious freedoms.

During the daily White House briefing about the controversy over Kellys order, Vice President Mike Pence said President Donald Trumps coronavirus guidelines call for Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10.

And thats on the advice of all of our best scientific experts, as a way that we can, we can slow the spread, Pence said. But as weve made clear to every governor, we defer to our governors and what they believe is the best and appropriate practice in their states, and well support those local decisions.

Richard Levy, a constitutional law professor at the University of Kansas, told the Wichita Eagle that while First Amendment concerns were raised about Gov. Kellys order, a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that laws that dont specifically target or single out religions for adverse treatment are generally treated as valid even if they incidentally burden religious freedoms or practices.

If its possible to document that small religious gatherings had led to the spread of the coronavirus in a way that other gatherings have not, then there is a chance that the court would say singling out religious gatherings satisfies even strict scrutiny, he said.

In cases like that, its not about suppressing religion. Its about the realities of the coronavirus.
The COVID-19 Donation Match programme is a combined effort between Ford Fund and Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford that will match $500,000 in donations to designated community organisations in the fight against COVID-19, raising a potential $1 million for groups battling the pandemic across the globe. In Vietnam, funds are being raised to support masks, hand sanitiser liquid, and food for underprivileged people in cities, by Ford Vietnam, non-profit organisation Live & Learn, and PIckup Vietnam Club (PVC).

Ford Fund is also launching the new Read and Record virtual volunteering project to create an online library of Ford employees reading childrens books for the 1.3 billion children and youth affected by school closures around the world.

During trying times, Ford employees are used to being the boots on the ground  getting out, signing up, and pitching in to help make a difference, said Mary Culler, president, Ford Motor Company Fund. Even now, while many are sheltering in place at home, our employees are looking for ways to help. These two new programmes offer meaningful ways for employees to give back and join in the fight against COVID-19.

Make a donation to make a difference

Through the COVID-19 Donation Match, Ford Fund is giving Ford employees, as well as their families and friends, an opportunity to make a donation to support nonprofits and other community organisations in their efforts to meet coronavirus-related needs in more than 20 countries around the world.

Managed by GlobalGiving, Fords longtime disaster relief and global grant-making partner, the programme aims to support community projects in locations that have both a significant level of emergency need and a substantial Ford employee presence. Projects focus on addressing hunger, shelter, and mobility needs, providing educational resources or delivering critical medical supplies and services to communities in need.

Here in Vietnam, Ford and Live and Learn, and its Ranger owners club joined to donate masks, hand sanitisers, and food for underprivileged people including poor students in remote regions and very poor people living by scavenging in Hanoi. The Ranger trunks of PVC club members will be transformed into mobile shelter boxes, ensuring the flexible and careful transportation and distribution of donation packages to these people. The donation granting will be implemented right after the social distancing order of the government is disengaged.

The pandemic has changed our life and work and has impacted heavily the livelihoods of many people. As a company that always endeavours to hold meaningful corporate social responsibility activities, Ford Vietnam teams understand the essential role of our and other businesses in Vietnam in the current fight against COVID-19. These are important factors to revive the Vietnamese economy in general and support people to overcome the pandemic difficulties in particular, said Pham Van Dung, managing director of Ford Vietnam.

Employees and others interested in donating can visit www.globalgiving.org/ford-covid-response to view a full list of participating countries as well as cities across the United States, and to learn more about community projects they can support. GlobalGiving will add new projects and additional details over the coming weeks, so employees are encouraged to check back often for updates.

Virtual volunteering

Ford Funds new HYPERLINK Read and Record virtual volunteering project invites Ford employees from around the world to record and submit videos of them reading a childrens book in their own language. The effort is designed to provide Ford employees a way to give back from the safety and comfort of their own homes and builds on Ford Fund's ongoing efforts to increase literacy and promote a love of reading.

The online library will be cataloged by language, and multilingual employees are encouraged to read in languages other than English. Ford Fund plans to share the library with philanthropic groups that serve children and families.

Ford Fund previously announced it is allocating more than $1.6 million in resources to help communities and local nonprofits throughout Southeast Michigan and across the United States address hunger, shelter and mobility needs related to COVID-19. Earlier this year, Ford Fund also worked with Ford of China to provide face masks and other protective gear needed during the initial breakout of the virus in China.

As Ford Fund concentrates on taking immediate action at the local level, Ford engineers, researchers, and suppliers are designing and manufacturing masks, respirators, ventilators, and other critical medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders, and patients fighting COVID-19.
ALTON  Area Catholics are keeping the faith at a distance this holiday weekend as the coronavirus prevents them from meeting at church, according to Rev. Jeremy Paulin, OVM, pastor of St. Marys Church in Alton.

The Diocese of Springfield has suspended the holy obligation of Catholics to attend mass, he said. It is not a mortal sin to stay home from Sunday Mass at this time, according to a post on the church website.

St. Ambrose Church in Godfrey and other Catholic churches are holding online services in place of large gatherings in the church. On Palm Sunday, priests and brothers met hundreds of people at the church as they drove by. Paulin recently had foot surgery, so was unable to wear the normal priestly garb.

I was wearing black sweatpants, he said.

Paulin said he met passersbys for about three and a half hours, but had to go inside after that the rest because of his foot. Other clergy stayed until 6 p.m. as the line of cars from Fourth and Henry streets extended all the way on Fourth Street back to Alby Street.

Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, according to Matthew 21:19, when palm branches were placed in his path before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent.

Paulin said people seemed happy to be with their church leaders and the clergy noticed some people they had not seen in some time.

He said it is not uncommon for people to renew their interest in their faith in troubled times. He said the priests and staff are very grateful for the way people have interacted with the church during the time of troubles.

Paulin said there have not been many funerals since the pandemic took hold and some weddings are being postponed. Confessions are still being heard, but priests have set up an arrangement in which a priest can sit six feet away from the penitent inside of being adjacent in a confessional.

The church also holds a prayer service at 5:30 p.m. every day from the chapel. The service is live-streamed on Facebook, as are the Sunday masses.

It has been a great blessing, Paulin said.

Normal schedule of streaming 9 a.m. Mass and 5:30 p.m. rosary. The Lenten schedule of confessions are 4-5 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. and 4:45-5:45 p.m. Sunday.

Tenebrae service of prayer, music and readings are also beng offered online. Worshipers can follow along with the program, which is available by PDF. Holy Week services are available at the St. Marys web site.

Paulin also said church volunteers are reaching out to elderly people who may be isolated and unaware of what is happening. Between 12 and 15 volunteers have made about 700 phone calls. The church youth group is also meeting via Zoom; Paulin visited the school children and offered a blessing during their online class sessions.

The church is open every day, with a few pews cordoned off so staff members only have to clean a small amount of space each day. A thorough cleaning is done every day.

The church also has placed Easter lilies outside where people can take them and leave a suggested $15 donation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his campaign for president Wednesday, effectively paving former vice president Joe Biden's path to the party's nomination. The senator from Vermont had created a movement among his supporters, aided by the hashtag #NotMeUs, and is especially popular among millennial and Gen Z voters.

Over the course of his campaign, Sanders, 78, also garnered a number of celebrity endorsements, such as Ariana Grande and Cardi B. Many of the Democratic socialist's high-profile supporters took to social media to express their dejection over Sanders shuttering his campaign.

Model, designer and outspoken activist Emily Ratajkowski, who helped spawn a #HotGirlsForBernie hashtag on social media, shared video of Sanders's live-streamed address to her Instagram story and tweeted to her 1.5 million Twitter followers about feeling "hopeless."

Comedian Sarah Silverman, a staunch supporter, thanked Sanders and expressed her sadness with a broken-heart emoji.

Actor Mark Ruffalo has been feeling the Bern since Sanders' 2016 presidential bid, referring to the senator as "the original progressive" when he appeared in a Sanders campaign video in December. On Wednesday, Ruffalo retweeted the former presidential hopeful and called him an "inspiration." Actress Cynthia Nixon, who in 2018 ran for governor of New York on a liberal platform, tweeted her appreciation of Sanders' biggest policy talking points, such as Medicare-for-all.

On Instagram, actress Chloe Sevigny posted a photo of Sanders emblazoned with the words "Rage against the machine" and the simple caption, "Thank you Senator Sanders."

The photo Sevigny tweeted has appeared on grass-roots merchandise in support of Sanders, in reference to his desire to shake up the status quo, a phenomenon that has been at the heart of his platform for decades.

In his message Wednesday to supporters, Sanders' refusal to accept the existing state of affairs remained a central theme.

"Few would deny that over the course of the past five years, our movement has won the ideological struggle," Sanders said in his live stream.

"It was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical and fringe. Today they are mainstream ideas, and many of them are already being implemented in cities and states across the country," he continued. "That is what we have accomplished together."

Though his bid for the presidency is over, Sanders has pledged to continue to push his liberal policies. As for what's next on his plate? He'll be a (virtual) guest on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Wednesday night.
The publisher of the French study that found hydroxychloroquine could help treat coronavirus patients is now saying the paper 'did not meet its standards.'

President Donald Trump has hailed the research in tweets and during his daily press conferences as a 'game changer.'

But in a statement published online, the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) addressed several new concerns with the research.

Officials say they found out the researchers excluded data on patients who didn't respond well to the treatment and that they did not clarify what they meant when they said patients were 'virologically cured.'

A small-scale French study said it found that hydroxychloroquine (file image) could reduce the duration of coronavirus in patients

President Donald Trump has hailed the drug - in combination with azithromycin, an antibiotic - a game changer in treatment. Pictured: Trump speaks about the coronavirus at the White House, April 8

The medical society that published the study now says it 'does not meet the Society's expected standard' because researchers did not include data about six of the 26 patients that 'left' the study and did explain what 'virologically cured' meant. Pictured: One of the study's lead researchers, Professor Didier Raoult

The study was first published online in ISAC's journal, the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, on March 20.

Researchers from the Mediterrannee Infection University Hospital Institute in Marseille, France, had 20 patients take hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin, an antibiotic.

They found the the combination was linked to 'viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients.'

The team began with 26 patients but six were 'lost in follow up during the survey because of early cessation of treatment,' according to the study.

Three of the six ended up in the intensive care unit, a fourth patient died, one stopped treatment after experiencing nausea and the last ended up not having the virus.

In the US, there are more than 435,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 14,000 deaths

'Although ISAC recognises it is important to help the scientific community by publishing new data fast, this cannot be at the cost of reducing scientific scrutiny and best practices,' Andreas Voss, the president of the society, wrote in a statement.

He then made note that one of the study's authors, Jean-Marc Rolain, is editor-in-chief of the journal in which it was published.

'Despite some suggestions online as to the reliability of the article's peer review process, the process did adhere to the industry's peer review rules,' Voss wrote.

'Given his role as Editor in Chief of this journal, Jean-Marc Rolain had no involvement in the peer review of the manuscript and has no access to information regarding its peer review.'

Voss did not immediately reply to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor in the department of population health at NYU School of Medicine, called the study 'pathetic' especially because the results of the six patients that were dropped [were not factored into the study's final conclusions.]

'I think [the research is] based on a pathetic study that lost six of the 26 patients,' Caplan told DailyMail.com.

'It hid data. It got retracted because it was a farce.'

Trump has said that people 'have nothing to lose' by trying the drug, but Caplan disagrees with that statement due to dangerous side effects.

'Studies in Sweden and Japan [of the drug] have been shut down because [patients[ kept having seizures,' he said.

'It was approve for 20-year-olds going on a safari; it was not approved for 74-year-olds with pneumonia.'

Another concern ISAC said it had with the paper is 'the lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria.'

The authors wrote in the study that 100 percent of patients who took both drugs were 'virologically cured' in comparison with 57.1 percent of patients who just took hydroxychloroquine and 12.5 percent who took neither.

However, the researchers never full explained what of 'virologically cured' meant.
COVID-19 does not pick and choose who it infects. It has already spread worldwide, and almost every nation on Earth has infected people.

However, according to experts, this infectious disease, now categorized as a pandemic, will lead to more suffering among Latino workers because of inequality in a society molded by structural racism and low-income jobs without any chance of telework.

When the COVID-19 pandemic ends in this country, Christopher Hayes, a labor historian, said, "We will see an unjust distribution of viruses and fatalities" along with the class and races' intersecting lines. The said historian came up with a forecast based on the report on wage inequalities among Latino workers.

According to statistics, one in every three Latinos is living in poverty. Meanwhile, one in every two Latino families falls under low-waged households.

Concerning this, almost 60 percent of Latinos earn below $15 per hour against the 39 percent of full-time workers in general.

Unduly Represented in Jobs

Unfortunately, Latino workers are reportedly unduly in jobs that have irregular schedules of work, last-minute changes in shifts, as well as unstable shifts.

Below 30 percent of Latino workers are qualified for, and can afford to take unpaid sick or family leave, the Salud America research review said.

Both preschool and child care are considered necessities for working families. Additionally, only 34.9 percent of parents in families that have kids can telework.

Meaning, the Economic Policy Institute said, "not only are the Latino workers' jobs susceptible but the caring for their children, is possible, as well."

Previously, far lesser Latino children, about 52 percent enroll in centers for early care and education (ECE), compared 63 percent of their white peers.

Relatively, Latino families are facing barriers to the use of ECE centers. Such restrictions include high cost, poor outreach, and limited availability.

Presently, schools are not operational, thus making Latinos face yet another threatening choice.

Indeed, parents encounter impossible options and are left knitting together a so-called "patchwork of care," or sacrificing careers that impact the economic security of their family.

Recommendations

Two new measures from the federal government are poised to help. One solution is the $2-trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill targets to bail out families and small businesses.

Additionally, there's the "Family First Coronavirus Response Act," which will offer paid sick leave. The same act covers unemployment health insurance, free COVID-19 tests, and nutrition aid, as well.

Moreover, according to the Economic Policy Institute, there are considerable loopholes in the paid leave coverage provided, and it won't help much to help the approximated three million workers, which include "900,000 leisure and hospitality workforce that will possibly lose jobs by summer.

Meanwhile, the Center for American Progress suggests that lawmakers can do more and better to protect Latino workers.

Among the recommended efforts are ensuring paid leaves for all workers, securing more translation jobs for health clinics and hospitals, guaranteeing low-waged people can access the free COVID-19 test and treatment, and sending cash directly to families.

Check these out!
A contractor for the London Ambulance Service has been arrested on suspicion of stealing face masks and other products and attempting to sell them online.

The man allegedly stole the items from stores at north London ambulance sites and was able to access them because he was a contractor with the ambulance service, police said.

Metropolitan Police officers arrested the man, who is in his 20s, in Edmonton, the force said in a statement on Thursday. He was taken into police custody before being bailed.

Officers were able to recover a number of items during their searches and these have since been returned to the LAS.

Face masks are critical pieces of protective equipment for health workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Rinesh Parmar tells Sophy Ridge that NHS staff are forced to hold their breath due to lack of PPE

Detective Inspector Jason Colby, who is leading the investigation, said he was "saddened that anyone would take advantage of the NHS for their financial gain at such a critical time".

"These masks are a vital piece of PPE for emergency service personnel and are used to keep both themselves and patients safe," Mr Colby said.

"We will continue to crack down on anyone attempting to take advantage of our emergency services for personal gain, especially at such an unprecedented time.
UPDATED at 10 a.m. Friday to confirm that officer's injury was from broken glass.

ST. LOUIS  A Normandy police officer was injured by broken glass Thursday when police exchanged gunfire with a fleeing suspect, police said.

At about 11 a.m., Normandy officers tried to pull over a car wanted in connection with an earlier shooting in Maryland Heights. The car fled onto Interstate 70 and exited at Adelaide Avenue in St. Louis.

The car, a 2012 Kia Optima, stopped and a man armed with a rifle got out of the passenger side, police said. The gunman, 31, began firing at officers in the 1400 block of Adelaide, officials said.

Two Normandy officers, who were in a marked patrol car, took cover and returned fire. One of the Normandy officers suffered injuries to his face from broken glass, police said. The injuries were minor and the officer was treated at the scene.

The gunman ran off but was captured and arrested, police said. A 29-year-old woman who was driving the Kia stayed in the vehicle and was arrested.
Vicky Pattison was pictured preparing to ship out isolation care packages to vulnerable Brits with her boyfriend Ercan Ramadan in north London on Thursday amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Geordie Shore star, 32, removed her protective face mask to quench her thirst with some juice as she took a brief break from her charity duties, assisted by equipment company Yahire and food prep delivery service Scoff Meals.

The media personality ditched her usual glamour in favour of a hi-vis vest, a black T-shirt and black leggings as she attempted to help the nation by parceling essentials.

Helping hand: Vicky Pattison was pictured preparing to ship out isolation care packages to vulnerable Brits with her boyfriend Ercan Ramadan in London on Thursday

TV star Vicky - who also donned blue medical gloves for protection - rounded off her sporty appearance with a pair of black trainers.

With her tresses styled into a tousled ponytail, the brunette displayed her naturally clear complexion as she went make-up free.

One-time TOWIE star Ercan, 36, looked equally casual as he teamed a plain T-shirt with matching shorts while he was hard at work.

I'm A Celeb star Vicky took to Instagram to explain her charity initiative amid the global crisis, which has claimed 7,097 lives in the UK alone.

Refreshing: The former Geordie Shore star, 32, removed her protective face mask to quench her thirst with some juice as she took a brief break from her charity duties

Impressive: Her initiative was assisted by equipment company Yahire and food prep delivery service Scoff Meals

Less is more: The media personality ditched her usual glamour in favour of a hi-vis vest, a black T-shirt and black leggings as she attempted to help the nation by parceling essentials

Working hard: TV star Vicky - who also donned blue medical gloves for protection - rounded off her sporty appearance with a pair of black trainers

The host penned: 'This was me & the most amazing team anyone could ask for putting together our first wave of isolation care packages for the elderly last week!

'Im so pleased, that with your amazing kindness & generosity we have been able to help some of this countries elderly & in need- you guys really are THE BEST!

'Well be back again this week for our second wave of packages but this time were hoping to send out double the amount and help more areas! & in order to do that, Im asking for you help again.

One-time TOWIE star Ercan, 36, looked equally casual as he teamed a plain T-shirt with matching shorts while he was hard at work

Lots to do: The pair were surrounded by many boxes in the warehouse

Caring: The couple, who have been dating on and off for 16 months, packaged food and beverages into packages

Radiant: With her tresses styled into a tousled ponytail, the brunette displayed her naturally clear complexion as she went make-up free

'if you incredible people can spare anything at all to help those most vulnerable please donate! The link to do so is in my bio.

'Oh and also, if you know of elderly or vulnerable people who desperately need our help- please leave a comment below, Ill do my best to get back to you all & I promise we will try & help.

'I want to say Thankyou to you all & to all the fab brands who have helped make this possible'. [sic]

Cooling off: During her busy day, the Newcastle native enjoyed a healthy drink

Memories: The host appeared to document her activities on her mobile phone

The fight against coronavirus: Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops amid the global crisis

Never done before: The lockdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history

Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home' amid the global crisis.

The shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK's new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people have been banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease.
Wearing masks has been made



compulsory in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur, where coronavirus has spread on a big scale, Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh said on Thursday.

He also urged the residents of these cities not to step out of their homes without covering their mouths.

The Home Minister made the appeal in a video message, which his party NCP posted on its Twitter handle.

"Wearing masks has been made compulsory in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, where coronavirus has spread on a big scale. So nobody should step out of their homes in these cities without wearing masks," he said.

Maharashtra has so far reported 1,297 COVID-19 cases. As many as 72 people have died due to the infection in the state till Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its the holy grail jab that the world is waiting for. But just how long will it take to produce a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine which can be licensed for global use?

There are two races going on at the same time. One is among pharmaceutical companies to produce the first vaccine, and the other is to have a jab that will outrun the spread of the virus.

Until a workable and safe vaccine is produced, licensed and supplied in sufficient quantities, Ireland could see phases, lasting the rest of 2020, when emergency restrictions of one kind or another are relaxed and reintroduced.

It will depend on factors such as whether the virus is falling or rising.

Professor Luke ONeill, of the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, said yesterday that realistically it will take 18 months to get a vaccine, although some companies believe it can be done in a year.

The good news is 41 potential vaccines are in development, with five currently being tested on humans.

Read More

Johnson & Johnson is putting up $500m (457m), which has been matched by the United States government, and has a candidate vaccine which the company says will be free, said Prof ONeill.

Read More

Human trials are expected to begin in September so it would be next year before it was available if it proved successful.

But, depending on the results, it can be expected that regulatory authorities across the world, including the European Medicines Authority overseeing licensing here, would be anxious to fast-track it.

However, other companies hold out the hope their vaccine might be ready earlier.

The leader there is the biotech company Moderna which has started testing its product on humans.

The volunteers have received the jab at the Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle, Washington.

The aim at this point is to monitor the vaccines to make sure that they show no serious side effects. This will pave the way for larger tests.

Modernas vaccine aims to stimulate the immune system to make similar proteins to the killer virus, which it can then combat.

China has also started a phase-one clinical trial of a vaccine against coronavirus. The trial is designed to enrol 108 volunteers aged 18-60 who are residents of Wuhan, the city where the virus originated.

The experimental candidate is a recombination vaccine developed by biotechnology company CanSino Biologics in alliance with a research team from the PLA Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

It is thanks to China that the development of these vaccines has been speeded up.

It made early attempts to sequence the genetic material of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and this allowed scientists around the globe to grow the live virus, examining how it impacts on the person who is infected.

Once a vaccine is passed there will be competition among countries to secure as much supply as possible.

The likelihood is that it would need to be first prioritised for the most at-risk groups.

But that hurdle can be crossed when it finally arrives.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 10:51:28|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported nine newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from overseas Wednesday, the local health authority said Thursday.

The municipal health commission said a total of 213 imported cases had been reported in Shanghai by the end of Wednesday, while 11 suspected imported cases are under quarantine for further confirmation.

The new imported cases were all Chinese citizens, including four returning from Britain, four from Russia and one from France. They were quarantined and tested positive for the virus upon arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

A total of 53 people in close contact with the confirmed patients on flights have been screened and put under quarantine.

On Wednesday, 11 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals in Shanghai after recovery, including one severely ill patient who was cured after treatment by a multidisciplinary team of experts.

Shanghai saw no new indigenous COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. In total, the municipality has reported 339 locally transmitted confirmed cases, including seven deaths.
Ethnic minorities in UK could face further discrimination as a result of new rules in the pandemic, academics say.

London, United Kingdom  The COVID-19 pandemic could deepen inequalities felt by ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom, leading academics have said, amid rising socioeconomic and health concerns for communities on the margins as the country tries to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Fourteen academics released Ethnicity, Race and Inequality in the UK on Wednesday, a book which paints a bleak picture of the extent of racial discrimination in sectors including employment, health, housing and education.

It follows data by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC), which said a third of critically-ill COVID-19 patients recorded up to April 3 were from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.

Bridget Byrne, one of the books authors, a professor of sociology and director of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity and Inequality at the University of Manchester, said the pandemic was a stark reminder of how inequalities could lead to very fatal outcomes.

For example, she feared that police powers under the UKs Coronavirus Act 2020, signed into law last month, could disproportionately affect young black men.

Under the law, police are able to arrest those suspected of flouting lockdown rules and detain people suspected of having the virus.

But there are persistent concerns that the police abuse stop-and-search powers and target ethnic minorities.

Recent government data showed that between April 2018 and March 2019, in every 1,000 stop-and-search operations, four white people were stopped, compared with 38 black people  the highest of any ethnic group.

Many black communities have very poor experiences at the hands of police, she told Al Jazeera.

If you give police the right to question and stop people just because theyre walking on the street, its going to have a different impact depending on peoples racialised position and their immigration status.

Increased police powers, particularly policing street behaviours would need a lot of scrutiny in terms of how that impacts differently on communities.

The UKs first conviction under the Coronavirus Act involving Marie Dinou, a black woman from York, resulted in police admitting they had wrongfully charged her under the new law, and apologising.

There were also worries about housing and overcrowding; elderly people were more vulnerable in inter-generational households, said Byrne.

Ethnic minorities have much higher levels of overcrowded housing, she said. Some BME groups live in larger family groups which makes them more vulnerable in the context of coronavirus.

Under the government of Theresa May, the former prime minister, the Right to Rent scheme forced UK landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants.

It has allowed increasing discrimination in private housing market, because the need to verify peoples immigration status could be used as an excuse to not let people rent, said Byrne.
At an online lecture organised by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality last Tuesday, leading WSWS writer Nick Beams exposed the bankrupt politics of Socialist Alternative and the pseudo-left, documenting their role in seeking to subordinate the working class to the capitalist political establishment amid growing social opposition.

The event was the third in a series of online lectures delivered by Beams under the title Capitalisms war on society: Why you need to fight for socialism. The speaker stressed that the differentiation from the pseudo-left was not separate from the struggle for socialism, but was at the cutting edge of defining the independent interests and tasks of the working class.

The lecture was well-received by an audience of over 190 people. Participants included workers, students and young people from most Australian states and territories, along with international attendees from Sri Lanka, New Zealand, the Philippines and a number of other countries.

A video of the lecture by Beams

Beams began by explaining that the coronavirus pandemic had triggered the greatest crisis of the capitalist system seen in our lifetimes, opening up a period of political radicalisation and socialist revolution.

The decisive question, the speaker said, was arming the emerging movement of the international working class with the lessons of history and the socialist and internationalist program of the Trotskyist movement developed in a struggle against all forms of national-opportunism.

Beams explained that the key issue is this: the working class cannot overthrow the bourgeoisie if it remains politically and ideologically subordinated to it. This required a political offensive against all those tendencies that sought to prevent the working class from striking out on an independent path, including the pseudo-left.

This had been demonstrated by the experience of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The fight waged by Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and the Bolsheviks against the Mensheviks and other tendencies that supported the liberal Russian bourgeoisie played the decisive role in politically preparing the conquest of power by the working class.

The coming to office in Greece of Syriza, the Coalition of the Radical Left, in 2015 was a confirmation of the same truth in the negative. Syriza won elections by appealing to mass hostility to the austerity measures that had led to the collapse in support for PASOK, the countrys social democratic party.

Syriza immediately formed a coalition government with the Independent Greeks, an extreme right-wing nationalist formation. Within six weeks, it was imposing sweeping cuts to social services.

Socialist Alternative and the pseudo-left internationally had hailed Syriza as a model to be emulated. In May, 2015, Beams stated, Socialist Alternative had declared that Syriza cannot be transformed into an austerity party, even as it was clear that the organisation was committed to carrying out the demands of European finance capital.

Syrizas betrayal, and Socialist Alternatives support for it, were a product of the class character of both organisations, Beams explained.

This was also evident in Socialist Alternatives support for US regime-change operations, including the CIA-instigated civil war in Syria. Leading Socialist Alternative member Corey Oakley had infamously declared in 2012 that it was necessary to end knee-jerk anti-imperialism, i.e., to dispense with opposition to the predatory wars waged by the major powers.

Hand in hand with its pro-imperialist standpoint, Socialist Alternative had refused to defend Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher who is currently imprisoned in Britain and faces extradition to the US, where he would be jailed for life for exposing American war crimes.

In 2012, Socialist Alternative had lent succor to the attempts to frame Assange on bogus allegations of sexual misconduct. The organisation declared that he should go to Sweden, where the allegations were concocted, to answer the charges. It is now clear that the warnings of WikiLeaks and the WSWS that the attempt to extradite Assange to Sweden was a pretext to carry out his forced rendition to the US were entirely accurate. For years afterwards, the organisation had not mentioned the WikiLeaks founder.

Only last year, following his illegal expulsion from the Ecuadorian Embassy and arrest by British police, did Socialist Alternative publish a handful of articles condemning the attempt to railroad Assange to a US prison. However, the organisation did not repudiate its previous attack on him and boycotted all events held in his defence.

Beams explained that these positions were inextricably tied to Socialist Alternatives attempts to subordinate the working class to Labor, a party of big business, and the unions, which have suppressed every major social and industrial struggle of the past four decades.

Pointing to the relevance of these issues in the present coronavirus crisis, Beams noted that Socialist Alternative had enthusiastically welcomed the installation of Sally McManus as secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 2017. A year later, Socialist Alternative wrote that McManus ascension had been greeted as a breath of fresh air by many unionists, declaring that she had struck a defiant tone in contrast to her grey predecessors.

McManus is currently collaborating with the Liberal-National Coalition government on a daily basis, as it responds to the pandemic by providing billions of dollars to the major corporations that are laying off thousands of workers.

Beams explained: It is necessary to deal not only with the McManuses of the world but even more importantly with tendencies within the pseudo-left that work to prop them up.

He concluded by declaring: The immune system of the working class is developed above all through the theoretical political struggle conducted by the revolutionary party, basing itself on the great strategic lessons of struggle for socialism going back more than a century.

There is only one party which conducts such a struggle, the SEP and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). I urge that you apply to join it tonight.

The lecture prompted a series of questions. One attendee asked the SEP to elaborate on its role in the events surrounding the coming to power of Syriza in Greece.

Beams explained that the WSWS and the ICFI had been alone in warning that Syriza would inevitably betray the working class, as a result of its history as an unprincipled amalgamation of various Stalinist and reformist tendencies, and its pro-capitalist program.

Others noted that Socialist Alternative occasionally criticises union officials. Did this, some asked, invalidate Beams analysis. In reply, he said that the pseudo-left organisations would sometimes condemn the actions of particular union bureaucrats. But they insisted that workers had to remain trapped within these thoroughly corporatised organisations.

All of them rejected the position of the ICFI, which was that the globalisation of production had rendered the nationalist and reformist program of the unions completely bankrupt. The unions had been transformed into open instruments of big business, necessitating the creation of genuine organisations of struggle, including independent rank and file committees.

Some participants asked why it was that Socialist Alternative played the role that it did. Beams said that like other pseudo-left organisations, they were descended from groups that had broken from the Fourth International amid the post-World War Two boom of global capitalism, rejecting its insistence on the revolutionary role of the working class.

The pseudo-left, Beams stated, spoke for affluent sections of the upper middle-class in academia, the public sector and the union officialdom, whose wealth had increased as a result of soaring share values. They had a material stake in defending the status quo by preventing the working class from turning to a genuine socialist perspective, and sought to advance their own interests through various forms of identity politics based on gender, race and sexual orientation.

Throughout the meeting, a small group of individuals, clearly opposed to Beams exposure of Socialist Alternative, sought to disrupt the event, playing music while he was speaking and shouting incoherently. The unsuccessful attempt to block the discussion underscored the pseudo-lefts concern over the growing support won by the SEP, and its inability to respond with substantive political arguments.

Next Tuesdays lecture will be on the role of identity politics. The fifth meeting will feature an interview and discussion with SEP (US) Presidential candidate Joseph Kishore. The details will be posted on the WSWS and on social media over the coming days.
Pakistan on Thursday claimed that it shot down a small Indian surveillance drone for allegedly violating airspace along the Line of Control.

According to a statement by the Pakistan Army, the Indian Quadcopter in a provocative act intruded 600 meters inside across the LoC on the Pakistani side in Sankh sector for surveillance.

This blatant act was aggressively responded to by Pakistan Army troops shooting down Indian quadcopter, according to the Pakistan Army.

Such unwarranted acts by the Indian Army were a clear violation of established norms, existing air agreement between two countries, it said.

The intrusion reflects the Indian Army's consistent disregard to the ceasefire understanding of 2003, it said.

Pakistan has previously claimed to have shot down Indian drones. Pakistan in March last year claimed to have shot down an Indian spy drone long the Line of Control.

The relations between the two nations strained following the Balakot strike when the Indian Air Force jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Pakistan on February 26 last year to avenge the killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14. Pakistan retaliated on February 27 by attempting to target Indian military installations.

The ties further nose-dived after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir in August last. Pakistan downgraded diplomatic relations with India and expelled Indian High Commissioner.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As part of KMF's 50 th Anniversary, the Honorable Robert J. Dole introduced the "Building Kansas: Facing Challenges and Enriching Lives Through KMF," fundraising campaign. Senator Dole is long-time supporter of KMF and was named the campaign committee chair. "The $20 million will fund targeted programs in the areas of research, education, community development, and advocacy for Kansans and Kansas communities," said Dole.

Over the course of the three-year campaign, the KMF began funding the various programs to ensure the Masonic Lodges across the state experience and recognize the benefit from the impact.

The Kansas Masonic Foundation is a charitable foundation benefitting Kansans and their communities. The Kansas Masonic Foundation was founded in 1966 to encourage philanthropy from Kansas Masons and their families and friends for educational, scientific, and other charitable programs. One hundred percent of all donations go to the charitable programs. For more information regarding the KMF, go to KansasMasonic.foundation

Contact: Robert A. Shively

Kansas Masonic Foundation

785-357-7646

SOURCE Kansas Masonic Foundation

Related Links

https://kansasmasonic.foundation


Can't allow every person who thinks of some solution to COVID-19 to file petition: SC

Elgar Parishad: Two activists given a weeks time to surrender

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: The Supreme Court has granted a week's time to activists, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde to surrender in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.

A Bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee questioned them for not surrendering in compliance of its order, by which the court had on March 16 directed them to surrender, within three weeks.

Though we expected that the accused would surrender, honouring the order of this court, they have not done so. We are told that in Bombay the courts are functioning. It would have been appropriate for the accused to surrender as the courts are open and not totally closed. Since the petitioners have enjoyed protection for long, by way of last opportunity, we extend the time grand to surrender for one week, the Bench said.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

The activists had approached the Supreme Court seeking more time to surrender due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. They contended that they were suffering from ailments and hence should not allow themselves to be exposed public places. The Centre however opposed their contention and said that the jail will be a safe place for them.
Officials from Seogwipo City on Jeju Island remove canola flowers using tractors, Wednesday, to prevent massive visiting of tourists in springtime. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Local airlines and hotels are apparently rushing to bring domestic tourists to Jeju Island as part of a desperate effort to survive the COVID-19 pandemic even as the local government there is asking tourists to refrain from visiting the island amid concerns over an influx of the novel coronavirus.



Luxury hotels on the island have released packages to attract would-be honeymooners who are unable go overseas at a time when many nations worldwide have sealed their borders and halted flights.



The Shilla Hotel Jeju, which released a "suite honeymoon package" in early March, said reservations for the package more than doubled in April as the resort island has emerged as an alternative honeymoon destination.



"We had originally planned to run the package until April 29, but decided to extend it until June to keep up with increasing demand," a Shilla Hotel Jeju official said.



WE Hotel Jeju, operated by Jeju Halla Hospital, as well as Lotte Hotel Jeju are also running honeymoon packages.



Air carriers have also been increasing their flights to Jeju, and are offering tickets at special prices, to bolster faltering earnings by utilizing domestic routes.



Budget carrier Air Seoul decided to increase its flights between Gimpo and Jeju from 25 a week to 32, April 6.



Other low-cost carriers including Jin Air and Air Busan have also increased the number of flights to the resort island amid recent signs of a recovery in demand.



But island residents are expressing concern over a possible increase in the spread of the virus there, especially after learning in late March that a student and her mother, who traveled to the island despite having coronavirus symptoms, later tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home to Seoul.



Their visit forced local stores to shut and more than 40 people to be quarantined as a result of coming into contact with the infected tourists.



Amid growing fears, Seogwipo City plowed up canola flowers on the city's famous Noksan Road and flowers that covered 9.5 hectares of the city plaza, Wednesday, to keep tourists from visiting the sites.



The city officials mobilized four tractors to clear the plants.



Noksan Road has been cited as one of the most beautiful scenic routes in Korea as flowers line the 10 kilometer road in spring, attracting about 160,000 tourists annually.



"Canola flowers on Noksan Road are the most popular tourist attraction here, but city officials and local representatives decided to remove them as many elderly people live near the area, and the government extended the social distancing campaign for another two weeks," a Seogwipo City official said.


Megastar Chiranjeevi's highly-anticipated film Acharya seems to be getting bigger by the day. The movie, which is being helmed by Koratala Siva, already stars Kajal Aggarwal as the female lead. It also has Ram Charan playing an extended cameo, which is said to be the highlight of the film. Now, if the latest buzz is true, then fans will also get to see Niharika Konidela in Acharya.

According to a report in The Telugu Filmnagar, Niharika has been brought on board for a guest role and the talented actress will shoot for her part once the lockdown period is over. Though no official announcement has been made about her special appearance in the film, it won't be surprising at all if she's indeed a part of the Chiranjeevi-starrer.

After all, she belongs to the Mega family and even made her presence felt in Chiranjeevi's last release, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, which was directed by Surender Reddy. While we don't know much about Niharika's cameo, we are pretty sure her role would be significant enough, considering Acharya is a no-nonsense social drama revolving around a former Naxalite and his mission.

Initially, Trishna Krishnan had signed Acharya and was cast opposite Chiranjeevi. But she backed off from the project at the last minute citing creative differences. However, during a recent media interaction, the Stalin hero revealed the real reason behind her exit. Chiranjeevi said that Trisha quit the movie, not because of any differences with the Acharya team, but because she had signed Mani Ratnam's film, Ponniyin Selvan.

Chiranjeevi Reveals The Real Reason Behind Trisha Krishnan's Exit From Acharya
Geneva [Switzerland], April 9 (ANI): World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday (local time) defended the organisation's handling and response to the coronavirus pandemic, a day after UN health body came under stinging criticism from US President Donald Trump.



"Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland by CNN.

The organisation has faced criticism over handling the coronavirus situation which originated in China's Wuhan last year and has infected more than a million people worldwide so far.

"If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it. My short message is: Please quarantine politicizing Covid. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus," said Tedros.

He also dismissed the US President's criticism of organisation being China-centric saying WHO was close to every nation and was "color-blind" as well as "wealth-blind."

"For us small and big is the same. For us people in the North or in the South, East or West are the same," he was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the WHO accusing it of being "China-centric" and said he is considering a "very powerful hold" on funding to the global health body, which is leading the world's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're going to put a hold on money to the WHO, we're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see," Trump said at the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House.

However, later in the briefing, the US President told media persons "I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but we are going to look at it."

Earlier in the day, Trump had taken to Twitter to post: "The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look".

"Fortunately," Trump wrote, "I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?" (ANI)


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Former NRL power couple Sam and Phoebe Burgess have finalised their divorce after four years of marriage.

The exes have agreed to the terms, with Phoebe walking away with 70 per cent of their marital wealth, a source told The Daily Telegraph.

The former magazine journalist will also keep a white SDVA Range Rover, which is valued at $100,000.

It's over! Former NRL power couple Sam and Phoebe Burgess have finalised their divorce after four years of marriage. Pictured on October 24, 2014 in Sydney

The F45 gym in Bowral which the 31-year-old former Rabbitohs player owned has also been transferred over to his ex-wife.

Phoebe has been living at her parents' estate in Bowral with their young children, three-year-old Poppy and one-year-old Billy.

Sam has managed to retain ownership of a two-bedroom apartment in Little Bay, where his mother, Julie, lives.

'Sam didn't care about anything but the apartment for his mum to live in,' a source said.

Taking the lion's share: The exes have agreed to the terms, with Phoebe (pictured) walking away with 70 per cent of their marital wealth

The Burgesses sold their Lurline Bay property in Maroubra, a beachside suburb in Sydney's east, in January for $5million.

According to Realestate.com.au, the sale registered a profit of $1.2million. The French provincial home was bought in both their names in early 2016 for $3.8million.

Sam, who recently signed on as a commentator for Fox League, has been living in a Coogee apartment he is renting with his brother Luke.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Phoebe and Sam Burgess for comment.

Co-parenting: The Burgesses share two children, three-year-old Poppy and one-year-old Billy

The former couple called it quits in December 2018, just weeks after the birth of their son, Billy.

They reunited in January 2019 but called time on their marriage again in October last year.

Sam was allegedly involved in an incident with his father-in-law, Mitchell Hooke, at Phoebe's family home near Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands, on October 19.

Sam had visited the property to spend time with his children when Phoebe was not present, but was asked to leave by Mr Hooke following an alleged altercation which resulted in police being called.

On again, off again: The former couple called it quits in December 2018, just weeks after the birth of their son, Billy. They reunited in January 2019 but called time on their marriage again in October last year. Pictured on February 7, 2018 in Sydney

At the time, police took out a temporary AVO on behalf of Mr Hooke, which was upheld by a court the following month.

While the AVO is in place, Sam is not able to go within one kilometre of Mr Hooke nor any place he works.

Following the October 19 incident, Sam was also charged with intimidation. Sam has denied threatening the 63-year-old businessman.

'I embrace being their mum every day': Phoebe recently spoke to Stellar magazine about her new life as a single mother. Pictured with daughter, Poppy

Love and support: 'I'm just trying to... make sure they're surrounded by love, regardless of how that family looks,' she said. Pictured with her son, Billy

Phoebe recently spoke to Stellar magazine about her new life as a single mother.

She tearfully said: 'I had an idea about how I wanted them to grow up and that's not going to happen now.

'But I'm adjusting and I embrace being their mum every day. And if that's being a single mum, then I'll embrace that as well.

'I'm just trying to... make sure they're surrounded by love, regardless of how that family looks.'

The former NRL golden couple married in 2015 at Phoebe's parents' Bowral estate.
As the spread of COVID-19 forces businesses to close or to cut employees, the need for social services like those provided by the Montgomery County Food Bank has seen a dramatic increase.

The level to which were going to be able to increase our output is not going to match the level of unemployment, said Allison Hulett, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Food Bank. I have concerns, of course, for our neighbors in need. But were really taking it one month at a time.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Harris County takes applications for $10M small business loans

In March, the number of families helped by the food bank was a 250 percent increase compared to February. Last month the food bank served 38,625 individuals and 11,409 households, and those numbers are only expected to go up. The click-rate for the food banks Find A Pantry page on its website has gone up over 1,000 percent in the last month.

Incredible demand

Were seeing just an incredible demand, a lot of people who have been unemployed recently and are new to food insecurity, Hulett said. The challenge for us now is to get an increased amount of food out, via our partner agencies and our mobile distribution  which weve more than doubled the number of mobile distributions that were doing  while also keeping safety protocols in place.

MORE FROM JAMIE SWINNERTON: Woodlands private schools move to online learning during coronavirus closure

Dealing with COVID-19 feels like a 50-state hurricane, Hulett said. The food bank has never had to navigate something like this before and is leaning heavily on its community partners to help meet the increased need.

Going into 2020, the food bank had about seven or eight food distribution events planned each month. Now, it has 22 scheduled for April alone.

Before the pandemic hit Montgomery County the food bank already had a planned distribution event at Conroe High School on April 9. Typically, the food bank prepares enough food for 150 households at these events. This time it prepared enough for 300 households and ended up having to turn many away.

Faith Lane, director of programs for the food bank, said that cars started lining up for the distribution as early as 5 a.m.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Houston-area nonprofits adapt to COVID-19 with more people needing help  and fewer dollars, volunteers coming in

Conroe ISD has been holding food distributions twice a week at 10 campuses across the district since it closed school. So far, the district reports that it has given out at least 237,868 meals to students, according to the COVID-19 response update from the district at its April 7 workshop. But the district cant give meals to families so it is encouraging those who want to help to give to the food bank.

Adjusting to needs

The food bank had very little time to prepare for the effects of COVID-19 and how drastically it would increase the number of families in the county who are food insecure.

We did not anticipate this disaster but weve been able to adjust very quickly, Hulett said.

Even if the pandemic is over in a few weeks, which projections do not anticipate, the food bank knows that the increased need will not be over when COVID-19 is. The economic impact of this crisis is going to have further-reaching consequences.

When disasters like this happen some folks can recover, and then for some folks, its very difficult, or they never do, Hulett said.

The food bank, she said, is preparing to see an increased need throughout the rest of the year.

To keep staff, clients, and volunteers safe, the food bank has put several measures into place, including wearing masks. Before people enter the building their temperature is taken and they use a hand washing station. Everyone practices social distancing inside and volunteer shifts are staggered to keep the fewest number of people in the building at one time.

Community food drives are not being encouraged, social isolation is. They are not the main source of food product typically anyway.

Along with working with its regular suppliers to get more food, Hulett said the food bank has been working with government officials to apply for disaster grants to potentially purchase food down the road.

Normally we can meet the need through our donated product, she said.

What the food bank does need is volunteers to sort boxes quickly to send out to partner agencies, and donations to the virtual food drive. Information on both is available on the food banks website: https://mcfoodbank.org/.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

On April 1, Mike Cotela stepped down as the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford concluding what has been a complete transformation of the Stamford club. Under his leadership the Stamford club has experienced tremendous growth and recognized nationally as an award-winning program. At the 2019 National Conference Boys & Girls Club of America awarded the Stamford club three National Awards and honored staff member Barry Woods for his program at the Yerwood Center.

The Board of Directors in 2009 wanted to revitalize the Stamford club and was seeking a Boys & Girls Club professional with the experience and passion to deliver a growth agenda. They turned to Cotela a PhD and 28-year veteran of the Lower Naugatuck Valley Boys & Girls Club, considered a leading club in Connecticut. Mike quickly began to create lasting relationships in the Stamford Community and delivered on results for some of the most needy children of the city. The community of Stamford embraced Mikes vision and made it a reality.
In an attempt to prevent the



spread of coronavirus among its personnel, the Maharashtra police has launched mobile sanitisation vans for on-duty policemen, an official said on Thursday.

The vans were provided to police superintendents at districts and police commissionerates in cities, where large number of COVID-19 cases were reported, he said.

Police personnel manning the streets during the COVID-19 lockdown are at risk of contracting the deadly virus, and these vans are specially designed to protect the frontline warriors, he said.

On duty policemen will have to step into these vans, where they will be sprayed with a disinfectant, he said.

In Mumbai, police commissioner Param Bir Singh and other senior officers inspected the van at the Police Commissioner's Office in South Mumbai.

Two police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus in the state, which has so far recorded 1,364 COVID-19 cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)




Three Vietnamese students will be deported from South Korea for violating self-quarantine rules, the justice ministry said Thursday.







The students, who have been in two-week self-isolation, allegedly went to a park in Gunsan, around 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on April 3 and stayed there for five hours, according to the ministry.







They left their mobile phones at their residences to avoid GPS tracking by local health authorities. But officials found out about their absence after making a landline call.







The three students, who arrived in South Korea between March 28 and April 1, were ordered to be isolated after testing negative for the novel coronavirus last week.







Starting April 1, the South Korean government has mandated self-isolation for all international arrivals. Those who violate the rules or report false information could face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won (US$8,186).







The city government of Gunsan notified the justice ministry of the violation by the Vietnamese students, and the ministry decided to deport them.







South Korea reported 39 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the country's total infections to 10,423. (Yonhap)


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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 18:03 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e6250 4 National Indonesian-Air-Force,military,Air-Force,TNI-AU,alutsista,weaponry-modernization,weapon-procurement,anniversary Free

The Indonesian Air Force is upgrading its primary weaponry defense system (Alutsista) and developing various new commands.

The plan was conveyed by Air Force chief of staff Marshal Yuyu Sutisna during the forces 74th anniversary ceremony at its headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Thursday. He said the Air Force was working on the fourth phase of its strategic plan, which is expected to be completed by 2024.

"Our main priority in this particular stage is to replace our Alutsista, especially our jet fighters, radars and missiles, Yuyu said during the ceremony on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

Read also: Jokowi spends large on defense, but without clear vision

He said Air Force personnel should also prepare for the development of new commands, including the National Air Operation Command (Koopsudnas), which will be responsible for air defense within the archipelago. Koopsudnas is created by combining the Air Force Operations Command (Koopsau) with the National Air Defense Command (Kohanudnas)

The formation of the national command is a follow up to the formation of the Joint Defense Area Command (Kogabwilhan), which oversees the existing combat units of all three military branches.

Before the formation of the joint command, each branchs regional command had its own separate chain of command, which hindered coordination in joint military operations.

Yuyu said the Air Force would complete its grand plan under the 15-year-old weaponry modernization program, the Minimum Essential Force.

The Air Forces 74th anniversary celebration was attended by only a handful of military personnel due to the governments call for physical distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the force held several events, including a jet fighter air show. (vny)
John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Finally, the big day was near. After 15 months of planning, rehabbing and renovation, Olesia Pochynok-Butano and Joseph Butano II were about to open up Olesias Taverne of Richfield.

This wasn't just the opening of another eatery. It was the culmination of an ambitious makeover that cost $2 million, involved a crew of 30 workers, 100 gallons of paint and countless fixtures.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Set in a historic 1886 Victorian building, the restaurant-bar features two dining rooms, a banquet room, conference area and a basement bar-club. All together, the 12-000-plus complex will seat 377 people.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

The details of the makeover are elaborate and ornate, from the lighting to cushy chairs and bar stools, to the tiles in the backroom, the woodwork all around, even the door knobs.

Everything seemed ready to go when Pochynok and Butano held an orientation meeting with their staff. Then came the news: On March 15, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the closing of bars and restaurants in Ohio due to Covid-19.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Here we were getting amped up to open, finally, after all these delays, says Butano. And then we hear this right in the middle of our meeting And were like, Now what are we going to do?

On March 30, they implemented Plan B: Launch a curbside food service.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

In the first week, we did 1,000 orders, says Olesia Pochynok-Butano. We had been getting so many calls from people asking when we were going to open and, as it turned out, so many of them started coming to see the building and try the food.

Many of them were regular patrons of Olesias Place, a popular North Royalton eatery that closed in February. Every day, the service has attracted more newbies  from Richfield and beyond  stopping by to get a glimpse of the much-anticipated eatery.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Things really took off so we started doing multiple meals  ready-to-eat meals and prepared food they could take home and freeze and then heat up and eat days later, says Butano.

Were even doing multiple meal packages for families, adds Olesia Pochynok-Butano. We have 200 orders alone for Easter.

Countless restaurants in the area are doing curbside food service to keep staffs working and to mitigate the loss of business during the shutdown.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

For new restaurants that had planned to open amid the pandemic, however, the service doubles as an opportunity to familiarize patrons with a new restaurant and its menu. It also operates as a sort of soft opening  where staffs are trained and fine-tuned in advance of a grand opening.

Bobo  Taste of Europe, a Balkan-flavored bar-eatery in Broadview Heights, was slated to open in March. It was just a matter of getting the liquor license approved. It was, on March 15, and owner Slobodan Mijic was ready to go until he got the news.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

I had planned to open right away, says Slobodan Bobo Mijic, a Bosnian Serb who moved to the United States in 1997. Then I decided I should get going right away with curbside.

Bobo features a dining and bar area and serves up a modern take on European cuisine. The menu spotlights southeastern Europe and Mediterranean cuisines -- featuring everything from goulash to stuffed cabbage to kebobs to cevap, a popular skinless sausage from the former-Yugoslavia. It also rolls out crepes, paninis and burek, a crispy pastry dough filled with feta cheese and parsley that is popular throughout the Balkans.

The burek is made by my mom, says Mijic, who moved to Cleveland in 2018 from Charleston, S.C. He opened his first restaurant in Houston  a place called Cafe Pita, which was featured on the Guy Fieri Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Everything is made by scratch and were doing classic dishes along with our own takes on European dishes, he adds. Right away, we started getting people from the former-Yugoslavia, but weve been getting more and more Americans every day coming in.

Most restaurants have lamented the shutdown order. Mijic did at first, but hes come to see it as an opportunity.

Now I look back and realize that I wasnt ready to fully open mentally, he says. Its hard to train people to cook this kind of food.

Doing curbside has given me the chance to focus on getting everything lined up and fine-tuned so were ready when the shutdown ends, he says. You dont want to open a new place amid something like this. Doing it this way is a blessing in disguise, because were going to be ready to go as soon as the shutdown ends.

Olesia' Taverne of Richfield is located at 3960 Broadview Road, Richfield. For more info or to place an order, call 234-400-0288. Bobo  Taste of Europe is located 8130 Broadview Road in Broadview Heights. To place an order, call 440-587-1200.

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John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

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China's foreign ministry on Thursday said it would "further verify" reports that Chinese masks bought by Finland were unfit for hospital use, adding that the masks were bought through middlemen.

"The export declaration procedure was performed in the name of non-medical masks," said spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zhao Lijian. "We hope that the outside world will not simply draw conclusions before a thorough investigation."

China is supplying millions of masks and other desperately needed items to struggling governments, hoping to build political ties and defuse criticism that it allowed the disease to spread early on.

But the shipments have hit road bumps, with countries from Turkey to the Netherlands returning masks after deeming them unsuitable.

The Finnish government said Wednesday that two million masks purchased from China were also unsuitable for use in hospitals, calling it a "disappointment".

Also on Thursday, Zhao said that the Chinese government was urging local departments to improve their treatment of foreigners, amid reports that Africans in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were being harassed, surveilled, and expelled from their residences because of local perceptions that they were spreading the new coronavirus.

"There might be some misunderstandings in the implementation of measures, we attach great importance to this," Zhao said.

"We hope that all foreigners in China will strictly abide by the local epidemic prevention regulations and cooperate with and support China in the epidemic prevention and control."

As of Thursday, China had reported 82,883 COVID-19 cases and 3,339 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with mild or no visible symptoms.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
Advertisement

Airbnb has launched a series of lockdown-friendly Zoom-hosted online experiences - from meditation sessions with sheep to virtual meetings with the stray dogs of Chernobyl.

The home rental site is offering 50 virtual experiences from around the world, staring from 1, as a 'new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income' during the coronavirus crisis.

Scroll down to find out which you'd like to sign up to...

Cello meditation

Cellist Janice Wong is hosting a cello meditation concert experience that aims to 'centre your body and mind'

Hosted by cellist Janice Wong from Amsterdam, the cello meditation concert aims to 'centre your body and mind'.

During the concert, Janice will play a range of music, with each piece 'based on a different emotion'.

The experience starts from 5 and at the end of the concert participants will get the chance to ask Janice questions.

Meet the dogs of Chernobyl

Now through Airbnb you can virtually meet the dogs of Chernobyl, which live inside the nuclear exclusion zone. They are cared for by a charity

The stray dogs of Chernobyl live in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which exploded on April 26, 1986.

They are cared for by the Dogs of Chernobyl programme - and now animal lovers can meet them virtually through Airbnb.

The experience costs 25 and it includes seeing the dogs, learning about how the programme cares for the creatures and taking in a virtual visit of the scene of the disaster, the Unit 4 reactor.

Make Grandma's pasta

In a live online cooking class, Chiara from Rome, teaches guests how to make pasta from scratch using her grandmother's recipe

This live online cooking class is led by Chiara, from Rome, who demonstrates how to make pasta from scratch using her grandmother's recipe.

She says: 'We will tell stories, laugh and walk you through our favourite pasta recipes.'

She will also suggest wine pairings and Italian music you can listen to while you eat.

Meditation with sleepy sheep

Participants in this experience get to meet 'naughty' sheep Hamish, Dougal, Benny and Lochie and join in a meditation with them

In this experience, participants get to virtually meet 'naughty sheep' Hamish, Dougal, Benny and Lochie, who live on a farm near Loch Lomond.

Host Beccy will tell guests sheep stories and feed the creatures while the sound of birds and the farm's hens can be heard in the background.

Once the sheep are fed and doze off to sleep, Beccy's daughter will then lead participants in a '10 to 15-minute mindful meditation with the sounds of nature to soothe you'.

Irish dance masterclass

Irish dancer Aneta, who is virtually welcoming guests into her home in Galway to teach them Irish dancing

This masterclass sees guests virtually welcomed into the home of Aneta in Galway, Ireland, who tells them about the history of Irish dancing.

She will also demonstrate the different styles.

Participants will then learn a Sean-nos dance step and an Irish dance step before putting them to music.

Meet penguins in South Africa

Penguin conservationist Jon, left, is offering an online experience in which he passes on his knowledge of the African penguin. The experience also allows those taking part to check in on some of the creatures

Hosted by long-time penguin conservationist Jon, this experience sees participants learn everything there is to know about the African penguin.

First Jon, from Cape Town, will share little-known facts about the creatures before leading a crafts session on how to make your own penguin by using items 'you have lying around the house'.

The experience finishes by virtually meeting some of the creatures, which Jon describes as 'undeniably cute but highly threatened birds'.

Gentle yoga and slow life coaching class

Yoga teacher Sandrine, who is offering a 'gentle meditative yoga session' on Airbnb as well as teaching breathing techniques and simple exercises

From Florence, teacher Sandrine will guide participants through 'a gentle meditative yoga session to induce deep relaxation'.

She will also teach some breathing techniques and simple exercises.

Sandrine says: 'At the end of our session, youll feel grounded, refreshed, calm and at peace. Dont be surprised if you sleep like a baby that night!'

The secrets of magic

Magician Martin will be wowing guests with his magic tricks and teaching them how to perform their own in one Airbnb online experience

In this experience, magician Martin will wow guests with magic using playing cards, mobile phones, rings, money, sweets and even fire.

He will also talk about his life in magic including how he has broken several Guinness World Records - including the most magic tricks performed during a skydive.

Then it's the guests' turn to give it a go. Martin says: 'I'll share with you some of the inner secrets of magic, including tricks you've just witnessed me perform.'

Making Swedish pastries

Professional Swedish baker Lhea is offering an experience where she teaches guests how to make cinnamon and cardamom buns

Professional Swedish baker Lhea leads guests in a virtual baking class, teaching them how to make cinnamon and cardamom buns.

The class is 21 with Lhea on hand step-by-step to guide participants through the recipe.

She will also give insights into Swedish family life and answer any questions about the country's traditions.

Booking is open now for 50 virtual Airbnb experiences available at airbnb.com/online-experiences, with thousands more coming online in the coming months.

Online experiences will be hosted on Zoom and Airbnb is providing hosts access to Zoom free of charge along with personalised support services for curating, capturing and sharing their online content.

For more information, if you are interested in hosting an experience visit airbnb.com/onlinehost.
Norah Gibbons, the first chair of Tusla, child and family agency, has died.

Ms Gibbons, a qualified social worker who was the first chairperson of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and a member of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, was Director of Advocacy with Barnardos for seven years and an independent commentator and consultant on childrens' issues.

Ms Gibbons lead the review into how the State deals with domestic homicide cases following the death of Clodagh Hawe, who, along with her three sons, was murdered by her husband Alan.

Her work also saw Ms Gibbons chair the Roscommon Child Abuse Inquiry from 2009 to 2010, and co-chaired the Independent Review Group on Child Deaths for two years starting in 2010.

Tributes have been pouring in since news of Ms Gibbons' passing emerged this morning.

In a statement, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan expressed his condolences, adding that Norah "left behind a tremendous legacy for the children of Ireland."

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of Norah Gibbons.

"Norah was an exceptional woman who brought her innate judgment, common sense and humanity to everything she did," Mr Flanagan said.

"Norah Gibbons leaves behind a tremendous legacy, in particular for the children of Ireland.

"During her final illness, Norah continued to work to help others, through her leadership of the independent study on familicide and domestic homicide. It was typical of her resolute sense of purpose that, in recent weeks, she was keen to ensure that this important work would be completed and I was glad to be able to give her that assurance,"

"All through her life, she was a passionate and tireless advocate for children and others in vulnerable situations. First as a social worker and in later roles including Director of Advocacy at Barnardos, she devoted her career to improving the lives of others.

"She made a major contribution in her work as a member of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and other bodies addressing the horror of historic child abuse, both in this State and in Northern Ireland. She chaired the Roscommon Child Abuse Inquiry, co-chaired the Independent Child Death Review and from 2014 to 2018 she served as the first Chair of Tusla.

"I extend my deepest sympathy to her husband Sean, son Miles and daughter Maireas, her wider family circle as well as her colleagues and many friends."

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone described Ms Gibbons as a "warrior" with a "compassionate spirit".

"Yesterday, Ireland lost one of our greatest Champions of Children. I am so deeply saddened by the passing of Norah Gibbons, Founding Chair of Tusla and so many other prestigious and impressive roles.

"Norah was passionate and indefatigable in her service to children and the State," Ms Zappone said.

"I worked closely with her when she Chaired Tusla and I admired her determination and focus on establishing our first dedicated agency for children and families.

"Her establishment and leadership of Tusla placed children and families at the centre of Irish law, policy and public service.

"I offer my deepest sympathies to her family, close circle of friends and colleagues.

"May her warrior and compassionate spirit now rest in peace."

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre also expressed sympathies through a statement shared on social media.

It reads: "Our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of #NorahGibbons -who has died too soon.

"She was a warm, smart and practical person.She fought for human rights, especially childrens rights. She fought against abuse - sexual & domestic. We will miss her."




Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has slammed state lawmakers as 'shockingly irresponsible' after they voted to lift restrictions on religious gatherings over ten people the week of Easter Sunday and Passover.

The state's Republican-led legislature voted Wednesday to rescind the order issued by Kelly on Tuesday, despite the state's coronavirus death toll jumping by 40 percent in 24 hours.

Lawmakers believed Kelly's order went against residents' constitutional rights to freely practice religion, pushing back against the federally advised social distancing guidelines.

Kansas's death toll now stands at 38 people with 1,046 confirmed cases as three church gatherings are believed to be responsible for outbreak clusters in the state.

Scroll down for video

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly slammed the Republican-led state legislature for voted against her restriction on religious gatherings over ten people amid the coronavirus pandemic

Signs canceling services due to the coronavirus hang of the doors of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, Kansas. The Gov. implemented on religious gatherings of over ten people in the state on Tuesday but it was voted against by the state House and Senate

Signs canceling services due to the coronavirus hang of the doors of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence, Kansas. The diocese has said that Easter Sunday services will only be streamed online despite state lawmakers voting against gathering restrictions

The vote was only made possible because of a resolution passed by the legislature in March which allowed leaders to cancel the Democrat governors directives in some circumstances.

'The Governor should not use this crisis, or any other crisis, as a basis to restrict our constitutional rights,' argued Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, who said that residents of Kansas were capable of making the decision to worship at home without it being forced upon them.

'My church has canceled Mass at the advice of health experts; the same advice most Kansans are now following. However, they did it with free will, not a mandate by big brother infringing on the individual freedoms given to us by our Bill of Rights,' she continued.

'We live in a democracy and enjoy certain inalienable rights paramount to our country's foundation including freedom of religion.

'This is the people's government, always will be, and I will carry their voices when the call is clear.

'This is still America.'

Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, argued that the ban implemented on religious gatherings by Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, was unconstitutional

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, who is also a Republican, added to her argument, stating that 'the constitution still exists' in times of an emergency.

He said that the vast majority of churches were already adhering to social distancing guidelines and streaming services online.

The vote was backed by State Attorney General Derek Schmidt who wrote that he believed the order to be unconstitutional and advised that law enforcement not enforce it.

'In our view, Kansas statute and the Kansas Constitution's Bill of Rights each forbid the governor from criminalizing participation in worship gatherings by executive order,' Schmidt wrote.

Gov. Kelly is seeking legal counsel to explore a court challenge as despite the vote by the state House and Senate lawmakers, it was unclear whether it had an effect on the general statewide ban on gatherings over ten people.

A sign canceling church services hangs on the door of First United Methodist Church in Lawrence, Kanasa, on March 15. Many places of worship have been closed for weeks

A constitutional law professor at the University of Kansas has argued that Kelly's order did not target religious gatherings, in particular, but limited all social gatherings over ten people, meaning that it would not have been in violation of the constitution.

'If it's possible to document that small religious gatherings had led to the spread of the coronavirus in a way that other gatherings have not, then there is a chance that the court would say singling out religious gatherings satisfies even strict scrutiny,' said Richard Levy.

In such cases, 'it's not about suppressing religion. It's about the realities of the coronavirus'.

Lawmakers voted down party lines, according to The Wichita Eagle, as Kelly slammed Republicans for bring politics into the outbreak response.

'There are real life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today,' Kelly said.

Some counties in Kansas have already announced that they are going to continue with Kelly's ban despite Wednesday's vote.

Sedgwick County said that the restriction would remain in place until April 23, at least, stating that 'residents are to follow Sedgwick County's Local Order which began March 25.

'This order specifically limits all public gatherings to groups of 10 or fewer people, including in-person religious services.'

Kelly issued the order Tuesday stating that while it was a time of year when faith is generally celebrated, the current crisis meant services had to be approached differently.

The decision was made to enforce the restriction after three religious gatherings were identified as the source of cluster outbreaks.

She said that 'this time of year is one defined by renewal celebration and community for the people of all faith. The disruptions created by this global health crisis has forced us all to approach it differently, regardless of our religious beliefs'.

Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, identified three church-related clusters known to the department: one involving a ministers conference, one in Sedgewick County and a third for which no details were offered.

According to Matthew Vainer, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, the diocese still plans to stream its Easter services online after suspending in-person masses at all of its parishes.

Vice President Mike Pence was questioned about the controversy in Kansas during Wednesday's White House press briefing.

Pence said that all Americans should continue to avoid gatherings of more than ten people.

'And that's on the advice of all of our best scientific experts, as a way that we can, we can slow the spread,' Pence said.

'But as we've made clear to every governor, we defer to our governors and what they believe is the best and appropriate practice in their states, and we'll support those local decisions.'
A farming couple from Cornwall are quickly responding to the coronavirus crisis by delivering premium meat boxes to locked-down customers.

Matt and Pip Smith, co-owners of Trefranck Farm near Launceston, secured a six-figure package to launch their Westcountry Premium Venison business in December 2019.

In response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, they are now offering three different varieties of meat boxes to support those self-isolating or unable to access to food supplies.

The meat boxes include the Delicious Venison Taster for 2 box, Luxury Venison Taster Box and Everyday Family Venison Box home delivery boxes, which all contain a different selection of premium venison, steak, mince, burgers and sausages.

Venison is excellent source of protein and low in fat - with saturated fat levels that are much lower than those in other red meats.

It also contains minerals that are good for overall health, including iron, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.

Pip Smith, co-owner of Trefranck Farm, said having to diversify quickly to respond to the current climate has made it 'all the more challenging.'

Weve worked incredibly hard to launch Westcountry Premium Venison as a wholesale business supplying restaurants and wholesale butchers," she said.

"However, when the coronavirus started spreading, we very quickly had to think of an alternative way to supply our meat to consumers and make it as easy and safe as possible for them to enjoy it."

The farm business secured a six-figure finance package from HSBC UK to launch Westcountry Premium Venison.

Euryn Jones, HSBC UKs Regional Agriculture Director, said the couple spotted an opportunity to provide food to people who were at risk of not being able to get to the shops.

"Matt and Pip are an exceptionally innovative couple and they quickly adapted their business model and are now bringing their premium product direct to peoples doorsteps.

"We are delighted to have been able to support this and we look forward to continue seeing the business flourish," she said.

HSBC UK has announced a package of support for businesses dealing with Covid-19, including 5bn to help firms that need support.
Kanim-soetta.info scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 11 Mar 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

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The most significant among today's donations were that of the Ghana Gas Company which donated 1 million, Social Security and National Trust (SSNIT), Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) and Bel Aqua Ghana Limited who gave 500, 000 each respectively.

In addition to that amount, Bel Aqua also presented 1,000 packs of their bottled water.

This was followed by a donation from the Ghana Used Clothes Association who gave an amount of 300,000 and Ghana Exim Bank which also donated  250,000

The CEOs Network, Ghana also came in with an amount of GH200,000, over 1,000 cartons of Adonko hand sanitisers from the Angel Group, 100,000 from the Volta Regional branch of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), 600,000 from the Anglican Church of Ghana, 50,000 from the Ghana Association of Former International Civil Servants (GAFICS) and 10,000 from the 2003 year group of the Mfantsipim Old Boys Association.

Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, who received the donations commended the companies for their sense of commitment to help the fight against the coronavirus which is devastating the world economies.

She expressed the appreciation of President Akufo-Addo and that of the nation on whose behalf she received the donations with a promise by government to put all their donations to good and effective use, especially the vulnerable and the needy.

---Daily Guide
A coalition of activist groups on Thursday called on Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern to release all inmates at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin because they say their health is at risk due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a virtual news conference organized by the Santa Rita Jail Solidarity coalition, Amber Akemi Piatt of the Oakland-based nonprofit Human Impact Partners said, "Release everyone, especially those most vulnerable to getting infected."

James Burch of St. James Infirmary, a non-profit organization serving sex workers throughout the Bay Area, stopped short of calling for all inmates to be released but said, "The immediate focus should be on those most at risk of contracting COVID-19."

Burch said a failure by Ahern and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley to release more inmates from Santa Rita "will lead to the deaths of our loved ones."

The activists held their news conference in the wake of the disclosure on Wednesday that 11 inmates at the jail have tested positive for the coronavirus so far, with results for seven additional inmates still pending.

In a separate news release, Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods called for the District Attorney's Office and other county court officials to immediately release all inmates who have less than six months or less to serve at the jail.

"We've been sounding the alarm for more than three weeks and now we're on the verge of the virus sweeping through the jail," Woods said in a statement.

Woods estimated that there are about 115 inmates who are scheduled for release within the next six months, including about 60 who are scheduled to be released by the end of May.

"We want these people out right now. What possible justification can the District Attorney offer to keep them locked up for three more weeks in the midst of this virus?" Woods said. "A county jail sentence should not be a potential death sentence."

The jail had an average of about 2,650 inmates before the coronavirus outbreak but its population is now down to 1,957, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said Thursday.

Kelly said Ahern, in conjunction with O'Malley, Woods and Alameda County Superior Court Presiding Judge Tara Desautels, has already released about 600 low-level offenders from Santa Rita.

Kelly said an additional 54 inmates facing misdemeanor and low-level felony charges appear to be eligible to be released without bail under recent guidelines issued by the California Judicial Council, and another 130 inmates may qualify to be released on low bail amounts.

He said another 214 inmates who've been sentenced could have their terms modified if the district attorney consents.

But Kelly said 90 percent of the inmates at Santa Rita are locked up for violent crimes, including homicides, sexual assaults and crimes against children, and insisted, "We cannot let those people out."

Kelly said, "Beyond every case there are victims and a mass release of inmates would have a tremendous impact on public safety."

He said, "There are jail activists in the community who want us to release everyone and empty the jail and turn the lights off and that isn't going to happen."

Some of the speakers at the Santa Rita Jail Solidarity news conference alleged that health care at the facility is inadequate and inmates who've tested positive for COVID-19 aren't being treated properly.

But Kelly said, "We have a very robust plan in place and that plan is effective."

Kelly said none of the 11 inmates who've tested positive for COVID-19 have had to be hospitalized and "all are stable and appear to be on the road to recovery."

District Attorney spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said in a statement that her office "has been working diligently for weeks with the public defender, all defense attorneys and justice partners to systematically release individuals who do not pose a risk of harm to the community or to a victim of crime."

But Drenick said, "What we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of victims or the community. We must take the necessary care and precaution to ensure the health of those incarcerated and the staff working at the jail without sacrificing the security of victims or well-being of the county."

Drenick said, "It is very disappointing that the Public Defender has chosen this time of crisis to grandstand and to make politically divisive and disingenuous statements when what the circumstances demand of all public officials is unity and collaboration."

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Some San Antonio-area financial institutions say theyre jammed with a backlog of coronavirus relief loan applications submitted by small businesses.

At least one has temporarily stopped taking applications.

Thousands of area small businesses either have applied or inquired about the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program, which is offering up to $349 billion in forgivable loans.

Live Oak-based Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union posted on its website Wednesday that it was temporarily shutting down the loan application process so it could focus on the overwhelming number of requests we have received since the program launched Friday.

RBFCU has been using an outside vendor to originate the loans.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-area banks overwhelmed with loan requests from small businesses

Frost Bank, the largest regional bank based in Texas, has been alerting business owners about delays before processing their applications.

Someone applying today should expect unusually long delays of at least several days or longer, San Antonio-based Frost Bank spokesman Bill Day said. We are working through the huge backlog of PPP applications weve already received.

Day wouldnt disclose the number of applications or total dollar amount of the requests, but said the number of applications the bank received since Friday exceeds the number of commercial loans it processes in a year.

San Antonios Credit Human Federal Credit Union also is facing a backlog, and spokesman Chris Armstrong said its affecting its ability to provide funds.

We have been very aggressive standing this program up so we can help the small businesses in our community in this extremely difficult time, but SBA is overwhelmed, Armstrong said in an email. This is having a downstream impact on our ability to qualify and provide these critical funds to local businesses.

Neither Frost nor Credit Human had funded any loans as of Wednesday. The SBA has not finalized a promissory note  a written promise to pay back a loan  for the loans, so Frost has been evaluating whether to wait or develop its own note, Day said.

Our customers are eager for information but its very difficult for us to tell them when their loans will be approved and funded without a note for the loan, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Credit Human wont fund any loans without the documentation.

Without the SBA documents, it jeopardizes the business owners opportunity to have their loan forgiven and our guarantee of the loan, Armstrong said.

The Paycheck Protection Program will give businesses with fewer than 500 employees low-interest loans of about 21/2 times their average monthly payroll.

The loans will be fully or partly forgiven if businesses show they used the money to retain or rehire employees and pay bills through June 30.

RBFCU has received more than 4,000 inquiries about the relief program and turned to New York-based Newtek Business Services Inc. to process loan applications from the credit unions members. Small-business loans account for less than 1 percent of RBFCUs overall loan portfolio.

Going into this, we knew the demand was going to be tremendous and we didnt have the infrastructure prepared to be able to handle it, said Robert Zearfoss, RBFCUs chief lending officer.

Zearfoss spoke to the San Antonio Express-News before the credit union temporarily closed the application process.

For small businesses that hadnt applied yet, Zearfoss recommended they do so even though many in the lending industry were expecting the entire $349 billion in the program would be exhausted within three days.

There have been so many bottlenecks because demand has been so great that theres no way the money will be gone in three days, he said. So if there are still some companies that have still not applied for this, the opportunity still exists from the funding perspective.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

Congress is eyeing bolstering the loan program by as much as $250 billion.

Zearfoss said RBFCU plans to buy a stake in a group of loans made to its members through Newtek.

San Antonios Broadway Bank expanded its team of bankers working around the clock to get applications to the SBA as quickly as possible, CEO and President David Bohne said in a statement.

It has surpassed $150 million in loan requests.

We will begin funding our first loans today  it has been a challenge to get the final guidance from the government, but we are ready to go now, he said. Were asking our business customers who have applied in the last couple of days to be patient, and to trust that Broadway Bank is doing everything we can to process their application.

The Bank of San Antonio had completed 436 loan applications totaling about $141.2 million in requests as of Wednesday afternoon, Chairman J. Bruce Bugg Jr. said.

Of those, 157 applications totaling almost $80 million had been approved. So far, $4 million has been funded.

Its absolutely a lifeline to a lot of locally owned businesses, Bugg said. We knew this is a big deal to our customer base, so we geared up.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. To read more from Patrick, become a subscriber. pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
With the number of Covid-19 positive cases in Jawaharpur village at Dera Bassi going up to 22 on Thursday, taking Mohalis count to 37, the district administration strictly banned movement of people in the area, which was declared a containment zone by health authorities.

This is the second containment zone in the state after SBS Nagar, which reported 19 positive cases, once highest in the state. SBS Nagar has not reported any positive case since march 26.

Police nakas were set up all around the village, which has a population of around 3,000. Sample testing with a special police force, Covid Commandos, assisting health officials, was continuing in Jawaharpur, located on the Ambala- Chandigarh highway.

Three neighbouring villages, Devi Naga, Mehmudpur and Haripur Kurha, have also remained sealed for the past three days.

Five Covid Commandos, a specially selected group of fit Punjab police constables trained as a quick response team to handle the pandemic, reached Jawaharpur on Thursday to assist the health teams collect samples for testing. The nakas were manned by 15 policemen.

Any area, where positive cases are reported, is contained by us. We have allowed essential supplies to the village. Only entry and exit of the villagers is banned, said Mohali deputy commissioner (DC) Girish Dayalan said.

Were focusing only on Jawaharpur village and previously took 118 samples from there. On Thursday, 64 more samples were collected from the village,  said Dr Manjit Singh, civil surgeon, Mohali.

Referring to the families of two village officials, a sarpanch and panch, who had allegedly not followed social distancing norms and organised community meals for labourers and migrants in the village, Dr Singh said their contacts were being traced even as the primary source of the virus was yet to be found.

Since the 42-year-old year panch of the village tested positive on April 3, 20 more people 14 part of his extended family  have tested positive for the infection.

Harjit Singh, assistant sub inspector, positioned at the main entry to the village said the movement of residents was being closely monitored as no one was allowed to move out of the village boundary. Outsiders too were not allowed.

We are at the gates round-the-clock, he added.

Jawaharpur resident Jaswinder said they were living in fear and not stepping out of their homes. Feeding cattle is also getting to be a problem as only one person is allowed to get fodder. As theres a complete ban on entry of outsiders even vegetable vendors are not coming in, he said.

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CULVER CITY, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To continue to provide care for patients during the COVID-19 outbreak, many doctors are offering telemedicine appointments, including Dr. Ernst von Schwarz, a board-certified cardiologist and medical director of the Southern California Hospital Heart Institute in Culver City.

"We started offering telemedicine appointments on March 26 for those who prefer to stay at home rather than come into the office," said Dr. Schwarz. "However, our clinic remains open for in-person appointments and we take all appropriate protections for the staff and patients because their safety is our highest priority."

Patients can call the Heart Institute to set up a telemedicine appointment with Dr. Schwarz, and the telemedicine appointment is done by phone or video conferencing. Telemedicine appointments are being conducted daily.

Telemedicine appointments are covered by Medicare and many insurers, Dr. Schwarz added. "We know this can be a frightening time for patients," he said. "We want to reassure our patients that they can call or come in because they will be seen."

All elective procedures such as angiograms and pacemaker implantations have been temporarily canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but can be done on an emergency basis at Southern California Hospital at Culver City.

Patients who have had an elective cardiac procedure canceled are called every two days to monitor their condition and are asked to come into the clinic if necessary.

In accordance with the latest guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control, the following safety procedures are implemented:

Patients are called the day before their appointment and asked if they exhibit any coronavirus symptoms, which can include fever, cough or shortness of breath.

Everyone (staff, physicians and patients) has their temperature taken before entering the clinic.

All medical staff and physicians wear gloves and face masks.

Patients in waiting rooms are seated at least 6 feet apart.

Patients are asked not to bring anyone into the clinic with them unless their presence is essential.

Dr. Schwarz said all patients with heart disease are encouraged to take extra precautions because they are at higher risk if they catch COVID-19. While the coronavirus mainly targets the respiratory system, the virus can affect the heart and cause inflammation that could lead to heart failure.

He cautioned patients to continue to take all medications. These include ACE inhibitors and ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers), which are prescribed primarily to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.

Although a few experimental studies with animal models have appeared to show that ACE inhibitors and ARBs may increase replication of coronavirus in the heart, these have not been shown in human studies or in COVID-19 settings, according to the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Failure Society of America.

The ACC, HFSA and the American Hospital Association all recommend patients continue to take the medications. As further research and developments evolve, the recommendation will be updated if needed, the groups said in a joint statement.

"Stopping these medications prophylactically would do more harm than good," Dr. Schwarz said. "Patients should continue to take them. The only reason to stop would be in a confirmed case of COVID-19 or high suspicion of it."

About Southern California Hospital at Culver City: Southern California Hospital at Culver City has dedicated itself to providing quality care to the culturally diverse populations of the Culver City and West Los Angeles communities. The hospital offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient acute care services, including general and specialized surgery, orthopedic and spine program, emergency department, cardiovascular services, weight-loss surgery, acute rehabilitation, gender confirmation surgery, and behavioral health and chemical dependency programs. The hospital is named among the top 5% in the nation for Patient Safety Excellence by Healthgrades (2018-2019). Southern California Hospitals include locations in Culver City and Hollywood, as well as a behavioral health hospital in Van Nuys. Learn more at SCH-CulverCity.com or call (310) 836-7000.

SOURCE Southern California Hospital at Culver City

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https://www.sch-culvercity.com/


Cheryl Norton has been social distancing from her daughter, Kelsey Kerr, an ICU nurse, for the past month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

When Kerr, 28, stopped by her mom's house in Blue Ash, Ohio, last Friday to pick up prayer squares for her patients, Norton, 64, said she could no longer not give her daughter a hug.

Norton grabbed a sheet from her laundry basket and draped it over Kerr in order to give her daughter a quick hug.

PHOTO: Cheryl Norton of Blue Ash, Ohio, hugs her daughter, an ICU nurse working the front lines during the new coronavirus pandemic, Friday, April 3, 2020. (Liz Dufour/The Enquirer via USA Today Network)

"I just want to know shes okay so when I got that one opportunity to see her, I just had to throw that sheet over her," Norton told "Good Morning America." "I thought I want to hug her and if she has a sheet around her maybe I can do it."

"I see on social media that all these healthcare workers are feeling very isolated and I didnt want that to happen her," she said.

MORE: 'TikTok doctor' makes millions smile with his viral dance videos

Kerr, who lives about 15 minutes from her parents' home, said she had gotten as used to the drop-offs she and her parents have been doing while social distancing. Kerr would back her car into their driveway and they would put whatever she was picking up in the trunk of her car.

PHOTO: Kelsey Kerr, an ICU nurse in Ohio, poses with her mother, Cheryl Norton. (Courtesy Kelsey Kerr)

Her mom's spontaneous hug was then a special treat for Kerr.

"It was so nice," said Kerr, who is quarantining with her husband and their dog. "We've always been big huggers and its been pretty unusual to do these drop-offs and not get out of the car and be able to hug her."

MORE: Hospital staff cheer as doctor is discharged from care after beating COVID-19

The hug was captured on camera by a family friend, Liz Dufour, who is a photographer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, and was walking in the neighborhood.

She took the photo from a safe distance away. Norton said she dropped the sheet in the garage after hugging her daughter and let it sit there for a few days before thoroughly washing it, and she also thoroughly washed her hands.

Story continues

Kerr was also wearing a face mask at the time of the hug.

The family has been practicing strict social distancing because of Norton and her husband's ages and preexisting medical conditions and because of Kerr's potential close proximity to patients with the virus as a nurse.

Kerr said she has been working about four 12-hour shifts per week at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati in preparation for a possible surge of COVID-19 patients.

PHOTO: Kelsey Kerr, an ICU nurse in Ohio, poses with her mother, Cheryl Norton. (Courtesy Kelsey Kerr)

"Right now we're working hard to train as many people as we can to make sure we have enough staff to care for the patients we have both with coronavirus and our normal patient load," she said. "Everyone is always nice [on the staff], but theres been an over pouring of kindness and a feeling that everyone is in it together."

Norton said it has been anxiety-provoking to watch hospitals in New York City and other cities overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and know that may happen at Kerr's hospital too.

"I thought in the moment that Im not going to be able to hug her for a long time," she said.

Kerr said she and her hospital coworkers have had to learn not to hug or high-five either, and are instead encouraging each other with supportive words. She hopes people see "a little bit of sunlight" in the photo of her with her mom.

"Theres so much difficulty right now but were going to make it through it and were all going to be together in the end," she said. "Its just a matter of getting there."

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the US and Worldwide: coronavirus map

Mom covers her ICU nurse daughter in a sheet to give her a hug amid coronavirus pandemic originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
A multimillion-dollar state government family violence fund will be used to secure motels and short-term accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis.

The government will also announce on Friday that disused aged care centres owned by the state will be repurposed so they can house homeless people who contract the coronavirus or need to self-isolate because of it.

The funding will help provide accommodation for those escaping family violence during the coronavirus crisis. Credit:Shutterstock

The $40 million family violence funding package will be made available for those who have experienced violence or who feel unsafe isolating or recovering from coronavirus in their home.

Further measures and funding are also expected to be announced on Friday by the Andrews government to provide critical help for survivors of family violence.
Engineers and scientists in Leeds, UK, have developed a way to turn a sleep apnea machine into a ventilator to treat people with COVID-19.

The modification - in this case on a device known as a Nippy3+, which are being phased out of service - came about following a collaboration between clinical staff, engineers and physicists at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT) and academics and technologists at the University of Leeds.

It has been estimated that there are thousands of similar devices across the NHS, and their rapid modification has the potential to significantly increase the respiratory support available to very ill patients across the UK. There area round100 of the devices in Leeds hospitals.

The modification is straightforward and involves changes to the device's settings and reconfiguring the supply of oxygen so it flows to the face mask worn by the patient.

The machine operates in a mode called CPAP: constant positive airway pressure. That means the pressure inside the mask is slightly raised, keeping the patient's airway open and making it easier for them to breathe.

It provides enriched oxygen of between 40 to 60 percent and because it is a modification to a device, it does not have to go through a full regulatory approval process.

This is another example of the long-standing collaboration we have between our Trust and the University of Leeds. We know there could be pressure on the NHS for more ventilators during the current coronavirus outbreak and this was a way of coming up with a potential solution. Scientists and clinicians working with academics and technicians have made it happen." Dr. David Brettle, Head of the Medical Physics team at LTHT and Honorary Professor at the University of Salford

Professor Nikil Kapur, from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Leeds and who led the University team, said: "The collaboration showed how the University of Leeds was able to support colleagues at LTHT who had brilliant ideas but insufficient time to investigate them because they were having to prepare their hospitals to deal with the unfolding pandemic."

How the idea developed

Working on a suggestion that initially came from the medical physics department at LTHT, the University team - in four days - came up with a ventilator based on a conversion of a Nippy 3+ device. That working model had both air and oxygen being fed into the device and then onto the patient.

It was evaluated at LTHT last week but the medical physics team wanted to reconfigure it further, to achieve more efficient use of hospital oxygen supplies. The clinical team, with the engineers, decided that the patient's mask would receive air from the device and oxygen directly from the hospital's supply system.

Also, there was evidence from China that many seriously ill patients did not need full ventilation, which requires sedation, but an intermediate level of support which could be provided by a CPAP device.

Professor Nikil Kapur,said: "The decision was then to move onto the next iteration of the re-modeled device, and the changing requirements actually made those modifications easier.

Previously we had been looking at having to fit each machine with seven new components - and that would have required a system to manufacture those new components. Instead, the solution we eventually arrived at is much simpler. You have to change some of the settings, filters and the way oxygen reaches the patient. It is now a fix that hospital teams can undertake themselves using equipment which is readily available." Dr. Pete Culmer, Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Leeds and a member of the team

Last week, engineers at University College London and Mercedes announced that they had successfully reversed engineered a CPAP device that had widely been used in China. Reverse engineering involves taking a device apart, seeing how it is made - and then rebuilding it with improvements. They said they have a device that has regulatory approval and can be rapidly manufactured.

The modifications suggested by the team at Leeds provides a complementary and immediate solution to supplement the ventilation equipment available.
The former US secretary of the navy spent more than $240,000 (196,000) on a trip to lecture sailors about why he sacked their captain for warning of the dangers of coronavirus, according to American officials.

Thomas Modly took a 35-hour military flight to Guam on Monday after dismissing Captain Brett Crozier, who had written to senior US Navy officials setting out the stricter measures he believed were necessary to protect the thousands of personnel under his command.

Capt Crozier pleaded with the navy to allow sailors who had contracted Covid-19 to be quarantined on land. The missive was leaked to the press, provoking a furious response from Mr Modly in Washington.

A recording of the Trump appointees foul-mouthed rant has already leaked, in which he is heard to tell the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt their skipper had been too stupid to command the aircraft carrier.

It came after video showed sailors cheering Capt Crozier during a rousing sendoff as he departed the Roosevelt on Friday.

Now, officials estimate Mr Modlys voyage to have cost the US taxpayer $243,151.65, based on a 35-hour flight time aboard a C-37B jet and a refuelling stop in Hawaii.

During his lecture Mr Modly denigrated Capt Croziers leadership, saying: If he didnt think that information was going to get out into the public in this information age that we live in, then he was too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this.

According to one video recording of the address, a sailor was heard saying What the f**k? as the navy secretary continued to issue a warning to the crew. Another can be heard shouting: [Crozier] was trying to help us.

Mr Modly told them: Everyones scared about this thing. Let me tell you something  if this ship was in combat and there were hypersonic missiles coming at it, youd be pretty f*****g scared too. But you do your jobs. And thats what I expect you to do, and thats what I expect every officer on this ship to do.

Mr Modly defended his position on Monday night by saying: I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably, any profanity that may have been used for emphasis. But later he performed a full about-face, denying he had ever considered Capt Crozier either stupid or naive.

The whole thing was very unfortunate, said Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The captain should not have written a letter. He didnt have to be Ernest Hemingway. He made a mistake, but he had a bad day.

Widespread outcry forced Mr Modly to resign on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Reuters
A friend of mine came back from holiday late last month and spent 14 days self-isolating in her home. The next day, she bee-lined to the LCBO to stock up on wine. Not surprising. To many of us, a glass of wine is a welcome bit of pleasure in these challenging times.

So if you choose to nip out to the LCBO to stock up, do so safely. Follow the recommended precautions. Keep your distance from others. And get in and out as quickly as you can. To help you with that last bit, heres a ready-made shopping list with a slew of options. That way, if any bottles dont happen to be available at your local shop, you have alternatives.

In fact, find out ahead of time if a wine is available at your local LCBO because that information is readily available online. Just go to LCBO.com, click the search icon in the top left corner of the screen, type the wines product number, and hit return. When the wines product page appears, scroll down to Buy In-Store, click the + just to the right, then scroll to Check All Stores, which appears underneath. The list of all stores carrying that particular wine will appear with the quantity of bottles available at each shop at that time.

So on with the list of 12 delicious wines to help you stock up. Theyre sorted from least to most expensive.

NV Carlo Rossi California Red, from California (LCBO 280644 $28.00/3000mL jug)

This recognizable jug of red wine offers terrific value for money, which is probably why its been around for more than 40 years and remains a big seller throughout North America. Its a clean, juicy, lighter-bodied red that delivers ample flavours of sunlit berry fruit with a touch of cocoa. The wine tastes dry but not bone dry, smooth and easy to enjoy. At the equivalent of $7 per 750mL, this wine offers reliable value for money, will last for a week in the fridge, and it tastes great chilled. Perfect pasta perker-upper. Score: 90

NV Oggi Moscato Frizzante, Veneto, Italy (LCBO 239517 $11.00)

If you like wines that are sweet and fizzy, this wine is for you. It teems with succulent pineapple and crushed grape aromas before blasting the taste buds with a sweet-and-sour hit of the same before tapering to a lingering note of mango. Quaffable, immediate pleasure that tastes best straight out of the ice. Serve it with salty snacks such as potato chips. Score: 90

2019 Casa Del Bosque Sauvignon Blanc, DO Casablanca Valley, Chile (Vintages 974717 $14.95)

This undervalued Sauvignon Blanc from Chile offers a tropical fragrance of kiwi fruit and key lime before zipping over the palate like a thing possessed. Its a full-thottle wine with forward flavours of kiwi, passionfruit and mixed citrus with delicate undertones of lemongrass and orange zest that echo on the finish. Superb cocktail style wine. But the zesty flavour profile would work well with Indian dishes such as chicken korma or curries as well as coconut shrimp or jerk chicken. Score: 92

2018 Toso Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina (LCBO 35170 $15.05)

This deep, dark red wafts with sun-warmed dark berries and crushed stones and follows through with the same on the palate but threaded with compelling complexity. A tapestry of black pepper, warm wood, chalk, and violets create a quietly sophisticated sipper at a reasonable price. Superb with pan-fried, broiled or grilled beef with a deep sear. Score: 93

2012 Jose Maria da Fonseca Moscatel de Setubal, Portugal (Vintages 14047 $16.95)

This sweet, fortified wine by one of the oldest wine companies in Portugal packs all sorts of compelling scentsfrom orange peel and apricot to brown sugar and toasty pralines. Then, it floods in and fans out with flavours of candied lemon and orange, pralines and cream, brown sugar and spiceall shot through with mouthwatering acidity for optimal balance. Served this dreamy dessert wine chilled on its own, or with nuts and hard cheeses. Score: 93

2016 Cathedral Cellars Chardonnay, Western Cape, South Africa (Vintages 328559 $17.95)

Those who like big, creamy styles of wooded Chardonnay should grab a bottle of this showstopper. Each sip swirls with rich, glossy flavours of baked apples and butterscotch laced with nutmeg and cinnamon. This dry wine is utterly rich and hedonistic, but a racy seam of mouthwatering acidity keeps it lively. Pour it with anything with a cream sauce or a simple Caesar salad. Score: 94

2018 Pieropan Soave Classico, Veneto, Italy (Vintages 946848 $19.95)

Gentle scents of apricot lead to a bright, beam-like entry that quickly broadens to reveal orchard fruit underpinned with cool slate. Cascading flavours of sliced apricot and fresh tangerine taste sleek and quenching with just enough sure-footed restraint to maintain elegance. Then, a final twist of citrus leaves the palate nicely seasoned. Perfect pour for gnocchi with peas, brown butter, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of parmesan. Score: 90

2017 Joel Gott 815 Cabernet Sauvignon, California (Vintages 444059 $22.95 till Apr. 26, Reg. $24.95)

This rich but refreshing expression of Californian Cabernet delivers outstanding value. Classic scents of cassis lead to a saturated crush of berry fruit edged with bonfire, creme brulee, baking spices, Christmas cake and blackcurrant liqueur and more that resound on the finish. The affable red is a pleasure to drink and just the thing to improve homemade burgers. Score: 93

2015 Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva, Rioja, Spain (LCBO 32656 $24.75)

For a charming, Old World classic that could sell for more, reach for this wine. The current vintage on shelves2015is showing beautifully. From the heady bouquet of black cherries, toasted tobacco, and poached plums to the juicy entry that unfurls with compelling complexity, it takes you away with every sip. Grilled meat, dried herbs, black earth and more imbue the dark, sultry fruit centre and resonate on the finish. Such a delight! Pour it with pizza for a great night in. Score: 94

2016 Chateau Teyssier, Montagne Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux (Vintages 226035 $24.95)

For France in a glass, pour this classic red. Soft scents of chocolate dipped cherries lead to a supple, elegant wash of red fruit that slowly gives way to leather, underbrush and dark chocolate. The charms of this wine lie in the way the soft contours of the fruit press into the palate before sliding away and drawing you back for another sip. Brilliant wine to pour with charcuterie and cheese or simply roasted, seasoned chicken thighs. Score: 91

2016 Freakshow Red from Michael David Winery, California (Vintages 633545 $29.95)

Big, bold and chockful of dark, robust fruit, this mash up of Syrah, Petit Sirah and Petit Verdot will have you at hello. The nose is heavy with scents of stewed plum, roasted coffee and blueberry pie. Then, the wine drenches the palate with lush, velvety folds of dark fruit that taste ripe and pure, dappled with suggestions of dried figs and spice cake. Great with grilled steak or a nibble of cheddar. Score: 91

NV Henry of Pelham Cuvee Catharine Brut, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (LCBO 217521 $32.92)

This elegant, much-loved bubbly calls to mind lemon curd, baked pastry, and toasted meringue with a touch of toasted nuts and a crushed gingersnap on the finish. Pour this delicate, dry blend of local Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with smoked salmon, a simple fish dish, or on its own to add a little sparkle to any moment. Score: 90
New Delhi, April 9 : To help the needy amid the Covid-19 lockdown, the Navy provided ration packets, comprising basic food items, to Maharashtra government for distribution among stranded migrant labourers in Mumbai.

The Mumbai city District Collector had requested the Navy to provide relief to the large number of migrant labourers, stranded due to the lockdown.

Acting on the request, the Western Naval Command arranged around 250 ration packets on April 4. The packets contained adequate quantities of food items.

The packets were handed over to the local authorities near Musaafir Khana and at the Collector Office near the Asiatic Library. Distribution points were set up at Cuffe Parade and Kalba Devi.

On April 8, an additional 500 ration packets were provided to the authorities for distribution among the stranded construction workers in the Kamathipura area.
Video Shows How a Cough Can Spread CCP Virus in Grocery Stores

A new video shows how a single cough can spread the CCP virus into an adjoining aisle in a grocery store.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, causes the COVID-19 disease, which can cause severe illness and even death in some patients.

Researchers in Finland said preliminary results from exploring the transport and spread of the virus through the air indicate particles carrying the virus can remain in the air longer than originally thought.

They released a video showing a person in a grocery store aisle coughing. Aerosol particlesproduced from the respiratory tract when coughing, sneezing, or even talkingform a cloud that reaches a person in the next aisle over.

The cloud takes up to several minutes to disperse, researchers said, citing results from three different groups that carried out the modeling separately.

Someone infected by the coronavirus, can cough and walk away, but then leave behind extremely small aerosol particles carrying the coronavirus. These particles could then end up in the respiratory tract of others in the vicinity, Ville Vuorinen, an assistant professor at Aalto University, said in a statement.

The modelers used movement of aerosol particles smaller than 20 micrometers. Particles of a small size dont sink to the floor but move along in air currents or remain floating in place.

Jussi Sane, chief specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the preliminary results will not lead immediately to new recommendations aimed at curtailing the spread of the CCP virus. The results do highlight the importance of the current recommendations, which include people largely staying at home and avoiding public places.

These results are an important part of the whole, and they should be compared with the data from real-life epidemic studies, she said.

An employee wearing a mask rings up a customers alcohol purchase at the Local Market Foods store in Chicago, Illinois, on April 8, 2020. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Studies

Several studies suggest the CCP virus can spread through aerosol transmission.

Theyre not conclusive but are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing, Harvey Fineberg, who heads a standing committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats, wrote in a letter last week.

One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found SARS-CoV-2, the new virus, remained viable in aerosols for three hours, the duration of the experiment. Another, from researchers in China, found little evidence of the virus in samples taken from various places in hospitals, but did find the virus in particles in bathrooms. And researchers examining disease spread at a hospital in Nebraska said they found indications the virus is spread through airborne transmission along with direct transmission.

Aerosol scientists at the University of California, Davis, said recently that even normal speech from people who arent showing symptoms but are infected with the CCP virus may produce enough aerosolized particles to transmit the infection.

Asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals, by definition, do not cough or sneeze to any appreciable extent. This leaves direct or indirect contact modes and aerosol transmission as the main possible modes of transmission, they wrote in a recent op-ed.

They called for additional specific studies looking at aerosol transmission.
Making clinical trials accessible to more patients by reducing travel burden while simultaneously increasing operational efficiencies for research organizations.

KiwiTech, LLC, an innovation platform that helps startups build viable products, drive traction, and raise capital, today announced a strategic partnership with Jeeva Informatics Solutions Inc, an AI-driven startup that builds patient-focused big data and digital health solutions for accelerating clinical research.

"We are excited to support Jeeva in their mission to decentralize clinical research, reduce patients travel burden and optimize operations," said Rakesh Gupta, Co-Founder, and CEO of KiwiTech. "Though Jeeva set out on their vision much before the current pandemic, it has become particularly relevant in the context of COVID-19. We look forward to helping Jeeva further its mission and scale through our unique startup ecosystem."

While Biopharmaceutical companies have been conducting randomized controlled clinical trials for over 70 years, the traditional process has become unsustainable. According to a 2018 report by PhRMA, the average cost of bringing one successful therapy to market through FDA approval exceeded $2.5B and took over 12 years.

Jeeva Informatics was selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Spring 2019 into the Innovation Corps grant program at their Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) node, Boston, MA to understand first-hand, the various stakeholders perspectives on the pain-points and bottlenecks. Having interviewed over 300 customer stakeholders of clinical trials in the U.S., the major pain points recorded consistently were patient recruitment, retention, and protocol adherence.

Patients travel burden of visiting brick-and-mortar sites is a single problem that, when solved right, can help address all of those customer pain-points. Jeeva is focused on solving this problem by developing a real-time decentralized solution for collecting patients outcomes data which replaces in-person interactions with videoconferencing, digital engagement, and remote safety monitoring. Such a robust solution can enable our customers to better manage unforeseen complexities, such as those arising out of a global pandemic. said Harsha Rajasimha, founder and CEO of Jeeva.

Earlier this year in January, Jeeva had announced a round of investment led by CITGapFunds and plans to launch its first product in late 2020 with several clients. Jeevas initial focus will include long-term follow-ups after the administration of cell and gene therapies for rare diseases and Cancer. Jeeva is seeking additional early adopters and strategic partners with access to real-world clinical settings.

"Our selection process is highly competitive. In 2019, we received 40,734 startup applications, interviewed 2,501 of them, and invested in only 109 of them. Jeeva expects to achieve its minimum viable product in 2020 for its initial set of customers and strategic partners. The partnership with KiwiTech allows Jeeva to leverage our deep technical expertise and insight to realize the promise of decentralized or hybrid clinical trials in the U.S. and eventually globally," said Gupta.

About KiwiTech

Over the last decade, KiwiTech has led innovation across multiple verticals scaling businesses in the tech space. KiwiTech intimately understands the challenges faced by new founders, aspiring unicorns and established leaders and works closely with them to realize their passion and purpose. Through its extensive relationships and expertise, KiwiTech brings a perspective that helps strategically connect technology creators with technology consumers. KiwiTech is an ecosystem of proactive investors and advisors who are passionate about building technology, supporting entrepreneurship, and helping companies realize their maximum potential.

About Jeeva Informatics

Jeeva is a seed-stage venture-backed startup on a mission to develop AI-driven decentralized clinical trials and optimize patient-focused clinical research. The Jeeva Trials solution reduces patient travel burden by replacing in-person trial site visits with videoconferencing, remote monitoring and digital engagement. Jeeva is particularly beneficial for both rare disorders and clinical research studies involving long-term follow-ups and safety monitoring. Jeeva is a member of several life science membership organizations including Virginia BIO, BioHealth Capital Region, and the Global Genes Corporate Alliance.
Foxconns dubious Wisconsin factory  the subject of billions of dollars of tax subsidy scrutiny  will be used to produce ventilators to aid in treatment for COVID-19 around the US. The company, best known for assembling Apples iPhones at factories in China, has entered into a partnership with healthcare firm Medtronic for the project, which will see ventilators produced as soon as possible, according to a statement provided to Reuters.

The factory  dubbed the eighth wonder of the world by President Trump  was first announced back in 2017 and has been the focus of controversy ever since. While its arrival promised new job opportunities for the state, many homes would subsequently be bulldozed to make space for the plant. It was initially earmarked for use as an LCD factory, but plans have repeatedly changed and the ample job opportunities never materialized. For the few that did, pay and working conditions was were way below those originally touted by Foxconn. Meanwhile, the plant was in receipt of more than $4.5 billion in government incentives. The whole endeavour has certainly fallen short of its promises.

Considering the fanfare surrounding the plant, its unfortunate that its taken this long for it to be put to use. However, given the sweeping global challenges the coronavirus represents this is certainly a good use for the facility. The partnership will see the mass production of Medtronics PB-560 ventilator, although neither party has confirmed exactly how many they hope it make. Other tech companies have also turned their attention to manufacturing ventilators during the crisis. Tesla is working on its own ventilator design, for example, while Ford hopes to produce 50,000 devices from its Michigan plant. In the UK, meanwhile, British vacuum brand Dyson plans to produce 15,000 ventilators from a design it created in just 10 days.
Nigerian lawmakers repeatedly tried to manipulate the list of beneficiaries of the governments social investment programmes (NSIP), a presidential aide has said.

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, accused members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of repeatedly attempting to insert names of would be beneficiaries. She said her office resisted the attempts, which may have influenced the recent criticism of the programme by the lawmakers.

Mrs Uwais, who said this in a statement on Wednesday, was responding to the leadership of the National Assembly which faulted the implementation of the Buhari administrations programmes.

The NSIPs include the school feeding programme for primary school pupils, the N-Power for jobless graduates, the conditional cash transfer for elderly cum vulnerable Nigerians, and the government empowerment programme that includes tradermoni  giving out of micro loans to smalll-scale traders.

The lawmakers recently criticised the approach adopted by the federal government to distribute social grants to Nigerians who suffer the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

They called for legislation for the programme in line with what it said was global best practices.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had expressed their concerns at a meeting with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Farouq, and some officials of the ministry on Tuesday.

The meeting, convened by the leadership of the National Assembly, was against the backdrop of the ongoing federal government interventions aimed at reducing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the most vulnerable Nigerians, following the lockdown order given by Mr Buhari on March 29.

The Manipulation Plot

Mrs Uwais lamented the attempt to insert names of beneficiaries of the programme by the lawmakers, describing it as regrettable and dangerous.

The lawmakers had alleged that the beneficiaries are not known personally to the them and the National Social Register (NSR) is a scam which needs to be reformed through a process that is more inclusive of the NASS.

In response, Mrs Uwais explained that the NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members.

No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers, she explained in her statement.

She said the identities and status of the beneficiaries can be verified as it had been done.

It should be noted that Nigeria has signed a financing Apagreement with the World Bank, in which the process of identification of beneficiaries was set out. Any departure from the process, would place at risk the accessibility to the IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family, she said.

Repeated Demand For Inclusion

The demand for the inclusion of candidates to the NSR from the NASS has been a recurring issue from the inception of the NSIPs, Mrs Uwais said. My role and singular focus has simply been to comply with the terms of Agreement and the MoU entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as to establish an objective, efficient and transparent process for uplifting the poor out of poverty through structures and mechanisms that are credible and sustainable.

I have consistently reminded both NASS committee chairmen on poverty alleviation that there is no social protection programme in the world in which politicians are responsible for selecting the beneficiaries of cash transfers.

All successful social protection programmes extract their beneficiaries from an objective community platform, if only to ensure that the poorest of the poor are supported out of poverty in an inclusive community driven and timely manner.

She explained that the data being collated in each household enables the accurate and scientific measurement and tracking, to assure of analysis and research towards resolving poverty.

Since poverty knows no ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, the process must be insulated from influences that are likely to deviate from achieving the desired objective of alleviating abject poverty, rather than be used for patronage or as compensation for loyalty.

The tripartite process for identification of cash transfer beneficiaries is in accordance with similar established best practice the world over, as the communities in which the poor reside know who is most in need.

She said the the various communities take ownership and support the process, if engaged in the identification of the needy.

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While not perfect, the process is as near authentic as is possible in the circumstances, as we continue to strive towards improvement. Building the State Social Registers has been a painstaking and continuous collaborative effort, with huge amount of funds expended in striving to achieve the credibility that would be put to waste, if discarded as suggested.

Reform is certainly welcome, but not the reform that would introduce influence and partisanship into the NSR, thereby making a mockery of the critical data so far collated around the country.

Manipulation of such programmes and beneficiaries by top politicians is commonplace in Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Buharis ministers, including transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, hijacked a Chinese scholarship scheme for Nigerian students to study railway engineering in China.

Applicants who had no godfathers were denied the opportunity of applying while the ministers and other senior officials nominated the eventual beneficiaries of the scholarship.
A senior HSE official has questioned a claim from the Fianna Fail leader that 51,000 people are awaiting swab testing for coronavirus.

Micheal Martin outlined the figure after he and other opposition leaders were given an official briefing on the Covid-19 crisis.

He said 53,000 tests had been completed in Ireland to date but 51,000 people were awaiting appointments for swabs to be taken.

The HSEs clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said labs had experienced issues with a shortage of reagents required to analyse Covid-19 test samples (Niall Carson/PA)

Asked about the 51,000 figure, he replied: I dont know where that came from.

Dr Henry said Ireland has the capacity to meet the current demand for tests but that the processing of results had been hampered by a lack of chemical reagents required to analyse samples in labs.

Mr Martin and other party leaders attended a briefing with HSE chief executive Paul Reid and Irelands chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, on Thursday afternoon.

Afterwards, the Fianna Fail leader said Ireland has not quite reached the peak of the outbreak yet.

We are making progress as a country in terms of dealing with this, he added.

The areas of most concern that were articulated, that I would have raised of course, were the ongoing issues around PPE, the situation in relation to nursing homes, and the entire situation around testing.

Theres about 53,000 tests that have been completed to date. Theres about 51,000 people awaiting appointments for swab taking and it seems to be that theres still a significant degree of work to be done on the testing front.

What was identified was a lab capacity issue in terms of both procuring more labs, there were earlier issues with various component parts of the testing process.

I'm concerned there in terms of underpinning and giving supports to our nursing home

Mr Martin added: We are not as a country where I would like to be in terms of the volume of testing and the turnaround in terms of testing. The objective is to get to a tighter turnaround in 48 hours.

From todays briefing we would be in the top five within the European Union in terms of the volume of people who have been tested.

Mr Martin said there was a lot of focus in the briefing on coronavirus outbreaks in 137 nursing home settings in Ireland.

Im concerned there in terms of underpinning and giving supports to our nursing home, he said.
Many state legislatures are rushing to close their doors in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among their members, staffs and families. Well over half of the lawmaking bodies have adjourned early or postponed their sessions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some legislatures are planning to return soon, but as more lawmakers and staff test positive for the virus, it is uncertain when many statehouses will resume normal business.Pandemics, or any disaster, have the potential to devastate legislatures. Making the matter more complex, several states, such as Ohio and Minnesota , require legislators to meet in person; if lawmakers in these states cannot meet face to face, they cannot legislate. These restrictions make little sense in an increasingly digital world and less sense during true emergencies.Instead of ad hoc legislating, states should adopt rules, procedures and technology that will allow lawmakers to meet and vote remotely, particularly in times of crises. Policies that require legislators to meet in person should be reconsidered.Public health concerns aside, simply closing or postponing legislative session should never be the first and only option. When this occurs, states handicap legislative priorities and are forced to push vital policy items to the wayside. In Maine, for example, lawmakers were poised to significantly reform the state's juvenile-justice system, but abruptly ended their session in mid-March due to coronavirus fears.Many other states are considering ending their sessions early as well. These shortened timelines may push legislators and other public officials to try to solve problems without knowing all the facts. Worse, it potentially cuts residents of their states off from critical state-government assistance. In trying to cope with the immediate effects of the pandemic, states continue to plead and scramble for virus test kits, medical supplies and paid-leave assistance. But what about next week or next month? What additional emergency assistance will constituents, businesses and health-care workers need while their legislatures are closed for business?A closed legislature cannot participate in meeting those demands. And that reality incentivizes the expansion  or abuse  of the executive branch's emergency powers. Without legislative oversight, these powers may long outlast the current crisis.There also are democratic norms that must also be upheld by lawmakers, especially in an election year. To protect poll workers and avoid large gatherings, governors in several states are postponing primary elections. As of now, it is uncertain whether COVID-19 will interfere with the general election in the fall. If it does, lawmakers may need to consider reforms such as solely vote-by mail elections, a herculean policy change in most states. Adjourned legislatures may not be able to meet these challenges in time.Fortunately, the technology to keep legislatures legislating is widely available and budget-friendly. Nearly every industry routinely uses tools like teleconferencing to meet when unable to do so in person. Lawmakers could employ that kind of technology to confer, debate and vote on legislation. There is little security risk, as these deliberations are already done in public. In addition, with longer-term investment, state legislatures could confidently use more-secure systems to hold private briefings and other meetings remotely during times of crisis.Some states are beginning to move in that direction. In New Jersey, one of the states hardest-hit by the pandemic, lawmakers voted by phone last month to pass legislation providing financial assistance for workers impacted by the pandemic. The remote voting was the first in the state's history, and came a week after legislation allowing the practice was enacted. A Pennsylvania House committee met remotely to debate postponing the state's primary. Other states, including Oklahoma and New York , have adopted measures allowing legislatures to meet and vote remotely, and lawmakers in other states have begun to introduce and debate similar plans.Today, instead of closing up shop, lawmakers should consider these and similar proposals. The reasoning is simple: It is better for a legislature to exist virtually than not at all.GoverningGoverning
Jolly Green II taken to extremes

By Samuel King Jr., Eglin Air Force Base Public Affairs / Published April 08, 2020

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- An HH-60W Jolly Green II, the Air Force's new combat search and rescue helicopter, completed a month-long trial of extremes inside the McKinley Climatic Lab April 2.

The Sikorsky test aircraft endured real temperatures ranging from 120 degrees to minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit as well as 45 mph winds coupled with heavy rainfall. All of those scenarios were created within the lab's 55,000-square-foot test chamber.

The goal of these punishing tests was to prove the new aircraft's sustainability in any operational environment.

"Operating the HH-60W in the extreme conditions was a truly unique experience as a pilot and a tester," said Lt. Col. Ryan Coates, 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron pilot, who also performed most of the testing. "Checking system performance under the stress of heat, cold, heavy wind and rain will give us real-world data regarding the helicopter's capability to perform the rescue mission worldwide in various environments, which is exactly what the operator needs to make solid employment decisions."

Once the lab technicians created extreme environments, the aircrew would enter the aircraft and perform various test procedures. The crew would execute their preflight checklists and perform tasks to see if the extreme conditions affected any of the avionics, electronics, engine and other systems.

The aircrew performing the procedures were also test subjects themselves. Their own reactions and movements were evaluated in the harsh environments. For example, the cold-weather gear worn by the aircrew is much bulkier than a standard flight suit. One of the evaluations was to ensure the pilots could easily reach all of the aircraft controls in the thicker cold-weather gear.

A significant amount of the test schedule was dedicated to preparing the chamber for extreme conditions. McKinley's lab professionals create, break-down, and recreate again for each new test environment. Technicians worked continuously to go from a superheated 100-degree desert condition to a below-freezing icebox in only three days.

"McKinley Climatic Laboratory maintains quickness and technical proficiency by retaining our own staff of highly experienced welders, machinists, electricians, instrumentation experts, test assembly personnel and refrigeration operators," said William Higdon, the lab's technical advisor. "Our main mission is to support the warfighter and to ensure any environment they encounter in the field; their equipment has already been proven in those extremes."

The Jolly Green II created some unique challenges for McKinley Lab personnel. The lab technicians created a system specifically for the HH-60W to remove the aircraft's exhaust. Thorough exhaust removal is a critical part of maintaining the controlled temperature conditions needed for chamber testing, according to lab technicians working on the test.

The design of the ventilation system meant the aircraft's blades were removed for the duration of the testing. The lab's in-house fabrication shop also specially designed brackets for the aircraft's weapons among other items.

"Successful completion of this test is absolutely shared with the Sikorsky and McKinley teams," said Ben Walker, 413th Flight Test Squadron lead test engineer for the effort and Air Force PALACE Acquire journeyman. "Everyone worked together extremely well and we completed on time and on budget. I am very thankful for this opportunity to perform exciting engineering work, while also supporting the warfighter."

After testing in the climatic lab, the HH-60W will return to Sikorsky's test facility in West Palm Beach for further evaluation. The HH-60W developmental test program is a joint effort between Sikorsky, the 413th FLTS, the 88th TES and Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center. Test aircraft are primarily split between Duke Field here and Sikorsky's West Palm Beach facility.

"Testing on the combat rescue helicopter continued amidst the chaos of COVID-19," said Lt. Col. Wayne Dirkes, 413th FLTS operations officer. "While the situation could change at any moment, we have not lost any test schedule thus far. That is a testament to the entire team's attitude and willingness to work through challenges."



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Granddaughter Jessica posted the moment on Tiktok where it has been viewed eight million times

A grandmother who was forced to sing Happy Birthday to herself alone under self-quarantine has received thousands of good wishes after the moment was posted online.

Norma Gregotio celebrated turning 88 at her home in Union Square, New Jersey without her family, but sent them a video of her singing the classic tune to show them she was in good spirits.

Her family had sent her a flower cake, which she even stuck candles into to blow out to make a 'very special wish'.

Her granddaughter, Jessica Kerrigan, 22, then posted the touching moment on TikTok.

In the footage, Norma can be heard saying: 'Its my birthday today, and I'm all alone because of the virus. But look what I have here.

'No one can come to see me, but I've got cakes and gifts to remind me that it's my special day.'

Norma Gregotio, who celebrated turning 88 at her home in Union Square, New Jersey without her family, has received thousands of good wishes after the moment was posted online

She has since become an online sensation, with the video being viewed over nine million times and thousands of people sending her good wishes for her big day.

'[Our family] sent her a flower cake from 1-800-Flowers. She was very appreciative and she just decided to record herself singing 'Happy Birthday,' and emailed it to me and my family,' Kerrigan told Good Morning America.

'It was just the cutest thing, and I decided to post it,' Kerrigan added. 'I didn't think anything would come of it.'

Her granddaughter, Jessica Kerrigan, 22, then posted the touching moment on TikTok, saying 'I didn't think anything would come of it'

The grandmother's video of her singing Happy Birthday to herself had been viewed over nine million times

When Jessica told Norma that she had become an internet 'star', she replied saying that she felt more like 'a galaxy'.

Norma was born March 25, 1932 in New York City, but lived in Italy during World War II, and says she understands what it's like to go through a crisis.

After returning to the US, she settled in upstate New Jersey.

Her family had sent her a flower cake, which had even stuck candles into to blow out and make a 'very special wish'

And while Norma appreciates all of the kind comments she has been sent, she said she wants people to know that she isn't sad to be alone.

'I don't know why they're crying. I'm always happy, I wasn't sad,' she said. 'I have a philosophy: I think every morning when I wake up, I say "Thank you, God, for giving me another day." Every night when I go to sleep, I say, "Thank you, God, for giving me a day to live".'

Norma did however add that she was slightly disappointed the flower cake her family had sent her wasn't edible.
President Donald Trump at a Wednesday press conference called the more than $8 million pay for TVA President Jeff Lyash "ridiculous."

The president said he would support "reducing it a lot" as part of the planned infrastructure program.

He told reporters who asked about the salary, Ive been waiting for somebody to ask me about that. Its been bothering me for a long time, too.

He also said, I dont know the gentleman, but hes got a heck of a job. He gets paid a lot of money.

However, Senator Lamar Alexander called it a "non-issue."

He said, Attacking TVA doesnt do one thing to solve the pandemic and has no place in federal COVID-19 response legislation. TVA does not receive one dollar in federal taxpayer subsidies or federal appropriations.

"To help families pay their electric bills and keep their power on during this crisis, TVA has made $1 billion in credit available to help 154 local electric utilities in seven states.

"White House staff is unfortunately spreading inaccurate information. When this crisis is over, Ill be glad to explain to them the facts about the TVA CEOs pay, which is lower than other big utilities, and TVAs rates, which are among the lowest in the country, and the number of federal taxpayer dollars going to TVA, which is zero.
Leipzig / Panama City. Tropical forests are a hotspot of biodiversity. Against the backdrop of climate change, their protection plays a special role and it is important to predict how such diverse forests may change over decades and even centuries. This is exactly what researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the University of Leipzig (UL) and other international research institutions have achieved. Their results have been published in the scientific journal Science.

Nowhere in the world is the loss of the so-called primary forests advancing faster than in the tropics. The natural primary forests are compelled to give way to agriculture and livestock farming and, as a result of clearing, important habitats are lost. In addition, the carbon stored in the trees is released as CO2. When the cleared areas are no longer used, new 'secondary' forests grow on them and these then capture part of the previously released CO2. The promotion of such natural forest areas can therefore offer an inexpensive way of mitigating climate-damaging CO2 from the atmosphere and, at the same time, promote biodiversity.

However, not all forests develop in the same way. In order to manage the recovery and renaturation of tropical forests, it is necessary to be able to predict how the forests will develop. To achieve this, certain parameters must be known; how quickly do the trees grow and how quickly do they die? How many offspring do they produce, which then in turn ensure the continued existence of the species? This is precisely the data which has been recorded in Panama over the past 40 years, in one of the most researched tropical rainforests in the world, for 282 tree species.

Using this data, researchers were able to show that trees pursue different strategies during their development. On the one hand, they differ in terms of their pace of life; while 'fast' species both grow and die quickly, 'slow' species grow slowly and reach an old age. On the other hand, trees can differ regarding their stature, irrespective of pace of life. These 'infertile giants', also known as long-lived pioneers, grow relatively quickly, and reach a great stature, but produce only a few offspring per year, contrasting with the 'fertile dwarfs'; small shrubs and treelets which grow slowly and do not live long, but produce a large number of offspring.

But how many, and which factors of this demographic diversity have to be taken into account in order for us to be able to predict the development of a diverse forest? An international research team used a digital experiment to answer this question. In a computer model, they simulated how trees grow, die, produce offspring and compete for light as in a real forest. They allowed different configurations of the model to compete against each other; these contained either all 282 species from Panama or only a few selected 'strategy types'. The species differed in only one or two respects; their pace of life and their stature. The respective model predictions were then compared with the observed development of real, regrowing secondary forests.

The researchers found that their model worked reliably with only five strategy types, but that both strategy dimensions must be taken into account. "In particular, the long-lived pioneers are important because they account for the bulk of biomass - and carbon - in this forest type at almost all ages, and not only in middle-aged forests as assumed so far," said first author Dr Nadja Ruger, junior research group leader at iDiv and UL.

Following years of research, Ruger and her colleagues have now been able to establish a completely data-driven modelling approach which can be used to predict the development of species-rich forests, without the usual, tedious adjustment and calibration of unknown model parameters, thus saving both time and resources. "Basically, we were able to reduce the forest to its essence, and that was only possible because we know so much about the tree species in the forest in Panama," said Ruger.

While forests are being impacted by climate change, they are also significantly slowing its pace - estimates are the vegetation of the earth is soaking up approximately 34% of the carbon molecules we emit, annually. However, scientists are not sure whether we will be able to count on this significant ecosystem service in the future. "By advancing our ability to predict forest carbon storage and represent the rich biodiversity within tropical forests, we are now on a path to much more accurately capture important ecological processes in the global models that are used by policy makers to predict the pace of climate change", said co-author Caroline Farrior, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

###
While China's aggressive control measures may have halted the first wave of COVID-19 in areas outside Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, real-time monitoring of the spread and severity of the deadly disease is needed to protect against a possible second wave of infection, researchers say.

According to the scientists, including those from the University of Hong Kong, given the substantial risk of the virus being reintroduced from abroad, and with economic activity increasing in China, there may be a second wave of infection in the province.

In their analysis, published in the journal The Lancet, they estimated that in regions outside Hubei, the instantaneous reproductive number of COVID-19, which is the average number of cases generated by a single infected individual during the outbreak, fell substantially after lock down measures were introduced in January.

The scientists said the reproductive number has remained below one since then, suggesting that the epidemic has shifted from one that is expanding rapidly to one that is slowly shrinking.

However, based on mathematical modelling to simulate the impact of relaxing current control measures, the researchers suggest that premature lifting of these interventions will likely lead to transmissibility exceeding one again.

They cautioned that this may result in a second wave of infection.

According to the scientists, the findings are critical to countries globally that are in the early phases of lock down, because they warn against premature relaxation of strict control measures.

However, the analysis did not delve into the effect of each intervention, or which one was most effective in containing the spread of the virus.

"While these control measures appear to have reduced the number of infections to very low levels, without herd immunity against COVID-19, cases could easily resurge as businesses, factory operations, and schools gradually resume, and increase social mixing," said Joseph T Wu from the University of Hong Kong who co-led the research.

Although control policies such as physical distancing and behavioural change are likely to be maintained for some time, he said, striking a balance between resuming economic activities and keeping the reproductive number below one is likely to be the best strategy until effective vaccines become widely available.

The scientists added that the probability of dying among confirmed cases of COVID-19, as officially reported outside Hubei, was 0.98 per cent, which is almost six times lower than in Hubei (5.91 per cent).

This varied substantially among different provinces, based on economic development and availability of health-care resources, the scientists said.

Among the ten provinces with the largest number of confirmed cases, case fatality ranged from zero per cent in prosperous regions like Jiangsu to 1.76 per cent in less developed provinces such as Henan.

"Even in the most prosperous and well-resourced megacities like Beijing and Shanghai, health-care resources are finite, and services will struggle with a sudden increase in demand," said Gabriel M Leung senior author of the research from the University of Hong Kong.

"Our findings highlight the importance of ensuring that local health-care systems have adequate staffing and resources to minimise COVID-related deaths," Leung said.

In the study, the researchers analysed local Health Commission data of confirmed COVID-19 cases between mid-January and 29 February, 2020, to estimate the transmissibility and severity of COVID-19 in four major cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wenzhou.

The number of new daily imported and local cases were used to construct epidemic curves for each location by date of symptom onset, and reporting delays were incorporated in the modelling to calculate weekly reproduction numbers, the scientists noted.

They also modelled the potential impact of relaxing control measures after the first wave of infection for different scenarios with rising reproduction numbers.

In regions outside Hubei, the scientists said, control measures should be lifted gradually so that the resulting reproductive number does not exceed one, or the number of cases will progressively rise over the relaxation period.

According to their estimates, once elevated, simply tightening control interventions again would not reduce the burden back to its original level.

If this happens, it may require extra effort to drive the reproductive number below one in order to revert to the pre-relaxation level -- likely resulting in both higher health and economic loss, the research noted.

The study also noted that it had some limitations.

First, the estimated reproductive numbers were based on the reported number of confirmed cases, and the time and dates of symptom onset were unavailable for some provinces and relied on data derived from Shenzhen, the scientists said.

A limited number of simulations for relaxing control measures were done, they added, and these did not specify which interventions or public responses to the epidemic might correspond to each of the scenarios.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi, Russia outline record oil cut under U.S. pressure as demand crashes FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County

By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Ahmad Ghaddar

DUBAI/MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.

But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make. Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10% of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still won't remove enough crude to stop the world's storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia if it did not fix the oil market's problem of oversupply.

Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.

A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the talks, after a U.S. official said the OPEC+ move towards cuts sent an "important signal" to the market.

Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.

"We are expecting other producers outside the OPEC+ club to join the measures, which might happen tomorrow during G20," the head of Russia's wealth fund and one of Moscow's top oil negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters.

Thursday's OPEC+ talks will be followed by a call on Friday between energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, hosted by Saudi Arabia.

Story continues

OPEC and Russian sources said they expected other producers to add 5 million bpd to cuts, although an OPEC+ statement on Thursday made no mention of any such condition.

Brent oil prices, which hit an 18-year low last month, were trading around $32 a barrel on Thursday, half their level at the end of 2019.

U.S. DILEMMA

OPEC+ would cut output by 10 million bpd in May to June, OPEC+ documents showed. All members would reduce output by 23%, with Saudi Arabia and Russia each cutting 2.5 million bpd and Iraq cutting over 1 million bpd.

Under the plans, OPEC+ would then ease cuts to 8 million bpd from July to December and relax them further to 6 million bpd from January 2021 to April 2022, the documents showed.

The United States, whose output has surged to surpass Saudi and Russian production, was invited to Thursday's OPEC+ talks but it was not clear if it had joined the video conference. Brazil, Norway and Canada were also invited.

U.S. officials have already said U.S. output would fall naturally over two years but have not committed to any cuts.

In a sign OPEC+ was struggling to win broader support, Canada's main oil province of Alberta said output had already dropped and that it had not been asked by OPEC for more cuts. The province said it backed a U.S. idea for tariffs on imported crude.

Before the talks, Moscow and Riyadh had been at odds over what level of production to use to calculate reductions, after Saudi Arabia hiked its supply in April to a record 12.3 million bpd, up from below 10 million bpd in March. Russian output, meanwhile, has been running about 11.3 million bpd.

The two nations fell out during an acrimonious meeting in Vienna in March, when a previous production deal collapsed.

The two sides agreed on Thursday that cuts would be made from an 11 million bpd baseline for both countries, OPEC+ documents showed.

"We have managed to overcome differences. It will be a very important deal. It will allow the oil market to start on a path to recovery," said Dmitriev, who last month was the first official to propose a deal involving members other than OPEC+.

Several U.S. states could order private companies to limit production under rarely used powers. The oil regulator in Texas, the largest producer among U.S. states with output of about 5 million bpd, meets on April 14 to discuss possible curbs.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Shadia Nasralla, Vladimir Soldatkin, Sonali Paul; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)
Coronavirus FAQ

What is the coronavirus?

The coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and has spread worldwide. The new virus causes a disease known as COVID-19. The virus is part of a larger family of coronaviruses, which can lead to illnesses ranging from a mild common cold to more severe respiratory diseases such as SARS and MERS.

Who is at risk and what are the symptoms?

Public health experts say the new coronavirus is more contagious than the seasonal flu. The majority of people who become sick experience mild symptoms, but some become more seriously ill. People who contract the virus can develop pneumonia, and some have died. People who are elderly or have underlying medical issues are at greater risk of becoming more severely sick. Symptoms of the virus include a cough, fever and shortness of breath.

What should I do if I develop symptoms?

The North Dakota Department of Health advises that people call their health care provider to tell them about recent travel or exposure, and to follow their guidance. Try to avoid contact with other people in the meantime.

What can I do to prevent the virus from spreading?

The health department advises that people wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for at least 20 seconds. People who are sick should stay home from work or school, both to protect themselves and others with whom they would come in contact. Avoid touching your face, cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue or an elbow, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces, and avoid contact with people who are sick.

Where can I find more information?

People with coronavirus-related questions can call the state health department hotline at 866-207-2880. Those who need medical advice should contact their health care provider.

The health department's online coronavirus page: www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's online coronavirus page: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
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Linkedin (Reuters) Los Angeles, United States  Thu, April 9, 2020 10:30 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c265a 2 Entertainment Ellen-DeGeneres,Hollywood,united-states,celebrity,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic Free

Ellen DeGeneres, one of America's most popular TV personalities, faced a barrage of criticism on Wednesday after comparing her self-isolation in a multimillion-dollar mansion to being in prison.

DeGeneres, whose daily television talk show had been off the air for three weeks because of a stay-at-home order, returned on Wednesday with a show filmed by her wife, actress Portia De Rossi, from one of their California homes.

"One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people - this is like being in jail, is what it is," quipped DeGeneres, who was filmed in an armchair looking out on vast, grassy lawns and mountains.

"It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay," she said, laughing at her own joke.

While DeGeneres also praised health workers and other on the frontlines battling the coronavirus epidemic, the prison joke did not go down well.

"I have actual friends and loved ones who are currently incarcerated. They are locked down in horrific conditions and terrified what is going to happen to them. Your joke about being quarantined at home being like that is unfunny and disrespectful," tweeted social justice activist Diana #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth.

Hi @TheEllenShow I have actual friends and loved ones who are currently incarcerated. They are locked down in horrific conditions and terrified what is going to happen to them. Your joke about being quarantined at home being like that is unfunny and disrespectful.  Diana #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth (@DianaJoy23) April 7, 2020

More than 280 inmates and 400 staff in New York prisons have been infected with the coronavirus and at least seven people have died, according to the New York Department of Corrections.

Read also: Indonesian celebrities raise money to fight coronavirus

In Chicago, some 230 detainees in Cook County jails have tested positive for the virus, along with 92 staff members.

Louisiana has also reported coronavirus-related deaths among prison inmates.

"Hey @TheEllenShow, prisoners across this country are trapped in 24-hour quarantine in cells that are probably about the size of one of your showers & others are sleeping 3 feet away from sick inmates. And they're dying. You aren't experiencing anything close to prison," wrote Caleb Grossman on Twitter.

Hey @TheEllenShow, prisoners across this country are trapped in 24-hour quarantine in cells that are probably about the size of one of your showers & others are sleeping 3 feet away from sick inmates. And theyre dying. You arent experiencing anything close to prison. https://t.co/XAigRPUl7i  Caleb Grossman (@CalebGrossman) April 8, 2020

The backlash was the latest example of celebrities being called out for what appeared to be tone-deaf comments and social media postings as the pandemic has put millions of Americans out of work and killed more than 14,000 in the United States.

Last month, DeGeneres was slammed for complaining of being bored in videos that she posted of herself lying on a couch at her home.
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Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), India's second largest two-wheeler maker, has made advance payments of incentives and reimbursements as part of the Rs 1,700 crore package to help its dealers, suppliers and service providers tide over the coronavirus-induced lockdown period.

The maker of models like Activa, Shine and Unicorn joins companies like Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars India to announce financial support packages for its partners.

HMSI also said that it will take back the unsold units of Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) inventory lying with a few dealers in the Delhi-NCR region and will also entirely bear the interest cost of BS-VI inventory (physical and transit).

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

With its unprecedented scale and subsequent nationwide lockdown, COVID-19 has severely impacted the business continuity of dealers, who were already under immense pressure due to the 16-month-long demand industry slowdown. About 300 dealerships closed business in 2018-19 and the number for 2019-20 is expected to be at least 500.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki India cuts production by 32% in March

"The support package will effectively provide immediate liquidity to our dealer partners and we are confident that it will comprehensively ease their business continuity anxiety and improve cash flow. Providing yet another major support, Honda shall also bear the interest cost of the BS-VI vehicles inventory at all its dealers for the entire 21-day lockdown period," said Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director  Sales & Marketing, HMSI.

Earlier this week, Honda Cars India had said that all pending payments of dealers were cleared in March. Additional support in the form of releasing advance payments to help dealers with cash flow was also done. In normal business flow, payments are made to dealers as claims after the sales month. The company has also given support on interest cost of fresh stock available with dealers before lockdown.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki announces service, warranty extensions to support customers

HMSI closed last year with a fall of 15 percent in domestic volumes to 4.7 million units as against sales clocked in 2018-19. HCIL recorded a drop of 45 percent to domestic sales of 102,016 units during FY20 as against FY19.
New Zealands Treasury stated last week that the countrys unemployment rate could reach double digits, as the crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic continues to deepen.

Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said unemployment would top 6.7 percent, the level reached following the 2008 financial crisis, despite a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus package mainly consisting of subsidies and tax cuts for businesses.

Economists forecasts for unemployment range between 8 percent and 30 percent, roughly the same as in the 1930s Great Depression. The OECD expects New Zealands economic activity to contract by 28 percent in the June quarter.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern enacted a state of emergency and a four-week lockdown of schools and non-essential businesses on March 26, in an attempt to reduce the spread of the potentially fatal COVID-19 virus. The number of cases in New Zealand reached 1,239 today but limited testing means there could be many undetected cases.

A major part of the stimulus package is a wage subsidy scheme that pays a wholly inadequate $585.80 a week per full-time worker and $350 for part-time workers, before tax. Businesses whose revenue falls by a 30 percent decline in any month of 2020 can claim the subsidy. As of Tuesday, $6.6 billion had been paid to employers, covering over a million employees, one fifth of the population.

This has not prevented mass redundancies and wage cuts. The payments effectively keep workers on belt-tightening budgets, some not knowing whether they will be able to cover basics such as rent or mortgage payments, food, power and other costs or debts.

Ardern told the media on Monday she wouldnt rule out taking a pay cut to her salary of $471,000 a year, and reducing MPs salaries, in a bogus gesture of solidarity with workers affected by the crisis.

As in the US, Europe and Australia, everything is being done to prop up big businesses and the banks and protect the fortunes of the super-rich. No policies have been announced to prevent a major reduction in living standards of the vast majority.

There is widespread hardship, particularly among low-paid workers and insecure migrants who have been thrown out of work. Demand for Wellington City Missions food parcels has quadrupled since the lockdown began. Charities in Auckland and Christchurch have reported similar sudden increases in demand.

The union bureaucracy is playing a key role as enforcer of the cutbacks. The unions, which support and frequently help to fund the ruling Labour Party, are acting as adjuncts of the government and big business, as they did following the 2008 crisis.

Air New Zealand plans to lay off a third of its 12,500 workers, despite the company receiving a $900 million government loan. The union E tu, which covers 5,000 airline workers, agreed with cutting jobs, only suggesting in a March 31 statement that the company didnt need to lay off as many people as quickly as they have proposed.

Similarly, after Air NZ confirmed it wanted to sack 387 pilots, the NZ Air Line Pilots Association agreed on the need for job losses. President Andrew Ridling said on April 7: we have been working closely with the airline [and] will continue to negotiate on getting this number reduced and finalising the agreement process.

Flight Centre has made 250 NZ-based staff redundant and closed 33 shops following the closure of 100 outlets in Australia.

German-owned media publisher Bauer NZ last week ended publication of its NZ magazines including Womans Weekly, The Listener and North and South, resulting in over 300 job losses. The magazines are not being published during the lockdown, but the media sector was already facing economic problems. Chief executive Brendon Hill stated that reduced advertising revenue made it highly unlikely that demand will ever return to pre-crisis levels.

Media company NZME closed one of its radio stations, Radio Sport, following the suspension of professional sports, and has warned of job cuts at NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB. MediaWorks, which owns TV3, asked staff to accept a voluntary 15 percent pay cut otherwise the company would begin widespread redundancies.

On March 31, Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Paul Blair threatened that the construction sector could shed 30 percent of its workforce in three months. The industry employs one in ten NZ workers.

Fletcher Building, one of the countrys largest and most profitable companies, accepted the governments wage subsidies while announcing that 9,000 workers will face an initial wage cut of 20 percent, rising to 50 percent if the lockdown continues after four weeks, and then 70 percent if it is further extended.

On April 2, the Amalgamated Workers Union described Fletchers proposal as disgraceful, while at the same time praising other companies that had cut pay to 80 percent as an example of a fair outcome achieved in collaboration with the unions. Similarly, FIRST Union appealed to the government to intervene and instruct Fletcher to make every practicable effort to pay their workers 80 percent of their normal wages at a minimum.

SkyCity, a casino and convention centre business with over 5,000 workers, has also cut wages by 20 percent and last week announced 200 planned redundancies. The company said it was losing $90 million a month in revenue during the lockdown. However, in the last two financial years alone it made $314.1 million in profits.

Some employers are pressuring workers to use annual leave to top up their wages. FIRST Union reported that this included bus companies Ritchies and Go Bus, which have been involved in protracted disputes over low wages and long hours.

Local government is also beginning to impose drastic spending and job cuts. Auckland Council, whose mayor Phil Goff is a former Labour Party leader, announced on Tuesday that it would cut as many as 1,100 temporary and contractor jobs. Goff told Stuff the cuts were necessary with a recession looming perhaps as big as the 1930s.

In an attempt to maintain the ruling elites fiction of shared sacrifice, Goff declared that he would be willing to take a pay cut to his $296,000 salary.

The central government is no doubt preparing even more drastic cuts to force workers to pay for its unprecedented bailouts of big business. On March 31, Finance Minister Robertson told Newstalk ZB generations would be paying back the debt incurred by the government.
How do you get off a terrorist list? It seems that hard cash helps.

Take Sudan. Its ministry of justice has just announced that its finalised a February deal with the families of the 17 US sailors killed in the suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden harbour in October 2000. The dead Americans left 11 children behind them and so the reported $70m (59m) settlement will care for them too. The relatives claimed that Sudan, under its then war criminal president Omar al-Bashir, had provided support to al-Qaeda, which claimed the attack.

Who knows? The US listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terror in 1993  the same year I first met Osama bin Laden in the Sudanese village of Almatig, surrounded by his unarmed warriors and Sudans very well-armed security cops. But he was expelled to Afghanistan three years later. Thats four years before two al-Qaeda suicide bombers in an explosives-heavy fibreglass boat smashed into the hull of the four-year-old Aegis-class guided missile destroyer Cole as it lay moored, refuelling, off Aden harbour. Omar al-Bashir took power in Khartoum in 1989.

Now that he has been overthrown, Sudans transitional government desperately needs debt relief and international funding. The ministry of justice was quite frank about that this week: Removing Sudans name from this list is necessary to remove the stigma of terrorism off the people of Sudan and to reintegrate Sudan back in the international community.

The government, it seems, first negotiated with the families of the dead sailors, then with the US administration to compensate for al-Qaeda attacks in east Africa.

But it isnt that simple. The head of the two-bomber unit which attacked the Cole was a Yemeni named Jamal al-Badawi, killed in a US air raid last year. According to the US, however, the man who planned the attack on the Cole was Abd Rahman al-Nashiri, a Saudi currently imprisoned in Guantanamo. Needless to say, Saudi Arabia  having never been involved in any attack on anyone, ever  got off the hook. As it did seven years after the Aden bombing, when 15 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 turned out to be Saudi citizens. But thats not quite the point.

The most interesting aspect of the money to be paid out by Sudan  blood money, in Arab eyes  is that Sudan still does not regard itself as responsible for the Cole attack, or any other terrorist act.

The ministry of justice in Khartoum made this quite explicit in its formal statement this week. The agreement was made, it said, because of the strategic interests of Sudan  so it can remove its name from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudanese officials also claimed that it wanted the US to stop punishing the people of Sudan for crimes committed by the former regime.

Now, this makes sense  up to a point. But can you really dump one dictator for the promise of democracy, and then claim you have a clean hand? Germans no longer support Hitler but they continue to believe that their nation was responsible for the greatest evil visited upon mankind in modern history. They were not allowed to make a single ex gratia payment and then wash their hands of guilt.

Im not comparing al-Bashirs Sudan to Nazi Germany, but once you consign moral responsibility to what amounts to a business deal, new precedents have been set.

The problem in this case is that the precedent is not at all new. Most of us have now forgotten just how Muammar Gaddafis Libya got off the terrorism hook when  after Tony Blair had slobbered over the crackpot dictator and whose surrender of non-existent nuclear weapons was described as statesmanship by then-MP Jack Straw  it paid $1.5bn (1.2bn) in compensation to victims of the Lockerbie Pan Am bombing (total dead: 270) and an attack on a Berlin disco that killed two US servicemen and a Turkish woman. Interestingly, this arrangement also called for $300m (240m) in compensation for the Libyan victims of Ronald Reagans later airstrikes on Tripoli and Benghazi.

The man later imprisoned in Scotland for the bombing, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (handed over with another agent by Gaddafi), was later released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return home with prostate cancer. A number of UK relatives of the Lockerbie dead doubted that Megrahi was in any way responsible, especially after they discovered that evidence at the trial did not, on later examination, appear credible. And despite the fact that Libya agreed to the compensation, Gaddafis son Saif specifically stated that Libya was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. Gaddafi also claimed he had not ordered the atrocity, although one former member of his cabinet  speaking after Gaddafis overthrow  said that the dictator was personally involved.

But the money had spoken. Even while still running Libya, Gaddafis regime shrugged off any responsibility once cash had been paid. He was only later blasted from power with the help of Nato, and then reaccused of crimes against humanity, including the mass hanging of opponents in Benghazi in the 1970s.

But Ghaddafi was killed. Al-Bashir is still alive.

Justice  always a slippery subject in the Middle East  has often been resolved with the payment of blood money, often compensation in lieu of punishment. And Western armies have often paid restitution in cash to the innocent victims of air raids and military attacks.

Such payments  in which the British as well as the American military have been involved  have been made on the understanding that the dead were not intentionally killed. Such victims were thus regarded as being, in that most repulsive of phrases, collateral damage. In some cases, military officers would negotiate directly, as well as through third parties, with the families of the dead.

I doubt if al-Bashir will ever come to trial for the bombing of the USS Cole  even if he was guilty by association  and, as we know, Gaddafi could not be made available for any personal prosecution even before his overthrow. The real question is whether nations can be held accountable. And how much justice can be seen to be done by financial transfers rather than real trials.

The US has a wad of terror accusations against Iran. Lockerbie might well have been one of them if the Americans had not dumped the blame on Gaddafis Libya.

Recommended US sanctions on Iran are causing coronavirus to spread

And its also worth recording how the United States reacted when its military personnel were involved in the deliberate killing  the murder  of innocent Iraqis and Afghans. After the slaughter of 24 Iraqi civilians by US Marines at Haditha in 2005, for example, the US paid $38,000 (30,000) to the families of 15 of the dead. Thats just over $2,500 (1,990) a corpse. Of the eight American Marines to face charges, six had their cases dropped, a seventh was found not guilty and the eighth was found guilty of negligent dereliction of duty but escaped prison.

After the 2012 Kandahar massacre  in which four men, three women and nine children were shot and knifed to death  a single US soldier was sentenced to life imprisonment. Afghan witnesses claimed other troops were involved. The US government paid out $46,000 (36,000) for each Afghan civilian killed and $10,000 (7,900) for each person injured. Separately, the UK paid out 2.8m to the family of Iraqi Baha Moussa, killed in British custody at Basra in 2003, and nine other men beaten in UK hands at the same time. As a result, a single British soldier was convicted of ill treatment of detainees and imprisoned for a year.

Neither the US nor the British governments, of course, regarded themselves as responsible for any of these killings. These outrages were, after all, not state-sponsored murders. But they got away with it by doing what the Libyans did  and what the Sudanese have now done. They paid cash.
With Hollywood shuttered, movie and TV production shut down, red carpet events cancelled and coronavirus keeping celebrities behind closed doors, theres not a lot of material for the tabloids to be working with this week - but that doesnt stop them from making it all up.

"His Royal High-ness!" Prince Harry is "Buying $9m Pot Farm! " according to the 'Globe.'

Harry has never been involved in business in his life, but allegedly "told a pal marijuana is something he likes and knows about."

I eat bananas and know something about them too (they're yellow, curvilinear and tasty) but I'm not about to buy a banana plantation.

Unnamed "insiders" claim that Harry will turn to Meghan's nephew Tyler Dooley, who grows cannabis in Oregon, for advice. Yes, the nephew who Meghan hasn't seen or spoken to for almost 30 years, the nephew whose side of the family Meghan has virtually disowned, the nephew whose family has trashed Meghan and Harry at every opportunity  that's who he'll turn to for advice. Right.

Comedy star Chevy Chase is the target of the 'National Enquirer,' which reports: "Fears Chevy Has 6 Months to Live!" Evidently Chevy's "fragile health has friends concerned the end may be near."

But wait a second! Haven't we heard that before? Yes, in the 'Enquirer' in November 2016: "Chevy Chase 3 months to live!"

And let's not forget those other great 'Enquirer' reports of stars' imminent demise, by the magazine's crack team of medical reporters:

"Oprah: Only 3 years to live!  May 2009.

"Kirstie Alley: Only 4 years to live!"  August 2009.

"Macaulay Culkin  6 months to live!"  August 2012.

"O.J.  4 weeks to live!"  October 2014.

"Cher has 3 months to live!"  December 2014.

"Michael Douglas cancer relapse  3 months to live!"  February 2016.

"Nick Nolte  4 weeks to live!"  July 2016.

With accuracy like that, Chevy Chase must be feeling pretty good about his chances.

Meanwhile another star is "eating himself to death," reports the 'Globe.' "Is it a blimp? No, It's Superman! Fears for Dean Cain as fading actor packs on the pounds."

Whether or not Cain has gained 50 pounds as the 'Globe' reports, on his tall frame he still looks fit and healthy, though perhaps with more of a dad bod than in his Man of Steel days three decades ago. Still, he looks great, so why the concern that he's about to drop dead at 53 years old?

"Medical experts fear" that gaining weight "can be deadlier than kryptonite!" the rag reports. So now the 'Globe' team of medically-trained reporters are experts in kryptonite poisoning too? How long before President Trump is touting kryptonite as the next cure for coronavirus?

The 'Enquirer' cover is devoted to Prince Harry's "Diva Duchess" wife: "Meghan's Hollywood Dream Explodes! Anger, tears & denial as critics savage her 'cheesy' new movie. William mocks Harry: 'I told you so!!'"

But the critics didn't savage Meghan's performance. They didn't even savage her new Disney documentary 'Elephant,' but gave it modestly favorable reviews.

Any criticism that emerged was aimed mostly at the documentary's schmaltzy script, not at Meghan's performance as its narrator.

The rag repeats the canard that Harry begged Disney chief Bob Iger to give Meghan the voice-over gig on a London movie premiere red carpet, when we now know she had been approached to narrate 'Elephant' by the directors long before meeting Iger.

Long-time Hollywood couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell's "Surprise Wedding!" is reported in the 'Enquirer.'

There's only one small detail  they're not married.

"She's finally ready for altar after 37 years," claims the mag. But does anyone remember the 'Enquirer' telling us they were engaged and about to wed back in December 2015? Or the 'Enquirer' story in September 2017 revealing that Kurt & Goldie had split? So why should we believe them now?

Then there's a slew of stories that simply didn't happen the way the tabloids tell us they did

"Navy Grounds Top Gun Tom!" claims the 'Enquirer.' No, they didn't. The Navy took Cruise up in F-18 fighter jets repeatedly while filming his coming 'Top Gun' sequel. They just wouldn't let him take the controls and fly the fighter himself. Not exactly grounded.

George Clooney is "Caught in Battery Nightmare!" the 'Enquirer' reports.

No, George Clooney hasn't hit anyone. Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, who Clooney dated from 2009 to 2011, has allegedly been charged with misdemeanor battery after bumping another woman's shoulder in an argument. So how is Clooney "caught in battery nightmare"? Unnamed "sources" claim that Elisabetta has turned to her ex for advice because Clooney's now married to human rights lawyer Amal. Well, that makes perfect sense: If you get charged with a minor misdemeanor, you want one of the world's leading human rights attorneys who's married to your ex-lover representing you in court. Right.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's eldest son "Rushes Home to Save Mom Angie!" claims the 'Enquirer.'

But did Maddox fly from South Korea to America to comfort his "emotional wreck" mom? Or could it be that he returned to America simply because his university classes in South Korea were cancelled because of the pandemic?

"Weeks after death, Kenny Rogers' Body Still On Ice!" screams the cover of the 'Globe.' "Why widow won't bury country king."

The answer is simple and practical: She's reportedly waiting until coronavirus lockdowns are lifted so that Rogers can have a big funeral for family, friends and fans. Hardly scandalous.

How desperate must 'Us' magazine be to put Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes on its cover?

"How Ryan & Eva Make It Work. Secrets of Their Amazing Love Story."

I'm delighted for the happy couple, but I can only imagine this feature has sat in the Editor's bottom drawer for months before it was reluctantly dragged out and slapped on the cover as celebrities hide at home and there's nothing else to report on.

Prince Harry gets the "California Dreamin'" treatment in 'Us' mag, which reports: "Harry Risks It All! Hollywood or Bust!"

Allegedly "Harry sets his sights on fame and fortune." The Prince is reportedly "determined to make it in Hollywood" says an unnamed insider. "He'll focus on producing documentaries about charities."

Because we all know how charity documentaries are a sure-fire path to fame and fortune, right? But that's not the end of his unroyal ambitions. Harry also "wants some screen time too," claims the insider. "We'll see him on camera." But not as a movie star, it seems. "Mostly as a spokesman. He's not trying to be the next Brad Pitt or anything." Phew. That must be a relief to Brad.

'People' magazine devotes its cover to "Murder & Mystery: The Untold Story of Tiger King."

Actually, the true story has pretty much been fully told on screen and in the dozens of articles written in the weeks since the series first aired. 'People' is just jumping on the bandwagon two weeks after everyone else jumped off.

Thankfully we have the crack investigative team at 'Us' mag to tell us that Lucy Hale wore it best, that Sean Hayes eats a whole can of warm peas "every couple of years, when no one is around," that Hollywood stars are "Trailblazers!" for taking a hike  though Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon, Zac Efron and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are all pictured out and about before hiking trails were officially closed due to the pandemic, and that the stars are just like us: they take out the trash, spring clean their garage, and get take-out food  because there's little else that stay-at-home celebrities can do these days.

And for the second week running, 'Us' magazine is without its long-running full-page feature peering into the heavily curated handbag of a celebrity. Perhaps the mag realized they were just running a surreptitious ad for chewing gum, lip gloss and healing crystals each week?

Onwards and downwards . . .
Mullingar Regional Hospital has lifted the restriction on partners attending the delivery of their child.

The measure was introduced last week in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  President Rodrigo Duterte has discussed the possibility of selling the properties of the government if funds to combat the coronavirus disease are not enough.

What is the end game? Pag maubos talaga ang pera, ipagbili ko lahat ng [properties] ng gobyerno. Iyang Cultural Center [of the Philippines], PICC, yung lupa diyan, Duterte said in a briefing aired in the wee hours of Thursday.

[Translation: If our funds run out, I will sell the properties of the government. That Cultural Center, PICC, the land there.]

Pag wala na akong makuha (If I cannot get a fund source) and we are about to sink and really sink, I will sell all the assets of the government and itulong ko lahat sa tao (to provide for the people), he added.

But for now, while the Philippines is being financially hit by the health crisis, Duterte said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III assured him the country economy "could stay afloat."

The president asked Congress for special powers in March. He said he needed the authority to reallocate funds in the 2020 national budget so that government can respond accordingly to the public health emergency.

The government plans to spend up to 600 billion for its COVID-19 response, but more than half of the amount will come from new loans, the Department of Finance said Tuesday.

So far, the government has disclosed about 290 billion in programs and projects lined up to soften the impact of the COVID-19 devastation on the economy.

TIMELINE: The COVID-19 response money trail

Duterte had earlier approved the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases to restrict the movement of people, ordering most except for those rendering vital services to stay at home.

The lockdown is intended to stem the spread of COVID-19. It was originally scheduled to last until April 12, but was exendeduntil 11:59 p.m. of April 30.
Occidental Petroleum is opposing a Texas-wide mandated production cut, but it is asking the U.S. Administration for federal financial assistance for the U.S. oil industry which cant make any money at $30 oil, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, quoting a letter to Congress that it had seen.

Oxy is looking for the U.S. government to provide liquidity to the energy industry through this period of unprecedented demand destruction and unsustainable pricing until normal economic conditions return, according to the letter linked in an April 7 email and seen by Bloomberg News.

In the letter, Occidental also called on U.S. lawmakers to talk with OPECs de facto leader and the worlds top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, to end its feud with Russia, to seek fair access of U.S. oil on the Asian markets, and to back oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), Bloomberg reports.

While Oxy is seeking government help for the U.S. energy industry, it is opposing ideas that the Texas Railroad Commission impose production restrictions in Texas.

It is Occidentals position that the surge in the supply of oil coupled with the decline in oil demand will resolve itself without state regulatory interference, Bloomberg quoted Oxy as saying in a note to the Texas oil regulator. Production cuts in Texas would mess up contractual obligations and therefore, they would be extremely short-sighted, according to Occidental.

ExxonMobil also opposes production cuts in Texas, the U.S. supermajor said in a letter on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters.

The free market is the most efficient means of sorting out the extreme supply and demand imbalances we are now experiencing, Staale Gjervik, president of Exxons shale division, said in the letter to Texas regulators.

U.S. President Trump said this week he believes American oil production cuts would happen automatically thanks to the nature of the free market.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton said on Wednesday that the U.S. would cut at least 4 million bpd in the next three months organically. Sitton said earlier that he was not going to take part in the OPEC+ call today, but if I were I'd say at least 20mbpd in cuts are needed & the US will cut at least 4mbpd in next 3 mos organically. If nothing is done inventories fill up in 2mos, at which point the world will need to cut as much as 30mbpd.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
NEW YORK - First, it was the media that was at fault. Then, Democratic governors came under fire. China, President Barack Obama and federal watchdogs have all had a turn in the crosshairs. And now its the World Health Organization thats to blame.

President Donald Trump is falling back on a familiar political strategy as he grapples with the coronavirus pandemic: deflect, deny and direct blame elsewhere.

As he tries to distance his White House from the mounting death toll, Trump has cycled through a long list of possible scapegoats in an attempt to distract from what critics say were his own administrations missteps in slowing the spread of the coronavirus on American shores.

The strategy relies on validation from supportive media personalities and Republicans, evoking White House tactics during other challenging times for Trumps presidency. The effort is taking on more urgency during a once-in-a-century health crisis playing out just seven months before voters go to the polls.

The list of those Trump has blamed is lengthy, and shifting:

Democratic governors for alleged mismanagement at the front lines of the crisis. The media, first for hyping the threat of the virus and then for not giving the administration credit for its response. Federal inspectors general, believed to be conspiring to make the White House look bad. The Obama administration, for not adequately preparing. China, initially absolved of responsibility, then accused of covering up worrisome health data. And now the WHO, from which Trump has threatened to withhold funding.

Trump himself owns up to no mistakes.

Last month, as the nation began to lock down, Trump declared I dont take responsibility at all for a lack of testing. And when asked this week if he would have responded to the crisis differently had he seen a January memo from a senior adviser warning about the potential severity of the virus outbreak in the U.S., the Republican president was blunt.

I couldnt have done it any better, he said.

In the face of extraordinary electoral headwinds, finding fault elsewhere has become the directive for the presidents allies, according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Trumps attacks on foils from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to Chinese health officials have been amplified by Cabinet members, his campaign apparatus and congressional Republicans.

With one eye firmly on his November reelection prospects, Trump at times has bristled against tough public health recommendations and has urged a rapid restart to the nations economy. He has tried to drown out Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and has attempted to blame the former vice-president for bureaucratic failures.

Trump has transformed the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing into a substitute for his cancelled rallies, treating the James S. Brady briefing room like a stage in Ohio, Florida or Wisconsin. He has sparred with reporters, mangled facts and, at times, distanced himself from the advice of his own public health team.

There is no The buck stops here, like the sign once found on President Harry S. Trumans desk.

George H.W. Bush used to say that no one wants to hear the president of the United States say, Oh, woe is me. And yet Trump is betting on the reverse, presidential historian Jon Meacham said. Since ancient times, leadership has been about wearing a mask of command. Trump is the opposite  a bundle of insecurities, neediness and wants.

Trump allies point to the presidents actions  such as suspending direct flights with China and, later, Europe  as measures that kept the nation safe and said that his brashness and sense of urgency have improved the response by both the government and the private sector.

A big part of the reason why President Trump was elected was to be that bull in the china shop, to take those brash, declarative actions, said Jason Miller, Trumps 2016 campaign communications director. He was elected because we are a right now society, and he will be rewarded by voters for doing whatever it takes to keep people safe.

But from the pandemics first days, Trump has tried to create some daylight between the White House and the front lines of the pandemic. His administration put the onus on states to battle the crisis, declaring that the federal government  and the national stockpile of emergency medical supplies  was simply a backstop to the states efforts.

Trump was initially reluctant to invoke the Defence Production Act, which shifts more power to Washington to push the private sector to manufacture critically needed supplies.

Trump initially was loath to criticize China, a valued trading partner, but shifted gears with an eye toward firing up his nationalist supporters, using the inflammatory term the Chinese virus to describe the novel coronavirus while accusing Beijing of not being transparent with its health data. This week, he took aim at a new target, the World Health Organization, accusing it of missing the call on the virus.

And, as he often does, Trump has levelled many of his broadsides at the media, attacking news organizations and individual reporters alike in an effort to boost his base supporters and cast doubt on the integrity of the reporting as bad headlines pile up.

Trump has used this playbook before.

Trump most notably dug in after he was accused of pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political foe, a matter that led to his impeachment. Throughout the impeachment drama, Trump insisted his July 2019 conversation with Ukraines president that was at the heart of the matter was perfect.

___

Follow Lemire on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@JonLemire.
The area in Katghora town of



Chhattisgarhs Korba district, from where seven new COVID-19 cases were detected on Thursday, is being completely sealed and mass testing of its residents will be carried out, officials here said.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has given instructions to the Principal Secretary (Health( and Korba collector to seal the affected area of Katghora and get everyone tested there for coronavirus, an official here said.

Seven people, including a woman, tested positive for COVID-19 in the Purani Basti area of Katghora on Thursday. On Wednesday, a 52-year-old man from the same locality had also tested positive.

All these eight people had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in the area after arriving from Maharashtra last month, he said.

Earlier on April 4, a 16-year-old boy, who was among these Jamaat members, had tested positive for COVID-19.

The chief minister has ordered constitution of a special team and setting up a 'war room' to contain the spread of the infection and handle the situation in the area, the official said.

Officials have been directed to identify and place in quarantine all those who have arrived in the affected area or moved out of there during the last 20 days, he said.

All the doctors, health workers and government employees working in the area during this period will be examined for COVID-19, the official said.

The Katghora town is located around 200 km from the state capital Raipur.

All the eight people who tested positive in the area in the last 24 hours have been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Raipur.

With this, a total of 10 COVID-19 cases have been detected in Korba district so far, while the number of confirmed cases in the state has reached 18.

However, nine of the patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease, he said.

According to the Korba police, one of the 16 members of the Jamaat, who arrived in Katghora from Maharashtra, had attended the congregation in Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month that emerged as a key source of the coronavirus spread.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ancient humans started venturing out of Africa 60,000 years ago, and that was when a forest of cypress trees grew on the banks of a river near the Gulf of Mexico. As the trees grew old, they slowly fell and were buried under sediment. When the sea level rose, the remains of the forest were covered again.

Ancient underwater forest

Scientists have uncovered the said forest and they believe that it may hold the secrets to making new medicines and saving lives. For millennia, the ancient forest remained hidden, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf Coast, sweeping up the seabed and sediment that kept the forest entombed.

Since the hurricane, the site has been visited by a few scientists and filmmakers. The site now lies 60 feet underwater off Alabama's coast in Mobile Bay. However, it was not until December of 2019 that a team of scientists from Northeastern University and the University of Utah set out on an expedition that was funded by NOAA to dive into the waters and bring back pieces of wood to study.

A professor of marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University, Brian Helmuth, was one of the scientists who dived in. Helmuth told CNN ,"It was a really nice day. Pretty calm on the surface and we were expecting it be equally nice on the bottom. But we got to the bottom and it was like diving in chocolate milk. We literally could not see our hands in front of our faces."

Also Read: Scientists Say New Hominid Fossils In Kenya Are Unique Find

Helmuth recalled that the conditions were less than ideal and the fact that previous dive teams saw a lot of sharks in the area made the whole expedition risky, but when the scientists reached the hidden forest, they were in awe. Helmuth said that what they saw amazed them. They dove around the edge of the ancient river bed.

Helmuth said that on their left was the remains of massive stumps and pristine wood coming out of the bank embankment. The visibility during the expedition was not great, but being at the edge of a cypress forest was gave the divers an eerie feeling of stepping back in time.

Despite the forest being 60,000 years old, it was very well-preserved because ot had been buried under layers of sediment that prevented oxygen from decomposing it.

Shipworms

There were 300 animals that were removed from the wood in the cypress forest, but the scientists were particularly focused on one. Shipworms are a type of clam that converts wood into animal tissue, according to NOAA. Shipworms are not new to the world of science because they are common and they can be found in most oceans wherever there is wood. However, the bacteria found from the shipworms that hand been living inside the wood that is 60,000 years old had never been discovered and studied before.

A research professor of medicinal chemistry at University of Utah stated that they were able to isolate bacteria from the shipworms and get some bacteria that they have not worked with before. Scientists are excited about the possibility of discovering something new.

The shipworms that were from the ancient wood have 100 strains of bacteria, a lot of them novel, and 12 are undergoing DNA sequencing to evaluate their potential to make new drug treatments.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has put any future dives and projects to the forest on hold. Haygood stated that she and the team of scientists will continue to study the samples and will publish the results as soon as they are finished.



Related Article: 800,000-Year-Old Human Fossil Clarifies Human Family Tree

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
WASHINGTON  The federal government sent hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves and face shields to New York from the Strategic National Stockpile, but most of the shipments were based on outdated population data rather than the extent of a state's outbreak, new information from the House Oversight Committee shows.

The federal shipments to states from the stockpile have ended, according to the statements made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Committee earlier this week.

The news comes as New York hospitals are burning through thousands of pieces of precious personal protective equipment per day, and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state is nearing 160,000, with nearly 400 positive cases in Albany County.

"We are stretching and moving, but every hospital has what they need to date," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday.

To keep up with the skyrocketing demand, New York is buying as much PPE as it can and receiving donations from companies including Apple and Estee Lauder. The state has also received shipments of ventilators from China and the states of Oregon, California and Washington. Cuomo has also issued an executive order allowing the state Health Department to move ventilators from upstate to downstate hospitals if needed.

"We know that no one had the number of ventilators that were going to be required here," Cuomo said. "We have been scrambling with ventilators."

From the stockpile, New York received 493,733 N-95 respirators, 1.2 million surgical masks, 859,486 gloves, 231,534 face shields, 189,264 surgical gowns, 4,233 coveralls and 2,400 ventilators, based on Oversight Committee data published Wednesday.

In addition, New York City received separate stockpile shipments of 603,189 N-95 respirators, 661,713 surgical masks, 575,643 gloves, 133,761 face shields, 109,547 surgical gowns, 3,826 coveralls, and 2,000 ventilators.

The shipments were sent between March 19 and April 1, the federal data shows.

While Cuomo has thanked the federal government for the shipments, he has also said they've fallen short. When the feds sent a shipment of 2,000 ventilators to New York City in March, Cuomo said the state needed 30,000.

"That's what the data and the science said," Cuomo said, explaining the 30,000 number that no longer appears necessary. He said scientists have told him the state may need 140,000 hospital beds and as many as 40,000 ventilators at the apex of the outbreak.

President Donald Trump, during a White House briefing this week, said "we were right" when his task force had predicted New York and other states may not need as many ventilators as they had requested.

The federal shipments from the national stockpile were not based on states requests, HHS staff told the Oversight Committee on Tuesday.

Instead, the first two shipments to states were allocated pro rata based on 2010 population data. New Yorks population increased by 0.4 percent from 2010 to 2019, based on U.S. Census data.

In the last shipment, called the final push, states received either one allocation of thousands of PPE items or an allocation twice that. For example, some states received 60,450 N-95 respirators and some got 120,900.

New York  the state with the worst outbreak in the nation  received two of the final push shipments, one for the state at large and one for New York City, or about one respirator for every 100 residents.

Neighboring Vermont, which has only 628 confirmed cases, received 120,900 respirators  about 19 per 100 residents.

No more stockpile shipments

HHS staff stated that the Trump Administration has made its final shipments of personal protective equipment to states from the stockpile, accounting for 90 percent of the stockpiles inventory of N95 respirators, surgical and face masks, face shields, gowns and gloves. The remaining 10 percent of PPE in the stockpile is reserved for federal workers and will not be distributed to states, HHS said this week.

Procuring PPE, ventilators and other supplies has been the largest source of conflict between governors and the White House as the epidemic has unfolded. States have been competing against one another and the federal government to buy medical supplies on the private market, while decrying the fact that they are not receiving enough supplies from the national stockpile and demanding more support for their states.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Trump has said the national stockpile is not empty, but many goods were being moved directly from manufacturer to hospital or state, skipping a stop at the stockpile.

Were trying to have supply sent directly to the states, Trump said. We dont want medical supplies coming in to warehouses all over the place and then we take them from there and bring them to another warehouse. So, were having them brought ideally from the manufacturer ... to the hospital or the state where its going.

The administration has tried to rebrand the national stockpile as an emergency surplus for the federal government  not states which also have their own local stockpiles. The stockpile, paid for with taxpayer dollars, is only a supplement to states, administration officials have said.

The notion of the federal stockpile was its supposed to be our stockpile, Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and part of the administrations coronavirus logistics' team, said on April 2.

Its not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use, he said.

The HHS website, which previously said the stockpile was for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out, was subsequently updated to say stockpile supplies would go to states that need them most in emergencies.

Additionally, Trump has said states have been requesting equipment they dont need or forgetting about supplies they are already have.

But most states are reporting to the Federal Emergency Management Agency every day their case data, testing, supply levels and bed space, so the administration can respond to the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Kushner has recounted hopping on the phone with the CEO of the New York City public hospital system, asking about their needs and deploying thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment bought by the federal government the next day. Cuomo last month said that Kushner had been "extraordinarily helpful" to New York.

The Trump administration has used the Defense Production Act on several occasions to spur production of ventilators and other personal protective equipment. It has also launched Project Airbridge to fly in millions of supplies from other countries.

Administration staff told the House Oversight Committee the federal government is not taking control of the supplies flown into the U.S. in Project Airbridge or directing private sector suppliers to send supplies to particular hospitals with urgent needs.

Suppliers are required only to agree to sell half of their shipments to customers in hotspots such as New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, Detroit, and Chicago, the Committee said. Suppliers are not required to reimburse the federal government for the cost of air shipment.

An earlier version of this story misstated the ratio of N-95 respirators received by New York in the "final push" shipment to New York residents and Vermont respirators to Vermont residents. This error has been corrected.
A Germination Seed for Broadband in Maine

The North Carolina Broadband Playbook

Government TechnologyIn January and February, reports from overseas began to suggest that the United States should prepare for the onset of the novel coronavirus. Almost simultaneously, Pew Charitable Trusts released a report noting that state government work to boost broadband accessibility and availability had, in recent years, gained momentum.It was, of course, difficult at the time to draw a link between the two, but that has since changed.See, the report was the result of 18 months of research on all 50 states, specifically honing in on 10 state case studies. Obviously, no one involved with the report knew that coming just weeks after its release would be the most tangible lesson the world has ever had on the importance of broadband. Yet, the pandemic confined millions to their homes soon after, inspiring scores of stakeholders to take a new interest in whats being done to bridge digital divides, to make sure all students have access at home to Internet and computers; to make sure seniors know how to benefit from telehealth; and to ensure all residential areas have optimal broadband connections.All of this is a means of pointing out that as digital equity work becomes a new priority for decision-makers in both the public and private sectors, several state governments have already put quite a bit of work into bridging the digital divide, primarily by working to foster better broadband access.Kathryn de Wit, manager of Pew Charitable Trusts Broadband Research Initiative, was heavily involved with the report, and during a recent conversation with, she pointed to an overarching lesson it made clear.What researchers have found is that theres no magic bullet  no incentive, regulation, law or partnership  that by itself can fix the digital divide. There are, of course, actions that can be taken at all levels of government to support the work. That said, a vital lesson made clear by the 10 case studies is that the most effective approach is more like magic buckshot than a magic bullet, meaning that it takes several different actions working in service of the same goal.With that in mind, there are two states that rank as perhaps the best example of what government can accomplish, and they are Maine and North Carolina.First and perhaps foremost, Maine and North Carolina are both part of an increasing number of states that have created dedicated offices and full-time staff positions to work on broadband availability and accessibility, as well as other issues of digital inclusion.And while their work tends to deviate in its execution from there, the general approach that each takes is familiar  the goal is to find solutions to the broadband challenge that are specific for each individual community in the state.Indeed, in separate conversations with state broadband officials in both states, each used the old saying, If youve seen one county, youve seen one county, meaning that what works in one part of the state will almost certainly not work in the exact same way in another.Maine, as the first example, has had a program called ConnectME that was founded in 2006, powered primarily by a small fee related to landlines and some broadband connections. The initiative has a budget of roughly $1 million, an oversight board, and a small staff, lead by ConnectME Executive Director Peggy Schafer.One of the most impactful approaches that ConnectME takes involves fostering community engagement among local stakeholders. Essentially, that means getting trusted and influential members of local communities to understand how broadband availability and accessibility can improve their lives. Planting this germination seed, as Schafer described it, is often an easy first step.When you have no Internet or you have really bad Internet, Schafer said, its not really that hard to get the community engaged with how to improve it.One lesson that Schafer and others have learned in Maine is that this buy-in is not entirely about business or economics, and that it also requires getting communities to understand how Internet can help seniors see their doctors, encourage young adults to stay in their communities, and help children do their homework  all of which are lessons made more acute by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Thats all well and good, but where Schafer often sees the biggest challenge is when theres a financial need. A community will reach a consensus that broadband is vital, and often theyll create specific plans for how to build out infrastructure, perhaps centered around a public-private partnership specific to their region. They still need the money to make it reality, either via government grants or the investment of a would-be private partner.Schafer was heartened to see money allocated to broadband support efforts in some of the recent federal government stimulus efforts, although she said shes hopeful it will be a start to more investments, which make all the difference.When you pull pots of money together, you can get significant projects done, she said.And shes certainly heard from more people at all levels of governments wanting to get digital inclusion projects done, adding that this emergency stripped the cover off of this issue.North Carolina has taken a similar granular approach to the issue of state broadband as Maine, doing so through its Broadband Infrastructure Office. Jeff Sural is the director of that initiative, a role he has occupied since early 2015.In the government broadband and digital inclusion space, many experts and advocates point to North Carolina as a state government success story, noting that it takes a largely singular approach to the work by having a team of people on the ground throughout the state. Sural describes this group  officially named the Technical Assistance Team  as the states geek squad. Really, the group sounds like a broadband mission impossible squad, with each member having a different expertise, ranging from Wi-Fi technicalities to economic development concerns.Over the years, the team has repeatedly found that every county is unique. Even so, theyve identified a pattern of shared challenges and concerns, which has led to the creation of Broadband Community Playbook, the first suggestion of which is for the area to form its own Broadband Community Planning Taskforce, made up of local folks from all different areas of communities  school districts, private industry, economic development and more.The driving idea is that the communities will do the work of creating a means of broadband availability that works for them, with the state team serving as something like technical advisers. To this end, their playbook also offers up checklists, RFPs and example ordinances related to placing wireless equipment on public assets like water towers.There are other instructional playbooks out there, Sural said, but this one we tried to load up with tools and checklists and things like that to make it more tangible so these folks can do the work themselves.Surals office is also engaged with building tests and surveys aimed at giving the state a comprehensive and uniform dataset related to broadband, something that has long proven elusive throughout the United States, with frequent criticisms over the FCCs broadband mapping.The end result of all the work is that there are rural areas of North Carolina where 90 percent of households are connected to high-speed fiber Internet, which is a rate higher than that of many major cities. Sural attributed this to the years of work the state has invested, the skillsets of the members on his team, the patience of small Internet service providers to wait for return on investment, and the willingness of local entities like electric co-ops to help with infrastructure.While his counterparts are fielding waves of calls from parties surprised at the extent of the digital divide, Sural said that in his state the importance of the work has long been recognized. Theres just a renewed push to nationwide to get the work done.Ive been hearing from my colleagues around the country, Sural said, and right now everyone is just working overtime to try and come up with ways to solve this.Government TechnologyGoverning
An Accra Circuit Court has remanded a 34-year-old James Chukwuka who failed to comply with the Restriction Order and allegedly took the blood samples of pregnant women and some residents at Gbese in James Town to test for their sugar level.



Chukwuka had his plea reserved as the prosecution said they would need about a week to augment and amend their facts.



He is currently being held for failing to comply with the Lockdown Restriction Order.



Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang said when Chukwuka was arrested, he had on him medical equipment hence the need to amend the facts and charges.



The Court, presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah, remanded the accused person to reappear on April 15.



It directed the prosecution to file their disclosures by the next adjourned date.



Soon after Chukwuka was remanded he broke down in tears, pleading with the court to forgive him and said it was not intentional that he came out that day.



The facts, as presented, are that the accused person resided at Accra Newtown, and on April 4, this year, at about 0900 hours, the Police had information that he was taking blood samples, checking Blood Pressure and sugar level of residents including pregnant women at the Gbese Community, near James Town in Accra.



Chief Inspector Tenkorang said the Police proceeded to Gbese and arrested the accused person who had in his possession a glucometer, thermometer, test strips, and gloves.



During interrogation, the accused informed the Police that he was a distributor of food supplements and admitted he went to Gbese to take blood samples of his clients.



The prosecution said during investigations it came to light that Chukwuka did not fall within the exemption group with regards to the Imposition of Restrictions on all persons in Accra, Tema, Kasoa, and Kumasi.



The prosecution said a pregnant woman who lives in Gbese confirmed to the Police that her blood sample was taken by the accused person.



Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the President, by Executive Instrument 65 and in accordance with the provisions of the Imposition Restrictions Act 2020 (Act 1012) imposed two-week restrictions on movements in some specified areas including Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 169 and the number of cases climbed to 5,865 in the country on Thursday, registering an increase of 591 cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,218, as many as 477 people have been cured and discharged and one has migrated, the ministry said.

Of the 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, eight were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, two from Jammu and Kashmir and one each from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 72, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with each recording 16 deaths and Delhi at nine. Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported eight fatalities each while Telangana has recorded seven deaths.

West Bengal and Karnataka have registered five deaths each. Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have reported four deaths each, while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.

Two deaths have been reported from Kerala, while Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have recorded one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

The total number of cases (5,865) includes 71 foreign nationals.

The death toll in the country due to COVID-19 was 149 on Wednesday.

However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as on Thursday evening showed at least 196 deaths due to the deadly virus.

There is a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, as compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to the procedural delay in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 1,135, followed by Tamil Nadu at 738 and Delhi with 669 cases.

The number of cases has risen to 442 in Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases and Rajasthan 383. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 cases, while Kerala has 345 COVID-19 patients.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 181 in Karnataka, 179 in Gujarat and 169 in Haryana.

Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal 103 and Punjab has 101 COVID-19 patients.

Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases, 39 people have been infected with the virus in Bihar, while Uttarakhand has 35 COVID-19 patients and Assam 28.

Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each, while Ladakh has 14 and Jharkhand 13.

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Chhattisgarh has registered 10 cases.

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 cases, Puducherry five, Manipur two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the ministry said on its website.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As our country makes its way through the coronavirus pandemic, history is happening fast. Generations from now, these days will make up whole chapters in the story of America. In this ongoing series, titled An Uncertain Distance, USA TODAY NETWORK photographers document the faces, the families, the playing fields, the farms, the factories  most of them in surreal states of being.

We found kindness, grief, boredom, puzzlement. We saw togetherness, aloneness, helpfulness, alienation. We captured scenes reflecting a common yet alien experience, where everything we see takes on a different shape, a new color, a newfound dimension. One overarching question looms: What will our new normal look like?

An insidious outbreak

The novel coronavirus, unknown to Americans earlier this year, has thrown every aspect of our society into turmoil. The strains on all corners of the economy have evoked comparisons to the Great Depression, as five years of employment growth and stock market gains were wiped away in days. Nearly every student in the country is out of school. Parks, roads and beaches are empty  often by order of local or state authorities. Most of what people so recently took for granted now hangs in question.

Americans in communities across the country have found new ways to keep in touch and keep their distance at the same time. In Texas, Austin High School seniors Brooke Peterman, 17, Maddy McCutchin, 18, Lucia Saenz, 17, Reese Simek, 18, and Lily Tickle, 18, visit in the school parking lot on April 5.

Across the USA, families suddenly found themselves in an emergency they probably could not have imagined. In Wayne County, Mich., one family isolated themselves for at least two weeks after their son tested positive for the coronavirus upon his return from a college trip to Spain. Spain rapidly became one of Europe's epicenters of the pandemic.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic brought out some of Americans' deepest fears, it also summoned their better angels. In Evansville, Ind., Lashawn Miles offers squirts of hand sanitizer to people who gathered for Salvation Army lunch program March 18.





The coronavirus' rapid spread sent many Americans rushing to stores to stock up on food supplies, often leaving store shelves stripped. At a Costco in Auburn Hills, Mich., shoppers were out in force March 11.

In extraordinary times, daily routines still go on. Sammy Irizarry, mindful of the diabetes and high blood pressure that make him especially vulnerable to COVID-19, washes his clothes at Tri-City Laundromat in Passaic, N.J.

Health care workers have been on the front line of the pandemic as soon as it started to spread in the USA. Vanderbilt Medical Center nurse practitioners Shannon Ellrich and Kathleen Donais went to work at a COVID-19 testing site at a hospital parking deck in south Nashville on March 29.





As the virus spread, schools closed their doors and students scrambled to change their plans. Florida A&M University freshmen twin sisters Jaelen and Jazlen Patrick, 18, pack up their belongings in their dorm in Tallahassee, Fla., after they were informed the remainder of the spring semester would be conducted online.

Americans responded as health care officials recommended a variety of practices to help slow the spread of the virus. Students at the IDEA Rundberg charter school in Austin, Texas, wash their hands on April 1.

Government officials and the news media did their part to help slow the virus' spread while keeping the public informed. News reporters practice social distancing for a daily briefing March 25 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.





Reaction time

Sheltering in place is a concept few Americans ever have had to consider. Now its the daily existence for most people  with no clear end in sight. It has meant closures, postponements, displacements and cancellations of the events Americans have cherished most. The more than 300 million inhabitants of our country have had to think hard about how every little act could affect themselves, their families and their communities.





Families faced agonizing restrictions when visiting loved ones, particularly at nursing homes, where residents were especially vulnerable to the virus. Johanna Mannone, 79, of Rochester Hills, Mich., visits her husband, Michael Mannone, in the front room of WellBridge of Rochester Hills on March 13. She was able to see him for only half an hour because of the strict limits on visits, and she didn't know when she'd get to see him again.

The outbreak also put cherished traditions on hold. Maya Belen, 12, has started a new countdown for her Bat Mitzvah, a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, at her home in Birmingham, Mich. on March 14. The ceremony has been postponed until June.

Working from home has become a way of life amid the pandemic. Judy Herbst, director of marketing for Worthy.com, an online auction house, works remotely in Larchmont, N.Y., along with her husband, Robert, who also works from home (and often interrupts her while she's on a conference call).

Widespread school closings have left many children and families in need. David L. Mackenzie Elementary-Middle school food services employees Cora Johnson and Roderick Bailey, help prepare breakfasts and lunches March 18 in Detroit, where the public schools system has set up a Grab and Go curbside pickup program.





Lockdowns across the country have hit small businesses hard. Former employees at Redfire Grill in Hockessin, Del., came in on their own to help owner Carl Georigi shut down and sort through perishable food for his workers to take home on March 17. Georigi had to lay off nearly 400 employees across his six restaurants.





The faithful usually gather to worship, but faith starts at home, too. Noha Eyada and her children, Yahia, 19, and Yusuf, 8, observe the call to prayer from the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester, Ohio, on March 20.





As unnecessary travel shut down around the country, airports such as Indianapolis International Airport were left eerily empty.

Daily life upended

Americans have begun to adjust to a new normal. Virtual happy hours have replaced gatherings of more than a few people in the same place. Visits with loved ones have become strained as families waved to grandparents through windows. Even as communities have tried to rally together by staying apart, the number of coronavirus cases has increased and the death toll has steadily risen.

Story continues





Even the way we say hello has changed. Personal trainer Odie Tolbert, right, elbow-bumps Annika Adams after a workout at Shabazz Fitness in Cordova, Tenn., on March 18.





Communities made the best of lockdowns as Americans pulled together to fight the spread of the virus. In Eugene, Ore., Mary Lou Vignola, center, waves to her neighbors during a socially distant block party she and her husband, Frank, helped organize March 21.





For people whose loved ones are on the front lines of the pandemic, getting close has never been so complicated, or so heartbreaking. Cheryl Norton wanted to hug her daughter, an ICU nurse, so much that she draped her with a covering to steal a brief, tight embrace April 3 in Cincinnati.









Assisted-living facilities have been the scene of painful separations because of residents' vulnerability to the virus. Marie DeBoer, 92, blows a kiss goodbye to her family March 23 at Edgewood Assisted Living in Sioux Falls, S.D.





Tyler Boudreau and Sara Cardinal didn't let the outbreak stop their wedding plans. The couple were married at St. Anna Parish in Leominster, Mass., on March 27 with just their immediate family present instead of the 190 guests they had planned.

The swiftness of the virus' spread forced cities and hospitals to scramble to prepare for an expected crush of patients. A worker looks over plans April 1 at the TCF Center in Detroit, where 1,000 beds were being assembled.





When cellist Irina Tikhonova saw her local symphony orchestra performances canceled, she began giving 30-minute performances from her front porch in Royal Oak, Mich. She's with her husband, Fred Trimble, and their 4-year-old granddaughter, Mia.









This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Photos capture how people are coping across America
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ended his campaign for president in the Democratic Party primaries on Wednesday and called on his supporters to back former Vice President Joe Biden.

Today I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward, Sanders said in a fifteen-minute video posted on Twitter. When Biden is selected as the nominee at the Democratic Party convention, Sanders added, then together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat Donald Trump.

In explaining his decision to drop out, Sanders said that he saw no path to victory in the primaries. Sanders motivation, however, is not that his campaign is hopeless in an electoral sense. Rather, he is responding to the explosive social and political situation in the United States.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden during Democratic primary debate in South Carolina (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Sanders is dropping out and calling for unity behind Biden under conditions in which the political crisis of the Democratic Party and the entire political system has reached a breaking point.

The coronavirus pandemic is exposing the irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the working class and the ruling class. As the death toll mounts, hospitals are overwhelmed, and tens of millions have been thrown out of work, the ruling class is using the crisis situation to implement a massive handout to the corporate and financial elite, unanimously backed by Democrats and Republicans. Moreover, there are growing calls from the political establishment and the media for a rapid return to work, which will encounter mass opposition.

Already, the ruling classs demand for a rapid return has promoted a nationwide strike wave, including health care workers and construction workers, as well as employees of Whole Foods, Amazon and Instacart.

Sanders decision to drop out under these conditions is in keeping with what has always been the central purpose of his campaign: to make sure that social and political anger does not escape the confines of the Democratic Party.

Significantly, Sanders announcement came on the same day that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, one of the strongest media voices for a quick return to work, called for a Biden nomination and the selection of a totally different kind of cabinet  a national unity cabinet  from Democrats on the Bernie Sanders left to Republicans on the Mitt Romney right. Such a government would be aimed at uniting dominant factions of the political establishment as a bulwark against mounting social opposition by the working class.

There are also reports that Sanders spoke on several occasions with former President Barack Obama over the past week. With Sanders officially out, Obama will be able to more directly intervene in the elections in an attempt to bolster the flagging and semi-senile Biden.

At the same time, Sanders must know that there exist enormous doubts within the ruling class about the viability of a Biden campaign. One consequence of Sanders dropping out now is that it clears the way for the Democratic Party to turn toward another right-wing candidate, perhaps New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been extensively promoted in the media.

Already over the past several weeks and months, Sanders has reacted to the deepening crisis of the state apparatus by shifting to the right. As the Democratic Party moved aggressively to block a Sanders nomination in February and March, Sanders issued a number of statements declaring his readiness to wage war against Iran, North Korea, Russia and China.

His last political act as a candidate was to vote for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provides hundreds of billions to corporations and backs the Federal Reserves multi-trillion-dollar programs to buy up assets from banks and businesses.

In his proposals for further congressional action in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Sanders has dropped any reference to increasing taxes on the wealthy. He has proposed further multi-billion-dollar bailouts to corporations, without challenging in any way their private ownership on the basis of profit.

Nothing that Sanders has done is in the least surprising. His entire tenure as a bourgeois politician made clear the role he would play. Moreover, his campaign is part of an international phenomenon. Whether it is Jeremy Corbyn in Britain, Syriza in Greece, the Left Party in Germany or the Workers Party in Brazilall have performed the same function.

The real treachery has come from organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America, Socialist Alternative and others that have worked to present an opportunist bourgeois politician as some sort of vehicle for achieving socialism.

In a thoroughly demoralized event last night hosted by Jacobin, Bashkar Sunkara, the magazines editor, and other leading members of the DSA denounced not Sanders but the sectarian left, by which they mean the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the World Socialist Web Site. For these layers, sectarian is a term to describe anyone with principles, that is, those who do not prostrate themselves before the Democratic Party.

Sunkara declared that Sanders withdrawal meant that our campaign for not even full socialism but half social democracy kind of petered out as of today. What has petered outin fact, what has been thoroughly exposedis the DSAs brand of pseudo-socialism that claims that anything can be achieved within the framework of the Democratic Party.

In opposition to these organizations of the upper-middle class, the WSWS and the SEP anticipated the trajectory of the Sanders campaign. In February 2016, early in his first presidential run, the WSWS explained that Sanders is not the representative of a working class movement. He is rather the temporary beneficiary of a rising tide of popular opposition that is passing through only its initial stages of social and class differentiation.

When he announced his 2020 presidential campaign in February of last year, the WSWS wrote, The fundamental fraud promoted by Sanders, along with individuals such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is that the Democratic Party can be pushed to the left and made a force for progressive change.

Once again, a political analysis based on Marxism and the historical experiences of the Trotskyist movement, and not on pragmatic hopes and maneuvers, has been proven correct.

There are no doubt many sincere workers and youth who will be disgusted by what Sanders has done. They must draw the necessary conclusions.

The only campaign that is seeking to develop a real socialist movement is the campaign of the Socialist Equality Party. The SEP launched its election campaign to fight for genuine socialism, to develop within the working class and among young people a socialist leadership, to fight against war, inequality and authoritarianism in opposition to the Democratic and Republican parties, the parties of the ruling class.

We call on all workers and young people to join this campaign and support this fight.

To support and get involved in the SEP election campaign, visit socialism2020.org.
OPEC has succeeded. On Thursday, the OPEC++ group agreed, in principle, to cut 10 million bpd in oil production, according to media. But will it be enough? Todays oil prices suggest not.

As oil inventories burst at the seams and threaten oil prices the world over, the oil markets have been riveted by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) actions as it relates to potential production cuts. While many analysts doubted that the group, and various other states who agreed to sit down with OPEC to hash out a new market stabilization plan, would cut as much production as would be necessary to draw down inventories, the groups actions have never been more crucial to the survival of the entire oil industry.

So critical, in fact, that the industry is even seeing die-hard free-market cheerleaders rooting for a deal from the oil cartel.

The global oil market first had OPEC, which tasked itself with balancing the market and controlling prices by manipulating supply. When OPECs influence waned as U.S. shale became a bigger and bigger oil-market adversary, OPEC added a few non-OPEC members, including Russia, to form OPEC+. With even more market clout stripped away from the group by the colossal demand destruction thanks to the coronavirus, OPEC has enlisted the help of even more oil-producing countries. This group has been referred to as OPEC++.

The Terms of the Deal

The group was thought by some to be discussing a 10 million bpd cut across its members. Other sources suggested the figure was 15 million bpd. Still other sources, as talks were taking place on Thursday morning, said the group was discussing a 20 million bpd cut.

With global oil demand thought to have taken as much as a 30 million bpd hit, some thought even more barrels would be cut.

In the end, the OPEC++ group agreed to cut just 10 million bpd. While still a massive production cut the likes of which the world has never seen, it is significantly under what the market will likely require in order to balanceand oil prices know it.

Premium: What Will $15 Oil Mean For Producers?

As part of the deal, all the specifics of which have not yet been released, Russia has reportedly agreed to 2 million bpd of cuts. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has agreed to shave 4 million bpd off its record-setting April production levels of 12.3 million bpd - for a cap of 8.3 million bpd.

The rest of the members have not yet worked out who will cut what.

There will be additional G20 discussions about the production cuts on Friday.

The hiccup in the deal had been the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Russia, and whether the United States would succumb to the international pressures mounted against it to join in the cuts. US President Donald Trump, however, has repeatedly said that the market would naturally force US production down, effectively cutting along with OPEC as a matter of course. This issue, too, is expected to come up at Fridays meeting.

Compliance

OPEC + has had a pretty good track record overall when it comes to complying with its production quotas. Prior to the end of the previous production cut deal than expired on April 1, the extended OPEC group reached 112% compliance. Still, many individual OPEC member countries have had a difficult time staying in compliance with production cut quotas throughout the last few years, with some flagged as chronic overproducers. Also, that 112% compliance figure is skewed, with OPEC over complying and the + part of the OPEC+ group under complying. In January this year, OPECs allies in the production cuts achieved only 55% of their targeted cuts. Meanwhile, OPEC achieved 136% of its promised cuts.

The figures suggest that OPEC was more motivated to take action to stabilize the market than its OPEC+ counterparts.

While Saudi Arabia has a great track record for keeping within its quota - or even substantially below it - Russia and Iraq, for example, were chronic overproducers. This has led to much skepticism that the new group, comprised of more than just the traditional members, will be able to stay within the agreed-upon levels.

To ensure compliance, a draft communique sent to G20 member countries - circulated prior to the Thursday OPEC++ meeting - told members that it would create a special group to monitor this compliance. The group would not only monitor the compliance to the Thursday agreements, but it would also report back to the G20 energy ministers for further corrective actions if needed, according to Bloomberg, who saw the draft.

The draft document didnt specifically mention production cuts. Rather, the document indicated that it would monitor whatever steps the Thursday group agreed on that would stabilize the oil markets.

With 10 million bpd in the bag, the market will now look to the G-20 meeting to see how the United States will respond to the agreement that OPEC has hashed. In the meantime, oil prices have responded with a lukewarm reception.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
By PTI

LUCKNOW: BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday demanded strict action against a BJP MP who had allegedly beaten up a Dalit officer, saying such behaviour was "shameful".

Revenue officer Arvind Kumar was allegedly beaten by the BJP's Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak and his supporters on Tuesday.

"Manhandling and misbehavior with a dalit 'tehsildar, who was discharging his duty honestly, by the BJP MP in Kannauj recently is very shameful," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

In a separate tweet she said, "It's saddening that instead of going to jail, this MP is roaming outside due to which dalit employees are agitated. In such circumstances, the chief minister should initiate strict action against this MP so that he does not repeat such an incident in the future."

"BSP demands strict action against the MP so that such behaviour is not meted out to any other Dalit employee in the state," she said.

Kumar had alleged that Pathak was pressurising him to sanction some projects which flouted rules and when he refused, the leader verbally abused him on the phone and later arrived at his residence along with his supporters and beat him up.

Pathak, however, said the official had failed to properly distribute food among the poor and also misbehaved with his supporters.

"I was continuously getting complaints from the poor regarding distribution of food and when I took up the matter with him (Kumar) he reacted indecently," Pathak had said.

The MP had also alleged that the Kumar misbehaved with his supporters and beat them up.

A case has been registered against the MP under the SC/ST Act and other sections of the IPC and a probe is on.
World's biggest oil producers at odds ahead of talks on major cuts FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County

By Jeff Mason, Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - The world's top crude oil producers, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, remained at odds on Wednesday over how to shore up global crude prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis and a price war, as meetings on the topic loomed this week.

The tensions have raised the chances that global oil nations will again fail to reach a lasting agreement to tighten the spigots as a glut in supply threatens to overwhelm storage tanks and tip drilling companies into bankruptcy.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have signalled they could agree to cuts but only if the United States and others outside a group known as OPEC+ chip in. Washington has pushed back, saying U.S. drillers have already reduced output for economic reasons, and that it had no plans to orchestrate further cuts.

"Look, we already cut. If you look at Texas, North Dakota, some of our states that do this very well, they've already cut way back, they've cut back automatically," U.S. President Donald Trump told a news conference on Wednesday.

Trump added that he had "lots of good options" if OPEC+ fails to reach a deal, but did not elaborate. "We have a tremendously powerful energy industry in this country now, No. 1 in the world, and I dont want those jobs being lost."

He has said in the past he could impose import tariffs on oil to help domestic producers. U.S. lawmakers have threatened Saudi Arabia with legislation that would pull economic and military support for the kingdom if it does not stabilize oil prices.

Russia said a natural decline in U.S. oil output due to weak oil prices did not count as a contribution to global production cuts: "These are absolutely different reductions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The idea that the United States could cooperate with OPEC and others to fix global prices was once unthinkable, but has now become a live point of debate after a decade-long drilling boom turned it into the worlds biggest oil and gas supplier.

Story continues

While U.S. antitrust law prevents oil producers in the United States from colluding to prop up prices, it does not prevent state regulators or the federal government from ordering lower production levels, according to legal experts.

But Trump has been reluctant. He said last week that a deal he had brokered with Saudi Arabia and Russia could lead to cuts of as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels per day or 10% to 15% of global supplies, an unprecedented level, but that Washington made no concessions in return.

He added this week that OPEC+ had never asked him to order U.S. cuts, "so we'll see what happens."

Helping the once-bustling U.S. drilling industry weather the market meltdown is a high priority for Trump in an election year, and his administration has eased environmental enforcement and sought ways to expand credit to hard-hit producers.

OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, is scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday by videoconference.

Energy ministers from the Group of 20 nations (G20) will then meet on Friday.

Riyadh has yet to publicly indicate any agreement on the level of any reductions or how to distribute them. Sources close to OPEC have said there will be no deal without a U.S. cut.

Russia is ready to cut its oil output by 1.6 million barrels per day, according to a TASS news agency report citing an unnamed Energy Ministry official on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the ministry said Russia was ready to participate in a deal alongside other countries.

A previous agreement by OPEC+ to cut production this year fell apart because of a dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia, triggering a price war that brought a flood of supply just as demand for fuel was crushed by the coronavirus pandemic.

WHATS THE BASELINE?

Another point of contention in the coming talks is that Moscow, Riyadh and others need to agree on the baseline against which to calculate new cuts, an issue muddied since last month's acrimonious OPEC+ meeting in Vienna.

Saudi Arabia ramped up output to a record 12.3 million bpd in April, from below 10 million bpd in March.

OPEC sources said Riyadh wanted any cuts calculated from April levels. But Russia has said cuts should be based on first-quarter levels.

"The issue is still the baseline," an OPEC source said.

Iran, which was exempted from the previous OPEC+ deal, has argued the meetings are premature. It believes details such as the baseline and the contributions by the United States and others should have been agreed beforehand.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh warned that "in the absence of any clear and consensual outcome", a failure of talks could "aggravate the current low-price environment even further".

Oil prices <LCOc1>, which fell to their lowest in almost two decades in March, are still trading at half their level from the end of 2019, before the coronavirus crisis prompted governments to tell people to stay home and fuel demand plummeted.

The pressure is being felt in the United States.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that oil output dropped 600,000 bpd last week. Its longer-term projections show U.S. oil output averaging 11 million bpd in 2021, which correlates to about a 2 million-bpd decline from the late 2019 peak.

A group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday that economic and military cooperation between the two countries was in jeopardy unless the kingdom helped stabilize oil prices by cutting crude output.

"If the Kingdom fails to act fairly to reverse this manufactured energy crisis, we would encourage any reciprocal responses that the U.S. government deems appropriate," said a letter to the crown prince signed by nearly 50 Republican U.S. Representatives.

Senate Republicans introduced a bill in March to remove U.S. troops, missiles and defense systems from the kingdom if it did not cut output.

Saudi Arabia's national shipping firm, Bahri, has provisionally chartered at least a dozen supertankers, each capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of crude, to the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming weeks, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and shipping sources.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler; Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Vladimir Soldatkin, Olesya Astakhova, Timothy Gardner, Devika Krishna Kumar, Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Rania El Gamal and Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)
Easter is a festival and holiday that commemorates Jesus resurrection from the dead and is celebrated by Christians all around the world. According to the New Testament it is believed to have occurred on the third day (after his burial) following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary. It is the culmination of the religious season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter marks the completion of the Passion of Christ, beginning from Lent and ending with Holy Week, which includes Holy Thursday (also Maundy Thursday which celebrates Jesus Last Supper with his 12 Apostles), Good Friday (when Jesus crucifixion is observed) and finally ending with Easter Sunday.

ALSO READ: Easter 2020: Cook these delicious, delightful meals to enjoy with your friends and family this Easter

Easter Sunday and related celebrations, such as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Palm Sunday, are considered moveable feasts. This year Easter takes place on April 12, it begins with Good Friday which is on April 10. Although Easter has a lot of religious significance in Christianity, several traditions date to pre-Christian, pagan times. This Christian celebration is also closely associated with the Jewish festival of Passover as well as the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, as described in the Old Testament.

According to the New Testament of the Bible, the story of Easter starts when Jesus was taken by the Roman authorities because they believed he was simply claiming to be the Son of God. This resulted in him being sentenced to death by crucifixion on the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman emperor. However, Jesus miraculously resurrected three days later, proving that he was actually the Son of God, and that is how Easter came to be.

ALSO READ: Easter 2020: Wishes, Messages, Quotes, Facebook, WhatsApp Status for friends and family

Easter Vigil, a religious service, is how many churches begin Easter celebration in the late hours of the Saturday before. There are several non-religious celebrations too including Easter eggs. Eggs represent birth and fertility, and it is believed they are used during Easter festivities to symbolise Jesus rebirth. Nonreligious celebrations include the tradition of Easter eggs, which represent fertility and birth and Easter bunny which delivers chocolates and sweets to kids on Sunday morning.

People tend to splurge during Easter as it comes after 40 days of Lent. Brightly painted chocolate-filled eggs are exchanged, and Easter Bunny delivers chocolate eggs to kids, there are Easter eggs hunts and plenty more fun activities on Easter.

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A family outing to a local softball field ended with a father being handcuffed in front of his young daughter for not social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As ABC News reports, it happened in Brighton, Colorado, and now the police department there is conducting an internal investigation into its social distancing crackdown that resulted in the arrest.

In another twist, the father who was arrested turned out to be a former Colorado State Patrol trooper, who told ABC News he was handcuffed in front of his 6-year-old on a near-empty softball field.

Former trooper Matt Mooney said: Were just having a good time, not near anybody else. The next closest person is at least 15 feet away from me and my daughter at this point.

READ MORE: Homebound Pa. woman, 93, sends beer SOS for more Coors Light amid coronavirus

Details on the mans arrest from ABC News:

Mooney says when police arrived they began telling him and others in the area to leave because the park was closed. During the interaction with the officers, Mooney says he told them he believed he and his family were in compliance and practicing proper distancing.

Mooney adds that officers threatened him when he failed to provide his identification.

In the end, Mooney was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, before being released.

The arrest was caught on cell phone camera by former Brighton city councilman Kirby Wallin.

Following the incident, the Brighton Police Department apologized.

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Dairy farmers crushed by the economic meltdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic shared their stories of despair yesterday. Katherine Hamilton and her family had to pour away 10,000 litres of wasted milk.

They have 300 cows at their farm in High Halden, Kent, but were forced to pour away milk when their processor didn't turn up to collect it, blaming problems with finding enough staff.

They have since resumed pickups but are only taking around 1,500 litres, compared to the 6,000 to 8,000 a day they usually collect.

It comes just weeks after the family had a letter to say the price of milk was going to be cut by 2 pence a litre.

Dairy farmer, Josette Feddes of JoJosDairy, had to throw away 12,000 litres of milk but has now started pasteurising it herself and selling it directly to locals

Then, they were told payment would be delayed until May.

Mrs Hamilton said: 'All of the cheques we had issued to pay our suppliers, cattle feed, to the vet, diesel for the tractors  all just bounced.

'They are phoning us saying why haven't we paid? We had to get in touch with the bank and extend the overdraft until May.

'The tricky thing for us is that you can't furlough the staff. We have still got to carry on, you can't just stop looking after the cows. When they said they weren't going to collect the milk, it was heartbreaking.

'You think what is the world coming to? There are people who need this.'

Her processors usually supply coffee shops and airlines. Mrs Hamilton has called for a relaxation on rules so that they can now sell their milk to supermarkets instead.

'I think they can't break into the retail part of the market, the big supermarket chains, because there is a monopoly on them with these big companies and they won't allow the smaller processors to break in without being in breach of their contracts,' she said.

'People need milk  and there is lots of milk available  but because of the rules it can't get to the right place.'

Katherine Hamilton pictured draining milk from the processor as she no longer can sell as many litres as she usually does

Elsewhere, Josette Feddes was forced to pour away 12,000 litres when processors failed to turn up to collect her milk. Her 250-strong herd produce 6,000 litres a day and she fears further waste if something isn't done soon.

She is calling for processors and the Government to work together to find a solution. Her dairy sends the bulk of its daily yield to Freshways, a processing plant in London which sells to Costa Coffee, Starbucks and airlines, but which no longer requires as much due to the lockdown.

Mrs Feddes, who has been farming at JoJo's Dairy in Wanborough, Swindon, for 12 years, said: 'It is utterly desperate. There is a need for milk  homeless people, hospitals. There are starving people in the world and this is just so frustrating.

'Milk is needed left, right and centre, there has to be a way for us to supply it. We need to find a way to use it. There are so many people without milk at the moment, it is really silly.'

A stock image of dairy cows grazing in the English countryside

In a bid not to waste any more, she and husband Jonathan have started pasteurizing as much as they can themselves and selling it in bottles at half price to the local community.

Mrs Feddes said: 'I need to look after the farm and the animals, and just do not have the time to bottle up and deliver to local businesses. We are desperate for local help to solve this supply chain issue. Cows will keep producing milk, so we can't just not milk them.'
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Even as the debate on extending the lockdown continues, an expert committee, consisting of prominent doctors, has suggested to the State Government that the curbs should continue in the COVID-19 hotspots for the next 15 days.

It also recommended some relaxations, including reopening all industries, like the IT&BT sector, with 50 per cent staff strength while maintaining a high vigil for the next six months. The committee, headed by Dr Devi Shetty of Narayana Health, submitted its report to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday.

It was constituted by the State Government to suggest a way forward after the 21-day nationwide lockdown ends on April 14.

With six new COVID-19 positive cases reported on Wednesday, the total number of cases in Karnataka went up to 181, with five deaths so far.

The cases are reported from 18 districts of the state while 12 have not witnessed any cases.

In view of this, the committee suggested that the lockdown should be continued in the hotspots while minimising restrictions in the districts that have not been impacted much by the disease outbreak.

It has also recommended that inter-state bus, train or flight services, A/C buses and Metro train operations in Bengaluru should not be allowed till April 30, but said autorickshaws can be allowed to hit the roads and shops without air-conditioning can be allowed to open.

For private passenger vehicles, the committee recommended the odd-even rule for the next two weeks. Unnecessary movement of people should be restricted and inter-state borders should be opened only for goods vehicles, it suggested.

IT/BT, industries staff can work at 50% strength: Panel

In some cheer for industries waiting for the ongoing lockdown to end, the committee suggested that all industries, IT/BT and textiles can work at 50 per cent of staff strength.

Even construction work can resume with 50 per cent of workers at construction sites, the committee suggested, emphasizing the need for social distancing and other measures required to contain the spread of the virus.

They also recommended that quarantine measures should be strictly implemented.

The state is getting rapid test kits by April 12 to conduct more tests.

The committee recommendations are likely to be discussed during Thursdays Cabinet meeting and a decision will be taken after holding consultations with the Central government.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said they will consider the committees recommendations and also the Central Governments guidelines before taking any decision.
1933-2020

Sarah, or Sally as she was lovingly known, passed away peacefully at St. Helena Hospital with her daughter sharing the familys love by her side. She was from a small farm in Luzerne County Pennsylvania. As a young girl, she was always responsible, caring and committed to her family. She followed that passion and her older sister, Janet Hindson, into Nursing at Thomas Jefferson Nursing Diploma School in Philadelphia PA. While in training she met the love of her life, John Wagner. They were married shortly after and didnt leave each others side for sixty-one years.

She and John, who passed away last April, moved to Pittsburgh where they loved and cared for their two children, Richard Wagner and Janet Wagner Todd, while they both worked. Sally was an Emergency, Home Health and IV Nurse throughout her forty years. John worked at the University of Pittsburgh, Falk School where they started their first of many gourmet clubs. She was President of her beloved Jeff Alumna Association for years.

Sally was known for enjoying all things sweet, being a crossword puzzle queen, and traveling to as many countries as possible to taste all the desserts. Highlights were traveling to Australia where she felt immediately at home and another was meeting Leslie Caron, Gigi, in France after enjoying an incredible evening with her family.

Sally and John retired to the Jersey Shore where they walked the beach in search of sea glass and beautiful sunrises. They moved to St. Helena CA to be near their daughter, Janet and her husband Zane in 2012. Sally most recently lived in Calistoga where she continued to be the caring family matriarch and strong woman to the end.

Sarah is survived by her son, Rip Wagner and his wife, Janet (New Jersey), her daughter, Janet Todd, and her husband, Zane (Calistoga, CA), her brother-in-law, Rip Wagner and his wife, Rosanne (New Jersey), her niece, Alexis Wagner and her husband Phil (New Jersey) and nephew, Glen Wagner and his wife, Karen (New Jersey), and three grandchildren, six great grandchildren and three great nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at the Jersey Shore this summer for both Sarah and John. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Hungtingtons Disease Society of Americas or Girls on the Run Napa & Solano.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Montreal, Canada  Thu, April 9, 2020 09:27 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bdeab 2 Business Air-Canada,aviation,COVID-19,coronavirus,justin-trudeau,government-relief-package,stimulus Free

Some 16,500 Air Canada employees who were laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic will be rehired under a government relief package for businesses, the airline said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during his daily news conference that the program would now be open to companies that suffered a drop of more than 15 percent in their revenues in March, against 30 percent previously.

Air Canada furloughed nearly half of its Canada-based workforce of 36,000 on March 30 after seeing business abruptly dry up by more than 90 percent as country after country imposed travel restrictions and people stopped flying.

Read also: Airline employees worried about job security as COVID-19 takes its toll

The Canadian government stepped in April 1 with the emergency wage subsidy plan designed to help employers keep their workers or bring back ones that were laid off because of the pandemic.

It is retroactive to March 15 and the government will pay 75 percent of hard-hit companies' payrolls through June 6.

Air Canada said that under the "CEWS" relief package it will bring back the people it had furloughed.

"Subject to its adoption into law substantially as announced, Air Canada intends to adopt the CEWS for the benefit of its 36,000 Canadian-based employee workforce," the company said in a statement.

Trudeau also warned Canadians to brace for painful monthly unemployment figures to be released Thursday.

Read also: Q1 passenger traffic at Ngurah Rai falls 15%, but worst yet to come

"It's going to be a hard day for the country," he said. "But I know that if we pull together, our economy will come roaring back after this crisis."

More than four million people have applied for emergency aid offered by the government since mid-March, about one fifth of the country's active population.

The figures point to an explosion in the unemployment rate for March from 5.6 percent in February.

Canada on Wednesday had more than 19,000 officially declared cases of coronavirus, and 456 deaths.
Crime thriller Money Heist continues to captivate viewers, and while many fans are still recovering from the heartbreaking death of a fan favorite, thoughts are already on season 5.

No, Netflix hasnt confirmed the next installment yet, but that hasnt stopped everyone from wondering about future storylines. Once the gang wiggles out of their current predicament, whats next?

Money Heist/La Casa de Papel is full of drama, suspense, action, and adventure, but will the show ever attempt a heist in another famous location outside of Spains borders?

La Casa de Papel, also known as Money Heist | Tamara Arranz/Netflix

The series has been to a few international places

So far, our thieves have only launched schemes at the Royal Mint and Bank of Spain, which are obviously both located in Spain. While the crimes brought the team together, to escape and/or outwit the authorities, theyve had to go abroad.

Raquel and Professor hunkered down in Thailand, Nairobi and Helsinki chilled in Argentina, Tokyo and Rio were in Panama, and at one point, the crew assembled in Italy. Theyve all been around the world. And in part 4, the plot took Marseille to a desert in Algeria.

What La Casa de Papel creator Alex Pina says about doing a heist overseas

The beloved Spanish-language series blew up into a global sensation, and the creative team and cast behind Money Heist/La Casa de Papel are still in awe over how well its been received. To that end, creator Alex Pina is adamant about the show sticking to its roots.

During an interview with El Mundo, Pina explained why there is so much magic in keeping the story in Spain.

We have been told that we could dock Fort Knox in the United States. But I think the value of the series is the work in Spain, with the Spanish police, the Spanish humor and the Spanish robbers and their emotions. Which are what makes this a perfect heist.

He added that the beauty of La Casa de Papel as a heist tale is that it flips the genre from something that is typically cold and rational into one thats injected with emotion.

The great achievement of La Casa de Papel is that it has transformed an eminently Anglo-Saxon genre that existed in cinema, which is rationalistic, almost scientific, cold, into something hot, emotional, brutally affective, where emotional plots, love, brotherhood, friendship are almost as important as the plot of the robbery itself. What we have done is Latinize and Spanishize this genre, with which, to renounce our DNA would be to renounce what life has given us.

Pina also touched on the future of Money Heist

The possibility of spinoffs and additional seasons has been a huge topic within the fan base, and its something Pina is willing to discuss. He also told El Mundo that the series can go in many directions.

Actually, I have always said that the series has a soul and an identity very typical of comics. And I think it has many possibilities, including spinoffs, because all the characters have a possible life outside of heists.

In previous interviews, Pina and the cast of Money Heist shared that he typically writes the episodes as the story moves and not in advance.

Knowing that, hes not sure how everything will end up for Tokyo, Professor, Helsinki, Palermo, Denver, Rio, Stockholm, Lisbon, Bogota, and Marseille, but he said its possible they will hit all the hot spots in Spain that secure something of value.

With gold and money already checked off, perhaps a museum is next. Watch all seasons of Money Heist now on Netflix.
The global chemical-weapons watchdog has for the first time directly blamed the Syrian government for three chlorine and sarin nerve-gas bomb attacks in late March 2017 on the central town of Lataminah.

An investigative team set up by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on April 8 issued its first report assigning blame for chemical attacks in the country. Previously, it had only been able to say whether chemical attacks had occurred but without naming the perpetrators.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the perpetrators of the use of sarin as a chemical weapon in Lataminah in 2017...and the use of chlorine...were individuals belonging to the Syrian Arab Air Force," the OPCWs new Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) said.

Western states have long accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against rebel groups and civilians in the country's nine-year civil war.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and its main allies, Russia and Iran, have dismissed the accusations, claiming that rebels were staging the attacks to trigger international outrage and Western military intervention. Russia and Syria have repeatedly tried to block investigations into a series of chemical weapons attacks in the country.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the OPCWs latest report is misleading and contains falsified and fabricated conclusions, while Russia's permanent mission to the watchdog described the document as "not trustworthy."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that "no amount of disinformation from Assad's enablers in Russia and Iran can hide the fact that the Assad regime is responsible for numerous chemical-weapons attacks."

"The unchecked use of chemical weapons by any state presents an unacceptable security threat to all states and cannot occur with impunity," Pompeo said.

He added that Washington believed that the Syrian government retains enough sarin and chlorine as well as expertise to use and produce chemical weapons.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country holds a rotating seat on the 15-member UN Security Council, said, "Such a blatant violation of international law must not go unpunished."

It is now up to the United Nations and OPCW members to determine what, if any further action, should be taken against the Syrian government.

The OPCW report said Syrian Arab Air Force pilots flying Sukhoi Su-22 military planes dropped two bombs containing sarin on Lataminah in Hama Province on March 24 and 30, 2017. A Syrian military helicopter dropped a chlorine cylinder on a hospital in the same village on March 25 that year, the report said. More than 100 people were affected by the attacks.

"Military operations of such a strategic nature as these three attacks only occur pursuant to orders from the highest levels of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces," the ITT report said.

Another deadly sarin assault in nearby Khan Sheikhun on April 4, 2017, killed more than 80 people.

The United States led Western countries in launching air strikes on Syrian military targets in response to the Khan Sheikhun attack.

The OPCW team is expected to later release another report into a 2018 chlorine attack in the Syrian town of Douma.

Damascus was supposed to relinquish its chemical-weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement reached between the United States and Russia following a suspected sarin-gas attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, and TASS
Elderly members of the public wearing masks walk down a street in central London on April 1, 2020. (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Britain Reports 938 Virus Deaths in Deadliest 24 Hours Yet

The number of single-day COVID-19 deaths hit a new high in the UK, with British authorities announcing that 938 people died from the deadly disease on April 8.

The previous highest single-day death toll in Britain was 786, on April 7.

These figures do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes, British authorities said. As of 9 a.m. local time on April 9, the cumulative number of infections was 65,077, with 7,978 deaths, according to the UK government.

Scientists say the UK is entering the deadliest phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, with deaths expected to continue to rise over the Easter weekend.

It comes as the British government is preparing to extend the national CCP virus lockdown until at least May.

The prime ministers spokesman said Thursday that current restrictions will continue beyond next week, Business Insider reported.

We need to keep bearing down on the rate of transmission, which will mean continuing with social distancing measures and to ensure we are protecting the NHS and saving lives, Johnsons spokesman said.

Police chiefs in the UK have called for an increase in restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

At least five chief constables in the UK police have proposed stopping people driving long distances in their cars, and being stricter in limiting people to one piece of exercise a day, according to The Guardian newspaper.

We need to say you cant drive, one police chief told the paper.

Police said they would be taking tougher action to do just that before the four-day Easter holiday weekend because many were still continuing to ignore the ban on social gatherings.

Rightly and understandably, this is starting to greatly frustrate those members of the public who are following the rules, Nick Adderley, Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police in central England which has so far taken a soft approach.

This is why we will be upping our enforcement activity and fining people who are found to be breaching the COVID-19 restrictions.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to improve in the intensive care unit of a London hospital where he is being treated for the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Spokesman James Slack said Johnson had a good night at St. Thomass Hospital, his third night in intensive care. Johnson is receiving oxygen but is not on a ventilator.

Johnson was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26 and taken to the hospital on April 5 with a persistent cough and fever. He was moved to the ICU on April 6, after his condition worsened.

The British PM is the first leader of a major world power to suffer so drastically from CCP virus complications.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:23:28|Editor: huaxia

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Workers distribute food to residents in the area of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh in Farwaniya Governorate, Kuwait, on April 9, 2020. Kuwaiti government distributed on Thursday food baskets to residents of areas of Mahboula and Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh which are under lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Kuwait reported on Thursday 55 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 910, the health ministry said in a statement. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

KUWAIT CITY, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait reported on Thursday 55 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 910, the health ministry said in a statement.

Among the new cases are 51 with a history of contact with infected patients, according to the ministry statement.

The cause of the infection for the other four cases is still under investigation.

So far, 798 patients are receiving treatment, including 22 in ICU, the statement said, adding the number of recoveries has reached 111.

On April 4, Kuwait reported the first death case of COVID-19.

The Kuwaiti government has decided to impose a nationwide curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On March 13, Kuwait suspended all commercial flights. The government also decided to close stores, malls and barbershops.
Liberty University police are pursuing a criminal case against two journalists who the department alleges made unauthorized campus visits last month while covering the schools response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Jerry Falwell Jr. said Wednesday on the Todd Starnes radio show.

Law enforcement officials employed by Liberty have obtained two warrants charging Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer for The New York Times, and Alec MacGillis, a reporter for ProPublica, with misdemeanor trespassing, according to documents posted online by Starnes, a conservative pundit.

Reaction to Libertys actions came swiftly Thursday. Among the voices denouncing the move was the Virginia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which passed a resolution accusing Liberty of launching an assault on the free press.

The journalists were reporting about a health crisis of public interest and importance, and doing so in a professional and responsible manner, the organization wrote in a statement. By pursuing criminal charges, Liberty University has cast a chilling effect on newsgathering activities vital to a free and democratic society.

Eileen Murphy, a spokesperson for the Times, said Rendleman was simply performing a routine function of her job: taking a picture of an interview subject.

We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the universitys decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic, Murphy said in a statement.

Richard Tofel, president of ProPublica, said Liberty police have not contacted the outlet regarding the charges.

It is unclear when Liberty police will execute the warrants, which in practice amount to serving a court summons. Liberty officials did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Lynchburg Commonwealths Attorney Bethany Harrison said Thursday that Liberty police did not consult her office before asking a magistrate to approve the charges and prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue the case. As of Thursday, no charges have been formally filed in court.

I dont have enough information to give an informed comment at this time, Harrison said of the trespassing allegations.

The threat of trespassing charges, which carry a punishment of up to a year in jail, represents an escalation in Falwells recent attacks on reporters covering his decision to welcome students back to campus during the pandemic.

Both the Times and ProPublica published stories in late March in which they included quotes from students and employees who warned the university was not doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus.

In his interview with Starnes on Wednesday, Falwell described the stories as false and misleading. He pointed to efforts to enforce strict social distancing requirements among the more than 1,100 students still living on campus as proof Liberty is working to ensure their safety.

Falwell, who initially downplayed the threats posed by the pandemic last month, also accused the journalists of risking student health by potentially exposing them to the virus. He suggested the journalists deliberately ignored no-trespassing signs posted at campus entrances.

Its going to be an ugly legal fight, Im sorry to say, Falwell told Starnes. But I feel like theyve forced us into a corner and I dont think God wants Christians to sit back and not protect what they believe in.

Falwell also threatened to file a civil defamation lawsuit against Elizabeth Williamson, a journalist for The New York Times who reported that about a dozen on-campus students were sick with symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Liberty officials have refuted that characterization, saying no students living on campus have tested positive for the disease and a Liberty-affiliated doctor cited by the Times had been misquoted. Falwell said he would move forward with a lawsuit if the Times does not issue an apologetic correction.

They use this virus as an excuse to politicize, and to attack Christians and to attack conservatives, Falwell said. Thats the really sad part. I mean, think of all the people locally here that theyve scared with their lies.

Williamson is not facing charges because a magistrate found there was not enough physical evidence to show she visited campus. A witness, however, spotted Rendleman, the papers freelance photographer, on school property, Falwell said.

According to the warrants posted on Starnes website, the first alleged incident occurred March 25 and the second occurred March 27. The photocopied records offer no information about where the alleged trespassing occurred on campus.

The documents show Sgt. Alan Wilkins, a detective with Libertys police department, gave a sworn statement in support of the criminal complaint. The charges were approved by Lynchburg Magistrate Kang H. Lee on Monday.

Virginia law allows individuals, including private police departments, to obtain criminal charges if a magistrate determines the person has enough evidence to show a crime has been committed. Evidence doesnt become public until the case goes to court. For more serious charges, including those that carry jail time, it is the responsibility of the local prosecutor to pursue the case in court.

Richard Chumney covers Liberty University for The News & Advance. Reach him at (434) 385-5547.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
While the issue is hung up in debate, legal experts question why that should be delaying implementation of surgical or pill-induced abortions at clinics, which were supposed to become available up to 12 weeks of pregnancy after the law went into effect.

Abortion is one of the most contentious political issues in Northern Ireland, and many commentators believe that the Department of Health is stalling the process out of ideological objections. The health minister, Robin Swann, has described himself as pro-life.

The previous law permitted abortions only if the womans life was in danger. Even in the event of rape, incest or fetal abnormalities, women were required to carry their pregnancies to term, and anyone caught procuring an abortion could face life imprisonment.

We know that health professionals are ready to offer abortion services and that the Trusts have stated they are awaiting approval from the Department of Health, said Fiona Bloomer, an abortion policy researcher at Ulster University, speaking of the hospital trusts of the National Health Service.

There is no other blockage to this apart from a decision by the minister of health, Dr. Bloomer said. As the D.O.H. has failed to provide any answers, the only conclusion we can draw is that this is a political decision, to stall implementation of the regulations.

The Department of Health said that an agreement to begin providing abortions had to be reviewed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

The minister is currently considering this urgently, the department said in a statement. Given the significance and sensitivity of the issue, it will be a decision for the executive, the statement said, referring to the devolved government of Northern Ireland.
As a cohort of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals scientists sets out to identify potential therapies for the coronavirus, the Ridgefield giant is allowing more than 50,000 employees to contribute in another way  volunteering in their communities, with the company paying them for the time away.

On Wednesday, Boehringer Ingelheim announced it would award employees up to 10 days off with pay to volunteer in their communities during the public emergency.

Boehringer Ingelheim is based in Germany with its U.S. pharmaceutical headquarters in Ridgefield, where the company employs more than 2,000. The companys best selling drug is Jardiance for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, which with a 47 percent increase in sales last year contributed more than $2.3 billion to the companys total revenue of $20.7 billion.

With sales of $2.2 billion last year, Spiriva was Boehringer Ingelheims second biggest drug, prescribed for people who suffer from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Boehringer Ingelheim also has an existing success story via its animal health divisionwith the Recombitek vaccine, which provides dogs with protection from previous strains of coronavirus, among other ailments.

Dr. Cyrille Kuhn is leading Boehringer Ingelheims efforts to find therapeutic compounds that address the novel coronavirus COVID-19, with the company focusing its early work on targeting a spike protein that is used by the virus to dock to human cells in order to prevent infection. Boehringer Ingelheim has been screening its library of more than a million compounds to identify small molecules that might do the job.

The past five years in Ridgefield Kuhn has led Boehringer Ingelheims research beyond borders initiative to explore ways to address newly discovered bacteria, whether in the companys core strengths or in areas beyond its existing therapeutic focus. For two years previously, Kuhn led research networking and strategic planning.

Kuhn said Wednesday that he is hopeful for a therapeutic breakthrough on the coronavirus in three to six months, given armies of researchers at companies globally being redirected to the problem and information being exchanged swiftly among hospitals, public health authorities, and other entities.

Ive never seen such mobilization of scientists around the world to tackle such a problem, Kuhn said. Its ... the full health ecosystem at large  everybody working on trying to find the cure, whether its the people in the clinics ... or everyone trying to do what they can to help. Its unique.

Boehringer Ingelheim has joined a COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the company offering up at no cost a half-dozen anti-viral compounds for other researchers to test as possible coronavirus therapies.

During the pandemic, Boehringer Ingelheim has kept up drug production and research even as four of every five people in its employee base work remotely from home. Boehringer Ingelheim announced its volunteer incentive plan Wednesday.

Were doing whatever it takes  and sometimes under quite difficult circumstances  to ensure we continue to produce and deliver our medicines to those who need them, said Medard Schoenmaeckers, a Germany-based spokesperson, in an online video announcing the companys decision to cancel a planned Wednesday review of its 2019 results. As a research-driven company, we are optimistic about the work thats being done around the globe to find treatment options. And we are helping too  we have deep medical expertise in, for example, respiratory diseases.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Matt Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  National Guard trucks are a common sight at Stamford Hospital these days, and more help is arriving as the health facility  in the city with the most coronavirus cases in the state  fights to stem the spread of the illness through the region.

Gov. Ned Lamont has announced the U.S. Army Reserve Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force is joining the Connecticut National Guard to provide support at the hospital, which has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases, leading to one to two deaths a day at the facility.
Democrats are demanding information on Jared Kushner's involvement in federal supply chain management.

US Reps Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney sent a letter to FEMA administrator Pete Gaynor demanding to know how Mr Kushner influences the movement of medical and emergency supplies throughout the country.

President Donald Trump has used Mr Kushner - his son-in-law - to run a shadow task force alongside the official White House coronavirus task force.

According to NBC News, the letter gives Mr Gaynor until April 15 to provide the Representatives with the requested information

Mr Thompson, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, and Ms Maloney, who chairs Oversight and Government Committee, are seeking "all communications between any FEMA employee and Jared Kushner regarding the acquisition, distribution of, or federally directed sale of any form of PPE or of medical supplies and equipment to be used for the diagnosis or treatment of COVID-19."

The Democrats also want documentation detailing communications between FEMA employees and private corporations volunteering to help with coronavirus response and information on flights FEMA has arranged using private companies to bring medical equipment into the US for sale.

"Project Airbridge," the new program in use by the government to bring medical equipment into the US from other countries on behalf of private companies, is of particular interest to the lawmakers.

Under the project, the federal government decides how 50 percent of the incoming goods are distributed. That means a FEMA-paid for flight could bring emergency equipment into the country meant for one region of need could be redirected by the federal government at its whim.

The New York Times reported that shipments in Massachusetts and Kentucky have been commandeered by FEMA, breaking deals brokered between organisations in the states and equipment suppliers.

In Colorado, the governor says 500 ventilators meant for the state were "swept up by FEMA."

The letter is calling for "all flights FEMA has scheduled through Project Airbridge, including the destinations of all such flights, and the manifests detailing the quantities and types of PPE and essential medical supplies and equipment carried to the US on these flights."

Mr Kushner is being targeted in the request due to allegations that he has been redirecting supplies in a way that favours leaders who can get the Trumps on the phone.

"We are troubled by reports that Mr Kushner's actions - and those of outside advisers he has assembled and tasked - may be 'circumventing protocols that ensure all states' requests are handled appropriately,'" the Democratic lawmakers' wrote. "We are particularly troubled that Mr Kushner's work may even involve 'directing FEMA and HHS officials to prioritise specific requests from people who are able to get Kushner on the phone.'"

Mr Kushner has been under fire regarding his role in supply distribution since comments he made last week during a press briefing in which he offered a perplexing explanation of the nation's emergency stockpile, claiming it wasn't supposed to be "states' stockpiles that they then use."

"The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states' stockpiles that they then use." he said. "So we're encouraging the states to make sure that they're assessing the needs, they're getting the data from their local situations, and then trying to fill it with the supplies that we've given them."

The Strategic National Stockpile was created in 1999 to provide medicine and supplies to the states in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist or biological attack.
Many big names from the Bollywood industry on Thursday expressed gratitude and praised the Mumbai Police personnel for their tireless efforts in the battle against coronavirus during the ongoing 21-days lockdown period.

The official Twitter handle of Mumbai Police had on Wednesday shared a moving video about how the police officials work amid the lockdown, keeping aside their own priorities to ensure the safety of common people.

The 'Singham' of Bollywood was one of the firsts to retweet the video and express support.

"Dear Mumbai Police, you are known as one of the BEST in the world. Your contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled," Ajay Devgn tweeted.

He also added: "Singham will wear his Khakee and stand beside you whenever you ask. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra."

Ace filmmaker Karan Johar stressed that "this is the time to show our gratitude to the ones who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe."

"Despite being away from their families and loved ones, they work with their spirits high to protect us. And for that, we are very grateful @mumbaipolice. Thank you!" the 47-year-old director tweeted.

The ever young star of Bollywood, Anil Kapoor, too extended heartfelt thanks to Mumbai Police.

The 'Mr. India' actor took to Twitter and wrote: "This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai Police, who left their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you Mumbai Police Love you Mumbai Police."

On the other hand, seasoned actor Madhuri Dixit paid her "huge respect" to Mumbai Police who are "risking their lives, working selflessly, leaving their family to keep us safe.

"We're privileged to stay secure in our homes because these heroes are outside making it happen," the evergreen actor added in her tweet.

"They are outside their homes, to ensure that we are safe," actor Hrithik Roshan tweeted.

The 46-year-old star further extended thanks to Mumbai Police.

Sharing the same video, Abhishek Bachchan also took to Twitter to shower praise on the cops.

"Always in debt to them and the great work they do," The 44-year-old tweeted.

Actors Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff are the other stars who voiced their support towards Mumbai Police for their selfless contribution.

"Giving up on their dreams for keeping the city of our dreams safe. Thank You@MumbaiPolice. We owe you a lot and staying at home is the least we can do! #TakingOnCorona #MumbaiFirst," The 'Jab We Met' actor tweeted.

Actor Arjun Kapoor fell short of words to appreciate their contribution amid these trying times.

"Still would like to appreciate the fact that they have been out there every day, making sure everything goes smoothly and have always been there to protect us. A thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Stay safe. Jai Hind," the 'Panipat' actor added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Citywide

The city is expanding the number of temporary hand washing stations like this one during the COVID-19 outbreak | Photo: Carrie Sisto/Hoodline

With Mayor London Breed under increasing scrutiny for the city's response to the unhoused population during the increasing public health crisis, the city yesterday expanded its effort to provide hand washing stations and toilets to unhoused residents during the COVD-19 pandemic.

The first deployment of five new stations is expected today, with another 10 expected to be in place by early next week.

The locations were initially recommended by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, who identified high-need areas based on the population and congregation of unhoused people.

New hand washing and toilet locations planned as of April 7, 2020 | Information courtesy of SF Public Works

San Francisco Public Works then evaluated the recommended locations and identified new priorities based on the sites proximity to existing public toilets, the slope of the streets and sidewalks, and the amount of space available at each site.

The selection of new locations depended in part on the availability of existing public toilet options | Photo: Brittany Hopkins/Hoodline

Acting Public Works director Alaric Degrafinried said the extra bathrooms and hand washing stations will help people take care of their basic needs with dignity and help keep our public spaces sanitary.

Urban Alchemy, a growing workforce development non-profit that already staffs the existing 24 Pit Stops throughout San Francisco, will provide attendants for the new locations as well, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Mayor's office, according to Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon.

Gordon also said the city may deploy additional safety measures may for the staff overseeing the new Pit Stops and hand washing sites, but didn't provide additional details.

An updated map of services will be available via DHSH | Image: DHSH

Urban Alchemy staff will monitor each of the new toilet stations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are trained to identify and respond to situations where people need emergency services.

If further program expansion is necessary, the city may solicit additional non-profit workforce partners. Public Works anticipates deploying additional toilets, but would have to first secure additional rental units and ensure 24/7 staffing is available to support them, Gordon said.
As more cases of the novel coronavirus were being confirmed in her town, Liz Bernich felt an urgent need to help the medical professionals in her community and others who were putting in long hours caring for an increasing number of patients.

The mother from Chatham, New Jersey, also felt concern for many small restaurant owners struggling financially due to the pandemic.

A few weeks ago, when she saw a friend share a Facebook post about ordering food from small restaurants to feed medical staff, she was struck with an idea. Bernich wrote up a Facebook post of her own, asking friends if they would be interested in donating money to be spent at local restaurants on food that would be delivered to local hospitals.

The response she received was overwhelming.

Staff at the Morristown Medical Center enjoy a meal delivered by their local FLAG group. (Liz Bernich)

With funds in hand  sent to her PayPal account by others who wanted to help  Bernich reached out to her local hospital, Morristown Medical Center, to ask what they needed. She quickly learned that night shift workers had the most difficult time finding food during their shifts due to limited cafeteria hours.

"It must be so tough to work all night long in the dark with their patients and try to keep their spirits up," Bernich told TODAY, adding that she decided to make lunch and late-evening dinner deliveries to the facility to accommodate all shifts. "I talked to a nurse in the hospital who said to get a warm, yummy meal just brings so many smiles."

Food

Faced with a substantial need in her community, Bernich started a local Facebook group for residents of Chatham to donate. Soon after, Gina McGuire, who lives in the neighboring town of Madison, New Jersey, reached out to Bernich. The two partnered up and created the Front Line Appreciation Group (FLAG) of Chatham and Madison to serve medical personnel in both towns.

Now, the Facebook group has over 3,500 members. As word of the team's efforts stared spreading on social media, people in other towns started to reach out to Bernich and McGuire, asking how they could help their own neighborhood medical facilities.

Story continues

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Bernich said she now helps support more than 30 FLAG groups, or similar groups which operate under different names, in several states, including Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Minnesota. That's in addition to multiple New Jersey-based chapters, all dedicated to bringing money into small restaurants to feed medical personnel.

Thousands of members have joined their local FLAG Facebook groups as the momentum builds: A Cranford, New Jersey, group boasts more than 2,000 members, and one of the most recently launched groups, located in Central Florida, already has more than 600 people wanting to help.

Liz Bernich with her partner, Gina McGuire, making a food drop-off at the Morristown Medical Center emergency room. (Liz Bernich)

Here's how the groups work. Those who wish to donate may visit the website Bernich created that allows people to search for their own local FLAG chapter and make a financial contribution. If a FLAG group doesn't exist in your area, Bernich and her team offer instructions on how to start one. Each FLAG chapter has their own guidelines for getting involved, and primarily communicates needs and volunteer opportunities through Facebook groups.

For Bernich's FLAG chapter, donations are accepted via PayPal, Zelle, Venmo and checks. Bernich says her team has contacted every restaurant in their area that has remained open during the health crisis and found out which eateries wanted to be involved.

"Our goal is to ensure they (the restaurants) don't lose any money on the meals we're asking them to prepare, and hopefully make some money but at least keep their employees busy and doors open," said Bernich. "Our orders are up to 190 servings for lunch and dinner so the payment to them is significant and helpful for keeping their lights on."

To get the food from local restaurants to the various medical facilities, Bernich and her volunteers coordinate orders with the health care centers' administration teams. They started out by taking orders directly from specific medical units with staff members who were overwhelmed and had difficulty taking time away from their assigned shifts. Now, they ask for a headcount for each department to ensure they're ordering the right amount of food. Every few days, they check in with the hospital to see if they need to adjust how much food is being delivered.

Bernich's team is now delivering meals twice a day, every day: a lunch delivery in the afternoon and a mid-evening drop-off for those working the night shift.

Monica Toomey and her team of Michigan-based FLAG group volunteers. (Monica Toomey)

To date, Bernich says FLAG of Chatham and Madison have ordered from 35 local restaurants; that's over $33,000 worth of food. The group has also collected $110,000 to date.

"They've helped us serve over 5,100 meals," she added. "All since March 20 when I first posted on Facebook about the idea."

Members of all FLAG groups are encouraged to follow the appropriate social distancing measures: Most food is dropped off to one contact at a facility and taken in by an authorized staff member. Restaurants are also asked to provide food items that are not messy and simple to eat, so busy medical staff can eat on-the-go without spilling. Meals must also be individually portioned to avoid the spread of germs.

"Everything is boxed up and ready to go by the restaurant," Bernich explained. "The deliveries are generally made by restaurants, who are operating under strict sanitary guidelines."

Bernich said her groups feeds all types of front line workers, including doctors and nurses in hospitals, as well as urgent care employees and those who staff COVID-19 testing centers.

The need has only continued to grow as the virus spreads.

Monica Toomey founded a FLAG group in Michigan after hearing about Bernich's work, and said she has been amazed at the gratitude and appreciation her team has received from both restaurants and medical staff.

"You can feel (hospital employees') appreciation even through their masks," said Toomey. "And the restaurant owners are incredibly grateful as well. They want to help their employees keep their income and recognize this as a win-win."

As the owner of a small restaurant in Madison, New Jersey, Gino Iossa of Rocco's Tuscany Bar and Grill, said he was eager to give back to the medical community.

Gino Iossa, owner of Rocco's Tuscany Bar and Grill, with food prepared for medical workers by his restaurant staff. (Liz Bernich)

"We want to give as many medical staff members as possible the fuel and support needed to help them stay strong and healthy during this crisis," said Iossa. "As a small business owner, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work together with my community to help fight and overcome COVID-19."

Staff from the coronary care unit at Morristown Medical Center show their appreciation for their meals from FLAG. (Liz Bernich)

Trish O'Keefe, the president of Morristown Medical Center, said seeing the community rally around her team of health care providers has been a gratifying experience.

"I've always known that we have the most amazing, resilient and compassionate team here," said O'Keefe. "To see our community donate meals and supplies, and show signs of appreciation for what we do has been incredibly encouraging for everyone."

As the pandemic continues, Bernich said that she and McGuire, along with their entire team, plan to keep supporting those on the front lines by continuing to provide them with the fuel they need to get through each shift.

"They are so troubled by the difficulty of this virus," said Bernich. "If we can take one thing off their plate and keep them loved and fueled, that's the least we can do."
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All personal legal services, including attestations of marriage contracts and divorce certificates, have been suspended by the family court in Dubai as part of the Emirates latest measure to check the spread of Coronavirus.

The justice department made the announcement on Wednesday, April 8, saying it was part of an effort to prevent social gatherings that would usually occur during such occasions.

Justice Khaled al-Hawsni of the family court also said on the departments website that couples who have already completed marriage formalities, must not organise wedding parties even among their immediate circles.

The UAE has recorded 2,076 cases of the Coronavirus since the outbreak of the disease. At least 11 people have died from the disease in the Middle East country.

READ ALSO  Coronavirus: Tacha Spotted In Dubai Without A Nosemask (Photo)

Arab News had also reported that the Personal Status Court in Dubai on Tuesday decided to suspend all legal services related to family matters based on Islamic jurisprudence which holds that repelling an evil is preferable to securing a benefit.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:26:04|Editor: huaxia

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WUHAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The megacity of Wuhan started lifting outbound travel restrictions from Wednesday after a 76-day lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19.

In the months-long life-and-death battle, a large number of people, including medical personnel, volunteers and grassroots workers, have made selfless contributions and helped the former epicenter of the virus outbreak get through its toughest time.

LOCAL STRENGTH

Yang Xiao, a frontline doctor working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, burst into tears on Jan. 29 when she found her baby hardly recognized her during a video call after seven days of separation.

Facing intense work, however, the 31-year-old mom had no time to be sad. "The ICU is the last line of defense for saving patients' lives," said Yang. "We're racing against death."

"At first, two or three patients needed to be rescued on each shift," she said. "Due to the heavy protective clothing, it would take five to seven people to help a patient turn over."

With more signs of progress in the anti-virus fight, the number of COVID-19 designated hospitals in Wuhan has dropped from a peak of 48 to the current fewer than 10.

A bright dawn was finally around the corner, according to the doctor. "There have been no patients in the ICU I worked at since March 12," said Yang.

Besides the medical staff working around the clock, Wuhan people from all walks of life have also contributed to this battle.

From sanitation workers who keep the city clean to residents staying indoors, from hard-working community workers to delivery workers, everyday heroes in Wuhan have been shining at their posts.

When the megacity was locked down, thousands of volunteers responded quickly to play supporting roles in areas such as medical aid and psychological support.

On Feb. 3, the Communist Youth League of Wuhan issued the first public notice online to recruit volunteers, and over 7,000 people signed up in less than 12 hours after the announcement.

Another 10,000 people applied for volunteer posts on Feb. 23 within 10 hours following the city's new recruitment drive to ensure the efficient delivery of emergency supplies and daily necessities to residents. Over 24,000 volunteers out of the total 70,000 applicants were recruited to meet the delivery needs of neighborhoods in the city.

NATIONWIDE SUPPORT

China has mobilized its medical resources nationwide to aid Wuhan, demonstrating the great strength and effectiveness of the Chinese system.

"Behind a decline in mortality from the virus in Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan is the concerted effort by the nation's ICU elites," said Chen Erzhen, head of Shanghai's second medical team aiding Hubei.

"Every critically ill patient is taken care of by a whole ICU team, which provides life support in various ways and the best treatment scheme," Chen said.

Over 30,000 medical staff have poured into the city from across the country. At the peak of the fight, one in 10 intensive care medics in China were working in Wuhan.

Before departing for Wuhan, Liu Lu, a nurse at the provincial people's hospital in east China's Jiangxi, cut her hair short. "Looking good is no longer important, I must be responsible for the safety of my patients and myself," said the 30-year-old.

She was assigned to the third treatment group at the Wuhan No. 5 Hospital, where she knew no one and could only identify her colleagues by the nametags on their heavy hazmat suits.

Liu took a shift of four hours every day, and getting dressed and undressed from her hazmat suit needed another two hours. She usually wore five layers of clothes under the gown, but still, she was freezing sitting inside the unheated ward. But when she moved, the air-tight gown soon made her sweat.

On March 17, the first batch of medical assistance teams started leaving Hubei as the epidemic outbreak in the hard-hit province had been subdued.

"We arrived in Wuhan on Feb. 4 and worked in two temporary hospitals over the past 40 days. Together with colleagues from Wuhan and Henan Province, we managed 988 beds and treated 1,235 patients," said Ma Fuchun, head of the Shaanxi team consisting of 43 experienced doctors and nurses.

"Thankfully, we achieved zero patient deaths and zero infection of medics during our stay here," Ma said.

"Our presence here not only reduced the burdens of local medical workers but, more importantly, brought confidence to Wuhan residents," he added.

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

After the virus outbreak, many foreigners chose to stay in Wuhan, stepping up to tide over the difficult time with the city.

"I am very attached to Wuhan, and for me there is no doubt: My place is here," Olivier Guyonvarch, French consul general in Wuhan said in an interview.

"Together with my colleagues, we have made the choice to stay because it is our duty and our mission," Guyonvarch said. "It is in difficult times that one recognizes one's true friends."

Iranian barista Sina Karami gave up a flight returning home and provided over 25,000 cups of coffee free of charge to frontline medical staff in Wuhan with his Chinese colleagues from the end of January to mid-March.

During the virus outbreak, Frederic Domeck from France worked as a volunteer in Wuhan who drove his own car nearly 1,500 km by the end of March, delivering protective and disinfection materials and daily necessities to hospitals and communities.

Another volunteer Haroon Nomaan helped communicate with overseas donation groups in more than 10 countries. The programmer from Pakistan has completed a total of over 100 donations.

Moving to Wuhan six years ago, Philippe Klein is a general practitioner of the department of international health care at the Wuhan Union Hospital. He said he did not regret his choice to stay. "I'm doing my job. I'm a doctor."

The doctor lauded China's courage in the face of the crisis. "This is unique in the history of humanity, with so many sacrifices and millions of people confined to their homes to protect the world."
Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, South African Minister of Communications, at the State of the Nation Address in Cape Town, South Africa, February 13, 2020.

Jeffrey Abrahams/Gallo Images via Getty Images

South Africa has been under strict lockdown since March 27, despite only a small number of Covid-19 deaths in that country.

No-one is allowed out for exercise, and the sale of alcohol, cigarettes, and clothing has been banned.

The country's president has just sanctioned a government minister for visiting a friend's house .

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amid one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, South Africa's minister of communication has been put on leave from her job for having lunch with a friend.

South Africa has effectively been shut down since March 27, when a nationwide lockdown was imposed before a single person died of the novel coronavirus in the country. Authorities moved fast amid concerns about the high percentage of the population with compromised immune systems, which would make them more vulnerable to COVID-19. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV and tuberculosis in the world.

But so far, only 13 people have died from COVID-19 in the country of almost 60 million people  due in part to the stringent lockdown.

Streets are deserted as movement outside of residences is restricted to grocery shopping and visiting the doctor. Exercise or dog walking is not allowed. The sale of alcohol, cigarettes, clothing, homewares, and all other goods deemed non-essential is illegal. South Africa has also banned fast-food deliveries.

With South Africans now effectively confined to their own homes, many stripped of an income, the Instagram picture of the 42-year old Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams enjoying lunch at the home of a friend instantly spread on social media  to massive outrage.

On Wednesday, less than a day after the photo first surfaced, President Cyril Ramaphosa put the minister on two months' leave, one of which will be unpaid, and said he was "unmoved" by her excuses for the outing  her friend earlier claimed that she was picking up a donation of masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Ramaphosa said the law must be allowed to take its course in determining whether she breached lockdown regulations. He also demanded a public apology, which Ndabeni-Abrahams delivered shortly thereafter, asking South Africans to "find it in your hearts to forgive me".

Story continues

She wasn't the first public figure to flout new coronavirus-related rules. On Sunday Scotland's chief medical officer, Caroline Calderwood, resigned after she visited her country home during lockdown  twice. Earlier this week, New Zealand's health minister, David Clark, was demoted after being photographed going biking and taking his family to the beach.

Ramaphosa's next big challenge will be a decision whether to extend the current lockdown, which is supposed to be lifted on April 17.

While the country is rolling out mobile coronavirus test stations, so far testing has not been widespread and there are concerns that with the arrival of colder autumn temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere it may be too early to lift restrictions.

The current stringent measures have also brought unexpected benefits.

Many emergency rooms are unusually quiet as the impact of restrictions on travel and alcohol sales ban are seen in fewer car accidents and a sharp fall in crime. In the first week of lockdown, only 94 murders were recorded in the country  from 326 in the same week in 2019. The number of rapes was down 86%.

Still, the enormous damage to an economy which was already grappling with sky-high unemployment and a recession  even before the pandemic  may persuade Ramaphosa to at least ease restrictions.

Read the original article on Business Insider
business AMFI March data: Liquid funds most hit; inflows into equity funds surge despite volatility The suffering category was Hybrid schemes category. Within this category, Balanced funds' category registered outflows of Rs 1,515 crore and Arbitrage Funds saw a huge unprecedented outflow of Rs 33,767 crores in March.
Unionized hospitality workers wait in line in a basement garage to apply for unemployment benefits at the Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 13, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

Extra $600 in Unemployment Benefits Coming This Week for People in Several States

Some states are will issue an additional $600 per week for people on unemployment insurance amid the CCP virus pandemic.

These weekly payments are part of the $2.2 trillion package, known as the CARES Act, that was passed in Congress and signed into law last month.

The U.S. Department of Labor issued federal guidance to states on how to send out the extra money over the weekend, coming about a week after the package was signed, CNN reported.

For example, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development confirmed to local news outlet TwinCities.com that 11.4 percent of the states labor force applied for unemployment during the pandemic, and he added that Minnesota will become one of the first states to dole out an extra $600 per week.

As soon as the CARES Act became law, our team at [Department of Employment and Economic Development] got to work putting the technology in place to support these payments and ensure that we were ready to get the money to Minnesotans in need, commissioner Steve Grove said in a statement. With a record number of unemployment applications, we know this is an uncertain and challenging time for many. It was critical that we act swiftly and provide this additional compensation without delay.

Visitors to the New York State Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel on March 18, 2020, due to closures over CCP virus concerns in New York City. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

In Georgia, that money will start going out starting next Monday, April 13, AJC reported.

Well be ahead of most of the other states, said Kersha Cartwright, spokeswoman for the Georgia Labor Department, told the paper. We think we will be in the front pack.

Authorities in New Jersey also confirmed that the new weekly payments will go out starting at the end of the week.

We fully anticipate claimants will begin to see the $600 weekly supplement the end of this week, though that is not a guarantee, said state Labor Department spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi to NJ.com.

The New Jersey Department of Labors website, as of Wednesday, wrote that it has intended to begin issuing the additional $600/week compensation the end of the week of April 5, for payment of week of March 29th benefits.

Kentucky officials said the extra payments will be sent out starting on April 9.

Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the development, saying the state has received the funding stream, according to WYMT.

Those who are eligible include those whose workplace was closed due to the public health emergency, a person who had to quit due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, a person who cannot work because theyre a caregiver to someone whose school or facility was shut down, and a person who was slated to start a new job but it fell through or cannot get there due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.

Amid business shutdowns and layoffs, more than 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance over the past several weeks, according to Labor Department data. Economists and analysis have said they expect that number to rise even further.
Less than a week after the government started issuing loans to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump and congressional leaders say the funding is in danger of running out.

Theyve called for a $251 billion expansion of the small business loan program included in the $2 trillion stimulus package that Congress approved last month. The Senate is expected to vote Thursday.

But the package could be delayed as Democrats push for an additional $250 billion in relief, including $100 billion for hospitals, $150 billion for state and local government, and more money for food stamps.

Bay Area Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said that while he supports expanding loans for small businesses, there are other immediate holes in the system that should be fixed at the same time.

Im not sure why the Senate would push back on this, Thompson told The Chronicle. Why would someone not want to help the people that need help?

Congress has already earmarked $349 billion for the Paycheck Protection Programs forgivable loans, part of the Cares Act stimulus package, to help companies with 500 or fewer employees stay afloat.

More than $70 billion has already been issued in over 220,000 loans, and the Trump administration has warned the money will soon be exhausted given the level of demand.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has been ambivalent about whether Senate Democrats would block a vote to expand the small business loan program if their other requests arent met.

The American people need to know that their government is there for them in their time of great need, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said in a statement.

Given the Senates procedural rules, Democrats have leverage to prevent a vote by the GOP. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, but need 60 votes to pass a bill.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said that lawmakers must act swiftly, and suggested the extra $251 billion could be approved by a voice vote, which wouldnt require all senators to return to the Capitol and risk spreading the virus.

It is quickly becoming clear that Congress will need to provide more funding or this crucial program may run dry, McConnell said in a statement. That cannot happen.

Lawmakers have described the bill as an interim fix to the loan program as Congress negotiates a larger stimulus package some are calling Cares Act 2 to provide relief. The larger bill could include money for major infrastructure projects, paid family and medical leave for more workers, and stronger workplace safety protections.

Some Republican senators have accused Democrats of using the Paycheck Protection Program expansion to push for wish list items that could be in a later package.

Senate Democrats should drop their shameful threat to block this funding immediately, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement. Our small businesses desperately need help  now.

Since the outset, the Paycheck Protection Program has been mired in confusion. Banks have said unclear guidance from the Trump administration makes them hesitant to provide loans. Businesses have been frustrated because many large banks wont accept applications or have limited eligibility to existing customers.

Tom Low of Pivot Consulting in Oakland, which provides accounting and financial services to nonprofits and small businesses, has helped four clients apply for loans.

He said it took 20 to 25 minutes to fill out the applications, but a person could waste an entire day trying to understand the rules, which still seem to be in flux. The program offers businesses with 500 or fewer employees up to $10 million in forgivable loans to cover payroll, rent and utilities.

My advice is, get as close as you can based on what you know today, and then get in the queue so you dont get shut out if they run out of money, Low said.

Concerns that the money will soon run out are amplified for self-employed workers. Self-employed people and independent contractors, such as Uber drivers and real estate agents, are also eligible for the program. But under program rules, they cant start applying until Friday.

That extra week delay could make it hard for many to find lenders before the money runs out.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Independent contractors are less likely to have existing loan relationships with banks, which could slow their application process, said Daryn McBeth, a Minneapolis attorney.

Bookkeeping will be an aspect that self-employed people and independent contractors need to tackle, Macbeth said. Since the loans are based on 2.5 times monthly payroll, they need to show their income, perhaps via tax statements  although they often deduct many expenses, reducing their revenues. Once its time to seek forgiveness of the loan, they need to document how they paid themselves.

The independent contractors and Uber drivers of the world may need some hand-holding to get that done, he said. The mechanics of the Paycheck Protection Program are not a natural fit for independent contractors.

There is no requirement about what work, if any, the workers perform, whether conventionally or self-employed. The loans simply cover paying salaries, no matter how the workers are occupied, Macbeth said.

There is no litmus test for productivity or revenue generation a loan recipient needs to meet, he said.

Finding a bank thats able and willing to accept applications can be the biggest hurdle. Wells Fargo, for example, had previously been unable to lend to many small businesses due to an asset cap imposed after the banks fake-account scandal.

But Wells Fargo said Wednesday it would immediately expand its participation in the program after the Federal Reserve temporarily lifted the asset cap.

Due to the extraordinary disruptions from the coronavirus, the Fed said Wednesday, it will temporarily and narrowly modify the growth restriction on Wells Fargo so that it can make more small business loans as part of the payroll-loan program and the Federal Reserves forthcoming Main Street Lending Program.

Last week, Wells said it planned to distribute $10 billion in PPP loans to current customers, focusing on nonprofits and businesses with fewer than 50 employees. In a press release Wednesday, Wells Fargo said it would begin accepting new applications Wednesday afternoon from a broader set of its small business and nonprofit customers. Applicants can get more information on the Wells Fargo website.

Dustin Gardiner, Kathleen Pender and Carolyn Said are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, kpender@sfchronicle.com, csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner, @csaid, @kathpender
The first-ever research on mantis shrimp navigation, by UMBC's Rickesh Patel, finds they use the sun, polarized light patterns, and internal cues--in that order--to make direct paths home after forays away from their burrows

Mantis shrimps have earned fame for their powerful punching limbs, incredibly unusual eyes, and vivid exoskeletons. And, it turns out, they're also really good at finding their way home. Through a series of painstaking experiments with these often-uncooperative creatures, Rickesh Patel has produced new findings on mantis shrimp navigation, published this week in Current Biology.

Patel, a Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences at UMBC, found that the species of mantis shrimp he investigated relies on the sun, patterns in polarized light, and internal cues--in that order--to navigate directly back to their non-descript burrows. These straight-line returns often follow forays that meander and zig zag as the shrimp looks for a meal or a mate. The ability to get home quickly comes in handy when seeking shelter in the presence of predators, or a perceived one, as Patel noted on his first research fieldwork expedition.

After his first year at UMBC, Patel traveled with Tom Cronin's lab to Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef to collect mantis shrimp for study. "As soon as they notice you, they'll turn around and zip straight to some sort of shelter," Patel says. Like a true scientist, "That got me wondering how they go about finding their way home."

A crucial starting point

Scientists have written a great deal on navigation in other species--primarily bees, ants, and mice--but Patel's is the first work on navigation in mantis shrimp.

First, Patel had to find a behavior he could work with to test ideas about how mantis shrimp navigate. So he created a small arena with an artificial shrimp burrow buried in sand. He placed the shrimp in the arena, and to his delight, the mantis shrimp was happy to occupy the small section of PVC pipe. Then he placed a piece of food at a distance from the burrow. He watched as the shrimp left its burrow, meandered until it found the food, and then returned to its burrow in a fairly straight line.

From those initial observations, Patel hypothesized that mantis shrimps use a process called path integration to find their way home. In other words, they are somehow able to track both their distance and direction from their burrow.

"That was probably the most exciting part of the experiments for me, because I knew I had a really robust behavior that I could work with," Patel says. "Everything I did really extended from that initial point."

Sunshine surprise

After that first discovery, the challenging work began, to figure out what cues the animals were using to determine the path home.

Patel built eight much larger arenas, each about 1.5 meters in diameter, to run his experiments. The first question he asked was whether the shrimp were using internal or external cues to go home.

To test that, Patel created a setup that rotated the animal 180 degrees as it retrieved the food. If the shrimp was using external cues to remember its distance and direction from home, it would still head in the right direction. If it was using internal cues, based on the orientation of its own body, it would head in the opposite direction. In the first round of trials, the animals consistently headed in the exact opposite direction.

"That was really cool, but it didn't make a lot of sense," Patel says, "because an internal compass is going to be a lot less accurate than something that is tied to the environment." Then it hit him: "We just happened to have a really overcast week when I did these experiments, so I waited until we had a clear day, and then every time, they went right back home."

Putting together the puzzle

Patel realized that his experiment perfectly demonstrated the hierarchy of cues used by the animals. They used external cues first, but when those weren't available, they used internal cues.

That was the beginning of a long series of creative experiments that further teased out how these animals navigate. When Patel used a mirror to trick the animals into thinking the sun was coming from the opposite direction, they went the wrong way. This indicated they use the sun as a primary cue. When it was cloudy but not totally dark, they used polarization patterns in light, which are still detectable when it's overcast. And when the sky was completely covered, they reverted to their internal navigation system.

A varied skill set

For Patel, creating the experimental arenas--essentially, the shrimp obstacle course--was almost as fun as getting the results. "That's something I really enjoy--building things, creating things," he shares. Patel studied art and biology as an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach. "I think those skills lent me a hand in designing my experiments."

Other skills Patel needed were patience and perseverance. "The animals will only behave maybe once a day, so if you scare the animal, you've lost that day," he says.

For example, one of the experiments involved putting the animals on a track that pulled them to a new position, and seeing where they headed from there. "If the track is too jerky or goes too fast, they get scared and just don't behave," Patel says. "So I had to design the experiment so that it was so gentle they didn't realize they were being moved."

New questions

All of Patel's patience has paid off with new findings that open up an array of future questions to answer. While path integration is well-documented in other species, mantis shrimp are the first to demonstrate the technique underwater. Looking up at the sky through water is a very different view than doing so through air, so Patel is curious how the animals' process is different from other species.

Patel is also ultimately interested in the neural basis of navigation behavior, but "before you can investigate what's happening in the brain, you have to understand what the animal's doing," he says. "So that's why I really focused on the behavior work, to figure out what the animal is doing and what kind of stimuli are appropriate to show the animal that we can use to investigate its neurology."

So far, other work has demonstrated that a brain region called the central complex has uncanny similarities between insects and mantis shrimps. This is especially interesting considering how far apart bees and shrimp are on the tree of life. The central complex is known to contribute to navigation in bees, so Patel is intrigued to learn more about its function in mantis shrimp. Alice Chou, another graduate student in the Cronin lab, is also investigating the brain structures of mantis shrimp.

UMBC to Europe

Other scientists in the U. S. and around the world are also interested in this work. Patel's research, like other work in his mentor's lab, is supported by the Air Force. They would like to know more about how animals use polarized light for navigation, on land and underwater, in hopes of imitating it in human-made systems.

Patel will have the chance to work on some of these questions as he continues his research career at Lund University in Sweden as a postdoctoral fellow, starting this summer. Right now, he's thankful for the experience he's had at UMBC, from that first summer through his dissertation research.

Patel says he benefited from being the mentee of Tom Cronin, professor of biological sciences and a preeminent scholar of mantis shrimp vision. "Tom has been great in that he's given me complete freedom to approach any question I want to, while also being happy to offer advice when asked," Patel says. "That combination has helped me grow into my own as a researcher."

With this initial paper and more on the way, Patel has made the most of that freedom. His next chapter is sure to be one of further discovery.

###
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has claimed that country was not a part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) trade officials discussion since the SAARC Secretariat was not part of the video conference. The discussion was organized by India.

READ: SAARC Trade Officials Agree To Work On Larger Framework For Boosting Intra-region Trade

Pakistan gives meeting a miss

The conference was convened to discuss the impact of coronavirus in the region and how the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) forum could come up with a common strategy.

In the virtual conference, the trade officials broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

READ: SAARC Health Professionals Meet To Discuss Coronavirus Measures Postponed

The deliberations took place as a follow up to an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested in the conference that the member nations of the bloc should come together to jointly fight the pandemic.

Shortly after the conference, Pakistan's Foreign Office in a statement said, "Activities such as today's Trade Officials' Video-Conference could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat. Since the SAARC Secretariat was not part of today's Video-Conference, Pakistan chose not to participate." "The role of the secretariat assumes further salience in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's wider social and economic fallout," the Foreign Office added.

The SAARC is a grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

READ: SAARC Nations Join Hands To Combat COVID-19 Threat; Pledge Generous Contributions

In the meeting, SAARC countries broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The officials also deliberated on creating a larger framework of trade facilitation and highlighted the need to enhance the quantum of intra SAARC trade as the pandemic is likely to have a considerable impact on the region, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

This is the second SAARC meeting in a month after PM Modi called for a meeting and a discussion to fight coronavirus collectively.

READ: Supreme Court Orders Free COVID-19 Related Testing In Government And Private Labs
Seattle is giving its army field hospital back to the Federal Emergency Management Agency so that it can be sent to a harder-hit state, as Washington's curve of new infections starts to flatten.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that the emergency field hospital set up by the Army Corps of Engineers will be disassembled and redeployed to a state more in need of the site.

Inslee said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon that the facility is no longer needed as hospitals seem to have brought the outbreak under control and social distancing has slowed the spread of the virus in Washington.

Military personnel set up the field hospital at CenturyLink Event Center on March 31. Seattle is now giving its army field hospital back to the Federal Emergency Management Agency so that it can be sent to a harder-hit state

'Our community mitigation measures, combined with the amazing work of our hospitals and health care providers throughout the region, as well as our procurement of various hospital supplies, lends us to believe that at this point, our hospitals should have enough capacity to support a surge in patients,' Inslee said.

'With that said, I'm incredibly appreciative of the men and women from the 627th Hospital Center out of Fort Carson in Colorado. These soldiers uprooted their lives to help Washingtonians when we needed them most.

'Since then, it's become apparent that other states need them more than we do. It's only right that we release this capability so those states have the tools necessary to help end this nation-wide fight that we are all battling together.'

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that the emergency field hospital set up by the Army Corps of Engineers is not needed by the state and will be disassembled and redeployed somewhere more in need of the site

Inslee emphasized that this does not mean the state is 'out of the woods' and encouraged Washingtonians to continue to follow social distancing guidelines.

'Don't let this decision give you the impression that we are out of the woods. We have to keep our guard up and continue to stay home unless conducting essential activities to keep everyone healthy,' Inslee said.

Inslee said the state had originally called on the federal government to provide more hospital beds before social distancing measures had helped slow the spread.

'We requested this resource before our physical distancing strategies were fully implemented and we had considerable concerns that our hospitals would be overloaded with COVID-19 cases. But we haven't beat this virus yet,' he said.

The CenturyLink Field Event Center was converted into a makeshift 250-bed hospital to treat non-COVID-19 patients, in preparation for a nightmare scenario where the state's hospitals became overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.

Soldiers converted the CenturyLink Field Event Center into a makeshift 250-bed hospital to treat non-COVID-19 patients, in preparation for a nightmare scenario where the state's hospitals became overwhelmed with coronavirus patients

How the center usually looks. The emergency hospital has not seen a single patient

Nearly 300 soldiers spent several days building the emergency facility in the exhibition space, which was completed just days ago.

It will now be dismantled before it has even seen a single patient and returned to FEMA to send to another state harder-hit by the pandemic.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday that the city's hospitals had a strong supply of resources and beds so it is the 'right decision' to allow other states to access the facility in their hours of need.

'Understanding that our hospitals in our region have capacity, including ICU beds and ventilators, we are making the right decision to allow other cities to have these resources and capacity,' she said.

'While Seattle fought hard for these resources, it's clear other communities are in desperate need of this high-quality medical facility and personnel.'

A cleaning crew exits the Life Care Center on March 11 in Kirkland, Washington. The state became one of the first US hotspots for the virus when an outbreak flooded the nursing home

A medical assistant at a drive-up clinic set up by the University of Washington Medical Center

Washington state has stocked up an additional 1,000 hospital beds and more than 900 ventilators in case of another surge of coronavirus cases.

It will also use the former Astria Regional Medical Center in Yakima as a 250-bed field hospital in Central Washington if needed.

Governor Inslee previously made a similar move with the state's supply of ventilators when he returned 400 of the 500 ventilators it had received from the federal government, so they could go to states in greater need.

The total number of coronavirus infections in Washington state has reached 8,394 and the death toll stands at 383.

The rate of new deaths seemed to be falling, with 400 recorded on April 6 compared to the state's record high of 624 on April 4.

Research from the University of Washington has predicted that the death toll in Washington has already peaked.

President Trump has praised Washington's response to the pandemic, after the state became one of the first hotspots for the virus when an outbreak flooded the Life Care Center nursing home back in early March.

'If you look at Washington state, if you remember that all started in a very confined nursing home,' said Trump at the end of March.

'And you had 20-odd people dying in that one home but it didn't mean it escaped that home, which means they have a very different statistic to other states.'

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, has also praised its response.

'California and Washington state reacted very early to all this. Washington state had some of the earliest infections. They have kept it low and steady,' said Birx.
ISIL claims responsibility for Bagram airbase attack, which comes weeks after Taliban-US troop withdrawal deal.

Five rockets have hit a important US airbase in Afghanistan but there were no casualties, the NATO-led force in Afghanistan has said, in an attack claimed by ISIL (ISIS).

The attack comes weeks after the Taliban and the United States reached a deal on the withdrawal of US-led international troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

The Afghan affiliate of ISIL, known as the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), have not been included in the pact.

Five rockets were fired at Bagram airfield early this morning, the NATO-led mission, Resolute Support, said on Twitter on Thursday, referring to the main US airbase in Afghanistan, north of Kabul.

There were no casualties.

ISIS-K said in a statement on social media that their fighters had targeted a helicopter landing pad at Bagram.

A Taliban spokesman said on Twitter that his group was not behind the attack.

ISIS-K first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, and has since made inroads into other areas, particularly the north.

The US military estimates their strength at 2,000 fighters. Some Afghan officials estimate the number is higher.

ISIS-K fighters, who battle foreign and Afghan government forces as well as the Taliban, have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistans urban centres in recent years.

Last month, ISIS-K gunmen attacked a Sikh religious complex in the capital, killing 25 people.

Prisoners release

The Taliban, as part of their agreement with the US, have promised to open peace talks with the US-backed Afghan government but little progress has been made.

The Afghan government has begun the release of Taliban prisoners from a jail near the Bagram base, a step seen as an attempt to build confidence for the Taliban talks.

A hundred Taliban members were scheduled to be freed on Thursday from detention at a jail near the base, following the release on Wednesday of another 100 Taliban members.

The prisoner exchange deal means the government would free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and the Taliban would release 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces in exchange.
The number COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh increased to 410 on Thursday, with 49 more people testing positive of the infection, officials said.

Four people have died in the state from the novel coronavirus till now. One death each has been reported from Meerut, Basti, Varanasi and Agra districts.

The total number of cases on Wednesday was 361.

Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said as many as 410 people have tested positive so far in 40 districts of the state.

Of the total cases, 225 are linked to last month's Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, he said, adding that a total of 31 people have recovered so far.

Prasad said wearing masks while venturing out has been made mandatory in the state under the Epidemic Act.

Wearing mask has been made mandatory in the state. If any citizen has to go out of the house under special circumstances then it is compulsory for him to put a mask, in case of violation of the rule, strict action will be taken against such a person, he said.

A bulletin issued here said t19 fresh cases were reported from Agra, taking the total number of cases there to 83. Of the total cases in Agra, 43 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat, it said.

Gautam Budh Nagar district has 63 COVID-19 cases, Meerut (38), Lucknow (29), Ghaziabad (25), Saharanpur (20), Shamli (17), Firozabad (11) and Sitapur (10), the bulletin said.

Kanpur and Varanasi have nine cases each; Bulandshahr and Basti eight cases each; Maharajganj, Pratapgarh and Bareilly six cases each; Ghazipur, Rampur and Baghpat five cases each; and Azamgarh, Hathras, Muzaffarnagar, Jaunpur and Lakhimpur Kheri four cases each, it said.

There are three COVID-19 cases in Hapur; two each in Pilibhit , Banda, Mirzapur, Rae Bareli , Auraiya, Kaushambi, Mathura , Amroha and Hardoi; and one case each in Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Bijnore, Prayagraj, Badaun, the bulletin said,



Prasad said 9,441 isolation beds have been made available in the state so far and efforts are being made to increase this number.

He said in small cities where there are no big hospitals, private hospitals will be notified for treatment of coronavirus positive cases for which their patients will be shifted elsewhere.

So far, six private hospitals have been selected for this, Prasad said.

Additional Chief Secretary , Home, Awanish Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed officers to ensure supply of basic amenities in sealed hotspots and proper review of these areas.

He said Adityanath has given instructions to collect information about the number of houses and population of these hotspots. He has asked officials to ensure sanitisation on a daily basis with the help of fire tenders in hotspot areas.

Apart from the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the hotspot areas, Adityanath has given instructions to senior officers to review the number of suspects and how many have been asked to remain in quarantine, Awasthi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Europe will see more partnerships for integrated care from the evolution of electronic health records, finds Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The electronic medical record (EMR) market is likely to register impressive growth across Europe as it evolves into a more comprehensive electronic health record (EHR) with the rapid transformation of the healthcare information technology (IT) landscape. Governments' and healthcare authorities' strong focus on integrated healthcare, population health management (PHM), care coordination, and patient engagement-and aim to reduce the overall economic burden on the healthcare system-is boosting the growth of the market and driving the evolution of EHR in the region.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1142971/Medical_electronic_health_records.jpg

"Integrated care delivery and focus on PHM are driving the demand for EHR across Europe. Regulatory bodies hold a critical position in this evolution," said Chandni Mathur, Industry Analyst, Transformational Health, Frost & Sullivan. "Unfortunately, health systems in Europe have been overwhelmed by fighting coronavirus currently. At this time of crisis, EHR companies are offering support by pushing out COVID-19 updates to all customers that are helping in profiling patients and screening efforts."

Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Growth Opportunities from the Evolution of Electronic Health Record (EHR) in Europe, Forecast to 2024, covers Mega Trends impacting the growth of EHR in Europe, including market drivers and restraints, prominent market participants, vendor ecosystem by key regions in Europe, EMR maturity and EHR readiness, and a competitive analysis. The total European EMR market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9% to reach US$4.26 billion from 2019 to 2024. The Scandinavian countries have more mature EMR markets as they explore innovation to support healthcare aims such as better population health and patient engagement.

For further information on this analysis, please visit: http://frost.ly/420.

"Vendors must focus ahead and strengthen their offerings to support the 'Quadruple Aim' of healthcare systems, especially care team wellbeing and reducing physician burnout," said Mathur. "Key stakeholders, from doctors to allied health professionals, will increasingly be involved in the EHR selection process."

Patient data privacy and security concerns, lack of a standardized EHR format to promote data sharing, reliance on legacy systems and a cultural mindset of not accepting change are restraining the market growth. However, the establishment of health information exchanges (HIEs), focus on improving interoperability and creating policies for traversing legal barriers to cross-border healthcare will favor EHR adoption, exposing growth opportunities for the vendors that take advantage of the following trends:

Integrated care technology will gain momentum in the EMR market in Europe . This encourages EMR companies to partner or develop integrated care functionalities internally to succeed in the European markets.

This encourages EMR companies to partner or develop integrated care functionalities internally to succeed in the European markets. The success of EMR implementation depends on its ease of use and user-friendliness. This presents strong growth prospects for vendors as they can offer a value-added service that has the potential to become a mainstream application.

This presents strong growth prospects for vendors as they can offer a value-added service that has the potential to become a mainstream application. Not all EMR software offers a built-in device connectivity capability; hence, EMR/EHR vendors can tap opportunities by addressing the unmet need in this space. They can partner with or acquire connectivity participants.

hence, EMR/EHR vendors can tap opportunities by addressing the unmet need in this space. They can partner with or acquire connectivity participants. A shift in healthcare systems toward population healthcare management is encouraging vendors to invest significantly in data analysis capabilities and move away from simple data repositories.

Growth Opportunities from the Evolution of Electronic Health Record (EHR) in Europe, Forecast to 2024 is the latest addition to Frost & Sullivan's Transformational Health research and analyses available through the Frost & Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Growth Opportunities from the Evolution of Electronic Health Record (EHR) in Europe, Forecast to 2024

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Mariana Fernandez

Corporate Communications

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U.S. FDA Approves BRAFTOVI (Encorafenib) in Combination with Cetuximab for the Treatment of BRAFV600E-Mutant Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (CRC) After Prior Therapy

Details Category: Small Molecules Published on Thursday, 09 April 2020 09:13 Hits: 1723

BRAFTOVI plus cetuximab is the first-and-only FDA-approved targeted regimen specifically for adults with previously treated metastatic CRC with a BRAFV600E mutation

NEW YORK, NY, USA I April 08, 2020 I Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BRAFTOVI (encorafenib) in combination with cetuximab (marketed as ERBITUX) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) with a BRAFV600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after prior therapy.1 The approval is based on results from the BEACON CRC trial, the only Phase 3 trial to specifically study patients with previously treated metastatic CRC with a BRAFV600E mutation.

We are pleased by the FDAs approval of BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab, as we are committed to developing targeted medicines that can help people living with certain mutation-driven cancers, said Chris Boshoff, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Development Officer, Oncology, Pfizer Global Product Development. We are grateful to the patients and study investigators who participated in the Phase 3 BEACON CRC trial and are proud to now be able to offer a targeted treatment option for people with BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic CRC who have received prior therapy. Looking ahead, were committed to continuing to investigate this treatment regimen across earlier lines of therapy.

Based on results from the BEACON CRC trial, BRAFTOVI plus cetuximab showed a median overall survival (OS) of 8.4 months (95% CI: 7.5, 11.0) compared with 5.4 months (95% CI: 4.8, 6.6) for Control (irinotecan with cetuximab or FOLFIRI with cetuximab) ([HR 0.60, (95% CI: 0.45, 0.79), p=0.0003]). Additionally, BRAFTOVI plus cetuximab showed an improved objective response rate (ORR) of 20% (95% CI: 13%, 29%) compared with 2% (95% CI: 0%, 7%) for Control (p<0.0001) and median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 4.2 months with BRAFTOVI plus cetuximab (95% CI: 3.7, 5.4) versus 1.5 months with Control (95% CI: 1.4, 1.7) ([HR 0.40, (95% CI: 0.31, 0.52), p<0.0001]).

BRAF mutations are estimated to occur in up to 15% of people with metastatic colorectal cancer and represent a poor prognosis for these patients, said Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, Associate Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. As the first-and-only targeted regimen for people with BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic CRC who have received prior therapy, BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab is a much-needed new treatment option for these patients.

The most common adverse reactions (AR) ( 25%) seen in patients treated with BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab were fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, dermatitis acneiform, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, arthralgia and rash. The full prescribing information for BRAFTOVI can be found here.

The FDA granted this application Priority Review and Breakthrough Therapy designation. The FDA grants Priority Review to medicines that may offer significant advances in treatment or may provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists.

Pfizer is committed to ensuring that patients who are prescribed BRAFTOVI have access to this important treatment option. Pfizer is here to help patients in the U.S. understand their benefits and connect them with financial assistance resources for their prescribed Pfizer Oncology medicines.

For more information about treatment of BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab, visit www.braftovihcp.com.

About Colorectal Cancer

Worldwide, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer in men, and the second most common in women, with approximately 1.8 million new diagnoses in 2018.2,3 In the U.S. alone, an estimated 147,950 people will be diagnosed with cancer of the colon or rectum in 2020, and approximately 53,000 are estimated to die of their disease each year.4 BRAF mutations are estimated to occur in up to 15% of people with metastatic CRC and represent a poor prognosis for these patients.5,6,7,8,9,10 The BRAFV600E mutation is the most common BRAF mutation and the risk of mortality in CRC patients with the BRAFV600E mutation is more than two times higher than for those with wild-type BRAF.7,8 BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic CRC is an area of high unmet need as there are currently no approved therapies specifically indicated for people with BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic CRC.11,12,13

About BEACON CRC

BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab was evaluated in the randomized, active-controlled, open-label, multicenter, Phase 3 BEACON CRC trial. Eligible patients were required to have BRAFV600E mutant metastatic CRC, as detected by an FDA-approved test, with disease progression after one or two prior regimens.

Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to one of the following treatment arms:

BRAFTOVI 300 mg orally once daily in combination with cetuximab (BRAFTOVI/cetuximab arm)

BRAFTOVI 300 mg orally once daily in combination with cetuximab and binimetinib

Irinotecan with cetuximab or FOLFIRI with cetuximab (control arm)

The major efficacy outcome measure was OS. Additional efficacy outcome measures included PFS, ORR, and duration of response (DoR) as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR). OS and PFS were assessed in all randomized patients. ORR and DoR were assessed in the subset of the first 220 patients included in the randomized portion of the BRAFTOVI/cetuximab and control arm of the study. A total of 220 patients were randomized to the BRAFTOVI/cetuximab arm and 221 to the control arm.

The trial was conducted at over 200 investigational sites in North America, South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The BEACON CRC trial was conducted with support from Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Pierre Fabre and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (support is for sites outside of North America).

About BRAFTOVI (encorafenib) in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

BRAFTOVI is an oral small molecule kinase inhibitor that targets BRAF V600E. Inappropriate activation of proteins in the MAPK signaling pathway (RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK) has been shown to occur in certain cancers, including colorectal cancer.

In the U.S., BRAFTOVI is indicated, in combination with cetuximab, for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) with a BRAFV600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after prior therapy.

Limitations of Use: BRAFTOVI is not indicated for treatment of patients with wild-type BRAF CRC.

Pfizer has exclusive rights to BRAFTOVI in the U.S. and Canada. Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has exclusive rights to commercialize the product in Japan and South Korea, Medison has exclusive rights to commercialize the product in Israel and Pierre Fabre has exclusive rights to commercialize the product in all other countries, including Europe, Latin America and Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea).

About Pfizer Oncology

At Pfizer Oncology, we are committed to advancing medicines wherever we believe we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients. Today, Pfizer Oncology has an industry-leading portfolio of 22 approved innovative cancer medicines and biosimilars across more than 30 indications, including breast, prostate, kidney and lung cancers, as well as leukemia and melanoma.

Pfizer Inc.: Breakthroughs that change patients lives

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

SOURCE: Pfizer
Thought Leaders Professor Don Sin Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

News-Medical speaks to Professor Don Sin on his research into COVID-19 and its effect on smokers and people suffering from COPD.

What provoked your research in COPD and its involvement in COVID19?

We read several reports from China, which showed that smokers and those with COPD had a higher risk of severe COVID-19 pneumonia than the rest of the population.

Given that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-2 is the known entry receptor for the SARS-CoV2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, we wanted to know whether ACE-2 expression was elevated in the small airways of smokers and those with COPD.

COPD is the 3rd leading cause of deaths worldwide. Could you tell us more about COPD?

COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It used to be called emphysema, chronic bronchitis, smokers lung, asthmatic bronchitis, etc.

Image Credit: magic mine/Shutterstock.com

Since the mid-1990s, all of these old terms were abandoned in favor of COPD. COPD is characterized by the narrowing of bronchial tubes and the destruction of alveoli that leads to impairment in airflow and holes in the lung. The most common symptom is shortness of breath upon exertion and chronic cough.

Individuals with COPD develop frequent chest infections usually from viruses (such as influenza) that rapidly worsen their shortness of breath and cause them to seek medical help including emergency visits and hospitalizations.

Many, unfortunately, die from these episodes. In fact, once hospitalized for these lung attacks, the in-hospital mortality is about 10%.

What is angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE-2)?

ACE-2 is a small protein that is found in many organs including the heart, lung, colon, and kidneys. Most relevant to COVID-19 is that cells that line the nose, mouth, and bronchial tubes express (or harbor) ACE-2 on their surface.

The SARS-CoV2 virus attaches onto ACE-2 and through this protein enters into the host cell. In other words, ACE-2 is the front door through which the virus gains entry into the host.

Once the virus gets in, it uses the host cells machinery to replicate multiple times and create many daughter viruses, which then go onto to infect other cells and ultimately cause pneumonia.

Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com

Why do people who have COPD, or people who smoke have higher levels of this enzyme in their lungs?

The simple answer is that we do not know. Our best hypothesis right at the moment is that inflammation in the COPD and smokers airways causes host cells to increase expression of ACE-2.

If ACE-2 is the entry point for COVID19, what does this mean for people suffering from COPD?

Patients with COPD are at increased risk of developing severe COVID19 infection. So, it is doubly important for patients to follow socially distancing rules, good hand hygiene and the wearing of masks in public.

Because we think airway inflammation is very important for regulating ACE-2, COPD patients should use their inhalers and other medications to well-control their COPD.

Also, in your research, you noticed that the levels of ACE-2 are lower for former smokers than current smokers. Does this mean that levels of ACE-2 can reduce overtime?

Yes, we believe that ACE-2 levels are modifiable with behavior changes or with drugs. For example, when cigarette smokers quit, the ACE-2 levels in the airways significantly decrease.

What can people suffering from COPD do to protect themselves against developing COVID19?

Patients should follow general protective recommendations including social distancing, good hand hygiene, and the wearing of a mask. Patients should continue taking their inhalers and other medications for their COPD.

Do you believe that if individuals quit smoking, they could reduce their chances of developing COVID19?

Yes, quitting smoking will reduce lung inflammation and ACE-2 levels in the airways. This will decrease their risk of getting severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Could it be possible to manipulate the levels of ACE-2 to help improve the chances of survival in patients infected with COVID19?

This is an area of active research right at the moment. Many investigators around the world are working on ways to reduce ACE-2 levels in the airways without causing ACE-2 levels elsewhere in the body to be affected.

If we can just close off the front door for the virus, then the risk of COVID-19 will be significantly reduced. Right now, the best way to reduce ACE-2 levels is by stopping smoking and avoiding air pollution.

Image Credit: Gorynvd/Shutterstock.com

What is next in your research into COPD?

We are testing various medications to see whether ACE-2 levels can be decreased in the airways. We will have some answers shortly.

There are very promising existing as well as new drugs that can do this. We are also working with collaborators to develop a rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19.

Where can readers find more information?

Read Professor Sins research here

Read how St. Pauls Foundation is supporting health care workers on the front lines of COVID-19

About Professor Sin

Don Sin is the Director of the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI), and a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. He holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in COPD and the De Lazzari Family Chair at HLI.

He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and has an H-index of 93. He has served on the Global initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) scientific committee since 2009.
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Bangkok, April 9, 2020  Cambodian authorities should immediately release journalist Sovann Rithy, drop all charges against him, and let his news outlet publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Police in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh, the capital, arrested Rithy, director of the TVFB news website, in the evening of April 7, according to news reports.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Sar Theth said Rithy was detained under Article 495 of the criminal code, a provision that penalizes incitement to cause chaos and harm social security, the Cambodia Daily reported.

The charge stemmed from a post on Rithys personal Facebook page, where he has more than 450,000 followers and frequently posts his reporting, in which he quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen saying at a press conference that local motorcycle-taxi drivers should sell their vehicles if they go bankrupt due to the coronavirus crisis, and saying the government does not have the ability to help, according to that report.

Yesterday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Rithy under Article 495; if convicted, he could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to four million riels (US$1,000), reports said. The Ministry of Information also revoked TVFBs media license yesterday, alleging that the outlet had published information which contains incitement, affected social security, order and safety, according to news reports.

Rithy is being held in pre-trial detention in Phnom Penhs Police Judiciare prison, according to those reports.

The criminal charge against journalist Sovann Rithy over his direct quotation of the prime minister marks a new press freedom low for Cambodia, said Shawn Crispin, CPJs senior Southeast Asia representative. The charge should be dropped and journalists allowed to report freely on COVID-19 and any other newsworthy events concerning the nations government.

CPJ called the Phnom Penh Municipal Police Department for comment, but no one answered the call.

Cambodias legislature is considering new state of emergency legislation to combat COVID-19 that, if passed as drafted, would ban the distribution of information that could generate public alarm or fear or generate unrest, bring about damage to national security, or bring into being confusion about the state of emergency, according to reports.

The draft legislation is currently being considered by the National Legislative Assembly and must also be approved by the Senate, Constitutional Council, and the nations monarch before being enacted into law, reports said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The Department of Social Welfare and Development on Thursday admitted challenges in distributing the cash subsidy to low income families who are financially suffering due to the COVID-19 crisis, saying the problem started at the local government level.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said in a televised briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte and other Cabinet secretaries the department turned over P80 billion to its field offices as early as April 3, shortly after the Budget department released a P100 billion-emergency fund to their office.

Beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps and families with members working as public utility drivers have already received their cash subsidy this week because the DSWD has a "credible" list of these groups.

Bautista pointed out they encountered a problem when local governments failed to present a complete list of target beneficiaries.

"Dito po naranasan natin na mayroong, sabihin na natin, naging problema kasi po ang listahan ng mga taong babayaran ay hindi po available," the official said.

[Translation: Here we experienced, we can say we faced a problem because the list of beneficiaries was not available.]

"But as we continue to engage the LGU, municipal, city social welfare development offices, we were able to identify and determine what are the gaps and the shortcomings," Bautista added.

He explained they were expecting the LGUs to have a prepared tally which contains their constituents profiles and other livelihood activities.

Early this week, some of the LGUs were saying the number of beneficiaries approved by the DSWD is lower than the actual count in their communities.

In Quezon City, approved by the DSWD so far is 377,000 families, when estimates indicate there are over 700,000 qualified beneficiaries, City Administrator Mike Alimurung told CNN Philippines earlier.

Other local governments were having the same issue, including some municipalities in Cavite.

READ: Distribution of cash aid in Quezon City to begin in two weeks or later

The LGUs were previously tasked to submit their databases of qualified beneficiaries to the national government. To do this, they will distribute social amelioration cards or SAC to those applying for subsidy.

These cards, which are forms that aid in identifying whether or not a family is eligible to get an cash assistance, will then be sent back to DSWD. These are also meant to ensure there would be no duplicate entries, Bautista said.

Families covered include the homeless, those with at least one member who is on a no-work-no pay situation, a senior citizen, a solo parent, a person with disability or a pregnant and lactating woman. Full list could be accessed here.

Those in Metro Manila could get up to P8,000 while those in other regions will receive P5,000 to P6,000.

The joint memorandum, dated March 28, provides guidelines on the social amelioration measures including basing the amount each household will get on the prevailing minimum wage per region.

Aside from DSWD, the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture each have social amelioration programs. Affected workers could apply for a one-time financial assistance to DOLE.

The DTI is also implementing a P1 billion-enterprise rehabilitation financing program, which aims to help micro- small- and medium enterprises. DA, meanwhile, is offering loans and other forms of relief to those in the agriculture sector.

Bautista then urged LGUs to be vanguards in the DSWD's social amelioration program.

"Ang akin lang pong advice sa ating lahat na (My advice for us all), this is not the time for blame game. Dapat (It is a must) that we should help one another in any form we can," Bautista said.

On March 25, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law declaring the existence of a national emergency. It also granted him additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis, which includes the provision of emergency subsidy to "18 million low income households ... a month for two months."
The ban will be valid during the quarantine and 30 days after it's over

Open source

The National Commission for the State Regulation of Energy and Utilities of Ukraine (NCSREU) canceled auctions that distribute the capacity of interstate ties with Russia and Belarus for 2020, as the NCSREU press service reports.

The corresponding decision, which regulates the period of quarantine and another 30 days after its end, was adopted by the regulator at a meeting today, April 8.

"To the transmission system operator: cancel all the results of annual auctions, at which bandwidth is allocated for 2020, regarding interstate ties between Ukraine and states that are not parties to the Energy Community (Russia and Belarus, - 112 International)," - the decision said.

The regulator also instructed state-owned company Ukrenergo to refund the costs paid for capacity, which was divided at annual auctions for 2020 in terms of interstate relations between Ukraine and the abovementioned countries.

The head of the National Commission, Valery Tarasyuk, noted that such a decision was compelled due to the declared nation-wide quarantine.

"Given this situation in the country, we decided to cancel the annual auctions for bandwidth allocation. And limit to zero, that is, actually cancel, the monthly and daily auctions. In connection with the situation, every dollar should remain in the country," he said.

As we reported before, the overall volume of gas transit across Ukraine in January-March 2020 fell twice in comparison with the same period in 2014-2019.
Struggling: Tufnol boss Roy Thomason was turned down for an emergency loan

An engineering company which makes vital components for NHS hospital beds, generators and military aircraft has appealed directly to Royal Bank of Scotland boss Alison Rose after being turned down for an emergency loan.

Tufnol, which is based in Birmingham, asked Natwest for a 250,000 loan under the Government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. With a bulging order book and 70 staff to support, it hoped the state-backed lender would be willing to help.

The firm also hoped that Natwest  part of the same state -backed group as Royal Bank of Scotland  might extend it a lifeline given it makes components needed in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of its biggest orders is to make the ball bearings for the wheels on hospital beds.

Tufnol also makes parts for generators and military aircraft, including the composite lining on the windows of cockpits.

But the engineer was told it was not eligible for the loan because it was loss making before the crisis hit.

The case highlights how huge numbers of firms around the UK are likely to be turned away for support they desperately need to survive the crisis, despite an overhaul by Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to make sure banks provide more of these loans to viable companies.

Founders of dozens of leading British technology companies, including Deliveroo, Citymapper, Bulb and Blockchain have written to Sunak to complain they are unable to access the emergency loans which stipulates that a company must have made a profit in the year before the pandemic hit.

One of Tufnol biggest orders is to make the ball bearings for the wheels on hospital beds. Pictured is the Nightingale Hospital in London

They told him they have invested in expansion and innovation in preference to 'short-term profit', meaning they have been unable to get support.

The Treasury revealed on Wednesday that just 2,500 business interruption loans have been approved since the scheme was launched more than two weeks ago.

In the same period banks have been swamped with more than 300,000 enquiries from firms desperate for support.

Business groups have warned that huge numbers of firms will collapse unless banks grant more loans and speed up the application process.

And now Tufnol has gone stright to the top to complain, writing to RBS boss Rose.

Managing director Roy Thomason, 64, said: 'We are more than a viable business and have a huge amount of orders on our books  including to make components for hospital beds.

'But we are struggling with cash flow. We need the loan to fund the raw materials.'

Thomason said the application for a 250,000 loan was supported with letters and copy orders from several of the UK's largest manufacturing companies.

He added: 'Not so long ago, the public purse was used to bail out the banks  including RBS/Natwest  at a time when they needed it most.

'They seemingly have short memories. I genuinely believe the Government when it says it wants to support industry through this crisis, but our bank remains unwilling.'

A Natwest spokesman said: 'Unfortunately, not all businesses are eligible for the CBILS scheme.

'Exemptions include businesses that were experiencing financial difficulties prior to the current crisis, and in this case the business has been loss making for a number of years, with no capacity to service any additional debt.

'We understand, however, that a small element of the CBILS loan was to be used in the production of ball bearings for hospital beds, and recognising the importance of this the bank is reviewing whether there is any support it can provide in these circumstances.'
A first grade teacher really went above and beyond to encourage a student who was having a hard time with school being closed.

Kelley Close's daughter Hannah has been seeing her class on Zoom in Panama City, Florida during the pandemic, but lately the upbeat seven-year-old has been 'sad' and withdrawn.

Her teacher, Katie Ricca, noticed  and left her own five kids at home to pay Hannah a visit, sitting outside with the youngster on her front lawn to read her books and keep her engaged.

Devoted: Florida first grade teacher Katie Ricca sat in a student's driveway to read to her and chat after the student became sad during the pandemic

Y'all... Seven-year-old Hannah's mom Kelley Close shared the heartwarming image on Facebook

Katie teaches Hannah at North Bay Haven Charter Academy, and has kept busy since schools closed. In addition to regular classes, she has story time for her students every evening.

Hannah, she said, is 'normally a very cheerful young lady,' but lately that hasn't been the case, and has been abnormally quiet in class.

Boundless love: Katie has five kids of her own, whom she is homeschooling, and still holds Zoom classes and story time for her regular students

'She left the meeting early so I texted her mom to check in. My sweet student told her mom she was sad but didn't know why,' Katie told Good Morning America.

So Katie had an idea. After talking to Kelley, she turned up at the Close household with books to pay Hannah a visit.

Katie and Hannah sat out in the Close family's driveway, six feet apart, while Katie read to Hannah and talked to her.

Hannah's grateful mom shared a photo of the encounter on Facebook.

'Hannah's class has a Zoom session each evening,' she wrote.

'Last night she got really sad and kinda shut down. Today her teacher came over and hung out for a bit. They chatted, read books, and just talked.

This woman has FIVE kids at home and STILL she sat in my driveway for an hour to make sure Hannah was okay. Y'all...'

'Seeing my student upset, I knew I had to show her I care. She didn't need more math practice; she needed me to show her I understood her feelings and that she wasn't alone,' she said

Speaking to GMA, she added that the generous teacher read several books, talked about the chalk drawings around them, and discussed feelings.

'She reminded Hannah that it's OK to get bummed out every now and then, it's OK to chill out and it's even OK to cry about it if we need to,' she said. 'She reminded Hannah that even though we're separated, we're all going through the same thing at the same time.

'With all the craziness in our world right now, these are the things I want to remember about this time.'

Kelley also pointed out that is was particularly sweet for Katie to come over given that, in addition to continuing classes with her students on Zoom, she is also homeschooling her own five children.
New Delhi, April 10 : All the officials of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Thursday donated their one-day salary totalling to Rs 3.5 crore to the PM-CARES Fund to support the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The country's internal intelligence agency extended its hand following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for countrymen to contribute to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) to help strengthen the fight against the dreaded virus, which has claimed 169 lives besides infecting over 5,000 people in the country.

The Director of Intelligence Bureau, Arvind Kumar, on Thursday handed over a cheque of Rs 3.5 crore to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy, and Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, were present on the occasion.

"On PM Narendra Modi's clarion call to fight the menace of Covid-19, staff of the Intelligence Bureau have donated their one-day salary (totalling Rs 3.5 crore) to PM-CARES Fund. Director IB handed over the cheque to Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier today (Thursday)," the Home Minister's office tweeted.
It seems China has been very clever in acquiring and stealing much of the knowhow and viruses, but not so clever and experienced in managing the development of biological weapons and their handling.





by Gurvinder Singh





Gurvinder Singh's posts are full of his wit and wisdom. Here is one where he discusses a very serious issue which has resulted in an international crisis.





Viruses are a natural phenomenon and there are many viruses existing in nature. However when countries spend huge amounts of money to engineer viruses with the mala fide intent to attack life we have a big problem on our hands.













America, China, Russia, France, UK and Israel have significant biological warfare weapons and they have enough stockpiles of these viruses to wipe out all human life thousand times over.





SARS (2002) and MERS (2012) epidemics were viruses that escaped BSLs (Bio Safety labs ) in China.





How do the viruses escape a high-security lab?





Every country that designs a biological weapon also works on vaccines and treatment protocols to protect their own population. Unfortunately, they have to make the biological weapon first and then can they begin development of vaccines and treatments.





The solution requires conducting of trials on human volunteers or detainees, by deliberately infecting test subjects and detaining them in quarantine. Repeated trials and observations then take place in evolving lines of effective treatments and vaccines. In such cases the test subjects either dies or heals.





The most advanced producer of biological weapons is America. It alone has spent US$120 billion employing approx. 12,400 full time 'life scientists' (death scientists) to develop biological weapons.





It seems China has been very clever in acquiring and stealing much of the knowhow and viruses, but not so clever and experienced in managing the development of biological weapons and their handling.





Though the SARS (2002) and MERS (2012) viruses were originally American products, the COVD-19 is a Chinese modification to the SARS virus, they all leaked out by China, because of their incompetence or excessive cleverness.





The epicentre of the infections of COVD-19, was Wuhan





The Wuhan Institute of Virology is China's first level-4, Bio Safety lab (BSL-4) currently working on creating most dangerous strains of viruses.





In 2015 Wuhan Institute of Virology published a report of successfully combining a bat coronavirus with a SARS virus to grow in mice. The hybrid virus was able to infect human cells.





It is now certain that due to Chinese actions or inaction, infected person/s were allowed to mix with the general public, carrying the dangerous virus within them. Each infected person in turn infecting large number of people in Wuhan and then all of the world (199 countries).





In early November of 2019, doctors noticed that they were dealing with something new which were what we now know as Coronavirus, COVID-19. When Dr. Li Wenliang the first doctor to inform fellow doctors about a possible outbreak of an illness that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Wuhan, China, he was promptly arrested along with seven other doctors and charged with anti national activities.





Dr. Li Wenliang has since died from COVID-19 Coronavirus infection on 07 Feb 2020, but after revealing shocking truth about a cover up.





As the number of cases grew, the growing epidemic came to the attention of Chinese central leadership in Beijing. Beijing as is often the case with totalitarian regimes, instead of going public on the screw up and impending disaster, chose to do otherwise. They clamped down on all testing, reporting or information sharing on the subject. All investigations were ordered to be suspended, all records and samples were mandated to be destroyed or to be sent to Beijing.





To this blunder the communist party of China and their scientists made an even greater blunder. Overestimating their public relations skills and global perception management capabilities China began to spin lies and tried to cover up the disaster.





When the rate of infections grew alarmingly and the world began to take notice, China became even more deceptive, lied and misled the world. Shockingly WHO's (World Health Organisation) Director General Tedros and his leadership team, were found severely wanting in their understanding and sharing of the danger to all humanity. This is attributed by many to Tedros's proximity, and hence favouritism towards China.





The Chinese government on 06 Jan 2020 declared through China Daily that the virus could not travel from human to human. Tedros and team simply lapped up what was dished out them.





China not only lied but has become aggressive in condemning countries that sought to put in place travel restrictions on people coming from China, calling them racist.





Meanwhile Chinese government took a two pronged approach. Lockdown of Wuhan and secondly spinning the story of the origin of the virus from Wuhan seafood market (where live animals are sold) and not from Wuhan Institute of Virology just a few hundred metres from the market. Claiming the virus was a natural strain that mutated from live animals to humans so as to deflect the focus away from a biological weapons program that was either stupidly or over-smartly handled. That is why, suddenly dozens of video clips of Chinese eating live bats, rats etc. suddenly appeared in the media.





Since then evidence has emerged that China has lied on every count. Now driven by political and economic compulsions there is no reason to believe Chinese reports that the infections have been contained.





From the time the infections surfaced in Wuhan and complete lockdown implemented on 23 Jan 2020, approximately 5 million residents had already travelled outside of Wuhan (The Chinese new year began on Jan 25th 2020).





By some estimates, China has on date possibly several hundreds of thousands if not millions of infected people roaming around the country and the numbers growing exponentially, but not being reported.





Then why does China continue to lie?





If China accepts blame, then that will mean the end of Communist Party of China and its dream of Chinese world domination. It has no option but to continue to lie and mislead.





However in deceiving the world, China has unleashed forces of destruction that will possibly claim an estimated 65 to 100 million lives across the world. WHO itself says the fatalities will be in the millions.over next two to three years.





From 22 Jan 2020 till date (7 weeks) here is the toll 785,686 infected cases recorded, 203,395 cases tackled and 37,810 occurrences of death (19%) of closed cases, of those under treatment 5% are considered serious.





The tragedy of humanity is our understanding always trails reality. Millions of people will die before governments and the public will act responsibly and appropriately to safeguard themselves





Suspicion arises of China's deliberate release of the COVD-19 Coronavirus because of a number of actions and incidents.





For example in Feb 2020 the the Wuhan Institute of Virology applied for a patent in China for the use of Remdesivir, an experimental drug owned by Gilead Sciences which inhibits the virus in vitro





Is it not a great coincidence, that the very Wuhan institute of virology from which the Chinese virus leaked out is now applying for patents for inhibiting or curing the ailment?





In our arrogance, we underestimate the stupidity of us, humans, and the power of nature.




With the Coronavirus about to hit 1.5 million positive cases all over the world, doctors and scientists continue to learn and figure out more and more about the form, structure and characteristics of the disease.

While questions about the various stages of the virus popping up constantly, the best ways to stay safe during the pandemic and the various myths it is surrounded by, are already common knowledge.

But the latest finding talks about a rather important factor of our day to day lives, especially under the lockdown that we are in.

How long can the Coronavirus stay alive in your refrigerator?

 Unsplash

According to a February 21, 2020 report by the World Health Organisation, other Coronaviruses have survived for up to two years at -20C.



Upon further studies, viruses like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV have shown the capability of surviving for multiple days on different surfaces on the basis of a number of parameters like temperature, humidity, light, etc. The report also states that at refrigeration temperature (4C), MERS-CoV can remain viable for up to 72 hours.

 Unsplash

However, in the news coverage by NBC Bay Area it is mentioned that the SARS-CoV virus could stay alive for up to 28 days in a low-humidity, low-temperature atmosphere which is similar to the inside of an average refrigerator. They claim this on the basis of a study done by the American Society for Microbiology in 2010.



The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the ongoing pandemic behaves in a similar manner as the SARS-CoV virus.

As alarming as that sounds, there are ways to make sure that the virus does not make it to the cold and low-humid environment of the fridge.

In an interview with NBC Bay Area, Dr. Warner Greene, a leading virologist and research scientist with the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, USA explains a few preventive measures.

 pexel

1. Use a bowl of alcohol based (or soap) disinfectant to patiently wipe down every container that goes inside the fridge.



2. Considering the fact that disinfectants are hard to come by right now, Dr. Greene also suggested a DIY method as well. Mix  cups of bleach with 4 litres of water. You can also use soap with warm water.

3. You must also make sure to wipe the place where you had kept the containers before placing them in your fridge.

4. Finally wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap to get rid of any possible virus strains that got stuck to your hands while decontamination.
The UAE Cabinet, chaired by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has adopted a resolution to grant paid leave to select categories of employees at the Federal Government.

This move is part of a series of precautionary measures and procedures taken by the UAE Government to put Covid-19 pandemic under control, said a Wam news agency report.

The resolution stipulates that married employees of the Federal Government may take fully paid leave to take care of their children below the age of 16. The age condition shall not apply to people of determination, as well as in cases where a spouse is subject to self-isolation or quarantine that requires no contact with family members, upon a decision from the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

The resolution also applies to employees whose spouses work in vital health-related occupations, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and other technical jobs that require exposure to infected people, as well as employees of quarantine centres, throughout the emergency period witnessed by the country.

Pursuant to the resolution, the relevant ministry or federal authority may ask employees in essential technical occupations to work remotely instead of taking leave, the report said.

The resolution was issued in line with the UAE Governments keenness to support employees and provide them with a safe and healthy working environment, as well as to protect the health and safety of government employees and their families, during the current crisis that requires greater efforts, additional working hours, and in some cases, exposure to infected people.
All amounts expressed in US dollars

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) (TSX:ABX), operator of the Kibali gold mine, has announced a $1.5 million support program to help combat and contain the Covid-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo.



Barricks chief operating officer for the companys Africa and Middle East region, Willem Jacobs, says the company believes the current situation requires a national response from all who have the DRCs interests at heart. Barrick, as a committed partner to the DRC, has structured a detailed Covid-19 support program for the country, which was communicated to the government at the beginning of the month by Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow.

Barricks DRC country manager, Cyrille Mutombo, has met with the Prime Minister, HE Sylvestre Ilunga Ilumkamba, and informed him that Kibali had put in place measures to ensure continuity of its operations and to protect workers and their families living around the mine. This program is being managed by the mines own doctors and health workers, who are experienced in dealing with deadly infections such as Ebola. This new package was an addition to those efforts and includes the supply of critical equipment to the value of $632,000 at the national level, $488,000 at the provincial level and $380,000 at the local level.

The Prime Minister noted that the DRC had launched a National Solidarity Fund for Covid-19 and said he was delighted that Barrick was among the first to respond with such a substantial contribution. He requested the Minister of Health along with the Covid-19 task team to work with Kibali to identify priorities on which to focus its contribution. Acknowledging that the remotely situated mine had been transforming the area since it began operating 10 years ago, he said that the government would work with the company on the operating challenges it faces.

Kibali has also offered the early payment of taxes, which the government has welcomed, and the company is currently discussing the details with the Ministry of Finance and the tax authorities.

Barrick enquiries

Investor and media relations

Kathy du Plessis

+44 20 7557 7738

Email: barrick@dpapr.com

Website: www.barrick.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information



Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to Barricks strategy or future financial or operating performance, constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words help, contain, support, will, believe, engage, promise, offer and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to financial support and preventative measures implemented by the Kibali gold mine to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; efforts to support provincial and local stakeholders as well as regional health authorities and community information programs with respect to the pandemic; and the potential early payment of taxes by the Kibali gold mine.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions; including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by Barrick as at the date of this press release in light of managements experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with Covid-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues; failure to comply with environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities, including geotechnical challenges, and disruptions in the maintenance or provision of required infrastructure and information technology systems; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies, and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in the DRC; lack of certainty with respect to foreign legal systems, corruption and other factors that are inconsistent with the rule of law; risks associated with illegal and artisanal mining; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; timing of receipt of, or failure to comply with, necessary permits and approvals; litigation and legal and administrative proceedings; damage to the Barricks reputation due to the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including negative publicity with respect to the Barricks handling of environmental matters or dealings with community groups, whether true or not; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties, or over access to water, power, and other required infrastructure; employee relations including loss of key employees; increased costs and physical risks, including extreme weather events and resource shortages, related to climate change; and availability and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labor. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, and gold bullion, copper cathode, or gold or copper concentrate losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks).

Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the SEC and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements, and the risks that may affect Barricks ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Barrick disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Ngo Khac Vu, a teacher in central Quang Ngai Province, has a special way of spreading updated information on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to those with limited internet access.

Ngo Khac Vu distributes face masks to traders at a local market in Mo Duc District in central Quang Ngai Province. Photo tuoitre.vn

At 5.30 am every morning, Vu grabs a bag containing leaflets on COVID-19, medical face masks and boxes of soap and rides his bike to local markets in his hometown in Mo Duc District.

At these markets, he approaches people who do not wear face masks, mostly elderly people and traders, and gives each a box of soap, a medical face mask and the leaflet on preventive measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ive got the information from the Ministry of Health and print it out for local people. Ive got a printer, so its convenient to make these leaflets as a way of protecting myself and the community, he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Vu is a teacher at Mo Duc 2 High School in Mo Duc District. In the middle of March, the school was required to temporarily close to prevent the spread of the disease. Vu came to a local market and realised few people, especially the elderly who were the most vulnerable to the pandemic, did not wear face masks.

He asked an elderly woman why she didnt wear a face mask and received an indifferent attitude from the old woman.

Vu thought he must do something to improve it.

Giving them information alone would bring little effectiveness. A bag of gifts, including a face mask and soaps for them to use instantly, would be a better solution.

Vu decided to spend his money on the two essential items. He started giving out gifts combined with information on COVID-19 at local markets in Duc Chanh, Duc Nhuan, Duc Hiep, Duc Thang, and Duc Loi communes.

The first photos on his act of kindness on Facebook received attention and support from netizens. The more people found out about his act, the more money he has received to continue the job.

Vu purchased anti-bacterial cloth masks as they can be reusable. He told traders and street vendors to read carefully the guidelines on how to use the face masks, reminded them to wash their hands regularly and instructed them to provide medical declarations in case they owned a smartphone.

So far, approximately 3,500 face masks have been distributed to local people.

Ba Phuong, a 76-year-old resident in Duc Chanh Commune, said she got used to wearing face masks whenever she went out. She even asked her children to buy and wear face masks and clean their hands right after they went home.

Vu also distributed face masks at the reception office of the local peoples committee and health clinics of five communes as a way of supporting those who worked for local people during the pandemic crisis.

Le Minh Viet, chairman of Duc Loi Communes Peoples Committee said the face masks were put in the office for those who needed them.

Currently, Vu said he ordered an enterprise in central Da Nang City to make cloth face masks to distribute to patients and their relatives at Quang Ngai General Hospital.

I just want to make a humble contribution to the fight against the disease and help stamping out the disease soon, he said.



Initiative on disseminating COVID-19 information

Nguyen Vang Loc carries a speaker to disseminate information on COVID-19 pandemic in his hometown in northern Lang Son Province. Photo tienphong.vn

Nguyen Vang Loc, a 70-year-old man in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, has his own way of disseminating information on COVID-19 to local people in his hometown.

Loc contacted a local Youth Union in Dong Dang Town in Cao Loc District to gather instructions from the Government and the province about the prevention of the COVID-19 epidemic. He then summarised it, recorded it on his cell phone and used a speaker to disseminate the information.

Almost every day, Loc rides his motorbike carrying the loudspeaker disseminating the latest information on the epidemic around the town. He has been doing it since February.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc, a trader at Dong Dang Market, said she heard the information from Loc twice a day at 6.30am and 5pm.

We like the information from Loc as he always updates the information and includes guidelines from the health sector on what we should do and how we do it to stay safe, she told Tien Phong (Vaguards) newspaper.

Lam Quach Nhu, secretary of the Dong Dang Town Youth Union said Loc, in coordination with local youth, has strengthened dissemination on the COVID-19 prevention.

The work has attracted a large number of people and improved the public awareness of the pandemic, he added. VNS

Loudspeakers transmit COVID-19 developments in Vietnam Loudspeakers, text messages, public notices and elevator screens are being used in Hanoi and other provinces to keep people updated about the prevention of COVID-19.
Marriott, Hilton and a host of smaller chains and hotels are now offering rooms for free or at deep discounts to health care workers and first responders on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. To get the free rooms, the workers must be part of a number of professional organizations that will facilitate the transaction.

The U.S. hotel industry certainly has plenty of empty rooms to contribute to the effort. U.S. hotel occupancy (percentage of rooms occupied) during the last full week of March was just 22.6%, a drop of 67.5% from the same week a year ago, according to hotel data trackers at STR. The research firm is predicting that the full year 2020 will be the worst year on record for hotel occupancy.

Marriott International said this week that it has created a program to provide up to $10 million in free room nights to health care workers in major U.S. cities that are among the hardest hit by coronavirus outbreaks. The chain expects to provide 100,000 room nights to doctors and nurses in cities including New York, Newark, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New Orleans.

Marriott is also offering special "community caregiver rates" at many hotels around the country. For example, the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco is offering a rate of just $126 per night. The Courtyard San Francisco Union Square has a special $98/night rate. In New York City, rates at Marriott's Courtyard properties are as low as $79 per night. Thankfully "resort fees" are off the table. More about those "QWO" rates here.

If you are a health care worker in need of accommodation, contact the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) or the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), which are helping to identify health care responders in need of overnight stays. Currently, it appears that the free rooms are available to dues-paying members of these organizations only. ENA membership starts about $115 per year.

Similarly, Hilton and American Express have launched a program offering free hotel rooms to members of a wider swath of organizations. The program "will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May."

The rooms are available from April 12 to May 31 to members of the following professional organizations:

American Association of Critical Care Nurses

American College of Emergency Physicians

American Hospital Association

American Nurses Association

Emergency Medicine Residents Association

Emergency Nurses Association

National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

Society of Critical Care Medicine

Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants

Society of Hospital Medicine

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Red Roof Inns is offering a special $29 rate at most of its U.S. hotels; that's a nice deal for health care workers, or any kind of worker who is stuck at home and needs a place to get away to work or sleep. Also, the Red Roof home page states that the chain is offering a limited number of hotel rooms for free to health care workers and first responders in need of a place to sleep or stay between shifts.

Airbnb says that it has "partnered with hosts to connect 100,000 health care staff and first responders with frontline stays so they can be close to their patients and safely distanced from their own families. When you book a frontline stay, Airbnb will waive all our fees up to the first 100K responders invited to book." Health care workers and first responders must first answer a few questions about their jobs, which Airbnb will verify. More about that here.

Meanwhile, the American Hotel and Lodging Association said that its Hotels for Hope initiative has now enrolled more than 15,000 U.S. hotels. That project, similar to the Marriott effort, solicits member properties willing to provide temporary accommodations for health care and emergency workers.

While the program will primarily focus on housing for the healthcare community, some hotels could potentially be used as Alternative Care Sites such as an emergency hospital or place for those quarantined to stay if needed, AH&LA said. Hotels that have signed up so far have a combined total of 2.3 million rooms located close to hospitals and medical centers. Currently, it's unclear how health care workers can find the hotels participating in this program.

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Police in Kyrgyzstans northeastern Naryn Province are preparing charges against a man infected with the coronavirus who refused to self-quarantine and as a result is believed to have spread the virus to at least three other people.

The man had returned from Pakistan where he attended a "da'wah" -- training in how Muslims teach Islamic beliefs and practices, which is a feature of the controversial Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat.

Kyrgyz officials have traced the arrival of the coronavirus in the country to citizens returning from the Middle East, Pakistan, and India where they traveled for religious purposes.

That fact has sparked debate in Kyrgyzstan as many people have tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from either a da'wah in Pakistan or India, or after performing the hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, to Mecca.

The first cases of the coronavirus in Kyrgyzstan appeared in mid-March in the Suzak district of the southern Jalal-Abad Province and Nookat district in Osh Province in Kyrgyz citizens who had traveled to Saudi Arabia for the hajj.

RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Azattyk, reports that there are also seven Kyrgyz citizens in Pakistan who have tested positive for the coronavirus and another in India.

Officials have been delicate in their comments about their devout Muslim citizens who have contracted the coronavirus and brought it back to Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstans Spiritual Board of Muslims has already ordered mosques to be temporarily closed.

At the end of March, deputy board head Zamir Rakiev warned Muslims in Kyrgyzstan not to violate rules being enforced to prevent the spread of the virus.

And a strict lockdown is in effect across the country, where 280 people have been infected with COVID-19 and four have died as of April 9.

According to reports, the man in Naryn Province, identified so far only as O.M., returned from Pakistan on the Lahore-Tashkent flight on March 15 after spending four months in Pakistan. He then flew from Tashkent to Bishkek.

State regulations require for people to be checked after arriving from abroad. The Naryn resident was tested, but only on March 30 was he confirmed as having the virus.

He was ordered to self-quarantine but defied the order. Authorities say he is responsible for giving the virus to at least three members of his family.

As of April 9, there were only 10 cases of the coronavirus registered in Naryn Province.

The man has refused medical treatment for himself or his family, saying it made them feel sick. He also posted a video on social networks claiming he was not infected and would continue to reject being treated.

On April 8, Naryn police arrested him for violating sanitary-epidemiological regulations. He could face up to five years in prison.

Others have violated self-quarantine rules and been detained, including a man in southern Osh Province who hid his condition and infected at least seven others.

Two residents of At-Bashi in Naryn Province who earlier returned from a dawah in India also later tested positive for the coronavirus. They were ordered by medical officials to self-isolate but violated the order and attended Friday Prayers.

Bakytbek Bayzakov, the district chief where they live, said authorities have forcibly isolated the pair.

There was a similar story from Karakol, in Issyk-Kul Province, where a man returned from a dawah in India and shortly afterward tested positive for the coronavirus.

State officials have publicly stated it is everyone's duty not to spread the virus to others and that there are consequences for those who have been infected with the coronavirus and don't self-quarantine and/or avoid medical treatment.

An increasing number of people in Kyrgyzstan are calling on the government to review its policy on religious organizations and learn more about the activities of Tablighi Jamaat, which is banned in the four other Central Asian countries, Russia, and China.
FAIRLAWN, Ohio, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center is now offering telehealth virtual visits so patients can receive care from the safety and comfort of home. This alternative to a conventional clinic visit gives patients the ability to connect with a Crystal Clinic physician, physical therapist, hand therapist, or clinician through the use of a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

"A telehealth visit allows our patients to still have an in-depth, private, one-on-one consultation with their Crystal Clinic orthopaedic or reconstructive specialist, but without the need to physically come to one of our clinics," said Holli Cholley, R.N., B.S.N., M.B.A., Chief Nursing and Operations Officer. "This convenient option is especially important as people are asked to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Most non-emergency orthopaedic injuries or conditions can be diagnosed in a telehealth consultation. Through a telehealth visit, Crystal Clinic specialists can also develop a plan of care, order tests, and provide follow-up care, including consults with physical therapy and hand therapy. If an in-person clinic visit is needed, this can be determined during the telehealth visit.

Telehealth may also be used for follow-up care with one of Crystal Clinic's plastic and reconstructive surgeons.

To schedule a telehealth visit, patients can fill out an online appointment request form at CrystalClinic.com and select the "telehealth" option, or select "Schedule a Telehealth Consult" at CrystalPlasticSurgeons.com. A scheduler will then call the patient to set up the telehealth appointment. Patients can also call 855-687-6357, Extension 27015, to talk directly with a scheduler.

Telehealth requires computer hardware and software that is commonly available on contemporary devices. For telehealth video conferencing, the following is needed:

PC Users: Windows 7 and 10, Vista or XP

Mac Users: OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher

Apple iPads

Android tablets (Amazon Fire tablets will not work)

A high-speed Internet connection

A computer with a camera (1.3 megapixels minimum resolution), speakers, and built-in microphone or a headset with a microphone

Crystal Clinic's telehealth platform is designed to be easy to use, including for those with no video conferencing experience.

"This is just one more way we are making nationally-renowned orthopaedic care available to our patients when they need it," said Cholley. "While we've offered limited telehealth visits with some of our physicians in the past, we are now providing remote access to all of our orthopaedic and reconstructive specialists. As we navigate the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to doing everything we can to make sure our patients' needs are met, even from the safety and comfort of their own homes."

For more information, visit CrystalClinic.com/telehealth or CrystalPlasticSurgeons.com/telehealth, or call 855-687-6357, Extension 27015.

About Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center

Nationally renowned for orthopaedic care, Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center is a physician-owned, orthopaedic specialty hospital system with board-certified and fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons who perform more than 17,000 surgeries each year. Crystal Clinic QuickCare facilities provide immediate, no-appointment, walk-in care for orthopaedic injuries. Crystal Clinic Plastic Surgeons, a division of Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center, are experts in treating soft tissue defects related to orthopaedic injuries. They provide the entire spectrum of plastic surgery  from reconstruction to cosmetic procedures. With locations throughout Northeast Ohio, Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center is the only hospital in Ohio, and one of just 13 out of the 6,147 hospitals in the nation, to earn prestigious Joint Commission certifications in total hip, total knee, total shoulder, and spinal fusion procedures. The hospital is among the Top 10% in the United States for Major Orthopaedic Surgery, Joint Replacement, Spinal Surgery, Overall Surgical Care and Overall Hospital Care in ratings of America's Top Quality Hospitals by CareChex/Quantros Analytics. CareChex/Quantros Analytics rates Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center the #1 hospital in the market for Major Orthopaedic Surgery and Spinal Fusion procedures.

SOURCE Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center

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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it plans to reopen its North American auto plants on May 4, extending its current shutdown by two additional weeks. The Japanese automaker cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and decline in vehicle demand to extend the halt of production at all of its automobile and components plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it plans to reopen its North American auto plants on May 4, extending its current shutdown by two additional weeks.

The Japanese automaker cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and decline in vehicle demand to extend the halt of production at all of its automobile and components plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Toyota will not furlough its direct employees, but has asked its hourly plant employees to take two days out of the 10 day extension as paid time off or they can go without pay if they dont have accrued leave.

For Toyota's 5,000 workers provided by outside agencies, Toyota is releasing those workers back to their agencies. Toyota will continue to pay the benefits of those workers for the time being, and they may be eligible for unemployment.

On Tuesday, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co on Tuesday said they had furloughed thousands of workers at their U.S. operations as the coronavirus pandemic slashes demand for cars in the country.

A spokesman for Honda, which employs about 18,400 workers at plants in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio, said the Japanese automaker would guarantee salaries through Sunday, having suspended operations on March 23. The plants will be closed through May 1.

Nissan said it was temporarily laying off about 10,000 U.S. hourly workers effective April 6. It has suspended operations at its U.S. manufacturing facilities through late April due to the impact of the outbreak.

Automakers are facing a dramatic drop in sales in the United States, the worlds second-largest car market, after some states barred dealers from selling new cars while stay-at-home orders are in place. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Monday extended its shutdown of U.S. and Canadian plants until May 4.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-09 09:04:02

Free tool to track and manage critical resources in real time now available on Salesforce AppExchange

Open-Source Healthcare App Released Globally for Free

For further information:

UK

TopLine Comms

Jodie Brazier, Comms Consultant

tractionondemand@toplinecomms.com

+44 (0) 7487 514511



Europe

Traction on Demand

Kelsi Tsatouhas, PR Manager

kelsi@talkshopmedia.com

1-604-786-2273

Traction on Demand and Thrive Health announced free, global availability for a new open-source mobile application for healthcare providers that are fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, available here on Salesforce AppExchangethe worlds leading enterprise cloud marketplace. The Traction Thrive Critical Care Resource Management application, built on the Salesforce platform, is designed to view, track and allocate critical healthcare personnel, personal protective equipment, ventilator availability, and other critical supplies in real-time.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005

Our partner community is making available an open-source mobile solution to help scale the ability to respond to the crisis with critical resources, said Rob Acker, CEO of Salesforce.org. Our hope is that nonprofits, governments, and health systems around the world will benefit from this platform designed to offer agility and flexibility for their individual needs during this crucial time.

The app is designed to enable governments and healthcare providers to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 virus at a local level, and to allocate resources to save lives and ease pressure on healthcare workers. Whereas hospitals can install their own independent version, the app can also be implemented by healthcare systems enabling them to get an at-a-glance view of their full networks utilization and capacity.

This app helps healthcare workers to be better armed with what they need to save lives and stay protected, said Greg Malpass, Founder and CEO of Traction on Demand, which designed and built the system. "After a successful engagement of 26 hospitals within the first week of launch, we've decided to make this app available globally on AppExchange free of charge. Its the right thing to do."

The app was built on the Salesforce platform, enabling health organizations to implement and scale rapidly. Traction Thrive is customizable by healthcare providers, scalable without any new data centers, accessible from permanent and temporary facilities worldwide, and portable by practitioners across devices.

Canadian healthcare technology firm Thrive Health identified the need for real-time worker and equipment tracking, and conceptualized the solution in partnership with Traction on Demand.

"In a time of crisis, it is crucial to be able to track your people and critical supplies in real time, so they can be allocated efficiently and effectively to save lives and ease pressure on the system," says David Helliwell, Co-Founder and CEO of Thrive Health.

The Traction Thrive Critical Care Resource Management app has three functions:

Enables healthcare workers to specify which workers, ventilators and personal protective equipment they have while also showing each facilitys current occupancy and resource capacity.

Serves as a communication hub between healthcare providers within a site or across regions.

Offers advanced reporting capabilities for hospitals and regional health leadership.

The severity of outcomes for this outbreak now largely depends on ensuring that hospitals and healthcare workers have the resources they need to treat all infected patients while keeping themselves safe, said Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, Chief Medical Officer of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Salesforce.  We're operating in real-time. This means organizations need hyper-local insight into the COVID-19 outbreak so they can allocate supplies and resources accordingly.

The Traction Thrive Critical Resource Management app was built by Traction on Demand and Thrive Health. To learn more, visit https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDeta.

Salesforce, AppExchange, Salesforce.org and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Traction on Demand

Traction on Demand is one of North America's largest dedicated Salesforce consulting and app development firms. The company helps commercial and nonprofit organizations design, develop and implement Salesforce technology. Traction on Demand is a proud B Corporation. Visittractionondemand.com for more information.

About Thrive Health

Thrive Health is a software company founded with a mission to improve the delivery of healthcare in Canada and around the world. The company is helping millions of Canadians to track their COVID-19 symptoms atthrive.health/covid19-app using the #1 medical app in Google Play and Apple App Store. Visitthrive.health for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005

Open-source healthcare app that helps hospitals track and manage critical resources in real-time now available globally
Three of Texas largest charter school operators have won federal grants totaling more than $130 million, some of which will fund their expansion in the Houston area over the next several years.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the five-year grants to IDEA Public Schools, Responsive Education Solutions and YES Prep Public Schools, a trio that combines to enroll about 80,000 students throughout the state and 15,000 in Greater Houston. The federal agency has allocated nearly $1.2 billion over the past decade for charter expansion through the grant, known as the Charter School Program.

For the second straight year, the largest Charter School Program grant went to IDEA, which netted about $72 million to support its rapid growth throughout Texas, Florida and Ohio. The charter network enrolls about 50,000 students at 91 campuses throughout Texas, with plans to open its first Houston-area schools in August.

Responsive Education Solutions, which operates 12 of its 71 campuses in the Houston area, netted $41 million. YES Prep, one of Houstons oldest and highest-regarded charter organizations, scored about $21 million to assist the addition of elementary schools to its portfolio.

IDEA Chief Advancement Officer Sam Goessling said the networks leaders still are discussing how grant funds will be spent with federal officials, who have offered tremendous support for the organization. The network now has received three of the four largest Charter School Program grants, with $67 million awarded in 2017 and $117 million in 2019.

IDEA aims to double its enrollment to 100,000 by 2022, with the long-term goal of becoming the nations largest school system.

Were really proud of this grant as an organization because all these teams across IDEA contribute, particularly the teachers and school leaders, Goessling said. This certainly helps us achieve our growth campaign goals, but we still have remaining fundraising to do.

THE BIG IDEA: Charter network arrives in Houston with plenty of accolades and skeptics

Many education advocates and philanthropists have lavished praise on IDEA, which primarily serves lower-income and Hispanic students in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio and Austin. Nearly 90 percent of graduates have enrolled in a Texas college or university in recent years, about 30 percentage points higher than the state average. IDEA students also score well above-average compared to their peers on state standardized tests.

IDEAs critics contend the organizations performance mandates  nearly all students must receive acceptance to a four-year college or university to graduate from high school  scare off families of children needing greater academic and behavioral support. IDEAs spending practices, including a since-canceled plan to lease a private jet, also drew scrutiny in the past several months, prompting an apology from the networks co-founder and CEO.

With help from its $41-million grant, Responsive Education Solutions plans to open 14 new high schools and expand vocational offerings, commonly known as career and technology education or CTE courses, across all campuses under its Premier High School brand. Responsive Education Solutions enrolls about 17,600 students in Texas at schools bearing brands such as Classical Academy and iSchool.

Weve had an initiative for a while now to provide CTE offerings at all of our Premier campuses, but what we plan to do is align the community needs for burgeoning careers in those communities with the CTE offerings we can now provide, Responsive Education Solutions Director of Communications Jake Kurz said.

Kurz said he did not know how many new campuses will be built in Houston. Available documents do not specify the local investment.

CHARTER EXPANSION: IDEA, KIPP were among the big grant winners in 2019

For YES Prep, the grant will help fund the addition of 10 elementary campuses across Houston, as the network makes its first foray into serving the citys youngest students. YES Prep currently serves about 12,000 students in grades 6 through 12.

The driving need for it was communities, essentially, calling out and saying, We dont want to wait until our kids are middle school-age to get a YES Prep education, said the charters CEO, Mark DiBella. What were hoping it will do is provide earlier opportunities for intervention, so when our kids get to us in middle school, theyll be better prepared.

YES Prep plans to open two elementary campuses on the citys north-central and southeast sides in August, and add two schools annually over the next four years. DiBella said the grant will serve as a potential hedge if the organization cannot meet its goal of raising $80 million for expansion. YES Prep has secured about $35 million to date, DiBella said.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
Te Arawa Lakes Trust has put a rahui on the 14 Te Arawa Lakes over Easter Weekend to encourage people to stay home and stay safe in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Trust Chairman, Ta Toby Curtis says the unprecedented move has been taken in order to support the Governments efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

New Zealand Police and the Ministry of Health are seeking to strictly manage the movement of people during the long weekend.

Ta Toby says Rotorua and its lakes are traditionally a popular Easter destination, and the trust hopes the rahui will act as a further deterrent to people using the lakes and visiting the region.

We are concerned that people will come to Rotorua and our Lakes as an escape from their current bubble.

But we want to send a very strong message that this is not okay.

We want to protect our people, the communities around our Lakes and other New Zealanders from the potential spread of COVID-19. Just as importantly, we want to ensure that people are not on our lakes, potentially getting into trouble, and diverting emergency services from their critical work as a result.

Our strongest contribution to the national COVID-19 effort is to place a rahui on our Lakes.

The NZ Police, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Rotorua Lakes Council are all supportive of the move.

Neighbouring towns and cities have been directed to manage outgoing traffic from their respective rohe and nationally, there are coordinated checkpoints with neighbouring policing districts to ensure people are not making their way to holiday spots.

Our Prime Minister has made it extremely clear  New Zealand is doing very well in its battle to combat COVID-19, but we all need to stay the course and continue to do our bit.

Please, stay home and save lives. Noho kainga, toitu te mauri ora.
In an act of negligence, Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district hospital on Wednesday discharged four COVID-19 positive patients by handing them over a negative test certificate.

"Test results of 26 patients had come in the evening, out of which four were positive. Later by mistake, these four patients were given negative certificates," said S Jayakumar, Villupuram Superintendent of Police.

Jayakumar said police managed to track down and secure three of the patients after they left the hospital. The fourth patient who is from Delhi has not been located yet, he said.

"Five special teams have been formed to track the fourth patient," the Superintendent of Police added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The State Bar's staff strives to provide value to its members to achieve our brand promise:
Four Indian pilots currently being trained in Russia for the Gaganyaan manned space mission have gone into self-isolation purely as a precautionary measure following the detection of nine Covid-19 cases in the Russian space agency, people familiar with developments said on Wednesday.

The pilots from the Indian Air Force, being trained at the Yuri Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City near Moscow, are all in good health and the self-isolation was part of the standard procedures for dealing with the situation, said people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

They have not been infected, said one of the people cited above.

There was no official word from the Indian side on the development.

Dmitry Rogozin, director-general of Roscosmos, Russias space agency, told the media on Monday that nine employees of the corporation had been infected by the coronavirus. He said all the infected employees were receiving treatment.

Till last week, the number of infected Roscosmos employees at different locations of the corporation was four.

The pilots began their training in Russia in February. However, routine activities at the Russian facility, such as the training programme, have been temporarily suspended by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Indians had made good progress in the training so far and cleared some tests, the people said.

Russia, which has recorded more than 8,600 infections and 63 deaths, is currently under lockdown till April 30. The lockdown also applies to the cosmonaut training centre and medical teams are regularly screening and monitoring all personnel at the facility.

The training programme for the Indian pilots, who were chosen from among hundreds of applicants, will last a year and focus on both basic astronaut training and issues specific to the Gaganyaan mission planned for 2022.

The Human Space Flight Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russias state-run Glavkosmos signed a contract for the training programme in 2019.

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PAGE TITLE _____-  DESCRIPTION tushe.cc, KEYWORDS , , , , ,  OTHER KEYWORDS



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Fears about the implications of catching Covid-19 are most acute among people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and their families.

Almost one in two people with CF fear contracting the disease and the possible health implications, according to a survey from Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.

People with CF who are most worried are those who already have severe respiratory problems or who have received a transplant.

A third are concerned about being able to safely access hospital care, particularly if the Covid-19 emergency is prolonged.

And more than one in four are worried about how long the period of self-isolation will last and how it will affect their physical and mental health.

CF is an inherited chronic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system.

"People with CF are resilient but this resilence is being severely tested by the Covid-19 crisis," said CFI's chief executive, Philip Watt.

Mr Watt said the charity welcomed efforts by many CF hospitals to have 'virtual clinics' in the absence of regular check-ups.

Innovative use of modern technology being used to monitor CF patients includes a device that links to a mobile phone to measure lung function.

Mr Watt said that after the crisis those medically at risk should be financially supported to remain cocooned as it could be a particularly dangerous time for them.

This Friday is Cystic Fibrosis Ireland's 65 Roses Day and it has had to go virtual because of the coronavirus.

Former Olympic gold medalist and CFI ambassador, Michael Carruth, said they need to support people with CF now more than ever.

"It seems we are all in the fight of our lives at the moment to combat Covid-19. For people with CF, who each year often have to do battle with a whole range of viruses, the fight is very real," he said.

A number of artists will be streaming live performances on their social media channels on 65 Roses Day including The Celtic Tenors, Paddy Casey and Isaac Butler, as well as comedy sketches from Katherine Lynch.

During the performances, viewers will be asked to text FIGHT CF to 50300 to donate 4, with the charity receiving 3.60.
Tyler Perry gifts $21,000 in tips to Atlanta restaurant employees

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Film and television mogul Tyler Perry used some of his $600 million fortune to bless several employees at one of his favorite restaurants in Atlanta over the weekend.

According to TMZ, Perry visited the West Paces location of Houston's in Atlanta and left a $500 tip for everyone on staff. In total, he gave $21,000 to the 42 "out-of-work" servers employed at the restaurant while grabbing a to-go order for himself.

Many working Americans are currently waiting for relief checks from the federal government and many continue to lose their jobs due to the coronavirus regulations. In March, 701,000 jobs were lost.

Earlier, Perry created a star-studded #HesGotTheWholeWorldChallenge to help raise hope and morale while the nation is on lockdown.

The challenge currently has millions of views on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of people have participated. Perry wanted to start something to make everyone feel better." He sang the traditional African-American song, Hes Got the Whole World in His Hands and challenged others to add to it.

To me this song is a prayer of humility. Its telling the world how small we really are in all of this and how we have to trust that its all in Gods hands!! he wrote on Instagram after announcing round two of the challenge featuring stars such as Mariah Carey, Usher, T.D Jakes and others.

There is now a third round of the challenge, which features a new set of celebrities.
Universal City police arrested the general manager of a Northeast Side Wingstop and an accomplice in connection with a staged robbery at the store last month, according to an arrest affidavit.

On March 30, officers were called to the restaurant after Christopher Casas called 911 ,saying he had been hit from behind and robbed. He told police that he was walking to his vehicle with the store's deposit bag containing $1,700 in cash when an unknown man knocked him to the ground from behind and took the money bag, the affidavit said.

Police said they were suspicious of Casas' story because it had been raining and the ground was still wet but his clothes was dry, the affidavit continued.

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Casas eventually admitted that the robbery was an inside job between him, a Wingstop cook and a third man named Deaven Watson, the affidavit said.

He told police that Watson had struck him from behind and fled with the money and was at a nearby apartment complex that Casas shared with the Wingstop cook. Police searched the apartment and found the stolen money along with clothes witnesses said Watson was wearing at the time of the incident, the affidavit said.

All three men were placed under arrest.

Watson was charged with engaging in criminal activity, but initially the case was rejected by the assistant district attorney because Casas was the only one who placed Watson at the scene. Later, he was recharged after additional witnesses and surveillance footage placed him at the scene, the affidavit said.

Watson was also charged with two additional counts of engaging in criminal activity for a separate case in which he is accused of attempting to break into a Chase Bank ATM.

Casas was charged with engaging in criminal activity. The third man was not charged in the incident.
Coronavirus-themed phishing attacks have become so pervasive that the governments of the U.S. and U.K. issued a joint warning Wednesday about their growing use.

Advanced hacking groups seek to further long-standing priorities including espionage and hack and leak campaigns while criminals are deploying a variety of ransomware and other malware, the warning says.

The surge in teleworking has increased the use of potentially vulnerable services, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), amplifying the threat to individuals and organization, according to the warning, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.K.s National Cyber Security Centre.

The warning comes after the number of attempted phishing emails more than quadrupled over the course of March, a month when state-linked hackers and criminals seized on the pandemic to fuel operations, according to data from the cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc.

Hackers believed to be backed by the governments of North Korea, Russia and China used the pandemic as lures in cyber-attacks that appeared designed to be part of long-term espionage campaigns, according to FireEye. Criminal hackers motives was more straightforward: money, the firm said.

A popular tactic for both groups involved sending phishing emails that purport to offer information related to the coronavirus to convince users to click on a link or attachment containing malware, according to FireEye, based on its detections of hackers activities.

FireEye said it discovered phishing emails that sought to leverage the U.S. governments distribution of the recent $2 trillion stimulus package, which was passed at the end of March. For example, the subject COVID-19 Payment has become popular among hackers, according to detections by FireEye.

Other frequently used phishing lures detected by FireEye include COVID-19 AWARENESS AND IMPLEMENTATION FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Protection from Corona Virus with Immunity Oil, and Why Corona is ONLY the 1st Stage of the Crash.

While the landscape of attempted phishing attacks is enormous  and the vast majority dont concern coronavirus  the increase is indicative of common tactic used by hackers: taking advantage of world events to trick people into clicking on malware. Some cybersecurity experts say the coronavirus has produced an unprecedented volume of attempted cyber-attacks.

Coronavirus-themed phishing lures, malware infections, network intrusions, scams and disinformation campaigns have become rampant across the clear, deep, and dark web, the threat intelligence firm IntSights Cyber Intelligence Ltd. wrote in a Tuesday report, which described malicious mobile apps, websites and emails that purported to offer information about the virus.

Its not just American users who are being duped out of public dollars. Users in Russia received an email offering instructions for obtaining 158,591 rubles (about $2,100) in social compensation for the virus, according to Malware Hunter Team, a ransomware identification service. Users in Canada received similar messages promising Canada Emergency Response Benefit in English and French, according to the group.

Hacker groups have been trying coronavirus-related tactics since at least late January, according to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. One of the first known coronavirus-themed attacks targeted Japan, where a group dubbed Mummy Spider used Japanese-language spam on Jan. 29 to distribute malware known globally as Emotet.

The hacking group  which is based in Russia and Eastern Europe  sent emails spoofing a Kyoto public health center to trick victims into clicking on the malicious link. Since then, Mummy Spider has targeted other countries as citizens become infected and also industries including health-care entities fighting the epidemic, according to CrowdStrike.

A Chinese hacking group called Pirate Panda changed tactics as the coronavirus spread. Pirate Panda had been using the Jan. 3 assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani to lure users in India and Pakistan into executing their malware. As the coronavirus spread between February and March, the group began sending documents purporting to be from the World Health Organization containing confirmed data on coronavirus cases inside and outside of China, according to CrowdStrike.

Bad guys are motivated by fear and greed, and this case the entire world is scared, and so malicious actors are pouncing, said Adam Meyers, CrowdStrikes vice president of intelligence. It shouldnt come as a surprise that a criminal is going to use whatever tools work best. Right now, whats best is leveraging fear in the coronavirus. And its working.
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Published April 9, 2020

5 ways to help cope during stressful times

As the University of Louisiana Monroe continues to adjust to its transition to online-only instruction and remote learning, students should know they are not alone. The ULM Counseling Center personnel are available 24/7 to help students deal with the disruptions to life as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is free to ULM students with ID.

Karen Foster, LPC-S, Director of the ULM Counseling Center, says, Most importantly, students need to remember they have access to mental health professionals to assist them during this challenging time. Telephone or video chat appointments with a member of the Counseling Centers staff can easily be scheduled.

Connect with the ULM Counseling Center www.ulm.edu/counselingcenter 318-342-5220 to schedule an appointment Hours: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Thursday and 7:30-11:30 a.m. Friday 7:30 a.m.  11:30 a.m. After-hours and emergency: Call UPD at 318-342-5350 to speak with a counselor, go to the nearest emergency room or dial 911.

Foster offers five suggestions on prioritizing mental health and effective coping mechanisms:

Limit the intake of news. Stay informed, but take intentional breaks from consuming news.

Stay informed, but take intentional breaks from consuming news. Have a routine. Students need to maintain their structure. This includes getting up and going to bed at the same time each day, finding a time and a place to do work, and creating leisure time to connect with friends. Even taking a shower and making their bed every morning or eating lunch at the same time every day can be helpful.

Students need to maintain their structure. This includes getting up and going to bed at the same time each day, finding a time and a place to do work, and creating leisure time to connect with friends. Even taking a shower and making their bed every morning or eating lunch at the same time every day can be helpful. Move your body. Even without access to a gym, its important to engage in exercise for both physical and mental health. Walk, run, bike, or use at-home video workouts.

Even without access to a gym, its important to engage in exercise for both physical and mental health. Walk, run, bike, or use at-home video workouts. Do activities you enjoy. Some of the activities students typically enjoy may not be options right now. However, students can still read, listen to music and podcasts, make art, watch movies, and more. Try to engage in one activity each day that brings joy.

Some of the activities students typically enjoy may not be options right now. However, students can still read, listen to music and podcasts, make art, watch movies, and more. Try to engage in one activity each day that brings joy. Process your feelings. Students have not only been from friends and classmates, but they also feel as though the world has changed  and it has. This loss of normalcy causes feelings of grief. It is vital for students to remember they are allowed to feel sad, anxious, fearful, and even angry about it. Name the feeling, and give yourself permission to feel it. Understanding the stages of grief and allowing the feelings to happen can help students move toward acceptance and a sense of control. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually.

Students need to continue to look out for one another and prioritize their own well-being, says Foster.

During regular business hours, students may call 318-342-5220 for crisis support. A counselor will return the students call immediately. After normal business hours and on weekends, students may call University Police at 318-342-5350 to arrange support from a counselor. If the student is unable to participate via video or phone counseling, he or she should go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.

For more detailed information on scheduling an appointment, click here.
The heavy construction tools and paintbrushes in the back of the white utility van that pulled up for free food at St. Peters Episcopal Church in Pasadena on Wednesday was a telling sign to church leaders.

To pastor David Goldberg, it was an indicator that as the Houston area struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, those in communities that already are home to families with lower incomes and where workers are bracing for fewer opportunities now face additional uncertainties.

There are many working-class people here in Pasadena. Their needs are growing; more are losing their jobs, Goldberg said. "It's hard to see many hard-working people here who just want to work. They aren't the kind of people looking for handouts."

In the north part of Pasadena, where the church is located, poverty is prevalent. Just over 25% of people in the churchs ZIP code (77506) live below poverty levels, while the median value in Harris County is 15.8%, according to Census data. In Harris County, 26 ZIP codes of among 130 have higher rates of individuals in poverty, the highest at 42% in 77032, in the Aldine area. Most of them have significant populations of minorities and immigrants.

The novel coronavirus compounds that poverty, public policy experts say.

More Information Food distribution When: Every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to midday. Where: St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 705 Williams St., 77506. Who: The church will serve people from Pasadena and anyone who needs it. Volunteers: Help is needed beginning at 7:30 a.m. More information:(713) 473-8090 See More Collapse

"In a way, COVID-19 is a disease magnified by poverty; the vulnerability of being exposed, like everybody, multiplies many times when you are poor," said Tony Payan, a chaired fellow at the Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

A lot of Texans were in a bad place even before COVID, said Rachel Cooper, a senior policy analyst with the Center For Public Policy Priorities Health and Wellness Team. We've always had one of the highest food insecurity rates in the country.

COVID has turbocharged what was always wrong in Texas, she said. She noted that, before the pandemic, 1 in 5 kids in the state belonged to families living with food insecurity, meaning that they typically dont know for sure if they will be able to put enough food in the table.

At St. Peters Episcopal, the person driving the white van, who asked to be identified only as Jesus, was among the 500 or so families that lined up for hours to receive staples and other goods. The Wednesday distribution was the second the church set up since the outbreak, and organizers have now scheduled them weekly, bracing for what they believe is going to be an even longer line of people looking for food assistance.

About 100 more families sought help than during the first distribution a week ago. In both cases, the lines of cars trailed all morning like a massive snake curving from behind the Little Vince Bayou that borders Scott Street into avenues, more roads, and filling parking lots on its way to the church.

It wound around for way over a mile, Goldberg said.

Greater than Harvey

The ministry is among approximately 150 organizations around the region trying to help during the pandemic, working in partnership with the Houston Food Bank.

What we are seeing now is that people who are losing their jobs just shot up really fast, literally to the levels we saw, if not greater, after (Hurricane) Harvey, said Brian Greene, president and CEO of the Houston Food Blank, the largest of its kind in the country.

Greene said the bank is distributing food at the rate of around 20 tractor-trailers loads a day now, compared with their average of 12. Greene said the bank is going to ramp up drive-thru initiatives from next week, when they will begin posting schedules and places of distribution spots in their website.

St. Peters is already working with the drive-thru model. As the vehicles drive up, trunks open, and stop at the churchs front, volunteers deposit bags of food without getting too close to people, as recommended by medical experts.

By midmorning Wednesday, the church had to call the Episcopal Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministries for support with more volunteers to distribute food bags, organizers say.

I come to get food for my kids, said Yasmin Ochoa, one of the people served at the churchs drive. With four children between 6 and 16 at home, she said she was grateful with the bags of tomatoes, a pineapple and other vegetables and foodstuffs.

I work in a flea market, I sell my things there, perfumes and little things, but I can no longer go because its closed, said Ochoa. Non-essential businesses were ordered to shut down to help contain the spread of the pandemic. She said her family is now only able to pay essential bills with some income still coming from her husband, who works in the construction business installing thermal insulations.

Ochoa's family is among many others who are particularly affected by working limitations forced by the virus, compounded by low-income levels that make it difficult for them to save for emergencies. They, like many other families with limited resources severely impacted by the crisis, belong to a blue-collar workforce in which jobs cannot be performed from home.

Now Playing: The latest state and local case counts and news headlines from the Houston Chronicle news team. Video: Laura Duclos/Houston Chronicle

Most of the parishioners work in the construction and restaurant businesses, said Pedro Lopez, vicar of St. Peter's. A few are employed in the petrochemical industrial complex Pasadena is known for.

La Iglesia de San Pedro, as many people call this church in Spanish, serves mostly immigrants, the majority with roots in Latin America, said Lopez.

Maria Dominguez, a long-time parishioner and volunteer, said some of the people she saw in line Wednesday, families from the neighborhood, surprised her.

"I told one of them the other day, 'why don't you come for food? The church is giving good food,' and they said no, that they better leave it for people who need it more than them," she said. "But now they are coming too!"

The church initially limited its feeding efforts to families living in the ZIP codes that they usually serve, said Lopez. But "now we have opened this for anybody in need regardless of where they live. If they need food, we will give to them too."

Lopez said he is concerned for his people. He said he constantly telephones parishioners to check on them. "More and more are losing their jobs (and) we are doing all we can to help."

olivia.tallet@chron.com

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:49:52|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Seven doctors on the front line of Italy's coronavirus outbreak died in the last 24 hours, according to information from the National Federation of Medical Orders, bringing the total to more than 100 since the outbreak of the epidemic in the country.

The federation, best known as FNOMCEO, said Thursday that the total number of doctors who died of COVID-19 in Italy now totals 103. That is in addition to more than 30 nurses and other medical staff who have died.

According to information from Italy's High Institute of Health, more than 13,500 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus, a little less than a tenth of the nearly 140,000 total infections in the country.

According to FNOMCEO President Filippo Anelli, the list of deceased doctors includes several who came out of retirement to help fight the spread of the virus.

"A doctor never stops being a doctor," Anelli said in a statement.

Italy remains one of the countries hardest hit by the global outbreak, with over 17,500 deaths as of Wednesday, more than the official count in any country. More than 95,000 Italians are currently infected by the virus.
The tourism and aviation industries, which are expected to see a further slump in demand, have taken more steps to temporarily close offices and reduce flights following the declaration of a state of emergency due to a surge in infections with the new coronavirus.

On Wednesday, major travel agency H.I.S. Co. started to temporarily close all its 263 sales offices nationwide in principle until May 6, when the state of emergency is set to end. The company has put about 6,000 employees on special leave, almost its entire workforce except for those working at call centers and those issuing plane tickets. It has also stopped handling overseas travel with departure dates through May 31.

In-store sales account for about half of H.I.S.'s total. "As reservations for travel take one to two hours in many cases, mainly involving face-to-face customer services, we want to help prevent infections by closing these offices," a public relations official for the company said.

JTB Corp. also has closed all its 232 outlets in the seven prefectures subject to the declaration of the state of emergency through May 6, in principle. The company has switched to serving customers by telephone instead of face-to-face.

KNT Co., whose in-store sales account for about 70% of its total sales, also plans to shut 68 stores in the seven prefectures for the time being.

The three companies intend to pay full wages to their employees on leave, through such means as utilizing the government's employment adjustment subsidies.

Hotels have been also hit hard by the decline in demand. Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co. announced Wednesday that it will close seven hotels in Tokyo and Osaka from Monday to May 31. A company called "and factory," which operates 10 facilities in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka under the "& And Hostel" brand, decided to temporarily close all its facilities in stages.

Airline companies have announced additional flight reductions one after another. Skymark Airlines Inc. will cut 631 flights on 14 routes, including flights to and from Haneda and Fukuoka airports, from Saturday to April 30. The number of Skymark flights to be cut in April totals 2,545, including those already announced. This accounts for about 55% of its total flights.

Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation Ltd. also announced additional 2,872 domestic flights would be trimmed by the end of May. The reduction rate from April to May is 57%.

This has begun to have a particular impact on long-distance distribution services. Yamato Transport Co. said Wednesday there would be delays in delivery services to Okinawa Prefecture from other parts of the country. Sagawa Express Co. also expects one- to two-day delays in delivery by air to Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa from other areas of Japan.

Japan Post Co. said it will stop accepting refrigerated and frozen parcels from and to Okinawa Prefecture for the time being. It plans to continue delivery services within the prefecture.

6,500 MMC workers on leave

Amid the spread of the virus, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to put its factory workers on temporary leave. The measure covers about 6,500 employees at its three factories in Japan. The employees are expected to be paid most of their wages.

At the automaker's largest production center, the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, production of mini vehicles and other cars halted on March 27, but operations will continue until April 23. The Okazaki plant in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, where cars such as sport-utility vehicles are produced, is scheduled to stop operations from Thursday to April 17, while Pajero Manufacturing Co., MMC's subsidiary in Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, is planned to be closed from Monday to April 30.

Nissan Motor Co. is considering putting its employees on temporary leave while operations are suspended at its Tochigi plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture, and at a plant of its subsidiary Nissan Motor Kyushu in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Nissan intends not to place employees at its Oppama factory in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on temporary leave, and instead have them inspect equipment and conduct other work.
The Duchess of Cambridge wore a 165 Catherine Zoraida earrings and a 29.99 Zara jumper for her first royal engagement via video call to school children whose parents are working on the frontline last night.

Kate Middleton, 38, opted for a mustard with puff sleeeves and new gold leaf earrings from the designer, who is also loved by Meghan Markle.

According to Color Psychology , the colour yellow signifies happiness and optimism and 'looks towards the future'.

William, 37, and Kate, 38, were seen giggling as the pupils, wearing Easter-themed bunny ears, presented them with a 'virtual' bouquet of paper flowers.

The couple, dialing in from their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, spoke to staff and youngsters from Casterton Primary Academy in Lancashire, where teachers are helping to look after the children of key workers in frontline services including the NHS and social care, as well as supermarkets and delivery drivers.

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a 165 Catherine Zoraida earrings and a 29.99 Zara jumper for her first royal engagement via video call to school children whose parents are working on the frontline last night

Kate is often seen mixing designer with high street, and favours Spanish brand Zara.

Although the yellow jumper is sold out, the Fern Drop Earrings earrings - which appear to be a new buy - are still available and are made in 18ct gold plated silver.

The description on the website reads: 'As seen on HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. Length of leaf approximately 3cm. Also available in silver.'

Catherine Zoraida set up her small, self-titled firm in 2011 and was virtually unknown until the Duchess of Cambridge asked to see some pieces the following year.

Kate Middleton, 38, opted for a mustard with puff sleeeves and new gold leaf earrings from designer Catherine Zoraida, also a favourite brand with Meghan Markle

It's believed the Duchess first wore the earrings in 2012, but has been spotted in the earrings on dozens of occasions since, including in four times in 2019.

She wore the 'fern hoop' with an Oscar de la Renta suit to visit the East Anglia's Children's Hospice The Nook in Framingham Earl, Norfolk in November.

The mother-of-three was spotted in them again in the Royal Box at Wimbledon in June, where she paired the earrings with an 1850 Suzannah's Flippy Wiggle Dress.

Catherine, who trained at Edinburgh College of Art, said that the Duchess had come across her work and requested some pieces to look at back in 2012.

The youngsters from Casterton Primary Academy in Lancashire presented the Duke and Duchess with their Easter-themed bunny ears

Meghan Markle (left), 38, donned a pair of 120 earrings by Catherine Zoraida as she arrived at Canada House in London in January. The brand is a favourite of her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, 37, who wore the designer at Christmas in 2014

Kate, then went on to wear a pair of the designer's stunning 'double leaf' earrings and an intricate 'Spread Your Wings' bracelet, 420, while meeting the King of Malaysia during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour in 2012.

Speaking to Mail Online at the time, Catherine explained: 'It was just before the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour and amazingly she ended up wearing some of these pieces.

'She wore the earrings and a bracelet to dinner with the King of Malaysia. Suddenly people were trying to guess this new jewellery designer and when they found out it was me they just went crazy.'

The Scottish and Colombian jeweller soon became inundated with orders after Kate continued to wear the designer's earrings and to countless special occasions.

During her visit to Canada House in January, Meghan also wore a pair of 120 swallow earrings by the brand, suggesting the sisters-in-law share style tips.

The description on the website reads: 'As seen on HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. Length of leaf approximately 3cm. Also available in silver.'

On Tuesday the Duke and Duchess released a video to their Instagram thanking staff for all they were doing during the coronavirus pandemic.

The primary school is one of five local academies run by the Pendle Education Trust and cares for the children of many key workers at nearby Burnley General Hospital.

It also works closely with the emotional and welfare support charity, Place2Be, of which Kate is patron, which is providing phone 'check-ins' for children and parents.

Several children showed William and Kate portraits of their key worker parents and explained why they were proud of them.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 17:12:19|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price dropped to 21.19 U.S. dollars a barrel on Wednesday, compared with 22.67 dollars on Tuesday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Thursday.

Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices.

It currently averages the oil prices of 13 countries, namely Algeria, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Democrats blocked Mitch McConnell's attempt Thursday to ram through coronavirus relief legislation to infuse a new small business loan program with an additional $250bn, saying the Republican majority leader's maneuver was a "political stunt" that shut them out of the negotiating process.

Mr McConnell's new legislation to add money to the Treasury Department's new payment protection program (PPP) "will not address the immediate need of small businesses in the legislation that we have [previously] passed," said Senator Ben Cardin of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate small business panel.



Mr McConnell indicated in his opening floor remarks Thursday that PPP is the only program in the $2.2trn coronavirus stimulus package passed in March that is "at risk" of running out of money. Cardin said that's not true, naming multiple funds that have already dried up, including an emergency disaster relief funds program for small businesses.

Democratic leaders have spent the last two weeks outlining their priorities for the next coronavirus relief package, while Republicans adopted a wait-and-see approach and were mostly quiet in the media about the contours of a fourth phase of legislation.

That changed this week when Mr McConnell and the White House announced, apparently to the surprise of Democrats, that they wanted to limit the next bill to adding more money for small businesses  and nothing else.

"This unanimous consent request was not negotiated. There was no effort made to follow the process that we could get this done. So it won't get done. It's not going to be enacted. The majority leader knows that," Mr Cardin said.

Mr McConnell has argued his bill Thursday is not controversial because it does not change "any policy language that both sides negotiated together" in the previous package.

I am literally talking about deleting the number 350 and writing 600 in its place. A completely clean bill," Mr McConnell said.

The majority leader argued Thursday that his limited bill to bolster the small business paycheck protection program  which has already loaned out at least $100bn in the course of two weeks  was the only viable proposal that could wend its way through the Senate without opposition.

Democratic priorities for a larger package  such as a 15 percent increase to food stamps, an additional $150bn for states and local governments to combat the health crisis, and $100bn for hospitals and medical resources  will take longer to negotiate, he suggested.

We are in a situation right now where passing a bill means either unanimous consent or a voice vote. Everyone knows there is zero chance that the sprawling proposal that our Democratic friends have gestured towards could pass either chamber by unanimous consent this week. No chance. The President has already indicated he would not sign it," Mr McConnell said.

The Senate adjourned Thursday soon after Mr Cardin objected to Mr McConnell's request to pass his bill by unanimous consent, a procedural move by which the Senate can fast-track legislation to the top of the legislative docket for a quick-turnaround vote.

The chamber is not expected to return until Monday, 20 April, except in two pro forma sessions on 13 April and 16 April.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had suggested earlier this week in an interview with Roll Call he was optimistic Democrats and Republicans could find common ground to authorize more money for PPP.

That did not happen.

Democratic leaders have expressed concerns that the small business lending program has certain disadvantages for some minority, women, tribal, and military veteran business owners who don't have as ready access to the bigger financial institutions that are facilitating the program.

Democrats have asked for $60bn of the additional $250bn for PPP to be channeled through "community development financial institutions" that are more accessible to such small businesses.

And more money for PPP is a point of leverage for Democrats to negotiate for their other priorities, such as increased snap benefits and federal assistance to state and local governments and the health care system.

"The states and localities are bearing a tremendous, tremendous burden in all in of this," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with NPR Wednesday. "Whether we get [more funding for states and localities] in the next couple of days, which hopefully we will, even at that we will need more in the CARES 2 legislation," Ms Pelosi said, referring to a follow-up proposal to the $2.2trn package passed in March, known as the CARES Act.
During the Trilateral Contact Group meetings held in videoconference format on April 6-8, the parties reached a principled agreement on the next phase of the exchange of detainees in the near future.

This is highlighted in the statement of Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau made to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups.

The Humanitarian Working Group focused its debates on the exchange of detainees. The sides agreed in principle on the next phase of the exchange with a view to its completion in the near future. Aspects of the opening of new entry-exit crossing points on the line of contact in the Luhansk region were further discussed, Grau stated.

The Security Working Group paid major attention to the identification of additional disengagement areas of forces and hardware. Yet, further efforts are still needed to come to a decision on this issue, the statement reads.

In the discussion on mine action, the demining of civilian facilities and their surroundings was prioritized. In this regard, emphasis was made on the need for timely mine clearance of entry-exit crossing points and adjacent areas in the period before the future lifting the ongoing restrictions on crossing the line of contact, Grau noted.

The Economic Working Group discussed the question of economic relations across the line of contact. The discussion also touched upon pressing environmental issues and current issues of water supplies to certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR).

The Political Working Group discussed aspects related to the special status of CADR and CALR, as foreseen by the Minsk Agreements, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine emphasized.

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Updated April 30, 2020

It's happening: You're starting to feel sick. Maybe you have a fever, or a cough, or you can't smell breakfast. Could it be COVID-19? Where can you get a test? Can you even get a test?

Things are changing day by day, but here's what we know as of April 30, 2020.

WHO CAN GET TESTED?

If you're in the city of L.A., you are eligible for free testing, whether you're experiencing symptoms or not.

Initially, it was only people in high-risk categories who could get tested -- people 65 and older, or those with underlying health conditions. As testing capacity expanded over time, L.A. opened up testing availability.

If you're outside L.A. city -- but still in L.A. County -- only people in high-risk groups are being prioritized for tests.

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HOW DO YOU GET A CORONAVIRUS TEST

Unfortunately, you can't just show up to a clinic or drive-through site. You have to get approved for a test first.

There are a few ways to do that:

Get a directive from a health care provider. The L.A. County Department of Public Health is asking people NOT to call 911 and NOT go to the emergency room unless you're seriously ill and need emergency care. If you don't have a health care provider, call 211 and they'll direct you to a nearby clinician. It's important to call ahead so that appropriate precautions can be taken to keep from spreading the virus.

Apply online if you live anywhere in L.A. County. You can get screened via the online portal here.

You'll be asked some questions on the eligibility form, and then you'll be asked for your contact information for next steps.

For additional details, check out the lengthy testing FAQ and testing information page put together jointly by the city and county of L.A.

DO YOU HAVE TO PAY TO GET TESTED?

No. California health officials are waiving all co-pays for COVID-19 testing, no matter which insurance plan you're on or whether you have health insurance. The federal government has also promised to help reimburse hospitals for caring for uninsured COVID-19 patients.

If you don't have insurance, you can still get it: State health officials extended the health insurance enrollment period to June 30, and enrollment for Medi-Cal is open year round. In L.A. County, the no-cost health care plan My Health LA is also available.

You can also be tested for free regardless of your immigration status. And the federal government has said that getting tested or treated for coronavirus will not count toward the public charge test for getting a green card.

WHERE TO GO FOR THE TEST

More and more drive-through testing sites and clinics are opening up.

But again, don't just show up! You have to get approved first.

Here's a map provided by L.A. County where you can locate one near you.

HOW DOES THE TEST WORK?

At some testing sites, a health professional will administer a nasal swab. At other places, you'll be given a testing kit for an oral swab that you can administer yourself. Here's a handy instructional video courtesy of L.A. officials.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:



With contributions from Brianna Lee, Lisa Brenner and Jackie Fortier
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France  Thu, April 9, 2020 09:52 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bfe2e 2 Business Oxfam,COVID-19,coronavirus,poverty Free

International aid group Oxfam on Thursday urged world leaders to agree a comprehensive rescue package to muster some US$2.5 trillion needed to prevent half a billion more people being pushed into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic.

It warned that the economic fallout of the coronavirus risked setting back the fight against poverty by a decade, and as much as 30 years in some regions including Africa and the Middle East.

Oxfam cited research by the King's College London and Australian National University estimating that as many as half a billion people could be forced into poverty, or 8 percent of the world's population.

"An 'Emergency Rescue Package for All' would enable poor countries to provide cash grants to those who have lost their income and to bail out vulnerable small businesses," Oxfam said.

Read also: Jakartas poor at risk as city drags feet on COVID-19 social assistance

Among the measures that should be undertaken include the immediate cancellation of $1 trillion worth of developing country debt payments in 2020 and the creation of at least US$1 trillion in new international reserves.

"G20 Finance Ministers, the IMF and World Bank must give developing countries an immediate cash injection to help them bail out poor and vulnerable communities," said Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director.

Oxfam warned that while many wealthy nations have introduced multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus packages to support business and workers "most developing nations lack the financial firepower to follow suit."

Delivering the $2.5 trillion the UN estimates is needed to support developing countries through the pandemic would also require an additional $500 billion in overseas aid, Oxfam said.

Read also: Coronavirus pandemic 'amplifying' poverty in UK

Meanwhile, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) president Suma Chakrabarti has called on the international community to join forces to combat the coronavirus pandemic, describing the demand for emergency financing as "huge".

He warned that the current crisis is the "greatest disruption to global economic activity since the Second World War".

The EBRD has already announced a 1.0 billion euro solidarity package and Chakrabarti said the developmental lender was now working on a second phase of its program.
The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body's chief. President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide since emerging in Wuhan, China late last year. Critics say that Trump's sudden threats against the WHO amount to a political ploy to find a foreign scapegoat as he comes under fire for not doing more to prepare for and control COVID-19, which has killed about 15,000 people in the United States. Trump himself said in January that the United States had the coronavirus "totally under control" and predicted it may go away in April as temperatures rise. Elaborating on Trump's case against the WHO, the State Department said the WHO was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19 and overly deferential to China. It questioned why the Geneva-based body did not pursue a lead from Taiwan. The United States is "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHO's January 14, 2020 statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission," a State Department spokesperson said. "The WHO once again chose politics over public health," she said, criticizing the WHO for denying Taiwan even observer status since 2016. The WHO's actions have "cost time and lives," the spokesperson said. Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting the virus to just five deaths despite the island's proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said. Chen, an epidemiologist, told the Financial Times that Taiwanese doctors had learned that colleagues in Wuhan were falling ill but that the WHO did not work to confirm the finding. China considers Taiwan -- a self-ruling democracy where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949 -- to be a province awaiting reunification and has sought to exclude it from all international organizations. - Taiwan decries 'slander' - WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in an appeal Wednesday for unity, said that he had been subjected to insults including racial slights since the public health crisis began. The Ethiopian doctor turned diplomat did not mention the United States -- the largest donor to the WHO at more than $400 million last year -- but singled out non-member Taiwan. "Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan," Tedros told reporters in Geneva, referring to online criticism and insults. "Taiwan, the foreign ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care," Tedros said. The comments sparked anger in Taiwan, which described Tedros' comments as "baseless" and said it was seeking an apology for "slander." "Our country has never encouraged the public to launch personal attacks against him or made any racially discriminatory comments," foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters on Thursday. In a Facebook post, President Tsai Ing-wen invited Tedros to visit Taiwan and learn from its handling of the epidemic, challenging him to "resist pressure from China." "We have been blocked from international organizations for many long years and we know what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else," she said. Beijing responded that Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party, which emphasizes Taiwan's separate identity, has engaged in "political manipulation" over the WHO. "Its true aim is to seek independence through the pandemic. We are firmly opposed to this, and their scheme will never succeed," a foreign ministry spokesman said in Beijing. Critics of Tedros have accused the WHO under his leadership of being too close to Beijing and complimentary of China's response to the coronavirus. But some public health experts say that the WHO had little choice but to cooperate with China to preserve access in Wuhan.
SpendEdge, a leading provider of procurement market intelligence solutions, has announced the completion of their latest article ongaining deep-dive insights into second sources to mitigate supply chain risks and reduce the impact of COVID-19.

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At SpendEdge, we understand that finding alternate or second sourcing options is crucial for companies. And to help companies better understand, we have highlighted the benefits of second sourcing for companies.

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Companies having single source are facing numerous supply chain risks due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Suppliers are failing to deliver raw materials and commodities, thereby, making it difficult for companies to gain profits and retain customers. Identifying another supplier in such crisis will compel companies to pay hefty sums to get replacement supplies. Developing a second sourcing strategy helps companies to obtain raw materials during supply chain disruptions.

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Driving innovation in suppliers is imperative for companies to sustain market share during a crisis. Second sourcing introduces competition and drives suppliers to offer better innovations, meet additional supply demands, and differentiate themselves from other suppliers. This helps companies to scale production and keep up with the increasing consumer demand. Single sourcing does not offer such benefits and increases the possibility of supply chain risks.

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Pakistan on Thursday demanded Afghanistan should hand over the Pakistani-origin chief of the Islamic State of Khorsan Province (ISKP), who was captured by Afghan forces during an operation last week.

Aslam Farooqi, who was earlier linked to the terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, was captured along with 19 other members of ISKP on April 5. Several of the other captured terrorists are Pakistani nationals, Afghanistans spy agency or National Directorate of Security (NDS) said.

Farooqi has been linked to the March 25 attack on a Sikh place of worship in Kabul that killed more than 25 people, including an Indian national. Indian security officials have also said the ISKP targeted the Sikhs after being unable to attack the heavily fortified Indian mission in Kabul.

On Thursday, Pakistans Foreign Office called in Afghan ambassador Atif Mashal and informed him of Islamabads views regarding the arrest of ISKP leader Aslam Farooqi by Afghan authorities.

It was underscored to the ambassador that since Aslam Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigations, said a statement from the Foreign Office.

The statement added, It was emphasised that Pakistan had been expressing its concerns over the activities of this group, which were clearly detrimental to Pakistan. Pakistans position in this regard was being regularly shared with the Government of Afghanistan and others concerned.

Pakistan also called for the two sides to coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism, including through established mechanisms.

Security officials in New Delhi were sceptical about Pakistans demand. One official, who declined to be named, said: It seems the Pakistanis are more worried about what Aslam Farooqi could divulge about his long-standing links to the Pakistani military establishment.

The ISKP has claimed responsibility for a string of deadly attacks on Afghanistans minorities such as the Hazara Shias and Sikhs. However, it has been put on the backfoot after coordinated operations by Afghan forces since November in Nangarhar led to the surrender of hundreds of the groups fighters and sympathisers.

When ISKP claimed the March 25 attack on the Sikhs in Kabul, it said an Indian national from Kerala  Muhsin Trikaripur alias Abu Khalid al-Hindi  was among the attackers. All the terrorists involved in the attack were killed.

Two other top ISKP leaders, both Pakistani nationals, were captured along with Farooqi. Also known as Mawlavi Abdullah, Farooqi became head of the ISKP last year.

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Odisha becomes first state to extend lockdown until April 30

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhubaneswar, Apr 09: Odisha has extended the lockdown until April 30. Odisha is the first state to extend the 21-day lockdown that was to end on April 14 to April 30.

Several other states are yet to take a call on the extension of the lockdown. The decision was taken following a Cabinet meeting. Following the meeting, Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik addressed the people of the state.

He said that during the ongoing lockdown period amidst the coronavirus crisis, the discipline and sacrifice of the people has provided us with the strength to fight the virus. We have decided to extend the lockdown until April 30, Patnaik also said.

Life after the lockdown would depend on which phase your district falls under

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Further, it was also decided to close all schools and other educational institutions until June 17. Further, the Cabinet suggested that the Centre must close all rail and air services until April 30 in view of the pandemic.
The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday (this file will be updated throughout the day). Web links to longer stories if available:

6:15 p.m. There have been two more COVID-19 deaths in British Columbia for a total of 50, The Canadian Press reports.

Provincial medical health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a virus outbreak in one long-term care facility has been declared over, but there are still outbreaks in 20 other such facilities.

Henry says most of the deaths in the province have taken place in those care homes for the elderly.

There have been 34 new positive cases for the virus in the last day for a total of 1,370, although 858 people have fully recovered.

5:45 p.m. Alberta is reporting 28 new cases of COVID-19.

That brings the total number of cases in the province to 1,451.

There have also been three new deaths.

That means 32 people in Alberta have so far died from COVID-19 complications.

5 p.m. Ontarios regional health units are reporting their largest 24-hour increase in COVID-19 cases, according to the Stars latest tally.

The provinces 34 regional health units report a total of 6,664 confirmed and probable cases of the disease, an increase of 604 cases or 10 per cent from the same time Wednesday evening.

Another 19 Ontario residents have been reported dead over the same 24-hour period, according to the Stars count of the health units public tallies and statements.

According to the province, 2,305 patients have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. The province also says 632 patients are hospitalized, including 264, who are in intensive care. In recent days, the number of patients in intensive care has grown slowly, a sign that public health measures may be having an effect, although experts say its too early to tell.

In recent days, Ontario had reported its tests were returning a very high rate of positive results, of nearly 17 per cent Wednesday. That fell to 11.8 per cent on Thursday.

The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of deaths, which stands at 200, may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases. This means they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.

5 p.m. A third inmate has tested positive for COVID-19 in a Toronto jail.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General says the inmate in the Toronto South Detention Centre was isolated before the tests were confirmed.

The ministry says an inmate at the Monteith Correctional Complex near Timmins, Ont., has also contracted the virus.

4:47 p.m. Ontarios top doctor has issued new COVID-19 testing guidelines aimed at front-line health workers and long-term care residents.

They stop short of a call by the premier to test all these people.

Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer of health, said in a memo that new residents admitted to long-term care should be tested, as should roommates of any symptomatic residents, and any asymptomatic residents, staff or visitors that have come in contact with a confirmed case.

4:05 p.m. Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, reports 1,769 cases of COVID-19 in Toronto, 250 of which are probable. There are 174 people in hospital. Seventy-six are in intensive care. There have been 54 deaths in the city.

Mayor John Tory noted that COVID-19 has taken the lives of more Torontonians than SARS did in 2003. Please stay home whenever you can in order to save lives, said Tory as Easter weekend approaches.

Asked by the Toronto Stars David Rider whether data shows Toronto is flattening the curve, de Villa says that the testing limitations reported by the Star and others make it challenging to know exactly where the city is at in the epidemic.

We are not quite there yet, said de Villa of the outbreaks peak. More testing helps inform the citys response and the public health agency on where we are on the curve, she added.

Tory acknowledged the toll the pandemic is taking on members of the public.

This emergency will take time to recover from and we all have to take care of each other but also ourselves, the mayor said.

Its okay to ask for help, said Tory, who added that residents can call 211 to access mental support services.

Tory said he felt Torontonians can band together and beat the virus.

As we celebrate the battle of Vimy Ridge (in The First World War), we know we are all in this together.

Tory talked about the Citys enforcement blitz to ensure people distance themselves, one from another. The vast majority of people are following the rules, he said, but some are breaking them at parks, including Sunnybrook and Sherwood parks, Humber Bay and Riverdale parks east and west.

De Villa addressed the severe impact the virus is having on long-term homes. Deadly impact of COVID-19 is apparent, she said. Many residents are sick and many have died. The virus was only discovered three months ago. Physical distancing is key to stopping its spread. Preventing family and friends from visiting residents is difficult for many, but essential, de Villa said.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who is leading Torontos emergency response to COVID-19, said the city now has a supply of surgical masks to last six to eight weeks.

4 p.m. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was moved out of intensive care on Thursday, a ray of hope for a country that faces several more weeks under lockdown as its death toll from the coronavirus approached 8,000, The New York Times reports.

Johnson was hospitalized on Sunday evening after a 10-day bout with the virus and transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his condition deteriorated.

On Thursday, Downing Street said the prime minister, 55, had been moved back to a ward at St. Thomas Hospital in London and was in extremely good spirits.

2:40 p.m.: The company building the Eglinton Crosstown line donated 600 N95 masks to Sunnybrook hospital Thursday in recognition of the urgent medical need.

Although construction continues on the line, Crosslinx Transit Solutions switched to re-usable half mask respirators which use replaceable cartridges and can be cleaned to free up the N95s for hospital use. Crosslinx said it has asked its various construction sites to donate any supplies of N95s to nearby hospitals.

2:35 p.m.: Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care being treated for coronavirus and is in stable condition and improving, his office said. He is still on oxygen.

Johnson is being cared for in St Thomas Hospital in central London. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26 and still had a cough and fever 10 days later. He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, and to its ICU on Monday.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is standing for Johnson while he is hospitalized.

Read the full story here.

2:30 p.m.: Another resident at Pinecrest Nursing Home has died, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths at the long-term care home in Bobcaygeon, Ont. to 29.

Pinecrest staff are working hard each and every day to fulfill the physical and emotional needs of our residents as their care and safety continues to be our number one priority, said the news release.

2:20 p.m.: Manitoba is reporting three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 207 confirmed cases and 17 probable.

Health officials say 76 people have recovered and the number of deaths remains at three. They say there are 11 people in hospital with COVID-19, five of whom are in intensive care.

2:17 p.m.: Peterborough locals say cottagers are putting an added COVID-19 strain on rural areas and using up local residents resources.

Trent Lakes Mayor Janet Clarkson said she thinks cottagers are endangering local residents.

People are flocking to the country and theyre not self-isolating. Theyre visiting the drug store, the food store and the liquor store, she said. We dont have the infrastructure to handle them if this thing goes sideways.

Read the full story Marissa Lentz of the Peterborough Examiner here.

2:15 p.m. The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is posting its 2020 induction ceremony until futher notice because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman and two-time World Series champion John Olerud, 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., former Blue Jays pitcher Duane Ward and Montreal sportscaster Jacques Doucet were scheduled to be enshrined in a ceremony in St. Marys on June 20.

Read the full story here.

2:00 p.m. (updated): Premier Doug Ford announced he is launching a new Ontario jobs and recovery committee to help get the economy back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. It might be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ford also said Ontario is facing an unthinkable economic crisis. Things could get worse before they get better.

1:55 p.m.: The Manitoba government is instituting fines for people who dont follow public safety orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Brian Pallister says people who break rules such as the 10-person limit on gatherings will face fines of $486, and businesses that dont ensure proper distance between customers will be fined $2,542.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman says the city will have its own fines of up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail for city-owned property such as municipal parks.

1:45 p.m.: A health care worker at Brampton Civic Hospital has died after contracting COVID-19.

An investigation revealed the Brampton man in his 50s likely acquired the virus in the community and not at work.

The William Osler Health System says it is deeply saddened and he was a long-time environmental services associate.

Every loss of life to COVID-19 is tragic. On behalf of the Region of Peel, I extend our deepest condolences to his family both at home and at work, said Dr. Lawrence Loh, Interim Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Peel. He played an important role in keeping the health care system working and we mourn his loss.

1:40 p.m.: New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 111. Chief public health officer Dr. Jennifer Russell says the total continues to climb, but slowly.

She says thats the result of the publics co-operation with measures such as self-isolating and social distancing.

1:35 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 41 new deaths today linked to COVID-19, bringing the total to 216 in the province.

Provincial health authorities say they have identified 10,912 confirmed cases of the virus, with 679 hospitalizations and 196 in intensive care.

Legault cautioned that not all long-term care facilities in the province have been impacted by COVID-19, identifying six facilities in particular that account for the lions share of deaths.

1:20 p.m.: B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but its going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from five per cent in March, and that she expects the jobless numbers to increase over the coming weeks.

She says the province has introduced a $5 billion action plan to help workers, families and businesses endure the pandemic.

12:50 p.m.: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Prince Edward Island remains unchanged at 25. Heather Morrison, the provinces chief public health officer, says 17 people have recovered from the viral infection.

She says provincial officials are making more than 1,000 telephone calls every day to make sure that people required to self isolate are doing so.

12:45 p.m.: Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland says there is no way to know how long the border closure with the U.S. will last.

The prime minister had said earlier today that much of Canadas return to normal will depend on a vaccine that could be months away.

Freeland says making predictions on what that means for the border is foolhardy in the extreme.

12:40 p.m.: There are four more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing the total to 236.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, chief medical officer of health in the province, says six patients are in hospital with two in intensive care, and 96 people have recovered. The province has tested 4,390 people.

Data released Wednesday indicated the province is slowing the spread of COVID-19 so far, but Fitzgerald says the system could become overburdened quickly if people do not follow public health measures.

Read the full story here.

12:40 p.m.: The Saskatchewan government is promising one-time emergency bursaries to post-secondary students struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Advanced Education says it will dole out up to $1.5 million in emergency financial aid to students whose studies and jobs have been affected as the province tries to contain the spread of the virus.

12:25 p.m.: The head of Ontarios public health agency is stepping aside temporarily for personal medical reasons in the midst of the fight against COVID-19, the Star has learned.

Dr. Peter Donnelly, the president and chief executive of Public Health Ontario, won plaudits last Friday for his calm and detailed presentation on the number of cases and deaths that could be coming to the province according to computer models.

Read the story from the Stars Rob Ferguson.

11:57 a.m.: The TTC is reporting nine of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

The agency released details on eight cases: one bus mechanic, one subway operator, one Wheel-Trans driver, one bus technician, one station collector, one streetcar operator, and two bus drivers.

In addition to the nine positive cases, 240 TTC employees are in self-isolation.

11:55 a.m. (updated): Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it will take months of a continued and determined effort to avoid a COVID-19 worst-case scenario.

Trudeau is commenting on models released this morning forecasting how the continued spread of the pandemic will pan out based on how aggressively Canadians follow physical distancing protocols.

He says Canada is at a crossroad and the outcome will depend on how people behave, given there could be ongoing waves of the coronavirus.

He says this means physical distancing is and will be Canadas new reality until a vaccine is found.

11:25 a.m.: A total of 42 inmates of federal prisons have tested positive for coronavirus  a jump of about 30 per cent over the past day.

Correctional Services Canada says thats out of 208 prisoners tested.

Quebec, with 19 inmate infections, has been hardest hit. British Columbia has reported 15. Dozens of guards have also been infected.

Read this story on Canadian lawyers and advocates calling for the release of inmates.

11:20 a.m. (updated): According to the Stars latest count, Ontario has seen another 475 COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths in the last 24 hours.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, with most of the provinces 34 regional health units yet to report their daily tally, the Star is counting 6,244 confirmed and probable cases of the disease, including 222 deaths.

Those numbers are up 8.2 and 10.4 per cent, respectively, from the same time Wednesday.

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit reported a sharp increase in its local death toll on Thursday morning, an overnight rise to 11 dead from six. The region south of Hamilton has seen several deaths at the Anson Place long-term care home in Hagersville, Ont.

According to the province, 632 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 264 in an intensive care unit. In recent days, the number of patients in intensive care has grown steadily, but slowly  a sign that social distancing and other measures may be having an effect, although experts say its too early to tell.

The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of deaths  200  may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

The provinces latest data also reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 tests completed Wednesday, to 4,097 patients from around 3,200 the day prior. Premier Doug Ford has called current low testing rates absolutely unacceptable given the province has the built up the capacity to complete around 13,000 tests a day.

The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.

11:15 a.m.: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says his party isnt deliberately holding up a new financial aid package for COVID-19 relief.

Scheer says constructive conversations are ongoing between his party and the Liberal government over the legislation to implement a massive wage-subsidy program.

Read the full story here.

11:10 a.m.: Nova Scotia has recorded its second death related to COVID-19.

Health officials say a woman in her 90s with underlying medical conditions died in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Wednesday.

10:40 a.m. (updated): The coronavirus could infect up to 1.8 million people in Canada and cause 44,000 deaths, according to federal projections released Thursday.

That is a worst-case scenario, with very weak or no controls.

But if Canadians follow physical distancing and cough shielding guidelines, a more moderate possible scenario could see numbers shift dramatically.

By April 16, the short-term trajectory could be in range of 22,580 to 31,850 cases, with anywhere from 500 to 700 deaths.

The mid-range projection would see 27,215 cases and a lower fatality rate.

Read the story from the Stars Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall.

10:30 a.m.: Ontarios chief medical officer of health says in a new memo that all health-care workers and first responders should be tested for COVID-19 as soon as they develop any symptoms, even atypical ones.

Dr. David Williams also says that anyone newly admitted to a long-term care home should be tested, as well as residents  even asymptomatic ones  who have had contact with a confirmed case.

The expanded guidance stops short of a call Premier Doug Ford issued Wednesday for every long-term care resident, front-line health-care worker and first responder to be tested.

10:05 a.m.: A First Nation in southwestern Ontario says one of its members has died of COVID-19.

Six Nations of the Grand Rivers elected Chief Mark Hill says the community is grieving the death. The First Nation says there are eight cases of COVID-19 on the reserve.

9:50 a.m.: Eleven members of the Toronto Police Service have tested positive for COVID-19  four in one downtown detachment, others spread out at divisions across the city.

Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray has said that with each positive COVID-19 case, police are working with public health authorities who conduct an in-depth investigation related to each member and their contacts.

Read the story from the Stars Wendy Gillis.

8:35 a.m.: Statistics Canada reports the economy lost 1,011,000 jobs in March as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, which lifts the unemployment rate up to 7.8 per cent.

The 2.2 per cent increase in the national unemployment rate marks the worst single-month change over the last 40-plus years of comparable data and economists warn the numbers are likely to be even worse in April.

8:10 a.m.: Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is moving to increase its domestic production of personal protective equipment for health-care workers across Canada.

The company, best known for its luxury winter parkas, announced plans last month to start production of medical gear at two Canadian factories. It now says it will begin to reopen its other Canadian facilities over the next two weeks to bring all eight of its locations  and up to 900 employees  into production.

8:00 a.m.: The Canadian Public Health Association is issuing a call for more federal power to direct national spending on public health.

Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, is scheduled to speak to the Commons health committee Thursday, and says he will outline the associations concerns, which he says are not a criticism of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Read the #StarExclusive from Tonda MacCharles.

7:50 a.m.: WestJet says it plans to bring back nearly 6,400 employees on to its payroll with the help of Ottawas emergency wage subsidy program.

WestJet chief executive Ed Sims said in an announcement on Twitter that employees will be back on the company payroll once the federal government has approved the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program.

6:42 a.m.: Oxfam is warning that half a billion people in the developing world could be pushed into poverty as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

In a report based on research at Kings College London and the Australian National University, Oxfam is calling on world leaders to agree an Economic Rescue Package for All to keep poor countries and poor communities afloat. Among the measures it is recommending is the immediate cancellation of $1 trillion worth of developing country debt payments in 2020.

Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director said for poor people in poor countries who are already struggling to survive there are almost no safety nets to stop them falling into poverty.

4:47 a.m.: Thailands capital, Bangkok, banned alcohol sales for a week and a half to help prevent social gatherings that could spread the virus that causes Covid-19.

The ban applies from April 10 to April 20 and is the metropolitan regions latest effort to contain a surge in infections since early March.

4:32 a.m.: Turkeys government will ban layoffs for three months and provide a daily stipend of almost 40 liras ($5.8) to people who arent eligible for unemployment benefits and lost their jobs after March 15, NTV reported Wednesday, citing a draft law proposal by the ruling AK Party. The proposal grants President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the right to extend the ban by up to six months, NTV said.

4:19 a.m.: The U.S. and China should work together to show honest leadership or risk transforming the pandemic into a bigger crisis, the head of the World Health Organization said in unusually stern comments on the two superpowers.

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union still came together to fight and eradicate smallpox, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He urged all countries, political parties and the media to stop trying to use the coronavirus issue to divide people.

If you dont want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it, Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva Wednesday. No using COVID-19 to score political points.

Tedros said the WHO tries to treat everyone equally, and will later assess successes and failures. The organization officially informed all member states of the outbreak Jan. 5 and gave guidance on how to test for it by Jan. 10.

The WHO plans to update its strategy and give an estimate of the financial needs for the next phase in coming days, Tedros said. Financial resources wont be a problem as long as countries are united, he added.

When there are cracks at the national level and global level, thats when the virus succeeds, Tedros said.

4:01 a.m. (updated at 1:50 p.m.):

The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada according to data compiled by The Canadian Press.

There are 20,696 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 10,912 confirmed (including 216 deaths, 1,112 resolved)

_ Ontario: 5,759 confirmed (including 200 deaths, 2,305 resolved)

_ Alberta: 1,423 confirmed (including 29 deaths, 519 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 1,336 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 838 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 373 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 82 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 271 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 88 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 236 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 96 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 207 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 69 resolved), 17 presumptive

_ New Brunswick: 111 confirmed (including 50 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 25 confirmed (including 17 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

_ Yukon: 8 confirmed (including 4 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 1 resolved)

_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases

_ Total: 20,696 (17 presumptive, 20,679 confirmed including 503 deaths, 5,181 resolved)

4:00 a.m.: Federal officials are to hold a technical briefing revealing their best and worst-case projections for the number of Canadians who are likely to get infected by the deadly virus, the number who are likely to die and how long it will take to contain it.

4:00 a.m.: Canadas national statistics agency is set this morning to release a snapshot of the labour force from March as the COVID-19 virus plunged the country into economic uncertainty.

The report will provide a picture of employment for the third week in March just as companies began closing shop and laying off staff to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.

Statistics Canada says it has retooled some of its usual measures to better gauge the effects of COVID-19 on the job market because its traditional definitions of employed, unemployed and not in the labour force may not fully capture some aspects of the impact from the pandemic.

The survey, for example, will exclude the more commonly observed reasons for absent workers  such as vacation, weather, parental leave or a strike or lockout  to better isolate the pandemics effect.

The government says it received 966,000 applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit on Monday alone  the first day a new web portal for applications was open.

That was on top of what the government says were almost 3.7 million Canadians who became eligible for employment insurance since March 15 and whose claims are now being automatically transferred to the CERB.

3:57 a.m.: The World Bank says sub-Saharan Africa is expected to fall into recession for the first time in a quarter-century.

The banks new report projects growth across the nearly 50-country region to fall this year from 2.4% to at least minus 2.1% or even up to minus 5%. It says countries that depend heavily on oil production and mining will be hit especially hard. And the largest economies  South Africa, Nigeria and Angola  which already were sluggish, will see even more pain.

Africa has had some of the worlds fastest-growing economies in recent years. The World Bank says African nations will require a debt service standstill and other financial assistance. African leaders have been calling for debt relief, warning the pandemic will continue to threaten the world if any region goes without needed support.

3:38 a.m.: Police wearing protective gear boarded a cruise ship to seize evidence and question crew members of the vessel linked to hundreds of coronavirus infections and 15 deaths across Australia.

About 2,700 passengers disembarked from the ship on March 19 in Sydney and it has since become the largest source of coronavirus infections in Australia. More than 600 cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths are linked the to the ship, the Ruby Princess.

New South Wales police, which boarded the ship Wednesday night at Port Kembla south of Sydney, said its expected to remain in port for 10 days with its 1,040 crew undergoing medical assessments. About 200 crew have shown symptoms of COVID-19, while 18 have tested positive for the virus that causes it. The workers remaining on the ship are from 50 countries.

3:38 a.m.: Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in the critical care unit where his condition was improving, as officials draw up plans to extend the lockdown in an bid to control the U.K.s growing coronavirus crisis.

Johnson has been in St Thomas Hospital in London since Sunday after struggling to shake off virus symptoms, including a cough and a fever. He continues to make steady progress and remains in intensive care, 10 Downing Street said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

The latest from the hospital is that the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving, finance minister Rishi Sunak said Wednesday. Hes been sitting up and engaging positively with the clinical team.

3:24 a.m.: Irans supreme leader suggested Thursday that mass gatherings in the Islamic Republic may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic.

We are going to be deprived of public gatherings of the month of Ramadan, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a televised addressed. Those gatherings are meetings for praying to God or listening to speeches which are really valuable. In the absence of these meetings, remember to heed your prayers and devotions in your lonesomeness.

Ramadan is set to begin in late April and last through most of May.

3:08 a.m.: China signaled that its planning to officially ban the eating of dogs after the species was omitted from a list of animals approved for human consumption.

The Ministry of Agriculture published a draft version of the list on Wednesday, which lays out what animals will be allowed to be bred for meat, fur and medical use, and includes species such as deer, ostriches and foxes. The ministry is seeking public feedback on the draft list until May 8, it said.

In its statement, the ministry specifically noted the omission of dogs, saying that public concern about the issue and a growing awareness of animal protection had contributed to the species being left off. Cats were also omitted, though that was not specifically addressed by the ministry.

12:42 a.m.: The coronavirus may be reactivating in people who have been cured of the illness, according to Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 51 patients classed as having been cured in South Korea have tested positive again, the CDC said in a briefing on Monday. Rather than being infected again, the virus may have been reactivated in these people, given they tested positive again shortly after being released from quarantine, said Jeong Eun-kyeong, director-general of the Korean CDC.

While we are putting more weight on reactivation as the possible cause, we are conducting a comprehensive study on this, Jeong said. There have been many cases when a patient during treatment will test negative one day and positive another.

A patient is deemed fully recovered when two tests conducted with a 24-hour interval show negative results.

The Korean CDC will conduct an epidemiological probe into the cases, Jeong said.

9:35 p.m. (updated): The Toronto Caribbean Carnival is being cancelled for the first time in its 52 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In consultation with our stakeholders  and taking into consideration the mass crowds that attend the events present a tremendous risk regarding the spread of the virus, it is therefore unanimous that the priority must be the health and safety of our patrons and, having weighed all these considerations, there is no choice but to cancel this years festival, the festivals board of directors says in a news release.

The festival, a celebration of Caribbean culture formerly known as Caribana that features elaborate costumes, music and food, runs in July and August. The cancelled events include the Junior King and Queen Show, Junior Parade, Adult King and Queen Show, Pan Alive and the grand finale, the Grand Parade that takes over Lake Shore Blvd. with floats, costumed dancers and mas bands.

The festival management committee says that if circumstances change and permit restrictions are lifted by July 1, it will seek to have a non-traditional celebration the weekend of Aug. 1.

8:45 p.m.: Canada has received its first shipment of N95 masks from 3M, which includes 500,000 masks, Premier Doug Ford said in a statement Wednesday night.

In addition to that, Ford said construction hours have been extended so hospitals and COVID-19 assessment centres can be built 24 hours a day.

The province says it will also be hiring more inspectors and more staff for their phone lines to ensure employers of essential workers are adhering to health and safety regulations.

Read more about:
In early 1888, Frederick Douglass embarked on yet another of his speaking tours, this time traveling from his home in Washington, D.C., to Georgia and South Carolina.

The Reconstruction period was over, and white supremacy once again was asserted across the South. It was a dangerous time for a popular black orator and former abolitionist.

On March 14, Douglass made a whistle stop in Orangeburg, addressing students at Claflin College and S.C. State College, as well as a few whites, who had gathered to hear someone the Orangeburg Times and Democrat called a distinguished colored man.

Around the same time, he stopped in Charleston, making an appearance at Mt. Zion AME Church downtown, where he was greeted by, among others, members of an African American militia unit called the Douglass Light Infantry. These were formerly enslaved men and admirers of the firebrand who once spoke so effectively on behalf of the abolitionist movement.

The infantry members serenaded Douglass at their armory and presented him with a gold-capped walking stick. Engraved were the words "Hon. F. Douglass / From D.L.I. / Charleston, S.C. / Mar. 6th / 1888, along with strawberry decorations symbolizing righteousness and spiritual merit.

That walking stick was sold at auction several weeks ago and acquired by the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia thanks to its acquisition and collections fund, a restricted account of the museum foundation used to secure important objects for the museum's collection.

This walking stick is not only a notable object of national history, gifted to the preeminent abolitionist, writer and lecturer Frederick Douglass, it is a significant and meaningful piece of South Carolina history, said JoAnn Ziese, the museums cultural history curator. Adding this one-of-a-kind piece to our collection will help us continue to tell the wonderful stories of South Carolina for years to come.

The sale was facilitated by Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati on Feb. 20. The walking stick was part of the Steve Turner Collection of African Americana, and the auction house expected it to sell for $3,000-$5,000, according to its website. The item sold in competitive bidding for $37,500 (a price that includes a 25 percent buyer's premium).

"Walking sticks and canes were often given as presentation gifts during the 19th century, and it is almost certain that Douglass received more than one in his lifetime," noted Danielle Linn, senior specialist in American history at Cowan's.

"That said, Ive never seen another cane owned by Douglass! It is especially significant that we were able to determine exactly when and where Douglass was gifted the walking stick," Linn said. "We even know what speeches he was giving on this particular speaking tour of South Carolina and Georgia ('Self-Made Men' and 'European Travels').

"It is a rare privilege to hold something that we know belonged to one of the greatest figures of American history. ... Its wonderful that it will be going to 'back home' to South Carolina!"

Douglass was world-renowned by the time he received this gift. He had traveled extensively through Europe with his new wife Helen in 1886-87, advocating for Irish Home Rule and recalling the problems African Americans faced in the U.S. The fire and vigor of his oratory might have diminished, but not the eloquence.

In Orangeburg, he told the gathered crowd, If there is no struggle, there is no progress, a sentiment Martin Luther King Jr. would echo 70 years later.

When a student asked him about advancing the cause of civil rights, Douglass responded, Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!

The walking stick is a memento of an historical period when black people in the U.S. were increasingly imperiled and facing a century of brutal oppression, migration, poverty and exploitation. It signifies the dignity of the individual and harks back to a moment in time when African Americans were forced to cope with a promise of freedom deferred.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 22:17:57|Editor: huaxia

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XICHANG, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China's launch mission on the Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying a communication satellite of Indonesia, Palapa-N1, suffered a failure Thursday.

The rocket blasted off at 7:46 p.m. Beijing Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The rocket worked in normal conditions in the first-stage and second-stage. And abnormal conditions happened in the third-stage.

Debris of the third-stage rocket and satellite had fallen, and the launch mission suffered a failure, according to the monitoring data.

Investigations into the malfunction and following up works are underway.
Apple and Stanford Medicine have teamed up to design an app that helps facilitate COVID-19 testing for first responders like firefighters and paramedics.

Specifically, the app takes a survey of the user's symptoms to discern whether they have any signs of COVID-19, and then recommends for them to go get testing based on their input.

A first responder can then take the results to whoever is in charge of monitoring employee health at their workplace and then get scheduled for priority testing using the Stanford Health Care website.

An app develop in tandem by Stanford Medicine and Apple (pictured) is helping ensure first responders receive proper testing

Apple says that the data generated by the app stays on a user's device and isn't shared or harvested by Apple or Stanford, but can be relayed to their healthcare provider if desired.

Stanford said it's starting to roll out the app with firefighters, paramedics, and police officers who are among the most vulnerable public workers when it comes to risk of infection.

In the event that those workers fall ill, it could also endanger the general public, not just through increasing their exposure, but by limiting resources available to help others in need.

'If we have a first responder who has symptoms, its really important for them to get screened and potentially test it because theyre going to be very patient-facing and very community-facing. Thats what their jobs are,' Dr. Bob Harrington, chairman of the Stanford Department of Medicine, told CNBC.

While the app is currently only available in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California, but could be expanded to other counties and states.

Testing has been a crucial part of ensuring that COVID-19 doesn't continue spreading, but has fallen short in the US and elsewhere. By weeding out unnecessary tests, scientists hope they can ensure tests are available for those that really need them (stock)

It could also be deployed to other workers who have been deemed 'essential' such as grocery store cashiers and other public employees like sanitation workers or those who work in public transportation.

Another benefit, according to Stanford, is that the app can potentially filter out patients who don't need to be tested which would free up testing resources for people who are actually at risk.

All of the data is protected by Apple encryption, including its ResearchKit and CareKit software which are used in the tech giant's other healthcare ventures like software used in its Health app and fitness information collected via Apple Watches.
General view of graffiti in Ballymena town centre after the graffiti attack. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

A contractor on the clean up operation in Ballymena after the graffiti attack. Presseye

A man has been charged after sectarian graffiti was daubed on properties around Ballymena town centre.

Police said white paint was daubed onto various properties, including shop fronts and walls in the Sydney Lane, High Street, Albert Place, the court house and premises on Lower Mill Street as well as on two vehicles.

A wall of a Presbyterian church and a doctors' surgery were also vandalised.

Most of the graffiti referenced the Continuity IRA.

On Thursday contractors were called in to hose the markings off.

Police said they were treating the incident as a hate crime as most of the graffiti was of a sectarian nature.

TUV Ballymena councillor Matthew Armstrong and Bannside councillor Timothy Gaston spent the evening with residents in the area after the attack.

In a joint statement, they said: "At a time of national and international crisis the like of which few of us have seen in our lifetime communities are coming together.

"Sadly these actions show that there are still those with absolutely no regard for the rule of law or their neighbours.

We commend the PSNI for responding to this serious incident and arresting a man at the scene.

"We very much hope that the circumstances in which this attack was carried out will be considered by the courts and that a strong message will be sent that this disgusting behaviour will not be tolerated by society."

They also commended the council for its actions in getting the clean-up arranged.

SDLP Ballymena Councillor Eugene Reid also condemned the incident.

"Much of this graffiti was of a sectarian nature and would have undoubtedly caused distress to families and children in the area, He said.

In the most challenging time in a generation, the community of Ballymena has pulled together to fight back against Covid-19. These senseless acts undermine that and are not representative of the local community.

I urge anyone with any information to contact the PSNI or Crimestoppers.

Police charged a 25-year-old man with offences, including criminal damage. As in normal procedure all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service. He will appear in court on Saturday, April 11.
B2Gold Corp BTG recently delivered record annual gold production and gold revenues for first-quarter 2020.



Operational Update



In the first quarter, the company recorded consolidated gold production of 250,632 ounces, 7% above the budget level. It marks a year-over-year increase of 25% driven by the Fekola Mine in Mali. Consolidated gold revenues were $380 million on sales volume of 239,500 ounces compared with the $264 million on sales of 203,400 ounces in the prior-year quarter. Increase in gold revenues was driven by a 22% increase in the average realized gold price and 18% increase in gold ounces sold. The company witnessed solid performances across its Fekola, Masbate and Otjikoto mine operations outpacing the respective targeted production for the quarter.



Encouraging Outlook



Backed by the current assumptions in 2020, B2Gold is well poised to gain from a strong operational and financial performance. The company has reaffirmed the consolidated production and financial guidance, backed by the better-than-expected performance of its operating mines. B2Gold continues to expect gold production between 1,000,000 and 1,055,000 ounces for 2020. Cash operating costs are envisioned between $415 and $455 per ounce and All-in sustaining costs (AISC) are projected between $780 and $820 per ounce for the year.



Mining Operations in Detail



Fekola mine recorded gold production of 164,011 ounces during the first-quarter 2020, 9% above the budget. It also highlights year-over-year growth of 49%. Significant increase in gold production primarily resulted from the expansion of the Fekola mining fleet as well as optimization of the pit designs and mine plan for the current year. The low-cost Fekola mine is projected to produce between 590,000 and 620,000 ounces of gold this year.



Cash operating costs are expected between $285 and $325 per ounce and AISC between $555 and $595 per ounce. The mines expansion is on track and is expected to be completed by the end of the third-quarter 2020. However, the company has temporarily suspended the off-grid Fekola solar plant project due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, the suspension is unlikely to impact Fekolas current-year production guidance. Construction of the solar plant is expected to be completed within six months of the restart.



The Masbate mine in the Philippines produced 44,872 ounces of gold during the quarter, slightly above budget by 2%. The company has resumed operations at the mine, which had been suspended for few days in the previous month, due to temporary fuel shortage. New regulations imposed by the Philippine Government to ensure that all materials, including fuel, arriving on Masbate island are not contaminated by the coronavirus outbreak was the primary reason behind the shortage. Meanwhile, the milling activity continued, processing ore from stockpiles. Mining has now restarted in the Montana pit, using an estimated 50% of the mining fleet. For the ongoing year, the mine is expected to produce between 200,000 and 210,000 ounces of gold from the Main Vein and Montana Pits.



In Namibia, the Otjikoto Mine produced 41,749 ounces of gold in the first quarter, 3% above budget, with year-over-year growth of 29%. The mine is projected to produce between 165,000 and 175,000 ounces of gold in 2020, from the Otjikoto and Wolfshag Pits.



Including attributable gold production from the Calibre mine, the company recorded total quarterly gold production of 262,632 ounces. However, at the end of first-quarter 2020, the Calibre mine declared the temporary suspension of its Nicaraguan operations due to the coronavirus pandemic.



Financial Position & Liquidity



The company continues to maintain a strong financial position and liquidity. It had $140 million in cash in hand at the end of 2019. Recently, B2Gold completed the drawdown of $250 million on its $600-million revolving credit facility given the turbulent situation.



In response to the virus outbreak, B2Gold has implemented several measures and introduced additional precautionary steps to manage and respond to the risks associated to ensure the safety of employees and surrounding communities while it continues to operate. Additionally, the company is providing financial support to local and national authorities in the countries in which it operates.



Coronavirus has become a major threat to public health worldwide. Several mining companies like Newmont Corporation NEM, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX, Vale S.A. VALE and others are halting their operations as governments across the globe are imposing restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.



However, though gold has gained from its safe-haven demand, other commodities are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. In fact, gold prices have been up 9.6%, so far this year, fueled by the slowdown in manufacturing activities, rate cuts, lower oil prices, geopolitical tensions and uncertainties related to the coronavirus outbreak. The combination of lower mined-gold supply and higher demand, and geopolitical tensions are likely to drive prices north. This, in turn, will drive Franco-Nevadas margins.



Share Price Performance



B2Gold currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). In the past year, shares of B2Gold have appreciated 32.8%, outperforming the industrys gain of 27.6%.You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Story continues





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EU mulls expanding sanctions on Damascus, following report blaming Syrian government for toxic attacks in 2017.

The Syrian government has condemned a report by the global chemical weapons watchdog blaming President Bashar al-Assads forces for a series of toxic gas attacks in 2017, even as the European Union welcomed the findings and said it was willing to mull expanding sanctions against Damascus.

In a statement on Thursday, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the report of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) misleading, saying it contained falsified and fabricated conclusions aimed at falsifying truths and accusing the Syrian government.

Wednesdays report, the first by a new investigative team set up by the OPCW, concluded that poisonous chlorine and sarin nerve gas was thrown over the town of Latamneh in the countrys western Hama region at least three times in March 2017.

It said two Syrian Arab Air Force Sukhoi SU-22 jet fighters dropped two bombs containing sarin on Latamneh on March 24 and March 30, 2017.

A Syrian military helicopter dropped a cylinder containing chlorine on a hospital in the same town on March 25 that year, the report said.

The OPCW said it could not identify the precise chain of command, but that orders for the attacks must have come from senior Syrian government commanders.

Damascus insists it has handed over its weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

Damascus absolutely denies ever having used poisonous gases in the town of Latamneh or in any other Syrian city or village, the Syrian foreign ministry said.

EU, Turkey welcome report

Separately on Thursday, the EUs diplomatic chief Josep Borrell welcomed the report on behalf of the 27 members of the bloc.

We fully support the reports findings and note with great concern its conclusions, he said. Those identified responsible for the use of chemical weapons must be held accountable for these reprehensible acts.

The report will now go to the United Nations among others to decide what further action  if any  should be taken.

It is now up to the Executive Council and the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United Nations Secretary-General, and the international community as a whole to take any further action they deem appropriate and necessary, Fernando Arias, the watchdogs director-general, said.

Borrell said the EU was willing to consider expanding its sanctions against al-Assads government.

The European Union has previously imposed restrictive measures on high-level Syrian officials and scientists for their role in the development and use of chemical weapons and is ready to consider introducing further measures as appropriate, he said in a statement.

Turkey also welcomed the report, saying it was an important step to ensure the accountability of the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The [Syrian] regime, which has murdered its own citizens for nine years  should be [held] accountable, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Western states, the Syrian opposition and human rights groups have all accused al-Assads forces of causing numerous deaths in several chemical weapons attacks over the course of Syrias nine-year

war.

Al-Assads government and its main backer, Russia, has consistently rejected such accusations.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 9 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Vital to keep warships free of Covid-19, says Navy chief

At a time when the US Navy is grappling with a surge in Covid-19 cases, Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh stressed that it is vital to ensure that operational assets such as warships and submarines remain free of the virus and the navy is combat ready at all times. Read more

Battle against Covid-19 takes political turn in Bengal as BJP, TMC trade barbs

Perhaps unlike any other state, Bengals battle against Covid-19, both with regard to prevention and cure of the disease and providing relief during the lockdown, has turned political, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) trading barbs on a daily basis. Read more

17 cops quarantined in Punjabs Ludhiana after thief tests Covid-19 positive

The station house officer (SHO) of the local Focal Point police station was among those quarantined after the vehicle thief, Saurav Sehgal, 25, was caught and produced in a court on April 5. Read more

Islamic State attack in Syria kills 18 regime forces: Report

Pro-government fighters backed by Russian air strikes were battling off the jihadists on the outskirts of the desert town of Al-Sukhna in Homs province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Read more

Rio Ferdinand recalls rejecting Barca move to remain at Man United

Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has revealed he turned down the chance to move to Barcelona in 2008, saying he believed it was too risky as the Catalan club were going through a period of transition. Read more

Nearly 100 KVs, JNVs turn into quarantine, health facilities to fight coronavirus

With the number of Coronavirus patients and suspects rising, nearly hundred of the HRD ministry-run Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) have turned into quarantine centres and health facilities while these two organizations have identified more buildings which can be used by health authorities incase there is need to isolate more people. Read more

Smriti Irani stitches reusable masks at home. You can make them too

Several videos and photos circulating on social media show Corona Warriors who are dedicating their time to make face masks at home. Union Minister Smriti Irani is among them. Read more

Fact check: 5G does NOT cause Covid-19, please be rational

Of all the most random things that could be linked together, 5G and coronavirus tops the charts. There are a whole lot of terribly silly rumours doing the rounds of the internet about 5G being responsible for Covid-19. Read more

Feeling demotivated? These 10 quotes by iconic personalities and their journey will inspire you

We are living in the times of social distancing and it is not easy. The world battles a global pandemic and an indefinite lockdown as of now and our day-to-day life has changed at so many levels. Read more

Watch: Some even resigned...: Safdarjang Hospital doctor flays attack on medics
CHICAGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Livly , the Chicago-based technology company bringing modern apartment applications to multifamily properties nationwide, announced today the launch of their new Community Feed feature within the Livly Resident Mobile App, giving property managers a new digital option to develop a sense of community within apartments. This feature launch empowers both apartment residents and staff to interact with each other online, without leaving their smartphones.

Property managers in the United States often still rely on email or paper notices for important communication about their apartment buildings, particularly with residents. This includes communications regarding resident events, amenities, and service updates. However, Livly clients found that many informational notices and action items were getting lost in email threads or not noticed on bulletin boards. In 2019, the average US adult spent three hours and 43 minutes a day on a mobile device ( eMarketer ), which underlines the usefulness of mobile notifications for busy residents. Now, entire apartment communities--both staff and residents alike--can digitally connect with each other without ever leaving the Livly Mobile App.

"We're thrilled to now offer thousands of Livly property managers and residents a new, simple way to connect directly and communicate with each other in our app," said Alex Samoylovich, Founder and Co-CEO of Livly. "Especially given the current safety requirement for physical distancing, there is a significant need to create a digital community within apartments that previously relied on in-person community building. Livly's new Community Feed is the first time an apartment can offer a private and secure social network for its residents and create a community online. Not only can staff communicate more easily with residents, but residents can also use the app as the primary social connector within their apartment and a channel for peer-to-peer commerce."

Most apartment communities across the country do not offer social networks for their residents and typically rely on in-person social events for networking.

Livly's Community Feed makes it easy for:

Property staff to communicate directly with residents within the Livly Mobile App.

Residents to communicate and engage with Feed posts from both property staff and residents alike, including 'Likes' and 'Comments.'

All users to post commentary, weblinks and photo content. Users can also delete and report posts if necessary.

Property staff to monitor all activity using their web and mobile Community Hub tool and ban users if necessary.

"Our mission is to create community and convenience for apartment living," said Brian Duggan, Co-CEO of Livly. "In order to promote incredible communities and optimal convenience, we knew we needed to address property managers' need to have a more effective communication tool. We are excited for the Community Feed to help revolutionize the way multifamily properties communicate today, so they can more easily build a true sense of community for the people that live and work there."

About Livly, Inc.

Livly, Inc. is revolutionizing apartment communities by developing innovative applications for the multifamily industry. Founded in Chicago in 2017, the Livly team built their careers in the real estate, development, technology, and design industries. Livly's no-cost mobile and web applications offer a fully integrated one-stop-shop for property management tasks and resident engagement. For more information please visit: www.livly.io

Media Contact

Jake Rynar

[email protected]

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These days, when the coronavirus reminds us that life can be stranger than fiction, one might reconsider strange legends of old. Legends like Manitou's "healing waters," for example.
New Delhi: The Mumbai Police has given a filmy touch to its responses to Bollywood stars for tweets lauding them for working tirelessly during the lockdown prompted by coronavirus outbreak. As of now, #DilSeThankYou has been trending on Twitter after prominent B-Town personalities shared videos thanking the Mumbai Police and shared a video by them which urged people to stay at home as its a privilege for them but not for the police officials working tirelessly at the frontline to combat COVID-19.

To Alia Bhatts gratitude tweet, the cops gave a witty reply and said, Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advice of Alia Bhatt to not venture out in any Gully unnecessarily and take care of Dear Zindagi for all!

Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advise of Ms @aliaa08 to not venture out in any Gully unnecessarily and take care of Dear Zindagi for all! https://t.co/WcGui5iYUS  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

The reply to Arjun Kapoors tweet is also a must-see. Taking no half measures to ensure safety from #corona in Mumbai - a city with millions of Ishaqzaades in love with it, the tweet by Mumbai Police read.

Taking no half measures to ensure safety from #corona in Mumbai - a city with millions of Ishaqzaades in love with it! https://t.co/fvwRIoAk5l  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

Take a look at some of the other tweets here:

Just taking the ACP Jai Dixit route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon - that too, with a Dhoom! All Mumbaikars need to do is not make Dus Bahaane about going out unnecessarily! https://t.co/USkaUrnbCE  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

The most Shaandaar support Mumbaikars can provide right now is to stay at home. And make plans for what all we would do together Jab We Meet post #lockdown #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/OrliU3BtXZ  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

Dear Singham,

Just doing what Khakee is supposed to do to ensure that things return to how they were - Once upon a time in Mumbai! #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/iZzJNK6mPs  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 8, 2020

The deadly coronavirus outbreak has brought the entire world to a standstill. India announced a complete lockdown as containment measures till April 14. The number of coronavirus cases as of Thursday afternoon is 5,734 with a death toll of 166 deaths.
There is growing indignation and panic among residents in Cape Coast especially, those residing in Nkanfua and Ankaful as they expressed fear after a clergyman was confirmed the first to test positive to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Metropolis.



Their heightened fear since the announcement on Wednesday evening was because the 57-year old clergyman, had allegedly been offering consultation and counseling services to his church members after his return from the United Kingdom.



They have therefore called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to intensify its contact tracing in the Metropolis and ensure that all those who might have had contacted him were identified and quarantined accordingly.



It had become the topical issue at the two communities, where the patients house and church respectively located as residents shared their thoughts on what to do to contain the spread of the dangerous disease in the Metropolis.



The GNA visited the two communities around 0930 and 1015 hours Thursday morning and observed that the vicinities were generally calm and quiet.



However, some residents could not understand why the patient did not quarantine himself after his return despite the Government directive to all returnees from abroad to self-quarantine.



Now we are not safe here. I am scared because this disease is no respecter of persons. We only have to pray for Gods protection, Madam Rebecca Bannerman told the GNA.



Another resident at Ankaful said, I think that all those close to him especially his family must be located and quarantined.



However, the GHS has said 13 contacts including family members and health workers were traced with some going into self-quarantine, while others were placed in isolation in a facility and their initial specimen taken for testing.



On Wednesday, Mr. Kwamena Duncan, Central Regional Minister called on residents to remain calm as the Regional Response Team worked to contain the disease.



He said all the 22 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies had response teams in place working in coordination with the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders to check the spread of the disease.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed cabinet to put together a broader stimulus package to reignite the Ghanaian economy by the time the battle against the COVID-19 is over.



Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, who made this known at a press briefing on Tuesday in Accra, said the President gave the directive during an emergency Cabinet meeting.



The Minister said under the coronavirus alleviation programme, there was some GHC600 million that was supposed to be used as soft loans.



Yes that is there but there will be the need to do a broader and more elaborate stimulus programme, which is being worked upon and will be announced subsequently.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah recalled that the President has directed the Minister of Finance to make available the cedi equivalent of $100 million to enhance Ghanas Coronavirus preparedness and response plan.



This amount is to fund expansion of infrastructure, purchase of materials and equipment, and public education.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah said of the $100 million, $65 million was readily available for the coronavirus programme.



He said the remaining $35 million dollars was a loan, which was to be approved by the World Bank Board for the Coronavirus programme.



The $35 million is to be approved by the World Bank Board hopefully today; so that disbursement can be done as well for the preparedness programme, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.



The second part of is the Coronavirus alleviation package or programme, which is budgeted at a $219 million cedi equivalent which is being taken from the oil funds.



He recalled that Parliament recently approved a transfer of that amount of money into the contingency fund.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the Constitution says that the Committee responsible for financial measures in Parliament was the Committee that was clothed with the power to decide how that money, once it was in the contingency fund should be used.



He said the Minister responsible for Finance was going to make an application and the Committee would consider it to allow for that fund to be made available for the Coronavirus alleviation programme; declaring that and we are expecting that to be a smooth process.



He said the said amount was being used for the social interventions and related matters that were being outlined; which the President spoke to it in his address during his fifth broadcast to the nation on Sunday on the COVID-19 outbreak.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Odisha Government on Thursday airlifted COVID-19 test kits, for 4,000 tests, reagents and Viral Transport Medium (VTM) kits from Maharashtra's Mumbai, via special air cargo.

The state's health department said this will strengthen the Odisha Government's efforts to ramp up its coronavirus testing facilities.

The state cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to purchase Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recognised COVID-19 Rapid Testing Kit. In this connection one lakh rapid testing kits will be purchased to enable more COVID-19 tests to be conducted in the state.

The cabinet has approved a ratification proposal in Epidemic Act-1897, through an ordinance.

As per the ordinance, the amount of punishment has been enhanced in the Act.

Every offence shall be considered cognizable and bailable while the maximum punishment will be 2 years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both

The state government also increased the corpus of its contingency fund from Rs 400 crore to Rs 2,000 crore to meet the urgent and emergent needs for containment management and measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and for treatment of patients. Since the Odisha Legislative Assembly is currently not in session, the ordinance will come into force.

With the cabinet''s approval of ratification in Odisha COVID-19, 2020 regulations, wearing masks in public places has become compulsory and a fine up to Rs 500 shall be imposed for not wearing a mask.

A 100-bed dedicated COVID-19 hospital has started functioning in the hostel of Centurion University in Gajapati District with joint collaboration of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation and Hi-tech medical College.

With this, the number of beds in COVID-19 hospitals at Cuttack, Jajpur, Keonjhar (Joda), Puri, Rourkela along with two hospitals in Bhubaneswar have reached 1,597.

Meanwhile, four new positive coronavirus cases were reported in the state, taking the total tally of infected people in Odisha to 48.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Talks between the worlds largest oil producers over unprecedented production cuts went down to the wire as Riyadh and Moscow continued to disagree over key details just hours before a virtual meeting of OPEC+.

Saudi Arabia was pushing for any supply curbs to be measured against a higher baseline -- its April production of above 12 million barrels a day, delegates said. At the same time, Russia showed no sign of weakening its insistence that a deal was only possible if the U.S. cuts output too.

Oil erased most of its gains after the Kremlin said Putin has no plans to talk directly to President Donald Trump or the Saudi rulers on Thursday to facilitate a deal.

Moscow, whose grudge against U.S. shale is arguably the biggest obstacle for a deal, said Wednesday its willing to reduce output by 1.6 million barrels a day, or roughly 15%. Saudi Arabia was also discussing a cut of 15% to 17% on Thursday, delegates said, asking not to be identified because the talks were private.

However, the two sides were still disagreeing over the baseline for those reductions, the delegates said. Its a debate that could make a huge difference to the size of the production cut. As the Saudis have pushed for their contribution to be measured against current record output, Russia has favored using an average of the first quarter, when the kingdom pumped about 9.8 million barrels a day.

At stake is the fate of entire oil-dependent economies, thousands of companies and millions of oil industry jobs as the OPEC+ coalition and Group of 20 energy ministers gather in two key video conferences this week. Crude futures have plunged to the lowest levels in almost two decades as the lockdowns around the world slash oil demand by as much as 70% in some places and Russia and Saudi Arabia battle for their share of a shrinking market.

With Trump pressing hard for a deal, and the whole Group of 20 involved too, a lot is riding on this weeks negotiations. OPEC+ will convene a conference at 4 p.m. Vienna time on Thursday, by video link. Saudi Arabia will lead a virtual conference of G-20 energy ministers the following day at 3 p.m. Riyadh time.

So far, the Kremlin has insisted the U.S. should do more than just let market forces reduce its record production. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has put huge diplomatic pressure on Russia and Saudi Arabia, while saying Americas cut will happen automatically as low prices put Americas shale patch in dire straits.

I think theyll straighten it out -- a lot of progress has been made over the past week, Trump said at a White House briefing Wednesday. We have a tremendously powerful energy industry in this country now, number one in the world, and I dont want those jobs being lost.

The pressure on Saudi Arabia to prop up oil prices has been immense, with U.S. government officials and lawmakers all abandoning their traditional stance that cheap gasoline is good for America. Republican lawmakers in particular have sent pointed letters to Riyadh, demanding quick action. On Wednesday evening, a group of 48 Congressmen wrote to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman saying the kingdom was artificially depressing global oil prices, hurting American interests.

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world that can boast crude production thats profitable in the current environment. But the kingdoms economy is at risk, too, as Riyadh needs much higher prices to fund its budget. So does Russia.

Oil flood

The two largest oil exporters broke a historic pact to curb production in March, unleashing a flood of crude thats overwhelming storage facilities worldwide just as the Covid-19 crisis wipes out demand. Russia argued at the time that it wasnt willing to keep sacrificing production at its companies to prop up prices while shale explorers in the U.S. benefited from the cuts without contributing to them.

Moscow hasnt walked back from that view, but its apparent movement toward a deal after days of intense negotiation coincided with a slew of data showing the decline in oil demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns is deepening. Russia doesnt have enough storage capacity to keep pumping crude if no one is buying it.

While China is expected to ramp up oil processing in April, providing a glimmer of hope to the market, the move likely wont negate historic declines in the U.S., India and elsewhere.

U.S. demand now has fallen to 14.4 million barrels a day, the lowest level in data going back to 1990 and down more than 30% from pre-crisis levels, government figures showed Wednesday. In India, the worlds third biggest oil consumer, official data showed demand plunged nearly 18% in March, despite the fact the country went into lockdown only on March 25. And refiners privately said demand was down as much as 70% in early April.

The staggering losses, coupled with anecdotal declines of up to 70% in Europe, mean the world may be consuming even less oil than previously thought, traders said. In normal times, the world uses about 100 million barrels a day, but some traders believe its consuming just 65 million, or even less.

Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut, said Damien Courvalin, oil analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The cut may prop up prices briefly but this support will soon give way to lower prices with downside risk to our near-term WTI $20 a barrel forecast.
By AFP

KAZAKHSTAN: A three-man space crew finished preparations on Wednesday for a mission to the International Space Station, which is going ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA's Chris Cassidy will blast off from Kazakhstan for a six-month mission at 08:05 GMT Thursday.

But with journalists and relatives unable to travel to Baikonur due to restrictions related to COVID-19, the traditional farewell press conference broadcast by Roscosmos had a more distant and sombre feel.

"Instead of talking only to some cameras we would be talking to some people right now," said Cassidy, who is readying for his third stint in space.

Cassidy, 50, admitted that the crew was "affected" by their families not being able to be in Baikonur for their blastoff to the ISS.

"But we understand that the whole world is also impacted by the same crisis."

Quarantine and isolation from the rest of the world are not new habits for astronauts. The glass barrier that separates them from media and loved ones during regular pre-launch events is specifically meant to protect them from potential infection.

This time, however, their isolation has been "even more thorough", said Ivanishin, after the crew opted out of visits to sites in Moscow during their training an hour outside the city.

Thursday's launch will be the first time a manned mission uses a Soyuz-2.1a booster to reach orbit, after Roscosmos stopped using the Soyuz-FG rocket last year.

The newer boosters have been used in unmanned launches since 2004. The upgraded rocket relies on a digital flight control system rather than the analogue equipment used in prior Soyuz models.

Ivanishin said the new system would be more independent and require less manual input from the crew in the event of emergencies.

"The system has become better, but it is early to say whether it will be easier to control," Ivanishin said.








By Maciej Kisilowski and Anna Wojciuk





Maciej Kisilowski Anna Wojciuk
Traffic police in Ho Chi Minh City released a statement on Wednesday stating that they had seized an undeclared shipment of 10,000 face masks near Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

A novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) task force under Ho Chi Minh Citys Road and Rail Police division (PC08) was patrolling near an exit of Tan Son Nhats domestic terminal on Wednesday afternoon when they pulled over a pickup truck carrying several unmarked boxes containing thousands of face masks.

The driver, 51-year-old Nguyen Trong Thanh from Hanoi, was unable to produce proof of purchase or a certificate of origin for the face masks.

The task force promptly informed the market surveillance unit of Tan Binh District to cooperate in handling the case.

The delegation of authorities booked the incident and sealed the batch of face masks, as well as escorted the driver and the truck to the headquarters of Tan Binh District's market surveillance agency.

The number of face masks seized from the vehicle was later revealed to be 10,000.

Vietnam has issued regulations making it mandatory for all citizens to wear face masks while outdoors and has warned of fines for those who disobey.

The administration of Ho Chi Minh City on March 27 issued an official directive outlining the penalties for those who fail to comply with measures enacted to prevent and control COVID-19, including a VND100,000-300,000 (US$4.3-12.9) fine for face mask wearing violations.

The country is practicing nationwide social distancing, which began on April 1 and is scheduled to end on April 15.

Thursday morning marks the first 24-hour period in several weeks that the country has gone without announcing a new COVID-19 infection.

Vietnams tally currently stands at 251 total cases with 126 having fully recovered and no deaths.

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Canadian mining firm Alamos Gold Inc. reports that a group of armed robbers intercepted gold dore bars on the runway at its Mulatos mine site in Mexico, then staged a dramatic escape in a separate light aircraft.

In a statement in Spanish, Alamoss Mexican subsidiary Minas de Oro Nacional says five heavily-armed people subdued security guards who were loading the bars for transport on a plane on Wednesday morning.

At the same time, it says, a light plane, described as a Cessna-206 type, landed, and within 10 minutes the aircraft, the armed group and the bars were airborne and headed towards the mountains.

Alamos spokesperson Rebecca Thompson says no one was hurt in the dramatic robbery, adding another mine, owned by Mineria Penmont, a subsidiary of Fresnillo, was robbed a few weeks ago.

She says the Mulatos loss is covered by insurance.

In a report, National Bank analyst Mike Parkin says 2,600 ounces of dore bars, an alloy of gold and silver, were taken, but Thompson could not confirm that figure.
Last month, India outlined a 1.7-trillion rupee ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers

A second stimulus package India is poised to announce on help small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo-PTI)

New Delhi: A second stimulus package India is poised to announce in coming days will be worth around 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) and focus on help for small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus outbreak, two senior officials said on Wednesday.

Last month, India outlined a 1.7-trillion rupee ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor hit by an ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.

The second package could be focused largely on MSMEs, one of the senior government officials, with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters, using an acronym for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The official said a separate package could be announced for bigger companies after assessing the extent of the hit they have faced due to the lockdown imposed to fight the outbreak.

Small businesses account for nearly one-quarter of Indias $2.9 trillion economy and employ more than 500 million workers, according to government estimates.

India has so far recorded 5274 cases of the coronavirus, which has also killed 149 people in the country. The country is now considering narrowing its lockdown to coronavirus hotspots after the nationwide lockdown ends on April 14.

Indian media have been speculating that the government would soon announce more relief to help the struggling economy.

The new package aimed at MSMEs could include increases in the limits of bank loans for working capital needs, hiking threshold limits for availing tax exemptions and relaxing rules for deposits of income tax and other dues, the sources said.
Most noticeable is the trend of mobile and online ordering which is being adopted by many hotels and restaurants to attract customers. Since the epidemic restrains people from going outside, these businesses have switched to providing online food orders and home delivery instead of waiting for customers to come in as before.

The on-offer list includes affordable and easy-to-deliver dishes, which are mainly advertised through online marketing channels, social networks, and mobile apps. In addition to popular dishes, several restaurants also offer more elegant and luxurious menus to serve the diverse demand of customers.

Recently, the Vietnam Hotel Human Resources Association under the Vietnam Hotel Association has coordinated with Vinmart + supermarket systems in big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and Da Nang to find jobs for hotel workers who were laid off due to COVID-19.

With online shopping becoming a thriving business trend, Vinmart + has received more than 1,000 hotel workers who will be arranged into positions as sales and delivery staff in the supermarket systems. This opens new expectations and directions to stabilise the labour market amid the 'freezing' of tourism sector.

Additionally, in order to take advantage of their available rooms and actively contributed to the COVID-19 fight, many tourist accommodations have voluntarily registered to provide the pay-to-stay service for those who are put under quarantine time with commitments to strictly abide by the Health Ministry's regulations on safety and disease prevention.

However, it is more difficult to resolve the problems facing travel firms as COVID-19 slashes travel plans and, in turn, their revenues. While a few tour operators can still afford to pay wages for their employees, the majority of them have had to cut staff and reduce salaries, and some were even forced to take their employees unpaid leave during this difficult period of time. The businesses have taken both words and actions to minimise the impact of COVID-19 within their capacity.

The letter sent by CEO Hoang Duc Huy of TransViet Travel Company to his staff members and employees reveals the situation facing all travel agents. In his letter, he wrote that all managers of TransViet across the country are voluntarily working with the lowest basic income to steer the company through this storm. They have also shared their vacant houses or rooms to provide temporary shelters for staff members who are having troubles in housing facilities when their income is affected by COVID-19.

CEO Vu Dinh Quan of Ben Thanh Tourist Company also sent touching messages to his employees, encouraging them not to mourn but to raise high the spirit of optimism in order to take action and cope with the impacts of the epidemic. He also called on the whole company to stand side by side to create a wall safeguarding the Ben Thanh Tourist family.
Pakistan on Thursday saw a jump of 248 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 4,322, as the authorities grappled to contain the fast-spreading disease despite over a two-week partial lockdown in the country.

According to the Ministry of National Health Services, 63 people have died due to the infection, including 5 in one day. A total of 572 people have recovered.

Thirty one people are in critical condition.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Punjab was 2,171, Sindh 1,036, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 560, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 213, Balochistan 212, Islamabad 102 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 28.

The government is concerned over the steady rise in the cases despite more than two weeks of partial lockdown in the country that has badly hit the poor as well as affected the national economy.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed concern that the situation "can further deteriorate" and "our hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of patients.

Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic.

Khan has again warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further.

He, however, defended his decision to not impose a total lockdown, saying over 50 million people were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such step is taken.

Meanwhile, the prime minister on Thursday launched the "Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme" to transfer a total of Rs 144 billion cash to 12 million poor families hit by the coronavirus crisis.

The monetary assistance would be distributed among the poor families during the next two-and-a-half weeks after biometric verification.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After her recent high-profile campaign for New York governor  not to mention untold episodes of Sex and the City  Cynthia Nixon struggles to convince as an Eastern European motelier and possible human trafficker. Playing the shady Una in Stray Dolls, a small-scale crime thriller, she delivers both performance and accent without fault. Even so, her casting is a problematic distraction, both from the movies far less recognizable stars and from a story thats flimsy to begin with.

I got a big heart, Una tells her latest acquisition, Riz (Geetanjali Thapa), an undocumented Indian immigrant who has arrived in upstate New York hoping for a better life. Promised a room and a cleaning job, Riz crashes into reality immediately when she meets her roommate, Dallas (Olivia DeJonge), a grasping runaway who steals Rizs meager belongings at knife-point. They will be returned when Riz has carried out Dallass instructions to steal from the motels guests, a crime that Riz is adamantly unwilling to commit. Given that we have already seen Una surreptitiously shred Rizs passport, its clear that the newcomers reluctance will be short-lived.
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor is working with beleaguered oil refineries to protect the nation's fuel security amid the coronavirus crisis but has assured motorists there is no immediate threat to supply.

The nation's four remaining refineries are under pressure as profit margins collapse along with global fuel demand. Since the virus outbreak, petrol demand has fallen 50 per cent and jet fuel demand 70 per cent worldwide as airlines ground flights and people are urged to stay home.

Caltex has brought forward a temporary shutdown of its Lytton refinery for maintenance work as the coronavirus puts pressure on profit margins. Credit:Dan Peled.

Fuel giant Caltex cited cashflow problems and margin pressure when it announced on Monday it would temporarily shut its Lytton refinery in Brisbane from May for extended maintenance work, while Viva Energy on Thursday said it was deciding whether to proceed with a $100 million investment to prolong the life of its Geelong refinery.

Mr Taylor said the federal government was working with the major petroleum refiners "to better understand their current challenges and to guarantee the security of Australia's liquid fuel".
If youd spent the last five years trapped in a cave somewhere, youd probably bet that Queens-accented kid from a place called Jamaica Estates would be better at relating to the sorrows and stresses of the everyday citizen than a real-life queen who grew up on actual country estates or in Buckingham Palace, always at a remove from the commoners.

 READ MORE: COMING SOON: The Will Bunch Newsletter

But if youre like most people and youve seen both Donald John Trump, 45th president of the United States, and Queen Elizabeth II in action, it came as absolutely no surprise that the United Kingdoms soon-to-be-94-year-old monarch responded to the deadly coronavirus crisis in a four-minute speech that found exactly the perfect words that have so eluded Trump in literally dozens of hours on national TV.

Avoiding the kind of macho war rhetoric so popular with Trump and the current mediocre-or-far-worse batch of mostly men running the world, the Queen spoke instead of national purpose, unity and shared sacrifice. Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it, said the British monarch who, as a teenager in World War II, endured bombing raids that struck Buckingham Palace rather than flee London and even joined the royal military as a mechanic after she turned 18 in 1944.

Queen Elizabeth consciously invoked the Battle of Britain  and the famed wartime anthem, Vera Lynns Well Meet Again"  in a stirring conclusion. We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.

Her words had barely faded when Trump  on a Sunday afternoon, with nothing on his schedule  insisted on going before the cameras yet again, at the late hour of 7 p.m. At least when Barack Obama abruptly went on TV late on a Sunday night, in 2011, it was to reveal some actual news about the killing of Osama bin Laden. Donald Trump, so-called master showman, had nothing to offer America except more of the same that we get night after night  self-serving bluster and blame deflection, a dose of dangerous medical hucksterism, and more yelling at journalists, especially if the journalist is a woman or black or, heaven forbid, both.

 READ MORE: No, President Trump, you cant bomb a virus. We need expertise and empathy  not a war | Will Bunch

How ironic that Americans waged a bloody war to free itself from the arrogance of an unelected monarchy, and now 245 years later its our democratic ruler who has no feeling for his subjects. Still, as my Twitter feed fills up daily with hot takes on Trumps performance, or lack thereof, during his first real global crisis in his three-plus years in the White House, Im reminded of some different words that emerged once from the London fog, which is Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes and the case of the dog that didnt bark.

This week, for example, CNN.com published a lengthy indictment of presidential misleadership in a time of coronavirus, which tried to capture the manic energy of a day in which about 1,500 Americans died from COVID-19 and yet the Trump White House was consumed in petty squabbles or diversionary scandals, capped by another long press briefing in which Trump lashed out at mail-in voting, making claims about fraud that dont square with the facts, even though he recently cast such a ballot himself. Yet what the critique failed to point out was the utter lack of any sorrow, or any heartfelt expression of empathy or shared pain, from the president of the United States. Perhaps thats because weve seen enough to know these simply arent things that youll find in Trumps warped toolbox. Still, as they used to say on the daytime game shows, its not what you say. Its what you dont say.

Over the last few days, my Inquirer opinion colleagues have been interviewing a variety of amazing people on the front lines of grief in this horrible time  from clergy to grief counselors to funeral directors. All of those folks knew what they were signing up for, but you know who else should have known that? Donald Trump. Indeed, over the course of my adult lifetime weve seen again and again that real presidential leadership isnt so much Churchillian exhortations to battle as the ability to express empathy and to try to understand the grief that regular folks are feeling.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Bill Clinton, after all, only survived a policy fiasco, an opposition landslide and a huge scandal through the reservoir of goodwill built up around empathy, expressed in the vernacular as I feel your pain and specifically when mourning the 168 Americans killed in Oklahoma City by a domestic terrorist in 1995. Other presidents brought their own unique style to the task  whether it was Obama singing Amazing Grace while eulogizing one of the nine victims of a racist gunman in Charleston or George W. Bush exhorting workers at the World Trade Center site with a bullhorn  but each bonded with the American people in those moments. Donald Trump has  to steal another relevant phrase from the British monarchy  completely abdicated. He is not doing his job.

This isnt a total surprise. The man has always recoiled from death more than the average person, let alone the 43 men (Grover Cleveland twice) who came before him. Convinced to meet the returning coffin bearing a slain soldiers remains at Dover Air Force Base in the early weeks of his presidency, Trump was reportedly so put off by the experience that hes only done this on one or two other occasions.

But, like any president, Trump has overseen a lot of tragedy  mass shootings, a hurricane in Puerto Rico where the damage was multiplied by government indifference  and can never find the right words to say. He marvels at the size of the loss  size matters to this president  or praises the tough guys like cops or firefighters who respond, because he can relate to that, even if not personally. The agony that someone who just lost a loved one feels is a place he just does not want to go.

 READ MORE: In todays 24/7, technology driven world, empathy matters more than ever | Perspective

But heres whats hard to understand. Voters rewarded Clinton, Obama, and Bush 43, among others, for their perceived empathy. Why has not Trump paid a political price for his complete failure in this part of his job? I reached out to Northwestern University professor Dan McAdams, a thought leader in modern American psychology whos written extensively and just published a book about Trumps psyche, including his over-the-top narcissism. A few months ago, McAdams argued in a piece in The Atlantic that while the people whove worked with the actual Donald Trump in the White House eventually saw through his shtick, everyday voters are trapped in the aura of his invented TV personality.

In an email, McAdams told me that the coronavirus crisis could be the moment that finally bursts that bubble, if more and more people see that neither the logistics of the governments response to so much death and disease nor the presidents seemingly uncaring reaction matches the moment. Before this, McAdams said, many Trump supporters could forgive his lack of empathy and his bullying because to them he seemed a superhero, more like a persona than a full-fledged person.

But, he added, If your leader is a superhero, you expect him to use his powers to keep you safe. Up until the present crisis, Trump fought enemies whom he could intimidate and humiliate. But the virus does not respond to his dominance tactics. And some of his most ardent supporters are starting to see that.

And were also starting to see this in Trumps polling numbers, which temporarily saw a rally-'round-the-flag kind of boost in the early days of the global pandemic. An ABC News/Ipsos poll, for example, found that public support for Trumps handling of the public-health crisis had dipped by 8 points in just two weeks, and is now underwater. Similarly, surveys continue to show that Trump  unlike his predecessors who saw political gains even in times of trial like 9/11 or the early days of the Iran hostage crisis  would lose to Democrat Joe Biden if the election were held today.

 READ MORE: Trump administration waited two months after learning of coronavirus before ordering needed equipment

Most of Trumps supporters will probably stick with him, as anyone who has read the New York Times 733 or so coffee-stained dispatches from southern Ohio diners knows, but it wont take many defections to lose the razor-thin Electoral College majority he clung to in 2016. Some voters whove cheered Trumps bullying of CNN or Hillary or Mexicans or whatever might feel differently if they lose their beloved grandmother and the president is too busy yelling at black women reporters to care. How ironic if the man who rode into the White House by taunting the Clinton family is unceremoniously drummed out office because he just didnt know how to feel Americas pain?

Columnists note: Well meet again, just like Vera Lynn sang, if you subscribe to my new newsletter, which launches in a matter of days. Its takes about 5 seconds to sign up, if you follow the link here. When you do, youll get an advance look at my newest column and all kind of extra doodads, such as recommendations on what to read now and or even things to listen to that are slightly more current than Vera Lynn.

 READ MORE: COMING SOON: The Will Bunch Newsletter
Flight attendants serve European passengers on a flight from Vietnam to Germanys Frankfurt on April 8, 2020. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines.

Nearly 600 German and other European citizens stranded in Vietnam were repatriated home on Monday and Wednesday on two special flights funded by Germany.

The flights to Frankfurt were organized by Germany's Federal Foreign Office and its Embassy in Hanoi, and operated by Vietnam Airlines.

On Wednesday the aircraft also carried 550,000 antibacterial cloth masks donated by the Vietnamese government and people to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.

Europe has emerged as the new epicenter of the pandemic along with the U.S., with Italy leading the world in the number of deaths, at over 17,000, followed by Spain with more than 14,000.

The flights will not carry passengers on the way back.

Prior to boarding, passengers were given a health check and told to keep a minimum distance of two meters when queuing. Face masks were mandatory during the flight.

Bamboo Airways took 220 people from HCMC to Lithuania on March 31 and 300 to the Czech Republic on March 25.

Vietnamese carriers suspended all international flights on March 25.

Since March 22 Vietnam has prohibited entry for all foreign nationals. Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners with diplomatic or official passports are allowed in, and all are quarantined for 14 days.

The country had 251 coronavirus infections as of Wednesday morning. Of them, 126 have recovered and there have been no deaths.

The pandemic has spread to 209 countries and territories and claimed more than 82,400 lives.
by Sumon Corraya

The Poor Clares are asking God to provide consolation to the sick, doctors, nurses, volunteers and all those fighting the virus. They also offer fasts and sacrifices. The isolation in which people find themselves is similar to the Sisters normal life of seclusion. People of different religions pray in unison for the end of the epidemic.

Mymensingh (AsiaNews)  When entering the monastery, some 120 km north of Dhaka, one is immersed in silence, except for some sweet and sad chanting coming from the chapel.

The resident Sisters are engaged in a continuous prayer, 24 hours a day, for the world to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, this according to Mother Mary Rose, Superior of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist.

We pray with tears; we raise our hands to Heaven, she explained. We have seen many people in Italy, Spain, France, the United States and many other countries struggling with the coronavirus. Through prayer, we beg Jesus Christ to save the world from this deadly disease.

In Bangladesh, the Poor Clares have two monasteries, one in Mymensingh, and one in Dinajpur in the north, with 34 sisters. When Pope Francis visited the country in 2017, they donated 50,000 hosts for the Mass celebrated by the pontiff.

Mother Mary Rose stresses that they pray for all those infected with the virus, as well as the doctors, nurses, volunteers and all those who serve patients. "We also pray for scientists, she said, so that they can soon find a vaccine for COVID-19.

In addition to prayers, the nuns offer fasting and sacrifices and believe that the epidemic crisis can be solved soon. God is testing us, believes Mother Mary Rose. People have gone far from God, doing lots of sins. Now we need to convert.

On a positive note, People of different faiths are praying to the Creator and staying at home just like we do every day. I believe that God will listen to our combined prayers and bring us consolation soon.

Mother Mary Rose noted that religious vocations are down. In the past two years, only one candidate entered the monastery. The Diocese of Mymensingh has about 80,000 members, mostly ethnic Garo.
AS COVID-19 cases continue to rise in southern state of Tamil Nadu, police are making use of technology to ensure people don't break the lockdown orders.

In Tirupathur district, where there are more than 1,000 people are in quarantine, forces deployed in the area are using the perks of modern technology and ensuring that such individuals dont leave their homes.

PTI

India Today reported Tirupathur SP P Vijayakumar saying that they are using open source web tools to ensure there is no violation and if there is a violation, the necessary corrective step can be taken immediately.



The police have a dedicated email address and all those quarantined in the district are connected with the home quarantine tool and geo location of the people is mapped. The GPS coordinates are recorded to establish the real time location of these people in quarantine.

Representational Image

The real time location of the person can be tracked on the map and if there is any change in the GPS location, they are immediately contacted over the phone.



If the quarantined person leaves the premises, then a police personal is sent immediately and the person is taken into custody and dropped back home. An FIR is also filed against those who breach the advisories.

If there is technology at your disposal, then why not use it to good effect. Tamil Nadu Police has found the right remedy to keep track o people's movement and block any unnecessary adventures of those in quarantine.

PTI

The state recorded 48 new coronavirus cases as of 8:00 AM on April 9, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This brings the total reported cases of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu to 738. Among the total people infected as on date, 21 have recovered and 8 have passed away.







In India, there are 5,734 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, with 549 cases and 17 deaths being reported over the past 24 hours. Ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said 473 people have recovered and been discharged from the hospital so far and 166 deaths have been reported till date.
Taipei says Tedros claim that racist slurs against him had originated from Taiwan are imaginary and irresponsible.

Taiwans has condemned what it described as groundless accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that racist slurs against him had come from the island, amid deteriorating relations with the UNs health agency.

In a statement on Thursday, the territorys Foreign Ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction and a high degree of regret, and raised the most solemn protest. Taiwan is a mature, highly sophisticated nation and could never instigate personal attacks on the director-general of the WHO, much less express racist sentiments, it added.

Taiwans 23 million people have themselves been severely discriminated against by the politics of the international health system and condemn all forms of discrimination and injustice, the statement said.

Taipei has been barred from the United Nations and the WHO, due to pressure from China which claims the island as its own and even stripped of its observer status at the annual World Health Assembly.

On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Taiwans foreign ministry of being linked to a months-long campaign against him amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At a press briefing, Tedros said that since the emergence of the novel coronavirus, he has been personally attacked, including receiving at times, death threats and racist abuse.

This attack came from Taiwan, said Tedros, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister and the WHOs first African leader.

He said Taiwanese diplomats were aware of the attacks but did not dissociate themselves from them. They even started criticising me in the middle of all those insults and slurs, Tedros said. I say it today because its enough.

Groundless, imaginary

The accusations were groundless and imaginary, Taiwans foreign ministry said, calling on Tedros to apologise for his irresponsible comments.





Taiwan condemns any form of discrimination and any attacks on the internet against the WHOs boss have nothing to do with Taiwans Foreign Ministry nor have been instigated by it, the ministry added.

Taipei has been proud of its early and so far effective measures against the coronavirus, logging just 379 cases and five deaths to date, far lower than many of its neighbours.

Taiwan has never been ruled by Chinas Communist Party, but Beijing claims the island and has long blocked it from the UN and membership of its agencies.

Taiwan says the WHO ignored its questions at the start of the coronavirus outbreak and has not shared with member states information Taiwan provided on the coronavirus, including details on its cases and prevention methods.

The Geneva-based agency has been in a difficult position regarding Taiwan for some time and its staff have faced uncomfortable questions about the matter that have become more pointed in recent weeks. Confronted with them, the organisation released a statement last week saying that it was taking into account Taiwans contributions to the virus fight.

The question of Taiwanese membership in WHO is up to WHO Member States, not WHO staff, it said.

Global influence

Meanwhile, in the United States, President Donald Trumps administration has seized the opportunity of the coronavirus pandemic to boost Taiwans status in the international arena.

The State Department announced last week it had convened a virtual conference to promote expanding Taiwans participation on the global stage. Just days before, on March 26, the White House announced that Trump signed a law requiring the US to press for Taiwanese recognition in international forums and to take unspecified action against countries that undermine the security or prosperity of Taiwan.

China has made clear its displeasure, noting the frequent exchanges between the US and Taiwan in the recent days and ridiculing Washingtons praise of Taipei.

It seems that the US standard is not that high since Taiwan has donated two million masks and then becomes a model of democracy and a true friend of the US, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last Friday.

In the current extraordinary period, mutual assistance and support are all welcomed. But I still want to remind the US and Taiwan that if someone tries to take advantage of the epidemic to impair China s core interests, they must be cautious.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:55:47|Editor: xuxin

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ANKARA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police and gendarmerie conducted 288 operations in 65 provinces across Turkey between March 9 and April 8, arresting 462 for producing fake, unauthorized and substandard healthcare products, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.

Among the detainees are 192 who reportedly have been subject to judicial process and 124 who will face administrative proceedings.

In the operations, the police seized more than 5.9 million masks, 57,616 meters, 149,305 gloves, 32,749 kg of chemical substances, 38,342 liters of alcohol and three production machines.

Also, 369 sellers and 467 types of products, which had exorbitant price increase, including disinfectants, cologne, masks, gloves, dry food and heat meters, were reported to the Ministry of Commerce for evaluation within the scope of the Price Affection crime.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous health, social, and economic upheaval across the globe. It has also highlighted the need to implement health solutions quickly, affordably and reliably.



In response to the current crisis, and to help accelerate health innovation, a new national program called Lab2Market-Health (L2M-H) was officially launched on April 6, 2020. This will be the first cohort of the Lab2Market program with a focus on Health. It has been designed to support researchers solving pressing problems in the health-care industry.



Lab2Market-Health will expeditiously equip graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and researchers at Canadian universities and research institutions with the tools and expertise needed to reduce the time required to bring health solutions including vaccines, therapeutics, devices, virtual and digital care tools, and diagnostic tools to the market.



The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need to find new and better ways to accelerate the development of new health technologies and innovations, says Dr. Alice Aiken, vice-president research and innovation at Dalhousie University. Lab2Market-Health will help our researchers forecast the global health challenges of tomorrow, and better prepare for pandemics.



"The present crisis brings to the forefront the need to open pathways to accelerate innovations in health care for today and tomorrow, says Dr. Steven N. Liss, vice-president, research and innovation at Ryerson University. Tackling complex, global problems requires collaboration, critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills, all of which are among the core features of this Lab2Market-Health program.



Lab2Market-Health is designed to generate a maximum impact over a short period of time. It is a first step for anyone interested in commercializing an existing health technology or product, whether through a start-up or licensing agreement. The program requires a time commitment of 25 hours per week for seven weeks and can be accessed virtually. Through the program participants will:



Build critical thinking, collaboration, communication, innovation and entrepreneurship skills

Define clinical utility before spending money

Understand their core customers, and the sales and marketing process required for initial clinical sales and downstream commercialization

Assess intellectual property and regulatory risk before they design and build

Gather data essential to customer partnerships/collaboration before doing the science

Identify and understand financial vehicles

Understand their regulatory pathway, and consult with regulatory authorities

Understand their clinical pathway to market

Were excited to launch Lab2Market-Health to support graduate students and their supervisors in building capacity within their labs, universities, and communities to move their research from bench-to-bedside, says Spencer Giffin, associate director of commercialization & start-ups at Dalhousie University. This program will develop the next generation of health innovators to reduce both the immediate burdens on the healthcare system, as well as build preventive and predictive solutions for the future.



Those interested in participating in the program should apply by April 17, 2020. The application can be found at lab2market.ca. The program will begin in early May.



Helping researchers commercialize their technology



The Lab2Market (L2M) program was developed to address Canadas research commercialization performance, which lags behind that of fellow member countries in the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD). A major factor in this performance is the lack of support for the commercialization of intellectual property created at Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Over the next two years, the Lab2Market pilot program will apply and adapt these best practice models to the Canadian market in an effort to support Canadian researchers working to commercialize their technology. Our goal is to help develop a national research commercialization program on par with global leaders to better our society and economy.



The program is based on the successful I-Corps program in the United States, and the ICURe program in the United Kingdom. The Lab2Market pilot program is being funded by the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), as well as the Ocean Startup Project.



Strengthening innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship



Lab2Market, developed and led by Dalhousie University and Ryerson University, leverages the national I-INC network. I-INC is Canadas network of innovative and entrepreneurial universities, which is focused on strengthening innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship, moving ideas and inventions to innovation and impact, and connecting Canadian companies to the talent and ideas emerging from our universities.



I-INC accelerates the transfer of Canadian research-driven science and technology from lab-to-market and commercial application. Founded in 2014 by Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University and Ontario Tech University, the network has expanded to include 13 universities across Canada: Ryerson University, Dalhousie University, Simon Fraser University, Concordia University, Polytechnique Montreal, University of Manitoba, University of New Brunswick, McMaster University, Queen's University, Concordia, Ontario Tech University, University of Saskatchewan, Memorial University and University of Calgary.




The release of certain nonviolent prisoners before they have served their full terms is sensible if certain criteria are met  and, ideally, if they have tested negative for the virus before release. At this point, states and localities should be freeing inmates who have been jailed for failing to pay court fines and fees  in other words, for the crime of poverty. They should consider expanding good time credits for some long-term inmates without serious disciplinary records, as the D.C. Council voted to do this week. More governors can and should use their powers of clemency to accelerate the release of inmates nearing the ends of their terms, especially if they are elderly or medically vulnerable.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has led to the restriction of the export of dozens of drugs including paracetamol and other antibiotics, leading to fears of a global shortage of essential medicines.

Pixabay

The restriction was made on these particular drugs such as paracetamol, antibiotics like tinidazole and erythromycin, the hormone progesterone which is used in the contraceptive pill and vitamins B12, B1 and B6

On Tuesday, concerns over supply shortages which led the Indian government to place limits on the export of 26 pharmaceutical ingredients and the medicines and vitamins made from them. This came after American President Donald Trump asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ease the export of Hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that may be helpful in treating COVID-19.

India is considered as the largest producer and exporters of drugs to some major countries such as the US and Europe.

Indian pharmaceutical companies have been sourcing about 70 per cent of the ingredients from the Chinese, but many of them have been shut due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The list of drugs and medicine ingredients which are produced by India are:

Pixabay

India is one of the largest producers for many drugs and health medicines such as paracetamol, Vitamins B1, B6 B12, female hormone drugs like Tinidazole and Metronidazole. The drug is used to treat herpes Acyclovir, and other antibiotics like Chloramphenicol, Erythromycin Salts Neomycin, Ornidazole and Clindamycin.

India has imported a large part of APIs from China to make these medicines.

According to the New York times, India, the worlds main supplier of generic drugs has lifted restrictions on the export of 24 pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines made from them, this was said by the government of India in a statement.

The restrictions have been imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak which has disrupted the global supply chains. A Indian medicine Paracetamol - generic pain reliever, and its formulations were not included in the list of drugs freed up for export.

It was not clear what made India to lift the restrictions, but Indian government sources have said the bans had prompted intense pressure from the United States.

"The two leaders agreed to remain in touch on the issue of global supply chains for critical pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and to ensure they continue to function as smoothly as possible during the global health crisis," White House spokesman Judd Deere, said in a tweet on Saturday following the leaders' call.

The two leaders agreed to remain in touch on the issue of global supply chains for critical pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and to ensure they continue to function as smoothly as possible during the global health crisis. #COVID19  Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) April 5, 2020

India had restricted the exports of 26 ingredients and medicines on March 3. Paracetamol is considered as one of the most produced drug in India.
Fox News Channel and radio talk show host Sean Hannity (L) interviews U.S. President Donald Trump before a campaign rally at the Las Vegas Convention Center on September 20, 2018.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

President Donald Trump told Fox News host and unofficial White House adviser Sean Hannity that states across the country have plenty of ventilators, citing Hannity's show to back up his claim.

Trump has insisted that states fend for themselves in acquiring critical medical supplies and he's repeatedly argued that governors are exaggerating their needs.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School predict the US could require up to 31 times the number of ventilators it has in its stockpile in order to treat coronavirus patients.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump told Fox News host and unofficial White House adviser Sean Hannity that states across the country have plenty of ventilators  and he cited Hannity's show to back up his claim.

This comes as governors are pleading for more life-saving breathing-assistance machines as coronavirus infections spike in their states and they prepare for hospitalization rates that could overwhelm their healthcare systems.

"In fact, we just saw on your show and a couple of other people just reported back to me that everyone is in great shape from the standpoint of ventilators, which are very hard because they were expensive and big and they are very high tech," the president told Hannity on his primetime program on Tuesday night.

Trump has insisted that states fend for themselves in acquiring critical medical supplies and he's repeatedly argued that governors are exaggerating their needs. In many cases, states are forced to bid against other states and the federal government to acquire supplies from vendors.

Trump added that ventilators are "very hard to get," but that the US government is "building thousands of them, and we have that in good shape."

Researchers at Harvard Medical School predict the US could require up to 31 times the number of ventilators it has in its stockpile in order to treat coronavirus patients.

Story continues

Anywhere from 10% to 25% of COVID-19 patients need breathing assistance equipment at some point while they're sick with the illness. And about 5% of patients require a mechanical ventilator, which is critical to save the lives of those with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The federal government has a well-documented shortage of ventilators in its Strategic National Stockpile, which the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, falsely claimed wasn't designed to aid states. And thousands of ventilators in the federal emergency stockpile do not work, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

In late March, the Trump administration sent 170 ventilators to California, after the state requested 10,000 of the machines, and all 170 were broken.

At a press briefing on Saturday, Trump said: "[Ventilator] shortages have led to inflated requests. We have some states and areas that are just asking for far more than they need."

As the administration fails to answer states' requests, governors have begun stepping up to help each other. California, Oregon, and Washington announced they will lend ventilators to the national stockpile to be used by states struggling with rising coronavirus caseloads, the Associated Press reported.

James Pasley contributed to this report.

Read the original article on Business Insider
TDT | Manama

The Indian School Bahrain (ISB) Hon. Chairman Prince S Natarajan announced yesterday that steps are being taken to distribute textbooks for the new academic year to all students at their homes, in the wake of the coronavirus threat in the Kingdom.

The school is also in the process of implementing online classes for the academic year 2020-21, in compliance with the guidelines set forth by the government. Meanwhile, the school has been receiving a number of new applications for fee concessions from parents.

ISB has already offered fee concessions to around 1,000 students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many parents having lost their jobs and are in financial troubles. The school, therefore, needs financial support from the entire community in order to process these new applications for assistance.

ISB, which has the lowest fee structure in the Gulf, is appealing for the support of the Indian community, associations, and well-wishers to mobilise the financial resources needed to help financially struggling parents in this situation, said Natarajan.

The schools governing body has decided not to charge transport fees from April until the school reopens. For those who have already paid the fee for this month, it will be adjusted against the monthly school fees.

Students and their families who are in financial difficulties are already being assisted by school teachers and well-wishers under the leadership of the Executive Committee, headed by the chairman. The schools charity work is done confidentially, in respect of the privacy of the families.

The school will do whatever possible within their limits to assist those who are in need of financial assistance, said Natarajan and Hon. Secretary Saji Antony. Classes for the new academic year are beginning on April 12.

Principal VR Palaniswamy said teachers in Class X and XII have already uploaded pre-recorded video lectures and related notes to the schools parent portal.

The school is now moving forward strictly following the guidelines of the Ministry of Education. Parents will be informed of the details of starting online classes for the new academic year in due course, said Principal Palaniswamy and Riffa campus Principal Pamela Xavier.
Amazon employees hold a protest and walkout over conditions at the company's Staten Island distribution facility on March 30, 2020 in New York City. Workers at the facility, which has had numerous employees test positive for the coronavirus, want to call attention to what they say is a lack of protections for employees who continue to come to work amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Amazon said on Thursday that it's working on developing coronavirus tests that could be used to help protect warehouse workers, who are particularly exposed to the disease.

In a blog post, the company said it has started building "incremental test capacity" that could eventually result in "regular testing of all employees, including those showing no symptoms."

Amazon said it has mobilized employees across the company, including research scientists, program managers, procurement specialists and software engineers, to form a dedicated team that will work on developing coronavirus tests. The team is in its early stages, having obtained the necessary equipment to build its first lab, Amazon said.

Once work is underway, the hope is "to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon," Amazon said. "We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others."

Since the breakout of the pandemic, dozens of Amazon warehouses across the country have reported cases of COVID-19, and staffers have vocalized their concerns that the company isn't sufficiently protecting them while on the job. Many workers have called for Amazon to shut down facilities where people have tested positive and to screen employees for the virus.

It's unclear how many employees are a part of the test development team or how many workers will be included in the trial groups. Representatives from Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon initially hinted at its desire to test workers for the virus in internal meeting notes obtained by Reuters. The notes said the company has been in contact with coronavirus test makers Abbott Laboratories and Thermo Fischer Scientific and that Amazon hopes to start tests at a Seattle warehouse, before rolling them out more broadly, according to Reuters.

In response to employee pressure, Amazon has announced a number of new safety measures at its facilities in recent weeks. The company increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning at all of its sites and began requiring that employees sanitize and clean their work stations at the start and end of every shift. It also started taking employees' temperatures when they report to work and has supplied them with face masks.

WATCH: NY Attorney General on Zoom privacy probe, Amazon employee firing
(Bloomberg) --

Germanys new coronavirus cases climbed the most in five days, almost three weeks after the government implemented restrictions on public life in a bid to contain the disease.

Infections rose by 5,633 on Thursday, compared with an increase of 4,288 a day earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Germany registered 333 new deaths from the virus, the highest daily toll so far and up from 206 the previous day. That brought the total number of fatalities to 2,349, while 46,300 people have recovered from the virus, up from 36,081 on Wednesday.

Germany has the third-highest number of cases in Europe, though its death rate is relatively low at 2.07%.

Governments around the world are trying to figure out when and how to emerge from weeks of lockdown. Germany is considering easing restrictions on public life and the first steps might be taken after Easter, Health Minister Jens Spahn said in interview with Handelsblatt newspaper published Wednesday.

We see a positive trend, but it has to steady, Spahn told the newspaper. That is why it is important to stay consistent over Easter.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier echoed Spahns comments on DLF radio on Thursday. We have had the first bits of positive news but its much too early to be over-confident or complacent, Altmaier said. The days over Easter will be decisive and only then will we know whether we can begin with any easing.

Economic and social life will not be fully ramped up right from the start but it will be a step-by-step process, Altmaier said. Otherwise, there is a danger restrictions will have to be reimposed if the virus spread intensifies again, he warned.

Stephan Weil, the premier of the state of Lower Saxony, said on ZDF TV Thursday that limited visits to family or close friends are possible over Easter.

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Chennai, April 9 : Tamil Nadu Police are searching for a Covid-19 patient who was discharged by a hospital in Villupuram district by mistake, said police.

The hospital had discharged four coronavirus positive patients owing to a clerical error on Tuesday.

Realising the mistake the hospital authorities reached out to the police and located three persons belonging to the same family residing in the district.

The one person who is being traced is a migrant labourer from Delhi.

According to the police, special teams have been formed to trace the missing patient.

The Villupuram district has 20 Covid-19 patients.
People continually flouting the social distancing laws could face a fine of 2,500 or a six-month jail sentence.

The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said that it was very important that gardai had clarity with regard to regulatory arrangements around Covid-19 restrictions.

The new regulations were signed into law by the Minister for Health Simon Harris last night and are in place until Easter Sunday.

Minister Flanagan told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show that it was likely the restrictions would last into next week.

The regulations are a last resort he said and it was hoped that a high level of compliance would be maintained. We want to ensure that the public health advice is followed.

Mr Flanagan said there was a fear that people may have become a little complacent in this the fourth week of the lockdown.

When asked if gardai could knock on the doors of holiday homes and tell people to go home, the Minister revealed that they could. Gardai will be staging roadblocks and sending people back from where they came.

It was not envisaged that the emergency powers will be widely used. They are there as a deterrent. There will not be an automatic rollover.

Mr Flanagan thanked the people of Ireland for their compliance, but he warned were not there yet. There are still increasing numbers of cases and unfortunately deaths increasing too, he said.

Gardai would be able to stop cars with the box on the roof and the buckets and spades in the back at checkpoints. If there are some who flout the regulations the gardai will now have recourse and people will be required to go back to their place of residence.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

The vast majority are not going to be affected, he said. The vast majority have nothing to fear here, the vast majority are fully compliant.

The restrictions will have to continue to help flatten the curve, he said.

There will not be an automatic rollover of the new laws, he said, there will be careful consideration and the government will take the advice of Dr Tony Holohan and the NPHET.

Former Attorney General Michael McDowell told the same programme that it was important that people realise that staying home over the holiday weekend will save lives.

He said he would love to be on the Shannon this weekend, but if he went into a local shop to buy a newspaper he could be carrying the virus with him.

Senator McDowell complimented the government on the measures taken to allow gardai enforce social restrictions, he described it is a reasonable measure during a national emergency.

The fact that it was only a five-day imposition of the new garda powers showed how focused the government was on trying to prevent people from moving around the country over what would normally be a travel weekend, he said.

The former Minister for Justice acknowledged there was an element of the restriction of civil liberty, but the fact was that doing so could prevent thousands of deaths, which he said trumped civil liberties.

However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said the extraordinary powers "should not be used".

The body has urged gardai to take a community policing approach this weekend, but if they are used, they must berecorded and monitored as a safeguard against their abuse and to ensure they are used as minimally as possible, if at all.

ICCLs Executive Director, Liam Herrick, said: "The approach of An Garda Siochana up to this point has been based on consent and has been for the most part successful.

"We urge both Government and gardai to continue this approach. The vast majority of people have been observing the advice to stay at home and restrict movements to what is essential for the past two weeks.

"So it is not clear that there is any demonstrated need to move from consent to enforcement and we urge the Garda Commissioner to make it clear that the introduction of these regulations does not lead to any significant change in the operational approach of the Gardai."

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09.04.2020 LISTEN

Many years back, and until the killer novel coronavirus (Covid-19) rearing its ugly head in China and spreading like a wild summer or harmattan bush fire across the length and breadth of the globe, Ghanaians living abroad, called as "burgers", were highly respected when they went to Ghana. However, with the advent of the fatally devastating virus, originating from, and first affecting and infecting many in China, and then spreading outward to other Western countries, Ghanaians residing abroad are more likely to contract the virus than those living in Ghana.

From practical observations and doubtless confirmation, Ghanaians and foreigners returning to Ghana for whatever reason are carriers of the virus to infect those living in the country. Since this finding came out from the testing of those entering the country and being forced into compulsory self-isolation and quarantine, the Ghanaian "burgers" have lost the respect and pampering given to them previously. They have rather become like anathemas in the eyes of almost everyone in Ghana, including even members of their own families back home in Ghana.

Indeed, time changes as the bible well says it in Ecclesiastes 3:1:8.

A Time for Everything:

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Now is the time for Ghanaian "burgers" to be stigmatised and rejected. There is nothing that anyone can do about it since it is in fulfilment of God's plans going by the bible verses just quoted in verbatim above. Although deadly and scary the virus is, its outbreak has come to teach the Ghanaian "burger", the Ghanaian government and Ghanaians in general bitter lessons while opening our eyes about the need and urgency to be farsighted to take intelligent decisions, be proactive and possibly, be self-reliant in many basic things as much as we can.

At the moment, a person living in say, the remote Kumawu-Abotanso "Twebidi" is 100% safer from contracting the Covid-19 than the Ghanaian living abroad. How indeed time changes, either for better or for worse. Many are probably the "burgers" wishing if they were currently living in such a remote area in Ghana where Covid-19 may not dare reach, than living in the whiteman's countries, the origin and the hotspots of Covid-19.

We need rethinking, the way Ghanaians in particular, and Africans in general, become too lazy as to fail to develop our own country or continent but to always see the whiteman's land as a greener pasture to attract us to go with intent to fleece them. If we are capable of doing our own basic things, will some white scientists always use Africa as the test ground for their nuclear weapons, vaccines in clinical trials and a dumping ground for their waste products and inferior low cost goods from especially China?

Ghanaian burgers, please do not feel rejected and dejected by the actions of our fellow Ghanaians back home towards us. They need to protect themselves from premature death by them not attracting the virus through their physical or social interactions with us. They are right to adopt that approach since we are in the moment of survival where he who adopts to the conditions of the environment he or she finds him or herself, will survive this deadly virus.

While observing all the helpful government advisory instructions to stay safe and alive, we should not forget to approach God Almighty in prayers to come to our aid to rid the world of this lethal virus suspected to be man-made through laboratory engineering.

Rockson Adofo

Wednesday, 8 April 2020
NEW YORK -- Every moment of the day we are surrounded by smells. Odors can bring back memories, or quickly warn us that food has gone bad. But how does our brain identify so many different odors? And how easily can we untangle the ingredients of a mixture of odors? In a new study in mice published today in Science, Columbia scientists have taken an important step toward answering these questions, and the secret lies inside the nose.

"From garbage to cologne, the scents we encounter every day are comprised of hundreds or even thousands of individual odors," said Stuart Firestein, PhD, a Columbia professor of biological sciences and the co-senior author of today's study. "Your morning cup of coffee can contain more than 800 different types of odor molecules. Although much work has been done to understand how the nose and brain work together to identify individual odors, scientists have long struggled to explain how this system works when multiple odors are mixed together."

Using a cutting-edge 3D imaging method called SCAPE microscopy, the Columbia team monitored how thousands of different cells in the nose of a mouse responded to different odors -- and mixtures of those odors. They found that the information that the nose sends to the brain about a mixture of scents is more than just the sum of its parts.

The cells in the nose that detect smells each have one of a wide range of different sensors, or receptors; humans, for example have up to 400 different types of these receptors. For a pure, single odor, only the cells whose receptors are sensitive to that odor will become active, sending a code to the brain that it can identify as that odor. But for more complex mixtures of odors, this code would become increasingly complex to interpret.

The researchers expected to see that the cells activated by mixtures of odors would be equivalent to adding together responses to individual odors. In fact, they found that in some cases an odor can actually turn off a cell's response to another odor in a mixture; in other cases, a first odor could amplify a cell's response to a second odor.

Although we often perceive one odor dominating another, it was previously assumed that this processing occurred in the brain. These results show that signals being sent to the brain get shaped by these interactions within the nose.

The team's data challenged the traditional view that the brain makes sense of a mixture of scents by figuring out all of the individual components. It confirmed what perfumers have long known: combining different scents can create a certain experience on its own, essentially becoming an entirely new scent that can provide a completely different experience.

"We were excited to find that these changes in the code happened in the nose, before signals even get to the brain," said Lu Xu, a doctoral candidate in the Firestein lab and the co-first author of today's study. "We think that these effects could help us to detect and identify a much larger range of odors and mixtures than a simple additive code could convey."

To reveal these inner workings of the olfactory system, the researchers harnessed the power of SCAPE microscopy, a technique developed by Elizabeth Hillman, PhD, a Zuckerman Institute principal investigator and the co-senior author of today's Science paper. SCAPE microscopy creates high-speed, 3D images of living tissues in real time. It sweeps an angled sheet of light back and forth to create high-speed 3D movies of living cells and tissues in action.

The Firestein and Hillman labs customized SCAPE to illuminate and view tissues in the noses of mice. The researchers examined neuronal cells within the animals' noses that were labeled with fluorescence that flashed under the microscope when these cells were activated. They then exposed the animals' nasal tissues to a range of different scent combinations: one with a woody bouquet, and the other a mix of almond, floral and citrus scents.

"SCAPE allowed us to simultaneously analyze the activity in any of the tens of thousands of single cells over long periods of time," said Wenze Li, PhD, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Hillman lab and the paper's co-first author. "Using conventional microscopes, we could only image a few hundred cells in a thin layer for a short time. SCAPE made it possible to image many more cells within the intact 3D nasal structures without damaging the tissue. This enabled us to track each cell's response over time to a long series of different odor combinations."

To process the immense amount of data collected -- more than 300 gigabytes per tissue sample -- the team had to build their own powerful data processing server, and worked with algorithms developed by Columbia's Department of Statistics and the Simons Foundation.

For almost twenty years, scent experts have known that certain smells can mask or even enhance others. With today's study, the researchers uncovered a potential mechanism for this phenomenon.

"Our results showed that scent molecules can both activate and deactivate receptors, masking other scents not by overpowering them, but by changing the way cells respond to them," said Dr. Hillman, who is professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science. "These findings could actually be very useful, for example to make better air fresheners that actually block out any unwanted smells."

"These results are also exciting because we didn't expect that this kind of receptor could be enhanced or suppressed in this way," added Dr. Firestein. "Being able to change the way a receptor responds to one substance is very important for drug development. Our studies in the nose actually shed new light on possible ways to modulate the response of other cell types that might be involved in disease."

"This study was a true marriage of the expertise of two different labs, with state-of-the-art microscopy technology and big-data analysis," added Dr. Hillman, who is also a professor of radiology at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Hillman credits funding and encouragement from the NIH BRAIN Initiative for making this parallel science and technology work possible. "We discovered something that was almost impossible to see before, because we had a new way to see it."

###

This paper is titled "Widespread receptor driven modulation in peripheral olfactory coding." Additional contributors include Venkatakaushik Voleti and Dong-Jing Zou.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (2 R01 DC013553), NIH BRAIN Initiative (U01NS09429, UF1NS108213), Firmenich (3000615937), National Cancer Institute (U01CA236554), Department of Defense (MURI W911NF-12-24 1-0594), the Simons Foundation Collaboration on the Global Brain, the Kavli Institute for Brain Science and the National Science Foundation (IGERT and CAREER CBET-0954796).

Competing Interests: Elizabeth Hillman, Wenze Li and Venkatakaushik Voleti declare a potential financial conflict of interest relating of the licensing of SCAPE microscopy intellectual property to Leica Microsystems for commercial development. Stuart Firestein, Elizabeth Hillman, Venkatakaushik Voleti and Wenze Li receive funds for advising Firmenich SA in work related to that presented here.

Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute brings together a group of world-class scientists and scholars to pursue the most urgent and exciting challenge of our time: understanding the brain and mind. A deeper understanding of the brain promises to transform human health and society. From effective treatments for disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, depression and autism to advances in fields as fundamental as computer science, economics, law, the arts and social policy, the potential for humanity is staggering. To learn more, visit: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: In a first, a doctor succumbed to COVID-19 in India. A 61-year-old general physician on Thursday died while battling coronavirus at a private hospital in Indore on Thursday. He was undergoing treatment for past five days, Indore district chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Pravin Jadia told The New Indian Express.

Indore has so far reported death of 22 COVID-19 patients, the highest in the state which has seen 28 such cases.

On Wednesday, six virus-infected people had died in that city.

Meanwhile, a general physician and his wife tested positive for coronavirus along with four others. The couple is being treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhopal.

It is noteworthy to mention that over 40 of the 90-odd positive patients in Bhopal are health workers. An additional SP-rank IPS officer and a police Sub- Inspector are also among the positive cases in the MP capital.

On Wednesday evening, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had ordered total sealing of Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain districts and directed that no one would be allowed to enter or leave these districts.

The day also saw five more coronavirus cases including four men from Karnataka. All of them, found in a mosque in Khandwa district, had reportedly attended the Tablighi Jamaat event which took place in Delhi. Curfew was subsequently imposed in entire communally sensitive Khandwa town.
About one in 50 people hospitalised with acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia are suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to a new study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)  findings that some experts said suggested the disease has entered the community transmission phase in the country.

Close to 40% of these patients did not have recent travel history or known contact with a Covid-19 case.

The study, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) on Thursday, found that Covid-19 positivity among severe acute respiratory infections (Sari) patients is 1.8% out of 5,911 samples tested between February 15 and April 2.

Among the 965 Sari samples tested between February 15 and March 19, only two (0.2%) were positive for Covid-19. But when the testing strategy was expanded to include all Sari patients, out of 4,946 samples, 102 (2.1%) were positive for Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19).

According to the survey, of the 102 Covid-19-positive Sari patients, one reported a recent history of international travel, two reported contacts with a confirmed case, and 40 (39.2%) did not report any history of international travel or contact with a Covid-positive person. The data on exposure history was not available for 59 cases.

One may not like to call it community transmission but this is in fact community transmission of Covid-19, said Dr T Jacob John, professor emeritus and former head of virology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Sari in the absence of Covid-19 is essentially due to influenza A (H1N1 or H3N2) or influenza B (the Victoria strain or Yamagata). These four are essentially the only reasons for Sari. Sometimes Sari patients are also affected by Adenoviruses. The results of the ICMR study indicates that Covid-19 is entering this scene. So now we have about two Sari patients in 100 who are testing positive for the new virus. Its becoming a much commoner problem than what we had expected earlier. Waiting for this evidence for intervention is not needed, Dr John added.

Community transmission is the third of the four stages of the spread of an infectious disease. The first is travel history, the second is local transmission, the third is community transmission, and the fourth is epidemic.

India has maintained that the disease is in the second stage, or between stage two and stage three with limited community transmission in some clusters.

The median age of Covid-19 positive Sari patients in the study was 54. It found that Covid-19 positivity was higher among men (85 of the 102 Covid-19 positive patients).

Most of the Sari patients tested were from Gujarat (792), followed by Tamil Nadu (577), Maharashtra (553) and Kerala (502). Covid-19 cases among these were detected from 52 districts in 20 states.

Covid-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting Covid-19 cases among Sari patients. Intensifying sentinel surveillance for Covid-19 among Sari patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts, the study said.

Another expert said that it was still too early to say this was community transmission.

We cant just jump to the conclusion that there is community transmission from these findings. These are from the laboratory and we havent started testing in the community yet. I think their case history hasnt been analysed properly yet, said Dr Shobha Broor, former head of the department of microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

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The Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has started the implementation of the free water distribution for all Ghanaians as declared by the President Akufo-Addo recently in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The intervention seeks to absorb the water bills for all Ghanaians for the next 3 months beginning April, May and June this year.

Read full statement below:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE : 9th April, 2020

CONTACT : Stanley Martey, Head, PR / Communications

TELEPHONE NOs : 0244 336 180

The President, on the 5th of April 2020, announced to Ghanaians, that Government was absorbing water bills of citizens from April, May and June as part of measures to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Management wishes to inform the general public that it has started the implementation of the Presidents vision and the Governments policy. It is therefore essential that all Ghanaians are educated on the policy to enable citizens appreciate the vision for smooth implementation

Thus, with effect from April and ending in June 2020:

All customers of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) on category 611 (domestic users) shall have their bills from April, May and June absorbed and paid by Government.

All stand-pipes shall be used to serve citizens for free and Government shall absorb the bill and pay commission/compensation to the vendors. Hence, vendors are expected to still control the services to the public, but for free. This is to ensure the prudent use of water.

Landlords and landladies who sell water to tenants must allow tenants to use the water for free from April, May and June. Landlords and Landladies who sell water to other members of the community must register with the district offices of the GWCL to be eligible for commission/compensation.

All customers disconnected prior to the Presidents announcement, are still liable and must pay their arrears to enable them enjoy the free water. If a customer is not in a position to pay arrears in full, such customer can negotiate with the District Offices and or Regional Offices, so as to be reconnected. These cases will be treated on individual bases.

Tanker services have been arranged to serve deprived communities. Consumers in such communities must liaise with the Assembly members, who will request for the services of these tankers from our district offices. The numbers for all district offices of the GWCL will be published in the media.

Management of GWCL is very much appreciative of the support from the general public in these trying times and wish to assure the general public that, the company is working assiduously to enable citizens have adequate supply especially for domestic use and to help us observe the necessary protocols outlined by the President.

To help the company through this critical period, consumers are advised to strictly observe the following water conservation measures:

 Cease indiscriminate watering of lawns with treated water,

 Moderate the use of treated water for car washing through the use of buckets

Instead of hosing,

 shut all taps when not in use,

 Repair all leakages in your homes, like overflowing reservoirs and dripping taps, valves, etc

 Report all burst pipes and leakages immediately to the nearest GWCL district offices, Customer Service centres, Fault Offices.

 Report all persons engaged in illegal connections, by-passes, and all malpractices against GWCL to the nearest Police station or to the district offices.

The general public can also call or GWCL whatsapp GWCL on these numbers; 0555123393, 0555155524, 0207385088, 0207385089, 0207385090. You can include google locations, pictures and videos of the burst. The toll free line for the customer call center is 0800 40 000 for Vodafone cell and land lines only and 0302 218240 for all other networks.

Management of GWCL, wishes to advice the general public that it is doing its utmost best in this current situation but as patriotic citizens, we need to desist from Antisocial and unacceptable behaviors like the misuse of water as we see on social media, illegal connections, and by passes. Help GWCL to serve you better.

The cooperation of the general public is greatly appreciated.
Police don't have the power to force you to explain why you're out and about this Easter according to a legal expert - but you might still get a fine.

Jane Sanders, a defence lawyer with more than 25 years' experience, said Australians still have the right to remain silent despite new social distancing laws.

'The police don't actually have any new powers to stop people or make people answer questions, or any extra power of arrest,' she said.

Police are enforcing Australia's social distancing lockdown but a leading criminal defence lawyer says New South Wales residents don't have to answer police questions about what they're doing outside

New South Wales has been cracking down on people breaching new social distancing laws to slow the spread of coronavirus.

So far, 151 people have been fined $1,000, including a Bathurst man, 41, who simply took a morning walk - but gave officers 'several different excuses' for why he was outside.

Queensland, Victoria and other states have introduced similar laws with on-the-spot fines of up to $13,000.

New South Wales residents can only leave their homes if they come armed with one of 16 reasonable excuses.

Those excuses include food shopping, going to work, exercising, caring for a loved one, donating blood, obtaining medical care, or attending a wedding or funeral.

Ms Sanders, principal of Sydney's The Shopfront Legal Centre, said the new laws don't give police any special powers to force residents to justify their movement.

'Police can come up to you and ask you questions, anytime, anywhere,' she said. 'But in most situations, nearly all situations, you don't have to answer their questions.'

Other government agencies have got involved in ushering away loiterers. An environmental protection agency worker at Cronulla beach

Ms Sanders said the central legal principle, the right to stay silent and not incriminate yourself, has not changed.

Under the Public Health Act, police who have a reasonable suspicion the social distancing guidelines have been breached can stop a citizen and compel just two things from them - their name and address, so a fine can be issued.

'Whether you're on foot or in a vehicle - they cannot just stop you for the purpose of investigation,' Ms Sanders said.

'They can't stop you for the purpose of asking you 'who you are' or 'where you're going.'

What are the rules across the country? Victoria People who fail to follow social-distancing rules can be fined $1,652, while businesses can be fined $9,913. Penalty for breaching quarantine is up to $19,826 for individuals and $100,000. Queensland Police can issue fines on the spot of $1,334 for individuals and $6,672 for businesses who break social-distancing rules. Penalties of up to $13,345 apply for people breaking quarantine while corporations can be fined $66,672. Western Australia Disobeying social-distancing rules will result in a $1,000 fine while businesses can be fined $5,000. Breaking quarantine can result in a $50,000 fine or a year behind bars. Northern Territory Breaking quarantine rules can result in a fine of up to $62,000. South Australia Flouting social distancing rules could result in a $1,000 fine, $5,000 for businesses. Breaking quarantine can result in fines of $25,000. Tasmania Ignoring social-distancing rules can lead to fines of $1,000 and arrest. Breaking quarantine could cause a $16,800 fine and up to six months in jail. Australian Capital Territory Fines can be given out for breaking social-distancing rules and breaking quarantine can result in fines of up to $8,000 for people, $40,500 for corporations. Advertisement

6,024 Australians have tested positive to the coronavirus and 51 people have died - but the number is vastly lower than the rest of the world

Solicitor Jane Sanders is an expert in police powers under the law

'They cannot lawfully stop you unless they're intending to proceed against you for an offence, or they're intending to search you under reasonable grounds'.

The loophole doesn't give Australian's an excuse to venture out unnecessarily this Easter with authorities urging people to stay home.

Police will be out in force this weekend targeting holidaymakers who travel against the government's advice to avoid all non-essential travel.

The loophole will not save you from a fine with police still within their rights to ping people who are wrongly out and about.

Ms Sanders said it may sometimes be in peoples' best interests to answer police questions.

But she said while police 'can ask you questions ... you don't have to answer' - even while driving.

'They can't stop you for the purpose of asking questions and they can't detain you for the purpose of asking questions.'

Any fines under the public health laws can be fought in court, and defence lawyers often advise it's best to 'say nothing' than help police incriminate you.

Daily Mail Australia approached the New South Wales Police Force for comment, but a spokeswoman simply said the law speaks for itself.
APRIL 9, 2020  For UTSA master of fine arts student Gabi Magaly, when the exhibition of her thesis work was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, it was an opportunity to overcome, not succumb to, the situation. Magaly, in true Roadrunner spirit, decided to create a showcase of her final project online.

I look at the bright side, she said. Now people can see my work over the internet. Hopefully, it spreads like wildfire.

Magalys effort shows how creative thinkers can still present their work, despite stay-at-home orders. Her friends helped her make a brief video to explain her show, and Presa House Gallery created a virtual tour that allows not only the San Antonio community but now the entire world to see Magalys art up close.

The artwork in Magalys show, titled Yo No Naci Para Aguantar a Nadie (I Wasnt Born to Put Up With Anybody), is not easy. It deals with themes of growing up in a Mexican American household, tackling community issues, such as the culture of machismo and marianismo, a veneration for perceived feminine virtues like purity and moral strength. Items that are traditionally associated with many Mexican American householdsFiesta-brand spices, fideo, prayer cards, candles, blankets and tortillasare turned upside down. She uses a visual language, usually reserved for Abuelas kitchen and living room, to push for empowerment of Hispanic Gen Z and Latinx women.

Upending Tradition

COURTESY OF PRESA HOUSE GALLERY / VIRTUAL TOUR VIDEO BY NAIN LEON



Magaly explains why she chose the home as the setting to exhibit her work.



Magaly explains why she chose the home as the setting to exhibit her work.

View the virtual tour of Gabi Magalys M.F.A. exhibition.

Learn more about Gabi Magaly and her artwork.

Her numerous group exhibitions include New Media from Texas at Luis Leu Gallery in Karlsruhe, Germany, Photoplay at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, and winning Best in Show for her Santa Catherine de Siena piece at the Masur Museum of Arts 56th Annual Juried Competition Exhibition in Monroe, Louisiana.
(RNS)  The Bible is the Bible not just because it reports the past, but because of its inexhaustible capacity to become contemporary.

The story of the Book of Exodus recounts how Moses returns to Egypt from exile in the desert, where a strange deity has commissioned him to free Moses people from bondage. With his brother Aaron, Moses confronts Pharaoh with a series of plagues.

These disasters culminate in the nighttime death of firstborn children across Egypt. The Israelites are directed to smear lambs blood on their doorways and remain in their homes, so that death will pass over them. It is this story that Jews will recall the world over beginning Wednesday evening (April 8) at Passover.

The bereaved Pharaoh releases the Israelites, who leave Egypt only to be cornered at the Red Sea by fickle Pharaohs army. Moses God delivers them again by creating a dry way out in the midst of the waters.

This year the Exodus story will mirror the experience of millions across the globe who are staying inside their homes, praying that death will pass them by and that God will once more provide deliverance. Although Israels liberation from Egypt is arguably the central motif of the Hebrew Bible, it is striking that the primary accent in Jewish memory is not the triumph at the sea but the night before Israels departure, Passovers vigil of watching and waiting.

By annually reliving that moment of uncertainty and fear, Jewish tradition remembers something true about the human condition, even as it draws strength from Gods past action. Passover faith is the faith that God can do it again.

Christians are often unaware that Holy Week is viewed by many Jews with apprehension, since historically the Easter season has been a time of heightened Jewish persecution and pogroms. In light of the health crisis we all now share, this year presents a timely opportunity for Christians to reflect on the Jewish roots of their tradition with greater appreciation and understanding. This Easter will be much more like Passover.

Rather than putting on their new Easter clothes and gathering at church, Christian families may find it meaningful to read from Exodus together.

Christians have always discerned parallels between Exodus and Easter. The Easter hymn Come, ye faithful, raise the strain, whose lyrics were penned by the eighth-century theologian John of Damascus, celebrates how God hath brought his Israel / into joy from sadness / loosed from Pharaohs bitter yoke / Jacobs sons and daughters / led them with unmoistened foot / through the Red Sea waters.

Here Israels deliverance at the sea is seen as a type of resurrection.

In retelling the Exodus, Jews and Christians will recall how the biblical God characteristically and reliably brings liberation out of oppression, community out of loneliness, health out of sickness, and life out of death. Sunni Muslims commemorate the Exodus event on the fast of Ashura, so they may also find fresh strength and insight in reconsidering the story.

Even secular readers may discover that Exodus, from so long ago, offers a gripping portrait of a situation much like our own. They may ponder how, as Shakespeare put it, Theres a divinity  call it God, history, destiny or what you like  that shapes our ends / Rough-hew them how we will.

COVID-19 is for many a jarring reminder that, no, we are not masters of our own fate. Plagues once brought this same message home to Pharaoh. But God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them (Exodus 2:25 NRSV).

READ THIS STORY AT RELIGIONNEWS.COM

Article originally published by Religion News Service. Used with permission.

Photo courtesy: Religion News Service/Creative Commons

The Rev. Stephen B. Chapman is an associate professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.
Many displaced people who escaped attacks by extremists in Burkina Faso are now worried they're at risk from the new coronavirus.

Violent attacks are escalating in the country creating one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.

More than 800,000 people have been internally displaced, hundreds of thousands of which are living in makeshift displacement sites across the country.

Burkina Faso is one of the hardest hit countries on the continent and there's concern that if coronavirus infects an already vulnerable displaced population it could be catastrophic.

Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, an official at the World Health Organisation in Burkina Faso, said if COVID-19 broke out at internally displaced person sites or in refugee populations its impact would be "beyond expected epidemiological forecasts".

Internally displaced person sites lack space and access to soap and water.

On the outskirts of Ouagadougou, 600 internally displaced people shelter in an abandoned school, with up to 30 people living in one room.

Aguirata Maiga, who was displaced from her home in the north by extremist attacks said she is worried about coronavirus.

"We have 30 (people) in the same room, we don't have soap to wash our hands so if this disease comes here it will be very difficult for us," she said.

The government's strategy to help the internally displaced population is the same as for civilians in the rest of the country, relying on the existing health system such as hospitals and primary care clinics to cater to patients.

But the country's fragile health system has been weakened by years of attacks.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
A man has died after being shot in a west-end neighbourhood on Wednesday night.

The call about the shooting near St. Clair Avenue West and Winona Drive came in at around 9 p.m., Toronto police said. Callers reported seeing the victim lying in a parking lot with serious injuries.

At around 10:15 p.m. police said the man had succumbed to his injuries after being rushed to hospital.

Callers told police they had seen a dark Sedan fleeing the area.

Investigators are hoping to find dash-cam or video surveillance footage of the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416 808-7400.
A person fleeing Kenosha Police was killed in a crash with another vehicle Wednesday night.

Few details on the incident are being released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which investigates all officer-involved deaths. The name of the person killedand even the sex of the person is not being released.

According to a statement from the DOJ, Kenosha Police were called to a report of a shooting incident and located a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle.

The vehicle fled, police in pursuit. The suspect vehicle was travelling north on Sheridan Road at Highway 158 when it crashed with another vehicle in the intersection. The driver of the suspect vehicle was killed.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Kenosha Police Lt. Joe Nosalik said police received a call of shots being fired in the area of 75th Street and 33rd Avenue at 9:40 p.m.

Two minutes later, police received a second call of shots being fired from a red Cadillac in the area of 77th Street and 27th Avenue.

Police responding saw a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect vehicle in the area of 75th Street and 30th Avenue. When officers attempted to stop the car the driver fled, the resulting chase ending with the fatal crash at Sheridan and 52nd Street.

Although the DOJ would not release the time of the crash, it appears it occurred at about 10 p.m.

Police do not believe anyone was struck by the gunfire.

We recovered a gun from the vehicle, Nosalik said, adding we are quite certain there is no threat to the public.

Under department policy, officers involved in the pursuit were placed on leave. The DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation with assistance from the Kenosha Police, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab and the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Nosalik could not comment on the crash itself or the person who died, referring questions to the DOJ.

Photographs posted of the crash scene on social media showed a badly damaged vehicle, with the driver having to be extricated by firefighters.

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After the October Revolution, propaganda trains toured the Russian countryside with actors and artists on board, officials, a printing press, a mobile movie theater, posters, and leaflets to be thrown from the windows.

The V.I. Lenin was the most famous of such trains. Comrade Lenin lived there for weeks at a time circa 1918 as he took his Revolution directly to the peasants. Everyone called this train "Lenin's Train."

What was the aim and the spirit of this propaganda train, and of Lenin's leadership generally? As Lenin famously proclaimed: "We must be ready to employ trickery, deceit, law-breaking, withholding and concealing truth[.] ... We can and must write in a language which sows among the masses hate, revulsion, and scorn toward those who disagree with us."

The Bolsheviks took over Russia pretending to have widespread popular support. In fact, a tiny cult had seized power against the will of the vast majority. To hide this nasty reality, "the leading Bolsheviks instituted propaganda on a governmental level. While propaganda had been around for a long time, the Bolshevik innovation consisted in assigning propaganda a central place in national life: previously employed to touch up or distort reality, in Communist Russia propaganda became a surrogate reality."

That's the essence of Lenin's Train: it's another world. The key weapon in its influence is agitprop, a portmanteau for "highly politicized art, journalism, or education. The Department for Agitation and Propaganda was the government agency established to produce Agitprop. This label was specific to the Marxism practiced by Communists in the Soviet Union." Agitprop was cocaine and steroids for the far left. Even if they couldn't win philosophically or militarily, the communists believed they could destroy any target with ever more ingenious lies and disinformation.

Nothing has changed in 100 years. Aren't CNN and the machinations of Adam Schiff descended from Lenin's Train? Ditto the New York Times with its 1619 project, which is pure agitprop (where the Times tries to out-Zinn Zinn).

In effect, the Communist Party in Moscow, with lethal contempt, waged continuous war against everyone outside the party. You ride Lenin's Train or you don't ride.

Lenin preached the necessity of trickery, deceit, lawbreaking, and concealing truth. Americans should wonder about consequences: "[s]uch convictions set the stage for decades of murder on an industrial scale. In total, no fewer than 20 million Soviet citizens were put to death by the regime or died as a direct result of its repressive policies. This does not include the millions who died in the wars, epidemics and famines that were predictable consequences of Bolshevik policies, if not directly caused by them." As Lenin said, "the goal of socialism is communism." Apparently, the goal of communism is the liquidation of everything else.

A long forgotten conspiracy from the 1950s illustrates how well organized and aggressive these communists were. The Korean War revealed that one third of American prisoners of war collaborated with the enemy. The main explanation was that American soldiers didn't know any reasons to be patriotic. Merrill Root, a literature professor, published a book in 1958 titled Brainwashing in the High Schools, which pointed out that 11 of the history books used in public schools were basically the same book, each written by a left-wing professor, each suppressing anything favorable or flattering to the US.

Think of the organizational power required to manipulate the history profession, and to coordinate the publishing and selection of these 11 books. In short, the public schools were seldom teaching anything that might make future soldiers more devoted to their own country. As Prof. Root says, "[t]hey had a vacuum where they should've had a storehouse of knowledge about the American Revolution, the founding fathers, the Constitution, and the nature of our constitutional republic."

QED: "Withholding and concealing truth" had become the new mission of our schools. It's easy to think of our school system as one vast Lenin's Train with printing presses, classrooms, government teachers, textbooks, and posters to hand out. Every day, the kids board the train and learn nothing except to hate their country. Agitprop rules.

The people on Lenin's Train believe with Lenin that "there are no morals in politics; there is only expedience." All very practical, but Realpolitik as practiced by the communists tends to make humans subhuman. This process is also called "the deliberate dumbing down of America."

Stella Morabito, a shrewd observer, concludes: "Without real journalism and a free flow of real information, people lose the ability to exercise real thought. Today, when I hear a news outlet talk about its programming, I can't help but think of programming computers or cult recruits. Listening to the news is more like an exercise in thought reform  in which you are being told or nudged in how to think about an issue  than it is the objective flow of actual news you can digest and think through on your own."

Marxists.org casually acknowledges "[t]he crucial importance of revolutionary agitation and propaganda. And with good reason. Together, agitation and propaganda, are a mighty and indispensable weapon in the Party's revolutionary arsenal." Then and now.

Shockingly, our media don't even pretend to investigate or explain the steady decline of American public schools. There appears to be an unexpected but far-ranging collusion between the media and the educrats. Our newspapers seem to be ready accomplices in a political adventurism that is perfectly summed up in these words: we must be ready to employ trickery, deceit, law-breaking, withholding and concealing truth." And so the free press becomes the agitprop press.

The idiocy of K12 education is now so pronounced, there's a flood of videos where mystified students are asked, "What's 7x9?" or "What three countries are in North America?"

The Education Establishment, like the media, can't possibly claim they don't know what's going on. They can't possibly claim they didn't preside over our educational decline. There is nothing wrong with the brains of our young people. What's wrong is that nobody bothers to teach them very much. Lenin did command his followers to withhold and conceal truth.

Bruce Deitrick Price's new book is Saving K-12 -- What happened to our public schools? How do we fix them? Price deconstructs educational methods on Improve-Education.org.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2020) - Crestview Exploration Inc. (CSE: CRS) (FSE: CE7) ("Crestview" or "the Company") is pleased to announce it has acquired a geophysical use licence with Edcon-PRJ, Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado for aeromagnetic data. The subject data consists of high-quality data collected by Edcon-PRJ, Inc. over a 155 square kilometre area centered on the Rock Creek property, which covers 1525 acres (617 Ha).

155 square kilometer airborne magnetic survey centered on the Rock Creek project area.

Evaluation of the survey has identified multiple north-south structures on the property worthy of ground follow-up.

Near term plans are to focus additional geochemical sampling and geological mapping to better delineate these north-south structures and determine their gold bearing potential. Additional geophysical tools are also being considered to help map vein locations and areas of sedimentary rock hosted alteration/gold mineralization at depth.

See the following hyperlink to view our news release video https://youtu.be/MVzOw0Hskes

Rock Creek hosts two parallel north-south gold mineralized vein-breccia structures which run the length of the property. On the surface these structures are hosted by volcanic flows and tuffs. Historic drill data for the project shows the early drilling encountered gold mineralized Paleozoic silty carbonate rocks at depth and proximal to the structures. These sedimentary rocks share many of the characteristics of the favourable gold host rocks found on the Carlin Trend; specifically, those at the Meikle mine located approximately 20 miles (32 km) to the south.

The company believes these deep reaching structures acted as a plumbing system to allow gold mineralizing fluids into the favourable host rocks as found by the shallow early drilling on the project. None of these early holes tested the favourable rocks below a depth of 500 ft. (152 meters) as most of the holes were terminated much sooner. Where these Paleozoic rocks are proximal to the structures represent excellent drill targets.

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Figure 1: Crestview Exploration Inc. Rock Creek Project

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7042/54283_09a4edc524a1081a_002full.jpg

The company engaged the services of Frank P. Fritz of Fritz Geophysics to complete an interpretation of the data. The company supplied current geological mapping, related data and reviewed what is known about the project area and the location of current exploration targets to aid in the interpretation.

The interpretation indicates the area is dominated by north-south structures throughout the project. In addition, locally, the many volcanic flows and volcanic ashfalls appear to have a north-northeast trend, which is consistent with the company's mapping data.

Interpretation of the magnetic data reinforces the two northerly structures that contain mineralized veins and breccias geologically mapped on the claims. The company hypothesizes additional mineralized vein and vein breccias could be found along these other north-south structures on the property as interpreted from the geophysics. An important target has also been identified where one of the interpreted northerly structures cuts across the west edge of a large volcanic dome interpreted to lie in the east-central part of the claims. The area where this particular structure intersects the flank of the interpreted volcanic dome is also occupied by a strong northerly trending magnetic high which may reflect deeper mineralized sources. Structures along the flanks of volcanic domes are favourable for localizing precious metal mineralization.

Further, an interpreted north-south trending granitic dike extends from a large interpreted granitic body located just south of the claim block, northerly to the south edge of the interpreted dome described above. This large dike appears to occupy one of the more prominent interpreted north-south structures further confirming the veracity of the structural preparation. In other locations near and within the project area, these types of dikes can be mineralized.

The company considers these above described north-south trending structures and dikes, along with the strong magnetic high on the flank of the dome as priority targets and is currently evaluating methods to further explore them prior to drilling.

Figure 2: Rock Creek Property Crestview Exploration Inc.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7042/54283_09a4edc524a1081a_003full.jpg

North-south structures play a significant role on the Carlin Trend as many of the deposits on the trend lie along a north-south structural corridor which begins in the Bootstrap-Capstone deposit area and extends to the Ren deposit. This same or closely related structural zone likely extends north from Ren north through the Falcon mine, which is located about four miles south of the project.

M. J. Abrams, Crestview's vice-president exploration commented "The project lies in the southwest part of the Red Cow aka Big Cottonwood Canyon caldera within an area of closely spaced or nested Eocene age calderas; and has a complex volcanic and intrusive geological history. More work is planned to fully understand the geology and its relationship to the mineralization on the property. The complexity of the geology bodes well for the exploration potential on the project in that each of the geological events could have positively impacted the amount of mineralization introduced to the property."

This News Release was prepared by M.J. Abrams; BS and MS Geology, CPG #11451; Idaho PG #570. M.J. Abrams is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical disclosure included in this news release.

About Crestview Exploration Inc:

The Rock Creek Project is a volcanic and sediment-hosted, epithermal precious metal property, which is adjacent to mines with historical production, situated in the Tuscarora Mountains of northern Elko County, Nevada. Together the property comprises 74 unpatented lode mining claims. The Tuscarora Mountains host the northern end of Carlin-trend mineralization, a cluster of major, large gold deposits.

For further information please contact:

Glen Watson, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 1-604-803-5229

Email: Glen@crestviewexploration.com

www.crestviewexploration.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain information that may be deemed "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address acquisition of the Property and future work thereon, mineral resource and reserve potential, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects is forward-looking information. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. These include the results of the Company's due diligence investigations, market prices, exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.

Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company, investors are encouraged to review the Company's public filings at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54283
Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. I will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for KAR Auction Services

The method

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$261.7m US$315.5m US$278.0m US$260.7m US$250.7m US$245.2m US$242.8m US$242.4m US$243.3m US$245.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ -6.23% Est @ -3.84% Est @ -2.17% Est @ -1% Est @ -0.17% Est @ 0.4% Est @ 0.8% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 11% US$236 US$257 US$204 US$173 US$150 US$132 US$118 US$107 US$96.5 US$87.8

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$1.6b

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the intial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 10-year government bond rate (1.7%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 11%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2029  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$245m (1 + 1.7%)  11% 1.7%) = US$2.7b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$2.7b ( 1 + 11%)10= US$984m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$2.5b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$13.5, the company appears quite good value at a 32% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

NYSE:KAR Intrinsic value April 9th 2020

The assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at KAR Auction Services as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 11%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.669. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldnt be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. What is the reason for the share price to differ from the intrinsic value? For KAR Auction Services, We've put together three further aspects you should further research:

Risks: We feel that you should assess the 4 warning signs for KAR Auction Services (1 can't be ignored!) we've flagged before making an investment in the company. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for KAR's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every US stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
THOMASVILLE, Ga., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO), producer of Nature's Own, Wonder, Tastykake, Dave's Killer Bread, and other bakery foods, today announced that it has paid approximately $5.6 million in appreciation bonuses to 11,757 eligible hourly and nonexempt employees, leased labor, and contract workers. The bonus is a recognition of the extraordinary efforts of these workers during the COVID-19 pandemic as the company's 46 bakeries operate non-stop to produce bakery foods. The appreciation bonuses, $500 for full-time workers and $250 for part-time, are in addition to the company's annual bonus program, participated in by all Flowers employees. The company also has implemented emergency COVID-19 leave and short-term disability policies for its 9,700 employees.

"I could not be prouder of our team and this special bonus recognizes all those who are literally on the front line  in baking, engineering, and shipping, those who handle sanitation and distribution, and those who provide other vital support," said Ryals McMullian, president and CEO. "We take our responsibility to help feed America to heart and Flowers team members are showing that every day with passion and courage. On behalf of our company and the board, I thank them for their hard work and commitment, especially during this time of uncertainty."

Actions to Support Employee and Independent Distributor Wellness and Safety

Flowers Foods has taken several proactive steps at all of its facilities to help safeguard the wellness of its team members and the independent distributor partners that serve the market. These include:

Enhancing daily sanitation and cleaning of commonly used areas and frequently touched surfaces in bakeries, warehouses, business offices and resale stores;

Restricted admittance of non-essential, non-business-critical visitors to bakeries, warehouses, and offices;

Daily wellness screening of team members at all bakeries and required self-screening and reporting at other locations;

Suspension of all non-essential business travel and meeting attendance; and

Implementation of remote work for business office team members

"I want to thank our independent distributor partners who have taken steps to enhance the wellness and safety practices of their businesses," McMullian continued. "This is an unprecedented time during which we've experienced a significant surge in food demand. We appreciate our distributor partners helping us keep the market supplied with fresh bakery products."

McMullian added, "Our supply chain is strong and we have a number of contingency plans in place should they be necessary. We are confident we will continue providing our customers and consumers with the bakery foods they need as we all manage through the pandemic."

About Flowers Foods

Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2019 sales of $4.1 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.

FLO-CORP

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to current expectations regarding our future financial condition, performance and results of operations, planned capital expenditures, long-term objectives of management, supply and demand, pricing trends and market forces, and integration plans and expected benefits of transactions and are often identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to," "is expected to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those projected. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this release and that may affect the company's prospects in general include, but are not limited to, (a) general economic and business conditions and the competitive conditions in the baked foods industry, including promotional and price competition, (b) changes in consumer demand for our products, including changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and whole grain trends, and the movement toward more inexpensive store-branded products, (c) the success of productivity improvements and new product introductions, (d) a significant reduction in business with any of our major customers including a reduction from adverse developments in any of our customer's business, (e) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (f) energy and raw material costs and availability and hedging and counterparty risk, (g) our ability to fully integrate recent acquisitions into our business, (h) our ability to achieve cash flow from capital expenditures and acquisitions and the availability of new acquisitions that build shareholder value, (i) our ability to successfully implement our business strategies, including those strategies the company has initiated under Project Centennial, which may involve, among other things, the integration of recent acquisitions or the acquisition or disposition of assets at presently targeted values, the deployment of new systems and technology and an enhanced organizational structure, (j) consolidation within the baking industry and related industries, (k) disruptions in our direct-store delivery system, including litigation or an adverse ruling from a court or regulatory or government body that could affect the independent contractor classification of our independent distributors, (l) increasing legal complexity and legal proceedings that we are or may become subject to, (m) product recalls or safety concerns related to our products, and (n) the failure of our information technology systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions or security breaches of such systems. The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other public disclosures made by the company, including the risk factors included in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company press releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the company. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by law.

SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.flowersfoods.com


The Centre has approved the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package aimed at boosting national and state health systems to support procurement of essential medical equipment and drugs, and strengthening of surveillance activities.

IMAGE: Staff of Air Force Station sets up a quarantine camp for COVID-19 patients with a capacity of 100 beds at Avadi Air Force Station in Chennai. Photograph: PTI Photo

In a letter to the addichief secretaries, principal secretaries and commissioners-health of all states and UTs, the health ministry said the 100 per cent centrally funded package will be implemented in three phases from January 2020 to March 2024.

"With the objectives of emergency COVID-19 response, strengthening national and state health systems to support prevention and preparedness, procurement of essential medical equipment, consumables and drugs, strengthening of surveillance activities, including setting up of laboratories and bio-security preparedness," the letter said.

According to the letter, the Union health ministry is releasing funds for states and Union territories under the National Health Mission for implementation of phase 1 up to June 2020.

"The key activities to be implemented under Phase 1 include support to states and UTs for development of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, isolation blocks, ICUs with ventilators oxygen supply in hospitals, strengthening of laboratories, hiring of additional human resources and incentives to human resource and community health volunteers," the letter added.

It also includes strengthening of identified laboratories and expansion of diagnostic capacities and mobility support for sample transport.

The ministry has also asked states and UTs to use the funds for the procurement of personal protective equipment, N-95 masks and ventilators over and above what is being procured and supplied by the central government.

The activities to be undertaken also include disinfection of hospitals, government offices, public utilities and ambulances, the letter said.

The project will be implemented in three phases during the period January 2020 to March 2024 -- Phase 1 from January to June 2020, phase 2 from July to March 2021 and phase 3 from April 2021 to March 2024.

The death toll due to novel coronavirus rose to 166 and the number of cases climbed to 5,734 in the country on Thursday, according to the Union health ministry.
There is an old rule in political communications: if you have bad news to deliver, do it before a long weekend.

True to that tradition, Canadians got a large dose of dreadful news on Thursday: dismal, record-setting unemployment numbers and some sobering forecasts for how long the country will remain plunged in physical distancing, self-isolation and an economic coma.

While Canadas top public health officials arent politicians, Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Howard Njoo were bobbing and weaving like political pros on Thursday around precise answers on how long Canadians are going to be living as we are right now. Summer seemed to be the best-case scenario  thats at least a couple of long weekends from now.

It was left to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to put the hard truth in plain language afterward This is the new normal, he said.

Politicians peddling bad news  just one indication that the relationship between Canadians and their democratic representatives is in the midst of a fundamental shift.

If this is the new normal, as Trudeau said on Thursday, its not just citizens lives that are changing, but the rules of political engagement too. Those rules have already been changing over the past four weeks, right before peoples eyes.

Since were apparently in for the long haul, perhaps this is a good time to sit back and review just what the new political normal in Canada will be for at least the next few months, and possibly beyond that.

First, all the old 1980s-era rhetoric about getting government out of peoples lives is gone. We can now officially retire that Ronald Reagan joke about how the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Im from the government and Im here to help. A pandemic, with all respect to the late president, is significantly more scary.

Canadians havent been this massively dependent on government handouts in generations. Back in the pre-pandemic era, many Canadians interacted with the federal government only once a year, at tax time, and grudgingly. We are now tax-receivers as well as taxpayers, in a large way, and likely for a long time.

Like it or not, and somewhat related to that new dependence on government, we are in the midst of rethinking this whole business of deference to the people who run the country. Our government is asking a lot of the citizens, through a delicate dance of fear and far-off incentives  sticks and the promise of carrots, if you like. We are modifying our behaviour, our daily lives, because our government is telling us to do so. Thats remarkable, when you think about it. Not so long ago, we were more likely to be nudged into behaviour changes by celebrities or experts.

Red-tape reduction and bureaucratic streamlining: One of the reasons citizens hate dealing with government is that it is notoriously slow and bureaucratic. Remember when the government said it was going to take years to fix the nightmare that was the Phoenix payroll system? But this week, Canadians were reporting almost instantaneous deposits into their accounts after registering for pandemic-relief benefits. Are we going to expect this kind of speedy service when things back to the old normal?

Everything is better in America: Granted, it can be argued that Canadians were already in the midst of dispelling any remaining illusions about U.S. political superiority, especially since Donald Trump arrived in office in 2016. But a pandemic can really reinforce why its good to live in a country with a public health system and a federation capable of working together across party lines when necessary. For evidence of Canadian superiority in pandemic management, one needs only look at the comparison charts between the spread of COVID-19 in the two countries over the past few weeks.

Virtual engagement: Politics has been incredibly slow to embrace technology that has revolutionized the private sector. It still is rooted in face-to-face encounters, whether in Parliament, voting, town-hall meetings or doorstep conversations. Some of that will return, and the political parties are still arguing about whether to convene a virtual session of the Commons in the days ahead. But some of the online political engagement currently under way may well linger past the pandemic.

Many of the old political rules could swiftly return when were back to the old normal. Its hard to imagine, for instance, that the political class can be permanently retrained to be non-partisan or spin-free.

There will always be the temptation to dump the bad news before a long weekend too, in the hopes that its impact will be dulled by a couple of days off. But its going to be a while before weekends are anything like the old normal.
More than 1.5 million people in the world have tested positive for coronavirus, while more than 90,000 have been killed.

Statistics from the John Hopkins University, which is mapping all known confirmed cases, showed a total of 1,506,936 cases as of Thursday.

Deaths, meanwhile, have hit 91,783, with more than half recorded in Italy, Spain and the United States.

The level of testing has varied considerably from country to country, with experts warning that the true number of infections is likely to be far higher than figures show.

The latest figures from the John Hopkins University reveal more than 90,000 have died from Covid-19. The counter uses a real-time tracker and is being treated as the most comprehensive toll of coronavirus statistics

The US has the highest number of confirmed cases, at 432,579.

That is nearly three times as many confirmed cases as Spain, which has the second-highest number as 152,446.

In third position is Italy with 139,422, followed by Germany's 113,615.

An Italian Army officer helps another soldier to zip his protective suit as they prepare to decontaminate at Istituto Palazzolo nursing home on April 9. The Army officer belongs to 7th CBRN Defense Regiment 'Cremona' which specialises in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence

A member of medical staff attends to a patient in ITU at Rome's San Filippo Neri Hospital's Covid-19 on Thursday

France has 83,080 cases, China 82,883, Iran 66,220 while the UK has 61,497.

The John Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering uses a real-time tracker and is being treated as the most comprehensive count of Covid-19 statistics.

Although Italy sits in third place for confirmed cases, it has by far the highest number of confirmed deaths, at 17,669.

Next is Spain with 15,238, France with 10,869 and the UK with 7,097.

On Wednesday, New York state recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, bringing its total to nearly 6,300 and accounting for more than 40% of the US death toll.

Healthcare workers wearing personal protection equipment administer coronavirus tests on the second day of a drive-thru COVID-19 test collection facility in Florida, above. The facility will test at least 500 days every day of the week

Health workers collect blood samples from residents to detect coronavirus, in Antananarivo, Madagascar

The tracker reveals the total number of deaths is now 89,931.

Strict lockdowns have been implemented across much of the world in a bid to tackle the spread of the virus.

A doctor wearing a protective gear takes a swab from a woman to test for coronavirus disease in India's Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia

And in signs that the lockdown is working, some countries have started to reopen borders and partially remove measures.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the epidemic first erupted in December, has lifted its lockdown after measures banned people from entering or leaving the city.

Staff members spray disinfectant at a Wuhan shopping mall in preparation for the city's reopening after more than two months of lockdown

People were told they could leave the city for the first time on Wednesday provided they had been issued with a green code on a smartphone app.

Public transport has been reinstated though schools remain closed.

With lockdown only partially lifted, China has banned the entry of foreign nationals with valid visas and residence permits.

People wear facemasks amid the Covid-19 outbreak outside of a Beijing shopping mall

Austria, Denmark and Sweden have all announced plans to begin a gradual lifting of lockdown measures in the coming weeks.

But world leaders and health officials are warning that hard-won gains in the fight against coronavirus must not be jeopardised by relaxing social distancing over the Easter holidays.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that people should not travel this weekend, saying: Even short trips inside Germany, to the seaside or the mountains or relatives, cant happen over Easter this year', Metro reported.

Police patrols in the United Kingdom move people on from park benches as they enforce social distancing rules

Lithuania is also restricting public movement and imposing a lockdown on major cities during Easter to prevent the further spread of Covid-19.

Greece has tightened restrictions ahead of next weeks Easter celebrations, increasing police roadblocks along roads and doubling lockdown fine violations.

Swiss police are seeking to dissuade drivers from heading to the Italian-speaking Ticino region, the only part of Switzerland south of the Alps and one of the worst-hit by the pandemic.

UK police chiefs called on the government to tighten lockdown measures and warm weather expected over the weekend will police step up their scouring of parks, beaches and tourist spots, The Guardian reported.
Veronica Sbergia and Max De Bernardi

WHEN you've been out to clap our NHS heroes and all key workers this evening you can then settle down to some quality music thanks to a partnership between the Cotswolds Distillery and promoter Tim Porter.

They have launched The Cotswolds Distillery (Virtually Live) Sessions on Facebook Live to bring music from different artists around the world into your home every Thursday evening.

Tonight, 9th April, at 8.30pm on The Cotswolds Distillerys Facebook page there will be chance to see a set from Veronica Sbergia and Max de Bernardi live from their home in Milan.

The duo play country blues and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 20s and 30s, with a modern twist.

They use acoustic instruments such as ukuleles, washboard, kazoo, acoustic and resophonic guitars.

These virtual sessions are a way of continuing the Distillery Sessions which The Cotswolds Distillery had been hosting at the Distillery in Stourton earlier in the year, again linking up with Tim, the well-known promoter and live music champion in and around Shipston.

He said: "This unfortunate situation gives me an opportunity to try something different, and with the contacts I have built up over the years, I can bring the audience music from different parts of the world."
The series finale for ABC's hit sitcom Modern Family premiered on Wednesday night.

And hours before the show's final bow, Sofia Vergara took to Instagram to share a private snapshot from the cast's last day on set.

'The last Modern Family tonight,' captioned Vergara, who could be seen partaking in a group hug with all of her castmates.

Last goodbye: Sofia Vergara took to Instagram on Wednesday evening to share a private snapshot from the last day of filming Modern Family in wake of series' finale

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ariel Winter, Sarah Hyland, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Ed O'Neil, Nolan Gould, and Rico Rodriguez were all pictured in the post seen by Vergara's 18.6million followers.

Earlier in the day, Vergara shared a lengthier post where she reflected on her time spent on the series and how she views her cast of 11-years.

'My family on and off screen forever,' she began.

'What an amazing 11 years! So thankful for this family, the crew and all of our #modernfamily fans,' wrote Vergara, before urging her followers to tune into the finale to 'find out how it all ends.'

11-years: Vergara portrayed the role of Gloria during the series' 11-year run on ABC; Vergara in 2009 and Vergara in 2020

Before signing on to play the part of Gloria, Sofia Vergara was a virtual unknown with her one major credit being her role in the 2005 Mark Wahlberg led film Four Brothers.

But Vergara evolved from a Hollywood newbie to being named the highest earning TV actress in the world in 2019.

Modern family premiered on ABC in 2009 and, after 11-years on the air, came to a close via a two-part finale on Wednesday.

Family: Earlier in the day, Vergara shared a lengthier post where she reflected on her time spent on the series and how she views her cast of 11-years

The finale, that followed the retrospective A Modern Farewell, aims to tie up all the loose ends relating to America's favorite blended family.

According to ABC's official synopsis, 'Mitchell and Cam settle in on their new normal, and Phil and Claire decide that one of the kids needs to move out in order to take control of the house again. Meanwhile, as Gloria becomes more successful at work, she notices Jay, Manny and Joe dont seem to need her as much.'

'In Part 2 of the series finale, the entire family discovers saying goodbye is much harder than it seems.'
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Normally at this time of year, millions of people around the world are planning elaborate lamb-based menus -- spits, roasts, kebabs or stews -- for a celebratory Easter Sunday family lunch. But this year, there will be fewer tables groaning with holiday food as the coronavirus outbreak has put paid to religious and family gatherings. Lamb sales have plummeted, and sheep farmers around the world are in despair. "I was planning to slaughter 100 to 120 sheep, now I don't know what to do with them. Nobody does," said farmer Christos Kyriakopoulos in the western Peloponnese region of Greece. "Farmers are out of options. We are facing a 90-percent drop in demand compared to last year." In Christian Orthodox Greece, fines of 1,000 euros ($1,087) have been introduced for gatherings over 10 people to discourage the traditional Easter feast hosted on every village square. "Seven out of 10 Greeks enjoy roasting lamb for Easter. That's not happening this year," Greek meat trader Angelos Asteriou told AFP, staring dejectedly at the inventory on his computer screen. Greek former agriculture minister Evangelos Apostolou last month said the virus could see as many as two million lambs spared the butcher's knife this year. In Britain, where people traditionally enjoy a roast leg of lamb on the religious holiday, some 35,000 fewer lambs were slaughtered in the week ending March 28, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). And in major lamb producer New Zealand, meat industry officials said the Easter lamb kill was about half that of last year. - Growing fat, losing value - "For us, Easter was supposed to be the best time of the year," said Michelle Baudouin, a sheep farmer in France's central Puy-de-Dome region. This year, Catholic and Christian Orthodox Easter, Jewish Passover and Ramadan for Muslims all occur within weeks of each other. Eating lamb is traditional for all four, and France's 25,000 sheep farmers had counted on bumper sales. But Christiane Lambert, president of France's FNSEA farmers' union, said about half-a-million lambs will go unslaughtered this year. Apart from lost sales revenue, this also means farmers are stuck with the unplanned extra costs of feeding the animals. "They are gaining weight, they are growing fat, and they are losing value," said Baudouin. "Extra strawberries and asparagus can be thrown away, but our animals, what do we do with them?" According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, about half-a-billion sheep are taken to the abattoir around the world each year. The figure includes lambs which are young sheep up to one year old. Farmers say the coronavirus crisis, which has shocked the global economy and crippled brought several industries, has seen wholesalers push down lamb prices. "We're looking at a major blow to our income. Some are forced to sell at very low prices, and others can't find any buyers at all," said 38-year-old Panagiotis Langadakis, who farms in a village near Thessaloniki. "Last year we were selling lambs and goats at five euros per kilo. This year prices are four euros maximum. It's a disaster." In France, producers complain of unfair competition from foreign lamb imports sold at prices lower than local production costs allow. - People have more time - AHDB analyst Rebecca Wright said anti-coronavirus confinement and social distancing measures alone were not to blame for the surplus of lamb, an expensive meat for most. Many consumers have seen their salaries shrink as companies have had to reduce working hours, or even fire people. "Domestically, consumers' financial concerns mean they are trading down rather than looking to the more expensive proteins," said Wright. There have been some winners, though. In Ireland, 41,000 lambs were slaughtered in the last week of March this year -- up 3,000 from a year earlier, according to Irish food board Bord Bia. With restaurants shut and a travel lockdown in place, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has reported a shift in demand from the retail sector. "A lot of people are at home and they're going to give it a go -- maybe cooking a piece of lamb or trying something different," IFA sheep chairman Sean Dennehy told AFP. "Before, the problem that people had is that they didn't have enough time. So if you're working from home you have a bit more time to do that." burs-mlr/sjw/rl In Britain, where people traditionally enjoy a roast leg of lamb on the religious holiday, some 35,000 fewer lambs were slaughtered in the week ending March 28, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) French lamb breeder Michelle Baudoin said her sheep are getting fat and losing value Farmers face difficulties as not only are they losing income, they have to keep feeding unsold lambs and sheep
Every Assamese can relate to the Gamusa emotionally and therefore its use can make the fight against the dreaded virus even more people-oriented.

This Bohag Bihu, the Assamese Gamusa (a small piece of cloth that has high esteem and wide usage in Assamese culture), has become the mask in vogue to fight the coronavirus pandemic. For every Assamese, the Gamusa is a symbol of identity, existence and the most prized gift of affection. This traditional piece of cloth is even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's favourite choice and one can notice him wearing the Gamusa in various important events.

The latest such event was on Sunday when the prime minister had it around his neck while he lit the lamp showing the solidarity of commitment to fighting the coronavirus pandemic alongside his countrymen. Back in Assam, it has now become trendy to sport a mask made out of Gamusa to fend off the deadly disease. These handwoven cotton towels are now turning out to be the most convenient and acceptable face cover for the people in the state.

Phanindra Pradhan from Gahpur in Assam prepared many such Gamusa face covers and sold to people in his locality at a very nominal rate.

"It is cheap and one can relate to it. That's why they are in demand. After the face cover is ready we wash it with Dettol water to ensure it's safe for personal use," said Pradhan.

The 37-year-old artisan has received many orders after his product got popular on social media.

Kajol, a tailor from Kauli Market at Tamulpur in Assam's Baksa district, is also getting orders for the Gamusa mask.

"These are easy to wash and look bright on the face. People are keen to buy them every time they see the product," he said.

While a few artisans have given a nice try to make face cover out of it, Gamusa is easily available in every Assamese household and making a face cover out of this is not a hard nut to crack.

"Gamusa face cover is easy to make and one can simply cut it in a proper size keeping in mind to put the flowery portion outside and tie it with a rubber band in both sides. I am going to make Gamusa mask covers by myself for me and my whole family," said Juri Borah, a housewife.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates

Every Assamese can relate to it emotionally and therefore its use can make the fight against the dreaded virus even more people-oriented.

In Bohag Bihu there is a customary tradition of gifting Gamusa or Bihuwan to loved ones and it is already seen as a potential popular gift this year.

Due to the unavailability of sufficient medical masks, it is now encouraged to make own masks at home with available material at home.

For the Assamese people, the Gamusa stands out to be most perfect and convenient material for making a face cover and nothing else can be a better Bihu gift for their loved ones to show love and care.
The Marine Corps wants to know whether the defense industry can transform its heavy weapons-mounted Joint Light Tactical Vehicles into mobile air defense systems for tracking and killing enemy drones, helicopters and fighters.

Marine Corps Systems Command recently invited defense firms to submit ideas for creating the Direct Fire Defeat System being developed by Program Manager Ground Based Air Defense, according to a March 27 request for information.

The program is designed to arm Marine air-ground task force commanders with JLTVs equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, 30mm cannons and electronic warfare technology to "detect, track, identify, and defeat aerial threats," the solicitation states.

"This system will provide new and improved capability to mitigate the risk of attacks from Unmanned Aerial Systems and Fixed Wing/Rotary Wing aircraft while maintaining pace with maneuver forces," according to the document.

Related: 50-Kilowatt Laser Will Be a 'Game-Changer,' Company Says

The U.S. military has begun to beef up its air defense capabilities as it prepares for a possible future war against near-peer militaries with sophisticated aviation capabilities.

The Army is in the process of modernizing its air-defense units with the Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (MSHORAD) system, which will feature Stryker combat vehicles armed with Hellfire missiles, a 30mm chain gun, a 7.62 machine gun and four Stinger missiles.

The Army is also working on equipping a platoon of four Stryker vehicles with 50-kilowatt lasers that are capable of engaging drones and combat aircraft, as well as rockets, artillery and mortars in fiscal 2022.

The Marine Corps' direct fire system will be part of the initial phase of the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, which will feature the command-and-control software integrated into Mk1 and Mk2 variants of the Corps' JLTV Heavy Guns Carrier, according to the document.

The MADIS Mk1 features turret-launched Stinger missiles, multi-functional electronic warfare capability and a direct-fire weapon such as a 30mm cannon on a remote weapons station. The MADIS Mk2 will be the counter-UAS variant, with a 360-degree radar and command-and-control communications equipment, in addition to a direct-fire remote weapons station and electronic warfare tech.

The Mk1 and Mk2 form a complementary pair and are the "basic building block" for modernizing the service's Low Altitude Air Defense Battalions, according to Marine Corps Systems Command's website.

The Marine Corps last year deployed its Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or LMADIS, using it to jam an Iranian drone that flew near a Navy warship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Companies have until April 13 to submit proposals, including proof that they are capable of delivering 26 systems in support of low-rate initial production in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, as well as 192 systems in the third quarter of fiscal 2022, according to the document.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Marines Developing JLTV Air-Defense System Armed with Laser Weapon
Cuomo's criticism came after he announced that COVID-19 deaths in New York reached a daily record for the third straight day with 799 fatalities , and after he said that the $2 trillion federal relief bill does even less for his state than he thought.

"How confident am I of federal responsibility and action? Not that confident," Cuomo said as he left a daily press briefing in Albany on the virus.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday complained about the federal government's handling of the coronavirus crisis .

He compared the economic and humanitarian crisis in New York to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the city, which felled the twin towers of the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people.

"9/11 was so devastating, so tragic, and then in many ways we lose so many New Yorkers to this silent killer," Cuomo said, "that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11."

The Democratic governor has worked closely with President Donald Trump and other federal officials in an all-hands effort to contain the spread of the virus, which has hit New York much harder than any other state in the U.S.

There are more than 151,000 confirmed cases across the state and 81,800 in New York City alone  almost as many as China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Cuomo and Trump, who said he wants governors to be "appreciative" of his efforts, have largely stayed on good terms as they navigate the crisis.

But earlier in the conference, Cuomo once again slammed the so-called Phase 3 coronavirus relief package that passed Congress with bipartisan support and was signed by Trump late last month.

That $2 trillion legislation  the largest aid package in U.S. history  meted out just $1.3 billion to the Empire State, Cuomo said.

New York had expected to receive between $5 billion and $6 billion in federal relief  an amount that Cuomo had already called inadequate before it even passed Congress.

"When we did our state budget a couple of weeks ago, we believed what they said and we thought we were looking at $6 billion in health-care funding," Cuomo said at the presser Thursday.

"Turns out, when we actually read the language, it was about $1.3 billion to the state of New York, which is much different than $5 [billion] or $6 billion. And the funding disqualified one-third of New York Medicaid recipients, which nobody said," the governor said.

"We need the federal government to be responsible" and "pass legislation that helps," he added.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Cuomo's remarks.

After the funding bill passed the Senate in late March, Cuomo decried it as "irresponsible" and "reckless." He said at that time that the $5 billion New York would receive from the bill doesn't come close to covering the state's projected revenue shortfall, which could total $15 billion.

Correction: The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City killed nearly 3,000 people. An earlier version misstated the figure.
Under its effective leader, firebrand ultra-nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq is theoretically committed to not allowing itself to become overly dependent on any one country. That was the rallying call of al-Sadrs Sairoon (Marching Forward) power bloc during the last general election in Iraq in May 2018 that saw him and his grouping win the most seats of any party. For a while, this theory seemed to be in effect, with Iraq playing off Chinese and Russian interests against those of the U.S. All the time, though, in practice, Iran continued to dodge and weave around any and all sanctions aimed at preventing it from continuing to wield the deciding power in its neighbour through the leverage of its military, militias, and pro-Iran politicians in Baghdad. The surest sign yet that the U.S. has had enough of this situation came in the shape of the latest waiver granted just over a week ago by the U.S. to Iraq to continue to import Iranian electricity and natural gas  just 30 days, its shortest waiver ever, by a long way.

At the same press conference that Morgan Ortagus, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, announced the new short waiver, she also pointedly announced new sanctions against 20 Iran- and Iraq-based entities that were cited as funnelling money to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force. This Force functions in large part as Irans chief foreign intelligence operation, as well as its most zealous military unit  more akin to Russias GRU than the U.K.s SIS  having been built up and led by General Qassem Soleimani until his assassination by the U.S. on 3 January. According to Ortagus  and absolutely correct - these 20 entities (there are more than that but this is a start) are exploiting Iraqs dependence on Iran as an electricity and gas source by smuggling Iranian petroleum through the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr (true, and other sites) and money laundering through Iraqi front companies (also true), among other sanctions-busting activities. Prior to this 30-day only waiver being granted, the U.S. had originally granted an initial 45-day waiver to Iraq after the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iranian energy exports in November 2018.

Story continues

This was followed by another five waivers - two 90-day waivers in a row followed by two 120-day waivers in a row in June and October, and then a 45-day waiver in February before the U.S. specifically asked that Iraq show signs that it was reducing its imports of Iranian gas and power to meet its electricity demand. Clearly these were not forthcoming and, according to sources in Washington close to the Presidential Administration spoken to by OilPrice.com last week, unless Iraq does show the U.S. some compelling evidence to this effect, this will be the last waiver for Iraq to import Iranian energy. Weve been down this road before with Pakistan  [with] the government pretending to help in our fight against AQ [Al-Qaeda] but at the same time the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] offering all the help it could to [Osama] bin Laden and were not playing that game again, the source underlined.

Related: Saudi Arabia Sends Wave Of Supertankers To U.S. Ahead Of Oil Meeting

The parallels between Iraq and Pakistan from the U.S. perspective go beyond just money, as U.S. President Donald Trump made clear recently. At the beginning of January, after Iranian surface-to-surface missiles hit two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops, Trump said that he would impose sanctions directly on Iraq if the U.S. military was forced out of the country by further such incidents. Earlier last month, though, 30 107-mm Russian-made Katyusha rockets were fired at the U.S. allied Camp Taji military base north of Baghdad, killing three service members, two of them Americans and one British, according to U.S. and Iraq military officials. This attack was in the same style as the rocket attacks on 4 January on the U.S.s Balad Air Base near Baghdad and on the Green Zone, both reportedly Iran-sponsored retaliation for the Soleimani killing, and as the multiple rocket attack of 3 December 2019 on the U.S. Ayn al-Asad airbase in Iraq that was a key factor in the U.S. deciding to neutralise the al-Quds leader.

Although these have been the most high-profile attacks on U.S. assets in Iraq to date, and only the 4 January attack was cited as a direct act of retaliation for Soleimanis killing by Iran, there have in fact been at least 15 further attacks on U.S. military and neo-military personnel (and those of its allies) in Iraq by Iran proxies this year alone, according to U.S. military sources. Given the distaste of President Trump for becoming involved in endless wars in the Middle East, the U.S. response to this ongoing provocation from Iran via Iraq is almost certainly not going to be of the military variety in either in Iran or Iraq but rather of the financial type favoured by Trump, in the specific form of sanctions against Iraq.

The timing for these is currently ideal for two key reasons. First, it would mean more oil taken off the already high-supply, low-demand market, as Iraq would simply not be able to pay its developers. Second, it would come at a time when Iraqs finances are already ravaged not just by the ongoing oil price war but also by endemic corruption in its oil sector, as even its own ministers have admitted during rare occasions of candour. In the case of the former, only last week saw Iraqs economic parliamentary committee recommend that international oil companies (IOCs) operating in OPECs second-largest oil producer are paid with crude oil instead of cash and that they lower unnecessary costs due to the oil price crash. The committee also proposed delaying payments of foreign debt, including reparations to Kuwait, cutting the salaries of various public sector employees by 60 per cent, and lowering investment spending and non-essential current spending. In the northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, matters are also not helped by the fact that around US$1 billion of its own cash from oil exports is stuck in the Lebanese bank, BankMed, because it is frozen whilst oil trading firm, IMMS, sues the regional government for the return of the sum.

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On the second issue, Iraqs current financial situation looks like it may well become as bad as the situation it faced just five years ago when the Baghdad government itself estimated that dues to the IOCs of US$18 billon would accrue over the course of the year, adding to the US$9 billion in outstanding arrears from 2014. Given that the average remuneration fee per barrel of non-heavy oil produced over an initial threshold level, as delineated in the Long-Term Service Contracts (LTSCs) awarded in the first and second rounds of bidding to international oil companies (IOCs), ranges between US$1.15 (Lukoil, West Qurna 2) and US$5.50 (GazpromNeft, Badra), the question that inexorably bubbles up was how the figure owed to the IOCs could be so high?

One of the reasons is that as the Iraqi government was in so much debt at the time the contracts were awarded in 2009 the IOCs in many cases were asked to make large upfront payments as part of their bid, which would be repaid at a later date. These were broadly understood by the IOCs to be once the initial production thresholds were reached but there were no regular payment schedules incorporated into many of these contracts by the Iraqi authorities. Instead, they were regarded as being repayable on an ad hoc basis, as and when it could afford to pay them. Also related to the contracts  which are still in place for many of the fields offered in 2009 - was an infrastructure support payment on a per barrel basis of output. This vague category of payments related and still do not just to general field maintenance as it is generally understood in standard oil contracts but also to the development costs and security of the fields. All of these were billed separately from the remuneration per barrel fee, all were liable for payment by the Iraqi government, and all were highly opaque in their terms of reference. In practical terms, the scale of these payments was often at least as great as the headline per barrel remuneration fee itself and much of these payments went on administration of these elements connected to the fields. According to the Oil Minister at the time, Adil Abdul Mahdi, Iraq lost US$14,448,146,000 from the beginning of 2011 up to the end of 2014 as cash compensation payments relating to these fields development.

In this precise context, Iraq as a whole ranked 162 out of 180 countries in 2019 by the independent international non-governmental organisation, Transparency International (TI), in its Corruption Perceptions Index. TI describes Iraq as demonstrating: Massive embezzlement, procurement scams, money laundering, oil smuggling and widespread bureaucratic bribery that have led the country to the bottom of international corruption rankings, fuelled political violence and hampered effective state building and service delivery. Although acknowledging that the countrys anti-corruption initiatives and framework have expanded since 2005, TI adds that they still fail to provide a strong and comprehensive integrity system. Political interference in anti-corruption bodies and politicisation of corruption issues, weak civil society, insecurity, lack of resources and incomplete legal provisions severely limit the governments capacity to efficiently curb soaring corruption, concludes the agency.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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A couple with links to Islamic State went on trial in Indonesia Thursday for a failed assassination attempt last year on the country's former chief security minister, with the pair facing a possible death sentence if convicted. The Jakarta hearing was held by video conference due to coronavirus concerns as lawyers and judges wearing facemasks heard the indictment against 51-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and his wife Fitri Adriana, 21. The attempted assassination happened in October when Indonesia's then security minister Wiranto, who goes by one name, was visiting Pandeglang regency on Java island. "The two decided that the husband would attack Wiranto while the wife would attack anyone else wearing police or military uniforms," the indictment said. Alamsyah allegedly stabbed the now 73-year-old minister as he exited a vehicle before he and his wife were wrestled to the ground by security personnel. Wiranto survived the attack, but he sustained knife wounds to his abdomen and several others were also injured. The couple could face life sentences or even the death penalty if convicted under Indonesia's terrorism laws. Days before the attack, the pair pledged allegiance to late IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the indictment. It also said both were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an IS-linked extremist group responsible for a string of attacks, including suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya in 2018 that killed a dozen people. JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy. "The defendants felt like they had a responsibility to carry out jihad to bring about Islamic law in Indonesia," the prosecutors' indictment said. The couple were radicalised through hardline rhetoric on social media and watching videos of Muslims fighting in Syria. They also listened to speeches by jailed firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, believed to be behind the 2002 Bali bombings, and Aman Abdurrahman, who was sentenced to death for masterminding gun and suicide attacks in Jakarta in 2016. A third defendant was also indicted Thursday on terror charges related to a separate attack allegedly planned with Alamsyah last year.
New Delhi/Moscow, April 9 : India and Russia on Thursday agreed to facilitate each other's emergent needs of medicine and equipment to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aarti Tikoo Singh New Delhi/Moscow, April 9 (IANS) India and Russia on Thursday agreed to facilitate each other's emergent needs of medicine and equipment to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Official sources told IANS that India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov held a telephonic conversation on Thursday to discuss the evolving situation related to the spread of the deadly virus.

Both of them exchanged notes on the national efforts underway in their respective countries to contain the outbreak of Covid-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the issue through a teleconference last month on March 25.

Shringla and Morgulov stressed on the close bilateral cooperation between the two countries in ensuring the welfare of each other's citizens in their respective countries. There are around 15,000 Indian students in Russia and about 5,000 Russian tourists in India. Morgulov also thanked Shringla for facilitating the evacuation of Russian nationals from India.

Referring to the Russian chairmanship of BRICS and SCO, Morgulov informed Shringla of various preparatory meetings which would continue to take place through video conferencing in the coming days.

The telephonic discussion between Shringla and Morgulov came two days after India, in view of the humanitarian aspects of the pandemic, decided to lift the ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). HCQ is being used to treat Covid-19 patients and as prophylactic by the frontline healthcare workers deployed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The Modi government had imposed a ban on export of the drug since the coronavirus outbreak hit India.

The government is now licencing paracetamol and HCQ in appropriate quantities to neighbouring countries which are dependent on Indian capabilities and also supplying the drugs to the US and some other nations badly affected by the pandemic.

Russia as of now has over 10,000 Covid-19 positive cases while 76 people have succumbed to the dreaded virus. In India, 186 people have died so far while over 6,200 persons have tested positive for Covid-19.
Finance Minister says President Akufo-Addo has shown that he is the leader one can trust, pray and work with.

Ken Ofori-Atta indicated that the President has risen to the occasion with the appropriate responses to the Covid-19 pandemic that continuously threatens millions of lives across the globe.

Presenting a statement on the Floor of Parliament today, the Finance Minister said President Akufo-Addo, in the midst of the crisis, had managed to calm the nation, remove any premonition of sinking into a Dante's inferno and assure the public that they have a war time leader, the Moses, to lead the nation to the promise land.

For him, the Commander-in-Chief, by intent and action, has demonstrated that he is a leader who will turn this 'misadventure' into a new vibrant industrial revolution, adding that President Nana Addo believes that all citizens are royal members of the country and will therefore use the state resources to protect and ensure sanctity of life of everyone.

Mr. Ofori-Atta voted the high confidence in the President, while requesting authorization by Parliament for government to access the $219 million transferred from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) into the Contingency Fund as a result of the lowering of the cap on GSF from $300 million to $100 million.

On March 30, 2020, the Minister placed before Parliament a proposal for approval to lower the cap of the Ghana Stabilization Fund (GSF) as he apprised the House on the economic impact of the COVID-19 on the nation's economy.

Mr. Speaker, consistent with Article 177(1) of the 1992 Constitution, I am by this presentation submitting a request to the Finance Committee to grant us the authorization to access the requisite amounts from the Contingency Fund to confront the challenge that has engulfed the nation in this matter of coronavirus (COVID-19) affliction, he stated.

He expressed profound gratitude to Parliament for working expeditiously to approve the proposal to lower the cap on the GSF, pointing out that the move had enable the government to transfer the cedi equivalent of the $219 million into the Contingency Fund to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme.

The Minister explained that the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) would primarily support provision of food and water for households, relief for health sector workers, and soft loans for micro, small and medium-size businesses.

May all of us humble ourselves in prayer and gratitude for the Lord's sacrifice on this coming Good and Holy Friday, he stated.

---Daily Guide
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Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad will join probe after quarantine period is over

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi will be join investigation after his quarantine period is over, said his lawyer.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

On Tuesday, Delhi Police's Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by SHO Nizamuddin for holding a religious congregation here allegedly in violation of the lockdown orders and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The Delhi Police's Crime Branch wrote to Saad and others on Wednesday, seeking the details under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

"Saad is currently under self quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over," his advocate, Tauseef Khan, told PTI.

Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi traced to Zakir Nagar: Delhi Police sources

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the authorities of Markaz on March 21 and reminded them of the government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

However, no one paid any heed to the police's direction, it said.

Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.

On March 24, the government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering.

Fake News Buster

The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of Markaz. The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.

It was found that despite repeated efforts, they did not inform the Health Department or any other government agency about the huge gathering inside the Markaz and deliberately disobeyed government orders.

The sub-divisional magistrate of Defence Colony inspected the premises several times and found that around 1,300 people, including foreign nationals, were residing there without maintaining social distance. It was also found that there were no arrangements of hand sanitizers and face masks at the premises.

So far, thousands of COVID-19 cases across the country have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi last month.

Allah will create peace, stay back in the Mosque, Maulana Saad told his followers

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them, a senior Union Health Ministry official said on Monday.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.
People take a rest at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the United States, April 8, 2020. /Xinhua

As the COVID-19 outbreak sweeps the United States, as has been seen in Britain, calls for "reparation payments" from China have become popular and not surprisingly, have been jumped upon by certain politicians.

On March 7, the U.S. Senator for Missouri Josh Hawley introduced a "resolution" in the United States Senate calling for a commission to investigate and levy damages.

Not surprisingly, the sentiment has some traction in public opinion with a Harris Poll cited in The Washington Post saying up to 54 percent of Americans believe "China should make reparations" for the COVID-19 outbreak.

Across the Atlantic, the sentiment has been echoed by the hawkish neoconservative think tank in Britain, the Henry Jackson Society, which pushed a narrative that China "owes" the UK 354 billion British pounds.

In reality, such reparations will never happen, and they obviously serve as a right-wing nationalist talking point to supplicate people's anger. Nevertheless, are they based on a valid conception of "justice"?

That is defined as "the condition of being morally correct or fair." These Western countries are arguing that they have been apparently "hurt" by China; therefore China must pay a given price in order for justice to be achieved.

This premise, however, is flawed.

It has been highlighted many times now that the U.S. and the UK are offloading their own governance mistakes onto China. But there is another problem at stake here  the Western political conception of justice is not "equal," for it is rooted within structural inequalities in favor of the West that assume some countries ought to suffer to sustain the "privilege" of others. The idea that China should "pay" is thus rooted in the belief it occupies a subordinate state to the West.

The advertising board at Piccadilly Circus displays a message from the British government encouraging people to stay at home, in London, Britain, April 8, 2020. /Xinhua

In 1939, British diplomat and academic E.H. Carr produced one of the earliest works of modern international relations theory known as "The Twenty Years' crisis." The book set out to critique the liberal political thought espoused by Western empires who justified their foreign policies with an appeal for "justice."

Carr argued using sociological theory that in practice these so-called righteous foreign policies were in fact inseparable from the power dynamics and thus raw interests of the states by which were preaching them. "Justice" in these instances was not resolute, but in fact relative to and at the mercy of dimensions of power between states, hinging solely on who could impose their will on others.

This theoretical background provides an important insight into Western foreign policy as it reveals to us that there are some countries that preach "justice" but themselves are not held to account for it.

This builds into a broader comparison of the Global North and Global South. The former holds a monopoly on the conception of "justice" because of its hegemony, allowing it to subjugate the Global South without facing consequences. It is allowed in effect to preach values, whilst not being held account to those same values.

For example, the United States invaded Iraq illegally in 2003 and done many more things, but where are the calls to hold it to "justice?" Iraqis have long been angry, but there is nothing in effect they can do because justice is relative to America's interests.

Therefore, even though America has committed many questionable acts and likewise has the British Empire, the call for "justice" against China over the COVID-19 is an expression of Western privilege that renders justice subject to Western interest. Other countries must be held to account for "hurting" the West (as it was with Islam and terrorism) but the West effectively exists on a law of its own.

This compliments a mindset of superiority whereby it is assumed the virus does not "belong" in Western countries and is only a product of "oriental," "inferior" countries, therefore again negating one's own political responsibility and shipping it onto China. Beijing is perceived accordingly as an "inferior" that does not exist on an equal footing to the West, as it refuses to accept their terms.

Therefore, is calling for China to pay justified? Not at all, because these claims are based on a skewered, lopsided and privileged conception of justice which does not exist impartially or independently, but in materialistic conjunction to the interests of Western countries under the assumed premise of superiority, which has been cemented by hegemony over a prolonged period of time.

Justice ought to be based on equality, fairness and reciprocity, not the idea that some countries should weaponize the concept in order to supplement their own privilege and not themselves be held account to it.

China is not responsible for their failures and nor will it be transformed into a punching bag for the interests of the West as in times of old, which have been conveniently forgotten by those making such demands.

Editor's note: Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain, and the U.S. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
A Wisconsin educator made a pointed sign expressing her disdain as she voted in Tuesday's primary, as thousands risked COVID-19 infection standing in line at the polls.

Jennifer Taff, from Milwaukee, was photographed standing in line and holding a sign that read: 'This is ridiculous.'

'I'm disgusted,' Taff explained to the Journal Sentinel. 'I requested an absentee ballot almost three weeks ago and never got it. I have a father dying from lung disease and I have to risk my life and his just to exercise my right to vote.'

Jennifer Taff, from Milwaukee, was photographed standing in line and holding a sign that read: 'This is ridiculous'

Taff, a school social worker, had been in line for two hours already when the photo was snapped at Washington High School.

She wore a hoodie with a bandanna wrapped around her face and her sign was made with a piece of cardboard that she got from an old box and a sharpie.

As she held the sign in line, people honked their horns in support, CNN reports.

But Taff could not but help think as she stood there: People are going to die because of this.

State voters faced long lines up at polling places, spaced with several feet between them seeking to avoid transmission of the coronavirus

A poll worker sprays down a voting booth after use inside the polling location at Riverside High School in Milwaukee

Wisconsin voters braved a chaotic  and potentially life-threatening  march to the polls Tuesday after a bitter partisan clash resulted in in-person voting as scheduled with no extension of absentee voting despite the pandemic.

'Welcome to the S*** Show!' wrote the state's lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a lower court ruling to allow more time for voters to send in absentee ballots.

State voters faced long lines up at polling places, spaced with several feet between them seeking to avoid transmission of the coronavirus, amid warnings from Democrats and some election officials that voting should be delayed.

Many wore face masks as they waited to cast their ballots in a state that has featured bitter partisan divisions. Thousands of poll workers, many of them elderly, dropped out citing concern for their own safety. National Guard members helped fill the breech.

The election took place even though Wisconsin, like most U.S. states, has imposed a stay-at-home order on its residents. In Milwaukee, there were just five polling stations  down from 180.

More than a dozen other states have postponed their elections in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has transformed Americans' daily lives and plunged the economy into an apparent recession.
REUTERS

Georgia already pushed back its primary over coronavirus concerns once, but after public pressure from some of the states most prominent Republicans, the leading election official said Thursday the election day will be postponed again as the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend the flow of American life.

The right to vote is a fundamental right that should be guaranteed to each and every eligible Georgia citizen, the states GOP congressional delegation wrote early last week, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia voters should not be asked to choose between exercising that right and following the guidance of federal, state, and local officials to keep themselves, their families, and our communities healthy.

The states election is now scheduled for June 9, joining a handful of other states who punted their contests in hopes of creating a better situation for voters. No matter when the election is held however, a battle over absentee voting is already emerging in the state.

The decision became public after a bleak portrait emerged from Wisconsins election this week where voters still stood in line despite health fears and a late attempt by the states Democratic governor to delay the vote failed.

In Thursday mornings announcement, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers office made clear there were concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia will peak around April 24, only days before in-person voting was scheduled to begin.

I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances, Raffensperger said in a statement.

After the announcement, both the state Democratic party and a key voting rights group in the state took the election chief to task for not doing more.

[C]hanging the election date again does not change the fact that the Secretary of State has failed to provide return postage for applications and ballots and it does not change the fact that he is putting an undue burden and unfunded mandate on counties by failing to centralize the absentee voting operation in the state, Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo said in a statement.

Story continues

The states Republican Gov. Brian Kemp was criticized recently for his delayed awareness that the coronavirus could be spread by people without symptoms. Before Thursdays election announcement, he did not respond to emailed questions by The Daily Beast over whether he felt it would be safe to vote in person on the first rescheduled date of May 19.

But in his announcement Thursday, Raffensperger credited Kemps extension of the state of emergency, in allowing him to further delay the primary.

The states Republican House Speaker had also called for a delay.

We have seen many reports recently about how impactful a May 19 primary will be on the ability of poll workers to report, Republican House Speaker David Ralston wrote in a letter Wednesday. Paramount is the health of voters, poll workers and others who must be at polling precincts on Election Day.

Because of the health concerns that come from going to the polls, voters have been encouraged to vote absentee during pandemic era elections. In Georgia, Raffenspergers office had earlier announced it was sending absentee ballot request forms to... Georgias 6.9 million voters in an effort to allow as many Georgia voters as possible to exercise their right to vote without leaving their homes.

That method, which would allow people to mail in their ballot, is already deeply wedded into the American electoral process but has come under attack recently by President Donald Trump and the Georgia House Speaker. Raffensperger also announced an absentee ballot fraud task force Monday that drew some ire.

On April 1, Ralston called into a FetchYourNews program and levied the chance of fraud is incredibly prevalent when it comes to mail-in voting. He called voting by mail "not acceptable."

"The president said it best, this will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia," Ralston said.

Georgia has a deep rooted history of efforts to suppress the vote, said Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

And the House speaker's comments are already worrying Clarke.

"(I'm) deeply concerned that he may be a barrier to steps that the state can take to make voting accessible across the state this election season," Clarke said.

During a coronavirus task force briefing earlier this week, Trump declared said mail in voting is horrible. It's corrupt.

He then alleged widespread fraud, and offered no evidence of any sort to back the claim.

There may be more potential for fraud by mail-in voting but not on the level Trump is suggesting, said Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School specializing in election law.

"There is no evidence of widespread fraud in vote by mail," he said, but added "there have certainly been individual incidents of fraud in vote by mail."

Last month, Georgia was one of the first states to push back its election, which was originally scheduled for March. Not long after, a slew of states including Maryland and New York punted their April primaries to June, hoping a later date could ease planning issues and help keep voters safer during the pandemic.

There is no clear timeline for when the United States will truly re-open from the pandemic. And even President Trump, who late last month publicly pushed for an Easter timeline, avoided giving anything close to a definite timeline when pressed about the topic during a White House briefing Wednesday.

And when the election in Georgia is held, its likely that in-person voting will have to be a part of it, no matter how widespread absentee ballot access becomes.

In-person voting sites are required to be made available under Georgia law, a spokesman for the Georgia secretary of state said this week.

"In any election, until that law is changed, we will be providing in-person voting," the spokesperson said. "People aren't required to show up and vote in person, but we are required to provide options for people who would like to."

After the second delay was announced, Georgia Democratic Party voter protection director Saira Draper said in a statement that there is no guarantee that this public health crisis will be any better by June 9, 2020.

Delaying Georgias election does not ensure either public safety or Georgians right to vote without the Secretary of State taking further action to make vote by mail truly accessible for all Georgians, Draper said. That means providing paid postage, counting all ballots postmarked by Election Day, and mailing vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters, not just some.

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Occidental Petroleum wants U.S. government financial aid for the oil industry even as the biggest producer of Permian Basin crude urges Texas regulators not to interfere with market forces.

In a sign of how important the appeal is to Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub, employees are being urged to send a pre-written wish list to members of Congress. Among other things, the company wants the government to "provide liquidity to the energy industry through this period of unprecedented demand destruction and unsustainable pricing until normal economic conditions return."

The letter, linked in an internal email dated April 7 and seen by Bloomberg News, also encourages the Trump administration to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and end the kingdom's price war with Russia. Lawmakers are asked to advocate for fair access for U.S. crude to Asian markets and to support buying oil for the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

A representative for Occidental declined to comment.

The email was sent the same day that Occidental appealed to the Texas Railroad Commission to reject mandated production cuts. Occidental said output caps, which have been strongly supported by some of the company's smaller Permian rivals, would be "extremely short-sighted" and would interfere with contractual obligations.

"It is Occidental's position that the surge in the supply of oil coupled with the decline in oil demand will resolve itself without state regulatory interference," the company told the Railroad Commission, the state's primary oil regulator.

The commission is set to hold a meeting next week to consider what would be the first production curtailments in almost a half century.

Occidental's stock has been hit especially hard in the wake of crude's historic meltdown as the coronavirus outbreak crushes demand and Saudi Arabia floods crude markets as part of a market-share battle with Russia.

Hollub has faced criticism over her decision last year to amass debt in order to beat Chevron in a bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum. Occidental has seen its bonds fall to junk and has recently replaced its chief financial officer.

She joined other oil executives in a meeting last week with President Donald Trump. Prior to the gathering, there had been some expectation that Trump could bolster the chances of a deal between OPEC and its allies by committing the U.S. to some sort of supply curtailments. But the meeting ended without any public declaration of a plan to cut domestic output, with Trump saying it's a free market and up to Saudi Arabia and Russia to solve their dispute.

"This letter lists the steps our government needs to take immediately," Hollub said in the email to employees. "Now more than ever, we all need to inform our elected officials that inaction could result in long-lasting harm to the U.S. economy."
By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times

Researchers racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 face an even more urgent task in light of recent reports that the coronavirus has rebounded in Asia despite efforts to tamp it down.

New cases of the disease have emerged in Wuhan, Singapore and Hong Kong in the past week, after governments lifted some of their social distancing controls.

That raises the stakes for scientists participating in an unparalleled global effort to develop a vaccine, including hundreds in the United States. More than 125 organizations  including major drug companies, government laboratories and top universities  are working on a vaccine or other treatments, according to leading researchers.

No response has ever gone this fast before, said Phyllis Arthur, vice president for infectious diseases and diagnostic policy at BIO, a trade association that represents drug makers, biotech firms and others in the health industry. We have gone from genetic sequencing to treatment possibilities within weeks.

But the lethal threat is likely to remain active until a fully tested vaccine arrives.

Restrictions on group gatherings, business activity and travel are only effective at reducing the spread of the disease. Evidence is surfacing that new outbreaks can occur once those measures are lifted.

After initial success at containing the disease, Singapore clamped new restrictions this week on schools and nonessential businesses. Hong Kong also experienced a rebound after it relaxed controls, while the United States and Europe remain in earlier phases of the fight and have restrictions still in place. Wuhan has a new cluster of the cases, as well.

Even with a vaccine, COVID-19 will remain a menace, because researchers are not sure if the virus that causes it could mutate in the years ahead, reducing the effectiveness of a vaccine and forcing it to be modified.

What we dont know about this virus is what its pace of evolution is, said David Rakestraw, a chemical physicist who is helping lead the COVID-19 work underway at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which has conducted bioterrorism research for decades. Dont expect this to go away soon. The virus is in the population now, and it will evolve.

Much of the political dialogue on COVID-19 has focused on face masks, ventilators and quick tests for frontline workers, but in laboratories across the nation, researchers have mobilized like never before to tap new tools in the race for medicines that could treat and prevent the disease.

The 125 organizations run the gamut from the worlds largest pharmaceutical firms to obscure biotech start ups, said Amy Finan, chief executive of the nonprofit Sabin Vaccine Institute.

The response has been unprecedented, Finan said. Researchers are working across country lines. People are working morning, noon and night to come up with solutions. The vaccine community has come together very quickly, working hand in glove.

One early stage vaccine trial to determine the drugs safety began last month in Washington state. Others are forecast to start by early summer. But second stage trials, clearing a drug through regulatory hurdles and setting up a manufacturing base, will take much more time.

How a vaccine or a number of vaccines will be used is not yet clear, Arthur said. It could follow the practice of an Ebola vaccine, which is held in reserve in case of an outbreak but not administered widely. Or it could be like the measles vaccine, which is given to everybody.

The surge in research is largely organic, not commanded or organized by the federal government. Private investment is financing most of the current work. But Congress approved $11 billion in funding COVID-19 response, with $9 billion administered by the governments Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Finan said. The money includes a $3.5-billion allocation for new manufacturing facilities.

The White Houses Office of Science and Technology Policy said in a statement that it is seeking a whole of America response that requires the current approach of tapping federal agencies, private industry, academia and the nonprofit sector.

On the federal level, the U.S. national laboratory system has roughly 1,000 scientists and doctors at its disposal, and it operates the worlds largest network of supercomputers.

In the Bay Area, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is using computer modeling technologies  developed to guarantee the reliability of nuclear bombs  to examine how 26 million different known molecules might bind and destroy the function of the coronavirus.

To do so, scientists built a virtual 3D model of a virus and started examining how a molecule could bind onto the virus, a modeling job that requires computational power that has come online only in recent years, said Rakstraw, the Livermore scientist. Just one measure of that challenge is the amount of electrical power needed: the lab recently spent $150 million for additional high voltage electrical lines to operate its banks of supercomputers.

Los Alamos National Lab, which developed the first atomic bomb, has been working in biological sciences since 1945 and is applying its earlier pioneering research on HIV and influenza to the new coronavirus, said Kirsten Taylor-McCabe, a biochemist program manager at the federal facility.

We do see resurgence and second waves in the future, she said. As you ease off restrictions in place and transportation increases, you can see resurgence over time. A vaccine will be very important in preventing a resurgence.

Among the big actors in the private sector, Johnson & Johnson announced that it has identified a lead vaccine candidate and pledged $1 billion in funding in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to test and possibly manufacture the drug.

The New Jersey healthcare giant said it expects to initiate human clinical studies of its lead vaccine candidate at the latest by September 2020 and anticipates the first batches of a COVID-19 vaccine could be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021.

Amgen, which bills itself as the worlds largest independent biotech firm, announced last week that it would jump into the challenge in partnership with Adaptive Biotechnologies to develop antibodies that could help treat the sick and give several weeks of protection to the healthy, said Dr. David Reese, executive vice president of research and development.

The company, which has 8,200 employees at its Thousand Oaks headquarters, is using high-speed computers to screen millions of human cells from recovered virus patients to identify possible antibodies (non-living proteins) effective against the virus, he said.

We view this as the greatest public health challenge in a century that the world has faced, Reese said. I dont view this work as a competition at all, given the gravity of the crisis we are facing. It is all hands on deck.

Reese and others say the amount of funding is adequate to move as quickly as possible, though a manufacturing capability to turn out billions of doses will require a much larger industrial enterprise.

Theres little chance of near-term miracle. A vaccine remains 12 to 18 months into the future, but treatments for the infected may be coming along much faster, possibly within this year, the experts said.

By historical standards, 12 to 18 months would be light speed. The first U.S. polio epidemic occurred in 1894, but it continued to maim thousands yearly until Albert Sabin licensed the current safe oral vaccine in 1960. Sabins discovery resulted in the elimination of the crippling disease in the U.S. in 1994.

No one in the research establishment expects that the world will be social distancing for decades.

We are committed to moving as fast as humanly possible, said Reese, the Amgen research chief.

-- Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times
TORONTO, April 8, 2020  Thomson Reuters (TSX / NYSE: TRI) today announced that Neil Masterson, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Operations & Enablement, will leave the company on July 31, 2020.

We thank Neil for his hard work and dedication throughout his successful tenure and wish him well in his new endeavors. He and his teams have helped lay the foundations for us to operate as one Thomson Reuters, said Steve Hasker, President and CEO of Thomson Reuters.

It has been a pleasure to serve the company over the years. Thomson Reuters has always stood out to me for having both great people and great products  those are the hallmark of a company truly dedicated to its customers. I wish everyone within the organization the very best for the future, said Neil Masterson.

During his 20 years with Thomson Reuters, Masterson has held a number of key leadership positions. Prior to his current role, Masterson was the companys Chief Transformation Officer, and he also led the companys former Enterprise Technology & Operations organization prior to being named Co-COO in 2018. As Chief Transformation Officer, and then Co-COO, he led the centralization of several key functions, including technology, digital, product and content development, and marketing, that were key to driving a One TR view across the enterprise. Masterson began his career at the company with Thomson Financial, eventually being named Managing Director of the Investors segment in the companys former Financial & Risk business.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the worlds most global news service  Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com.

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+44 7909 898605

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Minister of Health Patty Hajdu speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on April 3, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Health Minister Needs to Be More Thoughtful When Commenting on China, Says Expert

Health Minister Patty Hajdu needs to be more careful and thoughtful when it comes to answering questions related to Chinas concealment of the true extent of the COVID-19 outbreak, says a Northeast Asia intelligence and security expert.

Beijing has been working in overdrive in recent weeks to alter the narrative on the rapidly evolving crisis linked to the spread of COVID-19 around the world, said Jonathan Miller, a senior fellow with Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

In response to a question last week as to whether Canada has received similar intelligence as the United States that Beijing has been lying about the scale of the outbreak in China, Hajdu said Ottawa has no reason to believe that Chinas numbers are falsified, adding that Canada relies on the World Health Organization to collect data from different countries.

When asked by a reporter if WHOs figures can be trusted if they are based on Chinas numbers, Hajdu accused the reporter of feeding into conspiracy theories.

Chen Weihua, editor for China Daily, a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, lauded Hajdu on Twitter for her response.

Canadian Health Minister Hajdu is a role model. She is a disappointment to those paparazzi journalists and fearmongers, Chen tweeted.

When asked the same question, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped the issue, merely saying there will be many questions as this is worked through in the coming months.

Miller says the issue of how the Chinese Communist Party has handled the pandemic is of great importance to the regime, as any criticism poses a real threat to its legitimacy.

This desperation for a deflected and nationalist narrative is where [Beijings] aggressive disinformation campaign ties in, he says.

Intelligence reports have cast doubt on Beijings official infection and death figures, with British media recently reporting that scientists have advised the countrys leadership that the number of cases in China may have been downplayed by a factor of 15 to 40 times.

China has also launched an active disinformation campaign on social media to drive the narrative that the virus was brought to Wuhanthe epicentre of the outbreak that led to a global pandemicby the U.S. military, as a host of countries, including United States, were openly questioning Chinas data.

Miller says Canada should be pushing for more transparency and investigation on COVID-19 and its origins in China.

And if Hajdu doesnt have the information she needs, she should say so. She should be more careful and thoughtful on her responses, he said. If she doesnt know the answers, she should not pretend that she does.

Opposition to Travel Restrictions

Since the earlier days of the outbreak, Canadian officials insisted there was no need to restrict travel from China, citing WHOs recommendations.

WHO has actively advised against any restrictions on travel from China and praised Beijing for its efforts in containing the outbreak, while the regime lashed out at countries that imposed travel bans.

WHO doesnt recommend, and actually opposes, any restrictions for travel and trade or other measures against China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adham Ghebreyesus said on Jan. 30. The organization has repeated the same position as the outbreak has progressed.

Reiterating WHOs position, Canadas Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said in early February that having measures that very negatively affect a certain country thats trying very hard to do its best can impede whether this country in the future will ever share anything transparently with others.

She added that China posted the virus genome very quickly. What are they getting out of it? I think the idea is to support China.

As reported previously by The Epoch Times, Beijing threatened medical professionals who tried to sound the alarm about the new contagious virus, and sat on information about the genome for days before making it public.

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would withhold funding to WHO, saying the agency is too China-centric, and criticized it for opposing travel bans.

As more outbreaks began in other countries, including Iran and Italy, Canadian officials continued to insist that closing the borders wouldnt stop the spread in Canada.

On March 16, Ottawa announced that borders would be closed to non-essential visitors except Americans, and the U.S.-Canada border was also closed a few days later.
Louisiana's known cases of coronavirus rose to 18,283 and the number of reported coronavirus-related deaths increased to 702 on Thursday.

The 1,253 newly-reported cases represent a 7% increase in total cases from Wednesday.

The number of people who officials say died of the disease rose by 50, according to the Thursday data released from the Louisiana Department of Health.

After recovering from coronavirus, Archbishop Aymond will fly in WWII plane to bless New Orleans Having recovered after testing positive for the novel coronavirus last month, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond plans to board a World Wa

The number of hospitalized patients increased by 31 and the number of patients needing a ventilator dropped by 17. There are now 2,014 hospitalized coronavirus patients in Louisiana and 473 of those patients are on a ventilator. After peaking at 571 ventilators on April 4, ventilator usage has fallen for five-straight days.

Orleans Parish reported 16 new deaths and 172 new cases on Thursday. Jefferson Parish reported 9 new deaths and 388 new cases.

The Louisiana Department of Health releases updated coronavirus data every day at noon here.

Coronavirus deaths in Louisiana nursing homes up to 130; at least 93 facilities have cases Coronavirus has continued to take a deadly toll on Louisiana's nursing homes, claiming 130 lives and infecting more than 550 residents, accord

This report will be updated.

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MORE DATA BELOW

LOUISIANA CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS AS OF THURSDAY (NOON)

(increase from Wednesday in parentheses)

Diagnosed cases: 18,283 (up from 17,030)

Known coronavirus-related deaths: 702 (up from 652)

Hospitalized coronavirus patients: 2,014 (up from 1,983)

Hospitalized coronavirus patients on ventilators: 473 (down from 490)

Parishes with diagnosed cases: 63 of 64 (no change)

Total state tests completed: 4,971 (up from 4,766)

Total commercial tests reported: 81,948 (up from 76,640)

DEATHS, CASES ACROSS NEW ORLEANS METRO AREA AS OF WEDNESDAY
Kerala reported nine fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number in the state to 336, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The chief minister also decried reports that some people from Uttar Pradeshs Amethi, who were stranded in Wayanad, were going hungry till Union textiles minister Smriti Irani intervened to help them. Pinarayi Vijayan said the Wayanad vs Amethi pitch was an effort to portray the state in poor light.

We came across some reports about Union Textiles Minister Smriti Iranis intervention to supply food to some stranded workers from her constituency Amethi in Wayanad. After intense search, we spotted them in Karuvarakund in Malappuram. On inquiry, officials found enough grocery and other items in their dwelling units, said Vijayan.

He also said that these workers refused cooked food from community kitchens, saying they will cook on their own. They accepted the grocery and other items.

Unlike other parts, they will not go hungry in Kerala. We consider them as our guests. Some people are not happy with our work and they give undue publicity to such wrong information, he said, adding that it was no time to score brownie points.

Wayanad is represented in the Lok Sabha by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader who had lost the Amethi seat to BJPs Smriti Irani. Gandhi had contested last years Lok Sabha election from two seats.

The chief minister waded into the controversy after reports that 40 starving workers from Amethi stranded in Wayanad got food after Smriti Iranis intervention. It was reported that she sought help from Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.

The Congress hit back, asserting that Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi too was flooded with complaints of food shortage in Amethi and had distributed food and other essentials in his former constituency.

Outlining the status of Covid-19 cases in Kerala, Vijayan said among the nine new cases that had tested positive, two were the members of Tablighi Jamaat who had returned from Delhis Nizamuddin after attending their annual event held at the markaz (centre) last month. He further said that 212 people linked to the Jamaat had been traced; 15 of them tested positive.

The chief minister also said that the state government will take an appropriate decision on lockdown after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state has also set up help desks to help Keralites stranded abroad.

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During the weekend we had news from oil producers. Meanwhile, the coronavirus continues to plague the world, as even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has been infected. In addition, March economic data has revealed the ongoing economic turmoil.

Dukascopy: Let us start our discussion with the crude oil market. We heard that there was some sort of disagreement present over the weekend between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, OPEC+ did not hold a meeting on Monday.

What is going on and how is it impacting oil prices?

We saw OPEC and Russia delay the Monday meeting until Thursday. That sent the markets into a tizzy early in the week.

Expectations are for some form of an agreement, however, with both sides agreeing to meet. Both would have likely delayed further had there been little to put on the table on Thursday.

In reality, however, the U.S, Canada and the rest will also need to cut production. If the U.S, in particular, fails to also agree to any cuts then both Russia and OPEC may fail to adhere to any agreements made this week

Dukascopy: I agree, it is well known that a majority of oil producers need oil to remain above 40 Dollars per barrel to remain in business. At the top of this is the Russian Federal budget that is planned with 42 USD in mind, and oil sales make up nearly 60% of government income.

In the meantime, we still have the coronavirus outbreak going on. It has been dictating most of the equity market moves. Moreover, as countries react to it with stimulus, we are seeing moves on the currency exchange rate charts.

We are seeing governments and central banks committed to offset the impact of the virus on the respective economies.

The governments, central banks, and even the markets will need to let the dust settle, however.

We saw the number of new cases slow on Monday and then rise again on Tuesday, which caught the markets off guard. Hopes had been for a downward trend to continue through the week.

Story continues

Tuesdays COVID-19 numbers were a reminder that we are not out of the woods just yet.

From a stimulus perspective, its not in place to support an economic rebound once the virus has been contained and lockdown measures eased.

Central banks and governments will need to deliver more down the road. For the likes of FED, what ammo they have left will be one question that the markets will have to ask.

On Wednesday morning we heard the RBNZ talk of a willingness to ramp up its purchasing program. There was even the talk of negative rates down the road. This weighed on the Kiwi Dollar mid-week.

So, we are seeing plenty of volatility across the FX and equity markets. With plenty of uncertainty over what lies ahead, this is unlikely to abate anytime soon.

Dukascopy: So the selling and the virus spread have calmed down for the time being. It might give the governments some time to prepare for battling the virus not only from a medical but also from an economical perspective.

The spread of the virus has certainly eased. We are not seeing numbers similar to those last week. But, France saw a spike on Saturday and another on Tuesday. Italy also saw another rise after having reported its lowest number of new cases since Mid-March on Tuesday.

Governments, in particular, will need to do much more to ensure that we dont see the spread of the virus accelerate again.

These containment measures really need to remain through April into early May. The economic fallout is going to be significant with an extended lockdown, but the fallout would be far worse should the spread of the virus continue into May at the current rate.

Meanwhile, there was news recently that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has gotten infected by the coronavirus.

Dukascopy: We can agree upon wishing the PM a hasty recovery from the illness.

For sure that we wish Boris Johnson a speedy recovery. There had been some mixed messages earlier in the week. Initially, Downing Street reported that the PM was not on a ventilator. Updates then revealed that Johnson was receiving oxygen in ICU.

The markets are going to need some clarity on that. Boris Johnson is Pound positive, while the markets consider Foreign Secretary Raab a hard Brexiteer. Raab is also generally less supportive of fiscal policy support.

He may have to change his stance near-term, however, as a result of the unprecedented impact of COVID-19.

Either way, the markets will want some clarity on the PMs health and we can expect the Pound to remain reactive to the news wires.

Dukascopy: Lets move to our usual main topic  macroeconomic data releases. It is expected that the data sets most likely will be used mainly as a measure of the ongoing turmoil. Using historical data and market impact reaction analysis has become useless in the current unprecedented environment.

On the economic data front, were now passing February numbers and seeing May and April figures.

These figures will give a picture of the economic fallout from the Coronavirus.

We are unlikely to get an indication of what effect stimulus has had until we start seeing May  June figures.

When considering the fact that the U.S only began shutting down in late March, early May, we may even need to wait until June to at least assess the effects of the FEDs moves.

This is all before even considering the impact of the Stimulus Bill that has yet to fully pass through the economy.

When considering the time frames, this does leave the markets at risk of another tumble.

Lets face it, theres no spending, as such, to support the U.S economy. April Manufacturing and Service sector PMIs in the U.S may actually look more similar to the Eurozones March figures. Stimulus effects are unlikely to be evident, which certainly supports the view that there is more choppiness to come

Dukascopy: Good to know that the data will be helpful in measuring and managing the impact of the coronavirus.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

More From FXEMPIRE:
Zoom, the video-conferencing app company has hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as a member of its newly set security council. The company in question for its security issues has stated that it will fix its safety and privacy issues.



Stamos in a blog post wrote, "Zoom has some important work to do in core application security, cryptographic design, and infrastructure security, and I'm looking forward to working with Zoom's engineering teams on those projects."

Stamos, who worked in Facebook as Chief Security Advisor from 2015-2018, is currently a professor at Stanford University. He will be a paid consultant to Zoom, a report by Reuters states.

In late March Stamos in a series of tweets urged Zoom to draw a 30-day plan and to improve its transparency. This led to Zoom's founder and CEO, Eric Yuan asking him to weigh as an outside consultant.



To fix the app's flawed security policies and zoombombing which caused intruders or trolls to randomly enter a shared conference call, Zoom has vowed to take a few measures.



As per a report by engadget, Zoom has rolled out a new version of the app. This version will remove the meeting ID from the Title bar so that it can't be leaked through screenshots.



Apart from this, the report states, hosts will have access to a security icon that has all of the app's in-meeting security controls This includes the ability to switch on the waiting room. The feature was reportedly set on default so that hosts would have to approve people entering a chat.



The report by Reuters states that Zoom has embarked a 90-day-plan and has formed a CISO Council, which includes chief information security officers of HSBC, NTT Data, Procore and Ellie Mae, to discuss privacy, security and technology issues. It further states a board will be set up to advise Yuan on privacy issues. The members include executives from VMware, Netflix, Uber and Electronic Arts.



This development comes after Google asked all its employees not to use the app on desktop or laptops citing security concerns. The tech giant has banned the app. Other than zoombombing, the app faced other issues like there being no end-to-end encryption and routing of traffic through China.



Before Google, Taiwan and Germany put restrictions on Zoom's use. Elon Musk's company SpaceX, too, has banned the app's use over security concerns.

Video conferencing apps have been in the headlines since the time work-from-home culture has become a norm.



Zoom was introduced in 2019 but soon gained reach and users after global lockdowns were ordered in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. The app has seen daily users jump to 200 million from 10 million and the stock surged to a record high in March.


CEOs from 12 of the U.K.'s top tech companies have written to the government urging for emergency business relief measures to be extended to start-ups.

In a joint letter to Britain's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, the start-up bosses warned that loan schemes implemented to help support businesses through the coronavirus crisis "benefit established firms and do not help companies of the future such as ours."

Many start-ups say they cannot access the emergency financing as they are not yet profitable; it is normal for venture capital-backed tech companies to prioritize growth over profitability, with the plan to make money further down the road. However, businesses applying for this government funding have to prove they would have been "viable" if not for the disruption caused by COVID-19.

"Our companies have all invested in technology and growth rather than short-term profitability, which means that we are currently unable to access the schemes which have been designed with longer-established businesses in mind," the start-up leaders wrote.

"We are therefore writing to ask you to urgently set up a taskforce meeting of leading tech businesses to work with you and your officials to find a way for high-growth tech companies to be able to access the lending schemes you have already established or new schemes if necessary."

Signatories of the letter include the CEOs of Deliveroo, Darktrace, Babylon, Citymapper, GoCardless, Graphcore, Improbable, Blockchain, BenevolentAI, Five AI, Bulb and Faculty.
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is holding a press conference Thursday to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 81,803 people in New York City.

On Wednesday, de Blasio said the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York City appear to have stabilized and reduced the immediate need for ventilators. He added that the city needs to "double down" on social distancing measures that are helping to curb the pandemic.

"We know we're not out of the woods; it's too early," de Blasio said Wednesday, cautioning that the data should not be used to draw "bigger conclusions."

De Blasio said earlier this week the number of coronavirus patients being placed on ventilators has been better than expected, giving the city precious time to secure needed supplies for a wave of patients expected to hit local hospitals in the next few weeks.

He said the improvement in the number of ventilators needed was apparent Monday, buying the city more time to get more ventilators.

"We'll have to see in the days ahead if it's something that's sustained and something that deepens," he said at a press conference in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday. "But I want to at least note a little improvement in the last few days and thank God for that."

Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.
New Delhi/Kabul, April 9 : The Islamic State Khorasan Province launched yet another rocket attack on Bagram air base on Thursday, making it their third such assault this year in Afghanistan.

The ISKP claimed the responsibility for the early morning rocket attack on the base in Parwan, Afghanistan.

Sources said though four to five BM1 rockets were fired at the airfield using a vehicle parked in the village of Dasht-e-Ufian, no casualties were reported. The vehicle was blown up, either by the Islamic State or the Afghan forces in retaliation.

A rocket attack on the Bagram air base last month was the first on NATO forces since the signing of the US-Taliban peace deal.
Each morning, from the safety of my Hanoi apartment, I watch the news from the UK to see how much devastation the virus has inflicted on the country. I watch with a mixture of emotions; sadness, worry for my family, and anger that it has been allowed spread so freely. The UK government allowed it to spread despite seeing the tragic situations in China and Italy and despite warnings from the WHO. People around the world were shocked when they heard about the UK strategy of herd immunity and saw the pictures of the crowded mass events that were somehow still taking place or the packed pubs and clubs full of reckless and unconcerned drinkers. This was all happening at the same time as desperate Italian doctors were mourning the deaths of their colleagues and begging the people of the UK to stay home.

As I follow the debate and recriminations, I see people pointing out certain countries as examples of how the UK could have handled things better. The same countries and territories are always mentioned, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (China) and Hong Kong (China). These are the countries and territories that learned from the SARS and MERS outbreaks. They immediately recognized the potential threat posed by COVID-19 and began to prepare as soon as the story first broke. The situation is far from over in these countries and territories but theyve been able to prevent a lot of the potential damage through mass surveillance, aggressive contact tracing, early social distancing, widespread temperature checks and the near universal use of face masks.

For some reason there seems to always be one country missing when the praise is dished out and I dont understand why. Of course I am talking about Vietnam. Despite sharing a border with China and having a population of 95 million people, Vietnam has somehow managed to limit COVID-19 to only 251 cases and 0 deaths. It is such a remarkable statistic that people often dont believe me when I tell them about it. When I hear people defending the British governments slow response and arguing that no one else could have done any better I feel compelled to tell them about how amazingly well Vietnam has dealt with it in comparison.

Back in January at the end of my holiday in Danang I received a message from my boss telling me that my English classes would be cancelled because of the new coronavirus in China. I couldnt believe it and thought it was a paranoid overreaction. I was frustrated because I would be losing my income. Now, 2 months later, as the worlds economy is on its knees and healthcare systems creak under pressure, I realize just how wrong I was. I cringe when I think back to the messages I sent trying to persuade my boss to put the classes back on.

Now I know how misguided I was and how right the actions of the Vietnamese authorities were. Through taking such early action in closing schools, restricting flights and eventually stopping new arrivals from abroad, through foresight, clear leadership and the peoples willingness to follow the guidelines, we have so far been spared the horrors we are seeing elsewhere. By prioritizing the safety of its people over short term economic growth, Vietnams leaders have done us all a great service.

The difference between the Vietnamese and the British responses is stark. In Vietnam testing is widely available for anyone who needs it, in the UK only severe cases are being tested, most people with symptoms are simply told to stay home. Many frontline health workers are self-isolating at home because they or a family member had symptoms. They want to return to work but they cant because they are unable to get tested and dont want to risk endangering patients.

Nowhere is this difference in approach more apparent than the Vietnamese quarantine centres where over 50,000 people were housed at one point. Everyone entering the country is tested and required to stay in one for 14 days whether or not they tested positive. Such a feat is almost unthinkable in the UK. Not only because of the impressive logistics and political willpower involved but also because people tend to strongly resist any interference with their personal freedoms even if it is for the sake of the greater good of society. The positive results of Vietnams cautionary approach are now clear. I shudder to think how many cases there would now be if they hadnt been so proactive. I am deeply grateful to all the doctors, nurses, police officers, translators, cleaners and others who are working so hard and risking their own safety to keep the country safe.

In February when I first told my family about the unfolding COVID-19 situation in Vietnam they were worried about me and suggested I fly back to the UK in order to be safer. Ironically, it is now me who is worried about them. Vietnam is currently one of the safest countries in the world while the UK is one of the worst affected. I am lucky to be in what feels like a safe haven but at the same time feel desperately worried about my parents every time I imagine them risking infection having to go a crowded supermarket to buy food. I try to convince them to wear masks but unfortunately its still considered strange and unnecessary there. This isnt helped by the official advice that they are not needed for the general population. I believe the real reason is that there is a mask shortage and the limited supply is needed for healthcare workers.

There is so much the UK can learn from Vietnams response. From the Vietnamese government; the willingness to pay attention, prepare for the worst and take early and decisive action. But they can also learn from the attitude of the Vietnamese people who have accepted the need to temporarily adjust their behaviour. They know that although it is difficult and inconvenient to have your work or education stopped, your wedding postponed, or your freedom to socialize curtailed, these measures are necessary because we have a duty to protect our fellow citizens. Most Vietnamese people seem to accept the need for some personal sacrifice for the good of all. In the UK, the government was so worried people would refuse to make these sacrifices and so reluctant to disturb business that they left it too late to stop the spread of the virus until it was too late. This crisis can teach us that there is nothing more important than human life. We should remember that a dead economy can be nursed back to life, but a dead person cannot.

By Cormac Loftus, a UK citizen currently living Hanoi.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.9

By Nargiz Sadikhova  Trend:

Kazakhstan has exported beef and mutton of local production to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Trade and Integration.

Twenty-two tons of locally produced frozen mutton (12 tons) and frozen beef (10 tons) were sent to Abu Dhabi.

UAE Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber said that Kazakh meat will be supplied to all major trade networks in UAE.

In turn, Kazakhstans Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov said that the ministry jointly with the UAE embassy in Kazakhstan are working on ways to use civil planes to deliver Kazakh export goods to UAE weekly. He added that the experience received when transporting cargo in quarantine regime will be used when exporting meat.

Kazakhstans traditional export markets for meat are Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan for the most part exports frozen meat. Local demand in Kazakhstan for beef is completely covered by local ventures, which gives the opportunity to increase export.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
There are countless distractions while learning at home: a cat walking across the keyboard, a sibling goofing off in the background, a comfy bed to lounge on, a pantry full of tempting snacks.

As teachers tread into uncharted territory with an abrupt mass transition to online learning, many are now having to decide: How much should they be enforcing school rules via webcam?

Some teachers are making their own set of online class rules and posting them for others on Pinterest, Instagram, and other lesson-sharing sites such as TeachersPayTeachers. Many of these posts seem to replicate the expectations of a normal school day as much as possible.

Find a quiet place, free from distraction (sibling, pets, parents, televisions), one set of Zoom class rules said . Video needs to remain ON to promote focus. Eye contact should be maintained. Refrain from chewing gum, eating, or drinking in front of the camera.

Remember, the poster said, this is a class, so treat it as such.

According to a nationally representative Education Week Research Center survey of more than 900 educators, more than a fifth said that during school-building closures, they have taught live, virtual classes at specific, predesignated times where students can interact with each other and with the teacher. That can give students a sense of normalcy and connectionbut it can also leave teachers trying to keep students on task and engaged in virtual environments they are not familiar with.

As a consequence, expectations for student behavior in online classes range widely from strict adherence to physical classroom rules to much more laissez-faire approaches during the school building shutdowns. One teacher, for instance, told students to dress appropriately as they would in school, not to eat or snack, limit distractions, and be mindful of their surroundings. Students who dont follow these rules will be removed from the virtual classroom and given a zero, the teacher wrote .

But these types of strict guidelines have raised some concern among educators, who say that students need to be given grace during a difficult, scary time.

Student well-being and faculty well-being should be the priority at this time, and teachers should be flexible where they can be, said Ryann Fapohunda, the co-director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the National Cathedral School, an all-girls private school in Washington, D.C. Is it more important how students dress and are presenting themselves, or their social-emotional well-being? If students are adhering to guidelines in classparticipating, showing upIm inclined to not call them out for wearing a hoodie or being in pajama pants.

Striking a Balance

Leah Smith, a 7th grade English teacher in Litchfield, Conn., has a few basic ground rules for her live virtual classes: Mute your microphone when others are talking, dont purposely distract others (that means no practicing TikTok dance moves on video), and above all, be kind and respectful.

She hosts a 20-minute lesson each day on Google Meet, and then students can connect individually with her afterward. Teachers dont have the ability to mute the entire class in Google Meet, so establishing these classroom norms early on was important, said Smith, who adapted these norms from a colleague. (Zoom does allow teachers to mute everyone, but many schools have shied away from using the videoconferencing tool due to privacy and security concerns .)

So far, there havent been any major behavioral issues, Smith said. Shes tried to strike a balance between maintaining order and embracing the quirks of learning from home.

The first day, they all seemed to be munching on something, so I grabbed a snack and munched with them, Smith said.

Students cant wear hats at school, but theyre allowed to at homethey even had a virtual crazy hat day. Smith also spent a chunk of class time one day encouraging students to show off their pets.

Now, typically when a cat walks across the screen, Ill say, Oh, cute cat, and keep moving and not make a big deal of it, Smith said. To not accept some of those funny moments is not really conducive to teaching middle school, but at the same time, it needs to be harnessed so you can get things done.

While students are allowed to work from their beds, shell tell them to sit up if she sees them lying down. And Smith had to remind students to keep their chatbox usage appropriate after she noticed them sharing their TikTok handles with each other during class.

Still, the last thing they need is to have somebody be super strict with them, she said.

Other teachers echo Smiths sentiments. This is a scary time, and students need reassurances from their teachers, not punishment and extra rules, said Dave Austin, a 7th grade social studies teacher in Marlton, N.J.

While he hasnt yet started live online classes, he plans to maintain his normal class expectationsdont talk over each other, dont be inappropriatewhile letting other behaviors slide.

We have to give them a little slack, he said. My kids are 12 years old. Theyre anxious, and theyre scared, and if [theyre] in their room in their PJs, having a snack while they talk to me about the Second World Waryou showed up, thats fine.

School Rules in Someones Home



Plus, some classroom behavior expectations are out of students control in remote learning environments, teachers said. Students might not have their own private, quiet space to log on to class meetings. Their parents might be at work or working from home and unable to supervise. Students might also be tasked with watching younger siblings while their parents are at work.

Its a situation where we need to extend grace, said Merisha Leak, the director of outreach for a charter school in Charlotte, N.C. I dont think its a schools right or a teachers right to enforce school rules in someones home.

Students might already feel vulnerable for opening up their homes to their classmates, she said, and teachers need to come up with equitable practices that would work for all families in a way [in which] we arent causing anxiety or stressing anyone out.

Teachers also need to be conscious of the fact that students are not receiving the same behavioral supports at home that they got in class, said Kenneth Schuster, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Child Mind Institute, a national nonprofit for children with mental health and learning disorders.

Children with disabilities are still entitled to special education services during online learning, which many schools have been scrambling to make work . But they might look different during online learning, which can be an adjustment, Schuster said. Even informal supportslike a teacher tapping a particularly active child on the shoulder to remind him to focusare no longer available in a remote learning situation, he added.

And the lack of those informal supports, as well as other factors, could be having an impact on the level of attention students are giving to their online schoolwork. The Education Week Research Center survey found that when teachers were asked to select a major challenge for instruction during school closures, a third of teachers said their students have a lot more trouble focusing on work at home than they do at school.

Nearly three-fourths of teachers said their students engagement levels are somewhat or much lower during this time than they are normally, and 66 percent of teachers said students morale was somewhat or much lower.

Teachers own morale has also taken a hit, according to the survey.

I think we really should remind teachers that theyre doing a great job, this is uncharted territory, and were all figuring it out, said Fapohunda, from the National Cathedral School in Washington. I would really encourage them to adapt a less-is-more approach. What success may have looked like when theyre physically in school will look different now.

Image: Lamar Elementary School principal Erin Honeycutt sets up a Zoom class for 1st through 5th graders to learn art from Holly Triplett in Meridian, Miss., on March 24. Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star via AP
The head of the European Union's top science organization has resigned in frustration at the height of the coronavirus crisis.

Mauro Ferrari had only become president of the European Research Council on Jan. 1, but EU Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said that "Professor Ferrari resigned," effective immediately.

The sudden resignation of Ferrari and his stinging criticism was bound to add pressure on EU institutions, which have been accused of not working together to battle the global pandemic.

The news was first announced by the Financial Times, based on a statement released to the paper by Ferrari, who said he had "been extremely disappointed by the European response" to the pandemic. He complained about running into institutional and political obstacles as he sought to swiftly set up a scientific program to combat the virus.

"I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union," he wrote. "I have lost faith in the system itself."
As the world contends with the COVID-19 pandemic, everything from teaching and learning to family game nights have seemingly gone virtual. Now more than ever people are using technology to stay connected.

Over the last number of weeks, a number of events and programs across the university have been digitally transformed, including the Open Dialogue program.



Open Dialogue Live is a new online series featuring Dalhousie University experts and focused on current events. Each weekly episode will be livestreamed on the Dalhousie University Alumni and Friends Facebook page. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in the conversation by asking the experts questions.



And while people wont be physically together for the events, the spirit of the Open Dialogue program remains unchanged: an opportunity to bring people together for thought-provoking conversations focused on timely and important issues.



At the forefront of COVID-19



The series began on Thursday, April 9 at with David and Alyson Kelvin, father and daughter virologists who are at the forefront of the COVID-19 effort. Both are engaged in "rapid response" sciencefast-tracked federal funding paired with swift collaboration with scientists around the globe working on the pandemic.


MUMBAI: Twenty-eight more persons who had attended the religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi had tested positive for coronavirus, the authorities said on Thursday (April 9, 2020). According to reports, out of the 28 people who have tested positive for the COVID-19, six are foreign nationals.

Mumbai Police Crime Branch has identified five members linked to Tablighi Jamaat from Dhaaravi slum and put them in quarantine.

Of all those who returned to Maharashtra after attending the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, 50 persons are still untraceable as their mobile phones are switched off.

The Crime Branch is trying to ascertain their location with the help of those who had been identified by the police earlier.

The national capital on Wednesday reported 93 COVID-19 positive cases in 24 hours, taking the total number of persons diagnosed with deadly virus to 669.

It has been calculated that around 64 per cent of the total positive cases in Delhi are associated with the Tablighi Jamaat event that took place in Nizamuddin Markaz in March.

"93 new COVID-19 cases were reported today in the national capital taking the state tally to 669; the death toll stands at 9. All the 93 new COVID-19 positive cases reported today are linked with the Nizamuddin Markaz event," Delhi government stated.

20 persons have been discharged after treatment while one has migrated. A total of 426 persons amounting to around 64 per cent of the total positive cases in Delhi are associated with the Markaz event.

At least 177 Tablighi Jamaat attendees have been quarantined in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, India's total number of COVID-19 infections jumped to 5,734 which includes 5095 active cases of infections, 473 cured and 166 deaths, as per Heath Ministry data at 8 am on April 9.

The number of coronavirus COVID-19 infections saw a sharp rise on Wednesday (April 8, 2020) with 5,734 active cases, 473 recovered and 166 deaths, as per the data by Union Health Ministry at 8 am on Thursday (April 9).
WHO denies being 'China-centric' after Trump comment

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 1:42 PM

The World Health Organization has rejected claims by the US President Donald Trump, accusing the body of being "China-centric," saying its work with Beijing was important to understand the outbreak, which began in the province of Wuhan.

"It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this," Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the WHO director general, told reporters on Wednesday. "This is what we did with every other hard hit country like Spain and had nothing to do with China specifically."

Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, also criticized Trump for his decision to put US contributions to the WHO on hold.

"We are still in the acute phase of a pandemic so now is not the time to cut back on funding," Kluge reiterated during a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

Evangelical want China punished

Speaking at a White House press conference Tuesday, Trump blamed the WHO for getting every aspect of the coronavirus "wrong," threatening to pull back funding from the international organization.

He criticized the organization as being "very China-centric" for condemning his January 31 travel ban, which led to barring foreign nationals, who had traveled to China within the last 14 days, from entering the US.

Meanwhile, Trump's Evangelical boosters have joined a choir of voices urging him to punish China for its furtive mismanagement of covid-19

"From the time he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower, President Trump made clear there would be a new sheriff in town when it comes to dealing with China," said Ralph Reed, co-founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition on Wednesday.

"China lied about the genesis of the virus and under-reported their own cases. These are actions that cannot be ignored and for which China must be held responsible, and I think taking action to do that only serves to deepen the president's commitment," Reed added.

The WHO began to sound the alarm on the outbreak of a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China in mid-January.

Later on January 30, it designated the covid-19 pandemic as a global health emergency after there had been only 8,200 cases in 18 countries across the world.

WHO officials declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, when there were only 121,000 confirmed cases globally.

So far, the virus has affected1,447,904 worldwide and killed 83,412. In the United States, more than 400,000 people have tested positive and 12,857 have died.

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The CLFs Democratic rival, the House Majority PAC, on Monday announced $51 million in initial reservations  many of them in the same media markets as the GOP groups. Both groups, as well as other outside groups planning spending in House and Senate races, are seeking to make early reservations in presidential battlegrounds and states with key Senate races where network advertising inventory is likely to be scarce this fall.
The Australian banking regulators decision to direct banks to defer or materially reduce their dividends this week was prudent, but probably unnecessary.

The major banks would have been considering reducing their payouts to shareholders with or without the direction from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority as they seek to conserve capital at a moment of great uncertainty and significantly reduced profitability.

The impact of the coronavirus on the banks is a great unknown. They made quite extraordinary concessions to their business and retail customers; measures that will cost them cash flow and earnings during and well beyond the duration of the pandemic.

The major banks showed last year they were prepared to tailor their dividend payouts to their circumstances.

And they have no idea  as no-one at this stage does  how long the lock-down of large slabs of the economy will last, nor how many businesses will re-emerge when it ends. The extent of the longer-term impacts on employment and households is another unknown.
Staring into a smartphone camera in an empty classroom in rebel-held northwest Syria, geography teacher Danielle Dbeis addresses students confined at home away from the novel coronavirus. "Even if we are now doing distance learning... you can still talk to me online," says the 42-year-old, standing in front of a white board. Like in much of the world, educators in Syria are taking classes online after the country's various regions sent pupils home hoping to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. But distance learning is no small feat in a country battered by nine years of war, where fighting has displaced millions and the electricity supply is sporadic at best. Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib has not yet recorded any case of the virus. But aid workers fear any outbreak would be catastrophic in the region, which is under a jihadist-dominated authority and home to at least three million people. In the main city of Idlib, Dbeis points to a map of Syria she has drawn on the white board, her voice bouncing off the walls of the empty classroom. Her school used to teach 1,000 girls before it closed last month, she says, but now only 650 have continued learning online as the others have no access to a smartphone or laptop. Even those with the right equipment face difficulties, says the teacher, who uses WhatsApp to send her students videos. "Most students don't have constant access to the internet," she says. And during long power cuts, she adds, they "are not able to charge their phones". - 'Anything not to miss out' - At home elsewhere in Idlib city, Nour Sermini spends her days with her eyes riveted on her mobile phone screen, books and notes scattered around her on her bed. Switching from one WhatsApp group to another, the 17-year-old checks in with her various teachers. "We'll do anything not to miss out on our education," she says. The deadly virus is just the latest of many obstacles to learning in Idlib, she says, after years of air strikes on the surrounding region by Damascus and its ally Russia. "The bombs didn't manage to stop us from learning," and neither will the virus, she says. Since March, a fragile truce has held in northwest Syria. But months of bombardment before that disrupted the education of some 280,000 children, the UN Children's Fund says. Across the Idlib region, more than half of the 1,062 schools are now damaged, destroyed or in areas too dangerous for children to reach, according to Save the Children. Displaced from their homes in the rounds of violence, hundreds of thousands of children live in overcrowded camps or temporary shelters, with little to no water or electricity. In one of these camps, in the village of Kafr Yahmoul, Ahmed Rateb has just finished recording a maths class in a tent. "We're trying as much as possible not to deprive the kids of an education," says the 29-year-old teacher, who sends along his tutorials on Telegram and WhatsApp. But some are now unable to follow for lack of a smart screen as well as long blackouts inside the camp, he admits. - 'Sufficient power and internet?' - As the civil war enters its tenth year, the Damascus regime controls around 70 percent of Syrian territory after successive victories against jihadists and rebels. In these territories too, where Damascus has announced 19 cases of COVID-19 including two deaths, schools have closed their gates. To make up for lost time, the education ministry has started beaming Arabic, English and science classes into homes via a special television channel. But there too, power cuts can last up to 14 hours a day, and the government caps the size of internet bundles allowed for each family. In the northeast of the country, the semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities are looking to launch distance learning within days, education official Nureddin Mohammad says. No case of the novel coronavirus has yet been announced in the region, where medical supplies are limited and there are no tests. Teachers are filming classes to be broadcast on local television channels and on Youtube, and teachers will keep in touch with pupils via WhatsApp, he tells AFP. Bandar Ismail, a 35-year-old father of three, says he cannot wait for the first episodes. But he wonders whether the authorities will be "able to ensure sufficient power and internet for the project to succeed". Kurdish language teacher Hayat Abbas, meanwhile, says she already misses teaching students in person. In distance learning, "it's just a half-an-hour lecture or less, and we try to explain as much as possible," the 43-year-old says. "But you can't answer pupils' questions."
FILE PHOTO: Delta planes are seen at the platform after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights arriving at New York City airports due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York

By Alexander Cornwell and Fathin Ungku

DUBAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global airlines urged the world's major economies to act quickly to prevent irreversible damage to an industry that has seen demand decimated almost overnight by the coronavirus crisis.

Several states have already stepped in to help airlines hammered by the travel slump, with the United States offering $58 billion in aid, Singapore announcing support for aviation and Australia easing competition rules.

As leaders from the Group of 20 nations met for a video summit, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) asked governments to provide or facilitate financial support for the major carriers it represents.

"The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe and the resulting government-mandated border closings and travel restrictions have led to the destruction of air travel demand," IATA Chief Executive Alexandre de Juniac said in an open letter.

Underlining the industry's plight, AirAsia, the region's biggest budget carrier, became the latest to announce sweeping schedule cuts and said some of its businesses would halt flights altogether for a period.

Singapore Airlines said it would tap existing investors for up to S$15 billion ($10.5 billion) through the sale of shares and convertible bonds to offset the shock to its business from the coronavirus outbreak.

It also arranged a S$4 billion bridge loan.

"Many airlines have been paying out more in refunds than they have received in new booking revenues," de Juniac, a former head of Air France-KLM, said.

"The average two-month cash reserves held by airlines are rapidly being exhausted," de Juniac added, calling for direct financial support, loans or tax relief.

LOADING CARGO

In a desperate bid to preserve some revenues and keep global supply chains operating, U.S. Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways joined a list of carriers that have offered to charter passenger planes as freight transporters, using their spacious cargo holds.

Story continues

About half of the world's air cargo normally travels in the bellies of passenger planes, so the cancellation of passenger flights has led to a sharp reduction in capacity, with knock-on effects on food, industry and other trade.

U.S. airlines, like others around the globe, have been reeling from the slide in passenger numbers and on Wednesday the U.S. Senate passed a $58 billion rescue package, half in the form of grants to cover some 750,000 airline staff wages.

Those receiving funds cannot lay off employees before Sept. 30 or change collective bargaining pacts. [L1N2BI0XW]

The bill has restrictions on stock buybacks, dividends and executive pay, and allows the government to take equity, warrants or other compensation as part of the package.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to back the move on Friday. President Donald Trump has promised to sign it.

A HEAVY PRICE

IATA, which estimates the pandemic will cost the global industry $252 billion in lost revenues this year, said earlier it had written to 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Japan and South Korea for emergency support.

Australia and New Zealand have joined other governments in announcing some financial relief. But this has not stopped carriers from putting staff on leave and grounding planes.

Virgin Australia plans to permanently cut more than 1,000 jobs among the 8,000 staff that have already been stood down. Australia's Flight Centre Travel Group said it would cut 6,000 travel agent roles globally.

In a move unthinkable under normal conditions, Australia's competition regulator said it would allow Virgin, Qantas Airways and Regional Express to temporarily coordinate schedules and share revenue on 10 regional routes.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Dubai, Jamie Freed in Sydney, Fathin Ungku and Anshuman Daga in Singapore, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, David Shepardson in Washington, Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by Edmund Blair and Keith Weir; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alexander Smith)
Bail considerations, releases need to adapt to COVID-19 threat, lawyers say

Mike McIntosh feels more confined than ever.

He's been been living behind bars in a minimum security dorm at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre for the past eight months, facing a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking. He hasn't been convicted.

McIntosh is still waiting for his bail plan. He said he's been accepted to a treatment centre but the service isn't taking new patients because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's pretty hard right now for me in here," McIntosh said. "I don't have no family or anything. It's hard to contact the proper people to try to get out of here."

While McIntosh waits inside, work is being done on the outside to reduce the number of inmates in correctional institutions to control the spread of COVID-19 by, among other things, widening the range of accused individuals who can be granted bail.

But some criminal defence lawyers and advocates are calling for a broader directive to provincial and territorial Crown prosecutors on how to factor in COVID-19 during bail hearings.

They say the movement so far by provincial and territorial governments isn't keeping pace with the danger posed by the virus.

'COVID-19 is not a free pass out of jail'

"We cannot conduct ourselves as business as usual," said Ines Gavran, a Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer.

"Crowns are ministers of justice and they should consider this virus as serious. And it is more serious when it comes to people in custody versus the general public."

Gavran said she wants to see Crown prosecutors factor into bail requests the specific pandemic risks faced by inmates in correctional facilities, who live in confined spaces, share bathrooms and are provided limited access to sanitary products in many cases.

Supplied/Ines Gavran

The conditions faced by people in custody were acknowledged by a judge in a recent bail ruling involving one of Gavran's clients.

In granting Gavran's client bail, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jill Copeland said in a March 20 decision that detained inmates face a "greatly elevated risk" of contracting COVID-19 compared to those under house arrest.

Story continues

"However, the public should know that COVID-19 is not a free pass out of jail," Gavran said. "It's a strong factor that favours release but it's not a guarantee  of release."

Judges increasingly are weighing the threat of COVID-19 inside jails and prisons in their decisions on sentencing and bail, putting the emphasis on having a proper release plan in place.

In a March 27 Ontario Superior Court hearing, a judge agreed to a bail application and placed Cindy Israel's client under house arrest subjected to electronic monitoring, instead of continuing her time behind bars.

"This is a situation where the judge in this particular case acknowledged that there didn't have to be evidence of a personal vulnerability to the illness," Israel said, adding that provincial governments should issue sentencing and bail directives to Crowns on COVID-19.

"When we're all being told to social distance or socially isolate, the judge agreed he couldn't live in a bubble. The jails are not a place where prisoners can socially isolate from one another."

Israel said the justice system recognizes the need to control the flow of people in and out of jails and courthouses. She said courts essentially are only hearing cases on bail applications, and those involving guilty pleas or resolutions.

Err on the side of caution, senator says

At the federal level, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has asked the heads of Canada's prison system to consider early releases for some federal offenders.

"We know the unique risks inherent to prisons," Mary-Liz Power, Blair's press secretary, said in an email statement to CBC News.

"The Correctional Service of Canada continues to take a number of preventative measures to restrict the spread of COVID-19 in federal institutions while maintaining inmates' connections with family, friends and support systems."

Discussions are ongoing and the Correctional Service and the Parole Board of Canada have made no decisions yet.

Senate of Canada

Independent Sen. Kim Pate said now is not the time for half-measures.

"We don't want to wait until it's too late and say we made mistakes," said Pate, a long-time advocate for incarcerated women.

"Let's in this case err on the side of caution, of getting as many people out in a way that's safe for everybody"

But the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers has warned that early releases could pose a risk to the public.

The union said the focus should instead be on maintaining safety inside the prisons by securing more personal protective gear and making sure testing kits are available at every federal institution.

Currently, 49 correctional workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in four federal institutions  three in Quebec and one in Ontario.

There were 35 infections among federal inmates as of April 7  17 in Quebec, 11 in B.C. and seven in Ontario  according to Correctional Service Canada.

Inmate population dropping as COVID-19 measures take effect

Provinces and territories are taking steps to deal with COVID-19 and reduce the population in their jails.

While no one has appeared to issue directives to Crown prosecutors, there have been moves to create isolation wards and grant temporary leaves and early releases to some non-violent offenders nearing the ends of their sentences.

Nunavut recently released 23 inmates as a result of sentence reviews and bail review hearings. In Prince Edward Island, according to a provincial government spokesperson, 28 sentenced inmates and 25 offenders serving intermittent weekend sentences are on temporary absences as of April 7.

The provincial government in Newfoundland and Labrador said 32 offenders and 15 serving intermittent sentences have been on temporary absences since April 7. Most of the leaves were granted on humanitarian grounds and most of the offenders were within 15 to 30 days of their release dates.

The inmate population across all provincial jails in Ontario has dropped from 8,344 to 6,096, according to the the provincial government.

Andrew Lee/CBC

At the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, the population has gone from 514 to 326 inmates. No one there has tested positive for the virus.

But McIntosh  who said he recently recovered from pneumonia  is afraid the virus will get to him before he gets out.

"All it takes is one person here to get it and we're all in trouble," he said.

"Me with my lung problems, it's not a good situation."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkeys export of steel to Uzbekistan increased by 49.4 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of the last year, making up $8.3 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on April 9.

According to the ministry, Turkeys export of steel to Uzbekistan in March 2020 made up $2.3 million, which is 63.7 percent less compared to March 2019.

From January through March 2020, Turkey exported steel worth $3.1 billion to world markets, which is 15.1 percent less compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkeys export of steel was 7.3 percent of the countrys total export for the first quarter of 2020.

In March 2020, Turkey exported steel worth $984.1 million to world markets, which is 24.4 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of steel in March of this year was 7.3 percent of the countrys total export.

In the last 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkey exported steel in the amount of $13.2 billion.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in February 2020 exceeded $32.2 billion.

In February 2020, export from Turkey increased by 2.3 percent compared to February 2019, exceeding $14.6 billion.

Turkey's import increased by 9.8 percent in February 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $17.6 billion.

From January through February 2020, export of Turkey increased by 4.1 percent compared to the same period of 2019, reaching $29.3 billion. Meanwhile, Turkeys import increased by 14.3 percent compared to the same period of 2019, exceeding $36.8 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
The biggest threat to his campaign right now is those Sanders supporters who would rather see Trump in the White House another four years than vote for Biden. He is helpless in gaining the support of anyone who refuses to vote for him out of spite. He cannot convince sore losers that they should take one for the team.
New Delhi: Japan has earmarked an economic stimulus package of $2.2 billion to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic disrupts supply chains between the two major trading partners, said a Bloomberg report. Of this stimulus package, 220 billion yen ($2 billion) is allocated for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, said the report citing the plan detail posted online.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took this step when Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the coronavirus and no new date has been set, said the report.

China is Japans biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China slumped by almost half in February as the disease shuttered factories. This has reportedly led to renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base.

The Japanese governments panel on future investment last month reportedly discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for the production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.

According to data compiled for the panel, Japan exports a far larger share of parts and partially finished goods to China than other major industrial nations.

It remains to be seen how the policy will affect Prime Minister Shinzo Abes years-long effort to restore relations with China.

The initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in China appeared to warm the often chilly ties between the two countries. Japan provided aid in the form of masks and protective gear -- and in one case a shipment was accompanied by a fragment of ancient Chinese poetry. In return, it received praise from Beijing, Bloomberg report added.
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Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 06:31 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0b775f 1 National prisoners,inmates,inmates-products,protective-gears,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,coronavirus-prevention Free

Prisoners across Indonesia are producing protective gear such as masks, face shields, head covers, gowns and aprons to fulfill demand in the countrys mitigation efforts against COVID-19.

According to the Law and Human Rights Ministrys director general of correctional facilities, Nugroho, the protective gear will be prioritized for prisoners and prison workers that are susceptible to contracting the disease.

For prisons or detention centers that are able to produce them on a large scale, it does not rule out the possibility [for the protective gear] to be distributed. We all must unite to fight the coronavirus, Nugroho said in a written statement on Wednesday.

Spare protective gear will be given to medical workers or local administration offices.

Inmates of Lhoksukon prison in North Aceh regency in Aceh, for example, have been distributing their self-made masks to some regions in the province.

Currently, 70 prisons are producing facemasks; some are capable of producing face shields, head covers, gowns and aprons.

Prisoners in Bengkulu's women's correctional facility make personal protective equipment for medical workers. (Courtesy of Law and Human Right Ministry Directorate General of Corrections/-)

Women prisoners in Semarang, Central Java, are making 500 cloth masks a day and women prisoners in Pekanbaru, Riau, are producing dozens of gowns and aprons every day

Additionally, prisoners of Binjai Prison in South Sulawesi are able to produce 100 face shields and 50 headcovers every day.

Other than personal protective equipment, the prisoners also make healthcare supplies such as disinfectant and antiseptic spray, hand sanitizer, sterilizing chambers, intravenous (IV) poles and stretchers.

For example, a prison in Malang, East Java, has been producing 100 liters of antiseptic liquid and hand sanitizer every day.

Read also: Overcrowded and understaffed, prisons scramble to protect inmates from infection

Additionally, a prison in Polewali Mandar Regency, West Sulawesi can produce three IV poles and one stretcher every day, and a prison in Tasikmalaya, West Java can produce two sterilization chambers a week.

The Correctional Facilities Directorate General has also taken measures to curb COVID-19 transmission in prisons, such as installing sterilization chambers and conducting virtual visits and trials in prison using video calls.

Everyone who goes in and out of prisons or detention centers is required to wash their hands and enter the sterilization chamber, which is now available in all prisons and detention centers, said the directorate generals secretary, Ibnu Chuldun, adding that prisons had also prepared isolation blocks for prisoners under observation for COVID-19.

According to the Law and Human Rights Ministry's February data, 524 prisons and detention centers across the country hold 268,919 inmates, including some 60,000 detainees, more than double the maximum capacity of 132,107 inmates with a national average occupancy rate of 104 percent.

Due to the overcrowding, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly suggested that 50,000 inmates should be released to mitigate a COVID-19 contagion. Chronic overcrowding in the national prison system, combined with poor management and a shortage of wardens, has also led to frequent prison riots.
Bigg Boss 13 contestants Paras Chhabra and Mahira Sharma were spotted in Mumbai helping out the underprivileged by offering them food packages amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Paras shared a post online on his Instagram where he can be seen handing out food and other essentials to the people in need as he wears a breathing mask and maintains social distance in public. Mahira was also seen accompanying Paras as they helped in the fight against coronavirus together.

Read: Paras Chhabra, Mahira Sharma Set to Wed?

Sharing a video from the outing with Mahira, Paras wrote on social media, "So finally we both decided to help and distributing essential food packages to the under privileged with the guide lines issued by WHO- wearing a mask and practicing social distancing (sic)."

In the comments section, Mahira wrote, "It is not always about show off or publicity! Its just we are public figure so whatever we do becomes public including this. Also people expect from us and follow us considering their ideals. So by making our donations public encourages everyone to do their bits too (sic)."

Paras was seen sporting a casual look as he wore white T-shirt and brown trousers. Mahira, on the other hand, opted for a tracksuit in pink colour. Check out the video of Paras and Mahira performing selfless public duties together amid the coronavirus crisis.

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The economic loss rule established by Texas courts bars recovery for an insurance company that sought nearly $8 million in damages from a company that installed faulty software that led to extensive damages to an electric utilitys generating equipment, a federal appellate court ruled Wednesday.

A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district courts decision to dismiss a subrogation lawsuit filed by Westport Insurance Co. against Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions.

It is well-established that, under Texas law, a party cannot recover from a seller in tort for damage to the product itself, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Amarillo, provides power to 227,000 consumers in Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle, Southwest Kansas and Southern Colorado. In 2014, the utility contracted with Emerson, a national engineering firm based in St. Louis, to replace the control system for its Mustang Station generating facility.

During testing of the new system in 2015, a steam turbine generator tripped offline. As the turbine rolled down from full speed, a bug in the software installed by Emerson caused the flow of lubrication oil to the turbine to shut off. The turbine overheated because of friction, causing extensive damage.

Emerson fixed the software problem and the steam turbine is up and running again. But Golden Spread paid $8,352,996.94 to repair the damage. Its insurers, which included Westport, paid $7,852,996.94 on the claim. The insurers sued Emerson to recover, with Westport taking the lead.

The Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment for Emerson. The trial court said that under Texas economic loss rule, a commercial party cannot sue in tort for damages caused by a product it purchases if the damages extend only to the product itself. For example, if a defective engine catches fire and destroys a vehicle but nothing else, the buyer can recover only what is owed according to the sales contract for that vehicle.

Whether the economic loss rule applies is a more complicated question in disputes where a component of a greater system is purchased and a defect in that component causes damage to other parts. Westport Insurance argued that the rule did not apply to the damage caused by Emersons defective software because Golden Spread had purchased only a control system, not an entire generation plant.

Attorney Mark Pickering, a senior associate with Donato, Minx, Brown & Pool in Houston, represented Westport. In a telephone interview Wednesday, he said that he researched case law and found several rulings where the economic loss rule was deemed not to apply because the damages extended beyond the component that was purchased. He said he cited a number of cases that involved boats and helicopters.

You had your boat engine repaired. It catches fire and sinks your yacht, you can sue to collect,he said.

But Pickering said whether to apply the economic loss rule has to be determined case-by-case. Its a fact-specific analysis, he said.

The 5th Circuit panel, in an opinion written by Judge Jacques Loeb Weiner, said that Golden Spread did not bargain with Emerson to install a new control system, it contracted with the company to deliver an upgraded, more efficient steam turbine generator. Emerson provided detailed project engineering, control strategy implementation, system testing, system start-up and ongoing support, the court said.

Also, the opinion says, the problem that caused damage to the turbine is more akin to a failure to meet contractural obligations than a dangerous defect. The court said when sophisticated commercial parties are involved, the recovery of damages is better addressed in contract than in tort.

Pickering said his client had not yet decided whether to ask the 5th Circuit to reconsider the decision. He said an appeal to the Supreme Court is unlikely.
Amazon is temporarily extending its return policy window to help its customers during the coronavirus crisis. If you live in the US or Canada, you now have until May 31st to return any products you buy between now and April 30th through Amazon or one of the company's partners, with purchases as far back as March 1st covered as well.

Similarly, if you live in Italy, Spain, France, Turkey or the Netherlands, you can return any items you bought between February 15th and today until to May 31st. You can also return any products you buy between today and April 30th until May 31st.

Amazon shared the policy change on its Day One blog. The day before, the company provided new details about how it plans to protect its employees during the pandemic. To start, Amazon says it's trying out disinfectant fogging at its warehouses. The practice is something hospitals and airlines employ in addition to routine cleaning to ensure a space is as clean as possible. Moving forward, the company will also provide its employees with masks and conduct temperature checks when they arrive for work.
IDBI Bank jumped 4.53% to Rs 20.75 after the bank said its board approved a proposal to sell 23-27% stake in insurance arm IDBI Federal Life Insurance.

The board of directors, at its meeting held on Wednesday (8 April), has approved in principle the proposal to sell IDBI Bank's stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company to the extent of 23-27%.

IDBI Bank has 48% stake in the life insurance company while Federal Bank and Ageas Insurance own 26% each.

Meanwhile, the bank's board, at its meeting held on Wednesday, 8 April 2020, approved the exercise of call option on the bank's perpetual tier 1 bond series I of Rs 245.10 crore due on 22 June 2020 subject to RBI approval.

Further, the board also approved the rupee bond borrowing limit of Rs 7500 crore for FY 2020-21 to be borrowed in one or more tranches comprising of Additional Tier I Bonds up to 3000 crore, Basel III Tier 2 bonds up to 3500 crore and Senior/Infrastructure Bonds up to 1000 crore by way of private placement during FY 2020-21.

On a standalone basis, IDBI Bank reported net loss of Rs 5,728.70 crore in Q3 December 2019 compared with net loss of Rs 4,165.21 crore in Q3 December 2018. Total income rose 0.37% to Rs 6,267.23 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

IDBI Bank offers a wide range of products from savings and current bank account to loans for retail and MSME customers or agri-loans to farmers.

As on 31 December 2019, the Government of India helds 47.10% stake, while Life Insurance Corporation of India held 51% stake in the IDBI Bank.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Purdue College of Pharmacy resource has some tips for making pharmacy trips safely  and keeping your social distance in the process  including an online listing of Indiana pharmacies that offer delivery, drive-thru and curbside pickup services. (Unsplash/James Yarema)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Stay home is standard operating procedure during the COVID-19 crisis, but some essential trips are exceptions to that rule, among them filling a prescription at the pharmacy.

A Purdue College of Pharmacy resource has some tips for making those trips safely  and keeping your social distance in the process  including an online listing of Indiana pharmacies that offer delivery, drive-thru and curbside pickup services.

Access to medication is vital, especially for people being treated for chronic conditions, both for their personal well-being and to avoid adding unnecessarily to the burden on a health care system already stressed by the virus outbreak, said Jasmine Gonzalvo, clinical associate professor in Purdue's College of Pharmacy and director of the Center for Health Equity and Innovation.

Purdues statewide pharmacy information listing, available online, includes major pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger and others, and also lists smaller local pharmacies.

Weve organized the list into northern, central and southern Indiana to make it easier for people to search for a pharmacy most convenient to them, Gonzalvo said.

Here are some tips to make that pharmacy trip even more convenient  and more importantly safer.

Know what medications you need and try to arrange for their pickup in one trip.

Make sure you have the proper identification, if required, to pick up your prescription.

Call ahead to the pharmacy to make sure your prescription is ready.

Ask (or check Purdues list) if they have a delivery, drive-thru window or curbside pickup option and use them if so. If not, you can ask to transfer your prescription to a location that does. The pharmacist can take care of this for you, Gonzalvo said. You just need to know where you would like to transfer your prescription.

If you are high risk (people over age 65, immunocompromised, with asthma, chronic lung disease, uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, or serious heart conditions), send a lower-risk family member or friend to pick up your medication if possible. They should take advantage of drive-thru or curbside pickup service when available as well.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Greg Kline

Media contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Jasmine Gonzalvo, jgonzalv@purdue.edu
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Linkedin Jason Baker (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 13:44 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d4f03 3 Opinion COVID-19,coronavirus,PETA,animal,animal-borne,Vegan Free

The current situation in Indonesia brought about by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) makes me want to pull my hair out. Not just because its disruptive, but because the signs that an outbreak like COVID-19 would happen were so clear.

Seventeen years ago, when SARS first made headlines, I locked myself in a cage in Hong Kong to illustrate the way our taste for animal flesh contributes to animal-borne diseases. That same year, I wore a hazmat suit to the ASEAN+3 Summit in Bali, where officials were discussing ways to prevent killer diseases. I also dressed as a chicken and demonstrated at a KFC in Bangkok during a deadly bird flu outbreak. All in all, I've spent more than two decades warning people that it's unhealthy  and downright dangerous  to raise animals for food.



Seeing people get sick and die from COVID-19 has only strengthened my resolve to persuade everyone to stop eating animals. We have to learn from past pandemics and go vegan before wearing face masks becomes as commonplace as wearing clothes.



Meat markets, factory farms and slaughterhouses provide the perfect breeding ground for coronaviruses and other potentially devastating pathogens. The high demand for animal-based food means that animals must be mass-produced in crowded, feces-ridden farms and slaughtered on killing floors that are contaminated with blood, vomit and other bodily fluids. Pathogens flourish in such conditions. And when an outbreak does occur, the animals, who have already suffered so much, are slaughtered en masse in horrific ways. I know. I was in Manilla when countless pigs were killed because of a swine flu outbreak.



Some scientists say SARS-CoV-2 started in a Chinese "wet market" that sold seafood, live poultry and exotic animals for human consumption. Others suspect the virus may have been spread by pangolins, scaly anteaters that are often poached and used in traditional Chinese medicine or eaten in China and Vietnam. Whatever its exact origin, SARS-CoV-2 most likely started in animals.



According to the United Nations, 70 percent of new human diseases originate in animals, and most of those are directly linked to animals used for food. Most scientists believe that every flu virus originated in birds, as birds are known to carry every single one of the 144 varieties of influenza.



It's not unusual for animal-borne pathogens to mutate and sicken humans. While precautions such as suspending travel, quarantining at-risk individuals and practicing good hygiene may help stop the spread of COVID-19 and other deadly diseases, we need to take one more significant step to prevent future epidemics of animal-borne diseases in the first place: Stop raising animals for food.



It's bad enough that the consumption of meat and other animal-based food contributes to heart disease, diabetes and cancer and that harmful bacteria, including salmonella and E. coli, found in the intestines and feces of warm-blooded animals, often lead to food-poisoning outbreaks. Do we really want to add potentially deadly animal-borne viruses to the mix?

---

PETA's senior vice president for international campaigns

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Will EU finance ministers find an enlightened resolution of their differences on a coronavirus rescue plan for the hardest-hit nations in the bloc? (AFP Photo/GERARD CERLES)

Brussels (AFP) - EU finance ministers will resume efforts on Thursday to agree a rescue plan for Europe's hardest-hit nations after The Netherlands blocked a compromise over bailout conditions.

The 27 ministers will restart their meeting by video-conference at 1500 GMT, after talks broke down on Wednesday following more than 16 hours of ill-tempered negotiations.

The Hague surprised many with its inflexible stance, insisting that Italy, Spain and any others caught short by the outbreak must meet reform conditions if they turn to Europe for financial aid.

The sting was made all the worse after Italy and Spain were forced to drop their goal of a joint borrowing instrument, now dubbed "coronabonds", due to the inflexible stance of Germany, the bloc's most powerful member state.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, said it was "vital" that ministers hatch a plan big enough to meet the challenge.

"If not all countries are cured, the others will suffer, she wrote in an op-ed published in newspapers across Europe on Thursday.

The package on the table is worth about 500 billion euros, short of what many observers believe is necessary to restart the European economy after the health crisis has eased.

All data strongly indicates the economy in Europe is entering its biggest slump since World War II with everyday life and business effectively crashed to a halt.

The main component of the rescue plan involves the European Stability Mechanism, the EU's bailout fund which would make 240 billion euros available to guarantee spending by indebted countries under pressure.

- 'Certain conditions' -

Italy and Spain have the backing of the vast majority of member states to keep the conditions for tapping the ESM at an absolute minimum, but The Netherlands disagrees.

For the long-term "we think it's sensible to combine the use of the ESM with certain economic conditions," Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said, after the earlier talks collapsed.

Story continues

Conditionality is seen as a humiliation in Rome and Madrid, conjuring images from the eurozone debt crisis when auditors from Brussels dictated policy in bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

The especially touchy discussion on a solidarity fund that would be paid for by European partners jointly borrowing money on the financial markets has been handed off to EU leaders.

They are expected to meet by videolink later this month.

The mutualisation of debts is a red line for Berlin and The Hague, which refuse to engage in a joint loan with highly indebted states in the South, which they consider lax in their fiscal management.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday insisted that the relaunch of the European economy after the pandemic is possible "with very traditional instruments" such as the ESM or the EU budget.

In addition to the eurozone rescue fund, the EU ministers will also debate 200 billion euros in guarantees from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a European Commission project for national short-time working schemes.
US president Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of becoming China-centric during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Washington: US president Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of becoming China-centric during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see. It's a great thing if it works. But when they call every shot wrong, that's no good," Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference.

The Geneva-headquartered World Health Organization receives vast amounts of money from the United States.

"We pay for a majority or the biggest portion of their money. They actually criticised and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. They were wrong. They've been wrong about a lot of things. They had a lot of information early and they didn't want to  they're very  they seem to be very China-centric," Trump charged during his news conference.

Trump said his administration is going to look into the US funding to the WHO.

"We give a majority of the money that they get, and it's much more than the $58 million. $58 million is a small portion of what they've got over the years. Sometimes they get much more than that. Sometimes it's for programs that they're doing, and-it's much bigger numbers. If the programs are good, that's great as far as we're concerned," he added.

"But we want to look into it, World Health Organization, because they called it wrong. They (WHO) called it wrong. They missed the call. They could've called it months earlier. They would have known and they should have known and they probably did know. So, we'll be looking into that very carefully, and we're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Senator Jim Risch, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for an independent investigation into the WHO handling of the COVID-19 response.

The WHO has failed not only the American people, it has failed the world with its flagrant mishandling of the response to COVID-19, said Risch.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' apparent unwillingness to hold the Chinese Communist Party to even the minimum standard of global health and transparency hindered the world's ability to blunt the spread of this pandemic. It is completely unacceptable that the world's global health organization has become a political puppet of the Chinese government, he alleged.

"An independent investigation into the WHO's handling of the COVID-19 response is imperative," he asserted.

The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO.

"Our valuable tax payer dollars should go towards investments to prevent the spread of disease, not to aid and abet cover-ups that cost lives and isolate portions of the world's population on political grounds, as has been the case with Taiwan," Senator Risch said.

A bipartisan group of nearly two dozen lawmakers on Tuesday announced Tuesday to introduce a resolution to defund the WHO until its director general Tedros Ghebreyesus resigns and an international commission investigates the organisation's role in covering up the Chinese Communist Party's failed COVID-19 response.

The WHO helped the Chinese Communist Party hide the threat of COVID-19 from the world and now more than 10,000 Americans are dead, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler alleged.

The United States is the largest contributor to WHO. It is not right that Americans' hard-earned tax dollars are being used to propagate China's lies and hide information that could have saved lives. This bill will hold the WHO accountable for their negligence and deceit, he asserted.

The United States' intelligence community has reported that the Chinese government hid the threat of COVID-19 and, as a result, made it difficult for the rest of the world to respond early, appropriately and aggressively, said Congressman Fred Keller.

For reasons beyond understanding, the World Health Organization acted as a silent partner in this effort instead of protecting the lives of millions across the world, including hundreds of thousands of American citizens. Our hard-earned tax dollars should not go to a global organization more concerned with not offending the Chinese government than providing accurate information and protecting innocent lives, Keller said.

Senator Marco Rubio accused the Chinese Communist Party of using WHO "to mislead the world."

The organisation's leadership is either complicit or dangerously incompetent. I will work with the Trump Administration to ensure that WHO is independent and has not been compromised by the CCP before we continue our current funding, Rubio added.
For the State Police and two central New York fire departments, Wednesdays call was an entirely different animal.

A goat, perhaps taking social distancing to an extreme, needed a rescue after he found himself seemingly trapped on a ledge under a busy highway overpass near Marcy in Oneida County.

According to Trooper Jack Keller, the saga began with a call to 911 around 2:15 p.m. reporting a goat on the loose near Route 49 in the area of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. The goat wandered closer and closer to the road, eventually finding its way onto the embankment and up onto an I-beam underneath an overpass bridge. Keller said thats when the 911 calls from confused drivers began coming in.

Troopers arrived around 3:15 p.m. and called in the Whitesboro and Maynard fire departments. Randy Caldwell, of the Maynard Fire Department, said the call was recorded in the departments log as, goat in rafters.

Whitesboro firefighters responded with an aerial ladder truck and firefighters tried doggedly to coax the animal down from the overpass into the ladders basket. Their efforts were unsuccessful until the goat, seemingly of its own accord, began to meander back toward the embankment, said Caldwell. Once there, the goat took off, evading capture until a firefighter leapt over a guardrail and tackled the animal when it began to make a move back toward the busy road.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Police said local farmer Sherrie Hartwell came by and offered to take the goat home until its owner could be located. Hartwell hooked a rope around the goat and it was done. The entire incident lasted about an hour.

The story doesn't end there. Keller said the goats owner called the State Police on Wednesday night after seeing the story on the local news. He told authorities the animal had escaped while he was unloading cattle for market nearly two weeks ago. Hartwell offered the goats owner $150 to keep the goat and the two agreed.

In a post to Facebook, Hartwell said the goat is doing well and settling in nicely at his new home. He still needs an official name, however. Hartwell said shell be holding a naming contest sometime next week.

Both Keller and Caldwell said that while the incident was certainly not their usual Wednesday afternoon call, it was a welcome change of pace, a happy outcome in the midst of a busy, stressful time.
To date, 105 more cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Azerbaijan, which was a record number during the entire COVID-19 outbreak in the country. As of April 8, there have been 822 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Azerbaijan, 63 people recovered, 8 died. 751 patients are in special hospitals, 33 of them are in serious condition. Chief specialist in infectious diseases at Azerbaijan's Ministry of Health Jalal Isayev answered the questions from Vestnik Kavkaza about measures taken in the country to combat COVID-19 outbreak.

- What measures are being taken in Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of the virus?



- We have begun to take preventive measures as soon as there were reports about the first cases of infection in China: employees of the Health Ministry and the State Customs Committee were mobilized. The first case at our border was recorded on February 28 - it was a Georgian citizen returning from Iran to his homeland through Azerbaijan. Of course, the growth rate of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran could not but affect us. Azerbaijan has very close ties with Iran: residents of border regions often visit a neighboring state, many of our compatriots live in Iran, many have relatives there, many visit holy sites.

Before the border was closed, 5-10 thousand Azerbaijani citizens visited Iran daily. The spread of coronavirus in Iran, and then in here, led to the introduction of special measures, which were further tightened. Now we urge our people to stay home; no person can go out without special permission. Quarantine measures became the basis of prevention, because it is the aerosol-transmissible virus, and its spread can be stopped only by minimizing contacts and social isolation measures.

The disease affects each person differently. There are asymptomatic cases or has a long incubation period. In these cases, people can be spreading the disease without actually knowing they are sick. Such virus carriers think they are healthy, they visit relatives, meet friends. Therefore, quarantine measures are needed. I think that the measures, which will remain in force until April 20, will give a positive result. The government has made great efforts to stop the outbreak, therefore we have a lower incidence and mortality rate than in other European countries. I think we will achieve some success in preventing this disease, but its important that people take the governments calls seriously and follow the warnings.

- When do you predict the peak of the disease?



- We are trying to ensure that there is no peak. Defining it is quite difficult. The increase in the number of infected automatically increases the predicted number of seriously ill patients. Social isolation measures are necessary to avoid this. I do not advocate imposing strict measures involving law enforcement agencies, however, people should understand that they must strictly observe the self-isolation regime. Those who go to work every day have a risk of getting infected. We constantly urge people to avoid crowded places, to observe hygiene.

- In the early 2000s, the deadly SARS virus spread across the globe, but then there were not as many deaths as it is now. What is the reason?



- On the contrary! SARS was much more dangerous than coronavirus, and it caused significant damage. The death toll amounted to about 10% of cases back then. It doesn't reach even 5% in the case of coronavirus. In addition, 80% of SARS cases were severe.



- Can we say that there is no reason for panic now?

- Yes. COVID-19 causes respiratory illness. I suppose that it could become a seasonal illness. The problem is that medicine knows almost nothing about this virus, because it was detected only four months ago. Therefore, its epidemiological patterns are unknown, there have been no clinical trials, there are no specific drugs, there is no vaccine. We don't know how the virus will behave in the future.



- Do you agree that the percentage of infection in post-Soviet countries is not as high as in Europe due to the massive use of BCG vaccine in the Soviet period?

- A vaccine is usually given against any specific infections. But there is an opinion that antibodies that appear during vaccination against one disease can protect against others as well. For example, the Soviet medical school used immunoglobulin in the prevention of influenza, which was also considered effective in the treatment of rubella. From this point of view, it is possible that some vaccines can help other treatments, but the main reason for the low spread of the virus in the post-Soviet space is the timely epidemiological measures.

The coronavirus strongly affected those European countries that initially did not take it seriously, and those that launched timely measures to counter the epidemic, were less affected by COVID-19. China is a great example of how a country with one and a half billion people was able to cope with the spread of infection using anti-epidemic measures. Such measures are very effective indeed, they can significantly reduce the spread of the disease. But despite the relatively low number of cases, we remain alert, and if necessary, the measures will be further tightened.
The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Commission has announced financial donations and equipment to its member states in support of their fight against the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

The commission in its statement on Wednesday by its President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, reaffirmed its solidarity

with member states as they battle to contain the COVID-19 scourge.

Mr Brou said the commission continues to closely monitor the evolution of the pandemic in the world and particularly in West Africa.

He said as of April 5, 2020, the 15 member States were affected by the pandemic, with 1,739 confirmed cases of contamination, 55 deaths and 328 full recoveries.

It noted that approximately 95 per cent of deaths were patients with underlying conditions.

In light of the spread of the pandemic, the Commission reaffirms its solidarity with Member States and welcomes all the measures already taken to contain the spread of the pandemic and care for the sick.

It remains committed to supporting Member States in the fight against this pandemic, he said.

He said the commissions specialised health institution responsible for coordinating the response at the regional level, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), has drawn up a Regional Strategic Plan with all Member States.

Under the plan to address the emergency at hand, the WAHO said in addition to assistance from international partners, it has given financial support for the purchase of medical supplies and equipment essential for the fight against the pandemic.

Apart from purchasing and dispatching 30,500 diagnostic test kits, the agency said it also distributed about 10, 000 personal protective equipment (PPE), consisting coveralls, aprons, gowns, gloves, goggles, boots to the 15 member States.

The donations also included 740, 000 prescription tablets (Chloroquine and Azithromycin).

Besides, it said, orders have been placed to acquire for Member States 240,000 each of diagnostic and extraction kits; 250,000 viral sample transport equipment; 285,100 PPE; 268,1000 masks for medical personnel (face masks, surgical masks, full face masks); 120 ventilators and several thousand litres of alcohol gel and disinfectants.

The statement said the WAHO was also working closely with the specialised services in Member

States, to deploy personnel and epidemiological surveillance and data collection tools to strengthen the capacity of reference laboratories and train technical personnel.

ECOWAS and its Institution, WAHO, continue both internal and external resource mobilisation, with a view to increasing the availability of medical materials and equipment necessary to prevent, monitor and combat this pandemic.

In addition, ECOWAS is working to complement its intervention as part of a Short and Medium Term State Assistance Plan (humanitarian assistance and support for economic recovery), the official said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 19:56:58|Editor: xuxin

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BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Belgium has been observed again in the past day, the public health institute Sciensano said Thursday.

This downward trend was confirmed with the results of the last 24 hours, when 459 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospital while 483 cured people discharged.

The total number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic so far is 5,590, down 98 compared to Wednesday's 5,688.

In the last 24 hours, Belgium registered 1,580 new cases and 283 new deaths.

To date, the Sciensano Institute has reported a total of 24,983 cases and 2,523 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Between March 15 and April 8, over 9,800 patients entered hospital, while 5,164 were discharged.

Health authorities are considering strengthening testing capacity in nursing homes.

The Sciensano Institute also plans to launch a new awareness campaign to support containment efforts, with a clear message: Hang in there, take care of yourself and others, and stay home.

"We can't give up our motivation today," said Benoit Ramacker, the inter-federal spokesman in the fight against COVID-19. "If in a few months we want to enjoy the summer, now is the time to hold on."
Risa Hontiveros is a popularly known Filipino activist, journalist and politician. She is one of the people who have impacted positively in Filipino politics thanks to her firmness and strong will.

Image: instagram.com @Hontiveros

Source: UGC

Risa is currently serving as a senator of the Philippines. At some point in her life, she also served as a news anchor. Here is more to this political legend in the Filipino government.

Risa Hontiveros profile summary

Full name : Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros Baraquel

: Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros Baraquel Celebrated name : Risa Hontiveros

: Risa Hontiveros Date of birth: 24th February 1966

24th February 1966 Place of birth : Manila Philippines

: Manila Philippines Risa Hontiveros age : 54 years

: 54 years Nationality : Filipino

: Filipino Ethnicity : White

: White Height: 5 feet 5 inches

5 feet 5 inches Marital status : Married

: Married Profession : Activist, journalist, politician

: Activist, journalist, politician Net worth: $0.6 million

Biography

Risa was born on 24th February 1966 as Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros Baraquel in Manila. Not much is known about Risa Hontiveros family. However, she was brought up by Ramon P Hontiveros (father) together with her sister Pia Hontiveros.

Hontiveros joined St. Scholasticas College Manila-Grade school and graduated in 1987. She received her secondary school education at the same institute and graduated in 1983. During her senior year at St. Scholastica College Manila-Grade School, she successfully organized the Nuclear Disarmament Group (NDG).

She joined Ateneo de Manila University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences. She also emerged as the Departmental Awardee. In October 2004, Risa completed her Diploma course in Managing Arts Program at the Asian Institute of Management.

READ ALSO: Bernadette Sembrano bio: age, husband, kids, net worth

Risa Hontiveros husband

Risa got married to the love of her life Francisco Baraquel Jr. in 1990. Unfortunately, the marriage came to a sudden end in May 2005 after the death of her husband. Francisco suffered and succumbed from a heart attack that resulted from severe asthma.

Children

Before the death of Francisco, the couple had been blessed with four lovely children. Ianna, Issa, Sinta, and Kiko are the four Risa Hontiveros children

Career

Hontiveros made her first appearance on television through a student canteen while she was at the age of 14 years. Between the period of 1987 and 1989, she served as the co-host for the program that was broadcasted in RPN Channel 9 dubbed Street Pulse.

Later on, she worked as an executive producer and co-host for several channels such as PTV-4, ABS-CBN, IBC-13, and GMA-7. In 1990, she worked as the TLP Production Inc. managing partner. In the same year, she was a member of the National Peace Conference.

In 1992, she worked as the secretary-general of the Coalition for Peace. From 1992 to 1998, she worked as a news anchor for GMA Network News alongside Marga Ortigas, Mari Kaimo, and Vicky Morales.

In 2004, she entered into politics as a representative of the AKBAYAN Party. She was a member of the following committees:

Higher and technical education

Ethics and privileges

Appropriations

Human rights

Trade and industry

Rules

Good governance and public accountability

Foreign affairs

Heath

Women and gender equality

Here is a list of Risa Hontiveros accomplishments:

1994 - Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Golden Dove Awards for the Best Female Newscaster

2001 - Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for advocating for peace

2005 - Nobel Peace Prize nomination

2017 - Love Gala Ripple Award for HIV-AIDS awareness

2018 - Lagablab Network Equality Champion Award

2019- Silver Rose Award for social justice

Risa Hontiveros net worth

She has successfully created a name for herself through her career as a politician. She has built a lucrative household name, thus gaining support from fans across the world.

This has made her one of the high-profile politicians whose net is estimated to stand at roughly $0.6 million.

Risa Hontiveros latest news

The latest news revolves around Risa Hontiveros Philhealth probe on the misuse of funds. The senator called for urgent and comprehensive investigations on the funds used by the Philippine Health Corporation (PhilHealth).

This came after the allegations revealing that the funds might have been used in paying for non-existence dialysis patients.

This scheme not only steals funds from the government but may have also led to the deaths of people who would have otherwise benefited from PhilHealth's programs. A response from government is needed, said Risa.

Risa Hontiveros remains as one of the individuals who have aided in enacting numerous positive changes in the Filipino government due to her activism. She has also worked in varying capacities, where she has gained multiple awards as well. Despite the death of her husband, she has remained strong and steady in all her undertakings.

READ ALSO: Vanessa Laine Bryant bio: husband, children, age, net worth, pictures

Source: KAMI.com.gh
IBM India has enabled work-from-home (WFH) for 99 per cent of its workforce, a senior executive said on Thursday.

While the company provided the option to work remotely to most of its employees even before countries began going into lockdown mode because of the coronavirus disease pandemic, it says it has now done so for a much wider workforce. What has been different in the past few months is embracing this approach at scale, not just among our sizeable employee population in India, but around the world. Our information technology (IT), human resources, business ...
At a time when tens of thousands of people are desperately short of money because of the coronavirus crisis, one obvious source of funds is the $3 trillion pool of superannuation savings.

While, in theory, that money is supposed to be kept to fund retirement in the future, the government has announced it will allow people to access their savings early if they need it to put food on the table and pay the rent now.

People who meet new relaxed criteria of financial hardship will be able to take out up to $20,000 over the next six months.

Former Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd has proposed an even more liberal approach, arguing that people should have the option of taking the 9.5 per cent of wages earmarked for compulsory superannuation contributions as cash over the next six months.

In the financial world, however, simple solutions can often have unforeseen, indirect consequences and superannuation investors should not take their money out without thinking it through.
All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO) on Thursday said large number of migrant employees from the North East region have expressed insecurity and fear to return to work in places away from their native places due to "harrowing experience" they faced due to the lockdown.

The Mumbai-headquartered organisation also said a large number of workers from the region were still at their place of work and were eager to return to their families once the lockdown ends, which would further deplete labour resources in the country.

Citing a study conducted by it, AIMO said a large number of migrant employees from the North East are feeling insecure and are scared to return to workplaces, away from their native places as they faced "harrowing experience" due to the lockdown.

The study was aimed understanding the impact of coronavirus outbreak on migrant labour from the North East region of India.

Commenting on the findings, AIMO Zonal Vice President -- East, B P Bakshi said, "the North East India is one of the biggest contributors to the migrant labour force in the country especially in F&B (food and beverages), security, tea and coffee plantations, saloons, beauty, wellness and nursing."



He said AIMO has made numerous suggestions to the government of India to aid migrant workers especially from the North East in the short, medium and long term, including ensuring payment of pending salaries, adequate food and a secure shelter for them.

"In the medium term we request each host state government to make a register of migrant workers who are employed there and provide them with cash incentives to enable retention of such employees in their state. Migrant employees must be made to feel welcome," Bakshi said.

He further said, "our study has indicated that cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and even Goa will see a substantial impact due to the loss of these migrant workers in the next 6 to 9 months further endangering the business prospects of the MSME sector.

The key long term solution would be to introduce a concept of 'Unemployment Insurance' to provide support when a migrant labourer loses his job, AIMO said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A desperate search is underway for a mother after a baby was found dead on a Melbourne beach.

The body, believed to be a newborn's, was discovered at a Seaford beach adjacent to Nepean Highway about 4.30pm on Wednesday.

A child's toy was found on the sand nearby and it is unclear if it is related to the baby's death.

The body of a baby was found at the beach about 4.30pm on Wednesday in Victoria (pictured: beach closed)

A child's toy (pictured) was found on the sand nearby and it is unclear if it is related to the baby's death

Victoria Police is urging the mother to get in touch or for anyone with information about her to come forward.

Concerns are held for the health and wellbeing of the mother.

'The exact circumstances surrounding the death and the identity of the infant are yet to be determined at this stage,' police said.
There is a lot of head-scratching going on around boardroom tables as the Covid-19 crisis begins to bite.

More normal business conditions will return, but the question is when and, in the meantime, how much business will be lost?

Many firms will avail of the National Covid-19 Income Support Scheme, which provides a temporary wage subsidy up to 70pc of an employee's income, to a maximum take-home salary of 38,000 a year.

But the scheme is capped at a net 350 a week for salaries up to 76,000, leaving senior staff and directors facing shortfalls. Many senior directors have basic salaries well in excess of 100,000, which, with profit shares, packages above 250,000.

Employers are expected to top-up employees' salaries and can only avail of the scheme once their turnover drops more than 25pc below normal levels.

The aim of the subsidy is to try to prevent redundancies, so productivity can recover as quickly as possible.

Some estate agency firms have already taken a more defensive position and there are reports of firms implementing salary cuts of 20-30pc, four-day weeks, and lay-offs. Some of these I have verified.

These are largely confined to residential agents, or commercial firms incorporating a residential business. The crisis has had a far greater and more immediate impact on the residential business, where margins are much lower than in commercial property.

Commercial markets take a longer-term view, and firms always the traditional safety net of income from the management departments, valuations and advisory work.

A concern now, given the scale of the shutdown of, for example, shopping centres, is if tenants stop paying rent, will management fees suffer?

The large international estate agency brands appear to be less affected so far. They have deeper pockets and, I suspect, their income may not yet have fallen by 25pc.

Indeed, many larger firms could have up to a year's income already logged as "work in progress" - recurring fees such as management and valuations, plus transactions either signed and not closed, or agreed and not signed.

The big worry is how much of the latter will fall through? Agents tell me most large deals that were agreed are progressing, albeit slowly, but some purchasers are saying they will not sign until the crisis has passed, and some are looking for price cuts. The next month will tell a lot.

Architects and engineers seem to be faring better, for now at least. Kathryn Meghen, CEO of the RIAI, said that while architects remain busy, many members are experiencing challenges, particularly uncertain project pipelines and cashflow shortages.

John Brennan, managing director of ORS engineering consultants, with 50 staff in four offices, says business is "going well". The firm has nine service lines and while work is drying up for building surveys for example, many areas are unaffected, such as fire safety certification and the assigned certifiers role, and many staff can transfer.

I believe the markets, once reopened, will recover more quickly than most expect. In the meantime, the firms will do what they must to survive, and hopefully protect the maximum number of jobs and employee goodwill along the way.
The Leadership of Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO) has sent a strong warning to the Ministry of Health of possible withdrawal of members from the ongoing COVID-19 contact tracing exercise if their requests are not granted.

According to GAPHTO, the Ministrys continuous delay of financial clearance and employment of Allied Health workers will affect the exercise.

In a statement signed by the National President, Mavis Fuseini, she said We are disappointed to note as has always been the case against Allied Health Professional that, a recruitment notice has been issued for 2017 Nurses and Midwives whiles nothing is heard of us who are already risking our lives doing COVID-19 contact tracing

She noted that should any of the professionals take any action as a result of the neglect, GAPHTO will not restrain rather join since it is backed by law.

Madam Fuseini added that GAPHTO has taken notice of a continuous relegation of its members to the background as national resources trickle down to Districts and Health Facilities for the purposes of fighting COVID-19.

She also reminded the Ministry that the critical roles its members play over the years are done with extreme sacrifices to the detriment of their own welfare.

The National President however noted that no amount of financial motivation is more expensive than the lives of GAPHTO members like other health workers.

She cautioned that if measures are not put in place to employ its members, the designated frontline workers will not be able to fight COVID-19 alone.

The Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO) however applauded Government for the provision of free for health staff in the Greater Accra and Kumasi Regions to enable them go to work.

The Expansion of the COVID-19 Health staff insurance package to cover accidents in the line of duty and the provision of adequate fuel for vehicular and motor transport should be implemented urgently in all regions she stated.

Madam Fuseini added that GAPHTO is receiving reports from its members that there are lack of maximum cooperation by some hospitals as they try to link probable and confirmed cases to these institutions for further management.

The Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO) also called on Government and Ministry of Health to treat as urgent the rising cases of Meningitis in the Upper West Region of the country.

She said So far it has claimed about 33 lives from 214 cases from January to date indicating a case fatality rate of about 15%

She mentioned that while efforts are being made to contain COVID-19 cases in the country, other critical health care interventions and situations such as the outbreak should not be neglected.

In other developments, the Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers on Wednesday made a donation to the Ministry of Health as part of its support to the fight against coronavirus.

The items which is worth GHC50,000 included 42 pieces of goggles, 41 pieces of coverall, 1,700 pieces of face Mask, 32 gallons of hand sanitizer and 40 pieces of non-contact thermometers (order placed).

Receiving the donation, Deputy Minister of Health, Alexander Abban thanked the association for its kind gesture and assured that frontline staffs will receive the items.

Respond to calls by the association to employ its members, Hon Abban said We have heard of their concerns but I think they have sort audience with His Excellency and will be meeting with him

Touching on calls by some nurse to make the COVID-19 Stimulus package for all, he said It will cease to be an incentive for frontline health workers if we say that it should just be blanket for all of them. In that case even someone in Administration who is part of this fight will say I am entitled but what happens to those who are actually going to the frontline?

Background

The Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO) is an association which is an Amalgam of Field Technicians, Health Records Assistants, and Technical officers (Nutrition, Disease Control, Community Health, and Health Information) are the foremost group of frontline Public Health Workers in Disease Control and Surveillance, Nutrition and Health Information Systems Management sacrificing their lives across Districts and Health Facilities to ensure the Country contains the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:15:30|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Portuguese Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Mario Centeno attends the press conference of a video meeting of the Eurogroup in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9, 2020. Eurogroup finance ministers Thursday night sealed a financial package worth half a trillion euros to help the 27-nation Eurozone tackle the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but put aside proposals by some countries like France and Italy to borrow common debt, or Eurobonds. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Eurogroup finance ministers agreed Thursday night on a financial package worth half a trillion euros to combat the fallouts from coronavirus, but without the so-called Eurobonds.

The ministers' meeting endorsed a proposal from the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), which is called Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE).

It will, building on the EU budget as much as possible, allow for financial assistance up to 100 billion euros in loans from the EU to the affected member states. The money will be used in public expenditure for the preservation of employment, acting as a second line of defense, supporting national short-time work schemes and similar measures.

The meeting also endorsed the initiative of the European Investment Bank Group to create a pan-European guarantee fund, which could support 200 billion euros of financing for companies with a focus on small and medium-sized companies throughout the EU.

In addition, the meeting endorsed a tool within the European Stability Mechanism, to open a credit line to the governments of member states, at 2 percent of the respective country's gross domestic product, translating to about 240 billion euros.

Mario Centeno, president of the Eurogroup, described the three measures as three safety nets, each for workers, firms, and governments. They total over 500 billion euros.

The meeting also agreed to work on a temporary Recovery Fund to prepare and support the recovery, providing funding through the EU budget to programs designed to kick-start the economy. The amount, financing and many details, however, remain undecided.

Some countries remain opposed to the idea of common debt, or Eurobonds, where joint European loans are guaranteed by European countries as a whole. Southern European countries have pushed for it, but northern European countries resist it, as that could effectively mean the richer countries pay for the poorer ones.

"We are and will remain opposed to #Eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or NL on the long-term," Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch Minister of Finance, said on Twitter, stressing the long-standing Dutch opposition to the Eurobonds. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

Trend:

The recent so-called "elections" held in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan were illegitimate and could aggravate the public health threat, reads a statement of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Trend reports on April 9.

The leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly agreed to endorse a call by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a worldwide ceasefire, emphasizing that a number of conflicts continue to rage in the OSCE area even as countries struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

As the world grapples with containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing we need is armed conflict to complicate these efforts, said OSCE PA President George Tsereteli.

The OSCE area is impacted by a number of conflicts, Tsereteli added. I urge all parties to heed the UN call for a ceasefire so that we can all focus on the common struggle today against COVID-19.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday directed officials to strictly implement containment strategy in high risk zones amid the coronavirus outbreak.

During a meeting with officials of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, health department, police and others, Baijal said capacity building of medical professionals along with all protective measures for clinical management should continue.

During the meeting, allparticipants including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and other officials wore masks, a day after the government made it mandatory for people to wear them when outdoors.

During the meeting, the health department officials said the government has secured supply of 3500 Personal Protective Equipments per day and 28000 N95 masks per week for frontline health workers and health professionals.

According to a statement issued by the LG office, Baijal stressedon containment action plan, sharing best practices and continued focus on contact tracing and tracking.

"Strict geographical quarantine with preventive control, rigorous contact tracing and enhanced surveillance should be the priority at the moment," the statement quoting Baijal said.

The health department also informed that at present, 3734 beds were available for COVID-19 patients at LNJP, RGSSH, GTB, DDU hospitals,private hospitals, including Max Super Specialty Hospital, Sir Gangaram Hospital and Apollo Hospital).

It stated that5995 ASHAs and 1278 ANMs have been trained as second line of support.

As per direction of the central government, a list of retired government and private medical professionals has been circulated to all hospitals with the instruction to engage them on requirement basis.

The LG directed the Delhi Police to assist the health department in using technology to track mobile numbers of people who are under home quarantine.

The statement said that during the meeting, Police Commissioner S N Srivastava said 23 violators of home quarantine have been booked under 188 and have been sent to quarantine centres.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Channel 31 Melbourne has reached out to Catholic, Greek, Lutheran and Anglican churches to broadcast church services.

For over 25 years we have been connecting Victorias communities, and recent circumstances have highlighted just how important this community work is.

With social distancing restrictions in full effect, many of Victorias religious congregations have suddenly lost the ability to practice their faith in groups without fearing becoming ill with COVID-19 (or being fined for breaching the safety of the public).

To help combat this, were working with a number of religious groups (including the Catholic, Greek, Lutheran and Anglican churches) to broadcast their liturgies live on free-to-air TV, a first for many of these churches, and a vital resource for members of the population who may not have reliable access to the internet.

Whilst the current restrictions have isolated many from their places of worship or regular events, C31 is working to connect these communities together one again.

If you run a regular event, or have found yourself unable to reach your regular audience  We want to help!

Channel 31 offers affordable and effective livestreaming services, with your feed going anywhere from free-to-air TV, to YouTube, Facebook or a private web portal.
This article is going to help us explore the economic effects of Covid-19 pandemic on both internal and international trade so far.

But before we do this, we need to know what goes into internal and international trade.

Internal trade which is also known as domestic trade is a kind of trade that takes place within a well-defined geographical boundary or territory of a particular country. Example Ghana. In this realm of trading, a common currency is used as the standard of exchange or medium of exchange. In Ghana, we use the cedi in our internal trading activities.

On the other hand, international trade which is also known as external (outside) trade is the trade that takes place across the barriers of a country. Here, different currencies are used in this trade as a medium of exchange. For example, cedi, dollar, Nira etc. Basically, there are two types of international trade namely, Bilateral and Multilateral trade.

Bilateral trade takes place between two countries only. It is the exchange of goods and services between two countries. Example, Ghana exporting Gari to Germany, and in turn importing capital goods like Vehicles.

Multilateral trade takes place among more than three countries. . It is the exchange of goods and services among three or more countries. Example, Ghana trading in different products and services with Togo, Nigeria and Britain.

As a country, we already know what is currently happening with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic on our local productions.

So, from here, I am going to emphasis more on the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on international trade.

Before you will appreciate the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on international trade in its totality, let me first of all, give you some of the reasons why countries engage in international trade below:

No self-Sufficiency: What this means is that, no country in the world can produce everything on its own. That is why there is the need of export and import of goods and services. Differences in climatic conditions: From the perspective of Geography, climatic conditions across the globe are not the same. To this effect, some crops will thrive well in certain parts of the Globe while some will not thrive well in other parts of the Globe. In our part of the Globe (Ghana), we normally import apples from other countries because of the kind of climate we have. We also do export cocoa and soya beans to other countries because of their climatic conditions. Differences in natural resources: There is rutted distribution of resources among countries or nations of the World. While some countries have abundant supply of mineral resources such as gold, diamond, crude oil etc., some counties have limited or none at all. So there is the need for trade to take place so that countries can enjoy the mineral resources they need but not endowed with.

Now some of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on international trade are highlighted below:

Fall in foreign exchange or fall in government revenue: During this Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a huge fall in foreign exchange or government revenue. This is because exportation and importation of goods and services are no more taking place among countries as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which made countries across the globe to close their boarders. There has been a lot of unemployment issues since this Covid-19 pandemic started across the Globe. And as far as people are unemployed, government revenue will by all means fall. Private monopoly is on the rise: Private monopoly is normally controlled through international trade but as trading activities among counties are on hold now; individual countries are taking advantages of the Covid-19 pandemic in exploiting their consumers by charging unnecessary prices. There has been a great fall in the World output: International trade always bring about full utilization of resources and increase in productivity due to specialization of labor. When this happens, more goods and services are available at reasonable prices but the Covid-19 pandemic has negated this principle or notion above. World Peace is at stake: During international trade, there is genealogical relationship between or among nations. This makes issues which can degenerate into Global wars to be resolved amicably but this Covid-19 pandemic is bringing a lot of panic in the system. Which if care is not taken might lead to World war again. Economic growth and social progress is at stake as well: This Covid-19 pandemic has put certain restriction on the transfer of technology for economic growth and social progress to take place among countries.

We are all aware of the Covid-19 pandemic effects on all the sectors of the economy but I decided to just look at the effects of it on international trade as gaudily explained above.

Credit: Francis Pious Egoeh

[email protected]

Brief profile about the author of this article.

Currently, Francis Pious Egoeh is the Administrator & Secretary at Anim Psychological Counselling Services at Danfa-Accra.

Francis Pious Egoeh had his first degree in Economics and Geography from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana.
WASHINGTON - Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that some of the government-imposed lockdown measures meant to control the spread of covid-19 were "draconian" and suggested that they should be eased next month.

In an interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham, Barr, long a proponent of executive power, said the government - and in particular state officials - had broad authority to impose restrictions on people in cases of emergency.

But he said the federal government would be "keeping a careful eye on" the situation, and stressed that officials should be "very careful to make sure that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified."

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed, but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr said.

The White House has advised people to limit the size of social gatherings and practice other social distancing measures through April. Most states have imposed even more aggressive measures, ordering residents to gather only in small groups and venture outdoors for only essential trips or possibly face fines or other penalties.

Though Barr has appeared twice at White House coronavirus briefings, his comments to Fox News were the most extensive yet that he has made on the public health crisis and the steps the government has taken to stem it. Repeatedly, Ingraham pressed the country's law enforcement official on how the steps the government has taken comport with Americans constitutional rights to gather and worship freely. Churches, like other businesses, have been essentially shuttered in the crisis.

Barr said that governments had a right to put restrictions on churches, so long as they were treated no differently than other institutions, but added he was "very concerned" about possible encroachments on Americans' freedom of religion. Barr said he was also concerned about the "tracking of people" that some experts have advised might be necessary to quickly identify and quarantine those infected.

When the White House's social distancing guidance expires, Barr said, "I think we have to consider alternative ways of protecting people."

The comments were particularly notable because during his lengthy career, Barr has been a champion of a strong executive branch of government - frequently drawing criticism from civil liberties' advocates.

Barr lauded President Donald Trump in the interview, and there was no indication he would legally object to the steps taken so far by the president or state leaders. Barr praised in particular Trump's deference to state officials, and - like Trump has done at his daily media briefings - lashed out at the media.

Barr said Trump had been the recipient of "snarky, gotcha questions from the White House media pool" and took particular aim at inquiries about the drug hydroxychloroquine. Trump has touted the drug as a possible treatment for covid-19, though its effectiveness has not been proven.

"As soon as he said something positive about it, the media's been on a jihad to discredit the drug," Barr said.

Some U.S. attorneys have warned physicians that if they improperly prescribe the drug to family members or otherwise hoard it, they could face criminal penalties.

But Barr's other comments suggest he might harbor some wariness of state governments' shuttering nonessential businesses and ordering people to stay at home in hopes of stemming the spread of coronavirus.

"I am concerned that we not get into the business of declaring everything an emergency and then using these kinds of sweeping, extraordinary steps," Barr said. "But given where we were back in March, I think the president made the right decision."

Barr noted the economics of the shutdown could cost lives. For example, he said, cancer researchers were likely at home now, not doing their critical work.

"We will have a weaker health care system if we go into a deep depression," Barr said. "So just measured in lives, the cure cannot be worse than the disease."

Barr said he is conducting more of his own meetings digitally, and when he does come to and from work, he and his security detail wear masks.

At Barr's direction, the Justice Department has taken a particularly aggressive posture toward virus-related crimes. On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed they had unsealed federal charges against a Florida domestic violence suspect who spit in a police officer's face and claimed falsely to have coronavirus, and against a Texas man who claimed falsely on Facebook to have paid someone to spread coronavirus at grocery stores.

Responding to questions from Ingraham, though, Barr also seemed to turn his focus to past Justice Department business: the 2016 FBI investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. In a brief clip promoting additional portions of the interview, Barr told Ingraham that what happened to Trump in that investigation "was one of the greatest travesties in American history."

Contradicting his own inspector general, as he has in the past, Barr said the probe was started "without any basis," and that the steps taken after Trump's election were meant "to sabotage the presidency," or at least they had that effect. Ingraham said Fox News is planning to air more of the interview Thursday.
Supermarket shoppers will face even longer queues on Saturday as government rules mean larger stores cannot open on Easter Sunday.

Rules passed down by the Department for Business say no shop larger than 280sq metres can open on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day.

Despite Britain being in a state of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, a DfB spokesman said 'existing rules still apply'.

Shoppers keep their distance from one another outside a Sainsbury's in Durham on Wednesday, as the spread of coronavirus continues. Queues could be even longer on Saturday as stores prepare to close for Easter Sunday

Most supermarkets now have two metre lines to keep customers apart. Shoppers heading into the west London Sainsbury's were closer together during a long queue on March 20

Which shops have to close on Easter Sunday? The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have clear guidelines on which stores can and can't open on Easter Sunday. Any shop over 280sq metres must stay shut for the full day. There are exemptions, these are the ones listed on gov.uk: Airport and railway station outlets

Service station outlets

Registered pharmacies selling only medicinal products and medical and surgical appliances

Farms selling mainly their own produce

Outlets wholly or mainly selling motor or bicycle supplies and accessories

Suppliers of goods to aircraft or sea-going vessels on arrival at, or departure from, a port, harbour or airport

Exhibition stands selling goods Advertisement

'Most of our shops in England, Wales and the Channel Islands will be closed on Easter Sunday, and open for shorter hours on Good Friday and Easter Monday,' Berangere Michel, executive director of customer service at Waitrose wrote to customers, according to The Times.

He added 'We are continuing to limit the number of customers in our shops, and introducing further measures to ensure everyone keeps a safe distance once inside. Unfortunately, that will sometimes mean queues, but these do move quickly and many of our stores are quieter after 6pm.'

Larger stores, including supermarkets, normally open on reduced hours on most Sundays, but twice a year they must close. On Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

The rules do not apply in Scotland, however.

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: 'As with previous years, the vast majority of our supermarkets will be open from 8am to 8pm on Good Friday and some of our Sainsburys local stores will be open on Easter Sunday.

'Some of our supermarket opening hours will also vary, so its best to check our store locator for details.'

Morrisons, which normally pulls in around 11million customers each week, did not offer a formal comment when approached by the MailOnline.

A spokeswoman replied to our request for comment by saying: 'We would expect people to shop how they normally do around Easter time.'

Asda said its stores would be open over the Bank Holiday Friday and Monday, but shut on Easter Sunday.

Britain's lockdown and social distancing guidelines mean there have already been long queues stretching around supermarkets as people head out for their weekly shops.

With Sunday's closure looming, shoppers are now being warned to get their shopping done ahead of time.

Shoppers are told to 'keep a safe distance' by signs at a Tesco in London on Wednesday, but queues could start to build in the coming days

Before the social distancing rules were put in place, there were still long queues to get into Britain's supermarkets. Shoppers in south London are pictured heading into a Sainsbury's on March 22 to stockpile

A senior industry figure told The Times: 'Some of the bigger retailers are concerned about greater queues but few are clamouring to open. Most believe that they wouldn't get a whole lot more sales  maybe they would pick up a bit extra from convenience stores  but it would just mean a lower average sale for the rest of the week.'

Shopping for essentials is one of the few reasons Brits are allowed to leave their home, aside from exercise, travelling to work where necessary and picking up medication.

Supermarkets struggled to cope with demand since Britain was locked down more than two weeks ago, many of their delivery websites crashed under the sudden influx of bookings, while caps had to be placed on certain products.

Yesterday Sainsbury's revealed it was lifting its three-item cap on thousands of products, but a two-product limit on essentials was kept in place.
The head of the President's Office and his deputies also tested.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said President Volodymyr Zelensky has tested for the novel coronavirus.

Speaking in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper, Tymoshenko explained that all those in contact with Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Shakhov, who was a confirmed COVID-19 case, had passed the coronavirus test, and the president and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal were among them.

Read alsoNumber of confirmed coronavirus cases in Ukraine close to 1,900 by Thursday morning (Video)

"All  the president, the head of the President's Office, as well as deputies  have tested. I will explain: it was necessary to do this since these were persons who were in contact with one of the first cases in the city of Kyiv, MP Shakhov," he said.

Tymoshenko added the tests had been made immediately to determine quarantine security measures in the President's Office.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 17, Ukrainian MP Serhiy Shakhov confirmed his COVID-19 coronavirus tests had returned positive.
With bookstores across the country shutting their doors to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, traditional handsellingwhich often connects readers with books they didnt know they were looking foris no longer possible. This is the second in an ongoing series featuring personal recommendations of new releases from childrens booksellers.

With Covid-19 closing so many bookstores and libraries, Im grateful that Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif. is still able to provide our community, and those further afield via web orders, with books. Still, I miss having the chance to talk with people in person about books Im excited about, so Im particularly grateful for the opportunity to share these 2020 releasessome just published and some upcomingwhich I hope you love!

For picture books that are available now, I highly recommend In a Jar by Deborah Marcero (Putnam, Jan.). With illustrations as charming as the story itself, this magical ode to friendship warmed my heart! I loved how Llewellyn collects experiences in jars, which allow him and his best friend, Evelyn, to continue to share their lives, even when she moves away. This adorable story is full of the magic of the ordinary and is a perfect read-aloud for any and everyone.

Another is Down Under the Pier by Neil Cross Beckerman, illustrated by Rachell Sumpter (Cameron Kids, Apr.). Such a beautiful book! I felt the delight of the children exploring the enchanted watery world below the pier. Both the pastel color palette and the perfectly used gold accent highlight the magic of the sea and the natural world. Perfect for sea-lovers (like me).

On May 5, three picture books Im excited about are being published: Lift by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat (Little, Brown); Swashby and the Sea by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (HMH); and The Three Little Yogis and the Wolf Who Lost His Breath: A Fairy Tale to Help You Feel Better by Susan Verde, illustrated by Jay Fleck (Abrams).

In Lift, poor harangued older sister Iris has one thing that always brings her joy: pushing elevator buttons. Alas, one dark day the young elevator-button-lover is usurped by her toddler sibling. When the word BETRAYAL appears above Iriss head in the illustration, I laughed out loud. And that wasnt my last laugh in this hilarious, fantastical story that highlights both the creativity of the author/illustrator team and the love/frustration of the sibling bond.

In Swashby and the Sea, the sea is almost its own character. I chuckled at its antics, helping bring cranky (and lonely) Swashby the friends he needs. Swashbys new little neighbor is adorable and a delight, as are Martinez-Neals charming and expressive illustrations.

I loved Susan Verdes last book, I Am Love (illustrated by Peter Reynolds), so I took a chance on The Three Little Pigs and the Wolf Who Lost His Breath even though Im not always a fan of picture book fairy tale retellings. Im so glad I did! The Three Little Pigs framework is perfect for examining emotions, mindfulness, and breath. The poor angry little wolf is a sympathetic character and the three little pigs kindness in helping guide him to making peace with his emotions made me smile.

A picture book nonfiction title that I thoroughly enjoyed is The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unknown Futures of Americas Presidents by Kate Messner, illustrated by Adam Rex (Chronicle, Mar.). This book surprised me in the best way! I didnt think Id be interested in a book about U.S. presidents, but this one fascinated me by presenting them both in a more honest (i.e., the founding fathers dont get a pass on being enslavers, while subtle shade is thrown at Trump) and interesting (highlighting all the future presidents alive during a certain year) light. Great for anyone interested in a more authentic and nuanced look at U.S. history.

Im behind on my middle grade reading, but one fiction book that I enjoyed was From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (HarperCollins/Tegen, Jan.). I loved watching Zoes transformation from someone who knows little about social justice to a person determined to help right a wrong. I also really appreciated how friendship was examined in this book: when Zoe catches her friend not standing up for her, she expects him to not only apologize but to also change his behaviora model for all but especially girls. A great choice for fans of A Good Kind of Trouble and Lalani of the Distant Sea.

Possibly my favorite book to be published this year is one that has appeal to older middle grade readers, young adults, and adults: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (Little, Brown, Mar.). This book should be required reading for everyone. Reynolds is a genius: he takes a complex issue (the history and modern-day manifestations of anti-Black racism in the U.S.) and makes it accessible for any reader. I love the emphasis on how to be actively antiracist. A great choice for anyone ages 12 and up.

YA is where my heart is and I have a handful of great titles to share! Available now: A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell (Viking, Mar.) is Black Girl Magic in written form! It includes 16 #OwnVoices fantasy and science fiction short stories that are as diverse as the Black experience. Established authors like Elizabeth Acevedo, Dhonielle Clayton, Justina Ireland, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Ibi Zoboi share space with up-and-coming and debut authors, creating a well-rounded collection. Magical and real, these well-spun stories run the gamut from lighthearted to intense and are a great choice for readers of any background.

Also available now, The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski (FSG, Mar.) features a fascinating world where people accept an incredibly unjust caste system saying, It is as it is. But Nirrim starts questioning that after she falls in with the swoon-worthy, enigmatic Sid. I loved piecing together the mystery of the past with Nirrim and was shocked when the truth came to light. Im already looking forward to the next installment! A great choice for Rutkoski fans and readers who enjoy mystery-driven fantasies with a historical feel.

Im currently reading Clap When You Land (HarperCollins/Quill Tree, May), the upcoming title by National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo. Its a return to verse and a meditation on the complexities of themes including grief, betrayal, family, secrets, identity, class, and toxic masculinity. It features Acevedos stellar characterization (the two main characterssistershave very distinctive voices) and Ive been particularly struck by how it highlights the way mens choices have a profound impact on the lives of women and girls around them.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet) has been pushed from April to an August release but its well worth the wait. Its a gem: a fully realized fantasy world with lots of contemporary relevance. Tarisais longing for family and connection make her an empathetic and relatable protagonist, while her strength and fortitude in standing up to corrupt power make her admirable. A great choice for fans of fantasy, stories with strong female leads, or anyone looking for a good book.

And last but not least the upcoming, Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye (Random House, May) is for anyone who wants a contemporary realistic romance with depth. Ill say it when I loved a lot a book Ive readonly when its truebut I loved this book. Kai is utterly adorable, as is his named-in-the-title love interest, Bryson. What a wonderful thing: a queer coming-out love story free of trauma and full of good feelings. This sweet romance kept me smiling from the first page to the lastchances are itll do the same for you.

I hope you enjoyed these book recommendations and will show these worthy titles (and the many others that I didnt have the time/energy to write about) some love. A good story is comfort in trying times. Thanks for reading and I hope you all stay safe and well.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is still fulfilling orders through our website, so if any of these look good to you, please support your local independent bookstore or buy them from us.

Click here to see PW's previous set of new release recommendations, by bookseller Clare Doornbos.
AGAWAM  Detectives are seeking the publics help as they work to find a male suspected of robbing the Walgreens pharmacy at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect entered store about 3:10 p.m., showed a handgun to a pharmacist, demanded pills and fled on a bicycle with what appears to be a basket on the handlebars, according to a post on the departments Facebook page. He was wearing shorts, a white hooded sweatshirt and a surgical mask of some kind.

Police were aided by the Massachusetts State Police Airwing and K-9 teams as they searched for the suspect.

Those with information are asked to contact the detective bureau at 413-786-1717.
Netflix has just recently released a documentary called Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness which had fans interested but as the story unfolds, the main character of this documentary, Joe Exotic, was found out to be not exactly what he seemed like in the documentary.

According to Joe Exotic's niece named Chealsi Putman, Joe Exotic was not actually good with the animals just like he was portrayed in the documentary. The niece spoke out about the star of this recent Netflix documentary saying that not everything was seen in the show.

Chealsi Putman revealed a dark secret about Joe Exotic that would shock followers of his Netflix documentary as well as the whole world. According to the niece, Joe even freezes dead tiger cubs before selling them to taxidermists.

Read Also: Police Found Illinois Mayor's Wife At A Bar Party Right After He Ordered People To Stay Indoors!

Who is Joe Exotic?

According to Chealsi Putman, the 57 year old Joe Exotic was not actually caring for his own animals like he claimed to do so and that there is also a darker side to him. Upon speaking to the DailyMailTV, the 31 year old Chealsi has alleged that the real-life persona of Joe Exotic is "100 times worse" and that she just wants people to know the true nature of her uncle who is not what he seems on TV.

Joe Exotic actually used to run the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park located in Oklahoma right before he was sentenced to 22 years in prison due to 17 counts of animal cruelty and also for the murder-for-hire plot he had to dispose his nemesis, the animal rights activist known as Carole Baskin.

Joe has again and again denied these allegations but now his niece has claimed that he even froze dead tiger cubs in order to sell them to taxidermists. According to Chealsi, whose mother is the younger sister of Joe, Joe was actually a "good guy and genuinely cared for the animals," but things changed when he started to see them as a money-making machine.

Read Also: [VIDEO] The Purge Siren Being Used By In Louisiana As Coronavirus Deaths Start To Pile

Chealsi Putman's claims on her uncle

Chealsi Putman said that she had previously worked for Joe right between 1999 and 2017 doing a bunch of odd jobs for her uncle. She described their relationship as having ups and downs because she could not deal with him.

According to Chealsi Putman, her uncle Joe had been selling baby tigers illegally saying that "I've personally witnessed Joe spray a tiger with a fire extinguisher, not out of a safety or for a life saving reason, but because the tiger didn't react the way Joe had wanted it to."

Which she continued in stating that her uncle would rather take cash right under the table for a sale of the tiger or if someone had sent a check explaining that, "it would be made out to another person, or if the money was wired to a store, it would be in another person's name."

Joe still continues to deny these allegations including the fact that the sold any tiger tubs without the necessary paperwork. According to Chealsi, her uncle would have frozen at least 10 tiger cubs saying that she had "no idea what happened to them, they would just disappear."
Two Australian states could become 'guinea pigs' for easing the strict lockdown measures in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Western Australia and South Australia are the first two states likely to have lockdown measures relaxed as Australia's infection rate slows to just two per cent.

The two states have the lowest number of cases and community transmissions out of all the mainland states - with WA having 481 and and South Australia 420.

Australia's death toll from the virus has reached 51 and there are 6,089 cases of COVID-19 nationally.

Scroll down for video

Pictured: Pedestrians and a cyclist walk past a social distancing warning at Perth's Scarborough Beach on Monday. Western Australia could be one of the states where laws surrounding the coronavirus pandemic could be relaxed first

The proposed road test in WA and SA is believed to be among the options that will be presented to premiers in the two states, government sources told The Courier-Mail.

Any strategy would be guided by COVID-19 modelling conducted within the states -and would only be extended to the epicentre states of New South Wales and Victoria after careful consideration.

Western Australia has some of the strictest social distancing rules and laws in the country, with police patrolling highways to stop unnecessary travel between nine designated regions in the state.

Those who cross the borders of the regions without an essential reason can be fined as much as $50,000.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australians face six months of disruption to their daily lives, but the restriction easing could mean certain businesses may reopen in the coming weeks.

Health minister Greg Hunt has already hinted Australia is in a position where officials can start looking forwards to a 'road out' of the coronavirus crisis.

In NSW, the state government is considering gradually lifting restrictions on some businesses, including cafes and restaurants, by the beginning of May.

A masked couple in Perth on March 27. Successful road tests in WA and South Australia could lead the nationwide relaxing of social distancing measures

'It [the exit strategy] is likely to be in steps and stages that we can test and reverse,' he said.

'One of the happy challenges that we have as a consequence of the success of the recent weeks is that people are already looking beyond.

'We are very clear that we believe that this is a six-month process.

'That doesnt mean all of the restrictions are in place, and wherever we can, we will look at those.'

The growing optimism about the falling growth rate has led to hope the National Rugby League could resume its competition as early as May 21.

AFL executive and Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell has meanwhile said he is 'relatively confident' the AFL will begin before the end of July.

He said on the Working Through It podcast he was optimistic the season would continue despite the pandemic.

'Im becoming increasingly confident based on different insight from the AFL and others,' he said.

'Much of that is out of the AFLs control and clearly we want to make sure we work really close with the government on those sorts of things.'

The NRL's restart will receive the backing of the NSW government.

Hospital staff test people outside the Tanunda War Memorial Hospital in the Barossa Valley, northeast of Adelaide on March 31

According to NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, the NRL is the tonic Australia needs to endure the deadly coronavirus.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Barilaro described watching rugby league as being fundamentally Australian, and it is important some sort of normality is achieved during the crisis.

'You measure risk versus the economic uplift, the social uplift, the mental wellbeing uplift,' Barilaro said on Fox League Live.

'And there's no doubt that the NRL is the tonic we need to get through this virus.'

An innovative committee will present a number of proposals to the Commission, including temporarily relocating non-Sydney teams to the Harbour City.

How long the likes of Brisbane, North Queensland, Gold Coast, Melbourne and the Warriors stay in Sydney depends on interstate travel restrictions.

It is understood some teams could be housed in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, while the Panthers Rugby League Academy is another option.

Barilaro said the league would have the government's backing to restart its season, which was suspended after round two, to resume as early as May 21.
US President Donald Trump has said that he has no objections with European countries sending medical aid to Iran. US-Iran relationship became strained after Trump imposed heavy sanctions on the Shiite nation accusing it of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has become the hub of coronavirus infection in the Middle East with 64,586 cases and 3,993 deaths. On March 30, three European nations UK, Germany and France had circumvented Iran sanctions by using 'Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges' for the first time to send medical goods to Iran.

Read: Iran Urges IMF To Sanction Its $5 Billion Emergency Loan As Coronavirus Cases Increase

Read: Iran Reopens Parliament As Virus Infections Drop For Seventh Day

Speaking at a White House news briefing, President Trump said, They (Europeans) are sending medical goods to Iran. That doesn't bother me. He also said that he wasnt affected by the recent phone call made by French President Emmanuel Macron to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Previously, US' Secretary of States Mike Pompeo had said that they had offered humanitarian assistance" to the Islamist republic adding that he regrets that they had declined the proposal.

Pompeo, in a White House news conference, had asserted, "The world should note there are no sanctions that prevent humanitarian assistance, pharmaceutical medical supplies, pharmaceuticals from going to Iran. We offered American assistance; we try to help other countries get assistance there as well. We had some ability to do that."

600 die in Iran

Meanwhile, a tragedy struck Iran as 600 people died after consuming high-concentrated alcohol, which they misbelieved as a cure for Coronavirus. Apart from a monumental death toll, thousands of Iranians were left poisoned after guzzling methanol, state media reported. Iran's news agency Tasnim quoted an Iranian judiciary saying that over 3,000 people were affected. The ambiguous nature of the novel Coronavirus sparked the wild rumour, which appended to the existing health crisis in the country. The incident occurred despite alcohol being banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Read: Khamenei Suggests Ramadan Gatherings In Iran May Be Barred

Read: Iran Counts 600 More Deaths After People Drink Pure Alcohol To 'cure' Coronavirus


It rubs salt into Italy's raw political wound. No EU state responded after Rome invoked the EU's solidarity mechanism and requested emergency medical kit in the crucial early days. When the vice-president of parliament's lower house tore down the EU flag in his office last week - in breach of rules - council after council followed spontaneously from Liguria, to Tuscany, and Abruzzo. They may be Right wing mayors from the Lega or Brothers of Italy. But the Right is the government-in-waiting riding near 50 per cent in the polls.

While we are counting thousands of deaths, the finance ministers play with words and adjectives. We're going to be judged severely by the markets and by our own populations Bruno Le Maire, France's finance minister

What was the response of Eurogroup hardliners to this latter-day Risorgimento? After sixteen hours of deadlock until five in the morning it offered the debtors more debt - the Greek template from 2010. These loans have to be repaid later. Fabio Balboni from HSBC says the Stability Pact may have been suspended for now but deficit rules will snap back. The Fiscal Compact will return with a vengeance. Italy will have to retrench to cut its debt (1/20th each year for the chunk over 60 per cent of GDP). It is a Sisyphean task.

The ECB can keep buying Italian bonds but can it really do "QE forever" against the vehement protest of key northern governors (as it is now doing, in contrast to doing "whatever it takes" in 2012)? The IFO Institute says the Bundesbank may one day have to suspend Target2 payments within the ECB system to save its own solvency.

The Eurogroup dodged the idea of "coronabonds", although they will have another crack today. The 500 billion ($870 billion) package includes 100 billion in credit for "Kurzarbeit" jobless schemes and above all loans up to 2 per cent of each country's GDP from the EU bail-out fund (ESM) - and even for this the Dutch are insisting on stigma conditions that no Italian government could accept. The money can be used only to fight COVID-19 and recipients must clean up their public accounts.
Wanda DeSelle's casket is brought to her gravesite in Madera, Calif. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

On Wednesday afternoon, five cars filled with grieving members of Wanda DeSelle's family and friend group rolled into Madera's Arbor Vitae cemetery.

DeSelle died from complications of coronavirus. She apparently had contracted COVID-19 from a previous funeral.

Nobody left their cars as the casket of the 76-year-old nurse was transported by four funeral home workers from a white Cadillac hearse to the graveside. No sound, other than the humming of car engines and a distant lawnmower, could be heard as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

If anybody wept, the sound of their cries was contained within their vehicles.

Maureena Silva attends the funeral of her mother, Wanda DeSelle. She was not allowed to get out of her car at the cemetery or see her mother in the hospital when she was gravely ill. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

As the coronavirus sweeps across the nation, not only are people dying alone in their hospital rooms, unable to say goodbye to their loved ones, they are being buried  when it's possible  alone, too. (In many places, local health departments have delayed funerals until the pandemic has subsided.)

And funerals are often now attended by family members and co-workers who are also carrying the virus.

On Wednesday, as gray clouds moved west over the cemetery, some of those attending had been exposed at the same time, and to the same person, that likely gave DeSelle the disease. While others, including DeSelle's daughter and pregnant granddaughter, were exposed as a result of caring for and being close to DeSelle.

"I was taking care of her," said Maureena Silva, DeSelle's daughter. "That's how I got it. And then I gave it to my daughter."

According to DeSelle's daughters, Silva and Tonya Moe, as well as Mohammed Ashraf, the cardiovascular physician that DeSelle worked with for 40 years, she contracted the virus at the funeral of a co-worker  as did another 14 people.

Wanda DeSelle's casket is brought to her gravesite. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

On Feb. 29, Maria Rodriguez, a young nurse who worked at Ashraf's clinic in Madera, was killed in a car accident.

On March 10, her colleagues gathered at her funeral to pay respects to her family and say goodbye.

Story continues

Wanda DeSelle was 76.

According to Ashraf, the small crew from his office  including DeSelle  shared a table with a man who later tested positive for the virus. The man was asymptomatic at the time, Asharaf said.

"The person who had it, he was eating [at] our table. We all got exposed to it," he said. "I didn't even recognize that he was sick. He wasn't coughing."

He said no one was wearing masks, or being as cognizant of social distancing and protection as they are today. At the time, neither Gov. Gavin Newsom nor any California counties had issued social distancing orders or directives. Even so, Asharaf was feeling regrets Wednesday.

"I guess we weren't being careful," he said, his voice cracking.

Ashraf said that roughly 15 people who attended that funeral have since tested positive. Those people include DeSelle, another person from his office, that person's husband, and the husband of the young woman who died in the car crash.

Sara Bosse, Madera County's public health officer, would not confirm Ashraf's account, citing privacy laws. She also would not confirm whether DeSelle was one of the two coronavirus deaths recorded in the county.

Funeral home workers followed strict protocols in handling the casket. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The casket is removed from a hearse. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

As of Wednesday, there are were 28 confirmed cases in Madera County.

Ashraf said that DeSelle began showing symptoms four days after the funeral.

He said that on Saturday, March 14, she complained of diarrhea and a stomachache. "She thought she'd eaten something bad," he said.

He wasn't too concerned, initially, he said. She didn't have a fever or cough. But by Thursday of the following week, he was growing increasingly alarmed. He urged her to go into the emergency room, and on Friday, March 13, she submitted to blood work and was given fluids through an IV.

Everett Bradford was a patient at the medical office where Wanda DeSelle worked in Madera. He attended her funeral. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A week later, on March 20, things really began to deteriorate, he said. She was hospitalized on the 24th, and one week later, on March 31, she was intubated. She died April 3.

In a Toyota sedan, roughly 80 feet from DeSelle's gravesite, Silva and Franchesca Montgomery, DeSelle's granddaughter, watched as the casket was lowered.

Silva contracted the virus while taking care of DeSelle, and then passed it to her pregnant daughter, Montgomery, who is now five days past her due date.

Montgomery said her doctors are letting her wait out the pregnancy until she can get tested again, which will be in the next couple of days.

"I'll have to have the baby in isolation if I don't get a negative test," she said. She's already been tested twice now, but the doctors want to see two negative tests before they'll let her give birth outside of isolation, she said.

News reports suggest that roughly 30% of negative COVID-19 tests are false.

Wanda DeSelle's final resting place. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

According to Silva, Montgomery is expecting a girl.

She's hoping that this new life will bring with her the compassion and love that her mother, DeSelle, embodied.

"She cared so much about people. She did everything she could to help," she said.

Everett Bradford, a patient of DeSelle's, pulled up to the cemetery to pay his respects. He said he'd called Ashraf's office that morning and heard it was closed for a funeral.

"I knew it was Wanda," he said, tearful. "She was such an amazing person. I called her grandma. I loved her."




Egg prices increased across the nation as shoppers rushed to grocery stores to stock up. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

As stay-at-home orders swept across the country, shoppers rushed to grocery stores and stocked up on staples, among them eggs. This surge in demand has boosted egg prices, both nationally and especially in California, and probably will for some time.

On March 2, the Urner Barry wholesale benchmark for a dozen conventional California shell eggs was $1.55. By March 27, the benchmark had risen to $3.66, where it remained for several days before decreasing slightly to $3.26, as of Friday.

That means higher costs for retailers and shoppers. In the last three weeks, grocers' egg costs increased 57%, said Dave Heylen, spokesman for the California Grocers Assn., which represents more than 80% of the state's retail grocery stores. A bit of relief came last week, when those costs dropped about 8%.

Northgate Gonzalez Market is paying more to get eggs on its shelves, up anywhere from 20% to 35%, said Mike Hendry, executive vice president of marketing and merchandising.

He described it as one of the largest increases weve seen in quite a while."

The chain opted to reduce its margins, passing on only a portion of that cost to shoppers, Hendry said. On Tuesday, the chain decreased its retail egg prices by $1 ahead of an anticipated supplier price reduction.

Agricultural experts describe the price increase as a lesson in supply and demand. There's only a fixed number of eggs available on any given day  you can't squeeze an unlimited number of eggs out of a chicken, and it can take months to buy more hens and build more coops for them. In the meantime, shoppers are buying extra cartons as they aim to limit grocery runs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some retailers have purchased double or even six times their usual orders of eggs, said Brian Moscogiuri, a director at Urner Barry and an analyst covering the egg and egg product markets. To try to keep eggs in stock, some stores posted limits on the number of egg cartons customers could buy.

Story continues

That's the case at Beachwood Market in the Hollywood Hills, where owner Alex Papalexis said he had to limit customers to one carton per household.

"People were scrambling, no pun intended, to get eggs," he said.

He, too, is paying more for eggs, an additional 50 cents to 75 cents per carton, depending on the type. Though he hadn't yet raised prices, Papalexis said he probably would soon.

He noted that many restaurants and hotel kitchens are closed, meaning eggs destined for diners' dishes could now be diverted to store shelves.

"Theres a question there," Papalexis said. "Why would they have to raise their rates?"

Laws prohibit price-gouging in California during a declared state of emergency, capping price increases for essential goods at 10% compared with their pre-crisis costs. Exemptions, however, exist should the cost of a product increase along the supply chain  to compensate should shipping or labor costs rise.

The rules are hard to enforce, said Diana Winters, assistant director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law.

The state attorney general's office relies on consumer complaints to ensure essential items, such as food, don't exceed that 10% price-gain cap, she said.

Prices for eggs certainly have risen more than 10% in many markets, but it's hard to gauge all of the factors that might contribute to that increase, Winters said. For example, restaurant closures could mean egg producers need to divert their supply to grocers, and that change in distribution and additional packaging comes with a cost.

"Eggs are naturally, very often, one of the most price variable products in the supermarket, said Daniel Sumner, UC Davis professor of agricultural economics and director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center.

Jesse Laflamme, chief executive of New Hampshire-based Pete and Gerrys Organic Eggs, said his freight costs have gone up since the coronavirus pandemic because there are not enough refrigerated trucks to transport all of the fresh goods now in high demand.

His company has also slowed its egg packaging equipment and spaced people out to comply with social distancing directives. The company chose to absorb the extra costs rather than increase prices. Its eggs are not priced on the wholesale egg market.

Being a commodity market, its really sensitive to any supply or demand fluctuation within single percentage points," Laflamme said.

Egg prices could remain elevated for at least a few months, Sumner said. And the demand for eggs has been historically strong during tougher economic stretches. Eggs are a relatively cheap source of protein and aren't seen as a luxury food item.

"It may take longer to get back to normal for the egg business," he said. "We can build supply, but it takes a few months."
By Trend

A program of compensating for the damage caused to the entrepreneurs and their employees as a result of coronavirus has been launched in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said, Trend reports referring to the ministry.

The program has been launched on April 8 according to the Action Plan adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers to reduce the negative impact on business entities due to coronavirus, the minister said.

At the first stage, it is planned to pay a certain part of salaries to those employed in the spheres that have suffered losses as a result of coronavirus, to render financial assistance to the private and micro entrepreneurs, the minister added. Tax benefits are also envisaged to maintain the economic activity.

The program, designed to prevent staff reduction in the spheres of the economy affected as a result of coronavirus, will cover 300,000 employees, 42,000 employers, and about 300,000 private or micro-entrepreneurs. For this purpose, the affected spheres, as well as the relevant criteria, have been determined, he added.

The minister stressed that the Azerbaijani government allocated 215 million manat ($126 million) to preserve the salaries of the hired workers.

This amount will be divided into two equal parts, which will be paid in April and May. Besides these payments, the amounts worth social insurance contributions will also be calculated and paid. The main task is to ensure the social protection of each employee, he noted.

The average monthly salary as of January will be taken as the main criterion for partial payment of the workers' salaries, Jabbarov said.

This amount reaches 712 manat ($418), the minister said adding that the salary of each employee, the amount of which is lower than indicated, will be fully paid by the state to the enterprise.

"For an employee receiving a salary higher than the monthly average salary, the upper limit is set at 712 manat, he said.

A program on providing micro entrepreneurs and private entrepreneurs with funds has been launched on April 8. The Azerbaijani government rendered financial support in the amount of 80 million manat ($47 million) to 300,000 individual entrepreneurs involved in the spheres affected as a result of the pandemic.

This financial assistance covers the taxpayers who paid taxes, mandatory state social insurance contributions and unemployment insurance contributions in 2019.

To ensure financial support as soon as possible, individual entrepreneurs submit an application through the electronic systems available in the internet tax administration (www.e-taxes.gov.az) and the funds allocated from the state budget are transferred to the bank accounts of these individual entrepreneurs.

The minister stressed that the amount of funds to be paid to micro entrepreneurs or private entrepreneurs will not be less than 250 manat ($147).

The maximum amount will reach 5,000 manat ($2,941), Jabbarov said.

Many private entrepreneurs have employees and these individuals will be able to take advantage of the state program. Moreover, entrepreneurs will be provided with tax incentives to maintain economic activity, the minister said.

According to him, 1.5 billion manat ($882.3 million) was allocated for the business loan support programs.

The taken steps are a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to create new plans and develop business during this period, the minister said. The state structures will render the necessary support to prevent the staff reduction, reduce business losses and after the resumption of economic activity in the abovementioned spheres.

Jabbarov added that these support measures, the adopted programs, the credit guarantee mechanism in the field of entrepreneurship alongside legislative initiatives in connection with tax incentives are aimed at maintaining economic activity and include the basis and elements for ensuring economic growth in the country in the future.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Phase 2 could begin on 4 May but Italy's schools may not reopen until autumn.

The second phase in Italy's Coronavirus emergency could last between "six and eight months", an Italian health expert warned on 8 April, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The government is currently in talks with its panel of medical experts as it draws up Phase Two of the nationwide lockdown - termed as "living with the virus" - which is expected to see a gradual loosening of stringent restrictions in relation to production, particularly regarding strategic supply chains involving food, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.

The government will reportedly hold discussions with representatives of the business sector and trade unions on 9 April with a view to mapping out how and when to start getting companies back to work.

Also read:

The current lockdown measures are in place until 13 April and in recent days Italy's Coronavirus curve has started to descend.

If this positive trend continues in the coming days it could allow some minimal relaunch of industrial activity, respecting social distancing measures, from 14 April, reports Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Italy's small and medium-sized businesses face failure unless they resume work in May, the head of small business group Confindustria, Carlo Robiglio, told ANSA, adding: If we go beyond the summer with restrictions of this type, the risks become extremely heavy.

The loosening of quarantine measures for the general population, maintaining strict social distancing, could be introduced from 4 May, according to speculation in the Italian media, however nothing is certain yet.

Smart working is expected to be strongly encouraged, while there would be alternate shifts for those who gradually return to offices, reports Il Sole 24 Ore, however it is unlikely that restaurants, bars or parks will reopen any time soon.

ANSA reports that schools in Italy are expected to reopen in September, but only for "online revision."

Also read:

Physicist Alessandro Vespignani was quoted by Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano as saying: "It will be a summer with planes and without travel. We will not return to full normality by July or August", adding that it is a process I see lasting for the next six to eight months.

And despite an encouraging fall in new cases of people being hospitalised for Coronavirus, Italian premier Giuseppe Conte continues to urge caution.

In an video-interview with German magazine Bild, Conte stressed that scientists have advised against lifting restrictions too quickly for fear of sparking new outbreaks, while ANSA quotes Rome university physicist Federico Ricci Tersenghi as saying that the infection curve is not falling in some regions of Italy.

"The situation is and remains very serious. And it cannot be underestimated. We are in the middle of a battle" - warned Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza on 7 April - "The only weapon we have is ocial distancing, of respecting the rules. We must not think that we have already won the war."

Photo credit: Em Campos / Shutterstock.com
A special flight of Titan Airways carrying 330 stranded British nationals, including 312 adults and one infant, departed from Dabolim Airport in Goa on Wednesday evening.

The flight was specially arranged by the British embassy to evacuate the stranded citizens due to a lockdown imposed by the Centre as well as the state government to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus infection.

The 19th relief flight, en route to Stantec in the UK, departed from Goa International Airport at 10:00 p.m. after the passengers filled the self-declaration form mandated by the Government of India in view of the lockdown measures, and were thermally checked at the airport, Goa Airport Director Gagan Malik told ANI.

"We are going to have two more flights in the coming four days. There is also the intimation that we may have 3-4 more flights in the coming next week. So this process is continuing. I must admit that this is the sheer teamwork of the Goa International Airport wherein our operation's team, housekeeping and engineering staff, and all others have put their hands together," Malik said.

"The Goa state government is also helping them to come to the Airport as these flights depart usually in late nights. We have also made sitting arrangements, food and water facilities for those passengers coming early outside the terminal building," he added.

After one flight departs, the process of disinfecting the terminal gets started, Malik noted, adding that the airport authorities are trying to maintain "a semblance in balance" where all passengers are pre-secured and pre-sanitised before boarding any flight.

The manner in which special flights are evacuating British citizens one after another, it seems as if "we'll cross the figure of 4,000 by the next two flights," he said.

"The Goa International Airport is working 24/7. Anybody can contact us at any time," the Airport director added further.

In a video message on Twitter, acting UK High Commission to India, Jan Thompson, late last month, had asked stranded British nationals to ensure that they are ready with their passports and travel documents ready for departure. She said that the timings and departure locations of the flights from India will be announced in the coming days.

The state has so far registered six cases of coronavirus, out of which one has recovered and will be discharged soon, according to medical officers. While, India, as a whole, has recorded 5,734 cases of the contagion, including 166 deaths, as per reports compiled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An international consortium has started the R&D project DC-Ren: Drug combinations for rewriting trajectories of renal pathologies in type II diabetes.

Aimed at developing systematic approaches in order to discover improved combination of drug treatment for complex diseases, the international research initiative ranked on top of 50 other applicants to secure the EUR 6m in funding.

The R&D project is headed by Gert Mayer, Director of the University Hospital for Internal Medicine IV (Nephrology and Hypertension) at the Medical University of Innsbruck. The goal is to develop a data-based support tool for decision-making with a view to optimising personalised therapies.

The university will be working with teams from Austria (emergentec biodevelopment GmbH, and a working group led by Rainer Oberbauer, head of the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis at the Medical University of Vienna /Vienna General Hospital), Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands.

Mathematical model for predicting disease trajectory

Diabetic kidney diseases are the main cause of kidney failure in industrialised countries, says Innsbruck-based nephrologist and project coordinator Gert Mayer. Although we have seen a significant improvement in the range of treatment options available, it is still not possible to fully predict their effectiveness in individuals.

A mathematical model is intended to generate predictions on disease trajectories and responses to treatment, which in turn will help to improve the precision of personalised combined medications. The scientific approach is based on an innovative new patient assessment concept in the form of a hybrid AI solution developed by one of the project partners, Vienna-based technology company emergentec biodevelopment GmbH, Mayer explains.

Key biobanks and clinical data will be used in combination with experimental, analytical and statistical evaluations in order to develop a prototype technology solution, which will then be validated in clinical settings. Mayer sees huge potential in the model: Besides assessing new health technologies and the possibilities they open up, the aims of the DC-ren project are clearly a move towards enhancing precision medicine as a means of treating complex diseases.

As in our two previous EU projects on this subject, we will use innovative approaches to further improve the effectiveness of treatments for diabetic kidney disease, added Rainer Oberbauer of MedUni Vienna.

Diabetic kidney disease more prevalent

Around 50 million people in Europe, or 10% of the population, suffer from chronic kidney conditions. Meanwhile, about 40% of diabetics suffer kidney damage as a result of the disease. The steady increase in the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in Europe means that kidney, heart and vascular diseases are also becoming more widespread.

Early recognition and prevention are playing a central role in treatment, and are also becoming a major focus in nephrology research. If the disease is diagnosed at any early stage and its trajectory can be forecast accurately, targeted treatment can be administered, removing the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant, which become necessary in the later stages of the condition.

According to Gert Mayer: Renal insufficiency not only restricts the functioning of the kidneys, it also affects the cardiovascular system and bone metabolism  the consequence is an increased risk of heart attack and osteoporosis.

Further information: www.dc-ren.eu

Project partners:

Austria:

Medical University Innsbruck (Lead: Gert Mayer)

Medical University Vienna (Lead: Rainer Oberbauer)

emergentec biodevelopment GmbH Vienna (Lead: Bernd Mayer)

Germany: Mosaiques Diagnostics GmbH Hannover (Lead: Harald Mischak)

The Netherlands: Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen (Lead: Hiddo J Lambers Heerspink)

Denmark: Region Hovedstaten Hillerod (Lead: Peter Rossing)

Israel: Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot (Lead: Doron Lancet)

Italy: European Centre for Living Technology, University Ca`Foscari Venezia (Lead: Irene Poli)

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gert Mayer

Medical University of Innsbruck

University Hospital of Internal Medicine IV

Anichstrae 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Tel. +43 (0)512 504-25856

gert.mayer@i-med.ac.at, www.i-med.ac.at

https://www.i-med.ac.at/pr/presse/2020/24.html [Photos for download]
Paramedics at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. (Angela Weiss / AFP-Getty Images)

Matt Kaufman is accustomed to death. He knows well the task of telling people that someone they love is gone  from a stroke, an overdose, a car accident, or any of the dire scenarios he often sees at the urban New Jersey hospital where he works.

Usually, says the emergency room doctor, he can find a way to honor the gravity of the moment with small but meaningful gestures of compassion  waiting while a family member cries, touching them gently on the shoulder, or simply looking them in the eye to give them words nobody wants to hear.

He had never broken such news over the phone. Until now.

COVID-19 has changed things for many people, and so it has for him. Sometimes these days, while muffled by the N95 protective mask he wears throughout his shift, he shouts over the din of the ER. He recently told a woman her daughter had died.

It is awful, said Kafuman, a director of medicine at Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City. Like many other hospitals in and around New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic, it has seen a dramatic influx of seriously ill patients over the last three weeks.

The overall acuity, how sick people are, has ramped up in a tremendous way," he said. "I have never seen so many people dying. You walk into the room and its cardiac arrest here and cardiac arrest there. That is what is unbelievably shocking to me and disturbing."

Most hospitals in the region have barred anyone other than patients and medical staff from the emergency room in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This means parents, spouses, children and siblings who would typically be waiting in the emergency room are at home, unable to say goodbye.

Kaufman is one of hundreds of doctors who have had to change how they practice medicine because of COVID-19, particularly the delicate burden of bearing news of death.

Kaufman said the calls are often met with disbelief: "'How did this happen?' 'Wait, what? Are you sure it's the right person?' This happens when you cant do it in person. Its obviously distressing. And you feel pretty impotent about being able to help or do the right thing. It's heartbreaking."

Story continues

It is perhaps the most painful act of social distancing, another cruel detachment in this strange time. Many doctors, already struggling to connect with patients on a personal level through alienating layers of personal protective equipment, are attempting to mitigate these difficulties by using FaceTime to at least put a human face on the interaction.

You cant give those lives proper attention even when the ultimate has happened; when theyve died, you cant even properly tell the family members. That is a really terrible thing that trivializes life and what we are doing in a profound way, Kaufman said. You feel like youre not doing right by people. Theres usually a way you can have confidence youve done it in a way thats at least respectful, and thats not happening right now."

"Frankly we are kind of rushing it, as awful as that sounds," he said. "We dont have the time to do that in a proper way.

The daily death tolls in New York and New Jersey both reached new highs this week. As of Thursday, 4,778 people in New York City have died of COVID-19, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, eclipsing the 2,753 people killed in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. The crisis has also spread across the Hudson River to New Jersey, which as of Thursday had seen 1,700 fatalities statewide, the second-highest toll in the country, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Its exponentially getting worse every day. I dont want to provide a sense of panic, but people need to know how dire it is and what were dealing with, said Stefan Flores, who practices in the ER at Columbia University Medical Center locations in the Bronx and upper Manhattan.

In New York City, emergency rooms are often already operating at max capacity, he explained. As COVID-19 has ravaged the city, the ER has become a war zone. By the time he made it two hours into a shift this week, Flores had already had two patients die and was having end-of-life discussions with two others. The level of devastation and volume and acuity is unprecedented and unlike anything Ive ever seen. Its been emotionally and physically exhausting.

Covered in PPE while treating patients who are also wearing masks or hooked up to breathing devices, he finds it hard to communicate or convey empathy as he normally does.

Touching patients and just listening to them. Thats what we do and what we do well, and that has been lost, he said.

Perhaps the most emotionally difficult aspect of the pandemic has been watching patients "suffocating and dying alone," he said. "It is mental terrorism."

Flores and some of his colleagues have started to use FaceTime to allow people, if only on a smartphone screen, to see critically ill family members and provide a measure of closure  something he has never had to do before.

"This may be the last time people hear the voice of their loved ones, before they are intubated or before they die, and allowing them to see them before they die during these critical times bridges the gap for the empathy that is lost without all the things we normally do at the bedside," he said. "It is really hard to do that, to literally sit and show someone their dying loved one over the phone. Its horrible. But it provides a sense of humanity."

Similarly for Lynn Jiang, a doctor of emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, the biggest change has been the way she communicates with patients and their families. She has started to rely heavily on technology to have frank discussions about a patients health or provide updates on their condition.

FaceTime, WhatsApp and all these new communication tools have become almost the norm now where previously we were able to talk in person to family members, she said. We almost become more involved than we ever were before, because now were the only point of contact between a family and a loved one.

The challenging circumstances inspired Jiang to start an Instagram account as a space for front-line healthcare workers to share their experiences as the virus began to spread. She thought of it as a way to create a community when our faces are hidden behind our gear."

The crisis in emergency rooms has been compounded by an increased number of personnel falling sick with COVID-19.

Nurses, doctors, X-ray techs  the whole thing falls apart if one of these service lines falls apart, Kaufman said. If you dont have a transporter, you cant move your patients around. I worry about ventilators. But it doesnt end with a piece of equipment. You have to have the staff."

A week ago, Kaufman was seeing a lot of patients in Jersey City, but was not yet overwhelmed. That has changed.

Making matters worse, Kaufman has to advise loved ones that if they had had contact with the deceased person, they may be infected and will have to quarantine. That is "impossible to explain to someone," he said. "It is quite brutal. This is someone whos just found out someone they love is dead. And youre supposed to educate them on what to look for. 'Dont be scared. Your loved one died, but that doesnt mean you will.'"

Doctors are not just relaying the news of a patient's death over the phone, they are also having sensitive end-of-life conversations with stunned family members who are often unprepared to make medical decisions.

Many of the critically ill patients are elderly people with underlying health conditions who come from nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, said Dr. Tsion Firew, an emergency room physician in Manhattan. Their family members may not have seen them in a few days or understand how quickly these patients can go downhill.

Another factor, she said, is the delay in response time by emergency medical technicians. Patients are being advised to stay away from the hospital until the last minute, and it can take three to four hours for an ambulance to arrive, she says, during which time a patients condition can decline precipitously.

Firew now finds herself having delicate end-of-life discussions with family members on virtually every shift. For most patients who go on ventilators, the chance of recovery is minimal, she said.

The question is always do you want to prolong this process by putting them on a ventilator or is dying in peace something they would have wanted. Its very difficult to have those conversations with that speed, being able to find the phone numbers. Thats something that were all seeing, she said. I think its very important that everyone have this difficult conversation with their parents.
Kathmandu, April 9

Bahraini authorities reported 10 news cases of coronavirus infection among the Nepalis living there on Wednesday. With this, the number of Nepalis infected with the virus in the Middle Eastern country has reached 22.

The Nepali Embassy in Manama has said the newly diagnosed cases were among the 400 Nepalis recently quarantined. They were quarantined after a foreign national was found infected with the virus in the camp that Nepalis were also living in.

As of 2 pm on Wednesday, 349 persons are infected with the coronavirus in Bahrain whereas five persons are already dead. Other 467 infected persons are already recovered. The country has tested 52,351 persons for the virus so far.

Meanwhile, the embassy has urged all Nepalis residing and working in the country to take necessary measures to protect themselves from the infection. They have been told to contact the embassy and organisations of Nepalis in the country if they have any problem.

There are more than 35,000 Nepalis working in Bahrain.
Most residents of government-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions support the return of occupied territories to Ukraine without granting special status or expanded powers to the region, according to a poll entitled "Public Sentiment in Donbas 2020" conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.

The results of the poll were presented at an online press conference broadcast by Ukrinform on Thursday, April 9.

"Residents of the Ukrainian Donbas want the return of occupied territories to Ukraine. The majority speak of the return as before, without granting special status or expanded powers to the region. There are somewhat more people undecided in this matter among residents of Luhansk region, but in general, this does not change the picture. Only 5% to 8% of residents of the Ukrainian-controlled Donbas support the granting of independence to occupied territories or even their accession to the Russian Federation," the foundation's political analyst, Serhiy Shapovalov, said.

A regional survey was conducted in the government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Center for Political Sociology (with the involvement of the Ukrainian Sociological Service) from February 18 to March 2, 2020. A total of 500 respondents were interviewed in each of the regions. The sample is representative of age, gender, and place of residence. The poll's margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.

The survey was conducted with the financial support of the British Embassy in Ukraine.

op
MIAMI - A crew member who was hospitalized for days after two ill-fated cruise ships with coronavirus patients were finally allowed to dock in Florida has died, officials said.

Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Mallak on Thursday confirmed the death of Wiwit Widarto, 50, of Indonesia. Widarto had tested positive for COVID-19, raising the Zaandam ships coronavirus-related death toll to four.

The man died Wednesday, six days after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports, said Holland America Line spokesman Erik Elvejord. He had been taken to a Florida hospital the same day the ship docked.

Four elderly passengers had already died before the cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of those men tested positive for COVID-19. The fourth mans death was caused by a viral infection. Mallak said he tested negative for the new virus but had been dead for 12 days before he was examined.

About 1,200 passengers disembarked the Zaandam and sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to replenish the first with supplies and crew members who were falling ill. The cruise company and federal and Florida officials negotiated for days before allowing disembarkation.

The cruise line says 29 passengers who were kept aboard because they were mildly ill were scheduled to finally travel home Thursday on charter flights, a week after arriving in Florida.

The Zaandam departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, a day before the U.S. State Department advised to avoid cruise travel and a week before most cruise lines halted their sailings.

Meanwhile, about a dozen international guests will remain in quarantine aboard the Coral Princess, which docked last weekend in Miami with coronavirus cases, according to a Princess Cruises statement. Many former Coral Princess passengers left South Florida on five charter flights Thursday, the company said. One flight was domestic while the others were heading to South America and Europe.

Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, the company said current travel restrictions by home countries are preventing homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities wont authorize the use of local hotels. The guests will remain with Coral Princess crew members for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine. The ship was set to leave PortMiami Thursday evening.

Two passengers died before the Coral Princess docked in Miami and a third died later at a hospital. It is not clear if the deaths were caused by COVID-19. The ship originally left Chile on March 5. Passengers were supposed to disembark in Argentina on March 19.
As the coronavirus claims more lives, police departments across Connecticut are ordering officers to wear protective masks and other equipment when interacting with the public.

They are expected to wear it, Milford Police Chief Keith Mello said, referring to masks and other protective gear.

Mello, who is also president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, said other members of the association said they too had ordered officers to wear masks.

We do that for their own safety and the safety of their co-workers and their families, he said.

For now, departments are using  and in some cases reusing  masks, gloves and other equipment they have on hand while wondering where future supplies will come from if the pandemic continues for weeks or months.

Tom Wuennemann, Stamfords acting police chief, said supplies are holding up but its not clear how long they will last. That will likely depend on how long the virus remains, he noted.

So far it seems to be OK but every day the situation changes, he said. Two weeks ago, they were saying not to wear masks.

The risks

After saying for weeks that masks were not necessary in most situations, federal health officials changed their tune in recent days as the death toll increased in the U.S.  it was more than 14,000 as of Wednesday  and the number of those infected across the country moves quickly toward the 500,000 mark.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working off new data that indicated asymptomatic people can transmit the virus through close proximity, now recommends people wear masks when in contact with others.

A shortage of personal protective equipment for nurses, doctors and health care workers has been well documented as states scramble to find basic supplies such as masks and gloves, as well as much needed ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

We have a fair supply, but hospitals and nursing homes need it much more than we do, Wuennemann said. The paramedics are doing a tremendous amount of transports.

In Connecticut the death roll is nearly 300 and the number of those infected is almost at the 8,000 mark.

Most chiefs said they are using supplies their department, town or city had already obtained. Purchasing officials are searching for more supplies and placing orders, they said.

The Milford order began as a recommendation to wear a mask during direct contact  when an officer had to touch a person or arrest them, Mello explained.

But late last week the order was increased to all contact.

We issued masks two weeks ago and encouraged them to wear one when interacting and required it when making contact or when arresting, Mello explained.

Last Friday, we required it for all contact, he added.We want to set the example for the public that there is a benefit to covering your face.

Reusing masks

Wuennemann said the more protective N95 masks are being used in Stamford for arrests and physical contact and surgical masks are being worn for routine interactions and at headquarters.

If directing traffic they dont have to wear a mask, the chief added. They are also wearing gloves, eye protection and gowns when needed.

Wuennemann noted the citys firemen are also wearing protective gear and have changed their protocols to adapt to the pandemic.

They dont go to as many medical calls as they used to, he said. If its a COVID transport, you have two to three ambulance people exposed. Why do you need four firemen?

In Norwalk, there is enough protective equipment at the moment for its fire and police departments.

At the moment, police and fire have adequate supply of personal protection equipment and are not reusing masks, said Josh Morgan, a Norwalk city spokesman.

Scott Appleby, Bridgeports emergency management director, said Police Chief Armando Perez has ordered the citys police officers to wear masks and other protective equipment.

There is an hourly reoccurring message being sent out reminding officers that they are to wear gloves and masks at all times, he added.

Some departments are ordering officers to reuse masks as much as possible in an effort to keep from running out.

We are being careful to reuse, Mello said. We understand there may be a shortage. We want to make sure health workers have them.

bcummings@ctpost.com
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday expanded access to mental health services for first responders and all health care workers as the city grapples with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

During a briefing from the city's Emergency Operations Center, Breed said with 676 cases now confirmed in the city, including 10 deaths, the mental health of first responders, city employees and health care workers needed to be acknowledged.

"Our first responders are folks who we want to make sure are taken care of," she said. "We know that they are working long hours and they are under an enormous amount of stress and what I've reiterated time and time again to people who are out there especially on the front lines working for the city, it is important that we're doing everything we can to take care of the public, but we have to make sure we take care of ourselves."

Through a partnership with mobile phone wellness app Cordico, city first responders, as well as all city employees, will be able to access expanded mental health resources like one-on-one employee counseling services and 24/7 mental health care for all city employees.

Those needing long-term mental health counseling will be connected to professionals provided through their health care plans, according to city officials.

In addition, the Heal San Francisco program will offer short-term mental health and counseling services for all health workers, including those working for private and nonprofit health care providers. The program involves some 375 licensed clinicians who have volunteered to help frontline health care staff deal with trauma and stress.

More information about the program can be found at https://healsanfrancisco.org.

Breed also announced the city was making progress in increasing hospital beds, with the city currently having a total of 530 intensive care unit beds and 1,608 acute care beds.

For those who may need health care but don't need to be hospitalized, Breed reminded residents of the new temporary field care facility at the Southeast Health Center, which opened Tuesday and is located in the city's Bayview District.

The new facility provides COVID-19 screening, primary care and urgent care for residents and Breed said she hopes to open up to three more in the city.

"Field care clinics will help reduce the number of patients needing to go to the hospital, urgent care and emergency rooms, which will help keep our hospitals focused on COVID-19 patients that we know all need to be served," she said.

The city's Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said he expected the number of cases in the city to continue increasing as the city expands COVID-19 testing. To date, nearly 6,000 San Franciscans have been tested for the virus, he said.

"So far, the numbers (of positive cases) continue to go up, but they haven't been rising at a rate faster than we can handle," he said.

At Laguna Honda Hospital, the city's long term care facility, Colfax confirmed a total of 17 cases there, which included 13 staff and 4 residents. He said the 4 residents who tested positive and all live in the same area of the hospital, and on Monday, all residents there were retested.

Retesting for COVID-19 for Laguna Honda staff remains ongoing, he said.

Colfax encouraged the family of staff and residents to call (415) 759-2190, where a prerecorded message will provide daily updates, like the number of cases and the units under quarantine. The message will be updated daily at noon, he said.

Trent Rhorer, executive director of the city's Human Services Agency, said confirmed the number of cases among homeless people is at four, with three cases at the city's Multi-Service Center South shelter and one at the Division Circle Navigation Center.

Rhorer reiterated that city's new announcement Monday that, in light of the cases at shelters, the city will not move forward with expanding congregate settings like shelters for homeless people, and instead will be moving some homeless people into hotel rooms.

Those moving into rooms included people who either have tested positive for COVID-19 and may have been exposed to the virus but either are homeless or live in single-room occupancy hotels, and as a result, can't self-isolate.

Additionally, homeless people who are over 60 who or have underlying health conditions, regardless if they're living in shelters or on the streets, will receive hotel rooms in addition to first responders who need to quarantine or self-isolate.

So far, Rhorer said, the city has acquired 1,977 hotel rooms and plans to provide 880 to first responders, and the remaining 1,097 will be provided to the homeless people who meet the guidelines.

As of Wednesday, 184 homeless people have been moved into rooms, as well as 67 first responders.

Under the new plan, the city needs to acquire a total of 7,000 hotel rooms. The total cost of leasing that many hotel rooms for about three months could cost the city as much as $105 million, Rhorer said.

The figure included the cost for staff and supplies. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency could reimburse up to 75 percent of the cost, but only for those who are recovering from COVID-19, have underlying health conditions or those who are 65 or older.

Additionally, a portion of $150 million in funding provided to California counties for protecting homeless people during the health emergency by Gov. Gavin Newsom could also be used to cover the cost, Rhorer said.

During the briefing, Mayor Breed addressed an emergency ordinance introduced Tuesday by Supervisors Shamann Walton, Matt Haney, Hillary Ronen, and Dean Preston, which would require the city to secure at least 8,250 private rooms for all homeless, regardless of their age and whether they're in shelters or on the streets to protect them from COVID-19.

Breed said while the plan to house some homeless people has changed within the last week, she maintained that housing all homeless San Franciscans during a public health emergency is complicated.

"The thing I would want to do more than anyone else is to be able to house every single person who is on the street to make sure they have a safe place to be. But the fact is that comes with so much more than opening the doors and giving people a hotel room," she said.

Breed said things like providing staffing, 24-hour care, and services like cleaning and food remains an issue.

"That takes a lot of people who are our workforce and the reality that we're in is that some of those people are afraid. They're afraid to come to work," she said.

Regarding the annual San Francisco Pride Parade, held in June, Breed appeared doubtful the celebration could continue.

"I think it may not be possible to expect that we can launch a large-scale event with millions of people descending on San Francisco. I'm not sure if that will be realistic to expect that we can host the kind of pride parade that this city is known for," she said.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced an comprehensive plan named 'SHIELD' to control the spread of coronavirus in the capital.

"We have ordered containment exercise in 21 areas of Delhi where COVID-19 cases have been found. We have SHIELD these areas to control the spread of COVID-19 in the capital," said CM Kejriwal while addressing media here on Thursday.

"S stands for sealing of localities, wherein, people from a locality will not go to other areas and vice-versa. H means home quarantine i.e.people will remain in their homes only," said Kejriwal.

"I stands for isolation and tracing under which COVID-19 patients will be isolated and people whom they have met will be traced, identified and will be isolated too. E means essential supplies under which we will ensure door to door delivery of essential services," he added.

"L refers to local sanitisation under which areas will be disinfected on a regular basis.While D stands for door-to-door checking under which we will ask every family whether there is any person having symptoms of coronavirus. If any such person is found, their samples will be taken and further procedure will be followed," Kejriwal said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had on Wednesday said 20 hotspots have been identified in Delhi in the battle to contain coronavirus. However, the authorities added the Bengali Market in the list of the hotspot.

Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is giving free rations to 71 lakh people in the city.

"Now, we are also providing ration to those who do not have a ration card. We are facing a few problems but we will soon overcome these," he added.

He further said that the Delhi government have made wearing face mask compulsory.

There are 669 cases of coronavirus in the capital at present, including 426 from the Tablighi Jamaat event that took place in Nizamuddin Markaz last month.

With 591 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's total count of coronavirus positive cases on Thursday climbed to 5,865, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Among the total cases include 5,218 active cases, 478 cured, discharged, and migrated cases and 169 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CNN host, Fareed Zakaria has said that the world will wish it intervened if Nigeria and Iraq falls to the Coronavirus pandemic ravaging some countries around the world.

According to CNN TV host, we are still in the early stages of what is going to become a series of cascading crises. Fareed added that the people may not be able to get back to anything resembling normal life, unless the major powers in the world are able to find a way to cooperate and manage these problems together.

The CNN host who admitted that some developing countries like Nigeria have recorded relatively lesser cases so far, added that there is a tendency they could fall to the disease.

Fareed stated that if this happens, the cost in refugees, disease and terrorism will lead to regrets.

He said;
After a spike in coronavirus infections this week at Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woodscalled for the immediate release of more than 100 inmates who have less than six months left to serve.

Woods directed his request to District Attorney Nancy OMalleys office after sheriffs officials announced on Thursday that COVID-19 cases jumped from 3 to 12 in two days. Officials at the Dublin jail have already released more than 600 inmates since the regions shelter-in-place order took effect on March 17, and a new statewide order will eliminate bail to free dozens more awaiting trial.

We need to take actions now, Woods told The Chronicle. I appreciate whats been done, yes, but we can do more.

Of the 115 inmates with less than six months to serve, about 59 are scheduled for release by the end of May, according to the public defenders office. Modified sentences require sign-off from the district attorneys office and courts overseeing the cases.

In a written statement, OMalley said her office is working diligently with the public defenders office to reduce the jails population.

What we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of victims or the community, she said. We must take the necessary care and precaution to ensure the health of those incarcerated and the staff working at the jail without sacrificing the security of victims or well-being of the county. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.

OMalley also took a jab at Woods, saying it was very disappointing that the Public Defender has chosen this time of crisis to grandstand and to make politically divisive and disingenuous statements.

The first positive test at the jail was reported Saturday, followed by two on Tuesday, eight on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

Jails across the state in the last few weeks released inmates to reduce risk of an outbreak behind bars. Jail and prison populations are vulnerable to COVID-19 infections because close living quarters and group meal outings make social distancing nearly impossible, inmate advocates say.

Without swift action, Woods said, Santa Rita Jail could face catastrophic levels of infections seen at other large jails across the country. At least 287 inmates and 406 staffers tested positive for the virus in New York City jails, and in Chicago, the Cook County Sheriffs Office reported that 238 inmates and 115 staff members had tested positive, according to the New York Times.

Its ridiculous that we still have people in custody serving short county jail sentences, Woods said. I understand most of them made plea deals and agreed to serve that time. But this virus has changed everything.

So far, infections at Bay Area lockups have been minimal in comparison. There are no confirmed cases among inmates at San Francisco or Napa County jails, and two reported at Santa Clara County Main Jail. One of those two has since been released, and the other is isolated in an infirmary.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman with the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, said further releases must be balanced with the public safety of the community.

The jail population has already dropped by 671 inmates since the shelter-in-place order took effect, from 2,650 on March 16 to 1,979 on Thursday.

Those remaining include 486 federal inmates, and about 130 people who will qualify for release under a statewide order from California judicial leaders that reduces some offenders bail to $0.

Kelly said 1,381 inmates are awaiting trial on felony charges, and 90% of the alleged crimes were felonies that were violent or sexual in nature. Approximately 256 people are being held on murder charges.

Theres certain individuals who are in jail who should never get out of jail based on charges against them, Kelly said. We have everything from serial killers to serial rapists. ... If they were to be released, they would pose a serious threat to public safety.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Even as the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc across the globe, Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes said he is hoping to go back to the "normal life and start playing games" soon.

"It's difficult staying at home all the time because it's not normal but you need to enjoy this time because you don't know for how much time we will stay at home like this so you need to enjoy these moments. I hope soon we go back to the normal life and start playing games," the club's official website quoted Fernandes as saying.

Premier League on April 3 announced that the 2019-20 season will only return 'when it is safe and appropriate to do so.'

Players are currently staying home because of the coronavirus threat and Fernandes said it is easier to cope with things when the family is close.

"I'm okay. You know, when you have your family close, it's easier. It's difficult with the little baby because she needs to spend the energy she has - and she has a lot of energy! But me, my wife and my child have some different ways, to do some games and spend our time together," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Children to parents suffering from mental illness have a higher risk of injuries than other children, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The risk is elevated up to 17 years of age and peaks during the first year of life. The findings highlight the need for parents with mental illness to receive extra support around child injury prevention measures as well as early treatment of mental morbidity among expecting parents.

Between 7-11 percent of all children in Sweden have at least one parent diagnosed with a mental illness, according to the researchers' estimates. Previous measures to safeguard children have focused mainly on preventing neglect and maltreatment and to a lesser degree on stopping accidents and injuries. However, according to the researchers it might be possible to reduce child injuries by helping parents with mental illness to adopt preventive safety measures in their homes and outside.

"Our results show there is a need for increased support to parents with mental illness, especially during the first year of life," says Alicia Nevriana, PhD student at the Department of Global Public Health and the study's corresponding author. "There are already recommendations for new parents to ensure their children's safety, but we think there is a need to update these recommendations also by taking into account parents' mental health."

Children in the ages 0-1 had a 30 percent higher risk of injuries if they had a parent with mental illness. The risk declined with age but remained somewhat higher (6 percent) for children in the ages 13-17. The researchers found that the risk of injuries was slightly higher for common parental mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety and stress-related illnesses, compared to more serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The risk was also slightly higher for maternal compared to paternal mental illness.

Also, the risk was somewhat higher for more uncommon types of injuries caused by for example interpersonal violence compared to more common injuries caused by for example falls or traffic accidents. The researchers note, however, that violence-related injuries are rare also in families with mental illness.

The study, which was done in collaboration with researchers at the University of Manchester in the U.K., followed 1.5 million children residing in Sweden and born between 1996-2011, of whom more than 330,000 had at least one parent diagnosed with a mental illness during that period or five years earlier.

The study does not explain why children of parents with mental illness have a higher risk of injuries. Some plausible explanations may be that some parents with mental illness struggle to adequately supervise their children and to childproof their homes, according to the researchers.

"Mental illness is often associated with worse socioeconomic conditions, which might lead to the family living in a less safe in- and outdoor environment or cannot afford some security measures," Nevriana says. "We cannot entirely exclude that the higher risks in our study might be partly explained by the family's socioeconomic conditions, even though we tried to control for socioeconomic factors as best as we could. We have also not studied whether certain medications for mental illness, especially those with an impact on alertness and attention, could affect the children's risk of injury, and this should be studied in future research."
For the past weeks if not months, Ghana has joined many countries around the globe in the fight against the deadly pandemic Coronavirus.

The virus, as deadly as it is, has no boundaries and is no respecter of country or persons. Day in and out, many are the recommendations put to government in aid of the fight and beyond it.

For example; on 28th March 2020, I published an article calling on the Government of Ghana to consider a total lockdown of the entire nation (Dear President Akufo-Addo: Why Not A Total Lockdown Of The Entire Nation To Stop A Possible Nationwide Spread Of The Coronavirus Pandemic).

Even though many who read it disagreed on the need for such an action, it has become evidently vindicative that such an action was both necessary and appropriate to contain the viral spread in Ghana. Many front line agencies including the Ghana Medical Association have begun calling on the government for such immediate actions. At least, even as a layman, I was not wrong with my thoughts and call.

On 30th March 2020, I again wrote on "STC's Role In The Fight Against Novel COVID-19 Pandemic''. In this article, I suggested that the Government and its Ministry of Transport should direct the State Transport Corporation (STC) to deploy its buses to bridge the transportation gap which shall be created by the lockdown. I also stated emphatically in an interview with Agona-Swedru's Obrempong Radio, the urgent need for the Aayalolo buses to be deployed in Accra to equally curb the transportation lapses that are likely to occur. Fast forward, the President in his 5th COVID-19 nation's address made the directives to that effect. Here again, I did not make the wrong call.

On 31st March 2020, in my article "Sanitation Ministry Must Take Advantage Of The 14-Day Lockdown To Make Accra And Kumasi Clean", I made recommendations to the Ministry of Sanitation to use the lockdown period to clean Accra and Kumasi in line with the vision of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

In the article, I proceeded to make recommendations beyond just cleaning the cities but how to maintain sanity after the lockdown. Days after, the Sanitation Ministry made the announcement for such an exercise to take place. What I am yet to see or hear is the ministry taking into consideration my other two recommendations which were geared towards enforcing the cleanliness after the cleaning exercise.

On the 3rd of April, I wrote two articles which though were met with strong opposition, seem to have caught the President's attention again. These were "COVID-19 Horizontal Spread In Ghana Is Caused By The Influx Of Illegal Immigrants Fleeing The Pandemic" and "ECG Must Be Warned Against Dum-Sor In The Lockdown Areas". Many argued that the first was totally untrue whilst others argued that the second was factually inaccurate since the ECG had not announced any motive of load shedding though many in the lockdown areas also alluded that indeed, even though the ECG had not announced any load shedding exercise, the regular power fluctuations could be described as not less than Dum-Sor.

Today, we all know that it is indeed true that the horizontal spread is mainly caused by some illegal immigrants who found their way into Ghana regardless of the closure of our borders. The President's call on ECG to stabilize power in these times equally justifies the knowledge he has on the regular power fluctuations experienced by people living in the lockdown areas.

Having made all these recommendations to the government for consideration and also appreciating the level of acceptance of these recommendations, I pray to put forth some others in the near future both in the fight against Coronavirus and beyond it. But then, I deem it a rare opportunity to recommend that our fight against illegal mining (Galamsey) should be geared towards an end.

Though we may have some recalcitrants still defying orders and hiding in the forests to operate in Galamsey activities amidst this global pandemic, I hold an earnest belief that the number of people currently engaged in this illegality has drastically reduced. If we're serious on the fight, then, this should be the time to clamp down the activities of the few recalcitrants, secure all the Galamsey sites against intruders after the fight against the deadly pandemic, ensure that our rivers and streams tampered with so far regain their natural strength and our lands reclaimed.

There could be no other opportunity than this. The inter-ministerial committee on illegal mining should take advantage of the COVID-19 fight to round up the Galamsey fight.

Reindolf Amankwa

Member, CTI-Middle Belt
Ornellaia 2017 "Solare" "Although the year challenged the team, winemakers included, Im very pleased about the quality and personality of our wines." - Axel Heinz, Ornellaia Estate Director

Ornellaia, one of the worlds iconic wine estates, is pleased to announce the release of Ornellaia Bolgheri DOC Superiore 2017 on the market. The estates Grand Vin has finally emerged from the hills surrounding Bolgheri and from the cellar where it rested at length during aging and refinement. Solare (radiant in English) is the epithet which defines this vintage, whose quest is now the elegant enlightenment of the worlds finest establishments.

Its difficult not to describe 2017 as an extreme vintage in which frost, sun and drought played a decisive role. Although the year challenged the team, winemakers included, Im very pleased about the quality and personality of our wines, explains Axel Heinz, Estate Director of the Bolgheri winery. It was fundamental to protect this vintages bold personality throughout the entire winemaking process. The gentle handling of the grapes and the slightly earlier harvest yielded surprisingly harmonious wines.

Scents of licorice and blackberries prevail in Ornellaia Bolgheri DOC Superiore alongside velvety tannins, typical of the hottest vintages, while sublime acidity and roundness imbue the wine with Mediterranean sumptuousness.

The vintage is an excellent product of a complex year punctuated by the effects of climate change. Ornellaia has been reacting to this change for years, concentrating on sustainable grape growing as a means of preserving and enriching the terrain and the landscape in general. Interventions are reduced to a minimum in order to allow the vines spontaneous tendency to buffer natural mechanisms. Preference is given to precision viticulture and the implementation of low-impact defenses which boost the natural response of the plants. An ecosystem capable of self-regulation accentuates the freedom of expression of each vineyard, which is essential in crafting characterful wines.

Sustainability is the theme of this years Vendemmia dArtista project. Artist Tomas Saraceno sought inspiration in the alliance between the sun and the earth, inviting greater care and attention to the most important source of our planets energy. In addition to the estates site-specific installation and a set of 111 large-format bottles for collectors around the world, Saraceno has created a uniquely distinctive thermochromic label for the 750ml bottles of Ornellaia Vendemmia dArtista 2017 Solare. As it changes color with the heat of ones hand, the artistic packaging invites reflection about the impact of humanity on the planet. One of Tomas Saracenos Solare labels will feature in every box containing six bottles of Ornellaia 2017.

The ten Imperial and the lone Salmanazar will be auctioned to collectors on the Sothebys website in September. Profits from the event will be donated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundations Minds Eye program.

Ornellaia is currently available in more than 90 countries, distributed through traditional channels in Europe, Russia and North America; in Central and South America, Africa and Asia, the distribution is entirely managed by Negociants de La Place de Bordeaux.

About Ornellaia - http://www.ornellaia.com

The name Ornellaia is synonymous of fine winemaking and an authentic expression of the beauty of Tuscany. The estate is situated along the Tuscan coastline, a short distance from the medieval town of Bolgheri and the iconic cypress-lined approach. Ornellaia Bolgheri DOC Superiore and Ornellaia Bianco are the estates top wines, ensued by the second vin Le Serre Nuove dellOrnellaia, Le Volte dellOrnellaia and the white Poggio alle Gazze dellOrnellaia. In little over thirty years (the first vintage of Ornellaia was in 1985), the teams dedication accompanied by optimal soil and microclimate have resulted in critical acclaim and public success within Italy and internationally.

About Vendemmia dArtista

Vendemmia d'Artista celebrates the exclusive character of each vintage of Ornellaia. Since the initial release of Ornellaia 2006, Ornellaia has commissioned an internationally-famous contemporary artist to create a work of art for the estate and a series of limited-edition labels, inspired by the character identified by the Winemaker and Estate Director, Axel Heinz, to describe the particular characteristics of the new vintage. 111 large formats, of which 100 3-liter Double Magnums, 10 six-liter Imperials and a nine-liter Salmanazar, are sold or auctioned off by Sothebys Wine for charity.

For the 12th edition of Ornellaia Vendemmia dArtista Tomas Saraceno invites us to reflect on the impact of our actions on the planet as he interprets the character Solare (radiant) of Ornellaia 2017. The artist has created a site-specific masterpiece for the Estate, customized a limited series of 111 large format bottles, and designed a special label that, a single example of which, will be found in each Ornellaia case containing 6 bottles of 750 ml.
I didnt just wake up one day and decide to go after a sitting president, she told the British publication the Daily Mail in 2017, in one of her few interviews. Clinton sees women as a sort of enormous smorgasbord. . . . He was the leader of the free world and she was an intern, a kid, who happened to be extremely emotionally young for her age.
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The Danakil Depression is so other-worldly that scientists use it to study the possibility of life on other planets.

It's been called one of the most alien places on earth  a "gateway to hell" and, in the words of British explorer Wilfred Thesiger, a veritable "land of death." The sulfurous hot springs, acid pools, steaming fissures and salt mountains of the Danakil Depression resemble scenes from a science fiction movie. But the area is very real  and it's one of Ethiopia's top attractions. One of the hottest places on earth (by average daily temperature) as well as one of the lowest (over 400 feet below sea level), the Danakil Depression entices three main types of people to the area: salt miners, scientists and travelers. As they have done for centuries, miners travel hours  often by camel caravans  to extract salt slabs from the flat pans around Lake Afar. Salt is the region's "white gold" and was a form of currency in Ethiopia until the 20th century.

A camel caravan, with salt mined by hand, travels across a salt plain in the Danakil Depression. Carl Court

Scientists are attracted to the conditions. In the 1960s, the area was used to study plate tectonics, but more recently astrobiological exploration is the larger scientific draw. In the spring of 2016, researchers from the University of Bologna, Italy's International Research School of Planetary Sciences and Ethiopia's Mekelle University studied whether microbes can withstand Danakil's scorchingly inhospitable environment (it turned out they can). Scientists wonder whether if extremophiles, as they are known, can survive there, they can survive on Mars too.

Erta Ale's interior lava lake is one of only eight in the world. SeppFriedhuber

Travelers are lured to the Danakil Depression for an altogether different reason. It's a sweltering, foul-smelling, punitive place, which is exactly why people cross continents to see it. Despite its intensity, those who make the trek give it stellar reviews. The sulfur springs of Dallol are a particular draw, with its stupefying shades of neon green and yellow that hiss forth from the rocky terrain. Ethiopia's most active volcano, Erta Ale (which means "Smoking Mountain" in the local Afar language) is another, with its cartoon-like molten center, one of only eight lava lakes in the world.

How the Danakil Depression formed

Danakil is part of the Afar Triangle, a geological depression in the remote northeastern part of Ethiopia, where three tectonic plates are slowing diverging. The area is large  124 miles by 31 miles  and was once part of the Red Sea. Over time, volcanic eruptions spewed enough lava to eventually seal off an inland sea which evaporated in the arid climate.

The Danakil Depression really is one of the most incredible natural wonders in the world. Henok Tsegaye Ethiopian tour guide

The Earth Observatory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center predicts that because the land is slowly sinking, it will one day fill with ocean water again. This could be millions of years in the future though.

What it's like to visit

It's blistering hot. Daily temperatures are around 94 F (34.4 C), but can reach as high as 122 F (50 C), and rainfall is scarce. Day trips departing from the town of Wikro typically start around 4 a.m. From there, a four-wheel drive convoy embarks on a three-hour journey down a windy mountainous road across the Ethiopian portion of the Great Rift Valley. Helicopter rides are also available for a speedier route. "From up above, you can cover a lot of ground smoothly and for a second, it feels as if you're truly on another planet," said Henok Tsegaye, a guide who leads luxury Ethiopian tours for Jacada Travel.

The water of Lake Karum is visible through a hole in the Danakil Depression salt flats. Edwin Remsberg

"The Danakil Depression really is one of the most incredible natural wonders in the world. It is one of the most alien places on earth, and with Ethiopia growing in popularity as a destination, we are seeing more and more travelers," said Tsegaye. It's common to see dead insects and birds around the perimeter of Danakil's sulfur springs, which Tsegaye said is likely caused by drinking the water or inhaling too much of the carbon dioxide-rich air. It's also the reason the springs have been dubbed "killer lakes." From fall foliage trips to cherry blossom season, nature's changing colors have long been a catalyst for travels around the globe. But here it's the variety of natural hues, set among a vast sea of nothingness, that truly amazes.

In the hottest, most acidic pools, sulfur and salt create a more neon yellow shade, while cooler copper-laced pools are more turquoise in color. Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us

"The mixture of yellow, orange, red, blue and green are due to the rain and sea water from the nearby coasts that seep through into the sulfuric lakes and get heated up by the magma," said Tsegaye. "As the salt from the sea reacts with the minerals in the magma, these dazzling colors begin to emerge." As the heat evaporates the water, colorful crust-like deposits develop across the land, which mix mystically with the cooler turquoise lakes in the depression.

Is it safe to see the Danakil Depression?

Compared with the hydrothermal zones in Yellowstone National Park, Danakil is hotter and more acidic. Danakil's springs are around 212 F (100 C) and have an average pH of 0.2. Compared with the average pH of lemon juice (2.4) or battery acid (1.0), it's easy to see why dipping a finger in the bubbling pool isn't advised. Proper footwear and a guide are essential. "When walking on geothermal areas, you must be careful. The salt crust is unstable, delicate and fragile," said Tsegaye. "You need to know where to go and exactly where to step."

Henok Tsegaye (center). Courtesy of Jacada Travel

It's common for armed guards to travel in your car once you reach the Danakil Depression. Several incidents of violence involving tourists have occurred over the past decade. "Previously, there was tension nearby the border of Eritrea, so they wield machine guns for your protection only," said Tsegaye.

When to go

The Danakil Depression's high season runs from November to March, when temperatures  though still in the 90s F  are slightly more bearable.

Salt, copper and cobalt create the ever-changing colors of the Dallol landscape. F.Luise
Las Vegas, NV -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2020 -- It's not uncommon for criminal defense attorneys in Las Vegas to defend gamblers who are unable to pay their casino markers. The Law Offices of Benjamin Nadig has the experience necessary to help those who may have overextended themselves while visiting a casino and are now unable to pay their casino marker in full. In fact, this firm has negotiated away millions of dollars in clients' responsibilities and has even nullified an individual clients' outstanding marker of $3 million.



A casino marker is similar to a small, short-term personal loan the casino makes to patrons so they don't have to carry large amounts of cash around while at the casino. While the first casino marker might be issued after the casino checks to make sure that an individual has the money to cover the marker, there are ways to increase the amount beyond the limit the casino initially sets.



Each marker must be paid back within 30 days of it being issued. Typically, a casino attempts to withdraw the marker amount from the individual's bank account at the end of these 30 days. If there isn't enough money to cover the marker, then the casino will send the gambler a letter explaining that the marker is still outstanding. If there's no response to this letter after ten days, then the marker gets treated as a bad check, and the case gets referred to the Clark County DA, who issues a second letter requesting payment of the marker and the DA's processing fees.



If there's no response to this letter after ten days, then an arrest warrant will be issued, regardless of whether the individual lives in Nevada. If they live out of state, then it's still possible to be arrested and transported to Nevada after a traffic stop or if the individual attempts to travel across the border.



Individuals in Las Vegas who have taken out a casino marker and aren't able to pay should contact The Law Offices of Benjamin Nadig, who is an experienced casino marker attorney in Las Vegas and believes that everyone deserves an impartial defense.



Visit https://www.benjaminnadig.com/ to find out more.



About The Law Offices of Benjamin Nadig:

The Law Offices of Benjamin Nadig represents individuals who have been charged with a criminal offense in the Las Vegas, NV area. Benjamin Nadig, CHTD is a criminal defense lawyer who has represented clients accused of sex crimes, drug crimes, DUI crimes, violent crimes, and more. He also represents clients in catastrophic personal injury matters. This firm thoroughly researches individual cases and compiles evidence so that the client can be involved as little as possible. The Law Offices of Benjamin Nadig provides free consultations 24/7. Benjamin Nadig offers appointments in his office and on-site in jails or any other location that is convenient for the individual requesting service.



For more information, please visit https://www.benjaminnadig.com/.
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Linkedin Silvester Asa (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 08:44 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bc976 3 Opinion opinions,COVID-19,coronavirus,#COVID19,#coronavirus,Christianity,religion,religious-background,religious-beliefs,church,physical-distancing Free

Just like culture, religion is dynamic, allowing it to encounter and intermingle with another, and in turn it may even produce a certain hybridity.

In Sacred Scents in Early Christian and Islam, Mary Thurlkill shows, for peoples example, mind how-scent sets and influenced lifestyles. Furthermore, scent crept into the religious sphere and fashioned religious worship. Interestingly, according to Thurlkill, the use of incense in Christian worship became widespread only after the Edict of Milan in 313, when Christianity was made the religion of the Roman Empire. Before that period, incensing was deemed a pagan practice and thus had no place in Christian worship.

We may remember an incident during the Synod on the Amazon from Oct. 6 to 27, 2019. Two men entered the church of Santa Maria in Transpontina, snatched the carved wooden images used during the synod, and threw them into the Tiber River. Some suggested that such an act of vandalism was a loud and clear message from a sector in the church that is weary of enculturation, which Pope Francis is reinforcing.

In response to this incident, Stephen Bevans wrote in The Tablet, The deliberate desecration of the Amazonian statues also rests on a historical mistake. Christians have from the very beginning made use of the concepts and icons in the cultures in which they find themselves to express their faith. Early depictions of Christ the Good Shepherd are, scholars say, based on Greek depictions of the god Hermes carrying a ram on his shoulders.

Indeed, Christianity never exists in a vacuum: It has always been in a rhythmic dance with cultures, and other religious traditions, too. Right from the very beginning, the early Christians had to grapple with the question of whether or not the Gentiles should be welcomed into the church and opted for inclusivity by welcoming the Gentiles.

Christians, who lived during the Umayyad rule and among Muslims in Andalusia, were able to create La Convivencia, thanks partly to their resilience and willingness to be in a constructive dialogue, and engaged in this rhythmic dance with the Islamic and Arabic culture wherein they lived (Maria Rosa Menocal, 2002).

Understandably, some may find such mutually enriching encounter scandalous and unacceptable. Still, others fear the danger of syncretism. But in spite of its dark history of conquests and horrible acts committed during the Crusades, and abuses of Native American culture, Christianity has always been in constructive dialogue with other cultures from time immemorial.

More often than not, Christianity adopts other cultures and makes them its own, sometimes with a decision from the hierarchy. But Christians of Andalusia demonstrated how Christianity could be resilient and accommodative in such an organic way that they were able to learn from Islam and the prevailing Arab culture for their own benefit.

Now, at this trying time of the COVID-19 pandemic, where physical distancing is prescribed, and liturgical services have been halted, the Church is showing resilience and creative fidelity once more.

In their initial response to this virus, churches worldwide still conducted their regular weekly services, making only some minor changes in their liturgy like doing away with the handshake during the sign of peace, and requiring the congregation to receive the Host by hands.

But as the situation worsened, churches halted their regular services altogether. In place of regular weekly Sunday masses at church, priests preside private masses (without their congregations). Others have broadcast liturgical celebrations through social media platforms and livestreaming for the faithful to participate from their safe abodes.

Sadly, this year is going to be the first time in Christians lives that they will not be able to attend the most elaborate and beautiful liturgical celebrations in the Holy Week due to COVID-19.

One may blame the pandemic for the disruption it brings to their normal lives. But COVID-19 has also presented us with an opportunity to be a church in a wholly new and creative way. After all, Gods love is creative. That same creative love has been imbued in the hearts of those who believe and empowers believers not to surrender so easily to the horror of the cross. Its this strong faith that has inspired Christians since the time of old to abide in God, in spite of the odds, and come out victorious.

Jesus of Nazareth has opened that possibility wide open through his life, passion, death and resurrection, which Christians worldwide solemnly commemorate during this Holy Week. Perhaps, Christians of this age must not succumb so easily to fear which COVID-19 has brought. Rather, they must learn to turn this pandemic into opportunity and blessing. We may have not been able to fully grasp the blessing this pandemic is unfolding before us now.

In his reflection, prior to the extraordinary plenary indulgence and Urbi et Orbi on March 27, Pope Francis mused, Embracing his cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity.

Like the disciples who hurdled themselves in the locked upper room out of fear (John 20:19), we might find ourselves in the same circumstance of paralyzing fear due to this pandemic. But the risen Lords word to his disciples in his post-resurrection appearances was consistently a resounding Peace. Like the disciples, we must embrace the peace the risen Lord brings.

May His peace help us conquer our fear in this world torn by COVID-19, and embolden our resolve to work together with people of goodwill, for a much better and healthier church and the world, where new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity thrive to the fullest.

***

Jakarta Catholic priest from Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) Order

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Research teams at Dublin City University, NUI Galway and the Insight SFI Centre for Data Analytics (NUI Galway) are working together on a population-wide survey to find out about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictive measures on daily life in Ireland.

The Corona Citizens Science Project is a national anonymous online survey seeking to understand how people are dealing with the pandemic and how it has impacted on their home life; working life; childcare arrangements; physical and emotional wellbeing.

The survey asks about the impact of the measures imposed by the government starting from the Containment Phase (February 29); the Delay Phase following the March 12 announcement regarding the closure of all schools, colleges and childcare facilities and the restrictions imposed on March 27 requesting people to stay at home until April 12, and including for at-risk groups, and over 70s to cocoon.

The findings will be used to contribute to informing the government response to the pandemic and to also assist in planning future measures for Covid-19 and beyond.

The survey will go live on Wednesday, April 8 and people nationwide are encouraged to fill in the questionnaire from 6.00am for a period of 24 hours. It is anticipated that the survey will be repeated again.

Dr Akke Vellinga, Epidemiologist/Senior Lecturer, NUI Galway, joint research lead said:

The response of the Irish people to the restrictive measures has been great, but are they taking their toll? This is an opportunity for the Irish people to let us know how we can help. We are calling on everyone to fill out the survey and share the link. We need your help.

Professor Anthony Staines, Professor of Health Systems, DCU and joint research lead said:

This is a unique opportunity for all Irish people to shape our Governments response to this unprecedented crisis, and start the long journey back to a more normal life, as the pandemic recedes."

The Corona Citizens Science Project follows a similar study carried out in Belgium by the University of Antwerp. The survey was conducted on three separate occasions; commencing on March 17 and gathering responses from over 1.5 million people.

Key takeaways showed that 32% of respondents had trouble concentrating; 30% were sleeping less and 42% felt under more pressure. The research team found that as the weeks progressed, the percentage levels began to increase.

The information was used to inform government policy on how well the population was responding to the measures imposed.

You can find out more and take the Irish survey HERE.
[April 09, 2020] Worldwide Express Connects Customers with SBA Relief Funding

DALLAS, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Through their relationship with UPS Capital, Worldwide Express, LLC ("Worldwide Express")  a leading provider of third-party logistics (3PL) services  is extending its support to connect small and mid-sized business customers with much-needed funding resources during these unprecedented times. "As a result of our partnership with UPS Capital and Kabbage, we are proud to offer our clients a way to easily gain access to these critical relief programs," stated Worldwide Express CEO Tom Madine. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)  part of a stimulus package passed by Congress on March 27, 2020  will provide guaranteed loans to help small businesses recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Offered through the Small Business Administration (SBA), loans are available for up to 250% of an employer's average monthly payroll, with a maximum loan of $10 million. Due to the anticipated volume of companies applying for PPP loans, many larger banks are not actively accepting new customers. Worldwide Express is partnering with Kabbage, a cash-flow technology company, to ensure small businesses without current banking relationships can apply to access funding to cover payroll, rent, utilities and other eligible debt obligations up to $2 million. Kabbage has partnered with an SBA-authorized bank. Applications are currently being accepted and over 37,000 have already been received, representing more than $3.5 billon of requested funds. Kabbage will continue to apply its technology to securely review and verify loan applications quickly, providing automated access to funding for small businesses seeking PPP loans.



Worldwide Express will continue to seek ways to leverage its partnerships in order to more broadly support their customers' growth and stability through these extraordinary times and beyond. Customers can visit the Worldwide Express website for updated news and additional financial resources. About Worldwide Express, LLC

Worldwide Express, LLC ("Worldwide Express") is a full-service, non-asset-based logistics provider offering more than 92,000 customers access to industry-leading small package, truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping solutions around the world. With an annual systemwide revenue exceeding $1.6 billion through a network of company-owned and franchise locations, Worldwide Express, combined with Unishippers Global Logistics, LLC, is the second-largest privately held freight brokerage company in the country. As the largest authorized UPS non-retail reseller in the U.S., the company is a local partner for the global supply chains of small and mid-sized businesses nationwide. This, coupled with a selective portfolio of 65+ LTL and tens of thousands of truckload carriers, provides clients with an unmatched range of options and flexibility to meet their shipping needs. To learn more about Worldwide Express, please visit www.wwex.com .

About Kabbage

Kabbage, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is a data and technology company providing small businesses with cash flow solutions. Its suite of products includes Kabbage Funding, which provides access to flexible lines of credit in minutes. To date, Kabbage has provided more than 225,000 U.S. small businesses access to over $9.5 billion of working capital. Kabbage is funded and backed by leading investors and all Kabbage Funding U.S.-based loans, including custom loans, are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-Chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC, and are subject to credit approval. To learn more about Kabbage, please visit www.kabbage.com . About UPS Capital

A financial service division of UPS, UPS Capital offers customers access to industry-leading insurance solutions, providing peace-of-mind for both parcel and freight shipping protection against loss, damage or delay. The global supply chain expertise of UPS Capital?uniquely positions them to help protect companies from risk and leverage cash in their supply chains. UPS Capital also offers small businesses with financial solutions for growth through their partnership with Kabbage Funding. To learn more about UPS Capital, please visit? www.upscapital.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/worldwide-express-connects-customers-with-sba-relief-funding-301038638.html SOURCE Worldwide Express

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Dear Prudence,

Im a biracial (mom is black, dad is white) man, and my girlfriend is white. Were both vegan, but my girlfriend is much more vocal about it. We recently went to my home for dinner. My parents arent vegan but prepare vegan food when Im home. Over dinner, my girlfriend began comparing eating vegan to the civil rights movement, which my mom found offensive. I tried explaining to my girlfriend why these comments may have crossed the line, but she gets really upset. I dont know how (or if?) I should try to talk to her about it again, and Mom refuses to talk to my girlfriend until she apologizes, and my dad sides with my mom.

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Racist Vegan

Your parents are behaving appropriately in light of your girlfriends racism, and she should apologize immediately. It is possibleeasy, even!to advocate for vegan principles without comparing black people to animals. Comparing black people to animals is racist (not maybe stumbling lightly over the line of racism, but fully fledged, fully dredged, head-to-toe, top-to-tails racist), your girlfriend was being racist, she should apologize for her racism, and she should stop saying racist things. She is free to be maximally vegan from sunup to sundown without making racism a part of it. It might also be worth asking yourself if you feel comfortable dating someone who goes so immediately and so readily to that particular comparison and who bristles at the idea of having to apologize to a black person for demeaning their personhood.

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Dear Prudence,

I am 67, and my husband is 70. Weve lived in a small condo community for the last four years. A few doors down from us is a slightly older couple. The four of us became fairly good friendsdining out, going places together, etc. The 73-year-old wife is fairly attractive and well-endowed. Ive noticed on several occasions she has done things that indicate she wants attention from my husband. She calls him the party boy and has complimented him on how cute he looks. Shes never complimented me but expects compliments herself. My husband is a highly friendly, social person. Sometimes we walk around the neighborhood, and she almost never misses the chance to be right there. She comes over frequently unannounced just to come in and talk. I feel that my privacy is being invaded unexpectedly, plus I dont like the way she is so bold and the feeling I am getting about the way she is around my husband. On his birthday last June, she made his favorite dessert and brought it over to him. The other day we started out for a walk together, but it was windy so I turned and went home. He went on. Later I found that she had complimented him and took his picture. Now for what reason would she want his picture? Am I just being immature? Can you give me advice on how to deal with this?

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Too-Friendly Neighbor

The best way to deal with this is to spend a little less time managing your neighbors behavior and a little more time talking to your husband about his. Thats not to say you have to like the way shes flirtatious with him and sometimes indifferent toward youyou have every reason to be irritated in that situation. But there are so many details about her transgressions in your letter, yet all you have to say about your husband is that hes highly friendly and social, implying that hes somehow incapable of modifying his behavior in any way, a deluded extrovert falling victim to her wiles. Thats not at all the casehes a grown man, not a naif!

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If she comes to your house unannounced and you dont want to host her, tell her, Im sorry, nows not a good time, and dont let her in. If you want your husband to know that you sometimes feel jealous, and that youd like him to draw you more consciously into group conversations or otherwise demonstrate consideration for you, then do so. You dont have to paint her as an evil harpy in order to get more support from him. My guess is that she took his picture and complimented his appearance because she enjoys light, friendly flirtation, not to break up your marriage. Youre allowed to feel piqued and ask for more attention from your husband, especially when the four of you socialize as a group, but that doesnt mean you have to consider her an enemy, either.

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How to Get Advice From Prudie

 Send questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.)

 Join the live chat every Monday at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the live discussion.

 Call the voicemail of the Dear Prudence podcast at 401-371-DEAR (3327) to hear your question answered on a future episode of the show.

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Dear Prudence,

My best friend started dating someone I used to be friends withthe friendship was long over before they started datingand I miss my best friend! The person theyre dating has hurt me enough times in the past that even seeing their name makes me feel angry, and as hard as I try to be supportive and excited for my friend (because theyre happy and thats good!), its really exhausting to keep this up, and I think my best friend can tell. I just want some way to tell them I miss them and Ill be around if their partner is ever out of the picture, but I know Ill wreck whatevers left of our friendship if I say something like that. Is there any good way to tell someone, Ill be here when you break up with your partner, but until then, dont call me?

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Playing the Waiting Game

Do you think that whatevers left of your friendship is salvageable if you dont say something? Can you imagine yourself maintaining a meaningful relationship with your best friend if they continue to date this person? What about if they move in together or get married? Does your best friend have any idea of the history between you and their partner? Have you ever had a single conversation with them about the way this makes you feel? Openly acknowledging a dynamic that youre both already perfectly aware of isnt the same thing as committing an act of wreckageits just stating the obvious. And I dont think youre going to be able to keep up this act for much longer.

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Nor do I think you should! This person wounded you deeply and repeatedly, and you cant pretend that didnt happen. Its lovely that you want to support your best friends happiness, but you cant do that at the expense of your own. At least if you have an honest, loving conversation now (remember that youre not offering an ultimatum, just explaining what you need to do for your own peace of mind) with your friend, youll leave the door open for future reconciliation. But the road youre on now seems destined to crumble.

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Help! My New Co-Worker Is a Man I Used to Bully in High School.

Danny M. Lavery is joined by Matt Lubchansky on this weeks episode of the Dear Prudence podcast.

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Subscribe to the Dear Prudence Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dear Prudence,

Im black, and my boyfriend is white and Mexican. Whenever I date interracially, I try to be sure that the person dating me isnt fetishizing black women. About a month ago another black woman I didnt know started viewing my Instagram stories. I asked my boyfriend if he knew her, since he was following her. His voice changed, and he told me she was from a college class. He sounded strange, and I had a gut feeling theyd dated. He kept lying but finally admitted that was his ex.

He said it was only a three-month relationship two years ago, that he was afraid Id think he was fetishizing me, and that he didnt want it to bother me. Hed also told me previously he wasnt following any of his exes. Im troubled because weve had a lot of conversations about interracial dating, and hes had several moments to mention it. Even though it only lasted three months, he has referenced that relationship as both toxic and one of his most important in his life. Im upset he lied about it even though I also understand. I would have been fine if hed dated another black woman beforewould probably have been glad not to have been his firstand I dont care if he does follow his exes, so Im unsure why he lied. Hes been super honest after this, but I cant help wondering if theres anything else. Any advice?

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Withholding Boyfriend

Im not surprised you cant help but wonder whether your boyfriends super honesty is super honest. It was such an odd, unnecessary, obvious lie, one that fell apart immediately, but he continued to insist it was the truth. Thats cause for concern and worth one more conversation. What was his thought process when he started lying about this to you? What did he hope to accomplish? Why did he think youd believe he was fetishizing you if he told you hed dated another black woman a few years ago? You dont have to go in as if youre interrogating him, and you cant answer these questions for him. But the person who should be figuring out how to restore trust in this situation and offering further emotional context is your boyfriend.

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Theres a lot jumbled up here thats tricky to untangle, Im concerned hes trying to spin this so its sort of your fault, and he doesnt have any real explanation for why he lied to you or any sense of how hes going to make up for that strange, painful breach of trust. Im not going to suggest you break up with him right now if you dont feel ready yet, and maybe you two can talk things out to your satisfaction. But you have a right to be confused and hurt and to expect more from him.

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Dear Prudence Uncensored

She didnt maybe cross a line. She LEAPT OVER IT while screaming racist nonsense at the top of her lungs.

Danny Lavery and Nicole Cliffe discuss a letter in this weeks Dear Prudence Uncensoredonly for Slate Plus members.

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Dear Prudence,

I am a 55-year-old white guy married for over 30 years to a woman I love more every day. We met when we were 18. She grew up in a terribly dysfunctional household where they used shame to control her emotionally. Shed cultivated a lot of secrets when we met and collected even more by the time we got married and moved away to start a life together. She asked me to swear never to tell those secrets to our two sons (who are now in their mid-20s), and I have done my best.

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Recently, during a pleasant dinner conversation, I referenced the fact that we drank in college when we were still legally underage. This was one of the secrets I wasnt supposed to tell our sons. She got very upset with me later and said she worried that now she cant trust me to keep the other secrets. I am worried that I dont even remember them all given the passage of the decades and my increasing silver moments of minor memory loss. I want to encourage her to tell these secrets so she can be free of them. None of them show her in a bad light. Its just an aftereffect of the shame she was raised with. Shes a wonderful wife, mother, professional, and friend. And I want to be free from the fear of making a mistake if I am telling a harmless story.

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Cant Remember Whats Secret

Theres a balance to be struck here between honoring a confidence even if you dont think it ought to be kept secret and encouraging your wife to let go of some of the unnecessary shame shes carried around with her over the years. Its reasonable to say both, Im sorry I forgot and mentioned our college drinking to our sons; I know you didnt want me to and I think it would be good for you to try to release some of the shame you feel over our normal, age-appropriate, nondangerous drinking habits 30 years ago. You can encourage her to reconsider how tightly she holds onto these secrets, but you wont make her feel any less anxiety if you start telling them on her behalf.

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That doesnt mean you have to swear youll go to extreme measures. Tell her about your concern that youll forget, because youve noticed more-frequent memory lapses as youve gotten older and ask for a refresher on what stories shed prefer be kept just between the two of you. (Also, when were no longer social distancing, book a checkup with your physicianIm sure youre fine, but it cant hurt to schedule regular visits.) But I think you should err on the side of honoring her confidences. Itd be one thing if this meant you had to seriously edit the entirety of your 20s or the nature of how you met, but this sounds fairly low effort. Even if you dont think they need to be secrets, it doesnt harm anyone to keep them.

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Dear Prudence,

I am a below-the-knee amputee. The type of prosthesis I wear has two different silicone components, so there are some thicker layers around my knee. I wear shorts all the time because pants put yet another layer of material and pressure on my knee. I was not in the military, but because Im a relatively fit man, people often assume I lost my foot in combat, sometimes even thanking me for my service. I always correct them. But it bothers me that they are making assumptions.

I dont mind it if a child asks about my leg because it gives me the opportunity to talk about the importance of wearing a seat belt. Ill even let them check out my prosthesis, touch it, or answer their questions, because they may not have ever seen one before. Adults are a different story. It really irritates me when theyre nosy. I dont want to talk about it. I usually just tell them the truth, that I was in a car accident, but it really gets to me that people treat me like Im some sideshow act. Im tough about a lot of things, but sometimes Ill break down thinking about what everyone must think about me if so many people just have to know what happened. What can I say that will get me out of the conversation, while also conveying the message that it is rude to ask in the first place? And am I just being oversensitive?

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Stop Asking

Theres nothing oversensitive about not wanting strangers to comment on your body or to ask intrusive questions about your prosthesis. Its the most reasonable desire imaginable! Asking a stranger personal questions about their body is a total violation of etiquette and gives you full license to respond in any way you see fit, from ignoring them completely and walking away, to saying something brusque like I dont want to talk to you. If you want them to think more carefully about just how theyve transgressed, you can say something like, I cant imagine what makes you think youre entitled to that information. Then theres the classic, My God, you must be so embarrassed you just said that out loud. You can also simply tell them: Youre being rude. Please stop it.

Classic Prudie

I went to a fairly cliquey college but developed a friendship with another girl outside of our cliques. We remained friends after college, keeping in touch almost daily via Gmail chat, despite living pretty far away. She was my main confidant leading up to my quickly-planned, very small wedding in 2010. Around that time, she began dating a former classmate/friend of ours. She was invited to my wedding but canceled due to a bout of pneumonia. I never heard from her again. I have spent five years racking my brain as to what I did wrong. I called and emailed her, but never heard anything. I was worried that something had happened to her. Recently there was a blurb in our alumni paper that she and the fellow had married. I was so happy to hear she was doing great! I would love to send her my congratulations, but I worry about intruding. Part of me is also still dying to know what happened. It must have been something I did or said, but I honestly cannot think of anything.
Thanks to the passing of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, about 145 million Americans will receive stimulus checks to help them stay afloat during the pandemic, but some will have to wait longer than others.

Nearly 115 million Americans who filed their taxes last year will receive their stimulus check via direct deposit into their bank account by April 14 at the latest, according to the Washington Post. But $30 million will be mailed to residents in the form of paper checks and won't be sent out until April 24. Some checks may not reach Americans until September.
Medical leaders have warned sick patients not to avoid getting help from the NHS after a huge drop in the numbers of people attending A&E departments sparked fears some could die without care.

In March, the number of people going to their local emergency department fell by 600,000, or 29 per cent, compared to same month last year, the lowest number of attendances since 2010.

While the NHS has battled for years to reduce the number of people going to A&E for unnecessary reasons, the sudden fall during the coronavirus outbreak has worried officials that the pandemic could be deterring people who have genuine need and who could become sicker or even die as a result of staying away.

NHS Englands monthly statistics, released on Thursday, showed 1.5 million people attended A&E departments in England in March compared with more than 2.1 million in March 2019. These numbers had been rising year on year since records began.

In a joint statement, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) warned patients not to avoid seeking medical help when they should.

It said: During this Covid-19 pandemic it is vitally important that patients and the public recognise that they must continue to seek medical assistance if they have symptoms which cause concern, or they already are being treated for a serious health condition.

The risk of developing other serious or life-threatening conditions remains unchanged and people must be fully confident that they can, and should, seek medical assistance if they are worried about themselves or a relative.

While many routine appointments and operations have been cancelled, NHS hospitals have reconfigured their wards and buildings to segregate coronavirus patients from others and to provide treatment separately where possible.

The AoMRC added: We know from previous epidemics that there is a danger of increased harm and deaths from issues that are not related to Covid-19 because patients have not sought treatment for other urgent or serious health problems.

Not seeking help when it is really required may place your health, and even your life, at risk. Deterioration of your condition will be worse for you and could place additional burden on the NHS.

The president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Katherine Henderson, added: We are concerned that this drop in attendance may mean that people with serious health problems are avoiding going to their emergency department for fear of getting coronavirus.

But do seek medical help if you need it  dont stay at home with a heart attack out of fear. Our emergency departments have specific areas for Covid-19 patients, and we treat other ailments in another part. Our healthcare system is still open for business and you will be seen.

The UKs chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned of the effects of indirect deaths as a result of the pandemic, which he said included not only deaths from the health system being overwhelmed but also deaths as a result of postponed or cancelled healthcare and the long-term socioeconomic effects of the lockdown on peoples wider health and wealth.

Concerns have been raised that the inequality of the lockdown restrictions disproportionately affects those on lower incomes, in the service industry and who live in dense housing without open spaces.

NHS Englands medical director Stephen Powis said at the Downing Street press conference yesterday that anyone with symptoms of a stroke or heart attack should seek emergency help.

He said: You should be seeking emergency services just as you always have done. They are there for you, and, although we are focusing on coronavirus, its important we continue to focus on other emergency conditions.
Ask for a specification sheet that enumerates all the materials and finishes throughout a home. If you are unable to obtain one (such lists are more common for new construction than resales), request a copy of the homes listing on the local multiple listing service, or MLS.
EDWARDSVILLE  Even though it may take a year or more to get a verdict, the Edwardsville City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing intervention in four commercial property tax cases.

Home Depot, Planet Fitness, Kohls and Cedarhurst have all requested reductions in their assessed valuations of real property.

City Attorney Jeff Berkbigler appeared at the Madison County Board of Review to contest the equalized assessed valuation (EAV) reductions to protect the citys revenue interest in the EAV and promote equity among other taxpayers. The four appellants appealed the decision of the board of review to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB). The tax years involved range from 2016 to 2019.

Dave Courtney, assistant superintendent for District 7s business operations, confirmed the districts involvement.

The board had previously approved a standing resolution authorizing Attorney Rob Jackstadt to intervene in these appeals on behalf of the district, he replied via email Wednesday.

Their EAV is going up, so their taxes are going up and they want to protest this to bring their taxes down, which would be bad for us, said Alderman Art Risavy Tuesday.

Their EAV hasnt necessarily gone up; they just think theyre overtaxed, clarified Berkbigler before Tuesdays vote. I disagree with their positions, thats why Im requesting to intervene.

He said the city had a hearing before the Madison County Property Tax Appeal Board and came up with valuations that were the same or less than they were in the past, but the appellants want a 33 to 50 percent reduction in their assessed values.

All of these except for Kohls are seeking in excess of a $500,000 reduction in their assessed value, which would be $1.5 million in their market value. Kohls is seeking a $335,000 reduction, which is about a $1 million reduction in market value.

If any of these were justified or equitable, I wouldnt be appealing, Berkbigler added. I think these are unfair to the remaining taxpayers.

Alderman Craig Louer wanted to verify that if the city contests these and loses, it would not impact the amount of property tax the city receives but it would mean that other taxpayers would have to make up the difference. Berkbigler and City Clerk Jeanne Wojcieszak affirmed that.

The state PTAB is a quasi-judicial body created in 1967 to provide an unbiased forum for taxpayers and taxing bodies outside of Cook County that are dissatisfied with property assessments. In 1997, PTABs jurisdiction was expanded to include all Illinois counties.

Home Depot has an EAV of $1,569,600; the company claims it is $1,003,510.

Thats a $566,000 reduction, Berkbigler said last week. We had an appraisal done on Home Depot about three or four years ago and it was at $6.5 million, so we believe that theyre trying to way undervalue this. Understand that EAV is roughly one-third of market value.

Kohls has an EAV of $2,047,820; it claims the EAV is $1,712,190.

Kohls appeals about every year. We had this appraised at around $7 million three or four years ago. Theyre saying that their property is only worth about $4.5 million, which I disagree with vehemently but theyre basing it on the dark box theory. We recently settled with Kohls last year at the $2 million amount, so its frustrating that theyre coming back to the board, Berkbigler said.

The dark box, or store, theory suggests commercial properties should be appraised and valued the same whether they are open or closed. It favors appraising all big box properties as if they were vacant or dark to calculate property value.

They use different methods for their evaluations, Berkbigler said of the corporate retailers. Most of the time they hire a private expert appraiser who comes up with arguments on how to reduce the value of the property based on dark store comparables throughout the state. Some of the stores they use are 300 miles away, in the suburbs of Chicago, which really arent comparable to Madison County or Edwardsville.

He cited different scenarios for the other two appellants.

Planet Fitness has an EAV of $1,740,130; the company says its $1,168,667.

Planet Fitness is a new building obviously, but they want a reduction of $571,460, Berkbigler noted last week. Planet Fitness just thinks theyre too high because theyve got a building on a hot piece of property that they paid a lot of money for and its a brand new, two-story masonry building with a lot of square footage, he said Tuesday.

Cedarhurst has an EAV of $1,074,720; the company disputes that, claiming it is really $544,875.

Cedarhurst wants to compare itself to the nursing and rehabilitation centers in town, he said Tuesday. And not an upper-end memory care facility, so their comparables are off in my opinion.

If the city did not intervene, Berkbigler said the total EAV reduction would be close to $2 million and the citys share is 1.45 percent or $29,000 a year. Mayor Hal Patton said the city has engaged in this type of case previously.

These are four good cases for us to fight against, said Patton. If you look at Planet Fitness alone, would you be willing to buy their building for $3 million? Of course, thats a discount; they wouldnt be willing to sell it for that. Thats the other way you put the truth to this.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735
Yves here. This post is literally morbid, but it still seemed important, given that Id had one worldly colleague in New York City express incredulity that hospitals were having to use refrigerator trucks to store bodies of the coronavirus dead. She seriously thought the idea that medical centers (and presumably the citys morgues) had run out of places to cold-store corpses struck her as media scare-mongering.

By Ahmad Samarji, Associate Professor of Forensic Science Education & STEM Education and the Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Phoenicia University. Originally published at The Conversation

Ahmad Samarji, a Lebanon-based scholar of forensic science, reports on the extraordinary challenges facing coroners and pathologists in outbreak zones, where governments have to take very limited but essential choices to avoid a dangerous pileup of dead bodies. This Q+A has been edited and condensed for publication.

What is the role of forensic pathologists in a pandemic?

Forensic pathologists are physicians who integrate law and medicine to determine the cause, mechanism, manner and time of a persons death. Their everyday work has important legal, social and economic consequences for family members of the deceased and for the larger community.

During a pandemic, forensic pathologists are heavily involved in managing the crisis, either within their local communities or as part of a humanitarian mission working with vulnerable communities abroad.

Their role in these extremely challenging times is to ensure the proper management of dead bodies, minimizing the spread of the virus, and to guide authorities, hospitals and funeral directors about the dos and donts of dealing with these bodies.

There is a general assumption in medicine that dealing with the deceased does not require the same urgency as working with an acutely ill patient, and normally that is true. However, in a pandemic like COVID-19, large numbers of the dead can quickly exceed local capacities if not managed in a timely manner.

With highly infectious diseases, it is urgent that the post-mortem procedures  from death, examination, certification, registration and release of the body to safe cremation or burial  flow as properly and smoothly as possible.

Are the bodies of COVID-19 victims infectious?

While a lot is known about the coronavirus family, much is yet to be understood about the transmission modes and effects on the body of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. We dont know whether human remains are infectious, but the likelihood is high. So forensic pathologists around the world are urging governments to restrict viewing and handling of the body after examination is completed.

During the Ebola epidemic  which claimed around 11,300 lives in West Africa between 2014 and 2015  handling of the dead was one of the main modes of transmission of the disease. So one of the lessons forensic humanitarians took from this experience  which is now being applied to coronavirus  was that untrained first responders should not be involved in handling human remains during outbreaks of highly contagious diseases.

Are cities with coronavirus outbreaks able to manage the dead safely?

With the death toll from coronavirus projected to exceed many hundreds of thousands worldwide, governments everywhere are scrambling. But health systems that have planned for pandemics  and allocated sufficient resources to manage them  seem to be in decent shape.

My colleague Dr. Ralph Bouhaidar  a consultant forensic pathologist at the University of Edinburgh  told me that in addition to spending long hours in the Edinburgh City Mortuary, he is closely collaborating with prosecutors, police, funeral directors and hospitals across Scotland to review, assess and update existing procedures for managing excess deaths in a pandemic.

Dr. Bouhaidar emphasized that an appropriate COVID-19 response does not emerge from a vacuum. Rather, he said, proper management of the dead is the result of cumulative work and planningto have an understanding of local capacities and study our resilience in dealing with such possibilities, whilst liaising nationally and internationally with colleagues to share knowledge and experiences.

So far, with 4,565 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 366 dead, Scotlands hospitals and morgue are not overwhelmed.

But there are grim reports from hard-hit cities  like New York and Guayaquil, Ecuador, for example  of coronavirus patients dying so fast that bodies are just piling up. Both cities are considering digging mass graves.

When national plans for managing dead bodies in pandemics are exhausted, it leads to the piling up of bodies, issues with storage and refrigeration, and decomposition. That, as a result, increases risk of infection across the community.

Under such conditions, local and federal governments have very limited  yet essential  choices to handle the volume of bodies.

They should allow for the certification of medical deaths due to COVID-19 by the treating clinician, without the need for a post-mortem examination, to enable a swifter flow of the deceased within the system. They must also set up temporary mortuaries big enough to accommodate thousands of bodies. British authorities, for example, are building a special COVID-19 mortuary at the Birmingham Airport to accommodate 12,000 bodies. And, yes, they may need to excavate mass graves.

All this must be done while ensuring a dignified burial for the bodies and proper labeling of the graves as required by international humanitarian law.

What dangers does the COVID-19 pandemic present for forensic scientists?

Despite all protective measures, forensic experts are at constant risk of exposure to this deadly virus. And when pathologists in hard-hit areas contract coronavirus, it intensifies a vicious cycle.

They must absent themselves from work for at least 14 days, and some will die. This worsens an already miserable situation with the handling of dead bodies and, as a result, threatens the health of the entire community.

Forensic scientists from the Red Cross are being sent into refugee camps, war zones and overwhelmed cities on humanitarian COVID-19 missions to provide pandemic assistance. In these places, the risk of contagion is even greater. The morgues they work in there most likely face shortages of staff with expert skills and appropriately equipped mortuaries.

Generally speaking, the forensic examination of a dead person doesnt require highly complex equipment and machinery compared to other health specialties. Pathologists just need appropriate storage, personal protective equipment, basic dissection tools and specimen collection material.

But our work falls within a larger chains of events. Hospitals must have the capacity to identify the person, determine their cause of death, physically dispose of the body and work through the various legal complexities that these cases attract  and to do so swiftly.

You mentioned how forensic scientists learned about Ebola on the job. What are we learning about coronavirus thats aiding the pandemic response?

The lessons from Ebola were reflected into the revised Management of Dead Bodies following Disasters manual, published in 2016 by the World Health Organization and International Committee of the Red Cross, that is now aiding governments and first responders worldwide in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, cross-disciplinary research is underway about COVID-19 that connects the knowledge of forensic pathologists with that of clinical medical practitioners, virologists and biochemists.

In Italy, for example, a study published March 26, led by 25 health professionals across fields, warned health care professionals and morgue staff about specific risks in handling COVID-19 patients and provided guidance for autopsies of suspected, probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Such work, when replicated and carried out across various research teams and countries, will greatly assist in managing this global crisis, formulating an effective treatment plan  and potentially creating a vaccine.
A group representing childcare providers has criticised the Department of Children and Youth Affairs for what it calls its utterly entrenched and uncommunicative response to the Covid-19 crisis.

The Federation of Childhood Providers wrote to its members in recent days, saying it still has no clarity on any emergency funding from the Government  a heavy and cruel body blow to a sector on its knees.

A scheme announced by the Department to fund childcare and early education staff in full, partially supported by Revenues refund scheme, within a week of the national shutdown is totally inadequate, the group says.

In the letter to workers, the federations chairwoman, Elaine Dunne, and its committee said: The scheme was to be released shortly, we were told. The reality was, in fact, very different.

Not only did the new scheme not cover a fraction of business overheads, but it was quickly followed by confirmation that all Department of Child and Youth Affairs schemes such as the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme were cancelled, the letter said.

It claims it is still waiting after three weeks for clarity on the new scheme, and that at no point was it included in any consultation with the department.

As of April 8, it still has no clarity on funding for either paying staff or to keep premises going to ensure they are open for children once the pandemic crisis subsides, the letter said.

Communication between the Department and representative groups is nil.

As much as they didnt listen to us in the past, they are now utterly entrenched and uncommunicative, it said.

In early February, over 30,000 marched through Dublin to protest about a sector that was on its knees.

Service owners and staff came together with a common voice. Not only was this voice not heard, but as the corona-virus has hit, a sector on its knees has been dealt a heavy and cruel body blow.

The least politicians could understand is that a viable childcare sector will be needed when the economy is trying to recover, the letter says.

Earlier this week, Early Childhood Ireland, another body representing 3,800 childcare members who support more than 100,000 children, called for an urgent update from the department on the proposed Government wage subsidy scheme.

Easter wages will be a major headache for the sector, director of policy, Frances Byrne said: Because the wage subsidy childcare scheme has not yet been introduced, thousands of childcare staff are now facing two weeks with no pay at all.

So far, their salaries have been covered by the regular State funding for childcare places, but this will cease for these two weeks because they work in services that normally close for Easter.

There was no comment available from the department in relation to issues raised by the early childhood education providers at the time of going to press.
Commentary Impoverished Myanmar Takes on an Invisible Enemy

A woman wearing a mask pedals her bicycle across the U Pain wooden bridge. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

The world is under attack. Myanmar is no exception, but the situation here could still be described as, So far, so lucky.

The enemy that all of us on this planet are facing is an invisible but deadly one: the coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19. No one is safeit is causing anguish in every country, and no government has yet come up with a perfect strategy or policy for how to tackle this virus, which isas one of the names by which it is known suggeststruly novel.

In Myanmar, the coronavirus has killed three people so far and 20 COVID-19 patients are being treated. It has sickened more than 1.4 million people in 177 countries around the world and taken over 80,000 lives, with Italy, Spain and the US the worst affected in terms of fatalities, since the first case was detected in Wuhan, China, last December.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring when it comes to this virus, which has challenged both health experts and world leaders.

On Wednesday, the confirmation of two more deaths from COVID-19 in Myanmar added to the sense of alarm among the public.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi announced the third death at the end of a teleconference she held with a trio of expertsa doctor, a leading volunteer and an administrative officer from Magwe Region in central Myanmarand which was broadcast live to the public.

Losing one person is a loss for everyone in our country, she continued. We feel sorry, but having sorrow alone is not enough. Please take the loss as a warning.

Obviously, the virus does not discriminate. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, tested positive, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being treated in intensive care for COVID-19, but in recent days the number of deaths has risen above a thousand a day, claiming large numbers of Americans, Spaniards and Italians.

In tackling this global pandemicone of the worst since the 1918 Spanish flu that killed about 50 million peoplethe world has seemed at times to be leaderless, with politicians in every country, both developed and developing, randomly shooting back at this invisible enemy. Most are still struggling even just to suppress the spread of the virus.

All governments, including those in countries with good governance, strong public health care systems and abundant resources, are reacting ad hoc. That is understandable, as this virus is an unknown quantity.

A countrys wealth doesnt seem to affect the virus ability to penetrate its society. Look how terribly the people of the US and other rich countries in Europe, including Britain, are suffering.

Again, our impoverished Myanmar is still luckydoubly so, given that it shares a 2,220-kilometer-long border with China, the country in which the virus first emerged.

That geographical fact led some observers to misread Myanmars situation (again, so far). In mid-March, when the country had yet to report any COVID-19 patients, some Myanmar watchers decided the country must have had undetected patients due to the shared frontier. They assumed the virus must have penetrated Myanmar from across the border.

In fact, that has not been the case. Of the 23 cases recorded so far, 15 were imported from France, the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea and Thailand. The other eight were locally transmitted.

Among the possible reasons is that Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, does not border Myanmar and Myanmar doesnt really have any direct business connections with Wuhan, unlike some European countries. In addition, Myanmars government suspended all flights between Yangon and China in early February. All flights from Wuhan were canceled even prior to that.

Chinas Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, has a low infection rate. On March 15, the province had just 174 cases and two deaths, while Hubei had 67,796 cases and a death toll of 3,085, according to the World Health Organization.

Many people, including the aforementioned Myanmar watchers, simply assumed that many cases would pour in from China, which is seen as the country of origin. But as the outbreak in New York shows, it doesnt always work that way.

In Myanmar, many people, including officials, were concerned that an outbreak might emerge after about 50,000 migrant workers returned from Thailand recently.

In her teleconference on Wednesday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the coming weeks will be critical, as most returnees from Thailand finish their 14 days of quarantine.

No one can discount the potential for a major outbreak in our country, though the number of confirmed cases is still low. As a poor country, Myanmar will face huge difficulties if it suffers an outbreak on the scale of New York or those that have occurred in some other countries.

One good thing is that the government has kept the public informed about the latest situation regarding the virus; it doesnt seem to be concerned about controlling the flow of information and hiding bad news that is essential for the public.

The coronavirus outbreak has even led Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to personally and publicly use social media. On April 1, she, as the State Counselor of the country, started using Facebook, the dominant social media platform in the country, to connect with the public more effectively amid the fight against the coronavirus.

In her recent speeches and videoconferences, which were broadcast on television and on Facebook, she managed to deliver her message as the countrys de facto leader to the public in an informal style.

In her videoconference yesterday, she urged the public to be careful regarding the virus but repeatedly warned that excessive worry will not help the situation. She urged each citizen to participate in the countrys fight against the disease.

Nobody can tell how long this disease will keep spreading around our globe, she warned. You can see that developed and rich countries are struggling in the fight against the virus.

Thus, the fight against the virus doesnt depend on wealth. Ultimately, it depends on our spiritual strength. We will be able to get the disease under control if everybody follows the health guidelines.

Such a communication channel between government leaders and the public is essentialnot only to keep the public informed, but also for hearing the publics views. This is participatory democracysomething Myanmar has never experienced before.

You may also like these stories:

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 8, 2020

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 7, 2020

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 6, 2020
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This hotel is set to be the most corking in Australia.

Rising in jaw-dropping fashion out of the picture-perfect Seppeltsfield vineyard, new hotel 'Oscar Seppeltsfield' - set to open in 2022 - will be 'the Sydney Opera House' of the Barossa region, according to the producer's chairman.

On first sight, some might think the eye-opening curvaceous structure looks like an elongated boot, but the architecture firm behind the $50million (25million) design insists it has been influenced by the art of wine barrel-making.

Rising in jaw-dropping fashion out of the picture-perfect Seppeltsfield vineyard, new hotel 'Oscar Seppeltsfield' - set to open in 2022 - will be 'the Sydney Opera House' of the Barossa region

The architecture firm behind the $50million (25million) design insists it has been influenced by the art of wine barrel-making.

Intro architects said: 'The form derives from the art of barrel-making, particularly the process of the curvature and manipulation of the stave.

'The design philosophy was borne watching the experienced craftsmen wield their tools, as they contort and convex each timber stave into an iconic, recognisable form  the barrel. This icon represents the many facets and complexities of Seppeltsfield history.'

The tranquil Seppeltsfield vineyard, 37 miles north of Adelaide, is one of the most historic in the country, dating back to 1851.

The hotel is named after the late master winemaker Oscar Benno Seppelt (18731963), who revolutionised the Australian wine industry

The 12-storey building will be positioned right in the middle of the Great Terraced Vineyard

The hotel is named after one of its former directors, the late master winemaker Oscar Benno Seppelt (18731963), who revolutionised the Australian wine industry.

And it's certain to be one of the region's standout features.

The 12-storey building will be positioned right in the middle of the Great Terraced Vineyard, surrounded by century-old bush vines and only a short walking distance to the Seppeltsfield tourism village.

Around 70 rooms will be offered, including suites  each one boasting a private balcony

Around 70 rooms will be offered, including suites  each one boasting a private balcony.

There will be a sky bar on the top level with 360-degree sweeping views of the Barossa. The ground floor will have a wellness day spa that includes private entry to a relaxation space and infinity pool. The hotel will also offer 'a world-class restaurant, private dining room and boardroom'.

The standards, the vineyard said, will be 'six-star'.

Seppeltsfield owner and Executive Chairman Warren Randall commented: 'Oscar will complete the grand vision of our tourism master plan for Seppeltsfield to become the most desirable epicurean destination for tourists worldwide. We wanted to create a national icon for South Australia - a Sydney Opera House for the Barossa.

Seppeltsfield owner and Executive Chairman Warren Randall commented: 'Oscar will complete the grand vision of our tourism master plan for Seppeltsfield'

The Seppeltsfield vineyard dates back to 1851 and made the 2019 top 50 vineyards ranking

Seppeltsfield is 37 miles north of Adelaide in the state of South Australia

'In 2019, Seppeltsfield was judged as one of the top 50 vineyards in the world. The addition of this luxury hotel will elevate Seppeltsfield to one of the top five vineyards in the world, in turn lifting Australia's international wine reputation.'

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said: 'I am very excited about the potential for tourism in the Barossa and across regional South Australia. This type of investment in the region will be great.'

The hotel will be a joint venture, funded by South Australian businessmen from a company called Luxury Hotels Australia.

They are speaking to several luxury hotel operators regarding the running of the hotel, for which planning permission is being sought.

Seppelstfield will offer a 99-year lease on the plot.

For more information visit seppeltsfield.com.au.
STORY LINK Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Hits 2-Week Low on Sharp UK GDP Decline

Latest Rise in US Joblessness Improves Australian Dollar Appeal

NAB Business Confidence Drop Set to Dent Australian Dollar

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The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate plunged to its lowest level in two weeks ahead of the bank holiday weekend.Marchs NIESR gross domestic product tracker cast a grim shadow over the Pound, with growth found to have contracted -4.8% on the month.Following on the heels of a disappointing -0.1% decline in Februarys monthly UK gross domestic product data this left GBP exchange rates under renewed pressure.With all signs pointing towards the UK economy experiencing a significant loss of momentum in the first quarter the risk of an imminent recession continued to pick up.All in all, investors saw little reason to favour the Pound as the Covid-19 lockdown continues to weigh on economic activity for the foreseeable future.On the other hand, the Australian Dollar found fresh support in the weak of the latest US initial jobless claims reading.As the US jobless rate picked up 6.6 million on the week this pointed towards the US unemployment rate climbing to a fresh record high in the near future.Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell helped to further weaken the US Dollar, to the benefit of the higher-yielding Australian Dollar.As Powell indicated that there is no limit on the amount of support that the central bank is willing to offer the US economy the general sense of market risk appetite improved.With the Fed looking set to ease monetary policy further in order to shore up US growth investors saw little need for safe-haven assets, boosting AUD exchange rates.Even so, the mood towards the Australian Dollar could easily sour once again if Marchs NAB business confidence index dips as forecast.A deeper decline in negative territory would not bode well for the outlook of the Australian economy, suggesting that businesses see little cause for confidence at the end of the first quarter.As long as markets see reason to bet on the possibility of a more severe slowdown in the Australian economy AUD exchange rates could struggle to find any traction.However, if sentiment shows a smaller deterioration than forecast on Monday this could help the Australian Dollar to hold onto a stronger footing against its rivals.Lingering global anxiety over the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak may still put a drag on AUD exchange rates for some time to come, though, as the economy remains on track for a recession.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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" " The flying aircraft carrier USS Macon above New York City in 1933. Universal History Archive/Getty Images

When the 20th century was still in its teens, the U.S. Navy began designing a daring new strategy. It built a series of lighter-than-air dirigibles to scout the skies, and carry and deploy biplanes on reconnaissance missions. From nose to tail, these enormous blimps were as long as a 60-story skyscraper is tall.

And by 1931, the USS Akron was aloft. The United States of America's first flying aircraft carrier came equipped with crews that numbered close to 100. The massive blimp included the usual comforts, such as sleeping barracks and restrooms. Individual hangars could stow up to five fixed wing biplanes on board. And because its balustrades were filled with helium to give the ship lift rather the highly flammable hydrogen, the Akron even had fully functional cook stoves with open flames.

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The single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplanes that "parked" at this blimp were snatched out of the air by a trapeze affixed to the dirigible, and attached to what served as the blimp's landing gear. Take-offs were no less risky; the trapeze dangled the airplanes as they roared into flight.

" " A Curtiss Sparrowhawk biplane docked on the underside of the USS Macon in 1932. US Navy/Interim Archives/Getty Images

The USS Akron was in service for two years, much of that time undergoing repairs and trial flights. In one such demonstration, it traveled from Lakehurst, New Jersey, to Sunnyvale, California. Along the way, a stop at Camp Kearny near San Diego turned tragic when three sailors became tangled in the ship's mooring lines as it lifted unexpectedly. Two of the soldiers fell to their deaths, a sight memorialized on film and shown in newsreels at American theaters.

Later Akron flights included patrols of Cuba and the Panama Canal. Then, on April 4, 1933, the dirigible encountered severe weather and crashed into the ocean off the New Jersey coast. Of the 76 people on board, only three survived  one of whom went on to captain the Navy's next flying aircraft carrier, the USS Macon.

When Akron survivor Lieutenant Commander Herbert Wiley took the helm of the USS Macon, he controlled an airship larger than its predecessor. The Macon also had a singular mission: monitoring what the Navy perceived as an increased threat in the Pacific.

" " An interior shot of the USS Akron during construction. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

The US Navy was eyeing Japan, which had been quickly building up its military, and used some its most advanced technology at the time  the dirigible  to increase the distance biplanes could travel on scouting missions. However, on Feb. 12, 1935, the USS Macon also ran into severe weather off the California coast, lost control and slowly sank toward the ocean.

The slow descent gave the Macon's crew enough to time to don lifejackets, although one crew member died by jumping into the ocean from too high a distance, and another drowned after swimming back into the galley of the sinking airship to retrieve some personal belongings.

" " The flying aircraft carrier USS Akron above New York City in 1932. MPI/Getty Images

What's perhaps most remarkable is that, according to Navy historians, had the USS Macon been in service in 1941, it may have sent warning of the Japanese fleet headed to Pearl Harbor. Instead, the USS Macon was the last of its kind. No other rigid, lighter-than-air dirigibles were ever commissioned for use as carriers.

The site of the USS Macon wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, and in 2015 the third and most recent expedition to map and recover a part of the fragile wreckage took place. At its current home under 1,400 feet (427 meters) of saltwater, scientists fear the USS Macon and its biplane cargo will soon be gone forever. Check out this video of the most recent exploration:

Now That's Interesting At a length of 785 feet (250 meters), both the Akron and the Macon were 20 feet (6.1 meters) shorter than the ill-fated Hindenburg passenger airship.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Over the past several weeks, scientists across the country have announced encouraging developments in the quest to discover a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

On April 2, the University of Pittsburghs School of Medicine announced a vaccine to combat COVID-19 has shown promising results in mice. Days earlier, the U.S. government and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson committed more than $1 billion to a vaccine co-developed by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

The announcements offer glimmers of hope to millions of Americans living under stay-at-home orders as the coronavirus death toll rises across the country. They carry an important caveat, though, because experts say it could take 12 to 18 months to develop and mass-produce a vaccine for the public.

The process of developing a vaccine is complex because it involves extensive clinical trials to determine if its safe. Scientists can use other vaccines as roadmaps for developing one for COVID-19, but its ultimately a trial-and-error process, said Dr. Thad Stappenbeck, the chair of the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at Cleveland Clinics Lerner Research Institute.

We have a lot of tools, and a lot of predictive algorithms, but what it really comes down to at the end of the day is you have to try it, Stappenbeck said. Some of the things were going to try just arent going to work. But I think enough things will work, and well be able to develop one or more vaccines that well roll out to the public.

The timeline offered for the coronavirus vaccine is much quicker than a typical timeframe for a vaccine. Developing an effective vaccine can take as long as 10 to 15 years due to the extensive clinical trial process, experts from the University of Marylands Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) said during a Thursday discussion sponsored by the National Press Foundation.

Only 5 to 10 percent of vaccine candidates are successful, usually, because they dont produce the desired response from a bodys immune system, said Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, the director of the CVD. Experts are hopeful the sheer number of candidates presently in production could lead to a breakthrough.

We want a lot of shots on goal right now, hoping well score with at least one of these, Neuzil said.

How does a vaccine work?

Vaccines typically introduce an inactivated form of a virus or bacteria into the body to trigger an immune response. Scientists can also use certain parts of a virus or bacteria, or their genetic material. The body responds by creating protective proteins called antibodies that latch onto the virus or bacteria to destroy them.

You basically introduce it, your bodys immune system sees it, and it will trigger an immune response that will hopefully be lifelong, Stappenbeck said.

Its unclear if a COVID-19 could provide permanent immunity to the virus. Vaccines for previous coronaviruses have offered temporary protection, so its possible people could need it more than once, like an annual flu shot.

Even temporary immunity against the coronavirus would be a welcome development, experts said, because doctors have not discovered a proven treatment.

When youre in the middle of a pandemic, youre happy to settle for six months of protection, Neuzil said.

Multiple approaches to building a vaccine

Traditionally, researchers have developed vaccines using inactivated forms of a virus. The novel coronavirus is so dangerous, though, that scientists are using other methods.

Advances in technology make other approaches possible. One method involves extracting the genetic code for the spike proteins on the surface of COVID-19. That part of the virus is most likely to cause the bodys immune system to react, experts say.

Spike proteins are kind of the business end of the virus, Stappenbeck said. These allow the virus to interact with susceptible host cells in the lungs and the gastrointestinal tract.

Moderna Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is using messenger RNA, or mRNA, to develop a vaccine. Messenger RNA carries genetic information from DNA and is used to produce proteins. Moderna is using mRNA to carry the genetic sequence of the coronavirus to the body so it can produce antibodies.

Maryland-based biotech company Novavax developed an antigen, or a toxin, derived from the spike protein. The company is combining it with an adjuvant, which makes a vaccine work better, to enhance the bodys immune response.

I think the depth and breadth of the strategies that are being taken are important because not all of these are going to work, Stappenbeck said. Developing a vaccine to a new pathogen is really an inexact science.

An exhaustive clinical trials process

Once a vaccine is created, it must go through comprehensive clinical trials before it is available to the public. Moderna and Norovax have already announced plans to test their vaccines through clinical trials.

Experts said the clinical trial phase could take more than a decade, but there are extensive efforts to reduce that timeline for COVID-19.

When we have a pandemic, we try to truncate anything, Dr. Wilbur Chen, and adult infectious disease expert with the University of Marylands CVD, said during the Thursday discussion.

During the first phase of a clinical trial, a vaccine is injected into a small group of volunteers. Scientists are trying to determine if the drug is safe, so they monitor those volunteers for any adverse side effects. Scientists also try to determine the correct dosage for the vaccine.

Once scientists determine a vaccine is safe, they try to decide whether its useful. The second phase of clinical trials involves more volunteers, so there is a more significant chance scientists could see rare side effects. If those side effects are relatively mild and the drug appears to be effective, it can move to phase three.

During the final phase, the vaccine is administered to thousands of people, to determine its effectiveness and safety.

Its difficult to say which of the promising coronavirus vaccines may make it through clinical trials. But Stappenbeck believes medical experts are so focused on developing a COVID-19 vaccine that one is bound to be effective.

Some of the early frontrunners here may pan out, or may not pan out, Stappenbeck said. So I think some of it is just letting a substantial number of these trials get going, so we can see which ones are actually going to become valuable.

Regulatory approval and mass-production

Once the clinical trials finish, the results are submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval. The process involves a new drug application, pre-licensure reviews, a license application, an inspection of the facility where the vaccine will be manufactured, and a formal presentation to an FDA advisory committee.

The FDA continues to monitor vaccines once theyre approved for the general public, in case any adverse side effects surface.

After a vaccine is approved, it must be mass-produced and shipped so it for use in the general public. That could take time, but there are efforts to speed up the process.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Health, has announced that a vaccine developed by NIH scientists could go into production before clinical trials finish. It its effective, theyll have a head-start on production; if it fails, theyll have to scrap any vaccines theyve produced.

Stappenbeck said hes optimistic that the breadth of research for a coronavirus vaccine may accelerate the timeline for administering it to the public. Even still, he said speeding up the process takes a backseat to ensure a vaccine is effective and safe.

I think it should be comforting to people that the scientific community is taking this extremely seriously, he said. A lot of the best minds in the world in vaccine development are working on this.

Theyre trying to make it as fast as possible, Stappenbeck said. But they have to still be safe.

Cleveland.com reporter Emily Bamforth contributed to this story.
Things took an unpleasant turn during the British leg of the publicity tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron for actor Robert Downey Jr. Questioned about his controversial past, the actor walked out of an interview with Channel-4s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, later calling him a bottom-feeding muckraker.

During the interview, Guru-Murthy, who had previously had a similar experience with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, said to Downey, The reason Im asking you about your past is youve talked in other interviews about your relationship with your father and the role in all of that of the dark periods you went through, taking drugs and drinking and all of that. I just wondered whether you think youre free of all of that or whether thats something

The actor cut him off and asked, What are we doing? Are we promoting a movie?, and then walked out. Later, speaking to radio host Howard Stern, Downey said he didnt have any regrets about walking out of the interview. I just wish Id left sooner, he said. He added, What I have to do in the future is ... give myself permission to say, That is more than likely a syphilitic parasite, and I need to distance myself from this clown. Otherwise, Im probably going to put hands on somebody, and then theres a real story.

Also read: When Robert Downey Jrs Iron Man co-star Terrence Howard blamed him for Marvel ouster: He took money that was supposed to go to me

Downey continued, Im one of those guys who is assuming the social decorum is in play and that were promoting a superhero movie, a lot of kids are going to see it. This has nothing to do with your creepy, dark agenda that Im feeling, like, all of a sudden ashamed and obligated to accommodate your weirdo sh*t.

Guru-Murthy defended his line of questioning. When Robert Downey Jr.s PR man rang up asking what we wanted to talk about, we said we had no particular agenda but would ask about the new Avengers superhero movie and his recovery from jail and drug abuse to Hollywood stardom, he wrote in the Guardian.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
There have been three suspected Coronavirus cases reported at the Yendi Municipal Hospital in the Northern Region.

Confirming the reports to Citi News, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ayuba S. Abdulai said samples have been sent to Kumasi for testing.

Two of the suspected cases are a married couple.

The man had reported to the hospital with cough and upon interrogation, he said the wife had travelled from Accra, through the Volta Region, to see him.

His wife was also exhibiting symptoms of the virus.

The third suspected person is an elderly man from a suburb of Yendi who was also exhibiting some symptoms.

Health workers got wind of his condition and went to take a sample from him, which has also been sent to Kumasi for testing.

The three are currently being monitored by health professionals under self-isolation at their various homes.

There is an uneasy calm in the area over the issue.

Dr. Ayuba, however, urged the residents to remain calm saying the hospital had their interest at heart.

People should be calm. The hospital is doing all it can to make sure that we are safe as health workers and the community is also safe, he said.

Ghana has recorded 313 cases of the virus with six deaths.

The Greater Accra Region has most cases with 274 followed by the Ashanti Region with 25, Northern Region with 10 and Upper West Region, Eastern Region, Upper East Region and Central Region with one apiece.

---citinewsroom
Since then, 3D printing has been introduced in other programs and is used by the Baja, Formula, and Hydraulic Bicycle teams as well as for numerous student and lab projects. Over the past several years, 3D printing has helped many students create interesting and useful projects, greatly enhancing their learning experience. Industry uses 3D printing more and more, making these students ideal candidates for a variety of new jobs.
Limited storage for refined products has forced BP to cut the refinery rates at its three largest refineries in the United States to 80-85 percent as fuel demand is crumbling amid lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the refinery operations.

Sources told Reuters last week that BP has reduced refinery run rates at its 430,000-bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana, the 242,000-bpd Cherry Point, Washington, refinery, and the 155,000-bpd in Toledo, Ohio, refinery, due to low demand from U.S. consumers.

Oil majors began to reduce refinery run rates across the U.S. at the end of March when states began to take measures to flatten the curve for the number of coronavirus cases. U.S. oil supermajor ExxonMobil has reduced the run rates at its second-largest refinery in the United States, Baton Rouge in Louisiana, after slumping fuel demand filled storage tanks, sources with knowledge of the operations at the 502,500-bpd refinery told Reuters last month.

Despite the low gasoline prices, demand for fuel in the United States, and across the world, is taking a major hit as people are asked or ordered to stay at home as countries grapple with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Oil demand in the United States is set to tumble over the following weeks, as cities are under lockdown, non-essential businesses and services are closed, and people are asked to work from home wherever possible.

Meanwhile, gasoline inventories in the United States continue to climb, along with crude oil inventory builds. During the latest reporting week, to April 3, U.S. oil inventories swelled by 15.2 million barrels, the EIA said on Wednesday, a week after reporting the largest oil inventory build since 2016. The EIA also reported gasoline inventories had increased by 10.5 million barrels and distillate fuel inventories had added 476,000 barrels. This compared with a gasoline inventory increase of 7.5 million barrels for the previous week and a distillate fuel inventory fall of 2.2 million barrels.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Wanda Health Logo We help providers, payers, and government entities care for their patients while simultaneously protecting doctors and care team members from the COVID-19 virus." Bill Bassett, President Wanda Health

Wanda Health announces the addition of two new provider partners adding thousands of patients being supported by the companys COVID-19 Telehealth programs. The Wanda Health programs are helping to provide symptom screening and remote care management for their vulnerable patients while simultaneously reducing the risk of exposure to their medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telehealth and remote patient management have been successful strategies deployed in our care management model, said Dr. Yeeny Gonzalez, CEO at PCP1st. The COVID-19 Telehealth and chronic care programs unique to Wanda Health, allows us to rapidly expand the scope of pre-symptom screening preventing the spread of the virus and ongoing care management for those who have been diagnosed with the virus.

The first provider is PCP1st, a Florida based experts in delivering customized care management for CINs, ACOs, MSOs. The second provider is Washington based Lake Chelan Community Hospital and Clinics providing care for patients in rural communities. These providers are using the COVID-19 Telehealth programs and Wanda Healths other chronic disease management programs, to help extend their ability to readily provide patients and quarantined individuals with automated symptom screening and remote ongoing care management for those who are symptomatic or have tested positive to the virus.

The patients and families we serve are unique in their care needs since many of them are remotely located and have challenges getting to our clinics or hospitals on a regular basis. The COVID-19 virus has exasperated an already challenging situation and telehealth is the solution for us, stated Ray Eickmeyer, Director of EMS at Lake Chelan Community Hospital and Clinics. The Wanda Telehealth programs for COVID-19 and ongoing chronic care management will improve our ability to care for patients and keep them safer and healthier at home.

Its our responsibility to help providers, payers, and government entities expand their ability to protect and care for their patients while simultaneously providing a means to protect doctors, nurses and care team members from the harm that can come from increased exposure from the COVID-19 virus, stated Bill Bassett, President of Wanda Health. Our telehealth system is proving successful in helping doctors rapidly screen, evaluate, support, and manage the expectations of their patients and families. We are very proud to support these providers who are helping to flatten the curve.

The COVID-19 Telehealth care programs from Wanda Health, follows CDC symptom guidelines, to deliver automated, personalized Daily Health Checks to patients via landlines, Interactive Voice Response, Texts, and the CareLink App. The COVID-19 Telehealth Screening program is used to proactively screen for primary symptom indicators of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Telehealth Virus Management program helps doctors reassure patients and supports identifying those who have contracted the virus. Any health care provider, payer, hospital, clinic, and local state or Federal government entities involved in combating the COVID-19 virus can reach Wanda Health to learn more by emailing us at info@wandahealth or call 206-472-5584.

About Wanda Health. (http://www.wandahealth.com)

Wanda Health is putting the power of artificial intelligence into the hands of physicians, nurses, and patients to drive better care, increase satisfaction, and improve the bottom line. Our leading telehealth platform combines predictive analytics, advanced behavioral sciences, patient engagement and telehealth into a clinical decision support and care management platform that reduces adverse events and improves adherence. Our customers are experiencing reductions in unplanned rehospitalizations and emergency department visits, increased patient adherence, added revenue and reduced costs of operations.

About PCP1st (https://www.pcp1st.com/ )

Providing healthcare solutions for CINs, ACOs, MSOs and individual healthcare provider offices by developing customized programs designed for specific needs in order to achieve value-based goals.

About Lake Chelan Community Hospital and Clinic (http://www.lakechelancommunityhospital.com/)

Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics (LCCHC) is a licensed 25-bed Critical Access Hospital with supporting clinics in Chelan, Washington and has been serving the Lake Chelan Valley for over 70 years. LCCHC is equipped with a 24-hour emergency room, surgical center, and inpatient services, speciality care clinic and a family medicine care clinic in downtown Chelan. Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics is a vital component in the health care network that extends throughout the state and beyond. The family physicians, surgeons and care team regularly partner with larger facilities to ensure a full range of quality medical services to the Lake Chelan Valley.

For more information, additional images or interview opportunities contact:

Wanda Health

Bill Bassett

President

media@wandahealth.com

206.472.5584

PCP1st

Dr. Yeeny Gonzalez

CEO

ygonzalez@pcp1st.com

954.803.3564

LCCHC

Agustin Benegas

Communications & Outreach Manager

ABenegas@lcch.net

Office: 509.682.8525
From offering online classes and dealing with anxious parents and students over the phone to simultaneously doing household chores and fearing or facing pay cuts, the lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation has presented its own set of challenges for school teachers.

According to the teachers, parents often call them up with queries around possible fee waivers or concerns over video files sent online being too heavy or online platforms not working due to technical glitches.

Amid extended work hours, fears of pay cuts, should schools decide not to charge fees for the period or in case of a delay from the parents' end, also add to the uncertainty posed by the nationwide lockdown.

For Ella Joshi, a teacher at a private school in Delhi, a typical day during the lockdown includes recording video lectures, cleaning the house, taking live classes with students, cooking, getting back to the next class and attending calls from anxious students and parents.

"The problem is that students are also not used to this kind of learning. So we have to put in lot of effort only to deliver the lecture and giving feedback to each and every student remains a challenge. It's much easier in classroom teaching. I record the lectures so students can go back to them whenever they want, send out power point presentation for notes and then take an online session for questions and feedback," Joshi said.

"However, doing this amid all the cooking, cleaning and other household chores is a different challenge altogether. Unlike regular teaching, work hours are not defined anymore," she added.

Amita Sharma, a primary school teacher in north-east Delhi, says it is even more difficult to teach small children online.

"One can still deliver lectures and send assignments to senior children but it is very difficult to attend to primary classes' children online. There are technological hassles too and lot of parents have not been paying fees during the lockdown so we all have got 30 per cent pay cuts. It is very unfair for us as lockdown has come with similar challenges for us too and financial woes are just adding to it," she said.

While the authorities in neighbouring Gurgaon and Noida have restricted schools from asking for fees from parents, the Delhi government is still deliberating on the issue as schools here have expressed concerns over payment of salaries sans fee collection.

"We are flooded with calls from parents. We understand their anxiety as well but it is an added stress for us to answer queries like whether the fees has to be paid, what all charges can be waived. Sometimes there are calls about assignments not downloading, so there are lot of calls about issues that are actually not under our control. And all this is besides the routine which has just got hectic due to regular online classes and evaluation," said a private school teacher in Gurgaon. She did not wish to be identified.

Another teacher said, "Our school has only credited half salary this month and has assured that the remaining half would come once the fee collection is complete. Parents also have to understand here that while there is a lockdown, classes are going on as usual and it requires even more efforts than in regular classroom teaching".

Pointing out another challenge faced during the lockdown, a teacher at a Noida school said, "Sharing the hardware resources is a big issue. We have one laptop at home, my husband is working from home too and my kids are attending online classes. So, it is a daily struggle to take turns to attend to work. Also laptops are not completely equipped with the kind of technology required to attend a proper class."



"I am sending out assignments on Whatsapp but that also means that I am hooked to my phone all throughout the day because there are feedbacks, queries and much more, so there is a very limited possibility of having a proper routine and maintaining work-life balance," she added.

However, another Noida school teacher said the period would prepare better us for future challenges.

"Once we are technologically sorted and get at ease with teaching and learning this way, we can replicate the same model whenever there is a call for emergency breaks like when pollution levels are high. I experiment during my classes and advise parents to not be with the child during that," she said.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown due to a coronavirus outbreak. However, schools were closed at least a week before the restrictions were announced.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 166 on Thursday and the number of cases stood at 5,734 in the country.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,095, as many as 472 people have been cured and discharged and one has migrated, the ministry said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. President Donald Trump said he has no objection to France sending medical supplies to Iran.

"They are sending medical goods to Iran. That doesn't bother me," Trump told reporters during a White House news conference.

He was responding to a question on the call made by French President Emanuel Macron to his Iranian counterpart that Europe has started to ship the medical goods to Iran.

"Medical good?... That doesn't bother me," The Economic Times cited Trump as saying.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the U.S. has offered humanitarian assistance to Iran.
The youngest Bethlehem resident to test positive for the coronavirus is 11 months old while the oldest is 95. The average age of city residents whove tested positive is 46.

Thats according to new data the citys health bureau released Thursday tracking the 222 Bethlehem residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, April 8.

One city resident has died from the new virus and 29 people have been hospitalized. Bethlehem has an almost 19% COVID-19 positivity rate, among those who have been tested. Thats 2 percentage points higher than the states rate.

The coronavirus is definitely widespread in Bethlehem now, as it is in much of the state, said Kristen Wenrich, the citys health director.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has declared the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos as areas of concern," where officials want to open a mass testing site. There have been 33 deaths in the Lehigh Valley and 2,176 positive cases across the two-county region. Lehigh County has the third highest number of cases in Pennsylvania.

When the Bethlehem Health Bureau staffers began tracing the citys first COVID-19 positive test results, they could almost always pinpoint how a resident contracted the virus. Thats getting harder and harder to do.

The department still investigates every positive test result, notifies all close contacts of the individual and orders them to self-quarantine, Wenrich said.

Chart not displaying? Click here.

Some who contract COVID-19 have no idea or display very mild symptoms. Yet, it can be deadly to someone with asthma, diabetes or heart disease and the elderly, who often have other health conditions. Nationwide, its taken its highest toll on those 50 and older.

Bethlehems reporting a slightly overall higher hospitalization rate than the statewide rate of about 11%, but its cases arent mirroring national or state trends.

The hardest hit population in the citys actually been the 25-49 age bracket, accounting for more than half of all cases, she said. And those folks arent just seeing a higher volume of mild, positive test results. Bethlehem residents 25 to 49 years old account for nearly 38% of those hospitalized from the virus.

Both figures are well above the states 41% positivity rate and 19% hospitalization rate for the same age group.

A lower percentage of Bethlehems older residents have been hospitalized, compared to statewide hospitalization rates.

Nearly eight in 10 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 are over 50, versus roughly six in 10 Bethlehem residents over 50 whove been hospitalized.

Health officials are heartened that the percentage of new positive cases has been staying under 20% in recent days when a few weeks ago cases were doubling every other day, Wenrich said. But it is critical to stress how important it is for folks to stay home and remain vigilant.

We dont want people to get complacent, Wenrich said.

With the citys homeless shelters closed, officials are very concerned about the homeless population, which is especially vulnerable to COVID-19, she said. The citys set up portable toilets and hand-washing stations near homeless encampments.

Bethlehem is working with Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Lukes University Health Network to secure housing for homeless people who need to be isolated in quarantine, Wenrich said.

The departments staff is also responding to complaints at city worksites where employees feel they are at risk of exposure. Staff works with businesses on mitigation efforts and points them to the states guidelines for essential businesses, Wenrich said.

She noted the citys worked closely with the Walmart distribution center where at least 9 employees tested positive for the virus. The company decided on its own to shut down for a deep cleaning over the weekend. It reopened Monday with reduced shifts.

We continue to be in communication with them about their mitigation efforts at that site, Wenrich said.

The health bureau is currently working on a map plotting all of its cases by Census tract, which should be released soon. The city of Allentown, which has 802 positive cases, has already created a map.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Patients are moved from the Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside after 13 staff members fail to show up for work. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Coronavirus is continuing to take a devastating toll on healthcare workers across the state, according to new data.

More than 1,600 healthcare workers have become infected, a number of them through sources outside work, and officials say they are alarmed at the pace.

With coronavirus "moving rapidly within the community, healthcare workers now appear just as likely, if not more so, to become infected by COVID-19 outside the workplace," the California Department of Public Health said in a statement.

Healthcare workers are essential in caring for the growing number of sick people. But the state said those who did get infected needed to be isolated immediately.

Here are the latest statistics:

 299 people have acquired COVID-19 in a healthcare setting

 462 have been exposed via travel, close contacts or community transmission

 890 have been infected but their specific exposure source has not been reported

California has not seen the death toll of virus hot spots such as New York, where more than 4,000 people have died. And while the virus continues to spread rapidly in some places, including Los Angeles County, there are signs that its rate of growth could be slowing in parts of the Bay Area.

So far, hospitals have not been overwhelmed by patients.

But the toll has been grim at nursing homes and other institutional facilities, where both workers and residents have become ill.

In a bid to stem the virus spread, Kaiser Permanente announced Thursday that it would temporarily close numerous medical offices and clinics throughout Southern California.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a call for healthcare workers to join the state in caring for an expected surge of COVID-19 patients.

Newsom said he believed the state could add 37,000 healthcare workers by asking recently retired providers, those in the process of getting a medical license in the state and students enrolled in medical or nursing schools to apply to the newly created California Health Corps .

Story continues

As healthcare workers face greater risk, they are also gaining more support and appreciation in the community.

San Diego's Little Italy has made showing its appreciation a nightly ritual.

At 7:59 p.m. on a recent night, the neighborhood was eerily quiet, save for the gentle drumming of a light rainfall. Then, at the stroke of 8, it began. Whoops, clanging cowbells, loud music, bursts of firecrackers, whistles, gongs and singing poured from balconies and apartment windows. By 8:02 p.m., it was over.

Every night for the last week or so, San Diego residents have begun embracing an evening ritual that started in Europe in mid-March, then spread to the U.S. a week later. Originally launched in northern Italy to thank the exhausted healthcare workers tending to COVID-19 patients, the evening cheers have taken on added significance for local celebrants.

Sean Murray, who lives on the 21st floor of an apartment building in downtown San Diego, said he and his husband, Bill Schmidt, looked forward all day to the brief, cacophonous celebrations, which are accompanied by flashing lights in the apartment buildings that surround them.

It reminds me of the book Horton Hears a Who!'" said Murray, who co-founded Cygnet Theatre with Schmidt in 2003. In the 1954 childrens book by Dr. Seuss, a tiny city of people living inside a dust speck desperately seek contact with the outside world by shouting the words We are here! over and over.

"It started when people were thanking first responders," Murray said. "People are able to go out and cheer because these people are out there saving our lives. Its profoundly amazing.

Times staff writers Money and Fry reported from Los Angeles. Kragen writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Amid the medical fraternity racing against time for a panacea against COVID-19, which has infected a whopping 4.3 lakh Americans and claimed over 14,600 lives, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing export of Hydroxychloroquine, deemed a possible cure against the disease.

I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it, Trump told reporters at his daily White House conference on coronavirus.

In a tweet, hours earlier, Trump praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! he said.

Thank you, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight! Trump said in a tweet that son went viral. It was retweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakhs Twitterati.

By Wednesday night, more than 14,600 Americans had lost their lives due to coronavirus and over 4.3 lakhs have tested positive for the dreaded disease.

Scientists and the medical fraternity are racing against time to find a vaccine and a therapeutic solution to it.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 30 million doses of Hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Trump, in a phone call last week, had requested Prime Minister Modi to release the hold on American order of the malaria drug, of which India is the major producer. India lifted the hold on Tuesday.

India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday. India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of Hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

Indian Americans have welcomed the decision.

President Trump is a Graceful and Grateful Man. He is honest when he says that he will not forget India's gesture. He is a True Friend of India, said Al Mason, a Trump supporter.

Thank you President Trump. ! I think you are well orchestrating the compulsion of history and demand of destiny that we and India be the best of friends, joined at the hip and yet as family, free hearts and minds to love across a spectrum of emotions, but always together, tweeted Indian American attorney Ravi Batra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anil Swarup By

The nomination of Ranjan Gogoi, former Chief Justice of India, to the Rajya Sabha has set many tongues wagging. This is not the first time that it has happened to a judge of the Supreme Court. It isnt illegal or unconstitutional either. Such appointments/ nominations do, however, raise a number of ethical issues and are pertinent not only in the context of what happened in this case but also the larger issue of post-retirement engagements of all civil servants. I distinctly remember a discussion when I was Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Government of India, when an issue of financial bonds by a couple of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) came up for consideration. Both of these entities belonged to different ministries but were under the same minister and both these PSUs were flush with funds. In an informal chat with the Secretary of the other ministry, both of us agreed that there was no need to float bonds.

However, during the formal meeting, the other Secretary chose to remain silent whereas I immediately opposed the issue of such bonds by the PSU that was within the purview of the ministry that I headed. This PSU was saved from this unnecessary financial burden but the one of the other ministry continues to suffer. On the one hand, surplus cash was being sucked out of these PSUs by the Centre to plug the budgetary deficit; on the other, they were pushed into procuring expensive funds from the market. The Secretary of the other department was subsequently rewarded with an assignment for his silence on an issue where he could have or should have protected the interest of the PSU.

A large number of civil servants opt for post-retirement jobs in the government. Most of them would have worked in the government for three decades or more. Yet they prefer government assignments. This raises a number of questions, some of which are ethical in nature: 1) Should a government servant apply for a job in the government after retirement? 2) Should a government servant accept an assignment in the government after retirement? However, before we attempt to answer these questions, let us look at the reasons why a civil servant looks at post-retirement assignments. It could be on the following counts: 1) Having enjoyed the sheltered existence that a government job offers, a civil servant finds it difficult to swim in the open sea. There is a sense of insecurity that pushes him to remain in the oyster shell. 2) There are certain perks, including official accommodation, that continue to be available.

Having got used to such perks, it becomes difficult for him to give them up. 3) There could be a financial need to continue in a government job as the pension is only equivalent to half of the last pay drawn. 4) Having worked in the government for so long, there is uncertainty surrounding ones value in the open market. 5) There is a sense of satisfaction, a sense of entitlement and authority within the government. It isnt easy to give these up. One or a combination of the above factors lead a civil servant to apply for a post-retirement assignment.

There isnt anything illegal about applying for such assignments because the government itself enables and calls for applications for such assignments. There is also an additional argument. Why should the enormous talent and experience within the civil service be wasted instead of being harnessed by the government on the superannuation of a civil servant? This indeed is a valid argument. However, the key issue is an ethical one. Should a civil servant apply for such assignments after having held top assignments like Secretaries to the government? Will it not affect his conduct, attitude, objectivity and performance if he has a post-retirement carrot dangling before him? Having seen the functioning of the government from very close quarters, I have no doubt that in a number of cases it does. They start toeing the line of those who can help them obtain a post-retirement assignment in the government. It prevents officers from airing their views freely and frankly in the interest of their organisation under the apprehension that their personal interest could be adversely affected.

Their lack of objectivity (in some cases collusion) results in enormous loss to the organisation, though they benefit personally and climb the bureaucratic ladder, reach the top and even end up getting post-retirement assignments. There have been some cases where even civil servants who have enjoyed a reasonably sound reputation begin to change as they approach superannuation. Every government is only too willing and happy to reward those who play ball. The signal to other civil servants is clear. Toe the line and get rewarded. On a number of occasions these rewards are bestowed irrespective of the experience or the competence of the officers concerned. These are rewards for services rendered, not very different from a bakshish. However, as mentioned earlier, bureaucratic talent cant be allowed to go waste. It needs to be harnessed after retirement.

There are indeed a large number of civil servants who truly deserve to be and are indeed engaged by the government after they superannuate. Only the methodology of post-retirement engagement needs to undergo a change. An institution like the UPSC can be tasked with shortlisting the candidates for post-retirement assignments. The officer will then not feel beholden to the government for the assignment. It will virtually eliminate the quidpro- quo attitude that is currently the order of the day. It would be wrong not to use the services of those civil servants who have acquired enormous experience and expertise during their career. However, the criteria for their selection should be their competence and integrity and not servility and/ or allegiance. This can and should be done in the interest of better governance. (With excerpts from the authors forthcoming book Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant)

ANIL SWARUP

Former Secretary, School Education and Literacy, GoI Email: swarup8@yahoo.com
Company Establishes Guiding Principles for Its People

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today announced the establishment of a set of important guiding principles that outline the company's strong commitment to its employees' job security and peace of mind, throughout the global pandemic period. These principles encompass three key areas: employment stability, financial stability and special recognition awards.

"PMI will continue to contribute to the global response to this pandemic in every way we can. First and foremost, we will continue to support our employees and their families, and protect their safety and health. Nothing matters more," said Andre Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer, PMI. "Thanks to our employees across the world, working in factories, in the field, offices, laboratories or remotely at home, our business continues to operate as normally as possible under these unprecedented circumstances."

These guiding principles became effective as of March 16, 2020-when PMI directed most office-based employees to work from home-and will remain until the company determines that the crisis has passed or has sufficiently subsided.

Employment stability. The company will not terminate the employment of any PMI employee during this crisis period, unless for cause, and the company has also put on hold any restructuring plans.

Financial stability. PMI will continue to provide regular compensation to all PMI employees, irrespective of their ability to perform fully their professional duties during this period.

Special recognition awards. PMI employees who need to be physically present at their usual work locations (in factories, in warehouses, in the field, or in offices), as and where permitted by local regulations, will be given special recognition awards during this crisis period. Obviously, PMI will continue taking all necessary safety measures to protect those employees who are working at such locations.

"Our company is resilient and strong, and that is a testament to our more than 73,000 employees worldwide," said Charles Bendotti, Senior Vice President of People Culture, PMI. "I believe we will emerge even stronger from this global crisis, having pulled together and worked together to see each other through."

PMI's commitment to its employees is an integral part of the company's broader support for communities impacted by the COVID-19 crisis across the world.

PMI has been actively working against this pandemic since its outbreak, with ongoing and planned initiatives in more than 60 countries in which its employees live and work. These initiatives involve monetary and in-kind donations, as well as volunteer work by teams to support national and local efforts to combat the virus and help those most affected by it. The company's activities include providing protective equipment to trade partners, support to care communities, procurement support to purchase items essential to the fight against COVID-19, and financial support to institutions and NGOs working to end this crisis. In addition, PMI employees in many countries are volunteering to help elderly, low-income, and other vulnerable populations, and some of its factories are producing hand sanitizer and masks for local communities.

To date, PMI has pledged in excess of USD 24 million to support actions against the pandemic. Its support will continue to grow as PMI works to meet the evolving needs of the communities in which it operates.

Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company, and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States. In addition, PMI ships a version of its IQOS Platform 1 device and its consumables authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the United States under license. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of December 31, 2019, PMI estimates that approximately 9.7 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI's heat-not-burn product available for sale in 52 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005362/en/

Contacts:

David Fraser

Philip Morris International

T. +41 (0)79 843 8603

E. David.Fraser@pmi.com
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Dr. Fauci said on Thursday that coronavirus cases arrived in America from northern Italy 'before the country knew what was happening' as he gave a cautiously optimistic assessment that New York might have hit its peak.

Fauci, the White House coronavirus expert, appeared on Good Morning America first and then Today to give an update on the pandemic response.

He said New York City - the epicenter of the crisis - was the first hit because so many cases arrived from northern Italy, likely months ago, before the US even knew it was a threat.

The country had focused its attention on China, where the virus originated, and Trump closed the border to all flights from there early but the virus had already spread to Europe and exploded there.

'Europe became the epicenter pretty quickly after China and it really exploded with their cases.

'We cut off travel from China early and we were seeded with relatively few cases from China but quickly, it switched to Europe, particularly northern Italy, given the air traffic from there.

Dr. Fauci appeared on Good Morning America on Thursday to say he is 'cautiously optimistic' about the data in the US but that people must continue social distancing

Dr. Anthony Fauci shares the latest on the coronavirus pandemic with our @GStephanopoulos. The virus itself is going to determine the guideline. https://t.co/m2d7oAaKZP pic.twitter.com/1tzpujEwGg  Good Morning America (@GMA) April 9, 2020

'It's just not surprising that New York was seeded before they really knew what was going on and that's why they're in the very unfortunate situation they're in now,' he said.

New York has now seen more than 7,000 deaths across the state, including 4,000 in New York City.

The death toll is expected to keep rising as people who entered the hospital 10 days or several weeks ago fail to recover or come off ventilators, but the rate of hospitalization and ICU admissions is decreasing which suggests the peak has arrived.

'It's tough to tell. We very well may be there. It's looking like it's going to make a turn, but you know, I am cautiously optimistic. I think that is what's going on,' Fauci said.

Later, he told Today: 'The number of deaths and the cases that were seeing right now are really validating what we said that this was going to be a very bad week

'On the other hand, there are some glimmers of hope particularly when you look at the situation in New York.

'So even though we're seeing that increase in deaths... but what feeds that is the number of new cases. Mitigation is starting to have an effect.

Fauci said that while it was 'tough to tell', New York appears to have hit its peak and may now be on the way down. Workers at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn are shown removing bodies from the hospital on Wednesday night

'I think that is the case. You want to see several steady days. I'm always very cautious of jumping the gun but I think we're really looking at the beginning of that.'

He added that on a national scale, the data is showing that fewer people than projected are dying from the virus.

ANTIBODY TESTS ARE ON THEIR WAY, FAUCI SAYS Dr. Fauci said that antibody tests that will tell whether or not a person has had the virus and resolved it are in development. The government is partnering with private companies to ramp up production of the tests and get them to scale. Fauci said they will be ready 'very soon' - in a matter of 'days or weeks'. 'We are told by the companies that make [the tests] that [it will be] very soon theyre talking days to weeks, that wed be able to have a large number of these tests available. 'They don't tell you if you're infected, they tell you if you have been infected. That answer is very important. There may be many people out there that were infected and asymptomatic and didn't know it. 'It is likely, but we need to prove it, once you've been infected... that you are very likely protected against subsequent challenges to the same virus, which means you may have a cohort of people who are actually protected,' he said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has approved the state's own test to find anti-bodies in infected people and says he is awaiting the FDA's help to get it out to the public. Advertisement

The White House initially warned that as many as 200,000 Americans could die from coronavirus, based on projections.

That number has since reduced to 100,000 and is now sitting at around 60,000.

The decrease is 'good news', Fauci said, and is down to the fact that the projections are based on assumptions which are near impossible to get right.

'You get models to try to help you project such as the need for beds, ventilators.. but the models are only as good as the assumptions you put into the model.

'One of the assumptions was the efficacy of the mitigation that New York is doing intensely.

'The data always trumps the model so you take the data and refashion the model,' he said.

He added: 'What we need to do is make sure we don't let up on the physical separation programs.

'We got to make sure we keep our foot on the accelerator.'

Dr. Fauci said he 'hopes' April 30 will be the date the country can start to look at 'gradually' getting back to normal but that it depends on the data. '

'We hope when we get to the extended 30 days, I do hope by the time we get there, we will see the curve in that bending, which we've been talking about now.

'You should not assume that the virus will diminish because of the coming of warm weather,' he went on, adding: 'One should not assume that we'll be rescued by a change in the weather.'

Even when society resumes, Fauci said people should still be vigilant about touching one another - specifically shaking hands.

'I think at least for a while, I think we should refrain from that right now, we need to concentrate on the physical separation,' he said.

Coronavirus mostly spread to New York from Europe and was sweeping through the city by mid-February, study of genomes reveals

Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case.

Scientists say the two separate teams found travelers brought the virus mainly from Europe, rather than Asia.

Travelers likely carrying the virus already arrived in New York from Europe before the end of January when it is thought isolated cases began and President Trump banned entry to the US by foreign nationals who had visited China.

The studies examining the DNA of the virus also show it arrived in the city long before March 11, when the president announced plans to block travelers from most parts of Europe, according to The New York Times.

In mid-March travelers coming to New York from Europe, where outbreaks in Italy and Spain were already spiking, were being asked at John F. Kennedy International Airport only if they had been to China or Iran, not if they had visited the hardest-hit nations in Europe, the Times reports.

A map based on genome sequences shows have different strains of coronavirus have spread around the world, with at least eight strains being tracked

Both research teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

One of the studies detected seven separate strains of viruses that arrived in the New York City area and researchers expect to find more.

The two studies are being conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the New York University School of Medicine.

Despite examining different examples of the outbreak, researchers from both teams reached largely the same conclusions about its origins, according to specialists.

Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the Times: 'The majority is clearly European.

It was not until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities as well as imposing restrictions on mass gatherings.

Although the New York outbreak appeared to originate in Europe, the Washington state cases appear to have come from China.

Researchers found viruses in Washington, which was the first major outbreak in the US, shared mutations in common with ones isolated in Wuhan by Chinese medics.

The first confirmed case in New York came on March 1 and around two weeks later new infections began to soar.

Travel data shows 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up hardest-hit by the coronavirus outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting

Last week travel data emerged showing 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up as the hardest-hit by the outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting.

Figures from the US Commerce Department from December, January and February, which were the critical early months in the outbreak, reveal how hundreds of thousands or even millions of undetected coronavirus cases could have entered the country while medical experts remained unaware of the seriousness of the illness.

The world first heard about the virus in December, when it remained confined to China and mostly in the epicenter of Wuhan.

Beijing was accused of covering up the spread of the virus, which may have left China's borders through asymptomatic patients well before new cases were picked up around the world.

Isolated cases started showing up in Europe in late January, before the pandemic took off in Europe in February.

The travel data shows 759,493 people entered the US from China before President Trump's travel ban on 31 January.

Another 343,402 arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.

Medical experts say it cannot be known how many travelers may have been infected, but it's highly likely some were not exhibiting symptoms.

And as air travel has surged in recent years, enabling the pandemic to spread as it has, some officials suspect the virus' true impact was happening sooner than they realized

Trump has been criticized for not rolling out a widespread testing program when cases began spiking in the US.

At least eight strains of the virus are being tracked by researchers around the world, using genetic detective work to show how the virus spreads.

The virus appears to mutate very slowly, with only tiny differences between the different strains and that none of the strains of the virus are more deadly than another, experts say.

They also added it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

Scientists also said that despite conspiracy theories falsely claiming the virus was made in a lab, the virus's genome shows it began in bats.

According to figures updated last night, coronavirus had infected 1.5 million people worldwide and killed nearly 88,000 people.

The US has seen more than 436,000 people infected and over 15,600 fatalities.

New York has suffered almost 160,000 cases with over 7,000 deaths.
Kerala is set to become



the first state in the country to commence convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat critically ill COVID-19 cases on a trial basis.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given its nod to the state government for the first of its kind project, initiated by the prestigious Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), a top official said.

SCTIMST, an Institution of National Importance under the Union Department of Science and Technology, is expecting to start the trials by this month end once the required approvals from the Drugs Controller of India and the Ethics committee are received.

"We have received the approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct it as a clinical trial", Director of the city-based institute Dr Asha Kishore told PTI.

"This is a form of convalescent plasma therapy. The technique is to use (blood) plasma of patients who have completely recovered from COVID-19 as it will be rich in antibodies", she said.

In COVID-19, some small studies have been done in China and United States where they had tried this treatment method -- taking the plasma of a patient who is cured and whose blood contains lot of antibodies to fight the virus, she said.

Their plasma is collected and infused into COVID-19 patients who are critically ill and whose immune system cannot fight the virus.

"We do not have strong evidence that it works. So it will be tested in the form of a clinical trial to see whether it will work or not", the Director said adding they were trying to get Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 25 lakh.

The project has been approved by the state government and five medical colleges -- at Thiruvananthapuram, Alapuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur -- and an expert form COVID clinic in Kozhikode, Dr Anoop, who will do the clinical follow up, will be participating in it.

"We will monitor the "Plasma Pheresis"-- a technique of collecting the blood of patients and separating the plasma from blood cells. SCTIMST is awaiting the approval of Drugs Controller of India (DCI) for this kind of blood donation as the stringent criteria of regular blood donation will have to be relaxed for this exceptional situation," she said.

Once the DCI approval was received, the ethics committee will be approached to give its nod, Asha said.

"We are collaborating with state hospitals, COVID cell and the institute's transfusion medicine department.So we will together conduct the study when we get approvals", she said.

This has to be a voluntary donation from the patients who have recovered from the disease.

"Their swab sample has to be clear 3 times before they are called clear and they have to wait for two weeks quarantine to be over only after which their blood will be collected for "plasma pheresis" process, the director explained.

The plasma can be collected, stored and kept and given whenever a critically ill patient does not respond to anything else, she said.

Asha said they were hoping to get the required approvals by next week after which all logistics will be arranged.

Patients who have recovered will have to be contacted, counselled, get their informed consent and bring them to blood banks in the five medical colleges.

"We hope to start by the end of this month. Their blood will be tested for HIV, Hepatitis and all procedures would be followed only after which plasma would be taken from their blood," she added.

Asked if patients had been contacted by the institute, she said, the state government has the list of the patients, and once all the approvals are received, the government would hand over to them.

The SCTIMST focuses on high quality, advanced treatment of cardiac and neurological disorders, indigenous development of technologies for biomedical devices and materials and public health training and research.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


By John M. Crisp





Back when I taught English courses to college freshmen, occasionally our class discussions would veer toward some of the dangerous challenges that face our globe, such as climate change and nuclear holocaust. These catastrophes were merely hypothetical to my young students, and in some respects they were to me, as well.







Nevertheless, as I considered the potential for disaster that haunted their future lives, I sometimes reflected on how fortunate I was to be much closer to the end of my life than to its beginning.







Now we're facing a catastrophe that is anything but hypothetical. If the coronavirus pandemic has less potential for disruption than does climate change, it has much more immediacy. People are dying right now, and many more will die before we see the far side of this disaster.







And because our nation was largely unprepared for the pandemic and the federal response has been late and slow, life-or-death scenarios that were once hypothetical are now real.







Medical supplies_especially ventilators_are limited, and doctors and nurses are beginning to face moral choices about who lives and who dies. Bioethicists are developing protocols to help them make those decisions.







The ethical considerations are too complex to develop here, but the dilemma can be easily depicted: Two patients need the same ventilator. One is young and otherwise healthy, he has a wife and two kids and he is just about to graduate from medical school. With a ventilator he has a good chance to survive.







The other one is essentially healthy, but he has a body compromised by the years that he has accumulated during the course of a reasonably long and fortunate life. His chances of surviving on a ventilator are fewer, and if he does survive, he has much less life ahead of him.







In other words, me.







The choice is less obvious than it appears, but in practical terms, doctors and nurses will not have time or energy to sort out the philosophical niceties of their decisions. I suspect I'd be out of luck.







Dan Patrick, Texas's lieutenant governor, is fine with this. In fact, he recently said that he at 70 would be willing to die to get the economy churning again and that other seniors should be willing to do the same.







I'm a few months older than Patrick. I don't necessarily share his confidence that he_or I_will feel quite so self-sacrificial when it actually comes to the point of death.







Still, his point is well taken. The life-or-death decisions that doctors and nurses will have to make should be informed by what some ethicists call a "save-the-most-lives" strategy. This will often mean sacrificing the old and infirm for the sake of the young and healthy.







So I'll take on a little of Patrick's bravado: Unless I lose my nerve, count me in; take the ventilator.







But I would like you to do me a favor though.







I've written several columns in support of physician-assisted suicide, a civilized way for people to take some control over the way they leave this world and with how much discomfort. It's not an idea that Americans take to readily.







In fact, I suspect that Lt. Gov. Patrick doesn't believe in physician-assisted suicide. But when an official of his status suggests a rationale for letting the old die in favor of the young, he is obliged to consider the wishes of those he is so readily willing to sacrifice.







Many people fear dying more than they fear death. According to writer and physician Sherwin Nuland dying is rarely a peaceful passage. More often than not it is a miserable, prolonged, painful event devoid of grace or dignity. And clearly suffocation is among the more dismal ways to die.







So help yourself to my ventilator and may its recipient have as long and fortunate a life as I have had. But use the IV already in place to give me a peaceful, fast passage to whatever lies beyond. My ghost will be grateful.







Certainly it's a drastic measure, but these are drastic times.







. His commentary was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.







John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, lives in Georgetown, Texas, and can be reached at jcrispcolumns@gmail.com
The most popular original Netflix shows and movies Australians are binge-watching have been revealed based on Google search data from the past year - as experts reveal their go-to watch guide for isolation viewing in 2020.

Topping the list is Netflix's original drama and horror web television series Stranger Things, which follows a group of friends trying to get to the bottom of supernatural events in their small town in the 80s, OLBG revealed.

The second most searched for movie of the past year is The Witcher, a fantasy drama series about a monster hunter who struggles to find his place in the world, followed by The Umbrella Academy which is based on a comic book series.

The most popular original Netflix shows and movies Australians are binge-watching have been revealed based on new Google search data

Topping the list is Netflix's original drama and horror series Stranger Things (pictured is Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things)

The best Netflix Australia shows right now according to the TV experts at Finder 1. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness 2. Ozark 3. Dare Me 4. Locke & Key 5. I Am Not Okay with This 6. Medical Police 7. Ragnarok 8. The Witcher 9. Dolly Parton's Heartstrings 10. Living with Yourself 11. Raising Dion 12. Unbelievable 13. The Politician 14. Mindhunter 15. La Casa de Papel 16. Dark 17. When They See Us 18. Dead to Me 19. Special 20. Our Planet 21. Turn Up Charlie 22. Queer Eye 23. On My Block 24. The Umbrella Academy 25. One Day at a Time 26. Dirty John 27. Russian Doll 28. Sex Education 29. You 30. Tidelands 31. The Kominsky Method 32. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 33. Riverdale 34. The Haunting of Hill House 35. Stranger Things 36. House of Cards 37. Master of None 38. Black Mirror 39. Rick and Morty 40. Orange Is the New Black Source: Finder Advertisement

Australia's most searched for Netflix originals in the past year SERIES 1. Stranger Things 2. The Witcher 3. Umbrella Academy MOVIES 1. The Irishman 2. Bird Box 3. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Advertisement

Meanwhile, Robert De Niro's Netflix original crime movie, The Irishman, has been the most searched film by Australians.

Sandra Bullock's post-apocalyptic thriller film Bird Box, which is about a mother and her two children trying to escape a mysterious force killing people the neighbourhood, is in second place.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which is epilogue to the television series Breaking Bad, has also proved to be hit, coming in third place.

Around the world, Stranger Things has been the most popular series followed by Love, 13 Reasons Why and Sacred Games.

Bird Box has also been the most searched movie globally followed by The Irishman and Roma.

Betting platform OLBG used Google search data to find the favourite original films and series on Netflix.

Robert De Niro's Netflix original crime movie, The Irishman, has been the most watched film by Australians

For those looking for something different. the TV critics at A Good Movie to Watch compiled a list of the best lesser-known movies on Netflix, with The Perks of Being a Wallflower coming in at number one with a staff rating of 96 per cent.

Coming in second was drama End of Watch, which was rated 95 per cent by staff, followed by The Town (95 per cent) and Warrior (94 per cent).

Completing the top 10 are Icarus (94 per cent), Lion (92 per cent), Jim & Andy (92 per cent), St. Vincent (92 per cent), Room (91 per cent) and God's Own Country (91 per cent).
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 17:25:12|Editor: Yurou

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BERLIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- German stocks continued this week's recovery and were off to a good start on Thursday, with the benchmark DAX index rising 157.76 points, or 1.53 percent, opening at 10,490.65 points.

The biggest winner among Germany's largest 30 companies at the start of trading was chip manufacturer Infineon, increasing by 4.56 percent, followed by carmaker Daimler with 3.27 percent and Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa with 2.96 percent.

Shares of Vonovia fell by 0.58 percent. Germany's largest housing company was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Thursday.

On Thursday, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced that total German exports still increased by 0.4 percent to 109.3 billion euros (118.9 billion U.S. dollars) in February year-on-year while imports already decreased by 2.9 percent to 88.5 billion euros (96.18 billion dollars).

The yield on German ten-year bonds went down by 0.006 percentage points to minus 0.317 percent and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.0858 dollars, increasing slightly by 0.01 percent on Thursday morning.
The chief of staff to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo was arrested on Wednesday in the capital, Kinshasa, after hours of questioning into the alleged misappropriation of funds.

According to local media, Vital Kamerhe was arrested over his role following allegations of corruption in infrastructure projects that fell under his remit during the first 100 days of President Felix Tshisekedis term last year.

Kamerhes arrest was a blow to President Felix Tshisekedi, who took power in January last year after campaigning on promises to clean up corruption. Activists have criticised his governments spending on a $304 million public works programme as lacking transparency.

Kamerhe was driven after questioning to the citys main jail, Makala Prison, where he spent the night.

It is unclear whether charges will be brought against him. But several business leaders have been heard in this case, some of whom are still in detention.

Mr Kamerhes supporters protested in his hometown, Bukavu, in eastern DR Congo and blocked the road outside his party headquarters, AFP reports.

Mr Kamerhes party Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) party joined forces with Tshesekedis Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) in the run-up to the December 2018 election. Tshisekedi promised to back the UNCs candidate in the next election in 2023.
Pharmacy workforce concerns as a result of COVID-19 prompted the College of Pharmacy to request early graduation for its entire class of fourth-year students. The Board of Trustees approved the request on Thursday. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue Universitys College of Pharmacy is granting early graduation to 144 students to help cover a potential shortage of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Purdue Board of Trustees, through a public meeting of its executive committee, approved the move on Thursday (April 9), making Purdue one of the first in the nation to certify its entire class of eligible pharmacy students.

Pharmacy Dean Eric Barker formally requested and received the ability to grant the certification of the schools fourth-year students. It paves the way for them to pursue their licensure exams. All of the students meet the requirements of the program and the colleges accreditation.

Effective April 17, the certification also offers an early jump to the health field. The students will be eligible to work as graduate pharmacists until fully licensed.

Ive already received inquiries from a health system about making our graduates available in case they face likely workforce issues as the pandemic intensifies here in Indiana, Barker said. Having additional trained clinical pharmacists, even graduate pharmacists, will become increasingly important.

As a top pharmacy program, Purdue is one of few places in the nation that can certify its entire class of pharmacy graduates. This is due to the colleges experiential education office, which worked to create a front-loaded experiential education program that offers students flexibility in getting the necessary experience.

Barker said there are concerns that pharmacy workforce issues could develop in the coming months, depending on how COVID-19 spreads.

Health care systems and community pharmacies have shifted to remote work where possible and divided their pharmacy staffs into teams to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak infecting an entire staff, he said. Such efforts have placed a strain on the existing workforce.

Our graduates will be ready to enter the workforce a few weeks sooner and could provide needed backup if the pandemic begins to impact pharmacy workers more broadly.

Darren Covington, executive vice president of the Indiana Pharmacists Association, said the organization has received reports of pharmacies temporarily closing because the pharmacists were possibly exposed or infected. Other pharmacies have reported worker shortages.

By allowing the 2020 graduating pharmacy class to work now, this will help ensure continuity of patient care, especially for our smaller pharmacies, which are more vulnerable because they may only have a few pharmacists at most, Covington said.

There are as many as 6,000 pharmacists in Indiana, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There is a secondary benefit to certification of the colleges senior class a month early. Testing centers for licensure are reopening on April 16 after a monthlong closure. Testing will resume at a reduced capacity during the virus crisis, and that could lead to a backlog of exams scheduling for the summer months.

By moving graduating students forward, the College of Pharmacy is giving graduates the ability to schedule their exam date now.

The College of Pharmacy action was approved by Purdue Provost Jay Akridge and endorsed by the Accreditation Council on Pharmacy Education, the National Board of Pharmacy and the Indiana Board of Pharmacy.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Brian Huchel, bhuchel@purdue.edu. Working remotely but will provide immediate response.

Source: Eric Barker, barkerel@purdue.edu. In addition to phone interviews, the dean is available for online video interviews.
There is uncertainty over Zimbabwes 21-day nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 amid reports that it may be extended.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa told stakeholders in Harare on Thursday that his government has not yet made a decision on extending the lockdown.

According to the state controlled Herald newspaper, Mnangagwa said, I cannot tell you whether at the end of 21 days we will extend the lockdown or not. Let's observe lockdown measures and prevent the spread of the virus.

Zimbabwes lockdown started on March 30th and is expected to end on April 19th. The country has so far registered three deaths of 11 people that have tested positive for coronavirus. Critics say the government is not doing enough in conducting the lockdown and testing people for COVID-19. But the government says it is trying by all means to address peoples concerns.

At the same time, the president also told the stakeholders in Harare who included doctors, nurses, legal practitioners, engineers, pharmacists, funeral assurance representatives and others, that the government is set to deploy soldiers during the Easter holidays in an attempt to enforce stay-home regulations.

He is quoted by the Herald newspaper as saying Zimbabweans should follow lockdown procedures as they observe the Easter holidays.

Security is going to increase patrols to monitor compliance. There is hope. This situation will not last forever but in the mean time we must be responsible  Families and churches used to gather during Easter but this will not be the same this time as we continue to observe the essential lockdown to contain Covid19. Don't despair.

Figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University indicate that 1,447.400 people have contracted coronavirus COVID-19 in different nations, with over 363,000 of those people in USA. The virus has killed almost 92,000 people since its outbreak in Kenya last year. An estimated 344,467 people have recovered.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, the Zimbabwean government said it is investigating the death of a Chiredzi woman said to have succumbed to COVID-19.
If youre looking to have some goofy fun while quarantined in your own home, how about investing in a high quality portrait of your pet as a pompous royal?

Enter Crown & Paw, a company dedicated to helping pet owners honor their bundles of joy by creating hilarious digital portraits of them as generals, princes, or ladies, whatever title the client desires. The company curates a collection of authentic 19th century portraits and rare Renaissance era oil paintings, and combine them with pet portraits to hilarious effect. Seriously, just look at the examples below.

Photo: Crown & Paw

All you have to do in order to get your very own Crown & Paw masterpiece is upload a high-quality photo of your pet on the company site and choose which of the various costumes you would like Crown & Paw designers to combine it with. You should consider the angle that the photos is taken from, particularly if it is compatible with the chosen costume. The designers are good at their job, but they cant work miracles.

Crown & Paw doesnt paint the portraits from scratch, its designers simply combine the portrait of your pet with the chosen costume digitally, and apply various effects to make it look as genuine as an animal lord portrait can look.

If youre wondering how a service like Crown & Paw came to be, one of the founders revealed that it began as a passion project. My partner and I were visiting Europe. We spent a rainy weekend in Amsterdam, riding bicycles down the picturesque canals, eating tasty waffles and pancakes, and visiting some of the most beautiful art galleries in the world, such as the Stedelijk and the Rijksmuseum.

So if you were looking for a special way to honor your beloved pet, a portrait of it as a royal definitely fits the bill.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court, never the most transparent of institutions, has all but vanished.

It still issues decisions, like the one on Monday that refused to extend absentee voting in Tuesdays elections in Wisconsin. But the justices have stopped doing the most public part of their job, hearing arguments, and the courthouse is closed to the public. The last 20 arguments of the term, which had been scheduled for March and April, have been postponed indefinitely.

That has left major cases in limbo, notably ones on subpoenas from prosecutors and Congress for President Trumps financial records, which had been scheduled to be heard on March 31. Those cases were going to be a test of the independence of the court even before the coronavirus crisis complicated matters.

While the presidents free-form coronavirus briefings make him a constant presence in the nations consciousness, the court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has in important ways receded from view. Very little is known about how the justices are conducting their work in the midst of the pandemic or how they plan to proceed.

This presents the chief justice with a fresh set of challenges in what has already been a difficult year, and it is only April. He has said that he and his colleagues dont work as Democrats or Republicans, but demonstrating that has required him to engage in a balancing act.
In his ruling last Thursday, the District Court judge, William Conley, declined to take what he called the extraordinary step of delaying a statewide election at the last minute. Nonetheless, he said, he was persuaded that the asserted harm is imminent and a timely resolution is necessary if there is any hope of vindicating the voting rights of Wisconsin citizens.

Tens of thousands of voters who requested their ballots on time faced little prospect of even receiving them until after Election Day. Consequently, Judge Conley ruled, ballots did not have to be postmarked by Election Day. As long as election officials received a ballot by the afternoon of Monday, April 13, six days after the election, it would still count, no matter the postmark. (In a subsequent order, Judge Conley barred release of the election returns until that date so that late absentee voters would be as ignorant of the outcome as those who cast their ballots on Election Day.)

In fashioning his order, Judge Conley noted that the head of the Wisconsin Election Commission had assured the court that moving the deadline will not impact the ability to complete the canvass in a timely manner. He also observed that the amicus briefs from various local governments suggest that an extension of the deadline would be heartily welcomed by many local officials. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied the Republicans request for a stay. The urgent appeal to the Supreme Court followed.

Ive described the reasoning in the judges 53-page opinion in this detail because anyone reading only the Supreme Courts majority opinion would come away thinking that the order was the act of a rogue judge, cramming an extreme remedy for a nonexistent problem down the throat of a resistant public. There is barely a hint in the opinion of the turmoil in the country. Did it not occur to these justices to wonder why they were working at home rather than in their chambers? It was left to Justice Ginsburg in her dissenting opinion to point out that the District Court was reacting to a grave, rapidly developing public health crisis.

While the rest of us are obsessed with the dimensions of that crisis, the justices in Mondays majority were for some strange reason obsessed with the notion that the Democratic plaintiffs had not asked the judge for the precise remedy he ordered; the opinion mentions this on each of its four pages. But as the plaintiffs told the justices in their brief, and as Justice Ginsburg concluded from reading the transcript of the District Court hearing, that wasnt true. The plaintiffs specifically requested that remedy at the preliminary-injunction hearing in view of the ever-increasing demand for absentee ballots, she wrote.

The other three dissenting justices all signed Justice Ginsburgs opinion; she spoke for them all. Her final paragraph is worth quoting in full:

The majority of the court declares that this case presents a narrow, technical question. That is wrong. The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic. Under the District Courts order, they would be able to do so. Even if they receive their absentee ballot in the days immediately following Election Day, they could return it. With the majoritys stay in place, that will not be possible. Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own. That is a matter of utmost importance  to the constitutional rights of Wisconsins citizens, the integrity of the states election process, and in this most extraordinary time, the health of the nation.
The DCU Center opened its doors Thursday as the first field hospital in the state amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it may not be used immediately, officials in Worcester said.

The DCU Center has the capacity to offer Worcesters hospitals a surge capacity of 250 beds. As of Wednesday evening, both St. Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Medical Center were handling the volume of patients during the pandemic.

"The medical centers are definitely working very, very hard but they are keeping up with the volume as of now, Worcester Director of Public Health Dr. Michael Hirsh said. Their ventilator capacity and their ICU capacity is definitely at the higher end of what theyre used to having. But they still have extra surge capacity thanks to a lot of great planning.

Beyond the DCU Center, both hospitals in the city implemented measures to expand capacity to help curtail the surge of coronavirus patients expected in Worcester. Hirsh said he expects the wave of patients around April 19.

Worcester also has beds available at Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center and four locations across the city for the homeless population.

Right now the hospitals have capacity to deal with increased patients, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said. Hopefully we won't have to use [the DCU Center] right away but its available should the need arise.

Last week, trucks with FEMA signs in the windows arrived at the arena carrying supplies and offering mobile laundry and showering sites.

Trucks carrying emergency aid, portable showers and laundry centers arrived at the DCU Center in Worcester on Tuesday. The facility will be transformed into a medical aid center to help the coronavirus response.

The National Guard began erecting the field hospital in the 50,000-square-foot convention space. Black sheets hung on metal poles established rooms for patients.

Within the facility there are six pods with each having 40 makeshift rooms. There will also be 10 beds for resuscitation and intensive care.

Hirsh said the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency recently dropped of supplies to the DCU so the arena should be fully stocked.

Last week, Dr. Eric Dickson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of UMass Memorial Health Care, issued a call for help to staff the facility.

Each pod of 40 patients would have two doctors, three or four residents, two to four nurses and five to eight patient care assistants. Dickson said patients at the DCU Center will likely have less severe cases of the coronavirus than those patients remaining in the citys hospitals.

WORCESTER, MA: April 1, 2020: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker tours the medical field hospital erected by the Massachusetts National Guard at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts for the expected influx of COVID-19 patients. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)BH

On Wednesday, Augustus said UMass Memorial had received more than 500 applications from medical professionals looking to help and should be fully staffed.

It sounded like they had a very good response to their call for medical professionals, medical students etc. Augustus said. So they were working through that list and sounded very optimistic that they were going to have a sufficient number to meet their needs.

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T he first patient treated for coronavirus at a Kent hospital has been given a huge round of applause from staff as he walked out of the facility headed for home.

Uber driver Biniam Kidane waved and gave a thumbs up to smiling NHS workers who lined the corridors as he exited Darent Valley Hospital on Thursday.

Staff wanted to put on a gesture of support for the 43-year-old father as he embarks on the next phase of recovery from the virus.

Mr Kidane had been on a romantic trip to Venice with his wife to celebrate Valentines Day earlier this year.

But after he returned home to the UK he became unwell and was admitted to hospital in Dartford, Kent on March 22.

The Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust - which oversees the Darent Valley facility - said he was their first patient to test positive for coronavirus.

Mr Kidane spent nearly three weeks in hospital / PA Media

His condition worsened and he was taken into the intensive treatment unit (ITU), where he spent 12 days on a ventilator, the Trust added.

But with the help of the highly-trained NHS staff, Mr Kidane was able to recover enough to be discharged from the critical unit and into a ward, where he continued to improve.

His wife was so thrilled he was able to leave intensive care on Tuesday that she bought pizza for everyone in the ITU.

After making huge progress, Mr Kidane was finally able to leave hospital after nearly three weeks, and was treated to a guard of honour.

He walked out into the world wearing a mask and supported by a cane, waving to staff clapping in their scrubs and face masks.

NHS Charities Together 'one million claps' campaign launch

Louise Ashley, chief executive of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, said: We are absolutely delighted that Mr Kidane is now able to return home to his family having recovered from coronavirus.

I would like to thank our teams here who provide such highly skilled, compassionate care and it is very encouraging that Mr Kidane has responded so well to treatment. We look forward to enabling more patients to return home, safely and well.
Directed by Sam Mendes, 1917, starring George MacKay as Schofield and Dean-Charles Chapman as Blake, is a World War I story about two British soldiers who have been assigned a seemingly impossible task of delivering an important message that will save the lives of hundreds of soldiers including Blakes brother who are walking into an enemy trap.

The buzz surrounding this movie is that it was shot and cut to appear as a single long continuous take. In fact, it was the opening instruction on this script. In a Behind the Scenes featurette by IMDb, Mendes explained the reason behind the idea of the name and the concept. After the James Bond movie Spectre, Mendes started reading new scripts. He wanted to do something new. However, none of them really intrigued him. Eventually, his agent and Pippa Harris, his producer, asked him to try writing his own script. The idea came from his own grandfather, Alfred Hubert Mendes, who went to the First World War in the year 1917 and was a messenger on the frontlines.

Roger Deakins is the cinematographer for this movie and is best known for his work in the films No Country for Old Men, Skyfall (with Sam Mendes) and Blade Runner 2049. The idea behind filming 1917 as a Oner was to achieve an immersive experience. A oner is a take which is generally longer than the usual takes in movies. It involves a lot of camera movement and blocking. The blocking aspect of it is where the cut takes place which is edited and synchronised to add a new take thereby making it look like one long take. Mendes wanted to pull the audience into the film and felt that the best way to do that was to not cut away and keep the motion going without providing an escape for the audience. From the start of the movie until the very end, Mendes and Deakins stalk the two actors. From bunkers to rat-infested trenches to farmhouses all the way through the enemy territory, the camera follows them continuously putting the audience in the shoes of two British soldiers fighting in World War I.

Models and Planning

Achieving this required the highest level of planning. And planning meant blueprints and models. In order to rehearse and understand the layout of the film, the Production Designer Dennis Gassner built scale models of every set that was going to be in the movie. The models helped the crew understand how the scene should look. In an interview with Vox, Mendes said that the crew had to measure the distance and time that every scene took. None of the sets was built until they had measured the distance. They had to start rehearsing on plain open grounds before the trenches, farmhouses, orchards and such were built. These rehearsals included marking the journey and distance using flags and poles. Every set had to be exactly the length of a scene. In the scene where Schofield runs through the destroyed city at night, the only light source was flares. The crew had to perfectly time the moment the flares were fired since lighting and shadows were an integral part of this scene. This was tested on the models using a contraction to move around LED lights to check for lights and shadows which would assist in good shots and hidden cuts. For most movies, the rehearsals take place on the shoot day. But for 1917, it began well in advance.

Filming

After rehearsals, it was time to start shooting. Keeping the primary instruction for the filming aspect in mind which was the fact that the end result was supposed to look like one long continuous take, there were some rules set in place. One of the rules, as stated by an Insider interview with Deakins, was that the camera was never supposed to move backwards. Since the characters had a starting point and a fixed destination, it was supposed to keep following them forward. The solution was to move the camera 360 degrees following the characters and move forward without making a visible cut.

This sort of free-flowing movement including running and chasing the characters required a compact, lightweight high definition camera giving good picture quality while providing portability.

Camera

The camera used for this film was the ARRI Alexa Mini LF. In an interview with ARRI, Deakins mentioned that he likes his cameras to be small and intimate. He prefers things to be compact. The Alexa Mini LF provided the best overall image quality in theatre format in compact size when studying the picture. It also had a lower noise with higher usable sensitivity. The camera gave Deakins the freedom to move the camera whichever way he wanted. He also loved the LF format because shooting a close-up on a 40mm lens did not have the distortion of a 32mm or 35mm lens, but it had a field-of-view similar to that of a 32mm or 35 mm lens. He was looking for a balance being able to shoot a wide shot and a close up by maintaining the depth of field. The camera being small and lightweight made it easy to attach onto drones for overhead scenes while not losing stability or just weighing and slowing down the drone itself.

Lenses

The lenses used in this film were the Signature Prime lenses. In an interview with ARRI, Deakins said that he prefers lenses that show the world the way it actually looks. He prefers the sharpest look. He does not understand the ideology behind going for older lenses for some specific look. The Signature Prime lenses are a good choice for someone working with natural light sources while avoiding lens flares as much as possible. To top that off, these lenses are pretty lightweight, which was extremely helpful for shooting this film. 99 percent of the film was shot on a 40mm lens while some scenes like the tunnel scenes were shot on a 35mm lens to give a tunnel feel and the river scenes were sometimes shot on a 47mm lens to kind of distort and lose the background.

Stabilizers

Movement was an integral part of this film. And with that, comes stability. With this movie, Deakins decided to go with the TRINITY stabilizers. In the ARRI interview, Deakins mentioned that the idea of the film was to have a remorseless solid frame going across the landscape. He also mentioned that the TRINITY stabilizers were more lock solid and stable than a Steadicam. These stabilizers also made movement more fluid while keeping the image stable. According to Charlie Rizek, the TRINITY Operator in 1917, the TRINITY provided the fluidity that a traditional steadicam would provide combined with the precision of a remote head giving the operator the freedom to explore the entire space around. In this case, it helped the 360-degree movement by allowing the operator to push forward without losing steadiness.

Lighting

The primary light source for this film was natural light. This included scenes shot in the trenches and bunkers as well. Since the camera had to be moved 360 degrees following the characters, any artificial lighting would have shown up on camera. Deakins preferred cloudy days to sunny days since sunny weather would translate to more shadows. The lighting had to be consistent since the story was taking place in real-time. A sunny day with no signs of clouds showing up meant that the production had to be shut down for the day.

Artificial lighting was used for night scenes. The flares were tied by wires and pulled up and were supposed to last a certain time frame and brightness. This resulted in a noir-ish look due to the long shadows and the warm yellow hue from the flares. With complete control over the lighting, for the night scene, Deakins built a 360-degree burning church lit by 2000 1K bulbs set on dimmers. The CGI fire was added in post-production.

Editing this movie was not an easy task. Academy award-winning editor of Christopher Nolans Dunkirk, Lee Smith was in charge of cutting and piecing together this work of art. In an interview with Hey U Guys at the 1917 World Premiere, Lee Smith revealed that the assembly of the film was taking place as it was being shot and then being presented to Mendes each day with rough sound effects and music. Picking the wrong take from day one could result in the second-day clips to go out of synchronization when trying to match the clips. Using the blocking aspect as transition to stitch in a new scene was something new for him to try his hands on. He had to undergo a lot of pressure to finish this project since what he did while editing would translate on screen. In his words, You either get it right, or youre dead!

The crew went through loads of hardships and demands in order to finish this film. Cancelling shoots due to wrong weather conditions, building miniature models and the editing to name a few. None of it went to waste. This movie pulled the audience into the movie by using the long continuous take, chasing after the main characters, keeping mistakes in to give a natural look and feel and the beautiful music. The story is about the two main characters and the cinematography stresses on that. Not the war. Just the two soldiers. Through this movie, Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins managed to tell a story that never stalled and kept moving forward while taking the audience along on the beautiful ride.

Director: Sam Mendes

Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

Sources:

IMDB BTS, Insider, ARRI Interview, ARRI Interview  stabilizers, Hey U Guys interview
Electrocatalysis is one of the most studied topics in the field of material science, because it is extensively involved in many important energy-related processes, such as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cells, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for green hydrogen production, and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for metal-air batteries. Noble metal aerogels (NMAs) emerge as a new class of outstanding electrocatalysts due to the combined feature of metals and aerogels. However, limited by the available compositions, the explored electrocatalytic reactions on NMAs are highly restricted and certain important electrochemical processes have not been investigated.

Original Publication:

Du, R.; Jin, W.*; Hubner, R.; Zhou, L.; Hu, Y.; Eychmuller, A.*, Engineering Multimetallic Aerogels for pH-Universal HER and ORR Electrocatalysis. Adv. Energy Matter. 2020, DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201903857.

Ran Du from China is a Alexander von Humboldt research fellow working as postdoc in the physical chemistry group of Professor Alexander Eychmuller at TU Dresden since 2017. In collaboration with Prof. Wei Jin from the Jiangnan University, China, they recently created various noble metal aerogels, disclosing their unprecedented potential for diverse pH-universal electrochemical catalysis, including oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and electrochemical water splitting. These findings largely span the application territory of NMAs for fuel cells, green hydrogen production and many more. The work was published in the renowned journal Advanced Energy Materials.

By adopting a strong salting-out agent (i.e. ammonium fluoride (NH4F)) as an initiator to trigger gelation, the composition of the as-obtained noble metal aerogels (NMAs) was extended to various bi- and trimetallic systems. Subsequently Ran Du and his team manipulated the chemical composition, and thus expanding the application territory of NMAs to pH-universal ORR electrocatalysis, HER electrocatalysis, and electrochemical water splitting. Notably, the Au-Rh aerogel and Au-Pt aerogel manifested extraordinary pH-universal performance for HER and ORR electrocatalysis, respectively, both of which considerably outperform commercial Pt/C (platinum on carbon) in wide pH environments.

"Further research directions may be placed on morphology-controlled NMA synthesis, and the establishment of the correlations between the structural features of NMAs and their electrocatalytic properties," assumes chemist Ran Du.

###
Rabbi Nicole Guzik and her husband, Rabbi Erez Sherman, and their children host a virtual Seder for their community on the first night of Passover. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Erez Sherman and Nicole Guzik decided to place their iPhones by the window sill, where the cameras would overlook their family of five seated at the dining room table. The couple, both rabbis at Sinai Temple in Westwood, expected dozens of virtual guests at their first Passover Seder.

Their 8-year-old daughter had written a play and their 6-year-old son would make an appearance as Elijah the Prophet. They planned on incorporating the Sephardic Jewish traditions of other community members, like tapping Seder-mates with scallions to emulate the lashes from Egyptian slave drivers.

While coronavirus social distancing mandates will separate families when Passover begins Wednesday evening, many in Los Angeles have found a way to connect with their community as they read the Haggadah, the Seder guide, and recount the story of how God freed the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

Its every generations responsibility to tell the story, so we cant give up now, said Sherman. We should be telling it even stronger, with more intensity and more faith than ever. Its the story of our people.

As rabbinic authorities have urged households to maintain social distancing, the community has rushed to help those who will be observing the holiday alone or without their families. Rabbis have taught virtual classes for those who will lead a Seder for the first time. The Rabbinical Assembly, which represents Judaisms Conservative movement, issued guidance to permit virtual Seders. Some senior Orthodox rabbis also approved video conferencing to unite separated families  a controversial decision opposed by other leaders in the movement.

"It's every generation's responsibility to tell the story, so we can't give up now," said Erez Sherman. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Many have found deep meaning in the holiday this year. During the pandemic, Passovers theme of moving from a time of darkness to light offers a powerful message of hope and redemption, as well as a reminder of the struggles overcome by previous generations.

Thats why this story was told in the Warsaw Ghetto when Jews were to be deported to the camps and why in Bergen-Belsen they told this story in the slave labor camps at night, said Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR. Throughout history, wherever Jews have been, this story has held such profound resonance. It says our story doesnt end in darkness, but there will be another chapter, and we just have to live through this period to get there.

Story continues

Rabbi Elazar Muskin of Young Israel of Century City, who has stayed up late for days answering questions from those preparing for Passover in their own home for the first time in years, said that living through a pandemic has been a humbling experience that has made him more keenly aware that God is in control.

The Passover holiday is all about Gods presence in the world, he said. The message is Gods hand in our lives. He freed us from Egypt, and well get through this as well.

During Passover, Jews abstain from eating chametz, or leavened food. Rabbi Chaim Tureff of Pressman Academy in Pico-Robertson said that families are now acting under other constraints as well by social distancing. The important thing, he said, is to learn from the experience, perhaps by reflecting on relationships with family members.

Its a wasted opportunity and a wasted moment in time if we dont allow ourselves take this forced exodus and we dont grow from it, he said.

"We're trying to relay to our community that this is important to do, and while doing it over Zoom is not as ideal as an in-person gathering, we have a responsibility to almost document this," Jason Leivenberg said. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Virtual Seders will connect people to others at a time they have to be physically separated from their families. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles' NuRoots initiative, which aims to engage young adults, created a website with resources on experiencing Passover during the pandemic, including a list of local virtual seders.

From his home in the Hollywood area, NuRoots Senior Vice President Jason Leivenberg, 33, will attend virtual Seders with his family and his partners family. They plan on screen-sharing pages from the Haggadah and sharing passages that are meaningful to them.

Were trying to relay to our community that this is important to do, and while doing it over Zoom is not as ideal as an in-person gathering, we have a responsibility to almost document this, he said. Were going to want to remember this next year and 100 years from now that this happened.

Many Orthodox Jews will opt to not join virtual Seders, which could mean spending the holiday in solitude. The Rabbinical Council of America, an Orthodox rabbinical organization, issued a notice warning that feelings of social isolation could increase over the days of the holiday where observant Jews dont use phones or other forms of electronic communication, and instructed those who might be called by someone experiencing mental deterioration to leave their phones on. The value Judaism places on preserving life, it said, requires the community to act in ways otherwise prohibited.

Its not the typical thing to call a rabbi on a holiday, but if you feel you cant manage or are scared, if you call, I will answer, said Rabbi Jason Weiner of Knesset Israel synagogue in Pico-Robertson.

Rachel Olshin, a 24-year-old writer and part-time Hebrew teacher in Pico-Robertson, has always met Passover with great anticipation. She loves its focus on storytelling and would have spent it with her family in Teaneck, N.J., if not for the virus.

Now, shell be observing the first Seder with her roommate and the second one by herself.

Im not happy about it, she said. I miss my family, but with the numbers projecting and everything going on, this kind of seems like the least of our issues, spending Passover alone.

She recalled the moment in the Passover story when the Jews marked their doors with blood from an animal sacrifice as a sign that God should pass over their homes when slaying the firstborns of the Egyptians. It was a time of uncertainty that also had a sense potential for what could follow, she said.

That moment of trepidation and what will happen next that is what Im definitely feeling these days, she said. Im not going to rush it. Ill see where the Haggadah takes me.
Oil prices could fall under $20 a barrel if the world's producers fail to reach an agreement on reducing output, one strategist told CNBC this week.

OPEC and its allies are set to meet via video conference on Thursday to discuss production cuts. Oil futures rose this week amid hopes of an agreement to lower supply by as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude futures were up 4.58% to $26.24 in Asia's afternoon trade Thursday, while Brent was up 3.65% to $34.04.

But RBC Capital Markets' Helima Croft said there are still issues to be worked out between the producers.

"It's going to be very tricky to get the final deal put together," she warned on "Capital Connection" on Thursday. "A lot is still in play, I think it's still challenging to get a deal across the finish line."

Even if a deal is reached, however, she said it is unlikely to solve the price situation immediately because of the decline in demand.

"I think this agreement's important to turning off the taps and allowing potential recovery to happen. But we're not going to get a quick rebound in prices in any event, because of the real demand destruction that we're seeing because of the coronavirus."
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  An inmate suffering from an autoimmune disease was released from Santa Fe County jail after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition claiming her health was at risk.

The ACLU argued that Yesenia Evans, who was serving a one-year sentence for violating her probation, was at significant risk for health problems caused by COVID-19 due to her preexisting condition.

Ms. Evans has been living in very real fear for her life, ACLU staff attorney Lalita Moskowitz said in a prepared statement. People involved in the criminal legal system already face heightened risk of COVID-19 infection and the risk is even greater for people with compromised immune system.

Evans has linear scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease that replaces normal tissues with scar tissues and can adversely affect bones, muscles and internal organs, according to the suit.

Jennifer Burrill, the public defender representing Evans who publicly shared that she had contracted the coronavirus herself, said Thursday the 1st Judicial District Attorneys Office reached out to her after the ACLU filed its petition and agreed to release Evans.

Evans was also released from serving any future probation related to her original charge, which was forgery, Moskowitz said.

Moskowitz said in a Thursday phone call that officials from the jail and District Attorneys Office were cooperative with the petition, eliminating the need for a future hearing.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way this turned out, she said. We were anticipating potentially having to litigate it.

Conditions in the jail, Moskowitz said, put those with preexisting conditions at risk for long-term health complications caused by COVID-19. Inmates have to purchase bars of soap from the commissary and often remain in close contact with one another.

Inmates at the jail have to pay $5 to visit in-house doctors and $7.50 for medication, payments that Moskowitz said creates a dilemma for some in New Mexicos criminal justice system.

Nobody should have to choose (soap) over health care because they cant afford it, she said.

Santa Fe County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said inmates can still see a doctor even if they do not have the money.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced an order Tuesday to release some nonviolent inmates across the state to lessen the risk to inmates and corrections employees.

District Attorney Marco Serna said his office will continue trying to release at-risk and nonviolent inmates to decrease the number of people in prison and jails. He pointed to Evans case as an example of what needs to happen.

This is the perfect example of where we need to protect this defendant, given that she has the health risk that she does, he said. We are not in the business of putting defendants in harms way.
On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders ended his campaign to become the Democrat party's presidential candidate. Trump and Biden instantly made a play for his supporters. Biden, who can now barely stand or speak without Jill Biden at his side, is the last man standing in the Democrat primary. If Democrats can't squeeze Cuomo or Michelle Obama onto the ballot, a vibrant Donald Trump will be running against Biden's human husk.

Bernie broke the news via a press release, emails, and the following tweet:

Today I am suspending my campaign. But while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on. https://t.co/MYc7kt2b16  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 8, 2020

During a livestream address, a subdued Bernie spoke to his supporters, thanking them while insisting that his campaign permanently changed American politics:

Bernie's wrong about his candidacy having changed the establishment. The Democrat power players decided very early that Biden, despite being frail and somewhat senile, was their best bet. They systematically drove everyone out of the primary  aided, as Trump said (see below), by Warren's selfishness.

Still, Bernie's surge is a problem, for it shows how successful decades of leftist infiltration into education and the media have been in creating Americans who believe that an all-powerful government is the answer to every question. These Americans maintain this belief despite seeing every all-powerful government in the world either collapsing or being exposed as a brutal dictatorship.

Even Europe's soft socialism has collapsed before our eyes as the American money that funded it during the Cold War dried up after the Soviet Union's collapse. It's a testament to the reach of leftist propaganda that it can successfully sell to so many Americans a manifestly failed ideology.

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, when the party elders told Bernie to run away, he did.

Both Biden and Trump immediately made a play for Bernie's supporters. Biden's push was generic:

And to Bernies supporters: I know that I need to earn your votes. And I know that might take time. But I want you to know that I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of this moment. I hope you'll join us. You're more than welcome: You're needed.  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 8, 2020

Trump, however, insulted Elizabeth Warren, exposed Democrat party corruption, and enticed Bernie-supporters. He also pointed out that Bernie the Communist was still hoarding delegates, not redistributing them:

Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Wow, Bernie is unwilling to give up his delegates, and wants more of them! Whats that all about?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Not every Bernie fan was ready to give up the fight, which may explain Bernie's deciding to keep his delegates:

I'm not endorsing Joe Biden or falling in line w/a sexual predator.



There is still a primary going on and Bernie Sanders is still on the ballot in the next 27 primaries states and a convention to fight for someone I don't know.



RT if you are fighting for someone you don't know.  Sema (@_SemaHernandez_) April 8, 2020

The general tone from Bernie's supporters, though, was resignation and affection:

Thank you @BernieSanders. Ill always be proud to have supported an honest and compassionate humanitarian - the rarest of rare political candidates.  Justin Long (@justinlong) April 8, 2020

Thank you Bernie Sanders . Youre really the best of us . #Bernie pic.twitter.com/I93jpDUa02  Micheal harris (@Lunatichackers) April 8, 2020

Nothing in Bernie's campaign changed my impression of the man. He's stupid because during his lifetime he witnessed communism killing upwards of 100,000,000 people but still thinks it's a good thing. Alternatively, if he's smart enough to understand what communism does, he's evil.

He's a hypocrite because he happily accepted millionaire status after his abortive 2016 run. Were he a good communist, he'd have given that money to the people, rather than spending it on nice houses and other luxury items.

He's power-mad because his ultimate vision has always been to see himself at the top of an all-powerful government. His endlessly expressed admiration for dictators revealed his leadership dreams.

He's an anti-Semite who embraced every person and idea seeking Israel's destruction. There was no other nation on Earth, no other creed, no other dictator, he thought should go. Only Israel.

Good riddance, Bernie. You were a blight on the American body politic. It's a shame that the only candidate left in your wake is a demented, corrupt sexual predator. How far my father's Democrat party has fallen...
While the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by the government to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus is taking a heavy toll on the economy, the unprecedented measure has resulted in an unintended positive consequence. Dabba trading, often called off-exchange transaction, that witnesses illegal business worth Rs 3 lakh crore daily, has come to a grinding halt.

The high-risk operations have been stopped as strict restrictions on movement have forced the Dabba trader to stop work, at least for the time being.

Dabba trading is essentially informal trading using cash that takes place directly among traders, who bet on stock price fluctuations.

The system works entirely on trust; traders are often allowed to invest without having adequate collateral, and trades are typically cash-settled -- meaning if a trader buys a stock for Rs 100 and sells it for Rs 110, he simply gets Rs 10 after the position is squared off. Since it is not a legal transaction, there is absolutely no transaction cost.

Traders opt for Dabba trading over the formal trading system as the transactions and any gains from it are not subject to taxes such as income tax, securities transaction or commodity transaction tax. It is mainly settled on a weekly basis in cash. The trading mainly happens in equity futures and commodities including agri and non-agri items.

"Trading happens two-three times in Dabba trading unlike in exchanges. As a result, we lose a lot of tax revenue and volume on formal trading platforms," a former senior exchange official told Moneycontrol.

As Dabba trading is based purely on cash, there is a risk of not getting money at the time of trade settlement that happens every week. A prominent Dabba trader in Rajasthan told Moneycontrol: "We have stopped our operations fully since people are not allowed to come out and pay losses. We are only doing a small portion of trade for those clients whose money is already with us."

A Mumbai-based trader corroborated this. "We had communicated to our clients before the lockdown, when the market was going down significantly, that we would not take a position beyond their cash with us. We did not even allow taking long positions when the market was correcting. Usually, we give 2-3 times position limit on their cash. After the lockdown, we had to shut shop," the person said.

Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Surat, Rajkot, Jaipur and Mumbai are the major Dabba trading markets.

Another Dabba trader who deals in commodities said a similar situation occurred during demonetisation in 2016. Then also, we stopped our business but continued for some selected clients as higher denomination currencies were not available in the market. But this time, the situation is much more severe. We have stopped our business fully due to high volatility and restricted movement," he pointed out.

According to traders, neither they are able to get money if there is a loss nor can they pay money to those who make profits owing to movement restrictions. Moreover, there is high volatility in both commodity and equitiy markets.

For the last few years, police and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have been trying to crack down on Dabba trading. However, the illegal trading flourished, thanks to lower transaction costs and advantages of cash dealings.

Law enforcement agencies also have their own limitations. A senior official of Mumbai Police told Moneycontrol: "We are not allowed to take sou-moto action against this illegal business as per the Indian Penal Code, unless market regulator SEBI registers a case. Our hands are tied if SEBI is reluctant to register a case. In the past also, a major Dabba trading racket was busted by police in Nagpur. But the case first went to the High Court, and now is in the Supreme Court. After that, the Enforcement Directorate has also started investigating this case."
They arent doctors, but they played them on TV.

Now, actors have banded together to applaud those who actually do the work.

From Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser, M.D.," to New Jerseys own Zach Braff of Scrubs and Kal Penn of House, celebrities took the opportunity to thank doctors during the fight against the coronavirus.

Actress Olivia Wilde, Penns former co-star on House, shared the celebrity compilation on Instagram. The video encourages donations to Thrive Globals First Responders First campaign, which provides supplies and equipment for medical professionals.

The closest thing Ive ever come to being a doctor is putting on a costume," Wilde said. And while it is close, its not quite the same.

We thank you for your courage and for going out there into the world and doing everything you can to fight this horrible, horrible virus, said Braff, who grew up in South Orange and played Dr. John J.D." Dorian on the show.

His Scrubs co-stars, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, also appear in the video.

Penn, a Montclair native who grew up in Monmouth County, played Dr. Lawrence Kutner on the Fox series House. He had some company in the video from House co-stars like Peter Jacobson and Omar Epps as well as Lisa Edelstein, who grew up in Wayne and played Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the show.

Our hearts go out to you, Edelstein said. Youre risking your lives to save lives and we all know it.

Sopranos star Edie Falco, who starred in Showtimes Nurse Jackie" also showed up.

I hope you can find some comfort in knowing you are being thought about and prayed for, she said, addressing health care workers.

Julianna Margulies and Maura Tierney from ER" are also in the video, as is Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey and Kate Walsh from Greys Anatomy" and Freddie Highmore from The Good Doctor. Jennifer Garner, who played a doctor in the movie Dallas Buyers Club, makes an appearance, too.

For more, visit thriveglobal.com/categories/first-responders-first.

Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
THE wave of the coronavirus is swiftly affecting the tourism sector in East Africa as it is projected that 6.2 million foreign tourists may not travel to their preferred destinations in the region.

The trickle-down effects will be felt across affiliated industries and the rest of the economy.

It is estimated that East Africa Community (EAC) partner states will potentially lose tourism receipts - upwards of 5.4bn US dollars (about 12.5tri/-) this year given the projected long-term closure of seaports and airports.

The EAC region is witnessing a massive drop in tourist arrivals. Multiple flights have been cancelled or suspended across Africa as airlines struggle to cope with falling demand following the outbreak of COVID-19.

The East African Business Council (EABC) Chief Executive Officer Dr Peter Mathuki said that the COVID-19 contagion is expected to bring about challenges in the tourism sector that would otherwise be at its peak by June this year.

Releasing the EABC assessment of the Covid-19 impact, Dr Mathuki said that there will be a decline in EAC and African Safaris, loss of revenue for East African airlines, inactive hospitality industry and loss of jobs.

Dr Mathuki divulged that International Air Transport Association (IATA) data shows that as of March 11, African airlines had recorded a loss of up to 4.4bn US dollars (10.2tri/-) in revenue since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Globally, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) estimates international tourist arrivals could decline by 20 per cent to 30 per cent this year.

That would translate into a loss of 300bn US dollars to 450bn US dollars in international tourism receipts in exports  almost one third of the 1.5tri US dollars generated globally in the worst-case scenario.

Tourism is considered as one of the largest foreign exchange earners and fastest-growing sectors in the region.

According to a report by the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on tourism development in the EAC 2018, tourist arrivals in the EAC region increased from 3.5 million persons in 2006 to 5.7 million persons in 2017.

Tourism contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EAC partner states by an average of 8.8 per cent in 2017.

The percentage contribution was higher than the average in Rwanda (12.7 per cent), Kenya (9.7 per cent) and Tanzania (9 per cent).

Tourism also contributes an average of 18.8 per cent to EAC total exports, although the percentage contribution was higher, in Rwanda (30.5 per cent) and Tanzania (26 per cent). The total contributions of tourism to export earnings were at 1.5 per cent for Burundi, 18 per cent for Kenya, and 17.9 per cent for Uganda.

Tourism in Africa is mainly 71 per cent leisure driven, with the remainder 29 per cent being business-driven. Domestic tourism contributes 56 per cent with international tourism contributing 44 per cent to Africa's tourism industry.

Rwanda Convention Bureau that promotes the country as a preferred destination, says about 20 meetings that had been scheduled for March and April were indefinitely postponed as a result of the ban on flights.

Kenya Airways estimates that it is losing at least 8m US dollars a month, noting that the situation could change more dramatically in coming days as more restrictions in global travel come.

The China route is important for Kenya Airways flying about 7,000 passengers per month. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, several tourists cancelled bookings, leaving tour operators and other stakeholders counting losses.

According to IATA, it is expected that there will be 2.5 million fewer passengers resulting in a 540,000,000m US dollars revenue loss, risking 137,965 jobs and 1.1bn US dollars in contribution to Kenyas economy. There will also be 79,000 loss in passenger volumes and 20.4m loss in base revenues in Rwanda.

The disruptions to air travel could also put at risk about 3,000 jobs in the country. If the situation spreads further, approximately 201,000 passengers and 52m US dollars of revenues could be lost.

Due to flight bans as well as international and regional travel restrictions, airlines revenues are plummeting  outstripping the scope of even the most drastic cost containment measures. With average cash reserves of approximately two months in the region, airlines are facing a liquidity and existential crisis, thus support measures are urgently needed.

EABC says the impact on the hospitality industry is huge as what is being experienced is closure of some hotels and recreation centres. An example is Serena Hotels that has closed temporarily 10 of its lodges until June 15 this year.

There is also a temporary suspension of nature tourism as some of EAC partner states are landlocked and do not have ocean coastline to provide for snorkeling, sandy beaches or marine-based tourism.

In Rwanda where nature tourism has contributed substantial revenues, effective 21st March, 2020, tourism and research activities as well as gorilla trekking in Nyungwe Park, Volcanoes Park and Gishwati-Mukura National Parks were suspended until further notice as a preventive measure against the transmission of COVID-19.

This will therefore mean a loss in tourism revenues where a gorilla trekking permit costs up to 600 US dollars (560 Euros) in Uganda, and upwards of 1,000 US dollars in Rwanda, said Dr Mathuki in the EABC assessment report.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  If youve fashioned a homemade mask to prevent the unintentional spread of the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants you to be sure to wear it -- and clean it -- properly.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain -- such as grocery stores and pharmacies, especially in areas like New York City, where there is significant community-based transmission.

And last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said New Yorkers should wear them whenever they leave home.

Lets be clear -- this is a face covering. It could be a scarf, something you create yourself at home, it could be a bandana, de Blasio said.

Most important to slowing the spread of the virus is maintaining a six-foot social distance between between yourself and others from outside your household at all times, the CDC says, but the agency suggests that face coverings made at home from common materials at low cost should be used as an additional public health measure.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

According to the CDC, such mask should:

Be worn snugly along the sides of the face.

Is best if made with several layers of fabric.

Should be secured with ties or ear loops.

Should allow for breathing without restriction.

Masks should also be able to be laundered and machine-dried without damage or change of shape. A folded, clean paper towel or napkin can serve as a lining and additional layer.

Cleaning and care of cloth face masks is critical, the CDC says. Routine machine washing is sufficient to properly clean a face covering, the agency says.

To remove a face covering safely, individuals should be careful not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth while doing so.

Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance," the CDC says on its website.

The CDC offers several tutorials for making homemade faces masks, with or without sewing, on its website. Additionally, Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general, demonstrates one method in the CDC video, below.

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Portland police say the suspects arrested after an hours-long manhunt on Tuesday are connected to a potential shooting the previous day in the same neighborhood.

The search unfolded after police attempted to stop a gold Nissan Maxima in Southeast Portlands Richmond neighborhood around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday. All six occupants of the car ran away. Police said they believed the suspects were armed and dangerous, and officers quickly set up a perimeter to search for the suspects.

Lt. Tina Jones said police stopped the car because they thought it was connected to a report of shots fired in the neighborhood the previous day at Southeast Boise Street and Southeast 66th Avenue, in which police said they found evidence of a shooting, including damage to two homes and a car. She said there were no reported injuries related to that apparent shooting.

Police stopped the car on Tuesday because they believed it belonged to the shooters from the previous days incident. After the occupants of the Maxima fled, police found ammunition in the car and a bullet graze which they said could be connected to the shots fired Monday.

Four of the six occupants of the car were arrested fairly quickly, but officers searched for the remaining two for several hours Tuesday evening. Nearly 60 officers joined in the search, including members of the Special Enforcement Reaction Team and the Crisis Negotiation team. They blocked off roads in the area for several hours and searched for the two suspects, arresting the last one around 9 p.m.

On Wednesday evening, police reported that after returning to the area to search, they had found two handguns on a rooftop in the area of the manhunt. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

This story has been updated.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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Though in recess until 12 April, parliament moved this week to coordinate with the government to help stem a mass spread of the coronavirus in Egypt.



MPs also drafted legislation that aims to extend a helping hand to low-income citizens seriously affected by the coronavirus measures.



Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka, head of the Wafd Party and chairman of parliaments Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, drafted a law that obligates citizens to donate a part of their monthly income to the fund Tahya Masr (Long Live Egypt). The national fund is currently directing resources towards the fight against the virus.



Those who receive a monthly salary of more than LE5,000 will donate five per cent, those getting more than LE10,000 will donate 10 per cent, more than LE15,000 will donate 15 per cent, and those with more than LE20,000 will donate 20 per cent, Abu Shoka said, arguing that his draft bill is not the first of its kind in Egypts modern history. Following the 1967 War, state employees decided to donate part of their salaries to buy weapons for the army, Abu Shoka said.



Haitham Al-Hariri, a leftist MP, also drafted a law that aims to describe doctors who die from the coronavirus while treating those infected as martyrs, and as such their families deserve to receive substantial monetary compensation.



Many MPs interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly expect that parliament will postpone its plenary meetings for another two weeks. Parliament is scheduled to meet next Sunday, 12 April, but I think that the meetings will be postponed for two more weeks, independent MP Osama Sharshar said.



Mustafa Bakri, another independent MP, said in light of the growing number of infections, I think that the government will decide on Wednesday to extend the curfew and other precautionary measures for another two weeks.



As a result, parliament will be also forced to postpone its meetings or seek other options such as using video conferencing or ask MPs to assemble in more than one meeting hall, Bakri said.



Meanwhile, a statement issued by parliament this week said that it is closely following the coronavirus situation in the country and the preventative measures that have so far been taken by the government to contain it.

Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal has directed the chairs of parliaments committees, each in their own field, to avoid holding meetings, in line with the precautionary measures taken to contain the spread of the virus.



Chairs of the committees, however, will be required to study complaints sent by citizens and laws proposed by MPs, as well as proposals suggested to help those who have been seriously affected by the precautionary measures, particularly seasonal workers and low-income bracket citizens, said the statement, adding that the chairs of parliaments committees will also submit weekly and periodic reports to the speaker on the recommendations that should be taken in this respect.

The statement indicated that the head of parliaments committees will also be required to stay in direct contact with Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Alaa Fouad and other cabinet ministers to ensure that the government is keen on implementing the recommendations proposed by parliament to contain the coronavirus and help the needed affected by the measures taken to contain it.



The statement said Abdel-Aal expressed appreciation for the measures that have so far been taken and declared his support for the medical teams working day and night to contain the virus. Parliament also expresses thanks to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi for raising bonuses given to doctors, nurses, ambulance workers, and administrative officials, added the statement.



We all should take the matter very seriously because we are all in one boat, the statement said, also urging citizens not to believe rumours and ration the use of medical resources. Success in winning the war against this dangerous coronavirus will largely depend on our personal and collective discipline, and every citizen should know that each has a role to play in containing the spread of the virus.



This is necessary so that the state does not resort to taking additional measures to prevent an outbreak of the virus in Egypt, the statement added.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Hundreds of people in Miami who are out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic spent hours Wednesday waiting in line to fill out unemployment forms after the website they were posted on crashed.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), which processes unemployment benefit applications, could not handle the surge on its website as panicked Floridians flocked to it amid the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

For the past two weeks, the page has had problems. Meanwhile people calling the agency's phone line have faced hours on hold.

Applicants were instead encouraged to download and mail in the necessary form -- but with most offices and businesses closed, many people did not have access to a printer.

On Tuesday, authorities began distributing paper forms in the Cuban neighborhood of Hialeah, where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block.

"With the coronavirus, I'm suffocating," 55-year-old Gabriel Rodriguez told AFP, having spent five hours in line.

"I have to pay for the car, I have to pay the phone bill, how am I going to pay that? And the rent too!" Rodriguez queued in his car after local health experts warned against the lines of people that became chaotic the day before, making social distancing impossible.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday that the southeastern US state had brought 72,000 new servers online to help handle the requests.

"We're in a situation where people have lost their jobs, they are looking for relief and they're having a lot of difficulty," he said during a press conference. Between March 15 and April 5, 520,000 Florida residents sought unemployment help, according to DEO chief Ken Lawson, while only 326,000 applied in all of 2019.

Nearly 10 million people lost their jobs in the United States in the last two weeks of March as the coronavirus spread throughout the country and businesses closed.

Florida has seen more than 15,000 cases of the virus and about 300 deaths, mostly in urban centers in the southeastern part of the state, while the US as a whole has recorded 420,000 cases and more than 14,000 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
April 09 : Jacqueline Fernandez is making full use of the quarantine days amid the nationwide lockdown as she indulges in various activities like reading, doing yoga, watching her favourite shows, and everything that she couldnt do in the usual days with her hectic schedule. The actress is also keeping her fans entertained through her social media posts.

Following other Bollywood celebrities like Sunny Leone, the Race 3 actress is also starting a live chat show on her Instagram handle. Taking to her Instafam, the actress shared a post announcing that today she will go live on her Instagram at 5 pm with young coronavirus survivor Rita Bachkaniwala.

The 21-year-old Rita Bachkaniwala from Surat was hit by coronavirus and emerged victorious as she bravely battled the virus. An inspiration to all, Rita successfully fought the deadly virus with a bit of yoga, a bit of dancing and a lot of prayers! Recently, Rita told the media that the civil hospital staff took a lot of care of her. While she was put in the isolation ward for 14 days, Rita recovered due to her strong will power.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Jacqueline was recently seen in the music video Genda Phool with rapper Badsha.
Mumbai, April 9 : Bollywood stars and celebrities have taken to social media to express gratitude to Mumbai Police for their extraordinary efforts to maintain law and order in the city amid the COVID 19 lockdown.

Akshay Kumar tweeted: "There's an army of people working day and night to keep us safe, our families safe. Lets together say #DilSeThankYou to them because that's the least we can do."

Ayushmann Khurrana re-tweeted a video posted by Mumbai Police and lauded the force for carrying out their duty tirelessly. He tweeted in Marathi: "Don't have words to thank you enough! Today I thank you with my whole heart for keeping us safe." The Mumbai Police gave a witty reply in Marathi, with a reference to Ayushmann's films, "Vicky Donor" and "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan".

"'Thank you Vicky, we will do everything to keep the mumbaikars zyada saavdhan," they wrote.

Ajay Devgn tweeted: "Dear Mumbai Police, you are known as one of the BEST in the world. Your contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled. Singham will wear his Khakee and stand beside you whenever you ask. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice"

Anil Kapoor expressed: "This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai Police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you Mumbai Police.. Love you Mumbai Police."

Tiger Shroff wrote: "So so grateful and lucky we are to have you all @MumbaiPolice. can't thank our real heroes enough."

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police tweeted mentioning Abhishek Bachchan's character in the "Dhoom" franchise, ACP Jai Dixit, as an inspiration. Their official handle shared: "Just taking the 'ACP Jai Dixit' route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon -- that too, with a 'Dhoom'! All Mumbaikars need to do is not make 'Dus Bahaane' about going out unnecessarily!" Reacting to the tweet,

Abhishek wrote: "Always in debt to them and the great work they do. @MumbaiPolice." Throughout Thursday, Twitter kept buzzing with gratitude messages from B-Towners.

Raveena Tandon shared: "This is the time to thank our mumbai police,who leave their families at home and are working with untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you @MumbaiPolice we are forever indebted." Jackie Shroff expressed: "@MumbaiPolice @DGPMaharashtra Asli Stars #RealHeroes #OurPride."

Urvashi Rautela posted: "This is the time to heartily thank our @MumbaiPolice & Maharastra police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. #ThankYouMumbaiPolice #ThankYouMaharasthraPolice."

Varun Sharma wrote: "We are safe sitting at home and the only thing we need to do is be home. Me my family are greatful and don't have words to thank Police , Doctors , NGOs , building guards and every person out there helping us be safe and storm this crisis. @MumbaiPolice @mybmc #DilSeThankYou."

Director-producer and chat show host Karan Johar expressed: "This is the time to show our gratitude to the ones who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe. Despite being away from their families and loved ones, they work with their spirits high to protect us. And for that, we are very grateful @mumbaipolice. Thank you!"

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wrote: "Salute & respect to our @MumbaiPolice #IndiaFightsCoronavirus." Producer Ekta Kapoor shared: "Your undying spirit, determination and courage to keep our city safe is fantastic. Putting our safety before anything else, you guys are the pillars that are keeping us strong! ... Gratitude #ThankYouMumbaiPolice for all your hard work! #DilSeThankYou @MumbaiPolice."

Heartfelt wishes and encouraging notes from Bollywood kept pouring in throughout the day.

-- Syndicated from IANS
A deadly Pacific storm slammed into Fiji on Wednesday, tearing off roofs and flooding towns, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Tropical Cyclone Harold weakened slightly overnight from a scale-topping Category Five to a Four, but was still lashing Fiji with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour (150 miles per hour), forecasters said. The official NaDraki weather service said the cyclone was offshore south of Fiji's main island Viti Levu, but passing closer to land than initially expected. Despite the downgrade, it said Harold remained "extremely dangerous" and advised residents in the island's south to shelter in churches, schools or other substantial buildings. Images on social media showed extensive damage at Nausori, just outside Suva, with corrugated iron roofs peeled back by the ferocious winds. The main street of Ba, in the island's north, was submerged after the local river burst its banks. The National Disaster Management Office said residents along much of the south coast, home to many of the country's major tourist resorts, should evacuate. "We are expecting a significant storm surge to be very dangerous for those living in coastal areas, we urge you to move to higher ground," it said. NDMO director Vasiti Soko said evacuation centres had been set up and officials were attempting to maintain social distancing to ensure COVID-19 did not spread among those fleeing the cyclone. Fiji has 15 cases of the coronavirus, with all known sufferers in quarantine before the cyclone hit. - Town 'obliterated' - Harold claimed 27 lives in the Solomon Islands last week, and on Tuesday tore through Vanuatu, destroying much of the country's second-largest town Luganville. World Vision's Vanuatu director Kendra Gates Derousseau said an aerial survey carried out by disaster officials late Tuesday showed the town of Melsisi on Pentecost island had also been devastated. "We've done some programming there in the past, so I can recognise the landmarks -- you can see that 90 percent of all buildings are obliterated, is the term I'd use," she told AFP. A massive international aid effort was launched after the last Category Five storm to hit Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam in 2015, flattened the capital Port Vila. But Vanuatu's international borders are currently closed as the impoverished Pacific nation bids to remain one of the world's few places with no confirmed COVID-19 cases. The government has revoked a domestic travel ban imposed as part of its virus response, which will allow disaster relief to flow from Port Vila to the worst-hit islands in the north. New Zealand said it had deployed a P-3 Orion aircraft to help with damage assessments and allocated NZ$500,000 (US$300,000) in aid funding for essential supplies. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Wellington would provide further assistance if requested by Vanuatu. "We are aware that the Government of Vanuatu is running a 'keep it out' strategy, and we will give serious consideration to ensure that any response to the Cyclone does not lead to the spread of COVID-19 to Vanuatu," he said. The cyclone formed off the Solomons last week, where it washed dozens of passengers from an inter-island ferry into the sea. It was initially expected to only reach Category Three. Latest forecasts say it will brush past Tonga early Thursday, still at Category Four strength, before petering out over the sea by the weekend.
New York For New Yorkers We are proud to announce the launch of New Yorkers for New York, a new program that will not only address the intense stress of our greater community, but directly support all frontline and essential workers.

The Open Center, the countrys longest running urban holistic health and education center, announced today the launch of New Yorkers for New York, a free public service created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New Yorkers for New York will provide frontline and essential workers, as well as all other local residents struggling with stress and anxiety, the mental and emotional wellness support they need right now amidst the citys current health crisis. The program will offer an array of free tools, resources and services to those working to keep our community healthy, safe and nourished.

As part of this initiative, The Open Center, an iconic NYC non-profit organization founded in 1984, has created an easy-to-use toolkit to reduce stress or anxiety in a matter of seconds. The organization will also provide to strengthen, build resilience and provide comfort during this demanding time in New York. This is an adaptive program, which will continue to evolve in real-time, in order to bring together the local community and meet the needs of our friends, neighbors and family members.

"During times of crisis, nonprofits such as The Open Center have only one choice - step directly into the need and help as many people as possible, says Ross Guttler, Chief Executive Officer of The Open Center. We are proud to announce the launch of New Yorkers for New York, a new program that will not only address the intense stress of our greater community, but directly support all frontline and essential workers. Our mental and emotional wellness toolkit was specifically designed for those in the thick of the fight against COVID-19 with no time to spare. For over 36 years, we have served the people of New York City. This is our responsibility. This is our obligation to the city we love."

New Yorkers for New York also brings together the efforts of other partner mission-led initiatives, including NYC COVID Care Network, a grassroots group of more than 3,000+ volunteers to provide individual and small group healing and therapies sessions, as well as the nonprofit organization Operation Warrior Shield to reach NYCs first responders and service members, including members of the NYPD, FDNY, veterans and more.

Operation Warrior Shield(OWS) is a longtime partner of The Open Center in NYC, because we understand and have seen how impactful trauma defense has become for our frontline workers, says Founder of Operation Warrior Shield, CMSgt(ret), Edward Schloeman. This partnership offers comprehensive support programs for service members, veterans, first responders and their families to help heal their hidden wounds.

New Yorkers for New Yorks offering of free stress management tools are designed I for NYCs frontline, with an open door policy for anyone struggling with well-being during COVID-19. These holistic practices are aimed at making us healthier and stronger, and more connected both to ourselves and to our community.

Complimentary offerings include:



A Toolkit for Managing Stress and Anxiety: Designed specifically for frontline workers with limited time, these programs and resources will help you breathe, manage anxiety and get through the day

1:1 Counseling and Small Group Healing and Therapy Sessions

On-Demand Library of Wellness Resources: Access The Open Center's library of resources, including videos, podcasts, articles and more from leading holistic wellness and spirituality experts

Our front line and essential workers are fighting around the clock to support and keep the world safe around them, says Dara Blumenthal PhD, spokesperson and organizer for the NYC Covid Care Network. In a few short weeks we have gathered a communal movement with over 3,000 certified volunteer specialists around the country to offer mental and wellness offerings to any essential workers who need support. Our hope is to help the frontline workers deal with the traumas of their daily reality and to keep them strong throughout this entire fight against COVID-19.

To support other hard-hit cities, The Open Center is creating a launch kit containing resources and guidance to help other organizations and volunteers from local chapters of this community initiative to ensure frontline and essential workers all over the world receive the critical care they need.

Essential workers can access support online at the New Yorkers for New York website, http://www.newyorkersfornewyork.org, where volunteers and other organizations may also offer their services.

###

About The NY Open Center

The Open Center is the countrys longest-running urban holistic health and education center and the epicenter of personal growth and spiritual practice in New York City. Since 1984, the non-profit organizations pioneering programs have served as a focal point for holistic thought and practice and have been transformative in seeding a global interest in spiritual inquiry, healing arts, personal growth, bodywork and movement. Whether you are curious and looking for another way of life, newly engaged in a healing practice, a serious spiritual seeker or have made it your lifes work, The Open Center welcomes you. In person or online, The Open Center provides a safe place for people to heal the body, nourish the soul and awaken the spirit. Learn more at opencenter.org

For All Media Inquiries, Contact:

ny4ny@opencenter.org
The coronavirus is bruising San Franciscos tech industry.

Yelp is laying off 1,000 workers and furloughing 1,100 more, roughly a third of its staff, the company said Thursday. Eventbrite laid off 450 employees, or nearly half of its workforce, on Wednesday.

Airbnb, which planned to go public this year, raised $1 billion this week as bookings have plunged worldwide. The company enacted a hiring freeze for most jobs and paused marketing in an effort to save $800 million this year, tech news website the Information reported last month.

The three companies, which are headquartered in the South of Market, are reliant on industries that have been devastated by the coronavirus: live events, retail, restaurants and travel. In contrast, major companies like Salesforce and Google are still hiring rapidly and donating millions of dollars for aid.

Smaller companies are more vulnerable to an economic downturn and other challenges from coronavirus compared to the tech giants, Colin Yasukochi, executive director of brokerage CBREs Tech Insights Center, previously told The Chronicle. More economic pain could widen the gap between the biggest tech companies and startups that are struggling.

Shelter-in-place orders have shuttered most small businesses in the Bay Area and around the world, which has badly hurt Yelp.

Yelp connects people with these great local businesses, and as their worlds have been turned upside down, these businesses are understandably forced to pause or reduce spending on the products and services that Yelp provides, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman wrote in an internal company email Thursday. To help Yelp get through this period of great uncertainty, we have had to make some incredibly hard decisions to reduce our operating costs.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The company expects to spend $8 million to $10 million on severance and furloughing costs. Executives are taking a 30% pay cut, and Stoppelman will not receive a salary this year.

The company hasnt announced if it plans to downsize or close any offices, and a spokeswoman didnt comment beyond the internal email. According to real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield, Yelp recently listed 68,126 square feet, room for around 235 employees, for sublease at 55 Hawthorne St. The listing came before the coronavirus spread extensively in the U.S.

Office sublease space increased in the first quarter this year in San Francisco, a sign that the market is cooling as more companies try to unload excess space.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
Facebook Live screenshot

MIDDLETOWN  The city recorded its first death associated with the coronavirus, Mayor Ben Florsheim announced in a release Wednesday.

The man was in his 90s, the release said, and he died at Middlesex Hospital from complications of COVID-19.
When the president announced that people in public should wear cloth masks on April 3, the demand to buy them skyrocketed. Now, dozens of clothing companies, fashion designers and even blanket makers have turned to making face masks.

While you can certainly make a face mask with fabric at home, there are also masks for sale. Many of the brands also have a charitable element, so you can help front-line workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak while making your community a little safer.

Download the TODAY app for the latest coverage on the coronavirus outbreak.

Sanctuary

Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer Sanctuary is producing masks and selling them in packs of five for $28. They come in a variety of patterns and are made of cotton muslin. Sanctuary recommends disposing of them after "a few uses." Purchases will help the company donate masks to people in need, according to its site.

buy face masks (sanctuary)

Buck Mason

A five pack of masks from menswear company Buck Mason goes for $20. Its inner layer is treated with an antimicrobial coating that the company says lasts 30 washes. For every mask purchased, Buck Mason will donate one to communities in need. According to its site, it's already planning to donate at least 196,000 masks.

Alice and Olivia

One mask from women's clothing designer Alice and Olivia goes for $10, but it's reusable and its viscose material is washing-machine safe. For every mask sold, one will be donated to a community in need.

cloth face masks (Alice and Olivia)

Jack + Mulligan

Jack + Mulligan specializes in bags but now makes reusable white masks with green, elastic straps. They're sold in five packs for $50 and are made of two layers, cotton and antimicrobial polyester. A portion of proceeds from mask purchases will go to the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund.

face mask for sale (Jack + Mulligan)

Caraa

Caraa is another bag maker that's pivoted to masks. A pack of five costs $25, and they're made from scrap materials from the company's production line, so they're easy on the earth. The company will match your with a pack donation to New York State's COVID-19 Response Fund, its site says.

Story continues

American Blanket Company

Made of fleece, these just might be the coziest masks around. They come in two sizes, medium and large, and are sold in packs of five for $29. With every purchase, the company says it will donate face masks to first responders and health care workers. Concerned about the fabric being too thick? The company says they're still breathable.

These might be the coziest face masks around. (American Blanket Company)

Everybody.World

This clothing company built its brand around workers' rights and protecting the environment. So it's no surprise that all proceeds from mask purchases go directly helping the company give factory workers more paid time off. Buy one machine washable, 100% percent cotton mask for $10.

These masks are made in the U.S. (Mark 1)

Goodfight

Fashion brand Goodfight makes masks that can be worn independently or over a medical-grade N95 mask if you're a health care worker. They also come with sleeves so you can insert a filter for added protection. The masks are washable, reusable and sold for $30 a piece.

This mask could be worn alone or over a medical-grade N95 mask.

Custom Ink

Known for selling bulk amounts of T-shirts with personalized designs, Custom Ink is now making masks in large quantities. If you want to keep the whole family protected, consider the 12-pack for $30 or the 120-pack for $240. They're washable, reusable and made of jersey material.

Nununu

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced kids should wear face masks, and kids' clothing brand nununu is offering them free with every purchase of another item. When you check out, comment how many masks you need. You can also email maskdonation@nununuworld.com to ask for a donation. Priority is being given to children's organizations, pediatric services and families in need.

Kenny Flowers

Beachwear company Kenny Flowers is selling masks in packs of matching pairs or three assorted patterns. You can also donate directly from their site. The masks are manufactured in Bali, Indonesia, so for a charity element, the company is donating a mask to locals and giving 100% of proceeds to the nonprofit Direct Relief.

Los Angeles Apparel

This clothing company sells masks in packs of three for $30. They're 100% cotton, machine washable and have an adjustable nose. The company has said that all proceeds support its "ability to donate masks to other essential services."

The Nxt Stop

The travelwear company has started making face masks, sold for $8. They're adjustable, washable and come in two different versions: one made of bamboo and another from cotton.

KES

This New York City-based fashion brand makes mask for kids and adults in two colors, natural cotton and black. Sold for $12 each, they're washable and have adjustable drawstrings. For every mask purchased, the company will donate one to a health care worker.

Veronica Sheaffer

Sheaffer, a former contestant on "Project Runway," has partnered with a local factory in Chicago to produce her "friendly, embroidered face masks," sold for $25 a piece. Preorder the washable masks starting April 22, and they will ship within two weeks, the company said in a statement. For every purchase, the company will donate a mask to someone in need through the Chicago Period Project.

Shirt Stay Plus

Based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, this company known for its elastic shirt stays has pivoted to making cotton face masks. They're sold in packs of three, which costs $24 for the general public and $18 for health care workers. Shirt Stay Plus is also donating one mask to first responders for each one purchased, and first responders can sign up to receive a free mask through the company's website.

Many big-box retailers also sell face masks. If you decided to purchase one, make sure that it will completely cover your nose and mouth, because otherwise it won't be effective at preventing you from potentially passing on the virus to others. Also, consider cleaning it every few uses. Avoid buying medical-grade N95 masks, as these are most needed by health care workers.

It's also important to note Trump's new face mask guidelines do not lessen the importance of stay-at-home measures and social distancing. So you should continue going outside only for essential tasks and wear a face mask if you expect you'll come in contact with other people, like at the grocery store.
Ms. Thomas, who lives with three rescue dogs and has five chickens, said she usually earned $5,000 to $6,000 a month and sometimes as much as $10,000. She was booked solid during the spring and had to turn some clients away, she said, but over three days last month, everyone canceled. She has no money coming in now.

This is the first time in 20 years Ive had to worry, she said. I was like, oh, my God, my whole worlds falling apart. The first week, I was a mess. I was so depressed, so sickened. But you cant worry about what you cant control. Im strong, and I always have been.

Normally, most states offer roughly half of a workers previous wage for up to 26 weeks of unemployment, but the benefits can vary widely among states.

At the end of 2019, the average weekly benefit in Mississippi was $215, and just 9 percent of unemployed workers there were eligible to receive any payments, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. In Massachusetts, the average weekly benefit was $550, and 57 percent of jobless workers qualified.

In Florida and North Carolina, benefits last for only 12 weeks.

Under the new federal law, jobless workers will get an additional $600 each week through July. They will also be able to receive benefits for an additional 13 weeks.

Many states have yet to send out the $600 supplement. New York started issuing the additional money this week. The Texas Workforce Commission is working to start the payments by Sunday, a spokesman said. Other states estimate longer delays.

In Utah, Ms. Thomas said she was not counting on receiving any jobless benefits, but plans to use the $1,200 stimulus check  when she receives it  to help cover some bills, including her business and health insurance.
Kriti also recently shot for the second season of Four More Shots Please

After Kareena Kapoor Khan was seen playing a British cop in the recently streamed Irrfan Khan starrer film 'Angrezi Medium', we have Kirti Kulhari of 'Four More Shots Please' fame playing a cop in the Hindi remake of the Hollywood hit 'The Girl on the Train'.

While Parineeti Chopra plays the central role Emily Blunt played in the original, Kirti has an extended role than what the cop had in the original. The director Ribhu Dasgupta has increased the role of the cop and changed it around a bit, affirms Kirti who returns to the Ribhu camp after Netflixs 'Bard of Blood'.

I fell in love with my character in Bard of Blood as well. I know she dies after a couple of episodes, but I was fine playing Jannat Marri in the show, says the actress, who feels that characters have become excessively important in cinema these days.

Meanwhile, Kriti also recently shot for the second season of 'Four More Shots Please'. That will be out within two weeks from now and my character has some interesting twists to offer, says the actress, who had a great 2019 with 'Uri' and 'Mission Mangal'.

Apart from Kareena and Kriti, one may recall that Rani Mukerji played a cop in the Mardaani series, as did Priyanka Chopra in 'Don', 'Jaigangajal' and Toofan (Zanjeer remake), apart from Tabu in 'Drishyam'. But Kirti will be the second actress from Bollywood to play a cop from Old Blighty.

After Kareena Kapoor Khan was seen playing a British cop in the recently streamed Irrfan Khan starrer film Angrezi Medium, we have Kirti Kulhari of Four More Shots Please fame playing a cop in the Hindi remake of the Hollywood hit The Girl on the Train.

While Parineeti Chopra plays the central role Emily Blunt played in the original, Kirti has an extended role than what the cop had in the original. The director Ribhu Dasgupta has increased the role of the cop and changed it around a bit, affirms Kirti who returns to the Ribhu camp after Netflixs Bard of Blood.

I fell in love with my character in Bard of Blood as well. I know she dies after a couple of episodes, but I was fine playing Jannat Marri in the show, says the actress, who feels that characters have become excessively important in cinema these days.

Meanwhile, Kriti also recently shot for the second season of Four More Shots Please. That will be out within two weeks from now and my character has some interesting twists to offer, says the actress, who had a great 2019 with Uri and Mission Mangal.

Apart from Kareena and Kriti, one may recall that Rani Mukerji played a cop in the 'Mardaani' series, as did Priyanka Chopra in 'Don', 'Jaigangajal' and Toofan (Zanjeer remake), apart from Tabu in Drishyam. But Kirti will be the second actress from Bollywood to play a cop from Old Blighty.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says deploying Internet of Things (IoT) can help countries affected by the coronavirus respond to the pandemic better.

In a statement marking the celebration of the World Internet of Things (IoT) Day, the agency said IoT can aide governments and medical personnel in ensuring compliance to stay at home orders as well as diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The statement signed by NITDAs spokesperson, Hadiza Umar, recalls that IoT Council in 2010 set aside the 9th April to commemorate the IoT technology.

The use of the technology, according to the agency, can help minimise contact between cases and health workers, thereby minimising attendant risks.

Innovative IoT devices such as drones can be used to monitor and enforce compliance of governments directives of social distancing and prohibition of mass gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

They can also track crowd sizes in real-time as well as coughing and temperature measurements to determine COVID-19 symptoms through analytics from the real-time data generated.

NITDA said it is making efforts at creating opportunities for the adoption of innovative IoT solutions to address Nigerias socio-economic challenges in different sectors of the economy.

Read the full text of the statement below:

NITDA Advises on the Potentials of Internet of Things (IoT) in Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic As the World Celebrates IoT Day

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) joins the global community in celebrating the World Internet of Things (IoT) Day. The IoT Council in 2010 set aside the 9th April of every year the World IoT Day. The day is aimed at celebrating IoT advancement and adoption as well as to enable the IoT community, world-wide to recognize and appreciate the capability of IoT in the transformation of nations, communities, manufacturing, businesses and individuals lives. It is also a day set aside to reiterate the impact of IoT in all fields of human endeavour.

IoT is the interconnection of smart devices such as phones, wearable electronics, automobiles, industrial and domestic appliances, etc., over the Internet, to send and receive data. It is an advanced automation and analytics system that leverages the internet, sensing technologies, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence technology to convey complete systems for a data-driven product or service. Data is collected by mobile installed sensors, health monitors, robots and end-user hardware among others. The data is then forwarded to central cloud servers for intelligence mining and analytics.

The significance of IoT, particular in this trying time of the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be overemphasised. It is unfortunately experienced in recent times that the COVID-19 outbreak is a global crisis, impacting almost all human endeavours, particularly the health sector. In the heath sector, IoT could be used to fight the virus outbreak and enforcement of lockdowns where necessary in combination with the Geographic Information System (GIS) and other appropriate technologies. Governments all over the world are directing citizens and residence to Work From Home as a means of curtailing the spread of the virus. In such a situation, the health sector can promote the use of appropriate IoT solutions and capabilities among doctors and healthcare workers to treat patients via telemedicine. Unfortunately, the pandemic resulted into the loss of my medical doctors and other healthcare workers through physical contact with the infected persons. This therefore means that virtual treatments and interactions can go a long way in safeguarding the precious lives of our healthcare workers.

Innovative IoT devices such as drones can be used to monitor and enforce compliance of governments directives of social distancing and prohibition of mass gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. They can also track crowd sizes in real-time as well as coughing and temperature measurements to determine COVID-19 symptoms through analytics from the real-time data generated. In the case of breach of any compliance directives, the IoT devices can intimate the law enforcement agents for necessary action.

Furthermore, IoT can be used to ensure patients compliance or breach of quarantine etiquettes through remote monitoring by healthcare workers. The data generated therein can be used to track down who else can be vulnerable as a result of a breach. Patient management is another area of IoT application. It can enable monitoring of all patients who are high-risk enough to warrant quarantine but not serious enough for in-hospital care against the current practice of manual door-to-door patient checking which could be contagious.

NITDA is making progressive efforts at creating opportunities for the adoption of innovative IoT solutions to address the countrys socio-economic challenges in different sectors of the economy. Such efforts have empowered some staff of the Agency to publish papers in international journals on IoT architecture and diversification of Nigerias economy through the adoption of IoT for smart and precision agriculture. The Nigeria Smart Initiatives (NSI) project by NITDA and being promoted through Nigeria Smart Initiatives Policy Framework (NSIPF) is being supported by the published IoT architecture.

Adaptation of the IoT architecture is also being used to implement one of the Agencys key smart-enabled projects in the Agriculture sector tagged NITDA Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA). NAVSA is an ecosystem and data-driven agriculture platform developed to practically accelerate the achievement of Governments policy objectives in agriculture productivity and food security; food exportation; economic diversification; and jobs creation for sustainable national development. The Agency has also developed an IoT hardware platform in the like of Raspberry pi and Arduino that can support the development of different smart solutions. The UnityBoard version is designed an an embedded AI / IoT STEAM Education Kit and was launched during the 39th edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEXT), 2019 in Dubai, UAE. It was also presented to the National Council on Communication and Digital Economy (NCCDE) in December 2019 for adoption as training kit to promote technology education at all levels in Nigeria.

Therefore, we have every cause to celebrate IoT day with the rest of the world. As we commemorate this all-important day, NITDA is calling on the Nigerian youth and the key practitioners in ICT industry to be prepared to take their rightful places to promote IoT technologies in Nigeria. We are confident that the Nigerian Tech Community has the capacity to harness the potentials of IoT in developing solutions to help in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as well as help in cushioning the economic impact of the pandemic. All citizens and residents are advised to remain safe, stay and work from home and innovate while enjoying the 2020 World IoT Day.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is a Federal Government Agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. NITDA was established in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy as well as coordinate general IT development and regulation in the country. Specifically, Section 6(a & c) of the Act mandates NITDA to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; develop guidelines for electronic governance and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communication transactions as an alternative to paper-based methods in government, commerce, education, the private and public sectors, labour, and other fields, where the use of electronic communication may improve the exchange of data and information.

Signed:

Mrs Hadiza Umar, MNIPR, M.APRA, MCIPR

Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations

Corporate Headquarters, Garki, Abuja

Website: www.nitda.gov.ng, e-mail: info@nitda.gov.ng
An international team of particle physicists have paused their search for dark matter to focus on the needs of victims of the global pandemic -- in particular, their need to breathe.

In severe cases, COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation, but the world's supply of ventilators has proven too small for the exponentially increasing demand.

"The public health care system in Lombardy is perhaps the strongest one in Europe, but it was near the point of buckling," said Cristian Galbiati, a professor of physics at Princeton University who has led the design of a simplified mechanical ventilator that can be mass produced using readily available components.

He and his collaborators -- more than 250 physicists, engineers, physicians and others from 12 countries around the world -- call their device the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM). Its operation requires only electricity and a source of compressed oxygen (or a blend of oxygen and medical air), and the control and monitoring unit at its heart is being developed and programmed by "the best developers" from particle physics national laboratories in the U.S., Canada, Italy and many other nations, said Galbiati.

While it may sound odd for a dark matter researcher to have taken up medical manufacturing, it makes more sense when put another way: an expert in constructing sensitive instruments for compressed argon decided to experiment with compressed oxygen and nitrogen.

Galbiati and his colleagues in the DarkSide-20k project have spent 15 years designing and refining equipment that uses a highly pressurized liquid form of the noble gas to detect a dark matter particle. They pivoted from astrophysics to medicine just in the past few weeks.

After research travel to Italy got Galbiati stuck in the country, he texted a friend whose family owns a major gas distribution company to congratulate the family on their donation for a rapidly constructed ward for COVID-19 patients in Milan. He was shocked to learn that the family's order for ventilators in support of the ward was canceled. Galbiati then spoke with his brother Filippo, an emergency room doctor at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan, whose practice had by then constricted to only COVID-19 patients. The other Dr. Galbiati explained to the physics professor the increasingly difficult situation facing Italian physicians who needed to treat oxygen-starved patients with limited ventilators at the peak of the local epidemic.

"We are doing so many complex projects with technical gases," said Professor Galbiati. He wanted to use his expertise "to find the best way -- a way that is more scalable -- to put oxygen into people's lungs when they need it."

Galbiati reached out to the same friend, whose company also commercializes and repairs ventilators, and obtained permission from the Italian government to carry out tests at his friend's facility. Once they had a design, he secured government permission to build and test a prototype. Then he reached out to the DarkSide-20k team.

"Particle physicists are a strange bunch of people," said Fernando Ferroni, president of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and a leading collaborator on the MVM, as well as the director of communication for the project. "We have a particular affinity for intellectual problems. We have a problem? We have to solve it." In addition, he added, one advantage to a global collaboration is that someone is always awake, to keep the project moving forward 24 hours a day.

The team sought input from Italian anesthesiologists. "They spent the last four weeks on the front lines, caring for patients, just being devastated by this," Galbiati said. "They bring incredible experience. They know exactly what needs to be done to save the patients -- and to help them recover."

One feature that the doctors suggested is single-button access to procedures for measuring parameters that have proven crucial for setting the best recovery path for COVID-19 patients. "In most traditional machines, designed for a more general use, these procedures require pressing five or six or seven buttons, or switching between different operating modes," said Galbiati.

"As recommended by Dr. [Giuseppe] Foti and Dr. [Giacomo] Bellani of San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, we are working to implement advanced features such as single-button measurement of the plateau pressure, the pressure reached inside the alveoli at the end of the inspiratory cycle, and of the 'AutoPEEP,' normally referred to as the air-trapping in the exhalation phase, which may be zero for most healthy patients or significantly different from zero for patients that have obstructions in the exhalation channel, as possibly generated by secretions," he said.

The MVM team have shared their design via the open-source science repositories arXiv (pronounced "archive") and medRiv ("med archive"), both to disseminate the conceptual design broadly and to speed feedback from the scientific and medical community. At this point, they have advanced from the design phase, through the prototype phase, and into preparations for mass manufacturing. Materials for the first 1,000 MVMs should arrive in a week. They are working closely with the United States Air Force, the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and Italian regulatory agencies to secure approvals.

"Creating something that is constructed from readily available parts, that is simple but capable of doing everything that is needed in the way of a ventilator -- that was Cristian's original vision, and I think it's panning out very well," said Arthur McDonald, a key member of the MVM team and a recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is an emeritus physics professor at Queen's University in Canada who was on the Princeton faculty from 1982 to 1989.

The first ventilators will go directly to Italian hospitals, followed shortly by those in the U.S. and Canada, said McDonald, but the team also hopes to secure funding to build and distribute MVMs in countries that cannot afford to build their own, said McDonald. "We're all very conscious of the fact that in the longer term, the less developed parts of the world are going to be hit hard by this epidemic, and there's going to be great need around the world."

###

Princeton collaborators on the MVM include Peter Elmer, a senior research physicist; Bert Harrop, a senior technician in physics and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM); Andrea Ianni, a Borexino general engineer in Princeton's physics department; David Lange, a computational physicist; Xinran Li, a physics graduate student; Daniel Marlow, Princeton's Evans Crawford 1911 Professor of Physics; Javier Romualdez, a postdoctoral research fellow in physics; Mojtaba Safabakhsh, head of the fabrication group in the engineering and technical infrastructure at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab; and Jeff Thompson, an assistant professor of electrical engineering who is associated faculty in PRISM.
Living in a smoggy city could be bad for your memory, a study warns.

Those who live in urban areas with high levels of pollution scored lower on thinking and memory tests, and suffered faster cognitive decline, researchers found.

Scientists examined the link between air pollution levels and cognitive impairment in two separate studies.

Some 6,423 people in New York City were enrolled in either an ageing study looking at dementia in urban environments or a stroke study in city dwellers.

Living in a smoggy city like New York (pictured) may be bad for your memory, a study warns

All participants were given medical exams at the beginning of the study.

Their memory, language skills and executive function  which involves thinking skills like organising and completing tasks  were also tested.

Follow-up assessments were then conducted for up to seven years afterwards.

The researchers, from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, then used the participants home addresses to determine their exposure to three air pollutants. Participants with greater exposure to higher levels of pollution in the ageing study scored lower on the cognitive tests.

They also showed more rapid rates of mental decline.

However, the stroke study displayed no association between cognitive function and air pollution. Both studies were published in the online journal Neurology.
A couple of weeks ago, as panic-stricken shoppers descended on the nation's supermarkets, Sainsbury's and Asda quietly introduced a new product to their meat aisles.

Labelled 'NO FUSS lean Polish beef mince' and retailing for the bargain price of 2.95 a pound, it helped fill the empty shelves that had until very recently held Union Flag-stamped packets of best British beef.

Farmers, when they spotted it, hit the roof, accusing the rapacious retailers of flooding the market with cheap imports.

'It is unacceptable to us as an organisation, and, we suspect, to the British population, that you would choose to import beef from abroad at this time,' read an open letter from the National Beef Association

The offending article - stacks of 'NO FUSS lean Polish beef mince' in packets at reduced cost

'It is unacceptable to us as an organisation, and, we suspect, to the British population, that you would choose to import beef from abroad at this time,' read an open letter from the National Beef Association, questioning welfare and safety standards in Eastern Europe.

'At a later date, when the crisis is over and the luxury of choice is handed back to the public, perhaps they will remember which supermarkets backed Britain.'

Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP for North Dorset, told the retailers via Twitter: 'THAT. IS. A. DIS. GRACE.' An agricultural law firm from Derbyshire, Nigel Davis Solicitors, described the Polish meat as 'c**p' adding 'try selling good home grown British beef. You can't beat it!'

Adding to their woes, farmers face growing problems bringing their sheep and cows to market in the first place thanks to 'social distancing' measures

Amid an avalanche of similar attacks, Sainsbury's and Asda issued a veiled apology, saying their decision to stock the imported mince had been a one-off measure to keep supplies from running dry, and will not happen again.

So far, so jolly. Yet this kerfuffle lays bare a host of far more serious ructions being felt across the British agricultural industry, where almost every sector now finds itself thrown into chaos by the coronavirus emergency.

Dairy farmers are suddenly facing ruin, as the Mail reported yesterday, thanks to a drop in demand from the food service sector which is forcing them to dump millions of gallons of milk a day.

Asparagus, strawberry and soft fruit producers meanwhile fear being forced to let crops rot in the fields, as we have also revealed, because the 90,000 foreign labourers who would usually bring their harvest in are unable to make it to the UK.

Almost every sector now finds itself thrown into chaos by the coronavirus emergency

Asparagus, strawberry and soft fruit producers meanwhile fear being forced to let crops rot in the fields

For livestock farmers, who maintain the fields and lay the hedgerows that cover our green and pleasant countryside, the picture is also increasingly grim. To understand why, we must return to that 'NO FUSS' Polish mince.

In normal circumstances, British beef and lamb is sold in two distinct markets. One supplies pubs and restaurants. The other is sold in retail outlets, where we buy the meat that we cook at home.

When the coronavirus lockdown started, the former market disappeared overnight. Instead, we descended on stores, spending 1.4billion extra on food and drink in a few short days, increasing meat, poultry and fish sales by a quarter. The problem, however, is that the kind of meat we buy to eat at home is very different to the sort we tuck into on a big night out. Put simply, consumers stopped buying roasting joints and expensive steaks, and instead filled the deep freezer with cheap mince.

'People when they go out on a Friday night might treat themselves to a sirloin steak down the pub,' says Stuart Roberts, a livestock farmer and NFU vice president. 'At home, that gets replaced with something they feel comfortable cooking, which tends to mean an extra packet of mince for a spaghetti bolognese.'

Sales of mince increased by 45 per cent according to industry analysts Kantar. Meanwhile roasting joints, steaks, and other posh cuts that would usually be sold to restaurants were left floating around the market looking for a home. To fill the gap, shops decided to not only sell imported mince, but also turn more valuable cuts into mince.

'Social distancing' measures have closed some of Britain's 250-odd abattoirs and mean that others are operating at around half normal capacity

This has, in turn, dramatically reduced the value of individual beef carcasses. 'Brisket that goes as braising steak fetches 10 per kilo, but as mince you are looking at nearer 6,' says Chris Gooderham, of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, which monitors prices.

Gooderham says the average price of a beef carcass has dropped around 80, which equates to 10 per cent, in recent days. Other indicators suggest prices are up to 20 per cent lower in a month. And even before that, they were at five-year lows.

'Now beef is being sold at a loss,' says Neil Shand, of the National Beef Association. 'These are grim times. We cannot furlough staff. Ewes still need to lamb and cows have to calve.'

Adding to their woes, farmers face growing problems bringing their sheep and cows to market in the first place thanks to 'social distancing' measures which have closed some of Britain's 250-odd abattoirs and mean that others are operating at around half normal capacity.

'It's a hell of a job to follow the new rules in these places, because they usually have three or four people working cheek by jowl on a single carcass,' says Steve Evans, a dairy farmer from Pembrokeshire.

'There will be lots of dairy cows being brought for slaughter in the coming weeks, because we have been told to cut production, so that's going to get worse.'

Usually, a drop in supply leads to prices rising. But the extra high-end meat swashing around the marketplace means the opposite is actually happening.

Adding to their woes, Evans says, is the grading system which means farmers are paid less for cattle that are carrying too much fat. Beasts that cannot be slaughtered on schedule will inevitably spend extra time being fed.

For colleagues in the sheep industry, things are also looking grim, thanks to the collapse of exports, which account for a third of all lamb produced in the UK.

'A week last Monday, the live weight went down 72p a kilo from 2.60 to 1.88,' says Wyn Evans, who with wife Nicole and children Gwynfor and Ellen raises around 400 lambs a year on his farm near Aberystwyth. 'It takes away the top end of my profit, just like that.'

Like everyone in this increasingly precarious industry, Evans hopes we will do our bit for farmers by treating ourselves to a steak for dinner, and perhaps a leg of lamb this Easter.

Washed down with a pint of British beer or  if you want to really help the nation's food producers  a nice glass of milk.
A group of 22 Indians stranded in the UAE due to the travel ban due to the coronavirus pandemic have been provided with food supplies by the Indian Consulate here after they posted their plight on Twitter, according to a media report.

The Indian men have valid visit visas and were brought to the UAE by fraudulent employment agents in early March. But they got stuck due to the travel restrictions across the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday.

The men, abandoned by their agents, also could not find jobs due to the restrictions imposed in the country due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and had very little access to food and other supplies, the report said.

The Indian Consulate arranged food supplies for the 22 Indian workers after getting information on their plight, an official said.

The workers are keen to return home.

"When the situation became increasingly grave, we hoped to go back to India. However, it seems difficult now," Danish Ali, one of the stranded workers, was quoted as saying in the report.

Several countries halted all the inbound flights since early this month after the coronavirus outbreak was declared pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

Like several nations, India announced a total lockdown from March 25 to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Like the current group, another 18 Indians are stuck at the Dubai airport when all the inbound flights were stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the Indian mission has extended every help possible to the stranded people from the country.

Neeraj Agarwal, Consul (Press, Information, and Culture) said: "We encourage all Indians who are in a crisis or destitute situation to reach out to the Consulate for help. Food and medical provisions will be provided to those in need.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump and Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou (R) tour a Foxconn facility at the Wisconsin Valley Science and Technology Park on June 28, 2018, in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Brendan Smailowski | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn claims that it has created enough jobs in Wisconsin to begin collecting on the multibillion-dollar incentive package the state offered to attract the company's first U.S. manufacturing facility. But the state is not turning over any money just yet for the deeply controversial project, which has consistently fallen short of the wildly ambitious plans described by President Donald Trump when he first announced the deal in 2017. In a filing with the state's economic development arm obtained by CNBC under Wisconsin's Public Records Law, Foxconn Vice Chairman Jay Lee said that by the end of 2019, the company directly employed more than 600 people in the state, of which he said 550 qualify for subsidies under the company's contract with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Under that agreement, Foxconn had to hire at least 520 people last year to qualify for any subsidies. The company also said it has spent more than $280 million on the project to date. If the numbers on jobs and capital spending prove accurate, the company could collect around $50 million in subsidies and tax credits. It would mark the first time the company has met the targets to begin collecting the subsidies. In 2017, Wisconsin offered a record near-$3 billion in incentives to Foxconn over 10 years to secure the plant. In addition, the state and local governments have already spent tens of millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements and land acquisition at the site in the village of Mount Pleasant, near Racine.

Battle over subsidies

The state is not taking Foxconn's reporting at face value. In a statement, WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes said the agency plans to submit the report to an independent auditor as required by the contract. The agency will then launch its own review, "a process that is likely to take months." Even if the report clears that process, it is not clear the state will be willing to pay. Last year Gov. Tony Evers' administration argued that the project was so vastly scaled back from the original plan that it no longer conformed to the agreement negotiated under his predecessor, Scott Walker, and as a result no longer qualified for the subsidies.
Chief Minister Tests Positive For Covid-19

Chief Minister Howard Quayle has tested positive for coronavirus.

It was confirmed at Tuesdays daily press briefing, where the health minister revealed the number of Manx residents with Covid-19 has today risen by 32.

53-year-old Mr Quayle has been self-isolating since Tuesday after experiencing mild symptoms.

David Ashford read out a statement on behalf of the chief minister, thanking the public for their messages of support:

The total number of confirmed cases on the Isle of Man now stands at 190.

Of those, 177 are being asked to self-isolate, with 12 patients now receiving treatment in hospital.

Mr Ashford said 92 people, who had previously tested positive for the virus, have since recovered.

Media

David Ashford MHK read out a statement on behalf of the Chief Minister
A number of Kenyan lawmakers on Wednesday disclosed results of their coronavirus tests after it was widely reported that up to 17 lawmakers had tested positive.

Siaya Senator James Orengo and Kibra MP Imran Okoth, two of the MPs who were said to have tested positive, published copies of their results from Lancet Kenya on Twitter as they called on Kenyans to desist from spreading false information. They both tested negative.

I took a voluntary Covid-19 test on Friday last week. The result was directly conveyed to me in person by a doctor. Tested Negative. It is my civic duty to continue complying with guidelines. Its not a matter of choice. At the same time parliament cannot abdicate. Chew gum & walk, posted Orengo.

As a nation and a people we are in this together and must confront COVID-19 as an army. Fear of the virus should not be turned into stigma but into a resolve to fight the pandemic. Count me in the army, he added.

On his part, Imran Okoth wrote:  Please ignore any list doing rounds out there. May the Almighty God continue guiding us in the right path.

Pathologists Lancet Kenya also issued a statement Wednesday dismissing the early morning reports. The lab said any information indicating that there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Parliament is incorrect, misleading and should be disregarded.

Any person who turns positive for COVID-19 is informed individually by the doctors. In addition, the Ministry of Health is the only authority mandated to release COVID-19 positive results to the public, Lancet said.

Other lawmakers who disclosed they tested negative include Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior and Narok Senator Ledama Olekina.
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The US contraceptive market size is expected to reach USD 9.6 billion by 2027, exhibiting a 4.2% CAGR over the forecast period, based on a new report published by Grand View Research, Inc. Improving awareness regarding Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) and effectiveness, availability, and convenience of using these products are the factors expected to drive the growth. The Guttmacher Institute reports that in the US, 60% of women of reproductive age use contraception. Use of hormonal contraceptives other than the birth control pill has significantly increased among married women.

Key market players are actively investing in the clinical pipeline, resulting in high competition and an increase in the quality of contraceptives. In January 2019, Mithra Pharmaceuticals announced the success of Estelle's phase 3 study conducted in US and Canada, meeting the primary efficacy endpoint. The efficacy was reported to be similar to a recently FDA-approved Annovera and Lo-Loestrin. In November 2019, Agile Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the US FDA had extended the review date of Twirla's New Drug Application (NDA), from November 16, 2019 to February 16, 2020.

Further key findings from the study suggest :

Prevalence of teenage pregnancies is highest in US among developed nations. Government initiatives such as improving sex education and increasing access to contraceptives is expected to drive adoption of various birth control method among young population

In 2019, the pills segment held the largest market share owing to the convenience of use and easy availability. The pills market is highly competitive due to the presence of generic products

Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) held one of the largest market shares in 2019, with increasing demand for hormonal IUDs

Rapid growth of subdermal implants in the US contraceptive market is anticipated in the coming years. The market for subdermal implants is highly consolidated with presence of very few players

Nonhormonal birth control methods such as condoms , sponge, and diaphragms are popular among women in the age group of 25 to 40 years

Some of the key industry contributors are Merck & Co. Inc .; Bayer AG; Allergan, Afaxys, Inc; Mayer Laboratories, Inc .; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd .; Agile Therapeutics; TherapeuticsMD Inc .; Reckitt Benckiser Plc .; Pfizer, Inc .; Cooper Surgical; Church & Dwight Co., Inc .; Mithra Pharmaceuticals

Request a Sample Copy of the US Contraceptive Market Research Report @ www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-contraceptive-market/request/rs1

Grand View Research has segmented the US contraceptive market based on product:

US Contraceptive Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

Pills

Condoms Male Condoms Female Condoms

Diaphragms

Sponge

Vaginal Ring

Subdermal Implants

IUD Hormonal IUD Nonhormonal IUD

Patch

injectable

Access full research report on US contraceptive market: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-contraceptive-market
A 32-year-old youth, who had been to Tabhlighi Jamaat meet in New Delhi, became the first case of coronavirus positive in Aligarh on Thursday.

Hailing from Firozabad, the man was residing at mosque in Shahjamal area of Aligarh.

The team of health department had reached the area to trace other symptomatic persons who will now be placed under quarantine.

A Jamaat member residing in Shahjamal area of Aligarh has tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. He is basically from Firozabad and was subjected to tests being symptomatic, said additional chief medical officer (ACMO) Aligarh Dr PK Sharma.

He is being admitted in Homeopathic Medical College in Aligarh for treatment in isolation ward. Team of health department has reached the Shahjamal area where door to door survey would be conducted within one kilometer radius and those found symptomatic would be taken for quarantine, he added.

While nearby Agra district has already 84 positive cases, a positive case has of coronavirus here have put health authorities on toes.

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Cabarrus County Schools administration is aware of the photos that were posted and is working with school leaders to address the situation, the district said in a statement.

It is unclear if the student has been disciplined.

The use of the statue of the schools mascot has been a particular point of contention in this instance.

As a minority student at Hickory Ridge High School, this entire situation has been repulsive, the minority student at Hickory Ridge said. I would like to clear the air as to why this is so vile and offensive to people like me. At every sporting event, every pep rally, and even any sort of event where academic recognition is given, we are supposed to be proud to be Hickory Ridge Bulls.

This mascot is supposed to belong to the entire student body and to embody unity, regardless of the color of your skin. The Confederate flag is the pure antithesis to these beliefs as it is the flag of a group of people who were traitors to this country, hated America, and killed fellow Americans for the right to own other people.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:02:51|Editor: huaxia

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SANTIAGO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chile's Ministry of Health on Thursday reported 5,972 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 57 deaths from the disease.

In the past 24 hours, 426 cases of infection and nine more deaths were registered.

All of the latest fatalities involved "very elderly" people aged 81 to 87 with pre-existing ailments, "fundamentally cancer, very advanced dementia and Alzheimer's," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said at a press conference.

Chile plans to issue a "discharge card" for COVID-19 patients who have recovered, which will exempt them from lockdown measures so they can return to normal life, said Manalich.

In the past day, 7,942 tests have been applied, resulting in a 5.3 percent rate of testing positive for the virus, he added.

With 65 percent of Chile's existing respirators in use, the country has had to order more from abroad, and "fortunately they are arriving" from three different sources, said Manalich.

Some companies and universities in the South American country are working on manufacturing respirators based on international prototypes, but they would still need to be certified by the Institute of Public Health, a procedure that could take some time, he noted.

Chile intensified lockdown measures in major cities on Thursday to prevent residents from heading to the beach during the coming Holy Week long weekend.

The government has also called for the mandatory use of face masks on all public transit and paid private transportation, a measure that took effect on Wednesday.
The Times Union has lifted the paywall on this developing coverage to provide critical information to our community. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription.

Total COVID-19 cases:

 161,779 in New York state, including 7,067 deaths

 461,437 in the U.S., including 16,478 deaths

 1,595,350 worldwide, including 95,455 deaths. 353,975 recovered

Note: The number of positive confirmed cases is cumulative and includes people who have recovered as well as those who died.

Explore charts showing the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. and across the globe

Flu fatalities 2018-19 season:

 U.S.: 34,157 (75% were 65 and older)

Additional resources:

 Here are the latest cancellations and postponements.

 For a detailed map, check out the Times Unions New York Coronavirus Tracker

 To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.

Thursday's coronavirus updates:

4:40 p.m. Times Union launches new coronavirus Facebook group.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world as we know it. What can we do to help each other? In this place, wed like to share and hear your stories about people doing what they can to help others during these difficult times. We also want to support area businesses by providing a forum for them to share news and other information with the community. Join here.

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4:11 p.m. Rensselaer County reports updated results of 102 positive cases for COVIC-19.

The county's positive test results added three more since earlier today to reach 102. Currently, nine county residents are hospitalized. Three people were released bringing the total to 34. A total of 1,525 people have been tested. About 300 are being quarantined. The number of residents who have died remains at five.

2:50 p.m.: Schenectady County reports 167 people were diagnosed with COVID-19

The number released Thursday rose from 150 diagnoses that were recorded by Wednesday. Hospitalizations climbed to 85 from 79 patients and quarantines rose to 658 from 621. So far, 58 people have recovered from the virus and eight people were killed by it, the county says.

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2:34 p.m.: Schenectady County closings

Schenectady County announced it will close the Plotter Kill and Indian Kill preserves until further notice.

The household hazardous waste collection scheduled for May 8 has been canceled.

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2:34 p.m.: Rensselaer County reports 3 more people test positive

The county Health Department confirmed three new COVID-19 cases. There are 99 confirmed cases in the county. The new cases include a 9-year-old girl from East Greenbush, a 44-year-old man from Troy and a 53-year-old woman from North Greenbush.

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12:47 p.m.: Stewart's employee in South Troy store tests positive

Rensselaer County's Health Department are urging customers or others who visited the store at 8 Vandenburg Ave. between March 27 and 31 to call the health department at 518-270-2655 if they show any symptoms. The county says the employee lives in Albany County.

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12:45 p.m.: Golf courses now considered 'nonessential,' ordered to close

A new guidance was issued Thursday morning by Empire State Development, stating specifically that golf courses are not essential businesses for purpose of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's pause order.

The closing of golf courses is effective through April 29 or until heard otherwise from the governor. Read more

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12:30 p.m.: Troy promotes hotline to help city's small businesses

Troy's Office of Economic Development has set up a service to support businesses during the coronavirus crisis. City businesses can reach the Troy Business Assistance Team at 518-308-8548 or send an email to smallbizhelp@troyny.gov.

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11:45 a.m.: Deaths continue increasing in New York

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said additional funeral directors are being brought in to help handle the high number of fatalities associated with the coronavirus.

New York state reported a record number of deaths for a third consecutive day with 799, raising the outbreak total above 7,000. Read more

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11:35 a.m. Demand for power way down in NYC

The Rensselaer-based New York Independent System Operator released an analysis of virus outbreak-related impacts showing energy demand is down across the New York Control Area, with certain zones experiencing more dramatic drops in load than others.

Demand reductions are largest in the morning, particularly in New York City. For weekdays during the period of March 30  April 3, reductions in electric consumption there approached 18% during the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours. Overall, New York City hourly demand for that week ranged from 2% to 18% below typical demand levels. Beyond the city, reductions in electric consumption compared to typical demand levels ranged from 1% during the 12 a.m. hour to 12% during the 7 a.m. hour.

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11:25 a.m.: Albany County sees 2 more deaths

County Executive Dan McCoy said that two women died Wednesday evening from COVID-19.

The women, one in her 70s and one in her 80s, both had preexisting medical conditions.

The county saw 35 new cases, bringing it's total to 335 since the outbreak began last month. The county now has 11 fatalities. Read more

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8:50 a.m.: New York unions lash out at Cuomo for deferring pay raises

State union leaders lashed out at the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo overnight Wednesday after learning New York will defer negotiated pay raises for thousands of workers.

The 2-percent raises were scheduled to begin being paid in mid-April. They will be delayed for at least 90 days, according to union leaders.

Its inexcusable to require our workers to literally face death to ensure the state keeps running and then turn around and deny those very workers their much-deserved raise in this time of crisis, said Mary E. Sullivan, president of the state Civil Service Employees Association. Read more

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8:45 a.m.: Jobless claims top 6 million for second week in row

The number of initial claims for unemployment topped 6.6 million for the second week in a row, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday morning.

The filings, for the week ending April 4, were down slightly from 6,867,000 last week, a figure that had been revised upward by 219,000 from 6,648,000 initially reported. Read more

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8:15 a.m.: On hold for hours, unemployed ask for end to state's phone-call requirement for claims

It may start with this call cannot be completed when dialed.

Perhaps, on the second try, should a caller get through, the state Department of Labors auto message will state theyre experiencing high call volumes and promptly disconnect.

On the third try, you may get past the prompts but be left waiting to speak with an agent, only then to be disconnected because of high call volumes.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Thousands of New Yorkers have taken to social media to express their frustration and anxiety over their inability to get unemployment claims processed as they are held up by a phone call. Residents have blasted the department for its handling of claims both on the labor departments Facebook page and on that same platform in a recently formed group dubbed HELP US - NYS Unemployment Issues. Read more

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8:12 a.m.: More health care workers ill as region sees 4 new deaths

More health care workers are testing positive for COVID-19, area officials reported Wednesday.

Albany Medical Center said 67 employees have now tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, up from 50 reported Friday. Read more

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8:08 a.m.: Daughter of Schenectady's famed Georgetta Dix dies of COVID-19

Regina "Gina" Dix-Parsons always had an encouraging word for people and could sing like nobodys business, according to family and friends.

A few days after being admitted to Ellis Hospital last month, Regina Dix-Parsons, who comes from a deeply religious family in Schenectady, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and needed a ventilator to help her breathe, according to her daughter WaKena Parsons-Jackson.

Her condition never improved. Read more

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6:33 a.m.: Deaths climb again in New York as virus rates flatten

The number of coronavirus deaths in New York continued to climb overnight Tuesday but the rate of hospitalizations and new infections of COVID-19 is flattening as a result of the social distancing measures that have been in place for weeks, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said. Read more

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6:30 a.m.: Blacks, Hispanics disproportionately dying of COVID-19

Deaths caused by COVID-19 in New York are disproportionately impacting black and Hispanic people, according to initial data released by the state.

In fact, black residents outside New York City have died at twice the rate of their population. Eighteen percent of COVID-19 victims have been black, when 9% of the population outside New York City is black. Read more

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Wednesday: More than 900 cases reported in Capital Region

There are more than 900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the greater Capital Region. Below is a breakdown of known case counts, hospitalizations, recoveries and deaths, as reported by local counties or the state.

 Albany County: 330 cases, 9 deaths

 Columbia County: 76 cases, 6 hospitalized, 31 recovered, 4 deaths

 Fulton County: 14 cases

 Greene County: 25 cases

 Montgomery County: 18 cases, 1 death

 Rensselaer County: 94 cases, 11 hospitalized, 31 recovered, 4 deaths

 Saratoga County: 176 cases, 11 hospitalized, 5 deaths

 Schenectady County: 150 cases, 79 hospitalized, 51 recovered, 8 deaths

 Schoharie County: 12 cases

 Warren County: 33 cases

 Washington County: 20 cases, 1 death

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Wednesday: Drive-up test site for COVID-19 coming to Queensbury

A new test site for COVID-19 is poised to open Thursday in the North Country.

Glens Falls Hospital and Warren County Public Health Services said the drive-up test site will be located at the Warren County Municipal Center off Route 9 in Queensbury for those who have a doctor's order and appointment.

It will be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and can handle about 50 tests a day. Read more

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Wednesday: Las Vegas casino to donate million masks to NY

The masks will be flown from Guangzhou, China, on an aircraft owned by Sands CEO Sheldon G. Adelson, and are due to arrive at Albany International Airport Thursday morning. They will be sent to a state collection center.

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Wednesday: Shelter delivers pet meals for those shut in by COVID-19

Volunteers who usually work at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society are delivering pet food from the Furry Friends Pet Food Pantry to people unable to pick it up themselves because they are either too sick or in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic forced the shelter to keep most people out of its facility and the delivery service has given an outlet to some volunteers, who pick up the pet food without entering the main building. Read more

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Read more of Wednesday's developments
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The influenza pandemic of 1918, the deadliest outbreak of disease in modern times, exacted a terrible toll, and not just in lives. Much like the coronavirus today, it strained the bonds holding society together.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that at least 50 million people died during the influenza outbreak  more than during World War I  including about 675,000 in the U.S. Some epidemiologists think the death toll could have been as high as 100 million, John M. Barry wrote in The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.

In Philadelphia, one of the hardest-hit cities in America, fear came and stayed, Barry wrote. Death could come from anyone, anytime. People moved away from others on the sidewalk, avoided conversation; if they did speak, they turned their faces away to avoid the other persons breathing. People became isolated, increasing the fear.

How some Christians responded to the 1918 pandemic

Although health officials have avoided comparisons between the outbreaks, the impact of influenza 100 years ago on community life, such as church services, seems eerily familiar today.

In Providence, Rhode Island, evangelist Billy Sunday held a crusade, with one newspaper reporting that 10,000 people grasped Mr. Sundays hand. Although he vowed to pray down the epidemic, people in the crowd, sick with the flu, collapsed. The influenza canceled three weeks of his nightly services.

Government officials around the country called a halt to public meetings such as church services for safetys sake, just like during the coronavirus outbreak. With no place to meet, pastors sent their sermons to local newspapers to print. One pastor in Los Angeles had Boy Scouts deliver Sunday school lessons to his church members. Other pastors encouraged their flocks to meet in homes, like the Apostles did.

In Ennis, Texas, a man said that he wouldnt be able to attend worship services for the first time in 12 years. But he told the Gospel Advocate, We had three funerals here Sunday.

Some churches protested restrictions on indoor services. Others got around them by meeting outside. At the First Baptist Church of San Francisco, the theme of one such Sunday service was The Spanish Influenza, One of the Last Plagues.

Stepping over corpses

Wartime conditions contributed to the spread of the virus.

Soldiers, jammed into barracks at home and trenches at the front, moved from base to base and from America to Europe. One of the worst outbreaks came at Camp Devens near Boston. Built to hold 36,000 men, Devens held 45,000 in September 1918.

In mid-August, soldiers began reporting sick with pneumonia, but Army doctors did not think influenza was the underlying cause. As the outbreak progressed, they thought it was meningitis. With no quarantine, soldiers congregated in living quarters and mess halls. By the time doctors realized the outbreak was influenza, it had spread throughout the camp. By Sept. 22, one-fifth of the camp was on sick report.

The camp normally had about 25 doctors. One doctor wrote to a fellow physician that staffing increased tenfold during the outbreak, with each doctor assigned a ward with about 150 beds.

Soldiers clutching blankets lined up outside the hospital in the rain while cots overflowed into hallways and onto porches, the New England Historical Society reported. Doctors had to step over piles of corpses to watch an autopsy.

When the outbreak ended, more than 800 enlisted men had died, not including doctors, nurses, and chaplains.

When was the worst over?

The unpredictability of the disease added to the terror it caused.

A person could be healthy at daybreak and dead by nightfall. Normally, the young and the old are the most vulnerable to influenza, but this strain often took people in the prime of life. The average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by more than 10 years during the pandemic, Barry wrote.

He noted that the virus constantly mutated and came in three waves lasting for two years. (Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has predicted another wave of the coronavirus in the fall.)

The most deadly wave of influenza, the second one, hit Philadelphia particularly hard. Overcrowded before the war, with jobs sucking ever more workers into the city and the population swelling to 1.75 million, Philadelphia literally teemed with people, Barry wrote, adding that city government was ill-equipped to handle a crisis: Muckraker Lincoln Steffens called Philadelphia the worst-governed city in America.

The top health official in the city denied that influenza posed a threat and made no preparations for it. He didnt want to take any steps that might create a panic and interfere with the war effort. For similar reasons, Philadelphia newspapers avoided publishing negative news.

Barry described how four days after sailors from Boston arrived at Philadelphias navy yard, 19 sailors reported sick with influenza symptoms. As the virus spread, the citys top health official refused to cancel a parade designed to sell millions of dollars of war bonds, and hundreds of thousands of people jammed the parade route on Sept. 28.

Within seventy-two hours after the parade, every single bed in each of the citys thirty-two hospitals was filled, Barry wrote. And people began dying.

As the daily death toll mounted, The Great Influenza showed, public health officials and newspapers repeatedly said the worst was over. Undertakers, themselves sick, were overwhelmed, Barry wrote. They had no place to put the bodies. Then, when 4,597 Philadelphians died during the week of October 16, actually marking the worst of the epidemic in the city, people no longer trusted what they read.

What the Great Influenza has taught us

History can teach us important lessons at times like these.

In 2005, President George W. Bush read an early copy of The Great Influenza and instructed his staff to develop a plan for the next pandemic, a plan that experts say could still be used today.

If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare," President George W. Bush warned in 2005.



The strategies the U.S. is implementing now to fight COVID-19 came out of work done by the Bush administration, Tom Bossert says.

Barry concluded in the book that one of the lessons of the influenza pandemic was the importance of government officials telling the truth.

He also showed that pandemics come in waves, so Americans should not expect the coronavirus to be any different.

In 1918, people crowded together in places like military camps and great cities often fell victim to influenza, highlighting the importance of physical distancing.

Finally, Barry emphasized the social toll of the pandemic, quoting a man from Washington, D.C., who said, You had no community life, you had no school life, you had no church life, you had nothing.

Today, during the coronavirus pandemic, Americans struggle to foster social interaction while maintaining physical distance. But we have so many tools, like smartphones and social media, that Americans didnt have a century ago.

Christians should use these new technologies to reach out to others during these difficultbut not unprecedentedtimes.

This article was originally published at the Denison Forum
An MTA Bridges and Tunnels police officer was shot dead near his home in Staten Island after getting into an argument with another man overnight.

The victim, identified as 48-year-old Roger Thompson, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso in the 400 block of Bradley Avenue just before 10.30pm on Wednesday.

Thompson, an 18-year veteran of the department, was rushed to Staten Island University North Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Roger Thompson, 48, an MTA Bridges and Tunnels police officer, was shot dead outside his home on Bradley Avenue in Staten Island on Wednesday night

Thompson was shot multiple time in the torso after arguing with another man in the street

A preliminary investigation indicated the shooting was preceded by a verbal argument between Thompson and another man in the street.

New York Daily News reported, citing unnamed police sources, that the incident was connected to a long-standing feud between Thompson and his ex-wife.

The newspaper quoted one neighbor describing how the shooter pulled out a gun and fired a round that struck Thompson, causing him to stagger backward, then shot him again.

The deadly confrontation was possibly related to a long-standing feud with an ex-wife

CBS New York reported that police were in the process of questioning three people who were allegedly seen driving away from the scene in two cars, but the NYPD has not confirmed it.

Thompson served with MTA Bridges and Tunnels since 2002 and was posted to the Hugh L Carey Tunnel, reported Staten Island Advance.

'We are saddened to have lost a valued colleague and we offer our deepest condolences to his family,' said Daniel DeCrescenzo, acting president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.

As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests have been made in this case.
San Antonio police have found 21 credit card skimmers so far in 2020, according to records obtained by mySA.com.

Records show authorities reported seven skimming devices in January, eight in February and six in March. In those three months, the gas stations that were targeted the most were Valero with 10 and Exxon with eight.

Skimmers are devices that attach to a gas pump's ATM's card-reading fixture. They gather customers' credit card information, which thieves can usually retrieve via a Bluetooth connection in order to commit fraud.

To avoid becoming a victim of skimmers, San Antonio police suggest motorists go to gas stations with updated pumps. that have chip-enabled card readers that help keep sensitive credit card information encrypted.

In September of last year, a Texas law was passed that allowed skimmer reports to remain confidential, including the address where the devices was found.

James Kopp, assistant city attorney for San Antonio, told mySA.com the skimmers report, however, can be revealed to the public if the information is compiled by the city and not by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

The following are where SAPD found credit card skimmers so far in 2020.
They tied the knot during a barefoot ceremony in Fiji back in April 2014.

And on Thursday, Asher Keddie shared a heartfelt tribute to her artist husband Vincent Fantauzzo as they celebrated their wedding anniversary.

The Offspring star, 45, shared candid black-and-white images from their big day on Instagram, along with the caption: 'Love you more today than I ever have.'

'Love you more today than I ever have': Offspring star Asher Keddiem 45, shared a heartwarming tribute to her artist husband Vincent Fantauzzo on Thursday as they celebrated their wedding anniversary

In one photograph, Asher stunned in her J'Aton Couture wedding dress while she Vincent posed under their wedding arch.

In another shot, the pair kissed Vincent's son Luca, now 10.

Vincent also shared a photo of their beach wedding on his page, captioning the precious post: 'Happy anniversary to us. Six years ago today. Love you more each day.'

Special day: The Offspring star, 45, shared some candid black and white images from their big day on Instagram. The pair are pictured at their wedding kissing Vincent's son Luca on the cheek

Family: The couple welcomed son Valentino, five, (pictured) back in March 2015

The pair married in a private ceremony on the beach on Fiji's Turtle Island, with just one guest in attendance- their son Luca.

The couple welcomed their son Valentino in March 2015.

In July last year, Asher revealed that it was love at first sight for her and her man and said that when they first met, she knew he was 'The One.'

The pair met at Vincent's art studio in Melbourne in 2012, but he was running late and she was close to leaving.

Their story: In July last year, Asher revealed that it was love at first sight for her and her man, and said that when they first met, she knew he was 'The One'

Speaking to InStyle magazine, she said: 'I saw this incredibly gorgeous but chaotic man come outside the building looking all around him franticallyI hadn't ever met him before but I recognised him from photosand I thought, 'Oh my God, that's him!''

'Look, this is going to sound absolutely like a ridiculous movie scene but there's no point in playing it down.'

She finished: It was one of those very special moments in life where we walked towards each other and both felt exactly the same thing, and that was, 'Oh right, I'm going to be with this person [forever],' before any words were even spoken.'
India is the biggest manufacturer of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, touted by some as a "game-changer" in the fight against Covid-19. Officials say India has enough stock of HCQ and that companies are ready to ramp up production to meet domestic as well as international demand. But clinical trials have shown limited success.

Last week Prime Minister Narendera Modis government decided to ban exports of the drug. But when US President Donald Trump stated that the US could "retaliate" if India does not release stocks of the drug, Indian officials agreed to partially lift the ban and said exports of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol will be allowed.

With over 400,000 coronavirus cases in the Unites States  the highest in the world  and nearly 13,000 deaths, the US has ordered over 29 million doses.

Apart from receiving requests for sizeable orders from the US, around 30 countries, including Brazil and several south Asian nations, have asked for a supply of HCQ. Indonesia, Australia and Germany have also reportedly reached out to Indian manufacturers.

Ready to boost production

India manufactures 70 percent of the worlds supply of HCQ, according to Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association.

The production capacity is sufficient to meet the current demand and if the need arises, the companies are committed to ramping up production, said Jain.

The Mumbai-headquartered Ipca Laboratories confirmed that only 10 percent of its manufacturing capacity of HCQ had been used for the domestic market so far.

Prescription use only

HCQ is an anti-malarial drug derived from chloroquine, which has a higher toxicity. It is prescribed in certain cases of malaria and doctors also use it to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

But top scientists and researchers have urged people not to take the drug solely on suspicion of having contracted Covid-19. They warn that it should not be consumed without a doctor's prescription, as the medicine has side effects.

Story continues

The ICMR has approved to give hydroxychloroquine in some cases but it was still at an experimental level. It is being recommended only for asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, said scientist Raman Gangakhedkar.

Only a few clinical trials have shown any success in treating Covid-19. Despite some early promising results in China and France, the European Medicine Agency has emphasised that its efficacy in treating the coronavirus disease is yet to be proven.

Days after the US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval to HCQ treat Covid-19, European regulators are limiting their use to clinical trials only.

Two large trials are currently under way on the effectiveness of HCQ and even chloroquine.
China plans to make it easier for foreign life insurers to make controlling acquisitions and large equity investments in domestic peers, five people with knowledge of the matter said, as the country pushes ahead in opening up its financial sector.

The plan being drafted by the sector regulator is also part of Beijings efforts to bolster the capital levels of small and mid-sized local players, sources said, amid concerns about the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on their financial foundations.

The new rules for the worlds third-largest insurance market after the United States and Japan  worth about $318 billion in premiums according to a Swiss Re Institute report  are likely to be finalized in the second half of the year, sources said.

They will pave the way for foreign insurers to acquire a controlling or significant minority stake in a local peer, and run that business separately from existing joint ventures or wholly owned operations, they added.

The move is aimed at giving the provincial insurance firms access to capital and an opportunity to leverage the best practices of a foreign insurance company, said a Beijing-based lawyer, who works with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Authority (CBIRC).

Existing regulations allow overseas life insurers, with operations in China, to own up to 15% stake in a local rival. Under the new rules being considered, the CBIRC will allow a foreign life insurer to own more than one main business license, the people with knowledge of the matter said.

There is great M&A potential in the Chinese insurance sector, the Beijing-based lawyer said. Sources interviewed by Reuters for this story declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The CBIRC did not respond to request for comment.

Opaque guidelines for acquisitions and a lack of majority control, with foreign ownership capped at 50% until recently, have long frustrated global insurers looking to expand market share in China, where individual wealth is on the rise and comparatively few people have life insurance cover.

Britains Prudential and Canadas Sun Life Financial and Aviva have been in China for decades, but their collective market share remains below 10% as a result of ownership curbs and limited geographical presence.

But China has been gradually easing access to its financial sector for foreigners in the last couple of years. As part of that push it already allowed overseas firms to take full control of their local joint ventures from Jan. 1 this year.

The regulator also plans to dismantle the international division within its set-up over the next year, which deals with the licensing issues of foreign insurers, with an aim to create a level-playing field with local peers, two people said.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Cheng Leng in Beijing; editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

Photograph: A Chinese tourist peeks inside a red door of the Palace Museum inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China on May 18, 2011. Photo credit: Feng Li/Getty Images.

Topics Carriers China
More than 600 people in Iran have just recently died while 3,000 are now in the hospital from drinking a highly-concentrated alcohol after a mistaken belief that it can actually cure coronavirus according to the Iranian judicial spokesperson Gholam Hossein Esmali's statement on Tuesday.

According to Esmali's statement on the state-run Tasnim News Agency, "A number of people have been arrested... and we will deal with them decisively." Saying that those who were circulating the rumor must be held accountable for these criminal acts and for causing the deaths and also damages to citizens.

The situation in Iran

Iran is the very site of the Middle East's worst coronavirus outbreak due to it having 62,589 confirmed cases of the virus as well as 3,872 deaths. So far, medics have not yet been able to identify a possible cure for this virus and have identified only a small number of drugs that may possibly help ease these symptoms.

There are at least 31 members of the Iranian parliament known as Majles, which has recently been shut since last February 25 have already contracted this disease. The state television footage foe the opening session shows some of the MPs huddling together despite strict guidelines on social distancing in order to stop the spread of the virus.

Read Also: Man Out of Ventialtor TWO Days After Blood Plasma of Recovered Coronavirus Patients Was Used

The parliament then debated and has eventually blocked an urgent bill to totally lock down the whole country for a month arguing that it would severely damage their economy. According to MP Shadmehr Kazemzadeh in a statement to the semi-official news agency known as ISNA, "This plan is against jobs and growing productivity. Who's going to pay for implementing it?"

The health ministry spokesman known as Kianoush Jahanpour has already reported 133 new coronavirus deaths saying that the overall fatalities have reached 3,872. In an attempt to stop the coronavirus, Iran has already ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses and has also imposed inter-city travel bans despite refraining from a lockdown.

Read Also: Viagra Gas for Coronavirus Treatment? US and European Doctors Start Testing!

The battle against this virus

The taskforce in charge of battling the virus said that only "low-risk" businesses would be permitted to reopen from Saturday, while observing the strict health protocols. The body has also stated that two-thirds of the public servants must still show up to work while the rest could work from home.

Newspapers and magazine publishers would also be permitted to resume their print editions from Saturday right after being barred for a whole week. The authorities have yet to define what low-risk businesses are.

The battle against coronavirus fake news

While the virus itself has been spread around the world, another battle has begun and this is the battle against fake news. The 600 citizens who have died due to misinformation show just how severe the effects of fake information could be!

The World Health Organization has not yet released an official cure which is why certain drugs should still be taken with caution.
An aerial view of reefs in the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, April 21, 2017.

Chinas recent establishment of two new research stations on artificial islands it occupies in the disputed South China Sea comes as it ramps up its exploration and exploitation of deep sea environments, seeking fuel, rare metals and biotechnology, analysts said.

The two research stations at the Chinese-built artificial islands at Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef were declared operational in Chinese state media last month. They are under the Chinese Academy of Sciences Integrated Research Center for Reefs and Islands, which was set up at another Chinese base in the region, Mischief Reef, in late 2018.

Official announcements describe their purpose as the study of a wide range of marine sciences, including the ecology, geology, environment, and mineral, and energy resources of the South China Sea.

The idea of scientific research sounds benign enough, but Chinas activities are eyed with suspicion by other claimants in the regions resource-rich waters  particularly by Vietnam.

Theres been scant progress in resolving the long-standing territorial disputes among the six claimants in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, and slow-moving talks on a Code of Conduct has yet to be finalized since negotiations started in 2016.

All activities on the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands must receive Vietnams approval, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said on March 26 in Hanoi, about a week after China announced the research facilities at Fiery Cross and Subi Reef. Vietnam asks that China respects its sovereignty and refrain from actions which could escalate tensions.

The United States chimed in on Monday, accusing China of exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among its complaints about Chinese actions, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus Beijing cited the new research stations.

China stirred international outrage when it constructed its seven artificial islands in the South China Sea between 2013 and 2015  not only because it was setting up airstrips and military facilities in contested territory, but because of the widespread environmental destruction that ensued. Massive amounts of coral reefs that the islands were built on were irreparably destroyed.

And now it appears China wants to cultivate  or harvest  what lies beneath the sea.

The organization that oversees all three of Chinas research stations in the area  the South China Sea Innovation Institute for Ecological and Environmental Engineering  states that its mission is keeping a foothold in those islands and reefs; deep plowing the South China Seas islands and reefs.

A U.S. Navy crewman aboard a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft views a computer screen showing Chinese construction on the reclaimed land of Fiery Cross Reef in a still image from video provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. [Reuters]

Rising stakes for deep-sea research

The institute intends to develop technology to help use strategic resources and drive economic development in marine areas. It also operates an academic journal, the Journal of Tropical Oceanography.

The stakes for deep sea research have raised over the past decade, as everything from genetic material derived from biological organisms to critical components for advanced technology have been found in deep sea environments.

There are only a handful of medicines that have been derived from marine compounds, but a lot of money is put into marine bioprospecting. The number of registered patents is increasing exponentially, said Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, a researcher and PhD candidate with the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Jouffray pointed out one recent biomedicine breakthrough: microbes found on the seabed are partially responsible for the development of covid-19 test kits.

The biodiversity of the South China Seas seabed in particular makes it attractive for this kind of research.

Cindy Lee Van Dover, the Harvey W. Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke University, called it an exciting natural laboratory for a variety of ecological studies, citing its abundance of seeps, hydrothermal vents, soft sediment, and more that could host new species of microorganisms.

However, deep sea exploration has also focused on minerals and new sources of energy.

The ocean floor also contains vast quantities of methane hydrates, said Jouffray, which are estimated to represent twice as much organic carbon as the worlds coal, oil and other forms of natural gas combined.

He called the offshore oil and gas sector the biggest ocean-based industry by far, and the potential of methane hydrates have spurred a lot of trials on how seeking to profitably extract them profitably.

China broke the world record for extracting natural gas from methane hydrates on March 26, according to its Ministry of Natural Resources. Still, Jouffray said the field is in an experimental phase, citing the risks associated with it.

Also called flammable ice, methane hydrate pockets are highly sensitive to pressure and cant be moved to the surface. That hasnt stopped countries including China and Japan from extracting it straight from the ocean floor.

Precious metals and rare earth minerals

The seabed is also potentially rich in precious metals and rare earth minerals, according to both Jouffray and Van Dover.

From a scientists perspective, the South China Sea looks very interesting. Polymetallic nodules and crusts of the SCS are studied by Chinese scholars, including geochemists, geophysicists, and microbiologists, Van Dover said.

The polymetallic nodules Van Dover mentioned are potential sources of rare metals, including manganese and cobalt, clustered on the seabed that could be used for key advanced technologies such as electric car batteries and smartphone components. Previously inaccessible and difficult to find, modern technology has made it possible to prospect the seabed for these minerals that were previously inaccessible.

In October 2019, the general secretary of the International Seabed Authority, the U.N. body responsible for regulating use of the seabed, expressed his belief that China, already ahead of other countries in prospecting the seabed, would be the first country to commercially exploit it, as reported by Reuters.

The parent organization of Chinas South China Sea Innovation Institute for Ecological and Environmental Engineering has published methods on how to explore for these nodules, and China has undertaken several underwater expeditions solely for the purpose of finding nodules under the South China Sea, Xinhua news agency has reported.

But Jouffray said large-scale mining of those minerals for profit is far off.

Deep sea mining is nowhere close to commercial scale exploitation. For the simple reason there is no regulation in place yet, he said.

The International Seabed Authority is drafting a comprehensive mining code for prospectors and other companies interested in seabed resources.

However, the prospects of deep sea mining have been met with alarm over the potential environmental destruction of deep sea environments. Deep sea ecosystems are famously fragile, and seabed prospecting tests done completed in a stretch of the southeastern Pacific between Hawaii and Mexico in 1989 have caused irreversible damage, visible even 30 years later.

The ISA has drafted recommendations on how to study the environmental impact of mining exploration, but none on extraction. One issue with energy and mineral extraction in particular is the extreme fragility of the undersea environments on and around those resources.

For example, certain animals like the scaly-foot snail are found at only three separate underwater environments on earth, and the ISA issued prospecting licenses for two of those areas. Shortly thereafter the snail was placed on the list of threatened species. Countless other organisms and environments havent even been discovered yet.

There are these remote ecosystems where we dont know what we would lose if exploitation was about to proceed, Jouffray said. He said deep sea environments and the organisms living in them wont adapt easily to any human interaction, and may not recover from damage. Those are reasons to be cautionary when considering commercial exploitation.

Each country sets its own standards for assessing the environmental impact of any research. While the Chinese Academy of Sciences claims its new research centers are concerned with environmental protection and sustainability, Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef, where they are built, are known to have had their natural coral ecosystems destroyed by Chinas artificial island building campaign.
More than four out of five people that fall into poverty as a result of the virus could be located in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in the scenario of a 10%, decline in income or consumption.

The coronavirus pandemic could result in between 420 million and 580 million more people, or 8% of the global population, living in poverty, a study by the United Nations University has found.

Researchers based their calculations on the most extreme scenario of a 20% decline in income or consumption around the world. This looked at people falling below the three international poverty lines of living on less than $1.90, $3.20 or $5.50 a day.

Higher estimates could mean that half of the overall global population of 7.8 billion people could be living in poverty by the end of the pandemic. There were 3.4 billion people living on less than $5.50 a day in 2018, which are the latest official recorded figures.

Even based on its "low" scenario of a 5% fall in income or consumption, this could lead to the first increase in global poverty since 1990, the authors stated in the paper which was published Thursday. In this case, researchers forecast that as many as 135 million people, or nearly 2% more of the world's population, could become destitute as a result of COVID-19.

The report also said that depending on the poverty line, this increase could "represent a reversal of approximately a decade in the world's progress in reducing poverty."

In some regions, it said the impact of the coronavirus could result in poverty levels similar to those recorded 30 years ago.

More than four out of five people that fall into poverty as a result of the virus could be located in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in the scenario of a "medium," or 10%, contraction in income or consumption.

Researchers warned that the coronavirus could therefore pose a real challenge to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty by 2030.

Christopher Hoy, co-author of the report from the Australian National University, said the economic crisis caused by the virus "is potentially going to be even more severe than the health crisis."

While he said that there was little anyone could do to stop the world going into a recession, Hoy added that the report showed just how severe the crisis could be if urgent action wasn't taken by policymakers.

Another co-author, Andy Sumner, a professor from King's College London, said that the researchers were surprised at the "sheer scale of the potential poverty tsunami that could follow COVID-19 in developing countries."

He said the findings showed the importance of a "dramatic expansion of social safety nets in developing countries" as soon as possible.

The United Nations' International Labour Organisation estimated that the pandemic could result in 35 million more people falling into working poverty than before the outbreak, in its figures released in March.
The opposition and deputy prime minister in New Zealand believe COVID-19 has cast doubt on the country's election timing.

Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern's deputy, and deputy opposition leader Paula Bennett have both suggested the coronavirus pandemic should see the poll deferred from September 19.

Mr Peters has told Radio NZ his party, New Zealand First, has always preferred November 21 for the poll, and believes the COVID-19 crisis means the later date 'makes even more sense' now.

Jacinda Ardern's Labour party currently governs with the support of minority parties NZ First and the Greens, ahead of New Zealand's most popular party, National

Ms Bennett, the National deputy and the party's campaign chair, has questioned whether the public would be ready for a poll.

'In the last couple of days I've just been wondering just how ready would the public be for a September 19 election,' she said.

'Is it fair to them and fair to our whole democracy system to be asking them to go through that?'

Ms Ardern nominated the September date back in January in line with recent tradition to set the polling day early in the year to allow for proper planning.

Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern's deputy, has suggested the coronavirus pandemic should see the poll deferred from September 19

Constitutionally, she can push the date back to Mr Peters' preferred day, but she has declined to support a move when asked on several occasions whether she was considering a switch.

Ms Ardern's Labour party currently governs with the support of minority parties NZ First and the Greens, ahead of New Zealand's most popular party, National.

The most recent polling has NZ First dropping out of parliament, leaving a slender dogfight between the left-leaning parties and National for a majority.

No public polling has been released since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Andrea Bocelli will sing at the historic cathedral for an audience of none because the Duomo, is closed because of the spreading coronavirus

New York: Andrea Bocelli will sing at the Duomo of Milan on Easter Sunday sending a message of love and hope to the world during the coronavirus pandemic, but the Italian tenor says its not a concert. Instead, he calls it a prayer.

(Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

I received this invitation by the mayor of Milan and by the authorities of the church and of course I answered yes. Im very happy to do this, he said. Also, its not a performance. Its not a concert. Its only a prayer.

I will go there to pray, and Id like to think that everyone listening to me sing can pray with me, he said.

Accompanied by organist Emanuele Vianelli, Bocelli will sing at the historic cathedral for an audience of none because the Duomo, like most public places, are closed because of the spreading coronavirus. The performance, though, will air live on Bocellis YouTube channel at 1 pm Eastern.

Hes crafted and arranged a special set for the event, which will include holy songs like 'Ave Maria' and 'Sancta Maria.'

I chose some of the most beautiful pieces of sacred artists and I will sing this kind of music, Bocelli said in a phone interview Wednesday from his home in Forte dei Marmi, a seaside town in northern Tuscany.

In total, Italy has more than 135,00 confirmed cases and over 16,500 deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak. The European country is in its fifth week of a nationwide lockdown.

In addition to singing, the Grammy-nominated international star has been giving back and assisting communities through his The Andrea Bocelli Foundation, which started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help hospitals buy necessary equipment.

The house is the headquarter of the foundation and we are working very hard to fulfill the goal of the foundation, said Bocelli, who said he wanted to thank the health care workers on the front lines as well as those doing good deeds from their homes.

Were trying to raise the money and deliver all tools needed for this crisis.
S till struggling to get food deliveries to your door? Morrisons supermarket is teaming up with Deliveroo to offer a solution to those isolating at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The supermarket and the tech company are now offering grocery deliveries, promising that shoppers will receive their order in under 30 minutes. People will be able to order from around 70 items, including fruit, vegetables, meat and cupboard essentials, which will be the same price as those available in store.

Speaking about the new partnership, Deliveroos VP of new business Ajay Lakhwani, said: With families and vulnerable people in isolation, it is more important than ever that we make sure they have access to the essential household items they need.

"During this worrying period, we want to play our role in making sure people have access to a range of items, in particular the vulnerable who cannot leave their homes.

The new service is now available from 130 Morrisons stores across the UK, which covers around one in four households in the UK. Customers will have to order from the Deliveroo app or website and there will be a flat 4.99 delivery fee, unless the person ordering has the Deliveroo Plus subscription membership, which costs 11.49 a month and offers free delivery as well as extra discounts and offers.

All deliveries will be contact-free too; Deliveroo riders will leave the goods at a customers door for them to collect in order to minimise person-to-person contact.

Morrisons CEO David Potts added: Our partnership with Deliveroo will help us to continue to play our full part in feeding the nation.

Its a smart move by Deliveroo to team up with a supermarket given that its usual business of delivering food from restaurants has pretty much been suspended given so many food establishments have had to shut during the UK-wide lockdown.

The best restaurants still on Deliveroo during the lockdown 1 /36 The best restaurants still on Deliveroo during the lockdown Murger Han Xian-style Chinese dishes including hand-pulled biang biang noodles (Euston, Mayfair) Hakkasan Michelin-starred dim sum on wheels (Mayfair) Sutton & Sons Classic fish and chips shop with a very modern vegan menu (Essex Road, Stoke Newington) Rosa's Thai Cafe Thai chain offering all the popular classics (Various locations  check if there is one near you) Zia Lucia Pizza hotspot offering vegan options and gluten-free bases (Islington, Hammersmith, Aldgate, Bermondsey) Atcha Fully flavoured Indian rice bowls with a health-focused twist (Whitechapel) The Athenian Greek-style street food, from souvlaki to halloumi fries (White City, Wembley, Clapham, Canary Wharf, Victoria, Shoreditch) Atis Generously ingredient-laden salads taking inspiration from around the world (Old Street) Yauatcha Dumplings aplenty, with a short but sweet selection of main dishes (Soho) Only Jerkin' Fried chicken is given a jerk-seasoned shake up (Kennington only)  Salvation In Noodles Vietnamese favourite serving hot bowls of pho and summer rolls (Finsbury Park, Dalston) Dominique Ansel Bakery The cronut creator delivers his famous pastries, cookies alongside savoury options (Belgravia) Five Guys A welcome American import, offering burgers and delicious cajun fries (Various locations  check if there is one near you) The Cheese Bar Camden favourite offering all things cheese (Camden) Bird Fried chicken and waffle extraordinaire (Canary Wharf, Brixton, Stratford, Islington, Camden) Paul Winch-Furness / Photographe Ahi Poke Hawaiian salads with a build your own option (Swiss Cottage Editions only) Cottons A longstanding Caribbean classic (Notting Hill, Vauxhall, Shoreditch) Pittabun Greek street food favourites are given a European twist (Carnaby) L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele Naples-hailing pizza legend hailed as the best in the world (Marylebone only) Casa do Frango Missing Nandos? Hit up this highly praised Portuguese chicken joint instead (Shoreditch, London Bridge) Mother Clucker Seriously crunchy fried chicken served in strips, wraps or burgers (Whitechapel Editions only) By Chloe Vegan fast food from across the pond (Tower Bridge) Eggslut LA-hailing egg-centric restaurant (Notting Hill) Sushi Atelier The west London outpost of a Fitzrovia gem (St Johns Wood only) Big Fernand Paris-hailing Les Hamburgers made with lashings of melted French cheese (South Kensington) Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd The Halal Guys A New York street food sensation opened its second UK spot in west London (Earls Court) Melabes Excellent Israeli food on High Street Kensington (Kensington) Adrian Lourie

Deliveroos rival Uber Eats has also pivoted in its delivery offering: last week, Uber announced it was offering free delivery on orders from convenience stores such as Costcutter and Londis. With over 600 convenience stores available on the app, people can order items such as milk and bread to their home. At the time, Uber said this offer was until April 24 though it may be extended.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-09 13:30:52

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / FIORE GOLD LTD. (TSXV:F)(OTCQB:FIOGF)(FSE:2FO) ("Fiore" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") completed for the federally-permitted Gold Rock gold project ("Gold Rock", or the "Project") located approximately 8 miles southeast of its Pan Mine in White Pine County, Nevada. The PEA provides an updated mineral resource estimate and a base case assessment of developing the Project as a satellite open pit operation that will share significant infrastructure and management with the adjacent Pan Mine. The PEA also identifies a considerable number of opportunities to enhance the project economics as Gold Rock advances to the Feasibility stage by drilling to increase the mineral resource, further metallurgical testing aimed at improving recoveries, and geotechnical drilling aimed at reducing the stripping ratio. All financial figures are presented in United States dollars ($ or US$), and all units of measure are customary US units unless otherwise noted. The PEA was prepared in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). A Technical Report with the details of the PEA be filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile within 45 days of the date of this news release.Gold Rock PEA HighlightsPre-tax NPV5% of US$49.7M and a 22.8% IRR (after-tax NPV5% of US$32.8M and a 17.8% IRR) at base case gold price of US$1,400/oz Au, with a life of mine cash flow of US$77.2MAt US$1,500/oz Au the Project returns a pre-tax NPV5% of US$78.3M and a 31.5% IRR (after-tax NPV5% of US$55.0M and a 25.4% IRR), with a life of mine cash flow of US$113.1MBased on a sensitivity analysis at approximately the current spot price of US$1,600/oz Au the Project returns a pre-tax NPV5% of US$106.8 and a 39.7% IRR (after-tax NPV5% of US$77.2M and a 32.5% IRR), with a life of mine cash flow of US$149.0MThe updated resource estimate shows a 69% increase in Indicated resource to 403,000 gold ounces, in addition to the Inferred resource of 84,300 gold ounces, with excellent potential to grow the resource with next phase of planned drillingMine life of 6.5 years with life of mine ("LOM") total gold production of 362,750 oz, averaging 55,800 oz annuallyLOM cash costs of US$903/oz Au and LOM all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of US$1,008/oz AuPre-production capital expenditures of $64.6 million, sustaining capital expenditures of $7 million and reclamation costs of $16 million.The foregoing PEA highlights are based on the following:Cash costs are inclusive of mining costs, processing costs, on-site general and administrative ("G&A") costs, treatment and refining charges and royaltiesAISC includes cash costs plus estimated corporate G&A and sustaining capitalThe reader is advised that the PEA summarized in this press release is preliminary in nature and is intended to provide only an initial, high-level review of the Project potential and design options. Readers are encouraged to read the PEA in its entirety, including all qualifications and assumptions. The PEA is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read out of context. The PEA mine plan and economic model include numerous assumptions and the use of Inferred Resources. Inferred Resources are considered to be too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and to be used in an economic analysis except as allowed for by NI 43-101 in PEA studies. There is no guarantee that Inferred Resources can be converted to Indicated or Measured.Fiore Gold CEO, Tim Warman, commented: "This PEA represents the first ever economic and technical analysis of mining at Gold Rock, and shows the project can deliver solid returns for a modest capital investment. Gold Rock would be built and run by the same Fiore technical team who transformed the adjacent Pan Mine into one of the most successful small gold mines in Nevada. Leveraging the management talent and infrastructure already in place at Pan offers a number of capital and operating synergies, and the shared mine administration and management will lower the G&A burden for both projects. While the PEA results represent an encouraging first iteration of the project, they also highlight several areas with the potential for significant optimization when more data is collected to support a Feasibility Study. For example, the project economics are particularly sensitive to the stripping ratio, yet with geotechnical drilling still to be completed on the project we have used relatively conservative assumptions for pit slope designs. An improvement of just 3 degrees in the pit slope angle results in an approximate 32% decrease in LOM waste tonnage, with a marked reduction in operating costs. Additionally, we will assess more cost-effective waste stripping methods to take advantage of the fact that most of the waste is external to the mineral resource. An extensive program of large-diameter core drilling, geotechnical drilling, metallurgical testing and overall process and project optimization is planned for the next phase of work, since any improvement in recoveries and reagent consumption also has the potential to positively impact the project economics. Finally, there is strong potential to grow the resource base by infill drilling in the gaps between the current resource pits, and to continue drilling along strike where the deposit remains open. Success here will contribute significantly to a reduced strip ratio. With resource growth and operational optimizations, we believe Gold Rock can deliver significantly improved returns as we progress. Assuming continued success with our efforts to extend the mine life at our adjacent Pan Mine, Gold Rock has the potential to more than double Fiore's current gold output in Nevada and increase our total production above 100,000 ounces per year for a modest capital investment." Table 1. PEA Parameters and Outputs - Base Case US$1,400/oz Au, 5% DiscountPre-tax NPV5% (US$M)49.7Pre-tax IRR (%)22.8%After-tax NPV5% (US$M)$32.8After-tax IRR (%)17.8%LOM tons processed (Vat Leach / Heap Leach, M tons)
Carla Brown still makes two visits a week to see her 77-year-old parents, remaining near the doorway while they stand a safe distance away.

They can't be close but at least they can be together, and she knows many of the city's elderly aren't getting any company at all.

The coronavirus pandemic has kept loved ones apart, younger family members fearful of bringing the disease to older relatives who may be so much more susceptible.

Brown realises how much more important her meals-on-wheels programme has become in the last month.

Her Charles A Walburg Multiservice Organisation was delivering about 700 meals per day to seniors in the Harlem and Washington Heights sections of New York until about two weeks ago. That total is now above 900.

"Any time you can give, any time you're blessed to give, it's a wonderful opportunity," Brown said. "And to know that we're considered essential workforce is extremely honourable, because that means that we are absolutely needed, where we're providing comfort, we're providing food, we're providing safety. It's really important and I'm glad to do it."



Brown grew up with her grandparents living in the same home as she and her parents, so she's always had a fondness for the elderly.

Now, there are seniors who depended on visitors who can no longer come to bring them food. So she feels it's up to her team and she's proud of their commitment to do it.

"No one has said, 'Oh my God, I'm going to get sick,'" Brown said. "It's like, 'How are we going to get this done? We need to feed our seniors.'"



It isn't easy. She had to scramble to secure a couple vans after the virus forced Ford Motor Company to shut down its production line. Her organisation had been approved to purchase a couple of trucks before that.

But once the vehicles are loaded up, the team can move quickly. A once-lengthy commute now is done in under 20 minutes on empty streets, and she doesn't plan to slow down.

"When this started, I said it's an honour to be deemed essential," Brown said, "so we have to get it done".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 00:47:21|Editor: huaxia

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Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic(C), Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Branislav Nedimovic(R) and Chinese ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo applause during an agreement signing ceremony held in Belgrade, Serbia, April 8, 2020. China's biotech company BGI group will open two COVID-19 testing labs in Serbia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an agreement it signed with the Serbian government Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu) (Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu)

BELGRADE, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's biotech company BGI group will open two COVID-19 testing labs in Serbia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an agreement it signed with the Serbian government Wednesday.

The two "most modern, new" labs -- one in Belgrade and the other in the southern city of Nis -- will add a combined daily testing capacity of 3,000 to Serbia, said Prime Minister Ana Brnabic at the signing ceremony.

The additional testing capacity is more than triple Serbia's current capability, according to a press release by the Serbian government.

Branislav Nedimovic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management signed the deal with Zhu Yanmei, executive director of the BGI Group, and Li Ning, BGI's Vice President, via video conference.

The agreement foresees that Serbia provides and adapts the space for the new labs as well as testing kits, while the BGI, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, pledged to supply key instruments.

The lab in Belgrade has already been adapted and will start working in several days, while the other one in Nis, the third-largest Serbian city, will be built anew in 45 days, Brnabic said at the ceremony.

"This is only a part of the enormous support in technology, protective equipment, ventilators, knowledge, and expert assistance that we received from China so far during this struggle [against COVID-19]," she said.

"Without such support and assistance, Serbia wouldn't be so successful in fighting COVID-19. Without your knowledge and assistance, Serbia wouldn't be able to resist this disease," she added.

Chinese ambassador Chen Bo, attending the signing ceremony at the Palace of Serbia, said Chinese technicians and equipment will arrive in Serbia in the following days.

"I am sure that the construction of these laboratories will strengthen the testing capacities and will play a significant role in Serbia's fight against the virus," she said.

She pledged that the embassy will " help both the Serbian and Chinese sides to have these laboratories constructed as soon as possible."

Serbia reported its first COVID-19 case on March 6 and declared a state of emergency ten days later.

Serbia so far has confirmed 2,666 cases after testing 10,761 people.
Ellen DeGeneres recently faced social media outrage this week after she compared self-quarantining during the coronavirus crisis to "being in jail."

The popular host, who like many TV hosts has made her show virtual amid stay-at-home orders, made the comment on Monday while she broadcasting her show from home.

"One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people -- this is like being in jail, is what it is," CNN quoted DeGeneres as saying during her show.

"It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay," the 62-year-old host said.

She also said that she feels bad for the kids at home, the college students and the parents.

"I feel bad for a lot of people. But I think that a lot of people out there need words of encouragement, and that's what I want to do," she added.

While DeGeneres also praised the commendable works of the front line responders to combat the spread of the virus, the ''being in jail'' comment resulted in a barrage of criticism.

"Sitting inside her fifteen million dollar mansion complaining and comparing it to a prison, very tone-deaf ellen," one viewer commented on YouTube.

Another person tweeted: "Except that people in jail can't practice social distancing, don't have enough water or toilet paper and are going to die at exceptional rates from COVID-19. Except for that, Ellen, your quarantine experience is just like being in jail."

The comedian hosted the "at-home edition" of the show which was filmed by her wife - actress Portia de Rossi.

DeGeneres is not the only celebrity whose attempts at outreach during the coronavirus outbreak have backfired.

Last month, 'Wonder Woman' actor Gal Gadot too had to face criticism after she posted a video of her and other celebrities singing 'Imagine' by John Lennon.

"Imagine -- IMAGINE -- having $17 million dollars and thinking that making a video clip of you singing one line of a song would help anyone," read a tweet.

Netizens were on the take that singing a song would not help anyone, especially when the actors were capable of proving monetary relief.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 13:44:00|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping praised community workers for their important role in the battle against COVID-19, urging them to continue their solid efforts in containing the epidemic and whole-heartedly serving the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a Wednesday letter to community workers at a neighborhood in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

"I am so glad to know that lives in communities of Wuhan, including your neighborhood, are gradually returning to normal," he said.

Xi pointed out that community workers in urban and rural areas have been fighting the battle against COVID-19 without fear and with solidarity.

In the letter, he cautioned against any slackening in epidemic control despite the fact that outbound travel restrictions have been lifted in Wuhan.

"Communities remain an important line of defense against the importation of cases from abroad and epidemic rebound at home," read the letter.

Xi urged community workers to carry on with their solid epidemic control work and make new contributions to thoroughly winning the people's war against COVID-19.

Communities are the front line of the anti-virus battle. Across the country, more than 4 million community workers have been sticking to their posts in around 650,000 urban and rural communities since the outbreak, making great contributions to containing the epidemic and ensuring the supply of people's daily necessities.

Attaching great importance to community-based epidemic control, Xi has made relevant instructions, praised community workers and visited communities in Beijing and Wuhan.

Community workers at the Wuhan community that Xi visited recently wrote him a letter to express their gratitude toward him and the CPC Central Committee, as well as their strong determination to fulfill their duties.
SUNY Morrisville is holding a dairy drive-through on Friday to support the community while supplies run low at local grocery stores.

Milk, cheese, yogurt and other dairy products will be available from 4 to 6 p.m. at the SUNY Morrisville Dairy Complex at 80 Eaton St., Morrisville. Social distancing and public hygiene practices will be maintained during the drive-through. All dairy products in the drive-through are free.

Ashley Adams Marshall, SUNY Morrisville assistant professor of dairy science, helped launch the event to help families and dairy industry workers.

There's plenty of people that already had food insecurity prior to this pandemic occurring and putting a lot of people out of work, Adams Marshall said.

Much appreciation to our dairy program, which continues to support community members in need, distributing dairy... Posted by SUNY Morrisville on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

The demand for dairy products has dropped dramatically with schools and restaurants closing because of the coronavirus outbreak, Adams Marshall said. She said a lot of raw milk has been thrown away due to the sudden drop in demand.

We thought it would be a great idea to kind of help both sides of that spectrum, Adams Marshall said. We can help provide some very high, highly nutritious food for people that could really benefit from it.

Organizations such as Dairy Farmers of America, Hood and Chobani, have donated to the program. Adams Marshall said she plans to hold at least one more drive-through a few weeks after Fridays event.

To donate dairy products or make a monetary donation, contact Adams Marshall at adamsae@morrisville.edu.

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Coronavirus: members of Saudi royal family infected, media Governor of Riyadh in ICU, emergency plan ready

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, APRIL 9 - Local and US media reports have said members of the Saudi royal family have coronavirus. The governor of the region of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is in the intensive care unit after contracting Codiv-19, the reports said. Dozens of other members of the royal house of Saud have caught the virus, according to sources quoted by the media.



The sources said that doctors and hospitals are preparing hundreds of beds before other princes are infected. Over the past few days, Saudi authorities had warned that up to 200,000 cases of Codiv-19 could be registered in the coming weeks in the oil-rich kingdom, where so far 3,000 cases and 41 deaths have been recorded. Authorities have imposed a 24-hour curfew in all cities of the country.(ANSAmed).




The number of coronavirus cases in



Maharashtra jumped to 1,346 on Thursday with an increase of 211 cases over the previous day, health minister Rajesh Tope said.

In the morning, a health official had said that the number had risen to 1,297 with most of the new cases being detected in Mumbai.

This is the highest increase in the number of cases recorded in a single day in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amnesty International says it believes more than 30 prisoners have been killed by Iranian security forces amid rioting over fears of contracting the coronavirus.

Thousands of inmates in at least eight prisons around Iran have staged protests in recent days over their fears about potentially contracting the virus while incarcerated, sparking "deadly responses" from prison officers and security forces, the London-based human rights watchdog said on April 9.

Citing credible sources including relatives of the prisoners, the statement said live ammunition and tear gas were used against protesters at several correctional facilities, killing around 35 prisoners and injuring hundreds of others.

In at least one prison, those taking part in protests were beaten by security forces, possibly leading to the death of an inmate, it added.

"It is abhorrent that instead of responding to prisoners legitimate demands to be protected from COVID-19, Iranian authorities have yet again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Eltahawy said security forces should immediately be "instructed to cease the use of unlawful lethal force, and to refrain from punishing prisoners calling for their right to health."

She also called for an independent investigation into "the torture and deaths in custody."

About 100,000 prisoners have been granted temporary release in the country, one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. Health officials said on April 9 that 66,200 people had tested positive for the virus, with some 4,110 deaths recorded.

Iranian officials have been criticized for their slow initial response to the pandemic, and experts have been skeptical about the veracity of official figures released by the authorities, who keep a tight lid on the media.

On April 9, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that mass gatherings such as collective prayers might be banned during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan to help stop the spread of the virus.

"We are going to be deprived of public gatherings of the month of Ramadan.... In the absence of these meetings, remember to heed your prayers and devotions in your lonesomeness," Khamenei said in a televised speech.

At the same time, President Hassan Rohani sent a conflicting signal, saying the country's economy should slowly begin to open back up beginning this weekend, leading to worries the nation could see a second wave of infections.

The Islamic republic's economy is suffering under intense U.S. sanctions after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Ramadan is set to start in the last week of April and last through most of May.

With reporting by AP and AFP
(Alliance News) - Saga PLC on Thursday reported a widened loss and reduced revenue in its recent financial year and warned of "uncertain" trading conditions due to the global spread of Covid-19 since then.

Saga, which provides products and services for life after 50, saw its pretax loss more than double to GBP300.9 million from GBP134.8 million during the year ended January 12.

Revenue shrunk by 5.2% to GBP797.3 from GBP841.5 million.

The company also reported GBP383.0 million in impairment charges, up 24% from GBP310 million in the year prior.

Saga's full-year results were delayed by a week following a general request from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

On Thursday last week, the company said it has suspended its dividend due to the virus outbreak.

Due to there being no second-half payout, its dividend for the year was 1.3 pence per share, down 68% from 4.00p.

Chair Patrick O'Sullivan said: "We have been focused on protecting our financial position to ensure we have the resources to see us through this year, should the current crisis persist that long. The board has taken action to preserve cash as we move through this year and has made the decision to suspend dividend payments until further notice."

In March, the company also halted cruise ship operations until May 1.

O'Sullivan added on Thursday: "The current environment is making the future highly uncertain, but it is clear that with our strong brand and re-vamped Insurance business, we have the resources to weather the current crisis and to emerge from it stronger."

Saga shares were 5.7% higher at 17.05p each in London on Thursday morning.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Statement comes after Saudi-UAE coalition announced two-week unilateral ceasefire to prevent coronavirus outbreak.

Yemens Houthi rebels have told Al Jazeera they will not stop fighting while the country is under siege.

That comes after the Saudi-UAE military coalition that is battling the rebels announced a two-week unilateral ceasefire.

They say it is to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

It began at midday on Thursday, local time, and is the first nationwide ceasefire in five years of war.

Al Jazeeras Laura Burdon-Manley reports.
Third-party logistics providers engaged in international trade are facing the difficult decision of whether to thin staff or even close altogether in the face of a prolonged economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are in a tough spot," Gabriel Rodriquez, president of Doral, Florida-based A Customs Brokerage, told American Shipper. "Situations like this will likely cause the closure, consolidation or mergers of smaller businesses that simply do not have the means to withstand this sustained drop in business."

Rodriguez, who also is an officer with the Florida Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association, has not yet heard of any layoffs among the highly competitive Florida community of customs brokers and forwarders firms. "However, I would anticipate that as the coming days and weeks go by and the reality of the impact the virus is having on trade is felt that we will start to see a larger number of employees affected by companies instituting these measures," he said.

Lance Malesh, chief commercial officer of Philadelphia-based third-party logistics services provider BDP International, said how the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately affects individual firms  no matter how large or small  will largely depend on how diverse their business portfolio is.

"If any 3PL is heavily focused in the retail and automotive sectors, they will likely see a more significant impact than those in other sectors, such as health care," Malesh said.

With the exception of health care, as well as food and household product imports, overall shipping volumes are declining as the coronavirus's impact ramps up across the nation.

"For the general broker/forwarder, volumes are down, staff is teleworking, and the uncertainty is making forecasting very difficult," Rodriguez said.

As COVID-19 risk exposure continues to dent commercial activity in the U.S., however, Malesh expects most 3PLs will consider it necessary to institute cost-reduction measures across their organizations. "Layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions and suspension of nonessential programs will all be on the table," he said.

Story continues

"This is an unprecedented event and no one has a perfect game plan, but you have to pay attention to your current liquidity, as well as trying to predict what your future liquidity needs will be if the crisis extends into 2021," Malesh said.

The country's small customs brokers and forwarders may be hardest hit by the pandemic in the months ahead.

According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife survey conducted March 25-28, one in four small businesses said they would permanently close in two months or less if the economic downturn continues. One in 10 is less than a month away from going out of business, the survey said.

"This is an ever-evolving story and I don't believe anyone has any real answers since none of us has ever experienced anything like it," said Albert Saphir of ABS Consulting, a longtime consultant to many small and midsize customs brokers and freight forwarders, based in Weston, Florida. "So, any estimates and reports out there are at best estimates by organizations trying to figure this out."

Saphir expects 3PLs of all sizes will first consider layoffs and furloughs before closing their doors outright. "It is the one item that is a flexible expense and likely the way for small and large companies to survive," he said.

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Washington-based Airforwarders Association, said he recently polled his membership and 65% of firms that responded said they report layoffs are either imminent or underway.



A Customs Brokerage in Doral, Florida, allows employees to work from home during COVID-19 outbreak, but follows CDC social distancing guidelines for those staff who continue to work in the office. [Courtesy Photo]

Safety nets

A glimmer of hope for a multitude of U.S. customs brokers and forwarders is the $350 billion small business support package in the recently enacted $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This support includes special loans and financial aid, and suspension of payroll taxes for small businesses.

"While we are thankful that Congress recently passed the CARES Act and specifically its Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Industry Disaster Loan Program, we are concerned that the relief provided will be insufficient for the financial needs of the freight forwarding and related industries in the long run," Fried said.

Applying for CARES Act financial programs, however, remains a fraught administrative process as the banks try to figure out how to administer them.

"I don't believe it is easy for small companies, or larger ones for that matter, to keep all employees and get emergency funding from the relief programs," Saphir said. "This seems to be a complicated and time-intensive process, and I don't think small companies have the resources to try and figure this out."

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) has provided its members with information about how they might take advantage of the CARES Act's small-business benefits.

In addition to sustaining overhead costs, many customs brokers and forwarders have traditionally advanced funds for their shipper clients to cover freight and import duties.

"We are halting the advance of these funds and many carriers are now asking for prepayment of freight to avoid accumulating open balances," Rodriguez said.

"The White House has held firm in not providing any relief on the payment of duties," he added.

NCBFAA President Amy Magnus, who also serves as director of customs affairs and compliance for Saint Albans, Vermont-based A.N. Deringer, said even before the pandemic many customs brokers had stopped advancing funds to cover import duties to protect their cash flows, instructing their importer clients to make those payments directly to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) program.

"Even now, CBP is processing ACH account requests as quickly as possible," Magnus said.

She credited the agency for its support of the customs brokerage industry during the COVID-19 supply chain upheaval.

"CBP has been very mindful of our concerns and has asked us how they can help," Magnus said. "We're aligned here. Customs is really partnering in this regard."

Some large 3PLs, such as CEVA Logistics (OTCMKTS: CVLGF) and DHL Global Forwarding (OTCMKTS: DPSGY), have recently taken the extraordinary measure of declaring force majeure with regard to their carrier and logistics services contracts. This action, which may be used during times of national emergencies or industry crises, allows these companies to adjust their rates and services to meet the global COVID-19 supply chain disruptions.



Source: SONAR Freight Market Dashboard

Layoff impacts

The two most important aspects of successful non-asset-based third-party logistics providers are their information technology and people. One without the other is generally useless when it comes to managing complex supply chains.

That's why for most 3PL owners and managers it is a gut-wrenching decision to figure out which staff to furlough or lay off, if the coronavirus continues to hamper the U.S. economy, and be able to adequately respond to the recovery.

"The risk is twofold," Malesh said. "You want to manage the business in the most responsible fiscal manner possible, while not impacting the service levels that we provide our clients. "Secondly, you want to make sure you are prepared if there is a V-shaped recovery and that you have the staff on board to keep the clients' supply chains running."

"I believe trade will continue to flow and brokers will continue to be needed, perhaps more than ever before," Magnus said. "Importers continue to have gaps in their knowledge, which brokers can fill."

She noted how some importers are shifting to products that are used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the personal protective gear for the nation's health care workers. Customs brokers, which regularly interface with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on these imports, can assist these importers on how to bring these goods quickly and compliantly into the country.

For the immediate future, U.S. cross-border supply chain managers should expect a rough road ahead in terms of their business.

"We need to assume that it will be some time before things even remotely come back to where we were before," Saphir said. "It will eventually be a gradually improving business, but in my mind it is not going to happen overnight or very soon."

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[April 09, 2020] SierraConstellation Partners Hires Bill Partridge as Managing Director in Bay Area, Adds Staff Nationwide

SierraConstellation Partners, LLC (SCP), a national interim management and advisory firm to middle-market companies in transition, today announced that it has hired three professionals and staff across its Los Angeles, New York and Boston offices. The new hires add expertise and depth to SCP's bench of strategic advisers and staff as the firm continues to grow nationwide. To strengthen its team of senior professionals, SCP has hired Bill Partridge as a Managing Director. Bill will be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, but will report through the Los Angeles office. Bill brings to SCP over 20 years of corporate finance, restructuring and capital markets experience across industries, particularly in the technology sector. Prior to SCP, Bill spent several years as an interim manager and consultant to private companies headquartered in the Bay Area. Bill received a BBA in Finance from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. "I'm eager to get to work with Larry and the team during what is certainly an interesting time to be a turnaround leader," said Partridge. "Business of all stripes are looking for answers in the chaotic world we find ourselves in. My goal is to bolster the case that SCP is the firm of choice for middle market companies who need help." In addition to Partridge, SCP has made two professional and staff hires: Merv Merzoug joins SCP as a Director in the firm's New York office. Merv has over a decade of experience bothas an entrepreneur and as an investment management professional, with a focus on the high-yield and distressed fixed income markets. Prior to joining SCP, Merv was the Head of Strategy and Marketing for ARCM, a quantitative fixed income hedge fund, and the co-founder of London Plane Equities (LPE), a biotech firm. Merv received his bachelor's degree from Hamilton College (with honors) and his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Elizabeth Knapp joins SCP as Executive Assistant to Tom Lynch, the head of the firm's Boston office. She has worked in multiple industries, including supply-chain services, cybersecurity, and medical device manufacturing. Prior to SCP, Elizabeth was executive assistant to the CEO and leadership team of OnProcess Technology, Inc.



These newest hires underscore SCP's continued nationwide expansion. Earlier in 2020, the firm announced the opening of its New York office, and throughout 2019 the firm added two managing directors and deepened its operations and staffing teams.

About SierraConstellation Partners, LLC SierraConstellation Partners (SCP) is a national interim management and advisory firm headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Houston, Boston and New York and professionals in Dallas and Seattle. SCP serves middle-market companies and their partners and investors that are navigating their way through difficult business challenges. Our team's real-world experience, operational mindset and hands-on approach enable us to deliver effective operational improvements and financial solutions to help companies restore value, regain creditor confidence, and capitalize on opportunities. As former CEOs, COOs, CFOs, private equity investors and investment bankers, our team of senior professionals has decades of experience operating and advising companies. For more information, please visit www.sierraconstellation.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005421/en/

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Ottawa says renegotiation of contract will secure jobs of thousands of Canadians but activists accuse it of hypocrisy.

The Canadian government is lifting a suspension on arms exports to Saudi Arabia and has renegotiated a controversial multibillion-dollar contract that will see an Ontario-based company sell light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Riyadh.

The significant improvements to the contract would secure the jobs of thousands of Canadians, not only in Southwestern Ontario but also across the entire defence industry supply chain, which includes hundreds of small and medium enterprises, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau said in a statement on Thursday.

In December 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained that Canada was looking for a way out of the Saudi arms deal, following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

A month earlier the Liberal government suspended approvals of new arms export permits for Saudi Arabia pending an indefinite review.

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The 14 billion Canadian dollar ($10bn) deal to export LAVs made by the Ontario-based General Dynamics Land Systems to Saudi Arabia was brokered in 2014 by the previous Conservative government.

Trudeaus Liberal government subsequently gave the final approval for the deal following the 2015 election.

The ministers added in their statement that as a state party to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, Canadas goods cannot be exported where there is a substantial risk that they would be used in violating human rights and humanitarian law.

We have now begun reviewing permit applications on a case-by-case basis, the statement said.

Reopen the weapons exports floodgates

Academics and activists have long pressured Ottawa to cancel the exports of Canadian-made LAVs to Saudi Arabia, citing the killing of Khashoggi and Saudi Arabias involvement in the Yemen war.

Campaigners have said there is credible evidence Canadian arms are being used by the Saudi-UAE led coalition in the long-running conflict in Yemen.

Anthony Fenton, a PhD candidate in political science at Torontos York University who studies Canadas relations with Gulf Cooperation Council countries, told Al Jazeera that the announcement came as no surprise.

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At every opportunity since the diplomatic spat erupted in August 2018, Trudeaus government has been trying behind the scenes to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia, in spite of their horrendous human rights record and leading role in the brutal war in Yemen, Fenton said, referring to the diplomatic dispute that erupted in August 2018 after Ottawa criticised Riyadh over its crackdown on womens rights activists.

Now, under the cover of the chaos brought on by the global pandemic, theyve elected to reopen the weapons exports floodgates, placating Canadas arms industry, while likely calculating little pushback from the media or public.

Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Canadian peace research institute Project Ploughshares, told Al Jazeera that while there may be an economic price to pay to comply with domestic and international arms control regulations, the humanitarian cost of an unregulated arms trade is much higher.

Each day that Canada continues arms exports to Saudi Arabia, its arms control and humanitarian credentials continue to crumble, Jaramillo said.

Canada has given greater credence to Saudi officials than to authoritative human rights organisations; it has whitewashed violent security crackdowns by the Saudi regime involving Canadian equipment, in which scores of civilians have been killed; it has dismissed or ignored highly credible links between the state of Saudi Arabia and the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.

And it has done all this while claiming to be a beacon for human rights, feminism and a rules-based international order, Jaramillo said.
Taiwans foreign ministry on Thursday denied accusations by World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the country had engaged in a racist smear campaign against him.

Without having checked the facts, Tedross unprovoked and untrue accusations not only differ from reality, they have also seriously harmed our government and our people, the ministry said in a statement. Tedros should immediately correct his unfounded allegations, immediately clarify, and apologize to our country, the statement continued.

Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen also condemned Tedross remarks.

If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan to see Taiwans efforts to fight COVID-19 for himself, he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment, Tsai wrote on her Facebook page. I believe that the WHO will only truly be complete if Taiwan is included.

At Wednesdays press conference, Tedros said he had endured racist attacks and death threats over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, and accused Taiwan of initiating the attacks.

This attack came from Taiwan, Tedros said. The foreign ministry knows about this campaign and they didnt disassociate themselves.

Details of the attacks, including specific dates, were not immediately made clear.

Tedros became head of the WHO with the strong backing of China, which prevents Taiwan from joining the organization because it considers the island to be part of its territory. Taiwan has alleged that the WHO did not relay its warnings, during the earliest stages of the pandemic, of possible human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus.

Taiwan has managed to almost completely stop the spread of coronavirus within its borders, recording 380 cases and just five deaths as of Thursday. It has also pledged to provide ten million protective masks to the U.S. and Europe.

More from National Review
Churches around the region will be celebrating Easter this Sunday.

But, instead of services at the church, regional places of worship are finding other ways to observe the holiday due to the coronavirus pandemic limiting gatherings, as well as stay-at-home orders from the state.

Most midstate churches holding services this Sunday are turning to Facebook, holding events live on their official page. Some churches are also holding live or pre-recorded services on their websites or on YouTube.

If you want to watch a midstate service on television, ABC27 will broadcast Saint Patrick Cathedrals Easter services at 3 p.m. on Good Friday and 1 p.m. on Easter.

If you want to listen on the radio you can tune into WHYL 960 AM/FM102.9 as it will broadcast services from Market Square Presbyterian Church from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

One community is entering its fourth week of hosting a joint-service at Cumberland Drive-in in Penn Twp. at the Cumberland Drive-in Theatre. Church at the Drive-in is hosted by the Big Spring Inter-Church Council, a collection of churches from multiple denominational backgrounds in the Newville area. Each week, the service is led by a different church. Easter services will begin at 10:30 a.m. The service will be broadcasted on 88.7 FM and attendees are asked to stay in their cars.

One church is inviting its congregants to join in worship while sitting in their cars in the church parking lot while listening in on their own electronic devices. The Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Susquehanna Township will be holding "Parking Lot Worship Services beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday.

If youre looking for a service with sign language interpretation Saint Joseph Catholic Church will have services on its Facebook page at 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Below is a list of churches holding Easter services this year. Obviously the list doesnt include every church in the midstate, but if your church is holding Easter services and you would them to be added to the list below, feel free to email the name of the church, the date, time, and details and a link to a website or Facebook page to Daniel Urie at durie@pennlive.com. Please place Easter in the subject line.

The following area churches are holding services for Easter. All services are on Sunday unless otherwise specified.

Community services

Church at the Drive-in

Cumberland Drive-in, 715 Centerville Road in Penn Township, Cumberland County near Newville.

Church at the Drive-in is entering its fourth week. The service is hosted by the Big Spring Inter-Church Council, a collection of churches from multiple denominational backgrounds in the Newville area. Each week, the service is led by a different church.

Easter services will begin at 10:30 a.m. the service will be broadcasted on 88.7 FM and attendees are asked to stay in their cars.

Easter message from Hershey area pastors

Join Hershey Gardens on its Facebook page at 6:30 a.m. Sunday to enjoy a virtual Easter message from pastors around the Hershey area. The video will remain on its Facebook page and will also include photos of past Easter services at the Hershey Gardens as well as photos of the tulips in bloom this week.

Catholic services

Diocese of Harrisburg/Saint Patrick Cathedral

All services will be broadcast live on the dioceses Youtube channel.

Holy Thursday - 5:30 p.m.

Good Friday - noon. You can also watch the service on ABC27 at 3 p.m.

Easter- 9:30 a.m. You can also watch the service live on ABC27 at 1 p.m.

Good Shepherd Catholic Church

Services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday: 8:30 a.m. - Morning Prayer; 4 p.m. Rosary; 7 p.m. Mass of the Lords Supper

Good Friday: 8:30 a.m. - Rosary; 3 p.m. - Solemn Passion of the Lord; 7 p.m. - Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday: 8:30 a.m. Rosary; 8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

Easter: 9:30 a.m. Mass; 11 a.m. Childrens Liturgy of the Word; 4 p.m. Rosary

Holy Name of Jesus Church

Services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - 7 p.m. (followed by Adoration)

Good Friday - 3 p.m. - Fr. Matt will lead a Rosary at noon

Easter - 10:15 a.m.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - 7 p.m.

Good Friday - 3 p.m.

Holy Saturday - Blessing of Food (online) at 8 a.m.; Vigil Mass at 7:43 p.m. (sunset)

Easter Sunday - 8 a.m.

Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Parish

Services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - 7 p.m. Mass of the Lords Supper

Good Friday - 2:30 p.m. Commemoration of the Lords Passion

Easter - 10:30 a.m. - Easter

Saint Catherine Laboure Parish

Services will take place on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - Morning Prayer - 9 a.m.; Mass of the Lords Supper Video - 9 p.m.

Good Friday - Morning Prayer - 9 a.m.; Veneration of the Cross Liturgy Video 3 p.m.

Holy Saturday Morning Prayer - 9 a.m.

Easter Sunday The Solemn Vigil of Easter Video - 9:30 a.m.

Easter Sunday Mass Video - 9:30 a.m.

St. Joan of Arc Parish

Easter services will take place live on Facebook at 9:30 a.m.

Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lords Supper at 7 p.m. (ASL interpreted); Night Prayer at 9 p.m.

Good Friday - Morning Prayer of the Church at 9 a.m.; Commemoration of the Lords Passion at 3 p.m. (ASL interpreted)

Holy Saturday  Morning Prayer of the Church at 9 a.m.; Blessing of the Food at noon (ASL interpreted)

Easter Mass at 7:30 a.m. (ASL interpreted)

Saint Patrick Church

The services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page.

Holy Thursday - Mass of the Lords Supper - 7 p.m.

Good Friday - Passion of the Lord - 3 p.m.

Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil Mass - 8 p.m.

Easter - 9 a.m.

United Methodist services

Charlton United Methodist Church

Maundy Thursday - Worship and prayer. A video will be available all day on its Facebook page.

Good Friday - Meditation and reflection. A video will be available all day on its Facebook page.

Easter - 9:30 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Grace United Methodist Church - Lemoyne

The Church has been posting its recorded services on its YouTube page.

Grace United Methodist Church - Mechancisburg

The Church has been posting its recorded services on its YouTube page.

Linglestown Life

The church will be having services live on its Facebook page.

Maundy Thursday - 7 p.m.

Good Friday - 7 p.m.

Easter - 10 a.m.

Mount Zion United Methodist Church

The Easter service will be held at 10:15 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Paxton United Methodist Church

The church is providing recorded services on its Youtube channel.

The Journey Church

Services will take place live on Facebook.

Maundy Thursday - virtual meal at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Good Friday - Stations of The Cross at 7 p.m.

Sunday - 6:30 a.m. for a traditional sunrise service and 9:30 a.m. for the regular service.

Trinity United Methodist Church New Cumberland

The Maundy Thursday service and the Good Friday Tenebrae service can be downloaded at the churchs website.

Christian and Missionary Alliance services

Carlisle Alliance Church

The church has been posting pre-recorded services on its Facebook page.

Community Alliance Church

The church has been posting pre-recorded services on its website.

Daybreak Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:30 on its YouTube page.

Immanuel Church

Good Friday - Online service and communion - 6:30 p.m. live on Facebook.

The Rock Church

The Easter service will take place at 9:30 a.m. live on Facebook.

Assemblies of God services

Christian Life Assembly

The church will hold services live on its Facebook and YouTube channels and at clacamphill.tv. The church will hold a Good Friday online Communion service at noon Friday. On Easter Sunday, it will be live streaming services at its usual service times of 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. During CLAs Easter Sunday services, there will be lots of opportunities for online attendees to interact with others and with members of CLAs Prayer Team. There will also be something special for the kids during these services. The church will also have a Kids Church services online for families to watch on its website and also on its Facebook page.

Harrisburg First Assembly of God

The church has services at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays live on Facebook.

Rescue Community Church

The Easter service will begin at 11 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Brethren In Christ services

Grantham Church

The church is providing pre-recorded services via Vimeo at vimeo.com/granthambicchurch.

Harrisburg Brethren in Christ

The church will provide a pre-recorded service on YouTube at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Mechanicsburg Brethren in Christ Church

Easter services will begin at 9:30 a.m. on its website.

New Life Community Church - Carlisle

The Easter service will begin at 11 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

The Meeting House

Easter services will take place live on its Facebook and YouTube pages at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Presbyterian

Camp Hill Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:30 a.m. on its Facebook page.

Christ Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:15 a.m. live on Facebook.

Derry Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:30 a.m. live on derrypres.org, YouTube and Facebook.

Faith Immanuel Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:30 a.m. live on Facebook.

First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle

Easter services will be recorded and posted after noon on the congregations YouTube channel, Facebook Page and Web site. A link to the bulletin for the service is available from the churchs Web site or here.

Market Square Presbyterian Church

You can listen to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services at 7:30 p.m. on WHYL 960 AM and FM 102.9.

The Easter service will begin at 11:00 a.m. on WHYL 960 AM and FM 102.9.

Paxton Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10 a.m. live on Facebook.

Pine Street Presbyterian Church

The Easter service will begin at 10 a.m. live on its website.

Presbyterian Congregation of Middletown

The church will post a link to the Easter service on the churchs Facebook page.

Lutheran Services

Salem Lutheran Church Elizabethville

All services will be live on the churchs website.

Maundy Thursday - 7 p.m. - Livestream Worship

Good Friday 3 p.m. - Livestream Stations of the Cross; 7 p.m. - Livestream Worship

Holy Saturday- 7 p.m. - Livestream Worship and Easter Vigil

Easter - 9 a.m. - Livestream Holy Mass

St. John Lutheran Church

Easter services will begin at 9:15 a.m. live on Facebook

St. Michael Lutheran Church

The church has been posting links to prerecorded services on its Facebook page.

The church has announced that its next public worship service will be celebrated as Palm Sunday and in the days that follow the church will keep its regular Holy Week schedule.

St. Paul Lutheran Church

Easter services begin at 8:30 a.m. live on the churchs Facebook page.

Saint Peter Lutheran Church

All services will take place live on Facebook.

Good Friday Worship at 7 p.m.

Easter Vigil Worship at 7 p.m. Saturday

Easter Sunday Worship (Wee Worship at 9 a.m. and Regular Worship at 10 a.m.)

Tree of Life Lutheran Church

Holy Week services begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 10 a.m. Sunday on YouTube and Facebook.

Trindle Spring Lutheran Church

Services will take place live on the churchs Facebook page:

Maundy Thursday Service 7 p.m.

Good Friday Prayer Walk - noon; Good Friday Tenebrae Service - 7 p.m.

Easter Service - 9:15 a.m.

Online bulletins are on the churchs website so that congregants can follow along with the services.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - Camp Hill

The church will live-stream its Easter service at 11 a.m. on its website at www.trinitycamphill.org.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - Lemoyne

Maundy Thursday Service will be live-streamed on the Facebook page at 7:30 p.m.

Tenebrae Service will be live-streamed on the Facebook page at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Easter Service will be live-streamed on the Facebook page at 10:45 a.m.

Zion Lutheran Church - Dauphin

Zion Lutheran Church will hold virtual services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They will be posted on the churchs YouTube page on Thursday night, Friday night and Sunday morning. Search for Zion Dauphin on YouTube.

Baptist services

Baptist Temple Church

Easter services will begin at 8 a.m. and at 10:45 a.m. live on Facebook.

Beulah Baptist Church

The Easter service will begin live on its Facebook page at 10 a.m.

Colonial Park Community Baptist Church

Late Thursday afternoon the church will upload a Holy Thursday meditation on its Facebook page.

The Easter sermon will be available on the churchs Facebook page Sunday morning.

First Baptist Church of Galeton

Easter services will begin at 11:20 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. live on Facebook.

First Baptist Church of Steelton

Easter services will begin at 11 a.m. live on its website.

Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church

The Easter service will begin at 11 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church

Easter services will take place at 10 a.m. live on the churchs Facebook page.

New Hope Living Baptist Church

Easter services will begin at 10:30 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Tabernacle Baptist Church

The church will begin services at 11 a.m. live on its Facebook page.

Transcend Church

The Easter service will begin at 10:45 a.m. live on the churchs Facebook page.

The Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church

The church will be holding "Parking Lot Worship Services beginning at 10 a.m. Congregants will join in worship with while sitting in cars in the Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church parking lot while listening to worship services on their own electronic devices. If the parking lot is full, parking is available on Progress Avenue and surrounding streets. The service will be live-streamed on the churchs Facebook page. At the end of the Easter Sunday Service, while still parked, congregants will be asked to flash their headlights and blow their car horn for about 30 seconds to recognize that Jesus Christ died for us and arose on Easter Sunday morning, the church said on its website.

Episcopal Church services

The Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania

The diocese is offering a number of services on its website for Holy Week.

Maudy Thursday - An all-night prayer vigil will be held on its Facebook page live from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Good Friday - Episcopalians from around the diocese will participate in a virtual offering of The Seven Last Words from noon until 3:00 p.m. The program will include elements of the Book of Common Prayer Good Friday liturgy. The highlight of the program will be offerings and homilies that a small group of preachers and worship leaders will share with the virtual congregation.

Easter - On Easter, join the staff of St. Stephens Episcopal Cathedral for Morning Prayer, with some well-known hymns to sing at home, the Easter message from the Bishop, and a special prayer of Spiritual Communion. The service is on the dioceses website.

All Saints Episcopal Church

Maundy Thursday liturgy with sermon live on the churchs Facebook page at 7 p.m.

Good Friday- noon - live on Facebook.

Good Friday Liturgy with sermon at 7 p.m. live on Facebook.

Easter services begin at 10 a.m.

St. Lukes Episcopal Church

Easter services will begin at 10:30 a.m. live on the churchs website.

St. Stephens Episcopal Cathedral

Easter services begin at 9 a.m. on its Facebook page.

United Church of Christ services

St. Thomas UCC

The church will have a live online service for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at 7 p.m.For Easter Sunday, there will be a live online service at 9: 30 a.m. A service recorded in the sanctuary will be available to download or watch. Information: www.stthomasucc.net/echurch.

Non-denominational

Capital Bible Church

Easter services begin at 10:30 a.m. live on Facebook.

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Pedestrians wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus on the streets of Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. AP




Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) Power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Thursday said customers can expect an increase in their bills for the month of April.

Meralco announced rates inched up to 8.9951 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the month from 8.8901 per kWh in March.

This translates to a roughly 21 increase in the total bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh a month.

While the company reported lower generation charges for this month amid the Luzon-wide community quarantine, it attributed the 0.105 per kWh upward adjustment to the normalization of the universal charge rate.

"The slight adjustment this month is not due to an increase in the cost of producing and delivering electricity, but mainly due to the Universal Charge returning to its normal level following a one-time refund of 0.1453 per kWh in Universal Charge-NPC Stranded Contract Costs," Meralco said in a statement.

Meralco's franchise area covers Metro Manila, the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, and Cavite, as well as parts of Laguna, Quezon, Batangas, and Pampanga.

Prior to the extension of the Luzon lockdown, the company announced it will provide a 30-day payment extension for bills due from March 1 to April 14, 2020.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has carried out nearly 10,000 summary deportations or "expulsions" since March 21, using emergency public health measures during the coronavirus outbreak that have given U.S. Customs and Border Protection broad authority to bypass immigration laws, CBP officials said Thursday.

The measures have allowed the agency to quickly turn away most unauthorized migrants - sending them back across the U.S.-Mexico border. The moves have dramatically slashed the number of detainees held in border stations, where they fear the coronavirus could spread, the officials said. CBP has fewer than 100 detainees in custody, down from nearly 20,000 at this time last year during the border crisis, officials said.

Since the implementation of the rapid expulsions, migration levels have fallen to near their lowest point in decades, with unlawful border crossings down 56 percent, said acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan. Morgan also acknowledged that the United States has all but closed its borders to asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution, including those who attempt to enter legally at U.S. ports of entry.

"Those who are undocumented or don't have documents or authorization are turned away," Morgan said.

Democratic lawmakers have accused the administration of defying U.S. laws and exceeding the authority of the coronavirus public health order, but Morgan defended the emergency measures as a necessary step to stop the spread of the disease.

"This is not about immigration," Morgan said. "This is about public health. This is about putting forth aggressive mitigation and containment strategies."

Morgan and other Trump administration officials say the clampdown at the border is an urgent necessity at a time when much of the country is effectively locked down, with all but eight states under broad stay-at-home orders. The established U.S. enforcement model at the border - apprehend, detain, prosecute, deport - is too much of a liability during a pandemic, they say.

The sweeping measures have replaced safeguards and immigration laws Trump calls "the worst in the world" with the kind of draconian model he has long extolled as a solution to the country's border challenges.

With the pandemic consuming the country's attention, Trump also has waived environmental regulations, fired Inspectors General, pushed tax cuts, urged voting restrictions and moved to weaken the Affordable Care Act.

"What is happening at the border right now is a tragedy," said Kari Hong, an immigration attorney who teaches at Boston College Law School. "We are abandoning our legal commitment to provide asylum to people whose lives are in danger in other countries."

Hong said the United States government is exploiting the coronavirus crisis to achieve a hard line anti-immigration agenda: "By invoking these emergency orders, the Trump administration is simply doing what it's wanted to do all along, which is to end asylum law in its entirety."

CBP said the number of migrants who were taken into custody at the border fell to 33,937 in March, down 7 percent from February. Single adults from Mexico accounted for 70 percent to 75 percent of those detained, and most of the remainder were from Central America's Northern Triangle countries: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The Mexican government has agreed to accept the rapid return of migrants from those nations at the border under an agreement reached with the Trump administration last month.

The recent expulsions include children who would otherwise be protected from rapid removal by U.S. anti-trafficking laws. Since the emergency order took effect last month, the United States has expelled nearly 400 underage migrants, according to the most recent tally by Reuters. The minors were released into Mexico or boarded onto planes and flown to Central America without being transferred to the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their safety, as would be typical.

In a letter Wednesday to acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said the Trump administration's use of a 1944 health emergency law to suspend due process at the border is not legal.

"Contrary to existing law, individuals, families, and children are now unable to sufficiently make claims for asylum, seek other forms of humanitarian protection, and, in some instances, are being expelled to countries in which they fear persecution," the senators wrote.

"DHS has essentially determined that executive branch officials can all but ignore the long-standing federal laws pursuant to an executive branch interpretation of a law enacted in 1944," they said. "This amounts to a startling expansion of executive power under the guise of a global pandemic response."

The falling number of migrants in CBP custody has led to sharp drop in the number of migrants transferred to the network of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement jails around the country. The number of detainees in ICE facilities - where fears of a major outbreak remain high - has dropped to about 34,000 nationwide, according to the latest figures. That is the lowest the ICE jail population has been since 2016.

ICE has had 37 confirmed cases of coronavirus among detainees in its custody. Sixteen of the cases have been in facilities in New Jersey and nine have been discovered in the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Cases also have been confirmed at ICE facilities in Arizona, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida.

ICE officials have asked field office directors to review whether there are detainees over the age of 60 who have certain health conditions that put them at higher risk of infection so that they can evaluate potential release, according to ICE guidance distributed Saturday and filed as part of a legal case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. "The fact that an alien is potentially higher-risk for serious illness from COVID-19, may form the basis for a determination that 'continued detention is not in the public interest,' and could justify release, the guidance says.

Severe overcrowding in CBP facilities last year led the agency to hold tens of thousands of migrants in tent facilities and chain-link enclosures, releasing many into the interior of the United States under procedures President Donald Trump decries as "catch and release."

The average amount of time it takes agents to expel border-crossers to Mexico under the emergency protocols is just 96 minutes. The agents record migrants' personal data and biometric info, then load them into vans for rapid return to the nearest border crossing. No medical exams are performed unless the person is in distress.

Morgan said migrants who state a fear of harm if sent back to Mexico are considered for an exemption from the public health order on "a case-by-case basis." According to an internal memo obtained by ProPublica, border agents need the approval of supervisors to consider such an exemption.

- - -

The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
Materials and supplies are on order to produce an additional 200,000 face shields. The company is using an open-source design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the project and leveraging expertise, skills, and innovation of its employee base.

"Our manufacturing and supply management teams, along with our production and maintenance employees, the UAW, and our partners have worked tirelessly to ensure we could lend our support and protect our health-care workers during this crisis," said John May, Chief Executive Officer, Deere & Company. "By working closely with the communities where our employees live and work, we can help support the needs we've identified close to home and, as the project expands, address additional, urgent needs across the country."

John Deere Seeding Group employees are supporting the special project and are utilizing extensive and robust safety measures adopted across the company to safeguard employees.

"This is a very proud day for the UAW and our UAW members," said Rory L. Gamble, UAW President. "I want to recognize the hard work that Secretary-Treasurer and Agriculture Implement Department Director Ray Curry and Region 4 Director Ron McInroy contributed to this effort. This included working to put the necessary health and safety provisions in place for our members to begin manufacturing critically-needed face shields for the health-care workers who are on the front lines of this crisis saving lives. We are especially proud of the courageous UAW members who are stepping up to do this critical work."

The production of protective face shields is one of many initiatives the company and its employees have executed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Efforts in the U.S. have included the following:

PPE donations to health care facilities

2:1 employee match program encouraging donations to local food banks and the American Red Cross

Production of approximately 18,000 protective face shields for use by factory employees

Employee volunteerism efforts to sew cloth masks for community members along with a match from the John Deere Foundation for the time invested in this volunteer activity

Launch of a COVID-19 innovations site to share open-source specifications for related projects, including 3D-printed clips to affix face shields to protective bump caps

For additional information regarding Deere's response to COVID-19, visit our Coronavirus Update Center .

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land - those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at www.JohnDeere.com.

SOURCE Deere & Company

Related Links

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In times of national crisis, the American people typically come together behind their president.

But not this one.

Donald Trump isnt benefiting from what political scientists refer to as a rally round the flag effect  a traditional surge in popularity as the nation unites behind its leader during an emergency situation.

Even as the country confronts the greatest disruption to daily life since World War II, a series of new polls released this week show Trumps approval ratings plateauing in the mid-40s, roughly where his approval rating stood a month ago, before the coronavirus shuttered much of the nations economic and social activity.

In other words, public views of Trumps leadership in the coronavirus crisis are now breaking down along familiar lines of polarization: Americans view his performance during the pandemic about the same way they view his performance generally.

Throughout the first three years of his presidency, Trumps approval rating has traded in a narrow band. But his failure to unite the country behind his leadership also reflects Americans judgment of his handling of the outbreak thus far: In poll after poll this week, increasing percentages say they think Trump is doing a bad job, and his administration hasnt done enough to protect citizens from the effects of Covid-19.

The mixed-to-negative views of Trumps handling of the coronavirus emergency also poses a significant threat to his reelection prospects, now that former Vice President Joe Biden has emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the virus threatens to become the dominant issue of the 2020 campaign.

Theres no rally round the flag because people see he hasnt been handling it well, said Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster who collaborates on a Navigator Research project that has been tracking public opinion of the outbreak and Trumps response.

On Wednesday, six separate pollsters released new surveys. In all six, Trumps approval rating was below 50 percent, ranging between 40 percent and 45 percent. And each suggested Americans had at best a mixed opinion of his response to the virus, and those with trendlines from weeks earlier in the crisis showed an uptick in the percentage of those critical of Trumps response.

Story continues

Trumps low approval ratings early in a crisis defy historical precedent. Presidents, dating back to the start of the modern polling era after World War II, typically see their approval ratings rise significantly when the country faces emergencies, though they more typically occur around international conflicts, mostly involving the military.

According to Gallups archives, John F. Kennedys approval rating stood at 61 percent at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962, but it had surged to 74 percent a month later.

In October 1979, Jimmy Carter had a 31 percent approval rating. But after the siege of the U.S. embassy in Iran, Carters approval topped 50 percent in early December and hit a high of 58 percent in January 1980. It didnt begin sagging again until the spring of 1980, and Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in November.

More recently, George H.W. Bushs approval rating shot up from 58 percent in early January 1991, to as high as 87 percent following the climax of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military action to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Bushs son, George W. Bush, had a 51 percent approval rating in the Gallup poll conducted in the four days leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. By the end of the month, as Bush handled the immediate recovery and investigation, his approval rating hit 90 percent.

Trump, by contrast, saw only the slightest increases in his approval ratings. According to the RealClearPolitics average, his approval rating stood at 44.5 percent a month ago, on March 8. By last week, it had ticked up to 47.4 percent  but as of Wednesday afternoon, including the new polls, it was back down to 45.2 percent.

We saw something, said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. Whatever we saw was certainly not anywhere what the typical rally effect would look like, but there was a slight bump for him.

Monmouths new poll, out Wednesday, showed Trumps overall approval rating at 44 percent, down slightly from 46 percent last month, during the early days of the crisis.

In the new Monmouth poll, 46 percent of respondents said Trump was doing a good job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, while 49 percent said he was doing a bad job. Last month, 50 percent said Trump was doing a good job, compared to 45 percent who said he was doing a bad job.

That slightly increasing dissatisfaction with the federal response to the crisis was echoed in other polls. A new CNN/SSRS poll out Wednesday showed 45 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the outbreak, while 52 percent disapprove. The previous poll was conducted in early March  days before any significant restrictions or physical and social distancing measures were recommended  and it showed a similar, 7-point spread between the percentages of Americans who disapproved and approved of Trumps performance on the issue.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday also showed a narrow majority disapproved of how Trump is handling the situation  51 percent disapprove, compared to 46 percent who approve. That poll actually showed up a slight uptick in Trumps overall job approval, to 45 percent, compared with the previous poll in early March, before any of the distancing measures were put in place by the federal government.

Those numbers were echoed by a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out early Wednesday  which showed Trumps approval rating at 44 percent, unchanged from four weeks ago at the start of the crisis  and other surveys released by Reuters/Ipsos and Navigator Research, the Democratic operation.

Private political polling generally shows the same stability  and a lack of a bounce  for Trump. Scott Tranter, the co-founder of the Republican data firm 0ptimus, told POLITICO that Trumps job ratings have been relatively unchanged over the course of their polling. Some governors, Tranter said, have seen upticks in their approval ratings, while perceptions of Congress dipped during the negotiations over the last rescue package, which was passed and signed into law in late March after a week of back-and-forth between the parties on Capitol Hill.

Republicans arent sweating public opinion of Trump amid the Covid-19 pandemic, though the Trump campaign last week did tout results from battleground-state surveys that it said showed Trump with far greater approval ratings for his handling of the situation than in public polls.

Neil Newhouse, a partner at the GOP polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, said Trumps near-constant approval ratings have always demonstrated that he has a high floor and a very low ceiling.

He doesnt have the room to grow that far. Thats just his ceiling, Newhouse said. People came into this with preconceived notions about the president, and theres nothing he can do about that.

While Trumps approval ratings have dipped slightly in recent days, Newhouse cautioned that a strong response to the crisis in the upcoming weeks could reverse that negative momentum, at least at the margins.

I think its still too soon to come to a verdict about how the presidents handled this, he said. Theres still a long way to go.

Omero, the Democratic pollster and partner at GBAO Strategies, said Navigators data beneath the surface is more ominous for Trump. In the new poll out Wednesday, only 42 percent of voters said the word competent describes his reaction to the coronavirus, while 49 percent said it doesnt apply. Forty percent say honest describes Trumps handling of the situation, while 54 percent said it does not.

Part of what Trump cant undo, Omero said, is his initial response to the virus during the earliest days of the outbreak. He obviously downplayed the threat in the beginning, so I think people are responding to that, she said.

Whether its the consistent polarization that has characterized his presidency or a specific reaction to his response to this grave crisis, its clear that Americans views of Trump break from U.S. political tradition.

At the end of the day, the fact that there wasnt a huge rally effect given the severity and the breadth of this crisis is really whats unusual here, said Monmouths Murray. And it says a lot about Trumps unwillingness or inability to capitalize on a moment like this.
Amid the nationwide 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, Lufthansa group's SWISS airline on Thursday said it is conducting a special flight from Delhi to Zurich to repatriate Swiss citizens and other European nationals. SWISS airline's wide-body A330 aircraft from Zurich landed at Mumbai airport on Thursday morning at 5.15 am. After picking up some passengers from Mumbai, it will head to Delhi to pick up the remaining passengers.

The flight will depart at 1.35 am from Delhi on Friday morning for Zurich "carrying Swiss and other European nationals home at a time when no international flights are operating to and from India due to the global air traffic lockdown", a press release by the SWISS airline stated.

India has imposed a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this time period. However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator DGCA are allowed to operate during this lockdown.

George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales South Asia  Lufthansa Group, said, "As a responsible corporate citizen, we are tasked with the duty and privilege to bring people back to their homes in this time of unprecedented global crisis. "We are thankful to be able to help the government officials in India and Switzerland with this special flight," he added.
For Hanois slum dwellers, losing their livelihoods are often far more concerning than the new coronavirus itself.

Hesitant to leave, Ngan asked her employer: "So when could I return to work?"

No one had the answer.

The factory where Ngan and her husband, Son, work started suspending operations since the afternoon of March 31, one day before the entire nation employed a 15-day social distancing campaign to serve its Covid-19 fight. During this time, gatherings of over two people are not allowed, while all citizens are expected to remain home.

Waiting until everyone had left, the factory owner called Ngan over. She gave her, the cleaner and cook at her firm, a box of braised fish, a bag of chicken, instant pho (Vietnamese noodles), and boxed milk for the kids.

The factory makes toothpicks and sits in Hanois Ha Dong District.

Neither Ngan nor Son are residents of Hanoi. In fact, they have no residence.

They live in a makeshift house on one of the alluvial plains formed in the middle of Red River, which flows from Yunnan Province in Southwest China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin.

The plain underneath Long Bien Bridge is home to a community of over 100 people who had migrated from different localities to the capital, where the urban life with factories and the strong growth of the service sector allows them to find manual jobs with decent income. Most have lost their household registration in their places of birth and are not registered residents of Hanoi.

Members of Ngan and Sons community do manual work and mostly reside in floating homes, stuck together with buoys and patched with anything from canvas to an old blanket or discarded billboard.

A floating family abode in the middle of Hanoi's Red River awash with community spirit. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue.

Ngan, 29, dropped out of school after third grade while her husband is illiterate. Before finding work at the toothpick factory, Ngan washed dishes at restaurants across the capital while Son delivered goods for a confectionery producer. Son navigates by following the directions pictured in his head or by asking passersby.

Five years ago, the couple started work at the toothpick factory.

Each morning at seven, Son takes his wife the 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) by motorbike to work in Ha Dong District.

Ngan is paid VND3.5 million ($150) per month while Son transports toothpicks from the factories to downtown dealers, including those at Buoi Market in Tay Ho District and along Hang Buoi Street in Hoan Kiem District, earning a monthly salary of VND5 million. The two are offered lunch at the company.

Aside from their four children, the oldest a sixth grader and the youngest 2.5 years old, the couple has to cover expenditure for Ngans mother, who has suffered from diabetes for years and cannot work.

Life got harder in February when the economy got pinched by the Covid-19 pandemic. One after another, restaurants across Hanoi suspended services as customers avoided large gatherings in fear of infection. As a result, toothpick orders were slashed by half, forcing the factory owner to cut its 30 employees salaries.

On March 26, Hanoi announced the closure of all non-essential services. A week later, Vietnam launched its social-distancing campaign, and it was decided the factory would be temporarily shut.

When Covid-19 hit Vietnam in late January, Ngan had never thought "it could be this serious."

Other community members had lost their jobs as cleaners, janitors or scrap collectors and vendors much earlier than her and Son.

Rationing food to stay afloat, Ngan hid the milk boxes her employer gifted the couple, handing her youngest child one only every two days.

Beyond one household

Around a kilometer from the floating community near Long Bien, hundreds of migrants live in rented rooms the height of their heads. Residents here work as porters, vendors, scrap collectors and do any type of manual labor at Long Bien Market, the largest vegetable wholesale zone in Hanoi.

On the evening of March 31, Nguyen Thi Anh, 60, pushed a cart of sticky rice and sweet soup back home. Nguyen Van Chi rushed out to help his wife with the cart, a task he has done for over two decades.

Never before had Chi felt such weariness. "Nearly half the food is left," she lamented.

Nguyen Van Chi smokes a traditional water pipe or "dieu cay" outside his rented room in Long Bien slum in Hanoi, March 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue.

Migrating from the outlying district of Phu Xuyen that lies 40 km (25 miles) from the downtown, Chi and Anh have sold sticky rice and sweet soup along the streets of Hanoi since their youngest son entered kindergarten. Now, he is nearly 30. Through all those years, the cost for one glass of sweet soup with black beans and coconut milk had jumped from VND200 to VND10,000 (less than half a dollar), but the couple has never thought of moving.

The only furniture in their eight-square-meter room, rented for VND900,000 a month, is a low flat wooden platform they use as both dining table and bed. Above is a suspended single bed where their youngest sleeps.

The most valuable asset in their possession is a radio cassette from Chis days as a soldier, alongside a set of cookers Anh uses to make sticky rice and sweet soup. Together, they have raised three kids and sent them all to college. Their two eldest now have their own families.

Every morning at six, Anh pushes her cart to the citys Old Quarter. In a normal day, she walks tens of kilometers to earn VND200,000 ($8.52). She is proud to say nearly all Old Quarter residents have sampled her cooking.

On the afternoon of March 26, Chi learned via radio news all non-essential services would be suspended across Hanoi. Concerned, Anh responded: "Even if I lost half the revenue I would still go out and work." Ever since, having reduced the amount of sticky rice and sweet soup they produce, she still returns with only half sold.

Worried the police may confiscate her cart, Anh stopped frequenting the Old Quarter and certain other streets, sticking to the Long Bien market area.

"Since the day I started this job, Ive never experienced such a quiet and deserted Hanoi," Anh said.

Each Cold Food Festival, a traditional event celebrated in northern Vietnam, China and South Korea, Chi produces 100 portions of banh troi, a dish made of glutinous rice flour wrapped around a sweet filling. This year, he only made 20 for the festival on March 26, much of which remained unsold too.

"If this situation is to last, were gonna be left half dead," he said.

Anhs son works in the testing department of a clinic in town, obsessed with the thought of losing his job if too few patients attend and staff are cut.

Residing next door, Le Dinh Hong is now "jobless." A native in Phu Tho Province, a neighbor of Hanoi, the 52-year-old of less than 60 kilos worked as a porter in Long Bien Market.

Each day, he would deliver ten carts of vegetables and fruit, each weighing 30-40 kilos and got paid VND400,000. Now, though he still pulls his cart around, he rarely gets hired.

Le Dinh Hong stands next to the cart he uses to work as a porter at Long Bien Market, Hanoi, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue.

Despite the challenge, neither Chi, Anh or Hong want to return to their hometown. On the night prior to the 15-day national distancing, half their community had left their rented rooms for home.

"It would be irresponsible to return with our four grandchildren back home," Chi said.

Though Hongs wife and two daughters had called on him to come home, he is overwhelmed by the thought of possibly carrying the virus back with him and prefers to remain put to look for more work.

"At this age I could never find work that could earn me even VND50,000 a day back home," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:45:42|Editor: xuxin

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SUVA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The South Pacific island nation of Tonga is now in recovery mode after Cyclone Harold struck the nation on Thursday.

Tonga has since announced a second State of Emergency to deal with the cyclone, having already declared one last month as a COVID-19 precaution.

Tropical cyclone Harold battered Tonga as the storm, packing gusts of up to 260 km per hour and passing to the south of Nuku'alofa, the capital city, after devastating the central islands of Vanuatu and many parts of Fiji from early this week.

Witnesses said that heavy rain and strong winds were felt in Nuku'alofa, and a lot of vegetation was damaged.

People in the island nation are expected to use the long Easter weekend to clean up the fallen trees and debris on the streets.

Meanwhile, in Fiji, which was devastated by cyclone Harold on Wednesday, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) has deployed its Immediate Situation Overview (ISO) team to carry out assessment and verification on Kadavu, a southern island in Fiji.

Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said on Thursday that the damage caused by tropical cyclone Harold to Fiji was shocking.

It is reported that 26 Fijians were injured during tropical cyclone Harold, including one person severely hurt.

Energy Fiji Limited warned on Thursday that Fijians in most parts of the country will be without power during the Easter weekend as the company's team is still carrying out damage assessment.

For the South Pacific island nations like Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga, the tropical cyclone season extends between Nov. 1 and April 30 each year and the peak period for cyclone is usually from January to March. During this season, Fiji has been hit by several tropical cyclones.

In 2016, tropical cyclone Winston, the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record, battered Fiji, killing 44 people.
TWIGA Minerals Corporation, a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation and the Tanzanian government, has announced support program to assist the country in combating and containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barricks chief operating officer for its Africa and Middle East region, Willem Jacobs, said in addition to measures already introduced to protect workers and their families living around its mines, the company was contributing 1.7 million US dollars in the form of critical equipment and expertise to help prevent the spread of the virus in Tanzania.

Of this amount, 960,000 US dollars is destined for the national level, 505,000 US dollars to the regional level and 250,000 US dollars to the local level.

Jacobs said at the national level Barrick would be concentrating its efforts and contributions on Mloganzila as an isolation unit for confirmed cases and the Mabibo hostel as a quarantine centre.

Regional support will be focused on Musoma, Shinyanga and Geita where isolation centres will be created and equipped. The company is engaging with the relevant regional commissioners to convert its support into immediate action.

Jacobs said as a committed partner to Tanzania it would also be keeping its mines operational during this challenging period to support the countrys economy. It was also engaging with its contractors and suppliers to enlist their support for the cause.
German exports rose in February, official data showed Thursday, but a plunge in trade with China revealed the first impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

Exports grew 1.3 per cent month-on-month while imports fell 1.6 per cent, federal statistics body Destatis said in seasonally adjusted figures.

Germany's trade surplus widened to 21.6 billion euros (USD 23.4 billion) from 18.5 billion euros, it added.

Imports were dragged lower by a 12-per cent year-on-year drop in goods arriving from China as the coronavirus forced Chinese businesses and factories to close and kept millions of people at home.

German goods exports to China fell by nearly nine per cent over the same period, Destatis added.

The virus has since spread from China across the planet, leaving nearly half the world's population under some type of lockdown and pummelling the global economy.

Destatis said it was too early to estimate the impact of confinement measures on export powerhouse Germany, Europe's biggest economy.

"Major effects of the coronavirus crisis on foreign trade can be expected from the reference month of March," it said. Figures for March are due to be released on May 8.

The World Trade Organisation on Wednesday warned that global trade could plummet by up to a third this year because of the pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last fall, I polled my colleagues in Times Opinion about what subjects they thought we should focus on in 2020. The overwhelming answer was that we should bear down on how inequality of wealth and income was distorting American society.

Yet in the following weeks, as we worked to put together a project on inequality to appear later this spring, we ran again and again into the same challenge: When our readers had already heard so much about the subject, from us and others, how could we get across the urgency of actually doing something about it? In an era of partisan gridlock, how could we promote real change?

And then history lurched. The coronavirus pandemic scrambled our plans, along with those of the rest of the world. It cast searing light on the ideas we were debating. Yes, the pandemic may have reminded Americans that they were all still bound together. But it also began demonstrating, day by day, how dangerously far apart they were.

Sick people, lacking paid leave, couldnt afford to stop working. Others who lost their jobs lost their health insurance, too. White-collar workers on lockdown discovered they were counting on people without health care to endanger themselves by delivering food. Poor children began falling behind in school because their parents couldnt afford internet access. African-Americans in states like Louisiana began dying in numbers out of all proportion to their share of the population. The coronavirus was a serious blow. But it quickly became obvious that Americas pre-existing conditions had left the country far weaker and more vulnerable than it should have been.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The House Committee on Justice has recommended the granting of provisional liberty to low-level offenders and elderly detainees during the national health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the current COVID-19 crisis demands prompt action, there is a need to grant provisional liberty to detainees in highly congested jails outside the provisions of RA No. 10389, but still within the bounds of the Constitution and other existing laws, according to the April 6 recommendation obtained Thursday. RA No, 10389 is the law allowing the release of detainees unable to post bail to the custody of a local authority.

The recommendation was given to the Peace and Order Cluster of the House of Representative's Defeat COVID-19 Committee -- an advisory and coordinating body to harmonize government efforts to combat the coronavirus disease.

Since inmates in congested jails and detention facilities are at risk of contracting the highly-contagious disease, the committee recommended the decongestion of jails, even temporarily, during this crisis in order to prevent or otherwise mitigate the spread of the disease therein.

An ad hoc committee shall determine the qualifications of the detainees to be granted with provisional liberty.

The qualifications include the following:

a. First-time offenders

b. Age  those who are sixty (60) years of age and above

c. Health  those with underlying health conditions associated with high risk of severe symptoms of COVID-19

d. Those who are detained for the commission of non-violent, bailable offenses, but have no capacity to post bail

e. Those with no history of jumping bail

The ad hoc committee shall also immediately identify highly-congested jails and detention facilities.

On average, there are 4-5 detained persons cramped in a space designed for one detainee. Based on the latest audit report of the Commission on Audit, the congestion rate of jails under the control and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is at an astounding 439.48% as of the end of 2018.

All persons denied liberty to be provisionally released will be regularly monitored by barangay officials and Philippine National Police personnel consistent with the guidelines and procedures of the enhanced community quarantine, the recommendation read.

The Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 206 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country total to 4,076. Meanwhile, 21 more patients have died from viral disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 203.

Authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who exhibit virus symptoms.
NPP General Secretary, John Boadu has called on Christians to use the Easter occasion to intensify prayers for God's divine help against the COVID-19 epidemic.



According to a statement issued by him and copied to Peacefmonline.com, John Boadu reminded Christians of the relevance of Easter on their religious calendar but added that the epidemic will have a direct impact on this year's celebration.



Nonetheless, "it is the position of the NPP that beyond the laudable measures being rolled out by President Akufo-Addo and his government, it shall also take Gods intervention to overcome this global health crisis. In the light of this, even as we call on our countrymen and women to continue to make life-saving sacrifices by strictly observing the various health protocols needed to stave off this pandemic, the NPP also calls on Christians in particular, to use the occasion of Easter to intensify their prayers and other supplications to God for divinity to find favour with the world in these trying times'', he said.



"The NPP also implores Christians all over the world and in Ghana in particular to give proper meaning to the very essence of Easter and take a cue from the sacrifices of our Lord Jesus Christ by committing themselves to making sacrifices for the underprivileged in society by making generous contributions to them especially in this period of heightened restrictions and lockdowns. We should also use this occasion to reflect and revive our commitment to the cause of national development'', the statement further read.



Read full statement below:



Easter celebration is meant to commemorate the death and subsequent resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, which development, marks the very anchor of Christianity. It shows our acknowledgement and appreciation of the sacrifices of Jesus and his eventual triumph over the devil for the salvation of man.



Ordinarily, the celebration of this auspicious milestone on the Christian calendar is characterized by church festivities and merrymaking because of its great significance. And so, it had been the wish of the NPP that Easter 2020 would be no exception. However, as fate will rather have it, we are, today, not in ordinary times.



The world, as we all know, is currently facing the biggest threat to the survival of man in many decades and centuries following the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19, which has, so far, claimed over 83,000 human lives globally with over 1.4 million infections and counting. Similarly, the pandemic has had an incalculable debilitating impact on the global economy and for that matter on the general livelihood of people all over the world.



The situation in Ghana, unfortunately, is not any different from this global malaise as we continue to record rising cases of COVID-19. We are however lucky to be blessed with a President, who has, thus far, shown exemplary leadership in this period of crisis, both in words and in deeds, to the admiration of world leaders who have not missed any opportunity to heap plaudits on the Ghanaian leader.



Nonetheless, it is the position of the NPP that beyond the laudable measures being rolled out by President Akufo-Addo and his government, it shall also take Gods intervention to overcome this global health crisis.



In the light of this, even as we call on our countrymen and women to continue to make life-saving sacrifices by strictly observing the various health protocols needed to stave off this pandemic, the NPP also calls on Christians in particular, to use the occasion of Easter to intensify their prayers and other supplications to God for divinity to find favour with the world in these trying times.



The NPP also implores Christians all over the world and in Ghana in particular to give proper meaning to the very essence of Easter and take a cue from the sacrifices of our Lord Jesus Christ by committing themselves to making sacrifices for the underprivileged in society by making generous contributions to them especially in this period of heightened restrictions and lockdowns. We should also use this occasion to reflect and revive our commitment to the cause of national development.



Finally, the NPP is confident that with the kind of commitment being shown by the government of President Akufo-Addo and the overwhelming support the government is receiving from the Ghanaian people, sooner than later, Ghana will defeat this deadly virus. Indeed, as we always say, this too, shall pass to the glory of God and country.



HAPPY EASTER to all.



JOHN BOADU

GENERAL SECRETARY





















Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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" " It is totally possible to capture the heat and reap the benefits of an in-studio hot yoga class in your own home. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are realizing there are countless ordinary activities we took for granted. Exercising at a favorite local gym or fitness studio may be one piece of everyday normalcy you're now desperately missing in quarantine life. And if you're someone who prefers a boutique class or specialty workout, then you may really be missing the ambiance of your familiar surroundings. But as we continue to self-quarantine and help flatten the curve, is there any way we can recapture the magic of an in-class experience? For example  can you do hot yoga at home?

First of all, it's important to understand what "hot" yoga really is  and what it isn't. While Bikram Yoga is often grouped in with other types of hot yoga, this specific branch of the practice started in the 1970s and consists of the same 26 postures performed over a 90-minute session in 105 degree F (40 degree C) heat at 40 percent humidity. The controversial practice has been criticized for its safety risks and the alleged sexual misconduct of its founder. And while plenty of people continue to participate in Bikram, it's not the end-all-be-all of hot yoga by any means.

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So, What Is Hot Yoga?

"Hot" yoga really just refers to any vigorous form of yoga that's performed in a very warm and humid space  that typically means something between 80 and 100 degrees F (27 and 38 degrees C). Those who prefer a hot practice say it improves their flexibility, and the amplified sweat helps get their heart pumping in a way room temp yoga can't. And while the majority of those claims can be chalked up to anecdotal data, individual preference plays a huge role in yoga and fitness, so for some, heat is an important aspect of the overall experience.

"I think people love the hot yoga process because you sweat so much it feels like it must be detoxifying  sweating is absolutely cleansing in and of itself," Kala MacDonald, a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher and founder of the nonprofit organization, Yoga to Cope, says via email. "Not to mention, hot classes allow the body and its muscles and tissues to open up more quickly, allowing the yogi to enter into bigger, deeper shapes more quickly than they might be able to in a non-heated or 'warm' room."

MacDonald believes maintaining a semblance of normalcy can be essential for some people navigating discomfort and sadness in this unprecedented era. "In uncertain times, it can alleviate some unnecessary stress  which isn't welcome or wanted in your practice anyway  to stop trying to control what you can't control," she says. "We don't know when our adored hot yoga studios will be able to reopen, so it's up to us to find the heat we so crave in the interim."

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Don't Be Afraid to Move It Outside

One way MacDonald suggests warming things up is to step out of the traditional studio headspace and step outside instead. "If it's sunny, maybe skip the mat (but not your sunscreen) and get out in the grass for a grounding sequence warmed by the sun," she says. "There is science to support that simply connecting with nature, removing the barrier between your feet and the earth, creates a chemical and emotional shift upward in the body, mind and mood."

If going outside isn't an option, or the weather isn't cooperating with your yogic intentions, MacDonald has some other ideas too, calling upon the formal breath control practice of pranayama, which includes variations that are thought to warm the body and stoke internal heat. "Opt to stay indoors and instead of wishing for or relying on external heat sources, build your own fire from within by incorporating heat-building pranayama and intentional movement into your practice. Begin with some enlivening Kapalbhati or Bhastrika, make every transition and asana [pose] effortful and purposeful, and continue to grow the breath throughout as you move toward a melty savasana [corpse pose]."

San Francisco-based yoga teacher Gillian Confair has a slightly more offbeat, if not equally effective, idea for heating things up. "I mean, keep your bathroom door shut and take a massively hot shower," she says via text. "Then throw down your mat in the literal sauna of your bathroom, pray you don't put your foot in the toilet, and ask yourself why your yoga has to be hot."

While Confair is kidding about the bathroom yoga idea (maybe?), she raises a valid point for anyone obsessively trying to recreate the sweatiness of a hot studio practice at home. "The world is on airport rules right now," she says. "We're all wearing sweatpants, obsessed with "Tiger King," and eating 12 meals a day. If there's ever a time to shake up your routine, it's now. I promise you, there's more than one path to a calmer mind, and sticking to a rigid idea of 'this is what works' will likely lead to tears and frustration."

MacDonald agrees that this unexpected global crisis may actually be an opportunity for yogis to do the challenging internal work of the practice instead of focusing solely on the external asanas [poses]. "Hot yoga lovers often seek intensity and a faster pace, which can be great," she says. "However, I think this COVID-19 shift is forcing us all to slow down and change things up, and it's giving many of us time to work with. Now is the time to slow down and to explore other aspects of the practice that are heat building and detoxifying. Without the hot room, it's up to us to do all the work. I think maybe up until now, it was easier to feel like we didn't have time or the desire to dive deep and do 100 percent of the work ourselves, but I challenge people to see what they can do without the hot rooms to help. I bet people will be surprised by how strong and capable they are in a stripped down session at home with just a little curiosity and playfulness sprinkled on their mats."

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Creativity Is Key

San Francisco-based yoga teacher Erin Gilmore has her own opinions on hot yoga, having taught regular classes for several years at San Francisco's Yoga Flow studios, which are each heated to varying temperatures (their newest location heats the practice space to 90 degrees F, or 32 degrees C). "I teach hot yoga and practice hot yoga because I like the challenge of it," she says via text. "It makes me focus more. And mostly, I just like to sweat."

And while the San Francisco Bay Area's shelter in place order has put a wrench in her regularly scheduled practice plans, she's found ways to recreate that temperature-controlled feeling outside the studio's walls. "I am missing this ingredient a little bit in my home practice, so my low-tech fix was to just put my Dyson space heater close to my mat and crank that baby up," she says. "My friends and students on Zoom noticed and I saw quite a few of them scurrying out of their Zoom square to retrieve their own space heater."

Another workaround Gilmore's taken note of during her virtual yoga classes: an impressive array of cold weather fashion choices. "I've also noticed some of my more avid heat lovers layering up in all their finest winter athleisure," she says. "Hats, hoodies, thick socks. The people will find a way to make it hot and spicy even from the confines of their shelter in place home studios. But do be careful with how close you put your Dyson to your mat. I started to feel like my eyelashes were going to catch fire. So watch out for that."

At the end of the day, a yoga practice is deeply personal, and most teachers would agree that the priority is your personal experience and safety. If cranking up your heater (from a safe distance) or piling on your ski gear elevates your experience on the mat, then by all means, get your sweat on. But MacDonald has some food for thought for those desperately craving their pre-pandemic routine. "I get that people want what they're used to and it's easier to try to recreate a comfortable setting they know and love as opposed to doing things completely differently in a whole new way and a whole new environment," MacDonald says. "I guess if it's easy and makes a person happy to set up a heater and try to recreate a hot studio vibe, great. If it's creating stress and anxiety trying to make something exist that just doesn't, it's best to just embrace the change and transformation and find new ways to be excited on their mat."

Now That's Interesting Whether you choose to go hot or not, you may want to consider integrating yoga into your stay-at-home routine for a variety of reasons. Research has shown that various forms of the practice can actually help reduce depression.

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Originally Published: Apr 9, 2020
Small toy figures are seen in front of diplayed Zoom logo

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google on Wednesday banned Zoom video conferencing application from its employees' laptops, citing security concerns.

"Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees," Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said.

Google will still allow the use of Zoom through mobile apps and browsers, he added.

The app, owned by Zoom Video Communications Inc <ZM.O>, is facing a backlash from users worried about the lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting sessions and "zoombombing", where uninvited guests crash into meetings.

BuzzFeed first reported the news.

Shares of Zoom were up about 1.5% at $115.

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
The top health official in Kansas is slamming Republican lawmakers after they overturned the Democratic governors ban on church gatherings of more than 10 people due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Nothing fun, nothing fancy. Whatever Kansas legislators do doesnt reverse what The Public (sic) needs to do, tweeted Dr. Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Stay home so we can beat this scourge. Despite what the leaders of the Legislature say.

We are so close, and they are doing politics. Dont fall for it!

I am SO angry! Shame!'

Scroll down for video

Dr. Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, blasted Republicans in the state legislature for overturning a ban on religious gatherings of over 10 people. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is seen left on March 12

We are so close, and they are doing politics. Dont fall for it!' Norman tweeted on Thursday. I am SO angry! Shame!'

Kelly on Wednesday slammed the Republican-led state legislature for voting against her restriction on religious gatherings over ten people amid the coronavirus pandemic

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Wednesday slammed state lawmakers as 'shockingly irresponsible' after they voted to lift restrictions on religious gatherings of over ten people the week of Easter Sunday and Passover.

The state's Republican-led legislature voted Wednesday to rescind the order issued by Kelly on Tuesday, despite the state's coronavirus death toll jumping by 40 percent in 24 hours.

Lawmakers believed Kelly's order went against residents' constitutional rights to freely practice religion, pushing back against the federally advised social distancing guidelines.

Kansas's death toll now stands at 38 people with 1,056 confirmed cases as three church gatherings are believed to be responsible for outbreak clusters in the state.

The vote was only made possible because of a resolution passed by the legislature in March which allowed leaders to cancel the Democrat governors directives in some circumstances.

'The Governor should not use this crisis, or any other crisis, as a basis to restrict our constitutional rights,' argued Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, who said that residents of Kansas were capable of making the decision to worship at home without it being forced upon them.

A sign canceling church services hangs on the door of First United Methodist Church in Lawrence, Kanasa, on March 15. Many places of worship have been closed for weeks

Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, argued that the ban implemented on religious gatherings by Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, was unconstitutional

'My church has canceled Mass at the advice of health experts; the same advice most Kansans are now following. However, they did it with free will, not a mandate by big brother infringing on the individual freedoms given to us by our Bill of Rights,' she continued.

'We live in a democracy and enjoy certain inalienable rights paramount to our country's foundation including freedom of religion.

'This is the people's government, always will be, and I will carry their voices when the call is clear.

'This is still America.'

House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, who is also a Republican, added to her argument, stating that 'the constitution still exists' in times of an emergency.

He said that the vast majority of churches were already adhering to social distancing guidelines and streaming services online.

The vote was backed by State Attorney General Derek Schmidt who wrote that he believed the order to be unconstitutional and advised that law enforcement not enforce it.

'In our view, Kansas statute and the Kansas Constitution's Bill of Rights each forbid the governor from criminalizing participation in worship gatherings by executive order,' Schmidt wrote.

Governor Kelly is seeking legal counsel to explore a court challenge as despite the vote by the state House and Senate lawmakers, it was unclear whether it had an effect on the general statewide ban on gatherings over ten people.

A constitutional law professor at the University of Kansas has argued that Kelly's order did not target religious gatherings, in particular, but limited all social gatherings over ten people, meaning that it would not have been in violation of the constitution.

'If it's possible to document that small religious gatherings had led to the spread of the coronavirus in a way that other gatherings have not, then there is a chance that the court would say singling out religious gatherings satisfies even strict scrutiny,' said Richard Levy.

In such cases, 'it's not about suppressing religion. It's about the realities of the coronavirus'.

Lawmakers voted down party lines, according to The Wichita Eagle, as Kelly slammed Republicans for bring politics into the outbreak response.

'There are real life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today,' Kelly said.

Some counties in Kansas have already announced that they are going to continue with Kelly's ban despite Wednesday's vote.

Sedgwick County said that the restriction would remain in place until April 23, at least, stating that 'residents are to follow Sedgwick County's Local Order which began March 25.

'This order specifically limits all public gatherings to groups of 10 or fewer people, including in-person religious services.'

Kelly issued the order Tuesday stating that while it was a time of year when faith is generally celebrated, the current crisis meant services had to be approached differently.

The decision was made to enforce the restriction after three religious gatherings were identified as the source of cluster outbreaks.

She said that 'this time of year is one defined by renewal celebration and community for the people of all faith. The disruptions created by this global health crisis has forced us all to approach it differently, regardless of our religious beliefs'.

Norman identified three church-related clusters known to the department: one involving a ministers conference, one in Sedgewick County and a third for which no details were offered.

According to Matthew Vainer, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, the diocese still plans to stream its Easter services online after suspending in-person masses at all of its parishes.

Vice President Mike Pence was questioned about the controversy in Kansas during Wednesday's White House press briefing.

Pence said that all Americans should continue to avoid gatherings of more than ten people.

'And that's on the advice of all of our best scientific experts, as a way that we can, we can slow the spread,' Pence said.

'But as we've made clear to every governor, we defer to our governors and what they believe is the best and appropriate practice in their states, and we'll support those local decisions.'
Dr Gautam Chaudhury, a senior resident at a major 1,200-bed tertiary hospital in Uttar Pradesh, has been watching the pandemic unfold up-close.

Over 5,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in India alone, with the country seeing a sharp rise in the number of cases over the last 10 days. The number of fatalities has also increased dramatically, with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reporting 149 deaths related to COVID-19, as of 8 April.

Dr Gautam Chaudhury, a senior resident at a major 1,200-bed tertiary hospital in Uttar Pradesh, has been watching the pandemic unfold in the state from a front-row seat. The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted the daily operations of hospitals, as the focus has naturally turned towards ramping up testing and setting up isolation areas for patients who have tested positive.

MyUpchar spoke to Dr Chaudhury about the facilities provided at major hospitals, the conditions of the hospital staff, the status of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as the precautions one must take daily to ward off infection.

Are you concerned about catching the infection?

I am quite concerned about catching the infection. Emergency surgeries are still going on, we are still attending to patients. Since testing in the community is so less, we don't know during surgeries whether the patient is COVID-19 positive, or whether he/she is an asymptomatic carrier from whom we can get the infection.

Have you received any training to avoid infection?

The general awareness of dealing with patients is there. We are taking the precautions of wearing masks and gloves while checking patients, but there was no special training specific to this outbreak.

How are you keeping in touch with your family and dealing with the anxiety of being away from home?

My family is at home, in a different state, during this lockdown period. I feel this is better as I can be a potential carrier who can pass the infection on to them since Im going to and coming back from the hospital daily.

Are there enough PPE and safety equipment available?

There aren't enough PPE kits to distribute to everybody from every department or speciality. At least those who are posted at the COVID-19 wards or treating COVID-19 patients should get enough PPE.

What does the general public need to do during this public health crisis?

The general population should not panic at this time. Eventually, about 80% of us could become asymptomatic carriers. Another 15% or so will have only mild symptoms. The hope is that we will build immunity to the virus after this and that a vaccine will be developed soon. It is the last 5% of the population, who may be immunosuppressed or have comorbidities, who may become severe cases.

Hospitals do not have enough ventilators as of now to support sick patients if there is a rise in the number of severe cases. So stay at home, follow the principles of social distancing and personal hygiene. Try to eat healthy foods so that your immunity is good, exercise at home and try to stay overall healthy.

What should government authorities at the state and national level do to protect doctors and healthcare workers managing the situation? Is the hospital following any protocol?

Deciding on a lockdown this early and implementing it strictly was a positive step by the government. Money is being put into the hospitals; the health budgets were very less in our country earlier. Money is needed, ventilators are needed - we always have a shortage of ventilators, we always have a shortage of doctors at government hospitals and there is always a shortage of equipment.

This pandemic has spread very quickly; the government is still trying to keep up with what is happening, and preparing if the situation worsens. They have been working towards it quite promptly, but we still don't know whether we'll be able to catch up with the number of ventilators, PPE, medicines as well as the number of hospital beds needed for the exponential rise in cases this disease may cause.

For more information, read our article on How to avoid getting COVID-19 infection if you are a healthcare worker.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden both criticized and offered suggestions for the Trump adminstration during a virtual townhall he held from his Delaware home.

Biden said Tuesday that much of the pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic "could have been avoided with swift" and "decisive action."

The former vice president also said that any additional relief packages that come out of Congress should include rent freezes, student debt relief and the ability for people to afford health care during the outbreak.

Biden also noted that he's "seeing the soul of America" during the pandemic.

"They're not asking whether you're a Muslim or a Christian. They're not asking whether you're a Latino or you're not. They're asking, just, whatever you need," Biden said.
Now more than ever, it is vital that public officials act with integrity, honesty and transparency. Most people would agree that restrictions on in-person gatherings are reasonable and necessary at this time. However, people being told to stay home should be wary of officials who might abuse the public trust.
Photo credit: Honda

From Car and Driver

Mid-April was when automakers wanted to restart production in the U.S., but that's been pushed back until at least early May now.

Furloughs are the current new normal for factory workers, which means employees can't come in to work and will not be paid.

This page will be updated as the industry continues to adapt to the effects of coronavirus.

As automakers suspend their production lines across North America to keep workers safe during the COVID-19 situation (and to keep from overproducing vehicles at a time when demand is low), auto workers are being asked to apply for unemployment benefits, use paid sick leave, and take other unusual actions.

A furlough simply means mandatory suspension from work without pay. A furloughed employee is not able to do any work for the employer, not even answer a phone call or email. The workers are not being fired, and the automakers say they hope to bring people back as soon as possible.

BMW



Photo credit: BMW

BMW's U.S. production facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, was closed March 29 and was supposed to reopen April 12. The German automaker said it will furlough its 11,000 employees there for the next three weeks now that the production suspension has been extended until April 30. The workers will still get their health-care benefits.

Ford

Photo credit: Ford

Other than an emergency shift to make personal protection equipment for health-care workers, production at Ford's U.S. facilities will remain suspended. No employees have been laid off, a Ford spokesperson told Car and Driver, and those who are not able to work are being paid 75 percent of their wages through unemployment and supplemental unemployment benefits according to their UAW contract. The UAW has asked the Big Three automakers to keep the plants closed to protect workers from contracting or spreading COVID-19.

General Motors

Photo credit: Jeffrey Sauger/General Motors

General Motors is not ready to say when its production facilities might reopen, admitting last week that production has been suspended indefinitely. GM will furlough 6500 salaried employees, according to the New York Times, while also reducing executive pay by 5 or 10 percent, with another 20 percent deferred until economic conditions improve. The Times says GM's salaried workers will still get 75 percent of their normal pay.

Story continues

Honda

Honda suspended auto production in North America on March 23, and that situation will continue until at least May 1. The company is temporarily implementing No Work Available days during the continued production suspension in its plants and will stop paying its workers as of April 13. "We have shared with associates the process they can take to apply for state and federal benefits," a spokesperson told C/D. "The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), along with state benefits, will provide associates substantial income replacement during this temporary suspension of production." Despite this, Honda is making sure its employees receive their Honda benefits during this time.

Hyundai

Photo credit: Hyundai Motor Mfg. Alabama

At Hyundai's Alabama plant, production was suspended March 18, and this will continue until April 10 even though around 100 workers come in each day to support essential functions. "Additional sanitation measures" are in place and the company says it is following the Alabama Department of Public Health's protocols for disinfecting the affected work area. For the workers who cannot come to work, Hyundai promised to compensate its approximately 3000 team members there through April 3. From April 6 through April 9, team members are being allowed to use vacation time for compensation, and Good Friday, April 10, is a paid holiday. As for next week, a Hyundai spokesperson told C/D that the company will be making an announcement Thursday.

Nissan

Photo credit: Nissan

Nissan's U.S. production plants are suspended through April 27, and about 10,000 workers at the company's plants in Tennessee and Mississippi were furloughed this week. These workers will not be paid during this time, but they will be eligible for unemployment and will continue to receive their health insurance benefits. To keep the plant in operational condition, some "business-essential work" will continue and those employees will continue to be paid.

Subaru

Photo credit: SIA





Subaru of Indiana in Lafayette shut down production on March 23, citing "market demand," and this week announced it would stay closed through April 17. In addition to the U.S., Subaru's Japan manufacturing sites are also closed for what the automaker said was a move "to adjust production volume" because of lack of demand associated with the global pandemic.

Tesla

Photo credit: Tesla

Tesla announced this week that all "non-essential workers" would be furloughed and other employees would be hit with salary cuts starting April 13. Reuters is reporting that those pay cuts10 percent for workers, 20 percent for directors, and 30 percent for vice-presidentswill continue through the end of June. The company sent an email to employees describing the cuts as a "shared sacrifice across the company." Tesla's California production facility employs around 10,000 people and stopped producing cars on March 24. The company says that it hopes to restart production May 4.

Toyota

Photo credit: Toyota

Toyota's North American production suspension is currently scheduled to last until May 1, with production potentially restarting Monday, May 4. Toyota directly employs a total of 23,000 full-time employees at its U.S. manufacturing facilities. Starting the weeks of April 20 and April 27, Toyota full-time production and skilled team members will be paid only for four days each week and will be required to paid time off to be paid for the fifth day of the work week or simply not be paid for that day. Also, approximately 5000 of Toyota's "variable workforce" have been released back to their agencies, even though Toyota will continue to pay their benefits and hopes to maintain a relationship with them, "so as production demand increases, they will have the opportunity to return," a Toyota spokesperson told C/D.

Volkswagen

Photo credit: VW





VW's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant, which builds the Atlas and the Passat, is furloughing production and maintenance employees starting on Saturday, April 11. Production had been shut down on March 21, and these workers had not been on the job since then but were still paid as normal. VW Chattanooga president and CEO Tom du Plessis said that the company has "limited visibility" on a date for return to production, but the statement said VW expects it to last four more weeks at most. During the furlough, employees will receive scheduled bonuses for the first three months of the year, and health-care benefits will still be in effect. The furloughed workers will also be eligible for $600 per week in federal stimulus-bill pay plus state unemployment benefits during their time away. Employees who are working from home have been asked to self-quarantine.

We are waiting to hear details from other automakers, including FCA and Mercedes-Benz, for the latest updates.

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President Donald Trump has been telling voters that the US economy will leap back to life like a rocket, stronger than ever after its bout with the coronavirus.

But there is a reason economics is called the dismal science. There are emerging signs that any recovery will fail to match the speed and severity of the economic collapse that occurred in just a few weeks. The 2020 presidential and Senate elections likely will take place as the world's largest economy is still attempting to climb back from the deadly outbreak.

Anyone who assumes we're going to get a sharp snapback in activity isn't thinking about how consumers are going to feel. They're going to be very cautious, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Markit. Households and businesses have seen their finances deteriorate. People are buying groceries on their credit cards. To understand the consequences of a sudden negative shock on the economy, Behravesh studied how many people returned to flying after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It took two and a half years for airline passenger traffic to go back to previous levels, he said.

No longer able to campaign on a half-century low unemployment rate, Trump has begun to tell voters that he can quickly rebuild the economy. He said measures like the $2.2 trillion rescue package with more money likely on the way can send employment and economic growth to new highs.

Jefrey Pollock, a Democratic pollster, said voters will judge in November whether the Republican president has delivered an economic revival, and they will be taking a similar measure of incumbent members of Congress.

The fact that we're as partisan as ever doesn't mean we're destined to forgive a president who fails on the economy, Pollock said. This is a man who championed his economic abilities and to me there is nothing to suggest that voters will forgive him, since he's been front and center on the virus response since Day One.

If his view holds, that plays to the advantage of likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden. But Biden will have to give voters a fuller idea of how he would boost the economy, Pollock said.

Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the situation as the U.S. economy being sideswiped by the hidden enemy of COVID-19, which he and his advisers initially downplayed in February and March and later suggested was impossible to foresee. His message to voters is that his leadership will make the economy even stronger. Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!! Trump declared Wednesday on Twitter.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who has been leading the stimulus efforts, has said there will be a very big bounce back, though he noted that the gains could be uneven.

Certain parts of the economy you're going to see come back immediately, Mnuchin said Tuesday on the Fox Business Network. Certain things are going to take a little bit longer. One of the arguments for a quick recovery came from the Harvard University economist Larry Summers, who served as a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama during the Great Recession, suggesting on Twitter that the U.S. economy would behave much as a beach town on Cape Cod, which closes in the winter and reopens around Memorial Day for a burst of summer activity.

Adding to the challenge is that political leaders cannot simply command an economic recovery to occur. The timing depends on the shared actions of millions of consumers and employers, said Paul Winfree, a former Trump White House official who is now director of economic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

I don't think we're going to get out of this because of political leadership, Winfree said in an email. This isn't WWII. Rather, things won't turn around until a significant majority of people decide that we've done enough (privately and publicly) and have to move along. Hopefully, that coincides with the success of public health efforts. A strong economic rebound likely depends on people and companies being able to preserve their money, so that it can be spent and invested once the gloom begins to subside. The challenge now is that incomes are eroding, and that could limit the recovery.

Not only have 16.8 million Americans roughly 1 in 10 workers lost their jobs in the past three weeks. Workers have seen their hours slashed, have seen sales commissions disappear and have accepted salary cuts, such that incomes have declined for half of U.S. working households, according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Children can no longer attend school, reducing the productivity of their parents. And on a regional basis, many state economies may take time to claw back what has been lost. Florida will need to bring back roughly 130 million tourists annually. The decisions of Texas employers will likely depend on crude oil now trading for around a low $24 a barrel climbing back above $30 to a point at which drilling and pumping is profitable.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 09, 2020] Hogan School of Real Estate Transitions All Classes to Live Stream

Hogan School of Real Estate (Hogan), the leading real estate educator for both classroom and online learning in southern Arizona, has transitioned all classroom real estate courses to an online, synchronous live stream format to minimize risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19) to students, staff, and community. Synchronous live stream means the instructor and students are separated only by distance and not time, allowing for real-time interaction between students and instructor. These courses are now available immediately for students that would prefer to take instructor-led courses rather than the traditional online courses that Hogan also offers. As soon as the Arizona Department of Real Estate granted education providers permission to hold live stream courses, Hogan began working to transition real estate pre-licensing courses to the online live stream format. Hogan went live with this new format in late March. These courses provide the same materials, instructors, and classroom participation as in-person courses, just in a safe and distant environment. "At Hogan School of Real Estate, there's nothing more important to us than providing a safe environment where students can pursue career education," said Greg Muir, Executive Vice President of Hogan School of Real Estate. "We have extended our virtul hours so that our team is available to help students and real estate licensees. We have added virtual instructor office hours, virtual open houses, and student support available six days a week to help individuals who are looking to complete licensing or continuing education during this time. It is important for us to help students stay connected while minimizing learning disruptions, and we hope the instructor live remote teaching, interactions and support will help them as we all make this significant lifestyle adjustment."



Hogan also offers live streaming courses for contract writing, real estate broker licensing, and continuing education. "As we all learn how to navigate this unprecedented environment, we want our communities to know that Hogan School of Real Estate is here to serve you," said Jenny Hogan-Lizarraga, School Director. "Through our business continuity practices, we have equipped our talented team to work from home. We recognize this is a difficult time for many people, and we want our students and communities to know that we are here to support them."

For more information on current regulations and guidance directed by the Arizona Department of Real Estate, please visit https://www.azre.gov/. For more information on Hogan School of Real Estate's response to COVID-19, visit https://hoganschool.com/helpful-information-about-coronavirus About Hogan School of Real Estate Hogan School of Real Estate has offered licensing courses for salesperson and broker pre-licensing courses along with basic and advanced level continuing education courses for nearly 50 years. Hogan takes pride in presenting the best instructors, using the leading course materials, and offering student services who are always just a click or call away. For more information, visit www.hoganschool.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005584/en/

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Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region plans to install a video monitoring system in the Qiangtang Nature Reserve, a move to step up wildlife protection, People's Daily reported Thursday.

The system will provide 24/7 all-weather monitoring of Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals, to bring down poaching and smuggling in the region with an area of 298,000 square km, said the newspaper, citing sources from the local forestry police.

With an average altitude of more than 5,000 meters, the Qiangtang Nature Reserve is a habitat for Tibetan antelopes, donkeys, yaks and snow leopards.

The population of wild animals in the state-level nature reserve has increased in recent years thanks to effective protection efforts. In January, local police carried out a 22-day joint winter patrol in the region, traveling more than 7,800 km, according to the source.

This year's migration season for Tibetan antelope will begin. Between the end of May and early June, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes will migrate to Hoh Xil in the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to give birth, before returning to their habitats with their offspring in early July.
Weeks into Pennsylvanias coronavirus non-life sustaining business lockdown, some firms still arent getting or are refusing to heed the message.

On Wednesday, state police said they issued warnings to another 16 of them. That brings the total number of warnings issued by troopers so far to 224 statewide.

Four of Wednesdays warnings were issued by Troop H, which covers much of the midstate. Troop H and Troop G, which covers Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Huntingdon, Blair, Bedford and Fulton counties, tied for having the most warnings handed out in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

Three warnings were issued Wednesday in Troop R in Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike counties.

Total warnings extended by Troop H in Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, Franklin and Adams counties to date total 29. That makes it tied with Troop A in Westmoreland, Cambria, Indiana and Somerset counties as having the most warnings issued in the state. Only one warning was issued by Troop A on Wednesday.

Troop F which serves Potter, Lycoming, Tioga, Snyder, Cameron, Clinton, Union, Montour, Snyder and Northumberland counties is in second place with 27 total warnings issued so far, followed by Troop G with 26.
A priest in Ireland toured the countryside in a vintage popemobile on Holy Thursday, April 9. offering blessings to people amid the coronavirus pandemic and the countrys nationwide lockdown, a video shows.

Father Malachy Conlon, who works in the Cooley Parish, in County Louth, can be seen waving from the back of a popemobile used by Pope John Paul II when he visited Ireland in 1979.

As of April 9, there have been 7,329 COVID-19 cases and 228 related deaths on the island of Ireland. Strict quarantine measures have also been introduced requiring people to stay within a two-kilometer radius of their home and not to travel during the Easter holidays. Credit: Lily Finnegans Pub via Storyful
Actor Vijays Tamil film Master was originally scheduled to release worldwide on Thursday. However, the release stands postponed due to coronavirus pandemic. The films makers on Thursday unveiled a new poster and announced the film will release soon.

The poster features a brooding Vijay looking down with sunlight falling on him. The poster has a caption which reads: Lockdown shouldnt knock down our spirits! Master will meet you soon.

Master, which stars Vijay in the role of a college professor, has been directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, who has teamed up with Vijay for the first time. Unveiling the new poster, Lokesh tweeted: Survival first! Celebration next! Master will rise on the right time! Stay home, stay safe.

Survival first! Celebration next!#master will rise on the right time!

stay home stay safe! pic.twitter.com/g9CeHfHQcT  Lokesh Kanagaraj (@Dir_Lokesh) April 9, 2020

In Master, Vijay Sethupathi will be seen playing the antagonist. Malavika Mohanan, who made her Tamil debut via Rajinikanths Petta, plays the leading lady. The film also stars Andrea Jeremiah in a key role. The industry grapevine is that Master, which has been produced by Xavier Britto, will hit the screens in May if not earlier.

Meanwhile, Vijays fans on Thursday created and trended the keyword MasterFDFS on Twitter. Since the film didnt release due to lockdown, fans shared their best first day, first show experience of watching a Vijay film with the keyword MasterFDFS.

Also read: AR Rahman takes a dig at Masakali 2.0, recalls creating original with 365 days of creative brainstorming, no short cuts

Vijay was last seen on screen in Atlee-directed Bigil in dual roles. He was seen playing father and son roles and both the characters were well received by the audiences. Bigil, which also starred Jackie Shroff and Nayanthara, went on to mint over 300 crore at the box-office. It emerged as the highest grossing Tamil film of 2019.

Meanwhile, Vijay will most likely team up with filmmaker Sudha Kongara for his next Tamil yet-untitled project. Talks have already been initiated. Interestingly, if the project materializes, itll be Vijays maiden collaboration with a female director.

Sun Pictures will be bankrolling the project. An official announcement regarding the project is expected to be made this month. It is learnt from reliable sources that Sun Pictures has already paid an advance of Rs. 50 crore to Vijay as remuneration for this project.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
In February, Google released an update to Chrome Beta v81 that added a lot of APIs that could power new experiences in the future. These include Web NFC API, WebXR augumented reality APIs, etc. and Google has brought them over to the stable version in Chrome v81.

The first feature that can be enabled is the ability for web apps to be able to read and write to NFC tags. The example cases which Google provides are, at a museum, a tag could give more information about an exhibit or inventory management at a warehouse. Just like the beta version, the API is very simple to use and requires a little snippet of code.

With the update, Chrome has enabled the WebXR APIs by default instead of a flag. One of the APIs added is the Hit Test API that lets developers create immersive experiences for users, letting them place virtual objects in the real world using the camera.

An older feature that was present in Chrome beta is App badges that allowed web apps installed to your computer to show a badge next to their icon. This feature has now finally come to the stable version.

Other changes include:

Chrome now automatically upgrade HTTP images on HTTPS sites to HTTPS, to reduce mixed content warnings. If the image cant be loaded over HTTPS, it will revert to the original URL.

TLS 1.3 security has been hardened in Chrome 81.

The new CSS image-orientation property allows images to be rotated with only CSS.

Web apps with media notifications can now work with Android 10s notification seek bar.

You can install the new Chrome for Android v81 from the Play Store here.

Via
Up to 150 members of the Saudi royal family are infected with coronavirus, it has been reported.

King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman have both gone into isolation to avoid the outbreak, reports added.

Doctors at the elite King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh that treats members of the royal family are preparing 500 more beds for an expected influx of patients.

The operators of the facility said: 'Directives are to be ready for VIPs from around the country'.

King Salman (pictured) and Mohammed bin Salman have both gone into isolation to avoid the coronavirus outbreak, it has been reported

This was written in a 'high alert' sent out electronically on Tuesday to senior doctors and later obtained by the Times.

The message said they don't know how many cases they will get but that all chronic patients are to be moved out as soon as possible and only top urgent cases will be accepted.

Any infected staff members will now be treated at a less elite hospital to save room for royals.

Salman, 84, has secluded himself on an island palace near Jeddah, while the crown prince has moved to a remote site on the Red Sea coast.

Salman, 84, has secluded himself on an island palace near Jeddah, while the crown prince (pictured) has moved to a remote site on the Red Sea coast

Doctors at the elite King Faisal Specialist Hospital that treats members of the royal family are preparing 500 more beds for an expected influx of patients. Pictured: two women wearing masks in Qatif

The number of Saudi princes is in the thousands and many travel frequently to Europe where it has been suggested they picked up the virus before bringing it home. The Saudi royal family is estimated to have about 15,000 members.

Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - the governor of the capital Riyadh who is in his 70s - is in intensive care after contracting the virus, according to The New York Times.

The country of about 33 million people has reported 2,932 cases and 41 deaths.

So far, mostly members of lower branches of the royal family have been infected, a source told the Times.

Saudi Arabia is expecting up to 200,000 coronavirus cases within weeks, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.

'Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000,' said minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, according to state media.

Rabiah, who warned the kingdom faces a 'critical moment' in the fight against the virus, said the projection was based on four studies by Saudi and international experts.

Some Saudi cities including the capital Riyadh are under a 24-hour curfew imposed by the interior minister.

Some Saudi cities including the capital Riyadh are under a 24-hour curfew imposed by the interior minister. Pictured: an empty King Fahad main street in the Saudi capital Riyadh

Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf are also under lockdown, as well as the regions of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar.

The Gulf port of Dammam is a major entry point for supplies for the country's oil industry.

The holy cities of Mecca and Medina have also been sealed off, throwing this year's hajj pilgrimage into doubt.

Authorities last week urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage, but have yet to say whether the hajj will go ahead.

As in many Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia's first case was a patient who had recently travelled to Iran, which was one of the early hotspots in the pandemic.
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By Polina Devitt and Michael Hogan

MOSCOW/HAMBURG, April 9 (Reuters) - A symbolic 60,000 tonne cargo of Russian wheat has set sail for Saudi Arabia from a Black Sea port seven months after conditions were set to allow the trade, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The cargo is being sent by a trading house under a tender with optional origin it won a couple of months ago, sources said.

Saudi Arabian state grain buyer SAGO did not reply to a Reuters request for immediate comment.

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, has long sought access to the Saudi market.

Saudi Arabia last August moved to smooth a path for Russian wheat imports by relaxing import specifications.

That was seen as a sign of strengthening ties with Moscow beyond cooperation on oil, weeks before Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited the country.

The shipment comes at another crucial moment in relations between Moscow and Riyadh as OPEC and Russia meet on Thursday to try to agree what would be the biggest cut in oil output ever.

It has taken seven months to kick-start wheat supplies as Russian wheat was expensive compared with other origins available to the Saudi market.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt and Michael Hogan; additional reporting by Forrest Crellin and Gleb Stolyarov; editing by Veronica Brown and Jason Neely)
100 Taliban prisoners were freed by the Afghan government on Wednesday (April 8) as the first step in a peace process -- despite the group's suspension of talks on a planned prisoner exchange crucial to moving to formal talks to end years of war.

Differences over the prisoner release question have been complicating U.S. brokered attempts to create a lasting peace agreement, aimed at ending more than 18 years of conflict in Afghanistan.

Shams Ul-Rahman is one prisoner freed from Bagram Prison.

(SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) FREED TALIBAN PRISONER, SHAMS UL-RAHMAN, SAYING:

"I wish to see peace and stability in Afghanistan. I don't want to see war and conflicts anymore in the country."

A February pact between the United States and the Taliban is seen as the best chance to reduce U.S. military involvement in the country.

But peace hinges on talks between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the militants.

Despite setbacks over the prisoner releases, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (April 7) said progress had been made since he visited Kabul month.
[April 09, 2020] Signavio and PRO Partner to Provide Advanced Process Innovation and Accelerate Customer Growth Signavio, a leading provider of Business Transformation solutions, today announced a partnership with Process Research & Optimization (PRO), a premier operations consulting firm dedicated to unlocking growth potential and profitability through process innovation. Now PRO clients will be able to leverage Signavio Business Transformation Suite to better understand processes to make exceptional and repeatable performance improvements. PRO uses Signavio's technology platform as part of the delivery model to improve process intelligence and optimization that drives efficiencies for clients. Together, the companies help businesses achieve step change goals by improving customer experiences, and revenue while reducing costs, increasing efficiencies. The Signavio Solution coupled with PRO's Knowledge-base of digital best practice process models enable optimized business processes, rationalize organizational structures and rapid implementation of digital Future State business models. "Our outcome-focused industry expertise aligns with Signavio's technology platform to accelerate business growth for our customers," said Drew Reckner, PRO Client Partner. "Signavio's solution is the most interoperable in the industry and functions exceptionally well across disparate operational platforms, seamlessly improving business processes for our clients." Signavio and PRO's industry focus offers an advantage to customers that are looking to experience immediate results. The technology coupled with the outcome-focused approach facilitates and accelerates customers' ability to transform their process models and build the foundation for process automation. Customers can achieve operational excellence by modeling current processes, from payment processing to new customer onboarding, and discover a more efficient way of operating. "Uncovering the true power of process is critical for any businesses looking to make impactful organizational changes for improvement at an accelerated rate," said Alexandre Wentzo, SVP Americas at Signavio. "PRO has bilt an impressive knowledge base of best practice digital process models across all major industries and functional disciplines. This information is helping businesses improve inefficient processes, increase revenue streams, scale for growth and much more." For more information about how Signavio and PRO can improve your business processes, please click here. About Signavio Over 1 million users in more than 1,500 organizations worldwide rely on Signavio's unique offering to make process part of their DNA. With its powerful mining, modeling and automation capabilities, Signavio's Business Transformation Suite is a cloud-based management platform that enables mid-size and large organizations to understand, improve and transform all of their business processes faster than ever and at scale, providing new levels of business process speed and real-time intelligence. Its intelligent decision-making tools address digital transformation, operational excellence and customer centricity, placing them at the heart of the world's leading organizations. Headquartered in Berlin, with offices in the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, Singapore, Japan, India and Australia, Signavio has helped optimize over 1 million process models across the globe. www.signavio.com About PRO We've chosen our name carefully because each word, Process, Research, Optimization, describes a key component of our mission and business model: PROCESS: While I.T. is central to all our work, PRO always starts with technology-agnostic process analysis and design as the first and most pragmatic ROI-based improvement step. We've built our improvement methodology by combining the best practices and lessons learned from the 4 major eras of process improvement: Re-Engineering, ERP/Y2K, Lean 6 Sigma and AI/Robotics. (Why Is This Important?) RESEARCH: During the past 25 years, PRO's Senior Leadership has created the world's largest knowledge-base of leading process templates across all major industries and shared services functions. We have process templates for all of Avangrid's line operations and shared services functions. PRO's research continually reinforces that the most innovative best practice processes are designed around specific customer and sales channel requirements. OPTIMIZATION: Implementation resulting in bottom-line results is our differentiation and, combined with the ability to simulate and optimize processes, allows PRO to guarantee that project benefits cover our fees on every phase of every project, often many times over. (Why Is This Important?) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005097/en/

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The European Union has pledged to nearly double its promised financial assistance to Armenia aimed at helping the country tackle the coronavirus epidemic and its severe socioeconomic consequences.

The EU said last week that its aid package will be worth 51 million euros ($55 million).

The EU Delegation in Yerevan announced late on Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc has decided to increase the assistance to 92 million euros after further restructuring of ongoing projects in Armenia financed by it.

The funds will be directed towards supplying medical devices and equipment, training for medical and laboratory staff, support to [small and medium-sized enterprises] and business community, as well as social and humanitarian assistance to those affected by the coronavirus outbreak, it said in a statement.

The statement added that they will be part of the EUs 20 billion-euro aid program for partner countries around the world hit hard by the disease.

The Delegation specified on its Facebook on April 2 that the EU will spend 30 million euros on supporting Armenian businesses by improving their access to cheap loans, working capital and guarantees. It also promised to deliver humanitarian aid packages to over 3,000 poor families living in three Armenian provinces.

The EU announcements mark the largest coronavirus-related aid allocation secured by Yerevan so far.
VIDEO PLATFORM

TWO MEETINGS

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

'STILL LEARNING'

(TNS)  The Town of Plattsburgh, N.Y., Planning Board will start virtual meetings later this month.Though the town suspended its April Zoning Board of Appeals session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Senior Planner Trevor Cole said Planning Board members hoped to "give people the sense that, even during this crisis, certain parts of government could continue."Cole said the meetings could prove crucial to the eventual end of the pandemic, as well."Our board is really cognizant that there could be a solid three to four month delay on projects if they didn't continue to issue approvals," he said."We tried to look down the line at what impacts would occur if the Planning Board chose to not continue."Town Supervisor Michael Cashman said, in light of the ongoing pandemic, the municipality had taken advantage of videoconference tool Zoom, hosting its Town Board meetings that way, as well as daily department head "huddles."Cashman said it was he, Cole and Planning Board Chair Tim Palmer who decided to host the board's April session using that platform."While the Planning Board is an independent body of the town, we provide staffing and we are the ones that have the meeting space and the technology," the supervisor said."We have to make sure that we are working in good concert for good governing."The Planning Board decided to split its April agenda across two meetings.The first, to be held Tuesday, April 21 at 5 p.m. would feature a range of agenda items, while its Tuesday, April 27 meeting at 5 p.m. would discuss the Upstone Quarry Mining expansion only.The latter project has been controversial among some town members who live in the surrounding neighborhoods of that Quarry Road mine.Supervisor Cashman hoped, with the meetings split, that town officials cold better accommodate those wishing to speak on that project."We want to make sure that we can facilitate the public participation portion."Members of the public will join Zoom meetings using a link that, Cole said, would be published soon."We intend to invite the public to participate as we would with any other project that had a public hearing component," the planner said."Just as our Planning Board members will be able to log in and participate, the public can log in and attend that way, too."The town expected the platform to accommodate up to 100 participants, though members of the public would be muted until time for comment."We're going to encourage people first and foremost, to send in written comments via email, to call our office or send a hard copy in the mail  that would be preferable," Cole said."The more people on Zoom, the more complicated, but we're willing to accept that challenge for this meeting and maybe others as we proceed forward."Cashman said the Town Board had a member of the public participate via Zoom and noted that, "it works.""I fully acknowledge that this is not optimal," he said. "It may be a little clunky, because we're still learning the software."Though a date had not been set as of early April, the town supervisor said the Zoning Board of Appeals could meet virtually next month."We believe that by launching this in stages, we will be able to be more adaptive to good government across the whole portfolio of the town," he said."We'll learn something from this that we will be able to adjust for the Zoning Board meeting."2020 the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Member of Parliament for Jaman South Constituency Hon Yaw Aful has donated sanitizers worth GHC17,800 to the Health Directorate to be distributed to the various health centers in the area to augment the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Receiving the items, the District Health Director Madam Christiana Konadu expressed appreciation to the Jaman South legislator for his contributions towards health situations in the area and combating the pandemic.

She said, they will ensure all the items are distributed to the various health centers and make good use of them as well.

Madam Christiana Konadu used the opportunity to educate the public on compliance with the directives in order to control the spread of the virus.

On his part, Hon. Aful indicated that the coronavirus outbreak had to be fought in unison.

According to him, we cannot only depend on government only as far as the fight against coronavirus is concerned, adding that it was also an individual responsibility.

He said, being the representative of the Constituents in Parliament, there is the need to support the fight against COVID-19, the reason for the donations.
Doordarshans iconic series Ramayan, recently made a comeback on the small screen to everyones delight due to the pandemic led lockdown. The serial created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar comprised of 78 episodes that aired between 1987 and 1988 every Sunday in the morning.

However, there comes some sad news regarding the show and its ensemble cast. Actor Shyam Sundar Kalani, who was seen in the roles of Bali and Sugriva in the series is no more. Arun Govil, who played the lead role of Lord Ram recently took to Twitter to share the sad news and pay his condolences. He wrote, "Sad to know about demise of Mr. Shyam Sundar who played the role of Sugreev in Ramanand Sagars Ramayan... A very fine person and a gentleman. May his soul rest in peace." (sic)

For the unversed, Shyam Sundar breathed his last on April 8 in Kalka and is survived by his wife. The actors nephew Kamal Madnani has revealed that Shyam was fighting cancer for a prolonged period of time. The veteran actor was also seen in the role of Bheem in Mahabharat. He was also a part of movies such as Heer Ranjha, Trimurti and Chaila Babu.

Actor Sunil Lahri aka Laxman too, mourned the death of his co-star with a heartfelt note on Twitter. He wrote, "Very sad and sorry to hear sudden demise of our colleague Mr Shyam Kalani who played role of sugriv and Bali with us in Ramayan God give peace to his soul and strength to his family to face irrecoverable loss.... RIP"

ALSO READ: Reel Life Ram, Arun Govil's Picture Of Watching Ramayan With Family Goes Viral

ALSO READ: Did You Know Divyanka Tripathi Was A Part Of 2012s Ramayan?
When the news flashed on the television screen on April 2 about a coronavirus outbreak at a Texas City nursing home, Jessica Ticas immediately picked up the phone, panicked.

Ticas grandmother, Maria Rivas, is a resident at The Resort at Texas City, a 135-bed long-term care facility where 68 residents and employees tested positive for the coronavirus last week. Ticas wanted answers: Is her grandmother one of the infected residents? Is she showing symptoms?

Nursing home staff initially told Ticas that the news about the outbreak was not true, but two days later a Resort staffer called Ticas with an update: Her grandmother had tested positive, but was showing no symptoms.

My aunt told them that if they didnt answer or tell her whats going on, she was going to go in there and break (down) the doors to find out what was going on with my grandma, Ticas said.

Around the Houston region, the vulnerability of older residents to COVID-19 has been made frighteningly clear by outbreaks at nursing homes in Texas City and Missouri City, an assisted living center in La Porte, and a senior apartment community in The Woodlands. More than 140 residents and workers had been infected as of Wednesday, including at least four elderly residents who died.

The outbreaks have raised questions about the transparency of nursing homes and other senior communities as well as their capability to contain a virus that can be particularly harmful, even lethal, to the elderly. Family members who have been prohibited by month-old state restrictions designed to protect seniors have felt left in the dark, unable to see their loved ones and not getting timely updates on infections.

Advocates for the elderly are calling on the state to make data on nursing home infections widely available.

In the same way that theyre reporting new cases and deaths, we should know whats happening in the nursing facilities, said Amanda Fredriksen, associate state director for advocacy and outreach at AARP Texas. The residents and their legalized representatives, typically family members, who can make decisions on their behalf, they have a right to be informed about changes that might affect their loved ones care.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that he had the vulnerability of Texas nursing homes in mind when he issued an executive order last month cutting off visitation and allowing only employees to enter. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission this week also issued new guidance for nursing homes that requires these facilities to tell residents, staff and family when there is exposure, presumptive and confirmed cases in the facility.

He added that the state has deployed medical-incident support teams made up of emergency medical professionals who act as liaisons between local and state government in some cases, such as when there was an outbreak at the Denton State Supported Living Center.

In every situation, theres going to be unique needs that must be met, Abbott said. We are prepared to act swiftly to address the unique needs of each of these situations.

Long-term care facilities are required to notify the Texas Health and Human Services Commission as well as local health authorities when they have a presumptive or confirmed case of COVID-19, said spokeswoman Kelli Weldon. The agency investigates any facility that reports a positive case.

Our top priority is always the health and safety of the people receiving services in the settings we regulate, Weldon said. Statewide, our HHSC survey teams are on site in nursing facilities and actively investigating and monitoring them to assess compliance with all applicable health and safety rules.

Given limited resources during the pandemic and per Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance, the agency is focusing on infection-control investigations, checking for whether homes are properly screening staff and other care providers and whether theyre following state and federal guidelines, such as appropriate use of personal protective equipment.

Other states have taken a more hands-on role. Marylands Republican governor, Larry Hogan, announced this week that new strike teams would provide emergency care, supplies and equipment to overwhelmed facilities, according to the Washington Post. The teams would include representatives of state and local health departments, hospitals and the National Guard.

At least eight nursing homes across six Texas cities are dealing with a spate of coronavirus infections, killing at least 18 people. In the Houston area, local public health authorities and elected officials have taken the lead in responding to outbreaks.

After Montgomery County officials learned on March 20 that someone tested positive at The Conservatory at Alden Bridge senior apartments, the public health district screened all residents for symptoms, said Misti Willingham, spokeswoman for the health district.

The apartment complex arranged for private testing, Willingham explained by email. The health district did not recommend testing asymptomatic people because that was not what federal guidelines advised. Residents who staff believed may have been exposed were directed to self-isolate.

After a dozen residents tested positive, County Judge Mark Keough on March 30 ordered residents to shelter in place unless they chose to leave and isolate elsewhere by the following day.

Montgomery County Fire Marshal investigators have helped public health staff keep in touch with residents and apartment management. But as of Wednesday, 18 people at the Conservatory had tested positive, including three who died.

In Harris County, authorities reported this week that an outbreak at the LaPorte Healthcare Center, an assisted-living facility, had left 34 residents and staffers infected.

Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, said that as soon as officials are notified of a positive coronavirus case in a nursing home or group-living facility, they move very aggressively to isolate individuals if theyre symptomatic or quarantine individuals if theyve been exposed to the virus but are not symptomatic. The agency also coordinates with emergency personnel if they make contact with a nursing home resident to ensure that facility doesnt have an outbreak.

It underscores the importance of the infection control prevention that all of us want nursing homes and facilities to take seriously and protect the people we have there, Shah said.

In Missouri City, 28 residents and staff members at Park Manor Quail Valley, a nursing home, tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday. Among residents at that facility, 10 are in the hospital and six are being treated in quarantine at the nursing home.

Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Texas nursing homes were particularly susceptible to the spread of disease. Inspection-control practices have long been the most frequently cited violation found during inspections of facilities across the state. More than 80 percent of nursing homes in Texas were cited in the last three years for such violations, the USA Today Network reported last month.

Patty Ducayet, the states independent ombudsman for long-term-care facilities, said the names of facilities where confirmed cases have been found should be released to the public.

Its information I believe a resident and their family members have a right to know, and when a case is confirmed, residents need to know how the facility is responding, Ducayet said in an emailed statement.

Ducayet said the rise in nursing home infections isnt particularly surprising given that COVID-19 can go undetected in people who dont show symptoms as well as that the elderly, many of whom have underlying health conditions, are more vulnerable. Staff of these facilities also often work in more than one facility, which could have contributed to spread as well, she said.

Galveston County health authorities believe staff working at multiple facilities led to the massive infection at The Resort at Texas City.

Philip Keiser, Galveston Countys local health authority, said the cluster of infections at that facility forced the county to come up with a proactive strategy in testing and surveilling nursing homes.

There are over 1,000 nursing home beds in Galveston County, but Keiser and the county health district set up a monitoring system to create contact lists for each nursing home as well as questionnaires to send out about what their needs are, all of which is collated into a database. With the help of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which has an in-house coronavirus test that can deliver results within 48 to 72 hours, the goal is to conduct 200 tests per day at nursing homes throughout the county.

What weve done is we worked up sort of a hit list of nursing homes that we know have problems, and we know this by either numbers of cases and by numbers of people going to the emergency room and by calls that were getting, Keiser said. One of the consequences of that is were gonna have some bad days, right? Were gonna have a whole bunch of tests come back and were gonna find some nursing homes with big problems. Thats just the reality of it.

To account for an expected increase in the number of nursing home residents with the virus, the county health district and UTMB are providing training and personal protective equipment to nursing home staffers, as well as reusable gowns. With workforce capacity limited, the hope is that nursing homes will be able to learn on the fly how to do their own testing.

Were taking sort of the Texan approach, which is you need to be responsible for yourself, Keiser said.

Zach Despart contributed to this report.

nick.powell@chron.com

taylor.goldenstein@chron.com

emily.foxhall@chron.com
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has blamed its inability to distribute ventilators and other test kits to its mandate st...





The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has blamed its inability to distribute ventilators and other test kits to its mandate states on coronavirus.





The states are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.





Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, NDDC Managing Director, on Wednesday in Port-Harcourt, said NDDC has since released the funds to the nine state governments to support their fight against the outbreak.





Initially, we wanted to get ventilators but we could not. Ventilators which used to cost about eight to nine million naira for one; in one week went up to almost N30 million, NAN quoted as saying.





We found out that most of the people who said they can supply the equipment, do not have them in the country. Ventilators are now in short supply even in the U.S The prices have also skyrocketed.





Pondei, a virologist, said that ventilators were in high demand globally as many countries continued to struggle with the pandemic.





The ones (companies) we got in contact with, told us that the equipment would be delivered to us by the end of April, and some in May. We decided to give funds to the states, since the states had made plans to get the ventilators.





Having discussed with the state governments, we didnt want to duplicate efforts which will end up wasted. We are working in synergy, he explained.





The managing director said the states had all opened isolation centres and were also formulating procedures on treatment of COVID-19 patients.





Pondei dismissed the various conspiracy theorists claims that radiation from the 5G network was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.





According to him, there is no scientific evidence that links COVID-19 to the 5G network or that the virus is laboratory engineered.





Nigerians should instead focus their attention by following simple health tips, such as social distancing and regular washing of hands with soap, among others, Pondei added.
Young protesters, unhobbled by past traumas, take to the streets

Tahrir Square in Baghdad. The Grande Poste in Algiers. Martyrs Square in Beirut. In recent months, these landmarks have become the latest battlegrounds in the generational revolt against the Middle East's corrupt ruling class.

In all three countries, young people have been at the forefront of efforts to turn the page on decades of sclerotic and rigged politics in favor of a more democratic alternative. Once written off as an apolitical internet generation, they are now spearheading movements set on fundamentally transforming their countries  politically, economically and socially. The coronavirus epidemic may temporarily keep them out of the streets, but their movement endures.

Across borders, the protesters are connected in myriad ways, from their mastery of social media to their shared chants. One revolution, from Baghdad to Beirut, is a common refrain. Tomorrow, history will write that we changed the system!

But for now, history is what stands in their way. Across the region, older generations have long learned to settle for incompetent leaders for fear of what could come next. Coincidentally or not, the three countries where the fire of revolt now burns brightest have experienced some of the region's worst trauma in recent times, whether it was the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq (1979-2003) or the civil wars in Lebanon (1975-1990) and Algeria (1991-2002).

The region's rulers have learned to weaponize this fear. When protests first broke out in Algeria, the armys then chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, warned of a return to the darkness of the 1990s. In Lebanon and Iraq, politicians have threatened chaos if anyone challenges the sectarian power-sharing arrangements that keep the peace among the various groups that share the spoils of government spending. Even the failed Arab Spring of 2011 is held over protesters heads by their leaders. Salah, for example, argued that the protesters would turn Algeria into a second Syria if they continued.

For todays young people, the dashed hopes of the past decade weigh more heavily than the traumas and tragedies of the 20th century. Facing massive youth unemployment and an idle future, they have exorcised the demons of the past with rhetoric that emphasizes the geriatric nature of the ruling elite. In Algeria, the digitally savvy protesters poked fun at their octogenarian leaders bid for a fifth term despite his absence from public life since suffering a stroke in 2013 with jokes such as Error 404, president not found. Similarly, young Iraqis have dismissed the pronouncements of influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr with the quip, OK boomer.

The protesters have also learned from the mistakes of the past. Their movements have strived to remain peaceful, despite facing violence from the police and security forces. They also aim for inclusion across age, sect and gender. Their leaderless organizational model and overall hostility to established political parties may limit their ability to mobilize effectively, but it also keeps the movement from being easily coopted.

Lebanese young people sit in tents pitched across a street blocked amid protests against dire economic conditions, in Zouk Mosbeh, north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Oct. 18, 2019. (photo by Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)

One key lesson is that getting rid of one bad ruler is not enough. To date, street actions have successfully pushed out one president and two prime ministers, but the protesters know it is all too easy to change the face of the state while keeping the same old system in place. It is no accident that slogans such as Let them all clear off echo across the region.

The fate of these protest movements will show whether the young peoples revolutionary zeal is fearlessness or foolhardiness. Yet their utopianism is also a form of realism, for they know that nothing short of a total transformation of their societies will bring about even the more modest changes they wish to see implemented regarding public services or transparency in government spending.

Below, Al-Monitor contributors take stock of the new generations efforts to lay their predecessors ghosts to rest in Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria.

Iraq: A generation unmarked by Saddams brutality

Womens rights activist Saja Hashim knows the risks.

Standing alongside her fellow protesters in Baghdad from the early days of the anti-government movement, the 29-year-old journalist has witnessed the deadly brutality of Iraqs unrestrained security forces and unbridled militias. More than 600 people killed since protests broke out in early October. Unidentified snipers shooting unarmed demonstrators in the head. Sectarian mobs rampaging through encampments, torching everything in sight.

Yet despite the bloodshed, despite the setbacks, despite the political gridlock that has brought the government to a standstill, she remains unyielding in the demands that brought her to the street in the first place.

We want a homeland, Hashim told Al-Monitor in a Skype interview, echoing a common refrain of the protests. This is something much more emotional than a slogan. We want a better homeland, a better country. One that respects us, one where I can freely say anything I want. Where we can study and have decent job opportunities. Where we can live like normal people, with functioning electricity and clean water. Its about dignity.

For young Iraqis, that quest for dignity is what separates them from a previous generation whose spirits  and often bodies  were crushed by the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Hashim has discussed these generational differences with her father in an echo of conversations taking place in living rooms and kitchens across Iraq since the protests began.

My father tells me, Your generation is different. We tasted the rule of Saddam. We lived through a dictatorship. It made us incapable of saying anything,' Hashim said. That silence has become part of the personality of my fathers generation. While we who grew up after 2003 dont have a lot of freedom, we have a much louder voice. We can express ourselves, even if its scary.

For two and half decades from his accession to the presidency until the US invasion toppled him in 2003, Saddam ruled over Iraq with one of the most ruthlessly effective police states in the Middle East. Estimates are that his regime murdered or tortured to death some 250,000 people, most during the 1988 campaign against the Kurds and the crushing of the 1991 uprisings across the country.

Saddams regime was very good at suppressing protests, explained Samuel Helfont, an assistant professor of strategy and policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The Baath party controlled institutions like universities and mosques that could be used to organize protests. They spent decades penetrating Iraqi society and building authoritarian infrastructure in place of civil society. There was no free press and no social media. That made it difficult for potential protesters to share information and spread ideas.

While we who grew up after 2003 dont have a lot of freedom, we have a much louder voice. We can express ourselves, even if its scary.

The Iraqi Baathists would not have allowed the current Iraqi protests to continue, Helfont said. Saddams regime would have cleared the public squares, violently if necessary, and would have punished the protesters as well as their families.

The repression of todays protests, by contrast, has proven far less effective.

With all the faults of the current political regime in Iraq, and there are many, it is not nearly as violent as the Baathists were, Helfont said. The post-2003 generation has faced immense challenges and lived through one tragedy after another, but it never had to deal with the level of sophisticated suppression coming from the state that Iraqis faced under Saddam.

Instead of a brutal dictatorship, Iraqs young people have experienced a different series of traumas, from the American occupation and the rise and fall of the Islamic State to rampant pollution. Roughly 60% of Iraqs population of 40 million is under the age of 25 and came of age after the fall of Saddam. Their life experiences and expectations have informed their monthslong anti-government protests.

Youths' reference point is not the Baath regime, but 17 years of imperfect and often violent democracy. Having grown up under a US-imposed political system distributing power and resources based on religious, ethnic and sectarian quotas, they are not swayed by rousing speeches about communal survival. Similarly, for increasing numbers of young protesters, the language of political Islam and the pronouncements of clerics count for little when they have seen how such discourse fails to address their everyday problems.

When protests first began Oct. 1, they followed the path of earlier demonstrations in calling for an end to corruption and demanding better employment prospects and state services in a country where youth unemployment stands at 16.5%. Meanwhile, limited opportunities have left countless university graduates competing for jobs as drivers or other low-paying, unskilled work.

Within weeks, a movement started by the young, the poor and the left-behind had exploded into a massive coalition across class, gender, ethnicity, sect and region that demands nothing less than the fall of the entire Iraqi political establishment. In an oil-rich country where nearly 60% of the population lives on less than $6 per day, protesters are demanding their fair share, chanting, Where are the millions?

In order to create the homeland they dream of, young Iraqi protesters have relied on a variety of tactics, from peaceful sit-ins to highway blockades. The movement, which protesters themselves call the October Revolution, has spread across central and southern Iraq from Baghdad to Basra, Maysan, Najaf and Nasiriyah.

What is the source of the movements persistence? How do the young people maintain their composure despite increasingly violent repression? The answer lies in another of the movements slogans. Just as the youths demand a homeland, they also declare, We want a life. By this they mean the expectation of a functioning government that can provide electricity, clean water and safety. Yet it also includes more intangible demands such as dignity, equality and hope.

Many protesters are pessimistic about their chances of improving everyday life and reforming political structures in the short term. Yet they also feel the protests have already transformed peoples vision of what is possible.

More than a change in government, social transformation has been the most important thing, Hashim said. There are links being formed between rich and poor neighborhoods, between the provinces. Women versus men and all sorts of other divisions have been challenged by these protests. The support for womens involvement has been amazing. The same goes for the support weve seen from families and from artists. In Tahrir Square, people are singing and painting together. This change is the most important thing.

Those ideals are brought to life in the physical structure and organization of the protests. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Tahrir  or Liberation  Square, Baghdads largest and most central square, which has had the air of a festival despite repeated attempts to violently remove the protesters.

Around the hastily set-up tents blasting music and displaying photos of those killed, people dish out plates of free food. Barbers volunteer to give haircuts. Medical teams attend to the wounded. Protesters have even created a makeshift public library in the square. In the gaps between tear gas and sniper attacks, songs are sung and selfies taken. Participants have taken to declaring about the square, Anyone who doesnt visit this place has wasted their life. It is an embryo of the new life protesters imagine.

Zahra Ali, an assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University, has written that Tahrir Square functions as a society in miniature. Through inclusive collective organizing, protesters have created unity around a sense of shared belonging to the homeland, Ali writes in Middle East Eye. More than a political uprising that addresses issues of political representation and elections, protesters are promoting creative strategies at the social and societal levels.

Protesters collaborative, do-it-yourself approach to solving societys problems draws on similar grassroots efforts to rebuild after the Islamic State. Those efforts include the art teacher and his students in Fallujah who replaced extremist slogans with original artwork, or the nurse in Mosul who defied authorities with an independent effort to clear the streets of corpses. In the same spirit, protesters in Tahrir Square attend to each others needs without waiting for permission.

The quest to reinvent Iraq after the twin disasters of Saddam and Islamist terrorism is also apparent in womens massive participation in the protests. While female representation in government remains tiny, young women have been active in the streets across central and southern Iraq as artists, medics and cooks. On Feb. 9, women led defiant protests in Baghdad, chanting against the conservatism of Islamist political parties. In turn, clerics and Islamist politicians accuse women protesters of acting immodestly or being funded by foreign nongovernmental organizations to tarnish Iraqs morals.

Surveys show that young people across the region are less devout than their elders and have little trust in Islamist parties or religious leaders. Protesters often treat restrictive social mores with humorous derision. When Sadr announced Feb. 9 that women and men should not share the same tents, protesters wasted no time ridiculing the cleric's statement on social media. Men posted pictures of themselves wearing hijabs, while women painted on mustaches. One viral GIF on Twitter shows two women and a man sitting in a tent together. Dressed stylishly with black sunglasses, they cast an ironic glance at the camera while smoking cigarettes. One Twitter user captioned the photo addressing Sadr by his first name: @ muqtada: you cant sit with us.

The protesters aspirations for a cultural and social transformation are also visible in their reinvention of occupied spaces into works of art. In October, they transformed a 14-story, 1980s-era building in Tahrir Square known as the Turkish Restaurant into a giant concrete canvas, hanging banners from the roof and covering the inside walls with murals. On Twitter, Iraqi novelist Ahmed Saadawi has documented this explosion of color and styles.

Another key site of the protesters creativity is the Saddoun Tunnel and other underpasses leading to Tahrir Square, now decorated with beautiful calligraphy, graffiti and massive murals. The paintings include representations of fallen protesters, a portrait of Rosie the Riveter with an Iraqi flag and pop-art versions of the much beloved tuk-tuks, the beat-up motorized rickshaws whose drivers have become a symbol of the revolution for their selfless efforts transporting injured demonstrators to hospitals. The protesters also publish a newspaper titled Tuk-Tuk and have adopted a revolutionary-themed song about the vehicles.

In a video interview with Irfaa Sawtak, a young protester named Nada described how passersby came to help and collaborate with her as she and a friend painted a mural in the Saddoun Tunnel. The English-language message they left in the bottom-right corner perfectly encapsulates the tentative but playful hopefulness of this digitally savvy, Generation Z movement: To be continued (spoiler alert): we are still standing.

With growing pressure to end the political gridlock that has paralyzed the country, the new generation is finding out whether its youthful defiance can lead to long-term change. They have already suffered greatly: In five months of protests, in addition to the hundreds who have been killed, some 30,000 people have been injured and 2,700 arrested.

Foreign interference threatens to split the movement. Amid the threat of a proxy war following the US assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 3, calls for internal reform were all but drowned out. In Baghdad and Nasiriyah, tensions simmered between anti-government protesters and those mourning Soleimanis death while calling for revenge.

Iraqi anti-government demonstrators block a bridge with debris and burning tires in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Jan. 19, 2020. (photo by Asaad Niazi/AFP via Getty Images)

The movement suffered a further blow on Jan. 26 when Sadr retracted his earlier support for the protests, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Referring to the hundreds already killed, protesters in Baghdad chanted, How could you leave us when the blood is still not cold? Sadr has become an object of ire due to his changes of position.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has alternated between the carrot and the stick, repressing protesters while also offering them concessions. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned under public pressure Nov. 29 but his government remains in power in a caretaker capacity after parliament  and the protesters  rejected the man designated to take Abdul Mahdis place, former Communications Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi. On March 2, Allawi withdrew his candidacy after failing to form a government within the 30-day deadline. Now Iraq may be hurtling toward a power vacuum.

Even the weather has conspired against the street demonstrations, with snow blanketing Baghdad for the first time in a decade. Yet the protesters around Tahrir Square have not abandoned their tents. Nor has the coronavirus outbreak stopped the young people, who now don surgical masks during their marches and demonstrations. On Feb. 9 students gathered in front of Baghdads Higher Education Ministry to launch an aptly named campaign, Persistence is the toughest exam.

We know that our fight is very long, but if its for a better life, we will continue it, Hashim said. While the immediate demands of the protesters  from the establishment of an independent election commission to an impartial investigation into those responsible for killing demonstrators  remain out of reach for now, it is clear that young Iraqis have already succeeded in transforming their country.

Fearless, they are determined not to return home until they transform the entire system.

- by Kenan Sharpe in Turkey

Lebanon: Young people revolt against sectarianism

Abdul Hay al-Juaibi used to make a living driving people around the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. After losing his job, the 24-year-old has spent the past few months living in a tent in downtown Beirut, one of more than a million people who have joined the anti-government protests that broke out over proposed tax increases in mid-October.

Like many in his generation, Juaibi takes to the streets, day after day, to demand that authorities address practical concerns, including high unemployment, electricity blackouts and contaminated water. But behind those straightforward demands, he and countless other protesters have a much higher ambition: ending the countrys sectarian system. Lebanons power-sharing rules, meant to keep the peace among a dizzying array of religious and ethnic groups, have long been blamed for the rampant corruption and inefficiency that have reached a critical point as the country faces its worst economic crisis since the civil war. I come here to offer my moral support to the youth because the capital is for every Lebanese, Juaibi told Al-Monitor. We are done with parties and sectarianism.

This is a common refrain among young people staging sit-ins in public squares, where the national flag is an omnipresent symbol of unity in the face of the centuries-old practice of dividing the Lebanese by religious affinity. Theirs is a revolution of the tech-savvy, post-civil war generation, with its own language and its own demands. And their message is clear: This is Lebanons revolution, not the revolution of a sect or a party.

A protester waves a Lebanese flag next to a bonfire during anti-government protests in Beirut, Nov. 19, 2019. (photo by Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares)

The protesters know it wont be easy to reform a decades-old arrangement that many people credit for avoiding a return to the bloodshed of the civil war of 1975-1990. But they believe that overcoming those fears is crucial to a free, prosperous and peaceful future. [My familys] memories of the war are certainly engraved in my mind and I dont want to relive them, said Tariq Sarhan, a 22-year-old university student from the southern suburbs of Beirut. But at the same time, I wont settle for the humiliation we are living.

Defenders of the status quo say the protesters are playing with fire with their call to replace the countrys sectarian power-sharing arrangement with a new electoral law that calls for a proportional allocation of seats based on the percentage of votes garnered by candidates in every district. Older Lebanese are quick to remind the younger generation that they too had visions of a better future when they began protesting against a corrupt state and economic monopolies in the 1970s. But they failed to fully grasp the nature of the militias that would fill the void as the government unraveled, and 15 years of conflict ensued.

Memories of the war are ... engraved in my mind and I dont want to relive them. But at the same time, I wont settle for the humiliation we are living.

My parents generation keeps scaring people and saying if we keep protesting, this is going to turn into a civil war, security analyst Christel Ghandour told Al-Monitor last fall for a story on how young people are hiding their activism from their parents. But they are completely blinded by the trauma from the civil war because what we are doing is exactly the opposite of what triggered the war  sectarianism. Underpinning this attachment to religious affiliations, activist Gino Raidy told Al-Monitor at the time, is the Lebanese peoples deep fear that once their sect separates their religion from politics, they will become a political minority.



Sectarian political leadership in Lebanon dates back centuries, "War and Memory in Lebanon" author Sune Haugbolle writes in Foreign Policy, to a time when the Ottoman authorities relegated tax farming to local strongmen. Today the practice extends to all levels of law, the economy, and politics. After 120,000 people died in the war, Lebanon entrenched the sectarian nature of its political system with the Taif Agreement, which calls for a Sunni Muslim to serve as prime minister independent of the Maronite Christian president. The unicameral legislature also saw its size increased to 128 members, shared equally between Christians on the one side and Muslims and Druze on the other.

But even many Lebanese who lived through the war are inspired by the young generations readiness to topple the old system. This generation is free from all traditional and acquired restrictions that we had, namely those related to family, sect and regions, said Zeina al-Helou, a political researcher and activist who is in her 40s. It took us the best years of our lives to be able to free ourselves from these restrictions.

Like many others, Helou said shes ready to take a leap of faith after witnessing the success of a movement that has ousted a prime minister and forced concessions, including slashing officials salaries and scrapping austerity measures, without causing a descent into chaos. I dont want internal fighting to return in the country, as I have suffered enough during my childhood, she said. But we should not give up and leave the squares. I have personally overcome fear.

Lebanese who lived through the civil war are well aware of the dangers of the current moment. Then, as now, they say, unscrupulous actors are just waiting to stir sectarian strife to protect their narrow interests  and then exploit the resulting community fears to undermine the revolution. Yes, they can use these sectarian cards, as they have done in the past, said Munib Kanj, an activist in his 70s. But this has united us even more and we understood the angry youth because we carry the same aspirations they have.

Protesters react at a demonstration during anti-government protests in Beirut, Nov. 17, 2019. (photo by Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares)

Kanj said last falls clashes between young people in the Beirut neighborhoods of Ain el-Remmaneh and Chiyah revived dark memories of the past, when violence in the same area helped ignite the civil war. During the war, armed groups were deployed in the area and sniper shootings were a regular occurrence. In light of these fears, women from both areas took part in a peaceful march Nov. 27 to protest attempts at stirring sectarian strife.

Many protesters see the hand of political elites  commonly known as the power  in the violence. A large category of the Lebanese do not want war, except for a small number of people from certain political parties that would benefit from war and are ready to sabotage [the protests], Sarhan said. But we will not allow them to use the card of sectarian strife. If we succeed, we would have dealt the ruling power a heavy blow.

To ensure the movement reaches its goals, advocates for change say the protesters must resist the temptation to confront those who are fearful of upending a system they have known all their lives. Juaibi said he was appalled when he saw protesters attack supporters of the political elites in Martyrs Square. I was angry that the people of my country were doing this to each other. Instead, he said, the Lebanese people need to work toward the same goal if they are to have any chance of moving past a painful history that has inhibited political change for a generation. As long as we stand united in the face of the power, he insisted, there will not be a civil war.

Despite the risks, Kanj believes the geopolitical context today is less volatile than during the Cold War. We do not live today with the same fears we had before the civil war, when Arab interference in Lebanons affairs was wide and when some people were concerned about major issues like the Palestinian cause, he said. Back then, I got carried away with the Arab cause, at the expense of the national cause. But today, all I care about is my country.

With youth unemployment surging again toward 20% in a country where nearly 40% of the population is under 25, most of the young people at the center of the protests are preoccupied with their own future rather than any grand ideological revolution. Mohammed Fakhreddine, a 17-year-old protester from Hermel in northeast Lebanon, said he was beaten by riot police and detained for hours at a police station Oct. 17, the first day of the protests. Despite being arrested three times by security forces, he refuses to be intimidated. I stopped my education in order to participate in the revolution, he told Al-Monitor. It is imperative that I stay here because of the simple reason that once I graduate, I will not find any work, just like many other young people.

Paradoxically, some protesters also point to Lebanons dismal economic situation as a source of hope for a peaceful outcome, as few actors have the desire  or the resources  for a confrontation. I believe the current conditions are not prone for internal strife since war requires funding, which is currently unavailable among the Lebanese who know that the price for war will be costly, said Zeina al-Helou, a political researcher and activist who is in her 40s. This does not mean that some clashes, political and sectarian in nature, will take place in the street, which happened on several occasions.

For some, the bigger worry is seeing the state resorting to violence as it runs out of patience with the monthslong protest movement that has further harmed the economy, now in its worst downturn since the civil war. There are fears today of producing an oppressive power, Kanj said. And I think the government will be oppressive, since it will be unable to find solutions to the current crisis, and will thus seek to repress the protests.

As of March 1, the Lawyers Committee for the Defense of Protesters, a group of Lebanese lawyers and legal experts who volunteer to defend the protesters, had reported 661 injured people since the start of the revolution, many of whom were assaulted by the security forces. According to the committee, more than 944 protesters have been arrested.

Still, the protesters carry on, convinced that this is their moment. In past years, we have tried, as youth and students, to do something new in the streets, said Sarhan. We talked about environmental issues in 2015 and about reforms to the electoral law in 2017. We also tackled the successive economic crises, including taxes, and the fuel and wheat [crises] in 2019. This accumulation has pushed the youth to participate en masse in the current protests.

The size and sustainability of the current protests, however, sets them apart. What the power does not understand is that we are in a different place today than we were in the past, Sarhan said. They still talk about the demands of this or that minister and the sect-based quota system in distributing ministries. Our issue with them is not a difference of views; but it is about the presence of an oppressor and an oppressed and the fact that there are young people who have a dream to build a fair state of law.

Zakia Shaaban, a 30-year-old protester from Beirut, agrees the anti-sectarian movement has reached a point of no return. We know the power is using sectarian strife as a tool to shut us up, and we are aware that we are up against the warlords that reached their positions at the expense of the blood of the Lebanese people, she said. We tell people: Leaders have lied to us and told us that if it werent for them, their sects would be oppressed. But the truth is, if it werent for them, we would be living in peace.

- by Hanan Hamdan in Lebanon

Algeria: A new generation seeks to heal past traumas by building hope

For the generation of Algerians who experienced the trauma of the late 20th century, politics were long considered a cesspool of iniquity. The stillborn democratic uprising of 1988 and the ensuing civil war left tens of thousands dead and soured countless others on political activism. The ruling regime itself maintained this revulsion by handing the public sphere over to hangers-on and sycophants.

Much to the distress of isolated activists, Algerians responded by keeping their distance from politics or anything else that smacked of collective action. Efforts to piggyback off the revolution in neighboring Tunisia and the ensuing Arab Spring quickly petered out, in part due to Algerians reluctance  hostility even  to any uprising that risked plunging the country back into the horrors of the 1990s.

For this traumatized country, the protests that began a year ago and continue to this day are nothing short of a miracle. Until now, the memory of a lost decade of blood and tears had squashed all efforts to confront the ruling class in the street, despite its reputation for rampant corruption and economic mismanagement. Indeed, the initial social media calls to protest after Friday prayers on Feb. 22, 2019, were instantly met by a mix of fear and skepticism.

Those years were a terrible trauma for society, said Salah Badis, a 25-year-old poet and author who said he discovered, through his interest in writing and music, the immense obstacle that the 1990s posed for reform efforts. I did not live them but I experienced them through my parents.

The regime itself, in its determination to see a long-ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika elected to a fifth term, was betting that Algerias bloody history would keep popular discontent in check. Throughout the electoral campaign, officials never lost an opportunity to remind voters of the great benefits of stability as opposed to the adventurism of change. But the regime (and even many of its opponents) failed to foresee that younger generations would not be gripped by the same fear that had long paralyzed their elders.

Algerian leaders also underestimated the enormous shock caused by the official launch of Bouteflikas candidacy on Feb. 9, 2019. At a rally at the Coupole dAlger sports stadium on the heights of Algiers, ruling party officials were left to obsequiously praise and kiss a framed portrait of their incapacitated leader, unceremoniously nicknamed the absent by the public. Ten days later, young people in the northeast city of Khenchela would topple a giant poster of the president. A phrase shouted by one of the protesters  Take the photo and leave the flag  would become a rallying cry the regime failed to take seriously until it was too late.

Fed on a diet of unfiltered news from their social media feeds rather than government-controlled media, the new generation grew up both keenly aware and deeply resentful of their humiliating circumstances. Eventually, their mounting anger would prove more powerful than the lingering fear of change. By the time tens of thousands of Algerians took to the streets 13 days after the launch of Bouteflikas candidacy for re-election, it was too late for the regime. Even the skeptics would soon leave their inhibitions behind and join the movement.

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest to reject the presidential election in Algiers, Algeria, Dec. 12, 2019. The sign reads, "No. I will not vote against my country." (photo by Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)

While the fear of action inherited from the traumatic 1990s was finally put to rest, the lessons of the past were not forgotten. Indeed, the protesters watchword of silmiya  peaceful  was informed by a key realization from Algerias civil war: that violence only serves the regime and harms society. This overt pacifism encouraged Algerians from all social and political backgrounds to converge toward common goals: popular sovereignty and genuine freedom.

Badis did not personally protest before Feb. 22, 2019. But he noted that many Algerians were already making economic and social demands before then, paving the way for last years revolution. They were not afraid and did not take into account the 1990s; they were clamoring for the right to a decent life as far back as Bouteflikas bid for a fourth mandate in 2014.

What prevented us from going into the street really wasnt just the trauma of the 1990s, but also the fear of being alone. Alone before the judges, alone before the police, forgotten in some regime dungeon. A great solitude and a great fear that paralyzed us, he said. But finally the people came out thanks to the democratic contempt from the ruling elite. We were humiliated collectively and politically. It wasnt an injustice felt individually; an entire people was humiliated by a portrait. The response, he added, could only be political and collective.

As always throughout the countrys history, this wind of change was inspired by young people, a self-evident truth in a society where more than 70% of the population is under the age of 30. But how were they able to overcome the trauma of the 1990s, the latest addition to more than a century and a half of violence from colonialism to the war of independence to terrorism?

In her book The Colonial Trauma, psychologist Karima Lazali describes the Algerian people as psychological cripples who still havent moved on from 132 years of colonial violence that still impacts young people today. The civil war of the 1990s has only compounded this trauma, leaving an unresolved void that the ruling class kept alive by regimenting civil society and controlling the media.

This explains why last years protest movement drew its support and inspiration instead from soccer fans and mosques, both of which the government has always had trouble controlling. Social media, which have proven even harder to regiment despite repressive laws, have been the third current that allowed Algerians to express their pain, their anger and their aspirations.

Soccer anthems, Algerias workingman blues, deeply inspired the protest movement. The Casa del Mouradia chant from the Algiers soccer club USMA, which chronicles Bouteflikas reign, has become one of the movement's hymns. Slogans such as We have awoken; prepare for a tough time reveal protesters disdain for the Algerian gerontocracy. Combined, they reveal that Algerian young people are politicized and far more aware of their countrys history and inequities than the usual caricature of a disengaged or even lost generation.

For sociologist Nacer Djabi, the young Algerians who took to the streets on Feb. 22 of last year are less scarred than their elders by past traumas. Todays youths, he said, are part of a generation that is politically unstructured and did not live through the 1990s. They express themselves through their own language, that of the soccer stadiums. The place for political confrontation has shifted toward social media, where young people can express their frustrations without holding back.

Throughout the electoral campaign, officials never lost an opportunity to remind voters of the great benefits of stability as opposed to the adventurism of change.

The numbers speak for themselves, Djabi told Al-Monitor: Only 1% of Algerians under the age of 35 belong to a political party. Less than 9% belong to an organization. This lack of attachment to preexisting parties and syndicates, he said, explains the radical demands of a politically virgin generation.

Free from partisan straitjackets, young people arent afraid of the security services, they dont impose red lines on themselves and dont practice self-censorship, Djabi said. Instead they have their own language, a mix of Arabic, French and Berber that carries their slogans. The feeling of fear that they have never experienced, they cannot imagine it.

The sociologist questions whether the regime has grasped that Algeria has changed and that it, too, must change. Instead, he noted, the political system keeps on rehashing comparisons to the past while the new generations look to their peers in Europe and the Americas.

Another element that caught observers by surprise is the gender mix at the protests, with women and teenage girls, some wearing the hijab and some without, at the center of protests in larger cities. This clashes with what many experts had identified as a conservative religious retrenchment of Algerian society, fueled in part by past unresolved traumas. This diversity of the protesters, both in terms of gender and social status, has created an unprecedented situation.

The arrest of young women and girls, their detention in certain cases, has not been a source of shame for their families but rather of pride, Djabi said. Their courage has paved the way for real reforms.

Seventeen-year-old Dounia Addad is emblematic of this new generation. The daughter of a longtime militant who was arrested for his participation in the protest movement, she nevertheless looks at the present unencumbered by the ghosts of the past. She insisted that this isnt an oversight and has nothing to do with not having directly experienced these traumatic events, which she said linger for generations. Rather, I think its because weve been able to draw lessons to help direct our struggles.

Dounia Addad joins other demonstrators for an Independence Day protest in Algiers, Algeria, on July 5, 2019. (photo by Ghada Hamrouche for Al-Monitor)

One of these lessons is to have fully understood that the regime is adept at using and manipulating violence to smother public demands. Our strongest weapons are pacifism and a smile, Addad told Al-Monitor. This is evident in street demonstrations when you come across silmiya [peaceful] teams that maintain calm. Other teams cruise the streets to provide first aid, clean up after protests or stand between protesters and police as soon as tensions rise. All are mostly comprised of young people.

The high school student added that the weekly demonstrations over the past year are proof of a deep maturity. I think the young generation has freed itself from a history marked by violence and repression by parlaying the traumas of the past so that this revolution of smiles can be as peaceful and politically successful as possible.

Psycho-sociologist Said Loucif confirms this sense that the young generation has liberated itself from the experiences of those who came before. Algerias young people, he told Al-Monitor, are not haunted by their predecessors traumas because they have not allowed them to take control.

The fact that they do not seek to ignore or repress the history of the years of terrorism and civil war gives them internal freedom to process and share this history, Loucif said. This is obvious among the protesters: They are able to express a sense of distress, symbolically shared with their predecessors, without it becoming a cause for withdrawal. Still, he added, They remain victims of other traumas: lack of recognition and anxiety toward social and political uncertainties.

Loucif went on to highlight the extraordinary resilience shown by the young protesters. They are exhibiting their fears, certainly, but they are especially demonstrating their refusal to relive these moments of extreme violence. Do not scare us with the black decade, misery has taught us well. They give meaning to this misery with resilience and a resistance to a traumatic past, while hoping to build a better future.

- by Ghada Hamrouche in Algeria
Work with what you have: Dolin, owner of a local horse products business, the Infused Equestrian, is using her insider knowledge and contacts to help health care workers. When Dolin found out that nurses ears were hurting from wearing masks all day, she put out a post on social media: Would headbands with buttons sewn on (to hold the mask straps in place) be useful? Requests began to pour in immediately. Another equestrian business donated headbands, and Dolin has made about 100 of her ear protectors so far. Last week, an emergency room nurse cried when she picked up her free headbands, Dolin, said. Shes received thank-you cards, and requests for gender-neutral headbands for male health care workers.
Damascus, April 10 : The Turkish forces shelled positions of the Kurdish forces in northern Syria, a war monitor reported.

On Thursday, the Turkish forces fired on the Kurdish positions in a number of areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported Xinhua news agency.

The UK-based watchdog group said the Turkish forces fired heavy artillery on Kurdish forces' positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Turkey has been targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since last October as Turkey deems the Kurdish militia as a terrorist group due to its links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey.
These are the top stories from the northern region at 4.30 pm



LUCKNOW DES1 UP-VIRUS-HOTSPOTS Police tighten vigil in COVID-19 hotspots in Lucknow



Lucknow: Police have stepped up vigil and barricades were erected in eight major and four minor COVID-19 hotspots in the Uttar Pradesh capital that have been completely sealed to check the spread of the deadly virus.

JAIPUR DEL26 RJ-VIRUS-NURSE Frontline nurse lives life in isolation



Jaipur: When his mother died, nurse Ram Murti Meena was at work at SMS Hospital's coronavirus isolation ward. He saw the last rites being performed on a video call on his mobile phone.

LUCKNOW DES2 UP-LOCKDOWN-VENDORS Rickshaw pullers, street food sellers turn to selling veggies in Lucknow



Lucknow: Restricted to their dwellings during the lockdown, hundreds of rickshaw pullers and street food sellers in the city have turned to selling vegetables and fruits to earn a living.

CHANDIGARH DES12 PB-VIRUS-VILLAGE Jawaharpur village in Punjab becomes COVID-19 hotspot with 21 cases



Chandigarh: With 21 COVID-19 cases, Jawaharpur village of Dera Bassi in Punjab's Mohali district has become a new coronavirus hotspot, officials said on Thursday.

HAMIRPUR DES15 HP-VIRUS-GADDIS Caught in curfew, Himachal nomads start journey home



Hamirpur (HP): The Gaddis (nomads) of Himachal's Chamba areas have started returning to their native places after getting special permission from authorities amid curfew restrictions in the state to contain spread of coronavirus.

JAIPUR DEL59 RJ-LD VIRUS-CASES 76-yr-old man dies due to coronavirus in Jodhpur, 47 more test positive for COVID-19 in Raj



Jaipur: A 76-year-old man, who had tested positive for coronavirus, died in Jodhpur and 47 new cases emerged in Rajasthan on Thursday, taking the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 to 430 in the state.

CHANDIGARH DES9 HR-LOCKDOWN-MISBEHAVE-YOUTHS Youths in Panchkula colony misbehave with women health workers



Chandigarh: A group of youths in Haryana's Panchkula district misbehaved with women health workers on Thursday when they were conducting a survey to find COVID-19 suspects in a residential colony, police said.

SHIMLA NRG4 HP-LOCKDOWN-PREGNANT-WOMAN Amid curfew, HP police helps pregnant woman reach hospital in Shimla



Shimla: A pregnant woman, who was crying out for help on a city road here, got ferried to a hospital by Himachal Pradesh police after complaining of pain during curfew hours on Thursday morning.

NEW DELHI DEL19 DL-VIRUS-GULABI BAGH Gulabi Bagh residents protest shifting of Tablighi members to neighbouring school for quarantine



New Delhi: Hundreds of Delhi government employees residing in Gulabi Bagh here are up in arms over the shifting of around 120 Tablighi Jamaat members to a quarantine centre set up at a school surrounded by flats, and fear the spread of COVID-19 in the area.

UP-BJP MP-MAYAWATI Mayawati demands strict action against BJP MP for beating up Dalit officer



Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday demanded strict action against a BJP MP who had allegedly beaten up a Dalit officer, saying such behaviour was "shameful".

IN THE PIPELINE Chandigarh's Chhatbir Zoo on alert after a tiger tests coronavirus positive in US zoo.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Unemployment may be a major



fallout of the COVID-19 lockdown in Goa, as industries in the state have been severely hit and economic activity has come to a standstill.

Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Wednesday informed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that the industries will witness a slump, if the state government failed to intervene.

While the mining industry has been shut since 2018, the future of the tourism sector also seems uncertain in light of the pandemic.

"The industries and the government have to sit together to work out a solution. The state government should help the industrial sector recover from the current crisis," GCCI president Manoj Caculo said.

The Chief Minister had recently directed private industries to pay full month's salary to its employees, during the lockdown period.

The dikdat was completely against the interest of industries, who were ready to pay half of the salary and retain the staff, Caculo said.

"Some industries will have to resort to lay-offs, if they are asked to pay full month's salaries," he said.

Former Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte said the Chief Minister should take all political parties and industrialists into confidence and map out economic revival in the state.

"We will head for worst days, if the government fails to revive the economy. It should be a team effort and no individual can do it on his own," Khaunte said.

The unemployment rate in the state will rise rapidly and the government will have no solution for it, he said.

Meanwhile, labour unions in the state have been keeping a close watch on the situation.

If the lockdown is withdrawn on April 14 and the government allows industries to resume operations in phases, unemployment can be prevented, said Suhas Naik, secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police are appealing for more information after thieves stole nearly 40 sheep and lambs from a farm in Somerset.

A total of 20 sheep and 17 or 18 lambs were taken from Ham Hill Country Park near Yeovil between Sunday (5 April) and Monday (6 April).

Police are investigating the incident and are calling for the public for more information.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police's rural crime team said: "Between April 5 at 7.30am and April 6 at 1.45pm, 20 sheep and 17-18 lambs were stolen from a location on Ham Hill at Pitwood in Stoke-sub-Hamdon.

"If you have any information in relation to this theft of livestock please contact us."

Rustling is the third most costly crime for British farmers after agricultural vehicle and machinery theft.

Figures released earlier this year reveal that livestock worth 3 million were stolen from UK farms last year.

How do I prevent livestock rustling?

Preventing rustling is not as easy as putting a padlock on a building or fitting a security system to a tractor.

However, there are a number of steps farmers can take to reduce the risk and technology is now providing effective ways of tracing stolen livestock.

To deter livestock thieves, NFU Mutual advises farmers to:

 Ensure stock is clearly marked and records are up to date

 When possible graze livestock in fields away from roads

 Check stock regularly - and vary times of feeding/check ups

 Consider a high-tech marking system such as TecTracer which puts thousands of coded microdot markers into a sheeps fleece

 Join a Farm or Rural Watch scheme to share information about rural crime in your area

 Ask neighbours to report any suspicious sightings to the police, or to give information 100% anonymously to the Rural Crime Hotline 0800 783 0137

 Dial 999 immediately if an incident is taking place - do not approach criminals
Ireland boosted its liquidity support available to firms reeling from the coronavirus lockdown of the economy to 1 billion euros on Wednesday and promised there was more to come.

The government made an initial 350 million euros of working capital and credit guarantee available as it concentrated its 6.7 billion euro initial fiscal response on increased jobless payments and wage subsidies for affected employees.

On Wednesday it announced that small and medium-sized firms can tap the state development bank for 450 million euros more in loans and working capital. Larger manufacturing, transport and logisics companies can borrow another 180 million euros that can be leveraged up to 500 million euros via financial markets.

Smaller amounts for online trading and firms with fewer than 10 workers brought the total so far up to 1 billion euros.

"I know businesses are hurting right now and this is the first of a number of extra steps that we will be taking to ease the pressure," Business Minister Heather Humphreys told a news conference, saying the measures were aimed at helping businesses through the initial 'shock' and for some 'stabilisation' phase.

"When the time comes, we will come forward with another suite of packages but it's about providing the right suite at the right time so when we get to the 'reboot' stage, which we will get to, we will then come forward with another suite."

Ireland's main business lobby, IBEC, said the measures announced on Wednesday were very welcome, as was the commitment of more to come.

IBEC last week called on government to provide a net 3.9 billion euros of business supports that it said could underpin over 26 billion euros worth of liquidity measures. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Oporto is offering free delivery over the Easter long weekend.

The fast food chain announced free delivery via the Uber Eats app over the long weekend to encourage Australians stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Oporto wanted to 'help all Aussies get through their next Zoom, Houseparty and couch catchups' from the comfort of their home.

Oporto is offering free delivery over the Easter long weekend as Australians are urged to stay indoors

Customers can also opt for no-contact delivery when placing their order with the free code 'OPORTODELIVERS' until April 13.

There is no minimum spend required to be eligible for the free delivery.

The free delivery is however only limited to the first 30,000 users who apply the code on the app.

Oporto customers can enjoy free delivery over the Easter long weekend for their favourite meals

The fast food chain is also offering jars of their famous Original Chilli and Prego Sauces for delivery and take-away.

For every purchase of the jars, Oporto has pledged to donate a meal to charity Foodbank, which helps struggling Australians during times of crisis.

They will also be sharing secret recipes on their Instagram page on how to better each meal with the delicious sauces.

Oporto is hoping to donate 10,000 meals to Foodbank.

'We're committing to help the most vulnerable people in our society get food essentials during this COVID-19 crisis,' Oporto said.
Trade unionists in Derry have criticised the government response to the Covid-19 pandemic and called on the general public to recognise the 'heroic efforts' of frontline staff during the crisis.

Derry Trades Union Council chair, Niall McCarroll, said: "The global Covid-19 crisis means we can't celebrate May Day, the international workers day, in the way we normally would. This year we were working with Derry and Strabane Council to host a 'Workers Rights and Social Justice Week' culminating with the May Day march and rally. The Covid-19 crisis is causing tremendous pain and hardship. We are in the midst of a tragedy that we hope will end as soon as possible with as few deaths as possible.

"The response to the crisis has also put a spotlight on the inadequacy of government action, the state of our public services and the central role of workers saving lives, protecting communities and allowing society to function. Many in the political establishment have joined claps in recent weeks for our heroic nurses and frontline workers but they have spent the last decades justifying poverty wages, undermining trade union representation and dismantling our public services, including our health service. The hypocrisy is glaring.

"Government's have described the battle to contain Covid-19 as a war but they've sent frontline workers out without PPE and testing. Far too many employers have risked workplace and public safety by refusing to implement public health guidelines. Workers have been forced to take strike action to make sure health guidelines are followed.

"It's crucial we put a focus on the heroic efforts of workers responding to this crisis, on the need for workers rights and on the central importance of our public services. The Derry Trades Union Council is calling on everyone to mark this May Day by joining a 'Five Minutes of Noise for Workers Rights' at 6pm on Friday May 1st - and by putting up red flags and signs for workers rights from homes and workplaces for 24 hours.

"We'll be working with unions, community groups, equality campaigners, artists and others that we were collaborating with for the 'Workers Rights and Social Justice Week' to organise as much as possible through social media.

"We will be launching our Workers Charter - our vision for dignity, respect and justice at work, in communities and for a more equal society.

"We're calling on the trade unions and organisations supporting workers rights across Ireland, North and South, to join this effort. People from all backgrounds and communities deserve workers rights, dignity and equality. We want this event to be as inclusive as possible. We need to begin to shape a new way of doing things that's centred around recognising the value of workers and the needs of the working class communities."
NFON AG Develops Two-Factor Authentication for At-Risk Yealink Phones

Late year, IT security firm VTrust reportedly uncovered a vulnerability in the automatic provisioning service of popular VoIP phone maker Yealink.The security firm was able to demonstrate how bad actors could initiate an attack using several Yealink phones and a number of VoIP accounts. VTrustsnoted thatYealinks entire product line is susceptible to the flaws since the method is shared across all of its models.

Chinese VoIP phone maker Yealink is a favorite choice for providers of cloud telephony services, making it a market leader in the field. VTrust has indicated that the company was slow to respond to its discovery of the security flaw, and end users have been stuck because there is little they can do, according to an article in Germanys CT Magazine.

There isnt much users of automatically configured Yealink phones can do to shield themselves, since the issue affects the server side of the mechanism, according to CT Magazine. At least some VoIP providers offer an option to deactivate the automatic provisioning process through their customer portals. Even then it depends on the individual provider whether or not the vulnerable information becomes inaccessible to intruders.VoIP companies, on the other hand, can take a few steps to counter the issue. After all, Yealink only specifies the provisioning technique, but not the server software.

Some VoIP companies have been addressing the security flaw. NFON AG, pan-European cloud PBX provider, was one of the companies directly informed of the flaw by VTrust. NFON AG CTO Jan-Peter Koopman recently spoke with UC Todayabout the new and easy-to-use two-factor authentication solution that it has made available with Yealinks SIP phones to protect end users.

If you get the Yealink phone out of the box and connect it to our platform, everything will work as normal, Koopman told UC Today. However, if we cant ensure that the phone is coming from a known and correct source, well ask for additional authentication, a device-dependent pin code created by us.

Once NFON has the pin code, theyre assured that the VoIP phone is authentic. From here, they can deliver the provisioning to the user with the right security tokens to ensure that all sequential request is authenticated. Its a way of putting an extra layer of security into the mix to ensure that bad actors cant exploit the flaw.

Please enable JavaScript to view the

Edited by Maurice Nagle
WASHINGTON  Federal agencies are concerned that domestic extremists could use the coronavirus pandemic to attack Asians and Jews, according to a joint intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo News. That bulletin mirrors what organizations that monitor online hate content are also finding.

The bulletin, a joint effort of the Department of Justice, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security, is dated April 7.

The document says that domestic violent extremists  known as DVEs  have sought to conduct, or conducted attacks citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor in the timing or motivation of their attacks.

It additionally says that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, or RMVEs, who advocate for the superiority of the white race seek to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to bolster their narratives and encourage attacks and hate crimes against minorities, including Jewish and Asian Americans. Some RMVEs claim government responses to the pandemic could crash the global economy, hasten societal collapse, and lead to a race war.

Members of the Orthodox Jewish community in New York City on Sunday at the funeral of a rabbi who died from the coronavirus. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Some members of Congress want such extremists to be treated like foreign terrorists, but a coherent domestic statute does not yet exist.

The internal document shows that extremists have been emboldened by the pandemic. Conspiratorial narratives assigning blame for the pandemic to a Jewish conspiracy or China heightens the risk of retaliatory violence against Jewish Americans and Asian Americans, it says. Other DVEs have shared statements that law enforcement will be unable to prevent DVE attacks on minorities or quell riots.

Anti-Semitism has been rising around the world throughout the course of the pandemic, which began in December. That rise has been apparent both domestically and internationally.

Iran was in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak that was killing its citizens by the hundreds, and the nations leaders in Tehran knew exactly whom to blame. Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran, declared a propaganda outlet there.

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David Clarke, the former Milwaukee County sheriff who has become a far-right media darling, also had ideas about where the epidemic has come from. Not ONE media outlet has asked about George Soross involvement in this FLU panic, Clarke wrote in a Twitter message about the prominent Jewish billionaire who has long been a target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

He is SOMEWHERE involved in this, Clarke told his 914,00 Twitter followers. The message was widely condemned but also widely shared, with about 1,200 retweets and 3,700 likes.

Global crisis tends to bring out anti-Semitism, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. According to a report on the coronavirus outbreak by SITE Intelligence, a private firm that monitors extremism, Jews are, along with people of Chinese origin, the top targets of extremist content relating to the pandemic. Some of these extremists believe that Israel created the virus, while others believe they can use the virus to hurt Jews.

While anti-Semitism is a constant on the far-right, wrote the reports author, Rita Katz, this tendency is no doubt exacerbated by the global status of the pandemic.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man and an Israel Border Police officer in Jerusalem on March 30. (Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Anti-Semitism is a grand theory of everything, says Bari Weiss, author of the book How to Fight Anti-Semitism and a New York Times columnist. It is a conspiracy capable of explaining the whole world. So no one should be surprised that everything from bad weather to financial crises to this pandemic is blamed on us. (And, yes, people really have blamed bad weather, in the form of climate change, on Jews.)

Weiss cites the 19th century anti-Semite Edouard Drumont: All comes from the Jew; all returns to the Jew. That includes a pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, a city without a single synagogue. The city does, however, have a testing facility run by WuXi AppTec, a pharmaceutical company based in Shanghai. Conspiracy theorists have decided that WuXi created the virus  though scientists have long said that the virus bears none of the markers of something engineered in a lab  and they are convinced that Soros owns the pharmacy company, which is also not true.

But for those disposed to hateful ideation, the viral outbreak that has swept across the world, confusing and frightening billions, has been a perfect gift.

On the social media site Telegram, which has become popular with extremists, a group called CoronaWaffen (Waffen is a term for a Nazi military outfit) asked users where they would go if they knew they were infected with the coronavirus. The top answer, by far, was synagogue, preferred by 76 percent of respondents. The No. 2 answer, at 5 percent, was Muslim temple.

On another right-wing social media site called Gab, a user wrote, Unless we deport these filthy jews, this pandemic is never gonna stop! The users screen name was diejewdie.

George Soros. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Zignal Labs, a media intelligence company in San Francisco, found that there had been 104,400 pieces of strongly validated antisemitic content within the COVID-19 conversation between Feb. 1 and March 30 (COVID-19 is the potentially fatal disease caused by the coronavirus). A Zignal analyst who conducted the review said there was a clear increase of online anti-Semitic content coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic. It was impossible to determine, however, just how much the pandemic itself directly contributed to that rise.

Soros has been the focus of anti-Semitic coronavirus conspiracy theories because of his wealth and politics. Searches for his name spiked between March 15 and 21, according to Google Trends, a tool that looks at Internet searches. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11.

The Zignal Labs analysis similarly found that there were 180,586 mentions of Soros across all platforms in relation to the coronavirus throughout February and March.

Soros is hardly the only prominent Jewish person to face anti-Semitic insinuation regarding the pandemic. In what appears to be a harkening back to older anti-Semitic tropes, Zignal Labs found that there have been 18,689 mentions of the storied Rothschild family, which was the target of finance-related conspiracy theories in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th.

A pro-Trump pastor in Florida went even further back in time, seeming to reference ancient (and discounted) suggestions that Jews spurned Jesus Christ. Its spreading in Israel through the synagogues, the pastor said. God is spreading it in your synagogues! You are under judgment because you oppose his son, Jesus Christ. That is why you have a plague in your synagogues. Repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and the plague will stop.

Because the coronavirus is believed to have originated in central China, people of Asian descent have faced the brunt of coronavirus-related hatred, including a spate of verbal and physical assaults in the United States.

President Trump was accused of fostering an atmosphere of anti-Asian bias by insisting on calling the pathogen the Chinese virus, underscoring its foreign origins. He has since stopped using the term.

Despite that, bias against Asian-Americans persists. So does an attendant anti-Semitism, which according to experts has increased as the coronavirus spread from East Asia to the Middle East and then to Europe and the United States. Both types of hate have blossomed in the hothouse that is social media, where conspiracy theories flourish unchecked.

That this has become a concern to federal enforcement officials is clear from the internal bulletin obtained by Yahoo News. It says that hate crimes towards Asian Americans and those of Asian descent will likely increase over the next two or three months. In addition also warning of potential danger to Jews, the report says that individuals espousing abortion-related violent extremism have also made threats of violence against reproductive health care providers who are still working during the pandemic.

A sign warns people of measles in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York City in 2019. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Nor has anti-Semitism come solely from fringe figures. A member of the Indian parliament falsely asserted on Twitter that there have been no deaths due to COVID-19 in Israel.

A columnist in Pakistan said that the coronavirus was a new weapon in Biological warfare and a #Zionist conspiracy.

Some people always use Jews to explain bad things in a simple way, says Ira Forman, a former State Department official who tracks anti-Semitism.

During the bubonic plague outbreak in the 14th century, Jews were thought in many parts of Europe to have caused the so-called black death by poisoning wells. Many centuries later, some blamed Jews for HIV/AIDS.

Forman notes that anti-Semitism was boosted by the fact that an early hot spot was New Rochelle, a suburb of New York that has a large Jewish population, with a synagogue there called Young Israel serving as a point of transmission. Several people who attended the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington were also diagnosed with COVID-19. AIPACs connection to the Zionist movement was another point for anti-Semites to exploit.

We were not surprised, says extremism researcher Aryeh Tuchman of the Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism and other forms of bias. Anti-Semites will blame Jews for everything, he notes, even for a virus that cannot discriminate between different ethnicities and religions.

At a recent briefing of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Tuchman displayed some of the examples of anti-Semitism available online. These included a social media image purporting to be coronavirus particles magnified by microscope. The image caricatured Jews in the traditional anti-Semitic style, with hooked noses and thick lips. The figures wear Star of David hats.

Many anti-Semites believe that Jews are attempting to infiltrate parts of society and implement a globalist agenda, Tuchman explained. He showed an image of the Trojan horse, which in Homeric legend Greek armies used as a ruse in order to gain access to the walled city of Troy. In the coronavirus version, however, the horses head was a coronavirus particle, while inside the belly of the horse sat a smiling caricature of a Jew.

Yet another image shared by Tuchman showed a coronavirus particle. Zionism, the image declared, is the deadliest virus on Earth.

Jana Winter contributed reporting to this article.

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Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Japanese manufacturers have been starved of key components from China since its factories closed due to the coronavirus.

Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.

The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.

The move coincides with what should have been a celebration of friendlier ties between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping was supposed to be on a state visit to Japan early this month. But what would have been the first visit of its sort in a decade was postponed a month ago amid the spread of the virus and no new date has been set.

China is Japans biggest trading partner under normal circumstances, but imports from China slumped by almost half in February as the disease shuttered factories, in turn starving Japanese manufacturers of necessary components.

That has renewed talk of Japanese firms reducing their reliance on China as a manufacturing base. The governments panel on future investment last month discussed the need for manufacturing of high-added value products to be shifted back to Japan, and for production of other goods to be diversified across Southeast Asia.

There will be something of a shift, said Shinichi Seki, an economist at the Japan Research Institute, adding that some Japanese companies manufacturing goods in China for export were already considering moving out. Having this in the budget will definitely provide an impetus. Companies, such as car makers, that are manufacturing for the Chinese domestic market, will likely stay put, he said.

Testing Times

Japan exports a far larger share of parts and partially finished goods to China than other major industrial nations, according to data compiled for the panel. A February survey by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. found 37% of the more than 2,600 companies that responded were diversifying procurement to places other than China amid the coronavirus crisis.

It remains to be seen how the policy will affect Prime Minister Shinzo Abes years-long effort to restore relations with China.

We are doing our best to resume economic development, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a briefing Wednesday in Beijing, when asked about the move. In this process, we hope other countries will act like China and take proper measures to ensure the world economy will be impacted as little as possible and to ensure that supply chains are impacted as little as possible.

The initial stages of the Covid-19 outbreak in China appeared to warm the often chilly ties between the two countries. Japan provided aid in the form of masks and protective gear  and in one case a shipment was accompanied by a fragment of ancient Chinese poetry. In return, it received praise from Beijing.

In another step welcomed in Japan, China declared Avigan, an anti-viral produced by Japans Fujifilm Holdings Corp. to be an effective treatment for the coronavirus, even though it has yet to be approved for that use by the Japanese.

Yet many in Japan are inclined to blame China for mishandling the early stages of the outbreak and Abe for not blocking visitors from China sooner.

Meanwhile, other issues that have deeply divided the neighbors  including a territorial dispute over East China Sea islands that brought them close to a military clash in 2012-13  are no nearer resolution.

Chinese government ships have continued their patrols around the Japanese-administered islands throughout the crisis, with Japan saying four Chinese ships on Wednesday entered what it sees as its territorial waters.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Despite expectations that the coronavirus (COVID-19) will fade into the warm summer heat like other viral diseases, a new report is telling people not to get their hopes up.

According to a New York Times story, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine sent a public report to the White House that reviewed recent research to conclude that summer weather wont interfere with the spread of the coronavirus.

Although experimental studies show a relationship between higher temperatures and humidity levels, and reduced survival of SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory, there are many other factors besides environmental temperature, humidity, and survival of the virus outside of the host that influence and determine transmission rates among humans in the real world, stated the public report.

The brief nine-page report, known as a rapid expert consultation, was sent to Kelvin Droegemeier, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House and acting director of the National Science Foundation, according to the New York Times.

The report cited a small number of well-controlled laboratory studies that found that high temperature and humidity can lead to less efficient transmission of the coronavirus. However, due to the lack of immunity to the virus globally, high temperature and humidity may not lead to a significant reduction in the spread of the virus without major public health interventions.

The report highlighted that the studies that researchers analyzed had limitations. While a preliminary finding in one study by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found fewer cases of COVID-19 in warmer climates, scientists couldnt arrive at a definitive conclusion, according to the New York Times.

The report also noted that countries currently in summer climates, like Australia and Iran, are experiencing rapid virus spread. Therefore, a decrease in cases due to high temperatures and humidity shouldnt be assumed.

Additional studies as the pandemic unfolds could bring out more information about the effects of climate on the coronavirus.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California and a member of the Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats at the National Academies, told the New York Times that the pandemic will likely not diminish because of the summer.

...And we should be careful not to base policies and strategies around the hope that it will, he said.

He explained there may be reduction in the spread in the beginning of the summer, but that it may not be due to just a change in season -- it could be due to other measures in place.

Dr. David Relman, who studies host-microbe interactions at Stanford University, told the Times that temperature and humidity wont matter much if someone coughs or sneezes enough of the coronavirus close enough to a susceptible person.

While President Donald Trump said on March 16 that the virus could wash through in warmer weather, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys leading expert on infectious diseases, expressed different opinions about summer temperatures and the coronavirus, according to the Times.

When asked about the fall during an interview on Wednesday with Dr. Howard Bauchner, the editor in chief of The Journal of the American Medical Association, Fauci said it would be challenging after a period in the summer when its almost certainly going to go down a bit."

But on March 26 in a conversation with Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Fauci said it was unreasonable to assume the summer weather could diminish the spread, the Times reported.

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In the recently released Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the four-word title represents the multiple-choice options to questions asked by an abortion clinic counselor, including: Has a sexual partner ever forced sexual activity or violence? In the titular scene, Autumn  played by Sidney Flanigan in her acting debut  struggles to answer, visibly triggered by dark memories.

Autumn, the protagonist, is faced with an unwanted pregnancy and limited options for health care in her small Pennsylvania town. At 17 years old, she needs parental consent to get an abortion, but that's a conversation shes not ready to have with her overburdened mother. The origin of Autumns pregnancy is chillingly ambiguous, and we never learn who the father is. Its Autumns cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) who steps up in support. Concerned for her cousins future, Skylar steals cash from the grocery store where she works after school, and after a quick Google search on where to get an abortion under the age of 18, the girls pack a suitcase and board a bus for New York City.

Writer-director Eliza Hittmans latest film is a hyperrealistic coming-of-age narrative that offers a precise look into the often-dangerous quest for a safe and legal abortion. The filmmakers portrayal of teenage pregnancy is unflinching and deeply empathetic, providing an essential look at the risks women take for reproductive health care.

Hittman doesnt gloss over Autumns unsavory traits or try to dress up the character in the typical tropes about abortion. Autumn is reserved, withdrawn. Overwhelmed with the weight of her pregnancy, she is realistically cold and resigned. In one harrowing scene, Autumn repeatedly punches herself in the stomach, her desperation more evident with each blow.

It's not a melodrama, Hittman tells Teen Vogue. Its a story of a character who is dealing with a very painful, lonely situation. And part of why she's so reserved has to do with how we arent given the tools to talk about these issues.

Story continues

Autumns taciturn nature is counteracted by Skylars, which is comparatively gregarious, but the story is light on dialogue. Hittman doesnt rest on verbose monologues in the mirror or quippy back-and-forth banter to develop character. The unhurried nature of the film advances Autumn and Skylars relationship in the subtext.

"It's really hard for people to understand the conversation between parents and teenagers," Ryder says about why a lot of young teens don't feel comfortable going to their parents about seeking an abortion. "As you can see, it's really dangerous when that door is not open and they can't go to their parents."

The even, steady pace feels painfully slow at times, reflecting Autumns own anticipation. Though few words of affirmation are ever exchanged  even thank you is rare  deep care is revealed in subtle actions: a tender shared glance as the girls take turns carrying a heavy suitcase, a scene of Skylar swiping liquid concealer under Autumns eyes, moments of comfortable silence on busses and subways and sitting in waiting rooms. The camera's gaze rarely shifts away from the duo.

Hittman worked with Planned Parenthood to make sure that the details were factually correct, and even filmed in the agencys clinics. Her attention to accuracy is scrupulous. Over the multiday saga, Autumn is passed along to three different clinics: a Pennsylvania crisis center masquerading as a health clinic, where she is shown a graphic anti-abortion video, and two Planned Parenthood centers, where shes told her late-term procedure will require one day to open the cervix and a second day for the operation.

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS Courtesy of Focus Features

In other movies of teenagers adventuring to New York for the first time, skyscrapers and urban lights romanticize the experience. Instead, Autumn and Skylar are indifferent to the city. Much of the film takes place in the New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal, a safe haven for the girls, who have nowhere else to go. With the exception of one diversion to Chinatown, where they get to be teenagers at an arcade for a few hours, their trip is a sleep-deprived series of transit woes and appointment logistics.

It's the complete opposite. It's this antagonizing monstrosity of a nightmare, Sidney tells Teen Vogue. They're trying to navigate this really scary place, and it's just gray and cold and everyone is threatening.

Ambient sexism and misogyny are the adversaries in Never Rarely Sometimes Always. There seems to be an endless supply of intrusive interactions with men, from the creepy but less egregious harassment the girls receive from their boss at the grocery store  he kisses their hands under a partition at the end of the night as they turn in their cash  to the overt: a man masturbating on the subway as he stares directly at them. As opposed to the traditional heros story, in which there is a clear antagonist, Hittman creates antagonists, plural, out of many men who walk the spectrum of harassment and abuse.

Hittman says she wanted to construct a lifelike and perpetuating male stare. I wanted to create an antagonistic energy around them at all times, she explains. Because I think when you're a young woman, you begin to feel it and realize it, and they're in a moment of heightened awareness.

But defying traditional narrative means an unconventional story arc. While the film builds up to Autumns operation, there is no clear climax. The direction feels more akin to Richard Linklaters Boyhood with its leisurely, meandering stride.

One gets a sense while watching Never Rarely Sometimes Always that the film has nothing to prove. It merely offers a window into the experience of an unexpected pregnancy. Hittman portrays a common plight, one that is not so dramatic, but more so resembles the glum and daunting reality of seeking a safe and legal abortion, one that is present today as more and more states take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to tighten abortion laws.

"I kind of worry that a lot of people, with everything going on, will want something a little lighter, but I really hope that people take the time," Ryder shares. "Abortion is certainly an essential medical procedure. We need to see the humans behind the story. These girls are people and deserve to be listened to."

Sidney says young people should not have to risk arduous journeys in order to receive reproductive care. They shouldn't have to go through this traumatizing situation to have access to health care, she says. You know, it's really sad, and I just really want there to be less of a stigma around it.

Related: 39 Abortion Stories Show Just How Important Abortion Access Is

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
By Trend

If Azerbaijani citizens do not comply with the rules of the special quarantine regime, then the appeal will be made to the country's leadership to tighten the measures, Chairman of Azerbaijan's Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB), Member of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers Ramin Bayramli said.

Bayramli made the remark in Baku at the briefing of the Operational Headquarters on April 8, Trend reports.

If citizens show patience during 2-3 weeks, they will be able to stop the spread of the infection and return to normal life, TABIB chairman said.

"Sometimes our citizens do not fully comply with the quarantine regime and do not understand the seriousness of the situation, Bayramli said. "However, people must understand that if the quarantine rules are not observed, the number of infected persons will increase and more serious consequences will arise. In this case, the number of fatal cases will also increase."

Bayramli added that TABIB is currently continuing its activity related to coronavirus by carrying out the medical treatment, diagnosis and prevention.

Today, 15 laboratories operate in Azerbaijan, TABIB chairman said.

New laboratories will open in Sheki and Sumgayit cities next week, Bayramli added. Currently, we are conducting up to 3,000 coronavirus tests. We will bring the number of tests up to 5,000 soon.

The special logistics plans have been created in connection with the tests, TABIB chairman said. As soon as the request is obtained, the doctors go home to the patients and carry out analysis. Patients remain at home until the results of the medical check-up are known."

Bayramli stressed that today more than 3,000 medical check-ups were carried out in the country and 105 infected people were detected.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A Businessman has been arrested by police after he stole up to 2 million face masks from a medical supplies company that had gone into liquidation, according to New York Post.

The businessman sold the masks to his contacts in Portugal after keeping stock at a locked warehouse on an industrial estate in the Galician cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela., Spain according to reports emanating from Spain.

Police investigators say the man didnt only steal masks but also stole other protective equipment, including surgical gloves.

The Spanish government had to buy face masks from China in an emergency purchase, as it was left without enough masks when people became infected with coronavirus and hundreds of people began to die every day in Spain.

READ ALSO  COVID-19: Umahi Orders Production Of 200,000 Face Masks

According to investigators, the theft is said to have occurred at the end of February.

Alfonso Rueda, vice-president of the regional Xunta de Galicia regional government, visited the theft site on Monday and said only around 100 out of the two million face masks stored there had been left untouched.

He said: The police received a tip-off that there could have been valuable health equipment here which would have been so necessary in the fight against COVID-19. It had been cleaned out by the time they arrived. We calculate two million face masks have been stolen. Only the boxes are left.

There are also empty boxes which contained surgical gloves but we dont know at this stage exactly how many are missing.

The police investigation has led to the identification and arrest of the main suspect, a person from Santiago who has already appeared in court.
Christell Cadet, a New York Fire Department paramedic, loves her job.

I know because she told me. When I asked her last year what it was like to be on the ambulance, she spoke of the thrill of saving a life, of racing toward danger to help when others were running away.

Ms. Cadet has been on a ventilator for the better part of a month, sick with the coronavirus and fighting for her life. She is 34 years old.

I just want people to know that shes a very beautiful person. She has a good heart, her mother, Jessy Cadet, told me by phone this week. Shes always ready to help anybody, everybody, everywhere.

Much attention in this terrible pandemic is being focused on the countrys hospitals, and rightly so. But the battle is also being fought by the nations front-line emergency medical workers, paramedics and E.M.T.s. These skilled professionals are responding to a deluge of calls, risking their lives to aid millions of sick Americans.
Cash and payments solutions company CMS is reportedly offering doorstep cash delivery to senior citizens and disabled people. The move comes amid the coronavirus lockdown in India, wherein people are advised to maintain social distance and only come out of their homes for purchasing essentials.

Due to the lockdown, day-to-day lives have been hampered and caused inconvenience, especially to senior citizens and the differently-abled. To help them avoid stepping out for cash, CMS has partnered with leading banks for delivering cash free of cost, reported The Economic Times (ET).

The initiative will also help tackle the situation where people are queuing up outside banks and ATMs, beating the purposes of social distancing.

COVID-19 pandemic LIVE updates

Anush Raghvan, senior VP at CMS Infosystem, has told ET that the company plans to deploy its 20,000-strong field staff across the country for the cash delivery service. To start with our service will be amount agnostic. This service will be immensely helpful at such critical times and also help people withdraw their DBT benefits, Raghvan said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The company is already in talks with leading private banks like ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, alongside public-sector banks like State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, etc.

Coronavirus testing centres near you

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its March 31 circular, stated that banks would offer doorstep services across the country. "Banks should develop a Board-approved framework for determining the nature of branches/centres where these services will be provided mandatorily and those where it will be provided on a best effort basis and make the policy public. The list of branches offering such doorstep banking services shall be displayed/updated on the banks website regularly, the circular read.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
A grieving daughter whose mother died alone from coronavirus because her father was told to stay away has urged hospital officials to stop blocking family members from seeing dying patients.

Maureen Preedy, 70, and her husband, Barry, were infected with COVID-19 in early March while on a cruise in Italy.

Upon returning to Perth, they were placed in quarantine but Mrs Preedy's condition worsened and she was rushed to hospital.

Her family were told she was dying but when they asked if Mr Preedy could be with his wife of 50 years in her final moments, they were told he had to stay away, even though he was already infected.

Mrs Preedy died alone on Monday and her daughter, Simone, has spoken out against the decision and urged hospitals to show some 'humanity' for the families of patients who are dying from COVID-19.

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Maureen Preedy (right), 70, and her husband, Barry (left), were infected with COVID-19 in early March while on a cruise in Italy

Their daughter, Simone (pictured), has spoken out against the decision to not allow her father to be with his wife as she lay dying and urged hospitals to show some 'humanity' for the families of patients who are dying from COVID-19

'It is devastating. My Mum, although the amazing hospital team were with her, they held her hand, they ensured that she was told that we loved her,' Simone told WA Today.

'But when she did pass, she did not have anyone there who loved her like we did.

The couple left for the cruise in early March, after coronavirus had already spread across the country.

They returned just last week on a Qatar flight after cruising on the Costa Victoria liner near Italy.

There are now 6,089 cases of the virus nationally and 51 people have died of COVID-19.

While Ms Preedy succumbed to the deadly virus, her husband's symptoms are improving and he may be able to return home to his family soon.

Simone said she understood the strict rules surrounding visitation of coronavirus infected patients but believes there need to be exceptions.

'These situations, I understand rules and regulations, but there is a level of humanity and everything needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis rather than with a black-and-white rule,' she said.

There are now 6,089 cases of the virus nationally and 51 people have died of COVID-19

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Ms Preedy's death was confirmed by Health Minister Roger Cook on Monday.

He said the decision for Mr Preedy to stay in isolation was made by 'clinical staff on the front in the interest of making sure we don't see further spread the disease'.

'These are difficult decisions, but I'm not here to second guess the decisions of our frontline workers,' he said.

Mr Cook said welfare checks are being conducted on people quarantining in hotels and extra efforts were being made to console Mr Preedy.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said he asked the director-general of the Department of Health to review the protocols that restricted Mr Preedy from being with his wife.

'I don't control exactly what they do day-to-day, but I am pleased there's going to be a review of that because that is a shocking, awful situation for that family.'
CHICO, Calif.  All across the country and here at home, many are now experiencing the realities of being separated from senior loved ones. In efforts to protect residents and staff from the coronavirus, health guidelines have dictated senior nursing homes, memory care and assisted living facilities, limit access of visitors to essential staff only.

Family members are no longer allowed inside for visits, which is creating an emotionally difficult reality for many families.

That is also the case for Action News Now Morning Anchor Julia Yarbough. She recently shared a touching photo of a visit with her elderly mother; a photo which touched-off a big response on social media.

Yarbough is the primary caregiver for her almost 90-year old mother. The photo posted to social media; a selfie; captured Yarbough talking with her mother; through a window of the care facility she currently resides.

That day, she broke down in tears, explains Yarbough. I asked her why she was crying. She said she felt extremely sad. She told me she was glad to be able to see me but that she couldnt hug me or touch me. It broke my heart.

That experience is shared by many other families whose loved ones are no longer able to accept family visitors.

Cynthia Robinson knows the feeling all too well. Her husband, Ed, is also in facility care. A husband, father and retired CHP officer, he suffers from Dementia. The daily visits by Robinson to spend time with her husband, have stopped.

You feel guilty, because theyre there and youre home and you cant get there, and the only way you can talk to them is by phone or skype with them, explains Robinson.

Robinson says now, not only does she worry about the daily care and well-being of her husband but she also now has a more emotional fear.

They have memory problems and you dont want them to forget who you are by not seeing you on a daily basis, says Robinson. Im afraid hes going to lose more of his memory and forget who I am.

It is much the same story for Lori Monaco. She and her family are in Florida but are experiencing similar angst. Her 92-year old father now resides in a V.A. hospital. The World-War Two veteran suffers from memory loss and can no longer have visits from family.

The challenges of being separated from elderly family members is perhaps on display now, more than ever. Several high-profile cases involving the coronavirus breaking out at senior care facilities, leading to the deaths of residents and the infection of staff and clients, has many on edge about the safety of loved ones.

For Art Leonard, whose mother lives in an assisted living in Orland, there is perhaps a small positive aspect.

He says his mother Delores suffers from Alzheimers and Dementia. He says even in the best of times, there are moments when she doesnt remember incidents or family. He says his hope is that during this time, perhaps his mother will not feel the separation as deeply because she is not fully aware of what is happening.

Its a good thing and a bad thing. Emotionally though, it is taking a toll on the family; its a bit difficult.

For families in this situation, there are no easy answers. Care facility staff and family are trying to balance the health and safety of elders, with the pain of being apart.

Robinson says, despite the difficulties, she would rather her husband be safe and have a reduced risk of getting sick.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Bexar County jumped double-digits again Wednesday, increasing to 554, and two more residents of a Southeast Side nursing home died of the virus.

The countys death toll is now 20.

Half of those deaths  10  were residents of the Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where 67 residents and a dozen employees were infected.

A resident at a San Antonio senior living facility, Franklin Park TPC Parkway on the citys North Side, has tested positive for COVID-19. That resident had recently traveled to California, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily coronavirus briefing with Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Seven other residents along with the facilitys employees tested negative for the virus, Nirenberg said.

The infection is not related to the Southeast Nursing outbreak, officials said.

We dont believe we have a localized outbreak at Franklin, Nirenberg said. We think its contained.

The City Council is set to extend Nirenbergs stay-at-home order to April 30 at its meeting Thursday. Wolff has already extended the countys parallel order to the end of the month.

On ExpressNews.com: Wear a mask when youre in public; Wolff extends stay-at-home order

The city has found more than 1,200 violations of he order, according to the most recent figures, but issued 24 citations.

Among those cited is Planet K, a chain known for selling smoking pipes, paraphernalia and adult novelties. After authorities visited various Planet K locations across the city 21 times, handing out warnings and citations, the city pulled the certificate of occupancy for the chains Austin Highway store, which allowed the disconnection of electric, gas and water there.

Planet K owner Michael Kleinman then reluctantly closed his shops but vowed to sue the city if it doesnt decide that his business is essential.

Kleinman, 68, insisted that Planet K qualified as essential under Gov. Greg Abbotts recent statewide order, in part because the stores sell household necessities such as vitamin supplements, candy, drinks, soda and beer.

In a recent interview, he added, We sell smoking accessories. We sell sexual aids. You know people need the sexual aids now more than ever.

But Nirenberg and Wolff pointed to the instance as what happens when residents and businesses flout the orders.

This is a pandemic, Nirenberg said. We have to have zero tolerance for fools.

Wolff concurred.

I really doubt that sexual objects hes got there or vaping is essential business, Wolff said.

More than a third of Bexar Countys confirmed cases  193  stem from close contact with someone else who had the disease, according to new figures released Wednesday.

Roughly 28 percent of the areas COVID-19 patients, or 155, contracted the disease through community transmission. About a quarter, 132, were travel-related cases.

Seventy-four are under investigation.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Nirenberg said 84 of those confirmed with COVID-19 are in the hospital now. Another 48 who are in the hospital and have symptoms are waiting on test results. Fifty are in intensive care; 41 are on ventilators to help them breathe.

On the good news side, Nirenberg said 92 people have recovered from the disease.

Earlier Wednesday, officials at Kindred Hospital-San Antonio Central confirmed that three of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19

But Kyle Sinclair, the hospital's CEO, said Wednesday that none of the patients at the small hospital have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, he said.

Its unclear how the employees contracted the disease.

Kindred Hospital-San Antonio Central is a 44-bed transitional care facility in downtown San Antonio that treats people who are chronically- or critically-ill and require specialized care for extended periods of time. Sinclair said that his employees carefully followed federal government guidelines and wore proper protective equipment prior to the employees falling ill.

We have had screening protocols in place since March 20 and temperature checks of all employees prior to and following each shift, Sinclair said in an email.

Sinclair said he wasnt able to provide more information about the employees who tested positive for COVID-19 because of privacy issues. The hospital has asked all employees who came in contact with the three to follow CDC guidelines and watch themselves closely for symptoms.

The city also confirmed a fourth San Antonio police officer has tested positive for COVID-19.

SAPD currently has 21 officers and 16 civilian employees under quarantine in addition to the four officers who have tested positive. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office also has four employees who have tested positive for COVID-19  three detention deputies and one civilian employee.

Also, a second H-E-B employee has tested positive for the virus. The employee works at the H-E-B near the intersection of Grissom and Tezel roads and was last there Sunday. The company said the store has since been deep cleaned and sanitized multiple times.

The first employee to test positive works at the H-E-B Plus store near Bandera and Loop 1604.

In Comal County, officials confirmed a third COVID-19 death  a man in his 80s from Bulverde with underlying health conditions. The man died Tuesday in a San Antonio hospital.

The county has two more confirmed cases, bringing its total to 29.

Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, become a subscriber. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
Ministers and Members of Legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances to fund the fight against coronavirus in the state, for a year.

An ordinance to reduce the salaries of Ministers and Legislators by 30 per cent for one year to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic was approved by the state cabinet headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday.

"...we have cut by 30 per cent salaries and allowances of all Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, also Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip every one for one year from April 1, amounting to Rs 15.36 crore," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, he said, "we have consent from all the political parties for this, so we have passed the ordinance today."



The Union Cabinet on Monday had approved a 30 per cent cut in salaries of all Members of Parliament and a two-year suspension of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme.

The cabinet on Thursday also approved two more ordinances, including the one with regards to deferment of GST remittance until June.

"We have passed the ordinance deferring the demand of GST taxes, they were due by this month, government of India has made a provision to pay the GST taxes till June-end, so we have followed the suit and we have also amended the law," Madhuswamy said, adding that an ordinance giving relaxation for farmers in a few districts facing cases under the provisions of Land Grabbing Act, has also been approved.

The Minister said the cabinet has also decided to temporarilydistribute rations for two months to over 2 lakh people without ration cards, whose applications are pending before the Revenue department.

Aimed at helping farmers involved in floriculture who are affected by lockdown with no marriages or functions, the Chief Minister asked Ministers to calculate the area under flower cultivation and estimated loss, he said, adding the government after considering loss, plans to give them compensation.

Later speaking to reporters, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said Ministers have been told see to it that there is no shortage of seeds and fertilizers for farmers.

There are reports of paddy crop being destroyed due to hailstorm in parts of Koppal, he said, adding the agriculture department and district administrations have been asked to submit the estimates of loss.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bulls fuelled a smart rally which pushed the S&P BSE Sensex beyond 31,000 in trade on April 9, the last trading day for the week, while the Nifty50 reclaimed 9,100 levels.

At close, the BSE Sensex rallied 1,265.66 points or 4.23 percent to 31,159.62 and the Nifty50 climbed 363.15 points or 4.15 percent to 9,111.90.

For the week, the benchmark indices surged nearly 13 percent each.

Sectorally, the rally was seen in auto, telecom, banks, IT, consumer discretionary, finance, healthcare, industrials and consumer durable space.

Strong global cues, and expectations of further stimulus measures from the Indian Government as well as central bankers across the world are boosting sentiment, suggest experts.

Market closed on a firm note amid gains in global, and Asian peers on hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing a peak in major hotspots countries and that governments would roll out more stimulus measures, Sundar Sanmukhani, Head of Fundamental Research Desk at Choice Broking said.

The government is likely to unveil a second stimulus package in the coming days to focus on the help of MSME. Sectorally, all indices were trading in green with auto and pharma index leasing the rally, he said.

We have collated a list of factors that could be driving optimism on D-Street:

Strong Global Cues:

Tracking strong close in the US markets, Asian shares also started on a firm footing on hopes the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing a peak and that governments would roll out more stimulus measures.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the states efforts at social distancing were working in getting the virus under control in one of the biggest hotspots in the country, said a Reuters report.

Shares in China, where the novel coronavirus first emerged late last year, rose 0.37 percent. Australian shares were up 3.46 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.38 percent and South Korea's Kospi gained 1.61 percent.

European markets too traded higher with Germany's DAX rising 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE up 0.65 percent at the time of updating this copy.

Investors will keep a close eye on stimulus measures likely to be announced by the government and the possibility of extension of lockdown amid rising numbers of coronavirus cases, suggest experts.

A second stimulus package India is poised to announce in the coming days will be worth around 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) and focus on help for small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus outbreak, two senior officials said on Wednesday, said a Reuters report.

Last month, India outlined a Rs 1.7 lakh cr economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor hit by an ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.

The official which Reuters spoke to said that a separate package could be announced for bigger companies after assessing the extent of the hit they have faced due to the lockdown imposed to fight the outbreak. Although, a finance ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report published by Reuters.

One of the big factors which fuelled optimism in global markets is the comment made by the US President on opening up the economy.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would like to reopen the US economy with a big bang but that the death toll from the coronavirus needs to be on the downslope before that can happen, said a Reuters report.

Trump did not give a timeframe on when he would like to reopen the economy, but his chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said on Tuesday it was possible this could happen in four to eight weeks, added the report.

After pulling out more than Rs 60,000 crore from the cash segment of the Indian equity markets, foreign investors turned net buyers in the last two sessions pouring in more than Rs 2,600 crore, provisional data showed.

So far from the month of April, they have remained net sellers for about Rs 400 crore. FPI has been net sellers in the cash segment in January, February, as well as March, provisional data showed on Moneycontrol.com.
FP Trending

Hyundai has announced pan-India coverage of its Click to Buy online sales platform, which includes over 500 dealerships. The move becomes pertinent at a time when people are staying indoors to fight coronavirus.

Hyundai has pioneered the digital sales arena in India with Click to Buy that is Indias first online sales platform offering the new-age digital customer a seamless and convenient option to remotely purchase new Hyundai cars from the safety of their homes, said SS Kim, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India.

With Hyundai Click to Buy get your favourite car from the comfort of your home! Just follow these 3 Easy Steps

1. Select & Configure your car

2. Get Quotation & Finance options

3. Get Doorstep Delivery

Click here https://t.co/cgmZ5VovPk#ClickToBuy #HyundaiCares pic.twitter.com/obX93WD24C  Hyundai India (@HyundaiIndia) April 9, 2020

He also added that with this initiative, the company is providing its tech-savvy customers a simpler option for purchasing Hyundai cars.

The company had in January 2020 piloted Click to Buy with a few dealers in the Delhi-NCR region.

The South Korean carmaker has made available all its models, including the Creta and Verna, on the online sales platform, which is connected in real time with all the dealerships across the country.

How Click to Buy works:
SPRINGFIELD - Baystate Health is reporting the number of cases of people testing positive for COVID-19 continues to rise with another 35 cases being identified through Thursday morning.

Since the start of the coronavirus emergency, Baystate Health has identified a total of 568 cases where people tested positive for the virus, according to a statement issued by Baystate.

The 35 additional cases is a slight dip from the day before when there were 36 new cases reported.

So far, 2,502 people have been tested at Baystate facilities in Western Massachusetts, and 1,903 of those tests have come back negative, which works out to 76 percent. Another 36 cases are pending.

Baystate has admitted 179 patients who are confirmed to have COVID-19, and are caring for another 12 who are suspected of having it. Of the 179 confirmed, patients, 29 are being treated in critical-care units.

Baystate is not disclosing a breakdown according to hospitals to ensure patient privacy.

According to Baystate data, two-thirds of confirmed COVID-19 patients either do not need to be admitted for treatment, or have been discharged and are recovering at home.

Baystate Health operates four hospitals in Western Massachusetts: Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, and Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer.

Related Content:
With 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases, Jawaharpur village of Dera Bassi in Punjab's Mohali district has become a new coronavirus hotspot in the state, officials said on Thursday.

Overall, Mohali district has topped the COVID-19 tally in Punjab with 37 cases.

"One more positive case in Jawaharpur," Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan tweeted on Thursday.

Till Wednesday, Jawaharpur reported a total of 21 cases.

The health authorities in Mohali district are conducting extensive sampling of the contacts of the coronavirus patients.

The district administration has completely sealed the entry points to the village -- located near Delhi-Ambala National Highway and deployed police to stop the movement of people.

"House to house survey on in neighbouring villages also. 54 more samples taken. Sealed villages of Mukandpur, Devi Nagar and Haripur Kurha as well," Dayalan tweeted.

The first person to contract the infection was a 42-year-old man -- a panch of Jawaharpur village -- on April 4, officials said. Since then, 20 more people have been infected with the virus.

Most of the positive cases are members of the panch's extended family, they said.

Officials suspect that the panch contracted the infection after coming in contact with some workers who in turn had met Tablighi Jamaat members.

None of the patients had a travel history, they further said.

Dayalan said they have been conducting extensive testing of contacts of positive cases.

"For each positive contact, we have been tracing and testing 25-55 people. We are not hiding behind numbers. For Jawaharpur (village), we have done 142 samples following contacts. Total samples taken in district is 629," said Dayalan.

"Meanwhile, the district administration has prepared a contingency plan to quarantine potential patients in case of geometric increase in subsequent stages of pandemic," Dayalan added.

Dayalan said the administration has ample quarantine facilities but an acute spike may require segregation of COVID-19 positive patients.

"Patients from densely populated areas or slums can't be home quarantined so to check the spread of contagion, it is necessary to earmark places where they can be made to stay," he said.

In line with this, the district administration has tied up with Chandigarh University which has provided a dedicated 1,000 bed isolation facility.

Similarly, to minimise response time, the administration has sought support from higher education institutions in the district to reserve their vacant hostels for quarantine purposes.

The symptomatic cases would be quarantined in various hospitals while the asymptomatic cases need to be quarantined away from home so as to ensure that the community spread doesn't take place, he said.

Dayalan exhorted the educational institutions to share information about vacant hostel rooms with the district administration, conceding to which they furnished the approximate number of rooms/halls/classrooms that could be used as a quarantine facility, on the spot.

Bed space for nearly 4,000 patients was assured, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given. This week he talks to Spencer Tunick. The American visual artist, 53, is best known for photographing large groups of nude people in natural and urban landscapes, from New Yorks Times Square to the Sydney Opera House.

Spencer Tunick: "Im lucky to be able to survive off my work and not work for someone else." Credit:Paul Harris

DEATH

To what extent is your work about the vulnerability and impermanence of the human body? When I started my group works in the mid-1990s, they were a reaction to an idea of defencelessness, and acts of crime and war. My first group nude was photographed in front of the UN building in New York in response to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Having bodies clustered together creates an abstraction that goes between life, death and vulnerability.

Youve been arrested five times while working outdoors in Manhattan. My first arrest was in 1994. When youre arrested in New York, youre often put into communal jail

cells  sometimes with violent criminals  so it can be dangerous. Id prepare myself to get arrested by having painkillers with me, and writing my First Amendment criminal defence lawyers phone number under my clothing.
(L) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a news conference detailing EU efforts to limit economic impact of the CCP disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium April 2, 2020. (Francois Lenoir/Pool/Reuters), (R) European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, holds a virtual news conference at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, on March 31, 2020. (Francois Lenoir/Pool/Reuters/File Photo)

EU Members Support Each Other During COVID-19 Crisis, Extending Help to Their Neighbors

Despite a slow start, Europe is now standing tall together, President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on March 5. She made the statement on Twitter when referring to help that EU member states offer each other where it is needed to curb the pandemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

The European Union also extends assistance to non-EU countries, especially African countries that are particularly vulnerable because the devastating effects of COVID-19 can be amplified by conflicts, EUs diplomat-in-chief Josep Borrell said at a virtual presser after the video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers on March 3.

European Solidarity

European retired doctors and nurses returned to work, restaurants deliver food to exhausted medical staff, and car manufacturers produce ventilators, von der Leyen said. She also praised Polish doctors who went to Italy to treat Italian patients, Czechia and Austria for sending 10,000 masks to Spain and other countries in need, Germany for admitting Italian patients to their hospitals, and Bulgaria for sending protective equipment to Austria.

Czechia will also treat six COVID-19 patients from France at one of its major hospitals to help alleviate pressure on the French medical system, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on March 5, according to Reuters.

The European Union will co-finance and coordinate the deployment of medical teams from Romania and Norway to Italy, as well as the Austrian offer of 3,000 liters (792 gallons) of disinfectants to Italy, the European Commission announced in a statement.

This is the power of European solidarity, von der Leyen said in a tweet.

These acts of kindness, bravery and ingenuity fill me with pride. This is the power of European solidarity. We need to turn this into concrete political action and investments to secure our common future.https://t.co/fGlhL2C2ag  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 5, 2020

The European Union has also taken some unprecedented measures to relax its state aid rules to support all European businesses whether big or small during the time of crisis, von der Leyen said in an op-ed published by European media. Relaxing budgetary rules helped those in need to obtain assistance quicker. The EU and its member states allocated a total of 2.8 trillion euros ($3 billion) to fight the pandemic, she said.

People with balloons wait for the arrival of relatives at the airport in Frankfurt, as the spread of the CCP virus continues. Germany, on April 2, 2020. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters/File Photo)

The EU also assists its members in the repatriation of their citizens stuck in foreign countries after many countries closed their borders due to the CCP virus outbreak. Repatriation has become more and more difficult since many airlines grounded their planes, said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The EU usually coordinates with airlines commercial flights or charter flights if possible to bring EU residents home and most people repatriated so far have come home this way. If there is no other way to bring people back, the EU uses its civil protection mechanism as the last resort to arrange EU non-commercial charter flights. About 10,000 people have been repatriated this way so far, Borrell said.

For example, Poland needs to repatriate its people from Nepal where the Polish commercial airline cannot fly and hopes that the EU can help to bring Poles stuck in Nepal back home, said Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz at a press conference in an answer to a question from The Epoch Times.

To date, more than 350,000 Europeans have been repatriated through the EU efforts, while 250,000 still need assistance, said Borrell.

EU Plans to Assist its Neighbors to Fight CCP Virus

A mask-clad consumer pays from behind a barrier amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 CCP virus, at a supermarket in the Libyan capital on March 25, 2020. (Mahmud Turkia /AFP via Getty Images)

We cannot solve this pandemic just at home. Even if we solve the problem in Europe, it will not be solved if it is not solved everywhere. Because it can backlash at any moment, Borrell said.

African countries neighboring the EU, where the pandemic can get out of control very rapidly, are a special concern because these countries do not have the same healthcare capacity that Europe does, Borrell said. Europe has 37 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants, but Africa has only 1 doctor per 10,000 inhabitants, he said. The number of beds in hospitals and the number of intensive care units (ICU) in Africa shows similar disparity, so the same threat can cause more damage in Africa than in Europe. Therefore, out of its own interests, the EU would like to help Africa, Borrell said. In the areas currently involved in military conflicts like Libya, Syria, Yemen, the devastating effect of the coronavirus can be multiplied, he added.

Borrell called for a meeting of EU ministers of development which will take place this week and the ministers together will create a package to address COVID-19 situation in Africa.

The ministers at the conference also discussed support to other EU neighbors like Ukraine, Belarus, and Western Balkan countries where the healthcare level is lower than in the EU, Czaputowicz said at a press conference in response to a question from The Epoch Times.

Assistance to these states is also important from the geopolitical perspective due to other actors presence in these countries, but it requires additional funds, Czaputowicz said. Poland, together with some other EU members, proposed an increase of the EU budget for this purpose but other EU members did not supported it, said Czaputowicz.

Borrell also called for a worldwide truce in support of the appeal by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate global ceasefire in light of the global coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

We urge all those involved in armed conflicts anywhere in the world to engage in efforts to find a political solution to the conflict, Borrell said, Now is the time for international solidarity, so the most vulnerable people can be protected from suffering brought by the CCP virus.

All efforts and resources should be devoted to fighting the common enemy, the CCP virus, Borrell said. He also urged all warring parties to ensure that those in need will get unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.

The European Union also stresses that sanctions should provide exceptions for humanitarian aid including medical equipment and supplies, Borrell said. U.N. and EU sanctions provision such exceptions and the EU encourages other jurisdictions to do the same, he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Eighty per cent of workers at housebuilder Redrow have been put on leave as the construction sector slows down due to conflicting messages on whether building sites should continue operating.

Redrow has also gained access to a 300million Covid Corporate Financing Facility and said that negotiations with six banks over securing another 100million from its current Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) were 'progressing well.'

'The additional bank facilities remove any lingering fears that the group would look to raise fresh equity,' Peel Hunt analysts said.

Redrow has also cut the pay of directors and board members due to the coronavirus

Shares in the Flintshire-based business grew 7.9 per cent to 436.7p following the announcement.

It follows from the company's decision at the end of March to cut salaries for its board and directors by a fifth while the crisis is ongoing.

The same day it was announced senior directors would have their pay slashed, Redrow closed all its building sites and offices due to supply chain issues.

'The positive progress we have made on securing additional banking facilities means we can now finalise plans for our valued workforce and supply chain, to make an orderly return to work when we are advised it is safe to do so,' said Executive Chairman John Tutte.

This Taylor Wimpey housing construction site was closed after the firm ordered the shutdown of all building locations. Construction employees and firms complained that it was virtually impossible to do any work while complying with the new social distancing regulations

In the days prior to the shutdown of construction areas across the country, the building sector was complaining that it was receiving confounding guidance from the government on whether to keep building work going.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown on 23 March, but the government had said that labourers could still operate on sites as long as they abided by social distancing rules.

But construction employees and firms complained that it was virtually impossible to do any work while complying with the new regulations.

Taylor Wimpey, Travis Perkins and Galliard were among those who downed tools.

The disruption the coronavirus has caused to the industry has been the most severe since the financial crisis.

This week, the IHS Markit purchasing managers' index survey for the construction trade, plunged by over 13 points, from 52.6 in February to 39.3 in March, its worst reading in over a decade. A number below 50 indicates contraction.

Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, said the pace of redundancies in the industry was on a 'frightening scale.'

Before the Covid-19 pandemic began, the most recent figures showed that the sector contributed about 117billion to the UK economy. There were also an estimated 2.4 million jobs in the industry.
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Monsoon, a drama in the English and Vietnamese language that stars Henry Golding, the distributor announced Thursday.

Monsoon comes from director Hong Khaou and Protagonist Pictures and made its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival last June. Strand Releasing is planning a fall release for the film. Peccadillo will release the film in the UK later this year.

Monsoon stars Golding as Kit, a young British man of Vietnamese descent who returns to Saigon to scatter his mothers ashes. Along the journey, Kit meets estranged family members who help him recall his past, and he later falls for an American man named Lewis (Parker Sawyers), whose father fought in the Vietnam War.

Also Read: 'Snake Eyes': Ursula Corbero to Play Baroness in 'GI Joe' Movie Spinoff (Exclusive)

Were so thrilled to be working with Protagonist Pictures again, and especially to follow up with Hongs latest effort which is such a beautifully crafted and personal film for Hong, Marcus Hu, co-president of Strand Releasing, said in a statement. Strand also released Khaous previous film, Lilting, his directorial debut that starred Ben Whishaw.

The deal was negotiated by Jon Gerrans, co-president of Strand Releasing, and George Hamilton, head of sales of Protagonist Pictures. Paradigm co-represented the film with Protagonist Pictures.

The Crazy Rich Asians breakout Golding recently starred in Guy Ritchies The Gentlemen and Paul Feigs Last Christmas. Golding next stars in the upcoming Paramount action film Snake Eyes based on the Hasbro character.

Sawyers starred as the young Barack Obama in the Sundance competition film, Southside With You.

Variety first reported the news of the acquisition.

Read original story Henry Golding Drama Monsoon Acquired by Strand Releasing At TheWrap
According to the Deputy Head of the President's Office, coronavirus-infected people will be treated according to the protocols of China, the USA and Italy

ABC News

Ukraines COVID-19 treatment protocol is based on the protocols of China, the USA, and Italy. Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko told this in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.

According to Tymoshenko, Ukraines Ministry of Health is finalizing the protocol on coronavirus treatment.

"But Minister Stepanov stated that they were refining it (the protocol of treatment  112 International), supplementing it with new medicines. We used the Chinese protocol, Italian and American as the basis," he said.

Tymoshenko noted that there was a possibility of introducing a state of emergency in Ukraine.

"We have been talking, of course (with the president  ed.). These are conditions when we understand that there is a good chance that we will not be able to stop the spread of the coronavirus without the introduction of a state of emergency. There are many different factors. State of emergency provides measures that can help control the situation, control that people stay at home," the deputy head added.

As we reported earlier, as of now, there are 1892 cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine. Overall, 57 people died, 45 patients recovered.
Oil prices and the Canadian dollar are braced for high volatility during Thursdays New York session

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - a group known as OPEC+ - are set to convene a video conference meeting on Thursday during US trading.

This meeting follows the disastrous gathering in early March when Russia and Saudi launched a price war after the existing deal to curb production collapsed.

There is inevitably very strong pressure to cut output given downward pressure on prices from excess supply. The situation is becoming more acute as spare storage is now extremely limited. If OPEC+ can slow the inventory build, this will provide some breathing space until demand recovers later in 2020.

As well as confronting negative oil-market fundamentals, producers also have to deal with intense geo-political tensions between Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US.

From the US perspective, the situation is critical as oil prices at these levels will cause major damage to the shale industry which has an overall estimate breakeven level of $45 p/b. At current prices, there will inevitably be heavy casualties in the industry.

Oil news service Platts reported that US officials are exerting strong back-channel pressure on the countries to close a deal to stave off further industry bleeding.

According to Marshall Gittler, Head of Investment Research at BDSwiss Group Saudi Arabia is reportedly pushing for a massive 10mn barrel a day (b/d) cut in the groups overall output, which would be about 25%. The problem is that the Saudis wont cut unless the Russians do, and the Russians wont cut unless the Americans do.

Sources indicate that Russia is willing to cut 1.6mn b/d (around 14%) from its first quarter production level, which was around 11.3mn b/d.

The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) revised down its forecasts for 2021 US production by around 13% to 11.03mn bpd from 12.99mn, but Russia will demand more than involuntary output cuts from the US.

Canada and Norway would also potentially agree to production curbs, but much of the burden will fall on Saudi Arabia.

"We're waiting with bated breath," said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.

"I think there'll be a deal, which will bring a bit of cheer in the short run. Then everyone's attention will refocus on the fundamentals. The fundamentals are appalling," he said.

The task of attempting to rebalance the market remains daunting. Global demand for crude has collapsed given lockdowns which have severely dented gasoline demand while international travel restrictions have decimated the airline industry.

UBS, for example, expects oil demand this quarter to fall by about 20 million bpd, down 20% from a year earlier.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed crude stocks rose by 15.2 million barrels, their biggest ever one-week rise and followed a 13.8mn barrel increase the previous week. Gasoline stocks also increased over 17.0mn barrels over the past two weeks.

Gittler remarked; US gasoline consumption in the latest week was down 53% from the average for that week of the previous two years -- the lowest since at least 1990.

"Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

In its view, a headline cut of close to 15mn b/d would be need to provide longer-term support and there would be downside risks to their $20.0 p/b crude forecast in the event of a headline 10.0mn b/d cut.

According to Gittler, a decision to cut production by 10mn b/d might shore up prices temporarily, but its not enough to balance the market.

If OPEC+ talks collapse today, there would be immediate and sharp downward pressure on oil prices with the potential for WTI to slide below $20.0 p/b.

Oil prices have moved higher on Thursday with WTI trading around 26.50 p/b and Brent at $34.20 p/b. This compares with 17-year lows at the end of March with global benchmarks below $20.00 and $22.00 respectively.

The Canadian dollar faces a very volatile trading session on Thursday. Moves in oil prices surrounding the OPEC+ meeting will inevitably have a significant impact on the Canadian dollar. Ahead of the meeting, Canada will release its latest employment data with consensus forecasts for a jump in unemployment to 7.4% from 5.6% and employment decline of over 400,000.

Canadian markets will also be closed for a holiday on Friday with position adjustment intensifying volatility during the day. USD/CAD was trading around 1.4040 ahead of the New York open.

The Norwegian krone will also be volatile with domestic markets closed for a holiday. Any increase in oil prices would also tend to provide limited Sterling support.
All Australians have been ordered to abide by the new strict coronavirus social distancing rules as the country continues to battle the deadly pandemic.

Residents have only been allowed to leave their home for necessary reasons which they can prove to police.

They must also limit gatherings to two people, except for families and households, and keep a 1.5 metre distance between themselves and others.

Coronavirus live blog: Latest news and updates from Australia

A group of friends were fined for having a dinner party. Source: AAP

Since the stage three restrictions were introduced, hundreds of people have been caught flouting the law and slapped with massive fines - here are some of the strangest.

Three mates fined for playing video games

Three friends were whacked with a massive fine for breaching the two-person social gathering rules on Wednesday.

Victoria police found the trio did not live together and handed them a $1652 fine each.

L-plater slapped with $1600 fine

Hunter Reynolds, 17, was learning to drive in wet conditions with her mother supervising in the car when a police officer pulled them over on the weekend.

The pair had travelled about 30 kilometres from their Hampton, Victoria, home to Frankston.

Learner driver, Hunter Reynolds, 17, has been given a $1652 on-the-spot fine for breaching the stage three restrictions. Source: 7News

Despite insisting they had not stopped or come into contact with anyone else, the teen was given a $1652 on-the-spot fine for breaching the stage three restrictions.

After publicly sharing their story, the police hierarchy reviewed the fine.

Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton told 3AW on Tuesday that blatant rule-breakers should be fined but there was community confusion.

Source: AAP

Woman's brazen excuse for leaving the house

A passenger in a car being driven by a food delivery driver was issued with a violation on Saturday by NSW Police.

Police allege the 33-year-old woman from Toongabbie, who was the front-seat passenger, was only there because she said she was bored being at home.

Story continues

Man fined for sitting at picnic table

At noon on Tuesday, Mt Druitt Police were patrolling a shopping centre when they spotted a man sitting at a picnic table.

At noon on Tuesday, Mt Druitt Police were patrolling a shopping centre when they spotted a man sitting at a picnic table. Source: Getty

The 20 year old had been warned on three separate occasions the day prior after being sighted at the same location. He was issued with a $1000 fine.

Police fine man for walking on footpath

Earlier this week, officers from Chifley Police District were patrolling in Bathurst, NSW, when they saw a man walking along the footpath.

A person has been fined for walking on a footpath. Source: AAP

The 41-year-old gave several different reasons for being out of his home but police issued him with a $1000 fine.

Male busted for eating a kebab on a bench

Last week, a man, 21, ignored two warnings for eating a kebab in Newcastle and was fined $1000.

Police crash dinner party

Seven people were issued infringements after gathering at a house for a dinner party.

Friends standing outside drinking near a set table. Source: AAP

Woman defies quarantine to go on shopping spree

A NSW woman has been fined $1000 by for defying an order to self-isolate after international travel when she was allegedly caught during a lengthy shopping spree.

The 65-year-old woman returned to Sydney on a flight from Indonesia recently and was given a direction to self-isolate at home.

Police officers are enforcing the lockdown of Bondi Beach imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Last week, police found the woman in her car.

She told officers she had been to seven separate retail stores that day, including the supermarket.

The woman was directed to return home immediately.

Two off-duty police officers fined for breaching laws

Two off-duty NSW Police officers have been fined $1000 for breaching social distancing measures.

One woman, a 27-year-old senior constable, was found by police being helped by a 31-year-old man on King Street in Sydneys CBD on Saturday about 8.30pm.

NSW Police said she was intoxicated and taken to St Vincents Hospital for treatment. She was released on Sunday about 2am.

She was questioned and police determined she had been at a party.

Two members of NSW Police have been fined for being at a party  a contravention of measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. Source: AAP (file pic)

Also at the party was a 27-year-old senior constable from Fairfield City Police Area Command.

Three other people who arent members of the police, including the 31-year-old man, were also found to have attended the party.

All five were fined $1000 each for breaching the Public Health Act 2010.

Eleven people fined over backyard party

Eleven people have been fined $1060 for failing to comply with coronavirus-related directions at a social gathering at a regional South Australian home.

Noise complaints made about the Port Augusta home, in the Upper Spencer Gulf, resulted in police visiting the property four times over Tuesday and Wednesday.

During all four visits, a group of 13 people was found in the backyard or inside the property and, on the first three occasions, were provided social distancing and prohibited gathering advice by police.

SA Police issued the $1060 fines to people aged between 32 and 57 years, with the remaining two being followed up by police.

There are fears Australians could stop abiding by social distancing rules as the curve flattens. Source: AAP

Neighbours urged to dob in holidaymakers

The government has repeatedly urged Easter holiday-makers to cancel their non-essential travel as part of efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Now they are asking people to dob in their neighbours and tourists for violating social distancing rules.

NSW police said they will patrol caravan parks and use technology such as number plate recognition to ensure people are following the restrictions.

More than 2,300 calls about COVID-19 were made to Victoria police on Wednesday, according to Nine News.

Scott Morrison has told all Aussies to stay home this Easter. Source: AAP

Over the past two weeks, people have called the non-urgent hotline to report 3700 mass gatherings and 2000 people violating self-isolation.

More than 1700 businesses were also reported, according to the publication.

The state's police commissioner has warned officers will be out in force to ensure people are abiding by the road rules, and public health orders designed to tackle the coronavirus threat.

Mick Fuller on Wednesday said police would use all of their powers and technology - including number plate recognition and road cameras - to identify people who shouldn't be travelling under social distancing restrictions.

To report someone breaking the rules you can call: 131 444.

- with AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
DES MOINES  Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a proclamation declaring Thursday as a Day of Prayer in Iowa, urging Iowans to unite in prayer in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In issuing the decree Wednesday, Reynolds also invited Iowans to participate in the 59th annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast, which is offered entirely online this year.

The power of prayer and faith in God is something that has guided so many of us in good times and bad, Reynolds said in a statement.

We have all been impacted by COVID-19. Some of us have lost a loved one and others know those who are sick, she added. Whether you are a nurse on the frontlines fighting the pandemic, a grocery store worker, the truck driver making a delivery, or someone laid off at home, this has been a challenging and stressful time. Let us join together and pray for our neighbors, communities and state.

Thursday marks the beginning of the Jewish festival of Passover and also is the Christian holy day of Maundy Thursday, which precedes Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Normally, hundreds of Iowans would be gathering in Des Moines for the 59th annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg said. But because of COVID-19, that has been moved entirely online and made free of charge. The governor and I encourage everyone to join us for that event to celebrate this Day of Prayer.

More information on the Iowa Prayer Breakfast and registration can be found at iowaprayerbreakfast.com.
A political and economic apparatus rigged to enrich the few at the expense of the many was always destined to collapse.

Oh, the irony.

Confronted by an economy-killing pandemic, remarkably, a bunch of frantic politicians in the West have found lots of money to try to resuscitate their suddenly on-life-support, market-driven balance sheets.

Taken together, they have injected trillions of dollars to the frenetic effort; money they have always insisted they did not have and could not spend to help people they claim  with varying degrees of sincerity  they are now determined to help.

Today, these rebar-hard capitalists turned quasi-socialists have become grudging facsimiles of Bernie Sanders  whether they are prepared to admit it or not.

The indefatigable Vermont senator has always known the money was there to help people who need help and he has always been prepared to spend it to help people who need help  long before a lethal virus began obliterating United States Ponzi-scheme-like economy with tornado-like ferocity.

Sanders and his humane designs to begin the long-overdue overhaul of the existing political and economic infrastructure to help people who need help were dismissed by the neo-liberal industrial complex as the fantastical musings of a socialist cuckoo who kept peddling the impossible.

Well, the impossible has miraculously turned possible. The fantasy has, in part, turned real. The cock-sure pundits and politicians who make up the neo-liberal industrial complex and who told us that spending lots of money to help people who need help was crazy, crazy, crazy have lately been shouting spend, spend, spend like the democratic socialist cuckoos they once derided.

Sanders may have dropped out of the race to become president but the plain, transformative prescription that has defined his political career and his two improbable, invigorating campaigns for president  that government must use its wealth to help people who need help  has not only been embraced by the neo-liberal industrial complex, it will, I suspect, become the defining governing principle for the foreseeable future.

Surely, Sanders can take a good measure of credit for that  whether or not smug and catastrophically wrong neo-liberals acknowledge that their disagreeably stubborn ideological nemesis has been right on this seminal score all along.

Failing that, Sanders will, no doubt, be applauded by the we-and-the-free-market-know-best pundits for belatedly recognising that his path to the Democratic nomination had closed and, as a result, for finally doing the right thing, for the right reasons, at the right time.

Others may even offer up the usual bromides to describe his decision to concede, in effect, the nomination to that other card-carrying member of the neo-liberal industrial complex, Joe Biden, as gracious or dignified.

Do not be fooled by the hollow expressions of magnanimity. These are, remember, mostly the same naysayers who have spent so much vitriolic time and space on TV and in columns painting a preposterous caricature of Sanders as an angry, obdurate old man who posed an existential threat to USs thriving economy.

Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was the predictable choice of the neo-liberal industrial complex. She was more than palatable since she was content simply to recycle the tired, standard line to address the nagging inequalities rife in the US.

Clinton was the status quo candidate at a time when the status quo was being emphatically rejected by so many Americans who were being left adrift. Sanders understood this zeitgeist. Clinton did not, and paid for it.

In the end, despite the incessant whining of centrist-hugging progressives, Clinton could not even beat an inept narcissist where and when it counted  in the electoral college on November 8, 2016.

Rather than admit that, Clinton and company were guilty of near-criminal political negligence, her allies pointed an accusatory finger at the only Democratic candidate who was able to build a pan-American movement that captured and harnessed the distemper of the times because, they said, he did not rush to endorse Clinton quickly enough. Figures.

Sanders forewarned Americans and anyone else who bothered to listen that the countrys political and economic apparatus  where power and wealth are vested in the few at the expense of the many  was deeply and irreversibly damaging and, ultimately, unsustainable.

The vast, entrenched inequality that Sanders has sought to remedy not just rhetorically, but in tangible, concrete ways, is playing out tragically as COVID-19 exacts its relentless human toll across the US.

In Chicago alone, poor minorities with little or no access to healthcare, have not only tested positive for the virus in shockingly disproportionate numbers, but succumbed to the disease in equally shocking and disproportionate numbers.

Sanders also warned that a political and economic apparatus that was rigged to continue to enrich the rich at the expense of the many was not only unsustainable, but was destined to collapse.

Turns out, Sanders was right on that count too.

For decades, Sanders has urged Americans to work together to build a fairer nation where the dividends of prosperity will be shared by all and not the gilded few who control most of the nations immense wealth. That powerful, egalitarian message resonated with millions of Americans in 2016, as it has in 2020.

It is a profound shame that Sanders, a transparently thoughtful, honest and honourable man, will be unable to lead that noble enterprise as commander-in-chief. Still, he has tried. That is more than his petty, forgettable detractors can say.

The US is teetering on a dangerous precipice. It is led by a president who lies and rewrites history with the facility of an authoritarian.

When this pandemic passes and the necessary accounting takes place, it is likely that thousands of Americans will have died due to the manifest incompetence and negligence of one man: Donald Trump.

He must be beaten in November. To do that, Biden will need to forge a genuine effort to enlist Sanders and his supporters as partners to fashion a new Democratic Party that dispenses with the shopworn hyperbole about fairness and equality and, instead, commits itself to making fairness and equality the core, dominating principles of a Biden administration.

If he does not, Biden will duplicate Hillary Clintons ignominious fate, while countless Americans will suffer the disfiguring trauma of Trump for four more years.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Further efforts are still needed to come to a decision on this issue.

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau says the TCG participants, namely Ukraine and Russia, have not yet identified new disengagement sites.

"The Security Working Group paid major attention to the identification of additional disengagement areas of forces and hardware. Yet, further efforts are still needed to come to a decision on this issue," Grau said in a press statement after a TCG meeting on April 8, 2020.

In the discussion on mine action, the demining of civilian facilities and their surroundings was prioritized.

Read alsoOne Ukrainian soldier wounded amid eight enemy attacks on April 8

"In this regard, emphasis was made on the need for timely mine clearance of entry-exit crossing points and adjacent areas in the period before the future lifting the ongoing restrictions on crossing the line of contact," she said.

In addition, the Economic Working Group discussed the question of economic relations across the line of contact. The discussion also touched upon pressing environmental issues and current issues of water supplies to certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR).

"The Political Working Group discussed aspects related to the special status of CADR and CALR, as foreseen by the Minsk Agreements," the official said.

According to Grau, the Humanitarian Working Group focused its debates on the exchange of detainees. The sides agreed in principle on the next phase of the exchange with a view to its completion in the near future. Aspects of the opening of new entry-exit crossing points on the line of contact in the Luhansk region were further discussed.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the withdrawal of forces and troops at the first three sites in Donbas took place in 2019. The disengagement of forces in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska was in June 2019, near Zolote in late October, and near Bohdanivka and Petrivske in November 2019.

The Normandy Four leaders (Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia) during their Paris summit on December 9, 2019, supported the agreement reached within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group on the pullback of forces and means at three more sites.
[April 09, 2020] Priority Health Waives All Member Cost Sharing for the Treatment of COVID-19

Priority Health announced today that it will waive all copays, deductibles and coinsurance for the treatment of COVID-19 through June 30. This means that all of the company's nearly one million members across Commercial, Individual, Medicaid and Medicare plans can get the testing and treatment they need for COVID-19 with no out-of-pocket health insurance costs. Covered treatment may be inpatient or outpatient from an in-network provider. Self-funded employer groups are also included unless they choose to opt-out. "We are committed to ensuring our members have access to the health care they need for COVID-19, when they need it without worrying about cost," said Joan Budden, President and CEO of Priority Health. "These are unprecedented times, and we will do what is necessary to keep our members and communities safe." At this time, patients can only be tested for COVID-19 if a physician orders a test. Patients must have a confirmed primary COVID-19 diagnosis and be receiving evidence-based care for treatment to be fully covered. Anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should contact their healthcare provider to determine eligibility for testing. Priority Health is encouraging members to se virtual care whenever possible, to prevent further spread of the virus and help avoid overwhelming health care providers and facilities.



To support members throughout the crisis, Priority Health previously announced the following: Fully covering the cost of physician-ordered COVID-19 testing for all members

Expanding free telehealth (virtual care) to all members for COVID-19 screening and testing

Expanding free home medication delivery for all members with the largest pharmacies in the state Priority Health continues to follow the CDC's activities and work with local health departments and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to share information with our members and employers. The insurer's government relations team is also in constant contact with Governor Gretchen Whitmer's team in Lansing and legislators at the federal level to ensure alignment on action steps.

For more information on Priority Health and ongoing efforts surrounding COVID-19, go to priorityhealth.com. About Priority Health:

With over 30 years in business, Priority Health is the second largest health plan in Michigan offering a broad portfolio of health benefits options for employer groups and individuals, including Medicare and Medicaid plans. Serving more than one million members each year and offering a network that includes 97 percent of primary care physicians in Michigan, Priority Health continues to be recognized as a leader for quality, customer service, transparency and product innovation. Priority Health is the smart choice for people seeking affordable, quality health insurance. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005671/en/

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Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.
The European Union has pledged 15 billion euros to help vulnerable countries fight Covid-19, particularly in Africa. While hailed as a much-needed stimulus for the continent, some critics argue Africa should not keep begging for help.

"Things are likely to get worse before they get better," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a stark warning Tuesday via a Twitter video message.

Governments and health systems in wealthy nations are already feeling the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, but poorer countries could be hit far harder.

Africa could experience the same problems that we are facing in Europe in a matter of weeks," von der Leyen said.

To slow done the virus' spread, the EU has pledged more than 15 billion euros to vulnerable countries, notably on the African continent.

"It is in our interest to ensure the fight is successful worldwide," von der Leyen insisted.

The announcement was welcomed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Wednesday after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that Covid-19 could kill millions of Africans.

Time for solidarity

"The European Union funding is much needed," commented Noura Hamladji, Deputy Regional Director for Africa at the UNDP.

"It's time for solidarity, and everyone needs to play their part," she told RFI.

The coronavirus carries risks not just for Africa's weak health systems but also its economic growth, which Hamladji reckons could be slashed by more than a half from 3.8 percent down to 1.8.

The threat from Covid-19 is unprecedented, she said. "This is the worst crisis since the Second World War and no doubt, the solidarity and support will need to match that."

So far it is not, reckon some of Africa's leaders, who are demanding bigger aid packages. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia's prime minister has asked the G20 for an emergency stimulus worth $150 billion.

On Tuesday, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission matched that call, urging the international community to "go beyond good intentions" in an interview with France 24.

No more begging

For other observers, it is time Africa stood on its own two feet.

"Africans can't keep running to Europe or the Americans begging for help," says Francois Ndengwe, Chairman of the African Advisory Board, a consultancy firm in Paris, on the phone from Washington.

"Why would the Europeans or Americans prioritise Africa right now when they have their own issues to deal with?" he told RFI.

EU leaders on Wednesday failed to agree on a deal to help states hard hit by the pandemic, such as Italy, casting doubt on their ability to find a consensus for African countries further afield.

Even if they do come up with the money, "15 billion dollars cannot be enough for a continent the size of 1.3 billion people," reckons Ndengwe.

But that's not the only problem: "We've been taking aid for six decades and look at the result. The money hasn't gone where it's needed."

Wake-up call

While Africa has had more time to prepare for the coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in China in December 2019, Ndengwe says the virus has exposed the gaps in the continent's healthcare and financial system.

"This should be a wake-up call to African governments to put in place the financial machinery to withstand such shocks," he argues.

"Africa should have the pharmaceutical structure and manufacturing plants in place to make its own masks and medicine. It would be a nightmare for them to look outside."

The nightmare though, is already within. Ventilators are scarce and Sub-Saharan Africa has about one doctor for every 5,000 people. With the virus already at Africa's doorstep the continent needs rapid support and not controversy argues the UNDP's Hamladji.

Playing catch-up

"It is not time for controversy. It is time to act quickly and with solidarity in a multilateral manner," she reckons.

"Yes, the health system is no doubt the Achilles heel of many African countries. There is a need now to really step up and scale up quickly."

Although playing catch up, Africa so far has managed to contain the coronavirus outbreak through advance warnings, managed by the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

In early February, only South Africa and Senegal could test for Covid-19. Today, more than 40 countries can.

Some analysts want any injection of cash to be geared towards the CDC to continue to boost testing capacity on the continent.

Hamladji meanwhile would like to see EU funding go towards vulnerable groups.

Weak protection

"We have 10 million people displaced in Africa and 6 million refugees. Then we have only 17 percent of people who have some kind of social protection system. So, it is very important to finance them quickly," she said.

Ndengwe agrees. With African economies largely dependent on the informal sector, the economist says governments need to offer their citizens protection.

"You can't ask these people to stay at home without giving them an alternative."

No country is able to match the sums being spent in the West, where the United States last week rolled out $2 trillion bailout package to shore up businesses.

Still, Ndengwe hopes that Africa's single trading market and unique currency will enable it to leverage some of the West's financial clout to forego bailout money.
Six e-commerce platforms held a special online event to help farmers and food producers from Hubei province sell their goods on April 8, the day provincial capital Wuhan reopened after a 76-day lockdown, ThePaper.cn reported.

(Photo/ce.cn)

During the event, local officials became livestream hosts, selling local specialties such as tea leaves, navel oranges and crayfish.

An executive from Alibaba announced via video link a plan to purchase more agricultural produce from Hubei, including 1 billion yuan of crayfish and 50 million yuan of navel oranges.

(Photo/ce.cn)

At the event, Chinas e-commerce giant JD.com signed an agreement with the bureau of agriculture and rural affairs of Hubei to establish online sales channels, build an industrial belt of fresh products and cultivate brands, and develop Hubeis best known industries.

(Photo/ce.cn)

(Photo/ce.cn)
South Carolinas four largest airports saw, on average, a 95 percent decrease in their normal passenger levels this week as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.

In a sampling based on Tuesday's traffic, Charleston International saw 165 passengers, while Greenville-Spartanburg reported 143. Columbia had 131 and Myrtle Beach International trailed at 118.

Combined, the state's four busiest airports typically see more than 16,000 passengers come and go on a typical April day.

The sharp decline is in line with trends at airports nationwide. On Tuesday, the Transportation Security Administration screened fewer than 100,000 travelers across the U.S., a figure not seen in more than 60 years as people heed official urgings to stay home.

The official count was 97,130 people who passed through TSA checkpoints, but even that number is skewed upward because some airports include flight crews and concession workers who must pass through security.

"The falloff is amazing to see," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst. "The good news is that it shows people are taking shelter-in-place orders seriously."

While most airlines have slashed flights as much as 80 percent in April and May or adopted other measures to maintain some semblance of service, airports, too, must adjust projected spending plans.

At Greenville-Spartanburg International, airport CEO Dave Edwards is creating two budgets for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The main one is based on half of the normal passenger load of 1.36 million departing passengers. The other will be a supplemental plan in case travel demand exceeds projections.

"We are really shooting darts at a dartboard," Edwards said this week. "First, what is the airline response going to be on the level of service they bring back and, second, how is the traveler going to respond?"

What's also unknown is how much companies will cut back on business travel to make up for lost income during the pandemic and what consumers' discretionary income will look like.

By the numbers South Carolina's 4 major airports with the number of departing passengers on a typical April day one year ago and on Tuesday of this week. Charleston Average day April 2019: 7,206 Tuesday: 165 Decrease: 97.7% Columbia Average day April 2019: 1,953 Tuesday: 131 Decrease: 93.3% Greenville-Spartanburg Average day April 2019: 3,482 Tuesday: 143 Decrease: 95.9% Myrtle Beach Average day April 2019: 3,507 Tuesday: 118 Decrease: 96.6% All 4 airports Average day April 2019: 16,148 Tuesday: 557 Decrease: 96.5% Sources: South Carolina airports

"If we start to outpace our projections and see passengers start to reengage, we want to be able to have a plan to execute," Edwards said of the back-up spending plan.

Charleston International, the busiest airport in the state, is reworking its budget for next year as well, according to CEO Paul Campbell.

As the pandemic first spread across South Carolina last month, Finance Director Doug Boston said the Lowcountry airport could cover its basic expenses with departing passenger levels of 30 percent. On Tuesday the volume was down to less than 3 percent.

Boston pointed out the airport has $65 million in reserves, enough to fund operations for two years without any additional income.

Campbell estimates revenue projections for the new budget year beginning in July will be cut by at least one-third of previous estimates.

He warned that passenger levels might not return to pre-pandemic levels until mid-2022.

Last year, the airport handled a record 4.8 million passengers and was expecting to hit the 5 million milestone in 2020. Not anymore. Campbell now believes the total is likely to be between 3.5 million and 3.7 million, assuming the pandemic ends by summer.

"If we see travel return, it won't be to hot spots (of the virus) such as New York or New Orleans," Campbell said.

To save money, the airport will trim expenses and freeze hiring.

"We will look at what we can do without," Campbell said. "If somebody leaves, we are not replacing them."

At Myrtle Beach International, which has a fleet of low-cost carriers helping to bring in some of the 21 million tourists a year, director Scott Van Moppes is optimistic travelers will return to save most of the Grand Strand's high season.

He believes the virus will peak soon and allow traffic to return to more normal levels.

"From there everything gets better," Van Moppes said. "I see the leisure market coming back strong."

Many airlines have consolidated routes and added stops to what were one-way legs.

For instance, Alaska Airlines is no longer offering nonstop service between the Lowcountry and Seattle. The flight will now stop at Raleigh-Durham International as part of a "tag" strategy to serve multiple airports with one flight.

JetBlue Airways also announced this week it is consolidating operations at five major airports and will ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to allow it to temporarily suspend service to airports where the demand is not enough to merit flights.

It's not yet clear which terminals that might affect, including Charleston International.

The streamlined approach to maintaining service also allows carriers to meet the requirements of the CARES Act, the government aid package that includes airlines. The bill requires them to maintain service to all of their U.S. destinations determined reasonable by the Department of Transportation as a condition of accepting any of the $50 billion in aid.

Carriers are allowed to offer as little as one weekly flight depending on their prior schedule, according to the DOT. In addition, they have the option of serving destinations in either their summer or winter schedule.

Even with far fewer flights, airlines are operating with mostly seats empty.

At Greenville, for instance, 16 flights took off Tuesday with an average of nine passengers per plane.

United Airlines says it is losing $100 million a day. Delta Air Lines says it is burning through $60 million a day. All the leading U.S. carriers have applied for federal grants to cover payroll costs through September and some are likely to seek federal loans or loan guarantees.

Even if they get taxpayer help, the airlines warn, they will be smaller on the other side of the pandemic.

The recovery in air travel  whenever it occurs  could depend on many factors including social-distancing rules and the state of the economy, which is staggering with nearly 17 million people filing new claims for unemployment benefits in the past three weeks.

Air travel is much more affordable and accessible to the masses than it was in the 1960s. Still, both leisure and business travelers have above-average incomes.

"Theoretically, these consumers should be better-positioned financially to be able to travel again," said Harteveldt, the travel analyst. "But we are seeing people at all income levels and all ages affected by job loss or reduction in hours or working for companies that have closed."
DENVER, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spavia, an innovative leader in affordable luxury spa experiences, is donating spa treatments to first responders and healthcare workers currently serving communities amid the COVID-19 national emergency.

"In alignment with Spavia Cares and our mission to make a positive difference in the world, one guest at a time, our objective is to provide first responders and healthcare workers an opportunity to relax, re-center, and renew," said president Allison Langenderfer. "Community involvement and giving back have always been of great importance to Spavia. It is our way of honoring their heroism on the front lines and expressing our gratitude."

At many locations, Spavia members are actively donating their own monthly treatments, including Spavia's premier 60-minute massage and facials. Members and guests are also purchasing and donating Spavia gift cards. A number of franchise owners are personally matching these donations.

At Spavia's Sparta, New Jersey, location owned by Leslie Martin, more than 100 members have already donated monthly membership treatments. Mark and Bridget Chandley, owners of Spavia in Naples, Florida, will match 200 donations.

Paul Groshko, owner of the Lincoln Park Spavia in Chicago, Illinois, is personally matching 100 donations as well. Spa treatments and gift cards will be distributed to the Chicago Police Department and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"I hope we can help alleviate their stress," said Groshko. "I know we can renew their bodies and their spirits in the little ways that are made possible during a session here at Spavia. We want to be able to provide an exceptional experience for them, and to help our front line individuals come back stronger and healthier than ever."

Merirae and Randy Tackett, owners of Spavia in Reno, Nevada, are also personally matching 100 donations.

All donations will be collected and distributed to local hospitals, fire departments, and law enforcement agencies. Currently, 551 spa treatments and gift cards have been donated so far across fifteen Spavia day spas. Donated spa treatments and services will be distributed to first responders and available for redemption once Spavia re-opens its doors to the community.

About Spavia

At Spavia, we deliver a luxurious spa experience at an affordable price. Our Spavia locations provide a variety of massages, skin care services, body wraps, waxing, lash extensions, and make-up, and an opportunity to celebrate with a spalebration  all in a relaxing and tranquil setting. Our spa boutique provides products for home-care regimens and beautiful selections for gift giving.

The first Spavia opened in 2005 in Denver, Co, with a mission of making a positive difference in the world, one guest at a time. In late 2019, Spavia opened its 45th location, with an additional 45 locations under development. The 45 spas that are currently open exist in 23 states.

To make a donation for the first responders and healthcare community, learn more about Spavia and its services, or find a location near you, please visit https://spaviadayspa.com .

If you are interested in opening a Spavia franchise please visit https://franchise.spaviadayspa.com/ .

Media Contact

Marty Langenderfer

303-888-0925

[email protected]

SOURCE Spavia

Related Links

https://spaviadayspa.com


Just over a year ago, the U.S. enacted a policy of putting maximum pressure on the Venezuelan dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. After sham elections, Maduro held his second inauguration in January of 2019 amid widespread public protests. Shortly thereafter, opposition National Assembly president Juan Guaido assumed the interim presidency, in keeping with the Venezuelan constitutions provisions on replacing an illegitimate president. As Venezuelans took to the streets in protest against the Maduro regime, the international community coalesced around Guaido, with 60 governments recognizing him as the Venezuelan head of state.

As part of the maximum pressure policy, the Treasury Department expanded sanctions against Venezuela, specifically targeting oil exports and high-ranking regime officials. U.S. policymakers intended to weaken Maduros standing within the country and cause defections in the government and military. But in recent years, the regime has carefully cultivated loyalty within the armed services by handing over key sectors of the economy to military leaders and embedding Cuban security personnel to stamp out dissent. So the sanctions proved incapable of meaningfully crippling Maduros regime. With help from the Russian oil firm Rosneft, Maduro continued to export oil, while illicit trade in narcotics and gold buoyed government coffers. With little domestic appetite for military intervention, the U.S.s efforts to oust Maduro stalled.

Meanwhile, Maduro consolidated power with several thousand extrajudicial killings. The U.N. Human Rights Council, apparently untroubled by the murder campaign, subsequently admitted Venezuela, lending Maduro much-needed legitimacy. Earlier this year, the regime attempted to stamp out Guaido once and for all, planting a Chavista sympathizer at the head of the National Assembly while opposition members were blocked from entering.

Rather than let these aggressive moves go unchallenged, the U.S. has changed tack in the last few weeks, giving maximum pressure a new meaning. On March 26, the Justice Department indicted Maduro and 14 of his associates on drug-trafficking charges, based on long-documented evidence that regime officials have enriched themselves through the cocaine trade. By offering a $15 million reward for Maduros capture and placing similar bounties on the heads of other key regime figures, U.S. law-enforcement agents hoped to spur action against the regime within the country. The American Enterprise Institutes Ryan Berg tells National Review that Venezuela watchers in the U.S. had pushed for indictments for a long time, but policymakers never found the opportune moment. That changed in March, as oil prices collapsed following the breakdown of OPEC+ talks between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Oil makes up 98 percent of the Venezuelan economy, and the revenues from it have provided the socialist government cover for decades of economic mismanagement. Once the geopolitics flipped in the U.Ss favor, the administration decided to accelerate the pace of its actions against the Venezuelan regime, Berg says.

Story continues

Maduro had already suffered a blow when President Trump imposed sanctions on Rosneft for facilitating the Venezuelan oil trade. The Russians attempted to channel Venezuelan oil through a different subsidiary, TNK Trading International, but the Treasury Department swiftly moved to sanction that entity as well. And the shock from the coronavirus pandemic brought the price of oil so low that the Russians have now ceased operations in Venezuela altogether.

As oil revenue dries up, cutting off illicit revenue could push the regime toward insolvency. To that end, the U.S. Southern Command has moved three destroyers, a littoral combat ship, and surveillance aircraft into the Caribbean to interdict drug shipments in and out of Venezuela. The mobilization of some of the militarys most expensive assets marks a dramatic break from the diplomacy-driven anti-Maduro efforts of the past year. This is about as pressure-intensive as the U.S. government can get, says Berg. Squeezing the regimes finances could cripple Maduros ability to buy off military personnel, spurring long-awaited defections. But Frank Mora, a former Defense Department official, points out that the extent of Maduros dependence on drug money is unclear, and maintaining SOUTHCOM operations will incur continuing costs. I dont think that these assets can be deployed for more than 46 weeks, Mora says. Theres a maintenance cycle, a deployment cycle, and these assets are required elsewhere, which adds urgency to SOUTHCOMs maneuvers.

Coupled with the legal and military actions is a transition plan unveiled by the State Department in late March. The Democratic Transition Framework calls for a new body, excluding both Maduro and Guaido, to lead the country until free and fair elections can be held. It is unlikely, though, that the regime will negotiate with the U.S. The transition framework requires some willingness on the part of the people youve indicted to negotiate, says Mora. Its hard to imagine why, if youre indicted, youd be predisposed to negotiate.

Berg argues that the transition framework is not an attempt to bring Maduro to the negotiating table, but rather a signal to the Venezuelan people and low-ranking regime officials that there is path forward without Maduro. It helps people down the food chain in the regime to see that they can have a future under a new government, he says.

With Venezuelas humanitarian crisis worsening each day, the possibility of democratic transition represents a beacon of hope for the Venezuelan people. The Maduro regime, on the precipice of collapse for years now, has proven agonizingly resilient. But with Russia and China less willing to prop it up, and collapsed oil prices having cut off crucial funding, the socialists in Venezuela are as vulnerable as ever.

More from National Review
COLUMBUS, Ohio  The strife over Ohios 2020 primary election, converted at the last minute last month to a largely vote-by-mail election over the coronavirus pandemic, has cast a new light on whether the state elections system is capable of handling an all-mail election in November if need be.

Models currently project the worst of the coronavirus outbreak will recede by the summer. But past pandemics have seen a second wave break out. And with a widespread vaccine not likely to be available for more than a year, there is a distinct possibility that elections officials could be confronted with a similar scenario in November.

Voter advocates, elected officials and elections workers say Gov. Mike DeWine and other leaders need to begin planning soon just in case. They want to prevent a repeat of what happened in March, when DeWine canceled Election Day, citing public health reasons, just hours before in-person voting was to have begun.

The decision set off public confusion, a flurry of lawsuits and eventually, a new election plan, unanimously approved by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, that sets an effectively all-mail vote through April 28.

It requires a conversation to be had with all the stakeholders, said House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat. We have to do it quickly, and we have to do it soon, so were not left scrambling as we were with the primary.

There are all kinds of systems and protocols that need to be started up right now, said Jen Miller, executive director of the Ohio League of Women Voters, which supports offering in-person voting options. Even now, I dont know that well have time to do it well by fall, to be honest.

Unlike some other states, Ohio has had widespread vote by mail for years. But converting to an all-mail vote would require boards of elections to process millions more ballots than they have in the past.

Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, which represents county boards of election, said if the state thinks the coronavirus could disrupt the November election, elections workers are looking for more advance notice than they got last time.

If things operate normally, and we have an in-person election, there are no substantive policy changes that need to be made, he said. But if we are looking at doing a vote-by-mail election, then there are definitely some things that need to happen.

Lawmakers consider emergency scenario

House Speaker Larry Householder, a Perry County Republican, didnt make himself available for comment for this story. But he said in a Tuesday radio interview that there havent been any in-depth discussions on the topic.

He said lawmakers are looking into developing an election plan that could be deployed in the event of any type of emergency.

Quite frankly, we think everything is going to be fine, Householder said on WOSUs All Sides with Ann Fisher. I believe, though, when the General Assembly comes back, whenever that is, theres going to be some additional discussion in the hallways and committee rooms about what we do in the event of an emergency.

State Rep. Niraj Antani, a Dayton Republican, has begun researching what other states have done in the case of an emergency. In an interview, he was quick to emphasize it could apply for something like a natural disaster, not necessarily a pandemic.

We cant have elections if people dont have confidence in them, he said. So I think having a permanent contingency would be confidence-inspiring for the public."

Voter-rights groups prefer that some form of limited in-person voting be offered. Alternative options could be a wider prevalence of drop-boxes where people can physically drop off their completed ballots, said Miller with the Ohio League of Women Voters.

But, she said there are changes the state could make that could be used whether or not there are public health concerns about in-person voting in November, like making it easier to get a mail-in ballot.

We dont want to preclude in-person voting. But I think we could make vote by mail super easy and more attractive to people, she said.

Householder, the Ohio House Speaker, said the possibility of fraud is a consideration as lawmakers consider their elections plan.

Theres a lot of people in the state of Ohio who really like to go to the polls on Election Day, he said. Its a holiday for them. And also, were very concerned about fraud, frankly. It makes the system a lot easier to try to manipulate.

On a statistical level, that statement hasnt been borne out in Ohios experience.

In the 2012 and 2016 general elections, then-Secretary of Secretary of State Jon Husted, whos now lieutenant governor, mailed absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the state.

In both elections, 1.9 million Ohioans, about a third of the overall vote, cast mail ballots.

Husted, a Republican, oversaw voter-fraud investigations after both elections.

In 2012, his office found 132 cases of possible fraud that were referred to prosecutors. In 2016, they found 52 such cases. Both are a minute fraction of the roughly 5.6 million ballots that were cast. Husted, now Ohios lieutenant governor, testified before an elections-integrity panel appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017 that voter fraud exists but is rare.

At least 21 states have provisions to allow elections to be conducted entirely by mail, according to the National Conference for State Legislatures.

Many states defer to local officials, and some limit the types of elections that can be done by mail only.

But five states  Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington  conduct their elections by mail statewide, according to the NCSL.

Potential advantages include voter convenience and cost savings, the National Conference for State Legislatures outlined in a summary. A Pew Charitable Trust study found cost savings of about 40% in Colorado.

Potential disadvantages noted by the NCSL included breaking tradition, and possible coercion by family members or others when voting is not done in a private voting booth.

Mail-in voting becomes partisan

The national prospects of a vote-by-mail election in November have rapidly coalesced into a partisan issue. Some Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown and former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive presidential nominee, have called for expanded vote-by-mail nationally.

The issue came into especially sharp focus after Wisconsin carried out its primary election on Tuesday, seeing long lines particularly in urban areas as elections officials limited the number of polling places.

Today in Wisconsin, people are deciding whether to risk their health to exercise their fundamental right to vote. No one should have to make that choice, now or in November, Brown said on Twitter, echoing a similar argument Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine made when he closed Ohios polls last month. We need vote by mail everywhere and increased early voting. And we need it now.

Today in Wisconsin, people are deciding whether to risk their health to exercise their fundamental right to vote. No one should have to make that choice, now or in November.



We need vote by mail everywhere and increased early voting. And we need it now.  Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) April 7, 2020

But Trump, a Republican, has said, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting leads to voter fraud.

Mail ballots, they cheat, people cheat," Trump said Tuesday during a White House coronavirus briefing. "Mail ballots are very dangerous thing for this country because they're cheaters. They go and collect them. They're fraudulent in many cases.

Trump, who himself voted by mail in 2018, also posted about the issue on Twitter on Wednesday morning, apparently while watching Fox News.

Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans. @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

DeWine was asked about Trumps comments during his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday. He declined to weigh in on them.

But he said Ohios vote-by-mail system is safe.

Its safe for people to vote in Ohio, and were asking them to do that, he said.

Issues to consider

Here are some changes that could be under consideration in Ohio.

One is the states process of applying for a mail-in ballot.

Currently, Ohioans who want a mail-in ballot must first fill out a paper form, including their signature. They then have to send it in, and wait for the ballot to be mailed back to them.

The requirement has led to confusion and delays during the current voting period, which is already compressed because of the last-minute cancellation and rescheduling of the primary.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, was not made available for an interview for this story. But he issued a statement calling on lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow for Ohioans to request absentee ballots online, with no paper form involved.

LaRose previously sponsored a similar bill while he was a state senator. The bill is now sponsored by Sen. Theresa Gavarone, a Wood County Republican. Its drawn no major opposition, and is supported by Ohio elections officials.

Ive been hearing about it in light of whats going on, Gavarone said. I think whats going on really kind of shows why this could be a very useful tool in making it easier for people to vote.

Another consideration is who gets ballots and absentee ballot applications. In past presidential elections, Ohio has sent ballot applications to everyone in the state.

But Ohio could do a universal mailing of ballots with postage-paid envelopes to every registered voter in the state, said Sykes, the House Democratic leader. This could encourage people to vote early, she said, even if in-person voting ends up being an option.

Another option could be letting voters specify whether they want to permanently get an absentee ballot, instead of making them re-apply every election, according to Miller with the League of Women Voters. Ohio could also make it easier for elections workers to verify signatures by making it more automated, she said, with elections workers taking a closer look for any flagged flagged by the computer as questionable.

Ohio could also extend its mail-in voting period. Currently, absentee voting begins 30 days before an election. Antani, the Dayton-area state representative whos researching election contingency plans, said hes open to the idea.

A month more of mail-in voting would be fine, he said. If theres a pandemic, in-person voting isnt smart.

Theres also the issue of recruiting enough poll workers, who tend to be older, given potential fears over health and safety issues.

Mike Brickner, state director of All Voting is Local, a voting-rights group, has called for increasing poll-worker pay, and relaxing rules that would allow someone to work the polls outside their home county.

Another possible issue is the collection of completed ballots.

Under current law, only a voter or their immediate family member is allowed to handle a completed ballot. LaRose briefly loosened these rules in March, ordering that boards of elections workers could pick up ballots completed by nursing home residents and people who are hospitalized, as long as a member of each party was present. That was before in-person voting for the primary was canceled altogether.

Marc Elias, the top legal representative to Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign and Sen. Sherrod Browns 2018 re-election campaign, in The Atlantic this week called on states to permit community groups to gather completed ballots.

But Ockerman, the official representing Ohio county elections boards, said one elections official he spoke with recently mentioned the need for clear rules on who can handle completed ballots and who cant. Some of the more prominent examples of election fraud have involved ballot harvesting.

There are a lot of groups out there who want to be helpful, he said. But what about nefarious groups that might collect ballots and not return them?

Cleveland.com reporter Rich Exner contributed to this story

Read related coverage from cleveland.com:

Ohio lawmakers sets all-mail primary election through April 28

Although mail-in voting continues, Ohios postponed primary remains clouded by legal, political disputes

Ohio offering curbside voting, loosening absentee voting rules for quarantined and hospitalized due to coronavirus

Inside the chaos that engulfed Ohios postponed primary election
Sydney, April 9 : Australian police on Thursday raided and seized the black box of the Ruby Princess cruise ship, the country's biggest source of the novel coronavirus cases, to shed light on how some 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark from the ship on March 19 in Sydney despite displaying flu-like symptoms.

Detectives in charge of the raid also questioned the captain and some crew members of the cruise ship, which is docked at Port Kembla, about 100 km south of Sydney, Efe news quoted New South Wales (NSW) Police as saying in a statement.

NSW Commissioner Mick Fuller announced on Sunday that a criminal investigation was being launched to determine if any biosecurity laws were broken in allowing passengers to disembark from the cruise ship despite the Australian government having banned the entry of cruise vessels days earlier.

Of the more than 6,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, which include 51 deaths, more than 600 infections and 21 deaths (15 passengers) have been linked to the cruise, whose passengers got off the ship and went to different cities without undergoing quarantine and which has become the single largest source of COVID-19 cases in Australia.

Moreover, the ship, registered in Bermuda and owned by Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator, also has more than 1,000 crew members of about 50 nationalities aboard, most of whom want to stay on the ship.

"They feel safe on the ship, and I think that's a good outcome," Fuller told reporters on Thursday.

There are 18 confirmed cases among the crew members while 200 are exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

Australian media recently reported that, a day before the ship docked Sydney, a crew member called the emergency service number requesting medical assistance for two of the passengers.

An ambulance supervisor concerned about potential infection of passengers had transferred the call to NSW Police Marine Area Command.

Meanwhile, the Australian Border Force and the NSW government have been blaming each other for allowing passengers to disembark from the cruise ship.
President Donald Trump at the daily briefing on the CCP virus in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 6, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Another Reporter Masks Affiliation With Chinese Propaganda During White House Briefing

For the second time, a reporter working for a media controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) failed to disclose this affiliation when prompted by President Donald Trump during the daily White House press briefing on the CCP virus pandemic.

After Trump prompted the reporter, Chang Ching-Yi, to state his question, Trump asked Chang where he was from, seemingly inquiring about his media outlet.

Chang responded that he was from Taiwan.

While that is where he was born, he works for Shanghai Media Group, a company owned by the Chinese regime.

This is the second time in the past several days a reporter from an outlet controlled by the CCP has attended the briefings and was less than forthright about his or her affiliation.

On April 6, a similar incident happened with Wang Youyou, a reporter with Hong Kong Phoenix TV.

Trump asked her whether she was working for China. She denied it, but several experts have noted that the Hong Kong television station is run by a former CCP military propaganda officer, and its programming is controlled by Beijing.

Letting Wang attend the briefing allowed her to air on live television what at least one expert spotted as CCP propaganda.

Due to the social distancing rules recommended by the White House during the pandemic, seating has been limited at the briefings, and reporters, usually from major American outlets, have been rotating in and out every day, coordinated by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA).

Its not clear what exact criteria are used to determine which reporters are allowed in and how any such criteria would apply to Chang and Wang.

The WHCA didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Chang has been with Shanghai Media Group since July 2014. The company is a subsidiary of the Radio and Television Station of Shanghai, a large Chinese state-owned media conglomerate. For the prior four years, Chang worked at Phoenix TV.

After getting his bachelors degree in journalism and Arabic at a university in Taiwan, he studied for two years in Saudi Arabia and then got his masters in international relations at New York University. He started his career with internships at the United Nations and NBC News.

The CCP is in the midst of a global propaganda push, trying to shirk responsibility for the CCP virus pandemic that has swept the world, infecting more than 1.4 million and killing more than 90,000.

The CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan around November and was allowed to spread around the world due to the CCPs coverup and mismanagement of the virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus because the Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed it to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.
Experts say keeping hands clean is one of the easiest and best ways to prevent transmission of the new coronavirus, in addition to social distancing. (Image: PTI)

The 20-second rule is the new diktat. Wash your hands for 20 seconds. Do not have a clock? Just hum Happy Birthday twice. Thats sufficient time for hand cleaning. If you want to make hand washing more groovy, use Wash Your Lyrics, a tool that automatically pairs your favourite song with hand-washing instructions. Theres a TikTok handwashing dance challenge, Mayo Clinic has issued a definite dos and donts of handwashing, Mariah Carey is singing along with her kids about handwashing and theres The Handwashing Liaison Group that has relentlessly propounded the importance of handwashing in reducing hospital-acquired infections.

A copper engraving portrait of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis by Jeno Doby  Eugen Doby.

Hand-wash is the new chorus but did you know that the theory of hand hygiene arose in Vienna? Pause for 20 seconds and memorise a name: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis. A Hungarian-born physician who started the hand-wash revolution. In the middle of the 19th century, the young Hungarian doctor came to Vienna to work at the citys General Hospital. Semmelweis quickly noticed that women delivered by physicians and medical students had a much higher mortality rate than women delivered by midwives. Women were so afraid, many said they would rather give birth alone on the streets than risk being admitted to the ward. Hot on the trail of the phenomenon, Semmelweis spotted that there were links between the lack of hygiene of the doctors and the mortality rate of the mothers. Midwives werent but physicians were handling corpses during autopsies before attending to pregnant women and not washing hands between the two jobs. Semmelweis was certain that hand washing would prevent physicians from passing on illness to the patients.

After Semmelweis initiated a mandatory hand-washing policy, the mortality rate for women delivered by doctors fell from 18 percent to 2 percent and when he began sterilising medical instruments, it fell to 1 percent. But in 1847, not many were convinced. His seniors defied Semmelweis hand-washing idea and attributed lower death rate to the hospitals new ventilation system.

According to an article by Mark Best and Duncan Neuhauser in Quality and Safety in Health Care, Physicians resisted these changes for several reasons. Washing of hands before treating each patient would be too much work. In the long run, solving this problem would require rebuilding hospitals so that sinks and running water were within reach. The profession of being a physician was divinely blessed, so it would be unreasonable to think they could cause disease. Semmelweis was saying that doctors were the cause of death. Egos were often inversely proportional to the evidence, and the scientific evidence was very scant at this time.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Two years later, an academic axe fell on Semmelweis - his assistant professorship was not renewed and he was offered a clinical faculty appointment without permission to teach from cadavers. A dejected Semmelweis left Vienna to join as head of obstetrics at St Rochus Hospital, Budapest. Here, he publicly harangued doctors and nurses about handwashing and reduced maternal mortality.

Postage stamp of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, 18181865. Issued in Austria in 1965 on the 100th anniversary of his death.

Dr Semmelweis died in Lower Austrian state mental hospital in Dobling, Vienna. He was 47.

Though Dr Semmelweis was right, hand washing did not become a norm until two decades later when research by Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch and Joseph Lister produced more evidence for germ theory and antiseptic techniques. The world now believes in what Semmelweis had said in 1847 and he is still called the saviour of mothers. In the English-speaking world, Semmelweis has not only made it into the history books but also into the dictionary - Semmelweis reflex, a term describing the immediate rejection of a scientific finding or information without conducting ones own deliberations or verifications.

So, next time you wash your hands, do not hum Happy Birthday twice. Thank Dr Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis. At least once.

Preeti Verma Lal is a Goa-based freelance writer/photographer. Photo credit: Preeti Verma Lal.
OPEC and its allies led by Russia agreed to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.

The cuts by OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10 per cent of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin had been locked in an oil stoush. Credit:AP

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30 per cent of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still won't remove enough crude to stop the world's storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, US President Donald Trump has threatened OPEC if it did not fix the oil market's problem of oversupply.
San Francisco, April 9 : On its webpage introducing Surface Neo, Microsoft still says that the dual screen device will be coming this holiday season, but reports suggest that it may be released at a later date than originally planned.

Citing an unnamed source, a CNBC report on Thursday said that in addition to delaying the release of Surface Neo, Microsoft is also pausing the development of Windows 10X designed to run applications across more than one screen.

The Surface Neo, announced in October last year, will come with two 9-inch screens, a 360 degree hinge, touch, pen, keyboard and will run Windows 10X.

Microsoft started expanding its Surface line up in 2012 which continues even today.

These products have been received well as the Surface hardware line accounted for 4.5 per cent of Microsoft's total revenue in the 2019 fiscal year.

Due to the extraordinary challenges posed by COVID-19, Microsoft had to make changes in the plans of its events as well.

In fact, a media report suggests that the software giant is planning to make all its events -- internal as well as external -- digital-only till July 2021.

According to a report in The Verge this week, the online-only focus is now extending to far more events over the next year.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 23:50:13|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith on Thursday joined a regional video conference, which discussed preparations for two special virtual summits between ASEAN members and the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries of China, Japan and South Korea in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The 25th Meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council which was chaired by Vietnam on Thursday, attended by foreign ministers of ASEAN countries and secretary-general of ASEAN.

The meeting agreed to host the two special summits on COVID-19 response in near future, according to a media release from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

The key agenda of the summits would be the regional collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is now posing a major challenge for the international community to maintain health, economic and social security.

The meeting noted and praised ASEAN efforts and cooperation to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expressed in the successful hosting of the special ASEAN Coordinating Council in Laos in February as well as the first video conference of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on health emergencies in March.

During the video conference, the ASEAN delegation reaffirmed the need for the regional community to continue their close cooperation with dialogue and development partners, in particular, the World Health Organization, said the release.

On top of that, the meeting participants reaffirmed close cooperation between ASEAN members to maintain regional economic stability, notably the maintenance of regional supply chains for goods, medicines and essential medical supplies.

According to the media release, during the video conference, Saleumxay detailed the Lao government's efforts and measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
A troupe of Russian ballet dancers have attempted to lift the world's spirits from lockdown by performing popular routines from home.

Dancers from St Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Theatre filmed themselves performing sections from ballets including Don Quixote and Giselle and posted it online.

Ivan Vasiliev, the theatre's principle dancer, said the message is to 'stay positive about everything'.

Ballet dancers from Russia's Mikhailovsky Theatre have attempted to life the nation's spirits during lockdown by performing sections of Don Quixote (left) and Giselle (right) at home

Speaking to the BBC, he added: 'Life might be tough now, but a good mood and a sense of humour can save the world.'

The routines see dancers replicating the famous ballets using implements found around the house.

One section of Don Quixote sees a fan replaced with a dinner plate.

And the romance of the two main dancers in Giselle is undercut by the addition of a saucepan and spoon.

The Kremlin has stopped short of imposing a countrywide lockdown, though a raft of measures brought forward in recent days has mean a majority of citizens effectively living in isolation.

President Putin had declared a national 'work from home week' this week - forbidding all-but essential workers from attending their jobs.

Exchanging the stage for the kitchen meant one dancer had to perform her routine in a very tight space (left) while another accentuated her routine with a broom (right)

Many of the dancers incorporated props found around the home into the ballet, including this dancer who used a towel

That week has now been extended to April 30 as the number of cases rises.

That has been coupled with tough new measures including bans on outdoor exercise and distance-limits on dog walking.

New punishments include seven years in jail for someone who violates quarantine and causes others to die.

Five years in prison awaits anyone caught spreading 'disinformation' about the virus, while hefty fines are in place for healthy people who venture out of the house.

Russia confirmed 1,459 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, marking a record one-day increase and bringing the total to 10,131.

The country has confirmed 63 deaths from the virus, though no new figures were released on Thursday.
TEANECK (dpa-AFX) - Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) said it expects first quarter revenue to be in the range of $4.22 billion - $4.23 billion, up 2.7-2.9% or 3.4%-3.6% in constant currency from the prior-year quarter. The outlook includes a negative 50 basis point impact from the exit of certain content services. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report revenues of $4.21 billion for the first-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Entering the second quarter, Cognizant expects the COVID-19 pandemic to further reduce client demand as its societal and economic impact causes broader disruptions across industries. The long-term fundamentals of its business remain strong, the company said. The company has withdrawn its 2020 guidance citing uncertainty around the pandemic duration and its impact on ability to forecast performance. Cognizant said that, in a recognition of continuity-of-service efforts of its associates in India and the Philippines, it will provide those at the Associate level and below with an additional payment of 25% of their base pay for the month of April. In addition, the company has standardized 14 days sick-leave coverage globally for COVID-19 cases or self-quarantine without impacting other sick leave or vacation programs. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The Vancouver police officer who fired at a shooting suspect during a pursuit earlier this week was publicly identified Thursday as a 32-year-old patroller from the agencys West Precinct.

Officer Keith Kircher came upon an apparent shooting about 1 a.m. Tuesday, in which a driver appeared to have shot at another driver from inside his car, according to Vancouver police.

Kircher followed the first driver, a man, who eventually began driving west in the eastbound lanes of Fourth Plain Boulevard, according to police. The second driver, a woman, followed.

At some point, Kircher believed the man fired a shot at him, according to police. Kircher returned fire, Vancouver police said, without elaborating.

The man eventually got onto Interstate 5, crossing into Oregon while traveling south in the northbound lanes.

Kircher stopped to be treated for minor injuries from flying glass, police said. The woman also pulled over and spoke with police. She and the man are in a relationship, police said.

The mans car was later seen on northbound I-5 and was found unoccupied near the interstate and the Vancouver campus of the Portland VA Medical Center.

Authorities werent successful in searching for the man. They have identified him but have not released his name.

No injuries, other than those suffered by Kircher, have been reported. Police dont believe theres a threat to the public.

Kircher was put on critical incident leave, which is standard practice after police shootings. Vancouver police hired him in August, and he previously worked for the Maui Police Department.

Tuesdays incident remains under investigation. No new information about the suspect was released Thursday.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

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China's Heilongjiang reports 25 new imported COVID-19 cases

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:12, April 08, 2020

HARBIN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province reported 25 new confirmed COVID-19 cases from overseas Tuesday, the provincial health commission said Wednesday.

All the new confirmed cases were Chinese nationals returning from Russia, including four previously asymptomatic patients.

One imported COVID-19 case was discharged from hospital Tuesday after making a proper recovery, the commission said.

By midnight Tuesday, the province had reported a total of 87 imported confirmed COVID-19 cases. It has traced 1,015 close contacts, with 687 still under medical observation.

Meanwhile, Heilongjiang reported an increase of 86 imported asymptomatic patients from Russia on Tuesday, all of them Chinese nationals. By midnight Tuesday, the province had a total of 144 imported asymptomatic patients.

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With the emergence of COVID-19, many countries around the world started to do their works at home, and students are taking online classes. Zoom has been trendy among the remote-conferencing tools, but the company faced many privacy issues with the system. Following some states of US, Taiwan has also banned the use of the video conference platform "Zoom" because of the security problem involved.

BBC reported that the Taiwanese government has banned the use of platforms with security problems such as zoom in public institutions. Instead, they recommended using platforms such as Google and Microsoft (MS).

As the proliferation of Corona 19 became severe worldwide, the video conferencing platform Zoom, which showed convenient usability, enjoyed "Corona Special." However, there were many episodes where a third party came into the video conference, sending Nazi patterns or racial discrimination messages and displaying pornographic photos or videos, causing security problems. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned about the security issues of Zoom, and it was stigmatized by the forming of the new word "Zoombombing."

To make matters worse, Citizen Lab, a Canadian security company, revealed that Zoom's data was passing through a Chinese server, and even overlapped with "China Risk." In China, if governments require companies to disclose information, they must.

Particularly in Taiwan, they are currently in dispute with China. China claims to have a "one country, two systems" while the island's current president, Tsai Ing-wen, rejected the consensus. As there has been a surge in the possibility that Chinese authorities accessing Zoom's data, they took Zoom's security seriously and decided to forbid the use of Zoom.

Earlier in the United States, New York City, Nevada, and some schools in Los Angeles banned zoom because of security concerns. There are growing concerns about zoom's security problems worldwide.
Clinics across Arizona, including four in Pima County, will receive more than $20 million in funding for their coronavirus response efforts.

The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the $2.2 trillion economic rescue package President Trump signed into law late last month.

As part of the package, $1.3 billion was allocated to 1,387 health centers across the U.S.

Arizonas share of more than $20 million includes more than $4.5 million in funding for the Arizona Department of Health.

The rest of the funding is spread across the state, with a little more than $5.5 million coming to Pima County clinics.

El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Health Center in Tucson will receive $2,582,630; Marana Health Center will receive $1,572,515; United Community Health Center  Maria Auxiliadora in Green Valley will receive $801,170; and Ajo Community Health Center will receive $551,000, a news release on the funding says.

The funding will be used to help prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19, according to the news release from the Department of Health and Human Services. Funds will also help clinics maintain or increase staffing to address the pandemic.

The funding will help keep clinics open and serving the community, said Clint Kuntz, CEO of Marana Health Center.

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Necessary to organize online lessons of how to use artificial lung ventilators in regions, protect doctors not only in supporting hospitals  Zelensky

The government should change the distribution of medicines to fight COVID-19 in the hospitals, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"In one of the hospitals in the Kirovohrad region, there are 20 infected doctors. This is just one example. Special equipment is delivered only to supporting hospitals, but each doctor in each medical facility is at the forefront, and we must provide each of them," he said on Thursday during a regular meeting on coronavirus.

Also at the meeting, it discussed that even after receiving modern artificial lung ventilation (IVL) devices, doctors in the regions often do not know how to use them, therefore, it is necessary to organize training for physicians.

"We need to organize online lessons. Then you can teach doctors in the areas very quickly," Zelensky said.

In turn, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said that he would soon open an information and consultation center for consulting doctors online.
Representative image

Avaada Energy, one of Indias largest solar energy producers promoted by serial entrepreneur Vineet Mittal, is looking to raise $200 million-$250 million to expand and also bid for renewable energy assets, sources have told Moneycontrol.

The Mumbai-headquartered renewable energy firm was also looking for growth capital to execute its existing portfolio and was open to diluting minority stake, a source said.

Investment bank BofA Securities has been given the mandate for the proposed transaction, the source said.

Both Avaada Energy and BofA Securities declined to comment on emails seeking their response.

Avaada Energy is also backed by the Asian Development Bank and the German developement finance institution DEG. Market conditions are tough due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and deal timelines are bound to get extended another source added, referring to the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

The transaction was likely to see participation from fresh investors and in recent weeks the plan had been to widen the net of potential suitors and focus on long- term investors with patient capital like sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, a third source said.

But the crash in oil prices and potential of rising liabilities in home countries due to COVID-19 deaths may impact the investment decisions of such investors, the source said.

All the persons Moneycontrol spoke to did not wish to be named.

Raising funds in the renewable energy sector depends mainly on the performance of the target companys underlying assets.

Experts say that due to the nature of long-term contracts ( running into 25 years) and fair visibility of revenues in the sector, investors may still play ball but will have to contend with risks like longer working capital cycles and uncertainty over state power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Following the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus and a fall in demand, some states in early April invoked the force majeure clause in their PPAs for renewable projects to cease power supply and payment.

A force majeure is announced in an event of unforeseeable circumstances that prevent parties from fulfilling a contract.

But days later, Punjab relaxed conditions and allowed a solar developer to supply power. In November 2019, Moneycontrol had reported that Canadian pension fund CPPIB and Brookfield were eyeing investments in Goldman Sachs promoted clean-energy firm ReNew Power.

Within the broader energy segment, renewables has been a segment of focus for private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds. The idea is to concentrate on greener energy sources and avoid fossil-fuel business and some of these funds have this as a mandate, said Sanjeev Krishan, Partner and Leader  Deals, PwC India.

In November 2019, Avaada Energy announced a Rs 100 crore fund infusion from the French development finance institution Proparco. In April that year, it got a Rs 1,000-crore investment boost from ADB, DEG, Dutch finance development company FMO and the promoter group.

Avaada Energy has delivered nearly 1 gigawatt commissioned solar capacities and has built some of the largest solar and wind projects across 10 states in India.

Its 151-MW (DC) Neemuch solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh was one of the worlds largest at the time of its commissioning in 2013. The 302-MW Tamil Nadu project was Indias largest when commissioned.

The firm has a 5GW project pipeline spanning emerging African & Asian countries, according to its website. In March 2020, Avaada Energy signed a 650 MW strategic agreement with Sungrow, a leading global inverter solution supplier for the renewable segment.

In June 2017, Welspun Energy sold its green energy portfolio to Tata Power for around $1.4 billion in the largest solar deal in the country. Mittal, who was the managing director and founder of Welspun Energy, exited the venture through this deal.

India is the leading proponents of solar energy and the government has set a target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. As per market forecasts, the penetration of solar power in India could be 5.7 % (54GW) in 2020 and 12.5% (166GW) by 2025.
South Africa: Minister condemns lockdown rules violation by motorists

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has expressed grave concern at the increasing non-compliance with transport regulations and directions aimed at reinforcing the nation-wide lockdown announced by President Ramaphosa.

At the start of the second week of the lockdown, the number of cars stopped and checked at roadblocks across the country increased from 17 559 on Monday to 29 738 on Wednesday.

The number of e-hailing providers that failed to adhere to passenger limits for a vehicle licensed to carry 4 passengers increased from 32 on Monday and peaked on Wednesday at 509.

On Wednesday, the number of minibus-taxis that failed to adhere to the passenger limit increased from 18 on Monday to 509.

Motorists also attempted to cross provincial boundaries despite a ban on inter-provincial travel.

The number of motorists who tried to travel across provinces increased from 125 on Monday to 196 on Wednesday.

This conduct demonstrate a worrying trend which must be roundly condemned by both government and civil society.

Those who undermine efforts to arrest the spread of this pandemic must face the full might of the law and equally face condemnation by society, as their behaviour places the lives of millions at risk, said the Minister.

Earlier in the week, Gauteng had the highest number of motorists attempting to cross provincial boundaries to other provinces at 108, but has since been overtaken by Mpumalanga at 149 on Wednesday, 8 April.

Despite this, Minister Mbalula encouraged the majority of citizens who continue to respect and comply with the lockdown regulations and directions to continue to do so and encourage others to follow suit.

The Minister further commended the sterling commitment of traffic law enforcement officers across the country in ensuring that South Africans stay home and further provide critical support to other law enforcement authorities.

The department through its entity, provincial departments responsible for road safety and municipalities deployed a total traffic officers across the country, to ensure compliance with the published Regulations and Directions.

Motivated by taxi associations, e-hailing providers and private motorists who continue to comply with the regulations and directives, the Minister urged industry bodies to play their part to reign in those who continue to demonstrate flagrant disregard of the law.

Law enforcement will be intensified and authorities will not hesitate to ensure that the full might of the law is brought to bear on those who continue to break it, said the Minister.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Jack Dorsey, the CEO and co-founder of Twitter and Square, has announced plans to donate $1 billion to fight the coronavirus outbreak. This is the largest pledged gift by a private individual yet during the pandemic.

He will contribute roughly 30 percent of his estimated net worth. He notes that all of his gift donations will be tracked through a public Google Sheet.

Dorsey explains the timing of his commitment: The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so lets do everything we can today to help people now.

Trumpet concerts from 200 feet in the air

Firefighter Elielson Silva plays his trumpet on the top of a ladder for residents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There is other good news in the news today: a disc jockey in Philadelphia made thirty-two food deliveries in seven days to healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic, supporting small businesses in the process. A firefighter in Rio de Janeiro is using a retractable fire truck ladder to play trumpet concerts from two hundred feet in the air for sheltering residents.

Geico has announced a 15 percent auto insurance credit worth billions of dollars because its customers are driving less. A math teacher in Maryland ran 102 miles in 21 hours to raise support for a local food bank.

But theres bad news in the news, of course. As of this morning, there are nearly 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, with more than 88,000 deaths.

Nearly twice as many people in New York City have died of COVID-19 as perished on 9/11. Due to stay-at-home orders, pornography use is up, as is domestic violence and alcohol use and abuse. And in a reminder that we were broken people before the pandemic struck, the CDC reports that suicides in the US have increased 35 percent since 1999.

Washing the feet of prisoners

Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin word for mandated. What is mandated about this day? And how does this mandate relate to the pandemic?

During his last supper with his disciples, Jesus washed their feet (John 13:1-11). Then he stated: If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you (vv. 14-15).

Many Christians over the centuries have imitated our Lords physical act, especially on this day. For instance, Pope Francis traveled to the prison of Velletri south of Rome last year for Maundy Thursday, where he washed the feet of twelve inmates. Be brothers in service: not in ambition, but in service, he told them.

However, Jesus mandate extends beyond his physical act to its spiritual significance. Whenever we serve a person selflessly and sacrificially, we can be said to have washed their feet. When we humble ourselves to honor our Lord and our neighbor, we imitate Jesus spirit of humility. When we meet physical needs to meet spiritual needs, we serve as our Lord serves us.

Hope when were afraid of the dark

Jack Dorsey is right: Life is too short, so lets do everything we can today to help people now. This principle applies especially to Christians, for we are called to follow the example of the One who gave his life to help all of humanity.

When Jesus launched his public ministry, he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned (Matthew 4:16, citing Isaiah 42:7).

Like them, we are dwelling in the shadow of death today. But the darker the room, the more powerful the light.

James Koester of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston notes: Its not that God cant, or doesnt, or wont work during the brightness of the day, but we need God most in those moments of our life that are full of darkness and fear.

If you have ever been or are even now afraid of the darkafraid of the darkness of your own life, afraid of the darkness of the life of another, afraid of the darkness of the worldtake courage for as terrifying as it can be, Holy Week promises us that God is at work even there, even then, even now.

Advice from a 102-year-old

Now our Lord invites us to share his light with those who are in the dark, to wash their feet as Jesus has washed ours. And to trust him to use our present faithfulness for future and eternal significance we cannot imagine today.

Lucille Ellson was born on December 30, 1917, just before the Spanish flu pandemic began. Her uncle and father contracted the flu, though neither died. She was a teenager during the Great Depression and a schoolteacher and young wife during World War II.

Now 102 years old, Lucille is reflecting on the coronavirus pandemic. She advises us to not get stressed about planning far ahead. You cant do it. A long time ago, I started making a list every morning of what I had to do. It was the only thing I could control.

You cannot control tomorrow, but you can control your service today. Jesus washed your feet; whose feet will you wash?

How will you make this a true Maundy Thursday?

Publication date: April 9, 2020

Photo courtesy: Getty Images

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Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp. (CSE: ISFT) (the "Company" or "ICEsoft") is pleased to announce the issuance of options to purchase 4,515,000 shares of Common stock in the Company, subject to terms and conditions provided in the Company's Employee Stock Option Plan, approved October 30, 2015.

The options are being issued to 11 employees whose previously issued options expired as of March 1, 2020 and to 3 directors of the company. Exercise price of the options shall be set at CAD $0.10 / share and the options shall hold an expiry date of April 8, 2024. Further details may be found in Company filings of the Canadian Stock Exchange website at www.thecse.com.

About ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp.

ICEsoft Technologies Canada Corp. is a software-as-a-service ("SaaS") company. ICEsoft's current software, which is available as freeware with a pay to use version, is used by some 150,000 developers, 20,000 companies, and some 400 paying customers. ICEsoft's newest product Voyent Alert! is an affordable Community Alerting Service specifically designed to meet the needs of small to medium sized municipalities, regional governments and campuses. The flexible platform serves the dual purpose of alerting and advising residents during a critical incident as well as providing targeted day-to-day communication services.

For more information, please contact:

Brian McKinney

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 403-663-3320

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS MARKET REGULATOR (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE THIS NEWS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES AND THE COMPANY IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

Forward-Looking Information Advisory

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Caring Companions Creator Receives UWs Marvin Millgate Student Engagement Award

Morgan Longstreth

Morgan Longstreth, a University of Wyoming Department of Psychology doctoral student from Newark, Ohio, is conducting research that focuses on issues in older adults related to mental health, technology preference and rurality.

That work has led her to create the Caring Companions program, a project she started last fall. The program focuses on the need for companionship for local residents in the community with dementia.

For her efforts, Longstreth is the recipient of the Marvin Millgate Student Engagement Award. The award recognizes one outstanding UW student or recognized student organization that is engaged in service-learning or other service opportunities that have made a tangible difference in the community.

Longstreths inspiring work to fill the gap between Laramie residents in need, community partners and UW has made a tangible difference in the community, says Jean Garrison, director of UWs Office of Engagement and Outreach, which presents the Millgate Awards.

The Caring Companions program has seven volunteers, all UW students, and Longstreth hopes to add local community volunteers. The student volunteers -- primarily interested in health-related fields and careers -- are receiving training and hands-on experience in the medical field.

This program resulted from the need for those with dementia to have companionship in order to help reduce the loneliness and social isolation that can come with the diagnosis, Longstreth says.

She also noted the need for caregivers to have a break from caring for those with dementia. Seeing the need, Longstreth organized and trained volunteers, matching them with senior citizens in need. She hopes this program will eliminate one of the gaps in geriatric care.

Longstreth also organized the Dementia Caregiver Support Group, which meets twice each month. She facilitates an atmosphere open to discussion and community collaboration. Caregivers consider this source as an open environment where they can discuss difficult situations and support one another.

Through these programs, Longstreth has created a diverse network of groups in Laramie, including LIV Health, the Eppson Center for Seniors, Edgewood Spring Wind Assisted Living and Memory Care, the Alzheimers Association, and several local health care and mental help providers who referred their patients to Caring Companions.

The local partnerships are giving Caring Companions an opportunity to expand and help more residents. Longstreths continued efforts are providing a positive impact on engaging a part of the local community that many people often miss, according to a person who nominated Longstreth for the award.

With these programs, Morgan is providing the geriatric community an opportunity to be involved and to be heard, the nominator says.

Morgan has been a leader in the community, bridging the gap between Laramie residents in need, community partners and UW, all while pursuing her passion as a student at the University of Wyoming, says Robin Barry, a clinical psychology assistant professor and Longstreths adviser. Her dedication to the community is exhibited through her success in creating and implementing various programs that have touched many lives.

Along with Longstreth, Ana Houseal, an associate professor in the UW School of Teacher Education, received the Marvin Millgate Engaged Faculty Award; Jane Crayton and Mary Louise Wood received the Marvin Millgate Engaged Staff Award; and Healthy Kids Rx, a collaborative program between Laramies CrossFit 7220 and UW, received the Marvin Millgate Excellence in Community Partnership Award.

About the Marvin Millgate Community Engagement Awards

Outreach and engagement with the state are core goals of UW and integral to the universitys land-grant mission. Building a strong culture of engagement and collaboration, involving the exchange of knowledge and resources, means developing partnerships in a context of reciprocity with the citizens and institutions of Wyoming, the nation and the world.

The Marvin Millgate Community Engagement Awards recognize individuals and groups at UW and in the community who have rendered exceptional engagement and service to Wyoming communities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the eradication of colonialism "once and for all". In his speech on the occasion of the opening of the 2020 session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization on 21 February, Guterres recalled that 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories (NSGTs), i.e. "territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government", as defined in Chapter XI of the UN Charter (Declaration on Non-Self-Governing Territories), are still awaiting decolonization.

Within the framework of the new world order established after World War II, the UN General Assembly included in its resolution 66 (I) of 14 December 1946 a list of 74 Non-Self-Governing Territories to which the aforementioned Chapter XI of the Charter applied; in 1960 it adopted the 'Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples' (resolution 1514 (XV)), and in 1961 it established a 17-member Special Committee - expanded to 24 in 1962 - to examine and make recommendations on the implementation of the aforementioned Declaration on decolonization.

The full name of that body is the 'Special Committee on the situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples' (commonly known as the Committee of 24, C-24, or the Special Committee on Decolonization). In 1963, the Committee added Western Sahara to the list of NSGTs (A/5446/Rev.1, annex I). As a result of the decolonization process, most of those territories - already independent countries or having changed their status - were removed from the list. To this day, the Special Committee continues to keep the above-mentioned 17 NSGTs on the decolonization programme.

The Committee meets annually to review and update the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories covered by the above-mentioned resolution 1514 (XV); hears statements by appointed and elected representatives of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, as well as petitioners; sends visiting missions to those Territories; organizes seminars on the political, social, economic and educational situation in those territories; makes recommendations with regard to the dissemination of information to mobilize public opinion in support of the decolonization process, and celebrates the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories (resolution 54/91 of 24 January 2000).

Western Sahara is the only remaining NSGT on the above-mentioned list in 1963 (the other 16 were in 1946); it is also the first on the list and the only one pending decolonization in Africa, and it is also by far the largest and most populous of all.

Following the signing of the Madrid Agreements (14 November 1975) and the definitive abandonment of the Territory by Spain, the Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations informed the Secretary-General on 26 February 1976 that with that date, the Spanish Government definitively terminated its presence in the territory of the Sahara and considered it necessary to place on record that Spain considered itself henceforth to be relieved of any responsibility of an international character in connection with the administration of that Territory, by ceasing to participate in the temporary administration established for it (A/31/56-5/11997) on the basis of the aforementioned Agreements. In this way, Spain unilaterally dissociated itself from its obligations to the international community and to the Saharawi people, theoretically under its protection (Portillo, J., Los saharauis y el Sahara Occidental. De los origenes al 2018, "The Saharawis and Western Sahara. From the origins to 2018", Circulo Rojo, 2019).

Given their nature, content and purposes, the 'Madrid Tripartite Agreements' constituted a flagrant violation of a cardinal principle of the UN Charter: the right to self-determination of peoples. The then OAU (now African Union, AU), by admitting the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a member state in 1984, denied legal and political value to those Agreements (Ahmed Boukhari, "The international dimensions of the Western Sahara conflict and its repercussions for a Moroccan alternative", Real Instituto Elcano, DT 19/04/2004).

In 1975, the International Court of Justice in The Hague already ruled that neither Morocco nor Mauritania had any title to sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara (Advisory Opinion of 16 October 1975). And the UN General Assembly has reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara is a problem of decolonization which must be solved based on the exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence (Ruiz Miguel, C. & al., The Western Sahara. Selected primary legal sources. 15 basic statements on the conflict, Andavira, 2018). The Resolution 3437 (1979) of the General Assembly calls on Morocco to "end its military occupation of Western Sahara and to negotiate with the Polisario Front, as the legitimate representative of the Saharawi people, the terms of a ceasefire and the modalities of a referendum on self-determination". In his report of October 2004, the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, pointed out that "the option of independence had already been accepted by Morocco in the Settlement Plan".

And in a specific ruling on Western Sahara, sent by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel, Mr Hans Corell, to the President of the Security Council in 2002, he made this very clear:

"The Madrid Agreements have not transferred the sovereignty of Western Sahara nor have they granted to any of the signatories the status of administrative power, a status which Spain cannot transfer unilaterally". (Resolution S/2002/161 of the United Nations Legal Department).

In October 2012, the US Department of State Report to Congress underlined that "Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara, a position that is not accepted by the international community". It goes even further by stating that Morocco is not considered by the UN as the de jure administrative power of the territory". (In fact, Spain is, even if its rulers pretend to continue evading this truth) (Bukhari Ahmed, "Sahara Occidental: dos propuestas de solucion", El Pais, 26/10/2012).

So as not to bore the reader, we simply mention also the 2016 and 2018 judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which clearly state that Morocco and Western Sahara are "two separate and distinct territories".

At the opening of the 2020 session quoted at the beginning, the UN Secretary General reiterated his commitment to the Decolonization Committee, recalling that he himself had been born in Portugal under a dictatorial regime which publicly denigrated that Committee and oppressed the Portuguese people and their colonies. "So for me it is something very emotional", he admitted. Guterres stressed that the Carnation Revolution ended the dictatorship in 1974, but that this was only possible thanks to the struggle carried out by the liberation movements in the colonies - Angola, Guinea, Mozambique, Timor - which led the Portuguese military to understand that the colonial war was a senseless one that had to be stopped. This was achieved thanks to the Carnation Revolution, "which led to democracy in my country and the independence of the former Portuguese colonies," he emphasized.

Following the Secretary General's intervention, the Permanent Representative of Grenada to the UN, Keisha Aniya McGuire - who was re-elected President for the current session of the Committee - agreed with Guterres that the decolonization agenda is not at an impasse but is moving forward and that "it is our mission and responsibility to achieve meaningful progress in the most efficient manner possible and with the collaboration of all concerned. In fact, next September, another NSGT, New Caledonia, will hold its second referendum on independence, following a first one in 2018.

It is clear that decolonization represents one of the most relevant chapters in the almost 75 years of life of the UN, with the aforementioned Decolonization Committee having played a fundamental role. Having gone from 74 to 17 NTFs is an achievement of which "we can all be proud", said Guterres. "However, he added, we must not forget that the peoples of those 17 territories are still waiting for the promise of autonomy to be fulfilled", and recalled that this 2020 marks the last year of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, a relevant milestone that should serve to put an end to those colonial situations. The Secretary-General concluded his address to the members of the Committee by assuring them: "I will stand by you as you give another push to eradicate colonialism once and for all".

Eighteen years have passed since East Timor's former NSGT completed its decolonization process in 2002 and became a free and independent country. East Timor was a contemporary case and very similar to that of Western Sahara. The territory of the present Democratic Republic of East Timor was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century ('Portuguese Timor'). After the Carnation Revolution, the colony declared its independence in December 1975, but a few days later - following the 'example' of Morocco in the then Spanish Sahara - it was invaded and occupied by troops from neighbouring Indonesia, which made the Timorese territory its 27th province. However, international pressure and a powerful civil society movement succeeded in getting the Portuguese government seriously involved and, with the mediation of the UN, the referendum on self-determination was finally held, in which the Timorese people chose independence.

Nothing forces today's democratic Spain, a social state governed by the rule of law, to assume the heavy burden inherited from the last government of the Franco dictatorship, the ignominious Tripartite Agreements, which are illegal and illegitimate, as recognized by Felipe Gonzalez himself - then Secretary General of the PSOE - in his speech in the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf on November 14, 1976, the first anniversary of the signing of the Madrid Agreements.

The Saharawi cause, just and legitimate, is a pending issue in our transition to democracy, as has been the exhumation of the dictator Francisco Franco from the 'Valley of the Fallen'. To date, and after the words pronounced by the UN Secretary-General himself, we cannot continue to turn a deaf ear and look the other way.

It would be desirable, therefore, that Spain, as Portugal did in the case of East Timor, should do the same in the case of Western Sahara  Spains former 'Province 53' - thus honouring its historical responsibilities and putting an end to the enormous injustice committed against the Saharawi people. It is now time to decolonize, as has been stated by those who have the greatest competence to do so, the UN Secretary-General, as did, some time ago, Hans Corell, Frank Ruddy, Stephen Zunes, George McGovern and so many others. And, above all, as the suffering Saharawi people, who have international legality on their side, are demanding, peacefully but insistently.

Luis Portillo Pasqual del Riquelme Ph.D. in Economics, former professor of Economic Structure and Institutions at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He has been an editor in chief of the Economic Bulletin and head of the Economic studies and research section at ICE (Informacion Comercial Espanola, Review of Economy). Author of Alimentos para la Paz? La ayuda de Estados Unidos (IEPALA, Madrid, 1987) [Food for Peace ? The US help].

Translated by Miguel Alvarez Sanchez (Tlaxcala-int.org)
09.04.2020 LISTEN

The world Bank has approved the appointment of the Famous Fiber Optic Inventor and Founder of the Silicon Valley of Ghana to the International Board of Advisors at the Energy University of Sunyani.

Dr. Mensah served as the Keynote Speaker at the recent launch of the World Class Innovative Energy Center in Sunyani which is funded by the World Bank. Other Board members are from Australia, Europe and North America and Ghana.

The Premier of South Africa and Governor of Gauten that includes Johannesburg has also appointed Dr. Thomas Mensah to South Africas Board for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This Board will help South Africa Develop cutting edge technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Arena. The Board will guide South Africa in its quest to create 2 million jobs in the Country.

Dr. Thomas Mensah was invited to speak at the First Technology and Innovation Conference in South Africa, where he toured the Innovation Centers and Universities in South Africa.

Dr. Thomas Mensah wants to create factories in South Africa for making Batteries and Advanced products based on Nanotechnology. The Technology has applications in Medicine for creating drugs to fight pandemics like Coronavarius, as well as produce lighter strong composite materials for Space Vehicles and Aircraft Parts.

Dr Mensah is the Author of 5 Books on Innovation including the International Text Book -Nanotechnology Commercialization- Products and Processes, that is used to teach Advanced Ph. D Students in this Field around the World.
A curfew violator in a bid to escape from police checkpoint rammed his car into barricades near Sanjay Gandhi Colony here on Wednesday. However, alert police nabbed him near Samrala Chowk and lodged an FIR against the accused.

The accused has been identified as Rohit Kumar of Harcharan Nagar near Samrala Chowk.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sukhwinder Singh said that the police had installed a checkpoint near Sanjay Gandhi colony following curfew was imposed. The police signalled a car coming from Tajpur road side to stop. Instead of stopping, the accused sped up his vehicle and rammed into the barricades, he said.

The ASI informed the police party at Samrala Chowk, one km away from the spot, and he was arrested there. A case under Section 188, 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused.

The accused told police that he had no curfew pass and he feared of being caught, so he tried to escape.

Meanwhile, the police also arrested six more curfew violators, who were wandering near their houses for no reasons.

10 vegetable vendors held for not wearing masks, gloves

Daresi police have booked three vegetable vendors for selling vegetables and fruits without wearing gloves and masks. The accused have made people huddle around their vends.

The accused are Abdul of Corporation colony at Haibowal, Sagar of Begowal and Mohammad Wasir of Malerkotla. Salem Tabri police have arrested six vegetable vendors, including Santokh Singh of Partap Singh Wala, Mohammad Shahid of Malerkotla, Gurpreet Singh of Tarntaran, Harjinder Singh of Guru Nanak Nagar, Mohan Kumar of Jamalpur and Bhagwant Singh of Rajewal.

Division number 6 police have arrested Ramu of Janta nagar for selling vegetables without pass and making people huddle around his vend.
Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Donald Trump should have more faith that Republican voters would still turnout in the same numbers if the elections were switched to full remote mail-in voting.

'The president says that he thinks that if we have vote-by-mail, then no Republican will ever get elected. Well, have more confidence in what the Republican Party stands for,' the House Speaker said during a phone call briefing Thursday afternoon.

She did admit that Democrats do better with in-person elections than they did when mail-in ballots were accounted for ahead of election day.

'We would always do much better on election day than we did with the vote-by-mail. But Republicans know how to vote-by-mail,' Pelosi continued, adding that the president 'shouldn't belittle the ability of Republicans to make their voice heard for the candidate they support.

Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that mail-in voting will not yield a good turnout for the Republican Party as Democrats demand there be an option for elections to be fully remote in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Donald Trump needs to have more faith that Republican voters will still turn out with mail-in ballots. 'The president says that he thinks that if we have vote-by-mail, then no Republican will ever get elected. Well, have more confidence in what the Republican Party stands for,' she said

'They want to stand in the way of a more open Democratic system in a time of a pandemic we're risking our people have concerns about going to the polls,' Pelosi said during a phone-in press briefing Thursday

President Donald Trump has railed against the idea of mail-in voting, claiming it wouldn't turn out well for Republicans and insisting there is more potential for fraud or tampering with the ballots

Pelosi claimed Thursday that Republicans are pushing against the measure because they are 'afraid of the voice of the people.'

'And that's one of the reasons they want to stand in the way of a more open Democratic system in a time of a pandemic we're risking our people have concerns about going to the polls. Let's recognize that, do the right thing,' she told reporters on the weekly press briefing call.

The president also lamented that there was a much higher possibility of voter fraud if Americans were given the option for mail-in voting instead of showing up in person.

'Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it,' Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. 'Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn't work out well for Republicans.'

Pelosi also railed against the idea that the president would lobby for people to go stand in massive lines and expose themselves to hundreds of other people by attending in-person voting in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

'Why should we be saying to people, 'Stand in line for hours,' when we don't even want you leaving the house? Some of these primaries that are taking place now or are being put off  why does it make sense?' Pelosi questioned, likely referencing the Wisconsin election that went forward as planned on Tuesday.

'We have a different value system about what voting means to a democracy,' she said. 'And clearly we want to remove all obstacles to participation. That's why we've had major disagreements with the Republicans on voter suppression that is rampant in their value system.'

Despite Trump's assertion that Democrats are the only ones who want remote voting, 65 per cent of self-identifying Republicans said in a poll released Wednesday that if the coronavirus pandemic persisted, they want an option for remote voting.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Monday and Tuesday found that 72 per cent of adults want to be able to vote by mail-in ballot to protect themselves and others from contracting the fast-spreading respiratory disease.

A massive 79 per cent of Democrats also support a federal-level requirement for mail-in ballots.

Donald Trump said Wednesday that Republicans should not let Democrats push forward with mail-in voting because it 'doesn't work out well' for his Party

Trump claims mail-in ballots are easier to tamper with and that's there's a larger change for voter fraud  an unproven assertion

Despite Trump's assertion, more than two-thirds of Republicans said in a poll Wednesday they want the option to vote by mail-in ballot in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic

The poll was conducted online among 1,116 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3-6 percentage points.

In the event of extenuating circumstances, like traveling for work during the time of an election or being bed-ridden, voters in most states can apply for absentee ballots to cast their vote by mail ahead of the election date.

There are five states  Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington  that already hold their elections by mail-in voting.

Democrats have been pushing for a measure to allow voters the option to cast their ballots remotely, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking Congress to allocate up to $4 billion to help states improve their capacity for mail-in voting.

Trump's expected rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, said that there needs to be increases in mail-in voting capabilities  but the president has bashed the prospect of mail-in voting before.

'I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting,' Trump said at his daily White House coronavirus press briefing earlier this week.

He also slammed the prospect of mail-in voting when talking about the in-person voting that went forward Tuesday in Wisconsin despite the governor's executive order to postpone the election until June.

Trump complained at the briefing Tuesday that Democrats only wanted to cancel the Wisconsin election after he endorsed a Republican candidate.

Voters were forced to choose between their health and casting their ballot earlier this week in the state  and because limited numbers of polling places were open, most voters stood in line for hours and the recommended social distancing was hard to enforce.

People checked in and voted at a polling place in Wisconsin Tuesday and were separated fro workers by plexiglass while attempting to stay within social distancing guidelines from other voters

People stood in line relatively close to one another to vote in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the conservative majority Supreme Court in the state ruled against the Democrat governor's executive order to postpone the elections until June

Democrats tried to extend mail-in voting and even postpone the primary election but were blocked by Republicans in court on two occasions.

The president, meanwhile, complained 'all hell broke loose' after he endorsed Judge Daniel Kelly.

'Wisconsin, get out and vote NOW for Justice Daniel Kelly. Protect your 2nd Amendment!,' he tweeted Tuesday morning.

'Ask how come it was okay to do this until I endorsed a candidate,' Trump said. 'As soon as I endorsed him, these lines are formed and I hear the lines are through the roof. Hopefully they are going to vote for the right candidate.'

He also pushed an unproven theory that mail-in ballots, which Democrats had advocated for so people could stay home yes still vote, could be tampered with.

'Mail ballots cheat. People cheat. Mail ballots are very dangerous thing for this country because they are cheaters. They collect them. They are fraudulent in many cases. You've got to vote. They should have voter I.D.,' the president said.

Trump himself voted by mail in the 2020 Republican primary in Florida. He said he did it 'because I'm allowed to.'

State voters faced long lines up at polling places, spaced with several feet between them seeking to avoid transmission of the coronavirus, amid warnings from Democrats and some election officials that voting should be delayed.

Donald Trump put aside urging people to stay at home by endorsing a conservative justice up for reelection in Wisconsin

In Hudson, Wisconsin, voters were careful to stay six feet apart to comply with social distancing guidelines - with poll workers putting traffic cones as indicators

Many wore face masks as they waited to cast their ballots in a state that has featured bitter partisan divisions. Thousands of poll workers, many of them elderly, dropped out citing concern for their own safety. National Guard members helped fill the breech.

The election took place even though Wisconsin, like most U.S. states, has imposed a stay-at-home order on its residents. In Milwaukee, there were just five polling stations  down from 180.

More than a dozen other states have postponed their elections in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has transformed Americans' daily lives and plunged the economy into an apparent recession.

More than 2,400 people in Wisconsin were infected as of Monday, according to a local CBS affiliate, and upwards of half of Wisconsin's municipalities reported shortages of poll workers, prompting the Midwestern state to call up 2,400 National Guard troops to assist.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India will do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19, responding to United States President Donald Trump thanking him for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Hydroxychloroquine is deemed as a possible cure for the deadly coronavirus.

"We shall win this together," Modi said, responding to a tweet by President Trump.

"Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer," he said, adding that the India-US partnership is "stronger than ever".

"India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19," the prime minster said.

Earlier, in a tweet, President Trump had thanked India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ, saying it would not be forgotten.

"Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight," he had said.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week.

During the call, Trump had requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is a major producer.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has instructed the Infrastructure Ministry, together with the Health Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry, to urgently evacuate Ukrainian citizens from Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"The Government instructed the Ministry of Infrastructure, together with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to ensure the urgent evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak zone in the Italian Republic," the statement reads.

According to the Government portal, the Cabinet of Ministers at an extraordinary meeting on March 14 also discussed the procedure for the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens.

On March 11, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a plan to fight the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus infection in the country, which envisages a three-week nationwide quarantine in educational institutions and a ban on the holding of mass events.

As of today, three cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed in Ukraine.

A 71-year-old woman from Zhytomyr region, who was hospitalized on March 12 with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 case, died yesterday, March 13.

The COVID-19 viral disease is now officially a pandemic, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday, March 11.

ish
INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis police officer was shot and killed Thursday while responding to a domestic violence call, authorities said.

Officer Breann Leath, 24, was shot at an apartment complex on the citys far east side. Leath died at Eskanazi Hospital, Chief Randal Taylor said.

A suspect was taken into custody, said Deputy Police Chief Chris Bailey. A female civilian also was shot, he said.

Officer Leath turned toward the danger, Mayor Joe Hogsett said at a news conference outside the hospital.

Officer Leath made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of her brothers and sisters and made the ultimate sacrifice for an ever-grateful city.

Hogsett directed that flags be lowered to half-staff across the city.

Leaths death is heartbreaking, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Thursday afternoon in a statement.

Officer Leath gave her life as she answered the call of duty, Holcomb said. She will be forever remembered for being the finest among us.

Bailey said Leath had been on the force 2 1/2 years. She was among three officers who responded to the call, Bailey said.

Traffic on Interstate 70 was shut down to clear the way for the officers transport to a downtown hospital, local television stations reported.
Authorities have identified the 19-year-old Haverhill man fatally stabbed on Tuesday as Efrain Indio Maisonet.

Wednesday morning, police arrested Oscar Quinones on a murder charge in connection with Maisonets death. He has been ordered held without bail at the Essex County Correctional Facility and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning by teleconference, according to the office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

Around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, Haverhill police were told the victim had arrived at Merrimack Valley Hospital at Holy Family in Haverhill with multiple stab wounds, Blodgetts office said in a statement.

Maisonet was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the district attorneys office said.

Investigators learned that Maisonet was at Haverhill Stadium at 117 Lincoln Ave. with a group of friends. Then, Quinones approached the group, stabbed the him and ran off, according to the statement.

The exact location of the stabbing was in a parking lot behind the stadium, authorities said.
Chief Magistrate Court 1 Ogba has sentenced actress Funke Akindele and her hubby, Abdulrasheed Bello aka JJC Skillz, for defying the social distancing order of the Lagos state government.

The court in its ruling ordered the couple to pay a fine of N100,000 each and also sentenced them to 14 days community service, three hours per day, excluding Saturday and Sunday.

According to the sentence, couple must also visit 10 important public places within Lagos State to educate the public on the consequences of non compliance with the restriction order and must submit the names and phone numbers of every person who attended their house party.

Furthermore, the court ordered that they shall be placed on isolation by the State Government to determine their COVID-19 status. Failure to abide by the above directives shall attract more severe punishments.

The charge sheet filed against them reads
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:08:55|Editor: Liu

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Photo taken on April 9, 2020 shows the ground hit by a Grad missile attack at Al-Khadra General Hospital in Tripoli, Libya. The forces of the UN-backed government of Libya on Thursday accused the rival eastern-based army of attacking the hospital in Tripoli treating COVID-19 patients for the second time in a week. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

TRIPOLI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The forces of the UN-backed government of Libya on Thursday accused the rival eastern-based army of attacking a hospital in the capital Tripoli treating COVID-19 patients for the second time in a week.

"Commander of eastern-based army launched a Grad missile attack on medicines stores of Al-Khadra General Hospital that contain equipment to protect against the coronavirus," the UN-backed government's forces said in a statement.

The hospital was attacked on Monday, forcing the hospital's authorities to evacuate all the patients, including those infected with COVID-19.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Yacoub El Hillo condemned the attack on the hospital, saying it is a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

"The repeated calls by the United Nations and the international community for a cessation of hostilities have only been met with complete disregard and intensified fighting. This is unacceptable at a time when healthcare and health workers are vital in our fight against a global pandemic," El Hillo said in a statement.

Moreover, the UN-backed government's forces said an African worker was killed and six others were injured by an attack of the eastern-based army in eastern Tripoli.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has documented at least 356 civilian deaths and 329 injuries since the outbreak of a conflict in April 2019 between the eastern-based army and the UN-backed government in and around Tripoli.

Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly 150,000 people in and around Tripoli have been forced to flee their homes, with 345,000 civilians remaining in frontline areas and some 749,000 living in conflict-affected areas, according to UNSMIL.
C oronavirus deaths will continue to increase for two weeks even after admissions into intensive care begin to slow, the UKs Chief Scientific Advisor has said.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference on Thursday, Sir Patrick Vallance warned that deaths will continue to rise after patient numbers have peaked.

He said: In general I'd expect the deaths to continue to go up for about two weeks after the intensive care picture improves.

So we're not there yet in terms of knowing exactly when that would be, but that's the sort of timeframe I'd expect.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

But Sir Patrick also said on Thursday that there were signs that hospital and intensive care admissions were beginning to level off.

Addressing the spread of the virus in the community, he said: This is not doubling. In the community youd expect this now to be shrinking for all the reasons Ive said and the evidence suggests thats whats happening in terms of the transmission in community.

Sir Patrick said it is important to continue with lockdown measures in place.

Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance speaking during a remote press conference to update the nation on the Covid-19 pandemic / 10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty

This is because, as a result of the lockdown, there has been no "sharp uptake" in new cases, meaning the NHS should be able to cope, he said.

He added: The measures that everybody has taken, the difficult things that weve all had to do, are making a difference, theyre making a big difference.

We know that the social distancing is working and we know that people are doing what theyre supposed to do and we need to keep doing that.

And the reason we need to keep doing that is because it stops the transmission of the virus in the community and we know that that is already happening.

He added: The message is clear which is the social distancing were doing is breaking transmission, its stopping the hospital admissions, beginning to see that flattening off, still unbelievably busy but beginning to see that flatten off, its preventing more people going into intensive care and it will prevent deaths.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, asked about the speed of infection, said: At the time when I was first talking about this the doubling time  how fast we were doubling in terms of numbers, particularly in intensive care  was about three days, it varied a bit.

This has got steadily longer in time over the last two weeks thanks to what people have done.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

Every Company at a point will require growth. Depending on the size of the company, investments may be required in the form of either equity (shares) or debt (loans). If the investment is acquired in the form of debt, then a financial institution may be resorted to on terms and conditions to be agreed between the institution and the company.

Some companies also prefer raising funds through equity by selling off their shares in other companies or issuing out new shares to other entities. Depending on the regulation of the company, where an existing shareholder decides to sell off its shares in an existing company, it must first offer the shares to other members of the company on terms and conditions before offering them to third parties if the members refuse the offer.

For this article, consideration will be given to all the requirements needed by either individuals or cooperate entities that are considering the acquisition of shares in other companies from existing shareholders.

Approved Resolution by the Selling Entity

Where the selling entity is a cooperate body, it must support the sale of its shares with a board of directors resolution approving the sale of shares. The directors are the governing minds and decision-makers of the company and the sale of shares (interest) in a company, being a material decision, must be supported with their approval.

The board resolution will usually approve the share transfer, resolve to issue a new share certificate to the buyer, cancels the certificate of the seller and amend the register of members of the company effective from the date of the transfer of the shares.

A special resolution will, however, be required where the company is issuing out new shares out of its authorized shares to third parties.

Approved Resolution by the Purchasing Entity

Likewise, the purchasing entity, if a corporate body, will require a board of directors resolution approving the purchase of shares from the selling entity. These resolutions must name the authorized signatory approved by the board to execute all documents necessary for the completion of the transaction.

Execution of Share Purchase Agreement

Both the selling and purchasing entity must execute a Share Purchase Agreement ("SPA") detailing the terms and conditions of the contract. The SPA will indicate the number of shares being transacted and the consideration (monies) payable by the purchasing entity. It further defines the mode and agreed payment terms between the parties. It must be noted that only the authorized signatory must sign the SPA and it has to be stamped with the official stamp or seal of both the selling and purchasing entities.

Stamping of the Share Purchase Agreement

Following the execution of the SPA by both parties, the document must be stamped at the Lands Valuation Department of the Lands Commission. The SPA is a chargeable instrument and it is required to be assessed and stamped under the assessment. The amount chargeable is usually meagre and further to this, during the registration at the Registrar Generals Department ("RGD") only stamped SPA's will be accepted.

Issuance of Share Certificate

Any Company shall within two (2) months after issuing out shares to an entity or individual must issue out a Share Certificate evidencing the transaction. The Share Certificate must be certified by one director and the secretary with an official company seal or stamp on the certificate. The certificate usually indicating the number and class of shares, amount of money paid or which remains payable and the name and address of the shareholder.

The Share Certificate is necessary as it is official evidence of ownership of the shares by the shareholder. Statements made in a share certificate under the common seal of the company or as certified by two directors and the Company Secretary of the company are prima facie evidence of the title to the shares of the person named in the certificate as the registered holder and of the amounts of money paid and payable on the certificate

Registration of Interest (Shares) at the Registrar Generals Department (RGD)

After the successful execution of the SPA and the issuance of the share certificate, the purchaser of the shares must take steps to register its interest at the RGD. The documents required to be presented are the approved resolutions from both the seller and the purchaser, the stamped SPA between the parties and the share certificate issued to the purchaser of the shares.

After the successful registration of interest at the RGD, the RGD will amend the profile of the company to reflect the new shareholding structure. The company must also take steps to amend its register of members and cancel the share certificate of the seller.

Again, the company must ensure that the changes to its shareholding structure are reflected during the filing of its annual returns at the RGD.

The acquisition of shares is relevant and must be done with all the necessary due diligence required for any business transaction.
Sometimes viewing an art exhibition online isnt so much an inconvenience as a comfortable buffer. Consider, for example, the irreverent, relentless visual cornucopia created by the great but under-known artist Roy De Forest (1930-2007), a large selection of which booms forth from the website of the Manhattan gallery Venus Over Manhattan.

The shows 37 paintings, drawings and assemblage wall reliefs span from 1960 to 2006 and constitute the largest De Forest show in New York since a 1975 survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His efforts bristle with saturated colors, notably red, reflecting a love of early Matisse, and surprising textures, especially raised pointy dots squeezed directly from the tube (think Nestle chocolate chips). Strange cartoonish characters abound, including sentient animals, mainly dogs and horses  which are often the protagonists.

De Forests artworks batter received ideas of taste and beauty no less today than they did when they were created. They eviscerate (perhaps definitively) the pejorative term regionalist with which New York art worlders used to label most postwar artists who lived west of New Jersey  Los Angeles excepted. Far from regionalist, or parochial, De Forests works reveal an artist who viewed the styles of early modernism as building blocks and used them so inventively that we barely notice.
By Katya Golubkova and Polina Nikolskaya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - On Wednesday, March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, because of the spread of the new coronavirus, the following week would be a non-working week in Moscow, and the city's residents should stay indoors.

On Friday evening, about 730,000 cars, carrying perhaps 10% of Moscow's 12.7 million population, left the capital, centre of Russia's epidemic, for the countryside, according to Moscow's transport department.

The exodus, perfectly legal, has raised fears that the virus is being carelessly spread across the country, and angered the residents of outlying regions who had thought themselves at least relatively protected.

That same day, as the number of confirmed cases rose past 1,000, Russia shut its vast network of state-run hotels, resorts and recreational facilities until June 1, and suspended all international flights.

But this also did not stop over 17,000 people flying from Moscow and the second city, St Petersburg, to their summer houses or dachas in just one of Russia's more than 80 regions in the space of a couple of days in late March, according to a source in the local administration, 500 km (300 miles) from Moscow.

In the regions, some locals are accusing the Muscovites of bringing the coronavirus with them.

"We need to fight panic," said the same local government source. "We have to do something with the Muscovites who have come to their dachas. Our economy is built around them, but they are becoming enemies. It shouldn't be like this."

In one case, in the Tula region, about 100 km from Moscow, authorities were considering locking down a village with 334 upscale holiday homes because a family of four had gone there after testing positive on their return from a foreign holiday, the region's crisis response centre said.

The family had immediately self-isolated in the village, but all the inhabitants were now being tested and the streets disinfected.

Story continues

"We have a lot of dachniki (second-home owners) here who openly neglect isolation - meeting friends, walking in parks," said Alexander Atayants, head of the area where the village is located.

"Social tensions are rising: locals complain about their reckless behaviour and of the risk of spreading infection."

Some regions, including Kemerovo and Novosibirsk in Siberia, have ordered anyone coming from Moscow or St Petersburg to be isolated for two weeks.

And the Ivanovo region, 300 km northeast of Moscow, has told locals not to rent out properties to Muscovites on pain of a fine or criminal charges.

As of April 9, Russia said it had over 10,000 novel coronavirus cases, two-thirds of them in Moscow, and all regions are in partial lockdown, their citizens advised to stay at home.

(Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Kevin Liffey)
Following the announcement of the inaugural IAB SA Front Row winners, announced online during this year's Bookmarks, we interviewed them on what the initiative means to them and what they hope to get out of it.

Front Row winner Motshidisi Mokoena

Congratulations on being announced a Front Row winner! What does this recognition and opportunity mean to you?

What are you currently studying and/or where do you work?

What course are you thinking of studying at the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business and why?

Tell us a bit about your experience. Why the creative industry and your field of interest?

Comment on the challenges facing the industry.

Comment on the current state of the industry/the impact of the pandemic and current lockdown on the industry.

Comment on the power of access, mentorship and collaboration in transforming the industry?

What does the future of the industry look like to you?

What are you most looking forward to?

The aim of the initiative is to create access in terms of events and mentors, as well as career-building opportunities for South Africas creative youth.Veli Ngubane, IAB Transformation Council Head explains the initiative: "We have taken a pragmatic approach to support transformation in the industry this year, concentrating on access as the key focus to this end. Front Row forms part of this approach, in giving free access and support to the front row for IAB events and workshops to black students, entrepreneurs and agency interns between the ages of 18-24, and going forward 18-28."The IAB South Africa serves to empower the media and marketing industry to thrive in a digital economy. We do this through our connected culture and access to experts and expertise. It is vital that we are always increasing our engagement with the future leaders of our industry while bringing in a fresh, and different, perspective to the IAB SA as a whole, adds Paula Hulley, CEO of the IAB SA. Platforms like the IAB SA Front Row and IAB SA Youth Action Council, aim to provide easier access to information and platforms of engagement while creating valuable collaborative spaces and the opportunity to sit at the table with seasoned industry leaders at the highest level.In addition to being given access to some of our countrys most brilliant digital media and marketing minds, each of the five winners received a R15,000, non-transferable, online-course voucher from The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business to further their digital creative and business studies, as well as a R3,000 voucher from Bookmarks 2020 event partner, G-Star and access to the front row at the IAB SA Insight events Here, our interview with Mokoena:Thank you so much. It is truly an honour to be a part of the Front Row. This recognition is the key to unlocking so many other opportunities for me as I build my career. Having been given the privilege of having access to IAB events means I have an opportunity to connect with industry giants, and for me that means a lot because a huge part of where I am has been because of networking.I am currently looking for work opportunities as my internship at Edits Communications (an agency run by Nomndeni Mdakhi, who is also the founder of Agenda Women) will be coming to an end on 31 March. I currently do strategy, social media management and copywriting for Agenda Women, and I am now in search of a new home.I am thinking of studying graphic design and this is because I am quite a good writer, however, my design skills are not that great and I have realised that for some organisations or brands, design skills come in handy. So, this is a strategic move in creating value for myself.Strategic communication was not at all my first choice, but when I could not get space to study what I wanted to, I opted for strategic communication. I was looking for something without mathematics or physics, so strategic communication was perfect.I never would have imagined myself here, but I fell in love with the course, so much that I started this thing of dissecting adverts to understand the insight and concept behind the communication.From the first day I received a brief, I knew that this is where I wanted to be because my personality and character get to shine in such a space. I am also grateful that I got to be taught by the likes of Dayle Ruff and Roela Hattingh. Not only did they feed my curiosity about the ins and outs of this industry, they made the learning process such fun that I yearned for more.The nature of communications continues to be altered by our surroundings or environments. There is so much noise around us that it sometimes becomes difficult for organisations to keep the numbers up (depending on their objectives) and still stay relevant to their audience. Another challenge is the evolution of technology and elements to communications, and sometimes that makes it a bit difficult to keep our skills list up to date.Due to unemployment, most people are now opting for freelancing, and as a result of the outbreak more and more people have to come up with strategies to not just keep making money but to also collect their money from clients.Freelancers have it really hard as they continue to be faced with having to do a lot of work at negotiated rates, and then having to struggle getting paid. Perhaps organisations should look at how they can bring some freelancers on board for projects that are still on during this time.As a graduate, or rather someone who is still at the very beginning of building their career, I have a lot of questions about how the industry works. I may even be uncertain about what I really want to do, and that is why having access to useful information can help a great deal.Before becoming part of the Phakama Women's Academy, I underestimated the power of having a mentor, but now I realise that I actually should have started seeking mentorship earlier.One of the most important things about having a mentor for me is having someone who has made the mistakes you are making and having the privilege to have them guide you so that you avoid making those mistakes. You basically have someone who will give you shorter ways of getting around certain things in your career among other things, based on your relationship with your mentor.It really helps me to have people who believe in me, push me, guide me, help me navigate my way to building a name, people who I can look up to and have hope that I stand a chance at making it, no matter how hard it seems.The future of the industry is uncertain. As strategic communication practitioners, we need to be extremely flexible. Communications is becoming more about the ability to think on your feet and come up with emergent strategies than just being about putting out messages and content.I am looking forward to meeting other creatives and learning something new about the industry, and creating my place in the industry.I cannot wait to see what the future of the industry has in store for us and what challenges the future will bring.I am also looking forward to starting my course at R&Y, at the end of the national lockdown so that I can go shopping and attend events.I honestly love attending events where I will be able to network and meet new people.A big, big shout out to the IAB SA for such an amazing initiative and opportunity, and to also thank my mentors, Nomndeni Mdakhi and Sunshine Shibambo for all their guidance and for believing in me. These are the people I look up to and they always push me to do great things  they set very high standards.
Nepal on Thursday decided to allow Nepalese stuck in Kathmandu to return to their home in other districts by resuming operation of long route vehicles for two days.

The government took the decision as thousands of people wishing to return home from Kathmandu are stuck in the capital city due to the nationwide lockdown imposed till April 15.

However, no vehicles will be allowed to enter Kathmandu from outside districts.

The government said that those wishing to leave Kathmandu for outside districts can return to their home on Friday and Saturday.

The three-week long lockdown in Nepal entered 17th day even as the number of COVID-19 positive cases remained nine for the past 96 hours.

The government has so far tested around 3,000 samples for coronavirus, according to Health Ministry spokesperson.

There are at present 7,940 people quarantined in different parts of the country and 117 people are kept in isolation.

To control spread of coronavirus, the government initially imposed an 8-day lockdown in March, but later extended it twice, on April 1 and April 7 till April 15.

International and domestic flights have been halted till April end and all long route bus services also remained suspended till mid-April.

Meanwhile, local authorities quarantined 25 people, including 14 Indian nationals and 11 Nepalese, in Saptari district in SouthEast Nepal as they violated the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite lockdown in Mumbai, the



number of containment zones - where one or more coronavirus patients or suspected cases are found - increased from 146 last week to 381 on Thursday.

This shows a rapid rise in containment zones by 235 in just eight days.

Out of the total 1,297 COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, over 800 have been reported from Mumbai. The metropolis has also reported 45 deaths.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the number of containment zonesin 24 administrative wards went up to 381 on Thursday from 146 till March 31.

These containment zones include various buildings, housing societies, slum pockets and hospitals.

Till March 31, the BMC had identified 146 containment zones and sealed those areas with the help of Mumbai Police, restricting entry and exit of people staying there, to contain the spread of the disease.

The maximum 184 COVID-19 patients have been found in G-South ward spread between Haji Ali and Worli, followed by E, D and K-West wards with 64, 53 and 46 cases, respectively, the civic body said.

It also demarcated some medical facilities - like Wockhardt Hospital at Mumbai Central, Jaslok Hospital on Pedder Road, and Bhatia Hospital on Charni Road - as containment zones after several nurses and paramedical staffers tested positive for coronavirus.

The various areas demarcated as containment zones include Worli's Koliwada, a fisherfolk village, and some pockets of Dharavi, which is one of the largest slums in Asia.

The BMC has said no person will be allowed to go out from the containment zone and no outsider will be permitted in, to check the spread of the deadly viral infection.

The civic body also said it will provide all the necessary items like food and vegetables to people inside the containment zones.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Irelands business minister has said it is up to the Northern Ireland Executive to give more money to cross-border workers who live in Northern Ireland but have lost their job in the Republic.

These workers are ineligible for emergency Covid-19 unemployment payments from the Irish Government.

The 350-euro (306) weekly payment is available for workers laid off due to Covid-19 in the Republic, but people living in Northern Ireland can only claim up to 73 (83 euro) through Jobseekers Allowance.

Business Minister Heather Humphreys told Northern Sound FM that workers who live in the Republic but work in Northern Ireland can claim payments, and it is up to the Stormont Executive to increase its payments to workers who live there.

I think it is something we can take up with them when we meet them again but I think it would be something that they should be looking at themselves.

People who live in the South and work in the North can claim the 350-euro unemployment payment. Perhaps the Northern Ireland Executive would look at doing the same for people who are living in the North.

Ms Humphreys, Fine Gael TD for the border region in Cavan-Monaghan, said on Wednesday that Department of Social Protection officials have been unable to find a way to pay workers who have been laid off from a job in the Republic but live in Northern Ireland.

Under the legislation that currently exists, if you are laid off south of the border and you live in the North, you have to claim your social welfare in the country in which you live. That is the situation currently.

I have asked the Department of Social Protection to look at it and they examined it carefully.

Meanwhile, a man living in Northern Ireland who lost his job in the Republic has mounted a legal challenge against the State.

Belfast law firm Phoenix Law has sent a pre-action letter to the Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty, arguing that the departments stance is unconstitutional.

The man, who lives in Co Armagh but has worked across the border in Co Louth for the past four years until he was laid off in February, cannot access the payment despite having paid Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).

Phoenix Law solicitor Gavin Booth said the grounds for the legal challenge amount to the failure of the Irish Government to apply their process fairly to all citizens who pay PRSI and taxes within the Irish State.

Mr Booth said he hopes the issue can be resolved before taking further legal action.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection confirmed the emergency Covid-19 payment is only available to people resident in the Republic.

It did not respond to queries about the number of workers being denied the payment because they live in Northern Ireland and how many people have been refused the payment.
New Delhi, April 9 : As cybercriminals pose new challenges to legitimate businesses, countries across the world will see increased regulation on a variety of topics from a variety of regulators in 2020 and beyond, a new report has stressed.

According to the KPMG report, in Asia, specifically, we've seen new regulations around cyber security where they've actually used the word "cyber." Previously, the regulations in that region used the word "technology," which had an IT connotation.

"The increased precision is a welcome development. With so many countries having issued rules to comply with certain elements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or their own privacy laws, we're seeing - especially with larger multinational companies - the creation of new, proactive data management departments," noted the report titled "All hands on deck: Key cyber security considerations for 2020".

Businesses are looking to master data analytics as a discipline and understand not only where the data is located across the organization, but also who owns it, what's being done with it, and, perhaps most critically, what rights and permissions users have in relation to that data.

"Successful ongoing cyber resilience will require the strategic alignment of cyber strategies with incident response, business continuity and disaster recovery planning. We've got to involve the entire enterprise - from front office to back,' stressed Akhilesh Tuteja, Global Cyber Security Co-Leader, KPMG International.

Companies need to think differently about how to protect their competitive advantage and develop new models with a goal of becoming and remaining cyber secure.

Cyber security professionals need to demonstrate they can protect the heart of the transformed business with an agility of thought and action that recognises the pace and speed at which cybercriminals operate.

The report picked six key cyber considerations that will shape the way people approach security in 2020: Aligning business goals with security needs; digital trust and consumer authentication; the evolving security team; the next wave of regulation; cloud transformation and resilience; and automating the security function.

Companies are recognizing the need for additional investment, not just in tooling and process development, but in terms of a lack of cyber talent, from cyber governance and risk strategy to configuration and maintenance.

"There's still a large gap in this space, and, unfortunately, many companies hire IT professionals who lack cyber security perspective in relation to the regulatory environment. The result is advice that is often ineffective or well intentioned, but misunderstood or inadequately implemented by management and the board," the findings showed.

Companies are encouraged to shift their focus from systems and technology to information.

"Pinpoint what it is that makes you competitive in the market. It could be intellectual property, or your supply chain, or your pricing power. Whatever it is, that's what you need to protect from a cybersecurity perspective,' the report elaborated.

Ascertain what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is able to handle and what truly requires the nuance of human thought.

Challenge yourself to automate the basic controls in your security environment. Shoot for at least 50 percent.

"Finally, advocate for cyber security to be a prominent feature in the organization's environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda to demonstrate your comprehensive view of cyber security governance and ability to handle a broad array of incidents," the report mentioned.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The US has tested more than 1.2 million Americans for coronavirus, but some have received negative results despite being infected.

The coronavirus is a disease that forms in the lungs, but it sometimes sits in a cavity between the nose and throat where a swab is unable to reach.

Although the RT-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) detection is the gold standard for testing, it can produce a false negative if the sample is not taken properly.

Experts also believe that because hospitals and drive-thru testing sites are being flooded by people, healthcare workers are also rushing to tend to as many individuals as possible and are not grabbing the samples properly.

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The coronavirus is a disease that forms in the lungs, but it sometimes sits in a cavity between the nose and throat where a swab is unable to reach. Although the RT-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) detection is the gold standard for testing, it can produce a false negative if the sample is not taken properly

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the approval for the RT-PCR test in February for patients who meet specific criteria for coronavirus testing.

Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer at UW Health, told Slate.com that the test is actually really good.

So good that if we can capture a single strand of RNA, we can get a result.

The coronavirus is known to form in the lungs and produce fluid in air spaces that causes heavy breathing  a well-known symptom of the virus.

Experts also believe that because hospitals and drive-thru testing sites are being flooded by people, healthcare workers are also rushing to tend to as many individuals as possible and are not grabbing the samples properly

Testing for the virus is done using a long swab that enters the nose to collect samples from the uppermost part of the throat.

One TikTok user filmed the process sharing that it felt like I was being stabbed in the brain.

WHAT ARE THE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS? The virus, called COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms including a sore throat, headache, fever, cough or trouble breathing. Severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Advertisement

However, the coronavirus may not sit in the same spot for everyone, sometimes it forms in the nasopharynx, which is a deep cavity between the nose and the throat -an area swabs are unable to reach.

Nam Tran, an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, told Slate.com: Theres a misconception if a person has COVID, the virus is all over the place.

Thats not true.

Pothof and Tran both believe that one of the reasons for the false negatives is because healthcare workers are not able to reach that far back performing a nose swab.

In addition to not collecting samples properly, the experts think that with the pandemic sparking fear around the country, facilities are overflowing with individuals hoping to undergo testing.

This results in healthcare workers rushing from one test to another, which leaves room for error.

Because there are have been many reports of false negatives, doctors are now calling for chest CT scans to be used as a way to determine if a person is infected.

These X-rays show that the lungs are filled with fluid, allowing specialists to see the virus, rather than rely on secretion samples.

Numerous scans of patients with coronavirus show white patches in the lower corners of the lungs which indicates what radiologists call ground glass opacity - the partial filling of air spaces.

Because there are have been many reports of false negatives, doctors are now calling for chest CT scans to be used as a way to determine if a person is infected. These X-rays (pictured) show that the lungs are filled with fluid, allowing specialists to see the virus

The US is feeling the brunt of the pandemic and has more cases and deaths than another other nation. As of Wednesday evening, more than 422,000 cases have been reported and the death toll has surpassed 14,000

Such abnormalities identified by doctors in the scans of coronavirus patients are similar to those found in patients suffering from SARS and MERS.

The coronavirus began in China December 2019 and has now infected nearly every country in the world.

However, the US is feeling the brunt of the pandemic and has more cases and deaths than another other nation.

As of Wednesday evening, more than 422,000 cases have been reported and the death toll has surpassed 14,000.
Mumbai, April 9 : In a major development, the Maharashtra government will soon deploy State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) contingents to enforce total lockdown in Dharavi and other slums in Mumbai, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said here on Thursday.

Briefing on the outcome of the state cabinet meeting presided over by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Tope said that several ministers including Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Sheikh urged Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to do whatever necessary.

"While the Mumbai Police is already doing a good job, there is a need to further tighten the lockdown in Dharavi and other congested localities (slums) to arrest the spread of coronavirus," he said.

Besides, the help of technology in the form of drone monitoring will be taken to check lockdown violations in such problem areas, he added.

In a related development, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has taken up various measures, including sanitising drives in many parts of the locality, has decided to test the entire estimated 800,000 population of Dharavi for Covid-19 as the number of deaths rose to three and those infected to 17 as on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Mumbai Police and health authorities tightened the lockdown in Dharavi, Asia's biggest slum, amid growing fears of coronavirus spreading here, by declaring 10 localities as 'red zones' in the 2.25 sq. km area.

All movement of people has been stopped and all shops and establishments, fruit/vegetable markets or vendors, hawkers, etc, have been shut down, barring pharmacies.

To minimise unrest in the area, the BMC, plans to come up with a scheme for doorstep delivery of essentials shortly.

Gaikwad, who represents Dharavi constituency, along with Tope visited hospitals and quarantine centres in her constituency on Wednesday for a spot assessment of the grim situation.

"We have requested Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to direct the police to strictly enforce lockdown in this area to prevent the spread of coronavirus. We have also requested the government to provide more ventilators for the hospitals here, speed up test reports for those in quarantine as more and more people keep coming here daily," Gaikwad told media persons after the cabinet meeting.

These fast-paced developments came a day after IANS highlighted the problems of enforcement and violations of lockdown in Dharavi owing to the sheer human numbers, lack of space, squalor, common sanitation, etc.

Literally meaning 'quicksand', Dharavi - the most congested place on the planet - houses over 200,000 families living and working cheek-by-jowl, besides some 20,000-plus big and small businesses generating estimated revenues of Rs 7,000 crore annually.

Considered a ticking time-bomb in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the three deaths and 17 positive cases till date has sparked alarm among the civic and state health authorities struggling to contain the further spread of the coronavirus in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.

Despite the obvious risks, most people in Dharavi seem oblivious of the invisible dangers around them and continue to move around in a carefree manner, with all social distancing norms thrown to the winds.
China supports WHO in leading the global efforts to develop science-based and proper control and treatment and minimize cross-border spread. Chinese President Xi Jinpings remarks at the G20 Extraordinary Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 on March 26 revealed Chinas active support for international organizations.

Such gesture showed Chinas sense of responsibility of a major country at this critical moment, empowering the world in fighting against the pandemic.

China also called on G20 members to enhance anti-pandemic information sharing with the support of WHO and to promote control and treatment protocols that are comprehensive, systematic and effective. The G20 platform for communication and coordination shall be used to increase policy dialogue and exchange, and high-level meetings on international public health security shall be convened in due course.

These detailed suggestions on multilateral cooperation raised by China at the summit showcased the countrys readiness to enhance international coordination to cope with the current crisis.

Mankind is a community with a shared future. Therefore, the lives and health of people of all countries can only be fully protected when mankind defeats the virus as a whole.

International coordination must be in place for the world to respond timely to any sudden outbreak of public health incidence. And in this process, international organizations role cannot be overemphasized.

As a specialized organization for health affairs within the United Nations (UN) system, WHO shoulders significant responsibilities in early testing and warning, coordinating prevention and control strategies, sharing treatment and organizing international assistance of infectious diseases, and plays a vital role in building a global public health emergency response mechanism featuring risk sharing and common security.

Currently, WHO is making all-out efforts to mobilize the international community to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and giving full play to its leadership together with relevant international and regional organizations by launching multiple laboratories, and accelerating the pace in building a global testing network. Besides, it is also mobilizing international forces to speed up scientific research and innovation, setting up the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund with the UN Foundation and other relevant partners and has released guidelines on basic health services.

To actively participate in global health governance and contribute to the cause of global public health is a responsibility that conforms to the common interests of the mankind. The consensus of the G20 Extraordinary Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 embodies the expectation of the world.

The G20 is committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic, along with WHO and other international organizations, working within their existing mandates. The G20 fully supports and commits to further strengthening the WHOs mandate in coordinating the international fight against the pandemic. G20 members will quickly work together and with stakeholders to close the financing gap in the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. And they will further commit to provide immediate resources to the WHOs COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, as well as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation.

What matters the most is that the G20 has vowed to deliver on the promises with tangible efforts.

China has always advocated and implemented multilateralism as well as supported international organizations roles in global health governance. Since the onset of the COVID-19, the country has been working closely the WHO.

"The speed with which China detected the outbreak, isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with WHO and the world are very impressive, and beyond words, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO.

China has always been a staunch supporter of the WHO, offering convenience to the organizations field visit to the epicenter Wuhan, and the China-WHO Joint Mission on COVID-19. It also shared experiences with and provided material assistance for the WHO.

In addition, China has decided to donate $20 million to WHO to support its international efforts in combating COVID-19, a gesture hailed as a reflection of the global solidarity by Tedros.

However, it is alarming that some ill-intended people stigmatized the WHO at the critical moment when the joint efforts to combat the disease are badly in need, regardless of other peoples lives and security. Such practice is just as dangerous as the virus itself.

Erik Berglof, Director of the Institute of Global Affairs London School of Economics and Political Science of the UK, noted in his analysis that the WHO has withstood heavy criticism lately, as it has during past epidemics, but much of this faultfinding is misdirected, ill-informed, and counterproductive. To succeed, G20 governments will need to listen to and work with international organisations  beginning with the WHO, and The WHO remains the only institution that can provide global health leadership and inspire the trust needed to intervene.

Lancet underlined that WHOs core role in coordinating efforts of the whole world must continue in an editorial.

To combat the COVID-19 that is sweeping through the world calls for great synergy. Covid-19 is the greatest test that we have faced together since the formation of the United Nations," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling for a much stronger and more effective global response to the coronavirus pandemic. He stressed that this will only be possible if everybody comes together and if we forget political games.

The crisis not only poses a challenge for the UN, but also the international community. For this reason, only by solidarity and cooperation can human beings have the power to prevail over it and secure their lives.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched a webpage, on its website, to appeal to the private sector to support its fight against coronavirus and contribute to The Community Solidarity Fund against Covid-19.

The new webpage, which was developed shortly after the launch of the initiative, contains all the information regarding how private sector can donate to the fund.

The fund has been set up by the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department as a response to the growing societal concern to contribute to the fight against coronavirus.

Dubai Chamber was the first organisation to make an initial contribution of Dh10 million ($2.7 million) and will be focusing on providing humanitarian and logistical assistance to blue collar workers.

Elaborating on the launch, Hamad Buamim, president and CEO, Dubai Chamber, said: This webpage contains all the necessary steps for businesses or individuals who is interested in registering for this fund to make a contribution, along with the details of the Chambers plan to deal with the social, economic and health impact of the coronavirus on the community and the businesses. Through this fund, we are witnessing a synergy between the two sectors and the private sector will play a fundamental role in supporting the Fund to deal with the challenges we are facing due to Covid-19.

The PCEO further pointed out that the Chamber developed the webpage to facilitate the participation of the private sector, and manage it in an easy and fast way, calling on the private sector to play its role in preserving the security and safety of all groups of society.

Private sector companies wishing to contribute to the fund and carry out their social responsibility can access the Chamber's website, where a dedicated team of Chamber employees will respond to all inquiries, and ensure that there are no obstacles in contributing to this Fund.

Those interested in knowing more about thefund can access the page through: https://www.dubaichamber.com/community-solidarity-fund-against-covid-19 - TradeArabia News Service
Former Atletico Madrid player Miguel Jones passed away on Wednesday at the age of 81.

The club took to Twitter to write: "We're mourning the passing of club legend Miguel Jones, who will forever live in our hearts. May he rest in peace."

Real Madrid also expressed its condolences over the death of Jones.

"Real Madrid C.F. is deeply saddened by the passing of @atletienglish legend Miguel Jones. Our club wishes to convey its condolences to his family and friends, his club and to all of the Atletico de Madrid supporters," Real Madrid tweeted.

Currently, most of the leagues around the world have been suspended in the view of coronavirus pandemic. Spain's premier domestic tournament, La Liga has also been postponed indefinitely due to the deadly virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Scarborough nursing home where at least 16 residents have died from COVID-19 had flaws in its infection control protocols meant to detect and reduce outbreaks, according to an October 2019 inspection report.

The report by the Ministry of Long-Term Care found Seven Oaks nursing home failed to follow regulations requiring the home to analyze and track residents symptoms that were recorded during daily shifts.

The inspection reviewed outbreaks at the city-run home on eight separate dates, including a recent illness that affected nine residents.

There was no evidence the sick residents symptoms were analyzed daily to detect the presence of infection or that they were reviewed at least once a month to detect trends to reduce the incidence of infections and outbreaks, the report said.

In a statement, a city of Toronto spokesperson said Seven Oaks past deficiencies were all addressed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and were not a factor in the ongoing infections at the home.

Seven Oaks completed a comprehensive review of its operations following the inspection, including immediate changes in the nursing management team, the statement said.

Since October 2019, Seven Oaks has made significant improvement as a result of the management changes and actions taken to address identified deficiencies.

Among those changes are a new director of nursing and the addition of two new nurse managers, one with extensive infection control experience who has worked closely with the leaders in the home to ensure all infection, protection and control protocols were implemented, the statement said.

There have been 16 COVID-related deaths at Seven Oaks, with four other recent deaths in which the cause is still being investigated, Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, said Wednesday.

The besieged facility was also one of two Toronto nursing homes where faulty surgical masks were distributed. The city is investigating whether any staff were exposed to the virus because of the faulty protective gear.

There have been 45 confirmed cases and another 56 probable cases at the 249-bed home, located on Neilson Rd. near Ellesmere Rd and Morningside Ave. De Villa said there have been 13 confirmed cases among the homes staff.

We are starting to see a positive effect of the stringent outbreak measures that have been put into place throughout the home and the rate of new infections is starting to slow down, she said. Unfortunately, we anticipate there may be additional deaths among those residents who have become ill with COVID-19 over the last few weeks.

The Star reviewed recent inspection reports of more than 50 Ontario nursing homes that, as of early April, had patients suffering from COVID-19 or another outbreak.

The inspection reports reviewed by the Star were from January 2019 to January 2020 and predate COVID-19.

At a small number of those homes, inspectors had found problems with infection prevention and control practises. At one Toronto home, for example, a staff member was seen tending to a sick resident whose room was under droplet precaution, then not washing hands before attending to another resident.

At Scarboroughs Seven Oaks, the home was aware that its internal analyzing of outbreaks was insufficient, according to the inspection report. The inspector reviewed internal records that showed the home recognized that the (infection prevention and control) program did not meet all its objectives, and that Seven Oaks had previously flagged that its process to collect and analyze consistent data in a timely manner was an area it sought to improve.

Another recent inspection, from November 2019, found that more than 30 per cent of the homes staff in 2018 had not completed mandatory training in infection prevention and control.

A Toronto city spokesperson said the leadership team at Seven Oaks completed hands-on (infection prevention and control) training for 100% of their staff in 2019.

We take all inspection findings very seriously and developed a comprehensive action plan to address deficiencies and ensure sustainability, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Outbreaks of any kind can have devastating consequences, and with COVID-19, the importance of tracking of disease and virus through long-term care is evident to everybody, said Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, a national seniors advocacy organization.

When homes stumble in their requirements to track this data, its most often the product of a lack of resources, she said.

What you see in those incidents reports, in my opinion, is rarely long-term care homes that arent trying. What you see is long-term care homes that are chronically understaffed, under-funded, having to make incredibly difficult choices with the few hours of staff that they have, she said.

Tamblyn Watts said there needs to be more robust support  both in expertise and funding  to help long-term care homes better track and prevent outbreaks.

We talk about seniors but we dont fund seniors. Seniors are in our hearts and minds but it doesnt translate into pocketbook dollars, she said.

A strong surveillance system is critical in preventing outbreaks and mitigating their damage once theyve penetrated the walls of a long-term care home, said Dr. David Walker, a professor in the department of emergency medicine at Queens University.

In normal times, the preparation for and the ability to then manage an outbreak in a nursing home is key, he said. Theyre a highly vulnerable population and theyre in close proximity.

Walker was one of three authors of an expert panel report into the 2005 Legionnaires outbreak that swept through the same Seven Oaks nursing home, infecting 70 residents, 39 staff and 21 visitors. The disease, a type of pneumonia caused by a bacteria found in water, killed 23 residents.

The expert report concluded that the sick residents received exemplary care in Seven Oaks, where staff responded effectively to the increase in demand for care, even though a number of staff were off sick.

The report found the home responded appropriately and quickly to reduce the spread of Legionnaires within the home.

Walker cautioned against drawing a straight line from the inspection findings to the COVID-19 outbreak inside the home, adding that one has to consider how capricious and virulent with frail, old people the virus has proven to be.

The nastiness of this coronavirus, I think, would clearly test any organizational preparedness, he said.

Provincial inspectors visiting Seven Oaks in 2019 flagged other concerns with the homes infection control. A November report described an inspector watching a nurse drop a pill on the ground, pick it up and administer it to a patient. In a March 2019 report, the inspector found a staff member washing supplies used to treat a resident so they could be re-used the following week, which went against the homes protocols.

The city said Seven Oaks has addressed the deficiencies flagged by the inspections.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses the media and the nation during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on March 24, 2020. (Lukas Coch/Pool/Getty Images)

Australias Sovereignty Under Threat by CCP Virus, PM Declares

Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared the CCP virus to be a threat to Australias sovereignty and assured Australians that the nation will never surrender to the pandemic.

Today we act to protect Australias sovereignty, Morrison said in Parliament on April 8.

When Australian lives and livelihoods are threatened, when they are under attack, our nations sovereignty is put at risk, and we must respond.

So make no mistake, today is not about ideologies. We checked those at the door, he said.

#LIVE: Statement to Parliament on the coronavirus crisis. https://t.co/38OZPOXSxl  Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) April 8, 2020

As of April 8, Australia has 6,013 confirmed cases of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the coronavirus, including 50 deaths; more than 319,000 tests have been conducted.

Restriction and shutdown measures across Australias states and territories have seen a decrease in new casesindicating a flattening of the curvehowever, Australians have been urged to continue adhering to social distancing measures.

We have a long way to go. Through the actions we have taken to date, we have bought Australia valuable time to chart a way out over the next six months. But there are no guarantees, and it could well take far longer, Morrison said.

Our country will look different on the other side but Australians will always be Australians. We have navigated the road in, and we can now see some encouraging signs.

Health and Economic Impacts

Morrison outlined two crises the nation will face during the pandemicone health and one economic.

To prepare the health system for COVID-19 cases, ICU capacity has tripled, retired healthcare workers are encouraged to return to work, and up to 20,000 nurses will be trained online to provide high dependancy and intensive care.

Morrison added that over 30,000 hospital beds and 105,000 skilled workers across 657 private and not-for-profit hospitals will be mobilised.

Non-elective surgeries are suspended, but those needing to see their doctors will still be able to. Ensuring adequate supplies of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as masks will also be prioritised.

Morrison also announced the $130 billion JobKeeper package, which will provide payments of $1,500 per fortnight to an estimated 6 million eligible workers through their employer.

More than 200,000 additional JobSeeker claims have been finalised over the past few weeks, and 700,000 businesses have registered for the package.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese raised concerns over casual workers who have been with their employers for less than a year or workers here on temporary visas who are not covered under the scheme.

There are over 1 million Australians who are casual workers, who will not be eligible for the JobKeeper program, he said, according to SBS.

This fails to recognise that in the modern workforce, many workers defined as casual, but who have been stood down, have expectations and financial commitments based upon that regular work and income that they do, Albanese said.

Despite resisting calls to include more than 2 million workers left out under the scheme including local council employees, Morrison said the government had responded with the biggest economic lifeline in Australias history.

It will be a fight. It will be a fight we will win. But it wont be a fight without cost, or without loss.

Protecting our sovereignty has always come at a great cost, regardless of what form that threat takes. And today will be no different.

Our sovereignty is demonstrated by the quality of life we afford Australians, with world class health, education, disability, aged care, and a social safety net that guarantees the essentials that Australians rely on.

On April 8 evening, the Morrison governments $130 billion wage subsidy package passed both houses of Parliament with Labor support.

With reporting from The Australian Associated Press.
President Trump said he would prove that there's widespread voter fraud as he continued to push back on the idea that mail-in voting should be put in place for November's presidential election due to coronavirus concerns.

'I think there's a lot of evidence, but we'll provide you with some OK?' he said at Wednesday's press briefing. 'And there's evidence that's being compiled.'

Democrats are pushing for mail-in options in case the coronavirus continues to impact the United States through the November general election. Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are expected to be on the ballot.

For days, Trump has countered that mail-in voting would lead to massive cheating.

Republicans in Wisconsin backed keeping in-person voting in place earlier this week, forcing voters to head to the polls during a global pandemic.

President Trump said 'there's evidence that's being compiled' of widespread voter fraud in the United States as he continued to push back against any plans to have mail-in balloting for November's presidential election due to coronavirus concerns

Trump drew a distinction between some Americans being able to utilize absentee ballots and elections becoming 100 per cent mail-in balloting

Wisconsin voters braved a global pandemic to cast votes Tuesday. Democrats have argued that mail-in options should be made available for the general election in case the country still sees cases of the coronavirus

The fraud example Trump pointed to in the briefing room Wednesday was an already debunked claim that a million people in California were discovered who 'should not have voted' in the 2016 presidential election.

Hillary Clinton's large lead in California helped her win the national popular vote, despite Trump winning the White House through the Electoral College.

Trump painted a picture Wednesday of 'all the things happening with votes by mail.'

'Where thousands of votes are gathered and I'm not going to say which party does it but thousands of votes are gathered and they come in and they are dumped in a location and then all of a sudden you lose elections that you think you're going to win,' the president said.

'I won't stand for it. Well, We are going to find out about the proof, you will see what's going on,' Trump continued. 'I'm not going to stand for it.'

Earlier on Twitter Wednesday, Trump had also said that mail-in voting 'for whatever reason, doesn't work out well for Republicans.'

'It certainly hasn't, but if you're a senior citizen or somebody that needs it, I'm for it, but they have to be very careful,' Trump offered when asked about his tweet at the daily coronavirus taskforce briefing.

Shortly after the briefing concluded, the president cleaned up his comments using Twitter explaining that there was a difference between some Americans using absentee ballots and full-on mail-in voting.

'Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for many senior citizens, military and others who can't get to the polls on Election Day,' Trump said. 'These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is "RIPE for FRAUD," and shouldn't be allowed!'

Also at the briefing Wednesday, Trump continued to tout voter ID laws, which are traditionally backed by Republicans and disliked by Democrats, who believe they disenfranchise poorer voters.

'Our voting system - first of all, we should have voter I.D. When you vote, we should have voter I.D.,' Trump said.

'And if you send something in, you should be sure as a state and as a country, you should be sure that that vote is meaningful and it's not just made fraudulently because there's a lot of fraudulent voting going on in this country,' Trump said again.
Unemployment claims rose to 7,916 last week amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kristi Noem said Thursday in her daily briefing with reporters.

Outside of the pandemic, she said the Department of Labor Regulation usually sees anywhere from 150 to 180 weekly claims on average.

These numbers are historical in our state in the very worst way, she said. I dont think weve ever had data that has been quite this bad in the state of South Dakota.

Noem said South Dakotans should also start to see the additional $600 with unemployment benefits that came from the CARES Act which recently passed in Congress.

People who wish to access that money need to fill out the regular weekly request for payment and they can get the additional $600, Noem said.

In regard to a Chamberlain man who wasn't following self-quarantine orders while COVID-19 positive, Kim Malsam-Rysdon, health secretary, said if there's any concern of noncompliance, her department would take swift action.

A public health intervention order or a public health emergency isn't needed yet, she said.

Noem said she wishes for three things during this pandemic: that people take personal responsibility for their health, that the state would get more testing equipment, and that the state would receive the therapeutics Noem said she requested from the federal government.

If you are scared and worried about your health, you have every opportunity to stay home and protect your health, she reminded South Dakotans on Thursday afternoon.

Sioux Falls outbreak

Smithfield Foods, a meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, announced Thursday it would close the plant for three days after 80 workers tested positive for COVID-19.

On Wednesday, health secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon made the announcement that 80 employees had tested positive there after the first case was reported on March 26.

The recommended self-quarantine duration for COVID-19 is 14 days for people who have been exposed to COVID-19 to monitor their symptoms.

Noem said the plant would give paid time off to employees with a COVID-19 diagnosis, or employees self-quarantining to monitor their symptoms after possible exposure.

During the closure, essential employees will be tasked with cleaning and sanitizing the plant and installing barriers to help with social distancing.

Smithfields cases make up more than one-fourth of the confirmed cases in Minnehaha County.

Kim Malsam-Rysdon, state health secretary, said her department isnt concerned that there was any potential exposure to the food products at the meatpacking plant.

App

Noem also announced her office is working on a new app, Care 19, which could help users track where theyve been in the community if they are exposed to COVID-19 or test positive for the coronavirus.

The app is a collaboration with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and the South Dakota Department of Health.

This will help people remember all the places youve been, the people that you may have been near, and will help us more efficiently investigate your case, Noem said.

We spend hours and hours with our team at the Department of Health going back and helping people remember where theyve been that they could have put other people at risk of exposure to the virus, Noem said.

The app is voluntary, anonymous and can help users with contact tracing and location logging. Users can delete their data at any time.

This app will provide that type of history that will be incredibly important for us as a state to slow down the spread of the virus, Noem said.

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Regional Hospital Mullingar has lifted the restriction on partners attending the delivery of their child, which was introduced last week in light of the Covid 19 crisis.

However, restrictions are still in place for ante-natal, post-natal and theatre units.

Partners will be called to attend the delivery unit approximately one half hour prior to the birth of their baby.

A spokesperson for Ireland East Hospital Group explained, "The restriction was introduced because of concern about potential patient infection and concern that infection of any members of the small staff at Mullingar could have an impact on the service provided to patients. However, we are thankful that to date, there has been a very low incidence of infection in the unit, and the Hospital therefore believes that it can relax this rule."

The Clinical Lead for Women and Midwifery Staff have worked together with the hospitals management and with Ireland East Hospital Group including the Executive Director of Women and Childrens Health to put in place protocols which will help protect the safety of expectant mothers and their babies, the staff and partners.

Announcing the move Anita Brennan, General Manager Regional Hospital Mullingar said, At all times our priority is the provision of safe maternity services for our patients at Mullingar.

"A pandemic poses a particular challenge to a small unit with a relatively low staff complement. However, it is our judgement that we can now allow partners to attend births, while monitoring carefully the level of infection.

We are constantly reviewing guidance available, and the situation at the Hospital. However, we are very glad at this point to be able to allow partners attend births at a time when other visiting restrictions remain in place.

Restrictions will continue to be reviewed on an ongoing basis throughout the Covid 19 crisis.

Regional Hospital Mullingar will communicate with all patients should it be necessary for the hospital to tighten restrictions again, but it is their sincere hope that all visitor restrictions due to Covid 19 will be lifted in the near future.
Good Morning America

With less than 10 months until the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden heads to Georgia on Tuesday to make his biggest push yet for national voting rights bills and is expected to call for changes to the Senate's filibuster rules in order to get them passed. Echoing his impassioned address on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection when he blamed former President Donald Trump and his supporters for holding a "dagger at the throat of democracy," Biden's remarks in Atlanta are expected to be a "forceful" call to action to protect voting rights. "The president will forcefully advocate for protecting the most bedrock American rights: the right to vote and have your voice counted in a free, fair and secure election that is not tainted  by partisan manipulation," White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed in her press briefing Tuesday.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump is conducting a "purge" of the intelligence community, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee says in a letter obtained by NBC News that echoes concerns raised by his House counterpart.

In the letter to Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia expresses dismay about the recent firing of the inspector general of the intelligence community. That move came on the heels of Trump's ousting of the director of national intelligence and his deputy, along with the head of the National Counterterrorism Center and his deputy.

"You explicitly committed to us that you were undertaking a review of ODNI, but that we should '[R]est assured that this review is not an effort to purge ... the ODNI, as some have erroneously suggested,'" Warner wrote in the letter, dated Thursday. "However, a mere 10 days later, that is exactly what is occurring."

Warner asked Grenell whether Trump consulted with him about the firing of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community's inspector general, or ICIG, which the president later said was due to Atkinson's handling of the whistleblower complaint that sparked his impeachment.

Click here to read Warner's letter

"By his actions and the reforms he had undertaken at the office of the ICIG, Mr. Atkinson demonstrated an unwavering commitment to empower those who witness potential waste, fraud, or abuse, to come forward," Warner wrote. "His firing now leaves no Senate-confirmed leaders in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. What message do you believe this conveys to the American people in terms of the importance of leading and overseeing intelligence in support of our national security?"

Image: Michael Atkinson in October 2019 (Eric Baradat / AFP via Getty Images file)

On Tuesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent Grenell a similar letter, accusing him of "undermining critical intelligence functions."

Story continues

Click here to read Schiff's letter

Schiff asked Grenell whether the termination of Atkinson was intended to impede any ongoing investigations.

An ODNI official said, The letter has erroneous assumptions and we look forward to responding.
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[April 08, 2020] RedDoorz partners with Governments across Southeast Asia to help frontline health workers combat the spread of COVID-19

SINGAPORE, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RedDoorz, Southeast Asia's largest and fastest-growing online hotel management and booking platform, today announced the launch of "Red Heroes", a new regional initiative that will provide free temporary accommodation for emergency services and frontline healthcare staff battling COVID-19. The programme is being rolled out across Southeast Asia in a bid to provide much-needed support during the COVID-19 pandemic as the local authorities are faced with a growing number of cases. RedDoorz will also supply and distribute health and wellbeing kits as part of this initiative. Each kit consists of washable face masks, alcohol-based hand sanitisers, energy drinks and droplet hats. Kits will be distributed equally across the rooms to ensure frontline healthcare staff are well equipped with all of the essentials during their stay at select RedDoorz properties. "As a regional company deeply rooted in Southeast Asia, we have been closely monitoring the ever-evolving situation and the impact of COVID-19 in our region. The pandemic outbreak has resulted in immense stress across countries and industries, in particular for the tourism, hospitality and now healthcare sectors. As a result, we identified ways in which we could lend our support in offering targeted aid for those on the frontlines of this crisis." "This is the reason for launching our 'Red Heroes' initiative in the Philippines, Indonesia and in Singapore, to help alleviate the heavy pressures placed on national governments by providing clean, safe and comfortable accommodation for free, for those on the frontlines. We are positive that we will be able to overcome this challenge if we stand together. We hope more companies with the means to support the initiative will participate during this challenging time," said Amit Saberwal, CEO nd Founder of RedDoorz.



Partnering with Department of Tourism and Manila City Government in the Philippines The "Red Heroes" initiative was first launched in the Philippines following calls from the Manila City government requesting hotel and motel operators in the area to help house medical practitioners residing in the capital amid the Luzon-wide lockdown. Due to increasing pressures on the city's infrastructure and growing concerns over the rate in which COVID-19 was spreading, RedDoorz partnered with the Department of Tourism and Manila City government to provide a number of rooms across four properties, completely free for frontline healthcare and emergency response workers in need of a place to stay.

The hotels: RedDoorz near Quiapo Church Manila, RedDoorz Premium near UST Manila, and RedDoorz near Quirino Station Manila, are all strategically located in Metro Manila, between one and three kilometres away from nearby hospitals. These properties have been offered by RedDoorz to provide frontline healthcare workers and emergency first responders a clean and comfortable place to rest with minimal commuting time. Working with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in Indonesia In Jakarta, RedDoorz has partnered with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to provide free rooms for frontline healthcare practitioners and emergency first responders treating COVID-19 cases in the local hospitals. RedDoorz will provide over 100 rooms spread across two hotels: the RedDoorz Plus Near Plaza Blok M and RedDoorz Plus @ Thamrin. The two properties were identified and selected due to their close proximity to RSPAD Gatot Subroto and Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital, both of which are battling COVID-19 cases in Jakarta. Supporting new initiatives in Singapore In Singapore, where the firm is headquartered, RedDoorz has been working closely with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in Singapore to help house foreign workers entering and returning to Singapore who have been issued with the recently announced mandatory 14-day Stay-Home-Notice (SHN). With the implementation of new travel restrictions, RedDoorz is also providing alternative lodging for Malaysian employees in Singapore who have been affected by the lockdown implemented by the Malaysian government. In addition, it is also looking at alternative ways to support the various government initiatives, including the supply of rooms for frontline healthcare professionals. In light of the outbreak, RedDoorz has taken additional measures to ensure the safety and well-being of its guests and employees in all the countries where it operates. The company has increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting of all common areas including lobbies, elevators, function halls, and bathrooms. Hand sanitisers are also available in all common areas of the properties. About RedDoorz RedDoorz is Southeast Asia's largest and fastest-growing, technology-driven hotel management company offering affordable accommodations for everyone. With a vision to enable people to travel more and provide an affordable reliable stay in all major cities and destinations across the region, RedDoorz is disrupting the hospitality industry by transforming the fragmented supply inventory into branded, standardized accommodations and leveraging its mobile app and digital channels to drive strong consumer demand. The company was founded in 2015 by a team of senior executives with deep experience in the online travel and hospitality industry and has grown into a regional powerhouse with operations in Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. The firm has been growing by five times year-on-year. As part of the RedDoorz brand network, hotel owners are able to grow their businesses and increase revenues while streamlining their operations. RedDoorz's solutions help partners manage distribution, pricing, marketing, customer experience and technology solutions  offering an end-to-end platform powered by an advanced technology infrastructure. For more information, please visit www.reddoorz.com . Follow us on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reddoorz/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200408/2772200-1 SOURCE RedDoorz

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Technavio has been monitoring the hydration backpack market and it is poised to grow by USD 55.37 million during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005601/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Hydration Backpack Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wrie)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Cascade Designs, Inc., Columbia Sportswear Company, Osprey Packs, Inc., Samsonite International S.A., and VISTA OUTDOOR OPERATIONS LLC. are some of the major market participants. The ease of use and optimized hydration will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Ease of use and optimized hydration has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Hydration Backpack Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Hydration Backpack Market is segmented as below:

Distribution channel Specialty Stores Department Stores Online Stores

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30853

Hydration Backpack Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our hydration backpack market report covers the following areas:

Hydration Backpack Market Size

Hydration Backpack Market Trends

Hydration Backpack Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies diversification of distribution channels as one of the prime reasons driving the hydration backpack market growth during the next few years.

Hydration Backpack Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the hydration backpack market, including some of the vendors such as Cascade Designs, Inc., Columbia Sportswear Company, Osprey Packs, Inc., Samsonite International S.A., and VISTA OUTDOOR OPERATIONS LLC. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the hydration backpack market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Hydration Backpack Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist hydration backpack market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the hydration backpack market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the hydration backpack market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of hydration backpack market vendors

Table Of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Market segmentation by distribution channel

Comparison by distribution channel

Specialty stores Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Department stores Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Online stores Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by distribution channel

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

Increasing number of M&A

Focus on product advances

Diversification of distribution channels

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Cascade Designs, Inc.

Columbia Sportswear Company

Osprey Packs, Inc.

Samsonite International S.A.

VISTA OUTDOOR OPERATIONS LLC.

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005601/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
(ANSA) - New York, April 9 - United States First Lady Melania Trump called Laura Mattarella, the daughter of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, to express support for Italy as it battles against the coronavirus, the White House said in a statement.

Melania Trump expressed "optimism and hope" that the "positive trend" regarding the spread of COVID-19 would "continue in Italy".

She added that the American people "are at the side of their ally".

She also offered 100 million dollars in aid and said she hoped the pandemic could be defeated in the coming weeks. The Italian president is a widower.


Governor Bill Lee said Wednesday that at the end of March, Abbott announced the development of a new rapid COVID-19 test on the ID Now Machine. These rapid, point of care tests show a positive COVID-19 result in as little as five minutes and a negative COVID-19 result in about 13 minutes, he said.

The governor said, "The development and implementation of this technology will help states across the country test more people, faster and chip away at the testing backlog.

Yesterday, the CDC provided our state health lab with one ID Now machine and 120 initial tests. We are actively working to get more tests and maximize this technology.

"In addition to the state lab getting access to rapid, point of care tests, private providers in Tennessee are gaining access to this cutting-edge technology."

He said American Family Care operates clinics across Middle Tennessee and is deploying the use of ID Now at their clinics and has the capacity to test close to 4,000 Tennesseans.

Governor Lee said, "The aggressive efforts of the private sector have helped make our state a leader in testing."

On another topic, he said, "As Tennessee builds surge capacity, one of the most important components is ensuring we have qualified health care workers in the event that COVID-19 cases overload our hospitals.

"In March, I issued an executive order to help procure qualified medical personnel. That executive order loosens restrictions around retired medical professionals and temporarily suspends continuing education requirements for health care workers.

"Retired and furloughed health care workers are encouraged to sign up through the Department of Health portal if they are willing to serve. So far, over 800 health care personnel have engaged with us."

Governor Lee said United Command, through their work with Launch Tennessee, has developed a public-private partnership with HealthStream. HealthStream is a publicly traded, Tennessee company that provides education resources for 80 percent of hospitals in the country.

"HealthStream has offered its learning platform, COVID training content, and HealthStream employee support  free to the state  to facilitate the launch of these Alternative Healthcare Facilities for our surge planning.

"HealthStream has a tremendous reputation and we believe that their generous offer to make training resources free to the professionals, volunteers, and returning healthcare workers that will be staffing the Alternative Healthcare Facilities is going to ensure high-quality care is delivered."

The governor also said, "To support the self-employed and ensure they gain access to unemployment benefits during this hard time, The Department of Labor and Workforce Development is currently reprograming Jobs4TN.gov to accommodate the federal program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the new $600 weekly federal benefit.

"The Department is working diligently to make these changes as quickly as possible so Tennesseans can start receiving both the state and the federal payment.

"If you are self-employed or an unemployed worker and you have already submitted a claim, you do not need to reapply. All Tennesseans receiving unemployment or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance will automatically receive the weekly $600 federal benefit, in addition to their unemployment benefit."

Governor Lee on Wednesday signed Executive Order 25, which extends the postponement of elective medical and dental procedures until April 30, 2020. The order:

Helps ensure that PPE is preserved, and community spread through close medical interaction is limited during the upcoming weeks in which cases/hospitalizations are expected to increase;

Expands EO18 to more specifically cover all procedures that are elective and non-urgent and can be delayed until after the Order without risking serious adverse consequences to a patient; and

Limits attendance at surgeries and invasive procedures to essential personnel to preserve PPE to the greatest extent possible.

The text of the order can be found here.
Uganda has banned exercising in public as an extra measure towards controlling the spread of the coronavirus.

President Yoweri Museveni said that Ugandans should exercise at home and added that he would post a video on social media to demonstrate how this can be done.

The directive comes after videos and photos of people jogging and doing aerobics in groups in the capital, Kampala, were shared on social media.

The president also banned movement of motorcycle taxis, commonly known as boda bodas, beyond 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT).



The motorbikes are currently only allowed to carry cargo and not passengers.

The health ministry on Wednesday announced that it had confirmed one more case of coronavirus, bringing the total number to 53.

More than 3,600 people have been tested so far according to the ministry.

The country is on a nationwide two-week lockdown.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
[April 09, 2020] ActiveCampaign Announces a New Listing On the Shopify App Store and 3000 Joint Customers

CHICAGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveCampaign, the leader in Customer Experience Automation, today announces its listing in the Shopify App Store, which has earned a 4.8 out of 5 rating with 85+ 5-star reviews. This listing demonstrates ActiveCampaign's commitment to providing ecommerce merchants with a best-in-class customer experience automation platform that includes email marketing, marketing automation, and loyalty capabilities, with built-in CRM functionality. With the Shopify and ActiveCampaign integration, Shopify merchants can use Shopify cart, purchase and even discount code data to create personalized marketing campaigns that engage shoppers, reduce cart abandonment, and capture up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. A dedicated Ecommerce Dashboard and Marketing Revenue report show merchants which efforts are working and which aren't, so they can quickly update workflows and email efforts. Shopify's app assistant technology, Kit, is also supported by ActiveCampaign. Kit acts as an additional employee and will ping users directly to set up product review and abandon cart automations, saving valuable time and identifying gaps in the customer journey to recover potentially lost revenue. The ActiveCampaign integration also helps merchants to: View shopper preferences and behavioral data to personalize interactions and outreach

Create custom segments, tags, and lists to send timely and relevant emails to different groups

Elevate existing strategies with machine learning capabilities like Predictive Sending

Show each customer the content that matters to them with conditional content and product blocks

Leverage over 200 additional integrations to further build out their stack or use existing technologies "You can literally build any automation you want with ActiveCampaign, as well as send regular campaigns," said Simon from Awesom Maps. "The integration with Shopify works flawlessly. I have all customer data right in ActiveCampaign and can filter contacts based on their shopping history which is great. For us, it's a vital tool that pays for itself."



"ActiveCampaign is committed to becoming the leading customer experience automation platform for ecommerce businesses," said Tony Newcome, CTO at ActiveCampaign. "We help over 3,000 Shopify merchants connect more effectively to customers, by giving them a deeper understanding of buyer preferences and shopping behaviors and allowing them to create targeted campaigns quickly and easily using Shopify data. We are excited to be expanding our presence on the Shopify store, and giving more businesses the chance to leverage this combined solution for personalized customer engagement." New customers will benefit from an offer that includes free migration and implementation, further enhancing their ActiveCampaign onboarding experience.

Related Links Start a free trial of ActiveCampaign Customer Experience Automation platform

How can marketing automation help you grow your online store?

How Morrow Audio Won Back $30,000 of Lost Sales With Abandoned Cart Emails

Introducing Product Blocks for Shopify: Build a Better Shopping Experience for Your Customers

App Store Listing About ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign's category-defining Customer Experience Automation Platform helps over 95,000 businesses in over 160 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The platform gives businesses of all sizes access to hundreds of pre-built automations that combine email marketing, marketing automation, CRM, and machine learning for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat, and text. Over 70% of ActiveCampaign's customers use its 300+ integrations including Shopify, Square, Facebook, Eventbrite, and Salesforce. ActiveCampaign scores higher in customer satisfaction than any other solution in both Marketing Automation and CRM All-In-One on G2.com. Pricing starts at just $9/month. Start a free trial at ActiveCampaign.com. Press Contact:

Sam Miller

630-200-6958

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/activecampaign-announces-a-new-listing-on-the-shopify-app-store-and-3000-joint-customers-301037850.html SOURCE ActiveCampaign

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Linkedin Lan Mercado (The Jakarta Post) Manila  Thu, April 9, 2020 16:25 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0dea9b 3 Opinion coronavirus,#COVID19,#coronavirus,ASEAN,COVID-19 Free

The number of active COVID-19 patients in ASEAN passed 10,000 at the beginning of this week. As a collective, ASEAN represents nearly 650 million people, and with more people continuing to be infected with each passing day, the ASEAN people, economy and way of life are hit increasingly hard.

The ASEAN chair in February rightly called for a cohesive and responsive ASEAN in responding to COVID-19. The statement underlines the need to act together if ASEAN is to successfully tackle this crisis.

The time to act is now. Indonesia is calling for a special summit on a regional COVID-19 strategy. The imperative of the hour is a well-articulated ASEAN response plan enacted immediately, addressing the health, humanitarian, social and economic needs of the ASEAN people in line with an orchestrated response and collective action of ASEAN in curbing the spread of the disease, as outlined in the ASEAN chairs statement.

The healthcare infrastructure in many member states, epitomized by long waiting queues and low-quality care, will need significant ramping up to cope with the pandemic. The ratio of doctors is at 0.8 for 1,000 people, and out-of-pocket expenditure for healthcare is at 44 percent in the regions five most populous nations.

Current conditions paint a grim picture for more than 36 million people in Southeast Asia who live in extreme poverty, earning under US$1.90 a day. A 20 percent loss of income due to the current crisis may push 60 million people in East Asia and the Pacific into extreme poverty and another 160 million into surviving on less than $3.20 a day.

The crisis is likely to further imperil those already struggling with poverty, vulnerabilities, and discrimination disproportionately. Not only because they will struggle to get good health care, but also because theyre more likely to be first-line casualties of the ensuing economic crisis. Informal and daily wage workers as well as women and girls are likely to be hit the hardest.

However, given the unforgiving and undiscriminating nature of a pandemic, none of us  no individual, no community, no nation or region  is safe unless all of us are. Thus, the actions must be cohesive with ASEAN being the platform. Tackling issues of inequality  economic, gender, or otherwise  is critical to containing COVID-19. Prioritizing assistance to those most at risk including frontline responders, wage and care workers, who are largely women, refugees and migrants is critical to recovery for all of us.

There are success stories and lessons to be adopted. World Health Organization figures indicate countries with stronger public healthcare systems like Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are more successful at case management, while Indonesia has amped up health spending to the tune of $4.5 billion. As part of economic stimulus packages totaling $150 billion to date, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam are among the ASEAN countries that have significant social protection packages.

Swift action, that takes into account the needs of all people, especially those likely to be hit harder, will demonstrate ASEANs commitment to a peaceful and safe living environment for the people. Not only the recovery from the pandemic, but also the future of ASEAN member states, hinges on decisive action on ASEANs commitment to collectively respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

To fulfill the commitment to protect the lives and ensure the wellbeing of its people, we urge the ASEAN:

To act in unison and serve as a platform for openly sharing knowledge and coordinating cohesive policy.

To set up a well-resourced response where no one is left behind through an ASEAN Emergency COVID Fund, pooling contributions from member states and dialogue partners. Build capacities of weaker public health systems to protect the entire ASEAN.

To put in place stronger frameworks and fair and transparent structures to deal with transboundary risks now and to prevent future pandemics in the region.

To support small and medium businesses and workers by mobilizing resources from finance institutions for crisis response and recovery.

We urge ASEAN member states:

To immediately upscale testing and treatment facilities and make them available to all people in need, especially poor and vulnerable communities.

Provide healthcare workers and others on the front lines with adequate protection, equipment and support to deliver essential services.

Ensure all people affected, especially locked-down communities, have enough food and essentials. All workers losing income require social protection.

Enact solutions for the special protection and wellbeing of migrant workers, displaced people and others left marginalized.

Enact measures to promote womens voices and leadership, deliver gender-sensitive assistance that enables them and prevents gender-based violence.

Engage with civil society in impact assessments and response implementation to make the needs of vulnerable groups heard and met.

In delivering a strong response, ASEAN will benefit from strengthening its mechanisms. A cohesive and holistic approach that looks at all aspects of the health and safety of the people of ASEAN is the need of the hour. The ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Center) already has in place the mandate, network and partnerships to rapidly mount an emergency response.

ASEANs health sector and AHA Center can play a pivotal role in regional coordination and cooperation of a united ASEAN COVID-19 response. The ASEAN Business Advisory Council will prove to be a useful partner in engaging the private sector in delivering essential services and supplies and to support displaced workers in their value chains.

The ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) has been tasked with monitoring the collective response, present subsequent recommendations and report to the 36th ASEAN Summit in June. To put out the immediate fires of COVID-19 and to move beyond that, the ACC must take into account the views of impacted communities, emergency responders, civil society, womens rights organizations and other partners in the region.

Meaningfully working together for a cohesive response backed up by an emergency fund, the right policies and open and honest collaboration will go a long way in suppressing the outbreak, especially for ASEANs least developed member states as well as its most marginalized communities.

ASEAN, whose 36th Summit on April 8-9 was rescheduled as a result of the pandemic, holds the power to save millions of lives. Only with bold and decisive actions can we stop a catastrophe and shift irreversibly toward a sustainable, safer and more equal Southeast Asia.

***

Regional director, Oxfam in Asia

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Search engine giant Google has banned its employees from using the Zoom teleconferencing platform due to security concerns.

It is to be noted that Zoom has become hugely popular across the globe as one most used services for free video chatting since the outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Buzzfeed reported that Google has sent a mail to all its employees last week about the ban informing them that the Zoom app installed on their Google-provided machines will not work anymore. Google has offered its own enterprise Zoom competitor called Meet to all its employees.

We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told The Verge. Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.

Few days ago, officials in New York City had banned Zoom in schools for remote teaching citing privacy issues. Providing a safe and secure remote learning experience for our students is essential, and upon further review of security concerns, schools should move away from using Zoom as soon as possible. There are many new components to remote learning, and we are making real-time decisions in the best interest of our staff and students," said Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for the New York City Dept. of Education.

The New York City Department of Education has directed the schools to use Microsoft Teams, which the spokesperson said has the same capabilities with appropriate security measures in place.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 09, 2020 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 12:19 PM | PADUCAH

Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless says more than 200 local businesses have already applied for local grants to help them get through the COVID-19 pandemic economic downturn, and is warning local residents of a possible coming surge of local cases in days to come.



Harless told the Greg Dunker Show Thursday morning applicants are being screened right now for the first round of funding, and should get their money soon.



"We have had a little over 200 applicants so far apply for the first round of funding. We have $150,000, granting 75 businesses $2,000 each. We're now screening those applicants, and we're now working on the fundraising for round two. As of Monday afternoon, we had $11,500 committed from the local community, and then we're matching that of course with city dollars." She said.



Harless urged local residents to donate to the fund to help local businesses, which is being collected by a local organization.



"We're partnering with the Community Foundation of West Kentucky. They have a donation link right on the front of their homepage. You can also mail a check to P.O. Box 7, Paducah, KY 42002." Harless said.



Harless said local hospitals have been preparing for a possible uptick in cases of the virus in the near future.



"There's a peak time coming when we will see more cases trickle in. That will also be true for McCracken County. No one can predict what that number will look like," Harless said. "So I just wanted to share how much work our local health care system is truly doing to make sure that we're prepared for what they call a surge."



Harless added that it's important to acknowledge the sacrifices that are being made by healthcare professionals to treat patients and prepare for a surge of cases in the near future.



"I just really want our community to know, that while you might not hear about it every day, people are still working 10 and 12 hours a day to make sure we are ready if that surge hits McCracken County."
" " Who's that ahead? Is it Bigfoot? Sasquatch? Or something else? RichVintage/Getty Images

Bigfoot is one of the most enduring legends in North American history, a shadowy, hairy creature that roams the forests undetected. The beast is by no means new  it's been leaving huge footprints all over the country's culture for centuries.

Along the way, Bigfoot's acquired a lot of names, including Sasquatch, Stone Giant, Bushman, Tree Man, and many others, often based on words of Native American origin. Though there may be slight variations in the folklore behind these names, they're all essentially Bigfoot.

The Salish Indians of the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver Island were the first to use the name "Sasquatch," which was derived from the Salish word "se'sxac," meaning "wild men," according to Encylopaedia Brittanica. Sasquatch is usually described as an ape-like creature that walks upright, covered in long, dark brown, black or reddish fur, and standing anywhere from 6 to 15 feet (2 to 4.5 meters) tall. It's alleged to move silently or else give out a high-pitched cry.

"Bigfoot," a nickname for Sasquatch, was first coined in 1958 by a Humboldt County, California columnist named Andrew Genzoli, who recounted a letter from a newspaper reader claiming to have discovered huge footprints of unknown origin. In his response, an amused Genzoli wrote, "Maybe we have a relative of the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, our own Wandering Willie of Weitchpec."

Those words struck a chord with readers who wanted to know more and helped lay the foundation for Bigfoot and its eventual worldwide fame. Genzoli sent a reporter named Betty Allen out to the Bluff Creek worksite where Bigfoot was allegedly spotted to see the tracks it had made and to talk with the workers. Originally, Genzoli called the creature "Big Foot" but then changed its name to "Bigfoot" because he thought it looked better in print. Further articles from the pair, along with photos of the tracks, caught the attention of press all over the U.S.

So, is Bigfoot real?

Ancient Native Americans created now-famous "Hairy Man" pictographs in Central California in honor of a massive, unnamed creature. The pictographs seem to depict a beast nearly 9 feet (2.6 meters) tall, with an entire family by its side. This bit of visual history could be thousands of years old, evidence that this legend has incredibly long history.

There are also stories of Bigfoot-like creatures in other cultures. The Yeti, is a bear-like creature of the Himalaya Mountains. With roots in pre-Buddhist history, the Yeti's spotted only in cold, snowy climates and often at high altitudes.

Then there is the Abominable Snowman, so-named in 1921 by Henry Newman, a writer who recounted the adventures of British climbers who had just returned from Mount Everest. They told of huge footprints in the snow that their local guides said were left by "metoh-kangmi," basically meaning "man-bear snow-man." Newman used a bit of creative license and decided that "Abominable Snowman" sounded better. Some experts say the Yeti and the Abominable Snowman are the same thing (but not the same as the Sasquatch).

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Evidence of Bigfoot

No one has ever captured a Bigfoot, but they've found the footprints it leaves behind. Some are nearly 2 feet long (60 centimeters) and 8 inches (20 centimeters) wide, the calling card of a massive creature that experts say veers between docility and hostility, depending on the situation and personality of the particular being.

The most famous bit of evidence by far for Bigfoot's existence is the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film. Just one minute long, the jerky footage was created by Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson, who were near Bluff Creek, California playing with a rented video camera when they spotted a mysterious creature.

They managed to capture a few moments of a supposed Bigfoot as it was walking away. In one iconic frame, the creature turns to look at the camera  a bit of incredible imagery that made the two men household names.

With so many sightings and so many witnesses over the decades and centuries, skeptics point out that we still have no concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists. And that's strange.

After all, says David Bakara, human bones are all over the place. Why haven't we found Bigfoot remains, too? As the owner of Expedition: Bigfoot! The Sasquatch Museum, located in Cherry Log, Georgia, Bakara has spent about 40 years of his life trying to come up with definitive proof of Bigfoot. (He confirms that Bigfoot and Sasquatch are one and the same.)

"We should have some physical evidence of the millions that have lived and died 200 million years ago to now," he says.

That lack of hard evidence, he says, doesn't square with the hundreds of witnesses who've claimed to see Bigfoot with their own eyes. He and his wife, Malinda, are among them.

He recalls a 2010 investigation when they observed two Bigfoots at night using a thermal camera. For about 10 minutes, they watched the creatures, which eventually walked back into the Florida swamp. Sadly, his pricey camera didn't have recording capability.

Bakara is a long-time member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, and he's heard every possible explanation for the creature's existence ... as well as for the lack of proof.

Some of his cohorts think that Bigfoot is an extraterrestrial. Perhaps they have cloaking abilities or some sort of characteristics that make them impossible to pin down, dead or alive.

He says others believe Bigfoot has paranormal roots, and that, "these things are some kind of spirits that can come and go. A lot of very good witnesses have seen these things just like vanish right in front of them." Perhaps, he speculates, they have an ability to access special portals that whisk them away once they've been spotted.

His take?

"In my opinion, they're just not a natural animal to this world," he says. "It's an animal that didn't come to Earth through normal, natural processes. That's the best I can tell you."

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Encountering Bigfoot

If you should stumble upon a Bigfoot while you're out in the forest, Bakara says to be cautious."It's not like running into a predictable large mammal," like a deer or an elk. "Walk away. Leave them alone."

He says that many people believe they'd stick around to take pictures or video in order to get proof of the encounter, but the reality is that most likely you'll be too freaked out to care.

If you spot a Bigfoot, "you've seen something that shouldn't exist," he says. "It's like coming face to face with a bull elephant. And then all of that bravery you thought you had is gone in the blink of an eye because you realize you're facing a super-predator."

His advice? Let Bigfoot be. Because whether you call it Sasquatch or any other name, it's not the kind of creature you want to face off with alone in the wild.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Since 1976, the FBI has had a file on Bigfoot, a database of the many stories and witnesses that claim to support the creature's existence. They've even analyzed hair supposedly belonging to the creature. Their conclusion? It was deer hair.
CHICAGO  As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to surge worldwide, scientists and health experts, including University of Illinois researchers who helped diagnose a New York zoo tiger with the disease, are now looking into how animals are affected by the new coronavirus.

Earlier this week, the Bronx Zoo revealed that a 4-year-old Malayan tiger tested positive for the new coronavirus after she and six other tigers and lions developed a dry cough. And despite the tiger and a few other animals abroad testing positive for the virus, health officials are dispelling fears that people can contract COVID-19 from their pets.

Theres no evidence that pets, including cats and dogs, can spread COVID-19 to people, said Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions One Health Office in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Barton Behravesh noted that there was no reason to think that the skin or fur of pets can spread the virus to people.

But while health experts say there is no evidence to suggest pets can transmit coronavirus to humans, they are encouraging people who have the disease or are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 to remain socially distant from their pets.

If somebody has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in a household, or they have been exposed to someone who was and are in quarantine, they should treat their pet just like any other human in their family, said Dr. Rustin Moore, the dean of Ohio State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine.

He added, that means maintaining social distancing, no touching, petting, cuddling, or hugging.

Dr. Karen Terio, the chief of the Zoological Pathology Program at the University of Illinois veterinary college, where tests for the Bronx Tiger were done, said she and other scientists are now looking at what other types of animals are susceptible to the virus.

Were trying to understand how this virus might be spread or transmitted between different animal species. ... and how it might be spread between humans and animals, she said.

Its possible wild cats might be more susceptible to COVID-19 than domestic cats, as other viruses can hit wild cats hard, but not affect domestic cats as much, according to the University of Illinois. But its not yet known what differences there might be in the effect of COVID-10 on house cats and wild cats.

To date, a large number of humans have been infected by the virus and become sick and many people have pet cats, Terio said. The fact that the first confirmed case in an animal in the United States is from a tiger suggests that even among cat species there may be differences in susceptibility to the virus.

Barton Behravesh said the CDC is not recommending routine pet testing.

We dont want a lot of people rushing out to veterinary clinics right now trying to get their pets tested; that would increase the exposure, she said.

Theres a strict criterion that must be met before an animal can get tested by a veterinary lab, Terio said.

Just because we have a test doesnt mean well accept samples from anybodys cat or dog, she said. There has to be approval at multiple levels between both animal and public health officials to have an animal tested.

The Anti-Cruelty Society started reducing their animal population weeks ago in anticipation of needing more cage space to help people across the Chicagoland area who may be quarantined or hospitalized because of COVID-19.

Weve spent the last several weeks preparing for the upcoming weeks to make sure that we have the capacity to have a safe place for peoples animals to go, said David Dinger, vice president of operations for the Anti-Cruelty Society.

And the Anti-Cruelty Societys efforts have been successful.

The societys animal population has reduced from roughly 600 animals to 135 in the last few weeks, Dinger said, which has freed up hundreds of slots for pets that may need a home while their owner has COVID-19.
UPLAND, Ind., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NearSpace Launch Inc. (NSL) will be delivering its 500th space system for launch in the Summer of 2020. The NSL vision is State-of-art Technology, Service, and Education. NSL is marking this milestone by announcing the creation of a new STEM non-profit to help students achieve their dreams of near space science research in atmospheres and astronomy.

"It is hard to believe NSL has had the privilege of seeing 500 systems and subsystems go into orbit over such a short time period," says Dr Hank Voss, co-founder and Chief Scientist of NSL. He goes on to say, "It has been accomplished in partnership with so many different customers from different industries and the hard work of a dedicated NSL team." The NSL board and employees consist of several professors, teachers, and educators with decades of experience in teaching and space research.

NSL has built satellites and subsystems with Air Force, DoD, NASA, State Officials, Universities and Industry. One recent STEM mission included flying a 60 satellite STEM constellation for school districts in Virginia. Over the past 5 years, NSL has had 100% mission success rate in the rigidized space environment.

The company launched Indiana's first satellite (TSAT) with Taylor University in 2014 with a core mission to improve education and inspire future generations. NSL realizes the best way to grow STEM education is through a new non-profit called NearSpace Education (NSE). NSE will focus on partnering with schools and other education institutions to further project-based learning efforts via classroom labs, high-altitude balloon launches and low-cost ThinSats or CubeSats which will enter space orbit.

Jeff Dailey, co-founder and Chief Engineer of NSL stated, "I am excited that NSE will help and mentor current teachers with engineering support."

About NearSpace Launch, Inc.

NSL manufactures and produces ThinSats, CubeSats, Black Boxes, and Globalstar enabled communication systems (EyeStar radios) for a variety of commercial, governmental, and educational applications. NSL was founded following the successful mission of TSAT with Globalstar. The mission proved a 24/7 effective connection was possible through an NSL EyeStar radio via the Globalstar constellation. NSL has a heritage of 8 FastBus CubeSats, 150+ EyeStar radios, 60 ThinSat and additional sub-systems all excelling in their respective mission tasks. www.nearspacelaunch.com

Contact:

Matthew Voss

[email protected]

SOURCE NearSpace Launch Inc. (NSL)

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www.nearspacelaunch.com


Ranchi/Bokaro/UNI: Jharkhand recorded it's first death due to Novel Coronavirus on Thursday, after a 70-year-old man died at Bokaro General Hospital.

Moreover, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in the state shot up to 12, including five new cases surfacing from Hindpiri of Ranchi and three from Telo village of Bokaro.

Confirming the death, Bokaro Civil Suregon Ashok Kumar Pathak said there are four positive cases of COVID-19 in the district, including an eight-year-old girl.

He said that at present, 27 people were in the Quarantine Facility of Bokaro General Hospital. The district administration is trying to find out the travel history of the man.

Meanwhile, five more people hailing from Hindpiri area of the state capital Ranchi have tested positive for the deadly virus. Incidentally, all these patients were in direct contact with a woman patient, who had been earlier detected positive for COVID-19.

The five new patients were initially admitted in isolation ward of RIMS, from where they have been transferred to the COVID-19 ward, located at the Trauma centre.

The state had reported it's first positive Coronavirus case on March 31, when a Malaysian woman had tested positive. On April 2, a man hailing from Hazaribagh, who had returned from Asansol, had tested positive.

On April 5, a woman, who had returned from Bangladesh and hailed from Telo village of Chandrapura block in Bokaro, had tested positive, while on April 6, a woman from Hindpiri had tested positive for COVID-19.
New Delhi, April 9 : Ola Group on Thursday donated a sum of Rs 5 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund to support COVID-19 relief measures at a national level.

The group has also committed a sum of Rs 3 crore towards the Chief Minister's Relief Funds of various states.

"We salute the relentless efforts of the Government and humbly extend our contribution of Rs 5 crore to the PM CARES Fund and a sum of Rs 3 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Funds of various states to support COVID-19 relief measures across the country," Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola Group said in a statement.

The Ola Group includes various business units including its ride-hailing arm, Ola Mobility, Ola Financial Services, Ola Foods and Ola Electric.

Ola Foundation, the social welfare arm of the company, had recently launched the 'Drive the Driver Fund'.

The fund aims to support cab, auto-rickshaw, and kaali-peeli taxi drivers across the country, through contributions from the Ola Group and a crowdfunding platform for citizens and institutions.

The Ola Group and its employees have already contributed Rs 20 crore towards this cause.
The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund compensates farmers for implementing agricultural management best practices on their farms. The resulting environmental improvements, including enhanced water quality and carbon sequestration, are independently monitored, verified and purchased by municipal, corporate, and governmental entities who are seeking innovative ways to reduce their environmental impacts and costs.

"The Fund is a win-win for farmers implementing conservation practices and those benefiting from the outcomes of those practices," says Adam Kiel, Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) Director of Conservation and External Programs. "Farmers are well positioned to play a lead role in improving water quality and sequestering carbon," Kiel says. "It's also an ideal way for farmers to scale beyond the acre and contract limits of traditional government funded cost share programs."

Nearly 10,000 acres in Iowa are already enrolled in the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund. This year, the Fund will achieve an estimated 100,000 pounds of nitrogen reductions and 10,000 pounds of phosphorus reductions in water. Additionally, 7,500 tons of carbon dioxide will be sequestered in soils, an amount equivalent to removing 1,480 cars from the road. The intent is to scale the Fund into additional states and regions to realize even greater positive environmental impacts and farmer benefits.

The outcomes-based funding model aligns with Cargill's strategic focus to develop scalable, public-private partnerships that enable farmers to improve soil health, carbon storage and water quality and access.

"Cargill is excited about the potential of this innovative approach to support and mitigate risk for farmers as they invest in soil health and other conservation best management practices," said Ryan Sirolli, Director of Row Crop Sustainability at Cargill. "We're incentivizing more participants to implement best management practices that provide positive benefits for their business and the environment."

Outcomes generated by the Fund will have far-reaching benefits for multiple stakeholders.

For participating municipalities , benefits include flexibility with permit requirements, source water protection, flood risk reduction and cost savings over grey infrastructure.

, benefits include flexibility with permit requirements, source water protection, flood risk reduction and cost savings over grey infrastructure. Corporations and the industry see value in enhanced soil carbon sequestration to meet supply chain sustainability commitments

see value in enhanced soil carbon sequestration to meet supply chain sustainability commitments Farmers see improved on-farm agronomics and resiliency as they build healthier soils.

Mark Lambert, Director of Agriculture at Quantified Ventures, says the Fund represents an important evolution in the way agricultural conservation is incentivized.

"We believe that shifting from 'pay for practice' approaches to 'pay for outcomes' approaches will unlock the impact investment capital needed to mitigate climate change and improve water quality at scale," he said. "By combining the multiple beneficiaries of conservation outcomes into a single transaction, the Fund can deliver cost effective and scalable impact."

Development of the Fund was supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Amy Saltzman, Program Officer at the Walton Family Foundation, said solutions that work for both the environment and the economy are the ones that stand the test of time.

"This fund is poised for long-term success, which is good for clean water, healthy soil, and communities and jobs that depend on them," Saltzman said. "The Walton Family Foundation is proud to support the creation of this fund, which will help leverage the power of markets for a more sustainable future."

Sustainable Environmental Consultants, a third-party to the transaction, will quantify the outcomes of the program. Additional field verification will occur, including soil and water sampling. To ensure integrity of the environmental benefits generated, the Fund only supports practices and outcomes that are additive to a farmer's current baseline of agricultural practices.

The Fund will be jointly administered by the Iowa Soybean Association and Quantified Ventures, with initial funding support provided by Cargill and the Walton Family Foundation. Opportunities for additional farmer enrollment will be announced later this year. Interested outcome purchasers are encouraged to contact the Fund for pricing and participation information.

About Cargill

Cargill's 160,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. We combine 154 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture.

About the Iowa Soybean Association

The Iowa Soybean Association is Driven To Deliver increased soybean demand through market development and new uses, farmer-focused research and results, timely information and know-how and policy initiatives enabling farmers and the industry to flourish. Founded in 1964 by farmers to serve farmers, the Iowa Soybean Association is led by a 22-farmer board of directors and advocates on behalf of the state's nearly 40,000 soybean producers.

About Quantified Ventures

Quantified Ventures is an outcomes-based capital firm that builds trusted partnerships with key public and private stakeholders to structure outcomes-based financial transactions that drive capital toward groundbreaking solutions and promising innovations. Quantified Ventures pioneered the first-ever Environmental Impact Bonds (EIB) and are building and leading the outcomes-based marketplace to improve the health of people, communities, and the planet.

SOURCE Cargill, Inc.
Photo credit: SPC Joshua Syberg

From Popular Mechanics

A 2017 NORTHCOM report correctly anticipated many aspects of the 2020 novel coronavirus pandemic.

The report predicted the pandemic could seriously affect American society for up to two years and incapacitate up to 40 percent of the workforce.

The report also warned that terrorists and other groups could take advantage of the confusion to stage attacks.

A 2017 report created by U.S. Northern Command warned that a future pandemic could have grave consequences for the military and the entire nation. The report warned that a novel respiratory disease could spread worldwide, seriously affecting American society and the economy for up to two years. The report also predicts global instability resulting in dramatic social disruptions, terrorism, and state aggression.



Photo credit: NurPhoto - Getty Images

The document, known as Branch Plan 3650, was first revealed by The Nation and uploaded online. It was meant to provide planning guidance to NORTHCOM personnel responding to an operationally significant infectious disease outbreak. It outlines different types of outbreaks, from terrorism to the kind of biological spillover from Chinese wet markets that authorities believe created COVID-19. Outlining the threat, Branch Plan 3650 inadvertently predicts with uncanny precision the problem Chinese authorities faced in the early days of the epidemic in Wuhan:

Unlike chemical and radiological hazards, biological incidents may take months to develop, and with certain causative bacteria and viruses may continue to spread from person-to-person. Also, there are limited detection/warning capabilities for biologicals which means that an outbreak/attack can go unrecognized and continue to spread before a clinical diagnosis is made. This will be exacerbated if there are limited or no assays by which to identify the organism and if the symptoms mimic naturally occurring endemic outbreaks (e.g., seasonal flu.)

As of April 7th, 2020, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center counts 1.4 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide since the start of the outbreak, with cases in the U.S. now at 400,000. The site reports 82,145 deaths globally, with 12,722 deaths recorded in the U.S. alone.

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Photo credit: BRYAN R. SMITH - Getty Images

The report covers two major missions NORTHCOM should prepare for: responding to a pandemic domestically, including supporting civilian authorities, and protecting NORTHCOM forces that carry out the commands traditional missions such as homeland defense and assisting allies. The report says NORTHCOMs greatest vulnerability is its people, for whom the outbreak could cause absenteeism, with sick personnel adding to the burden of what it believes will be a stressed health care system.

The report makes plenty of correct calls, identifying the most likely and significant threat as a novel respiratory disease, particularly a novel respiratory disease. The report says the key to fighting it is in countering its ability to spread from the point of emergence. It goes on to recommend several solutions, including, flu shots, washing hands frequently, cough etiquette, and social distancing.

Photo credit: Maddie Meyer - Getty Images

NORTHCOM paints what is at times a dire picture. The recovery from a biological incident may span months or even years based on the nature of the biological and its ability to transmit. It warns that a disease could impact the commands operating environmentthat is, the entire nation itselffor up to 24 months. The report doesnt delve into estimates of mortality rates and dangers to the economy, but it does warn that a disease of operational significance may create an environmental and global disaster (pandemic) with the potential of incapacitating 40% of the overall workforce.

Photo credit: Woohae Cho - Getty Images

Now that the U.S. is actually in the grips of a pandemic, the report has one final warning. The (Defense Intelligence Agency) assesses that a pandemic...will give rise to political, social, and economic instabilities that could, in turn, lead to opportunistic aggression, increased terrorist activity, and dramatic social change, especially when combined with morbidity and mortality.

Examples could include aggression by North Korea against the U.S., Russian moves against Ukraine, a new terrorism campaign by ISIS or Al Qaeda, or other events.

Under normal circumstances Branch Plan 3650 would seem like a dry contingency planning document outlining an event that seems unlikely at best. Today, as the U.S. grapples with the unfolding tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic it seems incredibly prescient. While the plan doesnt offer a way forward, it does give some comfort in chaotic times that someone, somewhere out there nailed the prediction.

The rest is up to us.

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The coronavirus crisis shaking the world has changed daily life in just about every way. The pandemic has entirely altered the way many industries operate. Even television stations have been forced to overhaul operations, with newscasts in some cases delivered entirely from the refuge of anchors' homes.

But that remote broadcasting becomes a bit more tricky for television meteorologists.

The equipment and data needs for television weathercasters are often some of the heftiest in the newsroom. Between a weather graphics system, map displays, green screens, special monitors and other high-tech tools, producing a television weather forecast is no easy feat. But America's television meteorologists have innovated and brought their broadcast studios into their homes.

"Necessity is the mother of all invention," said Nate Johnson, a meteorologist who oversees weather operations at the 42 stations owned by NBC Universal and Telemundo. "We want to provide the same level of coverage regardless of where meteorologist are."

- - -

Weather may be overshadowed by more pressing health and political headlines dominating the national news cycle. But it still affects people's routines and, during severe thunderstorm seasons, can quickly become a life-threatening hazard.

On March 28, a tornado leveled homes and businesses in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Ryan Vaughan, a meteorologist at KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, helped to cover the storm from home.

As tornado season ramps up through May and hurricane season looms this summer and fall, Johnson said his team has been working to ensure that it is able to cover weather threats around-the-clock.

"We're building up our capability," said Johnson. "We've thought through backup signals, backup [electrical] power, et cetera. Some of our meteorologists already have generators at home."

- - -

Johnson said there are pros and cons to working remotely; while meteorologists are able to mobilize more quickly in the face of threatening weather, it's a bit more of an uphill battle to integrate all the backup capabilities that are already built into the infrastructure physically at a television station.

What began weeks ago with a few meteorologists delivering forecasts over the phone or via Skype has since grown, with a number of meteorologists pulling out all the stops to re-create their work studios at home.

"It's been exciting to see the innovation coming from all corners of the company," said Johnson. "We have about a dozen meteorologists now doing [green screen forecasts] in their own homes." One Telemundo meteorologist managed to integrate augmented reality into his living room, in which weather maps and visualizations come alive in three dimensions.

Chuck Bell, morning meteorologist at the NBC-owned station in Washington, has been delivering his morning forecasts from home for several weeks. He's one of three broadcasters at his station to have full studio setups with professional camera equipment. The other two are the station's chief meteorologist and main news anchor.

"They brought a light kit into the basement for our full-on home studios," he said. "Doug [Kammerer, the NBC4 chief meteorologist] and I cover both ends of what could be severe weather at times. They wanted to have a hard-wired connection for times when the news or weather get so vital in case there's some sort of communications or electronics challenge."

Jacqui Jeras, an on-camera meteorologist at the Weather Channel, converted her basement exercise room into a makeshift studio.

"Technology is amazing and I'm able to access my graphics computer from home and advance my maps with the spacebar," she wrote. "Overall, it's not that different from when we anchor in the field during live hurricane or storm coverage, except that we are dry and the studio temperature is perfect. Ha!"

- - -

Accessing those weather graphics from high-power computer systems back at the office isn't always seamless. The graphics aren't simply slides that can be whipped up on a home laptop. The data-assimilation and graphics-rendering equipment often costs tens of thousands of dollars and was not initially designed for remote use. That's why meteorologists need to find a way to remotely tap into their computers at work.

"There never was a preset function for this," Bell explained. "The app we're using [to do it] is called TeamViewer." While there have been a few technological hiccups along the way, he said, it's working well so far.

It has been a similar work in progress at WUSA, the Tegna-owned station in Washington.

"Remote desktop sharing applications are great, but they have their limitations," wrote morning meteorologist Howard Bernstein. "After a few weeks though, I have a routine down and I feel more comfortable than I did on day one."

"Clearly, working from home as a broadcast meteorologist is much different than in studio," he wrote. "At the office, I have my workflow down. I also present the forecast mostly on camera. At home, I need to find a new way to do my own job."

- - -

For some, it's more than just a technical learning curve, however. Some things - like the in-person chemistry between broadcasters that adds a dynamic to the newscast - cannot be simulated remotely.

"[The morning shift] is the same 12 or 15 people every morning, five days a week, 52 weeks a year," said Bell. "You miss your work life and your work family."

He has tried re-creating some of the characteristic newscast banter on air, but with a 1.5-second audio delay each way thanks to the separated studios, conversation is quite limited.

"It suffers when you can't have an instant thing," said Bell. "If nobody can say a word for four or five seconds, it's awkward to listen to."

But broadcasting from home can add a layer of personality that otherwise isn't always feasible in formulaic, crisp newscasts.

"We all need quiet when I'm working from home," wrote Jeras, who explained that her two teenagers are taking classes remotely online. "Our other 'co-worker' is the problem. He is a 25-pound miniature schnauzer named Astro that is great company . . . until a package gets delivered or a squirrel is spotted and he feels the need to bark like crazy and alert us to the intruder. You can imagine that doesn't go over very well during a live broadcast."

Bernstein was in the same boat, writing: "I think my dog is probably very happy that my wife and I are home as much as we are now."

Bell and Bernstein noted that their routines now feature a much shorter commute.

"I haven't gotten gas since February 21," Bell said with a laugh. He also has been able to "sleep in" - waking up at 2 a.m. instead of 1:30 a.m. for his morning shift.

- - -

While Johnson says the ability to stream live from home is a "new tool in our toolbox," it can't fully replace in-studio coverage during the biggest events.

"If we're talking a larger event like a [tornado outbreak or] landfalling hurricane or something, that would probably be a time when we'd have a couple folks head back to the station."

"They are forward-looking," Bell said of his colleagues. "It's about 'what if this?' or 'what if that?' If it's looking like something more, maybe we'll be in the building. When it really matters, you just don't want technology to be the weakest link."

At the end of the day, though, many meteorologists feel the ability to deliver weather coverage remotely has been a source of normalcy for millions of viewers forced to work from home themselves.

"It's a difficult time for the country, really," said Johnson. "But for us to be able to be in front of this message and really walk the walk . . . it's been heartening."
The Sri Lankan government on Thursday ordered bail to 8,000 remand prisoners, being held for drug offences, as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Lanka has been under a countrywide lockdown since March 20 to combat the deadly viral infection, which has claimed seven lives and infected 190 people.

According to human rights group, the country's prisons are highly congested. There are around 26,000 inmates in Lankan jails, while the normal capacity is around 10,000.

In a letter to the police chief on Thursday, the Attorney General said of the 13,000 remand prisoners, 8,000 held for drug-related offences be granted bail.

The Attorney General said he has been instructed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to release some of the remand prisoners depending on the nature of their offences.

The danger posed by the COVID-19 spread has been considered in terms of safety and good health of the remand prisoners, the letter stated.

The heads of the respective police stations need to be advised for close supervision of the released offenders, the Attorney General said.

Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan government released some 2,961 prisoners, serving sentences for minor offences, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, three inmates were killed and six others wounded in North Central Prison when they scuffled with guards and some tried to escape during a protest against new rules to control the pandemic.

The inmates protested after the government banned visitors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside prisons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Myhelp -Yourhelp Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organization made up of working-class individuals (Doctors, Nurses, Bankers, Lawyers, Teachers, Engineers etc.) who have come together to contribute their widows mite to help the poor, the needy, the vulnerable and less privileged in society.



The NGO focuses on inspiring and empowering orphans, street children and the vulnerable with the aim of improving their socio-economic status.



Having partnered the foundation on various benevolent activities over the years, Management of Axis Pension Trust Limited found it prudent to support the foundation meet the needs of the vulnerable as part of its Corporate Social responsibility in a time where Accra and other parts of the nation are under lockdown as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The team donated food items worth GH15,000. This activity took place on Tuesday,6th April 2020 in a suburb of Accra specifically Meampeasem, Shiashie, Okponglo and American House communities.



Some of the items donated include: bags of rice, bottles of cooking oil, canned foods, sanitizers, rolls of tissue papers among others.



Mr. Ernest Attimah, General Manager of Axis Pension took the opportunity to implore individuals and corporate bodies to find ways of helping the vulnerable in these difficult times whiles keeping safe. He encouraged all to stay at home as much as possible and not take anything for granted. He further urged them to be persistent in prayer and heed the directives of the President.



Axis Pension Trust Ltd (APTL) is one of the leading licensed Pension Providers in Ghana with a focus of making pension provision effortless and stress-free for both employers and individuals.

They offer world class services and opportunities to invest and safeguard the retirement savings of the Ghanaian worker.



Mr. Nicholas Cofie, President & Founder of the Foundation also expressed worry and concern for the vulnerable, hence the decision to support and educate the communities on the importance of keeping safe and strictly adhering to precautionary measures religiously. He concluded by acknowledging Axis Pensions Trust Limited and his team for their immense support over the years.



Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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There are many, many safer sectors to invest in right now than the oil industry. Yes, the entire stock market is in turmoil due to coronavirus concerns, but companies in this sector are dealing with an oil price collapse on top of the sudden drop in demand for fuel caused by travel restrictions. Oil companies have been slashing dividends right and left, and at least one (Whiting Petroleum) has filed for bankruptcy.

With oil prices so low, independent exploration and production companies (E&Ps) are going to have a tough time, so investing in them right now is not recommended. Oilfield services companies and rig operators are also going to feel the pinch of decreased demand, as numerous producers have announced cuts to their capital budgets. So they're not good candidates either.

If you're really committed to investing in the oil industry right now, your best bet is to go for the strongest dividend-paying companies out there, which have a better chance of weathering the storm intact and rewarding you for your patience into the bargain. That's why this month, I'm recommending Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B), ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). Here's why these are the top picks in the sector for April.

Best in class dividend

Like the rest of the oil industry, integrated oil major Royal Dutch Shell saw its stock fall in early March when the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia resulted in both countries vowing to flood the global energy market with cheap crude. Oil prices had been barely hovering above $50/barrel, but the news essentially cut those prices in half, dragging down Shell's shares along with everyone else's in the industry.

There's no way Shell is going to outperform with oil prices this low. And unlike the last oil price downturn in 2014, refined products like petrochemicals and gasoline are also low thanks to oversupply. So Shell won't be able to lean as heavily on its downstream (refining and marketing) business as it did in the past.

However, one thing Shell does still have going for it is its best-in-class dividend, which has been a top yielder among the oil majors for the last five years, and is currently yielding more than 10%. And Shell is committed to maintaining that dividend, recently announcing it will cut its 2020 capital spending by at least 20% and suspend its share buyback program to help preserve cash to maintain its payout.

Also working in Shell's favor are its rock-solid balance sheet, high credit rating, and shareholder-friendly management team. Shell looks like a safe bet to continue paying its full dividend until oil prices recover.

Another safe dividend

For the strongest companies in the oil industry, it's all about keeping the proverbial lights on while they wait for a recovery. ExxonMobil, a company renowned for the strength of its balance sheet, is uniquely positioned to do just that.

Exxon's current dividend yield of 8.4% may not be as high as its Big Oil peer Shell's, but it's near March's record high for the company. Better yet, ExxonMobil is a dividend aristocrat, having upped its payout every year for the last 37 years. That's a streak that the company's management definitely wants to continue.

The company just offered major reassurance to the market that its dividend was secure: it rolled out a 30% cut in 2020 capital spending and an additional 15% in operational spending. Like Shell, it plans to use the money it saves to continue paying its dividend. Also like Shell, it has an excellent credit rating in case it needs to tap the capital markets to help it weather the current storm.

A refiner poised for the long haul

If integrated oil majors aren't your cup of (Texas) tea, you might consider an investment in a strong oil refiner like Phillips 66. The company doesn't produce oil, so it's somewhat insulated from crude oil price swings, but it does have a diversified portfolio, including its Phillips 66, Conoco, and 76 branded filling stations, a refinery network, and even exposure to pipelines through its master limited partnership (MLP) Phillips 66 Partners.

Under ordinary circumstances, low crude prices would be good for Phillips 66, because it could earn higher margins from its refining operations and increase traffic to its filling stations due to lower gas prices. These, unfortunately, are not ordinary circumstances.

Thanks to global travel and production shutdowns caused by coronavirus concerns, demand for refined products like fuel and petrochemicals has collapsed. That's made an existing oversupply problem even worse, and now refiners like Phillips 66 are stuck waiting for demand to increase again. Luckily, Phillips 66 has $1.6 billion in cash on its books and a consistent track record of cash generation to help it fund its dividend, which is currently yielding 6.1%.

Looking to the long term

Unfortunately, some oil companies may not make it through the current oil price slump. Still others will make it to the other side, but only by severely slashing their dividends. The best companies, though, will be able to maintain or increase their dividends and still emerge relatively unscathed thanks to the strength of their operations and their balance sheets.

Oil may not be the right place to invest your money right now, but if you do decide to buy in, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, and Phillips 66 look like some of the best picks you can make.
(Natural News) On Monday, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Louisiana pointed to signs that the coronavirus outbreak may be starting to level off in their states. However, the governors still warned against complacency as the nationwide death toll from the coronavirus sat at just below 11,000 as of reporting time.

While the number of coronavirus cases and deaths continued to grow, the governors cited data that suggests that the rates of growth and hospitalizations were slowing. This possibly signals that the peak was at hand at the three states considered to be the epicenters of the outbreak.

Possible flattening of the curve?

According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, statewide deaths from the coronavirus outbreak were up 599 from Sunday. This was on par with an increase of 594 during the previous 24 hours and 630 Friday.

The overall tally of confirmed cases in the state grew by 7 percent from the previous day. However, Cuomo stated that hospitalization, admissions to intensive care units, and the number of patients on ventilator machines had all declined.

While none of this is good news, the possible flattening of the curve is better than the increases that we have seen, explained Cuomo during a daily briefing. If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a high level.

Despite the possible plateauing of the virus, Cuomo extended an order to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed for another two weeks. This virus has kicked our rear end, Cuomo said. Now is not the time to slack off from what we are doing.

Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest number of cases and deaths, Governor Phil Murphy said that they had a 12 percent day-to-day growth rate in coronavirus cases on Monday. This is half the rate from March 30.

Our efforts to flatten the curve are starting to pay off, stated Murphy. However, the governor warned that relaxing social distancing rules would trigger a new wave of infections that could end up overwhelming the states healthcare system.

In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards also expressed cautious optimism about the efforts to slow down the outbreak in his state, which is also one of the hardest hit. In a recent news conference, Edwards confirmed that new hospital admissions are trending downward.

However, as with the other governors, Edwards emphasized that the plateauing would only continue if they kept up their social distancing efforts. But this will only become a trend if we keep mitigation efforts up, he stated. (Related: White House to finally recommend everyone wear a mask.)

In addition to these states, the number of new cases seems to be easing up in Connecticut. Here, Governor Ned Lamont stated that their healthcare system is bending but not breaking.

New research agrees with the governors, but may not be accurate enough

The cautiously optimistic news isnt just coming from the governors. A new research model from the University of Washington lowers the expected number of deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. to 81,766 by August 4, down by about 12,000 from previous projections.

In response to the tentative signs of progress, U.S. stocks went up sharply, with all major indexes closing at least 7 percent higher on Monday. With the bounce, the broad-based S&P 500 remained is now down only 21 percent from its February 19 peak, compared with its March low where it was 30 percent off.

Despite the seemingly good news from the University of Washington report, people shouldnt go out on the streets just yet. Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has cautioned that the most recent data on the coronavirus spread was not as accurate as experts would like it to be. She pointed to at least one county in the New York area that had seen a noticeable surge in cases over the weekend.

More deaths are still coming

Despite the outbreak seemingly starting to level off in New York, New Jersey, and Louisiana, officials are still expecting more deaths this week. One official even stated that this weak was going to be peak death week.

Its going to be the peak hospitalization, peak ICU week and unfortunately, peak death week, Admiral Brett Giroir, a physician serving on the White House coronavirus task force, warned on Good Morning America on Monday.

Even before this, political leaders and medical professionals have already raised alarms for weeks over crippling scarcities of protective gear, ventilators and other supplies.

In addition to this, some cities are also facing a shortage of healthcare workers. In New York City, Mayor Bill De Blasio stated that the city needed 45,000 more clinical personally to get through April.

We need these supplies, but we also need heroes to wear them, de Blasio said.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

USNews.com

WRBL.com

NYTimes.com
Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt okay with 'traditional schooling' for their kids. Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, March 30 (IANS) Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is self-isolating along with her children, and maintaining distance from everyone including her former husband and actor Brad Pitt. Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, April 9 : Former Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reportedly want their children to now have "traditional schooling".

The actors, who are still in the process of finalising their divorce, have settled on a custody agreement, and have now made an agreement regarding "education and transitional support" for their six children, reports metro.co.uk.

Brad allegedly filed papers in the Los Angeles County Court to inform the judge of such an agreement favouring "traditional" schooling instead of home schooling, reports The Blast.

He and Angelina are parents to Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shilo, 13 and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11.

As Maddox is now at university in South Korea, the latest agreement will cover the former couple's five children.

Brad and Angelina's children were previously home schooled as the family were constantly on the move.

Angelina had said in the past that she "worries" about her children's education.

She said in 2017: "It bothered me how little I was taught in school. I do worry about my children's education.

"I homeschool partially because they are from around the world and it's very... I didn't want them to have the same education I had when it came to Vietnam or Cambodia." Brad and Angelina split in 2016 after being together for more than a decade and two years of marriage. The pair walked down the aisle in 2014.
As the end of the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines neared its end, soldiers were not giving up.

They had plenty of ammunition to fight one enemy but ultimately not enough to fight the other  malaria.

Frank Hewlett, a United Press Correspondent, wrote in The Patriot on April 18, 1942,

In the last desperate showdown, the Battle of Bataan ended because the quinine pills ran out.

I saw the last scenes of the drama and this is our story.

Ten thousand of our troops lay in two field hospitals, most of them ill with malaria. Another 10,000 were confined to camps with lighter cases of malaria.

(There were 36,800 troops in all of Bataan, according to War Department figures. Thus, more than half were incapacitated in the final phase of the battle.)

There was ammunition in plenty to fight off the enemy when I saw American and Filipino soldiers in their last fighting against an overwhelming enemy.

When the end came, a million rounds of .30 caliber ammunition was blown up by our own troops.

There was courage in plenty, too, to pit against the Japanese in those terrible days before Bataan collapsed.

But there was no quinine to fight the deadliest of our enemies  malaria.

Hewlett said of the soldiers, No one starved on Bataan but during the last month every one lost weight. Early in January, the Army went on half rations with two small meals daily instead of the customary three big meals a day. Then, during the last few weeks, rations were again slashed by at least another 50 percent.

American prisoners of war carry their wounded and sick as they begin the Death March on Bataan in April 1942. This photo was stolen from the Japanese during their three year occupation of the Philippines. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Every carabao (water buffalo) on the island was slaughtered for food as well as the 26th Cavalrys horses and most of the defenders pack mules. The soldiers liked mule meat best and didnt mind its toughness.

Getting supplies to Gen. Douglas MacArthurs soldiers was not possible. Navy ships had been decimated at Pearl Harbor and a Japanese blockade prevented food and medicine from getting through.

When Bataan fell to the Japanese, field commander U.S. General Edward King surrendered his troops, about 10,000 Americans and 66,0000 Filipinos. They became prisoners of war.

The soldiers were already ill and hungry and then were forced on April 9, 1942, to march north 65 miles from the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula to San Fernando and Camp ODonnell where they were imprisoned. The soldiers were separated into groups of 100 each. It took each group about five days to make the trek, according to history.com.

During the march prisoners who fell or tried to escape were beaten and shot. Some died of starvation and disease while thousands more died at the prison.

American war prisoners at Bataan, the Philippines, sort U.S. equipment to be taken over by the Japanese, April 11, 1942. Then the death march to Camp O'Donnell began. (AP Photo/Manuel Alcantara)AP

At Camp ODonnell there was no running water, little food and no medical care. Disease was rampant.

The exact figures are unknown, but it is believed that thousands of troops died because of the brutality of their captors, who started and beat the marchers, and bayoneted those too weak to walk. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner-of-war camps, where thousands more died from disease, mistreatment and starvation, according to history.com.

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Japanese Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, who has accepted full moral responsibility for the Bataan Death March, stands before the five-man military commission in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 11, 1946, to hear the verdict pronounced that he is guilty of war crimes and sentenced to be "shot to death". Standing with him on left, Maj. John H. Sheen, Jr., Baltimore, Md., chief defense council, and on right is Homma's interpreter. Members of the military commission, are, foreground left to right (backs to camera): Brig. Gen. Warren H. McNaught, Plymouth Mass; Brig. Gen. Robert G. Gard, San Antonio, Tex; Maj. Gen. Leo S. Donovan, Arlington, Va.; president of commission reading verdict, Maj. Gen. Basilo J. Valdes of Manila, and Brig. Gen. Arthur S. Trudeau of Arlington, Va. Members of prosecution staff are in background. (AP Photo/CDES)AP

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, above, former commanding officer of Japanese forces in the Philippines at the time of the infamous Bataan Death March, looks from behind jail bars at a prison in Yokohama, Japan, on Oct. 5, 1945, following his arrest on war crime charges. (AP Photo/Max Desfor)AP

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 01:33:37|Editor: xuxin

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Police check the temperature of people inside vehicles in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, April 10, 2020. Uzbekistan now has 582 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has effectively locked down all major cities including its capital city Tashkent. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)

TASHKENT, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has instructed the country's central bank to allocate 3.1 billion U.S. dollars through banks to support domestic enterprises' working capital, the president's press service said Thursday.

When quarantine is lifted, many enterprises will require considerable time and money to restore their production and in this regard, the Central Bank was instructed to ensure the allocation through banks of 30 trillion sums (3.1 billion U.S. dollars), the press service said.

Banks were also recommended to fund small businesses to create jobs and to stimulate self-employment at home.

Uzbekistan now has 582 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has effectively locked down all major cities including its capital city Tashkent.








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When I completed writing the book Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst in November 2019, I knew something big was about to happen.

My book documents a twofold agenda which had been unfolding.

The first agenda is the apparent systematic infiltration of human institutions by manipulative aliens and their controlled humans who betray Canadians along with the rest of humanity.

This process has been unfolding for thousands of years and has very much influenced Canada.

The Honourable Paul Hellyer , who is a former Canadian Minister of National Defence, has spoken about these alien contacts.

The second agenda is the so-called "Mandela Effect" which has been the subject of an extensive disinformation campaign by these manipulative aliens and their human mouthpieces.

According to these apparent "disinformation agents," the Mandela Effect is a phenomenon of masses of people forgetting facts and simply "mis-remembering."



But that is a complete lie. As my book documents, the Mandela Effect is very much real and has resulted in changes to historical events, paranormal activity, the apparent "conversions" of certain people into artificial intelligence-controlled biological entities and the duplication of Earth into some sort of artificial simulation in which only actual complete humans are able to notice bizarre changes in the "face of reality."

The current coronavirus appears to be the third agenda that Jesse Ventura revealed in 2010. At that time he warned viewers of a planned pandemic which would create massdeath and be used to trigger martial law and the eventual corralling of innocent citizens into concentration camps, which he showed in plain sight in various locations in the United States (revealed in the video above).

David Icke warned that such a pandemic would be used to support a mass vaccination programme in order to inject people with harmful agents and nanotechnology microchips designed by a Deep State that Dr. Michael Salla describes as the "Military-Industrial-Extraterrestrial Complex . " Mr. Icke referred to this as "Problem-Reaction-Solution . " This is set to occur when the Deep State , having created the "problem" via the delivery of intense 5G microwaves, then uses that "problem" to spur a mass panic which will be "solved" by "their solution."

He has been accused by the "mainstream" media and other people for being some kind of crazy "conspiracy theorist" who talks rubbish, but as we see, once again, Mr. Icke has proven himself not to be a "nut job."

Today, we see our Minister Trudeau warning us that "things will not go back to normal" until he and his "group" can get us to take some "vaccine."

Canadians wont be able to return to life as they knew it before the novel coronavirus pandemic until a vaccine is available, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.

Normality as it was before will not come back full-on until we get a vaccine for this That will be a very long way off, the prime minister said during his daily news conference on Canadas response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

You can listen to the plot thickening with Trudeau's vaccine agenda on the CBC video below.

But it seems the cabal does not want to give you the vaccines any quicker than they need to.

The longer a cabal can stretch things out, the more there will be droves of people wilfully liningup for a vaccine as humanity's "saviour" when it's in fact the front of regressive artificial intelligence entities, as warned by the ancient pagan Gnostic who first began to reveal the beginnings of the regressive alien infiltration of hierarchical-driven power structures on Earth, which included organized religions. Such a regressive alien agenda has also been documented in Nigel Kerner's Song of the Greys.

David Icke gets his insights from having interviewed indigenous tribal elders like African Zulu Credo Mutwa, who says he was also abducted by these regressive aliens.

Vaccines are the apparent fourth agenda to reportedly enable control of all of humanity by an alien artificial intelligence operating through 5G, Google, and other such robotic mechanisms. David Icke and other investigative researchers allege that this is the vision of a "New World Order."

The goal of these aliens and a clique of Deep State military and big tech owners is the complete control of all human life via "remote control."

In this planned Brave New World, you will not even be allowed to have your own thoughts and emotions, which will all be regulated in the aftermath of mass injections of "vaccines" issued by demonic entities.

In the book Extraterrestrial Friends and Foes , George C. Andrews offersa very specific message from another human species that has apparently been tryingto warn humanity of the manipulative aliens and their human clone vessels which seek to pursue an ongoing interdimensional war against intergalactic communities of humanoid species which include humans on Earth. The alleged message originates from a human species called the Procyons.

Dr. Michael Salla writes that Procyon is a binary star system about 11.4 light years from Earth.

According to Andrews, the Procyon was flourishing until it became embroiled in a sinister effort by the same manipulative extraterrestrials that Alex Collier links to an extraterrestrial war that that was apparently wiped from human consciousness due to their time travel that affected human consciousness of events.

Khyla is the name of a Procyon human described by George C. Andrews that transmitted the following message to warn Earthbound humans of the challenges that face us, as humans, as a result of the interdimensional war described by Alex Collier. Khyla apparently described the process adopted by the Grays in their subversion of Procyon:

The Grays began to visit us, first a few as ambassadors, then as specialists in various domains where their expertise could be useful to us, as participants in different programs that involved mutual collaboration, and finally as tourists. What had begun as a trickle became a flood, as they came in ever-increasing numbers, slowly but surely infiltrating our society at all levels, penetrating even the most secret of our elite power groups.

Khyla continues:

Just as on your planet they began by unobtrusively gaining control over key members of the CIA and KGB through techniques unknown to them, such as telepathic hypnosis that manipulates the reptilian levels of the brain, so on Procyon through the same techniques  they established a kind of telepathic hypnotic control over our leaders. Over our leaders and over almost all of us, because it was as if we were under a spell that was leading us to our doom, as if we were being programmed by a type of ritual black magic that we did not realize existed.

Dr. Michael Salla further documents on exopolitics.org that Khyla went on to describe the eventual takeover of Procyon by the Grays and the enslavement of most Procyons that did not escape.

Dr. Salla elaborates on Khylas message that using advanced time travel technology which involved multidimensional consciousness, something which the Grays apparently could not duplicate due to their degraded genetic bodies, a significant number of Procyons were able to escape and began a liberation war from the remote corridors of time. Significantly, the Procyons describe how some of their resistance techniques would be relevant to the situation on Earth:

 it would be suicidal to attempt to fight the Grays directly with the weapons now at your disposal. One must be rational in attempting to fight back, and understand the proper way to proceed. Your own consciousness is the most potent weapon that is available to you at the present time. The most effective way to fight the Grays is to change the level of your consciousness from linear thinking to multi-dimensional awareness. They have the technology to throw your planet out of orbit, but there is one key ability that you have and they do not have: the ability to hold in mind imagery that inspires an individual to realize his or her direct personal connection to the source of all that is That is your key to victory.

According to Alex Collier, the Procyons have recently liberated their world from Gray influence and he describes the Procyons as currently gung ho when it comes to dealing with the Grays.

In conclusion, Dr. Michael Salla stipulates: The Procyons main activity is in effectively resisting the extraterrestrial subversion by developing a multidimensional consciousness, using mind imagery to protect oneself from extraterrestrial mind control, and monitoring unfriendly extraterrestrial activity.

Furthermore, Dr. Salla elaborates: The global solutions that the Procyons can assist in include exposing extraterrestrial subversion, helping end global secrecy of the extraterrestrial presence, promoting multidimensional consciousness, deprogramming mind control, promoting universal human rights, and developing the internet and global communication.

You might wonder, "Where are all these aliens at, anyway? I don't see them!"

I would reply,Do you think that all aliens look like little green men?

We as humans are characterized by our mind, body and soul.

So-called 'people' who have human bodies but lack our soul of empathy and mind are not humans at all.

David Icke has met such people, and said they may be able to smile but "their eyes don't smile back."

I have also met such "people," whom I have documented in my book.

My book provides critical background on apparent experimentation taking place by manipulative aliens and human collaborators which has now led up to an apparent massive attack against other humans.

Find my book at Amazon.ca HERE.

In Canada, you can also order from Indigo.ca HERE.

In the United States you can also getit at Barnes and Noble HERE.



Justin Trudeau, Judicial Corruption and the Supreme Court of Canada: Aliens and Archons in Our Midst if you want to explore the world of corruption and manipulative aliens as background to the so-called "coronavirus".

I invite you to read my bookif you want to explore the world of corruption and manipulative aliens as background to the so-called "coronavirus".





The manipulate aliens I cite my book appear to be connected with the current "coronavirus" pandemic simulation.




Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  With the COVID-19 pandemic catching the government flat-footed, national task force special adviser Dr. Anthony Leachon has suggested the crafting of a new law to address future health emergencies of such magnitude.

For the resumption of the Congress, they should create an epidemic law and then you need to have a lot of checklists, a manual for this, said Leachon in a virtual media briefing on Thursday.

You need a lot of measures to be done like social distancing measures, you educate people from grade school to high school regarding epidemics, he added.

The country does not have any law that would provide protocols and measures on how to manage outbreaks of viruses or diseases.

In 2013, former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed Senate Bill No. 1573 or the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. It called for the creation of a national health strategy during pandemics, as most parts of the world then grappled with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

Unfortunately, the bill remained pending at committee level in the 16th Congress.

The closest the country has to such a law is the recently approved Republic Act No. 11469 or Bayanihan We Heal As One Act, which mainly reallocates the budget and other government resources to address the COVID-19 crisis.

Along with the proposed law, Leachon called for an increase in the budget of the Department of Health (DOH).

The DOHs budget for 2020 was cut by around 10 billion, while the proposed fund for disease surveillance this year has been slashed by 80 million.

Aside from the increased allocation, Leachon stressed the need to invest in research and development to create vaccines for such diseases and the necessary production infrastructure.

I think they need to invest in research and development so that we can have the vaccine with us...and then we need to improvise the supply chain and then produce a lot of drugs, particularly on coronavirus, he said.

Decentralized healthcare system

The national task force adviser said the countrys healthcare system must be decentralized, citing that the best healthcare services are only available in Metro Manila.

If the National Capital Region is in a brink of collapse, then how would you imagine the other areas in the country if there is an epidemic? When 50% of your best doctors are in the National Capital Region, said Leachon.

He proposed the setting up of satellite facilities of the UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) in every region in the country.

My dream is to have 14 PGH for every region, so you dont only depend on the Philippine General Hospital and a tie up with the academic institutions, he added.

Aside from the UP-PGH, the two other referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients are the Lung Center of the Philippines and the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, both of which are also situated in Metro Manila.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Finance Secretary Carlos 'Sonny' Dominguez III said Thursday that although the economy is "well-prepared" for economic shocks, the COVID-19 impact could still lead to a stagnant national output, or even a contraction, this year.

Around 1.2 million workers will suffer unemployment, Dominguez predicted, adding this number remains at par with lowest unemployment rate ever recorded.

He said the economic team and the central bank are working on a recovery program and that there are available funds to aid low income families, workers in small and medium enterprises and the healthcare sector.

Itong [This] COVID-19 has hit us in a very hard way  Ang estimate natin [Our estimate is], our GDP growth will be zero or minus 1 percent, Dominguez said in a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte other Cabinet secretaries aired in the wee hours of Thursday.

Dominguez also noted that government expenditures will further exceed revenues. The national debt might also grow from 41 percent to 47 percent of what the economy produces.

The increase in government spendings and borrowings is "to make sure [people] have food in the table during this time," he said.

For the economists po, tignan po natin yung budget deficit natin from 3.2 percent, lalaki ng 5.3 percent, Dominguez said.

[Translation: For the economists, take note of the budget deficit which will increase from 3.2 percent to 5.3 percent.]

In other words, we will be spending more than we will be collecting [taxes and other revenues], he explained.

Well-prepared for economic shocks

Dominguez said that although the COVID-19 slapped Philippines with "a bad luck," the country remained "well-prepared" for economic shocks.

He said this is the result of "conservative spending and efficient collection" of taxes. The Philippines economy expanded 6.4 percent in 2019, he noted.

He said the government economic team and the central bank are working on a recovery program and that there are available funds to aid affected households and soften the economic impact of COVID-19.

But if the budget for the governments response to COVID-19 is still not sufficient, they will seek help -- in the form of new borrowings -- from the commercial financial market.

He also raised the possibility of borrowing around US$5.6 billion (worth more than P283 billion) from the Asian Development Bank, which has earlier extended grant, which is a financial assistance that doesn't have to be paid back, to help the Philippines respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

CNN Philippines' Catherine A. Modesto contributed to this report
The Lehigh Valleys hospitals treating a surge in coronavirus patients are seeing hospital beds fill up and asking for donations of protective equipment, while other areas of revenue are drying up as people stay home.

Social distancing and other measures have meant serious declines in office visits and elective surgeries, leading to furloughs of health network staff.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild brought up furloughs in a media call last week, saying hospitals across the country and in her district covering Lehigh, Northampton and southern Monroe counties were furloughing employees.

St. Lukes University Health Network, like many other businesses in the community, has experienced significant revenue declines, spokesman Sam Kennedy said.

For 90 days, St. Lukes is instituting pay cuts for all senior leaders, starting job sharing for 75 percent of its workforce and creating an internal job pool for negatively impacted employees.

Kennedy did not say how many senior leaders would be affected by the cuts, or what the job sharing would entail. The changes do not apply to bedside caregivers of patients on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle, he said.

We are ready. We are trained. We are equipped. And we are calm, cool and collected.  We will do the right things for our patients and our employees, St. Lukes President and CEO Rick Anderson said in a statement.

Two weeks ago, Lehigh Valley Health Network announced furloughs for more than 900 staffers with the Lehigh Valley Physician Group, its physician practice, at nearly 150 practice locations.

Asked if there were more furloughs since announcing the 900, LVHN spokesman Brian Downs said last week there were others, but he did not have a specific number.

We are trying to limit that as much as possible while making patient care and patient and health care worker safety priorities. Obviously there is an impact when you stop doing elective surgeries and other procedures like we did about two weeks ago, so its across the system, he said via email. Where possible, were also trying to redeploy people.

St. Lukes and LVHN arent alone. Beckers Hospital Review, which covers hospitals and health systems, has a running list of hospital and medical center furloughs announced across the country.

Meanwhile, Easton Hospital threatened to close unless it received $8 million in operating funds to stay open until the end of April.

Steward Health Care, the Wilson Borough hospitals for-profit owner, previously said it would either be sold to St. Lukes University Health Network by April 21 or close on or before that date, resulting in the loss of 700 jobs.

Steward reached a deal with Gov. Tom Wolfs administration the night of March 27 for four weeks of funding, and said it would work to secure funding "to keep the hospital open on a month-to-month basis as long as the crisis continues or St. Lukes completes the proposed transaction.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
[April 09, 2020] Maine Students to Speak with NASA Astronauts Aboard Space Station

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from Maine will have an opportunity next week to talk with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station who have special ties to the Pine Tree State. The Earth-to-space call will air live at 1:20 p.m. EDT Monday, April 13, on NASA television and the agency's website. NASA astronauts Christopher Cassidy and Jessica Meir will respond to questions recorded by students from across the state. Cassidy, who considers York, Maine, his hometown and Meir, who was born in Caribou, Maine, will be on the International Space Station together for eight days, following Cassidy's arrival at the station on Thursday, April 9, and Meir's departure on Friday, April 17. The event is being coordinated by the Challenger Learnig Center of Maine and the Maine Space Grant Consortium. The Challenger Center uses space-themed simulated learning to inspire students into STEM. The Challenger Center of Maine is also sending well-wishes from Maine locals to Cassidy regarding his launch to the space station. The Maine Consortium is a member of NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, which works to expand opportunities for Americans to understand and participate in NASA's projects through science and engineering education and research. Special recorded messages from U.S Sens. Collins and King of Maine will be included in the downlink event.



Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). For nearly 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and work on the space station, testing technologies, performing science and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA's Artemis program, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, with eventual human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers  the Artemis Generation  ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

Follow America's Moon to Mars exploration at: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars Follow NASA astronauts on social media at: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maine-students-to-speak-with-nasa-astronauts-aboard-space-station-301038499.html SOURCE NASA

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A FEW days after the government suspended the five-day religious conference planned by Ephata Ministry, their leader, Prophet Josephat Mwingira has said they will follow instructions given by authorities as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday during a media briefing on several issues, Prophet Mwingira said they respect the decision, which is why they have asked their members countrywide not to come for the conference.

Regarding this decision by Coast Regional Commissioner (RC), Engineer Evarist Ndikilo, his decision is positively announced according to procedures, but I would rather not talk much about it as I believe he has fulfilled his role, I commend him for taking his rightful place, he noted.

Prophet Mwingira further said they will use the Sunday Services as allowed by President John Magufuli as that was an integral part to save the nation.

For Dar es Salaam, I have more than 130 churches, I cannot call all members to come and worship here at the church headquarters in Mwenge, and we have already communicated to them to worship at their usual places,

He said they have been following and implementing precautions issued by the government and health experts by providing water and soap in all their church services as well as taking their temperature with a thermometer.

On 6 April 2020, Eng Ndikilo toured the Bungu area in Coastal District where the conference was supposed to take place from 7 12 April 2020, where 3,000 members who are regional leaders of the church from around the country were expected to attend.

Eng Ndikilo was cautious about the warning issued by the ministry of health to minimise unnecessary gatherings, and underscored that the aim was not to restrict worship but to take precautions against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Prophet Mwingira called on Tanzanians to continue praying in earnest and not wait for confirmed COVID-19 cases to reach 100 like other countries.

My President..dont worry about anything, we are together in this, keep on fulfilling your duties while we are praying for you, he remarked

He said God's servants should keep on praying for Tanzania and its people because the world is passing through the most turbulent period, and prayed for them to be safe and be protected by God against disasters and the pandemic.

Prophet Mwingira further said they are praying for the president of Tanzania and his government, so that God can give him wisdom in making the right decisions and know His will.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has denied rumours that it spent N1 billion on SMS to Nigerians as the country battles Coronavirus.

A picture of a report claiming the agency has spent N1 billion on messaging to Nigerians started going around on social media on Wednesday.

Also Read: Coronavirus: 200 US-Based Nigerians Express Willingness To Return Home  Minister Of Foreign Affairs

Reacting to this in a tweet on its official handle, the NCDC admitted that while SMS is part of the COVID-19 response strategy, the agency described the claims as false.

NCDC wrote:

The headline claiming that NCDC has spent N1 billion on SMS to Nigerians is FALSE

While communication through SMS is a key part of our #COVID19 response strategy, this has been largely provided as in-kind support by @AirtelNigeria, @MTNNG, @GloWorld.
Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Starbucks (SBUX)  Starbucks said its fiscal second-quarter profit would likely drop by 47% due to the coronavirus impact, and that it was abandoning its full-year forecast. The coffee chain is also suspending its share buyback program, although it will continue to pay its dividend.

Costco (COST)  Costco reported a 9.6% jump in March same-store sales, thanks in large part to virus-related stockpiling.

Walt Disney (DIS)  Walt Disney said subscribership numbers for its Disney+ streaming service have now surpassed 50 million globally. The jump has been driven by global stay-at-home orders, as well as the introduction of the service in India where 8 million people have signed up.

Anthem (ANTM)  The health insurer's stock was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" at Jefferies, which said a virus-induced recession will push more managed care organization members into the lower margin Medicaid category.

Visa (V), Mastercard (MA)  The payment networks have both had swipe fee increases in the works for months, according to The Wall Street Journal. The increases were planned before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the paper said it is unclear whether the fee hikes will be rolled out if the pandemic persists.

Diageo (DEO)  The spirits maker pulled its 2020 sales and profit forecast, and also suspended its $5.6 billion stock buyback program. However, the company did say it would pay its April dividend as planned.

United Parcel Service (UPS)  The delivery service was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" at UBS, citing a drop in business-to-business volume and an overall reduction in earnings.

Big Lots (BIG)  The discount retailer was upgraded to "neutral" from "sell" at JPMorgan Chase, both on a valuation basis and on the easing of liquidity concerns.

Zoom Video (ZM) - The U.S. Senate has told members not to use Zoom's conferencing app due to security concerns, according to the Financial Times. That follows Google's move Wednesday to ban employees from using Zoom on their laptops.

UBS (UBS), Credit Suisse (CS)  The Swiss banks will postpone part of their 2019 dividends, bowing to pressure from European regulators. The banks were the last two major banks to make such a move, arguing that their financial positions were strong enough to support dividend payouts.

BlackRock (BLK)  BlackRock will not lay off any workers this year because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to CEO Larry Fink. He also said the world's largest asset manager will give full-time pay to support staff even if they cannot come to work.

Nautilus (NLS)  Nautilus is forecasting higher first-quarter sales, as stay-at-home orders boost demand for its exercise equipment.

Progressive (PGR)  Progressive is the latest auto insurer to announce refunds to customers due to a significant drop in driving. Progressive will be refunding about $1 billion, in the form of credits to April and May premiums. Allstate (ALL) and Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKB) Geico unit had been among those previously announcing such moves.

Stitch Fix (SFIX)  Stitch Fix pulled its 2020 guidance due to increasing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus impact. CEO Katrina Lake said the online styling service had anticipated the impact on its business, but not the extent to which its distribution centers would be disrupted.
Nollywood actress, Halima Abubakar, has come under fire after she was busted using the photo of a U.S. based womans child to announce her babys arrival.

The Kogi-state born actress stirred controversy on social media after the original owner of the photo ousted her on Instagram.

The woman whose Instagram username is Ariel subsequently demanded that the actress took down her babys picture from her social media page.

The movie star has since deleted the photo from her Instagram page amid a backlash from Nigerians on Twitter and Instagram.

On Twitter, Nigerians said Halimas story was reminiscent of her colleague, Oge Okoyes dog photo drama.

In 2017, Oge Okoye was called out on Instagram for passing off the photos of dogs that originally belonged to TV star, Kenya Moore as hers.

After the call out, Halima hurriedly deleted the pictures.

She also shared a screenshot of her private Instagram message with the childs mom who challenged the actress for using her babys picture.

In the screenshot, the movie star could be seen apologising for using Ariels babys photo adding that she found it appealing.

Hi, I am so sorry about this inconvenience. I had my baby last week and googled baby pics to use to illustrate my baby had come before I take pics of mine. I saw the beautiful baby nails and couldnt help but use it, said Halima.

READ ALSO:

I never claimed the baby was mine, I dont understand people on social media these days. I apologise for this. I will delete the picture. Congratulations on your baby. God bless.

Findings by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that Ariels posted the photo on March 13 while Halima picked it up almost a month after.

The development generated heated backlash on social media, with many Nigerians criticising the film star for her action.

But reacting to the criticism on Thursday, a remorseful Halima explained she expected people to hear from her before bashing her.

She said she could not post a photo of her newborn because of his condition

He (her baby) will be discharged tomorrow from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I didnt post because he was premature. God saved him. I just had to post this. For the people who didnt see me, I have no close friends, she wrote on Instagram.
Tiger King struck while iron was hot, as it's become a Netflix sensation since premiering last month during quarantine.

Since then, all of Hollywood has been campaigning to play some of the docuseries' eccentric characters in a live-action adaptation.

And star Joe Exotic's latest young groom Dillon Passage has made it clear he wants none other than Zac Efron to play him.

Hollywood vibes: Tiger King star Joe Exotic's latest young groom Dillon Passage has made it clear he wants none other than Zac Efron to play him

The 23-year-old said in a video interview with People: 'I mean, I've been asked this question multiple times.'

When asked what makes the High School Musical star the right option, he responded: 'Blue eyes, dark hair, good-looking. I mean, what else can I say?'

Passage is one of several young men who married Joe Exotic (whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage).

His pick came as Rob Lowe campaigned to play the Tiger King himself, even getting into character with a hilarious shoot.

Good-looking: When asked what makes the High School Musical star the right option, he responded: 'Blue eyes, dark hair, good-looking. I mean, what else can I say?'

Young groom: Passage is one of several young men who married Joe Exotic (whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage)

He captioned the photos: 'Rob Exotic. UPDATE: Ryan Murphy and I will be developing our version of this insane story. Stay tuned!'

According to Deadline, Ryan Murphy is in 'very preliminary stages' of conversations about the potential project.

Other actors like Dax Shepard and Ed Norton have also thrown their hats in the ring to play Exotic.

Rob Exotic: His pick came as Rob Lowe campaigned to play the Tiger King himself, even getting into character with a hilarious shoot

Callback material: Other actors like Dax Shepard and Ed Norton have also thrown their hats in the ring to play Exotic

Casting call: But the real Tiger King has some ideas of his own who should play him on the big screen: 'He would like Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him'

But the real Tiger King has some ideas of his own who should play him on the big screen.

The Netflix documentary's co-director Rebecca Chaiklin told The Hollywood Reporter: 'He would like Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him... He doesnt refer to David Spade as David Spade  he refers to him as "Joe Dirt."'

According to The Sun, Orlando Bloom is in talks with 20th Century Fox to play the leading role.

Kate McKinnon has already signed on to executive produce and play Exotic's nemesis Carole Baskin in a limited series based on the podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King.
A man aged in his 20s has been arrested after police cleared streets in Perth's northeast following reports a gunman was at large.

The tactical response group was called in and roadblocks were set up on Marella Road and Railway Parade near the Ellenbrook Speedway on Thursday morning.

Western Australia Police warned the public to stay away and a few hours later said they had taken a man into custody.
mike pence

Vice President Mike Pence in the briefing room of the White House on March 10.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Vice President Mike Pence is blocking the US's top public-health officials from appearing on CNN in an effort to pressure the network to air the White House coronavirus briefings in their entirety, CNN reported Thursday.

CNN is one of several networks that often cut away from the briefings to fact-check the President Donald Trump's statements and don't always air the full events, which can last a few hours.

"When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air," a representative for Pence told CNN.

Many critics have argued that the daily events often bear more resemblance to campaign rallies than informational briefings.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Vice President Mike Pence has blocked the US's top public-health officials from appearing on CNN over the past week in an effort to pressure the cable news network to air President Donald Trump's White House coronavirus briefings in their entirety, CNN reported Thursday.

CNN is one of several networks that often cut away from the briefings to fact-check the president's statements and don't always air the full events, which can last a few hours. Trump regularly makes false or misleading claims in the briefing room about the pandemic.

Related Video: What Could Be the Fastest Way to End the Coronavirus Crisis?

"When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air," a representative for Pence told CNN.

CNN reported that those officials included the coronavirus task force members Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams. CNN said the president had also refused all of its requests for an interview during the health crisis.

Story continues

On Tuesday, CNN didn't air the president's portion of the daily briefing but tuned in for some of the health officials' remarks. The president's favorite network, Fox News, has aired the briefings in full.

Many critics have argued that the daily events often bear more resemblance to campaign rallies than informational briefings.

Trump has invited some top donors in the business world, who are helping produce essential medical supplies, to promote their companies and praise him. Last week, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell celebrated the president, saying, "God gave us grace on November 8, 2016, to change the course we were on."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), an industry group with 38 cruise companies, suspended operations from ports for 30 days last March 13 to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

Recently, CLIA is imploring for permission from countries all around the world to allow the ships to dock for disembarkation of passengers.

Far From Home

The Zaandam was initially scheduled for a cruise from Buenos Aires to Chile that was supposed to be a 14-day voyage. The cruise line reported 442 passengers and 603 crew onboard. Since the start of the voyage, four guests have passed away.

The Coral Princess is arriving into Florida, after departing Chile. There are 1,020 guests and 878 crew members on the ship. They confirmed that two passengers have passed away on board.

The Arcadia was set on a voyage around the world for 100 days. Now, the ship is moving to Southampton. There are no reported cases of COVID-19 on board.

The Pacific Princess is now traveling to Los Angeles, carrying passengers who do not have flights booked. Others have disembarked in Australia. Princess Cruises says there are 115 passengers left on board and reported no cases of COVID-19.

A Cunard spokesperson says the Mary 2 is currently heading to Southampton. Some guests disembarked and flew back home when the ship docked in Perth. There remained 264 people on the ship, not counting the staff. There are no known cases of COVID-19.

The voyage of Costa Deliziosa was supposed to last 87 days around the world. The cruise line states that the world tour itinerary will be followed to allow passengers to disembark and return home. There are no known cases of COVID-19 on the Costa Deliziosa.

Before the peak of the pandemic, MSC Magnifica was going on a world cruise. Fremantle denied the passengers disembarkation even when there was nobody sick onboard.

Costa Victoria is still disembarking in Italy. During the cruise, a passenger tested positive for coronavirus and had to be evacuated in Greece.

Two passenger lines, the Columbus and the Vasco de Gama transferred over 200 passengers in what was called a repatriation operation, wherein guests were moved according to the route of the other ship. The Columbus is heading to Tilbury in the U.K., whereas the Vasco de Gama, with no passengers, is heading to Australia. Both cruise ships reported no cases of COVID-19.

The Artania has docked in Australia. A total of 37 passengers were tested positive for COVID-19 when they disembarked.

Check these out!

Crews on the Cruise

The Oasis of the Sea is docked near West Palm Beach, Florida. Passengers departed the Oasis of the Seas in Miami two weeks ago, but crew members remain on board.

After the disembarkation of passengers and sick crew members in Miami, Symphony of Seas was docked near Palm Beach.

Costa Diadema is docked near Piombino. Currently, there are 1,255 crew members on the ship, excluding the three who were disembarked after showing severe symptoms of respiratory ailments.

The ship Costa Magica, currently docked in Miami, just got back from Guadeloupe, where it disembarked all its passengers. The remaining people on board consisted of the crew members, six of whom were evacuated from the ship, Miami-Dade County Emergency Management shared on Twitter.

Costa Favolosa followed the same route as Costa Magica: From Guadeloupe and to Miami. Sick passengers and crew members were disembarked.

The Hanseatic Nature is heading to Germany from Central America after the passengers disembarked. The crew members on the boardwalk and jog the track around the ship to exercise on the duration of the 27-day trip, confirm a statement from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
New Delhi, April 9 : The government has left it to the states on when to start procurement of pulses and oilseeds under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), amid buzz of an extension of the ongoing 21-day nationwide shutdown.

However, the procurement will continue for 90 days. This was decided after Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held a video conference with Agriculture Ministers of all states and UTs, to discuss the issues related to farmers and farming activities, arising due to the lockdown in wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Tomar's ministry has also circulated to all states and Union terrirtories the details of Market Intervention Scheme to ensure remunerative prices for the perishable Agriculture and Horticulture Crops. The Centre assured that 50 per cent of the cost will be borne by the Government of India. However, in case of northeastern states, the Centre will bear 75 per cent of the cost.

About 7.92 crore farmers and their families have been benefitted under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme during the lockdown period from March 24 and Rs 15,841 crore has been released so far for that purpose, said the Centre on Thursday.

Advocating direct purchase, the government issued an advisory issued to states and UTs to facilitate Direct Marketing, "enabling direct purchase from the farmers/ FPOs/ Cooperatives etc. by Bulk Buyers/Big Retailers/Processors by limiting regulation under State APMC Act".

Several states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jharkhand have already initiated action on these lines.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has also been pressed into action which introduced 109 time-table parcel trains to supply essential commodities including perishable horticulture produce, seeds, milk and dairy products.

Approximately, 59 routes have been notified since the beginning of the lockdown on which 109 trains will ply for parcel purposes.

"With this, almost all the important cities of India will get connected for transportation of essential and perishable goods at a fast speed. It may be noted that these services are expected to be further scaled up," said a government statement.

Meanwhile, to make it more farmer- and trader-friendly, logistics module had already been added in the e-NAM App which is being used by them.

Tomar chaired this meeting on Wednesday afternoon through video conference amid rising concerns on India's growing need for foodgrains and essential services even as farmers are wary of their harvest. Many big farmers are finding it tough to get labour in this nationwide shutdown that is tipped to be extended further amid growing number of COVID-19 cases in India.
Britains travel industry is facing its greatest crisis in modern times. Well-run companies that have provided excellent value for years are suddenly finding that they have changed from organisations that put together good holidays into businesses that hand out refunds to disappointed travellers.

Travel has always been a cash-flow positive business. Holidaymakers typically pay months in advance for a product, and take delivery only when they turn up at the airport.

But right now no money is coming in, and the cash flow is all negative. The Foreign Office decision to warn against overseas travel indefinitely has only deepened the gloom.

Under the Package Travel Regulations, if you book a package holiday that is cancelled by the operator, you are entitled to a full cash refund within two weeks.

The problem is particularly acute for companies that have taken your money and passed a large part of it on to an airline or, less often, a hotel. The carriers, themselves strapped for cash, are in no hurry to return it.

Many travel companies are in an impossible position, unable to meet the legal deadline because they simply dont have the money.

Abta, the travel trade association, says: Many tour operators and travel agents are doing all they can to help customers but they simply dont have the cash to pay customers a cash refund in a 14 day period, as they have not yet received money back from hotels and airlines.

Forcing them to do so would put them out of business, which would mean customers would not recover their money (from Atol or other schemes) for many more months.

Abta says the UK travel industry employs more than 500,000 people directly and indirectly across the UK.

We will come out of the other side and we need to ensure that when we do, holidaymakers are still able to book and take their holidays and that there is a healthy and competitive travel industry to support them.

The changes we have asked for are reasonable, as has been shown by similar action being taken by governments in other countries.

What changes does Abta want?

According to Abta, holidaymakers should be prepared to accept, instead of cash, a new concept called a Refund Credit Note.

This is a voucher that can be used to book another holiday with the same company at a later date  or, crucially, redeemed for cash at a certain date. Abta says this should be 31 July 2020.

Like your original trip, it is protected by Atol (or, for non-air holidays, Abta), so long as it is drafted correctly.

Abta says: The Refund Credit Note must expressly identify the original booking reference and attach a copy of the cancelled booking confirmation/cancellation invoice and, where appropriate, Atol certificate.

If your original booking had that protection, so you would be reimbursed if the travel company failed financially, says Abta.

You can think of it as an IOU for a cash refund  one that, if you wish, you can spend on an alternative holiday rather than waiting for the due date to get your money back. It also has a fixed redemption date and and backed by the financial protection of your original holiday booking.

But when holiday companies have failed before, vouchers have proved worthless?

Previously that was the case, but Abta believes the legal structure of a Refund Credit Note protects the consumer.

All other vouchers  whether given as compensation for problems on previous holidays, or as gifts  have an inferior status and would lose most or all of their value were the firm to collapse. They are not, and have never been, covered by Atol or Abta.

What does the government say?

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the regulator that is part of the Department for Transport (DfT), administers the Atol scheme  which covers the vast majority of British travellers on package holidays.

When a tour operator goes bust, Atol refunds are made from the Air Travel Trust (ATT) fund, whose policy states: The ATT may make a payment to a consumer who was promised, but did not receive, a full or partial refund from the failed Atol holder.

So the Refund Credit Note is protected?

An Abta spokesperson assured me that holidaymakers money is protected, saying: The key issue here is that these are refunds due. This is why we have introduced Refund Credit Notes as evidence of the refund due.

The Refund Credit Note is not a thing in itself, it is evidence of the refund that is due.

Refunds due from a failed Atol holder are covered, which is why we have been very clear in our guidance to our members that they should issue refund credit notes linked to a specific Atol covered booking.

Is everyone in the travel industry in favour of the Refund Credit Note?

No. Some senior figures are dismayed that the consumer-rights goalposts could be moved. Kane Pirie, founder and managing director of Vivid Travel, and a former Abta board member, told me: Its a disgrace that parts of the industry are thinking now is the time to tell customers, No, I know youve got a legal entitlement to this money but Im not going to give it to you.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

I dont want the travel industry to be the next bankers after the bail-out, where people dont respect and trust us.

And David Speakman, founder of Travel Counsellors, said: The industry is now suffering from its own virus and its very survival and trustworthiness is at stake.

Do I have to take a Refund Credit Note if one is offered?

No. The Independent has seen countless examples of travel firms pretending that consumer protection rules have changed, and that Abtas recommendations on Refund Credit Notes have the force of law.

The situation is quite difficult enough without holiday companies misrepresenting their legal obligation to refund.

Anyone who does not want a Refund Credit Note should simply say to the travel firm that they want their money back in full and ask when they can expect it to be returned. Atol or Abta protection will remain in place.
Rawai resort owner charged for violating hotel closure order

PHUKET: A Rawai resort owner has been charged for accepting a new guest, in violation of the provincial order for all hotels to cease accepting new guests, and to close once the last guest has checked out.

COVID-19Coronavirustourism

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 9 April 2020, 05:24PM

A random check on the rsort was conducted on Tuesday (Apr 7). Photo: Chalong Police

The order was issued last week to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Government-owned hotels being used field hospitals or those providing accommodation for persons under observation or for other government-authorised purposes are exempt from the order.

Hotels that already have guests are allowed to remain open, but not allowed to accept any more guests. Once the last guest checks out, the hotel operator must close down immediately without accepting any further guests and inform officials. (See story here.)

Chalong Police, led by Capt Suchat Soonthornmatcha, together with Rawai Kamnan (Subdistrict Head) Charung Thaochan were conducting random checks on hotels in the area, and on Tuesday visited Vivi Bungalows Resort in Moo 2, Rawai

Thotsaphon Puengdon, 30, originally from Samut Prakan, presented himself as the person responsible for operating the resort.

While conducting their inspection, officers discovered that Ukrainian tourist Olena Chika, 29, was staying at the resort.

Ms Chika told police that she had been staying at the resort since last Sunday (Apr 5) and was to check out on Sunday (Apr 12). She paid B3,500 for the week.

Mr Thotsaphon admitted that he had accepted Ms Chika as a guest at the resort, despite the provincial order, and was taken to Chalong Police Station.

Chalong Police Chief Col Sarawut Chuprasit confirmed to The Phuket News that Mr Thotsaphon has been charged for violating Phuket Government order 1797/2563, the order for hotels to longer accept new guests.

Col Sarawut said that police have already filed the case to the Phuket Provincial Court for prosecution.

If found guilty, Mr Thotsaphon faces up to one year in prison or a fine of up to B100,000, or both, for breaching Section 52 of the Communicable Disease Act 2015. (See here.)

He also stands to be punished under Section 18 of the Emergency Decree, which carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to B40,000, or both. (See here.)

Meanwhile, Col Sarawut also confirmed, The tourist [Miss Chika] is still allowed to stay at the resort, as we prosecuted only the owner of the resort.

Earlier this week Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana announced that five hotels were exempt from the order so that any tourists stranded in Phuket due to the COVID-19 crisis may stay at fixed rates.

None of the five exempt hotels are available at rates as cheap as Ms Chika was offered for staying at the Vivi Bungalows Resort.
Islamic State group jihadists on Thursday killed at least 18 regime fighters in an attack in central Syria, a war monitor said.

Pro-government fighters backed by Russian air strikes were battling off the jihadists on the outskirts of the desert town of Al-Sukhna in Homs province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The air raids and clashes killed 11 IS fighters, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Russian aviation intervened to stop the jihadists from advancing and retaking the town, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian regime forces recaptured Al-Sukhna from IS in 2017.

Thursdays attack was the deadliest in the area since December, when IS fighters attacked an army garrison in a gas facility east of Homs city, killing four civilians and 13 troops or militiamen, Abdel Rahman said.

IS proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

After years of various offensives against it, US-backed forces finally expelled the jihadists from their last patch of territory in eastern Syria a year ago.

But IS fighters still retain a presence in the vast Badia desert stretching across the country through Homs province and eastwards to the Iraqi border, and continue to carry out deadly attacks.

Syrias war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
The ERA-EDTA has created a European database that collects granular individual data of dialysis patients and transplanted patients with COVID-19. "End stage renal disease patients are generally assumed to be at very high risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 complications. In triage processes, therefore, they are sometimes refused admission to intensive care units. However, there are conflicting data from individual clinicians that suggest that COVID-19 have limited symptomatology in patients on dialysis or with a kidney transplant. This is why we need to collect detailed data", explains ERA-EDTA Press Officer, Professor Ron Gansevoort. "Our hope is to gain insights into the patient and treatment characteristics that are related to outcome and to learn about modifiable risk factors, which would help to improve the prognosis of our patients."

So far, the database on COVID-19 disease progression in patients on renal replacement therapy is very limited. There are some singular case reports from China [1] and Italy [2], but prevalence and outcomes are highly heterogeneous. One center in Wuhan [1] reported that 37 out of 230 patients had been infected, six of whom died. This points to a mortality rate of 16%. In a center in Lombardy [2], 18 patients were infected, and only one was in critical condition. A first (unpublished) analysis performed ten days after the launch of a Spanish registry showed a mortality rate of 44% in hemodialysis patients, which would be an upsettingly high number. "But several biases might have interfered. First of all, the data might be highly selective after ten days in the midst of the crisis. Nephrologists are very busy these days, so many doctors might mainly have registered those patients who had died, but not the ones who had recovered or were still struggling with the disease. Furthermore, Spain has the highest transplantation level in Europe, which means that Spanish patients on dialysis are indeed particularly frail and old and cannot be compared to the dialysis population of other countries where organ transplantation rates are much lower", explains the expert.

"All in all, we know that our patients have a higher risk of getting a severe COVID-19 disease compared to the general public without comorbidity, but so far we cannot assess the risk exactly." The primary aim of this ERA-EDTA registry initiative is therefore to gather reliable data on the outcomes of patients on renal replacement who are coronavirus-positive.

In addition, the ERA-EDTA hopes to derive risk factors for worse outcomes. "It would be invaluable to know what exactly increases the risk facing our patients. Such knowledge could help us take steps to reduce that risk", says Gansevoort.

"This is why ERA-EDTA has launched this database, and we kindly call on nephrologists of all European countries to provide their patients' data. The more patients are registered, the better. It is of utmost importance that we gain insights into the factors that might be relevant for the outcomes of dialysis patients and kidney transplant patients", adds Professor Carmine Zoccali, President of the ERA-EDTA.

###

[1] Ma Y, Diao B, Lv X et al. 2019 novel coronavirus disease in hemodialysis (HD) patients: Report from one HD center in Wuhan, China. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.24.20027201

[2] Rombola G, Heidempergher M, Pedrini L et al. Practical indications for the prevention and management of SARS-CoV-2 in ambulatory dialysis patients: lessons from the first phase of the epidemics in Lombardy. Journal of Nephrology 2020;33: 193-196;doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40620-020-00727-y

About ERA-EDTA

With more than 7,000 active members, the ERA-EDTA is one of the biggest nephrology associations worldwide leading European nephrology and one of the most important European Medical Associations. It organizes annual congresses and other educational and scientific activities. ERA-EDTA also produces guidelines, collects data, and performs epidemiological studies through its Registry. The Society supports fellowships and educational/research projects through its committees and working groups. Its publications are NDT, CKJ (Open Access journal), and the online educational journal NDT-Educational. The 2020 Congress will be held on 6-9 June in Milan, Italy. Website http://www.era-edta.org
All over the world, companies are rapidly shifting their production lines and business models to address shortages of critical equipment needed to fight the spread of COVID-19. Just like small producers of outdoor furniture had no idea theyd be sewing face masks for healthcare workers, vacuum maker Dyson probably wouldnt have pegged ventilators for their next big project. Yet, at the request of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, company founder James Dyson has designed a new ventilator in just ten days, and his company will be making at least 15,000 of them in the coming weeks.

Dyson's New

The CoVent was designed for lifesaving use on COVID-19 patients. Like other ventilator designs, its made to push air and increased levels of oxygen into the lungs. One in five people infected with the disease becomes seriously ill and in need of hospital care, and five percent of patients develop critical respiratory distress requiring invasive breathing support. Tens of thousands of new ventilators are needed around the world as demand dramatically overwhelms supply.

Teaming up with The Technology Partnership, a medical devices company based in Cambridge, Dyson used its digital motor technology and air movement expertise to design the CoVent and manufacture it as rapidly as possible. The company, best known for its vacuums, hair dryers, and air purifiers, doesnt expect to make a profit from the venture.

This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently, and at volume, founder Sir James Dyson wrote in an email to his staff obtained by the Financial Times. It is designed to a dress the specific clinical needs of COVID-19 patients, and it is suited to a variety of clinical settings. The core challenge was how to design and deliver a new, sophisticated medical product in volume and in an extremely short space of time. The race is now on to get it into production.

Similarly, British vacuum manufacturer Gtech has also started making ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients.

The CoVent ventilators will be assembled at Dysons research center in Hullavington, Wiltshire, located on the site of a former Royal Air Force base, and will contain motors made in Singapore, where the company recently scrapped an electric car program. It meets clinician specifications for ventilator hardware and can be either bed-mounted or portable, with a battery power supply for flexible use during patient transport and in field hospitals.

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Since it only slightly modifies Dysons existing Digital Motor design, the fan units needed to produce it are available in very high volume. 10,000 units will go to the United Kingdom, and the other 5,000 will be donated to the international effort to fight the novel coronavirus.

In Britain alone, the National Health Service has access to just 8,175 ventilators at a time when a staggering 60,000 are needed. UK-based manufacturers dont typically produce this type of equipment, either, requiring producers of automotive, aerospace, and engineering products to think creatively. Other suppliers have submitted proof of concepts to the government as well, but the machines must pass regulatory tests before theyre used.

Gtech, another UK-based home appliance and vacuum manufacturer, will also be producing up to 30,000 ventilators in a two-week span using parts easily obtained from its own stock materials. The company plans to produce about 100 per day within a week, assuming it can source enough steel fabrication and CNC machining suppliers. Gtech will also be making its designs available for free to the public so other companies can quickly get on board and start using their own manufacturing capabilities to help.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for PMQ's in London, England, on March 25, 2020. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Boris Johnson Exits Intensive Care

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is out of intensive care, Downing Street said.

Johnson, 55, is being treated for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. He was taken to an intensive care unit on Monday before being moved out of the unit on Thursday.

The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery, Downing Street said in a statement.

Johnson, the top official in the United Kingdom, is perhaps the highest-profile active virus case in the world.

Diagnosed last month, Johnson was hospitalized this week after suffering persistent symptoms including high temperature and a cough.

COVID-19 manifests similarly to the flu but, according to early statistics, is deadlier in some groups of people, especially the elderly and infirm.

Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, Sir Patrick Vallance, arrive for a news conference on the CCP virus, in London, UK, March 3, 2020. (Frank Augstein/Pool via Reuters)

While Johnson was in an ICU for three days, he was never on a ventilator.

About 80 percent of patients who go on the breathing machines end up dying, according to data from New York hospitals.

Officials said earlier Thursday that Johnsons condition was improving.

Things are getting better for him, his culture minister, Oliver Dowden, said. Hes stable, improving, sat up, and engaged with medical staff.

He is still in intensive care but he continues to make positive steps forward and hes in good spirits, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added at a press conference.

Johnson was still in good spirits, according to Downing Street.

Johnson is being cared for at St. Thomas Hospital in London.
NACFF is proud of our fiduciary training programs which educate thousands of financial professionals each year on what it means to be true fiduciaries."

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded the National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries (NACFF) the prestigious Accredited Provider accreditation. IACET Accredited Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The accreditation period extends for five years, and includes all programs offered or created by NACFF during that time.

NACFF is proud of our fiduciary training programs which educate thousands of financial professionals each year on what it means to be true fiduciaries. Now more than ever, consumers are desperate to receive financial advice they can trust from advisors that always put their clients best interest first. Our programs teach financial professionals how to do just that, stated Rick McClanahan, Founder and CEO of NACFF. McClanahan added, Our accreditation with IACET is a demonstration of our commitment to quality adult education and high standards for all of our programs. We are very pleased to join such a prestigious organization as well as an elite group of organizations that offer excellent continuing education and training programs.

We are pleased to recognize the National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries as an Accredited Provider, stated Peter Finn, President of IACET and the Director of Learning and Development for the Society of Women Engineers in Chicago, IL. Finn added, NACFF joins nearly 500 organizations around the globe that have had their programs vetted by third-party experts in continuing education thereby ensuring the highest possible standards are met.

Featured course offering:



Becoming a Certified Financial Fiduciary

Delivery modality: Live and Online (self-paced, 8-weeks)

Accolade: Upon successful completion of the course and exam, candidates are awarded the esteemed Certified Financial Fiduciary designation

In order to achieve Accredited Provider accreditation, NACFF completed a rigorous application process, including a review by an IACET site visitor, and successfully demonstrated adherence to the ANSI/IACET 2018-1 Standard addressing the design, development, administration, and evaluation of its programs. NACFF has pledged its continued compliance with the Standard and is now authorized to use the IACET name and Accredited Provider logo on promotional course material. In addition, NACFF is now linked to the IACET web site and is recognized as offering the highest quality continuing education and training programs.

About NACFF: The National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries (NACFF) is a training organization dedicated to providing financial professionals with the information, tools, and resources needed to ensure compliance with todays fiduciary standards. Its Certified Financial Fiduciary designation is the only designation that focuses solely on holistic fiduciary practices. For more information about NACFF please visit https://nationalcffassociation.org. Or call 704-246-5752.

About IACET: The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) is a non-profit association dedicated to quality continuing education and training programs. IACET is the only standard-setting organization approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for continuing education and training. The ANSI/IACET Standard is the core of thousands of educational programs worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.iacet.org or reach out to info@iacet.org / 703-763-0705 ext. 107.

CONTACT: Jenny McClanahan

704-246-5752
T he Government today boosted its overdraft facility with the Bank of England in a grim reminder of the global financial crisis as it prepared to borrow hundreds of billions of pounds to fund its emergency coronavirus measures.

News of the plan came as it emerged that the UK economy was contracting in February, even before Covid-19 began to bite.

The Treasury and Bank of England announced a temporary extension of the so-called ways and means facility at the central bank, which provides short-term funding to the Treasury.

No figure was put on it, but it is thought to run to billions.

Demand for bailout schemes such as the funding of furloughed staffs wages is said to be way ahead of expectations and hundreds of thousands of small and large firms have sought to tap emergency loan funds.

Chancellor Rishi Sunaks plans could cost even more than the 350 billion originally estimated.

Use of the ways and means fund echoes 2008, when the facility lent the Treasury nearly 20 billion at its peak during the global financial crisis.

However, even those levels would be dwarfed by the amounts of money the Government is now raising in gilts to fund the coronavirus schemes.

In an effort to raise an emergency

45 billion this month, it has unusually started auctioning government bonds, known as gilts, twice a day, two times a week.

This weeks auctions went well, raising 6.1 billion on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

But with the Bank creating so much action in the markets, it wants to avoid the kind of seizures that happened three weeks ago when a dash for US dollars jammed up the markets.

The ways and means fund gives the Treasury an alternative source of funding, hopefully limiting the distortions caused by its massive supply of gilts.

It will outline how much it wants to raise this year in gilts on April 23.

Analysts have pencilled in 290 billion, compared with 130 billion last year and 156 billion forecast at the Budget before coronavirus hit.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.1% in February as the impact of the virus on Britains Asian trading partners hit.

Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said: These numbers are the lull before the storm. March, April and May will be terrible.
CAIRO  The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen announced Wednesday that its forces would begin a cease-fire starting Thursday, a step that could pave the way for the first direct peace talks between the two sides that have been at war for more than five years.

In a statement carried by Saudi Arabias official state news agency, a Saudi military spokesman, Col. Turki al-Malki, said that the ceasefire would last two weeks and that it comes in response to U.N. calls to halt hostilities amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said the ceasefire could be extended to pave the way for all the parties to discuss proposals, steps, and mechanisms for sustainable ceasefire in Yemen  for a comprehensive political solution in Yemen.

There was no immediate reaction from Houthi leaders or Yemens internationally recognized government to the coalitions statement.

Within hours of the announcement, residents in the contested Yemeni province Marib said a suspected Houthi missile struck a security building in the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility or reports of casualties. A Yemeni presiderntial adviser, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, blamed the Houthis, saying on Twitter that the attack shows the rebels are fueling war not peace.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for a cease-fire in all global conflicts on March 23 to tackle the virus and specifically called two days later for a cessation in Yemen, welcomed the announcement, saying: This can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He urged Yemens government, which is backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities in response to his March 25 plea and to engage with each other without preconditions in negotiations facilitated by the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths.

Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict, Guterres said in a statement.

Guterres said earlier this month that warring parties in 11 countries had responded positively to his appeal for a global cease-fire to tackle the virus. Guterres said then that the world faces a common enemy  COVID-19, which doesnt care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith.

Heavy fighting in Yemen between coalition-backed government forces and the Houthis killed more than 270 people the past 10 days, government officials and tribal leaders said Wednesday. The two sides are battling over for the key border province of Jawf and the oil-rich central province of Marib. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, while the tribal leaders did want to be quoted by name out of fear of reprisals.

The flare-up in fighting came at a time Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile targeted at their capital, Riyadh, late last month. The Houthis frequently launch missiles across Yemens border into Saudi Arabia, but its rare that they reach the capital.

The war has proved costly for Saudi Arabia and has damaged its image abroad. The calls for peace come amid a trying time. The country is engaged in an international price war over the cost of oil, having pushed its production higher to try to take back market share from Russia and the United States. International rights groups criticized Saudi Arabia over the conflict and the humanitarian toll. Saudi Arabia is also battling the coronavirus outbreak, with 2,932 confirmed cases and 41 deaths.

Iran, which backs the Houthis, is also facing challenges at home. As the worst-hit country in the Middle East, it has 67,286 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,993 deaths.

Al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, said the ceasefire was aimed at building confidence between the two warring parties and to support the United Nations-led initiative to end the war.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest nation, has been convulsed by civil war since 2014. That is when the Iranian-backed Houthis took control of the countrys north, including the capital of Sanaa. The Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the Houthis the following year, conducting relentless airstrikes and a blockade of Yemen.

Past attempts at ending the conflict have stalled. A 2018 peace agreement, brokered by the U.N. in Sweden, led to a rough road map to end righting in the key port city of Hodeida but brought little actual progress.

The talks proposed by Al-Malki would be the first face-to-face peace negotiations among the Saudis, Houthis and government since the war started. In addition to representatives from the two warring parties, al-Malki said a Saudi military team would also be present.

In the past, informal and secretive talks took place inside Saudi Arabia and Oman between the Houthis and Saudis. Both sides blamed the failure of the talks on manipulation by Saudi Arabia or Iran.

The conflict has killed over 100,000 people and created the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Authorities in Yemen have yet to announce a confirmed case of the coronavirus, but experts fear the virus could eventually prove deadly there after the years of devastation by the war.
Scott Morrison has used this annual Easter message to tell Australians to stay at home.

In a minute-long video clip filmed in Canberra, the Prime Minister said coronavirus means Easter will be 'different' this year.

'This Easter we are staying at home. Don't travel. Don't go away,' he said.

Mr Morrison, a Pentacostal Christian, said religious Australians could take comfort in knowing they helped save lives.

'We will live out our faith by doing the right thing,' he said.

He confirmed that immediate family members were allowed to meet - but said extended family gatherings were banned.

After Australia managed to 'flatten the curve', Mr Morrison said anyone who flouts social distancing rules risks causing the infection rate to increase once more.

'We cannot undo the tremendous progress we have made together in recent times,' he said.

Scott Morrison (pictured) has used this annual Easter message to tell Australians to stay at home

A police officer directs Australian passengers who disembarked a special international repatriation flight, from Samoa to Brisbane

The comments echoed his plea earlier in the week when he warned: 'Failure to stay at home this weekend would completely undo everything we have achieved so far together - and potentially worse.'

Australia's number of new daily cases spiked at 460 on 28 March and has been decreasing since. On 8 April there were 105 new cases.

Mr Morrison signed off on a positive note, telling Australians that spending time with close family was a chance to remember 'what's most important'.

On Easter Sunday a year ago, Scott Morrison did something he had long resisted - he invited media into his church to see him celebrate the Resurrection.

But only a couple of cameras were allowed.

Outside the Horizon Church in Sutherland Shire, the rest of the reporters travelling on the Liberal election trail watched as youth leaders decorated the nearby park and hid eggs for the annual hunt after the service.

The Prime Minster's Easter message in full Easter in Australia will be different this year, as it will be all around the world. It's still true that we'll be able to gather together in our immediate family, but there won't be the opportunity for that extended family gathering, special times I know, as well as going off to church and our religious services where we can remember the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The coronavirus means this Easter will be different and we will be staying at home. And it's important because we cannot undo the tremendous progress we have made together in recent times. So this Easter we are staying at home. Don't travel. Don't go away. For Christians, not being able to gather does not diminish the hope that we have through this important Easter period. This year, we will live out our faith by doing the right thing. That means staying at home, making sure we're checking on our neighbours and supporting our communities and families, our friends. That's what living our faith is all about. So as we go into this Easter long weekend, whatever your religious views might be, I do wish you a Happy Easter, Australia. I hope it is a time as you come together in your homes, together with your immediate family, that it will be a strong reminder about what's most important. Happy Easter, Australia. Advertisement

Later in the day, Morrison, his security team and the media pack pushed their way through crowds in the produce pavilion at the Sydney Easter Show, shaking hands, cheering on jumping dogs, and taking his daughters on a Sideshow Alley ride.

This year, the show has been cancelled. The ride operators are despairing over their expensive new equipment and the crowds that aren't allowed to gather to try it out.

Horizon's senior pastor Brad Bonhomme will still lead the Resurrection Sunday service but it will be streamed online.

Morrison has moved his family down to Canberra while he bases himself in the capital to guide the nation's response to the coronavirus crisis.

His daughters and wife Jenny have decorated the ageing prime ministerial residence for the holiday - an activity he advised the nation's parents coping without schools might be good to occupy their children for an hour or so.

Scott Morrison (right today at a press conference) has told Australians to stay at home this Easter to save lives

Australians have done a good job so far of dramatically changing their daily lives and heeding the message to stay at home, stop the spread and save lives.

But leaders and medical officials are desperately worried the habits of the Easter holiday will tempt people to break out of their self-imposed isolation and lead to a rise in new coronavirus cases.

'We are only days away from Easter, the time that should give us great hope,' Morrison said this week.

'The message is clear though. Stay home. Don't travel. Don't go away. We can't let up now.'
Joseph Ficalora has been the CEO of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) since 1993. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for New York Community Bancorp

How Does Joseph Ficalora's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that New York Community Bancorp, Inc. has a market cap of US$4.5b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of US$4.6m for the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.4m. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. When we examined a selection of companies with market caps ranging from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, we found the median CEO total compensation was US$5.6m.

Pay mix tells us a lot about how a company functions versus the wider industry, and it's no different in the case of New York Community Bancorp. Speaking on an industry level, we can see that nearly 58% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 42% is other remuneration. It's interesting to note that New York Community Bancorp allocates a smaller portion of compensation to salary in comparison to the broader industry.

So Joseph Ficalora receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at New York Community Bancorp, below.

Story continues

NYSE:NYCB CEO Compensation April 9th 2020

Is New York Community Bancorp, Inc. Growing?

Over the last three years New York Community Bancorp, Inc. has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 9.1% per year (measured with a line of best fit). It saw its revenue drop 6.3% over the last year.

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. This is compounded by the fact revenue is actually down on last year. It's hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.

Has New York Community Bancorp, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 15% over three years, some New York Community Bancorp, Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

Joseph Ficalora is paid around what is normal for the leaders of comparable size companies.

Returns have been disappointing and the company is not growing its earnings per share. Few would argue that it's wise for the company to pay any more, before returns improve. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've picked out 2 warning signs for New York Community Bancorp that investors should be aware of in a dynamic business environment.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The coronavirus pandemic is causing confusion for families of those who need to go to the hospital for care for suspected COVIS-19 infections.

At question is the difference between a living will and a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order.

Families are asking questions like this: My mom has a DNR. If shes diagnosed with COVID-19, will the hospital put her on a ventilator?

The answer is yes, if she needs one.

Heres what you need to know in the age of coronavirus to set your mind at ease.

WHAT IS A DNR?

A Do Not Resuscitate order, or DNR, is placed in a patients medical record to inform the doctor and medical staff that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should not be attempted if the patient stops breathing or suffers a cardiac event.

The order is based on the doctors medical opinion that resuscitation would be futile or result in harm or pain to the patient, said Eric Goldberg, member and co-chair of the Elder Law Practice at Mandelbaum Salsburg in Roseland.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

He said a DNR is written by a doctor, not by a patient  although it is sometimes written at a patients request.

Importantly, a DNR is specific about CPR. It does not state that the patient should not be treated, Goldberg said. In the case of COVID-19, `treatment includes the use of a ventilator, so its use is not affected by a DNR.

WHAT IS A LIVING WILL?

In New Jersey, a living will is one section of a document called an advanced directive.

An advanced directive has two sections.

The first includes whats called either a health care proxy or health care power of attorney, said Adam Sandler, an attorney with Einhorn Barbarito in Denville.

He said in this section, a person grants an agent  a person of his choosing  the power to make medical decisions on his behalf in the event that the individual is unable to do so for himself.

This section also authorizes the release of the persons medical information to the agent and instructs medical professionals to accept the decisions made by the agent.

The second section is the living will  the part thats causing confusion for some families.

This is an instructional directive that sets forth the individuals wishes as to medical care in the event of certain specified conditions, namely permanent unconsciousness, irreversible brain damage or an incurable condition which is terminal, Sandler said.

The individual specifies which life sustaining treatment they would want withheld or removed under those circumstances.

CLEARING UP THE CONFUSION

Goldberg shared the story of one of his clients families.

Janet, the daughter of one of our clients, called frantically  and with more than a hint of accusation  last week: `You had my dad sign a DNR. Now that he is en route to the hospital with the symptoms of COVID-19, how will I convince the doctors to allow him to use a ventilator? This is a mess, Goldberg said.

He explained to Janet that her father did not sign a DNR but instead has a living will that prevents the use of life sustaining measures only in an end-of-life scenario.

It is reversible while her father has the ability to make decisions, he said.

And, he said, neither a living will nor a DNR should prevent the patient from using a ventilator to treat the illness and make him breathe comfortably.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Sandler said his firm has seen an influx of clients, both new and existing, looking to prepare wills, health care directives and powers of attorney.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major contributing factor in individuals and couples addressing these needs, which they may have previously been putting off, he said. Moreover, the statewide `lockdown has resulted in people having some additional time on their hands and married couples being in the same place at the same time.

His firm has been conducting virtual client meetings through video and telephone conference.

The trickier aspect of this process is signing the documents, Sandler said. We have implemented drive-up executions at the office where clients remain in their cars and the execution ceremony is conducted on the phone while looking through the car window.

See how estate planning attorneys are doing business during the outbreak, and why you should have these estate planning documents, coronavirus pandemic or not.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
As financial pain from the coronavirus shutdown continues to spread, 6.6 million newly jobless Americans filed for unemployment last week, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

While unemployment claims for the week ended April 4 were slightly below the prior weeks shattering figure, they would have set a record at any other time. The report shows that wrenching economic contractions from the countrys response to the pandemic are continuing apace, in sync with stay-at-home orders and the closure of vast segments of commercial activity.

Its pretty grim, said Harry Holzer, professor of public policy at Georgetown University. Im guessing we may be pushing close to 15% unemployment (for April), which would be the biggest one-month spike ever.

The official figure for the week of March 28 was revised upward to 6.9 million, which meant the April 4 figure was a slight drop from that record number.

John Blanchard

Californias claims totaled 925,450 for the week of April 4, on top of more than 1 million in the week before that. But that understates the numbers, as it includes just processed claims, not all applications. Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that 2.4 million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance since March 12.

By early summer, about one third of the jobs in the country  up to 54 million positions  are likely to experience layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts or reduced hours, said Kweilin Ellingrud, a senior partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., which released a report tracking the near-term impact. McKinsey likewise predicts that about one third of jobs in California and the Bay Area will be impacted.

That does not portend a 33% unemployment rate, she said, however, since it is partially offset by about 2 million to 3 million new jobs being created at grocery stores, Amazon warehouses and delivery services.

The vast majority of those losing work are people on the lower economic rungs, with 86% earning less than $40,000 a year, Ellingrud said. Nearly half of the vulnerable jobs are in food service, accommodations, customer service.

Already, in the past three weeks, some 17 million people have filed initial claims for jobless benefits. In California, those who were able to file will start receiving an extra $600 a week on top of their regular benefit starting Sunday. That money is coming from the federal government under the Cares Act and will be added automatically to their payment. The extra payments will continue through July 31.

But that money will not immediately help people who could not get through on jammed state websites and phone lines to apply. And others, such as undocumented immigrants, are barred from seeking government help.

San Lorenzo residents Christian and Monze, for instance, both lost restaurant jobs in mid-March. As undocumented immigrants, they are barred from unemployment or other government benefits. They asked The Chronicle to withhold their last names over fear of immigration reprisals, and it agreed, in accordance with its policy on unnamed or partially named sources.

Now they are super stressed about supporting their two sons, ages 9 and 4. The little one was in preschool, but he got laid off, too, Christian joked. Their older son has online course work, and the couple are intent to make sure he keeps up with his fourth-grade classmates.

Ive been selling old car parts and whatever I dont need on eBay, Christian said. But a lot of people dont buy now because they dont want to waste money. Im using credit, but I dont have much credit left.

Theyve gotten some donated groceries from their employers and other local businesses. Christian might get a few hours of work a week helping with to-go orders at his former restaurant.

The couple live with Monzes sister, her husband and their child, paying $3,500 all together. Christians brother-in-law, who does construction, is the only one of the four adults still employed.

The household scraped together Aprils rent but paying for May seems daunting. They hope the landlord will understand since theyve always been on time during their three-year tenure. California this week said landlords cannot evict tenants unable to pay rent because of the pandemic. That order will last for 90 days after the current state of emergency is lifted.

We literally live day by day, Christian said. Were not able to do a lot of saving because its too crazy expensive here.

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Newsom said this week that California may create a stimulus package in May for undocumented people, who cannot access unemployment insurance, the one-time federal $1,200 payments or other government lifelines. The state has about 2 million undocumented residents, according to the California Latino Legislative Caucus, which is seeking a fund for cash payments to those immigrants until they can return to work.

Even if that fund gets created, Christian is worried about tapping it because of the Trump administrations public charge rule that penalizes immigrants who use public benefits.

Trump said if you ever have an opportunity to apply for a green card and you have on your record that you asked for help, it will automatically bar your application, he said. Nobody wants to mess with that.

Such fears are all too common, said Saru Jayaraman, cofounder and president of advocacy group One Fair Wage.

Its raised $8.5 million so far for the One Fair Wage Emergency Fund to give cash payments to restaurant workers, food couriers, ride-hail drivers and other service workers, targeting people who wont get stimulus money. Some 122,000 people have applied, including about 15,000 from California. It will give an initial $200 to $500 and a second round next month

Our industry is devastated, Jayaraman said. Some 7 million to 9.5 million restaurant workers have lost jobs nationwide, including 1.5 million in California, she said. Most are ineligible for unemployment, either because of immigration status, because they didnt work enough hours, have long enough tenure. In states that allow sub-minimum-wage pay when combined with tips, many might be below the required income threshold.

Public health concerns will dictate the pace of recovery, Holzer said.

If the shutdown goes on for months and months, I just dont think we can bounce back very quickly, Holzer said. Companies will have gone out of business, households will be cash-starved, a lot of retailers will have switched to online.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Kathleen Pender contributed to this report.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) - The lockdown in Luzon could have started earlier than mid-March.

If I had my way, I would have the lockdown earlier, on the time of Wuhan lockdown in retrospect, said COVID-19 national task force special adviser Dr. Anthony Leachon in a virtual presser on Thursday.

Leachon said that the government could have implemented the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon after Wuhan in China, where the new coronavirus originated, implemented a lockdown last January 23.

He noted that this would have prevented travellers from mainland China to go outside of their country.

My analysis is that if you lockdown Wuhan, the residents, millions of them, went to Shanghai and Beijing and you can take a plane and go to another country, said Leachon. If they locked themselves down, why would we open ourselves to them?

READ: China lifts 76-day lockdown on Wuhan as city reemerges from coronavirus crisis

Curve now flattening?

Leachon is optimistic that the country is slowing down its cases of COVID-19 transmission, yet he said it is still too early to confirm that.

He noted that more data is needed to support that but there is a backlog in data gathering.

Some of the results are not real time because of the limitation of the RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), and perhaps most of these results are backlog of the previous ones, he said.

The country has now 4,076 cases, 203 deaths, and 124 recoveries.

Further, Leachon said that the government must not be complacent as other Asian countries like Singapore and Japan are experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

You cant say that you are prepared because our borders are porous. Lets say, Singapore has one airport and in the Philippines we have many airports and thats dangerous for us, said Leachon.

Nonetheless, Leachon said that the government still made the right decision to implement a lockdown and extend it until April 30.

So it buys time for the government, rather than [announcing it after] two weeks and be complacent about it, they declared it early.
A suspect in a series of vehicle break-ins who fired on Colonial Heights police during a traffic stop early Thursday was found dead after an officer returned fire, authorities said.

Virginia State Police identified the man as Zyon Romeir Wyche, 19, of Hopewell. No officers were injured.

In a news release, Colonial Heights police Sgt. Renee Walters said officers responded about 2:30 a.m. to the 100 block of Clearfield Circle for a report of a person entering vehicles.

Responding officers located an unoccupied suspicious vehicle. As officers canvassed the area, a person got into the vehicle and attempted to leave the area, Walters said.

At that point, officers conducted a traffic stop in the 100 block of Dunlop Farms Boulevard. The driver, the lone occupant, got out, displayed a firearm and fired multiple rounds at the officers, Walters said.

A Colonial Heights officer returned fire, and the suspect fled on foot toward Greenmeadow Court, Walters said.

A short time later, a Prince George County police K-9 unit, which had been summoned to the scene, located the suspect dead behind a residence in the 300 block of Greenmeadow Court, Walters said
Coyne Public Relations has picked up Fairleigh Dickinson University as the largest private college in New Jersey seeks to bolster its brand awareness.

FDU has just wrapped up a record-breaking capital campaign.

Building on that momentum, Luke Schultheis, VP for enrollment, planning and effectiveness, said the school wants to promote its advancements and distinguish itself from its peers.

He expects the partnership with Coyne to result in prospective students, parents, teachers and guidance counselors "becoming even more familiar with FDUs ability to provide the personal educational experience of a small university with all the benefits of a large university.

Coyne's higher education practice has served Columbia Business School, Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business.
US media are skeptical about the effectiveness of the state of emergency that Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo declared on Tuesday. They questioned whether the timing was right and pointed out that there are no penalties for noncompliance.

CNN said, "Despite this long exposure to the virus, the country has been slow to take the kind of radical steps seen in many other parts of the world."

The US broadcaster quoted an expert as saying, "We might see the next New York City in Tokyo."

CBS News noted that most of the measures being taken by the Japanese government are "requests" for restraint. It said that "civil liberties protections in Japan don't allow authorities to issue jail terms or fines for non-compliance."

It added that "a heavy dose of peer pressure and the weight of the emergency declaration are being deployed instead as a cudgel."

The New York Times said, "For months, Japan has confounded the world by reporting a relatively low rate of coronavirus infections without imposing the kind of stringent measures used by other nations."

It noted that medical experts are wondering whether the declaration on Tuesday "has come just in time to avoid calamity," or whether it's "too little, too late."

French public radio broadcaster Radio France said that, like Sweden, Japan has adopted measures that don't hinder economic activities much. It said Japan has also relied on extremely strict hygiene practices.

But it said the spread of the coronavirus has become uncontrollable, especially in Tokyo. It also said that Abe was forced to declare a state of emergency by the media and experts.

The British newspaper The Guardian said Japan's government does not have the legal authority to enforce a France-style lockdown, with fines and other penalties.

It said Japanese officials are instead hoping that self-restraint and "threats to name and shame businesses that refuse to close will ensure compliance."

The paper added, "Japan's reluctance to introduce a more draconian lockdown stems in part from bitter memories of civil rights abuses during the days of militarism and the forced isolation of leprosy patients."
A Chinese city on the border with Russia has gone into a Wuhan-style lockdown amid fears of a new coronavirus outbreak after seeing a surge of 'imported cases'.

An emergency makeshift hospital is being built and expected to be ready on Saturday after six days of construction, according to the press.

The country has also closed all entry and exit points on its 2,670 mile border with Russia.

Forty new COVID-19 cases were recorded at the China-Russia border yesterday - the biggest jump so far- bringing the total of 'imported cases' to 127, according to health officials.

A makeshift hospital is urgently being built in Suifenhe and expected to be ready on Saturday

The Chinese port city of 70,000 people went on full lockdown at 6am local time Wednesday as the former epicentre Wuhan lifted its 76-day travel restrictions on the same day.,

Video shows hazmat-clad medical workers stand shoulder to shoulder with police officers as they guard the China-Russia border in Suifenhe.

The city of Suifenhe is one of three border towns in north-eastern China's Heilongjiang Province which are now barring entries after Chinese citizens fleeing home from the Russian Far East amid coronavirus pandemic.

Suifenhe Port, which borders Pogranichny in Russia's south-eastern Primorsky Krai, is closed to all foot and vehicle traffic, as are the larger border cities of Heihe and Fuyuan.

Strict measures similar to those implemented in Wuhan include closed management of all gated communities and a shutdown of all non-essential sectors.

Each household is allowed to send just one person to purchase necessities every three days, and the individual must register their name, wear a mask and subject themselves to temperature screenings, the local government announced.

The lockdown will continue until at least April 13.

A Chinese city on the border with Russia has gone into a Wuhan-style lockdown with no one allowed to enter amid fears of triggering a second wave of coronavirus outbreak after seeing a surge of 'imported cases' entering the border from Russian Far East

Video shows hazmat-clad medical workers stand shoulder to shoulder with police officers as they guard the China-Russia border in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang Province of north-eastern China

Suifenhe is also in the process of building a 600-bed field hospital, with the conversion of a 13-storey office block expected to be completed by April 11.

According to the Heilongjiang Health Commission, 40 new COVID-19 cases were recorded yesterday as Chinese nationals made a final dash across the border.

It brings the number of imported coronavirus cases to 127, with six people said to be in critical condition, but the figure does not include 154 imported asymptomatic patients, Chinese state media said.

All of the patients were Chinese nationals and most of them were small business owners working and living in Russia, Chinese media report.

Following a reported agreement with Moscow, China has now shut its 2,670-mile border with Russia, which includes land crossings in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, as well as the northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.

China has now shut its 2,670-mile border with Russia, which includes land crossings in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, as well as the northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia. Russian residents are seen arriving at the airport in Moscow on March 25

As concerns over the pandemic in Russia grew, some Chinese nationals flew across the entire country from Moscow to Vladivostok before boarding buses to cross back into China via Suifenhe. Medics are pictured at the Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow

It comes as the Inner Mongolian city of Manzhouli - the largest land border between the neighbours - closed at 8pm local time last night, reporting that it had stretched its quarantine and testing capacity 'beyond limit' as tens of thousands of Chinese flooded back in.

As concerns over the pandemic in Russia grew, some Chinese nationals flew across the entire country from Moscow to Vladivostok before boarding buses to cross back into China via Suifenhe, reports said.

More than 10,000 people have been infected with the killer bug in Russia and at least 76 people have died.

With borders now closed, Chinese ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui urged the roughly 160,000 Chinese nationals in Russia to remain in their homes in self-quarantine.

Mr Zhang said that repatriating such a large number of people in a short period of time was 'unrealistic'.

The Chinese consulate in Vladivostok, which is about 85 miles from Suihenfe, has warned citizens not to attempt a crossing at this time.

The major Russian port city is fining local residents up to 1million rouble (10,815) for flouting the current stay-at-home quarantine measures, the consulate said.

Passengers queue at Wuhan city's main rail station as the lockdown is lifted after 76 days

People passing through security at the railway station in Wuhan, a body temperature checking feature is also used

The news comes as Wuhan lifted travel restrictions on its residents yesterday following an end of the 76-day lockdown.

At 00.50am on Wednesday, trains carrying people out of the city began running, and major highways also began opening up in the city of 11 million.

But Chinese authorities are treading a very fine line between granting more freedom of movement to citizens and guarding against a second wave of infections.

Many fear that a recent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases may lead to a secondary outbreak - and another lengthy lockdown, reports say.
BOOK OF THE WEEK

NOTES FROM AN APOCALYPSE

by Mark OConnell (Granta 14.99, 272 pp)

Within the nuttier corners of the internet, not to mention the wild imaginations of the super-rich, the global spread of coronavirus might seem to vindicate long-held fears (or fantasies) about the end of the world as we know it  or TEOTWAWKI, as self-styled preppers call it online.

Alarmed by abnormally hot summers, and panicked by doomy news of Arctic wildfires, mass political unrest and the threat of nuclear war relentlessly pinging into his smartphone, Irish writer Mark OConnell found himself fascinated by this murky subculture readying for the end of days. Despite his scepticism, as a father of two he had begun to worry about his childrens future.

Irish author Mark OConnell, travels the world meeting people who are preparing the end of the earth in a new book. Pictured: A doomsday crier

Prepping, he finds, is mostly, but not exclusively, a white male American activity, a kind of dress-up frontier survivalism in which guys named Brandon or Kyle or Brent post YouTube videos about tooling up for post-apocalyptic life in the wild. Theyre equipped with knives, body armour and vast quantities of freeze-dried protein  given a poignant thumbs-up by one prepper for being especially handy whenever his wife isnt home to cook dinner.

OConnell spends more time than seems strictly healthy reading the preppers bible, How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, And Technologies For Uncertain Times. This was written by an army veteran seeking to form a colony ahead of the famine-fuelled savagery that he says will be the inevitable sequel to an asteroid strike or  yes  an outbreak of mass contagion.

For those with bigger budgets, prepping goes beyond a well-stocked rucksack under the bed. In South Dakota, OConnell meets Robert Vicino, a former advertising executive who reckons the U.S. government is behind a cover-up over the existence of a Jupiter-sized rogue planet that is about to crash into Earth.

Vicino, in his 60s, now works in the improbable sector of end-times real estate. He sells luxury 2,200 sq ft berths in underground bunkers, patrolled by guards ready to intercept anyone within a three-mile radius, to worried high net-worth individuals in need of a getaway. One development, a converted Cold War shelter in Indiana, has a DNA vault where residents can bank their genetic code in order to preserve the human race.

In Texas, OConnell reports, you can buy a $2 million condo off-plan which, in a biological emergency, would be automatically sealed by an airlock. It will also be connected by tunnels to an underground complex complete with polo field and driving range.

But if money is no object, why stay in your own country? OConnell visits New Zealand, where, before a recent government crackdown, the global elite were busy snapping up property, attracted by the island countrys beauty, political stability and likely insulation from global warmings worst impact.

Mark attends a meeting of the Mars Society in Los Angeles, where a group have received money from Elon Musk to run research outposts (file image)

U.S. venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, fast-tracked his way to citizenship so he could purchase a 477-acre former sheep station beside Lake Wanaka.

According to a business associate, hes ready to fly there on a private jet in the event of what less well-heeled YouTube preppers might call a SHTF situation (when the s*** hits the fan).

For the billionaire class, disasters are win-win. And offshore boltholes are barely the limit of their horizons  witness the eagerness of Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk to invest in privatised space travel.

In Los Angeles, OConnell attends a meeting of the Mars Society, a lobby group that has received money from Musk to run research outposts, including in the Arctic. Here would-be colonists stay a fortnight to prepare for life on a back-up planet without air and water.

OConnell hears a former Trump adviser compare the prospect of life on Mars to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and add: You wont have the government . . . saying you cant damage this or that endangered species. Not on Mars.

Mark is told by an experimental film maker in London, that humanity is 'a cancer' of which the world will cure itself (file image)

The lunacy of this goes without saying  even the most pessimistic doomsayers dont believe that Earth could ever be less hostile to life than Mars, a planet with essentially no atmosphere. What Mars really represents, OConnell suspects, is tax avoidance at its most extreme  a chance for Silicon Valley tycoons to stake out a final frontier where they alone make the laws. But its not only the disaster capitalists who relish the end of the world.

In the Scottish Highlands, OConnell hangs out with a group of hard-Left thinkers who decry environmentalism as little but a sticking plaster for a corrupt status quo.

If the world burns, they reckon a better one will rise from the ashes  call it disaster socialism.

On a retreat in their company, OConnell talks to a London-based experimental film-maker who calls humanity a cancer of which the world will cure itself.

They go their separate ways for a nature solo, camping alone for 24 hours in silent contemplation of the natural world as it might be after the apocalypse.

NOTES FROM AN APOCALYPSE by Mark OConnell (Granta 14.99, 272 pp)

This is interrupted by a Typhoon bomber screaming overhead en route to Syria  which brings home to OConnell the navel-gazing absurdity of contemplating doomsday when so many in the world are living through it already.

He sees the irony of fretting over the icecaps when he loves the first-world living afforded him by global capitalism, with flat whites on tap and sushi on his doorstep at the swipe of a smartphone.

It cant be overstated what witty, thoughtful company OConnell is when exploring these peculiarly 21st-century dilemmas.

At bedtime, he reads his two children The Lorax, Dr Seusss 1971 kids classic of ecological ruin caused by rampant consumerism. OConnell encourages his son to rethink if he really needs another Lego Minifigure. His son (clever boy) asks if daddy really needs to drink so much coffee.

What to do? OConnell has an ecologist friend who half-jokes that the cure for climate catastrophe lies in an imminent establishment of some kind of benevolent global dictatorship to limit carbon.

Its uncanny to read those words in these locked-down days, listening to birdsong, suddenly uninterrupted on the flight path where I live.
While the city hunkers down amid the coronavirus pandemic, the number of homicides continues to climb: Two more men were added to that roll Wednesday  one died in a hail of bullets, the other was stabbed multiple times.

The latest victim, a 32-year-old man whose named was not released, was stabbed an unknown number of times in the neck around 9:30 p.m. while on the 1000 block of Jackson Street in South Philadelphia, police said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. No arrests were made and no weapon was recovered, police said.

Nearly six hours earlier, around 3:45 p.m., a 38-year-old man died after being shot eight times while driving a car in North Philadelphia, police said. The man, who was identified Thursday as Raheem Stoner of Medary Avenue in East Germantown, was driving a gray Lincoln MKS on the 1500 block of North Marshall Street when he was struck in his upper torso, police said.

Medics took him to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 40 minutes later. Police said a weapon was recovered from the victims car, but no further information was available on whether it was the gun used in the shooting.

Also Wednesday, two men were injured in a double shooting about 4:20 p.m. on the 2000 block of Judson Street in North Philadelphia. A 41-year-old man was in critical condition at Temple University Hospital after being shot three times in his back and once in a leg, and suffering a graze wound to his head, police said. A 28-year-old man was in stable condition at Temple after being shot in a leg.

Then, about 6:20 p.m., a 28-year-old man was shot once in the head while on the 2900 block of Diamond Street in Strawberry Mansion. He was taken by police to Temple, where he was in critical condition. Police said they recovered a weapon from him.

Police also continued to investigate a fatal shooting from Tuesday night in which a 54-year-old man was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a red pickup truck in West Oak Lane. About 9:30 p.m., police responded to the 1800 block of 65th Avenue and found Lorenzo Duncan of Wylie Street in Francisville in the truck. He was taken to Einstein Medical Center, where he died.

Police were also investigating the shooting of a 19-year-old man who was critically wounded after being shot in the head and left eye, and was dropped off at Mercy Catholic Medical Center-Mercy Philadelphia in West Philadelphia about 12:40 a.m. Wednesday. The man was then taken by medics to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Police said it was unclear where the shooting happened.

Philadelphia has had 98 homicides as of Tuesday night, a 13% increase from the year before and the highest since 2007, when 104 homicides were reported for the same time period, according to police statistics. That does not include Wednesdays two homicides, which would push the count to 100.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Legendary TV and radio personality Leila Benitez-McCollum passed away Thursday morning (Manila time) due to complications from COVID-19 in New York City, a family member confirmed to CNN Philippines. She was 89.

"She died peacefully at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and didn't have to suffer like other COVID-19 patients," her niece Vivian Talambiras-Cruz of New Jersey said. "She was tested positive of the virus shortly after being moved to the hospital from a rehabilitation clinic."

Known as the first lady of Philippine television, Benitez-McCollum was a household name from the late 50s to the early 70s.

She hosted the show "Student Canteen," a trail-blazing talent show dedicated to the youth and which dominated the noontime ratings for 15 years. She co-hosted it with Eddie Ilarde and the late Pepe Pimentel and Bobby Ledesma.

Benitez-McCollum also hosted other shows like "Darigold Jamboree" and "The Leila Benitez Celebrity Hour," which featured Hollywood stars like Harry Belafonte, Neil Sedaka, and Ann-Margret.

She was in the United States when martial law was declared. With all her TV programs canceled, she decided to stay in the U.S. and anchored the Voice of America, a program under the U.S. Information Agency broadcast across the Asia Pacific Region.

Benitez-McCollum, who had a degree in psychology from Georgetown University, last visited the Philippines in 2003 when she was honored during the 50th anniversary of her home network, ABS-CBN.

Born in Quezon City, she left behind three sons  Gerry, Gil, and Martin  and four grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband of 38 years, Donald McCollum, founder of the first marketing and television research company in the U.S.
WASHINGTON - The largest Republican super PAC focused on House races has reserved $43 million in advertising this fall, sketching out the GOP's path for retaking the majority two years after a Democratic wave swept them from power.

The spending plan from the Congressional Leadership Fund targets about 30 Democratic incumbents in a cycle where they will need to flip 17 seats to win back the speaker's gavel. The group, which has close ties to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other Republican leaders, is also moving to protect as many as six vulnerable GOP members.

Among the group's most prominent targets are Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, a freshman in a Houston-area district where the super PAC is planning to spend $3.1 million, and Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., whose Upstate New York district is targeted for $2.2 million of fall spending.

The group is also making multimillion-dollar reservations in Philadelphia, where $6.5 million in spending could target Democratic Reps. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania and protect Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, as well as in Minneapolis, where $3.3 million could be spent against Minnesota Democratic Reps. Angie Craig, Collin Peterson and Dean Phillips.

In the Los Angeles market, $3 million is earmarked to target California Democrats Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter and Harley Rouda, and in Atlanta, $3.2 million is reserved to oust Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., and protect the seat being vacated by Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga.

"These reservations very much lay out the building blocks to winning back the majority," said Dan Conston, the Congressional Leadership Fund's president. "We're making big commitments in important, expensive districts and laying out a clear path that will position us to win back the majority."

The CLF's Democratic rival, House Majority PAC, on Monday announced $51 million in initial reservations - many of them in the same media markets as the GOP group. Both groups, as well as other outside groups planning spending in House and Senate races, seek to make early reservations in presidential battlegrounds and states with key Senate races where network advertising inventory is likely to be scarce this fall.

Conston said the size of the initial reservation relative to the Democratic group's should not be interpreted as a sign the GOP will ultimately be outspent. As with any political advertising reservation, early bookings are subject to expansion or cancellation.

"I would very much look at this as an initial reserve, and additional reserves are coming," Conston said.

The races targeted in the CLF's initial ad reservations include top targets where Republicans have recruited star candidates - such as the Houston race, where GOP strategists are bullish on former Army officer Wesley Hunt - and places where President Trump is expected to win handily - such as the Brindisi district, which Trump won by 15 points in 2016.

Other early reservations - like those in Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Detroit, where the GOP is hoping to unseat Democratic Reps. Haley Stevens and Elissa Slotkin - are driven by the market pressures in presidential battleground states.

Two major reservations straddle both categories: $3.9 million in combined Iowa spending targeting three seats current held by Democrats, and a $1.9 million reservation targeting freshman Rep. Jared Golden in Maine, where advertising inventory is already being gobbled up by a competitive Senate race.

Other million-dollar-plus reservations target Democratic Reps. TJ Cox of California; Joe Cunningham of South Carolina; Kendra Horn of Oklahoma; Elaine Luria of Virginia; Tom Malinowski of New Jersey; Max Rose of New York; Abigail Spanberger of Virginia; and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. Smaller, six-figure reservations are aimed at Reps. Susie Lee of Nevada and Ben McAdams of Utah.

Besides Republicans Fitzpatrick and Van Drew, the CLF is planning to spend six-figure sums to protect GOP Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Rodney Davis of Illinois, John Katko of New York and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

A big unknown for both parties now is exactly what messages they will be driving during all of this ad time in September and October with so much of the political landscape upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

So far this cycle, Republicans have stuck closely to painting Democrats as socialist extremists. But with Congress already having passed more than $2 trillion in federal rescue spending in recent weeks, and trillions more likely to come, that small-government message may no longer resonate.

Conston said it was "a little too early to tell" how Republican messaging might evolve, but he said the coronavirus response of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her Democratic majority could very well provide fodder for Republican candidates.

"I think that, in a time of real need, if we can put forward an argument that she's playing games, that may actually have some vitality," he said, adding, "I think we can make an argument that we're better economic stewards and more importantly, that they're bad economic stewards."

Announcing her group's reservations Monday, House Majority PAC Executive Director Abby Curran Horrell said in a statement that it was "more important than ever to keep the Democratic House Majority."

House Majority PAC is exceeding the Congressional Leadership Fund's reservations in key markets such as Minneapolis, Atlanta and Detroit, while also entering media markets where CLF is not currently reserving - such as San Antonio, where Democrats are eyeing Texas seats now held by GOP Reps. Will Hurd and Chip Roy, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where Democrats are hoping to protect Rep. Matthew Cartwright in a district Trump won in 2016.

"The 2020 election will be unlike any before it, presenting unique challenges and circumstances that make it even more important for our organization to take early steps that enable us to protect and expand the House Majority," Horrell said.
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US General Attorney Bill Barr has called China America's biggest threat and says the danger posed by the communist country is 'very serious' amid escalating tensions with Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview yesterday, amid rising anti-China rhetoric from the administration about Beijing's alleged 'cover-up' of its coronavirus infection rate, Barr was asked whether he considered Russia or China the biggest security risk to the upcoming presidential election.

'In my opinion, it's China', Barr told FoxNews. 'Not just to the election process, but, I think, across the board.'

'There's simply no comparison,' Barr added. 'China is a very serious threat to the United States - geopolitically, economically, militarily, and a threat to the integrity of our institutions, given their ability to influence things.'

He also said: The Chinese are engaged in a full-court blitzkrieg of stealing American technology, trying to influence our political system, trying to steal secrets at our research universities and so forth.'

The attorney general's comments come amid a growing international feud over the World Health Organisation's response to cornavirus and whether it was hoodwink by a Chinese cover-up of the extent of its cronavirus pandemic.

President Trump has called has called the WHO 'China-centric' and complained they 'missed the call' when it came to the coronavirus - and Peter Navarro added fuel to the fire Wednesday night when he slammed WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu as one of Chinas 'proxies'.

In an interview yesterday Bill Barr said that China, not Russia, was the biggest threat to the United States 'geopolitically, economically, militarily'

World Health Organization criticized for its response to the coronavirus crisis The World Health Organization has been criticized for putting the world at risk by credulously accepting China's information about the coronavirus pandemic despite widespread accusations of a cover-up. INITIAL RESPONSE TO OUTBREAK As concern about the crisis developing in Wuhan grew in December, the WHO parroted the Chinese government's line stating there was 'no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission'. The United Nations agency then took another week to correct that statement. EFFUSIVE PRAISE FOR CHINESE OFFICIALS The World Health Organisation and its leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus heaped praise on the Chinese repsonse to the virus even as it spread around the world. After a meeting in Beijing in January, Dr Tedros said: 'Its actions actually helped prevent the spread of coronavirus to other countries.' He said he was 'very impressed and encouraged by the president's detailed knowledge of the outbreak.' ACCEPTANCE OF CHINESE STATISTICS The WHO has also been criticized for not standing up to the disinformation coming from Beijing, which has been accused of downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak and misreporting its true death toll figures. In total China has only reported 3,200 coronavirus deaths, despite claims that the real figure is closer to 40,000 in Wuhan alone. ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM Dr Tedros has at times called out other countries for their handling of the crisis. In particular he lamented the 'level of stigma we are observing' in reference to the language used by President Trump to describe it as the 'China virus'. CRITICISM OF TRUMP'S TRAVEL BAN On January 31, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the outbreak. But on February 3, WHO said such bans on travel and trade were not needed. As the contagion began to spread outside of Wuhan where it originated, the WHO reassured the world that the virus was a regional problem. Most countries have since adopted the same stringent 'stay at home' rules and others have imposed lockdowns restricting citizens' movements. REFUSAL TO DECLARE A GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY In late January, when the virus had already spread to several countries, a WHO emergency committee debated whether to declare COVID-19 a 'public health emergency of international concern'. However Dr Tedros declined amid Beijing's objections and instead traveled to China, before finally making the declaration a week later on January 30. At the time he said: 'The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken. 'I left in absolutely no doubt about China's commitment to transparency.' Also in late January, Tedros complimented China's President Xi Jinping for the country's handling of the virus, as the Chinese leader centralized the response after local officials in Wuhan couldn't keep the outbreak under control. Advertisement

Tedros was called a 'proxy' of China by Navarro in an interview with Fox's.

'The U.N. itself has 15 specialized agencies, including the WHO,' Navarro said to host Martha MacCallum.

'What China has been doing very aggressively over the last decade is to try to gain control of those by electing people to the top. It already controls five of the 15, also, by using proxies, colonial-like proxies, like Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus] at the WHO.

'As you can see in this crisis, the damage [done by] that kind of control by China [of] the key health organization has been absolutely enormous. They suppressed the human to human transmission [data], they refused to call it a pandemic,' he added.

Trump's main beef with the United Nations health group is that their directors said it wasn't necessary to ban travelers coming from China when the coronavirus started spreading beyond Wuhan, where it originated.

The president bragged that his early ban of some travelers from China kept it from being a greater threat to the US.

Trump has followed the lead of prominent conservatives in complaining that the WHO has been too friendly to China during the coronavirus crisis.

He wrote on Twitter: 'The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.'

Vice President Mike Pence also weighed in on Hannity last night, warning that the administration will be asking 'tough questions' of the WHO in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said: 'This is a president who believes in accountability, and the American taxpayers provide tens of millions of dollars to the World Health Organization,' Pence said. 'And as the president said yesterday, I suspect we will continue to do that, but that doesn't mean that at the right time in the future we aren't going to ask the tough questions about how the World Health Organization could have been so wrong.'

'Literally at the time President Trump stood up the coronavirus task force in January and suspended all travel from China, just days before that, the World Health Organization was continuing to diminish the threat of the coronavirus and its impact in China,' the vice president said. 'We'll get to the answers of that and we'll create accountability, just like the American people would want us to do.'

The World Health Organization has been criticized for not pushing China to clarify its response and question its numbers on the disease. There is skepticism about the numbers Beijing is reporting.

During a press conference earlier this week, the president was asked why he thought the WHO was 'China centric'.

Trump responded: 'I don't know, they seem to come down on the side of China.'

'Don't close your borders to China, don't do this, they don't report what's really going on, they didn't see it and yet they were there. They didn't see what was going on in Wuhan...they must have seen it, but they didn't report it,' he said.

On January 31, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the outbreak.

Trump was following the lead of American conservatives including Florida Sen. Rick Scott who placed blame on WHO for 'helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic.'

Other GOP lawmakers have floated a theory that WHO is under China's spell.

Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus should resign because 'he allowed Beijing to use the WHO to mislead the global community.'

As did Sen. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican.

'They need to come clean and another piece of this is, the WHO has to stop covering for them,' she said of China. 'I think Dr. Tedros needs to step down,' McSally said on Fox Business Network.

'We need to take some actions to address this issue. It's just irresponsible, it's unconscionable what they have done here while we have people dying across the globe,' McSally added.

Scott, the Florida senator, said the Senate Homeland Security Committee needed to launch an investigation into WHO's handling of the virus.

In late January, Tedros complimented China's President Xi Jinping for the country's handling of the virus, as the Chinese leader centralized the response after local officials in Wuhan couldn't keep the outbreak under control.

But Xi also controlled the flow of information, with reports coming out of China that the country had been trying to silence whistleblowers.

At the same time, Democratic governors, lawmakers and pundits have condemned Trump's response in combatting the virus, suggesting he did too little, too late.

Yesterday, Tedros warned the president to stop politicizing the coronavirus crisis 'if you don't want many more body bags.'

'At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people, please do not politicize this virus,' WHO Director-General Tedros said in a virtual press briefing.

'If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.'

Trump fired back.

'So when he say's politicizing he's politicizing, and he shouldn't be,' the president said at his daily briefing when he was asked about Tedros' comment.

'I can't believe he's talking about politics when look at the relationship they have to China,' Trump said and repeated his charge the agency favored China above other countries.

Tedros, at his briefing, made an appeal for global unit and said all leaders of all political parties should focus on saving their people.

'Unity is the only option to defeat this virus,' he said.

'Without unity, we assure you even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble and more crisis. That's our message. Unity at the national level,' he said. 'No need to use COVID to score political points. No need. You have many other ways to prove yourselves.'

Trump has also threatened to cut off the WHO's supply of money from the United States this week. He said: 'We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it. And we're going to see.

'It's a great thing when it works but when they call every shot wrong that's not good. They are always on the side of China.'

When the president was asked if it was a smart move to cut off funds to the major global health organization during a worldwide pandemic he backed away from his previous threat.

'I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but I'm going to look at it,' Trump pledged.

The president was also asked why he thought the WHO was 'China centric'.

Trump responded: 'I don't know, they seem to come down on the side of China.'

'Don't close your borders to China, don't do this, they don't report what's really going on, they didn't see it and yet they were there. They didn't see what was going on in Wuhan...they must have seen it, but they didn't report it,' he said.

On January 31, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the outbreak.

But WHO said such bans were not needed, noting that 'travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are usually not effective in preventing the importation' of coronavirus cases, but may instead 'have a significant economic and social impact.'

And the group noted that 'restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions.'

'Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on,' Trump tweeted Tuesday.

'Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?' the president asked.

WHO is also still not recommending that every person wears a mask, while the Centers of Disease Control made the voluntary recommendation last week.

In late January, Tedros complimented China's President Xi Jinping for the country's handling of the virus, as the Chinese leader centralized the response after local officials in Wuhan couldn't keep the outbreak under control.

But Xi also controlled the flow of information, with reports coming out of China that the country had been trying to silence whistleblowers.

President Trump attacked the World Health Organization on Tuesday, calling it too 'China centric' and suggesting that it was hiding information about the coronavirus from the rest of the world

President Trump also accused World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of playing politics with his criticism of Trump

Trump suggested he might cut the US's funding that goes toward WHO, calling the United Nations agency 'very China centric'

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How the man running World Health Organisation trashed by Trump as China-centric is a career politician who worked for a Communist junta and became WHO's first NON-doctor Director-General 'following intense lobbying from Beijing'

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a little-known figure before the coronavirus pandemic, has risen to prominence as Director-General of the World Health Organisation which is spearheading global responses to the virus.

Dr Tedros - who has never practised as a medical doctor - is a career politician who was born in what is now Eritrea, began work under the Communist Derg junta, came to study in the UK, then rose to the top of Ethiopia's government first as Health Minister and then Foreign Minister before being elected to lead the WHO in 2017.

He is now facing heavy criticism over his handling of the pandemic, especially for praise he heaped on China's communist party for its response - hailing the regime's 'commitment to transparency' and saying the speed with which it detected the virus was 'beyond words'.

That has led to allegations - mostly recently made by Donald Trump - that the WHO is 'China-centric', a position that the US President has promised to 'look into'.

Trump has threatened to suspend US funding to the WHO until an investigation has been carried out, while suggesting that they withheld information on the virus.

Indeed, it is not the first time that Dr Tedros has been accused of cosying up to China. Shortly after his election victory in 2017, it was alleged that Chinese diplomats had been heavily involved in lobbying for him.

UN records also show that Chinese contributions to both Ethiopia's aid budget and the WHO have substantially increased during times when he was in top leadership positions.

The WHO and its Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus (left, pictured meeting with Xi Jinping in January) has faced accusations that the organisation is 'China-centric' and has been too quick to praise the regime's coronavirus response

Dr Tedros (left) became the first African head of the WHO and the first non-medical doctor to hold the role when he was elected in 2017, amid allegations of heavy lobbying by China (pictured, Dr Tedros in Beijing shortly after his election)

Shortly after his election to the WHO, a report in The Times said: 'Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijings financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries.'

Dr Tedros - who is married and has five children - was born in 1965 in Asmara, which was part of Ethiopia at the time but is now in Eritrea.

As a child he saw his younger brother die to an infection, which he believes was measles, which he later said spurred his determination to work on health and health policy.

He graduated from university in Ethiopia in 1986 with a degree in biology and went to work as a health official in the regime of Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, while the country was ruled by the Derg military junta.

According to the BBC, Dr Tedros then joined the hard-left TPLF - which started life as a Communist party and played a major role in overthrowing Mariam in 1991. It later became part of the EPRDF, a coalition of left-wing parties that ruled Ethiopia until last year.

Around the same time as Mariam's ouster, Dr Tedros left Ethiopia and came to the UK where he studied at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, graduating with Masters of Science in Immunology of Infectious Diseases in 1992.

He then went on to study at the University of Nottingham, where he received a PhD in community health in 2000.

After this, he returned to Ethiopia where he joined the health ministry and rose through the ranks from regional health minister all the way to national Minister for Heath - a position he took up in 2005.

During his tenure, which lasted until 2012, he was widely praised for opening thousands of health centres, employing tens of thousands of medics, bringing down rates of HIV/AIDS, measles and malaria, as well as bringing information technology and the internet into the heath system.

Before ascending to the top ranks of the WHO, Dr Tedros studied in the UK and served Ethiopia's ruling left-wing coalition as health minister and then as foreign minister (pictured in the role in 2015)

Dr Tedros was the first WHO head elected by member states, winning the ballot by a reported 133 votes to 50, with the near-unanimous backing of African states

In November 2012 he was promoted to Foreign Minister, and was widely hailed for helping to negotiate a boost in UN funding for Ethiopia, including as part of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Indeed, UN funding records show that around this time the country received millions in additional funding - including from China, which had previously given little or nothing to support the country.

In 2015 and 2016 China gave some $16million to Ethiopia in spending commitments and cash contributions, largely in support of food or refugee programmes.

In 2011, just before Dr Tedros took up the role, and in 2017, just after he left, China handed over another $44million in commitments and contributions.

Its total contributions outside of this period, dating back to the year 2000, were just $345,000.

In 2017, Dr Tedros left the Ethiopian government and entered the running for Director-General of the WHO as the tenure of Dr Margaret Chan, a Canadian-Chinese physician, was coming to an end.

The election was the first to take place under a system of polling all UN member states as part of a secret ballot. Previously, leaders were chosen by a closed-door vote of an executive committee.

Eventually the field was boiled down to two candidates - Dr Tedros and Briton Dr David Nabarro, a life-long physician who had helped lead UN responses to previous outbreaks including bird flu, the cholera outbreak in Haiti, and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Dr Tedros won the ballot by a reported 133 votes to 50, becoming the first African leader of the WHO and the first non-medic to hold the role. His victory came in part thanks to 50 out of 54 African states voting for him.

However, he quickly mired himself in controversy by recommending African dictator Robert Mugabe as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, amid allegations he trying to repay favours granted during the election.

Dr Tedros quickly embroiled himself in controversy at the WHO by trying to appoint African dictator Robert Mugabe (pictured at a conference together in 2017, the year of the appointment) but eventually bowed to pressure and dropped it

There were reports that the move was also intended to reward China, a long-time supporter of Mugabe, for using its influence to have him elected.

The Times added: 'China has praised the authoritarian development model of Ethiopias regime, which rules under emergency powers and has put down pro-democracy protests.'

During the 2017 election itself, several groups within Ethiopia opposed Dr Tedros's appointment due to his links with the TPLF and allegations that they stifled journalists and repressed minorities.

Dr Tedros was also accused of covering up three separate cholera outbreaks in 2006, 2008 and 2011 by mis-reporting it as 'watery diarrhea', allegations he dismissed as a 'smear campaign' by his British rival.

Following his election to the WHO, Dr Tedros vowed to reform the organisation by placing an emphasis on universal healthcare at its centre while also increasing funding.

Further UN funding records show that, during his tenure, assessed contributions to the WHO by China have also risen significantly - from roughly $23million in 2016 to $38million in 2019.

China has also committed to a further $57million in funding in 2020, though has yet to pay the balance.

Meanwhile funding from other major world economies - including the US, Russia, Japan and Germany - has remained largely flat or even fallen over the same period.

Assessed contributions make up only around a quarter of the WHO's budget, the rest of which comes from donations.

Dr Tedros (pictured with his family) was widely praised during his tenure as Ethiopia's health minister for helping to lower rates of measles, malaria, and HIV/AIDS as well as building thousands of health centres and hiring thousands of medics

MailOnline has contacted the WHO for comment, but had not heard back at the time of publication. This site also reached out to the University of London and University of Nottingham to check biographical infomation on Dr Tedros, but had also not received a response.

Recent criticism of the WHO and Dr Tedros specifically stems from its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and in particular its perceived closeness to authorities in Beijing.

Dr Tedros visited Beijing himself back in January and spoke with President Xi about the country's response, returning to give a speech that praised the regime's transparency, the speed of its response, and credited it with saving lives both at home and overseas.

That is despite the fact that medics from Taiwan - which are not represented at the WHO since China claims it as part of its country - claimed to have raised concerns about the response as far back as December 2019.

Medics told the Financial Times that they had anecdotal evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, something China was denying at the time and a key factor in turning the disease into a global pandemic.

They claim this was reported to the WHO on December 31, but not shared with other countries. China itself did not report human-to-human transmission until almost a month later - January 20 - by which time the disease had began spreading throughout the country and across the world.

A petition calling for Dr Tedros's resignation which began in Taiwan has now topped 750,000 signatures.

The WHO Director is known for his hands-on approach, often personally visiting countries affected by disease outbreaks - including the Democratic Republic of Congo which was hit by Ebola in 2018 (pictured)

China has also faced allegations it attempted to silence medics - including the now-deceased Dr Li Wenliang - who first reported on the disease, and covered up early cases.

At his Tuesday evening coronavirus briefing, Donald Trump took aim at the WHO, saying the US would consider suspending funding to the organisation until an investigation is carried out.

'They called it wrong, they missed the call,' he said, adding: 'They should have known and they probably did know,' suggesting the WHO was withholding information about the coronavirus.

'The WHO, that's the World Health Organization, receives vast amounts of money from the United States and we pay for a majority, the biggest portion of their money, and they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it,' Trump said near the top of the briefing.

'And they were wrong. They've been wrong about a lot of things.

'And they had a lot of information early and they didn't want to - they seemed to be very China centric,' he said.

Today Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, defended the organization.

He said: 'We are now in an acute phase of the pandemic - now is not the time to cut back on funding.'

He also said his administration would look into whether the US would withdraw its $513m funding.

Coronavirus has now infected at least 1.4million worldwide and killed more than 80,000 - though these figures are widely believed to be under-estimates.

The coronavirus facts China wants the world to forget: Beijing releases a COVID-19 timeline - but fails to include whistle-blowers, Huanan food market and 'the order to destroy all samples'

China's official news agency has released a coronavirus timeline to hit back at accusations that Beijing tried to cover up the full scale of the outbreak.

State-run Xinhua said that the timeline, published on Monday, proved how the country 'has shared information and advanced international cooperation' in the fight against the killer bug.

The 37-page document included - as described by Xinhua - the 'main facts and measures China has taken' to contain the epidemic. In particular, it hailed the role of President Xi Jinping and other Communist leaders.

However, the mammoth report has left out some of the most crucial events of the health crisis, each of which has played a decisive role in the development of the global emergency.

Here, MailOnline has listed these findings alongside relevant information in previous reports and the Xinhua timeline.

1. The whistleblowers

Dr Li Wenliang, 34, died of the coronavirus in February after being punished for sounding the alarm over the outbreak. The police accused Dr Li and other medics of spreading fake news

Probably one of the most notable stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic, eight Wuhan medical workers who sounded the alarm on the virus at the end of December were accused of spreading fake news and reprimanded by police.

The most famous of them was late doctor Li Wenliang, who died of the coronavirus on February 7 after contracting it on the front line.

As early as December 30, the 34-year-old posted messages to a social media chatting group used by local medics, warning them of 'SARS at a Wuhan seafood market'. His alert came over three weeks before Wuhan went into lockdown.

A statement from Wuhan police on January 1 condemned Dr Li and the others of spreading 'inauthentic' information without proof. Officers said their acts had brought bad impact on society, and they would be 'dealt with' by law, according to a previous report by Xinhua.

This photo taken on April 1 shows medical workers disinfecting a stretcher in Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan. Li Wenliang was a doctor at the hospital before losing his life to COVID-19

These events were not mentioned in the Xinhua timeline.

However, the report did reference Dr Li in a listing under March 19.

It said: 'An inspection team of the National Supervisory Commission released the report of an investigation into issues related to doctor Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist with the Central Hospital of Wuhan.

'Following the report, Wuhan Public Security Bureau decided to revoke the previous reprimand letter and apologized to Li's family over the mistake.'

It did not explain the 'issues related to doctor Li'.

Beijing named Dr Li 'a martyr' this month and mourned for him on the National Day of Mourning for COVID-19 victims.

Although Dr Li was the most famous coronavirus whistleblower, he had been tipped off by a colleague, ER doctor Ai Fen. Read our report about Dr Ai here.

2. The Huanan seafood market

An investigation carried out by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the virus had been passed onto humans by wild animals sold as food at the market, Xinhua reported on January 26. But its timeline did not mention the market (pictured on March 30)

Since the beginning of the outbreak, researchers and authorities have linked the virus to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, a once-popular wet market in the city of 11 million.

Curiously, it did not appear in the timeline.

One of the earliest connections between COVID-19 and Huanan can be traced back to a statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

It claimed that 27 cases had been identified in the market as of December 31 and the city's officials had started to study its association with Huanan.

Some other reports, however, suggested that the very first patient had no connection with the market.

The market was closed on January 1 in relation to the 'pneumonia epidemic' by the local market watchdog, according to a report by state-run China News citing Wuhan Evening News.

Geng Shuang, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on March 17 accused 'certain American politicians' of promoting stigmatisation by connecting the novel coronavirus with China. China has been distancing Wuhan's Huanan market from its coronavirus narrative

An investigation carried out by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the virus had been passed onto humans by wild animals sold as food at the market, Xinhua reported on January 26.

The Xinhua timeline did not refer to the Huanan market or its connection to the pandemic.

In a listing under January 26, it cited Ma Xiaowei, the head of the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC), who claimed that 'the source of infection is yet to be found and studies are still needed to understand its pathogenicity'.

In another listing under March 6, it quoted a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs who said: 'Though the first case of COVID-19 was detected in China, it does not necessarily mean that it originated from China. We should jointly oppose "information virus" and "political virus".'

Although it remains unclear why the market was omitted from the timeline, Beijing has been rejecting the widely held assessment that Wuhan is the birthplace of the global outbreak after cases started to drop there but soar in Europe.

Geng Shuang, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on March 17 accused 'certain American politicians' of promoting stigmatisation by connecting the novel coronavirus with China.

3. 'Gag order'

On January 1, officials from the Hubei Health Commission ordered gene-sequencing labs to stop testing and destroy all samples of the coronavirus, according to a report from Caixin. This photo taken on February 6 shows a laboratory technician working on samples in Wuhan

A high-profile investigative report has accused Chinese officials of ordering labs to stop testing and destroy all samples of the coronavirus in the very early stages of the outbreak.

On January 1, officials from the Hubei Health Commission slapped the gag order on some gene-sequencing companies which had identified a new strain of SARS-like coronavirus as early as December 27, said the report.

The date was more than a week before the first patient in Wuhan, a 61-year-old man, died of the virus on January 9.

The Caixin report claimed that some labs in China identified a new stran of SARS-like coronavirus as early as December 27 after studying samples from patients in Wuhan. Pictured, an illustration of the virus released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The revelation was made by one of the most referenced investigative reports about China's coronavirus outbreak, published by pioneering Beijing-based media group Caixin on February 26.

It was shared tens of thousands, if not millions, times on Chinese social media platform WeChat, before disappearing.

An English version of the article still lives on Caixin's website.

Xinhua's timeline did not mention any lab-testing efforts in December.

It said that on January 2, the CDC and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) 'received the first batch of samples of four patients from Hubei Province and began pathogen identification'.

It added that three other institutions began to carry out parallel laboratory testing on January 3.

A team of officially appointed experts said on January 9 that a new type of coronavirus was initially identified as the cause of the viral pneumonia in Wuhan, according to the timeline as well as a previous Xinhua report.

4. When did Xi know

China's President Xi revealed in a speech on February 3 that he first gave instructions on the coronavirus on January 7. A transcript of the speech was published by state media outlet Qiushi on February 15. The picture shows Xi giving a speech at a Wuhan hospital on March 10

It remains a mystery when China's President Xi first learned about the outbreak.

The timeline, as well as many state media reports, claimed that Xi 'made instructions on epidemic response when presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee' on January 7.

However, an investigation into public government documents and official reports reveals that his speech was not mentioned in any reports until February 15 - which was rare for Chinese propaganda, especially those about Xi.

Xinhua first reported Xi giving instructions on the coronavirus on January 20. Pictured, patients wait for medical attention at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on January 25

Qiushi, a political theory periodical run by the Communist Party, published the transcript of a speech by Xi on February 3.

Xi addressed officials: 'On January 7, I raised demands over the control and prevention of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic while hosting the politburo standing committee of the Communist Party of China.'

This article, mentioned in the timeline, became the source of many reports, which claimed that Xi took the helm of the coronavirus task forces on January 7.

A report by Xinhua on January 7 about the political meeting was titled 'Xi Jinping hosted a CCP leadership meeting' and did not refer to the viral pneumonia in Wuhan.

Radio Francia Internacional branded January 7 as a 'mysterious point in time' for Xi.

A commentary on March 3 said that it was 'very interesting' for a Chinese leader his calibre to have to point out a time reference about himself, especially considering China's 'powerful propaganda machine'.

Xinhua first reported Xi giving instructions on the coronavirus outbreak on January 20.

5. The mysterious 'zero case' days

A picture released by Hubei's Chutian Urban Daily shows residents at Wuhan's Baibuting community gathering for a huge banquet on January 18. The event reportedly invited more than 40,000 families to welcome the Lunar New Year days before the city went into lockdown

Wuhan reported no new cases between January 6 and 17 when the city was holding a series of important political meetings, known as the 'two sessions'.

Nearly 700 officials, lawmakers and government representatives attended the conferences.

By January 5, the city's health commission had recorded 59 cases and no deaths.

The 12 days would have been critical in preventing the virus from spreading, but officials either reported zero new cases or did not release a daily update.

'Like this, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, missed the key 12 days to block a malignant epidemic disease from spreading further,' criticised Shanghai-based news outlet Yicai in an article from February 1.

Wuhan reported no new cases between January 6 and 17 when the city was holding a series of important political meetings, known as the 'two sessions'. This March 18 photo shows people lining up to pick up pork which was delivered to their quarantined compound in Wuhan

The Xinhua timeline listed 25 entries under the 12 days to give details about a variety of official actions, including the isolation of the first novel coronavirus strain, the development of testing kits and a statement from the World Health Organization on the outbreak.

It did not mention any new cases in the period.

Furthermore, officials of a Wuhan community organised a huge banquet on January 18, inviting more than 40,000 families to welcome the Lunar New Year, reported Caixin, citing local Chutian Urban Daily.

The banquet sparked fears of an impending outbreak among Wuhan residents, who rushed to buy face masks, Caixin added.

The timeline did not mention the banquet.

On the day, Wuhan reported four new cases. A statement said the city had registered 45 cases and two deaths by then.

6. Wuhan mayor admitted slow reactions

Zhou Xianwang, the mayor of Wuhan, confessed that his team had not released information about the situation 'in time' during an interview with state broadcaster CCTV in January

One of the most influential interviews in the early days of the outbreak came from Zhou Xianwang, the mayor of Wuhan.

Mr Zhou confessed that his team had not released information about the situation 'in time' to state broadcaster CCTV on January 27.

Mr Zhou disclosed at a press conference the day before that around five million Wuhan residents had left the city before all forms of transport were halted on January 23.

Mr Zhou said those people had left because of the Lunar New Year as well as 'public opinions'. Nine million people were in Wuhan when it was locked down, he said.

The timeline did not mention Mr Zhou's comments, which were widely reported by media outlets in and outside of China.

Wuhan was locked down between January 23 and April 8 to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The picture shows residents of Wuhan queuing to pay at a supermarket on January 23

Mr Wu, 56, told CCTV that his government would need to receive authorisation from higher-ups before making any announcement regarding the novel coronavirus.

'On one hand, we did not reveal [information] in time; on the other, we did not use effective information to improve our work to a satisfactory level,' Mr Zhou said during the interview which was live-streamed online.

He said: 'Regarding the untimely disclosure, [I] hope everyone can understand. [Coronavirus] is a contagious disease. Contagious diseases have relevant law and information needs to be disclosed according to law.'

He then explained the restriction his government faced.

'As [the head of] a local government, after I receive the information, [I] can only release it after being authorised. [Many people] could not understand this at the time,' he said.

7. The disease is 'largely controllable'

The condition of the patients who suffered the 'mysterious viral pneumonia' was 'largely controllable', reported Xinhua in a January 10 article , citing an expert. The picture shows a worker measuring the temperature of a woman at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan on April 8

The condition of the patients who suffered the 'mysterious viral pneumonia' was 'largely controllable', reported Xinhua in a January 10 article, citing an expert.

Professor Hu Ke from Hubei Provincial People's Hospital claimed that most patients had developed minor to medium symptoms and some of the earliest patients had recovered and left the hospital.

This article was published one day before Wuhan reported its first death from COVID-19.

It came five days after another Xinhua report said no evidence showed that the virus could spread from one person to another.

The timeline did not mention either article.

Professor Zhong Nanshan, the leader of Beijing's coronavirus expert team, confirmed human-to-human transmission on January 20, according to a CCTV report and the timeline.

The coronavirus pandemic has so far killed more than 81,000 people and infected over 1.4 million worldwide as of writing.

The lockdown on Wuhan, the former centre of the outbreak, was lifted on Wednesday.
Just over one month after he began to feel symptoms of the coronavirus and was admitted to same hospital where he practices, Dr. James Pruden, the medical director of emergency preparedness at St. Josephs University Medical Center in Paterson, was released Wednesday.

Pruden was admitted to the hospital with upper respiratory and cold-like symptoms on March 6 and a few days later, he tested positive or COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Pruden, 70, of Teaneck, who served as a first responder on 9/11 and also traveled to Houston to provide aid following Hurricane Harvey, was isolated at the hospital for weeks until he was wheeled out to the sounds of the cheers and chants of nurses and fellow doctors.

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Staff members lined the lobby with signs of support including one that read We Love You, Dr. Pruden  Heroes Work Here.

The doctor paused to take a moment to thank all those who aided in his recovery.

Your care made the difference for me and enabled me to beat this virus, Pruden said Wednesday afternoon. I implore every healthcare worker across New Jersey to keep the faith and stay strong. You are giving everything  for people just like me. You are truly our heroes.

When he was diagnosed, Pruden was not obliged to share the fact with anybody, but volunteered to be named, hoping it would prompt others to get tested, too.

At that time, the state had only 50 positive cases; that number has since skyrocketed to at least 47,437 cases and at least 1,504 deaths from COVID-19.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
JOHNSTON, Iowa  Restaurants, bars and other small businesses hard hit by the initial coronavirus-related closures were among the first applicants to receive state economic assistance grants that Wednesday were bumped up to $24 million, state officials said.

Overall, the state received requests for more than $148 million in state aid to help businesses with between two and 25 employees weather effects of the pandemic, Gov. Kim Reynolds told a news conference at the states emergency operations center.

There is absolutely no playbook for this situation that were in right now, Reynolds said, announcing the state is expanding by $20 million its $4 million state grant assistance program that is aimed at helping small businesses that have been adversely affected by state orders to close temporarily as the COVID-19 disease spreads.

The announcement came on a day when Iowa Department of Public Health officials reported Iowas 27th coronavirus-related death  a Linn County resident over the age of 80.

After posting its first 100-plus day Tuesday, Iowa reported 97 new positive cases Wednesday  bringing the overall total to 1,145 in 79 of Iowas 99 counties.

Of those who tested positive for the disease, 38 percent have recovered, Reynolds said.

According to Wednesdays report by health officials, 1,151 people tested negative, for a total of 12,821. Currently, 122 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, an overnight increase from 104.

Linn County remains the spot where the most cases have been reported  197, followed by Johnson County with 147, Polk at 134, Scott at 77, Washington at 62, Muscatine at 61 and Tama at 46.

Currently, Iowans between the ages of 41 and 60 have the most positive cases with 420, followed by 350 among Iowans 18-40, 290 in the 61-80 range, 72 among the 80 and older group and 13 among children 17 and younger, according to the Health Department.

So far, 601 women and 544 men have tested positive in Iowa.

During Wednesdays news conference, Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, said 503 grant replies were sent out Tuesday evening, totaling more than $10 million, and the numbers will grow daily until the state hits the $24 million that is being distributed from the states economic emergency fund and the authoritys budget.

Every application was triaged, and I use this word very purposely because triage actually describes this entire effort and this entire process, Durham said. We determined eligibility and the businesses identifying the greatest revenue disruption were awarded in this first round of funding that went out last evening.

The states economic development director said many of the first grant recipients were restaurants, bars, breweries and other small businesses hit by the first wave of closures ordered last month to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

But more money will be distributed to many economic sectors that produced nearly 14,000 applications seeking $148 million in eligible requests from struggling businesses.

Currently, we are leveraging state and federal assistance to provide much-needed relief to Iowa workers and businesses now to help get them through this challenging time until we are fully opened for business again, Reynolds said.

Iowa officials announced last month that they were making $4 million in state assistance available to small businesses  especially those in consumer-facing industries  as a stopgap measure for up to 30 days to supplement federal aid.

That was expanded by $20 million Wednesday to aid businesses that Durham described as the backbones of our communities, noting that about half the first wave of applicants already had returned signed contracts and were in the process of getting their checks Wednesday.

Reynolds said she expects to hear more details and guidance next week from federal officials who have indicated Iowa will receive a $1.25 billion block grant as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

The new Iowa Small Business Relief Program is designed to offer eligible small businesses grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 in addition to offering businesses a deferral of sales and use or withholding taxes due and waiver of penalty and interest.

Reynolds said the state Department of Revenue has received about 5,700 applications for the tax deferral of up to 60 days.

To be eligible for a small business relief grant, businesses must be experiencing disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have employed between two and 25 people before March 17. The state grants are intended to assist eligible businesses maintain operations or reopen, and the funds may not be used to pay debts incurred before March 17.

A state website  www.iowabusinessrecovery.com  lists a number of applications, programs and resources for businesses.

Reynolds has not placed Iowa under a restrictive shelter-at-home order, but she said she has taken extraordinary actions in activating the public health response and recovery aspects of the state disaster emergency plan through April 30 to slow the spread of the virus while protecting supply chains and enabling essential workers to function.

She has urged Iowans to stay and work at home when possible and to limit trips to get food, medication and drugs and other essentials  while also restricting trips to one family member and keeping at least 6 feet away from others.

According to the Health Department, the locations and age ranges of the 97 new cases are:

 Allamakee County, one adult (18-40 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Benton County, one child (up to 17 years);

 Black Hawk County, one adult (18-40 years), three middle-age adults (41-60 years);

 Cedar County, three adults (18-40 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Clinton County, one adult (18-40 years), one middle-age adult (41-60 years);

 Crawford County, one adult (18-40 years);

 Harrison County, one adult (18-40 years);

 Henry County, two adults (18-40 years);

 Johnson County, 10 adults (18-40 years), one middle-age adult (41-60 years), two older adult (61-80 years);

 Linn County, one child (up to 17 years), four adults (18-40 years), one middle-age adult (41-60 years), three older adults (61-80 years), two elderly adults (81+);

 Louisa County, four adults (18-40 years), five middle-age adults (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Marshall County, one adult (18-40 years);

 Muscatine County, four adults (18-40 years), five middle-age adults (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Polk County, two adults (18-40 years), four middle-age adults (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Pottawattamie County, one middle-age adult (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Scott County, four adults (18-40 years), seven middle-age adults (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Tama County, one adult (18-40 years), one middle-age adult (41-60 years), two older adults (61-80 years);

 Warren County, one elderly adult (81+);

 Washington County, three adults (18-40 years), one middle-age adult (41-60 years), one older adult (61-80 years);

 Webster County, one older adult (61-80 years);

 Woodbury County, two middle-age adults (41-60 years);

 And Worth County, one middle-age adult (41-60 years).

James Q. Lynch of the Journal Des Moines Bureau contributed to this story.
Toronto - Whether it's blocking traffic outside a Donald Trump rally or preventing women from entering an abortion clinic, social activists take a risk when they choose extreme tactics to make their point.

New research has found that social change advocates face an "activist's dilemma." While extreme actions can bring more attention to a cause than moderate ones, they are more likely to diminish support, even among natural sympathizers, the study found.

Finding the sweet spot between the two is tricky, acknowledged Matthew Feinberg, an assistant professor of organizational behaviour and human resource management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

"We were curious if this dilemma exists, and if so, we wanted to more deeply understand how social movements might be able to overcome it," said Prof. Feinberg.

The researchers conducted six separate experiments in which participants were presented with different protest scenarios, including moderate and extreme protest actions at a Donald Trump campaign event, against anti-Black police violence, abortion activities, for and against gun control and in defense of animal rights.

Study participants were more likely to emerge with a negative view of the cause when a protest used extreme actions - even when participants were already politically or socially sympathetic to its message. Extreme actions were anything perceived to be highly disruptive or to cause harm to others, such as physical violence or threatening language.

Participants tended to feel that extreme behaviour crossed a line into immorality, which the researchers believe is what leads to the loss of support. Observers are less able to connect emotionally with the protest, leading them to identify less with the movement and back away from the cause.

"We found extreme anti-Trump protest actions actually led people to not only dislike the movement and support the cause less, but to be willing to support Trump more," said Prof. Feinberg. "It was almost like a backlash."

Previous studies have been mixed about the impact of extreme action. Some have shown that it can influence large institutions to change and bring more attention to a cause. Other research has suggested non-violent campaigns are twice as likely as violent ones to achieve their goals.

It means that activists should be clear about their objectives and carefully weigh their options for the best ways to achieve them, the researchers say. A movement with relatively low profile might consider more extreme action when it's starting out, becoming more moderate later to retain and build support.

"By no means are we trying to be negative towards activism," said Prof. Feinberg. "We're actually big fans of social movements and that's the reason we study them."

###

Prof. Feinberg co-authored the research with Chloe Kovacheff, a Rotman School PhD student and Robb Willer of Stanford University. It appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada's commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca

For more information:

Ken McGuffin

Manager, Media Relations

Rotman School of Management

University of Toronto

Voice 416.946.3818

E-mail mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca
Takeaway owners are being celebrated for their efforts to help their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Good Deed Feed was established to highlight the restaurant and takeaway businesses that are working to look after those in need during the outbreak.

Individuals singled out for their efforts include Jay Alom, owner of the Lime Pickle Indian takeaway in Birmingham, who has provided NHS workers in the local area with more than 300 free meals.

In addition, the business has been providing free meals to local care home residents and staff, with almost all residents too vulnerable to shop for themselves.

Mr Alom, winner of Best Takeaway in Britain at the 2017 British Takeaway Awards, said: These are probably the most difficult times well face in our lifetime.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Were just a small business trying our best to do the right thing for our community, and those that care for it.

Wasim Arshad, owner of Mr Chef in Uddinsgton, South Lanarkshire has been delivering food packages to vulnerable people in his local area.

So far, with the help of his staff, Mr Arshad has been donating 100 hot meals a week to those in need, while also delivering essential grocery items and toiletries.

Mr Arshad said: We owe our success to our community, and this is our chance to give something back. Its important that we get food and essentials to those who need them, while also checking in, from a safe distance, to ensure theyre okay.

Clare Cam, who runs Cafe Pizzeria Express in Harlow, Essex, has been delivering free pizzas to the local hospital on a weekly basis while also delivering hot food free of charge to the elderly, vulnerable and those who can not afford meals.

Ms Cam said: We just wanted to do our little bit to show our appreciation to NHS workers and give back to the town who have given us so much.

Fabrizo Parella, owner of Divitos Chip Shop in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, temporarily closed his business, which he has run with his family for more than 20 years.

But with the help of his dedicated staff, they have still been serving the local community by donating meals to his local hospital, police station, doctors surgery and chemist.

Mr Parella said: Although the shop is closed, we still feel like we have a part to play. We want to keep looking for different businesses around the community that we can help.

The takeaways have been highlighted by the Good Deed Feed, which was launched by Just Eat, to thank the restaurants and takeaways across the country that are offering their help during the coronavirus crisis.

Andrew Kenny, UK managing director, Just Eat, said: At Just Eat, were committed to supporting our restaurant partners, many of which are small, often family-run businesses.

The restaurant operators we work with are some of the most hard-working individuals youll ever come across.

Whether its feeding people on the front line or delivering groceries to the vulnerable in self-isolation, takeaways and restaurants across the country are going above and beyond to help their local communities.

To put others first during these uncertain times shows true dedication, and we want to champion that.

The initiative has been backed by the British Takeaway Campaign, whose chair, Ibrahim Dogus, added: Takeaways and restaurants up and down the country are responding to the governments call and stepping up to the challenge of keeping our nation fed under incredibly difficult circumstances, with many funding their efforts out of their own pocket.

We want to say thank you to them all. Their ongoing support to their communities needs to be recognised and applauded. Its a beacon of positivity during what is a very testing time for us all.

SWNS
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The COVID-19 health care crisis is spreading beyond just those with the virus.

As millions of Americans lose their jobs, they also stand to lose the employer-provided health insurance they rely on for life-saving drugs. Without insurance, the costs of those drugs can skyrocket. Insulin alone can cost $12,000 a year.

For the diabetics who will lack insurance during the crisis, insulin costs could outpace government assistance with catastrophic consequences: ballooning medical debt or, worse, an increase in deaths among those who cannot afford care.

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Already, one insulin-maker, Eli Lilly, bowed to pressure and capped monthly insulin costs at $35 for most patients, including the uninsured. But the length and scope of its policy is unclear, and the two other manufacturers that control most of the market have not followed suit.

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People are now scrambling for solutions. Existing relief efforts may not come soon enough. Federal legislation has stalled, and lawsuits are still working their way through the courts. While most states have triggered emergency price gouging laws that limit raising drug prices, freezing prices at their current levels will not address the underlying problem: Insulin prices are already onerous for the uninsured, and the number of people forced to pay those prices is about to expand dramatically due to mass unemployment.

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So what can be done to keep insulin affordable during the crisis?

One solution might come from a novel legal strategy that would test the limits of what constitutes illegal price gouging. It seeks to use the price gouging laws in effect in many states to not just freeze insulin prices, but to force insulin-makers to reduce them during the pandemic. It is a bold and untested theory, but if successful, it could offer a lifeline to millions of diabetics struggling to stay afloat.

The key lies in how different states define price gouging. Most states only limit raising prices during an emergency. Others, however, ban charging unconscionable or excessive prices without any requirement that prices go up.

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Iowa, for example, bans charging excessive prices during an emergency that are not justified by the sellers actual costs  plus a reasonable profit. Texas, North Carolina, and Utah ban charging excessive or exorbitant prices. New York and Oregon prohibit unconscionably excessive prices. While some laws reference price hikes as a way to prove a violation, they do not rule out that an existing price could become illegal during an emergency if it was excessive or unconscionable beforehand.

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That arguably has been the case with insulin for yearswhich is what makes it susceptible to a price gouging challenge. Three insulin manufacturersSanofi, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordiskhave cornered the U.S. market and hiked prices far above their costs, yielding profit margins unrivaled in most other industries. Whereas food and household supplies typically wholesale at slim margins, insulin list prices for the uninsured can exceed 100 times a drugmakers costs, according to some estimates. Insulin list prices are 10 to 25 times higher in the United States than in the U.K. and Australia and have more than tripled over the last decade. One-quarter of diabetics in the United States now underuse insulin as a result.

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Those types of profit margins may have some argument for drugs that require breakthrough research and development. But insulin first came to market in the 1920s, and experts say modest innovations do not justify such large price increases.

Insulin-makers refusal to reduce those prices has drawn mounting scrutiny. Even before the pandemic, critics were attacking insulin prices using the same language found in many price gouging statutes: excessive and unconscionable. They include prominent voices like the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and bipartisan congressional leaders.

One reason insulin prices have stayed so high is that charging excessive prices is normally legal. Most businesses can charge whatever they like so long as they do not engage in collusion, fraud, or other illegal activity. That changes in an emergency. States have greater power to restrain prices to serve the public interestwhich is why the current crisis represents a unique moment in the fight over insulin pricing. Prices that have withstood legal challenges for years may now be vulnerable given the shifting legal landscape.

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The first step in testing that vulnerability would be for an attorney generalor a consumer, in some statesto file a lawsuit under a favorable price gouging law, i.e., one that bans excessive or unconscionable prices and not just price increases. The lawsuit could seek money damages and a temporary injunctionto compel insulin-makers to either reduce list prices or provide narrower relief, like an automatic discount program for those who lack insurance.

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Whether anyone will sue is hard to know. Until now, there has been little public discussion of a lawsuit. There are some logical plaintiffs, though. New York Attorney General Letitia James is already investigating insulin pricing and would have the advantage of suing under New Yorks flexible statute. James has been active during the crisis and is seeking to bolster her progressive standing. A first-of-its-kind lawsuit against insulin profiteering is something her office might consider.

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Consumers could also file their own lawsuits. Several states permit private suits, including class actions. Given the size of the $15 billion insulin market, insulin purchasers could likely claim enough losses to make class actions feasible.

A lawsuit would present courts with two unprecedented legal questions.

The first is whether price gouging laws can require sellers to reduce prices during an emergency and not just freeze them. Authorities usually just focus on the latter. Most prosecutions target opportunistic sellers that jack up prices for things like gasoline and generators when demand spikes during a disaster. There is little precedent for targeting controversial prices that were in place beforehand. What matters most to courts, however, is a statutes text, and several state statutes ban excessive or unconscionable prices without any language limiting them to price increases. Had lawmakers sought only to ban price increases, one could argue, they would have said so in the statute.

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The second question a court or jury will face is whether insulin list prices are excessive or unconscionable. That is a fact-intensive inquiry. Insulin-makers would likely argue that their prices reflect patented formulas and that few people pay the full list price. Plaintiffs counterargument is straightforward: Charging up to $1,000 a month for a cheap, century-old drug that millions need to survive exceeds what is conscionable.

That argument could resonate with a jury. Only 25 percent of Americans trust drugmakers to price their products fairly, and around 80 percent favor greater price controls. Combine that with the turmoil caused by the coronavirus, and insulin-makers could find themselves in an uphill legal battle with significant exposure if plaintiffs are able to overcome some initial hurdles.

Innovative lawsuits have disrupted powerful industries before, including tobacco, automobiles, opioids, and pro sports. A successful price gouging lawsuit could spark a similar reaction for insulin by forcing short-term price cuts while creating precedent that would constrain future pricing decisions. At the very least, it would open a promising new front in an otherwise entrenched legal battle.

For advocates who have fought to curb insulin pricing for years, and for the many more who will become vulnerable during the crisis, a novel lawsuit seems like a chance worth taking.
An intensive care doctor has revealed the stark reality of life at the NHS frontline against coronavirus as she admitted in a daily diary, 'I can't remember ever losing this many patients in a week'.

Dr Jenny Abthorpe, who works as a registrar at a large London teaching hospital, said her unit was 'incredibly busy' as the number of critical care patients increased rapidly, but morale among doctors and nurses was high.

She said 'patterns' were emerging about how different patients experienced the disease, although despite some impressive stories of recovery in other cases medics were 'at a loss' to halt their decline.

It came as the daily death toll in the UK yesterday surged to nearly 1,000 as government sources indicated the national lockdown is set to extend into May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains 'stable' in intensive care.

Dr Jenny, (pictured) who works as a registrar at a large London teaching hospital, said her unit was 'incredibly busy' as the number of critical care patients increased rapidly, but morale among doctors and nurses was high

Summing up her recent experience, Dr Abthorpe wrote in her most recent diary entry for Sky News: 'It has been a difficult week on our intensive care unit. We had a number of patients die - I can't remember ever losing this many in a week.'

Dr Abthorpe said her hospital's two intensive care units (ICU) were full with coronavirus patients, as was a new unit created on site.

Other departments were being repurposed to take Covid-19 patients and medics in other specialisms were being moved into critical care.

Dr Abthorpe said the story of one of her patient's had particularly stuck in her mind, writing: 'I can't stop thinking about the relative of one of the patients who died - an 81-year old mother, phoning each day to enquire about her son.

'She had this tremulous frail voice and she had sounded relieved when I updated her that her son was doing okay.

'But now I feel physical pain as I think of the phone call made to her the day before - that her son had died.'

At the end of another long day, Dr Abthorpe said she watched some 'mindless TV' and spoke with her husband to try and relax.

Dr Abthorpe's colleagues dressed in full personal protective equipment on the hospital wards

The UK's coronavirus outbreak is slowing, Government experts say - despite the death toll jumping by a record high of 938, overtaking Italy's worst-ever day (919) during the COVID-19 crisis.

Number 10's deputy chief scientific adviser Professor Angela McLean reassured Britons that the outbreak was not 'out of control', pointing to the figures showing the deceleration of hospital admissions and cases and calling it 'good news'.

The numbers suggest the lockdown is working, with the drop in hospital admissions for the virus expected to lead to reduced death tolls in the next week or two.

However, today's record death toll is expected to be repeated or even surpassed in the coming days, as the peak of the virus hits Britain.

The number of Britons who have died in hospital after testing positive for the life-threatening illness is now 7,097 - more than double the tally of China, where the pandemic began in December.

Department of Health data shows the number of cases increased by 5,491 today, meaning at least 60,733 Britons have been infected since the outbreak began spreading between humans on UK soil in February.

At some hospitals, staff have complained about a lack of protective equipment. Three nurses at Northwick Park Hospital who posed in bin bags are believed to have tested positive for coronavirus

But the huge jump is largely down to the Government yesterday testing around 3,000 more people than it usually does, swabbing almost 13,000 suspected patients for the killer virus compared to 9,740 the day before.

Yesterday's surge in deaths saw Britain surpass Italy's deadliest day on March 27, when officials in Rome recorded 919 new fatalities among hospitalised patients. Spain recorded 950 deaths in hospital on April 2.

But the numbers are dwarfed by the US, which is being hammered by the virus with more than 400,000 cases. It recorded 1,799 deaths yesterday.

However, the drop in hospital admissions and the cautious optimism of Prof McLean, suggests there is light at the end of the tunnel for Britain, with the effects of the lockdown expected to be seen in death tolls after next week.

Some medics have complained about a lack of protective equipment they need to treat coronavirus patients without being put at risk of contracting coronavirus.

Last night it was reported that three nurses at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow who were pictured wearing bin bags because of a lack of protective gear have tested positive.
Funding will be used to hire additional development engineers and sales staff as well as expand the company's marketing efforts.

INDIANAPOLIS and PARIS, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stamus Networks, a fast-growing cybersecurity software company, today announced it has secured critical seed financing in an oversubscribed $1.5 million round. Stamus Networks offers a unique cyber security solution that more clearly illuminates threats by correlating network traffic analysis and threat detection in real time. The system arms security teams with unprecedented visibility and meaningful insights into their organization's security posture and helps them rapidly detect and respond to incidents.

VisionTech Angels and Elevate Ventures, both Indianapolis-based investment groups, co-led the investment round. In addition, several independent angel investors participated. Both VisionTech Angels and Elevate Ventures will appoint representatives to the company's board of directors.

"Stamus Networks addresses an important need in the marketplace for enterprise-scale cybersecurity and has created a unique enriched threat hunting solution," said Vercie Lark, VIssionTech Angels investor and retired CIO. "Customers have told us the company's Scirius platform allows them to replace several existing products and is very effective at proactively uncovering real threats. One of the most important factors we consider with any investment is the quality of the management team. Stamus Networks' team brings a solid track record in the cybersecurity space with both commercial and technical successes."

"The management team at Stamus Networks has combined 69 years of experience in the cybersecurity space and has a history of achieving results," said Chris LaMothe, CEO of Elevate Ventures. "With Stamus Networks' existing customer base and the growing market demand, we have confidence they will be successful."

Stamus Networks has been steadily building a loyal customer following since it introduced its first product in 2017. The company's broad list of customers includes global financial institutions, a multi-national software company, a U.S. public school system, a European managed security service provider, and an international governmental body, among others.

"We at Stamus Networks are excited to be able to reach and help even more organizations secure their networks and are thrilled to have received this strong vote of confidence from the investment community," said Ken Gramley, CEO of Stamus Networks. "And we are thankful to all who worked so hard to close this round during these unprecedented times."

About Stamus Networks

Stamus Networks believes cyber security professionals should spend less time pouring though noisy alerts and more time investigating true indicators of compromise (IOC). Founded by the creators of the widely-deployed open source SELKS platform, Stamus Networks offers Scirius Security Platform solutions that marry real-time network traffic data with enhanced Suricata intrusion detection (IDS) and an advanced analytics engine to create an entirely new class of enriched threat hunting solutions. With Scirius, you get unprecedented visibility and meaningful insights into your organization's security posture, giving you the tools to rapidly detect and respond to incidents. For more information visit: stamus-networks.com

About VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels

Founded in 2008, VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels is a privately held company that links investors to high-potential, early-growth companies. Based in Indianapolis, capital of one of the nation's most vibrant innovation regions, VisionTech Angels has chapters in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Dayton, Ohio; and an Affinity chapter for physicians, AngelBom. Our investment portfolio includes 34 companies, and more than 130 members across Indiana and Ohio. Membership is open to accredited investors. Those interested in joining are encouraged to contact VisionTech Angels. The next pitch event is April 30, 2020. Learn more: visiontech-partners.com

About Elevate Ventures

Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1153514/Staumus_Networks_Investment.jpg
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Police in San Francisco announced Wednesday they arrested all three suspects accused of violently assaulting two victims, including an elderly man, during a 2019 robbery in Chinatown.

According to police, on July 15 at about 1:10 p.m. the trio approached a 56-year-old man near Pacific Avenue and Stockton Street and at least one of the suspects lifted him up off his feet and threw him to the ground.

When a 69-year-old man tried to intervene in the attack, a suspect knocked him unconscious.

The trio was able to allegedly steal a watch from the first victim. After the attack, they fled, police said.

Both victims were taken to the hospital with head injuries, but have since been released, according to police.

Following an investigation into the attack, officers were able to identify the first suspect as 19-year-old Dashawn Pierson. Pierson was arrested in October 2019 in Oakland. While serving a search warrant at the home, officers found evidence linking him to the offense, police said.

Police identified a second suspect as 20-year-old Akeem Smith of Sacramento. Officers arrested Smith in January in Alameda County and he's since been transferred to a San Francisco jail, booked on suspicion of robbery, assault likely to produce bodily injury, aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury and elder abuse.

Then on April 8, officers arrested the third suspect, identified as 22-year-old Christopher Jefferson of Sacramento. Jefferson was taken into custody in Stockton and has since been booked also on suspicion of robbery, assault likely to produce bodily injury, aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury and elder abuse, according to police.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A 103-year-old survivor of Covid-19 has said courage and strength, faith helped her defeat coronavirus.

Ada Zanusso, from Lessona in Italy, is thought to be the oldest person in Europe to have recovered.

She said she was well and reading the newspapers in her care home after a week in bed.
Rome

The Vatican said Wednesday that Pope Francis has created a new commission of experts to examine whether women can be deacons, an ordained role in the Catholic Church currently reserved for men.

The 10-member commission, the second of Francis' pontificate to study the fraught issue, includes equal numbers of men and women representing the United States and six European countries.

Deacons are ordained ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests. They preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals, and they can preach. They cannot celebrate Mass.

Married men can be ordained as deacons. Women cannot, though historians say women served as deacons in the early Christian church.

In response to women demanding to be given greater roles in the 21st century, Francis established a commission in 2016 to study female deacons in the early Christian church. But the members failed to reach a consensus and the group effectively ended its work.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The issue was revived during Francis' 2019 summit on the Amazon. The region's bishops called for the question of women deacons to be revisited given the shortage or priests in the vast territory. Francis agreed at the time, and the new commission appears to be his follow-up.

Significantly, the scope of the commission's mandate does not appear to be limited to the early church, as was the 2016 commission. Amazonian bishops had called for the real-life experiences of their region's Catholic faithful to be taken into consideration in any new evaluation.

Advocates for expanding the ministry to include women say doing so would give women greater say in the ministry and governance of the church.
People wearing face masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan to take one of the first trains leaving the city in China's central Hubei Province early on April 8, 2020. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

Tens of Thousands Leave After Wuhan Lifts Quarantine

Tens of thousands of people rushed to leave Wuhan, the worlds CCP virus epicenter, after the city lifted a 76-day quarantine on April 8.

The reopening saw crowds unseen since Jan. 23, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ordered a lockdown of the city and its 11 million residents. Drivers had already queued up on expressways well before the clock reached midnight, when officials were set to relax travel controls.

People also flocked to trains and airports, with many wrapping themselves in full protective gear, awaiting their first opportunity to get out of the city.

Footage from the border showed locals honking their car horns as they drove out of the city in celebration of their regained freedom of movement.

This aerial photo taken early on April 8, 2020, shows cars queuing at a highway toll station in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei Province. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Have to seize tonight and dash away, Chen, a resident from the citys Jianghan District who lined up at one of the 75 highway tolls in the early hours, bound for his workplace in southern Jiangsu Province, told The Epoch Times. Who knows if there might be another policy tomorrow.

Chen said he regretted not listening to his bosss advice to leave Wuhan before the lockdown, leaving him stuck there for more than two months. If you want to leave, you leave fast, he said.

Liu, whose parents live in Hanyang District, had similar concerns.

You never know what directions the policies are going, she told The Epoch Times as their car, heading toward Mongolia, arrived in Xinyang City, Henan Province. We leave as soon as we can. Changes happen every day.

Passengers line up to enter Wuchang Railway Station on April 7, 2020, in Wuhan, China. (Getty Images)

The family of three arrived to line up at the highway entrance one hour before the travel restrictions were lifted. In no time, more than a hundred cars were lined up behind her.

Around 55,000 people were expected to leave Wuhan on April 8 by raila number thats expected to nearly double by the next day. An airport official estimated that they would fly out 10,000 passengers from Wuhan by the end of the day.

Hidden Risks

For weeks since March, Wuhan has recorded few to no new cases in its daily case count. Over the past three weeks, officials have only reported three new confirmed cases.

In a push to reopen the city, officials have been declining to report new cases. There are also an unknown number of asymptomatic patients, who may more easily spread the virus because theyre not aware of being infected.

A classified Chinese government report showed that such patients could account for up to one third of those who have been detected, according to South China Morning Post. The report also said that more than 43,000 patients who tested positive for the virus in China by the end of February were asymptomatic, and that official government data listing about 80,000 confirmed cases didnt include these patients.

Yang Jiong, a respiratory expert at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, recently said there may be 10,000 to 20,000 asymptomatic carriers in Wuhan, and urged residents to stay vigilant, according to the state-affiliated Health Times.

After China said it would publicly report asymptomatic cases on April 1, more than 70 residential compounds previously designated as virus-free were found to have carriers. For the same reason, 87 neighborhoods, two villages, and 11 towns in Wuhan also lost their virus-free status.

Chinese workers and health officials wear protective white suits as travelers from Wuhan gather to take buses as they are processed and taken to do 14 days of quarantine, after arriving on the first trains to Beijing on April 8, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Guinea Pigs

In a news conference the day before Wuhan reopened, Hu Shuguang, deputy head of the epidemic control group in Wuhan, warned that combating the outbreak remains the top priority at the moment.

According to a notice sent days earlier, officials will continue to exercise strict lockdown management on a community level, including checking each persons identity and temperature, mandating face masks, and advising residents against going out.

Fang, a resident from Wuhan, said that people who go to work today are the first batch of guinea pigs.

I dont know where the enemies are, where the virus is, and who has been infected. Id get anxious if my family goes out the door, he told The Epoch Times sister media NTD. They are not using scientific methods to cure the disease, and often act out of political need.

Multiple regions across China are screening people who arrive from Wuhan.

Beijing, which is anticipating around 11,000 residents to return from the Wuhan lockdown, requires two virus tests: one a week before their trip to prove their health, and another after they complete a mandatory two-week quarantine at home or in a quarantine center, according to an April 8 news briefing.

In the far northern province of Heilongjiang, a surge of virus cases has led the city of Suifenhe to close its border with Russia.

In a measure reminiscent of Wuhans lockdown, the local government has ordered citizens to stay inside their residential compounds, according to an April 7 government notice. Only one person from each household can leave every three days for essential items, and they must return home on the same day. Construction of a makeshift hospital is also underway.
Saudi-Led Coalition Declares Two-Week Ceasefire in Yemen to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak

Sputnik News

19:36 GMT 08.04.2020(updated 20:14 GMT 08.04.2020)

Senior Saudi officials have announced a ceasefire in Yemen to begin on Thursday in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in that country.

A two-week-long ceasefire in Yemen will begin on Thursday at noon local time between the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and its allied forces on the one side, and the Houthi militant group and its allies on the other, according to senior Saudi officials in Riyadh.

The officials said the ceasefire is aimed at bringing the Houthis to the negotiating table for peace talks led by the United Nations, as well as to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, which has already been wracked by famine and disease for years due to the war.

The health system in Yemen is essentially nonexistent, but those facilities that do exist have been concentrating on addressing a cholera outbreak that has afflicted more than 2.2 million people since 2016, killing thousands. Medical supplies are hard to come by amid the continuing Saudi blockade of major Yemeni ports, and running water is equally scarce.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesperson for the Houthi movement, said on Wednesday that the group had presented its vision for an end to the war and blockade that would "lay the foundations for a political dialogue and a transitional period." However, Reuters noted it was unclear how the Houthis would respond to the Saudi move.

The war in Yemen has been raging since March 2015, when Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi fled the country amid a takeover by the rising Houthi movement. Hailing from northern Yemen, the Zaidi Shiite Houthis objected to a proposed federalization plan that they said would amplify wealth disparities in the poor country, as well as cuts to fuel subsidies by Hadi's government.

Hadi fled to the support of his allies in Riyadh, and a Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan and others began an air and ground campaign against the Houthis, who control most of the country. The US also helped support this war effort. However, after years of a ferocious war that has killed more than 100,000 people in the country of 28 million, the Houthis have shown signs of turning the tide, carrying out daring air raids on Saudi military bases and even state-owned oil facilities.

While several attempts at UN-mediated peace talks have failed to yield many lasting results, quieter attempts at negotiation were being hosted by Omani King Qaboos bin Said before his untimely death in January.

 Sputnik

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Despite cooperation from the Thai people, more work is needed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday.

Charnvirakul, who's also Thailand's minister for public health, alluded to a study that suggested a need for at least 80% of people in Thailand to practice social distancing in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"...So far Thai people have been giving full cooperation but we need more because there was a study showing that we need to have at least 80% of social distancing from our people in order to pull the curve down," Charnvirakul said.

According to Charnvirakul, there have been some improvements in terms of control since "intensive" measures were imposed beginning last month.

Apart from that, the country has also been sending countrywide messages about the importance of social distancing and restricting entry for non-resident foreigners into Thailand.

These efforts have allowed authorities in Thailand to "control the situation to the level (they) want to see."

However, at present only 70% of Thais understand and are engaging in social distancing, according to a Bangkok Post report, leaving Thailand still short of the 80% threshold.

The Ministry of Public Health estimates that if at least 80% of Thais comply with social distancing measures, the number of infected patients will reach 7,745 by April 15 compared to 17,635 cases if compliance reaches only 50%.
Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - Mauritania on Thursday recorded its 7th case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), following a positive test carried out on a young girl in confinement for 3 weeks, the local press quoted the director of health, Sidi ould Zahaf, as saying
By SA Commercial Prop News

President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the current 21 day lockdown with additional 2 more weeks.



President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the current 21-day lockdown with an additional 2 more weeks.

The President said there were 1,934 cases of Covid-19 in South Africa on Thursday and the lockdown had slowed down the rate of increase, which he said does represent real progress.

Ramaphosa said that if government ended the lockdown too soon, the progress gained would be lost. He called on South Africans to be willing to endure another 14 days.

The president said the coronavirus crisis had worsened over the past two weeks, particularly worldwide, with health systems overwhelmed.

He said the decision to institute the lockdown had been correct and timely and there is sufficient evidence to show that the lockdown is working.



The presidents address follows a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council held yesterday, 8 April 2020 and consultations that the president would have held during the course of the day with various social partners during the course of the day.

He called on the country to make an even greater sacrifice to save thousands of lives, though he acknowledged the harm that was happening in the economy.

Relief package for Retail Tenants

Meanwhile, South Africas retail landlords announced an industry-wide assistance and relief package on Tuesday for retail tenants hardest hit by the Covid-19 lockdown.

The relief package was revealed by a newly-formed alliance of retail property landlords in the country, known as the Property Industry Group.

The initiative, which focuses on supporting affected SMMEs, also provides assistance to all other retail tenants, and will be rolled out by landlords nationally.

During the week of March 23, the major representative bodies for real estate in South Africa  SA REIT Association (SA REIT), SA Property Owners Association (SAPOA) and SA Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC)  formed a collective, the Property Industry Group, which has been coordinating its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically the economic effects of the 21-day lockdown.

The commercial property sector makes a significant contribution to the economy, tax revenue and employment. It is responsible for more than 300 000 jobs directly and indirectly in other sectors such as security, cleaning, hygiene and technical services, and building and construction.

To qualify for the relief benefits, retail tenants would need to undertake not to retrench staff during the relief period.

Significantly, the package stipulates all tenants whose accounts were in good standing at February 29, 2020, could be assured that there would not be any evictions for the next two months.
OPEC++ may have reached today a commitment to cut 10 million bpd of oil production in both May and June, but oil prices reacted poorly to the largest production cut in OPECs history, as it had hoped for a larger cut.

The market, which is acutely aware that the demand destruction is somewhere near 30 million barrels per day due to the coronavirus pandemic, fell in Thursday afternoon trading. The WTI benchmark had fallen 6.10% by 3:45pm EDT, to $23.56. The Brent benchmark fell a more moderate 2.5% to reach $32.02 per barrel.

OPEC and its extended band of allies held talks today on the state of the oil market and its coronavirus response, agreeing in principle to a 10 million bpd cut across the group. As part of the deal, delegates unofficially reported that Saudi Arabia and Russia would both curb production to about 8.5 million bpd.

The remaining details of who would cut what has not yet been disclosed. One delegate, however, suggested that each member agreed on cutting production by 23%--from what baseline level, we are not sure, short of an official announcement from OPEC.

Premium: How To Find A Bargain In A Distressed Energy Sector

Alberta said it was not asked by the group to cut production, according to a statement from Albertas Premiere. Alberta has already made it known that it already chipped in for the production cut by necessity.

The production cuts by OPEC++ would have come one way or anotherwhether in a planned fashion or out of necessity as the bottom continues to fall out of demand and as storage fills. This, however, allows the group to determine exactly which countries are tasked with cutting what, and allows the group to declare a subdued victory. An even bigger victory might have been agreeing to a production cut deal over a month ago as planned.

Bloomberg sources suggest that OPEC+ is expecting further cuts by the G-20 group countries tomorrow of about 5 million bpd. The United States has indicated that it is already cutting as a natural market consequence.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Anyone who spits or coughs on health care workers or police will be slapped with a $5,000 fine under new coronavirus rules.

The extreme measures were announced in response to the 'abhorrent' incidents in the last few weeks which saw nurses and police coughed or spat on during the coronavirus pandemic.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Police Minister David Elliott said anyone found guilty of the disgusting act will cop a $5,000 fine and possible six months' jail.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Police Minister David Elliott said anyone found guilty of the disgusting act will cop a $5,000 fine and possible six months' jail

A nurse screens patients outside a clinic in the Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide, on Tuesday (pictured). Many were told not to wear their uniforms outside of work in fear of getting abused

'Every day our doctors and nurses, police and paramedics put their health and safety on the line to protect us, and a threat to them, is a threat to us,' Mr Hazzard said.

'The virus has infected thousands of health workers around the world and killed many, so if you deliberately risk people's health you will be fined and possibly imprisoned.'

The change under the Public Health Regulation 2012 was signed on Thursday.

'Like most people, I find the recent actions of a handful of individuals utterly foul and obnoxious but worryingly, the behaviour is potentially life threatening,' Mr Elliot said.

'COVID-19 kills  the global death toll is already more than 85,000 people and climbing  so if you spit or cough on any of our police officers, who are putting their own safety on the line to protect you, you will face the consequences and be slapped with a fine.'

Bradley Lonesborough, 37, (pictured) is accused of punching a senior constable in the face before spitting at him and claiming to have coronavirus

Last week, one NSW nurse (pictured) revealed a patient suspected of having coronavirus spat in her face while she was treating him

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said police are ready to enforce the law to anyone found breaking it.

'Foul acts like coughing and spitting, which can potentially spread COVID-19, pose a risk to public safety, so police won't hesitate to take action,' Mr Fuller said.

'The rules are clear and they apply to everyone, so if you decide to ignore a direction, you will be caught and you will receive a hefty fine and possibly a prison sentence.'

On Saturday, Bradley Lonesborough, 37, allegedly spat and punched a police officer in the face after claiming he had coronavirus.

Last week, one NSW nurse revealed a patient suspected of having coronavirus spat in her face while she was treating him.

While last month, a woman caught speeding was stopped by police and proceeded to spit at the officer after claiming she was on her way to get tested for COVID-19.
WASHINGTON  Its a simple rule, designed to protect both homeowners and taxpayers: If you want publicly subsidized flood insurance, you cant build a home thats likely to flood.

But local governments around the country, which are responsible for enforcing the rule, have flouted the requirements, accounting for as many as a quarter-million insurance policies in violation, according to data provided to The New York Times by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood insurance program. Those structures accounted for more than $1 billion in flood claims during the past decade, the data show.

That toll is likely to increase as climate change makes flooding more frequent and intense.

Local governments are responsible for enforcing the requirements, but almost none have been penalized for failing to do so. Theres no negative consequences for violating the rules, said Rob Moore, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Rachel Sears, director of FEMAs floodplain management division, said her offices strategy was to avoid immediately pursuing penalties, and to instead encourage towns and cities to do better. We work with the communities and property owners to directly remedy the specific violations, she said.
A driver has let fly at police as they slapped him with a $1,652 fine for breaking coronavirus restrictions by washing his car in the dead of the night.

The man shared video footage showing him clash with two Victoria Police officers at a Melbourne car wash in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The male police officer said: 'So as I said to you before, we're speaking in relation to the new COVID-19 laws.

'What's your reason for being out at 1.15 in the morning washing your car?'

An 'essential worker' has been fined for washing his car at 1.15am. The man shared video footage of him clashing with two Victoria Police officers at a Melbourne car wash on Wednesday (pictured)

The man said he worked in 'essential services' and was unable to wash his car during the day.

'I'm working 12 to f***ing 14-hour days and I don't get time to wash the b****rd. That's my reason,' he said.

'I'm running fresh produce to the supermarkets which are feeding you. I work in an essential service.'

The police officer said he also held an essential job, but that he didn't clean his car during the early hours of the morning.

Under Stage Three restrictions, Victorians are only allowed to leave the house for one of five reasons - shopping for food, work and education, care reasons, exercise or other extenuating circumstances.

The agitated 'essential worker' said he was a victim of 'communist Australia' and told the officers residents would not follow rules to stay home over the Easter holidays.

'You think f***ing everyone is going to stay home at Easter and do nothing? C'mon,' he said.

The male police officer said: 'So as I said to you before, we're speaking in relation to the new COVID-19 laws.' 'What's your reason for being out at 1.15 in the morning washing your car?'

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

The man - who took his dog to the car wash with him - also accused the officers of breaking social distancing guidelines by stepping within two metres of his personal space.

The verbal altercation ended when an officer told the man he would receive a 'ticket in the mail'.

'Go get a f***ing life mate,' the man replied while getting into his car.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said they do not comment on individual fines.

Police Minister Lisa Neville on Thursday morning said in the past 24 hours officers had conducted 1,065 spot checks and issued 78 on-the-spot fines.

Victorians who fail to follow social-distancing rules can be fined $1,652, while businesses can be fined $9,913.

The man - who took his dog to the car wash with him (pictured) - also accused the officers of breaking social distancing guidelines by stepping within two metres of his personal space
U.S. Army combat units have started receiving the first of thousands of new 7.62mm rifles designed to give infantry squads a potent new weapon.

Heckler & Koch Defense Inc. has delivered the first of up to 6,000 M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifles, or SDMR, to the Army, according to a recent H&K news release.

Deliveries of the M110A1 are expected to continue through the middle of 2021, it adds.

The SDMR is a variant of the 7.62mm H&K G28/HK417. Army officials are fielding it as part of an interim effort to make squads more lethal ahead of the service's introduction of the Next-Generation Squad Weapon system, planned for 2023.

Related: Army to Receive 7.62mm Squad Marksman Rifles as Early as Next Year

In 2017, Army leaders told Congress that the service's M855A1 5.56mm enhanced performance round will not penetrate modern enemy body armor, which served as springboard for development of the Next-Generation Squad Weapon, designed to fire a potent new 6.8mm projectile.

As a short-term fix, the Army selected the new M110A1 -- a weapon it originally chose in 2016 as its new Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System -- to serve as the SDMR. It will be used with the service's new 7.62mm enhanced performance round to give squads more penetrating power to defeat enemy body armor, Army officials say.

The M110A1 will replace the Enhanced Battle Rifle 14 -- a modernized M14 equipped with an adjustable aluminum stock with pistol grip, scope and bipod legs -- used by infantry squads operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As part of the agreement with H&K, the rifles are manufactured in the company's facility in Oberndorf, Germany, and then shipped to the H&K-USA facility in Columbus, Georgia, according to the release.

H&K-USA workers then install scopes and mounts, as well as additional accessories from 12 other U.S.-based manufacturers, a process that has been increasingly challenging in the current restrictive environment of the COVID-19 outbreak, the release states.

"Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic creates a very challenging business environment, but as an essential partner in the defense infrastructure of this country, we are 100 percent committed to delivering this essential product to our troops, while keeping our employees safe and healthy," H&K-USA President and COO Michael Holley said in the release.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Bullpup or Belt-Fed? Prototypes for Army's Next-Gen Squad Weapons Finally Revealed
A dog has been saved by police and a man arrested after officers were sent video footage of a pet being repeatedly thrown into a London canal by its owner.

Police in Ealing began an investigation after a man was filmed on the Grand Union Canal in Southall hurling his pet into the water five times and then pulling it out by the lead round its neck on each occasion.

Footage of the incident was posted on Twitter, where it was described as horrible, as officers sought to track down the culprit.

A 37-year-old man was arrested soon after and his dog, a terrier, taken to a police pound where it remains in safe keeping.

Announcing the arrest, Ealing police tweeted: Police are investigating after it was reported a man repeatedly submerged a dog in the Grand Union canal in Southall on 7 April.

"A 37-year-old man has been arrested. The dog is now with our officers. Great work.
Major Australian abortion provider denied masks; supplies reserved during pandemic

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A prominent Australian-based abortion provider has reportedly been denied an order of face masks because the masks were said to be reserved for "health professionals."

Marie Stopes Australia spoke with Gina Rushton of BuzzFeed News earlier this week, claiming that they have been denied supplies including face masks and hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Australias National Medical Stockpile told them last week that they could not provide them with medical supplies, as they were being reserved for entities like public hospitals and pharmacies.

Additionally, earlier this week the company Clifford Hallam Healthcare canceled an order for face masks for MSA, reportedly due to a request from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We have been requested to reserve our supplies for health professionals as they are the first priority, read the CHH email to MSA, as reported by BuzzFeed. We have had no option other to cancel your back orders for all masks.

According to Jamal Hakim of MSA, the entity only has about two weeks of supplies remaining for performing surgical abortions.

Many [personal protective equipment] suppliers do not consider abortion to be healthcare, Hakim told BuzzFeed. Over the past month, private suppliers have either refused to take orders or cancelled orders from MSA.

An entry on MSAs website, accessed Wednesday, noted that due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus, they were restricting their contraception and vasectomy services.

They also stated that abortions were an essential service and promised to continue to provide abortion services throughout this pandemic.

Micaiah Bilger of the pro-life website Life News celebrated the news, arguing that this was how it should be given that other medical and surgical services were being delayed due to COVID-19.

All over the world, cancer treatments, stents to prevent clogged arteries, dental work and joint replacements are being postponed because of the health crisis, wrote Bilger.

But the abortion industry thinks it is special. It wants its work killing unborn babies elevated above real health care.

As governments issue orders restricting mass gatherings and nonessential services, debates over to what extent abortion procedures should be allowed have been a source of controversy.

In the United Kingdom, the Department of Health and Social Care temporarily changed regulations to allow women in England to undergo medical abortions in their homes. The new regulation permits a woman seeking an abortion before the 10th week of a pregnancy to take abortion-inducing pills mifepristone and misoprostol at home during the lockdown.

The Christian Legal Centre, an evangelical conservative legal organization, accused the U.K. government of creating the most significant change to abortion law since 1967.

Centre CEO Andrea Williams stated that she believed the government was pushing through a back-door policy that will put thousands of women at risk in a time of national and global crisis.

In the United States, several states have called for a temporary halt to elective abortions to preserve personal protective equipment for healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Judges blocked the bans in Alabama, Ohio, and Texas. The block in Texas was recently lifted by an appeals court.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the export of raw materials to his country to produce hydroxychroloquine - an anti-malaria drug - seen as useful in the treatment of COVID-19.

"As an outcome of my direct conversation with Indian Prime Minister, we'll receive, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil," Bolsonaro said in an address to his nation on Wednesday.

Brazil has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in South America with more than 14,000 infections and almost 700 deaths.

Bolsonaro was one of the leaders Prime Minister Modi spoke to over the weekend in his continuing interaction with leaders since the outbreak of the pandemic. During his conversation, the Brazilian president had put forth his request to Modi to release the ingredients for HCQ that India had placed a ban on.

During the phone call, the two leaders had also stressed the significance of close cooperation between India and Brazil, bilaterally as well as in the multilateral institutional framework, to mitigate the grave crises caused by COVID-19. They agreed on the need to forge a new human-centric concept of globalisation for the post-COVID

India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine in the But the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had banned exports of the drug and its ingredients in view of the rapid rise in the infection-related cases in the country.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has lent its hand for the people as it has ramped up food production at all of its kitchens across the country since the announcement of 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of novel coronavirus and provided meals to over 4 lakh people.

The IRCTC has started preparing food for the people across all of its 28 locations in the country including its base kitchens.

On Monday, according to the IRCTC officials, the railway kitchens provided over 51,000 meals across the country.

In the national capital, the IRCTC's base kitchen at New Delhi railway station is also ensuring to provide food to the people.

Speaking to IANS, IRCTC spokesperson Sidhhartha Singh said, "Everyday, food for over 8,000 people is being prepared at our kitchen here which is then provided to the Railway Protection Force and state government."

"The food is prepared here as per demand. As we have demand for 8,200 meals we are providing that and as the demand increases, the production of food will also go up easily," the IRCTC official said.

He said the meals are provided by the IRCTC twice a day.

He said, the kitchen starts functioning at 6 a.m. everyday and prepares the lunch by 11 a.m. while the work of preparing the dinner starts at 1 p.m. after cleaning the kitchen and dinner is made ready by 6 p.m.

The food is collected from the IRCTC kitchen at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. for delivery by the Railway Peotection Force (RPF), Delhi government officials and Delhi Police.

He said, despite the nationwide lockdown the base kitchen of the IRCTC is capable of providing healthy food to the people with the limited staff.

"Usually in normal days, at the IRCTC kitchen, there are over 125 people who work in the kitchen. But following the lockdown we are handling the New Delhi kitchen with 18 staff members," he said.

"But despite less staff we are maintaining the quality of food and preparing meals to over 8000 people on daily basis," he said.

Singh said that on normal days the IRCTC base kitchen is capable of preparing food for over 10,000 to 15,000 people daily.

Sunil Kumar, supervisor at the IRCTC base kitchen in New Delhi said that all the staff who are working at the kitchen have to adhere to strict norms and have to pass through the thermal test before entering inside the campus.

He said, the staff are then made to sanitise their hands and then only they are allowed to enter inside the kitchen after wearing head mask, gloves and face mask.

Inside the IRCTC kitchen, Kumar said, the staff maintain proper cleanliness of the kitchen and the utensils used for preparing the food. "The utensils are cleaned properly and then food is prepared. For preparing rice, the IRCTC has an automatic machine which prepares the rice in 40 minutes," he said.

When asked about the menu for the meals, he said that IRCTC is preparing Veg pulao, Veg poha and khichdi on rotational basis, keeping in mind the nutritional value.

He said, besides the rice pulao, poha and khichdi, the kitchen also provides pickle to the people.

Following the 21-day nationwide lockdown the Indian Railways suspended all the passenger, mail and express train services to cut the chain of transmission of Covid-19. Only the freight and special parcel trains are running to ensure the delivery of essential items.

On Tuesday, the number of Covid-19 cases in India rose to 4,421 with 114 deaths across the country.
Major U.S. insurers are offering credit to auto and motorcycle policyholders following a decline in driving, as most Americans stay at home to help contain the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

Following is a list of companies, in alphabetical order, which have offered to return premiums.

Allstate Corp

Allstate, one of the largest U.S. auto insurers, said on Monday it would return more than $600 million in premiums to customers.

Most customers will receive a payback of 15 percent of their monthly premium in April and May, the company said.

American Family Insurance

The auto insurer said it would return a total of $200 million to auto insurance customers beginning mid-April. Customers will receive $50 per vehicle covered by their policies, the Madison, Wisconsin-based company said.

Aviva Canada

Aviva Canada said it was offering $100 million in additional immediate relief measures to drivers, including options that would immediately reduce insurance premiums.

Customers who have stopped driving entirely could reduce their auto insurance premiums by up to 75 percent.

Erie Insurance

The insurer said it would reduce rates for personal and commercial auto insurance customers in 12 states and the District of Columbia. The amount of financial relief for Erie Insurance customers is estimated to be about $200 million, it added.

Farmers Insurance

Farmers and 21st Century branded auto customers will receive a 25 percent reduction in April premium. The insurer said it has also implemented flexible payment plans and a temporary pause on cancellations.

Geico

Geico Corp, part of billionaire Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said it will offer about $2.5 billion of credits to its 19 million auto and motorcycle policyholders.

The insurer said it will offer a 15 percent credit on policies up for renewal between April 8 and Oct. 7, averaging about $150 per auto policy and $30 per motorcycle policy.

Liberty Mutual Insurance

Liberty Mutual Insurance will give personal auto insurance customers a 15 percent refund on two months of their annual premium, returning about $250 million to Liberty Mutual and Safeco personal auto insurance customers.

Progressive Insurance Corp

Among the largest U.S. auto insurers, Progressive said it would be providing about $1 billion to personal auto customers. The company will be crediting eligible customers 20 percent of their April and May premiums.

State Farm

State Farm is considering how best to take the drop in driving into account and return value to its auto insurance policyholders.

Travelers Companies Inc.

The insurer said on Wednesday it was giving U.S. personal auto insurance customers a 15 percent credit on their April and May premiums through its new stay-at-home auto premium credit program.

Travelers also said it will continue to provide auto coverage to customers whose jobs include using their personal vehicles to make food, grocery, pharmacy and medical supply deliveries.

USAA

USAA, Americas fifth largest property-casualty insurer, said it will return $520 million to its members.

Every member with an auto insurance policy in effect as of March 31, 2020, will receive a 20 percent credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks.

By Noor Zainab Hussain
Bible publishers reporting jump in sales amid coronavirus fears

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Publishing companies that sell Bibles have reported an increase in purchases in recent weeks, likely connected to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Tyndale House Publishers, a Christian publisher based in Carol Stream, Illinois, saw a considerable increase in their Bible sales last month compared to March 2019.

This includes their Life Application Study Bible sales going up 44% and sales of the Immerse Bible going up 60%, according to Jim Jewell, an executive at Tyndale.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Tuesday, Jewell said he believes concerns over the pandemic has upended almost everyones lives in some way.

It's not surprising that people turn to the comfort and clarity of the Bible in times of trouble and uncertainty, he said, adding that social media engagement for Tyndale was also growing.

On [our Facebook page for the] New Living Translation, where we post Bible verse memes, engagement was triple what it was last March and up 72% from just last month.

Jewell told CP that this was not the first time a national crisis has led to higher Bible sales. He said in the month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Tyndale Bible sales were 57% higher than October of 2000.

Alabaster Co. of California, which was founded in 2017 and sells books of the Bible individually that have visually artistic features, reported a 143% boost in sales compared to last year.

Brian Chung, co-founder of Alabaster, told Fox News that he believed the sales jump occurred because people are looking for hope and restoration.

Even amidst suffering and financial hardship we've continued to see people engage with Alabaster by utilizing our free resources and purchasing Bibles as encouraging gifts for loved ones, Chung said.

We believe people are buying Bibles because theres a longing to connect with God, find meaning, and experience peace.

The increases in Bible sales reported by multiple publishing companies is not the only evidence indicating growing efforts among the population to find spiritual answers amid the pandemic.

According to Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, internet searches for the word prayer have dramatically increased since last month.

In a preliminary draft of a paper titled In Crisis, We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Bentzen found that search intensity for prayer doubles for every 80,000 new registered cases of COVID-19.

In times of crisis, humans have a tendency to turn to religion for stress relief and explanation. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is no exception, wrote Bentzen.

I document that Google searches on prayer has skyrocketed during the month of March 2020 when the COVID-19 went global.

Bentzen added that the searches surged to the highest level during the past five years for which comparative Google search data is available, surpassing all other major events that otherwise instigate intensified demand for prayer, such as Christmas, Easter, and Ramadan.

Even Denmark, one of the least religious countries in the world, sees systematic increases in internet searches on prayer, she noted.
A gang-rape survivor in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) has lambasted the police, judiciary, and politicians for protecting the rapists and criminals in the occupied territory.

Razia Akhtar (name changed), who hails from Bhimber town of PoK, has released a video seeking justice as she and her family members are being threatened by the criminals for the past few years.

She said: "I was gang-raped in Bhimber valley and they made my video and started blackmailing my family. They asked for Rs 10 lakh, but when I denied, they kidnapped my son and demanded Rs 15 lakh as a ransom".

The victim said that she went to the police for help but failed to get justice. "When I went to the police they handed me over to the village panchayat. On gunpoint, the panchayat forced me to sign a settlement letter. Bhimber Police later registered an FIR but in favour of culprits. When I reached the police station along with media, they arrested two culprits. They were not kept behind bars, but were found resting in SHO's room," she said in the video message.

The rape survivor said that police have failed to recover ransom money, gun and the vehicle in which her son was kidnapped. She said, "My video recordings were also not seized. I was tortured for seven months. It has been four and a half years now, my case is pending in Mirpur court, but there is no outcome."

While narrating the modus operandi between the security agencies, judiciary, and criminals, she said: "When my husband goes for hearing, two people in civil uniform, who call themselves as representatives from Army's agency, pick him up and the culprits take next hearing date as per the choice."

"I have written 42 letters to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. His office called me and inquired about it, but when I appealed for justice, they said that the Chief Justice has said that you are a married woman, and if a rape has happened, it is not a big thing," she said.

"In 2017, I protested outside the UN office in Muzaffarabad. I was beaten by the police along with my children. I have a right to protest and no one can take this right. My husband and our relatives are being targeted by the police. Several FIRs are being registered against them," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New evidence suggests that conjunctivitis  or pink eye  can be a sign that you have caught COVID-19.

There have been several well-documented symptoms associated with coronavirus, including a sore throat, dry cough and a high fever, as well as loss of taste and smell. Now, it seems that conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye) has been reported as another symptom in some patients who have contracted the virus.

Recently, a nurse told news reporters in the United States that she and her colleagues from a Life Care Center in Washington state suspected that conjunctivitis could, in fact, be a significant tell-tale sign that someone has contracted COVID-19.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic of 2003, which also involved a strain of coronavirus, reinforced that the eye can, in fact, transmit infection.

A study by Chinese scientists has found that, although the incidence of transmission was extremely low, the coronavirus can penetrate the ocular surface. This makes sense, given that the virus can enter through other mucous membranes, such as those in our nose and mouth.

How it works

Conjunctivitis is the inflammation or swelling of the conjunctiva, the thin layer of tissue that lines the inner surface of the eyelid.

Conjunctivitis is typically caused by a viral or bacterial infection, but it can also develop due to acute allergic reactions or environmental irritants like pollen.

The same viruses that cause the common cold and influenza can cause conjunctivitis.

When you are sick, you can spread the infection to your eye through physical contact, such as sneezing into your hand and then rubbing your eye. This is also true for the COVID-19 virus. This is why health officials recommend that you wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face.

Because the coronavirus is encased in lipids (or fat), soap can dissolve the virus just like dish soap cuts through grease.

When you wash your hands with soap and warm water, you not only decrease the chance of transmission, you also increase the odds of killing the virus.

Taking these measures will reduce your chances of contracting COVID-19, and if you are already infected, they will help limit the spread of the disease to vulnerable places like the eye.

How do you know if you have conjunctivitis?

You may have conjunctivitis if you have pink or red eyes, increased tear production, itching, irritation, burning, discharge, and/or crusting of the eyelids or eyelashes, especially upon awakening.

Viral conjunctivitis can occur alongside symptoms of a cold or flu, and it may look different from the symptoms described above.

The discharge from the eye may be more watery, rather than thick or mucousy, and the infection typically starts in one eye and then spreads to the other because it is highly contagious.

When to worry

Although conjunctivitis has been reported in only 1 percent of COVID-19 patients, it is important to note that if you have conjunctivitis coupled with respiratory symptoms and a fever, you may have contracted the coronavirus.

Call your physician before visiting the doctors office so that you avoid transmitting the virus to others.

How to prevent the spread and protect yourself

As described above, it is important to wash your hands often and to avoid touching your face, especially after you have come into contact with public or shared surfaces.

The virus can also spread through aerosol transmission in pathogenic droplets  which have been sneezed or coughed out by someone carrying the virus  in the air, tears and other ocular secretions.

Therefore, it is critical to protect yourself at home as well. Do not share eye drops, contact lens cleaner or cosmetics with other people, and do not share a toilet with a person who has symptoms of COVID-19.

Wash your pillow covers, face towels and hand towels, and throw away any makeup that has been used while you were symptomatic, or that you used in the days prior to the onset of symptoms. As we have learned, coronavirus can last anywhere from hours to days on the surface of objects.

With conjunctivitis showing as a symptom of COVID-19, it is possible that ophthalmologists may be the first in contact with the virus. Therefore, it is extremely important that healthcare providers wear eye protection in addition to masks, gloves and gowns.
Jason Dundas has given a fans a glimpse at Los Angeles' eerily deserted streets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a video for BUILD, posted to the series' Instagram page on Tuesday, the 37-year-old TV presenter toured the unusually empty streets of Hollywood.

'This is Hollywood right now. Three-and-a-half weeks into quarantine, at least another four to go,' he began.

For the full video, watch here.

Emptied out: Jason Dundas has given a fans a glimpse at Los Angeles' eerily deserted streets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

He added: 'You're only allowed on the street for essentials, like food, which is what I'm doing right now.'

Jason explained that he was supposed to have started filming his new series, Stopover for BUILD, but everything was put on hold because of the pandemic.

'Everything changed on March 15th, this whole city stopped,' he added.

Deserted: In a video for BUILD, posted to the series' Instagram page on Tuesday, the 37-year-old TV presenter toured the unusually empty streets of Hollywood

The way it was: The normally bustling city has been transformed into a ghost town, with people forced into their homes and businesses closing their doors. Pictured, the streets of Hollywood in March 2015

Showing off his Dundas Media office in Hollywood, Jason revealed he and his staff hadn't been able to visit the premises in three weeks.

He then turned the camera to the sprawling queue for the grocery store across the street, explaining even a simple trip to the supermarket had become an ordeal.

'It takes about two hours to get your groceries and it's rations, you're only allowed a certain number of items,' he said.

Lining up: He then turned the camera to the sprawling queue for the grocery store across the street, explaining even a simple trip to the supermarket had become an ordeal

'I don't know that anybody knows what this industry is gonna look like on the heels of this virus...' confessed actor Edi Gathegi. Pictured, the thriving streets of Hollywood in July 2018

Jason said everyone out in public was now wearing face masks, after the governor of California stated everyone needed to wear one when outside.

The normally bustling city has been transformed into a ghost town, with people forced into their homes and businesses closing their doors.

Speaking to actor Edi Gathegi via a video call, the 41-year-old X-Men star told Jason he wasn't sure if Hollywood would ever recover.

Staying away: Showing off his Dundas Media office in Hollywood, Jason revealed he and his staff hadn't been able to visit the premises in three weeks. Pictured at the G'Day USA Gala in Los Angeles in January 2019

'I don't know that anybody knows what this industry is gonna look like on the heels of this virus...' he confessed.

'I think that those of us who are still here when this is done, we will all be stronger. It's inevitable, what does not kill us makes us stronger.'

As of Wednesday local time in Los Angeles, there have been 19,063 confirmed cases of coronavirus in California, resulting in 507 deaths.
As the threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to grow in Wisconsin and our surrounding counties, Vernon County Health Department and Emergency Management staff and our public property managers are monitoring the most current information available to take proactive measures to reduce the risks of spreading COVID-19.

We all understand it is critical for our physical and psychological well-being to have safe outdoor recreational spaces available to use and enjoy, especially during this challenging and stressful time, according to a press release from the Emergency Operations Center. To that end, some adjustments to standard operations to all public Vernon County properties, parks and trails have been implemented and we ask for your understanding and adherence to our direction. Together we will get through this.

PUBLIC PROPERTIES, PARKS &TRAILS: All Vernon County, Kickapoo Valley Reserve, and Wildcat State Mountain public properties, parks and trails will remain open for day use. Hiking is allowed on all properties. Please check specific properties for bike and equestrian use details. However, if you are sick, stay out of the parks and stay home. While visiting our parks and trails, we ask that people respect one another and maintain a social distancing space of 6 feet or greater. By minimizing non-essential contact, we can all slow the spread of COVID-19.

PLAYGROUNDS: Closed until further notice.

CAMPING: All our public Vernon County campgrounds are closed through April 30 at this time. The COVID-19 outbreak is a fluid situation and is changing on a daily basis and these implementations are subject to change with short notice.

SHELTERS, PARK OFFICES & PARK VISITOR CENTERS: Also closed until further notice.

RESTROOMS: All restrooms in the parks will be closed or are very limited access.

TURKEY HUNTING & FISHING: In compliance with DNR license and seasons, turkey hunting and fishing will continue unchanged, especially for those that do not have to travel out of the region.

For more information on specific Vernon County public lands, please visit the following:

Vernon County Parks & Forests: https://www.vernoncounty.org/departments/land_and_water_conservation/parks_and_forests/index.php Phone: 608-637-5480;

Kickapoo Valley Reserve: http://kvr.state.wi.us/Home Phone: 608-625-2960;

Wildcat Mountain State Park and the DNR: https://dnr.wi.gov/covid-19/ Phone: 608- 337-4775;

Vernon Trails: http://vernontraiIs.com/ Phone 608-637-6993.

Getting outside is recommended but traveling out of your region to do so, is not. Given that Wisconsin has the safer-at-home order, please consider exploring in your own neighborhood at this time. We very much look forward to connecting in the future.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a fluid situation and is changing on a daily basis and these implementations are subject to change with short notice. The public should follow simple steps to prevent illness and avoid exposure to this virus including:

Avoid social gatherings with people of all ages;

Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water;

Cover coughs and sneezes;

Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose and mouth.

Visit the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for most up-to-date COVID-19 information and recommendations during this time: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19; follow @DHSWl on Facebook and Twitter, or dhs.wi on lnstagram. Additional information can be found on the CDC website.

Visit the Vernon County website for up-to-date information at www.vernoncounty.org or the County Health Department Facebook page at https//www.facebook.com/vernoncountyhealth
Cassiel Ato-Forson is making a mockery of his certificates with his destitute defense in relation to whether the Bank of Ghana Hospital was built by Mahama and should, therefore, be classified as his legacy or not.



Responding to Mr. Kweku Baako who made nonsense of the claim that Mahama built that edifice, the former Deputy Finance Minister said Mr. Baako needs to understand that the central bank has functional autonomy and that autonomy does not apply when it comes to the use of public funds.



What Ato-Forson fails to appreciate is the fact that in procuring loans, public boards and corporations created by an Act of Parliament are not mandated by law to go to Parliament for approval under Article 181 (5) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.



The Supreme Court, in determining this matter in the case between Francis Klomega vrs Attorney General held that such functions are not subjected to the dictates of Parliament. Impliedly, the issue of autonomy comes to play when it comes to funds of such establishments.



Another important example to look at is the cocoa syndicated loans which COCOBOD procures from the World Bank annually. These loans do not need Parliamentary approval and for that matter, Parliament does not supervise their applications much as the Executive cannot also determines how these funds are applied.



The Bank of Ghana, therefore, determines what, how and when it wants to apply its funds as determined by the Board and management. The autonomy of the central bank in its functions cannot be questioned by both the Legislature and Executive arms of Government. The Banks hospital cannot be a legacy for Mahama, under these unimpeachable facts.



P.K. Sarpong, Whispers from the Corridors of the Thinking Place.













Source: P.K. Sarpong









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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Cases will be registered against those who have "misguided" people linked to the Delhi Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Himachal Pradesh DGP Sita Ram Mardi said on Thursday, a day after he urged people who attended the event to come forward for COVID-19 tests.

The congregation took place early March in the national capital's Nizamuddin area and several people who attended it and then travelled to different parts of the country tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The Delhi government has sealed Nizamuddin which is a COVID-19 hotspot of the country.

"Cases will be registered against those who have misguided and ill-advised Jamaatis," the director general of police (DGP) said in a nearly seven-minute video statement, but he didn't elaborate as the matter is being investigated.

Mardi said till Thursday, 20 FIRs have been registered against 97 people linked to the Delhi event. The FIRs pertain to curfew violations and deliberately concealing travel history, he said.

We will go in deep and probe who misguided them, the DGP said.

Fifty-one mobile phones have been seized from several of those against whom FIRs were registered, state police spokesperson Khushal Sharma said, adding that data of two of the seized phones has been procured.

DGP Mardi said currently, all the 21 COVID-19 positive active cases in the state are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event.

He said 626 people linked to the congregation have been identified and quarantined in the state so far.

While 333 of them are those who returned to Himachal Pradesh after attending the Nizamuddin event, 293 are their primary contacts, he added.

Mardi said there are reports of some people writing on social media against the entire Muslim community due to Tablighi Jamaat event.

Stressing on the need for unity, he said that according to article 51 A (e) of the Constitution it is our fundamental duty to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.

Cautioning people against online frauds, he said some persons and non-governmental organisations are collecting money in the name of COVID-19 relief funds.

Advising people to donate only to genuine persons and NGOs after properly verifying, Mardi stated It is better to donate to the PM or CM COVID-19 Solidarity Response Funds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After hitting a high of 30,847.10, the 30-share Sensex was trading 925.67 points or 3.10 per cent higher at 30,819.63.

The benchmark indices opened in green in the stock market today in line with broader Asia, as investors hoped that the coronavirus pandemic was nearing its peak and that governments would roll out more stimulus measures.

The Sensex soared over 900 points in opening trade on Thursday led by gains in financial, IT and FMCG stocks following rise global equities on hopes of the COVID-19 pandemic approaching its peak.

After hitting a high of 30,847.10, the 30-share BSE barometer was trading 925.67 points or 3.10 per cent higher at 30,819.63.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was quoting 270.05 points, or 3.09 percent, up at 9,018.80.

HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging up to 5 percent, followed by Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, HUL was the sole laggard.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer closed 173.25 points or 0.58 percent lower at 29,893.96, and the Nifty settled 43.45 points, or 0.49 percent, down at 8,748.75.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 1,943.41 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Rupee opened 23 paise higher at 76.11 against US dollar.

#Rupee opens slightly higher against yesterday's close, but remains above 76 Vs US dollar pic.twitter.com/Jty03Smr5o  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 9, 2020

According to experts, hopes of another financial stimulus hope before the end of the lockdown period buoyed investor sentiment in early session.

Further, slowing pace of fresh COVID-19 cases has also lent some momentum to global markets, they said, according to PTI.

MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, following a strong Wall Street close

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.55 percent to $33.34 per barrel.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in India rose to 166 and the number of cases to 5,734, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Global tally of the infections has crossed 14.8 lakh, with over 88,000 deaths.

NSE gives more time to brokers for submission of reports

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has relaxed compliance requirements for brokers to submit reports pertaining to client funding and net worth certificates in the wake of prevailing coronavirus pandemic.

However, the due date for submitting the quarterly report on incidence of cyber-attacks and threats will remain unchanged  15 days after the end of the quarter, NSE said in a circular, according to a PTI report.

The exchange has given time till 30 April to brokers for submitting reports on client funding, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications and quarterly compliance certificate.

The due dates for submitting report on AI and ML applications and quarterly compliance certificate was April 15, while the same for client funding was April 7.

Further, NSE has extended time by one month, till 30 June, for submission of report on risk-based supervision, audit as well as net worth certificate for members for half year ending March, 2020. These reports were required to be submitted at the end of May.

Also, reports on system or cyber audit can now be submitted till 31 July. Earlier, it was required to be submitted by June 30.

Besides, the exchange has given relaxation of one month till 31 May for submitting compliance certificates on margin trading for half year ending March, 2020.

Asian shares up

Asian shares rose on Thursday on hopes the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing a peak and that governments would roll out more stimulus measures, while expectations of an oil production cut agreement bolstered crude prices.

MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, following a strong Wall Street close, Reuters said.

Shares in China, where the novel coronavirus first emerged late last year, rose 0.54 percent. Australian shares were up 1.52 percent.

Oil prices extended gains on hopes major producers will cut output at a meeting later in the day in response to a collapse in global oil demand.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the states efforts at social distancing were working in getting the virus under control in one of the biggest hot spots in the United States.

US President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the US economy with a big bang but that the death toll from the coronavirus first needs to be heading down.

There are signs that infections are peaking, which is leading to the change in market sentiment, said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co in Tokyo.

We still need to be very careful, because this is not purely an economic problem. Its more like a natural disaster and, therefore, harder to predict.

The S&P 500 gained 3.41 percent on Wednesday, helped by hopes the pandemic was nearing its peak. However, US stock futures gave up earlier gains to be down 0.27 percent.

The Trump administration has asked lawmakers for an additional $250 billion in aid for small US businesses.

--With inputs from agencies
Thousands of migrant workers are being moved out of crowded dormitories in Singapore after a surge in new coronavirus cases linked to the sites, authorities said Thursday. A sharp jump in cases in the massive dormitories had already prompted authorities to quarantine four complexes housing tens of thousands of people this week. Fears had been growing among the workers, many of whom are construction labourers from South Asia, that they were highly vulnerable to infection in the cramped dorms where social distancing is difficult. Singapore health officials Thursday reported a record daily increase of 287 new virus cases -- over 200 of which were linked to the dorms. In a bid to reduce the risk of infection, many migrant workers are now being moved from dormitories to other sites including military barracks, vacant apartment blocks and a massive exhibition site where the Singapore Airshow takes place, authorities said. About 5,000 who work in services deemed essential have already been transferred, and thousands more will be transferred in the coming days with the help of the armed forces and the police, they said. "We are sparing no effort to contain the spread of the virus in the foreign worker dormitories," said Lawrence Wong, a cabinet minister who is a key figure in Singapore's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. But he warned that "despite our best efforts at containing the situation, all of us have to be mentally prepared that the numbers in the foreign worker dormitories will continue to rise in the coming days, and perhaps even in the coming week". - Social distancing 'impossible' - The focus will be on moving healthy migrant workers who work in essential services -- such as construction, cleaning and public transport -- out of the dorms. Officials did not say how many in total would be moved. The government will also step in to help run the dorms, which are usually privately operated. There are some 200,000 workers living in 43 dorms in the city-state. The sprawling complexes are usually self-contained, have shops and other facilities on-site, and are often located in less desirable parts of the city. Construction workers typically toil for long hours, earning in the region of $400 to $500 a month building the city-state's glittering skyscrapers and shopping malls. One worker from Bangladesh, who lives in a dorm where there are several known infections, earlier told AFP that social distancing to fight the virus was "impossible". "One small room with 12 people living together... how can we make social distance?" the labourer said in English, on the condition of anonymity. He said hygiene standards were poor and workers were forced to use a communal cooking area and bathroom. "We know the virus character, how this is spread -- so if this living condition continue I am very worried," he added. The ministry of manpower has scrambled to improve conditions at the dorms, with caterers brought in to provide regular meals and cleaning services ramped up. A task force involving government officials, police and the armed forces has also been set up to provide support to foreign workers and dormitory operators. But Amnesty International warned quarantining workers in close proximity could be a "recipe for disaster", and migrant rights campaigners had been pushing for them to be moved to other sites. Singapore has reported 1,768 virus cases including six deaths, relatively low by global standards, and has won praise for its handling of the outbreak. But infections are rising sharply and authorities this week introduced tough new curbs, including closing most workplaces and asking people to stay at home. The infections at the dorms have sparked soul-searching in Singapore about the treatment of foreign labourers, who have played a key role in the city-state's dramatic transformation from a gritty port into an ultra-modern financial hub. Writing on Facebook, veteran Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh said it should be a "wake-up call to treat our indispensable foreign workers like a first world country should, and not in the disgraceful way in which they are treated now". Singapore has quarantined four large dormitory complexes housing tens of thousands of mostly South Asian workers, where more than 200 coronavirus cases have been detected There are about 280,000 migrant construction workers in Singapore who mostly live in self-contained dorms Infections in Singapore are rising sharply and authorities this week introduced tough new curbs, including closing most workplaces and asking people to stay at home Infections in the migrant worker dorms have sparked soul-searching in the city-state about its treatment of foreign labourers
AS supplies of face masks become scarce across the world, local manufactures in Tanzania are facing shortages of key raw materials and equipment to assist them to meet demand.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday Pristine Manufacturing Company Limited (PMCL), Director, Mr Alnoor Lakha said as the global demand for masks soars it has become a challenge to get raw materials.

We request for government facilitation to ease access of raw materials from China and India, the good thing is both countries representatives are in Tanzania, he noted.

He added The price for raw materials is spiking in the world previously we used to buy it for 4 US dollar per kilogram but currently the price has soared to 60 US dollars per kilogram,

Mr Lakha who was briefing the Industries and Trade Minister, Innocent Bashungwa who toured the industry said PMCL commenced operations eight weeks ago a tough time in the world as the countries battles against the pandemic Covid-19 thus becoming difficult to achieve their goal.

He said the factory daily capacity is 25,00030,000 pieces but once they get sufficient raw materials and assured of stable power supply the production will be 45,000 pieces maximum capacity.

On equipment he said across the globe industries transfer their skills to make items that can help protect healthcare workers and the general public against Covid-19 but they fail to supplement the effort as the machines they ordered to assist them on production are still stuck in India.

According to him, the factory operates in both modes that are production and teaching local staff the production process in which they have one foreign expert and 16 Tanzanians trainees.

Responding to their concerns, Mr Bashungwa assured them that he will request a meeting with the Chinese and Indian Ambassadors to Tanzania to see how they can assist local manufacturers to acquire raw material from their countries.

We aim to empower local industries to produce as many face masks as possible, I hope to talk with the ambassadors as soon as possible, he said.

However, he did not tell the exact demand of face masks in the country, on pricing he said, facial masks are sold at 2,000/-but PMCL sells a 50 pcs box at 15,000/- which he termed as cheaper compared to the imported ones.

Demand for face masks and other vital medical supplies have raised their price on the market globally.

China is the worlds largest producer of them, with a reported daily capacity of 20 million pieces, but by the estimate of its manufacturer's domestic demand alone is around 50 to 60 million per day.

Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA), Acting Director Medical Products control, Mr Akida Khea said a quality face mask must have been made of durable fabric and under hygiene conditions.

From the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there was no need for people who are well to wear a mask instead they should be worn by those who are sick, and medical and health care workers but this week they have said they certainly see circumstances on which the use of masks, both home-made and cloth masks, at the community level may help with an overall comprehensive response to this disease, he noted

Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Director General, Dr Ngenya Yusuf said they have inspected the factory and was satisfied with the quality of masks produced as they meet the set standard.
Hundreds of Delhi government employees residing in Gulabi Bagh here are up in arms over the shifting of around 120 Tablighi Jamaat members to a quarantine centre set up at a school surrounded by flats, and fear the spread of COVID-19 in the area.

The Delhi government employees welfare association has written to Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding that the quarantine centre be shifted to another place where the population is less.

Sanjeev Bharadwaj, president of Gulabi Bagh government flats RWA --- the biggest Delhi government employees residential colony in city, said that there are 15,000 residents in the area and the school, which has been converted into quarantine centre, is located in the middle of residential flats.

He said that if members of Tablighi Jamaat are not shifted immediately to another place, their area, where government employees are engaged in essential public services, may be the next hotspot.

"There is fear among families of government employees. On Tuesday, two members of Tablighi Jamaat tried to escape from the quarantine centre, but they were caught.

"I have also written to the LG and CM to shift them to such area which is not surrounded by dense population," Bharadwaj said.

In his letter to Baijal and Kejriwal, theDelhi government employees welfare association general secretary Umesh Batra saidthat at present, 2500 officers and officials are residing in Gulabi Bagh along with 15,000 family members.

At present, 120 Jamaatis have been sent to this school for quarantine by ignoring the fact that most of the staff residing there is on emergency duty to contain the COVID-19.

"This school is surrounded by residential flats, and residents and their family members are in tension these days as 2-3 members of Tablighi Jamaat tried to escape from this school few days back," Batra said.

Recently, the Delhi government had evacuated around 2,340 members of Tablighi Jamaat from Nizammuddin Markaz where they attended religious congregation last month.

The Nizammuddin Markaz has emerged as a major hotspot of coronavirus not only in Delhi, but also in the country.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Wednesday mounted to 669, with 93 fresh cases reported in a day.

According to the health department, the total cases include 426 people who took part in Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SPRINGFIELD  Paul Kalill was a devoted family man, decorated Vietnam veteran, political junkie, successful attorney, academic, onetime advisor to a U.S. president  and a committed maintainer of lifelong friendships. He died Tuesday night from COVID-19 at the age of 77.

Gerald Glasser, his law partner of 42 years, said Kalill bumped into him in 1978 and offered him a job at his small State Street firm. Then a city councilor, Kalill was considering a run for statewide office at the time.

There were lots of lawyers who came and went over the years, but we just stayed together, Glasser said.

Glasser said he last spoke with Kalill on a Friday when he began feeling ill. He had seemed perfectly healthy just a day earlier. Their office suite was filled with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. They believed they were doing everything right.

This all happened so fast ... the illness and just the whole process was so rapid. I had been watching the news, like everyone else. It was in California and Seattle and Italy and Spain. It just felt so abstract. And then it hit home ... not close to home, but home. Its just hard for me to wrap my head around, Glasser said.

Kalills was among 433 coronavirus-related deaths across Massachusetts.

A Westfield resident and Bronze Star recipient, Kalill was also a former radio host, college professor and psychologist. He leaves his wife, Alison; four children, Robert, Anne, Peter and Katherine; and a stepdaughter, Ashley Gearing.

A Pittsfield native, Kalill was an aide to Boston Mayor John F. Collins in the late 1960s. He moved to Springfield in 1971 and two years later was elected to the first of three terms on the City Council, placing third on the ballot in his first attempt.

In 1977, Kalill proposed a three-term limit for city councilors, and at the end of his own third term in 1980, he left without seeking re-election.

"One should not stay forever, he said at the time.

In 1991, Kalill ran for mayor. He was among a field of contenders who sought to succeed Mayor Mary Hurley as Springfields chief executive. He came in third behind City Councilors Raymond M. DiPasquale and Robert T. Markel, who went on to become mayor.

During an interview with The Republican in the midst of his mayoral run, Kalill spoke of his U.S. Army service and the fragility of life. As an Army captain, he said he worked closely with the CIA, gathering intelligence and advising Vietnamese villagers on setting up governments as well as coordinating social services.

Kalill told the newspaper seeing death in Vietnam helped him grow up fast and understand the value of life and how delicate it is.

Decades before social media influencers were a thing  Kalill was an influencer in the truest sense, according to his friends.

Ed Matys, a former Springfield Daily News reporter who went on to launch the Valley Advocate in the late 1970s, said he and Kalill met shortly before they worked together on President Jimmy Carters successful campaign in 1976. Matys said Kalill served as an advisor to Carter during the campaign on matters of ethics and the Middle East. He believed Kalill may have even made the short list for a job in Carters administration.

When Matys launched the Valley Advocate in Amherst, he said Kalill was supportive and insightful  particularly when Matys introduced a Springfield edition.

Paul gave me insight into some of the personalities, things to be aware of  and mostly nuances of the political behind-the-scenes goings on, Matys said. He knew what was right and he was usually on that side. I considered him a mentor and certainly a person I would trust with anything."

Although Matys moved about the country over the years, including to California and currently in Greater Boston, the men maintained a close friendship.

Glasser said many of Kalills friendships spanned decades.

He was the most caring and compassionate person. He cared deeply about his family and friends, Glasser said. He was always calling and finding out how people were, seeing what was new in peoples lives  participating in the joyous times in their lives and the sad ones."

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno also recalled a warm relationship with Kalill over the years.

He was just a great all-around guy. He had that dry wit and wisdom. Paul was a real gentleman, Sarno said, adding that he heard Kalill was gravely ill on Tuesday night and called his home to leave a message of encouragement.

Then I woke up the next morning, and he had passed, Sarno said. It shocking and sad ... We are in the middle of something very, very serious.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, a Springfield Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, served with Kalill on the Springfield City Council in the early 1970s.

Paul Kalill was the living embodiment of the word service, Neal said. Service to his country as a veteran. Service to his city as a Springfield city councilor. Service to his church, his family, his friends, his clients, the list goes on. It is with great sadness that we mourn his passing to this terrible disease.
By Trend

Azerbaijani Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population has concluded a contract with Azermash LLC, Trend reports referring to the state procurement website.

The corresponding contract worth over 1.9 million manat ($1.1 million) envisages the purchase of 164 Khazar LX cars.

The official opening of the Azermash plant was held on March 29, 2018. The plant was founded by Iran Khodro and Azerbaijans AzEuroCar companies.

The plant is located in the Neftchala Industrial District in southeastern Azerbaijan.

All cars produced at the plant comply with Euro-5 standards.

Investments made to establish the enterprise at the first stage amounted to $15 million.

($1 = 1.7 manat on Apr.9)

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) -Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX: MIN) (FSE: 3XS) (OTCQX: EXMGF) ("Excelsior" or the "Company") is providing an update on its temporary suspension of operations (see Excelsior news release dated March 26, 2020 - Excelsior Provides Corporate Update). As the duration of the suspension remains unknown at this time, Excelsior is taking steps to conserve cash and maintain a robust balance sheet. Excelsior is reducing its workforce, while retaining the personnel necessary to maintain the facilities and sustain environmental monitoring and compliance requirements. The Gunnison Copper Project will be maintained in a safe care and maintenance state; thereby, allowing Excelsior the ability to restart the wellfield when timing is deemed optimal.

In order to provide additional liquidity during this period, Excelsior has also now received the second US$5 million loan installment from Natural Resources Credit Fund I LP (see Excelsior news release dated November 1, 2019 - Excelsior Mining Secures Credit Facility).

"The Company's focus remains employee health and safety, as well as maintaining a strong balance sheet during these challenging times," said CEO, Stephen Twyerould. "Excelsior is retaining the flexibility to restart production at the Gunnison Copper Project once the uncertainty caused by the global pandemic passes."

Excelsior is also restructuring its Chief Financial Officer position by appointing Mr. Greg Duschek as Interim Chief Financial Officer. After a short transition period, Mr. Duschek will take over the role from Mr. Roger Baer. Mr. Duschek is currently General Manager at the Gunnison mine site and through this role has excellent insight into operational and financial matters. Mr. Duschek is a CPA, CA who began his career with Ernst & Young. Throughout his career, Mr. Duschek has held senior accounting roles with several operating mining companies including Kinross Gold and Detour Gold.

About Excelsior Mining

Excelsior "The Copper Solution Company" is a mineral exploration and production company that owns the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County, Arizona. The project is a low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project that is permitted to 125 million pounds per year of copper cathode production. The Feasibility Study projected an after-tax NPV of US$ 807 million and an IRR of 40% using a US$ 2.75 per pound copper price and a 7.5% discount rate.

Excelsior's technical work on the Gunnison Copper Project is supervised by Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President & CEO of Excelsior and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Twyerould has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Additional information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: "Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study" dated effective December 17, 2016.

For more information on Excelsior, please visit our website at www.excelsiormining.com.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Excelsior Mining Corp.

Concord Place, Suite 300, 2999 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85018.

JJ Jennex, Vice President, Corporate Affairs

T: 604 723 1433

E: info@excelsiormining.com

www.excelsiormining.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" concerning anticipated developments and events that may occur in the future. Forward looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the results of the Feasibility Study, including operating and capital cost estimates and the economic benefits from the Gunnison Copper Project; (ii) the schedule for production and first copper cathode sales; (iii) the details of the care and maintenance operation plan; (iv) the Company's cash forecast; (v) the timeline to re-start operations; (vi) the Company's liquidity position; and (vii) the ability to mine the Gunnison Copper Project using in-situ recovery mining techniques.

In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, expectations and anticipated impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, copper and other metal prices, the timing and amount of future development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the progress of construction activities, receipt of and compliance with necessary regulatory approvals, the estimation of insurance coverage, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks inherent in the construction of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in project parameters as plans continue to be redefined including the possibility that mining operations may not commence at the Gunnison Copper Project, risks relating to variations in mineral resources and reserves, grade or recovery rates, risks relating to the ability to access infrastructure, risks relating to changes in copper and other commodity prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of copper and related products, risks related to increased competition in the market for copper and related products, risks related to current global financial conditions, risks related to current global financial conditions and the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks inherent in the conduct of mining activities, including the risk of accidents, labour disputes, increases in capital and operating costs and the risk of delays or increased costs that might be encountered during the construction process, regulatory risks, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks, risks related to disputes concerning property titles and interests, environmental risks and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's reports and filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54298
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 02:52:55|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Health Ministry on Thursday announced a new COVID-19 infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 15.

"Epidemiological reports of the Federal Ministry of Health have confirmed a new case of infection with the coronavirus, bringing the total to 15," said the ministry in a statement.

The new case is a Sudanese man in his 40s, who returned from the United Arab Emirates, the ministry noted, pointing out that the patient is now receiving the necessary medical care at an isolation center.

According to the ministry, the total number of suspected cases at the quarantine centers in the country reached 238.

No new death cases have been reported except for the two that were previously announced, it added.
The Bihar government on Wednesday issued a notification for promoting all students of the 2019-20 academic session from class 1 to 11, except class 10, to the next class without annual examination. For class 10 and 12 students, board examinations are held.

The notification, marked to all the head masters and principals, has been issued as holding of examination is not possible since all schools have been closed from March 13 to April 14 amid COVID-19 outbreak.

In Bihar, education in government schools has been badly hit since Durga Puja last year due to sent-up examinations, closure due to cold wave and later due to board examinations. Since February 17, the teachers have also been on strike and the government also released their salary only for the month of January and rest of the non-strike period.

On Wednesday, however, the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) released 802.74 crore for salary payment to primary teachers for the month of March, but with a rider that the full payment should be made only to those who have not been on strike. For those who have rejoined, payment be made for the period except the strike duration, said a BEPC letter to all the DEOs and DPOs

With the continuing strike starting to take a toll on school teachers in the midst of coronavirus outbreak and the their association also circulating details of some of the teachers breathing their last during the lockdown period, the Bihar government did provided them a window to join work without any hassles, but the teachers want some amicable settlement on their demands. The government is in no mood for that in the midst of the crisis.

In a letter to the district programme officer (establishment), the district education officer (DEO) of Patna Jyoti Kumar recently wrote that those headmasters in-charge or teachers desirous of withdrawing from strike and rejoining need not go to schools during the lockdown period to give their joining. Similar letters were also issued by few other DEOs also.

They can give joining letter to their controlling officers through whatsapp, clearly mentioning the strike period and the date of assuming duty. The application will be approved the day they report after the schools reopen, said the letter, adding that verbal approval from the additional chief secretary, department of education, rK Mahajan, has been obtained on phone.

It is not known how many teachers have reported on duty, but the Bihar education project council (BEPC) did release 802.74-crore for salary payment to primary teachers for the month of March on Wednesday, but with a rider that that full payment should be made only to those who have not been on strike. For those who have rejoined, payment be made for the period except the strike duration, said a BEPC letter to all the DEOs and DPOs.

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Five prisons in the state have been locked down, Sunil Ramanand, Additional Director General, Maharashtra Prisons confirmed on Thursday.

Prisons at Yerawada in Pune; Arthur road and Byculla, in Mumbai, and prisons at Thane and Kalyan are on lockdown to ensure the Covid-19 infection caused by the Sars-Cov-2 virus, does not break out inside.

I have issued the order for the lockdown of five central prisons. Medically examined prison staff will lock themselves up until further orders and administer the prisons without stepping out. The move has been initiated as these five prisons are located in affected areas of the state and hold very large number of inmates, way beyond capacity. This is s preventive measure in view of Corona spread, said ADG Ramanand.

Currently, no cases of Covid-19 inmates have been reported from these five prisons, ADG Ramanand confirmed.

Since the nationwide lockdown was announced, inmates coming in to prisons in Maharashtra were to be kept in isolation for 14 days.

In an effort to decongest prisons, undertrial inmates in jail for crimes that could lead to imprisonment of seven years or less upon conviction, are currently being released.

According to a decision made by a Supreme Court- mandated committee, inmates eligible for release must be residents of Maharashtra.

Prisoners in cases involving serious economic offences, or bank scams, or booked under laws like the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA); Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA); Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID); Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS); and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (Uapa), will not be eligible release, as per directions of the committee.

The District legal service authority (DLSA) is filing appeals for prisoners eligible for release and concerned judges are granting personal bonds.

The process of release started on March 27.

Until April 8, 3,271 prisoners were released from 37 jails in Maharashtra.

A total of 465 were released from Mumbai Central jail followed by 343 from Thane, 300 from Taloja and 270 from Yerawada.

A recent Supreme Court order also directed prison authorities to provide transport for the released prisoners.
A worker cleans the sanctuary at Greater Exodus Baptist Church on North Broad Street. Although many churches have closed because of the coronavirus epidemic, some worshippers are still attending services at Greater Exodus. Read more

While many places have been ordered to close under Pennsylvanias efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, churches, mosques, and synagogues are allowed to stay open. However, the stay-at-home-order states, Individuals should not gather in religious buildings or homes for services or celebrations until the stay-at-home order is lifted, and Gov. Tom Wolf is encouraging religious leaders to find alternatives to in-person gatherings.

It can be confusing.

I know that were nearing several holidays, including major religious holidays like Easter and Passover, Wolf said in a recent news release. As a person of faith, I understand how important it is to worship, and that congregating, whether for a service or seder dinner, can be at the very core of ones faith. But I also understand how important it is to help neighbors, and the best way to help our neighbors right now is not by congregating. Its by staying at home.

Protecting yourself and others

With Passover underway and Easter approaching, most religious institutions have chosen to remain closed. Even if yours is open, health experts advise you not to go.

While a lot of churches have been cognizant about steps like removing holy water to prevent transmitting the disease, the environment is not conducive to social distancing  were talking to one another, touching the pews, worshipping together, said Krys Johnson, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Temple University. Church is often also where we see our elders, and those are the people we need to be protecting the most.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters

Some places of worship are finding creative ways to hold services. Members of congregations in Newville, Pa., west of Harrisburg, for example, are pulling up every Sunday for Church at the Drive-In, held at the Cumberland Drive-In Theater. Traffic is directed to ensure that cars and churchgoers maintain social distancing.

Worship online

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia called off public Masses and services for Holy Week and Easter. But every Sunday at 11 a.m., individuals can go online for Mass. Its streamed live from the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul through the video platform Vimeo. Sundays Easter service will also be shown on WHYY-TV.

The Easter Mass at the basilica typically draws 1,000 people, and this years will be the first for new Archbishop Nelson J. Perez.

Many other Catholic churches are following suit with livestreams, as are local religious organizations of every faith. Yet a few congregations are carrying on as usual. Greater Exodus Baptist Church on North Broad Street is one of them.

Johnson strongly urged its members to stay at home and take advantage of the churchs livestreaming services via Facebook, YouTube, and its website. If your place of worship remains open, the advice remains the same.

Heres why. While you might feel fine and show up, a large proportion of people with coronavirus are asymptomatic and can still spread the disease  so you can affect a lot of people in just one church service, said Johnson.

Asymptomatic means people arent showing symptoms, but still carry and transmit the virus. Its a big part of why weve been advised to stay home. Even if we dont feel sick, we can still infect others.
Yemeni missile strike kills dozens of Saudi-led soldiers, mercenaries

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 3:32 PM

Dozens of Saudi-led soldiers and Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, have been killed when Yemeni army forces and their allies fired a domestically-manufactured ballistic missile at their camp in the southern Yemeni provinces of Abyan.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on Wednesday afternoon that Yemeni missile defense units launched a Qassim missile at al-Shajeri camp as Saudi coalition forces and their mercenaries were preparing to sneak towards areas in the province.

He added that the missile hit the designated target with great precision, leaving dozens of coalition members and Saudi-paid militiamen killed and injured.

Saree highlighted that Yemeni Armed Forces have the upper hand to target all forces of the Saudi-led aggression and their mercenaries wherever they are.

Later in the day, Saudi-led fighter jets launched at least nine airstrikes against the Hazm district in Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf. There were, however, no immediate reports about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

Separately, Saudi-led warplanes struck Qaniya area in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda on four occasions, with no reports of casualties and damage immediately available.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring Hadi back to power and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in their war on Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 12% in the last week. But that doesn't change the reality of under-performance over the last twelve months. The cold reality is that the stock has dropped 36% in one year, under-performing the market.

View our latest analysis for United States Cellular

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Unhappily, United States Cellular had to report a 15% decline in EPS over the last year. The share price decline of 36% is actually more than the EPS drop. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

NYSE:USM Past and Future Earnings April 9th 2020

We know that United States Cellular has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling United States Cellular stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that United States Cellular shareholders are down 36% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 6.0%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 3.9% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with United States Cellular .

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But note: United States Cellular may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Perhaps you've heard: Getting divorced is expensive. In fact, there is almost no such thing as a cheap divorce. Whether you're going to pay alimony or receive it, it's probably safe to say that most partners ending a marriage will soon feel as if they've taken a financial beating. Even if the breakup is amicable, splitting assets isn't pretty.

It's impossible to predict how much a divorce will cost you. It's kind of like a wedding, where you can spend tens of thousands of dollars -- or go to the courthouse and have a few friends over in the backyard for burgers and hot dogs for a reception.

With a divorce, you can easily spend $15,000, but you may get by with spending a couple thousand or less. Everybody's marriage and financial situation is different.

[Read: Setting Up a Trust Fund.]

What's important is that you and your spouse try to get along -- and that before you hire a divorce lawyer or a mediator, you get estimates on what the costs will likely be.

"Generally, couples make their divorce more costly by fighting. If couples can agree on issues, then the cost of a divorce is minimal," says Gabriel Cheong, an attorney and the owner of Infinity Law Group in Quincy, Massachusetts.

So if you're looking to avoid inflating the cost of your divorce, think good thoughts about your ex and try to do the following.

Try to Work Things Out Before Hiring Professionals

Now, with some marriages, where one partner is domineering and clearly out for only his or her interests, sure, you may need to hire an attorney, or at least a mediator, and prepare for war.

But before you go there, try to discuss how you want your post-marriage life to look and see if you and your partner are in agreement. If you two genuinely like each other -- you just don't love each other in the way that two partners should -- you might be able to work everything out, mostly on your own. You'll still want to each have an attorney look over your divorce paperwork and make sure you haven't accidentally done something you weren't intending.

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Cheong has a few topics in mind that you and your soon-to-be-ex spouse will want to discuss.

-- Health insurance. "Is everyone getting their own health insurance or is one spouse staying on another spouse's plan? If there are children, who's covering the children and how to divide up the cost?"

-- Property. How do you split it? That is, bank accounts, retirement and your home.

-- Alimony and child support. This is where things can get bad, fast. "If there are children, when will the children be with Mom, and when will the children be with Dad. The term 'custody' is very loaded and often elicits defensive responses," Cheong says. "Try to talk about it in terms of a schedule so everyone knows who's with who and when."

-- Taxes. "Will everyone be filing taxes jointly this year?" Cheong asks. "Who will take the tax deduction for children?"

"Those are the main issues, although most couples have issues with dividing assets and parenting times," he says. "The more they disagree and the harder they fight, the more expensive the process gets."

[See: 15 Little Things That Impact Your Finances.]

And if you can't work things out? You could hire a mediator to help you and your spouse work out a divorce agreement. You can still expect to spend a couple hundred dollars, and maybe more, for a session. As noted, there is no such thing as a cheap divorce. But every mediator will insist that they are less costly than an attorney.

If You Hire Attorneys, Use Them as Little as Possible

Even some divorce attorneys will tell you not to overdo it.

"I am always happy to talk to my clients about their case, but like most attorneys, I charge by the hour. The more frequently you talk to your attorney, the more expensive your bill will get," says Brent Morgan, an attorney in Midland, Texas, who owns the Morgan Law Office with his wife, Piper, who is also a lawyer. About 40% of his caseload, he says, is family law and divorces.

"Clients get the impression I am there to listen to every single thing their spouse has ever done wrong in a marriage. They will find a sympathetic ear but a hefty bill," Morgan says.

That doesn't mean don't call a lawyer. But think of talking to one as you would if you were riding in a taxi. The lawyer's time isn't your own. The meter is always running.

Don't Drag Your Feet on the Paperwork

That can cost you, says Erik Danielson, an attorney and founder of Danielson Law Firm headquartered in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who is also licensed in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.

"The biggest way we see clients making their divorce more expensive than it should be is simply by not listening to their attorney. In this case, the attorney is the expert," Danielson says.

So if your lawyer requests documents, Danielson suggests getting the papers to your attorney quickly and preferably in an organized manner.

"We have rules to follow and the more cooperative you are, the less time -- and money -- we will spend on unnecessary tasks. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but don't bombard us with questions about why you have to follow the rules," Danielson advises.

[See: 25 Ways to Fix Your Finances Fast.]

If You Can, Talk to the Lawyer's Staff -- and Not the Lawyer

"While any attorney is happy to answer questions for their clients, and some questions require the legal expertise only an attorney can provide, too often people going through a divorce will ask their attorneys basic questions a trained paralegal or assistant can answer," Morgan says. "The attorney's staff can answer a lot of your questions -- or listen to you complain about your spouse -- at either a much lower rate or for free."

Understand That Divorce May Not Change Your Ex for the Better

"If your husband's meals are terrible, he's not suddenly going to become a gourmet chef whenever your children are at his house. If your wife is on Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat every other minute, that's probably going to continue," Morgan says. "Too often, clients think the judge is there to order their spouse to stop doing all of the things they don't like, and the attorney is to help ensure it happens."

If you and your spouse come to terms with that, Morgan says, you're both less likely to turn to your attorneys and add to your legal bills by getting them involved in what are ultimately petty squabbles.





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Timesheets.com Logo Timesheets.com is in a unique position to help organizations expeditiously transition their teams to home-based work. Additionally, companies need to track sick time, and Timesheets.com can eliminate delays and the confusion associated with getting that setup.

Timesheets.com is proud to announce an initiative designed to help the medical community and medical manufacturers involved in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Timesheets.com announced today that they will provide free mobile employee time and time-off tracking for any such business beginning April 9th, 2020. The offer of free service will remain until local, state, and federal shelter-in-place orders are lifted.

Additionally, any new subscribers not directly involved on the front lines of the fight, but nevertheless impacted adversely by the onset of the coronavirus, will receive a 95% discount for two full months of service.

Timesheets.com is in a unique position to help organizations expeditiously transition their teams to home-based work, says Timesheets.com CEO, Joel Slatis. Additionally, companies need to track sick time, and Timesheets.com can eliminate delays and the confusion associated with getting that setup and running.

For over 15 years, Timesheets.com has been a leader in time and expense tracking for payroll and billing. Using cloud-based technology, employers can enjoy accurate payroll and billing calculations, efficient time off management, organized expense records, and powerful reporting. With time tracking on the cloud, companies experience increased profitability, better business processes, and superior managerial oversight.
Uyghurs Deported to Other Provinces as Slave Laborers to Restart Economy

Reproduced from Bitter Winter: A magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China

TikTok and DouYin videos pouring out of Xinjiang during the past two weeks have confirmed fears that Beijing is using Uyghur and other Turkic youth as slave laborers and cannon fodder to kickstart the Chinese economy.

Given that the nation is only just getting back on its feet after months of lockdown, and experts still have yet to give the all clear regarding the virus, the clips showing hundreds of corona-masked Uyghurs being amassed at transport hubs around the region with marching orders to work in factories in inner China, are giving Uyghur activists deep concern.

The clips using the popular DouYin Chinese video sharing social networking site have been gathered by Australian-based Uyghur exile Alip Erkin who posts them on his Twitter feed Uyghur Bulletin. Despite a flurry of negative videos coming from the epicenter of Uyghur persecution last summer, which were all but quashed by the networks creator Bytedance early this year, recent posts have managed to circumvent the firewall to bring the latest news to the outside world.

According to Radio Free Asias Alim Seytoff, the recorded mass movement of young people out of the province coincided with Chinas widespread coronavirus lockdown, when other Chinese were forbidden to leave their homes. These videos came out at the time when coronavirus was spreading in China and around the world, when most Chinese companies were shutting down and no-one was working, he said. And we only see the mass transfer of Uyghur laborers to other parts of China at this time.

Some of the videos were Chinese government propaganda showing happy Uyghurs setting off to seek their fortunes, as part of its three-year poverty alleviation drive which aims to eradicate absolute impoverishment by 2020. One caption described 850 laborers from impoverished families in Hotan who were arriving by special train in Korla to work for six companies, including the Zhongtai textile group and the Litai Silk road company.

Seytoff pointed out that it was impossible to determine whether these gangs of young people were being forcibly or voluntarily relocated. Dissent in any event would be futile. If they refuse, they fear that they will be put into camps, he said, referring to the dreaded transformation through education camps and to the past three years of draconian measures to quell Uyghur culture, language and religion which has seen three million Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim incarcerated without trial, ostensibly for re-education.

A facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, in Artux, north of Kashgar in Chinas western Xinjiang region, on June 2, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images)

He added that all Uyghurs shown in the videos who had been rounded up, were wearing masks. Clearly, coronavirus is a risk for them, he said, adding that reliable sources had confirmed that many of those press-ganged were in fact camp detainees, who were forced into labor in factories in mainland China.

Musa Abdulehed ER, an Istanbul based writer/researcher, commenting on the exodus, questioned Beijings motives. We have to ask whether money is more important than life to the Chinese government? He said, concluding that the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) actions in sending swathes of Uyghurs into the virus heartland, spoke volumes. It is obvious that boosting the economy is more important than the lives of these young people, particularly at this time when Han Chinese are not working in the factories because of the virus, he said, also noting that widespread mask wearing showed that health concerns were still real. This is a clear indicator that the CCP are playing with the lives of Uyghur young people.

He was left to infer that Beijing was indifferent to life. The Chinese government clearly doesnt care whether they live or die, he said. Never mind if they die, but let them die working, he said cynically. We can never accept this and protest most strongly, he said, adding that finally the world is beginning to wake up to the evils of the CCP regime. We have been warning for years that China will bring disaster upon mankind. And here in the virus we see the results.

His greatest fear was that the young people were being taken out of Xinjiang with the express purpose that they might succumb to the virus and die. I would not put it past the Chinese government to have this in its mind, he said, citing the atrocities that have taken place in Xinjiang, particularly over the past three years. He demanded that the world at last take notice of the disaster that was being meted out on the Uyghur people and their culture, and exert pressure on the CCP to release detainees, stop the slave labor, and close the camps. They should be allowed to live freely and live as human beings, he pleaded.

By Ruth Ingram
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson agreed to accelerate the preparation of an agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments.

"The ministers reiterated their interest in accelerating preparation for the signing of important documents for further intensification of bilateral cooperation and interpersonal contacts: the agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments and the air link agreement," the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported upon the phone conversation between the ministers on April 8.

As noted, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine expressed interest in enhancing relations with Iceland which have deep historical roots.

Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson noted that his country as a NATO member state supported Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

The foreign ministers stated a common position on maintaining the sanction pressure on Russia until Moscow fully fulfils its obligations under the Minsk agreements and terminates the occupation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and not linking the sanctions with the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

The parties also noted the high level of cooperation within the international organizations.

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The novel coronavirus continues to rage through America, with the total cases standing at more than 210,000 and the death toll at over 5,000. It is without question that our seniorsthose 65 years of age or olderwill bear the brunt of the health consequences of COVID-19 and the projected American death toll of up to 240,000 this year.

It is now well known that seniors have a much higher chance of dying from the coronavirus than young people. Across the world, one in seven seniors infected with the virus dies from it. In New York City, they make up more than 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. However little light has been shed on COVID-19s indirect impact on the 47 million seniors living in the U.S. While tensif not hundredsof thousands of American seniors will succumb to this virus, numerous others will suffer effects as a result, specifically:

Lapses in necessary care. The surge of COVID-19 demand on our health care system means delaying valuable preventive and maintenance care; and

Social isolation. The necessary societal strategies for blunting the surge (social isolation and shelter-in-place) mean that seniors will experience more social isolation and difficulties accomplishing basic daily activities, like getting groceries and medications.

Both of these developments will increase illnesses and death among seniors during and after this pandemic.

Chronic conditions dont go on hiatus for a pandemic

As the pandemic makes its way across the nation, seniors will continue to experience unrelated heart attacks, strokes, cancer, complications from diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (annually about 5 million seniors die in the U.S).

Seniors have traditionally relied on outpatient visits with health care providers to obtain preventive care, as well as maintenance care for their chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes. Unfortunately, many of these necessary, but non-emergent, visits are rightfully being postponed to minimize provider and patient exposure to COVID-19. As a result, seniors are likely to experience greater morbidity from preventable diseases, such as stroke and heart attack, as well as exacerbation of their chronic conditions that were better-maintained in the pre-COVID-19 era. Many health systems are rapidly deploying telehealth to replace traditional office visits, yet seniors are the least likely to benefit from them due to their low technological adoption rates.

Health impacts of social isolation

In addition, COVID-19 will exacerbate the epidemic of social isolation among seniors, 14 million of whom live alone. Numerous studies suggest that social isolation leads to more sickness and deaths later in life. Socially isolated seniors experience more rapid progression of heart disease and dementia and are more likely to die compared to those with high levels of social support. Tragically, research suggests that social isolation has the same effect on health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Shelter-in-place orders and suspension of non-essential services further compromise seniors with limited transportation options. They are more apt to experience challenges in accomplishing basic activities required to stay healthy, such as getting groceries, picking up medications, and staying active. Worse yet, there is no end in sight for social distancing measures as public health experts project that they may be necessary intermittently for the next 18 months.

The collective we can help

It is imperative that we, as a society, come together and mobilize now to help seniors weather this COVID-19 storm. We must proactively care for their health needs, connect with them socially, and talk to them about end-of-life wishes.

We must begin by reaching out to the seniors we know and help them understand the exquisitely high risk of death with a COVID-19 infection and the importance of staying at home. We should also anticipate that seniors will face more challenges with accessing care when they do become sick, and ensure that they know whom to call, any time of the day and night, seven days a week.

We must also take a hands-on approach to manage seniors chronic medical illnesses and try to prevent them from getting sick from preventable causes. Health care providers need to proactively call those seniors most likely to get sick, treat at the earliest signs of worsening disease, and address any barriers to health, such as the inability to pick up medications. We should invest in creative ways to meet the health needs of seniors, including senior-friendly telehealth devices and platforms, and in-home care delivery models.

We also need to socially engage with seniors. Simply talking on a phone with a caring stranger can reverse the ill effects of social isolation. States like California have established a hotline to address senior loneliness and to connect them with local services. In addition to connecting with seniors over the phone, assisting with grocery and medication pick-up could help them stay healthy and stay alive.

Lastly, its more important than ever to have end-of-life conversations with our parents and grandparentsand for health care professionals, with our elderly patients. Over the last several years of caring for the elderly, I cannot count the number of times family members told me, I dont know what to do, we have never talked about what he (or she) would want in this situation.

In this current public health crisis, where seniors face a higher risk of dying and the medical resources to care for the sick are more limited than ever, it is imperative that we have these difficult but necessary conversations with our loved ones and patients. It is vital that we understand the type of care they want to receiveand how they would want to dieif they were to fall gravely ill. This New York Times article may be a helpful resource in this discussion.

Seniors will be the most vulnerable to, and most impacted by, this unprecedented pandemic sweeping through the world. We must do everything we can to help them weather through this storm, stay healthy, and in the worst of situations, plan for a dignified death. We can each start by simply picking up the phone and reaching out with support to our senior neighbors, family members, and patients. A simple phone call can mean the difference between life and death in the COVID-19 era.

Jason Bae is an internal medicine physician and medical director, Prealize Health.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Ukraine to receive tablets with hydroxychloroquine for free treatment of more than 22,000 patients with COVID-19  Health Ministry

Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov has said that Ukraine will receive humanitarian aid in the form of 320,000 tablets with the active substance hydroxychloroquine for the symptomatic treatment of patients with COVID-19.

"The necessary amount of the medication will be delivered as humanitarian aid by Sanofi and Sandoz. This will be enough to treat more than 22,000 patients," the Ministry of Health of Ukraine said on the Telegram channel on Thursday.

According to the ministry, this medication is prescribed in the national protocol for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 and is used for patients with severe illness flow exclusively in hospitals, as well as under the supervision of doctors and with the written consent of patients.

It will be free for patients who need it for medical reasons, the Ministry of Health emphasized.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Burkina Faso on Thursday recorded 29 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the total number of sick people since March 9 to 443, the government information service (SIG) announced on Thursday
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 15:26 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0d9549 1 Business Greater-Jakarta,PSBB,large-scale-social-restrictions,business,essential-needs,lockdown Free

Essential-needs businesses have promised smooth services with retail stocks sufficient at least until May as Jakarta, Indonesias economic powerhouse, will enforce large-scale social restrictions starting Friday to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

The Jakarta Post spoke to businesspeople in sectors related to cash, fuel, food, medicine, retail, water, communications and logistics, which are exempted from the 14-day social restrictions.

The insiders said existing supplies were enough to support operations during the two-week period, but many are less certain about long-term supplies and business continuity in view of the broader effect of the pandemic. Meanwhile, businesses in other industries, such as construction, consulting and tourism, will have to close shop, along with schools and other public institutions, while transportation services will be limited.

For the 410-member Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (Gapmmi), the nationwide processed food supply was expected to last until June, including for Jakarta, chairman Adhi S. Lukman said. Some fresh produce is becoming harder to come by, logistically. That's why processed goods are hoped to ensure food supply, he added.

Two-thirds of Gapmmi members expected a sales drop of between 20 percent and 40 percent over the coming two weeks due to declining demand from office workers, event organizers and store owners as Jakarta tightens restrictions, said Adhi.

Leaders of satellite cities in Greater Jakarta, which covers Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi and is home to some 30 million people, have also agreed to impose large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in their respective regions. Around half of Indonesias 2,956 COVID-19 confirmed infections and 240 deaths occurred in Jakarta, making it the nations virus epicenter.

Jakarta's social restrictions in a nutshell. (JP/SRH)

Economic scholars have found that cities that intervened earlier and more aggressively grow faster after the pandemic is over. A new study titled Pandemics depress the economy, public health interventions do not: Evidence from the 1918 flu found that, while pandemics depress economies, aggressive public health interventions could bounce back the economies faster.

As long as all regions implementing PSBB can agree that logistics is a priority, particularly logistics related to food and medical supplies, then it shouldnt be a problem, said Devi Ariyani of think tank Indonesia Services Dialogue (ISD).

She added that internet and telecommunication services as the backbone of business operations amid physical distancing required particular attention from authorities.

The Indonesian Logistics Association (ALI) has reported that the logistics capacity in the country was still sufficient to serve goods distribution to meet current market supply and demand, especially since the general goods delivery volume in the country was declining.

Until today, the logistics capacity [to distribute goods] is more than enough, because many industries are actually slowing down, said ALI chairman Zaldy Ilham Masita. The distribution of staple food, pharmaceutical products and medical equipment had been on the rise, while many deliveries for nonessentials, such as electronics, gadgets and clothes, had declined.

Read also: Staple foods safe, but masks, sanitizer gone from markets as consumer behavior shifts

Representatives from the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Association (GP Farmasi) and Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) said the stocks of slow-moving medical goods and staple food were enough until June, which would include the Idul Fitri holiday in late May.

Both also said that supplies of fast-moving medical goods, including hand sanitizer and face masks, were running thin this month. Food and medical producers have been looking to import goods from Asian countries other than China to meet demand.

On the utilities side, a representative from Indonesias largest fuel and gas distributor, state-owned Pertamina, said fuel and cooking gas supplies for Jakarta were safe at almost 21 days worth of supply. The companys safe supply benchmark is 21 days.

More so for fuel, as daily consumption has fallen in Jakarta. Meanwhile, subsidized liquefied petroleum gas consumption had experienced a significant rise in Greater Jakarta at 13 percent, said Pertaminas regional corporate communications manager Dewi Sri Utami.

City-owned water company PT PAM Jaya, which also oversees the private water companies PT PAM Lyonnaise Jakarta (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra), said piped water supply was at a normal level of 20,200 liters per second.

We distribute around 630 million cubic meters of water per year. This is still on track at the moment, said PAM Jaya president director Priyatno Bambang Hernowo. PAM Jaya recently deployed mobile water tanks to neighborhoods without running water, as only 62 percent of citizens have access to tap water.

Read also: COVID-19: Jakarta to tighten mobility restrictions

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia is coordinating with local banks to ensure cash availability at banks and ATMs around Jakarta. The central bank recorded Rp 19.3 trillion in cash outflow for Greater Jakarta in April. For comparison, the total currency in circulation is Rp 738 trillion.

Under such conditions and given the upcoming Jakarta PSBB, Bank Indonesia has front-loaded cash supplies to several regions and some banks that had front-loaded withdrawals, said BI spokesman Onny Widjanarko.

Representing many companies forced to close shop temporarily, Indonesian Travel Agents Association (Astindo) secretary-general Pauline Suharno said Jakartas restrictions would be another blow to the tourism industry, which was already the hardest hit from the pandemic.

Pauline went on to say that members' sales and orders had dropped 94 percent between February and March, forcing them to furlough employees for two weeks. We told association members that, with our two weeks' sacrifice, hopefully, things will get better soon. Break the chain! she said.
A 80-year old woman from Gadag district became the sixth COVID-19 related fatality in Karnataka, where 16 new positive cases were confirmed, pushing the tally in the state to 197, the Health department said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said all his cabinet colleagues are of the unanimous opinion to extend the lockdown for about 15 days after April 14 and a final decision in this regard will be taken after consulting the Prime Minister on Saturday.

The elderly woman who died in Gadag, had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), officials said.

"The patient got admitted at Gadag hospital on April 4, on 6th her test results came out as positive, investigation is on to find the source of infection to her," Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar told reporters briefing about the bulletin.

He said about 42 contacts of the deceased patient have undergone test and all results were negative, results of eleven more contacts were still awaited.

According to bulletin as of 5 pm on April 9, cumulatively 197 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, it includes sixth deaths and 30 discharges.

Among the 16 positive cases, two from Bengaluru city and one from Dharwad had attended Tablighi-Jamaat congregation at Delhi from March 13-18; while 10 are contacts of patients who have already tested positive- one each from Mandya and Chikkaballapura, two from Mysuru, and three from Bagalkote and Belagavi.

Three others from Bengaluru city are with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).

Out of 16 cases, three from Bagalkote are children- two boys aged 4 and 13 and the girl is 9 years old.

Contact tracing has been initiated and is in progress for all the cases, the department said.

Citing progression of cases, Kumar said, it some where shows the containment measures were yielding results to an extent.

Out of 161 active cases, 159 patients (including 1 pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 2 are in ICU (one each on oxygen and ventilator).

Out of total 197 cases detected and confirmed in the state so far, 6 cases are transit passengers of Kerala who have landed in airports in Karnataka and were being treated.

From across the state most number of infections have been reported in Bengaluru with 68 cases, followed by Mysuru 37 and Dakshina Kannada (12).

Those discharged include seventeen patients from Bengaluru, four from Dakshina Kannada, three from Davangere, two each from Kalaburagi and Uttara Kannada, and one each from Bengaluru Rural and Kodagu; while among those dead are two from Kalaburagi and one each from Bengaluru, Bagalkote, Gadag and Tumakuru.

Sharing details about Tablighi-Jamaat cases, Kumar said out of total 1,176 samples tested, 976 are negative, and 40 are positive, while results of 160 are still awaited.

Asked whether all Jamaat related people in Karnataka have been traced, he said, about 581 people are still outside the state, we have informed those states.

Also these are dynamic figures, it will keep changing.

The Minister said COVID-19 task force of Karnataka that met on Thursday has decided that all the secondary contacts will be tested for the infection.

He also said, list of COVID-19 hotspots is the state will be out probably by tomorrow.

A committee of health experts tasked with devising an exit strategy for coronavirus lockdown in Karnataka have recommended its continuation in "hotspots" along with some relaxations.

Several members of the cabinet had also supported these recommendations.

Meanwhile, stating that all his cabinet colleagues have unanimously opined that the lockdown should be extended for about 15 days, after April 14 to check COVID-19, Yediyurappa after the cabinet meet said, "we will take a final call on whether to relax the lockdown after April 14, following discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow (April 11)."



Ministers and Members of Legislature in Karnataka will take a 30 per cent cut each in their salaries and allowances to fund the fight against coronavirus in the state, for a year.

An ordinance to reduce the salaries of Ministers and Legislators by 30 per cent for one year to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic was approved by the state cabinet headed by Yediyurappa on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gender Analysis Specialist, Beirut, Lebanon

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Country: Lebanon

City: Beirut, Lebanon

Office: UNDP Lebanon

Grade: P-3

Closing date: Monday, 20 April 2020

Job ID: 29897

Practice Area - Job Family: Management

Vacancy End Date: (Midnight New York, USA) 20/04/2020

Duty Station: Beirut, Lebanon

Education & Work Experience: I-Masters Level Degree - 5 year(s) experience

Languages: English

Arabic, French

Grade: P3

Vacancy Type: FTA International

Posting Type: External

Bureau: Arab States

Contract Duration: 1 Year with possibility for extension

Background

Department: Inter-Agency Coordination Unit

Reports to: CTA Stabilization & Recovery Programme

Position Status: Non-Rotational

Under the guidance of Senior Inter-Agency Coordinator, and with support from the Inter-Agency coordination team (UNDP and UNHCR), the Gender Analysis Specialist will contribute to monitoring & evaluation, strategic planning and design of programming aimed at strengthening the analysis of needs, progress and impact within the LCRP from a gender perspective. These efforts will also serve to further strengthen ongoing protection mainstreaming efforts across all sectors. The Gender Analysis Specialist is expected to interact with national and local authorities and stakeholders, international agencies, sector working groups to ensure that key gender analysis is conducted and solutions to improve gender inclusion are developed and applied across sectors projects and programming. The Gender Analysis Specialist will work closely with the protection, SGBV, the PSEA focal point/network and conflict sensitivity mainstreaming focal points to build on existing efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

Support Monitoring & Evaluation of the Impact of the LCRP from a gender perspective

Compile and codify quantitative and qualitative gender data from existing databases, research, surveys, evaluations and assessments.

Review inter-sector and sector research plans from a gender perspective and provide inputs to existing survey teams and operations to fill knowledge gaps on gender-equality and women empowerment related issues.

Analyze the needs of women and men, girls and boys, household and community dynamics to better inform the LCRP and partners strategic planning.

Analyze the impact of the Syria crisis on women and men, girls and boys, household and community dynamics to contribute to the overall M&E system.

Develop in-focus briefs and guidance notes to inform advocacy on topics from a gender perspective, such as gender-based violence, economic inclusion, empowerment and voices in decision-making, capacities for reconciliation and conflict resolution.

Provide constructive feedbacks on the current reporting tools & products to improve gender inclusion and communication on gender inclusion

Support gender analysis efforts within the LCRP

In support of the ongoing protection, SGBV and conflict sensitivity mainstreaming efforts:

Provide training and capacity building support for LCRP partners on gender data analysis

Facilitate knowledge building and mainstreaming of gender perspectives within the LCRP planning process.

Build on the protection risk analysis conducted and support the implementation of the protection mainstreaming workplan by including gender data analysis.

Mentor LCRP sectors to ensure operationalization of gender disaggregated indicators, analysis and mainstreaming of gender considerations, in collaboration with the inter-agency Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist.

Identify and support opportunities to apply gender analysis to strengthen gender responsive programming

Based on the needs assessments and analysis developed, support response partners in key sectors in identifying further opportunities for gender responsive programming, with a particular focus on support to public institutions and durable solutions.

Support the integration of gender considerations throughout the project management cycles of key partners, from design through implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Support partnership building, leveraging gender expertise across government, international and national actors and private sector.

Competencies

Core

Innovation

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to make new and useful ideas work

Leadership

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to persuade others to follow

People Management

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to improve performance and satisfaction

Communication

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform

Delivery

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to get things done

Technical/Functional

Primary

Anti-Corruption

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Knowledge of anti-corruption concepts, principles and policies and the ability to apply in strategic and/or practical situations

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Identifies country needs and strategies using a fact-based approach.

Sets performance standards, monitors progress and intervenes at an early stage to ensure results are in accordance with agreed-upon quality and timeframes and reports on it.

Makes use of a variety of resources based on UN/UNCT priorities to achieve results, such as cross-functional teams, secondments and developmental assignments, and collaborative funding approaches.

Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at country level.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UN/UNCTs strategic agenda.

Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UN/UNCTs strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts;

Develops positive ties with civil society to build/strengthen UN/UNCTs mandate.

Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners.

Tags advisory services anti corruption conflict resolution data analysis durable solutions gender analysis gender based violence gender perspective immigration law information technology knowledge management knowledge sharing needs assessment performance standards project management public institutions reconciliation reconstruction risk analysis social sciences

Effectively attentive to programmatic synergies in inter-agency meetings.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches.

Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms.

Secondary

Knowledge Management

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Ability to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge:

Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines.

Serves as internal analyst in the area of expertise and shares knowledge with staff.

Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit.

Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally.

Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.

Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Client Orientation:

Level 4: Originate (Peer Regarded Lead Expert)

Anticipates client needs.

Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider.

Demonstrates understanding of clients perspective.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters Degree or equivalent in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Anthropology or other relevant fields.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant experience, a part of which would be from countries in crisis.

Solid experience at the national or international level in providing policy analysis and research advisory services on gender issues.

Ability to integrate gender considerations across disciplines/sectors, and specifically into crisis response, while prioritizing gender impacts within the framework of humanitarian and stabilization objectives.

Ability to analyze complex data sets, both quantitative and qualitative.

Ability to distinguish response actions -immediate, medium to long-term mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.

Familiarity with gender markers and other assessment tools and frameworks as well as an ability to conduct gender assessments using well-established international tools and guidelines.

Hands-on experience in inter-agency / programme coordination with a focus on building local civil society/government capacity.

Experience establishing inter-agency relationships among a range of stakeholders, including international organizations, INGOs, local civil society and local and national government representatives, as well as demonstrated networking and relationship building skills.

Experience in using IT and office software packages,

Knowledge and experience from crisis response operations is desirable

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English.

Knowledge of Arabic or French would be an asset.

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents (Green Card holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

UNDP strongly encourages qualified female applicants for this position.

UNDP seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities, and that staff members are able to keep an appropriate balance between work and private life.

Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.
What happened

Shares of the TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) were moving higher on Wednesday after the consumer discretionary company announced new measures to conserve cash while its stores are closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As of 3:15 p.m. EDT, shares of the company, the corporate parent of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and other off-price store chains, were up about 6.3% from Tuesday's closing price.

So what

In a Form 8-K regulatory filing made after the market closed on Tuesday, TJX said it will furlough most of the employees of its stores and distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada as of April 12. Employees who are eligible for benefits will continue to receive them while furloughed, at no cost. The company said it will take "comparable actions" for its employees working outside of those two countries, and it will reduce executives' pay until at least July 4.

TJX employed about 286,000 people as of February 1, many of whom are part-time workers. The majority of its stores, about 3,300, are in the United States.

In a letter to employees and shareholders, CEO Ernie Herman said the extraordinary conditions of the pandemic have forced "decisions we would never want to make."

"We are making every effort to prepare for reopenings, as soon as we believe we can operate safely in the communities we serve," Herman wrote.

Now what

Herman and his team have historically been good about communicating developments to shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders. I expect that to continue as the world works through the coronavirus pandemic.

In any event, the next formal update from the company will come no later than May 19, when TJX reports earnings for the first quarter of its 2021 fiscal year.
Thousands of people in Arunachal



Pradesh have posed for photographs wearing protective masks and shared them on social media, in response to an awareness campaign launched by the state chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), amid the growing COVID-19 threat.

Overwhelmed with the response, the IMA state unit president, Dr Lobsang Tsetim, said that masks, if worn by all, will help reduce virus transmission by 80 per cent.

"Studies have shown that wearing a face mask drastically reduces the chances of COVID-19 transmission. It has also been documented by the Czech Republic that masks, if made mandatory for every individual in a society, virus transmission could drastically reduce by about 80 per cent," Tsetim said.

More than 5,000 netizens were found to have uploaded their photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday - hours after the campaign - #Mask4Arunachal was launched by the association.

Dr Minggam Pertin, the state unit general secretary of the IMA, requested people to stitch disposable masks at home, instead of hoarding the N95 variety - primarily used by doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.

"Given the shortage in supply of masks, we are appealing to all weavers, tailors, NGOs, self-help groups and individuals to come up with their own do-it-youself ideas. We have also appealed to the people active on social media to popularize the campaign by wearing any facemask and posting a picture with the hash tag #Mask4Arunachal," the IMA state unit general secretary said.

Those manufacturing masks have been asked to distribute them for free or sell them at nominal rates, Pertin said, adding that the organisation had on Wednesday doled out 2000 masks to people.

The IMA campaign has also drawn the attention of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who said it was time to "act individually and fight collectively".

"I am encouraged to know that the IMA - Arunachal Chapter has launched an initiative of #mask4arunachal campaign. Under this campaign, the association intends to sensitize for 100% masks for all to prevent the spread of the virus (sic)," Khandu said in a Facebook post.

Wearing masks is highly recommended as it helps curb virus transmission in public places, where social distancing norms seen difficult to abide by, the chief minister said.

"A WHO estimate has said if 80 per cent of the population wears a mask, the outbreak of the virus can be stopped immediately. Therefore it is my earnest appeal to all to support the IMAs #Mask4Arunachal campaign... Experts have pointed out that even the homemade masks can be beneficial in helping prevent the spread of the virus.

"We all are soldiers in this long-drawn battle and if we fight it well, protect ourselves by wearing a mask, we can together defeat our enemy," Khandu added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It's official: Murray State becomes member of Missouri Valley Conference
Five suspects arrested in Srisoonthorn drug and gun raid

PHUKET: Thalang Police have announced the arrests of five suspects for drug offences and illegal possession of firearms in Srisoonthorn.

drugscrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 9 April 2020, 07:59PM

Achita Somthai, 25, who was found with two litres of kratom juice. Photo: Thalang Police

According to a report made available yesterday (Apr 8), Thalang Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Saksan Khomsakhon led the raids, which netted five suspects and seized more than 6,000 pills of methamphetamine (ya bah), crystal methamphetamine, kratom juice, firearms and ammunition.

Police arrested Arthorn Lek Makkhao, 25, and Patiwat Joe Patchsang, 23, who were found with 6,358 pills of ya bah in 33 packages, 840 milligrammes of ya ice and drug-taking paraphernalia.

Police also found a homemade firearm, three 12mm bullets, 37 .22-calibre bullets and 12 9mm bullets.

Arthorn and Patiwat were charged with possession of a Category 1 drug and possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.

Thawin Tak Chusri, 26, was arrested with 174 pills of ya bah.

Police also seized as evidence a dark blue Honda Wave 110i without a license plate.

Thawin was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell.

Nathanat Screen Raksasri, 25, was arrested with one pill of ya bah, 120mg of ya ice and drug-taking equipment.

Police also seized a 9mm Beretta branded firearm, and 20 9mm bullets.

Nathanat was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The last arrest was that of Achita Somthai, 25, who was found with two litres of kratom juice.

Achita was charged with possession of a Category 5 drug.

All five suspects were taken to Thalang Police Station for further prosecution.
In a bid to warn customers against fraudsters who may attempt to exploit the EMI moratorium scheme, leading banks are reaching out to their customers to caution them against ''EMI moratorium frauds'' and strongly advising them not to share sensitive information like OTP and PIN with imposters

New Delhi: In a bid to warn customers against fraudsters who may attempt to exploit the EMI moratorium scheme, leading banks are reaching out to their customers to caution them against ''EMI moratorium frauds'' and strongly advising them not to share sensitive information like OTP and PIN with imposters.

Over the past few days, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and other banks have sent out SMSs and e-mails to their customers informing them about new modus operandi being adopted by fraudsters and cyber criminals, to gain access to banking details.

Asking customers to protect their financial details, Axis Bank said in an e-mail to customers said fraudsters have started a new modus operandi to gain access to banking details.

Imposters may contact you to help postpone your EMI payments and request you to share OTP, CVV, password or PIN related to your banking accounts, it said.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

"Stay aware! If the details are shared, the fraudster can have unwarranted access to your banking information leading to financial loss. Beware of EMI Moratorium Frauds!," Axis Bank said.

In a tweet on 5 April, country's largest bank SBI had said a new style of cybercrime has been started by fraudsters and warned people to "Be Alert & Be Aware". "In such frauds customers get calls asking them to share their OTP in order to postpone their loan EMIs. Once the OTP is shared the amount is immediately siphoned away by fraudsters," it said.

To give relief to borrowers hit by COVID-19 lockdown, the RBI last month announced that all term loans, including retail and crop loans and working capital payments, will be covered by the three-month moratorium on EMI payments offered.

Earlier, State Bank of India (SBI) had also cautioned people against fake UPI IDs doing rounds in the guise of Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance & Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES).

"Make sure your monetary donation to fight against the global pandemic is going into the right hands," SBI said.
Celebrity astrologer Nicolas Aujula

A celebrity astrologer has outlined how each star sign will handle long periods of isolation and what their cleaning habits will look like now that remaining safe and healthy is a top priority.

With coronavirus sweeping the globe, Nicolas Aujula understands that some members of the zodiac will act better than others to strict social distancing guidelines and rules about essential travel.

Experts at PsychicWorld.com have also made suggestions for side hustles each star sign should take on now that certain jobs and incomes are on indefinite hold.

ARIES (March 21 - April 19)

Individuals that fall within this star sign are usually energetic, daring and adventurous, so periods of lengthy isolation will cause them great stress.

'Being the most impatient of the zodiac Aries will really struggle with isolation so it's essential to keep your mind active otherwise you will begin to get aggressive,' Mr Aujula said.

'Try crosswords, sudoku or video games, and keep fit with squats and star jumps to help channel your high energy.'

Aries don't do their tasks half-hearted so when it comes to cleaning during the pandemic they will be the ones to go on a full-blown rampage.

'They run around cleaning at a fast pace not taking a breath, not afraid to clean twice over just to make sure the home is germ-free,' he said.

Aries should look to becoming a streamer on YouTube, a side hustle which allows them to channel their self-driven nature into creating content online.

Whatever 'theme' they choose to talk about, their playful personas will attract interest from the get-go.

Pia Muehlenbeck and her husband Kane Vato (pictured) are very active on YouTube and use it as a side hustle to their work with activewear Slinkii

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20)

These individuals are practical and loyal to the core so they're more than happy to isolate with their family and friends indoors.

'Being laidback comes second nature so you'll happily stay indoors to chill watching a rom com or an exciting thriller,' Mr Aujula said.

'Whilst you can't visits spa, enjoy face masks and relaxation with essential oils at home. You'll eat to your hearts content so watch your weight and food supplies.'

When it comes to keeping things clean and tidy, Taurus take a methodical approach and work at specific tasks on a regimented timeline.

'You take your time though and won't be rushed in your efforts. The result is sparkly clean surroundings,' he said.

If you were to launch a side hustle, stocks might entertain your resilient nature.

Because they usually like to play the long-term game their focus won't falter as they fine-tune the perfect stock investment technique.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20)

These sociable and open-minded members of the zodiac are the most versatile and hate being caged in, which doesn't bode well for those in isolation.

'It's essential to keep moving. Try dancing or aerobics to keep you active indoors. Being a jack of all trades as you are, share your knowledge online or via social media to educate new audiences,' Mr Aujula said.

As for the cleaning aspect, Gemini can whirl around the room doing 10 things at once, which usually means they only half finish what they start.

'Pay attention to being more focused,' the Hollywood Astrologer said.

The perfect side hustle for Gemini is to livestream their video games or event.

What better way to stay connected with friends and millions of others and earn from it? Grab one device to play with, another to video chat with and get playing.

The perfect side hustle for Gemini, according to experts at PsychicWorld.com, is to livestream their video games or event (pictured is the screen of an Australian gamer)

CANCER (June 21 - July 22)

Cancers are sensitive, sentimental and nostalgic, almost the perfect arrangement for staying locked indoors during isolation.

'Put your feet up to relax, it feels so natural. Try creating culinary delights in the kitchen, investigating your family history or take online lessons to broaden horizons,' Mr Aujula said.

While they are generally good at keeping rooms neat and tidy it might be time to look inside cluttered cabinets and storage.

'You believe if people can't see it it doesn't need cleaning. Think again,' he said.

To help out those parents who now find themselves homeschooling their children, a worthy side hustle might come in the form of an online tutor or teacher.

Cancers will jump at this opportunity to help because they have compassion.

To help out those parents who now find themselves homeschooling their children, a worthy side hustle might come in the form of an online tutor or teacher (pictured is Sofie's World)

LEO (July 23 - August 22)

Confident, outspoken and fun, Leos are a social animal that need to be seen to shine, so isolation is not their forte.

'Being a natural motivator you can inspire and uplift others through social media posts,' Mr Aujula said.

Things could get messy while they're stuck in their homes as they normally delegate others to clean.

Whilst they like orderly appearances it might be time to do their own dirty work and finally dig deep.

For a side hustle, it's suggested Leos become a TikTok or social media influencer to bide their time, given they're always prepared to be in the spotlight.

These theatrical divas love to be front and centre - and the opportunity to earn from the comfort of their own home is a persuading factor.

PsychicWorld.com experts suggest Leos become a TikTok or social media influencer to bide their time, given they're always prepared to be in the spotlight

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22)

Virgos are focused, analytical and quick-witted but they also worry about the state of the world in general.

This means they'll probably feel safer indoors during the global pandemic and won't hesitate to embrace more calm through meditation, mindfulness and yoga.

'Keeping a journal can help you collect and analyse thoughts,' Mr Aujula said.

They are generally wanting to keep their houses spotless and well-organised so cleaning shouldn't be a problem for those in this star sign.

'You will pump up some music to dance to around the house whilst you dust and organise. Virgos actually enjoy cleaning,' he said.

With companies looking to stay afloat more than ever before, a useful side hustle for Virgos might be a virtual assistant.

This will work in favour of the Virgo's hardworking, systematic and methodical nature.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22)

Romantic, diplomatic and creative Libra will attest being alone during isolation and will rely on technology to keep in close contact with those they love.

'The romantic in you will spend more times on dating apps, flirt and enjoy. Your creative juices can find form through hand crafts, sewing or knitting,' Mr Aujula said.

They tend to spread their cleaning chores over a few days rather than completing them in a few hours, so will likely need to create a schedule to manage time more effectively.

As a side hustle, Librans should teach a language for a little bit of extra cash.

Teaching a language is an intellectual fit which also fulfills their need to please and help others.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21)

Being the most passionate and emotional of all the star signs, a Scorpio will actually enjoy their time in isolation because it's a chance to retreat into themselves.

'You will enjoy horror movies or even a murder mystery, a game of Cluedo and even some masturbation,' Mr Aujula said.

'Beware of your obsessive tendency to fret over breaking news updates, keep a balanced perspective.'

Because they channel a lot of passion into everything they undertake, Scorpios are determined and focused cleaners who will decontaminate with great depth and detail.

Often misunderstood and extremely enigmatic, a true Scorpio's thoughts would make for a fascinating eBook to read.

It could easily turn into a lucrative side hustle should you apply the right energy to the project.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 - December 21)

Isolation will be hell for the average individual born into Sagittarius because they hate being indoors.

'You need to move around so flex those muscles and legs with some Zumba and music. Research your next travel adventure whilst you stimulate the mind through puzzles and sudoku,' Mr Aujula said.

Because they enjoy chaos and mess cleaning isn't especially high on their agenda, and they might just do a quick wipe around of surfaces.

'Learn to focus your attention even for 10 minutes just to keep things in order,' he said.

They would be best suited to becoming a podcaster when they're not busy doing their day job.

The Sagittarius has had a few adventures in their lifetime and always has a million stories to tell.

What better way to entertain listeners, and earn themselves money, than by re-telling these stories on a podcast?

Sagittarius should start a podcast, like Tammy Hembrow and her family did late last year

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19)

Driven, traditional and down-to-earth a Capricorn will deal well with isolation, but need to keep their focus.

'Never one to switch off from work, focus on your next big project, create a website or read a good book. Enjoy some sleep and relaxation, you deserve it,' Mr Aujula said.

Being the hard grafter of the zodiac, they have an efficient approach to cleaning up quickly but effectively. Nothing misses their eye for detail, which makes a house stand proud.

Their unwavering focus and (slightly obsessive) workaholic tendencies means the technical challenge to learn how to code can make for potentially high yields.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18)

Those who were born into the Aquarius zodiac will have a love hate relationship with isolation because they are naturally rebellious and independent.

'Easily bored you need to keep mentally active. You'll research conspiracy theories, use social media to help people in the community and enjoy exploring new apps,' Mr Aujula said.

Normally quite erratic with their cleaning habits, there are days where they are like Mary Poppins whilst on others they can't be bothered - it depends on mood.

'Using eco friendly products and methods help to motivate you,' he said.

The best side hustle for Aquariuses is as a freelance blogger or ghost writer.

The best writers are those who tell a story with their thoughts, in a uniquely identifiable way.

That's what makes Aquariuses perfect for the job of freelance bloggers or ghost writers  they are free-spirited, eccentric and revolutionary.

The best side hustle for Aquariuses is as a freelance blogger or ghost writer, PsychicWorld.com reported (Sammy Robinson, a freelance makeup and fashion blogger, pictured)

PISCES (February 19 - March 20)

Deeply spiritual, empathetic and artistic, Pisces are a natural meditator so will enjoy isolation to go within and reflect.

'You will enjoy music, learn to read tarot cards or even explore your artistic side through drawing and painting,' Mr Aujula said.

This laidback sign will leave cleaning until the last minute as clutter and mess builds up, always likely to mope when you mop.

To earn some extra money consider becoming a graphic designer, as a creative side gig will suit them best.

Their love of escaping reality through art/design can translate into a great money-making side project.
An Islamic missionary movement is at the centre of a growing controversy in South Asia after it repeatedly held massive gatherings despite warnings about the coronavirus.

Hundreds of followers of the fundamentalist Tablighi Jamaat have tested positive for COVID-19 since attending congregations last month, but the group is still sending proselytisers door-to-door - sometimes without observing social distancing guidelines.

The Tablighi movement - which espouses a return to 'true' Islam as observed by the Prophet Mohammed - held an event outside Lahore in eastern Pakistan with about 100,000 participants.

Men who visited missionary gatherings as part of the Tablighi Jamaat movement are loaded into an ambulance in India so they can be taken to quarantine

A firefighter uses a hose filled with disinfectant to clean the Nizamuddin Markaz Mosque, the Indian headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat after an outbreak there

Thousands more congregated at separate meetings in India and Malaysia even as the risks of coronavirus infections were evident.

The Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had described the gathering in India - held at the movement's global headquarters - as a 'grave crime'.

In recent days, authorities in Pakistan and India have launched massive manhunts for attendees, trying to test or quarantine them to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In Pakistan, about 20,000 Tablighis are now in quarantine facilities. More than 600 have tested positive for the coronavirus.

At least 10 people from the Indian gathering have died from COVID-19.

A health ministry official said that of the country's 4,067 coronavirus cases, some 1,445 were linked to that gathering.

Khurshid Naveed, a member of Pakistan's official Council of Islamic Ideology, said Tablighi Jamaat faces mounting pressure because of the gatherings and its missionary work.

'They will have to reconsider their policies. Countries like Malaysia had been very sympathetic towards them. But they won't be in the future,' he said

Around 40 percent of Malaysia's COVID-19 infections have been linked to the Tablighi event, which was held near the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Along with local Tablighis, the Pakistani, Indian and Malaysian events had participants from other countries too.

Infections in a number of other locations - including Gaza, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei - have been linked to the congregations.

Malaysia has also reported outbreaks linked to the Tablighis, including at this Masjid in Kuala Lumpur during a meeting between February and March

Members of the Tablighi movement make their way home from a gathering in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 13 - the same meeting where a coronavirus outbreak is thought to have happened

Founded in northern India in 1927, the movement has grown since the death of founder Mohammed Ilyas Kandhlawi in 1944, and has millions of followers.

The group - which follows Sunni Islam - is generally considered apolitical, but its social and cultural influence has grown in recent decades.

Moussa Khedimellah, a French sociologist who specialises in the Tablighis, said adherents - like the pious of many religions - put 'their faith before science'.

Jaffar Ahmed, a researcher based in Karachi, said authorities should have done more to stop Tablighi gatherings.

'It could have been prevented by the government,' he told AFP.

'They should have been stopped at their place of arrival. They shouldn't have been given visas - they are not the kind of people who would have protested.'

This week, a group of five Tablighis knocked on an AFP journalist's door in Pakistan. Two were not wearing masks, and one offered a handshake.

'Then they told me to come and pray at the nearby mosque,' the journalist said. 'They told me that life and death are in the hands of Allah.'

Tablighi preacher Naeem Butt said the Pakistani gathering ended early after authorities raised concerns, though at the time of the March 12 congregation, organisers had blamed rainy weather for the closure.

'We stopped our rally when the authorities asked us,' he said. 'The virus is everywhere, so why accuse us.'
Local and federal officials presented different messages yesterday, with the White House warning about a potential coronavirus hot spot in Philly while the city was optimistic about a slowdown in cases. And, in non-coronavirus news, ex-Vice President Joe Biden has all but locked up the Democratic presidential nomination, with Sen. Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race.

 Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley pushed back against an assertion by the White Houses coronavirus response director that the city could become a coronavirus hot spot.

Earlier yesterday, Dr. Deborah Birx said that the White House Coronavirus Task Force was looking for trends, mentioning Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia as places the group is concerned about. Vice President Mike Pence echoed her concerns about Philadelphia later in the day.

But while she didnt offer any specifics about Philly, Farley questioned what figures the task force was looking at. The city announced 505 new cases yesterday, giving the city 4,777 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Gov. Tom Wolf also chimed in, appearing to embrace Birxs concerns about Philadelphia as a way to get more productive gear for medical workers and first responders.

Heres some good news: flu season is effectively over, according to a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has already outstripped the flu as a killer in Pennsylvania, leading to 309 deaths compared with the flus 102.

Even so, 13 weeks into the coronavirus era some are still questioning whether the new disease is bad enough to warrant an economic shutdown when influenza, a disease that kills thousands every year, is treated as an annual inconvenience. In reality, there are a number of major differences, ranging from the presence of a vaccine and the existence of proven antiviral treatments to death and hospitalization rates.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign yesterday, leaving Scranton-born Joe Biden all but assured of being the Democratic nominee against President Donald Trump. The former vice president surged after Sanders had taken a delegate lead in the primarys early states.

Sanders, a registered independent and democratic socialist, will now look to continue to push the partys agenda to the left. Biden, in a statement, acknowledged the coalition Sanders built. "Make no mistake about it, I believe its a movement that is as powerful today as it was yesterday, Biden said.

What you need to know today

Through your eyes | #OurPhilly

Did anybody else see the supermoon last night? Thanks for sharing, @yo_navaz.

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

Thats interesting

Opinions

Under any guidelines, in times of severe scarcity, someone will not get the care that they deserve  but that is not an invitation for discrimination against any group, particularly people with disabilities.  writes the Inquirer Editorial Board about protecting people in the event that Pennsylvania has to ration lifesaving resources.

Pennsylvania gun owner and general surgery resident Colin DeLong writes about why he wants gun stores to close during the pandemic.

If online instruction typically isnt good enough for elite schools, then it shouldnt be good enough for anyone else. And the coronavirus is showing that, writes Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches education and history at Penn.

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Your Daily Dose of | South Phillys 86-year-old TikTok sensation

Dolores Paolino earned her nickname of Dolly Broadway growing up in South Philly, where she spent every night out on the town. And the 4-foot-5, 86-year-old grandma is still partying  especially on social media, where she has 1.2 million followers on TikTok. Thats not bad for someone who doesnt even own a cell phone.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was getting better on April 9 in intensive care where he is battling COVID-19 as his government extended its bank overdraft facility and reviewed the most stringent shutdown in peacetime history.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St. Thomass hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough and was rushed to intensive care on Monday. He has received oxygen support but not been put on a ventilator.

Things are getting better for him, his culture minister, Oliver Dowden, said on Thursday. Hes stable, improving, sat up, and engaged with medical staff.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Johnson appeared to be doing better after what he described as a tough bout.

With a prime minister in intensive care, the British government was facing two major issues: how to finance a vast increase in state spending to support the shuttered economy, and when to start easing lockdown measures.

With the worlds fifth largest economy facing potentially the worst economic hit since World War Two amid historic spending and tax cuts, the government said it had expanded its overdraft facility with the Bank of England.

The Bank of England has agreed temporarily to finance government borrowing in response to COVID-19 if funds cannot immediately be raised from debt markets, reviving a measure last widely used during the 2008 financial crisis.

The government and BoE said any borrowing from the Ways and Means facilityeffectively the governments overdraft with the BoEwould be repaid by the end of the year.

Death Toll Rising

While Johnsons condition was said to be improving, it was unclear how long he might be incapacitated, with some political commentators saying there was a power vacuum in his absence.

The United Kingdom is entering what scientists say is the deadliest phase of the outbreak, with deaths expected to continue to rise over the Easter weekend. Latest figures show total deaths in hospitals from COVID-19 have reached 7,097.

The governments emergency response gathering, known as COBR, will on Thursday discuss how it should deal with a review of lockdown measures.

Johnsons designated deputy, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, will chair the meeting, although no final decision will be made. Londons mayor and the Welsh regional government have both said the lockdown would stay in place.

Raab has said the government will continue to follow the strategy to combat the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus set out by Johnson and that his cabinet would collectively make necessary decisions.

No one pretends that this is easy with the prime minister in hospital. But the likelihood is that his recovery will take time and we dont have much, the Telegraph newspaper said in its editorial on Thursday.

The cabinet cannot afford to wait until he is better before working up ways out of this dreadful impasse.

In an indication the shutdown measures are working, the number of CCP virus infections and hospital admissions in Britain is beginning to show signs of flattening, said Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service.

The upbeat assessment boosted Britains stock markets as investors pinned hopes on the COVID-19 crisis nearing a peak.

By Michael Holden and David Milliken

NTD staff contributed to this report.
(Photo : BENOIT TESSIER on Reuters ) 80% Dies in Coronavirus Due to Using Ventilators Reveal Studies (Photo : Screenshot from: Maingear Website ) 80% Dies in Coronavirus Due to Using Ventilators Reveal Studies

It looks like the effort of producing more ventilators to help positive Coronavirus patients survive the virus may not help them at all. According to studies, 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths in New York were all using mechanical ventilators. The same observations were also recorded in other states and countries. With that, some doctors are not sure if these machines still necessary, or is it just making the patients worse?

Study: No need for ventilator shortage, most COVID-19 patients don't need them

Fox News recently reported a distressing observation that most doctors have seen in Coronavirus patients. According to the report, ventilators may not really help patients in surviving from the virus-- in fact, it could even make their cases worse.

As said, New York-- that has the highest rate of positive COVID-19 patients in the United States-- recorded more deaths when doctors use ventilators to their patients. Closer to 80 percent dies in the city when they have ventilators on, said state officials.

Interestingly, New York is not the only place that ventilators are now less welcome. ABC News said that other states in the country also recorded 40 to 50 percent of Coronavirus deaths when using these kinds of machinery, as explained by Dr. Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Association's chief medical officer.

U.K. and China show higher chances of Coronavirus death when patients use ventilators

Not only the U.S. had the same ventilator dilemma, the United Kingdom and COVID-19's former epicenter China also had similar reports.

U.K. report said that 66% of their patients died while under the use of ventilators, and a very small study in Wuhan said that 86% also died in the same situation.

The reason why

There is still no definite reason why the cases of virus death increase more when using ventilators. Some say that patients could have been really sick when they were placed under the machine. Others say that the machine could have been the reason why patients experienced more difficulty in breathing.

"If we're able to make them better without intubating them, they are more likely to have a better outcome - we think," said Dr. Joseph Habboushe, an emergency medicine doctor who works in Manhattan hospitals.

Maingear develops a version of 1.5-second ventilators

Though some studies are now claiming that ventilators are not needed to cure COVID-19 patients, a lot of countries are still in need of more of these machines.

Due to this, Maingear, New Jersey-based computer manufacturer, has recently introduced its version of a ventilator that could help ease the shortage. The LIV uses an old version of its F131 PC case as the chassis and promises to deliver oxygen in as little as 1.5 seconds.

Unfortunately, Maingear is still getting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to produce more of the LIV to be distributed in hospitals.

For now, it could take time.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has issued an informational memorandum to all insurers and entities authorized to write workers compensation insurance providing guidance on the treatment of policyholders affected by COVID-19.

The memorandum is in response to Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis directive requiring workers compensation coverage be provided to public servants on the front line of COVID-19.

The memo reminds all regulated entities that Florida law requires an employer to provide workers compensation coverage if the employee suffers a compensable injury arising out of work performed in the course and scope of employment. First responders, health care workers, and others that contract COVID-19 due to work-related exposure would be eligible for workers compensation benefits under Florida law.

Insurers licensed to provide workers compensation coverage in Florida are reminded of this statutory requirement, which must be applied on a non-discriminatory basis. The OIR expects workers compensation insurers to comply with all of the provisions of Floridas Workers Compensation Law and will take appropriate action in the event of non-compliance, the memo states.

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said insurers are directed to comply with all provisions of Floridas Workers Compensation Law.

Today, insurers were reminded that first responders, health care workers, and others that contract COVID-19 due to work-related exposure are entitled to protections under Floridas workers compensation law. This is vital coverage for these brave men and women risking their health and safety on the front lines of this pandemic, Florida CFO Patronis said in a statement.

Questions regarding this memorandum can be emailed COVID-19_Orders@floir.com and include Informational Memorandum OIR-20-05M in the subject line.

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

Topics Carriers COVID-19 Florida Workers' Compensation
Hays County Joins the Texas Purchasing Group It is exciting to build on to the transparent office we strive to be by becoming a part of the Texas Purchasing Group.

Hays County announced it has joined the Texas Purchasing Group and will be publishing and distributing upcoming bid opportunities on the system along with their current platform in these unprecedented times. BidNets Texas Purchasing Group connects nearly 50 participating agencies from across Texas. The Texas Purchasing Group provides a transparent bid process through which the bid is available to all vendors at the same time. Hays County invites all interested bidders to register today by visiting http://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas.

Hays County will utilize the system to streamline the purchasing process including bid management, bid distribution and vendor relations. The Texas Purchasing Group is a single, online location for managing sourcing information and activities and provides 43 Texas local government agencies the tools needed to have a transparent bid process while minimizing costs and saving time.

The Texas Purchasing Group expands an agencys vendor pool and enhances vendor competition without increasing distribution costs. In addition to the existing vendors on the Texas Purchasing Group, all vendors looking to do business with Hays County can register online: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas.

Registered vendors can access open bids, related documents and files, additional addendum and award information from all participating agencies. In addition, the Texas Purchasing Group offers a value-added service to notify vendors of new bids targeted to their industry, all addenda and advance notification of expiring term contracts.

With one click, Hays County can now see how many vendors match a specific opportunity, how many have downloaded documents, responded and more. Hays County also has its own, branded page on the public side of the Texas Purchasing Group in which tax payers can view all closed bids and any awarded information.

We now have information at our fingertips for each bid opportunity and award. The information is fully tracked and auditable. Vendors can access documents and addenda right online. And we can see that the vendor has indeed seen the addendum. It is exciting to build on to the transparent office we strive to be by becoming a part of the Texas Purchasing Group, stated Stephanie Hunt, Purchasing Manager of Hays County.

Vendors may register on the Texas Purchasing Group: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas. BidNets vendor support team is available to answer any questions regarding the registration process or the bid system at 800-835-4603 option 2.

Other local Texas government agencies looking to switch from a manual bid process, please contact the Texas Purchasing Group for a demonstration of the no-cost sourcing solution.

About Hays County:

Hays County is a county on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. Hays County is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, its official population had reached 157,107.

About the Texas Purchasing Group:

The Texas Purchasing Group is a part of BidNets regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies throughout the country. With years of input from procurement professionals, BidNet specifically developed the bid system to fill the need for a robust bid and supplier management solution for local government agencies. BidNet runs regional purchasing groups across all 50 states that are used by over 1,300 local governments. To learn more and have your government agency gain better transparency and efficiency in purchasing, please visit https://www.bidnetdirect.com/buyers
Even as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, newspapers on Thursday, April 9, adopted a new commentary approach titled "We Stand with Kenya" to fire up hope among citizens amid despair.

The new section was utilised by Daily Nation, The Standard, The Star and Taifa Leo and urged Kenyans to remain focused and stand up to defend their country against the invisible but lethal enemy.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: African-Americans hardest hit as myth claiming blacks can't get virus quickly fades

Newspapers report that the government has ordered for mass testing of civil servants. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: WHO chief Tedros says he has been receiving death threats, insults for being black

1. Daily Nation

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has said investigations have been launched to ascertain if it is true a Kenya Port Authority (KPA) employee died of coronavirus after being denied access to a ventilator due to a ballooning hospital bill.

The Daily Nation reports that Ursula Buluma succumbed to the pandemic at a private facility in Mombasa where she was admitted to but could not access ICU services.

Her family said Buluma had breathing difficulties but remained outside the ICU for three days leading to her death.

Governor Joho stated action will be taken against the hospital if investigations revealed Buluma was denied a ventilator because of a hospital bill.

READ ALSO: Kutana na kiatu kinachoitwa Kamanda

2. People Daily

People Daily reports that the Ministry of Health has rolled out testing of public servants in a move to stem out the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff and employees of the Judiciary are among public servants who will be first to benefit from the mass testing before being expanded to other arms of government.

This comes to the fore one day after claims were rife that about 17 lawmakers had tested positive for the virus. The MPs, however, dismissed the claims terming them as fake.

It also emerged that about six MPs from the coast are in self-quarantine following suspected exposure to the virus.

The six legislators are Benjamin Tayari (Kinango), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe), Paul Katana (Kaloleni) and Naomi Shaban (Taveta).

READ ALSO: Kenyans disclose what they miss most about normal life before coronavirus: "I miss going to church"

3. Taifa Leo

The Swahili daily reports that the emergence of coronavirus in the country has enabled destructive desert locusts to soldier on and wreak more havoc in farms.

Efforts to fight the insects have been choked since more time and resources have been redirected to fight the global pandemic. This has left food security hanging in the balance.

Apart from diverted attention, acquisition of chemicals has met headwinds after countries exporting the commodity closed their borders.

The lockdown in South Africa has also affected access to helicopters that are used to conduct aerial spraying.

READ ALSO: Wellwishers come to the rescue of Kayole woman, seven children evicted by landlady over KSh 6k arrears

4. The Star

The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce has put is work on hold until the coronavirus pandemic is cleared.

Chairman Yusuf Haji said most members of the team are elderly and a such, they could not meet as they are at a greater risk of contracting the virus.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had directed older state employees to work from home or take leave to minimise their exposure to coronavirus.

This means a final report which may be adopted into law through a referendum will only be furnished after the pandemic is over.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 information at their mercies: CAS Mwangangi, journalist Korir studied together

5. The Standard

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has urged employers to consider coronavirus as an occupational disease which their employees need to be shielded from.

However, in case a member of staff gets infected by the virus while at work, ILO has directed employers to compensate them appropriately.

In Kenya, KQ pilot Daudi Kibati (now deceased) is among people who contracted the virus while at work. Kimuyu flew to New York to evacuate Kenyans.

Meanwhile, the Nairobi county has said it plans to enlist services of drones in fumigating precincts of the capital.

According to officials, the local government is at the procurement stage. City administration said the drones will ease the exercise without being labour intensive.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Her landlord kicked her out with seven children, then Kenyans came to her rescue | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)An Alaska official trying to promote participation in the national census has urged residents to file their forms online and by phone as the state falls behind the national response average.

The push for remote filing comes as efforts by the U.S. Census Bureau to collect residency data have been been hampered by the cornoavirus pandemic, Alaska Public Media reported Monday.

The outbreak prompted the agency to close field offices and delay door-to-door interviews.

The national response rate stands at nearly 43%, but less than 27% of Alaska households have completed t...
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Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions.

Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
New Delhi, April 9 : Union minister Smriti Irani is busy stitching masks herself with a needle and thread at home during the lockdown. She also released a picture of herself making a mask on Thursday.

In order to combat coronavirus, people also show interest in preparing and using homemade masks. Irani tweeted, "Even a needle and thread can be used to make a reusable mask at home." She also gave tip on making masks.

Irani also shared the guidelines of the Health Ministry on the making and use of masks at home on Twitter. Guidelines state that coronavirus can be fought by social distancing and personal hygiene. Face and mouth can be kept clean by using face cover.

Many countries believe that the common man can use homemade masks. If someone does not have any health problems, he can wear a mask made at home. But it is important to keep such masks clean. Masks made from cloth can be reused at home. It should be washed periodically.

The Health Ministry has suggested at least two masks be prepared at home. With this, one can be used at a time and then after washing it can be washed and used later.

During the lockdown, Irani is also taking special care of her constituency Amethi. On her instructions, ration is being delivered to the needy from village to village. Party workers are giving five kilograms of rice, five kilograms of flour, one kilo of pulses, two hundred grams of oil, 50 grams of vegetable spices, two and a half kilograms of potatoes, turmeric powder and one kilogram of salt to the poor.

On the appeal of Irani's team, many social organizations are also working to provide relief to the poor.
The fate of Bashar al-Assad has been questioned, with Ali Mamlouk being the most likely candidate to take over the running of the country reports Step News.

In the past two days, the media has been busy with leaks over a possible international decision that will change the Syrian political scene and topple the head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad. This comes as the war and revolution that broke out against him enters its 10th years, during which one million people were killed and more than 10 million were displaced as Assad consolidated his hold on power.

Ali Mamlouk

In statements to Step News, Dr. Kamal al-Labwani revealed that an international consensus has been reached to soon replace Assad with another figure from the regime.

The changes wont be major and the name of Ali Mamlouk has been on the table as a possible replacement because of his international ties and reports claiming that he has been working to remove Iran from Syria, he stressed.

Labwani said international administrations made those leaks intentionally because all has been set for the next move and also, to keep the opposition posted on the developments taking place behind the scenes over the Syrian issue.

According to Labwani, Mamlouk had refused this proposal and had no intention of leading the next phase in Syria, however, he surrendered to international pressures that threatened to bring him to trial and blacklist him if someone else took the lead.

Labwani continued, that states concerned with the Syrian issue had explicitly informed the opposition that they have no problem with Assad staying in power, however, their main concern is the Iranian presence in Syria which poses a threat to Israel.

The course of the negotiations

At first, the negotiations were strenuous due to Russian objections, however, once sanctions against the regime and its allies were tightened under the Caesar Act, which was recently announced, the Russians felt the heat of the situation and became part of the negotiations, according to Labwani.

The initial proposal suggested naming an Alawite officer from the Assad family, then it was suggested to name any officer from the Alawites sect, until it was finally decided to name a figure from the regime approved by all parties, he added.

Assad presented a new peace proposal to the Israelis to stay in power, under which he vowed to give up the Golan Heights permanently. However, between the lines, Israel saw that Assad was of no use any longer. And with that, Assad played his last card, says Labwani.

Assads alternative and the new rule

Labwani confirms that the Syrian opposition has been informed that an alternative to Assad was absolute, however, without further confirmations regarding the figure, although the names of Ali Mamlouk and Deeb Zeiton were circulated on the basis that they both have good international ties, stressing that for the opposition, the solution and the key change would be the departure of Assad, his sectarian regime and Iran, to pave the way for Syrians to return to their homeland.

Labwani stressed that the coming stage will not witness any chaos because change will not come through elections but through Assad himself who is expected to hand over rule to his deputy and leave the country for Belarus.

In regards to comments made by Israeli media figure Edy Cohen over the matter, Labwani said: Cohen must have heard about the news from his personal sources, although he is not an official figure in Israel, and perhaps naming his friend Fahd al-Masri could have just been a joke to test the publics reaction.

When will the end of Assads rule be announced?

I think change is coming very soon this year, and many issues will become clearer during summer, noting that failure is an option and policy changes could take place in a blink, however, so far so good- all parties agreed that Iran will be rooted out of Syria and Assad will be replaced by a regime figure who accepts political solutions, noted Labwani.

The deal was the result of several compromises that have been made, granting Russia concessions regarding Ukraine, while the Assad government received guarantees regarding commercial contracts and Syrias reconstruction plan which is just a cover to take over Syrias wealth under the pretext of reconstruction, he added.

The Syrian opposition figure concluded by reaffirming that the issue remains under preparation and it is subject to change at any moment, however, there is an international-political consensus to replace Assad with one of his regime figures.

A change to the plan could take place anytime, just as states policies would suddenly change. An eye should be kept on all international developments taking place in the country, both the political and the military ones, because Syrians have got used to last-moment changes, especially when it comes to the regimes allies and supporters who are known for their malicious and unstable policies, noted Labwani.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Only a small fraction of British companies have successfully accessed financial help from the government to withstand the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, while many more have failed so far, a survey shows.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said 1pc of companies had received funds from the government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, while 8pc said their application had been unsuccessful. Another 7pc received government grants for small businesses, but double that proportion applied unsuccessfully.

Although some of the survey was conducted before the government relaxed rules to allow more businesses to apply for help, the figures make unpromising reading.

Gauges of business activity have already slumped to record-low levels and economists expect Britain's economy will contract by at least 10pc in the second quarter.

"Our latest data shows that many businesses face a cliff-edge scenario, either at the end of this month or over the course of the next quarter," BCC director general Adam Marshall said.

The companies that had so far failed to access government finance cited complexity and slow response times.

The BCC said 16pc of companies had less than a month's worth of cash reserves left, while 6pc had run out entirely.

The cost to government of supporting businesses, especially to keep staff on payroll, is also mounting rapidly.

Under chancellor Rishi Sunak, Britain has pledged over 60bn (69bn) in public spending and tax cuts in an attempt to shield its economy from a deep recession.

The BCC said 37pc of firms it surveyed intended to put more than three quarters of their staff on leave, up from 32pc a week ago, taking advantage of a government scheme that will pay 80pc of workers' salaries up to a cap of 2,500 a month.

This would cost 30bn to 40bn just for the initial three months that the scheme has been guaranteed for, the Resolution Foundation think-tank has estimated.
This satellite image of Scarborough Shoal was taken on April 9, 2020. Ship-tracking data shows China has deployed a Coast Guard Ship to the area, which lies within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

China has deployed a Coast Guard patrol ship to the Scarborough Shoal, the latest salvo in its sustained pressure campaign against Philippine-claimed features in the disputed South China Sea, ship-tracking data shows.

The China Coast Guard (CCG) ship 3302 was at Scarborough Shoal as of Wednesday, BenarNews can confirm. It left the port of Sanya, Hainan province, China, on Sunday.

Its deployment means CCG ships are patrolling nearly all of the hotspots disputed between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Thats happening at a time of renewed diplomatic tension after Manila issued a statement on Wednesday directly criticizing China over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat.

At the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, another CCG ship, the 5302, has been patrolling near since March 6, last week. The ship was still at that location on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the CCG ship Haijing 5202 has been near Thitu Island, another feature claimed by the Philippines, since April 3.

Thitu Island has been the focus of a prolonged Chinese presence, as reported by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. However, maritime militia appear to have left the area, leaving only the 5202, satellite imagery shows.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sought closer ties with China since he took office nearly four years ago. He has sought to tamp down the tensions that flared under his predecessor, when Manila successfully challenged the legal basis of Beijings expansive South China Sea claims in a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

But bucking that trend, on Wednesday the Philippines joined Hanoi and Washington in criticizing Beijing over the April 2 sinking of the Vietnamese boat in a confrontation with a China Coast Guard ship.

The Philippine foreign office issued what it called a statement of solidarity with Hanoi. The statement rebuked Beijing for the incident in waters near the Paracel Islands  which both China and Vietnam claim. It described the sinking as a provocation amid a global crisis around the COVID-19 outbreak.

China claims it has historical rights to much of the South China Sea, despite conflicting claims by other governments in the region.

Chinese ships strayed into the Scarborough Shoal area in 2012, leading to a diplomatic rift between Manila and Beijing.

The following year, Manila filed its arbitration case against China, arguing that the triangular shoal in the South China Sea had long been a fishing ground for Filipinos and was well within the Philippine exclusive economic zone. But instead of pushing to enforce the 2016 decision, Duterte, who took office that year, chose to appease China.

The CCG ship that has just deployed there, the 3302, is a Zhaoyu-class patrol vessel modeled after the Chinese Type 056 warship. It was last seen in that area in November and forced out a Filipino-crewed ship, Rappler reported at the time. The 3302 weighs roughly 3,500 tons and is equipped with a helicopter deck and a 30-mm gun  its designed to be an ocean-going ship, as opposed to patrolling Chinas coasts.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-09 23:02:31

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX:AUG, NYSE American:AUG) ("Auryn" or the "Company") is announcing that its annual general meeting (the "Meeting"), originally scheduled to be held on June 4, 2020, is being cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date. The decision to postpone the Meeting was made in light of ongoing concerns related to the spread of COVID-19 and to mitigate potential risks to the health and safety of its shareholders and employees. Once the Company's board of directors has set a new meeting date, the Company will set the new record date for the Meeting and will file an amended notice of meeting and record date and its management information circular under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com These changes, made out of an abundance of caution, are intended to reduce the potential risks associated with larger gatherings and travel. The Company is following the guidelines and advice of the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as regulations from provincial and territorial governments with respect to the COVID-19 virus.On Behalf of the Board,Ivan BebekExecutive Chairman and DirectorFor further information on Auryn Resources, please contact Natasha Frakes, Manager of Corporate Communications at (778) 729-0600 or info@ aurynresources.com About AurynAuryn Resources is a technology-driven, well-financed junior exploration company focused on finding and advancing globally significant precious and base metal deposits. The Company has a portfolio approach to asset acquisition and has six projects, including two flagships: the Committee Bay high-grade gold project in Nunavut and the Sombrero copper-gold project in southern Peru. Auryn's technical and management teams have an impressive track record of successfully monetizing assets for all stakeholders and local communities in which it operates. Auryn conducts itself to the highest standards of corporate governance and sustainability.Forward Looking Information and Additional Cautionary LanguageThis release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to or associated with the acquisition and title to mineral concessions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to the risks discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent continuous disclosure filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators available at www.sedar.com and the Company's registration statement on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov The Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Auryn Resources Inc.
An abused dog has been rescued by police after its owner dunked it in a London canal in a sickening attack on the terrified animal.

Police posted a picture on Twitter showing the dog now out of harm's way following the animal's cruel torture in Southall, west London on Tuesday at 12.45pm.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in relation to the incident.

Distressing footage, which was posted on Instagram, shows the dog being thrown in the canal five times. It was left underwater for a few seconds on the last dunk before being pulled to the surface.

A man in a Union Jack jacket dunks his dog into a canal in Southall, west London, and then yanks it back up with its lead

On the last dunk the abuser bends his knees to leave the dog under water for a few seconds

After a swift response Ealing Police tweeted: 'Police are investigating after it was reported a man repeatedly submerged a dog in the Grand Union canal Southall on 7 April.

'A 37-year-old man has been arrested The dog is now with our officers.'

The footage shows the man in a Union Jack jacket jerking the small dog off the ground with its lead and forcefully swinging it into the water.

He bends his knees to make sure the dog is submerged and stands up to repeat the awful action.

Police have now rescued the dog after making an arrest in relation to the incident

At the end of the horrific video he violently pulls the dog out of the water and walks off with it

Every time the man dunks the dog into the canal the poor pet's body twists and its paws move frantically.

The last time the man violently flings the dog into the water he bends down and leaves it under for a few seconds. Finally he lifts the dog out and walks off with it on a lead.

At the end of the video the man picks something up from the ground and furiously throws it back down.

People on social media reported the video to the RSPCA who are asking people with information to contact 0300 1234 999 or call the police on 101.
India on Thursday strongly rejected remarks on Jammu and Kashmir by a spokesperson of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, asserting that the union territory 'has been, is and shall continue' to be its integral part.

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said India expects China to refrain from commenting on the country's internal affairs and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said India also expects China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affects the lives of the people of India, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesperson of China's permanent mission in the UN said the Kashmir issue remained high on the UN Security Council's agenda and China is very closely monitoring the current situation in occupied Kashmir. At present, China is holding presidency of the UN Security Council.

The official also reportedly said that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and should be properly and peacefully resolved.

"We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations," Srivastava said.

He was responding to a query on the remarks by the Chinese spokesperson.

"China is well aware of India's consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J and K are internal matter to India," he said.

"It is, therefore, our expectation that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J-K, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.

China has unsuccessfully attempted to raise the issue in the UN after India announced its decision in August last year to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcate the state into two union territories.

In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after India's decision. However, the attempt was foiled by other member-states of the powerful body.

India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October last year for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held 'successful' talks in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Riverside, Missouri, Police Department is investigating the death of a man found Thursday morning. Police found the man about 8:30 a.m. near the 4300 block of Northwest Tullison Road, according to a news release. His body was found off the roadway in a small wooded area.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  A young Army officer suspected of COVID-19 infection has died after complaining of severe difficulty in breathing, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed on Thursday.

Second Lieutenant Vince Magbanua, a member of Philippine Military Academy Alab Tala Class of 2018, was diagnosed with acute bronchitis on Wednesday. He was told to undergo strict self-quarantine in the barracks in Bulacan.

The next day, he was rushed to a hospital in Bulacan after his respiratory problems worsened. He was declared dead upon his arrival at the Norzagaray Municipal Hospital after a heart attack.

AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said they were awaiting the COVID-19 test results of Magbanua, who hails from Davao City. They are now tracing the people he had come in contact with.

"We are yet to receive as at this time the report that will conclude if this was a case of COVID-19 or not. But contact tracing and quarantine protocols are already being implemented in 48th Infantry Battalion (his unit assignment) as a matter of precaution," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an emergency quarantine facility was opened at the AFP headquarters in Quezon City on Thursday. It will serve mild to asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to decongest hospitals.

The Philippines now has 3,870 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 182 deaths and 96 recoveries.
New Delhi, April 10 : April 9 marked the 100th day of the first cases of new coronavirus being reported, which began its deadly journey from a seafood market in Wuhan in China and brought the entire world to its knees.

In a tweet on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Today marks 100 days since @WHO was notified of the first cases of what we now call #COVID19. Over 1.3M people have been infected & almost 80K have lost their lives. This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of government & society response." The deadly respiratory disease came to light in early January and on Thursday, it had infected over 1.3 million people worldwide, with the US on the top.

The Director-General said that the WHO has been working day and night to fight COVID-19 in five key areas. Supporting countries to prepare & respond, providing accurate information & fighting the infodemic, ensuring supply of medical equipment for #healthworkers, training & mobilizing health workers and accelerating R&D.

"Our focus has been on working with countries & partners to bring the world together to confront this common threat together. We've been especially concerned with protecting the world's poorest & most vulnerable, not just in the poorest countries, but in all countries," he emphasised.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged support for the WHO after US President Donald Trump threatened to freeze American funding.

"It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," Xinhua news agency quoted Guterres as saying in a statement.

Trump on Tuesday criticized the WHO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatened to freeze US funding for it.

Again on Wednesday, Trump while addressing the White House daily briefing claimed that the WHO has gotten the pandemic "wrong"

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Google is seen in Davos

By David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday approved Alphabet Inc unit Google's request to use part of an U.S.-Asia undersea telecommunications cable after the company warned it would face significantly higher prices to carry traffic by other means.

Google agreed to operate a portion of the 8,000-mile Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook Inc helped pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link but U.S. regulators have blocked its use.

The Justice Department earlier told the FCC in a petition it supported Google's revised request. The agency said U.S. agencies believe "there is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States."

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, whose relations with the United States have soured over the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, trade disputes and security concerns.

In a statement, Google thanked the FCC for approving its request and added "dedicated global network deployment and operations team is continually increasing capacity to meet the needs of our users, and that includes our subsea cable system."

The FCC is allowing Google to operate the segment for the next six months, pending a final disposition of the license application.

Google told regulators earlier this year it has "an immediate need to meet internal demand for capacity between the U.S. and Taiwan, in particular to connect Googles Taiwan data center to Google data centers in the United States and to serve users throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

It added that without that "capacity, the value of large, recent capital investments Google has made in the United States is significantly reduced."

Story continues

The Justice Department said without temporary authority "Google would likely have to seek alternative capacity at significantly higher prices."

Google has also agreed to "pursue diversification of interconnection points in Asia," as well as to establish network facilities that deliver traffic "as close as practicable" to its ultimate destination, the department added.

The United States has expressed concerns about China's role in handling network traffic and potential for espionage. Around 300 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet by carrying 99% of the worlds data traffic.

A Facebook affiliate sought FCC approval to use a portion of the cable connecting the Philippines to the United States to handle traffic.

Facebook said on Wednesday it is "navigating through all the appropriate channels on licensing and permitting."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski and Sonya Hepinstall)
(Natural News) ANTIFA terrorists are encouraging their followers to commit home invasions during the coronavirus pandemic, with one popular social media account giving tips to activists on how to commit these violent acts.

(Article by Shane Trejo republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com)

Journalist Andy Ngo, who was once hit in the head with a concrete milkshake by ANTIFA terrorists, drew attention to ANTIFA fomenting anarchy during the coronavirus pandemic in a social media post:

Antifa accounts promoting criminal activities & providing instructions on how to break into homes proliferate on @Twitter during the virus pandemic. This antifa account that says it is based in the Pacific NW has thousands of followers: pic.twitter.com/rIRaizQJno  Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 1, 2020

Major social media entities, particularly Twitter, allow ANTIFA terrorists to organize on their platforms. They have repeatedly refused to ban far-left agitators who openly pine for violence and harass political enemies while cracking down on the free speech of conservatives.

Big League Politics reported last year about how Twitter allowed an ANTIFA-style group to venerate a left-wing terrorist who shot up a migrant detention facility in Washington state:

The social media giant Twitter is allowing the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club (JBGC), an ANTIFA militia group, to promote a reading list preferred by domestic terrorist Willem Van Spronsen on their platform. Van Spronsen was killed while committing a terrorist attack against a migrant detention facility in Tacoma, WA in July. He had trained with the JBGC before he went on his rampage, which caused only property damage. The JBGC posted a blog last week on their official website in anticipation for the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair that took place on Dec. 1. They call their outreach at the event a big success. We brought hundreds of pieces of literature for community defense and firearms education, a magnitude more stickers, and gave away non-lethal defense options and donated books that belonged to Will Van Spronsen, the JBGC wrote. Everyone annihilated our literature inventory, so we had to do a surprise round of printing in bigger numbers for Sunday, which also went quickly. It was also great to meet so many new people! they added The JBGC has turned Van Spronsen into a martyr and regularly hands out copies of the deranged manifesto that he penned shortly before committing his terrorist attack. Theres wrong and theres right. Its time to take action against the forces of evil, Van Spronsen wrote in his manifesto. Evil says one life is worth less than another. Evil says the flow of commerce is our purpose here. Evil says concentration camps for folks deemed lesser are necessary. The handmaid of evil says the concentration camps should be more humane. Beware the centrist. This is a call to patriots to stand against this travesty against everything that you hold sacred, he added.

There is blood on the hands of the Silicon Valley tech giants for enabling the violent actions of ANTIFA.

Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com
Global publishing giant Lonely Planet is closing its Australian and London offices "almost entirely" as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cripple the travel industry.

The travel media company publishes country guidebooks for travellers and employs hundreds of staff worldwide.

Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet, said he was "shocked" to hear the company was winding down its Australian office. Credit:Max Seigal

"Due to the impact of COVID-19 on demand and sales Lonely Planet has made the difficult decision to reduce its publishing operations for the foreseeable future," a spokesman said.

Lonely Planet will continue publishing its popular country guidebooks and phrasebooks, but will not commission any new ancillary titles such as coffee table books, children's books or the Lonely Planet magazine.
Police on Thursdayfiled a case



against five persons for sharing and liking a "derogatory" post related to a minority community on Facebook, officials said.

A lawyer, Mir Nagman Ali, had filed an complaint at the Makapur police station against the main accused, Ashok Jetha (31), a resident of Nagpur who had sharedthe FB post and four others, who had liked the post, police said.

Of the four who had liked the "derogatory" post, two are from Chhattisgarh, one from Mumbai and a local resident, they said.

The main accused was known to the complainant-lawyer and was his FB friend, the police said.

The complainant, which browsing his FB account, found the objectionable post shared by Jetha and subsequently registered the complaint.

The police registered the case against the five persons under relevant sections of the IPC, the IT Act, 2000 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the Linda Woodman State Jail for women in Gatesville, at least two inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, while another four tests are pending. The jail has placed six inmates in isolation, and another 121 inmates have been placed under medical restriction. The jails maximum capacity is 900 inmates, according to the Department of Criminal Justice website.

The Christina Melton Crain Unit listed two pending tests but no positive COVID-19 results. Nonetheless, the unit has placed one inmate in isolation and another 71 in medial restriction, according to the website. The Crain Unit is a womens prison with a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility.

Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel said the agency has developed policies and protocols that continue to be refined based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for correctional facilities.

Mask making

On Sunday, the department started distributing 50,000 cotton masks made in its garment factories to all staff and requiring all staff working in prison units to wear them. The cotton masks are intended to prevent the wearer from spreading the virus.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's controversial trip to Guam over the weekend where he ridiculed the commander of a coronavirus-stricken U.S. aircraft carrier cost taxpayers at least $243,000, officials said on Wednesday.

Modly resigned on Tuesday after mounting criticism for firing and ridiculing Captain Brett Crozier of the Theodore Roosevelt who pleaded for help to contain a coronavirus outbreak onboard.

Modly quit only after mounting pressure from Congress and a backlash from the crew, and followed U.S. President Donald Trump's own suggestion on Monday that he might get involved in the matter.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Modly flew for about 35 hours on a C-37B, the military version of a Gulfstream jet.

The officials said that based on the flying time, the cost was $243,151.65.

Crozier, whom Modly relieved of command last week, favored more dramatic steps to safeguard his sailors from the spread of the coronavirus in a four-page letter that leaked to the public last week.

When Modly fired him over the leak, his crew hailed Crozier as a hero and gave him a rousing sendoff captured on video, apparently upsetting Modly and leading the Navy's top civilian to fly to Guam to castigate the captain in a speech to the crew on Monday.

Modly questioned Crozier's character, saying at one point he was either "stupid" or "naive." After audio of his speech leaked, including expletives, Modly initially stood by his remarks. But he later apologized at U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper's request.

So far, 286 personnel onboard the carrier have tested positive for the coronavirus.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; editing by Grant McCool)
Apart from providing one-month ration to one lakh households of daily wage workers associated with the All India Film Employees Confederation, Amitabh Bachchan has now started to distribute 2,000 packets of food daily to provide lunch and dinner to the needy across Mumbai amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twitter

Meanwhile on the personal front .. 2000 packets of food are being given each day for lunch and dinner at various locations over the city .. and the larger bags of a monthly provision about 3000 bags, which would take care of at 12,000 mouths is in process, he wrote on his blog.



Representational Image

He revealed where the people are being fed.

Most of the feeding is taking place at the Haji Ali dargah, the Mahim dargah, the Babulnath Temple, the slum in Bandra and a few other slums in the interior North of the city .. it is so difficult to cover as many as we may want to .. but...



He also highlighted the problems that are being faced in terms of transportation and supply because of the lockdown.

The process has its problems .. the lockdown has now made it illegal to step out of the house and living areas .. so even though I have been able to get the bags ready its transportation causes problems, he wrote.



One cargo vehicle can carry 50-60 bags of the essential package .. so 3000 packages would involve so many more vehicles .. the vehicles is not the problem , its their movement that is restricted.



AFP

He said that because people have been hungry for days, sometimes they get unruly and impatient while the food is being distributed. It sometimes leads to a stampede kind of situation.

The authorities are saying that when the package arrives, people , specially those in the slums for whom the material is specially packed, have not eaten for 3-4 days and they rush for the vehicle to pick up their package, which almost causes a stampede and the Police cannot allow that to happen, with the conditions of social distancing,Big B wrote.



Big B also took to Twitter to express words of gratitude for supply warriors who are risking their lives to serve the nation in this hour of crisis.

T 3495 - I express my sincere gratitude to all #SupplyWarriors who are risking their lives every day to serve the nation. We salute your determination towards keeping #India connected amidst lockdown.#IndiaFightsCorona @PMOIndia @COVIDNewsByMIB @MIB_India @swachhbharat pic.twitter.com/zug66fL3Zq  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) April 8, 2020

He said in the video that he gives instructions to carry out the process the right way.




Fifty-six people in Michigan have officially recovered from the coronavirus as of April 3, Michigan public health officials reported Wednesday evening.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced it would begin sharing weekly tallies of the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19, defining recovery as a person with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who are still alive 30 days after the onset of illness.

Related: Three weeks into Michigans coronavirus crisis, the numbers are rising exponentially

Testing data by state preparedness region and hospital utilization information that shows the number of emergency department discharges, number of inpatients, number of patients in critical care and number of patients on ventilators were also added to the states coronavirus website Wednesday and will be updated daily, Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said in a statemen

We continue to improve the information we are providing as our goal is to share timely and accurate data during this pandemic, she said. We appreciate the assistance of Michigan Medical Advantage Group in helping us offer additional statistics about testing.

The lab testing data added to the states website includes a breakdown of the number of total COVID-19 tests by day and by region, as well as the number of positive and negative tests.

A growing chorus of Michigan residents had been calling for additional data, especially recovery statistics, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

As of Wednesday, Michigan has 20,346 confirmed cases and 959 deaths. It became the third state in the country to reach 20,000 confirmed cases, following New York and New Jersey.

Health officials have said there are more cases of COVID-19 out there than what the data shows due to limited testing capabilities and a wide range in how the disease impacts people. While some have severe symptoms and die from the disease, others have milder symptoms or are asymptomatic.

Related coverage:

Three weeks into Michigans coronavirus crisis, the numbers are rising exponentially

A lot more coronavirus cases in Kalamazoo County than data shows, health official says

Wednesday, April 8: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

As coronavirus scare relaxes Michigan transparency laws, experts question long-term effects

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Read all Michigan coronavirus coverage

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.
Brazil's health minister said the government should consider turning to the leaders of gangs and militias in the nation's dangerous favelas to help ward off the ravaging coronavirus.

Luiz Henrique Mandettahas called for dialogue with the gang leaders over enforcing curfews and other management plans to help stop the spread of the deadly disease.

'We have to understand that these are areas where the state is often absent and the ones in charge are drug traffickers and militia groups,' Health Minister Mandetta said.

'How do we build a bridge to them? By talking, yes, with drug traffickers, with militias, because they are human beings, too, and they need to help.'

Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Brazil's Health Minister, said the government should reach out to the gang and militia leaders of the country's favelas and work on a joint strategy to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The nation's slums are home to 11 million residents

The neighborhood association in the Sao Paulo slum of Paraisopolis hired a private, round-the-clock medical staff to provide service to its population due to trust issues with the local government.

The Health Ministry chief said the government launched a pilot project in one favela on controlling the coronavirus risk.

Mandetta did not specify which slum neighborhood authorities had reached out to.

Brazil's favelas are home to 11 million people or 2% of the population and the scenes of street battles between armed gangs and police are frequent.

The neighborhood association in Sao Paulo's largest favela, Paraisopolis, hired its own medical staff to a 30-day contract due to trust issues with the government.

At least six people have tested positive in the favela with a population of 100,000.

But a member of the Paraisopolis residents' committee feared there could be as many as 60 sickened with the disease in a slum with a population density that is is about the same as Manhattan.

De facto authority here lies with the First Capital Command, Brazil's largest and most powerful gang, known by its Portuguese acronym PCC.

In Rio de Janeiro's City of God slum, gang members drove around and blasted a message through a loudspeaker warning the population of 40,000 to honor the sector's curfew by not coming out of their homes after 8pm.

'We are introducing the curfew because no one is taking it seriously. Anyone who is on the street or hanging out will receive a concealer and will be an example. It is better stay at home and chill. The message has already been given,' the local gangs announcement said.

Sao Paulo's Paraisopolis favela is the largest in the state. It houses more than 100,000 people

Rio de Janeiro residents organize food and supplies that were being delivered to residents in the city's favelas on Thursday

Brazil's health minister said Wednesday that the government and authorities should consider engaging the leaders of gangs and militias in the nation's favelas to combat the rise of the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured above are Rio de Janeiro's special police agents during an operation in the City of God favela

Mandetta has been a staunch supporter of strict social distancing measures to contain the virus, in line with World Health Organization recommendations.

He survived being axed from his post Monday by President Jair Bolsonaro, with whom he has clashed in recent weeks over the far-right leader's handling of the epidemic.

Bolsonaro argues that closing businesses and telling people to stay home is unnecessarily damaging the economy.

Business owners in the Rio de Janeiro slum of Rocinha, the biggest favela in Brazil, have defied the local government's lockdown order by reopening their shops.

At least two people had five people had died in the neighborhood due to symptoms related to the virus.

Rocinha community leader William de Oliveira said that part of the population does not have a grasp on the severity of the virus.

'The feeling is that many people do not believe in the gravity of the situation,' he said according to Infobae.

'The community adhered to the quarantine in the first days and the stores closed, but in the last days people have returned to circulate and the companies have started operating.'
A private prison company is walking away from plans to build an immigration detention center in Uinta County, the company and county officials confirmed Wednesday.

Its off the table now, said Eric South, chairman of the Uinta County Commission. All these bleeding hearts and liberals ought to be happy about it.

South said he was informed of the decision on Tuesday.

The county posted a statement attributed to the company on its website. A spokeswoman for CoreCivic, the company that planned to build the facility, confirmed the validity of the statement.

After participating in the process to date in good faith, there were ultimately a number of factors that made it difficult for us to consider proceeding, the statement said in part.

CoreCivic would have built the facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The facility would have held people in civil detention while awaiting deportation proceedings. The ACLU said the facility would have held up to 1,000 people awaiting court proceedings in Salt Lake City, which is about 80 miles to the west of Uinta County.

Supporters said the facility would have meant jobs and an economic boost for the southwestern Wyoming community.

It means we wont have 250 jobs coming in, South said. The tax base will stay flat, where were already struggling.

Several groups, however, campaigned against the facility and questioned the history of the company pursuing it. The ACLU and Juntos, a nonprofit activist group advocating for Latino immigrants, both hosted events in opposition to the facility.

Were thrilled that CoreCivic has withdrawn its plans to pursue an immigration prison outside of Evanston, said Antonio Serrano, the ACLU of Wyomings organizer. Private prison companies like CoreCivic put profit above lives, and an immigration prison would bring ICE closer to Wyomings Latino and immigrant communities, expanding its ability prey on immigrants and break apart families in Wyoming.

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South Korea's job creation may suffer a decline, as the coronavirus pandemic has strained the country's economy and business activities, the nation's chief economic policymaker said Thursday.







"There is a possibility that unemployment may increase among part-time workers or small business owners," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during a meeting with economy-related ministers.







"The number of applicants for unemployment allowances is estimated to have increased in March from a year earlier," he added.







The number of new applicants for state allowances paid to those unemployed or seeking jobs is estimated to have reached around 150,000 to 160,000 in March, compared with 125,000 posted a year earlier. The finalized data will be released next week.







In February, South Korea paid out a total of 781.9 billion won (US$643 million) to the eligible applicants for unemployment allowances, soaring 32 percent from a year earlier to hit a fresh high. The previous record was 758.9 billion won in July last year.







The total number of beneficiaries reached 536,000, up 16 percent from a year earlier.







South Korea's job creation rose by more than 400,000 for the third straight month in February, but the outbreak of the new coronavirus is dealing a harsh blow to some sectors, such as retail and wholesale.







Monthly job creation also mostly centered on seniors.







The number of employed people aged 60 and older rose by 570,000 on-year last month. Jobs for those in their 30s edged up 19,000, while 25,000 jobs for 20-somethings were lost in February.







To provide some respite to those who have lost jobs due to the pandemic, South Korea is currently planning to provide shopping coupons and gift certificates to more than half of the country's households.







Households in the bottom 70 percent of gross income will receive the disaster relief aid, which reaches a total of 9.1 trillion won. Seoul will submit an extra budget proposal to the parliament next week for the payout.







South Korea detected 53 new cases of COVID-19 infection Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 10,384. (Yonhap)


Highlights Mumbai Police shared a Stree-inspired meme They gave a twist to the iconic dialogue O stree, kal aana The tweet has now left people in splits

From emotional to witty, Mumbai Police often takes to Twitter to put forth essential awareness messages. With the ongoing crisis, almost all the tweets by the department are reminders for people to practice the various preventative procedures which are the necessity of the time. Just like this recent tweet by Mumbai Police which reminds people to keep off streets. Whats interesting is that the tweet comes with a Stree-inspired twist.

The department shared a meme inspired from a popular dialogue of Rajkummar Rao starrer film Stree. Giving a twist to the iconic O stree, kal aana dialogue, they tweeted:

Since being shared just a few hours ago, the post has received over 1,400 likes and has now struck a chord with many. It has also left people in splits.

No one makes better memes than Mumbai Police, wrote a Twitter user. I love Mumbai Police Ads. Very Creative Very Effective... Love you @MumbaiPolice, expressed another. Despite so much pressure of work you all are doing fab job and this is very funny, tweeted a third. Love and respect, commented a fourth. Haha nice take. Thanks for keeping us safe and protected. Big Salute to you all, wrote a fifth.

What do you think of Mumbai Polices tweet?

Also Read | Mumbai Police shares what they wouldve done had they been home. You may stop complaining about the lockdown
"We are faced with an unprecedented national crisis and Goya has always stepped up to the plate in times of desperate need. As an essential business, our Goya teams are working 24/7 to meet the overwhelming demand for food and ensure that supermarket shelves nationwide are stocked with nourishing products, while also providing food to communities who are food insecure or not able to get to supermarkets," said Bob Unanue, President of Goya Foods.

Donations were made directly to Catholic Charities of New York and Newark, Food Education Fund, The Sisters of Life, The NY Common Pantry in partnership with New York City FC, City Harvest in New York City, The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Secaucus Food Pantry, families of Cristo Rey High School, Jersey City Medical Center, The City of Jersey City for the Homeless, Holy Name Hospital, and Kingsborough Community College; Caring for Friends in Philadelphia; Feeding South Florida; The Houston Food Bank, Latino Learning Centers Inc., Tejano Center for Community Concerns, Texas Feeding Alliance and Catholic Charities of San Antonio in Texas; The Salvation Army Little Village, Catholic Charities Casa Latina and Children's Hunger Fund in Chicago. With the support of each organization, the food has been and will continue to be distributed to families, children, homeless and the elderly communities.

"We are so grateful for Goya Foods who enable us to serve those most in need, no matter the circumstances. We have never seen a crisis like this and we are truly grateful for Goya's leadership and quick response to provide nourishing food to families, children and our elderly communities," said Antonio Fernandez, President & CEO Catholic Charities of San Antonio.

COVID 19 has dramatically impacted the livelihood of communities, businesses, places of worship and organizations that normally provide food on a daily basis to those who are homeless, elderly and food insecure. Unemployment has sky-rocketed, and the need for nourishing food is at its highest demand.

For more information about Goya Gives, please visit, www.goya.com

About GOYA

Founded in 1936, Goya Foods, Inc. is America's largest Hispanic-owned food company, and has established itself as the leader in Latin American food and condiments. Goya manufactures, packages, and distributes over 2,500 high-quality food products from Spain, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Goya products have their roots in the culinary traditions of Hispanic communities around the world. The combination of authentic ingredients, robust seasonings and convenient preparation makes Goya products ideal for every taste and every table. For more information on Goya Foods, please visit www.goya.com.

For more information & photos:

Natalie J. Maniscalco

Mobile: 845.659.6506

[email protected]

SOURCE Goya Foods, Inc.

Related Links

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Private doctors and practitioners who fall outside of provincial jurisdiction say their safety is falling through the cracks as shortages of personal protective equipment continue to put pressure on Manitobas health-care system.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Private doctors and practitioners who fall outside of provincial jurisdiction say their safety is falling through the cracks as shortages of personal protective equipment continue to put pressure on Manitobas health-care system.

In a news release Tuesday, public health officials recommended Manitobans not forego care for regular and chronic medical conditions, noting primary care providers and community health offices would continue to be open to the public through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theres just one problem: a local health-care product distributor  whose main clients are private physicians  says PPE supplies have come to a halt, meaning private doctors offices have had to shut their doors to in-patient visits.

"We're having major struggles at our company trying to get any of the product in," a salesperson for a local distributor, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an interview Wednesday.

"What's happening now is clinics are locking their doors and they're saying if you phone us and you need to see us, then we'll let you in."

On March 15, Manitoba approved virtual care visits for doctors, who are now able to assess patients over the phone or via video link to reduce face-to-face interactions.

A local health-care product distributor says PPE supplies have come to a halt, meaning private doctors offices have had to shut their doors to in-patient visits. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press files)

Some clinics, such as the Assiniboine Medical Clinic in Winnipeg, have alerted patients it will be taking all visits over the phone unless an in-person exam is required.

"We have heard from an increasing number of doctors who simply do not have the necessary protective equipment," Dr. Fourie Smith, president of Doctors Manitoba, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Hearing today that 10 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Manitoba are health-care workers is concerning, to say the least. These are health professionals who are no longer available to care for patients."

Protective equipment such as N-95 face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and gowns are provided to health-care practitioners through a few different avenues. The province can negotiate contracts directly with manufacturers, such as American company 3M, but private clinics get their supply from either a retailer (who sells to the public) or a distributor.

The nationwide shortages of PPE start at the top, with manufacturers struggling to meet global demand.

"We have nothing. Every day, we spend probably 25 per cent or more of our day explaining to customers that we can't supply stuff," the distribution salesperson said.

"We're stranded, other companies similar to us are stranded, and the worst part is the clinics don't have access to this product to be able to see their patients."

Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Fourie Smith says his organization is hearing from an increasing number of doctors who do not have the necessary protective equipment. (Taylor Allen / Winnipeg Free Press files)

In the middle of a national PPE shortage, provincial tenders come first, said Karen Veldkamp-Perry, who runs local health-care retailer Canadian Health Care Products.

"There is definitely a shortage, but the shortage is direct from manufacturers, and what I can say 100 per cent is that the government gets first dibs," she said in an interview Wednesday.

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"It's frustrating all around but we understand that the frontlines, those guys need it."

Shared Health Manitoba has mandated all health-care providers, including those in private practices, use appropriate PPE when working in-person with clients. In a statement released Sunday, the province noted Manitobas COVID-19 supply chain is preparing to meet supply and distribution needs for all practitioners the week of April 13.

"Doctors continue to provide care for patients, even as they hear stories from other jurisdictions about doctors who have died after contracting COVID-19 while caring for their patients," said Smith.

"We urge provincial officials in the strongest possible terms to provide the protective equipment that they themselves recommend to physicians without delay."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
Social media should be used to chart the economic impact and recovery of businesses in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research published in Nature Communications. University of Bristol scientists describe a 'real time' method accurately trialled across three global natural disasters which could be used to reliably forecast the financial impact of the current global health crisis.

Traditional economic recovery estimates, such as surveys and interviews, are usually costly, time-consuming and do not scale-up well. However, researchers from Bristol's School of Engineering Maths and Department of Civil Engineering show they were able to accurately estimate the downtime and recovery of small businesses in countries affected by three different natural hazards using aggregated social media data.

The method relies on the assumption that businesses tend to publish more social media posts when they are open and fewer when they are closed, hence analysing the aggregated posting activity of a group of businesses over time it is possible to infer when they are open or closed.

Using data from the public Facebook posts of local businesses collected before, during and after three natural disasters comprising the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, the 2017 Chiapas earthquake in Mexico, and the 2017 hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the team charted the number of smaller urban businesses who were closed and then were able to measure their recovery post-event. The team validated their analysis using field surveys, official reports, Facebook surveys, Facebook posts text analysis and other studies available in literature.

Importantly, the framework works in 'real time' without the need for text analysis which can be largely dependent on language, culture or semantic analysis and can be applied to any size area or type of natural disaster, in developed and developing countries, allowing local governments to better target the distribution of resources.

Dr Simini, Senior Lecturer and the study's lead author explains: "The challenge of nowcasting the effect of natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and pandemics on assets, people and society has never been more timely than ever for assessing the ability of countries to recover from extreme events.

"Often, small to medium-sized businesses slip through the net of traditional monitoring process of recovery. We noticed in areas struck by natural hazard events that not all areas and populations react in the same way."

Dr Flavia De Luca, lead author and Senior Lecturer in Bristol's Department of Civil Engineering, added: "We had the idea of supporting post-emergency deployment of resources after a natural hazard event using public Facebook posts of businesses to measure how a specific region is recovering after the event. It was amazing to find out that the approach was providing information on the recovery in 'real time'.

"We would like to test the method to measure the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."

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'Social media usage reveals recovery of small businesses after natural hazard events' by F Simini, F. De Luca, R Eyre.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:10:12|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland has dispatched the first batch of relief supplies against the COVID-19 pandemic to Italy, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said on Thursday.

Among the supplies, 10,000 protective suits worth CHF 100,000 (103,500 U.S. dollars) have been handed over to the Italian Civil Protection Department on Thursday, said FDFA.

The assistance package, as part of the "global fight against COVID-19 pandemic", follows other relief supplies delivered to China, Nepal and Serbia earlier, and is also now in the process of being offered to Greece, according to FDFA.

FDFA also said that the second delivery to Italy is expected in the near future.

As of Thursday, Switzerland, a landlocked country with a population of 8.5 million, has reported 23,574 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and the death toll has reached 756.
Its been just under two months since Kassidy Stanton found her mother shot multiple times in the parking lot of their apartment complex, and the rising Hoover High School senior remembers it all so clearly.

It was Valentines Day and Kassidy was cleaning the familys apartment when she heard shots ring out.

I heard the last three shots because I think there were five, Kassidy told AL.com in the familys first interview since the Feb. 14 ambush slaying of 41-year-old Shemethia Coteat Stanton.

I was sitting there waiting on it to stop. I heard the tires go off and thats it. Im thinking, OK, somebody just got shot and Im nosy so Im going to go look.

Kassidy glanced out the blinds and saw her mothers car, but her mother was nowhere in sight. My first instinct was to go look again, double check, because maybe shes in the breezeway and maybe shes running from the gunshots, she said. I saw her car door open, but I didnt see her still. At this point Im worried because why didnt she come in the house?

The 17-year-old Kassidy ran outside. Thats when she saw her mom unresponsive on the ground. I checked her pulse because Im trained for CPR, Kassidy said. There was no pulse. By that time, the neighbors came out and I was screaming but it was so unreal to me that my mama was laying there.

There was no reason for somebody to do something like this to somebody so loving, and so God-fearing, she said. It just hurt me so bad. I cant explain it.

Coteat Stantons family and authorities are asking for help in the case. Hoover police and Crime Stoppers on Thursday announced a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the slaying.

What were asking today is a little bit unusual because we already have a suspect identified in this case. We feel like were extremely close to putting all the pieces together and making an arrest. However, we still need more information, said Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector.

We need that final, additional piece of evidence to make our case stronger. We want to make an arrest and we want it to hold up in court. There is someone out there who has information that can tip the scales for us.

Hoover police and fire medics responded shortly before 7 p.m. that Friday to The Park at Wellington and Wakefield apartments off Tyler Road. Once on the scene, they found Coteat Stanton outside her car. She was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:05 p.m.

Police said it appears Coteat Stanton was retrieving items from the backseat of her vehicle when she was attacked. Detectives are still working to determine a motive, but investigators believe Coteat Stanton was specifically targeted. The suspect was waiting in the parking lot for Coteat Stanton to return home.

This is a really tragic situation, Rector said. Our victim had a good job, was very family-oriented and worked hard to provide for them.

Sheneka Coteat said her sister had just left Piggly Wiggly in Bluff Park, not far from her home. She was seen at 6:53 p.m. visiting with the store security guard and another employee, and then went home. She was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.  thats how quick it happened, Coteat said.

Coteat Stanton left behind four children, including Kassidy and 9-year-old son Joshua. Her death has been a hard-hit for all of them. They still live in the same apartment with their dad.

My mama was the type of person who everybody loved. She was just the energy of everything, Kassidy said. If there was a party and my mom walked in, the party started. She was the type of person who would help anybody, just anybody.

I had a couple of friends come up to me and tell me, Man, your mom was so cool. We were in the store and came up short and she paid for the whole thing, Kassidy said. Or if she saw man on the street and she didnt even know him from a can of paint, never seen him a day in her life, she was going to give him a conversation and something to look forward too.

Kassidy said her mom was always there for anyone who needed to talk, or just cry. She was just that type of person anyone could call on whenever you needed her or whatever the situation is, she said. Wrong or right, she was going to talk to you and tell you whats wrong and what is right and what you could have done better to avoid the situation.

She was just a problem solver and a peacemaker and everything you could ask for in a person, she said.

Kassidy said its been hard without her. But every time we come across a challenge, we just think, What would mama do. It makes us think about the right answer, she said. We just like to think about the good times we had with her and try not to let this get the best of us even though its real hard.

For young Josh, its been particularly tough without his mother. Hes trying to be strong and hes trying to understand all of this, Kassidy said. But he has his days where he comes and talks to me or just lays under me. He has these days where he just doesnt want to sleep by himself. To be honest, he was the favorite child because he was the youngest and we came to accept that.

Coteat Stanton grew up in Birmingham, attending West End High School and then Lawson State Community College. At the time of her death, she was the business operations manager at Old Navy at the Riverchase Galleria.

Its been really hard on us as a family because we are such a close family, Coteat said. She was my sister, but she was my best friend. She was somebody who was a part of my everyday life and these kids are a a part of my everyday life. They have been since they were born.

How its affecting them is the most hurtful thing, that somebody could do something like that to someone who has people depending on them so much in life, Coteat said. I catch them all the time, whether they know Im watching or not, crying, sad, just trying to deal with it and not let us know whats going on so we wont worry. But it has affected our lives. It has just changed our life drastically.

Shemethia Coteat Stanton, a beloved daughter, sister and mother of 4, was slain Feb. 14. Her grieving family wants justice, and police are offering a reward in the case. (Contributed)

It has broken us down. Were definitely trying to bring strong but it so hard, she said. And to know this person is still walking around. Somebody that would do something like that to somebody, they dont deserve to be walking around because that means they would do this to anybody at any given moment.

The way in which Coteat Stanton died was a shock to the family. She didnt have any enemies. If she had a person who didnt like her, I feel like I would have definitely known, Coteat said. She wasnt that kind of person. She was the person everybody loved.

Asked what she missed most about her mom, Kassiday said, I just miss her presence. If I could just have her back, that would be everything to me. She made me feel at home, and safe. She was just a comfort to me.

Coteat said she most misses her sisters loving heart and spirit. She was that person to brighten the day with her smile. She was the person to let you know that everything was going to be OK, she said. She was the problem solver  thats exactly what she was.

Justice is important to all of them at this point. I know it wont bring her back, but it may give us a little peace to know the person who took her away from us, and that they will pay for what they did because its not acceptable, Coteat said.

Anyone with information in Coteat Stantons murder is asked to call Hoover police Det. Brad Fountain at 205-444-7562. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous and qualify for the reward money can call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 205-254-7777 or submit a tip online at www.crimestoppersmetroal.com.

Someone needs to do the right thing and call us. Reward money is there, ready and waiting to be paid. Shemethias family deserves justice and closure, Rector said. Detectives continue to work on this case daily and there are certainly no plans to stop until an arrest is made. So, if anyone out there thinks that were going away, were not.
As emergent pathogens like coronavirus and climate-related health challenges like wildfire smoke plague human populations, the University of Montana has received funding for a center dedicated to understanding and addressing public health challenges to Montana and the region.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the University a five-year $10.75 million grant to establish the Center for Population Health Research (CPHR, pronounced see-far). The center will support epidemiological and mathematical modeling approaches to better understand risk and resilience factors for childrens health outcomes. It also will create disease prevention strategies developed for, adapted to and tested in rural communities.

We are excited about this opportunity to improve the health of children in Montana and the region, said Curtis Noonan, center director and a professor of epidemiology in UMs School of Public and Community Health Sciences. This comes at a challenging time for the public health community.

We could not have predicted the current coronavirus threat when we started building this center over two and a half years ago, he said, but we did recognize the importance of developing the capacity to work with medical and public health data to better understand health risk in our communities and identify disease prevention strategies that are relevant to rural states.

Landguth

CPHR research projects establish scientific capacity and a collaborative infrastructure highly relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin Landguth leads a project to better understand the factors that influence respiratory infection among children.

In the face of todays infectious disease complexities, mathematical models offer essential tools for synthesizing information to understand epidemiological patterns and for developing the quantitative evidence base for decision-making in public health, Landguth said. Partnering with pediatric health care providers, my project will integrate novel data streams, computational capacity and new modeling tools, allowing for the description of how respiratory infections vary across space and time  particularly in rural communities where such work is limited.

Newcomer

Public health leaders anticipate that a coronavirus vaccine, when developed, will be an essential component of controlling the current pandemic. A CPHR project led by Sophia Newcomer focuses on identifying the barriers to early childhood vaccinations, especially in rural areas where childhood vaccination rates are lower than public health targets.

Vaccines are the most effective tool we have for infectious disease control and prevention, said Newcomer. Working with the state health department and local providers, my project seeks to identify why some Montana children fall behind or dont receive recommended vaccines and to develop strategies to increase vaccination rates across the state.

Semmens

Environmental epidemiologist Erin Semmens leads a third research project investigating the impact of community exposures to smoke from wildfires  an increasingly recognized and now constant public health threat to the region.

Wildfire events are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity due to climate change, Semmens said. Through a collaboration with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, local health systems and UM colleagues across campus, our project aims to quantify how these exposures influence early childhood development, as well as birthweight and risk of preterm birth. Both are linked to long-term susceptibility to disease and infections.

A key feature of CPHR is to provide core resources to support both current and future researchers who explore important population health questions. The Data and Modeling Core, led by Jon Graham, provides center researchers with tools and infrastructure for working with sensitive electronic data such as medical records and state health tracking systems.

To effectively translate research findings to action, the Intervention Support Core, led by Tony Ward, provides CPHR investigators with the expertise and tools for designing novel disease prevention and health promotion strategies. Such strategies will be further informed by the CPHR Stakeholder Advisory Board, which includes key players in the health care, public health and policy arenas.

Reed Humphrey, dean of the College of Health that includes the School of Public and Community Health Sciences, said the award to establish CPHR at UM demonstrates the colleges capacity and commitment to grow its reach in public health.

Importantly, it opens the doors to enhanced collaboration across our health professions at UM and our Family Medicine Residency that are consistent with our parallel commitment in interprofessional education and collaborative practice, Humphrey said.

CPHR resources and research projects also provide fantastic opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to engage in cutting-edge, NIH-funded research.

This project provides undergraduate and graduate students from several departments across campus the opportunity to work with our world-class faculty in research areas that have become increasingly relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, said UM Vice President for Research and Creative Scholarship Scott Whittenburg. The University of Montana is rapidly becoming a leader in vaccine development and implications for public health.

###

Contact: Curtis W. Noonan, director, UM Center for Population Health Research, 406-243-4957, curtis.noonan@umontana.edu.
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Mission: We support our members in a dynamic and diverse society in delivering valued professional services, promoting access to justice and pursuing professional satisfaction.

Vision: Our members are the respected guardians of the dignity and integrity of the rule of law within a fair and accessible justice system.

Guiding Principles: The standards stated in SCR 10.02 are the foundation for the formulation for our guiding principles, which serve as our organizational compass and inspire us in the pursuit of excellence in the profession of law.

Strategic Priorities: Our strategic priorities focus our day-to-day work on increasing access to justice, promoting a high-functioning justice system, ensuring a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and driving competitive advantage for our members and the organization.

The State Bar of Wisconsin is a mandatory professional association, created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for all attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license. With more than 25,000 members, the State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education and other services for its members, supports the education of law students, and educates the public about the legal system. The State Bar of Wisconsin also provides public services, including attorney referrals, public education and reduced-fee legal assistance for low-income state residents.

Although it was created by the Supreme Court, the State Bar is not a state agency and its operations are not supported with tax revenues. Instead, the private association is supported by member dues and earned revenues (e.g., from the sale of books, legal seminars, and other products). The State Bar does not license or discipline attorneys. These and related activities are administered by separate state agencies.

Establishment of the State Bar of Wisconsin

SCR Chapter 10, commonly referred to as the State Bar rules, specify the organization, governance and operations of the State Bar. The rule also allows the State Bar to adopt "bylaws and regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter, for the orderly administration of the association's affairs and activities."

Regulatory Agencies

While all states have a bar association, they vary widely in terms of structure and mission. While some state bars operate attorney admission and discipline systems, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has created regulatory agencies within the judicial branch of state government for these purposes. These include the Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) to oversee admission to the bar and the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) to protect the public from misconduct by persons practicing law in Wisconsin.


Two additional COVID-19 cases have been reported in Hale County and one of those individuals has died.

The Plainview/Hale County Health Department made the announcement via news release on Wednesday afternoon. A woman in the 61+ age bracket was confirmed to have the coronavirus and died. The other newly diagnosed individual is a man in the same age bracket. He is currently in a medical facility. Both transmissions were local. A daily snapshot report indicates that cases considered local are transmissions that happen within Hale County, not specifically Plainview.

Investigations into the two cases are ongoing, according to city officials.

These mark the eighth and ninth cases confirmed in Hale County since March 24.

The other cases include: two men and one woman between the ages of 21-40, a man and woman in the 41-60 age bracket, a man in the 60+ age range, and a woman listed in the 61+ age range.

According to Wednesdays news release, the first case (a 21- to 40-year-old man) and the second case (21- to 40-year-old woman) have recovered. All but two of the other individuals who tested positive are recovering at home. The other two, including the ninth case confirmed, are in a medical facility.

Of the nine cases that have been reported in Hale County to date, four have been transmissions from outside the county, according to the snapshot report released Wednesday morning which reflects data reported as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, 61 people had been tested in Hale and 48 of those tests returned negative results.

The Health Department continues to encourage the public to practice social distancing, wash your hands and contact your doctor if you experience symptoms of coronavirus, which include shortness of breath, fever and coughing.

Hale County currently has a stay-at-home order in place to encourage people to stay home and avoid gatherings of any number, even outside residences. The order was extended again this week by the Hale County Commissioners in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. The Court is set to review the order again in May.

The City of Plainview also has its own stay-at-home order in place and is set to review it again on Thursday morning.

For additional information about coronavirus, contact the Health Department at (806) 293-1359 or visit www.plainviewtx.org/COVID19.
New Delhi, April 9 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the government is running "Operation SHIELD" at 21 "containment zones" to protect the people from coronavirus.

Explaining the acronym 'SHIELD', he said it stands for "sealed, home quarantine, isolation and tracing, essential supply, local sanitation, and door-to-door checking for symptoms".

Kejriwal appealed to people from the containment areas to cooperate with the government.

"I appeal to all living in the containment areas to cooperate with the Delhi government's Operation SHIELD. These are strict measures but are necessary to protect you and others from COVID-19." He said the Operation SHIELD is running in 21 localities of Delhi to contain COVID-19 and protect citizens.

"After a positive COVID case is found, we seal an area following geographical marking. The area is under SHIELD -- sealed, home quarantine, isolation and tracing, essential supply, local sanitation, door-to-door checking for symptoms." He said the people have to stay inside their homes and the government ensures the door-to-door delivery of essential services.

The government, meanwhile, does tracing of the movement of the patient and sanitises the area. Door to door health checkups are also done.

Kejriwal also said that masks have been made compulsory in the city.

"From yesterday, we made masks compulsory. Initially, it was felt that only those with virus infection should wear the mask, But now it has changed. Learning from other countries, we have also made masks compulsory." He also said that people need not rush to the markets for the masks.

"You don't need to buy a mask from the market. You can use a handkerchief or clean cloth to cover your nose and mouth. This will help in controlling the spreading of the infection." He also said that the taxes collected by the government are badly affected since no activity is taking place.

"With no activity happening, the taxes are not generated. We need to cut our expenses on a huge basis. In this difficult time, all need to compromise on their levels." He also urged people to not panic for ration as there is enough supply.

"We are giving ration even to those who do not have ration cards. I got to know it has created some troubles. Teachers and principles are distributing the ration. I want to thank them. People should have faith that they will get the ration." Delhi has reported more than 650 positive cases of coronavirus so far.
She is currently in self-isolation with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid in London.

Yet Dua Lipa proved the show must go on as she appeared on Jimmy Fallon via video link on Wednesday, where she chatted to the TV legend before performing her new song Break My Heart - with her beau behind the camera.

The songstress, 24, spoke candidly about the early release of her new record before belting out the hit and admitting it's 'fun' performing only to Anwar, 20.

Happy days: Dua Lipa proved the show must go on as she appeared on Jimmy Fallon via video link on Wednesday, where she chatted to the TV legend before performing her new song Break My Heart - with her beau Anwar Hadid behind the camera

When Jimmy asked if Dua was finding it strange, she said: 'It's fun performing for no audience. Except I perform for my boyfriend with our own little studio.'

Dua is holed up in 'a random Airbnb' in London with boyfriend Anwar, after returning home from her Australia tour to find her flat flooded.

She has been forced to release her album Future Nostalgia early due to a leak and when asked how she felt, she said: 'It's been ok given the circumstances.'

Dua explained: 'We released it a week early because there was a leak online. I don't actually know how it happened. When it's about to come out it gets sent round...

Belting it out: The songstress, 24, spoke candidly about the early release of her new record before belting out the hit and admitting it's 'fun' performing only to Anwar, 20

Happy days: She admitted they are getting on ok in isolation

'It is what it is and I'm quite relieved. It was a bit confusing but some things happen for a reason. I was relieved as it showed me the music had to be out...

On her difficulties with the decision, she said: 'I was feeling conflicted and didn't know if it felt right with a lot of people suffering but then I thought i made the record to escape the anxiety and pressure of making a second record...

'I thought maybe it can give people some comfort and to get away from everything.'

Starring role: When Jimmy asked if Dua was finding it strange, she said: 'It's fun performing for no audience. Except I perform for my boyfriend with our own little studio'

Jimmy told Dua that her music was called 'dance crying'.

She said: 'Dance crying is my forte. Your dancing and your crying. Its playing on juxtapositions so you want to make music to dance to but the lyrics have a deeper meaning. My first record had very sad lyrics...

'The new song is a celebration of vulnerability. It's the what ifs.'

Last week, Dua spoke of isolating with Anwar as she insisted that 'were good at doing our own things and then coming together when we want to watch a movie or do a painting and we go on our one hour daily walk'.

Sweet: Jimmy told Dua that her music was called 'dance crying'
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday cited a silver lining in the countrys efforts to battle the unprecedented crisis presented by the coronavirus outbreak while acknowledging that the decision on lifting of the nationwide lockdown after its completion on April 14 was not an easy decision to make.

Soren lauded the strength of federalism displayed by the cooperation among different states especially in dealing with the migrant crisis engendered by the announcement of 21-day national lockdown.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were left without work or money after businesses in the unorganised sector, including construction, were ordered to shut shop temporarily in line with the lockdown provisions that came into effect on March 25.

Several of these migrants started a long march home on foot and had to be accommodated into temporary relief camps set up by different states to provide them food, shelter, sanitation and medical care.

The chief ministers of different states coordinated on the issue of migrants to ensure they were not left unattended. Soren referred to this while talking about the strength of federalism.

Strength of federalism has come to the fore in fight against Covid-19 pandemic, PTI quoted Soren as saying. He added that chief ministers were coordinating with each other to help out people stranded outside their home state.

Jharkhand, one of the last Indian states to report a positive case of coronavirus infection, is home to several of these migrants who were left stranded in different states including Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana.

Most states set up facilities to ensure that none of the workers went hungry and they also offered cash relief to the daily wagers registered in their respective states. The Central government, too, announced several measures including cash transfers to additional free ration under the food security scheme to safeguard the poor from loss of income during the current crisis.

Sorens endorsement of cooperative federalism comes at a time when the Centre and the states have held several rounds of consultations and mostly worked in tandem to enforcement measures to contain the outbreak of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, lauded the work done by states while states that they were working in close coordination with the Centre.

PM Modi is set to have another meeting with chief ministers of states on Saturday, March 11, when a decision on the extension of lockdown could be taken.
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Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president on Wednesday while the country he hopes to preside over was roiling with a pandemic, soaring unemployment, and a collapsing economy. In this dramatic time, his was a muted victory. Sure, Bidens opposition within the fractured Democratic Party was louder than everBernie Sanders supporters bitterly resented the Medicare for All candidates withdrawal at a moment when all Americans are at high risk of getting ill and simultaneously losing their jobs and insurance. But Bidens support remained comparatively sedate. His YouTube broadcast on the day he became the nominee peaked at about 1,700 viewers. This enthusiasm gap is not new. Bidens success has come despite a muted online presence and media appearances so sporadic that Where is Biden frequently trends on Twitter.

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This has been true all alongand perhaps mysteriously, it has worked to Bidens advantage. While Sanders and Elizabeth Warren supporters were louder, had an enormous online footprint, and advanced arguments and issues that have changed the party, it was Biden voters who turned out in droves in the primary, despite their silence online. This has made the nominees victory feel confusing. It demands an explanation that common-sense theories about how political enthusiasm, exposure, and airtime should affect turnout cannot provide. Despite an apparent lack of enthusiastic adherents, an associated lack of funds, underwhelming debate performances, and no clear agenda, Biden floated to victory. The question is whyand can whatever powered him to the top do the same in the general?

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Back in January, when the economy was still relatively strong, Bidens poll numbers were high, and coronavirus hadnt hit public consciousness, I suggested something like this would happen. My thinking then was that there were two theories about what the majority of Democratic voters wanted. One was that, having seen the real situation in the United States laid bare, and activated by the barrage of outrages perpetrated by the Trump administration, many Americans were finally prepared to fight hard for radical change before it was too late. This model presumes that the Democratic electorate had become not just adversarial but revolutionary: It didnt just want to make a U-turn and undo what Trump had done. It wanted to steer the ship in a new and better direction, with all the work and organizing that implies. This was the pitch both Warren and Sanders were making: Work with me and we will build a better world.

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The other theory was that an electorate that is exhausted by a president who cant stop making the countrys struggles all about himselfan electorate that has had to respond to every fresh emergency by throwing what little free time and energy it has at protests, calls to representatives and senators, donations, and organizingis depleted and desperate for rest. In a landscape saturated by the furious exhalations of a president who cant stop reacting and responding to every new development, restraint might have its charms for an understudied demographic: the American voter who wants nothing more than to tune out, I wrote then. With a government unable or unwilling to check or balance itself, the public has had to go into overdrive and react nonstop: People have had to plug so many leaks in this sinking boat that many simply feel depleted. That the plugging of the leaks isnt really working only exacerbates the exhaustion.

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When I wrote those words, we didnt have the highest unemployment numbers in recent memory and we werent losing 2,000 Americans a day to a virus no one understands. People werent stuck at home watching their livelihoods disappear and getting news that their loved ones, who they never got to see again, had died alone and afraid, struggling to breathe. They werent actually obligated to watch press briefings in which the president jokes about models hes had sex with in the midst of discussing thousands of projected American deaths. They werent forced to navigate an arcane system of loans ineptly administered by unprepared banks in order to try to save their small businesses in the short term. They werent scrambling for toilet paper or fearing the disease vectors their fellow humans might be as they shopped for their groceries. They had not considered that the Kavanaugh Supreme Court would reject efforts to extend absentee voting so people could vote safely and instead require Wisconsinite voters to stand for hours in hail and rain in the middle of a pandemic, literally risking their lives to do their civic duty. A few weeks ago this would have looked like a bad parody of voter suppression, but this week, SCOTUS upheld it, and this is only one of a long list of abusive actions Americans have recently had to witness. Despite voting by mail himself, the president has made clear that he will use every lever he has to prevent voting by mailthe only safe way to vote if stay-at-home orders are still in effect this November. Back in January, we had not witnessed the president withholding desperately needed aid from states whose governors didnt praise him enough. Nor had we learned that Trumphaving said states should fend for themselves because the federal stockpile was ourswould order the federal government to start seizing their supplies.

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Things, in short, are worse now than they were before. People arent just civically exhausted now; they arein a very real and immediate senseexistentially endangered. There are (again) two theories about what should follow from this: One is that people will be more willing to fight to overthrow a system this dysfunctional and corrupt. The other is that people crave relief and rest. There is a generational divide here, certainly: Sanders supporters, being on average younger, better fit the first theory. Biden voters already conformed to the second back in January, and recent disasters may have only bolstered it.

Many, myself included, have been mystified by voter behavior during this Democratic primary. Its as difficult to square Sanders clear platform and fervent base with his lackluster electoral performance as it is to reconcile Bidens lukewarm support with his overwhelming results. But if the challenge is to understand rather than prescribe, its not that hard to see why Biden is carrying the day. Bidens opponents arent wrong to say hes so absent hes functionally a placeholderthe generic Democrat polls ask voters to consider opposite Trump. But they might be underestimating that, given some of the political hungers right now, the generic and forgettable might be more appealing than a battle cry for more action, more engagement, and more effort.

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One factor undergirding all this might come from studies suggesting that negative partisanship is more motivating than positive partisanship. Ezra Klein writes in Why Were Polarized that this effect increases as a function of ones consumption of political news. Among Democrats, a very unfavorable view of Republicans increased [the likelihood of contributing money to a candidate or group] by 8 points, while a very favorable view of their own party didnt increase it at all, he writes, stipulating that the most-engaged experience politics differently than everyone else. What Trumps unceasing domination of news cycles and airwaves has done is radically increase the political engagement and consumption of Democrats, specifically. (Many Republicans have tuned out during Trumps tenureincluding members of Congress who claim, not always believably, not to have heard or read Trumps latest outrageous statement.) If thats been radicalizing, and an engine for negative partisanship, the radicalization has not been entirely willing. Democrats hate Trump almost as much as he hates them, but theyre being forced to watch him, now (during the pandemic) more than ever.

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In political terms, Biden is an inert gas. His main superpowerand I think it really might be one in this landscapeis that he doesnt come across as reactive. That draws an extremely sharp contrast between him and the president who cannot stop reacting. It means, among other things, that Biden is boring. Of course his YouTube broadcast got little engagement. One doesnt particularly need to hear Biden speak because he traffics in familiar platitudes. This nation has never been defeated when were together. And were not going to be defeated now, he tweeted on what was a historic day for the country and his campaign. I just typed that sentence out myself, and already Ive forgotten it. But its objective is not to be memorable: It is to be vaguely comforting in a way that reactivates a version of this country that no longer feels remotely true. Its appeal is no less nostalgic than Trumps, but the gift of it is that one can safely tune out. It suggests things wont radically deteriorate without constant, anxious monitoring.

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Theres a second prong to Bidens longevity, and its his immunity to attack. This is, I think, an undersung component of his campaign. Sen. Kamala Harris memorable excoriation of Biden for supporting busing didnt take; her campaign sputtered out and his support in the black community remained solid. The effort to make Bidens conduct with women matter happened early in his campaign, back when several women spoke up to complain about his habit of touching women and smelling their hair. Not only did he survive that; it inoculated him against future allegations of more serious misbehavior. While theres obvious intraparty discord fueling the lack of coverage of Tara Reades allegations that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her when she worked for him in 1993, the new allegation is having the same strangely muted noneffect as E. Jean Carrolls allegation that the president raped her: Its too much, and so, somehow, it dissipates. This is a pattern of sorts in Me Too cases: Even Harvey Weinsteins jury, which convicted him of third-degree rape in the context of a complicated and sometimes consensual relationship, didnt believe Annabella Sciorras account of how he straight-up raped her. People dont seem inclined to believe rape allegationsespecially when they come after a litany of lesser offenses.

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Its worth saying tooas we wait for investigative reporters to investigate Reades charges, and I hope they dothat there seems to me to be a general collapse of optimism that any public processing of all this could matter. Theres an accused sexual assailant in the White House. Theres another on the Supreme Court, sitting alongside a sexual harasser. In a pandemic, people just cant muster the same procedural energy anymoreeven the levels of intraparty aggression during the Democratic primary lost intensity under the pandemic. No one can get up a real head of steam over one more account. Bidens creepiness was proposed as a problem already, and America rejected it. If the country does have to choose between two men who have sexually assaulted women, this will hardly be the first time anyway. Its not a pleasant fact for those of us fighting for a more just world, but it seems plainly true that many Democrats bitterly resent Al Frankens resignation as an overcorrection, and when times are this dire, they are not going to sanction a nominee for sexual misconduct that the other sides supporters come perilously close to celebrating.

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But the greatest example of Bidens indestructabilitythe biggest attack that didnt takewas Trumps own effort to extort Ukraine to open an investigation into Biden. Its hard to appreciate in hindsight how colossally that gambit failed, but fail it did. Trump got himself impeached trying to smear Biden! And it cost Biden virtually nothing politically. Look, its simple, he told the New York Times before the Iowa caucuses, laughing. Theyre smearing me to try to stop me, and they know if Im the nominee, Im going to beat Donald Trump like a drum. I could be wrong, but I cant imagine that any Republican attacks on Biden along these lines are going to persuade a single Democratic voter.

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If anything, Democrats ought to be impressed by this quality of Bidens. Despite his occasional outbursts of temper (which no doubt help him scan as authentic), the former vice-president is intriguingly immune to the personal grudges around which Trump builds his entire politics. Sure, theres a more complicated version of him, but Biden telegraphs as the definition of a nice, normal guy. Thats why Barack Obama picked him to be his running mate, after all. Despite Trumps efforts to extort a U.S. ally to manufacture a smear against him, Biden offered to call Trump on the phone to help him deal with the pandemic. The (meaningless) phone call happened, and Bidenwhose idea it wasset the terms for the tone and won. Biden calling Trump very gracious is meaningless (this is what a nice guy persona does for you), but Trump describing his call with Biden as a wonderful, warm conversation notched Biden an immense moral victory. The guy who insists (bizarrely) that Republicans can change did manage to briefly drag Trump out of the mud and onto higher ground. He just doesnt seem to take things personally, and while that was a perfectly ordinary quality among politicians at one point, it might be operating as a real political asset in a landscape where the president punishes people who criticize him by denying them lifesaving equipment. Indeed, Biden is obviously considering Harriswhose most famous campaign moment came when she attacked himfor his vice president and speaking of her in the warmest tones. Im so lucky to have you as part of thisthis partnership going forward, he said. The biggest thing we can do is make Donald Trump a one-term president. So Im coming for you, kid.

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Biden doesnt just rise above. He floats so high you can barely see him. Theres no reading a country, and one hesitates to invoke the silent majority, but judging by Bidens numbers, an ability to take punches without striking back is a quality many Americans seem to miss. The bar has gotten very low, and Biden is nice enough that not even Sanders could ever muster the vitriol to really truly attack him.

Trump invigorated his base by constantly saying the unsayable, and by being needlessly offensive, performatively undisciplined, careless, bratty, vindictive, and small. He created the conditions for an interesting experiment on the American psyche: Are open corruption and pure transactional venality preferable to the idealistic hypocrisies of political discourse? The experiment has taught us, I think, that the reviled ideals and norms werent purely decorativeflawed and untrue as they might be, they actually did curb some misbehavior. To quote my colleague Ben Mathis-Lilley, who wrote about Trumps betrayal of our allies the Kurds, the world would benefit if more public figures  began hypocritically professing this kind of BS again.

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Thats exactly what Biden doesprofess that BS. And because hes known for gaffesyet another inoculation!he doesnt get punished for saying things other politicians might take real heat for. Vagueness is his asset every bit as much as it is Trumps. Youre seeing the soul of America now, Biden said to Chris Cuomo in an excerpt published on the candidates Twitter account. Look at what Americans are doing. Average Americans. Theyre not talking about divisions based on race or ethnicity or any of that malarkey, he said. (I will pause here to note that its very difficult, in my view, to read this as anything but calling talking about race issues malarkey, but lets press on.) Biden continues: What theyre talking about is theyre reaching out and helping everyone. Were seeing the soul of our nation on full display every day in this crisisand it makes me so proud to be an American. As with Trump, sympathetic listeners will hear what he meansthat Americans are coming together regardless of their differencesrather than what he says (that talking about divisions based on race or ethnicity is malarkey).

This is all to say that while I dont understand Bidens support, he has managed to sidestep (not solve) political problems in ways that defy expectations. Bidens challenge was to simultaneously defend Obamas legacy while embracing a Democratic platform that has moved so far left it in many ways openly contradicts it. That he is vague and prone to platitudes protects him from any clarity that might compromise him. His challenge was to run against the biggest, loudest media hog in the history of American politics, and he has met that challenge by barely appearing at alland by making his appeals so mild you dont even remember what they were.

That might not make sense, but there is a dream logic to why it might be appealing to weary voters. Biden doesnt speak in the frenzied hysterics that have come to characterize fundraising emails. A Biden tweet asking for donations is almost comically opposed to Trumps screaming appeals to destroy the enemy. Folks, I know these are tough times, but this crisis has made it clearer than ever how much elections matterand what a difference it makes who is in the White House. If you can, please chip in to fuel our campaign. I would really appreciate it. I cant believe this is the strategy in a political landscape based on gun-to-your-head rhetoric. But there it is: The tone isnt DONATE NOW TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC; its if you can, please chip in. The promises are modest but soand this is crucial to an exhausted electorateare the demands.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks Political Gabfest.
Vietnam presents $50,000 for Myanmars COVID-19 fight





Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (R) and Ambassador of Myanmar to Vietnam Kyaw Soe Win at the handover ceremony

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, on behalf of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, symbolically handed over 50,000 USD to the Ambassador of Myanmar to Vietnam Kyaw Soe Win to support the countrys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at a ceremony in Hanoi on April 10, Dung said Vietnam and Myanmar are not only both members of ASEAN but also close cooperative partners.

Vietnams decision to provide the funds to Myanmar in the context of it also being hit hard by the pandemic demonstrates the close relationship and mutual support between the two countries as well as the solidarity of ASEAN members.

He expressed a hope that the aid will partly help Myanmar overcome this difficult time.

The Deputy FM affirmed that with its role as Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021, Vietnam will maintain close coordination with Myanmar and other countries inside and outside of the region to together conquer the global pandemic.

He asked the Myanmar Government to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country to stabilize their lives and gain access to necessary healthcare services,

Ambassador Kyaw Soe Win said the Vietnamese Governments support provides great encouragement to Myanmar during this time.

He spoke of Vietnams achievements in disease prevention and control and added that its active support for and cooperation with other countries expresses its sense of responsibility as Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021.

Vietjet Air to operate three special flights for passengers coming out of quarantine

Budget carrier Vietjet Air announced on April 10 it will conduct three additional flights from Hanoi to HCM City, in addition to its regular daily flights, to ferry passengers coming out of quarantine measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The flights, all coded VJ1121, will depart Hanoi at 5.30pm on April 11 and April 14 and 11.45am on April 12. Passengers must have one of two documents: a certificate showing they have completed their concentrated quarantine period or a certificate affirming they have tested negative for the virus.

For more information, passengers are advised to call Vietjet Airs hotline 1900 1886, visit its website at www.vietjetair.com, or contact its ticket offices at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi or Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City.

The Ministry of Transport earlier asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to impose restrictions on passenger transport around the country for a 15-day period starting from April 1.

Vietnamese airlines are permitted to operate two round-trip flights a day on the Hanoi - HCM City route and one round-trip flight a day on the Hanoi - Da Nang and HCM City - Da Nang routes. All other domestic flights have been suspended.

Over 11 million Vietnamese elderlies vulnerable to COVID-19

Elderly people often develop severe complications after they catch the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease (Photo:giaothong.vn)

Approximately 11.4 million Vietnamese elderly people need to know how to protect themselves from the coronavirus as they are most vulnerable to infection, according to a senior health official.

Elderly people often develop severe complications after they catch the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease (Photo:giaothong.vn)

Assoc. Prof. PhD Luong Ngoc Khue, Director General of the Administration of Medical Examination and Treatment, says most of the elderly in Vietnam suffer from many chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery, making them susceptible to the coronavirus.

Disease prevention is extremely important for elderly people who have a weakening immune system, therefore they are easily exposed to virus infection and develop severe complications afterwards, says Dr Khue.

Vietnam had recorded 151 coronavirus infections as of April 8, of which nearly 20 cases are either aged over 60 or have underlying illnesses.

To avoid virus infection, Dr Khue suggests the elderly stay indoors, don face masks and keep a 2-metre distance from others when going out, and wash hands with soaps and water as soon as they return home.

Elderly people are also advised to do physical exercises every day, eat healthy, balanced diets, and better control chronic diseases if they have with doctors prescriptions.

Vietnamese expat community support Laos in battling COVID-19

Chairman of the General Association of Vietnamese in Laos Nguyen Duy Trung (third from left) presents the aid to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Somdy Duangdy

The Vietnamese community in Laos presented assistance totaling 113.9 million kip (13,000 USD) to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Somdy Duangdy on April 10 to support the countrys fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The aid was raised by the General Association of Vietnamese and the Vietnam Business Association for Cooperation and Investment in Laos (Viet-Lao BACI).

At the ceremony to hand over the funds in Vientiane, Chairman of the General Association Nguyen Duy Trung said Vietnamese individuals and entrepreneurs in Laos have kept a close eye on the situation in the country and appreciate the drastic measures taken by the Lao Government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Deputy PM Somdy Duangdy thanked the General Association and the Viet-Lao BACI for their support.

He asked both to raise awareness among members of preventive measures and compliance with regulations issued by the countrys national committee for COVID-19 prevention and control.

He also spoke of recent support from the Vietnamese Government and people, noting that the Ministry of National Defence has sent medical experts to Laos to exchange experience in COVID-19 prevention and control.

Thai finance ministry mulls handouts for farmers

People line up to see if they have received the government's 5,000-baht cash handout for informal workers in Bangkok's Navamin area. (Photo: bangkokpost.com)

Thailands Ministry of Finance met on April 9 to hash out details of a planned cash handout for almost 9 million farmers to inject liquidity into the economy amid the slowdown brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said the ministry was still considering the handout amount and downplayed speculation of a subsidy worth 30,000 THB (nearly 1,000 USD) for eligible households.

However, it will be directly transferred to farmers as in the past, he said, adding that the ministry will finalise details as soon as possible.

However, Uttama admitted he did not know whether the handout can be rolled out by the end of the month, saying the proposed handout is only one of several relief measures which will be funded by the government's 1-trillion-THB emergency loan.

Director of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) Lavaron Sangsnit said the amount may not be equal to the 5,000-THB handout paid to informal workers, as farmers are not considered as directly affected by the pandemic, because it is not growing season at the moment.

Indonesia declares financial assistance amid COVID-19 pandemic

Spraying disinfectant at a public place in Jakarta (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

The Indonesian government on April 9 announced a plan to support locals affected by the disruption of operations in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking at a video press conference, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the government will spend 3.2 trillion rupiah (210 million USD) on purchasing necessary goods to provide for about 1.8 million households in Jakarta urban region (including Jakarta capital and its vicinity) for three months.

A total of 37.2 trillion rupiah will be also distributed to 19 million households living outside Jakarta region, and 360 billion rupiah to about 197,000 drivers of the public transport sector.

In the capital city, social distancing regulations officially took effect from April 9 midnight, and are expected to last for two weeks or more.

Meanwhile, The Thai government on April 10 morning confirmed 50 new cases of COVID-19 and one death, bringing the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,473, including 33 deaths.

The day before, the government said 15,000 Thai nationals abroad had registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and were waiting to return home after the country closed its border to contain the spread of pandemic.

According to the spokesperson of the Thai government Thaweesin Visanuyothin, more than 10,000 other Thai citizens are stuck in the Thailand-Malaysia border.

Meanwhile, the countrys Ministry of Interior announced that three more provinces namely Chiang Rai, Trang and Krabi have placed travel restrictions from April 9-30.

An Giang Province hospital starts doing COVID-19 tests

An Giang Central General Hospital in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang has received approval to conduct tests for COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health has permitted the An Giang Central General Hospital to conduct tests to diagnose COVID-19.

The hospitals molecular biology laboratory can do quick tests on blood samples and respiratory tract specimens using the real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique to identify the virus.

The technique reduces the time required to produce results, and saves the hospital the trouble of sending samples to the HCM City Pasteur Institute for testing.

It takes less than three and a half hours, and the hospital can do 400 tests in a day.

Knowing the importance of this technique for timely quarantining, the province Peoples Committee instructed the hospital to instal a RT-PCR system.

The system also helps diagnose hepatitis B and C and HIV.

It was installed in the molecular biology laboratory and meets biosafety level 2, which covers work with pathogenic and infectious organisms that pose a moderate hazard. Self-closing lockable doors and bio-hazard warning signs are mandatory at all access points to the lab.

There are four levels of bio-safety.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute trained the hospital staff in conducting SARS-CoV-2 tests.

The hospital also installed an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine which adds oxygen to patients blood and pumps it through their body just like the heart. It is an advanced technique in emergency aid and recovery for patients with severe respiratory failure who are unable to use the ventilator.

As of April 9, An Giang has had three COVID-19 patients, one of whom has been discharged from hospital. The other two are being treated.

The provincial-level police have been assigned to work with police departments in communes and towns to visit each household, especially those with people who had to be in quarantine, and inquire about their health status.

They also collaborate with border guards to patrol the border with Cambodia, which has seen a rise in COVID-19 incidence.

As of April 8, the country had more than 30 facilities that can do quick tests using RT-PCR for COVID-19.

Railway companies suspend tickets to Quang Nam Province

A worker disinfects a carriage on the Reunification route connecting Ha Noi and HCM City.

The railway sector has decided to suspend tickets from Ha Noi and HCM City to Quang Nam Province, according to the Ha Noi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company.

The decision was made in response to a request from Quang Nam authorities.

On Monday, provincial leaders sent a document to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) asking for trains from Ha Noi and HCM City to the province to be cancelled to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

People who had bought tickets to Tam Ky Station (Quang Nam Province) before Thursday or taken a train from Tam Ky Station to other localities would not affected by the suspension, the company said.

In accordance with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Directive No 16 on social distancing throughout Viet Nam for 15 days, the operations of all trans-provincial passenger trains have been halted.

The Reunification route connecting Ha Noi and HCM City continues to operate with two trips per day.









Two COVID-19 patients in Binh Thuan receive discharge from hospital

The final two novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in Binh Thuan province were released from hospital on April 10 after completing nearly one month of treatment, according to Binh Thuan General Hospital.

The pair became the countrys 36th and 44th COVID-19 cases when they were admitted to hospital on March 11 and March 12. Of the two, it was the nations 36th patient who experienced a lengthy treatment procedure due to his age and underlying health conditions related to the lungs.

Since recovering from the epidemic, both patients have subsequently gone on to test negative for the virus three times, whilst showing no further signs of symptoms such as a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath.

Upon being discharged from the hospital, both cases are required to undergo strict surveillance for the following 14 days.

As of the morning of April 10, there has been 255 COVID-19 cases recorded nationwide, with 130 patients going on to make a full recovery and being released from hospital.

Sixteen COVID-19 patients recover across country, total at 144

British and a Vietnamese patients are discharged from the Cu Chi field hospital in HCM City on Friday morning.  Photo courtesy of the hospital

The Ministry of Health has announced a further 16 COVID-19 patients, including 12 Vietnamese and four foreigners, have recovered and been discharged from six treatment facilities across the country on Friday, lifting the countrys total recoveries to 144.

Nine patients, including three foreigners and six Vietnamese, were treated at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases. They are: Patient 25 (female, 50, British); Patient 86 (female, 54, Vietnamese); Patient 94 (female, 64, Vietnamese); Patient 148 (male, 58, French); Patient 194 (female, 42, Vietnamese); Patient 202 (female, 57, Vietnamese); Patient 205 (male, 37, Vietnamese); Patient 237 (male, 64, Swedish); Patient 249 (male, 55, Vietnamese).

At Bac Ninh General Hospital, Patient 74 (male, 23, Vietnamese) has also recovered after being admitted on March 18.

During the course of treatment, the patient tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2 on April 01, 5 and 8.

At the HCM City Children's Hospital, Patient 204 (male, 10, Vietnamese) was hospitalised on March 18. During treatment, the patient tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

Patient 135 has also recovered at a Nang Hospital. The female patient, 27, Vietnamese, was admitted on March 25. She also tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

At Binh Thuan General Hospital, Patient 36 (female, 64, Vietnamese) and Patient 44 (male, 11, Vietnamese) were both admitted to the hospital on March 11. During treatment, they tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

At the Cu Chi field hospital in HCM City, Patient 157 (female, 31, British) was admitted to hospital on March 26, and Patient 171 (female, 19, Vietnamese) was admitted on March 28. Both have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 three times.

All 16 patients will continue to be isolated and monitored for the next 14 days.

As of this morning, the Ministry of Health had confirmed 255 COVID-19 patients and no fatalities in Viet Nam.

Vietnam plans to build more makeshift hospitals

Makeshift hospitals with 300 to 1,000 beds will be built if the Covid-19 situation worsens.

The statement was made by deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung during a meeting about building makeshift hospitals on April 9. Hung has assigned the National Institute of Architecture and State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection and Vietnam National Construction Consultants Corporation to oversee the construction quality.

Agencies were asked to research options for multiple hospitals, from setting up field hospitals to converting existing constructions like stadiums into makeshift hospitals. Experienced and reputable units will be asked to prepare everything to carry out the work immediately if the order is out.

Do Thanh Tung, head of the National Institute of Architecture, said examples from the fields hospitals in China, the UK and Russia built during the pandemic showed that there were key requirements that must be met. It must have a suitable location that is far away from residential areas but still connected to transport networks, food sources, electricity, water and good drainage. It must also have enough beds and required equipment. Speed of construction must be quick and environmentally-friendly.

National Institute of Architecture and State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection and Vietnam National Construction Consultants Corporation had discussed and built several plans for hospitals at different scales. Some with 300-500 beds and others with 800-1,000 beds.

Deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung urged the agencies to quickly roll out detailed plans and criteria. He suggested that stadiums or abandoned land can be used.

Department of Technical Infrastructure and Department of Planning and Finance was tasked to set up a list of contractors providing materials and equipment across Vietnam, especially in Hanoi and HCM City.

The Department of Construction Economics will work with other units to research on costs and specific mechanisms for the contractors to save budget and speed up the construction.

V.League 1 champions Hanoi FC donate VND2 billion to COVID-19 fight

Reigning V.League 1 champions Hanoi FC on April 9 donated an array of essential goods and cash totaling approximately VND2 billion to the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) to support the countrys efforts to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

Hanoi FC donate an array of essential goods and cash totaling approximately VND2 billion to the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) to support the country for COVID-19 combat.

The donation is largely made up of contributions given by the clubs footballers.

T&T sport joint stock company, the owners of Hanoi FC, expect that the donation to the VFF will enable both medical workers and soldiers on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle to get the essential goods they need.

Speaking about the donation, footballer Pham Thanh Luong expressed hope the items will serve as a great source of encouragement for people fighting the epidemic.

On behalf of Hanoi FCs footballers, midfielder Do Hung Dung sent the teams sincere thanks to all doctors, nurses, and soldiers nationwide who are working tirelessly to overcome tremendous difficulties and cure COVID-19 patients.

He added that if the community works in solidarity, all citizens will be able to return to their normal lives soon.

The donation comes after Hanoi FC offered VND1 billion to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on March 31, in addition to a further VND500 million to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology as part of their contribution to help contain the COVID-19 epidemic.

Da Nang supports poor residents, workers amid COVID-19

Local authorities present aid to a senior citizen in Da Nang's Hai Chau district

The central city of Da Nang has taken various measures to support the vulnerable amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the citys Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, as of the end of March, nearly 58,000 people in Da Nang had lost their jobs or been told to take unpaid leave. There are over 16,360 poor and 19,500 near-poor households in the city.

The city has 38,260 people who receive monthly social allowances and 19,500 beneficiaries of allowances based on their contribution to the national revolutionary cause.

Deputy Director of the Department Nguyen Van An said the city has offered aid to 4,632 poor families at a cost of 2 billion VND (85,650 USD) sourced from the fund for the poor.

Da Nang is also mapping out plans to further support families, businesses and workers affected by the disease, he added.

Head of the Da Nang Federation of Labour Nguyen Duy Minh said that the organisation recently offered relief aid worth 1 million VND each to 500 members who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, including staff at kindergartens and travel agencies.

Many organisations and individuals have prepared thousands of meals free of charge for the disadvantaged in the city.

At the same time, local people are being urged to follow preventive measures in a broad effort to stop the spread of the disease.

COVID-19: lack of vigilance remains in HCM City

Thi Nghe market in Ben Thanh district, HCM City, still remains crowed. (Photo: thanhnien.vn)

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Le Thanh Liem on April 9 pointed out that some units and people are failing to remain vigilant during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

HCM City has reported no new COVID-19 cases for six consecutive days, from April 4-9, which has led to complacency, he said at a meeting of the citys Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Given this, Liem ordered districts to continue observing the Prime Ministers Directive No. 16/CT-TTg on social distancing, especially in crowded places like supermarkets and industrial and processing zones.

Competent authorities need to continue testing people who arrived in Vietnam after March 8 but have yet to be quarantined, while continuing medical quarantine for passengers at the domestic airport terminal and Saigon railway station, he said.

According to the official, HCM City is also inspecting the operation of production facilities, factories and industrial and processing zones to deal with those that do not follow safety regulations.

In this regard, Secretary of the municipal Partys Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan said on April 8 businesses that failed to ensure complete safety must be closed down.

As of April 9 afternoon, the southern metropolis had confirmed 54 COVID-19 cases, of whom 37 have been discharged from hospital after making a complete recovery, while the remainder are being treated in stable conditions.

A total of 650 people are being monitored at concentrated quarantine areas and 1,114 are under self-quarantine at home.

Private clinics to be permitted to conduct COVID-19 tests

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on April 9 agreed in-principle to allow private medical centres to perform COVID-19 diagnostic testing following a proposal made by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health.

He also assigned the Ministry of Health to cooperate with the ministries of Finance and Justice as well as relevant authorities to promptly prepare legal documents permitting placing orders for testing services at private facilities which will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

The move is expected to boost Vietnams capacity for COVID-19 testing.

As of April 10, Vietnam has reported 255 confirmed cases, including 128 recoveries and no fatalities.

Last month, the Ministry of Health announced a list of 22 state-run healthcare facilities qualified to conduct quick tests on blood samples and respiratory tract specimens to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

The list includes not only national-level hospitals such as the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Pasteur Institutes in HCM City and Nha Trang, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital and Cho Ray Hospital, but also provincial-level hospitals and centres for disease control and prevention.

One more Hanoi hospital quarantined due to Covid-19

Hanoi Kidney Hospital has been isolated after a patient tested positive for Covid-19.

On Thursday evening, Vietnam confirmed four more Covid-19 cases, raising the countrys total patient number to 255. Among those, the 254th case was a 51-year-old man who is undergoing hemodialysis at Hanoi Kidney Hospital.

Earlier, the man also a resident of Ha Loi Village in Hanoi's Me Linh District and a neighbour of Patient 243 and another infected woman, had close contact with both of them.

The Hanoi Department of Health and Hanoi Kidney Hospital quickly identified all medical staff and patients who had contact with Patient 254.

According to the initial statistics, 45 people in total had direct contact with the patient, including 17 people who are being provided with hemodialysis and 28 medical staff of the hospital.

Many other patients, their relatives and medical staff had contact with these initial 45.

The Hanoi Department of Health said the related people are waiting for test results. In tested negative for the virus, they will still be quarantined for 14 days to ensure safety.

The hospital is being sterilised.

Ha Loi Village has patients 243, 250, 253 and 254. The locality with more than 11,000 people has been isolated.

Some hospitals in Hanoi have been affected by the pandemic, including Hong Ngoc General Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital and Hanoi French Hospital.

Bac Giang people banned from Covid-19-affected localities

Authorities in the northern province of Bac Giang have ordered local residents to avoid Covid-19-hit localities, including Hanoi and HCM City. The provincial steering board on Covid-19 prevention and control has issued a directive on virus prevention.

According to the directive, quarantine time for people who visited Bach Mai Hospital for any reason has been raised to 28 days, instead of 14 days, starting from the day they returned the province.

People who finished the quarantine after coming back from abroad will have to continue the 14-day isolation at their home. During this time, they will have their temperatures taken by local medical staff twice per day.

From April 9, all residents in Bac Giang are banned from going to Covid-19-affected localities, including Hanoi and HCM City unless for public services. In special cases, people have to be agreed by the provincial steering board. After returning, they will be sent to a concentrated quarantine area for 14 days.

People from Covid-19-affected areas come to work at firms at local industrial parks have to fill in a health report and test for Covid-19. If the result is negative, they will be allowed by the local industrial park management board to travel between their accommodation to their workplace. They will have the second Covid-19 test in the next 7-10 days. The test fees will be paid by individuals or their firms.

Meanwhile, those coming to Bac Giang for public duties need to contact the provincial steering board on Covid-19 prevention and control to be instructed with the virus prevention and control regulations.

Any violators will be strictly fined.

No new COVID-19 cases reported on April 10 morning

People wave when they prepare to leave a concentrated quarantine centre in Ho Chi Minh City after finishing the 14-day quarantine period

There were no new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection reported in Vietnam overnight, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said on April 10 morning.

That means the total amount of people with the coronavirus remains at 255 since late April 9, with 128 having made full recovery.

Of those with the disease, 158 or 62.2 percent are imported cases, and 97 others contracted the virus from other patients in the country.

It is expected that 14 more people will be given the all-clear on April 10, comprising 10 at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Hanoi, one at the General Hospital of Bac Ninh province, one at the Da Nang Hospital in the central city, and two others at the General Hospital of Binh Thuan province.

The committee also noted that 17 cases have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once while 18 others twice.

HCM City maps out plans for possible rise in COVID-19 cases

People under quarantine at HCM City National Universitys dormitory, one of the largest quarantine facilities in the city, return home after completing their mandatory quarantine period (Photo: plo.vn)



Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of Health has devised plans for a variety of scenarios if the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city rises to 50-500.

According to the Department of Health, if the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases to 500, there could be 150 cases with severe health conditions requiring intensive care.

If there are 50-500 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the number of suspected cases could reach 740-3,200, said the department.

The city will prepare 840 beds for treatment and 30 beds for intensive care at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Cu Chi acute respiratory disease treatment hospital, Can Gio hospital for COVID-19 treatment, HCM City Children Hospital and Children Hospital No. 2 for the scenario which envisions 50-100 confirmed cases.

It will prepare 1,400 beds for treatment and 60 beds for intensive care at the five hospitals for the scenario of 100-200 confirmed cases.

If there are 200-300 confirmed cases, it will prepare 2,500 beds for treatment and 90 beds for intensive care at the five above-said hospitals and another COVID-19 treatment hospital in the citys district 9.

If there are 500 confirmed cases, the city will prepare 3,700 beds for treatment and 150 beds for intensive care at the six hospitals and existing quarantine areas at hospitals in the city.

The department has also planned to arrange for an appropriate number of beds for treatment of COVID-19 patients at hospitals, and for allocation of essential medical equipment for treatment of COVID-19 patients as well as doctors and nurses needed to treat the 500 confirmed cases under this scenario.

It is estimated that a total of 548 doctors and 1,246 nurses would be needed to provide treatment and care for 500 patients with COVID-19.

Personal protective equipment for health officials, drugs, chemicals and infection prevention control measures, among others, have been evaluated for various preparedness and response plans, according to the department.

As of 18:00 on April 9, HCM City had reported 54 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of whom 37 patients have fully recovered.

Doctors, patients quarantined due to 254th COVID-19 patient

Authorised agencies' staff sprays disinfectants in Ha Loi Village, Me Linh District on Tuesday.

A total of 28 medical workers and 17 patients of the Ha Noi Kidney Hospital have been quarantined since Thursday after they were found to have had contact with Viet Nam's 254th COVID-19 patient.

The 254th patient is a 51-year-old Vietnamese man from Ha Nois Me Linh District, who is a neighbour of the 243rd and 250th patients. He receives dialysis treatment at the Ha Noi Kidney Hospital.

The patients sample was taken on Thursday morning and was found to be positive with the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the same day.

The hospital has since been disinfected.

More community infections of COVID-19 predicted in coming days

A soldier sterilises a motobike leaving from Ha Loi Ward on Thursday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday called for strict social distancing as some people have begun leaving their homes, especially in Ha Noi and HCM City.

The Government predicted more community infections over the next few days which are related to cases with complicated travelling histories as well as zoned outbreaks at Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Noi and Buddha Bar in HCM City.

To keep the virus at bay, people are being urged to stay at home to help prevent community transmission.

As of Thursday afternoon, Viet Nam confirmed four new COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 255.

Two of these patients came into close contact with the 243rd patient, a 47-year-old Vietnamese man from Me Linh Commune, Me Linh District in Ha Noi who took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for a health examination on March 12 and returned home the same day.

COVID-19 steering committee member Tran ac Phu, a former head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, on Wednesday said that in this case, the source of infection remained unclear as his test results showed he had just recently contracted the virus. Meanwhile, the patient was reported to have visited different places before testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Responding to the case, the national steering committee on COVID-19 control and prevention has traced and monitored 456 people who came in contact with the patient with 331 of them currently kept in isolation, taken 90 blood samples and quarantined the entire area of Me Linh District's Ha Loi Ward where the patient lives along with 457 households and 1,825 residents

In the first week of social distance order, from April 1 to 7, 31 new infections were confirmed in Viet Nam, including 22 patients who tested positive to the virus while being quarantined, accounting for 71 per cent. The number of new cases reduced by 58 per cent compared to the previous week from March 25 to 31, showing the efficiency of social distancing and centralised quarantining measures in preventing further spreading of the disease.

The Ministry of Health is also collaborating with the Ministry of Information and Communications and IT companies to pilot the online health consultation service at appointed hospitals from April 16 and implement it nationwide from April 18.

Two patients treated at Can Gio COVID-19 Treatment Hospital in HCM City were given the all clear on Thursday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 128.

Health facilities adopt strict screening process to prevent spread of COVID-19

The HCM City University Medical Centre sets up a special area with four examination rooms where people who are suspected of having COVID-19 are questioned and tested. Photo courtesy of the hospital

Health facilities in HCM City have adopted a strict screening process for patients, relatives and visitors to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

At the entrance of the HCM City University Medical Centre, visitors have their temperature taken, are instructed to wash their hands with antibacterial hand sanitizer, and fill out electronic medical declarations.

They are also required to maintain a 2-metre distance from others.

The hospital has set up a special area with four examination rooms where people who are suspected of having COVID-19 are questioned and tested.

Hospital staff at the examination rooms are well trained and equipped with personal protective equipment.

The strict screening procedures are vital to keep health facilities safe from the virus and protect health officials and patients at the hospital, said Au Thanh Tung, head of the hospitals general planning department.

Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital in HCM Citys District 5 has placed an electronic information system at its entrance gate to help patients and visitors fill out electronic medical declarations.

The action follows an instruction from the Ministry of Health to strengthen preventive measures at hospitals.

All patients, relatives and visitors who come to the hospital for medical examination and treatment are required to register in the system and fill out personal information and make a medical declaration. Epidemiological factors and symptoms of acute respiratory infection are also recorded.

The hospital receives an average of 10,000 patients, relatives and visitors every day.

Trinh inh Thang, deputy director of Trung Vuong Hospital, said the screening procedures for all people coming in and out of the hospital are being strictly implemented to prevent the spread of virus at the hospital.

It has set up three rooms in a separate isolation area at the hospital to temporarily isolate people with high risk factors that indicate Covid-19 infection, Thang said.

The hospital's main gate is open, but all other gates have been closed to limit the flow of visitors, he said.

More citizens complete 14-day quarantine

People leave the quaratine facility of the Military Unit 855 in Ninh Binh Province.

More than 100 Vietnamese nationals in the southern province of Hau Giang were released from COVID-19 quarantine today.

The 134 returnees from the Philippines received certificates of quarantine completion from the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Control.

The people stayed in quarantine facilities in the Military Training Centre in Hoa An Commune of Phung Hiep District, and Vi Thanh Law College in Vi Trung Commune of Vi Thuy District.

The citizens, who returned to Viet Nam from the Philippines Cebu Island on March 24 via Vietnam Airlines carrier to Can Tho Airport, were taken into quarantine upon landing.

As of Wednesday, the citizens had all tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus twice.

The provincial authority have arranged transportation to bring people home. The two facilities have subsequently been disinfected and ready to welcome new batches of people.

According to the committee, there had been 5,118 people taken to quarantine facilities in Hau Giang Province, of which 3,584 have completed their 14-day isolation as of today.

Northern quarantines

In the northern province of Ninh Binh, more than 1,000 people have completed their 14-day COVID-19 quarantine period in military facilities this week.

Air Defence Brigade 241 released 205 citizens, while the provincial Military Academy discharged 644 and Military Unit 855 released 184 people.

During the quarantine, the citizens tested negative several times and all are healthy and are allowed to go home.

Colonel Doan Hoang Giang, deputy commander of Military Command of Ninh Binh Province said: During the quarantine time, all citizens had been given medical care, daily health check and provided sufficient accommodation.

The citizens strictly abided by the rules and regulations in the quarantine areas in accordance with instructions of the Ministry of Health, Giang said.

Upon the completion of their isolation, the citizens expressed gratitude to the staff and soldiers in the quarantine facilities for taking care of them.

Nguyen Trung Nam, a resident of Ha Noi, who finished the isolation period in the Military Unit 855, said he was very impressed and moved by the thoughtfulness, affection and responsibility of the staff and soldiers there.

The released people were advised to notify their local authorities after returning from the quarantine facilities and comply with health monitoring and follow the Ministry of Healths recommendations.

I will continue to watch my health condition by myself and with the local health workers to contribute to national efforts to contain the disease in the community, said Nam.

Vietnamese associations in RoK donate 3,000 face masks for COVID-19 fight

Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tu (R) receives a representative from the VKBIA

The Vietnam-Korea Businessmen and Investment Association (VKBIA) and the Vietnam - Korea Experts and Intellectuals Association (VKEIA) on April 9 presented 3,000 face masks to the Vietnamese community in the Republic of Korea (RoK) to help them effectively fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tu thanked the organisations for their assistance, stressing that it is a valuable contribution to overseas Vietnamese nationals living, working and studying in the RoK amid the disease.

He said the embassy, through the Vietnamese Association in the RoK, will swiftly hand over the gifts to those most affected by the pandemic.

According to the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), two Vietnamese expats in the Asian nation have been infected with COVID-19.

UK newspaper highlights Vietnamese posters in fight against COVID-19

The poster by artist Le Duc Hiep

The Guardian newspaper in the UK on April 9 ran an article titled In a war, we draw: Vietnams artists join fight against COVID-19, featuring posters and stamps by Vietnamese artists calling for public support to fight the pandemic.

According to the article, Vietnam has kept confirmed cases low through quarantining, contact tracing, testing and dissemination.

It published a poster by artist Le Duc Hiep featuring a masked health worker standing valiant like a soldier, flanked by a bold slogan proclaiming that to stay at home is to love your country.

The poster reflects the war-time spirit many in the country are invoking as they try to contain the virus, the article said.

The article also features a poster by artist Luu Yen The that calls on people to wear masks to stem the spread of COVID-19, and a collection of stamps by painter Pham Ha Trung sending a clear message of solidarity in the fight against the pandemic.

"Such messaging, along with early action and contact tracing, have helped the nation avoid the levels of suffering seen in Europe", the article said.

Indonesia to expand mass testing for COVID-19

People wear face masks in Jakarta, Indonesia

The Indonesian government is ramping up efforts to carry out mass, rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing amid concerns the worlds fourth-most populous nation lags behind other nations in testing people for COVID-19.

The countrys Health Ministry recently issued a circular allowing public hospital laboratories, public and private clinical laboratories, as well as state-owned virology laboratories and university research laboratories to conduct PCR testing as long as they meet level-two biosafety (BSL-2) standards for testing SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, and have the necessary equipment and facilities.

The decision came after Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on the Health Ministry and the COVID-19 task force to improve and accelerate PCR testing, which scientists say is crucial in the battle against the deadly pandemic.

According to pandemic data site Worldometer, Indonesia is ranked among the lowest in COVID-19 testing with only 52 tests for every million people as of April 8. By comparison, among neighbouring countries, Singapore has tested 11,110 for every million people, Malaysia 1,717 and Thailand 1,030.

As of April 8, Indonesia had only tested 14,571 people using the PCR method.

Indonesian governments spokesperson for COVID-19 affairs Achmad Yurianto said that the countrys labs had the capacity to test more than 500 a day and the figure is expected to increase in the next few days.

In addition to relaxing the regulations on testing, Indonesia has imported two automatic RNA extractors and 18 PCR detectors, which will be distributed to 12 provinces.

The machines could boost the countrys testing capacity to between 5,000 to 10,000 tests per day, reaching as many as 300,000 tests within a month.The Health Ministry said that the country currently had only 200,000 reagents for the labs.

MoMo users walk to donate for the battle with COVID-19 pandemic

MoMo e-wallet has worked with the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front and the Ha Noi Medical University to launch the campaign 'The great little things' to aid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The firm has organised online activities for its users to join in to boost their health, spread optimism and donate to fight against the coronavirus.

The wallets users can improve their health by turning on the 'Walk with MoMo' feature. With 4,000 steps, equivalent to about 3km a day, users will receive a badge and a food item on MoMo.

The badge can be exchanged for a golden pig while the food item is used to raise a normal pig into a golden pig. Golden pigs can be exchanged for cash to donate to the students of Ha Noi Medical University who are helping fight the pandemic.

By late March, more than 120 students of the university had volunteered to help in the citys quarantine areas by helping people brought there to fill in health declarations and more. Some of the students have since been quarantined.

For every 6.5 million gold pigs, a VN1 billion (US$42,421) cash donation will be made.

"The donation will be more if the users walk more steps", said the company's director Le Ba Diep.

As part of the campaign, MoMo also added a feature to allow users to donate directly to the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front and the Ha Noi Medical University, as well as a section to help fill in a voluntary medical declaration.

The campaign has so far recorded VN240 million of donations and 349,000 golden pigs since launching on Wednesday.

Currently, MoMo has more than 13 million customers and a growth rate of 15 per cent in monthly transaction volume and user base.

Four more COVID-19 cases reported in Vietnam, total at 255

A local resident in northern Ha Nam province has his temperature taken at a checkpoint set up by the provincial military, public security and health forces after the 251st patient was confirmed.

Vietnam reported four more cases of COVID-19 as of 6pm on April 9, raising the total number in the country to 255.

The tally included 158 foreign patients, making up 62.2 percent. Of the four new cases, two had been in contact with patient 243, and two are Vietnamese nationals returning from overseas.

The 252nd patient is a six-year-old Vietnamese boy in Ho Chi Minh City. He lived in Cambodia with his family of five, two of whom had been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and are now under quarantine in Cambodia.

He returned to Vietnam with the two other family members through the Moc Bai International Border Gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh on April 8. He was put under quarantine in Tay Ninhs General Hospital upon arrival. His two other family members have tested negative.

Patient 253 is a 41-year-old woman from Hanois Me Linh district, who is the sister-in-law of the 243rd patient. She is now being quarantined and treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No.2.

The 254th patient is a 51-year-old man from Hanois Me Linh district, who is a neighbour of the 243rd and 250th patients. He is currently undergoing dialysis therapy at the Hanoi Kidney Hospital and is under quarantine here.

The 255th patient is a 29-year-old Vietnamese man from Bac Quang district, the northern province of Ha Giang. He returned from Russia on March 27 via Noi Bai International Airport on flight SU290. He was put under quarantine in the northern province of Vinh Phuc upon arrival. He is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No.2.

Also on April 9, two more COVID-19 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries in Vietnam to 128, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Two more COVID-19 patients declared fully recovered, total at 128

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Both are Vietnamese. They were discharged from the Can Gio Hospital for COVID-19 Treatment on April 9 morning.

Both tested negative for the virus two days in a row on April 5 and 6 and will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days after being discharged.

As of April 9 afternoon, Vietnam had confirmed 255 COVID-19 patients with no fatality so far.

Of the four latest cases, case 253 and case 254 had close contacts with case 243 in Me Linh district, Hanoi.

International press highlights Vietnam's success in combating COVID-19

Vietnamese health workers take care of COVID-19 patient

Vietnam's measures against COVID-19 have been applauded by the international media as prompt, drastic and supported by people nationwide.

Workers.org page of the US Workers World Party (WWP) on April 8 posted an article titled How Vietnam contained the pandemic saying that the coronavirus pandemic has started to reveal stark differences in the emergency responses of countries all over the globe.

It said Vietnam is among less developed countries which has mounted a highly successful response, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the world.

The article cited that by April 6, Vietnam, with a population of nearly 100 million people, had just 245 confirmed cases and zero deaths.

Vietnams University of Science and Technology has developed a fast and affordable test kit that costs about 15 USD and returns results within an hour.

Now 20 countries around the world are seeking to order tens of thousands of them, according to the article.

Vietnam has also focused on effective, nonpharmaceutical methods to contain the virus, it said, adding that on February 1, the country suspended flights to China and decided to close schools after the Lunar New Year break.

It then instituted a 21-day quarantine of Vinh Phuc province north of Hanoi, where a large number of residents had returned from Wuhan, China, the initial epicenter of the outbreak. It has since mandated 14-day quarantines for everyone arriving in the country and cancelled all foreign flights.

Quarantine centers have been set up on the edges of cities providing 100 percent of the medical care, food and shelter for those in quarantine, including foreign visitors, the article reported.

The US website also quoted a British citizen at a quarantine centre in Son Tay as saying Suddenly it all becomes very human, were guests in a country doing their best to protect themselves and are extending us that courtesy. Such is the good nature of Vietnam.

It also quoted a WWP member who travelled in Vietnam from March 5 to 17 as reporting that screenings in the airports were much more thorough and stringent than in the US. Hand sanitizer was almost everywhere, even in rural areas. People were chipper about following the measures set out by the government to contain the virus.

Vietnam has also used social media and information technology to combat the spread of the virus. Almost 90 percent of the people have either a smartphone or a mobile phone.

The government uses an app and other channels to swiftly alert the public to new cases and areas with potential transmission, to help people get tested and to provide scientifically accurate, up-to-date information on best practices to reduce exposure, according to the article.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health produced a catchy music video to inform people of proper handwashing techniques and other measures to reduce transmission, it said.

The article concluded that Vietnam sets an example for both developing and wealthy countries fighting COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Project Syndicate, a website based in the Czech Republic, on April 8 carried a story titled Vietnams Low Cost COVID 19 Strategy praising Vietnam for managing the crisis so well that it avoided becoming a hotspot.

The article said Vietnams first cases were recorded on January 23, and the situation appeared to be under control until an additional wave of cases fueled by foreign tourists and returning travelers and students.

Perhaps most remarkably, unlike the Republic of Korea, which has spent considerable funds on aggressive testing, or Singapore, which has established strong epidemiological surveillance, Vietnam has followed a budget-friendly approach that has proven equally effective, it said.

Despite expectations of high rates of transmission, owing to a shared border with China and the high volume of bilateral trade, Vietnam has recorded only one-fifth the number of infections that much-lauded Singapore has, with no reported deaths to date, it added.

Vietnams initial success in slowing the rate of infection was attributed to the authorities focus on communication and public education through technology platforms and systematic tracing of pathogen carriers, according to the article.

With 65 percent of Vietnams 96 million people online, official news outlets and social media channels (60 percent are on Facebook) successfully shared information about the novel coronavirus.

In an age when it is difficult to track and stop the spread of mis-/disinformation, understanding the threat, particularly its contagion rate, has been key to citizens willingness to cooperate, whether through social distancing or self-isolation.

Vietnams experience demonstrates how, by focusing on early risk assessment, effective communication, and government-citizen cooperation, an under-resourced country with a precarious health-care system can manage the pandemic, the article concluded.

Seven Vietnamese citizens stranded at Thai airport brought home

The seven Vietnamese citizens are brought home thanks to the efforts and close coordination of many domestic and foreign agencies.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand has collaborated with the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to bring seven citizens stuck at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on the return flight VN610 taking off at 17:20 on April 9.

Among the returnees, five travelled from Africa, transiting Ethiopia and arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport on March 25 for a flight to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi in the afternoon. But unfortunely, they missed the flight due to late arrival and there was no other flight to Vietnam.

The other two were not allowed to enter Cambodia, so they had to return to Suvarnabhumi airport. They were also not permitted to enter Thailand because the country is tightening regulations against COVID-19.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand said these citizens were brought home thanks to the efforts and close coordination of many domestic and foreign agencies in the context that there are no return flights to Vietnam and Thailand had declared a state of emergency.

Defining this as an emergency, the embassy coordinated with Vietnam Airlines to implement all necessary procedures with Vietnamese and Thai authorities to bring the citizens home on a weekly cargo flight of the airline between Hanoi and Bangkok.

Medical masks presented to Laos-Vietnam friendship assoc

At the event

Vice Director of the Ministry of Public Securitys Department of Foreign Relations and Standing Vice President of the Vietnam  Laos Friendship Association (VLFA)'s chapter in the public security force Nguyen Minh Hieu has presented 100 million VND (4,300 USD) and 1,000 medical masks to the Laos  Vietnam Friendship Association (LVFA).

At the hand-over ceremony in Hanoi on April 9, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the VLFA Nguyen Van My thanked the VLFA chapter for its timely support to the LVFA.

My said there are 40 VLFA chapters in localities and units nationwide. The chapter in the public security sector is the first unit to raise fund in support of Lao people, proving the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two countries./.

Over 70 pct of businesses help workers amid COVID-19

Up to 73 percent of businesses have offered timely support to workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said.

According to the VCCIs recent survey, almost firms in various sectors actively and proactively took anti-epidemic measures in workplaces as recommended by the Health Ministry and local authorities, as well as did their best to maintain production and trade.

Specifically, over 60 percent of enterprises allowed part of their workforce to adopt flexible working time, 46 percent cut working hours, 42 percent offered training for workers, and 41 percent permitted work from home.

Only about 20 percent were forced to cut the number of workers and end labour contracts while 21 percent reduced salaries.

The VCCI urged competent agencies to support business community, with a focus on hardest-hit sectors such as aviation, textile, footwear, logistics, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and business households.

Loc suggested learning from countries experience to offer timely assistance to them based on realities in localities.

Cambodia restricts travel to curb COVID-19

A worker in Cambodia wears face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 9 announced travel restrictions between the capital of Phom Penh and provinces to ensure national safety during the COVID-19 crisis.

The regulation will be effective from April 10 to 16 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. To date, Cambodia has recorded 117 cases of COVID-19 with no death.

Meanwhile, Singapores health ministry on April 9 confirmed 287 more infection cases, the number in a single day in the country since the disease outbreak in January 2020, raising the total to 1,910.

More than 200 of the new cases were linked to outbreaks in dormitories for foreign workers. Singapore has quarantined thousands of workers in dormitories after they were found to have connection with several COVID-19 cases.

So far, the country has reported six fatalities due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, as of April 9, Thailand confirmed 2,423 infection cases, including 32 deaths and 940 recoveries.

VNA/VietNamNet/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/ND
Highlights Microsoft Surface Duo's camera sample is finally out.

The specifications of the Surface Duo are still unknown, however.

The release of the Surface Duo and Surface Neo is said to have been postponed.

Microsoft's take on foldable phones came in a rather pleasing avatar. The Surface Duo was announced last year at Microsoft's Surface event and it instantly grabbed thousands of eyeballs. It, essentially, is a foldable device hinged from the dead centre, running Android out of the box. At the last year's presentation, Surface Duo made a quite brief visit to the stage, and its specifications still remain a mystery. Microsoft's hardware chief Panos Panay has now shared what is claimed to be the photo, shot on the Surface Duo. Separately, a report has claimed that the release of Surface Duo and other Windows 10X-powered devices will be deferred.

In an Instagram post, Panay has shared a photo of his son Costas "learning from home" for his CAL mid-term with a either a Surface Pro X or a Surface Pro 7. The image is said to have been shot on the Microsoft Surface Duo, the camera specifications of which are unknown at the moment. But it is an image shot using the front camera since there is no rear camera on the device. The image does not look crisp given it was taken indoors but the colour reproduction in it seems rather adequate. Moreover, Instagram compresses images to reduce the file size, impacting their quality. Nonetheless, it is still too early to give a judgement on the Surface Duo's cameras.

While the Surface Duo is still to be released into the markets, the first image does offer some insight into what the camera capabilities will be. An earlier report suggested Microsoft will launch the Surface Duo ahead of schedule with the 2019 hardware but it was refuted later when another report said Microsoft is planning to launch it at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Now, A ZDNet report, citing Microsoft officials familiar with the matter, has said that the company is delaying the launch of Surface Duo and that no new Surface devices running Windows 10X will debut this calendar year.

The latest development is not surprising at all, given how adversely the coronavirus pandemic has affected the manufacturing and supply chain of several tech companies. Much like others, Microsoft is also postponing the release of its ambitious Surface Duo, as well as its another dual-screened Surface Neo. The Windows 10X, too, is said to be held back for shipping to third parties that might use it for their dual-screen devices. According to the report, Panay held an internal meeting with the employees looking after the Surface Duo, Surface Neo devices and Windows 10X.
BERKELEY (BCN)

Berkeley Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez announced Thursday that a resident in their 40s has died of the new coronavirus, the first such death the city has seen so far in the pandemic.

Hernandez said the resident had underlying health problems, which she said data shows makes people more likely to suffer severe illness from COVID-19.

She said people over the age of 60 also are more susceptible to severe illness but the coronavirus affects people of all ages.

"I am deeply saddened by the news of the first COVID-19 death in Berkeley and my condolences go out to their family," Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said in a statement.

"We all have the power to reduce the spread of this virus and the deaths and heartache it creates. We must all follow the shelter-in-place order to protect ourselves, our neighbors, family and those most at risk," Arreguin said.

Hernandez said, "This tragic death is a reminder that none of us can afford to dismiss the threat from this disease. It can affect anyone, with consequences as severe as death."

She said, "This death is also a sad reminder of the urgency to shelter in place."

Hernandez said the resident's death is one of 17 lab-confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Alameda County, 442 in the state and 12,745 in the nation.

She said 34 people in Berkeley have tested positive for the virus so far.

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At a time when so many places in Butte are either closed or crawling because of the coronavirus pandemic, theres one thats busier than ever.

The Butte Job Service has been receiving hundreds of calls, most of them related to unemployment, said manager Michael Monroe.

Many of these callers have never filed for UI (unemployment insurance) before, and Job Service staff are here to help them through the process, he said.

Monroe said its been like that for two to three weeks.

As COVID-19 impacts the life and work of Montanans across our state, it has created an unprecedented demand for our services  especially unemployment insurance, he said. We are doing everything in our power to help Montanans file their claims correctly and are assuring that we are here to help.

New filings for unemployment benefits in Montana skyrocketed to 23,665 people in the last seven days  and that came on top of almost 17,000 from the week before.

The Butte Job Service office is closed to the public due to the pandemic, but the staff is still taking calls in the office or working from home to help connect out-of-work people with government benefits.

Were helping people with their unemployment insurance questions, Monroe said. We understand what a stressful time this is for many Montanans. All of us are affected in some way.

The Butte Job Service doesnt handle unemployment claims under normal circumstances. However, since the state Department of Labor and Industry has been so overwhelmed with calls and requests, local offices across the state have been pressed into assisting folks.

Like many states across the U.S., Montanas unemployment claims portal initially was overloaded with an unprecedented increase in claimants, Monroe explained. Our staff has gone through training to assist with commonly asked inquiries, including some limited technical assistance with the MontanaWorks site.

The state issued more than 24,000 payments for unemployment insurance from March 29 to April 5. Over that time, more than 22,000 new or reactivated claims were filed.

Over the last week alone, we put more than $7.8 million into peoples pockets and Montanas economy, said Brenda Nordlund, acting commissioner of the state labor department.

Monroe said the state system has been upgraded to handle the capacity and is being re-programmed to accommodate newly-eligible claimants.

For example, users having trouble with resetting their PINs can do so now. Claimants can also create a new account or log in using an existing account to file a claim, make payment requests, request a redetermination, access and update profile information, change their password and search for work.

People with questions can call the Butte office at 406-494-0300 or email buttejsb@mt.gov.

The state website is www.mt.gov and the specific unemployment page is MontanaWorks.gov.

The state also has a dedicated page, http://dli.mt.gov/employer-covid-19, for frequently asked questions for both employees and employers. There are also instruction videos available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEYaWXATES4&t=19s.

Lauren Lewis, the labor departments public information officer, said it is too soon to know the full impacts of COVID-19, as this is a quickly evolving and dynamic situation.

We are utilizing every available resource and have stabilized the UI claimant portal on MontanaWorks.gov, so Montanans impacted by COVID-19 can access the unemployment benefits they need at this time, she said.

Lewis said processing unemployment insurance claims is currently the departments highest priority.

Meanwhile, Express Employment Services in Butte is helping match southwest employers and job seekers.

Tabatha Elsberry Hyatt, business developer and co-owner of Express Employment Professionals, said the temp agency is trying to help people stay employed and business running.

Express has received a surge in calls from job seekers, as well as employers looking for workers. The company helps out businesses and job seekers in Butte and surrounding areas, including Whitehall, Dillon, Deer Lodge and Anaconda, among others.

We have been on our toes from morning to night. Its a challenging time, Hyatt said. We are here to provide job opportunities, and help match and build their skill sets to find a good fit.

Hyatt said her company currently works with 40 to 55 clients each week. On a typical week, Express Employment reaches out to 150 businesses, she said.

Currently we do have job openings in a variety of types for essential businesses, healthcare, manufacturing, production, and more, she said.

Express Employment not only places folks in temporary work, it helps place job seekers in professional, full-time, part-time and contract work.

We offer a variety of hiring solutions or styles as well to work with each employer with the matched job seeker so that it works for everyone involved, Hyatt said. Specifically during this time, we are also trying to be a knowledgeable resource on COVID-19 updates, notifying employers and clients on updates such as the SBA loans, Payroll Protection, any governor information, health tips and more.

To contact Express Employment, call or text 406-723-6531 or visit www.Expresspros.com/buttemt. People can also find them on Facebook and can apply for most jobs there, too, at https://www.facebook.com/expressprosbutte/.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 00:09:15|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government on Thursday slammed a recent report accusing the Syrian army of using chemical weapons in an attack in 2017.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the report, which was released by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), is "misleading" as its conclusions are "fake and fabricated."

The ministry said it totally rejects the report, denying the use of poisonous gas in attacks in the town of Al-Lataminah in the central province of Hama in 2017.

A day earlier, an investigative team with the OPCW accused the Syrian government of having launched three chemical weapons attacks on Al-Lataminah in March 2017, causing scores of people to get sick.
My worry or concern is that patients are very wary of going to the emergency room, said Dr. Mark Ricciardi, director of interventional cardiology for NorthShore University HealthSystem. Its possible when we look back on this and gather general mortality data, we might find a lot of people passed away at home. People may not even get to the ER because theyre delaying going. They delay to the point that they end up having a fatal heart attack before they get to the hospital.
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise across India, Kerala falls to 8th spot: State tally

The number of coronavirus cases in India on Thursday climbed to 5,734 with 5,095 active cases and 166 deaths. As many as 473 patients have been cured or discharged, the latest figures released by the Ministry of Health indicated. Kerala - which was the second most affected state by coronavirus after Maharashtra just weeks back - seems to now have fallen to the eighth spot as Covid-19 cases rise in other states.Read more.

Odisha becomes first state to extend Covid-19 lockdown; sets April 30 as new date

The Covid-19 lockdown in Odisha will be extended till April 30, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Thursday after a meeting of the state cabinet. Odisha is the first state to extend the lockdown ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis video conference to discuss the lockdown extension. Read more.

We will win this together: PM Modi responds to Trumps thank you note on hydroxychloroquine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday acknowledged the thank you note of US President Donald Trump, saying that India will do everything possible to help humanitys fight against coronavirus disease Covid-19. Read more.

As Centre considers Covid-19 lockdown extension, demand to resume industry

Even as state governments have asked the Centre to consider extending the ongoing lockdown beyond April 14, there is pressure on the central government to allow certain industries to resume operations partially and with caveats to follow the mandatory protocols for health care and social distancing. Read more.

FAQ: Your 14 queries on 23 Delhi containment zones answered

At least 23 areas in Delhi have been declared containment zones and put under a hard lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Heres a primer on what to expect in these areas.Read more.

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan addresses privacy, security issues in first webinar

Zoom has been trying to clean its mess of security and privacy issues that came up as the video conferencing app became popular. Zooms CEO Eric Yuan hosted a livestream on YouTube which is also the debut of his weekly Ask Eric Anything webinar.Read more.

We should do our bit: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan shares images of wife and daughter making masks

People, in their own ways, are playing a role in fighting against the novel coronavirus. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently took to Twitter to share how his wife Mridula Pradhan and daughter Naimisha are taking part in that battle. He shared images of his wife and daughter making masks at their home.Read more.

If India gives Pakistan 10,000 ventilators, we will remember the gesture forever: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has appealed to India to provide for ventilators for his country. Akhtar said that if India offered a helping hand during these desperate times, Pakistan would never forget the gesture as it would be rising above differences and offering a service.Read more.

Adhere strictly to social distancing: Trump confident tough measures will help

US President Donald Trump said social distancing was having an impact in slowing spread of the virus in the United States. Trump said that Americans were heading into the final stretch & there was light at the end of the tunnel. Trump said, What weve accomplished, if every American continues to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines, we can defeat the invisible enemy and save countless lives that we can do it much more quickly. Were hopefully heading toward a final stretch. The light at the end of the tunnel, as I was saying. Watch here.
A report suggested that the worlds largest aerospace company Boeing confirmed that it is going to attempt another test flight to the International Space Station without crew members aboard its Starliner spacecraft.

A test flight was sent to the International Space Station late last year without crew members. This scenario was performed by Boeings Starliner spacecraft, but unfortunately, it failed. They couldnt make it to the space station due to a glitch caused to the vehicle to burn too much fuel too early on the trip. And that is why Boeing is now going to try again.

There had been some question as to whether NASA would take the shortcoming in stride and allow for a crewed test flight to commence without Boeing redoing the failed test. Now, enough of details and corrections were made and checked in it. NASA has clearly made up its mind to do so, and Boeing needs to prove that its big-budget vehicle actually works. Otherwise, NASA is planning on sending its astronauts to step onboard.

According to the Ars Technica report, the American aerospace company Boeing stated that it would be carrying out another crewless test flight to the International Space Station.

Boeing also added that they are very cautious and much concerned towards the safety of the men and women who are busy in designing, building and eventually flying of the Starliner just as they have on every crewed mission to space. They have also chosen to Re-fly their Orbital Flight Test to demonstrate the Starliner systems quality. The company also stated that flying another crewless flight will allow them to complete all pending flight test objectives. And if there are any errors, they will evaluate the second Starliner vehicle with a performance at no cost to the taxpayer.

NASA investigated and came out with 61 errors which are to be rectified. NASA did this with full dedication and informed Boeing to have a deeper look at their vehicle flying to the space station. We are unsure that how confident and accomplished is Boeing with its work, but we wish all the luck to them. There is no positive and accurate affirmation on when that flight will actually happen. A crewed flight by SpaceXs will be on track for May. It is clear that the race between the two companies to send an astronaut into space is SpaceXs to lose.
Rather than panic about the day when your kids return to school, focus your energy into actionable points that may ease your mind.

Were in the third week of the lockdown in India, and while many of us have settled into a makeshift routine and found some calm within the chaos, others havent been so fortunate and cant wait for schools and offices to open up again. After the lockdown is lifted, whether it is at the end of 21 days or longer, we may resume our daily activities but life will still be far from normal.

If you have children, you know that while becoming a teacher for your children was hard, letting them back into the world, where you cant control everything, will be harder. Research shows that COVID-19 is less likely to make children severely ill compared with adults. So, rather than panic about the day when your kids return to school, focus your energy into actionable points that may ease your mind. There are two aspects of the situation to address - one is the school and the other is your child.

You can ask the school management if theyre making some changes at this time. And if not, here are some changes you could suggest to them yourself:

1. No time in the playground

Ask if theyll be restricting activities like games, contact sports, assemblies and competitions. Non-essential gatherings can and should be restricted until the virus is completely eradicated or there is a vaccine made available.

2. Different timing for different grades

A slight change in the timings of different grades can make it easier to avoid overcrowding around the entry and exit points at the beginning and end of the day. Even a 15-minutes difference would allow students to not be exposed to too many other people. Similarly, lunch or break times can be staggered for different grades so they can easily avoid contact.

3. Smaller and constant classes

If the class size is generally big, you can inquire if will be made smaller given the situation. A distance of at least 1 meter must be maintained between students which means desks need to arranged that way as well. The school should also ensure that there are minimum or no breaks to avoid too much mingling during this time.

4. Hygiene facilities

Hand soap, clean water and tissue papers should be available in the school bathrooms. Also, ensure that the school is disinfecting the entire area before opening up again. To be on the safe side, ask your child to carry their own soap, a small pack of tissues and maybe even sanitizing wipes.

Here are a few conversations to have with your child that could help ease your worry as well as their anxiety:

1. Hygiene practices

Assure them that if they practise good hygiene, they will be safe. Go over all the times they should wash their hands - before and after eating, after going to the toilet, if they touch shared surfaces such as the railing and door handles. Even if theyre excited to see their friends, they should avoid physical contact with them for now. Ask them to wear a face cover if they travel by bus or anytime theyre around a lot of people. Carefully go over the steps of how to wear a face cover correctly and make them show you how to do it at home.

2. Social distancing

We all remember what its like to be in school. We can expect some cool kids to disregard the necessary measures when they arent being watched. Your child should know not to be influenced by such behaviour and still maintain social distance and hygiene - whether others are doing it or not. Tell them not to share anything - have water from their own bottle and lunch from their own box or plate.

3. Ask them to share their feelings

All of this may be a lot to take in and it even might scare them a little bit. Ask them how they are feeling and have them ask you as many questions as they like. Answer them to the best of your ability and if there is something you dont know, be honest about that as well. Its normal to be a little anxious but if they seem to be too affected and youre not being able to help them manage it, try getting them to talk to a counsellor or child therapist.

For more information, read our article on COVID-19 prevention and care tips for parents with young children.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
The United States will seize exports of key protective medical gear until it determines whether the equipment should be kept in the country to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, two federal agencies announced on Wednesday.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will hold exports of respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves, according to a joint announcement made with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA will then determine if the equipment should be returned for use in the United States, purchased by the US government or exported.

President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on Friday that directed federal agencies to use any authority necessary to keep the highly sought-after medical supplies in the United States.

Governors, mayors and physicians have voiced alarm for weeks over crippling scarcities of personal protective gear for first-responders and front-line healthcare workers, as well as ventilators and other medical supplies.

The move to seize exports will include N95 respirator masks, which filter airborne particles and are used to protect against COVID-19, the potentially lethal respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The US manufacturing company 3M Co , a leading producer of the masks worldwide, said on Monday that it had reached a deal with the Trump administration that would allow it to continue to export the masks to Canada and Latin America despite the new restrictions. The company had said days earlier that ceasing exports to those regions would have humanitarian implications.

A federal regulation that outlines FEMAs procedures for seizing and vetting the exports will go into effect on Friday and remain in place until Aug. 10, according to a draft version posted online.

FEMA will aim to make decisions about exports quickly and seek to minimize disruptions to the supply chain, the draft regulation said.

Some state and local government officials have accused FEMA in recent days of confiscating shipments of masks and other supplies coming from overseas.

An official with the US Department of Homeland Security who requested anonymity to discuss the matter earlier this week said half of the protective gear brought to the United States on US government flights can be redirected to high-need areas around the country, but disputed the idea that the equipment had been seized.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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States have appealed for help reprogramming their outdated computer systems that are used to process surging unemployment applications as a record 16.8 million Americans claim benefits amid the coronavirus lockdown.

A record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday. It comes on top of than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

Many local government computer programs use an obsolete code from the 1950s at a time when the social security process has been thrown into chaos with rising numbers of workers forced out of work due to coronavirus.

Officials in New Jersey, Kansas, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Mississippi and Oklahoma have all admitted struggling to proceeds growing applications.

Governors have put out pleas for retired programmers to help code the decades-old computer programming language called COBOL because many of the state's systems still run on old mainframes.

It comes as huge lines of people were seen yesterday queuing close together in order to make unemployment applications.

Drone footage showing vehicles lining up to receive unemployment applications being given out by City of Hialeah, Florida, employees in front of the John F. Kennedy Library yesterday

Aerial footage above South Florida showing hundreds of residents risking possible coronavirus exposure by lining up to get paper applications for unemployment benefits

Hundreds of desperate Floridians were filmed lining up and risking exposure to coronavirus to get paper for applications.

As applications surge due to the economic slowdown from the pandemic, states will have to reprogram their computer systems to provide the new jobless benefit agreed by Congress, which could be a daunting task.

More than half of states still rely on 40-year-old mainframe systems that run on outdated software.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has asked for volunteers who can work with the COBOL language, first introduced in 1959, to reprogram the state's computers.

Other states with newer systems have also been plagued by problems.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has scrambled to shore up a system set up in 2013 that has been unable to keep up with jobless applications, sparking widespread outrage.

The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arriving at the Miami Beach Convention Center yesterday to discuss the Army Corps' building of a coronavirus field hospital inside the facility

State officials have known for years about glitches that short-changed recipients but have failed to fix them, a review found last year.

The extra money will be a lifeline to those who get their applications approved, said Florida labor lawyer Cathleen Scott.

'For my clients, that's the difference between paying their mortgage and eating,' she said.

Americans who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak will start getting enhanced jobless benefits as soon as this week as states deploy hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid, state officials said on Tuesday.

Congress approved an additional $600 weekly payment for jobless workers as part of an unprecedented $2.3 trillion rescue package signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27.

It could take several weeks for that money to filter through federal and state bureaucracies into the bank accounts of many of the millions of Americans who have been thrown out of work.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy arriving along with Sen. Cory Booker, before they toured the Edison Field Medical Station at the site of the NJ Convention & Exposition Center yesterday

Still, qualifying New York residents will see the additional benefit payments this week, according to the state Department of Labor.

New Jersey also aims to get the payments out this week, though it may take longer, spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi said.

New Jersey Gov. Murphy said over the weekend: 'Literally, we have systems that are 40-plus-years-old.

'There'll be lots of postmortems and one of them on our list will be how did we get here where we literally needed COBOL programmers?'

Missouri and Georgia plan to start sending out payments starting the week of April 12, officials said, and Indiana will start the week after that.

Officials in Maine, Ohio, Minnesota and California said they have not yet figured out when they will be able to distribute the money. Other states did not respond or declined immediate comment.

Experts say some states may struggle to get the money out by May 1, when rent and many other bills will come due. 'That may be a challenge,' said Michele Evermore, a policy analyst forthe National Employment Law Project.

Healthcare workers wearing personal protection equipment administering coronavirus tests at a drive-thru COVID-19 test collection facility yesterday operated by Omni Healthcare in Melbourne, Florida

The enhanced jobless aid, totaling $260 billion, aims to ensure that those who are thrown out of work do not see a big drop in income.

The $600 weekly payment bolsters regular jobless benefits that typically are a fraction of a worker's previous take-home pay.

The money could be a lifeline for laid-off workers struggling to secure benefits from states that have been overwhelmed by applications.

'I'm cautiously optimistic that this will be it and that I won't have to mess with it anymore until I get back to work,' said Desire Nesmith, 24, who was laid off as a substitute teacher and child-care worker in Fort Worth, Texas.

The federal aid also expands benefits to part-time workers and freelancers who previously did not qualify. State officials said it could take longer for those people to see benefits.

State unemployment systems are facing a deluge of applicants as businesses shut their doors to minimize the spread of the pandemic, which has killed more than 12,000 people and infected more than 380,000 across the United States.

Initial weekly jobless claims spiked to more than 6 million last week, a record high.
Royal Cruise Line accounts for as many as 200 Vincentian workers who are currently stranded outside of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Protocols have been established that would facilitate the return of Vincentian cruise ship workers.





This assurance was given by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves. He made the announcement during the Debate on the Supplement Appropriation Bill in Parliament last Tuesday.





According to Gonsalves, there was a group of Vincentian Royal Cruise Line workers, and the company requested that this country accept a charter with as many as 200 of these individuals.





Similar discussions were held with officials from Disney where there are a group of about 45 Vincentian nationals, and two other ships off the coast of Barbados with a little over 20.





All the workers wanted to come home, Gonsalves said.





"There are other Vincentians elsewhere, but these are the ones that were brought to my attention, he said.

Gonsalves explained that a clear policy position with a medical protocol is in place to facilitate the return of Vincentians who work on cruise lines.





"The policy is simple; in principle we do not close our borders to our nationals, Gonsalves told members of Parliament.





But in light of the current circumstances within SVG, the expected protocol is that they will be tested prior to making the journey home and that it be understood that even those who may test negative for the Covid-19 virus, will still be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.





The other conditions, according to Gonsalves, are that the cruise lines be responsible for all costs associated with keeping the workers in quarantine  including hotels or guest houses where the individuals will be housed.





The workers will be subject to another test at the end of the 14-day quarantine period, before receiving the all clear to return home.





It was noted that of the seven active COVID-19 cases here, five were workers in the cruise ship industry.

"So there are strict things which have to be observed, and I give the assurance that I will insist on all of these so that as far as is humanly practicable, there will be no adverse health implications for us, Gonsalves said.
The UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has warned against the misuse and abuse of emergency powers by governments to target marginalised and vulnerable populations.

The global health agency said the COVID-19 epidemic is being used as an excuse to target marginalised and vulnerable populations, restrict civil society space and increase police powers.

The Executive Director, UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, in a statement Thursday, said her agency was extremely concerned by reports of new laws that restrict rights and freedoms and target groups in a manner that will harm the rights and health of people living with or vulnerable to HIV.

In times of crisis, emergency powers and agility are crucial. However, they cannot come at the cost of the rights of the most vulnerable, Ms Byanyima said.

Checks and balances that are the cornerstone of the rule of law must be exercised in order to prevent misuse of such powers.

If not, we may see a reversal of much of the progress made in human rights, the right to health and the AIDS response.

The UNAIDS chief said in spite of past experience of epidemics showing that an effective response to health crises must be deeply rooted in trust, solidarity and unwavering respect for human rights, some countries are now using emergency powers or public health justifications to restrict rights to personal autonomy, gender identity, freedom of speech and sexual and reproductive health.

She expressed concerns about rising reports of criminal punishment related to HIV transmission and the use of police powers to target vulnerable groups.

There have also been concerning reports of increases in criminal penalties in relation to HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure and the use of police powers to target, through arrests and brutality, vulnerable and criminalised groups, such as sex workers, people who use drugs, people living with HIV, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, she said.

Criminalisation of transmission

She said some countries are resorting to the use of criminal law, such as the criminalisation of the transmission of COVID-19, and arresting and detaining people for breaching restrictions.

In Hungary, a new bill has been introduced to remove the right of people to change their gender and name on official documents in order to ensure conformity with their gender identity, in clear breach of international human rights to legal recognition of gender identity.

In Poland, a fast-tracked amendment to the criminal law that increases the penalties for HIV exposure, non-disclosure and transmission to at least six months in prison and up to eight years in prison has been passeda clear contravention of international human rights obligations to remove HIV-specific criminal laws, she said.

Ms Byanyima warned that criminalisation of virus transmission could lead to significant human rights violations, undermine the response and is not based on science.

The ability to prove actual transmission from one person to another, as well as necessary intent, is almost impossible and fails to meet rule of law requirements for criminalisation, she said, adding that criminalisation is often implemented against vulnerable and stigmatized communities.

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In Uganda, 23 people connected with a shelter for providing services for the LGBTI community have been arrested19 have been charged with a negligent act likely to spread infection or disease. Those 19 are being held in prison without access to a court, legal representation or medication.

She said reports from some countries of police brutality in enforcing measures, using physical violence and harassment and targeting marginalised groups, including sex workers, drug addicts and homeless people, are becoming worrisome.

The use of criminal law and violence to enforce movement restrictions is disproportionate and not evidence-informed.

Such tactics have been known to be implemented in a discriminatory manner and have a disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable: people who for whatever reason cannot stay at home, do not have a home or need to work for reasons of survival, she said.

Kenyan CSO kicks against discrimination

In Kenya, civil society organizations, concerned about actions not being consistent with a human-rights based epidemic response, released an advisory opinion calling for a human rights-based approach to be adopted in the COVID-19 response.

They also wrote a letter calling for a focus on community engagement and what works for prevention and treatment rather than disproportionate and coercive approaches.

Aligning with their proposal, the UNAIDS said some rights may be limited during an emergency in order to protect public health and safety, but such restrictions must be for a legitimate aimin this case, to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

They must be proportionate to that aim, necessary, non-arbitrary, evidence-informed and lawful. Each order/law or action by law enforcement must also be reviewable by a court of law. Law enforcement powers must likewise be narrowly defined, proportionate and necessary, the statement read.

Advice

UNAIDS urged countries to ensure that any emergency laws and powers are limited to a reasonable period of time and renewable only through appropriate parliamentary and participatory processes.

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It also called for strict limits on the use of police powers, along with independent oversight of police action and remedies through an accountability mechanism.

Restrictions on rights relating to non-discrimination on the basis of HIV status, sexual and reproductive health, freedom of speech and gender identity detailed above do not assist with the COVID-19 response and are therefore not for a legitimate purpose, the statement said.

Meanwhile, UNAIDS also called on governments to repeal any laws that cannot be said to be for the legitimate aim of responding to or controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some veterans of the Australian Defence Force have criticized a new study testing the effectiveness of antimalarial medication as a COVID-19 prophylaxis, which uses soldiers as test subjects.

A small selection of soldiers from the ADF will be given a range of doses of the antimalarial drug chloroquine to see whether it can really stop, or slow, the spread of COVID-19.

A number of Army veterans fear the study could both endanger soldiers and potentially lead to misleading results because many soldiers may be inclined to initially downplay side effects.

A select group of soldiers from the Australian Defence Force will be asked to participate, under informed consent, in a study on the effects of chloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment

'One of my primary concerns with these proposed trials is that there will be a degree of coercion placed on exactly the people who will be at the front line of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic,' Major Stuart McCarthy said in an ABC News report.

The study, which passed an ethical review from the ADF's Malaria and Infectious Diseases Institute, will also use frontline healthcare workers who volunteer to serve as subjects using the government's standard informed consent rules.

In an email announcing the study, the ADF's surgeon general Sarah Sharkey argued the study would be safe, pointing to the fact that chloroquine has been used by over a billion people since it was first developed in 1934.

Moreover, the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic required the government to try and explore every possible avenue for treatment and prevention that it can.

'Well controlled trials are urgently needed given the profound global impacts of this disease,' Sharkey wrote.

Major McCarthy, who is medically retired from service, was a test subject in an earlier set of Army studies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the Army investigated the safety of other antimalarial drugs, including mefloquine and tafenoquine.

Steven Scally was a medical officer in the ADF during earlier studies of antimalarial medicines in the late 1990s and 2000s, and says the long term health consequences from those still haven't clearly been documented

Major Stuart McCarthy was a subject of one of the earlier ADF studies on mefloquine and tafenoquine, and worries soldiers will feel pressured to not just participate but to downplay potential side effects

Those studies, according to ABC, left many veterans struggling with lingering health conditions, including psychosis, anxiety, depression, and memory loss.

Steven Scally was an Army medical officer during those trials and says that even today the exact relationship between the drugs and long-term side effects isn't fully understood.

'We are nowhere near getting to the bottom of what's happened with trials that were conducted many years ago, so I just don't think the Australian Defence Force has an established reputation at all for conducting any sort of medical research at all,' Scally said.

In her email, Sharkey dismissed comparisons between chloroquine and mefloquine, noting they are derived from different sources and have substantially different effects.

The ADF's surgeon general Sarah Sharkey addressed safety concerns of the new trial in an email announcing its approval, pointing to the fact that chloroquine has been widely used on more than a billion patients since it was first discovered in 1934

Pharmacologist Andrew McLachlan of the University of Sydney says that while chloroquine is a familiar medicine, there's still uncertainty about its effects at higher dose ranges, which is part of what the new study will hope to observe.

'It is a medicine we have a lot of experience with over really decades of treatment, but like any medicine it does carry some risks, particularly at higher doses,' Andrew McLachlan said.

'Finding the right dose will be absolutely critical, and that's why trials at the moment will be starting with the recommended current doses but potentially exploring a range of doses to see how effective this treatment might be.'

While Scally doesn't dispute the need for further study, he remains unconvinced that using soldiers as test subjects is the best way to about it.

'Pretty much at the time of enlistment, upon taking the oath, you exchange free will for obedience and that is a culture that really has to exist for the purpose of carrying out your role as a soldier or a sailor or an airman to defend the country,' he said.

'I don't think it's the role of the ADF to offer up its personnel and human resources to be used as guinea pigs for a drug trial.'
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The total number of coronavirus infected people in Uzbekistan rose to 555, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Health.

Since April 1, Uzbekistan announced a self-isolation regime in Tashkent, Nukus and other regional centers. Citizens over 65 are categorically prohibited from leaving their homes. They can go out only to visit pharmacies and shops near their respective places of residence.

The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband and grandson also tested coronavirus-positive.

The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 88,000. Over 1.4 million people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 329,000 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

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Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a new study, prompting the WHO to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets.

The study, published on the website of the journal Science on Wednesday, found that ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus, however, the researchers found.

The study was aimed at identifying which animals are vulnerable to the virus so they can be used to test experimental vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 83,000 people worldwide since it emerged in China in December.

Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a new study, prompting the WHO to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets (file image)

SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have spread from bats to humans. Except for a few reported infections in cats and dogs, there has not been strong evidence that pets can be carriers.

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City who developed a dry cough and loss of appetite after contact with an infected zookeeper tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

The study, based on research conducted in China in January and February, found cats and ferrets highly susceptible to the virus when researchers attempted to infect the animals by introducing viral particles via the nose.

They also found cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets. Infected cats had virus in the mouth, nose and small intestine. Kittens exposed to the virus had massive lesions in their lungs, nose and throat.

'Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in cats should be considered as an adjunct to elimination of COVID-19 in humans,' the authors wrote.

In ferrets, the virus was found in the upper respiratory tract but did not cause severe disease.

Antibody tests showed dogs were less likely to catch the virus, while inoculated pigs, chickens, and ducks were not found to have any strain of the virus.

'It's both interesting and not terribly surprising in the sense that with the original SARS epidemic, civet cats were implicated as one of the vectors that may have transmitted virus to humans,' said Daniel Kuritzkes, head of infectious diseases at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

'What these data do provide is support for the recommendation that people who are with COVID-19 should be distancing themselves, not only from other household members but also from their household pets, so as not to transmit the virus to their pets, particularly to cats or other felines,' he said.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis.

Based on the evidence so far, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference: 'We don't believe that they are playing a role in transmission but we think that they may be able to be infected from an infected person.'

The WHO's top emergencies expert Mike Ryan asked people not to retaliate against animals over the outbreak.

'They're beings in their own right and they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. They are victims like the rest of us,' he said.

The findings come after four isolated cases of pets being infected with the novel coronavirus, including two dogs in Hong Kong and a cat in Belgium.

A second cat was also revealed last week to have tested positive for the virus after its owner fell ill  unlike the Belgian cat, however, it is not exhibiting symptoms.

In all four cases, the pets are believed to have caught the virus from their humans.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that there is no evidence to suggest that household pets are capable of spreading the disease.

The study was undertaken by Jianzhong Shi of the State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology in Harbin, China, and colleagues.

'Cats and dogs are in close contact with humans and therefore it is important to understand their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 control,' the researchers wrote in their paper.

To investigate, the researchers infected five domestic cats  each around eight months old  with the coronavirus via their noses.

After six days, two of the cats were euthanized and examined, with the team finding both viral RNA and infectious viral particles in both cats' nasal passages, tonsils, soft palates and windpipes.

The WHO's top emergencies expert Mike Ryan asked people not to retaliate against animals over the outbreak

Each of the three remaining cats were then placed in cages next to one of three uninfected cats.

After three days, the researchers detected viral RNA in the faeces of one of the new, originally-uninfected cats  and, when this cat was later euthanized and examined, the team also found viral RNA in its nose, tonsils, soft palate and windpipe.

This, the researchers wrote, indicates 'that respiratory droplet transmission had occurred in this pair of cats.'

The researchers also found that the four cats that ultimately were infected by the coronavirus were found to have produced antibodies against the virus  and none of the exhibited any symptoms from the infection.

Experts have said that pet owners should not be alarmed by the findings at present.

Virologist Linda Saif of the Ohio State University in Columbus told Nature that it should be noted that the results come from tests in which animals were deliberately infected with high doses of the virus  which does not reflect real-life conditions.

She added that there was also no evidence to suggest that the infected cats in the study secreted enough coronavirus to pass the infection on to humans  and more studies with different viral doses are need to understand possible transmission.

'The focus in the control of COVID-19 therefore undoubtedly needs to remain firmly on reducing the risk of human-to-human transmission,' added epidemiologist Dirk Pfeiffer of the City University of Hong Kong.

Nevertheless, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised that those infected with the coronavirus limit their contact with their pets until they have fully recovered.

The team also experimented with other animals, in addition to cats.

Dogs were found to be less susceptible to the coronavirus  with only two of five deliberately infected animals found exhibiting viral RNA in their faeces, and none found to be containing infectious virus particles.

However, ferrets were found to be highly susceptible to infection, which will likely see the animals used as a model to test potential vaccines and drug treatments.

Chickens, ducks and pigs, meanwhile, exhibited no RNA particles when either infected with the coronavirus or after being exposed to infected animals  suggesting that they likely do not play a significant role in spreading the virus.

A pre-print of the researchers' article, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, can be read on the bioRxiv repository.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration proposed cutting US funding for the World Health Organisation by more than half, from nearly $123m this year to less than $58m next year.

If recent statements from Republican lawmakers are any indication about their feelings toward current WHO leadership, Mr Trump might just get his wish.

The proposed budget cut for WHO is part of the presidents larger crusade to scale back the American taxpayers contributions to foreign aid programs.

While the coronavirus pandemic has spelled catastrophe for a humming US economy Mr Trump and Republicans planned to make a centerpiece of their 2020 campaign messaging, it may have incidentally cleared a politically viable path in Congress for the president to advance parts of his mission to cut back on foreign aid.

Last month, House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Michael McCaul excoriated WHO Director General Tedros Adhanoms poor handling of the crisis, saying the organisations unsuccessful work with the Chinese government to contain the coronavirus outbreak showed a severe lack of judgment and certainly raises several red flags about his integrity serving in this important post, RealClearPolitics reported.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid funding, has carried that anti-WHO message about five steps forward this week.

The South Carolina Republican and Trump whisperer has come out in full-throated support of Mr Trumps threat to withhold current fiscal year 2020 funding from WHO as long as the health group retains its current leadership.

"[In] the next appropriations bill, there's not going to be any money for the WHO," Mr Graham said in an interview on Fox News earlier this week. They've been deceptive. They've been slow and they've been Chinese apologists.

An ultimatum

These arent just empty threats.

Theyre coming from Republican lawmakers who hold the keys to future foreign appropriations bills. Now that theyre on the record against current WHO leaders, they must maintain some level of consistency.

Once Graham brings his budget to the committee and that becomes public, people are going to compare it to a lot of his past statements and ask if it was consistent, said Kate Eltrich, a longtime Democratic staffer on the subcommittee Graham chairs and an expert on the congressional appropriations process.

He has kind of put himself in a position where hell have to zero them out, pass some big new restrictions in the bill, or have some statement or reasoning that he feels like theyve changed some of their behavior, Eltrich said.

Even Democratic stakeholders have acknowledged the WHO is overdue for an institutional overhaul, though they say such criticism is an attempt by Mr Trump to shift blame for the health crisis in the US from his own slow response to coronavirus onto the shoulders of China and others.

The World Health Organisation does need reform, just as it needs the strong support of the United States and other countries in order to do its job, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee overseeing funding for foreign programs, said in a statement Wednesday.

Such complaints also apply to President Trump, who ignored numerous warnings, downplayed the threat, discounted medical science and squandered valuable time that could have saved countless lives. He continues to shamelessly and relentlessly try to shift responsibility for his disastrous response to the coronavirus to anyone and everyone except himself, Mr Leahy said.

To be clear, the fate of future appropriations for the WHO is likely not the foremost issue on any lawmakers mind  not even for key negotiators such as Graham.

And with members back in their home states and districts, Republicans who would be pushing the issue forward are hardly in a position to whip up support for punitive monetary actions against the WHO.

Its hard to create a groundswell of support or opposition to ideas when members arent [in Washington] ... having those internal conversations that they have either on the floor or in committee rooms, a former longtime Republican appropriations aide told The Independent, noting that the hearings process has been shut down, so lawmakers cant ask questions and get real-time feedback from agency heads.

Shades of Ukraine

Meanwhile, as whats sure to be a fiery debate over future appropriations looms, Mr Trump is absolutely within his right to put a freeze on some of the $123m Congress has already approved for the WHO for this year.

Such a move is not unprecedented. In fact, it could be very similar to the step the president took last year to withhold nearly $400m of congressionally approved military assistance to Ukraine, a move that cut to the heart of his impeachment trial.

We'll be looking into that very carefully, Mr Trump said of withholding funds from the WHO at his dailly press briefing Tuesday. We're going to put a hold on money sent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see.

The US sends two streams of funding to multilateral groups like the WHO: dues payments for organisation membership and voluntary contributions for more specific programs and initiatives that fall under the groups funding umbrella.

Mr Trump did not specify whether he would put a freeze on one, the other, or both in order to pressure WHO to enact institutional changes such as retooling its leadership.

With Democrats acknowledging the WHOs systemic deficiencies, some sort of compromise deal with Republicans and the WHO to shake up its leadership or acknowledge the its own mistakes with regard to China could be in the offing to unchain the funding the organisation so desperately needs to operate productively.

Somehow splitting the baby  trying to find [a solution] where everyone figures out theyve gotten some win on it  is the best-case scenario, the former GOP appropriations staffer said.
Former President Barack Obama spoke to a digital meeting of mayors from across the globe Thursday, discussing the collective local response to the COVID-19 pandemic and offering some general advice gleaned from his time in the White House.Obama spoke at a weekly Zoom meeting convened by the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, doing so via webcam from his home in Washington, D.C. This was the fourth such meeting of mayors to take place online, with the weekly event scheduled for 90 minutes every Thursday throughout the pandemic. Obama is the third former president to log on for this series of meetings, following President Clinton two weeks ago and President George W. Bush last week.Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose Bloomberg Philanthropies funds the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, introduced Obama, noting that the former president had led the country through another crisis, specifically the recovery from the 2008 recession. Bloomberg also pointed out that Obamas administration stemmed an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus and built an international coalition that prevented Ebola from becoming a pandemic.Obama first praised the collective local government response in the United States.I suspect many of you are already doing the things we would have done and did do when we were in the White House, Obama told the mayors.He then reiterated some key points his administration learned about efficient crisis management, the first of which was to realize your job is to build a response team and then listen to it.The more smart people you have around you and the less embarrassed you are to ask questions, Obama said, the better your response is going to be.Other advice for the mayors included always being transparent and speaking the truth; creating an effective feedback loop to stay informed of what is or isnt working; looking out for the most vulnerable communities; and figuring out ways to continue supporting their teams, from the staffers around them in city hall to the health-care and sanitation workers on the front lines.The feedback loop is important to keeping the mayors informed on as timely a basis as possible.A delay in response of a day or a week may mean thousands of people harmed and may have a huge impact for the ability of your city to bounce back, Obama said.Obamas comments were followed by the weekly mayoral discussion, which covered concerns about treating mental health issues, domestic violence, residents in recovery and many other issues related to a sudden spike in anxiety among constituents.The mayors then went on to share specific examples of upticks in problems in their communities, how they were handling those problems, and also how they were personally handling their own challenges. What emerged was a picture of rising mental health concerns across American communities, and a growing awareness among our local leaders that part of their job is to keep people informed, keep people calm and find ways to help them cope as government continues to ask them to stay home and be safe.Overall, a takeaway from the weekly convening of these mayors is that tech is a key component to this response, enabling them to learn from each other, learn from past presidents, and keep open lines of communication with their residents and staffs all while continuing to be socially distant.
With the appointment of intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi as Iraq's new prime minister-designate, Iraqs President Barham Salih is attempting for the third time this year to end a months-long political deadlock.

Kadhimi is the latest candidate tasked with forming a government after Adnan al-Zurfi, unable to obtain support among Iraq's political parties, withdrew his bid Thursday morning.

"This decision will not stop me from serving the public through my current parliamentary position. I will continue to work and prepare the country for the upcoming early elections and other challenges," Zurfi said on Twitter.

Already facing resistance from Shiite blocs who labeled him a "candidate of the CIA, Zurfis candidacy was dealt a major blow when the parliaments main Kurdish and Sunni parties pulled their support for the former Najaf governor this week.

Iraqs political crisis kicked off in late November when Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned amid sweeping anti-government protests aimed at dismantling the political establishment. Salih then tapped Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, a former communications minister, who withdrew his candidacy for the premiership a month later.

The 53-year-old Kadhimi now has 30 days to assemble a cabinet subject to approval by Iraqs highly fractured parliament. The fact that nearly all Iraqs political bloc leaders were present at his nomination ceremony suggests that Kadhimi's candidacy has a greater chance of success than the two previous appointees. Kadhimi himself is unaffiliated with any political party.

Kadhimi has led the Iraqi National Intelligence Service since 2016, overseeing much of the battle against the Islamic State and his agency played a key role in the hunt for IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Kadhimi was also a prominent opposition figure during Saddam Husseins rule and also worked as an author and journalist, including as the Iraq Pulse editor for Al-Monitor.

In a tweet Thursday, the new prime minister-designate promised a new government that radiates the aspirations and demands of the Iraqis at the top of its priorities, safeguards the sovereignty of the country, preserves rights.

This latest attempt at forming a government in Iraq comes as the United States and Iraq prepare to meet next month to discuss the status of American troops in the country. Referring to the United States as Iraqs closest friend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently proposed a strategic dialogue with Baghdad to begin in June. The dialogue would include the continued partnership between the US-led coalition and Iraq against IS. Pompeo also warned that Iraq risked "economic collapse" as a result of falling oil prices and the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

The US-led coalition assembled to fight IS has in recent weeks pulled out of several smaller bases in Iraq in what military officials say was part of a long-planned repositioning unrelated to recent rocket attacks from Iranian-backed militias. Most recently, rockets landed near the site of the US oil company Halliburton in southern Iraq on April 6.
Swiss airlines has launched a special repatriation flight, LX154, for Mumbai and New Delhi to evacuate stranded nationals from India on April 8. The special flight left Zurich at 4 pm CET on April 8 and arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on April 9.

Read: COVID-19: SpiceJet Operates First Cargo Flight To Singapore To Bring Back Medical Equipment

The special flight was started on behalf of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the return flight, LX8915, will depart from Mumbai at 9:45 pm IST on April 9 and is expected to arrive at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi shortly past midnight on April 10. The flight will then depart for Zurich at 1:35 am IST on April 10 after a brief layover.

Read: British Tourists Stranded In Nepal Wait For Repatriation Flight

Prohibition on international flights

The Swiss flight will reportedly be carrying Swiss and other European nationals home when all international flights have been prohibited from operating to and from India. India is under a 21-day nationwide lockdown and has prohibited international flights from landing in the country to keep a check on growing coronavirus cases. However, some flights meant for evacuation and cargo flights have been allowed during the lockdown.

Read: Govt Likely To Allow Flight Operations In Staggered Manner Post Lockdown

Read: Air India Flight Carrying Relief To Germany Receives Praise From Pakistan ATC

(With agency inputs; Image credit: PTI)
PRAGUE, Apr 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Zentiva Group, a.s. announces the agreement with IKEA to cooperate during the COVID-19 crisis. As part of this collaboration, Zentiva Romania will temporarily employ 18 employees from IKEA Romania for 3 months to sustain the production of medicines supply following the increasing demand.



Zentiva Logo (PRNewsfoto/Zentiva)



"At Zentiva we are doing everything in our power to help authorities fight COVID-19. Zentiva is working on several projects in Europe and beyond to ensure medicines supply and to protect people. That is why we welcome IKEA's initiative with open arms. They will be joining our current efforts in our mission to produce much-needed medicines for patients. We are confident that this type of cooperation can be replicated across the economy and help employees from fields that have restricted activity during this period" said Margareta Tanase, Head of Bucharest Production site, Zentiva Romania.



"To support the measures to stop the spread of the pandemic, we have closed all of our stores and pick up points since March 20, 2020. Until life gets back to normal and we are again able to welcome our customers back to our stores, we have offered our co-workers a possibility to join, voluntarily, other companies that are manufacturing and distributing different supplies, essential to fight the ongoing pandemic crisis. We are happy to announce that the first group of 18 IKEA Romania workers joined Zentiva Romania. We are thankful to our co-workers for living up to the IKEA values of togetherness and care for people", stated Violeta Nenita, Market Manager, IKEA Romania



COVID-19 is a global pandemic that needs a consistent global response. That is why Zentiva and IKEA are looking at extending this partnership to other countries to support the fight against the virus.



About Zentiva



Zentiva is a producer of high-quality affordable medicines serving patients in Europe and beyond. With a dedicated team of more than 4,000 people and a network of production sites - including flagship sites in Prague and Bucharest - Zentiva strives to be the champion of branded generic medicines and OTC products in Europe to better support people's daily healthcare needs.



At Zentiva it is our aspiration that healthcare should be a right and not a privilege. More than ever, people need better access to high-quality affordable medicines and healthcare. We work in partnership with physicians, pharmacists, wholesalers, regulators, and governments to provide the everyday solutions that we all depend on.



Learn more about Zentiva on www.zentiva.com.



About IKEA



INGKA Group is the world leader in home furnishing retail. We are a value-based company with a passion for life at home. Our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, by offering a wide range of good design, functional and sustainable home furnishings, at prices so low that most people can afford them. INGKA Group owns and operates 367 stores in 30 countries (31 August 2018). The IKEA Baneasa store was the 253rd opened on March 21st, 2007 in a local franchise. In March 2010, IKEA Romania became part of the INGKA Group, inside the South-East Europe organization also covering Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia. In the financial year 2018 (September 1st, 2017 - August 31st, 2018), the IKEA store in Romania was visited by 3.2 million people and 18 million unique visitors visited the site www.IKEA.ro. On June 24, 2019, the company opened IKEA Pallady - the biggest store in South-East Europe and the 431st in the world.



Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/788903/Zentiva_Logo.jpg



Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1143251/IKEA_Logo.jpg



(Disclaimer--Features may vary depending on the regions; subject to change without notice.)



Media Contact:



Mounira LemouiHead of Communications



ZENTIVA GROUP, a.s.U kabelovny 529/16, Dolni Mecholupy, 102 00 Prague 10



Cell: (+420) 727 873 159



E-mail: mounira.lemoui@zentiva.com



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Needless to say, Boris Johnson having become an unintended participant in his Governments earlier herd immunity strategy might seem to constitute sufficient evidence that this wasnt a great idea. Admittedly, the UK switched course rapidly, but the damage of the initial barmy idea was done. As summarized in Fortune:

His government was pursuing a strategy that rested, at least in part, on the idea of shielding the most vulnerable members of the British public from infection while allowing a large percentage of others to catch the virus. The hope was that most of these people would experience relatively mild symptoms, recover, and wind up immune, stopping the viruss further transmission. But this kind of herd immunity, experts said, could require upwards of 60% of the population becoming infected. Herd immunity as a deliberate policy, epidemiologists said, is usually achieved through a vaccination program. It was untested as a tool for responding to a pandemic. Epidemiologists and medical experts immediately assailed the plan as a dangerous gamble. And, when epidemiologists at Imperial College London, who had been advising the government on the likely spread of the virus, updated their models to take into account information on the number of hospital patients requiring intensive care in Italy, it became apparent that the minimal, voluntary restrictions Johnson had suggested were unlikely to save the NHS from being overwhelmed.

And the cost will be high. From the Guardian:

World-leading disease data analysts have projected that the UK will become the country worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, accounting for more than 40% of total deaths across the continent. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle predicts 66,000 UK deaths from Covid-19 by August, with a peak of nearly 3,000 a day, based on a steep climb in daily deaths early in the outbreak. The analysts also claim discussions over herd immunity led to a delay in the UK introducing physical distancing measures, which were brought in from 23 March in England when the coronavirus daily death toll was 54. Portugal, by comparison, had just one confirmed death when distancing measures were imposed.

Readers also felt compelled to weigh in on the barminess of this approach. From Dr. Larry B via e-mail:

The notion of herd immunity in the present context seems to have been advocated by Dominic Cummings, which after serious criticism he appears to have abandoned. Well, it shouldnt have been advocated, in the given context, in the first place, as it was inapplicable. If you wish to observe a herds immunity to a given pathogen, you allow it to be infected and then observe the course of the disease. Those left are either immune to the disease or robust enough to fight off the infection. This immunity of course applies only to the given pathogen and cant be easily generalized. This is not usually a strategy adopted for human beings. The term is usually used in the context of the introduction of a vaccine where you are creating, to the extent you can, herd immunity. You then observe how well the vaccine works. If the vaccine works, you have created herd immunity for a certain period of time, a period associated with the pathogen and the immune systems response to it. It will be different for each pathogen. For standard flu, it appears to be about a year. For covid-19, no one seems to know. To have a scientific government spokesman like Vallance support this dangerously absurd conception was a travesty. Cummings suggestions, and the basis of possible bullying of scientific advisors, stem, perhaps for the most part, from readings he has summarized in his blog, which shows ill-digested and sometimes incoherent summaries of things he has read. He is widely read, but it is unclear whether he understands what he has read. From the evidence of his blog and the things he has said in the period he has been Johnsons advisor, it does not seem as if he understand much, if anything, that he has read. As for herd immunity in the absence of a vaccine, what effectively you are doing is allowing a pathogen to cull the herd. This sort of thing has been advocated by eugenicists. I am not certain but it may be that Cummings is a believer in eugenics, a discredited theory of genetic purity of a population. There is a long and well developed literature discrediting eugenics theorizing. That Johnson and some of those around him listen to this kind of bullshit is disturbing, to say the least. Some are still working to this proposition, preposterous as that may seem. Cummings understanding and apparent infatuation with complex systems and complexity, applied, say, to epidemics, does not seem to translate into coherent applications, simply because he doesnt seem to understand them. The rest of the cabinet appear to be similarly ignorant and incompetent. And with Johnson out of the way, they also appear rudderless. Another concept Cummings doesnt understand, which he has used, is Schumpeters notion of creative destruction. I will leave that, though he contends that this concept is central to his approach to his job.

Cummings has also contracted coronavirus. Per the Daily Mail, he is still missing in action:

Dominic Cummings is yet to return to Downing Street after developing coronavirus symptoms and entering self-isolation more than a week ago. Boris Johnsons top aide has not been seen in public since before Monday March 30 when he put himself into isolation after getting symptoms over the weekend. Number 10 has been insistent that Mr Cummings is working remotely but his continued absence is likely to spark further scrutiny of the health of key government players, especially after Mr Johnson was hospitalised with the disease. There are growing concerns about the state of the Downing Street operation after numerous staff were laid low by the killer bug. he PMs other top adviser, Sir Eddie Lister, 70, has not been seen in public since the start of lockdown with his age putting him in an at-risk group. A number of other aides have also been off with symptoms.

Readers in comments yesterday also pointed out, as Dr. Larry did in passing, that it isnt even clear how much immunity contracting coronavirus might confer. From Phacops:

You cannot make that presumption of immunity until there is clinical testing for immunoglobulin (G) serum titre and followup for reinfection. We are not anywhere capable of that in our for-profit medical system as is clearly evident by the fact that we are in our current situation by putting profit ahead of resilience of care for all our communities. Even with the 4 most common coronaviruses that cause respiratory infections (the common cold) immunity is frequently weak and not long lasting. Magical thinking will not promote immunity. Rather, what this pandemic is demonstrating is that class/social inequalities in the lack of adequate provision of healthcare to all Americans creates the underlying health issues that make class and race factors in COVID comorbidity and risk of death. Want to recover from this and prepare for other zoonotic diseases in the future? Then, we need universal healthcare that is free at point of use to encourage use and prevention.

Note that findings are decidedly mixed. One study of SARS suggested that survivors had antibodies, and hence immunity, for three years, while those who had MERS appeared to have immunity for only a year.

And then theres the question of mild or asymptomatic infections. There is evidence that at least some of those individuals may not have developed immunity. From Time:

A study on recovered COVID-19 patients in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen found that 38 out of 262, or almost 15% of the patients, tested positive after they were discharged. They were confirmed via PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, currently the gold standard for coronavirus testing. The study has yet to be peer reviewed, but offers some early insight into the potential for re-infection. The 38 patients were mostly young (below the age of 14) and displayed mild symptoms during their period of infection. The patients generally were not symptomatic at the time of their second positive test. In Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began, researchers looked at a case study of four medical workers who had three consecutive positive PCR tests after having seemingly recovered. Similar to the study in Shenzhen, the patients were asymptomatic and their family members were not infected. Outside of China, at least two such cases have also been reported in Japan (including one Diamond Princess cruise passenger) and one case was reported in South Korea. All three of them reportedly showed symptoms of infection after an initial recovery, and then re-tested as positive.

In other words, these cases do not appear to be a combo of false and real positives.

Finally consider this observation from ZacP about the limits of antibody testing, now touted as the way to be sure of that someone contracted coronavirus:

It is important to note that an antibody test can mean different things depending on the specific infection. For example, a person who tests positive for the HIV antibody still also is a carrier of the virus and can infect other people. It can also take months, as many as six, for antibodies to become detectable via the standard labwork. Combine that with false +/- results, length of time to ramp up production of testing kits, and we still need evidence to be able to interpret what a +antibody result would even mean in the case of COVID19.serum testing still seems to be a long, long way out from actually being able to guide decision making.

A new article by Fierce Biotech confirmed these concerns:

With over two dozen different molecular diagnostics now authorized by the FDA for COVID-19, the field is beginning to see the first of a new group of tests aimed at screening for peoples immune responses to the disease and cataloguing past infections instead of active ones. While overall testing capacity of any kind remains far short of meeting demand, antibody blood tests would provide additional data on the spread of the novel coronavirus, and results showing immunity could be used to give people an all-clear to leave quarantine and return to work. Their accuracy would, of course, have to be paramountany false positives could send unprotected people back into harms way. But researchers at the University of Oxford tasked with evaluating these serological tests say theyre still weeks away from solid validation and that no versions to date have performed well. We see many false negatives (tests where no antibody is detected despite the fact we know it is there) and we also see false positives, wrote Sir John Bell, the Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and a government adviser on life sciences, in a university blog post. None of the tests we have validated would meet the criteria for a good test described by the U.K.s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Bell added. This is not a good result for test suppliers or for us.

Bell stated a month is the bare minimum time before a test would be sufficiently improved and validated to be authorized for mass rollout.

And yet another bottleneck: a lack of staff to run tests on who is infected now. How many more would be needed to check for having had the coronavirus? From CIDRAP earlier this month:

Health experts from the Mayo Clinic to King County, Washington caution, that although testing is critical, it might not be possible at the levels needed to facilitate proposed plans. Even now, testing in most states is reserved for healthcare workers, or patients so sick they require hospitalization To confront testing material shortages, Pritt said Mayo has at least three different testing platforms to use, so if one runs out of a necessary reagent, another test can be used. Still, even with back-up plans, she said labs have to get creative. For Jeff Duchin, MD, the limits of testing are only worsened by the limits of a stripped down public health workforce. Duchin is the health officer for Public Health SeattleKing County. A lot of plans proposed imagine unlimited testing capacity and instantaneous results, which would necessitate a public health army that doesnt exist, said Duchin. He said that in absence of a total Wuhan, China-style lockdown, containment of the virus would require a robust, boots-on-the-ground contact tracing effort that would require public health employees that no state or county currently has. Is the bang worth the buck in respect of the tremendous investment of time and energy needed to perform those tasks? Duchin said. If people are willing to fund and staff [them], it might be feasible if transmission dynamics of the disease make it a rational option. But in absence of a total lockdown, its too much work. Duchin said he sees serologic testing, which would detect COVID-19 antibodies in the blood, as potentially informing public health strategy. With serology we would know what proportion of the population remains vulnerable, and which remain susceptible. At the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), health workers have dealt with a shortage of testing for weeks. Stephanie Yendell, DVM, MPH, senior epidemiology supervisor at the MDH, said the agency has started using other avenues to gain information about how the disease is spreading within state communities, and for that shes using syndromic surveillance. We cant be relying on testing moving forward to be the only indicator, Wendell said. We needed to have eyes on other indicators for illness, in order to put down on paper how all these pieces fit together. Yendell said most people with COVID-19 wont seek medical care, because they experience only mild to moderate symptoms. For those people, self-reporting to existing surveillance websites is a way for public health departments to track community spread of the virus. Other patients will likely report only to outpatient clinics, where COVID tests are unlikely to be available. The power and drawback of syndromic surveillance is you can capture people who didnt get a COVID test, or maybe, if they did see a doctor, their healthcare provider was suspicious of COVID but the visit was not coded as such, said Yendell. Now, she said MDH scientists are working on establishing which symptoms they want to track via electronic medical health records and user-interface websites.

Notice the considerable gap between the mainstream coverage of the idea that testing, particularly for immunity, would relatively soon become widely available, versus experts anticipating that it would be able to be done only at most to ascertain levels of infection and recovery in communities, and not to identify that individuals can work or travel safely. Look at how much the front-line public health officials discount the idea that testing will be the main source of information. Bear in mind that South Korea, held as the gold standard for testing, had actually performed as of mid March only 338,000 tests on a population of 51 million.

That does not mean that better tests wont give very valuable insight. But theres been way too much hope invested in science as a magic bullet. As Lambert pointed out early on, were still having to rely on 19th century methods more than 21st century ones.

But having said that, we may have a lucky break on the vaccine front. More and more evidence suggests an old vaccine used against tuberculosis confers considerable protection against Covid-19. It could be deployed straight up for now if the results continue to hold up, and tweaked to improve efficacy against Covid-19. From Irish Times (hat tip PlutoniumKun):

More striking evidence has emerged that the BCG vaccine given to counter TB may provide protection against Covid-19 and significantly reduce death rates in countries with high levels of vaccination. A study of 178 countries by an Irish medical consultant working with epidemiologists at the University of Texas in Houston shows countries with vaccination programmes  including Ireland  have far fewer coronavirus cases by a factor 10, compared to where BCG programmes are no longer deployed. This translates into a death rate up to 20-times less, according to urologist Paul Hegarty of the Mater Hospital, Dublin. Their correlation study, expected to be published shortly by PLOS journal, is largely a statistical one and comes with caveats because of possibility of confounding factors. But it is more comprehensive than an initial one conducted in New York, which prompted a scaling up of clinical trials on people with Covid-19.

Vlade provided a link to a 2018 paper on the BCG vaccine. In lay terms,it appears to be a general immune system booster:

Epidemiological studies regarding many successful vaccines suggest that vaccination may lead to a reduction in child mortality and morbidity worldwide, on a grander scale than is attributable to protection against the specific target diseases of these vaccines. These non-specific effects (NSEs) of the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, for instance, implicate adaptive and innate immune mechanisms, with recent evidence suggesting that trained immunity might be a key instrument at play.

While this is encouraging news, the effectiveness of BCG against coronavirus still needs to be firmed up. But at least we have a promising candidate, and one already known to be generally safe.
The facts, however unexciting, are really the key. The Sars-CoV-2, or Covid-19, did not emanate from the annual gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat held at its centre in New Delhis Nizamuddin area between March 13 and 15.

The virus sneaked in because many participants in the event had travelled from Malaysia, and many among them were from Malaysia and Indonesia, and they must have arrived in New Delhi sometime in the first half of March when the government and the experts were not quite sure how the virus will play itself out in India because many other countries, especially in Europe, were already in its vice-like grip.

So it is understandable that these Tablighi Jamaat travellers from Malaysia were not tested rigorously at the airport. Many of them dispersed across the country after the meeting because the Covid-19 alarm had not yet been rung by the middle of the month. That happened only after March 20.

A blessing in disguise

When the Tablighi Jamaat centre was found to house nearly 2,000 members inside its premises on March 30, after the lockdown had begun on March 23, it should not have come as a surprise to anyone. The Tablighis just stayed where they were as the lockdown began, and train, bus and air travel were suspended.

This in fact turned out to be a blessing in disguise because they could then be tested and quarantined, which was better than if they had melted away. The major death toll has also been from the congregation, including six in Telangana and one from Jammu & Kashmir. It has also been possible to trace the over 20,000 contacts of the congregation. Those who have tested positive among them now number more than a thousand, from the total tally of more than 5,000.

The fact that the Tablighi Jamaat is not a secret organization, and that its members can be easily identified because of their peculiar attire and that they stay in mosques, has helped in tracking them down. The misbehaviour of Tablighis cannot be glossed over either, but it is nothing but the obduracy and idiocy of blinkered minds rather than that of jihadis. They have been taken to task as they should be.

Prejudice in the media

The fury of prejudice that has been unleashed in the media, especially the tabloid television news channels, was based on the large numbers of Covid-19 positive cases that emerged from among the Tablighis. The fact that the Tablighi travellers were carrying the virus without being aware of it -- most of them tested positive but they were not active -- was glossed over and the majoritarian spinmeisters grabbed the issue with a vicious glee. They argued from the case that many militant jihadi groups had Tablighi recruits, and that the minor explosion of Covid-19 among the Tablighis in New Delhi was a diabolical conspiracy to spread it across the country as many of international jihadi groups, especially those operating from Pakistan, consider India to be enemy territory.

This was a toxic concoction, and there was no need for forensic proof to establish its veracity. The media savonarolas worked themselves into self-righteous rage and accused the Tablighi gathering for spreading the virus, which is a half-truth at best. But half-truths have their diabolical uses.

The Tablighis are looked down with contempt by the genteel classes of Muslims because of the inevitable class bias. Most of the Tablighis come from lower income groups. The poor among the Muslims have no use for the Tablighis because religiosity is an irritant when you are struggling for survival from day to day. The Tablighis are of no consequence in the larger Muslim community. But those fighting what they consider to be the jihadi danger like to blur the lines between poor Muslims and Tablighis, between well-off Muslims and Tablighis, and between Tablighis and the jihadi extremists. There is no room or time to make distinctions when you are fighting a propaganda war.

Interestingly and surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, the anti-Tablighi media combatants are partly fighting the religious fanaticism of the jihadis from a secular standpoint. And the same combatants are also fighting secularism and all those who are secular as they believe that secularism is a Communist conspiracy. While appearing to be fighting against the religious superstitions of the Tablighis, the anti-Tablighi media warriors are fighting for undeclared Hindu piety in the name of nationalist sentiment. It is more than a sleight of hand. It is as a matter of fact transparent majoritarian prejudice in full display.

The Narendra Modi government has maintained a scrupulous silence about the Tablighi issue. The official at the daily briefing spelt out in neutral tones the impact that the Tablighi positive cases and deaths had made to the total number of infections and fatalities. No one in the media had bothered to ask about the anti-Tablighi campaign that was raging in parts of the media in the way that US president Donald Trump was confronted by some White House reporters at the daily press briefing about the impact on the Chinese in America when the coronavirus has been described by Trump as the 'Chinese virus', and he later came out in support of the American-Chinese. Until now no responsible political leader from the government has bothered to clarify this matter. RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya has blamed the Tablighi leaders for not putting off the meeting, but he clarified that the Muslim community had nothing to do with the Tablighi Jamaats indiscretion.

With the Hindu right-wing BJP in power, the Hindu right-wingers would not want to let go an opportunity provided by the Tabligh episode to spread the anti-minority message in the garb of fighting jihadi terrorism. This is politics as usual even at the time of a national medical emergency. The BJP and its supporters hope to reap the benefits in a future election. And it is unfair to blame them for doing their bit. But the facts will ultimately trump rhetoric and prejudice. The media furies of today will look quite foolish a year from now as India and the world are engaged in the serious battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aid charity says cancelling $1 trillion of poor nations debt payments in 2020 will free up cash for food and medicine.

The coronavirus pandemic could push an additional half a billion people into poverty, aid charity Oxfam has warned, demanding that world leaders contain the economic fallout and cancel $1 trillion of developing countries debt payments in 2020.

Oxfam is ringing the alarm for richer nations to agree to an Economic Rescue Package for All, which would enable the governments of poor countries to provide cash to those who have lost their livelihoods. The call comes ahead of crucial gatherings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers next week.

For nearly three billion people living in poverty and without enough clean water, jobs and access to basic healthcare  and for millions already facing years of malnutrition, disease and conflict  the coronavirus will be a lethal killer, Paul OBrien, vice president for policy and advocacy at Oxfam America, told Al Jazeera.

Up to 600 million people risk falling into poverty as major economies shut down to halt the spread of COVID-19, according to Oxfams new report Dignity Not Destitution. The pandemic could push development gains back by as much as three decades in some places in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.

The findings, conducted by researchers at Kings College London and the Australian National University, also estimate that over half of the worlds 7.8 billion people could be living in poverty in the viruss aftermath.

G20 finance ministers, the IMF and the World Bank are in the position to give developing countries an immediate cash injection to help them bail out poor and vulnerable communities, Oxfam says. The IMF should issue $1 trillion in Special Drawing Rights  an international reserve asset created by the IMF  as a one-time stimulus to help nations most in need.

This virus will starve us out before it makes us sick

Globally, two billion people work in informal sectors with no access to sick pay, according to Oxfam. A majority of the vulnerably employed live in poor countries where 90 percent of jobs are informal.

Women, who make up 70 percent of health workers and provide 75 percent of unpaid care, are likely to be hardest hit financially. Women are also more likely to be employed in poorly paid jobs with no benefits or sick leave.

More than one million Bangladeshi garment workers  80 percent of whom are women  have already been laid off or sent home without pay after orders from western clothing brands were cancelled or suspended.

And while may wealthy nations have introduced multibillion-dollar economic aid packages to assist businesses and workers, most developing countries simply lack the resources and funds to do the same.

Oxfam says the funds from the cancellation of debt repayments for 2020 would be an immediate injection of much-needed cash for many developing countries in dire straights. A tax on extraordinary profits or the uber-wealthy could also mobilise additional resources.

In Ghana, cancelling the east African countrys external debt payments for the year would allow officials to give $20 a month to each of the countrys 16 million children, disabled and elderly people for six months.

With millions of people living on less than $2 a day, the cash grant can be a lifeline in the era of mass layoffs and shuttered factories, Oxfam says.

So an additional $20 for those people is perhaps the difference between one meal a day or none  between affording cooking fuel or iron-supplemented food for mothers and infants. Is that a good way to spend $20? I would think yes, OBrien told Al Jazeera.

The forecast remains extremely grim, with the UN estimating that nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost.

Many developing countries  particularly oil-exporting countries and tourism-driven countries  are being pushed toward a debt crisis. If commodity prices stay low and if tourism stays slow it will this lead to a deeper long-term crisis, Shari Spiegel at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs told Al Jazeera.

Micah Olywangu, a taxi driver and father of three from Nairobi, Kenya, who has not had a fare since the lockdown closed the airport, bars and restaurants, told Oxfam that this virus will starve us before it makes us sick.
[April 09, 2020] Thryv Small Business Foundation Wires Grant Money to First Recipients of its Small Business COVID-19 Grant Program

The Thryv Small Business Foundation announced today the first recipients of its Small Business COVID-19 Grant Program, a grant application program that awards immediate grants to struggling small businesses. First round recipients are small business owners from cities all over the U.S. including Nashville, New York City, Portland, Long Beach, Calif. and smaller cities like South Berwick, Maine. "Our business was thriving leading up to the pandemic," said Carolyn Greig, owner of Highland Village, Texas-based dog daycare and spa Dogtopia and grant recipient. "Over the last few weeks, we've had little to no income. This grant could not have come at a better time. We employ 15 people and plan to use the grant immediately to cover payroll." After announcing the grant program a week ago, the Foundation received nearly 3,000 submissions and has been working to allocate the funds among qualifying applicants. Once it selects and notifies grant recipients, the Foundation is wiring the money directly to individual businesses. The grants are sponsored by Thryv, Inc., its leadership team, employees, board members and other donors. <> "We understand the urgency of the situation," said Matthew Gourgeot, who oversees the foundation. "We knew struggling small businesses needed the money immediately to cover monthly essentials like rent, and we are proud to have made that happen."



The grants gifted are between $2,500 and $15,000. "We own a floral shop in Laurens, Iowa, a small rural town with a population 1,200," said Julie Wurr, owner of Heart 'n Home and grant recipient. "March through May are our biggest months of the year. We had pre-ordered palms and lilies for Easter but all churches canceled them afterwards. We are out that money. We have weddings on hold. We don't know if there will be a prom or graduation.

"I cried when I found out I would be receiving a grant. This money will help keep us afloat for a month." The Thryv Foundation welcomes donations from anybody interested in helping small businesses through this crisis. If you wish to donate, please click here. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. In addition, the Foundation announced it is no longer accepting new applicants due to overwhelming demand. "We're trying to help as many applicants as possible," said Gourgeot. "Unfortunately, with such overwhelming demand, we are closing new applications at this time to make sure we fully evaluate the current applicants. "But we're proud to have made an impact where we can in the future of our small business community." About Thryv Small Business Foundation The Thryv Small Business Foundation is the 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization created by small business automation software provider Thryv, Inc. It invests in small businesses through education and efforts like its Small Business Ambassador Program, which offers live webinar and seminar training around the country. In addition, the Foundation develops entrepreneurs by speaking to and working with Small Business Development Centers, vocational schools and local communities. The Foundation invests in small business America through in-kind donations and small business grants gifting the tools needed to start, run and grow their businesses. About Thryv, Inc. Thryv, Inc. builds and owns the simple, easy-to-use software Thryv that helps small business owners with the daily demands of running a business; and allows them to take control and be more successful. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005231/en/

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As many as 45 new suspected



patients of corornavirus were admitted to various hospitals in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Thursday, officials said.

Seven of them were admitted to the District Civil Hospital, three in Nashik Municipal Corporation-run Dr Zakir Husain Hospital and 35 in General Hospital, Malegaon, they said.

Throat swab samples of all these persons have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, the officials said.

So far, seven persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Nashik district, of whom one has died in Malegaon.

Meanwhile, Nashik Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil issued an order on Wednesday, making it mandatory for citizens to wear face masks while stepping out of their houses.

Failure in doing so will attract legal action, it said.

After one COVID-19 patient died in Malegaon on Wednesday, 400 teams have been formed to conduct door-to-door screening of each family in Malegaon taluka, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Incheon International Airport's departure lounge is empty after new regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic reduced international travel. The government will suspend a visa-waiver program from April 13 to further limit the number of arrivals./ Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong



The Ministry of Justice said Thursday that three Vietnamese nationals will be deported for violating self-quarantine rules, the second deportation in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.



More cases could follow after the government pledged to take stern measures against foreigners who violate the restrictions. "No exceptions will be made," the ministry said.



On Wednesday, an Indonesian national was deported for the same reason.



According to the North Jeolla Province Government, three students from Vietnam left their home in Gunsan last Friday and spent five hours at a nearby park. All left their cellphones behind in their rooms. Their action was discovered during a phone conversation with the quarantine authorities.



The government's deportation warning comes as the number of new coronavirus cases involving people infected overseas has increased rapidly. From April 1, the government implemented a two-week self-quarantine requirement for all new arrivals at airports and ports.



To further limit the number of new arrivals, the government suspended a visa waiver program Wednesday.



From April 13, People from 90 countries will be required to apply for a visa if they plan to visit Korea, even for tourism. They will be required to submit their health record to Korean embassies when they apply for the visa.



The justice ministry said the measure is expected to reduce the workload for officials and to redirect human resources to strengthen quarantine efforts at the airport.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 39 additional COVID-19 cases here Wednesday, pushing the country's total to 10,423, with 204 fatalities.



Among the total, 861 involve people who were believed to have contracted the virus overseas. Among the 39 new cases, 23 patients contracted the virus abroad, according to the KCDC.



On Thursday, Korea's Human Rights Commission chief voiced her opposition to putting electronic tagging devices on all people under self-quarantine.



"This can infringe on the basic rights of each individual, along with other downsides, and the government needs to take this into consideration before making any decision," Choi Young-ae said.



"It took a long time for us to achieve what we have now in terms of human rights. If we let things go back to where they were before just because it's a time of crisis, it will be much harder and take much longer to get our achievements back."



The government is considered forcing people under self-quarantine to wear electronic bracelets on their wrists; but is wary of being accused of violating their human rights.



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will send a charter plane to Vladivostok, Russia, next Tuesday to bring back Korean evacuees  the number of whom is currently unknown.



On Tuesday, another flight brought back 261 Koreans from Moscow.



The ministry also said four travelers that were stranded in South Africa are now on their way back to Korea. They are expected to arrive in Incheon, Friday afternoon.


Trump Threatens to Cut WHO Funding

By Steve Herman April 08, 2020

The United States is "going to put a very powerful hold" on money it sends to the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, blaming the United Nations humanitarian entity of missing the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They called it wrong. They missed the call," Trump told reporters at the White House, implying that it may have done so out of deference to China, where the novel coronavirus was first reported.

"They seem to be very China-centric," the president said. "We have to look into that."

The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO.

When asked by a reporter whether it would be prudent to strangle funding to the organization amid a pandemic, the president denied he said he was doing that, modifying his remark to "we're going to look at it."

The WHO did not immediately comment on Trump's remarks.

Hours earlier, U.N. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric rejected general criticism of the WHO, saying it "has done tremendous work on COVID," including providing global guidelines, assisting governments with training and sending millions of pieces of equipment to help countries respond to the outbreak.

Meanwhile, President Trump is brushing off reports about his administration's internal early warning that the new coronavirus could cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars and kill on a massive scale.

Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, sounded an initial alarm on Jan. 29, when there were already confirmed cases of COVID-19 in more than a dozen countries, with a memo to the National Security Council.

"I didn't see it," Trump said of Navarro's memo, describing it as "a recommendation. It was a feeling that he had."

A subsequent written warning by Navarro to the NSC on Feb. 23 noted a "full blown COVID-19 pandemic" could infect as many as 100 million Americans and kill between 1 million and 2 million, according to White House sources.

"I'm a cheerleader for this country. I don't want to create havoc and shock," said Trump, indicating that even if he had been aware of the dire predictions at the time he would not have made them public.

The president did act on one suggestion from Navarro: quickly restricting travel from China, something he has repeatedly touted. Trump, however, at that time was predicting a quick end to the spread of the new virus.

"It's going to have a very good ending for us," Trump had said of the coronavirus in a Jan. 30 speech.

Asked Tuesday by a reporter to reflect on that, the president responded: "I couldn't have done it any better."

The total number of cases of the coronavirus in the United States is approaching 400,000. More than 12,000 deaths in the country are attributed to COVID-19 with one-third of those in New York City, the current global epicenter of the pandemic.

The governor of New York is cautioning residents not to expect a quick return to normalcy, noting that the 1918 influenza pandemic peaked for six months and 30,000 people died in the state.

"Social distancing is working," Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. "I know it's hard, but we have to keep doing it."

The president on Tuesday said that his administration is effectively addressing the financial toll the virus is taking on the country's economy with about $70 billion of $350 billion to cover small business payrolls "essentially loaned."

It is still not clear how much of that has reached business owners, with many reporting they have yet to see any money.

Trump has effectively removed the leader of a new watchdog panel tasked with keeping check on how his administration will be spending trillions of dollars of taxpayer money meant to help individuals and businesses suffering economic harm from the spread of the coronavirus.

Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, last week was named by a group of inspectors general of the executive branch to be the chairman of the new Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

The president, however, on Tuesday, named the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general, Sean O'Donnell, to be the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, knocking Fine out of his role of oversight for the coronavirus relief funds.

Democrats in Congress quickly cried foul. Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the minority leader, called Trump's action corrupt.

The president defended his move, saying there were "reports of bias" about the inspector general. He cited no example, however.

The president has a growing track record of rejecting government oversight. On Monday, he accused the U.S. health department's inspector general of producing a "fake dossier."

The report detailed serious shortages of supplies at the country's hospitals amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last Friday, Trump ousted the inspector general of the intelligence community who had been involved in the events leading to the president's impeachment in the House.

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Cyclone Harold has continued to cause problems in the South Pacific, battering some Vanuatu islands. Photo: Adra Vanuatu/Social Media via REUTERS

The leader of the remote Solomon Islands said 27 people had died after being washed overboard from a crowded ferry and the government is conducting a criminal investigation.

Others say the government itself must take responsibility after it told people to leave the capital and return to their home islands ahead of a possible coronavirus lockdown.

The ship left Honiara on April 2 as a tropical cyclone approached. Since then, Cyclone Harold has continued to cause problems in the South Pacific, battering some Vanuatu islands.

In the Solomon Islands, crews recovered seven bodies of those washed overboard. Authorities say among those who died was a 13-year-old boy.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said he had met relatives of those who died in an "unimaginable" tragedy. His office said it was pleased shipping operators were helping to get people home in response to its coronavirus measures.

"However, the government's policy decision is aimed at saving and not costing lives," the office said.

Capacity

"Firstly, why did the ship sail when there were weather warning bulletins advising all ships about the approaching cyclone?" it said.

"Secondly, why was the vessel allowed to load more than twice its maximum licensed passenger capacity?"

A former deputy provincial leader said people have been returning to their home islands in huge numbers.

"Firstly, those people are going home not because of their own choices but due to the call by the government," said Star Dora.

"And secondly, the government itself also chartered those boats."
An Ulster Unionist MLA has urged frontline health workers to not take anti-NHS graffiti personally and look to the public's weekly appreciation for their work.

The graffiti was daubed on a pavement in the Hill street area of Lisburn on Wednesday. It has since been cleaned off by the council.

Lagan Valley representative Robbie Butler's family are on the front line of the coronavirus battle. He felt the sickening anti-NHS graffiti was a personal attack.

The former firefighter's wife is a nurse and his daughter a student nurse.

"I was conflicted because of the personal nature of this to me," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Many others have stepped forward to protect us. People could be forgiven for taking it personally.

"Health workers can be subjected to threats both physical and verbal. There is never justification but that is doubly so as we deal with this pandemic."

He added: "People are quick on social media to blame mental health issues. But we should not do that, we want to encourage people to speak out, to seek help. We should not stigmatise mental health."

Each week the public right across Northern Ireland have come out to cheer on those on the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak to show their appreciation.

Mr Butler added: "It gives you something back. To see the public recognition and awareness of the danger people are putting themselves in.

"I do worry when my wife goes out to work but to see people take time out of their day means a lot.

"There are people asking questions as to what we can do for the health service on the other side of this to help and support workers. The people not asking this though are those on the frontline. They are focused on the task at hand."

It is understood police are aware of the graffiti and are helping an individual seek help.
A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged theft of masks and other medical equipment which belonged to the Majorcan company Oxidoc and was stored in a warehouse in Santiago de Compostela.

Oxidoc filed for bankruptcy in 2012 with debts amounting to 37.5 million euros. The Palma Law Firm dealing with the liquidation reportedly contacted Police when the alleged theft was discovered.

The haul included two million masks, gowns and gloves which the thieves allegedly shipped to Portugal at the beginning of February just as the first coronavirus cases were being reported in Spain.

National Police Investigators doubt that any Institution or Health Centre would be interested in products that have no guarantee and a 2015 expiry date.

The thieves allegedly removed the products from their original packaging before selling them on the Portuguese black market.

Europol has announced that it is working authorities in Portugal to locate all the medical equipment stolen from the Galician warehouse.
US President Donald Trump has expressed his appreciation for over 450,000 protective suits Vietnam has donated to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the US.

FedEx workers load the protective suits onto a plane for shipment to the US. (Photo: twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)



This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies - DuPont and FedEx - and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you! he wrote on his Twitter account on April 9 morning (Hanoi time).





US President Donald Trump says thanks on Twitter

This is the first of the two shipments of made-in-Vietnam DuPont protective suits to the US as part of cooperation between the two countries to expedite the delivery of equipment to serve the fight against COVID-19 in the US.

The US Department of Health and Human Services contracted FedEx Express to expedite the delivery of the suits to the US Strategic National Stockpile in order to address the urgent need for protective equipment for front line staff responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the US.

The US and Vietnamese governments have cooperated extensively in health care and the COVID-19 fight in particular. Since the beginning of this crisis, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been collaborating with Vietnamese competent agencies to monitor and respond to the evolving COVID-19 situation.

According to US Ambassador to Vietnam Dan Kritenbrink, over the past 20 years, the US has allocated more than 706 million USD in health assistance for Vietnam, and over the past decade has provided substantial technical and financial support to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging and serious infectious diseases.

Most recently, the USAID announced 2.9 million USD in additional health assistance to help the Vietnamese government to accelerate laboratory systems; strengthen case-finding and event-based surveillance; and support technical experts for rapid response, risk communication, and infection prevention and control.

Previously, Vietnam had also presented medical supplies to many other countries, including Laos, Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, to assist them in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.VNA

Vietnam, US cooperate to expedite delivery of protective suits for COVID-19 fight The US Embassy in Hanoi said on April 8 that the Governments of the US and Vietnam have worked together to expedite the delivery of made-in-Vietnam personal protective equipment to the US.
April 09 : Bollywood celebrities such as Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor and many more praised the Mumbai Police personnel for their tireless efforts in the battle against coronavirus during the ongoing 21-days lockdown period.

Feel that the lockdown is just too long?



Guess what we wouldve done had we been home?#MumbaiFirst#TakingOnCorona pic.twitter.com/Ec80R6Cm1U  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 8, 2020

The official Twitter handle of Mumbai Police had on Wednesday shared a moving video about how the police officials work amid the lockdown, keeping aside their own priorities to ensure the safety of common people.

Dear Mumbai Police, you are known as one of the BEST in the world. Your contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled. Singham will wear his Khakee and stand beside you whenever you ask. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice  Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) April 9, 2020

The 'Singham' of Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn wrote, Dear Mumbai Police, you are known as one of the BEST in the world. Your contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled. Singham will wear his Khakee and stand beside you whenever you ask. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra

This is the time to show our gratitude to the ones who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe. Despite being away from their families and loved ones, they work with their spirits high to protect us. And for that, we are very grateful @mumbaipolice. Thank you!  Karan Johar (@karanjohar) April 9, 2020

Ace filmmaker Karan Johar shared, This is the time to show our gratitude to the ones who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe. Despite being away from their families and loved ones, they work with their spirits high to protect us. And for that, we are very grateful @mumbaipolice. Thank you!

This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai Police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety..

Thank you Mumbai Police

Love you Mumbai Police @MumbaiPolice  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) April 9, 2020

Actor Anil Kapoor, too extended heartfelt thanks to Mumbai Police. He shared, This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai Police, who left their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you Mumbai Police Love you Mumbai Police."

Actors Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff are the other stars who voiced their support towards Mumbai Police for their selfless contribution.
Visit Bratislava's Old Town Hall in combination with a trip to the museum of wine.

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This article was published in Bratislava City Guide. With this detailed, pocket-sized guide, it is impossible to get lost in the Slovak capital.

The Old Town Hall, which dominates Bratislavas Hlavne namestie (Main Square), is a complex of historical buildings dating back to the 13th century. Its current appearance is the result of development spanning centuries.

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The oldest section is the early gothic edifice belonging to Jacobus House, which served as a town hall in the 14th century. The city council gradually bought neighbouring buildings and re-developed and extended the complex in Renaissance, baroque and neo-gothic styles. The complex has formerly housed mayoral offices, accommodation for town guards, an armoury and a prison.

Nowadays, the Old Town Hall, with preserved historical architecture and decoration, is square-shaped and contains a courtyard in which various cultural events are held. The tower affords a view over the Main Square and all of Old Town.

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Related article Bratislava travel guide: Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with this City Guide! Read more

The town hall houses the Bratislava City Museum, which opened in 1868 and is the oldest continually-operating museum in Slovakia. Today, it is spread across the Old Town Hall and the adjoining Apponyi Palace, the former home of Count Apponyi, which was built in 1761-62.

The museum houses three permanent exhibitions, focusing on city history, viticulture and a Period Rooms Museum, which provides an insight into the lives of Bratislavan aristocracy from the 18th-19th centuries. The cellar of the Apponyi Palace houses the National Collection of Slovak Wine, a collection of 100 of the countrys best vintage wines of any given year. The museum presents a history of Bratislavas wine-growing culture, from the vineyards through production, to the bottle. Several wine-tasting programmes are available.

Opening hours:

Museum of the city history:

Tue-Fri: 10:00-16:30

Sat-Sun: 11:00-17:30

Museum of viticulture:

Tue-Fri: 10:00-18:00

Sat: 11:00-18:00

Ticket prices:

Museum of the city history:

Admission for adults: 5

Reduced price (children from 6-14 years, seniors, students): 2.50

For more pricing options, see the website of the Old Town Hall.

Wine-tasting:

Two wines: 5

Four wines: 9

Six wines (high quality wines): 19

Eight wines: 12

72 wines in 100 minutes: 23

Old Town Hall (Stara radnica) (Museum) Address: Primacialne namestie 3 / Hlavne namestie, Bratislava; Phone: +421 (0)2 5910-0847; Website: www.muzeum.bratislava.sk (Wine-tasting) Address: Radnicna 1, Bratislava; Phone: +421 (0)2 4552-9967; Website: www.salonvin.sk

Suvisiaci clanok
A man has walked free from court after police found him reading the Bible 'loudly and aggressively' in an Aldi supermarket before bashing another person later that day.

Christopher Lee Burns was seen by officers reading aloud at the store in Maryborough, about 260km north of Brisbane, at midday on February 22.

Police were called again to another street a couple of hours later to see Burns standing over a man and repeatedly punching him.

Burns pleaded guilty to eight offences at the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday including public nuisance and wilful damage and was released on immediate parole.

Police were called to an Aldi in Maryborough, Queensland (pictured) after Christopher Lee Burns was seen reading a Bible in an aggressive and loud manner

Burns was making comments towards other people at the supermarket which made them feel uncomfortable, the court heard, News Mail reported.

Burns had also committed two other public nuisance offences, police prosecutor Police Senior Constable Macushla Pattinson said.

The man who had been beaten by Burns told officers they had been in a fight.

He was found lying in the foetal position, covered in blood while Burns continued to punch him.

When appearing at court on videolink, Burns who had served 34 days in custody said he was happy to stay in jail amid the coronavirus panic.

Burns was sentenced to four months prison with immediate release on parole.

Magistrate Andrew Moloney considered the amount of time already served and said Burn's history showed he could comply with parole.

The time he spent in custody was declared as time served and a conviction was recorded.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Mary Ellen Porter, a nurse manager at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) has died after reportedly battling the coronavirus (COVID-19), according to friends and coworkers.

Porter, 65, a veteran health care worker at the West Brighton hospital who was awarded recognition for her 25th year of service at RUMC in 2018, was a nurse to her core, friends wrote on Facebook Thursday.

As a nurse manager, I saw how she cared for and advocated for staff, said one friend on Facebook. She was never afraid to go to the bedside and help.

I cannot believe she is gone. I cry every time I think about it," the post said.

Porter recently fell ill, according to posts. On March 21, she changed her Facebook profile picture to a photo of her wearing her hospital attire with the caption #ICannotStayAtHome, IAmANurse!

Mary Ellen personified the level of dedication, commitment and compassion that we strive for everyday at Richmond University Medical Center, said Dr. Daniel J. Messina, president and chief executive officer. She was fixture in our hospital for many years and she made a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of her colleagues and patients during her time with RUMC.

Diane Donaghy, president of the local bargaining unit of the New York State Nurses Association at RUMC, said Mary Ellen Porter was one of our best.

She was always there for her staff, Donaghy said. In the good times, the bad times, when the floors got crazy, she was quick to put on scrubs and help them when needed.

A nurses nurse, Porter was not only a nurse manager  she was a friend to her staff," said Donaghy.

Her loss is going to be felt, Donaghy said. She will be sorely missed.

While her guiding hand, humor and everyday presence will be sorely missed, her memory will live on in our hearts and minds forever, said RUMC Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Officer Rosemarie Stazzone.

We extend our sincerest thoughts and prayers to Mary Ellens family.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

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We are in a crisis, and instead of working for the public good, the plastics industry is following President Trumps lead to sow disinformation and doubt when we most need reliable expert opinions. The people leading the plastics industry should be ashamed.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we should be listening to health care professionals, public health experts and scientists whose intentions are to keep us from getting sick  to keep our families safe. Unfortunately, our current crisis has been full of misinformation, starting at the highest level  the presidency. The current level of deception at the top has empowered industry lobbyists nationwide to deceive the American people to increase corporate profits. These people have no problem exploiting fears to make a quick buck.

In recent years, the tide has turned against the industry in the fight against single-use plastics. States and cities across the country have introduced bans or reductions to single-use plastics to help address the pollution crisis that impacts our communities, our health and our environment. In the past few weeks, as COVID-19 spread, the plastics industry and its surrogates saw an opportunity to strike back. At a time when facts matter most, the plastics industry is spreading misinformation to keep its profits high.

Through a well-established echo chamber, plastics-industry allies have placed op-eds, editorials and stories nationwide that urge governments to overturn plastic bans to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There is a big problem with their arguments: They are based on older industry-funded studies, deflecting from new NIH, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University research that shows COVID-19 may, in fact, live longer on plastic surfaces than most other materials. They also ignore the advice of health experts who say that reusables, like anything else you bring into a store right now, should be washed and sanitized  but are just as safe to use if we bag our own groceries. This is a rapidly evolving topic, but the current research suggests that the key to any interaction in a store is minimizing contact with infected individuals and surfaces, and that applies to reusables and disposables.

Unfortunately, the research being touted by corporate front groups like the Manhattan Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the American Energy Alliance is tainted by industry funding. These front groups have for years peddled anti-science climate denial and attacked workers rights. This is exploitative coronavirus capitalism and nothing more.

One piece of research the industry is spreading to scare people on reusables is underwritten by the American Chemistry Council, a front group that represents fossil-fuel and chemical companies. Another piece of research the industry people are touting is underwritten by Novolex, one of the countrys largest manufacturers of plastic film and packaging. Not only are these pieces of research straight from the industry itself, none of them says anything about COVID-19, and the disease transmission was focused on polypropylene bags  made of plastic. The most current research we have on COVID-19 and surfaces says that plastic could allow coronaviruses to remain infectious for particularly long periods of time.

People, businesses and governments do need to be more creative after this pandemic to continue building reusable systems that instill confidence in the safety of workers and shoppers. Sanitation systems should be in place to trade out reusables we return and provide clean ones. This will protect our environment and health, and provide new jobs at a time when we need them most. The answer is not to turn back toward unnecessary single-use plastics that are harmful throughout their life cycle.

More than ever, we need to fight back against industry propaganda that exploits fears for profits. We are in an unprecedented health crisis with a worsening economic crisis around the corner. This is not the time to allow industry to interfere with legislation or mislead the public about what will keep us safe. Recent polls show that the public has little trust in industry sources about COVID-19, and rightfully so. If the industry and its surrogates are truly interested in keeping us safe, they should not interfere with science.

Ivy Schlegel is a researcher with Greenpeace USA who has been investigating the plastic industrys exploitation of COVID-19.
Deniz Baran

Discussions questioning the general legal framework concerning the use of military force against the non-state actors (NSAs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have been ongoing for a considerable amount of time. The main reason for such discussions has been the acute problem of the rapid proliferation of armed NSAs across the region in the last few decades. Most recently, events such as the US strikes on Hashdi Sabi and Turkeys cross-border military campaigns against the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have fueled these discussions.

The existence of armed NSAs is certainly not a new phenomenon; as early as 1837 the Caroline incident involved the use of a cross-border force by insurgents which created a rift between the USA and Great Britain. However, today the threat posed by the armed NSAs to the international system seems greater than ever before. Technological and military advancements have not only strengthened the states tight control on their territories, but also exponentially increased NSAs capacity for ameliorating their military activities.

Clearly, the proliferation of NSAs is a matter of the highest concern in the MENA region. Thus, as long as the armed NSAs ongoing military activities across the region are capable of impacting all our lives, the question of how to handle this phenomenon remains top of the agenda for the governments in the region. Another concern for these governments is the fact that the atomization of sovereignty, in favor of NSAs, has become a reality and the regional status quo underpinning the existing nation-states borders is being challenged and even crumbling. These NSAs challenge the existing boundaries, cross borders to fight against other states, occupy territories and establish their own forms of governance. We have even seen the emergence of a handful of autonomous regional entities across the region. In Syria, even the most avid observer of Syrian affairs has lost track of the numbers of non- state actors in the country.[1]

Moreover, the NSAs and their transboundary military activities directly amount to a challenge to the current framework of international law. The question of the right of self-defense against the armed NSAs in the face of their large-scale transboundary attacks has recently been one of the central matters of debate for international lawyers.

THE RIGHT OF SELF-DEFENSE DILEMMA

Traditionally, it has been accepted by international law doctrine that a states right of self-defense can be triggered only by armed attacks coming from other states. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) adopted this approach in the cases concerning; military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. US), armed activities in the territory of the Congo (DR of the Congo v. Uganda) and its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory. Article 51 of the United Nations (UN) Charter is the main legal source of the right of self-defense in contemporary international law, however, it does not specify who can be the perpetrator of such armed attacks, thus leaving room for debate.

There is little doubt that the reason for this is the fact that almost all of the international armed conflicts which occurred before the UN Charter came into effect, were between states. Nevertheless, towards the end of the 20st century a shift in the traditional approach of the charter emerged in parallel with the emergence of the new realities on the ground and threats against states. Technological and military advancements have remarkably enhanced the destruction capacities of the armed NSAs. Such actors have become more capable of employing unconventional warfare methods against state military forces, even carrying out indiscriminate attacks which make no distinction between civilians and combatants. The September 11 attacks in particular were a breaking point in terms of attempts to assert an up to date and dynamic interpretation of the right of self-defense in international law to respond efficiently to the armed NSAs conducting cross-border terrorist attacks.

International lawyers are now loosely divided into two camps on the new approach that is challenging the traditional interpretation and practice. On the one hand, states cannot be expected to simply undergo private attacks without having the right to defend themselves by using force against the home bases of these groups and their accomplices. On the other hand, state sovereignty is and remains one of the basic pillars of international law  [2] and the principle of territorial integrity of states shall not be undermined. This is why Sir Ian Brownlie, a well-respected British international lawyer and firm advocate of the traditional approach, said that the concept of armed attack must mean only the grave forms of use of force under the auspices of governments.

UP TO DATE APPROACHES

Against the backdrop of the perceived need for an up to date and dynamic interpretation of the right of self-defense vis-a-vis the traditional approaches, various suggestions have been proposed, such as resorting to the concept force majeure to justify the use of force by states against armed NSAs located in the territories of other states. However, one suggestion has gained more endorsement than others: The unable and unwilling doctrine. Accordingly, when a state is unable or unwilling to prevent its territory being used by armed NSAs as a base for launching attacks against other states, the victim state would be permitted to use its right of self-defense as long as the other requirements are met. That is to say, the territorial state may exercise due diligence, but it may nonetheless be unable to prevent the attack coming from an NSA based in its territory. Additionally, even if that territorial state is neither complicit, actively supporting that NSA for its armed attack, nor failing to exercise due diligence to prevent the NSA from using its territory to mount an armed attack against another state, that state would still incur the consequences of the NSAs attack if the victim state were to exercise its right of self-defense.

The USA argued the unable and unwilling doctrine when it initiated a military intervention against Al-Qaida in Afghanistans and Pakistans territories following the September 11 attacks, without taking into account the consent of the territorial states. Similarly, the USA, United Kingdom, France and Iraq evoked the unable and unwilling doctrine for their cross-border military campaign against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (DAESH) in 2015.[3] The most important factor for the advocates of the unable and unwilling doctrine is, as mentioned above, the absence of the explicit specification of possible perpetrators of armed attacks in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Moreover, the dissenting opinions of some ICJ judges in the aforementioned landmark cases corroborated the new approaches.

In fact, support for the unable and unwilling doctrine from the international community had been very weak until the September 11 attacks. There were a few exceptions such as events involving Israel,[4] the USA, [5] Portugal, [6] Russia, [7] Turkey [8] and Iran [9], but most of these were condemned either by the UN Security Council or General Assembly.[10] However, once the threat of international terrorism began to be profoundly felt by the international community, opposition to the unable and unwilling doctrine started to trail off. For example, the US strikes on the so-called Al Qaida bases and armories in Afghanistan and Sudan did not become subject to any UN General Assembly resolutions, unlike similar strikes in the 1980s. Likewise, Turkeys cross-border operations against Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane (PKK) bases in Northern Iraq in 1997 were not even condemned by the UN Security Council, despite the reproach of the Iraqi government.

Another important ground for the advocates of the unable and unwilling doctrine are the UN Security Council Resolutions 1368 and 1373 concerning the US military intervention in Afghanistan. It is argued that the permissive language of these resolutions confirmed the fact that the traditional scope of the right of self-defense in international law had been altered. Moreover, the explicit support given by NATO , Organization of American States (OAS) and the EU for the US actions further strengthened this argument.

In recent years, the unable and unwilling doctrine has been adopted by several states in the context of the battle against some armed groups such as DAESH and the PKK which have gained strong footholds in Syria and Iraq due to the regional turmoil 2011-12. States such as Canada have joined the international coalition against DAESH based on the unable and unwilling doctrine. In the same vein, Turkey clearly stated the same justification in its letters to the UN regarding its cross-border military interventions against the imminent threat posed by DAESH and the PKK, namely Operation Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring.[11]

Perhaps it is still too early to claim that most of the international community have endorsed the unable and unwilling doctrine, given that at a meeting in September 2016 the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a loose grouping of 120 States, stated that the NAM has long resisted any attempts to expand the right of self-defense, or any other unilateral use of force against sovereign states. However, in the face of the growing power and capacities of the armed NSAs, this doctrine seems to be rapidly gaining ground both in the practice of the prominent states and international law doctrine. As such, it is an approach which fits with the customary obligation of states to prevent the use of their territories by non-state elements in a way which threatens the security of other states.

CONCLUSION

States suffering from attacks by armed NSAs operating within the territories of other states which are unable or unwilling to halt NSA activities are left with very few options as to how to respond. It is not realistic for them to prioritize the sovereignty of any other state over their own national security and remain inactive. Indeed, there does not seem to be a state which is under a transboundary threat of the armed NSAs but still keeps its distance from the unable and unwilling doctrine. Therefore, since the beginning of the 21st century we have been witnessing an increase in the number of states which adopt a broad interpretation of the right of self-defense by moving away from its traditional definition.

If the international law system and doctrine cannot adapt itself into this reality, then the powerful and prominent members of the international community -including many MENA regional powers such as Turkey, Iran and Israel- will probably turn their backs on the obsolescent framework of international law for the sake of assuring their national security against the grave threats posed by the armed NSAs surrounding them. Such a situation would be a great demise of international law itself. Therefore, the merits of the unable and unwilling doctrine must be acknowledged. Instead of a total denial, the main focus must be on drawing plausible boundaries for this doctrine in order to prevent it being too open-ended and effectively destroying the overarching rule prohibiting the use of force in international relations.[12] Hence, beside the already existing requirements such as the threshold of gravity of an armed attack in scale and effect, the imminence of the threat, promptness and proportionality of the response, the implementation of the unable and unwilling doctrine can be restricted with some other mechanisms and norms to be established between states. It is crucial to ensure that the unable and unwilling doctrine is used for defensive, rather than punitive purposes.

It must be underlined that most of the cases at the center of the unable and unwilling doctrine debates are in, or somehow related to, the MENA region. It is also important to realize that the use of the right of self-defense by states against armed NSAs has gained recognition in the regional security order of the MENA. One of the main reasons being that the unable and unwilling doctrine seems to be the most effective way for nation states in the region to confront the emanating proxy wars across the MENA. Against the backdrop of these proxy wars, the myth of the sacrosanctity of non-intervention principle must be put aside at times and the unable and unwilling doctrine must come into play as a deterrent force.

Endnotes:

[1] Galip Dalay, Break-up of the Middle East: Will we see a new regional order?, Middle East Eye 14 September 2017, https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/break-middle-east-will-we-see-new-regional-order

[2] Tom Ruys and Sten Verhoeven,Attacks by private actors and the right of self-defence, Journal of Conflict & Security Law 10, no. 3 (2005): 289-320. www.jstor.org/stable/26294397.

[3] For details see: Raphael Van Steenberghe, Self-Defense in Response to Attacks by Non-state Actors in the Light of Recent State Practice: A Step Forward?, Leiden Journal of International Law , 2010, Vol. 23; Ceren Zeynep Pirim, Devletlere Atfedlemeyen Slahl Saldrlara Kars Mesru Mudafaa: Uluslararas Hukukta Snr Otes Operasyonun Hukuk Zemn, TAAD, 2019, Vol. 40.

[4] Israel hinged on the right of self-defense in its cross-border military attacks against the Beirut Airport in 1968, the aircrafts belong to Lebanon and Libya respectively in 1973 and 1986, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) within the Tunusian territory in 1985.

[5] Alongside the US military interventions subsequent to September 11 Attacks, the bombardment of Libya in 1986 in response to the bombing of a night club in Berlin by some terrorists supposedly supported by the Qaddafi regime was one of the early instances of the use of the right of self-defense by the USA against armed irregular forces.

[6] See: Security Council Resolution of 28 July 1969, UN Doc. S/RES/268.

[7] In 2002, during the Second Chechen War, Russian raids targeted a Chechen population in the Pankisi Gorge, situated in a part of Georgia.

[8] Since 1983 Turkey has been relying on the unable and unwilling doctrine for its cross-border military interventions against PKK, see: Tom Ruys,  Quo Vadit Jus ad Bellum?: A Legal Analysis of Turkeys Military Operations Against the PKK in Northern Iraq, MJIL, 2008, 9 (2); also see: Letter from Turkey referring to the letter from the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (S/1995/566) and stating that under existing circumstances, Turkeys use of measures seen as imperative to its security cannot be regarded as a violation of Iraqs sovereignty, UN Doc. S/1995/605, 14 July 1995.

[9] Iran has hit the headquarters of Peoples Mujahedin of Iran located in Iraq starting from mid-1990s.

[10] For example: Security Council Resolution of 4 October 1985, UN Doc. S/RES/573; General Assembly Resolution of 20 November 1986, UN Doc. A/RES/41/38.

[11] For example, see: Identical letters from the Charge daffaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/2018/53, 20 January 2018; UN Security Council, Letter dated 9 October 2019 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council.

[12] Jutta Brunnee and Stephen J Toope, Self-defence against non-state actors: are powerful states willing but unable to change international law? International and Comparative Law Quarterly 67, no. 2 (2018): 26386. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/selfdefence-against-nonstate-actors-are-powerful-states-willing-but-unable-to-change-international-law/9256C35660E40D89BAFC9A9282DCC161/core-reader
Illinois officials reported 1,344 new known cases of the new coronavirus Thursday, including 66 more deaths. The statewide death toll is now 528 since the epidemic began. The total known COVID-19 case count is now 16,422, with cases reported in 81 of Illinois 102 counties.

The rate of rise in case counts is looking less and less exponential, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at his daily briefing.

This indicates to us that we are, in fact, bending the curve, Pritzker said. There is even some evidence that we may be moving toward a flatter curve. But we need to keep watching the data on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, Pritzker cast doubt on this years summer festivals, saying that people should think carefully about canceling large summer events.

From my perspective today, I do not see how we are going to have large gatherings of people again until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away," Pritzker said. I would not risk having large groups of people getting together, anywhere. And I think thats hard for everybody to hear, but thats just a fact.

Here are the latest updates Thursday on the new coronavirus in the Chicago area and Illinois:

7:16 p.m.: Chicago Park District partners with Illinois Soybean Association for hand sanitizer production

The Chicago Park District has found a creative solution to produce hand sanitizer: partner with Illinois farmers.

Faced with supply shortages, the Park District has teamed up with the Illinois Soybean Association to make hundreds of gallons of the now-coveted protective measure against COVID-19. The hand sanitizer will be used by Park District staff, as well as other workers deemed essential during Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order. Read more here. Morgan Greene

7:06 p.m.: Illinois scrambles to keep federal COVID-19 test sites running after Trump administration says states should take over

Illinois officials say theyre scrambling to take over several COVID-19 drive-thru screening sites after learning that the federal government is transferring dozens of these operations across the country to state control.

The state says it plans to take charge Friday of the federal testing sites, including one staffed by the Illinois National Guard on Chicagos Northwest Side and another in Bloomington in central Illinois. There are also a few testing sites on Walmart properties that were privately managed under federal contracts, and the state is working to ensure those stay open as well, officials said. Read more here. Angie Leventis Lourgos

6:35 p.m.: Illinois tenants make 10% fewer rent payments in April  but it suffered one of the lightest coronavirus blows

Almost 30% of tenants in the United States did not pay rent on time in April, but experts say the numbers could be as affected by this months calendar as the coronavirus pandemic.

Data from 13.4 million apartments across five real estate management software companies show 69% of renters made full or partial payments between April 1-5, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council rent tracker analysis. Thats down 13% from April 1-5, 2019, when 82% of tenants paid rent. In March, 81% made full or partial rent payments by April 5.

Illinois saw a drop in rent payments of 10.1%, from 83% of tenants making at least partially rent payments in April 2019 to 73% this year, placing it 12th among least impacted states, according to RealPage, one of the five participating companies, which each released supplemental data with the NMHC analysis. Alaska, New York, South Dakota, Delaware and Louisiana saw drops in rent payments of at least 20%.

However, experts are urging caution when considering numbers that might not be as bleak as they seem. During a Wednesday webinar, officials said April 5 falling on a Sunday  when fewer offices are open or processing payments  this year meant rent statistics for the whole month will likely look less dire. Read more here. Ariel Cheung

6:13 p.m.: State police ease renewal requirements for FOID cards and concealed carry permits

The Illinois State Police on Thursday announced emergency rules easing renewal requirements for Firearm Owner Identification cards and concealed carry permits during the coronavirus pandemic.

Effective immediately, FOID cards and concealed carry permits will remain valid during the duration of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers disaster proclamation and for 12 months after if the holders submit renewal applications, even if they werent submitted before the expiration date.

Concealed carry permit holders will not have to submit proof of the required three-hour training with their renewal applications and will have 12 months after the end of the disaster proclamation to submit proof of completing the training.

The state police will continue to enforce FOID card and concealed carry rules, and card holders who receive revocation notices are required to comply.

The disaster proclamation currently extends through April 30. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Illinois, gun rights groups were suing the state police for delays in processing FOID card and concealed carry permit applications.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is the Illinois State Rifle Association, which negotiated the new rules with the state police.

The upshot is FOID card holders will be able to keep their FOID cards current during the coronavirus crisis and for one year after termination of the disaster, the groups executive director, Richard Pearson, said in a statement. These emergency rules help ensure that honest gun owners will not be blocked from making firearm purchases. It has taken some time to get to this point, but we are pleased with the end result. Dan Petrella

6:10 p.m.: Pritzker quietly grants clemency requests to prisoners amid pandemic

After nearly four decades in prison for his role as the lookout in two gas station robberies, Basil Powell was given a second chance at life Thursday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker commuted the former Chicago mans natural life sentence earlier this week amid mounting pressure from prison reform advocates urging the release of elderly or ill inmates amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Powell is among a group of people serving life sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections to whom Pritzker has quietly granted release in recent days through his executive clemency power. Read more here. Christy Gutowski

6:05 p.m.: Three Lake County hospitals hit pre-coronavirus capacity for ICU beds; one almost ran out of room

At least three Illinois hospitals in Lake County have joined others in the region in hitting a pandemic milestone: filling all of the intensive care beds they had prior to the arrival of the coronavirus, according to county officials.

One of them, Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, acknowledged it nearly ran out of room for more ICU patients Tuesday evening. Read more here. Lisa Schencker

5:48 p.m.: 6 more deaths in DuPage bring total to 34; total number of known cases at 931

Six new deaths involving the coronavirus were reported Thursday in DuPage County, making a total of 34, including three more residents of long-term care facilities.

Fifty-eight new cases of COVID-19 brings the total number of cases in the county to 931, the DuPage County Health Department reported. Thats the fourth-highest total in the state behind Cook, Lake, and Will counties. Robert McCoppin

5:31 p.m.: Lightfoot says she broke up an apparent underage drinking party while enforcing social distancing rules

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has taken her stay home save lives campaign to a new level this week, telling reporters she has personally confronted residents who are flouting anti-coronavirus social distancing rules.

At a news conference earlier in the week, Lightfoot said she rode up to the 50th ward on the Far North Side where she told groups of people gathering to break it up. And, in a new interview with WLS-AM 890 reporter Bill Cameron, Lightfoot shared the reaction she gets when she confronts residents about their social distancing and told a story about breaking up an apparent underage drinking party.

Most people do a double take and are like, wait, is that the mayor? And then as we roll away, youll hear somebody saying hey, that was the mayor. Hey, that was Lori Lightfoot," she said in the interview, which will air at 7 p.m. Sunday on the Connected To Chicago program on WLS.

The other night I think we literally broke up an underage drinking party. There were some young folks that were in a garage with the door up, it was a beautiful night, we pulled by and I told the driver, back up, rolled down the window and said Hey, youre too close. Separate yourself. Social distancing!' Lightfoot recalled. "And we heard one person, I wont repeat the expletive but they said Oh, and you can figure it out. So we had a little fun with it. Read more here. Gregory Pratt

5:30 p.m.: 17 additional CPD officers test positive, 4 recover and return to duty

Seventeen new Chicago Police officers and civilians working for the department have tested positive for the virus, police said in a media statement.

In total, 151 members of the department now have the virus. On Wednesday as of about the same time, they said 134 of their staffers had tested positive. Of the 151, 144 are sworn officers while seven are civilians.

On a positive note, four officers have recovered after testing positive and are back on the job, the statement said. Rosemary Sobol

5:03 p.m.: State Farm announces $2 billion rebate for its auto insurance customers

State Farm said Thursday that it will return $2 billion in auto insurance premiums to its customers because fewer motorists are on the road as a result of the new coronavirus.

Most policyholders will get a 25% policy credit for the weeks between March 30 and May 31, the Bloomington-based insurer said.

State Farm is returning value through a dividend to our customers, State Farm Chairman, President and CEO Michael L. Tipsord said in a statement. We insure more cars than anyone and we see from our claims activity people are driving less. This dividend is one of the ways were working to help our customers during this unprecedented situation. Read more here. Abdel Jimenez

4:33 p.m.: Pritzker puts large summer events in doubt

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday cast doubt on summer festivals, saying that people should think carefully about canceling large summer events.

From my perspective today, I do not see how we are going to have large gatherings of people again until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away. I would not risk having large groups of people getting together, anywhere. And I think thats hard for everybody to hear, but thats just a fact, Pritzker said.

The city Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has so far only canceled events through May 15. That leaves Gospel Fest on the calendar for now, starting May 27 in Millennium Park. Cultural Affairs is also in charge of Blues Fest starting June 5, and Jazz Fest in August. Cultural Affairs also runs lots of smaller concerts, tours and exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Private concert promoters have deals with the Chicago Park District to run events like the Pitchfork Music Festival that draws tens of thousands of spectators to Union Park in July, and Lollapalooza, which brings 100,000 people per day to Grant Park over four days in August. Lightfoot last week said she still hoped Lollapalooza would proceed.

Lollapalooza is on schedule, Lightfoot said. Its our hope and expectation that it will go forward, but we will deal with the circumstances when we are much closer to that time.

Representatives of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Chicago Park District and Lightfoots office did not immediately respond to questions Thursday about Pritzkers comments that called into doubt the full slate of summer events. Jamie Munks and John Byrne

4:15 p.m.: Lightfoot thanks donors whove provided 2 million pieces of personal protective gear in Chicago

More than 2 million pieces of personal protective gear have been donated to the city of Chicago, and more than 1,700 health care professionals have volunteered with the Chicago Medical Reserves Corps, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday.

Lightfoot thanks the businesses, individuals and organizations who have contributed facemask and shield and other gear.

The mayor said the city has distributed significant amounts of its own PPE stockpile to Chicago hospitals and healthcare facilities, making the demand for donated gear all the more critical. The city is also monitoring the availability of PPE at acute and long-term are facilities, community health centers and homeless shelters.

The president of Wanxiang America Corp., a business that has long operated in the city, said its providing 250,000 disposable protective masks and 30,000 face shields.

Other groups and businesses cited by the mayor include Project HOPE, Americares, BMO, Ford Motor Company, Facebook, McDonalds, a collaborative led by DePaul University, the Goodman Theatre and League of Chicago Theatres, Chicago Park District, Koval Distillery, Peoples Gas, Project CURE, Stencil Ease, Columbia College Chicago and the Social Security Administration.

The city also said the membership of the Chicago Medical Reserve Corps has more than doubled to 1,700 volunteers. They are among more than 40,000 volunteers statewide helping in the coronavirus response.

People with medical backgrounds and others who want to volunteer in a medical or public health setting should go to www.chicago.gov/coronavirus.

I am overwhelmed and inspired every day by the selflessness, sacrifice and grace exhibited by our city throughout this crisis, Lightfoot said in a news release. In ways both big and small, residents, leaders, businesses, and other organizations have shown the true mettle of our city and the character of our communities. Their actions have not only supported countless Chicagoans working day and night to fight this disease, but they have also helped lay the foundation for our strong recovery from this crisis. We are truly all in this together, and on behalf of myself and a grateful city, I thank all of them from the bottom of my heart for their support. Diana Wallace

4:06 p.m.: Illinois government faces revenue losses of billions if not tens of billions due to COVID-19, U. of I. study says

Illinois governments already shaky finances face a hit from the coronavirus greater than that leveled by the Great Recession, with massive losses in tax revenue, higher health care spending and additional damage to the states vastly underfunded public employee pension systems, a University of Illinois study released Thursday said.

Using various economic models amid the continued uncertainty over the response and duration of the pandemic, the study forecast that the revenue loss for the individual and corporate income taxes and the state sales tax is likely to be substantial. Those three taxes make up over three-fourths of total tax revenue and almost half of state revenues. Read more here. Rick Pearson

4:01 p.m.: Enforcing stay-at-home order, Chicago police arrest 3 men while breaking up gathering to remember homicide victim

Chicago police arrested three men while breaking up a large crowd of people gathered to honor a man fatally shot earlier this week in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, officials said.

Officers found a street gathering of 40 to 50 people in the 7800 block of South Carpenter Street around 8:35 p.m. Wednesday. The event was to remember Howard Griffith, 28, who was fatally shot a day earlier in the 7700 block of South Throop Street, according to police.

Large public gatherings are prohibited by the states stay-at-home order put into place to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Read more here. Will Lee

2:58 p.m.: Chicago Bears commit $1.92 million to coronavirus relief efforts

The Bears and their charitable arm, Bears Care, are committing $1.92 million to COVID-19 relief efforts, the team announced Thursday.

The Bears previously announced a $250,000 donation to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund as part of that commitment. They will also give $250,000 each to the Advocate Charitable Foundations Relief Fund for Critical Care, Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund and the University of Chicagos Community Support Programs.

Along with the citys other professional sports teams, the Bears also are participating in the Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots We Are Not Playing campaign, which is using local athletes to encourage residents to stay at home and practice social distancing.

Read more here. Colleen Kane

2:43 p.m.: 1,344 new known COVID-19 cases and 66 additional deaths

Illinois officials reported 1,344 new known cases of the new coronavirus Thursday, including 66 more deaths.

The statewide death toll is now 528 since the epidemic began. The total known case count is now 16,422, with cases reported in 81 of Illinois 102 counties.

The rate of rise in case counts is looking less and less exponential, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday at his daily briefing.

This indicates to us that we are, in fact, bending the curve, Pritzker said. There is even some evidence that we may be moving toward a flatter curve. But we need to keep watching the data on a daily basis.

Thursday marked one full month since Pritzker declared a statewide disaster proclamation. Jamie Munks

2:42 p.m.: Blood banks seek plasma donations from recovered COVID-19 patients

Local blood banks are urging people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma, in hopes that it will contain antibodies that might help other patients fight the illness.

Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of plasma as an official treatment for patients with COVID-19, it is allowing doctors to apply to use it in certain circumstances, such as in clinical trials and for patients with serious or immediately life-threatening cases of the illness.

Although promising, convalescent plasma has not yet been shown to be safe and effective as a treatment for COVID-19, the FDA said in guidance released Wednesday. Therefore, it is important to study the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in clinical trials.

Blood bank Versiti is asking people who have had COVID-19 to call a hotline at 866-702-4673 or go to versiti.org/covid19plasma. The blood bank hopes to start scheduling donors for next week, said Kevin Ha, Versiti Illinois associate medical director.

Weve had varying levels of interest from different hospitals, but were letting all the hospitals know that we are trying to start this convalescent plasma program, and once we do have some convalescent plasma inventory, it will be given as needed to hospitals, Ha said.

Those wishing to donate must have tested positive for COVID-19 and must have been symptom-free for at least 28 days or, if they can provide negative test results, for at least 14 to 27 days. One plasma donation can be used to treat multiple patients. Donating plasma takes about 30 to 40 minutes and will be scheduled by appointment.

The American Red Cross is also collecting information about possible donors at RedCrossBlood.org/plasma4covid. Eligible donors will then receive information about appointments to donate plasma. A spokeswoman for the Red Cross declined to comment further. Lisa Schencker

2:32 p.m.: City expects federal coronavirus stimulus package to give $1.5 billion to Chicago government, CPS, and CTA

The city of Chicago and sister agencies will receive roughly $1.5 billion from the federal stimulus package passed by Congress last month, according to estimates released by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The bulk of that total includes $470 million to the city from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, nearly $800 million dedicated to the CTA, and $205 million for Chicago Public Schools.

OHare and Midway airports also will get a split of the $10 billion dedicated the legislation includes for airports across the country. The city is currently in discussions with the FAA and still doesnt know how much Chicagos airports will receive, but officials said they expect it will be considerable assistance.

Chicago also expects to receive $46.7 million in Community Development Block Grants for senior citizens and the homeless, as well as $23.7 million in Emergency Solutions Grants for the homeless.

An additional $1.5 million will go toward housing for people with HIV/AIDS, the city said.

Another $15 million will go toward addressing unemployment and economic disruption. City officials also expect to receive nearly $7 million in Department of Justice grants as part of the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program.

The city will also get nearly $10 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants for public health emergency preparedness, Lightfoots administration said. Read more here. Gregory Pratt, John Byrne

2:25 p.m.: Honors funeral for first Chicago cop to die of COVID-19 includes long vehicle procession but is limited by social distancing rules

Lines of dozens of squad cars from numerous police departments filled the street outside a Norridge funeral home Thursday morning where Chicago police Officer Marco DiFranco was remembered.

DiFranco, 50, died April 2 from complications due to COVID-19, making him the first Chicago police officer to lose his life to the coronavirus.

The day after his death, interim Chicago police Superintendent Charlie Beck declared DiFrancos death as being in the line of duty, even though the department hadnt determined how the officer got infected. The on-duty death designation entitled DiFranco to an honors funeral on Thursday from CPD, just as it does for officers slain on the job.

But unlike other honors funerals, officers were not allowed to exit their squad cars to pay their respects to DiFranco at the Cumberland Chapels because of social distancing requirements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

DiFranco was among more than 100 Chicago police officers who have tested positive for the coronavirus since last month. Read more here.

2:18 p.m.: How to say thank you to essential workers such as cashiers, nurses, mail carriers, bus drivers and janitors

Americans are brainstorming with neighbors, posting questions on social media, and googling for tips and advice.

The question at the center of all the hand wringing and head scratching: How do you thank the essential workers who remain out in the world, exposing themselves to greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, so that we can buy our groceries, receive our mail, travel by public transportation, and get health care if we need it?

Sometimes the best answers are the simplest. CTA bus driver Chris Bade told the Tribune that what he really appreciated was the old-fashioned verbal thank-yous he got on the No. 65 Grand route Monday.

Just simply saying the word: Thank you for moving the city; thank you for coming to work. Thats all I need to hear, he said.

But if you want to go big, grand gestures abound, according to interviews and social media posts. Think flowers, coffee, gift cards and meals. In late March, an anonymous donor gave Aztec Daves Food Truck $10,000 to feed local hospital workers, according to president and co-owner Ramon Torres. That has allowed the truck to temporarily bring 11 employees back to work, and deliver more than 1,800 meals to those on the front lines of the epidemic, with plans to deliver 2,500 total.

And if youre crafty, this is your moment. Volunteers are sewing masks for essential workers, making posters and signs, and chalking up the the sidewalk with thank-yous for the mail carrier.

Here are some tips for meaningful thank-yous, culled from interviews and local social media posts. Read more here. Nara Schoenberg

1:45 p.m.: We all do it in Chicago, in coronavirus lockdown more than ever: Were watching our neighbors

After several weeks at home, heres what I know: Theres a couple in the building across the alleyway from our apartment that are on their Pelotons every night. Also a couple whose apartment glows red and are obviously hosting nightly fight clubs. And theres a woman with a grand piano who seems to know the entire Duke Ellington catalog. I have met none of these people in the human terrarium face to face. But knowing our neighbors see us, and that we see them, is part of the deal when you live in a large city. And right now, with everyone at home, were in the golden age of watching our neighbors fold laundry. Curtains are sometimes pulled shut, of course, but like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, youre always astonished how much mystery remains on view. So you peek, hoping for a murder or an orgy or at least a heated argument.

Jennifer Hosey is a real estate agent based in Streeterville and formerly lived on the 25th floor of a high-rise at State and Lake, but she never saw anything like that, she said. "Peoples lives dont tend to be that interesting.

On the other hand, theyre reassuring.

There is so much social isolation now, you hear of Zoom being overwhelmed, but our most meaningful connections are being done this way, across windows, by people looking out on a street, said Calvin Morrill, a professor sociology in California. "If we know theyre there, it can help with uncertainty. Read more here. Chris Borrelli

1:40 p.m.: With coronavirus hitting Chicagos black community hard, leaders call for wide-ranging relief

Black officials stepped up their demands Thursday for Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to provide rent and mortgage relief and other help for minorities who are getting hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Pointing to recent statistics that show African Americans in Chicago and statewide contracting the virus and dying from it at much higher rates than other ethnic groups, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, D-Chicago, called on county officials to provide free COVID-19 testing and treatment to at-risk groups such as service workers who have to keep going out to work.

It remains to be seen how many of their aims this coalition can achieve. City and state leaders are trying to triage while responding to the economic and health fallout from the disease, and broader policy changes such as an end to the state ban on rent control will be difficult to pull off in this climate.

But progressive politicians have continued to push their position that the virus shows goals they have had for a long time are important.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the communities that have suffered through institutional racism and crisis and pandemic for generations have certainly born the brunt of this disease," Johnson said. But we are very clear that this pandemic has certainly exposed the gross isolation of poverty in the city of Chicago and Cook County, quite frankly the country.

South Side Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, called for the Chicago Housing Authority to fill thousands of empty units, and for the city to stop charging for utilities.

In my community, the majority of the calls have been, Listen, Im not paying my rent, Im not going to pay my light and gas, because I need to feed my children, Taylor said. Read more here. John Byrne, Antonia Ayres-Brown

1:26 p.m.: Federal judge orders testing measures at Cook County Jail, but rejects request to order immediate releases due to coronavirus

A federal judge on Thursday rejected an emergency request to order the release of medically vulnerable Cook County Jail detainees due to an ongoing COVID-19 threat, but granted a temporary restraining order forcing Sheriff Tom Dart to comply with strict sanitation and testing measures.

A lawsuit filed last week by the Loevy and Loevy law firm and the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University alleged Dart has failed to stop a rapidly unfolding public health disaster at the sprawling jail complex. The jail now ranks at or near the top of lists of single locations for COVID-19 infections in the country.

The suit sought class-action status for all of the jails 4,500 detainees and also a temporary restraining order calling for the immediate release of any prisoner whose constitutional rights are being violated by their continued detention amid the coronavirus crisis.

In his 37-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly acknowledged the potential grave risks to health at the jail, which so far has seen 251 detainees and 150 staff members test positive for the virus  including one inmate who died earlier this week.

But Kennelly wrote that the plaintiffs had failed to show that theyd exhausted their options in state court  namely seeking expedited bond review under rules established by Cook County Chief Criminal Judge Leroy Martin Jr. last month amid the widening pandemic. Read more here. Jason Meisner

1:07 p.m.: State police, southwest Illinois pastors urge religious leaders not to hold services during Easter season

Illinois State Police and a handful of pastors in a Thursday news conference implored religious leaders throughout the state to not hold services over Easter holiday.

We realize that this is the holiest week for Christians and Jewish people of faith, and many traditions are being broken at this time, said Bishop Henry Phillips, pastor at Power of Change Christian Church in Cahokia, during the streamed news conference.

Phillips said under the current circumstances, typical religious traditions have to be broken, and he beseeched religious leaders to refrain from any public worship gathering at this time.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said law enforcement is first taking a community caretaking role to share with people the importance of complying with Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home orders and practicing social distancing. When asked what would happen if people are caught congregating at church, Kelly said, rounding up and arresting people is not the intent of the executive order.

Theres not going to be law enforcement storming into church buildings, he said. Thats not whats going to happen here. Thats not the way to do this. But if peoples lives are at risk, there are consequences for that down the road if theres appropriate evidence of that.

Thursdays news conference was held with pastors from southwest Illinois. Most religious leaders in Chicago are now holding virtual services and closed the doors to places of worship.

The Rev. Rod Young, pastor of Impact Church in East St. Louis, still urged all pastors to be considerate of peoples well-being at this time.

If we are to model Jesus, what Ive noticed about Christ is that his most powerful work was done from an empty tomb, he said. So, our most powerful work must be done from empty pews. Javonte Anderson

12:29 p.m.: Reckless and dangerous. Advocates for immigrants again press for halting detention hearings and deportations during pandemic

Immigration advocates have been pushing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt the detainment of immigrants not living in the country legally and to release those in custody during the outbreak. In the Chicago area, the federal agency contracts with some local jails to house those facing deportation.

On Tuesday, ICE released a statement saying the agency was reviewing cases of people in custody who could be vulnerable to COVID-19.

Utilizing CDC guidance along with the advice of medical professionals, ICE may place individuals in a number of alternatives to detention options. Decisions to release individuals in ICE custody occur every day on a case-by-case basis, ICE said in the statement.

The agency had identified 600 people in custody who could be considered vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus. By the end of March, the agency had released more than 160 people who fit that category, according to the statement.

As of Wednesday, there had been 32 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among people in immigration custody. None of the cases involved people detained in Illinois or Wisconsin, but there was one confirmed case in a county jail in Huron, Michigan, according to the federal agency.

In addition, 11 employees at detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19. Another 63 people employed by ICE in other capacities have also tested positive. Read more here. Elvia Malagon

12:22 p.m.: More than 50 residents, staff test positive for COVID-19 at Park Forest facility for adults with developmental disabilities

A sprawling, state-run residential center for adults with developmental disabilities in Park Forest has become a hot spot for COVID-19 cases in the south suburbs.

The Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center, the second largest developmental center in the state, has recorded 52 COVID-19 cases among residents and staff, Illinois Department of Human Services spokeswoman Meghan Powers said Thursday. Two residents who contracted the virus have died of COVID-19 complications, according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

Powers said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped in recent days after the agency received an influx of test kits and began testing more of its symptomatic residents. Once all of its symptomatic residents have been tested, the agency will begin testing residents who had contact with COVID-19-positive residents, she said.

Its a systematic way of doing this, but its going to show a jump in our number of positive cases because we are testing so much more broadly, Powers said.

At least four of the centers 40 group homes are in isolation due to exposure or potential exposure to the novel coronavirus and all 353 residents are being encouraged to remain in their bedrooms, according to Parents & Friends of the Ludeman Center, a website for a nonprofit organization associated with the facility.

Of the 52 confirmed cases at the Ludeman Center, 38 involve residents and 14 involve staff, Powers said. Read more here.

11:49 a.m.: Rush University Medical Center was built for a moment like this. Take a look inside the calm at the center of Chicagos coronavirus storm.

With the number of coronavirus cases predicted to peak in Chicago as soon as Saturday, Rush will serve as the citys bellwether hospital. If Rush reaches capacity during the surge, it will be an indication of trouble.

Preparations began nearly two decades ago, after the 9/11 attacks led hospitals and first responders to rethink the definition of a mass casualty. While Chicago had Level-1 trauma centers to handle gun violence, burn victims and car accidents, the city seemed less equipped to deal with bioterrorism or a pandemic.

In 2012, Rush filled the void with a distinctive butterfly-shaped building along the Eisenhower Expressway. Every room at the groundbreaking hospital can be outfitted with an ICU bed, and even the soaring Brennan Pavilion was designed to become a low-grade emergency department if needed.

That forethought has landed Rush on the front lines of the regions fight against the coronavirus. According to the hospital, its intensive care unit has roughly 25% of all COVID-19 patients on ventilators statewide. And 1 of every 20 people hospitalized because of the virus in Illinois is being treated there.

Many of the patients have been transferred to Rush from local hospitals that didnt have the ability to care for them, said Dr. Paul Casey, the hospitals acting chief medical officer. Some of those hospitals sent ventilators along with their patients to help Rush cope with the onslaught.

We have been pretty aggressive in making sure were there to support those hospitals and those patients, Casey said. So we are seeing a lot of people in our critical care area."

On Tuesday, the medical center allowed a Tribune reporter and photographer inside its emergency department and intensive care units. The latter has expanded by 50% as the number of COVID-19 cases statewide has climbed to more than 15,000. Read more here. Stacy St. Clair

11:41 a.m.: Airlines are playing games with consumers.' Coronavirus pandemic is making it tougher for passengers to get refunds.

The new coronavirus has brought travel to a near standstill, wreaking havoc on passengers and airlines alike.

The pandemic has pit the two groups against each other as customers try to claw back money spent on scotched trips and airlines grasp for ways to preserve cash. Ticket refunds  or a lack thereof  are a major sore spot.

What were seeing is the airlines, who are facing unprecedented financial distress, are trying to find ways to get around having to offer consumers refunds because thats cash that comes out of their bottom line, said John Breyault, head of public policy for the National Consumers League in Washington, D.C. Theyre aggressively trying to push vouchers instead of cash refunds. But for many consumers facing tough times, a voucher for travel a year from now just isnt an option when youre not even sure youre going to have a job. Read more here. Lori Rackl

11:01 a.m.: Blackhawks singer Jim Cornelison, Easter Bunny to visit Chicagos 19th Ward

Southwest Side Ald. Matt OShea will send the Easter Bunny through his ward in a convertible on Friday, with Blackhawks singer Jim Cornelison riding behind in an antique fire truck. OShea, whose 19th ward includes Beverly, Mt. Greenwood and Morgan Park, has made a special request of the Easter Bunny in the hopes of raising families spirts and to bring a socially distant celebration to doorways, his office said in a statement.

The caravan will ride through the ward from 12:30 to 2:30, and it wont stop to ensure social distancing, OSheas office said.

The Easter Bunny will be slowly driving past residences, waving to families with children of all ages, OSheas office said.

Cornelison will be singing uplifting songs and interacting with families from their doorways and front steps. Gregory Pratt

10:36 a.m.: Wisconsin governor closes dozens of state parks, recreational areas to slow spread of coronavirus

Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday ordered the closure of 40 Wisconsins state parks, forests and recreational areas primarily in southern and southeastern Wisconsin to help reduce overcrowding and vandalism and to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Evers warned that the order could be followed by more closures if the public doesnt follow social distancing guidelines and vandalism continues. The sites that will close indefinitely starting Thursday night include some of the states most popular hiking and camping destinations, which had been a place for cooped up families to spend time outdoors during the stay-at-home order.

Recreational areas and state parks had been exempt from the stay-at-home order Evers issued last month, which runs through April 24. Entrance fees had been waived and state park offices and visitor centers were closed to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

The closures include Devils Lake State Park, the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Blue Mound State Park, Governor Dodge State Park, New Glarus Woods State Park and Dells of The Wisconsin River State Natural Area. The only closed park that isnt in southern Wisconsin was High Cliff State Park on Lake Winnebago in Calumet County.

As of Wednesday, there had been 99 deaths and nearly 2,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. Read more here. Associated Press

10:16 a.m.: To fight coronavirus overcrowding in morgues, Cook County medical examiners office to open surge center

In anticipation of many more deaths from COVID-19, a refrigerated warehouse capable of holding as many as 2,000 bodies is expected to open Thursday, the Cook County Medical examiners office announced.

The purpose of the 66,000-square-foot surge center is to ease overcrowding at hospital morgues due to the pandemic, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a news release. The countys Emergency Management and Regional Security Department was tasked with planning and is to coordinate logistics for the center, it said.

I realize that my administration has a responsibility to prepare for a surge in deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Preckwinkle said in the release, although her hope is that we have made plans that we will not have to utilize.

Emergency management officials said the county already has 14 refrigerated trailers and hopes to add six more for a total of 20 trailers that will be used to support the surge center. Theyll be able to move between hospitals experiencing surges.

Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, the countys chief medical examiner, last week told the Tribune she was looking to set up the surge center. Read more here. Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

10:11 a.m.: Lightfoot administration files legal brief opposing immediate release of Cook County Jail detainees

Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration filed a legal brief late Wednesday opposing the immediate release of Cook County Jail detainees due to an alarming outbreak of coronavirus, saying such a move threatens to consume the resources of the city and endanger the health of its residents.

A lawsuit filed last week by the Loevy and Loevy law firm and the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University alleged Sheriff Tom Dart has failed to stop a rapidly unfolding public health disaster at sprawling jail complex. So far, 251 detainees and 150 staff members have tested positive for the virus  including one inmate who died earlier this week.

The suit seeks class-action status for all of the jails remaining 4,500 detainees and also a temporary restraining order that would result in the immediate release of any prisoner whose constitutional rights are being violated by their continued detention amid the coronavirus crisis.

But Chicagos top attorney argued in a five-page amicus brief Wednesday that the suit fails to take into account the jail continues to house many violent detainees who have been charged with serious crimes, such as murder, sexual assault, and violence against children.

If released, the overwhelming majority these detainees will likely return to Chicago, city Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner wrote in the filing. Yet plaintiffs ask the court to release detainees without any individualized assessment into their risk of flight or danger to the community.

The request fails to respect the rights of Chicago residents who would live among released detainees, the filing stated.

The brief  known as a friend of the court filing  was for informational purposes only for the judge, as the city is not a party to the suit.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly is expected to rule on the request for a temporary restraining order within the next few days.

Dart, meanwhile, has vigorously defended his actions. His lawyers argued in court Tuesday that the sheriffs office has been ahead of the curve in working to release non-violent offenders and taken proactive steps to protect staff and prisoners who remain in the jail. Jason Meisner

10:09 a.m.: Illinois unemployment claims top 200,000, breaking another state record

The number of Illinois workers seeking unemployment insurance benefits last week topped 200,000, breaking last weeks record as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the states economy.

In all, more than 493,000 people have filed initial claims for unemployment in the past three weeks in Illinois, or about 1 in 12 workers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said recently that the state might not have sufficient funds to handle the surge in claims. It reportedly had $1.4 billion in unemployment funds at the end of January. Read more here. Ally Marotti

9:38 a.m.: Heres why you still cant find toilet paper at the store

What does toilet paper have to do with a global pandemic?

Nothing.

Yet millions of people have been panicking about their household supply. Stores shelves have been emptied. Amazon is often out of stock. And social media is bursting with jokes and pleas for a roll or two.

The good news: Things are calming down, at least in the U.S., after a buying spree in mid-March. But its not yet clear when  if ever  buying habits will get back to normal.

Heres all you ever wanted to know about toilet paper during a pandemic. Read more here. Associated Press

9:35 a.m.: COVID-19: After diagnosis, how do you know when its safe to be around others? Answers about getting it  and getting over it.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, new questions arise every day. We started taking concerns from Tribune readers to experts in early March. For the newest edition, weve focused on questions related to recovery from COVID-19 for those who have been diagnosed with it or have been told to presume they have it. Read more here.

8:28 a.m.: 10% of workers have lost jobs since coronavirus took hold

With a startling 6.6 million people seeking jobless benefits last week, the United States has reached a grim landmark: More than one in 10 workers have lost their jobs in just the past three weeks to the coronavirus outbreak.

The U.S. Labor Department figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948. They paint a bleak picture of a job market that is quickly unraveling as businesses have shut down across the country. More than 20 million American may lose jobs this month.

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economys output in the current quarter. Forty-eight states have closed nonessential businesses. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and countless small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.

In Illinois, 200,940 people filed for unemployment last week, the federal Labor Department said, an increase of 22,519 claims from the previous weeks slightly revised total of 178,421. Read more here. Associated Press

7:33 a.m.: Gary is emerging as new epicenter of COVID-19 outbreak in Lake County, Ind., reports show

Gary is quickly emerging as the new epicenter of Indianas Lake County COVID-19 infections with five deaths and more than 100 cases total, officials said Wednesday.

Lake County reported one new COVID-19 death Wednesday, bringing its total to 12, the third highest in the state, officials said. The countys caseload rose by 43 to 461, over 125 more since Monday, according to the Indiana State Department of Healths daily update.

Gary Health Commissioner Roland Walker himself tested positive for COVID-19 after treating afflicted patients, he said. He emerged from an isolation period and is not seeing patients for another week as a precaution, he said. Read more here. Meredith Colias-Pete

7:10 a.m.: Elected officials, activists, union leaders press for changes in reaction to impact of coronavirus on black community

A group of black leaders and organizations were scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday morning to press for bold action from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker in light of the impact of coronavirus on the black community.

State officials this week released detailed information about the number of known COVID-19 cases in Illinois down to the ZIP Code level, making clear that the rate of known infections is much higher in black communities, as analysis of deaths in Cook County showed black Chicagoans are dying at a rate nearly six times higher than white residents.

The Right to Recovery coalition, including black elected officials, members of teachers and other unions and activist groups, have been pressing for changes in state and local policies. The group was to hold an online news conference Thursday outlining the impact to date of COVID-19 on the Black community and the policies needed to mitigate the devastating social and economic impact of the pandemic, according to the news release.

Members of the coalition have already introduced some legislation that they say would further their goals, including housing rules they believe would protect low-income residents, a corporate head tax on Chicago companies and a graduated real estate transfer tax to raise more money from expensive property sales. Chicago Tribune staff

7 a.m.: Mayor to thank donors of protective equipment, appeal for more volunteers

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was expected Thursday to thank those who have donated almost 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment since the new coronavirus outbreak began, as more than 1,700 people have signed up to join what the citysc calling the Chicago Medical Reserve Corps, according to the city.

Individuals, businesses, groups and philanthropies have donated protective equipment including N95 respirator masks, surgical masks face shields, gloves and gowns, as well as hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, according to a release from the mayors office. Officials are distributing the equipment to hospitals and other facilities.

Donors have included McDonalds, which is donating 1 million N95 masks, 750,000 of them to Chicago and the rest to the state, as well as Wanxiang America Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Facebook and Peoples Gas, according to the release.

The city is still seeking donations and volunteers. Anyone wishing to do so can visit the citys coronavirus web page. Chicago Tribune staff

6 a.m.: Does keeping grades from counting against kids during Illinois coronavirus school shutdown give them less incentive to do the work?

Citing the technology divide between students who have regular access to a computer and those who dont, the Illinois State Board of Education has issued guidelines for teachers that amount to do no harm to existing grades in light of coronavirus.

But some parents say that approach has revealed another divide  between students who will still take work seriously when a grade isnt on the line and those who wont try nearly as hard now that they know they arent going to fail if they dont give their all.

The guidelines call for teachers to use a pass-incomplete system that doesnt give failing grades, doesnt punish kids for lack of participation and gives all students opportunities to redo or make up any assignments, with more chances to raise their grades over the summer or next fall.

Denise Clark Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education said there are many benefits to "do no harm grading policies such as the one recommended by ISBE.

It really isnt possible to use grades in a manner that is equitable or fair with remote learning, given the digital divide, Pope said. Everyone is more stressed right now, with parents worried about losing their jobs, and their familys health, so it can be a huge win if we can draw upon the positives, like listening to our kids and focusing on relationships right now, instead of grades."

Read the full story here. Hannah Leone and Karen Ann Cullotta

6 a.m.: College students are unlikely to get tuition refunds after coronavirus campus shutdowns. But it wont be for lack of trying.

In a bold campaign, hundreds of University of Chicago students are threatening to skip a key payment due this month. Student government leaders at Northwestern University have endorsed calls to slash the cost of remote classes. And thousands studying at the University of Illinois at Chicago have signed a petition demanding money back.

Underlying all the efforts, students aim to make the case that colleges should refund a portion of tuition this year because of unexpected changes spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Some argue that lectures delivered through Zoom are not as valuable as learning in person, while others say universities should be doing more to accommodate families hurting financially.

Though many colleges have offered reimbursements on room and board charges and changed grading policies for the spring term, they are remaining firm on tuition. Experts say most colleges cant afford to pay back tuition, their main source of revenue, despite protests from students or their parents. Read more here. Elyssa Cherney

6 a.m.: Neighbors rally to local handyman locked up in Cook County Jail as threat of coronavirus spreads

Peter Baumgartners tool belt hangs exactly where he left it more than a month ago when he was taken to Cook County Jail.

Like many Chicagoans, the handymans neighbors on their West Rogers Park block have been gripped by news of the COVID-19 pandemic. Theyve stood on front lawns together, at a distance, holding candles to support first responders. But worries over the impact of the deadly virus have hit even closer to home, with one of their own neighbors stuck in jail on an unusually high bond of $475,000.

Baumgartner, 55, pleaded guilty to a 2017 charge of evading a drug test but has a long history of missing required probation appointments and court dates, including once when he walked out of a courtroom on a hearing date, according to court records. He was finally picked up in February on an outstanding warrant.

Some of his neighbors were aware that Baumgartner has had struggles with the law. But on their block, they said he is still a gentle giant they also know has worked to overcome issues in his life. Cook County Jail under any circumstance is the wrong place for Baumgartner, his neighbors said. And as the pandemic ripped through the jail and forced a delay in many court hearings, they became desperate for answers about how to get him out. Read more here. Annie Sweeney

5:40 a.m.: CTA passengers will have to enter through back of buses to promote social distancing during coronavirus pandemic

The CTA will begin directing riders to board buses through the rear doors and allow drivers to stop picking up passengers if a bus becomes crowded, in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the CTA are expected to announce Thursday.

The CTA has started to move its fare card readers from the front to the rear doors of its buses, a process that could take a few weeks because there are about 1,800 buses in its fleet. In the meantime, the agency said it will not enforce fare payment on buses that do not have rear-door fare card readers.

Cash boxes wont be moved to the rear doors, so riders with cash wont be required to pay a fare as long as the system is in place, Steele said. Riders in wheelchairs and those who need the bus to lower so they can board still will be able to use the front doors, and will not have to pay fares. Read more here. Tracy Swartz

Wednesday, April 8

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Wednesday:

Tuesday, April 7

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Tuesday:

Monday, April 6

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Monday:

Sunday, April 5

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Sunday:

Saturday, April 4

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Saturday:
In an unprecedented move, the Italian government has declared its seaports unsafe due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will not authorise the landing of migrant rescue boats until the end of the emergency.

In a decree issued late on Tuesday, the government wrote that for the entire duration of the health emergency, due to the outbreak of coronavirus, Italian ports cannot be classified as safe places for the landing of people rescued from boats flying a foreign flag.

Related: 'Migrants never disappeared': the lone rescue ship braving a pandemic

The measure  the first of its kind in Italian history  appeared designed to prevent rescue boats from disembarking migrants in the upcoming weeks, as departures from Libya have increased in recent days with the arrival of good weather.

The decree, signed by the interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, the health minister, Roberto Speranza, the foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, and the infrastructure minister, Paola De Micheli, also suggests that rescued migrants might include people who have contracted Covid-19.

It adds that rescued people must be guaranteed an absence of any threat to their lives, and concludes that at this time the government cannot guarantee the security of migrants lives in Italy.

The government decree comes after the rescue boat Alan Kurdi, operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye, rescued about 150 people and is now located a few miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Alan Kurdi, named after the three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in 2015, is currently the only NGO rescue boat operating in the central Mediterranean. The coronavirus outbreak has forced many charities to concentrate their aid efforts elsewhere.

Despite fears of the virus, migrants are still risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean: almost 800 people left Libya in March, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

In March, Di Maio said during a conference call to the EUs foreign affairs council that the country was unable to open its ports to migrants. Its not about wanting to be good or bad, said Di Maio. Italy cant just do it now.

Story continues

In 2018 the far-right former interior minister Matteo Salvini declared Italys ports closed to migrant rescue ships, arguing that migrants represented a threat to national security.

Italy has been one of Europes worst-hit countries in the pandemic so far, with 135,586 coronavirus cases and 17,127 deaths.

We respect the national fate of all European countries fighting against this pandemic and especially the situation facing Italy, said Sea-Eyes mission manager, Jan Ribbeck.

No state in the Mediterranean should be left alone on the question of reception of refugees in the coronavirus crisis. We will address our flag state if it should become necessary.

On Tuesday, Italys public broadcaster RAI reported a claim that the NGO has already asked the German government to intervene by sending a plane to evacuate the 150 people on board.

According to the NGO, at least 150 German cities are ready to welcome rescued migrants.

In the meantime, while Italian ministers were sending the decree to local authorities in order to inform them of the new government measures, two unescorted migrant boats with 124 people onboard arrived on the island of Lampedusa from Libya on Tuesday night.

The risk, according to charitable organisations, is that the Italian decree will send the migrant situation back years, when boats from Libya would set off on their own, risking peoples lives in the attempt to reach Italian shores.

Alarm Phone, a hotline service for migrants in distress at sea, told the Guardian, We are very concerned about the effects of the Italian decree and how European authorities are using the Covid-19 pandemic to increase restrictive measures. With Malta also decreasing rescue efforts, we are witnessing a deadly rescue gap off the Libyan coast.

Alarm Phone fears that people fleeing from war and torture will be forced to navigate their boats over longer distances in order to reach European search and rescue. This means that those trying to escape are at risk of drowning while at sea for days, Alarm Phone added. These restrictive measures will lead to mass fatalities at sea as people will continue to migrate. They have no other option.

The migrants who arrived alone in the night were placed in quarantine in an area near the port of Lampedusa, inciting citizens who on Wednesday morning gathered in front of the mayors office to protest against the decision to take in asylum seekers.
Numerous Coronavirus tracker apps and websites have emerged all across the globe with incredible features. Some provide legitimate information on the outbreak of COVID-19, some track the location of the confirmed patients and more. The Singapore Government has come up with a new Coronavirus tracker app called TraceTogether to help their citizens in the fight against the virus.

What is TraceTogether app?

GovTech, SGUnited, and the Ministry of Health of Singapore have come up with a way to help Singaporeans to track the location of themselves and if they have come in close contact with a confirmed patient through a simple Coronavirus tracker app. The name TraceTogether app itself suggests that the software requires as many downloads as possible to track the movement of COVID-19. The more people using the app the more comprehensive data a user gets.

Also Read | What is Bihar Corona Sahayata App? How to register for 1000 Corona Sahayata? Know details

Using Bluetooth, TraceTogether identifies other nearby phones with the app installed. It then tracks when you are near these other persons, including timestamps. If the need arises, this information can then be used to identify close contacts based on the proximity and duration of an encounter between the two users. If you are identified for coming in a close contact with a confirmed case through the app, the Ministry of Health of Singapore will contact you directly.

Also Read | What is Covid19Ind? Get latest updates on Coronavirus cases in India

Similarly, if the ministry needs to conduct contact tracing with you, they will seek your permission to access the data on your app. Data is stored in your phone for only 21 days and will not be accessed unless you are identified as a close contact. Do not worry, the privacy policy of the Singapore Coronavirus tracker is incredible. The TraceTogether app does not exchange phone numbers while tracking the movement of the virus, it just shares a unique ID which is provided by the app.

Also Read | What is Aarogya Setu app? Did Govt replace Corona Kavach app? Know details

How to use the TraceTogether app?

Enter your mobile number

Enable push notifications

Keep Bluetooth turned on

Leave TraceTogether running

Also Read | What is StopCoronaTN.in? Get the latest info on COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu
India and Russia on Thursday deliberated on the fast evolving global situation arising out of the coronavirus crisis and decided to help each other in facilitating any requirement of medicines and medical equipment to deal with the pandemic.

The decision was taken during a telephonic conversation between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, government sources said.

The two sides also shared their respective domestic response strategies to deal with the pandemic which has claimed lives of over 88,000 people and infected around 15 lakh in close to 190 countries.

Russia has reported over 10,000 cases of the infection and 76 deaths while the number positive cases of the virus in India is over 5,730 with 166 deaths.

Morgulov thanked Shringla for facilitating the evacuation of Russia nationals stranded in India.

Shringla is understood to have enquired about well-being of around 15,000 Indian students studying in Russia.

"The two sides exchanged notes on the evolving situation relating to spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the respective national efforts by both the countries to combat and contain it," said a source.

It is not clear whether Russia is among growing number of countries seeking supply of hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus infected people.

India is supplying hydroxychloroquine to the US and several other countries hit hard by the pandemic. The drug has been cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight coronavirus infection.

The sources said both sides decided to remain in close touch with regard to the COVID-19 situation as well as on key bilateral and multilateral matters.

On preparations for annual summits of key groupings, the BRICS and the SCO,



Morgulov conveyed to Shringla that various preparatory meetings are being organised through video conferencing.

At present, Russia is holding chair of both the groupings.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is considered a powerful grouping, representing around 42 per cent of the world's population and 20 per cent of the global GDP.

The members of the SCO are Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) is also an influential bloc which represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world population and have a combined GDP of USD 16.6 trillion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A charity has warned against casual sex during the coronavirus lockdown because it breaches social distancing guidelines.

The Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine is among several organisations that have told Australians to avoid sex with multiple partners.

However with Australia predicted to stay in lockdown until October, or until a vaccine is developed, it is likely many will ignore the rules.

Scroll down for video

While people are warned not to have sex as it can easily spread coronavirus, experts are calling for specific rules to be set by the government so people know how to have sex as safe as possible

Associate Professor Edwina Wright, told the Australian Financial Review governments should consider introducing guidelines to keep people safe.

'It would be wise for governments and jurisdictions to start preparing guidance on harm minimisation to help avoid COVID-19 transmission during casual sex,' she said.

While coronavirus is not a sexually transmitted disease, the intimate nature of sex leaves people vulnerable to catching the virus.

Last month, Prof Wright was placed as the chairman of a task force to monitor how those with blood-borne viruses such as HIV cope with the virus, but there is little data to detail exactly how it spreads during sex.

'Any sex that involves kissing would increase the risk of being exposed to infected airway secretions, and a person may touch a surface contaminated by the virus during sex and acquire the infection that way,' she said.

Associate Professor Edwina Wright said having sex with a regular partner is the safest option during the lockdown, but if either party contracted coronavirus or was placed in quarantine, intercourse would need to remain virtual

She said having sex with a regular partner is the safest option during the lockdown, but if either party contracted coronavirus or was placed in quarantine, intercourse would need to remain virtual.

Professor Wright said early research has indicated the virus may spread through oral transmission.

'We do know that in patients with severe COVID-19 illness, a proportion may have faecal samples that remain positive for the presence of the virus RNA for several weeks after the respiratory samples have become negative for the virus.'

If comes after Victorian government back-flipped on a decision last week to bar couples living in separate house from visiting each other.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Prof Brett Sutton said there would be an exception for couples who do not live in the same household.

However casual hook-ups with strangers are still understood to be banned.

'Regarding 'Stay at Home' rules: We have no desire to penalise individuals who are staying with or meeting their partners if they don't usually reside together,' he said.
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DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market: Analysis and Forecast, 2019-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report projects the market to grow at a significant CAGR of 24.88% during the forecast period from 2019 to 2030. The market has evolved dramatically with increasing drug development expenditure and growing synergistic activities.



Despite the benefits of these software solutions, the major challenges in the market are lack of regulations and ethical issues. Some of the major opportunities for the key vendors in the market could be investment opportunities in emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil and the introduction of systems in different languages.



Expert Quote



Biopharmaceutical companies are the major end-users of the AI-enabled drug discovery and clinical trials market in terms of revenue share. The biopharmaceutical companies' market share is expected to increase by up to $2,692.8 million. However, the usage of the solutions is expected to increase in contract research organizations and academic & research centers in order to streamline the workflow of the facilities and improve the quality of care.



Market Segmentation



The Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market can be segmented on the basis of component type, application, therapeutic application, end-user, and region.

As of 2018, AI-enabled solutions accounted for $207.5 million and is expected to reach a value of $3,385 million by the end of 2030. In terms of growth, the end-users and academic institutes and research centers segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 25.45% during the forecast period.



As of 2018, North America is the largest shareholder for the overall market and is expected to reach a value of $2,460.5 million by the end of 2030, growing with a CAGR of 24.47% during the forecast period. However, a higher growth rate can be expected from the Asia-Pacific region, considering its improving healthcare infrastructure, overburdened healthcare system, and the focus of ASEAN countries to be recognized as a medical tourism destination.



Although the adoption rate of the AI-enabled solutions has been moderate, the potential that lies in them is immense. The integration of AI-enabled solutions in the healthcare facility will not only enhance medical research but also help research organizations in cost containment. To make the entire drug discovery and development process more efficient, the AI-enabled solutions can be integrated across various stakeholders, namely biopharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations (CROs), academic institutes, and research centers.



Key Companies



Some of the major key players in the global AI-enabled drug discovery and clinical trials market include Accutar Biotechnology Inc., AiCure, LLC, Ardigen, Atomwise, Inc., Benevolent AI, Berg, LLC, Berkeley Lights, Inc., BioAge Labs, Inc., Biovista, Inc., C4X Discovery Holdings, Clinithink Ltd, Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cyclica Inc., CytoReason, and Concerto HealthAI.

Research Highlights

Biopharmaceutical companies are expected to be the major end-users of AI-enabled solutions and services during the forecast period. Contract research organizations (CROs) and academic institutes and research centers are expected to see the highest growth rate during the forecast period.

The use of AI-enabled solutions and services in drug discovery and development can significantly improve the candidate selection process and data analysis process.

North America is expected to be the major market shareholder of the market, followed by Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest-of-the-World. While Asia-Pacific is expected to see the highest growth rate, the CAGR for Rest-of-the-Word is expected to be close to Asia-Pacific .

is expected to be the major market shareholder of the market, followed by , , and Rest-of-the-World. While is expected to see the highest growth rate, the CAGR for Rest-of-the-Word is expected to be close to . The market is in the nascent stage of development and hence is a blend of more than 100 companies. The key regional players are expected to evolve as global leaders for the market.



Key Questions Answered in the Report

How can AI integration in drug discovery and clinical trials decrease drug development expenditure?

How are pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical companies assisting in market development?

How can regulatory bodies such as FDA accelerate the AI adoption within the drug discovery and development process?

What is the present status of AI adoption in the drug discovery and development processes globally?

Which companies are expected to emerge as the key players in the market?

How are the companies operating in the market generating revenue?

What are the key regulatory implications in developed and developing regions for AI-enabled drug discovery and clinical trials market?

How can the companies expand in non-English speaking regions?

Which therapeutic area (such as oncology and neurology) has the highest AI adoption rate in clinical trials?

Which region is anticipated to serve as an emerging market for drug discovery and clinical trials, respectively?

What is the state of AI adoption in the Middle East and Latin America ?

and ? What are the different methodologies followed by the companies in the market for drug development?

Key Topics Covered



Executive Summary



1 Product Definition

1.1 Inclusion and Exclusion



2 Scope of the Report

2.1 Scope of the Study

2.2 Key Questions Answered in the Report



3 Research Methodology

3.1 Primary Data Sources

3.2 Secondary Data Sources

3.3 Market Estimation Model

3.4 Companies Profiled

3.5 Assumptions and Limitations



4 Industry Analysis

4.1 Industry Trends

4.1.1 Incorporation Trends

4.2 Value Analysis

4.2.1 Drug Discovery

4.2.2 Clinical Trials

4.3 Regulatory Framework and Government Initiatives

4.3.1 Regulatory Framework in North America

4.3.2 Regulatory Framework in Europe

4.3.3 Government Initiatives

4.3.3.1 Government Initiatives in North America

4.3.3.2 Government Initiatives in Europe



5 Pipeline Analysis



6 Competitive Landscape

6.1 Key Developments and Strategies

6.1.1 Collaborations and Partnerships

6.1.2 Funding

6.1.3 Product Launch and Upgradation

6.1.4 Mergers and Acquisitions

6.1.5 Others

6.2 Business Model Analysis

6.2.1 Subscription

6.2.2 Software as a Service and Platform as a Service (SaaS and PaaS)

6.2.3 Pay Per Use Model

6.3 Competitive Benchmarking



7 Market Dynamics

7.1 Market Drivers

7.1.1 Increasing Drug Development Expenditure

7.1.2 Facilitation of Polypharmacology

7.1.3 Growing Number of Synergistic Activities

7.2 Market Restraints

7.2.1 Lack of Regulations

7.2.2 Ethical Issues

7.3 Market Opportunities

7.3.1 Expansion of Business in Developing Economies such as India and Brazil

7.3.2 Introduction of Solutions in Different Languages



8 Global AI-enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market

8.1 Assumptions and Limitations

8.2 Key Findings and Opportunity Assessment

8.2.1 Key Findings

8.2.2 Opportunity Assessment



9 Global AI-enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market (by Component)

9.1 Overview

9.2 Solutions

9.3 Services



10 Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market (by Application)

10.1 Overview

10.2 Data Aggregation and Analysis

10.3 Clinical Trials

10.4 Drug Design

10.5 Drug Characterization

10.6 Biomarker Research



11 Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market (by Therapeutic Applications)

11.1 Overview

11.2 Oncology

11.3 Cardiovascular Diseases

11.4 Nervous System Diseases

11.5 Respiratory Disorder

11.6 Metabolic Diseases

11.7 Immunologic Diseases

11.8 Infectious Diseases

11.9 Others



12 Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market (by End User)

12.1 Overview

12.2 Biopharmaceutical Industry

12.3 Contract Research Organizations (CROs)

12.4 Academic Institutes and Research Centers



13 Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market (by Region)

13.1 Overview

13.2 North America

13.2.1 U.S.

13.2.2 Canada

13.3 Europe

13.3.1 Germany

13.3.2 U.K.

13.3.3 France

13.3.4 Italy

13.3.5 Spain

13.3.6 Rest-of-Europe

13.4 Asia-Pacific

13.4.1 China

13.4.2 Japan

13.4.3 South Korea

13.4.4 Australia

13.4.5 India

13.4.6 Rest-of-Asia-Pacific

13.5 Rest-of-the-World



14 Company Profiles

14.1 Accutar Biotechnology Inc.

14.1.1 Company Overview

14.1.2 Role of Accutar Biotechnology in the Global AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials Market

14.1.3 SWOT Analysis

14.2 AiCure, LLC

14.3 Ardigen

14.4 Atomwise, Inc.

14.5 BenevolentAI

14.6 Berg LLC

14.7 Berkeley Lights, Inc.

14.8 BioAge Labs, Inc.

14.9 Biovista Inc.

14.10 C4X Discovery Holdings PLC

14.11 Clinithink Ltd.

14.12 Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

14.13 Cyclica, Inc.

14.14 CytoReason

14.15 Symphony Innovation, LLC

14.16 Deep Genomics Inc.

14.17 DeepThink Health Inc.

14.18 Envisagenics, Inc.

14.19 Exscientia Limited

14.20 e-therapeutics PLC

14.21 GNS Healthcare

14.22 Insilico Medicine

14.23 Lantern Pharma Inc.

14.24 Medable, Inc.

14.25 Mind the Byte

14.26 NuMedii, Inc.

14.27 Nuritas, Ltd.

14.28 Owkin, Inc.

14.29 Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

14.30 Schrdinger, LLC

14.31 TARA Biosystems, Inc.

14.32 twoXAR, Incorporated

14.33 Verge Analytics, Inc.

14.34 Winterlight Labs Inc.

14.35 WuXi Nextcode Genomics

14.36 XtalPi Inc.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ldlkxc

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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Pope Francis has created a new commission to examine whether women should be deacons, an ordained role in the Catholic Church currently reserved only for men, the Vatican announced on Wednesday.

The 10-member commission that will examine the issue is composed of men and women from the United States and six European countries including Great Britain, Spain, France, and Italy. The two American members are from Nebraska and Ohio.

Deacons are ordained ministers who perform many of the same functions as priests. They can preside at weddings, baptisms, and funerals, and they can preach. However, they cannot celebrate Mass.

Married men can be ordained as deacons. Women cannot, though historians say women served as deacons in the early Christian church.

This is the second commission designed to examine the topic of women serving as deacons. The first was launched in August of 2016, shortly after the International Union of Superiors General asked the Pope to look into the issue.

Pope Francis said the commissions research was inconclusive.

This commission was sparked by a 2019 summit in the Amazon. The regions bishops requested the topic of women deacons be examined again due to the shortage of priests in the territory.

Related Content:
An influential corporate leader has suggested giving workers an income boost to the tune of $100 billion by turning superannuation guarantee payments into a pay rise to keep the economy afloat without further increasing the deficit.

The proposal has been put forward by businessman Tony Shepherd and would see every wage and salary earner given the choice to receive their 9.5 per cent superannuation contribution in their pay packet for a six-month period.

Tony Shepherd has suggested giving workers the option to be paid their super now rather than at retirement for six months. Credit:Brook Mitchell

"That is equivalent to a 9.5 per cent overnight increase in pay available to every working Australian. An increase on which they will pay tax according to their tax bracket," Mr Shepherd said. If everyone chose to accept their super guarantee as pay, it would be worth about $100 billion a year.

A former chair of Transfield and Business Council of Australia president, Mr Shepherd said the move increases income tax revenue and comes at no cost to government or businesses.
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Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, cautioned against drawing conclusions from the county's preliminary racial and ethnic data on coronavirus deaths. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Preliminary data released this week by Los Angeles County appeared to offer a glimmer of hope for the county's largest ethnic group: Latinos, who make up nearly half the county's population, represent just over a quarter of its coronavirus deaths.

But experts warn that the early, and incomplete, information may paint a murkier picture.

Latinos are typically younger than other demographic groups, an advantage against a virus that ravages older patients. But they also tend to live in larger households, have poor access to healthcare and work in "essential services" fields that require them to be out of the house  all factors that have some researchers predicting a coming surge in coronavirus deaths among Latinos.

The initial findings stood in contrast to the effect that the coronavirus has had on the county's black population, which has experienced a slightly higher death rate compared with other races. Deaths among white and Asian American residents were relatively in line with those groups' share of the county population.

On Wednesday, Barbara Ferrer, the county's top public health official, warned against drawing conclusions based on the figures released by her department, which found that Latinos accounted for 28% of deaths from COVID-19. The data were based on 57% of the reported deaths; the county has yet to receive race and ethnic data for the remainder.

"Because it's so preliminary, it's probably not a good idea for us to either hold that number as  an accurate number or to really look and try to figure out what may be happening differently in the Latinx community when compared to some of the other communities," Ferrer said.

The figures aligned with new information released Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration showing that Latinos accounted for 29% of coronavirus deaths statewide, though they make up 39% of California's population.

The new findings ran counter to assumptions from public health experts who focus on the Latino community.

Story continues

"The first time I read these results, I was quite surprised," said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, professor of health policy at UCLA, adding that he expected "that Latinos would do worse compared to the white population, and really relatively close to the outcomes of African Americans."

The prediction comes from a number of factors. Latinos are less likely to have access to healthcare and have high rates of certain underlying medical conditions that exacerbate the risk of COVID-19.

"Latinos in particular are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes," said Jeffrey Reynoso, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. "So in L.A. County, for example, Latino and other immigrant communities are at risk from air pollution along freeways resulting in increased asthma rates."

One upside for the Latino population is its youthful skew. Roughly one-third of the population statewide is younger than 20, compared with around 20% for other demographic groups. That means a smaller percentage of the Latino population is at risk of falling severely ill with COVID-19.

More information about deaths broken down by age and gender will help flesh out our understanding of the virus' effect on Angelenos, said Dr. Wendy Cozen, professor of preventive medicine and pathology at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

"Right now, age is the strongest determinant of death," Cozen said. "Our Latino population is young. There are probably more older people in the African American population. When these data become available, it will be easier to interpret."

There are some indications that Latinos had heightened concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic relative to the broader population. A Pew Research poll last month found that about two-thirds of Latino adults considered the coronavirus outbreak a major threat to the health of the U.S. population as a whole, compared with about half of the general public.

"People who are more conscious since the beginning of the epidemic would probably be taking more precautions against the potential of being exposed to someone with the disease or washing their hands or wearing a mask," Vargas Bustamante said.

That alertness has been amplified in the news media geared toward Latinos, said David Hayes-Bautista, director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA's School of Medicine. He said just this week he has done two interviews with Univision about the coronavirus.

"Clearly in the Spanish-language media, both print and electronic, there's just been a high, high awareness," he said.

COVID-19 precautions are a deadly serious matter for 70-year-old Pasadena resident Sam Covarrubias.

The retiree, who manned the front line for various healthcare battles over a 45-year career as a registered nurse, falls into the category most vulnerable for COVID-19 contraction.

If I get it, I know Im screwed, Covarrubias said. I have heart and lung problems and Ive had heart surgery. Plus, Im 70 and that puts me in the group most susceptible, so Im taking this extremely seriously.

Over the last 2 weeks, Covarrubias eliminated trips to local supermarkets, opting for online services such as Amazon and Instacart. Hes also had concerned family members routinely check in to see if he needs anything.

I use gloves, masks, hand sanitizers and I wash my hands frequently, he said. Im not taking any chances.

Covarrubias was astonished to hear the coronavirus-linked death rate for Latinos was relatively low. From his experience, he assumed the opposite.

To be honest, when I go outside I would say 80% of Latinos arent taking many, if any, precautions, he said. Plus, were kind of skeptical about things we hear and kind of go our own way.

Jessica Rodriguez, a 36-year-old e-commerce manager, was similarly stunned by the county's findings.

It actually surprised me to hear that because I feel like in a lot our communities we all live with our tios and tias, said Rodriguez, referring to uncles and aunts. I was concerned that would have an impact on us and the chances for increased exposure.

Rodriguez, a Highland Park native, somewhat fits that billing as she lives in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom Montebello apartment with her husband, two children and 73-year-old father-in-law.

Hayes-Bautista said those living patterns, in which Latino households typically tend to have at least one more person than other groups, could be a cause for future concern.

Another is the fact that many Latinos work in jobs that are still deemed essential  including service jobs in grocery stores and pharmacies, healthcare and janitorial work, and farm labor picking crops  and may feel financial pressure to work, upping the risk of exposure.

Add in their lower rates of health insurance and shortage of Latino doctors, and Hayes-Bautista predicted the low Latino death rate may not stay that way for much longer.

"I call it almost a perfect storm," Hayes-Bautista said.

But Rodriguez said there is one big advantage Latinos have in their battle against COVID-19: a strong sense of community.

She sees friends, neighbors and family members purchasing groceries for each other to cut down on exposure, children helping parents and elders with chores and work, and frequent discussions about COVID-19.

Were always communicating, Rodriguez said. Were always looking to help each other. We believe in community. Thats what we do best.




Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos visited an Amazon warehouse to say thank you to his staff working amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Bezos visited a warehouse and a Whole Foods store, whose parent company is Amazon, to say thanks to the staff.

Amazon posted a video to their Twitter, showing mr Bezos visiting the centres that are located in Dallas, Texas, according to Business Insider.

Todays visits by our founder and CEO @JeffBezos to say thank you to Amazon fulfillment center and @WholeFoods employees. Were all incredibly proud of the thousands of our colleagues working on the front lines to get critical goods to people everywhere during this crisis, their tweet read.

In the video, the CEO talked to employees and told one worker: I cant shake your hand. Its a hard habit to break.

He wore a face mask throughout the video and Mr Bezos was filmed having his temperature checked as he entered the Amazon fulfilment centre.

During the clip, he complimented a shoppers mask in the Whole Foods store, but did not appear to follow the CDC guidelines on social distancing throughout.

Jeff Bezos in an Amazon fulfilment centre ((Amazon, Twitter))

The company has been criticised in recent weeks for their treatment of workers, amid the pandemic.

Amazon has been deemed an essential company, but The New York Times report that 50 of their 75 fulfilment centres in the US have had employees test positive for Covid-19.

Recommended Jeff Bezos named richest person in the world as Amazon workers protest

In late March, Whole Foods employees called in sick in a co-ordinated strike as they demanded paid leave and improved worker conditions.

Twitter account Whole Worker, a group attempting to unionise the store and improve conditions, tweeted at the time that the company was not doing enough for workers during the crisis.

Jeff Bezos in a Whole Foods store ((Amazon, Twitter))

Amazon and its subsidiary Whole Foods dared to keep open an Amazon warehouse and two Whole Foods stores where employees tested positive for COVID-19. We must prioritise the health of our workers over short-term financial gain, their tweet read.

A spokesperson for Whole Foods told The Independent that the store is reviewing its policies on a frequent basis.

Team Members in our stores and facilities also have access to up to two weeks of paid time off if they test positive for COVID or are quarantined and get increased overtime pay, they said. They have also increased their hourly pay rate, the spokesperson said.

Whole Foods Markets longstanding open door policy encourages direct dialogue between Team Members and leadership, feedback which continues to shape the decisions we are making every day.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 432,579 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 14,830.

The Independent have reached out to Amazon for comment.
Several junior doctors at the Government General Hospital in Andhra Pradeshs Anantapur district boycotted their duties on Thursday in protest against the quality of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits given to them so that they could deal with Covid-19 patients.

The doctors protest comes in the wake of four medical professionals of the same hospital  two doctors and two nurses  testing positive for coronavirus on Wednesday evening.

The Anantapur district medical and health officer confirmed that the four hospital staff, including two senior doctors tested positive for Covid-19 and said they might have contracted the virus due to some lapses in dealing with a 64-year-old patient who died of coronavirus on April 4.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health, P V Ramesh, also confirmed the incident in his post on Twitter. Describing the incident as unfortunate, he said the government would take measures to see that such incidents did not recur.

Anantapur has reported 13 positive cases till now, seven of which were recorded on Wednesday alone, including that of four medical professionals.

District Collector Gandham Chandrudu, who visited the hospital on Thursday morning, told reporters that the doctors and nurses had treated the patient suffering from Covid-19 without taking any precautions.

After it was confirmed that the patient had died of Covid-19, the four hospital staff members who treated him were isolated and tested for the virus. On Wednesday evening, it was proved that they had contracted coronavirus, he said.

Apart from the four, as many as 20 other staff members of the hospital, who were suspected to have come in contact with the doctors and nurses, were also isolated.

The protesting doctors told the Collector that they would not be able to perform their duties at the hospital if they were not given adequate PPE kits. Chandrudu said he had instructed the medical and health department to ensure that all doctors were provided with protective gear.

Lack of sufficient number of PPE kits has become an issue in some other hospitals in the state too. On Wednesday, the state government suspended Dr K Sudhakar, an anaesthesian at the government hospital at Narsipatnam in Visakhapatnam district, for alleging that the government was not providing adequate PPE kits to the doctors.

Sudhakar had, on Monday, protested before the media regarding N-95 masks and other protective equipment meant for doctors that were being provided to politicians and the police. We are asked to use the same mask for 15 days before asking for a fresh mask. How can we treat patients risking our lives? he asked.

As the video of his comments went viral on social media, the state government ordered a probe into his allegations and suspended Sudhakar on disciplinary grounds. The local police also booked a case against the doctor on charges of abusing the government.

Narsipatnam MLA P Uma Shankar Ganesh alleged that the doctor had made baseless allegations at the behest of TDP leader and former minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu.

Sudhakar told reporters that he stood by his allegations. We are working round-the-clock risking our lives. I only spoke the truth and did not make any derogatory comments against the government, he said.

Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday wrote a letter to the chief minister requesting that the suspension of Sudhakar be revoked, as he was only highlighting the lack of sufficient protective equipment for doctors.

He pointed out that four medical professionals in Anantapur had tested positive for coronavirus while discharging their duties to treat the patients. When the doctors are risking their lives in the battle against Covid-19, the government is demotivating them instead of giving greater encouragement. The government should give N95 masks, gloves, full-sleeve gowns and eye-shield goggles to doctors at least now, Naidu said.

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Chinas Insolvent State Pension Fund Allows Struggling Firms to Cut Contributions

News Analysis

Chinas massively unfunded public pension plan that was set to run out of cash in 2035 will be more insolvent, with financially struggling firms allowed to cut contributions.

Chinas national pension fund was already set to hit peak assets of about $985 billion in 2027; gradually run out of cash by 2035, and then convert to a pay-as-you-go system.

China has about 30 million small and medium-sized businesses that account for more than 60 percent of GDP, and employed about 80 percent of urban workers in 2019, according to government statistics. A survey of 1,000 of these small and medium-sized companies by Tsinghua University and Peking University in mid-February found that over one-third can only survive for another month with their cash on hand.

The director of the international department of the Peoples Bank of China, Zhu Jun, warned about the economic risks amid the COVID-19 pandemic: The possibility of a Great Depression cannot be ruled out if the epidemic continues to run out of control, and the deterioration of the real economy is compounded by an eruption of financial risks.

To help support the economy, Beijing announced in February that companies can stop or reduce contributions to pension funds.

The state pension will be responsible for funding the retirement incomes for 50 percent of all urban workers by 2055. If companies are allowed to cut or stop pension contributions now, then this could accelerate the systems coming demise.

Chinas public pension system for urban employees, called the Basic Old Age Insurance, was launched in 1997. The system requires workers to contribute 8 percent of their wages, while employers pay up to 20 percent of their workers wages into the state pension fund. With almost 400 million participants, the system offers retirement for women at age 55 and men at age 60, with a pension benefit income averages of about 63 percent of the final wage.

But University of South Carolina marketing professor Frank Xie told the Voice of America that this very generous plan design is only one of the reasons that Chinas urban pension system has become increasingly insolvent.

Average retirees receive monthly benefit payments of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan, or $284 to $426. But Chinese government employee payments range from 6,000 to 10,000 yuan, or $852 to $1,420. According to Xie: The Communist Party is buying off many middle- to highly-ranked government officials and civil servants, who now live a comfortable life.

Professor Xie contends that public resentment is rising on the Internet over the discrepancy between the average urban workers retirement income, compared to the retired government employees income replacement. But an even bigger concern should be the approximately 287 million farmers and migrant workers that get no benefit.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) offers another reason for Chinas urban pension insolvency. It said the plans collection rate as a percentage of wages only averaged 15.59 percent in 2015, far below the legally mandated 28 percent contribution rate.

China already has the worlds largest retirement populationaged 60 and aboveat over 241 million. Due to its one-child policy from 1979 to 2015, Chinas birth rate remains low.

Currently, it takes two workers to support each retiree relying on the pension fund, but that will drop to one worker for each retiree by 2050, according to CASS.

Not counting the hidden pension funding obligations, Chinas authoritarian development model was already in trouble by the end of 2019 with total household, financial sector, business and government debt of $43 trillion. Debt has more than quadrupled from $10 trillion in 2009, and now is approaching 310 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Institute of International Finance.

The Chinese regimes official unemployment rate is at a record of 6.2 percent. But Chief economist Liu Chenjie at Upright Assets argues that Chinas official data only tracks the 442 million urban workforce, and ignores the 290 million migrant workforce that provides most urban low-wage factory and service industry labor.

Chenjie estimates that 180 million Chinese service sector jobs disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the governments claims that its factories and ports have reopened, Chenjie suggests that about 205 million migrant workers that want to work still cannot or are unable to go back to work.
WASHINGTON -- In recent days, as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the country, President Donald Trump's administration has ousted two key inspectors general, moved to weaken federal gas mileage standards, nominated a young conservative for a powerful appeals court and sent scores of migrants back across the southern border without a customary hearing.

It's a whirlwind of activity taking place away from the spotlight that highlights how the twin crises of a viral outbreak and an economic slowdown have not slowed Trump's aggressive push to advance his broader agenda in the months before he faces voters.

In some cases, Trump is continuing to do what he had been doing, pushing policies that have won him plaudits among his conservative supporters. In others, he is using the broad powers granted to the executive branch amid a national crisis to pursue policy goals he has long sought and in some cases struggled to achieve.

"The federal government has done a lot, and it's going to do a lot," Trump said Tuesday during a briefing at the White House. "We're going to do, perhaps, infrastructure, which you wouldn't have gotten approved before. And now people are looking to do it."

Given Trump's long-standing high metabolism for controversy and scandal, he is uniquely positioned to take advantage of a deadly pandemic in ways that previous presidents would never have considered, said Max Skidmore, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of a book on presidential responses to pandemics.

"Normally when a crisis occurs - whether it's a military attack or something else on this scale - it absorbs all the energy and demands that all energy available be directed to the solution of that particular problem," he said. "It's very rare for president to use that in such a way to pursue other items on the agenda."

Perhaps following the mantra of former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to "never allow a crisis to go to waste," the Trump administration has moved with speed to advance the president's goals as a pandemic upends much of the country and renders traditional campaigning impossible.

Trump's extracurricular activities are drawing growing criticism. As the president's focus has regularly drifted away from the crisis at hand, he has struggled to answer questions about whether he took the viral outbreak seriously enough during its crucial early stages. As the death toll has spiked in the United States, reports have surfaced suggesting that he did not.

When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar tried to warn Trump about the viral outbreak in January, the president instead changed topics to air complaints about an aborted federal ban on vaping products, The Washington Post has previously reported.

In the ensuing weeks, Trump has since pushed tighter immigration controls, relaxed environmental regulations, pursued tax cuts, advocated stricter curbs on voting, sought to undermine the Affordable Care Act and authorized a military operation against Central American cartels.

White House officials said Trump is squarely focused on the pandemic, not politics.

"The bold and decisive actions this President has taken throughout this pandemic are purely about protecting the public health," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement, adding, "whether it be providing food to children impacted by school closures, closing our border to certain countries and regions where the virus is spreading, or pausing all interest on student loans, this President wants us to put politics aside and come together to make sure we emerge from this crisis healthy, safe, and strong."

Turnover, staff infighting and abrupt firings have been a trademark of the Trump administration since its earliest days, and that dynamic has not changed in the midst of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Trump's new chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who began his job last week, brought on a new communications team, including appointing the White House's fourth press secretary in just over three years. Meadows himself was appointed to be Trump's fourth chief of staff in the middle of the crisis, after the president decided to replace Mick Mulvaney.

Trump has also stepped up his aggressive actions toward agency inspectors general, officials charged with serving as independent watchdogs but who Trump claims are part of a "deep state" campaign against him.

He made a reference Tuesday to naming seven new inspectors general, a nod to the aggressive moves he has made in recent days to curb oversight and to push out government officials seen as insufficiently loyal.

"We have about seven nominations in. I believe we put seven very, very highly qualified people for the IG position," Trump said Tuesday, acknowledging that he could've made the moves "three years ago" but decided to do so in the middle of a pandemic.

Trump's abrupt Friday-night firing of Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, indicated that the purge of central players in the impeachment process had not been tempered by the coronavirus outbreak. Atkinson had alerted Congress about a whistleblower complaint that led to Trump's impeachment over his actions toward Ukraine.

In fact, Trump's broader efforts to undermine independent oversight may have accelerated amid a crisis that has ravaged the economy and pushed Congress to spend trillions of dollars in stimulus.

Trump replaced the Defense Department's acting inspector general, Glenn Fine, on Tuesday - removing an official who had been slated to lead efforts to oversee his administration's management of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

Trump has approached the coronavirus crisis as "the perfect occasion" to ramp up his push to consolidate power and curb oversight, said Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

"Because people are preoccupied, there is going to be less pushback," he said. "He's going to continue these attacks on independent oversight as long as he feels that there is cover to do so."

Some of Trump's defenders say the president is right to continue pushing his agenda during the pandemic.

"Many of the president's policy ideas preceded this crisis, and it's appropriate for him to enact laws," said Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary for President George W. Bush. "It is a part of the president's mission to keep America moving forward on all fronts."

Fleischer pointed out that Bush signed his signature "No Child Left Behind" education law in January 2002, less than four months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The coronavirus outbreak has allowed Trump to step up his campaign to restrict immigration, including by effectively shutting down unauthorized crossings at the southern border. Using emergency powers ostensibly linked to the coronavirus crisis, Trump has implemented immigration restrictions that he has long tried to enforce, only to be blocked by courts and regulations. The new policies, which effectively suspend laws protecting minors and asylum seekers, allow border agents to quickly deport or turn away people seeking to enter the country.

Trump, who has long railed against the standard due process protections available for migrants fleeing persecution, has finally been able to bypass them, at least temporarily.

The Trump administration says the new border restrictions are an effort to protect the country from the spread of the coronavirus, even though Mexico has far fewer cases than the United States.

Still, Trump has also used the platform of the virus response to make unprompted references to the construction of a border wall, regularly mentioning the campaign promise during televised coronavirus briefings.

"We need the Wall more than ever!" he tweeted last month.

Trump's push to relax environmental regulations has also accelerated in recent weeks, with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department pushing forward with major initiatives.

Last week, the EPA moved to finalize a rule to weaken the federal government's gas mileage standards, rolling back Obama's most significant effort to combat climate change - a longtime goal for Trump. The move, which dramatically scales back requirements for fuel efficiency improvements, came on the same day that Trump warned Americans to brace for a "very, very painful two weeks," and ultimately for as many as 240,000 coronavirus deaths.

"Our country is in the midst of a great national trial unlike any it has ever faced before," he said.

The EPA has plowed ahead with its deregulatory agenda. Last month, the agency issued a memo instructing petrochemical plants, power companies and other major industries that they could monitor their own pollution levels during the virus outbreak.

The Interior Department has moved forward with several oil and gas lease sales and dozens of other actions in the past month, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation group. The agency has ignored requests to suspend rulemaking during the pandemic.

Trump himself has broken away from coronavirus messaging to tout the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which received a key approval from Interior in late January and began construction this month.

"GREAT news this week regarding the Keystone XL pipeline - moving forward with fantastic paying CONSTRUCTION jobs for hardworking Americans," Trump tweeted on April 3. "Promises Made, Promises Kept!"

Trump's efforts to remake the federal judiciary are also moving apace, including his nomination Friday of a 37-year-old judge to fill a vacancy on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Trump administration has continued its efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act through the courts, with the president opting against reopening the Obamacare exchanges to provide health-care options to the unemployed.

At the Agriculture Department, the crisis has allowed officials to move ahead with a program to deliver of food boxes for rural communities. The administration's earlier efforts to save money by substituting traditional food stamps with government "harvest boxes" have repeatedly been rejected by Congress.

Trump has also used the coronavirus task force briefings to showcase his administration's efforts to combat drug cartels in Central America, to call for new tax deductions for corporations and to push for nationwide voter-ID laws. He has also called for a $2 trillion infrastructure package.

Democrats have sought to take advantage of the crisis as well, with some arguing in favor of long-sought policies ranging from eliminating student loan debt to universal basic income to nationwide vote-by-mail.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer countered the Trump administration's request for $250 billion in small-business funding with a call for hundreds of billions of dollars for hospitals, local governments and food stamp recipients.

"The American people need to know that their government is there for them in their time of great need," they said in a statement.

- - -

The Washington Post's Arelis R. Hernandez, Nick Miroff, Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker and Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report.
MBABANE - Prophet Elijah Fire has spoken! Following the viral audio that shook the country and sent social media abuzz, Hope Restoration Church Founder and Leader Muzi Mkhemetelo Mkhatshwa, popularly known as Prophet Elijah Fire, briefly spoke to this publication.



The audio strongly insinuated that the prophet and Worship Centre leader Apostle Justice Dlamini were at loggerheads.

Contents of the allegations that were purportedly made by the prophet will not be repeated due to their sensitive nature.



Church



After tireless efforts of trying to contact the prophet from Tuesday evening to yesterday morning, he was eventually tracked to his church in the Mbabane branch at Sidwashini, where he was attending to prayer items.

The reporters on the ground found Prophet Elijah Fire consulting from another corner of the church when they arrived.

After spotting the journalists, he quickly moved to his office to continue with the business of the day.



The prophet assigned two church servants to the reporters, who further told the reporters that he was not available for the day. The prophet can only attend to you tomorrow. His diary for the day is full already, said the servants. The journalists insisted on seeing the prophet.



After a light squabble with some of the church servants who were present and the journalists, the prophet came out. As if he had already predicted why the journalists had visited his office, he instantly said he could not confirm or deny the fact that the voice behind the viral audio was his.



In saying that, the prophet quickly said he was summoned for a meeting by Bishop Stephen Masilela, the Conference of Churches President.

Can we just have this interview probably tomorrow (today). I am meeting Babe Masilela from the Conference of Churches with Apostle Justice, said the prophet.



When asked again if it was him or not in the audio he said he could not confirm nor deny because he was yet to have a serious meeting on the matter at hand.

He insisted that people should wait until after the meeting so this to get the gist of the story.

You can call Masilela to confirm the meeting. I cannot go on and make a comment before the meeting, he said.



The prophet highlighted that he had not spoken to the apostle about the meeting. He said it was Masilela who coordinated the meeting and told him that the apostle was going to be present.



Affiliated



It is worth noting that Mkhatshwas church is not under the Conference of Churches umbrella while the Worship Centre is affiliated.

However, Mkhatshwa said he was under the process of being registered under the said church body.



In a twist of events, Worship Centre leader Apostle Justice said he was not going to attend the meeting in a telephonic interview yesterday afternoon.

Where is the meeting? I am not attending any meeting unless my lawyer advises me so, said Dlamini.



He stated that the defamatory content in the audio propelled him to only follow legal counsel.

He then said the only way he could be summoned was if he was called in by police. The apostle abruptly cut the interview short.
Pakistan is aiming to score narrow political goals by attempting to bring India's initiatives to collectively fight the coronavirus crisis in the SAARC region under the framework of the grouping, government sources said on Thursday.

Pakistan on Wednesday boycotted a video conference of trade officials of the SAARC countries, saying such initiatives could only be effective if spearheaded by the group's secretariat instead of India.

India has been maintaining that the initiatives taken under extraordinary circumstances are focussed on jointly dealing with the pandemic without being bounded by any procedural formalities.

"It is an attempt to score narrow political goals while people of the region are facing the coronavirus crisis," said a source.

Wednesday's video conference took place as part of India's initiatives to jointly fight the pandemic as well as its economic and social impact on the region.

The sources said Pakistan will get a free hand to block India's initiatives if COVID-19 related interactions are brought under formal structure of SAARC.

Pakistan will have the option of scuttling them by pressing for the principle of consensus in drafting of agenda, outcome document and on all other related issues at every step, they said.

A series of initiatives have been taken to deal with with the pandemic as a follow up to an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested in the conference that the member nations of the bloc should come together to jointly fight the pandemic.

India has been considering the activities as being stand-alone and outside the "SAARC calendar of approved activities".

Keeping control of the activities that emerged from the prime minister's video conference of March 15 has helped us move much faster and without any hindrances, the sources said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The trade officials of the SAARC countries on Wednesday broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

The officials also deliberated on creating a larger framework of trade facilitation and highlighted need to enhance the quantum of intra SAARC trade as the pandemic is likely to have a considerable impact on the region.

Shortly after the conference on Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign Office in a statement said: "Activities such as today's Trade Officials' Video-Conference could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat. Since the SAARC Secretariat was not part of today's Video-Conference, Pakistan chose not to participate."



In order for the SAARC process to move forward, the SAARC Secretariat must be enabled to play its due role in any event or activity being organised under its auspices, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ensuring its frontline medical staff are equipped with the appropriate equipment during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the University Hospital Trust (AP-HP) in Paris, France, has invested in a fleet of 60 industrial-grade Stratasys FDM 3D Printers. All of them arrived on Tuesday, 31 March, within 24 hours of ordering.

60 F123 Series 3D Printers arrived at the University Hospital Trust (AP-HP) in Paris, France, on Tuesday, 31 March, within 24 hours of ordering

The installation of the F123 Series 3D Printers provides the AP-HP  the largest hospital system in Europe  with its own internal production arm to ensure fast and on-demand manufacturing of vital equipment currently needed for hospital workers, including protective face shields and masks, electrical syringe pumps, intubation equipment and respirator valves.

Dr. Roman Khonsari, a surgeon within the AP-HP leading the project, said 3D printing was the ideal solution to produce vital equipment on-site, bridging the shortfall in traditionally manufactured equipment. The system hired medical-focused 3D printing service provider Bone3D to provide the engineers to manage the implementation, operation and support of the fleet.

Stratasys EMEA President, Andreas Langfeld, said the pandemic has demonstrated that 3D printing can bring more agility to conventional medical product supply chains.

The sweeping and severe nature of COVID-19 continues to impact the supply chains of some of the worlds most critical medical equipment. Leveraging 3D printing technology on this scale gives AP-HP its own rapid-response supply chain in-house, placing production directly where its needed and ensuring essential equipment is quickly in the hands of frontline medical staff who are battling every day to save lives. Andreas Langfeld, Stratasys EMEA President

In parallel with the implementation of 3D printers, AP-HP has developed a dedicated 3D printing platform at 3dcovid.org to fast-track requests for 3D print projects from hospital workers within Paris and its surrounding areas.

Supplied via Stratasys French reseller partner, CADvision, the 60 3D printers were delivered within 24 hours of the order being placed and will be accommodated in a dedicated 150-square-meter facility within the AP-HPs Cochin Hospital in Paris.

The AP-HPs effort to source equipment to support its medical staff has also been achieved with the help of the University of Paris and the Kering Group.
The first Hairy Who exhibition, featuring the work of Rocca, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Jim Falconer, Art Green and Karl Wirsum, was held at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago in 1966. (The groups memorable name is said to have been inspired by a riff on the name of a local radio personality and art critic, Harry Bouras, whom the artists did not hold in high esteem.) Between 1966 and 1969, the group  which did not consider itself a movement or school, but simply an informal collection of like-minded artists  staged five more exhibitions, in Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Washington.
Kuleba says Ukraine's policy toward the settlement of the armed conflict in Donbas remains unchanged  Russia is a party to that conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has expressed confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no other choice but to leave Donbas and Crimea alone.

His comments came during an online discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council (USA) on repelling Russian aggression, prospects for the Minsk talks, and a peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine.

The minister said he was not observing any serious shifts in Ukraine's policies toward Russia and neither was he seeing any changes in Russia's policies toward Ukraine.

Since 2014, the top diplomat noted, the same set of issues has been discussed, while main narratives of the negotiating sides have remained unchanged all along.

"Russia insists now that it's not a party to the conflict with the same level of vigor and assertiveness as it did so in 2014. Russia calls on Ukraine to engage in direct dialogue with the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics as it has been doing since 2014," the minister said.

For its part, Kuleba added, Ukraine does not engage in direct dialogue with the said entities that are controlled by Russia.

Read alsoIdea of 'Donbas Advisory Board' to be viewed after consultations with France, Germany, OSCE  Yermak

"We insist that the Trilateral Contact Group is deliberately called trilateral because it consists of Ukraine, Russia, and OSCE. And of course, we consider Russia as a party to the conflict and not as a mediator or a facilitator or in any other capacity," Kuleba said.

Commenting on public anxiety about the issue of the so-called "consultative council"  the idea mulled at the Minsk talks where the new body was supposed to have onboard representatives of the occupied areas of Donbas  Kuleba said, "Ukraine will insist on the current structure of the Trilateral Contact Group. It consists of three actors  Russia, Ukraine, OSCE. Everything else is a matter of internal structuring within the contact group but we are not seeking direct dialogue with [the occupied] Donetsk and Luhansk."

"I will never agree as a minister to direct talks between Ukraine and Donetsk and Luhansk representatives," the minister added. "Everything else is the field, the space for the art of diplomacy. But there are certain red lines which I will not cross as a minister or as a citizen of Ukraine, and this is one of them."

Read alsoUkraine snubs idea of "advisory council" involving Donbas militants  MFA Russia

He recalled that Ukraine has been in talks with Russia on the exchange of held persons and disengagement of forces along the line of contact. "If we manage to build trust between the two parties  Russia and Ukraine  in these spheres, we can move further and try to unlock other issues which are on the agenda."

"Negotiating with Russia is like walking a minefield. You never know where it will blow up," the minister noted.

"But main lines of our policy and approaches to settling this conflict remain absolutely unchanged," Kuleba stressed.

"Putin has no other choice but to withdraw from eastern Ukraine and Crimea", the minister concluded.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Switzerland should work together to keep the global industrial and supply chains stable amid the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday in a phone call with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis.

Wang said that through the arduous efforts made by the Chinese people, China has generally brought the domestic epidemic under control, but still faces the risk of the outbreak rebounding, especially the challenges posed by the imported cases.

This fully demonstrates that the pandemic knows no borders or races, and that all countries, which belong to the same community with a shared future for mankind, should work together to overcome the difficulties, he added.

Wang said that the Swiss government and people have provided valuable support for China in its fight against the epidemic.

Noting that on the recent Tomb-sweeping Day, China held mourning activities for the martyrs and compatriots who died in the COVID-19 outbreak, Wang said that Swiss embassies and consulates in China also participated in the mourning and flew their national flags at half-mast, which demonstrated the Swiss people's friendship with the Chinese people.

China is grateful for that, he added.

China, Wang said, is making every effort to support the global fight against the pandemic and has set up a green channel to ensure the fast and convenient delivery of anti-epidemic supplies.

Noting that the ventilator is the most urgently needed medical equipment for countries to fight the epidemic, Wang said China, which takes other countries' concerns seriously, is cranking up production of ventilators day and night.

Wang said he hopes that Switzerland and other important suppliers of ventilator parts will significantly increase supply and help enterprises boost production, so as to relieve the pressing need of all countries.

This will not only provide material support for the global battle against the pandemic, but also help maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, Wang said, adding that China also stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Switzerland in drug and vaccine research and development, among other fields.

The Chinese side hopes and believes that Switzerland will guarantee the health and safety of Chinese nationals and students in the European country, he added.

Wang also said the international community should abandon prejudice and suspicion and strengthen solidarity and coordination in the face of the severe challenges posed by the pandemic to the health and security of all mankind.

He said he believes that the international community, including Switzerland, will fairly evaluate China's anti-epidemic efforts and firmly resist words and deeds of political play-up under the pretext of this pandemic.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Switzerland, Wang said, adding that the experience of jointly fighting the epidemic will further consolidate and deepen their friendship.

For his part, Cassis expressed gratitude for China's support and assistance in the epidemic fight, while congratulating China on its achievements in containing the virus.

He said Switzerland is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in such areas as ventilator production as well as drug and vaccine research and development, to jointly ensure the stability of industrial and supply chains, and to reduce the impact of the epidemic on bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Switzerland does not agree with or participate in the politicization of the epidemic, Cassis said, adding that what the international community needs now is solidarity and cooperation instead of finger-pointing.

He said Switzerland will take good care of Chinese citizens and students in Switzerland and ensure their health and safety.

Switzerland, Cassis said, stands ready to celebrate with China the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties after prevailing over the epidemic through joint efforts.
Words of the Week  The Resurrection Hope

Scripture: 1 Cor. 15:12-22

While pastoring in Kansas City some years ago, I served as co-chair of what became a nationally acclaimed End of Life program entitled Compassion Sabbath.

The program was sponsored by the Center for Practical Bioethics aimed at increasing the quality of spiritual care provided by faith leaders to their congregants at the end of their lives. We were successful in bringing together over 300 faith leaders to share ways that they could be more effective in their end of life ministry.

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One of the conversations surrounding our work was that of realistic versus unrealistic hope. When the doctors inform the patient and/or family that they have done everything that is medically possible and that there is nothing else that they can do, is it realistic to pray for healing?

Has God already spoken and are we praying to change Gods mind or should we be praying to change our minds, not our will but thy will be done. Should we be praying for comfort, and peace, and Gods presence in the times where Gods will is not our will?

There have been too many instances where we have been guilty of attempting to provide unrealistic hope. During this time, one of our supervising pastors in Kansas City had a massive stroke and all of the pastors made our way to the hospital.

As I was going in his room, the nurse said to me that there was nothing else medically that they could do and that they were waiting for his family members to arrive to withdraw treatment. There was minimal brain stem activity and he had already been declared brain dead.

As I went back into the waiting room, the other supervising pastor asked us to come together for prayer. He proceeded to pray for healing and restoration of our colleague, asking God to come against the medical condition and to heal him.

After the prayer, I spoke to him in private and asked had he talked with the wife or medical staff or had he been in the room to see our colleague and he said no to all of the above. When I told him what the nurse had said to me, he apologized for his inappropriate prayer of unrealistic hope.

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Paul, in the text, is addressing the issue of realistic hope that is found in the resurrection. If Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how say some that there is no resurrection (v.12)? If there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is not risen and if Christ is not risen then his preaching and their faith is in vain (vv.13-14).

The hope to which Paul writes is a hope rooted and grounded in the resurrection. Because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, we can face tomorrow. Because He is risen from the dead, all fear is gone. Because Jesus is risen from the dead, life is worth living. It is a hope that provides strength for today.

Whatever we face, or whatever we go through today, we can go through it knowing that God will take it from us or us from it. Either way, its going to get better and work for our good.

Not only is the resurrection hope that Paul writes about strength for today, but it is also security for tomorrow. If only Paul says they have hope in Christ for today, they would be most miserable (v.19). Because Christ is risen, He has become the first fruits of them that are asleep (v.20).

Through one man came death and now through one man came the resurrection from the dead (v.21). In Adam all die, but in Christ, all are made alive (v.22).

In Christ, our future is secure. In a couple of months, I will be 62 years old and eligible for Social Security benefits. When I met with my financial adviser years ago, he said, Reverend, I know you are a man of faith, but for our purposes, lets not include Social Security in our conversation about your future financial needs. It may or may not be there when you need it to be there.

Well, it looks like its going to be there, but that wasnt where my hope was. Ive made some financial provisions and Im still making some provisions. But my hope is not in the financial provisions Ive made. My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus blood and righteousness,

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus name, On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.

The Rev. Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway is the senior pastor of Bethel AME Church in Los Angeles. This article originally appeared in the March 24, 2016 issue of the L.A. Sentinel Religion section.
A heartwrenching story has come to light from United Kingdom where three nurses have been tested positive after they were forced to wear the bin bags due to the shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE). The three nurses were posted in Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. A few days ago, the three had shared a photo of themselves wrapped in clinical waste bags as there was a shortage of masks, gowns, and gloves.



Previously, the hospital also declared an emergency situation after all beds in the hospital were filled with COVID-19 patients.

According to the reports of metro.co.uk, over 50 percent of staff workers on one ward have now been tested positive for coronavirus, the Daily Telegraph reports claimed.

The nurses also told the publication in March that they were forced to use the bin liners as they had no other choice due to the lack of PPE.

One of the nurses also said that they need proper equipment as they were also supposed to treat their colleagues who have also contracted the contagious virus while treating the COVID-19 victims' patients.

She continued: There are so many younger people here on ventilation  many with asthma, or diabetes. They cant stop coughing, they just cough and cough and cough and they cant help it  but theres little we can do apart from trying to help them breathe. Sometimes the body just gives up, and they die. We cant save them. The worst part is that we cant allow their relatives to say goodbye.

The nurse also added that nurses have been wearing a brave smiles, but from inside they were all terrified.

According to the survey conducted by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), around 14.6% of hospital doctors have been tested positive for the ghastly virus.

In a letter to parliamentary health committee chairman Jeremy Hunt, she said: Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment and the slow and small-scale roll-out of COVID-19 testing.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park Hospital, told the Telegraph, We are providing full support to those of our staff members who become unwell, and wish them a swift recovery.

Also Read: Spine-chilling video shows NYC prisoners burying bodies amid coronavirus lockdown
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Linkedin Alistair Smout (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Thu, April 9, 2020 09:32 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0bea17 2 World UK,Britain,COVID-19-rapid-test,COVID-19,coronavirus-prevention,coronavirus-testing,pandemic,health Free

Britain said on Wednesday it aimed to roll-out millions of coronavirus tests in months after criticism that it had moved too slowly on the issue, adding that a partnership with private firms would help it hit 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

The move came after England's Chief Medical Officer conceded on Tuesday that there were lessons to learn from Germany and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab testing said there was "more work to do" on testing.

A British official on Wednesday also said that the government was looking to get its money back after ordering antibody tests which didn't work.

The Department of Health said that a new testing laboratory set up by AstraZeneca, GSK and Cambridge University would aim to carry out 30,000 tests a day by May, and Thermo Fisher would continue to supply the UK with testing kits and aim to scale up manufacturing.

Government testing adviser John Newton said the 100,000 daily test target was feasible, and that 20,000 National Health Service workers had already been tested.

"Testing capacity now is not what we would like, but it is by no means inconsiderable in terms of what we need," Newton told lawmakers on Wednesday.

"We do anticipate that the need will increase dramatically, and therefore we want to get as much testing in place as possible."

Not good enough

The government also said a business consortium had launched plans to develop an antibody test, in order to detect those who have been infected with COVID-19 and therefore had immunity.

But otherwise officials played down the urgency of producing such tests compared to the antigen tests, which establish whether a person has the disease currently.

Health minister Matt Hancock said last week that Britain wanted to buy 17.5 million antibody tests, subject to them working, but none of the tests have proven fit for purpose.

Kathy Hall, director of COVID-19 testing strategy at Department for Health, said that having bought some of the tests already to trial them, the government was now looking to cancel orders and get their money back.

And in a call with diagnostic firms on Wednesday, Hancock focused on how they could help develop antigen testing rather than the antibody tests, according to one participant.

Newton said he did not expect antibody tests to be widely available by the end of April and would not rely on them to contribute to the target, even though some laboratory-based tests were beginning to come on stream.

"They all work, to some extent, but they're just not good enough to rely on," Newton said of the antibody tests.

"Because the requirement for those tests is a little bit down the line, the judgment was made that it's worth taking the time to develop a better antibody test before rolling it out."
Elizabeth Bonilla, a paramedic in New York City, responded to a recent cardiac arrest call for a suspected coronavirus patient in her 70s.

"Practically every call you hear on the radio is a cardiac arrest," Bonilla told NBC News.

The paramedic, who works in the Bronx, said she performed CPR on the woman as her family watched in shock at how quickly she had taken a turn for the worse.

Last week, the governing body for New York City Emergency Medical Services ordered that units could no longer transport cardiac arrest patients to hospitals unless there were signs of life at the scene.

Despite working furiously to revive the woman, eventually, there was nothing more Bonilla and her partner could do.

"We had to pronounce the patient on the floor," she said. "That hurts, because you're leaving them right there in front of their family."

As Bonilla and her partner talked to the family and prepared to leave, the woman's home health aide, who had been crying in the living room, went to the patient and gingerly cleaned her face one last time. The gesture moved Bonilla deeply.

"Every cardiac arrest I go to, I leave very emotional. I cry, because it's real. It's serious," said Bonilla, who has worked as a paramedic for seven years. "People are outside walking around, and they don't see the inside of what we see."

The Fire Department of New York, or FDNY, has registered a staggering increase in calls for cardiac arrest patients as the city saw its count climb to more than 84,000 known cases as of Thursday morning, with more than 4,400 deaths.

Since the coronavirus came to the city, the FDNY has reported a 50 percent daily increase in calls for emergency services. But the number of cardiac arrest calls has been especially grim.

From March 20 to April 5, the agency logged an average of 195 cardiac arrest calls daily, with 129 people dying each day, according to statistics provided to NBC News.

During the same time period last year, the FDNY averaged 65 cardiac arrest calls a day, and 27 of those calls, on average, ended in death, the statistics show.

"Now, in this pandemic, we are seeing more than 300 cardiac arrest calls each day, with well over 200 people dying each day," the FDNY's press office said.

Even more alarming, cardiac arrest patients during this period, which is the most recent for which data are available from the FDNY, wound up dying at an alarming rate of 66 percent, up from about 41 percent in the same period last year.

And the death rate appears to be accelerating. More than half of the 2,192 cardiac arrest deaths resulting from calls during the 17-day period occurred in the first five days of April, according to FDNY statistics.

"The dramatic increase of cardiac arrest calls and deaths from cardiac arrest calls demonstrates the impact suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients are having on 911 and what EMS members are having to respond to every day," a senior FDNY official told NBC News.

Paramedics and EMTs said they were hearing back-to-back cardiac arrest calls, many of which were suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

"I've been to more cardiac arrests than in my whole career," Bonilla said. "One minute the person is fine, and then the next minute the person just collapses."

An EMT who also works in the Bronx said call volumes were extremely high and were a mix of cardiac arrest calls, people with the virus in respiratory distress and people with minor symptoms who were terrified and wanted to go to the hospital. There were also people with unrelated conditions who were afraid to be transported to the hospital for fear of contracting the virus there.

"Everybody's scared," said the EMT, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Michael Greco, vice president of FDNY Local 2507, the union representing EMTs and paramedics, said the virus has completely upended the way they work.

"It's just this perfect storm of pandemic that's making normal operating procedure out the window," he said.

Greco said EMTs and paramedics would need psychological resources to deal with the ongoing toll of responding to patients with the virus. Whereas before they might see a mix of more serious calls and some minor calls, coronavirus cases are overwhelming EMS teams.

"Not only is it just a constant for our members, it's death, it's destruction," he said. "That break is no longer there, so it's putting a strain that nobody's been trained for."

Greco said that in a normal cardiac arrest call, a patient would be seen by about 10 people, including an EMT crew and a paramedic crew.

After 20 minutes without signs of life, they could still set up transport to a hospital to see whether the patient responded to further treatment or call a doctor who could issue new orders or medications to give to the patient.

But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a good chance that only two or at maximum four people will respond to a cardiac arrest call.

"This is the battlefield, wartime triage that we're under," Greco said.

Bonilla described responding to her first confirmed coronavirus call, a man in his 40s who needed oxygen badly.

"That was one of the most devastating jobs that I've done," she said.

"It was almost like looking at the monster face to face," she said. "The way he was gasping for air. The way he was sweating and how hot his skin was. His whole body was shaking."

The crew treated the man and took him to a hospital.

"I thought that he was going to be OK because he was young, but to find out he died the next day, it broke my heart," she said.
A city always bustling with



commercial and socio-cultural activities, Indore has turned into the coronavirus infection hotspot in Madhya Pradesh, and is under curfew for almost a fortnight now.

Ironically, it was ranked the cleanest city in the country for the fourth time in a row last year in the Central government's cleanliness survey. In the last four years the Indore municipal corporation has eliminated garbage dumps and ensured 100 per cent household-waste segregation



Indore has so far recorded as many as 173 COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths resulting from the contagion.

The local administration is facing criticism over its strategy in dealing with the pandemic in the initial stages.

Amulya Nidhi, an activist in health sector, said, "In the beginning the health department focused on screening those who arrived in Indore via Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat after returning from abroad.

"This was a major error of judgment as Indore is a commercial city and thousands of people arrive and leave through railway and road. But such visitors were not screened initially," he said.

The district administration announced lockdown in the city from March 23. After the first coronavirus cases were reported in the city, it imposed a total curfew in the city.

"I feel that in a densely populated city like Indore, lockdown should have been announced from the beginning of March," Nidhi said.

Indore city has a population of over 30 lakh.

Salil Sakalle, head of the medicine department of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College here said, "There is no community transmission-like situation (where the person or the event which could be the source of infection can not be ascertained) in the city.

"Majority of coronavirus cases are coming from a few particular pockets of the city," he said.

Asked about a high number of deaths, Sakalle said, "Most of the patients who succumbed to the disease were admitted to hospitals late, and many were already suffering from other ailments besides COVID-19."



He felt the curfew in the city should be extended beyond April 14, when nationwide lockdown is due to end.

In Taat Patti Bakhal area of Indore, two women doctors were injured recently when a team of health officials was pelted with stones while they were trying to trace a person who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient earlier. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media.

An official said the local administration has made arrangements for home delivery of essential items such as milk, groceries, potatoes and onions so that people need not step out.

When the epidemic began in March, the 15-month-old Congress government led by Kamal Nath was on the verge of collapse. Some observers believe that preparations to deal with the virus outbreak suffered during this period of political uncertainty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian Navy in Kolkata have been battling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and at the same time ensuring proper sanitisation at their base as well as the ships during the current lockdown. Only essential services are being undertaken which includes patrolling and riverfront security.

A system of lean manning has been created so as to ensure social distancing. The unit has trained over 20 personnel from non-medical trades as BattleField Nursing Assistants to support the medical team of the base in their duties. These teams have been working to regularly check the health of service personnel and their families.

Strict measures are in force to ensure proper sanitization of any person entering naval premises. At the entry points to naval premises sanitization facilities have been created additionally thermal guns are being used to detect personnel with fever. All stores that are supplied by vendors at the base are placed aside disinfected and then handled by personnel.

Sanitization teams have been created to undertake constant round the clock sanitation of workspaces and living spaces. Personnel who have returned from leave or duty prior to lockdown have been placed in isolation in specially created wards. Subsequent to lock down, personnel on leave have been told to remain at their leave stations. All temporary and permanent duties have been postponed.

Ships that are presently in Kolkata are in total lockdown with all personnel onboard. Rations are being supplied by INS Netaji Subhas to the ships. These are being delivered on the jetty, sanitized and then taken over by the ships team. A special pre-sailing medical is undertaken on board to ensure all personnel are fit to sail.

Any personnel showing even slightest symptoms is quickly shifted to the isolation ward created at the base ie INS Netaji Subhas and observed for 14 days and tested if required at the Command Hospital. As an additional measure, all personnel and families are wearing masks to ensure reduced risk of contamination. Post lockdown plans have also been formulated to ensure re-commencement of duties in a graduated and safe manner.
IRVINE, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest International, Inc. , the global leading service provider specializing in depot repairs, field services, and supply chain logistics for medical device manufacturers, announced today the expansion of their ISO 13485 certified service infrastructure in response to the surge in demand for the assembly and servicing of ventilators and related critical medical devices due to COVID-19. As the world responds to the ongoing and increasing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the government and the private sector, and the general public are adjusting their operations to "flatten the curve" in hopes of reducing strain on the nation's hospitals and the overall healthcare system.

With the novel coronavirus primarily affecting the lungs, all eyes now are on respirators, ventilators, patient monitoring, and other critical care devices to keep critically ill patients breathing. Earlier in March, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, enlisting private companies to assist with meeting the demands of this national emergency. General Motors has recently converted their Kokomo, Indiana factory to produce ventilators, running 'round the clock to meet this new demand.

The latest projections are predicting that infections in California will peak at the end of April, with many other states even sooner. Hospital ships and cruise ships can make up for the shortage of available bed space, but there will be shortages in respirators and ventilators. Since the infection rate is increasing exponentially, the production of new breathing equipment may not be enough to meet this unprecedented demand; thus, repair and refurbishment of existing respirators and other vital devices will be required.

To address this immediate concern, Quest International has shifted vital team members to focus on the repair and remediation of these breathing devices. "By offering auxiliary assistance to medical device manufacturers, we're hoping to do our part to assist during this global crisis," said Pasha Arshadi, VP, Global Service Solutions.

While Quest offers a full suite of services and solutions for OEMs, the efforts here rely primarily on two key areas, Depot, Field Service and Logistics support to keep a steady supply of functioning equipment to healthcare providers. With global headquarters based in Irvine, California and ancillary service centers across the globe, Quest is working with device manufacturers so that they can send in respirators and other critical medical devices that require repairs, scheduled maintenance, or mandated upgrades. "Our streamlined ISO 13485 certified operations ensure we maintain quality and regulatory compliance standards and allow us to receive the unit, complete service, and ship it much faster with our dedicated teams - minimizing downtime and addressing customer demand," said Arshadi.

About Quest International

Quest International is a leading global post sales service support partner for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across multiple industries including healthcare, industrial, aviation and government. Having served Fortune 500 companies since 1982, Quest brings a renewed focus in meeting the needs of its customers with a robust suite of new services and solution offerings.

Quest's deep industry expertise includes services supporting OEM customers by providing comprehensive services including depot repair and refurbishment, field services, professional services as well as forward & reverse logistics. With global coverage and scalable resources, Quest has end to end capabilities to augment service and operations arm of OEMs to reduce its operating expenses and increase high level of customer experience. Quest is ISO 9001, 13485, 14001 and ANSI/ESD S20.20 registered.

Quest's proactive approach in developing solutions for our customers is a key aspect to our competitive advantage. Quest's project methodology includes identifying and leveraging best practices along with our in-depth systems engineering and technology expertise to ensure budget targets are achieved while ensuring on-time delivery of services. Working closely with our customers to review market trends, develop new or enhanced services and understanding market competitiveness Quest enables our customer to provide best in class customer services resulting in high customer satisfaction ratings.

Media Inquiries:

Angela Shelley

[email protected]

(949) 380-6765

SOURCE Quest International, Inc.

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NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has been fined $1,000

NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has been fined $1,000 after he was found staying at his Central Coast holiday home and breaching coronavirus restrictions.

The coalition frontbencher was spotted on Wednesday afternoon at his million-dollar Pearl Beach house which is more than an hour's drive from his east Sydney primary residence.

NSW Police said it would investigate with Commissioner Mick Fuller noting there is photographic evidence of another person in his home.

Officers spoke with the 55-year-old on Thursday and he was issued with a $1,000 fine via email just before 9pm, NSW Police later said in a statement.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian defied calls to sack the MP but on Thursday told him to return to his Sydney apartment - acknowledging the 'perception is horrible'.

'It's not just about sticking to the rules, it's about making sure there's a perception that everybody is sticking to the rules including members of parliament,' the premier told reporters.

She said she became aware of his change of residence a few days ago, despite Mr Harwin travelling back to Sydney for a medical consultation and parliamentary sitting on March 24.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Thursday, April 9. She defied calls to sack the MP

But Ms Berejiklian is adamant Mr Harwin didn't break the rules because he relocated on March 13 before state COVID-19 regulations came into effect on March 17.

Not wanting to 'cause a distraction', Mr Harwin confirmed he'd arrived back in Sydney in a statement on Thursday.

He apologised to the premier and the NSW community but insisted he had sought official advice to adhere to the public health order.

Mr Fuller said the restrictions are in place to protect the lives of people in NSW.

'No one individual or corporation is above these laws - anyone suspected of breaching the orders will be investigated and if a breach is detected, they will be dealt with in accordance with the act,' he said in a statement.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Harwin rejected he was a 'tourist' and claimed he had spent most of the past four months at Pearl Beach.

Pearl Beach (pictured) is a popular tourist spot on the New South Wales Central Coast

The 55-year-old said he had chosen to move out of Sydney for health reasons as someone with a history of respiratory problems.

But The Daily Telegraph reported Mr Harwin strongly argued against government plans to ban holidays during a Cabinet meeting.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro excused himself from the meeting after declaring he had a conflict of interest because he owned an Airbnb property.

Five ministers claimed Mr Harwin did not say he had a conflict of interest during the meeting, despite advertising his 1.3million property for $515 per night online.

'There was a heated exchange between (Planning Minister Rob) Stokes and Harwin when Stokes was pushing a crackdown,' someone in the meeting said.

'It really surprised me, I couldn't understand why. Now I understand why he was so strident.'

Police checkpoints are set up at the New South Wales/Queensland border to prevent non essential travel between the two states

Mr Harwin said he normally rented the property out but couldn't due to the bushfires and COVID-19.

His spokesperson declined to comment on why the minister didn't speak up about his conflict of interest during the meeting.

NSW Labor is calling on Mr Harwin to resign or, failing that, for the premier to step in and relieve him of his ministerial duties.

'He's been selfish and he should be brought to account,' Shadow Arts Minister Walt Secord told reporters.

Mr Secord believes Mr Harwin - the head of the NSW Liberals' left faction - is being protected as a 'factional ally' of Ms Berejiklian.

New South Wales police is urging residents to stay home this Easter Long Weekend

'Anyone else would have been shown the door,' he said.

'She should do the right thing, show leadership and toss him out.'

Ms Berejiklian, however, said she wasn't inclined to sack a minister on the basis of a potential fine but would wait for police to first establish the facts.

'If someone is shown to act in a way which is against the ministerial code or against the laws of this state, of course I'll take action,' Ms Berejiklian said.

It comes as the state government continues to urge the public against all non-essential travel to regional NSW towns, especially over the Easter long weekend.

Breaching social distancing guidelines in NSW could result in fines up to $11,000, six months in jail or a hefty $1,000 on-the-spot fine.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enerflex Ltd. (EFX.TO) (Enerflex or the Company or we or our) announces that it will now hold its upcoming annual and special meeting of shareholders (the Meeting) on May 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. (MDT) in a virtual-only format whereby shareholders may attend and participate in the Meeting via live audio webcast. The Meeting was previously scheduled to be held at the corporate offices of Enerflex in Calgary. The originally scheduled date and time for the Meeting remain unchanged.



In response to the rapidly evolving global COVID-19 public health emergency and recent public health orders requiring the cancellation of public gatherings, the Meeting will now be held in a virtual-only meeting format, conducted via live audio webcast. Shareholders will no longer be able to physically attend the Meeting, however through the virtual-only format all shareholders, regardless of geographic location and the number of common shares they own, will have an equal opportunity to participate at the Meeting and engage with representatives of the Company and other shareholders.

Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders will be able to attend the Meeting, ask questions and securely vote, all in real time, online at https://web.lumiagm.com/149509820 . Non-registered shareholders (being shareholders who hold their Enerflex common shares through a broker, investment dealer, bank, trust company, custodian, nominee or other intermediary) who have not duly appointed themselves as proxyholder will be able to attend the Meeting as guests, but guests will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting.

The timing and process for voting by proxy remains unchanged, and we urge shareholders to vote and submit their proxy in advance of the Meeting by one of the methods described in Enerflexs proxy materials. Shareholders are reminded that completed proxy forms must be received no later than 10:30 a.m. (MDT) on May 6, 2020. Note that the proxy or voting information instruction form included with the Meeting materials will not be updated to reflect the change in Meeting location and may continue to be used to vote shares.

Story continues

Full details on how to attend and vote at the virtual Meeting and other general proxy matters are available in the attached document entitled Attending and Voting at the Virtual Webcast, which is also available on www.enerflex.com under the Investors section.

About Enerflex

Enerflex Ltd. is a single source supplier of natural gas compression, oil and gas processing, refrigeration systems, and electric power generation equipment  plus related engineering and mechanical service expertise. The Companys broad in-house resources provide the capability to engineer, design, manufacture, construct, commission, operate, and service hydrocarbon handling systems. Enerflexs expertise encompasses field production facilities, compression and natural gas processing plants, gas lift compression, refrigeration systems, and electric power equipment servicing the natural gas production industry.

Headquartered in Calgary, Canada, Enerflex has approximately 2,400 employees worldwide. Enerflex, its subsidiaries, interests in associates and joint-ventures operate in Canada, the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Enerflexs shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX. For more information about Enerflex, go to www.enerflex.com .

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Marc Rossiter Sanjay Bishnoi Stefan Ali President & Chief Executive Officer Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Director, Investor Relations Tel: 403.387.6325 Tel: 403.236.6857 Tel: 403.717.4953

Attending and Voting at the Virtual Webcast

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders  Virtual Webcast

May 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. (MDT)



The annual and special meeting of shareholders (the Meeting) of Enerflex Ltd. (Enerflex or the Company) has been transitioned to a virtual-only format due to the rapidly evolving global COVID-19 public health emergency and recent public health orders requiring the cancellation of public gatherings. The Meeting will be held at the originally scheduled date and time, on May 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. (MDT), however it will now be conducted in a virtual-only format whereby registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders may attend and participate virtually via live audio webcast at https://web.lumiagm.com/149509820 .





How to Attend the Virtual Only Meeting

Attending the Meeting online enables registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders to participate, ask questions and vote at the Meeting, all in real time. Guests, including non-registered shareholders who have not duly appointed themselves as proxyholder, can log in and listen to the Meeting but are not able to vote or ask questions.

Step 1: Log in online at https://web.lumiagm.com/149509820 . We recommend that you log in at least one hour before the Meeting starts.

Step 2: Follow these instructions:

Registered shareholders: Click I have a control number and then enter your 13-digit control number and password Enerflex2020 (case sensitive). The control number located on the form of proxy or in the email notification you received from AST Trust Company (Canada) is your control number.

Duly appointed proxyholders: Click I have a control number and then enter your 13-digit control number and password Enerflex2020 (case sensitive). Proxyholders who have been duly appointed and registered with AST Trust Company (Canada) as described below will receive a control number by email from AST Trust Company (Canada) after the proxy voting deadline has passed.

Guests: Click Guest and then complete the online form.

If you attend the Meeting online, it is important that you are connected to the internet at all times during the Meeting in order to vote when balloting commences. It is your responsibility to ensure connectivity for the duration of the Meeting. You should allow ample time to check into the Meeting online and complete the related procedure.

How to Vote Prior to the Meeting

Before the Meeting, shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 18, 2020 may vote by completing the form of proxy or voting instruction form in accordance with the instructions provided therein. Completed proxy forms must be received no later than 10:30 a.m. (MDT) on May 6, 2020. Non-registered shareholders should carefully follow all instructions provided by their intermediaries to ensure that their Enerflex common shares are voted at the Meeting. For additional details on how to vote by proxy before the Meeting, please refer to section Shareholder and Voting Information of Enerflexs management information circular dated March 9, 2020 (the Circular). For details on the matters to be voted on, please refer to section Business of the Meeting  of the Circular.

How to Vote at the Meeting

Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxyholders (including non-registered shareholders who have duly appointed themselves as proxyholder) that attend the Meeting online will be able to vote by completing a ballot online during the Meeting through the live webcast platform.

If you use your control number to log in to the Meeting, any vote you cast at the Meeting will revoke any proxy you previously submitted. If you do not wish revoke a previously submitted proxy, you should not vote during the Meeting.

Guests (including non-registered shareholders who have not duly appointed themselves as proxyholder) can log in and listen to the Meeting but will not be able to vote during the Meeting.

How to Appoint a Proxyholder

Shareholders who wish to appoint a third-party proxyholder other than the named Enerflex proxy nominees to represent them at the Meeting must submit their form of proxy or voting instruction form (as applicable) appointing that third-party proxyholder AND that proxyholder must register with AST Trust Company (Canada), as described below. Please ensure that the person you appoint is aware that he or she has been appointed. The appointee should then register as described below.

Registering of the proxyholder is an additional step to be completed AFTER you have submitted your form of proxy or voting instruction form. Failure to register the proxyholder will result in the proxyholder not receiving a control number that is required for them to vote at the Meeting.

Step 1: Submit your form of proxy or voting instruction form.

To appoint a third-party proxyholder, insert such persons name in the blank space provided in the form of proxy or voting instruction form and follow the instructions therein for submitting such proxy or voting instruction form. This must be completed prior to registering such proxyholder, which is an additional step to be completed once you have submitted your form of proxy or voting instruction form.

Step 2: Proxyholder Registration

The proxyholder must contact AST Trust Company (Canada) at (866) 751-6315 (in North America) or (212) 235-5754 by 10:30 a.m. (MDT) on May 6, 2020 (or, if the Meeting is adjourned or postponed, not less than 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before the time and date of the adjourned or postponed Meeting), and provide AST Trust Company (Canada) with the required proxyholder contact information so that AST Trust Company (Canada) may provide the proxyholder with a control number via email. Without a control number, proxyholders will not be able to vote or ask questions at the Meeting but will be able to participate as a guest.

If you are a non-registered shareholder and wish to vote yourself at the Meeting, you have to insert your own name in the space provided on the voting instruction form sent to you by your intermediary, follow all of the applicable instructions provided by your intermediary AND register yourself as your proxyholder with AST Trust Company (Canada), as described above. By doing so, you are instructing your intermediary to appoint you as proxyholder. It is important that you comply with the signature and return instructions provided by your intermediary.

Failing of the proxyholder to register with AST Trust Company (Canada) will result in the proxyholder not receiving a control number, which is required to vote at the Meeting.

Non-registered shareholders who have not duly appointed themselves as proxyholder will not be able to vote at the Meeting but will be able to participate as guests.

General Proxy Matters

For additional information regarding submissions of forms of proxy and voting instructions forms before the Meeting, the voting deadline, how to revoke proxies and other general proxy matters, please refer to the section Shareholder and Voting Information of the Circular. Shareholders with questions, including regarding attending the virtual Meeting or voting, can also contact AST Trust Company (Canada) at:
A Delhi man who had attended a Tablighi Jamaat conference was allegedly thrashed earlier this week after some people accused him of spreading coronavirus, police said

New Delhi: A man who had returned to his village in Bawana in northwest Delhi after attending a Tablighi Jamaat conference in Bhopal was allegedly thrashed earlier this week after some people accused him of spreading COVID-19, police said.

Three people - Naveen, Prashant and Promod - have been arrested for allegedly beating the 22-year-old, who is recovering from his injuries in a hospital, police officials said.

It was earlier erroneously reported by PTI that the man had died after being thrashed.

Mehboob Ali, a resident of Harewali village in Bawana, had gone to Bhopal for a Tablighi Jamaat conference, officials said. He was there for 45 days and returned to the national capital in a truck carrying vegetables.

He got off at the Azadpur vegetable market on Sunday where a medical examination was conducted to check for symptoms of COVID-19. He left for his village after that.

Click here for LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

When he reached there, rumour spread that he had plans to spread COVID-19.

He was thrashed in the fields and later rushed to a hospital, a senior police official said.

He was admitted to the LNJP Hospital in Delhi as a coronavirus suspect.

Ali is stable and doing fine at the isolation centre and there are no coronavirus symptoms till date, police said.

The Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin markaz has become a hotspot for coronavirus not only in the national capital but also across the country.
michelle goldberg

Im Michelle Goldberg.

ross douthat

Im Ross Douthat.

frank bruni

Im David Leonhardt. Just kidding. Im Frank Bruni, your new host, and this is The Argument. [MUSIC PLAYING] This week, how should the media cover the White House news briefings?

michelle goldberg

Yeah, you cover it, but you dont air the whole thing live.

frank bruni

Then, learning how much we need to be together, just when were told to be apart.

ross douthat

I think we all have to have a certain amount of tolerance for the reality that youre just going to bump up against the limits.

frank bruni

And finally, a recommendation.

archived recording (donald trump) OK, thank you very much. Good to be with you all. Were in a very critical phase of our war against the coronavirus. Its vital that every American follows our guidelines on the 30 days to slow the spread.

frank bruni

The daily White House briefings are a news staple these days. The president shows up regularly, and so do members of the coronavirus task force. Its a sharp turn from about nine months ago, when the president instructed a new White House press secretary to stop the longstanding daily briefings. Some news organizations have been airing them live without any real-time fact checking or correction, and some of the information from the briefings has been flatly irresponsible and just plain wrong.

archived recording (donald trump) Because of all weve done, the risk to the American people remains very low. Dont do anything, just ride it out, and think of it as the flu.

frank bruni

Were recording this on Tuesday, when we just got word that someone connected to the task force tested positive for the coronavirus. So its possible the briefings could change. Meantime, though, theres an ongoing debate about the responsible way to cover them. The New York Times and the Washington Post are temporarily boycotting the briefings, while others see it as their duty to air pretty much any public statement the president makes right now. Ross, I want to start with you. Which side are you on?

ross douthat

Well, first, Frank, its great to be here with you for your first solo episode of The Argument. I just wanted to  wanted to get that out of the way first. And youre doing amazingly so far. [LAUGHTER] You sound just like David. Its terrific.

frank bruni

I practiced. I practiced.

ross douthat

So  yeah, so I, fairly predictably, think that all of the angst over how to cover these briefings is a little bit pointless. Weve spent a lot of time in the Trump presidency with people lamenting and/or making jokes about the fact that not only does Trump not give a lot of press conferences, but he has a press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who doesnt give press conferences either, doesnt do a daily briefing. And now Grisham has, in fact, left the job to rejoin Melania Trumps team without having ever done a daily briefing. So if our complaint is that the Trump White House, you know, isnt available to the press, everyone should be very excited that the president is there every day, you know, taking questions, yelling at the media, acting ridiculous, acting completely like himself, and mixed in with that, there are, you know, some people who actually know what theyre talking about giving briefings on the virus. And I think you have to cover it. I dont think  I dont think Trump is stealing any bases from anybody or, you know, pulling the wool over anyones eyes by being on TV for an hour every day. Whats the cost of covering that? Do I have to cover it?

michelle goldberg

OK, so Ross, this argument that you made, it reminded me of the argument that people made about Trumps handling of North Korea, right? Like, first he threatens to obliterate them in a fiery genocide, and people dont like that. And then he declares that hes, you know, in love with Kim Jong-un and gives him a tongue bath [LAUGHTER] and kind of has these ridiculous summits, and people say, well, what? You dont like this either? I mean there is a huge middle ground between a press secretary that only goes on Fox News and these daily kind of two-hour perseverations that Trump treats himself to, because he knows that hes going to get non-stop coverage. In retrospect, a lot of us, I think, understand that cable channels made a huge mistake by covering non-stop Trumps rallies in 2016 and that he probably wouldnt be president today if they hadnt gone for these kind of easy rating grabs by just putting him on and seeing what outrageous thing he was going to say. So the problem with what Trump is doing now is that he basically he cant do his rallies anymore, but he knows there is a way for him to grab, and not just an hour, you know, two hours, sometimes more, of national air time. You know, hes basically laughing that this is a way for him to dominate the public conversation, you know, for him to kind of ensure that it all revolves around him, and to crowd out his enemies. Theres no reason that any news network should be going along with it. Yeah, you cover it, but you dont air the whole thing live.

frank bruni

Ross, so are there no parameters you would draw around this? You said you have to cover these, you know, because its the president. Does that mean you have to cover them if it goes to three hours, to four hours? Does that mean you have to cover them, even if mostly what youre hearing is misinformation? Are there not parameters to be drawn about that notion of having to cover it?

ross douthat

I mean, look, its a free country. You dont have to cover it at all. But Im pretty familiar with whats on cable news at any given hour of the day, and I can assure you that the President of the United States taking questions from the press and talking about the virus ravaging the country, with the misinformation and ridiculousness, is way more newsworthy and interesting than almost any other two-hour block of cable news programming that youre likely to see. So it just  it just seems to me, you know, yes, there are going to be moments where Trump is going to use it to preempt Joe Biden, which would also be newsworthy. But most of the time, you know, this is  I mean this isnt even happening in primetime, right?

michelle goldberg

Well, sometimes theyll stretch it out to primetime, right? Hell start at 5:00, but then hell do  or maybe not primetime, but hell do an hour of something else first to sort of get into the dinner hour.

ross douthat

Right. No, I mean look, I dont dispute what youre saying about how Trump imagines himself using this, Michelle. And I completely agree with you about the irresponsibility of CNN and Fox just sort of taking his rallies live for hours at a time in the Republican primary in 2016. But back then, he was just a rich celebrity candidate for president. Today, he is, in fact, you know, for better or worse, the most powerful person in the United States in the midst of a global epidemic and a transformational moment in our history. I mean I guess, to Franks point, I think you can do all kinds of things as context. You know, you can have people  you can have your anchors and your reporters saying all kinds of things. You have actual journalists in the room who are tangling with him. I guess my assumption is, watching it, that its different from his rallies. Hes not just doing a stream of consciousness speech in front of a rapt audience. He is sharing the stage with experts who sometimes get in sort of very public quasi-confrontations with him, which is certainly newsworthy, and hes taking questions from reporters that are often good questions, which lead him to yell at reporters. And this  I mean this doesnt seem to me like a grand infomercial for Trump. It seems like a way for him to, in certain ways, not be able to make the case that he needs to make to be re-elected, which is that Joe Biden is senile and corrupt or something. Hes just out there every day displaying his incapacity in the midst of a crisis, and frankly, I kind of think Biden should welcome it. I think a Trump interview at this moment is much better for Biden than a Joe Biden town hall.

michelle goldberg

Although, well, so the part of that that I agree with is that you see Biden pretty immediately taking some of these clips, particularly some of Trumps really contemptuous back and forth at Yamiche Alcindor. You know, he doesnt like being questioned by women. He really doesnt like being questioned by black women. And so she kind of asks him these very cool neutral questions, and he goes bananas. And then, you know, just a few hours later, there are ads for Joe Biden. So fair enough, right? Trump gets to go up there and display who he is. But again, these things are not just about the coronavirus. And so part of what Im saying is that when he does an hour on something else, a press conference that, in the normal course of events, news stations would not preempt their normal coverage to do, they shouldnt be doing it here either.

frank bruni

Because apart from the whole question of whether he is making a fool of himself in the course of this hour or over two hours sometimes, hes putting out a great deal of misinformation. I mean given that television stations havent figured out a way to do what we in the print media do  and we do real-time online corrections of State of the Union addresses, of debate statements given that TV stations havent figured out a way to do that, should they really be covering these things in full? Should they be cutting away? Should they not cover them in full until they figure out how to let misinformation be corrected right away so it doesnt stick?

ross douthat

Well, Frank, let me turn  Im going to turn the question back on you, because unlike certain pundits who spent their whole careers just opining, mostly me, youve actually been a White House correspondent. Youre in charge of the New York Times coverage, lets say. Whats your approach? Or maybe youre in charge of CNNs coverage.

frank bruni

Well, one of the reasons Im not in charge of the Times or CNNs coverage is because Im sort of humble about these things, and I recognize theres no perfect decision, and I dont want to be the one to make that final decision. But I think in this instance, the New York Times and the Washington Post have both done the right thing, because Trump is using the reporters in that room as mere props. Hes getting into theatrical sparring matches with them, and to their credit, many of them are asking very good questions. But its in vain, because if he doesnt like the question, he just basically rants at them and moves on. He even chides them for not saying nicer things. I watched Monday nights news briefing very carefully. And what I heard was President Trump spending so much time talking about the good job hes doing and the good jobs that everyone around him were doing that I wondered how they had any time to do these good jobs when theyre standing up there bathing in their good jobness for so very long. I heard him go off on people in government whom hes still convinced are trying to undermine him. I mean I heard self-pity. I heard self-aggrandizement. I did not hear much that was that constructive. And I also heard and this happens night after night after night, and this is why I think these briefings are dangerous I heard a lot of false hope being given about therapies in the pipeline, about vaccines. To hear him talk, were right on the cusp of conquering this thing, and were not. I mean, dont we need to be a little bit more discriminating about what we let come through our megaphones via the president? I dont know. Michelle, am I crazy?

michelle goldberg

Yeah, no, I think absolutely. Its not just that he is going to manipulate this crisis to get a chance to stand up there and play president. Its also that hes going to give people false information about matters of life and death. And you know, Ross, you might say  I mean you have a column saying, well, the experts dont know that much than the rest of us, when it comes to this  nevertheless, the fact that you have Trump, and now his whole army of sycophants promoting this anti-malarial drug, which, you know, whatever might, indeed, have promise. But nobody really knows right now how much promise it has.

frank bruni

Hes not  President Trump is not only talking about that drug. He is talking about all of these strides being made so quickly, and hes basically, I think, if you listen to him credulously, giving the impression that science is going to tackle this at any moment. And my question to you, Ross and Michelle, is if hes doing that, is that not at odds with motivating people to keep doing the social distancing thats also being recommended? Is that not at odds with motivating them to practice the kinds of behavior that will bend the curve?

michelle goldberg

Well, by him telling you, him basically going up there and saying, well, yeah, Im not going to wear a mask. Its optional. This is the exact opposite of the message, and you can say that theres been, as you, yourself, Ross, have written that there have been a lot of expert screw-ups in the mass guidance up until now. But it seems that all kinds of people who know what theyre doing are coalescing around the idea that we should all be wearing masks, you know, except for our president, whos too vain to do it, but hes not going to admit that thats not why hes doing it. And so hes basically

ross douthat

Well, he basically admitted that, right? He said, it wouldnt look good behind the Resolute desk.

frank bruni

We started this by talking about the briefings and what kind of attention the media did or didnt owe them. Let me make a proposal. Let me ask you two if you think something like this could work. What about if the media limited their coverage of each of these briefings to an hour, and then moved on and then went to a panel that talked about what was said and what  what meant something and what was wrong? For starters, I think if the media cut away for an hour, wouldnt Trump start shortening them?

michelle goldberg

Yeah, I mean the trick is that, like I said, hell sometimes do the extraneous part first. So I think they just shouldnt cut into it until hes actually speaking about something newsworthy. But then, yeah, of course, they should. Of course, they should limit it, and, of course, they should contextualize it and fact check it.

ross douthat

Well, I just think the limit runs into the problem of, one, as Michelle said, if you have Dr. Fauci out there in hour two, youre actually going to want to cut back to it. But two, again, Trump I continue to think that theres this distinct difference between the rallies and this moment in that Trump actually wields immense power in this situation. I dont think hes capable of executing it particularly well, but he is an incredibly powerful person in the midst of a crisis. And so how hes handling that, you know, youre getting a view of how hes handling and thinking about it in these conferences. The fact that he says this stuff about the masks and so on, the fact that hes touting these particular drugs, this is all, you know, again, more newsworthy than almost anything that you could air live. And you know, the media business is  its just  I think it puts too much weight on producers at CNN to say that were going to sort of choose exactly which moment to cut in and cut out and so on. So by all means, at the end of the press conference, have your panel of experts, have Sanjay Gupta say, you know, this was a terrible thing the president said. But I dont think there is some structural way that you can solve the problem of newsworthiness and the problem of Trump at the same time.

frank bruni

OK, lets stop there. When we come back from the break, well talk about being alone together. Well be right back. [MUSIC PLAYING, PARK SOUNDS] Every spring, Fort Greene Park comes alive. There are kids and dog walkers and soccer parents all claiming a small bit of Brooklyn greenery. But this weekend, just as the weather warmed, an enormous red sign popped up at the park entrance. On it, theres a big white arrow, six feet long, and the message, Keep this far apart. Social distancing is a kind of brand new oxymoron, and people, it seems, are figuring out their own interpretations. For some, social distancing means going to a park with friends but keeping a strict six feet away from them. For me, it means that I dont see my aunts and uncles, but I do see my siblings, though, first, I grill them to make sure theyve been as quasi-quarantined as I have. It seems that were all making our own calculations about how careful is careful enough. Extreme social distancing is clearly the best strategy to stay physically healthy, but at some point, weve got to factor in our emotional health, too. Michelle, I want to start with you. How strict are you being about social distancing?

michelle goldberg

So I think this is a difficult thing to talk about, because there is so much  theres so  theres such intense judgmentalism about it, and I understand it, because its one of those situations where peoples propensity to break the rules doesnt just endanger them. It sort of endangers the whole community. And so what weve done and I hesitate to I hesitate to say this, because I  you know, I just was  obviously, Im not the President of the United States, but we were  I was just kind of criticizing the president for setting a bad example. And I think that one reason that I hear a lot of people speaking quietly about what theyre doing but not saying so publicly is because, you know, you dont want to sound like youre giving people permission or an excuse to flout the rules. Nevertheless, what Ive done and what a lot of people I know have done is team up with another family. And so we were quarantined separately by ourselves for two weeks, and now were all  were in two adjoining houses in the country together. Its not going to last indefinitely, but its been  its at least taken some of the pressure off having both  other parents to share the burden and another kid for my kids to play with.

frank bruni

Ross, what about you?

ross douthat

You know, were in a similar boat to Michelle in that we have three children home, and we have the extra excitement of a fourth child apparently going to be born in two weeks. And then we have the extra extra excitement of maybe but maybe not having actually had this. So in certain ways, weve been very strict. We havent seen anybody or sort of done anything remotely social. We keep our distance from neighbors and so on. I havent seen my father or my sister, who are both in state, since any of this started. And we have sort of careful contact with our respective  the grandmothers on both sides of the family, who seem to have had the same illness that we had. So presumably, our  if we did have it, were all in the same boat. But its a very  I dont know. I mean, I dont think theres anything remotely wrong with what youre doing, Michelle. I mean I assume that you guys were generally pretty careful about who you saw in the time before you blended your families. You know, I think we all have to have a certain amount of tolerance and, you know, tolerance for the reality that youre just going to bump up against the limits of how exactly, how distanced you can be. And were also  you know, youre sort of well outside New York now, Michelle, I know. And were in New Haven in a neighborhood thats pretty walkable and has freestanding homes, and we can drive to the emptier state parks and so on. But Frank, youre in New York, right? I mean, it seems to me that this is like  this is hardest on people in dense urban environments, right?

frank bruni

Well, Im actually  yeah, Im actually in the suburbs of New York, but going through a lot of the same calculations I think that you two are. Im here because Im taking care of an 84-year-old father, and his age is very much on my mind. At 84, hes someone who, if he got this virus, might have an experience with it that would be pretty harsh. And so Im calibrating all my actions and filtering all my actions through the question of, if I got infected, what would happen to him? Im his caretaker right now. And Michelle, its so interesting you talk about making choices that other people might not agree with or everyone having to be very personal about this. My dads birthday is this week. Hes turning 85, which is a sort of milestone birthday. And it kills me and my siblings that hes celebrating that birthday virtually  almost alone. And weve made the decision that my sister, because she has been super careful, and its just one person, she is going to come. Shes going to bring food, and she and I will celebrate with him so hes not having the umpteenth meal with just me alone. Is that a little bit of a risk? I guess so. But where do you find that sweet spot between continuing to live a life and living in a bubble?

michelle goldberg

Well to me  this is what Im interested in is that, I mean, I think its entirely possible that most people listening to this podcast are stronger and have more fortitude than I do. But I also think that this kind of life is not sustainable for anyone, and some people might be able to last longer than others. But especially if you have little kids. I mean on my social media feeds, I see people without children furious at people with children, who are letting them play on jungle gyms, because you dont know who else touched that. And I just think theres several times a week where I feel like I would happily risk, at least for myself, the most horrific physical consequences to have kind of five-minute respite from the pressure of this. And so its hard for me to judge anyone else who takes those opportunities. It just seems, you know, again, especially my experiences with children, caring for children, not caring for parents, and so the pressures and responsibilities are a little bit different.

ross douthat

Frank, how much are you going out?

frank bruni

Im trying to go out as little as possible. But living in this area  Im glad you asked that, Ross, because living in this area, its interesting. Today was a good example of this. Were out of some staples, grocery-wise. My father likes his cereal every morning, and hes almost out of his Lactaid milk. And I tried a gazillion ways last night to find delivery, and because this is the New York metropolitan area, it was not doable. And then I went out this morning with a makeshift mask and gloves, and I even had some wipes with me. And I went to two different supermarkets both just as they were opening, and in each case, the lines were so long outside that if Id gone grocery shopping, I might not be here recording the argument with the two of you.

michelle goldberg

Wow.

frank bruni

So Dads going to have to eat eggs tomorrow morning, and Im going to begin the hunt, the forage for groceries again. I mentioned it just because I think everybody is trying to be really good and coming up, depending on where they live, against circumstances that make that super difficult. And Michelle, you used a great word before that I wanted to hear both of you talk a little bit more about, which was judgmentalism. You know, were now told we should wear masks when Ive been out, which is not much, most people have. Some people havent. Are there situations in which the two of you have found yourselves judging the way other people are responding or situations in which you felt judged?

michelle goldberg

I mean I feel judged, because I feel like were sort of breaking the rules with what were doing. And I also feel just like a little bit guilty  not a little bit guilty. I feel tremendously guilty at my sort of inability to cope. And so Im not judging other people. Im just Im feeling like I see people, particularly on social media, doing all these crafts and baking bread. And my god, I just 

ross douthat

Sourdough starter.

michelle goldberg

 and talking about how they feel in this moment like a sense of pause or deeper connection. And you know, I have a lot of advantages, and Im still just absolutely climbing the walls desperate for the resumption of civilization. And I feel pretty guilty about how relatively badly Im coping. I dont usually  in the past, I dont usually compare my real life to other peoples social media feeds. But theres something about this moment where I just feel like I am failing on so many different levels as a teacher, as a parent, as a citizen, that I cant help but kind of judge myself against everybody elses public presentation.

frank bruni

Could you guys see something like  this may sound like a strange question, but I found myself wondering if handshaking as a form of greeting might start to fade away. Well get past this pandemic, but thats always going to be a way in which something can be transmitted. Will the elbow bump replace the handshake, and how do we feel about that?

ross douthat

I think itll go away. I think handshaking will lag other forms of reconnection, so Ill be sitting in my coffee shop again before Im shaking hands again. But I miss the handshake, too. Handshakes are good, you know. Like, pressing the flesh. We developed it for a reason. And, you know, I think its like masks, right? People will  it will become much more normal to wear a mask on a trans  you know, on a long plane flight in the Western world now than it was. And people will continue to do that, I think, well after this has passed. But I also think  I dont expect everyone to be wearing masks in airports in a year and a half. And I expect people to be shaking hands again.

frank bruni

Whats one small thing thats gone away, for now, that you miss most?

ross douthat

Hmm, thats a good question. I mean, I think that  I mean this is not a small thing, but this is what my wife and I joke about, and this is like how Michelle feels, too. But making lunches for my children  you know, every school morning, its like, oh, Ive got to cut the sandwiches and figure out the little carrots and this sort of faux gourmet lunch thing. And yeah, and so that  I miss that. I miss  I miss that, in part, because its a sign that youre getting the kids out of the house, which doesnt happen anymore.

frank bruni

Ill tell you what I miss, guys. I never realized until this happened how many people in my life  friends in the office  I would hug hello. I never  it never occurred to me  it never  until those hugs went away. And I think  I wonder if that sort of physical contact is going to be forever altered or at least altered for a long time because of the caution were all feeling.

michelle goldberg

I dont know. I wonder you know, its funny. For a different piece I wrote, I spoke to someone who wrote a book about pandemic psychology. And I was asking about different ways that the world would change and different ways that people are traumatized by quarantine. One of the things he said to me is that you would be surprised how quickly people forget. And I mean, I think  I could be wrong, but I feel like Ive seen some writing about why theres so little  theres so few books or so kind of  so little memorialization of the 1918 influenza. And I wonder if thats part of it, that its like theres no kind of heroic battles to memorialize. Theres nothing to really feel nostalgic about. Its just something you want to move past. [MUSIC PLAYING]

frank bruni

Before we head to our recommendations, we want to hear from you. How are you interpreting and practicing social distancing? Are you missing human contact or secretly enjoying the solitude? Leave us a voicemail at 347-915-4324.

michelle goldberg

Now its time for our weekly recommendation, where we suggest something to help take your mind off the unfolding apocalypse. Frank, since its your first full week on the show, what do you have?

frank bruni

Michelle, my recommendation, which is geared but not limited to this chapter of sheltering in place, is a kind of board game, one that I guess has been around for about five years, but I just stumbled across it recently. It involves two teams and can be played by a total of four people or eight people, but its probably best with about six people. And those group sizes seem, to me, to apply to many families and even groups of friends whove been locked down together for one, two, or three, or four weeks now, like the way your situation is, Michelle. The game is called Codenames, and thats spelled 

michelle goldberg

Oh, thats funny!

frank bruni

You know it.

michelle goldberg

So Ive never played it, but I actually have a group of friends that we all go on vacation together every summer. And the kids always play it, but Ive never played it with them.

frank bruni

You should play it, because I think  well, one of the things great about it is I think it can accommodate any skill level, but it definitely works super well for adults. Its basically you have a grid of 25 cards in a 5 by 5 configuration, and it gets a little  its complicated to explain in this format but very easy to play once you get going. But basically, its about figuring out which words connect in which ways and how to give clues so that your team picks out their cards and not the opposing teams cards. And its just  you know, very few games hit that sweet spot between cerebral and accessible. This is one of them.

michelle goldberg

OK, I will absolutely get it, because I am really, really sick of Uno and Monopoly, which are the two games that we were playing over and over and over again.

ross douthat

So we have  regular listeners may know when I think David has recommended board games in the past, so youre continuing a sterling tradition, Frank. But my oldest daughter has not yet really learned to lose, so weve sort of struggled to become a board game family. But she has actually become  I have  my homeschooling curriculum involved teaching my 7-year-old and 9-year-old daughter to poker over the last week. And the 9-year-old has become obsessed with poker to a point where shes willing to  you have to play enough games with her, so she wins some of the time, but shes willing to lose. So maybe this is the tipping point where we can adopt board games, too.

frank bruni

Ross, Ross, are you telling me that youre teaching your children to gamble?

ross douthat

I mean, look, in the post-COVID economy, I think high stakes professional poker is probably going to be really the only  you know, I mean its going to be the only  it might maybe the only sport to survive, because you can do it remotely.

frank bruni

I had a very different moral assessment of you, Ross, a very different one.

ross douthat

Therell be no World Series, but therell be a World Series of Poker, so I think this is a good investment.

michelle goldberg

So Frank, what is the recommendation again?

frank bruni

The recommendation is a kind of board game called Codenames, and thats one word, Codenames. [MUSIC PLAYING] Thats our show this week. Thanks so much for listening. Leave us a voicemail at 347-915-4324. You can also email us at argument@nytimes.com. And if you like what you hear, leave us a rating or review at Apple Podcasts. This weeks show was produced by James T Green for Transmitter Media and edited by Sara Nics. Our executive producer is Gretta Cohn. We had help from Tyson Evans, Phoebe Lett, Michele Teodori, and Ian Prasad Philbrick. Our theme was composed by Allison Leyton-Brown. Well see you back here next week.

michelle goldberg

Sorry if you can hear my kids. Theyre in the other room.

ross douthat
U.S. President Donald Trump said that U.S. oil producers have already cut production and he had many options if Saudi Arabia and Russia do not reduce their output when they and other exporters meet on Thursday.

"Look, we already cut," Trump told reporters when asked if the United States would consider a coordinated production cut, Reuters reported.

"I think theyll straighten it out. A lot of progress has been made over the last week and itll be interesting to see what comes out of OPEC tomorrow," he added, referring to a video meeting of OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others, on April 9.

An extraordinary meeting of the energy ministers of the G20 countries, hosted by Saudi Arabia, will be held on April 10.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday issued notices to the Bar Council of India, Bar Council of UP and other bar associations to explain the steps taken by them or to be taken by them to assist the needy advocates and the registered advocate clerks in Uttar Pradesh.

The court has asked them to file their reply through e-mail and assist the court through video conferencing.

The Bench comprising chief justice Govind Mathur and justice Siddhartha Varma took suo moto cognizance of difficulties faced by lawyers and their clerks during the nationwide lock-down.

The court observed, judicial working in the entire country has reduced its pace and is taking up matters of utmost urgency alone. The slowdown has adversely affected the livelihood of lakhs of people, whose survival depends upon the working of the judiciary. An enormous effect is apparently visible on the profession of advocates and the registered advocate clerks working with them.

The Bench, while issuing notice to lawyer welfare bodies, observed, This court does not have any funds to allocate for survival of needy advocates and registered advocate clerks and the court at the moment is also not in a position to restore its complete functioning.

Under the Advocates Act, 1961 it is the responsibility of the Bar Council of India as well as the State Bar Councils to ensure welfare of advocate fraternity and also to assist the needy advocates. In every court, the associations of advocates are also operational and such court attached Bar Associations are also necessarily required to take care of their members., added the bench.

The court has fixed April 15 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Social distancing policies introduced in Australia to slow the spread of COVID-19 could have a devastating impact on our mental health, experts warn.

Professor Patrick McGorry, executive director of mental health research hub Orygen, is calling for the government to weigh the nations mental health along with its physical and economic wellbeing when deciding on how to navigate the crisis.

What effect will the lockdowns have on our mental health? Credit: iStockphoto

"The second wave of mental ill health could overshadow the first wave of infection in long-term impact," he said.

Calls to mental health service Beyond Blues helplines has jumped 30 per cent in the past two weeks. The organisation has also launched a dedicated COVID-19 service.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) will allow airlines to defer air traffic control bills into the second half of next year in a bid to prop up the stricken sector.

The IAA is one of Europe's busiest air traffic control agencies, managing 451,000 sq km of airspace and the crucial gateway for air traffic between Europe and North America.

Airlines are facing an "unprecedented collapse of business" as traffic at Irish airports looks likely to remain 90pc lower than normal through May, the IAA warned.

It issued the grim forecast as it welcomed a Europe-wide decision by air traffic authorities to defer 1.1bn in charges due to be paid by airlines.

These fees for February-May 2020 now will fall due in a period running from the final quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021.

The IAA said its controllers handled 62,449 flights last month, including overflights in Irish airspace and North Atlantic traffic.

That is 28.6pc less than a year ago, reflecting airlines' decision to ground fleets in the final days of March.

IAA chief executive Peter Kearney said flight volumes this month are 90pc lower than normal and this is likely to last through May.

He backed an agreement yesterday involving 41 member states of Eurocontrol, the umbrella body for promoting safe air navigation across Europe and parts of north Africa and the Middle East, which also suspends some regulatory burdens on airlines and pilots. They agreed to postpone charges for air traffic control services, as well as to grant automatic extensions to expiring pilot licences and aircraft airworthiness certificates "where there is no impact on safety".

Mr Kearney said: "We are committed to helping the airlines to weather this unprecedented collapse of business. Ireland is an island relying on a strong airline service for our economy.

"So these financial and regulatory mechanisms make absolute sense to help the airlines during this period."
Getty Images

Air Canada, which had cut approximately 16,500 jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said it plans to rehire and keep employees on the payroll by using the federal governments wage subsidy program.

Canadas largest airline announced Wednesday that it will apply for the federal governments Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program and use it towards its workforce of 36,000 employees.

Ottawa recently expanded the wage subsidy to cover all businesses struggling with the economic effects of the coronavirus. When the program was first rolled out in March, it offered a 10 per cent salary subsidy exclusively for employees of small and medium-sized businesses. The subsidy has since been bumped to cover 75 per cent of wages, and is available to businesses of all sizes.

In order to qualify for the program, companies need to show that revenue declined by at least 30 per cent. Air Canada said seat capacity in the second quarter has declined by between 85 and 90 per cent when compared to the same time last year, resulting in significant revenue losses.

Air Canada announced last month that it would cut employees as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a severe decline in traffic as governments imposed strict travel restrictions and passengers stay home.

Any near-term recovery is reliant on the lifting of domestic and international travel restrictions and return of passenger traffic, the airline said in a statement.

Air Canadas chief executive Calin Rovinescu said in a statement that, depending on wage levels, many furloughed employees will receive slightly higher pay than they would have received through employment insurance and will also be able to hold on to their benefits and health insurance.

While our seat capacity and operations have decreased by more than 90 per cent overnight, we are trying to keep as many of our employees as possible during the crisis and this measure will certainly help, Rovinescu said.

Story continues

Once the crisis passes and passenger demand increases, we look forward to returning as many employees as possible to active status as we resume normal operations.

Air Canada said the decision to apply for the wage subsidy has the support of all the unions representing Air Canada workers.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, said it was encouraged to see federal support coming for laid-off workers. About 6,800 flight attendants represented by CUPE were placed on off-duty status last month.

This would be an important piece of relief for our members who endured some very difficult times over the past several months, Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said in statement.

They are due for a little bit of good news.

The airline has also rolled out several measures aimed at improving the companys balance sheet through the crisis, including a cost-reduction program aiming to cut $750 million by the end of the year.

Rovinescu and chief financial officer Michael Rousseau have also agreed to forego 100 per cent of their salaries. Senior executives will also forego between 25 and 50 per cent of their salaries while Air Canadas board members will take a 25 per cent salary cut. Other Air Canada managers will see their salaries reduced by 10 per cent.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief.
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.

In his 2014 book The Butterfly Defect, Oxford Martin School Professor Ian Goldin warned against the increase in systemic risks as a result of globalization, replacing effect by defect to highlight the risks associated with a highly connected and integrated world. In a chapter on the systemic risk of pandemics, he foreshadowed the crisis we witness today by pointing to the following factors as evidence of how a pandemic can have profound and potentially catastrophic systemic consequences:

The risk of connectivity, due to the density and intensity of connections between humans, and between humans and animals;

The risk of concentration, as more and more people live in megacities and inequality within cities excludes some from basic services such as sanitation, clean water and medical care;

The risk of social contagion, given the almost instantaneous spread of information and rumours in the age of internet and social media.

A systemic crisis

As the first systemic crisis of the 21st century, the financial crisis of 2008 shed important light on the fragility of an interconnected world. Yet many Arab countries were shielded from the worst consequences by their relative isolation from the global financial system. The COVID-19 pandemic is another story. It has officially spread to nearly every country in the Arab region.

Countries that are reporting no or few cases, such as Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, lack the testing capacity. We must act regardless.

We are dealing with a global multidimensional crisis for the first time. In a 2006 Ted talk, epidemiologist Larry Brilliant shared his colleagues predictions of a potential pandemic. He said one billion people would get sick, as many as 165 million people would die, there would be a global recession and depression which would cost the global economy USD$1 to $3 trillion. Early estimates of the impact of the current pandemic are consistent with these projections. A United Nations Conference on Trade and Developement report identifies the possibility of a US$2 trillion fallout. And according to early estimates from the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Arab region is set to lose at least US$42 billion in GDP and at least 1.7 million jobs this year. A prolonged global economic slowdown will adversely affect the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this pandemic threatens to disrupt sustainable development efforts in all sectors. Measures such as school closures, though a necessary component of the response, are upending every aspect of social and economic life, in ways which ensure vast challenges.

COVID-19 and fragility

In a region already suffering from many protracted and violent conflicts, as well as dealing with a significant numbers of displaced, refugees, and migrants, a pandemic of this scale will deepen pre-existing fragilities in already-vulnerable countries and introduce fragility into middle- and high-income ones. Countries levels of preparedness and institutional capacities, as well as the effectiveness of their preparation and response will largely determine how they emerge. According to the Global Health Security Index, an assessment of global health security capabilities, the Arab region has an average ranking of 122 out of 195.

Governments matter

The Arab Barometer has repeatedly shown there is low trust in governments. Meanwhile lack of reliable data makes it harder to respond to the crisis, starting with the challenge of transparent communication with the public. According to the Open Data Inventory, data on health facilities is poorly covered in low-income Arab countries such as Mauritania and Djibouti, but also in high and middle-income countries such as Lebanon, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates.

But the situation in fragile countries where violence is raging remains the most worrying. On March 23, the Secretary-General of the United Nations called for a global ceasefire in the face of COVID-19. Countries such as Syria have seen years of protracted conflict destroy infrastructure and decimate their health systems. In 2018 alone, there were 308 attacks on health care facilities reported in the State of Palestine, the highest number globally. There were 257 in Syria; 53 in Yemen and 47 in Libya. Although some of these countries are less connected to global traffic, which might insulate them temporarily, once community transmission becomes a reality, they will have neither the tools nor the capacity to prevent and respond effectively. The pandemic also puts food security at risk, especially for those who are dependent on humanitarian aid. hTat includes 20 million Yemenis, 6.5 million Syrians, 1.6 million Somalis and 5.8 million Sudanese.

A society-wide response

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of having an effective government that is able to mobilize quickly the entirety of its institutions and to engage the private sector, the media and civil society. Religious leaders hold significant authority in many Arab countries and using their influence can prove vital to community engagement. Social media and digital technology are emerging strongly as education, government services, and businesses all move online. Adopting forecasting and early warning tools can also allow countries to better prevent and prepare for future epidemics, which are expected to occur more frequently. With close to 50 percent of its population still not using the internet, its imperative to speed up digitalization in the region.

There are still many unknowns in this unfolding tragedy but what is certain is that this unique crisis will require new thinking, as well as collective action and solidarity from governments, citizens, and international organizations. By supporting countries during all three stages of the pandemic--preparing, responding and recovering--UNDP is committed to help them mitigate the immediate short-term consequences of COVID-19 while building the resilience to face future crises.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly scolded New Yorkers for not practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic and now an anonymous citizen has offered their services to enforce the policy.

A drone was spotted flying over the East River Park in Manhattan that chastised pedestrians for walking in groups along a path.

Dubbed the Anti-COVID-19 Volunteer Drone Task Force, the unmanned aerial vehicle told groups to stay at least six-feet apart in order to reduce the death toll and save lives.

However, it is illegal to fly drones in certain parts of the city and the Federal Aviation Administration told DailyMail.com it is 'looking into the drone flight to determine if it was compliant with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR).'

WATCH: A drone was seen flying over a Manhattan park on Saturday, urging pedestrians to maintain social distancing. https://t.co/5J9DLlunRB pic.twitter.com/VuNu1etBnW  CBS News (@CBSNews) April 5, 2020

A drone was spotted flying over the East River Park in Manhattan that chastised pedestrians for walking in groups along a path. It is telling people to maintain social distancing of at least six feet to stop the spread of the coronavirus

CBS News shared the video on Twitter that seems to have been captured by one of the pedestrians walking through the park.

The drone hovers over a group saying: This is the Anti-COVID-19 Volunteer Drone Task Force.

Please maintain a social distance of at least six feet. Again, please maintain social distancing.

Please help stop the spread of this virus. Reduce the death toll and save lives.

However, it is illegal to fly drones in certain parts of the city and the Federal Aviation Administration told DailyMail.com it is 'looking into the drone flight to determine if it was compliant with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR)

For your own safety and your family's safety, please maintain social distancing.

Thank you for your cooperation. We are all in this together.

The owner of the drone still remains a mystery and the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed to DailyMail.com that they are not involved.

'This was not an NYPD drone. Drones are illegal to fly in New York City except for authorized areas,' an NYPD spokesperson said in an email.

The FAA told DailyMail.com in an email: 'The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is looking into the drone flight to determine if it was compliant with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR).'

'The FAA regulates flight safety and has no jurisdiction over the message broadcasted by the drone.'

New York City has been deemed the 'epicenter' of the coronavirus with more than 151,000 cases and over 6,000 deaths

New York City has been deemed the 'epicenter' of the coronavirus with more than 151,000 cases and over 6,000 deaths.

Governor Cuomo has enforced strict laws to help limit the spread and is fining those up to $1,000 if they are caught not practicing social distancing.

Although the drone spotted in the Manhattan park belongs to a volunteer, New Yorks neighbor across the Hudson River is using the technology to combat illegal gatherings.

Chris Bollwage, the mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey, said police officers will be using drones to mandate social distancing.

'These drones will be around the city with an automated message from the Mayor telling you to STOP gathering, disperse and go home,' the Elizabeth Police Department said in a statement.

The police department said that it had been using drones since 2018, but recently obtained five drones equipped with voice and siren capabilities.

The drones are on loan to the department from manufacturer DJI under the Chinese company's public safety disaster relief program.

'You have been advised,' the department said in a warning to scofflaws.
New Delhi: While Pakistan has not been part of the SAARC commerce ministers video conference meeting that took place on April 8 (Wednesday) since SAARC secretariat wasn't present, it is now learnt that Pakistan is keen to involve the secretariat so that it can block Indian initiatives. Pakistan has been trying to bring all COVID-19 interaction, which is currently India-led, under formal SAARC platform by involving the SAARC secretariat.

If the current COVID-19 talks happen under the SAARC umbrella sources said Islamabad is sure to block Indian initiatives and proposals using SAARC charter provisions, rules of procedures as it has done in the past. Additionally, Pakistan will be keen on using consensus, an old tactic to stall agenda drafting, outcome documents and bring the situation to a stalemate, which cant be risked as the crisis spreads.

In the past, Islamabad had used the secretariat to block the initiative by New Delhi and blocked a major connectivity proposal--SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement, a key outcome of the last formal SAARC Summit that took place in Kathmandu in 2014.

Currently India-led activities, sources said, are events under COVID-19 crisis and New Delhi described these activities as stand-alone and outside the "SAARC calendar of approved activities". The aim is to jointly deal with the crisis in the region without being bound by procedural formalities and focus on the result.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March had called for a joint SAARC strategy to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and for which he had proposed a video conference. All the SAARC countries participated at heads of govt/states level barring Pakistan which was represented at a junior advisor level.

Since then two video meets have taken place on SAARC --Health officials and commerce officials, and the latter didn't have any Pakistani participation. Pakistan has also not contributed to SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund, in which all the countries of the region have announced contribution barring Islamabad.
Thousands of Roma across Europe left to fend for themselves on polluted lands, new study reveals.

London, United Kingdom  Roma communities across Europe are often forced to live on polluted wastelands while deprived of essential utilities  such as clean running water  as a result of systemic environmental racism, a new report has concluded.

Released on Wednesday to coincide with International Roma Day, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) study highlights the long-standing discrimination experienced by Roma people throughout the continent.

Researchers found 32 cases of environmental racism in five eastern and central European countries  Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and North Macedonia  with Roma people frequently deprived of basic environmental services in each.

Many have endured forced evictions and are now left to fend for themselves in degraded areas near to landfills or contaminated industrial sites, the report says, with lack of access to clean drinking water or adequate sanitation systems found to be issues in more than half of the case studies examined.

One example cited by the report, named Pushed to the wastelands is Stolipinovo  Europes largest Roma settlement and part of the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, a European capital of culture in 2019.

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Many of the 60,000 people living in the district are cut off from the public water supply and from waste collection services.

Meanwhile, in the Hungarian town of Sajokaza, a wall built by local authorities in 2018 has separated about 300 Roma people from other non-Roma residents.

Houses in the segregated area lack running tap water, bathrooms, access to electricity and safe heating systems.

And in Jarovnice, a village in northeastern Slovakia, a Roma settlement is separated from a nearby majority-Slovak neighbourhood by a contaminated stream which serves as the formers primary water supply. The contamination is caused by a local landfill.

Pushed to the wastelands

Patrizia Heidegger, one of the reports authors and the director of global policies and sustainability at the EEB, said the findings expose the largely overlooked, desperate conditions in which Roma people routinely find themselves living.

In basically all of the countries we have covered, these are slums, Heidegger told Al Jazeera, referring to Roma settlements.

She added the environmental problems faced by the Roma communities studied were compounded by widespread and deep-rooted prejudices held against them in many European societies.





Theres all these stereotypes about Roma being dirty and not caring about where they live  or that Roma communities want to keep to themselves, and do not want to mingle with other people, she said.

But the fact is that, over centuries, or at least the last few decades, a lot of the communities we have studied have repeatedly been pushed to the wastelands and given no other choice than to live in dirty and polluted areas.

One vivid example of that trend is Pata-Rat, a Roma settlement on the outskirts of Cluj-Napoca, a city in northwest Romania, and one of the countrys most important academic and cultural hubs.

There, some 2,000 Roma people live around a huge open-air dump in living conditions described as inhuman by Roma activist Ciprian Nodis, who has visited the site several times and was a researcher for the EEB study.

Most of the people are living in improper housing  shelters built from materials they can find at the landfill, such as rotten wood, plastic or cardboard, Nodis told Al Jazeera, adding many of the local residents had been forcibly evicted from homes in Cluj-Napoca and relocated to the site.

Above all that, the air, water and soil pollution is extreme, and they dont have access to electricity or drinkable water, he said.

The worst thing that can happen to you in Romania is to be born into a Roma family that lives in Pata-Rat  because you are born into dirt.





Nodis identified four separate Roma communities living at the settlement, all with different histories of discrimination, but concluded the overriding sentiment felt among locals was one of being forgotten by state and European authorities.

The people there feel abandoned  they say they are treated like the garbage they live next to, he said.

Meanwhile, researchers identified several other Roma settlements also situated precariously close to hazardous sites in the region  including a former industrial site contaminated with mercury on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Turda, and a steel plant in the city of Kosice, in eastern Slovakia  leaving them acutely vulnerable to disease, accidents and depression.

A pan-European problem

While the report focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, its findings are indicative of Roma communities experience of environmental racism right across the continent, Heidegger said.

We know there are similar situations in other countries, including in Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland and the UK, she said. The problem definitely exists all over the place.

An estimated 10-12 million Roma people live throughout Europe, according to the European Commission. Six million of them reside within EU member states, making them the blocs biggest minority group.

A collection of diverse groups including Roma, Gypsies, Travellers, Manouches, Ashkali, Sinti and Boyash, together the Roma form one of the continents most disadvantaged peoples.





Approximately 80 percent of them live below the poverty line in their country of residence, a 2016 survey of thousands of Roma people spread across nine EU member states found, while Roma life expectancy generally falls at least 10 years below the European average.

Combined, the bleak statistics and environmental hardships highlighted by the EEB report reflect a failure by authorities across the continent to integrate Roma communities into wider society, said Dr Pauline Lane, a sociologist at the UK-based Anglia Ruskin University and member of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies.

The problem is that Europe talks about inclusion in the discourse, but in reality, it doesnt put the mechanisms in place to make it happen, Lane told Al Jazeera.

The European Commission called in 2011 for EU member states to produce concrete plans for improving the situation of marginalised Roma groups across education, employment, healthcare and housing. But little actual progress has been made, Lane argued, with most countries failing on both policy and monitoring fronts.

Not only is the right thing not being done, but in fact, the opposite is happening and the EU is turning a blind eye to very blatant discrimination, she said.

In a land where other people get so much space to speak, the Romas are so vilified.

190324212814472

In a statement, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova and Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli noted that online hate speech and fake stories about Roma people are again on the rise and acknowledged we need to do better.

This is why the Commission will present a reinforced strategy for Roma equality and inclusion in European society, they pledged.

In these times, greater efforts must be put into ensuring that Roma people are included in society and that they have equal access to the basic needs, thus ensuring their protection against [coronavirus] infection.

Acknowledging the troubling status quo, Nodis meanwhile emphasised the importance of projects such as the EEB report in helping Roma communities expose the discrimination they face.

If they dont have the capacity to speak about their problems, they will be seen to be part of the problem, which is not true, he said.

The voice of Roma is the most important  the issues that we are facing we know best, and we should have our voice in Europe.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quorum Information Technologies Inc., a leading provider of dealership and customer management software and value-added services to the automotive industry, intends to release its 2019 Year End Results after the market closes on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.



A conference call has been scheduled for Thursday, April 23 beginning at 11:00 MT (13:00 ET), at which time Maury Marks, President and Chief Executive Officer and Marilyn Bown, Chief Financial Officer will provide a presentation of the results followed by a question and answer period.

Anyone wishing to participate in the call is asked to dial-in using the following numbers and ask for the Quorum Information Technologies Inc. 2019 Year End Results Conference Call. Callers are asked to dial-in 5 minutes before the scheduled start time.

Details for anyone wishing to participate in the conference call are:

Local: 1 (403) 451-9838 Toll-Free North America: 1 (888) 231-8191

A replay of the conference call will be available beginning at approximately 14:00 MT on April 23, 2020 until 21:59 MT on May 7, 2020, and can be accessed by dialing:



Local: 1 (403) 451-9481 Toll-Free North America: 1 (855) 859-2056 Password#: 5892167

A replay of the conference call will also be available for at least 30 days following the call on Quorums website, under the Investors section, at www.quorumdms.com .



Quorums 2019 Year End Results investor presentation will also available for download after the press release has been issued under the Investors section on the Companys website at www.quorumdms.com .

About Quorum Information Technologies Inc.

Quorum is a North American company focused on developing, marketing, implementing and supporting its portfolio of software and services for automotive dealerships that includes:

XSellerator, a Dealership Management System (DMS) that automates, integrates and streamlines key processes across departments in a dealership, and emphasizes revenue generation and customer satisfaction.

DealerMine CRM, a sales and service Customer Relationship Management system and set of Business Development Center services that drives revenue into the critical sales and service departments in a dealership.

Autovance, a sales desking system that increases sales department gross margins and improves customer satisfaction for dealerships.

Advantage, a full showroom system for both franchised and independent dealerships and a comprehensive management system that includes accounting for the independent market.

Quorum Information Technologies Inc. is traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol QIS. For additional information, please go to www.QuorumDMS.com .

Forward-Looking Information

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words suggesting future outcomes. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this press release may contain forward-looking information pertaining to the effect of the BDC Capital Facility. Quorum believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon.

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and involves a number of risks and uncertainties some of which are described herein. Such forward-looking information necessarily involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Quorum's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Quorum Contact: Daniela Trnka

403-777-0036

TrnkaD@QuorumDMS.com

PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/26509143-7489-4056-b4fd-d53cf5c9edc5
The King of Thailand has ended his self-isolation and returned home for a festival after hiring out an entire luxury German hotel for him and his harem of 20 concubines, it has been reported.

The monarch, 67, is said to have left the 4-star hotel in Bavaria on Saturday night so he could attend the Chakri Festival in Bangkok which began on Monday.

The festival commemorates the establishment of the royal dynasty, making it an unmissable event for the controversial ruler.

According to a plan devised by his palace, he left the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the middle of the night and drove to Munich airport, reports BILD.

The monarch, 67, left the 4-star hotel in Bavaria on Saturday night so he could attend the Chakri Festival in Bangkok which began on Monday. He is pictured at the festival this week

He flew to Zurich with his entourage and met with his wife, Suthida, 41, who had been staying in Switzerland. A Thai Airways flight then brought them back to Bangkok.

Thai Airways suspended its regular operations over a week ago due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

It was recently reported that the King booked out the entire hotel, with permission from the local district council.

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida pay their respects at the King Rama I monument to mark Chakri Memorial Day in Bangkok this week

119 members of the royal entourage are thought to have been sent back to Thailand amid concerns they had contracted Covid-19.

It comes as the king is facing increasing resistance within his kingdom.

Under the slogan 'Why do we need a king?', a steadily growing group of activists are demanding the king's abdication.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn is said to have booked out the entirety of the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Germany so he could self-isolate with a harem of 20 concubines

Thailand reported 54 new coronavirus cases and two more deaths today, including a 74-year-old French national.

An 82-year-old Thai man also died, said a spokesman for the government's Center for CoVID-19 Situation Administration.

The new cases include five Thais repatriated from Indonesia who had traveled to South Sulawesi province for a religious gathering last month before the event was postponed.

Thailand has reported a total of 2,423 cases and 32 fatalities, while 940 patients have recovered and gone home since the outbreak started in January.
One of Australia's top universities will allow students to use their Year 11 results to apply for courses.

Students can apply to undergraduate programs at Canberra's Australian National University (ANU) for 2021 with their Year 11 scores, due to the school year being disrupted by COVID-19.

The university believes taking earlier results will lighten stress levels for Year 12 students after a tumultuous year of study.

ANU begin making offers in August, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt advising prospective students to apply in the upcoming school holidays.

Australian National University will allow students to apply using their Year 11 results for 2021 undergraduate programs

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said the entry changes have been made to help students

'All Year 12 students who want to study at ANU can focus on completing their studies and preparing for university, knowing that if their marks from Year 11 meet our entry requirements they can join one of the world's leading universities,' he said in a media release.

The Year 11 results offer follows on from further successful alterations to ANU's application procedure, where students are assessed on extra-curricular activities beyond their scholastic achievements to gain entry into the university.

Students who apply with Year 11 results must go on to complete Year 12 for their scores to be valid, with accommodation and scholarships available for successful applicants.

Professor Schmidt said the new application procedures are based on research to ensure the best students are given the chance to go to ANU.

'This change was to help our students,' he said. 'Rather than have them choose their university only a few weeks before term starts, we now assess students on their academic results through Year 11, as well as their extra-curricular achievements and personal circumstances.

'The success of this new approach over the past year means we are well placed to offer thousands of talented school-leavers across Australia the chance to study with us here in Canberra.

Students who apply with Year 11 results must go on to complete Year 12 for their scores to be valid, with accommodation and scholarships available for successful applicants (stock image)

'This is particularly important as they are dealing with the stress of finishing their studies during a global pandemic.'

Australian Year 12 students have been told they will be able to graduate this year despite the disruption to their studies caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Federal education minister Dan Tehan on Tuesday confirmed the states and Commonwealth agreed students will still proceed to finish high school this year.

'For all those students out there, for all those parents out there, there will be no year 13, there will be no mass repeating. You will get your leaving certificate this year,' he said.

Federal education minister Dan Tehan said students will finish high school this year despite the pandemic

The announcement followed a phone meeting between state and federal education ministers this week to discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic upon studies.

Mr Tehan also said the government did not want those students studying from home for part of the year to be left behind when assessments roll around, and grades may be adjusted to account for the disruption.

'When it comes to how the ATAR is calculated and assessed, the Commonwealth is going to do further work with the university sector, with the vocational education sector and will come back to the Education Council in May,' he said.

'What we all are going to do is to endeavour to make sure that this year's ATAR scores are the same as last year's ATAR scores... But we will take into account those students who have to learn from home, those who might not be able to access the technology like others do.'
Technavio has been monitoring the cereal ingredients market and it is poised to grow by USD 121 mn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005616/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Cereal Ingredients Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge, Cargill, Nestle, and SunOpta are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Health benefits of cereal ingredients has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Cereal Ingredients Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Cereal Ingredients Market is segmented as below:

Type Rice Wheat Corn Other Cereals

Geographic Landscape Americas APAC EMEA



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30403

Cereal Ingredients Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our cereal ingredients market report covers the following areas:

Cereal Ingredients Market Size

Cereal Ingredients Market Trends

Cereal Ingredients Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies expanding base of the vegan population as one of the prime reasons driving the cereal ingredients market growth during the next few years.

Cereal Ingredients Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Cereal Ingredients Market, including some of the vendors such as Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge, Cargill, Nestle, and SunOpta. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Cereal Ingredients Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Cereal Ingredients Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist cereal ingredients market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the cereal ingredients market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the cereal ingredients market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cereal ingredients market vendors

Table Of Contents :

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Rice Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Wheat Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Corn Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Other Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023

EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Archer Daniels Midland Company

Bunge

Cargill

Nestle

SunOpta

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005616/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
"Now that you have no choice whether or not you fancy a quiet night in, we hereby present the first of several live shows from the Radiohead Public Library now coming to Radiohead's YouTube channel," the band wrote in its caption. "We will be releasing one a week until either the restrictions resulting from current situation are eased, or we run out of shows. Which will be first? No one knows."
Konnie Huq has given a rare glimpse of her adorable sons during her Blue Peter style YouTube series.

The presenter, 44, was every inch the proud mother as she baked a cake for her boys Covey, eight, and Huxley, six, who she shares with husband Charlie Brooker.

The star has been posting homeschooling videos amid the coronavirus lockdown, which include reading, writing, arts and crafts, and cookery - as shown in the sweet video.

Fun: Konnie Huq has given a rare glimpse of her adorable sons during her Blue Peter style YouTube series

The video opens with Konnie passing out plates of freshly baked cake, saying: 'Son number one have some cake, son number two have some cake and tell me what the verdict is.

'Son number one, how does the cake taste?'

Covey responds: 'It's yummy!'

As Konnie asks Huxley the same question, he says: 'My favourite part is the crust. The outside part is the crusty part, the inside part is super squishy.

Cute: The presenter, 44, was every inch the proud mother as she baked a cake for her boys Covey, eight,(L) and Huxley, six, (r) who she shares with husband Charlie Brooker

Covey says to his brother: 'That's weird you don't usually like crusts.'

Konnie responds: 'He doesn't like crusts when it comes to sandwiches.'

Covey then brings in high praise for his mother's baking, saying: 'It's delicious ' while Huxley adds: 'It's super yummy and the best cake I have ever tasted in my life.'

A delighted Connie says: 'Wow that's a resounding yes.'

Connie has been married to Black Mirror creator Charlie, 49, since 2010.

Adorable: The video opens with Konnie passing out plates of freshly baked cake, saying: 'Son number one have some cake, son number two have some cake and tell me what the verdict is

Loved it: Covey then brings in high praise for his mother's baking, saying; 'It's delicious ' while Huxley adds: 'It's super yummy and the best cake I have ever tasted in my life#

Charlie recently paid tribute to the TV star and their children, revealing how his whirlwind romance and becoming a parent changed him for the better.

The writer told BBC4's Desert Island Discs that marrying Konnie in a Las Vegas ceremony and deciding to become a father were 'the best decisions' he ever made.

Of the loved-up pair's marriage he said: 'That was absolutely the right time. It was weird because, for years, I'd not known if I'd wanted kids or a family...

Yay: A delighted Connie says: 'Wow that's a resounding yes'

'That seemed like something that other people did, I couldn't perceive of that as a future.

'And then Konnie came along and quite early on she said "I want kids and a family" and this sort of thing, and I heard myself going "OK", and sort of thought, "oh, right, why have I said that?"

'It was the best decision I ever made.'
Bexar County Fire Marshal's Office deputies arrested a man accused of making explosive devices, officials said.

Deputies arrested Joshua Faleide at a Universal City Super 8 Motel on Wednesday for charges of possession of an explosive device and possession of components of an explosive weapon.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

On March 25, the Fire Marshal's office was called to assist the China Grove Police Department for an improvised explosive device recovered within its city limits. Based on the device characteristics and information obtained by investigators, officials suspected Faleide of placing the device, authorities said.

Investigators attempted to initiate a search warrant at Faleide's residence, but he wasn't there. Officials said they discovered multiple components of an IED, including a pipe-bomb in it's final stages of manufacture.

Faleide was taken to the Bexar County Jail.
Top education officials in two states warned this week that schools may have to continue online education in the fall if the spread of the coronavirus continues or resurges.

The cautions in Maryland and Washington came as Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing Tuesday that the country would be in good shape to reopen schools in the fall.

Im not sure we are going to be doing school in the same way going forward, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon told state lawmakers Wednesday, according to the Baltimore Sun . Were not sure that [school building closures] is not something that were going to revisit in the fall or the winter.

Im really focusing much of our resources on the expansion and accountability wrapped around online learning and distance learning. Thats going to be a our focus right now, because it has to be.

A day earlier, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said in an interview with My Northwest that schools in the state, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus, may continue distance learning into the fall.

The Maryland-District of Columbia region has been identified as a possible hot spot as cases of the coronavirus continue to surge there.

Even as officials issued stay home orders and closed schools to slow transmission rates, public health officials have cautioned of a likely remergence of the virus as the nation awaits a vaccine.

If its not feasible to keep Washington students safe and spread far apart in classrooms and if not enough of us have gotten the virus and built the antibody, or we dont have a vaccine, the return to schools are really tough considerations right now, Reykdal said in his interview. We have time. We have a lot of science working hard to figure it out, but I already have to start thinking about how to continue to strengthen our online model, which has gotten exponentially better over the last two weeks, but theres a lot of work to go.

Washington extended its school closures through the end of the school year this week.

Maryland has closed its school buildings until April 24, and Gov. Larry Hogan has said the state will revisit that decision on an ongoing basis.

According to Education Weeks tracker , 15 states and 2 U.S. territories have ordered or recommended school building closures for the rest of the academic year. But most leaders and educators have discussed the shutdowns with the assumption that buildings would reopen in the fall.

Around the country, the approach to school closures has shifted along with federal guidance. Many states started with two-week shutdowns or targeted specific areas with higher infection rates, but the decisions quickly become broader and longer term.

Fauci, one of the key members of the federal team that is responding to the pandemic, said at the Tuesday White House briefing that there is a lot of uncertainty about how disease rates will respond to aggressive measures to contain the virus. He has suggested previously that the country wont be back to normal until there is a broadly administered vaccine. Federal officials have suggested policy measures may become more targeted to heavily affected areas as understanding of the virus deepens.

Despite those cautions, Fauci predicted schools will largely be able to reopen in the fall.

Bottom line is, no absolute prediction, but I think were going to be in good shape, he said.

Photo: Getty

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A California appeals court this week dismissed the criminal case against the leader of the Mexico-based religious group known as La Luz Del Mundo, or the Light of the World Church.

Naason Joaquin Garcia was arrested in L.A. this past summer and charged with child sexual abuse and human trafficking. After the court determined he was a flight risk, Garcia's been held without bail in a downtown Los Angeles jail cell since.

The appellate court dismissed Garcia's criminal case Tuesday on a procedural basis.

Church officials issued a statement welcoming the dismissal, with Garcia's lead attorney Alan Jackson calling it "a good day for justice."

Jackson accused prosecutors of violating his client's "due process by locking him up without bail."

Garcias has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty, all along.

The court of appeal did not rule on Garcia's guilt or innocence. Nor did the court find in dismissing the case against Garcia that prosecutors did not have enough evidence against him to prosecute the case against him. The appellate court's dismissal isn't final for 30 days, so he'll continue to be held in jail until then. Prosecutors also have the option to re-file charges against him, they said.

And now an already complicated case is further complicated.

Who is Naason Joaquin Garcia?

Naason Joaquin Garcia is the international leader of a Pentecostal Christian religious group known as La Luz Del Mundo, or The Light of the World church. It was started by Garcia's grandfather in Guadalajara almost a century ago, and has millions of members around the world. There are dozens of temples in Southern California, where Garcia and his family have lived in recent years.

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Church members know Garcia as "the apostle of Jesus Christ," a title held by Garcia's father and grandfather before him. Garcia began leading the church six years ago, after his father died.

One of the distinguishing features of this faith group is its focus on a central figure: the apostle. Garcia's followers believe he is God's only living messenger on earth, and you'll find Naason Joaquin Garcia's photos and his initials prominently displayed in La Luz Del Mundo temples, events and homes.

Garcia was accused of using that power to manipulate and cooerce young girls into sex acts. After three girls and one woman in L.A. County came forward to the California Attorney General's office with allegations, Garcia was charged with one count of lewd acts upon a child, two counts of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and three counts of forcible rape. He denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.

An image of Naason Joaquin Garcia on display on the La Luz Del Mundo (The Light of the World) Church in Pasadena, California, on June 6, 2019. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

Why, exactly, were the charges dismissed? What was the procedural basis?

The appeals court simply said that because a preliminary hearing was not held for Garcia within the right amount of time, and he was incarcerated while he waited, the case is dismissed. This is a due process issue, concerning the defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial. The law requires that a preliminary hearing be held within 10 court days of the arraignment.

In this case, something a bit strange happened.

Garcia was arrested in June at LAX and charged with a series of felonies. At his arraignment in June, Garcia waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing. He was denied bail and booked into Twin Towers in downtown L.A.

But then, the next month, in July, prosecutors added new a few new child pornography charges against Garcia, and had to re-charge and re-arraign him. At that arraignment, Garcia did not waive his right to a speedy trial, like he did the first time.

Instead of holding a preliminary hearing within 10 days, the L.A. Superior Court issued a series of continuances.

In September, Garcia's legal team petitioned the trial court to dismiss the case in the L.A. County Superior Court and get him released from custody. That court denied his motion.

Garcia's lawyers then petitioned that denial to the court of appeal, which ruled that the case should have been dismissed because Garcia had not explicitly waived his right to a speedy trial after those second set of charges were added to the complaint against him.

Prosecutors and the trial court thought they had the time waiver on Garcia, from his first arraignment, but they did not, according to the court of appeal

Why were there delays in the case?

Part of the reason for the delay in prosecution, the defense argued, was that the California Attorney General's office, which is prosecuting the case, did not deliver all their evidence over to the defense team on time, according to the decision. At a hearing last fall, deputy attorney general Diana Callaghan said that processing some of the evidence to turn over to the defense team for discovery was a lengthy process, because the evidence included "child pornography as well as the names and locations of minor victims."

Tuesday's appellate ruling doesn't mean there's anything wrong with that evidence, the Attorney General's office said. It simply means that prosecutors and Garcia's defense team had two different understandings about the agreed-upon timeline of the trial, according to accounts in the court records, and the appeals court sided with Garcia's lawyers on this time waiver issue.

So what happens next? What are the options for the prosecutors in this case?

The California Attorney General's office did not want to comment other than to say that their office is reviewing the court of appeal's decision.

The California Department of Justice could decide to contest the appellate decision to the State Supreme Court, or could simply re-file these charges within 30 days, keep Garcia in custody, and try again to bring the case to trial.

This picture taken on August 9, 2017 shows the leader of the Church of the Light of the World, Naason Joaquin Garcia (L), walking among his parishioners in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images)

Has Garcia faced allegations like this before, in his time as the leader of La Luz Del Mundo?

These were the first criminal charges brought against Garcia. His father, Samuel Joaquin Flores, led the church from 1964 until 2014, when ge died. Flores was also the subject of sexual abuse allegations but never faced criminal charges.

In February, a former member of La Luz Del Mundo in Los Angeles named Sochil Martin filed a federal civil lawsuit against the church, and against Garcia. Martin claims she was groomed to be a child sex slave for Garcia's father Samuel, and that she was also sexually abused by Garcia.

When that suit was filed, a church leader called it a "ploy for attention" and evidence of "hatred being manifested towards the Church" because it came during the organization's "biggest and holiest event."

Martin's attorney, Deborah Malgrave, said yesterday's decision was tough for survivors like her client.

"People who are trying to get the strength, like Sochil, to stand up and identify their accusers and talk about the wrongs that have been done to them, and then something like this happens," Mallgrave said. "Despite all their strength, someone is still able to get out of jail based on these technicalities. We are very hopeful that with our civil lawsuit, we still can stand up for those survivors and show them that justice can still be done."

La Luz Del Mundo members gathered in Grand Park in December to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Naason Joaquin Garcia being named "The Apostle." (Aaron Schrank/LAist )

What is the church saying about the news?

Church officials within the La Luz Del Mundo organization did not want to speak on the record, but they put out a statement to members about the latest legal developments in court, and asking them to all pray and thank God at 8 p.m. local time Tuesday.

Garcia's lead attorney Alan Jackson said:

'In their zeal to secure a conviction at any cost, the Attorney General has sought to strip Mr. Garcia of his freedom without due process by locking him up without bail on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations by unnamed accusers and by denying him his day in court."

Church members profess Naason Joaquin Garcia's innocence with a display in front of La Luz Del Mundo's flagship temple and headquarters in Guadalajara. (Richard Tamayo/LAist )

Garcia has remained the head of the church throughout this whole process. Church officials and active members have professed his innocence and support their "Apostle," even holding events in his honor.

During the group's annual U.S. Holy Supper ritual in February, spokesman Jack Freeman said Garcia's legal troubles could even be positive for the growth of the religious group.

"What it's doing is bringing us to light to people who never would have known who we are," said Freeman. "And people who look into it with an open mind are going to find an open church that's involved in the community, is very loving, very caring, where families mean a lot. And that all starts with the leader of the church, the apostle Naason Joaquin Garcia."
The recent expulsions include children who would otherwise be protected from rapid removal by U.S. anti-trafficking laws. Since the emergency order took effect last month, the United States has expelled nearly 400 underage migrants, according to the most recent tally by Reuters. The minors were released into Mexico or boarded onto planes and flown to Central America without being transferred to the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their safety, as would be typical.
The limited series Unorthodox premiered on Netflix this past March. Loosely based on a memoir titled Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, its an intense, but powerful story about a young woman finding her voice in an arguably oppressive culture.

Many of the traditional aspects of Hasidic Jewish culture are shown but not necessarily explained. This is a feature of good storytelling, of course: show, dont tell. However, for viewers not as familiar with the culture, they might have some questions about the community depicted in Unorthodox. For example, why does Esty have to shave her head after she marries Yanky? And why do married women wear wigs and/or scarves?

[Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Unorthodox ahead.]

Why does Esty Shapiro have to shave her head after she gets married in Unorthodox?

Shira Haas as Esty Shapiro in Netflixs Unorthodox | Anika Molnar/Netflix

In Unorthodox, one of the most emotionally harrowing scenes was when young Esty has her head shaved as other girls look on. Esty sobs as the locks fall to the floor. Unorthodox doesnt ever explicitly state why its happening. But as a viewer, youll notice all married women are wearing wigs, scarves, or both. So what is the history behind that?

Refinery29 published an article in 2019 about the traditional underpinnings behind the wig in the Orthodox Jewish community. As with many aspects of Judaism, there is debate over what a sheitel really represents  and who it is really for, the publication said.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek told Refinery29 some religious interpretations determine womans hair to be nakedness and part of the alluring nature of the effeminate. For example, in the Jewish religious law text the Talmud, womens hair is described as ervah, translating to: nakedness and impropriety.

The tradition of married Orthodox Jewish women covering their hair has been around for thousands of years, with women first using a cloth or a veil, according to Refinery29. It wasnt until the 16th century that Jewish women in Italy popularized the idea of wearing a wig as a covering, which actually ended up causing a huge debate among rabbis, who both condemned and condoned the practice of wearing them on modesty grounds.

Other websites about Jewish tradition and culture state this idea behind the shaved-head tradition: Once a woman is married, like Esty in Unorthodox, the only person who should see her hair is her husband.

Young Jewish women are getting more creative with the tradition  unlike what the Netflix series depicted

Amit Rahav as Yanky Shapiro and Shira Haas as Esty Shapiro in Unorthodox | Anika Molnar/Netflix

Young women are paving their own way when it comes to the tradition. According to Refinery29, married women wearing wigs used to be seen as more of a rule or a community standard than a choice. However, for many millennial women, they are expanding on the idea of what it looks like  or even deciding not to wear one at all. (Obviously, the main character in Unorthodox didnt exactly have the freedom to decide such a thing).

These young women are exploring their options when it comes to covering their hair, effectively creating their own unique relationships with these wigs and how they decide to wear them, Refinery29 says.

However, for many women, its been a look passed down from generations. Its heavily steeped in respect for ones family. My mother covered her hair, and her mother covered her hair, and her mother covered her hair, one Orthodox Jewish woman explained to Refinery29. Who am I to take something that was so special to my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother, and break that beautiful tradition when it was something that was given to me?
Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

NORWALK  A 52-year-old New York man was caught masturbating in an elementary school parking on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Lt. Jared Zwickler said police were patrolling the area of Cranbury Elementary School on Knowalot Lane around 1 p.m. Tuesday to ensure no unauthorized people were on school grounds because school is closed.
A British Sikh cardiologist is back on the coronavirus frontline at a west London hospital after being struck down by the deadly virus himself last month.

Dr Harmandeep Singh, 36, spoke of how he and his wife shut themselves out of all social contact last month as soon as he started experiencing extreme tiredness and fever some of the symptoms of Covid-19.

They focussed on monitoring each other's breathing through their speech to assess the seriousness of their condition.

"If you can't talk in full sentences that's when your lungs are being affected, that's the time you need to seek medical help," Singh told My London'.

The doctor is now back working at Ealing Hospital after a nearly 12-day spell of Covid-19, which ranged from a high heart rate to no energy and breathing difficulties to sudden improvement.

That does reflect with patients that we are seeing, sudden deterioration or sudden improvement in 24 hours, he said.

I know most people will get a mild disease and get over it. But for those who are getting severe disease it can be life changing for the families and it is extremely hard for us to see that suffering in those patients as well, said the doctor with 12 years' experience behind him.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Ealing Hospital where Singh works, has registered one of the highest number of coronavirus deaths in England. However, the focus of the hospital has been on highlighting some of the positive progress each morning and look at the number of patients they have been able to discharge.

Singh said: We've had people in their 90s who we thought were at the end of their lives and will not make it, we made the phone calls, explained to the families, and three days later they were at home.

"So it's not all bad, we've had good success in sending people home.

The hospital has also extended its focus on non-coronavirus related cases to ensure those with other health problems receive the critical care required. Meanwhile, Singh reiterated the UK government message for people to stay at home and follow the social distancing rules to help frontline National Health Service (NHS) workers do their job.

This essentially is a war, it's what we are in, so people need to understand and take it seriously. The NHS is up for the fight, but what the NHS really needs from the general public is they need to stay indoors, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 09, 2020] Stamus Networks Closes on $1.5 Million Seed Investment to Accelerate Growth

INDIANAPOLIS and PARIS, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stamus Networks, a fast-growing cybersecurity software company, today announced it has secured critical seed financing in an oversubscribed $1.5 million round. Stamus Networks offers a unique cyber security solution that more clearly illuminates threats by correlating network traffic analysis and threat detection in real time. The system arms security teams with unprecedented visibility and meaningful insights into their organization's security posture and helps them rapidly detect and respond to incidents. VisionTech Angels and Elevate Ventures, both Indianapolis-based investment groups, co-led the investment round. In addition, several independent angel investors participated. Both VisionTech Angels and Elevate Ventures will appoint representatives to the company's board of directors. "Stamus Networks addresses an important need in the marketplace for enterprise-scale cybersecurity and has created a unique enriched threat hunting solution," said Vercie Lark, VIssionTech Angels investor and retired CIO. "Customers have told us the company's Scirius platform allows them to replace several existing products and is very effective at proactively uncovering real threats. One of the most important factors we consider with any investment is the quality of the management team. Stamus Networks' team brings a solid track record in the cybersecurity space with both commercial and technical successes." "The management team at Stamus Networks has combined 69 years of experince in the cybersecurity space and has a history of achieving results," said Chris LaMothe, CEO of Elevate Ventures. "With Stamus Networks' existing customer base and the growing market demand, we have confidence they will be successful."



Stamus Networks has been steadily building a loyal customer following since it introduced its first product in 2017. The company's broad list of customers includes global financial institutions, a multi-national software company, a U.S. public school system, a European managed security service provider, and an international governmental body, among others. "We at Stamus Networks are excited to be able to reach and help even more organizations secure their networks and are thrilled to have received this strong vote of confidence from the investment community," said Ken Gramley, CEO of Stamus Networks. "And we are thankful to all who worked so hard to close this round during these unprecedented times."

About Stamus Networks

Stamus Networks believes cyber security professionals should spend less time pouring though noisy alerts and more time investigating true indicators of compromise (IOC). Founded by the creators of the widely-deployed open source SELKS platform, Stamus Networks offers Scirius Security Platform solutions that marry real-time network traffic data with enhanced Suricata intrusion detection (IDS) and an advanced analytics engine to create an entirely new class of enriched threat hunting solutions. With Scirius, you get unprecedented visibility and meaningful insights into your organization's security posture, giving you the tools to rapidly detect and respond to incidents. For more information visit: stamus-networks.com About VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels

Founded in 2008, VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels is a privately held company that links investors to high-potential, early-growth companies. Based in Indianapolis, capital of one of the nation's most vibrant innovation regions, VisionTech Angels has chapters in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Dayton, Ohio; and an Affinity chapter for physicians, AngelBom. Our investment portfolio includes 34 companies, and more than 130 members across Indiana and Ohio. Membership is open to accredited investors. Those interested in joining are encouraged to contact VisionTech Angels. The next pitch event is April 30, 2020. Learn more: visiontech-partners.com About Elevate Ventures

Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stamus-networks-closes-on-1-5-million-seed-investment-to-accelerate-growth-301038345.html SOURCE Stamus Networks

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The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has stepped up to help in the fight against coronavirus. The catering arm of Indian Railways has ramped up production across all of its kitchens in the country and have provided meals to over 4 lakh people since the 21-day nationwide lockdown began.

IRCTC is preparing food for people across all of its 28 locations in the country including its base kitchens. Officials said that the catering unit provided over 51,000 meals across the country on Monday.

Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Modi govt draws 3-phase plan to fight COVID-19; country's tally at 5,095

Spokesperson Siddhartha Singh told news agency IANS that IRCTC is preparing food for over 8,000 people at its kitchen, which is provided to Railway Protection Force and the state government in Delhi. "The food is prepared here as per demand. As we have demand for 8,200 meals we are providing that and as the demand increases, the production of food will also go up easily," the IRCTC official said.

In Delhi, IRCTC meals are provided twice every day. Kitchens start making food at 6am and lunch is prepared by 11am. Dinner preparation starts at 1pm and is ready by 6pm. Food is collected from the kitchen at 11am and 7pm for delivery to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Delhi government officials and Delhi Police.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown makes India weak rather than strong, says Rajiv Bajaj

He added that the IRCTC kitchen in Delhi usually has around 125 people but only 18 members of the staff have been working since the lockdown. "But despite less staff we are maintaining the quality of food and preparing meals to over 8,000 people on a daily basis," he added. The Delhi kitchen is capable of preparing food to up to 15,000 people.

Kitchen staff members are made to follow strict norms and are screened every day before entering the kitchen. The workers also sanitise their hands, wear head masks, gloves and face masks before entering the kitchen.

Veg pulao, poha and khichdi are prepared on a rotational basis in the Delhi kitchen.

Also read: Coronavirus: 3.5 lakh trucks with Rs 35,000 crore of goods stranded

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic.
New Delhi, April 9 : With the coronavirus pandemic striking hard and spreading rapidly in India, a big question arises whether we need a new COVID-19 ventilator protocol to treat infected patients in the country? According to Manoj Goel, Director, Pulmonology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute in New Delhi, the principle of ventilation in corona patients follows the same protocol as in any other case of serious pneumonia due to any other cause.

"However, the handling of the ventilator, the process of putting them on a ventilator and care of the patient on ventilator required extra measure which includes using various protective measures of preventing infection from the patient to the surrounding atmosphere which can lead to infection through the air to others," Goel told IANS.

The other point is that these patients generally require more prolonged and high levels of ventilator support as compared to other patients, the doctor said.

"Many times they are ventilated in a prone position which means patients are made to lie on their tummy rather than the back. It is more difficult to remove them from the ventilator which means the weaning from ventilators is also more prolonged, difficult and associated with higher chances of failure," he added.

Satyanarayana Mysore, HOD, Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Manipal Hospitals in Bengaluru, told IANS: "The original patients profile from Wuhan showed lung predominant involvement. This was presented in the form of pneumonia, ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), interstitial fibrosis etc.

"In this condition, the virus or our defence mechanism of the body will overwhelm and the air sacs will get flooded. This is when a mechanical ventilator will be of help," he said.

If patients present with ARDS, they will be put on mechanical ventilation, sedation, and supportive measures. They will be on what we call as ARDSNET protocol. In summary, ventilatory management will not change.

"As far as hypoxia that is not due to ARDS, a different strategy of high flow humidified oxygen, blood transfusion, chelation may need to be considered," the doctor said, adding that the Indian experience in COVID-19 is fortunately mild to moderate disease and quite less percentage of the patient thus far needed ventilation.

According to Dr Rajan Sharma, President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), due to the spread of COVID 19, there is an unprecedented demand for provision of mechanical ventilators.

"Mechanical ventilators have been in demand and shall be made use judiciously during such emergency situations. While our experience on COVID 19 is too initial, from the current protocol, there is a need to shift from hyperventilation and extensive ventilation and stress is on providing adequate oxygen," Sharma said.

Savitha Kuttan, CEO of Omnicuris, an online medical education platform, said that according to government data, India is critically short on ICU beds and ventilators, which is worrying because the five per cent of COVID-19 patients require an ICU admission.

"We need to decide in what manner will scarce medical resources be distributed if the cases go up and our healthcare infrastructure is overrun. The chapter on triage under the National Disaster Management Act of 2005 states that the sickest will be tended to first," Kuttan said.

"If the crisis deepens and hospitals are left to decide, it will be solely at their discretion, and the general public will have no means to understand the basis of the decisions," she noted.

Meanwhile, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in India reached up to 5,734 on Thursday. Of these, 5,095 are active cases, 166 are dead, one has migrated, while 472 people have been discharged after recovery.

Maharashtra is the worst affected state so far with 1,135 active cases.

(Bharat Upadhyay can be reached at bharat.u@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A former Eircom technician who spoke out against an infamous Silicon Valley sex party has seen the continuous testing' firm he founded, CircleCI, raise an additional $100m (92m). The cash drive was led by CEO Jim Rose.

Dubliner Paul Biggar is one of two co-founders of the California-based company, alongside Allen Rohner.

It brings to $215m the amount raised by the firm, $156m of which has been in the last eight months.

Mr Biggar moved to the US in 2010 after completing a PhD in computer science at Trinity College.

Before that, he worked at Eircom, and alongside Irish tech founders Dylan Collins and Sean Blanchfield at the Dublin-based games software company Demonware.

CircleCI makes it easier for companies to automate the building and testing processes for their code. It has thousands of corporate customers, including Facebook, Samsung, Ford and Spotify.

The funding round was led by the US venture capital firms IVP and Sapphire Ventures.

Mr Biggar wrote a widely discussed essay in 2018 outlining his experience at a notorious Silicon Valley sex party thrown by a venture capital firm in 2017.

In it, he confirmed many of the details outlined by the US journalist Emily Chang in her 2018 book 'Brotopia'.

They included a 'cuddle puddle', where venture capitalists dressed in bunny rabbit costumes encouraged attendees to lie down and stroke each other.

Mr Biggar was one of just a handful of young entrepreneurs to be accepted into Y Combinator, the famous Silicon Valley startup incubator set up by Paul Graham.

Patrick and John Collison are the most famous Irish entrepreneurs to be accepted into the Y Combinator.

He now sits on the board of the company and is active in other firms, including his most recent startup, Dark.

The giant funding round came as the Irish healthtech firm SilverCloud announced a $16m round to finance its US expansion.

Founded by Ken Cahill, the Dublin-based firm has now raised over $30m.

SilverCloud's mental health programs are used by more than 300 organisations around the world, including over 70pc of Britain's NHS mental health services.

The funding round was led by a number of US venture capital firms, with participation also from existing Irish investor ACT Venture Capital.

A recent surge in funding to Irish tech companies has seen venture capital levels rise to 820m in the last year, according to IVCA figures.
The Pakistan government on Thursday pledged $3 million to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperations (SAARC) Covid-19 Emergency Fund on the condition that the facility be administered by the Saarc secretariat.

Pakistan is the last of Saarcs eight members to contribute to the fund, which was created with an initial corpus of $10 million provided by India following a video conference of leaders of the grouping on March 15.

While communicating Pakistans decision to the Saarc Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the Fund should be administered by the Saarc Secretariat and that the modalities for the Funds utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the Saarc Charter, said a statement from Pakistans Foreign Office.

Pakistans perspective in this regard was also conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Secretary General SAARC Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, today, the statement added.

According to New Delhi, Indias engagements with Saarc members on Covid-19 related matters are stand-alone events whereas Pakistan has sought to bring all issues under the Saarc secretariat in a bid to block Indian initiatives.

On Wednesday, Pakistan skipped a video conference of senior trade officials of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), saying it chose not to participate since the Saarc secretariat wasnt involved in organising it.

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Mrs. Dominique Remy-Renou, international manager in the life sciences sector, is appointed Chairman of the Management Board

Mrs. Elisabeth Ourliac, Vice-President Strategy at Airbus, is appointed President of the Supervisory Board

Regulatory News:

Genomic Vision(Paris:GV) (FR0011799907 GV), a biotechnology company that develops tools and services dedicated to the analysis and control of changes in the genome, today announces adjustments to its governance.

Strengthening of the Executive Board

The Supervisory Board has duly noted the resignation of Mr. Aaron Bensimon as Chairman of the Management Board and has expressed its intention of strengthening the Company's sales momentum by appointing Mrs. Dominique Remy-Renou as new Chairman of the Management Board (CEO).

Mrs. Dominique Remy-Renou will bring to Genomic Vision over 30 years of experience in the field of life sciences and genetics, where she has held various International Management positions at Applied Biosystems, Fluidigm Corporation and, more recently, Pacific Biosciences. Dominique Remy-Renou has always successfully contributed to developing sales, her expertise notably including sales, marketing, support, organization and, more broadly, managing people and operations.

Mr. Aaron Bensimon, founder of the Company, has decided to stand down as Chairman after 16 years to focus, as Managing Director, on the scientific strategy and the management of Research Development activities. Aaron Bensimon, Doctor of Molecular Biology and the former Director of the Genomic Stability Unit at the Pasteur Institute, is the co-inventor of the DNA molecular combing process.

Mr. Pierre Schwich, previously Investment Director for 3i (Private Equity) and CFO of a number of high-growth listed technology companies, notably in the biotechnology sector (Cellectis, Pharnext), joined the management team of GENOMIC VISION as Chief Financial Officer earlier this year within the framework of the Company's new development prospects.

Changes within the Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board also wanted to adjust its organization in order to better meet the Company's requirements by limiting the number of its members while maintaining a very high level of expertise and highly complementary professional backgrounds and skills.

Mrs. Isabelle Racamier, Mrs. Elisabeth Jacobs and Mr. Florian Schodel have all stood down.

Mrs. Elisabeth Ourliac, a member of the Supervisory Board since 2015, has been appointed President. Elisabeth Ourliac has brought substantial experience to Genomic Vision given her particularly rich and exemplary career at Airbus, of which she is currently Vice-President Strategy. Her experience notably covers finance, audit and risk management, management of multicultural projects and strategy within an international high-tech environment.

Mr. Stephane Verdood, a member of the Supervisory Board since 2008, has been appointed Vice-President. Stephane Verdood, a former consultant in the field of health and biotechnologies, is Managing Partner of Vesalius Biocapital, a longstanding investor in Genomic Vision.

Mrs. Tamar Saraga, a member of the Supervisory Board since 2015, has been appointed to the Audit Committee. Tamar Saraga has experience as a Chief Operating Officer and as a consultant in innovation and cross-border Mergers Acquisitions for technological companies.

The Supervisory Board of GENOMIC VISION now has three members, two women and a man, two of whom are independent.

Organization adapted to the context of the Covid-19 pandemic

Within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, GENOMIC VISION has implemented preventative measures to protect its employees and adapt its work organization in order to ensure business continuity while complying with the guidelines imposed by the health authorities. To date, the Company is not expecting the epidemic to have a major impact on its 2020 operating activity.

ABOUT GENOMIC VISION

GENOMIC VISION is a biotechnology company developing products and services dedicated to the analysis (structural and functional) of genome modifications as well as to the quality and safety control of these modifications, in particular in genome editing technologies and biomanufacturing processes. Genomic Vision proprietary tools, based on DNA combing technology and artificial intelligence, provide robust quantitative measurements needed to high confidence characterization of DNA alteration in the genome. These tools are mainly used for monitoring DNA replication in cancerous cell, for early cancer detection and the diagnosis of genetic diseases. Based near Paris, in Bagneux, the Company has approximately 30 employees. GENOMIC VISION is a public listed company listed in compartment C of Euronext's regulated market in Paris (Euronext: GV ISIN: FR0011799907).

For further information, please visit www.genomicvision.com

Member of the CAC Mid Small and CAC All-Tradable indexes

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT

This press release contains implicitly or explicitly certain forward-looking statements concerning Genomic Vision and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Genomic Vision considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will be verified, which statements are subject to numerous risks, including the risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the reference document dated March 29, 2019 filed with the AMF under reference number R19-004, available on the web site of Genomic Vision (www.genomicvision.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Genomic Vision operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Genomic Vision or not currently considered material by Genomic Vision. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Genomic Vision to be materially different from such forward-looking statements.

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute and should not be construed as an offer or an invitation to sell or subscribe, or the solicitation of any order or invitation to purchase or subscribe for Genomic Vision shares in any country. The distribution of this press release in certain countries may be a breach of applicable laws. The persons in possession of this press release must inquire about any local restrictions and comply with these restrictions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005630/en/

Contacts:

Genomic Vision

Pierre Schwich

CFO

Tel.: +33 1 49 08 07 49

investisseurs@genomicvision.com

Ulysse Communication

Press Relations

Bruno Arabian

Tel.: +33 1 42 68 29 70

barabian@ulysse-communication.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

& Strategic Communications

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

gv@newcap.eu
Security forces arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)militant from Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said here on Thursday.

A cordon and search operation was launched around Shimlaran Nallah in Chandoosa area of Baramulla late on Wednesday following information about presence of militants there, police officials said.

"During search operation, one JeMmilitant -- Bashir Ahmad Beigh -- was apprehended along with oneAK-47 riflle and some ammunition," they said.

A case has been registered in the local police station in this regard.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A trilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and U.S. Navy forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific in Sasebo, Japan, June 12, 2016. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles E. White/Released)

US Military Has Bipartisan Support to Regain Indo-Pacific Dominance to Deter China

News Analysis

The U.S. military has bipartisan support to fund a $20 billion radical transformation of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines lethality to regain Indo-Pacific dominance, and to deter Chinese military threat in the region.

Congress for the first time on a bipartisan basis, inserted language into Section 1253 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requiring the military to report on funding needs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans to deter Chinese military action in the region.

The new report titled Regain the Advantage states that the U.S. Department of Defense has made the Indo-Pacific region the militarys priority theater.

Within ten days of taking office in January 2017, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately review the Defense Departments readiness to win a conventional air-land battle in the Indo-Pacific region.

Over the next three years, the RAND Corporation think tank ran a series of Pentagon-sponsored wargame simulations to judge the outcome of non-nuclear conflict between the United States, colored blue on maps, and the combined forces of China and Russia, colored red. RAND Senior International/Defense Researcher David Ochmanek told Breaking Defense in March 2019 that in each of the annual wargames, blue gets its ass handed to it.

When former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work was asked how this could happen when the United States spends of $700 billion each year on the newest and most technically advanced weapons systems on the planet, he responded: the F-35 [fighter] rules the sky when its in the sky, but it gets killed on the ground in large numbers.

The RAND wargames demonstrated that China and Russia have passed the United States in long-range missiles and the smart sensors, communications networks, and command systems to guide them at big American airbases and big aircraft carriers.

A key reason that America has lost competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific is due to the signing of the 1987 Cold War Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The INF treaty banned the United States and Russia from developing missiles with ranges of 310 to 3,400 miles. But China, India, Pakistan, Iran and North Koreaas non-signatorieshave all developed such missiles. Russia has cheated to develop and field its SSC-8.

China has thousands of relatively cheap intermediate range missiles to potentially harass U.S. aircraft carriers and naval fortresses, such as Guam.

In October 2019, China publicly unveiled the worlds first operational hypersonic glide vehicle, the D-17 carrier killer, just two months after the United States announced its official withdrawal from the INF Treaty.

Bipartisan support for militarily confronting China was on full display with the Senates super-majority 87-to-10 vote to pass the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that stated: China is leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage.

The breadth of support for militarily challenging China has expanded to all aspects of economics, culture, and religion, according to an April 8 Politico column that states: If any foreign policy change is emerging in the post-coronavirus era, its the desire to tangle with and inch away from China.

Politico reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on Chinese espionage, and that Congress is intent on demanding the Phase Four economic stimulus bill to begin shifting medical supply chains away from China.

The New York Times reported that the CIA is investigating under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths in China.

The $20 billion Regain the Advantage plan submitted to Congress by U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Phil Davidson lists investing $5.85 billion in Joint Force Lethality as his number one unfunded priority.

Davidson wants to harden Americas First Island Chain that stretches across the Western Pacific with new high-frequency radars and long-range missiles to reverse any anti-access and aerial-denial capabilities intended to limit U.S. freedom of action or access to vital waterways and airspace.
A sign outside Edinburgh Castle which is closed due to coronavirus. (PA)

The government is set to extend its coronavirus lockdown into May.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the prime minister while he is in intensive care, will chair a Cobra emergency committee on Thursday afternoon to discuss the lockdown measures with leaders of the devolved nations.

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was set to be part of the meeting, earlier said there was no possibility of any relaxation of the restrictions.

Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford also said: I dont think anybody believes that were simply going to return to where we were before next week. The current arrangements will need to continue.

With Wednesday seeing a rise of 938 in the number of deaths in hospitals of patients who tested positive for COVID-19, the highest new total so far, and Boris Johnson still in hospital, there seems little chance of the lockdown being lifted.

The government said they would review the lockdown after three weeks but it is expected that a relaxation of the rules will only come after numbers decrease.

With temperatures predicted to rise over the Easter weekend, culture secretary Oliver Dowden warned that now is not time to give up the lockdown measures.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab is set to chair a Cobra meeting that will discuss a lockdown extension. (AP)

Temperatures are set to rise over the Easter weekend. (Met Office)

He told Sky News: We are beginning to make progress on this, weve not seen the acceleration you would have expected had we not introduced this, the curve is beginning to flatten.

This is the moment that we need to stick to the path weve chosen.

The British people have really come behind this, we shouldnt be giving up this Easter weekend, that is the number one thing.

While millions of people are following orders not to embark on an Easter getaway, some have been caught breaking lockdown rules and travelling to tourist hotspots.

Road traffic levels on Thursday morning were similar to those seen in the past week, indicating that most people are staying at home on what is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for leisure travel.

Story continues

An AA survey carried out shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began suggested that around 26 million leisure journeys by road had been planned for the Easter weekend.

Although the vast majority of these trips are no longer taking place, some people have been caught not adhering to the lockdown guidance to avoid non-essential travel.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

Cumbria Constabulary caught several people travelling to the Lake District from outside the area.

These include a group travelling in two cars, one of which was a Lamborghini luxury sports car, who decided it was too nice to stay in Bolton.

As Britain gets used to life in lockdown, Sung-Il Cho, professor of epidemiology at Seoul National University, told The Daily Telegraph that a gradual recovery would only start to happen if cases fell below 50 every day for a fortnight.

Modelling by the newspaper found that this would mean waiting until the middle of next month before the UK ended a full lockdown.

Meanwhile, the Welsh health minister said progress was being made as a result of lockdown measures and social distancing, but there was zero prospect of experts advising these can be eased yet.

But speaking ahead of the Cobra meeting, Vaughan Gething said the lockdown measures will continue for a number of weeks.

He told BBC Breakfast: With the scientific group on emergency advising all four governments across the UK, there is virtually zero prospect of their advice being that it is safe and appropriate to remove lockdown measures now.

A sign on a park gate reminds people to social distance from other park users by two metres in London. (PA)

In Northern Ireland, Stormont minister Deirdre Hargey indicated there will be no relaxation of restrictions there at next week's review.

On Wednesday, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was reasonable to suggest that the lockdown could continue for another month.

He added that Italy and other countries had shown that Britain could expect the peak of the disease to last for some time.

A sign asking for donations for a COVID-19 mutual aid charity in London. (PA)

A Downing Street source agreed it was unlikely that restrictions would be lifted before the end of the month.

The restrictions face their toughest test so far over the Easter weekend, with temperatures set to reach 25C (77F) in some parts of the country, which could tempt more people to break the stay at home rules.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused to "speculate" about the future of the lockdown, instead confirming there would be a review of the measures "in and around three weeks" after they started.

The three-week mark will be reached on Easter Monday, while legislation designed to assist with the containment must also be reviewed at least once every 21 days  with the first due to be carried out by 16 April at the latest.

Sunak sidestepped questions about the prospect of different parts of the UK emerging from the lockdown at different times.

Deputy chief scientific adviser Professor Dame Angela McLean, addressing the same question, said she suspected "simple strategies might well turn out to be the best to use.

Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey said Britons have responded "really well" to the measures but told ITV's Peston: "It's not a case of just throwing that away but in making sure, as we have done every step of the way in our plan, we listen to our experts, we come to a judgement and more of that will be discussed (on Thursday).

The PM's three-week review into the lockdown measures had been due on Monday, but Downing Street is now saying it will be "on or around" that day.

The chancellor said the evidence to inform any review "will only be available next week.

Coronavirus: what happened today

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[April 09, 2020] Newgen's Loan Origination Software Helping Leading US Financial Institutions Quickly Process Paycheck Protection Program Loans

MCLEAN, Virginia, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Newgen Software Inc., a global provider of low code digital automation platform, announced that several leading banks and credit unions in the United States have chosen the Newgen Loan Origination Software for SBA Paycheck Protection Program to process loans quickly and seamlessly. The software can be deployed within hours for each financial institution. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a $349 billion loan program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is intended to provide economic relief to small businesses across the United States that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. "Newgen's lending software for SBA PPP is enabling financial institutions to promptly help small businesses with their loan requirements. The software facilitates an end-to-end lending lifecycle, from providing borrowers the ability to fill their applications online, performing eligibility checks, integrating ith the SBA's E-Tran system, through to originating and disbursing loans. Specifically, our software also lets financial institutions bring in applications they are currently processing manually for quick integration and update into the SBA's E-Tran system," said Anand Raman, EVP and COO, Newgen Software Inc.



The key benefits of Newgen Loan Origination Software for SBA Paycheck Protection Program include: Application intake from online portal and pdf forms

Automated eligibility checks

Batch import for manually processed loan applications

API-based integration with E-Tran

Integration with document preparation tools

E-sign integration

Queue-based workflow with tracking and exception handling

Cloud-based deployment Future enhancements to the software will help financial institutions process loan forgiveness requests, from necessary document collection to verification, and update to E-Tran.

About Newgen Software Inc.: Newgen Software Inc. is a global provider of digital process automation platform with more than 200 financial institutions as its clients. Newgen's platform automates critical business processes for financial institutions across commercial lending, consumer lending, customer on-boarding, digital account opening, trade finance, digital and mobile customer service requests. Newgen offers flexible on-premise and cloud-based solutions to financial institutions. To learn more about how Newgen is connecting enterprises and transforming experiences, visit: http://www.newgensoft.com/ Connect Details: Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

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View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newgens-loan-origination-software-helping-leading-us-financial-institutions-quickly-process-paycheck-protection-program-loans-301038119.html SOURCE Newgen Software Inc.

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By Trend

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to carry out its safeguards activities in Iran and elsewhere, the Agency told Trend.

It continues to carry out its safeguards activities in Iran and elsewhere, ensuring the effective implementation of its mandate while also taking all appropriate measures to protect the safety and security of its staff, whose work is crucial for international peace and security, and of the national officials they are interacting with, said IAEA.

The IAEA said it is continuously monitoring the situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak but  as Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a recent video message  Agency inspections safeguarding nuclear material all over the world will not stop for a single minute.

While there have been widespread travel disruptions and other logistical hurdles due to the outbreak, the IAEA is taking all necessary steps to overcome such challenges, said the Agency. These safeguards activities are conducted by IAEA inspectors, who also have a range of sophisticated technical tools at their disposal. They are continuing their important work in a highly professional and dedicated manner during these extraordinary times.

In January 2016, the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA) was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran in November of the same year.

In order to preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal stated in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.

On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories having not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.

On Sept. 5, Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. Iran no longer faces any restrictions on its nuclear program.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
WASHINGTON  A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracking study of coronavirus released Wednesday shows Connecticut had the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate among 14 states monitored, surpassing New York and California.

The report said in the month of March, Connecticut had about 15 COVID-19-related hospitalizations for 100,000 residents, while New York state had fewer than eight and Ohio had about one.

But the CDC is only tracking cases reported in certain counties in each state. In Connecticut, those are Middlesex and New Haven counties.

And Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday announced that the crucial metric of coronavirus hospitalizations seems to indicate that the statewide effort for social distancing is helping to slow the spread of the pandemic.

He said the net increase of 46 hospitalized patients, more than half of the 110-patient increase on Wednesday, is a good sign.

The really key parameter that were looking at is hospitalizations. Hospitalizations give us a much better sense of where we are in terms of our capacity, and I think youre heard over the last few days the good news is the curve is beginning to bend a little bit and that buys our hospitals time, Lamont said on a conference call with small business owners.

So we think that curve is bending and we hope that if we continue to social distancing that we will have the capacity we need in our hospital system, Lamont said. Thats one fewer person hospitalized in Fairfield County today than yesterday. In a very slightly way were gaining a little capacity now.

Hospitalization rates in Fairfield County, the hottest hot spot in Connecticut, were not included in the CDC study, nor was data from New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the nation right now.

Instead, the CDC focused on 99 counties that formed the basis for the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network, launched in 2003 to monitor the severity of influenza seasons and provided information to help combat the flu.

The new surveillance network is called the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network, or COVID-NET.

This is a labor intensive project that is done in collaboration with our colleagues at the Yale School of Public Health emerging infections disease program, said state epidemiologist Matthew Cartter. Thats why we do this in New Haven and Middlesex counties. We are part of the greater NYC COVID-19 outbreak and the rates here are higher than in the other COVID-Net sites.

Using COVID-NET data, the CDC said the average hospitalization rate was 4.6 per 100,000 residents. The agencys report also said COVID-19-associated hospitalizations increased with age, with the highest rates among adults aged 65 or older.

And most of those hospitalized patients identified in the CDCs study  90 percent  had one or more underlying conditions, the most common being obesity, hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Obesity increases risk of hospitalization

Among patients aged 18-49 years, obesity was the most prevalent underlying condition, followed by chronic lung disease (primarily asthma) and diabetes.

Among patients aged 50-64 years, obesity was most prevalent, followed by hypertension and diabetes; and among those aged 65 and older hypertension was most prevalent, followed by cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The CDC also said the average period of time from the onset of symptoms - most frequently cough, fever or chills and shortness of breath - to hospitalization was seven days.

In Connecticut, as of Tuesday, there were 7,781 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 277 deaths. That means the COVID-19 death rate is about 3.5 percent in the state. In New York it is 3.9 percent and in New Jersey it is 2.8 percent.

But those numbers may be misleading because they are based on the numbers of people tested for coronavirus in a state and theres large discrepancy in the amount of testing done in individual states.

Many people have been infected and were never tested, especially if are asymptomatic, meaning they are infected but dont show signs of illness. As many as 25 percent of people infected with the new coronavirus may not show symptoms, the CDC has said.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health has warned there is much more disease activity going on in the state that has not been recorded.

Cartter has said that for every laboratory confirmed COVID-19 case in Connecticut, there are likely 100 other cases. Cartter said he based that premise on more than 30 years of infectious disease investigations in the state.

Men vs. women

Another statistic being reported by the state health department may be very accurate.

Connecticut is following a trend noted overseas, likely to hold across the nation, too, in which women are more likely to be infected by COVID-19 but men are more likely to die from it.

As of Tuesday, the rate of confirmed coronavirus cases among females in Connecticut was 217 per 100,000 and for males 209 per 100,000. But, as of Tuesday, 167 males and 109 females died of COVID-19.

Researchers believe womens bodies are better at fighting off infection, thanks to the hormones in their systems and the genes on their two X chromosomes. But that is just a theory.

Robert McLean, a rheumatologist who practices in New Haven and the head of the American College of Physicians, said men and women may have different receptors for the coronavirus.

Maybe the way it gets into men and women is different, he said.

Meanwhile, a Washington Post analysis of early data from jurisdictions across the country shows theres a stark racial disparity when it comes to the disease, with greater proportions of African Americans becoming ill and dying of COVID-19.

McLean also wonders why health care workers are getting more serious cases of COVID-19 than other people.

It may be the viral load, the intensity of the exposure, he said. There are multiple factors that we dont know.

Ken Dixon contributed to this report.
The leading British scientific journal Nature apologized in an article published on Tuesday for associating the coronavirus with its origin place in China on the grounds that the linkage had inspired racist attacks against people with Asian heritage across the world.

That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize, the journal said in an article published Tuesday.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China and first appeared in bats thought to have infected wild animals that were sold in the citys wet markets. Since then, it has spread to at least 177 countries and infected 1.4 million people. As of Thursday morning, at least 89,000 people had died after contracting the respiratory illness.

Its clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs  for example, on their health and livelihoods, the article read.

Nature remarked that the World Health Organizations dubbing the new coronavirus COVID-19 was a subtle reminder to those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage  including Nature.

The publication urged that Coronavirus stigma must stop  now.

It would be tragic if stigma, fueled by the coronavirus, led Asias young people to retreat from international campuses, curtailing their own education, reducing their own and others opportunities and leaving research worse off  just when the world is relying on it to find a way out, the journal said.

The Nature report also chastised a minority of politicians, who are sticking with the outdated script.

Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop, the report said.

President Trump briefly referred to the coronavirus as the Chinese virus, defending his use of the term by saying it comes from China, but later backed away from the phrase after reports of an uptick in violence against Asian Americans.

Story continues

Look, everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldnt make any more of a big deal out of it, Trump said early last month.

The Communist Chinese government has denied that the virus originated in China and said that it is strongly indignant over the phrase, calling it a kind of stigmatization. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang demanded last month that the U.S. immediately stop its unjustified accusations against China.

More from National Review
As many as 21 new COVID-19 cases have been reported from Gujarat, taking the state tally to 262, Gujarat Health Department said on Thursday.

"21 new COVID 19 cases detected in Gujarat. 8 cases in Ahmedabad, 7 in Patan, 4 in Vadodara and 2 in Rajkot. There are 262 COVID-19 cases in Gujarat including 26 discharged and 18 deaths. 212 are stable and 3 are on Ventilator. While, 4 are quarantined for surveillance," State Heath Department said.

Out of the 262 cases, 18 have died and 26 have been discharged.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday had informed that the state government will provide free ration to 60 lakh families who were not getting food under Food Security Act.

"We have decided that people with Above Poverty Line 1 card, who were not getting food grains due to Food Security Act will now be given 10 kg wheat grains, 3 kg rice, 1 kg pulse grain and 1 kg sugar-free of cost. 60 lakh families will get benefited from it," Rupani said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus and the United States is particularly vulnerable because of high obesity levels there, France's chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday.

Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said as many as 17 million of France's 67 million citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity.

"This virus is terrible, it can hit young people, in particular obese young people. Those who are overweight really need to be careful," Delfraissy told franceinfo radio.

"That is why we're worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity."

Track state-wise confirmed coronavirus cases here

Delfraissy said 88% of those infected with the coronavirus suffered only severe flu-like symptoms.

The mortality rate for young people entering hospital with severe COVID-19 respiratory disease was about 2%, he said, but that rose to 14% for people who are more fragile.

Despite the rapid spread of the virus in France, the country is still far from getting to the point where 50% to 60% of the population has been infected and recovered and at which point a certain level of "herd immunity" is reached, Delfraissy said.

"Initial data show that the number of people who may have developed immunity is lower than we imagined, about 10-15%," said the veteran infectious diseases specialist who has led French research into Ebola and AIDS.

He said it was too soon to end France's lockdown, which started March 17 and is set to last until at least April 15.

The council's recommendation was for strict confinement to continue several weeks from now and that before the lockdown could be unwound, pressure on intensive care units (ICU) needed to ease and the spread of the virus slow.

Follow the latest updates of coronavirus cases in India here

On Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 patients in ICU rose by just 59 (1%) to 7,131 but the number of confirmed and probable cases reported nationally jumped by a record 11,059 or 11% to 109,069 as more and more nursing homes declared cumulative data for the first time.

A third condition for ending the lockdown was having sufficient stocks of equipment, Delfraissy said, notably masks, testing kits and tools for tracing infected patients.

French coronavirus testing capacity has risen from 3,000 per day in mid-March to 30,000 on a daily basis now, and will rise to 100,000-250,000 per day in about two weeks, he said.

Obesity has been cited as a possible explanation for higher than average per-capita COVID-19 death rates in the U.S. city of New Orleans and in Mexico.
NEW YORK (AP)  As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can.

The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be harming certain patients.

HISD SELF-QUARANTINE: Employee who handed out laptops tests positive for COVID-19

The evolving treatments highlight the fact that doctors are still learning the best way to manage a virus that emerged only months ago. They are relying on anecdotal, real-time data amid a crush of patients and shortages of basic supplies.

Mechanical ventilators push oxygen into patients whose lungs are failing. Using the machines involves sedating a patient and sticking a tube into the throat. Deaths in such sick patients are common, no matter the reason they need the breathing help.

Generally speaking, 40% to 50% of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say. But 80% or more of coronavirus patients placed on the machines in New York City have died, state and city officials say.

COUGHING 'ATTACKS': Authorities must determine whether coughing on others counts as terroristic attack in age of coronavirus

Higher-than-normal death rates also have been reported elsewhere in the U.S., said Dr. Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Associations chief medical officer.

Similar reports have emerged from China and the United Kingdom. One U.K. report put the figure at 66%. A very small study in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease first emerged, said 86% died.

The reason is not clear. It may have to do with what kind of shape the patients were in before they were infected. Or it could be related to how sick they had become by the time they were put on the machines, some experts said.

But some health professionals have wondered whether ventilators might actually make matters worse in certain patients, perhaps by igniting or worsening a harmful immune system reaction.

That's speculation. But experts do say ventilators can be damaging to a patient over time, as high-pressure oxygen is forced into the tiny air sacs in a patient's lungs.

We know that mechanical ventilation is not benign," said Dr. Eddy Fan, an expert on respiratory treatment at Toronto General Hospital. One of the most important findings in the last few decades is that medical ventilation can worsen lung injury  so we have to be careful how we use it.

The dangers can be eased by limiting the amount of pressure and the size of breaths delivered by the machine, Fan said.

But some doctors say they're trying to keep patients off ventilators as long as possible, and turning to other techniques instead.

Only a few weeks ago in New York City, coronavirus patients who came in quite sick were routinely placed on ventilators to keep them breathing, said Dr. Joseph Habboushe, an emergency medicine doctor who works in Manhattan hospitals.

But increasingly, physicians are trying other measures first. One is having patients lie in different positions  including on their stomachs  to allow different parts of the lung to aerate better. Another is giving patients more oxygen through nose tubes or other devices. Some doctors are experimenting with adding nitric oxide to the mix, to help improve blood flow and oxygen to the least damaged parts of the lungs.

If we're able to make them better without intubating them, they are more likely to have a better outcome  we think, Habboushe said.

He said those decisions are separate from worries that there are not enough ventilators available. But that is a concern as well, Habboushe added.

There are widespread reports that coronavirus patients tend to be on ventilators much longer than other kinds of patients, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

Experts say that patients with bacterial pneumonia, for example, may be on a ventilator for no more than a day or two. But its been common for coronavirus patients to have been on a ventilator seven days, 10 days, 15 days, and theyre passing away, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when asked about ventilator death rates during a news briefing on Wednesday.

Thats one reason for worries that ventilators could grow in short supply. Experts worry that as cases mount, doctors will be forced to make terrible decisions about who lives and who dies because they wont have enough machines for every patient who needs one.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said Wednesday that officials are looking into other possible therapies that can be given earlier, but added that's all experimental."

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds as well as more serious illnesses. Health officials say it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. There is no proven drug treatment or vaccine against it.

Experts think most people who are infected suffer nothing worse than unpleasant but mild illnesses that may include fever and coughing.

But roughly 20%  many of them older adults or people weakened by chronic conditions  can grow much sicker. They can have trouble breathing and suffer chest pain. Their lungs can become inflamed, causing a dangerous condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome. An estimated 3% to 4% may need ventilators.

The ventilator is not therapeutic. Its a supportive measure while we wait for the patients body to recover," said Dr. Roger Alvarez, a lung specialist with the University of Miami Health System in Florida, who is a leader in the effort to use nitric oxide to keep patients off ventilators for as long as possible.

Zachary Shemtob said he was absolutely terrified when he was told his 44-year-old husband, David, needed to be put on a ventilator at NYU Langone last month after becoming infected with the virus.

Needing to be ventilated might mean never getting off the ventilator, he said.

Shemtob said the hospital did not give any percentages on survival, but he got the impression it was essentially a coin flip. He looked up the rates only after his husband was breathing on his own six days later.

OPINION: A massive wave of evictions is coming. Temporary bans aren't helping.

A coin flip was generous it seems, he said.

But Shemtob noted cases vary. His husband is relatively young.

David is living proof that they can really save lives, and how incredibly important they are, Shemtob said.

___

Associated Press reporters Candice Choi and Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Bollywood producer Karim Moranis daughter Shaza Morani, who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week, is responding to treatment. According to a report in The Times of India, she has now tested negative and is awaiting the results of a second test, before she can be discharged from the hospital.

Though Shaza has tested negative, she has been tested again and the result will be known by tomorrow. We are hoping for it to be negative, too. So, by tomorrow, she can hopefully come back home, a source close to the family told the newspaper.

After Shaza, her elder sister and actor Zoa Morani tested positive for the coronavirus. She is currently undergoing treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

Both sisters have a travel history. While Shaza returned from Sri Lanka last month, Zoa travelled to Rajasthan. Shortly after, they developed symptoms of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Karim has also tested positive for the virus. However, his wife Zara Morani is in the clear.

Also read: When Robert Downey Jr stormed out of interview after being asked about controversial past, called journalist syphilitic parasite

On Wednesday, Zoa shared an update on Instagram, of her experience and the steps that she has been taking after her diagnosis. My father, sister and I have been tested Covid 19 positive. Papa and Shaza have no symptoms, I have a few.. will be sharing the experiences soon so that others get an idea and I can be of some help.. It feels like a flu with a bit of uneasiness in the chest.. very bearable if one rests it out, pranayam and hot water have been helping a-lot! Will share details soon Thank you for all the wishes.. looking forward to being home soon, she wrote.

Zoas caption read, Feeling So overwhelmed watching the Drs , nurses and hospital staff taking care of us fearlessly! No words can describe .. i can see their discomfort in their protective suits yet 24 /7 on their toes serving us ... the true heroes for sure ... my Dr is so sweet and full of life , he constantly makes jokes and makes me feel so light.. yesterday he was the one to bring the news to me about testing positive and he was so sensitive and funny at the same time (dont know how he did that) so so grateful for Dr Saurabh Phadkare and his team ...Feeling so safe in his hands ...

Follow @htshowbiz for more
(Natural News) Ever since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) reared its ugly head, calls to 911 in New York City have surged, according to reports.

New Yorkers have never called the emergency number as much as theyre calling it now, often to report cardiac events that they believe could be related to the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Emergency Medical Services, which is part of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) that operates the citys paramedic response, says that it continues to receive anywhere from three to four times its average daily call volume for various health emergencies that people believe are associated with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Interestingly, individual calls to 911 in the Big Apple are now twice as likely to involve a death as they were before, which the FDNY says is attributable to the fact that more patients are now calling 911 when theyre closer to death as opposed to sooner. Not only that, but more New Yorkers have now died from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) than from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Because of this, EMTs and paramedics are having a more difficult time preventing the patients theyre rescuing from dying because, in many cases, its already too late and theyre dead by the time they ever reach a hospital.

The dramatic increase of cardiac arrest calls and deaths from cardiac arrest calls, a senior official at the FDNY told the media, demonstrates the impact suspended or confirmed COVID-19 patients are having on 911 and what EMS members are having to respond to every day.

Be sure to listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infections are turning some people into violent zombies:

911 calls involving death in NYC have nearly DOUBLED since last year

Just to be clear, a cardiac call is one in which a patient is either already dead from cardiac arrest or right on the verge of dying. When EMS arrives, if a person is found to have obvious signs of death then this is classified as death on a call, meaning the person couldnt be resuscitated.

Between March 20 and April 5 of last year, there were an average of 69 cardiac calls per day in New York City, with an average of 27 deaths, which calculates to 39 percent of all calls. This year, however, those numbers jumped to an average of 195 cardiac calls per day with an average of 129 deaths, meaning 66 percent of cardiac calls now involve a death.

As the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has continued to worsen, these numbers have gotten even more severe, with data between March 30 and April 5 showing an average of 284 cardiac calls per day and 200 deaths. This translates to 72 percent of cardiac calls now ending in death.

The worst single day so far was on April 5, when the FDNY received 322 cardiac calls, with 241, or about 75 percent, ending in death.

I know crews that go from cardiac arrest to cardiac arrest all day, wrote Captain Jing Kong, a 16-year EMS veteran, on the FDNYs official Instagram account.

While its true that not all of these cardiac events are necessarily attributable to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), the fact remains that there has been a significant uptick in their prevalence that cant be explained other than the arrival of a novel virus that, as well all know, has pretty much shut down the entire world.

Interestingly, the FDNY has also indicated that many of the cardiac calls its receiving this year as opposed to last year involve patients suffering from fever and/or cough, which also points to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) as a potential culprit.

To keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

NBCNews.com

NaturalNews.com
EU imports of Ukrainian chicken up by almost 20% in Jan

20:00, 09.04.20 861

However, the bloc's poultry exports to Ukraine decreased by 26.3%, to 11,800 tonnes.
To get on the roster, call the Health Department at (308) 385-5175, and we will do our very best to arrange testing, Anderson said.

Testing will also include people who have been diagnosed by their providers as having COVID-19 but have not had a test. Those people should also call the Health Department first.

Area residents have been very fortunate this week because the governor and Department of Health and Human Services have provided for us additional testing, which is much needed, she said.

During her briefing, Anderson also urged families not to get together for Easter.

She herself would like to see her grandchildren in Omaha and Kansas City. But I cant. Because I know its not good for them, and its not good for me.

She will connect with them via Facetime or some other means.

This is a challenging time for us. And the bigger challenges are just ahead, and in the next few weeks, Anderson said.

It is absolutely essential that you choose to stay home, and not have a large gathering this weekend, she said.
Limerick businessman Steve Collins, whose son Roy was murdered by the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang, was left sickened when he heard its name this week.

The gang has been linked to the killing of serial hitman Robbie Lawlor, and Mr Collins fears it may mark the mob's return to serious crime.

"It brings it all back when we hear that name mentioned. We thought the name Dundon had been buried for good and that they were gone," he told the Herald.

The re-emergence of the Dundons as part of the Drogheda feud could not have come at a worse time for the Collins family.

Today marks the 11th anniversary of Roy's murder in his amusement arcade in Limerick on Holy Thursday, April 9, 2009.

Revenge

As the PSNI continues to investigate Lawlor's murder in Belfast, gardai believe the Dundons agreed to set him up for the Maguire-Price faction in Drogheda.

This group in turn wanted revenge on Lawlor for leaving one of the gang leaders paralysed after an assassination attempt and for the barbaric murder and dismemberment of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods.

"When I read about the involvement of the Dundons in a high-profile murder, with Wayne openly celebrating in prison and some of his associates being arrested, and then gardai lifting the money they had supposedly been paid, I was sickened," he said.

"I was disappointed and shocked that the new generation seems to be on the way back and that they're trying to ingratiate themselves with other gangs.

"The State must make sure they're stopped in their tracks and are never again allowed to cause the chaos and misery they brought to Limerick.

"Wayne Dundon and his brothers are still organising murders from behind bars and then celebrating them, just like they did with our Roy, Shane Geoghegan and many others.

"They're obviously as treacherous now as they ever were. It reminds us of the pond life that they are."

Wayne Dundon (41) is serving a life sentence for the murder of innocent Roy.
On April 6, National Public Radios website published an opinion piece co-authored by three former U.S. ambassadors to Ukraine: Steven Pifer, John Herbst, and William B. Taylor. They argued that the COVID-19 pandemic could present an unexpected opportunity both to resolve the only hot war in Europe and to address Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on international norms of behavior.

In close cooperation with the leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine, President Trump should propose to President Putin an end to the fighting, the return of Donbas and the international border to Ukrainian sovereignty, and the removal of the sanctions imposed on Russia for its Donbas intrusion, the three former ambassadors write.

They also obliquely refer to restoring Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea, which Russia annexed in March 2014: If Putin were willing to withdraw from Crimea, the other sanctions imposed against that illegal annexation could be lifted as well.

The Russian state-owned TASS news agency quoted presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said: Crimea is part of the Russian Federation, with all the consequences this entails. Russia doesnt have to leave Donbas soil since it had never entered there.

Both claims are false.

First, the international community considers Crimea a Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. An overwhelming majority of United Nations member states recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine, and the U.N. passed a resolution in 2016 recognizing Russia as an occupying power in the Crimea.

The International Criminal Court has deemed the occupation of Crimea an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Peskovs claim that Russia never entered the Donbas flies in the face of overwhelming evidence in the form of open source intelligence and eyewitness testimony, including from Russian soldiers who fought in the Donbas. Moreover, while Putin has not openly acknowledged his militarys involvement in Donbas, he obliquely did so during his annual media conference in December 2015.

We never said there were no people doing military-related business, but that doesnt mean there are regular Russian troops, Putin said.

In fact, that statement contradicted one earlier by Putin: He previously denied sending forces into Donbas on military-related business, despite the fact that regular Russian troops were involved in two major battles there  in Illovaisk in 2014 and Debaltseve in 2015.

The reaction to the op-ed from other Russian officials was harsh. On the same day of Peskov's comments to TASS, Russias state-owned RIA Novosti news agency published a long piece with responses from the Kremlin and Russian politicians, some of whom are based in occupied Crimea.

Sergei Aksyonov, now head of the Russian occupation government in Crimea, also reacted harshly to the op-ed by the former U.S. ambassadors. Aksyonov, who played a key role in the annexation of the peninsula in 2014, wrote on his personal Facebook page that the ex-ambassadors were dreaming, and that the American political class was confusing fantasy and reality.

Aksyonovs rise to power in Crimea might be described as fantastic. He became a deputy of the regions local parliament in elections in 2010, when his party only won 4 percent of the vote. On Feb. 27, 2014, Aksyonov entered the Crimean parliament building after it had been seized by armed men and began engineering a referendum led to Crimeas annexation by Russia. It subsequently emerged that the armed men who seized the parliament were Russian special forces.

Dmitry Belik, a deputy in the State Duma (the lower house of Russias parliament) from the Crimean city of Sevastopol, said the three former U.S. diplomats were wearing rose-colored glasses.

They simply do not know our national mentality, do not want to learn our history, and therefore they rely on the principles of pressure in relation to our country, Belik said. Russia has seen a lot, and has already experienced something that others have never dreamed of. And its entire history has been under Western sanctions."

Beliks version of Russian history omits the fact that the Soviet Union collapsed under political pressures, losing all of its constituent republics, and the period of 1991-2014, during which Russia was not under any kind of Western sanctions.

The harshest criticism of the former U.S. ambassdors' op-ed came from Sergei Tsekov, a member of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russias parliament, from Crimea.

"Some general dementia has immediately taken three former ambassadors  there is no trace of even elementary logic in their statement, he said.

Ekaterina Altabaeva, a member of Russias Federation Council from Sevastopol, said: "The [coronavirus] crisis not only did not create the conditions for Crimea to return to Ukraine, but, on the contrary, created the conditions for lifting the sanctions that were illegally imposed on Russia, the peninsula and its inhabitants.

Altabaevas claim that sanctions on Russia are illegal have been a common refrain among Russian politicians since 2014. It is false. Most experts agree that Russias annexation and occupation of Crimea was illegal.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has hit out at accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the democratic island's government had instigated "racist attacks" in the international community.



"I strongly protest the accusations that Taiwan is instigating racist attacks in the international community," Tsai said in a statement.



"Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination. For years, we have been excluded from international organizations, and we know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated," said Tsai, who has repeatedly been ignored by the WHO after calling for membership of the U.N. health agency.



Taiwan, which has never formed part of the People's Republic of China nor been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, has nevertheless been denied membership in international organizations under huge diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on that he had been personally attacked, had suffered racist abuse and had even received death threats.



"This attack came from Taiwan," said the WHO chief, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister and the organization's first African leader.



Taiwanese diplomats were aware of the attacks but did not dissociate themselves from them, Tedros alleged.



"They even started criticizing me in the middle of all those insults and slurs," Tedros added. "I say it because it's enough."



However, he gave no specific examples of the attacks, nor of any link to Taiwan, where the authorities are waging an ongoing battle against online disinformation by Beijing's supporters that long predates the coronavirus pandemic.



Invitation to visit Taiwan

Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said Taiwan's government, which is a sovereign state dating back to the 1911 Republic of China founded by Yat-sen, regretted that Tedros had been the target of racist attacks.



"We also know what that feels like in Taiwan," Ou said. But she called on him to retract his claim that the foreign ministry had been linked to that abuse in any way.



"Dr. Tedros' unproven and inaccurate allegations against Taiwan, with no attempt at verification, are not only inconsistent with the facts, but also cause serious harm to our government and people," Ou told a news briefing in Taipei on . "Such defamation is extremely irresponsible."



"Our government requires Director-General Tedros to correct these unfounded allegations, clarify immediately, and apologize to our country," she said.



"We call on Director-General Tedros to abandon political prejudice, return to a neutral and professional position, invite Taiwan to fully participate in all meetings and mechanisms to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, and resume its invitation to Taiwan to participate in the WHO with observer status," she said.



Tsai, meanwhile, called on Tedros to visit Taiwan.



"If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan to see Taiwans efforts to fight COVID-19 for himself, he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment," said Tsai, who was re-elected on a landslide last November amid growing threats from Beijing over possible military action to annex the island.



"We have never let our inability to join international organizations lessen our support for the international community," Tsai said.



Tedros' allegations came after U.S. President Trump said the WHO was "China-centric," and suggested that the U.S. would consider withdrawing funding from the agency.



US funding cut threats

Trump said the WHO "got it wrong" in their handling of the coronavirus epidemic.



"They also minimized the threat very strongly," he said on .



WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge responded that "this is not the time to cut back on funding."



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed later that the U.S. was reevaluating its WHO funding, saying that it hasnt accomplished what it was intended to deliver.



The chair of the African Union's commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, tweeted the support of the African Union for the WHO and Tedros, but U.S. Senator Marco Rubio called for Tedros to resign.



"Unfortunately, it has been politicized ... I have deep concerns about it," Rubio, a Beijing critic and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), told Fox News.



Yen Chen-shen of the Institute of International Relations at Taiwan's Cheng-chi University said any attempt to unseat Tedros at the WHO will likely fail.



"There are more than 50 countries in Africa, and the African members will support him ... in addition, he may also win support from Middle Eastern countries," Yen said. "Basically, he won't be replaced unless China were to be dissatisfied with him."



"[Many developing countries] have received many benefits from China, so they will support China in international organizations," Yen said. "But the U.S., and especially Trump, is pursuing a policy of unilateralism, and he is unwilling form alliances or work within the international system."



"That effectively leaves a vacuum which can be filled in these organizations by China."



Zhuang Jiaying of the National University of Singapore agreed.



"The Obama administration attached great importance to the United Nations, but the Trump administration is not the same, and basically despises the U.N," Zhuang said. "So they may not be very active in promoting their candidates or canvassing for votes."



He said even if there was a recall and a new election for a WHO leader, there would be little advantage to the U.S.



Reported by Cai Ling, Chung Kuang-cheng, Gao Feng and Man Hoi-tsan for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Countries Worldwide in Different Stages of COVID-19 Trajectory

By VOA News April 08, 2020

Tuesday saw an increase in deaths and new COVID-19 cases in Britain, France, some eastern European countries, Sweden, Japan and the United States, while China, South Korea and a handful of other countries reported a decline in deaths and new infections.

China on Tuesday ended the 76-day lockdown in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak began in late December. Residents who can produce a smartphone application that shows they do not have COVID-19 and have not been in recent contact with anyone infected with the disease, can move about freely, and traffic has returned to roadways and railways.

In South Korea, steady progress continued with just 47 new infections reported Tuesday, but officials remain concerned about a return of the virus and are urging people to stay at home.

Austria, Denmark and Norway announced easing their own lockdowns, including the re-opening of schools, after the spread of the virus showed a decline. Even Italy and Spain, the worst hit European countries reported a slow but steady decline in deaths and new infections.

But after a spike in new deaths in the past two days, France on Tuesday became the fourth country to surpass 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus, after Italy, Spain and the United States. Authorities in Paris banned residents from doing outdoor exercise between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to keep them off the streets. The ban starts Wednesday and applies to the French capital only. France has been in lockdown since March 17, and the measures have been extended until April 15, with another extension expected soon.

The United States has recorded more than 12,000 deaths, making it the country with the third-highest official death toll, after Italy and Spain. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases was nearly 400,000 Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Almost a half of U.S. deaths caused by COVID-19 have occurred in the state of New York, most of them in densely populated New York City.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state of New York recorded its highest single-day death toll Tuesday. The 731 deaths reported since Monday brought the total to 5,589 deaths and 138,836 infections, according to University of Minnesota figures.

Britain also reported the largest daily death toll caused by the virus  758 people over a 24-hour period. The country's Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care where he is being treated for the virus. Officials say he has been given oxygen but there was no need to put him on a ventilator.

While some Scandinavian countries are ready to relax their COVID-19 restrictions, Sweden may have to go in the opposite direction. After month of relative freedom and no official lockdowns, the country has seen a sudden spike in the number of cases and hundreds of deaths.

A number of countries have yet to report any COVID-19 cases, among them Sierra Leone and Turkmenistan. Health experts warn that many authoritarian governments suppress reports of COVID-19 cases, thus making it harder to track the virus and stop its transmission. Turkmenistan held a mass bike rally on Tuesday to mark World Health Day.

Russian news media reported Tuesday that the country's Vector Institute, a state research center in Novosibirsk, will start testing a COVID-19 vaccine on volunteers in June. The center's director, Rinat Maksutov, told Rosija1 television that initial testing on animals, mostly mice, have made them immune to the coronavirus. The pre-clinical trials are to start in May.

In Seattle, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington's School of Medicine, released a forecast Tuesday predicting that more than 150,000 people will die during what they call the "first wave" of the pandemic. The IHME researchers say that "it is unequivocally evident" that social distancing can help control the epidemic and lead to declining death rates, if implemented timely and correctly.

IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray warned that easing these precautions too soon during "the first wave" of the pandemic could lead to new rounds of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. He defines the end of this wave as a ratio of 0.3 deaths per 1 million people.

Close to 1.5 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed worldwide and more than 82,000 have died so far.

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A Louisiana preacher insists on still holding services despite his state being a coronavirus hotspot and orders aimed at curbing the deadly outbreak because his congregants are ready to die for their faith.

The Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Central City already faces six misdemeanor charges after he held Palm Sunday services last weekend that attracted hundreds to his church, including many who came in 26 packed buses.

Spell was unapologetic when asked in an interview if he thought he would have blood on his hands if one of his congregants becomes infected and dies.

'Like any revolutionary, or like any zealot, or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. ' he says. 'True Christians do not mind dying. They fear living in fear.'

The Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Central City insists on still holding services despite his state being a coronavirus hotspot and orders aimed at curbing the deadly outbreak because his congregants are ready to die for their faith

Spell already faces six misdemeanor charges after he held Palm Sunday services last weekend in defiance of his state's coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings

Spell's services on Palm Sunday attracted hundreds to his church, including many who came in 26 packed buses. Congregants are pictured entering the church for the services last weekend

Speaking to TMZ, Spell argued that Louisiana residents had been locked in their homes 'like prisoners' because of the state's initial March 23rd order to stay at home because of the outbreak, and that virtual services were no substitute for worshiping in-person.

His parish 15 miles north of Baton Rouge boasts a membership of more than 1,000.

The pastor's defiance comes as Louisiana remains one of the nation's hotspots for the deadly flu-like virus, also known as COVID-19.

Louisiana became a hotspot, say experts, after Mardi Gras on February 25th attracted 1.4 million revelers to New Orleans.

Gov. John Bel Edwards responded almost a month later with a statewide 'stay-at-home' order for all residents, designed to help curb the spread of the outbreak.

Church assemblies are not included in the state's list of essential services and are prohibited.

So far, there have been more than 17,000 confirmed cases in Louisiana of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for more than 650 deaths in the state.

Across the country, there have been more than 435,500 confirmed cases and 14,831 deaths.

There have been more than 435,500 confirmed cases in the US of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 14,831 deaths

How the number of coronavirus cases has escalated in the U.S. over time

How the number of coronavirus infections has escalated over time

A day-to-day look at the number of deaths in the U.S. blamed on the coronavirus

As President Donald Trump's administration sent 200 ventilators to Louisiana on Palm Sunday, Spell held services and told Reuters, 'We're defying the rules because the commandment of God is to spread the Gospel.'

Spell, who previously has said he's a victim of religious persecution, alluded to stay-at-home orders as 'tyranny' and 'prison' in his TMZ interview Wednesday.

Spell, who previously has said he's a victim of religious persecution, alluded to stay-at-home orders as 'tyranny' and 'prison'. He is pictured speaking to the media last month

He flatly turned down an interviewer's suggestion to try the Zoom app, which would broadcast services to people online.

Those who already have died, he says, 'They died like free people, fighting for their convictions.'
Despite the coronavirus lockdown the free print edition of SUR in English is out on the streets as usual for readers to pick up every Friday.

Spain's state of alarm decree includes newspapers among those essential products that people are permitted to go out for.

While some distribution points are closed during the lockdown, SUR in English is still being distributed to news kiosks, paper shops, supermarkets, petrol stations and other usual outlets that are authorised to open across the province of Malaga.

Alternatively, you can download the paper (and any past edition) in PDF format from our website (click here).

Consult the updated list below to find the news outlet closest to you. The list includes newsagent's, supermarkets and petrol stations, among other open shops and services. Please note that this list does not include private residential developments that do still regularly receive SUR in English. Some other outlets that also still receive the newspaper may also have been omitted from the list. Similarly we apologise if any of the points listed are closed without our knowledge..
Good Friday is also known as Great Friday, Black Friday, Easter Friday or Holy Friday and this year it falls on April 10. It is a significant day for the Christian community since it commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus, and Christians believed that Jesus came back three days after being crucified, on the day known as Easter.

The word good in Good Friday means pious or holy. The death of Jesus signifies forgiveness for all of the sins of mankind, with Jesus sacrificing himself for the good of humankind.

Good Friday is a day of mourning, and people keep fasts and pray to the Lord. It is a day to remind oneself of Jesus Christs sacrifices. Church services take place from noon to 3 pm on this day and decorations from statues are removed. Priests are dressed in black robes.

ALSO READ: Teachings and quotes by Jesus Christ to remember this Holy Friday

On Good Friday, Christians do not eat meat and traditionally the food which is eaten is hot cross buns. However, many people do eat fish instead of meat. The reason why fish is eaten is because it comes from the sea and hence is believed to be a different kind of flesh. Fish shapes were also believed to be secret symbols by which Christians would identify each other at a time when their religion had been banned. A lot of those who followed Jesus Christ were also fishermen. Preparation for meals on Good Friday would normally start a week before, with the dough for the bread being kneaded and braided.

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Catholic Bishops have written to Secretary of State Brandon Lewis expressing their "deep concern" at the Government's proposed approach to dealing with legacy issues.

Last month the Government said ending the cycle of re-investigations when there is no new compelling evidence would deliver on its promise to protect former members of the armed forces from "vexatious claims".

Under the new proposals, once cases have been considered, there will be a legal bar on any future investigation.

But Catholic Church leaders, led by Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, said there was "alarm and disappointment at the new position which the Government is taking to address the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland".

They referred specifically to what they described as the Government's "departure from the understanding inherent in the Stormont House Agreement to which all parties signed up with goodwill".

"It is deeply concerning that the Government has departed from this fundamental principle and has moved away from the position of equal access to justice for all," the letter said.

"We must consider the actions of all. State and non-state actors must be equally accountable before the law. Otherwise, no authentic reconciliation can be achieved. We therefore support the ongoing pursuit of appropriate criminal, legal and civic justice for all victims.

"The timing of the announcement was unfortunate, when we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

"The implications of the proposals are therefore not receiving the scrutiny they might otherwise receive.

"We also caution that any specific provisions for Northern Ireland could destabilise the Executive and other institutions and would undoubtedly provoke significant political and public reaction at a time when a strong and unified Executive is needed more than ever."
Paul Kane, part of the Washington Posts stable of Trump-hating left-liberals, praises Sen. Tom Cotton for being right early on about the threat to America posed by the Wuhan coronavirus. Kane also cites Rep. Liz Cheney for being ahead of the curve.

The subtext of Kanes article, though, is an attack on President Trump and other prominent Republicans who were less quick to perceive the danger. Kane neglects to mention all of the prominent Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi and Andrew Cuomo, who were clueless about the crisis the virus was about to create.

Kane also indulges in blatant dishonesty when he claims that Trump initially demand[ed] the economy reopen by next. . .Easter. The president demanded no such thing. He said, Id love to have [the ecoonomy] open by Easter. Clearly this was a hope, not a demand.

The Washington Post itself reported at the time that Trump said he hopes the nations dramatic response to the coronavirus pandemic will be scaled back within weeks to revive the economy and pack churches by Easter Sunday, and it described Trumps statement as an aspiration. (Emphasis added)

In trying to make more of Trumps statement than his own paper did, Kane is disregarding the truth.

Kane also describes the views of Cotton and Cheney towards China as strident and controversial. By controversial, Kane means that he and the Posts other left-liberals dont share them.

The view that China is other than a very bad actor and a serious threat to world order should be at least as controversial as the strident stance of Cotton and Cheney. In light of Chinas behavior relating to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, I think it should be more controversial.

Its nice to see Tom Cotton receive good press from the Washington Post. He deserves it, and not just for his prescience about the pandemic. But its too bad the Post provides the good press in the service of Trump bashing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her ground Wednesday and refused to buckle to the Trump administration's demand for swift congressional approval of $250 billion in additional funds for small businesses, urging Republicans to continue negotiations on more relief to minority-owned companies and others struggling to secure loans during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pelosi's remarks, in an interview with The Washington Post, left the request by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in jeopardy, with the speaker prepared to wait on action in the House until Republicans move closer to her position. She is calling for changes to the GOP proposal plus another $250 billion that would benefit hospitals and states as they seek to increase testing and buy supplies.

Pelosi, D-Calif., also expressed outrage about President Donald Trump's ousting of two inspectors general in the past week, a pattern that the president's critics say is a direct assault on one of the pillars of good governance.

"He dishonors the Constitution. He degrades the environment of what our country is," Pelosi said of Trump's shattering of norms and use of executive power, including his dismissal of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general, and removal of Glenn Fine, the chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee the administration's handling of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

But her work this week has been dominated by the political tug of war with Republicans over support for small businesses.

"I have said very clearly: What they are proposing will not get unanimous consent in the House. There is no reason why they cannot come to the table and see the value of what we are offering," Pelosi said, speaking by phone from San Francisco and referring to the Democrats' counter to Mnuchin. "You cannot expect us to ossify inequality in access to capital as we try to fight the coronavirus."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., nonetheless plans to move ahead on Thursday and will attempt to approve Mnuchin's plan by unanimous consent, a dynamic where legislation can pass as long as individual senators do not object.

When asked if Senate Democrats should object, Pelosi said she always avoids meddling in the affairs of the other congressional chamber, but reiterated that she finds Mnuchin's request deeply flawed.

"I'm just telling you what the House will do," she said.

While many Republicans spent much of Wednesday pressuring Pelosi to pass the $250 billion in additional funds as outlined by Mnuchin, Pelosi insisted that there is time in the coming days to broker a broader bipartisan agreement.

"They have a couple - several hundred billions of dollars to get through this, if they don't do it by Easter Sunday," she said, referring to the $349 billion program known as the Paycheck Protection Program, a key element of the $2.2 trillion economic rescue package passed by Congress last month that has been inundated with implementation issues and overwhelming demand.

"Friday to Monday, or Tuesday, is not dispositive of whether this works or not," Pelosi said. She then noted that as a practicing Catholic, she does not plan to be engaged in negotiations on Easter.

"Easter is a glorious occasion - the article of faith, Christ is risen," Pelosi said. "I don't intend to spend Sunday on something that should be so evident to them - to respect everybody in this country and how they aspire to meet their financial needs."

On a conference call with House Democrats earlier Wednesday, Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suggested a deal could be reached by Friday.

Trump on Tuesday said banks have processed $70 billion in taxpayer-backed loans for 250,000 small businesses since last Friday. He did not say, though, how many of those loans have been approved or how many firms have received any of the money.

And his data suggests the program has reached a small fraction of U.S. companies: There are 30 million small businesses in the United States that employ 60 million people.

"We'll be running out of money pretty quickly, which is a good thing in this case, not a bad thing," Trump told reporters.

Pelosi and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader, unveiled their own list of demands on Wednesday, which included asking for half of the $250 billion sought by the administration to go through community-based financial institutions serving farmers and family, women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits.

Their list also included $100 billion for hospitals, community health centers and other health systems, to increase testing and needed protective gear and equipment; $150 billion more for state and local governments; and a 15-percent increase in food stamp benefits.

The federal government spent $55.6 billion on these nutrition assistance benefits last year. The sums Democrats are seeking for hospitals and cities and states are similar to how much they got in the recent emergency package, which would double the overall federal funding commitment in those areas.

Pelosi - who has sustained a solid negotiating rapport with Mnuchin in recent months as she and Trump have clashed and not spoken since October - said she has told the treasury secretary directly that his plan is unacceptable without changes, and she remains optimistic that he will eventually come around on parts of her proposal.

"I don't know why they wouldn't," she said. "The discussion has to continue because the community-based financial institutions" support minority-owned businesses and other enterprises that need capital. "They should welcome this. This gives them a pass to help many more businesses."

Looking ahead to another round of talks on follow-up legislation to the Cares Act, the largest such economic rescue package in U.S. history, Pelosi said she will keep pushing to include funds and provisions for voting by mail in that bill, which some liberals have pleaded with her to make an ultimatum.

That clamor has only increased after Tuesday's primary election in Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' executive order suspending in-person voting.

"Shameful. Shameful and discouraging," Pelosi said of what happened in Wisconsin this week. "We would want it to have some of what we had in our first bill, which was same-day registration, direct mailing of the ballot to everyone who is registered to vote - issues like that, that facilitate vote by mail. Again, that's the discussion for the next bill, which we're by and large ready for."

Turning to oversight of the Trump administration, Pelosi said the select committee she launched last week to scrutinize the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, and its management of the rescue law, is getting ready to begin its work.

Amid the pandemic and a limited congressional schedule, the committee, which would have subpoena power, has not yet been formally approved by the House.

Trump has removed Fine, who had been the acting Pentagon inspector general, and informed him Monday that he was being replaced at the Defense Department by Sean W. O'Donnell, currently the inspector general at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Late last month, Fine was selected by the head of a council of inspectors general to lead the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, created by the March 27 law.

"The president is undermining it," Pelosi said. "We're going to have to make sure the public understands why he would do that."

Trump also notified Congress last Friday that he was ousting Atkinson as the inspector general of the intelligence community, a sign that Trump's conduct on this front is "bigger than the coronavirus," she said.

"This is about a unitary view of government where the president's voice is the only voice that matters," Pelosi said.

When asked if she would seek to pass new protections for inspectors general, Pelosi was encouraging but did not get into specifics. She called related legislation proposed Wednesday by House Oversight Committee Chairman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and subcommittee chair Gerald Connolly, D-Va., a "good idea," but said it would be difficult to get Trump to sign any law that would curtail his power.

In closing, Pelosi, who has effectively served as her party's leader in the Trump era, praised Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, for his efforts and his ability to excite young people. Sanders' decision leaves former vice president Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

"I really salute Senator Sanders for his values, his commitment to making sure everyone in our country has a fair shake," Pelosi said, especially on promoting "access to quality and affordable health care."

Pelosi said she and Sanders "may have a different thought on the viability right now of Medicare-for-all," but she called him "boundless in terms of stamina and energy" and an ally to her and all Democrats.

Pelosi, however, declined to endorse Biden on the spot.

"Not on this call," she said, with a chuckle. "This is Bernie's day."

- - -

The Washington Post's Erica Werner, Ellen Nakashima and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
MG Motor India on Thursday said it is planning to come up with a 100-room hostel facility for female workers near its manufacturing facility in Halol (Gujarat).

To come up around the carmaker's manufacturing unit, the hostel will provide accommodation to associate-level female employees along with housekeeping, food, and transportation facilities and will be operational soon.

"With the world facing an unprecedented crisis, it becomes imperative for employers to ensure that their employees are healthy, safe, and secure. Our new 100-member hostel will provide safe, sanitised, and comfortable living spaces to our female associates," MG Motor India President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba said in a statement.

The aim is to ensure that the company's female associates have complete peace of mind as far as their physical wellbeing is concerned, he added.

"It will also bolster our diversity ratio and further strengthen our ecosystem for female employees," Chaba said.

Currently, female associates account for more than 31 per cent of company's workforce.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kiadis Pharma files first investigational new drug application with the U.S. FDA for natural killer (NK) cell therapy produced with PM21

Details Category: DNA RNA and Cells Published on Thursday, 09 April 2020 09:19 Hits: 2657

IND supports the Companys planned NK-REALM Phase 1/2 study which will evaluate K-NK002 in 63 patients with blood cancer undergoing a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands I April 9, 2020 I Kiadis Pharma N.V. (Kiadis Pharma or the Company) (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that is has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Companys natural killer cell therapy product K-NK002. The IND covers the production of K-NK002 using Kiadis Pharmas proprietary PM21 technology platform that enables high dose, low cost, scalable and industrial production of NK-cell therapy without the risk of residual tumor cells in the final product. The Company plans to initiate a Phase 1/2 study with leading transplant centers in the U.S. to evaluate K-NK002 once it receives FDA approval for the IND.

Kiadis Pharma is developing K-NK002 as an adjunctive therapy to the current haploidentical HSCT standard of care with the goal of improving relapse rates. The Phase 1/2 study, called NK-REALM (haploidentical NK-cells to prevent post-transplant RElapse in AML and MDS), will evaluate the use of K-NK002 as an adjunctive therapy for blood cancer patients undergoing a haploidentical HSCT with the current standard of care, post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) protocol. The study, which will be conducted with the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN), will enroll 63 patients at leading transplant centers in the U.S. The study is designed to confirm earlier proof-of-concept data in 24 patients, which showed that adjunctive treatment with K-NK002 has the potential to substantially improve outcomes for patients in need of HSCT.

Arthur Lahr, CEO of Kiadis Pharma, commented, The filing of this IND is an important step forward for Kiadis in bringing K-NK cell therapy to patients in need. Under normal circumstances, the FDA would take 30 to 60 days to review an IND, but given the current environment it is difficult to project a date for IND approval. Once approved, we are ready to immediately initiate the trial with the BMT CTN, and ramp up production of clinical materials.

About Kiadis Pharmas K-NK-Cell Therapies

Kiadis Pharmas K-NK platform is designed to deliver potent NK cells to help each patient, without the need for genetic engineering. Kiadis Pharmas programs consist of off-the-shelf and haploidentical donor NK-cell therapy products for the treatment of liquid and solid tumors as adjunctive and stand-alone therapies.

The Companys PM21 particle technology enables improved ex vivo expansion and activation of cytotoxic NK cells supporting multiple high-dose infusions. Kiadis Pharmas proprietary off-the-shelf NK-cell platform is based on NK cells from unique universal donors and can make NK-cell therapy product rapidly and economically available for a broad patient population across a potentially wide range of indications.

Kiadis Pharma is developing K-NK002, which is administered as an adjunctive immunotherapeutic on top of HSCT, and K-NK003 for the treatment of relapse/refractory acute myeloid leukemia. In addition, Kiadis Pharma has pre-clinical programs evaluating NK-cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors.

About Kiadis Pharma

Founded in 1997, Kiadis Pharma is building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative therapies for patients with life-threatening diseases. With headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and offices and activities across the United States, Kiadis Pharma is reimagining medicine by leveraging the natural strengths of humanity and our collective immune system to source the best cells for life.

Kiadis Pharma is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels since July 2, 2015, under the symbol KDS. Learn more at www.kiadis.com.

About BMT CTN

The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) conducts rigorous multi-institutional clinical trials of high scientific merit, focused on improving survival for patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation and/or receiving cellular therapies. The BMT CTN has completed accrual to 41 Phase II and III trials at more than 100 transplant centers and enrolled over 11,600 study participants.

The BMT CTN is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Cancer Institute, both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is a collaborative effort of 20 Core Transplant Centers/Consortia, The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match, and the Emmes Company, LLC, a clinical research organization. CIBMTR is a research collaboration between the NMDP/Be The Match and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

More information about the BMT CTN can be found at www.bmtctn.net.

SOURCE: Kiadis Pharma
While dozens of COVID-19 cases were reported in Haryana over the past few days, there were only three fresh cases in the state on Thursday that took the total number of coronavirus patients to 156, according to the state health department.

While two cases were reported from Panchkula, Kaithal district reported one case, as per the health department bulletin.

Health Minister Anil Vij once again said the spike in positive cases was due to a number of people testing positive after they attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Delhi last month.

There are 134 active coronavirus patients in the state out of which 106 are the Tablighi Jamaat members, he said.

"We want to assure people of Haryana that we will succeed in our fight against the virus. It is the result of our strict vigil and management that we had cases under control despite a large number of people returning from abroad in recent times. Had the spike in cases not been because of Tablighi Jamaat members, we would have controlled it effectively," Vij said.

He said those who came from abroad numbered more than 15,000 and they were quarantined to stop the disease from spreading.

On April 8, Haryana had reported 24 fresh cases and a day earlier 33 new cases were reported.

At present, there are 136 active COVID-19 cases in the state, while 18 patients have been discharged after treatment. The state has recorded two COVID-19-related deaths. Reports of pending samples increased from 612 a day earlier to 791 on Thursday.

Among the total coronavirus cases reported in Haryana, 10 are foreign nationals while 61 are from other states, as per the health department.

The worst-affected districts of the state are Gurugram (32), Nuh (38 cases), Palwal (28) and Faridabad (28).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A student works on a portable spot welding machine at the Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) at Ganpat University in Kherva, India, on Nov. 26, 2018. (Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan Earmarks Billions For Firms to Leave China As Outbreak Exposes Supply Chain Risks

Japan has budgeted $2.2 billion to encourage its manufacturing firms to leave China as pandemic-driven shortages highlight supply chain risks.

The funds to get companies to move away from China come from Japans massive COVID-19 emergency relief package, Bloomberg reported. Some $2 billion has been allocated for firms repatriating to Japan, while the remainder is to go to companies shifting production away from the Chinese mainland to other countries.

It comes after the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, in Wuhan led to mass factory shutdowns, depriving Japanese manufacturers of desperately-needed components imported from China. This led to renewed calls to de-risk supply chains and prompted the Japanese government to consider policies around repatriation and diversification of manufacturing lines to minimize future disruption.

Reacting to the move, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was cited by Bloomberg as saying that he hoped Japan would take proper measures to ensure the world economy will be impacted as little as possible and to ensure that supply chains are impacted as little as possible.

Many in Japan, and elsewhere, have blamed China for mishandling the early stages of the pandemic, contributing to the global spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

Irans health officials recently called Chinas official virus toll a bitter joke, saying the true figures are likely higher.

Japanese officials, too, have faced criticism over their COVID-19 response.

A former Japanese health chief on Thursday told local newspaper Mainichi Shimbun that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country could be 10 times higher than official estimates, according to United Press International.

Yoichi Masuzoe, a former health minister and ex-governor of Tokyo, blamed the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for being slow to act in response to the outbreak and for failing to heed calls for increased testing.

In a sudden spike in new COVID-19 infections, Japan reported 384 new cases of the disease on Thursday, while the total number of those infected hit more than 5,300, NHK public broadcaster said.

With 181 cases, Tokyo saw its biggest single-day jump in new COVID-19 infections.

Japanese authorities imposed a state of emergency this week in Tokyo and six other areas. The move gives local officials stronger legal authority to urge people to stay home and businesses to close. In contrast to lockdowns in some countries enforced by fines and arrests for non-compliance, Japan is relying more on peer pressure and a tradition of respect for authority.

The central bank warned that the CCP virus pandemic had created an extremely high level of uncertainty for the worlds third-largest economy, with regional economies facing their worst conditions since the global financial crisis a decade ago.

In response to the economic fallout from the pandemic, the Bank of Japan eased monetary policy by ramping up purchases of exchange-traded funds and other risky assets, including corporate bonds. It is also launching a new loan program to extend one-year, zero-rate loans to banks and other financial institutions.

Japans government also approved on Tuesday an unprecedented economic stimulus package equal to 20 percent of economic output. The package totals $993 billion and includes cash payouts to households and small and midsize firms.
OPINION: "This should be a no-brainer, so whats the problem? Some members of the RTA board are hesitant to change the scope of the First Avenue project. They appear to want Tucson to build a six-lane roadway because it was the project scope promised in the 2006 plan and the RTA must do what was promised no matter the need or the cost. Decisions by the RTA Board should be made based on facts and data, not out of fear of public perceptions and long ago promises," write Tucsonans Ruth Reiman and Jane Evans.
Recently the producer of the show Qubool Hai, Gul khan shared a shot from the sequence of the show which made all the actors nostalgic.

The popular show Qubool Hai is back on the small screen with it re-run. Everybody from the show is remembering about their good old days of shooting the serial. Producer Gul Khan shared how she shot some of the scenes with actors Surbhi Jyoti and Karan Singh Grover. The producer posted a picture of the sequence from the show on her social media account and wrote in her caption that it took a lot of time to get this shot right.

She said as Surbhi Jyotis dupatta wouldnt fall off the way she wanted it to be and on the other hand, Karans expressions were not coming as per the scene. She said that shooting for this sequence was very tough as when everything was going fine and sorted the flowers required in the scene had died. So all of this made Gul scream at the actors, but she also said that it was worth the effort and the result which they got was just perfect.

When Gul shared this post, Karan reposted her post and got nostalgic after checking that post out. Karan gave the caption of the post that he still remembers what Gul said to him while shooting up for that scene it was that K needs to look at Jyoti with innocence and not like he going to eat her up. Not just Gul and Grover even Surbhi was feeling alluring as their show is back on the small screen. The channel is giving the fans of the show another chance to rewatch it and know what magic they had created earlier.

Also Read: Ramayan: Gurmeet Choudhary, Debina Bonnerjee reveal their first time during the show, said they swore not to work with each other

Also Read: Mukesh Khanna makes a shocking revelation about Ekta Kapoor, says he is against the way she projects women in her daily soaps

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
For the sake of "morale" and the "economy", former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali hopes Formula 1 racing will return to the world soon.

"Sundays without F1 are really strange," the current Lamborghini CEO told L'Equipe.

So far in 2020, nine of the planned 22 grands prix have been either postponed or cancelled over the coronavirus crisis.

"I hope that racing and all sport in general can re-start soon," said the Italian.

"It's not just about our morale, which must be lifted and entertained by these kinds of shows, but above all it is about our economy."

Domenicali also said he misses tracking the progress being made by Ferrari's new young star, Charles Leclerc.

"He has learned patience at Ferrari and has developed quickly," he said.

"Every drop of his blood is branded Ferrari. As much as his Monegasque nationality is respected, many in Italy consider him to be an Italian."

(GMM)
The CRPF on Thursday reached out to the people in remote and mountain-locked hamlet of Saddal in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district and distributed food grains and other essential supplies, officials said.

The people were displaced due to a landslide on September 7, 2014 triggered by torrential rain. At least 41 villagers were buried alive. Rescuers have so far recovered ten bodies while 31 bodies are yet to be traced and are presumed dead.

Over 250 people of the displaced Saddal village in Pancheri tehsil were provided food grains by the 137th Battalion of CRPF, officials said.

The CRPF provided atta, rice, mustard oil, daal and others groceries to the most deserving families, they said.

CRPF officers and jawans also spread awareness about social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands among the people in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2020 / On 12 December 2019, Anglo Pacific Group PLC (the "Company" or "Anglo Pacific") (LSE:APF)(TSX:APY) announced the timetable for its final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 and the date of the 2020 Annual General Meeting ("AGM"). Since then, the UK government has introduced a number of measures to limit the impact and spread of the COVID-19. These measures include the restriction on all gatherings of more than two people in public, thereby limiting the ability of shareholders to attend the AGM.As a result of these measures, and the knock-on effect following compliance with the Financial Conduct Authority's request on 21 March 2020 to delay the publication of the Company's audited 2019 Annual Report and Accounts, the Board has had to revise the date, time, venue and format of the 2020 AGM.The 2020 AGM will now be held at 2:00pm on 27 May 2020 at the Company's registered office, 1 Savile Row (entrance via 7 Vigo Street), London W1S 3JR. In order to comply with the UK government's "Stay at Home" measures, shareholders will not be permitted to attend the AGM in person and should therefore vote by proxy.The Board understands that beyond voting on the formal business of the meeting, the AGM also serves as a forum for shareholders to raise questions and comments to the Board. Therefore, following the AGM, the Board will hold a webcast meeting at 3:00pm on 27 May 2020 for registered shareholders and their corporate representatives or proxies. This will include a short presentation from Patrick Meier, Chairman and Julian Treger, Chief Executive Officer. Following the presentation, all members of the Board will be available to respond to questions from shareholders and their corporate representatives or proxies. Shareholders are invited to also submit any questions by email to company.secretary@anglopacificgroup.com by 5.00pm (UK time) on 25 May 2020.Formal notice of the 2020 AGM will be circulated to shareholders in due course.Shareholders should continue to monitor the Company's website and announcements for any updatesregarding the AGM.As the date of the AGM is later than previously announced, there are slight modifications required to the dividend timetable in respect of the 2019 final dividend.The following table compares the revised dates to those previously announced on 12 December 2019.Revised timetableQ4 2019Previous timetableQ4 2019Payment date18-Jun-2004-Jun-20Record date05-Jun-2022-May-20Ex-div date04-Jun-2021-May-20Amount4.125p**subject to shareholder approval at the 2020 AGMThe Directors are recommending a final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 of 4.125p, subject to shareholder approval at the 2020 AGM. Along with the 4.875p of interim dividends already paid in respect of 2019, the final dividend would bring the total dividend for 2019 to 9p, a 12.5% increase on that of 2018.The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank all shareholders for their support and understanding in these unprecedented circumstances and wishes them well, particularly during these challenging times.For further information:Anglo Pacific Group PLC+44 (0) 20 3435 7400Julian Treger - Chief Executive OfficerKevin Flynn - Chief Financial Officer and Company SecretaryWebsite:Berenberg+44 (0) 20 3207 7800Matthew Armitt / Jennifer Wyllie / Detlir EleziPeel Hunt LLP+44 (0) 20 7418 8900Ross Allister / Alexander Allen / David McKeownRBC Capital MarketsFarid Dadashev / Marcus Jackson / Jamil Miah+44 (0) 20 7653 4000Camarco+44 (0) 20 3757 4997Gordon Poole / Owen Roberts / James CrothersNotes to EditorsAbout Anglo PacificAnglo Pacific Group PLC is a global natural resources royalty and streaming company. The Company's strategy is to become a leading natural resources company through investing in high quality projects in preferred jurisdictions with trusted counterparties, underpinned by strong ESG principles. It is a continuing policy of the Company to pay a substantial portion of these royalties and streams to shareholders as dividends.This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@ lseg.com or visit www.rns.com SOURCE: Anglo Pacific Group PLC
As the Long Beach Unified School District commits to keeping classes in-person, the city a new testing site opens for LBUSD employees and students only. The city is also ramping up its own testing efforts with a new 3,000-person per...
Burdened with enforcement of COVID-19



lockdown, yet police personnel in Kerala's Kasargod district, hit hard by the virus, have commenced door delivery of essentials to ensure that people remained indoor, with a top official promising it to be faster than that of E-Commerce giant Amazon.

Residents can simply send the list of daily needs such as groceries and medicines to the WhatsApp numbers provided by the district police as part of a new initiative started in a bid to further curtail public movement.

"If you want essential commodities at your doorsteps, you simply send a message to WhatsApp numbers of police," Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhare told the locked-down people of the district, having highest number of coronavirus cases in the state.

Announcing the launch of the home delivery service, Sakhare, who heads the police operations in the district, said, "there is no need for the people locked down in the safety of their homes to come out for buying essentials. Police shall deliver items of daily needs to their door steps."



Drawing comparisons between the services of Amazon and the district police, the official said, "Rest assured, amazing Kasargod Police Home Delivery Service is faster than 'Amazon!' Stay Home-Stay Safe!."In his Facebook page, he wrote, "You simply have to send an audio, video or text message to our WhatsApp numbers!."Initially started for COVID-19 Containment Zones, the initiative has now been extended to the entire district.

According to the state government, the north Kerala district has reported 132 positive cases and many are under observation.

As part of efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the police have created seven COVID Containment Zones (CCZs) to isolate the worst-affected areas from rest of the district.

"It is proving to be a game-changer in the fight against the virus", Sakhare noted.

Sakhare, Police Commissioner of Kochi city, was rushed to Kasargod by the government to supervise operations there, after more COVID-19 cases were confirmed from the district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rosa Guidry of Beaumont learned to sew when she was 7-years-old.

My mama always told us, If you like something you see someone wearing, never be envious. Get you a piece of fabric and make it yourself.

The 74-year-old never imagined that one day she would be putting her talent to use making masks to help people from contracting a virus that has gripped the world and changed life as we know it in unfathomable ways.

Concern for her daughters health prompted her to begin a project that has grown into handcrafting over a hundred filtered, washable masks for those in need.

My daughter takes dialysis, and she said they were out of masks there, and she needed one, Guidry says.

Reading about making masks online, she was disturbed by what she was seeing. Many were made simply of cloth. I dont know of any cloth thats going to keep out a virus, she said.

Guidry researched filters. There were no HEPA filters to be had, so she experimented first with charcoal filters and combinations of filters. I have a sister in Louisiana. She was my guinea pig, Guidry says, laughing as she recalls her sisters reactions to some of her earliest attempts.

Finally, she found a high quality Filtrete filter sold locally. Its layers of cross fibers and quality was the closest to a HEPA filter she could find, and it was the most wearable of the protoypes shed made.

That was nearly three weeks ago, and Guidrys sewing machine has been going non-stop ever since, except for when the cord gets hot and she needs to give it a rest.

She has a stock of fabrics and is receiving donations of additional materials from family and friends to produce the masks in a variety of colors and styles.

Its a bad time, but people still want to look good, she says.

Guidry also purchased multiple packs of microfiber bed sheets to make an inner lining, and as elastic was scarce, has bundles of soft elastic hairbands for the ear pieces.

Its a seven-step process, Guidry says. Cutting the exterior fabric and lining to shape for various size faces, cutting and accordion-folding the filters, creating a pocket in the liner so that the filter can be removed before washing the mask after use, then assembling the final product.

It takes time, but I will not give anyone something I wouldnt wear myself, she says, noting that it has to be not just pretty but functional.

For those trying to make their own masks, she advises, Do your research, and do it right, and let logic be your guide.

While Guidry stays home to be safe and sew as much as possible, her niece Esonia Delara and friend Sheryl West have been bringing in supplies and getting the finished masks out to various groups and individuals in need. Some have gone to local prisons and been sent to family in Louisiana to distribute as needed.

Guidry doesnt sell any of the masks and hasnt been keeping count of how much she has spent on materials. She says if someone wants to make a donation to help with costs, thats fine, but if you dont have a dime to your name and you need one, you can get one.

The benefit of knowing she is helping in a time of crisis is its own payment.

This virus is real, she says. What are you going to do? Are you going to just sit in the corner and cry, or are you going to help?

Guidry says the need to share her masks with others beyond family and friends falls in line with the mission work she has done in Africa for years.

I thank God most of all for blessing me with the ability to sew, she says, adding, Everybody has a talent. Use your particular talent to benefit others.

You have to ask yourself, what are you on earth for? What is your mission? You cant save the whole world, but you can try. You can give it a good shot and just try.
Thursday, April 9th, 2020 (5:50 pm) - Score 3,727

Broadband ISP TalkTalk has won a legal case that was started by one of its former Programme Directors, Rebecca Burke, who had crowd-funded an equal pay dispute against the provider after she allegedly claimed to have been paid far less than male colleges. But a tribunal found no evidence of discrimination or unfair dismissal.

Rebecca, who was originally said to have been part of the team that helped the ISP to recover from a devastating cyber-attack in 2015, had been fighting a claim of pay related gender discrimination and unfair dismissal. However the London Central Employment Tribunal dismissed both claims, stating that the roles of the claimant and the male comparators could not be considered as like or equal work.

The judgement also found that the claimant had provided misleading evidence in relation to her role  in particular with regard to cyber security  confirming that she was not involved or responsible in the way she had claimed.

First, the claimant was not involved in the initial management of security after the cyber-attack. Second, while she identifies the relevant functions, the claimant accepted in cross-examination that it was not her responsibility to secure the systems, albeit she had some limited input, said the judgement.

A TalkTalk Spokesperson said: We are very pleased the Tribunal found no evidence of gender discrimination at TalkTalk and dismissed the claim of unfair dismissal. We are fully committed to treating all our employees fairly and there is no disparity in pay between genders.

Summary of the Tribunal Findings Equal Pay 1. The Claimants work was found to be completely different to her comparators with clear water between what they did as described in paragraph 7.57 of the judgement: When we stand back and consider all of these factors, we are satisfied that there is clear water between the claimants role and the roles of her comparators. There are key differences in terms of the overall budget, accountability, and importance to the business. It cannot in our view be argued that those difference are anything other than of practical importance in relation to the terms and conditions of employment. The key difference, which revolved around the importance of the areas of responsibility to the business, is fundamental. 2. The Judge further clarifies that the frequency of the differences in work between the Claimant and the comparators was constant and that the nature of it is fundamental (paragraph 7.58) We have considered both the frequency with which the differences occurred in practice, and the nature and extent of the differences. As frequency, the differences were constant. The nature is fundamental. The extent is significant. Unfair Dismissal 1. The procedure followed for the redundancy was held to be sound and the Judge commented that there was overwhelming evidence that her consultation and appeal were carried out with an open mind and the points she raised were considered (paragraph 7.96): The Claimant had ample opportunity to comment on the selection process and assessment. There was an informal meeting. There were two consultation meetings. She put in written submissions. There was an appeal process concerning the redundancy itself. She had ample opportunity to make representations. She made detailed representations concerning all relevant matters. She challenged the pool. The prospect of other employment was raised. Her complaints were responded to in writing and the appeal points were fully investigated and rejected for rational reasons. The outcome was, no doubt, disappointing. However, the respondent is not obliged to accept the claimants arguments. It is obliged to consider them with an open mind, and overwhelming evidence is that it did. 2. The Judge confirms that the reason for dismissal was due to a genuine redundancy (paragraph 7.106) We have found there was a redundancy situation and that redundancy was the sole or principle reason for the claimants dismissal. As regards the fairness of the procedure adopted, to include the consultation, we find that the procedure adopted by the respondent was one which was open to a reasonable employer. Dismissal was within the band of reasonable responses open to a reasonable employer. It follows that we reject the allegation that the dismissal was unfair.

End.
Xtalks Life Science Webinars This growing information will be important for product formulators who are looking for advanced functionality for their products, as well as keeping pace with consumer trends demanding fewer ingredients in products, cleaner labels and traceable and sustainable ingredients.

Although seaweeds have been around for over 2.5 billion years, many of us are unaware of the unique complex bioactive compounds that these marine plants contain compared to terrestrial plants. As such, seaweeds can provide natural nutritional and functional benefits for product formulations across the functional food, nutraceutical and cosmetics sectors.

Seaweed has evolved to contain natural antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, antiaging and other powerful protections. While there is still a lot to uncover, the seaweed secrets we have learned about so far come from knowledge we have gained about some of the many species of nutritionally dense, highly versatile, biologically complex marine plants found in our oceans, with more being continuously discovered by researchers around the globe. It is still a relatively small community of research and while peer-reviewed white papers are being increasingly published, there is still much to learn about seaweeds. This growing information will be important for product formulators who are looking for advanced functionality for their products, as well as keeping pace with consumer trends demanding fewer ingredients in products, cleaner labels and traceable and sustainable ingredients.

The benefits of seaweed have been recognised and utilized by the agriculture industry for decades. They have long been understood by agronomists to be an important input alongside fertilizers, providing a bio stimulant-type effect and synergies to activate necessary soil microbes, encouraging strong root growth and defending plants against drought, heat and other environmental challenges. Ranchers and veterinarians have also benefited from this knowledge as they see increased conception rates and milk production across many species of animals when seaweed is a regular feed ingredient.

In human research, there is reason to hope that seaweeds may hold important secrets leading to scientific breakthroughs in diseases such as diabetes, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and cardiovascular disease.

The secrets of seaweeds are being quickly unraveled, proving themselves to be an excellent ingredient option in functional food, nutraceutical and cosmetics due to their potent antioxidant, prebiotic, fiber-rich, antiviral, anti-aging, immune stimulation and many other beneficial effects.

Join Lynn Cornish, Seed Stock Manager, Acadian Seaplants Limited in this live webinar Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 11am EDT/NA (4pm BST/UK) as she shares some of seaweeds rich secrets with you.

For more information or to register for this event, visit The Secrets of Seaweed: Wellness Solutions for Food, Nutraceutical and Cosmetics Product Formulations.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

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For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/
Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came out of self-isolation after 25 days and chaired a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, even as he warned that the government could not predict when the cases relating to the Covid-19 pandemic will peak in the country.

Trudeau had been in self-isolation at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa since his wife Sophie Gregoire tested positive for coronavirus on March 13 after returning from an event in London. While she was cleared of the infection recently, Trudeau had chosen to remain in self-isolation and Wednesday marked the first time he attended a meeting in person. He will continue to work mainly from home.

However, as Covid-19 cases spike in Canada, Trudeau said the government couldnt tell exactly when were going to be peaking. But, he added that if Canadians kept to measures like social distancing and leaving home only for essential activities, then the nation will get through this much, much quicker.

He welcomed the positive effect that social distancing has had in curbing the spread of the disease, and added that such behavioural changes may be necessary for more than a year, till a vaccine to counter Covid-19 becomes a reality.

Once we are through this initial phase, we will then be in a mode, until there is a vaccine, which could take many many months, if not more than a year, to get to. We will be calibrating very carefully our behaviours as a country, as a society, as an economy, to managing the existence and persistence of COVID19, he said while addressing the media.

He also said that social distancing and staying at home had proved very effective.

It is clear that the best outcomes come when there is maximal social distancing, as we are pretty close to doing right now, he pointed out.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  San Miguel Corporation continues to back the governments efforts in the COVID-19 crisis. The diversified conglomerate this time supplied flour to local governments and millions worth of fuel to transport medical frontliners.

The company on Thursday donated 8,400 sacks of flour to Manila, Caloocan, Las Pinas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela, Pateros, Batangas, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija to aid businesses in providing food to residents.

The local government units need all the support they can get in making sure that their citizens do not go hungry and are free from illness during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Ramon Ang, SMC president and chief operating officer in a statement.

The company produces 2.11 million kilograms of flour and baked good a day. A 25-kg bag of flour can make about 1,600 pieces of pandesal, SMC said.

The conglomerate also donated 3.9 million-worth of fuel to the Department of Transportation and the Metro Manila Development Authority. SMC Infrastructure and Petron Corporation gave 54,000 liters of fuel, which the governments buses can use to transport health workers.

The DOTr earlier commissioned 60 shuttle buses to serve medical personnel during the Luzon-wide quarantine. Each of the buses will receive fuel equivalent to 50 liters per day through their Petron e-fuel cards.

The flour and fuel come on top of a wide range of donations the company earlier provided, namely, food, ethyl alcohol, as well as vehicles, tents, generator sets and other supplies at tollway checkpoints. SMC also provided free toll to health workers who use the tollways under SMC.

The conglomerate also committed to purchasing 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

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As COVID-19 cases rise in North Carolinas prisons, a coalition of civil rights groups has filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to immediately release vulnerable inmates.

The suit, filed by the ACLU of North Carolina, Disability Rights North Carolina and others, argues that Gov. Roy Cooper and the state Department of Public Safety have a legal duty to take action before a large-scale outbreak results in deaths inside the prisons and in surrounding communities.

Among those filing suit are four people in state custody, including Alberta Elaine White, 66, who is at the Center for Community Transitions in Charlotte. A fifth person is the wife of an inmate at Wilkes Correctional Center. All five inmates have medical conditions that put them at high risk if exposed to the virus, the lawsuit said.

Our state prisons are overcrowded, forcing thousands of people to live and work in dangerous conditions where it is impossible for people to protect themselves from this deadly disease, said Kristi Graunke, Legal Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. North Carolina courts did not sentence thousands of people to suffer and potentially die from a pandemic. Numerous people who are incarcerated right now could be sent home to live safely with their families without posing a danger to the public.

COVID-19 outbreak at Neuse Correctional Institution

The suit comes as a coronavirus outbreak has sickened inmates at Neuse Correctional Institution, in Eastern North Carolina. Statewide, 20 inmates have now tested positive for COVID-19, state prison officials said Wednesday. Thirteen of those inmates were housed at Neuse.

When there is an outbreak, these individuals will be at the mercy of a prison system that is ill-equipped to handle a novel, deadly virus that has overwhelmed healthcare systems across the country, the lawsuit contends. Given these dire circumstances, North Carolina public health experts have urged that reducing the prison population is a critical measure that must be acted on immediately.

Story continues

Asked about the lawsuit at a news conference, Cooper did not speak about releasing inmates. He said he and his administration are taking steps to protect inmates and prison staff.

People who are in our correctional [institutions] are one of the congregate living groups that we are concerned about just like people in long-term care and skilled nursing homes, he said in a transcript his office released. People who are in a confined facility, we have deep concern about spread of the virus, we have concern about the people who are there, we have concern about staff and we want to do what we can to protect them.

Isolating people who have COVID-19, restricting people that can come in, making sure theres significant hygiene, making sure that corrections staff can wear protective equipment, making sure that we pay our correctional staff bonus pay  all of those things are important in protecting the population.

DPS said in a statement that it has been actively and diligently working to identify avenues for reducing our population while also continuing our mission to maintain public safety.

But the department added: Reentry for offenders is complex in the best of times. People often face challenges finding appropriate housing, job opportunities and medical care. These issues are even more difficult in this current state of emergency, particularly for vulnerable prison populations.

Inmate release lawsuit by Dan Kane on Scribd

The suit, also filed on behalf of the North Carolina NAACP, maintains that African-American inmates will disproportionately bear the devastation caused by COVID-19. African-Americans make up 22% of North Carolinas population, but account for 51% of the prison population, the suit notes.

Nearly a third of prisoners have a disability

About 35,000 people are incarcerated in the states prisons. More than 8,000 of them are over the age of 50, according to the suit. And nearly a third of them have at least one disability, according to an estimate cited in the complaint.

The physical limitations of prisons are especially life-threatening for people over the age of 65 and those who have underlying health conditions that put them at high risk for serious COVID-19 infection, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after the ACLU of North Carolina, Disability Rights North Carolina and other civil rights groups sent letters to Cooper and DPS, urging them to expedite the release of certain sick and elderly inmates in order to protect those who remain incarcerated.

State prisons officials have been scrambling to secure supplies that slow the spread of the virus, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Inside state prison manufacturing plants, inmates are now making face masks, gowns, disinfectant and hand sanitizer. Prison officials say all inmates and staff members will receive a face mask once enough are manufactured.

An inmate sews a surgical mask inside Tabor Correctional Institution. As the coronavirus spreads, the need for personal protective equipment is so acute that the North Carolina prisons have turned to inmates to manufacture it.

Prisons and jails are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases, experts say, because inmates live so closely together.

Most transfers have stopped, officials say

Hoping to prevent the coronavirus from spreading more widely, North Carolina prison officials say they will not accept any more offenders from county jails for the next 14 days.

State officials say they have stopped the transfer of most inmates from prison to prison during the next two weeks.

In mid-March, state officials temporarily banned all visits to the prisons in hopes of preventing an outbreak.

On March 24, state prison officials also suspended the work release program  an effort to limit inmates potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Prison officials say they have begun taking the temperatures of every employee who enters a prison each day. Anyone with a temperature of 100 degrees is denied entry, officials say.

Staffers are also asked a series of screening questions before they enter the prisons. Officials say they deny entry to any employee who has symptoms of respiratory illness or who has been exposed in the past 14 days to anyone who is suspected of having or diagnosed with COVID-19.

On Tuesday, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman told The News & Observer that the prison complex in Butner in Granville County would step up the early release of inmates after positive tests for COVID-19 surged over the weekend. The public health department for Vance and Granville counties on Wednesday reported 63 cases at Butner, where roughly 4,700 inmates are housed in three prison facilities and a medical center.
Trudeau has waffled on suspending the contract. He has at times said he was looking for a way out of the deal but cautioned that doing so could be costly because of punitive clauses in the contract. In 2014, Canadian officials said the deal would sustain 3,000 jobs each year, including in London, Ontario, where the vehicles are manufactured.
BLOOMINGTON  McLean County government wants to give a hand up to taxpayers and small- to medium-size business owners held down by COVID-19, without hurting taxing bodies.

The McLean County Board Finance Committee on Wednesday approved postponing interest penalties for 30 days for property owners who are late paying the first installment of their property taxes.

The committee also approved amendments to the McLean County Targeted Development Loan Program so that fund can loan money to small- to medium-size businesses hurting because they've reduced operations over the coronavirus outbreak.

Both items must be approved by the full county board at its April 21 meeting.

The waiver of the interest penalty for 30 days follows Treasurer Rebecca McNeil's action to delay the due date of the first installment of property taxes to June 17 and the due date of the second installment to Sept. 17. Under state statute, county treasurers may delay due dates of property taxes without county board approval.

The delay is two weeks, McNeil told The Pantagraph. "Taxes were due last year on June 3 and Sept. 3," she said.

So, if the full county board agrees to the 30-day postponement of interest penalties, penalties would be assessed on payments made after July 17, NcNeil explained.

She hopes to mail property tax bills on May 11.

McNeil and County Administrator Camille Rodriguez believe that many financial institutions that hold mortgages and pay property taxes through escrow on behalf of homeowners would continue to pay on time, easing the burden of the property tax extension deadline on taxing bodies.

"We believe that some taxpayers will be capable of paying and a significant portion of the $46 million in mortgage escrow files will be released by that first installment due date," McNeil told The Pantagraph. "These payments will allow us to make the first series of distributions to the taxing bodies who are also facing significant payment delays from the state of Illinois."

The changes would still allow McNeil's office to distribute tax money collected by June 17 to taxing bodies by June 30, she said.

Committee members, while favoring postponement of interest penalties for 30 days, expressed concern about the impact on taxing bodies, including school districts and municipalities.

"We are looking out for the taxpayers and the units of government," committee Chairman Jim Soeldner said after the meeting.

"This is a double-edged sword," McNeil said after the meeting. "We are trying to keep in mind the difficulty that our taxpayers are going through while keeping in mind the difficulty the taxing bodies are going through."

Later, the committee approved amending the development loan program, intended to help attract industries to the county, to provide emergency assistance to established small- to medium-size businesses suffering during the coronavirus outbreak.

McNeil told The Pantagraph that the fund has a balance of $900,000. Rodriguez said the intention would be to use money from the fund without depleting it.

Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council CEO Patrick Hoban proposed two programs, each with $300,000 in funding: a McLean County Micro Bridge Loan program for businesses with 10 employees or fewer and a McLean County Recovery Loan program for businesses with 50 employees or fewer.

Hoban and committee members discussed the programs being for businesses rejected for federal and state COVID-19 assistance and perhaps for those who received some assistance but can prove that they need more.

"It's really just trying to get it in the hands of the people who need it," Hoban said. "The overall goal is to be a supplement to current COVID programs."

"What I'm interested in is flexibility," said committee member Carlo Robustelli, noting that two-thirds of workers being displaced are front-line service workers.

"I fear some people may fall between the cracks," member Chuck Erickson said. "If there's $600,000 sitting there...let's get it back into the economy and get it circulating."

Hoban suggested, if the board approves the amendment, going forward with the changes in a couple weeks after seeing whether the federal and state governments take any additional action.

"We need to do everything we can to help our local small business community," Rodriguez said.

Soeldner said after the meeting "It is the taxpayers' money. We can't be too liberal but we need to take care of businesses the best we can. It'll be on a case-by-case basis."

Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech.

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ALBANY  The coronavirus began, at least in this country, as an illness of the relatively wealthy. It takes a certain amount of money, after all, to get on an international flight or a cruise ship.

But as the virus spread, it found its way to the most vulnerable and is now walloping the poor most of all. The crisis has migrated, literally and figuratively, from New Rochelle to the Bronx.

It's not hard to figure out why. For starters, social distancing is more difficult, if not impossible, for the poor. While wealth offers no immunity from the coronavirus, the poor are more exposed, more vulnerable, less sheltered.

Ive been describing it as the laundromat divide, said Chris Arnade, who abandoned a career as a Wall Street trader to become a modern-day Jacob Riis, documenting and photographing what he calls back row America."

When you have a comfortable house with a washer and dryer in the basement, when you can make your living virtually, when you can stock up on food and have an Internets worth of diversions, social distancing is an inconvenience only.

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Its tougher if youre crowded with children into a small apartment or if the heat doesnt work. Its more difficult if you cant afford to stockpile food or have to lug the laundry somewhere.

The working poor are cashiers and janitors and caretakers. You cant do those jobs from home. Instead of telecommuting, they travel to work on a crowded bus. They can't Zoom or Skype their way to a paycheck, and that means they're at greater risk.

The poor are going to suffer the bulk of the illnesses, the bulk of the deaths and the bulk of the economic problems, said Arnade, whose recent book, Dignity, is a searing portrait of American poverty and desperation. Its going to be devastating.

Grim statistics are proving Arnades point. All around the country, deaths from COVID-19 are disproportionately happening among minority and poor populations.

In New York City, more than 60 percent of COVID-19 victims have been black or Hispanic. In Chicago, black residents are dying at more than six times the rate of whites.

The problem isnt just that the poor are more likely to be exposed to the coronavirus. The quality of their care is worse when they do become ill. And theyre more likely to suffer from underlying health issues that turn the virus deadly.

It always seems that the poorest people pay the highest price, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. "Why is that?"

The governor knows the answer. We all do. Crises expose strengths and weaknesses, for individuals as well as for societies, and anyone whos been paying attention knows rising inequality and the devastation of the working class are among Americas bigger weaknesses.

Arnades book makes clear that entire segments of the country have been left to rot, ignored by coastal elites and both political parties. The suffering and despondence are as obvious in depopulated towns upstate as in Hunts Point, the Bronx neighborhood where Arnade first began photographing the poor.

As it happens, I talked Wednesday with state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, whose district includes part of the Bronx and who was elected in 2018 as part of the progressive wave that transformed the Capitol. She beat Jeff Klein, if you care to remember that name.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Biaggi described how the coronavirus is devastating the borough  overwhelming its already stressed health-care system and further impoverishing a county that was already the state's poorest.

This has put a spotlight on every area that we fail in, Biaggi said. The foundation was already cracked, and this is crumbling it.

It is easy to fear that the pandemic and its effects will make our inequalities worse, that the collapse of the economy, especially, will most directly harm those who can least afford to fall. Thats how it almost always goes.

But it is also possible  maybe not likely, the pessimist in me says, but still possible  that the pandemic could bring profound and positive changes, that the long road back could lead us to address our failings, perhaps make us kinder and less cruel.

Arnade, for one, hopes we will at least reassess how we value work.

The jobs that keep things running should be seen as more valuable and essential, the New Paltz resident said, mentioning firefighters, cops, janitors and food workers. Theyre the ones putting themselves at risk to keep the country afloat right now.

Maybe seeing how dependent we are on those workers will convince us to address the long slide of the working class, strengthening the country from the bottom up. Maybe we'll acknowledge that the structure of our economy leaves too many people on the sidelines. Maybe we'll be better for this.

A pandemic takes the blinders off. It's an excuse to see, finally, that everyone needs sick leave, and that a health care system of surprise bills and forced bankruptcies is immoral. It's a reason to see the cracks and weaknesses we've chosen to ignore.

Biaggi put it this way: If this does not teach us a lesson about what is wrong and what we need to do, I swear to you, I dont know if anything will.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States has repatriated more than 50,000 of its citizens back home following the shutdown of travel around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pompeo also said there isn't a time limit on when they would stop trying to bring citizens home.

The Secretary of State also said China has a responsibility to provide accurate date on COVID-19 to help scientists around the world battle the disease.

Pompeo also spoke about the U.S. offering Iran aid during their coronavirus fight and that the U.S. was reevaluating its WHO funding , saying that it hasnt accomplished what it was intended to deliver.

This comes after a heartfelt plea for unity, the World Health Organization's chief sought Wednesday to rise above sharp criticism and threats of funding cuts from U.S. President Donald Trump over the agencys response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The vocal defense from the WHO director-general came a day after Trump blasted the U.N. agency for being China-centric and alleging that it had criticized his ban of travel from China as the COVID-19 outbreak was spreading from the city of Wuhan.
Soble said she hopes Powells case will open the door for the others. Besides the 44 men, there are another three dozen or so in prison for life in connection with nonfatal Cook County armed robberies  all sentenced under the habitual criminal law  but Soble said she is seeking immediate release only for those who are elderly and have housing plans secured.
Pronab Mondal By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: Almost an entire village in Purulia district is starving as ration cards of around 50 families of tribal daily wagers are mortgaged with the local money lenders. The beneficiaries are now being deprived of the free food grains through public distribution system (PDS) as announced by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the wake of COVID-19 threat.

The poor labourers in the Bengals most backward region had to deposit their ration cards, which are considered as the only valuable asset that they possess, as guarantee for borrowing money ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000. The poor tribals are compelled to do so for either buying train tickets to go to other states as migrants labourers, bear treatment expenditure or arrange funds for daughters wedding.

As interest of the loan amount, the money lenders collect food grains from local ration dealers against the ration cards of the poor borrowers and sell it in open market, sometimes to the original card-holders too.

The exploitation of the poor by their rich neighbours emerged at Sarjumatu village in Purulias Jhalda-I block, around 310 km from Kolkata, a small hamlet inhabited by a 60 odd families, who either work as outbound migrant labourers in other states or earn their bread and butter by going to nearby small towns to work as daily wage earners.

Most of the migrant labourers returned to the village before the lockdown was announced. Both the daily wage earners who returned home and those who used to work in the area are now starving along with their families as they have nothing to eat, nothing to cook.

"The chief minister announced free food grain for people like us till September. The ration card is required to avail the facility. When I requested the person from whom I had borrowed Rs 5,000 for going to Odisha one year ago to work as a labourer with folded hands, he turned down my plea saying I would have to repay the loan first. I have no money to meet his demand. I started begging and with my collection, I fed my five-member family. But now no one is helping me. I, my wife and our three children are starving for past two days," said Suresh Kalindi.

Suresh borrowed the money to buy train tickets to Odisha and secure accommodation in the neighbouring state till he gets a job there. Before receiving the money, he had to go to the local ration dealer and authorise the money lender verbally for receiving food grains on his behalf.

The members of the 50 odd families are not entitled to get the facility the chief minister announced for those who do not have ration cards. "The food coupon is being issued to those who do not have ration cards. Since, we were issued ration cards, we are not allowed to get the food coupons," said Jagabandhu Kalindi, who had to borrow Rs 22,000 from a local money lender for treatment of his son and daughters wedding.

"I used to go to Jhalda sub-division headquarters to work as a daily wager. But because of the lockdown, I cannot go anywhere. Earlier, I had to buy the same food grain that the money lender procured from ration shop using my card. Now, I have no money to buy it," Gaur Kalindi.

Bengal chief minister had announced free ration for 7.85 crore people in Bengal till September.

Rahul Majumdar, the district magistrate, Purulia, said the beneficiaries violated government norms by mortgaging ration cards and the money lenders too committed the same offence by receiving it. "I have asked the local administration to intervene and sort out the issue," he said.
A couple in India has named their newbown baby son 'Lockdown' in a nod to the coronavirus pandemic.

The boy was born in Bacheri village in the Sheopur district of central India, on Monday during the country's 21-day strict lockdown.

When staff asked what name they should write on the birth certificate, the boy's mother Manju Mail and father Raghunath revealed their unusual choice.

The baby boy has been given the name in a nod to the country's 21-day lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Above, he is pictured shortly after being born

Manju said: 'He is Lockdown, as he was born during the lockdown period,' the Times of India reported.

Her husband added: 'My son and our family will remember this time of crisis throughout out life. It is a significant name.

'The whole world is using the lockdown as a means to steam this pandemic. We should not take Lockdown lightly.'

The Sheopur district is in India's Madhya Pradesh state and has a population of around 688,000 people

The news comes just a week after another Indian couple, from Chhattisgarh, named their newborn twins 'Corona' and 'Covid'.

Parents Preeti and Vinay Verma told the Press Trust of India the names Corona and Covid were chosen to symbolise triumph over hardship.

At the time, mother Preeti said: 'The virus is dangerous and life-threatening but its outbreak made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits. Thus, we thought about these names.'

Above, mother Preeti Verma is pictured with newborn twins Corona and Covid as well as her two-year-old daughter

There are more than 5,700 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in India and 166 known deaths.

At the time the lockdown was imposed on March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: 'To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family... every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown.'

He imposed measures including the closure of all non-essential businesses, as well as shutting schools and universities and enforcing a ban on nearly all public gathering.

Hospital and other medical facilities remain open.
For the period of the coronavirus pandemic, electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have promised to supply electricity to their consumers free of charge for two months

The promise was contained in a statement issued by the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan.

Rebate to consumers

He said the gesture by the companies, which comes in the form of a two-month rebate of free electricity to their customers nationwide was in alignment with the federal governments effort to assuage the pain on the people as a result of the Ccoronavirus pandemic.

Mr Oduntan said the decision was in recognition of the challenging effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economic and daily lives of the customers.

Mr Oduntan, who is also the spokesperson for the DisCos, said details of the implementation will be made public later.

We are also completely aligned with the plans to ensure palliative measures, including free electricity supply to all Nigerians for two months, to make life easier, during the lockdown period, the official said.

Details of implementation to come soon.

Last week, the House of Representatives called for the supply of free electricity to Nigerians for two months as part of measures to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House said it was considering a second stimulus bill that will provide Nigerians with free electricity supply for two months.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made the call at a meeting between the National Assembly leadership and the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmad, and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, among others.

The Nigerian government had imposed a lockdown on Lagos, Abuja and Ogun while many other state governments have also imposed movement ban on residents, to check the spread of the disease.

NERC suspends new tariff regime

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the regulatory authority in the electricity sector, had earlier shelved the take off of the new electricity tariff regime earlier scheduled for April 1, 2020.

In December 31, 2019, the commission announced a new multi-year tariff order (MYTO) that it said would supersede the previous one issued since 2015.

The order involved the review of the electricity tariffs chargeable by the 11 DISCos for all categories of consumers in the country, except the residential category (R1).

However, NERC later clarified that the effective date for the new tariff had been shifted to April 1, although the government promised to continue subsidising electricity consumption cost.

On February 29, the commission again announced the suspension of the take off of the new tariff regime.

In its given Order No: NERC/198/2020 on the transition to cost reflective tariffs in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), NERC announced the decision to delay action for three months till June 30, 2020.

The commission said the decision was in compliance with President Muhammadu Buharis decision to grant moratorium for certain federal government funded facilities throughout the period of the global economic crisis as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the virus scare (or perhaps because of it?), global warming activists still worry about and grieve over their pet cause. I've given the matter some serious thought and conclude that the only possible solution is population culling.

We need to cull 6.9B of the Earth's 7B people and spread them out over the several habitable land masses. That would be 100M people spread out over the vast plains of the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, the huge Brazilian and Argentine llanos, the gargantuan Asian steppes, the endless African savannas, the entire continent of Australia, and the flatlands of Europe. Those 100M would live maybe one person per 100 square miles.

That should take care of social distancing.

We would have to diversify the cull to ensure equitable death quotas per race, self-identified gender, birth sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, language group, height, weight, eye color, hair color, body mass type, number of fingers and toes, expected longevity, fingerprint type, etc. Also a fair spread of mechanics, welders, professors, farmers, talk show hosts, hairdressers, soldier types, stockbrokers, particle physicists, accountants, thieves, murderers, con men, politicians, and the like.

Yes, I repeat myself, but we can't discriminate.

If that didn't cut the CO2 threat enough, we could cull all the cattle-type animals (cattle, deer, bison, etc.) whose whole purpose for living is to be dinner for other species. Those cutbacks alone would reduce the number of predators breathing and farting and belching and in other ways emitting the dreaded CO2  cutting it off at the source, so to speak.

As a result of such culling, the few people left would have an idyllic existence. Clean air. Clean water. Of course, neither you nor any of yours would be around to enjoy it, but neither would your mother-in-law. So there's that.
Taiwan Bans Zoom Amid Mounting Security Concerns

Taiwans government has banned all official use of video conferencing service Zoom amid mounting security concerns, marking the first time a government has imposed a formal action against the company.

In a statement published April 7, the Taiwanese governments executive branch said that If agencies must hold remote videoconferencing for business needs, they should not use products with security concerns such as Zoom, and that non-Chinese video software must be used.

At present, all major international information service providers provide free software during the epidemic, such as Google or Microsoft. Under the security risk assessment, [these] can be considered for use, it continued.

Zooms popularity has skyrocketed in recent weeks as strict social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders have been rolled out in nations across the globe. Governments, businesses, and even schools have been forced to work from home amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic and have utilized the video conferencing service to maintain communication.

A statement published by Zooms CEO Eric Yuan on April 1 said the company, which is headquartered in San Jose, California, has seen its daily user base grow from 10 million in December last year to more than 200 million last month, including over 90,000 schools across 20 countries, adding that it had far surpassed their initial expectations.

However, Zoom has also come under scrutiny in recent months due to a range of security and privacy concerns and after the CEO admitted its encryption keys were being transmitted to servers in China in some cases. More recently, Zooms privacy and security features are being carefully examined after hackers exploited a screen-sharing feature by hijacking meetings and online classrooms with messages in an emerging phenomenon known as zoom-bombing.

Yuan has since apologized for mistakenly routing calls via China, explaining that it had occurred because the company had been dealing with a massive increase in demand. The CEO said the company has since corrected this and has stopped using that capacity as backup for non-Chinese clients. We have also been working on improving our encryption and will be working with experts to ensure we are following best practices, he added, but did not say how many users had been affected by the issue.

As China refuses to acknowledge Taiwan as an independent statedespite the self-ruled island having its own currency, military, and democratically-elected governmentofficial data being relayed through China could be considered a privacy threat for the nation.

Shortly after Taiwans announcement banning the video conferencing service, the German foreign ministry also restricted the use of Zoom on Wednesday, due to the lack of adequate encryption and critical weaknesses in the software, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.

In the United States a number of schools have banned the use of Zoom for remote classes and switched to Microsoft Teams. New York City Attorney General Letitia James has also initiated investigations into Zoom over privacy and data security practices, while in California one of its shareholders has filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of overstating its privacy standards and failing to disclose that its service was not end-to-end encrypted.

The shareholder, Michael Drieu, claimed in a court filing that a string of recent media reports highlighting the privacy flaws in Zooms application have led to the companys stock to plummet.

More recently, Elon Musks SpaceX banned employees from using the software because of significant privacy and security concerns, while space agency NASA has done the same. Earlier this week, Google also banned the use of Zoom on employee computers as it does not meet security standards.

Janita Kan contributed to this report.
The 21st Century belongs to India and if there is one person who believes in it more than anyone, it has to be Ayyappan Sreekumar, an accomplished web designer from Kollam, Kerala. He pursued his B.Tech degree from Anna University and began his journey into the IT sector in 2012.

Today, Sreekumar is a rising IT entrepreneur whose successful businesses include website development through B4creations and blogging through B4blaze. Armed with the ground knowledge of the sector, Ayyappan is confident that India will contribute many more IT leaders to the world in the coming years.

Even though India has seen a rapid growth in the business culture in the past 5 years, with a lot of startup businesses being launched, there are a handful who have gone on to achieve the desirable success. Ayyappans companies are two of those few. He is one of the 5-10% young entrepreneurs who have tried and succeeded in the IT business. In fact, his B4creations, though not the only IT company in Kerala, is still one of the best in South India.

Ayyappans B4creations is a one-stop-shop for domain sales, website hosting, website development, social media engagement and advertising network.

His second company, B4blaze is a blogging site, which again gives him the opportunity to work with celebs and general public alike. This site is available in four languages  Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and English.

His blogging site is one of the top 5000 sites of India. Ayyappan is also a contributor to Google and IMDb platforms.

It is with the sheer dint of talent and hard work that this young lad from Kerala has proved his skills in the IT world. It takes guts to choose business over a 9-to-5 job and Ayyappan has showed that he has what it takes to make his dreams come true.

Disclaimer: This is a company press release. No HT journalist was involved in the creation of this content.

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TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  Con artists are finding lots of marks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Watchdog groups and authorities report a surge of complaints about scams targeting people who fear catching the virus or need money due to lost income.

Scams include "investments" in phony COVID-19 cures and charging people in advance for nonexistent home tests, fake protective gear or even overpriced toilet paper that never arrives. Other fraudsters offer "help" finding a new job or quickly getting federal stimulus checks, if people provide bank account and Social Security numbers or pay upfront fees.

The Federal Trade Commission reported that through March 31, Americans filed complaints about losses to coronavirus-related fraud totaling nearly $6 million.

Kathy Stokes, head of AARP's fraud prevention program, notes "a significant uptick in reports" to its fraud watch network.

And the Better Business Bureau, which offers anti-scam tips, is getting so many virus-related fraud reports that it's started a COVID-19 category on its scam tracker.

"They're preying on people who are desperate," many of them alone, said BBB national spokeswoman Katherine Hutt.

About one-third of people contacting the agency lost money, some hundreds of dollars. The rest wanted to warn others.

To avoid being duped, be super-skeptical. Don't jump on offers that sound too good to be true. Stop and investigate or seek advice from trusted sources.

Some more tips:

Don't answer your phone unless you know the caller.

"Use your answering machine," Stokes said, and don't call back unfamiliar numbers. If you answer a robocall and are directed to press a number for details on an offer, don't. It's likely a scam.

---

Beware "spoof" calls.

These falsely ID callers as agencies like the IRS, Social Security Administration or Small Business Administration and tell you to call a number for help getting money. Instead, look up that agency's phone number to check.

"Most of those are phishing scams trying to get your personal or financial information," or get you to pay a fee, said Paul Rodriguez, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

---

Consider the source.

Government agencies contact people by mail, NOT by phone, text, social media or email.

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Don't fall for pitches offering drugs or nutritional supplements to cure or prevent infection by the coronavirus, or at-home virus test kits.

They don't exist, and the first time you hear about one won't be from a stranger; it'll be on the news.

Dozens of drugmakers are researching treatments and vaccines, but none will be available for many months.

---

Question email and text requests that seem to be from friends or relatives, asking you to buy store gift cards from a third party promising to forward the cards to them.

Diann Gray, a Denver widow, was called last week by her grandson, daughter-in-law and a church friend, each of whom had been contacted by scammers. They'd apparently hacked Gray's former Facebook page and found contact info for friends and family to target. One church friend said an email claimed Gray needed a supermarket gift card to buy food.

"I have plenty of food," said Gray, 64.

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Don't send money to someone you haven't met, particularly via money orders, prepaid debit cards or gift cards, which aren't secure or traceable.

Don't give info to people who contact you, or click unfamiliar email links, which could put malware on your computer to find passwords and financial information.

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Question possibly true things, like emails and online ads offering hard-to-find hand sanitizer, sterile gloves and masks.

Many people have reported ordering via credit card, but never received the items and the seller vanished.

Unless you've previously done business with a company, check its website for reviews, evidence that it's been in business a while, and a working phone number.

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Check out charity solicitations from unfamiliar groups and crowdfunding campaigns, Rodriguez says.

If a "charity" requests money, confirm it's legit via sites like Charity Navigator, which monitors how charities spend money, or see if the charity is registered with your state's charity regulator, usually part of the state attorney general's office, consumer affairs agency or department of state.

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Three-time Grammy winner P!NK said coming down with COVID-19 was 'the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my whole life' in a sneak peak from Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The 40-year-old acrobatic pop star and her son Jameson Moon are now free from the coronavirus, but she felt powerless during the two weeks they suffered from the fast-spreading respiratory illness.

'At one point I was crying, praying - and I realized how ridiculous I sounded - "Like I thought they told us our kids would be okay. We were told that our kids were going to be okay!"' Pink (born Alecia Moore) recalled.

'It was the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my whole life!' Three-time Grammy winner P!NK discussed her bout with COVID-19 in a sneak peak from Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Pulled through: The 40-year-old acrobatic pop star and her son Jameson Moon are now free from the coronavirus, but she felt powerless during the two weeks they suffered from the fast-spreading respiratory illness (pictured Wednesday)

'It started with Jameson actually. He's three. Three year olds get sick all the time. But he started with a fever March 14. We've been quarantined since March 11. It started with a fever for him and it would come and go.

'He would have stomach pains and diarrhea and chest pains and then a headache and then sore throat...Every day was some new symptom. And then his fever stayed. It didn't go. At one point he was 103F.'

The 90 Days hitmaker said she didn't get sick until March 18-20 when her sore throat turned into a full blown asthma attack in the middle of the night, but she never had a fever.

'I couldn't breathe. I needed my nebulizer for the first time in 30 years. And I have this rescue inhaler that I use and I couldn't function without it,' Pink marveled.

Pink (born Alecia Moore) recalled: 'At one point I was crying, praying - and I realized how ridiculous I sounded - "Like I thought they told us our kids would be okay. We were told that our kids were going to be okay!"'

'At one point he was 103F': The 90 Days hitmaker said her three-year-old boy got sick on March 14 with a fever, stomach pains, diarrhea, chest pains, headache, and sore throat

'I needed my nebulizer for the first time in 30 years': Pink said she didn't get sick until March 18-20 when her sore throat turned into a full blown asthma attack in the middle of the night, but she never had a fever

The Lady Marmalade alum marveled: 'That's when I got really scared because of all the stuff you can't help but watch the news everyday. And I'm like, "Oh my god, wow all the crazy stuff I did, this is it? Like this is the way it ends?!"'

'That's when I got really scared because of all the stuff you can't help but watch the news everyday. And I'm like, "Oh my god, wow all the crazy stuff I did, this is it? Like this is the way it ends?!"'

The Lady Marmalade alum fully acknowledged that she was able to obtain several COVID-19 tests for her family through her doctor because she's a rich celebrity.

'You should be angry that I can get a test and you can't, but being angry at me is not going to help anything,' Pink shrugged.

'You should be angry about that and we should work together to try and change that...The healthcare system is jacked. The government, in a way, failed us by not being prepared. But this is where we're at and thank god we're getting better.'

'You should be angry that I can get a test and you can't!' Pink fully acknowledged that she was able to obtain several COVID-19 tests for her family through her doctor because she's a rich celebrity (pictured January 2)

She added: 'You should be angry about that and we should work together to try and change that...The healthcare system is jacked. The government, in a way, failed us by not being prepared'

'I love your hospital': The Hurts 2B Human songstress used $1M of her alleged $220M fortune to donate to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in her native Pennsylvania as well as the City of LA Mayor's Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund

The Hurts 2B Human songstress used $1M of her alleged $220M fortune to donate to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in her native Pennsylvania as well as the City of LA Mayor's Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund.

'It's meant a lot to my mom [Judy] and a lot of her friends that work there,' Pink said of her mother's 18-year position at Temple's heart center.

'Apparently, they were playing my music and dancing around the hospital. But yeah, we're all trying to figure out ways to help.'

Ellen also interviewed Lights Out host David Spade remotely on her daytime talk show, and they discussed Netflix's No. 1 hit docu-series Tiger King.

'Character study': Ellen also interviewed Lights Out host David Spade remotely on her daytime talk show, and they discussed Netflix's No. 1 hit docu-series Tiger King

The 55-year-old sarcastic stand-up said that Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage (pictured) wanted either 'me or Brad Pitt [to play him in a movie]...But I think Joe is a little too squirrely for Brad that might be wishful thinking because Brad is so studly'

'It's more fun to think about the casting': The two-time Golden Globe nominee then suggested Woody Harrelson for the part of Jeff Lowe (L), the new owner of GW Exotic Animal Park, and he suggested Channing Tatum for the part of Joe's ex-husband John Finley (R)

'I read that [Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage wanted me to play him in a movie],' the 55-year-old sarcastic stand-up said.

'Joe Exotic said me or Brad Pitt [when I interviewed him]. I see Brad Pitt at auditions all the time and it's always tense...But I think Joe is a little too squirrely for Brad that might be wishful thinking because Brad is so studly.'

Spade continued: 'I don't know. It depends. There's [my Comedy Central talk] show and there's getting time off and all that. But I thought it's just a funny idea because it's more fun to think what the casting would be just for something to do.'

The two-time Golden Globe nominee then suggested Woody Harrelson for the part of Jeff Lowe, the new owner of GW Exotic Animal Park, and he suggested Channing Tatum for the part of Joe's ex-husband John Finley.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs intelligence chief was appointed on Thursday the countrys third prime minister-designate in just over a month, after the resignation of the most recent candidate amid political infighting, but the path to forming a government remained uncertain.

The upheaval prolongs a leadership vacuum at the helm of the government amid a severe economic crisis and viral pandemic. In December, caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi resigned under pressure from mass protests. The protests have since died down amid the coronavirus outbreak but they could still re-erupt as economic conditions worsen.

The candidacy of the second appointee, Adnan al-Zurfi, was imperiled in the past 48 hours when key Shiite parties rallied around Iraqs intelligence head, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to replace him. His chances were further diminished when the main Kurdish and Sunni blocs withdrew support for his candidacy.

Iraqs president appointed al-Kadhimi, 53, as prime minister-designate shortly after al-Zurfis resignation. According to Iraqs constitution, he has 30 days to present a Cabinet lineup to parliament for a vote.

Al-Kadhimi must contend with the unenviable task of producing a Cabinet lineup that satisfies parties across Iraqs fragmented political scene, a task neither of his predecessors were able to fulfil. If confirmed as premier, he will have to steer the country through severe financial hardship amid plummeting oil prices, a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit and the unprecedented crisis over the coronavirus pandemic.

His coming to office would coincide with a potentially new chapter in U.S.-Iraq relations, with strategic talks scheduled in mid-June. The future presence of the U.S. in Iraq is on the agenda for discussion, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters recently. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition continues to withdraw from Iraqi bases in line with plans to consolidate in just two locations in the country.

The crude-exporting country earned just $2.9 billion from March oil exports at $28 per barrel, slashing in half government projections to fund state spending. Over 90% of Iraqs state revenue is derived from oil exports.

Iraq is also struggling to fund measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, with health officials reporting a shortage in testing equipment and ventilators. At least 69 people have died among more than 1,200 confirmed cases in the country, according to Health Ministry figures.

With my mandate to lead the Iraqi government, I pledge to my honourable people to work to form a government that puts the aspirations and demands of Iraqis as the top priority, al-Kadhimi tweeted shortly after his appointment was announced.

Al-Kadhimi was appointed by former Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi as head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in June 2016. He had opposed Sadaam Husseins regime and lived in exile for a number of years, working as a journalist for a time. Though experienced in government, al-Kadhimis weakness is his lack of a solid political base in parliament, officials and experts say.

His designation on Thursday was attended by key players in Iraqi politics in a show of unity, but that does not ensure the path to parliament will be smooth.

Its not a done deal, he needs the votes, said Sajad Jiyad, an Iraq-based researcher. That means, he will have to learn the lessons of his failed predecessors and play by the rules.

Al-Zurfi, the second premier hopeful to withdraw since Abdul-Mahdi resigned, never had the opportunity to present his government in parliament. His predecessor, Mohammed Allawi, a former communications minister, stepped down last month unable to muster the quorum necessary to pass his lineup because parties took issue with his choice of ministers.

In a resignation letter to Saleh, al-Zurfi cited internal and external reasons that prevented him from carrying out his duties.

Al-Zurfi faced stiff resistance from Iraqs powerful Iran-backed political parties since his appointment in March. On April 4, eight Iran-backed militia groups issued a joint statement accusing al-Zurfi of being an American agent and threatened lawmakers if they approved his proposed Cabinet.

Al-Kadhimis appointment also comes a week after Esmail Ghaani, head of Irans expeditionary Quds Force, visited Baghdad. Iraq officials said the Iranian general suggested in meetings that Iran and the Revolutionary Guard did not want al-Zurfi as prime minister.

Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi at the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank , said it was the perfect example of how Iran, during this pandemic, has managed to maintain pressure and exert its outcome through its influence and its Iran-backed forces in Iraq, and therefore to have an outcome that is more favourable to its national security.

The unity that brought al-Kadhimi to this moment is still on shaky ground, experts said. The same Iran-aligned parties that back him now vehemently opposed his candidacy in December. Experts now wonder when opposition to al-Kadhimi might arise.

Will it be during Cabinet formation process? Or later, when he becomes prime minister and has to start making the necessary changes to confront coronavirus and the economic crisis? asked Jiyad.
The United Nations food agency said on Wednesday it needed $130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe.

With most Zimbabweans already struggling to put food on the table, the COVID-19 pandemic risks even wider and deeper desperation, Eddie Rowe, World Food Programme director for Zimbabwe, said in a statement.

We must all do our utmost to prevent this tragedy turning into a catastrophe.

It added that COVID-19 might worsen the countrys dire economic and hunger crises, drastically affecting the lives of people in both urban and rural areas.

The southern African country has 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, with two deaths and zero recoveries, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Zimbabwes president, Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced a 21-day national lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, which could devastate a nation already struggling to provide decent health facilities for its people.

Borders have been closed and gatherings of more than 50 people banned, with people encouraged to stay at home. Zimbabwes president appeals for help to end the countrys financial isolation

The government maintains that the country is ready to deal with the virus. But last month hundreds of doctors and nurses who work in public hospitals went on strike over the lack of protective equipment.

Apart from the ill-equipped health facilities, cities like Harare have no running water. Acute water shortages sometimes last for monthseven yearsand have made regular handwashing nearly impossible.
With the coronavirus disease sweeping across countries and some hospitals being overrun with patients, the fear that mothers giving birth around this time are experiencing is palpable.

While hospitals cope with the crisis, many pregnant women are worried about how the disease could affect their babies and wondering if maternity wards may experience a shortage of beds, staff or supplies. So much so, in some cases, pregnant women are considering avoiding hospitals entirely and instead opting to give birth at home or in a birthing centre.

Facebook

Countries across the world take the best possible steps to face the surge of coronavirus patients, many health facilities have had no option but to crack down on delivery rules for women going into labour, many hospitals have now barred family and doulas from the delivery room.

Apart from that others are taking the best possible precautions to protect newborn infants from the deadly virus.

One hospital in Thailand is taking extra special care of newborn babies amid the coronavirus pandemic by giving them adorable little face shields.

Paolo Hospital in Samut Prakan province of Thailand recently posted adorable pictures of babies in the delivery ward of the hospital all dressed up in Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

"We have extra protection measures for little ones and friends, with a face shield for newborns. So cute!" the hospital wrote on their Facebook post. "Congratulations to all mothers and dads.





Many have thanked the hospital for going the extra step to protect newborns from the highly contagious disease, "So cute," wrote one Facebook user, while another said: "Nurses doing a great job."

While others wondered if the shields were uncomfortable for the little ones. Some offered a perspective saying that babies are too occupied sleeping to realize anything about the huge cover on their faces.

Facebook

Thailand has imposed a lockdown till April 15 to contain the spread of COVID-19. The country has recorded over 2,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus.



According to a Guardian report, so far scientists have found no evidence that mothers who test positive for Covid-19 can transmit it to their fetuses in-utero. Once the baby is born, the CDC recommends a temporary mother-infant separation for mothers who have COVID-19, and offers guidance on breastfeeding precautions.





A New Scientist report states that doctors in China have been cautious, and people who are diagnosed with the virus shortly before giving birth have been separated from their newborn babies for two weeks, in this scenario the babies were formula-fed, and appeared to be healthy.
Press Release

April 9, 2020 Bong Go appeals for grant of one-time 'Bayanihan' financial assistance for provinces too After the national government announced that it will grant a one-time 'Bayanihan' financial assistance to cities and municipalities equivalent to their one-month Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go further appealed that a one-time financial assistance be granted to provincial local government units (PLGUs) as well. Go recommended that the amount can be equivalent to half of a province's one-month IRA to capacitate them further in responding more effectively to the increasing needs of their residents amid the COVID-19 health emergency. "PLGUs play a crucial role in implementing the measures imposed by the national government to control the spread of the virus. It would be beneficial to the people if PLGUs are also given additional funding to better respond to the needs of their constituents," Go said. More importantly, Go said that PLGUs ensure the readiness of their respective provincial hospitals to handle the COVID-19 health emergency. "Marami sa mga patients natin ay sa provincial hospitals po unang dinadala. It is the PLGUs that pay for the operations of these hospitals." The appeal comes after Go's recommendation to release a one-time 'Bayanihan' financial assistance to cities and municipalities was approved. The grant amounts to each city's or municipality's one-month IRA. PLGUs are not entitled to the recently approved measure to avoid redundancy since they share the same constituents with municipalities and cities under their jurisdictions. Go, however, stated that "even an amount equivalent to half of a PLGU's one-month IRA" can go a long way in enhancing the capabilities of provinces to respond to the crisis, especially in equipping their provincial hospitals amid the growing number of patients in their localities. "Huwag na nating hayaan na kumalat pa ang virus. Ihanda na natin ang mga probinsya kahit sa pinaka-malalayong mga lugar. I-equip na natin ang kanilang mga ospital. Dagdagan na rin natin ang mga testing centers and quarantine facilities," the Senator explained. In a letter sent by the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the umbrella organization of all leagues of local government units, through their National President and Quirino Governor Dakila Carlo Cua, the group appeals for a similar grant for PLGUs as to what was recently approved for cities and municipalities. The letter further explained that provincial governments, as the highest form of government in the sub-national level, play a vital role in the COVID-19 situation as managers of the health care provider networks, according to the Universal Health Care Law. Go explained that, aside from equipping provincial hospitals, the additional funds, if granted, can also be used by PLGUs to identify and ensure that isolation units in their areas are fully equipped; distribute relief goods and other basic necessities on top of what the national government is providing; secure borders through checkpoints with equipped uniformed personnel; provide transportation and other needs to front liners and health workers; guarantee unimpeded movement of goods and commodities; ensure that the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act Act" and all executive issuances related to COVID-19 are strictly implemented; and perform other functions strictly related to the COVID-19 situation. As a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee overseeing the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Go reminded LGUs that if their appeal for additional funding is granted, they should utilize the funds properly based on the intended purpose and in a manner that upholds transparency and accountability. "Sa panahong ito, konsensya niyo na lamang ang tututok sa inyo. Siguraduhin natin na magamit ang pondo ng tama, walang masayang, at maramdaman ng mga tao kahit sa malalayong lugar ang tulong mula sa gobyerno," Go said. "Gamitin lang ng mabuti ang pondo pangtulong sa mga tao. Importante ang tiyan ng bawat Pilipino, dapat walang magutom. Importante na malampasan natin ito ng sama-sama, walang pulitika, at walang pinipili ang tinutulungan," he added.
Two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted on Wednesday by a 42-year-old man who accused them of "spreading" COVID-19 in Gautam Nagar area, Safdarjung RDA president said.

The doctors approached the Hauz Khas police, following which a case was registered and the man was arrested. "We have registered a case and arrested an accused in connection with the incident," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said.

According to Manish, Safdarjung resident doctors' association (RDA) president, the incident happened around 9.30 pm when the two doctors had stepped out of their houses to buy fruits in the area. The two doctors of the central government hospital are not on COVID-19 duty, he said.

"A local resident, who was in the vicinity, asked them to stay away from the fruit stall, saying you doctors bring the infection from the hospital and are spreading it here," Manish told PTI.

When the doctors sought to reason with him, the man allegedly twisted their hands and pushed them back and fled, he said, adding that they "have approached police in this regard".

Also read: Coronavirus: AIIMS administration rejects proposal to make donations to PM-CARES voluntary

Also read: Coronavirus: SC directs govt to ensure doctors, medical staff have appropriate PPEs, security
* India lockdown hampers delivery of existing contracts

* Vietnam rates unavailable for third week

* Thai rates widen to $555$580 a tonne from $560-$570

* Bangladesh bans exports of its common rice variety

By Sumita Layek

BENGALURU, April 9 (Reuters) - There was little activity this week in Asia's main rice trading hubs as a coronavirus lockdown in India hampered exports, Vietnam's ban on shipments to ensure it has enough domestic supply continued while Thai rates remained at seven-year highs.

In India, the world's biggest rice exporter, traders have stopped signing new export contracts as labour shortages and logistical disruptions caused by the 21-day lockdown are already hampering the delivery of existing contracts.

"Rice is not moving from fields to mills and mills to ports," said an exporter based at Kakinada.

Export prices were unavailable for a second week running.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, the government has halted the export of its common rice variety as domestic prices of the staple grain have been driven to a two-year by panic buying.

"In this situation, there is no scope to allow rice exports even though traders came up with some orders," a commerce ministry official said on Thursday.

It was a similar situation in Vietnam, which has suspended the signing of new export contracts in an attempt to ensure domestic supplies are sufficient during the pandemic.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice prices <RI-VNBKN5-P1> were unavailable for the third week in a row.

"There have been no transactions and we're still waiting for the final decision from the prime minister on the resumption of exports," said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade asked the government earlier this week to resume rice exports but limit the volume to 800,000 tonnes for April and May.

But traders said the Ministry of Finance wants to keep the ban on white rice exports until June while allowing the export of fragrant and glutinous rice to resume immediately.

Story continues

Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices widened to $555$580 per tonne - their highest since April 2013 - from $560-$570 last week on concerns about supply shortages due to an ongoing drought.

"The drought has really hurt supply and pushed up the prices and kept buyers away. This has been going on for weeks," a rice trader in Bangkok said.

Rice exporters in Thailand said they were monitoring the situation in rival exporting countries.

"We're still looking at how COVID-19 is impacting exports in the main competitors like Vietnam and India to see whether a lack of exports there will increase demand for Thai rice. So far there has been no major order from overseas markets," another rice trader in Bangkok said.

"But even if demand increases because others can't sell, the supply situation here could push up the price even further." (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Editing by David Clarke)
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said that all active cases of COVID-19 in the state are linked to Tablighi Jamaat event held in Delhi in March.

"All 21 active cases of COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh are related to Tablighi Jamaat, Chief Minister said.

"At present, 21 COVID-19 positive cases are in isolation wards. It's unfortunate that all these cases are linked with Jamaat, some of them are those who had attended the Markaz event in Delhi and others are those who had come in contact with the attendees," Thakur told ANI.

He said that the state government has not lifted the curfew in Himachal Pradesh and a decision regarding the lockdown will be taken after a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11.

Meanwhile, India's total COVID-19 cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, with 591 new cases reported in last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 5,734 cases; 5,218 are active COVID-19 cases, and 477 patients have been recovered or discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the continued closure of businesses and schools is needed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania.

Earlier today, Wolf announced Pennsylvania schools wont reopen this spring. Pennsylvanias 1.7 million students will spend the rest of the academic year receiving remote instruction. The governors order covers public, private and charter schools.

Wolf has also closed businesses that arent life sustaining" indefinitely. Some lawmakers and trade groups are pushing measures to reopen more businesses as more than 1 million in Pennsylvania have filed for unemployment.

In her daily briefing with the media Thursday, Levine acknowledged that keeping schools and many businesses closed is a painful step. But she said it is necessary.

Our best protection has been and continues to be social distancing and staying home, Levine said.

You can watch the briefing here online.

Closing schools and businesses is a hard decision, she said. Its hard for kids not to be at work. Its hard for most of us not to be at work.

But Levine added: Its the right thing to do to save lives.

The state has confirmed 1,989 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the total to 18,228 diagnosed across all 67 counties. At least 338 people have died due to the virus.

Levine said again Thursday the state is no longer seeing the exponential growth in cases, when the number doubled every couple of days. But she said cases are still rising.

It has gone to a flatter curve but its not completely flat, Levine said. She added, We need to maintain our vigilance.

Cases continue to rise at a troubling rate in the Philadelphia region, the Lehigh Valley and northeastern Pennsylvania, Levine said.

The midstate isnt being spared. About 1,400 patients have been diagnosed in the Harrisburg area.

Returning to normal

Levine said there will be a time when Pennsylvania returns to a sense of normalcy. She didnt offer a guess as to when that may occur, stressing that the virus sets the timetable. But she talked about some of the discussions state officials have had about getting back to normal.

Pennsylvania remains under a statewide stay-at-home order until April 30. Levine said all the social distancing measures wont go away at once. She said that would be dangerous.

More likely, she said some of the restrictive measures would be relaxed on a gradual basis across Pennsylvania. She said its possible stay-at-home orders would be gradually lifted perhaps in certain counties or towns as a first step.

Hospitalizations

Levine said 2,033 patients with the coronavirus are being treated in a hospital. Thats about 11% of the total number of patients who have been diagnosed.

Hospitals are seeing more patients but there are available beds and ventilators. She said 45% of hospital beds, including 37% of all intensive care unit beds, remain available. About 70% of ventilator beds remain available.

Levine said 850 health care workers have contracted the virus.

Nursing homes

Across Pennsylvania, 1,058 people have contracted the virus in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and personal care homes. Cases have been diagnosed in 168 such facilities.

The care of patients in nursing homes has been an issue gaining more attention. Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable populations, since most residents are elderly and frail. Levine has said the state is working with nursing homes to protect residents.

This week, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., sent a joint letter to federal regulators seeking a briefing on whats being done to protect residents in those nursing homes that have been cited for repeated violations.

Groups representing nursing homes are urging the Wolf administration and lawmakers to provide more funding and protective equipment.
A woman was arrested from



Hailakandi district in south Assam on Thursday for spreading inflammatory content on social media, police said.

A case was registered against the woman at the Lala police station.

She was interrogated and released on a PR Bond and asked to appear again after a week, a police officer said.

Declining to give the details of her post, the police officer said that it was regarding some persons in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Power couple George and Amal Clooney are the latest Hollywood personalities to make significant contributions to help navigate the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Deadline, the couple has donated over USD 1 million directed towards six different funds and charities in need.

The Clooneys have pitched in USD 250,000 each to The Motion Picture and Television home, where the actor is a board member, the SAG-AFTRA FUND, and Los Angeles Mayors Fund.

An additional USD 300,000 has also presented to three international charities - Lebanese Food Bank, Lombardo Italy Region and the National Health System in the UK.

While the Motion Picture and Television Fund provides temporary financial assistance for needs created or complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation COVID-19 relief fund helps cover member grants for health premiums, food, shelter and medical expense.

The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles supports the Emergency COVID-19 fund to help provide childcare for the city's first responders and healthcare workers, help with shelter for the homeless, the feeding the elderly and offering direct financial assistance to the locals that have been impacted.

The Lebanese Food Bank feeds the needy unable to work, the elderly, the disabled, those with chronic diseases, single mothers and orphans.

The Lombardo Italy Region directly support hospitals in the Lombardo region that are facing the ongoing health crisis. Italy has been the worst-hit country to be affected by pandemic.

Finally, the National Health Service COVID-19 appeal supports hospital staff and volunteers at the front line who are caring for COVID-19 patients.

Other Hollywood celebs who have made contributions towards COVID-19 relief efforts include Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively, Angelina Jolie, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Shawn Mendes, Jay-Z and Meek Mills, etc.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

Trend:

The negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic and decreasing oil prices on Azerbaijan can't be denied, Azerbaijans Prime Minister Ali Asadov said in a video report on the results of 2019, Trend reports on Apr. 9.

Asadov noted that by the order of the President of Azerbaijan dated February 27, 2020, an Operational Headquarters was created under the Cabinet of Ministers to combat the coronavirus.

The prime minister emphasized that a cycle of planned measures is being implemented, the sanitary-epidemiological situation in the country is being monitored.

Ahmadov added that Azerbaijan has enough medical supplies to fight the coronavirus, and at the same time, work is underway on their production in the country.

He also added that a special quarantine regime is applied in Azerbaijan until April 20, and the adoption of these measures was inevitable.

The relevant programs drawn up to reduce the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the countrys socio-economic sphere will be implemented in a timely manner, Asadov emphasized.

All taken measures are aimed at protecting the health of the people and the security of the country. We have to get out of this situation with minimal losses and protect the citizens, he noted.

The government is monitoring the processes going on in the global economy and is taking preventive measures. To minimize the negative impact of falling oil prices on the country's economy, Azerbaijan has appropriate flexible tools, Ahmadov added.
CHATSWORTH, Calif.The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Thursday afternoon published a clarifying overview for adult producers on the ins and outs of Utah's recently passed law requiring all adult material to bear a "warning label."

The FSC's breakdown of the law follows:

In March, the State of Utah passed a law requiring anyone distributing obscene material in Utah to affix a warning labeland, in the case of streaming video, a five-second pre-rollwarning potential viewers of the dangers associated with showing such content to minors. Failure to do so can result in a $2500 fine (plus court costs and legal fees).

The law has caused a fair amount of confusion, both within the state and among adult producers. While we can not provide legal advice or specific guidance about any business potential liability under the law, we hope we can provide some context for understanding the new law.

Some of the confusion comes from the previous versions of the bill. When the original bill was introduced in early February, the proposed law applied not just to obscene content, but to any representation of sexual activity. Thanks to the work of ACLU and objections raised by FSC, the law has now been significantly narrowed. Currently, the requirement to label content only applies to legally obscene material.

What Is Obscene?

While the word obscene is often used casually to describe any explicit material, for more than 50 years its been a fairly narrow legal category.

Unfortunately, there is no clear definition for obscenity under US lawin order for a work to be declared obscene, a prosecutor must bring an obscenity case and secure an obscenity conviction. It is a very high standard to prove obscenity. There have been relatively few obscenity prosecutions in the last two decades, and even then for fairly extreme material.

Given this, its unclear how the law can or will be applied to individual distributors or website owners. In theory, until a work is deemed obscene by a court, it would not be subject to the labeling requirements of this law. However, could the Attorney General bring a case regardless?and assume most adult companies would rather pay a $2500 fine than fight a lengthy and costly First Amendment case, even if they would likely prevail? We dont yet know.

What Are The Requirements?

You should read the text of the bill for yourself here. In addition to the warning, youre required to insert code so that prosecutors can easily detect if you are using the warning.

Is This Constitutional?

FSC believes the warning is compelled speechessentially, the government forcing you to express a specific message omething the First Amendment protects against. However, until someone challenges the law in court, and wins, it remains the law.

Does It Apply to Companies Outside of Utah

Yes. Anyone with material publicly available on the web (or otherwise accessible to citizens of Utah) is subject to this law. You need not market or otherwise sell anything specifically to Utahns in order to be subject to it. (A previous lawsuit over a similar labeling law successfully challenged this point, but it does not automatically extend to this law.)

How Should My Business Proceed?

As with many new laws, your degree of compliance will depend on your tolerance for risk. Will the law actually be enforced, or was it merely a political stand? Is it constitutional? We cant answer those questions yet. Nor can we answer if the content hosted on your site is likely considered obscene in a court of law. For these questions, we can only recommend you speak with an attorney well-versed in First Amendment law.
TRENTON  The capital citys 8 p.m. corona curfew  perhaps more appropriately considered an after-certain-hours moratorium on murder  remains in place, Gov. Phil Murphy be damned.

Police have issued a total of nine summonses, eight Tuesday night, and shut down a gas station for not complying with Mayor Reed Guscioras edict.

Violators face up to a $2,000 fine. And city officials dont intend to pull back the reigns, following a bloody Sunday in which three people were shot dead.

Its still across the board. Were dealing with a separate issue. The governors making an opinion. With all due respect, that wasnt the language in our emergency declaration, Gusciora told The Trentonian by phone Wednesday. Ours is one based on our 1968 ordinance. When it comes to coronavirus issues, his takes precedence. And were in 100 percent conformity with it. But we have a separate, apples and oranges, one based on the 1968 ordinance.

The capital city leaders remarks came after Murphy weighed in at his daily briefing with reporters on cities like Trenton and Newark that imposed additional restrictions on residents and businesses that go beyond his statewide mandates amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

The governor responded by calling the capital citys 8 p.m. curfew a recommendation, not a mandate, and stressed his orders supersede Guscioras or any other elected city officials.

Theres one set of executive orders, Murphy said, that hold, that matter, that overarch all others, and theyre ours. We have to have one state.  I think, as it turns out, most of these are recommendations as opposed to hard-and-fast executive orders. Theres no question which executive order has primacy, and that will stay that way.

Despite all the bureaucratic back-and-forth, Gusciora said city officials will continue to enforce the mandatory 8 p.m. curfew, instituted Monday in response to a spate of violence over the weekend.

Trentons curfew applies to businesses specifically exempted under Murphys mandate since theyre considered essential, such as grocery stores and gas stations.

Those businesses must continue to abide the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in Trenton as it was Guscioras understanding that the city law department received approval from the office of state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to keep the lockdown in place.

My understanding is they dont have a problem with it, Gusciora said.

Grewals office, which didnt respond to an emailed request for comment, got involved after West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn wrote to Murphy on Tuesday expressing concerns about whether Guscioras actions comported with the governors executive order.

She believed the mayor overstepped Executive Order 108 that nullified additional restrictions imposed by municipalities to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

That order says it shall be unlawful for any municipality or other subdivision or any other governmental agency of this State to adopt any rule or regulation or to enforce any such rule or regulation that may be at variance with any such order.

And if a dispute on the question of whether or not any such rule or regulation is at variance with an order, rule or regulation established by the Governor  the determination of the Governor shall control.

Gusciora conceded in a previous interview with The Trentonian that his curfew, which doesnt apply to essential workers, wasnt enforceable under Gov. Murphys stay-at-home order.

That order allows New Jerseyeans to leave their homes for important matters like to get food and supplies and visit doctors.

Gusciora separated the governors actions during the statewide public health crisis from his concerning violence in Trenton, saying Tuesday the curfew was imposed under a little-known city law, passed in the 1960s to deal with widespread rioting, after a string of shootings over the weekend.

The city law, giving local officials authority to deal swiftly with mob action and civil disturbances, has been on the books since 1968, following the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King.

The city retooled its emergency edict to make everything clear, Gusciora said.

In dismissing the suggestion that he found an end-around the governors order, Gusciora stressed he instituted the curfew to deal with a recent uptick in gun violence, not to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.

Sundays three murders played out amid the pandemic, however. Two of them happened before 8 p.m.

One of those was the execution-style slaying of 24-year-old Quamierah Massey, 24, who was shot dead while watching a street fight just after 7 p.m. on the 100 block of Hoffman Avenue. The heinous killing was caught on tape.

Gusciora refused to concede the rollout of the curfew could have been executed better after he was criticized due to little notice to the public before cops began enforcing it.

Would we have liked to have two weeks of townhall meetings and input from neighborhoods and health groups? Absolutely, he said.
SALISBURY, Md., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- There are many unsung heroes in the international fight against the Coronavirus. One of them is higher education. Higher ed institutions are working both in their communities and behind the scenes with research, production and volunteer efforts in this deadly war.

Great Value Colleges (GVC) has been tracking these colleges and their efforts to find innovative and cutting edge ways to battle this threat to humanity.

"Higher ed institutions are stepping to the front lines of this battle with research, innovation, and generosity," said GVC Editor Julie McCaulley. "Faculty, staff, and students are committing their talent, training, and resources to the cause. We at GVC want to recognize those efforts."

McCaulley added that the list will be updated as more schools come to GVC's attention.

To see the full article, visit "Heroes Wear Many Faces: Colleges and Universities Retooling to Fight COVID-19" at this URL: https://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/universities-fight-covid-19/.

Here are a few of the colleges and universities.

Tennessee State University - Nashville, Tennessee

This university is using its 3D printing machines to help produce protective face gear for the state's healthcare professionals. It's a combined effort of students, faculty, and staff from TSU's College of Engineering, College of Agriculture and Library Services.

Tufts University - Medford, Massachusetts

Tufts is among the many higher education institutions donating the use of its empty dormitories to local hospitals. The school's residence halls will be transformed into quasi-medical centers to help to relieve area hospitals as they struggle to accommodate COVID-19 patients.

University of California - San Francisco, California

UCSF is using its science labs to help in the coronavirus testing effort. The school hopes to be able to conduct 1,000 COVID-19 tests per day, starting with the most critical patients. By assisting local hospitals and medical facilities in making diagnoses, UCSF aims to help slow the spread of the virus.

University of Chicago - Chicago, Illinois

The University of Chicago is helping feed residents of its nearby communities by partnering with the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The initiative aims to provide at least 3,000 meals per day over the next 10 weeks to needy South Side residents.

University of Georgia - Athens, Georgia

In partnership with Epivax, the University is testing vaccine possibilities in its Center of Vaccine and Immunology The team is also studying the virus to determine whether or not it might return each year as the flu does.

University of Southern Maine - Portland, Maine

The University of Southern Maine has transformed its Sullivan Gymnasium into a temporary homeless shelter. The facility will make it possible for people needing shelter to practice social distancing and help prevent the spread of the virus.

University of Texas at Austin - Austin, Texas

Like many other universities, the University of Texas at Austin has begun research to develop a viable COVID-19 vaccine. In partnership with the National Institutes of Health, university researchers have developed a 3-D atomic-scale map of the virus's spike proteinthe part of the coronavirus that attaches to human cells.

Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, Maryland

Researchers here have developed a global map of COVID-19 cases to track the spread of the disease. This real-time online resource shows the number of confirmed cases by country, the number of people who have died from the virus, and the number who have recovered.

Rutgers University - New Brunswick, New Jersey

Rutgers University created the Center for COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. The new addition to the Rutgers Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases will serve as a hub for the many different university COVID-19-related research projects.

Stony Brook University - Stony Brook, New York

The University's Renaissance School of Medicine students are battling the pandemic via telemedicine, conducting online research and meeting with patients over video calls. It allows students to gain hands-on experience in their fields while freeing up doctors to handle patients with the most critical needs. Participating students are third and fourth-year medical students.

Great Value Colleges ( https://www.greatvaluecolleges.net ) is a leader in the educational field. Its mission is to help students get the best possible education for their money by presenting in-depth and well-researched college rankings along with information about scholarships and career options.

Contact: Julie McCaulley, Editor

Phone: 518-496-0845

Email: http://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/contact/

SOURCE Great Value Colleges
All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has urged Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar to take steps to desist industries from terminating staff amid the lockdown, making a particular reference to a global technology firm which has fired 700 employees.

In a letter shot off to Gangwar, AITUC said,"...making a particular reference to Fareportal India Pvt Ltd, calls upon your urgent intervention to send out a stronger directive to the industries and commercial establishments to stop forthwith all the acts of gross illegality of terminating employees and mandate withdrawal of all termination orders."



This is a travesty of natural justice in the backdrop of the lockdown declared to contain the spread of coronavirus, it said.

All these acts are in absolute transgression of the advisory issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment at this crucial juncture of national emergency.

Several state governments have also sent out advisories on similar lines.

But it is a serious cause for concern that many industries have not only defied the advisory but have also grossly violated the law with absolute impunity, it noted.

"AITUC has received reports that Fareportal India Pvt Ltd', a global technology company, has terminated 500 employees from its office in Gurugram and 200 from its Pune office. It is a cruel and unfair act carried out in a total breach of the existing laws and in complete conflict with the advisory specific to the time," stated the letter.

AITUC condemns the "illegal" terminations and urges the government to intervene immediately to make sure that the termination orders are withdrawn.

"We also insist that not one worker, irrespective of his nature of employment such as casual, contract, temporary, trainee or apprentice should suffer loss of wages even for one day," it added.

Besides, the management of Fareportal should be subjected to the trial of violation of laws, it demanded.

Coronavirus has indeed created an unprecedented upheaval and uncertainty to the industry, trade and commerce. Confronting the challenge to rebuild the nation, society and economy requires the might of all.

India cannot afford another army of jobless people. It means creation of a demoralized society, it said.

AITUC urges the government to "send out a firm directive mandating all the industries and commercial establishments to desist from any such unfair acts of illegality and injustice against the workforce," the letter said.

AITUC has also written to Haryana Chief Minister to rehire the 500 employees of Fareportal, in Gurugram.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Researchers from Cambridge, UK, and Germany have reconstructed the early "evolutionary paths" of COVID-19 in humans - as infection spread from Wuhan out to Europe and North America - using genetic network techniques.

By analysing the first 160 complete virus genomes to be sequenced from human patients, the scientists have mapped some of the original spread of the new coronavirus through its mutations, which creates different viral lineages.

"There are too many rapid mutations to neatly trace a COVID-19 family tree. We used a mathematical network algorithm to visualise all the plausible trees simultaneously," said geneticist Dr Peter Forster, lead author from the University of Cambridge.

"These techniques are mostly known for mapping the movements of prehistoric human populations through DNA. We think this is the first time they have been used to trace the infection routes of a coronavirus like COVID-19."

The team used data from virus genomes sampled from across the world between 24 December 2019 and 4 March 2020. The research revealed three distinct "variants" of COVID-19, consisting of clusters of closely related lineages, which they label 'A', 'B' and 'C'.

Forster and colleagues found that the closest type of COVID-19 to the one discovered in bats - type 'A', the "original human virus genome" - was present in Wuhan, but surprisingly was not the city's predominant virus type.

Mutated versions of 'A' were seen in Americans reported to have lived in Wuhan, and a large number of A-type viruses were found in patients from the US and Australia.

Wuhan's major virus type, 'B', was prevalent in patients from across East Asia. However, the variant didn't travel much beyond the region without further mutations - implying a "founder event" in Wuhan, or "resistance" against this type of COVID-19 outside East Asia, say researchers.

The 'C' variant is the major European type, found in early patients from France, Italy, Sweden and England. It is absent from the study's Chinese mainland sample, but seen in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The new analysis also suggests that one of the earliest introductions of the virus into Italy came via the first documented German infection on January 27, and that another early Italian infection route was related to a "Singapore cluster".

Importantly, the researchers say that their genetic networking techniques accurately traced established infection routes: the mutations and viral lineages joined the dots between known cases.

As such, the scientists argue that these "phylogenetic" methods could be applied to the very latest coronavirus genome sequencing to help predict future global hot spots of disease transmission and surge.

"Phylogenetic network analysis has the potential to help identify undocumented COVID-19 infection sources, which can then be quarantined to contain further spread of the disease worldwide," said Forster, a fellow of the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research at Cambridge, as well as the University's Institute of Continuing Education.

The findings are published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The software used in the study, as well as classifications for over 1,000 coronavirus genomes and counting, is available free at http://www.fluxus-technology.com.

Variant 'A', most closely related to the virus found in both bats and pangolins, is described as "the root of the outbreak" by researchers. Type 'B' is derived from 'A', separated by two mutations, then 'C' is in turn a "daughter" of 'B'.

Researchers say the localisation of the 'B' variant to East Asia could result from a "founder effect": a genetic bottleneck that occurs when, in the case of a virus, a new type is established from a small, isolated group of infections.

Forster argues that there is another explanation worth considering. "The Wuhan B-type virus could be immunologically or environmentally adapted to a large section of the East Asian population. It may need to mutate to overcome resistance outside East Asia. We seem to see a slower mutation rate in East Asia than elsewhere, in this initial phase."

He added: "The viral network we have detailed is a snapshot of the early stages of an epidemic, before the evolutionary paths of COVID-19 become obscured by vast numbers of mutations. It's like catching an incipient supernova in the act."

Since today's PNAS study was conducted, the research team has extended its analysis to 1,001 viral genomes. While yet to be peer-reviewed, Forster says the latest work suggests that the first infection and spread among humans of COVID-19 occurred between mid-September and early December.

The phylogenetic network methods used by researchers - allowing the visualisation of hundreds of evolutionary trees simultaneously in one simple graph - were pioneered in New Zealand in 1979, then developed by German mathematicians in the 1990s.

These techniques came to the attention of archaeologist Professor Colin Renfrew, a co-author of the new PNAS study, in 1998. Renfrew went on to establish one of the first archaeogenetics research groups in the world at the University of Cambridge.

###
[April 09, 2020] PowerReviews Helping Shure On Road to Become Most Trusted Audio Brand Worldwide

CHICAGO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shure Incorporated today reveals how it has, over the last year, been leveraging PowerReviews ratings & reviews and social curation technologies to spearhead a comprehensive website redesign, fuel product development, broadly showcase its offerings and generate exceptional customer engagement.

Shure, a leading global manufacturer of microphones, headphones and audio electronics, has now captured more than 700 reviews of its products with an average star rating of 4.6 and 1,200 customer images on its social channels using PowerReviews software. Also leveraging the PowerReviews platform, this content is then showcased across the companys own digital properties and other critical ecommerce platforms where consumers can buy its product offerings. This provides outstanding and authentic endorsement from existing customers to buyers as they enter the later stages of their customer journey. Jason Walker, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing at Shure, comments, Our users are more than just customers; theyre a passionate community of fans. Reviews have helped us tap into our community and given us insight on how they perceive our brand. After we started working with PowerReviews, its been like opening a door on a whole new fan community. Were able to highlight real customers using our products in a variety of places and circumstances, which we simply wouldnt have been able to leverage without PowerReviews. Saarah Shaikh, Senior Director of Customer Success at PowerReviews, said:

We are delighted to deliver so much value to and help a company as outstanding as Shure deliver superior experiences to its custoers, showcase these to potential buyers and generally help it execute on its mission of being the most trusted audio brand worldwide.



Walker says: Since partnering with PowerReviews, our entire organization has seen the value of reviews and how theyve enabled us to connect with our customers. From communicating to creating to listening, our products play a role in our customers passions. PowerReviews has given us the ability to facilitate and leverage their excitement and amplify it to our audience. This information is taken from a newly-published case study, which can be accessed on the PowerReviews website here .

ABOUT POWERREVIEWS PowerReviews ( PowerReviews.com ) is a software and data company that works with 1000+ leading brands and retailers to bring authenticity and transparency to commerce. The PowerReviews Customer Content Platform has three solutions that help our customers collect and manage customer-generated content to improve the product and customer experience across the customer journey. We help clients meet the evolving need for social proof, accelerating the path to purchase and brand advocacy. PowerReviews is known for innovation, consultative partnership, and actionable insights, supported by our open platform and approach. Our dedicated team of experts provides thoughtful analysis and turn-key service. PowerReviews is headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA. ABOUT SHURE INCORPORATED

Shure ( www.shure.com ) has been making people sound extraordinary for nearly a century. Founded in 1925, the Company is a leading global manufacturer of audio equipment known for quality, performance, and durability. It makes microphones, wireless microphone systems, in-ear monitors, earphones and headphones, conferencing systems, and more. For critical listening, or high-stakes moments on stage, in the studio, and from the meeting room, you can always rely on Shure. Shure Incorporated is headquartered in Niles, Illinois, in the United States. It has over 30 global locations which include corporate locations, manufacturing plants, distribution facilities, and engineering hubs. Its mission is to be the most trusted audio brand worldwide. FURTHER INQUIRIES

Andrew Smith

Marketing Director

[email protected]

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Photo: Unsplash

Most elected officials learn to develop a thick skin as criticisms and personal insults/attacks are an unfortunate by-product of public office.



This situation occurs more if you are as active on social media as I am.



The reason I share this is related to recent criticism I received for my support for the compassion shown by West Kelowna to 19 foreign national farm workers who have tested positive for COVID-19.



My reason for sharing this is not over the criticism, but rather my concern.



To be clear, this situation is in not the fault of these workers.



When they arrived in Canada on March 12, there was no screening or travel restrictions at Canadian airports.



These workers didnt receive any special instructions and, by extension, were uninformed.



This is due to a lack of leadership at our airports that fall under federal regulations.



This situation has demonstrated the critical need for screening and travel restriction at our borders and airports that for too long our Prime Minister refused to implement.



It is unfortunate that many provinces are now forced to supplement these efforts due to federal shortcomings.



For these farm workers, let us all remember that nobody wants to be sick with a potentially terminal virus in a country far from home.



I would like to commend the many citizens of West Kelowna who the Kelowna Capital News reports reached out to offer help, food, or general support for our seasonal guest workers.



It was further reported that this support has helped with their morale and feeling of belonging in our community.



On a personal note, I am very proud of the people of West Kelowna for their kindness and compassion.



Thank you.



We must also not overlook that in many countries we have Canadians who, because of COVID-19, are trapped and are desperately trying to come home.



Canadian trapped in this situation, in another country far from home, would, I am certain, want to be located in a compassionate, kind and welcoming community such as West Kelowna.



On a different but related note I know that, with so many currently laid off, many question why temporary farm workers from outside Canada are still needed on local farms.



While I do not speak for farmers, I do hear from them.



This season, there will be a significant labour shortage in many local farms and orchards and there will be many farm-related jobs available.



Already InfoNews has reported that a well-known Lake Country farm operation has received hundreds of resumes from laid-off workers after posting help-wanted ads.



Expect this trend to continue throughout the Okanagan.



I have purposely included references that these stories were reported by local news organizations.



Local journalism is critical to our communities. Local media report on your local council, regional district and school board meetings, as well as local volunteer initiatives and efforts.



Right now, supporting local news is vital.



If you have a subscription-based, local news source, please consider subscribing.



If you are in a position to advertise, now is a critical time to do so.



Two questions this week:

Will you support local journalism?

If so, how?

I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.
Hospitals across Western Massachusetts say theyve only just begun to feel the financial impact of the novel coronavirus as they brace for an expected surge of very ill patients.

Adjusting to lost revenue from elective and non-urgent procedures banned now under statewide orders, they have laid off some staff.

Mercy Medical Center parent Trinity Health Of New England announced an unspecified number of layoffs earlier this week. The parent of Holyoke Medical Center announced layoffs earlier this month.

Baystate Health said it has furloughed employees, but with pay, and has transferred people working in departments shut down due to restrictions on procedures to departments where workers are needed.

Boston-area hospitals have also announced cutbacks.

On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker announced more than $800 million in aid to hospitals. According to a news release, the majority of this funding will support 28 safety net and high-Medicaid hospitals, to address lost revenue and increased costs for hospitals at the front lines of treating patients with COVID-19.

The $800 million includes a 20% rate increase for COVID-19 care, as well as a 7.5% across-the-board rate increase for other hospital care.

Mercy spokeswoman Mary K. Orr said Wednesday that the medical center has not yet received official notice of the amount of financial assistance it will receive.

We are still analyzing the proposal to determine the financial impact, she said.

Spokespeople for Baystate pointed out the funds are increases in the rates theyll be paid through MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, and the Childrens Health Insurance Program. So its impossible to know how much theyll get until they know more about how many patients theyll see.

On April 2, Valley Health Systems  which includes Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Medical Group, Holyoke Visiting Nurse Association and River Valley Counseling Center  furloughed without pay approximately 225 employees, 11% of the workforce, in an effort to stem the impact of lost revenue, according to a statement.

The furlough is effective through April 30, at which point it will be reevaluated and extended if needed until normal operations resume.

In addition, the management team, executive team and physicians have taken a temporary base pay reduction of 10% to 25%.

Valley Health Systems said the furloughs did not affect employees working in departments with no drop in volume or departments that have additional volume or responsibilities.

Furloughed employees were informed that they may be recalled to service in the case of a surge or changing conditions where additional staff is needed. Approximately two dozen employees were recalled when the call to assist the Soldiers Home in Holyoke was received.

Trinity Health Of New England said Wednesday it has cut payroll and taken other steps at Mercy Medical Center and its hospitals in Connecticut. Trinity didnt share numbers of people.

While the majority of our colleagues will continue to work fulltime in their current roles, we are redeploying some colleagues to different roles and locations, reducing hours and temporarily furloughing a portion of our workforce, primarily non-clinical colleagues, Trinity said in a statement. This will enable us to focus our resources on the functions directly related to essential COVID-19 patient care needs we anticipate, while protecting people and helping to prevent the spread of the virus.

Additionally, we will reduce the compensation of our executive leaders, freeze all capital expenditures except those supporting our ministry during this crisis and significantly reduce our discretionary spending, Trinity said. We greatly respect and honor the dignity of every single colleague. Impacted colleagues will continue to retain several benefits such as health, dental and basic life insurance.

Trinity said it hopes to bring back employees or ask them to fill new jobs.

At Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, employees whose jobs have been impacted by the deferral of elective procedures and visits are being redeployed within the organization to optimize our ability to care for patients and provide needed support whenever possible, said spokeswoman Christina Trinchero.

For employees who cannot be placed into alternative roles within the organization, consistent with Partners Healthcare policy, Cooley Dickinson is providing eight weeks of wage security to offer employees and their families a measure of financial stability during this unprecedented time period in health care, she said.

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Earlier this week he ordered Missourians to begin staying at home.

The school closure order won praise from state school groups.

The Missouri School Boards' Association, for example, called it a "necessary step to protect the health and safety of our students, teachers, staff and communities."

"Even though traditional classes will not resume this school year, education of our students will continue for the remainder of the year," Executive Director Melissa Randol said.

Parson said his granddaughter was among those set to graduate from high school.

For you seniors out there, I understand how disappointing that can be not to have a graduation ceremony, Parson said. I know youve worked hard for 12 years.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven acknowledged that the decision raises multiple questions, including how districts will handle summer school, graduation ceremonies and the need for internet services in rural areas.

Please know our department is working quickly to address these and other questions, Vandeven said.
Equine Guelph has announced that it is offering a special discounted rate for the upcoming offering of its Fire & Emergency Preparedness online course. In response to industry requests during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent updates to the course will address many horse caretaker and facility owner concerns.

Topics added include developing plans for business disruptions and backup planning, especially as it relates to the unprecedented circumstances everyone is currently facing. The May 4 - 11 special edition of the course will be $60 (regularly $85). It is designed to be completed in one week, but Equine Guelph will be extending access for this vital and timely offering for six weeks, until June 30.

The first week of May kicks off Emergency Preparedness Week in Canada. Never was there a greater need to be able to identify potential threats in your region and this is just one of the key points this Equine Guelph course will cover. Course instructor Dr. Susan Raymond will take the class through developing a disaster plan and looking at practical ways horse owners can reduce their risks. We expect the discussion boards to be full of important questions and are pleased to have two wonderful guest experts joining us, Dr. Raymond has said.

Dr. Rebecca Gimenez-Husted will be answering pressing questions. Husted is an international expert in the areas of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, fire prevention and emergency preparedness. A past logistics officer for FEMAs Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT -2), decorated combat veteran and a major in the U.S. Army Reserves, she is active in various organizations related to disaster preparedness.

Equine industry leader Mike King from CapriCMW Insurance Services will be the second guest expert to help students talk about insurance issues for business sustainability. He will be fielding questions regarding insurance issues that many are currently facing and discussing potentially unforeseen challenges that may crop up in the future.

There was an amazing response from the industry to the special offerings currently in progress on The Horse Portal. The Horse Behaviour and Safety courses (adult and youth offerings) are also a running with extended access and our Sickness Prevention in Horses online course filled to capacity within 24 hours of the announcement! Equine Guelph Director Gayle Ecker has said. Equine Guelph is proud to be supporting our industry with pertinent educational programming during this most difficult time of physical distancing. Our dedicated staff and wonderful partners are committed to helping in any way we can.

Registration is open for the next Horse Portal online course offering available for the discounted rate of $60. Fire & Emergency Preparedness online course is set to commence May, 4, 2020, during Emergency Preparedness week in Canada. Join the herd!

(Equine Guelph)
www.bajacallcenter.com We saw what happened in other countries obviously and as soon as the COVID-19 numbers started to inch up in the U.S. in January, we made the decision to act fast to avoid any health risks for our employees or business disruptions for clients said Justin Lines, CEO

As cases of COVID-19 began to add up in the United States early this year, the executive team at Baja Call Center Inc made a proactive decision to create a work-from-home program for their 400+ employees. The early action kept employees safe, ensured uninterrupted services for clients and resulted in even more efficient operations  and unexpected growth.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Baja Call Center Inc owns and operates three call centers in Tijuana Mexico that provide inbound and outbound phone support, chat and email support, and Cloud-based telecommunication services to clients; a Fortune 1000 clothing brand, leading online retailers, CBD distributors, logistics, insurance and financial services companies, and more.

We saw what happened in other countries obviously and as soon as the COVID-19 numbers started to inch up in the U.S. in January, we made the decision to act fast to avoid any health risks for our employees or business disruptions for clients. It was an arduous undertaking by every member of our team but the end result has been far beyond what we expected, said Justin Lines, CEO.

But Lines is the first to admit that it was anything but an easy transition. First came the technical challenges.

Many of BAJAs clients require that agents be able to access their individual software and systems. And many agents did not have the appropriate computers and equipment at their homes to perform their duties. A decision was made to purchase laptops for employees and allow others to take their office computers home. BAJAs IT department then set up remote VPN access to give the employees remote access to company servers and remote access to tech support. The company then put a variety of programs into play to allow direct contact with supervisor, human resources, payroll and IT as well as video interview capabilities for the recruitment team. Companywide implementation of SLACK for communications as well as Zoom for meetings and training were critical to the transition to a remote working environment. In addition, we rapidly developed and deployed a proprietary time clock solution to meet the needs of our clients and internal billing department, said Gerardo Trejo, IT systems development manager.

Many call centers in in the U.S., Mexico and across the world have ceased operations as they were not able to implement a work from home process, added Lines. We are thankful we followed our instincts as the move has proved so successful that we plan to keep a percentage of the workforce at home when the crisis passes. Productivity and job satisfaction have both improved and that increased efficiency further allows us to keep pricing affordable.

Baja Call Center caters to mostly U.S. companies who need approximately 10-100 support agents nearshore. In addition to bilingual (English/Spanish) customer service, the company offers back office support, document preparation and sales.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 02:07:18|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 8, 2020 shows the collapsed bridge in Massa-Carrara province, Tuscany, Italy. A bridge in Massa-Carrara province collapsed Wednesday and no casualties were reported so far. (Photo by Etass/Xinhua)

ROME, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A bridge in Italy's central region of Tuscany collapsed on Wednesday, and one person was slightly injured, authorities said.

The incident occurred to a 258-meter-long viaduct connecting the towns of Aulla and Albiano Magra, in the Tuscan province of Massa Carrara.

The provincial road was almost empty due to the lockdown declared nationwide for the COVID-19 emergency, and only two vans were reported to be traveling on the bridge at that time.

One driver was slightly injured, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement after checking the situation with local authorities of the Aulla municipality.

The driver was airlifted to a hospital in the city of Pisa, and his health conditions were not critical, according to Ansa news agency, citing medical sources.

The driver of the second van would be in shock, but otherwise unhurt.

A check on the bridge had been tasked to ANAS, the state company managing most motorways and roads in the country, in early November after a crack in the asphalt had been observed, according to a statement by Aulla municipality at the time.

Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Paola De Micheli said she ordered a probe into the incident, naming a pool of inspectors that would "investigate on the event and ascertain responsibilities."

In a statement, ANAS said its technicians were sent on the ground to carry out the due checks, and that "no operations were ongoing on the bridge at the time of collapse."
Sikh volunteers and others in the community are continuing their tireless work to feed the vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.

Kindhearted community members have been sourcing eggs and bread for residents struggling to put food on the table during the four-week lockdown in New Zealand.

The country is about halfway through a near society-wide lockdown, with particularly strong restrictions on business, to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Volunteers have rallied together to help those in need, offering food which was donated by local businesses for families in Auckland's Papakura.

Kindhearted community members have been sourcing eggs and bread for residents struggling to put food on the table during the four-week lockdown in New Zealand

The group had filled a van with hundreds of trays of eggs and loaves of bread for desperate residents to grab.

'If you want to come help yourselves, you can help yourselves to a tray of eggs and a loaf of bread,' a woman says in footage shared on Facebook.

'This is for people who have run out of food, the people who need it,' a man says.

The selfless act comes two weeks into the four-week lockdown.

On the evidence of the first half of the lockdown, prime minister Jaconda Ardern believes her country is winning the fight with a stunning drop in daily cases to just 29 on Thursday.

The number has declined for the fourth-straight day, giving the best evidence yet that New Zealand has squashed the spread of the deadly virus.

It has suffered just one death from the respiratory disease, with just 992 confirmed cases.

Sikh volunteers and others in the community are continuing their tireless work to feed the vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic

Sikh Volunteers are also working around the clock to help those in need in Australia.

In Melbourne, Sikh Volunteers Australia began a free home delivery service last month to home-cooked dinners to locals in self-isolation in the local government areas of Casey, Dandenong and Frankston in the city's south-east.

Word spread and volunteers were soon delivering up to 1,000 vegetarian meals per day to recipients ranging

Sikh Volunteers Australia'a latest haul of donations will go towards its popular free home delivery service to those stuck at home during the pandemic crisis

Sikh Volunteers Australia volunteers deliver up to 1,000 free dinners each night to Melburnians who place an order before noon that day. The service continues until April 20

The service was originally scheduled to run for two weeks but due to overwhelming demand, was recently extended to continue until April 20.

The distribution area was also expanded to include more Melbourne suburbs.

The free service wouldn't the possible without the countless bags and boxes of donated food Sikh Volunteers Australia receives.

'Thank you for your generous donation. Your support helps us to take further steps to reach vulnerable people of our community,' the group captioned photos of its latest haul of donations on Sunday.

Most people taking advantage of the free service are Australian, according to Sikh Volunteers Australia vice president Manpreet Singh.

Sikh Volunteers Australia volunteers have rallied around those in need during the coronavirus pandemic, just like they did during the devastating bushfire crisis earlier this year

Turbans 4 Australia volunteers are also gathering in kitchens to cook and deliver delicious meals for those unable to leave their homes due to the coronavirus lockdown

'(It's mostly) vulnerable people who are worried about the virus or people having trouble getting food at the supermarket, and disabled, homeless and single parents who are looking after their kids and can't go out,' he recently told Daily Mail Australia.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Sikh Volunteers Australia are already renowned for the tireless work, where they fed hundreds of evacuees forced to flee their homes during the devastating bushfires in the Gippsland region.

Elsewhere across Australia, Turbans 4 Australia delivers hot meals, hampers and groceries for people in need in Sydney, Canberra Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Almost 250 meals were delivered across Sydney on Sunday from as far as Campbelltown in the south-west through to the North Shore.

The Sikh charity has also spent thousands on groceries which are donated to Australians struggling during the pandemic.

Many volunteers who give up their time to cook meals, pack hampers and make deliveries are non-Sikh Australians.

'We're giving preference to the elderly, disabled and people in self isolation but if someone rings us, we'll help within our means,' volunteer Amar Singh said.

The group also contributed to the bushfire effort when the New South Wales south coast was ravaged by horrific fires at the start of the year.
If there were only one ICU bed and one ventilator left for the critically ill COVID-19 patients crowding hospital hallways, should a 30-year-old, a nurse, a pregnant woman or an Indigenous person go to the front of the queue?

Should it be a lottery? Who should make these decisions?

Nurse Steph Lord in isolation treating a coronavirus patient. Credit:Justin McManus

Two new ethics road-maps - created at the behest of frontline doctors and local health districts - aim to guide hospitals through these unimaginable scenarios and help doctors, administrators, and policy makers decide how to ration scarce resources during the pandemic.

Choices that are made, including doing nothing, will impact on and may even end peoples lives, wrote the architects of an ethical framework led by Angus Dawson Professor of Bioethics and director of Sydney Health Ethics.
Gujarat's commercial hub of



Ahmedabad continued to remain the worst-hit by coronavirus in the state as it reported 50 fresh cases, the highest-ever in a day, taking the total number of infections to 133, officials said on Thursday.

The city, which recorded 50 new COVID-19 cases since Wednesday evening, accounts for a lion's share of the total infections in the state - 133 out of 241 - they said.

Out of the 17 persons who have lost their lives to coronavirus in Gujarat till date, 6 were from Ahmedabad, including a 48-year-old patient who died on Thursday morning at SVP Hospital here.

The sudden spike in the number of new cases was due to an intensive surveillance being carried out in areas which have been declared as 'hotspots' in Ahmedabad, said principal secretary, health, Jayanti Ravi.

According to her, the COVID-19 tally will rise in the days to come as more cases related to the religious gathering in Nizamuddin, Delhi, last month are likely to emerge during the surveillance and the ongoing testing in the walled city area, which has a sizable minority community population.

Till now, 11 cases related to the Nizamuddin meet, a key source of the COVID-19 spread in the country, had been reported in Gujarat, all in Ahmedabad, officials had said earlier.

Following the discovery of several cases of coronavirus from specific pockets, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has launched a surveillance and sample collection drive since the last few days in areas already under 'cluster quarantine', said civic commissioner Vijay Nehra.

"Our aim is to maximise screening as well as testing to identify positive cases. As a result of this aggressive drive, we were able to collect 761 samples on April 7 and 886 samples on April 8, much higher than just 20-25 we used to collect a week back.

"In a way, we are chasing the virus," Nehra told reporters.

"As a result of this aggressive drive, we were able to detect 50 new cases in one day. If these cases were not detected, the infection could have spread in thousands.

"The number of cases will increase in the days to come as over 1,000 samples are still pending for examination at the civil hospital's laboratory," he added.

Since many cases were reported from the walled city area, a mega drive with the help of 1,900 health workers was launched on Thursday to screen the entire population in the locality, said Nehra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senate Democrats on Thursday stalled President Donald Trump's request for USD 250 billion to supplement a "paycheck protection" programme for businesses crippled by the coronavirus outbreak, demanding protections for minority-owned businesses and money for health care providers and state and local governments.

They sidetracked a request by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, to give the unanimous consent necessary to fast-track Trump's request.

"We need more funding and we need it fast," McConnell said as he opened the Senate, assuring them there would be future bills to deal with other issues.

Democrats' demands sparked a spirited response from McConnell, who implored them not to block "emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more".

"Nobody thinks this will be the Senate's last word on COVID-19. We don't have to do everything right now," McConnell said. "Let's continue to work together, with speed and bipartisanship. We will get through this crisis together."



Thursday's Senate development doesn't mean the legislation is dead. Democrats and Republicans agree the aid is urgently needed. The dispute is over billions more Democrats want to add to the legislation.

McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin say the business programme, which involves direct subsidies to companies to keep employees on payroll and pay their rent, is on track to quickly deplete its first USD 350 billion infusion as businesses rush to apply for the aid.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md, accused McConnell of trying to ram through legislation without trying to create the consensus needed to pass a bill into law in the current environment. He detailed a variety of glitches in the program and fears that many big lenders are not serving minority neighborhoods and nontraditional borrowers.

Van Hollen said McConnell knew full well that there was not agreement and consensus on moving forward with this proposal. that's why we're here today. This was in fact designed to fail, designed as a political stunt.

Democrats' requests, like aid to states and hospitals, mirror programs that are already funded but the money is flowing more slowly.

McConnell said Democrats are trying to use this crucial program to open broader negotiations on other topics, including parts of the CARES Act where literally no money has gone out the door yet.

The future of the legislation is likely to be determined between Pelosi and McConnell, who do much of their communicating in public statements.

In interviews, Pelosi has stressed making sure that the popular paycheck protection program, part of the massive $2.2 trillion economic aid Congress passed in March, delivers benefits to businesses in minority communities that are often under-served by traditional lenders.

"One of the concerns that we have about the original $350 (billion) is that a lot of ... people who are under-banked are unserved on that basis," Pelosi told NPR on Wednesday. "So, they don't have banking relationships sophisticated in a way that others do."



Democrats are pressing for half of the White House request, or $125 billion, to be channeled through community-based financial institutions that serve farmers, family, women, minority and veteran-owned small businesses and nonprofits in rural, tribal, suburban and urban communities.

They circulated a $500 billion plan that would add $100 billion for hospitals and other health care providers and $150 billion to state and local governments, as well as a $15% boost in food stamp benefits. They hope this serves as a basis for talks with McConnell going forward.

Pelosi said McConnell's request simply can't advance through the Democratic-controlled House under unanimous consent. There's also lone wolf Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who promises to block efforts to pass such huge legislation without lawmakers present and ready to vote.

The government is just beginning to implement three previously passed bills to respond to the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, which has caused grave damage to the economy in addition to the personal toll.

The massive infusions of federal cash the $250 billion sought by the administration would come on top of combined legislation already totaling about $2.5 trillion -- are intended as a patch to help the $21 trillion U.S. economy through the current recession, which is causing an economic contraction and spike in joblessness overwhelming many state systems for delivering unemployment benefits.

Still, signs of potential progress emerged in Washington's effort to push cash out the door to suddenly out-of-work Americans and shuttered businesses.

The first $1,200 direct payments to Americans are set to begin next week, Mnuchin told House Democrats during a conference call Wednesday with the administration's coronavirus task force.

Mnuchin also told the lawmakers that $98 billion in loans for small businesses has been approved under the program which the Trump administration wants Congress to bolster according to a person unauthorized to discuss the private call and granted anonymity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia declares ceasefire in Yemen Two-week truce urged by UN envoy

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, APRIL 9 - A two-week truce announced unilaterally by the Saudi-led Arab coalition which has been fighting against Houthi insurgents in northern and central Yemen since 2015 came into effect on Thursday. Pan-Arab and Yemeni media reported a relatively calm situation on Thursday morning in different areas of the conflict which flared in an endemically unstable country. The truce came into effect at midday local time, as announced last night by the Coalition's command in Riyadh.



The suspension was requested recently by the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus. And while the Yemeni conflict has so far killed an estimated 100,000 people, no positive Codiv-19 case and no death attributed to the virus have so far been registered in the country.(ANSAmed).




- A teenage pilot-in-training used his flying lessons to bring much needed medical supplies to rural hospitals during the coronavirus outbreak

- Kim just turned 16 and does not have his drivers license yet but he has created operation Supplies Over Skies

- The high school student's goal is to make deliveries to all seven rural hospitals in the state of Virginia defined as critical access hospitals

- He recently delivered 3,000 gloves, 1,000 headcovers, 500 shoe covers, 50 nonsurgical masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 concentrated bottles of hand sanitisers

TJ Kim can not play lacrosse  COVID-19 pandemic took the sport away and having just turned 16-years-old, he can not drive alone.

But Kim can fly and with the help of his family, he created Operation SOS  Supplies Over Skies.

READ ALSO: COVID-19 information at their mercies: CAS Mercy Mwangangi, journalist Mercy Korir studied together

TJ Kim, with the help of his family, created Operation SOS  Supplies Over Skies to deliver medical supplies to hospitals. Photo: The Independent.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Wellwishers come to the rescue of Kayole woman, seven children evicted by landlady over KSh 6k arrears

He has turned his flying lessons into missions of mercy, bringing desperately needed supplies to rural hospitals in need in Virginia state, The Independent reported.

Each week, he carries gloves, masks, gowns and other equipment to small hospitals.

When he made his first delivery, on March 27, 2020, to a 25-bed hospital in Luray, he was taken aback by the reception.

They kind of conveyed to me that they were really forgotten about. Everyone was wanting to send donations to big city hospitals, he said.

READ ALSO: God is great: Disabled Kenyan woman in wheelchair overjoyed after finding love, giving birth

Every hospital is hurting for supplies, but its the rural hospitals that really feel forgotten," he added.

Kim was an avid lacrosse fan and was severely disappointed when school closures meant his lacrosse season was forced to end early.

The Maryland sophomore came up with a creative solution to keep active and give something back to the community amid the crisis with the help of his family.

His goal is to make deliveries to all seven rural hospitals in the state defined as critical access hospitals.

READ ALSO: Museveni sarcastically tells Ugandans it's better being bored at home than in a grave

His first delivery in late March brought gloves, masks, gowns and other equipment to the 25-bed hospital in Luray.

He recently delivered 3,000 gloves, 1,000 headcovers, 500 shoe covers, 50 nonsurgical masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 concentrated bottles of hand sanitiser on a flight to Winchester.

After I landed, all I could think about was going back up, Kim said.

The goal, he said, was to make deliveries to all seven rural hospitals in Virginia defined as critical access hospitals.

READ ALSO: Wearing masks religiously will help many Kenyans survive COVID-19 crisis unscathed

Kim's flight instructor, Dave Powell (in black) was over the moon at his students idea. Photo: The Independent.

Source: UGC

The flights are expected to become progressively longer and if all goes according to plan, the final flight would take him to Clintwood in far southwest Virginia.

His flight instructor, Dave Powell, was over the moon at his students idea, especially after he was so disheartened by the lacrosse cancellations.

For Kim to be more concerned with the needs of others in his melancholy state just reiterated to me how amazing this young man is, Powell said.

According to Kim, the hardest part of the project was securing the supplies for the trips, with medical resources and protective equipment stretched out around the country.

READ ALSO: WHO chief Tedros says he has been receiving death threats, insults for being black

However, his father, Thomas Kim, said he was glad to see his son turn his earlier disappointment into something positive.

Something that combines serving the community and his love of flying. The stars really aligned here, Thomas said.

He gifted his son a flying lesson for his fifteenth birthday and is now helping the teenager collect the necessary supplies.

The teenager now hopes to attend the Naval Academy to become a fully-fledged pilot.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Spain confirms arrival of ventilators from Turkey

On Friday, speculations rocked Spanish media claiming Turkey "seized and blocked" medical cargo, including 150 respirators purchased by Spain amid coronavirus, intended for Spanish citizens.

"Respirators from Turkey are already in Spain. Unloading at the Barajas Airport," the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter while it shared images of a Turkish flagged plane with cargo.

FOREIGN MINISTERS HAD REJECTED ALL CLAIMS

Earlier in the day, the ministry also announced "150 ventilators from Turkey are already on the way, arriving tonight in Spain and to be delivered, as planned, to their final destinations, Castilla y La Mancha and Navarra" autonomous regions.

Although the claims denied by the Spanish Ministry with an early Saturday statement, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya and her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu rejected all claims later on Saturday in separate televised speeches, confirming the authorization of the medical supply.

The 3 million ($3.3 million) in medical aid purchased by Castilla y La Mancha and Navarra from a Turkish company was delayed due to restrictions on exports of medical supplies in Turkey that wanted all equipment to combat coronavirus inside the country.
With four more persons



testing coronavirus positive, the numbers of COVID-19 patients in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh has gone up to five, said a senior official on Thursday.

Four of the 17 persons staying together in a mosque here, tested positive for the infection, district collector Tanvi Sundriyal said.

"These 17 persons had reached Khandwa from Belgaum (Karnataka) and stayed at the mosque after the lockdown was announced. After four of them tested positive, the number of COVID-19 patients in the district has gone up to five," she said.

Earlier, a member of a family, which had returned from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) on March 12, had tested positive on Wednesday night, Soundriyal said.

"The family was quarantined, but they were asymptomatic. The samples of the family were taken after one of the members complained of fever. The person was found coronavirus positive in the report received on Wednesday night," she said.

All the five patients in Khandwa have mild symptoms, so all were shifted to COVID-19 care centre, she added.

Soundriyal said that survey teams have been formed for contact tracing.

"These teams have started working from Thursday morning," she said.

Meanwhile, another district administration official said that the four positive persons, part of group of 17 people, were staying in a mosque in Khadakpura area.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr D S Chouhan said that a door-to-door survey have been launched in Khadakpura and Khansawali areas, where the cases were detected.

Meanwhile, the district administration has imposed curfew in Khandwa from Wednesday midnight to curb the spread of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON - Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., started to self-quarantine on a mid-March Saturday out of precaution because of his wife's preexisting condition.

A few days later, Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., couldn't believe how bland his leftover meatballs were, only compounded by the next day's Chick-fil-A tasting awful.

In Salt Lake City, Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, was already reeling, his breathing heavy and fever spiking his temperature to at least 102 degrees.

All three lawmakers were on the verge of joining the sort of congressional caucus no one wants to be a part of, testing positive for covid-19, caused by the virus that has killed more than 14,000 Americans.

So far, five members of Congress have tested positive, with a sixth presumed to be positive for the disease, out of 529 lawmakers. Three are Republicans; three are Democrats. One is a Mormon from Utah, another a Puerto Rican representing Brooklyn, another a Cuban American from the Miami area, and another is of Irish descent from the Rust Belt.

Their diversity is proof positive that the novel coronavirus spares no one based on region, politics or ethnicity.

No member of Congress has died, and each of their cases has run the gamut of symptoms. In interviews with three of the lawmakers, they came away with a deep appreciation for how tough it is to track the disease, some still unaware of how they contracted the virus given how careful they thought they were handling themselves.

"I took it seriously - before I got sick," Diaz-Balart said during an hour-long phone interview this week. "Yet I got it. I have no idea how, when."

Diaz-Balart, 58, had the experience that might be most representative of the over 400,000 Americans who have contracted the coronavirus, a debilitating struggle that floored him but did not require a hospital visit or use of breathing equipment.

Cunningham, 37, had the most asymptomatic experience, while his fellow freshman Democrat McAdams, 45, ended up losing 13 pounds over an eight-day stay in a hospital with an oxygen machine helping him breath. He never needed a ventilator, but the night before he went to the hospital, he could not walk across his bedroom without stopping.

"I felt like I had a belt around my chest that was cinched up," McAdams said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., issued a statement last week saying it took five days for her to feel she was "turning a corner" after developing symptoms on March 29. Her doctors never tested her, presuming she had the virus and preserving tests for those who are in the greatest need as New York remains the state hit hardest by the virus.

On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced that, after more than two weeks since he tested positive, doctors confirmed he was now negative for the virus. Paul, an eye surgeon, has said that he was never symptomatic and is now volunteering at Kentucky medical facilities.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., told local media outlets that his initial suspicion of having the flu gave way to a trip to his family doctor after he lost his sense of taste and his body ached amid feverish chills. That positive test arrived on March 27, a day he otherwise might have been in Washington to support the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill, the third relief package.

Diaz-Balart is still counting his blessings. His wife, Tia, is a cancer survivor with a chronic lung condition that can turn a common cold into a hospital stay with pneumonia.

So, on the morning of March 13, the congressman called their doctor and explained how much work he had done that week: On Monday, he flew from Miami to Orlando, Florida, to meet transportation industry officials, then off to Washington for a busy week. He met with about 50 people in his office, including constituents and members of the Spanish parliament. One evening, he walked across the street for a Library of Congress gala celebrating the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Lithuania, attended by a contingent from that nation.

On March 13, he spent about two hours with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and a handful of other members of the whip team, preparing for a late-night vote on a roughly $100 billion coronavirus bill, the second package.

His doctor delivered a blunt message to Diaz-Balart: "You can't bring this home to Tia."

So, without any symptoms, he canceled the next day's flight and prepped for two weeks in his tiny apartment in Washington.

That Saturday morning, March 14, he ordered online groceries, but that night, his world crashed in - a splitting headache, fever and brutal cough that made everything hurt.

"Even my hair - I don't have much of it - that hurt," he said.

The next day, he walked to the Capitol to see a doctor in the Office of the Attending Physician, where he was tested for the flu and covid-19. The test came back positive, and he wasn't surprised, given how terrible he felt just drinking water.

He got through a three-week quarantine, holed up in his apartment, because of the kindness of strangers and his wife's diligent work back home in Miami.

Neighbors he has still never met heard the news he was sick and left a card under his door with their contact information, so Tia Diaz-Balart reached out to them and organized an effort to deliver supplies - extra doses of Tylenol, Gatorade, more food when he felt better - by having friends drop packages on the doorstep of his apartment building.

As Cunningham waited out that late-night March 13 vote, he got together with a few other Democrats, including McAdams. No one realized that, a few days earlier, McAdams had met with a Salt Lake City group that included at least one person who later tested positive.

The next morning, the Democrats flew back to their districts.

A couple of days later, Cunningham could barely taste food. He later learned that McAdams tested positive and began his own self-quarantine in Charleston, South Carolina.

He decided to get a test from his local doctor the following week only when Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., threatened to force an entire roll-call vote on House passage of the $2 trillion legislation.

"Far enough up your nose to tickle your brain," Cunningham recalled of his test. It came back positive, and he continued his quarantine without ever having more serious complications.

McAdams wasn't as lucky.

Home in Utah Saturday night, March 14, he declined to go out with his friends because something felt off. "I don't think I have coronavirus," he recalled telling his wife, "but I should stay home."

Three days later, after his temperature hit 102, his doctor told McAdams to go to a drive-through clinic in Salt Lake City. He got the positive result the next day but pushed himself all week trying to work with constituents struggling from the economic shutdown.

On March 20, everything went haywire - his fever spiking, his breathing difficult - and he went to a hospital. For eight days, he was on and off an oxygen machine, feeling better in the morning only to "just crash" every evening.

The doctors gave him Tylenol for the fever and for five days used an experimental treatment and also prescribed hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that President Trump and his advisers have been promoting.

McAdams has no idea whether it helped. "I felt pretty awful the entire time," he said. "Maybe it made me feel less awful."

Released on March 28, his doctors told him that his cough will last another month, same with Diaz-Balart.

Cunningham, who suffered the least, has come away adamant about looking for ways that lawmakers could work remotely so they do not create more risk of spreading the virus. "We have to look at other ways to carry on our business," he said.

Diaz-Balart said that he appreciated how bipartisan leaders set up a voice vote on March 27 to pass the $2 trillion legislation, so a few hundred could stay home. A full return to Washington is "the last thing you want," he said.

But McAdams said Congress needs to be ready to act to help fight a virus that has wreaked such havoc.

"There are risks that we may need to take," he said. "We have an essential duty."
Virgin Australia is grounding its entire domestic operations except for a single Sydney to Melbourne return service, running daily except for Saturdays, as coronavirus travel restrictions obliterate travel demand.

Australias number-two carrier had previously cut its network to 10 per cent of its normal schedule as it comes under significant financial pressure due to the health crisis.

Virgin will only fly one return service between Sydney and Melbourne a day. Credit:Edwina Pickles

The almost entire grounding of Virgin's network takes effect from Friday, with all other domestic flights through to June 15 cancelled.

Virgin will continue to operate government-funded international flights to bring stranded Australians home and charter flights.
Experts Warn: Loss of Smell or Taste Alone Could Indicate a Silent Spreader of CCP Virus
Boris Johnson's plan to strike a comprehensive post-Brexit trade deal with the EU by the end of December has been slammed as 'fantasy land' by Brussels.

The UK and EU are currently in a 'standstill' transition period, lasting until the close of 2020, during which they are supposed to hammer out the terms of their future trading relationship.

But the coronavirus crisis has torpedoed talks, with negotiators unable to meet face to face to discuss the way forward.

The bloc did not believe the end of December deadline was achievable even before the deadly outbreak and there are now growing calls for the British government to agree to an extension of the transition period.

However, Downing Street remains absolutely adamant that it will not seek to delay the end of transition.

The UK and EU are currently in a post-Brexit transition period which is due to expire on December 31 this year

EU sources told The Guardian the December deadline was 'already hopelessly optimistic' and coronavirus meant it was now 'like fantasy land'.

Many in the bloc believe the importance of trade talks with the UK will be relegated in the weeks ahead as the EU focuses on rebuilding the economies of its member states.

There are also fears that EU video conferencing capability is already creaking, potentially making complex trade talks difficult if not impossible.

Despite the gloomy assessment in Brussels, the UK government is sticking to its guns.

A spokesman said: 'We remain fully committed to the negotiations and as we have been clear, discussions with the commission are continuing, with the aim of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.

'The transition period ends on 31 December 2020, as enshrined in EU law, which the Prime Minister has made clear he has no intention of changing.'

Chancellor Rishi Sunak echoed a similar sentiment yesterday, telling the daily coronavirus press conference: 'We remain committed to the timeline of concluding those talks and negotiations.'

The Brexit divorce deal which saw the UK formally split from the bloc on January 31 contains a pressure valve mechanism which allows the transition period to be extended by one or two years - but only if both sides agree to the move.

Under the terms of the agreement any decision on extending transition must be taken by June this year. During the transition period the UK must abide by EU rules.

Sir Ed Davey, the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'It is disappointing that the government still refuses to pause trade talks with the EU and extend the transition period, despite the coronavirus crisis.

'The Treasury is rightly trying to do what it can to support businesses through the coronavirus crisis, but allowing the country to fall into a no deal scenario in January could undo all of that work.'
When we think of great oratory in times of crisis, for most of us, a couple moments come to mind: Franklin Delano Roosevelts stirring All we have to fear is fear itself, and Winston Churchills rousing We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds

And now, the daily Facebook-side chats of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In the midst of crisis, we look to our leaders for guidance, assurance, information and a sense of safety. Their ability to communicate and keep the populace calm, while also motivating them to make personal sacrifices for the sake of public health, is paramount. Crisis communication  whether youre leading a country, city or business  requires three key elements: the authority you exhibit, the warmth you convey and the energy you exude and bring out in others.

Make your authority evident

Governor Cuomo provides a perfect example for how to communicate in the face of an unprecedented challenge. Over the past few weeks, many of my fellow New Yorkers (and Americans everywhere) have been moved by his words, which are both scary and comforting at the same time. Cuomo knows the stakes are very high for his constituency, and has spoken with incredible authority when telling people what is required to avoid the worst-case scenario. He has communicated by reciting the facts in as strong and stark terms as possible to convince people (especially younger ones) to heed the warnings. He also punctuates and highlights certain words to emphasize the serious details of the threat. Cuomo reinforces this by reciting the staggering numbers in an almost detached way  by speaking softly while maintaining the seriousness of his message. This detachment makes it clear to people that the crisis is so evident to him that hes not trying to sell them on what hes saying.

Related: Successful Leadership Tactics in a Time of Crisis

Find strength in vulnerability

Cuomo has balanced his authority with a surprising degree of warmth  communicated through vulnerability and empathy. On several occasions, he answered a question with a flat I dont know. While this vulnerability could be seen as a sign of weakness, he has turned it into a strength. Cuomo is forceful on so much of what he does know that his openness to admit what he doesnt know  instead of trying to convince us otherwise  has led people to trust and connect with him much more than in normal times. He has also resisted the temptation to tell people what they want to hear  in this case, that its under control and that everything will be OK.

Last Monday, when asked about shutting down the entire state and putting so many out of work, he said: Im sure there will be political consequences, I know people are very angry about it. When one man told him he will never be reelected, he responded: Frankly, I don't even care about that. I did the right thing, and I'm proud of it. That level of candor takes enormous vulnerability. Hes putting the well-being of others over his own career. We havent seen such magnanimity from other leaders. My hunch is that even those who have been displaced and are struggling to pay bills respect him because they believe that his decision is not politically motivated and that he did what he truly felt was the right thing. He has also repeatedly acknowledged the challenges homebound people feel by sharing his own experiences. He has been unusually personal and revealing  discussing his own mother, his dog and his loneliness in what seems to be a virtual group therapy session, a necessary and welcome catharsis for many. That empathy makes it more likely that people will heed his message to stay home.

Related: 3 Steps Effective Leaders Take When Dealing With Crisis

Match the tone of the moment

While demonstrating authority and warmth is key  particularly striking the right balance between the two  its also crucial for leaders to energize their audience. Good energy isnt necessarily high energy. Its more about matching the tone of the moment. In Cuomos case, he has adopted a relatively low-key, methodically slow delivery. If you close your eyes while listening to him, you can almost picture him speaking as if hes reading a childrens book aloud. When you listen to Cuomo speak in this slow and gentle tone, you can feel that he is listening to you even while he is speaking. His steady and calm energy is quietly invigorating to his audience.

Business leaders can learn from Cuomo. Businesses are in crisis mode and employees are overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty. They are worried about their own health and the health of their loved ones. They are worried about job security and their ability to weather the storm financially. They are filled with anxiety about what the future holds for their country, community, family, friends and organization. Uncertainty is deeply unsettling, and more than ever before, people need their leaders to communicate about what is happening with authority, warmth and energy. Its critical to speak with deep authority about what you do know  the information you have, what needs to be done. But you must balance that authority with warmth, which includes admitting what you dont know and showing empathy for what they are experiencing. And finally, you must bring a level of energy that shows your emotional commitment  to them, and to what its going to take to pull through this together.

There is no single way to effective communication. Churchill won over the British citizens with a more overtly energetic style. Cuomo has been effective with a dramatically different tone and tenor. The key is to ensure you communicate with a mix of authority, warmth and energy that feels authentic to your personal leadership style, and to the challenge of the moment. Cuomo is not only leading by example to other politicians; hes also demonstrating daily that the elements making him so effective are easily replicated by anyone who needs to connect with their people and ensure that they trust and believe in you and what youre asking them to do.

At the Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln famously said, It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us  that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion  that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

Hes also known to have loved the adage this too shall pass. We would do well to remember these words. And leaders must keep us focused not just on the crisis at hand, but also with an eye toward the better future that will surely come.

Related: Measures that a Leader can Adopt to Effectively Manage a Crisis

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Organizers of the newly created Artist Relief Fund participate in a Zoom call to coordinate efforts. (Artist Relief Fund)

Zoom, the videoconferencing service that has exploded into the vacuum created by the COVID-19 outbreak, has endured the revelation of a string of privacy and security flaws in recent weeks. Now researchers have identified just such a flaw in a feature marketed specifically as a way to make meetings more secure.

Zoom said Wednesday it had fixed a vulnerability with its Waiting Room feature.

The feature allows meeting hosts to keep would-be participants in a digital queue pending approval. Medical professionals could use it to host multiple telehealth appointments in a row, and hiring managers could conduct stacked video interviews, the company suggested in a February blog post.

As users have encountered problems with "zoombombing"  whereby participants interrupt and derail meetings, often by using offensive imagery or racist slurs  the company has pointed to the waiting room feature as a way to protect from this type of intrusion.

But security researchers examining the desktop client for vulnerabilities found that Zoom servers would automatically send a live video data to users in the meeting's waiting room, even if they had not yet been approved to join by the person holding the meeting. These users were also sent the meeting's decryption key  the code needed to unlock secure communications. Users could hypothetically extract the video live stream, researchers said.

"If you were moderately technically sophisticated, you could watch what was going on while in the waiting room," said Bill Marczak, a fellow at the Citizen Lab and a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley who found the vulnerability. An audio stream of the call, however, was not accessible.

Marczak said he and John Scott-Railton of the Citizen Lab notified Zoom last week. They detailed their findings in a report published Wednesday, after they receive an email from the company saying the issue had been fixed.

On Wednesday, Zoom Chief Executive Eric Yuan mentioned during a webinar held to address privacy concerns that Zoom had fixed an issue with its waiting room feature.

Story continues

"We updated our server. Our waiting room vulnerability is already fixed, Yuan said on the webinar. "From a server side, we did not send audio and video data to the waiting room client. However, we did send the session key.... We did not think that was safe, so we changed our server.

Yuan's comment did not align with what Marczak and Scott-Railton found, they wrote. The video stream was previously accessible, though the issue has since been fixed, Marczak said.

Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment about this discrepancy.




Larry the Downing Street cat was spotted relaxing outside No10 yesterday despite warnings that cats from infected households should be kept inside during the coronavirus lockdown.

The tabby cat was pictured flopped on the pavement resting, before later sitting on the steps, as police officers and other staff members went about their business.

The feline, who was brought in to Downing Street in 2011 to tackle a rat problem, was outside, despite advice from the British Veterinary Association that said cats from infected households, or those where people are self-isolating should be kept inside if possible.

Boris Johnson is currently hospitalised with coronavirus, and his fiancee Carrie Symonds is also in self-isolation after getting symptoms of the disease.

Larry the cat on the doorstep of No 10 Downing Street yesterday looking pensive

A police officer approaching Larry the cat while he is resting on the pavement outside Downing Street

Larry looking up to see who is coming while taking a well-deserved rest on Wednesday

Larry doesn't move a muscle as the officer stands guard outside No10 Downing street yesterday

Speaking at a Westminster briefing yesterday, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'Larry's absolutely fine.

'I've seen him this morning. He's going about his business in the usual way.'

There is no evidence that cats can transmit the virus to humans.

BVA President Daniella Dos Santos said: 'We are not advising that all cats are kept indoors.

'Only cats from infected households or where their owners are self-isolating, and only if the cat is happy to be kept indoors. Some cats cannot stay indoors due to stress-related medical reasons.

'There have been a tiny number of cases of Covid-19 in animals and in all cases, it is likely that the transmission was human to animal.

'There is no evidence that pets can pass Covid-19 to their owners.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Larry the 10 Downing Street cat prior to the coronavirus crisis

Larry later moved onto the steps and was keeping a watchful eye as Boris Johnson lays in hospital

Larry the cat

Larry spots a pigeon while having a wander outside No10 Downing Street on Wednesday this week

Larry looking unhappy as he sees an enemy approaching the steps of No10 Downing Street on Wednesday

'From the small number of cases it appears that dogs do not show symptoms, but cats can show clinical signs of the disease.'

A Number 10 spokesman told the Daily Mirror: 'There is no evidence that pets can pass on coronavirus to their owners.

'As the BVA have said today it's important to wash your hands before and after petting your pets.'
General views showing the new Northern Ireland Nightingale Hospital wards designed to treat coronavirus sufferers at Belfast City Hospital on April 7th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Health officials in Northern Ireland have ordered 175 non-invasive ventilators to help treat coronavirus patients in respiratory failure.

The ventilators include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices, which help coronavirus patients with lung infections to breathe more easily.

However, the Department of Health has said it cannot provide a date when the devices will be available for use.

Unlike ventilators, a patient does not need to be unconscious for CPAP therapy to be used to help them and it does not have to be used in an intensive care unit.

CPAP therapy is traditionally used to help patients suffering from sleep apnoea, but it is also used to help patients with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), when they are experiencing breathing difficulties.

It works by blowing air at pressure into the back of the throat.

CPAP devices have been used successfully to help Covid-19 patients when they experience breathing difficulties and it is hoped their use will keep patients off ventilators and reduce strain on ICUs.

Concerns have been raised that Northern Ireland does not have a sufficient number of ventilators to treat the growing number of Covid-19 patients experiencing respiratory failure.

Currently there are 165 ventilators in Northern Ireland with a further 190 on order, although there is no delivery date as yet.

The Department of Health has said in addition to the ventilators, it is in the process of procuring 175 non-invasive ventilators, including equipment capable of delivering CPAP therapy.

A spokeswoman continued: "Requirements for respiratory equipment remain under constant review.

"It is expected that these will be received in phased deliveries over the coming weeks, however it is not possible to provide precise delivery times as suppliers respond to unprecedented global demand."

It comes as it emerged that CPAP devices, developed by engineers at Mercedes and University College London, and clinicians at University College London Hospital, have been made freely available to support the global response to Covid-19.

It is the latest development in Formula 1's Project Pitlane effort to help fight coronavirus and took fewer than 100 hours from the initial meeting to production of the first device, which received regulatory approval last week.

An order for up to 10,000 has now been placed by the NHS, although it is not known whether any of these will be delivered to help patients in Northern Ireland.

The Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains technology centre in Brixworth is now building 1,000 devices per day.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that his government was analysing the COVID-19 data of other countries, including India, to compare trends of the coronavirus outbreak, as authorities reported 383 new cases in the country, taking the tally to 4,457.

"The government was analysing data of coronavirus cases not just in the country but also in the UK and US," Khan told the media in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochista, where he was on a day-long visit.

He said that the government was also looking at the "numbers in India and Bangladesh as their population trends were similar to Pakistan's."



Khan warned that the burden on the country's healthcare system would increase by the end of this month, as maximum patients would be identified.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday warned that the situation due to coronavirus pandemic "can further deteriorate" and "hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients.

The government has extended partial lockdown till April 14 and constantly asking people to stay indoors and follow social distancing.

Khan said the decision about easing the countrywide lockdown will be taken after seeking inputs from all the provinces on April 14.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Health Services said that the number of patients in the worst-hit Punjab province rose to 2,214, followed by Sindh with 1,128 cases. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported 560 cases, Gilgit-Baltistan 213, Balochistan 212, Islamabad 102 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 28.

According to the ministry, 63 people have died due to the infection, including five in one day. A total of 572 people have recovered. Thirty one people are in critical condition.

The government is concerned over the steady rise in the cases despite more than two weeks of partial lockdown in the country that has badly hit the poor as well as affected the nation's economy.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza told the media that 73 per cent of patients who died had pre-existing health conditions and 85 per cent of those who died were above the age of 50, while 78 per cent of them were males.

Mirza said Pakistan had fewer coronavirus cases and a lower death rate than projected by experts but there was no room for the citizen to relax.

"If people think we don't need those preventive measures and we don't need social distancing, it would be a very big mistake, he said.

Separately, Mirza said in a statement that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has allowed the local production of raw material of cholorquine as part of efforts to cope with coronavirus challenge.

He said the DRAP also permitted clinical trials of plasma therapy for coronavirus treatment, as well as the clinical trials of locally manufactured ventilators. He said over 50 companies were allowed to produce sanitizers.

Prime Minister Khan has warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further. He has defended his decision to not impose a total lockdown, saying over 50 million people were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such a step is taken.

Khan also launched the "Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme" to transfer a total of Rs 144 billion cash to 12 million poor families hit by the coronavirus crisis.

The monetary assistance would be distributed among the poor families during the next two-and-a-half weeks after biometric verification.

Addressing the members of Balochistan's Provincial Cabinet and Parliaments in Quetta on Thursday afternoon, Khan said federal and provincial governments are working jointly to cope with the situation arising out of the coronavirus crisis.

He said that the National Command and Control Centre is minutely observing the situation across the country.

Radio Pakistan reported that China has reiterated its willingness to continue supporting Pakistan in its fight against coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad and they reviewed the latest situation arising out of coronavirus outbreak.

Qureshi said that Chinese medical assistance to Pakistan will help increase Islamabad's capabilities to contain the virus.

"Pakistan is learning from the experiences of Chinese doctors and paramedical staff, Qureshi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington Mayor Issues Order Requiring Shoppers at Grocery Stores to Wear Masks

Washingtons mayor issued an executive order mandating people shopping at grocery stores and other stores selling food must wear masks, the latest in a sharp reversal in public policy guidance on masks.

Recently said to have little effect on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, or novel coronavirus, masks are now advised, and a growing number of counties and cities are requiring they be worn in certain settings.

Shoppers in the nations capital are now ordered to stay at least six feet away from people they dont live with and will be blocked from entering stores if they are showing any symptoms of the new virus, which causes a potentially deadly disease called COVID-19. Theyre also required to wear masks. Employees at grocery stores are not required to wear face coverings.

Grocery stores and individuals themselves will enforce the new policy (pdf), Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters on Thursday.

What we know is that our folks who are doing essential work, including our grocery store workers, are on the front line of the response to this pandemic. And all of us who want to continue to rely on the supply of food need to do everything in our power to keep them safe, she said.

Bowser advised people not to take daily trips to grocery stores.

A woman walks her dogs across a nearly empty Connecticut Avenue in Washington on April 9, 2020. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Her executive order also placed new rules on farmers markets, requiring them to have a waiver to operate and, if operating, implement social distancing measures and only sell food, soap, hand sanitizer, and masks. Grocery stores are also advised to require people only travel one-way down aisles, provide hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes at all entrances and exits, and encourage people to bag their own groceries.

Washington, which has 1,523 confirmed cases and 32 deaths, isnt the only area to mandate masks be worn.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti this week ordered all workers at businesses designated as essential to cover their mouths. The executive order also applies to people visiting those businesses. Violators are being threatened with fines, time in prison, or both.

Miami officials on Wednesday issued an order requiring everyone inside not only grocery stores, but pharmacies and convenience stores, wear masks or other face coverings.

Delivery workers and workers on construction sites must also don the material.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti displays putting on a protective face mask during his daily news conference in Los Angeles on April 1, 2020. (Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti via AP)

Similar orders are in place in other areas of Florida and lawmakers in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, were introducing regulations that would require coverings be worn by workers in essential businesses by April 16 and all customers in the businesses by April 23.

Workers at grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and other essential businesses are putting their lives at risk to keep us all fed and cared for during this emergency, said council member Hans Riemer in a statement. We must do everything we can to protect them. Combined with keeping our distance, staying home as much as possible, and washing our hands, wearing a mask helps protect both the wearer and those around them.

Federal guidance on masks is currently advisory. The Centers Disease Control and Prevention last week began advising people to wear masks when leaving home and in places where theyre unable to maintain proper social distancing, like grocery stores.

The agency previously only recommended masks for sick people and frontline workers like doctors and police officers. Recent studies showing people infected with the CCP virus who arent showing symptoms can still transmit the illness prompted the change.
After the Nizamuddin Markaz congregation in India which led to the criticism of the Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic missionary movement's management is now facing criticism for organising its annual mass assembly at Raiwind Markaz in Pakistan in March in the wake of the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Over 2,50,000 people participated in the event

According to a Dawn report, the Jamaat organised its annual mass assembly despite strong opposition by the Punjab province government. The outlet, citing a report by the Punjab Special Branch, stated that around 70,000-80,000 members of the organisation gathered to participate in a congregation on March 10. The Jamaat's management is claiming that over 2,50,000 people participated in its annual event.

The congregation was also attended by 3000 people who had arrived from 40 countries and who could not go back because Pakistan halted all international flights due to worsening pandemic situation. The Jamaat has been criticized in India and Malaysia after several of its members tested positive for COVID-19 leading to a surge in a number of cases. So far, Pakistan has reported 4196 confirmed positive cases of coronavirus and 60 deaths in the country have been linked to the deadly infection.

The virus had already adversely affected several countries when its spread began to show presence in Pakistan last month. The Dawn reported that Raiwind city with a population of around two lakh has been completely locked down after several hundred members of Jamaat tested positive. Around 10,263 people who attended the gathering last month have been quarantined in 36 districts of Punjab with the search on for thousands of other participants.

READ | Health Ministry issues 'containment plan' for JJ clusters & slums to tackle COVID-19

READ | Audible clip of PM Modi's COVID videoconference with Oppn MPs leaked; allegedly from TMC

Of the 539 members of the Tableeghi Jamaat who tested positive for the virus so far, the highest number of cases has been reported from Raiwind Markaz -- 404. As the Jamaat continued to ignore the instructions, authorities engaged the top administration officials of the organisation and after several meetings, the six-day event was cut short to three days.

The health department of Punjab has criticised the organisation for its "carelessness" and blamed it for the rising cases in the province. Health officials blamed rising cases on the "carelessness" of the Jamaat members "who keep on meeting the public as a part of their preaching after their return to the areas they belonged to."

READ | Centre notifies Covid lockdown-ender April 14 as 'Closed Holiday', for Ambedkar's birthday

READ | Trump attacks WHO for Jan 14 'no Covid human-to-human transfer' claim; makes it personal

(With ANI inputs) (Image credits: Facebook/@raiwindtableegemarkaz)
From the moment COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has behaved appallingly, regarding its citizens and people around the world. Add to this China's previous deviations from behavioral norms, and it's clear that China needs to be isolated from the community of nations until it changes its ways.

One thing that put Donald Trump in the White House was his recognition that China's economic policies were ruining the American economy. Taking advantage of America's generally free-trade orientation, China was flooding the American market with cheaply made Chinese goods, while closing its doors to American products. It was also gaining an unfair advantage through corporate espionage. It did these things because it could.

Unfair trade was not the only black mark against China. Here's just a short list of the CCP's unfriendly behaviors to its citizens, to America, and to the rest of the world:

As noted, that's just the shortlist. Most readers can undoubtedly add more items.

Last night marked the first night of Passover, commemorating the world's first revolt against a totalitarian dictatorship. If there's one thing the Passover story tells us, it's that tyrants will not release their hold on power until it hurts them, rather than their people.

God could send blood, frogs, bugs, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness, but as long as the damage was limited to the people, Pharaoh didn't care. It was only the final plague  the one that went right into Pharaoh's home  that changed his behavior (and even then, it was a temporary change).

Scolding China will not change the CCP. Piecemeal challenges to its trade practices will not affect the CCP's grip on power. The only thing that will change the CCP is for a new wall to be built around China  only this one won't be to keep invaders from harming China; it will be to keep China from harming the world.

Until the CCP changes its wicked ways, nothing goes in, and nothing comes out. China is sent back to 1972, to work on getting it right so that it is a fit citizen to rejoin the world.

China is a magnificent country, with tremendous natural beauty and resources. Outside the CCP, its people are as wonderful (and as awful) as any other people around the world. Wonderful or awful, they need to be set free. Now is the time. COVID-19 is the reason.
New Delhi, April 10 : As thousands of nurses across the country light the lamps of hope in the hospitals, several leading ladies play a vital role in India's war room to contain the spread of dreaded pandemic.

From developing India's first test kit for COVID-19, to despatching life saving medicines in remote areas, and from chalking out strategies for the government to tackle the spread of the virus to building treatment protocols, women from various walks of life burn midnight oil to counter the virus which is gradually spreading in world's second most populated country.

Just a day before she delivered a baby, Minal Dakhave Bhosale, a Pune based virologist, managed to deliver the first testing kit for COVID-19 to India. In just a record time of six weeks, Minal and her team including some of the best scientists gifted its first test kit to conduct COVID-19 tests at a large scale in the country, an exercise required to identify and isolate carriers of the dreaded virus.

A few kilometers away from Minal's laboratory in Pune, another virologist, Dr Priya Abraham, made an important breakthrough by isolating the virus. This breakthrough, by Dr Abraham, Director of the National Viral Institute, helps the scientists and immunologists in developing a vaccine or a drug for the treatment for new coronavirus.

Around 1500 kilometers away from Pune, in India's seat of power, New Delhi, several women bureaucrats, policy makers, health strategists, joined hands with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in chalking out strategies and initiating quick steps to prevent the country from slipping into stage 3, where disease is transmitted into communities.

Preeti Sudan, an alumni of London School of Economics, and presently the Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, became the nodal point for the PMO to execute the key medical strategies on ground through health departments of various states." Preeti is a workaholic. Fortunately she has rich experience of public food distribution, disaster management and PM's mega health Insurance scheme. She seems to be the fittest person to be the nodal point for coordinating the war against a pandemic, " says a 1983 batch IAS and batchmate of Preeti Sudan.

Incidentally, the person in charge of viral diseases in India's premiere medical body, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), happens to be a well known woman scientist, Dr Nivedita Gupta. Her contribution in containment of virus Nipah in India's southern most state of Kerala is widely acknowledged in the research fraternity.

Dr Gupta, who played a key role in setting up a viral and diagnostic network for ICMR, is presently building testing and treatment protocols in India. Such protocols, adhered by the medical practitioners are vital in the fight against the virus.

The actual battle against COVID-19 could be won only through a repurposed drug or a vaccine, a field which usually comes under biotechnology ministry. As several groups of scientists launch the project of developing repurpose drugs or a vaccine to combat the virus, Renu Swaroop, a top class scientist and secretary in the Union Ministry of Biotechnology, looks after all these projects.

She hopes that repurpose drugs could be an answer to quickly deal with the highly infectious virus.Seeing her deep involvement in the going projects, the union government has given Renu Swaroop one year extension in her service.

While these scientists and bureaucrats hold the key in fighting the pandemic, thousands of nurses, who form the frontline of the battle, work tirelessly in hundreds of hospitals where patients are being treated.

"We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi. For the first time we were invited in a video conference with the PM and I am happy to say all our requests ranging from suitable insurance package to availability of Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs) were heard and sorted out, " said Professor Roy George, the President of The Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) the apex body of nurses founded in 1908.

India has over 1.2 million workforce of trained nurses, who seem to brave this highly contagious virus and redefine women empowerment as the country gears up to battle coronavirus.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 11:46 AM | PADUCAH

You could win a $25 gift card playing Paducah Main Street's Social Distancing Bingo.Paducah Public Information Officer Pam Spencer says customers across the region will compete to be the first to complete their Bingo card for a chance to win a gift card to the Downtown Paducah merchant of their choice, courtesy of Paducah Main Street.To win, customers should complete one row of activities, listed diagonally, straight across, or up/down.Photos or proofs of purchase must be submitted by email to Melanie Reason (mreason@paducahky.gov) for each square that you use in your bingo line.The items must be purchased from merchants in the Downtown and Lower Town Neighborhoods in an area from Water Street to 9th Street and Washington Street to Park Avenue. The first two people to send in their completed cards will receive a $25 gift card to the Downtown Paducah business of their choice.The winners will be announced on the Paducah Main Street Facebook page.

On the Net:
Digital Science, a leading technology company serving emergent needs across the research sector, is pleased to announce a partnership with Beijing-based technology company Zhipu.AI to conduct data challenges and collaborate in building a COVID-19 information portal.

Zhipu.AI, a spin-out from Tsinghua University, aims to build an advanced artificial intelligence engine that can support and empower the research and innovation sectors globally. The company focuses on solving the current challenges of research organizations and government agencies, by using its extensive experience in analyzing large-scale complex networks, deep semantic mining and leveraging innovative techniques with cognitive graphs.

This strategic collaboration will see the two companies work together on a broad range of projects over the next several years. Some of the existing opportunities planned for the collaboration include joint hosting of a new set of data challenges centered around scholarly communications problems such as name disambiguation; and bringing together advanced analysis tools from both companies to create deeper insights for the sector. Collaboration will be a central theme of the new relationship and will see Digital Science's Overleaf made more seamlessly available to more Chinese users, enabling them to create, edit and publish their research all from one browser using the real-time collaborative LaTeX editor.

Digital Science and Zhipu.AI are united by a common goal, that is, to leverage technology to improve information flows and encourage collaboration to facilitate research and innovation. With our combined strengths in advanced digital technologies and insights into the scientific ecosystem from both a global and regional perspective, we are able to build more intelligent and reliable tools to encourage the exchange of ideas and improve research practices to better serve the needs of the research community. We look forward to a fruitful partnership and are excited about our first joint initiatives on data challenges and the COVID-19 information portal. Professor Jie Tang, Chief Scientist at Zhipu

This partnership comes at a critical time with the global threat posed by COVID-19. Both teams will work together to ensure that both English and Chinese-language information is as widely shared as possible by providing a COVID-19 information portal with all related publications, datasets and clinical trials exported into a google sheet and hosted on Digital Sciences Figshare, as well as a dedicated website. The google sheet and website will be updated daily pulling all relevant content on COVID-19 from Digital Sciences Dimensions platform, to make sharing and distributing this research information easier.
PONTIAC, Mich., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the #1 wholesale mortgage lender, spoke to the 5,800 team members in an emotional all company address reminding them they are family, he is here for them and their jobs are safe during these very uncertain times.

"Our neighbors, family and friends are getting sick and losing their jobs at a staggering rate while facing incredible stress about their finances in the middle of this global crisis," said Ishbia. "This is a scary time but we are going to get through this as a team and as a family. Being a family company is not just a nice thing to say when it is convenient; it is the core of who we are. When times are tough, that is when family steps up for each other and carries one another through. Every single member of this family is equally important and I can't think of a better way to let 5,800 people know we've got their back than giving them job security at a time like this. I will sleep on their couch before I lay anyone off."

In addition to job security, UWM is offering the following benefits to help team members stay connected, help their families and help their communities:

Training: For the past three years, thousands of UWM's partners have traveled to UWM's headquarters to attend its popular Success Track courses that combine UWM's comprehensive mortgage expertise and award-winning training methods dedicated to championing the success of brokers everywhere. All classes are free to UWM clients and in order to adjust to changes resulting from COVID-19, they are available online with opportunities for attendees to ask questions and collaborate.

For the past three years, thousands of UWM's partners have traveled to UWM's headquarters to attend its popular Success Track courses that combine UWM's comprehensive mortgage expertise and award-winning training methods dedicated to championing the success of brokers everywhere. All classes are free to UWM clients and in order to adjust to changes resulting from COVID-19, they are available online with opportunities for attendees to ask questions and collaborate. Culture: UWM is maintaining its strong culture by going online with its 3 o'clock dance parties, company contests, theme dress days and virtual workouts like yoga and Zumba.

UWM is maintaining its strong culture by going online with its 3 o'clock dance parties, company contests, theme dress days and virtual workouts like yoga and Zumba. Perks: UWM provides team members with, "UPerks," or discounts and offers made by partnering with businesses. Currently team members have offers that include 20 percent off purchases at Rite Aid and a complimentary DashPass membership with Door Dash offering team members free food delivery from local restaurants. Team members are also all offered telemedicine services through our onsite provider, SALTA and waiving the fee.

"I am proud of what our team has been able to accomplish leading up to and during this time from setting records to the way we care about each other and our clients" said Ishbia. "Together we can accomplish anything and when we are all able to be back together under one roof we will be stronger than ever."

UWM provides tools and training to independent mortgage brokers to help brokers grow their business. For more information on how to sign up as a broker with UWM, visit www.UWM.com

About United Wholesale Mortgage

Headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is the #1 wholesale lender in the nation five years in a row, providing state-of-the-art technology and unrivaled client service, from the industry's leading account executives. Operating under parent company United Shore, UWM is known for its highly efficient, accurate and expeditious lending support, UWM underwrites and provides closing documentation for residential mortgage loans originated by independent mortgage brokers, correspondents, small banks and local credit unions. UWM's exceptional teamwork and laser-like focus on delivering innovative mortgage solutions are driving the company's ongoing growth and its leadership position as the foremost advocate for mortgage brokers. For more information, visit www.uwm.com or call 800-981-8898. NMLS #3038.

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Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly boarded one of his service's executive jets Monday to visit Guam - a trip that turned out to be costly for both him and U.S. taxpayers.

For Modly, the visit resulted in his resignation, after he created an uproar by insulting the former commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, who had raised concerns about how the Navy was handling a coronavirus outbreak on the warship.

For taxpayers, the cost of the flight alone was at least $243,151.65, according to a Navy estimate.

The figure was based on 35 hours of flight time to and from Guam, with refueling in Hawaii. Modly traveled on a C-37B at a cost of about $6,946.19 per hour, according to the estimate, which was obtained by The Washington Post. The jet is a military version of the Gulfstream G550.

The detail emerged as the fallout from Modly's recent decisions continues. The drama began when he removed Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt's captain. Last week, Crozier wrote a letter to Navy leaders requesting that 90 percent of his 4,800-sailor crew be temporarily removed from the ship in Guam to allow coronavirus testing and quarantining.

Modly boarded the flight to Guam after videos appeared online Friday showing sailors cheering Crozier as he left the ship.

Using the ship's loudspeaker, Modly told the crew that Crozier had either written the letter, which leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle last week, to create a public stir or was "too naive or too stupid" to command the ship.

The comments were recorded by sailors and also leaked, prompting calls for Modly's resignation from some Navy families and Democratic lawmakers. As of Wednesday, 286 members of the crew had tested positive for the virus. Crozier is among them.

The Navy's top officer, Adm. Mike Gilday, released a message to sailors Wednesday acknowledging that it has been a difficult week for the service.

"We will learn from them," he said of the recent events. "But make no mistake, we are moving forward. The Navy has our orders and we are executing them."

Gilday, who is chief of naval operations, detailed some of the Navy's missions and said that remaining ready for them is a part of the service's job.

"Nobody sits the bench. Everyone must pull together," Gilday wrote. "And in this new environment of coronavirus, we're all learning, adapting, and improving by the hour. There is no better example of this than USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT - staring down an invisible enemy - dedicated in their efforts - making phenomenal progress, and providing lessons for the Navy and beyond."
For most parents, finding your preferred diaper brand out of stock during the novel coronavirus outbreak is nothing more than an annoyance. Simply move onto the next-best brand.

But for others, diaper need is a very real problem. According to the National Diaper Bank Network, about 1/3 of American families cannot afford the diapers it takes to keep their babies dry and healthy.

That number will likely increase if more people continue to be laid off or furloughed, Bridget Cutler from the New Jersey-based Moms Helping Moms Foundation diaper bank.

"During our first full operating week after coronavirus hit, we distributed three times as many diapers as we normally do," she told "Good Morning America." The organization said the need is increasing "exponentially," every day.

Moms Helping Moms -- and organizations like it -- have access to diapers through donations and some purchased at wholesale, Cutler said. "We are doing our best and happy that we are open, helping the public and keeping our employees working. However, we will not be able to keep up with this demand without additional funding."

MORE: 'There's been a lot of tears': NICU parents unable to visit baby in the hospital

Audrey Symes, a New York City mom who is active in the collection of excess diapers for the GOOD+ Foundation told "GMA," the overbuying of diapers on the part of people who are not economically disadvantaged contributes to the problem.

"Many families who typically experience diaper need are in precarious jobs such as hospitality and retail that have been suddenly eliminated," Symes said. "Especially early in the month, when benefits are paid out, its really helpful to those families to be able to purchase stock. The rashes and infections that result from overuse of disposable diapers could overwhelm the medical system right now."

PHOTO: A pile of diapers are seen in this undated stock photo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)

"They [people with low-income levels] dont have the resources to buy in bulk, so they depend on consistent stock availability," she said. Buying in bulk is often not an option, she said, because of the upfront cost.

Story continues

MORE: ICU nurse says 'the best thank you is to stay home'

"We certainly saw that panic buying and hoarding two and three weeks ago led to empty retail shelves throughout the country," Troy Moore chief of external affairs at the National Diaper Bank Network, told "GMA." "This caused a ripple effect for diaper bank programs which rely heavily on community-based drives and product donations from individuals. It also impacted diaper banks ability to use donated funds to purchase diapers through bulk buying programs. The supply chain was disrupted. It is getting better."

It's unclear how much overbuying is still taking place. On Wednesday, a search on Amazon for "diapers" yielded a list several pages long. But diaper makers tell "GMA" they are experiencing higher-than-normal sales. "The supply chain is experiencing a bit of a shock, like toilet paper manufacturers, but so far we've been able to meet customer demand," Matt Anderson CEO of diaper company ABBY&FINN, said.

Eco Pea, a diapers and wipes company, told "GMA" sales have increased. " Some days we see a 500% increase compared to the average day before COVID-19," a company spokesperson said.

As families experience "situational poverty," Moore said, the reliance on diaper banks will continue. " Diapers will be key to parents ability to return to work as a daily supply of diapers is necessary to leave a baby in child care. Without diapers, parents cannot go to work."

Cutler said people can help first by not overbuying, but also by contacting the local diaper banks in their state to inquire about their needs. She recommended National Diaper Bank Network's website as a resource.

Monetary donations are always welcome. "We can use those to purchase diapers through our channels at 1/3 of the retail cost," she said.

Diapers harder to come by for some families during coronavirus originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Depending on the severity of the economic crisis induced by coronavirus, as many as 430,000 Oregonians could lose their employer-sponsored health plans in coming months, and most of those people  320,000  would turn to the Oregon Health Plan, the states version of Medicaid for low-income residents, a new report forecasts.

That dire scenario involves the state being swept by massive layoffs pushing the jobless rate to 25%, according to an analysis by Health Management Associates, a consulting firm focused on health care.

Even under the most benign of three scenarios in the report - the Oregon jobless rate would rise to 10% from its current 3.3% - some 145,000 people would lose their employer-sponsored health coverage. The report estimates about 149,000 people would sign up for Medicaid under that scenario.

Even in that moderate economic-impact scenario, the increased financial pressure on the Oregon Health Plan would be huge. The state, using federal and state money, spends about $6,000 a year insuring each of its 1 million Oregon Health Plan members. An extra 149,000 members could cost the government about $900 million a year. An extra 320,000 members would cost $1.9 billion a year.

The studys release came on the heels of an analysis by The Lund Report on the impact job losses are likely to have on the Oregon Health Plan in Oregon, which now serves one in four residents.

The study by Health Management Associates, based in Michigan with an office in Portland, looks at the impact on rising unemployment on Medicaid in Oregon and every other state. It appears to be the first publicly released study with a state-by-state analysis of what Medicaid programs in each state could face.

The study projects that, depending on the extent of layoffs, nationwide 11.7 million to 35 million people would lose their employer-sponsored health insurance and 10.6 million to 23 million people would be added to the Medicaid rolls.

What were experiencing is unprecedented, said Jay Rosen, founder and president of the consulting firm. "With millions of Americans expected to enroll in Medicaid in the coming months, our COVID-19 impact estimates at the state level are critical for policymakers trying to begin the complex steps of implementing new laws and policies while navigating an array of financial implications."

Medicaid, largely funded by the federal government, is run differently in each state.

Its unclear whether or how federal and state governments would step up to pay the cost of the vastly increased demand for the government-provided health care insurance. In Oregon, the federal government pays about 75% of the roughly $6 billion annual tab for the Oregon Health Plan. The state picks up the rest.

Oregon is a so-called Affordable Care Act expansion state. That means that in 2014 it expanded the Oregon Health Plan to cover a larger number of people, by raising the income levels allowed for members. Non-expansion states continued to restrict Medicaid to the very poor.

We expect that as a Medicaid expansion state, many of the Oregonians filing initial unemployment claims will become eligible for Medicaid, Nora Leibowitz, a principal with firms Portland office told The Lund Report. In the past two weeks, 168,500 Oregonians have filed for unemployment benefit claims. In a typical week, just 5,000 Oregonians file.

In states that did not expand their Medicaid income eligibility, many of those losing their jobs and getting unemployment benefits would not qualify for Medicaid and would either go uninsured or would have to buy their own health insurance coverage, the study said.

The Oregon Health Authority, which runs the Oregon Health Plan, did not have an immediate comment on the study.

The study looked at three economic scenarios: a 10% unemployment rate, a 17.5% rate and a 25% rate. The pre-COVID-19 national rate was 3%.

The study projects how the increased joblessness would boost the numbers covered by Medicaid; change the number of people who buy insurance individually through a federal or state-run marketplace; cut the number of people on employer-sponsored plans; and increase the number of uninsured.

In Oregon, under the 10% unemployment scenario, the vast majority of those who lost their jobs would switch to getting Medicaid, the study found. At a 17.5% unemployment rate, 286,000 people would lose their employer-sponsored coverage, 232,000 would join Medicaid, 22,000 newly unemployed would buy marketplace insurance and 33,000 newly unemployed would go uninsured, the study found.

At 25% unemployment, 430,000 Oregonians would lose employer-sponsored insurance, of whom 320,000 would join Medicaid, 31,000 would buy insurance via the marketplace and 78,000 would go without insurance.

The federal government in an act Congress passed in mid-March, offered some extra temporary money to state Medicaid plans. For Oregon, that extra help might amount to $250 million a year.

In states that did not raise the income limits for Medicaid in 2014, millions of newly unemployed would end up uninsured, the study forecast. In Texas, for example, under the 10% unemployment scenario, 972,000 people would lose employer-sponsored health insurance, of whom 716,000 would be eligible for Medicaid. But a whopping 243,000 would not be eligible and would go uninsured, the study predicted. In the 17.5% unemployment scenario, the number of Texas uninsured would increase by nearly 800,000, the study projected.

Lower- and moderate-income people are the most likely to lose their jobs and their employer-sponsored health insurance in the virus-induced recession, the study said.

We estimate the economic impact to the labor market could disproportionately affect the roughly 58 million non-elderly individuals who have employer sponsored coverage and who earn less than $50,000 annually, the report said.

You can reach Christian Wihtol at christian@thelundreport.org.
White House health advisor Anthony Fauci gave insight on what the "new normal" might be for Americans after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and it includes giving up handshaking indefinitely.

Speaking on The Wall Street Journal podcast on Tuesday, Fauci said Americans will have to "gradually come back" from this pandemic and won't be able to jump back into their regular lives "with both feet."

The new normal, he says, will include "compulsive hand-washing and the other is the end of handshaking."

"I don't think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you. Not only would it be good to prevent coronavirus disease, it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country," Fauci said.

Fauci made a similar plea in an interview with Sinclair Broadcast Group on April 7.

"As a society, just forget about shaking hands," Fauci said. "We don't need to shake hands. We've got to break that custom. Because as a matter of fact, that is really one of the major ways that you can transmit a respiratory illness."

And Fauci isn't alone in his opinion of handshaking.

Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group and spokesperson for Infectious Diseases Society of America says he been trying to put an end to handshakes for nearly three decades.

"It's an outdated custom," Poland says. "Many cultures have learned that you can greet one another without touching each other."

Poland says when you shake another person's hand, you have "no idea" where that hand has been and you are exposing yourself to "elements of danger" like viruses and different kinds of bacteria.

Instead Poland suggests tilting or bowing your head to greet another person like people did many decades ago. "When men greeted other people [back in the day], they raised tor tipped their hat," he says.

Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at Northwell Health in New York tells Make It, he agrees with Fauci too.

He thinks Americans need to start implementing other ways to greet each other "like [with] a head bob or wave of a hand. This act would maintain proper distance, avoid contact and potential spread of COVID-19," Farber says.

Peter Pitts, former FDA associate commissioner, says shaking hands transmits germs and viruses "as swiftly as kissing and hugging" and until we develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the new normal will have to be "verbal greetings and long-sleeved elbow bumps."

"The social theme song for right now is 'I wanna, but better not, hold your hand.' Love doesn't conquer all," Pitts tells Make it.

However, there is some good news. Fauci told the Journal that he hopes to see "light at the end of the tunnel  where we can say we're pretty confident that we can gradually start approaching some degree of normality" by the end of April.

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[April 09, 2020] Automation Anywhere Launches New RPA Solutions to Respond to Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Provides work-from-home and business continuity solutions to government, healthcare, banking and many other industries

Establishes $500,000 RPA scholarship fund to accelerate development of COVID-19 solutions BANGALORE, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Automation Anywhere, a global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), today announced intelligent automation solutions to empower governments, healthcare organizations and enterprises to implement remote working and business continuity programs as they navigate the challenges caused by COVID-19. "The new normal has forced organizations to adapt differently so that remote employees can remain productive and businesses can maintain continuity," said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-founder, Automation Anywhere. "We are proud to support the efforts of frontline workers in essential services, such as government and healthcare, as well as other industries, while mobilizing the power of the RPA community to address the COVID-19 pandemic." The following new RPA solutions enable government and healthcare agencies to provide support to keep people informed, safe and connected: Automating the manual processing of World Health Organization (WHO) clinical case forms: In collaboration with Microsoft, the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom is using Automation Anywhere's AI-powered IQ Bot to extract critical patient information to process COVID-19 cases with speed and accuracy for WHO.

In collaboration with Microsoft, the National Health Service (NHS) in the is using Automation Anywhere's AI-powered IQ Bot to extract critical patient information to process COVID-19 cases with speed and accuracy for WHO. Directing citizens in Macao, China to vital information with a public service dashboard: With technology partner NetCraft, The Macao Anti-Epidemic Real-Time Interactive Map was built as a GPS-enabled dashboard using bots to collect relevant digital data and provide real-time information, including infection sites, hospital wait times, and local availability of masks.

With technology partner NetCraft, The Macao Anti-Epidemic Real-Time Interactive Map was built as a GPS-enabled dashboard using bots to collect relevant digital data and provide real-time information, including infection sites, hospital wait times, and local availability of masks. Employee risk assessment tool for managing COVID-19 in Mainland China: Automation Anywhere partnered with IT consulting firm Shenzhen Pactera Informatio Limited to determine employees' risk of infection as they return home after traveling outside of the region.



Enabling hotel agents to collaborate, communicate from anywhere: With increased cancellations and high call volumes at a large hotel chain, bots are now helping remote employees working from home access data so they can help customers change reservations, thereby reducing wait times and maintaining customer satisfaction.

With increased cancellations and high call volumes at a large hotel chain, bots are now helping remote employees working from home access data so they can help customers change reservations, thereby reducing wait times and maintaining customer satisfaction. Keeping companies afloat through intelligent automation: Through the company's new Business Continuity Automation program, customers are invited to a free one-hour session with the Quick Reaction Team to identify a business continuity intelligent automation use case, and for selected use cases, work with the team to create a bot to resolve the business issue.

Through the company's new program, customers are invited to a free one-hour session with the Quick Reaction Team to identify a business continuity intelligent automation use case, and for selected use cases, work with the team to create a bot to resolve the business issue. Ensuring business continuity with contact tracing: New customizable software bots, including the Health Status Manager provides organizations with the ability to continue operations when employees are out sick, with anonymized aggregated results displayed on a dashboard.

New customizable software bots, including the Health Status Manager provides organizations with the ability to continue operations when employees are out sick, with anonymized aggregated results displayed on a dashboard. Helping Banco de Guayaquil implement grace periods for loan processing and repayments: When payments are not rescheduled promptly, systems will send late payment reports to credit monitoring agencies. Now there is a bot to mitigate negative impacts on consumers' credit. Automation Anywhere is also mobilizing the RPA community to put bot building skills towards creative solutions to fight the COVID-19 global pandemic:

Introducing a $500,000 RPA scholarship fund for learning opportunities: Individuals looking to learn RPA skills to accelerate development of COVID-19 solutions are encouraged to apply for a scholarship through Automation Anywhere University . The company has also increased its offering of free online training for users to gain expertise in building bots.

Individuals looking to learn RPA skills to accelerate development of COVID-19 solutions are encouraged to apply for a scholarship through Automation Anywhere University The company has also increased its offering of free online training for users to gain expertise in building bots. Calling all RPA developers to collaborate: Developers are encouraged to use the free Community Edition to build additional bots for COVID-19 response and collaborate on the A-People forum. Interact with Automation Anywhere: Visit our website: https://www.automationanywhere.com/

Check out our monthly webinar series: https://www.automationanywhere.com/rpa-webinars

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutomationAnywhereSoftware/

Follow us on Twitter: @AutomationAnywh

Explore with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/automation_anywhere/

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-anywhere About Automation Anywhere Automation Anywhere is a global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), empowering customers to automate end-to-end business processes with software bots - digital workers that perform repetitive and manual tasks, resulting in dramatic productivity gains, optimized customer experience and more engaged employees. The company offers the world's only web-based and cloud-native intelligent automation platform combining RPA, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics right out of the box, to help organizations rapidly start and scale their process automation journey. Its Bot Store is the world's first and largest marketplace with more than 850 pre-built, intelligent automation solutions. With offices in more than 40 countries and a global network of 1,500 partners, Automation Anywhere has deployed over 1.8 million bots to support some of the world's largest enterprises across all industries. For additional information, visit www.automationanywhere.com. Media Contacts:

Poulomi Choudhury

[email protected]

Senior Manager, PR and Social media - IMEA

Automation Anywhere

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Two patients hold certificates confirming that they have been freed from the new coronvirus as they are discharged from HCMC's Covid-19 Treatment Hospital in Can Gio District, April 9, 2020. Photo courtesy of the hospital.

Two Vietnamese Covid-19 patients have been discharged from HCMCs Can Gio Covid-19 Treatment Hospital, raising the number of discharges to 128 in Vietnam.

HCMC alone has discharged 33 patients.

The two discharged are women who were quarantined after returning from abroad. They left the Can Gio facility Thursday morning and will be monitored at home for 14 days, said hospital representative Le Manh Hung.

"Patient 203" is a 35-year-old Vietnamese woman who landed in HCMC on March 17, flying in from Greece and transiting in Turkey. She was asymptomatic and sent to a quarantine facility in Nha Be District upon arrival before testing positive on March 27.

"Patient 234," 69, is from Buon Don District in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, flying from Paris to HCMC on March 18. She was quarantined on arrival, and her first test result was negative. On March 30, a second test showed she was infected with the Covid-19 virus.

With 600 beds, the Covid-19 Treatment Hospital in Can Gio is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of downtown HCMC.

With the latest updates, Vietnam now has 128 of 251 cases discharged.

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far claimed 88,500 lives as it hit 209 countries and territories.
Trading activities have resumed at the Kumasi Central Market after the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly closed it on Monday over the disregard for the social distancing protocol by traders.

As part of arrangements made before reopening the market, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the leadership of traders agreed to operate a shift system to avoid overcrowding.

The KMA, in a statement, indicated that the traders would be grouped into three and would be given cards which will show when exactly they are supposed to go to the market.

During Citi News' visit to the market after traders resumed work, some traders had been given cards which showed that they were allowed to operate.

Others who were not given the cards were seen engaging in their trading activities as they said they were yet to receive their cards; a situation which has still resulted in overcrowding at the market.

Some of the traders who spoke to Citi News called on authorities to ensure proper implementation of the new arrangement to ensure the social distancing protocol is properly observed at the market.

They have given us cards that are in colours of red, yellow and green. So today, we those with the red cards are supposed to come and sell, the other colours also have days allocated to them to come and sell. Our concern is that we want it to be enforced so that we don't have people coming on days that they are not supposed to be selling so that we can observe the social distancing because the sickness has no mark to identify those who have it, one of the traders said.

I have not yet gotten the card because we are many, yesterday. They asked us to come for the cards but when we came they did not show up, they have asked us to come again and that is why you see us crowded like that here. Once we have the cards, we will know when we are supposed to come and sell and when we are supposed to stay away. I only want to appeal to the authorities to speed up the process so we don't stay here for long because we are overcrowded here and it is not helping in the fight against the disease, one of the traders said.

Meanwhile, some traders at the area are calling on authorities to intervene as they say they have been prevented to sell at some areas although they have not been properly included in the new arrangement being made.

They asked us not to sell because we don't have the cards but they did not give us the cards. They distributed the cards to those selling in the markets but we are selling food and it appears we have been left out. They asked us to divide our selves into groups and sell, we did it but when we cook and come out to sell, the soldiers and the KMA taskforce come here and carry the food to the children home so we are calling on government to add us to the arrangement.

We sell by the roadside and we were adhering to the social distancing rule until the traders from the Dr Mensah market were sacked, they came to join us without paying attention to the social distancing rule. Our leaders went to the KMA office and they told them they will not allow us to trade again because of what happened but they will be going back they again. We sell foodstuff and some of them are perishable so we want to plead that they should allow us to sell what we have in stock now so that if they want us to stop coming, we will stop.

---citinewsroom
Realme currently has six smartphones under its X series and it seems the company will soon expand the lineup with the X3 SuperZoom, that has popped up on Geekbench and has bagged a few certifications.

The Realme X3 SuperZoom, bearing model code RMX2086, has been certified by NBTC and EEC. It has also been listed on Bureau of Indian Standards' (BIS) website, hinting at an imminent launch.

The listings on the certifying authorities' websites don't reveal any specifications of the X3 SuperZoom, but thanks to Geekbench, we know it will run Android 10 out of the box and have 12GB RAM.

The benchmark database lists the motherboard as "msmnile", which corresponds to the Snapdragon 855+ SoC. It's the same chipset that powers Realme's 2019 flagship - X2 Pro.

Geekbench doesn't reveal any other specs of the X3 SuperZoom, but the name suggests it will come with a telephoto camera and may offer more than 20x zoom which is what the current Realme flagships offer.

We'll likely see a regular X3 as well, which may skip the telephoto module.

Source 1, Source 2 (in Thai)
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Paola Mardo, an LA-based podcast producer, said she was told by a woman in Eagle Rock "please don't give me the virus." (Courtesy of Paolo Mardo)

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At a Trader Joe's in Culver City last month, Jeff Yang stood in the checkout line six feet apart from the other customers, lost in his phone. That's when an F-bomb came flying in his direction.

He glanced up to see another customer pass by, pull down her mask and cough towards him -- the only Asian in line.

"I was shocked," said Yang, a journalist and author. "She was sending me a message along the lines of 'You're the one who caused this.'"

Days earlier in Eagle Rock, Paola Mardo was leaving a Filipino grocery with a mask on her face when she heard a woman say "China brought this virus here."

As Mardo neared the woman, she "literally jumped back and said, 'Oh my God, please don't give me the virus.'"

"I'm not even Chinese," said Mardo, who makes a podcast about the Filipino diaspora. "But we all look the same, I guess."

Online submissions can be made to the Stop AAPI Hate tracker in eight languges, including Chinese pictured here. (Stop AAPI Hate)

Both Yang and Mardo shared their stories on social media, leading to an online flood of condolences and jarring anecdotes from other Asian Americans (along with comments from haters).

And that could have been it. But both also reported the incidents to Stop AAPI Hate, a weeks-old online tool that's been tracking anti-Asian racism in an attempt to capture the scope of the problem.

Launched in mid-March by California advocacy organizations, the tracker has gotten more than 1,400 reports and counting.

'SUBHUMAN'

Experiencing racism has been a common hallmark of the Asian American experience over the years, but the frequency and severity of the incidents taking place during the pandemic is hitting the highest levels in decades.

Verbal abuse, physical assault, shunning in public places, workplace discrimination and online abuse dominate the reports made to Stop AAPI Hate.

"What it tells community members is that they're not part of the fabric of America, that they are seen as subhuman," said Manjusha Kulkarni, head of the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council in Los Angeles, or A3PCON.

Kulkarni's group helped develop the tracker with the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University and Chinese for Affirmative Action in San Francisco. Reports can be submitted in eight languages, including Thai and Punjabi.

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Kulkarni said the pandemic and stay-at-home orders are stressing everybody out. But Asian Americans also have to think about what could happen when they go out in public, especially women who, according to the Stop AAPI Hate data, are harassed at twice the rate of men, likely because they are seen as easier targets, Kulkarni said.

"In trying to meet their daily needs for themselves and their families they are getting attacked," she said.

The data shows reported run-ins with racism are happening across a range of settings, from LAX...

My family and I (4 of us) were wearing masks, trying (to) walk across the crosswalk from the parking structure. We were stopped by a driver, who blocked our path with his car, and we were called names and (he) was blaming us for spreading the virus and wearing masks.

....to a sidewalk in Mid-City:

While I was walking up the street I live on, a white male, 20s in appearance, notices me and picks up a cup of coffee--filled--from the street and flings it at me. The spill misses me by a few feet. He appears angry, proceeds to give me the middle finger, and calls me a racial slur ("chink") before walking away.

And in downtown L.A.:

A homeless man saw me less than 100 feet from my apartment building. He threw punches and tried to kick my dog, chased me back to my building screaming racial epithets about me being a "nasty bitch" and "go back to China."

YELLOW PERIL 2.0



Stop AAPI Hate was launched on March 18 -- just as President Trump was ramping up his use of the phrase "Chinese virus."

State Assemblyman David Chiu, who has been promoting the online tracker as the head of the Legislature's Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, said anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic is reminiscent of the finger-pointing and discrimination seen in the eras of the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

A man assists a child across the street on wooden planks in L.A.'s Old Chinatown, circa 1930s. (Los Angeles Public Library Collection) (Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Collection)

He added: "I think the closest historical example was when Chinese Americans in San Francisco were accused of spreading bubonic plague in the early 1900s -- literally accused of being that yellow peril."

Roughly a third of the reports are from California, likely in part because it is home to the country's largest Asian American population and is where the Stop AAPI Hate portal was created.

But, Chiu said "that even within communities and states that we think of as progressive and tolerant, there is still an underlying level of racism and intolerance."

Last month Chiu and other members of the API Caucus sent a letter to Gov. Newsom asking that state agencies such as the Department of Public Health issue a guideline "asking Californians to combat stereotyping or bullying of groups of people due to the coronavirus."

DATA IS POWER

None of that has happened yet.

That's why it's important to report racist incidents to law enforcement or to online trackers like Stop AAPI Hate, said Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:



"The bottom line here is, we can't do anything about these acts of COVID-related hate and other kinds of hate, unless we know about it," Toma said.

Most of the incidents being reported to Stop AAPI Hate may not meet the definition of a hate crime, but there could be other remedies.

Toma said businesses that show a pattern of not stopping the harassment of Asian American customers on their premises, for example, could be held liable under civil rights laws.

Schools can also be pressured to do a better job protecting students from racism, Toma said.

He pointed to a North Hollywood middle school where a teacher in February allegedly made an Asian American boy go to the nurse for a cough even though he was not sick. It is the same school, Toma said, where another Asian American student was beat up and taunted over the coronavirus that same month.

Robin Toma, executive director of the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations, joins other county officials and community leaders to speak out against coronavirus-related racism. (Josie Huang/LAist)

Toma said that prompted him and A3PCON to set up a meeting between the school district and the family of the bullied boy, who had been hit in the head so hard he had to get checked out in the hospital.

"We don't want people to simply say, 'Oh my God, I guess we're living in a different world. Oh well,'" Toma said. "We need to not let this spread."

WHAT IF IT HAPPENS TO YOU

Aside from Stop AAPI Hate, Angelenos can also report incidents to the county's 2-1-1 social services hotline.

Other advocacy organizations are also tracking hate incidents, including the Washington, D.C.-based Asian Americans Advancing Justice and The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York.

After making her submissions to Stop AAPI Hate, Mardo (a former intern for The Frame at KPCC) has been reflecting on what happened to her, as she did on an episode of her podcast Long-Distance.

And she thinks back to whether she would have acted differently in her encounter with the "virus" woman in Eagle Rock.

"I got messages from people like, 'Oh, you should have said this,'" Mardo said. "But I think for me, it's not as easy to do that. She was much bigger than me."

Mardo's wish is that her parents won't ever have to be in the same situation. Meanwhile, Jeff Yang, who was coughed on in the grocery store, wonders how the pandemic is affecting Asian American kids, including his own.

"For Asian American kids, that fear of being labeled as a bringer of disease, as unclean, as somehow dangerous -- that's something which I really worry about," Yang said. "We won't know what the impact on our kids will be until they're older."
New Delhi, April 9 : Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chief Ministers, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has cautioned that many COVID-19 patients show symptoms very late and this is the reason why rapid testing is required to contain the virus.

Addressing a press conference, he said that the reason why Chhattisgarh has less number of cases is that it started early after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi flagged this issue. "On March 13 onwards we had lockdown of many things including school, shopping malls and Aanganwadi." "We had the first test on March 15 and got the positive case on March 18 and immediately imposed section 144," said Baghel.

"The concern is that a person was quarantined for 18 days and after that he showed the symptoms a person has travelled in February he showed symptoms after 2 months and we have informed the union government," said Baghel.

The state has kept 76,000 people in quarantine which is strictly imposed he said adding that lockdown should be only be implemented after consultation with the states.

The state has contained the virus by quarantining all the international passengers and has done 3,000 tests claimed the chief minister, but the state has seen asymptomatic Covid carriers which has been conveyed to the Union government.

Regarding lifting of interstate travel ban, the Chhattisgarh CM said that he has written a letter to the Prime Minister which may come up for discussion on April 11.

Baghel had written to the Prime Minister on April 6 that before allowing interstate travel once the lockdown period is over, the government should make a strategy to screen the passengers and put in place a mechanism to filter the coronavirus cases to make sure it does not spread from one place to another.

The chief minister in the letter wrote "If flights, rail and surface transport are opened then there is a possibility that infected persons can come to the state and the problem can persist, and the states will have to face problem in containing this virus."
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) call on the Somali authorities, including federal member states and Somaliland, to refrain from claiming a monopoly of information about the coronavirus crisis and ensure that reporters can fulfil their vital role of informing the public in a free and independent manner.

Access to state-held information about the coronavirus crisis is becoming more and more difficult and closely controlled in Somalia. In Mogadishu, the federal government's ministry of health and human resources set the tone on 3 March when it summoned journalists to explain what to do and not to do during the COVID-19 crisis.

The minister told them that Covid-19 related information could only be obtained from the deputy minister and the coronavirus task force spokesperson. But reporters have found it difficult in getting the information they need from these sources.

At the same time, NUSOJ and RSF have established that other relevant sources have been told not to talk to journalists. This means that journalists have either been unable to report vital information to the public or have been forced to use pre-recorded video clips and statements prepared by the health ministry.

Similar steps have been taken in Hargeisa, the capital of northwestern Somalia's self-proclaimed independent state of Somaliland, where Vice-President Abdirahman Abdillahi Saylii told journalists on 30 March not to cover the coronavirus crisis negatively and to relay government's messaging only.

In Garowe, the capital of the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland, the information minister has told the journalist to obtain Covid-19-related information only from Puntland's newly appointed coronavirus task force.

RSF and NUSOJ call on Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire to ensure that the Somali authorities facilitate unfettered access to information about the Covid-19 pandemic, especially as the announced restrictions have been accompanied by aggressive measures in the field. When SomaliCable TV reporter Abdullahi Farah Nur interviewed members of the public about the coronavirus crisis in Mogadishu on 19 March, he was stopped by the security forces, who manhandled him, accused him of aspreading fear in the community and told him to leave.

Journalists are frontline workers who are putting their lives at risk in order to carry out an essential public service by informing citizens about the Covid-19 pandemic and its dangers to the public, NUSOJ secretary general Omar Faruk Osman said. At times of national crisis, trust and credibility are the government's most precious assets.

As the Somali people are asked to make increasing sacrifices in their daily lives for the greater good of public health, the legitimacy of public decision-making requires a renewed commitment to a free flow of information and transparency in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk, added: Even if the authorities remain essential sources of information on which journalists are invited to rely on to cover the epidemic, they cannot claim a monopoly of information on any subject, including this one. Journalists should have unrestricted access to official information while being free to consult other sources they consider credible. If censorship can kill, the independent production of information by professionals constitutes, on the contrary, a major asset in combatting this scourge effectively.

Somalia is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in the RSFs 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Her daughter was hospitalized after she drank from a well it poisoned.

It made the roads in her neighborhood so treacherous she has nightmares about her family being swallowed up in 20-foot-deep sinkholes.

And now the company responsible may get the green light to expand its operations without a public airing of her concerns.

Because of COVID-19, Pennsylvania environmental regulators canceled a hearing about changes to a natural gas liquids pipeline and, with it, what seems like Rosemary Fullers best chance to get the company to publicly answer for the damage it already caused.

No public discussion, no reporting on issues by journalists present, no sharing of information, no publicity. Who benefits from that? Certainly not the residents impacted by this project, Fuller said.

Pennsylvania is one 35 states to temporarily alter open government laws to curb the spread of coronavirus, according to a USA TODAY Network analysis of government press releases, newspaper articles and information collected by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the National Governors Association.

The agencies in these states  from the smallest municipal bodies to the biggest government entities  now can hold meetings remotely. Some allow public comment only in writing, as in Fullers case.

Theyre also delaying public records requests. Rhode Island, for example, extended the deadline to respond by 20 business days.

The changes in government access have not been without complaints or mishaps.

Some remote meetings have been marred by technical problems and pornographic hacks.

In other cases, officials have been accused of using social distancing measures to retaliate against journalists and block public access to meetings.

At a time when agencies are making life-or-death decisions in response to a fast-moving virus, open government advocates say transparency is paramount.

A computer set up in a room on the first floor of Historic City Hall for members of the public to comment during a City Council meeting conducted via Zoom on Monday, April 6, 2020. The meeting was conducted via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The public needs to know what their governments are doing in response to the pandemic, and public records laws are in many cases the only legal right that the public has to information from the executive branch whether it be it local, state or federal, said Adam Marshall, staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Story continues

While some advocates think this newfound reliance on technology could lead to more transparency, others worry theyre seeing a deterioration of the publics access and ability to watchdog.

Is open government going to be the first casualty of this coronavirus? asked Amye Benshaver, who served for 25 years as an assistant attorney general in Kentucky and now works for an open government coalition there. I knew immediately this was going to create challenges, and Im hoping when this passes we can resume business as usual.

Technical difficulties

The small East Texas city of Palestine bungled its first remote meeting on March 23. A staffer recorded the meeting on a cell phone and posted it to Facebook. But the footage was practically undecipherable.

It is impossible, even with earbuds, to understand much of the discussion, Palestine resident Will Brule commented on the post. With media and the public being excluded, it reinforces the perception of the public that discussions and decisions are being hidden.

Afterward, the city spent $2,500 on computers and software to improve its streaming capabilities in time for its March 30 meeting, which went smoother, City Secretary Teresa Herrera told the USA TODAY Network.

Other governmental bodies with the capability to use Zoom, one of the most popular platforms for streaming meetings, have had their meetings Zoombombed."

The Conejo Valley United School District in Thousand Oaks, California, was forced to adjourn its Zoom meeting on March 24 after an anonymous attendee began cursing and broadcasting porn.

A University of Texas at Austin meeting was bombarded with racial slurs on March 30.

It was reprehensible. If the perpetrators are members of the UT community, they will be disciplined. We will also increase online security for all UT staff to prevent similar incidents, University President Gregory L. Fenves said on Twitter.

Anonymous attendees also disrupted Zoom meetings at two high schools in Massachusetts by displaying swastikas and cursing, according to an FBI field office there, which recommended users make their meetings private and disable attendees ability to share their screens.

Protective or retaliatory measures?

Elsewhere in the country, journalists worry that public officials are using social distancing as an excuse to operate in secret or shun them from meetings as punishment for prior critical coverage.

The Public Safety Personnel Retirement System in Phoenix kicked out Arizona Republic reporter Craig Harris from its most recent meeting on the grounds his presence would go against CDC guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended by this time canceling gatherings of 10 or more people to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Harris told the USA TODAY Network that he thinks he was denied access because of his prior reporting on the agencys overall dysfunction, including a recent story about two PSPRS trustees who earned a commission by helping to sell a PSPRS employees house, which some described as unethical and a conflict of interest.

The Arizona Republic is part of the USA TODAY Network.

Christian Palmer, a spokesman for the PSPRS, said Harris claim of retaliation was ridiculous and that the agencys agenda was written in consultation with the state attorney general. It made the meeting available online to the public.

Palmer added that the trustees Harris had written about were later cleared of any wrongdoing by a committee of four other trustees who consulted with staff and independent legal counsel. There are nine trustees total.

Journalists also have been barred from meetings about the COVID-19 response.

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, commissioners met recently to talk by phone with the governor about its COVID-19 response. When two Charlotte-area reporters  Nick Ochsner of WBTV and Joe Bruno of WSOC-TV  attempted to cover the meeting, the commissioners disbanded to separate offices so they couldnt hear them.

I get that were in unusual and unprecedented times, and I think part of that situation stemmed from just not knowing how to handle this, but that doesnt mean we dont have open government, Ochsner said. I would contend that in times of crisis, open government is even more essential so that people have the information they need.

Ochsner said a commissioner ultimately gave them the phone number to dial into the call so they heard what was discussed. Afterward, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio announced the states first stay-at-home order.

Mecklenburg County spokesman Danny Diehl said the governor requested his call with commissioners be private. To comply, the board consulted with its attorney and held the public portion of the meeting later.

Diehl said the reporters shouldnt have been at the government center in the first place because it was closed and live video and social media feeds had been provided.

Unwatched, unanswered

When public agencies dont meet, it can delay decisions that affect life, like access to clean drinking water and safe roads.

Fuller already knows the damage natural gas liquids pipelines can do.

Since Sunoco/Energy Transfers contamination of her water sickened her daughter last summer, the company has delivered hundreds of water bottles to her home each week. But Fuller wants it to devise a more permanent solution, like connecting her home to the public water utility and installing a reverse osmosis system.

She said the sinkhole she dreamt of  which later materialized  wasnt the first and hasnt been the last that the companys existing pipeline has produced in her neighborhood. The pipeline sits about 150 feet from her home.

Fuller planned to ask about these issues at public hearings held by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on April 14, 15 and 16 after she said her written comments were ignored.

The DEP canceled the hearings on March 17 because of COVID-19 and wont reschedule them, agency spokesman Neil Shader told the USA TODAY Network.

Because Sunoco/Energy Transfer is asking to change its existing permit, he said, the agency isnt required to hold a public hearing anyway. It only scheduled them because the permit was controversial when it was issued in 2017.

Both Shader and Sunoco/Energy Transfer Spokeswoman Lisa Coleman said the public can submit written comments until May 8. Then, the DEP will make a decision.

As the DEP says in their March 17th press release, all comments, whether submitted in writing or delivered at hearings, carry equal weight, Coleman wrote to the USA TODAY Network via email, declining to respond to Fullers claims per company policy on active or pending legal proceedings.

But Fuller disagreed.

There is definitely a better chance of a response at a public meeting, she said. They have to respond there and then to the public, even if it's to say they don't know. There's more exposure, accountability and sharing of information.

Temporary fix or long-lasting problem?

Open government advocates say that, in some cases, the new emphasis on using technology to broadcast public meetings could improve transparency.

Governmental bodies might reevaluate and retool the technology they're using to better serve the public. They could also make streaming meetings a regular course of business, said Daniel Bevarly, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

But open government advocates also worry that state legislatures might see the pandemic as an opportunity to permanently increase the discretion of governmental bodies on decisions of openness during an emergency.

As a reaction to Hurricane Harvey, which left some government offices flooded and inaccessible, the Texas Legislature in 2019 passed a law allowing agencies to file so-called catastrophe notices with the Attorney Generals Office. Filing the notice can extend by up to two weeks the amount of time governmental bodies are allowed to respond to public record requests.

Eighty-nine governmental bodies in Texas have filed catastrophe notices related to COVID-19 since March 3.

At least 10 other states are also allowing records delays because of COVID19. Rhode Island extended the deadline to respond by 20 business days. A new law requires New Jersey agencies only to "make a reasonable effort, as the circumstances permit, to respond to a request for a government record" during an emergency. Before, they had seven days.

Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, worries that governmental bodies may abuse catastrophe notices. They are not required to prove a catastrophe has happened nor do they have to show how the event prevented a timely response. The Attorney General doesnt have the authority to deny catastrophe claims.

But Shannon said that, right now, all she can do is watch the new law play out while continuing to preach to governmental bodies the benefits of proactively putting more information online, especially in times of crisis.

More than ever, she said, government transparency is crucial.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reporters barred. Records delayed. Coronavirus keeps government secret
General Motors (GM) and Honda have agreed to jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles (EV) for Honda, based on GMs highly flexible global EV platform powered by proprietary Ultium batteries.

The exteriors and interiors of the new EVs will be exclusively designed by Honda, and the platform will be engineered to support Hondas driving character, GM said in a press release.

Production of these Honda electric vehicles will combine the development expertise of both companies, and they will be manufactured at GM plants in North America. Sales are expected to begin in the 2024 model year in Hondas US and Canadian markets.

GM and Honda have an ongoing relationship around electrification. This includes work on fuel cells and the Cruise Origin, an electric, self-driving and shared vehicle, which was revealed in San Francisco earlier this year. Honda also joined GMs battery module development efforts in 2018.

Rick Schostek, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co, said: This collaboration will put together the strength of both companies, while combined scale and manufacturing efficiencies will ultimately provide greater value to customers. This expanded partnership will unlock economies of scale to accelerate our electrification roadmap and advance our industry-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We are in discussions with one another regarding the possibility of further extending our partnership, Schostek said.

According to Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain: This agreement builds on our proven relationship with Honda, and further validates the technical advancements and capabilities of our Ultium batteries and our all-new EV platform.

Importantly, it is another step on our journey to an all-electric future and delivering a profitable EV business through increased scale and capacity utilization. We have a terrific history of working closely with Honda, and this new collaboration builds on our relationship and like-minded objectives.

As part of the agreement to jointly develop electric vehicles, Honda will incorporate GMs OnStar safety and security services into the two EVs, seamlessly integrating them with HondaLink. Additionally, Honda plans to make GMs hands-free advanced driver-assist technology available. TradeArabia News Service
Rajendra Diyar, a migrant travelled to Hakim Chowk in Bharatpur, Chitwan with his six-year-old daughter and wife amid lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

As the lockdown was extended for the third week, it became hard for Diyar to earn bread for his family in the town of Hetauda where he runs a small garage.

Diyar told ANI, "We faced a lot of problems, the shop is closed. I run a garage, not a grocery shop, so had to shut it down. We started from Niyarpani requesting the local police station there, now we will walk down to another police station and again request for a lift."

He along with his wife and daughter had started off to Nawalparasi from Hetauda taking a lift from a truck and then started on foot.

Nationwide-lockdown imposed since March 24 has compelled many families like that of Diyar to head towards their homes on foot as the situation is turning grim for workers day by day.

He added, "There was no business at all but also we stayed there with the expectation that lockdown would end on Tuesday, but as it got extended we thought of walking back to home rather than staying there."

Nepal which has 8 active cases of COVID-19 out of which one of local transmission, the government decided on to impose lockdown for an additional two weeks taking the number of days to 21 in total.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in his address to the nation has warned that coming two weeks to be critical which also has increased fear of lockdown extension forcing people to walk on foot despite the obstacles.

Oli led administration imposed the lockdown in the Himalayan nation after the second case was confirmed in a foreign returnee on March 23. The number of positive cases of COVID-19 till Thursday stands at 9 as more positive cases were reported in intervals of time.

Since Saturday, Nepal has reported zero new positive cases of COVID-19 and already have started rapid testing in three districts namely Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Renowned Broadcast Journalist, Gifty Anti has applauded the Akufo-Addo administration for taking proactive measures to curtail the spread of Coronavirus in the country.



The seasoned broadcaster gave the current administration the thumps up for taking timely and judicious decisions to contain the situation.



Gifty Anti was among a number of travelers that were placed under compulsory quarantine after arriving in Ghana following the President's directive that all persons who would come into the country from countries with cases of COVID-19 should be mandatorily quarantined and tested to curb community transmission of the virus.



Speaking on Thursday's edition of ''Kokrokoo'' in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi, Gifty Anti noted that the decision to compulsorily quarantine persons who come into Ghana from foreign countries is worthwhile looking at the impact of the COVID-19 worldwide.



She noted that she together with other passengers who arrived from foreign countries were taken through rigorous checks and measures which proved that the Government of Ghana was tackling the Coronavirus ''as if we're at the war front. It's a battle''.



"When I got to Heathrow, brother, you just pass through. I'm telling you. Heathrow, you just pass through. There was no checking of temperature...Nobody was wearing mask and nothing, nothing till I reached London''.



She disclosed that though the UK seemed not to have put pragmatic steps in place, Ghana had already begun preliminary checks at the KIA taking travelers through mandatory screening to ensure no person leaves or enters the nation with the virus.



''There were security personnel around. The Minister and National Security Minister was there including the Deputy, Hon. Henry Quartey was there. BNI Director was there. Top Military officials were there...Health Professionals were there and they were not favouring anybody. I came with some big men. I mean high-profile personalities including Chiefs, great men of God but everybody was subjected to the same treatment. We were all nobodies''.



She further explained that it would have been catastrophic for the country if the travelers had been allowed to mingle with the society without being quarantined for 14 days and tested for the virus infection.



''Those of us who came on Saturday and Sunday were 1030. Out of the first 185 people tested, they got 25 cases. In total, they had close to 200 cases. We all would have gone away with this because nobody showed symptoms. So, you feel you're okay. God forbid, if I had turned positive and upon getting home; do you think I would have said because of compulsory (quarantine), I won't hug my daughter? It's not possible.''



To her, the mandatory quarantine was ''absolutely useful. It is one thing I will give the government a standing ovation''.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 16:36:02|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The University of Hong Kong (HKU) announced on Thursday that a super high-speed microscope developed by their researchers can effectively capture brainwave signals, offering further clues for the study of brain diseases.

This novel microscope, two-photon fluorescence microscope jointly developed by HKU and the University of California, Berkeley in the United States, can capture electronic signals and chemical transmission between neurons. It has successfully recorded the millisecond electrical signals in the neurons of an alert mouse.

At the heart of the high-speed microscope is an innovative technique called FACED (free-space angular-chirp-enhanced delay imaging) developed by HKU's research team. FACED makes use of a pair of parallel mirrors that generate a shower of laser pulses to create a super-fast sweeping laser beam at least 1,000 times faster than the existing laser-scanning methods.

In the experiment, the microscope projected a beam of sweeping laser over the mouse's brain and captured 1,000 to 3,000 full 2D scans of a single mouse brain layer every second.

Another important feature of the novel technique is that it is minimally invasive. The classical method for recording electrical firing in the brain is to physically embed or implant electrodes in the brain tissue. However, such physical intrusion could cause damage to the neurons, and can only detect fuzzy signals from a couple of neurons.

"We are working to further combine other advanced microscopy techniques to achieve imaging at higher resolution, wider view and deeper into the brain in the neocortex, which is about 1 millimeter," said Kevin Tsia, associate professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Program Director of Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering of HKU.

"This will allow us to probe deeper into the brain for a better and more comprehensive understanding of the functions of the brain," he added.

The result has recently been published in the academic journal Nature Methods.
Amid a coronavirus-stung US mourning thousands of its dead countrymen, President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to reassure the country, saying there are signs that the aggressive strategy to slow the spread is working and the number of new cases is stabilizing.

The numbers are changing and they are changing rapidly and soon we will be over that curve. We will be over the top and we will be headed in the right direction. I feel strongly about that, Trump told reporters during his daily White House conference on coronavirus.

By Wednesday more than 4.3 lakh Americans had tested positive with coronavirus and the fatalities soared to over 14,760, with more than 1900 deaths reported in just one day. New York with nearly 1.5 lakh confirmed cases and 6,200 deaths has emerged as the epicentre of COVID-19 in the US.

As we mourn the terrible loss of life for this grave pandemic, we are seeing signs that our aggressive strategy to slow the spread is working. The number of new cases is stabilizing. The number of beds necessary in so many locations -- I was watching this morning New York, I was watching Louisiana -- you see what is going on, Trump told reporters at the White House.

At the same time, Trump said some terrible days are ahead but will also soon have wonderful days ahead.

We are going to get this behind us, this terrible thing behind us. Some people will never be able to forget if they had a loved one, if they had a great friend or a friend, but we are going to get it behind us, he said.

This is a tribute to the discipline and the devotion of the American people what we have accomplished, if every American continues to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines, we can defeat the invisible enemy and save countless lives and we can do it much more quickly, Trump said.

We are hopefully heading toward a final stretch -- the light at the end of the tunnel as I was saying -- as we continue to wage all out medical war to defeat the virus, we are also finding an economic war to ensure we can quickly turn to full financial strength, said the US President.

Responding to a question, Trump said now they expect a far lower death in the country as compared to the previous projection of between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths.

I think we're just doing much better than those numbers, he said.

Dr Deborah Brix, a member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus, said the new model projects a decline in number to around 61,000.

I think what has been so remarkable, to those of us who have been in the science fields for so long, is how important behavioral change is and how amazing Americans are in adapting to and following through on these behavioral changes. That's what's changing the rate of new cases, she said.

That's what will change the mortality going forward because now we're into the time period of full mitigation that should be reflected within the coming weeks of decreasing mortality, she said, adding she is impressed by the American people.

So far the US has conducted more than 1.9 million tests.

The losses, as grievous as they are, that we are seeing today are a reflection of people that contracted the coronavirus in many cases before strong mitigation steps were taken before the guidelines for America fully took hold. The cases, however, and the new cases and the hospitalizations are, in fact, a reflection of the results of what the American people are doing, Vice President Mike Pence said.

There continues to be a great progress low and steady numbers in the states of California and Washington.

In the New York metropolitan area, New Jersey, New Orleans Metro area, Detroit and Chicago and Boston, we continue to see evidence of stabilization that should be an encouragement to every American; an encouragement that we may be reaching the point where the impact of the coronavirus is beginning to level off, Pence said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 500 million people could fall into poverty as a result of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, Oxfam has warned.

Due to the far-reaching and draconian containment measures that have brought much of the world to a standstill, the charity has said that the subsequent economic slowdown will see poverty rise globally for the first time in 30 years.

The analysis, conducted by Kings College London and the Australian National University, concluded that countries in sub-Saharan Africa, north Africa and the Middle East would be worst affected.

It looks like decades worth of progress on global poverty could evaporate, Andy Sumner, co-author of the study and an international development professor at Kings College London, told the The Independent.

Some regions are set to be pushed back by 30 years.

The report warned that by the time the pandemic has passed, more than half of the worlds population could be living in poverty.

It used data from the World Bank to model different scenarios of consumption and income contraction, measuring the effects of reduced amounts of money being spent in economies at three poverty levels  $1.90 (1.53), $3.20 (2.58) and $5.50 (4.43) per day.

It estimates that a 20 per cent drop in income as a result of recession caused by Covid-19 would push an additional 548 million people below the $5.50 line.

Professor Sumner said that with so many of the worlds poorest people working in the informal sector, the pandemic is set to usher in severe economic hardships for these individuals.

If you imagine the kind of lockdowns weve had in the UK, in a developing country youll have millions of informal sector workers leaving Delhi or Mumbai, for example, to go back to villages, said Professor Sumner. These people will have virtually no income during this period.

Even in our worst-case scenario, reality could be much worse for them.

Last month, Human Rights Watch warned that a lockdown in India, home to one of the worlds largest informal sectors, could exacerbate hunger and homelessness across the country, with thousands of people left unable to work.

The findings come ahead of key virtual meetings to be held by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and G20 finance ministers next week, in which plans to offer debt relief to the worlds poorest countries will be discussed.

The report says the potential impact of the virus poses a real challenge to the United Nations goal of ending global poverty by 2030.

The world has these goals to ending poverty and ensuring the provision of universal health care, but the discussions about financing this have completely disappeared off the radar, so maybe its time to bring those broader aspirations about ending poverty back into the debate, said Prof Sumner.

Understandably at the moment, people are very focused on whats going on in their country, but actually theres a need for global collective action.

These kind of crises can open up a space for wider thought on global policy. In a year or twos time, when the crisis has passed, that space might remain open to think more boldly about how to reduce poverty around the world.

Oxfam has called for an emergency rescue package that would enable poor countries to provide cash grants to those who have lost their income and to bail out vulnerable small businesses.

The charity said funding could be released by the immediate cancellation of $1 trillion worth of developing country debt payments and the creation of at least $1 trillion (800 billion) in special drawing rights  a form of international currency that can be used to help struggling countries.

The UN, which last month launched a 1.5bn global humanitarian response to fight Covid-19 in developing countries, says nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost as a result of the pandemic.

David Miliband, CEO and president of the International Rescue Committee, told The Independent: This is a political problem more than an economics problem, and the lesson of the last few weeks is not that we have not run out of money, but, if you need it, you can find it.

The cost of intervention now, in the poorest countries in the world will be much less than the cost of letting the disease run rampant.

Ana Arendar, head of Inequality Campaigns at Oxfam, said: Oxfam is working with church groups, community organisations, NGOs and others to hold governments to account and make sure they do the right thing.

It is revealing that what truly matters is human lives and the incredible power of solidarity and collective action, led by governments. Though while governments have started to act decisively domestically, international solidarity has yet to materialise on a grand scale.
Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, the US President Donald Trump has been holding press briefings to disseminate information about the pandemic to the people. Usually, he is asked hard-hitting questions related to the deadly virus, but that wasnt the case this time. A reporter recently asked the President about Joe Exotic. Yeah, you read that right!



The New York Post reportedly asked the President, What are his thoughts on pardoning the Tiger King star? The Netflix documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is based on Joe Exotics life.

 Twitter

Joe is serving a 22-year long sentence for organizing the murder of his arch-rival Carole Baskin along with 17 federal charges of animal abuse and usually, you dont get pardoned for such crimes. Now, asking the president about a Netflix documentary star is a little off-topic during the Coronavirus briefing. Isnt it? However, the reporter only asked this question as Trumps eldest son joked about lobbying for his father to pardon Joe Exotic.



 Reuters

According to the New York Post, Don Jr. said, "Now, I don't even know exactly what he was charged with...I watched the show, but it was like, I don't know exactly what he was guilty of or wasn't. It doesn't seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when they're saying, 'We're putting this guy away for 30 years,' I'm saying that seems sort of aggressive, he added.



Thats when Steven Nelson thought of asking this question from the US President at the White House press briefing, whether or not he has heard his sons comments and whether he would consider a pardon.

 Netflix Tiger King

To which Trump replied, "Which son? It must be Don. I had a feeling it was Don." The President also added that he knew nothing about Joe and he would look into it, referring to the pardon. However, for the crimes that Joe has committed, it is beyond my comprehension that hell ever get a pardon. Heres what people on Twitter think about the reporters question.



No, one was expecting this question!

Please reassign that reporter. We need important questions during this crisis.   ANTHONY KIEKOW (@AKiekow) April 8, 2020

Ouch.



Uh, the guy gave money to somebody he thought was going to travel across state lines to kill someone for him. No. You dont get out of crimes like that because youre charismatic and have a Netflix documentary.  TheValuesVoter (@TheValuesVoter) April 8, 2020

A little hard to believe but true!



The media actually asked the President of the United States about the #TigerKing  pic.twitter.com/GtIejhu8nT  Joe (@JoeMPrz1) April 8, 2020

We are asking the same questions, sir.



Why is this even worth mentioning?  lisaling (@lisaling) April 9, 2020

Hmm.



Because This is what we have become... in the middle of the biggest crisis is of our time THIS is the question you ask........smh  Qutresa M Hogges (@Qfresh5) April 8, 2020

Only if.



A SMART PRESIDENT says, "I've got better things to do right now !!"  Robert W. Jones (@RobertWJones) April 8, 2020

Now, a Netflix documentary wouldnt get you out of such crimes but then the world is a strange place and stranger things have happened!








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Oxford University-educated particle physicist Dr. Katherine Horton argues, based on her research and personal experiences, that the 5G network is intended as a "Directed Energy Weapon" system that aligns with the goals of the global elite to enslave humanity.





In the above video she is interviewed by Alfred Lambremont Webre.





In this interview, 5G is represented as a technological device under the control of manipulative aliens that seek to use it to encourage humans to robotize themselves (called "transhumanism") after fear of catching "viruses" so humans can be then used by the demonic aliens as a "resource" while supporting a totalitarian agenda by a Deep State.









Dr. Horton is a particle physicist and systems analyst with a masters degree in physics and a doctorate in particle physics from the University of Oxford. She worked as a high-energy physicist on the particle collider at the German Electron Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg, Germany, and on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.





She taught nuclear physics and particle physics at Hertford College, University of Oxford, conducted admissions interviews for undergraduate physics at St. Hildas College, Oxford, and served as a research fellow at St. Johns College, Oxford, a position that allowed her to expand her research into medical physics and the physics of complex human systems.





Dr. Horton's research suggests that the coronavirus is part of an alien and human elite supported depopulation and "transhumanism" agenda. She warns that there is a "quantuum" difference between existing 4G systems and the alleged weaponized microwaves that 5G uses which would create an entrenched matrix of platforms under the direction of archons.







You be the judge.




A consultant psychiatrist is calling for the minimum age for alcohol to be raised to 21 to tackle addiction issues.

It comes after new figures show the number of calls and emails to the HSEs Drug and Alcohol Helpline increased by more than 29% last year.

According to details released under the Freedom of Information Act, there were more than 5,500 contacts in 2019.

The helpline is a free and confidential listening and email service for people with concerns about drug or alcohol use.

The level of use of the service has increased sharply in recent years.

In 2018, there were 4,300 contacts, rising to 5,557 last year. In 2019, 39% of the calls and emails were related to alcohol.

Patricia Casey, a consultant psychiatrist in the Mater Hospital, is calling for new legislation to tackle the problem.

Dr Casey said: "The alcohol misuse could be an age thing, I mean if the Government was of a mind to, they could do what the Americans do and have an age of consent for alcohol of 21.

"I think it should certainly be experimented with given the serious consequences of alcohol - suicide, depressive disorders and financial problems, crime - all of those."

Eunan McKinney, from Alcohol Action Ireland, is not surprised by the statistics.

Mr McKinney said: "I think that the numbers indicate probably the level of activity that has been coming from the HSE alcohol programme throughout 2017 into 2018 and 2019 whereby they have engaged in a more proactive campaign to try and demonstrate some of the preventative measures which are required around alcohol."

In the five years between 2014 and 2019, there was a five-fold increase in the number of contacts about alcohol and cocaine.

During the same period, contacts about cannabis rose by 62%.

The number of calls and emails about prescription tablets, such as benzos and anti-depressants, is almost three times higher than in 2014.
NTT Research Distinguished Scientist Brent Waters & UCLA Professor Amit Sahai Win IACR Test-of-Time Award

NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT (TYO:9432), today announced that a paper co-authored in 2005 by Dr. Brent Waters, a distinguished scientist in its Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, has won an International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) Test-of-Time Award. Dr. Waters and Dr. Amit Sahai, a professor of computer science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, delivered their paper, "Fuzzy Identity-Based Encryption," at the 2005 Eurocrypt conference. The paper introduced attribute-based encryption, in which policy rather than individuals determines who can encrypt.

The IACR gives Test-of-Time Awards annually to papers that were delivered 15 years prior at each of the three IACR General Conferences (Eurocrypt, Crypto and Asiacrypt) and that have had a lasting influence on the field. A five-member IACR committee selects the winners based on its consensus view of a paper's impact, while taking account of available external metrics. The paper "Fuzzy Identity-Based Encryption," one of 33 included in the proceedings of Eurocrypt 2005, for instance, has a very high Google (News - Alert) Scholar citation number when compared to all cryptography papers published in 2005 and is widely regarded as changing the way that academic experts and the broader community think about encryption.

"Any paper accepted to oe of our events has passed a high hurdle to begin with," said Michel Abdalla, president of the IACR, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) senior researcher and Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) adjunct professor. "By extending our Test-of-Time awards last year to the Eurocrypt, Crypto and Asiacrypt conferences, we have been able to further recognize computer scientists, such as the authors of this year's winning papers, for truly ground-breaking contributions to the field of cryptography."







In Identity-Based Encryption (IBE), which was initially proposed in the mid-1980s, a sender encrypts a message to an identity without access to a public key certificate. What Sahai and Waters proposed in their 2005 Eurocrypt paper was a new type of IBE in which identities were viewed as a set of descriptive attributes. They called this type of IBE "fuzzy" because the system allowed for a certain amount of error-tolerance in the identities. In Fuzzy IBE, policy checking happens "inside the crypto," as attributes of the secret key are mathematically incorporated within the key itself. In other words, nobody explicitly evaluates the policies and makes an access decision. Rather, if the policy is satisfied, decryption will simply work; otherwise, it won't. The authors proved the security of their schemes under the Selective-ID security model.

One application that Sahai and Waters said would follow is attribute-based encryption, in which a party could, for instance, encrypt a document to all users that have a certain set of attributes. In the traditional model, encryption was targeted to a specific party and offered all-or-nothing access. Attribute-based encryption, on the other hand, was a less inert and more flexible approach. It would allow someone to store a document on a simple, untrusted server, rather than needing to rely on a trusted server to perform authentication checks. This new way of thinking opened additional possibilities.

"After Amit and I introduced the concept of attribute-based encryption, which was about rethinking encryption as more than targeting just a specific user, a few years later we started pushing the concept even further toward a notion now called functional encryption," said Waters, who is also a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. "It was initially a challenge to convince people that rethinking encryption was a central and fundamental problem. However, it is satisfying to see that every year now these areas are a major focal point of cryptographic research."

Professor Sahai, who is also director of the Center for Encrypted Functionalities at UCLA, served as Waters' Ph.D. advisor at Princeton University. NTT Research recently announced a collaboration with Georgetown and UCLA on cryptography and blockchain research, awarding a grant to Dr. Sahai to support his work on the leading edge of cryptography, the field of secure communications.

"This paper marked the beginning of a long and fruitful journey into understanding how we can process data while it is still in encrypted form, in a way that eventually yields an output that is not encrypted, but which doesn't reveal all the data originally encrypted," said Professor Sahai. "In the end, this line of work led us to the even grander goal of hiding secrets within software. This problem, called secure software obfuscation, remains a central research focus for both Brent and me. We look forward to many more years of collaboration and friendship."

In addition to the paper by Sahai and Waters, the IACR gave Test-of-Time Awards this year to two other papers: "Finding collisions in the full SHA-1" (Crypto 2005), by Xiaoyun Wang, Yiqun Lisa Yin and Hongbo Yu, for a breakthrough in the cryptanalysis of hash functions; and "Discrete-Log-Based Signatures May Not Be Equivalent to Discrete Log" (Asiacrypt 2005), by Pascal Paillier and Damien Vergnaud, for developing a new meta-reduction approach in the security proof of cryptosystems.

About NTT Research

NTT Research opened its Palo Alto (News - Alert) offices in July 2019 as a new Silicon Valley startup to conduct basic research and advance technologies that promote positive change for humankind. Currently, three labs are housed at NTT (News - Alert) Research: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, and the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab. The organization aims to upgrade reality in three areas: 1) quantum information, neuro-science and photonics; 2) cryptographic and information security; and 3) medical and health informatics. NTT Research is part of NTT, a global technology and business solutions provider with an annual R&D budget of $3.6 billion.

NTT and the NTT logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION and/or its affiliates. All other referenced product names are trademarks of their respective owners.  2020 NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005689/en/
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hailed a microbiologist who travelled 1,500 km from Hyderabad to Lucknow to help out in sample testing amid COVID-19 outbreak, saying there are lakhs of such "soldiers" in India who should be honoured and encouraged.

Ramakrishna of Telangana reached Lucknow after covering a distance of 1,500 km and started serving in the fight against coronavirus, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.

He is a research student and is currently assisting in taking test samples at King George's Medical University, she said.

"This is our India. There are lakhs of such soldiers in India. Let's honour them and give encouragement to their enthusiasm," the Congress general secretary said.

Her tweet came over media reports which said that Ramakrishna reached Hyderabad from a village in Telangana and from there caught a flight to Lucknow before the lockdown.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
London, 7 April 2020 (SPS) - The Sandblast UK has offered condolences on the passing of Emhamad Khadad, a member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front, Coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), on last Tuesday after long illness.



In a condolence message addressed to President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, Danielle Smith, Founding Director of Sandblast, UK said, on behalf of Sandblast UK, I would like to express our deepest sorrow about the news of the passing away of Mohamed Ould Haddad.



We would like to extend our sincerest condolences to his family for their loss and to the President and the Saharawi government for the loss of a brilliant freedom fighter who dedicated and sacrificed his life with unwavering conviction for the Saharawi self-determination cause.(SPS)



062/SPS




Capt. Brett Crozier, then the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, addresses his crew on Dec. 15. (Alexander Williams / U.S. Navy)

To the editor: Like many, I agonized over the plight of the 4,000 sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. My eyes welled with tears listening to the sailors cheer for Capt. Brett Crozier as he disembarked the ship for the last time, an overwhelming show of support for their leader who was relieved of his command after issuing a stark warning about a COVID-19 outbreak.

My concern and pride quickly turned to anger at the top brass and an administration more concerned about their own embarrassment than the well-being of Crozier's crew.

I was reminded of a letter written Aug. 21, 1944, by my grandfather-in-law on the occasion of his 20-year-old son's departure to serve in World War II as a pilot. He wrote: "You will probably come home bedecked with a lot of medals and ribbons. But they are only junk to be stowed away in the bureau drawer and handed down to your grandchildren. The most valuable treasure that you will bring back with you will be the respect and affection of those with whom you serve, the friendship and good fellowship of real men."

Crozier has come home with valuable treasure indeed while we as a country have lost mightily.

Carol P. Sanborn, Pacific Palisades

..

To the editor: For an appointed official to address the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, whose commander put his career on the line for their safety, in the manner that former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly did, is both stupid and naive.

I have no doubt every sailor, hundreds of whom have COVID-19, would have much harsher words for Modly, whose demean-and-deflect approach is right out of President Trump's playbook.

Kudos to Crozier for protecting those who put their lives on the line to protect us.

Jason Shokrian, Studio City
Insurance firms have started covering charter flights to carry gold, helping to ease logjams in the bullion supply chain that caused prices to diverge sharply in different markets, the London Bullion Market Association said on Thursday.

Gold is usually moved between countries in the holds of passenger planes, but most flights around the world have been grounded by measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Worries that it may be impossible to ship gold quickly from London, a major storage center, to New York have pushed U.S. gold futures prices far above London spot levels.

Dealers in bars and coins have also faced shortages, with demand for gold, traditionally seen as a safe haven asset, accelerating as the economic impact of the virus become clearer.

Charter flights have now been approved by insurers in terms of shipping gold, LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell told a conference call with market participants, calling it a positive and significant development.

Charter flights remained expensive, however, because of increased competition, she said.

Adding to supply disruption are the partial or full closure of some precious metals refineries, a particular problem because countries often want gold of different shapes and sizes, meaning metal must be melted and recast before delivery.

Three plants in Switzerland, the most important refining center, partly reopened this week.

Crowell said refiners in China had reopened and three of the worlds biggest in other countries  Rand Refinery in South Africa, Australias Perth Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint  had been recognized by governments as essential businesses.

Theres definitely enough refining capacity. The challenge  is still one of logistics, she said.

Crowell also said operators of precious metals vaults had agreed to cooperate to increase capacity on a best effort basis if one of the vaults closes, but this mechanism had not been triggered as vaults remained open.
By Akbar Mammadov

As of March 2020, daily oil production in Azerbaijan amounted to 763.9 thousand barrels, Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry announced on April 8.

Of this amount, 683.7 thousand barrels were crude oil, whereas 80.2 thousand barrels were condensate.

In the case of exported oil products, some 418.9 thousand barrels of crude oil, 76.2 thousand barrels of condensate and 15.5 thousand barrels of oil products were exported daily.

"Under the agreement reached at the 7th meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers on December 6, 2019, Azerbaijan has exceeded its commitment to maintain daily oil production at 769,000 barrels," the ministry said.

The Ministry of Energy has submitted data on production figures for March to the Joint Technical Commission of the OPEC Joint Monitoring Committee.

It should be noted that the implementation of the "Declaration of Cooperation" ended on March 31, 2020.

In the meantime, today, the 9th meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers will be held by video conference.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
TDT | Manama

Ambassador-Designate of Bahrain to the Arab Republic of Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League, Hisham bin Mohammed Al Jowdar, affirmed yesterday that the Embassy is securing the return of about 250 Bahraini citizens to Bahrain in the upcoming days.

This is being conducted in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Kingdoms repatriation plan of citizens abroad, who would like to return in light of the coronavirus (VOCID-19) outbreak.

The Ambassador-Designate also stressed that the Embassy is working around the clock to monitor the conditions of all Bahraini people in various Egyptian governorates and to facilitate their return to the Kingdom.
California air quality regulators continue to enforce trucking-related pollution programs during the coronavirus outbreak, but have postponed public hearings on new rulemaking as industry organizations request delays in light of the pandemic.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) programs will "continue in effect with current deadlines unchanged," CARB spokesperson Karen Caesar told FreightWaves in an email. As always, staff will be available "to work with individual parties on specific issues" and on a case-by-case basis, Caesar said.

Specifically, enforcement of a law that took effect in January requiring heavy-duty trucks to be compliant with California's Truck and Bus rule prior to vehicle registration will not be suspended as a result of the pandemic, Caesar said.

In addition to existing programs, the agency is moving forward with rulemaking for two new initiatives  the Omnibus Low-NOx and Advanced Clean Truck rulemaking.

The Advanced Clean Truck rule would require manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of nonpolluting trucks in the state. The Omnibus Low-NOx program is intended to create a stricter nitrogen oxide-emissions rule for heavy trucks.

Both programs are controversial in the trucking industry, with many companies arguing the programs would impose undue cost burdens on businesses and drivers alike.

Last week, the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA) joined members of a construction industry group in writing a letter to CARB asking for delayed rulemaking on the state's next-generation programs due to limited opportunities available for public input during the coronavirus outbreak.

"We believe the public' will be limited in its participation in the rulemaking processes due to COVID-19," Joe Rajkovacz, WSTA's government affairs director told FreightWaves.

CARB appears to share some of those concerns. A hearing on the Advanced Clean Truck rule has been delayed by one month and will now take place during CARB's June board meeting, according to Caesar. A low-NOx hearing scheduled for June, will be postponed, with the exact date to be determined, she said.

Story continues

Other programs continue as scheduled.

Providing extensions or exclusions to the Truck & Bus rule that are not already included in the regulation would put compliant vehicle owners at a disadvantage, according to Caesar, and "would only benefit those who did not comply on time."

She said CARB is not aware of any delays or issues associated with shipping products with compliant vehicles and questioned "what additional extensions or exclusions would achieve."

A three-day pass is available in certain situations, Caesar noted. The temporary permit allows a fleet owner to operate one vehicle per year that does not meet the emission reduction requirements of the Truck and Bus regulation.

As of Tuesday morning, according to Rajkovacz, CARB had not responded to the association's letter expressing concerns about new rulemaking. Informed by FreightWaves of the clean truck and low-NOx hearing delays, he said "that takes my concerns off the table."

WSTA was not saying "stop doing this stuff," Rajkovacz explained. Instead, his group questioned CARB's process  that they didn't seem to think the pandemic "should cause a pause whatsoever."

Other trucking groups, however, appeared to leverage the outbreak as a tool to fight broader implementation of the pollution mandates currently in development.

In a March 23 letter obtained by FreightWaves, Jed Mandel, president of the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), called on CARB to "take account of the incredibly adverse impacts on manufacturers that have occurred, and that continue to evolve, as a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis."

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on engine and vehicle manufacturers "is still unfolding, but is severe," Mandel wrote, and the outbreak "must result in CARB delaying and/or significantly modifying its current plans for both the Omnibus Low-NOx and ACT rulemakings."

Mandel could not immediately be reached for comment.

As industry groups call on regulators to slow down, environmental groups are waging their own campaign, asking California public officials to stay the course on air quality regulations.

In a March 31 letter obtained by FreightWaves, a coalition of environmental groups wrote Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon that "unfortunately, some of the state's biggest polluters are using this public health emergency as an excuse to weaken public health protections."

"Seven of the 10 smoggiest cities in the United States are in California, and too many of our most vulnerable communities bear the greatest burdens when the air is unhealthy to breathe," the letter stated.

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Representative image

Even as schools are struggling to maintain academic continuity due to the coronavirus outbreak, parents are hoping for some fee waivers as regular classes have been suspended.

Across the country, parents of school children are sending appeals to the state governments to seek fee waivers and prohibition of fee hikes during this period.

Though many school are trying to make up partly by online classes, students will lose some part of their academic year. Hence there is a call for a partial fee waiver for March, April and May when schools have moved to virtual classes.

However, sources told Moneycontrol that the department of school education of the human resource development ministry is unlikely to take a decision on this and would leave it to individual states and schools to take a call.

"My employer has announced a 30 percent salary cut till September 2020. While I am not trying to calculate how to handle the monthly expenses, my child's school fees has been increased from this academic session. When the schools are anyway not conducting physical classes, why cant they be considerate? said Kolkata-resident Avik Bose.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Also Read: How are students, parents and teachers handling virtual schools?

Bose who is the sole earning member in his six-member family has also appealed to the state government to seek relief from the fee hike.

Meanwhile, West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee has urged private schools to refrain from implementing any fee hike and rollback any such decision.

The minister said in a Facebook post that the government is in receipt of several complaints from guardians on fee hikes despite the macroeconomic situation in India being impacted due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A few state governments like Punjab are also taking action against private schools arbitrarily hiking fees during a economic crisis situation period.

In fact, a petition is doing rounds on online platform Change.org where parents have sought government intervention to stop all fee hikes. This petition has 26,000 signatures so far.

Kavita Bhatia, a Mumbai-based banker whose daughter studies at an international school, is worried about paying full-year fees, which has been hiked by 25 percent.

"My bank is barely doing any business and there are talks of a layoff. If I pay the annual fee of Rs 3 lakh right now, what if I lose my job? How will I save any money? We did request the school to allow us to make quarterly payments considering the scenario but they refused," she added.

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

A few schools in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are offering between 5-15 percent refund for parents who are willing to pay the entire year's fees. However, no fee-breaks or payment delays are being given.

Uma Kadhir, a domestic help in Mumbai said that her daughter's school raised the annual fees by Rs 4,000 without any notice. Further, those who do not pay the fees on time will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000.

"I am barely getting any work due to the lockdown. How will I manage the higher fees? The school should have ideally allowed us to not pay fees till July 2020," she added.

While the respective state governments are in talks with schools to ensure that fee payment deadlines are extended up to June 30 for the 2020-2021 academic year, no fee waivers will be provided.

Fee waivers can be done for only students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and not as a general rule. Schools anyway have certain flexibilities for such students. Hence, it is not viable to offer fee waiver to everyone be it for one month or for March to May, said the vice president of a pan-India school chain.

Typically, several schools offer 30-40 percent fee discount to families below the poverty line. These fee waivers are managed either through corporate donations or through special funds set up for this purpose. Hence, a large-scale waiver is ruled out, even if it is for the month of April when not a single day of school is likely to be held.
Vice President Mike Pence vowed the United States will ask the World Health Organization 'tough questions' over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said the group 'diminished' the threat of the deadly disease.

Pence, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, echoed President Donald Trump's criticism of the group.

'This is a president who believes in accountability, and the American taxpayers provide tens of millions of dollars to the World Health Organization,' Pence said. 'And as the president said yesterday, I suspect we will continue to do that, but that doesn't mean that at the right time in the future we aren't going to ask the tough questions about how the World Health Organization could have been so wrong.'

The Trump administration has taken aim at the WHO as the death troll in the United States approaches 15,000.

Earlier Wednesday, President Trump accused the group of minimizing the threat of the coronavirus as he escalated the war-of-words with the humanitarian group, a charge Pence repeated.

'Literally at the time President Trump stood up the coronavirus task force in January and suspended all travel from China, just days before that, the World Health Organization was continuing to diminish the threat of the coronavirus and its impact in China,' the vice president said. 'We'll get to the answers of that and we'll create accountability, just like the American people would want us to do.'

Vice President Mike Pence vowed the United States will ask the World Health Organization 'tough questions' over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic

The Trump administration has targeted the World Health Organization and its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

President Donald Trump and other officials have accused the WHO of minimizing the threat of the coronavirus in the early days

The World Health Organization has become a target of President Trump's ire and he has repeatedly blasted it for not doing enough to combat the coronavirus in its early days, before it entered the public conscious.

'The WHO got it wrong, they got up very wrong. In many ways they were wrong. They also minimized the threat very strongly,' Trump said Wednesday at his daily White House press briefing.

Additionally, Republican Senator Todd Young, the chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multilateral Institutions, which has jurisdiction over the WHO, sent a letter to Tedros requesting him to appear before a congressional hearing on the WHOs response to coronavirus.

'I will be convening a Subcommittee hearing once it is safe to meet to investigate the WHOs response to novel coronavirus, examine questions about how American taxpayers will be funding this organization in the future, and will be inviting you to attend as a witness before the panel. A formal hearing notice and invitation will be forthcoming at a later date,' he wrote on Thursday.

And White House economic adviser Peter Navarro added fuel to the fire Wednesday night when he slammed WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu as one of China's 'proxies'.

On Wednesday, Trump focused his attack on WHO's contradicting statements on the virus.

'As you know they made a statement January 14th that there was no human to human transmission -- there was,' Trump said.

The WHO tweeted on January 14, citing Chinese officials who claimed there had been no human transmissions of the virus in its country.

The group later acknowledged there was human-to-human transmission.

In his continued war against the WHO, the president reiterated his complaint that the agency was critical when he shut down flights from certain parts of China and he went on to complain about how much money the United States gave the group, which is part of the United Nations.

He said he was thinking about holding back millions of American funding.

'We are going to study and investigation and make a determination as to what we're doing. In the meantime we are holding back,' he said.

His comments came after the head of the World Health Organization warned the president to stop politicizing the coronavirus crisis 'if you don't want many more body bags.'

'At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people, please do not politicize this virus,' WHO Director-General Tedros said in a virtual press briefing.

'If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.'

Trump fired back.

'So when he say's politicizing he's politicizing, and he shouldn't be,' the president said at his daily briefing when he was asked about Tedros' comment.

'I can't believe he's talking about politics when look at the relationship they have to China,' Trump said and repeated his charge the agency favored China above other countries.

Tedros, at his briefing, made an appeal for global unit and said all leaders of all political parties should focus on saving their people.

'Unity is the only option to defeat this virus,' he said.

'Without unity, we assure you even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble and more crisis. That's our message. Unity at the national level,' he said. 'No need to use COVID to score political points. No need. You have many other ways to prove yourselves.'

A tweet from the WHO in January pushing out the disinformation fed to it by Beijing about the virus, which it was reticent to declare a pandemic

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warned President Donald Trump to stop politicizing the coronavirus crisis 'if you don't want many more body bags'

President Trump attacked the World Health Organization on Tuesday, calling it too 'China centric' and suggesting that it was hiding information about the coronavirus from the rest of the world

'The United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy,' Tedros said. 'They should come together to fight it and the rest of G-20 should come together to fight it, and the rest of the world should come together and fight it.

'We will have many body bags in front of us if we don't behave,' he noted. 'When there are cracks at [the] national level and global level, that is when the virus succeeds.

The organization has become the latest target of President Trump in his blame game as he points the finger for the devastating effects of the coronavirus - an economic down turn and over 12,000 American deaths - at everyone but his administration. Also feeling Trump's fury has been China, the states, governors and the Democrats.

The president has called it 'China-centric' and complained they 'missed the call' when it came to the coronavirus.

Tedros was called a 'proxy' of China by White House economic adviser Peter Navarro in an interview with Fox's The Story Wednesday night.

'The U.N. itself has 15 specialized agencies, including the WHO,' Navarro said to host Martha MacCallum.

'What China has been doing very aggressively over the last decade is to try to gain control of those by electing people to the top. It already controls five of the 15, also, by using proxies, colonial-like proxies, like Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus] at the WHO.

'As you can see in this crisis, the damage [done by] that kind of control by China [of] the key health organization has been absolutely enormous. They suppressed the human to human transmission [data], they refused to call it a pandemic,' he added.

Tedros was called a 'proxy' of China by White House economic adviser Peter Navarro in an interview with Fox 's The Story Wednesday night

'What China has been doing very aggressively over the last decade is to try to gain control of those by electing people to the top. It already controls five of the 15, also, by using proxies, colonial-like proxies, like Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus] at the WHO,' Navarro said to host Martha MacCallum

Navarro defended the president's consideration to cut funding to the WHO saying the lack of transparency cost the US 'about five weeks' of preparation for the virus that has already claimed over 14,000 lives

He then made a jab at Tedros' leadership, commenting on how WHO 'basically discouraged travel bans.'

Navarro defended the president's consideration to cut funding to the WHO saying the lack of transparency cost the US 'about five weeks' of preparation for the virus that has already claimed over 14,000 lives.

Tedros is an Ethiopian microbiologist and internationally recognized malaria researcher, who is the the first non-physician and first African to head the health organization, a role he has held since 2017.

He previously served as Ethiopia's minister of health and minister of foreign affairs.

Tedros, who is black, said he doesn't 'care about personal attacks' against himself, addressing the death threats and insults he's experienced amid the global pandemic, which has seen 1.5 million cases worldwide with more than 88,000 deaths in 209 countries across the world.

'I can tell you personal attacks that have been going on for more than two, three months. Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, Black or Negro. I'm proud of being Black, proud of being Negro,' he said. 'I don't care to be honest ... even death threats. I don't give a damn.'

On Tuesday President Trump launched a full-scale attack against the agency when he was withholding the millions of dollars the United States' contributed to it before reversing himself to say there should be an investigation of the group's response to the pandemic.

At a daily press briefing, Trump accused the WHO of mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and said: 'We're going to put a hold on money.'

When asked by reporters whether it was wise to slash funding to the WHO during a time of emergency, the president quickly backtracked and said he was only looking into a possible suspension of funds.

But he doubled down on his criticism of the group.

'They called it wrong, they called it wrong, they missed the call,' Trump said.

'They should have known and they probably did know,' he added, suggesting the group was withholding information about the coronavirus.

Trump's main beef with the United Nations health group is that leadership there said it wasn't necessary to ban travelers coming in from China as the coronavirus started spreading beyond Wuhan, where it originated.

The president has bragged that his early ban of some travelers from China kept it from being a greater threat to the U.S.

Trump has followed the lead of prominent conservatives in complaining that the WHO has been too friendly to China during the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier on Tuesday, the president attacked the WHO for being 'China centric'.

World Health Organization criticized for its response to the coronavirus crisis The World Health Organization has been criticized for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. As concern about the crisis developing in Wuhan grew, the WHO followed the Chinese government's line by stating there was 'no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission'. The United Nations agency then took another week to correct that statement. The WHO has also been criticized for not standing up to the disinformation coming from Beijing, which has been accused of downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak and misreporting its true death toll figures. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been slammed for his praise of the way China has responded to the pandemic. Dr Tedros has at times called out other countries for their handling of the crisis. In particular he lamented the 'level of stigma we are observing' in reference to the language used by President Trump to describe it as the 'China virus'. On January 31, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the outbreak. But on February 3, WHO said such bans on travel and trade were not needed. As the contagion began to spread outside of Wuhan where it originated, the WHO reassured the world that the virus was a regional problem. Most countries have since adopted the same stringent 'stay at home' rules and others have imposed lockdowns restricting citizens' movements. In late January, when the virus had already spread to several countries, a WHO emergency committee debated whether to declare COVID-19 a 'public health emergency of international concern'. However Dr Tedros declined amid Beijing's objections and instead traveled to China, before finally making the declaration a week later on January 30. At the time he said: 'The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken. 'I left in absolutely no doubt about China's commitment to transparency.' Also in late January, Tedros complimented China's President Xi Jinping for the country's handling of the virus, as the Chinese leader centralized the response after local officials in Wuhan couldn't keep the outbreak under control. Advertisement

He wrote on Twitter: 'The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.'

The World Health Organization has been criticized for not pushing China to clarify its response and question its numbers on the disease. There is skepticism about the numbers Beijing is reporting.

Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, defended the group.

He said: 'We are now in an acute phase of the pandemic - now is not the time to cut back on funding.'

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric also rejected Trump's criticism of the WHO and backed director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for his 'tremendous work'.

'For the Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] it is clear that WHO, under the leadership of Dr. Tedros, has done tremendous work on COVID in supporting countries with millions of pieces of equipment being shipped out, on helping countries with training, on providing global guidelines. WHO is showing the strength of the international health system', he told reporters.

The WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency on Jan. 30, which was 43 days before President Trump declared a national emergency in the United States.

The group is part of the United Nations and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland with 150 offices around the world.

The agency is funded in two ways - through assessed contributions and voluntary contributions.

The assessed contributions, which are like dues to the organization, are calculated by looking at a country's wealth and population.

In its February budget proposal, the Trump administration called for slashing the U.S. contribution to the WHO in half from the previous fiscal year - from $122.6 million to $57.9 million.

While the U.S. pays the most in assessed contributions, that full pot of money has only accounted for less than 25 per cent of WHO's haul over the past few years.

However, Americans NGOs and charity organizations, along with taxpayer dollars, do make up the biggest chunk of the WHO's funding.

Trump said near the start of his virus briefing Tuesday: 'The WHO, that's the World Health Organization, receives vast amounts of money from the United States and we pay for a majority, the biggest portion of their money, and they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it.

'And they were wrong. They've been wrong about a lot of things.'

'And they had a lot of information early and they didn't want to - they seemed to be very China centric,' he said, changing the point he was trying to make mid-sentence.

Later in the briefing Trump threatened to cut off the WHO's supply of money from the United States.

Trump added: 'We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We're going to put a very powerful hold on it. And we're going to see.

'It's a great thing when it works but when they call every shot wrong that's not good. They are always on the side of China.'

When the president was asked if it was a smart move to cut off funds to the major global health organization during a worldwide pandemic he backed away from his previous threat.

'I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but I'm going to look at it,' Trump pledged.

The president was also asked why he thought the WHO was 'China centric'.

Trump responded: 'I don't know, they seem to come down on the side of China.'

'Don't close your borders to China, don't do this, they don't report what's really going on, they didn't see it and yet they were there. They didn't see what was going on in Wuhan...they must have seen it, but they didn't report it,' he said.

Medics wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), unload COVID-19 patients arriving to the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus in the Bronx

World Health Organisation (WHO) European director Hans Kluge defended the agency after Trump threatened to cut funding. He is pictured (above) during a joint press conference on the Danish handling of coronavirus last month

Trump suggested he might cut the US's funding that goes toward WHO, calling the United Nations agency 'very China centric'

On January 31, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the outbreak.

But WHO said such bans were not needed, noting that 'travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are usually not effective in preventing the importation' of coronavirus cases, but may instead 'have a significant economic and social impact.'

And the group noted that 'restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions.'

'Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on,' Trump tweeted Tuesday.

'Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?' the president asked.

WHO is also still not recommending that every person wears a mask, while the Centers of Disease Control made the voluntary recommendation last week.

In late January, Tedros complimented China's President Xi Jinping for the country's handling of the virus, as the Chinese leader centralized the response after local officials in Wuhan couldn't keep the outbreak under control.

But Xi also controlled the flow of information, with reports coming out of China that the country had been trying to silence whistleblowers.
When Jamie and Kathy pitched in to help their kids create collaborative effort lamb cakes the past two years, their themes included a lamb cake morphed into a green and delicious dinosaur, for the theme Lamb Before Time last year (as a nod to mega-hit movie Jurassic World). And in 2018, a salute to the 1956 film epic The Ten Commandments. Using the theme Let Me Peeps Go, the MacNeil Family 2018 cake featured Pharaoh Lambesses, as a play on Egyptian King Ramesses, with the cake platter including a flock of Peeps held in sugar captivity. (Their family, like many, has a long-standing tradition to watch the annual TV broadcast of the iconic film which stars Yul Brynner as Pharaoh, and Michigan City native and the Oscar winning late actress Anne Baxter as Queen Nefertiri.)
PHILIPSBURG:--- Leading telecom provider UTS has reaffirmed its commitment to the people of the Eastern Caribbean islands of St. Maarten, Saint Martin, Saba and St. Eustatius as our islands face the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The company, which is owned and operated by Liberty Latin America, has established innovative ways to keep the public informed and connected.

While this is an unprecedented situation, the one thing that remains consistent and is critical in these challenging times is the ability for us to communicate and connect with our loved ones and conduct our business as best as possible, said Charlesworth Sydney, Country Manager for UTS Eastern Caribbean.

Effective immediately, UTS is zero-rating calls to all local doctors offices from Chippie phones, which means that customers calling from their Chippie mobile phone will not be charged.

To provide optimal support to customers with the current mobility restrictions, the company has also dedicated additional resources to providing telephone, email and social media customer support. This remote support team assists customers with account information, wireless broadband technical support, service upgrades and support in arranging payment and top ups while UTS stores are closed.

We are proud to operate the strongest, fastest and most reliable networks in the Caribbean and we are equally committed to providing all available resources to ensure our customers continue to have access to all-important connectivity and support, added Sydney.

To assist with the increased need for communication the company has provided Chippie postpaid customers with extra data free of charge. In addition, the company has implemented significant increases on a variety of Chippie prepaid plans to make staying in touch more affordable.

Customers opting for data-only mobile internet plans will receive more data for their money. The 1-day data plan now offers triple the amount of data through the end of April and the 10- day plan option has also jumped to 240% more data at a total of 6GB. All part of UTS effort to offer customers more value for money during challenging times.

The 7-day 3-in-1 data bundle, which provides data with free minutes & SMS, now offers almost double the amount of data, with more than triple the amount of free minutes to call any local number. For access to the bundle plan an account upgrade may be needed, which can be done by UTS agents remotely and free of charge.

The company is also making it as easy as possible for customers who havent used their Chippie SIM in a while to remain connected. This by waiving the customary reconnection fee to re-active a dormant number and by also removing the requirement to reload your account to keep the number active. This change will be applied until May 31 considering the movement restrictions customers face.

We know the products and services we deliver are absolutely essential and thousands of people are relying on us to keep them connected. Every team member fully understands this and each department across the company, regardless of its function, is working together to ensure our critical communications backend remains intact and fully operational. This is our commitment to our islands.
Now that the coronavirus induced economic mess has provided the occasion, opportunity and possibly time, too, the government should re-visit various industry-centric policies and identity those that are sustainable, whether as a Make in India or a Use in India project, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with floor leaders of the opposition and other parties in Parliament, to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and the governments efforts to contain the fallout, via video conference, on April 8, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo.

With all-round confusion prevailing over the governments well-intentioned decision and the RBIs directives for commercial banks to re-structure EMIs and interest, it may be time they consult the end users about what would help them over the short, medium and long-terms, when it comes to help absorb the coronavirus-driven economic and fiscal shocks, even if partially.

For one thing, the capital-intensive, low-profit airline industry may welcome it if the government declares that they need not pay the AAI rentals for parking their aircraft in the tarmac and hangars of various airports across the country. The government may have to consider even cutting down the price/duties of aviation fuel once the airliners become air-bound.

There may be other concessions this particular industry may want, which only they will be able to tell the government. However, yes, individual airlines may have different priorities, depending on the state and status of their own fiscal and economic health when it all got stalled.

Then, there is the media industry. As if taking it out on the media for their unstinted and at times abstruse backing for the government and leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has suggested stopping government advertisements for two years.

On paper it may not be a bad idea, if and if only the industry had been doing well pre-coronavirus. That was not the case with any industry or any sector in the country, starting with the public sector and governments own economic health.

Media insiders say that for two years in a row, the industry has been losing an average 15 per cent in ad revenue, before the virus struck. They heave a sigh of relief that the pandemic problem came in only towards the end of the financial year.

However, coming in the aftermath of an un-sympathetic Budget, they expect to lose another 15 per cent in fiscal 2019-20. They are unsure and unclear about what to expect in the current fiscal, which commenced formally in the midst of the coronavirus threat and nationwide shutdown.

Both these, for instance, are seen as high-profile, high-end industries. But they also employ a lot of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workforce, which goes beyond what is visible to the naked eye. For instance, the media industry is supported by ad agencies, and together they only reflect the health of the other sectors, which place those advertisements in newspapers and on television.

While other sectors seek and obtain fiscal concessions and credit at the instance of the government, the one way and possibly the only direct way for governments, both at the Centre and in the states, to help the media industry meet their half-way costs is through what is generally known as government ads. Needless to point out, governments pay a low tariff, compared to commercial, industry ads, even otherwise.

Yet, Sonia Gandhi may have a point. Once the coronavirus is behind the nation, and the government needs to look at sector-wise support for industries to stand up, it may have to draw up a more transparent and market-oriented pricing policy for government ads, and also market it with state governments.

At the end of the day, it all means that the media industry is like any other industry, with its inherent ups and downs when it comes to economies of scale. They are not there just to market the nation and nationalism as their forebears did at the time of the freedom movement, and even later.

It is also no more of a brick-by-brick building up of readership loyalty and circulation without much reference to the economies of scale. Media industry, today, is not only competitive. It is even more capital-intensive, from the very word go.

But then, these are only two industries where the problems are beginning to become visible. The construction industry took a hit very long ago. Post-coronavirus and ahead of the US presidential polls later this year, there could be competitive campaigning for Make in America adventurism. It could mean loss of more jobs for India and Indians, including on the home front, as the issue goes beyond H-1B visas and cover out-sourcing even in the much-coveted IT sector.

Now that media speculation is centred on the possibility of an extended curfew/shutdown/lockdown, it may be time that various departments of the governments, both at the Centre and the states, went back to doing their respective part of damage assessment and damage-control. They need to acknowledge that a lot of things went wrong with the management of the economy pre-coronavirus, and should not seek to push them all under the carpet.

Unless it happens, there is little or no chance that the economy could recover, sooner or later. There are visible issues inherited pre-coronavirus. One is what economists have called structural issues, which this government did not seek to address, leave alone possibly accept, either.

Sticking to Trump-ism and sacking economic advisors of the government is no healthy or healthy substitute for intention to fend off, then fight off the economic hiccups.

Truth be acknowledged even at this late hour, even the much-maligned bank NPAs were/are only a symptom of a deeper malice. The malice is a two-way street, but the government seems to be satisfied addressing only one of them. That is to fix responsibility and accountability for the absence of due diligence in the banking industry, unlike in the past.

The other issue is typical of the overall industry pattern of growth and development. The question, for instance, should have been: Is the airliner industry as a whole all that sustainable as was being made out to be? How many airliners and aircraft and airports does India need, and more importantly, the Indian customer/consumer can support?

That was/is a policy-decision that only the government could have taken, and should take at least at this late hour. Now that the economic mess has provided the occasion, opportunity and possibly time, too, the government should re-visit various industry-centric policies and identity those that are sustainable, whether as a Make in India or a Use in India project.

Even without it all, it was time the government revisited the nations economic direction, policies and programmes, from the day it shifted gears to usher in a market-centric economic reforms agenda. Within five years of it all, Manmohan Singh, who piloted the entire scheme with a missionary zeal, admitted that what India needed was reforms with a human face.

Translated, it meant that the ruling party cannot push reforms without an eye on elections.

In the overall context, the Modi government should also reconsider the two-year cancellation of the MPLAD funds for parliamentarians. In times of crises like the present one, parliamentarians and state legislators may have links to local and localised issues on which the governments at the Centre and in the states cannot be expected to identify projects and provide funds.

If anything, the government should consider granting Rs 5 crores for each Lok Sabha constituency instead of the cancelled Rs 2 crore each. However, the government should tie such aid to state government programmes and oversight, to ensure that there are overlapping  or, leakages.

Now that PM Modi has begun consulting with Opposition parties and state chief ministers, possibly for the first time in his six-year-long career as prime minister, maybe he should also consult economists and sociologists to give a new and all-acceptable spin to the nations economic policies and management.

Industry and sector-wise hiccups and coronavirus crisis apart, the nation needs the kind of consensus that held through the P V Narasimha Rao and Vajpayee regimes, but not afterwards. Incidentally, if there is enough money in middle-class Indian pockets to invest in stocks and shares that FIIs and FFIs fancy, maybe there is that much money available for the government to encourage the local industry to tap.

That kind of protectionism, not stopping with social media calls for all Indians to be Be Indian, Buy Indian, may hold the answer for the nations economic perils, over the medium and long-terms.

So what if the nation has to revisit the reforms process from a new perspective? After all, mid-term correctives are common and necessary. This has not been done in this case, going beyond addressing constituency interests, as Manmohan Singhs UPA-I & II did, and the Modi dispensation followed up so very diligently and sincerely.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analysts, is Distinguished Fellow and Head-Chennai Initiative, Observer Research Foundation.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members will on Thursday convene a closed-door meeting with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the COVID-19 via videoconferencing.

The meeting is expected to focus on the Secretary-General's appeal for a global ceasefire and the pandemic's impact on Council agenda situations, including peacekeeping operations, special political missions and humanitarian responses, according to What's In Blue, a series of insights produced by Security Council Report on evolving Security Council actions.

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, the 15-member Security Council has not met even once or come up with a united response or resolution to the pandemic, mostly due to a stand-off between the US and China over the origin of the virus, which has infected at least 1.5 million people globally and killed more than 80,000 others.

Last week, nine member states of the UNSC requested to discuss the global health emergency caused by the coronavirus and its impact on UN operations across the world. Guterres later confirmed that he is going to brief the Security Council on the matter.

The session comes as Council members have been discussing two separate draft resolutions on COVID-19 -- a reported French-led draft resolution that has been discussed exclusively among the P5, and, more recently, a Tunisian-produced draft resolution that elected members have been negotiating, the website said.

A resolution could galvanise the global community towards a response coalesced around international security against COVID-19, it added.

Dominican Republic took over the presidency of the UNSC on April 1 from China which held the chair till March 31.

In a report last week providing an update on his global ceasefire appeal, Guterres described the COVID-19 pandemic as "the greatest test the world has faced since the formation of the United Nations", which "has and will have profound social, economic and political consequences, including relating to international peace and security".

In his global appeal, the Secretary-General further highlighted the particular challenges to conflict-affected countries where "health systems have collapsed," "health professionals are few in number and have often been targeted", and refugees and displaced persons are "doubly vulnerable".

In his briefing today, Guterres is also likely to focus on the pandemic's impact on and risks to Council agenda situations. He is also expected to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on UN peace operations, which has been suspended till June 30 in view of the rapid virus spread and their ability to fully carry out their mandated activities.

-ANI

Also Read: Coronavirus in India: 550 fresh cases, 17 deaths recorded in last 24 hours; total climbs to 5,734

Also Read: Coronavirus: 162 more COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, state tally reaches 1297
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Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya and Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 17:06 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0e2478 1 Politics omnibus-bill-on-job-creation,NasDem,Gerindra-Party,house-of-representatives,Lawmakers,labor-union Free

As taking to the streets risks spreading COVID-19, Workers and other members of the public have instead flooded lawmakers mobile phones with text messages expressing their objection to efforts to continue deliberating the controversial omnibus bill on job creation.

The public sent thousands of texts to members of the House of Representatives Legislation Body (Baleg) following a closed-door meeting held by lawmakers to discuss the bill on Tuesday.

Baleg chairman Supratman Andi Agtas wrote a Facebook status on Wednesday saying he had received 10,000 messages through SMS and WhatsApp after the meeting. Most of the texts had come from members of workers unions who had voiced their concern about the bills effect on working people. It could be the biggest protest through social media in the countrys history, the Gerindra politician wrote in the status.

Thanks for reminding me and the other Baleg leaders. We will listen to your voice and fight for it in the deliberation of the omnibus bill on job creation.

Baleg deputy chairman Willy Aditya of the NasDem Party said he had also received thousands of messages on his phone starting on Tuesday afternoon. He vowed to fight for workers in the deliberation.

He also suggested that the government drop the labor provisions of the bill and include them in revisions of other laws, asserting that the main substance of the bill should be to streamline the bureaucracy and attract investment.

"We have to focus on that. [...] NasDem has been suggesting shifting the labor cluster contents to other relevant laws, for example, the revisions of the Labor Law or the industrial relations dispute settlement law," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. He argued that by focusing on the main objective, the bill could be deliberated smoothly and without protest.

Workers, activists and members of the public have repeatedly criticized the House and government for trying to push through the controversial bill. They have said it will harm democracy, the environment and the interests of workers. Protests against the bill continued amid the COVID-19 outbreak as the government imposed restrictions on public activities.

Lawmakers continued with the deliberation despite a public outcry demanding the bill be put on hold in light of the pandemic. Lawmakers were accused of lacking empathy as the virus upended many peoples lives, especially the poor.

Read also: Backroom bargain: Baleg holds closed meeting on job creation bill

Tuesdays closed-door meeting was partially virtual and included members of Baleg. It was not scheduled on the Houses Tuesday agenda and began at 12 p.m. Journalists were invited to join at 3 p.m. via Zoom, a video conferencing program, just as the meeting was about to end.

Willy said the main result of the meeting was that the House and the government had established a working committee for the bill for next week.

Several labor groups have asked people to flood the phones of Baleg leaders, namely Supratman, Willy, Rieke Diah Pitaloka of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Achmad Baidowi of the United Development Party (PPP), with messages urging them to stop the deliberation of the government-initiated bill.

A chain message circulated by the groups on WhatsApp included the four lawmakers phone numbers and a message template:

"To the members of the House of Representatives,

I [enter your name], a [enter your occupation] in [enter your city] expressly reject the omnibus bill because it is very detrimental to workers and the public.

I ask the House to cancel the deliberation and focus on handling COVID-19."

The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), one of the countrys largest labor groups, plans to hold a massive protest against the omnibus bill despite the pandemic.

Read also: Labor union to hold massive protest in Jakarta despite physical distancing measures

Besides blasting lawmakers with text messages, labor unions and civil society organizations have also opposed the bill by taking their protests on online platforms. Some of the groups held joint discussions to educate members and the public about the possible effects of the bill.



"The omnibus bill puts an emphasis on corporate interests instead of workers. If the bill passes, it will only legitimize the exploitation of human and natural resources," Nining Elitos from the Congress of Indonesia Unions Alliance (KASBI) said in a discussion on Monday.



Nining said the House should focus its attention on the COVID-19 outbreak instead of rushing to deliberate controversial bills.



"Members of the House should be the voice of the people. Don't they see that many workers are suffering right now due to the outbreak? Thousands of workers were laid off without severance payment, many were asked to stay home without compensation, and those who are still working are not equipped with proper protective gear against the virus," she said.



Suarbudaya Rahadian, a pastor from the reformed Baptist Grace Community Church (GKA) who participated in the discussion, said the COVID-19 crisis had shown that the House never really prioritized people's interests.



"They only prioritize the interests of capital owners who sponsor them in politics. They seem very eager to pass the bills despite limitations, such as the physical distancing policy. I know we're in a tough situation right now due to the outbreak, but if we don't move now they could take action that will harm us in the future," Rahardian said.



Nining said that prior to the outbreak, unions had held rallies to protest the bills, and recently, they had sent a letter to the House demanding they cease deliberation.



"We're still considering what else we could do to stop the deliberations. Maybe we could stage a street rally while wearing masks and protective gear, but for now, we can only protest on online platforms, such as through social media," she said.


The Chicago Cloud Gate sculpture (a.k.a. The Bean) in Millennium Park is closed to visitors on March 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

A case study in Chicago demonstrated the importance of social distancing in containing the spread of the coronavirus.

The investigation, which was published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Chicago Department of Health, traced the cases from the first infected individual, identified as Patient A1.1, after they attended a funeral and birthday party.

The coronavirus, which causes a respiratory illness known as COVID-19, spread to at least 16 other people and killed three in the super-spreading event.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Related Video: How Long Will Social Distancing Last? It's Complicated

A super-spreading event in Chicago, Illinois, is emphasizing the importance of social distancing in containing the spread of the coronavirus, experts say.

A case study published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chicago Department of Health illustrated the chain reaction of the coronavirus spread by investigating the super-spreader, identified as Patient A1.1.

The investigation, which spans 28 days, traced the subsequent cases from Patient A1.1, who had recently traveled out-of-state, as the virus spread to at least 16 other people and three died after attending a funeral and birthday party. The ages of those who contracted the virus ranged from 5 to 86, and the three deceased were all older than 60, according to the CDC report.

In February, Patient A1.1, who was experiencing mild symptoms at the time, went to a potluck dinner with two other people the evening before the aforementioned funeral, the deceased being a close family friend who died from non-coronavirus-related circumstances. The meal, which lasted three hours, also involved common serving dishes.

The next day, Patient A1.1 attended the funeral, offering condolences and hugging friends and family. Within a week of the event, both hosts of the dinner and one funeral attendee tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes a respiratory illness known as COVID-19.

Story continues

The condition of one dinner host deteriorated enough to warrant hospitalization, when a family member visited without wearing any personal protective equipment. The family member later began to develop coronavirus symptoms, and the dinner host eventually died.

coronavirus driving roads chicago

Rebecca Harrington/Business Insider

Patient A1.1 infected at least seven people at a birthday party, two of whom died of the coronavirus

Meanwhile, Patient A1.1, who was still experiencing symptoms, attended a birthday party with nine people, which lasted about three hours. Seven attendees later were diagnosed with COVID-19.

One attendee who tested positive was eventually hospitalized and spread the virus to two other people who visited them in the hospital  and one visitor, in turn, infected another likely due to household contact. The party attendee later died of COVID-19.

Three symptomatic party attendees attended a 90-minute church service, infecting at least one person seated one pew in front of them. The incident of the infected church-goer came as Illinois banned gatherings of 50 or more people, more than two weeks since Patient A1.1 had infected the two dinner hosts.

Four days after the gatherings ban, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a state-wide stay-at-home order.

"Media reports suggest the chain of transmission described in Chicago is not unique within the United States," the report stated. "Together with evidence emerging from around the world, these data shed light on transmission beyond household contacts, including the potential for super-spreading events."

"Overall, these findings highlight the importance of adhering to current social distancing recommendations, including guidance to avoid any gatherings with persons from multiple households and following state or local stay-at-home orders."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Published on:

9 April 2020



Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela (second from left) visits Queen Marys campus in Gozo. Credit: Clodagh O'Neill Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela (second from left) visits Queen Marys campus in Gozo. Credit: Clodagh O'Neill

Following the temporary closure of all educational establishments in Malta, Queen Mary University of Londons Malta campus, located in the grounds of Gozo General Hospital in Victoria, Gozo, and run by Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, is being put to good use in the fight against coronavirus.

Two of the largest lecture theatres on campus are being used for the temperature-controlled storage of over one million euros worth of additional medical equipment for use by Steward Healthcare, who operate three public hospitals in Malta.

Gozo General Hospital is now using the School of Medicine and Dentistry campus to continue to provide chemotherapy to Gozitan cancer patients, with post-chemotherapy patients receiving care in the Malta campus Skills Area as Gozo General moves vulnerable patients and repurposes their own wards in the event that they are needed for COVID-19 patients.

Prime Minister Abela visited the campus to see the preparations being made in person and was given a tour of the building by Adrian Formosa, Facilities & Resources Manager for Queen Marys Malta campus and Dr Nadine Delicata, Chief Operating Officer of Steward Health Care Malta.

Delighted to help

Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: It is important to us at Queen Mary to be very much a part of the community in which we work and which we serve. So we are delighted to help out in this very difficult time and contribute to the fight against coronavirus in Gozo.

In the coming weeks, the Hospital also has plans to move outpatient consultations into the Queen Mary Malta campus. Queen Marys medical school in Malta has emptied the main classrooms of furniture to make them available as dormitories for clinical staff if required, and the hospital and Steward Healthcare are moving management and administration staff onto the campus to free up space in Gozo General, which is making 80 beds available for patients with coronavirus.

Students and staff from the medical school have been invited to volunteer to assist in any way that they are qualified to do so, and a number of staff and international students who have returned home are currently volunteering for the NHS in the UK.

During the temporary closure of the campus, teaching has moved online and the school has received positive feedback from Queen Mary medical students studying remotely. The majority of students have returned to their home countries but the medical school is supporting the small number of students who remain resident on the island.

More information:
WSE Expressing consent by the antitrust authority in Poland to take over control the Company by the Investor

Management Board of Work Service S.A. ("Issuer" or "Company"), with reference to the Current Report No. 12/2020, 12/2020/K and 14/2020 hereby informs that today the Company received information that the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has given its consent to take over control the Company by Gi INTERNATIONAL S.R.L., wholly owned by Gi Group SpA ("Investor"). The decision of the Polish antitrust authority to consent to the Investor taking over control of the Company was issued on April 9, 2020.

Obtaining the consent of the relevant antimonopoly authorities for the Investor to take control over the Company and its affiliates is one of the conditions precedent to the transaction with the Investor, set out in the investment agreement concluded between the Company and the Investor on 13 February 2020. Legal basis: Article 17(1) MAR _Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council _EU_ No 596/2014 of 16 April 2014 on market abuse _Regulation on market abuse and repealing the Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC. Signatures: Iwona Szmitkowska - President of the Management Board Jarosaw Dymitruk - Vice-President of the Management Board
WASHINGTON  Its unclear when it will be safe again for Americans to travel cross-country or gather dozens to a room amid the coronavirus pandemic. But Congress might have to do it soon anyway.

There is no way for members of Congress to cast votes without being in the Capitol. And despite mounting calls, especially from younger lawmakers, for a way to vote remotely, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says any such changes are a long way off.

Were not there yet, and were not going to be there no matter how many letters somebody sends in  with all the respect in the world for that, the San Francisco Democrat told reporters in a call Thursday.

Pelosi cited a number of concerns, including the security of any technology used, the constitutionality of changes to the rules, the logistics of having members vote on the change, and the time needed to be sure any new system is well thought out and bipartisan.

The House and Senate have been out of session since March, and they have no plans to return until at least April 20. But that date could prove optimistic, as many states and localities have urged people to stay home at least into May.

The House was forced to assemble more than 200 lawmakers on short notice last month to pass the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill because a single Republican lawmaker from Kentucky objected to approving it by unanimous voice vote.

Now, Republicans and the White House are pressing for a supplement to that package and another massive recovery bill. Pressure is mounting for a way for lawmakers to pass legislation without having to return to Washington, including from several members of the Bay Area delegation.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, has repeatedly introduced resolutions to allow House members to vote remotely since coming to Congress in 2013. As the pandemic spread, he led a request by dozens of Democrats to make a temporary rules change to allow it.

My constituents need a voice in Congress right now, Swalwell said in a statement. It is critical that no matter how this crisis develops, I can continue to advocate for working families in my district  no matter where I am physically.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, also renewed the call Wednesday, tweeting a series of reasons why any argument against remote voting doesnt hold up to reality.

If anyones vote is wrong, wed know immediately, because we almost always know how everyone is voting, Khanna wrote regarding the safety of technology.

Also, we have the security to defend against cyberattacks. Congress just needs to partner with tech, Khanna said.

Everyone in Congress is trying to figure out how we do business functionally as a body if we are still looking at significant shelter-in-place restrictions in May, said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. Many members just feel very strongly that we shouldnt physically be in the petri dish of the Capitol right now.

A bipartisan group of centrist lawmakers sent Pelosi and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield a letter on Tuesday reiterating the call, and suggesting options like telephonic voting, videoconferencing and voting machines in members district offices or homes.

House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., released a report on the options. It concluded that proxy voting would be the best alternative to in-person voting, in which a lawmaker who was present could register a colleagues vote.

But any changes would require amending multiple House rules, the report concluded, and lawmakers would have to be present to vote on those.

Pelosi said Thursday that the idea is being pursued, but that the concerns outlined in McGoverns report remain unresolved. In the meantime, she said, addressing the pandemic takes priority, and Congress best minds should concentrate on that.

Its one area where Pelosi is in agreement with McCarthy. He said that he had discussed the matter with Pelosi and that any changes would require lawmakers to be present.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky feels the same way, telling Fox News Radio: We can work with this pandemic if we have to.

San Jose Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren chairs the House Administration Committee and has been exploring ways in which committees could meet and perhaps vote remotely. She said any solution needs to account for the responsibilities of Congress as a public body.

I think its a mistake, whether its voting as a House or as a committee, to focus on technology rather than the principles involved, Lofgren said. Whether its in-person or using components of technology, its preserving elements of the democratic system thats important.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
Google employees banned from using Zoom on their devices. The company reportedly sent out emails to those who had Zoom installed on their office laptops. The mail cited security concerns and said that the software would stop working from this week

Google has reportedly banned the use of the popular videoconferencing app, Zoom from its employees devices. According to a report by BuzzFeed News, the company has sent out an email to employees whose office laptops had the Zoom app installed. Citing security vulnerabilities the mail reportedly stated that the software will stop working from this week onwards.

We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network, Google spokesperson, Jose Castaneda, told BuzzFeed News. Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.

The popularity of the Zoom app surged recently as a majority of the world started working from home due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. The app was not only used for teleconferencing but was also used by educational institutes for teaching students.

However, things turned sour when recent reports suggested that the app was far from secure. An investigation by Motherboard suggested that Zooms app for the iPad and iPhone sent data to Facebook, even if they did not have Facebook accounts. Zoom has since issued an apology for this and said that it did so unwittingly. According to a statement given to Motherboard, Zoom said that the app did not share in sensitive information like user names, emails and phone numbers, but "included data about users devices such as the mobile OS type and version, the device time zone, device OS, device model and carrier, screen size, processor cores, and disk space". Zoom has also pushed out an update that no longer uses Facebooks SDK. However, the platform noted that users would still be able to login with their Facebook accounts if they want.
Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan recently opined that people are fascinated that just about everything in America is closed except its liquor stores.

This is because there isnt a politician in the country stupid enough to prohibit alcohol in a national crisis, she wrote.

Hmm.

She also wrote, No nation in the history of the world has closed both its churches and its liquor stores simultaneously and survived.

Dont know if that ones true, but its an interesting thought. In both cases, such closures make it harder for anyone to lift their spirits.

So, welcome to Pennsylvania.

Gov. Tom Wolf, to fight the spread of Covid-19, shut down liquor stores last month then asked churches to end in-person services.

Fervor, religious and otherwise, spread rather rapidly.

And while one can pray without ones church, one cant drink without ones booze, so fervor over liquor spread a little further.

Grocery stores are open. Beer distributors are open. Why cant State Stores be open?

Seems two reasons. First, it helps Wolfs stay-at-home mitigation orders by eliminating another 600 places people gather. And, arguably, it further protects store workers and would-be customers.

Second, it gives Wolf some cover in the controversy over his closing so many businesses, as in, `See, Im closing state business, too. And it shows love for unionized store workers, who were paid since stores closed March 17 -- and until April 10, according to Liquor Control Board communications director Elizabeth Brassell.

But booze-buyers werent happy. They wanted their government to protect and serve.

Wolf got the message and announced April 1 that the drinks were online.

But it was April Fools Day, and they really werent. Wolf jumped the gun. Clearly, the LCB wasnt/isnt ready. Its website (lcb.pa.gov) was/is swamped.

For example, on April 6, it got more than 1.5 million hits. Only about 216,000 happy hour hunters got in, leaving 1.3 million folks reading a message about overwhelming demand while being thanked for being a a valued customer.

Sort of like, `Your call is important to us.

(Tell me again, why we have an LCB.)

Now, there are far more critical issues facing us all than availability of booze. Everybody gets that. But Pennsylvania, unique in so many ways, now gets national attention for not being able to handle its liquor.

CNN reported you can buy online in the Keystone State only if youre lucky.

Forbes last week noted that during a tremendous upsurge in the liquor business, Theres at least one state in the Union bucking that trend  and it has nothing to do with the will of consumers.

Guess who?

Brassell says the LCB is working to expand online capacity and distribution efforts, including using more facilities and employees (its now using three large centers in Allegheny, Montgomery and Luzerne County) to pack and ship orders.

She and others note the agency faces the same logistical and technical issues dogging every supplier of popular goods and services everywhere.

Could the state have done better?

Sure. Open some stores with limited employees and limited access. Use some version of call-ahead orders and curbside pickup ala take-out food.

And there certainly are options for those who value the calming, restorative (and these days, some would argue, required) pleasures of moderate drinking.

Theres wine from some grocery and convenience stores, beer, mail order or direct pick up from many of 1,000 in-state breweries, wineries and distilleries, and direct-shipped wine from more than 1,200 state-approved sources around the country.

And while there are (not promoting, just noting) plenty of places to get alcohol online, buying out-of-state spirits risks the wrath of the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. Its, of course, illegal in Pennsylvania, same as in-person buying from border states.

Still, for me, hope is a garnish in the cocktail of the day. So, heres hoping these days pass quickly. Cheers.

John Baer may be reached at baer.columnist@gmail.com

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The cost of filling up a car with petrol can currently vary by more than 3.50 in Britain as average fuel prices drop at a differing pace across the country, This is Money can reveal.

A litre of unleaded on average is most expensive in London costing 113.6p at the start of this week, while in Northern Ireland it is just 105.7p, data released by Forecourt Trader - the flag waver for the petrol retail industry - shows.

The figures show the region where fuel prices have recently fallen by the most is the West Midlands - consequently the area where a retailer has been selling unleaded for less than 1-a-litre for over a week.

And the AA has warned that drivers will still be paying 10p-a-litre too much for unleaded over the Easter weekend, with average pump prices still way behind the fall in wholesale costs.

Inconsistency at the pumps: Fuel price data shows that a litre of unleaded on average is most expensive in London costing 113.6p and cheapest in Northern Ireland, at just 105.7p

The latest average fuel price data shows that there is no consistency across the UK with the rate at which petrol prices are decreasing following the recent crash in oil caused by competition between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the fall in demand following the Covid-19 outbreak across Europe.

The difference in unleaded prices is as much as 8p-a-litre depending on where you live - which can translates to a gulf of 3.78 to fill up, the AA says.

While the gap between the most and least expensive locations has fallen from around 4 a week earlier, experts say some areas are still not passing on savings as rapidly as others.

For instance, the speed of the price fall in the South East is only just starting to pick up but, compared to Northern Ireland, a tank of petrol still costs 3.50 more.

With traffic volumes shrinking by three quarters since the country was put into lockdown as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Petrol Retailers Association warned last week that hundreds of smaller independent business would have to close in the coming weeks due to a lack of sales.

That said, it is the most most rural parts of the UK that are charging much less for fuel than the most populous.

Fuel prices have fallen most in the last week in the West Midlands, while prices are dropping at the slowest rate in the North East

The difference in unleaded prices is as much as 8p-a-litre depending on where you live

Luke Bosdet, fuel spokesman for the AA, told This is Money: 'Some time ago, Northern Ireland used to be the most expensive part of the UK for road fuel, other than perhaps the Highlands. More recently, it has become the cheapest.

'This has been a puzzle. Factors that may have contributed to the change in fortune is the retailer mix, in particular Asda opening up fuel stations in most of Northern Ireland's major towns and cities.

'Another possibility is that it has an effective consumer watchdog in the Consumer Council. Mainland UK can't even get to grips with hugely expensive motorway pump prices.

'The oil price crash, with the knock-on for wholesale costs heading to the pump, has made the price difference between one end of the country and the other more acute.'

Another standout figure in the data is the rate at which the price of petrol is falling in the West Midlands, down 4.28p per litre on average in the last week.

This is the area home to the first independent fuel retailer to offer petrol for less than 1-a-litre a fortnight ago - a Murco station outside Birmingham.

Average prices are falling fastest in the West Midlands. Consequently, this is the area where a retailer lowered unleaded below 1-a-litre first a fortnight ago

The AA says the pricing by this retailer alone is unlikely to have triggered the decline across the region, but says it points to there being much stronger competition than in other parts of the UK.

Unleaded prices fell at the slowest rate in the North East last week, down just 2p-a-litre on average.

The AA has predicted that UK petrol prices will hang at 'around 10p-a-litre higher than they should over Easter', following a plateau in declining prices in recent days.

That's despite wholesale costs for retailers plummeting on the back of shrinking oil value.

The news comes after it was revealed earlier this week that fuel prices have hit a three-and-a-half-year low with some petrol stations selling it for less than 1-a-litre.

Government figures showed the average cost of a litre of petrol in the UK is 1.10 and 1.17 for diesel.

In the past week, typical prices for both fuel types have fallen by 2p per litre, resulting in the lowest average price for petrol since August 2016, and diesel since August 2017.

A 55-litre family car is today around 9 cheaper to fill up than it was in late January.

It comes after the price of oil plummeted as a result of the global coronavirus outbreak, with two of the world's top producers falling out over the pandemic.

Fuel prices have sunk to their lowest level in up to three-and-a-half years

Saudi Arabia, which produces around 10 per cent of global supplies, decided to slash prices and ramp up production after Russia refused to go along with planned cuts.

After hitting an 18-year low last week  below 25 dollars for a barrel of Brent crude oil  prices rallied when US President Donald Trump said the two sparring countries would agree to slash production.

A barrel of Brent is now trading at 33.67 dollars, but investors have seemed cautious this week, and the price dropped 3.1 per cent on Monday.

The number of motorists taking advantage of cheaper fuel is limited however, as the Government has ordered people to only go outside for food, health reasons or to commute if they cannot work from home.

Department for Transport figures show that road traffic has fallen by around two-thirds in the past three weeks.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is out of intensive care, Downing Street said.

Johnson, 55, is being treated for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. He was taken to an intensive care unit on Monday before being moved out of the unit on Thursday.

The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery, Downing Street said in a statement.

Johnson, the top official in the United Kingdom, is perhaps the highest-profile active virus case in the world.

Diagnosed last month, Johnson was hospitalized this week after suffering persistent symptoms including high temperature and a cough.

COVID-19 manifests similarly to the flu but, according to early statistics, is deadlier in some groups of people, especially the elderly and infirm.

While Johnson was in an ICU for three days, he was never on a ventilator.

About 80 percent of patients who go on the breathing machines end up dying, according to data from New York hospitals.

Officials said earlier Thursday that Johnsons condition was improving.

Things are getting better for him, his culture minister, Oliver Dowden, said. Hes stable, improving, sat up, and engaged with medical staff.

He is still in intensive care but he continues to make positive steps forward and hes in good spirits, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added at a press conference.

Johnson was still in good spirits, according to Downing Street.

Johnson is being cared for at St. Thomas Hospital in London.

From The Epoch Times
US attempt to block Iranian funds in Europe nullified: Iran

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 08 April 2020 3:03 PM

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), also known as Bank Markazi, says the country has won a legal battle in Europe to dismiss a US attempt to have Iranian funds blocked and handed over to Washington for compensating the so-called victims of terror.

Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Wednesday that courts in Luxembourg had taken Iran's side in a dispute over $1.6 billion worth of Iranian funds hold by Clearstream, a securities depository, which Washington had sought to block and confiscate.

"Through Bank Markazi's legal follow-up, the US attempt to have CBI's funds in Europe confiscated and transferred was nullified," said Hemmati.

The CBI governor said that Iran had first won a legal case to have the funds in Luxembourg unblocked and then a second court in the small European country issued a temporary verdict to prevent the transfer of the Iranian funds to the United States.

Other courts in Europe have previously dismissed claims brought by American plaintiffs to seize CBI assets to pay for damages suffered over September 11, 2001 attacks.

Iran totally denies charges related to any involvement in the 9/11 attacks and insists they are politically motivated.

The US government has ramped up its support for claims on Iranian assets in other parts of the world since Washington withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Iran and imposed a series of harsh sanctions on the country in November 2018.

Even courts in the United States have dismissed complaints meant for confiscation of Iranian assets in the country for paying for false claims related to terrorism.

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A Condition Orange - High Fire Risk Warning has been issued by the Department of Agriculture for the Easter Weekend.

The Department states that, arising from current conditions associated with Atlantic high pressure systems, a high fire risk is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist.

It adds that based on recent fire incidents, most ignitions risks appear to be associated with illegal burning of upland vegetation. Additional caution is also required in areas where active turf cutting is taking place.

There may be increased ignitions risks on sites with public access arising from the forthcoming Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, depending on levels of usage under current movement restrictions.

Members of the public intending to visit forests and other recreational sites are reminded of the requirement to remain within 2km of their homes, and to adhere to Regulations introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Vehicles should not be parked at site entrances or impede emergency service access to forest roads.

Fire behaviour is likely to be influenced by light to moderate wind speeds and may be further moderated by intermittent light rainfall in some areas during the lifespan of this warning.
The mayor of Killarney today reiterated his appeal to stay away from the tourist town.

There is growing concern that huge numbers were in situ before the latest legislation to restrict movement to second homes and other accommodation, and that the direct appeals to visitors has come too late to halt the traditional high Easter influx to Kerry.

Gardai began mounting checkpoints on Wednesday on foot of extra powers and the council in Kerry began a publicity campaign.

However, supermarkets and car parks in Killarney, as well as scenic spots are experiencing numbers of visitors and non-Kerry registered cars.

Cllr Michael Gleeson, Mayor of Killarney, on Wednesday directly appealed to people to please not visit Kerry.

Kerry will still be there when the pandemic passes and you will be most welcome then, but not until then, Cllr Gleeson said.

Amid concern locally that action might have been taken sooner to ward off visitors, Cllr Gleeson said every effort was being made by the council to discourage people from arriving  and if the appeals had been put out too early, it would have had little impact, he felt.

Anxiety about an influx of visitors to second homes and holiday lets in south and west Kerry has been building for over a fortnight in the most scenic parts of Kerry. Gardai knocked on doors in the Dingle area a week ago, following complaints.

Kerry has over 8,000 second or holiday homes and hundreds of caravans and mobile homes, as well as other accommodation. All hotels are closed, Irish Hotels Federation spokesman Padraig McGillicuddy said.

Killarney councillor Donal Grady said the reality was droves of people have arrived into Airbnb accommodation in Killarney and this had been taking place with at least 10 days.

He had approached both Minister for Tourism and Kerry TD Brendan Griffin and the gardai to stress the urgency of the matter and the risk to the community almost two weeks ago.

The extra powers with the new legislation was "too late" in coming, he said.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Kerry County Council which also on Wednesday directly appealed to visitors to stay away said the council was not responsible for holiday homeowners turning up in parts of Kerry.

The council has no role in how national guidelines are enforced, spokesman Owen OShea said.

The travel restrictions had been well publicised and it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest a direct appeal to visitors might have been issued sooner, he stressed.
Two more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from Can Gio Hospital for COVID-19 Treatment in HCM City on April 9 morning. (Photo courtesy of the hospital)

Both are Vietnamese. They were discharged from the Can Gio Hospital for COVID-19 Treatment on April 9 morning.

Patient 203, a 35-year-old woman, returned from Greece to Vietnam on March 17. Upon her arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, she was sent to a quarantine facility in the citys Nha Be district. She tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 10 days later.

She is currently in a stable condition and has no cough or fever.

Patient 234 is also a female, 69, living in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. She returned from Paris to HCM City on March 13 and tested positive for the virus on March 30, then was hospitalised the same day.

Both tested negative for the virus two days in a row on April 5 and 6 and will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days after being discharged.

As of April 9 morning, Vietnam had confirmed 251 COVID-19 patients with no fatality so far.
Staff at the Mater Hospital in Dublin have gathered to applaud the Irish public this morning.

They showed their appreciation to everyone who is staying at home and helping to slow the spread of Covid-19.
A Sydney harbourmaster offered to stop the Ruby Princess from docking at Circular Quay after a Border Force officer expressed concern that their staff could be exposed to coronavirus.

Border Force has confirmed a telephone conversation took place between the harbourmaster and one of its officers in the hours before the troubled cruise ship was due to dock on March 19.

In a statement Border Force said: "The ABF officer made internal enquiries and subsequently advised the NSW Port Authority that the vessel had been cleared by NSW Health."

But a senior NSW government source said there "is no evidence to date that Border Force spoke to NSW Health immediately prior to giving approval to dock".
She split from her fiance Jesse Metcalfe in January after more than a decade together.

But on Wednesday, Cara Santana was spotted with Jesse as he filled up his Mercedes G-Wagon at a gas station in Los Angeles.

The sighting has led to speculation that the exes may have reunited given their outing together during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Reunited? Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe broke up in January after a four-year engagement. But Wednesday, they were seen together at a gas station in LA during the COVID-19 lockdown

Jesse, 41, who is best known for his roles on ABC's Desperate Housewives and TNT's reboot of Dallas, wore a face mask and disposable gloves as he gassed up his SUV.

On Tuesday, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered all residents to wear a mask when visiting essential businesses or be prepared to be denied service.

Cara, 35, didn't cover up her face or hands.

She was dressed in a camel-colored coat over blue jeans and left her long hair loose.

The Instagram influencer has been keeping busy in self-isolation by sharing selfies and giving beauty tips via social media.

Flaunting it: The Instagram influencer has been keeping busy in self-isolation by sharing selfies and giving beauty tips via social media

On Friday, Cara posted a mirror selfie in which she posed in black lingerie flaunting her toned physique.

She was also in full makeup and had curled her long locks which she styled with a center parting.

A week ago, she marked the occasion of being 16 years sober with another Instagram post.

She posed for a selfie in nothing but a white towel in front of a mirror on which she'd written in lipstick: '16 years.'

She captioned the snap: '16. April 1, 2004. One day at a time.'

Landmark moment: A week ago, Cara marked the occasion of being 16 years sober with another Instagram post

Brave: She has previously spoken candidly about battling drug and alcohol addiction at a young age, beginning her sober journey at age 19

She and Jesse broke up after the actor was spotted getting cozy with two other women in one day.

A source close to the couple told People at the time: 'She was wearing her ring yesterday. She had no idea things werent fine until she saw the photos online today.'

They dated for 10 years before getting engaged in 2016, with Jesse popping the question on a sailboat in New York's Hudson River.
The Coalition of Graduate Unemployed Allied Health Professionals (COAHP) on Wednesday said it will withdraw the services of the 560 members from the COVID-19 Contact Tracing following neglect by the Ministry of Health (MOH).



A statement signed by Mr Vincent Amponsah Gyamfi, the General Secretary of COAHP, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the Associations attention had been drawn to a letter indicating that nurses and midwives had been given financial clearance by the Ministry of Finance, leaving behind Allied Health Professionals.



Our attention has been drawn to a letter with reference number MOH/HR/IT 005 from MOH indicating that nurses and midwives have been given financial clearance by the Ministry of Finance, leaving behind Allied Health Professionals who heeded to the calls of the President and Ghana Health Service to aid in the contact tracing of COVID-19 Patients, it said.



The statement said COAHP was shocked and surprised at the Health Ministry as this is the first time nurses and midwives are processed for posting without allied health professionals.



A unanimous decision has been made and members of the said group have given the Ministry of Health a week, starting from 08/04/2020 to 15/04/2020, to address our concerns or we will withdraw our members (560 members) from contact tracing teams, the statement said.



The Coalition is made up of public health professionals: Health Information, Disease Control Nutrition, Health Promotion, Registered Dental Health Assistants, Medical Records Assistants, Field Technicians, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Physiotherapy and the Medical Laboratory Technicians.



Ghana has a total number of 287 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa under a stay home directive for 14 days to curtail the spread of the virus.



So far 19,276 persons in the country have been reached through contact tracing and some testing has been conducted on 15,384 people.

Source: GNA









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Switzerland prepares to lower NOx limits

ICR Newsroom By 09 April 2020

The Swiss Federal Department of the Environment has published a review of the countrys air protection ordinance, in which it plans to lower the limit values for NO x by more than half  from 500 to 200mg/m3. The revision of the legislation is in consultation until 20 August 2020.



The step will require the countrys cement plants to adapt their emission control process to meet the new legislation.



At Ciments Vigier, Director Oliver Barbery said the industry had been preparing for it for some time as it was an expected development.

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Venture-backed startups have been largely cut out of the government's $349 billion paycheck protection program. That program lets a small business apply for a government-backed loan to cover 2.5 months of payroll--and the loan can be forgiven if the business's headcount stays the same during an eight-week period.

Now, based on Monday's guidance from the SBA, there is a way that startups could access that money. But in some cases, their investors will have to give up some important rights.

"This is great guidance, as it ensures a fast, inexpensive process for the companies," says Matthew Moisan, counsel in the technology group at law firm Lowenstein Sandler.

VC-funded startups were left out of the initial program because of affiliation with their investors. Companies generally must have fewer than 500 employees to participate in the program. But the headcounts of an investor and all their portfolio companies are generally combined, making many otherwise small businesses too big to participate. The reasoning is that the investor controls the portfolio companies, and therefore, they're really one company. This is called affiliation. The company can argue otherwise, but that's a slow process.

On April 2, the SBA told banks that borrowers, not the banks themselves, were responsible for figuring out if two companies were affiliated. Without this guidance, banks would have to go through all of a company's legal documents and make a judgment about affiliation. Then they'd have to hope the SBA's judgment eventually matched theirs. If the SBA did not agree, the bank could lose the government guarantee on the loan.

Then, on April 6, the SBA said that if an investor has the ability to block actions by a startup's board of directors, the investor and the startup are still considered affiliates. But it presented an alternative: If the investor "irrevocably waives or relinquishes" these rights, the business would no longer be an affiliate. That gives the startup a better chance of meeting the headcount requirement and provides a path for it to apply for the loan program.
The year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s, with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

Photograph: ANI Photo.

Georgieva made the remarks during her address on Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy in Washington, DC, ahead of next week's annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"Today, the world is confronted with a crisis like no other. Covid-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory," she said.

The virus is causing a tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people. What was normal just a few weeks ago -- going to school, going to work, being with family and friends -- is now a huge risk, she said.

Observing that the world is faced with extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this crisis, she said that it is already clear, however, that global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020.

"In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," Georgieva said.

"Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020. Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year, she said.

The Great Depression was the worst worldwide economic downturn that lasted for 10 years from 1929, beginning in the US when the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street crashed and wiped out millions of investors.

The IMF chief said that given the necessary containment measures to slow the spread of the virus, the world economy is taking a substantial hit.

This is especially true for retail, hospitality, transport, and tourism. In most countries, the majority of workers are either self-employed or employed by small and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses and workers are especially exposed, she added.

Of the view that emerging markets and low-income nations -- across Africa, Latin America, and much of Asia -- are at high risk, Georgieva said with weaker health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option.

With fewer resources to begin with, they are dangerously exposed to the ongoing demand and supply shocks, drastic tightening in financial conditions, and some may face an unsustainable debt burden, she said.

"In the last two months, portfolio outflows from emerging markets were about USD 100 billion, more than three times larger than for the same period of the global financial crisis. Commodity exporters are taking a double blow from the collapse in commodity prices and remittances, the lifeblood of so many poor people, are expected to dwindle, she said.

The IMF, she said, estimates the gross external financing needs for emerging markets and developing countries to be in trillions of dollars, and they can cover only a portion of that on their own, leaving residual gaps in the hundreds of billions of dollars. They urgently need help, she said.

However, the encouraging news is that all governments have sprung into action and, indeed, there has been significant coordination.

Countries around the world have taken fiscal actions amounting to about USD 8 trillion. In addition, there have been massive monetary measures from the G20 and others, she said.

As such, Georgieva said that there was a need to continue with essential containment measures and support for health systems, shield affected people and firms with large, timely, targeted fiscal and financial sector measures, and reduce stress to the financial system and avoid contagion.

Even as we move through this containment phase, we must plan for recovery, she added.

Covid-19, which first emerged in China in December last, has globally claimed nearly 90,000 lives and infected 1.5 million people.
More than 850 Bahraini families supported by women have so far benefited from the Together for Bahrains Safety campaign, which began last week. The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) launched the initiative as part of national efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Eleven teams made up of 10 members each were deployed nationwide, accompanied by a media team and a specialised medical panel. The campaign has also benefited families of health employees who are on the front-line battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Above, volunteers distribute boxes of goods at a home.
Let the government learn instructive lessons and hold on to this experience of the war against the coronavirus. That will be the real test of Uddhav Thackerays statesmanship and his true legacy to the state.

For once, the exhortation was to overcome a virus  and not a tirade against a community, which has been the ethos of the Shiv Sena. In fact, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray explicitly stated that he would not tolerate communalisation of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, or even fake news that incited people. In one of his frequent video addresses, he called for wearing homemade masks while going out, much as soldiers wear bullet proof vests in battle; he invoked the pride and patience of Maharashtrians to win the battle against the deadly pandemic. As senior journalist Sujata Anandan notes, Uddhav Thackeray has got his messaging right.

To administer a state weighed down by a gross lack of health infrastructure since long, in an unprecedented crisis, is not easy. It is often said of Mumbai: Maximum City, Minimum Governance. With Mumbai at the epicenter of the outbreak, mounting cases, and the city as well as the state of Maharashtra in lockdown, many are wondering where their next meal will come from.

As chief minister of the worst-hit state in the country, Uddhav Thackeray has inherited a set- up that is far from ideal. Over the years, he has been described in many ways  a gifted photographer, reluctant politician, reticent man, and an introvert to boot. He may be all of these things. But in the midst of this crisis, he is also  at the very least  making the right noises. His stance against the communalising of the Tablighi Jamaat incident in New Delhi was firm; he appealed to migrants not to leave the state. Whether or not this will be enough to mitigate the situation remains to be seen.

***

Even if Mumbai is Indias commercial capital and Maharashtra among its frontline states, services and infrastructure are not always up to the mark. During the swine flu crisis some years ago, Mumbai hospitals struggled to cope with patients and the state administration was rather lax in testing, identifying and isolating patients, and even providing medicines.

This time, the world is dealing with a deadly virus that has caused global lockdowns and staggering fatalities. In Maharashtra, the first COVID-19 case was reported on 9 March in Pune; the first coronavirus-related death was reported in Mumbai on 13 March. That was the day the state government notified the coronavirus outbreak under the Epidemic Diseases Act, under which you can forcibly hospitalise affected individuals. Movie halls, gyms and other public places were shut; public gatherings and events were banned. On 20 March, the suburban trains were stopped as was other transport, and the state withdrew reluctantly into a grim, curfew-like situation.

The citys slums are now being eyed askance, not the global travelers who flew in with the virus and were not tested. Shakeel Ahmed, a lawyer and activist working in the Wadala slums in Central Mumbai, said the government should be reaching out to people. Instead, it is individuals and NGOs who are stepping out and providing food and supplies. Those who do not have ration cards are being turned away from ration shops, and this needs to be addressed on a priority basis. Ahmed says government officials should be on the streets, administering the state, instead of working from home. At least some sort of primary screening should be conducted in all homes with doctors and teams to isolate those with symptoms, especially in slum areas, Ahmed suggested.

What about elected representatives? Some of them are out in their areas doling out food and masks, but not all. Faced with an unknown and alarming enemy, the sagging health infrastructure is fighting it as best as it can. Private hospitals are shut, some of them due to the outbreak, and individuals with other illnesses are facing difficulties in accessing care. Doctors in public hospitals are coping as best as they can in the absence of protective equipment. Social media is full of news: resident doctors in government hospitals in Aurangabad protesting to demand personal protective equipment; a viral video from Poddar hospital in Mumbai in which a nurse explains how no one was willing to enter a ward where a COVID-19 patient had died. Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray tweeted that action has been taken against some doctors.

Public hospitals are not fully geared to treat coronavirus patients. This is perhaps where the Maharashtra government needs to step in and take bold decisions. While calling for a clampdown on fake news and ensuring a supply of essential commodities in the state are necessary actions, much more needs to be done as India has not yet reached the peak of the crisis.

Meanwhile, the existence of the virus in the community even before the first case was detected, cannot be ruled out. In some cases, patient zero has not been traced. There are more than enough good Samaritans  and Mumbai has never fallen short of them  including celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, who are helping with food, donations, shelter. There is promising news coming in, of patients recovering at the Kasturba Hospital, of an increase in testing and isolation numbers in the state. There are over 3,000 camps for migrants (the chief ministers figures), although some of them need to be run better. (For example, in Bhiwandi, a journalist pointed out that six lakh migrants are desperately in need of attention.) Earlier this year, the government had launched its Shiv Bhojan Scheme, which provided a full meal to the meal to the poor for just Rs 10.

But in a grave situation like this, the state has to go the extra mile in ensuring the most vulnerable get access to basic facilities.

***

Somehow all this is not about Uddhav Thackeray and yet it is about him.

One needs to go beyond the rhetoric and video addresses and study the ground realities. Reaching out to people and reassuring them in a language they can relate to is important, and it is a trait that Uddhav seems to have inherited from his father. As surprising as this may sound to his detractors, Uddhav does have certain political qualities and he should put these to good use. Moving beyond announcements, this is a time when he can make a real difference by addressing the needs of the vulnerable, and by putting in place a robust emergency plan which works for all times  not just from one crisis to the next.

Mumbai and Maharashtra are unique in many aspects. Mumbai has a vast slum population which has shoddy health care, and the city is increasingly divesting this sector to private sources. One has to always fall back on public hospitals, which are themselves overstrained. While Kerala is earning accolades for its handling of the situation, the state has put tremendous energy and effort in creating a decentralised public health care and food distribution system. That has come significantly in handy each time there is a crisis. Maharashtra, under Uddhav, needs to get organised on that front, as do many other Indian states.

This is a time to foreground health care as a public service, to create infrastructure that is state-of-the-art, to give our medical personnel the attention and respect they deserve for being on the frontline of any emergency. For too long we have suffered from ad hoc decisions and makeshift arrangements. Let the Maharashtra government learn instructive lessons and hold on to this experience of the war against the coronavirus.

That will be the real test of Uddhav Thackerays statesmanship  and his true legacy to the state.
Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has survived his bout with coronavirus, overcoming a fever and cough, and has been released from his 14-day quarantine, sources exclusively told DailyMail.com.

He had been placed in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York.

He's being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said on Thursday.

A source close to the disgraced movie mogul said he's surprised Weinstein survived, given his age and poor health. The 68-year old suffers from high blood pressure, heart problems, severe diabetes and a spine condition.

'We lost contact with him and were unable to get in touch with him after he tested positive because he was placed in isolation and under quarantine,' the source told DailyMail.com.

'He had a fever and cough. The man is in poor health normally speaking, and has multiple pre-existing conditions. Honestly, I was very concerned. I can't believe he made it through this. I was definitely thinking this would be the end of him.'

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has survived his bout with coronavirus, overcoming a fever and cough, and has been released from his 14-day quarantine, sources exclusively told DailyMail.com on Thursday

He had been placed in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo (pictured). He's being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said

HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S AILING HEALTH From the start, Weinstein's use of a walker to get in and out of court each day at his trial raised questions about his health. He left court in an ambulance after the guilty verdict and detoured to Bellevue Hospital, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. Weinstein later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery. After his sentencing, he returned with more chest pains. In addition to the heart issues, Weinstein's lawyers have said he was also dealing with the ramifications of unsuccessful back surgery stemming from a car crash last summer and a condition that requires shots in his eyes so he does not go blind. Advertisement

Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault.

Last month, Weinstein is said to have told prison staff he believed he had the virus when he entered the state prison system from notorious Rikers Island where a number of inmates have the virus.

A state correction official confirmed March 22 that Weinstein was one of two inmates at Wende to test positive.

Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo is six hours by car from Manhattan.

It was due to be a temporary stop for Weinstein before he was due to be evaluated to determine which state prison facility meets his security, medical, mental health and other needs.

Weinstein's spokesman had called the move to the prison 'harsh.'

The Oscar-winning producer of 'Shakespeare in Love' was sentenced last month to 23 years in a landmark #MeToo case.

He received 20 years on the criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006. He was sentenced to three years for third degree rape for a 2013 attack on Jessica Mann.

Weinstein's attorney Donna Rotunno has suggested that he will now die in prison, saying after his sentencing that he 'won't see the light of day.'

He spent several days in the hospital after his conviction with different ailments. Weinstein showed up to his sentencing in a wheelchair. Within hours of the hearing, he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan with chest pains.

The shamed producer returned to Rikers before being transferred upstate.

It'll be 20 years before he will be eligible for parole.

He also faces charges in Los Angeles where prosecutors filed a separate set of sexual assault charges against Weinstein in January.

The 68-year old suffers from high blood pressure, heart problems, severe diabetes and a spine condition. A source told DailyMail.com: 'Honestly, I was very concerned. I can't believe he made it through this. I was definitely thinking this would be the end of him.' Pictured: The most recent photo of Weinstein as he's taken from a Manhattan courthouse after being sentenced to 23 years in prison

Last month, Weinstein is said to have told prison staff he believed he had the virus when he entered the state prison system from notorious Rikers Island (pictured) where a number of inmates have the virus.

Twitter users reacted to Weinstein's coronavirus result, questioning how he was able to get the test so quickly.

Shortages in tests coupled with the fact a number of the kits do not work, has hampered nationwide screening.

There are 'acute, serious shortages across the board' for supplies needed to do the tests, said Eric Blank, of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local health labs.

The board overseeing New York City's jails urged officials to start releasing vulnerable populations and those being held on low-level offenses after the coronavirus outbreak hit the notorious Rikers Island complex.

'Fewer people in the jails will save lives and minimize transmission among people in custody as well as staff,' Board of Correction interim chairwoman Jacqueline Sherman wrote in a letter to New York's criminal justice leaders this weekend.

'Failure to drastically reduce the jail population threatens to overwhelm the City jails' healthcare system as well its basic operations.'

An FDNY Ambulance with its emergency lights on is seen at Rikers Island Prison where rapist Harvey Weinstein was apparently taken from Belleview Hospital

Sherman pushed for the release of more than 2,000 people in custody in New York City jails, including those over 50 years old; those with health conditions such as lung and heart disease; those being held for parole violations, such as missing a curfew; and those serving sentences of less than a year.

Such steps are needed, she said, to stem the tide of COVID-19.

More than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States  more than anywhere in the world  and there are growing fears that an outbreak could spread rapidly through a vast network of federal and state prisons, county jails and detention centers.

It's a tightly packed, fluid population that is already grappling with high rates of health problems and, when it comes to the elderly and the infirm, elevated risks of serious complications.

With limited capacity nationally to test for COVID-19, men and women inside worry that they are last in line when showing flu-like symptoms, meaning that some may be infected without knowing it.
HOUSTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Impact Fluid Solutions, a premier provider of specialty additives for oil and gas, is proud to announce its new initiative Family Shielda program created in response to Covid-19, which will support Impact employees around the globe whose families have been directly affected by the coronavirus through a spouse or partner's reduction or loss of employment.

This $50,000 USD fund has been established to assist with day-to-day and emergency expenses for employees' families such as mortgage and rent payments, utilities, groceries, medical expenses and other bills. Employees in need may request up to $2,500 per month, with a limit of $5,000 over the life of the program. Family Shield is open to all Impact employees worldwide beginning April 1, and will be assessed on May 31. Impact considers their employees to be part of their familyincluding spouses, partners and childrenand it's why Family Shield is designed to have the best interest of the whole family's health, safety and financial security at heart.

"Throughout the years we have run our business conservatively, and have taken the necessary actions to create a rainy day fund," shares Rodney Uchytil, President & CEO of Impact Fluid Solutions. "Right now, we are in the midst of a major storm and have chosen to direct our funds toward our employees, their families and the community."

Outside of Family Shield, Impact and its employees are giving back to the community through their Impact Our World initiative that financially supports nonprofit organizations around the world and has distributed more than $1 million in the last decade. Although the company normally allocates funding at year-end, they have decided to help now, while people are struggling. For the months of April and May, Impact will increase its employee gift matching program to $2 for every $1 an employee gifts to a charity supporting the Covid-19 efforts. Impact's principal ownerFreebird Partnershas also joined the cause, matching $1 for $1, so that every $1 an employee contributes now becomes a $4 gift to charity!

"As leaders in the business community, we can help during this pandemicnot necessarily with ventilators or masksbut we all play a role in making a difference," says Rodney Uchytil. "Our employees, their families and our communities need us. I encourage other businesses to work with your leadership and create your own solution like our Family Shield and Impact Our World programs."

For more information, please visit: impact-fluids.com .

SOURCE Impact Fluid Solutions

Related Links

https://impact-fluids.com


Newsham attributed the drop in robberies to the fact that few people are outside. But the number of burglaries in the District remains unchanged, bucking a trend in other cities and against expectations that fewer homes would be broken into since they are for the most part occupied. Newsham said the department is trying to determine whether burglaries of private homes are down but have increased at closed businesses.
Jennifer Walker, 53, allegedly licked a cart full of groceries at Safeway in South Lake Tahoe Tuesday

A California woman has been arrested after she allegedly licked a cart full of groceries, sparking panic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jennifer Walker, 53, was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of felony vandalism Tuesday, following the shocking incident which occurred inside a Safeway in South Lake Tahoe.

According to a grocery store clerk, White entered the premises Tuesday afternoon and promptly put numerous pieces of costume jewelry onto her hands.

She then began licking the jewels, which were for sale, before taking them off and placing them into her shopping cart.

Walker subsequently made her way through the aisles, running her tongue along a range of merchandise before dropping it into her cart.

Police were promptly called to the Safeway, where they found Walker with her cart full of jewelry, meats and alcohol - all of which she had reportedly licked.

The items totaled $1,800 and Walker was unable to pay for the products. They were subsequently thrown out due to fears of cross-contamination.

The incident allagedly occurred inside this Safeway store in South Lake Tahoe

While it's not believed Walker has COVID-19, her actions raised alarm amid the coronavirus pandemic

Walker was taken to El Dorado County Jail, where she is currently being held on a $10,000 bond.

She has no prior criminal record and has not explained why she allegedly licked the groceries.

While it's not believed Walker has COVID-19, her actions raised alarm amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, more than 400,000 Americans have tested positive to the highly-contagious virus. More than 14,000 have died.

In recent weeks, amid the pandemic, several other grocery stores in the US have had to dispose of produce after it was licked and coughed on by customers.

Last month, Gerrity's Supermarket in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania was forced to throw away $35,000 worth of food after a woman deliberately coughed over it in a twisted coronavirus prank.

The perpetrator allegedly coughed over the store's fresh produce, as well as a section of their bakery, meat case and other groceries, meaning employees had no choice but to throw everything out and clean the shelves.

Last month, Gerrity's Supermarket in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania was forced to throw away $35,000 worth of food after a woman deliberately coughed over it in a twisted coronavirus prank

Employees had to throw out produce and hose down the shelves amid fears the woman was infected with coronavirus

Meanwhile, a Missouri man was last month filmed licking bottles on a grocery store shelf in a video shared to social media.

The revolting clip saw the man saying, 'who's scared of coronavirus?', before running his tongue along the shelf.

In the short clip posted online, he can be seen bending down to lick the toiletry items on the shelf while looking at the camera.

Alongside the footage, the caption states: 'I'm a nasty motherf****r'.
NYSE American: GPL | TSX: GPR

VANCOUVER, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - GREAT PANTHER MINING LIMITED (NYSE American: GPL; TSX: GPR) ("Great Panther", the "Company") announces its first quarter ("Q1") 2020 production results for its Tucano Gold Mine ("Tucano") in Brazil, and two Mexican mining operations: the Topia Mine ("Topia") and the Guanajuato Mine Complex ("the GMC"), which includes the San Ignacio and Guanajuato mines.

First Quarter 2020 Highlights

More than doubled consolidated gold equivalent production: Produced 35,000 consolidated gold equivalent ounces, a 134% increase compared to the first quarter of 2019 (1) , driven by a full 2020 quarter of Tucano mine production and operational improvements;





Produced 35,000 consolidated gold equivalent ounces, a 134% increase compared to the first quarter of 2019 , driven by a full 2020 quarter of Tucano mine production and operational improvements; Increased production in a seasonally lower quarter at Tucano: Produced 26,000 ounces of gold, a 12% increase relative to Tucano's first quarter of 2019 benefitting from higher plant throughput as well as improved gold recoveries and in line with guidance contemplating increasing production through 2020;





Produced 26,000 ounces of gold, a 12% increase relative to Tucano's first quarter of 2019 benefitting from higher plant throughput as well as improved gold recoveries and in line with guidance contemplating increasing production through 2020; Significant increase in material movement at Tucano and rehabilitation of UCS initiated: Achieved a 47% increase in material mined at Tucano relative to the first quarter of 2019, benefitting from implemented operational improvements and favorable weather conditions. Tucano started pre-stripping activities at the Urucum Central South pit ("UCS"), which are ahead of schedule. Geotechnical drilling and studies will be initiated by May with targeted recovery of nearly 90,000 ounces from UCS in 2021;





Achieved a 47% increase in material mined at Tucano relative to the first quarter of 2019, benefitting from implemented operational improvements and favorable weather conditions. Tucano started pre-stripping activities at the Urucum Central South pit ("UCS"), which are ahead of schedule. Geotechnical drilling and studies will be initiated by May with targeted recovery of nearly 90,000 ounces from UCS in 2021; Production growth at the GMC: Production of 393,000 silver equivalent ounces resulted in an 11% increase relative to the first quarter of 2019, benefitting from higher throughput, silver grades, and recoveries;





Production of 393,000 silver equivalent ounces resulted in an 11% increase relative to the first quarter of 2019, benefitting from higher throughput, silver grades, and recoveries; Strong response to COVID-19: Enacted comprehensive safety protocols and contingency plans across all operations, projects and offices, along with filing of these protocols with Brazilian government authorities. A temporary four-week suspension of operations, until April 30, 2020 , was implemented in Mexico in compliance with the federal government's directive in response to COVID-19. Production for the affected Mexican operations during the four-week period is estimated at about 2% of annual consolidated gold equivalent production; and





Enacted comprehensive safety protocols and contingency plans across all operations, projects and offices, along with filing of these protocols with Brazilian government authorities. A temporary four-week suspension of operations, until , was implemented in in compliance with the federal government's directive in response to COVID-19. Production for the affected Mexican operations during the four-week period is estimated at about 2% of annual consolidated gold equivalent production; and Enhanced liquidity: Raised US$14 million of additional non-dilutive capital from Samsung and Banco Bradesco in Brazil in the first quarter, further strengthening a cash position of US$37 million at December 31, 2019 .

(1) Consolidated operational results reflect Tucano production for the period following the March 5, 2019 date of acquisition. During the remainder of Q1 2019, while owned and operated by Great Panther, Tucano produced 5,164 gold ounces.

"We had a solid start to the year, achieving production growth supporting our 2020 annual guidance, completing a strong advance in stripping at Tucano which will benefit production later in 2020 and in 2021, and commencing our exploration programs," stated Jeffrey Mason, Interim President & CEO. "We remain well positioned to deliver on our 2020 objectives while keeping our workforce and communities safe by proactively and collaboratively working with local, state and federal authorities in managing the ongoing challenges of COVID-19."

There are no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 across the Company's global mining operations, projects, and corporate offices.

It is noted that operational results are preliminary and subject to final adjustment. Final operational and financial results for Q1 2020 will be published with the Company's earnings results for the first quarter.

Consolidated Operational Results

Great Panther produced 34,725 gold equivalent ounces in the first quarter of 2020, including 28,940 ounces of gold and 374,917 ounces of silver. For 2020, the Company is changing its metal equivalency ratios to reflect an increase in the gold-to-silver ratio while still considering that the more significant recent rise is significantly higher than historic averages. Gold equivalent ounces for 2020 are calculated using a 1:90 gold to silver ratio, (2019 at 1:80) and ratios of 1:0.0006412 and 1:0.0007554 for the price per ounce of gold to price per pound of lead and zinc, respectively.

Consolidated Operational Results Q1 2020 Q1 2019 Change Q1 2020 Q4 2019 Change Ore processed (tonnes) 880,162 263,821 234% 880,162 927,928 -5% Gold equivalent production (ounces) (1,2,3) 34,725 14,860 134% 34,725 44,697 -22% Gold production (ounces) 28,940 8,293 249% 28,940 37,088 -22% Silver production (ounces) 374,917 338,431 11% 364,917 423,230 -11%





(1) Gold equivalent ounces for 2020 are calculated using a 1:90 Au:Ag ratio, and ratios of 1:0.0006412 and 1:0.0007554 for the price/ounce of gold to price/pound of lead and zinc, respectively. (2) Gold equivalent ounces for 2019 were calculated using a 1:80 Au:Ag ratio, and ratios of 1:0.000795 and 1:0.00102258 for the price/ounce of gold to price/pound of lead and zinc, respectively, consistent with the Company's guidance for the year. (3) Consolidated operational results reflect Tucano production for the period following the March 5, 2019 date of acquisition.

Tucano

Tucano Operational Results Q1 2020 Q1 2019(1) Change Q1 2020 Q4 2019 Change Total material mined (tonnes) 7,115,135 4,850,075 47% 7,115,135 5,857,185 21% Total waste mined (tonnes) 6,804,081 4,293,277 58% 6,804,081 5,139,284 32% Ore mined (tonnes) 310,597 481,550 -36% 310,597 715,346 -57% Ore processed (tonnes milled) 811,197 747,200 9% 811,197 860,364 -6% Au grade (g/t) 1.09 1.11 -1% 1.09 1.33 -18% Au recovery (%) 91.69% 87.98% 4% 91.69% 92.80% -1% Gold production (ounces) 26,176 23,470 12% 26,176 34,181 -23%





(1) The Tucano operational results presented in the above table includes production for the full quarter of Q1 2019 including the period from January 1, 2019 to March 4, 2019, as reported by the previous owner of Tucano. From March 5, 2019 to Mar 31, 2019, Tucano, while owned and operated by Great Panther, produced 5,164 gold ounces.

Tucano produced 26,176 gold ounces in Q1 2020, an increase of 12% compared to the first quarter of 2019, inclusive of the period prior to the Company's acquisition of Tucano. Gold production improved as a result of increased ore processing and higher recoveries. The decrease in Q1 2020 production relative to Q4 2019 is due to the rainy season in northern Brazil which seasonally impacts productivity in the first half of the year.

Tucano production in the first quarter was in line with the Company's expectations and is expected to increase through the remainder of 2020. Production guidance for 2020 remains between 120,000 and 130,000 ounces of gold as announced in the Company's news release dated March 30, 2020.

Relatively favorable weather conditions and operational improvements made at the mine enabled the advancement of pre-stripping activities resulting in a 47% increase in total material mined compared to the first quarter of 2019, including diggable material unloaded from the UCS west wall area. Continued remedial unloading work at UCS and benching involving drilling and blasting is expected to start in the third quarter contingent on favorable results from five geotechnical core holes to be drilled commencing in May 2020.

Mining activities continue uninterrupted at Tucano at this time as the state of Amapa in Brazil has not introduced any measures to restrict mining activities in response to COVID-19, while the reported infections in the state remain very low and concentrated in the state capital. The Company has implemented numerous health and safety measures to protect against the spread of the virus, working closely with local health and labor authorities to protect its people and local communities. The Company continues to monitor the situation closely in order to be in a state of preparedness.

Mexico Mine Operations

The Company's Mexican operations produced 8,549 gold equivalent ounces in Q1 2020 or approximately 769,000 silver equivalent ounces.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company suspended mining and processing at both of its Mexican operations until April 30, 2020, following a directive of the Mexican Federal Government to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Production for the affected operations during this four-week period is estimated at about 2% of consolidated annual 2020 gold equivalent production.

Topia Mine



Topia Operational Results Q1 2020 Q1 2019 Change Q1 2020 Q4 2019 Change Ore processed (tonnes) 19,359 20,232 -4% 19,359 18,854 3% Ag grade (g/t) 357 336 6% 357 424 -16% Au grade (g/t) 0.82 1.09 -25% 0.82 0.81 1% Ag recovery (%) 92.3% 93.3% -1% 92.3% 94.4% -2% Au recovery (%) 55.2% 53.4% 4% 55.2% 54.2% 2% Silver equivalent production (ounces) (1,2) 376,303 420,926 -11% 376,303 449,621 -16% Silver production (ounces) 205,184 203,579 1% 205,184 242,776 -15% Gold production (ounces) 282 380 -26% 282 267 6% Lead production (tonnes) 401 481 -17% 401 487 -18% Zinc production (tonnes) 632 662 -5% 632 650 -3%





(1) Silver equivalent ounces for 2020 were calculated using a 90:1 Ag:Au ratio, and ratios of 1:0.05770651 and 1:0.06798419 for the price/ounce of silver to price/pound of lead and zinc, respectively. (2) Silver equivalent ounces for 2019 were calculated using an 80:1 Ag:Au ratio, and ratios of 1:0.0636 and 1:0.0818 for the price/ounce of silver to price/pound of lead and zinc, respectively, consistent with the Company's guidance for the year.

Topia produced 376,303 silver equivalent ounces in Q1 2020, a decrease of 11% compared to the same period in 2019. The decrease in production is attributed to lower tonnage processed, lower gold grades and silver recoveries and the change in metal equivalency ratios, partly offset by higher silver grades and gold recoveries.

As previously disclosed on March 9, 2020, during the first quarter the Company announced it had ceased depositing tailings on its Topia Mine Phase II tailings storage facility ("TSF") following the recommendation from the Company's independent tailings management and geotechnical consultants. As noted in the Company's news release dated March 30, 2020, processing operations at Topia were scheduled to cease after April 2020, pending achievement of satisfactory mitigation measures for the Phase II TSF or completion of the permitting for the Phase III TSF.

During the ongoing suspension of non-essential activities due to COVID-19, the Company is continuing discussions with geotechnical and tailings management consultants regarding ongoing observations and assessments, while continuing to monitor conditions at the Phase II TSF. Alternatives to minimize any further suspension of processing activities once the current stoppage ends on April 30, per current government guidance, will continue to be evaluated. These alternatives include recommencement of tailings deposition at the Phase II TSF (if satisfactory mitigation measures can be achieved), and normal course permitting for the Phase III TSF, which is at an advanced stage. In addition, during the suspension period, only essential personnel will be on the GMC and Topia sites, while some administrative and technical staff will work from home.

Guanajuato Mine Complex

GMC Operational Summary Q1 2020 Q1 2019 Change Q1 2020 Q4 2019 Change Ore processed (tonnes) 49,607 49,422 0% 49,607 48,710 2% Ag grade (g/t) 125 102 22% 125 136 -8% Au grade (g/t) 1.85 2.07 -10% 1.85 2.00 -7% Ag recovery (%) 85.4% 83.3% 2% 85.4% 84.4% 1% Au recovery (%) 84.1% 83.7% 0% 84.1% 84.1% 0% Silver equivalent production (ounces) (1,2) 393,126 354,756 11% 393,126 391,637 0% Silver production (ounces) 169,734 134,852 26% 169,734 180,454 -6% Gold production (ounces) 2,482 2,749 -10% 2,482 2,640 -6%





(1) Silver equivalent ounces for 2020 were calculated using a 90:1 Ag:Au ratio. (2) Silver equivalent ounces for 2019 were calculated using an 80:1 Ag:Au ratio

GMC's silver equivalent production increased 11% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019. This was due to higher silver grades, higher silver and gold recoveries, and the change in metal equivalency ratios.

Coricancha

The Company continues to evaluate the timeline and conditions for a potential re-start of the Coricancha Mine. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company undertook a limited mining and mill processing campaign of approximately 25,000 tonnes; however, these activities have been temporarily suspended in accordance with the Peruvian government-mandated restrictions until April 13, 2020. Coricancha is not material to the Company's operations.

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Neil Hepworth, Chartered Engineer UK, Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

ABOUT GREAT PANTHER

Great Panther Mining Limited is an intermediate gold and silver mining and exploration company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading under the symbol GPR, and on the NYSE American under the symbol GPL. Great Panther's operations include the Tucano Gold Mine in Brazil, and the Topia Mine and Guanajuato Mine Complex, comprising the San Ignacio and Guanajuato mines, in Mexico. It also owns the Coricancha Mine in Peru, which is currently on care and maintenance.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's production guidance and ability to meet its production guidance for Tucano, the Company's ability to meet its 2020 plans and objectives, the duration of the temporary suspension of activities at the Company's Mexican and Peruvian operations, and other potential COVID-19 related operations suspension(s), if any, the recovery of the UCS pit and plans and expectations for the rehabilitation of UCS, and the timing or ability to restart operations for the Coricancha Mine.

These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political and social risks involving Great Panther's operations in a foreign jurisdiction, the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, fluctuations in metal prices, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, physical risks inherent in mining operations, operating or technical difficulties in mineral exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, potential further COVID-19 related disruptions and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in respect of Great Panther, in its annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2019 and material change reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators available at www.sedar.com and reports on Form 40-F and Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov.

There is no assurance that such forward looking statements will prove accurate; results may vary materially from such forward-looking statements; and there is no assurance that the Company will be able to identify and acquire additional projects or that any projects acquired will be successfully developed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. The Company has no intention to update forward looking statements except as required by law.

SOURCE Great Panther Mining Limited

Related Links

www.greatpanther.com


Private schools asking parents to pay 90% of their fees for next term, despite the coronavirus lockdown, are using taxpayers' money to furlough staff.

Rishi Sunak's landmark economic policy allows employees who are unable to work as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak to be paid 80% of their wages through a grant, in a bid to prevent layoffs.

However, schools which charge thousands of pounds in fees are only offering parents a 10% discount for next year, according to the Evening Standard.

Girls' Day School Trust, which runs Putney High School, pictured, has come under fire for its policy on fees and furloughing staff

This is despite the taxpayer being primed to pick up the tab to pay most of staff's salaries, and the fact schools might not even be open anyway if current lockdown measures are extended further.

The places in question are part of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), the UK's biggest private girls schools group, which runs 25 across the country.

A spokeswoman told the newspaper: 'Like many companies GDST is going to be furloughing staff to ensure our longevity long term.'

The trust is also a registered charity, raking in hundreds of millions of pounds in income, and therefore means it doesn't pay corporation tax and benefits from reduced business rates.

The spokeswoman added that more than just a tenth would be knocked off the cost of fees for some families next term, and that any operational savings would go into its 'hardship fund' to help parents pay for classes.

It comes after parents of pupils at a top public school were initially told last week they would be expected to pay day fees of some 28,809 a year in full.

However, Westminster School then performed a U-turn and pledged to use its own cash reserves to fund fee rebates, after concerns were raised by the Telegraph.

Howell's School, Llandaff, Cardiff, pictured, is another run by the trust, which is the UK's biggest private girls schools group

Other charity-status school groups, meanwhile, are also set to get taxpayer funding for their payroll over the Easter holidays, according to furloughed teachers.

One told the Standard his school would review the situation in two weeks time, once they knew how many parents had cancelled for the summer term.

Neil Roskilly, of the Independent School Association, said: 'There's this image of private schools being these very well-funded organisations like Eton and Harrow, but the vast majority are nothing like that.

'They are having to look hard at their teaching staff and think about such things as furloughing,'
A myriad of factors led Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday to order all public and private K-12 schools remain shuttered for the rest of the academic year.

The school year is now just two months away from ending. The number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow, keeping the need for social distancing intact.

And school officials seem to have their hands full figuring out how to deliver remote instruction along with other services they are providing without the added burden of preparing buildings for students return.

Theres no way schools would be able to prepare to accept (students) this academic year, Pennsylvanias Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a conference call.

Rivera spoke with reporters about an hour after Wolfs announcement that the school year will end without students stepping inside a school building.

Whats more, he said superintendents, in addition to putting in place a continuity of education plan for students to learn from home, are looking through a lens of what schools will look like once the pandemic passes.

The infrastructure we are putting in place for schools today [isnt] going to end after COVID-19," Rivera said.

The state has employed online learning tools and resources now being used to teach students as well as the expanded use of flexible instructional days which allow schools to give out school assignments to students to do at home in emergency situations and have it count as a school day.

This is going to change the educational landscape in Pennsylvania for generations to come, he said. "So while we are focused on addressing this pandemic, were also evolving as an education system to better serve our kids.

During the call, Rivera addressed a number of different topics. Here are some of the highlights.

Teachers and other school employees are still working: Several times during the call, the secretary defended the work that school employees are doing even though they are not all reporting to a school building.

Schools are still operating although they dont look the same as they looked a month or two ago but I think its important to realize that schools all across the commonwealth are working on providing continuity of education to students in a new fashion, he said.

They are feeding children, building new infrastructure to support online learning, providing mental health and other types of supports for students and their families.

We just want to use this as an opportunity to chip away at the misnomer that teachers are at home sitting and doing nothing," he said. They are working in new and innovative ways and in many cases, its even a longer day than they engaged in before.

Continuity of education

Review and enrichment activity is not enough to ensure students will be ready to be successful going into the next academic year, Rivera said.

The department has set strong expectations on our school districts that they look and find ways to provide instruction.

Districts are required by a state law enacted last month to prepare a continuity of education plan for teaching students while schools are closed. They are not only to submit it to the department but post it as well on their website so the public and parents can hold the school accountable. More than 300 of the states 500 districts so far have submitted their plans, he said.

The department has made some educational tools available to districts to help schools implement a new instructional delivery method, including free online programs which he said more than 200 districts have signed up to use. Many also have expressed interest in obtaining a share of the $5 million in equity grants that the department is making available to provide teaching resources whether it be through technology or paper and pencil lessons. Additionally, the department has partnered with PBS stations to provide televised lessons to students at different grade levels.

Impact on graduating seniors

In plain language, Rivera put to rest any concern about the pandemic that may be weighing on high school seniors and their parents minds.

"Graduating seniors should not fear they are going to be held back because of this pandemic, Rivera said.

He said the department along with intermediate units have provided guidance to schools about the requirements for graduation and ensuring graduating seniors receive the opportunities and resources they need to receive a diploma and in some cases, industry certificate.

As for commencement exercises, he said he has heard of districts scheduling graduation exercises at drive-in theaters and online ceremonies.

School districts can do that as long as they adhere to whatever at that time the governor and secretary of healths guidance is going to be around social distancing," Rivera said.

Promotion to the next grade

Districts are working to identify ways on how students show mastery and learning of the content taught in their respective grades.

As part of districts continuity of education plan, he said he has heard some districts are using third quarter grades or a portfolio of a students work to make those determinations about whether a student can be promoted to the next grade. Others, he said, are looking to teacher feedback as they engage with students.

Many of those strategies are being identified by the school district themselves," Rivera said. "What were doing is setting the conditions so that schools understand the pandemic should not and will not be the factor in making that decision. We want to make sure that their plans are focused on providing educational pathways to the students for the remainder of the school year.

Making sure students with special needs arent shortchanged

Districts are expected to provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students with special needs. Intermediate units and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network are assisting districts in meet those students needs, including providing video instruction and strategies for parents to provide differentiated types of learning opportunities for students at home, he said.

Rivera said school districts should be in communications with those families and if that is not happening, "parents are absolutely encouraged to maintain that communication with their schools.

There is the potential that lawsuits could result. Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny County, is proposing legislation to provide districts with immunity from such litigation provided they made a good faith effort to educate students throughout this crisis.

When it comes time to reviewing a students Individualized Education Program next year, the secretary said the conversations can focus on how to make up for any instruction that was lost and what resources students need to do that.

Those relationships and conversations will lessen and mitigate the need for the litigious reaction," Rivera said. At the end of the day, in most cases, coming back and having the IEP conversation and maintaining the relationships and doing right by kids will reduce the number of lawsuits across the commonwealth.

What about summer sessions?

Schools could begin summer programming on the day after their academic year ends under the governors directive. But Rivera said that is contingent upon the health secretarys public health guidance and whether the governors stay-at-home order has been lifted.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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Young adults scheduled to move out of Manitoba's child-welfare system within the next six months will continue being supported by provincial Child and Family Services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the province announced Wednesday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Young adults scheduled to move out of Manitoba's child-welfare system within the next six months will continue being supported by provincial Child and Family Services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the province announced Wednesday.

The decision comes after the federal government and several other provinces decided over the past few weeks not to cut off support for youth who are reaching the age of majority and would otherwise age out of the system.

It means more than 280 youth in care turning 18, and about 70 young adults with extended CFS agreements that typically expire at age 21, will still receive financial support, housing and other resources until Sept. 30.

Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced in a news release those who were set to age out between March 20 and the end of September will be eligible.

As part of the announcement, the province said it is also opening up 10 housing units for youth who have aged out of CFS care through Resource Assistance for Youth, a non-profit agency that works with homeless youth.

Advocates who've been working with youth and families involved in the child-welfare system had been calling for Manitoba to follow in the footsteps of B.C., Ontario and Saskatchewan by issuing a moratorium on aging out of care during the public-health crisis and time of economic uncertainty.

Natasha Reimer-Okemow, Manitoba director of Youth in Care Canada and a former youth in care herself, said the province's announcement is a step in the right direction.

"These individuals have been dependent on the system, the system has acted as their parent in that guardian role for x number of years. I think it's wrong and unethical to just toss somebody out amidst a pandemic just because they turned 18, or because they aged out of care at 21," the 26-year-old said.

"These young adults deserve a lot more, and they deserve better, and I think this is a step in that direction of them... ensuring that they are safe and feeling protected as they are trying to navigate life and also deal with the uncertainty of COVID-19."

When she aged out of CFS care five years ago, it was scary enough without a pandemic, Reimer-Okemow said.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Youth who've grown up in care are typically worried about supporting themselves and figuring out how to access housing, medications, counselling, transportation and even just someone to turn to, she said. "I remember for years I didn't have anybody to put down as my emergency contact... because when I was in care, it was just my social worker, but then when I aged out of care, I didn't have anybody."

Other CFS authorities made moves last week, without an official decision from the province, to keep youth in their care from aging out. Now, CFS agencies across the province have a consistent direction to extend support to all youth who would otherwise be aging out of care, advocates said.

Marie Christian, director of Voices, an organization that works with Manitoba youth in care, said Wednesday's move is the first step toward positive change  which she suggested could include focusing on preventing children coming into CFS care with child care, breakfast programs and other support for families.

"I think we need to be keeping in mind that Manitoba has the highest per-capita rate of kids in care in general, so even once this pandemic passes... we will need everyone's support to ensure better outcomes for kids in care," she said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Cultural Affairs also is in charge of the Chicago Blues Festival, scheduled for June 5-7, and the Chicago Jazz Festival, slated for Sept. 3-6. Cultural Affairs also runs lots of smaller concerts, tours and exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center. Private concert promoters have deals with the Chicago Park District to run events including the Pitchfork Music Festival, which draws tens of thousands of spectators to Union Park in July, and Lollapalooza, which brings 100,000 people per day to Grant Park over four days, scheduled for July 30-Aug. 2. Taste of Chicago is also scheduled for July 8-12 in Grant Park.
Police have warned women to stay alert as they continue searching for a man with a distinctive tattoo after a teenager was dragged into a bushed and raped by a stranger.

Officers were called to the scene in Bromley, south-east London, at around 12.40am on March 20 to reports of a man restraining and assaulting a woman.

The woman, who is in her late teens, was taken to hospital and left with a head injury and two black eyes following the attack.

Metropolitan Police officers now want to speak to William Trotter, 39, (pictured) and have warned women walking alone in the area to remain vigilant

Metropolitan Police officers now want to speak to William Trotter, 39, and have warned women walking alone in the area to remain vigilant.

Trotter is described as 5'6" with a shaved head and green eyes.

He was last seen wearing a pink face mask, a dark blue jacket and dark trousers while holding a blue carrier bag.

One of his upper teeth is believed to be missing and he has a tattoo of a 'devil gremlin', with the name 'Rhys' written above and 'Daniel' below, on his right arm.

Detectives previously released a CCTV image of a man who was on the N199 bus with the victim before they both alighted at the Southborough Library stop on Southborough Lane.

Pictured wearing a white jacket with a fur-lined hood, blue jeans and black shoes, while carrying a mobile phone in one hand and a plastic shopping bag in the other, he was the last person to be seen alongside the victim close to the attack.

Trotter (pictured) is described as 5'6" with a shaved head and green eyes. It is thought that he has links with to Glasgow as well as the Bromley, Lewisham and Lambeth areas of London

Detective Chief Inspector Dan O'Sullivan said: 'Following a previous appeal we would now urgently like to speak to William Trotter in connection with this investigation.

'Anyone seeing Trotter should not approach him, but should dial 999 immediately.

'This is an inquiry into the violent rape of a young woman and I would ask anyone with any information to search their conscience and do the right thing by calling police.

'If you do not want to give your name you can call Crimestoppers, who will not ask for your details, but however you want to do it, call and tell us what you know.

'In the meantime we are asking women who are walking alone to remain vigilant and to report anything suspicious to police - always call 999 in an emergency.'

Trotter is said to have links to Glasgow as well as the Bromley, Lewisham and Lambeth areas of London.
PLEASANTON, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NuCompass Mobility Services Inc., a leading provider of global and US domestic relocation management services, announced that Dave Marron has been named CEO. This transition, effective April 1, 2020, has been in the works for over a year. As a result, Marron is highly qualified to continue the company's 50+ years of industry success, and importantly, well prepared to lead the company through the current COVID-19 crisis. Long term, Marron will focus on company growth based on valuable and lasting partnerships with corporate clients.

Marron is co-owner of the company and brings to the job over a decade of executive experience at NuCompass. He has served as senior vice president of client relationships, vice president of sales and marketing, and vice president of global business development. Prior to joining NuCompass, Marron served as CEO of two real estate technology companies, as well as sales executive roles in financial services.

"I'm passionate about NuCompass' focus on being the partner that companies can rely on to meet all of their talent mobility needs, especially during uncertain times." Marron said. "I'm inspired by our teams' consistent ability to make a difference in the lives of people moving from one job location to another."

Frank Patitucci, current CEO and co-owner, will continue as Chairman. Patitucci, who will remain actively involved in the company, said, "Dave was one of the major architects of our current strategic plan and has introduced new management tools and technology to more effectively implement that plan. I am very confident that he will continue this kind of leadership in his new role as CEO."

Marron especially wants companies to know that NuCompass is here to help during the COVID-19 crisis. The company is using its advanced technology to allow all of its employees at every level, around the world, to work remotely and continue to meet the needs of corporate clients and their relocating employees.

"We have a worldwide network of vetted and reliable service providers that we've partnered with for decades," Marron said. "During times like these, we draw on those relationships on behalf of our corporate clients. We want to help our clients come out of this crisis with their mobility programs intact and be better prepared to meet the challenges of the future."

Even though it is a challenging time to transition to a new role, Marron is looking forward to his new role as CEO, "I'm honored to lead our dedicated team of highly capable professionals," Marron said. "Together, our skills, our technology, and our decades of experience allow us to pro-actively help our clients succeed in their talent management efforts."

About NuCompass

As a full-service relocation management company, NuCompass offers a range of US Domestic and global mobility services, including policy development and talent mobility transformation support. With its award-winning CoPilot platform, NuCompass delivers services from its locations in the AMERICAS: California, Texas, Connecticut; EMEA: UK; and APAC: Singapore. Visit www.nucompass.com to learn more.

SOURCE NuCompass

Related Links

http://www.nucompass.com


With its small population and isolated location, Iceland has earned praise and headlines for its plan to test as many people as possible for exposure to the new coronavirus. Why, some wondered, couldnt other countries be like Iceland?

But critics inside the country have called this rosy picture misleading.

They say the tiny Nordic island country of 360,000 people has not done enough to suppress new cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Primary schools and day-care centers remain open, as do some restaurants with limited seating. Tourists are still allowed to arrive and travel without quarantine. The authorities at first limited gatherings to 100 people, then changed that to 20, long after other countries were imposing greater social isolation.

Icelands goal of testing everyone faces the same logistical hurdles that all countries face, the critics point out. It does not have enough medical personnel, supplies or hours in the day to test hundreds of thousands of people in a few weeks or months. They have warned of false optimism that will ultimately lead to more infections and death.
TOPEKA, Kan.  Kansas Republican leaders on Wednesday revoked Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people, paving the way for churches to meet on Easter Sunday  a scenario health officials fear will further spread the deadly coronavirus across the state.

House and Senate leaders  meeting as a body called the Legislative Coordinating Council  voted along party lines to throw out the directive as the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to more than 1,000 and the death count ticked up to 38. Church gatherings have produced three case clusters across the state.

Kelly denounced the decision at a late-afternoon press conference, calling it shockingly irresponsible and one likely to cost Kansan lives.

She said she instructed her legal counsel to explore a court challenge.

There are real-life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today, Kelly said.

But the order had sparked a strong backlash among Republicans and religious liberty advocates, who condemned it as a violation of foundational freedoms and an overreach by the governor. One GOP congressional candidate, Adrienne Vallejo Foster, went as far as calling on sheriffs to ignore the order and urging churches to meet while practicing social distancing.

Opponents were aided by Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who issued a memo calling the order likely unconstitutional and urging law enforcement not to enforce it. Violations of the order would have been a misdemeanor offense.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican also running for U.S. Senate, called the order an overreach by Kelly. Most people had already decided not to go to church.

I think they were just very upset with the fact that the government was going to tell them that they couldnt practice their religion, Wagle said.

Asked if she was concerned more people will contract the virus and die, Wagle responded that behaviors wont change much. She said most people are aware the virus is highly contagious and are protecting themselves and want to limit its spread, but dont tell us we cant practice our religious freedoms.

The vote to revoke the order followed more than an hour of discussion and debate, as lawmakers quizzed officials from Kellys administration. Kellys chief of staff, her chief counsel, and Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, all stressed the importance of limiting gatherings.

Chief counsel Clay Britton argued the order could withstand strict legal scrutiny  an exacting standard that restrictions on fundamental rights are required to meet.

This just puts churches on the same footing as secular groups that want to meet, Britton said, noting that it actually gave churches more freedom because individuals putting on the service, such as pastors and choirs, were exempt from the 10-person limit.

Richard Levy, a constitutional law professor at the University of Kansas, pointed to a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that laws that dont specifically target or single out religions for adverse treatment are generally deemed valid, even if they incidentally burden religious freedoms or practices.

In an interview, he said if Kellys order prohibits any public gatherings of more than 10 people, but does not target religious groups specifically, then it likely would be deemed lawful.

Lifting an exemption for religious groups from a prior order limiting gathering size is also probably not a problem, Levy said.

If its possible to document that small religious gatherings had led to the spread of the coronavirus in a way that other gatherings have not, then there is a chance that the court would say singling out religious gatherings satisfies even strict scrutiny, he added.

In cases like that, its not about suppressing religion. Its about the realities of the coronavirus.

Norman has tied three clusters of coronavirus cases to church gatherings. One, in Wyandotte County, involved a ministers conference. Another occurred in Sedgwick County, he said without offering details. He hasnt identified the location of the third.

For its part, Wyandotte County has said it has three church-related clusters. And Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said two of his constituents have died from the virus. Both had traveled to Wyandotte County for church gatherings, he added.

Churches must now decide whether to hold in-person gatherings on Easter. At Central Community Church in Wichita, the churchs board was expected to meet Wednesday night to decide if the church will hold in-person services this Sunday.

Easter services at least double in size at the church, senior pastor Bob Beckler said. Beckler said his main concern is making sure the elderly members feel safe. The church of roughly 3,000 members has been live streaming services for a few weeks.

But we dont look at it as a time to where we can get more funds, Beckler said. We actually look at it as a time where we can do more things, where we have Easter egg hunts and we just  give people the truth of what they need to know.

Matthew Vainer, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, said revocation of the governors order wont change the dioceses plans to livestream Holy Week and Easter Sunday services to parishioners staying at home. The diocese had previously suspended in-person Masses at all of its parishes, he said.

At some point, the diocese will discuss how and when to begin holding services again and whether its safe for parishioners, Vainer said. But it hasnt done that yet and likely wont until after Easter.

We would figure out whats best for all of our parishes, he said.

Jonathan Shorman, Amy Renee Leiker and Michael Stavola of The Kansas City Star wrote this story.

2020 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Lady Gaga has emerged as the undisputed flag bearer of eccentric style in the world of fashion.

Apart from acing her style department, Gaga is known for her philanthropic activities too. After the release of her forthcoming album, Chromatica, got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, she set out on a mission to do the greater good.

She joined forces with a leading global agency to raise an amount of over USD 35 million for the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund earmarked by the World Health Organization.

The 34-year-old songstress featured in the cover of Beauty Issue of Instyle Magazine and spoke at length about her return to music, motherhood and future plans.

Instyle Instagram dropped some stills from the spread of their May Issue where Gaga is looking splendid and absolutely ethereal.

The pop star delivers an opulent eyeful in this pure white ensemble. However, she doesnt disappoint her Little Monsters as she included her moniker elements from latex to bewitched nails to seal her rare look.

In her subsequent shots, Gaga is a vision dressed in somber magenta couture and accessorizing her overall with startling punk-rock junk such as metals and spikes.

She keeps her uncanny quotient rather high with her constant pink hair, make-up and nails.

All these artistic experiences made me who I am today. It's like when people get married and say, 'Through thick and thin.' That's how I feel about myself. I've been depressed and been at the grocery store and seen photos of myself and gone, 'Well, I look like everything is good.' But I was secretly freaking out, and the world had no idea. More music, more movies, more charity with the Born This Way. I want to do way more philanthropy. I have a lot of dreams and hopes. What I will actually accomplish, I have no idea, but I know that I'll be doing it with the people I love(sic.)," Gaga was quoted by the fashion publication as saying.

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Friday, March 6, three months into 2020. We had all heard about Covid-19 and it appeared to be getting closer and closer but like everyone, we didn't imagine we would be faced with it on our doorstep.

Sitting at my desk in work, I saw two missed calls from 'mum' appear on my phone.

I knew something was wrong. Shivers ran down my spine and the hairs on my arm stood frozen. It was my nanny, she had taken a turn.

The mother of six, the grandmother of 21, the best cook and biggest joker I knew, had been living in a nursing home for the past 18 months as she battled dementia.

The nursing home gave her a new-found independence, she was always busy doing different activities like dancing classes, art classes, bingo on Sundays, and made a bunch of new friends. On every occasion I visited she never failed to make me laugh, from the moment I got there until the moment I drove out the gate. I'd look back and she would still be there waving goodbye.

On that Friday, I got a big hug and she complimented my shoes while joking with my mum, telling her that her Dr Marten boots were "difficult to get used to".

During our time in the nursing home that day, it had been said on the news there would be an immediate ban on all visitors to nursing homes nationwide. The phones rang off the hook.

I felt for the staff trying their best to care for all, in extremely uncertain times.

Unbeknownst to me, this would be the last day I spent with my wonderful nanny.

I then became one of those worried family members, calling the nursing home twice a day to see how everything was. At the beginning it was positive, which gave me hope. All I wanted was for this cruel time to pass so I could see her again and have a good chat.

Sometimes we called by the window of her room and had a small chat and a big wave. As the days passed, the daily conversations with the incredible nurses became worrying as she had developed a cough and didn't seem well.

On March 28 we received the dreaded call, my mum and her siblings were all called in to say their final goodbyes. Two at a time, covered head to toe, hair net, face mask, gown, gloves and the rest, they each made their way in.

I stood in the car park of the nursing home, longing to say my final goodbye to the lady who taught me how to bake, to the lady who used to rub my head before I went to sleep, to the lady who used to let me have sweets before dinner, and the lady I will forever be grateful to have had in my life.

Suddenly, I was stripped of this goodbye.

After my nanny passed away, we all stood in the car park, feeling empty, standing two metres apart, not allowed to give each other a hug or share tissues for our tears. When the nurse came out and told us that because my nanny was being treated for Covid-19, it would be a closed coffin, there would be no wake and it would be straight to the cemetery for burial and prayers, if we could even get a priest to agree to that (thankfully we did).

Who could have ever imagined this? I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. My heart breaks for my nanny, a lady of good faith who would have only wanted the 'normal' send-off - who could have thought this would be something people would be stripped of? Grief is a deep pain that can be felt inside. Loved ones can help deal with this pain by sharing memories. Not having those loved ones around you is something unimaginable and something you can't prepare for.

For her family, friends and anyone my nanny had an impact on, who never got to say goodbye - we will say goodbye and it will be everything she would have ever wanted. But for now, in the words of my nanny, "see you again for a bit of a laugh".

We are living history. The challenges posed by Covid 19 are similar the world over but everybodys experience of this emergency will be different. In this special series, Lockdown Letters' gives our readers at home and across the globe an opportunity to share their stories about how the Coronavirus and the measures to tackle its spread are impacting their lives in these unprecedented times.

Please email your submission (400 words max.) to stories@independent.ie along with a photograph. We will publish as many letters as possible on Independent.ie and a selection in print every week.
58,154, of a 2.5 million national fund, has been allocated to support Longford community and voluntary groups involved in the delivery of Covid-19 community response efforts.

Michael Ring TD, Minister for Rural & Community Development said the urgently needed funding will be available to groups that are participating in the Governments Community Call initiative which is being led by the Local Authorities in response to the Cpvid-19 pandemic.

Minister Ring said: Local community and voluntary groups are supporting significant numbers of vulnerable people, many of whom are self-isolating, to get through this crisis. This Fund will help these groups to cover the costs of their work.

This is a response to support immediate and emergency efforts by community and voluntary groups in assisting people locally. It is recognised that there are wider challenges and impacts facing the community and voluntary sector as a whole, but this initiative will help to provide support to community groups that are delivering services at the frontline.

Irish Rural Link (IRL)  the national network representing the interest of rural communities has today welcomed the announcement.

Seamus Boland, CEO of IRL said The announcement of this fund is very timely. While the first few weeks of this crisis, groups were having problems sourcing hand-sanitiser, gloves etc and while this is still a problem, they are now concerned about the increasing costs as demand has increased."
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has launched a rebate scheme of up to 220 for consumers who pay their electricity bills on time.

The incentive to consumers comes after the power regulator found that revenue collection in the form of bill payments had witnessed a steep fall ever since the nationwide 21-day lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.

Under the scheme, which will be applicable for bills generated between March 24 and June 30, a consumer can avail of 1% of the bill amount (excluding arrears if any) or 200 (whichever is lower) if the payment is made within 1-7 days of the billing date. If the payment is made between 8-14 days of the billing date, the rebate will be 0.5% of the bill amount or 150 (whichever is lower).

Since services such as metre readings by discom officials have been suspended owing to the lockdown, the DERC has also ordered that an additional rebate of 20 be given to those who furnish their metre readings on their own.

However, there will be no incentive for those who make part payments of their bills.

A Delhi government official said that all these rebates will be in addition to the subsidy of up to 800, which it gives to domestic consumers who use up to 400 units of power a month.

The Janta Curfew on March 22 (Sunday) had seen a 10-15% reduction in the power demand as compared to March 15 (preceding Sunday) for different hours of the day. As the country goes under lockdown, further reduction in power demand is expected, the order stated.

The DERC also asked the discoms to extend the due date for payment of electricity bills raised during the period starting from March 24, 2020 till June 30, 2020, by further two weeks.

The bills raised for this purpose shall have last date of the extended period as June 30, 2020, it stated.
Authorities in Delhi announced on Wednesday a hard lockdown of 23 areas with large number of Covid-19 cases and ordered all citizens to wear masks while stepping out of their homes, tightening curbs to combat the outbreak even as 93 new cases took the total number of infections in the national capital to 669.

The three areas added to the list of 20 areas late on Wednesday are Bengali Market, Sadar and Moti Bagh.

All movements have been completely barred in Shahjahanabad Apartments - part of containment zone in Dwarkas Sector 11 - to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19. Sanitation is being carried out in the housing society and the gates have been locked.

Nobody will be allowed to enter or exit from these areas, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said on Wednesday while announcing the list of hostpots.

In Bengali Market, latest to be added to the list of hotspots, police said that strict legal action will be taken against violators.

Bengali Market area has been sealed. Strict legal action will be taken against violators. A list of phone numbers has been issued. You can order essential items on phone. It will be delivered at your doorstep, news agency ANI quoted a police official as saying.

The Bengali Market area, along with Babar Road, Todarmal Road, Babar Lane and School Lane were sealed after three positive cases were found in the area.

What a hard lockdown means that people will need to mandatorily keep indoors and all businesses - including grocery stores and banks that have been exempted from curbs as essential services - will be shut. Critical services such as food and medicine will be home-delivered by government personnel.

Sanitation workers of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) wore personal protective gear for the collection of garbage from the houses of the quarantined areas in Paharganj, in central Delhi, reported news agency ANI.

The tightening of measures comes at a time when officials are debating whether, and how, the unprecedented nationwide lockdown should be relaxed after April 14, the date when the three-week curbs are scheduled to end.

A hard lockdown has been identified as the key containment strategy at this stage, when India is seeing a steady stream of cases that can still be interrupted by stringent tactics that force people into social distancing.
Talks between EU finance ministers broke down on Wednesday as they discussed a multibillion-dollar rescue package.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on economies in Europe. Talks between European Union finance ministers broke down on Wednesday, as they discussed a multibillion-dollar rescue package.

Al Jazeeras Nadim Baba has more.
To date, 51 Australians have died from COVID-19, and the death of three South Australians this week means that the Northern Territory is the only region yet to have recorded a fatal case.

Despite government claims that Australias tough social-distancing measures are beginning to reduce the incidence of new confirmed cases, the official total is over 6,000 and rising. The real number is almost certainly far higher.

As is the case globally, testing for COVID-19 in Australia has been limited. To date, fewer than 330,000 tests have been carried out in a country with a population of more than 25 million.

The total number of confirmed cases in Australia has increased at a similar rate to the number of tests

Patients presenting with fever or respiratory symptoms in Australia are only tested for COVID-19 if they have recently travelled overseas or have had known contact with a confirmed case or local cluster. Since March 25, all health and aged care workers with coronavirus symptoms have also been eligible to undergo tests.

Across the country, just 8,038 COVID-19 tests were carried out on Tuesday, the second lowest number in the last week, and less than half the number carried out on March 29. This is despite claims by state health authorities that they are broadening the scope of testing.

The small number of COVID-19 tests conducted throughout Australia, and the highly selective basis upon which they continue to be conducted means that it is impossible to draw statistically meaningful conclusions from the results of these tests. One thing that is consistently shown by the data is that the number of confirmed cases is directly dependent on the number of tests carried out.

While tests conducted over the past week have shown a decline in the percentage of tests returning positive results, Mondays positive rate of 2 percent is higher than the overall figure of 1.9 percent since testing began. In other words, there is no indication that the incidence of COVID-19 is decreasing.

The low rate of testing means that the daily figures are easily skewed by variations in the number of tests conducted in different locations.

In NSW, where 40 percent of tests have been conducted, the cumulative percentage of positive tests has steadily increased from 0.5 percent on March 8 to 2.13 percent on April 7, still lower than the positive rate on any individual day since March 22. Of the 2,108 tests reported on Tuesday in NSW, 49 returned positive results, a higher rate than the previous two days.

New confirmed cases in NSW have moved in lockstep with the reduction in new tests

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy yesterday held a press conference at which they unveiled modelling funded by the government and carried out by the Doherty Institute.

This modelling, based on overseas data, predicted that if no quarantine, isolation, or social distancing measures were carried out, 89 percent of the population would become infected, nearly 1.4 million would require hospitalisation, and more than 400,000 would need to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Australia currently has a total of 2,229 ICU beds, and the modelling assumes that half of these would be required for cases unrelated to COVID-19.

Taking into account the strictest social distancing measures considered in the model, under which 11.6 percent of the population is expected to be infected, the number of ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients will need to be tripled before there is a reasonable likelihood of meeting the demand.

The report raised the need for strict enforcement of social distancing measures, including through proxy indicators of compliance such as transport and mobile phone data, providing the justification for increased surveillance and erosion of democratic rights.

Not considered in the model were health care worker absenteeism due to illness, carer responsibilities or burnout, or shortages in critical medical supplies.

Morrison said that, while the model was not based on Australian data, it proved the theory of flattening the curve, and that Australia was on the right track, as the daily growth rate in cases has now fallen to just a few percentage points per day.

The reality is that the reported reduced growth rate has coincided with a decrease in the number of tests being carried out, particularly in NSW and Victoria, which have the highest number of confirmed cases.

The daily positive test rate in NSW remains higher than the cumulative rate

Morrisons claim that less than 10 percent of confirmed cases have resulted from community transmission is entirely speculative, given that testing for COVID-19 in Australia has mostly been limited to those patients who have recently travelled overseas, or who have been in close contact with people who had done so.

This has been justified by federal and state governments on the basis that most of the confirmed cases had resulted from such circumstances. In fact, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy: if the vast majority of test subjects have travelled overseas, then the majority of confirmed cases will inevitably be in patients who have travelled overseas.

Due to the testing criteria, locally-acquired COVID-19 cases have only been counted in the official figures when they have been severe enough to require hospitalisation.

As of Sunday, more than 15 percent of the 2,640 confirmed cases in NSW were contracted locally, by people with no known links to other confirmed cases, geographical hot spots, or recently returned international travellers. On March 24, this was true in only 9 percent of confirmed cases in the state.

Since the first Australian cases of COVID-19 were discovered in January, all levels of government have insisted that recent international travel was the single most important risk factor for contracting the virus. Certainly, in the beginning, that was rational, but the failure to systematically test or quarantine returning travellers has allowed infection to spread throughout the community.

Incoming passenger screening was introduced at Australian airports on February 2, but limited to travellers arriving from high-risk countries. Temperature checks for all arriving passengers were not introduced until March 26. In any case, as the Doherty modelling documents make clear, testing for fever is of limited use in detecting COVID-19 because of the long incubation period of the virus before symptoms develop.

There have been reports that health workers conducting the temperature checks have received minimal training in the safety precautions necessary during a pandemic. This, coupled with the cramped conditions in airport arrival halls, has likely resulted in increased transmission of the virus.

Mandatory quarantine for international arrivals was not introduced until March 28. Prior to that, people arriving from overseas were required to self-isolate, but, as no special ground transportation was provided, many incoming passengers were forced on to public transport, potentially exposing large numbers of people to the virus.

Data from Iceland, the country with by far the highest rate of testing, has shown that up to 50 percent of those infected with COVID-19 show no symptoms, yet there have been no moves in Australia to institute random testing to ascertain the true spread of the virus. Asked whether any such move was planned, Morrison said that testing resources were finite, and needed to be rationed, while Murphy claimed without any substantiation there isnt a lot of evidence about it.

The introduction of police-enforced bans on gatherings of more than two people across most of the country demonstrates that Australian governments and health authorities are in fact keenly aware of the risk of community transmission through asymptomatic carriers. They have used the results of the extremely limited and biased testing to play down the danger and insist that workers in education, childcare, construction, retail, manufacturing, and other industries continue to go to work as usual.
The Greenwich Commission on Aging is committed to improving the quality of life for older Greenwich residents through planning, coordination, outreach, advocacy and education. Since the arrival of COVID-19 here in the United States, and the increasing number of positive cases locally, we are all living in a time of increasing stress and uncertainty.

Life as we know it has temporarily changed. We must take the necessary steps to reduce our risk of exposure and stay safe. Social distance does not mean that we have to socially disconnect. In fact, maintaining social connection is vital for social support and has important implications for health and well-being.

Its important that each of us, regardless of chronological age, talk with someone every day. This can present an enormous challenge for individuals that live alone. Emotional well-being is as important as physical health.

Were thrilled to share new remote opportunities for socially connecting and engaging in a diverse schedule of programs  all from the comfort and safety of your own home.

Zoom Classes: The CONNECTT program is a collaborative effort with Greenwich Country Day School and offers daily programs that you can participate in on your computer, tablet or phone. Visit our website page on the Town of Greenwich website: greenwichct.gov/190/Commission-on-Aging.

Call to Chat: Were also working in cooperation with Greenwich High School to launch the Bridging the Generations program. If you are an older adult interested in receiving a regular call to connect, chat and check-in, please call or email Sharon Wilson at Greenwich High School at 203-531-8360 or sharon_wilson@greenwich.k12.ct.us.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in people. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

According to the CDC, stress during an infectious disease outbreak can include:

Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones

Changes in sleep or eating patterns

Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

Worsening of chronic health problems

Increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs

The good news is that there are several things you can do right now to reduce stress and support yourself during this challenging time.

1. Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories and social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.

2. Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and drugs.

3. Keep to a schedule and be mindful of self-care. Routines are important and give structure to your day.

4. Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy.

5. Connect with others. Try one of the new remote programs that are being offered. Reconnect with old friends and meet new people on Zoom.

6. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.

7. Call your health care provider if stress gets in the way of your daily activities for several days in a row or if you feel overwhelmed with emotions like sadness, depression or anxiety.

All residents are encouraged to review CDC safety guidelines and other reliable information about Covid-19 at www.cdc.gov. Additionally, residents should refer to the Town of Greenwich website www.greenwichct.gov and the Greenwich Department of Health webpage, www.greenwich.gov/575/Health-Department. for important information about limited services and resources available. Residents experiencing challenges with food, finances, and living arrangements can call the Department of Human Services at 203-622-3800.

The staff of the Commission on Aging and Greenwich Senior Center are working remotely, but you can still call the office to leave a message or email us if you have a specific question or concern. Wed love to know what you all have been doing to cope and connect. Feel free to share by emailing agefriendlygreenwich@gmail.com.

Remember, we are all in this together.

Stay safe and be well,

Lori Contadino is director of the Greenwich Commission on Aging.
Yuka Ioroi thought she couldnt possibly get any more stressed. In the middle of weathering the financial hit of shutting down the dine-in portion of her restaurant, and trying to keep her staff employed, she finally heard back from her insurance provider. They denied her claim for business interruption insurance.

I couldnt believe it, said Ioroi, co-owner of Outer Richmond restaurant Cassava. Things are becoming dire; customers are spending less each week. If theres a time for interruption policy to kick in, its now.

Some small businesses are grappling with the harsh reality that they may be ineligible for business interruption insurance despite a near-total shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Bay Area counties are enforcing shelter-in-place orders until at least May 3. Restaurants, deemed essential businesses, can offer only delivery and takeout services until the order lifts.

Companies that have business interruption insurance can file claims if theyre displaced by an emergency or have operations halted because of fires or natural disasters that cause physical damage. The coverage can pay for losses, including income and employee wages, depending on policy and carrier. But some insurance companies are doubling down on denials, fearing the payout could be too costly with thousands of businesses lining up to file claims simultaneously.

Ioroi said her business saw a 36% loss in revenue in March, down to $70,000 from an average of $110,000 the previous month. The restaurant is on track to see more losses, she said. Her insurance company, the Hartford, in Lexington, Ky., stated in a denial letter that her policy doesnt cover the loss of business income because, No direct physical loss or damage has occurred to property.

Hartford declined to comment for this story. The insurance company is also embroiled in a lawsuit filed by Thomas Keller, the famed chef behind the French Laundry. According to court documents, the lawsuit asks the court to decide whether Kellers business interruption policy allows him to recover losses amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Its infuriating that theyre cherry-picking rules, Ioroi said of the insurance providers. My business shut down because of a government order, an emergency. That should be enough for me to qualify for a claim.

She may have a point, according to Robert Wallan, a Los Angeles attorney at Pillsbury law firm, who represents business owners in insurance claims. Ioroi is not a client of his.

Theres a real narrative being pushed by insurance agencies to the effect that theres no coverage for COVID-19. The way theyre presenting it is wrong, he said.

Wallan said the argument by insurance companies saying the virus doesnt cause physical damage or displacement misses the point. He said he believes under California case law, contamination by viruses are grounds for loss of use or damage to property. Some policies may have specific exclusions for communicable diseases, viruses and pandemics, but thats a minority, Wallan said.

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a national trade association, said this week that many commercial insurance policies, including those that have business interruption coverage, do not provide coverage for communicable diseases or viruses.

Pandemic outbreaks are uninsured because they are uninsurable, it said.

Weve seen this before. First they (insurance companies) dropped earthquake coverage, then they fought claims arising from the 9/11 attacks, then they tightened rules for hurricanes and storms. Their arguments against COVID-19 claims is a real loser, Wallan said.

In Danville, bookstore owner Michael Barnard is in the same situation  wringing his hands over business interruption insurance while keeping his business, Rakestraw Books in the East Bay city, afloat. Hes committed to keeping his staff and running the bookstores online site, which is seeing a growing number of orders, he said. Still, thinking about long-term plans, Barnard inquired with his insurance agent about his eligibility for a claim and was told he was unlikely to be covered. His insurance provider is Capital Insurance Group in Monterey.

Sadly, I wasnt surprised. My agent is a terrific guy and Ive known him for decades, but with insurance companies, theres always a loophole, always an exception.

Gregory Onstad, Barnards insurance agent, said decisions are going to be made on a case-by-case basis and it all depends on the language in the specific policy. A large majority of the claims may be denied, he said.

I dont think insurance companies should bear the burden of every disaster. The government needs to do its part, too, Onstad said. He said he heard legal advisers were recommending people still file losses of business income claims anyway, to get the attention of state legislators.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

California is interested in seeing the number of claims being filed.

On March 26, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara directed insurance companies to give data on business interruption insurance coverage in relation to COVID-19 to the California Department of Insurance by April 9. The information will help policymakers understand the scope of losses to businesses, his office said.

Local officials are also stepping up to help small businesses in this predicament.

On Tuesday, San Franciscos Board of Supervisors adopted Supervisor Gordon Mars resolution declaring that COVID-19 causes property loss or damage because of its propensity to adhere to surfaces and spread.

Mom and pop businesses have paid into business interruption insurance to protect them and their workers in times like these. The insurance companies must step up and honor the business interruption claims, Mar said in a statement.

Ioroi, whos applied for federal relief and is debating her next steps, said the uncertainty is excruciating. She employs 17 people, six of whom are on sick leave.

I plan to fight this. We pay a lot of money for insurance, for what? she asked. Someone needs to do something.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika
ANN ARBOR, MI  The chief operating officer of an Ann Arbor-based AI startup said Thursday the company has laid off 32% of its workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement from Clinc COO Lingjia Tang said the decision was difficult and the company is grateful for all of its employees contributions.

In light of the current global pandemic, hard decisions were made to best serve our clients and employees, and we remain focused on supporting and protecting the health of the employees impacted, the statement reads.

Clincs primary focus is conversational AI and giving people the ability to talk to mobile devices and command tasks. Clincs voice-controlled system, Finie, aims to have better comprehension than Apples Siri by understanding a users tone and words, learning information it wasnt initially programmed to know, marketing director Emma Furlong explained in February.

The company is hoping to ease the transition for those laid off by offering severance packages that include an extended three months of benefits and healthcare, according to the COOs statement. Tang said Clinc the move will help with the stability of the company to prepare for what could be an extremely harsh economic climate.

Clinc has refocused the business on its two primary areas: providing financial institutions with exceptional virtual assistants and democratizing conversational AI platform, which best positions us to weather this storm and be set up for long-term success, the statement says.

The company is preparing to move into the old Kiwanis Club thrift store at 200 S. First St. in downtown Ann Arbor. Tang said the business still plans to move to the building, but construction is delayed due to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-home order.

Conversational AI firm to move into former Kiwanis Club thrift store in Ann Arbor

The company was founded in 2015 by Tang and her husband, Jason Mars, both of whom are computer science professors at the University of Michigan. In February, Mars resigned as CEO of the company after employee complaints of inappropriate behavior.

Clinc CEO resigns after investigation into inappropriate behavior

Since then, Tang and co-founder Michael Laurenzano, who earned his Ph.D. at UM, took over as co-CEOs. The company has raised $60 million in investment and works with global corporations like Barclays, Ford Motor Company, USAA and Isbank in Turkey, Furlong previously said.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Mapping spread of coronavirus in Michigan over past four weeks

Conoravirus upends Michigans Class of 2020: This isnt the senior year that anyone wanted'

MichMash: Medical supply shortage has businesses stepping up amid coronavirus pandemic

Second Michigan legislator confirmed positive for coronavirus
Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a meeting via video conference with heads of local governments at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Read more

Rarely has accurate information been more vital than at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet a global disinformation war is being waged at full force.

China and Russia push conspiracy theories worldwide about the origin of the virus. Autocrats from Cambodia to Saudi Arabia to Turkey censor reporting on the virus.

Meantime, President Donald Trump blasts journalists who question his misinformation, while Fox News pundits and social media promote reckless claims about the outbreak.

Heres the good news, however: For those of you who seek solid information while sheltering at home there is a surprising amount to be found.

But first, its important to grasp some of the dangerous distortions being promoted about the virus globally  and at home. China tried to distract attention from its early mishandling of the virus by advancing absurd claims  tweeted by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson -- that the U.S. Army brought the epidemic to Wuhan.

Meantime, the Chinese government expelled U.S. reporters who did yeoman coverage of the Wuhan outbreak, and muzzles its own media from reporting on its coronavirus failures.

And Beijing is harnessing a vast social media campaign of bots, trolls, and state-controlled sites to push a new worldwide narrative stressing its model campaign to squelch COVID-19 (making a sharp comparison with the USA). It has done this even as many health experts worldwide question the Chinese statistics.

The investigative news site ProPublica has tracked more than 10,000 fake or hijacked Twitter accounts connected to the Chinese government efforts at coronavirus propaganda (with an additional 200,000 frozen by Twitter). The German Marshall Funds Alliance for Securing Democracy also tracks Chinese propaganda efforts, along with Russias.

And, indeed, Russia has also been super active in promoting fake coronavirus news while hiding its own statistics. State-controlled TV promotes the thesis at home that COVID-19 was a biological weapon created by the Pentagon to kill as many Chinese as possible

Meantime, after closing Russias long border with China, Vladimir Putin did little to address the pandemic until very recently. Doctors are silenced, nearly all national media are controlled, even as Moscow currently claims only 76 have died out of a mere 10,000 cases.

Nobody trusts the government figures announced in Russia, says the respected independent Russian journalist Natalia Gevorkyan. Everybody questions how it could be that we have such a long border with China, and so many Chinese workers inside Russia, yet we started so late and have so few cases.

That has not stopped the Kremlin from mounting a coordinated effort on social media to spread alarm and misinformation about COVID-19 in other countries. An internal European Union report described this effort as aimed at stoking confusion, panic and fear to subvert European societies from within. Ditto for America, as we learned after the 2016 election.

So its easy to understand the goal of Russian and Chinese disinformation. Whats more frustrating is the level of conspiracy theories and misinformation being spewed out in the United States.

No need here to reprise President Trumps weeks of insisting the virus was under control or was a Democratic Party hoax. Or the daily news conferences where he promotes unproven drug therapies and falsely claims there are sufficient tests.

Equally disturbing are false narratives pushed by far-right pundits, including that the virus was manufactured in a Chinese laboratory. Or that it is spread by 5G wireless networks. (Russian news sites also attack 5G signals as harmful.) Or the claim by Fox News hosts that the number of U.S. deaths has been inflated.

The ease with which conspiracy theories spread in troubled times makes it all the more vital that Americans access fact-based sources. Luckily there are even more such sources available than usual. So let me cite a few I regularly consult.

During the COVID-19 crisis some of Americas best newspapers are putting select coverage outside their paywalls. So, besides The Inquirer, you can read coronavirus coverage in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. (Given the severe financial hit to newspapers at this time, one hopes that those who take advantage of the freebies will ultimately subscribe.)

 READ MORE: Coronavirus lessons: How South Korea and Germany got it right I Trudy Rubin

Beyond print media, think tanks in Philadelphia and Washington have switched their many presentations to webcasts, sometimes on Zoom, a video-conferencing app you can access for free. So you can tune in to fascinating events at Phillys Foreign Policy Research Institute, the University of Pennsylvanias Perry World House, the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Atlantic Council, and more.

For stats on the virus there is the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

Both ProPublica and the Alliance for Securing Democracy websites report closely on Chinese and Russian disinformation campaigns.

I could add many more (and will if asked) but hope this is sufficient while you are confined to quarters. Just remember, when you finally emerge, the importance of news outlets and journalists that give you the facts.
[April 09, 2020] Molina Healthcare of California Gives $65,000 to More Than 35 Local Nonprofits to Support Families During COVID-19 Pandemic

In an effort to assist the many Californians affected by the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, Molina Healthcare of California ("Molina") is donating a total of $65,000 to more than 35 community-based organizations across the state. The grants and supply donations will help the nonprofits provide hygiene essentials, food, financial support, and other resources to help vulnerable communities during the pandemic. "We are extremely grateful, especially during these trying times, to have dedicated partners that are committed to alleviating some of the barriers that many families are experiencing," said John Kotal, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California. "We understand that many people are feeling increased uncertainty at this time. It's comforting to provide donations to nonprofits that are working tirelessly to ensure supplies and support are provided directly to those in need." Molina is providing necessities and financial donations to more than 35 organizations throughout the six state counties it serves (Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange (News - Alert) County and Imperial), including the following: Area Agency on Aging

Able ARTS Work

Boys & Girls Club Redlands-Riverside

California State Senator Connie Leyva (donation to local senior centers)

Campesinos Unidos Inc.

CASA of Imperial County

Centro C.H.A.

Clinica Medica Familiar - San Bernardino

Cody's Closet

Community Health Association of Inland Southern egions

County of San Bernardino Public Health

East County Transitional Living Center

Father Joe's Villages

Human Service Association

Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program (IV ROP)

La Maestra Community Health Center

Long Beach Rescue Mission

Meals on Wheels Long Beach

Meals on Wheels Sacramento

Meals on Wheels San Diego

Midnight Mission

Option House, Inc.

PATH Los Angeles

PATH San Diego

Project Angel Food

Redlands Charitable Resource Coalition

River City Food Bank

Riverside County Medical Society

Sacramento Covered

Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Southern California Rehabilitation Services, Inc.

Spread the Love Charity

Step Up on Second Inland Empire

Sure HelpLine Crisis Center

The Dream Center

Westside Foodbank of Santa Monica

WomanHaven



For members seeking information about COVID-19 risk factors, Molina recently launched its Coronavirus Chatbot, an enhanced digital tool available on the Molina website, member portal, and mobile app.

About Molina Healthcare of California Molina Healthcare of California has been providing government-funded care for low-income individuals for over 35 years. Molina's mission has always been to provide quality health care to people receiving government assistance. As of December 31, 2019, the company serves approximately 565,000 members through Medi-Cal, Medicare, Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) and Covered California (Marketplace). Molina's service areas include Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County and Imperial counties. For more information, visit MolinaHealthcare.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube (News - Alert). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005171/en/

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UFC 249 has been canceled, Dana White told ESPNs Brett Okamoto.

The UFC president had insisted that the MMA pay-per-view showcase scheduled for April 18 would go on in spite of public health concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic.

White told Okamoto that he got a call from the highest level at ESPN and its parent company Disney and that the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday.

ESPN is UFCs broadcast partner.

UFC President Dana White spoke to Brett Okamoto about #UFC249 no longer taking place on April 18.



(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/VRP5jL3k9J  ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 9, 2020

UFC looked to skirt COVID-19 safety protocols

The event was originally scheduled for Brooklyns Barclays Center before the coronavirus took hold in the United States and led to the suspension of all major sporting events and other large gatherings.

White promised that the event would go on at an undisclosed location, teasing multiple times that he had secured a private island to host UFC cards.

Reports earlier this week stated that he had arranged to hold it at a casino resort on Central California tribal land that would allow the organization to skirt federal and state regulations restricting gatherings and canceling MMA events in the state.

The California State Athletic Commission has canceled all fights through May 31 and Gov. Gavin Newsom, in an effort to thwart the spread of the coronavirus, has issued a mandate that people stay home unless conducting essential tasks like seeking medical help or purchasing food.

UFC 249 was slated for California

White confirmed the report in his interview with Okamoto.

Tachi Palace in California  the Indian reservation  has had our back this whole time, has stood their ground and was willing to do this fight, White said of the resort south of Fresno. Let me tell you this. When the world gets back to normal, the California event will be at Tachi Palace.

Story continues

Im doing a fight there. Im gonna bring them a big fight. I appreciate them standing with me in this thing.

White then looked at the camera and addressed all of my fighters that are under contract with me.

I want them to feel safe and take time with your families, White said. Enjoy this time. Dont worry about the financial part of this. ... Im gonna take care of as many people as I possibly can.

Multiple California politicians got involved ahead of the cancelation, too. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) publicly called for the event to be postponed on Thursday afternoon just before White did so, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom reportedly called Disney officials about it on Thursday, too.

Fight Island is real

He then vowed that UFC would be the first sport back and that Fight Island is real.

Shortly after Whites interview with ESPN, UFC released a statement confirming the cancelation of the event.

Dana White relented when ESPN asked him to shut down UFC 249 (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

White was adamant in face of criticism

White has been under fire for insisting on moving forward with UFC events in light of the safety concerns brought on by the deadly coronavirus. In March he called his media critics the weakest, wimpiest people on Earth.

After most of the sports world shut down in mid-March, White pushed on with UFC Brasilia in an empty arena. The March 15 event took place four days after the NBA suspended its season, a decision that preceded the cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournaments and postponement of the start of MLBs season.

Headlining names pulled out of UFC 249

UFC 249 was one of the most anticipated cards in the history of mixed martial arts, originally headlined by a title showdown between undefeated middleweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and challenger Tony Ferguson, a fight the UFC community has anticipated for years.

The card weakened when Nurmagomedov announced on April 1 that he would not participate as he would remain with his family in his home in Russia during the pandemic. Justin Gaethje since replaced Khabib on card earlier this week.

On Wednesday, womens strawweight champion Rose Namajunas pulled out of the card. On Thursday, her manager announced that she withdrew because two of her family members had died after contracting COVID-19.

More from Yahoo Sports:
Department store chain Debenhams is to liquidate its operations in Ireland and close all its stores.

The company wrote to staff members in Ireland this morning saying it will make an application for Debenhams Retail (Ireland) to be placed into liquidation under the Companies Act 2014. It is anticipated the application will be made and a provisional liquidator will be appointed next week.

Debenhams operated 11 stores in Ireland, four in Dublin, two in Cork and stores in Newbridge, Galway, Limerick, Tralee and Waterford.

"In these unprecedented times, Debenhams is having to make exceptionally difficult decisions," the company said in an email to staff.

"Unfortunately, our Irish business has had trading challenges which were exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19. In the UK, Debenhams has entered into administration in order to protect its business. Regrettably, due to the challenges facing Debenhams Retail (Ireland) Ltd, it is anticipated that an application will be made to appoint a liquidator to the Irish operations."

"As you know Debenhams has already suspended trading in the Republic of Ireland stores and we can confirm that these stores are not expected to reopen. "

"In ordinary circumstances, communication about this process would have been done face to face, however, due to the Pandemic you are receiving this message via email, and we apologise for that."

Shoppers outside the former Roches Stores outlet on Cork's St Patrick's Street in 1983.

The history of Debenhams in Ireland goes back to 1901 when the iconic Roches Stores brand began with the foundation of a furniture shop in Cork by William Roche. In 1919 he bought the landmark London House building on St Patricks Street and by 1927 it was the biggest department store in the country and the first of 11 shops in the Roches Stores empire.

In 2006, the UK department store chain Debenhams took over the leasehold of 11 Roches Stores outlets as it increased its presence in Ireland.

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the Debenhams chain was facing financial difficulties and plans were in train to close a number of UK stores. Despite the liquidation announced today, Debenhams said its online store will remain open for Irish customers.

The Mandate trade union which represents a number of the Debenhams workers in Ireland said the news has come as a massive shock to its members.

John Douglas, Mandate General Secretary, said they will be seeking a meeting with the liquidator when they are appointed and demanding that staff are prioritised throughout the liquidation process.

Stefaan Vansteenkiste, CEO of Debenhams, said: We are desperately sorry not to be able to keep the Irish business operating but are faced with no alternative option in the current environment. This decision has not been taken lightly and is no way a reflection on our Irish colleagues, whose professionalism and commitment to serving our customers has never been in question. The colleagues have been placed on temporary lay-off under the Irish Governments payment support schemes for employers and we will be working with them to support them through this process.
A doctor who asked the Prime Minister to urgently provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for NHS workers has died after contracting the coronavirus.

Consultant urologist Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died on Wednesday night, more than two weeks after being taken to hospital on March 23.

Just five days before being admitted, the father-of-two wrote a Facebook post to Boris Johnson bout the lack of PPE.

In the post on March 18, he wrote: People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families /kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.

Dr Chowdhury worked at Homerton University Hospital / PA

Family friend doctor Golam Rahat Khan said Dr Chowdhury had been worried about Covid-19 long before it reached the UK.

He was telling me and other friends that coronavirus was very dangerous, he said.

Dr Khan, 45, who has known Dr Chowdhury for nearly 20 years, described him as a life-loving person.

He added: He liked singing and liked our own Bengali culture and loved English heritage.

He was so caring, he would call us very often to come to his house.

I last saw him on February 1 at my house for my sons eighth birthday.

Dr Chowdhury was concerned about the lack of PPE for NHS workers / PA

Dr Khan said none of Dr Chowdhurys relatives were with him when he died at around 10.35pm at Queens Hospital in Romford.

Dr Chowdhury, who worked at Homerton University Hospital in London, is survived by his wife and two children aged 18 and 11.

Paying tribute to Dr Khan, Homerton University Hospitals chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: Abdul will be greatly missed by every member of the urology department, as well as by all those who knew him in outpatients, wards, theatres and management.

Our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time.
As surfers and bubble butts made international news last week, Bondi became a meme. Local media quickly cottoned on, and now were seeing the same story reported on every stretch of sand with a Backpackers and Bottle-O.

The next victim? Manly. The most famous beach in Sydney after Bondi.

Manly was shut down on Sunday morning, after a North East swell, classic Autumn offshores and a rising thermometer attracted stupid numbers of surfers, swimmers and tan seekers the previous afternoon.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marine Raynard (@thefrenchieescapes) on Apr 6, 2020 at 8:17pm PDT

Everyone from The Daily Mail to The Telegraph got in on the clicks: Rich Pricks Prioritize THEIR Fitness Over YOUR Health (loosely paraphrased) they claimed, while forgetting Manly residents, like everyone else in Australia, were just trying to get a bit of exercise.

Yes, a few chose to linger in groups, but these were few and far between. The reason the beach was closed was the sheer number of people using it  a problem residents argue is caused by people driving in.

Though in the scheme of things (we could be in total lockdown like Italy or Spain), its nothing to whinge about, and while its lazy to broadly dismiss the media (which media?), locals were understandably irritated that drive-ins and digital shrills had ruined their chances of going for a dip.

As Internewscast reported, Residents of Sydneys northern beaches have slammed police and the local council for closing Manly Beach after thousands flocked to the sand in spite of strict social distancing policies.

I find it ridiculous, one resident wrote on the Northern Beaches Council Facebook Page. I work 40+ hours a week from my home, live 50 yards from Manly beach and surf for my physical and mental well-being, and train on the grass by the beach.

Another said he was worried the decision would affect his son, who used surfing to clear his head, while studying for the HSC: Thanks Northern Beaches Council. I thought you lot were at least using some common sense and acknowledging surfing as a form of exercise.

Now I am truly worried about his mental well-being.

What both miss is that the beach closure was probably the best thing that could have happened to locals, as it sends a message to non-residents its not worth coming, making for a sparser mid-week (the beach re-opened on Monday). And with the Easter long weekend coming up it was an especially smart call  one day of heavy-handedness could save the council a week of disobedience.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Stephanie Aurelia (@aureliastephanie) on Mar 22, 2020 at 8:30pm PDT

This brings us back to media manipulation. As we mentioned, we have no problem with the councils decision to shut the beach. Just because a line cant be drawn perfectly doesnt mean you shouldnt draw one at all. And we happily submit to this jackboot in other aspects of our lives (speed limits, etc).

What we do have a problem with, is media turning Australians against each other at a time we need to pull together  something we discussed last week with a clinical psychologist, who explained the mindset of living in Bondi (he concluded even though theyre stereotyped as arrogant, its the suburbs fame, not the residents, necessarily, who are to blame for the crowds).

Its much the same in Manly, with local photographer Sprout Daily taking to Instagram on Sunday to reveal an optic trick used by Australian media to make beachgoers look closer than they really are: Id say it was pretty mellow at Manly yesterday. I guess it depends where you look.

Find some space to yourself out there to stretch swim, surf, etc, theres plenty of it. Just make sure your space is not too close to mine, ok?

NOTE: No incriminating zoom lenses were used in these photographs.

Heard any better shade thrown over the weekend? Well wait. Anyway, the post split opinion, with one commenter writing: Still too many people out in Manly. Stay home to save lives. The more people go out the longer this will linger.

Most followers agreed with Sprout Daily though. Too many sensationalised articles making non beach communities jealous and upset, one wrote, while another said: That beat up yesterday! Those photos looked remarkably similar to some from a few weeks ago.

Beach walks most mornings reveal locals exercising, soaking up sun and sea air and keeping their distance.

Further comments included, Fake news yesterday at Manly and, Its the media, and people who drive over on the weekend who are the problem.

The Telegraph had a telephoto lens squashing everyone close together yesterday, another remarked.

With the long weekend imminent, we anticipate the saga will continue.

Read Next
After Vietnam halted rice exports, Thailand pushed its export prices up, but now Vietnamese exporters are preparing to return to the world market.

Thailand on April 2 offered 5 percent broken rice at $550 per ton, an increase of $82 per ton compared with March 24, the time when Vietnam announced the suspension of rice export.

Meanwhile, India, the second largest exporter, has also stopped making rice price offers as Vietnam, Pakistan and Cambodia did.



Nguyen Dinh Bich, a respected trade expert, said Thailand is now the only buyer in the market, so it is understandable why it has pushed the price up.



The rice price is on the rise, but the current factors show that the price will not skyrocket because demand is stable.



The latest report of the US Department of Agriculture showed that this years rice output doesnt decrease, the inventories in countries remain high and the worlds demand doesnt increase sharply.

If the epidemic lasts a long time, some markets which now buy low-cost rice may have to shift to cheaper food, such as cassava and corn. Thus, rice demand will decrease.

If the epidemic lasts a long time, some markets which now buy low-cost rice may have to shift to cheaper food, such as cassava and corn. Thus, rice demand will decrease.



In general, Vietnams rice is $50-60 per ton cheaper than Thailands. However, in the first months of the year, Vietnams price was very close to Thailands. If Vietnam halts rice exports for a long time, enterprises which have a high inventory level will not buy more rice. If so, the rice price will fall.

Pham Thai Binh, general director of Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture JSC, said the domestic rice price decreased slightly after the rice export suspension, but the price has become stable again.



Domestic rice demand has increased amid COVID-19. However, the increase is small compared with the rice excess.



The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has increased hundreds of thousands of tons for stock, so there is no need to worry about rice shortage. He has reassured the public that despite the drought and saline intrusion in Mekong Delta, the yield is still very high.



So, the government should resume rice export, Binh said.



Nguyen Van Thanh, director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production and Trade in Vinh Long province, said about 200,000 tons of rice have been affected by the rice export suspension decision, which has caused serious losses.



The Philippines was the biggest importer of Vietnams rice in the first two months of the year, which consumed 35.9 percent of total rice exports. Meanwhile, China, Taiwan and Mozambique saw the sharpest increases of imports from Vietnam.

Kim Chi

VN Trade Ministry proposes resuming rice exports The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has asked the Government to resume rice exports. However, the export volume would be limited at 800,000 tonnes for April and May.
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Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Paris, France  Thu, April 9, 2020 16:40 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0df66e 2 World France,Paris,coronavirus,coronavirus-prevention,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,pandemic,balcony Free

"What country's flag has a yellow cross on a blue background?" Noam Cartozo shouts out of the fifth-floor window of his Paris apartment. "Sweden!" comes the shouted reply from another apartment window and applause ripples through the street.

This nightly general knowledge quiz is how the residents of Rue Saint-Bernard, in the 11th district of Paris, are relieving the boredom and isolation of a coronavirus lockdown that is now nearly a month old.

It has spread beyond the street. Cartozo, an actor and comedian who hosts the quiz, broadcasts it on his Instagram account, with one video garnering 1.1 million views.

"I saw that the neighbors were looking a bit sad about the confinement," said Cartozo, who comperes the quiz with toilet rolls festooned around his neck, a satire on the coronavirus-related wave of panic buying seen in some cities.

"I wanted to create a bit of atmosphere in the neighborhood to help with all of that," he told Reuters.

France this week became the fourth country in the world to cross the threshold of 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Officials say the lockdown is slowing the outbreak but the restrictions will not be eased anytime soon.

Cartozo hit on the idea for the quiz after Paris residents started emerging on to their balconies at 8 p.m. each night to applaud healthcare workers dealing with the epidemic.

Keen to prolong that moment of connection, Cartozo started playing music for the street.

"But I noticed I was the only one dancing," he said. "In the end I decided to give them a series of questions, and the game took off."

The quiz pits people whose house numbers have even numbers, on one side of the street, against those with odd numbers. Prizes include toilet paper and pasta.

Neighbors appreciate the diversion.

"It makes the days seem shorter," said one resident, Laura Coles, who was taking part in the quiz on Wednesday evening.

"It's good to talk to people, to laugh with people," said her daughter, Lou.

Cartozo has dubbed the nightly quiz "Questions for a Balcony," a play on the title of long-running quiz show on French television, "Questions for a Champion".

Yet despite landing his own hit show, the performer said he was keen for it to end.

"We all want to get out, we want to see our friends and families again. The shorter this game is, the better it is for everyone," Cartozo.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrested two accused involved in MLA Bhima Mandavi murder case on Wednesday and produced them before NIA Special Court in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.

The court has granted their custody to the NIA for six days for interrogation.

On April 9, 2019, MLA Mandavi and four police personnel, travelling in a vehicle, were killed in a powerful IED blast triggered by Maoists near Shyamgiri village of Dantewada.

As per the press release issued by the NIA on Wednesday, two accused - Bhima Tati and Madka (a resident of Patel Para of Tikanpal Village in Dantewada district) - were allegedly involved in MLAs murder case.

Initial investigation has revealed that aforesaid two accused are CPI (Maoist) workers and they were instrumental in providing logistic support and shelter to the Maoists and were part of the larger conspiracy to plant and execute the IED blast which led to the killing of MLA Mandavi and four policemen, said the press release.

The NIA, in May 2019, registered a case under the Indian Penal Codes Arms Act, the Explosives Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the attack. The NIA, which reached Dantewada for the investigation, was denied documents pertaining to the case by the local police.

It had first approached its designated local court over the matter and later approached the High Court Bilaspur in June.

After the High Courts intervention, the documents/properties related to the case were handed over to the NIA by Chhattisgarh Police on March 17, 2020.

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New Delhi, April 9 : Budget airline SpiceJet on Thursday said that it has operated the first cargo freighter on the Chennai-Singapore-Chennai route carrying critical medical equipment and Covid-19 related medical supplies .

SpiceJet's Boeing 737 freighter aircraft was scheduled to arrive back in Chennai on Thursday evening.

The airline has transported over 1,500 tons of cargo carrying essential supplies since the nation-wide lockdown began.

Besides, SpiceJet will operate a second freighter flight on Friday, carrying medical supplies from Singapore to Bengaluru.

"SpiceJet's freighters have been flying non-stop carrying vital supplies to and from Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and a host of other places including South-East Asia," said SpiceJet Chairman & Managing Director, Ajay Singh.

"Since the lockdown began, we have operated around 200 domestic and international cargo flights transporting more than 1,500 tons of cold chain medical supplies, medicines, medical devices for various state governments, medical and pharma companies along with essential supplies." The airline's dedicated cargo arm -- SpiceXpress -- has been regularly transporting surgical supplies, sanitizers, face masks, etc. and providing doorstep deliveries of essential supplies, medicines and medical equipment.
Senator Bernie Sanders joins former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren onstage before the start at the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston, Texas, U.S. September 12, 2019.

Progressive groups that haven often been aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders are pushing Joe Biden to keep Wall Street executives and business leaders from being part of his administration if he wins the presidency.

While the former vice president has said he has not started speaking with possible members of his potential cabinet, he recently told donors that he has been discussing with his advisors who he would ask to join his administration. Biden is currently in the process of considering candidates to be his vice presidential running mate.

After Sanders dropped out of the race Wednesday, several progressive groups signed a letter to Biden calling on him to pledge that he will not appoint leaders on Wall Street and K-Street, or those in the fossil fuel and health care industries to campaign advisory roles or to cabinet posts.

The letter, which can be found here, also calls on Biden to assign people who endorsed Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another progressive, to be co-chairs of his prospective transition team. The groups also urge him to appoint advisors such as Joseph Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor who is an advocate for the "Green New Deal," to his National Economic Council. Stiglitz was reportedly on a list of advisors being pushed to Hillary Clinton by Warren in 2014 before the former secretary of State ran for president.

The groups signing the letter to Biden include Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement and NextGen Action.

The progressive groups who spoke with CNBC said that if Biden does not follow these guidelines, he could suffer from low voter turnout in the general election and end up losing to Trump. One group is putting together opposition research against business leaders who are backing Biden's campaign.

"He needs to earn our trust," Waleed Shahid, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, told CNBC. "Personnel is policy, it's where the rubber meets the road in terms of your values and commitments."

Biden, for his part, seems to be trying to appeal to many of Sanders' supporters. He rolled out a plan on Thursday that would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65, while also bolstering his student debt forgiveness plan hours after the Department of Labor released new data showing 6.6 million people filed initial jobless claims last week as the economy reels from the coronavirus.

Our Revolution, a 501(c)(4) organization founded by Sanders himself that backed his 2020 run for president told CNBC it is opposed to executives from the finance industry of becoming policy advisors to Biden now that he is the apparent nominee. The group did not sign the letter, but is looking into approaching his campaign. Sanders has been openly opposed to leaders in the finance industry playing any role in campaigns and in administrations.

"That's certainly not what we want to see," said Paco Fabian, Our Revolution's campaigns director. "I think it just increases the probability that their policy positions are the ones that get implemented and not the ones the folks on the progressive spectrum would be pushing for."

"At some point we probably will," when asked if they plan to reach out to the Biden campaign. "We haven't figured out the best way to do that and the main issues we are going to engage with the Biden campaign on."

Another group has started putting together opposition research on a host of Biden donors who work on Wall Street. The Revolving Door Project, which is part of the progressive think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has put together a research packet on Mark Gallogly, the co-founder of investment firm Centerbridge Partners, said the group's executive director, Jeff Hauser.

Gallogly has been helping Biden with fundraising for part of the election cycle and some donors have been privately discussing the idea of him being one of his economic advisors if he makes it into the White House. The opposition research cites reporting from CNBC, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Politico among others. It focuses on Gallogly's ties to Biden and reports on his firm's business ties to Puerto Rico.

Hauser noted that Jeffrey Zients, a former economic advisor to President Barack Obama who became the president of the Cranemere Group, and Tony James, the executive vice chairman at Blackstone, are two Biden supporters they are looking to do research on.

"I expect progressives have their own sort of critiques on how government works but less on revolvers, which they'll pick up from the research we do," Hauser said.

NextGen America, a super PAC founded and funded by billionaire Tom Steyer that has an army of grassroots get-out-the-vote activists, believes that in order for Biden to appeal to young voters he's going to have to make some compromises.

"We're going to work our ass off to get young people to the polls in November. You can throw all the money and time into that problem, but if you don't have a willing partner it's not going to be as effective as it could be," said Ben Wessel, the group's executive director.

A Biden spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Photo: Glacier Media

The City of Vancouver is losing up to $5 million per week in revenues and is worried citizens wont be able to pay their taxes because of COVID-19's hit on the economy.

A city staff report released Wednesday estimated loss in revenues could range from $60 million between March and May to $190 million by years end.

Such a dire financial situation prompted Mayor Kennedy Stewart to call Wednesday on the provincial government for an injection of up to $200 million in cash.

We are bleeding money right now, Stewart told reporters at a news conference at city hall. The province has better projections on how long [this pandemic] is going to last. However, we need to do economic planning and thats why the ask for an initial disbursement of up to $200 million.

Much of the citys loss in revenues is related to the closure of community centres, libraries, civic theatres and suspending parking enforcement.

The city also relies on gaming grants, bylaw and library fines and revenue from permit and licence fees for its operating budget, which is $1.6 billion this year.

The decrease in revenue resulting from these closures, combined with potentially higher delinquency in payments for property tax and utility fees, creates a significant financial and cash flow challenge, said the staff report, noting 1,500 city workers were temporarily laid off last month as a result of revenue loss.

The report noted that every 10 per cent increase in the number of people who dont pay their taxes results in a $130 million decrease in property tax and utility payments received.

More than 15,000 Vancouver businesses closed temporarily to follow provincial health guidelines related to physical distancing.
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Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 9, 2020 10:54 642 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0c4726 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,PCR-test,rapid-testing,task-force Free

The government is ramping up efforts to carry out mass, rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing amid concerns the worlds fourth-most populous nation lags woefully behind other countries in testing people for COVID-19.

The Health Ministry issued a circular on Tuesday allowing public hospital laboratories, public and private clinical laboratories, as well as state-owned virology laboratories and university research laboratories to conduct PCR testing as long as they meet level-two biosafety (BSL-2) standards for testing SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and have the necessary equipment and facilities.

The decision came after President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Monday called on the Health Ministry and the COVID-19 task force to improve and accelerate PCR testing, which scientists say is crucial in the battle against the deadly pandemic.

According to pandemic data site Worldometer, Indonesia is ranked among the lowest in COVID-19 testing with only 52 tests for every million people as of Wednesday. By comparison, among neighboring countries Singapore has tested 11,110 for every million people, Malaysia 1,717 and Thailand 1,030.

As of Wednesday, Indonesia had only tested 14,571 people using the PCR method, a low number that has prompted public scrutiny of the countrys testing capacity and confirmed cases, which many believe remain underreported. Achmad Yurianto, the governments spokesperson for COVID -19 affairs, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the countrys labs had the capacity to test more than 500 a day.

The figure is expected to increase in the next few days.

In addition to relaxing the regulations on testing, the government has imported two automatic RNA extractors and 18 PCR detectors from Swiss multinational healthcare company Roche, which will be distributed to 12 provinces; Jakarta, Banten, West and East Java, Bali, Lampung, South and North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Papua.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry expert staffer Arya Sinulingga told the Post that the machines could boost the countrys testing capacity to between 5,000 to 10,000 tests per day, reaching as many as 300,000 tests within a month.

The machines will be installed in Jakarta next week and those in other regions in the next two weeks, he said, adding that the SOEs Ministry would ensure the supply of necessary kits for PCR testing, even though the Health Ministry said that the country currently had only 200,000 reagents for the labs.

Scientists have welcomed the ministrys move to widen its laboratory network. They had been calling for such a measure ever since the ministry insisted on conducting the tests solely through its Health Research and Development Agencys (Balitbangkes) laboratory in Jakarta since January.

It was only in mid-March that the ministry allowed other laboratories to conduct PCR testing. At the time, a nationwide backlog of tests had overwhelmed the operational laboratories, mainly due to the time-consuming manual extraction process commonly used in these laboratories and insufficient PCR test kits, consumables, such as the viral transport mediums (VTMs), and human resources.

Data collected from a survey by the Indonesian Medical Biology

Association (PBMI) showed that as of April 5, Indonesia had at least 106 laboratories of BSL2 standard quantitative PCR (qPCR), class II biological safety cabinets (BSC II) and sufficient human resources to carry out the procedures, which are among the requirements proposed in the Health Ministrys circular.

PBMI deputy chairman Ariananda Hariadi said that this would mean the 106 labs, if made operational, could significantly accelerate testing so that hospitals could immediately use the results for triage purposes and local administrations for policy making.

From the beginning, we in the PBMI were certain that there were many labs in Indonesia that could [conduct the tests], such as in universities, agricultural and livestock research and development agencies, even the veterinary research agencies, as they did during the H1N1 outbreak, he told the Post on Wednesday.

Ariananda said that in order to make the most use of these labs, the government should continuously supply them with reagents, the necessary kits and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as training and supervision for their human resources. He noted that automated-extraction machines, which were still rare in Indonesia, could also double the number of tests processed by labs.

Herawati Supolo Sudoyo, the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biologys deputy for fundamental research, said that as more labs would be able to conduct testing, it was also important for the government to accelerate testing by procuring closed-system machines so that extraction could be done automatically.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 19-year-old man was shot and killed Wednesday night at main branch of the Johnson County Library. Overland Park police got a call about the shooting just before 9 p.m. The victim's brother was there when his sibling was killed, police said.
Azhar Khan, a Todt Hill resident who was a native of Quetta, Pakistan, and a business entrepreneur whose kind spirit, warmth and compassion improved the lives of others, succumbed to the coronavirus on Tuesday. He was 61.

Azhar immigrated to America when he was in his early 20s, and despite having minimal resources and a language barrier, he nonetheless felt right at home in his Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn.

With aging parents, a brother, and 11 sisters to support both here and in Pakistan, Azhar saw nothing but opportunity in his new country and before long he fell in love with the Big Apple.

His business career took off in 1975 when the opportunity arose for him to manage a convenience store in Manhattan. And with honesty, diligence and determination  plus street smarts  he quickly garnered a reputation for turning around failing businesses.

Soon he would be asked to manage a newsstand in Grand Central Station, which would become Azhars piece of the American Dream and his first small business, according to his eldest son, Harris.

His businesses expanded throughout the tri-state area.

After meeting and marrying the former Huma Shafique, the couple relocated to Graniteville and in time became the parents of three boys.

A board member of Staten Islands Pakistani Civic Association and its community, and a member of the Iron Hills Civic Association, Azhar became revered in New York business circles. And because of his altruistic nature, he was always ready to come to the assistance of anyone in need.

He would say that he woke up every morning and asked himself who he could help today, whose troubles he could help alleviate today. That truly was his creed, Harris said.

He was a true friend to anyone who needed him. He was a positive force for all those around him. His old neighbors on Regis Drive adored him. Most of all he was a family man and provided his family with the best of everything. Azhar may have seemed like an ordinary man, but the things he did for people were far from ordinary, he added.

Few are lucky to be loved by nearly everyone theyve encountered. Azhar Khan was even luckier than that," continued his son.

He leaves behind his wife, Huma; his mother, Mushtay; his three sons, Harris, (Dr. Sunniya Khan), Hamza (Ramisha) and Hassam, (Aymen) and his 18 month-old grandson, Mikael Khan.
Hopes were revived last night for a mass testing programme that could pave a way out of the coronavirus lockdown.

After weeks of sluggish progress and false dawns, signs were finally emerging that testing will accelerate in the coming days.

Major health tech firms and top academics yesterday pledged to help the Government hit its ambitious target of testing 100,000 people each day by the end of the month.

In a day of major advances:

US giant Thermo Fisher Scientific promised to produce thousands of 'antigen' testing kits - the type that diagnoses if someone currently has the virus;

Academics at Imperial College London and Cambridge University each unveiled rapid testing equipment that can process virus samples without using labs;

British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca said it will have a validated antibody test within a month that can be delivered on a mass scale by the end of May. Antibody tests tell if someone has nations such as Germany, which has tested more than 70,000 a day.

The Government had previously identified nine companies that could supply antibody tests - and said it may order as many as 17.5million kits.

The IKEA store in Gateshead, where a coronavirus testing site for NHS staff has been set up in the store's car park, with IKEA stating: 'We are enormously proud of the NHS'

Matt Hancock (pictured) appealed to businesses and universities to help the UK hit its 100,000 a day testing target. The call has been met by big companies and Cambridge University

But this week officials admitted none of the tests had worked. So the development of a working antibody test by a major pharmaceutical firm is a huge boost.

Experts believe that, if used widely, it could eventually allow an early lifting of social distancing measures.

Professor Paul Hunter, infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said last night: 'If we are able to roll out a good quality antibody test and find that a substantial proportion of the population is immune, then we will also be able to relax the current restrictions knowing that the infection would not spread as rapidly.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week appealed to businesses and universities to help the country hit its 100,000-a-day testing target. Until now the UK has tested no more than 14,000 people on any single day - a far lower count than nations such as Germany, which has tested more than 70,000 a day.

A specimen sample is dropped out of a car window into a test-kit drop off bin at a drive-through testing centre at the Cardiff City stadium

Mr Hancock has set up a 'testing taskforce' of more than 100 companies but it was only yesterday that solid progress was made. AstraZeneca, Cambridge University and GlaxoSmithKline have joined forces for a testing facility in Cambridge.

Tom Keith-Roach, of AstraZeneca UK, said the team is now confident of delivering an accurate antibody test in the coming weeks.

He explained: 'We are working to deliver a validated test by the beginning of May that we could then scale up by the end of the month.'

The team is also working on antigen testing - which will process 1,000 to 2,000 daily tests by mid-April and aims to 'ramp up progressively' to 30,000 in the first week of May. Mr Keith-Roach added: 'I see an extraordinary kind of pulling-together, of collective effort from all of the stakeholders involved in delivering these solutions on behalf of the Government and the NHS.'

Mark Stevenson, of Thermo Fisher Scientific, said his firm could get the Government to its 100,000 antigen tests per day target.

Meanwhile, Imperial College London yesterday announced the development of a lab-free Covid-19 test which delivers results in just over an hour.

The Government has already obtained 10,000 of the DnaNudge 'Lab-in-Cartridge' test with a view to securing far more if it is shown to be a success.

A Government adviser last night insisted he was very confident the 100,000- a-day testing target would be hit within the next three weeks.
What is Holy Wednesday?

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Although less observed than Maundy Thursday or Good Friday in many churches today, Holy Wednesday highlights key moments in the lead-up to the crucifixion during Christianity's most sacred week.

Also called "Spy Wednesday," the last Wednesday before Easter Sunday is celebrated in Eastern Orthodox churches but less so in other denominations, according to Got Questions Ministries. It is called Spy Wednesday because it is traditionally thought of as the day Judas Iscariot conspired to betray Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. The beginning of Matthew 26 appears to place Judas' plotting at two days before Good Friday.

Although the Bible does not specifically mention this particular day, according to traditional interpretation of Scripture, it was on a Wednesday when a woman anointed Jesus with nard, a costly aromatic oil.

As is described in Matthew 26:6-13, Jesus was at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany when a woman came up to Jesus with an alabaster flask of this expensive ointment and poured it on his head. The disciples thought it was wasteful and objected, arguing that it could have been sold for a large sum and distributed to the poor.

Jesus, however, pushed back: Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

Pure nard is the liquid form of spikenard root, which only grows in the Himalayan Mountains, was difficult to obtain, and is quite pricey. The fragrance of the oil was so strong that when Jesus was anointed, the scent filled the room. Some have suggested that in light of how soon he was crucified after that, the scent of that oil remained with him and comforted him amid his agony on the cross.

The story is recounted in all four Gospels, underscoring its importance, though Luke's account records it as taking place in the northern region, as it is said Jesus was ministering in Nain and Capernaum. The woman in Luke's account is not named. In Luke and John, it is noted that the woman used her hair to dry the feet of Jesus, an extraordinary gesture. The timing of the event and where it occurred, in addition to the identity of the woman, has long been debated in light of the differences in the Gospel accounts.
U. S. District Court Judge William Young on Thursday ordered the release of 16 immigrants from detention centers in Massachusetts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The latest decision brings the total of released detainees to 33, according to Lawyers for Civil Rights, one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit calling for their release during the coronavirus pandemic.

Young, who has considered the release of 10 detainees daily, ordered on Thursday the release of all 10 detainees on Wednesdays list and at least four on Thursdays list.

Additionally, Young again ordered the release of Schnaider Paul, a Haitian national who is being detained at the Bristol County House of Correction. Young had ordered for his release earlier this week after learning that attorneys mistook someone elses criminal history as his own, according to court documents.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys asked Young to release Gabriel Castillo-Malpica instead of Paul. On Thursday, Young decided he would release both of them, according to tweets from reporter John Hawkinson.

Altogether, Young released 16 detained immigrants during a remote Boston federal court hearing Thursday.

The judges decision comes a day after reports that two corrections staffers at the Bristol County House of Correction tested positive for COVID-19. A medical provider who works in the facility has also tested positive.

Wednesday's list, all of whom are released:



1. Nikiforidis, Georgios

2. Almanzar, Juan

3. Peguero-Vasquez, Victor

4. Kita Tshimanga, Antoni

5. Vargas, Cesar

6. Ferreira, Pamlar

7. Jaramillo-Quiroz, Hector

8. Al Amiri, Salim

9. Hussein, Hussien

10. Mota, Osvaldo  John Hawkinson (@johnhawkinson) April 9, 2020

Young has held hearings nearly every day to respond to the claims in a class-action lawsuit that seeks the release of immigrants held in the Bristol County jail and the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth during the coronavirus pandemic.

Attorneys representing the detainees said they were packed into crowded spaces and cannot practice social distancing. Detainees claimed that the Bristol County jail lacks "adequate soap, toilet paper and medical resources and infrastructure to address the spread of infectious disease or to treat people most vulnerable to illness.

As of Thursday, Massachusetts has 18,941 COVID-19 cases, and 503 people have died, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Bristol County jails Unit B has about 57 detainees held on civil immigration violations, including some who have no criminal charges or convictions. More detainees are held at Carreiro. The initial complaint suggested that detainees were confined in close proximity without adequate soap, toilet paper and other basic needs.

The judge divided detainees in various categories, ranging from those with medical conditions and no criminal records to those with the most several criminal histories. Last week, he said he would plan to release up to 10 detainees every day to reduce the changes of COVID-19 spreading within the facility.

Every day, he reviews each groups circumstances and makes a decision on which ones merit release during the pandemic.

Last week, Young ordered the release of three detainees. He said Immigration and Customs Enforcement released six others. Another group of detainees were released earlier this week before Thursdays hearing.

Lawyers for Civil Rights, one of the nonprofits suing the jails and federal government, said this is the largest number of people who have been released from ICE detention.

Related Content:
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the Democratic leaders said they supported the administrations request for an additional $250 billion for the loan program. But they said $125 billion of that should be directed to underserved businesses that might otherwise have trouble securing loans, including those that are owned by women, people of color and veterans, or situated in rural areas.

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer also said they would push to add $100 billion for hospitals, community health centers and health systems  in part to shore up testing and the distribution of critical safety gear for health workers  as well as $150 billion for state and local governments and a 15 percent increase in food assistance benefits.

In the statement, the two leaders referred to the measure as interim emergency legislation and said that after passing it Congress should move to consider another economic relief package to provide transformational relief as the American people weather this assault on their lives and livelihoods.

Republicans had hoped to begin approving the quick injection of funds as early as Thursday during a procedural session in the Senate without the entire chamber present, with the House sending it to the presidents desk in a similar maneuver on Friday. The plan would allow Congress to quickly clear the bill even though both chambers are in recess until April 20, with lawmakers scattered around the country and not present in Washington to vote. But that technique works only if every member consents and under congressional rules, a single lawmaker can block the move.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said on Wednesday evening that he would move forward with a procedural maneuver that would approve just the request from the administration. There is no realistic chance that another sprawling bill which allocates half a trillion dollars to a number of priorities, even important ones, would be able to pass by the end of the week, he said.
The coronavirus has given rise to a flood of conspiracy theories, disinformation and propaganda, eroding public trust and undermining health officials in ways that could elongate and even outlast the pandemic.

Claims that the virus is a foreign bioweapon, a partisan invention or part of a plot to re-engineer the population have replaced a mindless virus with more familiar, comprehensible villains. Each claim seems to give a senseless tragedy some degree of meaning, however dark.

Rumors of secret cures  diluted bleach, turning off your electronics, bananas  promise hope of protection from a threat that not even world leaders can escape.

The belief that one is privy to forbidden knowledge offers feelings of certainty and control amid a crisis that has turned the world upside down. And sharing that knowledge may give people something that is hard to come by after weeks of lockdowns and death: a sense of agency.

It has all the ingredients for leading people to conspiracy theories, said Karen Douglas, a social psychologist who studies belief in conspiracies at the University of Kent in Britain.

Rumors and patently unbelievable claims are spread by everyday people whose critical faculties have simply been overwhelmed, psychologists say, by feelings of confusion and helplessness.

But many false claims are also being promoted by governments looking to hide their failures, partisan actors seeking political benefit, run-of-the-mill scammers and, in the United States, a president who has pushed unproven cures and blame-deflecting falsehoods.

The conspiracy theories all carry a common message: The only protection comes from possessing the secret truths that they dont want you to hear.

The feelings of security and control offered by such rumors may be illusory, but the damage to the public trust is all too real.

It has led people to consume fatal home remedies and flout social distancing guidance. And it is disrupting the sweeping collective actions, like staying at home or wearing masks, needed to contain a virus that has already killed more than 79,000 people.

Weve faced pandemics before, said Graham Brookie, who directs the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. We havent faced a pandemic at a time when humans are as connected and have as much access to information as they do now.

This growing ecosystem of misinformation and public distrust has led the World Health Organization to warn of an infodemic.

You see the space being flooded, Brookie said, adding, The anxiety is viral, and were all just feeling that at scale.

The Allure of Secret Knowledge

People are drawn to conspiracies because they promise to satisfy certain psychological motives that are important to people, Douglas said. Chief among them: command of the facts, autonomy over ones well-being and a sense of control.

If the truth does not fill those needs, we humans have an incredible capacity to invent stories that will, even when some part of us knows they are false. A recent study found that people are significantly likelier to share false coronavirus information than they are to believe it.

The magnitude of misinformation spreading in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming our small team, Snopes, a fact-checking site, said on Twitter. Were seeing scores of people, in a rush to find any comfort, make things worse as they share (sometimes dangerous) misinformation.

Widely shared, Instagram posts falsely suggested that the coronavirus was planned by Bill Gates on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. In Alabama, Facebook posts falsely claimed that shadowy powers had ordered sick patients to be secretly helicoptered into the state. In Latin America, equally baseless rumors have proliferated that the virus was engineered to spread HIV. In Iran, pro-government voices portray the disease as a Western plot.

If the claims are seen as taboo, all the better.

The belief that we have access to secret information may help us feel that we have an advantage, that we are somehow safer. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then you have power through knowledge that other people dont have, Douglas said.

Italian media buzzed over a video posted by an Italian man from Tokyo, where he claimed that the coronavirus was treatable but that Italian officials were hiding the truth.

Other videos, popular on YouTube, claim that the entire pandemic is a fiction staged to control the population.

Still others say that the disease is real, but its cause isnt a virus  its 5G cellular networks.

One YouTube video pushing this falsehood, and implying that social distancing measures could be ignored, has received 1.9 million views. In Britain, there has been a rash of attacks on cellular towers.

Conspiracy theories may also make people feel less alone. Few things tighten the bonds of us like rallying against them, especially foreigners and minorities, both frequent scapegoats of coronavirus rumors and much else before now.

But whatever comfort that affords is short-lived.

Over time, research finds, trading in conspiracies not only fails to satisfy our psychological needs, Douglas said, but also tends to worsen feelings of fear or helplessness.

And that can lead us to seek out still more extreme explanations, like addicts looking for bigger and bigger hits.

Governments Find Opportunity in Confusion

The homegrown conspiracists and doubters are finding themselves joined by governments. Anticipating political backlash from the crisis, government leaders have moved quickly to shunt the blame by trafficking in false claims of their own.

A senior Chinese official pushed claims that the virus was introduced to China by members of the U.S. Army, an accusation that was allowed to flourish on Chinas tightly controlled social media.

In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro suggested that the virus was an American bioweapon aimed at China. In Iran, officials called it a plot to suppress the vote there. And outlets that back the Russian government, including branches in Western Europe, have promoted claims that the United States engineered the virus to undermine Chinas economy.

In the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, leaders praised bogus treatments and argued that citizens should continue working.

But officials have hardly refrained from the rumor mongering in more democratic nations, particularly those where distrust of authority has given rise to strong populist movements.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italys anti-migrant League Party, wrote on Twitter that China had devised a lung supervirus from bats and rats.

And President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has repeatedly promoted unproven coronavirus treatments and implied that the virus is less dangerous than experts say. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all took the extraordinary step of removing the posts.

President Donald Trump, too, has repeatedly pushed unproven drugs, despite warnings from scientists and despite at least one fatal overdose of a man whose wife said he had taken a drug at Trumps suggestion.

Trump has accused perceived enemies of seeking to inflame the coronavirus situation to hurt him. When supplies of personal protective equipment fell short at New York hospitals, he implied that health workers might be stealing masks.

His allies have gone further.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and others have suggested that the virus was produced by a Chinese weapons lab. Some media allies have claimed that the death toll has been inflated by Trumps enemies.

A Parallel Crisis

This kind of information suppression is dangerous  really, really dangerous, Brookie said, referring to Chinese and American efforts to play down the threat of the outbreak.

It has nourished not just individual conspiracies but a wider sense that official sources and data cannot be trusted, and a growing belief that people must find the truth on their own.

A cacophony arising from armchair epidemiologists who often win attention through sensational claims is at times crowding out legitimate experts whose answers are rarely as tidy or emotionally reassuring.

They promise easy cures, like avoiding telecommunications or even eating bananas. They wave off the burdens of social isolation as unnecessary. Some sell sham treatments of their own.

Medical conspiracy theories have the power to increase distrust in medical authorities, which can impact peoples willingness to protect themselves, Daniel Jolley and Pia Lamberty, scholars of psychology, wrote in a recent article.

Such claims have been shown to make people less likely to take vaccines or antibiotics, and more likely to seek medical advice from friends and family instead of from doctors.

Belief in one conspiracy also tends to increase belief in others. The consequences, experts warn, could not only worsen the pandemic but also outlive it.

Medical conspiracies have been a growing problem for years. So has distrust of authority, a major driver of the worlds slide into fringe populism. Now, as the world enters an economic crisis with little modern precedent, that may deepen.

The wave of coronavirus conspiracies, Jolley and Lamberty wrote, has the potential to be just as dangerous for societies as the outbreak itself.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed the courage of Central Reserve Police Force personnel on the organisation's 'shaurya divas' or valour day.

The courage of @crpfindia is widely known. On CRPF Valour Day today, I salute this brave force and remember the bravery of our CRPF personnel in Gujarat's Sardar Patel Post in 1965, the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

He said the sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten.

According to the CRPF website, on April 9, 1965 a small contingent of the 2nd battalion of the CRPF successfully fought and repulsed an attack by a Pakistani brigade (over 3000 personnel) on Sardar Post in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, eliminating 34 Pakistani soldiers and capturing four alive.

Never in the history of military battles have a handful of policemen fought back a fullfledged infantry brigade in such a manner, it said.

In the conflict, six CRPF men were also killed.

As a tribute to the saga of the brave men, April 9 is celebrated as "Valour Day in the force.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FOSHAN, China, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited ("Bright Scholar," the "Company," "we" or "our" ) (NYSE: BEDU), a global premier education service company, today announced that it will release its unaudited financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended February 29, 2020, on April 28, 2020, after the US market closes.

The earnings press release will be available on the investor relations page at http://ir.brightscholar.com.

Conference Call

BEDU's management will host a conference call at 8:00 am US Eastern Time (8:00 pm Beijing/Hong Kong Time) on April 29, 2020, to discuss its quarterly results and recent business activities.

To participate in the conference call, please dial the following number five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time:

Mainland China: 4001-201-203 Hong Kong: 852-301-84992 United States: 1-888-346-8982 Canada Toll Free: 1-855-669-9657 International: 1-412-902-4272

* No passcode is needed for the call. Please request to join Bright Scholar Education Holdings Ltd.'s call as you dial in.

The Company will also broadcast a live audio webcast of the conference call. The webcast will be available at http://ir.brightscholar.com/.

Following the earnings conference call, an archive of the call will be available by dialing:

United States: 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Canada Toll Free: 855-669-9658 Replay Passcode: 10142050 Replay End Date: May 06, 2020

About Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited

Bright Scholar is a global premier education service company. The Company is dedicated to providing quality international education to global students and equipping them with the critical academic foundation and skillsets necessary to succeed in the pursuit of higher education. Bright Scholar also complements its international offerings with Chinese government-mandated curriculum for students who wish to maintain the option of pursuing higher education in China. As of November 30, 2019, Bright Scholar operated 80 schools across ten provinces in China and eight schools overseas, covering the breadth of K-12 academic needs of its students. In the quarter ended November 30, 2019, Bright Scholar had an average of 51,865 students enrolled at its schools. As of November 30, 2019, Bright Scholar has a global network of 88 schools, and a total student capacity of 67,194 students.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company's business plans and development, which can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under law.

IR Contact:

GCM Strategic Communications

Email: [email protected]

Media Contact:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86-757-6683-2507

SOURCE Bright Scholar Education Holdings Ltd.

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An ugly spat this week between the World Health Organization and the Taiwanese government over racist trolls is the latest development in a much larger geopolitical dispute with no end in sight. The director-general of the WHO said this week that he has endured months of racist abuse and death threats online and accused the Taiwanese government of stoking the abuse. To make matters worse, President Donald Trump jumped into the fray.

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Like other U.N. organizations, the WHO considers Taiwan a part of the Peoples Republic of China and excludes its government from membership. This, critics say, is detrimental to global cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Taiwan has emerged as one of the most effective countries in combating the disease. Taiwan and its defenders have strongly criticized the WHO and its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for being overly deferential to Beijing.

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In a Wednesday press conference, Tedros, who is Ethiopian, said this criticism had crossed a line. A CNN reporter asked him if the criticism he has received from world leaders makes his job difficult. Tedros responded: I dont give a damn, because its personally targeted to me. What makes me sad is when the whole black community was insulted, when Africa was insulted. Then I dont tolerate it. He then accused Taiwans government of stoking the abuse: Taiwans foreign ministry, they didnt disassociate themselves. They started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur. It wasnt quite clear from Tedros statement what form this abuse had taken or why he thought Taiwan was behind it.

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Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, rejected the accusation that racist slurs against Tedros had come from the island, and invited Tedros to visit. A foreign ministry spokeswoman did not exactly help the governments cause by saying, The concept of racism does not exist in Taiwan. OK, then.

Tedros certainly does not deserve this kind of abuse, and Taiwan should say that explicitly. If the WHOs critics are resorting to racism, it would be doubly unfortunate, because Taiwan does have legitimate cause for complaint about the organization. Experts have been warning for years that Taiwans exclusion from the WHO is dangerous for public health. The countrys scientists say they were denied access to information and resources during the 2003 SARS epidemic as a result. (Taiwan held observer status in the WHOs executive body when it was led by the Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, but was denied even this after the more nationalist Tsai was elected.)

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In the early days of the outbreak, health officials in Taipei say the WHO ignored their warningsbased on communication with mainland colleaguesthat the disease could be transmitted between humans, slowing the global response to the growing threat. Instead, in mid-January, the organization issued a now-infamous endorsement of Chinas finding that there was no human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan. The WHO continued to praise Chinas handling of the virus throughout January, despite abundant evidence that authorities were covering up the severity of the situation in Wuhan. This praise was especially stark in contrast to the organizations criticism of China during SARS.

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Taiwan has had remarkable success combating the virus. More than two months after COVID-19 arrived on the island, it has seen only 380 cases and five deaths. Yet its health officials remain frozen out of emergency meetings and briefings at the main organization coordinating the global response to the pandemic. (In a painfully awkward interview with a Hong Kong journalist, one senior WHO official seemed to pretend not to hear the question and then insisted on moving on when asked about Taiwan.)

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Tedros, previously the health minister of Ethiopia, was seen as Chinas preferred candidate in elections for the WHO leadership in 2017 (though he was also backed by the outgoing Obama administration). Tedros has been the subject of controversy before, notably in 2017 when he decided to name former Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador (the decision was later rescinded), which some saw as payback for his support from Mugabes ally China. China has made a concerted effort in recent years to build its clout and influence in U.N. organizations like the WHO.

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This is what Trump was referring to this week when he ripped the WHO as China-centric and threatened to withhold U.S. funding from the organization. The focus by Trump and other leading Republicans on the WHO and China is, while based on some legitimate complaints, a fairly transparent effort to deflect from the administrations own failings. (For what its worth, Anthony Fauci has called Tedros outstanding and said under his leadership, theyve done very well. He has been all over this.) And Taiwan advocates in the U.S. are using the crisis as an opportunity to boost the islands global status.

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Its also a little rich for this administration to criticize the WHOs pro-China bias. The U.S. is the largest funder of the WHO by far and enjoys substantial influence in the organization. It has chosen to exercise that influence in extremely odd ways, such as threatening sanctions on countries to defeat an innocuous WHO resolution supporting breastfeeding. The Trump administration has cut U.S. funding for international public health efforts and moved to disassociate from a plethora of U.N. agencies. Its budget request in February included a 53 percent cut to the WHO.

If the U.S. doesnt like Chinas clout at the WHO, it has to exercise clout of its own.
LIXIL Vietnam focuses on bringing Good Living and smart sanitation to Vietnamese people through a brand portfolio including GROHE, INAX, American Standard, and Tostem

After a long wait, Hangs family finally moved into her dream house, which was introduced as one of the smartest apartment projects in Hanoi. In the new home, everything from the sound equipment to the security system and even bathroom products are connected to smartphones and automatically operated.

Specifically, "Out of house" mode helps turn off all electronics automatically when family members are out and awake them upon their return. Alerts and requests for help can also be sent from a long distance to the buildings management after receiving warnings on residents' smart phone.

Additionally, the owner can even get a steaming hot bath waiting when stepping into the bathroom. At current smart homes, technology intergrated into smartphone applications can also be linked with the bathroom, which brings back a fantastic shower experience that goes beyond washing the body.

Market of smart sanitary ware is heating up

The rising smart home trend in Vietnam has been accelerated by the growing technological sophistication as Vietnam leads the world in the growth of smartphone traffic. Furthermore, the rise of millennials and their growing tech-savviness also boost preference for technology.

In addition, the rise in new home sales, ever-larger urbanisation, growth in disposable incomes, and living improvements also fuel the demand for sanitary ware as well as bathroom accessories, which are key everyday conveniences, across the region. In addition, the introduction of innovative technologies such as dual flush, aerators, and smart control is one of the key points that augment the growth of the Vietnamese sanitary ware and bathroom accessories market.

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, the Vietnamese sanitary ware and bathroom accessories market hit $443.4 million in 2018, and the figure is expected to reach $685.2 million by 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4 per cent.

In such a dynamic market, key players include LIXIL Vietnam, CAESAR Bathroom, Innoci Vietnam, Jaquar Group, TOTO Ltd., and Viglacera Corporation. Especially, according to the evaluation of sanitary ware and bathroom accessories distributor Son My, three of the top five high-end sanitary ware brands in Vietnam (American Standard, INAX, and GROHE) come from LIXIL Vietnam.

At LIXIL, GROHE is a leading global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings. GROHE has been developing new product categories since its inception. This includes the GROHE Blue and Red water systems and the recently-introduced GROHE Sense water security system, which is an innovative component in the growth market of smart home technology. Innovation, design, and development are closely aligned with one another and are enshrined in the German site as an integrated process.

As a result, GROHE products carry the Made in Germany seal of quality. Regarding shower faucets, GROHE is known for leading technologies such as EcoJoy water-saving, Grohe TurboStat adjusting the temperature to the appropriate level, Grohe CoolTouch ensuring that the entire outer surface never exceeds your preferred shower temperature, or Grohe Light technology making sure there is no lead and nickel in drinking water.

Perfect shower set from GROHE brings a fantastic experience via leading technologies

INAX, another brand under LIXIL, is also in the frontlines of the smart living trend by its smart shower toilet. After more than 50 years of development, INAX showertoilet today has many convenient and modern functions such as the automatic lid, relaxing music, dim light, heated toilet seat, and deodoriser.

Smart shower toilet from INAX is also widely chosen for smart homes

In addition to smart solutions, the bathroom began to integrate advanced platform solutions such as flushing technology and antibacterial technology. To keep the bathroom safe, clean, and hygienic, American Standard has invested in the HygieneClean System  a new safety standard in the bathroom, embodied by the powerful flushing technologies and the superior improvements of ComfortClean and Aqua Ceramic, the first material in the world that is able to address the four main issues that affect the cleanliness of toilets: scuffing and scratching, marks from waste, stains caused by prolonged exposure to hard water, and the build-up of bacteria.

Being one of the leaders in the water and housing products industry, LIXIL offers comprehensive solutions that solve everyday and real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.

A pioneer in sustainable development

Not only focusing on the convenience and experience of customers, LIXIL is also concerned about sustainability. The corporation believes that living space  the environment where people live, work, and play  are critical to our daily lives and well-being. As a result, LIXIL are committed to ensuring that the growth of its businesses contributes to improving the quality of peoples lives, by delivering safe and comfortable products and services through responsible and sustainable innovations. Leveraging the scale and expertise of the four core technology business units, LIXIL focuses on making a positive impact in the communities in which it operates and in matters that require urgent action.

The group is committed to conserving water, energy, and other natural resources utilised in products and services across the supply chain from procurement through production, distribution, end use, and product disposal.

In order to realise this commitment, the group has declared its Environment Vision 2030 with specific targets. By 2030, the positive environmental contribution from their products and services will surpass the environmental footprint of LIXIL's entire business process, thus, achieving a net-zero environmental footprint.

The group will achieve this through innovative technologies, such as low-carbon and water-efficient technology, and also by reducing the environmental impact of every process of the business, including procurement, production, product use, and disposal.

Operating for over 20 years, LIXIL Vietnam has become the leading manufacturer of sanitary wares, tiles, and sash for residential and commercial buildings in the market.

It operates three showrooms  one in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City each  and five operational manufacturing plants nationwide. The company 's approach comes to life through industry-leading brands, including INAX, GROHE, American Standard, and Tostem. The most popular brand is INAX with a wide portfolio of products distributed through 8,000 stores across the country.

Vietnam is one of the most promising markets for LIXIL and the group has committed to enhancing Vietnamese peoples lives via building solutions and water technologies in the most sustainable ways possible.
The US has no objection to Europe sending medical supplies to Iran, which has bene badly hit by the deadly coronavirus, President Donald Trump has said.

The Trump administration has imposed one of the toughest economic sanctions on Iran alleging that it is going ahead with its nuclear ambition and it is supporting terrorist organisations to destabilise the Middle east.

"They (Europeans) are sending medical goods to Iran. That doesn't bother me, Trump told reporters during a White House conference.

Iran has become one of the world's coronavirus epicenters, with more than 60,000 people infected and over 3,800 deaths.

He was responding to a question on the call made by French President Emanuel Macron to his Iranian counterpart that Europe has started to ship the medical goods to Iran.

"Medical good?... That doesn't bother me," Trump said.

Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the US has offered humanitarian assistance to Iran.

"I regret that they chose not to take that. I've heard people talking about sanctions, he said.

"The world should note there are no sanctions that prevent humanitarian assistance, pharmaceutical medical supplies, pharmaceuticals from going to Iran. We offered American assistance; we try to help other countries get assistance in there as well. We had some ability to do that, Pompeo said.

On March 30, the UK, Germany and France circumvented Iran sanctions by using Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges for the first time to send medical goods to Iran in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iran has the sixth highest number of fatalities after Italy, Spain, the US, France and the UK.

In March, Iran became the first major COVID-19 hotspot outside Asia. It has now suffered more deaths than China, where the outbreak originated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the lead up to the Easter bank holiday weekend, IFA National Sheep Chairman Sean Dennehy has issued a stark warning to all dog owners.

He said, Dog owners can be held responsible for any losses involved in dog attacks on sheep, with serious financial and legal consequences. Farmers have a right to protect their sheep flock and can shoot a dog worrying, or about to worry their flock."

His warning comes after a pack of dogs attacked a flock in South Tipperary this week.

IFA South Tipperary Chairperson, Erica OKeefe said IFA has been in contact with the farmer in question.

She said: This horrendous attack by marauding dogs on a sheep flock is an all too common occurrence. The owner is devastated as a number of sheep were killed and more had to be put down."

Erica OKeefe said this is the second dog attack in South Tipperary in recent weeks, with another severe incidence in the Cashel area recently where seven lambs and a ewe were killed by dogs.

Sean Dennehy reminded farmers that IFA has a detailed Protocol to help those who encounter a dog attack on their sheep flock. It outlines important aspects of the law and how the dog warden service and the Garda can help. It also sets out how to keep a full record of the attack, which can be used as evidence at a later stage.

The IFA Sheep Chairman concluded, Dog owners who allow their pets to roam without restriction, are acting in a grossly irresponsible, reckless and selfish manner. A family pet can turn into a brutal killer and cause savagery and mayhem if they are not properly monitored."
President Muhammadu Buhari has granted pardon to Ambrose Alli, a former governor of Bendel state, and Anthony Enahoro, a nationalist w...





President Muhammadu Buhari has granted pardon to Ambrose Alli, a former governor of Bendel state, and Anthony Enahoro, a nationalist who moved the motion for Nigerias independence.





Also pardoned were Moses Effiong, a retired colonel; EJ Olanrewaju, a retired major; and Ajayi Olusola Babalola.





Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, announced the pardon at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.





He also said Buhari had approved amnesty for 2,600 inmates across various custodial centres in the country.

The minister, however, said the presidents amnesty will not apply to inmates sentenced for violent extreme offences such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry, rape, human trafficking, culpable homicide, among others.





Speaking at the briefing, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, said 39 of the inmates were granted clemency  four of which are at the Kuje Custodial Centre.





Malami said the governments action was in line with the advice of the UN which called on countries of the world to reduce the population of prisons so as to encourage social distancing.





Jaafaru Ahmed, controller-general of the Nigeria Correctional Service, said there are 73,756 inmates in custodial centres all over the country, with 51,983 of them on the awaiting trial list.





In 1994, the regime of Sani Abacha, a military dictator, had jailed Enahoro for leading the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).





The military regime of Buhari had sentenced Alli to 100 years in prison for allegedly misappropriating funds for a road project.





While Effiong was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged concealment of treason in the coup led Maman Vatsa allegedly led against Ibrahim Babaginda, a former military president, in 1986.





He was later released in 1993.




JEFFERSON CITY  After three weeks in limbo, the commission that regulates Missouris campaign finance laws will be able to meet again following a rushed effort to appoint a new member.

Maneuvering by Gov. Mike Parson and the state Senate over the past week resulted in the Legislatures upper chamber confirming the appointment of Robert C. Cook of Ashland to the Missouri Ethics Commission on Wednesday.

The commission had been unable to meet after the terms of three of its six members expired on March 15. Unlike other state boards, commissioners cannot serve once their terms expire.

In typical times, the Senate would then vote to confirm new members to the panel, which investigates and levies fines against violators of campaign violations.

But, with the Legislature on hold because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, it was unclear when the ethics commission would have enough members to meet again.
REDDING, Calif.- People in Redding gathered outside local hospitals to pray and show love and admiration for those working on the frontlines.

The prayer group gathered Wednesday night outside local hospitals in Redding for the event called 'Praying for Redding Hospitals on Passover.'

Prayers are what we need right now and theyre the only thing that works," says Devine Withrow, a certified assistant nurse at Vibra Hospital of Northern California in Redding. "My heart is full that people are taking the time to do this."

The prayer gathering wasn't the typical prayer group gathering.

You turn your car off and your flashing lights off and you pray in your car," says Kennya Kelly, prayer group coordinator. " You worship in your car and its just you are in your car."

Over twenty cars gathered outside both Shasta Regional Medical Center and Vibra Hospital of Norther California.

Its super encouraging for the nurses and the doctors to see that people really are praying for them and thinking about them," says Marcy Benner, a part of the prayer group.

Ive just been really concerned for the nurses and just want to support them in prayer," says Jill Davidson, who lives in Redding.

The purpose of the prayer group is to pray for medical and healthcare staff working on the frontlines during the coronavirus pandemic.

Whoever is in there that goes in there every single day to risk their lives, this is who were praying for," says Kelly.

Those who attended, practicing social distancing, remaining in their cars, praying.

Medical staff thankful for the outpouring of love.

Im overflowed with just the love," says Withrow. "My heart is so full to know that prayers are for us."
(Photo : REUTERS/Bing Guan) Gary Williams, CEO of Hartwell Medical, works in his office behind a Surevent FlowMaster MCI (mass casualty incident) kit on display during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the offices of Hartwell Medical in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 7, 2020. The mass casualty automatic ventilator system can accommodate up to patients at the same time.

Australia's intensive care devices will have access to 2,000 more ventilators by the end of July as the Government prepares for the coronavirus epidemic to weigh at the current supply.

A company consortium has been commissioned by the Federal Government to provide the invasive ventilators, which offer a last-ditch guide for sufferers who're unable to respire on their own.

All the ventilators could be capable of being used in extensive care gadgets.

ALSO READ: Studies Show that the U.S Can Produce More Ventilators For COVID-19 Patients but Suffer Shortage in Medicine

A $31 million deal

Industry Minister Karen Andrews told ABC News the Government had struck a $31 million settlement with manufacturers to supply the ventilators.

"This deal demonstrates the power of bringing Aussie manufacturers and clinicians together and is also a reflection of the highly advanced manufacturing capability that exists in our country," she said.

Andrews said companies that are generally in the competition are working collectively for the extra good. She added the ventilators would cross into the national stockpile and might then be distributed to states and territories primarily based on need.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth told DailyMail the move to onshore production of ventilators is "of essential importance."

"This is a major change in our manufacturing capacity within Australia to assist the ventilators that are already being procured," he said.

Coatsworth said they had set a national target of 7,500 machines, building on the over 4,400 existing ventilators." He also noted they had been properly on their manner to that goal.

He said as well as home manufacturing, the Government became waiting on the shipping of 500 ventilators from medical delivery corporation Resmed.

ALSO READ: Maker of $11,000 Ventilator Valves Threatens to Sue Volunteers Using $1 3D-Printed Replicas That Just Saved 10 Coronavirus Patients!

Mobilizing a team of workers to care for the severely ill

Dr. Coatsworth said work is on its way to help as many health professionals as possible in the attempt to attend to coronavirus patients.

He added they are looking at every doctor in the country "who can manage an unconscious patient."

"A particular collaboration between Colleges of Intensive Care Medicine and College of Anaesthetists [will make] sure our anesthetic workforce [can] help in severely unwell COVID-19 patients," Coatsworth explained.

Dr. Coatsworth said the two measures might assist in saving the "bottleneck" of patients in intensive care, putting stress on useful resources and body of workers numbers.

Invasive ventilators work by correctly breathing for patients in a critical condition. There are presently more than 2,000 ventilators attached to ICU beds in Australian hospitals, ABC News reported.

The consortium liable for making the ventilators consists of manufacturing and engineering corporations led by Victoria-based Grey Innovation.

Executive chair Jefferson Harcourt told Daily Mail he was "overwhelmed by the willingness of our industry colleagues to reply in this critical hour of need."

The supply of the machines will start in mid-June, with the rollout set to be complete through July.

The Australian production of PPE ramped up

As nicely as commissioning the production of ventilators, Andrews said work is also underway to produce more private shielding equipment. According to Andrews, discussions in manufacturing surgical gowns and other items had been ongoing.

She said they had increased our manufacturing process in Australia from seven million surgical masks per year to 200 million masks over a six to nine-month period.

"We do have a heavy reliance on overseas, and quite frankly, that needs to change," Andrews said.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Thursday it stood ready to help nearby Pacific Island nations in the aftermath of a powerful cyclone that has cut a path through a region already under restricted movement to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Cyclone Harold, a category 5 storm packing winds in excess of 251 km/h, hit Tonga early on Thursday, cutting power and destroying popular holiday resorts. Tonga Police posted images of flattened beachfront resort buildings on its official Twitter page.

The storm has already passed through Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, flattening homes, cutting communication lines and bringing high seas. Dozens of people were killed when they were swept off a ferry off the Solomon Islands.

Although the Pacific has relatively few cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and no reported deaths, much of the region has restricted personal movement to slow any spread.

"We are acutely conscious that this comes on top of the impact and difficulties created by COVID-19 for those countries and so our support is all the more important," said Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a televised news conference.

Australia has already started helping with the cleanup in Solomon Islands, promised relief supplies like tents and water containers to Vanuatu and would also offer support in Fiji, Payne added.

"We stand ready to provide what further help we can to our Pacific family in whatever ways we can," she said.

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Harold had left "a path of destruction in its wake".

"This storm must not compromise our #coronavirus containment, lest we risk damage far more painful than any cyclone," Bainimarama's posted on his official Twitter account.

"It's vital every Fijian follows all of our public health directives."

(Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by Jane Wardell)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 11:54:03|Editor: huaxia

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NANJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- East China's Jiangsu Province saw a surge in China-Europe freight train trips in the first quarter, according to figures released Thursday by the Nanjing customs.

The province saw 287 train trips with 22,300 standard containers transported by China-Europe freight service in the first quarter. The total value of the goods went up 44.1 percent year on year to 2.45 billion yuan (347 million U.S. dollars).

The city of Suzhou, the economic heartland of Jiangsu, was a major contributor to the increase in the freight service. It recorded 32 China-Europe freight train trips in March alone, 40 percent more than the total of the first two months.

The customs attributed the surge partly to the work resumption of local foreign-trade enterprises sending exports to Europe, as the novel coronavirus outbreak subsides in China.

The customs has streamlined customs clearance formalities by granting online approvals and conducting electronic checks to facilitate the process.
The CEO of Dewhurst plc (LON:DWHT) is David Dewhurst. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Dewhurst

How Does David Dewhurst's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that Dewhurst plc has a market cap of UK60m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of UK405k for the year to September 2019. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at UK134k. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under UK162m, and the median CEO total compensation was UK268k.

Pay mix tells us a lot about how a company functions versus the wider industry, and it's no different in the case of Dewhurst. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 55% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 45% of the pie. Dewhurst sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry.

It would therefore appear that Dewhurst plc pays David Dewhurst more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Dewhurst, below.

AIM:DWHT CEO Compensation April 9th 2020

Is Dewhurst plc Growing?

On average over the last three years, Dewhurst plc has shrunk earnings per share by 5.8% each year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 23% over last year.

Story continues

Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. And while it's good to see some good revenue growth recently, the growth isn't really fast enough for me to put aside my concerns around earnings. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Dewhurst plc Been A Good Investment?

Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Dewhurst plc for providing a total return of 48% over three years. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

We examined the amount Dewhurst plc pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

Neither earnings per share nor revenue have been growing sufficiently to impress us, over the last three years. But clearly there are some positives, because investors have done well over the same time frame. Given this situation we doubt shareholders are particularly concerned about the CEO compensation. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Dewhurst that investors should look into moving forward.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Google Pixel 4's watered-down version, the Pixel 4a has been in the rumour mill for quite some time. Some early rumours had said Pixel 4a would launch at Google I/O this year, but that stands cancelled now due to the unavoidable coronavirus situation. While the launch details of the Pixel 4a are still largely unknown, some live images of the Pixel 4a have allegedly been shared in a private Facebook group, giving us a hint at what the smartphone will look like. By the looks of it, the Google Pixel 4a could come with a punch-hole setup and a camera bump like the one on the Pixel 4 phones. Some Pixel 4a retail box images have also been leaked, alluding to a sooner-than-later launch timeline.

The real-world images of Pixel 4a, which are reasonably pixelated and low-resolution, have been tweeted by a Twitter user who goes by @techdroider. The tweet cites another user named @raude2210 that claims he managed to obtain the images from a private Facebook group. Similarly, some other photos of what is claimed is a Pixel 4a have been posted on Reddit by a user named mseven97. Chances are these two users could be the same but with different aliases on both platforms. The Pixel 4a images shared on Reddit and Twitter look legit and match what was leaked previously but there is no way we can confirm their authenticity.

The Google Pixel 4a has curved edges with thin bezels on it if we go by the leaked photos. There is a punch-hole design on the display with a single front-facing camera. The back has a squarish camera bump with a single camera and an LED flash, positioned diagonally inside the module. At the centre of the smartphone is a circular fingerprint sensor, leading us to believe that Google might skip face unlock on the Pixel 4a. The photos also show the turned-on display on the Pixel 4a, spilling the beans on the interface of the Pixel 4a.

Of course, there is stock Android on the smartphone, along with the standard Google apps. There are also some apps installed on the phone that could aid in testing software and discovering bugs in it. The Settings page of the Pixel 4a (translated from Spanish) shows the available storage is 44.27GB while 31 per cent is occupied. This calculates to around 58GB total available memory on the device -- meaning a 64GB variant. One of the images also shows the grey-coloured fabric case for Pixel 4a.

Besides, @techroider also claims to have shared what looks like an image of the retail packaging for the Google Pixel 4a. The retail box is similar to the ones Google has used for previous Pixel phones, and shows the Just Black colour variant. The Pixel 4a sketch on the retail box also shows a squarish camera module with one camera and one LED flash at the back. None of the images has hinted at what internals the Pixel 4a will pack.

Google could choose to launch the Pixel 4a sometime before the launch of Pixel 5 this year. But nothing is certain at this point, given the disruption coronavirus pandemic is causing across industries. Pixel 4a could have been scheduled to debut at the I/O conference this year sometime in May but Google cancelled it, keeping in mind the on-ground situations right now.
Carl Bergstrom is an infectious disease expert who's been thinking about the relationship between biology and social systems. One central theme in his work is information: How it flows and how it spreads.

At the University of Washington, where he lectures, he developed an online course called "calling bull----" to help students use critical reasoning to see through false health information. Off the back of the syllabus' popularity, Bergstrom and his colleague Jevin West wrote a book filled with advice about how mainstream audiences can use statistics and other data science tools to question hyped-up products and conspiracy theories that are pervasive on our social media feeds today.

There are a lot of information gaps when it comes to the COVID-19 virus. And Bergstrom is one of the scientists desperately trying to fill those gaps.

He says that early on, some of the information coming out of China felt like misinformation because it was coming from political opponents of the Chinese government, but it turned out to be "partially right." Since then, he's been noting and occasionally debunking various conspiracy theories and rumors, such as the idea that the coronavirus was a Chinese bioweapon -- and, in China, that it's a U.S. bioweapon -- and false stories of catastrophes at American hospitals. On Twitter, he also called out a neurologist, Scott Mintzer, for a "panic inducing" thread about a health system in Seattle, which was based on a second-hand account from an unnamed doctor.

Bergstrom also says that there's been plenty of anticipation of a respiratory viral pandemic like COVID-19, but he does not blame the slow response in the U.S. entirely on the current government. Rather, he notes it's politically challenging to fund pandemic preparedness without a clear and present threat.

"There was a denial and refusal to act that lost us some time, and that's part of what happened. But we also didn't have the resources in place to respond to a pandemic in terms of our coordination structure," Bergstrom said. "There's a 'not on my watchism,' which involves a choice between doing a politically unpopular thing to provide funding for pandemic preparedness that might not come, or avoid doing that and slash whatever is there. These are perceived as once-in-a-century catastrophes."

He argues that the government must play a central role in planning and responding to such catastrophes, and that advocates of small-government philosophy should understand this kind of planning is akin to raising a military.

"There are some collective action problems that even the Chicago-school economists acknowledge will not be adequately solved by the market," he says. "No one expects us to raise a powerful standing army based on private market forces (and) we consider that a central role of the government to provide national defense. Pandemic preparedness is the same."

He also suggests that current lockdowns may need to last past the summer in some areas, unless we can increase testing capacity.

"My personal feeling is that we either have a long lockdown ahead of us, or we'll get testing capacity way up."

Here's a transcript of the interview, edited for length and clarity:

FARR: Given that you track how information spreads, both true and false, where and when did you see the first groups really start to sound the alarm on this?

BERGSTROM: Interestingly, we saw some loud voices early on coming from organized campaigns from political opponents of the Chinese government. There was both a lot of hyperbole but also some truth to what they were sharing. It was feeling like misinformation at the time, but turned out to be partially right. By mid-January, I was having a lot of conversations with others in the infectious disease community, but we didn't yet have diagnosed community transmission. By February, we knew it was a real problem.

FARR: What are some of the most concerning and prevalent hoaxes or false rumors that you're seeing? Can you share your top five?

CARL BERGSTROM: There's the idea that this virus is a Chinese bioweapon. Often (I've seen) a very quickly retracted paper referenced that claimed to have found big pieces of the HIV genome in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. That was debunked within 48 hours. Interestingly, a Chinese colleague told me that in China there is a very widely spread rumor on social media that it is a U.S. bioweapon, but I do not have documentation of this. There has been a lot of talk about the SO2 levels over Wuhan, linking it purportedly to the mass incineration of bodies. There is all the 5G stuff, but I haven't even gone down that rabbit hole. And there idea that Bill Gates is somehow involved, in creating and spreading the virus, not fighting it.

Finally, there were a rash of false second-hand narratives of catastrophes at hospitals. Some are spread by well known, credentialed people. I debunked one of those from the prominent neurologist on March 15th (The neurologist Scott Mintzer deleted an alarmist post after Bergstrom pointed out flaws with a second-hand account).

FARR: As a biologist, when did you first start to personally become concerned about COVID-19?

BERGSTROM: We have a mailing list for many of us professionals in the infectious disease world. You'll see clusters of disease every so often, which we'll share. In this case, we were concerned but the the information from China in those first months wasn't great. The bottom line is that by the time things got bad in Wuhan, infectious disease professionals knew that given the size of the city and the frequent travel to the rest of the world, it would get out. We didn't know if it would turn pandemic, because there have been cases where we've stamped out little fires as they emerge.

FARR: Could we have acted much sooner in the U.S., say in late January when the picture started to become more clear about how serious of a threat this was?

BERGSTROM: There was a denial and refusal to act that lost us some time, and that's part of what happened. But we also didn't have the resources in place to respond to a pandemic in terms of our coordination structure. There was definitely planning and investment that could have been done. I was most active in these sorts of discussions in the Bush years. During that period, there was a big debate about the role of government in public health and a reluctance to invest too heavily in pandemic planning. But I argued that there are some things the government has to provide. For me, that would include the research and surveillance tools, but also the infrastructure you need for rapid vaccine production.

FARR: So the government is really responsible, and not the private sector...

BERGSTROM: I'm not saying that the government should provide pandemic planning because I want a welfare state. There are some collective action problems that even the Chicago-school economists acknowledge will not be adequately solved by the market. No one expects us to raise a powerful standing army based on private market forces (and) we consider that a central role of the government to provide national defense. Pandemic preparedness is the same.

FARR: How come we were so unprepared for this, especially when it comes to having insufficient supplies of masks and personal protective equipment?

BERGSTROM: There's a 'not on my watchism,' which involves a choice between doing a politically unpopular thing to provide funding for pandemic preparedness that might not come, or avoid doing that and slash whatever is there. These are perceived as once-in-a-century catastrophes.

FARR: You've been researching pandemics throughout your career. Did you have a fear around respiratory viruses in particular?

BERGSTROM: I don't know why people don't talk more about the potential for a GI (gastrointestinal) pandemic. It's something I'm going to be asking about. I have also researched pox viruses. Monkeypox, with a few mutations, could become quite a bad thing. But it's these respiratory ones we keep seeing again and again. The story of the past twenty years has been SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and all of these smaller outbreaks, and any one of them could have flared into a disaster. It made sense to expect that something like this COVID-19 pandemic could happen.

FARR: I've read some articles pointing to folks like Bill Gates who seemed to have seen this coming. Were they prescient, or just following the data?

BERGSTROM: Well, we had a pandemic 11 years ago (with H1N1). And there are others going back further in time. People forget the severity of the 1957 flu pandemic. There really isn't an excuse to be caught unprepared, but there's certainly no excuse going forward.

FARR: Now that we're here and we're in this, do we have some tough choices to make? Do you suspect that citizens are going to be asked to make tradeoffs when it comes to privacy and civil liberties? In China, you saw temperature checks of passers-by and at buildings, and other invasive surveillance measures.

BERGSTROM: Without widespread testing, even those measures won't be effective. My personal feeling is that we either have a long lockdown ahead of us, or we'll get testing capacity way up. With temperature checks, I suspect you'd miss a lot of asymptomatic cases so I'm really in two minds about it.

But another consideration is that we already allow ourselves to be tracked in unimaginable ways so that companies can sell ads. If it came to it, we might be asked to consider whether we'd be willing to be tracked via some surveillance measures to go back to work. I might opt in because I'm a public health professional with a secure job, but I completely understand why others wouldn't. And I don't think you can impose (surveillance systems) on people in the U.S.

FARR: You've tweeted about the IMHE model, which shows projections of the spread of COVID-19, assuming full social distancing. You've also shared some reservations with these predictions. Can you elaborate?

BERGSTROM: If you believe that model, things are looking pretty good in states like Washington State by mid-May. But this is all predicated on us being successful at turning the curve around. If we do manage to get reasonable testing going and we keep following the social distancing guidelines, these models suggest life could return to normal come the summer. But if we fall short in either of those things, then we're going to be looking at some harder choices about whether we let a lot of people get infected or consider a longer lockdown.

FARR: Do we have the political will to consider the longer quarantine?

BERGSTROM: I really have no idea. In this pandemic, we don't currently have pharmaceutical measures in place, like a proven treatment. What we do have is traditional public health. We have work stoppages, stay at home orders, travel restrictions. And we also have misinformation that undercuts the trust of scientists and other authorities. There's a political pressure that is building up on our policymakers. I do hope people will do everything they can to get us on the right trajectory, but I also want us to be aware and planning for all possible outcomes.

WATCH: Bill Gates believes schools could reopen in the fall
When it comes to home-schooling, every moment is a chance for a lesson to Megan Miller.

For instance, several weeks ago, Miller, a veteran Nashville, Tennessee, home-school mom of three, set out to bake carrot muffins with the assistance of her daughter.

"I made my fourth grader do the calculations of the measurements and then double the recipe," Miller said. "I counted it as one of her math lessons for the day."

As many families are asked to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, parents are forced into a role similar to Miller's  taking on the responsibility to teach their kids.

For parents new to home-schooling, juggling lesson plans with sheltering at home is no easy task.

"Everyones situation is unique, everyones situations not the same," said Tiffany Crow, a Woodstock Middle School teacher in Shelby County, Tennessee. "I know as a mom myself, that you can feel guilty sometimes if youre not able to do what you see other people doing, but understand that everyones gonna be in the same boat" when classes resume.

The most important thing to remember for parents during the school closures is not to be too harsh on themselves, said Bethany Rittle-Johnson, a Vanderbilt professor of psychology and human development who has a college student and two younger students at home as she juggles work.

"Parents can support kids by following their interests, getting them to explain things to them," Rittle-Johnson said. "But we don't have to replace our kids' teachers because our teachers are professionals. And so it'll be OK."

Coronavirus live updates: Birx 'encouraged' but warns of possible second wave; US has deadliest day; Wuhan lockdown

Not an easy task

Under normal circumstances, Miller said, the job of home-schooling can be hard.

The coronavirus-related closures add another layer. Usually, Miller can take her kids on field trips or take advantage of community learning programs.

Story continues

"I can even tell that the kids are a little bit more agitated with each other," Miller said. "They are agitated with me. I'm more agitated with them. I think that's because we're not getting any other outside social interaction."

Short of activities, many families have flocked to educational supply stores to find resources, especially because the myriad information online can be dizzying.

Attorney Racquel Peebles home-schools her children, Gabriel, 12, and Nora, 16. "Its about teaching character, its about teaching community, and its about teaching respect," she says.

Racquel Peebles, a town council member in Smyrna, Tennessee, who home-schools her two children in sixth and 12th grade, said books are some of the best hands-on tools for students. But she said lessons shouldn't be confined to just the text.

"Education is not just about whats in the books," Peebles said. "Its about teaching character, its about teaching community, and its about teaching respect."

Schedules and creativity

Kelly McNeely Brockman posted her kids' schedule for Monday. It came with a disclaimer.

"I have no idea what I am doing," the post read.

Brockman, whose kids usually attend Nashville public schools, said she created the list of activities for her kids to ensure a sense of normalcy. On the list is a morning workout, math and reading study and a television break.

Brockman said her kids thrive off having schedules.

"I'm definitely not one of those moms who's probably gonna stick by that schedule every day," Brockman said. "I'm really trying to do it because the structure is important to them, and I think it's important to keep your brains and their bodies going."

'So much more than a teacher': This NY first grade teacher has a new take on home-schooling

Sara McKelvy, who home-schools her three kids, said schedules are indeed important.

The key for every family is to find out what works best for them, she said. She said that how you go about your day depends on your family.

Her philosophy of home-schooling is that this is a chance for kids to explore their interests, spend time with them  whether it is reading or doing activities  and find out what they are passionate about.

Families shouldn't feel pressure to mimic school, McKelvy said.

"You can get in a cog situation, like you got to do it this way and you're only a good student if you do it this way," she said.

Coronavirus for kids without internet: Quarantined worksheets, learning in parking lots

Give yourself some grace

It's going to be OK. That's the message Rittle-Johnson said she wants parents to remember the most.

"I want to recognize that there are parents who are doing full-time jobs and, wow, now they're supposed to magically home-school their children," Rittle-Johnson said.

You can expect that your house will be messier, Miller said, and that kids home full time will be hard. It's not wrong to sometimes turn on the television, she said, and there are plenty of educational shows.

"We're social distancing from everybody else," Miller said. "We are not social distancing from our family, and we are with them all the time, so you need to give yourself grace and give yourself a break."

Contributing: Laura Testino and Scott Broden, USA TODAY Network

Follow Jason Gonzales on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Amid coronavirus, parents, educators share home-schooling advice
CHONGWE, Zambia, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese business association in Chongwe district in Zambia's Lusaka Province on Tuesday donated various items toward local efforts to fight against COVID-19.

The Zambia China Trade and Corporation Zone (ZCCZ) donated hand sanitizers, face masks and disinfectants to the Chongwe district COVID-19 taskforce to help in the prevention of the pandemic in the district.

Chongwe Mayor Geoffrey Chumbwe thanked the Chinese association for the donation of assorted items.

Chumbwe said that the donation was timely and would go a long way in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.

He thanked the organization for coming on board to complement the government efforts in the fight against the pandemic, which he said needed a united stakeholder participation to overcome.

He promised that the task force would put the donations to good use and would account for every donation.

Chongwe district commissioner, Robster Mwanza said the task force in the district would continue to lobby for more support from well-wishers as this was a multispectral task.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

The Office of Nigeria's Accountant General has been razed by fire.

But citizens are suspecting foul play by authorities.

The building named Treasury House is reportedly located beside the Federal Capital Territory FCT Police Command in Garki, Abuja.

It was engulfed by fire on Wednesday, April 8, after the Nigerian Government was asked

to explain how it distributed two trillion naira to the poor.

We need names, how u arrived at ur database & the demographic spread- NASS had asked the Federal Government of Nigeria.

We have the records. They are with the Acc. General Nigeria's Ministry of Finance had reportedly responded.

However, opposition politician with the People's Democratic Party, David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode, while suspecting foul play, tweeted, 9 hours later office of the Acc-General is engulfed by fire.

Musician Davido is asking Nigerian authorities to return the cash, tweeting make dem return our money owhich one b say office don burn.

---Daily Guide
By PTI

MUMBAI: Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday said fraudsters are exploiting the three-month loan repayment moratorium to execute their designs, and asked everybody to be extra cautious.

However, the bank clarified that it does not have a single incident of a fraud being noted yet, but is going by anecdotal evidence and market intelligence to caution everybody. The RBI had left it to banks for implementing the moratorium, which has resulted in communication with bank being an essential part for taking benefit of the scheme.

HDFC Bank Chief Information Security Officer Sameer Ratolikar said the fraudsters are always on the look-out for newer reasons to execute their designs and the EMI moratorium has emerged as a favourite one.

He said that this is being executed by deploying several modus operandi, including calling the gullible people "offering" a moratorium on their loans which results in sending of some web links to compromise personal data or send messages over SMS or WhatsApp.

He said that some of them also send links for installing dubious unrated apps on their phones through which many compromises become possible.

Ratolikar said the key aspect for customers is not to share one-time passwords (OTPs), personal identification numbers or other confidential details like CVV numbers of their cards, making it clear that any transaction cannot go through without these details.

He also made it clear that no bank will approach a customer seeking these confidential details and anybody seeking such information should immediately trigger suspicion in the minds of people.

Even though most of the instances of suspect transactions are under the guise of "help" on moratorium, there can be other means that can be deployed as well, including relief efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is organizing a company-wide virtual meeting for later this month to allow employees to ask questions of the executive team led by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

The company sent a note to employees advising them of the plan on Wednesday in the U.S., which Bloomberg News has reviewed. It asked that questions be submitted by end of day on Saturday and also encouraged workers to share their experiences of working through the disruption to daily life that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about. The specific date of the meeting has not yet been disclosed.

Read more: Apple Culture of Secrecy Tested by Employees Working Remotely

Apple has had to adapt quickly to a work-from-home culture it previously shunned. The inherent need for security while working on unannounced products has historically made remote work impractical for the iPhone makers designers and engineers.

Among its measures to smooth out work and life disruptions brought on by the novel coronavirus, Apple has put a particular focus on helping parents cope. The company is working on options to make sure parents have the support and the flexibility to adjust their schedules as needed, according to a note to employees from Senior Vice President of Retail and People Deirdre OBrien. Apple is aware many parents are balancing homeschooling with working and is encouraging employees to be open with management about their challenges, OBrien wrote.

The public response to the pandemic from the Cupertino, California-based tech giant has been led by its CEO. Cook has been providing video updates on Apples procurement and donation efforts for medical equipment on social media. Putting the companys supply chain expertise to work, Cook said Apples design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Tesco has blamed southern middle class people for the bulk of panic-buying during the coronavirus crisis.

The supermarket has revealed that stockpiling has been less of an issue outside the south of England.

It comes after billion spent on groceries saw spending top that of Christmas. The retail giant's sales jumped by almost a third, with Londoners hoarding most goods, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Pictured: Empty shelves in Tesco on March 21 as the supermarket now blames panic-buying predominantly on middle class southerners

Pictured: A map released by Tesco showing that London was the epicentre of panic buying, with hotspots also in the north-west and north-east

This graph show how sales of individual items surged from a typical week (represented by a dark blue bar) to a stockpiling week (represented by a light blue bar)

Chief executive Dave Lewis said: 'These buyers tend to be more affluent customers, and whilst we saw uplifts everywhere, the biggest uplifts were in the south of England.

'We saw some very interesting behaviours in the stockpiling, and these behaviours informed some of the decisions we have taken.'

It comes after Iceland Foods boss Richard Walker said last month: 'Not everyone can afford to stockpile.'

Tesco is still unable to meet demand for deliveries to people's homes despite the supermarket increasing delivery slots by a fifth.

The stockpilers are represented by the light blue blocks in the the chart above. It shows that the 10 per cent of customers who were panic buyers were responsible for 30 per cent of sales

This graph shows the items that surged the most in terms of sales during the panic-buying

Those buying online in recent weeks have faced hours'-long booking queues and faced waiting a month for their delivery.

Yesterday Waitrose urged customers to do their shopping in stores if they are able in order to prioritise people who can't leave home for their online shopping.

But panic buying has begun to tail off at Tesco, with the drop in purchases coming as the country went into lockdown.

At the peak of panic buying, Tesco sold 3.1million bottles of liquid soap, which is four times more than normal.

It sold double the number of tinned tomatoes - 3.3million - and 76 per cent more toilet roll packs at 3.6million. Sales of beans also doubled to his 6million.

Mr Lewis said panic buying was down to a minority of customers, with 10 per cent buying a third of goods.

Morrisons, meanwhile, is partnering with takeaway firm Deliveroo to allow customers to order up to 70 essential items which can arrive in as little as 30 minutes for a 4.99 fee.
Reverend Alexander Mireku, Effiduase District Pastor of the Church of Pentecost, has praised Ghanaian media for their immense role in the fight against COVID-19.



He said journalists and media practitioners in the country had continuously worked to fill the communication gap between government and health officials and the citizenry, especially those in rural communities on the pandemic.



Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Effiduase, Rev. Mireku said: The publics eyes and ears, as well as their feelings, are all geared towards what journalists and the media are communicating to them, especially in this pandemic moment of COVID-19, which is affecting our nation. This shows how relevant journalism and media have been to us, he noted.



Rev. Mireku stressed the need for the government and other relevant stakeholders to prioritize support for media practitioners, by providing the requisite protective gears to prevent journalists who feed the people with update information on the pandemic, from contracting the virus.



I am mostly always considering how journalists take the braveness of risking their lives to get to hotspots of the COVID-19 to fetch necessary information for the public in order to prevent the spread of the disease, and save lives. They really deserve commendation, he emphasized.



Rev. Mireku called on religious organizations, traditional authorities, civil society organizations as well as non-government organizations, to support journalists in their communities to provide the needed information for the people.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Photo credit: Netflix

From ELLE

Like much of America, I recently binged the hell out of Netflixs extremely popular documentary series, The Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

If youve watched it, then youre familiar with the inciting incident of the series: big cat breeder and former zoo owner Joe Exotic (Joseph Maldonado-Passage) is in prison for a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Carole Baskin, a nonprofit founder and owner of Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary for wild cats (tigers, lions, etc.) in Tampa, Florida.

Maldonado-Passage chose Baskin as a target due to her consistent attempts to shut down his zoo via both her conservation efforts and lobbying for the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would outlaw the new ownership of big cats.

In digging into this real-life feud that sets the series in motion, viewers are given access to three over-the-top figures: Maldonado-Passage, Baskin, and Doc Antle, another breeder who runs his own for-profit zoos where visitors can cuddle with tiger cubs, which were bred expressly for that purpose.

Throughout the series, which was filmed over five years starting in 2014, viewers are exposed to plenty of Antle and Maldonado-Passages unsavory deeds in their business dealings. Antle is an egomaniacal Eastern-teachings polygamist whose wives serve as his cat trainers. Some people interviewed for the documentary even stated he kills tigers when theyre no longer viable for his business (Antle denies this ). Maldonado-Passages conviction includes charges for illegally killing five tigers in 2017.

In one of the series most disturbing scenes, Maldonado-Passage drags a newborn cub away from its motherthrough the dirt and under a fence with a metal rodin order to prepare it for human interaction. Moments later, he gripes that the tiny tigers, taken from their mother and put in a small cage in his home, are making too much noise. Other depressing scenes follow overwhelmed caretakers as they a) ration an inadequate supply of rejected Wal-Mart meat to feed Maldonado-Passages menagerie, or b) pilfer it for themselves because they barely make enough money working in the park to feed themselves. Let us also not forget when a tiger rips the arm off an employee and cameras capture Maldonado-Passages apparent lack of concern as he frets aloud about how the accident will affect his zoos financial prospects.

Story continues

But the series continues to be a smash hit, with viewers eager to dig deeper and deeper into this so-bad-its-good world. And as many have done just that, Carole Baskin, the animal activist Maldonado-Passage wanted dead, has emerged as the least likable character among the bunch.



Photo credit: NETFLIX

Photo credit: Netflix

While many viewers express warm feelings for Maldonado-Passagea gay, self-proclaimed redneck who admitted that hed shoot anyone who tried to take his catsand Antle, while less admired, still has faced little more than internet ribbing, Baskin blithely biking around her cat compound in a flower crown while an army of volunteers shovel big-cat excrement for her seemed to fill some viewers with fury and contempt. Further, in comparison to Maldonado-Passage and Antles more boisterous personalities, Baskin comes off as frustratingly aloof, unshakable, and, at times, blissfully self-unaware.

Then of course, there is Tiger Kings B-plot: the controversy surrounding the disappearance of Baskins second husband, Don Lewis. A fellow big cat lover himself, Lewis went missing one night in 1997 and, after initial investigations that turned up little to no evidence for a suspect, red-flags from Lewis's family, friends, and attorney led them to believe Baskin had something to do with his disappearance. The series also explores the conspiracy theory that Baskin ground Lewis up and fed him to her cats.

When I recently posted in a Tiger King Facebook group, half-joking, How is a woman who probably murdered her husband the most sympathetic of the three? I was surprised to find Baskin sympathizers in the minority. In fact, tons of Facebook users, more of them women than men, hate Carole Baskin, and they definitely arent afraid to say so. They bashed her as a hypocrite who once bred big cats herself (in the 1990s), deemed her deeply unlikable, sanctimonious, and a phony who profits from caging big cats despite her organization being a literal and well-rated nonprofit. Some insisted that anyone who fails to see Baskins shadiness is naive. One critic said I was bamboozled by her, blinded by her disingenuous love-and-light hippie act and aw, shucks! nerdiness.

But even if you buy into the unsubstantiated rumor that Baskin murdered her husband, her crimes stack up pretty evenly with those of Maldonado-Passage, at the very least. Tipping the scale in his favor, therefore, seems difficult to do without factoring in the effect of misogyny. A lower bar for men and higher one for women just seems to permeate our culturewe know that.

As she was throughout The Tiger King series, Baskin is dismissed online by many viewers as that bitch. But painting the anti-Carole crowd with a broad brush of misogyny probably isnt entirely fair, either.

A discussion of whether underlying misogyny might help explain the strong audience contempt for Baskin should acknowledge the role of the filmmakers, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin.

The pair said in a Rolling Stone interview that, rather than investigating wild animal exploitation, they were interested in exploring the pathology of animal people and said they had the mockumentary Best in Show in mind while working on the project. In effect, that leads to some artful skimming-over of certain facts. Goode and Chaiklin offer up interview after interview of subjectsmost of them menwho rail against Baskin for a laundry list of offenses and then, in response, show Baskin responding to these claims with two lines of rebuttal in less than ten seconds clips.

You'd think Goode and Chaiklin would ask and even push Baskin on these issues to get her side on why, yes, she keeps animals in pens (because rescued cats can't be rereleased into the wild, they wouldn't make it), why she charges to get into her park where the animals are not allowed to be touched (it's expensive to care for animals, even at sanctuaries), and why she had a change of heart from when, decades earlier, she used to breed big cats with her ex-husband. And, yet, it just seems like the filmmakers skirt right past these obvious questions because, ostensibly, it would end up making Baskin a more redeemable person. And whats the fun without a villain on whom we can dump all of our ire?

Baskin, then, was framed negativelyas a grinning, disquieting crazy cat ladyfrom the moment we see her on screen, says Andrea L. Press, professor of media studies and sociology at the University of Virginia and author of Feminist Reception Studies in a Post-Audience Age.

Photo credit: Netflix





Even I didn't like her at firstit was impossible to, Press says. First, were introduced to the Tiger Man [Maldonado-Passage], colorful and animated and wrestling with his tigers. Were thrown into his life with imagery that draws you in. Then we meet Carole, shown in this static view giving you statistics, almost like a talking head.

Even if viewers agree with her, care about big cats, and are able to acknowledge her role in actual conservation, Press says, Its hard to have any positive resonance with the way shes filmed, as an unemotional bureaucrat. Its like this woman wants to keep us from having fun. Why doesn't she go away and make dinner so we can play in the backyard?

Of course, Press says, viewers can certainly be swayed to adopt certain viewpoints, but we do participate in the process of drawing conclusions from the media we consume. During that process, men are often and more easily seen as likable. Press offers serial killer Ted Bundy as an example: Among his legions of fans was the judge in his case, who lamented in open court what a shame it was that Bundy threw his potential away because he would have been a great lawyer.

But its a tough topic to study, she says. We dont have a patriarchy-free society to serve as a control group when we consider whether audiences judge women more harshly than men.

We cant reduce the norms of the patriarchy to only media representation, she says. Theyre embedded in all our institutions. But we need to start unpacking some of these biases because they hurt women.

I asked Press why she thought so many people seem unwilling to at least do a two-second Google search about some of the negative charges against Baskin, such as what the cages at Big Cat Sanctuary are really like, whether her rescue has a good rating, or even to find out more about the disappearance of her husband before bashing her online.

What were living through now is mass distrust in the media, she says.  Im not sure how much people believe that they can ever know the truth about anything. People had this emotional image [of Joe Maldonado-Passage] presented to them in this show, and theyve come to really like this guy, against rational thinking.

In effect, Press says The Tiger King dramatizes some of the problems we're having in this country.

People don't take time to evaluate issues in depth, she says. They just want to rationalize and look at cool images, especially now, when were all looking for escape. What better way to escape than wrestling with tigers?

Virginia Pelley is a freelance journalist and essayist based in Tampa, Florida. She has written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, VICE and The Daily Beast.

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The Supreme Court said on Wednesday private medical institutions should be playing a philanthropic role at a time of national crisis and it would not allow a situation where Indias poor could not afford a test for the virus

New Delhi: A decision by the Supreme Court of India to make testing for coronavirus free places an unfair financial burden on medical firms and could see a reduction in testing, already among the worlds lowest, said business leaders and health experts.

The concern is that private medical firms, like many businesses in India are struggling financially, and could go under if they tested for free without financial assistance.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, one of Indias biggest biotech firms, said private institutions could not be expected to operate on credit.

Humanitarian in intent but impractical to implement - I fear testing will plummet, Shaw said on Twitter on Thursday about the court judgement.

These are small businesses theyre providing testing at cost and not profiteering. How will they pay their employees?

The top court, responding to a public interest petition, said on Wednesday private medical institutions should be playing a philanthropic role at a time of national crisis and it would not allow a situation where Indias poor could not afford a test for the virus that is quickly spreading through the country.

It said the issue of reimbursing these laboratories for running the hundreds of thousands of tests for novel coronavirus that the worlds second most populous country urgently needs would be considered later on.

India has 5,734 cases of coronavirus and 166 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, according to the ministry of health and family welfare, reflecting a jump of 460 cases over Wednesday.

The numbers are small compared to the United States, Italy and Spain and one of the reasons is that the country is testing a narrow range of the population, doctors say.

These include people who have travelled overseas, people in contact with them and are showing symptoms, health workers with symptoms, hospitalised patients with respiratory problems and those who came in contact with a confirmed patient.

On Wednesday, 13,143 samples were tested nationwide, the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research said, well behind the 20,000 people South Korea has been testing each day from its far smaller population.
By AFP

PARIS: France is to further extend a lockdown ordered to slow the spread of the coronavirus, with President Emmanuel Macron to again address the nation next week, the French presidency said Wednesday.

The confinement order "will be extended" beyond its current limit of April 15, a presidential official told AFP, adding that Macron will address the nation on Monday evening to present the new decisions on the fight against the virus.

Macron will from now until Monday "speak to a large number of public and private actors -- French, European and international -- on what is at stake concerning COVID-19 and prepare the decisions that will be announced on Monday to the French," the presidency said.

It will be Macron's third prime time address from the Elysee Palace since the crisis began.

Macron's address comes amid a nuanced picture of the situation in France, with the daily death toll still grim but some data giving officials room for very cautious optimism.

France has been in lockdown since March 17 to slow the spread of the epidemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper.

The country had on Wednesday reported 541 more deaths from COVID-19 in hospital over the last 24 hours, bringing its total official toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 10,869.

But top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters there were now 7,148 people in intensive care, a net increase of 17 from the day earlier, the lowest increase recorded in recent weeks.

Salomon said that had slowed the increase of the virus' spread over recent days, adding this was because the lockdown was being largely observed.

"The slowing seen over the last days is linked to your good respect of the confinement rules," he said.

He expressed hope that France would see a flattening in its curve of cases in the coming days but emphasized that this "plateau is at a very high level".
The political operative at the center of an election fraud scandal that has engulfed a North Carolina congressional race was arrested Wednesday on charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy. Four people working for him were also charged.

Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., 63, was accused of directing workers to collect and mail in other peoples absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary and the 2016 general election. It is against the law in North Carolina for anyone other than the voter or a close relative to handle a mail-in ballot, a measure aimed at guarding against manipulation.

Prosecutors are still investigating evidence of ballot tampering by Dowless and others working on behalf of Republican candidate Mark Harris during last falls congressional election in the mostly rural 9th District, which includes part of Charlotte and extends eastward across several counties.

The indictment represents the first charges in a scandal that has cast doubt on election integrity and will leave a congressional seat unfilled for months.

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These indictments should serve as a stern warning to anyone trying to defraud elections in North Carolina, state elections director Kim Westbrook Strach said.

Dowless was arrested less than a week after the state elections board decided that his work for Harris, starting with the primary, tainted the Republicans apparent victory in November. The board ordered a new election but hasnt set a date.

Harris is not running in the do-over election; his Democratic opponent from November, Dan McCready, is.

Harris has not been charged and has denied knowledge of any illegal practices by those involved in his campaign. But he too could come under scrutiny. During last weeks board hearing, he admitted writing personal checks to Dowless in 2017, a potential violation if the payments werent reported.

Dowless has denied wrongdoing and did not respond to phone and text messages Wednesday. A woman hung up on a call to Dowless attorney.

Dowless was charged with illegal possession of absentee ballots, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He was booked into a Raleigh jail. The four others were charged with illegal possession of an absentee ballot and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The four others were paid by Dowless to collect ballots during the spring of 2018, when Dowless and his team were on the Harris campaign payroll, and during the 2016 general election, when Dowless himself successfully ran for a local soil and water conservation post, prosecutors said.

The crimes served to undermine the integrity of the absentee ballot process and the publics confidence in the outcome of the electoral process, the indictment said.

Dowless was accused of directing his workers to mail the absentee ballot in such a manner to conceal the fact that the voter had not personally mailed it himself  an act the indictment said constituted obstruction of justice.

In last falls congressional election, Harris led McCready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast, but the state elections board refused to certify Harris as the winner because of the fraud suspicions. Last week, Harris abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and called for a new election, and the board agreed.

Wake County Dist. Atty. Lorrin Freeman, who pursued the charges announced Wednesday, is still looking into evidence of irregularities in November. She indicated it could be weeks before any decisions were made on charges.

According to evidence at the elections board hearing, Dowless and his assistants illegally gathered up absentee ballots from voters by offering to put them in the mail, and in some cases forged signatures and filled in votes for local candidates.

Dowless refused to testify before the board without immunity from prosecution.

Dowless is a political junkie with felony convictions for perjury and insurance fraud  which led to a prison sentence in the 1990s  and several worthless-check offenses. He came to Harris attention because he was known to produce votes.

Harris said he wanted to sign Dowless onto his 2018 campaign after noting the Bladen County mans work resulted in one of Harris Republican rivals scoring an incredible 98% of the mail-in ballots in the 2016 primary.

Harris hired Dowless despite repeated warnings from the candidates son, now a federal prosecutor in Raleigh, that Dowless was probably resorting to illegal methods.

In fact, Dowless had been on the radar of state elections investigators since 2010, when he was suspected of vote-buying but never charged. That was one of at least half a dozen instances over the last nine years that prosecutors and election officials received complaints of serious irregularities in Bladen County.

North Carolinas top elections official in January 2017 issued an urgent plea for the Trump administration to file criminal charges against Dowless. Strach warned in a letter that those involved in illegally harvesting absentee ballots in rural Bladen County would likely do it again if they werent prosecuted.

At the time, there was only an acting U.S. attorney in office. Later in 2017, Trumps appointee arrived but took no action to prosecute the matter. Instead, he assigned his staff to focus on a different priority  prosecuting a handful of noncitizens who had allegedly voted.
The coronavirus appears to be hitting Oregons Latino population hard, a new state report shows, raising concerns among state officials about the disproportionate number who are testing positive.

Though Latinos make up 13% of the states population, they represent at least 18% of all positive cases -- and potentially far more.

Oregon doesnt yet know the ethnicities of more than a third of the people whove tested positive. Among the 687 people for whom it is known, a whopping 29% are Latino.

Testing has been limited in Oregon to only the sickest people. And while the figures are incomplete, no other racial or ethnic population in Oregon is testing positive at a rate so out of step with its share of the population.

We are certainly concerned about it and are certainly taking a lot of steps to prevent this and to continue to target and focus our efforts on this vulnerable population and others, said Dr. Dawn Mautner, senior health advisor for the Oregon Health Authority. Im working fiercely to figure out what may be pushing the numbers in any of these vulnerable populations higher and get out in front of it.

Whites, who make up 75% of Oregons population, represent 64% of the cases for which race is known. While the virus has disproportionately affected African-Americans nationally, that doesnt appear to be the case in Oregon -- at least in whats been reported initially. Blacks make up about 3% of positive cases compared with 2.2% of the states population. But thats only based on 23 positive tests, making sharp changes possible as more demographic information is reported. Asians are slightly underrepresented -- 4% compared to 4.8% of the population.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Kate Brown said the statistics could be another example of those disparities that we are committed to eliminating by improving access to care. We need more data  especially at the national level  to understand how COVID-19 impacts communities of color, and this is a question we are asking our public health partners to look into.

Another blind spot in understanding the uneven impact of the coronavirus: Oregon health officials have not yet agreed to reveal the race and ethnicity of those who have died from COVID-19, although they said Tuesday they are considering doing so.

Two of Oregons biggest coronavirus hotspots are large counties that are major population centers for the states growing Latino population: Marion County, the states top ag producer, and Washington County, another leading agricultural center. Washington County, where Oregons first case was reported Feb. 28, has 282 cases, the most in the state. Marion Countys 215 cases rank third.

Dr. Laura Byerly, medical director at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, which serves 52,000 people in Washington and Yamhill counties, including large Spanish-speaking communities, said 11% of the health centers coronavirus tests have been positive -- 39 out of 349 total -- a rate thats more than twice as high as Oregons statewide result.

Byerly said it isnt clear exactly why Latinos are disproportionately being affected. But she said theyre more likely to have jobs with no sick time and to live in homes where isolating to prevent spread to family members is more difficult.

If youre on the edge, if your job is still going, youre going to go, Byerly said. Its a real bear of a problem. Its really hard, if you have less wealth, to follow this stay-at-home thing. Farm workers picking our food, people working in elderly care -- those arent stay-at-home jobs.

About a month ago, as coronavirus worries began mounting, Byerly said her colleagues grew worried about how lightly the risk was being presented in Spanish-speaking media. She said that may have had origins in the response to the pandemic in Mexico, where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador moved slowly to institute social distancing restrictions and has repeatedly urged people to go outside.

That led us to say: We need to do something, Byerly said. The health center created a series of public service announcements on Spanish-speaking radio and television to stress the importance of handwashing and staying home when sick. Another batch of PSAs launching soon will address the use of masks and social distancing.

State Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon, D-Woodburn, said the effect on Latinos is made worse by their historically lower rates of health insurance and lack of access to healthcare.

I have heard from constituents in my community who simply cannot afford to lose a paycheck as they were already struggling to stay afloat financially, Alonso Leon said in a statement. Many mixed-status households do not want to visit a doctor due to the stories of colossal medical bills or fear that personal information will be given out to federal government agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the inequities and holes that our state system has, including providing up-to-date information in multiple languages from our state agencies.

Mautner, the states senior health adviser, said the health authority has held weekly calls in Spanish to respond to community concerns, translated its guidance into Spanish and translated Facebook posts and graphics into Spanish. The agency is developing a Spanish-language Facebook page and has hired two contractors to create videos and guidance in Spanish.

Betsy Hammond contributed reporting.

 Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Slapped with a slew of cases, many in disputed Himalayan region fear the pro-freedom leader could be executed.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  Imprisoned in New Delhi and slapped with a series of cases, including reopening of 30 years old murder charges, a top Kashmiri separatist leader is being denied a fair trial, his family and rights activists have alleged.

Yasin Malik, one of Indian-administered Kashmirs prominent pro-independence leaders, is the chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which was banned by the Indian government last year and declared an unlawful association that fomented terrorism.

The armed resistance against the Indian rule in Kashmir began in 1989, with a majority of people and rebel groups in the region demanding either independence or merger with neighbouring Pakistan.

Both India and Pakistan rule over parts of Kashmir territory, but claim it in its entirety. The two nuclear-armed nations have fought two of their three full-scale wars over the region.

In a controversial decision in August last year, India divided its only Muslim-majority state to create two federally-run territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The move was followed by a crippling seven-month lockdown in the region and arrests of all major political and rebel leaders.

Slew of cases against Malik

Malik, 54, is lodged in New Delhis Tihar Jail after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a two-year-old case of terror and separatist funding.

When the NIA arrested him in April 2019, he was already in a jail in the disputed regions Jammu city after the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was slapped on him in early March. The law allows imprisonment up to a year without trial.

Days before that, Malik was under preventive custody in a Srinagar jail following a rebel attack on a paramilitary convoy in Kashmirs Pulwama district on February 14, in which more than 40 Indian soldiers were killed.

The separatist leader has also been charged with the killing of four Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in 1990, shortly after the armed resistance began in the Muslim-majority region.

Seven people, including Malik, were accused of killing the IAF officers in the regions main city of Srinagar. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court stayed their trial in 1995, but that ruling was struck down by the same court in April last year.

Maliks lawyers maintain that the charges do not stand since Malik and his accomplices were armed rebels who had announced a unilateral ceasefire in 1994.

Malik is also accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989. Rubaiya is the daughter of then federal home minister and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Both the cases  the killing of IAF officers and Rubaiya Sayeeds kidnapping  are being pursued in a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court in Jammu by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agency.

Malik stopped by police in Srinagar as he tries to march during a protest against the killings of Kashmiri civilians in December 2018 [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]

It seems like political vendetta

The filing of all these cases against the leading pro-freedom leader has forced many in the disputed region to fear that the Indian state has already decided to sign his death warrant.

Maliks JKLF had announced the unilateral ceasefire in 1994 after assurances of a political settlement and suspension of militancy related cases against him and his colleagues by the Indian state, according to an open letter he released from prison through his family last month.

[The] first five years of present government led by PM Narendra Modi saw no militancy-related cases against me and my colleagues. But suddenly from 2019, the TADA court in Jammu started trial of these 30-year-old militancy related cases which is actually against the spirit of ceasefire pledge made in 1994, he wrote.

In his letter, Malik also accused the judge of behaving like a prosecuting or police officer and being denied a fair trial.

Though I have every legal right to be presented physically before the court, but the judge and the CBI at the behest of government are not allowing me to present myself before the trial court physically, he wrote.

I am being presented through video conference, where neither I am able to hear the arguments of the lawyers nor am I being allowed to speak.

One of Maliks family members told Al Jazeera, on condition of anonymity, that the reopening of murder cases reveals the governments ominous designs.

When you reopen a 30-year-old case and pursue it at a fast pace in a bid to hastily produce judgement, you can understand the intentions of this government, he said. This is a political rather than a judicial move.

200402103451648

Tufail Raja, the lawyer representing Malik in the NIAs terror funding case, alleged that cases are being fabricated against him.

But he is not the one who will succumb to any pressure, Raja told Al Jazeera.

Raja said Malik has decided that if the government does not offer him a fair trial, he will boycott it. He added that Maliks plan to start another fast unto death  he attempted one in March but gave up after assurances of a fair trial by authorities  from April 1 was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Human rights groups in Kashmir have also accused the government of being unfair towards Malik.

Fair trial is a globally recognised right for everyone. If you are suddenly pulling out old cases and not even allowing the accused to properly represent his case, then there would definitely be question marks over it, Khurram Parvez, a leading activist who heads the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances and coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), told Al Jazeera.

As of now, it seems like a political vendetta.

Another judicial murder on the cards?

Many people in the Kashmir valley fear Malik is next in line to be judicially murdered by Indias right-wing government to further their political gains. In 1984, JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat was sent to the gallows by the Indian state.

We have seen that when it comes to Kashmiri political detainees, apart from the Indian state, even their judiciary also bypasses all rules laws and guidelines, Faizan Bhat, a Kashmir-based independent researcher, told Al Jazeera.

The way Yasin Maliks case is being hastily pursued right now is leading to lot of ominous apprehensions of history being repeated.

200310083352101

Former Indian diplomat Wajahat Habibullah, who had met Malik several times in the 1990s along with army and intelligence officials to persuade him to shun the violent struggle, also acknowledged speculations of him being hanged doing the rounds.

I am not in the government, so I cant verify or authenticate these rumours, but I expect law would be allowed to take its own course, Habibullah told Al Jazeera.

After being released from prison in 1994, he [Malik] had abjured violence and was not guilty of any criminal offence since then, he said.

AS Dulat, former chief of Indias Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) spy agency, said he had met Malik in the 1990s on behalf of the government, but denied that New Delhi had reached an agreement with his organisation, the JKLF, regarding the murder cases.

The understanding was that he would give up militancy and adopt the Gandhian path. It can be said that he stood by his words. But from New Delhis side, there was no agreement regarding cases of militancy against him. Those cases were never mentioned, Dulat said.

I dont want to comment over speculations of him being hanged, but if he were to be hanged now after all these years, I would say it is very sad, he said.

Meanwhile, Maliks deteriorating health in jail during a global coronavirus pandemic has also added to the woes of his family.

He has cardiological issues. Due to interrogations by security agencies, his heart valve had to be replaced. The current pandemic and poor conditions in jail worry us more, a family member told Al Jazeera.
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket failed to launch the Indonesian Nusantara Dua communications satellite successfully on April 8, 2020. Shown here, a similar rocket lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on March 9.

A Chinese rocket carrying a new communications satellite for Indonesia has failed to reach orbit in a launch gone awry, the second failure for China's space agency in less than a month, state media reported today (April 9).

The Long March 3B rocket lifted off today at 7:46 a.m. EDT (1146 GMT) from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where the local time was 7:46 p.m. on Thursday night, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The rocket was carrying the Palapa-N1, also known as the Nusantara Dua, a next-generation satellite for broadband and broadcast communications built for the Indonesian joint venture of Indosat Ooredoo and Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.

The first and second stages of the three-stage Long March 3B rocket appeared to perform well during the outset of Thursday's launch. But something went wrong with the third stage, raining debris back to Earth and destroying the Palapa-N1 satellite, Xinhua reported.

Videos posted on China's social media site Weibo showed several views of the initial launch. Other videos from Guam showed what appeared to be fiery debris streaking across the sky.

#UPDATE: #Guam Homeland and federal authorities monitoring reports of unidentified object seen falling from the sky @PostGuam pic.twitter.com/3u69abhNu4April 9, 2020 See more

Officials with the Guam Homeland Defense and Civil Defense (GHS/OCD) and the Mariana Regional Fusion Center (MRFC) said the fireball was likely connected to China's failed launch. They were monitoring all events in the region, "including widely circulated videos of a fiery object over the Marianas sky this evening," the officials said in a statement.

"In concert with federal partners, GHS/OCD and MRFC identified that the object was likely connected to a scheduled satellite test launch from China," they added.

The failed Long March 3B launch marks China's second launch failure in less than a month. On March 16, a Long March 7A rocket failed to launch a classified satellite into orbit during a debut test flight from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on China's southern Hainan Island.

China was not the only country launching rockets today.

A Russian Soyuz rocket successfully launched a new U.S.-Russian crew to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT). That mission successfully reached the space station six hours later, and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner joined the station's Expedition 62 crew.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
Scientists have put together a shocking video that shows how deadly coronavirus droplets can spread across two supermarket aisles and infect shoppers, with the bug hanging in the air for 'several minutes.

Experts from Aalto University in Finland have put together an animation so shoppers can be aware of the dangers of spreading the killer disease.

'Someone infected by the coronavirus, can cough and walk away, but then leave behind extremely small aerosol particles carrying the coronavirus. These particles could then end up in the respiratory tract of others in the vicinity,' says Aalto University Assistant Professor Ville Vuorinen.

The alarming video follows disturbing news that joggers could be passing the infection to one another, even if they are six feet apart.

Scientists in Finaldn say Covid-19 germs from a cough can spread across two shopping aisles

Britain's lockdown is expected to last for weeks to come as Covid-19 cases rise

There have been 60,773 recorded cases across Britain and 7,097 deaths so far

Boris Johnson spent his third night in intensive care in London last night

The Prime Minister is said to be sitting up and his condition is improving

People are being urged to stay indoors during the warm Easter weekend

It comes after people were spotted sunbathing and visiting beaches last week

WHAT ARE THE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS? The virus, called COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms including a sore throat, headache, fever, cough or trouble breathing. Severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Advertisement

Finnish research centres created the animation by modelling a scenario where a person coughs in an aisle between supermarket shelves.

Taking into account factors like in-store ventilation, experts from Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Finnish Meteorological Institute each carried out the modelling independently, using the same starting conditions.

A statement from Aalto University said: 'The researchers obtained the same preliminary result: in the situation under investigation, the aerosol cloud spreads outside the immediate vicinity of the coughing person and dilutes in the process.'

Scientists involved in the research were working at Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Jussi Sane, chief specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said: 'The preliminary results obtained by the consortium highlight the importance of our recommendations.

'The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommends that you stay at home if you are unwell and that you maintain physical distance with everyone. The instructions also include coughing into your sleeve or a tissue and taking care of good hand hygiene.

Even in ventilated shops, germs can linger for up to two minutes, according to Aalto University's research

'Based on the modelling of the consortium, it is not yet possible to directly issue new recommendations. However, these results are an important part of the whole, and they should be compared with the data from real-life epidemic studies.'

Supermarkets in Britain have been urging customers to stay two metres apart while walking down aisles, with long queues seen in car parks around the country as staff limit the amount of shoppers entering the store at any given time.

Most other shops have been closed as Britain looks set to remain in lockdown for weeks to come.

Some pressure has been lifted on supermarkets, with Sainsbury's lifting a three-item cap on most of its products yesterday.

Sainsbury's CEO Mike Coupe wrote to customers today to say: 'You wrote to tell me that product limits were a barrier to being able to shop for other people.

'We understand that it can be difficult to buy what you need and shop for someone else with the 3 item product limit. We have now lifted buying restrictions on thousands of products and hope that this will help more of you to shop for others.'

Side by side: Susanna presented last Thursday's edition of Good Morning Britain alongside co-host Ben Shepherd, when she spoke about a jogger coughing and spitting near her

Last week Susanna Reid shared how a jogger spat in her direction while out on her daily exercise allowance.

The Good Morning Britain was returning to the programme after spending two weeks self-isolating.

She recalled: 'When I went out walking the other day, a runner ran past me and then coughed and then spat'

Asking for advice from Doctor Hilary, she added: 'It is normal for runners to do that in normal situations. It is not particularly pleasant. Surely right now, it is spreading the virus?'

Actively discouraging the practice of spitting while jogging, he advised: 'When you are running you produce more saliva and you do see runners spit the saliva away.

'Of course it is coming from the mouth and throat and potentially if you are carrying the virus the virus would exist on the ground or wherever for unto a few hours.

'It is not a nice habit and something to be discouraged but it is not a major threat.'

Horrifying simulation reveals the dangers of jogging during the coronavirus pandemic: Viral particles from another runner could infect you even if they are six feet ahead - but staying NEXT to them may be safer

By Mary Kekatos - Senior Health Reporter for MailOnline.com

A new simulation appears to indicate that current social distancing guidelines may not be enough to keep joggers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

The video, created by simulation technology company Ansys, shows that droplets cab spread more than six feet behind you while you are walking, running or cycling.

Because of this, running side-by-side with someone may actually be safer than running behind them so you don't directly come into contact with any droplets, engineers say.

With more than 400,000 confirmed cases of the new virus and more than 13,000 deaths, health experts say that increasing the amount of distance between you and others while outside is one of the key elements to helping flatten the curve.

A new video simulations shows two scenarios, in which two people jog side-by-side (above) and then one behind the other

The scenario in which one jogs behind the others resulted in more droplets being spread (above)

Researchers say it may be safer to run next to somebody (left) or to run behind someone but in staggered formation (right) because droplets are spread directly behind an infected person

'If we see a whale or dolphin blow through their blowhole, we can see the water and jump out of way if we have to,' Marc Horner, the principal engineer for healthcare at Ansys, told DailyMail.com

'But if someone sneezes or coughs, it happens so quickly and the droplets are so small, [the simulation gets] that mental image in your mind of how far away you need to stand so gravity has time to pull the droplets down.'

Federal health officials chose six feet as the guideline for social distancing because of the way that respiratory droplets travel.

When an infected person coughs or sneezes, droplets typically travel no more than six feet before gravity pulls them to the ground.

The video shows two scenarios: one in which two people are running side-by-side and another in which they are running one behind the other.

In the side-by-side scenario, when one person coughs or sneezes, the majority of the droplets travel behind the runners, not next to them.

This is what makes the scenario in which one person jogging six feet behind another person so unsafe, Horner explains.

'If someone coughs, those droplets are suspended in the air and, if you are six feet behind, you are going to run right into them and it doesn't give them enough time to fall to the ground,' he said.

'The droplets go straight out and go behind you so if you're next to someone - ignoring wind conditions - it won't hit you.'

If you don't feel safe enough running next to somebody else, run behind them in staggered formation, meaning not directly behind them.

Lorner says this will help prevent cough or sneeze droplets from landing directly on you.

The simulations comes on the heels of recent reports that find that six feet may not be enough to be protected from the new virus.

According to Wired.com, when large droplets of mucus are expelled with extreme force (such as from sneezing rather than talking) or carried by the wind, they can travel more than six feet before falling to the ground.

Lorner explains that he and his fellow engineers exaggerated the size of the droplets so people could understand how quickly they can travel.

'Once you have the mental image in your head, you say: "Okay, running behind someone six or 10 feet might not be enough, I need to be even further back",' he said.

'People need to see why we follow the social distancing guidelines out there and getting that mental image of why helps.'
The UFC's controversial decision to continue putting on fights during the coronavirus pandemic is borne out of a desperation to collect 605million from ESPN.

Dana White is pushing ahead with UFC 249 on April 18 where Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje will meet in the main event.

The UFC president had previously suggested that the organisation will put on shows during lockdown because 'hiding in your house is not the answer'.

Dana White and the UFC are pushing ahead with UFC 249 despite the coronavirus pandemic

But it seems the UFC's hand is being forced by their television paymasters.

To qualify for their 605m contractually agreed sum this year, they must deliver 42 live shows.

Disney-owned ESPN signed a huge deal with the UFC in May last year which has seen the premier MMA promotion raise their profile further.

Now they are battling to secure the 605m with much of the world in chaos due to coronavirus and the restrictions in place.

The UFC need to put on 42 live shows this year to collect their 605million from ESPN

'I'd be surprised if they can't fulfill their contract. Disney is paying UFC no matter what... all the UFC has to do is put the show on to get a minimum payment, 'media analyst Brandon Ross told the Wall Street Journal.

The UFC are being forced to be creative with logistics to deliver events and look set to hold their pay-per-view event next weekend on the Santa Rosa Indian Community land in California.

White has also spoken about having use of an island to hold international fights on as the show keeps rolling on.

Tony Ferguson (right) is still fighting in the main event but will not face Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov was originally supposed to fight Ferguson for the lightweight title but the Russian is stuck in Dagestan on lockdown in Russia.

Gaethje has stepped in as a replacement for what is still a hugely anticipated encounter but the UFC attracted criticism for going ahead with events, flouting international guidelines on social distancing and the best way to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The ESPN deal sheds further light on the situation and explains why the struggling owners Endevour, are so eager for fights to continue during such uncertain times.
The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the jail authorities here to release on personal bonds all the undertrial prisoners (UTPs) who have been granted bail but are unable to furnish a surety bond.

The direction was issued by a bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Manoj Kumar Ohri to ensure the implementation of suggestions given by a high powered committee for release of UTPs to decongest jails to prevent spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed 169 lives in India affected 5,865 people.

The direction issued to the prison authorities, represented by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, would be applicable to UTPs who were granted bail on or before April 7.

With the direction, the bench disposed of the matter which it had initiated suo motu (on its own) on Thursday.

The bench took up the issue as the committee, in a meeting held on Tuesday, had said that bail orders of such prisoners can be modified only by a judicial order from the Delhi High Court.

The high powered committee, headed by Delhi HC judge Justice Hima Kohli, had in its meeting observed that there were several UTPs who were languishing in jail despite grant of bail as they could not furnish surety bonds.

The committee, set up on Supreme Court's direction for identifying measures to decongest jails, was of the opinion that bail orders of such prisoners should be modified by a common judicial order as all of them cannot approach court in the prevalent situation.

It had suggested that the bail orders of such prisoners be modified to do away with the condition of furnishing a surety bond and instead they be released on their personal bond, subject to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrive at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, June 27, 2019. These aircraft are deployed to Qatar for the first time in order to defend American forces and interests in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Nichelle Anderson)

American F-22 Stealth Fighter Jets Intercept Russian Aircraft Near Alaska

U.S. F-22 stealth fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian patrol planes near Alaska on Wednesday night, according to a top military official.

Air Force Gen. Terrence OShaughnessy, the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), confirmed the development to Fox News on Thursday morning.

F-22 fighters, supported by KC-135 Stratotanker and E-3 AWACS aircraft from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Russian IL-38 aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on April 8th, 2020, NORAD wrote on Twitter.

The two Russian planes were intercepted over the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian Islands, the military airspace command agency also confirmed. The IL-38 aircraft is a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft that is used to detect submarines.

F-22 fighters, supported by KC-135 Stratotanker and E-3 AWACS aircraft from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Russian IL-38 aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on April 8th, 2020.  North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) April 9, 2020

They didnt enter the United States or Canadian airspace, NORAD said.

Our crews are ready, OShaughnessy said, adding that the Russian aircraft traveled within 50 miles of the Alaskan coast. We are always ready to defend our great country.

OShaughnessy was asked during the Fox News interview about why Moscow would fly planes so close to American airspace during the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus pandemic.

COVID-19 or not, NORAD continues actively watching for threats and defending the homelands 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year., said General Terrence J. OShaughnessy, the NORAD Commander.  North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) April 9, 2020

The Russians wanted to see if we are able to react, OShaughnessy told the network. In a Twitter post, he added: COVID-19 or not, NORAD continues actively watching for threats and defending the homelands 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.,

Russian aircraft flew around Alaska several weeks ago, triggering a similar response from the United States.

This is the latest of several occasions in the past month in which we have intercepted Russian aircraft operating near the approaches to our nations. We continue to execute our no-fail homeland defense missions with the same capability and capacity we always bring to the fight, OShaughnessy said in a statement.
President Akufo-Addo will later tonight [Thursday, April 9] address the country with new measures taken by the government to address the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The address is scheduled for 10:30pm.

This will be the presidents sixth address to the nation since the first Coronavirus case in Ghana.

His address is largely anticipated as he indicated in his fifth address last Sunday that he would announce the governments decision on whether or not to extend the 2-week partial lockdown imposed on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area including Tema and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area.

In that address, Akufo-Addo said the next step of the country in terms of its fight against COVID-19 will be determined by the outcome of the tests on over 15,000 samples taken from contacts who have been traced to other COVID-19 patients.

---citinewsroom
Alarming data shows how African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus with figures revealing they are twice as likely to die from it.

The disturbing trend has sparked an increasing outcry in the cities where black residents have been particularity hard-hit including New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago and Milwaukee. In states like Louisiana up to 70 percent of the victims were people of color.

Of the victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials  nearly 3,300 of the nation's 13,000 deaths as of Wednesday  about 42 per cent were black. African Americans account for roughly 21 per cent of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis.

'Everywhere we look, the coronavirus is devastating our communities,' said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.

Of the victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials  nearly 3,300 of the nations 13,000 deaths thus far  about 42% were black. African Americans account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis

The scattered release of data comes as the Centers for Disease Protection and Control is under increasing pressure to be more transparent about the toll of the virus on communities of color

Louisiana tracked demographic data in 512 deaths and found 70 per cent of victims were black, despite African Americans comprising just 32 per cent of the state's population.

In Michigan, more than half of the deaths where race data was collected were black residents; the state's population is 14% black.

Illinois' population is 17% Hispanic and 14% black yet, as of Monday, 63% of its caseload of more than 9,000 COVID cases with racial data recorded were nonwhite residents, and at least 40% of the state's 307 victims were black.

ZIP code data in New York City released last week showed that black, brown and immigrant communities are disproportionately represented among the diagnosed virus cases and deaths.

On Wednesday, the city's Department of Health released racial data showing 27.5% of the victims whose race is known are black, although blacks are only about 22% of the population.

'It's sick. It's troubling. It's wrong,' Mayor Bill de Blasio said, 'and we are going to fight back with everything we've got.'

Milwaukee community organizer Sylvester Jackson, who was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, lives on the city's predominantly black north side, home to a concentration of cases. 'It is unbelievable that people on one side of this city are dying like this,' he said.

New York state deaths, excluding NYC Ethnicity Percentage of deaths Percentage of population Hispanic

14% 11% Black 18% 9% White 62% 75% Asian 4% 4%

New York City deaths (63% reporting) Ethnicity Percentage of deaths Percentage of population Hispanic 34% 29% Black 28% 22% White 27% 32% Asian 7% 14%

HOW WAS THE DATA GATHERED? For its analysis, the AP made requests of COVID-19 racial breakdowns in states, cities and counties nationwide, ultimately gathering data from eight states, six major U.S. cities, including New York City and the District of Columbia, and six of Florida's largest counties. The data collected ranges from New York to Illinois to Alabama to San Diego, and covers an area that represents 82 million Americans, nearly 43% of whom are nonwhite. Other minority groups' cases and deaths are fairly in line with their demographics, although those among Hispanic individuals in some hot spots are still high. The data came mostly from large, racially diverse cities and states, but even in states where nonwhite populations are large, the impact of COVID-19 was outsized, particularly on the black community. The effect was so large that even if the 1,200 death cases that the AP excluded from its analysis because they were recorded as 'race unknown' turned out to be white patients, blacks still would be overrepresented in the share of cases  and even more so in the share of deaths. Advertisement

A history of systemic racism and inequity in access to health care and economic opportunity has made many African Americans far more vulnerable to the virus.

Black adults suffer from higher rates of obesity, diabetes and asthma, which make them more susceptible, and also are more likely to be uninsured.

They also often report that medical professionals take their ailments less seriously when they seek treatment.

African Americans are also over represented among workers like nurse aides, grocery store clerks, emergency dispatchers and public transportation employees who cannot work from hone.

That forces them out into the general public at a time when others are under strict stay-at-home orders.

'All one has to do is stand on a platform and you'll see that the trains are filled with black and brown and low-income people going into communities to service those who are able to telecommute,' said Eric Adams, president of New York City's Brooklyn borough.

Relying on the handful of state and local governments that have released victims' race the data was taken from more than 4,450 deaths and 52,000 COVID-19 cases from across the country.

'The rate at which black people are dying, compared to whites, is really just astounding,' said Courtney Cogburn, an associate professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. 'There are patterns at this intersection of race and socioeconomic status that make it very clear this is just not a story about poverty.'

President Donald Trump and the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, acknowledged the higher death rate among African Americans during Tuesday's White House briefing.

The president called it a 'tremendous challenge,' and suggested that federal health officials could release national racial and ethnic COVID-19 data within days.

As the coronavirus tightens its grip across the country, it is cutting a particularly devastating swath through an already vulnerable population  black Americans

Erica Harris, right, and her daughter Jordan, wear their protective masks as they walk back home after getting a lunch and homework from the child's school on Chicago's Southside

FDNY EMT Robert Kelly and his partner helping a patient suffering from Coronavirus

The scattered release of data comes as the Centers for Disease Protection and Control is under increasing pressure to be more transparent about the toll of the virus on communities of color.

The agency has not publicly reported racial or ethnic demographic data for COVID-19 tests performed across the country, though its own standardized form required for reporting COVID-19 tests and cases includes a section for indicating the race or ethnicity of those tested.

On Wednesday, the CDC did release racial data for March hospitalizations in 14 states that showed a third of patients were black.

Of the entities that released racial data to the AP, much of it remained sorely lacking. Overall, more than a third of the caseload records did not include race and, in some places, such as Virginia and parts of Florida, that number was more than a half.

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the AP it would be 'indefensible' if the federal government was concealing any testing and treatment data.

The committee, along with hundreds of medical professionals, sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday urging him to ensure his agency will 'collect, monitor, and disseminate racial data' for the coronavirus.

Each loss leaves a ripple, forever altering families and communities.

The pastor of a black church in Baton Rouge was one of Louisiana's first confirmed coronavirus deaths, followed days later by the loss of a Shreveport clergyman known for his street ministries.

The virus claimed one of the state's most revered musicians, Ellis Marsalis, along with a popular New Orleans DJ who was a leading figure in the city's bounce music scene.

In Detroit, the deaths include Gloria Smith, a fixture at the city's African World Festival, who died within a week of her husband, and educator and playwright Brenda Perryman.

Marsha Battle Philpot, a writer and cultural historian known as Marsha Music, said a Facebook memorial page is flooded daily with stories of loss among black people in Detroit.

'I think this is going to be a collective loss that is going to reverberate through generations,' she said.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Prayagraj police have lodged an FIR against a professor of Allahabad University (AU) for concealing that he had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month.

The professor was quarantined along with his family by the district administration late on Wednesday night.

Prof Mohammad Shahid of the department of political science returned from Delhi on March 13 after attending the congregation but did not informed the administration about it.

Police action against the professor followed a tip-off. In a late night swoop, the cops raided the house of Prof Shahid and grilled him about his Jamaat connection and his participation in the congregation. Then the professor and his family were taken to Mehboob guest house for isolation in Kareli area of the city.

The FIR has been registered against the professor under the Epidemic Act in Shivkuti police station.

According to sources, after returning from the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, Prof Shahid had also performed examination duty at the university on March 17 and 18.

Allahabad University registrar Dr NK Shukla said the university administration may also initiate administrative action under the AU Act against Prof Shahid for not following the health protocol after returning from Delhi and putting the life of scores of students, teachers and staff at risk. Prof Shahids elder brother is a professor of commerce in the same university.

As per sources, the professor many be denied further promotion in his profession for violating norms crucial for the well-being of the public.

According to Prayagraj SP City Brijesh Srivastava, the professor did the examination duty on the campus involving 144 examinees. Since then, he had been in contact with professors of many other departments and staff of the department of political science till the announcement of the nationwide lockdown.

The SP claimed that a drive was launched to round up his contacts so that they could also be quarantined. He added that earlier also the professor was asked about his participation in the congregation but he denied it.
At a time when the US Navy is grappling with a surge in Covid-19 cases, Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh stressed that it is vital to ensure that operational assets such as warships and submarines remain free of the virus and the navy is combat ready at all times.

In a 15-minute video message to naval personnel, Singh said, It is a very difficult task because physical distancing on board warships, especially submarines, is a great challenge We have to keep our guard up and retain our sights on being combat ready.

Scores of sailors on board aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the disease, and its commanding officer, Captain Brett Crozier, was fired after the leak of a scathing letter he wrote to the navys leadership about the unfolding health crisis on his warship. Acting secretary of the US Navy Thomas Modly resigned earlier this week after delivering a controversial speech to the Theodore Roosevelt crew in which he was critical of Crozier.

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has cut short a deployment and is returning to its home port in Toulon with around 40 sailors showing Covid-19 symptoms.

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the world, Singh told his men that while they should hope for the best, the navy should plan for the worst.

We need to be ready for the worst-case scenario and to my mind, it will be a long battle, the navy chief said.

He said the deadly virus posed a real, immediate and unprecedented danger and the navy should stay prepared for challenging times ahead.

Each one of us has put our shoulder to the wheel in these very difficult times. But the challenge will only intensify in the days and weeks ahead. And it will require us to further augment our preparedness. It can no longer be business as usual and we will have to take concrete measures so that we are prepared to tackle the full onslaught of this deadly virus, Singh said.

The navy chief said it is imperative to redouble efforts to ensure that navy personnel and their families stay safe and healthy. We are the last bastion in this fight. And if we who are supposed to be the care givers become care seekers, it will lead to a big problem, Singh said.

The navy chief said all commands of the navy have started offering battlefield nursing assistant training to non-medical personnel and the initiative would help if casualties increased .

Singh said even if the countrywide lockdown were to lifted, movement of naval personnel would be permitted only in a deliberate and coordinated fashion. Even if it is delayed, its fine. But we wont do anything a rush, he said. Movement of military personnel is currently on hold to prevent the spread of infection.

He said the navy is currently focused on work related to national security, health services and essential services. Other tasks that involved the gathering of people have stopped. I know a lot of you are separated from your loved ones and families and many have parents in villages where they may need care and help. I know you are facing many difficulties. But I can say with satisfaction that the naval community has risen to the occasion effectively, Singh said, adding that navy would have to intensify its efforts if the situation worsened.

He said the lockdown should enable naval personnel to unlock their true potential.

The armed forces have taken a raft of preventive measures to stop the spread of the infection within their ranks. These include cancellation of all non-essential training, conferences and travel; a freeze on postings and foreign assignments; avoiding any assembly that involves more than 50 personnel; postponing of all courses for officers; and encouraging personnel to work from home wherever possible.

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Its like something out of a movie has been an oft-repeated refrain in the weeks and months since the COVID-19 outbreak upturned the lives of the hundreds of millions in its wake. Perhaps nothing throws that sentiment into sharper relief than real-time images of the worlds most trafficked localesmain thoroughfares, train stations, park playgrounds, urban squares, and, of course, restaurants, offices, concert venues, and places of worship. There is little the coronavirus has not closed, canceled, indefinitely postponed, or moved online, and nowhere is that more evident than in the shared spaces that define communities. Yet as visually striking as these images of empty public places are, it is on the front lineswhere everyday heroes show up day after day in hospitals, post offices, fire stations, restaurant kitchens, grocery stores, and farmsthat the impact of this disease is most emotionally palpable.

How this pandemic will change our lives is far from clear. What is almost certain, though, is that the ways we gather will never be quite the same. Snapped around the worldfrom a desolate central shopping street in Cairo to Romes Piazza Navona, where even the pigeons appear to have fledthese images offer a stark, cinematic view of the impact of the coronavirus on our landmarks as well as our lives.

Photo: Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos

India On Lockdown Due To Coronavirus Pandemic Photo: Himanshu Bhatt/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Italy Continues Its Coronavirus Lockdown As The Death Toll Rises Further Photo: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images

Major Cities In The U.S. Adjust To Restrictive Coronavirus Measures Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images

Coronavirus Emergency In Egypt Photo: Ziad Ahmed/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Coronavirus Outbreak In Mexico Photo: Medios y Media/Getty Images

Aerial Views of Los Angeles During COVID-19 Pandemic Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

DEB2020005G0319_1472 Photo:  Bieke Depoorter / Magnum Photos

KENYA-HEALTH-VIRUS Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty Images

Sunset in Rio de Janeiro Amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) Pandemic Photo: Bruna Prado/Getty Images

Tokyo Nightlife and Retail Brace For State Of Emergency Photo: Christopher Jue/Getty Images

Photo: Zied Ben Romdhane / Magnum

Photo research by Lizzie Soufleris.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest




Glencore Agriculture offers US$325 million for stake in Argentine soy crushing plant Renova



The commodities trader is looking to purchase the remaining minority stake in the soy crusher held currently by Vicentin, a bankrupt family-owned company, sources told Reuters.

Glencore Agriculture, which is based on Rotterdam, Netherlands, is set to renew its initial offer made in March, but COVID-19 may affect the deal.

Both Glencore and Vicentin have declined to comment.

Renova is one of the world's top soy crushing facilities, with a 20,000 tonnes daily crushing capacity.

Soy is one of Argentina's key export dollars, but the industry is badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as the government negotiates with municipal authorities to allow free movement of transport through their municipal jurisdictions during imposed movement lockdowns.

Glencore currently owns 66.7% of Renova, with the remaining held by Vicentin.

Sources reporting to Reuters said Vicentin stopped crushing soy after defaulting on debt but Glencore continues to pay workers at Renova eyeing a possible takeover of the company.

Vicentin became bankrupt after undergoing an expansion fueled by credit. Political issues in Argentina related to the election in 2019 led to a crash in the market, with international banks pulling out of the country. This resulted in added pressure onto Vicentin.

Vicentin currently has commercial debt of US$300 million and has loans from local and international banks amounting to US$1 billion. The company will speak to banks after completing restructuring talks with farmers.

- Reuters
Myanmar & COVID-19 EU Pledges Support for Women Garment Factory Workers in Myanmar

Female factory workers in the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone are seen on April 2, 2020. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

The European Union will provide 5 million euros (7.9 billion kyats) as an emergency fund to support female workers in Myanmars garment sector who are impacted by COVID-19, starting next month.

The emergency fund, named the Myan Ku Fund, meaning quick assistance in Burmese, will provide direct cash transfers to 100,000 or more female workers. The fund will transfer the deposits into the workers mobile accounts, as the transfer will be made directly with Wave Money, according to EU Ambassador to Myanmar Kristian Schmidt.

The support will begin on May 1 and last three months, with amounts ranging from 75,000 to 125,000 kyats (US$52.65-87.75). The fund will support garment workers employed in locally owned, joint venture and foreign-owned factories.

The EU has been the largest trading partner for Myanmars garment sector since its markets opened to Myanmar in 2011. The sector is regarded as an immense success with Myanmar selling 70 percent of its garment exports to Europe.

But as of the end of March, according to the EU ambassador, over 25,000 workers from more than 40 factories have been laid off as Myanmars formerly booming garment industry grapples with the devastating economic impact of COVID-19. According to estimates provided by the EU, half of the 700,000 garment workers in the country, most of whom are female, are at great risk of either being suspended without pay or losing their jobs permanently.

Through consultation with trade unions and local civil society organizations, the EU is aiming to deliver the majority of its support to workers who lost their jobs or whose contracts were illegally terminated. The EU is also supporting workers at factories of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose employers want to retain them.

Eighty percent of the fund will go to women who have lost their jobs or been evicted from the hostels where they are staying. They are potentially out in the street and that is something we want to avoid, said Schmidt. He said some 80,000 workers will be given 75,000 kyats per month for three months.

The Myan Ku fund will also allocate 125,000 kyats per month to workers who were illegally fired by companies that shut down or left the country and have not been paying their workers. The fund has prepared to support up to 8,000 women in this category.

The fund will also help pay the salaries of female workers at companies and factories that want to retain them through the pandemic, but currently dont have work for them. This support will go to about 5,000 workers. The EU will work to match the salaries they are currently paid.

The EU has partnered with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Nexus Response for Myanmar, Myanmar labor unions, SMART Textile & Garments and the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association. Together, the groups have initiated the emergency fund program and will provide support to workers without discrimination, said the EU ambassador, because the coronavirus does not discriminate against anyone either.

Factory worker Ma Thandar Oo was among nearly a thousand workers who were laid off in March due to the closure of her factory in Yangon Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone.

She said she was curious whether they will be eligible for the Myan Ku Fund.

We want the support if they can provide it, she said. We returned to our homes as we could not pay the hostel fee, but we are hopeless because we heard that the support will not come if we have farms, a sweatshop or a boat. We have a boat, bought with loan money. But we are hopeless now.

This Myan Ku emergency cash fund will be a critical lifeline to these vulnerable workers and their families as they face the extremely challenging months ahead, said Daw Khine Khine Nwe, the secretary general of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association.

She added that some 58,000 workers across Myanmar are currently jobless since many factories have closed.

Turnover of labor in the garment sector is normally between 10 and 25 percent. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, with a shortage of raw materials and companies unable to continue operations, there is a very high chance of workers losing their jobs, according to Daw Khine Khine Nwe.

We expect to see more [workers laid off] this April, she added.

You may also like these stories:

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 8, 2020

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 7, 2020

Latest COVID-19 Developments in Myanmar: April 6, 2020
From the beginning, the World Health Organization has been relaying Chinese Communist Party propaganda about COVID-19. Trump has rightly pointed to the way WHO's statements invariably echo the Chinese party line. With America threatening to pull WHO funds, the WHO's director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has accused Trump of politicizing the WHO and risking mass death. As an added sop to China, he is also accusing Taiwan of racism.

Ghebreyesus's malfeasance goes back to early January, after China had already been covering up COVID-19 for at least a month. The WHO had consistently parroted Chinese propaganda from that time forward. This timeline is helpful in explaining the China-WHO nexus.

On Tuesday, Ghebreyesus tried to defend himself by retweeting a January 30 statement from the WHO, saying, "I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of #2019nCoV."

However, reading the statement in the context of the entire tweet thread (which summarizes a press conference), one sees that Ghebreyesus was still carrying water for China. He praised China for its efforts "to protect their own people and the people of the world" and lauded China's speed in dealing with the virus and its "commitment to transparency and supporting other countries."

The WHO is also trying to protect China from Taiwan's longstanding assertion that it is the legitimate government of the Chinese nation. When an interviewer from RTHK, a Hong Kong news outlet, spoke to Bruce Aylward, a physician and senior adviser to Ghebreyesus, she asked Aylward whether Taiwan would be admitted to the WHO. Aylward ran away rather than answer the question:

On Wednesday, Ghebreyesus launched a direct attack at Taiwan, accusing it of making racist statements about Africa and COVID-19:

"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan," he said. "And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care."

The Chinese couldn't ask for more.

But what accounts for Ghebreyesus's pro-Chinese bias? After all, America, not China, is the WHO's single largest financial supporter.

It turns out that while America supports the entity, China buys off the individuals, especially fellow Marxists like Ghebreyesus:

China worked "tirelessly behind the scenes" in lobbing [sic] to ensure the election of Tedros, who previously served in the government of the Marxist and violently repressive Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. This gruesome movement was responsible for gross human right abuses, such as torture, repression, and electoral fraud. During his tenure as health minister, Tedros was most known to have covered up three cholera outbreaks. So why did China push so hard for Tedros? The ex-revolutionary's tenure is merely part of a broader CCP strategy to take over international organizations to "reshape the international system to accommodate its political and economic interestsIn service of this strategy, [China] has consistently sought to trade financial incentives for votes, offering bribes and cancelling debt for countries that support them."

Trump and the Republicans, thankfully, are pushing back. On Tuesday, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) acted:

Today, I introduced legislation calling on Congress to withhold federal funds from the @WHO until @DrTedros resigns.



America is the WHOs largest contributor. Its not right that Americans' hard-earned taxpayer dollars are used to propagate the CCPs lies. pic.twitter.com/WAaDSXaQDB  Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (@GReschenthaler) April 7, 2020

Also on Tuesday, Trump announced that his administration will hold any money normally payable to WHO:

TRUMP: Were going to put a hold on money spent to the @WHO.



pic.twitter.com/cZLzovkkwx  Benny (@bennyjohnson) April 7, 2020

When you're a Marxist like Ghebreyesus, money talks. Faced with losing the organization's biggest economic supporter, Ghebreyesus, who has politicized the virus since the first day, issued Trump a stern warning:

At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please work across all party lines. Please dont politicize this virus. https://t.co/GXShR4XyIN  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 8, 2020

If Trump doesn't lay off, Ghebreyesus not so subtly implied, there will be mass death: "If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it." Or put another way, give me your money, or people will die, and I'll make sure to blame you.

Ghebreyesus is about to learn that you don't talk tough to Trump unless you want a world of hurt rained down upon you. The likelihood of Trump allowing the Marxist head of a U.N.-affiliated Chinese propaganda organization to talk smack to him is pretty darn small. It remains to be seen, too, how Taiwan handles Ghebreyesus's decision to carry water for China's efforts to marginalize it.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES OR ANY JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF OFFERS TO SELL ANY SECURITIES.

Montrouge 9 April 2020

Credit Agricole S.A. Announces Maximum Tender Amount and Results of its Tender Offer for EUR Perpetual Notes

____________________





On 2 April 2020, Credit Agricole S.A. announced the launch of an offer to purchase its EUR CMS Floater Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes set forth in the table below (the "Notes") (the "Offer") up to an amount equal to EUR300 million less the euro equivalent of the aggregate principal amount accepted for purchase pursuant to a separate offer to purchase any and all of its currently outstanding USD 6.637% Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes (the "USD Notes") (the "USD Tender Offer") made pursuant to the terms of an offer to purchase dated 2 April 2020 (the "Maximum Tender Amount"). The Offer was made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Tender Offer Memorandum dated 2 April 2020 relating to the Offer (the "Tender Offer Memorandum"). Capitalized terms used in this announcement but not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Tender Offer Memorandum.

Maximum Tender Amount of the Offer

Credit Agricole S.A. announced today the results of the USD Tender Offer, which expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time/11:00 p.m., Central European Summer time, on 8 April 2020. As disclosed in the announcement, USD25,914,000 of aggregate principal amount of the USD Notes was validly tendered.

On the basis of the results of the USD Tender Offer and the applicable EUR/USD exchange rate obtained as described in the Tender Offer Memorandum, the Maximum Tender Amount will be EUR276,164,459.16.

Results of the Offer

The Offer expired at 4:00 p.m., Central European Summer time, on 8 April 2020 (the "Expiration Date"). The aggregate principal amount of Notes that were validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Date is EUR67,630,000.

Because the aggregate principal amount of the Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Date does not exceed the Maximum Tender Amount, Credit Agricole S.A. will accept for purchase all Notes validly tendered. No Notes tendered after the Expiration Date will be accepted pursuant to the Offer.

The table below sets forth information with respect to the aggregate principal amount of the Notes that were validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Date.

Title of Notes CUSIP / ISIN No. Principal Amount Tendered Principal Amount Accepted Offer Price (1) Principal Amount Outstanding after the Offer EUR CMS Floater Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes ISIN :

FR0010161026



EUR67,630,000



EUR67,630,000



EUR780.00



EUR183,146,000

(1) Per EUR1,000 in principal amount of the Notes purchased pursuant to the Offer.

Payment of the aggregate consideration for the Notes accepted for purchase is expected to be made on 14 April 2020, on which date Credit Agricole S.A. will deposit with CACEIS Corporate Trust S.A., as Tender Agent (for tendering holders that hold their Notes through Euroclear, Clearstream or Euroclear France), the amount of cash necessary to pay the Offer Price plus any Accrued Interest in respect of the Notes accepted for purchase in the Offer.

For further details about the terms and conditions of the Offer, please refer to the Tender Offer Memorandum.

Further Information

Copies of the Tender Offer Memorandum and other documentation may be obtained by contacting the Information Agent at the address and telephone number set forth below.

Questions and requests for assistance in connection with the Offer may be directed to:

The Sole Structuring Bank and Sole Dealer Manager for the Offer

Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank

12, place des Etats-Unis, CS 70052

92547 Montrouge Cedex

France

Attn: Liability Management

Tel: +44 207 214 5733

Email: liability.management@ca-cib.com

Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc.

Attn: Debt Capital Markets/Liability Management

1301 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10019

Collect: 212-261-7802

U.S. Toll Free: (866) 807-6030

Questions and requests for assistance in connection with the tenders of Notes including requests for a copy of the Tender Offer Memorandum may be directed to:

The Tender Agent and the Information Agent for the Offer

CACEIS Corporate Trust S.A.

1-3, Place Valhubert

75013 Paris

Attn: David PASQUALE

Tel: +33 (6) 37 41 17 79

Email: david.pasquale@caceis.com /

LD-F-CT-OST-MARCHE-PRIMAIR@caceis.com

Disclaimer

Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their Notes pursuant to the Offer, and if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender. Holders should consult their own tax, accounting, financial and legal advisors as they deem appropriate regarding the suitability of the tax, accounting, financial and legal consequences of participating or declining to participate in the Offer.

This announcement is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of offers to sell any securities.

This announcement is not an invitation to participate in the Offer. Such an invitation will only be extended by means of documents (the Tender Offer Memorandum) that will be provided only to those investors to whom such an invitation may be legally addressed. The distribution of this announcement in certain countries may be prohibited by law.

Offer Restrictions

United States. The Offer is not being made and will not be made directly or indirectly in or into, or by use of the mails of, or by any means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile transmission, telex, telephone, email and other forms of electronic transmission) of interstate or foreign commerce of, or any facility of a national securities exchange of, or to beneficial owners of the Notes who are located in the United States, or who are U.S. Holders (each a "U.S. Holder") as defined in Rule 800 under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and the Notes may not be tendered by any such use, means, instrumentality or facility from or within the United States, by persons located or resident in the United States or by U.S. Holders. Accordingly, this press release, copies of the Tender Offer Memorandum and any other documents or materials related to the Offer are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise transmitted, distributed or forwarded in or into the United States or to any such person. Any purported tender in response to the Offer resulting directly or indirectly from a violation of these restrictions will be invalid, and tenders made by a person located in the United States or any agent, fiduciary or other intermediary giving instructions from within the United States or any U.S. Holder will not be accepted.

Each holder of Notes participating in the Offer will represent that it is not a U.S. Holder, is not located in the United States and is not participating in the Offer from the United States. For the purposes of this and the above paragraph, "United States" has the meaning given to it in Regulation S under the Securities Act and includes the United States of America, its territories and possessions (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and the Northern Mariana Islands), any state of the United States of America and the District of Columbia.

United Kingdom. This announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum are only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The Notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such Notes will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or on the Tender Offer Memorandum or any of its contents.

European Economic Area and United Kingdom.In any European Economic Area ("EEA") Member State and in the United Kingdom (each, a "Relevant State"), this announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum are only addressed to and are only directed at qualified investors within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the "Prospectus Regulation"), in that Relevant State. Each person in a Relevant State who receives any communication in respect of the Offer contemplated in this announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum will be deemed to have represented, warranted and agreed to and with the Dealer Manager and Credit Agricole S.A. that it is a qualified investor within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation.

Italy.None of the Offer, this announcement, the Tender Offer Memorandum or any other documents or materials relating to the Offer have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to applicable Italian laws and regulations.

The Offer is being carried out in the Republic of Italy ("Italy") as an exempted offer pursuant to Article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998, as amended (the "Consolidated Financial Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of May 14, 1999, as amended.

Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes that are resident and/or located in Italy can tender the Notes for purchase through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Consolidated Financial Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of February 15, 2018, as amended, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of September 1, 1993, as amended) and in compliance with any other applicable laws and regulations and with any requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority. Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the Notes or the Offer.

Attachment
KAMPALA  Military has arrested thousands of people for violating virus lockdown and curfew orders marking the toughest law enforcement action on offenders.

Uganda entered 14-day lockdown to keep citizens in isolation and curb the spread of coronavirus, which threatens both the economy and human rights.

The army in the night set up hundreds of roadblocks, conducted inspections, and have arrested thousands and impounded Boda Bodas and cars of those who violated the curfew directive.

Security Forces continue to firmly but legally apprehend those breaking directives in the fight against COVID-19, army spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire said.

He said on Wednesday 8 Apri 2020 during curfew time, many were arrested and such operations will continue until total victory over the Pandemic is achieved.

It is a matter of life and death. Stay home and Stay safe. Together we can, Big. Karemire added.

The President on Wednesday night warned those taking measures put forward by government to halt spread lightly, by trying to beat the lockdown that he will act harshly.

We are not talking about convenience! So I get surprised when somebody complains  I have been inconvenienced, this and that! he said during a live address.

We are trying to stop mass deaths! Thats why we put the 33 measures. Its a matter of life and death, the president said.

In fact I am going to act harshly on those taking these measures lightly, he noted  warning security personnel especially the Local Defence Unit (LDUs) against misinterpreting his directives.

Security personnel should handle issues firmly but legally. Beating people is you giving our security forces a bad image! To the whole world. Youre weakening us. That beating which is illegal, pointless, what are you beating 4lfor? This is isolating us internationally and internally.

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Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A total of 1,973 people were Wednesday arrested and detained for violating the curfew, and 600 others for not respecting general health confinement orders, an official source told PANA here
A day after the UP government sealed off coronavirus hotspots in 15 districts of the state, the authorities on Friday stepped up vigil in the areas allowing only the doorstep delivery of essential services and ensuring that people stay at home.

Later in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to further divide the hotspots into sectors and appoint a magistrate for each of the area to keep tabs on the situation, an official spokesperson said.

All business and other establishments will remain closed in the hotspots and the doorstep delivery of essential commodities will be strengthened, the spokesman said.

The state government had decided to seal off the areas from where six or more coronavirus cases have been detected till April 15 morning.

The identified hotspots include 22 clusters in Agra, 13 in Ghaziabad, 12 each in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Kanpur, seven in Meerut and four each in Varanasi, Sahanaranpur and Maharajganj.

There are three hotspots in Shamli, Bulandshahr, Basti and Firozabad, and one each in Bareilly and Sitapur. State capital Lucknow has eight major and four minor coronavirus clusters.

Reviewing the situation, the chief minister also directed that medical teams be sent to every house in the hotspots for a detailed medical examination.

He said an extensive sanitation exercise should be carried out in the areas.

The chief minister has asked for an audit of existing ventilators in the government hospitals and medical colleges so as to ensure that all are in working condition.

He also asked for a wide publicity of the Arogya Setu application to alert people about coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, in state capital Lucknow, where 12 hotspots have been sealed, police vigil and barricading were in place to completely check the movement of people.

All hotspots in the city are already barricaded and are being sealed completely till the morning of April 15. All establishments will be closed in these hotspots and the media's entry will be restricted there," Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said.

Since morning police teams are carrying out patrolling in these localities to ensure nobody ventures out of their homes and a complete lockdown is enforced properly, he said.

During the period, only basic minimum supply will be maintained in these localities. Only select cleaning staff will be allowed to enter these areas and fire brigade vehicles will be used to sanitise these areas, he said.

In Bareilly, where a hotspot has been identified, essential commodities were delivered on the doorsteps.

ADM (City) Mahendra Kumar Singh said the area has been completely sealed off.

'Even those who tried to come out of their houses were made to go in. Some aged and ill who needed medical aid were provided help though the 108 ambulance service," the ADM said.

In Sitapur, Khairabad remained under a complete lockdown after it was identified as a coronavirus hotspot.

The Khairabad area is under surveillance of drone cameras, CCTV cameras, district police chief L R Kumar said.

Those tested positive for the infection have been admitted to a hospital, Kumar said, adding police have been deployed to ensure that everyone stays at home.

In Kanpur's 12 hotspots, no movement was allowed with a curfew-like situation since midnight.

All food items, medicines, and household necessities were delivered to people.

Intensive patrolling was witnessed and some areas were sanitised.

Announcements are being made continuously to create awareness among the people about the disease and ensuring everyone of all necessary help by the administration, a senior official said.

Kanpur has reported 10 coronavirus positive cases so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Here's why the WHO is coming under attack. The WHO has not pushed China on early missteps When cases of a mysterious viral pneumonia first appeared in Wuhan in December, Chinese health officials silenced whistleblowers and repeatedly played down the severity of the outbreak. Even as late as mid-January, as the virus spread beyond China's borders, Chinese officials described it as "preventable and controllable" and said there was no evidence it could be transmitted between humans on a broad scale. The WHO endorsed the government's claims, saying in mid-January, for example, that human-to-human transmission had not been proven.

Critics say the organisation's repeated deference to Beijing exacerbated the spread of the disease. A group of international experts was not allowed to visit Wuhan until mid-February. "They could have been more forceful, especially in the initial stages in the crisis when there was a cover-up and there was inaction," said Yanzhong Huang, a global health expert specialising in China at Seton Hall University. Chinese health officials in protective suits process Wuhan travellers going into 14-day quarantine on arrival in Beijing on Wednesday. Credit:Getty Images Huang noted that during the SARS epidemic in 2002 and 2003, which killed less than 800 people worldwide, the WHO pushed the Chinese government to be more transparent by publicly criticising it for trying to conceal the outbreak.

At one point during the SARS epidemic, officials at hospitals in Beijing forced SARS patients into ambulances and drove them around to avoid their being seen by a visiting delegation of WHO experts, according to reports at the time. Loading WHO officials were slow to declare a public health emergency, critics say Even as the virus spread to more than half a dozen countries and forced China to place parts of Hubei province under lockdown in late January, the WHO was reluctant to declare it a global health emergency. WHO officials said at the time that a committee that discussed the epidemic was divided on whether to call it an emergency but concluded that it was too early. One official added that they weighed the impact such a declaration might have on the people of China.

After the United States announced a ban on most foreign citizens who had recently visited China, the WHO again seemed to show deference to Chinese officials, saying that travel restrictions were unnecessary. The group officially called the spread of the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11. Some experts argue that the institution's delay in making such declarations deprived other countries of valuable time to prepare hospitals for an influx of patients. "It reinforced the reluctance to take early strong measures before the catastrophe had actually landed on other shores," said Francois Godement, senior adviser for Asia at Institut Montaigne, a non-profit group in Paris. "The WHO's tardiness or reluctance to call out the problem in full helped those who wanted to delay difficult decisions." The WHO defended its actions, saying on Wednesday that it had "alerted member states to the significant risks and consequences of COVID-19 and provided them with a continuous flow of information" ever since Chinese officials first reported the outbreak on December 31.

Guterres said, "It is possible that the same facts have had different readings by different entities. "Once we have finally turned the page on this epidemic, there must be a time to look back fully to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the globe and how all those involved reacted to the crisis." President Donald Trump said the WHO is "very China-centric". Credit:AP China's influence at the WHO is growing Chinese President Xi Jinping has made it a priority to strengthen Beijing's clout at international institutions, including the WHO, seeing the US-dominated global order as an impediment to his country's rise as a superpower.

China contributes only a small fraction of the WHO's $US6 billion ($9.6 billion) budget, while the United States is one of its main benefactors. But in recent years, Beijing has worked in other ways to expand its influence at the organisation. It has lobbied the WHO to promote traditional Chinese medicine, which Xi has worked to harness as a source of national pride and deployed as a soft-power tool in developing countries, despite scepticism from some scientists about its effectiveness. Last year, the WHO offered an endorsement of traditional Chinese medicine, including it in its influential medical compendium. The move was roundly criticised by animal welfare activists, who argued that it could contribute to a surge in illegal trafficking of wildlife whose parts are used in Chinese remedies. Sign up to our Coronavirus Update newsletter Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments at a glance, the numbers you need to know and what our readers are saying. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here. China has sought to promote traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of symptoms of the coronavirus both at home and abroad. Last month, the WHO was criticised after it removed a warning against taking traditional herbal remedies to treat the coronavirus from its websites in mainland China. China's role at the WHO will probably continue to grow in the coming years, especially if Western governments retreat from the organisation, as Trump has threatened.
A reporter asks whether coronavirus has shown that we can no longer afford to put profit before people.

From the slums of Kabul to the suburbs of Bristol, there is scarcely a place the COVID-19 pandemic has not touched.

But increasingly, it is not public health issues that governments and non-governmental organisations are worried about  it is the economic impact.

International charity Oxfam has released a report that presents a bleak assessment: half-a-billion people could be pushed into poverty in developing countries unless urgent action is taken to bail them out.

While Oxfams predictions are important, is there an opportunity here for real radical change  and not just for developing countries but for developed ones as well?

Is it fair that workers who do not have access to healthcare are forced to go to work when they are ill, potentially infecting others? Is it fair that your local coffee shop is forced to close because of coronavirus, leaving not only the owner but the staff without an income?

Max Lawson is an economist who works for Oxfam. As he spoke to me on the phone from Nairobi, Kenya, I asked him whether there was potential for radical change. I think this current crisis is not only showing that it is possible, but that it is happening already. We have had 40 years of a lack of global solidarity where the individuals were held responsible for their economic situation. But now governments are stepping in to help individuals as well as corporate business, he said.

It would seem these ideas are gaining ground. British newspaper The Financial Times, not exactly a bastion of radical socialism, recently featured an editorial arguing the benefits of a Universal Basic Income (UBI).

Spain has gone one step further. Its economy minister says it is looking at introducing UBI as soon as possible in light of the coronavirus crisis. The United Kingdom has also introduced payments to those who have suffered as a result, and the US government has introduced a $2 trillion stimulus package.

In the financial crisis of 2008, governments did not bail out individuals. Governments bailed out the banks and corporations and introduced austerity measures that affected individuals in developed economies.

Generally speaking, that has been the pattern. But this crisis has brought about different thinking: to give things like debt relief, cash payments, and tax breaks to individuals to power economies to recover at a quicker rate, rather than bailing out corporations and making the 1 percent richer.

It is a big ask, said Lawson. There was some move toward the individuals in 2008 after the financial crisis. But elites arent very good at learning lessons, but are at looking after themselves, he said.

And therein lies the rub. Are the worlds elites ready to embrace the idea that the threats we face are the threats they face?

Coronavirus does not distinguish between rich or poor, captain of industry or factory floor worker. The answer to this crisis is not just in money for individuals. But things that in the past were considered socialism, now seem sensible.

When coronavirus is defeated, will the ideas it has spawned for individuals  things like UBI, universal healthcare, debt relief, tax breaks  die with it or will it have shown the world that we are all so interconnected that we can no longer afford to put profits before people?
People are being warned to be vigilant when working from home.

Minister for Communications Richard Bruton has issued guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre on working from home securely in order to prevent hacking and fraud.
The Member of Parliament for Manhyia North Collins Owusu Amankwah has disclosed that an individual who has tested positive for COVID 19 is in hiding in the Tafo Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

According to the vice-Chair on the Interior and Defense Committee of parliament, the patient absconded from an isolation centre in the country.

The minister made the frightening revelations in an interview on Kumasi-based Nhyira FM Thursday.

The MP, however, refused to disclose the exact isolation centre the patient was being kept.

He argued, even in Senegal someone strangled a nurse and run away with two other patients on isolation.

He however assured that medical and security personnel overseeing isolation and quarantine centres are on high alert continuously monitoring patients and suspected cases and are ready to do quick follow-ups if the numbers run short.

Out of the three hundred and thirteen (313) cases of COVID 19 recorded in the country, the case count in the Ashanti region stands at twenty-five (25)

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh
By Donald Nuechterlein

This may be a dangerous time for U.S. foreign policy. Other powers sense an opportunity to take advantage of this countrys political divisions and the impact of Covid-19 on its health care system. How would we respond to aggressive moves by Americas adversaries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East?

President Trumps critics assert this danger started when he entered the White House because his nationalist policies alienated allies and friends and made the world less safe. They cite his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement and the Trans-Pacific trade pact as evidence.

But critics overlook Barack Obamas policies, in the Middle East which emboldened governments in Iran, Russia, and Syria to expand their influence in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. In Europe, they argue, Obamas policies encouraged Vladimir Putin to test NATO with invasions into Ukraine. Like Trump but with less bluster, Obama pressed NATO allies to take more responsibility for defending Europe against Russian pressure; But Obamas reluctance to protect Syrian refugees resulted in a massive flow of refugee into Europe

History suggests that great powers that show signs of decline become the prey of competing powers that expect to expand their own influence.

Our Civil War is a good sample. America was tearing itself apart politically in 1861 when South Carolina fired on the federal arsenal at Charleston Harbor and unleashed a war that took over 600,000 combat deaths in four years. The British government, hoping to capitalize on the civil war by securing its thriving cotton trade with the Confederacy, came close in 1862 to granting the South diplomatic recognition as a sovereign country. That decision was thwarted when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. France also took advantage of Americas weakness in 1860s by invading Mexico and installing a French king to make the country a bridgehead for encroachment on U.S. territory.

In the 1930s, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sensed that isolationist pressures in the United States would prevent President Roosevelt from taking action to stop their aggressive moves in Europe and China. In the 1890s, a rising Prussia, bolstered by unification of the German states decided to challenge what it viewed as British and French decline to expand its role in Europe and Africa. When it decided to build a powerful navy to challenge Britains .dominance of the seas, the seeds of World War I were planted.

Strategic waterways in Asia, Europe and the Middle East are prime targets for U.S. adversaries. China swans to control traffic through the South China Sea that borders six countries; Russia seeks to expand its influence in the Baltic Sea that borders seven. Iran wants to control traffic in the Persian Gulf, where a major share of world oil is shipped. .

The U.S. is the only power today with the capability and willingness to protect international traffic in those vital waterways. If Washington falters, China, Russia, and Iran will conclude, as Germany and Japan did in the 1930s, that the U.S. is not prepared to confront them militarily in 2020. In that case, the international outlook will quickly change. Americas detachment instead of isolationism is the real danger now.

Here are three scenarios of trouble we should prepare for.

1. South China Sea. China claims most of this as territorial waters and has challenged transits by the U.S. Navy to reinforce international rights of transit. Recently China built bases on artificial islands to assert its sovereignty. What will be Washingtons response if China decides to challenge a commercial ship heading to Taiwan, insisting on inspecting its cargo? How would the U.S. react if China challenges a Japanese commercial ship?

2. The Baltic. In 1946, the Soviet Army carved out a strategic port in northern Germany, Kaliningrad, where Russia now bases its Baltic fleet. The USSR and now Russia have sought to extend Moscows power in the Baltic; but since 1949 the NATO alliance has restrained its ambition. How will Washington and European capitals respond if Russia now decides openly to challenge NATOs military presence in the Baltic?

3. The Persian Gulf is called a choke point because a major share of world oil exports transits that vital waterway. Iran historically has dominated the area, but the U.S. sent its fleet and air power to the region in 1979 after Iran declared the Islamic Revolutionary regime and threatened U.S. interests. In 2020, what will be Washingtons response if Irans navy detains a tanker destined for Japan or South Korea? Only the United States has the power to act militarily. Would it do so?

Donald Nuechterlein is a political scientist and author who lives near Charlottesville. E-mail him at nuechtd@cstone.net
Looking down over an all-but abandoned Swanston Street from his ninth-floor Nicholas Building studio, performance artist, director and writer Dario Vacirca laughs at the resemblance to the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later.

"Totally. It's one of those strange, inspirational things in a way as well though, riding through those streets to get to work."

Visual artist Dario Vacirca with his daughter Violetta, and jeweller Aimee Sutanto at the Nicholas Building. Credit:Paul Jeffers

He normally shares this eight by five-metre space dubbed Agency-Agency, overlooking St Paul's Cathedral, with three like minds. Now they mostly work from home and nip in for essentials.

Many creative industries are shuttered, and swingeing federal funding cuts have further exacerbated the dire situation.
New York, April 9 : Oil prices gained as market participants eagerly awaited a key meeting by the world's major oil producers on output cuts.

On Wednesday, the West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose US $1.46 to settle at $25.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery was up US $0.97 to close at $32.84 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, reported Xinhua news agency.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, are expected to hold a video conference on Thursday to discuss oil production cuts.

The group's failure to strike a deal on output cuts in Vienna last month had sent oil prices to a nosedive and sparked fears of a possible price war.

Wednesday's rally came after a noticeable dip in the previous session as investors grew concerned over global supply glut.

The US Energy Information Administration on Tuesday forecast that the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and increase of oil supply will keep global crude oil prices at multi-year low averages through the first half of 2020.
Ever since the outbreak of coronavirus, there have been growing fears about animals spreading the disease. Experts are still divided on whether or not animals can contract the virus; there are mixed reports about the topic too.

But rather than wait for concrete facts to take shape, there are people who, fearing the worst, are going to some strange and awkward lengths in order to protect their animals. Like this resident of Kallur Mandal in the Khammam district of Telangana wgi covered his goats' muzzles with masks in a bid to protect them from COVID-19.

"I own 20 goats and my family is entirely dependent on them as we don't own any land for farming. After I heard about coronavirus, I wear a mask whenever I step out," A. Venkateshwar Rao told ANI.

ANI

After Venkateshwara heard about a tiger testing positive for the deadly virus, he tied masks around his goats' muzzles.

"I have started tying masks around my goats' mouths after I heard COVID-19 infected a tiger in the US. Since I am wearing a mask myself, I even decided to make my goats wear masks while foraging in the forest area," Venkateshwara added.

Three days ago, a four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia tested positive for coronavirus at New York's Bronx Zoo. The tiger reportedly contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic, the zoo had said.

The four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia along with her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions all developed dry coughs and are expected to fully recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society that runs the city's zoos.

Reuters

Nadia, the tiger who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in New York and six other big cats are now getting medication and treated with extra care.

The virus that causes COVID-19 is believed to have spread from animals to humans, and a handful of animals have tested positive in Hong Kong.

But officials believe this is a unique case because Nadia became sick after exposure to an asymptomatic zoo employee.

Even before the case about a tiger having contracted coronavirus came to light, there were reports of people in Mumbai abandoning their pets on the streets as rumours about animals spreading the disease spread like wildfire.

In another incident that was reported at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in India, a poultry farmer in Karnataka buried thousands of chickens alive to avoid the spread of the contagious disease.

Twitter

A Twitter user by the name of Niranjan Kaggere (@nkaggere) shared a shocking video of the incident with the caption, "A dejected farmer Nazeer Makandar from Lolasoora village in Gokak, Belagavi, decided to bury chickens from his poultry farm, following steep fall in price due to #CoronavirusOutbreak."





Apparently, the farmer was getting Rs 8-10 for the chickens, whereas the cost of looking after them was Rs 50-60. Therefore, the owner used a JCB to dig up a hole and dumped the live chickens in them.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 22:27:11|Editor: huaxia

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FUZHOU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, forecast a 20 percent to 30 percent year-on-year decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2020 as the COVID-19 epidemic hit the new energy vehicle market.

In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Thursday night, CATL said the net profit for the January-March period was estimated between 733 million yuan (about 104 million U.S. dollars) and 838 million yuan, compared to 1.05 billion yuan in the same period a year ago.

The profit decline came as the COVID-19 epidemic and weak auto market resulted in a significant decrease in the installment of automotive batteries and thus, a decline in sales revenue, said CATL, which has partnerships with several foreign and domestic carmakers.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Airport Information Systems market worldwide is projected to grow by US$1.7 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 5.5%. Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC), one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 5.7%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$3.1 Billion by the year 2025, Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05797867/?utm_source=PRN







- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 4.6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$59.8 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$50.7 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) will reach a market size of US$166.9 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 8.1% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$450.9 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others,

Amadeus IT Group SA

Ikusi

Inform GmbH

Northrop Grumman Corporation

RESA Airport Data Systems

Rockwell Collins , Inc.

, Inc. Siemens AG

SITA

Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC









Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05797867/?utm_source=PRN



I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW



Airport Information Systems: An Introductory Prelude

Steady Growth Projected for Airport Information Systems Market

Uptrend in Airport Infrastructure Investments Points Towards

High-Potential Opportunities

Worldwide Investments (in US$ Billion) on New and Existing

Airports (2018-2022)

Worldwide Investments (in US$ Billion) on Airport Improvements

by Airport Area (2018-2022)

China-Led Asia-Pacific Drives Momentum in Worldwide Airport

Infrastructure Spending

New Airport Investment by Region (in US$ Billion) for the Year

2019

Number of New Airport Projects by Region for the Year 2019

Number of Civil Airports in China (2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 & 2020)

China Vs. US: Number of Air Passengers in Millions for Years

2018 and 2038

Growing Passenger & Cargo Traffic Necessitate Higher Budgetary

Allocation for Airport Infrastructure

Global Aircraft Fleet Size (In Units) by Aircraft Type for the

Years 2019 & 2029

Global Aircraft Fleet Size (In Units) by Geographic Region for

the Years 2019 & 2039

Global Competitor Market Shares

Airport Information Systems Competitor Market Share Scenario

Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2025





2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS



Demand for Airport Operational Database (AODB), the Central

Repository for All Airport Operative Systems, Continues to

Escalate

Critical Importance of Effective Landside Operations: Robust

Business Case for Airport Information Systems

Collection & Forwarding of Passenger Details Made Easier with

Advanced Passenger Information Systems

Airport Public Address & Voice Alarm Systems Evolve from Basic

Information Transferring Tools to Vital Components of Airport

Security Mix

Modern Departure Control Systems Focus on Superior Customer

Experience while Maximizing Revenue Potential for Airports

Streamlined Check-in Process with DCS

Integration of Advanced Software and Sophisticated Interface

Augments DCS Capabilities

Airport Displays: The High-Growth Vertical

Check-In-Desk Dynamic Display Systems Strive to Simplify Check

-In Process

Streamlined Flight Status Information Propagated through Multi

-User Flight Information Display Systems

Baggage Information Display Systems for Seamless Luggage

Retrieval Process

Marketing, Security, Emergency and Wayfinding Information

Effectively Promoted through Dynamic Signage Systems

Growing Emphasis on Smart Airports and Airport IoT to Drive

Next Wave of Growth in AIS Market

IoT Comes to Fore to Deliver Hyper-Personalized Customer

Experiences in Airport Lounge

Likely Robust Role of AI in Future Airport to Positively

Influence AIS Technologies





4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Table 1: Airport Information Systems Global Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Airport Information Systems Global Retrospective

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Airport Information Systems Market Share Shift across

Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) (Function)

World Market by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) (Function)

Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009

to 2017

Table 6: Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) (Function)

Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 7: Departure Control System (DCS) (Function) Potential

Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Departure Control System (DCS) (Function) Historic

Market Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to

2017

Table 9: Departure Control System (DCS) (Function) Market Sales

Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Passenger Systems (End-Use) Global Market Estimates &

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 11: Passenger Systems (End-Use) Retrospective Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 12: Passenger Systems (End-Use) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Non-passenger Systems (End-Use) Demand Potential

Worldwide in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 14: Non-passenger Systems (End-Use) Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 15: Non-passenger Systems (End-Use) Share Breakdown

Review by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Airport Information Systems Market Share (in %) by Company:

2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 16: United States Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to

2025

Table 17: Airport Information Systems Market in the United

States by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Million for

2009-2017

Table 18: United States Airport Information Systems Market

Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: United States Airport Information Systems Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 20: Airport Information Systems Historic Demand Patterns

in the United States by End-Use in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 21: Airport Information Systems Market Share Breakdown in

the United States by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 22: Canadian Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Canadian Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Review by Function in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 24: Airport Information Systems Market in Canada:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 25: Canadian Airport Information Systems Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 26: Airport Information Systems Market in Canada:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 27: Canadian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 28: Japanese Market for Airport Information Systems:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by

Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 29: Airport Information Systems Market in Japan: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Function for the Period

2009-2017

Table 30: Japanese Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 31: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Airport

Information Systems in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Japanese Airport Information Systems Market in US$

Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 33: Airport Information Systems Market Share Shift in

Japan by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 34: Chinese Airport Information Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 35: Airport Information Systems Historic Market Analysis

in China in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 36: Chinese Airport Information Systems Market by

Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 37: Chinese Demand for Airport Information Systems in US$

Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 38: Airport Information Systems Market Review in China in

US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 39: Chinese Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Airport Information Systems Market: Competitor Market

Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025

Market Analytics

Table 40: European Airport Information Systems Market Demand

Scenario in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 41: Airport Information Systems Market in Europe:

A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country

for the Period 2009-2017

Table 42: European Airport Information Systems Market Share

Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 43: European Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018-2025

Table 44: Airport Information Systems Market in Europe in US$

Million by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 45: European Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 46: European Airport Information Systems Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 47: Airport Information Systems Market in Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 48: European Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 49: Airport Information Systems Market in France by

Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 50: French Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 51: French Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 52: Airport Information Systems Quantitative Demand

Analysis in France in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 53: French Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Review in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 54: French Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

GERMANY

Table 55: Airport Information Systems Market in Germany: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Function

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 56: German Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 57: German Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 58: Airport Information Systems Market in Germany: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 59: German Airport Information Systems Market in

Retrospect in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 60: Airport Information Systems Market Share Distribution

in Germany by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 61: Italian Airport Information Systems Market Growth

Prospects in US$ Million by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 62: Airport Information Systems Historic Market Analysis

in Italy in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 63: Italian Airport Information Systems Market by

Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 64: Italian Demand for Airport Information Systems in US$

Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 65: Airport Information Systems Market Review in Italy in

US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 66: Italian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 67: United Kingdom Market for Airport Information

Systems: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million

by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 68: Airport Information Systems Market in the United

Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Function for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 69: United Kingdom Airport Information Systems Market

Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 70: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Airport Information Systems in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 71: United Kingdom Airport Information Systems Market in

US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 72: Airport Information Systems Market Share Shift in the

United Kingdom by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 73: Spanish Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to 2025

Table 74: Spanish Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Review by Function in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 75: Airport Information Systems Market in Spain:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 76: Spanish Airport Information Systems Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 77: Airport Information Systems Market in Spain:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 78: Spanish Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 79: Russian Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to 2025

Table 80: Airport Information Systems Market in Russia by

Function: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 81: Russian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 82: Russian Airport Information Systems Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 83: Airport Information Systems Historic Demand Patterns

in Russia by End-Use in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 84: Airport Information Systems Market Share Breakdown in

Russia by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 85: Rest of Europe Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018-2025

Table 86: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of Europe

in US$ Million by Function: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 87: Rest of Europe Airport Information Systems Market

Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 88: Rest of Europe Airport Information Systems

Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Million by End-Use:

2018-2025

Table 89: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of Europe:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 90: Rest of Europe Airport Information Systems Market

Share Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 91: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 92: Airport Information Systems Market in Asia-Pacific:

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 93: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 94: Airport Information Systems Market in Asia-Pacific by

Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 95: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 96: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 97: Airport Information Systems Quantitative Demand

Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 98: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Review in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 99: Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 100: Airport Information Systems Market in Australia:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 101: Australian Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 102: Australian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 103: Airport Information Systems Market in Australia:

Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 104: Australian Airport Information Systems Market in

Retrospect in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 105: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in Australia by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 106: Indian Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to 2025

Table 107: Indian Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Review by Function in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 108: Airport Information Systems Market in India:

Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 109: Indian Airport Information Systems Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 110: Airport Information Systems Market in India:

Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by

End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 111: Indian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 112: Airport Information Systems Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 113: South Korean Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 114: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in South Korea by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 115: Airport Information Systems Market in South Korea:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 116: South Korean Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 117: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in South Korea by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 118: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Airport Information

Systems: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million

by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 119: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of

Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by

Function for the Period 2009-2017

Table 120: Rest of Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems

Market Share Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 121: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Airport Information Systems in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018

to 2025

Table 122: Rest of Asia-Pacific Airport Information Systems

Market in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 123: Airport Information Systems Market Share Shift in

Rest of Asia-Pacific by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 124: Latin American Airport Information Systems Market

Trends by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018-2025

Table 125: Airport Information Systems Market in Latin America

in US$ Million by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 126: Latin American Airport Information Systems Market

Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019,

and 2025

Table 127: Latin American Airport Information Systems Market

Growth Prospects in US$ Million by Function for the Period

2018-2025

Table 128: Airport Information Systems Historic Market Analysis

in Latin America in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 129: Latin American Airport Information Systems Market by

Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 130: Latin American Demand for Airport Information

Systems in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 131: Airport Information Systems Market Review in Latin

America in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 132: Latin American Airport Information Systems Market

Share Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 133: Argentinean Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018-2025

Table 134: Airport Information Systems Market in Argentina in

US$ Million by Function: A Historic Review for the Period

2009-2017

Table 135: Argentinean Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 136: Argentinean Airport Information Systems Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 137: Airport Information Systems Market in Argentina:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 138: Argentinean Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 139: Airport Information Systems Market in Brazil by

Function: Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 140: Brazilian Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Scenario in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 141: Brazilian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 142: Airport Information Systems Quantitative Demand

Analysis in Brazil in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 143: Brazilian Airport Information Systems Historic

Market Review in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 144: Brazilian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by End-Use for 2009, 2019, and

2025

MEXICO

Table 145: Airport Information Systems Market in Mexico: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Function

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 146: Mexican Airport Information Systems Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 147: Mexican Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Airport Information Systems Market in Mexico: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Mexican Airport Information Systems Market in

Retrospect in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 150: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in Mexico by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 151: Rest of Latin America Airport Information Systems

Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Function:

2018 to 2025

Table 152: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of Latin

America by Function: A Historic Review in US$ Million for

2009-2017

Table 153: Rest of Latin America Airport Information Systems

Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 154: Rest of Latin America Airport Information Systems

Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 155: Airport Information Systems Historic Demand Patterns

in Rest of Latin America by End-Use in US$ Million for

2009-2017

Table 156: Airport Information Systems Market Share Breakdown

in Rest of Latin America by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 157: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country:

2018-2025

Table 158: Airport Information Systems Market in the Middle

East by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 159: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Market

Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 160: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to

2025

Table 161: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Historic

Market by Function in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 162: Airport Information Systems Market in the Middle

East: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Function for 2009,

2019, and 2025

Table 163: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Market

Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to

2025

Table 164: Airport Information Systems Market in the Middle

East: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million

by End-Use for 2009-2017

Table 165: The Middle East Airport Information Systems Market

Share Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 166: Iranian Market for Airport Information Systems:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by

Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 167: Airport Information Systems Market in Iran: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Function for the Period

2009-2017

Table 168: Iranian Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 169: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Airport

Information Systems in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 170: Iranian Airport Information Systems Market in US$

Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 171: Airport Information Systems Market Share Shift in

Iran by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 172: Israeli Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Function: 2018-2025

Table 173: Airport Information Systems Market in Israel in US$

Million by Function: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 174: Israeli Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 175: Israeli Airport Information Systems Addressable

Market Opportunity in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018-2025

Table 176: Airport Information Systems Market in Israel:

Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Million by End-Use for

the Period 2009-2017

Table 177: Israeli Airport Information Systems Market Share

Analysis by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 178: Saudi Arabian Airport Information Systems Market

Growth Prospects in US$ Million by Function for the Period

2018-2025

Table 179: Airport Information Systems Historic Market Analysis

in Saudi Arabia in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 180: Saudi Arabian Airport Information Systems Market by

Function: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and

2025

Table 181: Saudi Arabian Demand for Airport Information Systems

in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 182: Airport Information Systems Market Review in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 183: Saudi Arabian Airport Information Systems Market

Share Breakdown by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 184: Airport Information Systems Market in the United

Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Million by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 185: United Arab Emirates Airport Information Systems

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 186: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Function: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

Table 187: Airport Information Systems Market in the United

Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$

Million by End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 188: United Arab Emirates Airport Information Systems

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 189: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in United Arab Emirates by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019

VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 190: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of Middle

East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million

by Function for the Period 2018-2025

Table 191: Rest of Middle East Airport Information Systems

Historic Market Analysis in US$ Million by Function: 2009-2017

Table 192: Rest of Middle East Airport Information Systems

Market Share Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 193: Airport Information Systems Market in Rest of Middle

East: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by

End-Use for the Period 2018-2025

Table 194: Rest of Middle East Airport Information Systems

Market in Retrospect in US$ Million by End-Use: 2009-2017

Table 195: Airport Information Systems Market Share

Distribution in Rest of Middle East by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

AFRICA

Table 196: African Airport Information Systems Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Function: 2018 to 2025

Table 197: Airport Information Systems Market in Africa by

Function: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 198: African Airport Information Systems Market Share

Breakdown by Function: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 199: African Airport Information Systems Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by End-Use: 2018 to 2025

Table 200: Airport Information Systems Historic Demand Patterns

in Africa by End-Use in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 201: Airport Information Systems Market Share Breakdown

in Africa by End-Use: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025





IV. COMPETITION



AMADEUS IT GROUP SA

IKUSI

INFORM GMBH

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION

RESA AIRPORT DATA SYSTEMS

ROCKWELL COLLINS

SITA

SIEMENS AG

ULTRA ELECTRONICS HOLDINGS PLC

ADVANTECH CO., LTD.

CGI, INC.

COLLINS AEROSPACE, INC.

DAIFUKU CO., LTD.

DAMAREL SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL

GENTRACK GROUP

HARRIS CORPORATION

IBM CORPORATION

INDRA SISTEMAS SA

INTERSYSTEMS

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION

LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS GMBH & CO. KG

MICROSOFT CORPORATION

NEC CORPORATION

SEETEK SA

TAV INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

THALES GROUP SA

UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (UTC)

V. CURATED RESEARCH

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On April 8, actress Han So Hee, who has been drawing lots of attention for her role and acting in the ongoing K-drama The World of the Married, was caught in an issue because of some of controversial photos that circulated online.

In her photos that were posted in her social media account, Han So Hee was seen with lots of tattoos and was smoking cigarette, which have been making non-fans and netizens to gain interest towards her. Society is changing and having tattoo and smoking are both accepted. Both are a way to express oneself and establish an individuality, but a lot still unacknowledge when Korean idols and celebrities do these, especially on female artists.

Currently, there is a heated debate between the crowd if Han So Hee's past image will affect her career, given that people tend to lose interest once a celebrity's image is ruined. Some are saying that as a public figure, it is not a good sight for a women to post those images.

In contrary, some netizens were saying that this should not be a controversy, for even though she's an actress, it doesn't mean she can't get a life.

Han So Hee's photos immediately spread throughout the social media account as well as in Naver site, wherein key search terms "Han So Hee Tattoo" and "Han So Hee Tobacco" are being linked to her.

However, Han So Hee deleted the photos on her SNS already and removed her tattoo as well.

Currently dubbed as the "Instagram Goddess" who is rising as an actress due to her role in the drama as a mistress, Han So Hee is being praised for her major contribution to the rise of the drama's ratings. In addition to this, netizens are claiming that she is next to Kim Hee Ae in the drama cast's popularity index.

In The World of The Married, viewers are commenting how effective as an antagonist Han So Hee is. Overall, her role as a chic and mysterious girl who had an affair with Park Hae Joon's character is drawing the viewers to get invested in the drama that has recorded the highest viewer ratings in each episode and exceeding double-digit ratings.

Also, Han So-hee's appearance on SHINee's Tell Me What To Do music video in 2016 is drawing attention again. In particular, many netizens showed interest in Han So Hee's appearance who has a rough personality and is seen smoking a cigarette in the MV, following the theme of the music video.

Han So Hee started her career in 2017 through her role as Lee Seo Won in Into the World Again. She also played the role of the princess in 100 Days My Prince and in Abyss.

Apart from this, the popularity of the The World of The Married is expected to continue to rise as viewers are curious about the future stories of the three, including their strange charm, the relationship between pretty young Yeo Da-Kyung (Han So-hee), married man Lee Tae-oh (Park Hae-Joon) and the tense tension that will be linked to Ji Sun-woo (Kim Hee-ae).
An Australian couple suffering from a deteriorating COVID-19 condition have been evacuated from a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Uruguay.

The tourists, 59 and 60, were taken to hospital from the Greg Mortimer on Wednesday, both with coronavirus and pneumonia, the Uruguayan navy said.

Eight people out of the more than 200 aboard - 128 of whom have tested positive for coronavirus - have now been transferred to hospitals in Uruguay's capital Montevideo.

A sick Australian passenger with coronavirus is taken off board the Greg Mortimer on Wednesday into an ambulance to go to hospital in Montevideo, Uruguay

Medical workers transported two Australian passengers from the Greg Mortimer cruise ship to hospital on Wednesday, the Uruguayan navy reported

Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi had said on Tuesday night that two more people aboard the Australian-owned vessel would need to be brought ashore.

'Their health is deteriorating and they're going to need to be taken to hospital in Montevideo,' Mr Talvi said.

The liner, owned by Aurore Expeditions, has been anchored 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the port of Montevideo in the Rio de la Plata since March 27.

Uruguay, which is assuming that everyone aboard has contracted the virus due to the lack of isolation measures deployed on the liner when the first cases emerged, has said only those whose 'life is at risk' will be allowed off the ship.

The six people previously taken off the ship - three Australians, one Briton and two Filipino crew - are in a stable condition in hospital, Health Minister Daniel Salinas told AFP on Tuesday.

Passenger from the Australian owned cruise ship is rescued from the boat and taken to hospital on Wednesday

Out of the 200 on board the ship 128 have tested positive to the deadly disease and eight transferred to hospital

Uruguay has authorized a humanitarian flight to evacuate Australian and New Zealand passengers to Melbourne via a 'reinforced sanitary corridor' following 'intense conversations and very close cooperation with the Australian government,' Mr Talvi said.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed on Wednesday that authorities were working together to try to repatriate as many Australians as possible.

'The Greg Mortimer is a very difficult situation,' Ms Payne said.

'So we are working very closely to try to finalise this charter flight as soon as possible and to ensure that the maximum number of Australians who are on that vessel are able to fly.'

That includes both those to have tested positive and negative. Once arriving in Melbourne they will all be required to stay in isolation for two weeks.

A passenger is seen on an ambulance before being taken to hospital in Montevideo, Uruguay

Doctor Sebastian Yancev treated and diagnosed patients for coronavirus on the Greg Mortimer cruise ship

The Airbus A340 plane contracted to fly the Aussies and Kiwis home 'is configured with medical facilities aboard... to look after the health and security of everyone,' said Aurore.

However, there are no plans yet to repatriate European and American passengers.

They must 'wait until they test negative' before organizing their repatriation via Sao Paulo, Brazil, the ship's owner said.

Those to have tested negative could be evacuated in the coming days 'subject to a second test and permission from the Uruguayan government,' Aurore said.

The cruise ship was originally due to tour Antarctica, South Georgia and Elephant Island but the expedition was called off on March 21 after South American countries and Australia started closing their borders and imposing strict lockdown regulations.

With ports all along the Atlantic coast of South America closed, the Greg Mortimer was forced to sail to Montevideo, more than 2,600 kilometers from South Georgia.
Eight new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Jharkhand in the last 24 hours, taking the state's tally to 13, as Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday appealed to people to remain vigilant and strictly adhere to the instructions.

He also urged the people not to heed to rumours, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.

"COVID-19 positive patients have increased in the state. Now it is time to remain vigilant and comply with government orders strictly," the release said quoting Soren.

The state reported the first novel coronavirus-related death when a 72-year-old man from Bokaro died of the infection on Wednesday night. Eight new COVID-19 cases were reported in Bokaro and Ranchi, taking the total confirmed coronavirus cases in the state to 13.

"The state government is in touch with the Centre to meet resource requirements," he said, asking the people to keep away from rumours.

The chief minister has been urging the Centre to provide more medical equipment to fight the pandemic in the state.

The CMO release also said 25 migrant labourers, who are stranded in Tamil Nadu, are being given shelter, food and medical treatment in Chennai following Soren's intervention.

The labourers belong to Garhwa and when the Jharkhand chief minister was informed about their distress, he contacted his Tamil Nadu counterpart E Palaniswami and sought help.

In Hazaribag, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta told a press conference on Thursday that the state government has urged the ICMR to set up testing laboratories for COVID-19 at Hazaribag Medical College and Hospital, and PMCH, Dhanbad.

Testing centres are presently available in state-run Ranchi and Jamshedpur hospitals.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has assured the Jharkhand government that it would provide as per the proposal sent by it, Gupta said.

"... the COVID-19 cases were limited, but on April 8 one person died of the disease and the cases climbed to 13, which is very alarming. We will have to act faster now and provide relief to the people," the Health minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have begun a murder probe after a pensioner died following an altercation between two dog walkers. (Getty)

Police have launched a murder investigation after a pensioner died following an altercation between two dog walkers.

Northamptonshire Police said they received reports of a 72-year-old being assaulted at around 4.20pm on Wednesday.

The pensioner was pronounced dead at the scene in the Roade area of Northampton despite the efforts of paramedics and members of the public.

The force said a 27-year-old Northampton man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the incident between Hyde Road and Blisworth Road. He remains in police custody.

The incident took place between Hyde Road and Blisworth Road in the Roade area of Northampton. (Google)

Detective Inspector Pete Long, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit Major Crime Team, said: "At the present time and in order to preserve best evidence, we are treating this incident as a murder investigation.

"As the public can well imagine, this is an exceptionally fast-moving investigation and a team of detectives from the Major Crime Team are working around the clock to gather all the evidence and ascertain exactly what happened here.

"I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or who may have information about the incident to please come forward and help us.

Read more from Yahoo News UK

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"I am particularly interested in speaking to anyone who may have witnessed an altercation between two dog walkers in the area of Hyde Road/Blisworth Road between 3.50pm and 4.20pm today.

"Specialist officers are supporting the family of the 72-year-old man at what is an extremely distressing time.

The force has asked any witnesses or anyone with information to call them on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
A Carlisle-area resident recently treated for coronavirus-like symptoms admitted attending a corona party  with a confirmed coronavirus patient  days after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered Pennsylvanians to stay at home to stop its spread.

Cumberland Goodwill Emergency Medical Services workers were treating this person several days ago when the individual admitted attending the party with a confirmed COVID-19 patient, saying they didnt think it was that serious," said Nathan Harig, the EMS companys assistant chief of administration.

Cumberland Goodwill would like to make sure people know that it is serious.

Weve had to do so much to prepare, train, get supplies, Harig said. We definitely want to stress you need to take this seriously.

We had a patient with COVID symptoms who had attended a "Corona Party." The patient told our provider they "Didn't think it was that serious."



We want everyone to know-IT IS! Recklessly attending these parties puts you, your loved ones, and our providers at risk!  Cumberland Goodwill (@Co40EMS) April 7, 2020

Harig said the resident didnt tell EMS workers where or when the party was held, other than that it was after the states stay-at-home order was issued on April 1.

This person was transported to a local hospital, and Harig said he didnt know if they tested positive for the coronavirus.

He said, however, that sometimes patients with the mildest symptoms can be the ones who spread the disease.

We just really want to stress this is not a joke  asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transfers happen, Harig said. It can be deadly.
AHIP announces that it has undertaken significant steps to mitigate the operational and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic





60 of AHIP's 79 hotels are currently open for business, generating revenue and serving guests in compliance with government health guidelines





Occupancy rates stabilizing at reduced levels, with extended stay properties remaining the best performing





Hotel staffing levels reduced by 65%; will save more than $40 million in annualized operating cost savings





Senior management compensation reduced alongside corporate office staff reductions





Previously announced March 2020 distribution payment will be deferred

All financial figures are presented in US dollars, unless otherwise noted.

VANCOUVER, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP ("AHIP" or "the Company") (TSX: HOT.UN, HOT.U, and HOT.DB.U) today provided the following business update regarding the continually evolving COVID-19 situation and government initiated measures.

"These continue to be unprecedented circumstances, and like all businesses, we are actively navigating the resulting challenges," said John O'Neill, CEO. "After evaluating the market viability of certain properties during this pandemic, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend guest operations at four hotels, and consolidate operations at 15 properties with other adjacent AHIP hotels. In conjunction with our hotel manager, we have also significantly reduced staffing levels to preserve cash flow. To date, more than 1,600 hotel staff have been laid off or furloughed, which represents 65% of our total hotel workforce. These decisions are always difficult, but we have ensured key roles remain in order to maintain the properties and be well positioned for a rapid recovery when regular travel patterns resume."

"We continue working to ensure we have sufficient liquidity to meet the challenges this pandemic has presented. Our 60 hotels that remain open for business  and are often catering to government, military, medical and logistics sector guests  are contributing to our revenue and are, in aggregate, providing positive cash flow to support our overall business during this period of uncertainty."

Hotel Operations:

60 of AHIP's 79 hotels (76%) are currently open for business, generating revenue and serving guests in compliance with government health guidelines. Business levels at these properties continue to positively contribute, in aggregate, to AHIP's cash flow. The Company has made the decision to temporarily suspend guest operations at four properties and consolidate operations from 15 hotels into other adjacent AHIP hotels, due to reduced occupancy levels in those regions and to gain operating efficiencies. While these properties will remain staffed with minimal employees to ensure their maintenance and security, they will not be accepting guest reservations for at least the next 30 days. These hotels are well equipped to reopen quickly when regular travel patterns resume.

Occupancy levels at the 60 hotels that continue to operate have stabilized at reduced levels and are primarily benefiting from lodging contracts from government, military, medical and logistical sector organizations. AHIP is continually evaluating each property to ensure the most efficient use of resources. The Company's 24 extended stay hotel properties continue to operate at higher occupancy levels than other properties in the portfolio.

AHIP's hotel manager is working diligently to effectively cater to these changing occupancy levels by sharing staff resources among several AHIP properties, wherever possible, and reducing staffing levels where appropriate. To date, the total hotel employee count across AHIP's 79 hotels has been reduced by 65%  from approximately 2,500 employees to approximately 875, which will generate more than $3.5 million in monthly cost and cash flow savings. AHIP's hotel manager, Aimbridge Hospitality, has also provided fee reductions for hotel management services until at least June 30, 2020, which are expected to result in approximately $0.7 million in cash savings during the second quarter.

AHIP's hotel brand partners  primarily Marriott, Hilton, and IHG  have been accommodating in these circumstances by adjusting brand standards to meet current business levels, while still maintaining positive guest experiences. In addition, franchisors have deferred capital projects into 2021 and have approved the use of capital reserves to fund operating expenses. This, together with the potential temporary elimination of FF&E reserve funding, is expected to enhance AHIP's liquidity during the coming weeks.

Corporate Initiatives:

As a result of the current economic environment, AHIP has also reduced its corporate staffing levels by approximately 27% and all senior management has taken an immediate 15% salary reduction for the remainder of 2020. John O'Neill, CEO, has agreed to an immediate 50% salary reduction for the remainder of 2020 and will continue to receive all of his compensation in units (equity). In addition, AHIP's board of directors has agreed to receive 100% of their 2020 retainer fees in units, rather than cash. Collectively, these actions will reduce 2020 corporate cash expenses by approximately CAD$1.5 million.

Cash Conservation:

AHIP is taking all prudent measures necessary to reduce its expenses and conserve cash during this period of economic uncertainty. More than $100 million of annualized cash flow savings have already been identified through the following initiatives:

$40.0 million of annualized cash flow savings from reduced hotel staffing levels

of annualized cash flow savings from reduced hotel staffing levels $36.0 million of annualized cash flow savings from the suspension of distributions on AHIP's units

of annualized cash flow savings from the suspension of distributions on AHIP's units $15.0 million of 2020 cash flow savings from deferred capital expenditures to future years

of 2020 cash flow savings from deferred capital expenditures to future years $12.0 million of potential annualized cash flow savings if AHIP temporarily stops funding FF&E reserves

of potential annualized cash flow savings if AHIP temporarily stops funding FF&E reserves CAD$1.5 million of annualized cash flow savings from reduced corporate staffing and salaries

AHIP has also already submitted formal applications for the Payroll Protection Program through the U.S. Small Business Administration, as part of the announced U.S. CARES Act, which may provide added financial support for hotel operations and employees. AHIP is current on all of its debt payments and remains onside with all debt covenants.

March 2020 Distribution Payment Deferment:

In light of the recent reduction in business levels due to COVID-19 impacts and AHIP's strategic focus on cash conservation during this period of uncertainty, the Company will be deferring until a later date the payment of its March 2020 distribution previously declared to be payable on April 15, 2020 to unitholders of record on March 31, 2020. The payment will occur when business levels improve and AHIP's board of directors, in consultation with management, determines it is appropriate to pay. AHIP will update unitholders who are on record to receive this distribution of the new payment date via news release, when the payment date is determined.

Insider Buying:

In the past three weeks, AHIP executives and board members have collectively purchased over 500,000 units through open market transactions, representing their belief in the long-term value of the Company. These insider purchases have been disclosed through regulatory filings.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (also known as forward-looking statements). Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and it may cause actual results, performance or achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "feel", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "project", "subject to", "will", "would", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Some of the specific forward-looking information in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the estimated cash savings from hotel staffing reductions, senior management compensation reductions, corporate office staff reductions, AHIP's board agreement to receive their 2020 retainer fees in units; suspension of distributions on AHIP's units, deferred capital expenditures, and potential temporary cessation of FF&E reserve funding; AHIP having ensured key roles remain in order to maintain its properties and position AHIP for rapid recovery when regular travel patterns resume; AHIP continuing to work to ensure it has sufficient liquidity; 60 of AHIP's hotels remaining open for business and continuing to positively contribute, in aggregate, to AHIP's cash flow; AHIP not accepting guest reservations for at least the next 30 days in respect of 19 of its hotels to gain operating efficiencies; such hotels being minimally staffed to ensure their maintenance and security, and AHIP's belief that such hotels are well equipped to reopen quickly when regular travel patterns resume; AHIP continually evaluating each property to ensure the most efficient use of resources; AHIP's 24 extended stay properties continuing to operate at higher occupancy levels than other properties in the portfolio; fee reductions for hotel management services from Aimbridge Hospitality until June 30, 2020 and the expected cash savings therefrom; franchisors deferring capital projects into 2021 and approving the use of capital reserves to fund operating expenses; potential temporary elimination of FF&E reserve funding is expected to enhance AHIP's liquidity during the coming weeks; potential for additional financial support to AHIP under the U.S. CARES Act; the deferral of the payment date for the distribution previously declared to be payable on April 15, 2020 to unitholders of record on March 31, 2020, until business levels improve and AHIP's board of directors, in consultation with management, determines it is appropriate to pay, and the reasons for such deferral; AHIP's statement that it will issue a news release to advise of the new payment date for such distribution when the payment date is determined; the belief of AHIP executives and board members in the long-term value of AHIP; and AHIP's stated long-term objectives.

Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions made by AHIP, including, without limitation: the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to negatively impact the U.S. economy, U.S. hotel industry and AHIP's business, and the extent and duration of such impact; AHIP's occupancy levels will not materially deteriorate from current levels; AHIP will be able to continue to operate the majority its 60 hotels currently in operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and such properties will continue to generate positive cash flow, in aggregate, for AHIP; AHIP will not cease guest operations at a material number of additional properties as a result of government regulations, lack of sufficient guest bookings or other reasons; AHIP will be able to recommence guest operations on a timely basis at those properties where guest operations have temporarily been suspended or consolidated with adjacent AHIP properties; AHIP's cash conservation strategies will achieve their stated objectives and AHIP will continue to have sufficient funds to meet its financial obligations; AHIP will receive all necessary approvals to use capital reserves to fund operating expenses and to temporarily cease funding FF&E reserves; and AHIP will receive financial support under the U.S. CARES Act. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on what AHIP's management believes to be reasonable assumptions, AHIP cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information.

Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information involves significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to: the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. economy, the hotel industry, the willingness of the general public to travel, the level of consumer confidence in the safety of travel and AHIP's business, all of which are expected to negatively impact AHIP and may materially adversely affect AHIP's investments, results of operations, financial condition and AHIP's ability to obtain additional equity or debt financing, or re-finance existing debt, or make interest and principal payments to its lenders and to holders of AHIP's debentures, and otherwise satisfy its financial obligations and may cause AHIP to be in non-compliance with one or more of the financial covenants under its existing credit facilities and cause a default thereunder; there is no guarantee that monthly distributions will be reinstated, and if reinstated, as to the timing thereof or what the amount of the monthly distribution will be; there is no guarantee as to the timing of the payment of the deferred March 2020 distribution; the pace of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be accurately predicated and may be slow; AHIP's cash conservation initiatives may not achieve their stated objectives, and cash savings may be less than anticipated; occupancy may further decline and AHIP may suspend or consolidate guest operations at additional hotels; further government restrictions on travel, additional mandated social distancing and other health related regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic may also cause AHIP to suspend or consolidate guest operations at additional hotels and delay the recommencement of guest operations at hotels where such operations have already been suspended or consolidated; when regular travel patterns resume, or otherwise, it may take longer than expected to recommence operations at hotels where guest operations have been temporarily suspended or consolidated; one or more of the 60 hotels currently in operation may from time to time operate at levels which result in negative cash flows to AHIP; AHIP may not receive necessary approvals from to use capital reserves to fund operating expenses and to temporarily cease funding FF&E reserves; and AHIP may not receive any financial support under the U.S. CARES Act. Management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information contained herein are based upon reasonable assumptions and information currently available; however, management can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. Additional information about risks and uncertainties is contained in AHIP's MD&A dated March 10, 2020 and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2019, copies of which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to AHIP. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release and AHIP assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.

ABOUT AMERICAN HOTEL INCOME PROPERTIES REIT LP

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (TSX: HOT.UN, TSX: HOT.U, TSX: HOT.DB.U), or AHIP, is a limited partnership formed to invest in hotel real estate properties across the United States. AHIP's portfolio of 79 premium branded, select-service hotels are located in secondary metropolitan markets that benefit from diverse and stable demand. AHIP hotels operate under brands affiliated with Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham and Choice Hotels through license agreements. The Company's long-term objectives are to build on its proven track record of successful investment, deliver monthly U.S. dollar denominated distributions to unitholders, and generate value through the continued growth of its diversified hotel portfolio. More information is available at www.ahipreit.com.

SOURCE American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP

Related Links

www.ahipreit.com


A man fired a flare gun outside a California hospital demanding help, otherwise he was ready to 'hurt somebody,' before he was subdued by a nurse, police said.

Thomas Christopher Ray, 51, of Chino, was taken into custody after he showed up with the flare gun, as well as a replica firearm, outside the emergency room at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley on Wednesday.

He showed up outside the ER about 11:40 a.m., demanding help from a security guard, the Fountain Valley Police Department said.

'I need some help. If I don't get some help, I'm going to hurt somebody,' he is said to have announced before firing off the flare gun twice, says Lt. Jarrod Frahm, speaking on behalf of the police.

Thomas Christopher Ray, 51, of Chino, was taken into custody after he was said to have fired a flare gun twice outside the emergency room at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley on Wednesday, police said

A man fired a flare gun outside MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center (pictured) in Fountain Valley, California, on Wednesday

The unnamed man showed up outside the ER about 11:40 a.m., demanding help, the Fountain Valley Police Department said. Cops are seen arriving on a report of an active shooter

'I need some help. If I don't get some help, I'm going to hurt somebody,' the man is said to have announced before firing off the flare gun twice, says Lt. Jarrod Frahm, speaking on behalf of the police. Cops are pictured at the hospital after the man was already subdued by security

The guard raced into the emergency room to contact police. A witness said guards were running toward the building while shouting 'get to safety,' and 'man with a weapon,' the Orange County Register reports.

A nurse was able to subdue Ray by the time officers arrived on the scene, says Frahm,

'He didn't actually make it inside the ER,' Frahm told the Los Angeles Times.

'There was some kind of nexus between him and maybe a patient there.'

Ray was discovered to have been living in an RV that was parked nearby, the Times reports.

Video shot by journalist Chris Ercoli shows Ray appearing confused while sitting in the backseat of a patrol car some time after he was apprehended.

Video shot by journalist Chris Ercoli shows Ray appearing confused while sitting in the backseat of a patrol car some time after he was apprehended

Exclusive Video: Fountain Valley PD received a report a suspect was firing off rounds at @OrangeCoastMC. Hospital staff took the suspect into custody without incident . PD says he had a flare gun, replica hand gun & walked to ER saying he would shoot and fired one flare. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/P07yoMu3Sl  Chris Ercoli (@CErcoliCBS2KCAL) April 8, 2020

Cops say they were called to the scene on reports of an active shooter in the hospital parking lot.

Cops say they were called to the scene on the report of an active shooter in the hospital parking lot (pictured)

When Jacqueline Alvarez learned of a possible active shooting, the 34-year-old office assistant said she ran into her building and locked the doors as she watched cops arrive, reports the Times.

She said she recalls 'the fear of not knowing where this person was and adrenaline racing  just to get myself to safety and lock our facility door.'

'My sister-in-law works at the hospital and was closed off in a room with co-workers after the active shooter was reported,' wrote Deborah Sullivan-Brennan wrote in an email to the Times.

'My brother called police and learned they were already there. About 10 minutes ago he called us and said police caught' the suspect.

Orange Coast Medical Center said the incident 'remained outside the hospital and our patients and staff are safe.'

'The safety of our patients, families and staff is of the utmost importance,' the hospital added in a statement.

'We notified the police of suspicious activity outside of the hospital today. Police responded and resolved the matter.'
Clouds are returning to portions of Northern California as we head into your evening hours, and we'll have a slight chance for light showers in areas of the Sierra, foothills, and mid valley this evening. The main threat of wet weather is expected to stay to our South, but some light wrap around showers will be possible in those areas this evening and early in the day on Thursday. Clouds will be thickest in our southern areas and become thinner heading to the North. Much warmer temepratures and gusty winds have also developed across our region today. We've had high temperatures mostly in the 70's to low 80's in the valley this afternoon, in teh mid to high 60's in the foothills, and in the 60's to 70's in the mountains. Sustained winds have topped 15mph out of the North and we've seen gusts up to around 25mph in your afternoon. We will still have the chance for gusts up to 30mph tonight. The strongest gusts today have been in Redding.

There will be a lingering chance for light showers tracking into the far Southern portion of our region early in the day on Thursday, but we'll be mostly dry moving forward in your forecast. Skies will start out partly to mostly cloudy early in the day on Thursday, but will clear as we head into your afternoon. Temperatures will dip into the 40's to low 50's overnight in the valley and foothills, while mountain areas mostly dip into the 30's. High temperatures are not expected to be as warm on Thursday afternoon as downslope winds decrease. Winds will mostly be out of the Southeast to around 10mph on Thursday afternoon. High temperaturs will end up in the 60's to mid 70's in the valley and mountains. Foothill areas will end up in the 50's to low 60's on Thursday afternoon.

We'll still have some clouds lingering in our region on Friday, but skies will be clearing through the day. The main impact in your extended forecast will be high pressure building into the West Coast from the Eastern Pacific. We'll have mostly sunny skies by Friday afternoon. Low temperatures in the valley are projected to dip into the 40's to low 50's, and high temperatures are projected to end up in the mid 70's to low 80's from Friday through the start of next week. Mountain areas can expect sunny skies, with low temperatures in the 30's and high temperatures in the 60's to low 70's through this weekend. Easter Sunday looks mostly pleasant and warm for the majority of our region, but an area of low pressure dropping into the Rockies may bring a slight chance for scattered showers to the Sierra. Dry, warm, and mostly sunny conditions are currently projected to continue through the middle of next week.
NEW YORK - A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, religious leaders worldwide Thursday urged people to celebrate Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Commuters wear face masks to protect against the spread of new coronavirus as they walk through a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, April 9, 2020. China's National Health Commission on Thursday reported dozens of new COVID-19 cases, including most of which it says are imported infections in recent arrivals from abroad and two "native" cases in the southern province of Guangdong. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

NEW YORK - A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, religious leaders worldwide Thursday urged people to celebrate Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes.

In other developments, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old had taken a turn for the worse early in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.

Governments warned that the hard-won gains against the scourge must not be jeopardized by relaxing social distancing over the weekend. Across Europe, where Easter is one of the busiest travel times, authorities set up roadblocks and otherwise discouraged family gatherings.

A spike in deaths in Britain and New York and surges of reported new infections in Japan and in Indias congested cities made it clear the battle is far from over.

A man with protective mask walks on an underpass Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency last Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

New York state reported a record-breaking number of dead for a third straight day, 799. More than 7,000 people have died in the state, accounting for almost half the U.S. death toll of more than 16,000.

That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I dont even have the words for it," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

But he added that there are hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the number of people being hospitalized, admitted to intensive care and placed on ventilators.

He said the onslaught of patients has not been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so far. About 18,000 people were hospitalized, well short of the 90,000 hospital beds statewide, many of which were hurriedly lined up at a convention centre and a Navy ship docked in the city.

Worldwide, the number of dead topped 95,000 and confirmed infections reached about 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for counting the dead and coverups by some governments.

Non-governmental organization Resala Nour Ala Nour workers prepare cartons filled with food to distribute to people who have been greatly affected by the coronavirus outbreak, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, April 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Numbers released Thursday by the U.S. government showed that 6.6 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the two weeks before that. That amounts to about 1 in 10 American workers  the biggest, fastest pileup of job losses since the world's largest economy began keeping records in 1948.

And still more job cuts are expected. The U.S. unemployment rate in April could hit 15%  a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

Sharon Bridgeman, 57, of Kansas City, Missouri, was laid off from her job two weeks ago at a non-profit that helps homeless people and is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits.

Im worried I may not have a job to go back to, she said. Im also worried about the people I work with.

President Donald Trump brushed off fears the economy wont quickly rebound after the crisis, as he has predicted, saying he had a strong feeling that the economy is going to do very well.

Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, Thursday, April 9, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said Monday that officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the citys potters field. The citys 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, is full. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

I think that whats going to happen is were going to have a big bounce, rather than a small bounce, he told reporters. I think were going to open up strong.

Trump said he had met with his treasury and transportation secretaries about helping support airlines and that he likely would put out a proposal over the weekend.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans targeted toward both households and businesses.

In many European countries, where social safety nets tend to be stronger than in the U.S., government programs that subsidize workers' pay are keeping millions of people on payrolls, though typically with fewer hours and at lower wages.

Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro agreed Thursday on a package of measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak.

Cots, to be used by people infected with the new coronavirus, fill an industrial warehouse once used to store car parts, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 9, 2020. The owner is allowing the government to use the space temporarily during a nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression. The United Nations labour organization said the equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter, while the aid organization Oxfam International estimated half a billion people worldwide could be pushed into poverty.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-diseases expert, shot down hopes that warmer spring weather would bring an end to the crisis.

One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather, he said. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing.

Amid widespread restrictions on public gatherings, major religious denominations are holding virtual services where members can watch on TV or online. Others are arranging prayer at drive-in theatres, where people can stay in their cars.

The virus doesnt take a day off for Good Friday or Easter Sunday, said Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

A funeral director wears personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns while collecting a body at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Thursday, April 9, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York state posted a record-breaking number of coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day even as a surge of patients in overwhelmed hospitals slowed, while isolation-weary residents were warned Thursday the crisis was far from over. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Other churches plan to move ahead with services, especially in states like Texas, where the governor declared religious gatherings essential services. A Houston church has installed hand-washing stations and rearranged its 1,000-person sanctuary to hold about 100 people spaced 6 feet (2 metres) or more apart.

Pope Francis will celebrate Easter Mass in a nearly empty St. Peters Basilica instead of the huge square outside. In England, the Archbishop of Canterbury will deliver his Easter sermon by video.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested mass gatherings may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which runs from late April through most of May.

Meantime, there were encouraging signs in France, where the national health agency saw indications the crisis is stabilizing, though more than 12,000 lives have been lost.

New infections, hospitalizations and deaths have been levelling off in hard-hit Italy and Spain, which together have around 33,000 deaths, but the daily tolls are still shocking. Spain reported 683 more dead, bringing its total to more than 15,200. Britain recorded 881 new deaths, for close to 8,000 in all.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Japan recorded more than 500 new cases for the first time, a worrisome rise since it has the worlds oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious in the elderly.

For most, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms like fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia. About 350,000 people have recovered, by Johns Hopkins' count.

___

Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Rugaber reported from Washington. Villeneuve reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
Three in five nurses - many working on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis - are considering quitting their hospitals  and one in 30 already have, a shocking new survey has revealed.

The stark numbers from the countrywide poll - obtained exclusively by DailyMailTV - shows health workers are at breaking point under the stress of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

And replacing the staggering number of nurses could cost the healthcare system $136 billion, according to estimates from the medical data company that created the survey.

From March 29 to April 6, nursing community app Holliblu asked questions of over 1,200 nurses from 600 hospitals, giving the first broad insight into how US health workers are coping amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across the country, more than 60% of nurses said they were on the verge of quitting their hospital or even the entire profession, some feeling their lives are being treated as 'expendable'.

A new survey reveals that one in 30 nurses have already quit, while three in five and considering leaving their jobs during the coronavirus crisis

Workers reported being stretched to the limit working 21 days straight amid deadly chaos, while lacking basic PPE like masks. Some reported being treated as if their lives were 'expendable'

Workers reported being stretched to the limit working 21 days straight amid deadly chaos, while lacking basic equipment like masks.

Data company Feedtrail which analyzed the responses said huge proportions of nurses felt hopeless and overwhelmed, with comments including 'I have never felt more expendable in my life', 'it is absolutely terrifying', and 'we're all drowning'.

'I need people to understand that most of the patients on ventilators won't be coming off alive,' one respondent wrote anonymously.

'I need opportunities to discuss what is going on without fear of reprisals from my hospital. I'm so very sad about what I am seeing. I need people to know that while we are providing the best care possible we are not meeting our usual standards because we can't; lack of supplies, lack of staff, lack of space.'

The survey was run by Holliblu, an app for nurses that matches them with hospital jobs and creates an online community for healthcare professionals.

More than 1,200 nurses on the app aged between 19 and 76 at 600 hospitals in all 50 states responded anonymously to the survey over nine days until April 6.

The survey found that unprecedented conditions have left large numbers of nurses planning to quit, even at the beginning of their health careers.

The survey found 14.9% of nurses aged between 26 and 35 were considering leaving the industry, and 18.2% of those aged 36 to 45.

According to the data, 3% of participants had already resigned.

Across all ages, 61.5% said they are likely to either leave the industry or the hospital that they are working at.

Paul Jaglowski, Feedtrail CEO, told DailyMailTV that given the average cost of replacing a nurse is $56,000, the cost of more than 60% of the country's four million nurses quitting their workplace would be over $137 billion.

Jaglowski said the survey responses confirmed his fears about a nursing workforce ready to crumble.

Nursing community app Holliblu asked over 1,200 nurses from 600 hospitals between March 29 and April 6 to collect the data

'We already knew that there was an increasing trend of turnover for nurses. This COVID pandemic proved to significantly accelerate this rate of turnover, adding fuel to the fire,' he said.

'Our data suggests that 1), the industry had a lack of preparedness for a crisis of this magnitude, 2) nurses had a lack of training for something of this proportion, 3) Even the nurses on the 'front- line' (ED, ICU, etc.) are having a hard time coping with the ambiguity, consistently changing protocols, safety concerns that they are currently being faced with today.'

In a typical response picked out by Feedtrail, one nurse said she was dealing with 'Fear of the unknown, contracting the virus, dying. We need up-to-date information, communication and support from our managers.'

Another said they were experiencing 'a feeling of worthlessness from our organization and leadership, fear of us getting sick or bringing it home to our innocent family members.'

One said: 'Nurses are scared! We have had several people quit and this is only the beginning.'

Many of the health workers said they are living separate from their family to avoid infecting them, and were 'terrified' of getting sick.

'It adds tons of fear and anxiety to what we are already feeling when we are afraid for our patients lives, more guarded and less likely to spend the proper amount of time with them fearing our masks integrity is compromised during already brief interactions, a feeling of worthlessness from our organization and leadership, fear of us getting sick or bringing it home to our innocent family members,' said one.

'No one helps others because we're all drowning. It's not that we don't want to, it's that we physically and mentally cannot,' said another.

Cara Lunsford, founder of Holliblu, said the survey results left her deeply disturbed. Paul Jaglowski, Feedtrail CEO, told DailyMailTV that given the average cost of replacing a nurse is $56,000.

Lunsford is also a former nurse for child cancer patient (pictured) and has been offered high rates to work in coronavirus hotspots

Many of the health workers said they are living separate from their family to avoid infecting them, and were 'terrified' of getting sick

Cara Lunsford, founder of Holliblu and a former nurse for child cancer patients, said the survey results left her deeply disturbed, and warned that if even a fraction of those considering quitting followed through, many more people in hospital would die.

She said that she had been offered between $5,000 and $10,000 per week to work in coronavirus hotspots, and that the rates had skyrocketed due to huge demand, but even such high pay will not persuade some nurses to keep working.

'What nurses are going to bear witness to, what they're going to feel they were helpless to in these situations, the things they're going to remember after this is all said and done, it's going to haunt them for the rest of their lives,' Lunsford told DailyMailTV.

'They're never going to do their job the way they did their job before. It will forever change them.'

The app founder said other vulnerable patients will also suffer from the tsunami of coronavirus cases entering hospitals.

'There's still all the cancer patients, there's still all the transplant patients. So when the resources get so thin the worst thing that happens is that people die,' she warned.

'A lot of people die. People die who wouldn't ordinarily have died. People are going to die because there's not enough people to provide the type of care that needs to be provided.'

Lunsford said that fellow nurses on her app have told her that healthcare staffing agencies are sending them to the 'front lines' in hotspots like New York City and Seattle to work for 21 days straight, despite safety concerns from hospitals.

'Some of the hospitals are being pretty responsible and saying they don't want a nurse that's worked more than five or six days in a row,' she said. '[Agencies] just put you at another hospital for the time this hospital won't take you.

'So you're still working, you're just not at that hospital, they send you somewhere else. It's just not sustainable, it's so unrealistic.

'They signed up thinking they could get in there and do 21 days. They're in seven or eight days and they're like 'oh my god, I have to have a night off',' Lunsford said.

The former pediatric oncology nurse said at first her survey asked nurses if they were having suicidal thoughts, but after distraught health workers began to reply that they were, Lunsford felt overwhelmed and responsible.

'How terrible would I feel if I found out that this person actually took their own life? I felt a huge level of responsibility. So we removed that question,' she said.

'I'm sure we probably have others, and I desperately hope these facilities are providing the appropriate mental health care.

'They just don't know if they can continue like this anymore. What I hear over and over again is the sense of hopelessness,' she said. 'That's really scary, when you see people starting to lose hope,' she said.

For more information visit holliblunurses.com
POPLAR RIDGE  Norbert was a humble farmer who lived life simply. He never forgot the past and loved to share stories, along with imparting his beliefs on nutrition with everyone in his presence. On Thursday evening April 2, 2020, Norberts body finally wore out from over 95 years of mostly hard work, letting his soul go to be with the Lord.

Norbert was born in Rose City, Michigan, September 21, 1924, the son of farmers. There he spent his first 5 years of his life, and often recalled memories of the large fish in the stream on the farm. When his father grew frustrated with the poor sandy soils of Northern Michigan, they moved to King Ferry, NY to rent a dairy farm on the fertile soils of Southern Cayuga County. Norbert attended a one room schoolhouse and later graduated from King Ferry Central School. In 1943 the family purchased the dairy farm on Poplar Ridge Road in the Town of Venice. There Norbert with his father milked a herd of Ayrshire cows, cash cropped beans and custom harvested for other farms. Shortly after high school Norbert briefly considered working in the greenhouse industry, after visiting a family member in Florida. He realized though his heart was really in working the home farm and especially working with cows. Eventually the herd was converted to Holsteins. Norberts fundamental approach to breeding and nutrition allowed him to develop cows that achieved production levels that were uncommon for that time. Receiving numerous recognitions and awards from Eastern AI Cooperative and Dairylea (now known as Dairy Farmers of America.) Norberts philosophy on cow nutrition carried over to his own nutrition and brought many vitamin and mineral supplements to line the kitchen counter and numerous lectures on what foods were bad for your health! Although cookies and ice cream daily were okay for everyone! When Norbert wasnt working, he was an avid bowler, bowling on teams for many years, developing friendships with men from all over the area. Norbert was active in Farm Bureau, served as a volunteer with the Poplar Ridge Fire Department and the Instant Aid Ambulance Service.

After many years as a bachelor, lifelong friends Ron and Elaine Colton decided to set up Norbert on a blind date with a school teacher from Union Springs. Soon after Patricia (Pat) became Norberts life partner for the next 52 years. Together they raised four children, providing them all the experiences most can only dream of living in the country on a farm. Surrounded by animals of all sorts (domestic and wild!) and experiencing all the ups and down of making a living on the farm and the long hours required. Norbert always made sure things were done to take care of his family and he never wavered on this ever, without complaint. When Norberts first grandchild was born, he said he didnt think hed live to see grandchildren. What he didnt know then was hed live to see 4 more grandchildren born, 2 of them graduate college, see an engagement ring on one and get to know her fiance. Norbert with Pat by his side raised four children to be good people with Faith in God, and taught them all the important stuff needed for a life well lived, that even reached into a second generation! Thank you, Norbert, Dad, Grandpa!

Norbert left behind his ever loving and dedicated wife of 52 years, Pat (Gans); son, John (Shawn) Schmitt, of Union Springs, NY; daughter, Laura Schmitt, of Irondequoit, NY; daughter, Donna (Coe) Ecker, of Oxford, GA; and daughter Barbara (Kevin) Ziemba, of Durhamville, NY; and grandchildren, Carriel Schmitt, Brianna Schmitt (fiance Carl Arce), Jacob Schmitt, Kamden Ecker, and Mason Ziemba. Norbert is now joined with his parents, Theodore and Laura Schmitt, sister Mary (Eddie) Maeder, and numerous dear friends and family members.

A memorial Catholic Mass will be held at a later date. With immediate family attending, Norbert was laid to rest on April 7, 2020 in Our Lady of the Lake Church Catholic Cemetery, where he was a parishioner since his family arrived in King Ferry.

Donations may be made in Norberts memory to Southern Cayuga Instant Aid, P.O. Box 7, Poplar Ridge, NY 13139.
Former Vice President Joe Biden extended his first major policy outreach to Bernie Sanders and his supporters since Sanders gave up his presidential bid  coming out for expanding Medicare eligibility to Americans 60 and over, and calling for new efforts to forgive student loans.

He laid out the policy prescriptions a day after Sanders announced he was suspending his presidential campaign  but will remain on the ballot in upcoming states to try to influence the direction of the party.

Sanders vigorously campaigned on 'Medicare for All' Americans and total forgiveness of student loan debt. While stopping short in both areas, Biden's proposals move in his direction.

Former Vice President Joe Biden Biden would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65 and provide for substantial student loan debt forgiveness, according to new plans he revealed Thursday

Biden unveiled plans to expand eligibility for Medicare and forgive college debt for millions of Americans in a Medium post, as the former vice president begins courting progressives whose support he will need against Donald Trump in November.

It came as a slew of polls show him leading the president. A new CNN poll has Biden leading Trump 53 to 42 as the president contends with the coronavirus crisis that now has 16 million Americans filing for unemployment. A Monmouth University poll has Biden up 48 to 44.

Biden leads in the last 13 polls tracked by the RealClearPolitics site, with an average lead of nearly 7 percentage points.

This image from video provided by the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign shows Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as he announces he is ending his presidential campaign Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Burlington, Vt. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is reaching out to Sanders supporters with new proposals on college debt and Medicare

Biden is seeking to woo supporters of left-wing candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren

Sanders is suspending his campaign but will remain on the ballot and accrue delegates

Biden referenced the coronavirus outbreak and issued a call for

Biden posted the proposals on Medium

It was the latest overture in a presidential campaign that has moved online with coronavirus making large rallies and even speeches out of the question for now.

Biden kicked off his post with a discussion of the coronavirus, then called for the nation to 'think big' about how to achieve a long-term recovery.

'Recovery will require long term changes to build a more inclusive and more resilient middle class, and a greener and more resilient economy. We have to think big  as big as the challenges we face. As we start to lay the groundwork for recovery, we have to build back better for the future,' he wrote.

Biden's swift move to shore up his left flank underscores the choice many progressives were left after Sanders abandoned his presidential bid: Side with the more centrist former vice president or keep up the fight and potentially lose the White House again.

As they weigh their options, activists are already working to push Biden to the left on key issues. And he is amenable to the idea because he will likely need them to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

Former President Barack Obama gave a possible hint recently when he tweeted out an interview about the coronavirus plans put together by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts early this year. Warren vied with Sanders for support on the party's left. Biden has said he will choose a woman as his running mate.

The first indication of just how much came when Biden announced he'd support expanding government-funded health insurance through Medicare to people 60 and older who opt out of health insurance sponsored by their employers - down from the current 65. Biden also said he'd back a plan to forgive student debt for many low- and middle-income borrowers.

Neither proposal goes as far as Sanders promised had he won the presidency. And they may not be enough to persuade supporters of the Vermont senator to embrace Biden.

'We can try all we want to use our leverage as a movement but, at the end of the day, I wouldnt expect anything coming from the establishment, the Biden campaign or the Democratic National Committee as a way to bring in the base,' said Nomiki Konst, a Sanders surrogate who worked on party reforms on his behalf. 'I think they want power - and I think they want money.'

Such sentiment could be a hurdle for a party desperate to defeat Trump. If Biden can't bridge the ideological divide, he risks heading into the fall with the same vulnerabilities as Hillary Clinton in 2016. But if he gives too much to progressives, he could be portrayed as a far-leftist, an argument the Trump campaign is already trying to make.

Despite Thursday's moves, Biden has signaled he's not willing to make major concessions, including embracing Medicare for All universal health insurance and the most sweeping Green New Deal policies to combat climate change.

Still, Biden has already embraced an overhaul of bankruptcy laws proposed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the other leading progressive, who ended her presidential bid last month.

RoseAnn Demoro, a close friend of Sanders and former head of the National Nurses United union, predicted Biden would make concessions on tuition-free college, labor and the environment, but not go as far as she and other activists wanted on health care. That leaves her unsure whether Sanders' supporters can be moved.

'The calculation is, this base has nowhere to go but Biden because of Trump,' she said. 'But if history teaches anything, a lot of the base sat it out last time.'

Demoro noted that, after 2016, many Sanders supporters knew he would try again for the presidency four years later. That seems unlikely going forward, potentially raising the profile of rising-star congressional progressives such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sanders, and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was a Warren backer.

Though he's suspended his campaign, Sanders' name will remain on the ballot in states that have not yet weighed in on the primary. He said Wednesday he still wants to collect delegates to influence the party platform.

Sanders and Warren have also notably stopped short of endorsing Biden for now.

Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, which backed Warren before shifting its support to Sanders when she dropped out, said Biden's goal is to rebuild the Obama coalition, which spanned generations, races and education levels. But he said Biden won't be able to do that without attracting the support of 'young people committed to real, progressive change' who were most enthusiastic about Sanders.

'The question is, will Joe Biden increase voter turnout, be able achieve significant levels of voter enthusiasm, be able to achieve significant levels of individual volunteerism and small dollar donations and the type of enthusiastic voter to voter communication,' Mitchell said. 'That is a political question that Joe Biden has to answer, and it cant be done simply through rhetorical flourishes.'

Jennifer Epps-Addison, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, which endorsed Sanders, said progressives 'are a real constituency' that Biden 'will have to earn the votes of.'

'Vote blue no matter what is absolutely not a winning electoral strategy,' Epps-Addison said. 'Biden has some real negatives.'

The movement's next leaders might focus on building bridges with moderates rather than burning them - an approach Warren and Ocasio-Cortez have more closely adopted than some top Sanders supporters.

'Progressives have done a very effective job of moving the mainstream of the party in a more progressive direction,' said Sean McElwee, founder of Data for Progress, a data and messaging organization. 'Many people in the Democratic Party have progressive sensibilities, and the way you win them over is you build relationships.'

Biden aides, meanwhile, began outreach to Sanders' camp to discuss policy weeks before the senator suspended his campaign. That included meeting with progressive leaders from at least two groups, the Sunrise Movement and March for Our Lives, who co-signed a letter Wednesday making certain demands of Biden if he hopes to win them over.

The former vice president himself, meanwhile, has had conversations with some of his former rivals - the kind of direct interactions that preceded his adopting Warrens bankruptcy proposals.

Larry Cohen, chairman of Our Revolution, the offshoot of Sanders 2016 campaign, said hed like to see the same kind of moves on other core issues for progressives. That could mean, instead of Biden building his 'public option' health insurance plan as something only individuals can buy into, he could structure it so employers could buy in with their employees.

Whatever the outcome, Cohen argued that activist groups must stay aligned to maintain leverage. 'The grassroots,' he said, 'has to reach out together.'

FILE - In this combination of file photos, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Del., on March 12, 2020, left, and President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on April 5, 2020. Barring unforeseen disaster, Biden will represent the Democratic Party against Trump this fall, the former vice president's place on the general election ballot cemented Wednesday, April 8, by Bernie Sanders' decision to end his campaign. (AP Photo)
Verizon said it was handling an average of 800 million wireless calls a day during the week, more than double the number made on Mothers Day, historically one of the busiest calling days of the year. Verizon added that the length of voice calls was up 33% from an average day before the outbreak. AT&T said that the number of cellular calls had risen 35% and that Wi-Fi-based calls had nearly doubled from averages in normal times.
By Aislinn Laing

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile will start handing out certificates to people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus that will exempt them from adhering to quarantines or other restrictions, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Health Minister Jaime Manalich said he hoped some of the 1,274 people identified as having recovered from COVID-19 - 21% of the total confirmed cases - would be able to help restart the local economy which has been paralysed since the virus was first confirmed in Chile at the start of March and successive lockdowns were announced.

"Those given a medical discharge certificate will be freed from all types of quarantine or restriction, specifically because they can help their communities enormously since they pose no risk," he said in a briefing at La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago.

Those who have recovered represented a population that was "immune" to the coronavirus and "incapable of transmitting it," he added.

The certificates will be handed out after the roll-out in Chile of rapid fingerprick tests to detect the presence of antibodies due to start within two weeks, he added.

The new tests aim to identify antibodies showing contact with the virus and whether the body has developed a defense against it. They are simpler than PCR swab tests on mucus used to confirm the virus itself, but some authorities have questioned their reliability.

Britain said this week it had provisionally ordered 17.5 million of the fast tests, but Health Minister Matt Hancock has said some of those in a trial work poorly, and that one test missed three out of four cases.

Uncertainty remains about relapses, with cases reported globally including South Korea of people testing positive after recovering.

Cristobal Cuadrado, a public health expert at the Universidad de Chile, said it was unconfirmed whether the antibodies tested for provided lasting immunity.

"If you want to confirm that someone is not infectious, you must ensure that they have at least one negative PCR test to be released from quarantine," he said on Twitter.

Story continues

Chile's government closed schools, malls and restaurants within days of the first confirmed cases and announced $14 billion worth of measures to mitigate its effect on vulnerable families, businesses and a growing number of jobless people.

To date Chile has 5,972 confirmed cases of the virus and there have been 57 deaths.

(Reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Richard Chang)
Married At First Sight's KC Osborne recently said that producers had encouraged her to go on a date with Jonethen Musulin - but the footage was never aired.

And while she insisted no couple swap ever happened, Jonethen claimed on Wednesday they had actually 'hooked up' three times after filming the experiment.

'We did end up hooking up after the show,' the 27-year-old FIFO worker said during an Instagram Q&A session.

Scroll down for video

What would Michael think? Married At First Sight's Jonethen Musulin (right) claims he had a secret fling with KC Osborne (left) after their dates on the show never made it to air

Jonethen was originally paired with Connie Crayden on Nine's social experiment, but they decided to break up at their final vows, which were filmed in December.

KC and her 'husband', Drew Brauer, agreed to stay together at the final vows, but split up weeks later.

Jonethen confirmed during his Q&A that he had indeed gone on a date with KC during filming at the producers' request.

'KC and I did go on a date on the show. It was good. We had fun. It was a breath of fresh air. Both of us weren't too happy in our relationships at that stage,' he said.

'It was good to go on a date with someone we got along with.'

Allegations: 'We did end up hooking up after the show,' the 27-year-old FIFO worker said during an Instagram Q&A session

Jonethen then revealed more details about his brief romance with KC, saying they had a 'couple of dates out[side] of the show'.

He said there 'were a couple in Sydney and one on the Gold Coast', where he lives.

'The rumours about KC and I hooking up while filming, we didn't hook up, we had a date. But we did end up hooking up after the show,' he boasted.

In response to Jonethen's claims, KC told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: 'I don't really need to give this much attention. I found my prince now.'

She was referring of course to her new boyfriend, Michael Goonan.

Exes: Jonethen was originally paired with Connie Crayden (left) on Nine's social experiment, but they decided to break up at their final vows, which were filmed in December

Didn't work out: KC and her 'husband', Drew Brauer (right), agreed to stay together at the final vows, but split up weeks later

Last week, KC said almost everyone went on dates with their co-stars while filming MAFS between September and December last year.

'It was set up by producers,' she added.

Fellow bride Natasha Spencer also told Daily Mail Australia last month producers had encouraged couple swapping in the final weeks of the experiment.

'KC and Jonny went on a date. They got partnered together and sent on a high-class date,' she said.

Jonethen and KC's fling was not addressed at the cast reunion, which was filmed on January 15.
Alabama has begun paying the additional $600 a week in unemployment benefits included in the $2 trillion economic stimulus package, with more than $40 million on the way to Alabamians out of work, the state Labor Department said Thursday.

The $2 trillion stimulus package included $600 extra per week in unemployment benefits, bringing the maximum payout to $875 a week in Alabama. The Alabama Department of Labor began making those payments Wednesday, according to state Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington.

We understand the frustration of many Alabamians who are out of work due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and we know that they need these benefits to stay afloat, Washington said. We are working as hard as we can to make sure that everyone gets the benefits they need as quickly as they can. We are one of the first states to begin distributing these funds. We continue to urge patience as the department works to implement this vital legislation.

Unemployed workers should expect to see those funds within the next two to three days, if not sooner, Washington said. The state paid $40,060,495 to 60,848 claimants on Wednesday.

Anyone receiving unemployment compensation is eligible for the extra $600 a week benefit, even those who are unemployed for non-COVID-19 reasons. The payments are being made for weeks being claimed beginning March 29 through July 25.

The payments are being made as 6.6 million more Americans filed unemployment benefits last week, bringing the three week total to 16.8 million, or 10 percent of the workforce, since the economy began experiencing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
A quarter of firms expect revenues to plummet by 90% in the next three months, while a fifth have already laid off their entire staff, according to a report by Chambers Ireland.

The national body for chambers of commerce around the country gauged the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past week, with stark findings among the 1,100 business surveyed.

Some 84% of businesses expect revenue to decline by in excess of 25% in the next three months, up from 73% in late March.

Approximately 25% of businesses expect their revenue to decline by more than 90% over the next three months/

More than 40% of businesses have closed entirely, and just under a third of businesses have closed the public facing offices and are now working from home. Of those that have closed, most expect to be closed for 12 weeks, the survey found.

Some 47% of businesses have laid off staff, with more than half of those laying off almost a third of staff. A fifth of all businesses have laid off their entire staff, the results showed.

Three-quarters of business owners believe that the two-month deferral of commercial rates payments will have little to no impact on their business prospects.

Most believe that it would need to be a six-month holiday to be of use, with a significant minority believing that the extension would need to be for 12 months.

In a near unanimous opinion, businesses believe that there will be a need for a post-pandemic economic stimulus package; a need for liquidity grants to businesses; and that the measures already introduced will need their timelines extended.

Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot said the results showed the gravity of the situation, particularly for many smaller businesses.

For those who have closed their operations entirely, most expect to remain closed for at least 12 weeks. Unfortunately, as were seeing in other countries, the period of closure is likely to be longer for some businesses.

Should this come to pass, an honest dialogue with the Government will be required regarding how the staff and employers who have lost their living will be supported.

We need action on a scale we have not seen before. The unprecedented nature of Covid-19 must be met with an unprecedented response. Measures already introduced, while critical in the first response to support business, will need to evolve in scale and scope.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is predicting the downturn will trigger the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva sad the crisis would hit emerging markets and developing countries hardest of all, which would then need hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid.

Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020, she said on Thursday in remarks prepared for delivery ahead of next weeks IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings.

Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.

If the pandemic faded in the second half of the year, the IMF expected a partial recovery in 2021, Georgieva said, but she warned the situation could also get worse.

-Additional reporting REUTERS
Count of known COVID-19 cases

Numbers updated at 4:25 p.m. April 9

Missouri: 77 deaths, 3,539 known cases. At least 67 people in the St. Louis region with COVID-19 have died. Local officials report 1,337 cases in St. Louis County and 514 in St. Louis. There were 317 reported cases in St. Charles County.

Illinois: 528 deaths, 16,422 confirmed cases. Cases include 115 in St. Clair County, 99 in Madison County and 32 in Monroe County, according to local health departments.

National: At least 450,682 people across the country have tested positive for COVID-19, according to The New York Times database. At least 16,231 patients with the virus have died.

Worldwide: There have been 1,439,516 cases worldwide, and 85,711 confirmed deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Dileep V Kumar By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Foreseeing a long battle against Covid-19, the state may soon advise all people to wear cotton facemasks while going out. Healthcare workers, patients, people with breathing difficulty or those with any difficulty in removing masks without assistance will be exempted from wearing reusable cotton masks.TNIE had earlier reported that the health department has prepared a document on the use of cotton masks and might ask all to wear reusable facemasks as part of breaking the chain of transmission.

The focus is on stopping the spread of the virus through respiratory droplets, as even an asymptomatic person could potentially be a SARS-CoV2 (coronavirus) carrier. As per an international study, a layer of cloth in front of a persons face is enough to stop 99 per cent of the droplets from falling on others. But there is no need to buy medical/surgical masks. They are for healthcare workers, said a health department official.At the same time, the document stresses on the need to continue social distancing, and hand and respiratory hygiene practices as the cotton facemasks provide only marginal level protection from the infection.

Cloth masks should be made with at least two layers of 100 per cent cotton cloth. It should be breathable. It should cover the mouth and nose completely, fit tightly and comfortably against the side of the face, the document says. According to a senior officer at the department, it will very soon kick-start a campaign to create awareness among people on the need to wear facemasks and how to make cloth masks at home. To meet the possible spike in demand, self-help groups and Kudumbasrhee workers will also be roped in.
Attempts to boost the number of ventilators and coronavirus tests have stalled, new figures show  even as the UK threatens to overtake Italys worst daily death toll.

Just 16,094 tests were carried out on Tuesday, including 3,680 on NHS staff and their families, around the same figure as on Sunday and far short of the pledge of 100,000 in just three weeks time.

And the NHS still has only 11,500 ventilators, including 1.500 on order, Downing Street said  way below the 18,000 Matt Hancock said were needed for the coronavirus peak.

However, a No 10 spokesman dismissed suggestions of problems looming, insisting: The target remains very firmly to achieve 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month.

On the situation on hospital wards, he said: We continue to have spare critical care beds and ventilators.

The position was revealed as Downing Street said Boris Johnson continues to improve while still receiving oxygen in intensive care  but declined to say if he has been in contact with anyone other than hospital staff.

For the first time, No 10 said the near-certain decision to extend the lockdown would be taken without him, led by Dominic Raab instead.

The prime minister is not working, we are very clear on that. He has asked the first secretary of state to deputise for him, the spokesman said.

It will be first secretary of state who leads the Cobra meeting today and the first secretary of state who will lead any cabinet decision-making process.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

The comments came as Downing Street rebuffed Keir Starmers call for it to publish an exit strategy from the crisis, as a longer lockdown looms.

Work is of course underway, but what we should be focused on now is stopping the spread of the disease while building up the capacity of the NHS, because that is the way to save lives, the spokesman said.

And he played down suggestions of extra lockdown powers, requested by some police forces fearing public disobedience over the long, sunny Easter weekend.

For now, our process is on ensuing the steps we have in place are properly enforced, he said.

However, No 10 threw its weight behind the Northamptonshire chief constable, who suggested roadblocks  and even searches of shopping trolleys  might be necessary to keep people in check.

We have given them a job to do and they will use their own discretion as to how best they do that job, the spokesman said, when asked if roadblocks and trolley searches were acceptable.

The police have our full backing ... that is the nature of policing in the United Kingdom.

Mr Raab was preparing to chair a Cobra meeting to agree a common approach to the lockdown, as Wales and Scotland push hard for an extension  beyond next weeks expiry date  to be confirmed now.

The spokesman said he was not contradicting Nicola Sturgeons warning that there is no possibility of any relaxation of restrictions at this point.

Ministers are braced for the daily death toll to breach the 1,000 mark today. The figure was 938 on Wednesday  only just short of the peak of 969 in Italy at the height of its pandemic.
WHO Chief Warns Politicizing Coronavirus Crisis Could Lead to More 'Body Bags'

By VOA News April 08, 2020

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned countries Wednesday that politicizing the global coronavirus crisis could lead to more deaths after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized WHO and threatened to cut off funding for the international public health organization.

In response to the criticism at a news conference in Geneva, Tedros urged countries to avoid politicizing the pandemic "if you don't want to have more body bags."

"Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences," Tedros added.

Trump, who has been widely criticized for not reacting more swiftly and aggressively to combat the spread of the virus in the U.S., tweeted Tuesday that "the WHO really blew it" and charged the organization with being "very China centric." He also said he would consider cutting off millions in U.S. aid to WHO.

More than 13,000 deaths have been reported in the U.S. as of Wednesday, trailing only Italy and Spain, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.

In New York state, the coronavirus hot spot in the U.S., 779 deaths were reported Wednesday, the state's highest one-day death toll to date. But Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Wednesday that social distancing seemed to be working as the number of hospitalized patients has decreased in recent days.

In the United Kingdom, a British official said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in stable condition Wednesday after spending a second night in the intensive care unit at a London hospital for coronavirus disease treatment.

Junior Health Minister Edward Argar said Johnson was "comfortable and in good spirits."

The prime minister has been hospitalized since Sunday after his symptoms persisted during a period of self-isolation following his positive coronavirus test.

Britain, which has been under lockdown orders for about two weeks, has about 56,000 confirmed coronavirus cases with 6,100 deaths.

South Korea has not followed many other countries in instituting strict stay-at-home measures but has had success in greatly reducing its number of new virus transmissions with calls for social distancing and closing schools.

The government announced 53 new cases Wednesday, keeping intact a string of similar levels this week.

There have been concerns about the possibility for greater infection numbers in the capital, Seoul, and on Wednesday the city's mayor announced the closure of bars and night clubs.

South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also announced the suspension of visa-free entries for people coming from countries that currently ban entry to South Korean nationals, as well as rules for denying entry to foreigners traveling for non-urgent reasons.

Meanwhile, Norway is joining Austria and Denmark with plans to begin loosening lockdown restrictions.

The government plans to reopen kindergartens on April 20, with other students set to go back to their schools a week later. Norway has about 5,900 confirmed cases.

The World Health Organization's Europe director cautioned Wednesday against prematurely relaxing measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.

"It is the time to once again double and triple our collective efforts to drive towards suppression with the whole support of society," Hans Kluge told reporters.

In Vatican City, Pope Francis spoke against those who would seek to profit off the pandemic, offering prayers to "convert their hearts."

While officials in some parts of the United States have pointed to potential signs of hope that rates of infections are slowing, leaders such as New York's Cuomo say now is not the time to let up on lockdown measures that have helped.

The United States has about 400,000 confirmed cases, more than double the number found in any other nation.

Germany on Wednesday became the fifth country to cross 100,000 cases, joining the U.S., Spain, Italy and France.

The novel coronavirus was first found in China, with the majority of infections there taking place in Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. That prompted a strict lockdown for about three months until the number of locally transmitted cases subsided.

Tens of thousands of people took to roads, rails and air Wednesday as they finally got government permission to leave Wuhan, provided a mandatory smartphone app shows they are healthy and have not had recent contact with anyone who has the coronavirus.

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Pastor David Dale had to call the sheriff to get a clear explanation of how the new rules restricting public gatherings would affect his church. The Methodist congregation had transitioned from its building to a drive-in theater, but now there was a question whether that was okay.

This new order prohibits any activity at movie theaters, Dale said as he hung up the phone. I think that shuts down the drive-in.

The Centre, Alabama, congregation is among scores across the country that moved to parking lots and drive-ins to comply with restrictions put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus.

From Michigan to Texas, Wisconsin to California, and New Jersey to North Carolina, Christians have revived this 1950s fad as a way to gather without getting physically close enough to infect each other. They stay in their own cars, honk their amens, and listen to sermons on the radios.

But as more states moved to safer-at-home and stay-at-home orders, the revival of drive-in churches raised questions. Emergency orders vary by state and even by county. They sometimes change overnight, as local leaders work with public health experts to determine what constitutes a public gathering and what kinds of activities should be exempt. Several states have had political fights over whether or not religious gatherings should be defined as essential.

And even when the guidelines are set, elected officials, public health officials, law enforcement officers, and pastors dont always agree on how to interpret them. Drive-in churches have become a kind of public hermeneutic problem, negotiated in the lead-up to Easter.

Days before the holiday, the owner of a Kentucky drive-in theater that planned to host seven churches for worship on Easter Sunday still didnt know whether they would be allowed to gather.

The judge deferred the decision to the county health department, which was waiting for guidance from the state health department.

Were hopeful that itll get to happen but at the same time we are not in any way going to be defiant against government regulations, the drive-in owner told the local ABC news affiliate. Our lot by design could hold up to 450 cars so were restricting each service to no more than 200 cars, so that allows plenty of room to space out. At least six feet apart, probably a little more.

In Oklahoma, a nondenominational church got approval from the Tulsa Health Department to hold a service at a local drive-in. Pastor Tom Dillingham was going to preach from the back of a flatbed truck, a small transistor broadcasting the sermon to car radios. Then the mayor announced new rules, which the police department said would not allow the service.

In Georgia, the governors office gave its okay to drive-in worship. A spokesperson said the governor has encouraged religious institutions to move to online services and to strictly adhere to social distancing, but no state level mandate would preclude those organizations from holding a drive-in church. But a Georgia Department of Public Health official had a different message for drive-in churches: Stop.

In Texas, a judge in one county strongly encouraged drive-in churches. In another, a judge said they were not allowed at all.

There are some churches defying the stay-at-home orders, and invoking religious liberty arguments to do it. The new drive-in churches, however, seem to be trying to comply, but unsure whether they are meeting the latest guidelines or not.

In Nebraska, the governor and public health department officially approved drive-in services, but then circled back with some restrictions. Windows had to remain rolled up. No palm fronds could be passed out for Palm Sunday; no Communion for Easter.

Some people  dont want to go months and months and not have that supper, said Bryan Drebes, a Lutheran minister in Omaha. Last Sunday, people were really emotional.

In Alabama, the official newspaper of the states Southern Baptist churches said it received countless requests for guidance on the proper interpretation of the governors order. Last week, The Alabama Baptist reported it had discovered there is no absolute yes or no. Pastors were advised to check with their county sheriff.

David Dale felt like God prompted him to do a drive-in service. He told his local paper he was sitting on his couch when he thought about the owner of the local drive-in theater.

The Lord told me to get up and go over and ask him if we could do it, Dale said. He said, Yes, lets do it and see what happens. He wouldnt let us pay him anything.

The first service was a success, with about 80100 people, even though it had only been announced the day before. There was a small banda keyboard and guitarand a sermon short enough that no one would have to use the bathroom.

When the governors office issued updated guidelines around public gatherings, he called the sheriff to see what was allowed. The decision came as a disappointment, but he still sees God at work.

Theres a Scripture, A man makes his plans, but the purpose of the Lord prevails. We live deep in plans and not in purpose, Dale said. Find out what is stable, what is constant, what lasts, connect and live your life based on that. I believe there is a God who created everything we see, and he loves us. Life is about knowing that.

This week, hell preach that message online.
Fiona Phillips has been seen for the first time since revealing she had contracted coronavirus two weeks ago.

The broadcaster, 59, appeared to have made a full recovery as she stepped out in London on Thursday, having self-isolated for 14 days for fear of spreading the highly-contagious COVID-19 virus.

The TV personality had spoken publicly about her health troubles, detailing her symptoms including an 'annoying dry cough, aches, pains, lethargy and a whole-body-sized cloak of sweat'.

Back to health: Fiona Phillips has been seen for the first time since revealing she had contracted coronavirus two weeks ago, stepping out in London on Thursday

Last month, Fiona became one of the first media personalities to reveal she was suffering from coronavirus.

She wrote in a column for The Mirror that the 'unwelcome bed partner' has brought with it 'a whole-body-sized cloak of sweat' and 'scratchy gut pain'.

The star revealed: 'Having come bearing gifts such as a fiery sore throat, high temperature/fever, shortness of breath, annoying dry cough, aches, pains, lethargy and a whole-body-sized cloak of sweat  nice  Ill be doing my best to make sure [COVID-19] doesn't stay too long either.'

She recounted: 'The first sign of the nasty bugs generosity was about a week ago, in the form of a horrible, sort of scratchy gut pain that made me feel full, from my throat, right down through my whole digestive system.

Health battle: Last month, Fiona became one of the first media personalities to reveal she was suffering from coronavirus

Self-isolation: The broadcaster, 59, appeared to have made a full recovery, having self-isolated for 14 days for fear of spreading the highly-contagious COVID-19 virus

'It kept me awake all night  it was as if a witch had shoved her twiggy broom up into my alimentary canal and on into my throat, left it there and had then intermittently twisted it.'

Fiona also used the opportunity to take a swipe at 'those selfish, greedy, Im alright Jack, toilet roll snatchers' - as the outbreak has seen panic-buying sweep the nation - and the world.

She first revealed she had coronavirus on March 20 after suffering a 'sore throat, dry cough and headache'.

The former GMTV host took to Twitter to share the news as she described the illness as 'not very pleasant'.

Making it public: The former GMTV host took to Twitter to share the news on March 20 as she urged her fans not to panic

Sharing the news on Twitter on Friday, Fiona wrote: 'I am in bed with #coronvirusuk It's not a very pleasant bedfellow, but nothing more than sore throat, dry cough, headache & tiredness. As long as it stays that way....DON'T panic!'

Fiona, who is married to This Morning editor Martin Frizell, was quick to reassure fans that she wasn't in too much distress despite her diagnosis - something that clearly changed as the weekend went on.

Replying to a concerned follower asking if she was 'suffering', she said: 'I'm not suffering. It's fine. Thanks for asking.'

Meanwhile, her former GMTV co-host Eamonn Holmes, 60, shared a message of support, writing: 'Get well soon Miss Fiona. Keep us posted x.' (sic)

Fiona is best know for presenting GMTV and has regularly guest hosted Lorraine.

In 2005, she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing where she was paired with Brendan Cole. They were eliminated in week four.

Fiona joins a host of stars who have recovered after confirming they had tested positive for COVID-19.

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first Hollywood couple to reveal they had coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia, but have since made a recovery.

The Forrest Gump actor and his wife, both 63, announced the positive test results earlier this month on Instagram urging the public to 'take care'.

Support: Meanwhile, her former GMTV co-host Eamonn Holmes, 60, shared a message of support, writing - 'Get well soon Miss Fiona. Keep us posted x' (sic)

Host: Fiona is best know for presenting GMTV and has regularly guest presented Lorraine (pictured in 1999 with Eamonn Holmes with Esther McVey)

Hanks revealed they had experienced symptoms including the common cold, body aches and chills before they decided to get tested.

Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into self isolation - but the pair have also since recovered.

The Luther star, 47, had attended the WE Day UK Charity event and concert in London on Tuesday March 4 with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Sophie announced she tested positive for the virus and went into self-quarantine.

Bond girl Olga Kurylenko also revealed she had recovered after announcing she had tested positive for coronavirus.

At the time of writing, 60,733 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the UK and there have been 7,097 deaths

Recovered: Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first stars to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus during a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia

Taken ill: Days later, Idris Elba revealed he too had contracted the virus and that he and wife Sabrina had gone into-self isolation. He suffered no symptoms, and has since emerged from quarantine
Approximately 850 Pennsylvania Guard members are supporting operations throughout the state to fight the coronavirus pandemic. These initiatives include supporting a community testing site in Montgomery County, supporting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and setting up a FEMA Medical Station in Glen Mills.

The process to call-up the Guard in Pennsylvania is no different than during other domestic support operations.

As with a snowstorm or flood in Pennsylvania, our orders to support missions come from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, with the approval of the Adjutant General, Col. Frank Montgomery, director of domestic operations for the Pennsylvania National Guard, said.

The process explained by Major Ed Wallace, an emergency preparedness liaison officer who works out of PEMAs headquarters, is straightforward.

If a county or a Pennsylvania state agency needs assistance, like help setting up a testing site, for instance, the county emergency operations center places a request with PEMA," Wallace said. PEMA processes the request and determines what entity is best suited for the mission. If PEMA determines the best entity is the Pennsylvania National Guard, they call us and we begin working on how to meet the mission. At times working in coordination with PEMA, FEMA may be involved as well.

PEMA processes the request and determines what entity is best suited for the mission," he continued. "If PEMA determines the best entity is the Pennsylvania National Guard, they call us and we begin working on how to meet the mission. At times working in coordination with PEMA, FEMA may be involved as well.

After PEMA tasks the Pennsylvania National Guard, the joint operations center at Fort Indiantown Gap looks at the units within the Pennsylvania National Guard to determine what unit or task force is best suited to meet the mission. The Adjutant General of Pennsylvania maintains command and control of the Guard at all times.

We have a large National Guard here in Pennsylvania [approximately 19,000 National Guard members], explained Lt. Col. Pete Mielo, the operations officer for domestic operations. So, we can look statewide and see what unit has the functionality needed, or what unit is geographically closest. Like in the case of supporting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, it made sense to have Task Force West, who is geographically located near Pittsburgh to handle the mission. They have done an outstanding job.

During domestic operations, the Pennsylvania National Guard is separated into geographic task forces and functional task forces. The geographic task forces are known as Task Forces North, South and West and functional task forces are Task Forces Aviation and Support.

The National Guard cannot be activated by calling 9-1-1 or calling the local Guard armory directly, Wallace said.

You cannot activate the Pennsylvania National Guard by calling us directly," he said. "Requests must come through an approving authority like PEMA.

The Pennsylvania National Guard operates similarly to the other 53 National Guards located each state and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. News about the overall National Guard response may be found on the National Guard website: https://www.nationalguard.mil/coronavirus/

The Pennsylvania Guard is one of the largest and most deployed National Guards in the nation and headquartered at Fort Indiantown Gap. In addition to its federal mission, the Pennsylvania National Guard responds to domestic emergencies, working with the PEMA, FEMA, U.S. Northern Command and dozens of federal, state and local agencies. The Guard maintains a joint operations center at Fort Indiantown Gap staffed by Pennsylvania Guard members 24/7 that support its domestic mission.

Content provided by Lt. Col. Angela King-Sweigart, Joint Force Headquarters, Pennsylvania National Guard
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's economy could shrink by up to 6% this year and the country faces the "darkest chapter in its economic history" due to damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen said on Thursday.

The government proposes offering loans to small and medium size businesses worth up to 35 billion Danish crowns ($5.10 billion) by refunding VAT payments made in March.

The extra liquidity would come on top of already announced economic support measures to businesses worth 287 billion crowns, including direct aid packages that will cost the state more than 60 billion crowns.

"We are facing a hard hit to the Danish economy," Wammen said at a news conference. "The second quarter of this year is likely to be one of the darkest chapters in Denmark's economic history."

He said the Danish economy could shrink by between 3% and 6% this year, down from 2.4% growth last year.

Last week the Danish central bank forecast a contraction of between 3% and 10% this year, depending on the depth and length of the crisis, with its main scenario being a 5% contraction.

The minister said the economic recovery in Denmark would need "long-term" and "wise" government investments, and said this was a unique opportunity to make it a 'green' recovery.

Denmark, the cradle of wind power, is viewed as a pioneer with regards to climate change in particular its ambitious target of a 70% greenhouse gas reduction by 2030.

"We face a climate challenge, which hasn't disappeared because the coronavirus has hit us," Wammen said.

"As we lift our climate ambitions, we also support Danish jobs and business. We need to seize that opportunity," he said, adding renovation of social housing and improvement of infrastructure as possible other investments.

Denmark, which was one of the first European countries to announce a lockdown, has reported 218 coronavirus-related deaths, but has seen the number of hospitalizations of corona patients fall over the past week.

On Monday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said day care centres and schools will begin reopening next week as the first step in a gradual relaxation of the lockdown.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by David Holmes and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Representative image

Registering about 60 percent of Maharashtra's 1,000+ coronavirus cases, India's financial capital Mumbai has emerged as one of the hotspots in the country. According to officials from the city's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the number of cases in the city, and its everyday increase, is the result of rapid and constant testing.

"The rise in the cases is seen because... vigorous contact tracing efforts by the health teams of the MCGM and all high-risk contacts are given timely attention and tested," the BMC said in its daily report on the number of cases and deaths in the city on April 7, a day when the city reported 100 new cases.

"... The spike in cases is being seen as we chase each case with contact tracing, testing and isolation carriers," Worli legislator and a minister in the state government, Aaditya Thackeray, said in a tweet. Thackeray's constituency, falling under the G-South ward, has seen the most cases in Mumbai, with a spike of 133 cases over the course of past 24 hours itself.

Image: BMC

BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi reasoned that the sudden spike might also be due to passengers from countries like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) not being put on the quarantine list.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"Around 60 percent of flyers came in from countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and since they were not on the list and did not show any symptoms at the time of arrival, they were let go," the commissioner told The Economic Times.

Follow our LIVE Updates here.

But it's not just that or the increase in contact tracing. A civic body official in the K-East ward, encompassing areas of Andheri (East) up until Aarey Colony in suburban Mumbai, said crowding around places selling essential services too has been a problem.

"This is the reason why we have stopped the selling of vegetables and fruits in containment zones, because despite telling people that even as you step out to buy these essential commodities, it is important to maintain distance, that was not being done," the official, who did not wished to be named, said.

Officials said it is measures such as these, among others, that the city is now adopting to contain the spread of the virus. At this point, the BMC has declared 241 areas as containment zones. But the focus, Pardeshi told Hindustan Times, is going to be aggressive testing.

"I have now authorised ward officers to engage private laboratories to conduct tests, because government laboratories are going to be overburdened. If a ward officer feels testing on a large scale is needed in any area in his ward, say for example where a Covid-19 positive patient has been found, the BMC will subsidise private lab tests the ward suggests," Pardeshi told the newspaper.

The civic body has also now started using hydroxycloroquine tablets for those on the front lines, and Pardeshi said they are also working to procure rapid antibody detection test for 5,000 health care workers.

"Though these tests cannot affirm if a person is COVID-19 positive or not, what they do affirm is the presence of antibodies, which helps us understand who will be able to face the viral attack," Pardeshi told The Indian Express.

Depending on the results, the BMC will then divide its staff into two: those who test positive for the antibody will work at four COVID-19 hospitals while the others will be given administrative duties.

The civic body has also started airlifting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for its staff from a unit in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. According to HT, BMC's target is to procure 35,000 PPEs per week for its medical workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation on Thursday with Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and assured that India stands in solidarity with its friends in Africa during the health crisis created by COVID-19.

According to a PMO release, the two leaders discussed the health and economic challenges arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Prime Minister assured President Museveni that India stands in solidarity with its friends in Africa during the present health crisis and would extend all possible support to the Ugandan government's efforts to control the spread of the virus in its territory," the release said.

He expressed his appreciation for the goodwill and care extended to the Indian diaspora in Uganda by its government and society.

Prime Minister Modi recalled his visit to Uganda in July 2018 and touched on the special nature of India-Uganda ties.

Both leaders shared the hope that the world would soon prevail over the challenge posed by COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In what may be the first in a long line of COVID-19 related lawsuits, a South Jersey hairstylist is suing her employer for allegedly withholding pay from more than 100 employees after salons across the country closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nicole Olsen, who has worked at Hair Cuttery since 1994, claims that Ratner Companies hasnt paid any employees for working between March 15 and March 21, according to the class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.

On March 19, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the closure of salons and barber shops to continue mitigating the spread of coronavirus, following suit with indoor malls, schools and casinos.

The Virginia-based company, which also owns other haircare brands BUBBLES Salon and Cibo, officially suspended operations at its nearly 1,000 retail stores in 16 states around March 21, the lawsuit states.

Olsen, who worked some days between March 15 and March 21, and was told that she would receive her pay on April 7, the suit claims. But as the company ceased operations, employees received conflicting information regarding how and when they would be paid, the lawsuit continues.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

At first, workers were told they would be paid for the hours worked, and accrued paid time off days could be used to make up for days the store didnt open, but employees were then told they cant use paid time off, according to the suit.

On April 3, owners Phil Horvath and Dennis Ratner allegedly released a video to employees, explaining they wouldnt be paid for hours worked between March 15 and March 21. They said they were waiting for federal funding, and intend to pay employees once that money comes through or the stores reopen, the suit said.

The lawsuit says more than 100 employees never received their paycheck. Similar accounts have been reported in Florida and Virginia.

Ratner companies did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Working men and women across the country are concerned about how they will make ends meet while we wait for the economy to return to business as usual, Adam Malamut, who is representing Olsen, said in a statement. The idea we can climb out of this crisis on the back of working men and women is completely unfair, unjust, and as alleged by our client, illegal under Federal and State law.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 00:42:58|Editor: huaxia

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Medics from Guangdong deployed to Jingzhou, Hubei, to help fight COVID-19 have been there for nearly two months. Check out their heroic stories...
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Miami, April 9, 2020  Haitian authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the assault on a group of journalists at the National Identification Office in Port-au-Prince, the capital, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

At about 11:00 a.m. on April 2, several unidentified men punched and hit a group of eight reporters at the National Identification Office, a government department that manages citizens identification cards, while they were investigating claims that the office was violating COVID-19 guidelines by keeping applicants in close quarters, according to news reports and Robest Dimanche, one of the journalists, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

Some of the attackers were wearing t-shirts identifying them as personnel from the National Identification Office, and others were wearing shirts identifying them as employees of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, according to a complaint filed by the journalists to the public prosecutors office, which CPJ reviewed.

Haitian authorities should conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into the assaults of Robest Dimache and other journalists at the National Identification Office, and hold those responsible to account, said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick in New York. Journalists should be free to cover COVID-19 and local authorities handling of the pandemic without fear that they will be assaulted.

Dimanche, a reporter for the privately owned Radio Tele Zenith broadcaster, said that the attack started when the journalists began taking pictures of crowds gathered in the office. He said the assailants beat the journalists until an officer with the Haitian National Police Western Departmental Direction escorted the reporters out of the building.

Dimanche said that a man punched him several times in the face and hit him on his body. He went to the Hopital de lUniversite dEtat DHaiti following the attack, where he was treated for bruises on his jaw, neck, and back, according to Dimanche and medical certificates issued by the hospital, which CPJ reviewed. He said he took medical leave from his work due to his injuries.

The certificates stated that one of the other journalists was treated for bruises on their body, arm, and back. All of the journalists were reporters at digital outlets, Dimanche said.

CPJ called the National Identification Office at the numbers on its official website, but none of those numbers were in service.
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SALEM, Ore.-- Gov. Kate Brown announced Wednesday that all of Oregon's schools will remain closed through the end of the school year.

All public school students will finish their coursework remotely through the Distance Learning for All program launched by the Oregon Department of Education.

"Nothing can replace the in-person schooling experience, and we should not expect that remote learning can replicate the traditional school day," ODE said in a statement to superintendents and principals.

ODE has also issued a guide for seniors to help them on their way to graduating in these unusual times. To find out more, click here.

Recently Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee announced they will keep their schools closed through the end of June.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 15:15:43|Editor: huaxia

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SHIJIAZHUANG, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of migratory birds have made stopovers in a national wetland park in north China's Hebei Province as they flock north.

The Shandianhe National Wetland Park, in the county of Guyuan, has seen more than 5,000 migratory birds, the biggest number in recent years, according to the park staff.

Some of the birds have tags around their feet, and a bird expert said the birds come from Mongolia.

"They fly to Poyang Lake every year to get through the winter and go back when the temperature rises in the north," said Guo Yuming, a professor with Beijing Forestry University.

The Shandianhe National Wetland Park covers an area of about 4,120 hectares and consists of rivers, lakes, intertidal zones and artificial ponds.

As the environment keeps improving in the wetland and food abounds, more migratory birds rest there during migration.
Ratepayers will pay more than the $1500-a-fortnight JobKeeper allowance to keep out-of-work council staff employed in a union deal with the suffering local government sector following the absence of federal funding.

The opt-in draft award will see council workers, who cannot be suitably redeployed while services are shut during the COVID-19 crisis, paid up to four weeks' special leave, then more than $850 a week for up to three months in an arrangement one administrator said would result in other vital council services being slashed.

Council staff do not qualify for the federal government's JobKeeper package. Credit:Glen McCurtayne

Local Government NSW president Linda Scott said the lack of federal support meant her organisation had "worked hard with local government unions to develop a way forward, focusing on keeping as many essential services running for our communities as we can."

"By blocking the local government workforce access to the JobKeeper allowance, the Prime Minister has actively disadvantaged communities and the support local governments can provide to them," Cr Scott said.
A brown dwarf, left, and Jupiter, right. The artist's conception of the brown dwarf illustrates the magnetic field and top of the atmosphere, which were observed at different wavelengths to determine wind speeds in a new study.

Brown dwarf winds blow hard.

For the first time ever, astronomers have measured wind speed on a brown dwarf , or "failed star," an object heftier than a planet but not massive enough to host the fusion reactions that power stars.

That speed, a new study reports, is around 1,450 mph (2,330 km/h)  more than four times faster than any gust we experience here on Earth. (The terrestrial record is 318 mph , or 512 km/h, set in 1999 by a tornado in Oklahoma.)

Related: Photos: most powerful storms of the solar system

The research team studied a brown dwarf called 2MASS J10475385+2124234, which is about 40 times more massive than Jupiter and lies 34 light-years from Earth. The scientists employed a novel strategy that was inspired by previous observations of Jupiter.

"We noted that the rotation period of Jupiter as determined by radio observations is different from the rotation period determined by observations at visible and infrared wavelengths," study lead author Katelyn Allers, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

That's because the radio emissions are coming from electrons interacting with Jupiter's magnetic field, which is rooted deep in the planet's interior, she explained. The visible and infrared (IR) data, on the other hand, reveal what's happening in the gas giant's cloud tops.

The difference between the two rotation rates therefore provides a measurement of wind speed in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. And it should be possible to gather similar data for brown dwarfs, which are like scaled-up gas giants, the team reasoned.

"When we realized this, we were surprised that no one else had already done it," Allers said.

So Allers and her colleagues did it.

They gathered radio data on 2MASS J10475385+2124234 in 2018 using the Very Large Array telescope network in New Mexico. And they got the IR observations in 2017 and 2018 with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which tracked the movement of a long-lived feature through the brown dwarf's upper atmosphere. (The researchers also studied a second brown dwarf, called WISE J112254.73+ 255021.5, but were unable to get the requisite IR information for that one.)

The data revealed that prevailing winds on 2MASS J10475385+2124234 flow east to west at roughly 1,450 mph, plus or minus 690 mph (1,110 km/h). That's considerably faster than the average winds in Jupiter's upper atmosphere, which zoom along at about 250 mph (400 km/h), the researchers said.

Such a disparity is to be expected. After all, the brown dwarf is significantly warmer, and thus more energetic, than Jupiter. 2MASS J10475385+2124234 has an estimated temperature of 1,124 degrees Fahrenheit (607 degrees Celsius), whereas Jupiter's cloud tops are a frosty minus 230 F (minus 145 C).

The new results should help astronomers learn more about the complex dynamics of brown dwarf atmospheres, which are poorly understood. After all, researchers now have an actual wind-speed number, rather than a mere estimate, to plug into their models.

"If you know how fast the wind speed is, you actually can get a pretty good handle on whether the atmosphere is dominated by banding or by circular storms," study co-author Johanna Vos, a postgraduate researcher at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, told Space.com.

Related: The Spitzer Space Telescope's greatest exoplanet discoveries

And applications of the new study, which was published online today (April 9) in the journal Science , go beyond brown dwarf research, both Allers and Vos said.

"The next step is to do this for an exoplanet orbiting a star," Vos said. "It's kind of opened up new possibilities, and I find that really exciting."

But not every exoplanet is open to this line of inquiry, she added; astronomers will have to content themselves with relatively cool gas giants that can be directly imaged, at least for the foreseeable future. (The technique won't work with "hot Jupiters," gas giants that orbit very close to their stars, Vos said. These planets are tidally locked, always showing their host stars the same face, making it difficult if not impossible to track large-scale atmospheric movement.)

And such work cannot be done with Spitzer anymore, because NASA recently retired the workhorse space telescope . It will be tough for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to pick up the slack, Vos said; Hubble orbits Earth and therefore doesn't make the required lengthy, uninterrupted observations of distant targets. (Spitzer circled the sun in an Earth-trailing orbit.)

"I think JWST will be our next opportunity to do this," Vos said, referring to NASA's $9.7 billion James Webb Space Telescope , which is scheduled to launch next year.

Many other researchers will be champing at the bit to use the powerful, flexible JWST once it comes online, so it may be tough to secure the requisite 20 or so consecutive hours on the scope, Vos said.

"We're still going to ask for it," she said. "We'll have to see."

Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook .
One of the coronavirus tests as it is about to be shipped to Physicians Group Laboratories
Andrew Peddie. Around half the trail was off road. Snacks left out for riders by trail angels.

Andrew Peddie of Manly looks back on the mountain bike ride that took him from Cape Reinga to Bluff in 184 hours as a physical, mental and spiritual journey.

It also put him, and around 1000 other riders who took on this years Tour Aotearoa Brevet, in a unique, Covid-free bubble.

The Tour Aotearoa route was designed by Jonathan Kennett to highlight the best New Zealand Cycle Trail Great Rides, Heartland Rides, and quiet back country roads.

A Tour Aotearoa Brevet event has been organised every two years since 2016. The event sees waves of 100 people per day depart from Cape Reinga from mid-February to early March. Riders wear GPS trackers and are supposed to take no more than 30 days to finish in Bluff.

When Andrew was dropped off at Cape Reinga, early in February, Covid-19 was a term no one had heard. By the time he flew back from Invercargill, 28 days later, no one was talking of anything else. Staying in campgrounds and hostels, often with no internet access, Andrew and the people he rode with, were unaware of the scale and speed of what was happening with the virus. Eventually, around 200 had to pull out early to get home. Andrew was among the last to complete the Brevet and only just got back to the Coast before the lockdown.

The 57-year-old teacher aide doesnt like talking about the numbers but, for the record, the ride is 3045km, and rarely traverses a highway. Riders are only on roads about half the time and most are secondary roads. The rest is made up of shingle and single track.

Andrew averaged 110-120km every day, over 7-9 hours; he says sometimes just getting on the bike every morning was the hardest part.

On the first day I was riding into a 30 knot headwind, flying sand and heat on 90 Mile Beach and I was thinking I didnt know if I could do it, Andrew says. Then you realise you just have to make the wheels go round. And see purpose in making the wheels go round.

Although he started as a solo rider, Andrew found a community among the other riders, and ended up riding with one of them, Christian, from Day 4 onwards.

Then there were the people in local communities who went out of their way to welcome the cyclists  including trail angels.

People would put out chocolates, and a young family rode beside us north of Dargaville and gave us watermelons. One woman in Reefton hangs a bucket of lollies and 2 Minute noodles in a tree with a sign saying if its empty, give me a bell for a refill. It was lovely to go through towns and cities and people would wave and beep their horns. Family and friends had us to stay and there were messages of support via the trackers from people following our progress.

One of the challenges was organising food and somewhere to stay each night.

Accommodation ranged from a little 1940s B & B in Bluff, where they were the only guests, to crowded hostels. Andrew spent 15 nights under canvas including in the sand dunes on 90 Mile Beach. One night he put up his tent in an arena that earlier in the day hosted a test match between Australia and NZs senior woodchoppers.

We got frosted on in the middle of the North Island and stayed in a B & B in Whanganui that had once been a Victorian hospital  they supplied toweling dressing gowns and slippers.

It was a unique way to experience the country  riding through the backcountry, up Rimutaka Incline on a hot day, or weaving through Wellingtons rush hour traffic in the rain to catch the ferry.

Sometimes memorable things came from simply seeking a shady spot to rest.

I remember sitting in the shade of a traffic control box at a roundabout with two others in 30-degree heat while the traffic roared around us  we were in our own little world. And under a shady tree in Northland, near a farm reservoir, I watched swallows hunting on the lake. Another time, we went across a big valley before Haast and there were huge mountains and streams but a dragonfly flew alongside, at my shoulder, for a while and thats the moment I remember  the fragile dragonfly against the huge landscape.

The thing about riding is that you arrive slowly  places unfold, whereas in a car, they just appear. I was continuously astounded that we got to all those places on bikes.

Andrew hopes to do more bike-packing, and says anyone can do it.

The youngest on the Tour was 12, on a tandem with his dad, and the oldest was 79. This ride enables ordinary people to do something extraordinary.
Crisis spurred US government to extend unemployment benefits to more workers, but many dont know if they qualify.

During a normal spring break, aesthetician Rosalia Fiske fills up her calendar with client appointments for facials and waxing. But the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has already cost her between $4,000 and $5,000, she says, because unlike other gig workers who can take their services virtual, Fiske needs to get her hands on her clients faces, and New Jerseys mandatory stay-at-home order makes that simply impossible right now.

So Fiske is dipping into savings to cover the $4,000 per semester in tuition she pays as a full-time nursing student, plus her share of the $4,000 in rent for the apartment she shares with roommates in Hoboken, New Jersey. And then theres food, utilities and more.

Fiske, who is pursuing her degree at Hudson County Community College, said she does not think she qualifies for unemployment benefits, and she is not sure she will be eligible for a $1,200 stimulus cheque from the governments coronavirus relief plan, either.

I feel like theres so much unknown when it comes to that check  amongst other relief  to be honest, Fiske told Al Jazeera. I have zero income coming in right now, so its the responsibility of paying your bills and being frugal.

Amid record-high unemployment numbers, many gig workers wonder which benefits apply to them. Some 36 percent of Americans participate in the gig economy in some way, according to a 2018 Gallup poll, and the term encompasses ride-share drivers, nannies and carers for the elderly, freelancers, house cleaners, fitness instructors and delivery people, among others.

While those gigs offer flexibility, they have historically come with no safety net, and gig workers have not normally been eligible for unemployment benefits, employer-paid health insurance or paid sick leave. The ongoing coronavirus crisis has also brought many of those long-term struggles to the fore.

Fiske is one of the gig workers Al Jazeera interviewed last month as the coronavirus crisis began in the US. Weve reached back out to the people we talked to for that story to see how theyre doing now. All three live in the New York City area, which has become the epicentre of the US outbreak.

Its a struggle

Aaron Robinson is now collecting unemployment after being laid off from the BMW warehouse where he worked full-time on March 22. Robinsons town of Teaneck, New Jersey, has been hit hard by coronavirus; Bergen County has the highest numbers in the state with nearly 8,000 positive cases and more than 300 deaths.

Everything is shut down, Robinson told Al Jazeera. I cant work, so Ive got to collect unemployment like everybody else. Its a struggle.

Although he also used to supplement his income by driving 20 to 25 hours a week for Uber, he stopped about a week ago and does not know when he will start again. I need to find out more specifics of how this virus is transferred, Robinson said. I dont do Uber because of my family. I would still do it, but I dont want to catch it and spread it to them.

Robinson said the unemployment benefits he receives are about a third of his BMW wages and are not enough to live on. Like Fiske, he is not sure if he qualifies for the $1,200 stimulus cheque.

Everything is shut down. I can't work, so I've got to collect unemployment like everybody else. It's a struggle. Aaron Robinson laid-off BMW warehouse worker and part-time Uber driver

But Robinson said he did call his landlord and electric and water companies to ask for more time to pay his bills, which they granted. Everybody postponed everything, Robinson said. You dont want to live like this, but you take all the right precautions and you should be able to survive until this blows over.

His children are home from school and his wife, who is a teacher, is trying to help her students with distance learning from home. Right now, they are focused on staying inside and staying safe. But the uncertainty about how long COVID-19 could last concerns him. Im worried because nobody can live on unemployment, so depending on how long it lasts, I dont know, he said.

No safety provisions

The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed by President Trump on March 27, makes gig workers eligible for 39 weeks of unemployment benefits, an additional $600 a week for up to four months, and the option to apply for loans for relief, says Maria Figueroa, the director of labour and policy research at Cornell Universitys Worker Institute. But there are still gaps.

This is a step forward for protecting the approximately 24 million Americans who are gig workers, but it is not enough as many of them are front-line workers  food delivery, ride-hailing, even healthcare  and they need to continue working during the crisis, Figueroa told Al Jazeera.

Unemployment insurance benefits in the US also normally require that a recipient prove they have been actively looking for work, she explained, and its not clear how some workers will qualify for unemployment insurance if they cant seek work during the crisis. It is not clear if this requirement has been dropped to qualify for unemployment insurance.

Some of the gig workers who are still on the job  including domestic workers, warehouse workers and delivery people  have also sounded the alarm about the lack of health protections they have amid the pandemic, and workers from major companies including Amazon and Instacart went on strike last week.

Amazon.com is now under investigation by New York Citys human rights commissioner after it fired one of the workers who participated in a walkout at its Staten Island warehouse.

There are no [safety] provisions under the Cares Act, and many workers  gig and regular  are retaliated against by their employers for refusing to work under unsafe conditions, Figueroa said.

Michelle Goitia, a prenatal yoga teacher, birth doula and childbirth educator, has taken her business online, but its come with a major pay cut [Courtesy: Michelle Goitia]

The buzzword is pivot

Michelle Goitia, a prenatal yoga teacher, birth doula and childbirth educator, has taken her business online, but it has come with a major pay cut. Shes teaching about half of the courses she once was, and people are paying less for her virtual classes. The nannies that brought babies to her class are not working, and stressed-out, working-from-home parents do not always have time for postnatal yoga.

Still, she is grateful that taking things virtual is even an option. The buzzword these days seems to be pivot. What can you do to pivot and adapt to these current times? Goitia told Al Jazeera. One of my good friends is a massage therapist, and she has no work, so shes working on her pivot, and shes changing her business. But its tough. It takes time to change.

Goitia said she would qualify for the $1,200 cheque from the government, plus $500 for her son. But that one-time payment doesnt go very far for many workers, says Erin Hatton, an associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

We need to extend the benefits by distributing ongoing monthly stimulus payments until this health and economic crisis subsides, Hatton told Al Jazeera. More people need to be eligible for such payments, including people whose 2019 income exceeded the limits but have now lost their jobs due to the crisis, as well as young workers who are working to support their families but are categorised as dependents.

Even amid this time of incredible economic uncertainty, the gig workers we spoke to are finding ways to be grateful.

Goitia has launched a special support group for women who are pregnant and due to deliver during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has had more than 40 couples attend so far.

She prides herself on keeping in touch with the women she meets during prenatal and postpartum periods, carrying around a worn little notebook with their names, babies names and information. Shes working to keep those same connections over Zoom. Those women, in turn, have had her back.

When I first sent out an email saying I had to stop teaching altogether, a couple of people bought some class cards from me and said, We know youll be back and well use them then,' Goitia said.

Fiske is planning to give free facials to nurses at the local hospital after the COVID-19 crisis is over, and it has made her realise how fortunate I am, and that health is really wealth, she explained. This is all temporary and an easy sacrifice.

Robinson agrees. I think this is a way for everybody to realise the special things they had with regular life, he said.
"Trump on Wednesday said the administration will freeze $452 million in appropriations to support public health efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) while investigating its stance with China and the pandemic." Freezing aid. To the World Health Organization. During the worst, most killing, deadly international pandemic in the last 100 years.
Workers pass a row of pairs of jeans hung to dry at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which was gazetted to be an isolation facility, on 6 April, 2020. (PHOTO: Reuters)

SINGAPORE  Singapore has started active case-finding within the foreign worker population residing in dormitories, said a senior Ministry of Health (MOH) official on Thursday (9 April).

During a virtual press conference held by the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce, MOH Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said authorities are conducting swab tests on workers across the dorms in Singapore.

This is in addition to a host of measures aimed at controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus within the foreign worker population here.

It was also announced that Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean will be advising an inter-agency taskforce focusing on foreign worker dorms, an effort announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Tuesday. Members of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) are also involved in the taskforce.

National Development Minister and taskforce co-chair Lawrence Wong explained that Singapore is dealing with two separate infections  one where numbers are rising sharply within foreign worker dorms and another where numbers are currently more stable in the general population.

10 foreign worker dorms have been identified as active clusters linked to a total of 460 cases, about a quarter of the overall count here.

Among them are the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, the largest cluster here to date with 160 cases and the Shaw Lodge Dormitory, a new cluster linked to five cases announced on Thursday.

Four dorms, including S11, have been gazetted as social isolation areas where residents must not leave their rooms for 14 days. Preliminary links have also been established between clusters at Mustafa Centre, the Project Glory construction site, as well as five foreign worker dorms.

The government, therefore, has to actively intervene in this very major and urgent issue in a two-part strategy, said Wong.

First, the government will work together with dorm operators to ensure effective management across all dorms, he added.

Story continues

That means taking care of the workers daily needs and their well-being  all of them now have to stay in the dormitories, so we have to take care of very basic issues like cleanliness, hygiene, food delivery to each one of them, Wong said, adding that their movements and inter-mingling will be minimised.

Secondly, there will be heightened public health measures in place, including active screening and testing of workers, and the provision of medical posts on-site at the dorms.

Such medical posts will be first deployed at critical sites, but eventually, they will be scaled up to cater to some 200,000 workers spread across all 43 purpose-built dorms here.

Workers who are healthy would be separated from those who are infected or suspected to have the virus and placed at activated sites, such as SAF military camps, the Changi Exhibition Centre, floating hotels, or floatels, that are typically used for offshore accommodation, as well as vacant Housing Board blocks in Tanjong Pagar and Jurong.

The Ministry of Defence announced on its Facebook page after the press conference that it has released parts of Bedok Camp II and Jurong Camp II to house about 1,300 workers temporarily.

Thus far, more than 5,000 healthy workers who are providing essential services have already been moved out of the dorms.

We have a responsibility for these foreign workers, who have come all the way here at considerable expense to make a living in Singapore, said Wong.

Major overhaul of current operational model

However, introducing such measures mean that the current model of operations for dorms will need to go through major adjustments, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

For instance, the practice of workers preparing their own meals must come to a stop, in order to protect them and to reduce opportunities for interactions, she pointed out.

With workers spending all their time in dorms due to the current situation, the maintenance of the hygiene amenities, as well as the overall cleanliness management will now be of a completely different order of magnitude, Teo said.

Lastly, dedicated sick bays must be scaled up to appropriately take care of those who require isolation, while and after going through the period of assessment.

In the past, it was always the dormitory operators that took care of these things, said Teo,

Now, we have to step in and help the dormitory operators, because it is an enormous task to be able to implement these changes in a short time.

Importantly, Teo stressed, an established, replicated and sustained approach has to be adopted so that such measures can be eventually roll out across all 43 dorms here  and this is where the new inter-agency taskforce will come into play.

FAST teams to speed up process

The new taskforce, operationalised since Monday, has formed the Forward Assurance Support Teams, or FAST teams, to work with individual dorm operators here.

Each team comprises of nine members, including officers from the SAF or the SPF who are supplemented by MOM officers.

By Tuesday, we had three FAST teams working with dorm operators. By Wednesday, we had put together 43 FAST teams, matching them with dorm operators, said Teo.

The primary objective of these FAST teams, involving some 400 personnel, is to ensure the wellbeing, health, and safety of foreign workers, said Teo.

These include the timely delivery of quality meals as well as cleaning, removal of garbage and disinfection of the premises up to three times daily.

We had initial glitches, but working around the clock over the last couple of days, this has mostly been resolved, added Teo. In terms of the dormitory operations, food supply, cleanliness, and hygiene, they have improved significantly and have been stabilised.

The next step would be to replicate what was found to have worked to all dorms that have yet to be gazetted as isolation areas, as well as thin resident populations in them out to ensure that safe distancing measures could be rolled out.

In other words, the operations will also be brought to the same level and standards as those that are gazetted as isolation areas. You will see a consistency of approach across all the purpose-built dormitories, she explained.

To highlight the logistical scale of the endeavour, Teo pointed out that more than 300,000 meals are being delivered per day to dorms gazetted as isolation areas.

A proper management structure, including measures to regulate movement, must also be in place at the new facilities that healthy workers are temporarily sheltered in, she added.

This will mean ensuring upcoming sites that are being readied, such as floatels, which has a capacity of about 500 each, and the Changi Exhibition Centre, which can easily accommodate thousands, have such thorough precautions put in place before workers can move in, Wong said.

Other issues that workers are concerned with will also be looked at, said Teo. The authorities will work with the employers to ensure that workers are paid and that they will still be able to provide for their families back home through the remittance services.

Teo also pointed out that authorities had already begun taking precautions in the dorms from end-January, with all returning work place holders required to serve leave of absence and subsequently, stay home notices.

This policy started with workers from China and was later extended to all returning workers.

To signal the importance of measures, 90,000 inspection calls were also made on those serving leaves or notices, while 90 individual work passes were also revoked, said Teo.

To date, Singapore has 1,910 cases of the virus, including 460 who have fully recovered and six who have died.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

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A former U.S. Navy SEAL, a Russian fighter pilot and a Russian engineer have taken social distancing to its extreme, launching off Earth for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft on Thursday (April 9). Riding atop the first Soyuz 2.1a rocket to fly with a crew from Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the three crewmates launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT or 1:05 p.m. local Kazakh time) on a six-hour journey to reach the space station.

The launch was viewed by a fewer number of spectators than normal in an effort to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, both on Earth and into space. The crew, which followed the usual quarantine period prior to the flight, forewent the typical practice of inviting their family members and other guests to Baikonur to watch the launch.

"We are implementing the exact same precautions as the rest of the world is, with social distancing," Cassidy said in a NASA interview before the launch. "The whole group has been very strict about no interactions beside the control team."

Video: Watch Russia launch the new Soyuz crew to space station!

Image 1 of 5 The Russian Soyuz MS-16 carrying the Expedition 63 crew launches to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, April 9, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 2 of 5 The Russian Soyuz MS-16 carrying the Expedition 63 crew launches to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, April 9, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 3 of 5 A view of Earth from the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner into orbit on April 9, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 4 of 5 The third stage of a Soyuz 2.1a rocket falls away during the successful launch of a Soyuz MS-16 rocket carrying the Expedition 63 crew to the International Space Station on April 9, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV) Image 5 of 5 (Image credit: NASA TV)

"We have taken extra measures to make sure the crew arrives at the space station in good health," Ivanishin said at a preflight press conference. "We didn't have any guests, so we didn't have any family members or friends arrive. We have been completely isolated at this final stage."

The crew's families watched the liftoff from the cosmonaut training center in Star City, outside of Moscow, instead.

Related: Space traditions! 14 things every cosmonaut does for launch

Reaching space about nine minutes after they left the ground, the Soyuz crew began a four-orbit rendezvous with the space station. They are expected to dock with the orbiting lab's Zvezda service module at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 GMT).

For the next week, Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will serve aboard the station with Expedition 62 crew members Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir. Skripochka will turn over command of the station to Cassidy on Wednesday (April 15), before departing with Morgan and Meir on Soyuz MS-15 for a landing in Kazakhstan on Friday.

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will then serve as the three-person Expedition 63 crew until their own scheduled departure in October.

"It will be an interesting period of time," said Cassidy. "We have a very short handover with our previous Soyuz crew, so that is just nine days for us to get our 'space legs' as a crew and then off we go with the plan. For me, my days will be full whether I am by myself or with other crewmates, so I don't think of this as any different than a typical mission with a different complement."

"The specialists on the ground will determine how to use the time and set priorities and we will just get it done," he said.

And they may not be alone.

SpaceX is preparing to launch the first crewed test flight of its Dragon spacecraft , possibly as soon as mid- to late-May. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will fly as the Demo-2 crew to the space station for what is expected to be a two- to three-month stay with the Expedition 63 crew.

Soyuz MS-16 crewmates Chris Cassidy of NASA (at left), Anatoli Ivanishin (at center) and Ivan Wagner, both of Roscosmos. (Image credit: NASA TV)

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner are also scheduled to oversee the arrival of several uncrewed resupply spacecraft, including Japan's ninth H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), a Russian Progress, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus and the first cargo-configured, second-generation SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Cassidy, 50, is on his third spaceflight. He previously helped build the station as a space shuttle mission specialist in 2009, before his first stay as a member of the Expedition 35/36 crew in 2013. His command of Expedition 63 bookends the start of a continuous human residency aboard the space station almost 20 years ago.

"Bill Shepherd was the commander of Expedition 1 , a Navy SEAL, and 20 years later, I will be commander of the space station, also a Navy SEAL," Cassidy said.

Ivanishin and Vagner were originally assigned to the Soyuz MS-16 backup crew , until an injury temporarily grounded cosmonaut Nikolai Tikhonov and Roscosmos decided to replace both him and his crewmate, Andrei Babkin, in February.

Ivanishin, 51, is also on his third spaceflight, having served on Expeditions 29/30 in 2012 and 48/49 in 2016. This is the first mission for Vagner, 34, after becoming a cosmonaut in 2010.

"I've dreamed of doing this for many, many years," Vagner said. "It is hard to leave those who are staying behind in this challenging time, but I want to thank everyone for helping us take off."

Soyuz MS-16 is Russia's 62nd Soyuz spacecraft to launch for the International Space Station since 2000 and 145th to fly since the first Soyuz mission in 1967.

Click through to collectSPACE to see the Soyuz MS-16 crew mission patch.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
HOUSTON, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Houston is proud to announce the finalists for the Third Annual Deal of the Year Awards. ACG Houston is focused on celebrating Houston's booming middle market deal community. Our mission is to honor the deals and dealmakers who drive middle market growth resulting in job growth, capital formation and the advancement of meaningful business relationships.

The finalists have been reviewed and ranked by our independent panel of esteemed judges and top business leaders including Carin Barth, Co-Founder and President of LB Capital Inc, Eric Bruce, Senior Managing Consultant, Briggs & Veselka Co., Rocky Dewbre, Former CEO of Empire Petroleum Partners, Kenneth Guidry, Past President and Retired Director of PKF Texas, Michelle Suarez, Partner at Holland & Knight, Walter Ulrich, President & CEO of Medical Bridges, and Kelly Williams, Director at Milestone Capital.

The criteria for the nominations includes a closing date between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 as well as deals closing between October 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 with transactions that have a tie to the Greater Houston area (e.g. where the buyer, seller or assets were located).

The 2019 ACG Houston Deals of Year Award Categories and Finalists include:

Consumer Products & Services

Welcome Group, LLC Joint Venture with REIT



The Acquisition of Amtel, LLC, by Amtel Partners, LLC, an Investment Vehicle Sponsored by Houston-Based Priest Equities, LLC



Landry's Acquisition of Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouses And Del Frisco's Grilles

Double Eagle Steakhouses And Del Frisco's Grilles

Jurassic Quest, the World's Largest, Traveling, True-to-Life Animotronic Dinosaur Experience, is Acquired by L2 Capital Partners

Technology & Business Services

Cedar Gate Technologies Acquisition of Global Healthcare Alliance



Specialized Waste Systems Acquired by TAS Environmental Services



The Majority Recapitalization of John M. Floyd & Associates by Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company

& Associates by Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company

M&D Sale to Warren Equity Partners

Industrial, Power & Infrastructure

Crossplane Capital Equity Investment in Accent Family of Companies



WaterBridge Announces Closing of $345 Million of Additional Equity Capital to Fund Strategic Acquisitions

of Additional Equity Capital to Fund Strategic Acquisitions

Construction Capital and Tax Equity for Solar Projects



The Acquisition of Volta by W-Industries



Plantgistix Acquired by A&R Logistics

MidStream

Momentum Midstream Sale of Stake in UEO Midstream System to Williams Cos. and Join Venture Between Williams and CPPIB



Kodiak Gas Services' Purchase of Pegasus Optimization Managers

Oil and Gas <$500MM

The Acquisition of Pioneer's Eagle Ford Assets by Ensign



Combination of SCAN OAK LLC, successor by merger to Scandrill Ltd., LP, and Voyager Acquisition LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VYGR Holdings LLC



The Acquisition of W&W Energy Services by Petrofac



Recapitalization and Refinancing of DSG Holdco LLC

Oil and Gas >$500MM

Sale of Sierra Oil & Gas to DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG



Royal Dutch Shell plc's Sale of Downstream Business in Argentina to Raizen

plc's Sale of Downstream Business in to Raizen

Ajax Resources $1.25 Billion Sale of Permian Assets

Sale of Permian Assets

Wellbore Integrity Solutions (WIS), an affiliate of private equity firm Rhone Capital, have entered into an agreement to acquire DRILCO, Thomas Tools , and Fishing & Remedial services from Schlumberger

, and Fishing & Remedial services from Schlumberger Cross Border Transactions

Sale of Sierra Oil & Gas to DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG



Royal Dutch Shell plc's Sale of Downstream Business in Argentina to Raizen

plc's Sale of Downstream Business in to Raizen

The Acquisition of W&W Energy Services by Petrofac



Wellbore Integrity Solutions (WIS), an affiliate of private equity firm Rhone Capital, have entered into an agreement to acquire DRILCO, Thomas Tools , and Fishing & Remedial services from Schlumberger

The awards ceremony originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, 2020 has been canceled due to COVID-19. ACG Houston will be announcing the winners online on April 28, 2020. For more information, visit acghoustondeals.com.

About ACG:

Founded in 1954, ACG is a global organization with 59 chapters and over 14,500 members. Doing business is at the heart of the ACG membership experience. Chapters in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia bring dealmakers together to help them achieve their business and professional goals. To learn more or become a member visit: www.acg.org/houston

Media Contact:

Morgan Stone

Executive Director, ACG Houston

[email protected] | 713.851.2281

SOURCE Association for Corporate Growth Houston

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LANSING, MI -- Those who have multiple homes in Michigan will no longer be allowed to travel freely between those properties as part of the latest stay-at-home order.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Thursday extended the Stay Home, Stay Safe" order through April 30, which in part restricts travel for non-essential reasons throughout the state.

That extension now includes more language about traveling between multiple homes in Michigan. According to the order, which goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. tonight, travel is permitted:

Between two residences in this state, through April 10, 2020. After that date, travel between two residences is not permitted.

That means Michiganders have until the end of the day Friday to choose which homes they will live in. After that, they will be subject to fines and penalties if they are violating the order by traveling between the two homes. However, if you are returning from out of state or traveling to a residence out of Michigan, that is allowed. That includes snowbirds who are currently living out of state and who are weighing their options for when to return to Michigan.

Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe. Thats good, but we must keep it up," Whitmer said in a press release announcing the extension.

The order comes three days after James Janisse, the village president of Elk Rapids, Michigan reached out to the governor, urging her to force Michiganders to make a one-time choice on which home they want to live in during the stay-at-home order. Janisse and other officials in smaller northern Michigan towns have expressed concern regarding downstate residents traveling north to their vacation or second homes.

While those cities and towns typically enjoy having more people around, right now, theyre concerned about the ability to fight the COVID-19 virus in small towns. Janisse says people arriving in the small towns are not self-quarantining and going out to grocery stores, gas stations and other businesses deemed essential and that remain open.

House activity rivals that of Independence Day and Harbor Days, Janisse said in a letter to Whitmer. At any other time, this would be cause for celebration, but right now it is not.

Hes concerned those traveling may unknowingly spread the virus in communities where health facilities are not equipped to handle a significant outbreak.

In some areas, those who decide to move to vacation homes are encouraged to self-isolate for 14 days once they have arrived home. Earlier this week, Dr. Michael Collins, medical director of the Grand Traverse County Health Department urged travelers to self-isolate and avoid trips to the grocery store or anything that would put them in contact with others.

It doesnt take many who dont follow that kind of instruction to really make a big difference in the ultimate success or failure, in terms of how many cases we get and how quickly, Collins said.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

READ MORE

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.
The daily COVID-19 death toll in the UK reached an unprecedented 938 on Monday, bringing the countrys total to 6,227 fatalities, with more than 50,000 confirmed infections. The countrys woefully underfunded social care system is rapidly becoming a second major front in the fight against the pandemic, alongside acute and intensive care units in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals.

Mass deaths and runaway infections have begun to rip through residential and nursing home facilities across the country, bringing adult social care services to the brink of collapse. These include the following grim figures from care facilities across the UK:

Burlington Court Care Home in Glasgow has been the worst hit to date, where 16 elderly residents have died in barely over a week. Fourteen other residents are displaying symptoms and two staff members have been admitted to hospital, where they tested positive for the virus.





Eight residents have died at Castle View Care Home in Dumbarton in the west of Scotland after developing coronavirus symptoms.





Nine residents have died of suspected coronavirus infections at the Oak Springs Care Home in Wavertree, Liverpool. Carers there are functioning with a skeleton staff, after 50 staff members developed symptoms or were unable to work due to underlying health conditions.





Seven residents of the Hawthorn Green home in Stepney, east London, have died with coronavirus. The home houses 48 people and a further 21 residents there are displaying Covid-19 symptoms.





Fifteen residents have died during the pandemic at Castletroy Residential Home in Luton, with five of those confirmed to have died of COVID-19.





Four deaths have been reported at Harry Sotnick House care home in Portsmouth and concerned workers at the Summerhill care home in Kendal, Cumbria, have contacted a local newspaper to report multiple suspected COVID-19 deaths among residents and dozens of infected staff.





At least two care workers have lost their lives after contracting the virusCarol Jamabo, 56, who worked at Cherish Elderly Care in Bury in Greater Manchester and Catherine Sweeney from West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

Care workers and service users have been placed in terrible danger by the belated and inadequate response to the pandemic orchestrated by the British government and devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This comes on the back of decades of austerity cuts and widespread privatisation, which has cut adult care services to the bone and left them deeply fragmented, without the central organisational structures required to fight the contagion systematically.

Most care homes remain without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), including a number of facilities where residents have already died from the disease. Of the 482 UK care providers surveyed recently by the BBC, 381 reported having inadequate supplies of masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and aprons, while another quarter of respondents reported having less than a weeks supply left.

Nadra Ahmed, executive chair of the National Care Association, has warned that care homes are desperate for protective equipment: Once you run out, it is a question of being down to Marigolds [household rubber gloves] and bin liners. Government has not reacted quickly enough to build confidence in the sector that PPE is available.

The deplorable absence of systematic testing, months into the global pandemic, has made it impossible to assess the true extent of contagion in care homes. It is likely far more widespread than is presently recognised given the long gestation period of coronavirus, which is also infectious among pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers.

This was underscored as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures showing that the number of deaths reported by the government each day was likely to be an underestimate, as it only included those who had died in hospital. According to the ONS, in the week up to March 27, while 501 deaths from coronavirus were recorded in hospitals in England and Wales, 38 deaths occurred outside hospital, in the home or in care and residential homes, amounting to 7 percent of the total.

Despite nursing and residential homes being home to nearly half a million elderly, disabled and chronically ill peoplethose whose lives are most in dangerno testing at all has been carried out in these facilities.

Widespread understaffing, low pay and job casualisation are adding to the danger of rapid transmission of the virus across care services.

Already dire staff shortagesthere are 122,000 unfilled vacancies in the sectorhave been compounded as workers are forced to self-isolate when they present symptoms or due to underlying health conditions. This has heightened reliance on agency staff, who frequently cover shifts across several care facilities as well as private households, leading to concerns that they may already be a major source of transmission for the virus.

Approximately 60 percent of the UK workforce that provide care to people in their own homes are on zero-hour contracts. Such carers who become infected have no access to sick pay from their employer and are being forced to decide between applying for poverty-level Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) of 95.85 per week or continuing to work whilst potentially infected with COVID-19. Many labour agencies in the sector are known to levy financial penalties if carers call in sick.

There are also widespread reports of care homes denying sick pay for vulnerable workers with underlying health conditions, even where the government has instructed them to self-isolate for 12 weeks. Hundreds of carers have been recorded as taking authorised unpaid leave and thus do not even qualify for SSP. As key workers, they do not qualify for the governments 80 percent wage guaranteeconceived primarily to cover the wage bills of private businesses during the pandemic lockdownand many will therefore be pressured to work at acute risk to their own lives.

The situation is set to deteriorate further as the Conservative government is now instructing care homes to make available beds for the rapid discharge of non-critical elderly patients from hospitals to relieve pressure on the NHS. In lieu of adequate PPE and testing to ensure discharged patients are free of the virus, the government is consciously preparing the ground for rapid contagion and mass fatalities among service users and staff.

The monstrous incompetence of the Johnson administration, as well as its murderous contempt for the lives of the working class, is betrayed by the latest guidelines issued to care homes. They advise that patients admitted from hospitals may have COVID-19 whether symptomatic or asymptomatic but can be safely cared for in a care home if cursory hygiene measures are observed.

The government knows full well that residential care homes have neither the medical equipment nor nursing staff qualified to isolate and treat the very ill, who are unlikely to be readmitted back into overstretched NHS facilities. Hospitals are already being forced to ration limited oxygen and ventilators, with doctors facing the horrific task of deciding who lives and who dies.

Although able to rapidly marshal hundreds of billions of pounds to indemnify the wealth of the corporate and financial elite during the pandemic, the Tory government has provided only a pittance to mobilise health care resources. Its approach to the chronically ill, elderly and disabled borrows far more from the fascist pseudo-science of eugenics than it does from the scientific disciplines of epidemiology and medicine. No longer of use as labour for capitalist exploitation, the vulnerable are being left to die en masse.

Leading medical authorities, including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners, recently drafted health care prioritisation guidelines for health care professionals advising that do not attempt to resuscitate (DNAR) forms be proactively completed for patients in high-risk groups, including the elderly. There was public outcry as several GP surgeries and care homes across the country attempted to issue blanket DNAR protocols without proper consultation with the individuals or their families.

Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents hundreds of independent care providers and services, has labelled the guidance misplaced, immoral and illegal. Underscoring the consistency of this policy with the efforts of the British ruling class to eviscerate the Human Rights Act as well as compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, Macaskill denounced the government for its historical failure to realise where the modern system of human rights came from, which inescapably was the horrors of the second world war.
ImpactHK founder and CEO Jeff Rotmeyer (C) crosses a street after handing out supplies of face masks, hand sanitisers, food and drinks to the homeless and people in need in Hong Kong on March 28, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Here Are the Countries With No Declared COVID-19 Cases

The vast majority of the worlds approximately 200 countries have declared at least a single case of COVID-19 since it first emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year.

But there are around a dozen nations that have not reported a single case of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus so far as of Thursday, according to Statista and Fox News.

They are Tajikistan, which has a population of about 9 million; Turkmenistan, with a population of nearly 6 million; Lesotho, with a population of 2.2 million; North Korea, which has a population of 25 million; and Yemen, which has a population of 28 million.

Countries with less than a million people that have reported no cases include Vanuatu, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Palau, Kiribati, and Comoros.

Two countries in AfricaLesotho and Comorosare still officially free of the coronavirus. In recent days, both South Sudan and Sierra Leone reported their first cases, some of the most recent African countries to do so. The virus also remains mostly undetected in the smaller Pacific island nations such as the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Statista wrote.

North Korea, which shares a border with China has claimed for months that it has no cases. But nearby South Korea has reported a significant number of cases.

Not one single person has been infected with the novel coronavirus in our country so far, Pak Myong Su, a top North Korea health official, told AFP last week. We have carried out preemptive and scientific measures such as inspections and quarantine for all personnel entering our country and thoroughly disinfecting all goods, as well as closing borders and blocking sea and air lanes.

Responding with missiles? A TV screen shows a file image of North Koreas missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on March 29, 2020. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters the reclusive, communist nation has more than 500 people in quarantine.

As of 2 April, 709 people11 foreigners and 698 nationalshave been tested for COVID-19. There is no report of a COVID-19 case. There are 509 people in quarantinetwo foreigners and 507 nationals, Dr. Edwin Salvador, the WHO Representative for North Korea, told the news agency. Since 31 December, 24,842 people have been released from quarantine, which includes 380 foreigners, he said.

But North Koreas claims have been met with doubt.

Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea told the New York Post: I can tell you that is an impossible claim based on all of the intel we have seen.

Turkmenistan, like North Korea, is ruled by a totalitarian regime and is among the most heavily censored countries in the world. Last month, the country banned the word coronavirus, according to Reporters Without Borders, which noted the countrys directive.

Yemen, meanwhile, has been embroiled in a five-year-long civil war. Reports this week said Saudi Arabia announced a two-week ceasefire in Yemen amid the pandemic.
GREENSBURG, Ind. - The coronavirus pandemic surged into Sean Durbins farm-speckled Indiana county much faster than most other parts of rural America, contributing to at least 10 deaths and dozens of serious illnesses.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 8/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A bike rider crosses the street on his bike, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Greensburg, Ind. Decatur County is among three neighboring southeastern Indiana counties that all have confirmed COVID-19 cases among the highest per-capita rates in the country. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

GREENSBURG, Ind. - The coronavirus pandemic surged into Sean Durbins farm-speckled Indiana county much faster than most other parts of rural America, contributing to at least 10 deaths and dozens of serious illnesses.

Decatur County and two other counties in southeast Indiana have among the highest per-capita infection rates in the country, topping the Seattle area and some counties near hard-hit Detroit.

As Decatur Countys public health preparedness co-ordinator, Durbin is working to stem the spread of the virus, even as he grieves the loss of a close friend to COVID-19 and stays apart from his wife so she can help with their new grandchild.

Every death makes me question if I did enough, said Durbin, who is 57. We have been ahead of everything the state has done in this county, and I still go to bed every night and ask, What more could I have done to protect this population?

Last Thursday, county officials banned nonessential travel and ordered all restaurants closed, including for takeout orders, going beyond the requirements of the governors stay-at-home order that took effect March 25.

Decatur, Franklin and Ripley counties have a combined population of nearly 78,000 people and nearly 250 confirmed coronavirus cases through Wednesday, placing them among the top 100 counties for high infection rates across the nation, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.

Health leaders cant pinpoint why the area has such a high infection rate. Some point to truckers stopping off from Interstate 74  the main route between Indianapolis and Cincinnati  and locals who work in those cities. Or suggest it's linked to the young adults who have left their hometowns for jobs and schools in recent years.

A COVID-19 hot line number is posted outside of Decatur County Memorial Hospital, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Greensburg, Ind. Three southeast Indiana counties have among the highest per-capita coronavirus infection rates in the country. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

With this crisis in the big cities, were seeing a lot of license plates from those other states showing up because theyre coming back to mom and grandma and uncle Joe, said Dr. David Welsh, the Ripley County health officer.

There have been more than 20 COVID-19-related deaths in the three counties. At least two dozen patients are seriously ill, while others, including an 11-year-old child, have been recovering at home.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are particularly susceptible to more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The three counties have older populations than Indiana as a whole, with more than 17% of residents older than 65, according to census information.

Decatur County officials imposed tougher travel and business restrictions after officials saw parents still taking their children grocery shopping and teenagers gathering in parking lots, Durbin said.

On the first day of the new rules, the streets in the county seat of Greensburg, population 12,000, were largely quiet, and few shoppers roamed the aisles of Walmart.

Greensburg resident Judith Corner said she believed people were taking the warnings seriously, and that she agrees with the precautions.

Ive had friends that are wearing their masks and gloves to the store, she said. If we go for a walk, then we stay 6 feet apart.

Hondas 2,500-worker auto plant in Greensburg has been closed since March 23. A company spokesman said one contractor tested positive, and that person's colleagues have been notified.

The area's two hospitals, in Greensburg and Batesville, normally operate with 25 available beds each. Both have plans to more than double that capacity and treat more seriously ill patients as cases surge.

Dr. Wayne Perry, chief of staff at Decatur County Memorial, said his hospital has the same concerns as larger ones about the availability of testing, protective gear and ventilators. And he worries about the number of drivers he sees during his five-minute drive from home to the hospital.

Until people see and really understand and appreciate the threat, then its someone elses problem, Perry said. These measures are so important. Our only fight against this right now is social distancing and following those guidelines.

The Indiana State Department of Health has been assisting with testing and tracking illnesses in rural areas, said Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner. The agency is also trying to help rural hospitals obtain equipment.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Durbin has been staying away from his wife, including sleeping in a different room. They said their goodbyes on Monday, when she headed to Cincinnati to help their daughter with their new grandson.

Couldnt even give her a hug," Durbin said. Well just have to get used to that. Thats the way of life these days.

Durbin said hes been healthy so far and will keep showing up at the four-employee Decatur County Health Department as long as he can. But he despairs at the prospect of not meeting his grandson for months and for the losses in the community where hes lived since he was a teenager.

I know several of the people who have died. And if I dont know them, I know somebody who knows them, Durbin said. So you see the grief. You see how it hits home. That would be the biggest difference than a big city  is that we all know each other. Its like somebody from your family dying.

___

Davies reported from Indianapolis. Associated Press video journalist Noreen Nasir in Chicago contributed to this report.
The current global Coronavirus pandemic has affected each individual at multiple levels and in various ways across the world. People are seen battling it in hospitals, through self-isolation and in quarantine. But there is an army of people working selflessly to keep them safe - the doctors, nurses, policemen, medical workers and government professionals. These heroes are risking their lives and laboring at the forefront to help control the situation.

With an aim to salute these heroes, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, one of India's top private general insurers  awarded Best Non-Life Insurer of the year 2020 - and WATConsult, the globally awarded hybrid digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India, have released a new video, #CareWillOvercome. The video aims to bring in hope and care in the world amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. This riveting short video showcases stirring images of people from around the world. It includes doctors, medical workers and citizens who are bravely doing their bit to help leaving no stone unturned in fighting this global crisis.

The music that accompanies the video is a rendition of the renowned song We Shall Overcome popularly known as Hum Honge Kamyaab' in India. The lyrics of the song are in different languages from across the world. It expresses the borderless unity and togetherness we are all witnessing during this pandemic. Listening to the same positive message sung out in different languages like Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, Farsi, German, Hindi and English is indeed motivating. The music too is an amalgamation of cultures. For example, the strings are from Russia, percussion from Nigeria and the vocals are from Italy, Germany, China, America, Spain and India.

Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaksYGn7OIw

Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company said, Care has always been at the core of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company. And with the current situation, it has become more important than ever to be caring. Through this video, we wanted to send out a global message of solidarity and positivity, giving a ray of hope to each one of us. It is only through care  for ourselves, for our loved ones and for the people who are at the frontlines  that we can come out of this stronger and rise. Hence, the message of caring enough to be brave, informed and responsible.

Commenting on the same, Heeru Dingra, CEO, WATConsult added, In such a grim situation like this a word of HOPE and CARE means a lot. While this pandemic has gripped all of us, it has also brought in a severe effect on ones mind and soul. We should not forget the fact that there is a huge lot outside battling for us, risking their lives as well as emotions just for us. This video is an ode of salute to them and has been conceptualized keeping in mind the importance of bringing in a positive feeling that we are in it together and we will overcome this together.

Doing its part in the wake of social distancing, the brand intends to create the longest virtual human chain on its Instagram profile as an amplification for the campaign.
09 Apr 2020, 1:32 PM

Govt may announce second coronavirus package worth Rs 1 lakh crore for small, medium businesses

A second stimulus package India is poised to announce in coming days will be worth around Rs 1 lakh crore ($13 billion) and focus on help for small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus outbreak, two senior officials said on Wednesday. Last month, India outlined a Rs 1.7-lakh crore ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor hit by an ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.

Coronavirus in USA: Speed of deaths surprises doctors as New York toll reaches 150,000

New York, the hardest-hit state in America, on Wednesday reported its highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day with even veteran doctors and nurses expressing shock at the speed with which patients were declining and dying. Despite the grim tally, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said overall trends still appeared positive. Cuomo cited a drop in new hospitalizations and other data points as evidence that New York was "bending the curve" and gaining some control over the infection rate.

Read: Coronavirus: Odisha becomes 1st state to extend lockdown till April 30

400 million workers in India may sink into poverty amid coronavirus pandemic: UN

About 400 million people working in the informal economy in India are at risk of falling deeper into poverty due to the coronavirus crisis which is having "catastrophic consequences", and is expected to wipe out 195 million full-time jobs or 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of this year, the UN's labour body has warned. The COVID-19 crisis is already affecting tens of millions of informal workers.

Coronavirus: IndiGo suspends international flights till April 30

Amid the nationwide lockdown implemented to contain the spread of novel coronavirus in India, budget carrier IndiGo said on Wednesday it is suspending its international flights till April 30. Air India has already suspended domestic and international flights till April 30.

China seeks to contain 'silent carriers' of coronavirus

China released new measures on Wednesday to try and prevent asymptomatic "silent carriers" of coronavirus from causing a second wave of infections, as the country reported another modest rise in new confirmed cases. Under the regulations, medical institutions must report detection of asymptomatic cases within two hours of their discovery. Local governments must then identify all known close contacts of the case within 24 hours.

WHO head defends handling of coronavirus pandemic against Trump criticism

The head of the World Health Organization gave a strident defence of his agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism and suggestions that Washington could review its funding for the agency. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to "politicization" of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show "honest leadership". Tedros said he expected U.S. funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.

Also Read: Share Market LIVE: Sensex climbs 1,200 points, Nifty nears 9,100; auto stocks outperform
WASHINGTONIn New Yorks Central Park this week, there were people out jogging, skateboarding, reportedly passing joints and bottles around, displaying a perhaps too-normal attitude to park life in the city that has become the North American epicentre of the coronavirus crisis. But those people wouldnt have needed to look far for a reminder of how far from normal this public health emergency has become.

Behind a fence guarded by police on the east side of the park, 14 white tents have been pitched to form an emergency field hospital  the first time one has been set up in Central Park since the Civil War. Inside that fence is a hot zone, according to Ken Isaacs, the vice-president of Samaritans Purse, the organization running the hospital in coordination with New Yorks Mount Sinai Hospital Network.

If you were back in the hospital right now, you would find theres a level of intensity, Isaacs said Thursday from a mobile command office on Fifth Ave. Inside those tents, 55 patients were being treated for COVID-19, including nine intensive-care patients on ventilators. The field hospitals capacity is 68 beds, 10 of which have ICU capability. About a dozen more patients were expected to be transferred to the facility Thursday.

Samaritans Purse is an aid group run by evangelical Christians that sets up field hospitals in war zones and natural disaster areas around the world. Isaacs says he never imagined it would set one up in the United States.

Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, the director of the groups international health unit, says the situation made it necessary. This is here in Central Park. Its not in a war zone, its not in a sudden-onset disaster, its not an earthquake, but the level of need is comparable, he said through an N95 respirator mask. The numbers that were seeing are honestly comparable to other disasters that weve been in, and it looks quite similar.

On Wednesday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York state had 18,000 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus. That day, 799 died in what was the highest single-day total so far. In New York City alone, according to an NBC report, 5,280 people had died by Thursday.

And although the rise in new cases appears to be gently levelling off, the volume of patients is overwhelming the hospital system. Refrigerated trucks serve as makeshift morgues. A navy hospital ship has docked in New York harbour to help pick up the slack.

In response, Mount Sinai has doubled its number of ICU rooms, reopened shuttered wings of the hospital that had been under construction, even converted its fancy atrium to hospital rooms, said Dr. Brendan Carr, its head of emergency medicine. Less than two weeks ago, Carr began talking to Samaritans Purse about setting up the field hospital.

It opened and began accepting patient transfers on April 1.

Isaacs says theres a major difference from the work he usually does in war zones. You dont normally set up for an emergency next to a world-class hospital research centre, and all of its services.

Some have objected to the presence of Samaritans Purse, whose founder Franklin Graham expresses anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim views, and asks volunteers to sign a statement of faith endorsing opposition to same-sex marriage. Mayor Bill de Blasio was among those who expressed discomfort with the groups presence.

Isaacs acknowledged that the field hospitals staff and volunteers are Christians, in line with the organizations mission, but said the groups views dont influence treatment. Theres no discrimination. Period. For anyone, for any reason. All the patients come to us directly after clinical assessment from Mount Sinai and everything that Samaritans Purse does is based on need, he said. He added that Mount Sinai and Samaritans Purse both have strong policies forbidding discrimination.

The two organizations had planned to open a second field hospital in a cathedral, which were halted after reports of tension about Grahams beliefs and statements on LGBT and Muslim issues, and amid reports that the growth in hospitalizations is slowing.

On the news that the virus may be slowing its predation on New Yorkers, Carr warns against complacency. The hospitals are still very, very full, he noted.

From inside the park, Isaacs says its very important people not drop their guard and allow the virus spread to ramp back up.

Earlier in the week, Isaacs drove past the back of Mount Sinais hospital. There were probably 40 or 50 ambulances back there. Theyre bringing people in from everywhere. And I just want to acknowledge that the health care workers in this city are warriors, and theyre truly fighting the war right now, he said.

Samaritans Purse is really a blip here, because we did something unusual. But the real people that are fighting this and saving lives are the cleaners, the doctors, the nurses. Its the whole gamut of people that are in the background. And theyre going to work every day. Theyre risking their lives, putting themselves in harms way and theyre in a war.

Its a war thats going on here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 01:17:02|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Seven children have been killed following an outbreak of measles in north Nigeria, according to the government on Wednesday.

Twenty-five children were infected with the disease in Malabo village in Fufore local government area of the northeastern state of Adamawa, ministry of health officials told reporters.

"Out of the figure, seven were confirmed killed," Bwalki Dilli, a top official of the state's ministry of health said.

There had been pockets of measles cases across five local government areas in Adamawa, including Fufore, since February the official disclosed.

Measles is a childhood infection caused by a virus. It can be serious and even fatal for small children.

The disease is a leading killer in developing countries like Nigeria. Since last year, there had been a steady rise in measles cases in the country, particularly in the northeast region.

Following an intensive investigation, Dilli said the areas affected were discovered to have had a history of rejecting routine immunization. But an adequate measure had been put in place to curtail further spread of the disease, he added.
Markets regulator Sebi has eased rules for offshore funds seeking to get registered under the properly regulated foreign portfolio investor (FPI) category.

At present, funds from jurisdictions that are Financial Action Task Force(FATF) complaint were permitted to get a licence under properly regulated category or Category I.

FATF is an inter-governmental policy making body that sets anti-money laundering standards.

Amending FPI regulations, Sebi said the funds coming from those nations which are non-FATF complaint can also obtain FPI licence in case central government allows.

Now Category I FPI will include entities from the FATF member countries or from any country specified by the central government by an order or by way of an agreement or treaty with other sovereign governments which are properly regulated, Sebi said in a notification issued on Tuesday.

The new norms have become effective from Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) added.

Earlier in February, Sebi had said foreign investors from Mauritius will continue to be eligible for FPI registration with increased monitoring as per international norms.

The announcement came after the tax haven was put on the 'grey list' of FATF.

For several years, there have been apprehensions about Mauritius being a money laundering route for FPIs due to its limited regulatory oversight. But, the Indian Ocean island nation has been taking several steps in recent years to address the concerns.

FPIs have been classified into two categories ,earlier they were divided into three.

The government and government-related investors such as central banks, sovereign wealth funds, international or multilateral organizations or agencies including entities controlled or at least 75 per cent directly or indirectly owned by such government and government related investor; pension and university funds would fall under the Category-I FPIs.

Besides, appropriately regulated entities such as insurance or reinsurance entities, banks, asset management companies, investment managers, investment advisors, portfolio managers, broker dealers and swap dealers come under the Category-I.

Category II FPIs include all the investors not eligible under Category I such as endowments and foundations; charitable organisations; corporate bodies; family offices; individuals; appropriately regulated entities investing on behalf of their client; and unregulated funds in the form of limited partnership and trusts.
A Georgia bar owner removed $3,714 worth of cash stapled to the walls of her restaurant to give to her unemployed bartenders and musicians amid the coronavirus outbreak.

As officials continue to call for stay-at-home orders amid the pandemic, non-essential businesses like The Sand Bar in Tybee Island, were temporarily shut down.

And like other businesses, the sudden closures have left the restaurant - and its employees - struggling financially.

CNN reports that Jennifer Knox, The Sand Bar owner of six years, was sitting inside her now-empty bar in late March when she decided all the bills stapled to the walls could help her workers.

Five volunteers spent nearly five days removing dollar bills stapled to the walls and ceilings of The Sand Bar in Tybee Island, Georgia

The Sand Bar, owned by Jennifer Know (pictured), took a sudden blow when officials ordered non-essential businesses to close amid the pandemic

'We were sitting there doors locked and I'm like oh my gosh, "there's money on the walls and we have time on our hands,"' she said. 'We gotta get this money down.'

Over a span of three days, a Tybee Island bar removed $3,714 worth of bills stapled to their walls to give to their unemployed staff. Jennifer Knox of The Sand Bar pic.twitter.com/Aiz2NBCPxy  Amanda Jackson (@AmandaJ_TX) April 8, 2020 Twitter Privacy Policy

For almost 15 years, customers have been decorating the small town bar by writing on a dollar bill and stapling it to the walls or ceilings.

Knox, who worked as a bartender at The Sand Bar for seven years before owning it, was determined to help her staff and colleagues.

'I can't just sit here and do nothing. I'll do what I can for my people,' said Knox, who now owns the bar with her mother, Pam Hessler.

Five volunteers spent nearly four days meticulously removing each of dollar bills from the walls. It took a week to clean and count the cash.

Knox said some bills were covered in dozens of staples and others were different currencies from around the globe.

The Sand Bar revealed that, in total, they had collected nearly $4,000.

After word spread of Knox's 'Labor of Love,' many customers donated an additional to help their community members during the outbreak.

Pictured: The Sand Bar after volunteers removed $3,714 from the walls and ceilings in late March

With the help of donations from customers, Knox distributed a total of $4,104 to her staff

Knox distributed $4,104 to her staff, including four bartenders and two musicians who received $600 each.

Tybee Island, a town of some 3,000 people, is one of Georgia's most popular vacation sites and depends on tourism to stay afloat.

Knox said that March was the start of their busy season following winter, but the future of The Sand Bar, like other businesses, is uncertain.

She said: 'We all look out for each other. We are all in this together.'

Inspired by Knox's good deed, one bartender donated her cut to another Tybee Island bartender.

Donations for The Sand Bar and the Tybee Island service industry are still being accepted.

At the moment, The Sand Bar's freshly striped walls have been covered in bright colored paint.

Knox isn't sure if the tradition of stapling money onto walls will continue after the crisis, but she said she's considering new ways for customers to decorate The Sand Bar.

Georgia is one of the country's growing COVID-19 hot spots, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and 370 deaths.

The Sand Bar's walls are now covered in a fresh coat of paint after more than 3,000 was collected

The city of Albany, with a population of 73,000, has become one of the countries worst outbreak zones with a 5.7 percent fatality rate.

Georgia's first death was recorded on March 12. The 67-year-old victim had visited Albany in February to attend the funeral of a man it was believed died of natural causes.

Albany's hospitals have since become overrun, where there were only 14 intensive care units available, as officials struggled to find the source of the outbrea

As of Wednesday, there are 973 confirmed cases and 56 deaths. It now has the fourth highest number of cases per capita in the country.

This comes as local leaders in Georgia's coastal and beach towns have slammed Governor Brian P. Kemp for re-opening state beaches amid the lockdown.

Since Kemp's order, locals and visitors have flocked to the beach, in defiance of the White House's orders to stay indoors and avoid contact with others.

He argued that his move to re-open beaches was an effort to allow Georgians to exercise.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 18:16:21|Editor: Yurou

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WINDHOEK, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has expressed appreciation for the additional assistance from both the Chinese government and the Jack Ma foundation, deputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said on Thursday.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said they are expecting to receive additional assistance from both the Jack Ma Foundation which is earmarked for all the African countries as well as the Chinese government.

"I can confirm that we are expecting our consignment from the Jack Ma Foundation of 10 ventilators and the Chinese Government. We expect to receive this consignment in Addis Ababa on April 15. We have since started making arrangements to collect both our consignments at once upon arrival in Addis Ababa, " she said.

The Namibian deputy Prime Minister said the the Chinese embassy officials have since communicated that they are keen to continue assisting Namibia with the needed support during the trying times.

"We are very happy for the assistance that we continue getting from our Chinese counterparts," she said.
Cecilia Alvarez Velasco, 47, from Ecuador, works cleaning a condominium residence in Barcelona, Spain, on April 9, 2020. (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)

Spains Mortality Rate Reaches 10 Percent, New Virus Cases Remain Flat

Spains official mortality rate from COVID-19 reached 10 percent on April 9 as new cases stayed flat, but new hospitalization admissions rose.

Spains Ministry of Health reported 683 deaths, bringing the total to 15,238. The number of new cases rose by 5,756 to 152,446.

The official mortality rate calculated from those two figures is one of the highest in the world, though countries true rates are lower, as people with few or no symptoms arent usually tested.

Death rates in most other countries are far lower than Spains, reaching below 1 percent in some areas.

Spanish authorities have said the country appeared to reach its peak days ago, and hospitals in some of the hardest-hit areas have seen a drop in new patients, bringing the health care system in Madrid and nearby areas back from the brink. Madrid saw a drop in those hospitalized and in intensive care units (ICU) overnight, while Catalonia, the second-most-affected region, saw slight upticks.

Overall, total hospitalizations rose by 3,363, and ICU admissions ticked up 239 to 7,371. The region with the largest increase was Valencian Community, where hospitalizations about doubled.

The number of cured, or hospital discharges, also jumped by more than 4,000. More than 52,000 Spaniards have been discharged from hospitals during the pandemic.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers in Parliament in Madrid that the latest data showed that Spain was close to the start of a decline in cases of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S a nchez delivers a speech during a session on the CCP virus at Parliament in Madrid on April 9, 2020. (Mariscal/Pool via Reuters)

Referring to the virus as a fire, Sanchez said it has begun to come under control.

But lawmakers were poised to approve a two-week extension to the state of emergency declared last month. Lockdown orders would be extended to April 26.

We are starting to see the end of this long road to the new normal, he said, while warning that normality wouldnt be complete until a vaccine was found against the CCP virus.

Spain has implemented strict social distancing measures, keeping large portions of the populace at home except for essential trips.

Sanchez asked lawmakers from all sides in the politically-fractured nation to join an economic revival pact as they did after dictator Francisco Francos death in the 1970s.

The plan seeks to unite political parties, unions, companies, and regions behind a common economic reconstruction policy and state welfare funding as Spain, like other western nations, piles billions of euros into aid and stimulus.

I propose a great pact for the economic and social reconstruction of Spain, for all the political forces who want to lend their shoulder to take part, said Sanchez, a socialist who leads a leftist coalition government after a series of inconclusive elections.

People dance on their balconies while listening to a neighbor playing music in Barcelona, Spain, on April 8, 2020. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

The leader of the main opposition Peoples Party, Pablo Casado, said Sanchez didnt have sufficient moral authority. The appeal for a pact doesnt seem sincere, he told Parliament.

However, his party would support an extension of the state of emergency, Casado said.

Spanish authorities on April 8 offered a new drug trial that will look at preventing COVID-19 in health care professionals, announcing the enrollment of 4,000 workers across 62 hospitals.

This is the largest clinical trial of this nature in Europe and one of the largest in the world, Health Minister Salvador Illa said in a statement.

Initial results are expected in about a month. The trial is looking at HIV drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil.

Spain and Italy are the European countries most affected by the CCP virus, officially having the highest death rates in the world. Figures from China, though, have been heavily manipulated, while experts have widely questioned the official numbers from Iran.

Italy on April 8 saw its daily death rate decrease by 10 percent, with 542 new deaths. The number of new infections in the country surged by more than 26 percent, bringing the total number of cases to 139,422.

Italy has also been on lockdown since last month. Authorities mandated the closure of businesses deemed nonessential and forbade people from leaving home, with some exceptions.

Reuters and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
WESTPORT, Conn., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LCR Capital Partners is proud to announce that it is now helping its clients obtain the Portuguese ARI ("Autorizacao de Residencia para Actividade de Investimento") which is commonly referred to as the Portuguese Golden Visa. This is a new service for international investors and their families interested in European residency.

VIC Properties

The Portuguese Golden Visa is an investment-based visa designed to attract foreign capital. For investors, European residency can be achieved in 12 months and it provides access to professional development, education for children, and the potential for a European passport in 5 years.

Unlike the U.S. EB-5 Program, the Portuguese Golden Visa program is based on personal property ownership and is a lower cost and quicker alternative for families that don't require access to U.S. markets and schools.

LCR Services

LCR's specialist team is fluent in both Portuguese and English, with the necessary expertise in immigration investment options to advise clients. The team helps potential clients examine the opportunity in detail to determine whether European residency would meet the needs of their families.

Lifestyle, educational options and long-terms plans are just some of the things to consider for global families. From there, LCR helps clients choose a project that is a conservative investment focused on capital preservation and works with immigration attorneys to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.

LCR prides itself on being a trusted partner to families looking at investment immigration and manages that process step-by-step, working together with immigration attorneys and property developers throughout the journey.

Carlos Hawker, Managing Director Business Development at LCR Capital Partners and the leader of this new service, said "Having worked closely with high net worth families for over 20 years, I understand residency and mobility is a critical part of active family planning for future generations. There is a lot to learn and having good partners is essential."

VIC Properties

As part of this service, LCR has identified VIC Properties as a strong development partner for its clients. VIC Properties, headquartered in Lisbon, specializes in residential properties and has nearly 2 billion in gross development value.

VIC Properties' current development is the Prata Riverside Village and it has been recognized as the Best Real Estate Development in the Housing Category at the SIL Property Awards 2019. The project has already completed development and fully sold one phase that is being extended based on an approved development plan.

Suresh Rajan, Executive Chairman and Founder of LCR Capital Partners, said "We take a rigorous approach to evaluating investments for our clients and have identified world class development partners in Portugal. This is an excellent option for families that want access to European markets and schools, and we are excited about helping our clients achieve their goals."

For more information, please visit: https://www.lcrcapital.com/portugal-golden-visa/

About VIC Properties

Focused on the Portuguese residential real estate market, VIC Properties combines in-house local development expertise with capital market knowledge and vast experience in large development projects.

VIC's core business is the development of integrated projects in Portugal creating not only high quality and affordable real estate, but also unique residential concepts and lifestyle experiences for its residents to enjoy.

www.vic-properties.com

About LCR Capital Partners

LCR Capital Partners is a global private investment and advisory services firm that is the ideal partner for families interested in U.S. immigration and investment. Founded in 2012, LCR is led by classmates who met at Harvard Business School. The firm focuses on conservatively structured funds invested in signature real estate developments. In the United States, these projects create new American jobs and help develop communities. Over the past 5 years, LCR has built long-term, trust-based relationships with a client base of over 800 HNW investors from 30+ countries managing their EB-5 process to gain U.S. residency. LCR is headquartered in Westport, CT and runs a global network of five regional offices: Miami (Latin America); Sao Paulo (Brazil); Dubai (GCC), Singapore (Southeast Asia) and Mumbai (India).

Website: http://www.lcrcapital.com

For more information please contact:

John M. Baker

MD, Marketing, LCR Capital Partners LLC

[email protected]

+1 646 684 7587

SOURCE LCR Capital Partners LLC

Related Links

http://www.lcrcapital.com


COVID-19 pandemic is spreading rapidly in eastern Pennsylvania, largely the result of manufacturers and distributors refusing to curtail production.

Luzerne County reports over 1,000 documented cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, all men, with the youngest victim just 48 years old. The great majority of documented cases, roughly 900, are concentrated in the small city of Hazleton, which has a population of 25,000 and a median income that is half the national average. Cases in the former coal mining city continue to climb exponentially, according to a media account published Tuesday.

Lehigh and Northampton counties, whose largest cities are the former steel milling centers of Allentown and Bethlehem, respectively, reported a combined 2,200 cases as of Tuesday. Monroe County, which borders New Jersey, reported over 600 cases, and Lackawanna County, whose largest city is Scranton, reported nearly 300.

The regional economy is closely linked to that of New York City, through production, transportation, and the movement of workers.

A Wilkes-Barre area plant of Mission Foods, which specializes in authentic Mexican food products, has ordered workers to continue to report to work in spite of an outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility. Twenty-two workers at the facility were diagnosed with the disease days ago, but management has ordered the workforce of over 500 to continue to report even if theyre experiencing symptoms of COVID-19or risk losing their jobs, according to a media report based on a conversation with a Local 1776 United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) official, Wendell Young. Workers also report that the building is not being sanitized properly, that employees are working nearly elbow-to-elbow on assembly and production lines and not maintaining a 6-foot distance from each other, and that some are coughing and gagging as they work the lines.

The UFCW has not called workers out on strike against these clearly life-threatening conditions. In an email to the media, plant manager Hugo Andrade claimed, there is no indication that the employees contracted COVID-19 while present at our facility.

In Hazleton, the epidemic is also concentrated among workers compelled to report at regional industrial parks. Were in crisis mode because were seeing that Hazleton, out of all Luzerne County, that Hazleton is really going to be ground zero for this, said state Representative Tarah Toohil. The numbers are affecting the Spanish-speaking community that works in the industrial parks  We have industrial plants where management was not following the OSHA guidelines and the CDC recommendations. But Toohil admitted that regional politicians would do little more than to ask plant owners to hit the pause button.

Likewise, an industrial park near Wilkes-Barre has generated many complaints, most anonymous, from workers alleging they are packed too closely into workplaces without access to protective gear, according to a local news story. A county official heading up inspections at the plant, solidarized himself with the plant owners, insisting that the facilities were safe. In any case, he admitted, we cant force them to do anything.

On Tuesday, five days after Hazleton was labeled a coronavirus hot spot by public health officials, Cargill Inc. finally announced a temporary suspension of its operation at its 900-employee meat processing facility in the city. Cargill, the Minnesota-based food and petrochemical giant, has a market value estimated at $55 billion.

Also on Tuesday, an Amazon employee at the firms Breinigsville location, near Allentown, tested positive for the coronavirus, and two workers at Bimbo Bakeries in the city were diagnosed with the disease. A spokesman for Bimbo Bakeries said production would continue, but that the company would make greater efforts at social distancing in the plant.
A week ago, Monroe County had 58 cases of the coronavirus. Thats since tripled to 152.

Saginaw County has gone from 71 cases to 186; Clinton County, from 33 to 82; Hillsdale County, from 19 to 62. All in a week.

Since Michigan confirmed its first COVID-19 cases on March 10, officials have been laser-focused on the numbers in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, which remain the epicenter of the pandemic in the state - with more than 16,000 of the states 20,346 confirmed coronavirus cases.

But in the past week, there have been significant surges of confirmed cases outside of the Metro Detroit area.

Coronavirus is "definitely spreading outside of Detroit, said Emily Martin, a University of Michigan epidemiologist. Its kind of tricky because the testing is a lot better in metro Detroit than it is in other areas of Michigan, so theres probably even more spread than what were seeing.

Dr. Dennis Cunningham, corporate medical director of infection prevention and employee health for the McLaren Health System, said hes definitely seeing the surge in his hospitals, particularly in Flint.

Genesee County, where Flint is located, went from 249 to 713 cases in the past week.

Im cautiously optimistic about things in Detroit based on hospital admissions, Cunningham said Wednesday. They arent any worse and may be slightly better.

But Flint continues to have an increasing number of cases, Cunningham said. Flint has some more tough days ahead, and I do think its going to spread to other parts of the state.

The growing numbers in more rural parts of the state are also concerning, Martin said. Two big issues especially pertinent for the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula: they are regions already underserved by health-care providers and they have a disproportionate number of senior citizens, an age group especially vulnerable to coronavirus.

At least in the Detroit area theres enough healthcare systems that if one gets overburdened, there are others nearby who can help out by taking patient transfers, Martin said. We dont have the same kind of overlap in northern Michigan. Theres not that kind of saturation of available medical care.

Moreover, Martin said, the public-health agencies in northern Michigan tend to be spread out over huge geographic areas and have jurisdiction over many counties. So they have big jobs on their hands without the same kind of resources that people might have in metro Detroit.

Plus they have older populations, and populations that havent had great access to all of the health care services that theyve needed for a long time," Martin said. That will kind of catch up with you in a public-health emergency.

Lisa Peacock know those concerns first-hand. Shes the public health officer for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, which includes Charlevoix, Emmet, Antrim and Otsego counties, and for the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department.

Were very worried" about the increasing numbers, Peacock said. The stability of the health-care system is our biggest concern.

On April 1, the six counties that she oversees had a total of 35 confirmed cases of coronavirus. By Wednesday, that had increased to 62. Per capita, the six counties collectively now have a higher rate of confirmed coronavirus cases than Kent or Kalamazoo counties.

Peacock already has gotten a taste of how coronavirus can strain local health-care services. Twenty-nine of the confirmed coronavirus cases in Peacocks region are in Otsego County, an outbreak traced to a resident who apparently caught coronavirus on an overseas trip and then exposed others at a popular restaurant in Gaylord.

Although 29 cases is a tiny fraction of the numbers seen in metro Detroit, local health officials had to scramble to deal with the Gaylord-area outbreak, Peacock said.

Munson Healthcare has hospitals in Gaylord and neighboring Grayling, and decided to put all the COVID-19 patients in the Grayling facility and the non-COVID patients in the Gaylord hospital, she said. But while Grayling Hospital has 80-some beds, they typically only staff for 20, Peacock said, an example of the limited capacity at northern Michigan hospitals.

The other issue in northern Michigan is that theres been for very limited testing for coronavirus, Peacock said, making it hard to know the true extent of the spread of the disease.

In our counties where weve had only a handful of cases, we think a lot of that is due to the limited capacity for testing, Peacock said. Emmet County had very few cases until we opened a testing facility about a week ago. And once we started doing that expanded testing, we started finding more positives --- which is exactly what you would expect to see.

The good news for counties just now seeing a rise in coronavirus cases is that the mitigation efforts imposed statewide -- such as the closing of schools and restaurants and the stay-at-home order -- mean its likely those areas will see fewer cases than they might have experienced otherwise, Martin said.

When metro Detroit started have all these cases, the whole state went into a stay-at-home mode -- which is probably going to work out better for the rest of the state," making it more likely community spread of the virus will be minimized, Martin said.

The lack of population density also works in favor of rural counties, making it easier to achieve social distancing, experts say.

Still, officials are worried summer will bring an influx of second homeowners and vacationers who could bring coronavirus with them or become infected after their arrival, putting further strain on the local health-care system.

Health departments representing 31 counties in the northern Lower Peninsula recently issued a joint advisory asking people to reconsider travel to the region and for those who do come to quarantine themselves for 14 days after their arrival.

Because the raw numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases are so much lower in northern Michigan compared to metro Detroit, people may feel this is a safe sanctuary, when thats not true, Peacock said.

We have very, very, very limited testing capacity and a health-care system that is not prepared for that surge in population, Peacock said. Our hospital administrators are begging us to share that message.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

As coronavirus scare relaxes Michigan transparency laws, experts question long-term effects

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Gov. Whitmers latest order ensures speedy delivery of emergency coronavirus supplies

Its almost like youre drowning, COVID-19 survivor says
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday decided to recommend Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's name for being nominated as member of the state Legislative Council from the Governor's quota.

Thackeray, who is currently not a member of either of the Houses of state Legislature, was not present at the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken.

At present, there are two vacancies in the Legislative Council from the Governor's quota after MLCs Rahul Narvekar and Ram Wadkute quit the NCP to join the BJP before the Assembly polls in October last year.

The term of these two vacant seats is till mid-June.

Maharashtra Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab told PTI that the decision to recommend Thackeray's name as MLC from the Governor's quota was taken at the state Cabinet meeting.

"Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been requested to appoint Uddhav Thackeray from one of the two vacant seats," he said.

Thackeray was not present at the Cabinet meeting which was chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the state secretariat.

Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik told reporters that Thackeray had been advised not to attend the meeting, since the Cabinet was to recommend his name to the governor for appointment as MLC.

Article 164(4)of the Constitution states that a minister, who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister.

The six-month period in Thackeray's case ends on May 28 as he was sworn as chief minister on November 28 last year.

Nine Legislative Council seats from the MLAs' quota are falling vacant on April 24, and Thackeray was set to be elected as an MLC during the biennial elections as one of the candidate.

But, in view of the coronavirus outbreak and the national lockdown, the Election Commission has deferred the polls.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

I got home, just like any other day late and very tired after working out myself and responding to calls from various radio stations to help educate fellow countrymen on the coronavirus pandemic. I also had the opportunity to call on government to respond to the cry of the people of the Upper West Region and provide them with the much needed resources to fight a local pandemic call cerebrospinal meningitis that is eating them up at the speed of light. So far 33 people have lost their lives but government is yet to come to their aid. Im wondering if Kweku Baako has read any news headline about the CSM in the Upper West region, and what are his comments?

After taking my shower to refresh my body and some light soup to nourish my weak muscles, I tried to glance through the headlines of the Ghanaweb and came across this funny heading, Kweku Baako expose NDCs coronavirus lies. Immediately, I was motivated to read it, but after going through it, I came to the conclusion that, the so call Mr. document is an empty textbook analyst and my subsequent paragraphs will help you understand how I arrived at this conclusion.

First and foremost, I want to put it on record that, I do not doubt Kweku Baako has in his possession a lot of documents including those predating the creation of the earth. I really salute him for being the only working library. But with all those documents, I am convinced he knows nothing about probability and risk in the medical field.

Kweku Baakos analysis as publish on Ghanaweb on the demands made by NDC, individuals and some civil society organizations for government to bring home Ghanaians studying in China at the time Wuhan was the only place recording coronavirus cases has rather exposed him big time as a modern stomach journalist interested in diverting attention from serious national issues.

The two major national issues Ghana is facing as a country today is not Ghanaian students in China, but coronavirus in Ghana and how to contain it and the second is CSM in Upper West that has already claimed 33 lives and counting. Why didnt Kweku Baako use his time in providing possible solutions to Ghanaians on how to arrest the spread of the virus and rescue our countrymen in Upper West but took a different path instead?

I wish to ask Mr. Kweku Baako the following:

What fear was government of Ghana entertaining that they refused to bring home our students from the only coronavirus infested country at the time? Would they have introduced the virus into the country if they were brought home? Was Ghana at that time still receiving direct flights from China? How many people in Wuhan at the time the calls were made were suffering from COVID 19? How many people are currently suffering from coronavirus in Ghana that the rest of us have to tolerate a partial lockdown to protect the nation? If 313 case of COVID 19 can push the government to introduce a partial lock down, why couldnt over 8000 case in a province of the same population as Ghana cause for a call to air lift our students out of China to a safe Ghanaian territory at the time? If we can go to the extent of shooting people to enforce a lock down that would halt the spread of the disease, dont you think that it was worth demanding for them to be air lifted to safe grounds? Afterall we knew at that time that they were virus free and you have just confirmed it? With only 313 cases of COVID 19 and partial lock down can you tell me the government is insensitive and fear-mongering? Can you compare this to the thousands of cases in Wuhan at the time the calls were made? Was Ghana the only country that was going to airlift her students? So by your logic, who is insensitive and fear-mongering, NDC or NPP?

I would be glad to read from you in your earliest possible time. Thanks, and play safe when it comes to health, else people will think you are pleasing a paymaster in your submissions

A comrade from a distance

Dr. Thomas Winsum Anabah
Voting rights advocates believe the pandemic will significantly impact how many people turn out in upcoming elections.

For outside observers of United States politics, its a genuinely baffling question: Why would anyone be opposed to higher participation in elections?

For partisan players in the process, however, the question and the issues underlying it mark the next big battle now that the fight over who will challenge President Donald Trump in the November general election has been all but settled.

The battle  over making absentee voting, or voting by mail, easier in the US  has been simmering for years but has taken on new urgency in the age of the coronavirus. Voting rights advocates believe the pandemic could have a significant impact on how many people turn out in hundreds of upcoming elections across the country, including the White House contest.

Congressional Democrats want to dramatically expand voters ability to cast ballots remotely, arguing that forcing people to vote in person during a contagion is reckless and dangerous. Millions would likely skip out on voting altogether rather than take the risk, they say, eroding confidence in the legitimacy of the elections themselves.

Why should we be saying to people, Stand in line for hours, when we dont even want you leaving the house? Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.

Currently, only five states send ballots to all voters to be returned through the mail. About a third of states require an excuse to get an absentee ballot, and some require a witness to sign an application for a mail ballot  a requirement that can be difficult to meet for voters under lockdown.

An election volunteer collecting a completed ballot from a voter after the city of Beloit consolidated all its precincts in a single drive-up location outside city hall for voters to cast ballots from their vehicles in Beloit, Wisconsin [Daniel Acker/Reuters]

Democrats attempted to mandate nationwide, no-excuse mail-in voting in the coronavirus stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this month, but the measure was removed following Republican opposition. House leaders did manage to secure $400m in funding for local election offices, but they estimate that at least $1.6bn more would be needed to enable the states to prepare for a radically changed voting landscape in November.

On Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that would allow voting by mail in that hard-hit states upcoming primary election, which was postponed from April to June, without an excuse for the first time. New Yorkers shouldnt have to choose between their health and their civic duty, Cuomo tweeted.

But New York is so far an outlier. Democrats in Texas have filed a lawsuit seeking to allow the pandemic to qualify as a legitimate excuse for any voter seeking an absentee ballot, and Democratic activists say they expect many more such lawsuits in the coming weeks.

We have already seen more litigation, even before COVID, than ever before in 2020, Marc Elias, a lawyer who represents the Democratic Party on voting issues, told the Associated Press news agency. What COVID has done is added fuel to that fire.

Republican opposition to the plan revolves around allegations that voting by mail is rife with fraud. Trump has even suggested  without evidence  that higher turnout tamps down the electoral odds of Republicans, and he has taken to Twitter repeatedly in recent days to try and shut down the efforts.

Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

Indeed, there has been fraud associated with absentee balloting in the past. Most famously, President Lyndon Johnson was elected to the US Senate in Texas in 1948 on the back of fraudulent absentee votes from South Texas. More recently, in 2019, an operative for a Republican congressional candidate in North Carolina was indicted for buying and illegally filling out absentee ballots.

Ballot harvesting, or allowing someone to return a ballot on behalf of another voter or group of voters, is one of the thorniest issues in the current debate. Democrats believe the option, currently allowed in 24 states, is essential for elderly voters and others isolated by the pandemic. Republicans, however, are adamantly opposed, and have set aside $10m to fight Democratic lawsuits related to the virus.





Stan Veuger, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC who has studied vote-by-mail systems in states like Oregon, says Republican concerns about ballot harvesting are reasonable. On the other hand, he told Al Jazeera, one persons ballot harvesting is another persons effective campaigning.

Veuger says the system used in Oregon, which has been voting by mail exclusively since 1998  while not perfect  is wildly popular and has not affected overall turnout. And contrary to the assertions of Trump and other Republicans, there is little evidence that voting by mail impacts who or what party people support at the polls.

Any disadvantages to voting by mail, Veuger says, are easily outweighed by the serious risk to the US system of government if in-person voting is the only method available during a renewed coronavirus outbreak.

The key takeaway from this is that voting by mail is both safe and cheap, Veuger said. Especially if the federal government picks up the tab for the transition, it is an excellent system to have even if only as a backup.
The positioning of the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market vendors in FPNV Positioning Matrix are determined by Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) and placed into four quadrants (F: Forefront, P: Pathfinders, N: Niche, and V: Vital).

New York, April 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Wind Energy Foundation Market - Premium Insight, Competitive News Feed Analysis, Company Usability Profiles, Market Sizing & Forecasts to 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871749/?utm_source=GNW





The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market including are Blue H Engineering B.V., Offshore Wind Power Systems of Texas LLC, OWEC Tower AS, Suzlon Group, SWAY AS, Bladt Industries A/S, Fugro Renewable Services, MT Hjgaard, Principle Power, Inc., and Ramboll Group.



On the basis of Foundation Type , the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market is studied across Gravity Based Structure, Monopile, Space Frame Tri-Pile, Space Frame-Jacke, and Space Frame-Tripod.



For the detailed coverage of the study, the market has been geographically divided into the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The report provides details of qualitative and quantitative insights about the major countries in the region and taps the major regional developments in detail.



In the report, we have covered two proprietary models, the FPNV Positioning Matrix and Competitive Strategic Window. The FPNV Positioning Matrix analyses the competitive market place for the players in terms of product satisfaction and business strategy they adopt to sustain in the market. The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisitions strategies, geography expansion, research & development, new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



Research Methodology:

Our market forecasting is based on a market model derived from market connectivity, dynamics, and identified influential factors around which assumptions about the market are made. These assumptions are enlightened by fact-bases, put by primary and secondary research instruments, regressive analysis and an extensive connect with industry people. Market forecasting derived from in-depth understanding attained from future market spending patterns provides quantified insight to support your decision-making process. The interview is recorded, and the information gathered in put on the drawing board with the information collected through secondary research.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market

2. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market

3. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets for the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market

4. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new products launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market

5. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size of Wind Energy Foundation market in the Global?

2. What are the factors that affect the growth in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market over the forecast period?

3. What is the competitive position in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market?

4. Which are the best product areas to be invested in over the forecast period in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market?

5. What are the opportunities in the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market?

6. What are the modes of entering the Global Wind Energy Foundation Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871749/?utm_source=GNW



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It is too early to precisely quantify the fiscal gap that is likely to be created by reductions in state revenue and increases in the cost of delivering state services, but we believe that it will almost certainly cost billions of dollars and possibly cost tens of billions of dollars, said the authors of the report from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
As we approach year three of the pandemic, its safe to say weve learned to be more cautious and flexible with our plans. And with the omicro
Humanity Heroes also donated 5,700 face masks to Homeless Healthcare of Los Angeles , who provides the homeless with a 24/7 hygiene center known as the "Refresh Spot" with access to handwashing stations, showers, clean restrooms, and laundry facilities for Skid Row.

"It's amazing that Humanity Heroes is able to do this and, I just can't thank them enough  this is beautiful," said Director Mark Casanova of Homeless Healthcare of Los Angeles.

Additionally, 700 N95 masks were donated to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center for the brave doctors and nurses who face this pandemic head-on.

In preparation for the increased burden on the homeless caused by this tragic pandemic, Humanity Heroes is also reaching out to any heroic and civic-minded organizations who are willing to donate items for their "Humanity Packs" that contain items that immediately augment the sanitation, comfort and protection of these painfully vulnerable and marginalized people.

Humanity Heroes' inspiring direct-action campaigns cut through all red-tape, and make a real and immediate difference for the most impoverished and neglected in our society. Like heroes from a comic book, volunteers walk the streets of Skid Row, hand delivering backpacks filled with essential living supplies DIRECTLY to those in need.

If you would like to help the cause, please contact [email protected] .

ABOUT HUMANITY HEROES

Humanity Heroes is a non-profit located in West Hollywood and was founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael 'BigMike' Straumietis. The unique 'direct action' campaigns help ease the suffering of the nearly 60,000 homeless living on the streets of Los Angeles. For more information, visit joinhumanityheroes.org .

SOURCE Humanity Heroes

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NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Experts at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. have launched two new digital resources to help employers and employees navigate the federal government's recently enacted COVID-19 relief efforts, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which went into effect on April 1, is intended to offset the economic and health impacts of COVID-19. Wolters Kluwer's new FFCRA briefing breaks down topics including who is covered, when employers must provide paid or unpaid leave, how the payroll credits for paid leave and sick time apply, and how the legislation impacts unemployment insurance.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law just nine days after the FFCRA, provides $2 trillion of tax and spending relief and is the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history. In this special CARES briefing, Wolters Kluwer's experts analyze the highly publicized recovery rebates for individual taxpayers and explain the additional relief for unemployment insurance programs under the Act. The briefing also breaks down how the CARES Act and the FFCRA impact the emergency paid family leave and paid sick leave provisions.

"Wolters Kluwer created these resources to provide comprehensive analysis and offer practical insights into these significant new laws, both of which have wide-ranging impacts on businesses across the United States," said Pamela Wolf, J.D., Legal Analyst at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. "In the coming days and weeks, it will become increasingly important for employers and employees to understand the criteria set by the FFCRA and CARES Act so they can prepare for the next phase of this pandemic."

The new digital briefings cover several key topics that are impacted by both laws, including:

COVID-19 testing coverage.

Who is entitled to paid and unpaid leave.

Payroll relief through payroll tax credits.

The expansion of unemployment insurance and unemployment benefits.

To download each briefing, visit:

FFCRA: http://hr.cch.com/ELD/ELD_Briefing_COVID-19_03-25-20_final_locked.pdf

CARES Act: https://hr.cch.com/eld/ELD_Briefing_CARES-Act_04-03-2020_final_locked.pdf

To see Wolters Kluwer's free Coronavirus Resources & Tools page, visit:

https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com/campaign/coronavirus-resources-tools-covid-19/

For More Information

To speak to a Wolters Kluwer labor and employment law expert for additional detail on COVID-19 legislation, please contact us at [email protected]

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare; tax and accounting; governance, risk and compliance; and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Linda Gharib

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Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

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Email: [email protected]

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SEATTLE (AP)  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state is opening up an application process for grants that will provide up to $10,000 for businesses with up to 10 employees.

Businesses can use the money to pay rent, utility bills, supplies and other operating expenses.





. . .
Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal in a video message to his employees has said that the company's revenues and hotel occupancies have taken a major hit due to coronavirus outbreak.

He said Oyo's revenues have dropped between 50 per cent to 60 per cent across the world. Hence, Oyo will be putting thousands of its employees, who are working in the US and UK markets on temporary leave or furloughs. The furlough is expected to be for a minimum of 60-90 days. The 26-year-old billionaire also said that he would not put Indian employees on leave as of now, Times of India reported.

Agarwal added that Oyo "intends to do no or negligible layoffs" as part of the new restructuring exercise.

Oyo, in January this year laid off 15 to 20 per cent of its 12,000 employees in India as part of its restructuring measures. Globally, Oyo has about 25,000 employees.

In the video message, Agarwal also spoke about Oyo's comeback in China. He said that the company was growing at 5 per cent week-on-week as the economy starts opening up again.

The development comes after Oyo told its hotel partners it was unfit to pay "minimum guarantee" for their properties, citing force majeure clauses.

Oyo recently raised $1.5 billion in funding from its largest shareholder-SoftBank Vision Fund. The company said its total revenue for FY19 was $951 million (Rs 6,780 crore). However, its consolidated loss grew over six-fold to $335 million (Rs 2,390 crore).

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: Govt allows online EGMs amid nationwide lockdown

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Dairy industry faces 30% dip in demand
Uttarakhand state government on Thursday released Rs 10 crores from the Chief Minister's relief fund to the state medical education department in wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the chief minister's office said.

The fund released on the instructions of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has been done with the aim of strengthening and enhancing the state medical colleges identified for prevention of spread of coronavirus, it said.

Meanwhile, no positive case of COVID-19 was reported in the state on Thursday.

The Directorate of Health Services had earlier informed so far a total of 35 positive cases have been reported in the state.

India's total COVID-19 cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, with 591 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Latin Americas leading legacy food delivery company iFood and Delivery Hero-owned Domicilios.com are merging in a bid to take on the food startup Rappi on its home turf.

The price of the transaction was undisclosed, but will result in iFood holding a 51% equity stake in the partnership, while Delivery Hero will hold the remaining 49%.

Domicilios, the Colombian online food ordering startup, raised $47.7 million before it exited to Berlin-headquartered Delivery Hero for an undisclosed price in 2014. And while iFood has operations in Colombia and Mexico in addition to Brazil, it hasnt achieved the same kind of market penetration outside of its home country -- where it serves 147,000+ restaurants registered in more than 1,000 cities.

IFood says the combined companies will have the largest geographic presence in Colombia, with more than 12,000 restaurants in more than 30 cities across the country. With the merger, iFood inches closer to overtaking the top-spot in the Colombian market, behind the Bogota-based billion-dollar-valued hometown hero, Rappi.

Rappi has raised a total of $1.4 billion in funding over eight rounds, including a $1 billion injection from SoftBank in 2019 that marked the largest single investment into a Latin American startup. Despite that capital, Rappi was hit with a wave of layoffs in January 2020, cutting 6% of staff, amounting to roughly 300 employees.

Were not certain whether the layoffs had any effect on the companys valuation, which has been estimated at $3.5 billion.

Since its launch, Rappi has expanded its delivery portfolio to pharmaceuticals, banking services and furniture, in addition to groceries and restaurant delivery. Investors in the Latin American market speculate that Rappi is burning money as it battles Uber Eats and Didi (also both heavily backed by SoftBank)

IFood hopes the acquisition will boost business growth for restaurant and delivery partners in the region, while generating more competitive delivery products and services for Colombians.

IFood prides itself on business intelligence and management solutions, and is backed by Movile Group and Just Eat, a leading global hybrid marketplace for online food delivery.

The coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit Brazilian retailers and restaurants hard, as zero-tech restaurants are forced to enable digital delivery to stay in business. In response, iFood announced a $9.8 million fund to help sustain restaurants within its network.
Congratulations are in order for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who celebrate their 15th year of marriage today.

The Prince of Wales, who has recently recovered after being diagnosed with coronavirus, is currently residing with his wife at Birkhall cottage in Balmoral, Scotland.

The two marked their wedding anniversary by releasing a picture to the Clarence House Instagram account, where they posed with their dogs Bluebell and Beth.

Though the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were quietly wed in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle on April 8, 2005, the couple has known each other for over half their lives, having initially met in 1971.

In their 15 years of marriage, Charles and Camilla have often been caught having a laugh while conducting their official royal duties.

Theyve even been known to crack a few jokes - particularly, the Duchess, who once joked with Charles, Behave yourself, as she was presented with a knife at a winery tour during their 2015 visit to South Australia.

In a 2013 interview, the Duchess, then 66, had a clever response about her husbands upcoming 65th birthday when asked whether she would be celebrating or commiserating with him.

I think it is commiserate - well, in my case I went very quiet about it, she said. Luckily he has caught up with me now. We are both pensioners and he can join me in collecting the bus pass, she joked.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to 184 countries and territories. Currently, there is no vaccine available for COVID-19 disease, or SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, scientists around the world are racing to find ways to block the virus.

Now, a team of international scientists is looking at a promising vaccine candidate that was created to deal with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) caused by MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a disease similar to COVID-19 that emerged in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. During the MERS outbreak, more than 850 people died. MERS had a high fatality rate of 30 percent.

MERS Virus Particles Colorized scanning electron micrograph of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus particles (yellow) attached to the surface of an infected VERO E6 cell (blue). Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID

Published in mBio, the official journal of the American Society of Microbiology, the study shows the promise of a new intranasal vaccine using an RNA virus for gene delivery, which can protect people against the fatal MERS-CoV infections in mice.

Promising MERS vaccine candidate

The MERS-CoV has a higher fatality rate than the SARS-CoV-2 infection, which has about 2 to 3 fatality rates on average. However, in some countries, the fatality rate is higher.

The researchers believe that the novel approach that was used to develop a MERS virus vaccine may also work against the novel SARS-CoV-2, which is wreaking havoc across populations as it infects more than 1.5 million people and has killed nearly 90,000 people.

The vaccine has a unique delivery method through an RNA virus known as the parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5), simian virus 5 (SV5), which is known to cause kennel cough in dogs. The virus is deemed harmless in people. For the virus to produce the S, or spike, a glycoprotein tied to MERS infections, the scientists added a new gene to the virus.

We know people have been exposed to PIV5, but it seems to be an innocuous virus in humans. PIV5 doesnt seem to cause a cytopathic effect, Dr. Paul McCray, a pediatric pulmonologist and coronavirus expert at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, said.

Since the MERS virus cannot reproduce in mice, the team developed a mouse model by genetically engineering them to be susceptible to the MERS virus. The mice are engineered to express the DPP4, a protein utilized by the MERS virus as an entry point in human cells.

Laboratory experiments showed that even a single dose of the vaccine, taken intranasally, effectively caused the infected cells to produce the S protein that can kick start an immune response against the protein in the mice.

After one month of receiving the vaccine, the researchers exposed the mice to a MERS virus strain to cause infection. Another group of mice who did not receive the vaccine, but received a different PIV5 vaccine that has no genes for S protein or an inactivated MERS virus is given intramuscularly, were also exposed to the virus.

When given the promising novel vaccine, all the mice who received it survived MERS, while the mice that had not received the vaccine did not. Meanwhile, the mice that received the inactivated MERS virus only had 25 percent of protection from the fatal infection.

Our work demonstrates that PIV5 is a promising vector for developing a MERS vaccine. Furthermore, the success of the PIV5-based MERS vaccine can be employed to develop a vaccine for emerging coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, the researchers concluded in the study.

Same strategy for COVID-19

With the promising results for MERS-CoV, the researchers plan to apply the same strategy to develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The researchers are now taking the same path toward developing a new vaccine to protect against COVID-19.

Theoretical antibody binding to the spike (S) protein of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Image Credit: Juan Gaertner / Shutterstock

Were quite interested in using viruses as gene delivery vehicles, said Dr. McCray.

Finding an effective vaccine for COVID-19 is a race against time. Dr. McCray said that though the novel coronavirus can infect many people of the whole population, not all will be exposed. In the advent that the virus reemerges in the future, more people will be infected. It is crucial to develop a vaccine to protect people against the illness, providing lasting immunity from the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The United States has the highest infection toll, with more than 430,000 people infected, while Italy reports the highest death toll, with 17,669 deaths.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  The coronavirus pandemic may help end one of the worlds nastiest wars.

That hope appeared this week when the main combatants in Yemen, the poorest Arab country, laid out their visions of the path toward peace.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced a unilateral cease-fire to allow for talks and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Almost simultaneously, the Houthi rebels who control the Yemeni capital unveiled their own eight-page peace plan. The United Nations, which has been struggling for years to quell Yemens violence, hopes to convene talks between them as early as next week.

It all sounds like progress, but analysts and diplomats who track Yemen said the distance between the warring sides positions and the barriers that need to be cleared are so great that the new moves were  at best  opening gambits.

The war has generated incalculable human suffering since the Saudi-led bombing and blockading of Yemen began in 2015. Tens of thousands of people have died, towns and cities have been destroyed, poverty has spread and diseases like cholera have proved hard to beat because the countrys medical system has been dismantled and many people lack clean water.
The new coronavirus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and nearly 90,000 people worldwide. The World Health Organization says most of those who are dying of the COVID-19 disease are over the age of 60.

But, try telling that to Ada Zanusso of Italy. She is 103 years old. She lived through the pandemic of 1918 that killed 50 million people worldwide. Now, she has survived COVID-19.

Im well, Im well, Zanusso told reporters with the Associated Press. She spoke with the reporters over video from a home for older people in the northern Italian town of Lessona. I watch TV, read the newspapers, she added.

When asked about her fight against COVID-19, Zanusso simply said, I had some fever.

COVID-19 can cause minor or moderate sickness. Most of those who are infected recover. But those with existing health problem and older people like Zanusso are at a higher risk for more serious illness or even death.

Carla Furno Marchese has been Zanussos family doctor for 35 years. She said Zanusso was sick for one week. We hydrated her because she wasnt eating, and then we thought she wasnt going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting, Furno Marchese said.

One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before, the doctor added.

What helped her get through the illness? Courage and strength, faith, Zanusso said.

Zanusso grew up in Treviso. She worked there for many years in the cloth-making industry. She had four children  three of whom are living. She has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She will turn 104 on August 16.

Under Italys lockdown order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, visitors are not permitted to enter nursing homes, where many older people live.

Zanusso's doctor asked her what she would like to do when they open the doors again.

Id like to take a lovely walk, she answered. She added that she looks forward to watching her three great-grandchildren play together again.

Im Ashley Thompson.

Hai Do adapted this story from the Associated Press news report. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

__________________________________________________

Words in This Story

hydrate - v. supply someone with water

drowsy - adj. tired and ready to fall asleep

courage - n. the ability to do something that is difficult or dangerous

faith - n. strong religious belief or strong belief in someone or something

lockdown - n. a security measure in an emergency to prevent people from entering or leaving a place
SAN FRANCISCO - Gay rights pioneer Phyllis Lyon, who with her longtime partner was among the first same-sex couples to marry in California when it became legal to do so in 2008, has died at her San Francisco home. She was 95.

Lyon lived life with joy and wonder, said Kate Kendell, a friend and former executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She said Lyon and her wife Del Martin were activists and mentors long before there was a movement or community.

Before cellphones they always had their phone number listed in the phone book in case any young or terrified LGBTQ person needed help or support, she said. And they fielded dozens of calls over the years.

Lyon died Thursday of natural causes, Kendell said.

Lyon was a journalist who met her lifelong love, Martin, while working at a magazine in Seattle. The couple moved to San Francisco in 1953.

They co-founded with other lesbian couples the Daughters of Bilitis, a political and social organization for lesbians. They published a national monthly for lesbians and in 1972, a book called Lesbian/Woman.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom referenced her death at his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic Thursday, calling her one of his heroes.

Newsom was a newly elected mayor of San Francisco in 2004 when he decided to challenge Californias marriage laws by issuing licenses to same-sex couples. His advisers and gay rights advocates had the perfect couple in mind to be the public face of the movement.

Lyon and Martin, who had by then been together more than 50 years, were secretly swept into the clerks office. They exchanged vows before a tiny group of city staff members and friends, according to a 2008 Associated Press story. Afterward they went to lunch, just the two of them.

Of course, nobody down there knew, so we were left to be by ourselves like we wanted to be, Martin said. Then we came home.

And watched TV, added Lyon.

A wedding portrait of the couple cradling each other in pastel-colored pantsuits with their foreheads touching drew worldwide attention.

Later that year, the state Supreme Court voided the unions before overturning the states ban on gay marriage in 2008. They wed again, among the first couples to do so in the state. Del Martin died weeks after their second wedding at age 87.

I am devastated to lose Del, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed, Lyon said at the time.

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.

Californias biggest political leaders expressed their sorrow Thursday and thanked Lyon and her late wife  for their tireless efforts to make the city a better place.

All those who were blessed to know Phyllis and Del remember the extraordinary love that they had for each other, said U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is from San Francisco, in a statement. As we mourn the loss of our dear Phyllis, we find peace in knowing that she and Del are together again.

Lyon was born Nov. 10, 1924, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She grew up in Sacramento, California, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was editor of the heralded Daily Californian newspaper.

Lyon was a police reporter in Fresno and a reporter at the Chico Enterprise-Record during the 1940s, according to Kendell.

Family and friends are planning a celebration of her life.

-

This story has been corrected to accurately spell Kate Kendell.
Midland County added four more positive coronavirus cases Thursday, bring the county total to 28 cases and one death, according to information released Thursday afternoon by the state.

Cases increased by six in Isabella County (28 total, two deaths), three in Bay County (42 cases, no deaths) and 19 cases and one death in Saginaw County (205 cases and seven deaths). Gladwin County remains at four cases.

The state recorded 1,158 new cases and 117 deaths. In all, Michigan now has 21,504 cases with 1,076 deaths.

The state, as of Wednesday, April 8, has categorized in percentages the ages of people who are testing positive. People age 50 to 59 make up 20% of the cases, with people ages 60-69, 18%; people 40-49, 17%; people 70-79, 13%; people 30 to 39, 13%; people 20 to 29, 9%; people 80-plus, 9%, and people 0-19, 1%.

The state has categorized in percentages the ages of people who have died. People age 50 to 59 make up 11% of the cases, with people ages 60-69, 20%; people 40-49, 5%; people 70-79, 28%; people 30 to 39, 2%; people 20 to 29, 9%; people 80-plus, 33%, and people 0-19, 0%.

The state lists the majority of races in positive cases as 33% Black/African American; 24% Caucasian and 35% unknown, and the top three races in deaths as 40% Black/African American; 30% Caucasian and 25% unknown.

The positive cases involve male and female nearly even, with 46% men, 52% women and 2% unknown.

State statistics show 58% of coronavirus deaths are male and 42% are female. Those who have died range in age from 20 to 107, with the average age 72.1.

We cannot stress enough how important it is for our community to be diligent in their community mitigation efforts," said Fred Yanoski, Midland County Public Health director/health officer. "We know that COVID-19 is in our community, and our residents can make a huge impact on slowing the spread of disease by following the recommended precautions."

Midland County Department of Public Health continues to encourage residents to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

 Continue to practice social distancing as recommended by federal, state and local officials

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth

 Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash

 Disinfect commonly touched surfaces

 Stay home when you are sick

 Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your health care provider for medical advice. If he/she isn't available call MidMichigan Urgent Care in Midland at 989- 633-1350 or MidMichigan Medical Center's Emergency Department in Midland at 989-839-3100.

MidMichigan Health has a COVID-19 informational hotline with a reminder of CDC guidelines and recommendations. The hotline can be reached toll-free at 800-445-7356 or 989-794-7600. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also has a hotline number for Michigan residents for questions about COVID-19. The number is 1-888-535-6136 and is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can also send an e-mail to: COVID19@michigan.gov. E-mails will be answered seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

If you are feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and feel you need to talk to someone, reach out to Community Mental Health for Central Michigan by calling 800-317-0708.
A new Nielsen survey has found 62 percent of Vietnamese saying they would eat at home a lot more or a little more often after the Covid-19 crisis passes, instead of eating out.

Another 26 percent of Vietnamese respondents said they would continue eating at home the same as before.

The U.S.-based market researcher Nielsen polled over 6,000 respondents in 11 markets across Asia: mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed the eating habits of many consumers across Asia, with 86 percent of Chinese choosing to cook at home post-pandemic instead of eating out as before. The figure was 77 percent in Hong Kong, 62 percent in Vietnam, Malaysia and South Korea, 56 percent in Thailand and 54 percent in Taiwan.

The survey also found 17 percent of Vietnamese respondents would order more takeaways after the Covid-19 pandemic ends while 25 percent would stick to earlier habits.

Thirty-three percent of the Vietnamese respondents said they would choose home delivery for their meals a lot more or a little more often after the pandemic instead of eating out as before.

Eating out is a normal, widely common habit, especially in urban Vietnam. But it is not an option these days, with the government announcing a 15-day social distancing campaign, urging all people to stay at home and only go out when truly necessary until April 15 and banning the gathering of crowds of more than two people.

Many restaurants have been closed, and even street food stalls only provide takeaways.

"The Covid-19 crisis has certainly changed attitudes and behaviors of consumers," said Vaughan Ryan, managing director for Southeast Asia at Nielsen Connect.

Vietnam has recorded 251 Covid-19 infections cases as of Thursday. Of them, 128 have been discharged.
Tata Motors Ltd is quoting at Rs 74.55, up 10.28% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 65.49% in last one year as compared to a 21.67% drop in NIFTY and a 36.89% drop in the Nifty Auto index.

Tata Motors Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 74.55, up 10.28% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 3.72% on the day, quoting at 9073.9. The Sensex is at 30954.85, up 3.55%. Tata Motors Ltd has slipped around 24.62% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Tata Motors Ltd is a constituent, has slipped around 16.94% in last one month and is currently quoting at 5043.6, up 8.17% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 823.41 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 670.54 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark April futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 74.55, up 9.71% on the day. Tata Motors Ltd is down 65.49% in last one year as compared to a 21.67% drop in NIFTY and a 36.89% drop in the Nifty Auto index.

The PE of the stock is 0 based on TTM earnings ending December 19.

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09.04.2020 LISTEN

Four more persons have died after contracting Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in the Upper West Region.

The number is an increase over the 33 deaths that were announced last Sunday by the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Osei Kuffuor Affreh.

The total number of persons infected with the endemic has also increased from 214 to 247 within the past week.

A release issued by the Regional Health directorate cited the Nadowli/Kaleo district and the Nandom municipality as the hardest-hit areas.

The Nadowli District recorded 74 cases with 12 deaths while the Nandom Municipality also has 76 cases with 10 fatalities.

The Jirapa Municipality follows with 42 cases, out of which nine people died.

Four districts including the Wa East, Sissala West, Lambusie and Dafiama-Busie-Issah, however, recorded no cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis.

The urgency around the novel coronavirus pandemic has overshadowed the Cerebrospinal Meningitis cases in northern Ghana.

This has led Parliament to prompt the Ministry of Health to give some attention to the growing number of cases of meningitis in the Upper West Region.

The Wa Central MP, Rashid Pelpuo, for example, called for the immediate application of known remedies to halt the rising death count.

Find below a breakdown of the cases

BELOW IS THE LIST OF CASES AND DEATHS OF MENINGITIS AS AT WEEK 13 IN ALL THE 11 MDAs IN THE UPPER WEST REGION:

NOTE: C-case, D-death

1. Daffiam-Busie-Issa, C-0, D-0

2. Jirapa, C-42, D-9

3. Lambussie, C-0, D-0

4. Lawra, C-8, D-1

5. Nadowli-Kaleo, C-74, D-12

6. Nandom, C-76, D-10

7. Sissala East, C-5, D-0

8. Sissala West, C-0, D-0

9. Wa East, C-0, D-0

10. Wa Municipal, C-27, D-4

11. Wa West, C-15, D-1

Total cases-247

Total deaths-37

About Cerebrospinal Meningitis

The disease is an inflammation of the meninges of both brain and spinal cord specifically an infectious often epidemic and fatal meningitis caused by the meningococcus called also cerebrospinal fever.

It is an air-borne disease that is most feared because it is transmittable, fatal and spreads at an extremely fast pace.

The disease has up to 50% death rate if not treated.

---citinewsroom
Patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms have been arriving at Dr. Joao Mioris hospital in ever increasing numbers this past week, requiring intubation, ventilation and days of intensive care before they either die or recover enough to be discharged.

Miori, 29, an emergency room doctor in his third year of residency at Sao Paulos Federal University Hospital, explained that Brazil currently lacks the ability to carry out widespread testing, so those with milder symptoms are simply asked to return home and quarantine themselves.

Joao Miori is an emergency room doctor (Courtesy Joao Miori)

But, he says, many patients now refuse to leave the facility, and insist on staying in waiting rooms that may be filled with others infected with the virus.

They think were just blowing them off, so that we dont have to take care of them, he said in a recent phone interview. Theyre scared, and I totally understand.

He worries, though, that patients not already infected when they arrive are more likely to be when they finally leave, while the viral load may be accelerated in any infected individuals.

Brazil was the first country in Latin America to report a case of COVID-19 and currently has the most cases in the region.

Miori blames mixed messages from the countrys top leadership about the dangers posed by the novel coronavirus, and the undermining of social distancing measures that have been put in place.

As Brazils already fragile health care system struggles to treat the surge of coronavirus patients, which is expected to rise exponentially in the coming weeks, medical practitioners say they're being hamstrung by President Jair Bolsonaro and his very public skepticism of directives on social distancing, quarantining and the pandemic's death toll.

We know that we are nowhere near our top number of cases, and this kind of position is probably making it worse, Bolsonaro has said. It is probably adding up to the confusion and the panic that people are feeling.

Michelle Almeida, a family physician based in the beach town of Garopaba, in southern Brazil. (Courtesy Michelle Almeida)

Part of the state government demands something, then the city says something different, then the president says something different, says Dr. Michelle Almeida, a family physician based in the beach town of Garopaba, in southern Brazil. People are confused about what they can do.

Story continues

Dozens of doctors and medical professionals at public and private health care facilities across Brazil told NBC News via emails, WhatsApp messages, video and phone calls that they were proud of the work of their colleagues and hospitals, as well as the efforts of the increasingly popular health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

But many of them  often speaking in a private capacity  said that Bolsonaro, a populist firebrand who has already clashed with most of the countrys state governors over lockdown measures and recently threatened to fire Mandetta, is still not taking the threat of the pandemic sufficiently seriously.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Early in March, Bolsonaro dismissed the spread of the coronavirus as a media fantasy, and weeks later he described it as a gripezinha -- the Portuguese word for a mild flu. Facebook and Twitter recently deleted a post of Bolsonaro touting an unproven antiviral for the coronavirus.

Recent polls show that Bolsonaros cavalier attitude has significantly reduced his popularity among ordinary Brazilians.

Roberta Tallarico. (Courtesy Roberta Tallarico)

We have a problem right now with the president, said Roberta Tallarico, 38, who runs the intensive care unit inside the private Home Hospital in the capital city Brasilia. While she said some governors acted judiciously to enforce lockdowns early, she expressed frustration with Bolsonaros willingness to contravene them and flout his own health ministers medical advice. "Hes really difficult. He doesnt believe the science and the doctors.

The countrys overwhelmed medical professionals say the public health care system is historically underfunded, personal protective equipment is still in short supply, and intensive care units are already two or three times fuller than usual. Meanwhile, the presidents recent public pronouncements and behavior have been seen as being deeply unhelpful.

Nilton Freire De Assis Neto is an emergency room doctor practising in Sao Paolo. (Courtesy Nilton Freire De Assis Neto)

Its so difficult, said Dr. Nilton Freire de Assis Neto, 28, an emergency room doctor practicing in Sao Paulo, who has taken to warning friends, family and patients that medical advice must be followed and quarantine is not a vacation.

I tell them that people die on top of me, people die while waiting, people die because they dont breathe. He says many Brazilians are not following the advice because Bolsonaro himself continues to question it. We talk to patients, talk to people about the importance of staying at home, and the president goes on TV and talks about the fact that he doesnt care if they stay at home.

Ricardo Bandeiro Filho is a pulmonologist at the large Portugal Hospital in Recife, Brazil. (Courtesy Ricardo Bandeiro Filho)

Dr. Ricardo Bandeira Filho, 32, is a lung specialist at the large Royal Portugal Hospital in Recife, which is now dedicated to treating coronavirus patients. We feel like we have to struggle with him every day," he says of Bolsonaro, insisting that he was speaking in a personal capacity. Filho and his colleagues are now using social media and posters to try and inform the public of the consequences of ignoring restrictions on movement.

People are starting to understand that other people close to them are getting ill and are are going to the hospital, and dying, he said.

Lucila De Campos is a clinical immunologist and allergist at the University of Sao Paolo hospital. (Courtesy Lucila De Campos)

Dr. Lucila de Campos, 49, is a clinical immunologist and allergist at the University of Sao Paulo hospital, and has previously carried out research at Harvard Medical School. She acknowledged that there is the need for a debate that balances public safety with economic security  particularly in a developing nation like Brazil but added that the current situation has frightened everyone, including doctors.

We have a bad future for 20 days in Brazil, de Campos said, stressing that a purely scientific approach must be supported. This can collapse the health care system for sure.

Amanda Steil, a trainee emergency room doctor in Sao Paolo. (Courtesy Amanda Steil)

Dr. Amanda Steil, 25, a first-year doctor specializing in emergency medicine at the countrys largest training hospital, Unifesp, has begun research into the psychological impact of combating the pandemic.

The government is recruiting us to be on the front line, she said. We felt that we were afraid of these kinds of patients, and that we were frustrated with not knowing for sure with what we were dealing.

Dr. Gustavo Janot, 49, has worked for 23 days straight at the intensive care unit of the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital on the southwestern outskirts of Sao Paulo. Brazils commercial capital is a COVID-19 hot spot, thanks to its busy international airport. Janot says the hardest moments for him during the outbreak have been when fellow doctors have succumbed to the virus.

Gustavo Janot has worked for 23 days straight at the intensive care unit of the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital on the southwestern outskirts of Sao Paolo. (Courtesy Gustavo Janot)

It's very heavy emotionally to us to see your friends in the ICU bed under mechanical ventilation, he said in a Skype interview. I think this is the toughest part, to see our colleagues in the firing line. But Janot credits Mandetta, the health minister, with doing very positive things, adding the medical community is satisfied with the ministers actions.

Mandettas daily press briefings have become must-see events for many Brazilians, with his detailed and lengthy technical answers to journalists questions. But earlier this week, Bolsonaro threatened to oust Mandetta, according to reports, after the health minister warned he would publicly criticize the president if Bolsonaro didn't heed the experts' social distancing advice. Nobody should forget that Im the president," Bolsonaro said.

News

The Brazilian health ministry did not respond to NBC News request for comment about the presidents actions and the impact on the country's doctors.

Bolsonaros now-infamous March 24 public address, in which he downplayed the virus ferocity and explicitly criticized measures put in place by the vast majority of Brazils 26 state governors and his own federal health service, remains unconscionable for many of the countrys front-line doctors.

Luiz Alberto Cerqueira Filho, an intensive care specialist at Sao Paolo's Santa Marcelina hospital. (Courtesy Luiz Alberto Cerqueira Filho)

That was a catastrophic speech, said Dr. Luiz Alberto Cerqueira Batista Filho, 39, an intensive care specialist at Sao Paulos Santa Marcelina Hospital. A lot of doctors feel that way too, I am no exception about that subject.

Filho says he is having a tough time with increasing patient numbers despite a doubling of the facilitys ICU capacity. He is facing a shortage of mechanical ventilators, and is finding it hard to discharge COVID-19 patients from the hospital quickly. Some are staying intubated for 20 days, and he worries that he will soon run out of beds.

At some point, the health system will not be able to deal with all of them, he said, likening his future to that of doctors in Italy. We will have to start to choose which patient will have mechanical ventilation  I dont even want to think about it.

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HURON COUNTY  Huron County Board of Commissioners Chairman Sami Khoury announced Thursday that he would be extending the closure of the county building and the Michigan State University Extension to the public indefinitely.

The closure would last until Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rescinds her emergency order that requires local governments to suspend activities that are not necessary to sustain or protect life in the wake of COVID-19, or until further action is taken by the board of commissioners, whichever comes first.
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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 11, 2020 09:01 640 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0da2ea 1 Business labor,lay-off,Manpower-Ministry,ILO,unemployment,workforce,workers,COVID-19,coronavirus Free

The COVID-19 pandemic, which is spreading like wildfire in Indonesia, has taken not just lives but also the earnings of millions of workers, one month after the government announced Indonesias first two confirmed cases of the virus.

Jumari, a 61-year-old who works in a shoe factory and lives in Jakarta, has not received his daily wages for over two weeks and will likely not receive his April salary at all. The factory has been shut, and he and his colleagues had been told to stay home.

His boss claimed the dismissal was not the companys will given that COVID-19 had affected almost all of the worlds countries, Jumari said. He is now depending on last months wages to pay for his familys daily needs.

The government said it would disburse funds to those who are affected by COVID-19. Whats the regulation and how do we get it so that we can have something to eat? he said recently. Were not expecting anything grand."

Read also: Thousands laid off, forced to take unpaid leave in Jakarta as companies hit hard by COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has devastated workers hours and earnings. Businesses have shut down factories and furloughed or laid off their employees as a result of low demand and the call for social distancing.

Over 1.2 million workers from 74,439 companies in both the formal and informal sectors have either been told to stay home or have been laid off as a result of the pandemic, Manpower Ministry data showed on Tuesday.

The Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) released a statement over the weekend saying its worries about massive layoffs had come true, Jakarta Manpower Agency data that at least 162,416 workers in the capital city alone had reportedly been laid off or furloughed.

In a separate statement last month, KSPI suggested an alternating shift system or partial dismissal in a bid to keep production running without laying off workers. In the case of a partial lockdown, it also urged employers to send their employees home without cutting their salaries.

Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah urged all industry players to make layoffs their last choice during the pandemic. Instead, companies could lower salaries or reduce working days and hours, among other alternatives.

The situations and conditions are indeed challenging, but this is the moment for the government, business people and workers to work together and find a solution to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, Ida said in a teleconferenced briefing on Wednesday.

Read also: Five more months to business as usual: Business players

Statistics Indonesia data shows that out of the countrys workforce of 133.56 million, 7.05 million are unemployed and more than 55 percent of those employed work in the informal sector.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman for manpower and industrial relations Anton J. Supit said on March 20 that companies had been implementing alternating shifts, reduced working hours and had offered "voluntary layoff" packages to keep layoffs a last resort during the crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) report published on Tuesday. The ILO described the pandemic as the worst global crisis since World War II.

The ILO stated that there was a high risk that end-of-year worldwide job losses would be significantly higher than the initial ILO projection of 25 million, depending on future developments and policy measures.

Workers and businesses are facing catastrophes in both developed and developing economies, said ILO director-general Guy Ryder. We have to move fast, decisively and together. The right, urgent, measures could make the difference between survival and collapse.

The government has announced plans to spend Rp 405 trillion of additional state expenditure to fund health care, social spending and business recovery programs. Of the amount, Rp 110 trillion has been allocated for social safety net programs, including Rp 20 trillion for a pre-employment card program to cover 5.6 million laid-off workers and Rp 150 trillion for a small and medium business economic recovery program.

Airlangga University labor law expert M. Hadi Subhan said the current economic stimuli and the preemployment card launched last month were insufficient to cushion short-term shocks in the labor sector. He advised the government to provide cash compensation to workers who suffered income loss to avoid social unrest in the short term.

Read also: 70 million informal workers most vulnerable during pandemic

[If workers are not compensated], I predict that the social costs will be high. Riots, looting and burning public infrastructure could occur, just like during the 1998 crisis, said Hadi.

As the government scrambles to disburse social aid, small business owners and vulnerable workers have to fight by themselves for sustenance.

While waiting for the COVID-19 outbreak to pass, travel agency owner M. Sela Sulyadi, who lives in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, has been forced to furlough his employees while continuing to help them pay for basic needs such as electricity, water and rice.

Like it or not, the reality is that income from tourism will be low for the next few months. And we have to accept that, he said.
A three-man crew docked successfully at the International Space Station Thursday, leaving behind a planet overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian space agency Roscosmos said the Soyuz MS-16 capsule "docked successfully" in a statement on its website.

Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos and NASA's Chris Cassidy reached the ISS at 1413 GMT, just over six hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where COVID-19 caused changes to pre-launch protocol.

Usually the departing crew faces questions from a large press pack before being waved off by family and friends.

Neither was possible this time round because of travel restrictions imposed over the virus, although the crew did respond to emailed questions from journalists in a Wednesday press conference.

Cassidy, 50, admitted the crew had been affected by their families not being unable to be in Baikonur, Russia's space hub in neighbouring Kazakhstan, for their blastoff to the ISS.

"But we understand that the whole world is also impacted by the same crisis," Cassidy said.

Astronauts routinely go into quarantine ahead of space missions and give a final press conference at Baikonur from behind a glass wall to protect them from infection.

That process began even earlier than usual last month as the trio and their reserve crew hunkered down in Russia's Star City training centre outside Moscow, eschewing traditional pre-launch rituals and visits to the capital.

The next crew to return to Earth from the ISS will be flying to their home countries on April 17 via Baikonur, rather than Karaganda in central Kazakhstan as usual, as part of new travel measures related to the pandemic.

The ISS typically carries up to six people at a time and has a livable space of 388 cubic metres (13,700 cubic feet) -- larger than a six-bedroom house according to NASA.

Those dimensions will sound enviable to many residents of Earth, more than half of whom are on various forms of lockdown as governments respond to COVID-19 with drastic measures.

In recent weeks, astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS and on Earth have been sharing tips on coping with self-isolation.

In a piece for the New York Times last month, NASA's Scott Kelly said his biggest miss during almost a year in space was nature -- "the colour green, the smell of fresh dirt, and the feel of warm sun on my face".

During his time aboard the ISS he "binge-watched 'Game of Thrones' -- twice" and enjoyed frequent movie nights with crewmates, he wrote.

Two-time cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy has become the face of a 10-week challenge that will see participants post videos of themselves completing physical exercises as part of a competition aimed at both youth and adults.

The initiative that Roscosmos is backing aims "to support people in a situation of isolation, instil a healthy lifestyle and thoughts through regular sports, without going out in public places", Ryazanskiy said in a video promoting the "Cosmos Training" challenge.

The launch of Ivanishin, Vagner and Cassidy marks the first time a manned mission has used a Soyuz-2.1a booster to reach orbit, after Roscosmos stopped using the Soyuz-FG rocket last year.

The newer boosters have been used in unmanned launches since 2004.

The upgraded rocket relies on a digital flight control system rather than the analogue equipment used in prior Soyuz models.

Russia and Baikonur have enjoyed a near decade-long monopoly on manned missions to the ISS since NASA wound up its Space Shuttle program in 2011.

But that may change as early as next month when Elon Musk's SpaceX could be ready to launch a two-man crew to the orbital lab, NASA said in March.

NASA said that the tech entrepreneur's company and the space agency are targeting "mid-to-late May" for a test launch that will transport NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

The International Space Station -- a rare example of cooperation between Russia and the West -- has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 miles per hour) since 1998.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito at Wednesday's briefing in Boston.

Officials Optimistic Efforts May Be 'Flattening Curve' of COVID-19 Cases

BOSTON  State officials are "cautiously optimistic" that efforts to test and social distance may be flattening the curve even as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.

"We're continually reviewing the modeling, but right now we see evidence that we're still on the upward slope of this pandemic," said Gov. Charlie Baker at Wednesday's daily briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak. "For example, the average new coronavirus test in Massachusetts has been rising steadily for three weeks, the percent of people testing positive continues to rise and reach the new high on Monday. ...

"At the same time we've not seen the same steep acceleration seen in either Wuhan (China), New York or other places."

The state has tested 87,511 people and confirmed 16,790 cases of COVID-19; at least 433 people have died from complications of the novel coronavirus.

Baker said the increases positive cases are expected as testing continues to ramp up across the state. There are some 25 labs now processing testing and the Department of Public Health is collaborating with Partners in Health to deploy some 1,000 medical students and volunteers to work on tracing where outbreaks are occurring.

The twin goals of testing and tracing, which has been used successfully in places such as South Korea, it geared to containing the novel coronavirus by alerting those who may have been exposed to the contagious disease. The effort was handicapped in the early going because of the lack of testing equipment from the federal government and is still limited to those who might have been exposed or who are showing symptoms -- even though it COVID-19 is being found in people without symptoms.

However, Massachusetts continues to be a top tester per capita in the United States and more testing facilities are being established, including one at the Big E in West Springfield that will be able to test 200 first-responders a day.

Legislation has been filed to protect health-care workers, volunteers and facilities from liability during the pandemic.

"We're in unprecedented times where providers may be forced to make difficult choices, and we're asking them to operate in conditions that they've never planned for," said the governor. "We need to make sure that fear of getting sued doesn't prevent them from being able to do what they need to do to treat as many people as possible."

Grocery stores are also now limited to 40 percent of their maximum occupancy unless that is less than 25 people and reiterates the need for having cleaning wipes and hand sanitizers on hand for customers and staff.

As he has daily, the governor urged residents to continue sanitary habits, social distance at least 6 feet and stay home as much as possible. There has been a 60 percent reduction in retail and recreation since March 8, a 75 percent reduction in mobility related to public transit and 63 percent reduction in park activity.

All these efforts may be paying out with the gradual curve in positive cases that may flatten a surge of cases ranging from 47,000 to 172,000 over the next couple weeks.

"But it means we're cautiously optimistic that our social distancing, essential services orders, and other measures that we and others have put in place, are helping to flatten the curve," Baker said. "We are entering a period of time where we could be putting serious strain on our health-care system."
by Emanuele Scimia

The European members of the 17+1 group are dissatisfied with their "privileged" relationship with Beijing. Their trade deficit with China (US$ 75 billion) is growing. Chinese investments are going mostly to the wealthiest countries of the Old Continent. Czech President Zeman slams the Belt and Road Initiative. This should be a warning for Italy.

Rome (AsiaNews)  European leaders of the 17+1 group are dissatisfied with their privileged relationship with China, this according to a report by the Prague-based China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE).

The 17+1 is an informal forum that includes China and 17 countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, including 12 European Union member states.

Beijing is using the grouping as a platform to promote the Belt and Road Initiative, a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping designed to boost his country as the worlds main trade hub. However, the much-vaunted cooperation with China is not bearing the desired results.

The European members of the 17+1 are increasingly irritated, their economic gains are modest; yet, Chinas influence in the region has grown considerably. The most troubling aspect is economic. The trade deficit of the 17 European nations with the Asian giant has widened significantly. The CHOICE study reveals that it reached US$ 75 billion in 2018.

Although Chinese investment has increased, slightly exceeding US$ 5 billion in 2017, it is concentrated in four countries: Czechia (Czech Republic), Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

What is more, the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies noted that eastern Europe received 2 per cent of total Chinese investments in Europe in 2018 and 3 per cent in 2019, with the largest share, 53 per cent, going to northern Europe.

Beijing's increasingly aggressive attitude is especially resented. Last year, Lithuania severely reprimanded the staff of the Chinese Embassy, suspected of threatening Lithuanian citizens who protested in Vilnius in favour of Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement.

In addition, Poland and Czechia have raised doubts about Huawei's 5G technology  the United States accuses the Chinese telecom multinational of spying on behalf of China.

The European Union views China as a partner but also as a "systemic rival". Many European leaders suspect Beijing is using the Belt and Road scheme to weaken the bloc, trying to get the European 17+1 members to align with its geopolitical agenda.

The groups annual summit, originally set for 15 April, was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. For some leaders, this is not a major issue. Czech President Milos Zeman had already decided not to attend even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zeman wanted to turn his country into an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for Chinese investment in Europe, but had to accept the fact that, despite Beijing's proclamations, Chinese money always goes to western Europe, and not on his side of the old Iron Curtain.

The displeasure of European 17+1 leaders runs counter to Italys cheerful embrace of China and Xis proposal to create a "health" Silk Road.

Despite the negative reaction of some allies (i.e. the United States), Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has repeatedly emphasised the importance of last years cooperation agreement with Beijing. In his view, it would facilitate the arrival of Chinese medical supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Conversely, others note that China also donated and sold medical equipment to EU members states (the majority) that have not formally joined the Belt and Road project.
Brenton came up with the idea of daily video devotionals with his wife, and Adams helps out by filming the segments.

When I was a kid, the word sniblet meant something smaller than the norm, Brenton said. We want to attend a devotional. This is in a similar vein, only it is 8 to 10 minutes.

The sniblet series quickly changed on the fly.

It was Dans idea to do these short, little devotionals, Adams said. Thing changed pretty quickly over the first three. The first one I was just holding my phone as he was talking by his desk. By the third one, I had a good voice recorder and we did some simple editing.

One of the first sniblets had around 1,700 views. The series has settled into the 300- to 400-view range.

But the videos arent just Brenton speaking. He also has some fun with props, occasional wardrobe changes and time to sneak in references to his fandom of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Doing this, we want to be reverent to the situation, but we also want to be able to have fun while learning, too, Brenton said.
Natural gas futures are trading slightly lower on Wednesday after another attempt to breakout to the upside failed to draw enough buyers to continue the four day rally. The price action suggests position-squaring ahead of Thursdays U.S. Energy Information (EIA) weekly storage report and major production decision by OPEC and its allies.

At 14:00 GMT, May natural gas futures are trading $1.844, down $0.008 or -0.43%.

Helping to underpin the market this week and drive prices higher is the 15-day forecast that calls for the return of cold temperatures, and noted production cuts.

Production Concerns Move to Forefront

Overtaking the call for colder temperatures over the next two weeks are signs of a pullback in production.

EBW Analytics Group analysts said an increase in weather-driven demand expectations has played a part in the recent rally, which included a 12.1 percent gain for the May contract in Tuesdays session. But the market is also reacting to the prospect of production declines.

Mounting evidence that oil storage could be completely full in less than a month drove prices much higher than would otherwise have been expected, the EBW analysts said in a note to clients on Wednesday. Our model indicates that once tanks top out, production of associated gas could fall by as much as 3.5-5.5 Bcf/d in 90 days.

Decline in supply is only half of the equation; demand is declining more rapidly. For now, though, the market is likely to continue focusing primarily on supply. The May contract is likely to probe higher again today. Profit-taking ahead of tomorrows weekly storage report, though, may limit todays gains.

Bespoke Weather Services Near-Term Outlook

The European and American datasets did agree on a minor warmer change early next week and we adjusted our forecast accordingly, being a shorter range call, while leaving the rest of the forecast most unchanged, Bespoke said. We are still confident in a strong cold outbreak for mid-April on the way, especially for days six through 10 of the outlook.

Story continues

Short-Term Weather Outlook

According to NatGasWeather for April 8 -14, Mild to warm conditions will again cover the northern U.S. today with highs of 50s and 70s for light demand. Very warm conditions continue across the southern U.S. with highs of 70s and 80s. A weather system is slowly tracking through California and into the Southwest with rain and snow, but with only modest cooling. The first in the series of stronger cold shots will sweep across the Midwest and Northeast Thursday through Saturday with lows of 20s and 30s, followed by more impressive systems next week with lows of 0s to 20s. Overall, low demand today then increasing to high in the coming week.

Daily Forecast

The main trend is up, but the market ran into resistance at $1.875 to $1.959. Buyers will have to overcome this zone in order to signal a resumption of the rally.

If the early selling pressure persists then look for a break back into a support zone at $1.719 to $1.673.

Fundamentally, a tweak toward warmer is putting some pressure on prices, but not enough to kill the uptrend. The current weather forecast calling for cold is still enough to provide support.

Lower production is also providing support, while demand destruction due to the coronavirus could put a cap on the rally, but this would depend on how long the impact of the virus is expected to last.

Once the number of new cases starts to flatten or tops out, traders will be able to predict with some accuracy how long normal demand will be impacted.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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A flight carrying 70 tonnes of medical supplies from Wuhan to Sydney was part of a Chinese government PR campaign, politicians and diplomats have claimed.

The nation's Communist Party is on a mission to show its 1.4billion citizens - and the rest of the world - that it's taking action to save lives after failing to contain the coronavirus, Labor senator Kimberley Kitching told Daily Mail Australia.

China is the world's largest supplier of masks and its companies have flown four billion around the globe since the start of March while its state media mouthpieces make sure the world knows about every flight.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell called this strategy the 'politics of generosity' and said 'China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner'.

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Several websites ran photos of the crew smiling and holding a propaganda banner (pictured) which praised the re-opening of Wuhan as the plane was prepared for take off

The flight (pictured before take off) was the first to leave Wuhan, where the virus erupted in December, since it was locked down on 23 January - and has been hailed in the Chinese media

China's PR campaign last night reached Australia when a plane from the COVID-19 epicentre landed at Sydney International Airport carrying one million masks, protective gear, antiseptic wipes and a batch of coronavirus testing kits.

The aircraft has already returned to Hubei province carrying Australian food products including lamb, salmon and milk powder.

The flight was the first to leave Wuhan, where the virus erupted in December, since the city of 11million was locked down on 23 January - and has been hailed in the Chinese media.

Several websites ran photos of the crew smiling and holding a propaganda banner which praised the re-opening of flight routes through Wuhan as the plane was prepared for take off.

The party-controlled People's Daily website wrote that China is 'making contributions to the world in the fight against the COVID-19.'

State broadcaster Xinhua carried other stories portraying President Xi Jinping as a global saviour, with headlines such as: 'Xi says China will continue to support Africa in COVID-19 battle' and 'Xi says China will help Turkey purchase medical supplies.'

A freight plane which arrived in Sydney on Wednesday night from Shanghai via Wuhan brought 70 tonnes of face masks and medical supplies

The China Daily media organisation tweeted that China was sending a flight with medical supplies to the US. China is the world's largest supplier of masks and its companies have flown four billion around the globe since the start of March while its state media mouthpieces make sure the world knows about every flight

But politicians in Australia are aware of the Communist Party's PR campaign.

Senator Kitching, the chair of the Foreign Affairs References Committee, said Beijing is trying to make up for failing to stop the pandemic spreading around the world.

'Despite managing to contain further domestic spread of the virus in recent weeks, Beijing is aware that their initial actions, or lack thereof, led to this becoming a global health pandemic,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Beijing is aware that their initial actions, or lack thereof, led to this becoming a global health pandemic Senator Kitching

'Beijing has a two-prong strategy: firstly, the need to target a message for a domestic audience; and secondly, to project as a responsible global actor among the international community.'

Several Australian MPs have already called for Beijing to be held to account after the virus spawned in a wildlife market known to pose health risks.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma said on Wednesday it was right for the world to respond to China with 'anger and consternation and demand some sort of transparency and accountability in future.'

Further flights are expected to bring supplies from China to Australia, and another plane is due to land at Sydney Airport at 9.15am on Friday.

The Australia China Goodwill Association, a group of Chinese-Australians in Sydney, has called the flights a 'bilateral goodwill measure, coordinated to support people in need both in Australia and China.'

Last night the six crew from the cargo flight which arrived in Sydney on Wednesday quietly slipped into a four-star hotel after making their way from the tarmac directly to the Rydges Hotel at the airport.

The crew were left to their own devices to check in, despite police and military personnel monitoring other hotels housing returned travellers, who are required to complete a mandatory two-week quarantine.

They will be expected to self-isolate until they return to China.

A truckload of face masks and medical supplies is taken away after the haul arrived in Sydney overnight

When asked what the situation was currently like in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province widely accepted as the original epicentre of the deadly respiratory virus, one of the crew members said it was business as usual.

'It is normal,' he said, before telling Daily Mail Australia he and his crew had brought face masks to help in the local fight against COVID-19.

Since the outbreak began at least 3,300 people have died in China and 81,802 have been infected. At least 2,571 of the nation's reported deaths were in Wuhan.

Globally, there are now 1.4million known cases.

The crew seemed shocked to learn they were the first arrivals from Wuhan since January 23.

Boxes of face masks are among the 90 tonnes of medical supplies which arrived via freight plane in Sydney on Wednesday

The medical supplies were being dispatched from the freight terminal at Sydney Airport on Thursday morning

Airline employees and cargo handlers dressed in protective gear began unpacking the plane in the dead of night

Airline employees and cargo handlers dressed in protective gear began unpacking the plane in the dead of night

One member of the crew said while it was true they did arrive from the city, they originally came from Shanghai.

'We just did a stop in Wuhan,' the man said.

Earlier on Sunday, airline employees and cargo handlers dressed in protective gear began unpacking the plane in the dead of night.

One man in a hazmat suit was pictured carrying away a small box, while another photo showed pallets stacked full of packaged goods beside the plane.

The medical supplies were brought in via a freight carrier Suparana airlines

Boxes upon boxes sat on the tarmac at Sydney airport on Thursday morning ready to be shipped off

They walked from the tarmac to their hotel, mostly while practicing safe social distancing in pairs

The crew members were not met by any police or military personnel as they checked in to their accommodation

The crew members were not met by any police or military personnel as they checked in to their accommodation
Restricted to their dwellings during the lockdown, hundreds of rickshaw pullers and street food sellers in the city have turned to selling vegetables and fruits to earn a living.

Sale of fruits and vegetables is allowed during the lockdown period as they are in the list of essential items permitted by the government.

Raju, who used to sell noodles in Gomti Nagar, is now among those selling vegetables.

"I used to sell chowmein from a stall in Gomti Nagar. With the lockdown it was difficult to earn. I was relying on help of locals and the administration to survive. But now I have started selling green vegetables on a hand cart," he said.

As the district administration is also emphasising on home delivery of essentials, these hand carts are really helping the needy to earn and also help in ensuring that people don't venture out.

Raju (29), who has a family of five including wife and three daughters, said he is earning enough to feed his family.

There are many others like him who can be seen selling vegetables in colonies going door-to-door from morning till late in the evening.

Momo seller Nikunj Gupta said, he had the option of sitting idle at home as he had enough to eat.

"Though I used to get enough to eat as locals are kind enough to provide me food, I hired a hand cart and I am now selling vegetables with the permission of the administration," said Gupta, who ran a momo stall in Vikas Nagar.

For e-rickshaw driver Pankaj Bhartiya life was turning difficult in the lockdown but permission from the administration to sell vegetables has given him a chance to earn.

"Though I did not earn as much when I drove my e-rickshaw it is sufficient at this moment. I take due care and use soap frequently. I also use a face mask," Pankaj said.

A senior administration official said, "For ensuring doorstep delivery weneed more hands and these persons are really doing a great job and helping the administration".

District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash said the administration was trying its best to ensure that there is no shortage of vegetables and ration and that they are made available at the doorstep.

"On Wednesday over 27 thousand persons were provided essentials at their doorsteps," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The leadership of the National Assembly has debunked claims that it labelled the National Social Investment Programmes by the federal government a failure.

NASS said this in a statement issued on Thursday by Ola Awoniyi, Special Adviser on Media to President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly.

It said newspaper reports of the meeting with the Humanitarian minister were misleading.

The attention of the leadership of the National Assembly has been drawn to reactions to some newspaper reports on its meeting with the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, which held on Tuesday 7th April, 2020.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Lockdown Order Still In Force, IGP Tell Nigerians

The leadership of the National Assembly had called the meeting as part of the legislatures collaborations with the executive arm of government for effective management of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria and mitigation of the harsh effects of the measures adopted in this respect on Nigerians.

At the meeting with the minister, the leadership of the National Assembly made some observations on aspects of the NSIP and recommended that the implementation process be fine-tuned and the scheme be backed with legislation to make it more efficient, effective and accord with global best practices.

Although the official press statement issued at the end of the meeting clearly conveyed the deliberations and resolution of the meeting, some misrepresentations appeared in the reports by one or two newspapers.

The leadership of the National Assembly would not have suggested an enabling legislation for the NSIP if it does not believe in the relevance of the scheme.

We believe this misrepresentation misled the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais to issue a rejoinder.

The leadership of the National Assembly is committed to sustaining its cordial working relationship with the other arms of Government as it has seen the benefits of this approach in the improved environment and speed of policy and decision making.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The regions top federal prosecutor sent a letter to hospitals in northeast Ohio that encouraged employees and doctors to report people who may be committing some fraud with medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman wrote in the letter Wednesday that investigators need help identifying people who may be hoarding needed medical supplies and reselling them with exorbitant markups in price.

These practices are not only morally repugnant in light of the pandemic we are facing, but also, if left unchecked, can inhibit hospitals, physicians and other health care professionals, governmental agencies, and the public from fully implementing measures designed to save lives and mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, Herdman wrote.

The letter is another step that the U.S. attorney has taken as the Justice Department has sought to prosecute crimes involving medical supplies needed for doctors and health care workers to protect patients and themselves during the pandemic. Many states, including Ohio, have reported shortages of specialized facemasks such as the N95 mask as well as personal protective equipment, ventilators and respirators.

Prosecutors have not brought charges against anyone in such cases in northern Ohio. However, the Justice Department said in a news release that a Reno, Nevada man was arrested Tuesday and charged with stealing hundreds of surgical masks from a supply cart at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center.

Herdman wrote in a cleveland.com op-ed Sunday that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yosts Office received more than 400 complaints of coronavirus-related price-gouging and fraud in March and that the U.S. Attorneys Office and the FBI have received reports of scams online and by phone.

Federal prosecutors in Ohio and Yost also said late last month that they are prepared to investigate and take action against anyone in the medical community illegally stockpiling chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, two anti-malarial drugs that President Donald Trump has touted with scant evidence as a possible coronavirus treatment.

Yost is also backing an Ohio Senate bill that would give him power to order limits on how much customers can buy of various in-demand items, such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer, during the pandemic. It would also ban price-gouging by retailers.

Herdman noted in his letter that Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Abreu leads a task force to investigate and prosecute coronavirus-related crimes in northern Ohio.

With help from institutions like yours, the Department of Justice is using every available measure to ensure that these scarce materials are available to treat those affected by the coronavirus, the U.S. Attorney wrote. I am very thankful for the vital work that you do on a daily basis and for your institutions commitment to the people of Ohio.

Read more:

Ohio legislation would give AG Dave Yost power to limit purchases of in-demand items, fight price-gouging during coronavirus crisis

Fighting coronavirus fraud in Northeast Ohio: Justin Herdman

Ohio, federal authorities say theyre ready to investigate stockpiling of anti-malarial drugs Trump touted as potential coronavirus treatment

Ohio Pharmacy Board moves to prevent stockpiling of anti-malarial drugs being tested as COVID-19 treatment
Two weeks ago, the head of one of the world's longest-running tech conferencing businesses put out a startling statement in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We've made the very difficult decision to cancel all future O'Reilly in-person conferences and close down this portion of our business," said Laura Baldwin of O'Reilly Media. "Without understanding when this global health emergency may come to an end, we can't plan for or execute on a business that will be forever changed as a result of this crisis."

O'Reilly isn't alone in ditching in-person conferencing plans. This week, Microsoft announced that it won't hold any conferences or internal events until July 2021.

That could trigger similar moves from large corporations around the world, with much of the conferencing industry now made up of large customer-focused events run by big companies themselves.

In Ireland, the Covid-19 effect has already hit the country's largest tech conferencing company.

The Web Summit, which employs over 100 people here, has switched its Toronto-based Collision conference - which would have attracted some 30,000 attendees - to an online event.

Now branded as Collision From Home, it hopes to replicate as much of the experience online as in a conference hall. It has promised to refund anyone who already bought a ticket, or switch it for a 2021 physical event ticket instead.

An alternative offer is a ticket for the company's 2020 Web Summit, still advertised as taking place in Lisbon. But will that event now go ahead as a physical conference?

For the moment, conference organisers say it will. But another couple of months of uncertainty could result in many big organisations - crucial for conferences to turn a profit - writing 2020 off altogether for in-person events, as Microsoft is doing.

"We currently remain committed to hosting Web Summit 2020, though we are closely monitoring the situation should the current circumstances still exist as we approach November," a spokesperson told the Irish Independent. "We are also in the process of amending our refund policy to add an extra layer of certainty at this difficult time.

"It is recommended that participants regularly check WHO and the ECDC for updates and for those travelling to the event to also refer to their country's official travel advisories for the same."

This brings up the question of doable alternatives. Specifically, can a virtual conference replace a physical one? Web Summit's Paddy Cosgrave isn't the only one who hopes so.

Dubliner Paul Campbell, best known for creating the Tito system which has processed over 500m worth of tickets for large tech events, has just co-founded an online conferencing platform for organisers seeking a replacement to in-person events.

Campbell, whose Vito co-founder is Englishman Doc Parsons, knows about commercial challenges. So far, the pandemic has seen Tito's revenues fall by 80pc.

"I've spent 10 years building a company that only recently got over a million in revenue," he says.

"An online conferencing platform is something that people who organise in-person events have never considered using before. It is effectively a live stream that is designed for people who are figuring out a new way to survive in among the crowd."

Describing Vito as "sort of like a multi-headed mash-up of YouTube and Twitter", Campbell says it's designed to let people filter what they want, watch what they want and network or chat with who they want. "The technology is hard to get right," he says.

"You need to see who's organising, who's presenting, who's sponsoring and so on. And you need to be able to have the video keep playing as you click around. It's taking the live event paradigm and putting it online in an elegant way."

One basic structural challenge to an online conference is the lack of physical presence, with all the commitment and focus that this entails.

Attendees at giant conferences such as the Web Summit regularly say that they're using it to meet a concentrated number of potential customers or partners who are also travelling to the event.

Can an online conference replicate that?

"No, absolutely not," Campbell says. "You can't replace it or mirror it. I'm operating under the assumption that this sort of in-person experience is sacred and will always be sacred.

"I think that you can build strong relationships online, but you cannot fully replicate experiences like that."

This is a view widely shared by most who offer an opinion on the subject. So how will giants like the Web Summit cope? For its Collision From Home conference, the company says that it will largely rely on its own software and apps.

"For a company that organises conferences, we're a little different," the spokesperson said. "We've built our own software over many years. Our algorithm will connect attendees with the people they need to meet. Users will be able to discover talks, connect with other attendees, and download new contacts.

"The app has been the backbone of our events for years, and now it's taking centre stage."

Even still, the business model for an online conference promises to be an order of magnitude below that of giant, million-dollar trade stands.

If social distancing remains a facet of working life for the foreseeable future, the Web Summit's Lisbon event faces the same online switch as the Toronto one.

"We have to adapt and find ways to meet those needs," said O'Reilly Media's Laura Baldwin.

"The many needs that brought customers to in-person events haven't gone away."

Paul Campbell is optimistic: "While I don't think that the in-person experience is replicable in an online setting, I do believe that all of these nascent social networks and online interactions make relationship-building possible online. It's just different. And that's what I'm focusing on."
The Italian government has declared its own ports unsafe due to the coronavirus epidemic. A new decree signed by the Ministers of the Interior, Transport, Health and Foreign Affairs says that due to the emergency, charity boats carrying migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, will not be permitted to dock.

The decree, issued late Tuesday, states: For the entire duration of the national health emergency caused by the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Italian ports cannot guarantee the requisites needed to be classified and defined as a place of safety.

The ministers felt they had to take a decision after the Alan Kurdi vessel belonging to the German NGO Sea-Eye rescued some 150 African migrants off the coast of Libya and headed towards Italy, which has over the years taken in many migrants picked up at sea.

The charity ship returned to patrol the waters in search of migrants attempting to cross over to Europe last week. For a few weeks, with the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy, the arrivals of migrants on boats had subsided.

As it announced that it had rescued the migrants with a Tweet, the Sea Eye wrote, "Even when life in Europe has almost come to a halt, human rights must be protected," adding that, "Now our guests need a port of safety." In a separate statement, the charity also called on Germany to accept migrants.

The Italian government declared a 6-month state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak from 31 January to 31 July, so no ships carrying migrants will be allowed to dock until the emergency ends.

However, this deadline could be extended if the authorities consider it necessary.

Infections in Italy have started to drop after days of what experts described as a plateau. But the warning to all is to remain indoors as the emergency is far from over.

Although Italians are aware of the health concerns, many are getting restless and want to resume their lives. 150 academics published a letter in one of Italy's national dailies urging the government to unblock the economy.

After a five-week lockdown, and concerned by an impending economic catastrophe, they urged the authorities to find a way for businesses and industries to reopen and allow employees to return to work or face social and economic consequences that could lead to irreversible damage.

Italy has suffered the highest death toll from coronavirus with more than 17,000 cases since the first person died on February 21. But, there is still much uncertainty and little optimism in the country, as the government has not yet announced how Phase Two, as it calls it, will work.

The question remains: When will the strict restrictions in place be lifted? Italians have only been told this will be a gradual process. A clear government strategy, for what will come next has yet to be revealed, with many Italians wondering whether the government has even thought about or considered an exit strategy.
The trial of a Russian man accused of hacking millions of U.S. computer accounts, the only criminal case now on trial in the Bay Area, should resume May 4 despite questions about some jurors and witnesses availability, a federal judge in San Francisco declared Thursday.

Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, 32, is accused of illegally accessing user names and passwords in 2012 from the business networking site LinkedIn, the cloud storage firm Dropbox and the now-defunct social networking site Formspring. He has been in custody since his arrest in the Czech Republic 41 months ago and was extradited to the U.S. two years ago.

His trial on nine felony charges began March 9 with jury selection, followed by opening statements and initial prosecution testimony. It was recessed after two days, as previously scheduled, and was due to resume on March 17, the same day shelter-in-place orders took effect throughout the Bay Area.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup then postponed the trial until April 13. Other federal criminal trials have been put on hold, and all jury trials in state Superior Courts in California have been postponed for 60 days.

Of the 12 jurors and four alternates seated for Nikulins trial, lawyers said, two told Alsup they would be unable to return because of health problems, and two others said they might lose their jobs. Two prosecution witnesses said they did not want to travel to San Francisco because of health concerns.

Nikulins lawyers told the judge they still wanted to go ahead with the trial rather than declaring a mistrial and starting anew, and Alsup agreed.

After more than three years in custody, I dont blame the defendant for wanting this jury to decide his fate, Alsup said at a hearing in his court Thursday. Weve got to stand up and do our job.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Federal prosecutors raised questions about lawyers and witnesses wearing masks during questioning, but Alsup noted that the dozen or so people in court Thursday were all masked, and said the jury could adjust. He said jurors could sit in alternate seats in the jury box and other courtroom locations to maintain some degree of social distancing. He also plans to ask them if they had learned or experienced anything that would disqualify them from serving.

When a lawyer for a prospective prosecution witness, a former LinkedIn security chief, said he would need to testify from home because of health problems, Alsup said he would allow remote testimony if Nikulin waived his constitutional right to confront opposing witnesses. He told the two sides to try to work out an agreement.

Regarding jurors, the judge said, I dont want to force anyone to serve if they feel theyre going to endanger their health. But after the upcoming three-week postponement, he said, I think theyre willing.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Officials in a Myanmar region and state on Tuesday reversed earlier decisions to impose controversial two-week lockdowns to prevent the spread of the contagious coronavirus and are now allowing residents to leave their homes for essential services.

The moves came a day before the Health Ministry announced that two more people had died from the virus, raising the total number of fatalities to three, though the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday held at 22.

The Sagaing regional government in northern Myanmar previously said the lockdown would take effect April 7 and run until April 21.

Residents were ordered to remain at home and only to go out to buy food or receive medical care. Those who had to travel to other states or regions during emergency situations were instructed to first obtain permission from the regional government.

Officials are now letting residents move about to go to supermarkets, gas stations, banks, and private clinics, and said they plan to replace the regions working committee on the prevention of the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.

On April 8, they removed the order and said that the new coronavirus control and emergency response committee led by the chief minister will issue new announcements, said Lar Htaung Htan, Sagaings minister of Chin ethnic affairs. The new committee will be formed tomorrow, and then decide what to do.

Nay Oo, a member of coronavirus prevention committee from Sagaings Monywa township, said that the announcement about the revamped committee means that similar township-level committees will become null and void.

Because of the new regional-level committee formed by the chief minister, the township committees are automatically cancelled, and we are preparing to transfer remaining donations to the new committee, he told RFAs Myanmar Service.

Township committees comprise 24 members, including two parliamentarians and an administrator.

The regional government has instructed township administrators to set up area donation centers for the prevention and control of the coronavirus.

Aung Ne Myo, a member of the group Save Monywa which runs its own donation center said his organization would suspend operations once the government issued instructions.

The instructions have not yet been issued, [but] when they are, we will suspend our donation center immediately, he said.

Though shopping centers are closed in Monywa township, people are moving around and going about their daily business as usual.

Aung Myo, an upper house lawmaker from Sagaing and no relation to Aung Ne Myo, told the online journal The Irrawaddy that officials dropped the lockdown order after it caused a stir among residents.

The previous order was causing a controversy among residents, he was quoted as saying. It could have created a difficult situation for residents if they had to observe recommendations from township officials every time they had to travel.

Quarantine violators

Officials in eastern Myanmars Kayah state also dropped a recently ordered lockdown on residents aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus, following criticism that the move could have a detrimental effect on local businesses and cause a public panic, The Irrawaddy reported.

The Kayah state government said it made the decision to avoid spreading panic or harming the state socially and economically, the report said.

Lockdowns ordered by officials in other states and regions, including Yangon and Mandalay, remain in place.

Despite a government-ordered 14-day quarantine for Myanmar and foreign nationals who return to the country and those suspected of COVID-19 infections, health volunteers in central and northern Myanmar have reported several cases of people evading the isolation requirement. Those who violate mandatory quarantines are subject to jail terms.

A man from Ye-U, a town in the Shwebo district of Sagaing, was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison for breaking a nationwide mandatory 14-day quarantine, local police said.

Authorities picked up the man, who has not been publicly named, the same day and changed him, said an officer from the Ye-U Myoma Police Station

His test result is negative, but he still needs to be in quarantine, the officer said. He was sent to Shwebo Prison first, but later he was taken to a quarantine center later when he had a fever.

In a similar case, a man in a quarantine facility in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay received a six-month prison sentence last week for leaving the shelter to buy some drinks, and then acting hostilely towards authorities when confronted.

People leave a medical facility in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw following a 14-day quarantine to ensure they had not contracted the coronavirus while abroad, April 8, 2020. Credit: RFA video screenshot Quarantined people released

Authorities in the capital Naypyidaw meanwhile have released more than 50 quarantined people, but warned that COVID-19 symptoms could still develop after isolation periods.

Those released, who had all returned to Myanmar from abroad, were the first group of quarantined individuals to be sent home out of more than 1,000 people currently held in isolation in the country.

We sent 20 people from Dekkhinathiri, 27 people from Pobbathiri, and 10 people from Zeyarthiri townships back home, said Dr. Myat Wunna Soe, deputy director general of the Naypyidaw Public Health Department under the Ministry of Health and Sports, on Wednesday.

Darli Win Su, one of those released from quarantine encouraged people to follow the governments advice and directives regarding the coronavirus.

What I would like to tell people is to wash their hands, use face masks, [practice] social distancing, and stay at home, she said.

Please help the nation by following directions from the government, she added.

Another person among the group, Soe Hlaing, who had returned to Myanmar from China, said it was imperative that those coming back to the country be tested for the virus.

People who return home from abroad should be tested at health centers or hospitals because they cant know if they are positive, he said.

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said during a television talk show with health officials from Magway region that people who complete quarantines must continue to be careful and inform health centers of any symptoms they come down with after they return to their homes.

Reported by Waiyan Moe Myint and Thiha Tun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Khin E and Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
New Delhi: Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan is still getting praises for his act in 'Pati Patni Aur Woh'(PPAW), where he played a simpleton Chintu Tyagi, who wanted to taste the forbidden fruit. Amid lockdown, Kartiks film is being revisited by all his fans and people are still going gaga about his act. And looks like the latest to join this list to fall in love with Chintu Tyagi is the veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha.

Shatrughan Sinha, whos super active on Twitter, took to his profile to share what hes currently watching during this lockdown phase. The veteran had just watched PPAW and just like everyone was blown away by Aaryan. He tweeted, Another film I enjoyed during the lockdown was #PatiPatniAurWoh a remake of the old one which had the late & great actor par excellence #SanjeevKumar & the graceful, late VidyaSinha, produced then by the late & great filmmaker, producer, director #BRChopra.

Another film I enjoyed watching during the lockdown was #PatiPatniAurWoh a remake of the old one which had the late & great actor par excellence #SanjeevKumar & the graceful, late VidyaSinha, produced then by the late & great filmmaker, producer,director #BRChopra.  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) April 7, 2020

the talented & comfortable @bhumipednekar who shines despite her role which has certain limits. The worthy daughter @ananyapandayy of the not so worthy father #ChunkeyPanday, but a very loveable father & friend. Although shes new, but has great zeal & energy which is admirable.  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) April 7, 2020

Wishing them all great success. But the credit for good performances & presentation goes to the brilliant director @mudassar_as_is in the making, one of the best we have today. And of course, not to forget the new fresh talent @Aparshakti is very good too.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) April 7, 2020

In the other tweet he started singing praises for the hunk, This remake has been produced by his son, late #RaviChopras wife, #RenuChopra. It was a refreshing change to see the younger talented actors who did complete justice to this film. The current flavour, promising & his future seems very bright @TheAaryanKartik. He further tweeted about Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday and Aparshaktis performances. Looks like Mr Sinha has gone completely khamosh with this entertaining film and the gifted talented Kartik Aaryan. Well, we couldnt agree more.

Just last week, Kangana Ranaut too had praised Kartik Aaryan in her interview, where she hailed his journey to success despite being an outsider and making a special niche for himself. Now from the veteran Shatrughan Sinha to the powerhouse Kangana Ranaut are impressed by the heartthrob of the nation and so are the masses. The actors certain charm has got everyone smitten for him at the big screen and off it too.
The coronavirus crisis has affected every facet of the worldwide economy, and small businesses have been hit particularly hard. Many small businesses in Central New York have had to reduce hours and workforce, or to close entirely. Others have had to bear an additional financial burden to make modifications to protect their workers.

Whatever the circumstances, small businesses will be feeling the effects of the pandemic for some time. Those that have remained in business, or plan to reopen once the immediate crisis has passed, will need substantial resources and support to help them get back on their feet.

Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard would like to help. Weve put together a list of online workshops, seminars and resources designed to meet the needs of small businesses in the struggle to recover from this crisis.

Here are a few things we have found. All of the events listed here are free. There will be more to follow as we try to find our new version of normal.

Online resources available 24/7

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a federally run program that provides support to small businesses and entrepreneurs, with district offices located in Buffalo and Syracuse. The SBA offers resources, advocacy, training and other services. For those who cant make in-person seminars, here is a sample of online courses that are available on their website to take at a time that fits your schedule.

Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing has taken on increased importance during the COVID-19 crisis. Many businesses have had to increase their online presence to maintain a cash flow or merely stay connected with their customers. For those unfamiliar with how to use social media to grow their business, this course teaches you research processes and strategies to help you utilize the power of social media marketing.

Selling Your Business: When you just cant stay open, this course gives an overview of how to sell or close your business. It includes defining a business exit strategy, transferring ownership, steps to closing, and preparing a sales agreement.

What about financial assistance?

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a partner of the Small Business Administration, offers no-cost business consulting services to start-up and existing businesses throughout the CNY area. The Mohawk Valley SBDC recently hosted SBAs Economic Industry Disaster Loans for Small Businesses. This encompasses disaster loans for small businesses and the paycheck protection program which allows for reimbursement of payroll costs. You may contact them for an updated copy of the slideshow (some changes occurred after the presentation) by phone at (315) 731-5884 or by email.

The Centerstate Corporation for Economic Opportunity (CEO) provides access to business development assistance and connections to member businesses across Central and Northern New York. Included in their offerings are PowerPoint presentations to help navigate the process of obtaining economic relief for businesses to mitigate their financial losses due to the pandemic.

The first presentation addresses the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and navigating the steps to enroll in the program. The second presentation addresses Economic Injury Grants and answers frequently asked questions.

Cornell Cooperative Extension also offers a recorded webinar on the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as other programs to help farmers and businesses.

All of the above presentations are available for viewing at any time.

Universities provide professional development

While many businesses had already moved to a remote model of conducting business, the need for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic has made remote working a necessity for many CNY small businesses. The Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) at Cornell helps entrepreneurs access resources they need to start and grow successful businesses. They are offering a webinar at 10 a.m. on April 9 called Remote Leadership in Startups and Small Business" that is focused on effective leadership of remote teams.

Supply chains have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, making it difficult to maintain stock through normal channels. The online branch of Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, eCornell, offers online certificates and corporate programs to individuals and businesses for professional development. At noon on April 10, they are offering a webinar titled Global Supply Chain (Fr)agility, Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis, in which a panel of Cornell University Scholars will discuss insights on the functioning and structure of supply chains during the pandemic.

Multiple resources in one place

Main Street America is a grassroots movement that empowers communities to set their own destinies" by providing guidance for transforming local economies to improve quality of life. They offer a number of programs to aid businesses and non-profits. Among these is a webinar for non-profit agencies, entitled How Non-Profits Can Use Crowd Funding to Raise More Money. It is presented by the GoFundMe charity and will delve into peer-to-peer fundraising and non-profit organizations responses to COVID-19. The webinar will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. on April 21.

A visit to the COVID-19 resource page on their website yields a wealth of information sources in one location, which is updated regularly.

The South Side Innovation Center on Syracuses South Side provides office space and equipment to new ventures and established businesses. They collaborate with the WISE Womens Business Center, Centerstate CEO, and Upstate Minority Economic Alliance to provide resources and guidance. They offer a series of online classes at 2 p.m. every Thursday, the Business Essentials Series. Call 315-443-8596 or email for information and to register.

Help and advice may be as close as your local Chamber of Commerce. The Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce has been hosting Frequently Asked Questions since the beginning of April that are available on YouTube. These short videos cover such topics as Non-essential businesses: Can I go into my business? and New Grant Resource for Small Businesses. You can see a list of their available webinars here.

Your local library has help and guidance

An often-underestimated resource is your local library. With a current library card. you have access to business and employment databases that are available any time of the day. Although the libraries are still closed to walk-in patrons, their reference desks are still open and they are responding to phone calls and emails. Check your librarys website for phone numbers and email addresses.

To see these and more events aimed at helping small businesses to recover from the effects of the pandemic, see the list below. The majority of these events are available for viewing even if the webinar date has already passed.

If you are unable to view the list, click here to view.

Please let us know if we have missed a seminar or workshop by sending an email to business@syracuse.com and we will be happy to include it on the calendar.

Contact us anytime by phone 315-282-8675 or email.

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Earlier this year, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced that they were taking a step back from being senior members of the royal family. The pair has since been living in North America while going back to the United Kingdom occasionally for work and family reasons.

Prince Harry and Meghan were living in Canada for a bit, but now it looks like the Sussexes are in Los Angeles. While one would think that Prince Harry would be extremely happy to finally be far away from the hectic life as a royal, reports are now saying that he feels guilty for being in the United States.

Prince Harry quietly moved to Los Angeles with his family

Prince Harry | Chris Jackson  Pool/Getty Images

After residing in Canada for a few months, Prince Harry and his family quietly left for Los Angeles in late March. It has been reported that they had been planning on settling in California, and they decided to finally move amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The borders were closing and flights were stopping. They had to get out, a source told The Sun. But this move was planned for some time. They realized Canada would not work out for various reasons and they want to be based in the Los Angeles area. They have a big support network there. Its where their new team of Hollywood agents and PRs and business managers are based. Meghan has lots of friends there and, of course, her mum Doria.

The couple and their son Archie are now said to be living in a secluded compound somewhere in the Hollywood area. However, this might not be their permanent home, and Prince Harry and Meghan are still searching for a house somewhere that will offer them more privacy.

Prince Harry feels guilty for being far away from Prince Charles

Unfortunately for Prince Harry, his big move to Los Angeles came at around the same time that his father, Prince Charles, was diagnosed with COVID-19. As such, an insider told Us Weekly that Prince Harry is overwhelmed with guilt for being far away from his family in the UK.

Despite their ups and downs, hearing that his dad is sick with a potentially life-threatening illness is a huge wake-up call, the source shared. And hes overwhelmed with feelings of guilt for not being closer to home while this is all going on.

The source also said that Prince Charles shared his diagnosis with his son over a phone call, and Prince Harry confessed to feeling beyond helpless over the fact that he is not close by.

Charles tried to calm Harry down by saying hes OK and that hes only suffering from mild symptoms, which slightly helped put his mind at ease but hes [Harry] still worried, the insider continued. Harrys admitted its hit home that Charles and the Queen arent going to be around forever.

The coronavirus pandemic has reportedly brought the royal family closer together

In the past couple of years, there have been many reports about drama within the royal family. Most notably, it has been said that Prince Harry and Prince William drifted apart and there is now a lot of tension between them.

However, it seems that the coronavirus pandemic has allegedly allowed the royal family to feel closer to each other, including Prince Harry and Prince William. According to the Daily Mail, Prince Harry has been in constant contact with his brother and the queen, which is different than how things were before the pandemic. Perhaps only time will tell now whether the two princes relationship can improve in the future.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 12:52:04|Editor: huaxia

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HARBIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The city of Suifenhe, at the China-Russia border in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, will build a temporary hospital as pressure mounts to stem the flow of imported novel coronavirus cases.

The construction is expected to be completed on April 11, and around 400 medical staff are expected to work in the hospital, the city's publicity department said.

The hospital will be converted from an office building in the city and provide more than 600 patient beds, according to Wang Fakui, chairman of Suifenhe Hairong Urban Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd., which will undertake the project.

The Suifenhe port, a major land checkpoint at the border, has shut down its passenger inspection channel and tightened checks on the freight inspection channel, according to Wang Yongping, acting mayor of Suifenhe.

All the personnel entering the border from Suifenhe are required to undergo nucleic acid tests and be quarantined in designated facilities.

Over 120 medical workers have been sent from across the province to Suifenhe to support local hospitals.
The Finance Committee of Parliament's has given authorization to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to spend Ghc1.2bn from the Contingency Fund.

The meeting followed a statement Mr. Ofori-Atta presented to the House on government's Coronavirus Alleviation Programme today, Wednesday.

The Finance Minister can now implement the program, with the expectation that an extra 50 million dollars will accrue to the Fund by close of the year.

Meanwhile, Minority after the meeting decried the lack of details in the financial estimates presented to the committee and indicated that they would not support the request by the Finance Minister if a provision is not made to absorb electricity bills of residential consumers in these trying times.

The money from the fund will be used for the GHS1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme.

The Finance Minister has already indicated that the cumulative effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Ghana GHS9.505 billion.

As part of other measures, the government has put in place a GHS600 million soft loan scheme with a two-year repayment plan for micro, small and medium scale businesses.

This is in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries, Business & Trade Associations and selected Commercial and Rural Banks.

Persons who access these loans will have a one-year grace period before beginning repayment.

Mr. Ofori-Atta is also seeking the support of Parliament to amend the relevant laws to lower the cap of the Stabilisation Fund from US$300 million to US$100 million.

This is to enable the government use the excess funds to bridge the gap created by the economic impact of the pandemic.

Among other interventions, the government will be taking care of the water bills for all Ghanaians for April, May and June 2020.

Six regions have so far recorded cases of the novel coronavirus with Ghana's count standing at 313.

---citinewsroom
Kolte Patil Developers announced that the company through its subsidiary Kolte-Patil I-Ven Townships (Pune) has entered into an agreement with Planet Smart City., a UK based real estate developer, for strategic land monetization of a portion of Sector R10 in KPDL's township project Life Republic in Pune for Rs 91 crore.

This portion of land measuring ~5.42 acres in Sector R10 has a residential development potential of 7.6 lakh sq. ft. in terms of saleable area.

Further, under the agreement, this land parcel in Sector R10 will be jointly developed by KPIT & Planet in the profit sharing model.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A security guard screens visitors before entering the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on March 16.

Paul Sancya/AP

More than 700 workers in the Henry Ford Health System have tested positive for COVID-19, the Michigan hospital group said Monday.

Business Insider spoke with an emergency-department nurse at the main Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He described how his entire unit transformed to deal with the crisis. Many of his coworkers are out sick, and there are many serious patients to deal with.

Douglas, who didn't want to give his last name, said he was worried about equipment supplies, though there was enough for now.

He also described a strange home life in which he and his mother  also a nurse  are isolating themselves from the rest of their family.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Related Video: How to Help Healthcare Workers Fighting the Coronavirus

Detroit is quickly becoming a hot zone for the coronavirus outbreak in the US, as Michigan is now the state with the third-largest outbreak.

One of the key signifiers that the situation is getting worse is that healthcare workers in the city are getting sick in large numbers.

As of Monday, more than 700 healthcare workers in the Henry Ford Health System, a group of hospitals in and around the city, had tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Douglas, a registered nurse at Henry Ford Hospital, in his scrubs and protective gear.

Provided

The worker, who asked to be identified only as Douglas, said his department had been "completely transformed" to deal with COVID-19. Changes included setting up an outdoor screening tent to turning unused units into critical-care areas.

However, he said he was worried about having enough space to treat patients as the cases in Detroit rise.

"We're seeing it become a lot worse," Douglas said. "I'm worried about having the capacity, just like New York."

New York City, the worst-hit part of the US, had reported more than 74,000 cases and 3,544 deaths as of Tuesday.

Detroit is still far behind  with 5,500 cases and 221 deaths  but is projected to get worse.

Douglas voiced concerns "with ventilators, with rooms, with staff  because there's people that are getting taken out every day."

Story continues

"Doctors, nurses, staff aren't able to come to work because they've tested positive and have symptoms," he said. "The ICUs are becoming very full with the very, very sick."

He added: "It's going to become an even bigger issue as cases rise. We can't make another hospital right now, so we have to convert units, make space where we can, and conserve equipment."

So far, Douglas said, the hospital has done a great job of addressing their needs and keeping them supplied with protective gear. But he said that "there's always that fear that we're going to run out."

"Most of the materials are locked up, because we're trying to make sure we ration them appropriately, making sure we are always as protected as we can be," he said.

Douglas said that they were allowed one mask a day and that gowns were in limited supply.

"It's really scary to be limited by the amount you have. You have to be careful. Someone's N95 [mask] broke the other day, and they were like, 'Am I going to be able to get another one?'" he said.

A worker moves a new shipment of gloves in the supply room at the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital on March 25.

Carlos Osorio/AP

Douglas said he hadn't been working in the critical area recently but had heard about a startling number of deaths.

"The other day when I was working there were three people that passed in the critical area," he said. "And that was in my 12-hour shift."

Douglas said one of the most surprising things about the disease is how it affects people in vastly different ways. He said he'd have some patients with a low blood-oxygen level of 70% but feeling fine, while others would have a reading of 80% and need to be intubated.

(In coronavirus cases, a low blood-oxygen level means that the lungs aren't taking in enough air because they have become filled with fluid. Over time, this lack of oxygen can lead to organ damage and death.)

"I've even had some coworkers that have mild symptoms, a fever for a day or two, and then they're fine," Douglas said. "It's interesting the many different ways it presents."

It's easy to see how many people are out sick just by looking at the schedule, he said. During normal times, Douglas said, there's always one or two open shifts a day. Now when he looks at the schedule, he sees about seven.

"The consensus with everyone in the department is that we're all going to get it at some point," he said. "We just need to be aware that we're protecting ourselves and others properly."

Douglas said that while he wasn't worried about getting a serious case of the disease, he was worried about possibly passing it on to a member of his family. That's why he's been self-isolating in his bedroom at home, where he lives with his parents and two of his siblings.

Healthcare workers test a person at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital on March 25.

Carlos Osorio/AP

"When I go home, I have to strip in the garage  I have to clean everything off there and go directly into the shower, then go directly into my room," he said.

Douglas' mother is also a nurse who typically works in endoscopy but has been reassigned to COVID-19 cases. She's been sleeping in a separate room from her husband.

Coincidentally, Douglas was in the middle of closing on the purchase of a house when the crisis started. When that deal is finalized, he said, he and his mom plan to move there and turn it into the "COVID house."

Staying positive while having to stay away from family is one of the biggest challenges, Douglas said.

"Some doctors and nurses have newborn babies at home, and they're sleeping in their attics," he said.

"Then when we come into work, patients are very sick. And because of visitor restrictions, family is not allowed to come back. We've had cases where people aren't being able to see their loved ones as they're dying.

"It's just hard being around all this negativity and death and trying to stay positive amidst all of this," he said. "We love what we do, being able to take care of people and be there in their time of need ... but it does wear."

Henry Ford Hospital did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Tuesday morning.

Business Insider
New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries

India seeks cutting edge COVID-19 testing equipment from US

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: India has sought from the United States support to get cutting edge COVID-19 testing equipment.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla made the request in a telephone conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State, Stephen E Biegun. Both sides also discussed ways of enhancing cooperation to fight the pandemic. These included going through novel therapies and prophylactics against the virus.

This comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's conversation with US President Donald Trump. It may be recalled that Foreign Minister S Jaishankar too had a conversation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on April 6.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The Ministry of External Affairs had said that it would supply paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine to countries that are badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

NEWS AT NOON, APRIL 9th, 2020

Anurag Srivastava, External Affairs ministry, spokesperson said that India will also be supplying essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic. We would, therefore, discourage any speculation in this regard or any attempts to politicise the matter, Srivastava further added.

India has decided that orders from other countries would be cleared only after the domestic requirements are met.

Fake News Buster

On March 25 the Indian government had banned the exports of hydroxychloroquine to ensure that there was adequate domestic supply. Last week, India further tightened the rules by barring exports of hydroxychloroquine and formulations made from it from special economic zones and export-oriented units.
He failed to find love with Connie Crayden on Married At First Sight.

And now that Jonethen Musulin is 'single and ready to mingle', he's hoping for a makeover.

On Wednesday, the 27-year-old reached out to plastic surgeons over Instagram to see about fixing his crooked nose, asking them to 'hit him up'.

'Hit me up': Shameless Married At First Sight star Jonethen Musulin has put a call-out to plastic surgeons over Instagram to fix his crooked nose

The plea came during a Q&A session on Instagram Stories, when Jonethen received a comment from a fan about his crooked nose.

'Please don't take offence to this, but your nose has been broken before,' the message read.

'Yes, it has. It goes this way quite a bit,' Jonethen explained while holding his nose to the right, before moving it back and forth.

Embarrassing: The plea came during a Q&A session on Instagram Stories, when Jonethen received a comment from a fan about his crooked nose

'...Anyone got a plastic surgeon, hit me up!' he added.

It comes after the project officer from the Gold Coast bragged about 'hooking up' with co-star KC Osborne on three separate dates after filming wrapped.

'We did end up hooking up after the show,' he said with a cheeky grin, during the same Q&A session.

'Yes, it has. It goes this way quite a bit,' Jonethen explained while holding his nose to the right, before moving it back and forth. '...Anyone got a plastic surgeon, hit me up!' he added

'KC and I did go on a date on the show. It was good. We had fun. It was a breath of fresh air. Both of us weren't too happy in our relationship at that stage.

'It was good to go on a date with someone we got along with.'

Jonethen decided to reveal more details of his time with KC, adding: 'KC and I had a date on the show and then we had a couple of dates out of the show. A couple in Sydney and one on the Gold Coast [where he lives].'

'The rumours about KC and I hooking up on the filming, we didn't hook up, we had a date... but we did end up hooking up after the show,' he boasted with a smile.

KC is now dating co-star Michael Goonan.

Moving on! It comes after the project officer from the Gold Coast bragged about 'hooking up' with co-star KC Osborne on three separate dates after filming wrapped, but she is now with Michael Goonan




On the battlefield, snipers often find themselves isolated from the rest of the force for days at a time, if not longer.

With people around the world stuck at home in response to the serious coronavirus outbreak, Insider asked a US Army sniper how he handles isolation and boredom when he finds himself stuck somewhere he doesnt want to be.

Obviously, being a sniper is harder than hanging out at home, but some of the tricks he uses in the field may be helpful if you are are starting to lose your mind.

Sniper in position in the woods. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. John Bright)

1. Remember your mission

As a sniper, youre the eyes and ears for the battalion commander, 1st Sgt. Kevin Sipes, a veteran sniper from Texas, told Insider, adding, Theres always something to look at and watch.

He said that while he might not be looking through a scope the whole time, looking for a specific person, he is still intently watching roads, vehicles, buildings and people.

There are a lot of things that youre trying to think about to describe to someone as intricately as you possibly can the things they need to know, he said. Have I seen that person before? Can I blow a hole in that wall? How much explosives would that take?

There is always work that needs to be done.

2. Break down the problem

One trick he uses when he is in a challenging situation, be it lying in a hole he dug or sitting in a building somewhere surveilling an adversary, is to just focus on getting from one meal to the next, looking at things in hours, rather than days or weeks.

Getting from one meal to the next is a way to break down the problem and just manage it and be in the moment and not worry about the entirety of it, said Sipes, a seasoned sniper with roughly 15 years of experience who spoke to Insider while he was at home with his family.

3. Work to improve your position

Youre always trying to better your position, Sipes told Insider. That can mean a number of different things, such as improving your cover, looking for ways to make yourself a little more comfortable, or even working on your weapon.

4. Take note of things you wouldnt normally notice

What is going on in your own little environment that youve never noticed before? Sipes asked.

Thinking back to times stuck in a room or a hole, he said, There is activity going on, whether its the bugs that are crawling across the floor or the mouse thats coming out of the wall.

You get involved in their routine, he added.

5. Look for new ways to connect with people

In the field, snipers are usually accompanied by a spotter, so they are not completely alone. But they may not be able to talk and engage one another as they normally would, so they have to get a little creative.

Maybe you cant communicate through actual spoken word, but you can definitely communicate through either drawings or writing, Sipes said.

We spend a lot of time doing sector sketches, panoramic drawings of the environment. We always put different objects or like draw little faces or something in there. And, you always try and find where they were in someones drawing.

He added that they would also write notes about what was going on, pass information on things to look out for, and even write jokes to one another.

6. Think about things you will do when its over

One big thing I used to do was list what kind of food I was going to eat when I get back, like listing it out in detail of like every ingredient that I wanted in it and what I thought it was going to taste like, Sipes said. He added that sometimes he listed people he missed that he wanted to talk to when he got back.

7. Remember it is not all about you

Sipes said that no matter what, you are still a member of a team and you have to get into a we versus me mindset. There are certain things that have to be done that, even if they are difficult, for something bigger than an individual.

He said that you have to get it in your head that if you dont do what you are supposed to do, you are going to get someone else killed. Nine times out of 10, the person doing the wrong thing isnt the one that suffers for it. It is generally someone else.
New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.

The majority is clearly European, said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review.

A separate team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine came to strikingly similar conclusions, despite studying a different group of cases. Both teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March.

The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.

On Jan. 31, President Donald Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks.

It would not be until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities, and March 11 when Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries. But New Yorkers had already been traveling home with the virus.

People were just oblivious, said Adriana Heguy, a member of the NYU team.

Heguy and van Bakel belong to an international guild of viral historians. They ferret out the history of outbreaks by poring over clues embedded in the genetic material of viruses taken from thousands of patients.

Viruses invade a cell and take over its molecular machinery, causing it to make new viruses.

The process is quick and sloppy. As a result, new viruses can gain a new mutation that wasnt present in their ancestor. If a new virus manages to escape its host and infect other people, its descendants will inherit that mutation.

Tracking viral mutations demands sequencing all the genetic material in a virus  its genome. Once researchers have gathered the genomes from a number of virus samples, they can compare their mutations.

Sophisticated computer programs can then figure out how all of those mutations arose as viruses descended from a common ancestor. If they get enough data, they can make rough estimates about how long ago those ancestors lived. Thats because mutations arise at a roughly regular pace, like a molecular clock.

Maciej Boni of Penn State University and his colleagues recently used this method to see where the coronavirus, designated SARS-CoV-2, came from in the first place. While conspiracy theories might falsely claim the virus was concocted in a lab, the viruss genome makes clear that it arose in bats.

There are many kinds of coronaviruses, which infect both humans and animals. Boni and his colleagues found that the genome of the new virus contains a number of mutations in common with strains of coronaviruses that infect bats.

The most closely related coronavirus is in a Chinese horseshoe bat, the researchers found. But the new virus has gained some unique mutations since splitting off from that bat virus decades ago.

Boni said that ancestral virus probably gave rise to a number of strains that infected horseshoe bats and perhaps sometimes other animals.

Very likely theres a vast unsampled diversity, he said.

Copying mistakes arent the only way for new viruses to arise. Sometimes two kinds of coronaviruses will infect the same cell. Their genetic material gets mixed up in new viruses.

Its entirely possible, Boni said, in the past 10 or 20 years, a hybrid virus arose in some bat that was well-suited to infect humans, too. Later, that virus somehow managed to cross the species barrier.

Once in a while, one of these viruses wins the lottery, he said.

In January, a team of Chinese and Australian researchers published the first genome of the new virus. Since then, researchers around the world have sequenced over 3,000 more. Some are genetically identical to each other, while others carry distinctive mutations.

Thats just a tiny sampling of the full diversity of the virus. As of April 8, there were 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the true total is probably many millions more. But already, the genomes of the virus are revealing previously hidden outlines of its history over the past few months.

As new genomes come to light, researchers upload them to an online database called GISAID. A team of virus evolution experts are analyzing the growing collection of genomes in a project called Nextstrain. They continually update the virus family tree.

The deepest branches of the tree all belong to lineages from China. The Nextstrain team has also used the mutation rate to determine that the virus probably first moved into humans from an animal host in late 2019. On Dec. 31, China announced that doctors in the city of Wuhan were treating dozens of cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness.

In January, as the scope of the catastrophe in China became clear, a few countries started an aggressive testing program. They were able to track the arrival of the virus on their territory and track its spread through their populations.

But the United States fumbled in making its first diagnostic kits and initially limited testing only to people who had come from China and displayed symptoms of COVID-19.

It was a disaster that we didnt do testing, Heguy said.

A few cases came to light starting at the end of January. But it was easy to dismiss them as rare imports that did not lead to local outbreaks.

The illusion was dashed at the end of February by Trevor Bedford, an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, and his colleagues.

Using Nextstrain, they showed that a virus identified in a patient in late February had a mutation shared by one identified in Washington state on Jan. 20.

The Washington viruses also shared other mutations in common with ones isolated in Wuhan, suggesting that a traveler had brought the coronavirus from China.

With that discovery, Bedford and his colleagues took the lead in sequencing coronavirus genomes. Sequencing more genomes around Washington gave them a better view of how the outbreak there got started.

Im quite confident that it was not spreading in December in the United States, Bedford said. There may have been a couple other introductions in January that didnt take off in the same way.

As new cases arose in other parts of the country, other researchers set up their own pipelines. The first positive test result in New York came on March 1, and after a couple of weeks, patients surged into the citys hospitals.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

I thought, We need to do this for New York, Heguy said.

Heguy and her colleagues found some New York viruses that shared unique mutations not found elsewhere. Thats when you know youve had a silent transmission for a while, she said.

Heguy estimated that the virus began circulating in the New York area a couple of months ago.

And researchers at Mount Sinai started sequencing the genomes of patients coming through their hospital. They found that the earliest cases identified in New York were not linked to later ones.

Two weeks later, we start seeing viruses related to each other, said Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, a member of the Mount Sinai team.

Gonzalez-Reiche and her colleagues found that these viruses were practically identical to viruses found around Europe. They cannot say on what particular flight a particular virus arrived in New York. But they write that the viruses reveal a period of untracked global transmission between late January to mid-February.

So far, the Mount Sinai researchers have identified seven separate lineages of viruses that entered New York and began circulating. We will probably find more, van Bakel said.

The coronavirus genomes are also revealing hints of early cross-country travel.

Van Bakel and his colleagues found one New York virus that was identical to one of the Washington viruses found by Bedford and his colleagues. In a separate study, researchers at Yale found another Washington-related virus. Combined, the two studies hint that the coronavirus has been moving from coast to coast for several weeks.

Sidney Bell, a computational biologist working with the Nextstrain team, cautions people not to read too much into these new mutations themselves. Just because something is different doesnt mean it matters, Bell said.

Mutations do not automatically turn viruses into new, fearsome strains. They often dont bring about any change at all. To me, mutations are inevitable and kind of boring, Bell said. But in the movies, you get the X-Men.

Peter Thielen, a virologist at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, likes to think of the spread of viruses like a dandelion seed landing on an empty field.

The flower grows up and produces seeds of its own. Those seeds spread and sprout. New mutations arise over the generations as the dandelions fill the field. But theyre all still dandelions, Thielen said.

While the coronavirus mutations are useful for telling lineages apart, they dont have any apparent effect on how the virus works.

Thats good news for scientists working on a vaccine.

Vaccine developers hope to fight COVID-19 by teaching our bodies to make antibodies that can grab onto the virus and block its entry into cells.

Some viruses evolve so quickly that they require vaccines that can produce several different antibodies. Thats not the case for COVID-19. Like other coronaviruses, it has a relatively slow mutation rate compared to some viruses, like influenza.

As hard as the fight against it may be, its mutations reveal that things can be a whole lot worse.

Of course, the coronavirus will continue to mutate as long as it still infects people. Its possible that vaccines will have to change to keep up with the virus. And thats why scientists need to keep tracking its history.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
A Message of Hope and Solidarity Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Joint Statement from Sr. Mary Haddad, president and CEO, Catholic Health Association of the United States and Sr. Donna Markham, president and CEO, Catholic Charities U.S.A



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic Health Association of the United States

April 9, 2020



WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- As we prepare to celebrate the joy of Easter amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Catholic Health Association of the United States and Catholic Charities USA wish to convey our prayers and the continued commitment of the Catholic ministries to all people of this nation. While churches may be closed for services this Easter, the healing work of our ministries continues.



While the COVID-19 crisis reminds us of our shared fragility, it also demonstrates how everything and everyone is truly connected. We see that the ecological order is connected to the human condition; that eradicating the pandemic in one community will never be achieved unless it is done in all communities; and that the success and safety of front-line responders are linked to our willingness to stay home. It is at this moment, when we need to stay at safe distances, that we are finally brought together as one human family standing together to build a better future.



For over 150 years, the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities' ministries have been steadfast in our compassionate response to those suffering from illness and need. From treating malaria and yellow fever during the earliest days of our nation, through the 1918 Pandemic, the AIDS-HIV crisis of the 1980s and now COVID-19, Catholic providers continue to be some of the first organizations treating and caring for those in need. It is through this continued effort that the Catholic health and charities' ministries continue to live out our missions in solidarity with those in need in our communities.



While our respective ministries stand with people who are poor and vulnerable during our nation's best moments, during this time of great challenge we continue to work within our local communities to provide a source of strength and support for those in need. This responsibility comes to us not as a burden, but as a renewal of faith in our mission for compassionate care.



In light of the current situation, we renew our commitment to the values that our ministries have been dedicated to since our inception:

Our ministries will continue to promote and defend human dignity for all in our care while advancing the common good;



Our ministries will continue to attend to the whole person, recognizing that this pandemic affects not only our bodies, but also our minds, emotions, and spirits;



Our ministries will continue to advocate and serve those who are vulnerable or living on the margins of society; and



Our ministries will continue to work to ensure that in this moment of darkness nobody is forgotten.

The coming days and months will continue to bring us great trial and tribulation, but will also provide moments of hope and redemption. We see each day the pain of lost loved ones, ill-health, unemployment and economic uncertainty. However, we also see great moments of hope, grace and redemption in the dedicated and selfless work of health care workers, charities' staff, first responders and other essential workers to make our communities safer, all at a great personal sacrifice.



It is in these moments of hope, and as we celebrate Easter, that the seed of renewal is planted for enduring this time of uncertainty and building a brighter future for our entire country.



Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), a member of Caritas Internationalis, is the national office for the Catholic Charities ministry nationwide. CCUSA's members provide help and create hope to more than 12 million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. Please visit www.catholiccharitiesusa.org for additional information.



The Catholic Health Association of the United States www.chausa.org is the national leadership organization of the Catholic health ministry, representing the largest nonprofit provider of health care services in the nation.

- 1 in 7 patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital each day.

- Catholic health care, which includes more than 2,200 hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, systems, sponsors, and related organizations, serves the full continuum of health care across our nation.



SOURCE Catholic Health Association of the United States



CONTACT: Brian Reardon, Vice President Communications and Marketing, Catholic Health Association, 217-381-3113



Related Links



http://www.chausa.org


Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, we are living in the United States of Propaganda.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
(Bloomberg) -- Jack Mas influence in the world has gotten bigger since he stepped down as chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Chinas richest person is now playing a prominent role in philanthropic efforts that are effectively helping President Xi Jinping improve the countrys image overseas after Covid-19 spread around the world, unleashing a devastating human and economic toll. Thats a stark turn from just 18 months earlier, when Ma had to publicly dispute speculation that the government had prompted him to step down from the e-commerce giant he founded.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday became one of the latest to thank Ma, as well as Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and the Chinese government, for the delivery of 1,000 ventilators to the state. Asked about the donation, President Donald Trump -- who had earlier blamed Beijing for failing to provide enough information about what he had called the Chinese virus -- said Ma was a friend of mine and we appreciate it very much.

Ma has now donated at least 18 million masks, testing kits and other supplies to more than 100 countries worldwide, from Africa and Europe to the U.S. and Russia. The donations have helped build goodwill for Chinas government, whose official offers of assistance have been met with more suspicion.

The European Mayor Who Doesnt Want Chinas Help With Virus

While wealthy Westerners such as Bill Gates regularly conduct large-scale philanthropic efforts and win praise from politicians, in China its a relatively new phenomenon. The Communist Party has an uneasy relationship with billionaires, viewing them as both a necessary evil of private sector-led growth needed to boost incomes and a potential threat if they become too powerful.

For a long time China has relied on official propaganda and massive investment overseas as major instruments for promoting its soft power, said Zhiqun Zhu, chair of the department of international relations at Bucknell University who was written and edited books on Chinas foreign policy. Billionaire philanthropy is a new approach. Of course, for businesses, it is also a public relations opportunity.

Story continues

Ma declined a request for an interview sent to the press office of Alibaba, which also declined to comment to emailed questions. The billionaire joined Twitter on March 16, just as tensions were rising between the U.S. and China over who was to blame for the virus as Beijing faced criticism for muzzling doctors who called early attention to the mysterious disease. In his first tweets, he began promoting his foundations shipments of aid, posting all the best to our friends in America with an emoji of praying hands.

Ma has since repeatedly called for the world to unite in the fight against the virus, using the phrase One world, one fight! and Together, we can do this! In a Weibo post on April 1, Ma denounced online rumors that his foundations donations were rejected by some recipients and defended the quality of its medical supplies. Charity is not for praise or acknowledgement, and we are not afraid of criticism or accusations, he wrote.

Other Chinese tech giants also showed their philanthropy. Xiaomi Corp., co-founded by Lei Jun, pledged coronavirus relief for India, where the communications-equipment maker generates lots of revenue. The Globe and Mail reported that Huawei Technologies Co., founded by billionaire Ren Zhengfei, sent more than 1 million masks to Canada, where his daughter -- Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou -- has been fighting extradition to the U.S. since her arrest in 2018. She has denied wrongdoing.

Xiaomi said it has donated medical supplies to 15 countries and emphasizes its activities in India because it wants to spur more donations there. In an email, Huawei said it will do what it can to donate to governments and communities after taking care of its employees, and said that those decisions have no link to executives personal choices.

Prominent Chinese entrepreneurs would not make these gestures without permission from the Communist Party, said Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor emeritus who introduced the concept of soft power in the 1980s. China has used a government-sponsored propaganda campaign and aid programs to promote the theme that Chinas behavior had been benign, and to restore its soft power.

Chinas foreign ministry has promoted Mas donation of face masks, testing kits and other materials in Africa: In South Sudan, the Chinese ambassador last month posed in photos with local officials and thanked Xi for his painstaking efforts to control he outbreak. State-run media organizations have also prominently covered the donations, particularly those by Ma.

Friendly Sentiments

We appreciate the kind donation made by Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation, which vividly illustrates the friendly sentiments of the Chinese people toward the African people, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a March 23 press briefing in Beijing. He added that China would continue to coordinate and encourage Chinese enterprises and private institutions to actively provide support to African countries.

During his time at Alibaba, Ma regularly met with heads of state, including in 2016 at the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou -- the city near Shanghai where Alibaba is based and Xi once served as party secretary of Zhejiang province. After Trumps election in 2016, Ma promised to create a million jobs in the U.S. by linking small businesses with Chinese online buyers.

Ma, a member of the Communist Party, has also been a vocal backer of Xis policies in recent years. In 2016, Ma proposed that the nations top security bureau use big data to prevent crime, endorsing the governments effort to build unparalleled online surveillance of the worlds most-populous nation. He has also said China benefits from the stability of its one-party system and spoke out in favor of the countrys strict online censorship.

Wings Melt

In a speech at Alibaba headquarters in September 2018, Ma denied that he was pushed aside.

I got rumors from outside China saying Its because the government wants to push you down. Nobody can. He said hed been planning his exit for a decade, and wanted to lead the way for Chinese entrepreneurs in passing on a major company to professionals, rather than creating another family dynasty.

Fly too close to the sun, your wings melt, said Duncan Clark, author of Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built, which was translated into about 30 languages. He has to set the right altitude to beat his competitors, stay ahead, but not incur the wrath of the government. Hes just so much better at soft power than the government, in part because in this case he isnt tied up with the whole original sin question about the origins of the virus.

While the U.S. and China have sparred throughout the crisis, some European politicians have also been critical of China -- particularly over test kits they found to be inaccurate. The European Unions chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned in a blog post last month that a geopolitical struggle for influence is hidden behind the politics of generosity.

Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, denied on Twitter that China engages in mask propaganda, saying that the donations are to reciprocate kindness and help others to the best of our ability.

David Shambaugh, who once worked at the U.S. National Security Council and is now a professor at George Washington University heading the China Policy Program, said the more masks the better -- it doesnt matter where they come from.

Still, Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, said the philanthropy from Chinas billionaires is accompanied by a highly orchestrated propaganda operation. While its hard to know what really motivates billionaires like Ma, he said, it cant be separated from other reasons like supporting Chinas foreign policy and currying favor with the party and Xi.

Most people in most democracies do not know much about China, or of what their own governments and philanthropists had done in terms of offering medical supplies to China previously, Tsang said. And so many will be impressed by the apparent generosity.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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Jaipur, April 10 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state government will provide ration to the families displaced from Pakistan who are now residing in any district of the state.

Gehlot took this decision in view of a letter from the Seemant Lok Sangathan President Hindu Singh Sodha and directed the officials to ensure that the Pak displaced families get ration on time.

Sodha had apprised Chief Minister through his letter that approximately 6,000 Pak displaced families are residing in various districts in the state and many of these needy families had faced scarcity of ration due to lockdown.

According to the reports sent by the collectors, 500 Pak displaced families reside in Jamdoli, Govindpura and Mangyawas of Jaipur. These families are in contact with the district administration and are being distributed ration.

Similarly, in Jodhpur, 618 Pak displaced and needy families are being provided ration. Additional District Collector (II) Mahipal Kumar had been directed to be in touch with Sodha and make sure that needy families were extended all support.

As per the report, there are around 200 Pak displaced families in Sheo and Chauhatan Panchayat Samiti in Barmer district, 92 families in Pali and 93 families residing in Pugal and Bajju tehsil of Bikaner district. All these families were being provided ration items as per the demand.

Besides these districts, Pak displaced families were also residing in Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi districts and are being met with their all food-related requirements and the eligible families are being provided with the financial assistance.

Gehlot further directed that all such needy Pak displaced families, who do not come in the ambit of any social security scheme, should be provided ration.
Like many other business owners these days, David Le does not know what the future holds.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like many other business owners these days, David Le does not know what the future holds.

Le, an entrepreneur who immigrated to Canada a few years ago, opened a small co-working space late last year after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate a West End building.

He started taking in tenants in November and thought he had a solid business proposition until everything came to a grinding halt in mid-March.

As is the case with most small business owners, hes more pre-occupied with trying to figure out how to access federal government support programs than he is imagining what the lay of the land will look like when the coronavirus crisis is over.

It so happens, that he is one of those who fell through the cracks of the first and second versions of Ottawas support package. He is hopeful that the latest iteration introduced by the prime minister on Wednesday will let him receive some financial support.

"Right now, Im not eligible for anything, he said.

Many of his co-working tenants cant pay rent but his overhead has not changed. He cant cancel his insurance, security, Internet or other building costs and hes anxious about funding those fixed costs.

Meanwhile, many of his tenants businesses have been so affected that they cant pay their rent.

"I need that government support so I can help my tenants, or I need my tenants to get support so they can pay their rent, he said.

Those are the kind of things occupying the minds of most small business owners these days.

Chuck Davidson, the CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said it is too early for most businesses to strategize about how to re-launch.

"Were simply trying to get our businesses the information they need so they can have some comfort that they are going to be around in two to three months when things potentially change," he said. "Its too early to talk about how to start up again. Thats the sense we get."

Davidsons organization is part of the Canadian Chamber of Commerces newly launched Canadian Business Resilience Network. It is looking to become the clearinghouse that will provide businesses tools to withstand pandemic.

Its stated goal is "to help businesses emerge from this crisis and drive Canadas economic recovery."

Winnipeg-based Canada Life is partnering with the Canadian chamber in this initiative.

Jeff Macoun, president and chief operating officer for Canada, at Canada Life, said, "We know small and medium-sized businesses are facing challenges right now and we at Canada Life are committed to support them any way we can."

Not to say large corporate entities are not also up against an unprecedented disruption to the status quo, but as Macoun said, "At Canada Life, we believe that small and medium-sized businesses are an integral part of the Canadian economy. As they go, so goes Canada."

While many businesses must figure out how to survive before they spend time on their strategy for the future, there is a lot at stake.

At World Trade Centre Winnipeg, Mariette Mulaire is hosting a podcast with small businesses about how they are coping.

"We cant end up after this with just Sobeys, Amazon and Costco," she said. "We have to do anything we can do right now to help those small companies in the community. We have to think about what will happen next or all our favourite neighbour businesses are going to be in trouble."

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

A couple of young Winnipeg business people are trying to think about opportunities for innovation that the massive economic stall might create.

Joshua Zaporzan of Audax Ventures Inc. and Grant White of Endeavour Wealth Management have teamed up to form a consultancy called Warp Venture. They plan to work as agents for the kind of change that is undoubtedly ahead of us.

"Right now is a great opportunity for so many people who are at home in isolation who are all asking themselves the same question, What is going to happen next," Zaporzan said.

"It becomes a great time for entrepreneurs to step up and be leaders and create innovative, positive change for what that next chapter will look like."

Like Le, there are a lot of small businesses who were left high and dry by the shutdown and desperately need to be able to survive until there is a return to normalcy. But chances are the new normal is going to look different and it will come with new opportunities that businesses will need to be able to take advantage of.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
The stage has been set for an explosive fight between the state government and Parliament's powerful corruption oversight committee, with accusations levelled against Premier Mark McGowan he is attempting to politicise the reappointment of CCC boss John McKechnie.

6PR's Gareth Parker on his program this morning revealed an extraordinary exchange of letters between Mr McGowan and Opposition Leader Liza Harvey after the Joint Standing Committee on the CCC did not offer bipartisan support for Mr McKechnie's reappointment.

A political fight over the reappointment of Corruption and Crime Commissioner John McKechnie has exploded ahead of Parliament resuming next week. Credit:Nathan Hondros

Mr McGowan wrote to Ms Harvey on Tuesday referring to the CCC's investigation into former Liberal MP Phil Edman.

"The interim report released on 17 December 2019 was critical of expenditure by Mr Edman in respect of social activities of a group which exists within the Parliamentary Liberal Party and particularly the Legislative Council, known as the 'Black Hand Gang' (a name associated with secret criminal groups, and which has no doubt been adopted in jest)," Mr McGowan wrote.
No offense, Houston, but we dont want to see your faces around here until the novel coronavirus pandemic curve is as flat as the Katy Freeway.

So, in addition to following the stay-at-home orders, keeping a six-foot buffer from others and washing your hands, its time to put your good intentions where your mouth is and wear a mask when in public.

Yes, there was some contradictory guidance about masks when the infections began to spread and many of us will feel awkward when we leave the house looking like an outlaw from a 1950s Western or an extra from Greys Anatomy.

But the latest medical research and plain common sense tells us that covering our nose and mouth will help stop the spread of a disease that is transmitted mostly by coughing, sneezing, close-talking or touching surfaces where the respiratory droplets from those activities have fallen.

When the coronavirus outbreak began, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that masks werent necessary for healthy people and should be restricted to those who were already ill, health care workers and others coming into contact with those infected.

That changed last Friday with new CDC recommendations urging all Americans to wear cloth face coverings in public. The World Health Organization remains less enthusiastic about the masks, saying they are insufficient on their own and are more about protecting others than shielding ourselves. That seems like a good thing.

The new CDC guidance wasnt arbitrary or politically motivated, but based on research showing that people with no symptoms were unknowingly transmitting the virus by coughing, sneezing, talking, laughing and even breathing out the tiny viral particles wherever they went. The particles remained on surfaces long after the carrier had gone.

A face covering helps prevent infected people from spewing the viral droplets into the environment and can reduce the chance of airborne particles getting into a healthy persons respiratory system.

Members of the coronavirus task force said they were reluctant to initially recommend the masks not because they are entirely ineffective but for fear of putting more pressure on the dwindling supply of personal protective equipment for medical personnel and first-responders. The top-grade PPE should still be going to those on the front lines.

To that end, authorities say most people can construct useful masks from materials they already have around the home. The CDC recommends two layers of tightly woven 100 percent cotton fabric, such as quilters material or bed sheets with a high thread count.

Those with better handicraft skills  or a fondness for YouTube DIY videos  will be able to put together a mask that fits snugly from the nose to the chin without restricting breathing. The rest of us will likely have to settle for the bandit look with a bandana that covers the nose and falls beneath the chin.

Unfortunately, recent reports and a video of two young black men being confronted by a police officer in an Illinois Walmart have only confirmed fears among people of color that wearing masks in public will make them targets for profiling, harassment and worse.

The best counter to that is for all people to be wearing masks so that its those who are without one that become conspicuous. Given that there is no vaccine for bigotry and prejudice, its not a perfect solution but it still gives us better protection from the virus while we try to conquer our chronic social ills.

For those who feel odd about masking in public, the question is whether it is really any stranger than staying home all day, singing Happy Birthday while washing your hands and Skyping hourly with Grandma, who lives just down the street.

These are strange times.

Wearing a mask can serve as an excellent visual reminder that social distancing and other precautions remain crucial for bringing the pandemic to heel. These extreme measures are showing real signs of progress in slowing the spread of the virus with reports of downward trends in Washington and California, former hot spots, and a reduction this week in projected U.S. deaths from 94,000 to 60,000.

And if you still feel embarrassed, just remember, no one can see you blushing under that red bandanna left over from last years rodeo.

Its time to save face to save lives  maybe even your own.
Saudi, Russia and US will need to forge an unprecedented oil agreement to deal with an unrivalled crisis, say analysts.

A powerful alliance on the rocks. A market squeezed by falling demand and a deluge of supply. A United States president turned relationship counselor.

This is the backdrop for what is poised to be an unprecedented meeting between Saudi-Arabia-led OPEC, its allies and  should they choose to accept the invite  other top oil producers.

The virtual meeting  originally planned for Monday  is set to take place on Thursday. Whatever deal is struck between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia  a grouping known as OPEC+  it will almost surely inform a meeting of Group of 20 energy ministers scheduled for Friday.

The stakes have arguably never been higher for oil companies and for nations that are deeply dependent on crude sales to fund government spending  including expenditures in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Oil prices were already depressed going into this year, thanks to oversupply. That pressure on prices started intensifying as coronavirus containment measures shuttered factories, closed borders, disrupted travel and sent consumers retreating into lockdowns, gutting crude demand.

But the greatest carnage was unleashed in March after Saudi Arabia declared an oil price war in retaliation for Russia refusing to back Riyadhs calls for deep output cuts to offset the demand blow from coronavirus.

The disintegration of the Saudi-Russian OPEC+ alliance tore through energy markets like a tornado. Crude prices plummeted to lows not seen in nearly two decades, starving the coffers of smaller oil-producing nations that are desperately scrambling for money to fund coronavirus health responses.

The price war is also posing an existential threat to higher-cost US shale oil producers that have taken on mountains of debt to fund the drilling of new wells.

Faced with the collapse of a domestic energy industry, US President Donald Trump personally reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabias de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to implore them to call a truce and slash output to lift prices.

But sealing the rift between Riyadh and Moscow is not enough to counter the ravages of coronavirus. This unprecedented crisis, oil industry heavyweights and analysts say, requires an equally unprecedented response: nothing less than a global coordinated output cut among all the worlds top producers.

OPEC++

For the Saudis, the price war was a calculated risk. The kingdom can produce oil more cheaply than any other country  for $2.80 a barrel  according to state-run oil giant Aramco. While Saudi Arabia needs oil to trade around $83 a barrel to balance its state budget, Riyadh has ample foreign exchange reserves to keep it afloat through hard times.

Last month, Aramcos chief financial officer told investors the company was comfortable with oil trading at $30 a barrel.

But that is deeply uncomfortable territory for smaller oil-producing nations, many of which need money to fund a life-and-death battle against coronavirus.

A March analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) of the impact the Saudi-Russia price war is having on more vulnerable, developing countries warned that if current market conditions continue, the income those countries derive from oil and gas will fall by 50% to 85% in 2020, reaching the lowest levels in more than two decades.

Charging $30 per barrel for oil is also decidedly uncomfortable for US shale oil producers. Many need crude to fetch between $48 and $54 a barrel to break even, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Global benchmark Brent crude is currently trading around $32 a barrel  roughly half of where it started the year, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude is trading around $25 a barrel  almost a 60 percent drop from Januarys opening level.

A glimmer of hope for those dependent on oil income surfaced last week after Trump took to Twitter to announce that he had spoken to MBS and expected the Saudis and Russians to agree to slash output by 10 to 15 million barrels per day (bpd).

The problem is, coronavirus has destroyed roughly a third of global oil demand  some 30 million bpd, the equivalent of the combined output of the worlds top oil producers: the US, Saudia Arabia and Russia.

On Friday, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters news agency that a production cut of as much as 10 million bpd would still result in a 15 million barrel daily build in the second quarter, and that the only solution is for all OPEC+ and all G20 countries  a grouping industry insiders call OPEC++  to come together.

But oil-market watchers are sceptical that that level of coordination will materialise.

The trick is that Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US would have to agree to it, and how they would divide it. The US government generally doesnt control production  companies do, Samantha Gross, an energy security fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Al Jazeera.

A broken model

While US antitrust laws prohibit oil producers in the US from taking steps to cut domestic output to push up oil prices, curbing output is legal if state regulators or the federal government set lower production levels.

Texas regulators are set to meet next week to discuss whether to curb output for the first time in half a century.

Historical moves are not surprising, given the US shale patch is showing signs of serious distress.

On Tuesday, Exxon Mobil throttled back a multiyear investment spree in shale, liquified natural gas and deep-water oil production, announcing that it is cutting its capital spending this year by 30 percent. And US oilfield services giant Halliburton Co said it would slash about 350 jobs in Oklahoma and that its executives would take a pay cut.

Last week, Whiting Petroleum Corp, once the largest oil producer in North Dakota, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy  the first US shale player to fall victim this year.

The core problem is that the US oil industry allowed itself to become dependent on OPEC cutting production to keep oil prices high, Jim Krane, Wallace S Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice Universitys Baker Institute, told Al Jazeera. American producers were free riding on OPECs sacrifices. Thats a precarious place to be. That model just broke.

While policymakers haggle, the market continues to decide fates. Producers are running out of places to store oil. Ryan Sitton, one of three elected Texas oil regulators, tweeted on Wednesday that if OPEC+ and other producers do not slash output soon, oil storage will fill up within two months, at which point the world will need to cut as much as 30m bpd.

And though Trump has raised the idea of slapping tariffs on foreign crude, on Sunday he appeared to dial back the threat, saying he didnt think tariffs would be necessary.

Im not sure he understands how powerless he is here, said Gross. The drop in demand is so large that prices are going to stay low and US producers will suffer, no matter what OPEC does.
New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has been cleared of his misdemeanor vandalism charges, according to TMZ.

Edelman was originally charged with vandalism after jumping on the hood of a car in Beverly Hills, CA. Per TMZ, Edelman slid across the a Mercedes stopped for pedestrian traffic as it left a parking lot on Jan. 11. The Patriots receiver reportedly was inebriated at the time.

Per TMZ, the owner of the car dropped charges after being fully compensated for the repair costs to his vehicle and the case has been formally declined in the interests of justice.

The Patriots bowed out of the playoffs on Jan. 4 with a 20-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a week before Edelmans incident.

Edelman recorded a video message regarding the coronavirus on Wednesday, telling fans to stay home, stay healthy, stay safe. At the end of his video, Edelman -- who was wearing his personalized No. 11 Boston Celtics jersey -- put on a pair of gloves and pulled a mask over his entire face.

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- Stephen Gostkowski isnt ready to retire

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No casuaties were observed; shell fragments hit the windows and the rooftop

82 mm mortar mine in the ground, Donbas Open source

A ceasefire case occurred in Donbas, involving a threat to the lives of civilians. Pro-Kremlin mercenaries opened fire from 82 mm mortars and automatic grenade launchers. The Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that on April 9.

A rocket-propelled grenade fired from AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher exploded in the yard of a local resident. No casualties were observed; shell fragments hit the windows and the rooftop.

The authority admitted that by firing in the populated area, the armed gangs put the lives of locals in danger. Thus, the units of the Ukrainian military returned fire to suppress the enemy activity.

On April 8, militants violated the ceasefire in Donbas eight times. This was reported by the press service of Ukraines Defense Ministry. Thus, the invaders attacked Ukrainian positions with 120-mm and 82-mm mortars, which are banned by the Minsk agreements, grenade and rocket launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms. One Ukrainian serviceman was injured due to the enemy shellings.
Rebecca Gibney has rallied together her celebrity pals to create a fun video to lift spirits while in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the 55-year-old actress shared a star-studded montage of her famous friends lip syncing to Love Is In The Air by John Paul Young on Instagram.

The video featured her Packed To The Rafters co-stars Hugh Sheridan, Erik Thomson and George Houvardas, as well as her Wanted co-star Geraldine Hakewill.

All-star fun: On Wednesday, Rebecca Gibney (pictured) rallied together her celebrity pals to create a fun video of them lip syncing to Love Is In The Air by John Paul Young

A little help from her friends: The video featured her Packed To The Rafters husband Erik Thomson who danced on a deserted beach

Doctor, Doctor star Rodger Corser also participated in the video along with Home And Away's Georgie Parker and Neighbours' Jane Hall.

Kerry Armstrong, Michala Banas, Sigrid Thornton, Gary Sweet, Toby Truslove and Claudia Karvan also sent in clips of themselves lip syncing to the classic Aussie hit.

Sam Neill and Hugh Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness added international appeal.

Giving it their all: Hugh Sheridan (left) and George Houvardas (right), who starred in Packed To The Rafters, also participated in Rebecca's fun video

Sharing the love: Australian actress Michala Banas also featured in the fun clip

All the way from the Big Apple! Hugh Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness, who is based in New York with her Wolverine star husband, added international appeal to the music video

TV and radio presenter Amanda Keller shared a video of herself singing the song in the kitchen, while Triple M presenter Jane Kennedy armed herself with Glen 20 as she mimed.

The Morning Show's Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur shared a video of themselves singing and dancing along to the song while on set.

Channel Nine's Richard Wilkins donned a wig as he performed the song from his home, while The Project's Lisa Wilkinson used a vacuum cleaner as her microphone.

Fun on set: The Morning Show's Kylie Gillies (right) and Larry Emdur (left) shared a video of themselves singing and dancing to the song on set

Domestic Goddesses: TV and radio presenter Amanda Keller (left) shared a video of herself singing the song in the kitchen, while Triple M presenter Jane Kennedy (right) armed herself with Glen 20 as she mimed

Rebecca told her followers in the caption that she hesitated to share the clip because of the uncertainty in the world, but said the video was 'a break from the sadness'.

'I asked a few mates if they wanted to spread a bit of joy and these brave kind souls didnt hesitate to say yes.

On behalf of her famous friends, Rebecca thanked the medical professionals and essential workers 'protecting and providing' for their community.

Channeling his inner rock star: Channel Nine's Richard Wilkins donned a wig as he performed

A bit of fun: The Project's Lisa Wilkinson used a vacuum cleaner as her microphone

Rebecca also gave a shout out to those who are staying at home, helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.

'Nothing in humankind ever felt more like love than this.... And on that note, I hope you enjoy this little bit of love from us. Stay safe, stay well and be Kind,' she said.

Rebecca added: 'Major thanks to John Paul Young for one of the best songs ever! And to the following gorgeous people for getting on board.'
Thiruvananthapuram, April 7 (IANS) While committing full support to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in the fight against Covid-19, Kerala Congress leaders on Tuesday pointed areas where the government can ramp up activities and asked that there s Image Source: IANS/PIB

New Delhi, April 9 : After the government announced the Rs 15,000 crore Covid-19 emergency response and health system preparedness package, the Congress, here on Thursday, raised the issue of "stimulus package" to the industry, which was facing closure due to lockdown.

Stating that no financial stimulus package has been announced to support industries during the lockdown, it said when the second financial package would be announced.

The Congress said as per the Assocham estimate the industry needed Rs 15-23 trillion support. The FICCI has put the figure at Rs 9-10 trillion.

Remarking that the Prime Minister "is betraying," the Congress raised questions over export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the US.

"Before giving in to the US President's threats and allowing export of HCQ, did the Prime Minister Narendra Modi take stock of the situation in India and the pharma companies involved in manufacturing these medicines? Did he put India first," the Congress said.

The Rs 15,000 crore package "will be implemented with the objectives of emergency Covid-19 response, strengthening national and state systems, procurement of essential medical equipment and drugs, strengthening of surveillance, including setting up of laboratories and bio-security preparedness," the letter addressed to the Additional Chief Secretaries, the Principal Secretaries and the Commissioners of state and Union Territories, said.
Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister has attributed the high mortality rate of the Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM) cases in the region to late reporting.



He said patients often self-manage symptoms out of ignorance till their conditions worsened before they report to the health facilities making treatment difficult.



Dr Bin Salih stated this after he joined hands with Mr Elvis Botah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency to present some items to the District Health Directorate to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.



Dr Bin Salih appealed to the general public to report early to health facilities when experiencing symptoms of headache, fever, and neck stiffness for early treatment in order to save lives.



He said the health facilities had enough drugs to treat all positive cases, stressing that people must, however, report early to the facilities to ensure early treatment.



Dr Osei Afreh Kuffuor, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services disclosed that at the end of week 12, the region had recorded 214 cases of meningitis with 33 deaths.



He further disclosed that the region had received some more logistics from Greece to boost the meningitis fight.



Madam Pheobe Balagumyentime, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Director of Health Services also called on the public to stop associating the disease with spirituality and desist from seeking help from spiritualists and report to health facilities early to save their lives.



She said the district was carrying out continued public health education on prevention and early reporting to ensure an appropriate public response.

Source: GNA









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Governments and business executives in so many countries are desperate to begin to ease up on lockdowns to save their economies. The Austrians are talking about beginning to open up in a gradual and "controlled" way in the coming weeks.

In the US, president Donald Trump has been itching to announce an easing of isolation measures to get people back into work again.

Even in the UK, where prime minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care, the language is beginning to shift towards plans about how to get people back working.

What started out as 'herd immunity' has now become 'no exit strategy' from the lockdown.

Smart businesses will inevitably want to develop some kind of plan about how they could gradually open up again, but in reality, actually formulating such a plan seems almost impossible right now.

Ultimately, it is all driven by the health issues. China reported a gradual return to work in parts of the economy only to see new cases of Covid-19 rise slowly as it was reintroduced by people travelling back from abroad or visiting.

The government there has managed to keep a tight lid on those numbers and this week saw no new cases for the first time. This is encouraging but hardly suggests the crisis is over.

Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the outbreak, began to reopen yesterday but how long will China have to keep people out?

The real challenge will come if a second wave arrives. In the absence of a vaccine, countries like Ireland face the possibility of a gradual lifting of isolation measures only to have them reinstated again as winter approaches later in the year.

It is quite possible we will have varying degrees of on/off lockdowns for some time.

So how do you plan for that if you are running a business?

First up is manufacturing. We could see an earlier return of manufacturing, purely from a logistical point of view, than we would for services sectors like retailing, hospitality or hairdressing.

But manufacturers can only go back to making stuff if somebody either in Ireland or an export market is ready, willing or able to buy it.

Take the tourism sector. All of 2020 now looks like a write-off.

Even if the disease comes under control later in the year, there is little confidence that visitors from key markets will be willing or able themselves to travel for an autumn holiday in Ireland.

Businesses like hotels may want to prepare for the domestic market in the autumn. But how big will that be? How many will travel for breaks around Ireland?

That may depend on how many of us have the money. Given that half a million jobs have already been lost or are having wages subsidised by the State, it isn't at all clear what the level of demand will be.

Pat McCann, the CEO of Dalata Hotel Group, said last week that it would be 2022 before things could get right back to normal - and that may be optimistic if there is a wider global recession.

Nevertheless, there may be an opportunity for businesses in that sector to plan for some kind of upturn or return even if it ends up being temporary or bitty in the short term.

The Government has moved quickly to provide measures to support employees and businesses when it comes to workers and wages. The measures are probably not enough.

They will have to be flexible when the time comes for some semblance of a return to business.

Many employers may find they are allowed to reopen but only have enough orders, bookings or business for mainly part-time staff.

The Government supports will have to be nimble to respond to several different iterations of lockdown before this crisis is truly over.

Sectors that rely on exports or imported materials will rely on the supply chain of their trading partners.

Domestic sectors like retailing will still have supply chain issues, as well as issues with the inevitable dent to consumer incomes and their confidence.

Already in the UK, the clothing warehouses are full as shipping containers full of new clothes, which left Asia two weeks ago, arrive in docks with more unsold product.

Businesses had to see a 25pc fall in their turnover because of Covid-19 in order to avail of the State's wage subsidy scheme. How will it work on the return?

At what point do they no longer avail of it if there is a short-lived, temporary upside?

Internally, this could become a human resources nightmare within organisations.

Similarly, it could be a source of simmering resentment if big firms are told they are further back in the queue for reopening than small businesses are.

The most immediate issue for the Government, from an economic perspective, is how to ensure there are not mass defaults on debts and consequent insolvencies, especially in small businesses.

At any one moment in time, small firms owe and are owed tens of thousands of euro, which translates into billions across the economy. Much of that will not get paid in the short term.

The Government has found a method to protect workers' incomes but not the businesses themselves.

SMEs don't want to borrow their way through the crisis. They need direct subvention.

The Government must also line up stimulus measures for when the coast is clear. Sometimes the best stimulus measures are the most direct.
The administrative body of Royalhouse Chapel International has penned down a press release dated Wednesday 8th April 2020 to debunk circulating news headline "RUNNING SUNDAY CHURCH ONLINE IS VERY DIFFICULT AND NOT PROFITABLE.

The press release details the interview to which the falsehood is been circulated about the Apostle General Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah.

The press release signed by the Director Of Administration Rev. Dzifa Gakpleazi reads

"On Thursday the 2nd of April 2020, the Apostle General was hosted on the Joy FM Super Morning Show. In an interview conducted by Mr. Daniel Dadzie, he was asked to share his views on the government directive to temporarily suspend social gatherings, including church services and the Churchs resort to using traditional and social media to preach the gospel.

We wish to state categorically that at no point in time in his response, did he say that running a church online was not profitable.

The publication further falsely claimed he confessed: this means is more difficult for him than the conventional way of preaching to a physically present audience considering the financial cost and all that.

We are at a loss as to why the writer would deliberately misquote the Apostle General in a manner calculated to create mischief in the minds of the unsuspecting public.

We, therefore, urge all discerning Ghanaians to reject the publication and treat it with the contempt it deserves.

At this crucial point in time, when Royalhouse Chapel and all well-meaning Ghanaians are supporting the government in its efforts to curb the spread of the virus, any attempt to detract from our concerted efforts must be rejected".
COVID-19 is having a devastating effect on global businesses, with experts saying this will be the most significant economic crash in decades. The travel industry, in particular, has been hit hard. More than 100 countries have restricted travel regulations in place, with more than a third closing their borders entirely. Countries with only partially closed borders are limiting entry to citizens and people with residency permits only and have stopped processing visas, including work visas, for anyone not already located in the country.

For international companies with operations in different countries, travel restrictions limit mobility and make it more difficult to manage staff and operations across borders. The situation is unlikely to change in the near future. Experts predict that there could be multiple waves of infection and that travel restrictions and the economic effects will be long-lasting to some degree. With this in mind, companies managing processes across borders, like hiring and growing the business, will need to rely on local partners.

For businesses growing their operations abroad, there are two options for hiring local workers. Some enterprises carry out the legal and hiring processes themselves, formally establishing the company in the country and complying with local employment regulations. Other companies choose instead to work with Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) to help manage those processes.

Related: What COVID-19 Means for Ecommerce Startups

What Is a PEO?

A PEO is a company that provides services to companies without an established presence in that location. PEOs function as a mediating entity between the company and the employees, managing the search and hiring process, complying with employment regulations, providing benefits and registering the employee under their own company. Effectively, the company outsources all of the HR tasks to the PEO but controls the day-to-day management of the employees and their work.

Even during the best of times, many companies choose to work with a PEO, but now, with travel restrictions limiting people to their own countries, partnering with local entities is an attractive solution for companies to continue their work internationally. Here are a few of the benefits of partnering with a PEO.

Avoid Bureaucratic Processes

By partnering with a PEO, companies can begin operating in countries without becoming a legally established entity in that country. The process of legally registering a company in any country is usually quite involved, requiring extensive paperwork, appointments and verifications, and is especially restricted now as a result of the COVID-19 situation. Avoiding this process and working with a PEO allows companies to dive straight into their operations in the country, whether obtaining new clients or beginning work with established connections.

Many countries also have minimum-income requirements for companies to legally register and hire foreign employees, which may be prohibitive for small or medium companies that dont meet those requirements. Since it has become more difficult to gather all the required documents and complete the incorporation processes, more companies will turn to PEOs, allowing them to begin expanding their operations internationally and work around those restrictions. Often, companies will work with a PEO to get business going in a country before later becoming a legally established entity.

Improve the Hiring Process

The purpose of a PEO is to provide intimate knowledge of local employment markets to their client companies. Working with a PEO helps companies get the best results throughout the entire hiring and employment cycle. This can be especially valuable when looking for senior hires who will help manage the local branch. PEOs can help find and hire great candidates more quickly than the company on its own.

It can be difficult to hire employees in a new place, but with the knowledge of the hiring market and local network, PEOs can find more high-quality candidates for the best possible company fit. Once a decision has been made, the PEO helps the company ensure compliance with local hiring regulations.

Focus on the Core Business

Employees managed by PEOs are registered as employers under the PEO company name. Even after hiring, the PEO takes responsibility for administrative tasks like providing employee benefits and managing taxes. This leaves the company free to focus entirely on their core business, investing time in training and managing their employees rather than on administrative tasks and ensuring compliance. Each country has a different set of requirements, so for companies that work in multiple countries, working with a PEO can significantly increase operational efficiency by taking over the administrative tasks.

Related: Quarantined? Boost Your Local Proof With These 5 Strategies

Using Local Partners to Maintain Operations

When companies are ready to begin working with a PEO, there are a few steps to follow. First, its important to evaluate company geographic needs and look for PEOs that operate in those locations. Research whether the PEO has the experience necessary to benefit the business in that location and the appropriate language skills to communicate clearly. When signing a contract with a local partner, its important to clarify the responsibilities and tasks expected from the PEO, to avoid redundant work and so the company maintains control of employee management.

The main benefit of partnering with a PEO is that it allows companies working internationally to maintain and grow their global operations quickly and with local guidance. The global situation resulting from COVID-19 has created an increased need for businesses to work with local partners, a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future.

Related:

What Leaders Can Learn From Governor Cuomo About How to Communicate During a Crisis

5 Tips for Dealing With Anxiety as a Business Owner Right Now

Google Bans Zoom's Desktop Client From Running on Employee Computers



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Washington, D.C., April 8, 2020  Puerto Rican authorities should guarantee that journalists can cover the COVID-19 pandemic without fear of government retaliation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez signed an amendment to the islands Public Security law on April 6 making it illegal for media outlets or social media accounts to transmit or allow the transmission of false information relating to government proclamations or executive orders concerning COVID-19 or other disasters, according to the order and news reports.

A state of emergency should not be an excuse for Puerto Rican authorities to suspend press freedom, said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. It is essential that media organizations and journalists are allowed to report freely on matters of public importance like COVID-19 without fear of retaliation from the government in the form of fines or criminal charges for coverage that it may not like.

Those convicted under the amended law will face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000, according to the order. If the false information causes more than $10,000 worth of public-sector expenditure or leads to the damage of physical property, it will be considered a criminal offense, according to the amendment and those news reports.

CPJ called, texted, and emailed Mariana Cobian, the governors spokeswoman, for comment, but did not receive any replies to questions about the law.
(CNN) -- The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has declared a two-week ceasefire in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the war-torn country, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The ceasefire in the five-year conflict was set to begin Thursday, according to coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki. SPA said the move was prompted by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for a pause of hostilities in the country in order to counter the spread of Covid-19.

The coronavirus has now infected more than 1.5 million people and killed over 88,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Malki also said the temporary ceasefire would pave the way for talks between the Saudi-backed government in Aden, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The ceasefire would create the environment for the UN "to hold a meeting between the legitimate government and the Houthis, and a military team from the (Saudi-led) coalition under the supervision of the UN envoy to discuss his proposals on the steps and mechanisms to implement a permanent ceasefire in Yemen," said Malki, according to SPA.

The UN welcomed Saudi Arabia's announcement. "I am grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Coalition for recognizing and acting on this critical moment for Yemen," Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths said in a UN statement Wednesday. "The parties must now utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency, and make progress towards comprehensive and sustainable peace"

A Houthi rebel spokesman said the group was working on a plan to end the war.

"Building on the call of the United Nation's Secretary-General for a ceasefire in Yemen, we have put forward a comprehensive national vision to the UN that includes a comprehensive end to the war, and a complete end to the blockade," Mohammed Abdel Salam tweeted. "It includes the safety of Yemen and its unity and independence and it establishes political dialogue with a view to a new transition."

A source with knowledge of the Saudi officials' perspective on the process expressed hope for a deal, saying it's what the Saudis have been working towards for a long time.

According to the source, the aim of the ceasefire is to create an environment for UN talks to succeed.

Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long civil war that has pitted a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The war has claimed thousands of lives and led to mass starvation and outbreaks of disease in the country.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Saudi Arabia declares ceasefire in Yemen over coronavirus"
Chennai, April 9 : The Madras Dyslexia Association and National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL)-IIT Madras are offering online teaching courses that provide remedial support to children with Specific Learning Difficulties, free of cost.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) said the courses are targeted towards teachers of primary school children (Classes I-V) and professionals such as occupational therapists, counsellors and speech pathologists.

It contains simple methods of identifying and remediating young children with dyslexia.

Multiple-Intelligences approach in these methods, not only makes learning more effective, but also hones the innate talents of children with dyslexia.

Within a classroom, these methods enhance the learning of the entire class and hence they do not have to be administered selectively. The infrastructure required (at trainee's end) for this programme is minimal - a computer with speakers and an average Internet connection, the statement said.

"The learning process of a child with dyslexia is supported by an eco-system made of school, teachers, parents, and other supportive therapists like counsellors, occupational therapists and speech therapists," said D.Chandrasekhar, President, Madras Dyslexia Association.

"Each one of them needs to understand the difficulties faced by a child with dyslexia, the strengths and needs of this child. This profile should be used to nurture the child using the strengths to cope with the needs," he said.

Through 'e-shikshanam,' the Madras Dyslexia Association is working towards disseminating information on what is dyslexia and basic remedial methods that a child with dyslexia can use to cope with difficulties in reading, spelling, writing and/or mathematics.
Irans supreme leader has suggested mass gatherings may be barred during Ramadan due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Amnesty International said it believed at least 35 prisoners were killed by security forces amid rioting over the virus.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a televised address as Iran prepares to restart economic activity while suffering one of the worlds worst outbreaks.

He is the highest-ranking official in the Muslim world to acknowledge that the month of fasting and reflection will be disrupted by the virus and the Covid-19 illness it causes.

We are going to be deprived of public gatherings of the month of Ramadan, he said during a speech marking the birth of Imam Mahdi.

Those gatherings are meetings for praying to god or listening to speeches which are really valuable. In the absence of these meetings, remember to heed your prayers and devotions in your lonesomeness.

Expand Close Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AP) / Facebook

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Ramadan is set to begin in late April and last through most of May. Public officials had not yet discussed plans for the holy month, which sees the Muslim faithful fast from dawn until sunset. Mosques have been closed and Friday prayers cancelled across the country for fear of the virus spreading among those attending.

Mr Khamenei urged the Shiite faithful to pray in their homes during Ramadan. Shiites typically pray communally, especially during Ramadan, which sees communities share meals and greetings each night.

Iran has reported more than 66,000 confirmed cases of the virus, with over 4,100 deaths, but experts have repeatedly questioned those numbers, especially as Iran initially downplayed the outbreak in February amid the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution and a crucial parliamentary vote.

The supreme leaders comments come after Egypts Ministry of Religious Endowments on Tuesday called off all celebrations and late-evening prayer services for Ramadan in the Arab worlds most populous country. Mosques and churches have already closed for prayer across Egypt, which has had over 100 deaths and more than 1,500 confirmed cases.

Amnesty International reported that thousands of prisoners in at least eight prisons had rioted over their fears about potentially contracting the virus while incarcerated.

The rights group said it believed at least 35 were killed by security forces. There have been sporadic reports in Iranian media about the riots, with only one fatality claimed.

Amnesty cited independent sources including prisoners families to report the fatalities. It said security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to suppress protests. Footage earlier verified by the Associated Press showed thick black smoke rising over one prison in south-western Iran.

It is abhorrent that instead of responding to prisoners legitimate demands to be protected from Covid-19, Iranian authorities have yet again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns, Amnestys Diana Eltahawy said in a statement.

Estimates suggest the Islamic Republics prison system held 150,000 prisoners just before the pandemic. Iran has since temporarily released 105,000 prisoners. Those who remain held include violent offenders and so-called security cases often involving political prisoners.
Native son Brett Eldredge will return to familiar grounds in July when he brings his chart-topping style of country music to the Morgan County Fair.

The fairs annual concert lineup was announced Wednesday.

Eldredge is a Paris, Illinois, native whose first single, Raymond, reached No. 23 on the U.S. Country Airplay charts in 2010.

Within a couple of years, he had started a chart-topping climb that has included five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay charts, starting with the million-seller Dont Ya and continuing into 2018 with Love Someone.

He reached No. 2 on the U.S. Hot Country charts twice in 2015 with Lose My Mind and Drunk on Your Love and No. 3 with the hit I Wanna Be That Song.

He has racked up a number of award nominations and won the Country Music Association Award for new artist of the year in 2014 and the American Country Countdown Award for song of the year with Beat of the Music that same year.

He chalked up three BMI Country Awards, including song of the year for Beat of the Music in 2015 and an ASCAP Country Music Award for most-performed song for Mean to Me, also in 2015.

Eldredge will be the headline performer July 11. An opening act has not yet been scheduled.

The July 10 concert will feature a taste of Texas-style country, with Cody Johnson and special guest Casey Donahew.

Johnson released his first album, Black and White Label, in 2006 and first hit the charts in 2014 with Cowboy Like Me. His 2016 release, Gotta Be Me, debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. country charts and the followup Aint Nothin to It in 2017 reached No. 1.

Donahews past four albums have hit the country charts, and the 2019 album One Light Town debuted in the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Country Album Sales Chart.

Tickets for both nights will go on sale April 15.
A 48-year-old man who was an inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility died Wednesday after he exhibited symptoms consistent with a urinary infection, a county spokesman said.

The man was placed in the jails infirmary on April 4 after complaining of symptoms that were not consistent with the coronavirus, said Essex County spokesman Anthony Puglisi.

The inmate was treated on-site by medical staff and remained under observation. An ambulance was called 11:45 a.m. on April 4 when his condition deteriorated but a medical response team within the jail provided first aid until the man was pronounced dead at 12:46 p.m. by the facilitys medical director, the county said in a statement.

The inmate, whose name was not made public, had been at the jail since July 17. The county spokesman declined to say why exactly the man was jailed.

"The Essex County Medical examiner has been contacted and will investigate further, Puglisi said in a statement. The cause of death is undetermined at this time.

Puglisi told NJ Advance Media the man was not a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee.

The federal government contracts with Essex County to hold those suspected of being undocumented immigrants, and there has been growing outcry to release ICE detainees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inmates and corrections officers across New Jersey have said there is little protection against the spread of COVID-19 in jails. Those serving time on probation sentences or municipal court convictions, meanwhile, were ordered released from jail last month.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.